Tal Bauer Books in Order
Find Tal Bauer books and series in order, with short summaries and tips on the best places to start his romantic suspense, thriller, and sports romance stories.
Last updated: June 7, 2026
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Publication Order
24 books
A Time to Rise
by Tal Bauer
2016
In the shadows of modern Rome, a hidden Templar order defends humanity from vampires, ghouls, and demons beneath the city. Battle-scarred hunter Alain Autenberg and new Swiss Guard recruit Cristoph Hasse must join forces when a buried Vatican secret threatens to tear the Veil wide open.
Enemies of the State
by Tal Bauer
2016
Newly elected President Jack Spiers juggles terror attacks, nuclear threats, and a hostile world stage while his Secret Service lead Ethan Reichenbach breaks every rule by falling for him, even as a rogue Black Ops unit moves in for the kill.
Enemy of My Enemy
by Tal Bauer
2016
With Jack and Ethan now openly together in the White House, political fallout and hate keep mounting. As General Madigan builds a shadow army, Ethan is pulled back into the field and their fragile global alliances and relationship are tested on every front.
Enemy Within
by Tal Bauer
2017
After a devastating attack on US intelligence, the world believes President Jack Spiers is dead. Instead he slips into Russia to rescue Ethan Reichenbach, teaming with unlikely allies on a desperate race to stop General Madigan's doomsday plan in the Arctic.
Hush
by Tal Bauer
2017
Closeted federal judge Tom Brewer is finally ready to let U.S. marshal Mike Lucciano into his life when a terrorist attack rocks Washington. The resulting trial puts Tom at the center of an explosive national-security case that could ignite war abroad and expose his past at home.
Interlude: First Noel
by Tal Bauer
2017
In this holiday interlude, Ethan is exiled to Iowa chasing counterfeiters while Jack faces global crises and relentless scrutiny in Washington. Their long-distance relationship strains under media gossip, loneliness, and a make-or-break Christmas visit to the White House.
Ascendent
by Tal Bauer
2018
Haunted Russian soldier Sasha Andreyev claws his way from a brutal past into Moscow's corridors of power, working beside President Sergey Puchkov. When their guarded partnership turns to love, Sasha must confront his inner demons and a deadly journey into Russia's frozen hinterlands.
Whisper
by Tal Bauer
2018
On 9-11, young CIA analyst Kris Caldera is part of the team that fails to stop Bin Laden. Driven by guilt, he embeds with Special Forces in Afghanistan and falls for Sergeant David Haddad, only to lose him to a botched mission and a new, terrifying legend rising from Khorasan.
Hell and Gone
by Tal Bauer
2019
Montana stock detective Everett Dawson heads into the Crazy Mountains to investigate missing cattle and two vanished cowboys. There he collides with sharp-tongued ranch hand Lawrence Jackson, whose land hides a hanged man and a tangle of secrets that make Everett question everyone, including Lawrence himself.
Soul on Fire
by Tal Bauer
2019
A lethal virus tears through the Congolese jungle, and terrorists plan to weaponize the outbreak. Navy SEAL lieutenant Elliot Davis is sent to extract CIA officers, then must team with Dr. Ikolo Ngondu on a perilous hunt through the forest to stop a catastrophe.
Splintered
by Tal Bauer
2019
Ben thinks he has it all until his partner Evan starts losing time, lashing out, and hearing vicious voices. As strange episodes escalate into violence, Ben must decide how far he will go to save the man he loves when love itself turns terrifying.
Stars
by Tal Bauer
2019
Now training as a NASA astronaut in Houston, Sasha Andreyev keeps his relationship with Russian president Sergey Puchkov secret. When a forgotten Soviet satellite becomes a weapon in orbit, Sasha joins a high-risk mission that could save both nations or destroy them.
Never Stay Gone
by Tal Bauer
2021
Texas Ranger Dakota Jennings returns to his dusty hometown when a mass grave is uncovered in the desert. Working the case means partnering with Shane Carson, the first love who broke his heart, as small town secrets and a cunning killer close in.
The Grave Between Us
by Tal Bauer
2021
Settled in Iowa with Noah, profiler Cole Kennedy thinks the worst is behind them until a new attack reveals the signature of the one killer who ever outplayed him. As the BAU closes in, the man now stalks Noah, forcing Cole back into his darkest fears.
The Jock
by Tal Bauer
2021
Closeted college football star Wes Van de Hoek falls for outspoken art student Justin Swanscott during a dream summer in Paris. Back home in Texas, Wes must balance national-championship pressure, a hostile coach, and the fear of coming out with the risk of losing Justin.
The Murder Between Us
by Tal Bauer
2021
FBI agent Noah Downing uses a one-night stand in Las Vegas to test his sexuality, then flies home to hunt a resurfaced serial killer. When profiler Cole Kennedy arrives to consult, Noah discovers his mystery man is now his partner on the case.
The Night Of
by Tal Bauer
2021
Secret Service agent Sean Avery is called to Camp David when President Steven Baker is found dead in a locked room, ruled a suicide. His ex, Vice President Jonathan Sharp, believes it is murder, pulling Sean into a twisting investigation and a dangerous second chance at love.
The Quarterback
by Tal Bauer
2021
Quarterback Colton Hall is on track for the NFL until a career-shattering injury sends him home to recuperate with his best friend's dad, Nick Swanscott. Long days of rehab turn friendship into slow-burn attraction as Colton questions his future, his sexuality, and what love can look like.
Gravity
by Tal Bauer
2022
Superstar NHL captain Bryce Michel has everything he ever wanted on the ice, but no room for the secret fantasies he buries. At All-Star Weekend he meets easygoing player Hunter Lacey, and a whirlwind friendship soon tips into a life-changing, deeply confusing attraction.
Secret Service
by Tal Bauer
2022
Assigned to President Brennan Walker's protective detail, a seasoned Secret Service agent is stunned to find himself drawn to the charismatic commander in chief. As flirtation deepens into forbidden love, both men must weigh desire against duty, security, and the future of a presidency.
You & Me
by Tal Bauer
2022
When two single dads volunteer with their sons' Texas high school football team, an easy friendship turns into something far more complicated. As their divorced lives, co-parenting struggles, and unexpected attraction collide, they must risk fragile father-son bonds for a second chance at love.
How to Say I Do
by Tal Bauer
2023
Runaway New York PR prince Noël flees a disastrous almost-wedding to drown his sorrows in Cancun, where he meets Wyatt, a grounded Texas rancher with a big heart. A vacation fling, fake husband scheme, and culture clash slowly turn into a real shot at forever.
The Rest of the Story
by Tal Bauer
2023
Veteran NHL player Morgan is traded to the struggling Rocky Mountain Outlaws and unexpectedly asked to lead the broken team. As he slowly pulls a misfit roster together, his forbidden crush on co-captain Shea Darling grows into a tender romance that could cost them everything.
The Fall
by Tal Bauer
2025
After a crushing hit on the ice, a hockey star wakes to find an entire year of his memory gone, including the start of a relationship with the man sharing his bed. Determined not to lose this life, he fakes remembering while trying to fall in love all over again.
Where should I start?
If you want political romantic suspense: Enemies of the State → Enemy of My Enemy → Interlude: First Noel → Enemy Within.
If you like serial killer thrillers: The Murder Between Us → The Grave Between Us.
If you enjoy small-town lawmen and Texas settings: Never Stay Gone → Hush → Whisper.
If you want sports romance: The Jock → The Quarterback → You & Me.
If you prefer hockey and found family arcs: Gravity → The Rest of the Story → The Fall.
Author bio
Tal Bauer writes gay romance that leans hard into adrenaline, investigation, and big feelings. His novels mix political intrigue, legal drama, paranormal twists, and sports with tender, slow-burn relationships, all centered on queer men who get to be the heroes.
He was born in 1981 and grew up in the United States reading thrillers and romances, drawn to stories where ordinary people are dropped into impossible situations. That fascination with danger and devotion shows up again and again in the worlds he builds.
Before publishing fiction, Bauer worked in law enforcement and international humanitarian aid. Those careers took him close to real investigations, bureaucracy, and crisis response, and the research instincts he developed there now anchor the high-stakes plots in his books.
He launched his writing career in 2016 with Enemies of the State, the first book in The Executive Office series. The story of President Jack Spiers and Secret Service agent Ethan Reichenbach blended geopolitical tension with a slow, carefully drawn romance between two men under a global spotlight.
Jack and Ethan’s saga grew across Enemy of My Enemy, Interlude: First Noel, and Enemy Within, and eventually spun off into the Executive Power books Ascendent and Stars, which follow Russian president Sergey Puchkov and bodyguard-turned-astronaut Sasha Andreyev through Russian politics and deep space.
Outside the White House, Bauer has written stand-alone romantic suspense that moves from Washington courtrooms to war zones and jungles. Hush and Whisper weave together national security, queer love, and the long shadow of the War on Terror. Soul on Fire drops a Navy SEAL and a Congolese doctor into a viral outbreak, while The Murder Between Us and The Grave Between Us follow FBI agents Noah Downing and Cole Kennedy as they hunt a serial killer who refuses to stay caught. In The Night Of and Never Stay Gone, Secret Service agents, vice presidents, and Texas Rangers all face investigations that threaten the people they love most.
Bauer also has a softer side, one built around locker rooms, small towns, and families. His sports romances The Jock, The Quarterback, Gravity, The Rest of the Story, and The Fall dig into masculinity, mental health, and what it means to come out when the whole stadium is watching. In contemporaries like You & Me and How to Say I Do, single dads, exhausted professionals, and small-town Texans get to stumble into big feelings, messy teenagers, and hard-won happy endings.
A throughline connects all of these books. Bauer is vocal about wanting more gay action heroes on the page and more strong, fully human women in their orbit. His stories often feature found families, detailed procedural work, and characters who wrestle with shame, duty, and the cost of telling the truth.
Today he lives in Texas with his husband and writes full time, trading shift work and field deployments for long research dives and even longer drafts. Whether he is sending a couple into space, across a football field, or into a courtroom under siege, he keeps coming back to the same idea: love is worth the risk, even when the stakes feel impossible.
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