Best Laid Plans by Roan Parrish
There are three thing I know about a Roan Parrish book before I open it. It will be queerly m/m. It will be rich in emotion. The two main characters will be messes who make each other better people. My only consistent critique of her work is that I wish her characters went to therapy more often. In real life, I would insist on it, but in fiction I can sink into their emotional lives and become mushy with them. Rye Jannsen is at the […]
Billy and the Beast by Eli Easton
Eli Easton is the pen name of Jane Jensen a game designer and writer who helmed one of the more successful Sierra adventure game series, Gabriel Knight. She is also somewhat blamed for the death of adventure games due to a specific puzzle in Gabriel Knight 3 and the fact that it was the last adventure game released by Sierra. This is a shame mostly due to Jane Jensen being A. one of the only female game designers who directed her own series of games […]
Common Goal (Game Changers 4) by Rachel Reid
Common Goal was very readable, but perhaps suffered from having been read after a string of excellent books. While I read it quickly and enjoyed it while I read it, it hasn’t stayed with me. It also suffers a bit in comparison to Reid’s Heated Rivalry, a book that captured magic. Eric and Kyle’s story is much gentler, and there is nothing wrong with that. It’s a 3.5 star read. Eric is recently divorced, getting ready for the end of his hockey career and thinking […]
The Immortal City by May Peterson
I think the most important thing for me to say up front is that KJ Charles also liked this book and if you won’t take my word for it, listen to KJ Charles. Please go buy it, or request it from your local library. I received this as an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I’ve thought a lot about how to describe this treasure of a book. I keep coming up with movies for comparison. Imagine if Wim Wenders’ Wings of […]
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
CBR 12 Bingo: Pandemic. Between pandemic stress and some personal stressors, I’ve been wanting to read light-hearted books, especially funny contemporary romance. The novel is told in the first person from the perspective of Lucien (Luc) O’Donnell, who is the son of formerly famous rock star parents. Five years ago his boyfriend sold his story about dating Luc to a tabloid, and Luc has been a mess ever since. He works for a charity focused on saving the dung beetle, and after a rather unflattering […]
Just Like That (Albin Academy 1) by Cole McCade
I have a level of discomfort with m/m romance written by cis women for cis women readers, even if it’s a book I liked and an author I liked. That discomfort is always there. Cole McCade describes himself as, “Tall, bi/queer, introverted author of a brown-ish persuasion made up of various flavors of Black, Asian, and Native American.” I didn’t feel uncomfortable reading and enjoying Just Like That. I would also like to point out that Carina Adores is a new Harlequin line that features […]
