Hi Wild Ones! This was a month for epic fantasy (Kushiel’s Mercy), and books with a polyamorous leaning (the Scientific Method series). Actually, they both have a polyam element, even though it’s extremely mild and very background in Kushiel’s Mercy. But Love as Thou Wilt is a core tenant of the world of Terre d’Ange, and they mean it. It’s one of the things I love about that series.
Hi Wild Ones! Didn’t get a whole lot read in January, but this was really good.
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Take Three Breaths by Kris Ripper
Amazon (print and ebook)* ~ Apple (ebook) ~ Barnes & Noble (ebook) ~ Google ~ Kobo ~ Smashwords
Continuing The Scientific Method series with this MMM novella, which doesn’t really have anything to do with science (the name is explained in book 1). Even more than the first two books, this one delves deep and heavy. But it brings the boys closer together, even though it’s a bit rough along the way. I liked that they were closer at the end.
Trigger Warning: Suicide (side character) and depression (main character).
What have you read and watched this month? Hit reply and let me know if you have something fantastic!
Hi Wild Ones! This is way late, but I read some great stuff that I wanted to pass on to you, so I’m doing it now.
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Catalysts by Kris Ripper
Amazon (print and ebook)* ~ Apple (ebook) ~ Barnes & Noble (ebook) ~ Google ~ Kobo (ebook and audiobook) ~ Smashwords
I enjoyed Book Boyfriend so much that I went looking for more Kris Ripper to read. I found this delightful gem of a series, and I’m so glad I did. It has so many of the things I love in romance. It’s highly kinky, and very polyamorous. There are some queer relationships, some straight ones, all kinds of different characters, and they all support each other. I’ve always loved books and series that do that. I know the thought with publishing is to group all your similar characters into a series by themselves (all the gay men in this series, all the fem doms in that series, or even totally separate them out by pen name) but that doesn’t feel real to me. The joined approach feels more natural, when there are all kinds of people living and getting along together. I dug into the first few books right away. And hey, the first one is free so I added it to my page of recommended free books! Catalysts is MMM, and follows Will as he comes to grips with his bisexual and kinky nature. His journey is written carefully and I loved it.
Unexpected Gifts by Kris Ripper
Amazon (print and ebook)* ~ Apple (ebook) ~ Barnes & Noble (ebook) ~ Google ~ Kobo (ebook) ~ Smashwords
This is book two of The Scientific Method series, and it features Will and the woman who captures his heart. And the struggles he has with that. One thing to note about this series is that it doesn’t shy away from difficult topics. At all. They all wrestle with their inner demons, and talk about it, and get stronger along the way. That’s one of the things that makes the books so good.
Candy Cane Kisses: A Holiday Anthology edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
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A collection of mostly sweet holiday romance short stories that I really enjoyed. At least, the ones that I got through. I didn’t get through the whole book, but I’m going to save it for next year when I’m in the mood for holiday romance again. But I’m sure the second half will be as good as the first half. They were all great, but here’s the ones that stood out to me:
Ice Dancing and Crab Apple Sorbet by Melissa Yi – a story of two figure skaters trying to make a relationship work in the spotlight. It reminded me of the movie The Cutting Edge, but it was its own story. It packed a lot of history into one short story, and was very well done.
A Little More Aloha by Julia Vee – a fun visit to Hawaii.
Trapped Between Book Lovers by Stefon Mears – as a book lover who loves used bookstores, I loved this story!
She Wanted It to Be Perfect by Ron Collins – a touching FF romance with a bit of science fiction.
Love Hard
Netflix Original Video
This was a really fun Christmas holiday rom-com. The characters were fun, the romance felt fresh to me, I laughed, and wound up really rooting for them at the end. It even poked at some really common rom-com tropes it a way that felt so interesting. I enjoyed it a lot.
What have you read and watched this month? Hit reply and let me know if you have something fantastic!
Hi Wild Ones! I read and watched some fun ones this month. And wound up thinking about consent and how consent was portrayed during each and every one of them, and all for different reasons. It was a very thoughtful month.
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Book Boyfriend by Kris Ripper
Amazon (print, audiobook, and ebook)* ~ Apple (ebook, audiobook) ~ Barnes & Noble (ebook, audiobook, and print) ~ Chirp Audiobook ~ Google (ebook and audiobook) ~ Kobo (ebook and audiobook)
I really enjoyed the writing and authorship parts of this story. It’s always fun to see the process of writing explored in fiction, and this story was no exception. I also enjoyed the main character pining for the other character. So much tension about what would happen! It was a fun read overall, but it had a very unexpected angle, one that involved a serious discussion about consent and how that gets handled within a relationship. I won’t say too much because I don’t want to spoil anything, but it did make me think about some of the ways we approach romance in popular media.
His Human Rebel by Renee Rose
Amazon (print, audiobook, and ebook)* ~ Apple (ebook) ~ Barnes & Noble (ebook and print) ~ Google (ebook) ~ Kobo (ebook)
This is book 4 of the Zandian Masters series, which deals with alien masters and human slaves in an alien galaxy. That premise obviously plays a lot with consent, and it does so in a way I like. Lots of readers like the kind of possessive alpha male that loves and punishes his woman as he sees fit. I like that books like Book Boyfriend exist to talk about the realities of healthy relationships in real life, while there are also books like His Human Rebel that can push my buttons in a safe way when I want that. There’s a place for both, as long as the reader has a good understanding of what’s healthy in real life.
Heartstopper Season 2
Netflix Original Video
Just like the first season, there was lots of fluffy twee queer romance of all kinds. I love these characters, and their friendships and their loves. It was a fun season overall.
SPOILERS! But this season also has a lot to say about trauma and consent issues. There are multiple instances of our main group actively excluding people from their lives who have hurt or traumatized them in the past, even when the offending party apologized for their actions.
The characters chose to keep their spaces safe from those people because they weren’t over the trauma and didn’t want to be around the others.
It was so unexpected and different from the typical narrative of what we’re taught (don’t make a scene, and if the other person apologizes you have to forgive and move on so that everyone can be friends) that it took me by surprise. It felt uncomfortable to me at first, wrong.
So I thought about why that was. And then I realized what the show was doing: it was actively modeling healthy boundaries in a way I don’t think I’ve seen before on TV. At least, not exactly in that way, not in a show about teenagers that’s probably aimed mostly at teenagers (though adults can definitely enjoy it). Most shows would have had the group forgive the past bullies and invite them in, and everyone would be friends. That’s what I expected, but why should trauma victims feel pressured to forgive and befriend their bullies? The show is educating through demonstration. It took me by surprise, but it’s wonderful to see.
What have you read and watched this month? Hit reply and let me know if you have something fantastic!
Hi Wild Ones! So much here for you to pick from. This month had some very unexpected down time. I spent half the time reading, and the other half catching up on movies.
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Kushiel’s Justice by Jacqueline Carey
Amazon (print, audiobook, and ebook)* ~ Apple (ebook, audiobook) ~ Barnes & Noble (ebook, audiobook, and print) ~ Google (ebook and audiobook) ~ Kobo (ebook)
This is the second book in the Imriel trilogy, Kushiel’s Legacy. It’s a long, detailed look at love, duty, and what we owe ourselves when it comes to making choices for our lives. There’s a lot of adventure here, but it also gets really heavy in the way that Carey does so well. The story got so deep, and I loved all the introspection. I always enjoy visiting this world, and I enjoyed this book, too.
The King’s Delight by Sarah Honey
Amazon (print and ebook)*
A fun, light, kinky royal romance that was so cute I just breezed through it. I really enjoyed Leo and Felix, and they kept me company on my lunchtime reads for a few days.
Red, White & Royal Blue
Amazon Original Video
I laughed, I swooned, I cried. I really enjoyed this one a lot. It was everything I wanted in a gay rom-com, or just a rom-com period. I wound up loving Alex and Henry and when I started I wasn’t really expecting that. Definitely recommended if you’re looking for the warm fuzzies.
Bros
Amazon Original Video
And then I watched Bros, which couldn’t have been more different, but was also perfect. It’s full of queer history and lived experience and the awkwardness of finding someone who’s nothing like what you thought you were going to find. I deeply loved them in the end for all their realness. Definitely recommend watching.
Love Again
Amazon Original Video
After that came Love Again, which went how I thought it would in some ways but was still a heartfelt revelation on love and loss. Prianka Chopra was so beautiful to watch. I could look at her face all day. And it reminded me how much I do love Celine Dion. Compelling and unexpectedly witty.
What have you read and watched this month? Hit reply and let me know if you have something fantastic!
Hi Wild Ones! Here’s one for those of you who like edgy kink!
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On Kink’s Edge by M.C. Roth
Amazon (print and ebook)* ~ Apple (ebook) ~ Barnes & Noble (ebook and print) ~ Google (ebook) ~ Kobo (ebook)
I loved the edgy nature of this story. Sometimes “regular” kink just isn’t enough and you want to push the envelope – just like Keady does. The story took an unpredictable path – as indicated by the title – but had a lovely ending. If you like your kink “out there” you’ll enjoy this one.
I got the book through a Booksprout review offer, but I genuinely enjoyed the book.
What have you read and watched this month? Hit reply and let me know if you have something fantastic!
Hi Wild Ones! Happy 4th, if you’re in the US. If not, I hope your summer/winter is going well. I’ve finally gotten some time to post a new recs post. I finished that super long novel I mentioned last time and really wanted to share it with y’all.
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Kushiel’s Scion by Jacqueline Carey
Amazon (print, audio and ebook)* ~ Apple (ebook) ~ Apple (audio) ~ Barnes & Noble (print, audio and ebook) ~ Chirp ~ Google (print, audio and ebook) ~ More Stores ~ Kobo (ebook and audio)
This was the looong book I mentioned before – and it really is long. It is so, so worth it though. First: some background: this is the first book of the second trilogy set in Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel universe. The Kushiel world is a fantasy re-imagining of France filled with beautiful people who just love each other and strive to enjoy all of life’s pleasures. When they’re not fighting for the crown and fending off invasions, of course. That quote comes from an article introducing the first book of the first series, Kushiel’s Dart, with some basics on the world and characters. Kushiel’s Dart focuses on Phedre, a young lady who’s a kinky, queer, courtesan spy. Yeah, it’s complicated. There’s politics and intrigue and adventure and sex (queer and het) and kink in the whole series. It’s a massive fantasy world with a deeply sexual element to it where the sex is integral to the story in surprising ways.
Kushiel’s Scion is the beginning of Imriel’s story, a young noble man coming of age and dealing with a traumatic and traitorous history at the same time – along with his own sadistic and dominant nature. It’s a gentle beginning to his story, which gets a lot more intense in the relationship area in the second book (I’ve already started reading that one). Scion has great characters, fun intrigue, and a lot of adventure. It’s a great read.
I highly recommend the world of Kushiel to anyone who likes really epic fantasy. Dart would probably be the best book to start with, but Scion can stand alone and is a great book in its own right. Either way, pick one of them up if you want to get lost in an epic read.
Smiley
I absolutely loved this. A wrong-number voicemail connects a hot bartender and a sentimental architect. It’s a lovely queer odd-couple show that’s hot, sweet, and full of other characters (both queer and het) that I really enjoyed. It’s great for when you want something light and fun with a great ending – although I hope there’s another season because one little thing felt unresolved for me with some side characters. Overall it was a lot of fun.
What have you read and watched this month? Hit reply and let me know if you have something fantastic!
Hi Wild Ones! This is for September and October, since September got away from me and I didn’t post anything. Whoops!
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Kinks and Crosshairs by M.C. Roth
Amazon* ~ Apple ~ Barnes & Noble ~ More Stores ~ Kobo*
I really enjoyed this one. The kink was primal and hardcore, the suspense was fun and exciting, and the romance heartwarming. If you like your kink with a lot of rough-and-tumble chasing and claiming, this one’s for you! I got this one as a review copy on Booksprout, but honestly loved it.
Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall
Amazon* ~ Apple ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Chirp ~ More Stores ~ Kobo*
So much delightful humor in Boyfriend Material. I laughed throughout. I was also utterly charmed by Luc and Oliver, more than I expected to be. They are the best of the fake boyfriends trope: utterly mismatched, yet totally right for each other in all the best possible ways. I laughed, I cried, and I wanted to smish them both with hugs by the end. I actually listened to the audiobook of this and really loved it.
What have you read and watched this month? Hit reply and let me know if you have something fantastic!
Hi Wild Ones! I’ve got all the sexy gay men for you this month! Plus some heavy kink and a little holiday cheer.
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Kinked Up by M.C. Roth
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*
Here we’ve got consensual non-consent play, pain play, and a very yummy submissive looking for someone to take him in hand and give him the ride of his life. If you like your kink hardcore and with two sexy men, plus some relationship angst thrown in, you’ll enjoy this one as much as I did.
Single All the Way
A little Christmas in July (or August) for you. This was warm, jolly, festive, heartwarming and full of sexy men. If you’re looking for a delightful gay holiday movie, this is it. I’ve never watched a holiday movie in the summer, but it was surprisingly fun. I imagine that if you’re in the southern hemisphere you’ll appreciate a cold weather movie right now.
What have you read and watched this month? Hit reply and let me know if you have something fantastic!
Hi Wild Ones! This was a fun month, with some excellent discoveries. I wound up watching a lot this month, due to being down with a cold for a few days.
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Assassins in Love by Kris DeLake
Amazon* ~ Apple ~ More Stores ~ Kobo*
This was such a fun space adventure story. It was steamy, and went in unexpected directions. I loved the ways the characters grew, both together and as individuals. I enjoyed the science fiction angle, and would love to read more about them. There’s a second book in the series I have my eye on, as well as some short stories.
Missing Ink by E.J. Frost
I absolutely loved the way Frost depicted the D/s relationship in this story. Mac is a wonderful Dom: older and experienced, gentle, and tough when he needs to be. He’s so loving and gentle with Brenna through much of the book and I loved that. It’s also hot as hell when they scene. So much love for a good silver fox character! 😉 Fantastically yummy book, and another series I’m eying.
Heartstopper
On Netflix. This is a coming-of-age teen drama so it’s actually not steamy at all. Instead it’s achingly sweet, in the “everything’s perfect” kind of way. If you’re looking for a hit of happy queer feels, with just a bit of angst along the way, this is your show. It’s got two boys finding each other and choosing love, along with some other interesting characters finding love also along the way (not going to say more so I don’t spoil). The only thing is that I hope there’s a second season because some side characters really need more screen time!
365 Days: This Day
On Netflix. I saw 365 Days a while ago and this one popped up so I decided to watch it while laid up. It’s gorgeously filmed, incredibly erotic, and great fun to watch. I just swoon at their kisses! It’s basically just wall-to-wall sex, with some fun shopping and bestie time with the main character’s best friend. There is a fun BDSM scene, but it’s not really a kinky film. If you haven’t seen the first one, he kidnaps her and gives her 365 days to fall in love with him. If she doesn’t fall for him, he’ll let her go. It’s pure Alpha Male fantasy. If you like that kind of thing you’ll love these. There is actually a plot, but it takes a major backseat to the sex. There was a lot more plot in the first movie. I was expecting more in this one, but I’m not sure I really missed it 😉 The plot is there, and it’s kinda interesting, but it’s basically hot and sexy guys for the win. If the Alpha Male Won’t Take No For An Answer story isn’t for you, you won’t like these movies. If you do, then sit back with a glass of wine and your B.O.B. and enjoy.
What have you read and watched this month? Hit reply and let me know if you have something fantastic!