A tumblr for recc'ing m/m fiction. I read a stupid amount of it, thought I would put it to good use. Other recs are always welcome.
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
From the Inside Out
I loved this story, NEGL. I started reading it one night figuring I could read it over the course of a week or two, and ended up staying up until the wee hours of the morning when I couldn’t make my eyes focus anymore. ;3
Soren is a sweetheart, and I related to him a lot. He doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life, and he’s sort of coasting along, flying under the radar with his family, his (non-existent) love life, and his future. Then Tru, his online chat partner, suggests they meet up (as the summary says), and Soren’s very careful balance starts to crumble … and he starts to want it to.
I think my very, very favorite thing about this book is that it’s not rushed in the least. With a lot of the M/M romance books that I read (which, uh, isn’t as many as I’d like), the romance is rushed for the sake of the sex, the character development is nonexistent or again, rushed for the sake of the relationship/sex. From the Inside Out is a slow build, and my very favorite kind, that of a first-time relationship.
Soren and Tru build their relationship slowly, in the midst of a dozen plus side characters that have their own lives and personalities. They also fight and miscommunicate and nearly break up and read too much into stuff and not enough into other stuff and just in general are young, inexperienced, and sorting through their relationship and what they want to do with their lives.
Do read this book if you want a nice, long slow build, a character-driven romance that is all about falling in love and making it work.
Don’t read this book if you want a quick read, full of conflict and tension (go check out Andor’s Signal to Noise for that :3).
An urban fantasy series about a group of Warders (guardians, basically) and their Hearths. The first book is probably one of the best beginnings to a series I’ve read, it does a great job of leading you into the whole world from the POV of a man who doesn’t a single damn thing about any of it.
The four book, Sinnerman, is my favorite, but they’re all excellent reads. I was beyond excited when I got the author to sign my paperbacks at Yaoicon :D
You can buy them here.
Nick Addison has taken care of Hollister Welles since college. Though the responsible grad student and the uninhibited partier were total opposites, they had always shared an inexplicable bond. Nick knows he should stop saving the out-of-control Holly, but when Holly hits rock-bottom hard—and publicly—he can’t resist coming to his rescue one last time. Can’t resist the feeling of having Holly need him again.
Bringing Holly back to New York City, Nick gives Holly the chance to face his demons and break his dangerous habits—while keeping Holly’s presence a secret from Nick’s wife. He doesn’t want to face Caroline’s hatred of Holly…or the reasons she might have to resent him.
Then the tables are turned. Just as Holly pulls himself together, Nick’s life falls apart. Now it’s up to Holly to bring Nick back from the brink—and to make Nick finally face the desires he’s long denied.
One of my comfort reads. I never get tired of this book. Love the characters to fucking death, and they’re so damn lovely together. The pacing is perfect, it really makes the story. If it had shorter or longer it would have suffered. One of my favorite sets of co-writers, I go YAYS every time they have a new book. And despite my limited free time, I’ve read this eleventy milllion times.
Love this series. It’s a hell of a lot of fun. I love all her chars - the criminals that are not all evil, the cops that are not all good. She manages the balance very well, and even pulls off how quickly they fall in love. I really really can’t wait for the next book in this series. If you love cops & robbers, you’ll probably enjoy this series.
Rec: Irregulars
NATO’s Irregulars Affairs Division is a secret organization operating in thousands of cities around the globe. Its agents police relations between the earthly realm and those beyond this world, protecting us from terrible dangers as well as enthralling temptations.
These agents—Irregulars, as they are known to the few who know them at all—are drawn to the work for their own reasons and close cases in their own unique ways.
Agent Henry Falk–an undead tramp brought back for a mission that might finally put him into a grave he can’t climb back out of.
Agent Keith Curry–a former carnivore chef turned vegetarian currently dealing with a goblin problem.
Agent Rake–a tough and ambitious guy with a penchant for easy living and dangerous games.
Agent Silas August–an uncompromising jerk with a dead partner and an assignment babysitting an assassin.
Four adventures from four award-winning authors, all set in one amazing world. Is your security clearance high enough to read on?
Why I liked it:
Best paranormal book I’ve read in forever. The world building, especially given its a shared world, is incredible. The details make it. I adore every single character, not a single one of them typical or half-assed. The last story is my absolute favorite but I adored them all. If you want stories that will suck you in, and something that is not lather rinse repeat paranormal, you cannot go wrong with this book.
Rec: On the Trail to Moonlight Gulch
It’s 1886, and Chicago is booming, but for nineteen-year-old Torsten Pilkvist, American-born son of Swedish immigrants, it’s not big enough. After tragically losing a rare love, Tory immerses himself in the pages of a Wild West mail-order bride magazine, where he stumbles on the advertisement of frontiersman and Civil War veteran Franklin Ausmus. Torsten and Franklin begin an innocent correspondence—or as innocent as it can be, considering Torsten keeps his true gender hidden. But when his parents discover the letters, Tory is forced out on his own. With nowhere else to go, he boards a train for the Black Hills and Franklin’s homestead, Moonlight Gulch.
Franklin figures Tory for a drifter, but he’s lonely after ten years of living in the backcountry alone, and his “girl” in Chicago has mysteriously stopped writing, so he hires Tory on as his ranch hand. Franklin and Tory grow closer while defending the land from outlaws who want the untapped gold in Franklin’s creek, but then Franklin learns Tory’s true identity and banishes Tory from his sight. Will their lives be forever tattered, or will Torsten—overhearing a desperate last-ditch scheme to snatch Franklin’s gold—be able to save Moonlight Gulch and his final shot at love?
Liked it because:
Westerns are one of the few genres I just don’t care for, and the exceptions are few and far between. But I did like this one. I liked Tory, I like Frank. Everything played out pretty solid for the most part. Only minor quibbles are that I think it could have been shorter, and the end was a little too bullet point, nice and tidy. But it’s definitely one of the most plausible ‘male order bride’ stories I’ve read, and the author gets full props for that.