LGBTQ+ Romance and Erotica Book Reviews
Can you have a second chance at a first love?
Nick Paine is just starting to return to normal after he told his wife he’s gay and asked for a divorce. Despite a daughter he loves dearly and a job he believes in, part of him is stuck in the past. He’s never forgotten the first love he let fade away fourteen years ago.
I chose Chasing Death Metal Dreams this week for a few reasons. One being this is a really fucking good book. Next, we’re still observing Queer Romance Month and this is a prime example of the stories that are needed. Everyone needs a love story. Also, it doesn’t hurt those of us who walk a different path to read these stories. This was the first book of this particular flavor I’ve ever read. I learned SO much. I cried SO hard. I felt…all KINDS of beautiful things. I thought about this book for days and days after I finished reading it.
I’m excited to tell you about it.
Sometimes life requires a partner.
Ed Maurer has bounced back, more or less, from the neck injury that permanently benched his semipro football career. He hates his soul-killing office job, but he loves volunteering at a local community center. The only fly in his ointment is the dance instructor, Laurie Parker, who can’t seem to stay out of his way.
This is where I’ll make an effort on Fridays to spotlight a FIVE STAR read that has either been previously reviewed here on this blog-o-mine or one from my archives. Since I’m still so new at this blogging business I’ll bring forth an older read, one never before reviewed by me–except out loud to friends, and possibly strangers, and perhaps my neighbor’s cat.
This week, in honor of Queer Romance Month (see below for more details), I’ve selected the first book I read that contained some MM action. This was my first foray, my gateway, into the realm of LGBTQ+ novels and it was a beautiful start to what has been an amazing journey so far.
No safe word can protect the heart
Infamous erotica author and accomplished dominatrix Nora Sutherlin is doing something utterly out of character: hiding. While her longtime lover, Soren–whose fetishes, if exposed, would be his ruin–is under scrutiny pending a major promotion, Nora’s lying low and away from temptation in the lap of luxury.
Her host, the wealthy and uninhibited Griffin Fiske, is thrilled to have Nora stay at his country estate, especially once he meets her traveling companion. 
Young, inexperienced and angelically beautiful, Michael has become Nora’s protege, and this summer with Griffin is going to be his training, where the hazing never ends.
But while her flesh is willing, Nora’s mind is wandering. To thoughts of Soren, her master, under investigation by a journalist with an ax to grind. And to another man from Nora’s past, whose hold on her is less bruising, but whose secrets are no less painful. It’s a summer that will prove the old adage: love hurts.
Published: September 25, 2012
Publisher: Harlequin MIRA
Genre: Contemporary Erotica, BDSM
Length: 411 Pages (Kindle)
POV: 3rd Person
Type: Part of a Series
See the book on GoodReads.
I wasn’t reviewing books back when I read this…and it’s been a while since my last read through.
I found book one of the Original Sinners series, The Siren, during a time that I was finding it very difficult (on a super-tight budget) to find well-written, intelligent prose with interesting characters.
The Siren floored me and left me clamoring for more.
I was hooked. I became a fan. I don’t have all the WORDS I need to EXPLAIN how utterly a-MAZE-ing these books are.
I have since pre-ordered and devoured every book in the series like a starving beast. I’ll also admit that these are the only books that, in addition to the Kindle e-books, I’ve also purchased the print versions. (My budget is no longer quite so tight, however bookshelf space is at a premium around here. But, I have to HAVE them ALL.)
So, The Angel is a continuation from where The Siren ended. It’s best if they’re read in order.
This is not exactly an MM romance per se. There’s some menage, and some BDSM kinky stuff going on, the characters identify as bi-sexual/bi-curious/sex-is-amazing-in-all-kinky-forms-with-whomever-is-consenting. But, a gorgeous, sweet, and enchanting MM relationship begins as a major (MAJOR) plot line.
It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read.
Griffin Fiske is…smart, a smart ass, compassionate, just…FUN, and sexy as hell. He’s enamored – HEAD OVER HEELS – for the young, damaged Michael who’s just figuring out who he is and that his differences don’t mean he’s alone. He’s not weird…or, so what the fuck if he is? He just needs to be around all the other weirdos for a while in order to learn how to fly. And being weird is SO okay. And he’ll be okay.
And Gaaaaaawwwd I want a Griffin Fiske of my very, very own. He wears a kilt, y’all…with combat boots. I mean…
LOOKIT!!! >>>>
Gimme!
K, I’m under control.
Mostly.
It felt…a little illicit…that I was reading about two men, because I’d never read that before. I didn’t know that kind of stuff was out there. I mean, I did, but I didn’t know that it was for me–that I might possibly be included in the target audience.
Was I?
This gave me something to think about. Was I limiting myself to only certain types of love stories based on my own pre-conceived notions of what “Romance (or Erotica) for me” should include? Would it be okay to read more like this? Are there other authors out there whose stories are just as brilliant? If I went hunting down other MM books was somebody going to bang on my door and say, “lady, seein’ as you’re straight, we’d prefer you to keep out of things that don’t concern you.”
Well…I haven’t been hunted down yet. I might be straight, but I’m damn sure not narrow–never have been, thank Christ. So maybe these stories can be for me too.
LGBTQ+ is not new to me because of friends, family, and life with my eyes wide open and blinders off.
But when I read The Angel, it was new flavor for me in books. One I liked.
These stories, yeah they’re sexy (because I go hunting for sexy stories). But they’re more. They’re new roads to travel, new people to meet, new experiences, new lessons, new thoughts, MORE understanding–because we can’t have enough of that.
This world is a glorious, colorful place and this book was my first step on a path full of more light, color and beauty than I ever dreamed I needed.
OH, before I forget (…and free, unsolicited promo…) Book EIGHT (and final book in the series), The Queen, is being released on October 27th. It’s up for pre-order now through all major retailers and where e-books are sold. Now is the time to start the series if you haven’t done it already. Do it!
The Red Years:
The Siren
The Angel
The Prince
The Mistress
The White Years:
The Saint
The King
The Virgin
The Queen
October is Queer Romance Month. This is worth checking out. I’m not an official sponsor, or pimp, or anything like that. I just know about this because of some of the fantastic authors and reviewers I follow on Twitter and GoodReads.
Check out their website, check out the items being posted throughout the day, every day, this whole month.
I’ve cried like three times already reading through the posts.
Go forth, let in some light and color into your world. You’ll be better for it.
Love is Love.
That’s all there is to it.
Click this link > QueerRomanceMonth.com and go see some amazing folks.
A drifter since his teens, Jimmy Dorsett has no home and no hope. What he does have is a duffel bag, a lot of stories, and a junker car. Then one cold desert night he picks up a hitchhiker and ends up with something more: a letter from a dying man to the son he hasn’t seen in years.
On a quest to deliver the letter, Jimmy travels to Rattlesnake, a small town nestled in the foothills of the California Sierras. The centerpiece of the town is the Rattlesnake Inn, where the bartender is handsome former cowboy Shane Little. Sparks fly, and when Jimmy’s car gives up the ghost, Shane gets him a job as handyman at the inn.
It’s taken Tommy Newsome a while to get his head around being gay.
Growing up in a small town in Georgia, hasn’t prepared him for the more liberal life of a student at the university in Athens. Add to that the teachings of his parents and his church, and you have one shy young man who feels out of his depth. Working on his daddy’s farm hasn’t given him any chance of a social life, certainly not one like the clubs of Atlanta have on offer. Not that Tommy feels comfortable when he gets to sample it—Momma’s lectures still ring loudly inside his head.