Goodbye, June!

June was long as hell. Then again, it was busy as hell. I did a lot and had a lot of fun (so much fun, so many memories). But holy hell, some of the things I did in the beginning of the month seem like they happened eons ago.

  

2023 Resolutions:
     (1) Write [almost] every day...or at least think about it
     (2) Don't stop reading
     (3) Make something (e.g. a memories)
     (4) Share love of books/writing
     (5) Be kinder to myself

(1) *Cricket*

(2) Books read this month: 22 (might get one more in there before midnight though).

(3) June Memories: My dad's birthday, so cake. I also took him to the Clemente Museum in town, which he loved; we also got burgers (and eclairs) after. My grandma and I went to see the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra place alongside the OG "Little Mermaid." My friends and I got tacos and margaritas one Friday night, which resulted in drunk shopping at HomeGoods. I want to goat yoga with my coworkers, which was less picturesque than any of us had imagined. My doggo had a birthday, and subsequently destroyed the new toy I got him (and the ice cream cup). My sister visited for a week, and we went on a lot a adventures (including soup dumplings, cheese fries, and getting drunk a few times--not all in the same meal/day). I got two new tattoos (pictures to come eventually). We went to a local berry festival. I read all queer-themed books for pride month. I did something new and fun for my pride month themed posts (ABCs). June was a really fun (but busy as hell) month. Though downside: there were a lot of days with air-quality alerts, so we couldn't go outside and enjoy the nice (not too hot nor too humid) weather. 

(4) Posts this month (including this one): 51.

(5) Not sick for once. Mental health was pretty steady. Weight was pretty steady. Feeling the desire to better myself again, ready to get back on the elliptical and maybe eating better (or at least less).

Anyone still holding onto their resolutions?

Any exciting July reads?
Anything I should check out?

#newyearsresolutions #goodbyejune #hellojuly #hello2023 #keeplearning #writeeveryday #dontstopreading #makesomething #shareloveofbooks #bekindertoself #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: Goodbye

How does one say goodbye to Pride Month? 

It's more than rainbow colored capitalism. It always has been. It's more than Target pulling their items because people are ignorant and afraid (because there's no where else to buy these items). It's more than banning people because it might make their kids gay (because reading about princes/princesses will turn your child into royalty, obviously). It's more than a few weeks of being "allowed" space to march, to speak, to be.

Pride Month is a revolution. It's a fucking liberation. It's fighting for ones space to just simple exist. It's fighting for a small section of society to just be. It's fighting for something, anything. It's a fight, simple as that.

It's about rights. Never having them, getting a few, losing it all, gaining back some. A cis-het white man never lost his rights (even in prison, so many of these men still have more freedom then queer folx).

It's about trying to exist in a place where seemingly no one wants them to. It's about pushing through each and every day, trying to be proud of oneself, of one's life, of one's choices (not that queerness/gender/sexuality is a choice--it's not). It's living when society is telling you not to. It's about never giving up, no matter what. It's about surviving, even if it's on the streets. It's about living, even if it's with nothing. It's about finding safe spaces. It's about found fucking family. 

Pride is about being. It's about marching, about finally given the space to be after so many years of hiding in closets and secret bars. It's about books for adults, for teens, for children who might be questioning themselves or who might have "nontraditional" families, all of whom never previously saw themselves in books, let alone movies, tv shows, or music videos. It's about stores, independently owned/small businesses and larger chain stores, selling these books, selling clothes and decor and more (items people previously had to hand-make to simply have) after never giving so many marginalized communities a space to be outside of where they were forced to hide. 

Pride Month... is so much. It's so fucking much for so many people. I hope this past month was good to you, in at least the smallest of ways. I hope you found a place to be, a place to march, a book to read. I hope you made a new friend. I hope you learned something about pride (about gender or sexuality or queerness in general), about yourself. I hope you had at least one good night sleep, at least one hot meal, at least one safe hug. 

If you need resources for safe spaces or simply for informing yourself, please refer back to my resources page from the beginning of the month. If you need a book to read to inform yourself on some of these queer communities, whether it's an informative one, a children's one, or a romance novel, please reach out to me (I have several recommendations for you).
If you're looking for a sign to hold on or to come out, this is it (stay strong, my friend--and if coming out to you is whispering in the mirror of who you are, that counts too; if you can't or don't want to shout it from the rooftops yet, hold on and stay strong). I love you; you are loved.

Maybe by next Pride Month, we'll have even more to celebrate (hopefully the world hasn't burned down by then). That's what get's us through though it all, it's it? Hope.

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: Facts & Flags

I miss my flag posts, and I never gave you your facts post...so why not do both?! Facts & Flags (alongside my second ever book rainbow--taken last year)

Facts:

• Every color of the rainbow flag means something.
• In 1967, the Oscar Wilde memorial bookshop opened in New York City. It was the first gay bookshop in the world.
• In 1976, a kiss-in was hosted in Toronto after two men were arrested for kissing at the corner of Bloor and Yonge streets. Protesters stood on the same corner and kissed in front of police officers.
• In May 1959, a group of LGBTQ individuals who were fed up with being mistreated by the police fought back at Cooper Do-Nuts in Los Angeles. According to Out, the group, which was led by several transgender women, "pelted officers with donuts, coffee, and paper plates until they were forced to retreat and return with larger numbers." It is believed to be the first documented LGBTQ uprising in U.S. history.
• It is believed that the term 'lesbian' comes from the Greek island Lesbos. Sappho, a Greek poetess known for her poetry about the beauty of other women, and her love for them, was from the island.
• Many of the early LGBTQ+ rights marches included "liberation" or "freedom" in their names, and for good reason - plenty of queer people wanted to be liberated from the shackles of heteronormative society, to feel that they could simply be themselves without having to answer to anyone. By the time the 1980s came around, the word "liberation" wasn't being used quite as much, with many marches instead going with "Pride". Part of that was down to elements of conservatism within the movement - notably, some marches were reluctant to adopt the change.
• Marsha P. Johnson is often credited with throwing the first punch at the Stonewall Inn (though there are many prominent figures who are also rumored to have done so). She was a Black trans woman celebrating her 25th birthday at the time of the riots and a tour de force in the gay community. She died in 1992 at just 46 years old after police found her body in the Hudson River - her death was initially ruled a suicide, despite friends and loved ones insisting that could not be the case.
• Shania Twain was inspired to write "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" after watching a drag performance.
• Stormé DeLarverie was a gay rights activist and drag performer who was also at Stonewall when it was raided that night. Her friend, Lisa Cannistraci, told the New York Times upon her death in 2014, "Nobody knows who threw the first punch, but it's rumored that she did, and she said she did. She told me she did."
• Sylvia Rivera was an activist and self-professed drag queen who also played a part in the Stonewall Riots. She fought for transgender rights alongside Marsha P. Johnson, creating S.T.A.R. (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries) to help house homeless LGBTQ youth. She advocated for transgender rights until her death in 2002.
• The first Pride flag was designed by gay artist Gilbert Baker in 1978. It originally had eight stripes with each color symbolizing a different concept. The flag first flew on Gay Pride Day in San Francisco on June 25, 1978.
• The Society for Human Rights is the oldest documented gay rights organization in the U.S. It's based in Chicago and was founded by Henry Gerber in 1924. While stationed in Germany on Army duty, Gerber was met with an open LGBT community. His hope was to replicate this open, mainstream LGBT community in the U.S. It was an uphill battle as he faced threats and was arrested, but he never stopped advocating for the LGBT community. In 2015, the Henry Gerber House was declared a National Historic Landmark.
• The Stonewall Uprising took place early morning on June 28, 1969 when police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar known as a safe place for LGBTQIA+ individuals. The raid sparked riots, six days of protests, and clashes with police. Although the uprising was not the start of the LGBTQIA+ movement, it was seen as a critical moment and spark in the movement. The Stonewall Inn is still open today in New York City and is a national monument!
• The U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 states on June 26, 2015. This was a monumental moment for the LGBTQIA+ community. The Court's ruling means that states can no longer deny same-sex marriages and must recognize their unions. Love wins!

*Facts from: various internet sources (mostly reliable and inclusive ones, but a few were popular mega-media sites)

Flags:

• Agender Pride: black (absence of gender), gray (semi-genderless), white (absence of gender), green (non-binary individuals), white (absence of gender), gray (semi-genderless), black (absence of gender)
• Aromantic Pride: dark green (aromanticism), light green (aromantic spectrum), white (platonic and aesthetic attraction), gray (gray-romantic and demi-romantic) , black (sexuality spectrum)
• Asexual Pride: black (asexual), gray (demisexual), white (allies), purple (community)
• Bisexual Pride: pink (same sex attraction), purple (breadth of gender spectrum), blue (other sex attraction)
• Demisexual Pride: white (sexuality), purple (community), gray (gray asexuality/demisexuality), black triangle (asexuality)
• Gay Men Pride: traditional male colors spanning a spectrum to cover multiple versions of different traditional male identities and attractions (eg masc to twink)
• Gender Fluid Pride: pink (femininity), white (lack of gender), purple (mix of male/female & queer identity), black (third/other/all genders), indigo (masculinity)
• Gender Queer Pride: purple (mix of male/female & queer identity), white (gender neutral identity), green (third/other/all genders)
• Graysexual Pride: purple (asexuality), gray (graysexuality), white (allosexuality), gray (graysexuality), purple (asexuality)
• Intersexual Pride: yellow and purple (non-binary colors/gender-neutral colors--representing wholeness/rightness/completeness)
• Lesbian Pride: traditional female colors spanning a spectrum to cover multiple version of different traditional female identities and attractions (eg femme to butch)
• Non-Binary Pride: yellow (without/outside gender binary), white (many/all genders), purple (mix of female/male & queer identity), black (without gender)
• Omnisexual Pride: light pink (variations of attraction to femme), dark pink (variations of attraction to femme), black (third/other/all genders), dark blue (variations of attraction to masc), light blue (variations of attraction to masc)
• Pansexual Pride: pink (attraction to femme), yellow (attraction to nonbinary), blue (attraction to masc)
• Polysexual Pride: pink (attraction to femme), green (attraction outside f/m binary), blue (attraction to masc)
• Queer Pride (Philadelphia meets Gilbert Baker)...hot pink (sex), red (life), orange (healing), yellow (sunlight), green (nature), turquoise (magic/art), indigo (serenity/harmony), violet (spirit), brown (inclusivity), black (diversity)
• Questioning Pride: pastel rainbow and question mark represents general queer society and questioning ones space inside of it regardless of time, place, age, etc
• Transexual Pride: blue (traditional male color), pink (traditional female color), white (transitional, neutral color, intersex), pink (traditional female color), blue (traditional male color)

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop anything (or you want to add your own fact) I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Northranger

Random Facebook add, let me introduce you to my lack of impulse control (and my Amazon Prime account). Here's Rey Terciero's (author) and Bre Indigo's (illustrator) "Northranger."

["In this swoony and spooky teen summer romance graphic novel set on a Texas ranch, sixteen-year-old Cade Muñoz finds himself falling for the ranch owner's mysterious and handsome son, only to discover that he may be harboring a dangerous secret.

Cade has always loved to escape into the world of a good horror movie. After all, horror movies are scary--but to Cade, a closeted queer Latino teen growing up in rural Texas--real life can be way scarier.

When Cade is sent to spend the summer working as a ranch hand to help earn extra money for his family, he is horrified. Cade hates everything about the ranch, from the early mornings to the mountains of horse poop he has to clean up. The only silver lining is the company of the two teens who live there--in particular, the ruggedly handsome and enigmatic Henry.

But as unexpected sparks begin to fly between Cade and Henry, things get... complicated. Henry is reluctant to share the details of his mother's death, and Cade begins to wonder what else he might be hiding. Inspired by the gothic romance of Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey and perfect for fans of Heartstopper and Bloom comes a modern love story so romantic it's scary."]

This book was fun. Cade’s obsession with horror movies really bleeds into the story and the mysteries surrounding the ranch. But so does his feelings for Henry, which are mutual—spoiler alert). As does the rural Texas mentality and general bigotry surrounding gender rules and sexuality, so fun times there, too (please look at the trigger warnings below). 

A few well rounded and full topiced book for young adults and grown adults to dive into for more information and perspective on…life. 

Trigger Warnings: homophobia, misogyny, animal cruelty (it’s a ranch), racism, domestic violence, confronting death, depression/anxiety, and more 

#queergraphicnovel #YAgraphicnovel #graphicnovels #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: Z

Pride Alphabet Time! Z is for...

AUTHORS: Z.R. Ellor, and more

SERIES:

BOOKS: Ziggy, Stardust, and Me; Ziggy, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE:

TERMS:

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: Y

Pride Alphabet Time! Y is for...

AUTHORS: 

SERIES:

BOOKS: You Asked For Perfect, You're The One That I Want, Yours For The Holiday, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE:

TERMS:

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Foolish Puckboy (Puckboy series #4)

Trying to (slowly) catch up on some of my TBR piles...trying being the key word here. This is "Foolish Puckboy," the fourth book in the Puckboys series by the fabulous Eden Finley and magnificent Saxon James.

["ALEKS
After my divorce, I’m ready to have fun, date around, and not get into anything serious. Then I meet Gabe Crosby, superhero firefighter and a disgrace to the Crosby name. He doesn’t even like hockey!
Yet, there’s a draw to him I can’t deny—something I haven’t felt since my teens. But that’s the problem. I have no idea what dating is like, let alone how to do it with another man. He makes me flakey and nervous, and I’ve never been that guy.
Gabe turns me inside out and upside down in the best possible ways. I only recently became single, but if I continue to chase after him, I might not stay that way for long.

GABE
When I meet Aleksander Emerson during an emergency call-out, there are three things that catch my attention: his sexy tattoos, his kind eyes, and his drunken offer to have my babies.
He’s new to Seattle and recently divorced, so I take him under my wing–and under my sheets. I’m showing him what the world of hookups is like, only those hookups turn into sleepovers and dates and public displays of jealousy.
Aleks is in his casual era, and I’m working my way toward settling down and starting a family. What the two of us have is fun, but not a good idea permanently.
Too bad Aleks has already set my life on fire."]

The angst in this one was a rollercoaster. Nothing, then pan-panic. Nothing, then mutual pining. Nothing, then "feelings" anxiety. Nothing, then jealousy (which sorta helped). Nothing, then commitment fears slash what's-the-future-look-like-to-you slash scary L word. 

But the fluff and the steam and all of the friends (from the Queer Collective to Gabe's firefighter found-family) helped ease the angst. Mostly. I still didn't breathe quiet often (fun. times.). But seriously, the fluff and the nicknames and the casual touch love language and just D: 

These two are dangerous with their words (these two being Eden and Saxon--I'll forever be dedicated to their work, even if it makes me cry).

#egotisticalpuckboy #irresponsiblepuckboy #shamelesspuckboy #foolishpuckboy #saxonjames #edenfinley #puckboys #puckboysseries #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: X

Pride Alphabet Time! X is for... well, I have nothing. I have yet to read anything with starts with an X (author-wise, title-wise, series-wise), I haven't come across any X names or X terms in my research. If YOU have anything, please, please, please let me know in a comment below!!

Instead, I figured I'd share a quick(ish) Queer Timeline (from my copy of "Rainbow Revolutionaries: Fifty LGBTQ+ People Who Made History"--you need to check it out btw):

Pre-1492 to the 20th century: The precolonial world has a wealth of LGBTQ+ diversity. What is considered "normal" for genders and sexualities varies greatly from culture to culture across all inhabited continents before European standards are imposed.

BC era: Several cave paintings and other ancient representations have been found from this time period showing LGBTQ+ people. Sappho writes about female-female love, and Catullus and others write about male-male love.

27 BC - AD 476: Roman Empire. Bisexuality is common, and multiple Roman emperors marry men publicly.

476-1492: Middle Ages. LGBTQ+ people are used as scapegoats for society's problems and as a result are often executed.

1300-1600: Renaissance. Many LGBTQ+ artists contribute to this artistic time period in Europe, including Leonardo da Vinci.

1428-1521: Aztec Empire. The Aztecs punish same-sex acts by death.

1478-1834: Spanish Inquisition. Over 1,600 people are investigated for homosexuality; many are punished for it, including being put to death.

1740: China criminalizes homosexuality for the first time in the country's history.

1791: France decriminalizes homosexuality, the first European country to do so. This also applies to all French-controlled territories overseas.

1815-1914: Height of British Empire. The UK conquers much of the world and brings its anti-LGBTQ+ laws with it. Of the countries where anti- LGBTQ+ laws are still on the books, more than half retain those laws from when they were British colonies.

1869: The word "homosexuality" is first publicly printed in Germany.

1871: Britain's Criminal Tribes Act goes into effect in India. One of the groups it criminalizes are the hijra, a South Asian gender that has existed since ancient times. Today the hijra have legal recognition in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Pakistan.

1873: Japan criminalizes homosexuality for the first time in the country's history.

1897: Magnus Hirschfeld founds the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee in Germany, considered the world's first LGBTQ+ rights advocacy group.

1916: Charles Webster Leadbeater founds the Liberal Catholic Church in Australia, considered the first religious group to minister openly to gay men and lesbians.

1918-1937: Harlem Renaissance. A time of incredible African American contributions to the arts. It includes many LGBTQ+ artists, such as Langston Hughes.

1924: The Society for Human Rights is founded in Chicago, the first LGBTQ+ rights organization in the Americas. While this organization only lasted a few months, it paved the way for longer-lasting groups to be founded in the 1950s.

1933-1945: Nazis control Germany. It is estimated that over fifty thousand men are sent to concentration camps for loving men.

1965: A small group of people pickets Independence Hall in Philadelphia, considered to be one of the first public demonstrations for LGBTQ+ rights.

1967: The group Nuestro Mundo is founded in Argentina, considered the first LGBTQ+ rights group in Latin America.

1969: Stonewall Rebellion happens in New York City, a huge riot that sparks the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. Canada decriminalizes homosexual

1970: The first Pride is organized in New York City as a celebration of the anniversary of the Stonewall Rebellion.

1972: Sweden becomes the first country in the world to allow people to legally change their sex.

1981: HIV/AIDS epidemic begins. Nearly half a million people die of complications due to HIV/AIDS by the year 2000. Today, people living with HIV/AIDS can lead full lives.

1996: South Africa's new constitution says that no one can discriminate against someone for being LGBTQ+, the first national constitution in the world to do so.

2001: The Netherlands legalizes marriage equality, the first country in the world to do so.

2003: Alex McFarlane (an intersex person) receives an Australian passport and birth certificate with the gender marker "X" instead of "M" or "F.»

2018: The Supreme Court of India strikes down a colonial-era anti-homosexuality law.

Current: Slightly tragic, to be honest (but with a hopeful, glass half-full, rose-colored-glasses outlook).

Future: ?

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: W

Pride Alphabet Time! W is for...

AUTHORS: Willow Dixon, William Shakespeare, and more

SERIES:Westbrook Elite, Whispering Key, Winner Takes All, Working Out The Kinks, The Way Home, and more

BOOKS: The Weight of Feathers, The Witch Boy, The World, The Wrong Omega, Want Me, Wanted My Brother's Rival, Watch Me, Watch Us, Watching & Wanting, Wayward Son, We Are Lost and Found, We Are Totally Normal, We Contain Multitudes, Web of Lies, Welcome to Knockwood, What, What Happens At Christmas, What If Its Us, Whatever., When The Moon Was Ours, Where the Lovelight Gleams, Wild Beauty, Wild Goose Chase, Wilde Fire, Wilde Love; Will Grayson, Will Grayson; Winning You, Winter Waites, Winter's Orbit, Wish, Wonders of the Invisible World, Wrangling the Groom; Wrong Message, Right Valentine; WTF, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE: Wen of Han, We'wha, and more

TERMS: WLW, WSW, and more

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: V

Pride Alphabet Time! V is for...

AUTHORS: Victor Martins, Victoria Lee, and more

SERIES:Valentine's Inc, Valentine's Inc Cruise, Valentine's Inc Snowed In, and more

BOOKS: The Vase, Vanilla Steamer, Virgin Flyer, Virtually Screwed, Vow Maker, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE: 

TERMS: Voguing, and more

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Don't Date A DILF (The Rules We Break #1)

Here's D.J. Jamison's "Don't Date A DILF." It's the first book in her The Rules We Break series (it's in the same town and universe as her The Games We Play series).

["I have one rule to live by: Don't Date a DILF.

I've seen the consequences of blurring the boundaries between teaching life and dating life, and I'm not about to take that kind of risk.

But I didn't count on Hunter Rhodes walking into my school. Never expected that the broad-shouldered, stubble-jawed, absolute glory of a man would be such a sweet and caring father. Or that as a seemingly straight man, he might decide he wants me.

If my Nana has her way...I'll be in love with someone by the end of the school year, but there's only one man who tempts me.
With her matchmaking in overdrive and half the single women in Granville setting their sights on Hunter, faking a relationship could give us both a reprieve.

It might be fun and games for Hunter, but separating pretend feelings from real won't be so simple for me. And then there's that rule...

Can I date a DILF without disaster--or will all my fears come true?"]

This book was filled with so much fluff (like Hunter calling Clark "angel") and steam (sneaking around sex) and meddling grannies (so many grannies) and naughty-not-on-purpose-but-also-on-purpose titles of things (I love Granville). Plus some angst (so much angst). And some meddling kiddos (for better or for worse). Plus all of that pretending to date then dating without the pretend but with some secrets instead. But then like...happily ever after.

With some serious intrigue for the next novel. Like, can we have it now? Pretty please?

#dontdateadilf #dontmesswiththeex #djjamison #theruleswebreak #theruleswebreakseries #thegamesweplay #thegamesweplayseries #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: U

Pride Alphabet Time! U is for...

AUTHORS: 

SERIES:

BOOKS: The Underdog, Uncomplicated, Unexpected, Unexpected Kind of Love, Unicorns Forever, Unraveled, Unspoken Vox, Unwritten Law, Up Ship Creek, Us, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE: 

TERMS:

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Jacks & Marchie (Say You'll Be Nine #2)

I got an email the other day (okay, at this point it was a few weeks ago) about Lucy Lennox's short story (available via #BookFunnel). It's in the same universe and a spin-off/sequel to "Say You'll Be Nine" (which I somehow skipped? when binging Lucy's work 2-3 years ago). ANYway, here's said short story "Jacks & Marchie."

["This 5k short story is best enjoyed after reading the novel Say You'll Be Nine by Lucy Lennox. Jacks and Marchie finally turn a life-long friendship into so much more."]

Jacks and Marchie as best friends, the best of friends. And they own a popular cafe/bakery together (#goals).

This book was so freaking good!! D: It happened right after Jacks's surgery, the thing he might have totally on purpose forgot to tell Marchie was moved up. They're both sweet and worried and in love and finally ready to confess everything. There's not a lot of steam, like any, but it ends with the sweetest kiss that's like coming home. What more could you possibly want?

#sayyoullbenine #jacksandmarchie #lucylennox #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: T

Pride Alphabet Time! T is for...

AUTHORS: T.J. Klune, T.L. Gehr, Tal Bauer, Tess Sharpe, and more

SERIES: Tattoos & Temptations, Thrust Into Love, True Colors, Twist of Fate, and more

BOOKS: Take a Shot, Taken By Chance, Taken By Storm, Taming Teddy, Tank, Tapped By My Roommate, Temptation, Text Me Up, Textual Connections, The Temperature of Me and You, The Two Stars Collision, There Goes Sunday School, They Both Die At The End, Thick as Thieves, This Winter, Thorned Heart, Three Dates, Tic-Tac-Misletoe, To Whom It May Concern, Top Notch Boyfriend, Total Fabrication, Tough Guy, Tourist Destination, Trick Play, Truth or Darren, Try Me, Turn Me On, Twelve Days of Gay, Two Boys Kissing, Two Men & A Baby, Two Princes, Two Truths and A Lyle, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE: Tshepo Ricki Kgositau, and more

TERMS: T4T, TERF, TGNC, They/Them, Throuple, Top Surgery, Trancestors, Trans, Trans-antagonistic, Transfeminine, Transition, Transmasculine, Transmedicalism, Transmisogynoir, Transmisogyny, Transpawn, Transphobia, Two-Spirit, and more

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Say You'll Be Nine

I really, really don't know how I didn't read Lucy Lennox's "Say You'll Be Nine" yet. Like, I went to read "Jacks & Marchie" on #BookFunnel, and when it say you need to read SYBN first, I went to double check I did, and I...hadn't.

["One dilapidated cabin in need of renovation.
Two stubborn men pretending to be a couple.
Three summer months to get the job done.
Four tangled legs in only one bed.
Five cameras catching it all for YouTube.
Six hundred thousand Instagram followers.
Seven nosy family members with Opinions.
Eight thousand reasons they should never fall in love.
Nine million reasons why they will."]

This book!! D: This book was so damn good! I mean, honestly, come on. Lucy, did you have to go so hard? Did you have to continue to make perfectly imperfect people that are perfect together, plus diverse settings and complex plot and steamy steamy scenes and such a glorious happily ever after?! Did you?! Full of regret for not reading this sooner (let's blame the pandemic--this came out June 2020). Then again, if you didn't go so hard, I think we'd all be worried.

ANYWAY, this book has just fun chemistry and an easy balance and a perfect doggo named Nacho. Plus just clicking and fitting together and making sense (and oreos). Plus the best friends brother thing?! Hell. Yes.

Off to read "Jacks & Marchie"

#sayyoullbenine #jacksandmarchie #lucylennox #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: S

Pride Alphabet Time! S is for...

AUTHORS: S.J. Goslee, Samantha Wayland, Sammi Cee, Sandy Hall, Sarah Henstra, Sarah Tregay, Saxon James, Simon James, Green, Sophia Gonzales, Sophia Nix, Steven Salvatore, Susan Hawke, and more

SERIES: Simon Snow, Shafter Falls, Steele Brothers, Stick Side, Straight Guys, Sugarland Saints, Suite Dreams, Suits & Seven, Sunday Brothers, Suntastic Fun, and more

BOOKS: Safe & Sound, Santa Daddy, Scar, Screwed, Secret Admirer, Serving Love, Settling the Score, Seven Minutes In Kevin, Sexted By Santa, Shameless Puckyboy, Shared Secrets, Shattered Pieces, Ship Happens, Ship It, Ship Off, Ship Work, Shipping Orders, Shipping Our Loves, Show Me, Shipping the Captain, Siege and Storm, Silky Smooth, Simon Says, Simon Vs The Homosapien's Agenda, Six of Crows, Ski Patrol, Skip A Beat, Sleigh Ride with Hellan, Slick, Smolder, Snow Big Deal, Snow Daze, Snow For Christmas, Snow Job, Snow One Like You, Snow Regrets, Snow Way Out, Snowbody Like You, Snowflake Kisses, So This Is Ever After, Solitaire, Spindle's Curse, Spotlight, Spring Strings, Starting From Scratch, Stealing the Show, Step Bully, Stickshift, Strike A Chord, Straight as a Cucumber, Straight Battle, Striking Distance, Stripped Love, Stroker, Stud, Submitted To My Enemy, Super Hot Wingmen, Surprise Groom, Sweet as Honey, Sweet As Pie, Sweetest Hate, Sweetheart, Swiped By My Dad's Best Friend, Symptoms of Being Human, The Secret, The Song of Achilles, The Step Bro Situation, The Stopping Place, The Summer of Everything, The Summer Palace, The Sunny Side, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE: Sally Ride, Simon Nkoli, Stormé DeLarverie, Sylvia Rivera, and more

TERMS: Same-Gender Loving, Sapphic, Segregation, Sex, Sex Assigned at Birth, Sex Worker, Sexual Orientation, She/Her, Social Construction, SOGI, Stealth, Stereotype, Straight, Stud, Survival Sex, and more

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Explicit Transaction (Destined to Fail #3)

Another day, another deviation to my reading plans. ANYway. This is Hayden Hall's "Explicit Transactions," the third book in her Destined to Fail series.

["I’m the prince of the night; the fulfillment of every one of your desires; the human form of every dirty thought you’ve ever had.

If you can afford me, of course.

Luca DiMarco can afford me. The flashy socialite and the hottest face of the upper echelon, he’s loaded enough that entire weekends with me are nothing more than pocket change.

Luca is relentless. I gave him something in our encounters which he can’t live without. And he’s doing everything in his near-infinite power to keep it. He’s going out of his way to make me feel good.

It almost feels like he cares. And he's making it really hard to resist the attention.

Boys like me don’t go around falling in love with their clients. They don’t expect a Prince Charming to carry them away. Yet both of those things seem to be happening to me.

But there are greater forces at work trying to tear us apart. And I’m not brave enough to face them."]

It took me a while to read this one, mostly due to the perceived angst. I really thought there’d be more. Not that I’m complaining.

It wasn’t easy for them, not until they both accepted what they felt from the start, instant companionship and attraction and rightness. I cried a bit, probably could have more if I was breathing during the third-act suspension. 

#destructiverelations #shamelessaffairs #explicittransations #haydenhall #destinedtofail #destinedtofailseries #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: R

Pride Alphabet Time! R is for...

AUTHORS: Rachel Cohn, Rachel Reid, Rainbow Rowell, Rick Riordan, Riley Hart, Robbie Couch, Robby Weber, and more

SERIES: Reckless & Royal, Reckless Love, Replay, and more

BOOKS: Radio Silence, Rainbow Revolutionaries, Ready For You, Rear Ended, Rebel, Rebound, Recovered Fumble; Red, White, Royal Blue; Remembering You, Renovating The Model, Rescue Me, Right As Raine, Right Where I Left You, Risk, Risk Taker, Risky, Rock Bottom, Rocket Science, Rogue, Role Model, Room Upgrade, Rookie Mistake, Roommate, Roommate Arrangement, Royally Tricked, Ruin and Rising, Rule Breaker, Rule of Law; Rules, Schmules; Running with Lions, The Raven Boys, The Real Deal, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE: Renée Richards, Rudolf Nureyev, and more

TERMS: Romantic Identity, and more

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: Q

Pride Alphabet Time! Q is for...

AUTHORS:

SERIES:

BOOKS: Quarterback Sneak, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE:

TERMS: QTPOC, Queer, Queerbaiting, Queerplatonic, Queerspawn, Questioning, and more

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: P

Pride Alphabet Time! P is for...

AUTHORS: Phil Stamper, and more

SERIES: Palm Island, Pretty Broken, Puckboy, and more

BOOKS: Paired With The Jock, Paper Snowflakes, Patient Xero, Perfect Matcha, Perfect Ten, Peter Darling, Pick Me, Pick One, Picture Love, Pixie, Platonic Rulebook, Play It By Ear, Play it By Heart, Playground Games, Playing Games, Playing the Palace, Popstar, Power Plays and Straight A's, Practice Makes Perfect, Presidential Chaos, Pretty Black, Pretty Fucked, Pretty In Pink, Pretty Obsessed, Pretty Toxic, Prince & Knight, Prince of Lies, Prince's, Gambit, Princess and the Fangirl, Professor Platonic, Project Hero, Protecting Paul, PS I Love You, Punched My Roommates V-Card, Puppiccino, The Passing Playbook, The Passing Playbook, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Player, The Prince & The Troll, The Prince and the Dressmaker, The Princess and the Fangirl, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE: Pauli Murray, and more

TERMS: Pan, Passing, PEP, Poly, Positive; Pre-/Post-/Non- Operative; Preference, PrEP, Present/Presentation, Pride, Privilege, Pronouns, PTP, Puberty Blockers, and more

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

The Cowboy and The Brat

I recently added myself to Hayden Hall's email updates/newsletter. It came with multiple free short stories, many of which are prequels to series I need to read eventually. This short, "The Cowboy and The Brat," is a standalone (available via #BookFunnel).

["All I wanted was a few days to myself while my mom and her boyfriend were gone for a two-week cruise. I should have known there was no such luck.

She couldn't trust leaving me on my own. Now I'm stuck at my father's ranch. There's not much to see here: cows, horses, rustic houses.

And my childhood friend who grew up and sported a full-blown cowboy attire? Yum! It'll be hard to resist teasing him like I'd used to, especially when there was a whole new world of possibilities now that we were adults.

I want him. He wants me. Now we just have to admit it and deal with my meddling dad."]

This story was really cute! Lots of build up and connection and history and future. Though it seemed a bit choppy and underdeveloped at points. Either way, very fun short.

#thecowboyandthebrat #haydenhall #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

The Way Back (The Way Home #3.5)

May Archer recently released a free short story in her email updates/newsletter. It's a short that was previously included in a boxset of her The Way Home series but published nowhere else. This short is called 'The Way Back" (available via #BookFunnel).

["High school ended a long time ago, and Peter’s not the same sappy idiot who used to trail after his older brother’s straight best friend. 

So it shouldn’t matter that Logan is back in town for one night only, or that he and Peter end up at the same outrageous house party. 

The only problem is, Cupid can’t seem to keep his nose out of their business."]

Okay, there was a literal Cupid. Drunk as fuck and half naked. But an actual Cupid that all-but-assaulted both of them, and then bam, in love. Spoiler Alert.

You don't need to have read The Way Home series, mostly because I read it three years ago, don't remember anything from it, and still completely understood the entire thing, so..

This book was so cute and sweet and fluffy and pine-y and angst-less. A perfect short, really.

#thewayback #mayarcher #therightway #thelongway #theeasyway #thewayhome #thewayhomeseries #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: O

Pride Alphabet Time! O is for...

AUTHORS: 

SERIES: Oahu Lovers, Operation HEA, The Off Season, and more

BOOKS:Off Key, Off Limits, Off Plan, Old Acquaintance, Omega On The Run, On a Midnight Clear, On The Ice, On The Run, On Tour with Eleven, One Last Stop, One Man Guy, Only Mostly Devastated, Only One Bed, Openly Straight, Operation Meet-Cute, Order Up, Out of Character, Out of Focus, Out of the Blue, Oz, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE:

TERMS: Omniromantic, Omnisexual, Opposite Sex, Out, Outing, and more

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: N

Pride Alphabet Time! N is for...

AUTHORS: N.R. Walker, Neve Wilder, Ngozi Ukazu, Nora Pheonix, Nora Sakavic, and more

SERIES: Nannies of New York, Never Have I Ever, Never Just Friends, Nothing Serious, The North Ave Live Guys, and more

BOOKS: Noami and Nick's No Kiss List, Nailed, Nate Plus One, Naughty & Nice, Nautical, Never Have I Evan, Never Have I Ever Gone Skinny Dipping, New Alpha On The Block; New Year, New Holes; Nick & Charlie, Noah Can't Even, Nobody's Groom, Not For Sale, Not So Sincerely Yours, Nothing Serious, The Nerd Jock Conundrum, The New Guy, The Night, The No Strings Theory, The Note, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE: Natalie Clifford Barney, Navtej Johar, Nzinga, and more

TERMS: Nibling, Nonbinary, Nonviolence, and more

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: M

Pride Alphabet Time! M is for...

AUTHORS: M. Montgomery, M.A. Innes, M.M. Farmer, Mackenzi Lee, Mason Deaver, May Archer, Mia Monroe, Michael Thomas Ford, Michele Noatro, Michelle Frost, Mika Nix, Molly Ostertag, and more

SERIES: Made Marian, Marital Bliss, Mike Bravo, Mixed Messages, The Models Agency, and more

BOOKS: Make Music Together, Make Snow Mistake, Making Him Mine, Making Waves, Marry Me, Masters of Mayhem, Matched By My Rival, May The Best Man Win, Meet Cute Diary, Meet Me in the Blue, Meet Me There, Merry Cherry Christmas, Merry Measure, Milo, Milo and Marcos At The End of the World, Mistle-Joe Kisses, Mixer, More Happy Than Not, Mountain Topped, Moving Maverick, Mr. Big Shot, Mr. Right Now, Mr. Romance, Music to His Ears, My Best Friend's Secret, My Darcy, My Rosebud Boy, The Midnight Dance, The Music of What Happens, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE: Ma Rainey, Magnus Hirschfeld, Manvendra Singh Gohil, Marsha P. Johnson, Martine Rothblatt, Maryam Khatoon Molkara, and more

TERMS: Marriage Equality, Masculine, Misgender, Misogynoir, Mispronoun, Mixed Pronouns, MLM, Monogamous, Monolith, Monosexism, Monosexual, MSM, MTF, MTX, and more

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: L

Pride Alphabet Time! L is for...

AUTHORS: L.C. Rosen, Lane Hayes, Lauren Shippen, Lily Morton, Louisa Masters, Loren Leigh, Lucy Lennox, and more

SERIES: #LoveWins, Lakeview Resort Holiday, Licking Thicket, Licking Thicket Horn of Glory, Love & Luck, Love Equations, Love In No Man's Land, Love in O'Leary, Love Logic, Love Notes, and more

BOOKS: Lab Partners, Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, Leah On The Off Beat, Learning Curve, Let's Do This, Liars, Like a Love Story, Like A Lover, List Me With Your Best Shot, Little Risk of Fall, Little Shock of Hate, Little Slice of Hell, Little Souls of Fire, Lock and West, Locked Heart, LOL, Lost & Found, Love Always, Wild, Love and Other Curses, Love at Fourth Sight, Love Directions, Love Down Under, Love Fnace, Love Fool, Love Means More, Love Practice, Loveless, Luca & Marcel, Luck of the Ship, Lumberjack Under The Tree, The Last Nanny in Manhattan, The Light, The Long Game, The Love Interest, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE: Lili Elbe, and more

TERMS: Latinx, Lesbian, LGBTQ+, Lifestyle, and more

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Destructive Relations (Destined to Fail #1)

Another day, another deviation to my reading plans. ANYway. This is Hayden Hall's "Destructive Relations," the first book in her Destined to Fail series.

["I’ve been the good son all my life. He’s been the troublemaker.

Parrish Turner has always been my ultimate fantasy. He was my gay awakening, my sweetest torture, and my forbidden fruit ever since my father remarried and merged our families.

And he never even noticed me. I was nothing more but an annoyance. The most I got from him was a growl or a bark. And it was enough to make me wild with desire. Until he left.

Now, five years after I’d last seen him, we’re back in the same house. Even worse, we’re in tight quarters, forced to share the same bed. Luckily, it's only for a couple of weeks.

But that is long enough for my will to cave in. Especially now that I’ve got nothing else to lose and Parrish is starting to tease me in ways I can’t even interpret. Either he's trying to bully me for fun, or he's flirting. With him, the two are never far apart.

He blurs the line between right and wrong. And I can’t resist the temptation that could only ever end in the destruction of whatever family we have left."]

If you want something that will make you sob (but has a happily ever after), this is your book. 

Parrish is a hot mess, but for what seems like the first time, so is Levi. It’s like that quote from “Carry On” where Baz tells Simon that he loves that Simon is a “fucking tragedy, you literally couldn’t be a bigger mess” and his reasoning is that they now match. Like that. 

They resisted for so long, for okay reasons, but in the end, they found their happily ever after.

100% recommend.

#destructiverelations #shamelessaffairs #explicittransations #haydenhall #destinedtofail #destinedtofailseries #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: K

Pride Alphabet Time! K is for...

AUTHORS: K. Ancrum, K. Sterling, K.M. Neuhold, Kacen Callender, Kevin Christopher Snipes, Kevin Panetta, Kevin Van Whye, Kristine Meister, and more

SERIES: Kinky Boys, and more

BOOKS: Kate in Waiting, King Me, King of Thieves, Kings Rising, Kiss & Run, Kiss & Tell, Kiss Me Like You Mean It, Kiss Me Tomorrow, Kiss of Life, Kiss Off, Kissed in Paradise, Kissing Booth, Kissing Dad's Best Friend, Kissing Lessons, Kissing Our Loves, Kissing the Teacher, Knotted Up, The King and Jai, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE:

TERMS: Kinsey Scale, and more

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: J

Pride Alphabet Time! J is for...

AUTHORS: J.R. Gray, Jacki James, Jason June, Jay Northcote, Jeff Garvin, Jen Wang, Jennifer Dugan. John Green, Julian Winters, and more

SERIES: 

BOOKS: Jay's Gay Agenda, Jumping Jude, Just A Bit Twisted, Just a Kiss, Just Friends, The Jerk Next Door, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE: James Baldwin, Jóhanna Siguroardóttir, José Sarria, Josephine Baker, Juana Inés de la Cruz, and more

TERMS:

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Chance Encounter (The Elite #9)

I was just getting ready to start another book from my TBR pile (I swear) when I saw a recommendation for Luna David's "Chance Encounter" on K.M. Neudhold's Facebook Fan page. It's the ninth book in a multi-author series called The Elite.

["Tate isn’t a savior. And Chance doesn’t need to be saved. Turns out they’re both wrong.

For Tate McKenna, Navy SEAL sniper turned mercenary, rescue missions are part of a past he prefers to forget. But the target in his scope isn’t supposed to be choking someone to death right before his eyes. Saving some kid isn’t part of the job and derails his meticulous plans. Disruptions to his schedule make Tate a grumpy bastard and unforeseen complications just piss him off.

To Chance Forester, being forced into a blacked out SUV isn’t much of a surprise. He figures this trip to see his father is just like all the others until the usual beat down turns into attempted murder. Turns out, confiding in a man he thought was his friend was a huge miscalculation that might cost him his life.

When the heat of Tate's anger morphs into a desire to protect and care for Chance, will Chance allow himself to let his guard down? And will Tate be able to keep his boy safe like a good Daddy should while they’re on the run from those who want them both permanently silenced?"]

This one took longer to read than necessary, but I was reading and watching TV at the same time so... ANYway, this book was super cute. I mean, obviously, like the Mike Bravo Ops guys, Tate doesn't have the most savory (or legal) job ever, but it's all about taking bad guys out. Until he meets Chance during one of his ops, and everything changes.

They're instant...I don't want to say attracted to each other (sure, they are), because their minds were very occupied elsewhere when they met. But after that, their relationship was natural and easy (mostly). Sure, there's a little bit of complications, but not major plot twists or third act wait-the-bad-guy-is-still-out-there or any surprises. After they admit their feelings, it's pretty low-angst, which was a nice surprise. 

One day, when I find the time, maybe I'll go back and read the other books in the series (and Luna's other books).

Trigger Warnings: child abuse, homophobic slurs, physical assault, PTSD, and more

#chanceencounter #lunadavid #theelite #theeliteseries #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I kept seeing Deya Muniz's graphic novel "The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich" on BookTock. I finally caved and bought it (no regrets).

["Lady Camembert wants to live life on her own terms, without marriage. Well, without marrying a man, that is. But the law of the land is that women cannot inherit. So when her father passes away, she does the only thing she can: She disguises herself as a man and moves to the capital city of the Kingdom of Fromage to start over as Count Camembert. 
But it’s hard to keep a low profile when the beautiful Princess Brie, with her fierce activism and great sense of fashion, catches her attention. Camembert can’t resist getting to know the princess, but as the two grow closer, will she able to keep her secret?
A romantic comedy about mistaken identity, true love, and lots of grilled cheese."]

This story was SO. CUTE! It was set in the oh-no-ankles?!-scandalous era but they also had heart boxers and Nintendo Switches. A glorious mix. 

It also touched on same sex relationships, gender identities, gender fluidity, gender in general, inheritance laws, rules women are "allowed" to have in society, and more. All the while being a funny, cute, and heartwarming graphic novel. With grilled cheese as the inside joke. They were nerds, passionate about fashion, and advocates for different societal issues (like fur in the fashion industry). And all of the same characters had different outfits for each new day, but each same character was designated a specific color; so simple and yet so revolutionary.    

AND the characters, as well as the grilled cheese (and the wedding outfits), were inspired by the author and her wife. I mean, *heart eyes*. 

It was glorious. 100% recommend. 

#theprincessandthegrilledcheesesandwich #deyamuniz #queergraphicnovel #YAgraphicnovel #graphicnovels #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: I

Pride Alphabet Time! I is for...

AUTHORS: Isaac Fitzsimons, and more

SERIES: IFU Hockey, Indigo Falls, Inked, and more

BOOKS: I Kissed Shara Wheeler, I Was Born For This, I Wish You All Of The Best, Icebreaker, If Only In My Dreams, If You Change Your Mind, In Deeper Waters, Infinite Noise, Inked In Vegas, Inn Love, Intoxicating, Iris, IRL, Irresponsible Puckboy, It Might Be Hot, It's Complicated, The Inconvenient Love, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE:

TERMS: In the closet, Integrated, Internalized Homophobia, Intersectional, Intersex, and more

Just like with my resources page, please feel free to drop any I missed below in the comments!

#pride #pridemonth #pride2022 #pridebooks #lgbt #lgbtbooks #rainbow #betruebeyou #wholebunchofgaydisastersyall #queerbooks #books #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Heat Lightning (Bangers & Mash #8)

M.M. Farmer's "Heat Lighting" came out recently. It's the eighth book in her Bangers & Mash series (which I was--am--pretty addicted to).

["It’s a race against the clock to prove that one alpha’s dream can be the salvation for omegas in heat everywhere….

Arlo
No matter what I do, I can’t catch a break. I might have been the hero of the Evan Mercer scandal in the fall, but now I can’t even find a job. The other thing I can’t do is forget the handsome, schmexy alpha scientist from Bangers & Mash who I spent one awesome day with back then. And when it turns out that Dr. Steamypants needs an omega about to go into heat to test his new solo heat system, I am all about that!
But is it really a good idea for the two of us to test the Heat Lightning system together when we can’t keep our hands off each other?

Holden
Heat Lightning has been my dream and my life for the last ten years or more, and now the entire project might be defunded if we can’t prove it works. My only hope of keeping the dream alive is to successfully test it on an omega. When Arlo Tozzi volunteers, I can’t help but say yes. To everything. Because Arlo is everything I’ve ever wanted in an omega and then some.
The sizzling attraction between us is either going to prove that everything I’ve been working toward for a decade can succeed…or it’ll destroy my career completely."]

This series, this author, is so great at balancing it all. The heat, the sweet, the angst? Perfectly balanced. Not too much angst, a whole hell of a lot of heat, and even more sweet. 

I was utterly torn during the first half of the book. I wanted desperately for Heat Lightning to work and for Holden's experiment to be a success. However, I also really wanted them to say "fuck it" and fuck.

They were so cute together, a perfect mix of supportive and encouraging. They saw each other, really saw them. And they weren't stereotypes, they were just themselves. 

Can't wait for the next one!

#howtotrainyouralpha #thewrongomega #newalphaontheblock #christmasheat #omegaontherun #alphaversusomega #anonymousalpha #heatlightning #mmfarmer #merryfarmer #emfarmer #bangersandmash #bangersandmashseries #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Blitzed

I got a notification for Becca Jackson's newest novella "Blitzed" in my email the other day. It's available through #ProlificWorks.

["Parker
I'm tired of this revolving door of agents. Four of them have bailed on me in the past year, and honestly, I expected the rookie, Jase, to be number five. It's not that I'm asking for much. Just a contract long enough to pay off college tuition for my triplet younger brothers, the trio of chaos, and maybe an endorsement that doesn't make me totally cringe. I don't care about face and media attention; I'm happy just playing the game and keeping a low profile.
Or at least, that's what I thought.
But when Jase suggests a night out dancing in disguise, I don't say no. Even though I have no idea why.
There's something about Jase that makes me want to do all the things I've been avoiding for years.
But I have responsibilities, and despite what. my brothers tell me, I'm just not sure I can let go and truly open up to anyone, especially my sexy rookie agent."]

There wasn't much angst in this book. It was really refreshing. Just some I-shouldn't-feel-this-way-about-him-because-we-work-together-now feelings, on both sides. But it was instant attraction, instant chemistry, instant love. They had people on both sides tell them to live and let live, to let go, to have fun, to fall in love. It was gloriously supportive. And fall in love they did. ;)

#beccajackson #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks