Pride 2023: B

Pride Alphabet Time! B is for...

AUTHORS:Baylin Crow, Becca Jackson, Becca Seymour, Becky Albertalli, Bill Konigsberg, Brain D. Kennedy, Brian Lancas, Brian Zepka, Briar Prescott, Brittany Cournoyer, and more

SERIES: Ballsy Boys, Bangers & Mash, Bedded In Paradise, Better With You, Big Bull Mechanics, Bold Brew, and more

BOOKS: Ballsy, Battle For the Top, Battle Ship, Battle To Belong, Battle To Surrender, Beat of Their Own Drum, Been Here All Along, Best Love, Best Man, Bet On Love, Bet You, Blackwater, Blaine For The Win, Blanca and Rosa, Blindsided, Bloom, Borrowing Blue, Boyfriend Comeback, Boyfriend Freeze, Boyfriend Material, Brave For You, Brazen, Broken Play, Brother-In-Law Material, BTW, Buddying Attraction, Bunny, By The Numbers, and more

IMPORTANT PEOPLE: Bayard Rustin, Benjamin Banneker, Billie Jean King, and more

TERMS: Bi, Binary, Binding, Biological, BIOPIC, Bottom Surgery, Butch, and more

Since the last post, I went and added more YA and children's authors/book to the lists as well as books/authors from (some of) my TBR pile(s). 

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: A

Pride Alphabet Time! A is for...

AUTHORS: A.M. Johnson, Arielle Zoelle, Ashe Winters, and more

SERIES: After Oscar, After The Game, Aster Valley, and more

BOOKS: A Boyfriend For Christmas, Abandoning Ship, Above & Beyond, Addicted to Ellis D, After Felix, Ain't Snow Mountain High Enough, Alex In Wonderland, All I Want Is You, Alpha Versus Omega, Always, An Assassins Guide to Love and Treason, And The Best Man Ran Away With The Groom, Anonymous Alpha, Any Way The Wind Blows, and more

Anything Could HappenIMPORTANT PEOPLE: Adam Rippon, Alan L. Hart, Alan Turning, Albert Cashier, Alberto Santos-Dumont, Alexander The Great, Al-Hakam II, Alvin Ailey, and more

TERMS: Ace, Activist, Affirmed, Agender, Ally, AIDS, Androgynous, Aro, Assigned, Assumed, 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

Rear Ended (Big Bull Mechanics #4)

My goal this weekend is to try to catch up on all of the new recent (and not so recent) releases that I keep putting aside for one reason or another. Here's K.M. Neuhold's "Rear Ended." It's the fourth book in her Big Bull Mechanics series.

["Love is a highway, and Henry just got Rear Ended

I’ve spent my entire adult life working eighty hours a week, chasing money, security… success . When my recent start-up went under, leaving me with nothing to show for years of grinding myself down to the bone, I’m not sure who I am anymore. I never thought I’d be forty-eight with no money, living with my brother, trying to figure everything out from scratch. But, here we are…

All that chasing didn’t leave a lot of time for romance or relationships either. Unless you count the occasional hook-up to let off a little steam. Now I have all the free time in the world… but who would want a middle-aged failure anyway?

When one of my most recent hook-ups turns out to be my new coworker, I’m starting to think the universe is having a good laugh at my expense. As if Auggie wasn’t tempting enough with all of the tattoos and his surprisingly sweet smile, now I’m spending all day watching him work. He’s covered in grease, with his overalls half zipped… is it getting hot in here, or is it just me?

He’s impossible to resist, but that doesn’t make the timing any better. Body work is one thing, but I’m determined to keep my heart out of it. If only Auggie would stop baking me cookies and touching me in ways that keep my engine running all night long. I think we’re going to need some coolant in here, because things are definitely heating up…"]

This book was SO freaking CUTE! It had minimal angst (from Henry trying to convince himself and Auggie that he wasn't ready for a relationship--good thing Auggie didn't listen). There was so much fluff and support and kind words and steam and secret make-out sessions and rules that Steele made about nudity in the garage that they broke (a few times). 

And Hamlet?!?! My god! D: In middle school/high school, I wanted a micro pig (that I would have named Galileo), and Hamlet? He was fucking perfect. Like a little pig (and spotted) puppy. So freaking cute (he stole all of the scenes he was in--give his pig an Emmy or something).

I love this series and this author and the original series this one spun off of and hopefully the spin-off series that might be coming (??) that centers around Henry's brother and his friends/coworkers/bikers.

In general, so much D: and :D and heart eyes.

#stickshift #stroker #crankshaft #rearended #kmneuhold #bigbullmechanics #bigbullmechanicsseries #fourbearsconstruction #fourbearsconstructionseries #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: Resources

While I'm still contemplating and researching my Pride post ideas for this year, I figured I could start with a few important resources (and my first ever book rainbow--taken two years ago):

The Trevor Project
GLAAD
It Gets Better
PFLAG
The National Center for Trans Equality
GLSEN
and so, so much more (I know I missed some--a lot--so please, please feel free to drop more in the comments below).

Whether you want to inform yourself in effort to become a better ally or to support a friend/family member or whether you're questioning things about yourself and want reliable sources, any of the above communities are excellent places to start.
They have built inclusive and diverse safe places were education, awareness, and support are their most important goals. There are endless lists of glossaries, guides and handbooks, webinars and workshops, facts and statistics, access to counseling and chat rooms, and so much more.

Some easy ways to celebrate Pride: march (after all, Pride started as a protest, as a demand for liberation and freedom); get involved (make your voice known, join in on the discussions); donate (time, money, or resources); research (from informing yourself online about the basics to getting up to date on current bills going through).

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

Chief Executive Daddy

The next (and last--so far) Honey London novel is "Chief Executive Daddy" (this part of a multi-author series called Daddies For Dollars).

["Reid has lost everything—his home, his Daddy, even his self-confidence. The man he thought he loved stripped it all away, piece by piece. Now, he has no choice but to put his life back together, and closing his heart is the only way to move forward.

The last thing Foster needs is another distraction. As the CEO of a busy hospital, he doesn’t have time to take care of anything but his work. Lives depend on him running an efficient operation, and if that means neglecting his own happiness, that’s a sacrifice he’s more than willing to make.

When Reid is dumped in his office, the broken boy awakens something in Foster he thought he’d buried—the need for someone of his own to care for. But Foster won’t find happiness until he allows himself to lean on others, and for Reid to try again, he must first learn to stand on his own."]

Slow burn isn't exactly by favorite (I don't have the patience--instant-gratification generation mixed with a little undiagnosed ADHD--for too much or too long of a slow burn), but this book was cute! The stressers that kept them apart, their own personal demons, were anxiety-inducing (check the trigger warnings below), but they needed each others demons to learn from their own and grow individually (and as a couple). 

And Foster and Reid made up for it with all of the sweetness and steam. Ratio wise, there was a lot more sweetness than steam, but it was still utter perfection. Their relationship, this book, was all about trust and self-assurance, about growing and overcoming trauma. It was about letting people in and letting the past go. It was also a lot of anxiety (Reid's and mine--again, check the trigger warnings; Reid's ex is...horrible and toxic and all around yuck).

Trigger Warnings: emotional abuse, anxiety attacks, stalking and obsessive behavior, abuse of police authority, and more. 

#chiefexecutivedaddy #honeylondon #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

Pride 2023: What To Do

I'm thinking of doing something different (something new) for pride this year. 

1: because lugging all of my books around to create pride flag themed posts is fun and cute/pretty/bright/informative, it's also heavy and chaotic.  
2: because it's what I've done for the past two years
3: because I'm not sure I bought many, if any, new queer books in the past calendar year (all of the books I've read have been on my kindle--kindle unlimited for the win).
Four: because why not

I still haven't decided the direction of said posts, but I'm thinking a post a day (in theory--in a perfect, flawless, I don't get sick or forget world). I'm waffling between:
A: pictures of random rainbows I find at work or "in the wild" (plus a mix of creating pride flag themed posts somehow) and 
B: posts with informative facts, statistics, biographies, and resources. 
(secret option C: a combination of the two).
D: alphabet themed posts with each new day/post being a different letter that corresponds with a book, author, and/or series.

What are your thoughts?

Also, what are your pride plans this year? 

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

Tourist Destination (Destination Daddies #7)

The next Honey London novel is part of a multi-author series called Destination Daddies. This one is "Tourist Destinations" (this is co-authored with Luna David).

["When an ER doctor rescues an accident-prone boy on a tropical island getaway, is it true love or just a tourist attraction?

Gavin doesn’t do relationships. Sure, he’s a Daddy, but he’s married to his job. So a kinky vacation to Turks and Caicos, where he can find a boy-of-the-week, is exactly what he needs to temporarily sate his Daddy desires. What he doesn’t need is to find an awkward and brilliant boy in the Miami airport who makes him question everything before his vacation has even begun.

Ollie needs a Daddy… and a doctor as well. He inadvertently injures himself on a daily basis so when he literally stumbles into Gavin, it seems like a match made in heaven. Ollie regularly relies on his trusty first aid kit, but when he learns Gavin isn’t looking for something serious, Ollie realizes he can’t put a bandage on a broken heart.

Will Gavin be able to make room in his life for the perfectly imperfect Ollie after they return to Miami, or will a week of playing doctor become nothing more than a fond memory?"]

This book was so damn cute!! All of the meet-cutes (or meet-awkwards) and the cotton candy (or grape Jolly Ranger) fluff and the steamy (chemistry-filled) spicy. And the book was low on angst; the only angst was from Gavin when he foolishly insisted that they be temporary (when everything he does and says and feels is anything but).

Another definite recommend.

#touristdestination #honeylondon #lunadavid #destinationdaddies #destinationdaddiesseries #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks