It’s nearing the end of Queer Romance Month. I’ve been reading every single post since the beginning of the month (the ones on the site and a lot of the companion posts on other sites too). I’ve followed a ton of new people on Twitter and Goodreads, started reading some new blogs, read several books
Month: October 2014
Summer Chaparral Carne Asada Tacos & Ranch Beans
Summer Chaparral by Genevieve Turner broke a long reading streak I had of historical romances that just weren’t all I’d hoped for. Don’t get me wrong: I love me some Regencies & Victorians. But they do seem to suck up a lot of the historical limelight. Sure, there are Westerns and Civil War romances and
Love is a Verb
Love in romance novels tends to be flashy. The memorable elements of a story are the ones where the hero fights off the bad guy and saves the heroine from the speeding train or when the heroine uses her family connections to keep the hero out of jail. There are murderous zombies and cyborgs to
Five Dates Spanish Tapas
Five Dates by Amy Jo Cousins is a bright, optimistic romance, the sort of story it’s unusual for me to fall head over heels in love with. I tend to like my romance served with a side of angst and wonkity darkness. But while older, out-of-dating-practice Devin and younger retail-job-loving Jay have some pain in
Composing Love Smoky Pork Bánh Mì Sandwiches
While Composing Love by Audra North might look like a conventional contemporary romance, in a lot of ways, it isn’t. There’s the primacy of work, even something as formal as what I might term “calling”. The hero and heroine are both enmeshed in questions of identity and ability as they relate to the world and
Saturday Snack Time, October 11, 2014
It’s been a while since I did a Saturday Snack Time post, but there have been sooo many good things that I stumbled upon this week. So today just called out for one. So here’s a quick selection of links that that stood out, accompanied by Maple Bacon Doughnuts (recipe here) that I made for
Gossamer Wing Fruit-Bedecked Meringue
Steampunk romance is tricky. I generally want to like it more than I actually do. From a genre romance perspective, it seems like it would be a powerful combination to add a fantasy or science fiction element to alternative history: all the atmosphere of a historical with none of the rigidly defined social conventions or
Queer Romance Month Rainbow Cake
Thanks to a new reader, I found out that October is Queer Romance Month. The kick-off was yesterday so you can go over to Joyfully Jay and read all about why queer romance is better than cats. Yes, those cats. The furry kind. It’s very funny. As a very new reader of queer romance myself,