We have a word among the bitchery: catnip. Catnip in this context is not the plant, it is the trope, or group of tropes that is our personal drug of choice. The Mimicking of Known Successes is a queer science fiction romance/mystery featuring a woman who is of the Sherlock Holmes mode of detective and another woman as the Watson type, although unlike some versions of Watson, this one is intelligent and useful. I understand … Continue reading The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older →
The ever reliable K.J. Charles is back with The Secret Lives of County Gentlemen. This is a charming but intense story in which two very different men with very different lives navigate a relationship in the marshlands of Kent, where smuggling is a cultural norm, everything is just a little bit gothic, mystery abounds, and “out-marsh” people are held in suspicion. ‘London’ and ‘Kent’ hit it off in the big city as clandestine and anonymous … Continue reading The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles →
Sorry, Bro is a book about embracing the complicated aspects of different identities, and I had a lot of fun with the family dynamics, the sense of place (it’s set in San Francisco), and the Armenian culture. However, readers should be prepared for a heroine who is prone to rash, impulsive actions, and who is not great at communicating. My least favorite thing in romance is when people are terrible at communicating, so this was … Continue reading Sorry, Bro by Taleen Voskuni →
Tara: A few weeks ago, Sarah slacked me with the following: Tara Season of Love is so good It’s so freaking good. So, I did what any other smart person would do and started reading it. And guess what? She was completely and totally right. Sarah: I do like it when I’m right. Tara: Miriam Blum lives in Charleston with her fiancee, who she loves but is not in love with, and she’s weeks away … Continue reading Season of Love by Helena Greer →
Okay, so first of all, I need us all to understand that I’m going to write this review without telling you much about what actually happens in the book. That’s because, and I’m not exaggerating when I say this, every single event is a spoiler. The plot of this series is a giant Gordian knot where each new revelation changes everything else you think you know, so you really can’t discuss any part of it … Continue reading Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir →
CW: period-appropriate homophobia and racism, raid on a gay bar at the end of episode 6 I wasn’t planning on watching A League of Their Own when I heard it was being turned into a TV series. The original film was such a foundational part of my childhood, how could I possibly enjoy an 8-episode series as much? Also, I’d heard it was super gay, which made me concerned about what traumatic events we’d see, … Continue reading Series Review: A League of Their Own →
Amy owns a restaurant on the brink of failure. She’s done everything she can think of to save her dream, but even hiring a reality-show runner-up as her chef isn’t enough to save it. Sure, Sophie’s even hotter in person than she was on TV (and she was plenty hot there), but she’s turned out to be quiet and uninspiring in the kitchen. If Sophie’s learned one thing from the spotlight, it’s that she just … Continue reading The Romance Recipe by Ruby Barrett →
Carrie: Have you seen Heartstopper yet? Tara and I have and we are here to tell you all about these wonderful baby gays and how they are represented so inclusively, beautifully, movingly, and entertainingly on the series Heartstopper. It has one season of eight episodes, each about a half an hour in length. Two more seasons have already been ordered. (Hooray!) The show is centered around a group of teens at Truham Grammar School in … Continue reading Series Review: Heartstopper →
Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith is a low-key but enrapturing graphic novel about Nisha, Davene, Kim, and Cookie, a group of Black women with deep and caring friendships. Each story lovingly depicts their hair care rituals while also revealing the soulful mundanity of the processes they engage in to care for themselves and others. Wash Day Diaries is as much about the relationship between the beauty rituals of these women and … Continue reading Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith →
Tara: When this duology was announced two years ago, I was not okay. I’ve been equal parts terrified and thrilled since then, because my favourite fanfic of all time was being turned into original fiction. Could it hold up? Truth and Measure is THE definitive Mirandy (Devil Wears Prada [DWP]) fic in a still-thriving fandom. I’ve probably read it a dozen times in the last 5 years and I’ve often referenced it as one of … Continue reading Keeper Shelf: The Carlisle Series (Truth and Measure & Above All Things) by Roslyn Sinclair →
Midway through A Lady for a Duke, I started to panic. I was so in love with this historical romance and I worried that something would come along and ruin it. So I sighed with relief at the end of the last page. This book is pretty damn close to perfection, bitches. It works on so many levels. This is an exceptionally satisfying friends to lovers story, a queer fairy tale filled with longing and … Continue reading A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall →
