the ask@AAR: What’s your favorite queer romance?
This week, the New York Times has a lovely column by Olivia Waite in which she recommends six romances with queer protagonists. Waite writes:
Time was I could have covered every queer romance novel put out by mainstream publishers and still have had room to spare in this column. Small and independent presses have been nurturing L.G.B.T.Q. romance authors forever, and digital self-publishing opened up still more doors, but up until very recently, the big traditional houses had far more queer villains than queer romance leads.
And then, for a great many reasons, and because of the work and passion of a great many people — something shifted.
It’s impossible to spot a sea change while you’re swimming in it. All I can tell you is looking for multiple queer romance pairings used to feel like fighting against the tide, and now it feels more like a perfect summer wave rolling in and rushing around you.
Also, this week, several friends with early teen kids asked me for queer YA book recs–I suggested T. J. Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea and Casey McQuiston’s Red, White, and Royal Blue.
So queer love stories are on my mind. What are your favorites?
Alexis Hall and KJ Charles are my two “all-time” great writers of queer romance. Neither has ever put out a mediocre book, much less a bad one! My favorites would probably be Charles’ A Seditious Affair and Unfit to Print and Hall’s Prosperity series and Boyfriend Material.
I also love R. Cooper (especially her novellas), Cat Sebastian sometimes (I tend to prefer her 20th century historicals to her 19th century ones), Dal Maclean, Gregory Ashe, and Charlie Adhara.
Absolutely agree with Alexis Hall, KJ Charles, Josh Lanyon & Cat Sebastien. Some other favorites of mine:
Ginn Hale – Lord of the White Hell & Champion of the Scarlet Wolf (fantasy duologies)
Lyn Gala – Claimings, Tails, & Other Alien Artefacts (wonderful sci-fi with a properly alien alien) & Tap-Dancing the Minefields (a mind-bendy aliens on earth story)
Heidi Cullinan – Fever Pitch is a wonderfully sweet college story or for something spicier Sleigh Ride.
K.A.Mitchell – No Souvenirs (love the opening in Belize and the Korean hero)
J.C. Lillis – How to repair a Mechanical Heart: an adorable pre-college road trip
J.L.Merrow – Muscling Through (lovely, kind & blue collar)
Laura Stone – Bitter Springs (cowboy romance with good historical research and a POC hero)
Amy Lane (Christmas Kitsch etc) – mostly contemporary & sweet
Amy Jo Cousins – Glass Tidings is a lovely Christmas story, also her Off-Campus books)
TJ Klune – How to Be a Normal Person: outrageously funny with an ace hero
Tiffany Reisz – her gloriously kinky and complicated Original Sinners
And I will always have a soft spot for Jule from Brockmann’s Troubleshooters series
I’m a big fan of many of the authors and books mentioned here, but would also like to suggest Midlife Crisis by Audra North (an older men romance) as well as books by Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen – they have a sci-fi romance series called Chaos Station which is a favourite of mine, but also write really great solo books such as Jenn Burke’s paranormal Not Dead Yet series (mentioned by Carrie G also) and Kelly Jensen’s This Time Forever series.
I second Kelly Jensen’s This Time Forever series. I like that the series showcases older protagonists.
As many have noted, you cannot go wrong with KJ Charles. The Society of Gentlemen trilogy is such a tour de force, and the Charm of Magpies books are fabulous as well.
I really liked Sarina Bowen’s The Understatement of the Year, one of the first m/m books I read and possibly my favorite romance the year it was published.
The Understatement of the Year was also one of the first m/m books that I read, and I’ve been a fan of the author ever since!
I also love the Twisted Wishes trilogy by Anna Zabo
Most of my favorites have already been mentioned.
In fantasy, I have enjoyed:
Wicked Gentlemen by Ginn Hale
Swordpoint by Ellen Kushner
Also in fantasy:
Mercedes Lackey’s Magic Pawn series (high fantasy)
JL Merrow’s Plumber’s Mate series (funny contemporary)
Harper Fox’s Tyack and Frayne series (romantic suspense) . . . ;-)
Also in fantasy, The Lightning-Struck Heart by T. J. Klune, and the sequels A Destiny of Dragons, The Consumption of Magic, and A Wish Upon the Stars.
Lots of good suggestions here, with Josh Lanyon’s Adrien English being my #1 (first read, most reread, and most recommended – followed by the Fair series and most of the rest of her body of work). But in addition to more current authors/titles already recommended below, I recommend:
Steve Kluger – Almost Like Being in Love
Elle Parker – Like Coffee and Doughnuts
Madeline Urban and Abigail Roux – Cut and Run
Tere Michaels – Faith & Fidelity
Kaje Harper – Life Lessons
AJ Thomas – A Casual Weekend Thing
Sean Kennedy – Tigers and Devils
Stephanie Gayle – Idyll Threats
Felicia Watson – Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela
And I love Con Riley’s older titles After Ben and Salvage; even better than more recent books imho
Cut and Run is a good series; it’s completely bonkers and over the top, but Ty and Zane are a terrific couple. Sadly, the first five books are out of print in both e- and audio – I am assuming it’s a rights issue – which is a shame because they were so wildly popular when they came out and, like Adrien English, provided something of a “template” for others to follow. They have a problems – some of the writing and storytelling isn’t great and there are inconsitencies galore, but I have fond memories of them.
After Ben is on my Kindle waiting for me to find the time to get to it!
Oooh, sorry to mention something out of print! And I think you are correct about it being a rights issue because the first books in the series had both authors listed but Urban stopped contributing and the later books only listed Roux as author.
Am really curious to hear what you think of After Ben once you’ve read it. ;-)
IIRC, Madeleine Urban – who wrote Zane – stopped writing and so the collaboration ended with book 4. Abigail Roux continued with the series, although in later books there were many complaints that she had retconned Zane and was also spending too much time on the characters from her spin-off Sidewinder series; I listened to all the books (and reviewed a handful of them at AG) a few years back and didn’t feel those things too much; it’s interesting to read “contemporary” reviews of things, and there were a LOT of very passionate Fans With Opinions about that series. I don’t know if Roux is still writing – but even if she’s not, I hope someone is able to bring the first five books back into circulation. Books 3-5 were published by Dreamspinner in print and audio and I think the first two were self-published in print and audio. The rights must have reverted to someone…
Retconned? I’m not familiar with that term. But I would agree the first books are the best. It seems like my enjoyment of the books began dropping with number five or six. I did read the first Sidewinder but was not inspired to go any further.
I looked up retcon a few years ago when I ran into it in a series I was reading. It is from “retroactive continuity”, and basically means rewriting or reinterpreting (story) history.
A quick search will get more complete descriptions.
Thanks!
You’ve listed a lot of authors I’ve never read.Scribbling down suggestions now.
That was the idea . . . ;-) Wanted to give a shout out to some authors who were writing in this space before it became a thing, so to speak.
And for people who can handle something not a romance, I’d have added Marshall Thornton’s Boystown series and Michael Nava’s series about Henry Rios, a lawyer in California. Darker, grittier (set in the 80s and 90s) but so well written.
Dang! How could I leave Ann McMan’s ff Jericho series off my list? Librarian meets small town doctor in the first book by the same name – Jericho.
Thx, your list brings a lot of new names.
Dived into Felicia Watson – Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela
Very happy with that book, beautiful, simple, well drawn, moving.
Diving further.
Very grateful for your list!
You are welcome! So glad you like the Watson. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but I thought it was very well done (and made me want to visit the overlook!).
Among other things, I liked because it truly managed to show how truly lovely and intense a shy, avoiding, non verbal people can be shown without making them over at some point. I really loved the sense of humor of his short comments. Logan stayed himself in this way, and still I could connect to him so well.
Also, the very simplicity of the story and its people completely drew me in.
This is very rare.
What an awesome topic, Dabney! And by the way, you ought to know by now that nobody here is going to pick just one favorite. Get used to it. Although I did follow your rules without complaint for your desert island challenge the other day. ;-)
Okay, Olivia Waite needs some love. For the millionth time, I highly recommend her FF HR The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows. Read Lisa Fernandes’s review on AAR. We both agree this book is awesome.
For some more FF love, check out Hairpin Curves. This is a nice road trip, frenemies to lovers CR from Carina Adores- not reviewed on AAR, unfortunately- that thankfully doesn’t fall into the trap of tourist hijinks. By which I mean, they don’t have silly montages in each city they visit or get lost causing everybody to scramble around or fall victim to forced, phoned-in drama. This romance focuses on the development of the two leads’ relationship, as it should. There are definitely a few hiccups in the writing, including an overly pat ending, but it’s fun, warm, and cute.
For MM, I love Cat Sebastian. Probably my favorite two of her stories that I’ve read so far are Two Rogues Make a Right and The Lawrence Browne Affair.
Two Rogues Make a Right is a great hurt/comfort tale that hits all of my sweet spots without being saccharine. It has only one throwaway element I disliked that would keep me from giving it a perfect mark.
As for The Lawrence Browne Affair, I want to see this concept developed into a weekly, episodic TV mystery series. An agoraphobic, reclusive bear of an earl and his dainty, sly, and clever secretary solving mysteries together? Sign me up! Okay, so this book isn’t a mystery at all, but I see definite possibilities for adaptation here.
I like a lot of books, many recommended here.
One stands out for me as truly special. I have never felt that a meshing of lives was so successfully described, with ups and downs that felt real, and three-dimensional characters who had to fix real life to have a special love:
Racheline Maltese and Erin McRae “Art of Three”
It is actually a threesome romance, in which there are two men and one woman, so that may be cheating.I like many other books by that duo, who mix some hetero romance, some gay romance and have a few special books. This one stands above them all, for me.
I also love Think of England by KJ Charles, and Lily Morton’s Summer of Us.
Their other books are lovely, these two stick out for me.
Lily Morton– Rule Breaker, Risk Taker, Deal Maker, The Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings
Jenn Burke– Not Dead Yet trilogy (on audio!)
Annabeth Albert– Tight Quarters (and enjoyed the entire Out of Uniform series)
Sarina Bowen–Him, Us, Roommate, Understatement of the Year
KJ Charles– I loved the Charm of Magpie series, plus Gentle Art of Fortune Telling, Band Sinister, and the entire Society of Gentlemen series. She weaves history and romance with such skill.
Alexis Hall- Glitterland, Pansies, Boyfriend Material
Garret Leigh– Angels in the City
Rachel Reid–Heated Rivalry, Common Goal, Tough Guy
Layla Reyne–the Irish and Whiskey trilogy, a great balance of romance and suspense plots.
Charlie Adhara- I’m reading through the Big Bad Wolf series now and really enjoying it.
Most of my favorite queer authors appear here already (multiple times!), but my m/m comfort food read is the Him/Us duology by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy.
I also remember a summer happily discovering/bingeing Hailey Turner’s Metahumans series. I did it again last summer & I imagine another reread will probably take place before the end of the year. It’s a total departure from reality – sexy, thrilling, fun. Exactly what I look for in a summer binge.
I regularly re-listen to the Metahumans books – the narration is awesome, the stories are all SO good and all the books feature such a great bunch of characters.
I can’t believe I left out Him/Us from my list – although in my defence, I was trying to stick to print books (mostly) because if I included audio as well, that list would have been much longer thanks to there being a bunch of seriously good m/m narrators out there.
Anything by KJ Charles, Jordan L H, and Cat Sebastian. Plus Lane Hayes is an auto buy for me. An honourable mention to Suzanne Brockmann too
That Jordan L Hawk. Eeek!
Hi Gill! I like Lane Hayes too. She is another one with a long backlist so I’ve only read her Out of College series (for those who haven’t read it, it’s a MM New Adult series focusing on gay athletes falling in love and also their coming out stories). Of those, I liked Out in Spring and Out in the Field the best. I read her latest (Following the Rules) but didn’t like it as much but based on my liking of the other books, I would give her plenty of chances to wow me in the future :)
I’m always hopeless at picking “favourites” – and given I read so much, I am bound to forget things I loved!
But here goes.
KJ Charles – pretty much everything, but A Seditious Affair is the standout for me (still the only A+ I’ve ever given), closely followed by An Unnatural Vice. Her current Will Daring Adventures series is a fabulous “Boys’ Own” 1920s adventure series (with more sex and swearing!), and Think of England is wonderful.
Annabeth Albert’s Out of Uniform series is one I return to time and again: At Attention and Tight Quarters are my favourites, but they’re all good.
Alexis Hall – Boyfriend Material, Glitterland, Pansies (I can’t add For Real – which I know is a favourite with many – because I haven’t got round to it yet!). The audio of How to Bang a Billionaire is great, too – Joel Leslie’s performance is outstanding.
Josh Lanyon’s Adrien English series – kind of the granddaddy of them all when it comes to m/m mystery/romance.
Cordelia Kingsbridge – Seven of Spades series – fantastic, nail-biting romantic suspense.
L.J. Hayward – Death and the Devil series – ditto.
Rachel Reid – Heated Rivalry, Common Goal
Aster Glenn Gray – Honeytrap
Cat Sebastian – Turner series
Con Riley – His Compass and His Haven – both recent reads that have stuck in my mind.
Felice Stevens – Fool for Love and The Coincidence – she’s an author I’ve only recently discovered and I’m gradually working my way through her fairly extensive backlist!
L.A. Witt’s Static is an extraordinary story; about shifters but instead of people turning into animals they are able to switch genders. It’s really thought-provoking (fantastic narration in audio by Michael Ferraiuolo).
Sally Malcolm’s King’s Man is an outstanding historical, The Last Kiss and her contemporaries are all excellent, too.
Charlie Adhara’s Big Bad Wolf series
Jay Hogan – Crossing the Touchline, Off Balance, Against the Grain – I’ve given her several DIKs here
Dal Maclean’s Bitter Legacy series
Joanna Chambers – Enlightenment series
N.R. Walker – Tallowwood – her Thomas Elkin series is an audio favourite, too
And you’re waiting for me to mention Gregory Ashe. So I just did. And no, I can’t choose a favourite! (Although The Lamb and the Lion series probably contains some of his very best work to date).
I could probably come up with more but that’ll do for now!
ETA: Of course, I managed to forget Lily Morton’s Rule Breaker and Jenn Burke’s Not Dead Yet series.
Not helpful….. “mutters something about ONE”
JUST ONE does not exist in my lexicon :) I’m seriously bad at picking favourites.
Are you a bigamist? No. Just saying….
No, but I am on hubby number two!!
I did not know that. But, still, being able to commit to just one spouse suggests you have it in you to commit to just one queer romance….
…. I always said ” I am only married to one person, in all other things, I am non-exclusive …” so I would side with Caz on this one, sorry Dabney ;-)
Dabney, your question specifically said, and I quote:
Note the “s” on the end of the word “favorites.”
A girl can dream….
One at a time. But still more than one, collectively ;)
(And I can’t believe I hadn’t told you I’ve been divorced given how long we’ve known each other!!)
I like Felice Stevens too but her books are not necessarily ones I re-read and her backlist is huge so I’ve only read about a half dozen. Fool for Love was good but I liked book 3 of that series (Never Say Never) even better.
I liked that one too – I listened to the series on audio recently, and really enjoyed them; Kale Williams’ narration was excellent.
I’ve read, liked and commented on many of the titles on your list elsewhere here at AAR. But Witt’s Static is worth reinforcing here. Agree it was incredibly thought provoking.
Of the gay romances I’ve read, the ones that were stand-outs for me are KJ Charles’ A Gentleman’s Position and A Seditious Affair. I also liked The Soldier’s Scoundrel and The Ruin of a Rake by Cat Sebastian.
On my TBR list are Rachel Reid’s books; I’m looking forward to Heated Rivalry.
@Dabney: Could you list the six books Waite recommends in her column? NYT is behind a paywall for me. Thank you.
I have attached it as a pdf here. Can you read this?
Yes—thank you!
No question: HEATED RIVALRY by Rachel Reid. It covers ten years in the secret relationship between two professional hockey players (one Canadian, one Russian) and their gradual journey from occasional “scratching an itch” hook-ups to deeply emotional love for each other. The two MCs continue to pop up in Reid’s other books in the Game Changer series (one of the heroes of TOUGH GUY even discovers them making out in an office) and I understand they will get their HEA in the last book of the series.
Honorable mention to Taylor Fitzpatrick’s THROWN OFF THE ICE, but that doesn’t have an HEA—so, not a romance? But definitely a love story.
Both excellent! I’d probably add that Reid to my comfort rereads list, too & I also love Common Goal (the most recent book in the series). I loved it almost as much as Heated Rivalry (and it includes a great Ilya cameo). I’ve read (and listened) to both several times.
The first non-m/f romance that I read was KJ Charles’ Band Sinister in November 2018. I’d been reading only historical romances for a number of years and kept seeing KJC and Cat Sebastian’s books mentioned favourably. I was a bit dubious about giving them a try, but when I saw Band Sinister being called ‘Heyeresque’, I decided to jump in. Well, I loved it and over the next year read all of KJC’s published books (except for the horror one). Reading her books really affected my opinion of m/f HRs and by Autumn 2019 I was mainly reading KJC’s books on a loop! My favourite is Any Old Diamonds, but I think Band Sinister or the recent The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting are the best to start with.
By Christmas 2019 I realised that all this KJC ‘looping’ was ridiculous, so decided to try Gregory Ashe’s Pretty Pretty Boys (thanks Caz and Em!) and promptly read through the whole series, plus the Borealis books, over Christmas and New Year. I’ve since read his books as they are released and The Same Breath is my favourite.
Early in 2020 I discovered the books of Alexis Hall, Lily Morton, Rachel Reid and Dal Maclean, all of whom are now on my list of favourite authors. Later in the year i found Aster Glenn Gray, Sally Malcolm and Joanna Chambers’ books.
Here are my favourites by these authors:
Alexis Hall – Glitterland
Lily Morton – After Felix
Rachel Reid – Heated Rivalry
Dal Maclean – Blue on Blue, but you really have to read the whole Bitter Legacy trilogy
Aster Glenn Gray – Honeytrap
Sally Malcolm – Rebel/King’s Man
Joanna Chambers – Restored
Cat Sebastian – A Gentleman Never Keeps Score
You weren’t expecting just one favourite, were you?!!
If you haven’t read Cordelia Kingsbridge’s Seven of Spades series yet, Wendy, I highly recommend it. (The narrator for the audios isn’t great, so I’d suggest sticking to print).
I have (at your suggestion!), thanks, and really enjoyed it. I felt very pleased with myself that I guessed the killer early on!!!!!!!
Yeah, AAR readers do not like to limited to JUST ONE.
That’s because they’re all so well-read :)
Or because they lack will power…. ;)
Totally because they read so much they have a whole bouquet of favorites instead of just one perfect rose.
Couldn’t have put it better myself….
I only started reading MM romance a year ago so I don’t think I will have the breadth that I am sure other commenters will have. Below are my favorites listed by author then titles.
Lily Morton – Rule Breaker, After Felix, Merry Measure (I love all her books though)
Sally Malcolm – Perfect Day, Twice Shy (ditto)
Jay Hogan – Powder & Pavlova, Up Close and Personal
Rachel Reid – Heated Rivalry
Sarina Bowen – Roommate, Him (with Elle Kennedy)
Tal Bauer – The Night Of, The Jock
Briar Prescott – Project Hero, Rare
Casey McQuiston – Red, White & Royal Blue
Annabeth Albert – Knit Tight