Voting for the July Queer Romance Club (cosy theme)

Homegrown Magic by Jamie Pacon and Rebecca Podos - f/nb fantasy
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/homegrown-magic
A delightful queer cottagecore romantasy full of friends-to-lovers romance, found family, rival family drama, and cozy garden magic.

The Broposal by Sonora Reyes - m/m contemporary
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/the-broposal-2
From the author of The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School, two best bros fake an engagement–but will their friendship survive?

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma Alban - f/f historical
(AKA More Than a Best Friend in some non-US locations)
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/more-than-a-best-friend
A swoon-worthy debut queer Victorian romance in which two debutantes distract themselves from having to seek husbands by setting up their widowed parents, and instead find their perfect match in each other—the lesbian Bridgerton you never knew you needed!

Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff - f/f cosy horror
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/direct-descendant-3
Lake Argen’s in danger and Cassie has to choose: her hometown or Melanie. Surely an army of unearthly monsters won’t stand in the way of true love?

#QueerRomanceClub @queerromanceclub @bookstodon #cosyReads @lgbtqbookstodon

You don't make a great bookmark, Hatch.

Finally making time to pick up last month's #queerromanceclub read but it's slow going and not all the book's fault.

Change of plans for July’s Queer Romance Club’s theme.

It was meant to be the award winners for the Lammy Awards (https://lambdaliterary.org/awards/) but they’ve moved to later in the year, so we’ll switch to August’s Cosy theme.

AKA can we find a cosy the coordinator of QRC actually likes

Suggestions welcome. We’ve had a few books now where the queer romance has been a subplot rather than the major plot, so suggestions for just a straight-up cosy romance, no extra genre needed, would be great.

Apparently Direct Descendants (f/f romance) is a cosy horror, which frankly sounds like a walking contradiction, but I can add it to the vote.

More about the QRC here (TL;DR: we read books with queer romance in them, everyone welcome to join in)
https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/113144943004145104

Side note, I HAVE liked a few cosies, in the fantasy genre:
- The House in the Cerulean Sea (but not the sequel)
- Sorcery and Small Magics — I might put this one on the voting list, but it’s the first in a trilogy so the romance is not resolved.
- Swordcrossed, a previous QRC pick.
And I’m sure I’ve read more that I enjoyed but forgot about quickly (as the nature of cosies for me)

#QueerRomanceClub @queerromanceclub #BookClub @bookstodon

I decided not to keep going with Navigational Entanglements for the #QueerRomanceClub because it just wasn’t landing for me, and my library hold on A Gentleman’s Gentleman by TJ Alexander came in. I finished that one today and it was delightful. I really enjoyed the characters. Very Jeeves and Wooster but make them both trans and falling in love. I thought the ending was rushed and I didn’t love it but aside from that, very fun regency romance. #AmReading #bookstodon @queerromanceclub

I’m reading Navigational Entanglements by Ailette de Bodard for the #QueerRomanceClub and I am having a hard time getting into it. It’s a lot of politics, paired with a lot of people being unkind, and it’s not really working for me. I don’t mind being dropped into a new world without a lot of exposition, and I don’t mind challenging characters, but together it’s not giving me a lot to connect with. I’ll stick with it for a bit though. #AmReading #bookstodon @queerromanceclub

Just bought the #queerRomanceClub pick of the month "Navigational Entanglements" by Aliette de Bodard although I'm a bit sceptical about it. SciFi is not my favourite genre.

@queerromanceclub

@Priyajsridhar thank you for hosting #writephant

#selfPromo and since it was a #Pride theme…

… I write fantasy with LGBTQ romance.

The Uses of Illicit Art — m/m romance, trans character, bi character, ace character
Little Wolf and the Witch — m/m romance, trans character
Fairhaven — m/nb romance, every other letter is in there
Domesticated Magic — transm/m romance, Everyone Is Bi world

Find out more at my website: https://wendypalmer.au/books/

But check the content warnings, not as fluffy/cosy as you might assume!
https://wendypalmer.au/content-warnings/

All June proceeds will be donated to an Australian LGBTQ registered charity.

@bookstodon @lgbtqbookstodon #QueerRomanceClub
#PrideMonth

It's the last day of May so of course it's time to start the @queerromanceclub May book pick

Queer Romance Club June selection — Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard

Since we had a tie (what a surprise ), I’ve deployed my tie-breaker for go for the f/f SF as the official pick (feel free to let us know what you think of any of the others, though!)

***
Teaser blurb:

Jockeying navigator clans guide spaceships through the Hollows: an area of space populated by the mysterious but deadly creatures known as Tanglers. When a Tangler escapes the Hollows for the first time in living memory, each clan must send a representative to help capture it—but the mission may be doomed and the hearts of two clan juniors may be in danger too.

***

QRC is open to all, read at your own pace over the month and post about it under the #QueerRomanceClub and @queerromanceclub tags.

No rules: let’s hear reactions, theories, reviews, favourite quotes etc, any time throughout the month or indeed whenever you happen to read it CW for spoilers appreciated.

More about the club here:

https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/113144943004145104

Queer Romance Club June voting - Pride theme

We got some great suggestions, but I can only list four options in the poll so had to narrow it down to try to offer a broad range of (self-reported) identities and relationship types (I managed to get an L, a G, a B, and a T in there ), plus what’s hopefully readily available through libraries. Check out the @/# for more suggestions though.

Choices:

TJ Alexander — A Gentleman’s Gentleman (AKA The Earl Meets His Match) — transm/m historical
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/the-earl-meets-his-match

Aliette de Bodard — Navigational Entanglements — f/f SF
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/navigational-entanglements

Matt Cain — The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle — m/m contemporary/general
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/the-secret-life-of-albert-entwistle

Alexis Hall — Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake — m/bi-f contemporary (where the bisexuality is relevant to the plot, not just a character trait)
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/rosaline-palmer-takes-the-cake-by-the-author-of-boyfriend-material
Apparently this one has been optioned to be a movie.

#QueerRomanceClub @queerromanceclub #LGBTQRomance

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#QueerRomanceClub June voting suggestions — Pride theme

We’re “read gay, do crime” all year round, but for the June pick, I need suggestions of LGBTQ books specifically by LGBTQ authors, specifically in the Romance genre (the relationship is central to the plot and there’s a Happy Ever After).

I have TJ Alexander and Alexis Hall on my radar but I confess I don’t usually pay attention to authors, just books, so more suggestions appreciated (especially in the L and B zone)

Indie authors welcome, but must be widely available (no Amazon-only books).

More about QRC here:

https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/113144943004145104

@queerromanceclub @bookstodon #bookclub #LGBTQ

I also finished The Keeper of Lonely Spirits by EM Anderson for #QueerRomanceClub and I loved it. It was so sweet and sad and soft. I found all of the characters deeply loveable, even the antagonist ghost. The found family and chosen family vibes were so soothing. @queerromanceclub

I’m listening to The Keeper of Lonely Spirits by EM Anderson for #QueerRomanceClub. 15% of the way in, I’m enjoying it. It’s slow and soft and sad and sweet. I really like the characters. It’s rare to see men in their 70s as romantic leads! And it’s rare to see intergenerational friendships (I assume, based on the reviews, that the kids remain important and become friends with Peter). I like both of these things very much. The writing is also lovely. @queerromanceclub

Having quite the day: I'm solo parenting for the week, kiddo woke me at 4:30am with the sniffles, had a "don't worry about layoffs/reorgs, our core mission is still to make money" corporate meeting, cramped a muscle in my shoulder so bad I had to nope out of the next meeting to get painkillers and a heat pack, my house guest also realized she had a cold, and I had to miss a "show up to her last class on zoom as a retirement surprise" because I had to be in the car driving kid to swim class (he says his sniffles are allergies).

Anyhow, it's long past time for knitting and queer space romance.