Tag Archives: queer authors

Book Review: Imperfect Illusions

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Title: Imperfect Illusions
Author: Vanora Lawless
Release Date: 4 October 2022
How I Got It: ARC from the author
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Let me start this review with a little backstory. I follow the fantasy romance author Allie Therin on Twitter, whose work I adore and have raved about to all and sundry. A few months ago she started talking about her next project (Liar City, coming out next year) which will feature an empath. Another indie romance author, Vanora Lawless commented that she was also writing a story that featured an empath. Her story was a historical fantasy romance, about an empath drafted to fight during WW1. At that, I piped up that I was ALSO working on a story that features an empath, who was ALSO a soldier during WW1, though my story takes place in the 20s after the MC has survived the war and come home with serious PTSD. The three of us made a lot of jokes about being the empath squad (and several other writers joined in the merriment).

Fast forward a couple months, and Vanora Lawless (who I have since followed on Twitter and chatted with here and there) asked if I would be interested in an e-arc of her empath book, Imperfect Illusions, which she would be releasing (self-pub) in October. Of course, I jumped at the chance! Historical romance fantasy is one of my main obsessions. And I wanted to see how she interpreted the “empath soldier” character (and feared mine, which is nowhere near ready for publication, would be too similar).

I’d meant to read Imperfect Illusions right after I finished Nona the Ninth. But then Nona the Ninth knocked me on my ass and I spent over two weeks in a total book hangover/coma (and I know I still owe you all a review of that one). So, I finally sat down to read Imperfect Illusions on Monday (a day before officially release, lol).

And, reader, I read the whole thing in one sitting on Monday night, finishing at about 1:30am. Lol.

Imperfect Illusions, as I mentioned, is a historical fantasy romance. Sully is an empath working as a private detective in Chicago, when he is forcefully recruited by the military to join a special group of “Skilled” (magical) soldiers to go fight in France during WW1. He is blackmailed into joining because the military knows he sleeps with men and has no compunction exposing him and causing scandal for his teenage cousin (that he is raising) and possible arrest. On his last night before leaving for training, he goes for a night on the town and picks up a handsome man in a club. Much to his surprise, the handsome man, Elliot, is also “skilled” and is also being blackmailed into military service.

The two men have a single beautiful, emotional night together, and then go their separate ways, believing they will never see each other again.

Fast-forward to the war: Elliot’s skill is that he can dream-walk into anyone’s mind with enough effort, but mostly with people he has an emotional connection with (such as family and lovers). He accidentally finds himself in Sully’s dreams, and ends up protecting Sully from debilitating nightmares caused by Sully’s inability to block out the pain and fear and trauma of every other soldier around him on the frontlines. The problem is, like many people, Sully doesn’t generally remember his dreams, and therefore has no conscious knowledge of the fact that he is spending months’ worth of nights keeping company with Elliot as the two fall in love.

When Elliot and Sully end up working together on a covert mission, these two incongruent versions of their relationship come head to head, and it all goes to hell from there.

I really enjoyed this book a lot. Both of the MCs are charming and complex and given lots of personality on the page. Elliot’s wealthy background made for an interesting contrast of personalities to Sully’s working-class orphan background. I was highly amused by the detail that Elliot majored in English and writes (self-professed bad) poetry. I know the feeling, Elliot. The magic system is interesting and entertaining. People with magic are called “skilled” and usually have one, or perhaps two related, magical abilities: Sully is an empath but can also create illusions to distract or deflect attention; Elliot is a dream-walker but also has the ability to push the sensation of elation or horror into a person he touches, etc. Going into the story, I wasn’t sure how much the magic would matter to the plot, outside the inciting issue of Elliot dream-walking without Sully’s knowledge. I was happy to see that, in fact, the magic (of the MCs and a number of supporting characters) was all highly important and effectively used to further the plot. Without giving too much away, let me just say: I was not prepared for the zombies!

Speaking of the plot, besides the romance plot, there is a rather intense plot centered around WW1 in general, and on a dangerous covert operation specifically. It was exciting, and creepy (see the aforementioned zombies), and well-executed.

The general setting of the war in France is painted with a light touch. Enough specificity and detail to ground the story, but not so much as to get lost in the historical weeds. Just on a subjective, personal taste level, I would appreciate a bit more attention to the historical setting. There were a few points where I was sitting there thinking: “I’m not entirely sure this is accurate…” or “this is kind of vague every-war-is-like-this stuff, rather than specific WW1 history.” But again, that is purely a matter of personal taste, because I am a history nerd, and I get caught up in my own historical research when I’m writing a lot (like, to the point of trying to find accurate tram service line maps for 1922 Cleveland, and making sure any song I mentioned was definitely already released on the radio before Sept 1922… I’m just like that). In any case, this was a very minor complaint. Not even really a complaint, actually. Just a noted difference in writing styles.

The book was highly entertaining. Both MCs were charming as fuck. The romance was beautiful and intense and entirely swoon-worthy (a handful of very steamy sex scenes). And the zombies were creepy. And I am absolutely delighted to know that a sequel is expected some time next year. Thank goodness!

As I mentioned, this book JUST released this week. I highly recommend it for any of my fellow historical romance fans. You can find links to any of your preferred book-buying locations on the Imperfect Illusions books2read page (by the by, books2read.com is my new favorite place for compiling of the book buying links).

Queer Romances Redux: Whyborne & Griffin Series

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Back at the beginning of June, I planned on doing several posts about queer romances I loved in the spirit of Pride Month. I made one post on the topic, and then (in typical Amanda fashion) disappeared again. I won’t spend several posts on the subject now, so far after the fact, but I wanted to at least talk about the one really big romance series that I’ve been obsessing over. I’ve mentioned in a couple previous posts, but wanted to dedicate a full post to it here.

I’m talking about the Whyborne & Griffin series by Jordan L. Hawk.

Jordan L. Hawk is a transmasc author with a long resume of writing queer romances, of which the Whyborne & Griffin series is just one option. While I plan to read his other books eventually, this series will probably remain my favorite. I love these books so much. I picked up the first book on Dec 23rd 2021. I remember the date specifically because I had spent days finishing a huge house-cleaning sweep in preparation for my grandmother coming to visit for the holidays. I finished cleaning on the afternoon of the 23rd, and my grandmother would be arriving in the evening, so I might a cup of hot tea and downloaded the first book, Widdershins.

I finished that first book that night. And downloaded the rest of the ENTIRE ELEVEN BOOK SERIES immediately. And proceeded to read the first five books in five days, while playing host to my grandmother over Christmas. The reading slowed down a bit after that because I had to go back to work, but I had still managed to finish reading the whole series by the end of January. I devoured them.

Then, I decided I wanted print copies, not just ebooks, so I bought a couple at a time and did a re-read as they arrived, finishing the series for a second time at the end of June. And now I’m already thinking about re-reading the first few again. That’s how much I love this series.

So here’s the basic premise: the series is set in late-Victorian New England, in a city called Widdershins. But this is not our New England, because this series is deeply rooted in the Lovecraftian universe. You do not have to be familiar with Lovecraft Lore to understand and enjoy the series (all the creeps and ghouls and eldritch gods are fully explained and fleshed out with the context of the series), but if you are already familiar with Lovecraft it is endlessly amusing to suddenly recognize a name or reference from the Lovecraft mythos. The main setting of the series, Widdershins, is a city of Hawk’s devising, but with references to Lovecraft lore. And in keeping with that mythos, the main character, Dr. Percival Whyborne (who goes only be Whyborne thank you very much), is a linguistics scholar who works at a museum and went to college at Miskatonic University.

Whyborne is a tall, perpetually-awkward, shy and repressed scholarly man who works in the basement of the museum. He comes from a wealthy family but despises his father and has renounced his claim to the family money or power. He is routinely harassed and bullied by other scholars at the museum, and has a single friend: archeologist Dr. Christine Putnam (who, being the only woman in a field of men, is likewise often harassed and bullied, but unlike timid Whyborne, has a mouth that NEVER STOPS SNARKING. And god I love her for it.) Whyborne is also gay, but he has never allowed himself to act on that knowledge.

Enter Mr. Griffin Flaherty: an ex-Pinkerton, turned private detective, and the most attractive man Whyborne has ever seen. Griffin is on a case to solve the mysterious death of a rich man’s son, and needs the assistance of a linguist to decipher a coded journal that belonged to the dead man. He also has several secrets to keep under wraps, not the least of which is that he has recently been released from an asylum.

Whyborne reluctantly agrees to help the enormously charming Griffin, and before long the two are on a fast-track to becoming friends and quite possibly more. Along the way, they discover that magic is real. In fact, it’s not only real, it’s deadly and it’s coming for the city.

I’m trying my best here not to give too much away, which leaves me speaking in vague phrases and doing lots of hand-waving. There is dark magic, eldritch terrors, necromancy, angst, and romantic drama. And that’s just the first book!

Each book ratchets up the drama, the dark magic, the danger, and the deadly horrors, building toward an overarching plot that is intricate and enormously satisfying. There’s also some of the best, steamiest sex scenes ever put to paper. And a few love confessions/speeches to make even the most hard-hearted swoon.

Perhaps what I love most about these books is that they deeply explore what it means to be an outsider, from many different perspectives. As a queer man, as a woman, as a person of color, as well as from the more genre-specific angles of being magical or non-human, perhaps even a “monster.” And that take on the monstrous is another thing I love about these books. Hawk’s takes the horrors of Lovecraft lore and examines them, dissects them, reimagines them until the characters and the readers are forced to reconsider what makes someone or something a “monster,” or whether the word has any real meaning at all.

These are also books about acceptance and love and family. Found family, mostly, which is one of my all-time favorite tropes. The characters throughout the series are often rejected by their actual families, their “people,” and so they come together in beautiful ways to make their own family (a family I would give my right arm to be a part of, lol).

The whole series is, to me, the perfect blend of queer erotic romance and dark paranormal fantasy adventure. I know some readers prefer more of one or the other, but I love the balancing act between the two genres played out here. It’s a style of writing and plot that would probably not have sold well twenty or thirty years ago, but in recent decades this kind of cross-genre/genre-bending work has become more and more popular (thanks at least in part to the post fanfic-internet-world, lol). And I, for one, am very grateful for it.

I guarantee you will love these characters — Whyborne and Griffin and Christine and the whole cast of people that come as the story progresses. You might even see yourself in one or more of them (I am entirely too much like Whyborne, it’s slightly embarrassing actually). If you love romance novels but are squeamish about some pretty gross-out-worthy horror elements; or, if you love dark fantasy/horror novels but are squeamish about some pretty graphic sex scenes, than these are NOT for you. But if you enjoy the mix of both in any capacity, I pretty much guarantee you will love these books!

Here’s a link to the first book on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AHH0YF2?tag=jolha-20

Here’s a link to Jordan L. Hawk’s author page: http://www.jordanlhawk.com

If you’ve read these before and love them, sound off in the comments below! If you pick them up later, I’d love to hear your thoughts as well!

Queer Romances for Pride (Pt 1)

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“chaotic” pride flags courtesy of @WhyTheEnn on Twitter

Happy Pride Month, friends!

We have now entered June, a month in which the queer community defiantly celebrates our joy and diversity while corporations that ignore us the rest of the year (or actively legislate against us) try to throw a bunch of tasteless tone-deaf pride merch at us in an effort to grab that sweet, sweet queer cash. Yay!  (For the record, I am bisexual – disaster bi for life, fam!).

It is strangely fitting that last week I wrote a post about my current obsession with (mostly queer) romance novels, so I thought in honor of Pride Month I would share a few of my favorite queer romances. Every single one of these romances features queer MCs, but I cannot promise that every single author is themselves queer.

I do look for and read novels from out-queer authors, but it is a recorded fact that an outsized percentage of queer romances are written by straight cis woman. Or at least women who by all accounts seem to be straight and cis. Part of the confusion is that some of these romance writers maybe bi or nonbinary, but most do not divulge their orientations or identities at all. (There are a couple authors I am specifically thinking of that I pretty much assume are bi/pan but have not explicitly said so in their bios or social media, so… who knows?) Partly this is because it is safer marketing-wise not to divulge, but mostly this is because authors have every right to keep that information private if they so desire. So, to be clear, I am not out here demanding to know the sexual orientation of every romance novelist I read. Authors do not automatically owe us that (this is part of a larger issue with the Own Voices movement, which was well-intentioned when started but became weaponized very quickly and is now losing favor).

I admit that I do wish the publishing community in general would prioritize more genuinely queer authors writing these kinds of stories. However, that is NOT to say that I believe straight women (or straight men for that matter) are not allowed to write these, nor that a straight person is incapable of writing a very good, very well-researched, sensitive, and absolutely enjoyable queer romance. Some of my faves have come from KJ Charles, for instance, who is a straight woman and acknowledges the amount of research and sensitivity that is required when she writes queer characters.

In any case, let’s talk books!

For queer romance novels by queer writers, my brain does (of course) immediately jump to T.J. Klune, who I’ve mentioned before, as I wrote a review of his novel House in the Cerulean Sea last year. Klune has, in fact, written quite a large number of absolutely excellent fantasy romances. Two of his standalone novels, House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door are my personal favorites. But he has also written two YA novels about teenage superheroes in which much hilarity ensues amidst the romance called The Extraordinaries and Flash Fire (the third book, Heat Wave, is coming soon). And he’s written many many others, including his Green Creek series (Werewolf romance) and his immensely popular Verania series (high fantasy with all the gayness and drama). I haven’t read these yet, though they are definitely on my list of books to get to. But his beautiful, gentle, hopeful novel House in the Cerulean Sea will almost certainly remain my eternal favorite. I could rhapsodize about that book for ages, but it would probably be easier to just link to my original review here.

Cat Sebastian, author of many many queer (mostly m/m) romances is an out bi woman. She has a new release, The Perfect Crime of Marion Hayes, featuring an f/m pairing in which both characters are bi. I love that because bi men and women are so often accused of not being queer enough, and of no longer “counting” if they end up a relationship with a person of the opposite (or seemingly-opposite) gender. So I really appreciate that both characters are portrayed as still retaining their identities, as still bi, no matter who they end up with. 

As I said, Cat Sebastian has a very long (frankly intimidating) bibliography, and I have only just started to tackle her backlist, but I absolutely adored a pair of novels about a doctor and a spy in post-WW2 England: Hither, Page and The Missing Page. Hither, Page opens with a doctor, James Sommers who has moved back to his small English village following WW2. He was a promising surgeon, but the war left him scarred and suffering from PTSD he can no longer handle the sight of blood and death. When a house-cleaner, known for snooping on people, dies under suspicious circumstances, spy Leo Page is sent in to find out what really happened. James and Leo end up working together to solve the murder, as they grow increasingly attracted to each. But as Leo starts to put all the pieces together, he fears that solving the murder will destroy any chance of he has of being with James.

This book was both a great murder mystery and an absolutely charming romance, with two main characters with complicated pasts and motivations, a whole cast of fascinating eccentric villagers, and loads of sexual tension. The conclusion is earned and satisfying. And the sequel, The Missing Page adds so much to the characters and their relationship (and another fantastic murder mystery). I’m really hoping Cat Sebastian writes another one, but I’m not holding my breath. It looks like she’s moved on to other projects now. Alas.

A few other queer authors of queer romance include (but is certainly not limited to):

Casey McQuiston: the non-binary writer of the extremely popular Red, White, and Royal Blue (m/m) and One Last Stop (f/f)

E.E. Ottoman: transmasc author of several romances including The Doctor’s Discretion (m/m, also featuring trans characters), The Companion (f/f/m poly romance), and A Matter of Disagreement (m/m)

Alexis Hall: queer (unspecified but definitely queer) male author of quite a few great queer books including Boyfriend Material (m/m), Something Fabulous (m/m), and most recently A Lady for a Duke (transfemme/cis-man) which I haven’t read yet but I’m really hyped for!

One of my current faves is Jordan L. Hawk, author of the Whyborne & Griffin series (and others), but he gets his own post later so I can rant and rave properly!

3 Charming Graphic Novels by Ethan M. Aldridge

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[Note: apologies for the delay on posting this review! I had it mostly written well in advance, but then I forgot to finish cleaning it up and adding images and getting it scheduled to post on Saturday as usual. *sigh*]

For a change of pace, I thought I’d talk a bit about a few graphic novels I’ve read in the last few months. I’ve been following this artist/comics illustrator on Twitter named Ethan M. Aldridge (@ethanmaldridge) for AGES. I really love his style — all hand-drawn line art and watercolor with this really great dreamy quality to it.

He sells prints online, and I’ve been meaning to grab a few but funds are tight so I have to keep frivolous purchases to a minimum. But I did finally grab his first two graphic novels last autumn: Estranged, and Estranged: The Changeling King. And I loved those so much I went ahead and pre-ordered his most recent publication, the new graphic novel The Legend of Brightblade.

Title: Estranged, & Estranged: The Changeling King
Author: Ethan M. Aldridge
Release Dates: 2018, 2019
How I Got Them: bought them from my local comic shop
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

In Estranged Vol 1, the main characters are Edmund and The Childe — Edmund is a changeling, a magical being sent to replace a human infant by his biological mother, the Queen of the Fae. Edmund knows what he is, that he is not human, but he has long kept that secret from his human parents and older sister for fear of their reaction. He desperately wants to keep the secret safe, but also he wants to know why his biological parents sent him away in the first place. The Childe is the human that Edmund was sent to replace, who has been living among the Fae all his life as a kind of foster-son/pet for the royal family. He has spent his life trying his best to earn the respect and affection of the Fae, but they largely dismiss him as just a cute, powerless oddity.

When the King and Queen of the Fae are attacked and overthrown by a powerful sorceress named Hawthorne, The Childe escapes to the surface world of the humans and, with his companion the wax golem Wick, enlists the help of Edmund and his/their sister Alexis. They must work together to struggle past the complexities of their shared families and destinies, and save the fae kingdom of the World Below from Hawthorne.

Estranged Vol 2: The Changeling King, brings us back months later, with The Childe and Edmund switching back to their original worlds after the end of the previous volume. The Childe has now reclaimed his name, Edmund. And the changeling once known as Edmund is now called Cinder. Cinder has become the new king of the World Below, but when the magic begins to drain from their world, Cinder returns to his adoptive family for help. Together, Cinder, Edmund, and their sister Alexis — as well as Cinder/Edmund’s very confused human parents — must travel through the labyrinthine World Below to fight enemies old and new, and find a way to restore magic to the kingdom.

These two graphic novels are so wonderful. The relationship that develops between the three “siblings” – Cinder, Edmund, and Alexis — is truly delightful and one of my favorite things. I particularly love Alexis: she loves both the brother she was raised with and the biological one she comes to know over the course of Vol 1. She is protective, caring, and kick-ass (and she starts to learn some magic in the 2nd volume, which is awesome!). The art style remains beautiful throughout, and the creativity of some of the fae creature designs are very cool. I also really love the ending of Vol 2 (I’m not giving it away! You’ll have to read to find out!). I’m really hoping Aldridge writes a third volume, but there’s been no news on that yet.

Title: The Legend of Brightblade
Author: Ethan M. Aldridge
Release Date: March 2022
How I Got It: ordered online
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Ethan M. Aldridge’s newest graphic novel, The Legend of Brightblade, is not in the same universe as the two Estranged graphic novels. It takes place in a high fantasy realm, clearly inspired by Dungeons and Dragons aesthetics, and features a team of adventuring bards. This graphic novel opens with a little backstory: the hero Brightblade and her two companions saved the land from a highly powerful dragon, bringing about a new era of peace. Years later, Brightblade is the ruler of the land, attempting to forge a treaty with the trolls with whom they have long feuded. Brightblade has three children: two daughters and a son, whom she expects to fulfill their roles as rulers and peacemakers, but the son, Prince Alto wants nothing more than to be a bard and go on adventures.

So, he runs away. With little knowledge of the outside world and only his instrument and the magic he can control by playing, he dashes off and forms his own little troupe with two other misfit bards: a self-taught troll bard, and an apprentice blacksmith who would much rather play her violin. These three intrepid bards run into trouble, accidentally uncover a plot to sew chaos at the human-troll treaty-signing, and discover that their misfit natures are precisely what they need to win.

Like the two Estranged graphic novels, The Legend of Brightblade is hand-drawn and watercolor, in a beautiful fairy-tale-like style that I just can’t stop raving about. All of these graphic novels are technically middle-grade, and though they are not (for the most part) explicitly queer, they have that feeling. If that makes sense. All three graphic novels have similar themes threaded through them as well: issues of family obligation versus personal goals and desires, featuring characters who are all trying to find their own identities and be true to themselves. Each one is a quick read, great for a nice relaxing afternoon with a cup of tea. They are utterly delightful and light-hearted and fun, all about finding yourself and forging your own path. They make me smile, and I highly recommend all three!