I’m looking for recommendations on fun and relaxing reads about gay male relationships/characters. “The Hitman’s Guide” was very disappointing because it was full of stereotypes and so mushy I felt there was glitter coming out of my headphones. It doesnt have to be serious, but well written, not aimed at women or written by women, if possible (the sex scenes in “The Hitman’s Guide” sounded far too much like straight sex)
by hornytcunt
5 Comments
If you don’t mind a female author Liz Strange writes pararomance with m/m theme’s, also look up Caro Soles. She has many series. Both are Canadian authors.
Maybe Alexis Hall? Boyfriend Material is a good starting point but he’s got all kinds of stuff out. Honestly if the relationship doesn’t hit for you it’s still a brilliant workplace comedy.
(caveat that I’m female so my evaluation may be off here)
[deleted]
I can’t think of one that is solely romance that is written by a male author, but I can list some by male authors that feature a queer relationship at the forefront.
Maurice by E.M. Forster (this is the only one I can think of that has a happy ending)
At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O’Neill
Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart
These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever
Lie with Me by Philippe Besson
Swimming in the Dark by Tomasz Jedrowski
In the Absence of Men by Philippe Besson
All Down Darkness Wide by Sean Hewitt (this is a memoir)
Call me by your Name by by Andre Aciman (though I do not think Aciman is queer himself so)
Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite (if you like horror and can handle gore, also he was not out as a man at the time of writing this book and the books still have him pre transition on them unfortunately)
Also I would check out In Memoriam by Alice Winn. Yes it’s written by a woman but I think it does a good job of avoiding the sometimes fanfiction feeling writing of women writing queer relationships, and also avoids a lot of the usual tropes of tragic queer love, but is still sad.
Edit: completely missed the part about fun and relaxing reads. I literally cannot think of a single one I could describe that way. There really is a deficit of fluffy and relaxing queer books by queer men.
Nathan Burgoine writes m/m romance – he writes some holiday themed novellas (Faux Ho Ho, Handmade Holidays, A Village Fool), he also has a spec-fic trilogy (starts with Triad Blood)
Kosoko Jackson’s A Dash of Salt and Pepper was a good read too