Tag: LGBTIQ

Books

Book 1,043: Northranger – Rey Terciero & Bre Indigo

Geoff W

I don’t know how I didn’t know about this one sooner. I mean, I do. Life has been incredibly busy and non-stop post-pandemic, and 2022-2024 was a blur of classes and life, which explains how this 2023 release slipped under my radar, but OMG I’m so glad I found it. Terciero takes Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and turns it into a wonderful MM romance while Bre Indigo does a fantastic job of capturing a Texas ranch in this adaptation.

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Books

Book 1,041: Would You Like to Be a Family? – koyama

Geoff W

Apparently, there are three stories in this one short collection, and I only remember one, so that doesn’t bode well. The biggest struggle for me was the style. I’m not the biggest fan of the super stretched out/tall bodies and super angular faces. I think it just makes them all look creepy.

The story itself was actually very cute (or least the one I remember) Takemura is a shy loner who had a bad bullying experience in high school, so he keeps to himself, but his coworker Natsui is outgoing and has tried to engage him before. They meet one evening in the grocery store and Takemura finds out Natsui has a kid and can’t get out of a dinner invite.

Before you know it, they’re all hanging out all the time. There’s even an awkward moment where Takemura has to go pick up the kid (cannot remember their names) and it goes well even though Takemura is SOO nervous. In the end the kid is the one that’s like hey you need to move in here, we’re always happier when you’re here. I’m 99% sure the book was sex free and that anything that did or didn’t happen was 100% off page and it was kind of refreshing knowing how edgy manga/yaoi/BL can get.

Recommendation: It’s a cute read. I’m a little concerned I have ZERO recollection of the other stories, but the entire book was pretty short, so they must’ve been even shorter. Illustration style wasn’t my jam, but I could see where others like it as there are quite a few in this style.

Books

Books 1,037-1,040: I Think Our Son Is Gay, Vols. 1-4 (I Think #1-4) – Okura

Geoff W

Y’all, I can’t even tell you how adorable these books are. Think Heartstopper, but without the getting together (they’re younger than Nick and Charlie) and the beautiful acceptance of My Brother’s Husband and you’ll start to see where these fall.

These are told from mom Tomoko’s point of view, and she is the most loving and accepting person. She’s started to note that Hiroki, her oldest son, slips up saying “he’s handsome” or “my husband” and she just goes with the flow. She doesn’t ask questions or ask for declarations, she just let’s it slide and tries to make an accepting home for her son.

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Books

Book 1,028: Up to Snow Good (Snow Way in Hell #2) – Charlie Novak

Geoff W

After reading Snow Way in Hell so that I could finally read this one, it was worth it. I’m always going to be a sucker for a holiday romance and an illustrated cover. Throw in Europe and chocolate/food and I’m 100% going to read it. This book picks up not long after Snow Way in Hell and tells us Max’s story, the brother of Tarquin and best friend of George, Tarquin’s fiancé.

Max has got it in his head to do something fancy for Tarquin and George and is stomping on toes left and right, including Luca’s, the local owner and confectioner of the chocolate shop. Thankfully, he shows some self-awareness and goes back to apologize and that kicks off the adorable chaos that becomes their relationship. Luca’s a grumpy overworked big bear of a guy who’s just trying to get by and Max is a wealthy, over the top golden retriever, happy go lucky go with the flow guy; and they somehow work together.

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Books

Book 1,026: Snow Way in Hell (Snow Way in Hell #1) – Charlie Novak

Geoff W

I read this because Novak’s novel Up to Snow Good caught my attention and I realized this came first and introduced some of the characters in the second, so figured why not. Plus, when you add in it’s a short story/novella and it includes a protagonist of color, I grabbed it and blazed through it.

Snow Way in Hell is the story of Tarquin, a PhD pursuing academic, and his older brother, Max’s best friend, George, an Olympic snowboarder. Max drags them and a couple of asshat friends (thankfully they bail pretty quickly) on a three-day mess of a vacation.

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