Books

Book 1,074: Save the Game (SCU Hockey #2) – J.J. Mulder

Book Cover of "Save the Game"Book two of J.J. Mulder’s SCU Hockey series finds us once again back on the campus of South Carolina University, but this time it’s not as happy of a story. Trigger warning: sexual assault off page.

We meet Max, the hockey playing protagonist of this novel in book one of the series, Shots on Net, and I knew something was up with him, I just didn’t know what. I thought it was just him figuring things out, but it was so much more than that. Turns out his world was turned upside down when he was drugged and sexually assaulted at a party, and all he can do is keep moving forward through nightmares and insomnia.

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Books

Book 935: Dream Boy – Jim Grimsley

Bare with me for a moment as I go on a tangent. Recently, I’ve been obsessed with re-watching the Netflix adaptation of Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper series and I  couldn’t realize why other than it’s a fantastic series and adaptation, but then I read this book and it all clicked into place: queer joy.

Growing up in the 1990s/early-2000s I’d say 85%+ of all depictions of LGBT characters were tragic or left to interpretation and this is a prime example of that. Having the opportunity to watch Charlie and Nick in Heartstopper as they discover happiness and joy, even with setbacks, mental health issues, and added TV drama, is just such a wonderful feeling of relief and joy that I float along every time I watch it or listen to the soundtrack or think about it. And this is in stark contrast to Roy and Nathan, the protagonists of Grimsley’s second foray into the novel.

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Books

Book 894: People Like Us (Winsford Green #2) – Ruby Moone

This is the second installment in Ruby Moone’s Winsford Green series after Dances Long Forgotten. I started the series when I accepted A Christmas Miracle, the fourth book, from Gay Romance Reviews and am glad I started it.

I was really hoping each one would have a contemporary connection like the first book, but this one didn’t have it. That didn’t detract from the story, but I still felt it would’ve been a cool connection between each of the books even though all the characters seem to know/meet each other.

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ARC, Books

Book 811: Yes, Daddy – Jonathan Parks-Ramage

This is a dark ass book and a perfect example of what happens when I read too many MM Romances. I’m guessing I read the first part of the synopsis and either didn’t finish or blocked out the last portion when/after I requested a review copy.*

Don’t get me wrong, the fact that it’s dark definitely doesn’t take away from it being a good book, I just had no idea that it got dark and then even darker before starting to get a little lighter at the end. I did not like the protagonist, Jonah, and I do not think he redeemed himself by the end (and that is in no way victim blaming), he just wasn’t likeable.

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Book 800: Body of Stars – Laura Maylene Walter

Aaannnnndddddd we have a new entry into the creepy AF, almost could be true speculative fiction world that has a lot of potential to really explode. When the publisher reached out I was vaguely interested until I read it was about freckles/moles determining the future of girls and women I HAD to read it.*

I have a ton of freckles—including what I call my angel wings that spread across my back down my arms—and found the idea terrifying that the future could be told in markings on your body. And I’m not talking palm reading, which the book discusses, but like actual fated fact. Shudder . . .

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