Tag: Unrequited Love

Books

Book 900: Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë

Geoff W

Book cover of "Wuthering Heights" with Amazon Affiliate linkWhat a difference eight-ish years makes between reads. I last read this in November 2013 and had some interesting comparisons to Pride and Prejudice and observations about my own love life.

I’m not planning to reflect on that this time, for a couple of reasons, mainly that this read I really felt that perhaps the better Austen comparison is Fanny Price in Austen’s Mansfield Park rather than Darcy. I mean the whole nature versus nurture argument and how responsible are they for what happens and how much of an impact does their upbringing have? SO. MANY. QUESTIONS (and thoughts).

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Books

Book 857: Playing Offside (Sporting Secrets #1) – Jax Calder

Geoff W

Book cover of "Playing Offside" with Amazon Affiliate linkI know nothing about rugby other than the fact they wear super short shorts 😀 Apparently, that was enough for me to say yes when this book appeared in my inbox from Gay Romance Reviews* (I mean, let’s be honest, are any of us really surprised by this? I do love a good MM Sports Romance, regardless of the sport).

Playing Offside is the story of Aiden, top of his game  and heading toward the end of his career who is THE starter to beat for the New Zealand National Rugby Team, and Tyler, the young phenom that has everyone talking and will challenge Aiden for the same spot on the starting lineup. (There was another way they referred to it but hell if I can remember it—something about starting 5? I feel like there are more players on the field per team, but who knows).

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Books

Book 851: One to Watch – Kate Stayman-London

Geoff W

Book cover of "One to Watch" with Amazon Affiliate linkBlazed through this wonderful debut novel after stumbling across it on a list of great beach reads. It took quite a while to get it from the library, but it was 100% worth the wait. I can easily see this being turned into a film or made-for-TV-movie, but it’s better than some of the young adult gay one’s I’ve read recently.

Bea is a plus sized fashion blogger who writes a scathing take down of a reality TV show that’s suspiciously similar to The Bachelor, and the next thing she knows she’s been convinced to be the next Main Squeeze on the show and of course chaos, hilarity, and romance ensues.

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Books

Book 846: The Lavender Menace – Tom Cardamone (Ed.)

Geoff W

Book cover of UGH. I wanted to like this so much more than I did. I remember the excitement when I stumbled across it seven years ago at PAX East in the LGBT lounge. I guess I either forgot the premise or didn’t really read the full premise of the book so ended up slightly disappointed.

Don’t get me wrong there were definitely a few stories I very much enjoyed (more the redemptive ones) and there was some great writing throughout the novel, but there were some larger issues with the collection that may reflect when it was originally published (2013) and how far we’ve come as a society, and also the background of the editor (cis white gay man).

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Books

Book 677: Persuasion – Jane Austen

Geoff W

Book cover of Persuasion with Amazon Affiliate link.Apparently I revisit Jane Austen’s Persuasion (May 2015 response) every 5-6 years. Last time I read it was when some friends and I did a Jane Austen Book Club back in 2015.

I decided to re-read it again while on vacation after reading the Austen Addicts trilogy (A Weekend with Mr. Darcy, Dreaming of Mr. Darcy, and Mr. Darcy Forever) by Virginia Connelly, who by all measures appears to be slightly obsessed with it—or at least co-obsessed with it and Pride and Prejudice. The further I read in Connelly’s trilogy the more I wanted to go back and read the originals again. I guess that’s a sign of a good referential nod right?

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