@queerromanceclub #QueerRomanceClub

I just finished In Spite of You by Patrick Lenton
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/in-spite-of-you-1

I took one look at Mr Sultry Eyes on the cover and thought it was going to be traumatic literary fiction — in actual fact, it’s a perfectly lovely gay contemporary romcom set in Sydney (though the blurb is also not overly accurate, leaning too hard into tropes that aren’t really there).

Hints of Alexis Hall for me, and I appreciated the Australian author and setting. Highly recommended, just wish both cover and blurb positioned it better to find its audience.

#books @bookstodon

@queerromanceclub
#queerRomanceClub aficionados

I can recommend the Cursed series by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch if you like lightly comedic fantasy with your m/m romance.

And The Blanchard Twins series by R.O. Thorp for well-done cosy murder mystery with a really nice queer romance. (trans-positivity)

And In Memoriam by Alice Winn, for pining and trauma and English class war with your WWI m/m romance.

@bookstodon

Would anyone like to take over the coordination of Queer Romance Club for 2026?

If not, I shall let it go into abeyance (though happy to use the group/hashtag to share what we’ve been reading) 😊

@queerromanceclub #queerRomanceClub

🏳️‍🌈 📖 Queer Romance Club DECEMBER selection — The Holly Groweth Green 📖 🏳️‍🌈

Well, as predicted, it was a short and nicely wintery read 😊 I don’t have much more to say except I enjoyed it, I thought the novella format suited the story, and I liked the combo of folktale with midwinter.

BTW, I also read the new Alexis Hall, Audrey Lane Stirs the Pot, the third (probably final) in the baking series, and liked that one too, probably the most of the three.

@queerromanceclub #QueerRomanceClub

🏳️‍🌈 📖 Queer Romance Club DECEMBER selection — The Holly Groweth Green 📖 🏳️‍🌈

***
It’s Christmas 1946. Lost in the Hampshire countryside on a snowy Christmas Eve, ex-military doctor Laurence stumbles across lonely Mistle Cottage and its owner: Avery.

***

Another tie-breaker needed. I've picked the m/m one as we've had quite a few f/f through the year. (Feel free to read one of the others on the list instead or as well, or recommend your own favourite holiday reads!)

This one looks like a short, sweet read to end the year :)

It's on #KoboPlus for those with subscriptions but will be also available wide.

QRC is open to all, read at your own pace over the month and post about it under the #QueerRomanceClub and @queerromanceclub tags (that's a fedi.groups group, not the dead gup.pe group).

No rules: let’s hear reactions, theories, reviews, favourite quotes etc, any time throughout the month or whenever you read it. CW for spoilers appreciated.

More about QRC here:
https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/113144943004145104

#ChristmasReads @bookstodon
#books #bookClub #GayRomance #lgbtq

🏳️‍🌈 📖 Queer Romance Club December vote 📖 🏳️‍🌈

Theme is winter/holiday vibes.

Christmas for Commitmentphobes by Rhoda Baxter - f/f contemporary set in a cosy Yokshire village. (part of a series but stand-alone)

The Holly Groweth Green by Amy Rae Durreson - m/m historical set in a cosy Yorkshire-- no wait! A cosy Hampshire cottage :)

The Merriest Misters by Timothy Janovsky - contemporary m/m (with fantasy elements)

Within My Reach by Amy Blythe - f/f contemporary re-telling of Persuasion, because the end-of-year holiday season is not necessarily in winter...

More about the club here - TL; DR: open to all, read and comment.
https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/113144943004145104

#QueerRomanceClub @queerromanceclub
#books @bookstodon #reading #bookClub #LGBTQBooks

🏳️‍🌈 📖 Queer Romance Club suggestions for December vote 📖 🏳️‍🌈

December’s theme is winter/holiday vibes. So looking for suggestions on queer romance books with cosy winter feel, long lazy summer beach feel (for southern hemisphere), or just straight-up Christmas-themed.

It can be tenuous :) as long as it’s Romance with a capital-R - the book wouldn’t happen without the relationship, and there’s a Happy Ever After.

I’ll run the vote during the week.

For more about the club:
https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/113144943004145104

@queerromanceclub

#QueerRomanceClub #books #LGBTQBooks @bookstodon

@queerromanceclub #QueerRomanceClub

I apologise, I’ve let the ball drop for the Queer Romance Club November read (got ever so slightly frantically busy the last few weeks…).

The theme is classics/old favourites, and I thought maybe instead of running a vote and picking a single book, queer romance fans can drop their recommendations in the comments:

- maybe the first romance you ever read that wasn’t just straight m/f (even if it was m/f with a bisexual character etc)
- nostalgic reads which might not hold up today but which you still have a soft spot for
- a classic of the genre which you think is the gold standard (I don’t know, like LoTR is for fantasy)
- even just books that are a few years old now that you think did not get the attention they deserved when they were released.

No need to be a regular participant in the QRC, this is just about blowing up those TBR lists :)

(But more about it here, FYI:
https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/113144943004145104)

#books @bookstodon #reading #LGBTQBooks #LGBTQRomance #romancelandia #RomanceReads

As prophesied, I read it one big binge last night.

I really enjoyed it, it’s fast paced with lots of plot - in fact, the romance plot is almost subplot, in that they reconcile relatively easily once they start communicating with each other, and then they’re a really good team against the Gothic hijinks and generally unpleasant rich (or otherwise) people.

I especially liked the absence of flashbacks to the first “half” of their relationship so the pace wasn’t dragged down - what went wrong was effectually portrayed within their current interactions.

I liked Zeb straight off (always like a slightly hapless character, have worked with and have a soft spot for AhHD kids, adults tend to not treat them well so I felt for him viscerally).
Took longer to warm to Gideon, but then, he was a little off-page at first.

I also found having two basically normal people trapped inside a batshit Gothic plot refreshing. At no point did they suspect the supernatural, which is really quite unusual in these sorts of plots.

@queerromanceclub #QueerRomanceClub #books #gayRomance