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trans-cuchulainn · 15 days

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let's be more positive about books for a while! here are some queer historical romance novels that i've been rereading recently that i think do something interesting with making characters feel historical in their mindset and worldview, but are also fairly progressive, diverse queer books that are, frankly, a delight to read

this is by no means exhaustive and to be honest i could put almost anything by cat sebastian or kj charles on a list like this so this is purely the highlights of what i've reread in the past week to take my mind off work, and why i think they're interesting from this specific angle

cat sebastian, the ruin of a rake (turners #3)

this is technically the third in a trilogy but they're only very loosely connected, so you don't need to have read the others if you don't care about knowing who all the background characters are. the others are also good though

why it's interesting: features a character who has had to painstakingly study and learn the rules of polite society in order to claw his way up to respectability, and is now deploying those skills to help another man repair his reputation. shows the complexity of those rules, the social purposes they serve, and the work that goes into living by them, as well as the consequences of breaking them. also explores some of the financial side of aristocracy, and features a character with chronic illness (recurring malaria following repeated infections as a child in india) whose feelings about his illness are very relatable without feeling overly modern.

kj charles, society of gentlemen series.

this trilogy is closely related plot-wise and best read in order. all three explore cross-class romances and characters struggling to reconcile their political views and personal ethics with their desires, in the aftermath of the peterloo massacre, with a strong focus on the political role of the written word. first book is long-lost gentleman raised by seditionists / fashion-minded dandy teaching him to behave in society; second book is tory nobleman submissive / seditious pamphleteer dominant who've been fucking for a year without knowing the other's identity; third book is lord / valet and all the complicated dynamics of consent there with a generous side-helping of crime.

why they're interesting: close attention to the history of political printing and the impact of government censorship and repressive taxes on the freedom of the press; complex ideological disagreements that aren't handwaved as unimportant; examination of trust, consent, and social responsibility across class differences and in situations with problematic power dynamics; most of the characters are progressive for their time without feeling like they have modern attitudes. the second book, a seditious affair, deals most strongly with the revolutionary politics side of things, but all tackle it to some extent.

kj charles, band sinister.

look i'm probably biased because this might be my favourite KJC. it's a standalone about a pair of siblings: the sister wrote a gothic novel heavily inspired by their mysterious and scandalous neighbour whose older brother had an affair with their mum (causing scandal); the brother is a classics nerd. the sister breaks her leg on a ride through their neighbour's estate and can't be moved until she heals so they both have to stay at the house and find out if the neighbour is really as scandalous as he seems.

why it's interesting: discussion of atheism and new ideas about science and creation (very shocking to the brother, who is the viewpoint character); details of agriculture and estate management via main LI's attempt to grow sugar beet, as well as the economics of sugar (including references to slavery); "unexpurgated" latin and greek classics as queer reference points for a character who nevertheless hasn't quite figured out he's queer; material consequences of society scandal

bonus: wonderful sibling dynamic and a diverse cast including a portugese jewish character, which i don't think i've seen in a book before

i will add to this list as i continue to reread both of their backlists! (bc i have read them all enough times and in close enough succession that they blur together in my head unless i've read them very recently)

#néide has opinions about books #kj charles #cat sebastian #queer historical romance

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ravenwarner · 3 months

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incredibly self-indulgent fanart of We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian. Nick and Andy I love you.

#listened to this on audiobook twice in a span of 4 months #we could be so good #cat sebastian #fanart #my art

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lgbtqreads · 4 months

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Fave Five: Historical F/F Romance

Feminine Pursuits and Hen Fever by Olivia Waite Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban The Spinsters of Inverley by Jane Walsh That Could Be Enough by Alyssa Cole A Little Light Mischief by Cat Sebastian Bonus: For cozy mystery/romance mashup, check out Proper English by KJ Charles Double Bonus: These are all realistic fiction, but for historical fantasy, try Heather Rose Jones’s…

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#A Little Light Mischief #Alpennia #Alyssa Cole #Cat Sebastian #Don&039;t Want You Like a Best Friend #Emma R. Alban #Heather Rose Jones #Jane Walsh #KJ Charles #Olivia Waite #Proper English #That Could Be Enough #The Spinsters of Inverley

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queer-book-character-tournament · 10 months

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Character, book, and author names under the cut

Kit Herondale- The Dark Artifices trilogy by Cassandra Clare

Rory Heron- I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston

Qiyan Agula- Jing Wei Qing Shang by Please Don't Laugh

Marian Hayes- The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian

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traeumenvonbuechern · 7 months

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🏴‍☠️ Books To Read If You Love "Our Flag Means Death" 🏴‍☠️

Can't get enough of Our Flag Means Death? Read these books!

Also, check out my list of trans books for OFMD fans here: Trans Books To Read If You Love "Our Flag Means Death"! 🏳️‍⚧️

Book titles:

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

Tell No Tales by Sam Maggs and Kendra Wells

The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach

The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels by India Holton

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian

In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

Til Death Do Us Bard by Rose Black (comes out November 21, 2023)

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haveyoureadthisqueerbook · 8 days

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#the soldier's scoundrel #cat sebastian

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a-ramblinrose · 1 month

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"It's Not Hoarding If It's Books" Book Haul!!!

Romance! Poetry! Nonfiction! Fantasy!

I had way to much fun combing the shelves of three different bookstores today! Well, two bookstores and a thrift shop with a lovely collection of very reasonably priced reading material. XP

#books #book haul #book stacks #book photography #Joy Harjo #KJ Charles #Cat Sebastian #Diane Duane #Gennarose Nethercott #Bea Koch #Rebecca Romney #Simon Avery #Not out of void but out of chaos

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rainhorizons · 8 months

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we could be so good 📰🚬

#aesthetic #we could be so good #cat sebastian #andy fleming #nick russo

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bangbangwhoa · 10 months

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books I’ve read in 2023 📖 no. 068

We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian

“I love you…and I want to be with you, and that’s all there is to it. The rest is details. The rest is…administrative.”

#books #2023 reads #we could be so good #cat sebastian #booklr #lit edit

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peonybookblog · 1 year

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“post-war queer murder mystery romance” is a hyper-specific but very good genre! i read all of these in roughly a week and now don’t know what to do with myself

#books #mystery #romance #book recs #kj charles #cat sebastian #bookblr #this is a plea for similar recs if you've got them btw

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aurorawest · 3 months

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2023 Reading Wrap-Up

Is it February of 2024? Yes! Am I still going to post my favorite books that I read in 2023? Also yes!

Ginn Hale's Cadeleonian Series, the second half of which I read in 2023: Champion of the Scarlet Wolf, Book Two; Master of Restless Shadows, Book One; and Master of Restless Shadows, Book Two

This series begins with Lord of the White Hell and continues with Champion of the Scarlet Wolf, then concludes with Master of Restless Shadows. Each duology follows a different set of characters, but it's a true series so you need to read them in order. It's a toss-up for me whether I preferred Champion of the Scarlet Wolf or Master of Restless Shadows. Both are fantastic duologies. I particularly loved getting Atreau's story in Master because he's sort of an unlikable playboy-esque character in the preceding books...but wait! Turns out there's more to him after all.

After Francesco by Brian Malloy

Who would think a book about living through the AIDS epidemic in NYC in the 80s would be as funny as this book is? It will also tear your heart out and stomp on it. Also takes place partly in Minneapolis (and is by a Minnesotan author).

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

Folklorist meets the Green Man and they fall in love. This is the first half of a duology, the second being Drowned Country, which I just finished today so can't included it on my 2023 wrap-up. All the dark and violent whimsy of the mythic past and the most brutal versions of fairy tales, plus a lovely romance.

Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh

Imagine the love child of Lost, Person of Interest, and Battlestar Galactica, but queer and with multiverse shenanigans thrown in (the author has cited Ender's Game as a huge influence). I don't want to say anything more than that, because I feel strongly that you need to go into this book knowing nothing. The twists and turns are so good, the main trio are wonderful, complicated characters, and the world is super cool.

The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley

In some ways the most heartbreaking of Pulley's novels. Also probably her most dreamy and magical. It's my least favorite of her books, but my least favorite Natasha Pulley book still ended up on my best of 2023 reading list.

The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley

This book awakened in me a latent love of Soviet queers. You'll see this book filed under sci-fi by booksellers, but it isn't really—it's historical fiction about a very real nuclear disaster in the USSR that was covered up for decades. Like all of Pulley's books, the characters are deeply complicated and flawed. The pleasure is really in reading the way she tells a story and her beautiful use of language, so even if you're not interested in Soviet nuclear disasters, I absolutely recommend you read this. Also, you'll probably be interested in Soviet nuclear disasters when you're done.

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow by Natasha Pulley

Haha, you thought The Watchmaker of Filigree Street punched you in the chest with feels? Get ready for the sequel, which will have you Curled Into A Sobbing Ball On The Floor™. Join Thaniel Steepleton, Keita Mori, and their adopted Waifish Victorian Orphan, Six, as they go to Japan, where things are weird, there are ghosts, and Thaniel and Mori still somehow don't understand what they mean to each other.

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley

"What if France won the Napoleonic Wars because of time travelers" shouldn't have shattered me the way this book did, but of course it's a Natasha Pulley novel so it absolutely did. Missouri Kite is the most Gay Little Man™. And Joe, poor Joe. The PINING. The YEARNING. When the reveal happens, I had to go back and read prior sections of the book and good god do they hit different. Different and SADDER. This book is my favorite of Natasha Pulley's novels.

Tommy Cabot Was Here and Peter Cabot Gets Lost by Cat Sebastian

The first two books in Cat Sebastian's The Cabots series. The books are historical fiction that follow various queer men in the Cabot family. The Cabots are one of those old money, liberal New England families—think Kennedys. Both books are about Sad Gay Men™ finding love in soft, tiptoeing Cat Sebastian fashion. Peter Cabot is a road trip romance and a bit longer, so the characters have some time to breathe.

Something Wild & Wonderful by Anita Kelly

This was probably a Stucky fic at one point, right? I mean. No shade though, truly! This was my favorite romcom that I read in 2023. It was also a comp for Strangers to Husbands, haha. I love the setting—hiking the Pacific Crest Trail—and I love the main characters, Alexei and Ben. Alexei came out to his family recently and got rejected, while Ben is from a big, accepting Portuguese family. Funny, touching, and an excellent love story.

Cattle Stop by Kit Oliver

Looks like a romcom but will stab you in the heart repeatedly. Kit Oliver has a gorgeous way with words and captures the dynamic between two people who have no idea how to talk to each other so well. I'm also a sucker for farm settings.

The Sugared Game and Subtle Blood by KJ Charles (The Will Darling Adventures)

I've read almost all of KJ Charles's books at this point, but the Will Darling Adventures are my favorites (I read the first book in the series in 2022). I love the combination of romance and action/adventure. I've never met a m/m book set in the interwar period that I haven't loved. Will and Kim are wonderful characters, and sometimes I think about what other adventures they had after book three ended.

Honeytrap by Aster Glenn Gray

An FBI agent and a GRU agent get assigned to work a case together in 1959 and they fall in looooove. There's a road trip, a family dinner, and FEELS. I'm not sure I've ever had a time skip hit me in the gut so hard. Remember how I said I love Soviet queers? Here's another example.

Wranglestone and Timberdark by Darren Charlton

What if the real dystopia isn't the zombie apocalypse, but "normal" life? I don't know if I've ever read a YA series that sucker-punched me as hard as this one. I know I've never read a zombie book that sucker-punched me as hard as this one. I don't think these books have even been published in the US (only in the UK), but if you can get your hands on them, they're worth it. Really beautifully written in a style that evokes the emptiness of the great national parks of the American west.

Honorable mentions:

The Charioteer by Mary Renault

The Scottish Boy by Alex de Campi

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske

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lgbtqreads · 4 months

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Most Anticipated Queer Adult Fiction: January-June 2024

Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban (January 9th) Gwen has a brilliant beyond brilliant idea. It’s 1857, and anxious debutante Beth has just one season to snag a wealthy husband, or she and her mother will be out on the street. But playing the blushing ingenue makes Beth’s skin crawl and she’d rather be anywhere but here. Gwen, on the other hand, is on her fourth season and…

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geneseedraws · 7 months

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Oh, how I adore my regency boys... He's some fanart of Oliver Rivington and Jack Turner from the amazing book, The Soldier's Scoundrel by Cat Sebastian 💕💖

I am so in my Historical Era (have I ever left?), but oh man gimme everything gay and 18th-19th century 🤌🤌 Oliver and Jack together forever!! These guys were SO fun to read about, such a great dynamic of a nobleman and a gritty scoundrel 🤭💕 Already want to reread it again... ✨

#cat sebastian #the soldier's scoundrel #book fanart #bookblr #regency #my art

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monomatica · 4 months

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