Here you have another page full of me fangirling about someone who is, technically, my competition. Call me crazy!
Back when I fangirled about KJ Charles and Alexis Hall, I had done a complete read of the first and a near-complete read of the second. (I have since finished reading everything Alexis Hall has published, multiple times in some cases, as well as re-read some KJ Charles and kept up with the new releases. This is what I do instead of watch TV.)
I have not done a complete read of my new writer-crush E.J. Russell, but I’m fangirling now anyway because I have thoughts and because coming weeks will require blatheration on other topics.
Another reason for fangirling now: pretty much every romance reader I’ve interacted with knows about KJ Charles and Alexis Hall, and pretty much all of us go ZOMG SO GOOD. E.J. Russell isn’t quite in that name-droppy category yet; big-media coverage of books hasn’t found her yet; she is more successful than I am but not yet a star. So … why not give her a tiny boost. Knowing that a boost from me is bound to be very tiny indeed.
There are eight books I want to discuss.
First up: THE THOMAS FLAIR. This is a sports romance. I am not a sports fan, per se; that said, with so much of my current reading being M/M romance, and with sports being a great setting for such a thing, I have read more about e.g. hockey in the past two years than I would ever have predicted. THE THOMAS FLAIR is about gymnasts. Olympic-level gymnasts. One of whom is diabetic. The author’s note on this book relates some personal experience that is background for the diabetic-athlete angle.
The main characters in this book are young, as most Olympic gymnasts are. They’ve also been training and competing at high levels most of their lives. That is a maturing experience, when it doesn’t drive someone to drugs and high-risk acting out. This is also a second-chance romance. The reasons why these characters didn’t connect before are not trivial reasons. One might think, well, he could have just said something, but: young. It’s hard enough for jaded middle-aged people like me to tell the unvarnished truth about things. Everything feels so much more raw and dangerous when you’re young. And these two are in an uncertain position. Being an out gay athlete is difficult (see: a certain world-champion soccer player). Being an out gay male athlete: worse. I thought THE THOMAS FLAIR dealt unusually well with the characters negotiating their way to an open, committed relationship given their specific challenges and context.
Next up: PURGATORY PLAYHOUSE. This is part of a multi-author series about, basically, a magic shop that sends people where they need to go with exactly the artifact they need to achieve something. In ‘Playhouse,’ Russell creates a scenario in which people in Purgatory have to put on a play once a year for the pantheon. There is tremendous Fun Potential in a) smacking around the mythological characters we all thought were such assholes and b) doing it in the context of a Shakespeare play being staged by c) a real live person who’s been dumped into this madness at a moment when his real-world life is falling apart. All of that potential is met. The book is fast-paced, funny, and very clever. There is also a wholly satisfying resolution to the ‘how can this possibly work’ romance.
Then there are three books in another multi-author series about royals with superpowers. DUKING IT OUT, DUKE THE HALLS, and KING’S EX all have to do with politics and alliances. There is treachery, betrayal, mayhem, heartbreak, and trauma. There is also a good bit of humor and a whole lot of people helping each other. Found family: one of my favorite things.
Finally, a series called FAE OUT OF WATER. I read the middle book first, thought ‘huh,’ and got the first book. Thought ‘hmm,’ and read the third book. Let me hasten to say that these can be read and enjoyed purely for their surface description: contemporary fantasy M/M romance. They are also an allegory, which I don’t see every day in romance.
CUTIE AND THE BEAST, THE DRUID NEXT DOOR, and BAD BOY’S BARD deal with the romantic entanglements of three Fae brothers who, for various reasons and to varying degrees by choice, are exiled from Faerie. Each of them falls in love with an outsider who appears to be - or whom they believe to be - human. Each of those outsiders, however, has ties to the magical world; superhuman abilities; and much-needed perspective.
The Fae characters are conservative to the point of reactionary. They do not question their society’s assumptions, beliefs, or practices - even though Faerie is declining to the point of imminent collapse - until more or less forced to by the outsiders. By the conclusion of the third book, Faerie can be saved only by the skills and ingenuity of the outsiders - though full restoration also requires the powers of the brothers. It is teamwork, in other words. Which saves the magical realm by thwarting an attempt by insiders to deconstruct it, by any means necessary and at any cost, in favor of personal power.
There are bits of dialogue, and some internal monologue, strongly implying a reference to the events of 2016-2020 in the United States. I didn’t think that was necessary - the point was not obscure - but it also wasn’t intrusive or speechy. The books deal with racism (including on the part of book 3’s Fae hero, who is a little hard to take at times), environmental destruction, economic and social inequality, and cultural snobbery. A few lines directing the casual reader to think ‘hey this shit happens in real life too’ were not out of bounds.
A lot of Faerie assumptions have to fall in order for the wide array of magical peoples (most of whom have been oppressed or ignored) to live together in peace and equality. As we all know, integration is tough. There is always resistance, sometimes violent. In these three books there are four key alliances: the three Fae brothers and their lovers, who are all different kinds of outsiders, and the Faerie Queen - who marries the heir of her former chief antagonist.
What will make this work is everyone committing to move forward together.
So there you have it. I recommend all of the above as interesting, well-executed contributions to M/M romance. An author to watch and enjoy!