Funny thing: I went back to the previous to remind myself where I left off (aging, it’s a thing) and found I’d attributed my lists to July rather than September! Fixed that.
As usual, I’m adding links, where I find useful ones, so those interested in the books I’ve read can find them easily. Buy direct if you can! If you like something, say so (somewhere)! Most authors get very little positive feedback and every bit of it counts, especially if you comment in a place other readers can find … so that they, also, can acquire a book.
Finally, as a reminder, I have a monthly newsletter in which I feature a backlist title on sale and occasionally drop in some other notes. Sign up below.
compiled October 8, 2026:
1. ‘The Last Romeo’ by Justin Myers. Gay fiction, contemporary, POV character is a journalist working for a gossip site. Funny, not a romance, involves deception as a tool of recovery from a breakup in which the POV guy was justified (and the initiator) due to emotional abuse but his ex tells all the joint friends a different story. That aspect doesn’t play a huge role in the plot aside from the consequences of social isolation, which lead POV guy to do some not very constructive things. I would read more from this author.
2. ‘All the Pretty Boys’ by Jay Castelletti. Gorgeous cover on this one, but what’s inside is grim. I jumped from 30% (at which point I thought “this is not getting any less grim and do I really want to read about more awful things? no, I do not”) to 80% then skimmed to the end. I get the idea it’s based on the author’s real life experiences, and if so I’m very glad he survived, but I would honestly rather have read a memoir than a fictionalized treatment.
3. FF short story, ‘Leap of Faith’ by A.L. Lester, latest in their series based on Celtic myths; sweet and soothing. Then, ‘Sigh of Relief’ by Layla Reyne, her new novella, which is an up-to-the-minute contemporary midlife MM featuring people whose lives are heavily impacted by Trump 2: a California winemaker, and an FBI assistant director. Not for those who need escapist reading.
4. [re-read] ‘The Red Dragon of Oxford’ by Joy Lynn Fielding, first in her Wings of Albion series, 100% enjoyed this all over again. I like a book where there is an apparent power imbalance but the apparently less powerful person is not cowed by it.
5. ‘Dragon’s Ending’ by Joy Lynn Fielding, latest in the series, 100% enjoyed this too. I hope she writes more of these; the world-building is excellent, nicely seasoned by Arthuriana and history, with many interesting side characters who make me think “I’d like a story about them” but no heavy-handed sequel signaling.
6. [re-read] my own FM novel ‘Lost & Found,’ the one about a photographer (FMC) who realizes the glamorous female-presenting companion of an aging, ill Hollywood producer is actually a man (MMC). These main characters appear as side characters in a new thing I’m writing.
7. ‘Divided Road’ by Anne Barwell, MM entry in the Road to Rocktoberfest multi-author series. Way too many characters in this, not because there shouldn’t be other people but because I didn’t want commentary from and about every one of those other people; I wanted character development for the 2 MCs. And in a book about people who bond over songwriting, I needed the lyrics on page to be musical. Alas.
8. ‘Take Me With You’ by Steven Rowley. Not a romance. This is about an established couple (30 years together) who’ve moved from LA to Joshua Tree and at first it appears to improve their marriage, but then things start to tip sideways, and then one of the men is sucked up into the sky by a beam of light. A good 30% of the book concerns the first three months of the left-behind husband trying (and initially failing) to cope. Then there’s a hefty section concerning the same three months in the POV of the gone guy’s younger sister. Then the gone guy comes back – a year to the day after he disappeared – not realizing he’s been gone at all, finding he’s been divorced in absentia, and trying desperately to recover, revive, reboot the relationship he was (it seems) actively seeking to leave. This is an unusual book, inventive and involving, and there is a happy ending. However, while the theme (connection) is very clear, the story is tense and unhappy, and the reconciliation scene(s) I wanted were not on the page. Alas.
compiled October 1, 2026:
1. ‘Scud Missile Blues’ by Amal Kassir, a Syrian American poet hosted by my employer recently. This small book of poems is explicitly about Bashar al-Assad and Putin’s war in Syria; it is enraging and sad.
2. ‘Falling’ by Sean Ashcroft, latest in their MM Otter Bay series. MC1 is the town’s new librarian; MC2 is the owner of the friendly neighborhood gay bar. The only real obstacle is whether MC1 will land an objectively better, academic library job (even as he comes to love the small-town version). Then MC2 has a no-self-esteem crisis that feels shoehorned in. A pleasant read but not a standout.
3. ‘Winging It’ by Mike Lawson, a former flight attendant writing about a career flight attendant. This England-set MM is billed as a romcom and it is indeed funny if you have a high tolerance for blackout drinking, unprotected sex, and love interests who punish a person when their relationship PTSD is triggered. I was invested enough to finish and I did have some faith in the HEA, plus many in-flight and flight-adjacent incidents felt extremely lived.
4. ‘How to Love’ by Alex Norris. Y’all, EVERYBODY should get this, read and enjoy it, and share with a young person. It’s a hilarious yet substantive “guide to feelings and relationships for everyone.” For real, buy copies for everybody on your holiday list.
5. ‘On Your Six’ by Eleanora Larsen. MM with two career military MCs who meet during Selection for special forces. It’s set after don’t ask don’t tell was repealed but Selection is explicitly No Fraternization so they’re risking a lot from day one. MC1 aspires to be an Army pilot (SOAR), which he achieves. MC2 is the high-achieving son of a General (I hate that guy) contending with being deeply closeted, also subject to what reads as chronic depression (understandable). The falling in love is all on the page during Selection. The relationship then takes years to develop. Bad things happen; a key ally appears at a key moment. Editing could have been a smidge tighter but I was really impressed with this and eagerly await the sequel (no cliffhangers).
6. ‘Playing By Ear’ by Avery Cockburn. Last, so they say, in their Glasgow Lads series. Older MCs than some in the series. MC1 is a musician (whom we repeatedly see being a musician) scratching a living as a busker while dodging publicity because he’s the son of a notorious gangster. MC2 is a freelance journalist (whom we repeatedly see being a writer) with a side gig as a cam boy because he’s losing his vision to retinitis pigmentosa and it’s not easy making a living as a writer in any case. Relative high conflict due to the gangster angle, but it’s mostly not conflict between the men; communication is good and caring is ample. They also bond over soccer. A strong finish for this batch of stories.
A side note. You may have noticed that I have, to a degree, deprioritized female authors of romance. This isn’t due to any feeling that female authors are less good at it (that would be needlessly self-abnegating, wouldn’t it?). It’s more due to a recognition that in my early years of reading romance, nearly all of it was written by women, and that continued as I began my deep dive into LGBTQ+ romance.
I’m actively seeking out male / nonbinary / trans authors because I feel like I’ve learned a lot from the observed experience, but can still learn a lot more from the lived experience. I want to be a better writer. That won’t happen unless I keep learning. I have noticed, for instance, that certain things that seem to be very important to female authors are not that important to other genders. This is good intel.
There are still entire subgenres that I’m simply not interested in reading, no matter who writes them. But for YA and New Adult MM contemporary romance in particular, I strongly encourage other readers to try the same voices authors. Representation matters, but so does authenticity.