en-US Wed, 21 Aug 2024 01:04:15 -0700 60 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg 58648055
Thom knows all about damage control—he practically invented it. Ever the professional, he’ll grin and bear this challenge as he does all others. But as the loyal staffers push the boundaries of “giving the people what they want,� the animosity between them blooms into something deeper and far more dangerous: desire. Soon their fake relationship is hurtling toward something very real, which could derail the campaign and cost them both their jobs…and their hearts.

Alternate cover edition of ASIN B093DM9Q8W]]> 336 Liz Bowery Jade2 5
It mixed politics with tussling romance. Where the 2 main characters were pulling and pushing at each other like they were in their own game of chess. They both were trying to understand each other all in an effort to one-up the other, until they were slowly starting to find some middle ground and finally managed to build their own bridge where they both co-exist and understand each other, under their masks.

They are 2 characters that care about their careers so much that it kinda makes them egotistical, but the way the author writes them you can't help but laugh at their tactics and root for them when things go their way. How even if they care about their careers they somehow manage to put that aside to help the other one out and support each other.

The humor in this book got me laughing every few pages and the banter between them, makes all those cute moments hit 10x more in the chest!! It's like a slow burn where they hate each other from friends to enemies to lovers and it goes around until they finally reach the end and they become soulmates!!! AHHHH MY HEART!!! You slowly get to see them go from selfish egotistic assholes to putting the effort into helping each other become better versions of themselves, and at times they don't even know it.

If you are looking for a book where its characters are benevolent and good-hearted people who work for a good organization and stuff then respectfully, this ain't for you. Like the author literally says it herself, she "Likes wiring about terrible people" and I gobbled that shit up !! I go back and reread my favorite parts at least once a month.

AGAIN WITH MY LIFE, I WILL DEFEND THIS BOOK WITH MY LIFE, I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE AUTHOR'S NEXT BOOK !!! But I understand that this kind of trait in the characters isn't everyone's cup of tea and I can respect that :) Just wanted to say that I love this book. Peace and love guys.]]> 3.61 2022
author: Liz Bowery
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/08/21
shelves: lbgtq, mlm, banter, politics, realistic-and-imperfect-people
review:
Now, I am willing to defend this book WITH MY LIFE !!! LIKE I LOVED THIS BOOK SO DAMN MUCH.

It mixed politics with tussling romance. Where the 2 main characters were pulling and pushing at each other like they were in their own game of chess. They both were trying to understand each other all in an effort to one-up the other, until they were slowly starting to find some middle ground and finally managed to build their own bridge where they both co-exist and understand each other, under their masks.

They are 2 characters that care about their careers so much that it kinda makes them egotistical, but the way the author writes them you can't help but laugh at their tactics and root for them when things go their way. How even if they care about their careers they somehow manage to put that aside to help the other one out and support each other.

The humor in this book got me laughing every few pages and the banter between them, makes all those cute moments hit 10x more in the chest!! It's like a slow burn where they hate each other from friends to enemies to lovers and it goes around until they finally reach the end and they become soulmates!!! AHHHH MY HEART!!! You slowly get to see them go from selfish egotistic assholes to putting the effort into helping each other become better versions of themselves, and at times they don't even know it.

If you are looking for a book where its characters are benevolent and good-hearted people who work for a good organization and stuff then respectfully, this ain't for you. Like the author literally says it herself, she "Likes wiring about terrible people" and I gobbled that shit up !! I go back and reread my favorite parts at least once a month.

AGAIN WITH MY LIFE, I WILL DEFEND THIS BOOK WITH MY LIFE, I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE AUTHOR'S NEXT BOOK !!! But I understand that this kind of trait in the characters isn't everyone's cup of tea and I can respect that :) Just wanted to say that I love this book. Peace and love guys.
]]> 139506177
Wade Westmore is used to being in the spotlight. So when he’s passed over for the lead in the spring musical, it comes as a major blow—especially when the role goes to his ex-boyfriend, Reese, who dumped him for being too self-involved.

Shy sophomore Elijah Brady is used to being overlooked. Forget not knowing his name—most of his classmates don’t even know he exists. So when he joins the stage crew for the musical, he seems destined to blend into the scenery.

When the two have a disastrous backstage run-in, Elijah proposes an arrangement that could solve both boys� problems: If Wade teaches Elijah how to be popular, Wade can prove that he cares about more than just himself. Seeing a chance to win Reese back, Wade dives headfirst into helping Elijah become the new and improved “Brady.�

Soon their plan puts Brady center stage—and he’s a surprising smash hit. So why is Wade suddenly less worried about winning over his ex and more worried about losing Elijah?]]> 352 Brian D. Kennedy 0063085712 Jade2 0 to-read 3.92 2024
author: Brian D. Kennedy
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 62693157 In this YA pop-punk debut about queer romance and destroying labels, a teen risks everything to write his own story. Perfect for fans of Sonora Reyes and Adib Khorram.

Stonebridge High’s resident bad boy, Wesley “Big Mac� Mackenzie, is failing senior year—thanks to his unchecked anger, rowdy friends, and a tendency to ditch his homework for skateboarding and a secret photography obsession. So when his mom drags him to a production of The Nutcracker, Wes isn’t interested at all . . . until he sees Tristan Monroe. Mr. Nutcracker himself.

Wes knows he shouldn’t like Tristan; after all, he’s a ballet dancer, and Wes is as closeted as they come. But when they start spending time together, Wes can’t seem to get Tristan out of his head. Driven by a new sense of purpose, Wes begins to think that—despite every authority figure telling him otherwise—maybe he can change for the better and graduate on time.

As a falling out with his friends becomes inevitable, Wes realizes that being himself means taking a stand—and blowing up the bad-boy reputation he never wanted in the first place.

From a debut author to watch, Skater Boy delivers a heart-wrenching, validating, and honest story about what it means to be gay in a world where you don’t fit in.]]> 312 Anthony Nerada 1641295341 Jade2 0 to-read 3.99 2024
author: Anthony Nerada
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.99
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60840490 Two track and field athletes find an unexpected but powerful love in this unapologetically blunt and unforgettably real YA debut.
Ěý
Sebastian Villeda is over it. Over his rep. Over his bros. Over being "Bash the Flash," fastest sprinter in South Jersey. His dad is gone, his mom is dead, and his stepfather is clueless. Bash has no idea what he wants out of life. Until he meets Sandro.
Ěý
Sandro Miceli is too nice for his own good. The middle child in an always-growing, always-screaming Italian family, Sandro walks around on a broken foot to not bother his busy parents. All he wants is to get out and never look back.
Ěý
When fate—in the form of a party that gets busted—brings these two very different boys together, neither of them could’ve predicted finding a love that they’d risk everything for…]]> 400 James Acker 1335428623 Jade2 4
Okay so now I guess I should write an actual review instead of just rambling on the internet, so here it goes:
I loved the progression of both romance and friendship between Bash and Sandro, it was slow and natural with that sudden teenage recklessness that Acker captured very well all throughout the book. And OMG THE HUMOR !!! I LOVED IT!!! It felt like it was talking with my guy buddies back in high school, almost like nostalgia which I didn't anticipate, it felt nice reminiscing :)

I also liked the ending where it makes you hopeful and how the problems are on the way to being resolved, instead of making it unrealistically solved like other books all because it's the end of the book. 'Hopeful' for the ending is a perfect word for it.

I liked how Bash and Sandro took a bit of help from each other and themselves to overcome their internal struggles, which added another star in the character development. As I was reading, I could feel the character's despair and self-hatred, which also got me so attached to them. I also liked how the 2 main characters had great friendships and bonds beside each other, and how they weren't each other's only comfort throughout the book. Character relationships were top-tier!!

The friendships, bonds, resolvement, characters, development, and humor were the best parts of this book. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND !! ]]> 4.24 2023
author: James Acker
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/20
date added: 2024/08/20
shelves:
review:
I don't even know where to start, I loved this book so much that when I was 20 pages away from the end all I could tell myself was "Imma miss these idiots" AHHHHHHHHH.

Okay so now I guess I should write an actual review instead of just rambling on the internet, so here it goes:
I loved the progression of both romance and friendship between Bash and Sandro, it was slow and natural with that sudden teenage recklessness that Acker captured very well all throughout the book. And OMG THE HUMOR !!! I LOVED IT!!! It felt like it was talking with my guy buddies back in high school, almost like nostalgia which I didn't anticipate, it felt nice reminiscing :)

I also liked the ending where it makes you hopeful and how the problems are on the way to being resolved, instead of making it unrealistically solved like other books all because it's the end of the book. 'Hopeful' for the ending is a perfect word for it.

I liked how Bash and Sandro took a bit of help from each other and themselves to overcome their internal struggles, which added another star in the character development. As I was reading, I could feel the character's despair and self-hatred, which also got me so attached to them. I also liked how the 2 main characters had great friendships and bonds beside each other, and how they weren't each other's only comfort throughout the book. Character relationships were top-tier!!

The friendships, bonds, resolvement, characters, development, and humor were the best parts of this book. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND !!
]]> 176440006
Eclipse , a collection of poetry and art from Wilder, illustrates a magical journey of love between the sun and moon. Readers will experience firsthand the dichotomy of night and day, light and dark, presence and absence, and how one doesn’t exist without the other. Separated into three parts—“Stars,� “Between,� and “You & Me,”� Eclipse dives into the abundant emotions someone experiences only when in the throes of passion.]]> 176 Wilder Poetry 1524875805 Jade2 5 poetry
As I read I realized many of her words resembled the platonic long distance realtionship relationship between my best friend and I, though I know you could see her words as romantic. Which I think is an amazing feat to make, to write and have readers be able to apply many different feelings apply to it.

Then when I got to the end and saw the picture of the sun and moon and realized that the cover and poetry were talking about how the sun and moon miss and long for EACH OTHER !! That the words and cover were a dual representation and I was blown away !!! The face I made when I figured that out, made this book one of my favorites for 2024. ]]> 4.12
author: Wilder Poetry
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.12
book published:
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2024/06/02
shelves: poetry
review:
omg.. I can't truly express how many wonderful different colors I was able to see through the author's words. I went to Barnes just to scan and leave but this book caught my eye and I decided just to read a few pages and go home... I did not go home as I planned. I read the first pages and I felt like I was hearing the thoughts I hadn't been able to form and the thoughts I didn't know I had. I stayed standing and read this book from beginning to end.

As I read I realized many of her words resembled the platonic long distance realtionship relationship between my best friend and I, though I know you could see her words as romantic. Which I think is an amazing feat to make, to write and have readers be able to apply many different feelings apply to it.

Then when I got to the end and saw the picture of the sun and moon and realized that the cover and poetry were talking about how the sun and moon miss and long for EACH OTHER !! That the words and cover were a dual representation and I was blown away !!! The face I made when I figured that out, made this book one of my favorites for 2024.
]]> 59808279 The special Collector's Edition of Casey McQuiston's beloved New York Times bestselling novel, featuring illustrated endpapers, an all new Henry-POV chapter, and more!

What happens when America's First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales?

When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius—his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.

Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations.

Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue proves: true love isn't always diplomatic.]]> 416 Casey McQuiston 1250856035 Jade2 0 to-read 4.45 2019
author: Casey McQuiston
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/03/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 41880609 On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family's history that began before he was born � a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam � and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity. Asking questions central to our American moment, immersed as we are in addiction, violence, and trauma, but undergirded by compassion and tenderness, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one's own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard.

With stunning urgency and grace, Ocean Vuong writes of people caught between disparate worlds, and asks how we heal and rescue one another without forsaking who we are. The question of how to survive, and how to make of it a kind of joy, powers the most important debut novel of many years.]]> 246 Ocean Vuong 0525562028 Jade2 4 4.05 2019
author: Ocean Vuong
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/02/26
shelves:
review:

]]> 44421460 What would you change if you could go back in time?

In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.

In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer's, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.

But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .

Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?]]> 213 Toshikazu Kawaguchi 1529029589 Jade2 4 3.66 2015
author: Toshikazu Kawaguchi
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/02/21
shelves:
review:

]]> 62984473 268 Jordan Clayden-Lewis 1777666848 Jade2 0 to-read 3.84
author: Jordan Clayden-Lewis
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.84
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/02/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 43263515
These monsters of Elendhaven will have their revenge on everyone who wronged the city, even if they have to burn the world to do it.]]> 160 Jennifer Giesbrecht 125022568X Jade2 4 3.54 2019
author: Jennifer Giesbrecht
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2019
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/02/05
shelves:
review:

]]> 58772723
At age sixteen, Fahad hopes to spend the summer with his mother in London. His father, Rafik, has other plans: hauling his son to Abad, the family's feudal estate in upcountry, Pakistan. Rafik wants to toughen up his sensitive boy, to teach him about power, duty, family--to make him a man. He enlists Ali, a local teenager, in this project, hoping his presence will prove instructive.

Instead, over the course of one hot, indolent season, attraction blooms between the two boys, and Fahad finds himself seduced by the wildness of the land and its inhabitants: the people, who revere and revile his father in turn; cousin Mousey, who lives alone with a man he calls his manager; and most of all, Ali, who threatens to unearth all that is hidden.

Decades later, Fahad is living abroad when he receives a call from his mother summoning him home. His return will force him to face the past. Taymour Soomro's Other Names for Love is a tale of masculinity, inheritance, and desire set against the backdrop of a country's troubled history, told with uncommon urgency and beauty.]]> 256 Taymour Soomro 0374604649 Jade2 3 3.24 2022
author: Taymour Soomro
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.24
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/01/30
shelves:
review:

]]> 58891551
As they fall in love, they dream of finding somewhere they belong, while Mungo works hard to hide his true self from all those around him, especially from his big brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold. And when several months later Mungo's mother sends him on a fishing trip to a loch in Western Scotland with two strange men whose drunken banter belies murky pasts, he will need to summon all his inner strength and courage to try to get back to a place of safety, a place where he and James might still have a future.

Imbuing the everyday world of its characters with rich lyricism and giving full voice to people rarely acknowledged in the literary world, Young Mungo is a gripping and revealing story about the bounds of masculinity, the divisions of sectarianism, the violence faced by many queer people, and the dangers of loving someone too much.]]> 390 Douglas Stuart 0802159559 Jade2 4 4.37 2022
author: Douglas Stuart
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/01/10
shelves:
review:

]]> 31145148 A thrilling YA debut about teen spies disguised as "love interests"--whoever gets the girl lives; but the one she rejects, dies.

There is a secret organization that cultivates teenage spies. The agents are called Love Interests because getting close to people destined for great power means getting valuable secrets.

Caden is a Nice: The boy next door, sculpted to physical perfection.
Dylan is a Bad: The brooding, dark-souled guy, and dangerously handsome.

The girl they are competing for is important to the organization, and each boy will pursue her. Will she choose a Nice or the Bad?

Both Caden and Dylan are living in the outside world for the first time. They are well-trained and at the top of their games. They have to be - whoever the girl doesn't choose will die.

What the boys don't expect are feelings that are outside of their training. Feelings that could kill them both.

From debut author Cale Dietrich comes a fast-paced adventure that is full of both action and romance and subverts common tropes.]]> 377 Cale Dietrich 125010713X Jade2 0 to-read 3.19 2017
author: Cale Dietrich
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.19
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/01/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 50169793
But nobody knows why the flower of English knighthood snuck over the border to capture a savage, dirty teenage boy. Montagu gives the boy to Harry as his squire, with only two rules: don't let him escape, and convert him to the English cause.

At first, it's hopeless. The Scottish boy is surly and violent, and eats anything that isn't nailed down. Then Harry begins to notice things: that, as well as Gaelic, the boy speaks flawless French, with an accent much different from Harry's Norman one. That he can read Latin too. And when Harry finally convinces the boy � Iain mac Maíl Coluim � to cut his filthy curtain of hair, the face revealed is the most beautiful thing Harry has ever seen.

With Iain as his squire, Harry wins tournament after tournament and becomes a favourite of the King. But underneath the pageantry smoulder twin secrets: Harry and Iain's growing passion for each other, and Iain's mysterious heritage. As England hurtles towards war once again, these secrets will destroy everything Harry holds dear.]]> 485 Alex de Campi Jade2 0 to-read 4.08 2020
author: Alex de Campi
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60167858
Life has been easy for me. Top of my class. Star quarterback of the football team. Every guy wants to be my friend, and every girl wants to date me.
Yeah, life is pretty sweet.
Except it’s not.
It’s all fake. School comes too easy for me, and I’m bored. Football isn’t fun anymore. The guys I hang out with aren’t really my friends.
And the girls? I don’t want to date them.
The only one I want to date . . . He’s a little bit . . . hostile.

Rhett

Life has never been easy for me. A foster kid, lucky enough to be adopted as a teen but who still can’t find a way to be happy.
I have two best friends who are amazing and supportive, and yet, I can’t bring myself to tell them my biggest secret.
Parents who pay for a private school a kid like me could never have dreamed of . . . that I hate.
It feels all wrong when it should feel right.
And I guess . . . that’s made me nothing but . . . hostile.]]> 326 Nicole Dykes Jade2 0 to-read 3.97 2022
author: Nicole Dykes
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61848341 C’est cela l’amour, et tu es mon rêve...

Bryce:

Hockey is my life. This game pulled me from my tiny Quebec hometown all the way to the NHL, and now? I’m the number one player in the league. Team capitaine for the Montréal Étoiles. I’m shattering records and packing arenas every night, and I’ve promised my team: we’re going to win the Stanley Cup this year.

But I’m keeping big secrets. I'm thinking dangerous thoughts, and dreaming about impossible things. Like how a man’s lips might taste, or how his body might feel in my arms.

I can’t go there. I’ve got to focus. Team. Hockey. Cup. What my heart wants doesn’t matter.

So why am I falling head over heels at the NHL's All-Star Weekend?

I can’t do this. I can’t fall for Hunter Lacey. He’s a hockey player. We’re both in the NHL. He’s on a different team. And, oh yeah, he’s straight.

Hunter:

I’m a middle-of-the-road, nothing-special hockey player. Good enough to be drafted into the NHL, and I’ve been on the roster for the past two years, but I’ll never make the Hall of Fame. I’m just trying to keep my head up and get through each day, until this wild ride comes to an end.

Deep thinking isn’t really my thing. Look inside myself? Lotta beer and burgers there.

I never thought I’d be invited to the All-Star Weekend, but here I am. And there’s my hero: Bryce Michel, league superstar.

Saying hello to Bryce turns into hours spent together on the ice, and then an invite to dinner, and then days at each other's side. I’m in heaven. He’s my hero, and this is the coolest�

Then Bryce’s lips land on mine, and the world turns upside down.

Gravity is an MM romance featuring bi/gay awakening, friends to lovers, team shenanigans, fast-paced hockey, ice-melting sizzle, and swoony Québécois love songs.

Gravity is set in the same universe as The Rest of the Story .]]> 273 Tal Bauer Jade2 0 to-read 4.11 2022
author: Tal Bauer
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 60749900 320 Hayden Stone 1649372442 Jade2 0 to-read 3.65 2022
author: Hayden Stone
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 57362541
Landon Griffin has everything going for him. He’s a high school senior on the brink of receiving a football scholarship, his dad is running for mayor of Madison, Texas, and his future with his girlfriend looks bright. But his simple life shatters when feelings spark for a guy he’s never met.

Giving the stranger the codename Mystery Boy, Landon hesitates to step out of his comfort zone to solve the mystery. Living in a conservative town, he struggles to hide his new obsession while trying to figure out where he fits within the spectrum of sexuality. Can he dodge the constant questions from his friends and find answers before the escalating anxiety becomes too much to handle?]]> 440 Matthew R. Corr Jade2 0 to-read 3.87 2021
author: Matthew R. Corr
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.87
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 54785525 William di Canzio's Alec, inspired by Maurice, E. M. Forster's secret novel of a happy same-sex love affair, tells the story of Alec Scudder, the gamekeeper Maurice Hall falls in love with in Forster's classic, published only after the author's death.

Di Canzio follows their story past the end of Maurice to the front lines of battle in World War I and beyond. Forster, who tried to write an epilogue about the future of his characters, was stymied by the radical change that the Great War brought to their world. With the hindsight of a century, di Canzio imagines a future for them and a past for Alec--a young villager possessed of remarkable passion and self-knowledge.

Alec continues Forster's project of telling stories that are part of "a great unrecorded history." Di Canzio's debut novel is a love story of epic proportions, at once classic and boldly new.]]> 340 William di Canzio 0374102600 Jade2 0 to-read 4.14 2021
author: William di Canzio
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58999179
Single father Todd is relaxing at the beach with his son, Anthony, when he catches sight of a man approaching from the water’s edge. As the man draws closer, Todd recognizes him as Jack, who bullied Todd relentlessly in their teenage years, but now seems overjoyed to have “run into� his old friend. Jack suggests a meal to catch up. And can he spend the night?

What follows is a fast-paced story of obsession and cunning. As Jack invades Todd’s life, pain and intimidation from the past unearth knife-edge suspense in the present. Set in a small town on the New England coast, Conner Habib’s debut introduces characters trapped in isolation by the expansive woods and the encroaching ocean, their violence an expression of repressed desire and the damage it can inflict. Both gruesome and tender, Hawk Mountain offers a compelling look at how love and hate are indissoluble, intertwined until the last breath.]]> 307 Conner Habib 0393542173 Jade2 0 to-read 3.75 2022
author: Conner Habib
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 59575964 A luminous and haunting memoir from the prize-winning poet - a story of love, heartbreak and coming of age, and a fearless exploration of queer identity and trauma.

When Seán meets Elias, the two fall headlong into a love story. But as Elias struggles with severe depression, the couple comes face-to-face with crisis. Wrestling with this, Seán Hewitt delves deep into his own history, enlisting the ghosts of queer figures and poets before him. From a nineteenth-century cemetery in Liverpool to the pine forests of Gothenburg, Hewitt plumbs the darkness in search of solace and hope.

All Down Darkness Wide is an unflinching meditation on the burden of living in a world that too often sets happiness and queer life at odds, and a tender portrayal of what it's like to be caught in the undertow of a loved one's suffering. By turns devastating and soaring, it is a mesmerising story of heartache and renewal, and a work of rare and transcendent beauty.]]> 240 Seán Hewitt 0593300084 Jade2 0 to-read 4.16 2022
author: Seán Hewitt
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 57658678
After years of scraping by, Caleb Murphy has graduated from college and is finally getting to start a new life. Except he suddenly has no way to get from Boston to Los Angeles. Then, to add to his misery, there's perfect, privileged Peter Cabot offering to drive him. Caleb can't refuse, even though the idea of spending a week in the car with a man whose luggage probably costs more than everything Caleb owns makes him want to scream.

Peter Cabot would do pretty much anything to skip out on his father's presidential campaign, including driving across the country with a classmate who can't stand him. After all, he's had plenty of practice with people not liking him much—his own family, for example. The farther Peter gets from his family's expectations, the more he starts to think about what he really wants, and the more certain he becomes that what he wants is more time with prickly, grumpy Caleb Murphy.

As they put more miles between themselves and their pasts, they both start to imagine a future where they can have things they never thought possible.]]> 217 Cat Sebastian 1393337244 Jade2 0 to-read 4.29 2021
author: Cat Sebastian
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 41150487
As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?]]> 448 Casey McQuiston 1250316774 Jade2 5 4.06 2019
author: Casey McQuiston
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/12/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 49977811 Set in early 1980s Poland against the violent decline of communism,Ěýa tender and passionate story of first love between two young men who eventually find themselves on opposite sides of the political divide—a stunningly poetic and heartrending literary debut for fans of Andre Aciman, Garth Greenwell, and Alan Hollinghurst.

When university student Ludwik meets Janusz at a summer agricultural camp, he is fascinated yet wary of this handsome, carefree stranger. But a chance meeting by the river soon becomes an intense, exhilarating, and all-consuming affair. After their camp duties are fulfilled, the pair spend a dreamlike few weeks camping in the countryside, bonding over an illicit copy of James Baldwin’sĚýGiovanni’s Room. Inhabiting a beautiful natural world removed from society and its constraints, Ludwik and Janusz fall deeply in love. But in their repressive communist and Catholic society, the passion they share is utterly unthinkable.

Once they return to Warsaw, the charismatic Janusz quickly rises in the political ranks of the party and is rewarded with a highly-coveted position in the ministry. Ludwik is drawn toward impulsive acts of protest, unable to ignore rising food prices and the stark economic disparity around them. Their secret love and personal and political differences slowly begin to tear them apart as both men struggle to survive in a regime on the brink of collapse.

Shifting from the intoxication of first love to the quiet melancholy of growing up and growing apart,ĚýSwimming in the DarkĚýis a potent blend of romance, post-war politics, intrigue, and history. Lyrical and sensual, immersive and intense, Tomasz Jedrowski has crafted an indelible and thought-provoking literary debut that explores freedom and love in all its incarnations.]]> 191 Tomasz Jedrowski 006289000X Jade2 5 4.25 2020
author: Tomasz Jedrowski
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/12/18
shelves:
review:

]]> 58724599 The Goblin Emperor meets "Magnificent Century" in Alexandra Rowland's A Taste of Gold and Iron, where a queer central romance unfolds in a fantasy world reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire.

Kadou, the shy prince of Arasht, finds himself at odds with one of the most powerful ambassadors at court—the body-father of the queen's new child—in an altercation which results in his humiliation.

To prove his loyalty to the queen, his sister, Kadou takes responsibility for the investigation of a break-in at one of their guilds, with the help of his newly appointed bodyguard, the coldly handsome Evemer, who seems to tolerate him at best. In Arasht, where princes can touch-taste precious metals with their fingers and myth runs side by side with history, counterfeiting is heresy, and the conspiracy they discover could cripple the kingdom’s financial standing and bring about its ruin.]]> 512 Alexandra Rowland 1250800382 Jade2 0 to-read 4.03 2022
author: Alexandra Rowland
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/11/15
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 53088141
In his twisty, heartbreaking, profoundly moving New York Times bestselling-debut, Adam Silvera brings to life a charged, dangerous near-future summer in the Bronx.

In the months following his father's suicide, sixteen-year-old Aaron Soto can’t seem to find happiness again, despite the support of his girlfriend, Genevieve, and his overworked mom. Grief and the smile-shaped scar on his wrist won’t let him forget the pain. But when Aaron meets Thomas, a new kid in the neighborhood, something starts to shift inside him. Aaron can't deny his unexpected feelings for Thomas despite the tensions their friendship has created with Genevieve and his tight-knit crew. Since Aaron can't stay away from Thomas or turn off his newfound happiness, he considers taking drastic actions. The Leteo Institute’s revolutionary memory-altering procedure will straighten him out, even if it means forgetting who he truly is.

Why does happiness have to be so hard?]]> 352 Adam Silvera 164129194X Jade2 0 to-read 4.10 2015
author: Adam Silvera
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 59723790
It’s the night before Death-Cast goes live, and there’s one question on everyone’s mind: Can Death-Cast actually predict when someone will die, or is it just an elaborate hoax?

Orion Pagan has waited years for someone to tell him that he’s going to die. He has a serious heart condition, and he signed up for Death-Cast so he could know what’s coming.

Valentino Prince is restarting his life in New York. He has a long and promising future ahead and he only registered for Death-Cast after his twin sister nearly died in a car accident.

Orion and Valentino cross paths in Times Square and immediately feel a deep connection. But when the first round of End Day calls goes out, their lives are changed forever—one of them receives a call, and the other doesn’t. Though neither boy is certain how the day will end, they know they want to spend it together…even if that means their goodbye will be heartbreaking.

Told with acclaimed author Adam Silvera’s signature bittersweet touch, this story celebrates the lasting impact that people have on each other and proves that life is always worth living to the fullest.]]> 550 Adam Silvera 0063240807 Jade2 5
(I'll make a longer review later, but I'm still so emotionally heartbroken by this book, I need some time to emotionally recover before I fully talk about how much I loved this book and how much it broke me.]]> 3.98 2022
author: Adam Silvera
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/10/17
shelves:
review:
Heartbreakingly beauttigful. Tragic. Love. Death.

(I'll make a longer review later, but I'm still so emotionally heartbroken by this book, I need some time to emotionally recover before I fully talk about how much I loved this book and how much it broke me.
]]> 58852929
But Nate’s onscreen life looks nothing like the real thing, which stars abusive, addicted parents instead of swooning teenage girls. On top of that, Nate’s questioning his sexuality, and his boss is a demanding monster.

The pressure would get to anyone. Fortunately Nate has Tai Atua, his costar� and maybe the love of his life. As the boys slowly fall for each other, Nate tries to believe in the possibility of his own happiness. Tai could be his savior, pulling Nate away from the precarious knife-edge he’s balancing on.

Of course, he could also be his undoing. Because if anyone finds out about their relationship, Nate’s whole life will come crashing down around him. If that happened, Nate couldn’t live with himself�.]]> 298 Russell J. Sanders 1644059185 Jade2 0 to-read 4.50
author: Russell J. Sanders
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/11
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58739425
Until he can't. Ben is in some ways Ronny's opposite; he's big and solid where Ronny is small and slight. Ben's at UNC on a football scholarship. Confident, with that easy jock swagger, and an explosive temper always simmering. He has a steady stream of girlfriends. Ben's aware of the overwhelming effect he has on Ronny. It's like a sensation of power. So easy to tease Ronny, throw playful insults, but it all feels somehow.loaded.

Meanwhile Ronny's mother has moved to Vegas with her latest husband. And Ben's mother is fighting advanced cancer. A bubble forms around the two, as surprising to Ronny as it is to Ben. Within it their connection ignites physically and emotionally. But what will happen when the tensile strength of a bubble is tested? When the rest of life intervenes?

The Dove in the Belly is about the electric, dangerous, sometimes tender but always powerful attraction between two very different boys. But it's also about the full cycles of love and life and how they open in us the twinned capacities for grief and joy.]]> 336 Jim Grimsley 1646141318 Jade2 5 Anger, not at the author, but at society, the way the days of the past made them feel like they needed to hide simply because of the gender of the person they loved. Angry at the fact society made the main character, Ronny and Ben, feel like they needed to hide in order to protect themselves when it should have been society that needed to change. At times, I just wanted to hug them both and tell them there was nothing wrong with them, there was nothing to be ashamed of, and it was okay to let go.
It not only touched on these tough topics but also tackled the mental state of one's mind after being impacted by death. Death of friends and loved ones aren't so easy to process nor is it accepted or processed as quickly as we may think. How it impacts us forever. That it can not only harm ourselves but the people who love us as well.

The story is but a reminder of how trapped homosexuals were back in the day, and how wonderful it was to have friends and loved ones support and love you as you are. The glee and reassurance I felt when the moment came that they didn't give 2 shits about what society or close friends thought of them after all the hiding made me feel like me, Ben, and Ronny won. Won something important. They won love. They Won Freedom.]]> 4.12 2022
author: Jim Grimsley
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/10/11
shelves: beautiful, lbgtq, mlm, tragedy-in-family, set-in-the-1970-s, football-player-x-smart-boy
review:
DAMN. Just ... Damn. I don't know how to fully express how much I loved this book, how authentic and real it felt, and how many whirlpools of emotions it made me go through but it was AMAZING. The reality of being a homosexual in the 1900s was tough, how one thought of it as shameful, the slow acceptance of it, and the journey of fully embracing it. The YEARNING, The longing, and the having. It was authentically beautiful. The author didn't sugar code the main character's personality nor their dialogue. It was just ... 2 men in love. Men who wrestled, cursed, sarcastic, sensitive about the lowering of their masculinity(not wanting to be compared/called a girl), rough as a personality trait, and one of the main leads (Ben) dating a girl to please society(later resolved). The banter, humor, friendship, and love between the two are what made me want to root for them til the end. It touched on problems men back in the day would have had to face, overcome, and the obstacles that came with it. It just felt so Real, genuine, depth filled, and full of emotions like anger.
Anger, not at the author, but at society, the way the days of the past made them feel like they needed to hide simply because of the gender of the person they loved. Angry at the fact society made the main character, Ronny and Ben, feel like they needed to hide in order to protect themselves when it should have been society that needed to change. At times, I just wanted to hug them both and tell them there was nothing wrong with them, there was nothing to be ashamed of, and it was okay to let go.
It not only touched on these tough topics but also tackled the mental state of one's mind after being impacted by death. Death of friends and loved ones aren't so easy to process nor is it accepted or processed as quickly as we may think. How it impacts us forever. That it can not only harm ourselves but the people who love us as well.

The story is but a reminder of how trapped homosexuals were back in the day, and how wonderful it was to have friends and loved ones support and love you as you are. The glee and reassurance I felt when the moment came that they didn't give 2 shits about what society or close friends thought of them after all the hiding made me feel like me, Ben, and Ronny won. Won something important. They won love. They Won Freedom.
]]> 50225678 425 Alexis Hall 1728206146 Jade2 4
I will admit that at first, I wasn't so fond of Luc, but his humor got me and I already lost then. I feel like Luc's character and personality were authentic which made him so infuriating and so REAL. It was like an embodiment of all the real subconscious and low self-esteem many people in current times have, which I believe many other readers can relate to. His growth at the end of the book was so well done, that you as a reader were able to notice the change, root for him, and praise him for his change of becoming a better person for, as he states as well, not only Oliver but for himself as well. From becoming a man that constantly thought so little of himself, not wanting to get in touch with his emotions, and self-incriminating, to an emotionally mature, strong person made me SO proud of him that I got petty and thought at the end of the book, I was honestly okay with how things were going and didn't mind if the problem wasn't fixed. For, I believed he would be okay. He became. Strong. I was like a proud mother watching her child grow from a brat to an empowered person. Sure he still has his flaws and his own insecurities but that does hurt his character, it adds depth.

Oliver was one hell of a man, this man is a 10 heck maybe even a 20 with the amount of patience he had without diminishing his own self-respect that you normally get at a character you feel like gets walked all over. He's the perfect blend of forgiveness while also being not TOO forgiving. We see that he is just as imperfect as the rest of us, and has the same internal and external struggles as well. His character builds a bit slower than Luc's but he's put on the right path of wanting to be brave and fight by the end of the book. Though I would have liked to see more of his improvement and more scenes to see his newly found mentality, I'm still pleased with his character and where he's willing to go from there, WITH Luc. He did at times frustrate me at the times when he didn't know what he wanted, but that's emotions for you, it's real, and it's fear.

They're on this path of struggles, happiness, and self-internal struggles, and you're rooting for them because at the end of the book you realize that although they are different they are still very much the same on the inside and I think that's what counts. That's what makes them fit because what one lacks either encourages them to build/improve on.

Family/friends: The bond and humor the characters have with their friends reminded me of mine and I found myself laughing at all of their scenes together. Friends were witty with a nice touch of sarcasm while also being helpful and caring when it counted. The family aspect showed the 2 sides of the coin, the familiar comfort that it brings, and the disappointments it comes with unmet expectations and tattered hope.

Definitely would recommend this book and I'm happily looking forward to reading the second one that's currently on my shelf CALLING MY NAME. So see you in a week GoodReads :)]]> 3.98 2020
author: Alexis Hall
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2022/10/10
date added: 2022/10/10
shelves:
review:
Okay so this book has been on my TBR for a while and it's been a classic MLM book that feel like I was late to the party for, and when I say I laughed, cheered, gasped, and pulled my hair out from anger, has been a full-on amazing rollercoaster ride.

I will admit that at first, I wasn't so fond of Luc, but his humor got me and I already lost then. I feel like Luc's character and personality were authentic which made him so infuriating and so REAL. It was like an embodiment of all the real subconscious and low self-esteem many people in current times have, which I believe many other readers can relate to. His growth at the end of the book was so well done, that you as a reader were able to notice the change, root for him, and praise him for his change of becoming a better person for, as he states as well, not only Oliver but for himself as well. From becoming a man that constantly thought so little of himself, not wanting to get in touch with his emotions, and self-incriminating, to an emotionally mature, strong person made me SO proud of him that I got petty and thought at the end of the book, I was honestly okay with how things were going and didn't mind if the problem wasn't fixed. For, I believed he would be okay. He became. Strong. I was like a proud mother watching her child grow from a brat to an empowered person. Sure he still has his flaws and his own insecurities but that does hurt his character, it adds depth.

Oliver was one hell of a man, this man is a 10 heck maybe even a 20 with the amount of patience he had without diminishing his own self-respect that you normally get at a character you feel like gets walked all over. He's the perfect blend of forgiveness while also being not TOO forgiving. We see that he is just as imperfect as the rest of us, and has the same internal and external struggles as well. His character builds a bit slower than Luc's but he's put on the right path of wanting to be brave and fight by the end of the book. Though I would have liked to see more of his improvement and more scenes to see his newly found mentality, I'm still pleased with his character and where he's willing to go from there, WITH Luc. He did at times frustrate me at the times when he didn't know what he wanted, but that's emotions for you, it's real, and it's fear.

They're on this path of struggles, happiness, and self-internal struggles, and you're rooting for them because at the end of the book you realize that although they are different they are still very much the same on the inside and I think that's what counts. That's what makes them fit because what one lacks either encourages them to build/improve on.

Family/friends: The bond and humor the characters have with their friends reminded me of mine and I found myself laughing at all of their scenes together. Friends were witty with a nice touch of sarcasm while also being helpful and caring when it counted. The family aspect showed the 2 sides of the coin, the familiar comfort that it brings, and the disappointments it comes with unmet expectations and tattered hope.

Definitely would recommend this book and I'm happily looking forward to reading the second one that's currently on my shelf CALLING MY NAME. So see you in a week GoodReads :)
]]> 23228
When Paul meets Noah, he thinks he’s found the one his heart is made for. Until he blows it. The school bookie says the odds are 12-to-1 against him getting Noah back, but Paul’s not giving up without playing his love really loud. His best friend Joni might be drifting away, his other best friend Tony might be dealing with ultra-religious parents, and his ex-boyfriend Kyle might not be going away anytime soon, but sometimes everything needs to fall apart before it can really fit together right.

This is a happy-meaningful romantic comedy about finding love, losing love, and doing what it takes to get love back in a crazy-wonderful world.]]> 185 David Levithan 0375832998 Jade2 0 to-read 3.82 2003
author: David Levithan
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 92365
During the following years he slowly recalls details from that night, but these fragments are not enough to explain what happened to him, and he begins to believe that he may have been the victim of an alien encounter. Neil McCormick is fully aware of the events from that summer of 1981. Wise beyond his years, curious about his developing sexuality, Neil found what he perceived to be love and guidance from his baseball coach. Now, ten years later, he is a teenage hustler, a terrorist of sorts, unaware of the dangerous path his life is taking. His recklessness is governed by idealized memories of his coach, memories that unexpectedly change when Brian comes to Neil for help and, ultimately, the truth.]]> 292 Scott Heim 0060841699 Jade2 0 to-read 4.15 1995
author: Scott Heim
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.15
book published: 1995
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 271487 A darkly erotic tale of passion and obsession, As Meat Loves Salt is a gripping portrait of England beset by war. It is also a moving portrait of a man on the brink of madness. Hailed as a masterpiece, this is aĚýnovel by a most original new voice in fiction.]]> 565 Maria McCann 015601226X Jade2 0 to-read 3.93 2001
author: Maria McCann
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 30933 Brideshead Revisited looks back to the golden age before the Second World War. It tells the story of Charles Ryder's infatuation with the Marchmains and the rapidly-disappearing world of privilege they inhabit. Enchanted first by Sebastian at Oxford, then by his doomed Catholic family, in particular his remote sister, Julia, Charles comes finally to recognize only his spiritual and social distance from them.]]> 351 Evelyn Waugh 0316926345 Jade2 0 to-read 4.01 1945
author: Evelyn Waugh
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1945
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 139087
As the boom years of the eighties unfold, Nick, an innocent in the world of politics and money, finds his life altered by the rising fortunes of this glamorous family. His two vividly contrasting love affairs, one with a young black clerk and one with a Lebanese millionaire, dramatize the dangers and rewards of his own private pursuit of beauty, a pursuit as compelling to Nick as the desire for power and riches among his friends.

Richly textured, emotionally charged, disarmingly comic, this U.K. bestseller is a major work by one of our finest writers.]]> 438 Alan Hollinghurst 0739464469 Jade2 0 to-read 3.76 2004
author: Alan Hollinghurst
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 67700 The Persian Boy traces the last years of Alexander’s life through the eyes of his lover, Bagoas. Abducted and gelded as a boy, Bagoas was sold as a courtesan to King Darius of Persia, but found freedom with Alexander after the Macedon army conquered his homeland.
Their relationship sustains Alexander as he weathers assassination plots, the demands of two foreign wives, a sometimes-mutinous army, and his own ferocious temper. After Alexander’s mysterious death, we are left wondering if this Persian boy understood the great warrior and his ambitions better than anyone.]]> 420 Mary Renault 0394751019 Jade2 0 to-read 4.18 1972
author: Mary Renault
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.18
book published: 1972
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 96200 Entertainment Weekly, Jamie O’Neill’s first novel invites comparison to such literary greats as James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Charles Dickens.

Set during the year preceding the Easter Uprising of 1916—Ireland’s brave but fractured revolt against British rule�At Swim, Two Boys is a tender, tragic love story and a brilliant depiction of people caught in the tide of history. Powerful and artful, and ten years in the writing, it is a masterwork from Jamie O’Neill.

Jim Mack is a naïve young scholar and the son of a foolish, aspiring shopkeeper. Doyler Doyle is the rough-diamond son—revolutionary and blasphemous—of Mr. Mack’s old army pal. Out at the Forty Foot, that great jut of rock where gentlemen bathe in the nude, the two boys make a pact: Doyler will teach Jim to swim, and in a year, on Easter of 1916, they will swim to the distant beacon of Muglins Rock and claim that island for themselves. All the while Mr. Mack, who has grand plans for a corner shop empire, remains unaware of the depth of the boys� burgeoning friendship and of the changing landscape of a nation.]]> 562 Jamie O'Neill 0743222954 Jade2 0 to-read 4.10 2001
author: Jamie O'Neill
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 16842 186 Christopher Isherwood 0816638624 Jade2 0 to-read 4.08 1964
author: Christopher Isherwood
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1964
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 38462 here.

Baldwin's haunting and controversial second novel is his most sustained treatment of sexuality, and a classic of gay literature. In a 1950s Paris swarming with expatriates and characterized by dangerous liaisons and hidden violence, an American finds himself unable to repress his impulses, despite his determination to live the conventional life he envisions for himself. After meeting and proposing to a young woman, he falls into a lengthy affair with an Italian bartender and is confounded and tortured by his sexual identity as he oscillates between the two.

Examining the mystery of love and passion in an intensely imagined narrative, Baldwin creates a moving and complex story of death and desire that is revelatory in its insight.]]> 159 James Baldwin Jade2 0 to-read 4.31 1956
author: James Baldwin
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1956
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 3103
Forster understood that his homage to same-sex love, if published when he completed it in 1914, would probably end his career. Thus, Maurice languished in a drawer for fifty-seven years, the author requesting it be published only after his death (along with his stories about homosexuality later collected in The Life to Come).

Since its release in 1971, Maurice has been widely read and praised. It has been, and continues to be, adapted for major stage productions, including the 1987 Oscar-nominated film adaptation starring Hugh Grant and James Wilby.]]> 256 E.M. Forster 0393310329 Jade2 0 to-read 4.07 1971
author: E.M. Forster
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1971
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58885776 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780593336489.

Florence Day is the ghostwriter for one of the most prolific romance authors in the industry, and she has a problem—after a terrible breakup, she no longer believes in love. It’s as good as dead.

When her new editor, a too-handsome mountain of a man, won’t give her an extension on her book deadline, Florence prepares to kiss her career goodbye. But then she gets a phone call she never wanted to receive, and she must return home for the first time in a decade to help her family bury her beloved father.

For ten years, she’s run from the town that never understood her, and even though she misses the sound of a warm Southern night and her eccentric, loving family and their funeral parlor, she can’t bring herself to stay. Even with her father gone, it feels like nothing in this town has changed. And she hates it.

Until she finds a ghost standing at the funeral parlor’s front door, just as broad and infuriatingly handsome as ever, and he’s just as confused about why he’s there as she is.

Romance is most certainly dead... but so is her new editor, and his unfinished business will have her second-guessing everything she’s ever known about love stories.

A disillusioned millennial ghostwriter who, quite literally, has some ghosts of her own, has to find her way back home in this sparkling adult debut from national bestselling author Ashley Poston.]]> 368 Ashley Poston Jade2 0 to-read 3.90 2022
author: Ashley Poston
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/04
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61028601 "I WANT YOU TO BITE ME."

Vincent Barnes has suffered four years as a vampire, and they’ve been the most miserable years of his pathetic life. Too poor for black market blood, he feeds from sleeping humans to survive. He tries to never intrude on the same prey twice, but after a single delicious taste of a long-lost childhood neighbor, he can’t help returning for seconds.

Wesley Garcia has been waking up with fang marks. Lucky for him, he needs a vampire—to use as bait. He’s certain Vitalis-Barron Pharmaceutical killed his mother, but to gain access to their covert research labs, he has to bring them a bloodsucker for their experiments.

Step one, a dramatic offer: Stay, and you can bite me.

Vincent leaps at the chance to gobble Wesley up.

Wes’s plan is perfect. He’ll befriend the vampire, then trick him into coming to the lab. No fighting, no fuss. But Vincent is more than Wesley has bargained for: sweet and shy, with intoxicating fangs that awaken new desires in Wes. As the two bond, Vincent believes he might have finally found someone worth putting his trust in... and Wes fears neither of them will survive the betrayal he has planned.

How to Bite Your Neighbor and Win and Wager is a slow-burn paranormal mm romance full of laughter, angst, and thirsty pining. It is perfect for fans of fangs and scientific interpretations of vampirism, with a medium spice level that heats up further in the free bonus content. Content includes bite kink, bleeding (non-kinky), medical experimentation (not experienced by the point of view characters), one particular lesbian BFF who should be reported to HR, and the use of “bodice-ripping� as a verb.]]> 396 D.N. Bryn 1958051047 Jade2 0 to-read 3.71 2022
author: D.N. Bryn
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 57164200 Featuring over 60 illustrations, EarthflownĚýis a love story that tries –Ěýand failsĚý–Ěýto leave the water crisis behind. Set in post-flood London, futuristic medicine meets a bit of magic in Frances Wren's bittersweet debut.

When Ethan saves the life of a firestarter, it's nothing unusual. He's the only healer on call at the hospital –Ěýand that gunshot wound isn't going to regenerate itself. But his patient turns out to be Corinna Arden, heiress to a pharmaceutical empire controlling Britain's water supply. Her twin, Javier, is a man who (a) starts sending Ethan flowers at work, (b) seems terrified of a secret, and (c) has the cheekbones and earnestness to make up for both.

Ethan indulges in (what he thinks will be) a brief, harmless romance � but is swept up in a deadly collusion over Project Earthflown: the largest reconstruction tender since London clawed its way out of the rising sea.

Determined to follow the money, Ollie is a journalist who finds a corpse at the end of a too-convenient tip. The fate of water –Ěýand who profits –Ěýmight depend on the perennial question: hasĚýEthan lost his mind, or is he just an idiot?

Please see author's comment below for content-warnings!]]> 455 Frances Wren Jade2 0 to-read 3.98 2024
author: Frances Wren
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58051506 Rubem of No-Man’s Land was content keeping to his wine, his pets, and his extensive collection of fishnets.

But since a sentient, fuel-producing parasite bonded to his brainstem, every morally-depraved scientist and hardcore rebel for a hundred miles wants to ruthlessly dissect him. The parasite itself is no better, influencing his emotions and sassing him with his own memories as it slowly takes over his body.

The only person offering Rubem help is Tavish K. Findlay, a dashing and manipulative philanthropist whose mother’s fuel company monopolizes their corrupt underwater city with an iron claw. She desperately wants to tear Rubem apart for the parasite before those who oppose her can do the same. Her son is irresistibly charismatic though, and after a lifetime of being kicked out and disavowed, Rubem is desperate to believe in the friendship Tavish offers.

With revolutionary plots and political schemes tangling his every choice, Rubem must soon decide whether or not to trust Tavish in his fight against the parasite’s growing control.

Odder Still is a M/M fantasy novel with a class-crossing slow burn romance, murderous intrigue, and a Marvel’s Venom-style parasite-human friendship in an underwater steampunk city. This book exist in the wider These Treacherous Tides universe, coming chronologically after Once Stolen, but it is the first book in the No-Man's Lander series and is an easy entry point into the world. Each No-Man's Lander book has a romantically fulfilling ending and a final HEA, with steamy thoughts and foreplay but no explicit sex. (For more information on reading order, please visit D.N. Bryn's website.)

Content warnings include alcohol consumption and animal death.]]> 392 D.N. Bryn 1952667755 Jade2 0 to-read 4.16 2022
author: D.N. Bryn
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 56892889 An "effervescent" (Rachel Lynn Solomon) stand-alone Christmas LGBTQIA+ New Adult RomCom, perfect for fans of Schitt's Creek and Red White & Royal Blue.

BRING A LITTLE JOY TO THE WORLD? NOT TODAY, SANTA.

Matthew Prince is young, rich, and thoroughly spoiled. So what if his parents barely remember he exists and the press is totally obsessed with him? He's on top of the world. But one major PR misstep later, and Matthew is cut off and shipped away to spend the holidays in his grandparents' charming small town hellscape. Population: who cares?

It's bad enough he's stuck in some festive winter wonderland—it's even worse that he has to share space with Hector Martinez, an obnoxiously attractive local who's unimpressed with anything and everything Matthew does.

Just when it looks like the holiday season is bringing nothing but heated squabbles, the charity gala loses its coordinator and Matthew steps in as a saintly act to get home early on good behavior...with Hector as his maddening plus-one. But even a Grinch can't resist the unexpected joy of found family, and in the end, the forced proximity and infectious holiday cheer might be enough to make a lonely Prince's heart grow three sizes this year.]]> 304 Timothy Janovsky 1728250617 Jade2 0 to-read 3.62 2022
author: Timothy Janovsky
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.62
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58459287 Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda meets The Inheritance Games in this Black LGBTQ+ royal romp full of heart-swooning romance, scandalous secrets and one hell of a mystery.

James has been a prince all of his life, and since he was born, he's been thrust into the spotlight as the first Black heir to the throne. But when his father unexpectedly dies, James is crowned king at seventeen. Now, the secrets he could keep as a prince with no real responsibility - namely, his sexuality and hidden relationship - are rocked as his life irrevocably changes.

When his boyfriend suddenly goes missing, the royal secrets and scandals that only he knows start to leak online. And when it becomes clear that whoever is behind the messages isn't going to stop anytime soon, James begins to question everyone around him .]]> 368 Benjamin Dean 1398512540 Jade2 0 to-read 3.64 2022
author: Benjamin Dean
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 56226906
Jeremy is not excited about the prospect of spending the summer with his dad and his uncle in a seaside cabin in Oregon. It's the first summer after his parents' divorce, and he hasn't exactly been seeking alone time with his dad. He doesn't have a choice, though, so he goes... and on his first day takes a walk on the beach and finds himself intrigued by a boy his age running by. Eventually, he and Runner Boy (Evan) meet -- and what starts out as friendship blooms into something neither boy is expecting... and also something both boys have been secretly hoping for.]]> 256 Will Taylor 1338753754 Jade2 0 to-read 4.20 2022
author: Will Taylor
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58739412
So Tycho decides to break away from everything. He flies to America to spend his summer as a counselor at a summer camp, for international kids. It is there that Oliver walks in, another counselor, from Norway.

And it is there that Tycho feels his life stop, and begin again, finally, as his.

The Days of Bluegrass Love was originally published in the Netherlands in 1999. It was a groundbreaking book and has since become a beloved classic throughout Europe, but has never been translated into English. Here, for the first time, it is masterfully presented to American readers � a tender, intense, unforgettable story of first love.]]> 208 Edward van de Vendel 164614046X Jade2 0 to-read 3.58 1999
author: Edward van de Vendel
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.58
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 59650738
But when Siyon accidentally commits a public act of impossible magic, he’s catapulted into the limelight. Except the limelight is a bad place to be when the planes themselves start lurching out of alignment, threatening to send the rest of the city into the sea.

Now Siyon, a dockside brat who clawed his way up and proved himself on rooftops with saber in hand, might be Bezim’s only hope. Because if they don’t fix the cascading failures of magic in their plane, the Powers and their armies in the other three will do it for them.]]> 400 Davinia Evans Jade2 0 to-read 3.82 2022
author: Davinia Evans
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58187533
With no other options, Jes fulfills the requests: espionage, torture, demolition. But when the boss sets the circus up to take the fall for his about-to-get-busted narcotics operation, Jes and his friends decide to bring the mobster down together. And if Jes can also avoid going back to being the prize subject of a scientist who can’t wait to dissect him? Even better.]]> 408 Khan Wong 0857669680 Jade2 0 to-read 3.64 2022
author: Khan Wong
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 57835937
It's a hot summer, and life's going all right for Jackson and his family on the Mish. It's almost Christmas, school's out, and he's hanging with his mates, teasing the visiting tourists, avoiding the racist boys in town. Just like every year, Jackson's Aunty and annoying little cousins visit from the city -- but this time a mysterious boy with a troubled past comes with them. As their friendship evolves, Jackson must confront the changing shapes of his relationships with his friends, family and community. And he must face his darkest secret -- a secret he thought he'd locked away for good.]]> 245 Gary Lonesborough 1338749544 Jade2 0 to-read 3.98 2021
author: Gary Lonesborough
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 59808117
"I inhaled this one like I needed it to live." � New York Times Book Review

Rich socialite, inveterate flirt, and walking disaster Tennalhin Halkana can read minds. Tennal, like all neuromodified “readers,� is a security threat on his own. But when controlled, readers are a rare asset. Not only can they read minds, but they can navigate chaotic space, the maelstroms surrounding the gateway to the wider universe.

Conscripted into the military under dubious circumstances, Tennal is placed into the care of Lieutenant Surit Yeni, a duty-bound soldier, principled leader, and the son of a notorious traitor general. Whereas Tennal can read minds, Surit can influence them. Like all other neuromodified “architects,� he can impose his will onto others, and he’s under orders to control Tennal by merging their minds.

Surit accepted a suspicious promotion-track request out of desperation, but he refuses to go through with his illegal orders to sync and control an unconsenting Tennal. So they They fake a sync bond and plan Tennal's escape.

Their best chance arrives with a salvage-retrieval mission into chaotic space―to the very neuromodifcation lab that Surit's traitor mother destroyed twenty years ago. And among the rubble is a treasure both terrible and unimaginably powerful, one that upends a decades-old power struggle, and begins a war.

Tennal and Surit can no longer abandon their unit or their world. The only way to avoid life under full military control is to complete the very sync they've been faking.

Can two unwilling weapons of war bring about peace?]]> 464 Everina Maxwell 1250758866 Jade2 0 to-read 4.11 2022
author: Everina Maxwell
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 53241064
Luckily, Quique’s prospects are each intriguing in their own ways. There’s stoner-jock Tyler Montana, who might be just as interested in Fabiola as he is in Quique; straight-laced senior class president, Ziggy Jackson; and Manny Zuniga, who keeps looking at Quique like he’s carne asada fresh off the grill. With all these choices, Quique is sure to forget about Saleem in no time.

But as the summer heats up and his deep-seated fears and anxieties boil over, Quique soon realizes that getting over one guy by getting under a bunch of others may not have been the best laid plan and living his truth can come at a high cost.]]> 390 Aaron H. Aceves 1534485651 Jade2 0 to-read 4.04 2022
author: Aaron H. Aceves
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 61034294 A queer, dark academia YA story about a mysterious boarding school, a brotherhood that must stay in the shadows, and an ancient evil that could tear it all apart.ĚýIn the fall of 1991, Zooey Orson transfers to the Blackfriars School for Boys hoping for a fresh start following a scandal at his last school. However, he quickly learns that he isn’t the only student keeping a secret. Before he knows it, he’s fallen in with a group of boys who all share the same secret, one which they can only express openly within the safety of the clandestine gatherings of the Vicious Circle––the covert club for gay students going back decades.ĚýBut when the boys unwittingly happen upon the headmaster’s copy of an arcane occult text, they unleash an eldritch secret so terrible, it threatens to consume them all.
Ěý Ěý
A queer paranormal story set during the still-raging AIDS crisis, Fraternity examines a time not so long ago when a secret brotherhood lurked in the shadows. What would Zooey and his friends do to protect their found family?]]> 368 Andy Mientus 1647005310 Jade2 0 to-read 4.14 2022
author: Andy Mientus
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 58719132
The first thing I noticed about C.J. Gorman was his plexiglass bra.

So begins Destination Unknown. It's 1987 in New York City, and Micah is at a dance club, trying to pretend he's more out and outgoing than he really is. C.J. isn't just out--he’s completely out there, and Micah can't help but be both attracted to and afraid of someone who travels so loudly and proudly through the night.

A connection occurs. Is it friendship? Romance? Is C.J. the one with all the answers... or does Micah bring more to the relationship that it first seems? As their lives become more and more entangled in the AIDS epidemic that’s laying waste to their community, and the AIDS activism that will ultimately bring a strong voice to their demands, whatever Micah and C.J. have between them will be tested, strained, pushed, and pulled--but it will also be a lifeline in a time of death, a bond that will determine the course of their futures.

In Destination Unknown, Bill Konigsberg returns to a time he knew well as a teenager to tell a story of identity, connection, community, and survival.]]> 304 Bill Konigsberg 1338618059 Jade2 0 to-read 4.29 2022
author: Bill Konigsberg
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 57941315
Dylan has always wanted a boyfriend, but the suburbs surrounding Philadelphia do not have a lot in the way of options. Then, in walks Jordan, a completely normal (and undeniably cute) boy who also happens to run at a cool 110 degrees Fahrenheit. When the boys start spending time together, Dylan begins feeling all kinds of ways, and when he spikes a fever for two weeks and is suddenly coughing flames, he thinks he might be suffering from something more than just a crush. Jordan forces Dylan to keep his symptoms a secret. But as the pressure mounts and Dylan becomes distant with his closest friends and family, he pushes Jordan for answers. Jordan's revelations of why he's like this, where he came from, and who's after him leaves Dylan realizing how much first love is truly out of this world. And if Earth supports life that breathes oxygen, then love can only keep Jordan and Dylan together for so long.]]> 412 Brian Zepka 136806471X Jade2 0 to-read 3.55 2022
author: Brian Zepka
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 57370780 The official release of The Magic Between includes an updated prologue not found in advanced copies.

In a world where everyone has magic coursing through them, legend says magic itself craves a mate. Legend says those with opposite magics have the greatest chance of forming the unbreakable Bond it desires.

A.B. Cerise is an obsessive compulsive pop star with the ability to turn invisible. He’s an out bisexual with absolutely no belief in Bonds. He has a love-bruised heart, thinks dating in the spotlight is a hassle at best and a nightmare at worst, and has no intention of going through it all over again.

Matthew Hellman-Levoie is the NHL’s number one goalie prospect, the youngest in a hockey dynasty, and one of the rare few who can see the unseeable. He’s a straight man who wears his heart on his sleeve, has grown up searching for a Bond, and dreams of finding the love of his life.

Legend never said anything about what to do when sparks fly between two people opposite in more ways than just magic.]]> 379 Stephanie Hoyt 1648904343 Jade2 0 to-read 3.70 2022
author: Stephanie Hoyt
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.70
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 55816357 The Goblin Emperor meets "Magnificent Century" in Alexandra Rowland's A Taste of Gold and Iron, where a queer central romance unfolds in a fantasy world reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire.

Kadou, the shy prince of Arasht, finds himself at odds with one of the most powerful ambassadors at court—the body-father of the queen's new child—in an altercation which results in his humiliation.

To prove his loyalty to the queen, his sister, Kadou takes responsibility for the investigation of a break-in at one of their guilds, with the help of his newly appointed bodyguard, the coldly handsome Evemer, who seems to tolerate him at best. In Arasht, where princes can touch-taste precious metals with their fingers and myth runs side by side with history, counterfeiting is heresy, and the conspiracy they discover could cripple the kingdom’s financial standing and bring about its ruin.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 510 Alexandra Rowland 1250800404 Jade2 0 to-read 4.17 2022
author: Alexandra Rowland
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 12000020
But against all odds, when Ari and Dante meet, they develop a special bond that will teach them the most important truths of their lives, and help define the people they want to be. But there are big hurdles in their way, and only by believing in each other—and the power of their friendship—can Ari and Dante emerge stronger on the other side.]]> 390 Benjamin Alire Sáenz 1442408928 Jade2 5 4.29 2012
author: Benjamin Alire Sáenz
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2012
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/10/02
shelves: banter, beautiful, lbgtq, set-in-the-1970-s, ya-mlm
review:

]]> 37830514 307 Julian Winters 1945053623 Jade2 5 lbgtq, mlm, banter, ya-mlm 3.66 2018
author: Julian Winters
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/10/01
shelves: lbgtq, mlm, banter, ya-mlm
review:

]]> 13623848 Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780062060624.

Achilles, "the best of all the Greeks," son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods' wrath.

They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.]]> 408 Madeline Miller Jade2 5 4.30 2011
author: Madeline Miller
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2011
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/10/01
shelves: ya-mlm, mlm, beautiful, lbgtq, tragedy
review:

]]> 56978042 A. L. Graziadei's Icebreaker is a YA debut about two hockey players fighting to be the best—and the romance that catches them by surprise along the way.

Seventeen-year-old Mickey James III is a college freshman, a brother to five sisters, and a hockey legacy. With a father and a grandfather who have gone down in NHL history, Mickey is almost guaranteed the league's top draft spot.

The only person standing in his way is Jaysen Caulfield, a contender for the #1 spot and Mickey's infuriating (and infuriatingly attractive) teammate. When rivalry turns to something more, Mickey will have to decide what he really wants, and what he's willing to risk for it.

This is a story about falling in love, finding your team (on and off the ice), and choosing your own path.]]> 320 A.L. Graziadei 1250777119 Jade2 0 to-read, ya-mlm 4.02 2022
author: A.L. Graziadei
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2022
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/01
shelves: to-read, ya-mlm
review:

]]> 36472241
Jonathan doesn’t want to like brooding Web, who has secrets all his own. Jonathan wants nothing more than to be “fixed� once and for all. But he’s drawn to Web anyway. Web is the first person in the real world to see Jonathan completely and think he’s perfect. Web is a kind of escape Jonathan has never known. For the first time in his life, he may finally feel free enough to love and accept himself as he is.

A poignant coming-of-age tale, Ziggy, Stardust and Me heralds the arrival of a stunning and important new voice in YA.]]> 347 James Brandon 0525517642 Jade2 5 set-in-the-1970-s, mlm 4.14 2019
author: James Brandon
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2019
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/10/01
shelves: set-in-the-1970-s, mlm
review:

]]> 53205888 Welcome to Charon's Crossing.
The tea is hot, the scones are fresh, and the dead are just passing through.

When a reaper comes to collect Wallace from his own funeral, Wallace begins to suspect he might be dead.

And when Hugo, the owner of a peculiar tea shop, promises to help him cross over, Wallace decides he’s definitely dead.

But even in death he’s not ready to abandon the life he barely lived, so when Wallace is given one week to cross over, he sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

Hilarious, haunting, and kind, Under the Whispering Door is an uplifting story about a life spent at the office and a death spent building a home.]]> 376 T.J. Klune 1250217342 Jade2 5 beautiful, lbgtq 4.11 2021
author: T.J. Klune
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/10/01
shelves: beautiful, lbgtq
review:

]]> 58724793
Velasin vin Aaro never planned to marry at all, let alone a girl from neighboring Tithena. When an ugly confrontation reveals his preference for men, Vel fears he’s ruined the diplomatic union before it can even begin. But while his family is ready to disown him, the Tithenai envoy has a different plans: for Vel to marry his former intended’s brother instead.

Caethari Aeduria always knew he might end up in a political marriage, but his sudden betrothal to a man from Ralia, where such relationships are forbidden, comes as a shock.

With an unknown faction willing to kill to end their new alliance, Vel and Cae have no choice but to trust each other. Survival is one thing, but love―as both will learn―is quite another.

Byzantine politics, lush sexual energy, and a queer love story that is by turns sweet and sultry, Foz Meadows' A Strange and Stubborn Endurance is an exploration of gender, identity, and self-worth. It is a book that will live in your heart long after you turn the last page.]]> 544 Foz Meadows 1250829135 Jade2 5 lbgtq, mlm, beautiful 4.02 2022
author: Foz Meadows
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/10/01
shelves: lbgtq, mlm, beautiful
review:

]]> 220755
Dan is a quiet man with a great voice. Behind the tempered facade of the shy hospital administrator is a singer who can transform a room with his soaring voice, leaving his listeners in awe and reverence. Ford catches one such Christmas concert and his life is never quite the same; he is touched in a place he keeps hidden, forbidden. When Ford and Dan begin to explore the limits of their relationship, Dan's own secrets are exposed--and his mysterious and painful childhood returns to haunt him.

In Comfort and Joy Jim Grimsley finds a marriage between the stark and stunning pain of his prize-winning Winter Birds and the passion of critically acclaimed Dream Boy. In this, his fourth novel, he considers pressing questions. How does a man reconcile the child he was raised to be with the man that he truly is? What happens when an adult has to choose between his parents and a lover?]]> 304 Jim Grimsley 1565123964 Jade2 0 to-read 4.06 1993
author: Jim Grimsley
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.06
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 40539136 The award-winning, bestselling French novel by Philippe Besson about an affair between two teenage boys in 1984 France, translated with subtle beauty and haunting lyricism by the iconic and internationally acclaimed actress/writer Molly Ringwald.

We drive at high speed along back roads, through woods, vineyards, and oat fields. The bike smells like gasoline and makes a lot of noise, and sometimes I’m frightened when the wheels slip on the gravel on the dirt road, but the only thing that matters is that I’m holding on to him, that I’m holding on to him outside.

Just outside a hotel in Bordeaux, Philippe chances upon a young man who bears a striking resemblance to his first love. What follows is a look back at the relationship he’s never forgotten, a hidden affair with a gorgeous boy named Thomas during their last year of high school. Without ever acknowledging they know each other in the halls, they steal time to meet in secret, carrying on a passionate, world-altering affair.

Dazzlingly rendered in English by Ringwald in her first-ever translation, Besson’s powerfully moving coming-of-age story captures the eroticism and tenderness of first love—and the heartbreaking passage of time.]]> 149 Philippe Besson 1501197878 Jade2 0 to-read 4.25 2017
author: Philippe Besson
name: Jade2
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> 33385229
Mateo and Rufus are total strangers, but, for different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their End Day. The good news: There’s an app for that. It’s called the Last Friend, and through it, Rufus and Mateo are about to meet up for one last great adventure—to live a lifetime in a single day.

Adam Silvera reminds us that there’s no life without death and no love without loss in this devastating yet uplifting story about two people whose lives change over the course of one unforgettable day.]]> 389 Adam Silvera 0062457799 Jade2 5
They're end. My end. We all met the same end, even with our different lifestyles, and our differences in our choice. That life "might as well screw over a good person just as a not-so-good person" is a concept many people try to deny. Everything will be okay. It's okay to be afraid, it's okay to feel desire, it's okay to be selfish, it's okay to make mistakes, and it's okay to love, feel loved, and be loved.

for the concerns that some may have about unresolved character endings... IM confused because we DO know what happened to them. We know what happened to them as soon as they got THAT call. Theories are one of the most wonderful things about a book. Like the mystery still lingers in your head even when your done reading it. Amazing, isn't it?

Sadness, happiness, loneliness, regret, and fear are all part of life so why be so excruciating afraid of it when you have someone next to you holding your hand? You can just be a little bit afraid instead.

If you're here on the reviews means you either have read this book already.... Or you want to. So just do. Do it. If not now, when? When will it be too late? When. Why. Regret. Life. Good-bye.]]> 3.76 2017
author: Adam Silvera
name: Jade2
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at:
date added: 2022/08/29
shelves:
review:
Depression, hilarious, agony, more depression, and love in all its different forms.

They're end. My end. We all met the same end, even with our different lifestyles, and our differences in our choice. That life "might as well screw over a good person just as a not-so-good person" is a concept many people try to deny. Everything will be okay. It's okay to be afraid, it's okay to feel desire, it's okay to be selfish, it's okay to make mistakes, and it's okay to love, feel loved, and be loved.

for the concerns that some may have about unresolved character endings... IM confused because we DO know what happened to them. We know what happened to them as soon as they got THAT call. Theories are one of the most wonderful things about a book. Like the mystery still lingers in your head even when your done reading it. Amazing, isn't it?

Sadness, happiness, loneliness, regret, and fear are all part of life so why be so excruciating afraid of it when you have someone next to you holding your hand? You can just be a little bit afraid instead.

If you're here on the reviews means you either have read this book already.... Or you want to. So just do. Do it. If not now, when? When will it be too late? When. Why. Regret. Life. Good-bye.
]]>