As a heads up, this essay tells several detailed stories about transmasculine people internalizing the cis gaze and passing those messages on to other transmasculine people, particularly with regards to sex, dating, romance, and relationships, and the representation of trans and/or non-binary people in romance and erotica. It includes descriptions of cissexism and internalized trans […]
Tag Archives: romance
It’s hard to find a good m/f romance centering a fat heroine. Mostly what I find is characters with lots of self-loathing, who diet continuously, cover up immediately after sex, and assume that the hero doesn’t really want them or that a thin woman is going to steal him. Sometimes, if I get lucky, the […]
Hard Earned Happy Endings Heartbeat Braves by Pamela Sanderson, because I don’t think I’ve ever read a more satisfying hard-earned happy ending, ever. Nothing Like Paris by Amy Jo Cousins, because I wasn’t sure they could figure out how to be together, pretty much til the end, and wasn’t sure how one of the main characters was […]
It’s hard to find butches in fiction. Many of my favorite books about butches are memoir or personal essay. When I do find butch characters in novels or stories, they are often subjected to substantial violence, especially sexual assault. After putting down yet another example of this sort of novel, I am on the lookout […]
It’s been a rough week. In the world, and for me. So I thought I might post a good-sized chunk of Shocking Violet that feels especially hopeful and cozy, and introduce you to Zak while I’m at it. If you want to know more about these characters or read previous excerpts, you can find a […]
Earlier this week, I asked Twitter for recommendations of books that centered characters with chronic pain, characters that were not cure-seeking and do not get cured. One book that was recommended was Risk Aware by Amelia C. Gormley. It’s an M/M BDSM romance with a main character, Geoff, who has hemophilia, and has never found […]
A friend asked me to recommend some romance and erotica. She’s a spoonie, and specifically requested shorter forms because pain and low spoons makes reading novels challenging. So I put together a list of a few of my faves. I’m going to start with novellas and novelettes, grouped by type. Geeky Sated by Rebekah Weatherspoon: […]
