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#queerromanceclub

2 posts2 participants0 posts today
Public
Wendy Palmer

APRIL selection for the Queer* Romance Club — Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell

As is fairly standard for QRC, the voting ended in a tie, so I’ve deployed my coordinator tie-breaker to go for Ocean’s Echo (the one I would have voted for, if I took part in the poll).

This should be widely available at libraries. Though it’s in the same world as Maxwell’s first book, Winter’s Orbit, it is a stand-alone. I’m looking forward to this one :)

***
Blurb:

“Change begins with the meeting of the minds”

When Tennal - a rich socialite, inveterate flirt, and walking disaster - is caught using his telepathic powers for illegal activities, the military decides to bind his mind to someone whose coercive powers are strong enough to control him.

Enter Lieutenant Surit, the child of a disgraced general. Out of a desperate need to restore a pension to his other parent, Lieutenant Surit agrees to be bound to Tennal and keep him conscripted in the army, a task that seems impossible even for someone with Surit's ability to control minds.

Tennal just wants to escape, but Surit isn't all that he seems. And their bond may just be the key to their freedom.

***

QRC is open to all, read at your own pace over the month and post about it under the #QueerRomanceClub and @queerromanceclub tags.

No rules: let’s hear reactions, theories, reviews, favourite quotes etc, any time throughout the month or indeed whenever you happen to read it. CW for spoilers if going into details but general observations can be open.

Or let us know what else you’re reading in the #queerRomance genre. One of the other titles on the voting list? An undiscovered gem? An old favourite?

More about the club here
mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/11314

@bookstodon #RomanceReads #ScienceFiction #books #bookclubs @lgbtqbookstodon #LGBTQRomance

*I realised I typoed in the voting to Queen Romance Club. Which would have had quite different selections ;)

Two male silhouettes, heads and upper bodies only, taking up half the page each, filled with starscapes anbove evocative “alien planet’ landscapes. The two silhouettes face each other over the large blueish title.
Public
Wendy Palmer

Voting for the Queen Romance Club April selection (SF theme)

More about the bookclub here:
mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/11314

Choices:

Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell — m/m, telepathy/mind control
kobo.com/au/en/ebook/ocean-s-e

In the Shadow of the Ship by Aliette de Bodard — f/f, xuya universe (sentient spaceships in a Viet-inspired galactic empire, ongoing world but stand-alone story)
kobo.com/au/en/ebook/in-the-sh

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone — f/f, time travel
kobo.com/au/en/ebook/this-is-h

Mars House by Natasha Pulley — m/nb, Mars colony
kobo.com/au/en/ebook/the-mars-

#QueerRomanceClub @queerromanceclub #QueerReads #bookclub #books #LGBTQBooks @bookstodon #bookstodon

· 11 people · Closed
Mastodon AustraliaWendy Palmer (@wendypalmer@mastodon.au)I am the current coordinator of the Queer Romance Club (QRC), the FediBookClub for all readers of queer romance. Boost this post to be notified-on-Edit of each month's vote & pick, or find it pinned on my profile. APRIL: voting — https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/114209369268290824 MARCH selection: I Shall Never Fall In Love by Hari Conner https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/114061779188307805 QRC is open to all, read at your own pace over the month and post about it under #QueerRomanceClub and @queerromanceclub@a.gup.pe tags, and/or add some commentary on Bookwyrm. No rules: let’s hear reactions, theories, reviews, favourite quotes etc, any time throughout the month or indeed whenever you happen to read it 😊 CW for spoilers if going into details but general observations can be open. Note we’re also open to free choice selections, so if you’d rather post comments about a different book you’re reading as well or instead, feel free to use the tags for those too. We’re all about the queer romance book love, and love to hear about titles we may have missed! 2025 Schedule (subject to change/open to suggestions): Dec: winter/holiday vibes Nov: classics/old favourites Oct: paranormal Sept: mystery/suspense Aug: cosy July: Lambda winners June: pride month no matter what the fascists say May: fantasy April: science fiction March: historical — I Shall Never Fall In Love by Hari Conner Feb: BIPOC — Leather, Lace and Locs by Anne Shade Jan: contemporary — Roland Rogers Isn’t Dead Yet by Samatha Allen #QueerRomance #books #BookClub #LGBTQBooks #romanceReads
Replied to Wendy Palmer
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moggie

I'd nominate Winter's Orbit if I hadn't already read it. (Did I read it because it was already on the list once?) There's another book, Ocean's Echo, set in the same universe, but so far as I can see, otherwise not related, that might fit the criteria:
sfpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/reco

#QueerRomanceClub
@wendypalmer @queerromanceclub

San Francisco Public LibraryOcean's Echo — San Francisco Public LibraryOcean's Echo — Maxwell, Everina, — "Ocean's Echo is a stand-alone space adventure about a bond that will change the fate of worlds, set in the same universe as Everina Maxwell's hit debut, Winter's Orbit. 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 lie: 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?"--
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Wendy Palmer

Soliciting suggestions for Science Fiction genre books for the Queer Romance Club April read. Let me know your favourites and I’ll add them to the poll 😊

Indie authors welcome, but please no Amazon-only books.

Also note they do need to be queer Romance with a capital R. For example, Some Desperate Glory has queer romance in it, but Winter’s Orbit is a queer Romance — the relationship is central to the plot, there’s a happy ever after.

(See here for more about the QRC: mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/11314)

@queerromanceclub #QueerRomanceClub
#ScienceFiction #QueerRomance #books #bookclub

Mastodon AustraliaWendy Palmer (@wendypalmer@mastodon.au)I am the current coordinator of the Queer Romance Club (QRC), the FediBookClub for all readers of queer romance. Boost this post to be notified-on-Edit of each month's vote & pick, or find it pinned on my profile. APRIL: voting — https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/114209369268290824 MARCH selection: I Shall Never Fall In Love by Hari Conner https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/114061779188307805 QRC is open to all, read at your own pace over the month and post about it under #QueerRomanceClub and @queerromanceclub@a.gup.pe tags, and/or add some commentary on Bookwyrm. No rules: let’s hear reactions, theories, reviews, favourite quotes etc, any time throughout the month or indeed whenever you happen to read it 😊 CW for spoilers if going into details but general observations can be open. Note we’re also open to free choice selections, so if you’d rather post comments about a different book you’re reading as well or instead, feel free to use the tags for those too. We’re all about the queer romance book love, and love to hear about titles we may have missed! 2025 Schedule (subject to change/open to suggestions): Dec: winter/holiday vibes Nov: classics/old favourites Oct: paranormal Sept: mystery/suspense Aug: cosy July: Lambda winners June: pride month no matter what the fascists say May: fantasy April: science fiction March: historical — I Shall Never Fall In Love by Hari Conner Feb: BIPOC — Leather, Lace and Locs by Anne Shade Jan: contemporary — Roland Rogers Isn’t Dead Yet by Samatha Allen #QueerRomance #books #BookClub #LGBTQBooks #romanceReads
Replied to moggie
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Wendy Palmer

@EverydayMoggie @queerromanceclub

I didn’t even twig about the full colour (ebook for me), that would have been expensive.

I often have that feeling with YA, perhaps a sense of “I would have liked this enormously thirty years ago”. I had it when I read Gwen and Art Are Not In Love, which was funny and charming etc and “I should have liked it more than I did”, exactly! (Including it being a historical era I’m not much of a fan of).

For I Shall Never Fall In Love, though, it IS an historical period I don’t hate, and I’m an Austen fan, and I liked catching the references, so that helped — but I see why without any sort of connection it might have left you a bit cool.

#QueerRomanceClub
Replied to Wendy Palmer
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moggie

I finished it yesterday, and kind of feel like I should have liked it more than I did. This isn't a historical era that has ever interested me much, and I've never read any of the period literature, so I don't have a framework for comparison. There were lots of beautiful details in the art, and the story was well done, but it just didn't draw me in; not really sure why.

I was glad that the use of "they" as a singular pronoun was kept to a minimum, because where it was used, it was used in a modern style of construction that felt out of place. Probably it could have been used in a way that was closer to the way it would have been used historically.

Surprised to find that the entire book was printed in color. That can't have been cheap.

#QueerRomanceClub
@wendypalmer @queerromanceclub

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Wendy Palmer

Queer Romance Club March — I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner

I buzzed through it last year, and took my time on the re-read. My first impression was that it was sweet, but the romantic plot lines were mash-ups of Austen — I don’t want to say derivative, because that’s too harsh, more that it would be a good intro for young readers to the “real” thing.

I still think it’s sweet, but my more considered opinion is that it stands on its own, particularly in reminding readers that people have always found a way to slip around the edges of what is presented as a monolithic society aka LGBTQ people have always been here, and you find them as soon as you look.

I think, based off my own reading on the era, that this aspect is well-researched, and the author does a good job balancing accessibility and accuracy — we don’t really want to see people drowning in religious guilt or suffering extreme prejudice, after all, seeing the pressure from guardians to ensure “upright” behaviour — and the self-policing to fall into the line with societal expectations, too — is enough in this context.

The only thing that pinged me as too overtly anachronistic was the haircut, and that is justified in the historical note. Also, a relief, because it was disturbingly mullet-like :)

The narrator refers to George with the “they” pronoun, which, while a modernism, was fine to me, a good use of narrative distance in the meditation role between story and reader.

I like the central romance: I do tend to get impatient with adult-friends-to-lovers taking too long to realise, but that’s for modern times. Here, we have an era where intense female friendship were entirely normal and any other option ignored: of course Eleanor is not going to twig as to her real feelings.

All in all, a pleasurable way to wile away my lazy Sunday afternoon.

And Mr “son of the fourth baronet”: *totally* lying, that title went extinct 200 years before.

@queerromanceclub #QueerRomanceClub

George saying “surely God loves how we are made. So I would expect he would understand”. This is an argument raised, among others, by utilitarian Jeremy Bentham — but he didn’t publish the argument, just wrote it privately.
Some supercilious guy is announcing his father is the 4th baronet of Cholmondeley the liar
I ran out of characters in the main post, wanted to say how much I loved this image, of Charlotte tasting her mother’s cooking: it shows her happiness, and the explosion of flavours around her
Continued thread
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Wendy Palmer

@queerromanceclub

I am just re-adding the 2024 selections since I think my original post got caught up by my auto-delete settings.

Dec: Murder Most Actual — Alexis Hall
Nov: Swordcrossed — Freya Markse
Oct: Rules for Ghosting — Shelly Jay Shore
Sept: Lady Eve's Last Con — Rebecca Fraimow
Aug: Dionysus in Wisconsin — EH Lupton
Jul: Sword Dance — AJ Demas
Jun: A Marvelleous Light — Freya Marske
May: Iron Widow — Xiran Jay Zhao
Apr: Slippery Creatures — KJ Charles
Mar: The Hellion's Waltz — Olivia Waite
Feb: How to Find a Princess — Alyssa Cole
Jan: Even Though I Knew the End — CL Polk

#QueerRomanceClub
Replied to moggie
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Wendy Palmer

@EverydayMoggie that sounds like pretty much my reaction to YSBSL…I read it because I do tend to get around to Cat Sebastian books eventually (I don’t like her as much as I feel like I should on paper), but neither sport nor time period were settings attractive to me.

For some reason, I can’t access Stealing Fire in Australia, but I did think from the description it didn’t sound like a romance as such, but was prepared to give the recommender (the author) the benefit of the doubt… when I ask for SF recommendations next month, though, I’ll have to be more specific about the “romance” part of QRC (I bet SF will be even more ripe for people recommending their favourite just because it mentions the existence of the concept of romance rather than actually *being* a Romance)

#QueerRomanceClub
Replied to Wendy Palmer
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moggie

While waiting for the selection to become available, I decided to read some of the other books.

You Should Be So Lucky
Honestly, I have no idea why I read this, because I dislike sportsball, and baseball is the very heart of the book. Guess I was just in the mood for something that wasn't all that engaging. It's set in 1960, which is another point against it; that's an era that has no redeeming qualities. In spite of all that, it was a pretty good story, a romance that was sweet without being saccharine, though perhaps a little unrealistic.

Stealing Fire
I always have a soft spot for historical fiction set in the ancient world, and this is a lovely, evocative book — and very sad. I think it's basically a retelling, with a great deal of embellishment, of historical events involving people who really existed, though I don't know the history of that period (around 350-300 BCE) well enough to say how closely it tracks known events. It is in no way a romance.

#QueerRomanceClub
@wendypalmer

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Terri K O 🍁

In case anyone was wondering with my last post, the reason there were no novels in my library returns this week is that I actually own the two books I read this week.

Wooing the Witch Queen was everything I hoped it would be when I pre-ordered it. Funny, sweet, fierce. The shy librarian/supposed dark wizard with a big secret, the witch queen, her ex-girlfriend advisor, the crows, the castle staff, the other queens of villainy... Can't wait for the next book!

I Think They Love You was the #HappyEndingsBookClub pick for this month. Sweet second chance romance/fake dating young men with the family business at stake. Some of those are not my tropes but somehow this one came together to be delightful. Perfect blend of sweet and funny with quite the cast of characters in his family.

I also tried to read The 7-10 Split, an old #HappyEndingsBookClub pick but the second chance + bowling sports romance wasn't grabbing me. Again, not my tropes but I think the bigger problem was post-illness exhaustion because I'm normally down for a contemporary sapphic. I wasn't able to concentrate on much during the time I tried to read this. May try again later.

I also read a bunch of the #FaRoFeb books for this month, and a bunch of Zelda fanfic. Plus a librarything book that needs a longer review. Maybe later.

social.afront.org/@terri/11405

Two books: Wooing the Witch Queen and I Think They Love You
#BookReview#Books#bookstodon
Public
Wendy Palmer

Queer Romance Club MARCH selection: I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner

I’ve deployed my tie-breaker to opt for this one, a YA-leaning graphic novel inspired by Jane Austen. I’ve put the tied book, Set in Stone on my TBR list, and look forward to reading it down the track (next time I re-up Kobo Plus, probably, and that’ll be July-ish).

From the ISNFIL blurb: The Prince and the Dressmaker goes to Austenland in this historically inspired, joyfully queer, stunningly romantic graphic novel mash-up of Jane Austen novels—where two friends discover their feelings for each other and find a space in their world for their love and identity.

Find it at your favourite retailer or it should be available at your library. Note the two possible covers.

QRC is open to ALL fans of queer romance: read at your own pace and post your commentary any time.

Use @queerromanceclub and #QueerRomanceClub tags. (The @group can be added to lists and appears in every reply to any posts you make so is a valuable addition to the # for promoting discussion)

See more about the club, plus past choices, here:

mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/11314

If you’d rather try one of the other books on the voting list, or talk about a different queer romance book you’re reading as well or instead, feel free to use the tags for those too. We’re all about sharing the queer romance book love.

#QueerRomance #BookClub #books #romanceReads #GraphicNovel #QueerRomance #HistoricalRomance #Regency #JaneAusten

@bookstodon @lgbtbookstodon @romancebooks

A blue-green cover, showing only George and Eleanor, smiling at each other like the pair of cuties they are
The alternate cover, showing Charlottes as well, all three characters seated with a Regency town scene behind them.
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Wendy Palmer

Queer Romance Club MARCH vote — the theme is historical romance

(QRC is a bookclub for fans of queer romance reads, open to all)

Selections:

I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner — Jane Austen inspired Regency (graphic novel), generally queer but central relationship is nb/f
hari-illustration.com/-i-shall

Stealing Fire by Jo Graham — ancient Greece, bisexual MC
goodreads.com/book/show/709391

Set in Stone by Stela Brinzeanu — medieval Moldova, f/f
stelabrinzeanu.com/portfolio-t

You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian — 1960s US baseball, m/m
catsebastian.com/you-should-be

@queerromanceclub #QueerRomanceClub #bookClub #poll #romanceReads

· 10 people · Closed
Hari drawsI Shall Never Fall in Love — Hari draws
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Wendy Palmer

#QueerRomanceClub @queerromanceclub

I’m looking for suggestions for the March vote of the QRC. The theme is historicals. I have a few on my list, but some are probably more historical than, ah, romantical 😊 and obviously a central queer (in any shape or form) relationship is required.

Indies/lesser known authors encouraged but the books need to be widely available (no Amazon-only books, library accessible).

#Romance @romancelandia #RomanceReads #Historicals #LGBTQBooks #LGBTQRomance

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