Book Lovers Inc.
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Romance and Me: Venturing into m/m Land
I am a kinda m/m virgin (you’ll see why the “kinda” below).
Those who have been living under a rock and don’t know what m/m is, here is a very official (insert sarcastic snicker) definition: “m/m stories are romance stories with male protagonists” as in hero&hero instead of a hero and a heroine.
Lately m/m stories are in a boom and now not just specific publishers like Dreamspinner Press are releasing this romantic subgenre, but mainstream publishers like Harlequin as well (their Carina Press imprint has a wide variety of m/m novels. Be it contemporary, historical or supernatural m/m you’ll find it.).
I first heard of this set-up in romance novels and that it had its own subgenre qualification through blogging: some of my favourite romance bloggers like Sophia from Fiction Vixen and Mandi from Smexy Books are big fans of this subgenre, but until recently, despite their praising reviews though my curiosity was piqued, I was happy with my more conventional m/f romances. But then two things happened: I read a romantic ménage erotica novella which explored the love and affection between two men beautifully and everyone’s glowing reviews of Ava March’s Brook Street series intrigued me. So now I am embarking on an m/m adventure, I’ve packed my bag and I’m ready to discover this subgenre. I think I’ll start by Thief by Ava March as it’s a historical m/m romance and with HR you can’t go wrong, right?
So tell me,
Have you ever read an m/m story?
Are you a fan of the m/m subgenre?
In your opinion what is its appeal (since it seems it is mostly women who read it)?
Why do you think they became so popular recently?
Any good recommendations in the genre you could give?
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I read one short m/m story of Ava March. I wasn’t impressed. A friend of mine reviewed for me the Brook Street series not so long ago you can see it here and I wasn’t impressed either. I am sitting on the fence.
Thanks for the link Anachronist I’ll check it out 🙂
I do love a good m/m story. With me, I love the heroes so when you have 2 or more hot, sexy heroes in a story it is even better! I think they are becoming more popular just because more readers are just trying different sub-genres and bloggers are reviewing a larger variety of stories.
There are many great authors out there who write m/m stories. My favorite way of deciding whether to try a book or not is to look for excerpts and try the free sample on Amazon.
Great idea and tip June, thanks! Nothing better than to decide if an author’s writing style is for me than to get a first taste of her writing through a sample. And it’s such a fantastic thing that Amazon enables you to try the first chapter(s) before committing to buy the book. Will have to try that 🙂
I love the m/m genre. You should check out the Adrien English series by Josh Lanyon. It’s so good!
Thanks for the recommendation Stephanie, I’ll keep him in mind!
As a gay man, I am more than a little biased toward the sub-genre. I hope you enjoy!
Thanks Jason, I’ll let you know how my discovery went 🙂
I’m a nerd. Of course I have read slash, though I am partial to femslash.
Hm, weird, I haven’t tried that either yet… maybe next I’ll ahve to discover that subgenre 😉
I haven’t read a whole lot of m/m romances. Years ago, I watched some yaoi anime titles which were geared toward women. Now, given the annoying high-pitched female Japanese voices, I totally understood why women would watch yaoi. Reading m/m romances though is just a “take it or leave it “thing for me; I’d read it if it’s around (or on my Kindle) but I have so many books in my TBR pile/list already that they’re not the priority reads.
I agree Sheree, I have so many books on my TBR pile maybe that’s why I haven’t gotten around to read an m/m novel before now, I was innundated by other books which kept me busy.
I read the occasional m/m although it’s not something I specifically seek out. I’m drawn to angsty stories and often m/m stories have lots of that just due to the nature of the relationship and the outside obstacles that are often in the way of their love. I would highly recommend J.L. Merrow. I’ve read Muscling Through and Pricks and Pragmatism by her and both were great. I’ve also got Cut and Run by Abigail Roux/Madelaine Urban on my TBR pile and I’ve heard that is a great series.
Thank you for the recommendations Jen, will have to put them on my list. Yes, I have heard very good things about Abigail Roux’s series.
(ps. and those titles are great! made me giggle and they sure are memorable :-D)
not for me at all
We’ll see Miki how I like it..
um, yeah I love it:) Mandi at Smexy books is a great place to get recommendations. I will have to say read anything by Abigail Roux (Cut&Run) or Josh Lanyon. Then there is Marie Sexton. My first was Faith and Fidelity. One of the best love stories. I like gay-for-you or out-for-you stories because I enjoy forbidden love stories. can’t wait to see what you think. I guest review over at a m/m review site Rarelydustybooks.com
and let’s not forget Qhuay!!!
I’m taking notes Sharon, thanks for the recs 😉
yeah, i read some, and there are some great books in this genre. for instance, suzanne brockmann’s all through the night. this is my favorite in the genre, though it’ll have a strong challenge when qhuay’s book come out next spring
Oooh I’ve heard great things about Suzanne Brockmann’s series, I’m definitely putting them on my list, thank you! 🙂
I’m with the other Jason above, as a gay guy I prefer my reading to have m/m in them, all the time if possible.
I have read a few m/m stories but it has been a while since I last did so. One author I did try was Josh Lanyon.
I’m late to the party here, but wanted to put my 2 cents in since I read a lot of m/m.
A couple of other posters have mentioned Josh Lanyon. He’s definitely one of my favorites, and the Adrian English series is the place to start with him. His books all have a mystery element in addition to the relationship.
JL Merrow—try Wight Mischief (also has a mystery element).
Jordan Castillo Price—her books also often revolve around a mystery (I’m seeing a theme here). The PsyCop series is an excellent starting point.
Harper Fox—I’ve read a number of books, the last one being Last Line (which was very intense and disturbing, but good).
Heidi Cullinan—A Private Gentleman (good period m/m).
Tamara Allen—start with The Only Gold.
Laura Baumbach—Details of the Hunt is an interesting futuristic m/m.
NOT a romance series, but a fabulous fantasy series, Lynn Flewelling’s Nightrunners series has a central m/m relationship that develops over the course of the books. I’m crazy about this series and am still on a high over the latest release, Casket of Souls.
Amy Lane, ZA Maxwell, KA Mitchell, JL Langley—I could (and seemingly have!) go on and on. I prefer the authors/stories that are more relationship based, but you can dip your toe in the water and see what appeals to you.
Enjoy!
Grr–I think auto-correct changed Adrien to Adrian in my reference to Josh Lanyon’s wonderful series. The “e” version is correct.
M/M is totally not my thing, and I do hope you will put the m/m lable in the top of the review if you read and review them. I usually skip those. But I do hope you like them, there are so many women out there who do.