#I'm Your Guy

[poisindonottouch]

Queer Reads: Sarina Bowen

For day 3 of Sandi reads gay things, we have Sarina Bowen. 

Bowen writes lots of romance, both gay and straight. The four books I have in the little graphic are four of her mm hockey romance novels. The Him/Us/Epic series is co written with Elle Kennedy, and is a post-college/new adult kind of story following one couple through their early adulthood. It’s a childhood friends to lovers, second chance kind of story, and is very sweet with sides of both angst and spice. 

The Hockey Guys books, The New Guy and I’m Your Guy, have protagonists who are a little bit older and mature. Story Graph says they’re both emotional, light-hearted, and funny books.  The New Guy is a hockey player and a physical therapist who works for the team. I’m Your Guy is a hockey player and an interior decorator. I enjoyed them both quite a bit.

If you like your romance way more angsty, I also recommend Bowen’s Hello, Goodbye duo, (Goodbye Paradise & Hello Forever). 

Remember folks, read queer all year. 

[dargeereads]

My top reads of 2023

I honestly have reached a point where I read books from the same authours, either to get through their back lists, or keep up with their new releases. I still try out someone new, but it doesn’t happen as much as it used to. That was a factor when I went to figure out my top reads of 2023, there were several books by the same authours that I loved, so I decided I had to pick my favourite

There is quite a selection here: fantasy, MM, DD/lg, womens lit, fake dating, hockey, alien angels, and former service men. They deal with prejudice, abuse, addiction, homophobia, disabilities, and PTSD. Not all were new releases, some had been on my TBR, and made it out this year. They were the stories that stuck with me, brought me into their world and took me along with them, the ones that made me remember and think about the characters long after the I finished. It wasn’t easy wheedling this list down, I started with over 20, but I ended up with these eight because I was immediately drawn back to them time and time again. So, in no particular order, my top reads of 2023

The Rising by Kristen Ashley. I am crying just thinking about this book as I write this. This is a fantasy read, a four book story arc that ends with The Rising, the name of the series. It follows 4 couples, destined to be together, to save the world. It has a rich and full cast of characters, and even more, side characters that are just as important as our couples. I listened to it on audible, and each character has their own narrator, with one narrator for the common story threads. Alternating POV’s, flawed and broken, proud and strong, this whole cast will take you through a myriad of emotions and situations. The audiobooks are only on audible, but the ebooks are available everywhere and in Kobo Plus

The Tragedy of Felix and Jake by J Daniels. Don’t let the title turn you away, this is a heart wrenching story of two addicts, trying to keep their lives together, while falling for each other. It was smart, it was sexy, and it ran the gamut of emotions more than once. It didn’t shy away from the struggles and pain, and the joy and the fun, that life alternately gives to you, and depending on where you are, how it affects you. Ebook available in KU

Act Your Age by Eve Dangerfield. Kicking myself on this one, because I had it on my TBR forever, and when I finally dove in, I completely understood what all the fuss was about that I heard for years! This is a workplace romance. This is a journey of self-acceptance for both our hero and heroine, and the DD/lg dynamic they crave. Add in their age gap, family drama, and possible conditioning elements, and there was a lot for them to unpack, know themselves, and accept their desires. I listened to this with Kobo Plus (with Australian actors narrating), and both the ebook and audio books are available everywhere and in Kobo Plus

The Sunshine Girls by Molly Fader. When Molly writes a story, I know she is taking me on a journey. This book covers the friendship between two women, who take very different paths in life, yet, stay connected throughout it all. It consumed me, my thoughts, my feelings, and all my moments while I was listening to it, and, long after I finished. Not only do we get our two friends, we get the daughters of one of them, as they try to figure out the connection and why they didn’t know about the friendship. Available everywhere in ebook and audio

Three to Get Ready by Skye Warren. This is the third book in a trilogy, and what made it stand out for me was that everything wasn’t wrapped up in a neat “life is wonderful” bow when it ended. There is an HEA, there are two people deeply in love and living life, it is just life has some adjustments and situations as a chronic disease is part of the package. Over the course of the three books, which starts with fake dating, we learn more about the strengths and weaknesses of our characters, as the maneuver in uncharted waters. Audiobook available at audible and ebook in KU

I’m Your Guy by Sarina Bowen. The irony of this book, featuring a gay hockey player, is it came out during the real-life ban of pride tape in the NHL. This book highlighted the homophobia the LGBTQ2+ players would be presented with, and the scariness, of being able to be who you are, in those conditions. Our main character has hidden who he is all his life, conditioned by his family and society, to not rock the boat. It doesn’t mean he wasn’t abused, ridiculed, or mocked, he just learned to accept it. His outside persona doesn’t match his inner turmoil, which skewers peoples perceptions. When he can’t hold back his feelings or actions, he becomes even more conflicted. Loved how it worked through it all, without fanfare or comment, just deciding to live his life. Audiobook available at audible, ebook available everywhere and in Kobo Plus

Elija by Eve Langlais. I love how Eve can take preconceived notions of religion and turn it on its’ head! Her space angels series, Elyon’s Warriors, is a serious take on that, with devoted angels to heavens cause, with a twist. Elija was the one book that I loved a little bit more than the rest, though they all were on my top list. For a bit of a paranormal/alien/angel story, with all of our angels finding love with a human woman, you need to check this series out! Ebooks and audiobooks available everywhere. Ebooks in Kobo Plus and audiobook available in Everand

Deserving Henley by Susan Stoker. The series, The Refuge, is all about having a safe place for people suffering from PTSD to go and be themselves. Deserving Henley takes one of the owners who is the most reclusive, and letting him be himself. That was what made the book for me, he didn’t need to change, he just needed to have a life that worked for him. Audiobook available at audible and ebook available everywhere and in Kobo Plus

[fight4me]

*every time I pack my backpack*

Brain: put socks in there

Me: why-

Brain: because

Me: but I'm wearing socks-

Brain: if you don't put an extra pair in there something bad will happen that will require you to change your socks.

...

Am I really going to let a pair of socks have that much power over me?

Yes. *throws socks in backpack*

[raggedytiger]

this is so bad but i permanently cropped the file so brutally that i can no longer edit it. whoops! also panels 4-7 were fully coloured but it looks better without for some reason. pomni (penny?) is such an ugly crier. i love my horrible failgirl accountant

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Hey now, Let her cook!

[fox-mulder-gets-pegged]

I just wanna say bc I KNOW you're somewhere on tumblr, to the teenage girl who attended Take Your Kid To Work Day at an office building in Ontario, Canada circa 2013 and had a conversation with a middle aged woman in which you showed her your Black Veil Brides fanart and fanfics and ship content and told her about different fanfic tropes including a/b/o verse bc she happened to know who Panic! at The Disco and Fallout Boy were and thus you felt the need to show her your bandblr ship art, that was my fucking mother and I had to clarify all that to her including looking my mother in the eye and trying to explain a/b/o verse without sounding like a lunatic.

It's been 10 years and I still regularly sent evil energies in your direction. Since you'd be probably two years younger than me and thus legally an adult now, please know if this post reaches you it's on sight.

[mroddmod]

finally introducing my Cadet Batch AU, in which the batch are all raised together :)

[sanguinesmi1e]

Danny's human form ages like normal, but his default form as Phantom is still the 14y/o he was at his time of death. Luckily he can change that with concentration, since his ghost form is malleable. But he has to a) have the time to enact the change and b) consciously maintain his form. His superhero colleagues don't know he's half alive, so he's typically got his adult ghost form firmly in place before they meet. While fighting a powerful enemy, Phantom's concentration slips and he reverts to child form. Doesn't matter, it's just aesthetics and the enemy is what's important. He’s equally strong in his 14 y/o form. Except, his colleagues are very concerned to “discover” that their teammate is a child who has been lying about his age all this time. So now Danny has to figure out how to convince them that he's just looked 14 for over a decade now, or bite the bullet and show them all his secret identity. Preferably before they demote him to a team of teen heroes, or he gets forcibly adopted.

[lotus-pear]

intertwined fate

[emphistic]

"Why is the laundry still not done?"

Sukuna shrugged, continuing to mindlessly tap away on his phone. He was, without a doubt, playing one of those little games that he downloaded specifically for when he had no WiFi. Block Blast? You couldn't remember.

"I'll do it later," he began—his eyes still glued to his screen, "juste après que je te do."

For extra credit, your boyfriend, Sukuna, once took a French course during college, and now he spends most of his time saying short French phrases to you—on purpose, because he knows you won't be able to know if he's cursing you out, or just shamelessly flirting with you.

"You are such an ass," you groaned. "I reminded you this morning, before lunch, and after lunch; it's six in the afternoon, 'Kuna."

"Ma chérie, relax. It's not good to be so tense all the time," Sukuna teased, finally turning to face you. "Thankfully, I know a way to get rid of your stress."

"I wouldn't be fucking stressed in the first place if it weren't for your laziness, you little—wait. . . What's the French word for 'asshole'?"

"Meilleur et le plus beau petit ami du monde entier."

"That's . . . too many words." You crossed your arms over your chest, amused. "Clearly, you're bluffing."

"Or, clearly, I'm just a man in love," Sukuna said, a sultry look on his face, "—with his beautiful, amazing, smart, and did I mention, sexy, girlfriend. I'm just so moony-eyed these days, and my heart is just so full of you that I cannot even remember to do the laundry."

"Stop trying to seduce me, dickhead."

"Pfft, I am not seducing you; I am simply avouer mon amour to la lumière de ma vie."

You paused, whipping out your phone and doing a quick Google Translate, before saying,

"*Si tu n'arrêtes pas de parler français . . . je vais te mettre une baguette dans le cul."

"Merde," Sukuna gasped, in disbelief, before realizing his mistake. "Fuck. Baby, no, I meant—"

[littlefankingdom]

Bruce Wayne is canonically a very handsome man (he is called a "pretty boy" and he is in his 40s, for fuck's sake), and he is pretty famous as a rich philanthropist who doesn't want to leave his awful cursed crime infested city. So, there must be a ton of people thirsting over him on the internet. Fancams, edits, fanfics and imagines ("kidnapped with Bruce Wayne 😍 by a Gotham rogue"), the whole charade!

And anytime one of the batkids stumbles on a thirst post, they have the most dramatic disgusted reaction, loudly gagging, before sending the link to the batkids chat, because if they must suffer, then they should all suffer. Clicking on a link in this groupchat is like playing russian roulette, and getting rickrolled is a good ending.

[thebratprincexo]

water claws water claws water claws

[oddthesungod]

A noble steed fit for a prince ✨💙

[lazylittledragon]

does anyone want 700 pages of cyra lore or are you normal

[da-janela-lateral]

It seems that 'popular', 'athletic' and 'bright blue eyes' aren't their only similarities.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The squad of all time has arrived on scene.