For myself, I have a bit of a confession to make. I was all set to do some pondering and deep thinking and had planned to write about my introduction to m/m love in books. And then I got side-tracked. Basically, my whole day got eaten up by obsessively watching Season 1 of Doctor Who. Did you know that Netflix does this thing where you can stream video over the web and watch movies instead of waiting for them to come through the mail? Yeah. Pretty cool stuff! Um yeah, so that's why this entry will be short and probably a lot less intelligent-sounding than first intended.
But let's go back to the beginning. I have been trying to think back and recall the very first time that I read a book that included some m/m action. I don't want to count the bits from some of Robin Schone's books (I'm vaguely remembering something from The Lady's Tutor?) where m/m is a kind of shorthand for 'evol and depraved' cuz honestly, where's the love? No, I think the first time I ever stumbled across manlove would have to be when I picked up the last installment in Anne Rice's Sleeping Beauty erotic novels. Holey wow! For a nice little Christian missionary girl like me, this was an eye-opening experience. (*cue music to "A Whole New World"*)
From there I moved on to some good ol' Emma Holly. First up was Menage which I got because I thought it sounded kinda spicy. And it was. Only the spiciest bits were not so much the threesomes, they were the intense and passionate exchanges between Joe and Sean. That whole ending where Joe comes back all alpha male and "marries" Kate? Rubbish. I don't buy it for a moment. Those guys have to be together. Whether or not they add Kate to the mix is immaterial. Point being, it was the first time that I was emotionally rooting for the other guy (something like cheering the notorious "other woman" perhaps?) to get the guy.
More Emma Holly followed. Cooking Up a Storm featured a hot Quebecois chef who was very, shall we say, comfortable with his sexuality? And another Holly book, Fairyville, again was all about the connection between the two men that made the book worth reading. All that crap about Magnus and his magical wee wasn't nearly as compelling as Bryan and Alex. (Although I will say that the best scene in the book, for my money, is when Magnus goes down on Bryan...hothothot!)
Which leads me to my first REAL m/m romance novel. Yes, you knew I had to mention it. My Fair Captain by the incomparable JL Langley. I already blogged about this one, so I won't rehash it here. But since then, I'm both eager to jump into more m/m books and also terrified to do so for fear that none of them will live up to my very high expectations after Langley. Now that I've typed that, the solution occurs to me that I should probably start by...um...reading more Langley? righto, sula, you're a real bright one.
Anyways, to finish this rather rambling entry, I figured I'd take a page from my dear buddy lisabea and offer a copy of My Fair Captain to one lucky reader out there. Yeah, ok, perhaps it's just a scheme to get you to comment on my blog, but consider...you could win one of the best reads of 2007! So join in the fun of the day and share your thoughts, recommendations, cheers, jeers, or whatever.
Happy Manlove Monday!
12 comments:
I've heard nothing but good stuff about this one, so I'm curious. I'd like to read it :)
Count me out the contest - I've got MFC already and waiting for Bam to post my review....
So what's the lure of manlove? Two heroes for the price of one?
Commenting. Book please!!
I think the appeal is that we, as voyeurs and as women, get two fantasies for the price of one. We get the alpha and the beta. No need to choose! Plus I have a fascination with what happens in manminds anyway, so the idea of a man who is struggling not only with love but with one of the ultimate taboos in Western culture? Yes, please.
Scheming works!
Or maybe I'm just hynotized by that chest on the cover & the happy swirling of hair on pectorals.
I've never read pure manlove. It's not the kind of thing your average girl stumbles upon at the bookstore or in the library...but I'm becoming ever more tempted to seek it out!
Try Without Reservation or With Caution that get you going.
stacy, carrie and cathy are in it to win it! *g* I think I'm going to let this run a few days longer and then do the ol' put names on pieces of paper and draw randomly out of a hat thing.
tumperkin, I seriously can't wait to read your review. tell bam to hurry up and post it NOW!
teddypig, thanks for the Langley recommendations. Which of them comes first? Are they part of a series?
carrie, I think you're onto something with the alpha and beta thing. And two hot men in one book...what's not to like? In the end, it's all about emotional connections that makes a romance worth reading and it's intriguing to get another take on how that can develop.
cathyb, I'm a relative neophyte to m/m romance too. But I'm liking what I'm reading so far. I assume like any part of the romance genre it has its good and bad authors, so I'm relying on smart folks like teddy to steer me in the right direction.
Well, I'm not entering because I already have MFC, but thanks for another fabulous man love monday, even though it's Tuesday. And hey, Dr. Who is a form of man love.
I concur (what the fuck else is new) with Teddypig's recommendation. Although, With Caution is the better of the two. Mmmm. Jake. MMMMM.
Nice job sweetie! I've got the internets access for 1 hour! Wa-HOO!
I'm starting to think I should read this book. Can I enter?
I rarely read m/m, not sure why, because I have read some really hot m/m scenes over the years. In my teenage Goth Girl days I loved Poppy Z. Brite, and Drawing Blood had the first m/m love story I can remember reading. Her writing is definitely for 17 year old Goths, though. Kinda cheesy.
I'll rec Prom Queen. It's a Canadian TV movie that I caught on LOGO and loved, about a gay Catholic School kid fighting for the right to take his boyfriend to the prom.
CJ, I look forward to reading your thoughts on MFC. And you're right about Doctor Who. Just last night I was watching the season 1 finale. The Captain Jack and Rose kiss has nothing on the kiss between Captain Jack and the Doctor. woot!
lisabea! Good to see you. Get back to civilization soon, why dontcha? We miss you. With Caution is the best, you say? I hear and obey. *g*
*puts devon's name in the hat* What's a teenage goth m/m romance read like? hmmm. Thanks for the movie recommendation. Sounds intriguing. I wish we still got Logo on our cable line-up. :(
Poppy Z. Brite was a horror writer who was hot in the early nineties. Most of her stuff had m/m subplots, and Drawing Blood was the best of the bunch. I wonder if she's still writing. Off to check wiki.
I'm back. I love With Caution. I believe what I've said previously is that Jake is my secret boyfriend. Which is so wrong on so many levels I can't even begin to explain it here. Heh. I mean, really. But it's a good read and was my first JL Langley.
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