The (Wednesday) Place for Short & Simple Requests

New to the subreddit and feeling intimidated by the thought of posting a book request? Not sure if the request you have in mind will satisfy the subreddit rules?

Post it here in the Wednesday Request Place---the Wednesday version of our popular Saturday Less Scary Request Place.

Requests that aren't specific or detailed enough for a standalone request post can be made here, and it's also a great place to test the waters if you're not ready to make your own request post yet. We know it can sometimes be hard to come up with a request that meets the rules, and frustrating when your request is removed, so we've created this weekly post to help.

Anyone can answer requests made in this post. This post isn't hosted by someone who answers requests, so it's up to your fellow members to help you out. We can't guarantee you'll get an answer, but hopefully you will! Requests made here don't have to satisfy the specificity portion of subreddit rule 2, but please make sure your request follows our other rules (for example, rule 6, our privacy rule).

Important Note: This post goes up on Wednesday mornings (US time). Requests made after Wednesday ends are less likely to get replies. You are welcome to comment here on any day of the week, but you may want to save your requests for an upcoming Wednesday.

This feature is posted every Wednesday. You can find the complete schedule of all weekly and monthly features at this link.

I’m looking for MM books/series that are genuine page-turners.

Not necessarily thrillers or murder mysteries, just books with good writing, pacing and momentum. The kind where you keep saying 'one more chapter' and suddenly it’s 3 a.m 😅

I’m open to any genre (fantasy, historical, contemporary, sci-fi, omegaverse, etc.) as long as the writing is strong and the story really pulls you in.

Some examples:

• K.J. Charles: Will Darling Adventures, Society of Gentlemen, etc.
• Josh Lanyon: especially the Adrien English series
• C.S. Pacat: Captive Prince
• Charlie Adhara: Big Bad Wolf
• Leta Blake: Heat of Love series (great worldbuilding - you go in for the spice, stay for the A/B/O lore)

Also totally willing to sacrifice spice levels for books that are genuinely immersive, well-constructed, and make you stay for the story itself.

Would love to know - what are your top 5 unputdownable MM books?

I genuinely want to know if anyone else has been feeling this way, because I feel like I’m losing my mind a little.

Why does it seem like the majority of books being written right now are so narrow when it comes to world building? And I’m not just talking about fantasy or paranormal, I mean contemporary too. I’ve read a handful of books this year and it honestly feels like the craft of writing is slowly dying.

What’s really getting to me is how unrealistic and flat the characters have become. Everyone looks the same, works the same jobs, wants the same things. Even the tropes feel like they’re just being scooped out of the same pot and reheated over and over again. I get that it sells, I do, but it’s so disheartening.

Like, you pick up a contemporary sports romance set in Chicago centered around football or basketball and not one character, not a side character, not a background friend or neighbor or family member, is Black or Latino or any other person of color? I mean that’s not just lazy, it’s unrealistic and becoming laughable at this point.

And don’t even get me started on the enemies to lovers recycling going on right now. Slapping that label on a rushed, surface level conflict and calling it a trope is not it. The tension isn’t there, the history isn’t there, nothing hits the way it should.

Unless you specifically go looking for diversity in characters and concepts, it’s never just naturally there. That alone says a lot.

I haven’t felt this checked out from reading since I first got back into books in 2018. Is anyone else feeling this or is it just me?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

As always, I’m still out here hunting for hidden gems because I know they exist, waiting somewhere to pull me completely into their world.

As a psychologist and also as someone who reads a LOT of MM romance lately, I need to complain about the obsession modern romance authors have with labeling every shy/introspective/awkward male character as “socially anxious.”

No. Sometimes the guy is just shy. Or introverted. Or uncomfortable. Or reserved. Or inexperienced socially.

Not every quiet person has Social Anxiety Disorder.

And before anyone says “social anxiety has different levels,” yes, I KNOW. That’s exactly why this annoys me so much. Most authors don’t seem interested in portraying actual social anxiety with nuance, severity, avoidance patterns, impairment, anticipatory distress, physiological symptoms, post-event rumination, etc. They just use the label as emotional shorthand for “soft vulnerable boy.”

The result is that:

- normal personality variation gets pathologized,

- readers start thinking every introvert is clinically anxious,

- and psychological terminology loses all precision.

And this happens CONSTANTLY in MM romance lately.

Guy sits quietly at a table?

→ social anxiety.

Guy blushes while flirting?

→ social anxiety.

Guy prefers one-on-one interaction?

→ social anxiety.

Buddy, sometimes he’s just shy and likes a man. Calm down.

I’m not criticizing actual anxious characters or mental health representation. I’m criticizing lazy characterization disguised as psychological depth.

Anyway thanks for coming to my TED Talk while I continue reading cozy gay romances where apparently every town has:

- 17 queer siblings,

- 4 queer neighbors,

- 2 queer baristas,

- and a bisexual toaster.

​

Just been thinking about how slowly over the last few months, I have developed a slight aversion to reading billionaire romances. While they were always flights I'd fantasy even previously, these days I've found myself cringing at ostentatious displays of wealth.

So, getting on the TikTok trend: I propose to my changing taste in romance books as a recession indicator 😂

I mentioned this before on this sub in comments. But I figured I will create a thread to see if others are seeing this too. 

I am genuinely baffled by some reviews on Goodreads that I call “bad faith” review. What I mean by this is reviewers give the book 1-2 stars and writes a completely bad faith take on what happens in the book to justify why they don’t like it. Often times these are written in a way to make it seems like the reviewer cares about representation of marginalized community or a health issue. You then see multiple people commenting “thank for the review. I will not read this book.” But I want to scream HEY THAT DIDN‘T HAPPEN!!

I am not going to link actual reviews because I don’t want any brigading but a few examples. 

{Rent paid in full by Jesse H. Reign} reviewers are accusing one MC Miller of sexual abuse because he pays other MC Ryan for sexual favors. When in the book, it escalates because Ryan slowly becomes a very willing participant in this game. >!Yes, Miller is unhinged. He wants Ryan and tries to give him money, but Ryan is very righteous and throws the money back at him. So Miller, not being really a normal person, propositioned Ryan into sexual favors. Ryan gives into it rather reluctantly at first but starts to make excuses in his head as to why he keeps doing it. He really has certain kinks that is fulfilled by Miller‘s hijinks. It is very obvious in the book that Miller would have 100% backed off if Ryan really set the boundary, but he escalates cause Ryan was into it and Miller is well… unhinged. Is it a healthy relationship? Not really, but it’s absolutely works for these two characters.!<

{Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall} has one star review where reviewer talks about how MC Luc forces the vegan LI Oliver into eating meat (not innuendo). And how that is abuse. But if this reviewer actually read the book, >!it is extremely clear Oliver is vegan because he is worried about getting fat so his abusive parents will have another excuse to take a jab at him on top of him being gay. He hides it all under environmental consciousness.  After a very nasty argument with his parents, Oliver kinda breaks down and say I want a burger. Luc being the adorable mess he is comes up with all these reasons why Oliver should treat himself while keeping his conscious clear. It was such a sweet and loving scene, and yet… Way too many comments about “thanks for the warning. I won’t read this.” !<

I will never understand how the highest rated reviews on {House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune} is how the premise was inspired by sixties scoop so it’s bad and Klune is a horrible person. As if fantasy book in forever has not been inspired by atrocities committed in real world. This reviewer will be shocked if they learn about inspiration behind Star Wars. 

{Bath Haus by PJ Vernon} is not a romance but has reviews where “everyone is bad in this book”. Meanwhile >!21 yo MC was trapped financially, physically and emotionally by 31 yo “LI” after LI (a doctor) met MC at the hospital where he was recovering from drug addiction. LI controlled every aspect of his life for 5 years afterwards and that all came to an intense conclusion. Yes MC makes some bad decisions but any rational person can understand how fucked up his brain was. Yet apparently EVERYONE is same level of bad here.!<

I just can’t anymore. It’s one thing to not like a book, it’s another when people are just making up shit to be mad about. I truly don’t get it.

The (Monday) Place for Short & Simple Requests

New to the subreddit and feeling intimidated by the thought of posting a book request? Not sure if the request you have in mind will satisfy the subreddit rules?

Post it here in the Monday Request Place---the Monday version of our popular Saturday Less Scary Request Place.

Requests that aren't specific or detailed enough for a standalone request post can be made here, and it's also a great place to test the waters if you're not ready to make your own request post yet. We know it can sometimes be hard to come up with a request that meets the rules, and frustrating when your request is removed, so we've created this weekly post to help.

Anyone can answer requests made in this post. This post isn't hosted by someone who answers requests, so it's up to your fellow members to help you out. We can't guarantee you'll get an answer, but hopefully you will! Requests made here don't have to satisfy the specificity portion of subreddit rule 2, but please make sure your request follows our other rules (for example, rule 6, our privacy rule).

Important Note: This post goes up on Monday mornings (US time). Requests made after Monday ends are less likely to get replies. You are welcome to comment here on any day of the week, but you may want to save your requests for an upcoming Monday.

This feature is posted every Monday. You can find the complete schedule of all weekly and monthly features at this link.

Aside from HEA for guys who fall in love with each other, are there any other essential components a book needs to have to be considered romance?

I'm asking because I've had multiple situations where I read reviews for a book I thought was romance, but then there were reviews complaining that it wasn't romance, or not romantic enough, or unromantic. But... there were guys who met each other, had sex, fell in love, and got their happy ending.

So now I'm wondering where people actually draw the line between romance and not romance?

which book gave you the worst book hangover?
like the kind where you couldn’t start another book for days.

what made it hit so hard?

the characters, the ending, the writing style, emotional damage, obsession, all of it?

For me it was the Administration Series.

I think it was because of how unique the main character was and the excellent writing. It really made me feel everything while also giving me a lot to think about.

I immediately needed to reread my favorite scenes, and sometimes while searching for one particular scene, I’d suddenly realize an hour later that I’d just been randomly rereading the whole book again.

In general, books hit me hardest when the characters are complex and morally fucked up. Not purely good or bad, but maybe one shade lighter than pure evil. The kind of character who is absolutely a monster, but then does one thing that changes how you see them. Or you learn something about their past and suddenly you start to understand why they are the way they are.

And it’s not even about redeeming or rehabilitating them by the end. I’m much more interested in exploring their mind in detail and understanding how they think, how they justify things, how they function.

Currently finishing Hailey Turner’s Resurrection Reprise for the nth time, and I’m in desperate need of recommendations with a similar vibe, especially dynamic-wise.

What I’m looking for is:

a feared/ruthless/powerful man who cares only for his own people

another equally competent, powerful, self-reliant man

both highly capable in their own right

falling in love while dealing with an external threat/crisis.

I love comfort, loyalty, devotion, and a really good saving/protective scene, but I don’t want a dynamic where one MC is significantly weaker, inexperienced, or constantly being rescued. I specifically want two competent men who stand beside each other as equals, preferably one with a big found family behind him integrating the other into it.

Preferably supernatural/paranormal/urban fantasy with
vampires, magic users, shifters, necromancers, etc., or
modern fantasy settings.

But I’m open to other genres too if the relationship dynamic fits.

Bonus points for:

possessiveness/protectiveness

morally gray characters

powerful men being soft only for each other

competent teamwork

“everyone else fears him except his partner” energy

found family/loyal inner circles

hurt/comfort.

I can’t think of any other book I’ve read that has this specific dynamic.

Thank you for any recommendations.

I’m trying to build up my taboo books collection and I knew this was the place to look also i know everyone is gonna recommend {end scene by Nicky James} and if I’m being honest other than the fact that they are twins the book and the spicy stuff were extremely vanilla

Im looking for
Big age gaps
Very forbidden relationships
Incest
BDSM

My No list is

Cannibalism
Supernatural stuff like wolves and shape shifting
Poly ( I could be persuaded but it would have to be a really good dynamic)

One thing I find really fascinating as an international reader is how differently certain dynamics read depending on your cultural background.

Sometimes there are little things clearly intended to come across one way, but if you grew up in a different culture, your brain interprets them completely differently.

For example: the use of 'Papa' in omegaverse.

I’ve noticed that in a lot of books, especially ones with children, the softer/more nurturing omega parent is often called 'Papa', while the alpha parent is 'Dad'.

And as a South Asian reader, this is unintentionally hilarious to me.

Because in my cultural context (and in a lot of other South Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American cultures too), 'Papa' is not the softer parent archetype at all.

'Papa' and its equivalents carry a certain weight, implying authority, discipline, patriarchal presence.

That doesn’t mean fathers are cold or strict, but even emotionally affectionate fathers often still carry a certain hierarchical weight and family leadership.

Meanwhile the Western 'Dad' is much more casual, relaxed, emotionally open, almost more of a 'buddy-buddy' figure to me.

So every time I read:
Alpha parent = Dad
Omega parent = Papa

my brain quietly goes '…shouldn’t that be the other way around? LOL'

It honestly made me wonder how many romance dynamics are unintentionally shaped by cultural assumptions that readers from other backgrounds interpret completely differently.

So now I'm curious - what are some things in Western romance that read very differently to you because of your cultural background?

The (Wednesday) Place for Short & Simple Requests

New to the subreddit and feeling intimidated by the thought of posting a book request? Not sure if the request you have in mind will satisfy the subreddit rules?

Post it here in the Wednesday Request Place---the Wednesday version of our popular Saturday Less Scary Request Place.

Requests that aren't specific or detailed enough for a standalone request post can be made here, and it's also a great place to test the waters if you're not ready to make your own request post yet. We know it can sometimes be hard to come up with a request that meets the rules, and frustrating when your request is removed, so we've created this weekly post to help.

Anyone can answer requests made in this post. This post isn't hosted by someone who answers requests, so it's up to your fellow members to help you out. We can't guarantee you'll get an answer, but hopefully you will! Requests made here don't have to satisfy the specificity portion of subreddit rule 2, but please make sure your request follows our other rules (for example, rule 6, our privacy rule).

Important Note: This post goes up on Wednesday mornings (US time). Requests made after Wednesday ends are less likely to get replies. You are welcome to comment here on any day of the week, but you may want to save your requests for an upcoming Wednesday.

This feature is posted every Wednesday. You can find the complete schedule of all weekly and monthly features at this link.

Hi,

As the title says, I haven't caught up with anything released in 2026 and would love some recommendations! I like Dom/sub, HEAs, enemies/rivals to lovers, arranged marriage, royalty, comedies, werewolves, vampires etc. Hard Nos would be non con, tragedy, cheating.

I'm a bit tired of gay/bisexual awakening in books... almost each one has it and I want to read more books with both the mcs already figured out their sexuality, whether they're out or not.

give me everything you can think of with it.

I like:

highschool, college, sports romance, fluff, angst, tortured mc, partyboy mc, famous mcs etc and pretty much every relationship trope (enemies/friends to lovers etc)

my no's:

age gaps, boss - employee, omegaverse, anything paranormal

Thanks!!

Cheating is a big no for me, but I read Sweat and it made my rereads list because I loved it so much, so I really wanted to give Salt a chance but I need to know some things before deciding if it is a definite no for me.

1. From the moment the MCs get together/share their first kiss, does the MC who has a girlfriend continue having sex with her?

2. Does the single MC have relations with other people?

3. Who ends the relationship, the MC or the girlfriend because she finds out about the cheating?

{Salt by Jonah Yorke},

I’m a sucker for a sweet/well meaning but a little bit simple characters. Not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Does anyone have any suggestions for books with a character that is not book smart?

I already know {10 ways to accidentally fall in love by Emmy Sanders}

Thank you!

Honestly. I've been trying to think about all the ways I could talk about this book in this sub because I just loved it so much lol and finally I settled on this. If you want to read my long rambling review it's here.

This single moment has remained in my mind and it had me going crazy, giggling and kicking my feet like a madman. I was reading {The Influencer by August Jones} and one sentence stood out to me so hard I can't stop thinking about it.

I am a sucker for non-sexual intimacy. Touches, acts, words, etc. that don't lead to or have anything connected to sex. It just hits so hard especially when....yea lol. Anyways here's the sentence and my explanations afterwards will be spoilery if you plan on reading:

"I stand and turn the phoenix charm on his necklace so it's facing the right way, then tap the barely noticeable dimple on his chin."

I know. Sounds basic right? But it's not and I'll tell you why:

1. I love small, intimate gestures that show you care for someone. Especially with no words. Straightening their tie or clothes, putting their hair back in place, fixing jewelry etc. so this was going to hit regardless but it hit harder because of the next point.

2. They had just had a pretty big set back and a slight argument because of some outside factors. So not only was this a sweet and intimate gesture it came at a much needed time. It showed that yes we might not be on exactly the same page but I still care about you. SWWWOOOOOOONNNNN.

3. And this was what brought it home to me. MC1 was "straight" and broody and moody af. MC2 who had on the necklace was a huge brat and vain but it was to mask his insecurities. He was a diva who did the most and wore crazy outfits but MC1 didn't care and this was yet another way of showing without a bunch of words and filler that he accepted MC2 for who he was and wanted to make sure he looked good because he knew it made him feel good. Again SWOOOOOONNNNNN.

And this is also why I don't like too much rambling inner thoughts and going on and on. Just SHOW ME. This was an example of showing me. I didn't have to read what I just said to understand what was being conveyed and it was just one sentence that had me thinking all of this and going CRAZY.

Ok this was long so what are you personal favorite non-sexual forms of intimacy and bonus points for exact books or scenes!

The Place for Short & Simple Requests

New to the subreddit and feeling intimidated by the thought of posting a book request? Not sure if the request you have in mind will satisfy the subreddit rules?

Post it here in the Less Scary Request Place!

Requests that aren't specific or detailed enough for a standalone request post can be made here, and it's also a great place to test the waters if you're not ready to make your own request post yet. We know it can sometimes be hard to come up with a request that meets the rules, and frustrating when your request is removed, so we've created this weekly post to help.

Anyone can answer requests made in this post. This post isn't hosted by someone who answers requests, so it's up to your fellow members to help you out. We can't guarantee you'll get an answer, but hopefully you will!

Requests made here don't have to satisfy the specificity portion of subreddit rule 2, but please make sure your request follows our other rules (for example, rule 6, our privacy rule).

Important Note: This post goes up on Saturday mornings (US time). Requests made after Saturday ends are less likely to get replies. You are welcome to comment here on any day of the week, but you may want to save your requests for an upcoming Saturday.

This feature is posted every Saturday. You can find the complete schedule of all weekly and monthly features at this link.