op this is SUCH a lovely collection of fun romances. i don’t usually comment on reblogs but i hope it’s cool if i expound on a couple that i’ve read just in case someone is looking at this list and isn’t sure where to start. there are just some things that are nice to know going in, that aren’t necessarily found in plot summaries.
departure from the script by jae – this is a very very VERY sweet story. there really honestly isn’t a huge plot. if you like mundane fanfiction-y type pieces, i would say this would suit you nicely. it really is just two women meeting and slowly falling in love. the other two books in the series (damage control and just physical) are a little meatier, though not butch/fem like this one.
second nature by jae – a fun supernatural read! and a little different than your usual werewolf/shapeshifter story. (the butch lead shifts into a liger.) fun read, pretty hot, but it’s by jae so don’t expect a lot of steamy supernatural sex. it’s a little more plot heavy, and her stuff is almost always slow-burn with one concluding love scene
backwards to oregon by jae – honestly you can debate about whether this is about a butch lesbian or a transgender man, despite the author using ‘she’ pronouns in the narration. it’s hard to assign gender in historical contexts though (this takes place on the oregon trail). the interpretation is ultimately up to you. it’s a nice story however you read it. it’s also by jae so it’s a slow burn as well. also the lead is a former prostitute so warnings for a few attempts of rape/assault, and she spends almost the whole book pregnant which i wish i knew going in because i really hate reading pregnancy stories lmao just not for me.
the cain casey series by ali vali – i only read the first book and it wasn’t my favourite thing ever, but it is a VERY popular series. you have to accept that you are reading this for fantasy and escapism and nothing else. it’s about a crime family and it’s cool i guess but i had a lot of problems with its character framing. i also don’t like books that start AFTER a break-up, even if it’s about getting together again, because the entire narrative is saturated in angst, so you have to be in the mood for that.
the princess and the prix by nell stark – SO MUCH FUN! a princess and a race car driver! that being said, neither lead is butch. i imagine the race car driver is the closest character, and she is DEFINITELY a more masculine woman, but butch means something very specific and she isn’t that. she is mad sexy, though, as is this book.
coincidentally, i would say the lead in the first princess book by nell stark, the princess affair, actually IS butch, at least more so than the one in princess and the prix. she still doesn’t explicitly identify as such, but you can see the difference in their character.
the color of love by radclyffe – THE PLOT SUMMARY IS VERY MISLEADING and i’m still bitter about it lmao. it’s a fun romance but given the summary, i thought it was about a fake marriage where they fall in love, which is always fun, but it’s not at all. it’s really just two women meeting and falling in love normally. i recommend it but i was disappointed when the whole reason i bought it (the fake marriage thing) wasn’t mentioned till the 80% mark and not even as an active thing lmao
BOOKS NUMBERED 14-18. JENNY FRAME BOOKS. okay, listen, her books, more than any, are the most explicit and outright butch/fem cheap penny paperback romance novels. they are the cheesiest, fluffiest pieces of fiction you will ever read. they can be read in a single sitting because they’re easy to get through, and don’t require a lot of deep thought. you read them to relax and feel good. they also always have butches and their fems together The Way We Like To Be, having sex The Way We Do, and engaging in our attraction That Way, and if you know what i mean Then You Know What I Mean and her books are for you. they are sweet and loaded down with sexiness and cheesy as fuck. really. so so so so so cheesy. please don’t expect high lit. she doesn’t write that and she seems to relish in it and i can damn well respect that.
every single book of hers is butch/fem, even those not on this list. they’re cheap and they’re quick and they’re fun. perfect rainy day reads, all of them. (unexpected is also a pregnancy storyline, though, just fyi)
21-23 are anthologies and they are really great ones. I won’t review every short story but they are perfect for this list because while there are dozens of lesbian erotic anthologies, and a few butch/fem ones, those are good places to start.
goldenseal by gill mcknight – ah, the garouls. lesbian werewolves by the truckload. not necessarily explicitly butch/fem but certainly leads in that direction, what with the sexy broody werewolf lesbos. there’s a few books in this series and they’re all pretty good. if you only read one, though, i would personally recommend the second one, ambereye. (also goldenseal has one kinda funny love scene that, like, is fine for steamy erotic werewolf sex fiction, but if someone pulled that crap with you in bed in real life you’d have to smack them and walk away, regardless of their sex appeal.)
anyway, i won’t talk about them all. i have some other fave butch/fem books (or similar to that, and a couple butch/butch as well!) so if someone ploughs through these and is still looking for more, always feel free to message.
again, thank you, op! also thank you for all the links! i’m sure that wasn’t easy work, ha. ❤
In mid-February, Eric Radford made headlines around the world by becoming the first openly gay man to win Olympic gold at the winter games. Now retired from competition, the adopted québécois is concentrating on “professional” skating, in addition to becoming a coach, choreographer and music composer. Over the next year, he will tour the world with Stars on Ice shows, plan his wedding, expected for summer 2019, with the newly retired skater Luis Fenero, and decide if he will move to Vancouver to work in the future skating school of his friend Patrick Chan or if he will get involved with his recent coach, Bruno Marcotte.
Despite his busy schedule, he took the time to sit down with us for over an hour to tell his story, three days after the end of the Olympics and two days before flying off to Australia where he is teaching a seminar with his partner Meagan Duhamel.
Do you see yourself as a spokesperson for the LGBT community?
My outlook on this subject has changed a lot . I am extremely proud of what I did in Pyeongchang and I feel that have a responsibility now. I received a lot of messages from people thanking me for my courage. Ironically, I don’t feel courageous. I’m just trying to be myself. Except the messages show that I am making a difference. It’s an amazing feeling! It takes me back to my own experience: I think back to the years of intimidation that I felt and the absence of LGBT role models in my youth…
For a while I thought I was the only homosexual in my town and I asked myself “why is this happening to me?!” I didn’t see them on television either. Nothing let me know that gays could be successful and find their place in the world. If I had someone who inspired me, that would have helped me accept myself. Today, I want to be that person for others.
Were you intimidated because you were figure skating or because people thought you were gay?
A bit of both. I had mannerisms that could be considered more feminine and I talked with a lisp, which could be associated with a gay stereotype. During my last year of elementary school, I was made fun of every day, without end, throwing insults at me associated with homosexuality. A girl even asked me if my parents thought I was a girl since they had enrolled me in figure skating and gymnastics, two “girl’s sports”.
I remember thinking that it wasn’t my parents choice. I wanted to do these sports. So I wondered what was wrong with me that made we want to do that. I hated myself for a long time because of my sexuality. Between 13 and 16, I was fighting my feelings and desires.
When did you come out to your family and friends?
Around 18 years old. My friends had created a safe environment full of love that made me realize that they would love me no matter what I did or who I was. I felt comfortable talking to them. As for my parents, they only showed me love and support when I told them. I was very lucky. A couple days ago my friends told me that friends of theirs had troubles with their parents since coming out. On the other hand seeing me on the news and seeing my parents encouraging me, it opened their eyes that homosexuality is not abnormal…
What convinced you to come out publicly years later, in 2014?
Before I never felt the need since those close to me and most of the people in the skating world knew. I was in my bubble and I was focused on achieving my Olympic dream by qualifying for Sochi. Then after the Olympic in Russia, a lot of things changed. My partner Meagan and I changed our perspective on skating and the role that skating played in our lives. We became more stronger, more anchored. In the year following the Olympics, we were riding the momentum. We were undefeated in competition. We knew who we were. And the opportunity to tell my story in my own way at the right time presented itself. I felt instinctively that I was ready.
I thought that the more athletes and public figures spoke openly about their homosexuality, the less it would become a big story over time. I wanted to participate in this movement.
Recently, the skier Gus Kenworthy posted status showing the number of very violent homophobic comments he’s received since this publication of a photo showing him kissing his boyfriend at the Olympic Games. Have you received insults like this since coming out?
In the past four years, no media has asked me about my homosexuality. I was out quietly. But last June when I shared a photo of my marriage proposal on social media, I received a lot of negative feedback. Strangers told me I was going to get AIDS… I find it really bizarre that they follow me on Instagram and that they take the time to write me that. There are really people that hate us and want to tell us so that we feel bad. That said, during and after the Pyeongchang Olympics, I didn’t see anything negative. My situation is very different to Gus’. He is American. He speaks about it much more that I do. And he has at least 10 times more people following him.
What would you like to do with the LGBT community in the future?
In June, I will participate in the Pride Oslo at the invitation of the Canadian ambassador in Norway. I would like to write a book on the connection between my experiences in sport and the process of accepting my sexuality. I am a person who is introspective, analytical and very close to my emotions. My friends tell me that I express myself well and that I need to share everything that I’ve experienced. I want to give examples to younger people so that they can identify with someone and see how I managed to accept myself despite all the fears and anxiety I felt inside.
Doran had a problem, and it wasn’t that he’d been stabbed.
Iole City is in turmoil. Doran Ó Seanáin, leader of the Black Lung Gang, is determined to bring the Archon, Arajon’s tyrannical ruler, down for his brutal treatment of the miners. But Doran has more to deal with than getting stabbed and a city-wide lockdown that’s seeing his gang of ex-miners being slowly starved out of their base. His daughter Grace has turned against him, and the weight of his wife’s death haunts them both.
Things start to look up when he’s inexplicably drawn to Nathaniel Morgenstern, the apotheker with a mysterious past he owes his life to, but Doran is in way over his head. The fate of the mines hangs in the balance; the clock is ticking and the Archon is closing in.
Doran’s plan to break the cycle may very well be his last.
Heart of Dust is the first book in a fantasy m/m romance series, with a diverse cast including female, POC, and LGBT+ representation. H. L. Moore is an Australian Jewish WOC lesbian, who decided to take Jewish representation in fantasy literature into her own hands.
Heart of Dust is now available to purchase for both Koboand Kindle!
If you don’t own a Kobo or Kindle ereader, that’s all right – you can download the apps for free to both Android and Apple smartphone/tablet devices.
If you are on Goodreads, please consider taking a moment to rate and review Heart of Dust. Thank you to everyone who has purchased the book, I’m so grateful for your support!
Heart of Dust is going on sale!
The book will be available FREE TO DOWNLOAD from Kobo for one week only, 26th March until 1st April.
I’m reading this queer anthology and the first story is a fairytale about a queer Latina girl whose anger was so fierce it literally poisoned the rich white men who unfairly captured the transgender soldier she was in love with and my heart is literally bursting I’m going to cry
the second story is about two queer girls who leave their husbands-to-be at the altar and flee together on a boat to become pirates IM FUCKING SCREAMING THIS IS EXACTLY THE KIND OF GAY CONTENT I SIGNED UP FOR
okay this is the anthology and it’s entirely written by queer authors and inspired by the stories of real queer teens in history and it’s the most wholesome and epic thing I’ve read in a long while
I kissed behind his ear (and then he punched me in the arm, he’s shy in public) and I heard one of them whisper to the other something along the lines of “We get to see close up yaoi on here!”.
(Neither of us are even Japanese)
I was kinda offended, so I took my boyfriend by the hand and left.
It made us feel very uncomfortable.
I just want to say:
Our love and relationship isn’t for your entertainment.
Nor is it here for you to fetishize and sexualize.
Please just keep your “yaoi xDD” to just fiction, and please do not call us “yaoi”.
Many dismiss this as not a problem, which I find rude as they have never experienced this so they don’t really have much to say against this.
Thank you for reading.
– Submitted by Anonymous
* ^^^ Sorry to hear that anon D: that’s pretty terrible.
Really? I guess being accepted is just as bad as being hated. I bet of the girls had hissed in disgust he’d be sobbing and ranting about acceptance.
Having straight people only see you as fap material isn’t acceptance you fucking homophobic walnut
why are there all these posts n articles n stuff that are like “girls can have short hair!” “girls can wear suits!” but all the women shown are still always only feminine, and whats actually being said is “girls can have short hair and still be feminine!” and “girls can wear suits and still be attractive to men!” like whenever women want to do something men (and sometimes other women too, but men are awful at this) have to find a way to make it Still Okay, Still Acceptable to them, instead of just letting women be! women dont need to fit any standards of femininity or beauty to do something, and they certainly don’t need mens approval
and its really gross considering these articles are usually about styles/behaviors associated with wlw, like they’re basically saying “doing this is okay, as long as youre straight!”
yeah. if we’re going to say this is great (and it is)
then we also need to honestly promote this as well
Oscar Wilde can’t tell us with words that Dorian Gray is a full out twink so he compares him to Ganymede and Antinous and hopes we know enough Roman gay history to understand.
Plume de Lynx 