Queer Readers

Elysia and Rachel chat about Tal Bauer's political thriller The Night Of!  Books mentioned:  You and Me by Tal Bauer  Whisper by Tal Bauer

Ella and Rachel chat with Sierra again for this month's spotlight Saint, the third book in the Priest series. Warning for spoilers and mentions of suicide.  Books mentioned:  A Merry Little Meet Cute by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone 

Ella and Wynne chat about Leta Blakes's thought-provoking omega verse book, Slow Heat! We do go into spoilers of Slow Heat and the other books in the Heat of Love series. Trigger warning: mentions of rape, forced pregnancy and issues around reproductive rights.  

Ella, Elysia and Wynne chat about their favourites of the past month!  Books mentioned:  The Scum Villain's Self Saving System by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù Where Death Meets the Devil by L.J. Hayward  She Who Became the Sun by Shelly Parker-Chan

Ella and Rachel chat about Keira Andrews's fantastic breech-ripper, Wed to a Barbarian! Books mentioned: Winter of the Owl by Iris Foxglove

Ella and Rachel chat with May Archer about her delightfully sweet romance, Pick Me. Just a warning we do talk about issues around mental health and anxiety.  Book Mentioned:  Unhinged by Onley James  Calluvia's Royalty Series by Alessandra Hazard A Walrus & A Gentleman by Emmaline Strange  Seducing the Sorcerer by Lee Welch  The Missing Page by Cat Sebastian  Subtle Blood by K J Charles  In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish 

QR mods discuss their favourite reads of December and their best overall read of the year.  Warning for discussion of graphic sex.  Books mentioned:  Blood Sports by Daniel May  The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by K. J. Charles  The Night Of  by Tal Bauer  Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian  A Choir of Lies by Alexandra Rowland  A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske Just a Bit Bossy by Alessandra Hazard  The Traitor's Mercy by Iris Foxglove 

QR moderators discuss Kai Bulter's charming sci-fi regency romance!   

Ella, Elysia, Rachel, and Wynne talk out their favourite reads of the month and try to convince the others to read them!  Books mentioned:  Jackdaw by K. J. Charles  Small Change by Roan Parrish  P.S. I Spook You by S. E. Harmon  Peter Darling by Austin Chant The Last Flight of Marius Chastain by Iris FoxGlove 

Server moderators Ella and Rachel interview S. T. Gibson about her amazing Dracula's Brides retelling, A Dowry of Blood. Warning for spoilers and discussion on domestic abuse.  Books & Media mentioned:  Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado Van Helsing directed by Stephen Sommers and Sharon Bridgeman Dracula Untold directed by Gary Shore  A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske  Saint by Sierra Simone Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente

QRR mods Ella, Elysia, Rachel, and Wynne chat about their favourite reads of the month and try to convince the others to read their picks. We do go into explicate talk of omgeaverse and smut in this episode.  Books mentioned:  The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh by Molly Greeley The Kings Mage by Iris Foxglove  Pick Me by May Archer  All for the Game Series by Nora Sakavic  Heat of Love Series by Leta Blake 

QRR mods Ella and Rachel talk with Mias West about her queer Arthurian retelling, Marked by Fire.  Books mentioned:  The Skystone by Jack Whyte  Agnes Moor's Wild Knight by AJ Demas  A Land So Wild by Elyssa Warkentin  Purgatory by Jeff Mann Work For It by Talia Hibbert Winter Knights by Harper Fox

QRR mods Ella and Elysia discuss this week spotlight The Traitor's Mercy by Iris Foxglove, the first book in their amazing BDSM verse fantasy series! Warning this book is about forced prostitution which we discuss.  Books mentioned:  Deadly Education by Naomi Novik Claiming Series by Lyn Gala  Avian Shifters Series by Kim Dare 

QRR mods Ella, Elysia and Rachel discuss their favourite books of this month and try to convince each other to read them!  Books mentioned:  The Quarterback by Tal Bauer  Ashes of Memory by Aiden Bates and Jill Haven  Briarley by Aster Glenn Gray  Soul Eater by Lily Mayne  Reawakening by Amy Rae Durreson Morning Glory Milking Farm by C.M. Nascosta  My Dark Vanessa Kate Elizabeth Russell

QRR mods Ella, Elysia and Wynne talk about their favourite books of the last month and highlight one book they want the other mods to read!  Books mentioned:  Ash by Malinda Lo Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine  A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel Wine and Song by Eleanor Kos  Date in a Pinch by Brigham Vaughn Made to Order by Brigham Vaughn Two Steps Back by Lyn Gala The Same Breath by Gregory Ashe  Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie 

QRR mods Arlo and Rachel talk to Sierra Simone about her gothic polyamorous romance, A Lesson in Thorns.  

Ella, Elysia and Wynne discuss this weeks spotlight book Winter's Orbit, Everina Maxwell's fantastic sci-fi arranged marriage romance! Warning for spoilers and discussions of domestic abuse.  Books/Media Mentioned: Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy  The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers  Persephone Sation by Stina Leicht  Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie Icarus, Burning by aladyinbooks (A03)

QRR mods Rachel and Ella talk to Lucy Bexley about her book Must Love Silence, a wonderfully funny romance between an audiobook narrator and an author.  Books mentioned:  Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo One Last Stop by Casey Mcquiston  Nevermind by Bryce Oakley

QRR mods Rachel and Ella talk to Carole Cummings about her latest book Sonata Form, a masterful fantasy with war and dragons. The book we talked about in the beginning but forgot to name was Amberough by Lara Elean Donnelly.  Books mentioned:  Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain  Blood Indigo by Talulah J. Sullivan     

Rachel and Ella talk about this weeks spotlight book The Man Who loved Cole Flores by K.A. Merikan, their revenge filled western romance. Content warning for mentions of rape, suicide and violence. 

QRR mods Rachel, Elysia and Ella discuss the author responses to our questions for this weeks theme, sex in fiction. We talk about the responses from Joy Demorra, KJ Charles, Gregory Ashe, K.A Merikan and Lucy Bexley.    Books mentioned:  The Art of Mutual Pleasure by K.A. Merikan Until You Say Otherwise by Kate Hawthorne

QRR mods interview Lucy Lennox about spotlight book Right as Raine, the first in her Aster Valley series.  Books mentioned: Try by Ella Frank Bossman by Vi Keeland  Extracurricular Activities Series by Neve Wilder In The Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish  Him by Sarina Bowen  The Night Of by Tal Bauer  Four Bears Construction Series by K.M. Neuhold Kidnapped by the Pirate by Keira Andrews  The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh by K.J. Charles  The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting by K.J. Charles  Silver Tip Pack Series by Megan Erickson Project Hero by Briar Prescott  Honeythorn by Marina Vivancos  Calluvia's Royalty Series by Alessandra Hazard  The Kings Dragon by W. M. Fawkes and Sam Burns  The Fantastic Fluke by Sam Burns  Jon's Mysteries Series by A.J. Sherwood Unbreakable Bonds Series by Jocelynn Drake  Nothing Special Series by A.E. Via  Damage Control by Lynn Van Dorn  A Brazen Curiosity by Lynn Messina 

QRR mods Elysia and Ella discuss Joy Demorra's vampire polyamorous romance, Hunger Pangs!  Books mentioned: Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez Inferior by Angela Saini

QRR server mods Elysia and Ella discuss Demons Do It Better by Louisa Masters, an incredibly funny paranormal romance! Warnings for spoilers and sexually explicit content (look we got into a tangent about horns vs tentacles in sex that I didn't have the heart to edit out). 

QRR mods interview Joanna Chambers about spotlight book Provoked, her charmingly Scottish regency romance! Warning for spoilers.  Books mentioned:  The Time Traveller's Guide to Regency Britain by Ian Mortimer  The King's Jaunt by John Prebble Enemies Like You by Joanna Chambers & Annika Martin Kings Men by Sally Malcolm  Rebel by Sally Malcolm  Schooling the Jock by Eli Easton & Tara Lain First Blood by Eliot Grayson 

For our first theme week QRR mods Ella, Elysia, Rachel and Wynne discuss fanfiction and its influence on publishing.  Here are the fics we recommended at the end:  Ella: my only constant is you by TheSilverQueen Elysia: Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail by owlet  Rachel: Hermione Granger's Hogwarts Crammer for Delinquents on the Run by waspabi Wynne: At Least There's The Football by sheffiesharpe

QRR server mods Elysia and Ella discuss Unhallowed by Jordan L. Hawk, a turn of the century paranormal romance filled with tentacles! Warnings for spoilers and brief mentions of child abuse. (Spoilers for The Casebook of Simon Feximal, skip from 17:20 to 17:49 if you want to miss it). Also, I mentioned the author Lily Morton but accidentally said Lucy Morton, turns out I can't keep my L names straight.  Books mentioned: The Casebook of Simon Feximal by K J Charles    Remnant: a story by Jorden L Hawk & K J Charles  The Binding by Bridget Collins  The Diviners by Libba Bray

QRR server moderators Elysia and Ella interview Lara Elena Donnelly about spotlight book Amberlough, her 1920s inspired spy thriller full of intrigue and glamour.  Warnings for spoilers, themes around fascism and graphic descriptions of internal wounds with old-timey surgery.  Books mentioned:  The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg  Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh  Bright Young People by D.J. Taylor  Declare by Tim Powers  Making Us Monsters by Sam J. Miller & Lara Elena Donnelly Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind  A Debt to Pleasure by John Lanchester  The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Macneal A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara Pachinko by Min Jin Lee   

QRR server moderators Rachel and Ella interview Aster Glenn Gray about spotlight book Honeytrap, her Cold War forbidden romance that's full of charm! Warning for spoilers and brief mentions of suicide. Books and media mentioned:   To See Paris and Die: The Soviet Lives of Western Culture by Eleonory Gilburd  Little Golden America by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Longing by Anya von Bremzen  The Girl from the Metropol Hotel: Growing Up in Communist Russia by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya Wounded: A New History of the Western Front in World War I by Emily Mayhew  They Shall Not Grow Old directed by Peter Jackson 

QRR server moderators Rachel and Ella Interview Roan Parish about spotlight book Better Than People, her adorable contemporary m/m romance filled with the fluffiest pets. Just a warning, we did, unfortunately, lose the last ten minutes of our interview with Roan in which she recommended her latest favourite read which was Catherine House by Elizabeth Thomas, and we also talked about Plain Dead Heroines by Emily M. Danforth. 

Rachel, Ella and Elysia talk about the charmingly sweet Two Rogues Make a Right by Cat Sebastian. This is a reupload of our last October Spotlight episode. Spoiler warning! 

As a Christmas roundup, we each talk about our three favourite books from 2020. Rachel - Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, Center of Gravity by Neve Wilder, Ziggy, Stardust and Me by James Bradon.  Elysia - On the Wings of War by Hailey Turner (Soulbound #5), Claimings by Lyn Gala, and Falling, Falling Stars, an ongoing serial by Pia Foxhall under not-poignant on ao3. Wynne - Jackdaw by KJ Charles, Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, Songs You Know by Heart by Eleanor Kos. Ella - Band sinister by K J Charles, Reawakening by Amy Rae Durreson, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Taylor Jenkins Reid.

Elysia and Wynne discuss The Gentle Wolf by Pia Foxhall, an omegaverse m/m filled with fluff and chocolate. 

Rachel and Elysia interview Gregory Ashe about his romantic suspense novel with MM romance, The Same Breath.

QRR server moderators Ella and Rachel interview A. H. Lee about spotlight series, The Knight and the Necromancer, her high fantasy adventure with MM romance.

QRR moderators Ella and Rachel talk to KJ Charles about her series, The Will Darling Adventures, a mystery trilogy inspired by 1920s pulp fiction with MM romance.

QRR server mods talk to Lisa Henry and Sarah Honey about RED HEIR, their comedic adventure fantasy with MM romance.