My family is celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, so the boyfriend and I have a whole day of sitting around the house and relaxing (although, rest assured, we will be venturing out tonight to see The Muppets, because, fuck yeah: Muppets!).
My buddy Marlen Boro has been running a new photo set of Joey, including the above photo, which Marlen dedicated to me on his blog. It may be apparent at this point that I’m a little smitten with Joey; the guy has his own tag on my blog, now.
It’s a little crazy to me that I’ve only posted once since Halloween; that’s lax, even by my standards. It’s difficult, trying to balance time between writing, working and living, and the writing time can get split up by so many things. I’ve got more than a few projects that I’m juggling right now, so the blog tends to take a back seat. Hopefully, the work that I put out will make up for it.
I’ve also been reading a lot lately. Since acquiring an ebook reader, I’ve been making my way through some gay romance/erotica books. I’ve ruminated a bit in the past here about romance vs. erotica and I still think about it a lot, but I won’t bore you. I will say that I’ve enjoyed the books that I’ve read, and that they’re just as filthy as anything I’ve ever written.
The first two that I read (recommended by Sarah of the Rain on the Roof blogs) were by JL Langley. Both books were about gay cowboys in Texas. The first, Tin Star, tells the story of a young man, Jamie, who gets kicked off of the family ranch when he comes out of the closet. To his rescue comes Ethan, Jamie’s older brother’s best friend, who owns another local ranch and hires Jaimie on as a ranch hand. Ethan’s gay, too, but has always kept his sexuality a secret for fear of what his friends and neighbors would think. Things quickly heat up as Ethan and Jamie confront the lust they’ve always had for one another. The plot itself feels melodramatic at times, occasionally downright soap-operatic. The people of the small Texas town where this all takes place don’t take kindly to an openly gay cowboy and Jamie receives threats and more-than-threats of violence. Still, through all of the melodrama, a giddy, horny story of lust and love races through the book, with nearly every chapter punctuated by an explicit sex scene. I popped a boner more than once, but I also found myself completely enamored with Ethan and Jamie. I’d be lying if I didn’t say my heart swelled more than my dick did.
The Tin Star worked so well for me that I immediately downloaded the follow-up, The Broken H. The Broken H isn’t a sequel, per se, although Jamie and Ethan make appearances throughout the book. This time we follow Shane Cortez, the mid-40′s foreman of the titular ranch. Cortez has considered himself part of the family who owns the ranch ever since they took him in decades earlier, when his own family kicked him out. When Cortez’s paternal boss suffers a heart attack, Cortez finds himself face to face with Sheriff Grayson Hunter, the ranch’s prodigal son. Shane and Gray have a lot of emotional baggage to deal with, but they find themselves in bed together quickly. The Broken H. The Broken H has fewer soap opera elements than the previous book, although there are death threats and accusations of impregnation, but I also found myself less emotionally invested in Shane and Gray than I did Ethan and Jamie. Still, I enjoyed the book and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Tin Star.
If you’re curious about just how explicit Langley’s writing is, here’s an excerpt from The Broken H. The Broken H:
Finally, Shane broke their kiss, flipping Gray’s shirt over his head and dropping it to the floor. A finger ran down Gray’s torso, starting between his smooth pecs and ending at his navel. Shane dipped that meandering digit inside the hollow, then followed the trail of hair, starting below his navel, until he hit the top of the low waistband of Gray’s jeans.
Gray watched Shane watch him, those brown eyes practically scorching his body as they followed the line down. Then, before Gray even realized what he was about, Shane bent over and traced the same path with his tongue.
He couldn’t breathe, his breath hitched in his throat and refused to leave. Was this really happening? “Shane …”
“Relax.” Shane rose and kissed him again, this time charting a moist course and nipping along his neck and shoulder, leaving goose bumps in his wake. When he got to Gray’s collarbone, he reached down and unfastened Gray’s jeans.
Oh, God! Gray’s balls pulled tighter, his cock jerking in anticipation. When that tanned, callused hand slipped inside and found his prick, his hips pushed forward, practically begging. Shane squeezed and rubbed through the thin cotton of his boxers. His prick started to leak. Shane moaned and squeezed again as his mouth surrounded Gray’s nipple.
“Fuck!” He pulled Shane closer, cradling his head against his chest with one hand, stroking his back with the other. If he was only going to get to do this once, he was going to seize the opportunity and finally play with that glorious and silken black mane. He snatched the end of Shane’s braid, pulled the band off and unraveled it. How many times had he dreamed of combing his fingers through it? Lifting several strands, he let them fall again.
Shane sighed softly and moved his mouth down Gray’s chest. When he reached Gray’s dick, he hooked his thumbs through the waistband of the jeans and pushed them and Gray’s boxers down in one quick motion.
Gray’s prick bobbed free, standing straight up, feeling unbelievably sensitive in the cool air. He was so fucking hard he ached. He wanted Shane’s mouth, his hands, something … anything on his cock. “Holy shit!”
Shane’s tongue flicked over the tip, then engulfed his dick in the moist heat of his mouth. Gray groaned, fingers tightening in the thick black hair. Shane groaned too, then stood up, making Gray cry out at the loss of those beautiful lips.
“Bedroom, Grayson.” Shane leaned forward and brushed a quick kiss against him. “Now.”
I’m currently reading Damon Suede’s Hot Head. It’s an entirely different beast from Langley’s books. It’s too early for me to give it a review, but I’m enjoying it. The characters are more complex and Suede’s writing is minimal but brutal at times. I’m struggling with the “gay for you” theme of the book, but I find the writing and the story compelling enough to keep reading it.
Interestingly, Hot Head is in the final rounds of the 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards; it’s the sole gay (or M/M, as it’s commonly referred to) book in the Best Romance category, and it’s up against titans of romance such as Nora Roberts, Kresley Cole, Gena Showalter, and JR Ward. Regardless of how I’ll ultimately feel about the book, its presence in the final rounds is damned impressive.
And on that note, I’m out. I have the strong urge to curl up in bed with a book. Or play video games. Or write. Yeah, I should be trying that, too.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
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