The release of the audio was delayed and it ended up being a Very Bad Thing. This book is all about valorizing cops and, well, cops have a bad rep. Especially these days. Given that the kid’s dad engaged in police brutality but apparently it’s ‘okay’ because he’s a Good Cop and was having a bad day or whatever. I managed to get 74% done before rage-quitting. Audio narration was as good and capable as ever....

You might’ve been able to guess from my review of Treasure for Treasure that it’s my favourite of the Being(s) in Love series. His Mossy Boy is easily my favourite audiobook in the series. This isn’t to say that I don’t enjoy the book itself, I do. Ian is probably my favourite romantic interest of the entire series. Well, maybe my favourite butch romantic interest. He’s all broad and muscular with chest hair and shit and he’s so, so gentle and caring with Martin....

This was a hard DNF. I think I rage-quit within the first five minutes. Like listening to the gleeful recitation of colonial exploitation and stolen treasures by white people in Egypt. So yeah. No thanks.

This is, easily, my most favourite romance book ever. Like… ever. I tend to call it the ‘asexual hipster romance’ when referring to it. In my opinion, this is really TJ Klune at his finest. It combines the two things that he can do really, really well: comedy and an uncanny ability to hit you right in the feels. Quick Synopsis: We have Gustavo Tiberius likely autistic guy who is grieving his father....

I surprisingly like this book enough that I’ve listened to it several times. It’s a pretty solid hurt/comfort situation with some GFY (Gay For You) tossed in. One of the MC’s has a shitty past with abuse (with resulting facial scaring and mental illness – speaking of which TW for self-harm in the book). The other MC is a big, strapping cowboy who just wants to love and cuddle him....

It isn’t a big secret that this might actually be my favourite urban fantasy series of all time. I mean… what’s not to love about it? It’s basically the Ultimate in queer urban fantasy1. Like. Look: this story has an Indigenous MC and a mixed Asian (two different kinds of Asian) ’trans’ MC. This is sooooo fucking gay. In the queer way. Lmao. This is also my favourite book in the series so far....

Okay. OKAY. So I fucking love this book, ok? Like. A lot. Back during the years where I was really too disabled to actually sit down and read books and was only listening to audiobooks, this was one of the books that I read several times. There’s a great deal about the story to enjoy. As is frequently true with Megan Derr’s fantasy books, there are very few white people. Alan is on the lighter side of things, but I think that the only true white people are those in Benta?...

I honestly love this book. It’s a great fantasy book that doesn’t get too bogged down by world-building. It also makes me very happy that the prince in the book is dark-skinned (and, if memory serves, Rath is also not white). The book also gets bonus points for the portrayal of sex work as not being inherently shameful and that Rath isn’t ‘saved’ by the prince. Watching Rath win all the challenges while actively trying to fail is super amusing....

The Rebuilding Year is the first book in the same-titled series by Kaje Harper and narrated by Gomez Pugh. It’s a kind of slow burn, GFY book (although, I think both men end up identifying as bisexual). And while there ends up being a whole… mystery? Suspense? angle that aspect is almost more like a sub-plot. The book is somewhat more focused on the relationship between the MCs. And this is, in my opinion, a good thing....

Soul Storm by Maris Black is about an asshole music exec and the broken musician he wants to exploit. Now… Black’s books are, um, almost a kind of absurdist version of romance. Like if you want over the top, read one of her books. Soul Storm is, if I remember correctly, not quite as over the top as the rest. Although… now I’m remembering what happens at the end and, yeah, its still OTT....