I asked Teddypig to come up with his all time list of gay romance books. TP has been reading these books for decades, and I thought his recommendations would carry a lot of weight. I love his editorial comments – you may or you may not, depending on your perspective – but I do think they were quite appropriate in light of the longevity of these books.
#1. Patricia Nell Warren ~
1974
From: Wildcat Press (Not available in eBook)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patricia_Nell_Warren
Here it is, my starting point. The very first Gay Love Story I ever read… Yes, a “lesbian woman” wrote the first Gay Love Story I ever read. I say Gay Love Story because this novel has a tragic ending. But, read it anyway it was one of the firsts.
#2. Marion Zimmer Bradley ~ The Catch Trap
1979
From: Ballantine Books (Not available in eBook)
My very first Gay Romance Novel EVER and it is written by guess what? A “straight woman”! Comes complete with a full blown HEA and a huge two part epic Historical Romance about two male trapeze artists meeting and falling in love in the 1940’s and the 1950’s. A must read for anyone looking into the origins of today’s Gay Romance.
#3. John Preston ~ 1980
From: Cleis Press (Not available in eBook)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Preston
OMG! An actual gay male type author! Mr. Benson is a Gay BDSM Romance more than it is Gay Erotica in my opinion. It has the required HEA and lot’s of great emotional character growth in the story arc and several wonderful BDSM erotic scenes. OK, so the last part gets a bit hokey. Another must read in my opinion and well worth it as a glimpse of the type of important storytelling Drummer Magazine brought to the Gay Leather Community during it’s heyday. I had to mention this book since I am a member of the Gay Leather Community and an alumni member of the Centaur MC. Not an expert mind you.
#4. Annie Proulx ~
1998
From: Scribner (Close Range: Wyoming Stories, Available in eBook)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annie_Proulx
Yep, another Pulitzer Prize winning “straight woman” writing here and probably the most well known Gay/Bisexual Love Story ever written. Another must read and another tragic ending. Gay Love Stories tend to have the dramatic tragic ending in order to underline the ideal love between two men because as we all know… two living gay men are just two horny sexual perverts. We are pigs too but that’s another story.
#5. J.L. Langley ~ 2006
From: Loose Id (Available in eBook)
http://www.jllangley.com/jllangley/Home.html
Yep, another “straight woman”! But but but, that’s not Gay Romance Teddypig, she’s an M/M Romance writer who started at Loose Id!
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Did you learn anything here? Look at my list above. These are all simply Gay Love Stories starting from around 1974. There is nothing special about how these books were written or who they were written by or who they were written for. Do you honestly think any writer straight or gay, man or woman, or even “a good writer” has this special magic capability to write only a certain type of story for a certain group of people?
How is that working for you?
The fact is The Tin Star was the NUMBER ONE bestseller for 2008 at A Different Light in San Francisco on Castro Street. That means the gayest fucking bookstore on this god damned planet sold this paperback (of what people say is just M/M Romance) to real “gay men” who loved it. That says to me one thing of note… it’s all just Gay Romance between the covers people.
As a gay man who has been around this planet for a while I faced very real bigots and very real homophobia and very real deaths caused by such thinking. In my opinion trying to separate M/M Romance from any other form of Gay Literature or Gay Romance based solely on the “perceived notion” of a writer’s or reader’s gender or a writer’s or reader’s sexuality is playing into yet another form of bigotry and prejudice that I will never respect and personally do not feel has any place in our community. Teddypig says “Gay Ghetto Thinking” is for losers who need to stop reading and flapping their lips and get out of their mother’s basement and see the real world… news at eleven.
So there you have them, T.P’s Top 5 Gay Romance Reads Ever. What do you think about his other comments?
What are your Top 5 gay or M/M romances?
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Gigi : Thanks for stopping by today Jo! Great post. :)
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hon mention: Kori Roberts “Missing Linc”MMF, Cameron Dane “Knowing Caleb”, “Hell Cop” anthology, Astrid Amara “Holiday Outing”, Carol Lynne Cattle Valley Series.
5. EM Lynley “Sex, Lies, and Wedding Bells”
4. Evangeline Anderson “The Assignment”
3. Lynn Lorenz “Edward Uncondtionally”
2. Terre Michaels “Faith and Fidelity”
1. tie Ryan Field “Sleepless in Seattle”/”When Harry Met Sal”
Ryan Field’s book is titled “Sleepless in San Francisco” not “Seattle”. Sorry for the error. Awesome book. The only similiarities are that one of the main characters has a son and is mouring the death of his life partner.
John
Bareback is on my list and was on my Top 10 list last year.
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M.L.’s Fire’s of Ballian is scheduled to be released December 20. 😀 She’s working very hard to make it happen.
You could have gone for a Top 10. I could never just list a Top 5.
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So, is Mr. Benson like the Deviations series by Chris Owen and Jodi Payne? Or something like Training to Pleasure by Julian Masters if you know anything about that one? Or Natural Law by Joey W. Hill which is probably my best loved BDSM book so far (I used to read het a long time ago) 😀 The blurb for Mr. Benson looks very promising.
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I read a lot of BDSM but most of the books are not worth the money.
Well let’s just say Joey W. Hill was gentle well mannered BDSM Romance this is the raw masculine original 70s style Mr Drummer type Gay BDSM Romance so let’s just say the BDSM sex scenes go all the way to 11. Joey W. Hill is Pearl Jam and John Preston is The Rolling Stones on a coke binge around 1972.
TP
I love this analogy.
>>so let’s just say the BDSM sex scenes go all the way to 11. Joey W. Hill is Pearl Jam and John Preston is The Rolling Stones on a coke binge around 1972.<<
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Since the Stones is my fave rock band I think your Mr.Benson is in safe hands. 😀
“just ordered Mr. Benson. You will hear from me if it’s crud.”
My only warning is in my opinion Mr. Benson is “real” BDSM Romance so be prepared for some tough love.
I need to read Almost Like Being in Love. I’ve heard great things.
I just received a first edition copy of The Charioteer for my birthday and …ok I need to crack it open. I’m on page 3. Last time I tried, I was distracted.
You need to read Almost Like Being in Love. I read it last month and it immediately zoomed to the number one place on my top ten for 2009 list. I keep it next to me at work and flip through it and read favorite passages at least three times a day. Yes, I’m obsessed.
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To those who say they won’t read Brokeback Mountain — you need to read Brokeback Mountain. That’s all. I’ve read it in English, French, and Dutch and I don’t even speak Dutch! LOL. There’s an accomplishment…
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L
“To those who say they won’t read Brokeback Mountain — you need to read Brokeback Mountain. That’s all.”
Totally agree!
The book expresses things about the characters you will not see in the movie. It’s whats going on in their heads that makes this a Real Love Story. The movie attempts to define their relationship but the book goes much further.
Well other great authors that would have to fit on my list somewhere if I was going to really start listing ALL the good Gay Romance books I have read…
Victor J. Banis ~ Longhorns is there and J.M. Snyder ~ Trin and Josh Lanyon ~ Fatal Shadows is there of course and Laura Baumbach ~ Out There In The Night (My first eBook) and Sienna Black ~ To Touch The Stars (Good Gay Romance Sci-fi is actually rare to find)…
I could go on and on.
Teddypig~ Not saying Merrick wrote romances, as such, just that he was my first intro to the gay fiction. And I do think there were a lot of romantic elements in his books. *shrugs*
I guess my definition of romance may be slightly skewed, as well. As long as someone in there–even just one person–says “I love you” when there’s NOT sex going on? It counts for me. LOL
Loved your list, btw, though I’ve never read Brokeback. Only saw the movie. 😛
~T
5. Dancers of Arun
4.My Fair Captain
3. The Hell You Say
2. Death of a Pirate King
1. Well…that’s a secret.
Site looks smexcellent.
I have Brokeback and The Tin Star in my “to be re-read” over and over and over list, and I would love to check out these other titles too! Thanks for the heads-up on three books I never would have looked for, as I tend to look for current titles. I am a fairly new fan of the m/m or gay-love genre…..I don’t care what they are classified as, I love a truly good story, no matter the genre.