Hello, everyone. First-time redditor here. I made this account on behalf of my friend, who has a message to send out about an author on here plagiarizing her work. Here's her message:

Hello! Today I found out that Layla Moran has plagiarized three fanfics that I wrote and posted publicly, for free over the last few years and has published them as her own works and is selling them and making money from them. I've spent most of today collecting excerpts, filling out reports, and generally wondering what to do in this sort of situation.

People have posted on this subreddit saying, generally, they like Layla Moran's ebooks but that there are many editing errors and internal inconsistencies. This is partly because I write non-betaed fanfic and share it for fun! It is also partly because Layla Moran seems to have just done a sort of find and replace for character names and descriptions, leading to errors.

One such error that has come up multiple times in reviews is the character Diarmuid or Diamuid. Someone on The Rancher and His Mail-Order Husband wonders, "At 45% who the heck is Diamuid? It's like the author changed a character's name and missed this one. Needed a beta reader!!!" Diarmuid is the name of the main character in the movie Pilgrimage (2017), and is one of the fandoms I write for.

For more proof, please read this excerpt from my fic Bluebells and Daylillies and Wild Roses Running Rampant:

"David had almost joined their company. He’d gone nearly the entire war without being shot and damned if near the end of it all someone hadn’t gotten him right in the leg.

The surgeon had told him they needed to take the entire limb. David had grabbed his collar, pulled him close until they were nose-to-nose, and gritted out that he’d break every one of his fingers if he tried it.

He kept the leg, earned a limp, and found later, when he was beset by memories and the scent of blood and gunpowder, dizzy, pulse racing, that he’d gotten what they called the soldier’s heart, too."

Then compare it to The Rancher's Mail-Order Husband:

"Graham had come close to joining the dead himself, narrowing surviving a gunshot wound to the leg near the warn's end.

The surgeon wanted to amputate, and Graham, fueled by desperation, had snarled at him through gritted teeth, threatening to break his fingers if he so much as tried. He kept the leg but earn a limp that followed him everywhere, along with something the doctors called 'soldier's heart'--a condition that left him shaking, sleepless, and burdened with memories of blood and gunpowder."

This passage from The Beauty and His Beast is even more egregious when compared with part of my fic An Invitation to Happiness:

"Everild Reed hadn't fought for glory or gold. At the time, he thought he'd stood for God--that the king's cause, which he eagerly made his own, was not only legitimate but justified both on earth and in the eyes of Heaven. More than five years later, carved into adulthood by the sword's blade and burdened with the weight of his choices, his body a hardened knot of muscle and scarred skin, Everild knows better now."

From my fic An Invitation to Happiness:

"David hadn’t fought for glory or gold. At the time, he thought he’d stood for God—that the king’s cause, which he so readily made his own, was not only legitimate but justified both on earth and in the eyes of Heaven. More than five years later, carved into adulthood by the sword’s blade, his body a hardened knot of scarred skin, his throat ravaged by his own roars of rage and anguish, David knows better."

Layla Moran (https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19830235.Layla_Moran) has published three books that almost directly lifted from my fanfics:

The Beauty and His Beast is plagiarized from An Invitation to Happiness (https://archiveofourown.org/works/24497809/chapters/59134432).

The Warrior and the Monk plagiarizes the work how rich the earth, how bright the stars (https://archiveofourown.org/works/44139204/chapters/110991111).

The Rancher's Mail-Order Husband plagiarizes the work Bluebells and Daylillies and Wild Roses Running Rampant (https://archiveofourown.org/works/30890603/chapters/76276643).

All she's done is change the names and rearranged the order of the words, and, in one case, apparently changed a hen to a rooster to a horse and back.

I've been trying to get the word out about this, though it's been difficult since I have no idea who to go to or how to prevent someone from republishing fanfic that I wrote for fun and for free for others to enjoy. I don't have a Reddit account, or many other accounts. I post on Ao3 and tumblr and that's it. I'm sad that someone's taken my work and passed it off as their own.

--

EDIT: Holy shit, thanks for all the attention this post has gotten! In just three hours, other redditors have linked some of her other works to Dragon Age fanfic (The Prince and the Commander is stolen from this fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/37497220?view_full_work=true and Married to a Fae is stolen from this fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34368661/chapters/85523074) and I'm sure there's countless others. In fact, most likely ALL of her work is stolen from fanfic. I'm going to reach out to those authors as well to let them know.

EnduringParadox (the original author) has also been collecting screenshots as evidence and is considering her options of sending takedown notices. Here's some more evidence she found:

So, this is the letter that David writes in my fic:

To the reader of this letter,

I am a bachelor aged 36 seeking a friend and helpmate in life. I am not a man of great resorces or words and I have been hurt in the War and am not much to look at but I have land and a house and I will treat a husband well. It is aways from the town though if wanting we can visit as often as possible.

But you might enjoy the land as I do. There are many wildflowers of all colors that grow on the prairie and it is a pretty sight to see all the spots of red orange and purple blue and yellow among the tall grass. It is also a very gratifying thing to care for the cows and sheep and the chickens and watch them wander peacefully about.

Currently it is just me taking care of the animals and the garden and I would continue to do so after marriage. I do not expect a hired hand but a companion for I would dearly love an affectionate word and gentle conversation here and there.

You will want for nothing, I will make certain of it. In return I only ask for friendship and kindness. If you think you would like to write to me I would be gratefull for your letter. Thank you kindly.

Address, David Shepherd, Box 202, Larkspur Post Office, MT.

and then there is the letter in the ebook:

To the reader of this letter,

I am a bachelor aged 36 seeking a friend and helpmate in life. I am not a man of great resources or words and I have been hurt in the War and am not much to look at but I have land and a house and I will treat a husband well. It is aways from the town though if wanting we can visit as often as possible.

But you might enjoy the land as I do. There are many wildflowers of all colors that grow on the prairie and it is a pretty sight to see all the spots of red orange and purple blue and yellow among the tall grass. It is also a very gratifying thing to care for the cows and sheep and the chickens and watch them wander peacefully about.

Currently it is just me taking care of the animals and the garden and I would continue to do so after marriage. I do not expect a hired hand but a companion for whom I would dearly love an affectionate word and gentle conversation here and there.

You will want for nothing, I will make certain of it. In return I only ask for friendship and kindness. If you think you would like to write to me I would be grateful for your letter. Thank you kindly.

Address, Graham Shepherd, Box 202, Larkspur Post Office, MT.

Layla Moran has kept most of the letter's style, including the "War" being capitalized, and the address being the same, but she's changed David Shepherd to Graham Shepherd and she's also proofread a bit and fixed some of the intentional mispellings in David's letter, such as "resorces" and "gratefull"

--

EDIT PART 2: A commenter noted that it appears they also publish sapphic books under the name Rey Luca. Definitely worth looking at those works as well and seeing if they're stolen (most likely) and where they're stolen from.

This being reported by the Hollywood Reporter is a pretty big deal.

Read the article below: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/jacob-tierney-adapting-heated-rivalry-novel-1236255783/

So excited! 😆

I just saw that Ashlyn Drewek, who wrote The Kidnapping of Roan Sinclair (not going to summon it) recently posted on a Facebook group called Book lovers for Trump that she is so happy to have found “a safe space where people like me aren’t vilified”. How dare she profit off of mm romance when she supports people working hard to take their rights away.

Safe space my ass, girl. Now we know. I should have known she was a horrible person when she added that unnecessarily violent SA scene.

I never read the second book because I didn’t like the first one. But everyone should know and if you are so inclined, let’s show her how it feels to be in a safe space where no one reads your books.

Why is femininity in gay relationships treated as suspicious here?

I made a post not too long ago asking about enjoying certain tropes but struggling to find authors who write them in a way I vibe with. Part of that involved wanting stories with clear masc/fem role contrast, which I definitely phrased poorly. That’s on me.

However, what kinda stood out to me wasn’t just the criticism of wording, but how quickly people assumed I was a woman projecting straight dynamics onto gay relationships.

I’m a gay, feminine man. When people automatically equate any interest in binary dynamics with “straight girl invasion” it actively erases an entire subset of the community. Gay men who are feminine, submissive, or prefer “traditionally gendered” dynamics exist, we’re not an edge case.

It’s honestly kinda ironic bc this kind of reaction ends up policing queerness just as much as the stereotypes it’s trying to avoid. Like, my perspective isn’t hypothetical or fetishizing (which has become quite the popular term these days), it’s from a lived experience. Treating it as inherently suspect just bc you don’t know my gender from behind a screen makes it harder to have any conversations or ask for recommendations without it being read in bad faith.

Like I’m not arguing that all gay relationships look this way, or that this is the “right” dynamic, I just wanna know why it feels unacceptable to even talk about it or request it without people assuming harmful intent.

It’s especially frustrating because people ONLY react poorly to the requests or topics that discuss my interests and people that I feel represent me. No one is ever bothered by requests for two beefy jocks.

The only reason I’m even bringing this up is bc it feels like I can’t *truly* take part in my own community without censoring myself and that sucks a lot.

I was suspicious of the cover (the glove looks weird and the hair sort of melts into each other), but decided to give the book a try regardless.

The text is the same AI slop as the cover. The first chapter describes someone watching footage in a dark video room, that is somehow connected to the training rink (?). Descriptions don't make sense - it's just words that are supposed to carry a certain "vibe", I guess. No original voice whatsoever. I didn't read further than that.

For funsies, I decided to skim a few smut scenes, and they're just as bad.

If you stumble upon this book, spare yourself the disappointment. 😭

Any recommendations for some university enemies to lovers books that came out recently? Some that are actually good? 😭

For those interested to see what books we talk about the most in this sub: Presenting the r/MM_RomanceBooks top 100 books of 2025, counted by number of times the romance.io bot was summoned. In the comments you will also find a list of the top 15 authors, top 15 series, and the top 15 romance.io tags - we thought that would be interesting data to share, too.

As a caveat, this is only what is mentioned when the romance.io bot is summoned. If you summon the bot to discuss how much you hated a book or you’re talking about a DNF or a book you added to your TBR, it’ll still be counted for the bot.

Any big surprises? And time to fess up - any books you feel personally responsible for landing so high on the list? We’d love to see what everyone thinks!

Curious about last year’s list? Here’s the Top 100 of 2024!

Note: +/-/= indicates whether the book rose, dropped, or stayed the same in rankings. Lots of new books on the list!

Top 100 Books of 2025

1. For the Fans by Nyla K. +1

2. Poetry On Ice by Jesse H. Reign 2025 Release

3. 10 Ways to Accidentally Fall in Love by Emmy Sanders 2025 Release

4. Pretty Boy by Brianna Flores +3

5. Possession by Rina Saint 2025 Release

6. Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid

7. God of Fury by Rina Kent -2

8. You & Me by Tal Bauer -7

9. Rent: Paid in Full by Jesse H. Reign +18

10. To Catch a Firefly by Emmy Sanders -6

11. Captive Prince by C.S. Pacat =

12. Soul Eater by Lily Mayne -2

13. MateHub: Legend by Marie Reynard -10

14. We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian +2

15. Him by Sarina Bowen, Elle Kennedy +6

16. Garron Park by Nordika Night -1

17. Yield Under Great Persuasion by Alexandra Rowland

18. Impromptu Match by Lily Mayne -6

19. Time to Shine by Rachel Reid -14

20. The Wolf at the Door by Charlie Adhara +5

21. Red Flags & Tuesdays by Nordika Night

22. Moth by Lily Mayne +16

23. Say I Do by Skyler Snow +14

24. Oh, Sacred Dark by Marina Vivancos +41

25. Little Demon in the Details by Nordika Night -13

26. Not That Complicated by Isabel Murray +47

27. Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall -9

28. You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian +13

29. The Rest of the Story by Tal Bauer -12

30. For Real by Alexis Hall -23

31. The Mercenary and the Mortician by Alexandra St. Pierre 2025 Release

32. Wolfsong by T.J. Klune -24

33. Blitz'd by R.S. McKenzie 2025 Release

34. False Comeback by Lily Mayne December 2024 Release

35. Top Secret by Sarina Bowen +32

36. EWB by N.R. Walker -1

37. Sem by Cora Rose +13

38. In This Iron Ground by Marina Vivancos +21

39. Never Let Me Go by Lyla Dane 2025 Release

40. The Long Game by Rachel Reid -19

41. Whit by Cora Rose +50

42. Clean Finish by Lily Mayne

43. Don't You Dare by C.E. Ricci

44. Mad Love by April Jade

45. Out of Nowhere by Roan Parrish -29

46. Want Me by Neve Wilder +10

47. Hidden Scars by Andi Jaxon -34

48. Fool Hearts by Emmy Sanders -20

49. The Heir's Disgrace by August Jones

50. My Dark Jock by Arden Long

51. Cloudy With a Chance of Bad Decisions by Fae Quin 2025 Release

52. Not All Himbos Wear Capes by C. Rochelle -28

53. In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish -2

54. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston -11

55. Wrath by Ella James -15

56. Finding Delaware by Bree Wiley

57. A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows -28

58. Kiss the Villain by Rina Kent 2025 Release

59. Like You Hate Me by Bethany Winters -27

60. Missed Steps by L. Sherleen

61. 10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall =

62. Until I Saw You by Dianna Roman -15

63. The Shots You Take by Rachel Reid 2025 Release

64. Sainted by Jesse H. Reign

65. The Unlikely Pair by Jax Calder

66. Gravity by Tal Bauer -11

67. An Unwitting Bargain by Grae Bryan 2025 Release

68. Wish by Cambria Hebert -10

69. Let's Do This by Loren Leigh -33

70. The Good Boys Club by Jemma Croft 2025 Release

71. Hurt Me, Daddy by Misha Horne =

72. Under Construction by Juliet M. Dixon 2025 Release

73. Honeythorn by Marina Vivancos

74. Crossroads by Riley Hart -32

75. Paid in Full by Brea Alepoú

76. Always Him by Cora Rose

77. The Alpha's Gamble by Eliot Grayson +21

78. Role Model by Rachel Reid

79. Irresponsible Puckboy by Eden Finley

80. A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland -1

81. Make the Play by Lucky Hart

82. Like Real People Do by E.L. Massey

83. The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun

84. Passing Through Purgatory by Nik Knight

85. Justice by Lark Taylor -8

86. A Bone in His Teeth by Kellen Graves +9

87. Cheap Heat by Lily Mayne

88. I'm Not Your Pet by Fae Quin December 2024 Release

89. Tink by Emmy Sanders

90. Shots on Net by JJ Mulder

91. Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell -13

92. Stupid Dirty by Erin Russell

93. Saint by Sierra Simone

94. Glitterland by Alexis Hall -71

95. Season's Change by Cait Nary -65

96. Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy

97. Shiver by Crea Reitan

98. Rend by Roan Parrish -49

99. Romeo Falling by Jesse H. Reign

100. Hammer & Gavel by CT Whistle December 2024 Release

So I picked up this book the other day and I’m like 99% sure that it’s written with AI. It’s a very short book with barely any reviews but I wanted to make this post in case anyone came across it and decided to read it.

About the writing: at first there were some coherence issues that I wrote off as human errors, but this is a hockey romance, and I know some writers don’t have proper knowledge of the sports they write but this is like too severe. References to the pass of time are all over the place. They start on training camp, there’s mention of one preseason game and suddenly we’re on the first game of the regular season, while the MCs have only had like 3 days worth of interaction. During the hockey game is where I started to lose my shit:

- Since the beginning you don’t know their exact positions, just that they’re forwards and on different lines (and why is the maybe 1st line captain forward known for stopping pucks with his body).

- The non sensical pass of time becomes more apparent. Like the 1st just started, it says “the past three minutes were a blur” and by the next paragraph the period is over. But on the next one there’s a face-off on the defensive zone.

- On said face off, MC1 who is on the bench has one leg over the board for some reason, while MC2 is on the ice (not doing the face-off). The player in front of MC2 is looking at MC1 with a pose ready to charge. Said player then CHARGES TOWARDS MC1 WHO ISN’T EVEN ON THE ICE. It even says “towards where I’m skating” TF YOU MEAN SKATING YOU’RE SITTING ON THE BOARD???

Idk if I’m doing a good job explaining, but basically, it’s as if they had taken elements of things that happen in other books and put them together with no sense of logic, which is exactly what AI does.

After the errors in writing made me suspicious I looked up the author, but they practically don’t exist. I can’t find any kind of social or website, no promo anywhere, and the descriptions don’t mention anything about them as a person just what they write. This is their first book which came out in January, and the second one came out in March, which is alarmingly fast, and again there’s no promo for them anywhere.

What sealed the deal for me was the cover. I was thinking “if this is written by AI the cover has to be AI” and after looking closely, ir definitely is (the beanie in the photo is what made me sure).

Even if you wanna give the benefit of the doubt and just assume this person knows nothing about hockey I think it’s too severe. Plus combined with the cover and the lack of info about the author I just can’t imagine it not being AI. It just seems like someone seeing the popularity of the genre grow after Heated Rivalry and deciding to jump on the train by using AI.

(Mods, please delete if not ok to post) Wanted to share this update from Saxon James in case anyone here had tickets for events. Wishing them all the joy they have given their readers while they fight Leukemia.

I cannot describe to you how happy I am at the news 😭🩷 I really hope they do it justice!

Once again I’ve gone to buy a book only to realise it’s got a crappy AI cover. Recently I’ve been seeing so many AI covers, especially in MM romance, and it’s heartbreaking. There’s so many other options for authors, and yet so many of them seem to be using AI?

I’ll get so excited to read an interesting book until I realise the cover is AI slop. I’ll never read anything with an AI cover. It just takes away all the credibility of the author. I’ll never trust an author who uses AI art because if they’ve done that why wouldn’t I also assume they’ve used it for writing? It’s not like they could be uninformed. There are so many people so vocal about why AI sucks and they’re just choosing to ignore it.

I know I’m not the only person who feels this way and is vocal about it. So many people have said that they won’t read anything by an author using AI and some authors are still using it?? I truly just don’t get it. Why risk alienating potential readers for some crappy art? Also if they’re still using AI despite everything against it I’m going to assume they’re not that bright and their book is likely poorly written.

This may be an exclusively KU problem but the amount of AI assisted or fully AI written books I’ve been recommended or duped into reading has gotten completely out of control.

It’s so out of control that i’m now judging them before even reading. In some cases I’m searching for stories as if it’s a hard no for me.

Even in some extreme cases books I was looking forward to releasing this year I’m reading and thinking “is this AI?” even though I’ve trusted the author before!

Also! These books somehow have hundreds of raving reviews. I REFUSE to believe these are real people: AI generated stories reviewed by AI bots.

I know this conversation is brought up a lot but I’m just so frustrated because queer art is important to me and my identity. I hate seeing it abused like this. ALSO ITS PRIDE MONTH. DON’T piss me off during my special time (/j but also not really).

And then what is the actual solution to the problem? If self published books have to pass through a filter first that could lead to censorship issue since we all know give a corporation an inch and it’ll take a mile! Not to mention if there is some kind of moderation put into place it won’t be with humans it’ll be AI! And what? AI will access whether AI has written something? We are in the sunken place!

Hello everyone. Before I begin, I want to clarify that I am a queer trans man who has mostly dated other men in my life. When I talk about this from my perspective, it’s as someone who is in queer community — my friends are across the gender and sexuality spectrum, I go to events beyond pride, and I am politically active. I am also one of the longest-running moderators on the team.

The subreddit has grown to over 100,000 people, which is far beyond what the mods ever thought it could be just a couple years prior. It is truly amazing growth that shows the love for queer romance — in this case specifically, individuals who want to read about love between two (or more) men. I think it’s important to clarify some facts about romance:

• The majority of people who read and write romance of all kinds in the Global North are cisgender white heterosexual women.

• Many authors of MM (or known as “Achillean”) romance are cisgender white women, both queer and heterosexual.

• There is both very bioessentialist and misogynistic arguments against women writing in this genre, as well as homophobic and hurtful arguments who treat the queer men being written about more as commodities than reflections of real people’s lives.

There are multiple issues at play, and I want to discuss them. However, I also want to make something clear:

Queer romance is not, and should not be, “for women by women”. It is for everyone, by a wide variety of authors. While an audience may naturally spring up around a specific genre to say it is only for and by women is ignoring the readers who are trans, nonbinary, and/or men. They are just as important in our communities.

It is also following an insidious thread of gender essentialism that is often posited in hot takes across the board when it comes to discussing MM romances.

Comments like:

“Women just don’t know how to write what men are actually like.”

“Romance is for women, and [queer] men are guests here.”

“All queer men are deep in hookup culture and none of the sappy shit.”

“All gay men are verse.”

“Books that don’t feature homophobia aren’t authentic.” vs., “Books that only feature closeted storylines aren’t authentic.”

“It’s clear it’s written by a woman because [insert here, usually something about anal sex, despite the fact women can and do have anal sex].”

All of these fall into the pit trap that is a basic “women are from Venus, men are from mars” type of rhetoric. There is no baked in default or biological barrier to empathy, respect, and the ability to write an experience different from yours. This is doubly for the fact of experiences one can share — like sex, love, and friendships. It is also true that queer men are not a monolith. Some queer men love hookup culture, some are strict tops and bottoms, some want to be married monogamously and some are living their ENM best lives. Trends and cultural understandings are real, but no one experience is the ultimate “truth”.

One’s gender and sexuality is impacted by culture, and of course without fully experiencing it you lose out on some nuance. However, research and being in community with the people we write and read about is an easy way to navigate that.

Queer men authors have long discussed the challenges they face in this genre, and readers have spoken to discomfort in some spaces with how the fictional queer men are talked about. In our recent announcement post talking about the subreddit’s yearly mod initiatives, it was expressed by multiple members that they’ve been less active as the space has grown and changed over the past years where it has felt less queer-friendly.

Let me make this clear: The r/MM_RomanceBooks subreddit is a queer space ran by queer people. We do not tolerate hateful rhetoric and microaggressions, especially towards the people that this genre claims to reflect the lives of.

The topic of “fetishization” is one that has multiple meanings to the same word and spins out on multiple sides. We do not usually allow discussion posts about this larger topic (critiques about a specific book is allowed), and we strictly enforce the generalizations made about gender — we believe this is important because this conversation and debate often breaks into arguments that include homophobia, misogyny, and circular arguing that goes nowhere. People will (subconsciously) look to mods as arbiters of this conversation, one that hasn’t been solved since the early oughts of the internet and won’t be now.

This doesn’t mean we can’t make our stances clear:

• Queer men and mascs are to be respected and their input on larger community discussions is valuable.

• Cisgender women writing MM romance is not an evil or bad thing to do. There are amazing women writers, many of them queer, who are allies to queer men.

• The bare minimum of being a fan of MM romance is a commitment to allyship in real life.

• There is nothing wrong with the titillation and enjoyment of MM erotic content, but you cannot treat and view real-life queer men as sexual objects for personal desire.

• Bad writing is not inherently offensive or bigoted writing.

• There are still harmful actors in the larger community space, both writers and readers.

• There are tropes and conventions still popular in MM romance that perpetuate harmful ideals.

• This is a queer space ran by queer people. Cisgender, heterosexual members who are allies are welcome here. If you’re not an ally, leave.

If some of these points make you feel uncomfortable, I invite you to sit and unpack that. You are not forced to stay in this space, but these are things we do not budge on.

Discussions are not going to magically appear, you have to be the ones to engage with and post them. Not everything has to be a hot take, and in fact we don’t want to encourage the ragebait or rants that are dumped and left without thought. It’s important to remember there are people on the other side of the screen. When a post starts out in that way, that energy is often responded to in the same way and makes it a vortex of negative energy.

Every year brings new challenges. As moderators we want to encourage more diverse reading, because being purposeful matters. The algorithms are not going to naturally point you in that direction — you must take action.

My last thing to say is this: if you see harm being done, please continue to report it. We want this space to be safe. Late last night when mods were asleep a post blew up with very harmful comments being made. That has been addressed with disciplinary action and we apologize to those who had to witness it until it got taken down.

Stumbled across this on my insta and omg that cover!?

Never heard of Kit Haley but colour me intrigued. And those blurbs - CS Pacat AND Anita Kelly?

Anyone know any more?

Link: https://www.instagram.com/p/DWWoNcEE1y4/?igsh=MW02MzQxMWFrNWduOA==

As an avid fan of tennis and gay romance I was spoiled by this year's releases. But this one hasn't been mentioned as much as it deserves, so I have to do it.

{In your court by Kit Haley} is the debut of queer Australian author Kit Haley and, boy, did he serve!

This book had me on the edge of my seat for so many reasons...

The extremely loveable characters (main and side), all the funny banter, the chemistry, the smut, and last but definitely not least, all the emotions. I laughed and I cried with these two men.

It was so easy to fall in love with Mat and Miles. It's been a while since I read characters that were so loveable, and also, so real. They aren't perfect, and that's what makes them perfect.

I was homesick for that tiny apartment when they had to leave after the UK swing. The vibes were unreal, the scene on the couch before Kathie's match my favourite. Although there are so many scenes, worthy of being a favourite.

Highest recommendations from me, this book was my highlight of the year and will surely live in my top five ever for a long time!

And also, look at that cover art 😍

We need more book covers as pretty as this!

She's posting AI art/videos on her instagram and completely ignoring people calling her out and posted this in her comments. I'm honestly flabbergasted..Live, laugh, love??

One of my favorite dark mm authors I won't be supporting anymore. I hope this isn't a trend..

idk why. like. I tried to read those straight books i’ve seen on tiktok, like Haunting Adeline and Twisted Love but my god…my GOD. I could not stomach how fucking boring the dynamics were… The relationship honestly annoyed me if i’m being completely honest. And like, I love reading FF, I love MM so… So why can’t I read MF? It’s not just reading- straight romance in shows or movies is just sooooooo bleh! Like where is the spice???? Where is the tension????? Where is the angst???? where are the MEN?!!!! I WANNA SEE SOME MEN!!!!!!!

GUYS IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED!!

Here is the text from Tal’s post in his readers group:

“Hi! 😁

I have a surprise!

🌟 A new book!! 🌟

I do not have a release date or a pre-order link yet. I need to shake out the rust and figure out logistics. I will keep you updated. My intention is soon; this month. 🙂

Here is the cover and blurb! (Cover by me)”

He then posted the front and back covers. Here’s the info:

Title: The Fall Tagline: Some lives you don’t get to keep

Blurb:

One hit on the ice. One missing year. One man I can’t let go.

When I wake up, the last twelve months of my life are gone. I don’t know what team I’m on, how I got here, or… why there’s a gorgeous man in my bed calling me babe.

A year ago, I was barely hanging on to my career and too scared to admit I wanted a man. Now, I may not remember falling for him, but when he smiles, when he touches me, when he kisses me—I know it. He’s everything.

And somehow, I have the life I always dreamed of: a thriving career, a man who loves me, and a championship within reach.

The only problem? I can’t remember how I mad any of it happen.

If I want to keep this perfect life, I’ll have to hide the truth until everything comes back. Because I can’t lose this. And most of all, I can’t lose him.

How hard can it be to live my own life without remembering it?

Fake it ‘til you make it, right?

Wrong. So wrong.

I can’t wait!!!!

Even just book that has had second or third draft. Book which has been proof read. Book which has had a beta reader. But ideally, book which has had an editor. They don't even need to be a professional editor.

When I began reading MM romance I had a list of genres and kinks I wasn't interested in. I wasn't up for Alien stuff, Sci Fi, a/b/o (that was foolish though; Alessandra Hazard quickly removed that as a limit), mafia, monsters, dark BDSM, Pet Play.

I will now happily read any of those genres. My limits are now books that are 500 pages but should have been 200, authors who have misunderstood "show don't tell" and narrate absolutely everything, info dumps, telling the same POV twice without a good reason, and probably also books about kink that read too much like a wikipedia guide to kink.

I don't care if there are spelling or grammar mistakes tbh. I just want a book written with a little care, or by an author who has a story they want to tell, rather than a story they are telling because the Kindle Unlimted publishing model dictates they have to release 3 books a year to remain relevant (I do sympathize with these authors, and get that a lot of this is a product of the content creator role that authors have been forced into).

Anyway, this is already a rant, and I dont want to just whine, I'd also like to share my favourite books, and authors who have made me very happy with their nicely written, edited stories.

{Human Omega: Discovered on the Plague Planet by Eileen Glass} and all subsequent books in the series. MMM alien romance which would have previously been on my no list. Long books (but the length is necessary), masterclass in slow world building and 1st person POVs having distinctive character voices.

{Under his Heel by Adara Wolf} and all subsequent books in the series. Previously would have been too dark for me. I just like how well she knows her characters and how tightly written they are. I also like Leashing his Heart.

Not-Poignant on AO3, who also writes as Pia Foxhall. I subscribe to their Patreon, basically addicted to their writing. Their Underline the Rainbow series is full of kinks I'm not especially into, but they write their character's response to it all so well.

Too many others to list with full descriptions, but particular favourites are {Dark Space by Lisa Henry), {Taste of Ink by Daniel May}, as well as Alessandra Hazard, Marina Vivancos, Bea Bellamore, Misha Horne, AE Lister, and R.J. Moray.

Taste and good writing is obviously subjective, but I'd love any recommendations for books you think fit the bill, and your thoughts generally on this issue of badly edited books!

I can barely stand it, when I first read {The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun} my first immediate thought was that it would be such a good movie. I’m just ecstatic. What a time to be alive.

I am incredibly bad at keeping track of characters’ physical descriptions (+ I’ve only made it up to book 2), so if there are inconsistencies with the text, we will just consider this my interpretation. Also do not question me about imagining him as 5’8”, there is no logical explanation.

I'm a gay man, and I'm sure part of the embarrassment comes from the fact that "manly men" are not expected to read or enjoy romance novels. But I get SO embarassed at the thought of my father or friends or even grindr hookups coming over seeing all my Alexis Hall and Tal Baur and Emmy Saunders. It takes up a significant portion of my bookshelf. Sometimes I wonder if this shame is some kind of internalized homophobia.

The only people I don't mind seeing are other queer readers. My sibling loves FF, for example, and so I don't really care if they see my books.