Read with a dash of Pride: Reading Challenge June 2025 *TEAMS P.16 - Page 22

Originally posted by: Bee222

These are a few LGBTQ romcoms I'd shortlisted recently

Love at First Set - Jennifer Dugan

The Pairing - Casey McQuiston

One Last Stop - Casey McQuiston

D'Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding - Chencia C Higgins

Imogen Obviously - Becky Abertalli

The Three Lives of Cate Kay - Kate Fagan (this is not exactly a typical romcom from what I understand, but it's a contemporary romance with a hint of mystery)

The Brilliant Death - A R Capetta (this is a romantasy)

Tum to mere se baat hi mat karo...itne dark stories hain tumhare paas, ek bhi nahi deti mujhe

Originally posted by: LizzieBennet

Oh wait you wanted something where the supporting characters are Queer - okay that's different. I have to think about this cos there are a bunch of books that will fit.

1. The Love hypothesis - Ali Hazelwood

2. The Seven Year Slip - Ashley Poston

3. Things we never got over - Lucy Score (GR lists this, and I've read it but can't remember the supporting gay characters )

4. My big, fat fake wedding - Lauren Landish (I just Buddy read this this month with Vera )

5. The name of the game - Jennifer Dawson

6. Daydream - Hannah Grace (I think Icebreaker by her also has a side character that's gay but don't quote me on that)

I'm reading After that night by Karin Slaughter and that has a side character that's a lesbian.

I might be able to think of more. Many romances have the leads who have gay best friends. It's the easiest (& laziest) way of getting in some representation.

Yeh hui na baat!

For me it's not about being lazy, but I'm more into MF romance, can't get into anything else...and I don't wanna risk reading something I won't enjoy. So if I read a book which has both MF and gay/lesbian, then I will be reading something I like while also not missing out on the theme!

Originally posted by: LizzieBennet

Oh wait you wanted something where the supporting characters are Queer - okay that's different. I have to think about this cos there are a bunch of books that will fit.

1. The Love hypothesis - Ali Hazelwood

2. The Seven Year Slip - Ashley Poston

3. Things we never got over - Lucy Score (GR lists this, and I've read it but can't remember the supporting gay characters )

4. My big, fat fake wedding - Lauren Landish (I just Buddy read this this month with Vera )

5. The name of the game - Jennifer Dawson

6. Daydream - Hannah Grace (I think Icebreaker by her also has a side character that's gay but don't quote me on that)

I'm reading After that night by Karin Slaughter and that has a side character that's a lesbian.

I might be able to think of more. Many romances have the leads who have gay best friends. It's the easiest (& laziest) way of getting in some representation.

I found this on reddit for Things We Never Got over, does it ring a bell?

Stef has been Naomi's "ride or die" best friend since high school. He has no previous connection with Knockemout until Naomi ends up there. He's gay and is instantly attracted to Jeremiah when he meets him at the salon.

Originally posted by: heavenlybliss

I found this on reddit for Things We Never Got over, does it ring a bell?

Stef has been Naomi's "ride or die" best friend since high school. He has no previous connection with Knockemout until Naomi ends up there. He's gay and is instantly attracted to Jeremiah when he meets him at the salon.

Originally posted by: heavenlybliss

Yeh hui na baat!

For me it's not about being lazy, but I'm more into MF romance, can't get into anything else...and I don't wanna risk reading something I won't enjoy. So if I read a book which has both MF and gay/lesbian, then I will be reading something I like while also not missing out on the theme!

Originally posted by: LizzieBennet

Believe me, I felt the same about TLE, given that I had a few niggles with TSE and like you didn't feel as invested in the world or Fizzy. But TLE did surprise me. It's been a while since I read TSE but I remember being really annoyed at the third act break up and River. At any rate, I liked Connor way more than I did River.

@pink: YES! This!!! Thank god, I thought I was the only one 😭 That third act breakup came outta nowhere, and then the resolution made it even worse 😭 with how distant he started behaving, I really thought he was having doubts bcz they weren't a Platinum match. I mean, it was his life's work and that incredible score is what made him wanna try in the first place, so knowing that score wasn't actually true was bound to create doubts. I would've found it a more reasonable explanation than him forgetting to reach out to her bcz of his business crisis. I mean, it explained the radio silence but then why did he avoid her hands and act hesitant and all that. What was that for? Maybe FMC was being an unreliable narrator? Anyway, it would've been more meaningful if he admitted that he was having doubts bcz of their score but then he decided to believe in them, more than the numbers.

Honestly, a big part of what makes Christina Lauren books work for me is her writing style. Somehow she manages to suck me in without knowing it, and even if I start out wary she ends up turning me stupid and giggly, and then somehow something happens towards the end that brings me out of that trance. And then I feel kinda dissatisfied but also like I shouldn't feel dissatisfied, bcz the rest of the book was so good? Like for TSE I actually considered giving it a 3.5 but then I truly enjoyed the middle half sm that anything less than 4 instantly felt unfair. Her writing is what does it. She's a trickster 😭

Originally posted by: LizzieBennet

I've read The Kiss Quotient and weirdly enough, I feel the same about the FMC in this one. I liked the MMC, Michael way better though Stella is supposed to be the autism rep.

I've found this happens with many romance novelists though. They know their major audience is female, so they try and make the MMC really appealing so women can swoon over potential book boyfriends and in the process end up sacrificing the FMC's character.

If you want a book with autism rep though, i'd recommend Act your age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert. Both leads are on the spectrum and are funny, quirky and endearing af. Talia Hibbert is so under-rated, I find no one mentions her while talking about romance authors and that's such a shame.

Another overhyped book that I didn't really like was The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas, so now I'm not really inclined to reading the rest of the series.

Oh, I didn't know Kiss Quotient has autism rep too 😅 I actually don't even remember the plot, I just know I put it in my TBR at some point

@blue: I knowww but for me it ends up creating the opposite effect When I get attached to a character, I only want the best for them. So while I do want those MLs to end up with the love of their lives, I often feel like those FLs don't deserve them and that takes away from my enjoyment of the story. I can only root for a romance when I truly feel like both these ppl deserve each other. They should be the "right" person for the other. It doesn't work if only one person is right

@green: I'll add it to my never-ending TBR I feel like the author name sounds familiar, either I've read her or I already have her in my TBR

@red: Nooo don't say that, I have that book sitting on my shelves since ages, I've always been lowkey excited for the day I finally read it

Originally posted by: Bee222

Anywhere you want Kee bedroom, bathroom, bus/metro... anywhere works really

And I will read them from the air.

Originally posted by: LizzieBennet

I used to feel the same way and would only read M/F romances. Then read a bunch of fanfics and RWRB really got me into MM. Now I will read anything as long as its well written. I'm so curious about Historical gay romances cos they were taboo in that era.

Fanfics have totally changed my attitude about M/M romances, I love reading them now. But I still avoid reading F/F bcz most of the time they don't do much for me. Maybe bcz I'm a straight female myself? If I'm reading romance, I need at least one male lead to swoon over 🙈

Originally posted by: heavenlybliss

Shauk nahi majboori hai..next month tu banegi captain

Next month I'll request especially for you to not be in my team.