Guilty pleasures

My Goodreads and Shelfari lists tell me I've read just over 200 titles.  But if I were to add all my guilty pleasures titles, it would probably be closer to 250.  Part of this is because of the erotic short stories that Amazon offers for free.  A single girl needs a little fluffy romance/hot sexy erotic story every now and then but I admit I've been overindulging in the last month or two.  But I'm grateful for it because it has lead me to a genre I never tried before and have since discovered how much I love it.  Male-male romance.  There, I said it.  I'm not male so this truly is a "guilty" pleasure.  But I'm drawn to it because of two things: (1) being female, I am not trying to see myself in any of the characters and (2) they're not as cheesy as male-female romance.  Sure, some of the more erotic ones have proved to be a little heartless and cold (aka fuck 'em and forget 'em).  But the romantic ones make me happy in a way a male-female romance never has.  I feel genuinely happy for the happily-ever-after couple(s) in a platonic way.  Usually the male-female romances involve marriage and babies (neither of which are for me).

So far, these are my favourites:
*Luscious Love - Zach Sweets
*First Impressions - Josephine Myles
*Chalk Butterfly: The Complete Trilogy - Audra Red

I read the Fifty Shades of Grey series and they were okay.  Even before I heard it to be true, I was comparing them to Twilight.  But I am not a submissive female and I have a hard time enjoying books about male domination.  However, the same is not true of gay male domination.  Without the female gender involved, my feminist side relaxes.  I am not emotionally involved and find it easier to see how some people can enjoy being dominated.  Any male commandingly telling a female what to do raises my hackles; not so when he does it to another male.  But please don't get the opinion that I have no sympathy for submissive men.  I have a lot of it.  I wouldn't mind being in a relationship with one myself.  I have had gay male friends in the past (there aren't any to be had in my current tiny town) and believe that homosexuality is not the aberration that others would have you believe.

Through 'The Readers' podcast, I found out about the Green Carnation Prize, a prize in the UK celebrating LGBT literature.  Thanks to their lists and 'The Best of Gay Romance' list on Goodreads, I've found a few more titles I'm interested in reading.

Here are a few titles I'm eager to read:
*There But For The - Ali Smith
*Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
*Strange Case of the Composer and His Judge - Patricia Duncker

This is one guilty pleasure I don't ever plan to give up.  I'm grateful to find there is so much more LGBT fiction out there than I thought.  I look forward to reading more and more of it!

Read on,
Paula