This week, the New York Times has a lovely column by Olivia Waite in which she recommends six romances with queer protagonists. Waite writes:

Time was I could have covered every queer romance novel put out by mainstream publishers and still have had room to spare in this column. Small and independent presses have been nurturing L.G.B.T.Q. romance authors forever, and digital self-publishing opened up still more doors, but up until very recently, the big traditional houses had far more queer villains than queer romance leads.

And then, for a great many reasons, and because of the work and passion of a great many people — something shifted.

It’s impossible to spot a sea change while you’re swimming in it. All I can tell you is looking for multiple queer romance pairings used to feel like fighting against the tide, and now it feels more like a perfect summer wave rolling in and […]

Here in the American Southeast, summer is closing in. When Sophie and I walk in my neighborhood, people are out in shorts and slides, and the sound of air-conditioning hums all around us. It’s hot and humid and, by mid day, the intrepid runners pelting past us two old ladies–Sophie is almost 11–are covered in sweat.

Summer, perhaps because of where I live, is not my favorite season. […]

One of my favorite country love songs of the past few years is Johnny Cash Heart by Caleb Lee Hutchison. The chorus is:

You wrap me up in some kind of magic
Lift me up, take me so high
Finally something good for me happened
Such a rush, can’t get enough of your love
Show me every color I can imagine
When its November and my soul ain’t dark
You are my June
June in my Johnny Cash heart

[…]

Me and my much better behaved cousin

Sixty years ago today, at nine in the morning, in a US army hospital in Munich, I arrived in this world. Since then, I’ve lived in countless homes in seven states–we left Germany when I was 18 months old–gotten a few degrees, raised four children, spent 35 years in the company of my spouse, had a series of careers and, overall, have had a reasonably wonderful life. […]

We all have books we love and turn to when we need a comfort read. I suspect most AAR readers could name five to ten books they’ve read many times and we’ve talked about those here at the [email protected] before. But what about authors? And does that change over time? […]

I so enjoyed Caroline’s thoughtful and in-depth post about how she grades books here at AAR. Like many readers, I came to AAR because of our Power Search system and its unparalleled ability to sort, in many ways, the proverbial wheat from the chaff.

When I began seeking out good romance novels, I relied on AAR’s grades. […]