Spite is a really motivating emotion. Sometime last summer I was telling my friend Laura about how I wanted to start a story-rec blog based on things other than genre or pairing. That was probably a year after I started thinking about doing so. But it took a full year after for me to do anything about it. And the key catalyst was how wrong another rec list on tumblr was.
See, in this post an asker was asking for recommendations similar to The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzie Lee. And the answerer had nothing similar to recommend. There were no other m/m, YA, Georgian historical books. That might technically be true. I don’t remember what they rec’d instead.
But I read The Ruin of a Rake by Cat Sebastian and The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue back-to-back. The reading order was a total coincidence. They are incredibly similar books. And so, YA readers, let me introduce you to romance novels.
My first similar recommendation is The Ruin of a Rake by Cat Sebastian. It’s got: Romance Novel, M/M, Historical, Olde Time England, Bi Character, Asshole gets Redeemed, Terrible Father, Awesome Sister. On top of that, things that are close but note quite are that one of the main characters has an illness he collapses from, and the awesome sister has a non-white husband. There is no traveling in this book, but both characters have traveled and lived outside of England in their past. It goes without saying that I liked this book.
Also, check out Brothers Sinister Series by Courtney Milan. These books are primarily M/F, Olde Time Historical England romance novels. The Countess Conspiracy has Best Friends to Lovers and Asshole gets Redeemed. And The Suffragette Scandal has an F/F B-plot. But the one I think will tick the most similar boxes TGGTVAV is The Heiress Effect. It’s got Kidnapping & Rescue, an Awesome Sister, an Epileptic Character, and a Character of Color love-interest. It’s my favorite of the series, because while the main couple are off dealing with marriage-plot and kidnapping shenanigans, the awesome little sister saves herself.
The hardest tag to match from TGGTVAV is “Adventure.” Most of the similar romance novels take place in London with some jaunts to country estates. They don’t tend span cities. But while I wouldn’t necessarily tag these books “Adventure,” there are plenty of romance novels with high-stakes, tension filled plots. And there’s one undisputed queen of historical M/M romance: K.J. Charles.
The Charm of Magpie Series by K.J. Charles Romance Novel, M/M, Historical, Olde Time England, Surprise, Magic Exists!, Terrible Father, The Question of Inheritance
TGGTVAV doesn’t really have magic, per se, but the cure-all that everyone’s on the hunt for veers towards it. And in the Magpie books adventure takes the form of Stephen, a sort of magic police, saving the world, or at least Lord Crane, from evil warlocks. It should go without saying that they fall in love, and it is delightful.
Society of Gentlemen Series by K.J. Charles Romance Novel, M/M, Historical, Olde Time England, Politics Specific books in the series also contain: BDSM, Awesome Sister (in Law)
Society of Gentleman goes the opposite direction of Charm of Magpies. The high-stakes here are shockingly real. These characters are falling in love and making lives for themselves in a world where they are all expected to get married and produce heirs, and being caught with each other could be a hanging offense. That is to say nothing of publishing seditious pamphlets and plotting murder. The stakes in two of the three books here are life-or-death and the machinations required to give everyone their happy ending are amazing.
Think of England by K.J. Charles Romance Novel, M/M, Historical, Olde Time England
A spy and injured war hero solve a mystery while guests at a country estate.
Sins of the Cities Series by K.J. Charles Romance Novel, M/M, Historical, Olde Time England, Character of Color, Terrible Father
These books are ‘The Question of Inheritance’ brought to a several attempted murders extreme. There’s still one more book coming out in October before this trilogy is complete, so I don’t want to or know enough to say too much. But I loved the second on in the series.
And lastly for something slightly different:
The Whyborne and Griffin Series by Jordan L. Hawke Romance Novel, M/M, Historical, Olde Time America, Surprise! Magic Exists, Terrible Father, Low Fantasy, Detective, The Question of Inheritance, Kidnapping & Rescue Specific books in the series also contain Awesome Sister, F/F B-Plot, M/F B-plot, Character of Color, Monsters
These books take place in America, rather than England, in a later time (the very first electric lights come to town!). But they have the travel missing in all my other recs. Home for Whyborne and Griffin is a creepy Massachusetts town, but when they get wind of suspicious magical disasters around the world, they travel to them. These books are delightfully formulaic: Let’s split up to cover more ground! Oh no, my partner has been kidnapped! Time to mount a rescue mission! And my favorite is when they live this out around the world in Kansas and Alaska and Egypt.
ALSO My Girl Courtney Milan is starting a new series and i think It May Have Some Gay Soon. ( The Worth Saga – still WIP but 2 books out already, with a tiny reference to the prequel The Pursuit Of… ) it HAS already had a main bisexual character so that’s GR8!!! GO COURTNEY. YOU CAN DO IT I BELIEVE IN U!!!
anyway.
can you tell i have nothing else to read now and am DESPERATELY awaiting more books????
still MAD!!! that Think of England is a one off and there hasn’t been any more since Spectred Isleeven thought it says book one (*wail*)
and just in case anyone didn’t know, there IS a sequel to Gentleman’s Guide to Vice & Virtue coming out, starring Felicity!!! (October 2nd! that’s close!)
A VERY IMPORTANT ADDITION TO THIS TALK, thank you sweetie! I’ve only dipped my toe into Milan’s work so far, but she’s done a good job with background gays and neuroatypical peeps in what I’ve read, so I’m happy to hear she might be getting more diverse with her leads.
I suspect the second Green Man book has been delayed due to extensive re-writes, because the original teaser description from the back of Spectred Isle is QUITE DIFFERENT than the one KJ Charles sent out a few months ago to the mailing list:
I don’t have any more historical gay romance recs under my belt, but there’s Peter Darling by Austin Chant, if you’re interested in trans Peter Pan/Captain Hook? I don’t always rec it because I DID spend the first section of the book wanting to punch Peter for being a dumbass, but there’s a reason for that and the writing is excellent. I bought but haven’t read Caroline’s Heart, which looks intriguing.
One that was decent but not great: The Gentleman and the Rogue by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon. Read like fanfic, basically, and I enjoyed myself. (TW for torture?) I tried some of the authors’ other work but was disappointed – too overwhelmingly sweet and not enough plot for my taste.
And if you’re just craving queer romance and don’t mind modern BDSM spy shenanigans, Joanna Chambers wrote Enemies Like You which was very much my jam. The first chapter is free as a separate ebook, if anyone wants to trial read.
Hi Friends! ( @cactusspatz and @chicago-bluebonnet , you’re my friends now, I don’t make the rules)
I don’t remember why I didn’t rec The Soldier’s Scoundrel and The Lawrence Browne Affair when I first wrote this post. Possibly I hadn’t read them yet. Possibly I just thought The Ruin of a Rake had a more similar feel to TGGTVAV to it, which I stand by, although the other two are great in their own right.
Funny story about The Enlightenment Series is that I read the three original books back to back on a 13 hour flight and by the end I had been awake for roughly 24 hours. I know I read them because I dutifully recorded them in GoodReads. But I have little to no recollection of what happened in them. I got an automated email when the fourth one came out and I didn’t recognize a single character name.
I also loved Caroline’s Heart, but I don’t know that is’t similar to TGGTVAV. To me that feels more like a rec for people who loved Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Cycle.
(I am going to check out Enemies Like You because I am totally into modern BDSM spy shenanigans. I am all over modern BDSM recs.)
hey gyns let me plug a book for a second. its a childhood favorite of mine, but its also one of the best fairy tale books for little girls, imho. its called ‘the serpent slayer: and other stories of strong women’, and its a collection of fairy tales from around the world whose main characters are women. some of my favorite stories from it include:
neesowa and the chenoo – when an injured chenoo (an evil, cannibalistic monster) stumbles upon neesowa’s camp, she throws the monster off balance by treating him with kindness and sharing her home with him as he recovers, which pays off when another chenoo attacks her camp.
grandmother skull – a young woman, neruvana, marries a man who kills her entire family and abandons her. thankfully, the skull of her grandmother comes to life to teach her how to survive and to help her get revenge.
beebyeebyee and the water god – a young woman, beebyeebyee, falls in love with a water god who is slain by the envious people of her village. she gets revenge.
three whiskers from a lions chin – maria wants to help her husband, who returned from war a changed man, and the local bruja sends her off to get three whiskers from a lions chin, apparently a key ingredient in a magic spell that will bring her husband back to himself. when she brings the whiskers back to the bruja, the woman explains that there is no magic spell, but that with time, and the same patience she used to get the whiskers, she can help her husband recover.
the old woman and the devil – a brilliant old woman faces off with the devil in a bet to convince him to leave her spot in the shade. she outwits him, and undoes the harm he did as well.
duffy the lady – a version of rumplestiltskin where a housekeeper who cant knit or spin accepts a deal with a devil who will do the tasks for her for three years, if she will marry him at the end of the three years if she cannot guess his name. spoiler alert: she can.
sister lace – a creation myth about the stars, when the emperor hears of sister lace’s incredible lace-making abilities, he has her brought to the palace and ordered to marry him. when she refuses, he has her imprisoned unless she can spin him a live rooster. her skill and blood bring the bird to life, but she remains imprisoned, until, eventually, she finds her way out.
a marriage of two masters – a very intelligent young woman who speaks only in riddles meets a man who sees the world the same way, and as they decipher one anothers riddles, they fall in love.
clever marcella – marcella, a genius, fascinates the prince, and they agree to marry, provided she not interfere with his rule. when she feels compelled to challenge a ridiculous ruling he made on a case, he orders her to take whatever she likes from the palace and then leave. she solves the problem as anyone in love would, compels the prince to see the error of his ways, and becomes the kingdoms chief justice.
the rebel princess – to escape an unwanted arranged marriage, judith and her ladies-in-waiting take to the open sea. when they come across a ship of pirates who decide they will each marry one of the women, the crew steal their clothes, their treasure, and their lives. by the end of the story, judith has been crowned king in place of an heir-less king who drowned.
its just a really, really good book, with a portrayal of women that most fairy tales dont have. theyre kind and wise mentors and teachers, not wicked stepmothers and ugly hags, and an undeveloped marriage to a man isnt their be-all and end-all. i really encourage you to get a copy for any little girls in your life, especially who enjoy fairy tales.
Sounds awesome!
THE ILLUSTRATOR IS TRINA SCHART HYMAN WHO WAS A FANTASTICALLY COOL LADY THAT YOU SHOULD READ ABOUT AND ADMIRE AS MUCH AS I GREW UP DOING AND WHO PROBABLY DESERVES HER OWN WONDERFULLY ILLUSTRATED FAIRY TALE
Felicity Montague is through with pretending she prefers society parties to books about bonesetting—or that she’s not smarter than most people she knows, or that she cares about anything more than her dream of becoming a doctor.
Fresh off an accidentally whirlwind tour of Europe that she spent evading highwaymen and pirates with her brother Monty, Felicity has returned to England with one goal in mind—to enroll in medical school. However, her intellect and passion will never be enough in the eyes of the administrators, who see men as the sole guardians of science. But then a small window of hope opens. Felicity is offered a chance to break into this male-dominated world, although it might financially ruin her.
For the last year, she has been depending on the generosity of Callum Doyle, a lovestruck suitor from Edinburgh. But then he had to go and propose marriage. Felicity can think of nothing less appealing than giving up her career aspirations to become someone’s wife. Luckily, a mysterious young woman will pay handsomely for help with a heist—not for jewels, but for stolen sea charts that belong to the British Navy.
Despite the danger, Felicity’s tempted by the money, but she never expects to be swept up in a perilous quest that leads her from the German countryside to the promenades of Zurich to secrets lurking beneath the Atlantic.
Hey guuuuuys, you like hobo wizards? You like LIVING purple shiny teeeeflings???? Fanfiction you say…..ARRANGED MARRIAGES YOU SAY?!?!?! Then go get yourself to that there Ao3 and read yourself the gloriously written Betrothed by MeBeShe otherwise known as @matt-the-blind-cinnamon-roll in these parts. Pep’s pretty amazing! ❤
hey yall dumb fucks reblogging this and yapping about how, ur life is actually super hard as a younger sibling…
the ‘eldest sisters are oppressed’ thing is based on the fact that the oldest girls in many families are, a lot of the time, drafted into watching her younger siblings to the point that shes more of a young third parent than a kid anymore. shes expected to be incredibly responsible while her younger siblings get to make mistakes. she get to do more housework than her father because apparently men shouldn’t have to watch laundry.
op is obviously referring to the ways in which older sisters ( nope not brothers) are forced into maternal roles by both society and their parents for a number of reasons, not limited to society’s insistence that they must learn to become mothers early. theres also the fact that many families both need and cant afford childcare. this idea that an oldest sister is free childcare is bullshit.
There’s a book called “The Eldest Daughter Effect” that goes into detail about this. And it applies to the oldest daughter so even if the oldest child is a boy and the second child is a daughter, she is the one who ends up getting all that extra pressure and responsibilities for younger siblings.
This book is basically Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel, but
with less pages, and more agency for its female characters.
It is a story based in a ‘fantasy of manners’ Regency Britain where magic is dying, but is told from
the perspective of marginalised people: Zacharias, a freed slave, and Prunella,
a biracial woman of Indian descent. The focus is on the institutional racism
and sexism that prevents both from being taken seriously as magicians, and they
take two very different approaches to that problem. Zacharias is like, ‘I will be
chill and act sensibly and intelligently and one day they will accept me’, and
Prunella is basically like ‘FIGHT ME!’ (ง’̀-‘́)ง
If you like reading about historical ideologies surrounding
gender and race, but also love MAGIC, this is the book for you.
2 POC protagonists, and a POC author
An angry, reckless female character who just
does not give a shit about anything
Some serious postcolonialist chat
Cool magic and interesting worldbuilding
Faeries! Always love some faeries chilling in
England and fucking shit up
Another entrant into the Regency era fantasy
genre, but from the perspective of marginalised people in that society, rather than your standard white
male gentleman magician
[image description: a tweet from RoAnna Sylver (@RoAnna Syvler) reading “This June, please rememeber that there are more LGBT books than the ones you see everywhere put out by the Big 5, ad indies are amazing/worthy.” The next reblog is a tweet from Heather Rose Jones (@heatherrosejones) reading: “Making a list of queer SFF for Pride Month? Remember to look outside the mainstream presses. Don’t shut queer publishers out of queer lit.”]
Here’s a bunch of Goodreads lists that might help!
In a world where “hero” is a licensed and regulated title, dusty and barefoot Jack Farris walks into The Academy For The Education Of Potential Adventurers And Legends. He wants to learn the best way to save people. He ends up a guide major, meant to tend to the horses and identify edible plants for the rest of his League while the hero does the rescuing and fighting. His study group consists of Rupert, of a blueblooded hero whose family has been in the business for generations, Grey, a sage who comes up to his elbow and whose aspirations include skipping adventuring entirely to become a librarian, and Laney, a mage who cultivates terrifying competence like it’s effortless (like she’ll lose something if anyone ever sees her fail.) When they learn that their apparent stickler for the rules hero is sneaking into town to engage in illegal, unlicensed vigilante hero activity, fighting Things in the Darkness in the parts of town too poor to afford protection from a licensed League, they all want in. Well, Jack and Laney do. Grey thinks they’re all crazy for risking their necks for fun in their spare time. But Jack continues not to wear shoes and fights a little too well for a backwoods nobody, and Laney prefers her gun with bullets she enchanted herself to the traditional enchanted sword, and Rupert brings along armor and after battle snacks, and somehow Grey ends up lending his advice because without it these idiots are probably all going to get themselves killed. And of course they fall into adventures. But while the story ends when the day is saved, life goes on, and Beanstalk follows them through it: classes the day after on too little sleep, what’s left in a monster’s wake, and the aftermath of heroism.
1. I have been excited constantly about this book from the moment I started it to the moment I finished it.
2. It passes my “this should not be so difficult for the majority of fiction to pass” test: At least one main character of color, at least one female main character, at least one queer main character. You could technically argue that the queer characters, that’s right I said characters plural because this book is a gift, are side characters because they’re not part of the main four, but even the “side characters” are well developed, and get screen time and important roles in the plot and are literally only not main characters because they’re not the main focus. You see them having their own lives and adventures when they’re not intersecting with the main characters’ adventures, and get the feeling that they’re the main characters in another story happening alongside the one you’re reading.
3. Piggybacking off number 3, the characters are well-rounded, well-written, likable, flawed people. I love them deeply, each one of them, with the kind of idiotically proprietary affection that causes me to screech at the page “be nice to him! he’s sad!!!” every time anything remotely bad happens to Jack. Or Grey. Or Rupert. But not Laney because she has the situation under control and can take care of herself. The emotions are genuine, the motivations are understandable, they’re written with rich inner lives and realism.
4. The ebook version, and its TWO sequels, holy shit look how much more of this pure joy you have to look forward to, are all free to download here on the author’s site. You can also buy the print versions if you want, and if I find that they have a paypal or something I’ll post it here, because I prefer the ebook version but I’d still really like to pitch them some money for all they joy I got out of their writing.
5.This is not your typical “everyman farm boy dreams of heroics, falls in with some supporting cast who rocket him into heroic situations, and saves the day, wins the girl, and is admired” story. Trust me, I’m sick of those too and I would not steer you wrong. This is a story about the people who get glossed over in those stories. This is a story about identity, about who you are to your friends, to your family, to the ones who’ve heard stories about you, to yourself. This is a story about found family and real family and people who care about each other. This isn’t a story about adventures and heroics deeds, although they do occur. This is a story about the people who have adventures, and the people who are left behind.
i'll apple your turnover 