Wren’s Wraves

In addition to the men who talk to me in my head—not to mention the one who talks to me in my bed, and across the breakfast table, and who makes my world whole—I have gotten to know a host of truly special, deeply lovable guys over the last few years.

They have grinned up at me from the pages of other people’s stories and made me smile and shiver and sizzle.  I am deeply grateful to the writers who introduced these men to me.  If you’d like to meet them, too, then check out the work of these talented authors:

Z.A. Maxfield

Writes male/male romances of uncompromising quality.  Imagine if S.E. Hinton and J.D. Salinger had a love child.  Or maybe made a soup from a secret recipe that perfectly and poignantly blends humor, angst, redemption, and love.   Everything ZAM has written is wonderful.  The bad news is that she has cruelly produced only a finite number of books.  The good news is that she’s a mind-bogglingly prolific creative whose supernatural writing speed belies the remarkable quality of her work—for which I am both infinitely grateful and insanely jealous.  (She’s probably finished another novel in the time it took me to write this paragraph.) I recommend starting with Crossing Borders, but it doesn’t really matter which book you pick up first.  As with any addictive, delicious thing, you won’t be able to stop at one.

Lex Valentine

Is another envy-inducingly productive writer, with a true artist’s eye and an imagination even bigger than the worlds she creates.  Her books range from the contemporary to the paranormal—featuring vampires, dragons, witches, wizards, werewolves, and more.  My personal favorites are her Darkworld series, for which Lex has envisioned a particularly compelling cast of shapeshifting dragons and framed them against a rich tapestry of erotic romance.    Most of her books to date have been “het,” but all are hot … and for those of you who are particularly partial to guy love, as I am, you’ve got to try Fire Season.

L.B. Gregg

Did I mention that funny gets me every time?  The characters in L.B. Gregg’s male/male stories have funny coming out of the ears (and would cause orange soda to come out of my nose if I were foolish enough to take a sip while enjoying their exploits).  Gobsmacked had me laughing out loud from the first page.   And funny as she can get, the sex is always seriously hot.

Aislinn Kerry

Writes both het and same-sex romances with a remarkably beautiful and sensuous sensibility.  Her m/m books are sparkling gems that somehow feel ancient and contemporary and other-worldly, all at once.  You get pulled in and don’t want to let go.  Blood and Roses is one of my all-time favorites, and near the top of the heavily populated vampire genre.

Jordan Castillo Price

Is a brilliant writer with a sci-fi/fantasy sensibility and a flare for character and plot that transcends genre.   Try Hemovore as one of the most original takes on a vampire story I can remember … or any of the books in her breathtaking Psycop series.

Joely Skye

Has written some shapeshifter stories that really made me shiver in spite of feeling … um … excessively warm.  Feral and Marked are related books with characters I loved to love loving one another …

Shayla Black

Writes primarily het romance with domination/submission themes.  Dangerous Boys and Their Toy is a particularly high-temp menage-a-trois book (f/m/m) that stands apart from most others in fully exploring the m/m piece of that equation, physically and emotionally.  This is erotic romance with particularly heavy emphasis on “erotic” … the plot is basic, but the characterizations are rich and individual, which skyrockets the sex from a mere mechanical exercise to something truly memorable.

And don’t miss these wonderful m/m books.

In addition to the work of the writers above, here are some specific books I’ve loved.  I’ll be adding to this list as time goes on, so check back if you find that you like what I like … and please let me know if there’s something I should add to my own “To Be Read” stack!

Amy Lane, Keeping Promise Rock, Making Promises

Rhianne Aile and Madeleine Urban, Warrior’s Cross, The One That Got Away

Jez Morrow, Force of Law

Terry Wylis, The Wolfe Proxy

Patric Michael, The Santa Mug, Timeless

Brooke McKinley, Shades of Gray

Astrid Amara, Carol of the Bellskis

Janey Chapel, TLC 101

Sean Kennedy, Tigers and Devils

Tere Michaels, Faith and Fidelity

KA Mitchell, Diving in Deep

Fae Sutherland, A Tender Rough