This dance is the joy of existence.

Going to do something different today. Over the past many years, I've been reading gltb romances but rarely do I talk about the books I read. But I want to do that today!

Btw, I'm not really one to read historical novels, but if anyone is interested in that genre, check out Speak it's Name and Bosom Friends for recs! There's some really awesome authors rec'd on both sites!

Now for the recs!

American Love Song by Ashlyn Kane: A few days ago, Reviews By Jesse Wave offered this as they're daily free book and I was lucky enough to win a copy after reading this review here.

Here's the blurb: Jake Brenner has too many wild oats to sow to fall in love—or so he claims. Besides, he’s much too busy with his band, the Wayward Sons, to go looking for romance. His reticence has nothing to do with his embarrassing crush on Chris, the band’s lead singer and Jake’s erstwhile best friend. But that was before enigmatic wanderer Parker McAvoy signed on as the band’s new lead guitarist.

He can only deny his attraction to sweet, dorky Parker for so long before the urge to do something about it becomes impossible to ignore. The trouble is, Parker knows all about Jake’s philandering ways—and oh, yeah, he’s not gay. Or so Jake thinks until a string of related events provides encouraging new insight. Can he convince Parker to overlook his colorful past and give him a chance? Or will this love song fade out before it even begins?

Review: The review I link to says it much better than I could but OMG! This is such a wonderful story! Which I really wasn't expecting as it turned out to be a 1st POV story. But by the end, I loved Jake and Parker and everyone of the secondary characters! Also, I HIGHLY recommend this story to any bandom fan. Don't get me wrong, it's not like reading a MCR or PATD fic, but it has a flavor of those things I loved about the genre (energy, a type of innocence, wonder at life's possibilities, love, and hot sex) exist all through this story. Now, don't get me wrong, no one is perfect (and one of the most powerful scenes in the book for me is based on this imperfection) but all the characters fill fleshed out and interesting and, add the sex and creative formatting and well, SERIOUSLY READ THIS! :D

Change of Heart and Trusted Bond by Mary Calmes: I didn't win a free copy of these books but got them based on the reviews here and here.

CoH Blurb: As a young gay man—and a werepanther—all Jin Rayne yearns for is a normal life. Having fled his past, he wants nothing more than to start over, but Jin’s old life doesn’t want to let him go. When his travels bring him to a new city, he crosses paths with the leader of the local were-tribe. Logan Church is a shock and an enigma, and Jin fears that Logan is both the mate he fears and the love of his life. Jin doesn’t want to go back to the old ways, and mating would irrevocably tie him to them.

But Jin is the mate Logan needs at his side to help him lead his tribe, and he won’t give Jin up so easily. It will take time and trust for Jin to discover the joy in belonging to Logan and how to love without restraint.

TB: Blurb: Jin Rayne is having trouble adjusting to the new life he’s supposed to love. Instead of adapting to being the mate of tribe leader Logan Church, Jin can’t get past the fact that his lover was straight before they met. He’s discovered the joy in belonging to Logan but fears his new life could disappear at a moment’s notice, despite Logan’s insistence that they are forever, end of story.

Jin wants to trust Logan, but that desire will be put to the test both by a rival tribe leader and by a startling revelation about Jin’s existence. At stake is Jin’s life and his place in the tribe. If he’s going to survive to see Logan again, he’ll have to release his fear and freely accept the bond, for only then can he truly trust.

Review: I love this series! As the reviews say, the world building is awesome! Like American Love Song, the sex is HOT! This is not a 1st POV story and we really only see things happening when Jin is around. However, we do get to know all the characters through their words and action, so in some ways it felt 1st Person, if that makes sense. The characters are wonderfully developed and the world they inhabit is very fascinating to me (I SO want an Inception Fusion for this series. :P). However, I had to view this series as yaoi so I could get past the bits of seme-uke-ish and slight mary-suishness that flashed at me faintly at times. Not that that actually took away from the story, btw! I literally stayed up late two nights in a row (and knowing I had to be up at 6 am the next day both times) to read both of them. I really couldn't put it down. So, I highly recommend this series to everyone too!

What do you get when you add Inception and The Princess Bride? This freaking fantastic AU!!

Summary: "Any objections?"

"Not really," the pirate said. "I've been in weirder situations than this. At least we have gravity."

Cobb thought that was very profound and made a note to tell his children.