My picks are three gay romances (go figure!):
* Sex and Sourdough by A. J. Thomas: I'm not much of a hiker, or walker for that matter, but this book made me want to lace up my hiking shoes and get out on the trail. In addition, Thomas is the kind of quirky storyteller that I enjoy. I'd read her A Casual Weekend Thing and was blown away by how different it was in a sea of gay romances that are beginning to look cloned. Both books are unique, each with its own style, so I can't wait to read Thomas' next one and have been telling my friends about her.
* Beyond Duty by SJD Peterson: Peterson's not an easy author for readers who like their books with little or no sex, but the themes she grapples with are important and worthy of discussion. In Beyond Duty two career soldiers are retiring and still in prime condition. They've been lovers for years, meeting up between deployments, and have even bought a house together. But now they're at a crossroads that will determine what could possibly be the majority of their lives. The questions aren't easy, and the answers even harder to decide. Since the troops are coming home and our fighting forces are being cut, this is a book that applies both for hetero and homosexuals.
* Something Like Autumn by Jay Bell: Our older daughter lives in Italy with her husband, twins, and dogs, and we were going to visit for the first time since they moved there. I knew the flight from California to Italy would be long, so I saved the third in Bell's Something Like series for the long trip. What better way to wallow in a favorite author's work? But sometimes I'm so stupid that I despair. I knew what happened to the main character before I started the book since he was a character in the previous book. I knew. And I read it anyway, over the entire flight. It's my favorite book, and I will never forgive Jay Bell for not changing the story. Read it and you'll know what I mean.
