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August 20 - Luscious Love Scenes (erotic romance, erotica, a "sensual" read - leave those "just kisses" books alone this month!)

If there's one thing that's a nearly common denominator in gay romance, it's sex and lots of it.  Selecting a gay romance that borders on or is firmly standing in erotica is almost a slam dunk.  A larger challenge would be to find a gay romance with no sex in it.  It's possible (Steve Kluger's Almost Like Being in Love comes quickly to mind), but it's not typical.

So with a vast sea of choices, what to chose, what to chose for this month?

What's more sexy than two studly college students who decide to have sex in order to alleviate a little pressure in their lives, but end up finding love instead?  That's what I thought after passing up SJD Peterson's BAMF and a slew of other books I've enjoyed reading this month.  In fact, I had so many choices that I'm late writing this review--which I've started a number of times with different books.

But Get What You Need by Jeanette Grey is the perfect mix of sex and sincerity.  PhD candidate Greg London is shocked when hunky senior baseball player Marshall Sulkowski suggests they watch a movie together.  Greg has been drooling over Marsh, the newbie in Greg's off-campus house, and never thought the popular jock had even noticed him.

The movie turns into sex and a loose agreement between the two for casual sex during the rest of the semester.  Because both guys are so likeable and so well-meaning, the sex scenes are more than mere meaningless couplings, which makes erotica even more erotic.

Under a lot of stress to do well and get his PhD, Greg can't wait to shake off his blue-collar background and help his wonderful parents live an easier life. 

Marsh, on the other hand, has just been kicked out of the family by his homophobic father who saw Marsh kissing a guy during the summer.  Now March, who's been told so many times that he's only a dumb jock by his dad, believes it and is floundering in his classes and in his life in general. 

Sex takes the edge off the pressure of both guys' hectic days, but ultimately it doesn't solve their problems.  Only they can help each other balance their lives.

This is a book to read for the sex scenes, but also for the love story that builds because of them.

Easy to Enjoy

My review of the YA (young adult) book Easy by Tammara Webber went live this weekend on AAR.  I'm still confused by the YA designation in fiction books.

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away (Nebraska), I was a library page and then a library aide.  Back then, when the University of Nebraska / Lincoln housed one of the largest displays of dinosaur bones, YA books were meant for junior high and early high school readers.

Easy might be read by those readers today, but because of its theme of consensual sex and its milieu of frat parties, dorms, and large lecture classes, I can't imagine it makes much sense to young adults in the early years of high school.

But that's not what bothers me.  What bothers me is that the readers who should be reading it--those who are just going off to college or are in their first year--will be missing a very good book, not to mention some good tips on how to cope with being alone on campus for the first time away from family.

So my real question is why we need to segment the adult designation for books.  Why can't we just call these books fiction without having to designate what age "adult" will enjoy them?  Can't I as an adult enjoy a book that centers around adults of any age?  Or must the standard be that adults begin life in their mid-20s?