My Foray into M/M Romances

I've always thought of myself as a free-thinker. Someone who couldn't care less about another person's sexual orientation, someone who admired another person's willingness to be themselves. I am still that way, I just never expected to enjoy reading about it so much!

I was presented with an m/m book series one day from a fellow Wench and I thought... nah, not for me. It's just not my thing. I had nothing against it. I was sure the stories were good and the sex hot, but I didn't think I'd care to read a novel about two guys in a relationship instead of the standard m/f romances I've grown to love. Boy, was I wrong.

I discovered a whole new world of m/m romances that, for me, completely put standard romances to shame. I started with the Cut and Run series by Abigail Roux and Madeleine Urban. Fellow Wench Amanda gave this to me, and it took me a while to start reading it. She explained it was about two alpha males, and I thought, how would that work? Two very tough, manly men getting it on? I just didn't see it being realistic enough to be believable. But I gave it a shot anyway. I was out of reading options at the time and I figured, why not? She couldn't stop gushing about how awesome these books were, and that's when I knew I had to give them a try.

Let me tell you... I LOVED it.

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Lately I've been wondering why I started loving m/m books. There are no women involved in the relationship (well, maybe their past relationships, sometimes), so why would I, a woman who likes men, care about two guys falling in love? We don't have penises and a large majority of us are straight, so why the m/m attraction? Part of me thinks it has to do with the fact that (A) the guys in the books are always hot, gorgeous men. What's not to like about that? And (B) they just seem to understand each other better than a woman and a man ever could.

Think about it. Men and women are so far apart mentally that it's a wonder how some couples stay in relationships. Now, that's not saying men and women can't ever be together, because obviously they can. I've been married to my husband for 16 years, and while I love him to death and he completes me, there are times we just don't understand each other. At all. And we're okay with that. It's just hard to correctly interpret what we are trying to say to each other at times because of our differences. Hence the whole "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" thing. It's the truth. Preach it, sister! Or in this case... man!

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Don't get me wrong, I still read standard m/f romances. In fact, I plan to read one soon, and while I keep hearing good things about this book, I'm still very 'meh' about it. Frankly, if two guys aren't in it, I just don't seem to care as much now.

Basically, men just get each other. Men know other men. How they talk, act, think, etc. Add when two hot men who share a love of not only the same sport, but the same team, get together, well, you get the idea. Fireworks galore! :-D

Right now I'm diving into some m/m fan fic that's wonderfully fantastic. One in particular actually ruined me for all sexual scenes in any book, like, ever. It's the Homework series by nyxocity. It's on www.archiveofourown.org. Seriously super hot, especially if you're a fan of the tv show Supernatural, like myself. Once you read it, you'll see why.

It also led me to be probably the biggest shipper ever of Destiel. If you aren't familiar with Destiel, it's the fans' name for the characters on the show: Dean (hint, he's the first gif at the top of this post) and Castiel. And if you're still confused, just enter Destiel in a search on tumblr and you'll see why. Don't say I didn't warn you. Oh, and you're welcome.

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There are also other fan fics pertaining to Supernatural, if Destiel doesn't float your boat. Just an FYI.

Also, I recently just finished a book called Hot Head by Damon Suede, which is about two NYC firefighters. Umm, yeah. I think the name says it all. Needless to say, my attitude toward alpha men as the romantic heroes has now changed and I am a believer after all. I normally don't like to be proven wrong, but in this case, I'm cool with it. ;-)

So for all you non-believers out there who think that this type of literature just isn't your cup of tea, I say give it a try! My favorite motto is, "Don't knock it until you try it." I usually say that about food, but in this case, I'm making m/m book reading an exception. ;-)

For fans of m/m romances, what enticed you to try them? Did a certain book catch your eye? Those of you who have not read m/m romances yet... would you consider giving one a try if it was suggested to you? Even if it wasn't your thing?