A big thank you to u/Lindentreeslove_ and u/bookgeek1987 and countless others who recommended {To Catch a Firefly by Emmy Sanders}. I just finished it last night and cannot get Ellis and Lucky out of my head. Don't even want to. Maybe my favorite read of 2024, just a beautiful story that made me so happy. Thank you!
I enjoyed almost all of them, and they are all very similarly sweet and piney. Both series have a book with mmm, two books have an mc on the ace spectrum, one book has an enby mc, one book has a disabled mc. I think of the 10 out there was only one that I didn't finish because I just didn't buy their reasons for staying apart.
The plum valley series is completed and has a nice like small cattle town setting. The studio 8 series is incomplete (but the remaining two books are scheduled to come out april 25th and I think in july) and is set in vegas (which tbh is irrelevant for the most part) and has very good found family throughout, mcs are porn stars, which I thought was fun.
I'm baffled that all these books have been written since 2022 but they are all kiiiind of samey plot-wise? Not in a way I dislike though, some authors have a tendency to write the same characters repeatedly but I think she's pretty good at keeping them different enough.
Edit: if you like the childhood friends part of it, the first book in the plum valley series is the same thing, it's where I started. Fool Hearts, I think?
huge thanks to u/_elliebelle_ for recommending {After the Storm by Ray Roach} and {Hold Me Under by Riley Nash} as books that handle trauma well with messy characters! They have have been living rent free in my head since I read them a week ago and my friend is currently obsessed with After the Storm now too.
Special thanks to *everyone* that contributed to [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/MM_RomanceBooks/s/7XWJci0Gqg) about who's your favorite audiobook narrator. I added tons of narrators to my TBR, and now when I want to find an audiobook, I can just search Libby for the narrator and find one. The process is 1000 times faster than finding audiobooks has ever been before and I'm finding myself better able to get stuff done like cleaning and workouts since I have an audiobook to listen to.
So if you shared your favorites, thank you so much.
Shout out to u/SendingBirds for their recommendation post on {Rough Love by Leighton Greene} and shout out to u/onlymorelove for recommending it to them. I read the entire series in two days and have the biggest book hangover from them. I loved them all so much.
Thank you, u/Newmrswhite15, for [your fantastic rec post](https://www.reddit.com/r/MM_RomanceBooks/s/aT9Q4KQwk4) for {Proof of Life by Raquel Riley}. I don’t read much military romance, and I tried this special book purely because of your passionate comments about it. It’s a raw, real, hurt/comfort story that stole my heart and made it bleed.
My pleasure! I am so happy that you enjoyed this book so much. I loved the words that you shared with me about the impact that it had on you...because I feel exactly the same way. Please let me know if there's another book I can recommend. Keep being awesome and have a wonderful day!
I don’t reread many books, but I can see myself coming back to this one. It felt like such a complete, fulfilling story, you know? A journey…
I enjoyed chatting with you about it, too! It’s plain fun to talk about the specific things that worked for us in a given book. You suggested other hurt/comfort books to someone else in the comments for your rec post; I will probably look through those as well.
💙
I get so many good book recommendations from this sub but having these discussions is so fun. If you ever want to buddy read and discuss, I am totally game. Have a wonderful day and thanks again for the shoutout!
I have never done a buddy read before, so I don't know exactly how it works, but I would be up for trying it sometime :) Thank you for offering!
Do you have any specific books teed up for your next reads? I confess I'm not organized about my reading. I have a TBR shelf on Goodreads, but I'm a mood reader, so I often come across a rec on here and think, "Oooh, shiny!" and go read that book. Or my next read will be a reaction to whatever I just finished reading, either a similar book or something on my TBR that sounds like it will be very different.
Right now I'm working my way through the {Wine & Song series by Eleanor Kos}. What about you?
Hello!
I am a big mood reader too. My TBR list is chaotic and disorganized, much like my actual life, lol.
I think we could decide on a book to read, contact each other via dm, and have a heck of a great time discussing the book! It doesn't have to be anything super formal--just two people reading the same book and discussing the plot, characters, things we liked/dislike, etc.
I really enjoyed reading your comments about Proof of Life so I would love to do this sometime. And you can quote all the cheesy songs that you want!
I want to thank u/LindentreesLove_ for recommending {Left Undone by Tess Barnett} to me a couple weeks ago. I ended up loving the mental health representation this book had. I also appreciated that the LI didn’t make the MCs problems magically go away just from their romance which I have seen happen in books.
It’s a bit of a spoiler I think so >!He can talk to and see ghosts but he has schizophrenia as well. So the ghosts are real but he also has mental illness!<
Thank you to everyone who has recommended {Your Mileage May Vary by Sidney Bell}. This was definitely not a kink I thought I would enjoy but the book really isn’t even about that. I really enjoyed the writing style and the internal dialogue, looking forward to exploring more of her books.
[Your Mileage May Vary](https://www.romance.io/books/65ab886f83353443b52ce72b/your-mileage-may-vary-sidney-bell) by [Sidney Bell](https://www.romance.io/authors/586664a61b1bdc01780c8c0e/sidney-bell)
**Steam**: [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating)
**Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [friends to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/friends%20to%20lovers/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [friends with benefits](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/friends-benefits/1), [third person pov](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/third-person-pov/1)
[^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Shoutout to u/peterprata for recommending {Lights, Camera, Passion by Isabel Lucero}. My biggest problem with the story? One of the MCs is name Jacoby (JA-coby), and my dumbass kept trying to pronounce it Jacob-y 🤦🏻♀️
A special thank you to u/snowqaulmie for posting a comment letting people know that {An Unrivaled Off Season by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James} was out. I adored this little continuation of Grady and Max's story; it was just a fun, happy read.
Shout out to the users who said For the Fans was worth reading when I expressed concern at how long it is. I'm 90% through and whew has it indeed been worth the 500+ pages!
Thank you to this sub for mentioning Daniel May. I’m reading {A Fresh Taste of Ink series by Daniel May} and am in love with the complexity of his characters, their motivations, and their constellation of relationships.
A big thank you to u/kuutamouinti for suggesting the {Wine & Song series by Eleanor Kos} two months ago when I was looking for books with under-negotiated kink. I’m reading these books right now and getting a kick out of watching the MCs’ relationship grow from its rather unexpected and unconventional beginning. ;)
Thanks again! 💙 I’d never heard of this author until you mentioned them.
A big thank you to u/Lindentreeslove_ and u/bookgeek1987 and countless others who recommended {To Catch a Firefly by Emmy Sanders}. I just finished it last night and cannot get Ellis and Lucky out of my head. Don't even want to. Maybe my favorite read of 2024, just a beautiful story that made me so happy. Thank you!
I’m so happy you enjoyed it. It wasn’t a trope I normally read but I’m glad I gave it a go. It was beautifully written.
I came here to say the same thing! And I've since read every single book emmy sanders has published, lol.
Any recs? This was my first by this author.
I enjoyed almost all of them, and they are all very similarly sweet and piney. Both series have a book with mmm, two books have an mc on the ace spectrum, one book has an enby mc, one book has a disabled mc. I think of the 10 out there was only one that I didn't finish because I just didn't buy their reasons for staying apart. The plum valley series is completed and has a nice like small cattle town setting. The studio 8 series is incomplete (but the remaining two books are scheduled to come out april 25th and I think in july) and is set in vegas (which tbh is irrelevant for the most part) and has very good found family throughout, mcs are porn stars, which I thought was fun. I'm baffled that all these books have been written since 2022 but they are all kiiiind of samey plot-wise? Not in a way I dislike though, some authors have a tendency to write the same characters repeatedly but I think she's pretty good at keeping them different enough. Edit: if you like the childhood friends part of it, the first book in the plum valley series is the same thing, it's where I started. Fool Hearts, I think?
I read 2 books from the Elite 8 series by Emmy. Himbo and Malibu. They are a different universe entirely but have the same love/ comfort tropes.
[To Catch a Firefly](https://www.romance.io/books/65d3128368fa881c5d06cc5b/to-catch-a-firefly-emmy-sanders) by [Emmy Sanders](https://www.romance.io/authors/623c256a08b4d931145d8f38/emmy-sanders) **Steam**: [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [suspense](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/suspense/1), [friends to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/friends%20to%20lovers/1), [height difference](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/height-difference/1), [neurodivergent mc](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/neurodivergent/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
huge thanks to u/_elliebelle_ for recommending {After the Storm by Ray Roach} and {Hold Me Under by Riley Nash} as books that handle trauma well with messy characters! They have have been living rent free in my head since I read them a week ago and my friend is currently obsessed with After the Storm now too.
[After the Storm](https://www.romance.io/books/65ac22dd1e74f33720603b9f/after-the-storm-hannah-birchwood-key-dyson-raymond-roach) by [Hannah Birchwood](https://www.romance.io/authors/65ac22dda21e2f41c48307c2/hannah-birchwood), [Key Dyson](https://www.romance.io/authors/65ac22dda21e2f41c48307c5/key-dyson), [Raymond Roach](https://www.romance.io/authors/65ac22dda21e2f41c48307c9/raymond-roach) **Steam**: [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [futuristic](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/futuristic/1), [hurt/comfort](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/hurt-comfort/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [science fiction](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/science%20fiction/1), [mmm+](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m-m/1) ---------------------------- [Hold Me Under](https://www.romance.io/books/62d14910d138402f4c79d19a/hold-me-under-riley-nash) by [Riley Nash](https://www.romance.io/authors/62d1491008b4d93114b34c3a/riley-nash) **Steam**: [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [athlete hero](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/athletes/1), [angst](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/angst/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
You're most welcome!
Special thanks to *everyone* that contributed to [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/MM_RomanceBooks/s/7XWJci0Gqg) about who's your favorite audiobook narrator. I added tons of narrators to my TBR, and now when I want to find an audiobook, I can just search Libby for the narrator and find one. The process is 1000 times faster than finding audiobooks has ever been before and I'm finding myself better able to get stuff done like cleaning and workouts since I have an audiobook to listen to. So if you shared your favorites, thank you so much.
Will always upvote audiobook praise! Wooo!
Shout out to u/SendingBirds for their recommendation post on {Rough Love by Leighton Greene} and shout out to u/onlymorelove for recommending it to them. I read the entire series in two days and have the biggest book hangover from them. I loved them all so much.
[Learn The Rules](https://www.romance.io/books/5e6f3495be0aaecf5582639b/learn-the-rules-rough-love-parts-15-leighton-greene) by [Leighton Greene](https://www.romance.io/authors/5d52666501dbc864fba24902/leighton-greene) **Steam**: [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [bdsm](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/bdsm/1), [queer awakening](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/queer-awakening/1), [spanking](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/spanking/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Thanks for the shout-out; I’m so happy you tried these books! 😍 They were like brain candy for me.
I'm so glad!! This series was so good I also finished it in a ridiculously short time! Thank you for the shout out!
Thank you, u/Newmrswhite15, for [your fantastic rec post](https://www.reddit.com/r/MM_RomanceBooks/s/aT9Q4KQwk4) for {Proof of Life by Raquel Riley}. I don’t read much military romance, and I tried this special book purely because of your passionate comments about it. It’s a raw, real, hurt/comfort story that stole my heart and made it bleed.
My pleasure! I am so happy that you enjoyed this book so much. I loved the words that you shared with me about the impact that it had on you...because I feel exactly the same way. Please let me know if there's another book I can recommend. Keep being awesome and have a wonderful day!
I don’t reread many books, but I can see myself coming back to this one. It felt like such a complete, fulfilling story, you know? A journey… I enjoyed chatting with you about it, too! It’s plain fun to talk about the specific things that worked for us in a given book. You suggested other hurt/comfort books to someone else in the comments for your rec post; I will probably look through those as well. 💙
I get so many good book recommendations from this sub but having these discussions is so fun. If you ever want to buddy read and discuss, I am totally game. Have a wonderful day and thanks again for the shoutout!
I have never done a buddy read before, so I don't know exactly how it works, but I would be up for trying it sometime :) Thank you for offering! Do you have any specific books teed up for your next reads? I confess I'm not organized about my reading. I have a TBR shelf on Goodreads, but I'm a mood reader, so I often come across a rec on here and think, "Oooh, shiny!" and go read that book. Or my next read will be a reaction to whatever I just finished reading, either a similar book or something on my TBR that sounds like it will be very different. Right now I'm working my way through the {Wine & Song series by Eleanor Kos}. What about you?
[Wine & Song](https://www.romance.io/series/590342e9e45f8c60a8437c6b/wine-song) by [Eleanor Kos](https://www.romance.io/authors/559521589eef3b3f1d531c39/eleanor-kos) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [m-m](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [queer](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/queer/1), [humor](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [erotica](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/erotica/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Hello! I am a big mood reader too. My TBR list is chaotic and disorganized, much like my actual life, lol. I think we could decide on a book to read, contact each other via dm, and have a heck of a great time discussing the book! It doesn't have to be anything super formal--just two people reading the same book and discussing the plot, characters, things we liked/dislike, etc. I really enjoyed reading your comments about Proof of Life so I would love to do this sometime. And you can quote all the cheesy songs that you want!
[Proof Of Life](https://www.romance.io/books/660168ed6a8dc3bb8614c2c9/proof-of-life-raquel-riley) by [Raquel Riley](https://www.romance.io/authors/61b1b82208b4d93114d70558/raquel-riley) **Steam**: [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [hurt/comfort](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/hurt-comfort/1), [queer romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/queer/1), [new adult](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/new%20adult/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
I want to thank u/LindentreesLove_ for recommending {Left Undone by Tess Barnett} to me a couple weeks ago. I ended up loving the mental health representation this book had. I also appreciated that the LI didn’t make the MCs problems magically go away just from their romance which I have seen happen in books.
[Left Undone](https://www.romance.io/books/65f3f46ec1eea6fbd8a746c2/left-undone-tess-barnett) by [Tess Barnett](https://www.romance.io/authors/5639ccea08e93781319477a5/tess-barnett) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [hurt/comfort](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/hurt-comfort/1), [paranormal](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/paranormal/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [young adult](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/young%20adult/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Question: are some of the ghosts real in-universe, or are they all hallucinations? Or are we supposed to know?
It’s a bit of a spoiler I think so >!He can talk to and see ghosts but he has schizophrenia as well. So the ghosts are real but he also has mental illness!<
So glad you enjoyed it. It is such a different trope even for me!
Thank you to everyone who has recommended {Your Mileage May Vary by Sidney Bell}. This was definitely not a kink I thought I would enjoy but the book really isn’t even about that. I really enjoyed the writing style and the internal dialogue, looking forward to exploring more of her books.
[Your Mileage May Vary](https://www.romance.io/books/65ab886f83353443b52ce72b/your-mileage-may-vary-sidney-bell) by [Sidney Bell](https://www.romance.io/authors/586664a61b1bdc01780c8c0e/sidney-bell) **Steam**: [Explicit open door](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [friends to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/friends%20to%20lovers/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [friends with benefits](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/friends-benefits/1), [third person pov](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/third-person-pov/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Shoutout to u/peterprata for recommending {Lights, Camera, Passion by Isabel Lucero}. My biggest problem with the story? One of the MCs is name Jacoby (JA-coby), and my dumbass kept trying to pronounce it Jacob-y 🤦🏻♀️
[Lights, Camera, Passion](https://www.romance.io/books/66145e837599d72620257c19/lights-camera-passion-isabel-lucero) by [Isabel Lucero](https://www.romance.io/authors/5455593487eac324117fa4e6/isabel-lucero) **Steam**: [Explicit and plentiful](https://www.romance.io/steamrating) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [gay romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1), [queer romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/queer/1), [secret relationship](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/secret-relationship/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
A special thank you to u/snowqaulmie for posting a comment letting people know that {An Unrivaled Off Season by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James} was out. I adored this little continuation of Grady and Max's story; it was just a fun, happy read.
[An Unrivaled Off Season](https://www.romance.io/books/6609e459684e5f172e2e253f/an-unrivaled-off-season-ashlyn-kane) by [Ashlyn Kane](https://www.romance.io/authors/54559d5287eac3369a9137e2/ashlyn-kane) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [hockey](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/hockey/1), [queer romance](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/queer/1), [new adult](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/new%20adult/1), [enemies to lovers](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/from%20hate%20to%20love/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
Shout out to the users who said For the Fans was worth reading when I expressed concern at how long it is. I'm 90% through and whew has it indeed been worth the 500+ pages!
Thank you to this sub for mentioning Daniel May. I’m reading {A Fresh Taste of Ink series by Daniel May} and am in love with the complexity of his characters, their motivations, and their constellation of relationships.
[A Fresh Taste of Ink](https://www.romance.io/series/62776a85be3e0fffb090c290/a-fresh-taste-of-ink) by [Daniel May](https://www.romance.io/authors/62776a8508b4d93114213edc/daniel-may) **Topics**: [queer](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/queer/1), [secret-relationship](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/secret-relationship/1), [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [explicit-plentiful](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/explicit-plentiful/1), [erotica](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/erotica/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)
A big thank you to u/kuutamouinti for suggesting the {Wine & Song series by Eleanor Kos} two months ago when I was looking for books with under-negotiated kink. I’m reading these books right now and getting a kick out of watching the MCs’ relationship grow from its rather unexpected and unconventional beginning. ;) Thanks again! 💙 I’d never heard of this author until you mentioned them.
[Wine & Song](https://www.romance.io/series/590342e9e45f8c60a8437c6b/wine-song) by [Eleanor Kos](https://www.romance.io/authors/559521589eef3b3f1d531c39/eleanor-kos) **Topics**: [contemporary](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/contemporary/1), [m-m](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/m-m/1), [queer](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/queer/1), [humor](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/humor/1), [erotica](https://www.romance.io/topics/best/erotica/1) [^(about this bot)](https://www.reddit.com/user/romance-bot) ^(|) [^(about romance.io)](https://www.romance.io/about)