[I received a copy through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]

An interesting, if sometimes uneven collection (like every collection in general, I’d say) of essays from queer people regarding religion and faith, acceptance of LGBTQ+, and how organised religions and individuals alike have both progressed and still need to progress in that regard.

Many of these essays resonated with me, not because I am a believer, but precisely because I’m not anymore: I was raised a Catholic, but could never reconcile religion with all the intolerance (whether snide and discreet or absolutely blatant) it tends to teach. There was always, for me, a clear contradiction between “Jesus is love” and “…but only for people who correspond to the official credo (aka usual cisgender, heterosexual, and if they’re white, it’s even better). Not that these essays have given me renewed faith in any belief whatsoever, but it was good to read about how other people lived this, whether they retained or found their faith again, and especially when it comes to ministers (several of the writers in this collection are or were ordained). While there’s a depressing side to it, considering there’s still a lot of work to be done, there’s also much hope in here for society to change in the future.

I do wish there had been more input, though, from people coming from other faiths than the Abrahamic religions. The book’s synopsis does mention “Is it possible to believe in God and be gay?”, so I don’t know if that was to be read as “strictly God in its Islamic or Judeo-Christian acception” or not. I’d still have been interested in additional perspectives. What about Hinduism, Shinto, Wicca? Do monotheistic religions really have a monopoly on intolerance when it comes to LGBTQ+?

Conclusion: 3.5 stars

Fake Boyfriend is one of my favorite fanfic tropes, so it was fun to see in a novel.  The story follows Maddox whose high school girlfriend refused to accept his repeated attempts at breaking up, so he finally lied and told her he was gay.  She then outed him to his entire town, which, I don't care how upset you are, that's just wrong, so I actually felt no sympathy for her because of the lie. Maddox moved to New York to attend college and then stayed, rarely visiting his small town home in Pennsylvania.  Years later he ran into the ex-sweetheart who was having a bachelorette party.  SHe boo-hoos about how it should have been them getting married and how much she misses him.  She then invited him to the wedding with his boyfriend...his non-existent boyfriend.  And much like she did in high school, she blabbed and told everyone he was coming home.  Everyone including Maddox's parents who make certain he can't politely back out of the wedding because they guilt him into bringing his boyfriend (that he didn't tell them about) home to meet them.  Now he's tasked with finding a fake boyfriend to take home for a weekend.

Enter his best friend, Stacy, who convinces her gay brother to do the job.  Maddox promises to get Damon, an endeavoring sports agent, a meeting with a high profile hockey player in return for the favor.  Of course Damon cannot turn the chance to gain his first (solo) client and agrees.  And shenanigans ensue. I don't want to spoil the good bits.

The characters were likable and flawed like normal humans.  They were not perfect and there were bad choices made and misunderstandings, but not to the point of angst where you wanted to strangle everyone.  It was a fun story where the plot didn't resolve itself immediately, but it didn't drag out overly long either.  There was comedy, drama, angst, sweetness, and sexytimes.  All of which were well written.

The narrators did a good job of capturing the voices and emotions of the characters.  This was the first in a series and I would be interested in checking out more.

Hurry and you can download this free from publisher TOR here.

Publisher page for more book details here.

There's also a bookclub for these Tor freebies here.

This was a M/M historical romance.  It was a fun escape from the currently reality. The story read like a fanfic I once read, but that's a compliment as most fanfic I have read is as good as or better than many novels.  The narration and just meh.  There was no emotion to it, which took from the story.  Not bad, but not great.

I'm going to make this short.

Love:

Okay Alex and Henry are adorable and I totally love them. They go back and forth just like me and the hubs.

Hate:

The story just. Keeps. Going. Ffs it could have been wrapped up neatly well before it was. And the whole Richardson background story was way too cliche and easy to figure out. Because the book dragged on forever, I started to lose interest. 

So, a good book but a bit slow and dull.