I never really thought I lived a sheltered life. I mean, I’ve been involved in various fannish activities in different genres, I’ve read science fiction and fantasy all my life, fanfiction (both good and awful), and nonfiction of all stripes. I generally have a good idea of what is available to the modern reader. Apparently there is one genre I overlooked: romances. Specifically, gay romances written by women. So that’s a thing.

I have always thought of romances as bits of puffery that one reads while lounging at the beach, half paying attention. Perhaps the literary equivalent of a Twinkie. A few months ago, one of my favorite podcasts, NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour, devoted an entire show to romance novels. It’s not something I normally would listen to, but I do adore all of the people on the show and enjoy listening to them chat. An offhanded reference to gay romances caught my attention. “Huh.” I though.  “I wonder if that’s worth looking into.”

I did what one does when confronted with a question these days: I turned to Google. Using various combinations of “Gay Romance Reviews,” I found a couple of different useful sites.  It turns out that looking for gay romances is like saying that you’re looking for fiction – there are many, many subgenres: Paranormal, Victorian, westerns, science fiction, and so on. I instead tried to limit my choice to the quality of author, and perhaps something a bit more modern. That narrowed things down to Amy Lane. Ms. Lane is the author of several dozen novels. I was intrigued by the title of the first novella in a series she wrote, “The Winter Courtship Rituals of Fur-Bearing Critters” (yeah, I wonder why). The description included mention of alpacas, courtship, and knitting. Knitting? Well OK then. The blurb of Amazon is a trifle florid:

Rance Crawford is an alpaca rancher, fiber mill owner, and self-proclaimed grumpy bastard. When sweet, charming tenderfoot Ben McCutcheon moves onto Crawford’s rural road, Rance is very aware that Ben makes it a grand total of two gay men in their tiny town, and even though he is instantly, painfully smitten, any move he makes could be simply chalked up to being hard up. Using his best weapon and favorite skill, Crawford launches an awkward, wordless effort to make sure Ben is kept warm during the cold Colorado winter, every last piece of him-especially his heart.

OK, sounds like it could be interesting. And it’s a novella, so not too great an investment if I had to bail halfway through. And hey, it’s set in Granby, Colorado; both Dan and I have been there, and it is quite beautiful. So I bought the ebook from Amazon and sat down to read.

I was blown away. Ms. Lane has created a set of characters who are believable and very easy to empathize with. Her skill with dialogue is excellent, and she excels at painting a scene with words. And the courtship? It’s there, and it is haltingly, awkwardly sweet. I will admit I teared up more than once reading this. By the time I finished the novella, I had already purchased the next three books in the “Granby Knitting” series: How to Raise an Honest Rabbit, Knitter in His Natural Habitat, and Blackbird Knitting in a Bunny’s Lair.

The series does a nice job of maintaining a continuous narrative while focusing on different characters in each book. As the books continued, I admit I was quite taken by the slow-blossoming relationship between the con-man-trying-to-turn-honest Jeremy and the rough-hewn Aiden. Many times I muttered encouragement, sighed with happiness, and choked up at the open honesty between the two.

Something that I noticed with these books is that unlike many other genre books I’ve read, while momentous events do occasionally occur, more time is spent on conversation and development of relationships. This allows Ms. Lane’s skills to really shine – she has a knack for relatable, likeable characters and believable dialogue. As each book ended I looked forward to spending more time with these people, which I count as a rewarding read. By the end of the series, I was sad that it had to end but the ending was extremely satisfying.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention an important point. The aforementioned podcast used a turn of phrase that amused me but it quite apt – there are books which have “closed bedroom door” sexual scenes and “open bedroom door” sexual scenes. In this series, the door is decidedly open. The sex scenes, while occasional, are explicit and (to my tastes, at least) pretty darned hot! If you feel that descriptions of intimacy between two men would be unappealing to you then I would suggest you avoid this series. If that doesn’t bother you, I wholeheartedly recommend these books!

And yes, because of these books I have decided to try my hand at knitting 🙂