The other day I got to thinking about books (well, that’s a lie, I always think about books).

Rickard asked me what I was reading and I told him the title (An Unseen Attraction by KJ Charles), so when he asked me what the book was about I stuttered and mumbled something before finally settling on slash fiction.

But as I thought some more about it I got a bit mad at myself for feeling like I should be ashamed of it. The books are really well written and extremely well researched. They are super quick reads and I kick myself for starting series (Sins of the Cities) when it wasn’t finished yet. (Is it October yet?)

They are romance novels where the romantic couple happens to be two men, the sex scenes in them are (probably) not any more explicit than sex scenes in het romance novels. So why do I still feel a need to label them as such (m/m pairing, explicit) in my list of books read?
Why do I feel a need to explain myself for enjoying books like that? It’s so silly and I’ll stop doing that.

I know there are loads of dime-a-dozen romance novels out there. Quick reads and standardised plots with questionable consent and plot lines usually hinged around rape in one form or other – or maybe I’m biased. Maybe it’s not like that any more?

I used to read books like that when I was younger but then I got hooked on fantasy and SciFi and sort of veered down another path.

I think it’s time to do a bit more research. I mean I can’t knock it if I haven’t tried it?