Bisexual Leads
More to love!
Last weekend I spent a day at my local library participating as a Book in their Human Library event, having conversations with “readers” about asexuality. Naturally, I started my talks with an overview of the terms “compulsory heterosexuality” (75% people who I talked to were unfamiliar) and the “split attraction model” (100% of the people I talked to were unfamiliar). Comphet is always on my mind one way or the other, but no more so than for today’s three books, which feature “heterosexual”-passing couples where at least one, if not both, characters are bi. Is that entirely related and therefore justifiable as an intro? Meh. It’s my newsletter and I also wanted to brag that I was at the library this weekend. Enjoy the bisexual shenanigans below!
Situationship by E.M. Wilson. Two busy people in the same friend group who have some Tension™ but also Tension find themselves in a position of spending the summer in each others’ pockets due to a series of shared events and friend weddings. They’ve got one more thing in common- they don’t want to be in relationships. Convenient, then, that they’ve got a hot kinda-friend constantly in their vicinity who they can hook up with who doesn’t have any illusions about More.
We’ve got Teagan, our Featured Bisexual, in one corner- a soon-to-be lawyer and Black adoptee of white parents with a Lot of baggage related to achievement and pride who just had a pretty bad breakup and is in need of some RELIEF. In our other corner we have Heath, who is just starting his career as a physical therapist (relevant to my interests!!) and has, according to the Goodreads blurb, some family drama causing him his own kind of stress. I’ll be honest- I don’t SUPER remember the plot of this book beyond broad strokes, I just remember (and have a Fable review proving) that I really enjoyed their dynamic. It was sexy, it was heartbreaking at times, it felt well-paced, and the internal stakes felt believable. What were they? Who can say. I guess you’ll have to read it to find out!
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
A Merry Little Meet Cute by Sierra Simone & Julie Murphy. The first of a sexy, holiday trilogy that I had a lot of fun reading starts not with our main characters, but with our side character whose own romance over the course of the series I continue to be charmed by. Basically, we’ve got this porn producer who’s starting to move into producing other kinds of films- namely, Shmallmark-esque Christmas movies. When the first actress he’d booked falls through, he accidentally ends up forwarding the file of one of his best-performing porn stars to the other producer instead.
Bee is said porn star and a plus-size model who agrees, with a bit of surprise at the offer, to join the movie, though she’s told to keep her adult entertainment history under wraps if possible. That’s easier said than done when the movie is half-staffed by porn crew and when her co-star, her childhood crush and ex-boyband member Nolan Shaw, 1000% knows who SHE is too… because he’s subscribed to her ShmOnlyFans page. He’s here for image rehab, and is supposed to be on his best behavior as a result, so he DEFINITELY doesn’t want her true identity to get out, nor can he give into the mutual lust if he’s smart.
Our sweet pair, both bisexual, are more horny than they are cautious, so they’re banging pretty much right away, though they’re trying to keep it hush hush. This is not an overly complex book, because it’s meant to be a sexy Christmas romp, but I did really like the way they explored fame, sex work, and sexuality in genuine ways without ever letting it get salacious for the sake of drama. The sex workers (current and former) were treated with empathy and tact, and the shenanigans are largely in good-faith, so if you find yourself missing Christmas, this is a fun series to spend time in!
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
The Intimacy Experiment by Rosie Danan. Another sex-worker romance (former, in this case)! The sequel to The Roommate (which I wrote about wayyyy long ago) follows minor character from the first book, Naomi (our bi character), in her attempts to launch her academic career post-porn. The sex-positive startup from book 1 gave her a starter platform as a sex and intimacy educator, which she continued in graduate school, but traditional higher ed won’t hire her due to the salacious nature of the start of her career as an adult performer.
Enter: Ethan, a newly promoted rabbi in need of programming to entice millennials to Judaism. He teams up with Naomi on a series of seminars, led by her, on Modern Intimacy.
It’s a sexier version of Nobody Wants This (though she’s not NOT Jewish if I’m remembering correctly), but it’s also just a really lovely story about two people in the public eye (to different degrees) who just want to make a positive impact on the world around them but, due to the ways in which they’re in the public eye, and the way in which their budding relationship would shift that, are constantly fighting an uphill battle.
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Next week, I’ll be recommending books with doctors in ‘em!
What should I be reading next? Let me know in the comments!
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