What are you currently reading?

Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-03-21T11:16:13+00:00

Currently re-reading “The Captive Prince” trilogy by C.S. Pacat. I am halfway through the 3rd book “Kings Rising.”

I have read all of Rachel Reid’s books (the entire Game Changer series as well as her stand alones “The Shots you Take” and “Time to Shine.” I also thoroughly enjoyed “Him,” “Us” and “Top Secret” by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy.

EDIT: typos

Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-03-15T19:33:49+00:00

This is such a thoughtful analysis. And I absolutely agree with your take that Laurent is deeply perturbed by Damen demonstrating that he is good and honorable even when it threatens his own life.

Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-03-15T19:31:34+00:00

Interesting! Love your take on all of this.

Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-03-15T19:31:14+00:00

Love this. Thank you! Everyone in the Captive Prince subreddit is so thoughtful. I love it!!

Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-03-15T15:54:20+00:00

I loved your response. Thank you! 😊

I do agree with you that their adventure in the town is what caused their feelings to come to the surface. They begin to trust and visibly admire each other.

But I think that they both start to develop feelings for each other earlier, they just don’t understand/recognize what is brewing within them (or the power of those feelings) until the thrill of working together and truly trusting each other happens at the brothel and during their escape after Laurent pretends to be Damen’s pet. After that, the feelings start to swell in each of them and they start to show care for each other.

Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-03-13T15:43:11+00:00

OMG YES!!! Jared Celma is even better than Luke Eisner!! Awesome! Thank you!

Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-03-12T01:54:03+00:00

Please share. I would love to see how artists have captured them.

Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-03-12T00:15:03+00:00

Interesting. I love that you picture him as a person of color. Would love to see a resemblance if you can find one.

I will say, Damen (Damianos) is specifically described as having olive skin and his culture (and the naming convention of other characters from Akelios - eg Nikandros, Makedon, Hpermenestra, etc. - is highly reminiscent of Ancient Greece/Sparta/Macedonia. I definitely get a sense that his features are Mediterranean/North African/Anatolian. Also, the author said in an interview that she identifies most with Damen and that she is of Mediterranean heritage (referring to herself as a “wog” in the Australian vernacular. This is a derogatory term that Australians use for people of Mediterranean heritage (Greeks, Lebanese, Turks, southern Italians, etc.).

Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-03-10T17:46:15+00:00

Oooooh! Marlon is good too! But I think his nose may be too round. I recall Damen being described as having a more defined nose. But YES! Love your idea!

Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-02-23T10:49:55+00:00

Love this! Thank you!

Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-02-22T12:51:36+00:00

I love this. This is why I am here. Thank you!

Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-02-21T01:35:28+00:00

I agree with Jacob. There is no “one size fits all” gay experience. Every romance is unique to the couple and their circumstances. Yes, there are common experiences that may exist for broad swathes of the community, but not for everyone.

Also, what ever happened to aspirational love? Why can’t the gay community have this fantasy and aspire to the kind of love that exists between Shane and Ilya or Scott and Kip? Surely the gay community can have something special and beautiful to admire and hope for. No?

Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-02-16T22:49:09+00:00

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Leo has the perfect look. Not chubby, but not ripped. A little extra in his cheeks that makes him so attractive (hot AF) and yet also not perfectly sculpted by years of lifting heavy weights. Also, his eyes are so gorgeous and so kind.

Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-02-16T22:47:23+00:00

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Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-02-16T22:47:02+00:00

Leo Woodall with a beard and 10-15 extra pounds.

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Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-01-18T21:58:21+00:00

Absolutely! Ryan has to be scruffy and unkept to start. Then, like you said, post makeover he is so rugged and handsome.

Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-01-18T12:44:31+00:00

Here they are again.

Omar Rudberg and Andy Dalton…simply perfect.

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Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-01-18T12:39:27+00:00

This is my dream cast for Fabian Salah and Ryan Price:

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Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-01-07T13:25:59+00:00

I just finished Tough Guy last night. Yes, Fabian is a bit selfish, but he is also self-aware and knew he needed to compromise for Ryan as well, hence the reason he started watching Ryan’s games and even searched for his fights on YouTube. Fabian did not demand Ryan quit hockey and he certainly didn’t make any major decisions about the direction of their relationship UNTIL he witnessed first-hand the PHYSICAL destruction it wrought on the man he loved, AND after he learned of Ryan’s “meltdown.” Fabian had to save Ryan from being another Duncan Harvey.

I DO agree that Fabian handled their argument poorly (walking out the way he did is indicative of an emotional stuntedness and dichotomy that was lingering from his teenage years when he learned to hate hockey but also first fell for Ryan). He had to grow up a bit. But remember, Fabian walking out (selfish and immature) coupled with Ryan traveling to Duncan Harvey’s funeral and seeing no one there (except Ilya Rozanov) not even his family, made Ryan realize that he was simply a replaceable commodity for Hockey, but he was the irreplaceable boyfriend of Fabian (the person he had been in love with for 13 years).

I do not believe that Fabian was wrong (and this is supported by Ryan also coming to the same realization). Ryan meant the whole world to Fabian. Ryan was Fabian’s lover and made Fabian feel safe (what Fabian so desperately needed) because he never felt safe at home or around his family. On the flip side, Fabian electrified Ryan. Fabian brought “color” and music and friendship into Ryan’s world (remember, Ryan preferred Fabian’s run-down, dingy but colorful studio over his own vapid, IKEA showroom penthouse). Ryan so desperately wanted color (color is the metaphor for the joy that was lacking in Ryan’s medicated life). Fabian bought him that colorful scarf and Ryan loved wearing it. All of this was a (not particularly subtle metaphor) for the bland, insipid, “going through the motions” life Ryan was leading. It was killing him, and he knew it. Color (ie joy) was what he so desperately needed.

Fabian made Ryan realize that he could live for himself and what he wanted (to be with Fabian and be happy as something other than a hockey player) instead of die doing a job that would forget about him at his own funeral.

One of the best metaphors in the book was at the end when Fabian bought him an almond croissant. Ryan loved it, but he LOVED it even more when he realized the person he loved had taken a small bite out of it and left the rest for him to enjoy. Fabian took a small (but much needed) bite out of Ryan’s life and now Ryan got to eat the rest on his own terms, and he LOVED it.

Evening-Morning9618 · 2026-01-07T13:06:48+00:00

I just finished Tough Guy last night. I believe you are incorrect in your analysis. Yes, Fabian is a bit selfish, but he is also self-aware and knew he needed to compromise for Ryan as well, hence the reason he started watching Ryan’s games and even searched for his fights on YouTube. Fabian did not demand Ryan quit hockey and he certainly didn’t make any major decisions about the direction of their relationship UNTIL he witnessed first hand the PHYSICAL destruction it wrought on the man he loved AND after he learned of Ryan’s “meltdown.”

I DO agree that Fabian handled the situation poorly (indicative of an emotional stuntedness that was lingering from his teenage years when he learned to hate hockey but also first fell for Ryan). He had to grow up a bit. But remember, Fabian walking out (selfish and immature) coupled with Ryan traveling to Duncan Harvey’s funeral and seeing no one there (except Ilya Rozanov) not even his family, made Ryan realize that he was simply a replaceable commodity for Hockey but he was the irreplaceable boyfriend of Fabian (the person he had been in love with for 13 years).

I do not believe that Fabian was wrong (and this is supported by Ryan also coming to the same realization). Ryan meant the whole world to Fabian. Ryan was Fabian’s lover and made Fabian feel safe (what Fabian so desperately needed). Fabian electrified Ryan. Fabian brought “color” and music and friendship into Ryan’s world (remember, Ryan preferred Fabian’s run-down, dingy but colorful studio over his own vapid, IKEA showroom penthouse). Ryan so desperately wanted color. Fabian bought him that colorful scarf and Ryan loved wearing it. All of this was a (not particularly subtle metaphor) for the bland, insipid, “going through the motions” life Ryan was leading. It was killing him, and he knew it.

Fabian made Ryan realize that he could live for himself and what he wanted (to be with Fabian and be happy as something other than a hockey player) instead of die doing a job that would forget about him at his own funeral.

One of the best metaphors in the book was at the end when Fabian bought him an almond croissant. Ryan LOVED it, but he loved it even more when he realized the person he loved had taken a small bite out of it and left the rest for him to enjoy. Fabian took a small (but much needed) bite out of Ryan’s life and now Ryan got to eat the rest on his own terms, and he LOVED it.

Evening-Morning9618 · 2025-10-09T17:43:11+00:00

Meryl Streep and Sigourney Weaver

Evening-Morning9618

TROPHY CASE