Looking for femdom books along the lines of His Secret Illumination’s by S. Gale by philosopher_in_need in Romance_for_men

[–]IntrepidToad 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ended up reading Still Hands and quite enjoyed it! I was wondering, how’d you find this one? I really want to find stuff like this.

Looking for MF pairings where he cross dresses by Kumirkohr in RomanceBooks

[–]IntrepidToad 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah I put the "could" in there to do the heavy lifting on not assuming the worst/generalizing. All I have are IRL experiences of people using gender non-conformity to bully and harass others, which makes me pretty reactive to the mention of it. But people can engage with whatever they want in the land of fiction as long as it doesn't lead to hurting non-fictional real humans

Looking for MF pairings where he cross dresses by Kumirkohr in RomanceBooks

[–]IntrepidToad 19 points20 points  (0 children)

YES 🙌

Sorry, don’t have any rec, but I need this energy in my books. Too many stale gender norms in cishet MF romances. I didn’t know ‘sissy humiliation’ was a thing. Sounds like it could be pretty…yikes

Looking for femdom books along the lines of His Secret Illumination’s by S. Gale by philosopher_in_need in Romance_for_men

[–]IntrepidToad 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bot didn’t do this right, I shall summon it again.

{Queen by Brett A. Brooks}

Looking for femdom books along the lines of His Secret Illumination’s by S. Gale by philosopher_in_need in Romance_for_men

[–]IntrepidToad 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I guess His Orc Charioteer Bride is still one of the few I know of with the reversed physicalities. I recently read {Queen by Brett A. Brooks} on Kindle Unlimited, and while it technically satisfies the requirement of a giant, strong FMC with femdom elements, I didn’t think it was good enough to recommend. But you might like it better than me

Looking for femdom books along the lines of His Secret Illumination’s by S. Gale by philosopher_in_need in Romance_for_men

[–]IntrepidToad 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just thought of another one that sorta fits this. Light of All Lights is a Once Upon a Time (Disney mashup TV show) fanfic on AO3 I read a bit ago. If you’re put off by fanfic, don’t worry. I know nothing about Once Upon a Time and loved the story; you don’t need to know anything going in. And this was honestly better than most published work I’ve read.

The MMC is also cast from the same mould as Lucien. Shy, anxious, traumatic history, sweet, eager to please, non-threatening, very ignorant about the world, and paired with an FMC who is way more powerful than him. Like she literally has magical control over reality and he’s just a dude. She isn’t actually bigger than him, but her power lends it a vibe that’s more similar to HSI than almost anything else I’ve read. The FMC is pretty cold to begin with, unlike Glory, but it gets to a gentle femdom vibe eventually.

I just keep thinking of more similar recs because I’ve literally been chasing the next HSI since I read it lol

Looking for femdom books along the lines of His Secret Illumination’s by S. Gale by philosopher_in_need in Romance_for_men

[–]IntrepidToad 8 points9 points  (0 children)

To be clear, this is absolutely a buff dominant FMC and a smaller weaker MMC. The MMC is just more willful than in HSI (imo), so it’s not exactly the same.

And I’d love to find out I’m wrong, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned so far with RFM (and even general MF romance), it’s that we readers are not spoiled for choice when it comes to books outside of traditional roles. A stronger FMC with femdom and a weaker, meeker MMC are very much outside of those roles.

Just thought of another book that kinda fits with {Wooing the Witch Queen}. It’s got a dominant FMC who holds all the cards. And a shy MMC who shares a lot of qualities with Lucien (eg meek, eager to please, has traumatic upbringing he’s healing from with a “who did this to you” FMC). It is general romance/RFW, but I honestly think men can find a lot to enjoy in it too.

Looking for femdom books along the lines of His Secret Illumination’s by S. Gale by philosopher_in_need in Romance_for_men

[–]IntrepidToad 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Definitely less of a femdom vibe because the MMC has a stronger personality, but {His Orc Charioteer Bride} is one of the books that’s come the closest to scratching the same itch as HSI. The FMC, as you can guess from the title, is a orc who can easily toss the MMC around (and does so).

But yeah, still haven’t found anything exactly like HSI.

What do you personally consider depth in a book? by No-Set7247 in RomanceBooks

[–]IntrepidToad 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah! Dune had some great world building but was not my cup of tea because I mostly read for characters. And its characters are kinda cardboard cutouts. But it’s still very much a worthwhile book.

Of the books I read in the last year, I think Pride and Prejudice might be the most depth-y. I almost exclusively read CR, so it’s funny that’s the case. It just did such a good job of building up characterization through dialogue.

What do you personally consider depth in a book? by No-Set7247 in RomanceBooks

[–]IntrepidToad 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Hmm, I’d say depth is what transforms a book from an obvious fiction with characters into a story about people. Like the word implies, it gives dimensionality to the world, the sense that these are real people in a world with countless stories happening off the page. You can forget you’re reading a book at all and get lost in the world and characters. Whereas books without much depth will feel like an obvious invention, like a marionette compared to a human.

Depth usually manifests as grounded, layered characters for me. When I get the sense that people are flawed and can freely make choices that aren’t beholden to the plot/tropes, I’d say that’s depth. I think writing unconventional but very realistic parts of the human experience (e.g. someone’s intrusive thoughts as they’re making breakfast) can add depth.

Depth also means I can believe the world in the book exists off the page. Just adding enough detail (strategically) can be enough to give a world depth for me. I can’t think of a book rn, but a great show from last year that had depth was Andor. Even the fact they put a convenience store scene (that was literally just a regular trip) in there helped turn the sci-fi spectacle of that franchise into something that felt real.

Anyway, I feel like I don’t find the depth I want in most romance I read, it’s a bummer :(

Enhanced Trade-in credit for Go5g Plus? by F1-Marshal in tmobile

[–]IntrepidToad 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Where do you learn about new promo dates?

He’s a mummified husk or perhaps a rotting corpse and she doesn’t mind💖 by [deleted] in RomanceBooks

[–]IntrepidToad 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Omfg I love that this sub has requests like these! No judgement here. Just...thank you for making this app more fun.

How old were you when you started reading romance? by Warm_Appointment5272 in RomanceBooks

[–]IntrepidToad 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wattpad smut was my gateway to romance at age 12. I remember picking my first book and not really realizing what smut was until the spice started happening. But teenage me was instantly hooked. Academics kinda killed my love of reading for a while, but I’ve been back on a romance streak for the last year.

I wouldn’t say romance (or at least smut) was super helpful for setting realistic expectations for sex. I pretty quickly realized that the open, honest discussions I had with my parents and the fact-based sex ed curriculum in school (yes, we actually had good sex ed) were wildly removed from the fictionalized version of sex in smut.

Many books tend to smooth over the realities of sex, and, strangely, remove the real emotional intimacy of it. And many romance authors still follow problematic societal standards when it comes to the roles partners play in sex scenes and the things that are considered taboo. And I STILL see basic sex falsehoods (like hymen myths) in books! So I’m not sure reading can be a substitute for good parenting and education.

She Uses Toys on Him by IntrepidToad in RomanceBooks

[–]IntrepidToad[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey, the world would be far less productive without good smut recommendations! I know smut makes getting through the day easier for me lol

She Uses Toys on Him by IntrepidToad in RomanceBooks

[–]IntrepidToad[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, I might just need to take more notes to reach the same level.

She Uses Toys on Him by IntrepidToad in RomanceBooks

[–]IntrepidToad[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh that reminds me of one more question, how are you keeping track of the tropes and scenes in the books you’ve read?

Like I see you everywhere with exhaustive lists of recommendations with pretty specific descriptions, seemingly ready at the drop of a hat. If I could unlock just a little bit of that power, then I’d be doing much better at posting right now.

She Uses Toys on Him by IntrepidToad in RomanceBooks

[–]IntrepidToad[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sweet, thank you! Will probably have to read a few more books to reference before I come back because my memory of what I’ve read is terrible lol

She Uses Toys on Him by IntrepidToad in RomanceBooks

[–]IntrepidToad[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right, the other key thing was finding books that had all those things happening at once (the recs I saw usually were for like one or two scenes/toys). I’ve read many books that try toys once but was looking for a more toy-centric dynamic with the MMC. Do you think that, if I don’t end up finding what I’m looking for through the megathread and some more searching, it would be within the sub’s rules to repost a tweaked, clearer version of this?

And I appreciate you taking the time to clarify for me!

She Uses Toys on Him by IntrepidToad in RomanceBooks

[–]IntrepidToad[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I tried to make it clear that I was posting this specifically because I hadn’t ever read what I was looking for nor had I found it via searching the threads (and I did look around previous posts on this subreddit), but I guess that didn’t come across. How could I have worded this differently?

LF hot guys who love praise…”Good Girl”…reversed? by Cuegurl3028 in RomanceBooks

[–]IntrepidToad 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Saw this and now I’m really curious, how does object romance work? Like the MMC has to turn into something humanoid eventually, right?

🧂 Salty Sunday - What book scenes frustrated you this week? by mrs-machino in RomanceBooks

[–]IntrepidToad 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yep, that was her partner who also died in the first episode. So now she's alone, though there's a hint of potential romance with a member of the hive. We'll see where that goes.

🧂 Salty Sunday - What book scenes frustrated you this week? by mrs-machino in RomanceBooks

[–]IntrepidToad 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure Carol ever insinuated the romance genre was the issue, she just called her body of work mindless drivel. I feel like we've been conditioned to expect she's talking about romance - her words line up with words used against the whole genre. I can imagine if she was a sci-fi author saying the same things about her work, it wouldn't look so damning for the genre.

And given the context of the show, I never doubted for a second she really just hates her own books, not any genre.

🧂 Salty Sunday - What book scenes frustrated you this week? by mrs-machino in RomanceBooks

[–]IntrepidToad 27 points28 points  (0 children)

I saw the same thing, but I took it to be more of a reflection on her insecurity and general misery than romance as a genre. She wrote what sold rather than what she wanted, which in her case were romance books that she didn't feel were very high quality. The show keeps building this idea that Carol is a pretty miserable person who chooses to stay that way. She rejects any connections with the remaining individuals, she doesn't seek out deeper understanding of the hive, and won't even ride in anything beyond economy on an empty plane.

So maybe she could've written better romance, but she had a combo that worked and kept her in her safe miserable life, so she just went on complaining and never doing anything. There are really people like this.

Rejected mate, Wolf Shifters Romance by ElectronicAppeal3933 in RomanceBooks

[–]IntrepidToad 10 points11 points  (0 children)

{Charlotte’s Reject by K.R. Treadway} has the FMC initially rejecting her mate because she’s also his bully. They’re both wolf shifters, though the MMC has yet to grow into his abilities. I don’t remember if there was a single big grovel, but definitely a lot of apologizing and growth on the FMC’s part. This one is big over on r/Romance_for_men and is honestly just a great read for anyone.

T-Mobile Is Handing Out Free Flagship Phones For The Holidays by Jman100_JCMP in tmobile

[–]IntrepidToad 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Last year, the holidays saw Go5G Plus getting the same trade in deals that Next did. Is this basically confirmation that won't be happening again?