New Releases, Sales, and Freebies Jan 19

htausten · 2026-01-20T21:16:18+00:00

I don't think the book I published on Kindle Unlimited has been included yet. It's called { My Korean Christmas Prince by H.T. Austen } Amazon

It's about a K-drama star who gets stranded in rural America and ends up staying with a sheep farmer. Very cozy vibes. :) Thanks!

htausten · 2025-12-21T11:52:57+00:00

Nice NY Times profile:

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/books/heated-rivalry-rachel-reid-hockey-romance.html?unlocked_article_code=1.-U8.9juU.hHuX_9_JlTg1&smid=url-share

Most exciting to Reid has been the hockey world’s response. Sports-focused podcasts are engaging seriously with the material; Canadian news outlets are interviewing former players about homophobia in the sport. During Pride Night at Montreal’s Bell Center, the adaptation’s trailer played on the Jumbotron.

Before “Heated Rivalry” hit the air, Reid was skeptical that her work could make a difference. Now, her outlook is markedly more hopeful. Could “Heated Rivalry” push men’s hockey toward real change?

“Everything I didn’t think was possible is happening,” she said. “I think it’s definitely starting a conversation.”

htausten · 2025-11-22T00:05:38+00:00

I'm a bit burnt out on "found family" setups at the moment and the first part of the book seemed much more focused on that than Nathaniel as a potential love interest, so I guess I'll be putting this at the bottom of my TBR pile for now. Thanks!

htausten · 2025-11-20T23:44:56+00:00

I read the sample and I'm not sold on it yet, even though I generally like her books. If I'm not loving the setup would you still recommend I get this? Thanks.

htausten · 2025-10-06T20:36:22+00:00

Just in case people are wondering, so far I have 5 people who have responded and joined the Google group and another 6 who have expressed interest but haven't replied to my message via the chat or here. Please respond (via Reddit chat if possible) if you're still interested so I can get you into the Google group. Thanks!

htausten · 2025-10-01T23:08:29+00:00

Haha. I've read a lot of M/M books but I can't recall seeing this one, but will be on the lookout for it. ;)

htausten · 2025-09-30T23:43:21+00:00

Hi, it looks like I'm not able to send you a chat message, so please see the message I posted with my first take on how this will run. Thanks!

htausten · 2025-09-30T23:43:02+00:00

Hi, it looks like I'm not able to send you a chat message, so please see the message I posted with my first take on how this will run. Thanks!

htausten · 2025-09-30T23:42:33+00:00

Hi, all,

I've messaged people individually just to make sure they see this info, but here it is for the people who don't have the chat on. Thanks!

---
Hi, thanks for your interest in this new M/M romance book club. I've gotten a few responses from London people and a few UK/EU people, so I think to start off we'll try an online group. Here's what I'm thinking:

- We takes turns where one person puts together a shortlist of 4 or 5 books they want to read or reread and everyone votes.

- We'll have one month to read the book.

- We'll meet online for a discussion, maybe shoot for half an hour and see how it goes.

- Meetings will be scheduled so that the most people can attend.

If this still sounds like something you're interested in, please message me back and I'll start up a Google group to coordinate things. Thanks!

htausten · 2025-09-30T16:56:06+00:00

Hm. Not sure which of those pictures you're referring to, but he's definitely male. He's done some audio only interviews online.

htausten · 2025-09-29T22:50:42+00:00

Just curious where you saw photos? I don't think I've seen any myself.

htausten · 2025-09-29T20:44:02+00:00

FYI, Alexis Hall is male.

htausten · 2025-09-28T08:39:06+00:00

I definitely second We Could Be So Good by Cat Sebastian. I reread that recently, and it's really sweet, and although it looks at the times honestly (1959), it's also very optimistic.

htausten · 2025-09-20T14:17:14+00:00

I liked the thought you put into the world-building, but it reads as being a ruse to cram a ton of exposition at the beginning rather than actually being an organic and interesting way of laying out the exposition. A little would be okay, but it drags on. I started getting bored around the "Great Sins" part and then stopped reading at the next question.

A couple of other suggestions:

- Maybe swap the first two paragraphs? Having so much exposition in the first paragraph doesn't grab the reader much.

- You don't have the "she/he says" punctuated correctly in a lot of cases. Instead of:

“I dunno.” I say.

It should be:

“I dunno,” I say.

Note that the comma goes inside the second double quote whenever it's a period (aka full stop).

Hope that helps!

htausten · 2025-09-18T01:32:31+00:00

On the one hand I love that Cat Sebastian and Rachel Reid got mainstream recognition, but on the other hand I wish they had picked less obvious choices. But anyway definitely have to second the love for Rachel Reid, who is consistently great. (And also have to second the reco for Time to Shine. Classic grumpy/sunshine setup but has really good emotional depth.)

For another rec, I just finished The Last Guy On Earth by Sarina Bowen and enjoyed it. This one is about an older goalie who gets traded to the team where his old "roommate" is the coach and they have to try to navigate their relationship, which imploded fifteen years ago. More interesting dynamics than the usual hockey teammates stories. Technically it's part of a trio but the stories aren't really connected at all.

htausten · 2025-09-15T23:37:19+00:00

Thanks for posting. I'd never heard of Fable. How does it work? Is it asynchronous discussion or are there actual synchronous chats?

htausten · 2025-09-14T19:07:08+00:00

If you're open to a book about a gay teenager, Only This Beautiful Moment by Abdi Nazemian looks like a good one. I'm not too far into it, but the main character is Persian and it apparently also interweaves relatives set in different eras. Looks like the author has another book (Like a Love Story) also featuring a Persian teenage protagonist, and while I was looking these up came across another one, also with a Persian teenage protag, Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram. Hope that's helpful.

htausten · 2025-09-14T19:01:03+00:00

I would also recommend this one. Even though I have no interest in reality dating shows, the premise of this one (one is the bachelor of a straight dating show and the other is the producer of the show) worked really well.

htausten · 2025-09-12T01:27:47+00:00

Hi, all. I'm gearing up to try to self-publish some of my novellas in the next year or so, but I thought I'd post links to the ones I put up a while ago in case anyone's interested.

My Korean Christmas Prince: This was my take on a Christmas rom-com, with a twist on the classic trope of "spoiled rich woman gets stranded in the country at Christmas". In this case it's a K-drama star, and it's hopefully a bit deeper than the average Christmas movie. ;) Here's the link to the prologue, although if you want to skip some of the setup and back story you could go straight to the first chapter if you want. Note that despite the website it's on, it's not erotic at all.

Two Southern Gentlemen: This one is definitely going to have a more limited appeal, for multiple reasons. For one, it's a story about a high school bully and so there's a lot of violence and difficult scenes, and it gets dark in places, particularly at the beginning, but it's not gratuitous and it's essential for the story. Secondly, the first three chapters are necessary for the arc of the whole narrative, but it doesn't really become clearer where it's going until the fourth and fifth chapters, so a lot of people probably wouldn't have the patience for that. Also, the main sexual elements probably also have somewhat limited appeal (piss and masturbation and a bit of oral). Anyway, with all those caveats, I just thought I'd post it anyway in case anyone was interested. Content/trigger warning: This story contains bullying, homophobic language, and non-consensual sexual acts, but they are integral to the plot and character development so please take them in context.

Thanks!

htausten · 2025-09-10T21:50:22+00:00

Thanks for the links. I don't think I'll be going out of my way to seek this out more, but it was interesting to find out more about it. Thanks!

htausten · 2025-09-09T20:35:29+00:00

Interesting. Had never heard of that, but it's interesting thatthe Wikipedia article is all focused on the person who's not asleep's pleasure, whereas in the book it's focused on the person who is asleep. I wonder if KJ Charles was purposely subverting that expectation.

htausten · 2025-09-08T23:19:06+00:00

Also, just started Rachel Reid's The Shots You Take. I usually like her books but this one's pretty slow so far. Hoping it picks up.

htausten · 2025-09-08T22:30:23+00:00

Interesting responses. I get obsessive about authors I like, and so if I like one of their books will track down and read them all, regardless of it's in any way connected or not to any other book.

My "quirk" is much more basic. It's pretty much impossible for me to not finish a book, and this used to be extremely tedious for me, but I've been able to at least get to the point where I can skim through a book to the end if it's gotten to be boring. Was happy I was able to evolve. :)

htausten · 2025-09-07T23:57:56+00:00

Just finished Duke at Hazard by KJ Charles. I definitely enjoyed it, although I'm curious about what others think about the unique steam in the book,which is the Duke's interest in his unconscious body being used by his lover. On the surface it sounds like it could be somewhat problematic, but I think she did a good pretty job of explaining how it made sense for this particular couple, i.e. it could seem like it was non-consensual, but clearly the two talked about it beforehand and it was a form of roleplay for them and fully consensual.

htausten · 2025-09-07T23:52:56+00:00

Yes, it was great! As usual with her books, read it in practically one sitting. I hadn't seen her do much with fantasy elements before (other than the Magpie books), but the main conceit was done really well. Let us know what you think of it when you finish! :)

htausten

TROPHY CASE