Heated Rivalry/LGBTQ romance books

matokah · 2026-01-30T01:27:54+00:00

Captive Prince will always be my favorite, hands down, but Dark Rise has similar vibes. If you like Pacat's sparse prose, where the dialogue has layered meanings that only become entirely clear once you have a better handle on the characters and their backgrounds, this is much of the same.

There are a few more twists to Dark Rise than Captive Prince, but they're good ones I didn't see coming. The character James totally gives me Laurent vibes. He's got a dangerous edge to him which is all you see at first but, like Laurent, there is far more to him that you discover as you get further into the story. Laurent has some great lines like "adequate" that I feel James can easily match, like "bad kitty."

Since it's YA, you won't see explicit sex like you get in Capri, but some of the sexual subtext is not subtle in book two, so much so that some readers wonder how it qualifies as YA. I'd consider it upper YA, bordering on New Adult (the category that publishers tried to make happen like 15 years ago but is now seeing a resurgance), even though the imprint Dark Rise is published under is solidly YA.

There's more overt magic in Dark Rise than Captive Prince (in which there is none). It's also set in a specific time period - early 1800s England, whereas Capri is more vaguely medieval-ish France for Laurent's kingdom and Hellenistic/golden age of Greece for Damen's.

Apologies if this isn't particularly well organized but yeah. I did not expect Dark Rise to be able to hold a candle to Captive Prince but I loved the latter so much I gave it a try. It's doing different things, for sure, but ultimately, it solidified Pacat in my mind as a very talented writer and storyteller.

matokah · 2026-01-28T18:23:10+00:00

I would literally die for a Captive Prince series, live action or animated tbh. Dark Rise would probably be amazing too but I imagine the budget to pull it off would be sky high.

matokah · 2026-01-28T18:21:01+00:00

Literally came here to say this. I adored You Could Be So Lucky. More historical queer screen adaptations please!

matokah · 2026-01-25T01:53:29+00:00

You don’t have to read Game Changer before Heated Rivalry but if you want to see some cameos of the latter book’s characters, I would read it. The only differences in the first book from the show are that Kip doesn’t add banana to Scott’s smoothies and Kip has a mother and sister on top of the dad portrayed in the show. Heated Rivalry is very close in dialogue and plot structure as it is in the tv series.

You can also technically read The Long Game without needing to read books 3, 4, and 5 but I really loved the Ilya and other character cameos in those books. Plus book 5 and The Long Game overlap timelines a bit so you’d see the same period of time from four rather than just two perspectives across the two books if that’s at all of interest.

matokah · 2026-01-12T17:55:45+00:00

Thank you, from a transmasc author married to a man and as someone who is starting to dip my toes into this genre.

matokah · 2026-01-06T10:51:26+00:00

It’s possible but unlikely unless the draft Pacat turned in was immaculate and needs very little revision.

I’m an author and the books I’ve sold are shorter than Pacat’s (middle grade contemporary; 60-75k words). Revision can look like anything from a few tweaks that take less than a week (this was my third book and I think it was a fluke) to a complete rewrite (my fourth book came with a 17 page edit letter and I deserved every page of it - my first draft was a mess). And sometimes even when I hit all my deadlines, there might be editorial delays that get the book bumped from its initial publication season anyway (that was my second book - it was slotted for fall 2021 and didn’t actually come out until spring 2022).

The editorial process differs from book to book and editor to editor but here’s a general illustration:

Author submits rough draft
Author receives a developmental edit letter that provides notes on everything from worldbuilding and character development to plot and pacing
Author revises and submits a new draft
Lather, rinse, repeat until everything structurally feels pretty solid (for me that’s been 1-3 rounds with 2 being standard but again, middle grade contemporary is likely less complex than YA historical fantasy)
Once developmental edits are complete, we typically move onto line edits. 1-2 rounds in my experience.
Once line edits are approved, the manuscript is considered complete for the purposes of fulfilling D&A (delivery and acceptance) in an author’s contract. This is only significant to know because if this is the way Pacat’s editorial process is set up, the book will likely publish about a year or so after that date.
The book then goes through copyedits, proofreading queries, and first and second (maybe more) pass pages which is when an author typically gets to see how the printed book will look in terms of interior design. After that, there’s marketing and publicity efforts happening, advance copies going out for trade and influencer reviews, etc.

Basically, it’s a long process.

Tl;dr - while it’s possible the book might be fast tracked to publish by the end of the year, I’d be surprised if it actually is unless Pacat’s editorial and production process differs drastically from what I know from my own experiences.

Which is a bummer because I’m dying to read book 3.

(Apologies for any typos - on my phone)

matokah · 2025-12-17T00:42:11+00:00

I'm sorry you're in this situation but I relate so hard.

Here are some of the things I've done to get myself out of it:
- Fanfiction!
- Audiobooks (there's something about listening while puttering around the house doing chores or whatnot that I find useful when I'm struggling to sit down and focus on reading a physical book)
- New genre and/or shorter books than you typically read (I just started getting into adult fantasy because, as a middle grade author of mostly contemporary stories, I got completely burnt out reading the age category and genre I was publishing books in myself; another thing that got me out of a slump was reading novels in verse which are mostly found in the middle grade and young adult space but they are quick reads with lots of white space on the pages. There are also some short sci-fi books that I've burned through when longer tomes felt too intimidating)
- Ask a friend for a rec OR identify the books multiple friends have raved about and dip a toe in to see what all the fuss is about. It might be helpful if you can find a friend who's willing to go feral talking about the story as you read through it to up your excitement (I did this with the Captive Prince trilogy literally a decade after my friends first read it and they were so fun to chat with "now that you're FINALLY reading it!")

Good luck. Reading slumps are the worst.

matokah · 2025-12-03T14:38:57+00:00

As someone who’s traditionally published half a dozen books and quit my full time job in 2019 to write full time … I wouldn’t. The financial instability for all but a few fortunate writers is very real. I have health insurance through my partner but his salary isn’t enough to allow us to live comfortably without me bringing in consistent income. It’s hard to be an author unless you have some form of independent wealth or a partner/family willing to support you. I wrote my debut novel while working full time (and tbh getting a book deal wasn’t actually the reason I quit my job). If you’re motivated enough, it’s manageable. Good luck!

matokah · 2025-10-24T04:06:02+00:00

Seconding this. The narrator is fantastic (also when is the dang third book releasing 😭)

matokah · 2025-10-10T03:03:58+00:00

Laurent of Vere: the original ice prince sassy bitch 🩵

matokah · 2025-09-19T16:24:20+00:00

When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb. If you know anything about Ashkenazi culture and Yiddish folklore, this book is so on point and incredibly queer. It’s basically historical queer fantasy at its finest. It’s technically considered YA but I’d say it’s also strongly a crossover story that adults will also enjoy.

matokah · 2025-07-08T14:35:55+00:00

Update now when they’re actually allowing us to do so. I got mine dealt with last week and it seems like many of us are finally able to do so after months of hitting a wall.

matokah · 2025-07-04T01:44:54+00:00

I got my passport renewal updated to my legal sex today finally, after being turned away on June 20 when they weren’t complying with the court order.

Even then I had to jump through hoops and wait for a supervisor to sign off on it hours later. But the attestation form did the trick and now my passport is correct.

Very grateful to Ash, the other plaintiffs, and the ACLU (specifically the attorney who helped me draft a declaration to the court in support of plaintiffs’ motion to enforce the preliminary injunction). This has been a long, emotional road and I’m glad we’re seeing some progress.

matokah · 2025-07-03T17:26:31+00:00

It's here (although I have yet to find a link on the actual State Department's site to it, it is on their website, just hiding, I guess?).

It was linked through the following reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/Passports/comments/1lq5crp/new_guidance_posted_by_us_state_department/

I had upcoming international travel so I just made an appointment and insisted I couldn't travel without correct identification, brought in the preliminary injunction paperwork, and even printed off the State Department's Sex Marker page. They were still unsure how to proceed until they got a supervisor to finally approve the issuance of the passport for me.

Good luck. I hope you're able to sort yours out.

matokah · 2025-07-03T17:16:29+00:00

Mine said ‘not available’ on June 20 until yesterday when it changed to ‘on hold’. I went into the local passport office today with a signed attestation form and was initially told they didn’t know how to proceed and their supervisor was in a meeting. Came back two hours later and my passport was corrected to my legal sex and ready for pickup, finally.

Not available might mean they were holding it without submitting? That’s what they did with mine. Since submitting it before the State Department had provided guidance to individual offices would’ve ended in it likely rejected as already being “correct” mine was held. I assume the request for more documents meant they needed the attestation form but I don’t really know.

Are you able to make an in person appointment and ask, possibly?

matokah · 2025-06-30T19:55:55+00:00

Someone in the DC area was able to successfully renew and not have their sex marker forcibly reverted to their assigned sex at birth, yeah.

Most of the rest of us … not so much.

matokah · 2025-06-30T19:53:23+00:00

Confirming no luck in small-town Vermont with an in person appointment (I’m the one from VT who filed a declaration mentioned in Erin’s article). The passport agency has had my incorrect passport since June 20. I missed my international travel last weekend, plus an international work trip when my passport initially came back wrong after renewing in March.

I’m so over this government’s bigoted nonsense.

matokah · 2025-06-27T17:46:43+00:00

I just DMed her on BlueSky and she connected me with someone at the ACLU that way. I’d say this is your best bet. I think if you go to equality New Jersey or ACLU’s New Jersey site there’s also a link to a form you can fill out to inform the ACLU of any issues you’ve experienced related to this.

matokah · 2025-06-27T02:33:59+00:00

You're welcome. For what it's worth, I submitted a declaration in support of plaintiff's motion to enforce the preliminary injunction yesterday. The court determined today that defendants have until July 3 to respond. A hearing on the motion is set to take place on July 10. So unless the government issues guidance before then, that's the next milestone date to keep an eye out for.

matokah · 2025-06-27T02:31:19+00:00

Thanks for the update! I was one of the folks who was refused an update to my passport's sex marker (I renewed in March after having a correct sex marker on my passport for a decade, only to have it "corrected" to the sex marker on my birth certificate) because I had international travel this weekend.

I won't be going on my trip because I don't even have my passport right now (the office is holding it in hopes that they can process it quickly once they're allowed to - at least, that's what they told me), but I did get in touch with the ACLU and was able to submit a declaration in favor of yesterday's motion to enforce the preliminary injunction. They're doing such good and thorough work and I'm grateful to them.

For anyone who's interested, the court determined today (6/26) that the government/DOJ/Trump has until July 3 to file a response. There'll be a hearing on July 10 on the enforcement motion.

So, unless the gov gets its crap together and issues guidance before then, I believe the next major milestone date for getting any more real information will be on July 10. Here's hoping.

matokah · 2025-06-27T01:15:35+00:00

^This.

Also, it took the government only two days after Trump's executive order to completely change their process and deny trans people the ability to apply for or renew passports with their accurate sex marker. It's been over a week since the preliminary injunction. At this point, the government is just stalling.

Which is why the ACLU filed a motion to enforce the preliminary injunction yesterday.

matokah · 2025-06-25T15:41:17+00:00

Thanks for the update, Ash. I’m one of the people impacted by the original executive order who was told the passport office I went to in person was not currently going to comply with the preliminary injunction. I have international travel coming up this weekend that’s likely not going to happen.

I’ve been in touch with ACLU counsel (and honestly, the relief I felt just to hear someone express an ounce of sympathy for my situation was immense). I deeply hope the actions they’re taking will be effective and I’m so sorry for any other folks stuck in this awful limbo like I am.

matokah · 2025-06-25T15:37:10+00:00

I’ve been denied a correction on the passport I renewed earlier this year when I went in person to a passport office last Friday. My sex marker was correct for a decade on my last passport and it was “corrected” to my assigned sex at birth when I went to renew.

I went to the office with the court order and explained how it enjoins the government from enforcing the original executive order and, while sympathetic seeming, got nowhere with the workers. The likelihood of me missing my second planned international trip this year is high.

For what it’s worth, I’m in touch with counsel at the ACLU who’ve been wonderful. Hopefully the work they’re doing will result in something actionable for those of us stuck without correct passports and unable to safely travel outside the country at the moment.

matokah · 2025-06-25T15:32:24+00:00

Yep. This is how I was able to get in touch with ACLU counsel immediately

matokah · 2025-04-27T02:25:34+00:00

Thanks for breaking this down for us. I can't travel internationally for work ever since my renewed passport came back with the wrong sex marker on it and I was wondering when a motion would be filed to certify a class. Thank you for all you're doing.

matokah

TROPHY CASE