1: Bec by BarBar A vote for the entire Bec: Lost in the Maze series, of which this is the first installment. The strong and funny and vulnerable protagonist carries the story, as she struggles to figure out which of her many problems are caused by an inherited neurological condition, other mental health issues, quirky upbringing, or having just been body-checked into the back wall by adolescence. I lost a weekend to this.
2: Mural by aroslav A vote for the complete Model Student series, of which this is the first installment. Depressive art student grows into an artist and into a group marriage. The sex is hot and never repetitive, the core relationship is balanced, and the story well-written.
3: Opus One by Ryan Sylander I love the way the three principals grow into their relationship and into their musical talents, and manage to survive their first year as conservatory students. The author’s inspired musical choices aren’t essential for appreciating the story, but the story gains layers if you are familiar with them. Despite dark moments, sweet and inspiring—I wish I could write like that.
4: Blizzard by Redsliver I adore Team Girlfriend, plus I love how the characters methodically work through how the magic spell works, how to live with it, and how to break it. The plotting reminds me of Diana Wynne Jones.
5: Gay! by awnlee jawking An unthinking homophobic slur by a teen results in a witch’s curse that turns his life upside-down. Well-characterized and plotted, and I especially like how the nerd squad interacts and, eventually, works together to figure out what the heck is going on. I’d add well-paced, except the resolution drags out one or two chapters too long, so well-paced till then. Good stuff.
6: Living Next Door to Heaven 1 by aroslav A vote for the entire story, of which this is the first half. Another tale of a young male protagonist growing up in a polycule with limited internal tensions, which means it’s my sort of catnip. I especially enjoyed watching the Agreement develop and evolve. Fair warning: the pacing at the beginning and end are wonky, and I don’t just mean that it starts slow and ends fast. If you like The Transmogrification of Jacob Hopkins, you’ll like this—they share many features.
7: Rewind by Don Lockwood I’m a sucker for Lockwood’s brand of teen romances, and his Naked In School stories drew me into writing my own. This do-over story, incomplete as it is, is far and away my favorite of his. It’s also one of my favorite do-over stories, hitting the sweet spot in balancing the protagonist’s before and after selves.
8: Double Take by aroslav A vote for the complete Transmogrification of Jacob Hopkins series, of which this is the first installment. Senior citizen gets a do-over but is reincarnated into not his past self but an alternate history version, one where both more and less has gone wrong with his life. Jacob’s struggle with reconciling his different identities is deftly handled, and the author’s habit of writing polycules with minimal internal tensions is, as always, a delight to read. If you like Living Next Door to Heaven, you’ll like this—they share many features.
9: A New Past by Charlie Foxtrot A do-over story that only vaguely gestures at the psychological disconnect of being an old soul in a young body, but leans hard into the science-fictional implications of time travel. Refreshingly, the protagonist gets rich through advanced engineering and physics rather than memories of the financial markets. Best of all, it nails the ending so, so well—way better than most such stories.
10: Building a Better Past by tendertouch A do-over story focused on repairing a relationship the MC regrets blowing. For most of the tale, it’s an amiable but apparently standard do-over. Then comes the twist that puts everything that’s happened in a new perspective. I like that. I like that a lot.
11: Paul's Redemption by novascriptus A do-over story with a tight focus on using this chance to become a better person, which means there’s a lot of learning anger management, a fair amount of romance, and not enough physics. I love love love the resolution of the final relationship—respect for that redemptive decision. (Content warning: late 1950s America.)
12: A Fresh Start by rlfj A do-over story that initially focuses not just on avoiding the mistakes of the first time around but also on repeating what did work before, including reconnecting with the love of his life—than goes on from there in unpredictable directions, including an unexpected use of the events of 9-11. I keep circling back to this in memory, which makes it the most haunting do-over I’ve read. (Note that the story is completed in an extended “epilogue” that for some reason wasn’t included in this.)
13: Through My Eyes. Again by Iskander A guy with a troubled past is suddenly thrust into his 12-year-old self, but in a subtly altered then increasingly divergent history of the Cold War. Tightly written and sometimes harrowing. Heed the content warnings.
14: Human Phoenix by Refusenik A vote for the entire story, the second half being Human Man. The young survivor of a horrific attack is buried in a rural orphanage, and as he grows up must come to terms with both his past and his unusual abilities. The characterization is both layered and understated, the eventual romance is sweet, and the resulting story builds to a satisfying coming of age.
15: Banner Year by Shrink42 A coming-of-age story with a higher than typical frequency of traumatic events and a deeper than typical life-mate romance, which the dual protagonists slowly mature through and into. A lot of things stand out, including better than average pacing and plot-structure for the genre, but most of all, almost none of the many sex scenes are gratuitous—all but a couple are highlighting or developing either characters or relationships. (Content warning: the sex is strictly cis-straight vanilla—most kinks are shamed and most homosexuals are depicted negatively, and none positively. Also, the story description SUCKS.)
16: Suddenly Rich Kid by Argon A coming-of-age story with an appealing, self-deprecating MC and a reasonably believable constellation of love-interests, who all develop as he does. I love his relationship with his half-sister.
17: Ice and Fire by No One A sweet queer romance about a girl slowly coming to accept her unrecognized sexuality. This is a pitch-perfect short story, exactly structured and paced.
18: The Wrong Side of Pink by CWatson A sweet queer teen romance where the information about the main character’s medical condition is correct ... but, O ye gods and little fishes, Madison’s medical team is HORRIBLE—which, honestly, is realistic, but still. Her flailing around as she tries to come to terms with it is also very much a realistic teenage thing. The ending is perfectly timed and paced, too.
19: Rhythm and the Blue Line by PennLady A quiet romance of inexperienced young adults with divergent careers and commitment phobias, but who are nonetheless drawn to each other. Hot and sweet. My one disappointment is that Ryan’s awful family never gets the dressing down they so richly deserve. (For more hockey, also check out the author’s “Nothing Gets Through.” For more young adult romances, try her “Worth the Effort” and “Altering the Plans.”)
20: Hyperactive Alex by zaliterr Another story of smart youngsters in a low-conflict polyamorous relationship. The story as a whole doesn’t have a lot of drama, for that matter, as this is a tale that spins along until it reaches a semi-stable conclusion. I love the final relationship configuration, and wish I could write one that evolves as smoothly.
21: Protective Coloration by tendertouch Okay, so I have a thing for stories about poly teens. Especially queer poly teen romances with minimal internal tensions. This is exactly that sort of catnip.
22: Heroes by Don Lockwood Another of Lockwood’s teen romances, with engaging and distinct characters, plus a balanced view of the different types of Bad Places that makes teenagers want to kill themselves and the different reactions this causes. I love it to pieces. (Content warning: many discussions of suicide and a couple attempts, one successful—escaping a Bad Place is not easy, and not everyone succeeds.)
23: Australian Story by Oz Ozzie A nearly pitch-perfect YA novel with a nicely sweet romance. The details of the protagonists’ challenges are of a time and place, but the issues remain all-too timely.
24: Councils of War by Uther Pendragon A nearly pitch-perfect Regency Romance. The central romance is a delight, and the interactions of both principal’s families is excellent. This is the first book of a series but not a vote for the other books, as later installments are repetitive, get successively shorter, and aren’t about these families.
25: The Return of Thomas Grey by Argon Napoleonic seafaring yarn spiced with romance, closer in manner to Forester than O’Brian, and if you like that genre, you’ll like this. This is a late installment in a loosely connected series, and the only other one I fave is “Sea Fencibles,” which is chronologically second but written later. Which points up how the author, over time, got better at the genre, especially when he stopped modeling his tales after Hornblower crossed with net!porn and developed his own voice.
26: Runaway Train by Jay Cantrell A romance of reconnecting at 30, which means both parties have significant personal histories to work through before they can truly become partners—and the author deftly navigates their ups and downs and sideways dodges. The result is hot and sweet and entertaining. My one quibble is that the music industry threads seem to resolve a little easily. (Honorable mention for the author’s “Daze in the Valley.”)
27: Back To Bristol by GaryAPB Four years after the divorce, what can be put back together? How much of what you think you know is correct? How much was your fault? How much hers? How much other people’s? It looks long, but the writing is tightly immersive and the story deeply, humanely grown up.
28: The Way Back by Always Raining If you can’t remember anything about either the attack or your marriage, how much do you trust a spouse that has moved on? When all evidence points to her fiancé but she insists he’s innocent, what then? A tightly written story about the slow process of recovery and reconnecting.
29: The Shack: an Angry Man by Todd_d172 The first of four stories about Needles & Delaney, continued in An Unreasonable Man, An Implacable Man, and An Unstoppable Man, all of them highly recommended. These form a sub-series within Tales from the Shack, but are independent enough from the others you don’t need to read the rest beforehand. A retired SpecOps medic agrees to retrieve his ex-wife’s runaway teenager, mayhem ensues. Lots and lots of mayhem. Needles and Delaney are loads of fun, but they really need a warning label.
30: The Naked Warrior by Dragon Cobolt Naked psychic warriors (clothing dampens their powers) in space mecha suits versus an evil empire of psychic vampires, with a side order of superheroes—what’s not to like? Dragon Cobalt’s unique brand of gonzo plotting and hyperkinetic fucking around is on full(-frontal) display, wrapped around a plot that actually dovetails together neatly. A wildly entertaining romp.
31: Unconquered by Dragon Cobolt The author’s trademark gonzo plotting and freewheeling fucking around is this time wrapped around a story of radical trans-inclusiveness. I lost count of the number of different trans identities that were welcomed and endorsed—and this, my friends, is a glorious thing. I also cackled every time a detail derived from xianxia (Chinese fantasy based on traditional culture and wuxia tropes) got hip-checked. Fair warning: it has a rocky start and doesn’t catch fire till Ember leaves his village (it took me a couple tries to get into the story).
