I’ve been reading as long as I can remember. For some time I found myself reading dry work-related material, but when that ended, and I came back to fiction, the romance bug had well and truly bitten. *Note, I still read dry work-related books because retirement was not for me. Honestly, younger me would never have seen the romance coming but I’m glad it found me. On this blog I review mostly gay romance (MM) in its many variations, as well as LGBT fiction, lit, and erotica. I step outside this genre and I also review at Dark Hints Reviews. My reading preferences for On Top Down Under are listed below.
A bit more: I love animals, wildlife, gardening, music, ballet, movies, theatre, photography, and there’s so much good TV these days – but nothing beats a good book. I’ve worked in private practice in mental health and allied services for a substantial period of time.
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Kazza’s Preferences:
**If you look at my reviews on here and feel I love them all, I don’t. I review the books that are “okay” or I’m not so fond of on Goodreads or Amazon or I just DNF and move on. I only accept a handful of review copies these days, I’m very time strapped and I want to increase the chance of reading books I really like-to-love.
My preferences are predominantly mood and blurb related. If a book sounds intriguing and it matches my mood, I’ll pick it up. It’s all about a good book with great characters. On this site I predominantly read romance but I do read books where romance is a subplot or more in the background when there are other driving arcs. I also read literary books. I review genre fiction on our other site, Dark Hints Reviews I’m flexible in my reading but, first and foremost, I remain a total and utter character obsessive, one with a need for passionate writing by the author.
The following appeal to me the most:
Psychological/Behavioural – there needs to be a solid, factual basis behind the writing. I do not like things that are dragged off Goggle search
Romance – I like my romance a bit different and unusual. That’s what’s most appreciated by me. I’m looking for engaging characters. I prefer couples or characters to work for whatever they get. Mostly, though, it’s whether they can elicit strong emotion within me that counts the most. Move me!
Paranormal – darkly romantic and bloody is a preference but I read lighter paranormal as well. Mostly I’m looking for an interesting story with strong world building. I have a distinct passion for vampires and werewolves
Murder/Mystery
Investigative/Courtroom story lines
Urban Fantasy
Dark – I read Dub-Con. Obsessive/Stalkerish/Grittier Types…
Historical and Alt-Historical
Regency romance
Twincest/Brocest and associated ‘cests
Ménage – Gay/Bi
Literary
Humour – specifically satire, social commentary, dry, quirky
Also –
Moral Ambiguity are two of my favourite fictional words
I will read books with infidelity
For gay romance/MM writers, I am not anti “women’s-bits” in my reading – if you write in that genre you’ll understand why I mention this
I do not have to have a HEA or cookie-cutter ending to my books
I read first time authors… if the book sounds good
Depends on the book, but I tend to review with pictures, some of a highly adult nature, consider this may form part of my review for your book before requesting me as a reviewer. If you write the words, I like to give them a visual.
I rarely read YA
I avoid like the plague books with animal harm or cruelty
I don’t read insensitive, insulting, tacky books. I do not like misogyny or misandry
I don’t typically read books about sport, rock stars and bands, MC clubs, or Jock/Nerd tropes
Kazza reads in mobi format only.