During the weekend, I headed out toward Heather Lake for a long forest hike and a little distance from the noise of the city. The trail moved through everything I love about the Pacific Northwest, moss-covered trees, damp earth, wooden footbridges, and that cool mountain air that somehow feels cleaner the deeper you go. Spring … Read more
There’s something about hockey romances that just works. The intensity, the loyalty, the emotion simmering beneath all that discipline and Carly Marie’s Seth absolutely delivers on that. As the third book in the Johnson Family Rules series, this M/M romance balances sports, family expectations, and emotional vulnerability in a way that feels incredibly genuine. Seth … Read more
Last night at SIFF Cinema Uptown I watched Drunken Noodles, and it completely pulled me into its atmosphere. Directed by Lucio Castro, the film drifts through two summers in New York, following a young art student as intimacy, memory, desire, and grief begin to blur together. It’s sensual without ever feeling performative, emotional without forcing … Read more
During the weekend, I pushed off from Alki Beach and paddled out into Elliott Bay just as the light started to shift. There’s a moment right before sunset where everything softens, the skyline, the water, even the noise of the city. Out there, it felt like Seattle was holding its breath. The Space Needle caught … Read more
Some books are designed to push boundaries, and Daddy’s Forbidden Room by K.A. Merikan does exactly that. This M/M romance leans into taboo tension, secrecy, and the magnetic pull of desire that refuses to stay hidden. Merikan has a talent for writing stories that live on the edge, where attraction and emotional vulnerability collide in … Read more
Last night at SIFF Cinema Uptown I watched Steal This Story, Please!, and it’s the kind of documentary that starts with one subject and opens into something much bigger. On the surface, it’s about storytelling, who gets to tell a story, who gets credit, and what gets lost when real lives are turned into public … Read more
During the weekend, I spent the day on the Burke-Gilman Trail with a bike beneath me and nowhere urgent to be. There’s something uniquely satisfying about a long ride in spring. The city unfolds differently when you move through it on two wheels, neighborhoods blending into water views, tree-lined stretches opening into skyline glimpses, the … Read more
There’s something powerful about a story that returns to its characters and lets them groW and Gary the Once and Former King by Isabel Murray does that beautifully. As the second book in The Unwanted King series, this M/M fantasy romance expands on everything that made the first book so compelling. The world feels richer, … Read more
Last night at SIFF Cinema Uptown I watched The Christophers, and it feels exactly like the kind of story Steven Soderbergh excels at telling, controlled, layered, and quietly intense. Written by Ed Solomon, the film leans into character and conversation rather than spectacle. It’s a story about relationships under pressure, about the things people choose … Read more
During the weekend, I traded the city shoreline for open water and took the kayak out onto Puget Sound. It’s different out there. The water feels heavier, deeper, less contained. There’s more space between you and everything else, and that space has a way of pulling you inward at the same time. The rhythm is … Read more
There’s a quiet kind of tension that only exists between friends — the kind built on history, trust, and everything left unsaid. Nora Phoenix captures that beautifully in Friends, the second book in her White House Men series. This M/M romance leans into the slow shift from friendship to something deeper, where every glance feels … Read more
Last night at SIFF Cinema Uptown, I watched Exit 8, and it’s one of those films that quietly gets under your skin and stays there. The premise feels deceptively simple, a man trapped in an underground corridor, searching for an exit that may or may not exist. But what unfolds is something far more unsettling. … Read more
During the weekend, I headed east of Seattle and climbed up to Rattlesnake Ledge, chasing that early spring mix of cool air and clear views. The trail wound through quiet forest at first, the kind where your footsteps soften and everything slows down. It’s a steady climb, nothing rushed, just enough elevation to remind you … Read more
There’s something irresistible about a romance that starts with a dare — and Gaia Tate’s A Kiss on a Dare leans into that spark perfectly. This M/M short story is playful, charming, and just the right amount of bold. What begins as something lighthearted quickly shifts into something a little more meaningful, the kind of … Read more
Last night at SIFF Cinema Uptown I watched Two Prosecutors, and it’s the kind of film that builds its tension quietly, then refuses to let go. Directed by Sergei Loznitsa, the story follows a young prosecutor in the Soviet Union who stumbles upon a prisoner’s letter that shouldn’t exist, and decides to follow it anyway. … Read more
During the weekend, I got back out on Lake Union with a kayak, and it felt like stepping into a version of myself I hadn’t visited in a while. The water was calm, just enough movement to remind you to stay present, to adjust, to move with it instead of against it. The skyline stretched … Read more
There’s something special about a story that comes full circle and The Unforgettable Hookup by Jax Calder delivers that in the best way. As the second book in The Hookup Duology, this M/M romance builds on everything that came before and deepens it. What starts as something casual evolves into something far more meaningful, and … Read more
Last night at SIFF Cinema Uptown I watched Alpha, and it’s one of those films that doesn’t ease you in, it pulls you under almost immediately. Directed by Julia Ducournau, the film carries that same visceral intensity she’s known for, but this time it feels even more focused, more internal. It’s less about shock and … Read more
During the weekend, I stepped into Benaroya Hall for a spring program with the Seattle Symphony, and for a couple of hours, everything else fell away. There’s something about live orchestral music that doesn’t just fill a room, it fills space inside you that you didn’t realize had gone quiet. The kind of silence that … Read more
There’s something incredibly compelling about a romance that starts with friendship — the kind built on trust, history, and all the things left unsaid. Nora Phoenix’s Friends, the second book in her White House Men series, leans into that beautifully. This M/M romance explores what happens when the line between friendship and something more begins … Read more
Last night at SIFF Cinema Uptown I watched Sirat, and it’s one of those films that doesn’t just tell a story, it pulls you into a state of mind. Directed by Oliver Laxe, the film follows a father and son crossing a vast desert in search of someone they’ve lost. On the surface, it’s a … Read more
Weekend Wrap: Capitol Hill Café & Bookshop Day ☕ During the weekend, I stayed close to home and spent the day wandering through Capitol Hill — drifting between cafés and bookshops, chasing that quiet rhythm the neighborhood does so well. I started with a strong cup of coffee and a window seat, watching the city … Read more
There’s something about a “buttoned-up” character finally coming undone that gets me every time — and R.M. Neill’s Take Shelter With Me delivers that in the most quietly powerful way. This M/M romance leans into tension that feels real — the kind that builds in glances, in restraint, in everything left unsaid. Set against the … Read more
Last night at SIFF Cinema Uptown I watched By Design, and I’m still trying to put words around it — which honestly feels like the point. Directed by Amanda Kramer, this surreal, quietly unsettling film takes a premise that sounds almost absurd on paper, a woman slowly transforming into a chair, and turns it into … Read more
During the weekend, I drove north out of Seattle for one of my favorite escapes, the Goose Rock Trail at Deception Pass. The air was cool and salty, the kind that wakes you up the moment you step out of the car. The trail climbs steadily through quiet forest, cedar and fir filtering soft coastal … Read more
Some romances come in quick, fiery bursts, and Not Safe for Command by Jenny Pineapple definitely delivers that spark. This M/M age-gap romance drops readers right into a world where authority, tension, and undeniable attraction collide. Pineapple writes with a confident sense of momentum, letting the chemistry between the characters simmer from the very first … Read more
Last night I caught The Bride! at SIFF Cinema Uptown, and it’s one of those films that feels both classic and wildly modern at the same time. Directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, this reimagining of the Frankenstein legend takes the familiar story in a completely new direction. Jessie Buckley plays the Bride, a woman literally created … Read more
During the weekend, I spent an afternoon at the MoPOP Indie Game Festival, wandering through a world where storytelling meets technology. Independent developers had set up stations throughout the museum, each one offering a glimpse into a different universe. Pixel landscapes, quiet narrative journeys, and imaginative puzzles that felt like short stories you could step … Read more
Some stories pull you in quietly, and before you realize it, you’re completely under their spell. Dark Mage Chained by S. Rodman did exactly that for me. This M/M paranormal romance leans into dark magic, power, and vulnerability in a way that feels both intense and deeply emotional. Rodman builds a world where magic isn’t … Read more
Last night’s SIFF screening was one of those films that sticks with you long after the credits roll. Suburban Fury is a fascinating documentary that digs into one of the strangest political crimes in modern American history. In 1975, a suburban California mother became the prime suspect in a bombing aimed at President Gerald Ford. … Read more