End of the Year list – My 10 Greatest Discoveries

This year I’m doing a slightly different list than other years. :) Where I usually pick a random number of my favorite reads of the past year in a few categories, I now decided to make it a list of 10 m/m books of new to me authors, that pleasantly surprised me the most in 2012. These 10 ‘discoveries’ made me want to read all the other books by the same author as well (if there were any) and in most cases I actually did manage to read one or a few more, and all with the same, or sometimes even with more, pleasure than that first ‘discovery’ book.

To be clear: These are all books I’ve read in 2012 so they are not necessarily books that were published in 2012. Most are, but some are older.
So, here are my 10 discoveries of 2012, in random order:

Random Recs - Muffled Drum by Erastes

Author: Erastes
Title: Muffled Drum
Series: N/A
Publisher: Carina Press
Date: July 4, 2011
Length: 187 pages

Backblurb/Goodreads link | author's website | buy link

Genre & keywords:

M/M, Romance, Historical, Bohemia & Prussia, 1866, Soldiers, Battlefield, Aristocratic Berlin, Loss of Memory

Review: Mere Mortals by Erastes

Erastes

Mere Mortals

Lethe Press, March 23, 2011

Links: Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
Orphaned Crispin Thorne has been taken as ward by Philip Smallwood, a man he's never met, and is transplanted from his private school to Smallwood’s house on an island on the beautiful but coldly remote, Horsey Mere in Norfolk. Upon his arrival, he finds that he's not the only young man given a fresh start. Myles Graham, and Jude Middleton are there before him, and as their benefactor is away, they soon form alliances and friendships, as they speculate on why they’ve been given this new life. Who is Philip Smallwood? Why has he given them such a fabulous new life? What secrets does the house hold and what is it that the Doctor seems to know?

Genre & Keywords:
M/M Romance, Historical, England, 1847, Guardian/Ward, Secrets, Mystery/Suspense

~~~~~
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Heat level: 1.5 out of 3
~~~~~

After reading the backblurb of Mere Mortals I had no clue of what to expect from this historical romance. Especially not in the romance department. Well, it actually stays unsure until far into the story who will ‘hook up’ with who. And I can tell you that it’s not the couple I was expecting at first. Now, after finishing the book, I can see why the blurb has been kept this vague. Great part of the allure of this excellent story lays in the uncertainty of the romantic and dramatic developments. Its build-up is slow but suspenseful and in my opinion brilliantly done.