queer
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Synchronicities: A Love Story
Many years ago, when I was first dating Jake, I thought I’d check our astrological compatibility. So I sent him a message asking for his birth date. But my previous relationship—a marriage of over a decade—had really battered my tender heart, so when Jake replied that he was born on exactly the same day as my ex,… Continue reading
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Why Heated Rivalry Boldly Refuses The Bigot Sandwich
Content tag: This post about Heated Rivalry contains references to intimate s*x, fandom bigotry, and Russia’s laws against homosexuality. Star: Friends, Heated Rivalry, both the novel by Rachel Reid and the HBO series, is a DUCK of a great time. Forbidden passion! Rivals to lovers! A love story that spans the decades! S*x that is… Continue reading
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It’s Gorgeous Romance. But Where The Duck Are Those Sex Scenes?
Duck and I are back! He’s been supporting me while I pen a romance novel, and I’ve actually now finished the final draft. But yesterday, as I was listening to the audiobook of Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez—beautifully narrated by Julie Whelan and Zachary Webber—I’d sudden burning urge to set Duck and my writing… Continue reading
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Why Characters Who Lie in Novels Make My Flippers Sad
Duck: Lies, Star? You read books about characters who lie? Star: I mean, I don’t mean to read books about characters who lie. It just, you know, happens. There I am reading a romance novel, and suddenly—poof!—a character tells a whopper. But Duck, I’m thinking maybe ducks don’t do a whole lot of lying. You… Continue reading
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A Bowl of Self-Love Cereal (Quacker Pops Edition)
Today, I was boiling the kettle to make a cuppa while listening to a beautifully-performed audio version of Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Study, and I realized I was ensconced in the present moment. As a writer, I’ve honestly set up my life so that what I do every day is something I love, so I’m… Continue reading
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Why My Fault Is Actually A Duck’s Fault
Star: Friends, I’ve been enjoying the audiobook of My Fault by Mercedes Ron, which is beautifully narrated by Hugo Locke and Hannah Carmona. This Wattpad sensation became a sweeping bestseller, and has sold more than three million copies. But Duck can’t stand My Fault, and I’m determined to find out why. Continue reading
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Why I Still Haven’t Read Any Novels By Emily Henry (It’s To Do With Diversity. And Ducks.)
Duck: Waiting a ducking minute. You haven’t read ANY Emily Henry books? Star: Not a one. And you know why? Because these days, I’m finding I really need diversity. Can’t seem to live without it. Duck: I see. For you, diversity is like air in the beak-holes or water on the flippers. If you don’t… Continue reading
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The Joyful Power of Rainbow Ducks: A Queer Story To Give You A Quacker-Laugh
The Rainbow Duck didn’t understand why the Pond would banish rainbow ducks. Bewildered, they sat on the bank and stared down at their flippers, which, granted, weren’t rainbow-colored like their feathers but were nonetheless vital parts of a rainbow duck. “I just don’t understand,” the Rainbow Duck told the white duck and the tawny duck.… Continue reading
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This Romance Life: Creating Our Own Worlds Around Those Hairpin Curves, Ducky
Friends, romance is a beautiful genre for reminding us that we can create our own world. I’m currently reading Hairpin Curves by Elia Winters. In the novel, two old frenemies, Megan and Scarlett, create their own world by going on a duck of a long road trip just to get to a friend’s wedding. By… Continue reading
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Why We’re Ducking Obsessed with Jilly Cooper’s Rivals on Disney Plus.
Duck: Star, about twenty years ago, you were super-ducking obsessed with Jilly Cooper’s novels! Star: That’s right, my feathered friend! Back then, I had a really stressful job that was causing me some serious mental-health havoc. A friend of mine said to me, “Honey, you’re so duck-darn stressed! What are you going to do about… Continue reading
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About US
Welcome! I’m Star Tavares. I’m queer, nonbinary, and intersex, and I use they/them pronouns. My hubby Jake is LGBTQIA+ too, as is our duck, name of Duck—he’s super-ducking awesome. He likes to call himself an award-winning duck because we wrote a screenplay about him that won some awards, and who are we to argue?
We used to publish in the romance genres, but after we came out, we thought romance didn’t want us anymore. But you know what, toots? We were wrong.
Now we’ve rebuilt our confidence and are back to living our Romancey Pants life, writing, reviewing romance movies, reading romance novels, and doing a whole lot of stretching.
Want to know more about Star’s writing credits? Under another name, Star has published romance stories, novels, and novellas with presses like Harper Collins and Cleis, and has won awards for their shorter works from the likes of Glimmer Train, Screencraft, and Narrative, where they also worked as an editor. More recently, Star’s nonfiction about gender identity has appeared in The New York Times and at Huffington Post Personal.
Please follow us here for romance reviews and personal rambles. And thanks so much for reading.
Let’s do this!
Romancey Pants 