Recommendation for College to Adult relationship story?

[hartfan]

I've been reading stories at Nifty and I'm getting bored with most of the fare there. I'm looking for stories of a fair length that feature the development of a relationship between two guys in college or adulthood. The reason why I'm avoiding teenage stories is because they're too innocent and fairy tale-ish--I wonder if anyone has written anything that explores the nuances of a relationship of two mature people with real lives and real problems. Any recommendations? Thanks

 

Stories I've read and liked include:

Everybody's Wounded and How the Light Gets In by Duncan Ryder

Copier Guy and Educating Alex by Ardveche

Magic in Your Touch by Sara Bell

Crosscurrents by Adam Philips

It Started with Brian by Dan Kincaid

Human Condition by jfinn (my all time favorite)

Edited November 27, 2009 by hartfan

[Mark Arbour]

I've been reading stories at Nifty and I'm getting bored with most of the fare there. I'm looking for stories of a fair length that feature the development of a relationship between two guys in college or adulthood. The reason why I'm avoiding teenage stories is because they're too innocent and fairy tale-ish--I wonder if anyone has written anything that explores the nuances of a relationship of two mature people with real lives and real problems. Any recommendations? Thanks

 

Stories I've read and liked include:

Everybody's Wounded and How the Light Gets In by Duncan Ryder

Copier Guy and Educating Alex by Ardveche

Magic in Your Touch by Sara Bell

Crosscurrents by Adam Philips

It Started with Brian by Dan Kincaid

Human Condition by jfinn (my all time favorite)

 

You should read some of Domluka's stuff. "The Log Way" is good, but my favorite is "The Other Us". He's really good.

[Rilbur]

Unfortunately, I don't know of many 'gay romance' stories that aren't all fairy-tale like, I'm not sure why. (Then again, maybe that's why I don't like most of those, they've turned into a bit of a cliche... boy meets boy and lives happily ever after works once, not three billion times.)

 

But given your statement...

 

The reason why I'm avoiding teenage stories is because they're too innocent and fairy tale-ish

 

Well, I know a few that start as teens and move on that avoid that whole 'innocent and fairy tale-ish' thing, if you're interested:

 

Fish out of Water -- Definitely seems to start out fairytaleish, but there are some real trials and tribulations for the couple involved. Altimexis created my favorite story out of the novella contest.

 

Because of the way the site's setup, a direct link doesn't work very well, but the Cracker's Den has a truly touching story that is directly responsible for me taking writing up again. It's called Two Boys by Rocco Paperiello. It starts from child-hood, and and moves well past college, and is anything but a 'fairy tale'. There is a fairly nasty scene somewhere around chapter 65 involving rape, so you may not want to read it, but I deeply enjoyed and was moved by the story.

 

 

 

If my brain weren't fried by sleep, I'm sure I could think of a few more.

 

Oh, and if you're looking for the development of romance as one aspect of the plot, rather than the 'core' aspect of the plot, there are lots more stories out there. Heck, most of the stories around here seem to have gay protagonists who 'get the boy'

[jenni]

I think you have good taste judging by your list! One of my favorites is Second Wind by Mickey S. The two main characters are adults and I think it fits the bill of what you're looking for. I've read it so many times I've lost count.

[sat8997]

Wow - you've already managed to read some of the best of the best and you've gotten some great recommendations already.

 

There are quite a few stories here that follow you choices. Click the Authors link at the top of the page. Moving down the left hand list, these are my suggestions:

 

Christopher Lydon

[rec]

I think Educating Alex by Ardveche ranks near the top of college-based stories.

[Kev de Cauchery]

Don Hanratty

[rec]

For a really complex story involving adult relationships, I find Alone Together (reached through Best-of-Nifty.org) outstanding and extremely well written. It's adult relationships in a boy-band story, so you need to avoid the boy-band parts.

[jenni]

Tinnean - The Light In Your Eyes and Mann of My Dreams (In Series)

 

The Light in Your Eyes is another one of my favorites.

 

Also, you might check out Literotica.com - the gay male section might surprise you if you haven't already looked. There are a lot of good writers there who write substantive, real stories. And, which is a real plus considering what you are looking for, the site requires that the stories not have sexual scenes involving minors, so you can be assured that all the stories are about adult relationships. Another plus of the site is that using the "Top Rated" section helps a reader separate the wheat from the chaff pretty easily. One story there that I like and I think fits what you are looking for is When Irish Eyes are Smiling. I also recommend almost anything by ingarlm.

[Kev de Cauchery]

I think you have good taste judging by your list! One of my favorites is Second Wind by Mickey S. The two main characters are adults and I think it fits the bill of what you're looking for. I've read it so many times I've lost count.

 

 

I just prganized the links to my favorite storis and found that Second Wind was one of the top ones. I'm planning on reading it again. Now!.

[Kia Zi Shiru]

Slim pickings lead to Drastic propositions by Ishtani one of my all time favs