At 12.01 AM EST January 2, 2014 reviewsbyjessewave will close in its current form and reopen 2 or 3 weeks 
later as an archive site. I could use clichéd terms like “gone fishing” or “the end of the road”, but I will spare you that. 🙂
Things change, and that’s a good thing. Millions of you have made countless changes in your lives due to personal circumstances, and tomorrow morning I’m shutting down something that has been in my life for almost 6 years. Many of you emailed me to say how much you will miss us and I appreciate your kind words, but there are other blogs that currently review M/M books so you will still be able to check them out before you buy. In the meantime, while he is setting up the archive site, Christian will provide access to the last week of reviews and posts through a stripped-down version of the site during the transition; you will be able to read these posts, but you won’t be able to comment.
I will miss our community of readers as I regard many of you as online friends. I probably am in your lives and “see” you more often than my RL life friends on occasion (I really need to get a life) 🙂 which is a testament to how highly I regard you. Some of you have asked me what I will be doing with my copious free time. :hurrah: One thing you can be sure of is that I won’t be setting up another review site. :hysterics: I’ll be doing fun stuff such as ogling hot 
men on the streets of Toronto and maybe photographing a few of them (is that against the law? 😆 ) Seriously, I’ll be taking a break, reading some of the hundreds (maybe thousands) of books in my TBR, watching tons of movies that I bought over the years and never had a chance to see, and probably doing a bit more travelling. In addition to continuing to financially support a few organizations that help homeless GBLTQ youth I shall also be working with a couple of them.
People ask me all the time what’s the secret of our popularity. There really is no secret – this community of readers evolved because we had an interest in a relatively new genre of romance books, and we had many shared experiences through our discussions on the site as we recommended books to each other. I never thought that a blog I set up because I wanted to review books that I read would become the most popular M/M review site in North America, going by the numbers. Of course this is not the most popular review site because het romance rules the literary world, while M/M probably has only a minuscule percentage of its numbers (someone should do a study about that, but it won’t be me). 😮 😮 In any event I hope that this site helped my favourite romance genre enhance its profile and numbers in 
some small way.
I’m very proud of our record and original ideas on what a review site should be. If you visit this site regularly you know them, and many other sites have copied a few of our ideas, like our Friday Guys 🙂 which have been around almost as long as this site has been in existence. How dare they? :grumble: One thing no one will be able to accuse me of is being a copy cat. OK, so I stole a few (maybe more than a few) pictures of hot menz from various blogs. 😆
I’m also proud of the fact that we promoted as many gay movies as we could by reviewing them here, and I hope you will continue to support them in the future.
On a serious note, although this was primarily a review site for M/M books and later, movies, I wanted readers to keep in mind that gay men are ordinary people like the rest of us, except for the fact that they are discriminated against more than most of us. I know what it’s like to be discriminated against so I empathize more than most. I hope that the articles we wrote helped in a very small way to change your views about this segment of our society and gave a few of you a new perspective on the issues surrounding coming out, teen suicides, teen homelessness as a consequence of being kicked out of their homes by parents because they were gay, and the lack of employment opportunities afforded GBLTQ people.
Now on to my long list of “thank yous” starting with ….
1. You, the millions of M/M readers in over 200 countries. Without you, this site would have long disappeared but you came and stayed, first as a trickle and then in unbelievable numbers. Thank you all for supporting us and making this site a resource for readers and authors.
2. Our reviewers: I was smart enough to get the best of the best to review here and together we built the reputation of this site as one that valued quality and didn’t flinch from writing negative reviews for books that deserved them, and over the years many of you have helped readers choose that perfect M/M romance though your insightful and incisive reviews. Thanks again for your dedication and hard work and unflinching attention to detail without losing sight of the big picture. You did this out of your love for an emerging genre that still has a long way to go. You have always been honest in your reviews and have shown the same eloquence and integrity in writing 5 star as well as 1 star reviews, and you stuck by your principles despite criticisms and brickbats.
3. My partners. Christian and Aunt Lynn are the backbone of this site and their technical knowledge, expertise, and financial investment (in our later years of operation) allowed the site to continue without seeking advertising revenues. They have done everything I asked of them and more. What can I say? They’re awesome.
4. M/M authors. Despite our differences at times you have been incredibly supportive and generous since I started this site in 2008. You have written countless articles and have also donated thousands of books so that readers could enjoy them free of charge. We started the Santa Authors “free” book initiative together way back in 2008 when you responded in unbelievable numbers to my appeal for books for your readers, and you continued this generosity every year until last week when this annual free book initiative ended. You are the best. Huge thanks also to Aunt Lynn who spearheaded this project in its later years until it ended. To those authors who criticized me because of my M/M only policy, as I said on many occasions, I wanted a site that would review the kind of romance books I read. Authors write what they want and review sites should review what they want.
5. M/M publishers. Thank you for donating thousands of books over the years as “:free” books on the site for readers. On the review side, most of you have stuck with us despite some less than favourable reviews, while others were offended by our honesty and decided to withdraw their books. C’est la vie. To those publishers who stuck around, THANK YOU for being smart enough to recognize that in the publishing business bad reviews generate sales (at times even more than positive ones). 😆
The decision to close the site has not been an easy one as you can imagine, and I indicated my reasons in this post – Goodbye and thank you for a great ride. There’s nothing to add. The purpose of today’s post is to thank all of you once again who contributed to our success.
One last note. I wish that some day re-sellers like Amazon and ARe will no longer categorize all M/M romances as erotica (they are not), but the publishers do this too. Such a change would expand the reach and targeted demographics of the genre. Despite my rants and criticisms over the years I love this genre and I hope it continues to thrive, and that a few decades from now M/M romance will have enough clout and numbers to compete on a level playing field with het romance.
What will I miss most? All the fun we had in the early days when I wrote crazy fun posts on revealing and 
delicate topics that I loved to explore with you. :censorship: check out my fun post later today that I hope will help cheer you up this winter. 😆
Thank you for the memories. I will cherish them and hope that some of you will send me book recommendations occasionally when/if you come across a book you think I will like.
Tj, Ethan, Buda and the gang, the Hot Tub boyz are waving goodbye, nekked as jaybirds, as they frolic in the 
tub with the Friday Guys. :blush: :biglove:
:wave:
Wave
Thank you for being the perfect hostess – the party for the last six years has been a blast. This was always one of my first stops on my morning internet rounds, and there will be a hole in my breaking heart for a long time to come.
Thank you for the archive site, and for putting up the post allowing commenters to suggest other places to go.
And thank you for being such a good friend and supporter of the LGBTQ community.
Goodbye and good luck.
Hi Allie2
It was my pleasure. I love the site and I’m sorry that we have to close it. However, as you mentioned, it will be back and all the old reviews and posts will be around for a while.
Thank you for being a long time supporter. I will miss my friends that I *met” online.
Goodbye and thanks again. I’m so glad you’ve decided to keep an archive version of the site – I check in here so often to look at old reviews, I’d be totally lost if you disappeared completely.
Will we still be able to e-mail you or Aunt Lynn if we have any queries? It would be good to be able to keep in touch now and then.
I hope you enjoy your free time! All the best for 2014 and the years ahead.
:hug:
Hi Gaycrow
You’re welcome. 🙂
My email is the same: jessewave [at] gmail.com and and I will be keeping it. Lynn’s is: auntlynn.reviewer [at] gmail.com.
I will definitely enjoy my free time and I’ll think of you all fondly when I put my feet up and read a good book. :hurrah: :whistle:
Happy New Year.
Thanks!
Wave – thank you (and your accomplices) for a wonderful few years. Your site informed and expanded my reading and understanding like no other, and I will miss you all. As well as the enjoyment, the education was invaluable when (later) some family members came out as bi.
You say you “hope that some of you will send me book recommendations occasionally”. How do we do that? Or are you referring only to those who already have your contact details?
All the best in your new life.
Hi HJ
Right back at you. Thank you for being here and supporting the site. While we didn’t set out to educate I hope that everyone got something from the posts on the site.
I will be keeping the email address that I use here: jessewave [at] gmail.com so feel free to write me with book suggestions. It’s time for me to be on the receiving end now that my work is done. 😆
All the best to you and happy New Year.
Hello Wave,
I’ve been a lurker here nearly everyday for a very long time. I’m so sad because even though I’ve been silent, it feels like losing old friends. Thank you and everyone involved for a nice place to come to. Best wishes to you all!
Hey Cat
We love our lurkers. I know exactly what you mean about losing old friends because I now have so many on-line friends, a few that I met at GRL 2012. I hope you will still visit to check out the old reviews and posts.
Happy New Year.
Happy New Year, Wave! Somehow, though I’ll miss you all, I think this is a great way for you to start 2014. My wish for all those on the site is that it be a year of less stress and new adventures. Even if those adventures are just having time to read. 🙂
Thank you for the ride! :hug: This site introduced me to many new authors, and as Gaycrow mentioned, I’m glad the site will be archived as I, too, look at old reviews. Also, I was wondering if it would be ok if I dropped an email your way?
I hope one day to make it to one of the Gay Lit get togethers, and perhaps meet you, and others on this site.
Best wishes all!
Hi Lynn G
Happy New Year to you too! You’re absolutely right about starting off the year right I will definitely miss all of my online friends but it will be a welcome relief to be able to plan my spare time without thinking of working on the site. This has been a joy but in other ways the workload has been too much to handle.
I’m thinking of GRL in 2015 as long as it’s somewhere warm, because Chicago in October for this year’s GRL would be colder than October in Canada. 🙁 If we both make it do stop by and say hi. 🙂
Happy New year, thank you for all the things you have done and goodbye. Hope to see you around somewhere.
Hi Ingrid
Happy New Year and all the best to you too. Having the site has been a blast but it’s time to move on. Maybe we’ll meet at GRL sometime. 🙂
Well, Wave, all is already said, but…
Happy New Year! I wish you health and peace, the hottest men and the greatest books. Remain as passionate and driven as you were when creating this place – it’s obviously the winning combination. :loveyou:
Thanks Lady M
It was my pleasure to know you and have you grace the site with your presence as a reviewer. I hope you’ll keep in touch occasionally and send me recs. of police procedural books – you know how I love them. 🙂
Happy New Year and I hope that 2014 is better for you than 2013.
Looking forward to those hot men in the summer when they walk around almost nekkid. 😆
Happy 2014 Wave, I wish you everything you want for yourself . I hope all your wishes will come true.
Thank you Sirius and the same to you.
I hope that your stint here as a reviewer was rewarding and I appreciate everything you did for me and the site.
Happy New Year and I hope that 2014 is your best reading year ever. 🙂 I will miss our discussions about books.
I know it’s both a relief and a little sad to close this chapter of your life Wave, but you can do so knowing that you’ve accomplished something pretty amazing. Thank you again for all that you’ve done.
I wish you a much more relaxing and joyous 2014! :wave:
I’m going to piggyback TJ’s post because, let’s face it, I’ve always wanted to piggyback TJ. And maybe piggyfront TJ. 😉
Wave, I love you. I’ve said it before, but meeting you literally changed my life and I can’t thank you enough for somehow nudging me in this new direction. I am going to miss this place because it has always provided what I originally came here seeking: honest reviews, both pro and con. I keep coming back because no one can compete with the quality of reviews here, and we have you to thank for that.
No one has asked my opinion, but that’s never stopped me before, so here I go. If there’s one thing I wish other sites would steal from you, it’s that the review needs to be about the book, not the reviewer, not the author, but the book. One thing I’m afraid I may have been guilty of was inserting how I would have changed this plot point or that character. My advice to reviewers is to not make that mistake. Reviews are much more credible when they don’t emphasize the reviewer’s personal biases or what isn’t actually on the page.
Aunt Lynn, I think one of your reviews was the first I ever read on this site and I fell in love with you then. Nothing has changed that. Thank you for your support, time, effort, and affection. I hope to see you around the interwebs. Much love to you.
Christian, dude, how you kept up with Wave’s continual demands for all these years, I have no idea. Sure, so she’d throw you a picture of a half-naked man now and then. But did that really cover the cost? Yeah, I think it must have. You’ve been a rock keeping this place up. I can’t tell you how much we all appreciate all of your behind the scenes work. You’re my hero.
TJ, would you just move to Colorado and marry me already? I mean, geez, we have legal pot now too! What more does a guy have to do to entice you? Love you, buddy.
To all the readers, writers, and reviewers, you guys made this one of the most amazing communities I’ve ever been involved with. Wave may have set the tone, but you all kept to it and made this a welcoming, fun place to be. Thank you for that.
Okay, enough with the maudlin crap. Wave, Lynn, Christian, enjoy the next stage of your life. I wish you every happiness and continued success. Saying goodbye sucks, but we all have to do it. You’re all amazing. Go be awesome.
You almost didn’t make it because Christian is cutting us off at midnight.
This is the first time we have had a marriage proposal here WOW. Does Teej know that you’re after his body?
I love you too Buda and I wish you much success with your new career. Let me know how you’re doing.
Thanks for the compliment about the reviews but that is all because of the calibre of our reviewers. We try to do our best and if we slip occasionally Aunt Lynn slaps us back into shape. 🙂
Christian is the man. What can I say.
Take care Buda and maybe I’ll see you but not in Chicago – too cold in that fricking city in October – I might as well go to the North Pole.
Hi Teej
Thank you so much.
It is sad but an incvredible relief at the same time to close this chapter of my life (except for the monthly payments to the new hosting company). 😆 I’m pretty pleased that I put together a great team because they were the ones who did the heavy lifting while I sat in front on my cushion eating bon bons. How many people get to experience a dream like this one? Not that many I’ll bet. :doh:
You can rest easy knowing that I won’t be emailing you for your usual year end post.
Thanks for being my friend and a wonderful sounding board Teej and I hope that 2014 is a much better year for you. All the best. :wave:
Even though I did not contribute to the site other than a stray comment here and there, I still feel like I am losing long-time friends. Almost daily I would check in and see what’s up, discover a new book, author, :reading1: or just have a giggle. :hysterics: (My favorite was leering at some pretty hot guys tho. :pant: I thank you for that. lol) I will miss you all and I very much appreciate all you have done for this site that brought pleasure into this girl’s days. :wave:
Hi Linda
I’m happy you enjoyed what we offered on the site including the reviews and posts. Oh yes, the Friday Guys were at times more popular than the reviews. 🙂 We’ll still be around even though there will be no new content.
Happy New Year.:)
Wave,
Thank you yet again. My sincerest best wishes for 2014 and beyond. May all the best in life come to you for all of the good work you’ve done over the years here and in your personal life. You have been a great online friend and I promise I will occasionally
bugemail you. 🙂Hey Jeff
I hope everything works out tomorrow. Email me to let me know and I’m looking forward to a picture of you with a black patch over your eye (black leather is preferable). 😆
Now you will have to send me book recs and I look forward to them.
As for my personal life, I can’t wait to do some more travelling, above everything else. I’ll send you a post card from Antarctica. Kidding!! 😀
Happy New Year, Wave. Have a great 2014 with lots of wonderful books!
Thanks Pea and the same to you. I’m looking forward to all those books – the anticipation is growing. :hurrah:
Have a wonderful New Year Wave, one where you can please yourself for a while, before you get going on your next great project, what ever it is – you will be amazing.
Thank you for the kind and funny community I found here and the very many books.
I hope we can stay in touch over those books!
Thanks for all your patience Aunt Lynn and very best wishes to you and Christian for the best site ever.
Hi Raine
You’re not going to lose sight of me that quickly. 🙂
I know what you mean about the community on the site. I’ve had so many emails from bloggers who say they will miss their online friends and the community most of all, as well as the discussions they had with the reviewers about books. You may not believe it but some of these readers have been following the site since I first set it up. Amazing!!
I hope you have a wonderful 2014 and that your mother’s health improves.
Take care Raine and happy New Year.
You’re welcome, Raine, and happy new year. You know where to find me…
You know where to find me…
I was feeling all sniffly 😥 reading this post and the comments, and trying to think what to say that hasn’t already been said. But then I got to this comment and immediately started hatching a plot to show up on Lynn’s doorstep soon and take the dogs for a walk. :whistle: Then I noticed the Swiss flag 😯 Lynn, are you actually in Switzerland or is your IP playing tricks on us? Either way, wanna take the dogs for a walk soon? 🙂
As for what to say in response to the post? What I’ve said so many times before: What Sirius and Raine said! 😆
:biglove:
Hiya Jess. No, I am not in Switzerland, just the IP at rehab in Walnut Creek shows me as there. 😕
After Jan gets home and settled, yes, a dog walk at the Marina? I’ll email you.
:biglove:
Best wishes to you and all your colleagues on the site – have enjoyed the articles, got some great books based on the reviews and had a goodly number of free books.
So thank you and enjoy your blogging free new year!
Thanks for your good wishes Suze. I hope you enjoy all the books that you bought on our recommendations.
I will definitely enjoy the freedom of reading without having to review. :hurrah:
Happy New Year!
Bye-bye, *sniffle*
You big baby Deedles. The site will still be here but you won’t be able to poke fun at me anymore. 🙂
Happy New Year. 😀
Just wanted to add my best wishes to you, Wave, and all the Jesse Wave crew for the seemingly endless hours of entertainment the site has provided me in addition to the occasional thought provoking posts that at times got me thinking. You all will sincerely be missed. Take care and thank you. :bravo: :thanks: :wave:
Thanks for the kind words Tom.
We appreciate you too. As for those thought provoking posts, I left a few fun choices on the site today that you can read at your leisure. These posts gave me such joy. that I go back to them on occasion when I’m feeling down, like now. We’ll be very glad of the break (at least I will) and thanks for your best wishes 😆
Wave, I can’t thank you and the reviewers enough for introducing me to some of my favourite writers who I will continue to follow through their various web pages. You’ve given me a tremendous gift – hours and hours and hours of pure reading enjoyment. I’m really going to miss this site.
Hi Madonna. Thanks for the kind words. For us, the reader involvement and giving, as you termed it, a gift to you all was a real pleasure for us.
Happy New Year to Wave, Christian, Aunt Lynn and all the wonderful reviewers, and Thanks for all you have given us readers for so many years…
Happy new year to you as well, Stacy, and you are very welcome.
Thanks Wave, Aunt Lynn and Christian for your years of hard work on the site. Your dedication really showed and I’m going to miss Gay Romance Org immensely.
Happy 2014, good luck and best wishes for your future endeavors.
Thanks for the good wishes and you are very welcome.