Reviewed by Ro
TITLE: The Gaybor War
AUTHOR: Raquel Riley
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 325 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 21, 2026
BLURB:
Morningwood Estates: a community that always rises to the occasion and takes ‘love thy neighbor’ a little too literally.
Carter Reed moved to Morningwood Estates for peace, quiet, and a fresh start.
Instead, he got Benji Stewart.
Benji doesn’t believe in rules, subtlety, or minding his own business—especially when Carter’s perfectly organized life is just begging to be disrupted. From competitive decorating to passive-aggressive pranks, their neighborly standoff quickly becomes the most entertaining thing on the block.
Carter thinks Benji is irritating.
Benji thinks Carter is repressed.
The neighborhood is placing bets.
These gay neighbors quickly realize that the boundary between animosity and attraction is as thin as their property line.
Because in Morningwood Estates, privacy is a myth… and falling for your rival is practically a community event.
The Gaybor War is an MM romcom romance with HOA nonsense, alcohol-induced shenanigans, flirty banter, and a plot-twisty HEA.
REVIEW:
I was SO ready for a big neighborhood prank war, with the HOA craziness thrown in. “They signal fun, which is HOA code for things we cannot regulate yet but desperately want to.” And we sort of get that. Well, this HOA is insane, and incredibly suggestive with their newsletter, supposedly without meaning to me. I have my doubts about that. But Benji (resident member of HOA) and Carter (newest to the neighborhood) are flirty and actually balance each other nicely, less than halfway through the book.
One thing to mention, the book is told in alternating first-person points of view. No problem, except the chapters are marked as chapter numbers, not whose POV is being told. There were a couple of times I got into a chapter, thinking it was Benji, only to turn back and have to read it again when I realized it was actually Carter.
Carter is much more of an introvert than Benji, but then I think most people would be. Benji is the rainbow sunshine of the HOA, day drinking with the girls. When Carter moves into Morningwood, “The ladies are head-over-heels excited about him.” It’s a little boring in Morningwood, innuendos aside, so this is exciting. As for Benji, “His cargo shorts are tragic. If HGTV ever launched “Hot Dudes, Terrible Outfits”, he’d be episode one.” But more focus on the hot dude, less on the terrible outfits.
There is a some back and forth – Benji and the flamingos, Benji and the porn scene flamingos, Carter’s HOA report, Carter’s rudeness at times (Oh. So…unemployed but with fonts. That’s a big title for someone with a Canva Premium subscription.” But underneath it all, there’s that spark. And Carter made me a little sad. “Benji’s the kind of gay man I never had the courage to be.” And “… every part of him feels like color splashed across my carefully neutral life.” Carter, you need a little color.
When they go to a convention for Benji’s work, it is evident how different they are. “He eats this attention up. I loathe attention.” Even the way they dressed, both as pirates, but Carter is “Captain Sensible”, while Benji is the treasure. But it gives Carter a good look at how important Benji really is with his job and how much people appreciate him.
The HOA is ridiculous but it’s funny. It’s also a little scary at how accurate some of the stupider things are. And these two are sweet. The girls? Added bonus for enjoyment. I loved getting to see Benji be real and Carter be less repressed.
RATING: 
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