Straight? So is spaghetti until you heat it up.

I'm pretty harsh on these books because they're really the only mainstream published m/m fantasy, which is why I think people have jumped all over them with positive reviews and can't say enough good things about them. But you can honestly find stuff 1000x better free and online. Especially if you're looking for good fantasy (these are not good fantasy, just in general) or a good romance (the romance is terrible because the characters have no chemistry, or characterization). I have a more in depth thing on my LJ (although it's about the second book in the series, but the points are still relevant) here: http://teromain.livejournal.com/67423.html#cutid1