Saturday Shorts

Valentine Wish by Eden Winters
After reading The Wish, I picked up this follow-on short from TQ.  The focus of the story is on Anton, the driver and general handyman who works for Paul and Alex.  Anton is a large, buff, taciturn black man who has a secret crush on chef and restaurant owner Thierry, a gregarious and slightly portly, white French man.  When Thierry is threatened by an ex-lover, Anton steps in to help, but Thierry is unaware of Anton's feelings for him.  It takes a birthday party and the intervention of Anton's employers to get both men together.  This opposites attract story was a real delight.  I loved the idea of the huge muscle bound Anton being attracted to the cuddly Thierry and the way that Anton's obvious regard and lust for Thierry helps with Thierry's self-esteem issues.  If I have any complaints it's that I wanted to know a little more about how Anton managed to escape from the violent gangs and end up being such a decent man.  Overall though, a great little short and you don't need to have read The Wish to enjoy it: Grade: Very Good.

Buy this book HERE.


GPS by Leigh Ellwood
This is another of the books being sold at ARe during February to raise money for heart disease research.  The story begins with Cale returning home on his birthday to find a parcel on his doorstep.  When he opens the parcel he discovers that it's a GPS system.  Cale has been set up on a blind date and the restaurant is somewhere unfamiliar so he sets up the GPS and lets her direct him to the restaurant.  There's something wrong with the machine though as instead of directing Cale to the restaurant he ends up outside someone's house.  The house belongs to Mike who asks Cale in and prints off directions for him.  Cale has an immediate attraction to Mike, but sets off for his blind date, who turns out to be all wrong for him.  Furtunately, Mike shows up at the restaurant and so after Cale is ditched, he turns to Mike who helps him to celebrate his birthday properly.  I really liked this quirky tale and thought the premise was rather fun.  Cale and Mike were both decent guys and although there's not a great deal of development in the characterisation - mostly due to the story being short - there were a number of humourous touches, especially in the character of Cale's friend, Myra and Ryan, Cale's blind date.  This is definitely worth the money - and you should buy it by tomorrow if you want the profits to go to the good cause.  Grade: Very Good.

Buy this book HERE.


From Afar by Ava March
his novella begins with vampire Raphael standing in the boughs of an oak tree spying on a man with a female prostitute. The man is Lord Aleric, third son of a duke, and someone who has captured Raphael’s heart. Raphael secretly follows Aleric wherever he goes, as his unrequited love for the man eases his painful loneliness. After leaving the brothel, Aleric is attacked by footpads and Raphael saves him, and in the process he has a chance of happiness with the one man whose love he has craved for years. There was much to like about this story, especially in the characterisation of Raphael and Aleric and their growing love for each other, which teeters the line a little on the verge of insta-love. What saves it is that Raphael is almost already in love with Aleric and the circumstances which force close intimacy made me a little more willing to accept that the men fall in love quickly. I also like the mix of the historical and paranormal setting. What didn't work as well was the sub-plot based around a vampire clan which left me with too many unanswered questions. Plus the story has 15 pages of bumf at the end of the story turning 80 pages into 65.  In the end the positives outweighed the negatives and I'd recommend this story for those who like historicals. Grade: Very Good.

Buy this book HERE.


On a different note, as part of the 28 Days of Heartfelt Romance, ARe has been highlighting a different romance blog each day and today is my turn.  I must say I was really rather chuffed when they asked me to participate - although I strongly suspect Val had something to do with it - especially as my blog is one of only two featured which focuses only on m/m romance (the other being Emmy).  You can read all about me and my blog HERE (you have to scroll down to get to me).

Jumping on the Bandwagon

After reading Kris' posts HERE and HERE, I was curious about this whole Queer as Folk thing which seems to have Kris all in a tizz.  My good invisible internet friend Ingrid offered to loan me her copy of the original British version to try out the series, an opportunity I jumped at.  The DVD arrived yesterday and I sat down to watch instead of doing what I should have been doing, ie the housework.  Time well spent in my opinion as I avidly followed the adventures of Stuart, Vince and Nathan.

Best moment: When Vince brings home an Anonymous Nerdy Guy and tries to teach him how to kiss properly:

*sloppy kissing*
Vince: You know kissing is better if you close your mouth a bit.
ANG: Yeah
*more sloppy kissing*
Vince: No, really, it's much better if you close your mouth more when you kiss.
ANG: Yeah
*sloppy kissing resumes*
ANG then spots Vince's Dr Who videos and kissing stops altogether so they can watch DR Who instead.

Poor Vince, I was convinced he was never going to get laid at all during the series as a close second to this one in best moments was the guy just back from Brazil with burrowing parasites in his bum.

Worst moment: Phil *sob*

It would be interesting to compare the Brit version to the US version.  I have to wonder whether Stuart's US counterpart is as selfish and vile as Stuart.  Honestly what DOES Nathan see in him?  I've no idea, I'm sure.

Finally, will someone PLEASE reassure me that Charlie Hunnam wasn't really 15 when this was made.  PLEASE.  Otherwise I fear I'm turning into the worst cougar for lusting after that chest.

Anyway big hugs for Ingrid for loaning me the DVD.  Series 1 & 2 are already on order from Amazon.  The rest of you, if you haven't seen this series yet, you must.  It's funny, sexy, embarrassing, dramatic and just downright marvellous.

Review: On Fire by Drew Zachary

This book is a bit of a golden oldie in terms of m/m publishing as it's now nearly 4 years old.  I read it a few months ago and was intending to review it then, but other things pushed it down the pile and it got forgotten about - which is a great shame, to be honest, cos it's a really good book.

Like all Drew Zachary books, this one is set in Canada and as the book opens we meet Sam who is wandering aimlessly around a Canada Day parade/street celebration.  He's not been overly impressed with the parade, until he sees something that really gets his attention.  I love this paragraph so I shall quote it to you:

It really was a perfect day in Sam's world, and he sauntered a little closer, looking for a bench to sit on. The fire department had the pumper trucks out, and the ladders were up, the entire rig set to spray downward. A charity car wash, which was nice, but the very best part was that the firemen were in uniform. Black uniforms with badges and patches, and Sam was sure that there was nothing on earth finer than fireman butt in those uniforms.

One of these firemen is Rob and after Sam manages to engineer it so that they bump into each other, they hit it off pretty much straight away and head off to Sam's student flat for lots and lots of sex.  After that, it takes a couple of months before Rob plucks up enough courage to phone up Sam and ask him on a date but once they get together they are pretty inseparable.  Life is not easy for the pair though as they have to cope with the age gap and the opinions of others.

There were a number of things I really liked about On Fire.  Firstly is the character of Sam.  He often likens himself to a kitten and that's just exactly what he is like.  He has boundless energy and can't keep still for a moment - whether it's bouncing, or wiggling, or drumming his fingers, or talking non-stop.  He's also quite shameless when it comes to sex and openly tells Rob that he loves sex as well as not being afraid to ask for what he wants in bed.  His open personality means that the reader gets to find out lots about Sam and we follow his developing feelings for Rob from thinking of him as a good lay, to realising that he may be having serious feelings for Rob and wanting to be exclusive, to the eventual road to love.  Sam makes it easy for the reader because he is so willing to share his thoughts with us, which again endeared me to him.  Rob is almost the opposite of Sam in that he's sensible and steady, but he also has a sense of adventure which matches Sam.  He is as bewildered as Sam is by their growing love for each other but instead of  panicking or backing away from those feelings he takes life as it comes and chooses to accept that love.  This made Rob a little different from some of the macho alphas heroes out there and went a long way towards me liking him as a character too - maybe not as much as I liked Sam, but nearly as much.

Another thing I really liked about this book is that it's predominately about a relationship between two men.  There's nothing like a mystery or paranormal aspects to cause tension or detract from the romance, nor are there any overly-dramatic moments or big misunderstandings.  In fact the only barriers to their relationship are those which many relationships have to overcome - such as meeting friends, the pressure of work or study, meeting and getting along with the in-laws.  In this book there's the added barrier of the age difference, but that is something both of the men acknowledge from the start, and is even used humourously during sex when Sam freely admits that, due to his age, he does come rather quickly compared to Rob.  It was a nice change just to follow a relationship from start to their HEA and the fact that both characters are sensible, talk through any problems and are incredibly likeable, made this a great read from start to finish.

If I have any niggles about the book it's that there's a lot of sex in the book and I was starting to get a bit bored of the endless sex by the end.  Having said that, many of the sex scenes are used to show character development and so I didn't mind the sex as much as I have done in some books which have contained lots of sex scenes.

Overall, if you are looking for a light, sexy read with a wonderful twinky character and a buff fireman, you can't go wrong with this book.  I enjoyed reading it a great deal and even now, as I skimmed through the book again to familiarise myself with the finer points of the plot and characters, I remember how much I'd liked this book when I first read it a few months ago.  I highly recommend On Fire with a grade of 'Excellent' for those of you who want to read a lovely romance about two guys making their way through the ups and downs on the way to love.

Buy this book HERE.

Something which annoys me about ebooks

I'm naming and shaming in this post so be warned.

The other day I was having a short email conversation with (big name drop coming up) Jordan Castillo Price about the formatting of the Pdfs of the Petit Morts stories.  She was asking me how the format looked on the Sony reader because she'd had to spend some time faffing about with the format to ensure that it read properly for book readers.  In other words so that there were no page numbers or book titles coming up in the middle of the page.  I was happy to assure her that the pages looked fine on my Sony, even when I'd had to enlarge the font.

This got me thinking about other publishers and whether they spend time trying to get the formatting of their pdfs right too and I've come to the conclusion that some do and some don't.  Basically pdfs are just the A4 pages of a  WP document formatted so that you can't make changes to it.  This means that when I load up a pdf onto my Sony the print is approximately 4X as small as on a A4 page.  Fortunately for me, I have a handy 'enlarge' button on my Sony (oh how I love this button, it makes life so much more easy than my Cybook where I had to mess about going into the settings page of the menu) and so when I load up my tiny font sized pdf, I press the button and 'hey presto!' the font is enlarged to a comfortable size - I'd also like to point out at this stage that my eyesight is very good at short distances, so I don't need the 'super-large' font setting to read my books.

The problem arises when some publishers haven't really given a great deal of thought as to how the pdf will look once the font is enlarged.  The publishers that do think about these things have their pdfs set up so that the enlarged lines wrap round and join onto the beginning of the next line.  Those publishers who haven't really given much thought to their pdf formatting have the lines wrapped round but then, instead of joining the next line, they stop mid page and the next line starts below.  To illustrate my point I'm going to use some lines out of the first book at hand which happens to be a copy of Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants by Dav Pilkey (much loved and read book by my kids).

This is how to do it right:

Back in his private laboratory, Professor Pippy P. Poopypants was just putting the finishing touches on two wonderful new inventions: the Shrinky Pig 2000, and the Goosy Grow 4000.


Professor Poopypants called for his assistant, Porkbelly Funkyskunk.  "Mr Funkyskunk," Pippy yelled,  "I am now ready to test my new inventions!"


Porkbelly took notes while the professor aimed his Shrinky Pig 2000 at a hideous pile of rubbish.


"BLLLLLLZZZZRRRRK!"


A powerful beam of energy blasted the garbage heap.  Suddenly, the large pile of rubbish shrank to the size of a gumball.


This is how to do it wrong:

Back in his private laboratory, Professor Pippy P. Poopypants was just putting the 

finishing touches on two wonderful new inventions: the Shrinky Pig 2000, and the 

Goosy Grow 4000.

Professor Poopypants called for his assistant, Porkbelly Funkyskunk.  "Mr Funkyskunk," Pippy yelled,  "I am now 

ready to test my new inventions!"

Porkbelly took notes while the professor aimed his Shrinky Pig 2000 at a hideous pile 

of rubbish.

"BLLLLLLZZZZRRRRK!"

A powerful beam of energy blasted the garbage heap.  Suddenly, the large pile of 

rubbish shrank to the size of a gumball.

See what I mean?  It's very difficult to read the print on the second example because the lines are so disjointed, they don't flow correctly.  I find it immensely annoying to read books like this and several times I've given up on my Sony and read the book on my lap top because I've found it difficult to concentrate on the book in that format.  Surprisingly enough it's the larger pubs like Samhain and some Loose Id books where this happens whereas the smaller pubs like MLR Press and Dreamspinner Press (although DSP is becoming more of a major player these days) who manage to format their pdfs so that they read just fine with an enlarged font.  One has to wonder whether some publishers actually give any thought at all to how their product is presented for us ebook reader users.

One final thing that I find completely baffling is that Torquere Press pdf ebooks switch their format randomly throughout the book.  They do have correctly formatted pdfs which look nice when the font is enlarged but then, for no apparent reason the file loses its formatting for a few pages and reverts back to tiny print (and I mean tiny, as in need a magnifying glass to read).  No amount of pressing the 'enlarge' button seems to change that.  Then after a few pages it goes back to the larger font.  Why?  I've absolutely no idea, but it's very irritating.

I've had a good old moan about this today even though I can't see there being a solution to the problem, unless those publishers who don't give a great deal of thought to their pdf formatting actually start to do so.  I don't care about fancy fonts, or decorative curly letters at the beginning of chapters (they don't format too well on the Sony either), or prettying up the text in any way.  What I want in my ebook is to be able to read the book comfortably and easily in a font size that is clear.  Is that really too much to ask?

ETA: Since writing this I've discovered that Samhain do a special type of Pdf just for the Sony Reader so obviously I've been buying the wrong sort - typical!

Review: Encore! Encore! by Jet Mykles, Charlie Cochrane & Kimberly Gardner

This anthology of two novellas and a short story is a sort of follow on to the anthology of stories about cross dressing heroes, Bravo! Brava! released by MLRP last year and reviewed by me here. I really enjoyed that anthology and I was excited to learn that Jet Mykles and Kimberly Gardiner had written stories in Encore! Encore! featuring their characters from Bravo! Brava!. The novella by Charlie Cochrane is a stand-a-lone, but as I've read and enjoyed other stories by that author, I was sure that I was in for a treat all round. Happily for me all three of these stories turned out to be well worth the read.

Much Ado by Jet Mykles
This is the follow on from the story About Something. That story ended with our heroes, cross dressing actor, Shawn and director, Roscoe being happily set on their HEA. Unfortunately that HEA has had a bit of a hiccup because at the beginning of Much Ado the heroes have been apart for over a year. Shawn had wanted to follow-up his interest in cross dressing by becoming a drag artist and Roscoe felt that Shawn was wasting his talent by abandoning the acting stage for a cabaret act, leading to Shawn walking out on Roscoe. Over a year later, Roscoe turns up out of the blue to the drag club to see Shawn and offer him an acting job reprising the role of Beatrice in 'Much Ado About Nothing' which Roscoe is intending to direct with an all male cast. It's a dream job for any actor but Shawn is determined to stick to his drag act, even if he's not enjoying it as much as he thought. It takes a night of passion and a run in with a stalker for Shawn to admit that he still loves Roscoe, but male pride prevents him from acting on that knowledge.

About Something was my favourite story in the Bravo! Brava! anthology and I was looking forward to revisiting tough but twinky Shawn and the broody Roscoe. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed to discover that they had split up and even more disappointed to find that the split was essentially over artistic differences. Having said that, I still liked the character of Shawn and his larger than life presence in the book. I also liked that the sudden reappearance of Roscoe sparked a self-appraisal of Shawn's career and that he seemed to grow and develop as a character as the story progressed. Roscoe was a little less defined in this story and seemed only to act as a catalyst for Shawn. In some ways I felt that he got off quite easily by the end and didn't do enough penance for his overbearing ways which had originally caused the split. At just over 60 pages this was the shortest of the stories in this anthology with most of the book being taken up with either sex scenes, or discussion between the heroes, or Shawn talking to others about his problems with Roscoe. This actually worked quite well because it lent a realistic tone to what is essentially a story of two men making a second go at their relationship. Grade: Very Good.

All That Jazz by Charlie Cochrane
Cross dressing actor, Francis has landed a dream job playing Velma in an all male version of 'Cabaret'. The success of the play leads to TV appearances, parties and fame for Francis who at first finds it a novelty. It isn't long before he realises that constant attention still leaves him lonely on the inside. After escaping yet another cast party, Francis stumbles upon a quiet gay pub where he meets gay rugby player, Tommy. There's an obvious attraction between the pair but past relationships have made both men cautious and when Tommy expresses reservation at Francis' cross dressing, it seems that their differences may be insurmountable.

There were two parts to this marvellous story. Firstly there is the focus on the glitz and glamour of the theatre and subsequent fame for Francis. The way this is portrayed reflects Francis' feelings about it. We first meet him on opening night, full of nerves and anticipation as he waits to go onstage. Then we follow his career as the play gains momentum before opening to packed audiences in the west end of London. Up to and including that part Francis is excited and confident about his acting abilities - leading to several catty comments made about his co-stars and a general diva attitude. After a while though, things start to change and Francis begins being more reflective about fame and his role in the play. He begins to weary of the constant attention and demands on his time, his feet and legs ache from the dancing and he realises that fame is fleeting. It was all done rather well and I found that I had a great deal of sympathy for Francis, even if he was remarkably self-centred at times. This leads into the second part of the story - that being the relationship between Tommy and Francis. Their first meeting is filled with a slight awkwardness which seemed wholly realistic. Tommy is the opposite to Francis and admits that 'the scene' is something that he would have avoided at all costs before he met Francis. I liked Tommy, liked his honesty and downright 'good guy' attitude. That honesty leads to conflict between the two men when he attempts to wash Francis' make-up off his face and says:

“You taste of blusher and powder. My tongue’s covered in the stuff. I only want to taste sweat and skin—I don’t want to have to kiss you when Boots’ cosmetic counter’s ladled on thick.”

I have to admit, I agreed with Tommy at this point but Francis doesn't take it so well. What came across, in the end, was that for a relationship to work there needs to be discussion and compromise and I found myself very happy for this mis-matched couple who were also so right for each other. One note of warning, this story has a number of British cultural references that may pass over the heads of some non-Brit readers. I really liked that aspect of the story and it made a change for me to know the different TV personalities who are mentioned. Grade: Excellent.

His Leading Man by Kimberly Gardner
This story follows on from Women's Weeds. Like the Jet Mykles story the heroes from the 1st story, David and Kieran have split up. This time the split wasn't caused by an argument but rather the difficulties of maintaining a long distance relationship when Kieran gets the leading part in a TV show and has to move from NY to LA. As this story begins, David is in LA for a conference and attending the party run by the sister of his screenwriting partner. When the hostess drags him off to introduce him to a cute man, David is shocked to discover that the man is Kieran. Their physical chemistry is still there, but the men have a number of problems to overcome before they can get back on the road to a HEA.

One thing I particularly liked about this story is the way that David's character is developed from the previous story. Although we get both hero's point of view, there is just as much page time devoted to David than the flasher and more outgoing Kieran. This meant that I really felt like I got to know David, to understand his reasons for acting the way that he does and his remorse and sadness over the break-up between him and Kieran. David is still quiet and a little tongue tied, but during the story he begins to come out of himself a little more and actually talk to Kieran. Kieran is his usual flamboyant self, even more so now that he has found fame and fortune as the star of a hit TV show. He also makes a lot of mistakes in the story and at times I found myself losing sympathy for him for the wrong decisions that he makes. There were a couple of parts that didn't sit too well, including the slightly forced way that the pair come together at the end, but they weren't enough to detract from what was a well written story about two men with a second chance to get things right. Grade: Very Good.

Overall, I enjoyed this anthology - more, I think, than Bravo! Brava! This was possibly due to my familiarity with the characters in two of the stories, but also because I liked the greater complexity of Charlie Cochrane's story so much. Highly recommended.

Buy this anthology HERE.

Review: Downtime by Tamara Allen

I have to confess that time-travel novels are a bit of a guilty pleasure for me.  I know that they have a reputation for being a bit unrealistic, but I still have a fascination with characters who are somehow able to travel back in time.  Perhaps because that's something I would love to be able to do.  When the opportunity came up to review Downtime, I grabbed it.  M/m time-travel books are very rare - and a much under-represented sub-genre of m/m in my opinion - and so I was looking forward to immersing myself in some modern/Victorian m/m love.

The book begins with our hero, FBI agent Morgan Nash who is in London on loan to MI6 for a short assignment.  Whilst chasing the bad guys around the British Museum, Morgan is shot in one of the storage rooms and blacks out.  When he comes to he discovers that he has been transported back in time to 1888 by the hapless accidental spellcasting of a group of friends: Ezra, Henry and Derry.  They take him back to their boarding house overnight with the intention that they will send him back to the future the next day.  Things don't go as planned though when the spell book goes missing.  Ezra, who has the ability to talk to the dead, and Morgan spend the next few days trying to discover the whereabouts of the spell book as well as developing a hopeless attraction to each other, and Morgan is further distracted when he decides to apply his 21st century crime solving skills to discovering the identity of the Victorian age's most notorious murderer, Jack the Ripper.

There is quite a lot fitted into this lengthy novel.  Firstly, there is the character of Morgan and his observations on life in the Victorian age.  At first he finds it difficult and there are many snort-worthy moments as he copes with the primitive transport and the constricting clothing, but as the book progresses he begins to see the positives in living life at a slower pace.  Morgan has a very dry sense of humour which works well within the first person narrative and greatly endeared him to me as a character.  His no nonsense approach to life and willingness to take risks made a good contrast to the cautious and thoughtful Ezra.  Morgan is also a cynic and sceptical of Ezra's psychic abilities leading to much conflict between them at first.  The whole sub-plot surrounding Ezra, his abilities and how he walks a fine line between what is deemed acceptable and what is considered madness, was an interesting theme within the book and led to much of the tension and frustration within the storyline.

Another area which is explored in detail is the relationship between the men who live in the boarding house and Kathleen, Derry's sister, who runs the house on his behalf.  Much is made of the camaraderie and difficulties of living together in this way.  For Morgan who lives mostly on his own in the present day, the sense of family and friendship he gains from staying at the boarding house is one of the most compelling reasons not to return to the present day.  There are also many observations made about the differences in how the men physically interact with one another and also how life in the boarding house compares to those who live in opulent splendour.  Ezra straddles the line between the upper and middle classes as he comes from a rich family, but chooses to spend his time with his lower class friends.  I found myself warming to these characters and their quirks as much as Morgan does and looked forward to the scenes where where learned more about Ezra, Kathleen and Derry.

By far the part of Downtime which worked best for me was in the growing affection between Morgan and Ezra.  The whole first part of the book, as they desperately try to ignore their attraction, was filled with a delightful sexual tension.  When they finally give in to their lust the sex scenes are tender and suggestive rather than explicit, focusing more on feelings rather than mechanics.  Their regard for each other shines through the way that they speak and their small affection gestures which focus more on the heart of the man rather than crude physical lust.  It was just so lovely that parts of the book brought tears to my eyes.

The part which didn't work so well for me was in the mystery plot.  Much of the second half of the book has Morgan and Ezra chasing clues, scoping out murder scenes and Morgan getting them both into trouble by sticking his nose into the investigation.  Whilst the historical detail in this section seemed accurate, I found the change of pace from focusing on the romance plot to switching to the mystery plot slightly disappointing.  Especially as I wasn't entirely sure that Morgan would have been able to get away with half of what he did in the book.  I was also a little uneasy about the way that Morgan was messing with history by trying to solve what is, to this day, an unsolved murder case.  Another part which didn't work as well was during the second half of the book when there is an entire section where the characters take a trip to Northampton (I don't want to say why for fear of spoilers).  I couldn't quite understand why that lengthy section had been included as it didn't affect anything else in the plot at all and the complication surrounding the trip was resolved so ridiculously easily - almost so easily that it bordered on unrealistic.

Looking at this book as a time travel, I obviously had to suspend my disbelief.  After all, the parts where Morgan goes back in time are hardly the most realistic of plot devices.  However, the realism of life in the Victorian era more than made up for the fact that time-travel is essentially fantasy.  I greatly enjoyed Downtime, despite its flaws and was sad to leave the characters, which were, in my opinion the book's greatest strength.  If you are looking for a well written book with complex characters, an involving plot and some great historical detail, as well as a tender and moving romance, you can't go far wrong than this book.  Grade: Excellent.

Buy this book HERE.

ETA: The link above is to the print copy of the book but you can buy an ecopy at Smashwords and at Amazon Kindle.

Tamara has told me that all proceeds of this book are going to Cancer Research so that's another reason why you must buy this terrific book.

We Have Winners!

Thanks for all of you who entered my little competition to win a free download of one of the Petit Mort stories by Jordan Castillo Price and Josh Lanyon.  My random number generator (AKA hub) has selected two winners and they are:

sayangsometimes and Lisa G

Congratulations to you both.  Please send me your email addresses to jenre30@gmail.com and I will send you the download codes you need for your stories.

Thanks again to Josh for offering up the prize.  Commiserations to the losers but you can still go over to JCP books and buy the stories for yourselves HERE.

Saturday Shorts

Can't Hurry Love by M Jules Aedin
Vincent works in the Easter Bunny department of The Corporation of Mythical Beings.  Unfortunately Vincent has got a few issues about keeping his tail in his trousers and when he gets caught having sex with a Satyr in the stationery cupboard, he is sent to the Cupid department to assist surly cupid Charlie who's behind with his case-load.  Vincent is certain that his winning personality will have Charlie up to scratch in no time, especially when the consequences for failing is a one way trip to the Hall of Forgotten Myths.  I've been reading a lot of very serious books recently and so this light, funny, cute book was just the antidote I needed.  I loved Vincent.  He's a breath of fresh air in bunny-twink form and I also really liked that he wasn't particularly the brightest bunny in the warren, but he still managed to be an engaging and attractive hero.  I also liked that Vincent learned an important lesson about the benefits of delayed gratification.  The sly references to various mythological creatures was very entertaining and I laughed at a number of points, particularly at the scene in the seedy hotel when Vincent is horrified by the colour scheme and uncleanliness of the room.  Overall, this was fantastically entertaining read which I would highly recommend, plus I love that cover.  Grade: Excellent.

Buy this book HERE.


Spoils of War by Aleksandr Voinov and Raev Gray
This is another book which takes mythology as a basis for a story but it has a very different tone to the above story.  This time the focus is on Achilleus, a brave and noble Greek warrior who dies during battle only to be taken up to Mount Olympus and shown the nature of submission by the god of war, Ares.  This story isn't a romance as such, but about the glory and brutality of war and sex.  Ares takes Achilleus for his own before his brother Hermes is able to take Achilleus to Elysium and the waiting arms of his lover Paktroklos.  This taking is not the thoughtful and tender sex of lovers but the clashing, straining, brutal sex of antagonism and war.  I found it all quite thrilling and primal as we see the Greek god and Greek man struggling for dominance with one other.  This was then contrasted with Achilleus' memories with the time spent with his human lover.  This isn't a story for those who are looking for a gentle romance but I found it a fascinating read - even if it did tax my knowledge of Greek mythology to the limit.  The strength of this story is in the strong imagery and solid writing but the nature of the plot will not appeal to all, even if I, personally, found it fascinating. Grade: Very Good.

On a side note, Aleksandr and Raev are offering this story up at Smashwords as a 'choose your own price' book.  In theory you can get this book for free (I paid for mine) or select your own price for it.  This is a limited offer though and they are planning to set a price at the end of this month.  Buy it HERE.


Love is Blindness by Sean Michael
This is one of the m/m books which is currently being sold at All Romance Ebooks as part of their campaign to raise awareness of heart disease.  All profits are going to charity so it's worth buying this story for that reason alone.  The story involves Kieran, a college professor who meets a blind man, Lucien, at a club.  They go back to Kieran's flat and engage in sensual and fulfilling sex with each other, some of which involves Lucien biting and drinking Kieran's blood.  Lucien is a vampire who wants to turn Kieran so they can be together forever, but he is nervous at Kieran's reaction should he confess what he is.  I have a mixed experience with Sean Michael's books.  I've given up on many of his longer works which contained page after page of sex, but I've often enjoyed his shorter works.  This fell into the latter category for me as the sex was often less about the mechanics of the experience and more about a heightened sensuality.  The times spent in Lucien's head were the most interesting and compelling as his lack of sight leads us to view Kieran's body through touch, smell and taste.  The book wasn't perfect as it was basically just several sex scenes in a row and left me with quite a lot of questions as to how Lucien survives without sight and who his female friends at the club were.  It's also an insta-love story which I know won't appeal to everyone.  Having said that, I found this an enjoyable read and well worth the money.  Grade: Very Good.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: Liquid Glass by Zathyn Priest

I’ve not read a book by this author before, although I have heard lots of good things about his other books. When I saw Liquid Glass at TQ I was intrigued by the blurb and decided that the ghost story element sounded interesting. In the end I was pleased to have read the book which contained a wildly romantic plot tempered with unsettling horror and paranormal ideas.

The story follows three sets of characters which interlink with one another in two different periods of history. There is a pair of previously married parapsychologists – Trudy and Malcolm – who have worked for many years to set up a reputable paranormal institute. Malcolm is obsessed with a Victorian house situated on the edge of Hamstead Heath, Lilyport House, which is said to be haunted by the soul of Victorian poet Eldon Davenport who committed suicide after being found in bed with a stable boy. Then there is Cameron MacKensie, a reclusive painter who buys Lilyport. On his first night in the house he sets of a chain of events which resurrects Eldon from the dead. In a panic Cameron calls Trudy who through her psychic powers determines that Cameron and Eldon are soul-mates and that Eldon’s life-force is bound to Cameron. Finally the story takes us back to the mid-1800s and the events leading up to Eldon’s suicide and beyond.

As you can tell from the above this book was quite dense in terms of story and characters. Although the sections set in the modern day follow only the four characters of Malcolm, Trudy, Cameron and Eldon, and one secondary character, the section in the 1800s follows several other characters including Eldon’s parents, his friend, Genevieve, the stable-boy, Albert, Albert’s aunt, Eldon’s nurse as well as a few incidental servants. Add this to a rather complex plot involving ghosts, past lives and fated love, and at times I felt a little overwhelmed. Having said that, whilst I struggled a little, especially towards the end, with the complexity of the plot and who was a reincarnation of who, as well as trying to get my head around how characters in the past can influence what happens in the future, I could still see that this was actually a very unusual story and carefully thought out in terms of how it worked logistically. So despite my confusion at times I was impressed overall with the plotting.

There were parts that I liked a great deal about the book. One of which was the character of Eldon who added some much needed lightness to the story on occasion. He’s an impulsive man who throws himself wholeheartedly into everything and has a sense of joy about life and especially his love for Cameron. I’m not usually a fan of ‘fated love’ stories but Eldon’s nature made it easy for me to believe that he would fall in love so quickly with a man he has only met in his dreams and that his strong personality would pull Cameron to that love. I also liked Trudy and her motherly influence on Eldon and Cameron. Another part I felt worked well was in the sections set in the past with its theme of sober behaviour, duty and societal standing which didn’t sit well with the flamboyant and emotive Eldon, leading to clashes with his father which made a nice contrast to the weirder goings on in the modern day plot.

The parts that didn’t work so well was in some of the more complex reincarnation theories. Much of this is theorised by Trudy who, as a psychic, can read the past through a building and access past lives. To be honest some of this stretched my incredulity a bit – possibly because I’m rather a sceptic about such things – and I also found it convenient that Trudy had all these ‘insights’ into what was happening. However, all the different strands of the plot were tied up satisfactorily and I finished the book happy that the past, present and future had now all been accounted for. There were also some parts of the book that were genuinely creepy and some graphic horror moments so those with a weak stomach for such things may wish to skip those bits.

Overall though, despite some reservations about the ‘past lives’ aspect of the book. I would recommend, Liquid Glass with a grade of 'Very Good'. It certainly kept me turning the pages with its faced paced, emotion laden plot and set of interesting characters. If you like horror or ghost stories then I think you’ll enjoy this book. I did.

Review: Petit Morts by Jordan Castillo Price & Josh Lanyon. Plus a chance to win your own Petit Mort!

Now this is a good idea.  Two of my favourite m/m authors collaborating on a set of short stories with a linked theme - how could I possibly resist?

The link between the stories is a sweet shop - or candy store if you are from the US - and coffee shop called "Sweets to the Sweet", run by the mysterious and enticing Chance.  The store appears and disappears seemingly at random leaving behind two men whose lives will never be the same again.  There are currently five stories in the series: Three by Jordan Castillo Price and two by Josh Lanyon.  I found it quite delightful that, even given the similar premise, each story was refreshingly unique and yet also reflected the usual style or genre of the author.  This meant that Jordan's stories had a strong sense of the bizarre, whereas Josh's stories were mini-mysteries.  I shall take each story in turn:


Hue, Tint and Shade by Jordan Castillo Price
The story begins with our hero, Tommy, entering the coffee shop in order to meet up with Sister Norma, a faith healer who Tommy is hoping will help him with his crippling social shyness.  After she leaves, Chance gives him the number of a psychiatrist who may be able to help him more than alternative medicine.  When Tommy visits Dr Bauer he gets much more than he bargained for when he meets office window cleaner, Nathan.

Out of the five stories this was my joint favourite, mainly due to the streak of sly humour running through the story.  Tommy is painfully shy and yet he is a successful used car salesman, much to his complete bafflement (and my amusement) as he can't understand why his reserved approach to selling cars works so well.  In many ways he is the opposite of brash, outgoing Nathan who pretty much steals the entire story.  My favourite line?:

Nathan stood outside in his coveralls and artfully messy hair, looking more like a character from a music video — an effeminate laborer who would eventually throw down his acetylene torch and fling himself into a choreographed dance number — than an actual worker.

Which just about perfectly sums up his character. Nathan acts as a catalyst for Tommy, giving him confidence about himself and a sense of daring and adventure no faith healer or shrink could ever provide.  There's a delightful light touch to the tone of the writing which veers into the slightly weird later in the story.  I was hooked and couldn't wait to get onto the next story in the collection.


Slings and Arrows by Josh Lanyon
Swim jock Carey is finding college life difficult in his senior year as he tries to make up for partying away his first year by fitting in extra classes to catch up.  Added to this is his roommate and fellow swim jock, Sty, who's still in full-on party mood and uses their room as party central for the rest of the swim team.  When Carey gets an expensive box of chocolates from "Sweets to the Sweet" from 'a secret admirer' he's clueless as to who the admirer could be.  Part of him is freaked out by the strange gift and part of him is hoping that the chocolates might be from Walt, the standoffish and slightly strange grad student who has helped Carey in the past.

This story was my joint favourite with Jordan's story above.  As a former party-boy, Carey has a charisma about him which I found appealing.  Couple that with a new found sense of responsibility and he was irresistible.  What I liked most was not just the character of Carey, but rather the whole unsettlingly creepy atmosphere of the story.  Carey should have been flattered that an admirer sent him chocolates, but he isn't.  Instead he has a vague sense of disquiet about the whole thing.  The odd chill is futhered by the character of Walt, who Carey finds very difficult to read or understand.  Carey is an open and optimistic person, well used to dating, but Walt's closed personality and self-consciousness makes it hard for Carey to break through and see the real man beneath the mask.  This meant that I was never wholly sure about Walt's motivations and feelings towards Carey, and neither is Carey as their interactions take on an awkward, stilted quality which added to the unsettling tone of the story.  One particular part of the book summed up perfectly the odd nature of Carey and Walt's relationship and how Carey is unsure about Walt at times:

A peculiar smile touched Walter’s thin mouth. “I’ve been reading your essays and papers and tests all semester long. I know more about you than you know about me.”

Carey smiled again. He was wondering if that was flattering or creepy? He was interested in Walter so it felt flattering, but it was a fine line, wasn’t it?

The story ends with a resolution of sorts - the mystery is cleared up and there is a HFN for Carey - but I have to admit that the uneasy tone of the story stayed with me for some time, which probably goes to show what a truly well written story this is.


Moolah and Moonshine by Jordan Castillo Price
Emmett isn't a happy man.  His best friend Rosemary is heading off to Paris, leaving him with only his nightmare of a house for company.  All his money is being channelled into the repairs needed to make the house safe leaving him feeling duped and embarrassed.  He ventures into "Sweets to the Sweet" to buy chocolates for Rosemary as a parting gift and Chance introduces him to Sam, who is "good with his hands".  Emmett takes Sam to look at the house and whilst there they discover a false wall in the cellar leading to an old moonshine still, and another tunnel which leads to a surprising location.

This was definitely the most bizarre out of the stories in the collection, but it was also perhaps the most optimistic and gratifying.  In many ways the story is about former missed opportunities and future grasped ones.  The house that Emmett owns which seemed a great investment for him at first turns into a albatross around his neck, weighing him down both financially and mentally.  Sam too is weighed down by financial problems caused not by his mistake but the misjudgement of another.  So from the start the two men have something in common.  I don't want to give the twist away in the story - I suggest you read it for yourself - but I finished the story with a huge smile on my face as the men are set free in more ways than one.  A delightful story about how fate can change your life in unexpected ways.


Other People's Weddings by Josh Lanyon
Griff is a wedding planner in a small town who is currently in charge of  a huge wedding between a woman from one of the richest families in town, Mallory, and Griff's ex-lover, Joe.  Aside from the strain that causes to Griff as he mourns the loss of what he thought was a solid and promising relationship between himself and Joe, Mallory is completely unreasonable in her demands on his time and expects Griff to be at her beck and call.  When things take a turn for the worst, Griff has the additional stress of being forced to deal with his old high school bully, Hamar - Hammer - Sorenson.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed in this story, partly due to my own particular dislike of stories set in and around weddings, and partly because so many wedding clichés were rolled out during the story: The aggressively bitchy bride; the wedding planner who is in love with the groom; the plump bridesmaid; etc, etc.  Perhaps I've got it wrong and the whole thing was supposed to be a pastiche of wedding stories which is why so many of the ideas were familiar.  The story had a strong element of farcical humour running through it which I enjoyed and I also liked the slightly effeminate but mentally strong Griffin who wryly acknowledges that his job make him a bit of a walking cliché too.  In the end though there was just so much crammed into this story that I felt nothing was really dealt with satisfactorily, especially what could have been a promising sub-plot between Griff and Hamar had it been given some space to develop.  Having said that, it was still an enjoyable read, full of Josh Lanyon's sly humour and will probably appeal to those who like wedding stories.


Spanish Fly Guy by Jordan Castillo Price
Con-man JP McMahon is delighted when he rolls into the seaside town of Brightside.  The salt air makes it difficult for phone and internet companies to maintain a signal or connection with the town and as a result the townspeople can't use Google to find out who he is and whether he is as he claims to be.  He sets up his 'trunk of the car' business selling 'love potions' to the desperate and unsuspecting lovelorn townspeople.  Even he is surprised at the popularity of his product and just as surprising is his attraction to shy, sweet Ryan.

I had mixed feelings for this story.  On one hand I disliked JP.  Really disliked him.  I completely agreed with Chance when he says: Didn’t like the guy. Simple as that.  JP is flash, over-confident, a man who makes money from the insecurities of others and he drives a Miata.  I spent most of the story hoping that the other hero, Ryan, would see sense and tell him to get the hell out of town.  Which leads me to the other hand, I really liked Ryan.  Ryan is shy, so shy that he finds it difficult to look anyone in the eye.  He works at a copy shop and in the first few pages when we get to see him struggling with a difficult customer and then being expertly seduced by JP, I completely fell in love with his awkward mannerisms and gentle personality.  I think the idea of the story is seeing the flash JP brought low by the affection of quiet Ryan, but as I spent most of the time hoping that JP would be poisoned by his own love potion, that bit didn't work too well for me!  What did work was the way that Ryan is able to use JP to escape from his humdrum life.  At the beginning we learn something of Ryan:

He’d always admired impulsiveness, though he’d never successfully cultivated the tendency in himself. Impulsive people seemed to get what they wanted. And if not, they looked like they had a lot of fun trying.

The exhilaration that Ryan feels as he gives into an impulsive thought later in the story, made up for all my dislike of JP and I finished the story pretty content (plus I could always use my imagination to summon up a story of Ryan dumping JP for the next hot guy who came along!).


Despite my reservations with a couple of the stories, as a whole this collection was pretty terrific and gets a grade of 'Excellent' from me.  I greatly enjoyed reading all of them and found the way that the stories were connected through Chance and his sweet/coffee shop an interesting and unusual concept.  To get the most enjoyment out of the stories, I'd suggest that you buy and read them all, but if you're trying to save your pennies then the first two stories are a definite must.

Buy these stories HERE.

To show what a lovely man and jolly good sport he is, Josh Lanyon has kindly offered a prize of a free download of one of the stories in the collection to two lucky winners.  Just leave a comment on the review and I'll use my random number generator (AKA hub) to select a winner.  You have until 11.59pm Saturday GMT and I'll announce the winners here on Sunday - good luck!

*sigh*

My blogging muse has deserted me.
As has my reviewing muse.

This is partly because I'm tired and partly because I've got guests at the moment and when I was at the peak of my daily blogging potential, I had to shut down the lap top, be nice and make small talk.

So there's nothing interesting to see here today, but do call back tomorrow when I am going to be reviewing the Petit Morts anthology featuring stories by Jordan Castillo Price and Josh Lanyon and there will also be an opportunity for two lucky winners to grab a Petit Mort for themselves - how exciting for you!

Anyway, in order to appease you all, especially Tam who seems to be a tad obsessed with the Winter Olympics at the moment - not that I'm at all bitter about the fact that we haven't managed to score a medal yet or the fact that our best hope for a medal - the curlers - lost to Sweden yesterday, here's an Olympic hottie for you.

Apparently he's a US skier called Bode Miller.

Review: The Wish by Eden Winters

I picked up this novel from TQ because I'd read and enjoyed Eden's sip The Pirate's Gamble (reviewed here) and I wanted to read more from what I felt was a promising new author. The Wish turned out to be a delightful story filled with a mix of humour, drama and pathos.

I've tentatively labelled this story as a paranormal although I'm not sure whether that is the correct label really. The story contains a ghost - and a rather meddling ghost at that - but couldn't possibly be called a horror story as Byron has more in common with Caspar the friendly ghost than he does with Poltergeist! In fact it is Bryon who is the focus of a great deal of humour in the book and rather ironically counterbalances the grief the other characters feel about his death.

The book begins with Byron's funeral. His lover of thirty years, Alfred, mourns deeply for his death. In a cruel twist of fate their May to December relationship was ended when the younger Byron was taken by cancer in his 50s, leaving the older Alfred, now in his 70s, to cope with a cold, empty life without his lover. His only consolation is that a heart condition may lead to him following Byron soon. It's a sad opening to the book and one which I found quite heartbreaking, as I felt sorrow for Alfred in his grief. Before Byron died he asked Alfred if he would do everything in his power to bring together the two men that both Alfred and Byron hold dear to their hearts - their respective nephews Alex and Paul - and Alfred promises himself that he will do all that he can to uphold Byron's last wish. The story then follows Alfred, his butler Bernard, and the ghostly Byron as they attempt to get these two seemingly different men to realise how perfect they really are for each other.

Out of the two men, Paul and Alex, Alex is definitely the more interesting of the pair. As Alfred's nephew he comes from a rich and powerful family. When his mother died, he was taken in by his grandparents and treated to their 'hands off' approach to parenting causing him to be starved of love and affection. The only loving relationship he's ever known is from his uncle and Byron, who, due to his grandparents disapproval of Alfred's 'lifestyle', he was allowed to see in the holidays only. This led to Alex being emotionally shuttered and he lives his life through a series of meaningless encounters. Money and influence opens doors for him so he has never had to work for anything in his life and as a result he takes pleasure in being cruel and callous - as we are shown when we first meet him in a scene where he deliberately comes between two lovers. Be warned, Alex is not a particularly nice or likeable person at the beginning of the book. Under the cynical and shallow exterior though Alex does have a caring heart and the main thrust of the character development with Alex during the book is seeing that cold exterior gradually broken down by Alfred and, later, Paul. This has to be one of the most interesting and ultimately satisfying parts of the book, especially when the assumptions that Alex makes about Paul based on his own experiences with hangers-on and sycophants are proved to be false and he realises that it is safe to open your heart to people.

Compared to Alex, Paul comes across as rather saintly. He is Byron's nephew and entitled to just as much financial support as Alex. However, He turns down all the offers of money and help from Alfred and Byron in favour of building his life and business by the sweat of his own brow. When Byron is ill he immediately comes and stays with them to be a help and support. After Byron's death he stays with Alfred to be a loving relative in which to share the burden of grief. When Alex sees how close Alfred and Paul are, he immediately jumps to the conclusion that Paul has jumped into Alfred's bed in order to gain a 'Sugar Daddy', a premise which would be laughable in the extreme were it not for the fact that it shows just how suspicious and cold-hearted Alex is. I liked that the initial antagonism between Paul and Alex turns into a grudging acceptance of their better qualities and finally love, as they realise what Alfred and Byron had always seen, that their personalities complemented each other.

At its heart this book is about the end of one relationship and the beginning of a new one. Those of you who do not like death, or grief or suffering in their books will probably find this book difficult to read at times. There are some scenes which are definitely designed to tug on the heartstrings and I found my eyes filling with tears on a few occasions. I did find though that this was ultimately an uplifting novel about the eternal nature of love and I finished the book feeling a little emotionally wrung out but happy nonetheless.

I've only dwelt on a few things which struck me about this book but there were plenty of other great things I could have written about such as the way that family and friendship is explored; and the theme of money and duty verses following your heart. Eden Winters is a new author and as a result some of the writing is a little clumsy in places - something I'm sure that will be smoothed out as the author develops her writing skills - but that was the only negative point in what was an poignant and moving novel.

Overall, I would highly recommend The Wish with a grade of 'Excellent', for those readers who are looking for a book which takes you on an emotional journey with two older and two younger men.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: Seducing Stephen by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon

As many of you probably know, before I read m/m romance I went through a four year period where I read only m/f historicals (mostly from the 18th and 19th century). I felt a comfortable sense of familiarity then as I started to read Seducing Stephen, one that took a delightful turn into the ususual as the book progressed.

The book begins with our hero, Stephen, being woken up in the middle of the night by a drunken earl, Peter, who has mistakenly arrived at the country house of his friends, the Pratts, on the wrong date.  Peter thinks it's the weekend of one of the Pratt's debauched parties, and that Stephen has been left in the bed of his usual chamber by his hosts for his enjoyment.  Unfortunately this isn't the case as Stephen is actually a friend of the Pratt's son, Brian, and is on a visit from Cambridge.  After beginning a seduction of young Stephen, Peter quickly realises his mistake and attempts to leave.  So far, so familiar.  It's at this point, when usually the shy miss will be left alone in the bed to recover her shocked sensibilities, that events veer off from that familiarity.  Stephen has known for a while that he is attracted to men and now the perfect opportunity to test out that attraction has literally landed in his bed.  He makes it known to Peter that his attentions are not unwelcome and the two men then spend time together over the next few days with Stephen a willing student in the arts of gay sex.  Unfortunately, events conspire against them and the two men have to part.

I have to admit that the greatest attraction of this book for me was in the comparisons I could make between what I know of m/f historicals and how the events in this book mirrored or differed from that knowledge.  I've already mentioned one difference from the first few pages of the book, but there were plenty of other examples.  Stephen seems to be the epitome of the innocent miss.  His sheltered background, pretty looks and innate shyness reinforces that idea.  However, under that exterior Stephen is a man who knows what he wants.  He hopes for an engineering career in bridge building and he wants Peter with a passion that borders on obsession.  When Peter rejects Stephen, he hides his broken heart in work and meaningless sexual encounters, gaining experience of the circumspect life of the Victorian gay man.  I liked the fact that Stephen grew and developed as a character over the course of the novel as he loses the sweet boyish innocence and becomes a man.

This then contrasted with Peter who follows a more traditional and recognisable route.  If Stephen is the blushing virgin miss, then Peter is the wealthy, titled rake who spends his life in the the pursuit of hedonistic pleasure.  Peter's encounter and rejection of Stephen is done for a good reason - to protect Stephen from his poisonous reputation - but leads to Peter becoming disillusioned with his life.  It's the old story of the rake brought low by the love of a virgin, but the m/m setting and complex characters lent this story a freshness which I found quite delightful.  I also liked the way that the two men represent the different facets of society which were prevalent during the Victorian period.  Peter represents the aristocracy whose presence in society is very much on the wane after the excesses of the Regency period.  Stephen is the from the 'grasping middle class' and much of his enthusiasm about life is based on his love of engineering.  There's no longer such a stigma behind the two men being friends as there may have been in the past, but there is a definite feeling that it is Stephen that has the ideas and bright future, whereas Peter is comfortable with his title and old money, leading to a sense of ennui and lack of enthusiasm about life.  The bright spark of Stephen helps to lift Peter out of the gloom, another part of the book which I liked a great deal.

Interwoven with the main thrust of the romantic plot are themes such as duty, reputation and surviving as a gay man in a society where exposure or even a hint of scandal would lead to censure and possibly imprisonment.  It's always difficult in an m/m historical to strike a balance between a romantic HEA and a believable ending for the time period.  I don't want to give too much away but I felt that this book managed to balance that in a realistic way.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and even a couple of annoying US vocab mistakes (bangs instead of fringe and ass instead of arse) didn't dampen my enjoyment of this book.  If you like historicals then I would highly recommend that you read Seducing Stephen, which gets a grade of 'Excellent' from me.  You won't regret it.

Buy this book HERE.

Saturday Shorts

The Brotherhood: Amor Magique by Willa Okati
I got this story after reading Lily's review of it on her blog.  This is the first in The Brotherhood series.  Liam is an incubus who regularly meets together with a group of human men who have been hurt by abusive or criminal lovers in the past and now act as a support for one another.  Well, I say support, mostly they just hang out and insult one another.  The men in the group are all wary of finding anyone else to love, nor are they willing to put themselves back out on the dating scene.  Liam wants to help these men so he arranges for them to attend a special night at the nightclub Amor Magique where all the gay paranormal creatures come out to play.  This story is basically a set up for the series to come which will follow the group of men as they attend this special evening and find a paranormal lover.  I enjoyed this short and liked Liam very much - especially the way that he is so smug about his plans only to have them initially shot down by the group. It certainly piqued my interest for the rest of the series, but at 13 books in total, I may have to pace myself.  Grade: Very Good.

Buy this book HERE.

The Solitary Knights of Pelham Bay 1: Finding Chandler by Claire Thompson
This new series has a similar set up to the above story.  I group of gay friends meet up in a pub in Chelsea.  Each man has been badly hurt by love in the past and so has sworn off love and vows to spend the remainder of his life with meaningless sex.  The landlord of the pub, Drew, feels sorry for the men and asks them whether there has ever been a guy in their pasts who they have loved and then lost for whatever reason.  he then says:

 “What if you could go back and do it again? What if you could find that unrequited love, that one guy—if only you knew then what you know now—who you could have really had something with?”

Thus the premise for the series is set up as each of the men in the group look for the one person who they loved and lost.  First up is Eric, who had a lover at college, Chandler, who he, rather cruelly, cast off when he left college to join the army.  After Drew's challenge, he decides to look up Chandler.  What followed was a rather bittersweet journey for Eric as he realised how much he had hurt Chandler and what an idiot he had been all those years ago.  I really liked this story and found it an interesting take on the whole 'lost love' theme.  Eric wasn't easy to like, especially once I found out how much he had hurt Chandler - but there was a very satisfying amount of grovelling done by Eric once he realised what a prat he had been, so I was happy with the HEA.  One other thing I liked about the story is that both men are in their 40s.  Overall, this was a great short about recapturing lost love and I shall be reading the rest in the series - even though it looks like this might be a long series too.  Grade: Very Good.

Get this book free HERE.

Fantasies: New Years Eve by Cassandra Gold
Eric, the deputy manager of Fantasies Resorts in Hawaii, is very lonely.  His last lover, a regular guest at the hotel where Eric previously worked, turned out to be married and only using him for sex, which meant that Eric requested a transfer from his much loved Colorado to Hawaii.  Since then he's been so busy with his job he hasn't had time to meet anyone.  Eric's boss has put him personally in charge of seeing to the comfort of famous author DM McAllister, or Dex.  There's an attraction between them but Eric doesn't want to get involved with a guest again and tries to rebuff him.  However, Dex's kindness and concern for him during this very busy period at the hotel - there's a huge NY party which Eric is organising - begins to break down Eric's defences.  Aside from the rather daft misunderstanding towards the end of this story, I really enjoyed reading this short.  I felt sorry for Eric, especially as his job is so demanding, and I liked the slight turnabout of the guest caring for the hotel employee.  The end did border a little on instalove, as the pair have literally only known each other three days, plus the story ends quite suddenly and then we are thrown into a 'one year later' scene.  However, that wasn't enough to dampen my enjoyment of a lovely romantic short.  Grade: Very Good.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: Puppy Love by Jeff Erno

THE BLURB

Matt is everything that Petey is not. He is self-confident and brave. Matt is tall and masculine and athletic. He is a natural-born leader. Puppy Love is their love story, their romance. It is both a coming-of-age and coming-out story, but sexual orientation is not the primary focus. Petey struggles with his identity both as a homosexual and as a submissive

What do you do when you love someone who is truly superior to yourself in every meaningful way? How do you feel, and what if these feelings are not what everyone tells you you’re supposed to feel? We are taught that every individual is equal, but what if you know, through experience, that this is not the case? What if, in a society in which everyone is supposed to be a leader, you discover that your passion, your destiny, is to submit.

In Puppy Love, Petey Drinkell discovers the true nature of power, its role in sexual relationships, and his own role in the power structure. Puppy Love is perhaps the world’s first gay BDSM coming-of-age novel. This erotic epic is more than classic erotica; it also challenges the fundamental assumptions we make about human relationships and democracy.

THE REVIEW

My first thought on finishing Puppy Love was 'Well how the heck am I going to rate that?'! This lengthy book had taken me through such a wealth of emotions, some good, some bad, that I found it almost impossible to place a rating on it. In some parts of the book I was convinced I was going to give it a high grade and then later something would happen to make me think it needed a much lower grade. By the time I got to the end I was so thoroughly confused about my feelings for the book, I wasn't sure how I could possibly place a grade on it or even write a coherent review of my feelings whilst reading it.

As a result of this, I'm going to write a slightly different type of review to the ones I usually write. Instead of writing down my general thoughts, I'm going to set out in two sections a list of what it was I liked about the book and what I didn't like. Perhaps then you will understand why my feeling veered around to such a great extent. I've included the blurb today to save me having to write my own as the publisher blurb says it all.

Let's start with the positives:

1. The character of Petey
Petey is our first person narrator. I found him to be very sympathetic especially as he takes us very clearly through all the different feelings and emotions he experiences as he comes to terms with coming out as gay and reconciling himself to his submissive nature. He is one of those people who over-thinks and over-analyses what is happening to him. At times this was a little dull as there is an excessive amount of naval gazing done by Petey throughout the book. At other times this was very helpful for me to get a clear understanding of why Petey acts as his does and allows Matt to treat him as his slave or 'pup'. A warning to those who don't like their heroes too emotional: Petey cries all the time in the book. He cries when he's happy, sad, confused or being punished. As Petey is quite up-front about his emotional state, I found I could accept this part of his personality and it didn't bother me too much.

2. The other characters gave us differing viewpoints on the D/s lifestyle
During the book there are several characters who seem to represent different views on the D/s lifestyle. There is Petey's friend, Drew, another sub who acts as a guide and support for Petey. There is Cameron, a gay man who looks at Petey and sees only exploitation and abuse. There is Kathie, Petey's sister, who worries that Petey is being taken advantage of. This allowed the reader to see differing viewpoints of the D/s life, whilst also grounded in Petey's own self-belief that this is what he really wants.

3. Emotionally gripping scenes
There were several scenes in the book which had me literally on the edge of my seat. At these times, I was thoroughly engrossed in the story and became very stressed, or emotional about what was happening to Petey. It's the sign of a great book if it can engage my emotions to such a great extent and it was at these times when I really felt that this book was due a high grade. I also found myself enjoying the story and I was genuinely interested in what was happening and how everything was going to be resolved by the end of the book.

Now onto the negatives:

1. Parts of the submission disgusted me
As part of Matt's total dominance of Petey he makes him drink his urine. This led to a few detailed 'golden shower' scenes which, frankly, nauseated me. There was one particular scene where the two men are at a water park and Matt urinates into a empty water bottle and Petey has to carry it around and drink from it during the day. To be honest it made me feel ill. It still makes me feel ill just thinking and writing about it now. There may be some readers out there who don't mind urine play in their D/s books but it just wasn't my thing and I don't want to read about it in my m/m books.

2. Matt's Infidelity
This is a source of contention between Matt and Petey throughout the book. Matt is bisexual and carries on a relationship with a woman (as well as having sex with other women) whilst also seeing Petey, whereas Petey has to remain faithful to Matt at all times. Petey hates this, but Matt tells him that as a Sir he can do whatever he likes and if that means he sees other people then so be it. Many of the other D/s books I've read have exclusive couples, or if they aren't exclusive there's a mutual agreement to this. This aspect of the book saddened and frustrated me. To be honest I agreed with Cameron when he said that if Matt really loved Petey then he would want to be exclusive, and on a number of occasions I wanted Petey to break it off with Matt because of the infidelity. This was the only part of their relationship where I felt that Petey truly was being taken advantage of.

3. The representation of women in the book
There aren't many female characters in the book and, apart from Petey's sister Kathie, all the women are referred to in very derogatory terms as 'pussies' or 'bitches'. In one way, I can understand: Petey sees these women through the eyes of Matt who has very little respect for the women he has sex with. This is also reinforced by his friend Drew who tries to help Petey's worry about Matt's unfaithfulness by dismissing these women as just a convenient hole for Matt when he fancies sex with a woman. Although Kathie is supposed to be a loving support for Petey, she is portrayed as nagging or interfering for quite a lot of the book, even when she was trying to help or protect Petey. This whole aspect made me very uncomfortable indeed and at times the way women were shown in the book bordered on mysogeny.

Hopefully, by setting down my views in this way I have given the readers of this review an insight into some of the good and bad things about the book. In the end I've gone for 'Very Good' because I did find this a genuinely engrossing and unusual book. For those of you who don't mind some of the negative things I've mentioned in this review, it could possibly be much higher. For those who would be very bothered by the negative aspects or who don't really like D/s stories, I expect this book could be as low as my 'Poor' grade for you. I've certainly seen many other reviews of Puppy Love with completely polarised opinions. There is a sequel planned for the book. I'm in two minds as to whether I want to read it or not. I'd like to see how Matt and Petey continue to work some of the unresolved issues that were left at the end of this book, but then again I'm not sure I really want to read any more about urine play so that would put me off reading a sequel. If you've read this book, I'd love to know whether you thought the same as I did.

Buy this book HERE.

Short Review: And Call Me in the Morning by Willa Okati

I picked up this book because everyone raved on about it on GRs and I read several great reviews on other blogs.  I was also attracted by the fact that the heroes are in their 40s which is quite unusual for an m/m book.  This meant I had high hopes for this one as I sat down to read.  In the end, I wasn't as enthused by it as many other readers have been, but it was still a pretty good read.

Plot: Doctors and best buddies Eli and Zane are such close friends that everyone assumes that they are in a gay relationship together.  In order for them to put the whole thing to rest, Zane suggested they kiss one another.  This turns out to have the opposite effect when sparks fly and the two men tumble into a sexual relation which Eli never saw coming.  Along the way they have to cope with interfering friends, stress in their jobs and working out how they are going to slot into each other's lives.

Characters: As I said earlier, one thing which I liked was that the two men were both mature.  this is reflected in the book as they both have careers which makes it difficult to always fit each other in.  The book is written from Eli's point of view and he's a very sympathetic narrator.  My one complaint is that he was, well, a little bland.  There was nothing which really made him stand out as a character.  This was a shame because he had such an interesting background - he used to be a cop and then after retiring from the force, he re-trained as a doctor - and I felt more could have been made of this to add interest to his character.  Instead it's just a 'thing' about him that happened in the past, and which he's now put behind him.  In fact both of the main heroes were likeable but uninspiring.  They had the usual doctor characteristics - relaible, hardworking, self-sacrificing - and even Zane's frustrations with the hospital administration were in keeping with that overall image of the perfect doctor who only cares about his patients.  This meant that although I liked reading about the two men and were glad for their happy ending, there was nothing which struck me or held my interest after I finished the final page.

Overall:  This would be the ideal book to read after reading something which might have been stressful or difficult to read.  It was a gentle, easy romance without much angst.  The heroes actually talk to one another and discuss their problems like sensible adults.  They also take their time exploring their new-found sexual attraction which I found very appealing, although the sexual tension wasn't as strong as I was hoping.  Their solid friendship with each other meant that they were considerate when things moved into a sexual relationship and any hurts or misunderstandings were quickly resolved.  If you're looking for a decent romance between two older, likeable guys which contains a touch of GFY, then you can't go wrong with this book.  Grade: Good.

Buy this book HERE.

Comfort Zone

Do you ever have times when you're just so overwhelmed by your TBR pile that you have a complete panic, lose the ability to decide what to read next and as a result retreat to the comfort and safety of your keeper shelf?

I did this weekend - I think it was reading Thinking Straight that did it.  It was a stressful (if compelling) read and afterwards I felt rather adrift, unable to settle on a new book to read.  Instead, I dipped into one of my favourite m/m series and re-read this book.

Super.

I felt tonnes better after reading it and started the week ready to tackle the new books in my pile.

What book/s do you turn to when you're after a comfort read?

Review: Precious Jade by Fyn Alexander

I seem to have been reading quite a lot of D/s books recently but so far this historical is the first book I've read which explores the master/slave relationship.

The story is written in the first person from the point of view of 18 year old Jade. He's been brought up in the theatre by his singer mother, and was a child star with an angelic singing voice. When his voice broke he found himself out of a job, and eventually his mother persuaded him to leave the theatre world and apply for a job as secretary to MP Marcus Winterbourne. As soon as Jade meets the stern MP he feels the stirrings of attraction which manifests itself as a strong desire to please his master.

Like all books written in the first person, this book's strength relies on a sympathetic narrator. It was unfortunate then that I never really warmed to Jade. I found him irritating in the extreme as he whines, pouts and cries his way through the book, behaving like a spoiled child rather than the young man he really is. He's selfish and vain, bursting into tears at the slightest provocation and generally being a complete nuisance. On many occasions in the book other characters refer to his intelligence, but for most of the book he doesn't act intelligent, quite the opposite in fact, as he behaves in a rash, impetuous, childish manner and doesn't think his actions through properly. After a while, I began to wonder whether his so-called intelligence sprang only from his ability to read and write, and being a historical where many people of his social class probably wouldn't be able to read I could understand that.

Another aspect of Jade which I found quite baffling is that he doesn't appear to have gone through puberty. He often refers to the fact that his voice has broken but then also tells us that he has no pubic hair, nor does he have facial hair. I thought this all rather odd and it reinforced in my mind that he was more like a child than a man, especially when coupled with his behaviour which matched that of a prepubescent boy. Jade's reactions to Marcus were also very child-like in that he wholly accepts Marcus' dominance of him and never questions why he should want to submit to Marcus in the way that he does. This made it difficult for me to understand Jade's motivations as the only explanation he gives for why he obeys Marcus is that he loves him and wants to serve him. I would have expected an intelligent man to be able to articulate better the reasons for wanting to submit to, what would seem on the surface, cruel treatment from Marcus. Instead I was fobbed off with protestations of love when I wanted a deeper analysis of Jade's emotional state. Marcus himself was a complete enigma - probably deliberately so as Jade cannot work out his moods or wishes half the time. Marcus is one of those Doms who is totally in control and never do any wrong which actually just made him seem a little smug.

Once Jade has been cast out by Marcus, I found myself liking Jade a whole lot better. The way that he deals with his new situation as footman shows that actually he does have intelligence. Much is made of the fact that Jade has grown up in the theatre and so it surprised me that for the first part of the book he seemed so overwhelmingly naive. However, in the second part he begins to show his cunning and a certain wry sense of humour which hadn't been apparent earlier in the book. It was a shame then when Marcus came back into the book and Jade reverted back to his previous form.

I feel I ought to make some comment about the fact that this is an historical, but I feel rather ill qualified to do so. It seemed accurate and I even looked up some of the references to devices found in Marcus' dungeon and they were correct for the time the book was written. I liked the scenes where Jade describes his life in the theatre and I also liked the hierarchy of the servants in both of the houses where Jade is employed, as both of these settings are very different to the usual 'upper class' settings in historical romance. Perhaps those of you with a greater knowledge of the Victorian period would be able to spot mistakes which passed me by, but I would still recommend this to those who like an historical setting for their books.

In some ways, I've found it quite difficult to set out my feelings about this book because I'm very aware that a reader who likes Jade will have a very different view to the book that I have. My grade of 'Good'  is mostly based on that, rather than the quality of the writing - which was very good - and the setting or plot - which was unusual and interesting. Having said that, the character of Jade does rather dominate the book so I still stand by the grade I've decided on. What I will say is that, if you like historicals and Master/slave books then I would still suggest you read this book, as your feelings for Jade may differ from mine. In which case you may find this to be a well written and enjoyable book.

Buy this book HERE.