Review: Something Like Autumn by Jay Bell

*There are spoilers for this series in this review*

Something Like Autumn is the third book in the Seasons series. Although it's not necessary to read the books in order, I would start with the first book Something Like Summer which I reviewed here. It is possible to read this book, or even the second book, first, but because the character of Ben features as a main romantic interest in all three books then I think it's possibly best to get his story first.

Let's get the warnings out of the way first, shall we? Those readers who have read the other books in the series will know that there is no HEA for Jace. Those readers who loved the character of Jace and were hoping that the author might fudge a happy ending are doomed to disappointment because the book stays true to the events in the previous books. In fact, when I got to the end, I cried a great deal. I'm not saying any more but if you're looking for rainbows and fluffy bunnies, you won't find them at the end of this book, although you will find a sort of bittersweet happiness.

I really liked the character of Jace in Something Like Summer. Some readers complained that he was too perfect, but I liked that about him. He was perfect for Ben and I wasn't particularly happy with the way their relationship ended. This book shows us Jace's story from when he was 17 through to when he meets Ben and all that happened afterwards. We get to find out why Jace is so calm, so understanding of Ben's faults and how he came to be a flight attendant on the flight where he met Ben. It's not a easy journey for Jace who suffers a number of ups and downs through the years but has the support of a loving family and a wonderful best friend.

The story begins as Jace tries to commit suicide. He knows he is gay and having read several biographies of famous gay men, he realises that he is doomed to die alone and so decides not to put himself through years of torment by ending it all now. After throwing himself off a bridge, realising half way down what a terrible mistake he is making, he is rescued by Bernard who makes sure he's OK and then offers Jace a job at the local gas station. It's whilst working one evening that Jace meets Victor, a free spirited young man whose laid back approach to life fascinates Jace.

The book is divided into two distinct parts of Jace's life. The first part is all new and original material which covers maybe four years of Jace's life from the last few months of his senior year to his college years and centres around his relationship with Victor. This was my favourite part of the book because it shows a great deal of character growth in Jace as he deals with coming out and the highs and lows of his first relationship. Victor is Jace's first boyfriend and the two are polar opposites. Jace has a loving family and a close friendship with his best friend Greg. He works hard at school and in his job, is biddable and obedient (mostly) and has a strong sense of right and wrong. Victor only has his mom and doesn't see her very often, dropped out of high school and spends most of his time camping out, sponging off Jace and spouting philosophy about how he is unable to conform to society's expectations because he is a free spirit. His friend is Star, an ex of Victor's who becomes a rival for Jace. I have to be honest and say that I didn't like Victor very much. Jace thinks he is wonderful, follows him round like a puppy and provides Victor with food and cigarettes whenever he needs it. Despite my dislike of Victor, I could see why Jace would like him and the author does a really good job of showing Jace's fascination with Victor and in showing that Victor does have feelings for Jace. It was also interesting to see how Victor's view on life changes Jace, and how their push/pull relationship is reflected in Jace's later relationship with Ben. There were a few lightbulb moments for me when I connected the dots between events with Victor and later events with Ben. It was cleverly done.

The second half of the book covers familiar ground and deals with Jace's relationship with Ben. There are a few cross-over events from the first and second books such as when Jace first meets Ben, their first dates and the arrival of Tim in their lives - it was especially interesting to read the water park incident from Jace's point of view. On the whole this part was used to expand and fill in the gaps of their relationship, things that there wasn't time or space to cover in book one. For example we get to see them going away on holiday together, and there are one or two very poignant scenes set around 9/11. I loved seeing again how much Ben and Jace worked as a couple and getting further insight into the events of other books because I was seeing it through different eyes.

There were plenty of other wonderful things about this book that I don't have the space to cram into this review. Things like the characters of Greg and of Jace's sister Michelle, both of whom were fully fleshed out and extremely likeable - I wish that Greg was my best friend!; or the way that this author has a gift of being able to get into the mind of a teenager and coherently show all the jumbled mix of hormones and emotions that comes with being 17/18 and in love; or how Jace was just so delightful as a character that I could have read 400 more pages of his narrative; or how masterfully the author handles emotion in the book so that I was laughing one minute (the scene where Jace's dad offers to give advice on safe sex had me in stitches) and in the next I was in tears. The book is long but the pages flew because I was so engrossed in the events that were happening on the page.

The first book in this series, Something Like Summer was the first book I had read by this author and I've now read all his books. As an author he just keeps getting better and better and I highly recommend this latest book. For those of you who have read the other books in this series, don't be put off by knowing the ending of this book because you will miss out on meeting the wonderful character of Jace properly and that would be a great shame. For those readers who haven't read any of this series, what are you waiting for? Get to it because you'll be in for a treat. Grade: Excellent.

By this book HERE.

Review: Wish List by KA Mitchell

Wish List by K.A. Mitchell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars/Very Good



I bought this at Christmas and then it got swallowed up by my TBR pile so I forgot about it. I was flipping through the books on my Sony reader and saw this. Having just read a long book containing a sweet romance with lots of fade to black, I was in the mood for something relatively short and sexy and this seemed to fit the bill completely.

Jonah is looking in his lover's desk drawer for sellotape when he discovers a pair of wedding rings. This sends him into a panic because, although he loves Evan, Jonah has always wanted to try the BDSM scene. Evan is as vanilla as can be so Jonah worries that once he commits to Evan he will have to sent aside the possibility of exploring that side of him. Jonah makes a list of things he wants to try. Evan finds the list and we discover that Evan was once a Dom who gave it up because he craved more of an emotional connection, something his subs never seemed to give him. When he sees that Jonah is wanting to try out submission, he's very pleased and waits for Jonah to open up to him, but Jonah's too afraid to ask for what he wants.

I ended up having mixed views about the story. I loved the opening and the way it established the characters of Jonah and Evan. They are not very good at talking to each other, so much of the story centres around miscommunication and Jonah jumping to incorrect assumptions. I didn't mind that because the author does well in showing us Jonah's fears and the reasons why he holds back from Evan.

I enjoyed the middle less well. There was a side issue of Jonah contacting another Dom via the Internet which almost bordered on cheating on Evan, and I was a little worried how that would all play out. It also didn't really fit with the steady and loving relationship shown between Jonah and Evan for Jonah to go behind his lover's back. Then that aspect of the story just fizzled out and was set aside, becoming more about Evan's concern that Jonah would get hurt by an unscrupulous Dom rather than Evan being hurt that Jonah would look elsewhere.

Things improved vastly by the end when Jonah and Evan started talking and I was left feeling happy for the couple as they begin to explore a different dynamic in their relationship. There were other aspects which I liked, such as the smoking hot sex scenes (something that's always guaranteed to be good with this author), the fact that Evan isn't your typical Dom, and the family dynamics in Evan's family.

So overall, this was a story which left me with mixed feelings but one I think I can still recommend if you're looking for a steamy story with BDSM elements.



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A quick question before I dash off to work...

As you know, I'm fairly active on Good Reads. I post reviews there and keep as up to date as I can with what my GRs friends are reading or what the new 'hot' book is. However, I still, after 4 years, haven't got the hang of the friending etiquette. At the moment if I get a friend request, I look to see what books the person is reading/has read and if they read m/m romance or are a member of the GRs m/m romance group, I accept the friend request. If they don't, but do read m/f romance, then I will usually accept the request. If they don't read any of those then I dither about wondering whether I should friend them or not, especially when I see that some of my GRs friends are also their friend - even if the request comes from an author who only publishes self help books.  Eventually, after several weeks, I will bite the bullet and make a decision, feeling bad if I decline the friend request!

So here's my question:

What is your system for accepting friend requests on Good Reads?

and

If you are an author, do you automatically accept friend requests on GRs regardless of whether the person actually reads any books in the m/m genre, or even romance?

OK, so that was two questions.

On another note, I was pissed off last week when I accepted a friend request from a person who sent me a lovely message about why she wanted to be my friend on GRs and then after I accepted, sent another nice message saying how much she was looking forward to sharing book ideas.

Within 24 hours she'd sent me a invite to her book launch/publicity event.

Yeah, I see that you're really interested in sharing book ideas! What you wanted was to have me on your distribution list so you could send me notifications/invites for your books which I never asked or signed up for.

Authors: Don't do this.

Review: Dracones edited by SL Armstrong

Dragons are fascinating creatures, aren't they? I've always thought so, so when Storm Moon Press issued this anthology of stories about dragons, I was immediately putting up my hand for a review copy. The anthology is made up of seven different stories, all within the fantasy genre and generally all had the theme of dragon shifters. In the end, I didn't enjoy this anthology as much as I thought I would. There were some stories that shone out from the anthology, but on the whole, for such an interesting and unusual theme, the stories were either dull or so overly busy so that I either found myself confused as to what was happening or was overwhelmed by too many characters for stories of less than 50 pages.

The story that stands out above the rest was Finding the Rain by Tam Ames. Now, I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this because, as many of you know, Tam and I are very good mates and run a blog together. It may seem like I'm playing favourites but this genuinely was the best story, and many other reviews of this anthology have agreed with me. The story is set in a fantasy Chinese setting. Buwei, a lowly rice farmer, is selected by the Governor to take a cart load of offerings to the dragon Lord Shenlong in the hope that the dragon will end the drought which blights the area. When Buwei arrives at Lord Shenlong's temple he is greeted by Tian who agrees to pass on Buwei's request to Lord Shenlong as long as Buwei stays with him for a month and tells him stories. I really liked the setting of the story and in particular I liked the character of Buwei whose virginal innocence was appealing. There's a lighthearted tone which I associate with this author but plenty of underlying sexual tension and confusion for Buwei. I think I preferred the part of the story set in the temple to the later parts, but that was because I was enjoying the development in the relationship between the characters. The last part was more action packed and provided a nice contrast to the slow build up at the beginning. Overall this was well worth reading, and should the stories ever be published as separates, then I highly recommend you buy this one.

My second favourite story was A Fugue in Gold and Fire by Avery Vanderlyle. The story begins as people in a local town are filled with dread. The purple moon, Vesti, which appears only once every 1000 years or so is almost at its largest point during which time all the people of the town, except for children and the very old, will change into an animal. Some will quickly find their human forms again by remembering a reason to be human but some will be lost forever as animals. Adri and Dru are lovers who are determined to remember each other and so fashion a bracelet to wear. When the change comes they hope that they will see the bracelet and remember to be human. What I liked about this story was that the author managed to convey quite a lot of information about the setting but I didn't feel overwhelmed or lost in all that was happening on the page. The focus is mainly on the two lovers and their love for each other shines through the narrative of Adri. I felt all their worry about losing one another and that emotional connection provided a lot of tension in the story which then drove the plot forward. There are other characters who appear too and they managed to remain well rounded despite only appearing for a short time. I liked the build up to the change and enjoyed seeing the aftermath and all that happened with the various townsfolk. I read quickly through the story and finished it feeling like I'd read something really worthwhile.

Honourable mentions also go to Lukos Heat by Megan Derr who always writes a good fantasy, managed to really capture the heart of a dragon personality and wasn't afraid to make her shifter very dragon-like even when human; and Weird Magics by E.E. Ottoman whose steampunk setting was certainly the most unusual in the anthology, and which had a mystery story that was complex enough to keep me guessing.

As for the other three stories, well one of them didn't work for me at all and I struggled to finish it, and the other two were OK with decent characterisation and plots, but nothing that I would consider reading again. I was also surprised by a number of typos and other errors in the anthology. This is very unusual for this publisher.

Overall, this was a mixed bag of stories and not an anthology I would wholeheartedly recommend except for the stories I have highlighted in this review. I would advise waiting until the stories are released as separates and buying the best ones, unless you are a dedicated fan of dragon stories in which case you may find that more of the stories work for you than they did for me. Grade: Good.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: Bound by Megan Derr

Bound by Megan Derr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars/Very Good



I've been so busy recently that I'm barely having time to read anything but this book has been one I've had on the go, dipping in and out of when I get a spare half hour. It's been pretty perfect for that style of reading because it follows the fortunes of four men over a period of several months. The narrative is split between them and so it was easy to leave the book at the end of one chapter and pick up what was happening in the next, even after a gap.

This is a sort of follow on from Prisoner in that it takes place in the same set of countries, Kria, Illusor and Salhara, but hundreds of years after the events of that first book. Salhara has declared war on Kria, killing the Kaiser and his family and the Cobolt general. Ingolf is the bastard son of the Kaiser and manages to escape. He's stolen a sword which once belonged to the scarlet general, a man who betrayed Kria many years ago. Ingolf is hunted down by the current owner of the sword, Erich, an Illusor. Meanwhile the son of the Cobolt general, Reinoehl is captured and left to die in the capital of Kria. He is rescued by Aden, an Illusor spy. Through the book the four men, plus their friends and comrades set aside their enmity when they are united by the war with Salhara.

This really is a monster of a book, not just in the near 500 page length, but also because the story twists and turns, spans several months, contains many characters and several scenes of battles. Despite this, it's very easy to keep track of everyone and has at its heart at least three love stories which I found very satisfying. As I said I read it slowly over a period of a few weeks and I think that made it work better than if I'd tried to read it quickly all in one go. The characters are rounded enough that they are distinct and easy to remember but they all fall into the type of hard, battle worn men so there wasn't the breadth of characteriation that you might hope for. The story kept my attention and was quite epic in scale, but this meant that there were big gaps in the story where we are told of things that have happened rather than experience them on page.

Any niggles I have were to do with these gaps and also because the ending seemed to happen a little too easily but these were only minor things really as Megan Derr once again shows her talent as a writer of fantasy stories.



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Guest Post: You Know You Want To Be "Out in Colorado" by Cari Z

It's my very great pleasure to have Cari Z back visiting Well Read. She's been here so many times now I'm almost blasé about it except that my inner fan girl is determined to keep on squeeing :).  She's here today to talk about a new anthology of stories from Storm Moon Press on the theme of Colorado. Over to you Cari!

You Know You Want to be "Out in Colorado"

I suppose that you can get a little jaded living just about anywhere. Whether you're someplace that you adore or someplace where it feels like everything is actively trying to screw you over, our minds do this magic trick wherein after a while, the abnormal becomes unremarkable, and the exceptional becomes commonplace. When I lived in Togo, at first I couldn't get over how weird it was that chickens just hung out around the compound, that bugs in my food should be considered a protein bonus and that marriage proposals would be both frequent and insincere, and I should take them as a compliment. After two years, I didn't even pay attention to any of those things that used to give me pause.

On the far, far other side of the spectrum, there's Colorado. This is the place I yearned for, where I've spent half my life, where the weather is unpredictable and the mountains are beautiful and the dogs are all friendly and not about to run at me for walking past them. When I got back here, at first, I couldn't stop looking around, appreciating just how gorgeous Boulder is, how much I love the food, how clean and how organic and, yes, how very namaste this place can be (Namaste, by the by, is a Sanskrit greeting that roughly means "the divine in me salutes the divine in you." Yeah, that's how we roll in Boulder.). Now that I've been back for over a year, it's become easy again to take the sunshine-and-snow-at-the-same-time days for granted, even though they're pretty spectacular.

Then the M/M Colorado author's group came up with the idea of doing a Colorado-themed anthology together, to be ready for the Denver PrideFest this year. PrideFest happens to fall on my birthday, and I couldn't think of a better way to spend it, so naturally I was in. Then I actually had to write something, but it wasn't hard to get back into the mindset of really appreciating my surroundings. When it comes to waxing rhapsodic about Colorado, the trick isn't what to write about, it's what not to write about. I finally narrowed it down to the aspects of Colorado that I know best—Boulder, snow, sports, and science nerds—and came up with my story, Casual Brilliance. It's about a person adapting to a new way of living, with some help from a not-so-indifferent coworker.

For everyone who's curious about our fantastic state, you might learn something about it in this anthology. Or you might just really enjoy yourself. Either way, have fun with Out in Colorado, and come visit us at Pride if you're in the area the weekend of June 16th!

***

Excerpt from Casual Brilliance:

Joey Graham was suspicious of the package even before he opened it. It was small, brightly wrapped and had a bow on one bulbous end, which for his family was a sure sign it was something he wasn't going to like. Presents wrapped in last week's Sunday comics were good; presents that sparkled were nothing but a lure. He split the wrapping paper along the seam, tipped the small glass pipe out into his hand and turned to glare at his sister. "Oh c'mon. Really?"

"What? What, it's legal there now, right?" Carla looked way too pleased with herself. "You can totally get away with it!"

"Maybe if I was a ski bum," Joey said, "but I'm going to be working in a federal research lab. I kind of doubt that they'd be so understanding of me getting high."

"They don't have to know," Carla said coaxingly. "Just get baked on the weekends."

"Or not at all."

She frowned, looking like a toddler on the edge of a tantrum. "Well if you're not going to use it, I'll take it back—"

Their mother smacked Carla's reaching hand. "There are no take-backs at Christmas. And it's just a gag gift, of course," she added, looking expectantly at her daughter. Carla shrugged and rubbed her hand, radiating righteous hurt. "Oh stop it, those eyes don't work on me." She turned back to her son. "I still don't really understand why they hired you so late; you applied in May," she fretted.

"I think they had a problem with their last postdoc," Joey said, putting the little pipe on top of the rest of his Christmas gifts. He'd gotten a Denver guidebook from his mother, an REI gift certificate from his uncle, and a pair of plastic snowshoes from his grandmother. Hopefully those were something he would never have to use.

"So you're better than nothing," his sister said with a shrug. "I get it."

"Carla!" His mother looked as angry as a small, round woman with frizzy blond hair and a perpetually sunny disposition could look, which wasn't very angry at all. "Go and get a trash bag for all the paper, please." 

Carla rolled her eyes but got to her feet, and his mother turned back to Joey. "I just think it's a bit inconvenient," she sighed. "I mean, I can't get time off work to go help you move in—"

"I've got it taken care of," Joey assured his mother quickly; Jesus, the last thing he needed was his mom coming with him to his first real job. "The U-Haul is all packed up, I've got an apartment waiting for me, I'm good, Mom. You know I am."

"I know, but January is a terrible time to be in Colorado, isn't it? Won't it be snowy?"

"This is Chicago, Mom," Joey pointed out. "It's not like I'm moving there from Florida. I can handle some snow."

"He can ski from place to place once he gets there," Carla called from the kitchen. "Or snowboard. Don't they mostly snowboard there? You could hitch up to the back of someone's ATV! Or..." She poked her head around the door. "You could get a snowmobile! I bet they're street legal there during the winter." 

"Snowmobiles are death traps!" their mother scolded. "Remember what happened to Cousin Art!"

"Mom, Art was a dumbass who got drunk and drove his snowmobile into a lake. It was totally his own fault. Besides, they found him."

"Not before he lost toes to hypothermia," their mother replied. "Which would never have happened if he hadn't been on a snowmobile in the first place. Honey," she said as she turned to look at Joey, "whatever you do, promise me you won't drive a snowmobile drunk. Or an ATV. Or any sort of moving vehicle."

Of all the things he had never expected to come out of his mother's mouth... "I promise," Joey said solemnly.

***

Cari Z is a Colorado girl who loves snow and sunshine. She just got back from two years of living in West Africa and is still delighted by the magic of hot running water and the glory that is Wi-Fi. Her latest short story, "Casual Brilliance", can be found in Storm Moon Press' Out in Colorado anthology, which is now available in both print and digital formats. Cari can be found on Twitter @author_CariZ.

Review: Immortal Symphony: Overture: Ghost in the Closet by SL Armstrong & K Piet

I've got a bit behind in my reviews of this series. This is episode three and at the end of the last book - reviewed here - Gabriel had taken part in one of Dorian's parties, drinking, taking drugs and having sex. Whilst passed out Gabriel dreams of Dorian and a young man, Joshua, but the dream dissipates when Gabriel awakes. Michael is furious with Gabriel for being so reckless at the party and even more furious at Dorian so he possesses Gabriel to give Dorian a piece of his mind only to find that Dorian is more than just a rich profligate.

The story is really starting to gain some momentum here and one of the things I really liked about this episode is that it gives us more of an insight into Michael and Gabriel  We learn the circumstances of Michael's death, and how the pair got onto the path of paranormal investigators. We also learn more about Dorian and discover that he too has powers.  I also liked seeing the changes in the relationship between Dorian and Gabriel. There's still attraction but there's a developing fascination for each other too. Gabriel learns more of the paranormal world through Dorian and is determined to stick around to find out more and Dorian interest is piqued by Gabriel and Michael's relationship.

The devil/angel dynamic continues to build with Dorian being completely unapologetic about his behaviour at the party, putting all the blame onto Gabriel for allowing it to happen. I must admit I was in great sympathy with Michael about this who finds Dorian annoying and smug, and could cheerfully have punched Dorian. Gabriel is beginning to stand up to Dorian, seeing through the manipulation, but he's still rather at the mercy of Dorian's charm and seductive ways. He radiates innocence even knowing that Dorian is not good for him and I felt all of Michael's frustration about that too! It will be fascinating to see how this aspect continues to change as the story progresses.

There was only one part which didn't work too well for me and that was a flashback scene between Dorian and a female mage. Whilst I could understand the necessity of this scene getting over a lot of information in a short space of time, I found it a little clunky as it broke into the present day narrative. I had to stop myself from skimming the scene in my impatience to get back to the main characters because I recognised that there may be things in the flashback that I would need to know, but it was still irksome to read.

However, this was only a minor irritation in what was on the whole a fascinating episode in this serial. The characters are really coming on and I liked that the focus here was less on sex and more on character development. I'm looking forward to part 4: the characters are in place and the background established so we must soon be coming towards the complication in the story which promises to be rather exciting.

Buy this book HERE.