The Things you do for your Invisible Buddies

Kris over at Kris 'n' Gay Books, in a fit of apparent boredom, decided to produce one of those meme thingies (I still haven't actually ever found out what 'meme' actually means) all based around m/m books.

She knows I hate these things and so has deliberately tagged me, cos she's a bitch stirrer. I could, of course, refuse to do it, but I can't be bothered to put up with all the shit annoying things she'll say forever on her blog if I don't so here goes...

Rules:

1. Answer all the questions below in either the comments here or post it on your own site. If you post it on your own site you have to come back and give the link here so I/Kris can mosey on over and see if you answered correctly have a sticky beak.

2. You have to tag two other people once your done and pester them relentlessly until they do the meme too.

3. Instead of a meme image thing you have to post a cookie, preferably a twofer. It is an m/m meme after all. ;)

Questions:

1. How long have you been reading GLBTQ fiction?
I can be very precise here. I bought my first m/m book on 20/5/08 and read it that day.

ETA: I just realised that I'd read the Lord John Books before this.  Plus I'd read the Anne Rice Vampire books years ago.  Does that count?

2. What was the first book you read in this genre?
My Fair Captain by JL Langley

3. Are you 'out' as a reader?
Only to hub.

4. Ebooks, print or both?
Mostly ebooks, but I do have a few print books too.

5. Do you buy direct from publishers or from secondary sellers?
Both

6. Prove you're a Book Slut. How many books would you say you buy a week?
I get quite a lot of arcs so I don't buy many books, maybe four a month.

7. Are you a cover, blurb or excerpt buyer?
I'm easily caught by a cover but have to read the blurb and extract before I buy.

8. Yeah, you read reviews, but do you actually take notice of them?
Yes, I do. Except my own of course. I pretty much ignore them.

9. Who's your fave publisher?
Loose Id. But I also like Torquere as long as I turn a blind eye to all the errors.

10. What about authors? Your top two only!!
Just two!!!
*starts hyperventilating*
I can't do it.
OK, start with Josh Lanyon and JCP.
But then there's Sean and Clare L and KZ and AM Riley and ZAM and KA Mitchell and lots and lots more.

11. Is there a sub-genre you particularly dis/like?
Not hugely fond of shifter books, but do like it when it's done well.

12. Short or long?? *rolls eyes* And, no, I'm not talking about cocks.
Both. Whichever suits my mood at the time.

13. Anything turn you off about m/m or is all just glorious smut to you?
Erm, not fond of shifted sex or anything involving gross bodily functions.

14. Finish this sentence. You know it's m/m twu wuv when...
You start carrying round little sachets of lube in your pockets.

15. What trope or theme are you heartily sick of in m/m romance?
The old 'soul mates' thing.

16. If you could choose any 3 characters for a m/m/m who would they be?
Vic and Jacob and Crash
*ducks and runs away from the Psycop fans*

There was also a perverse part of me who would have liked to have seen a consensual menage between Adrien, Jake and Paul Kane
*ducks and runs from the AE fans*

17. What new GLBTQ release are you most hanging out for right now?
The Dark Tide (AE book 5) by Josh Lanyon

18. What GLBTQ book has completely blown you away this year?
The Bones of Summer by Anne Brooke, Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy, Collision Course by KA Mitchell

19. What do you think we'll see more of in m/m romance in 2010?
Steam punk.

20. Don't you agree that author Josh Lanyon should kill off arsehole character Jake Riordan?
No, no no! He's misunderstood and is going to thoroughly redeem himself in the next book.

OK, so I now have to tag two people - just don't either of you blame me.  Remember this whole thing is Kris' idea.

I choose LisaBea and Tracy

Review: Strange Fortune by Josh Lanyon

I've got to admit, this has been a very difficult review to write. I've written bits; stopped writing; left it for a while; come back to it; written a bit more; struggled with the phrasing, the words, the construction. I just hope that, in the end, this review manages to express adequately how I felt whilst reading this book!

Strange Fortune is rather different from Josh Lanyon's usual novels in that this is a fantasy set in a quasi-Indian country. It is written in the third person mostly from the viewpoint of Major Valentine Strange an ex-military man who now works as "someone who can find things". Strange is commissioned by the religious establishment to seek out and bring back a religious artifact, Priya's Diadem, which is rumoured to be held at a monastery in the distant White Mountains. Strange is reluctantly accompanied by one of the temple witches, Aleistar Grimshaw, who believes that retrieving the Diadem will only bring disaster. As they journey through the mountains, witchcraft, superstition, greed, religion and betrayal all combine to thwart the men from their goal.

I had mixed feelings about this book but I'll begin by telling you what I felt worked really well.

The strength of a fantasy novel is often judged by how well an author has created his or her world. In the case of Strange Fortune the world building was beautifully done. Josh Lanyon has created a world similar to that of the last days of the Indian Raj. His country Hidush is under the strict rule of the Albans and yet it is also a seething mass of mutterings of revolution and mutiny. The political machinations of the ruling religion cast a shadow over the events of the book, but never impinge too greatly on the adventure storyline. It is in the minor characters, such as Lady Isabella Hyde and even the ancestry of Grimshaw which drive these political ideas, but once out of the city, politics is set aside and the adventure begins as the two heroes cope with nervous servants, strange masked monks, bandits, mercenaries and the fickle hand of the natural elements. This part of the book reminded me greatly of the books by H Rider Haggard and as a result added a feel of the glories of the British empire, with the good guys battling with the superstitious natives in order to plunder their wealth.

In fact, world building aside, it was the adventure plot which I enjoyed the most out of the book. There were several breathtaking action sequences involving shoot outs, where the steady hand and calm manner of Valentine, coupled with the plucky Grimshaw outmanoeuvered even the most dedicated and skilled fighter. This was interspersed with quieter scenes where we find out more about Grimshaw and his magic, plus are told stories of Hindush's past which built upon the already complex worldbuilding. It all combines to give the reader a rollicking ride, whilst maintaining the depth of setting necessary for a fantasy story. Wonderful.

There were a couple of areas which I felt didn't work as well. The first of those is in the relationship between Strange and Grimshaw. If this had been a book about two very different men who have initial antagonistic feelings towards each other, and yet through circumstance and getting to know one another better, these feelings change to respect and comradeship so that by the end of the book they become good friends, then this book would have been so much better in my opinion. However, this is essentially a m/m romance as well as a fantasy and yet I felt that the romance aspect of the book was flat and lifeless. Apart from one exquisite scene in a pool on the way to the monastery, their relationship seemed completely lacking in sexual tension. There are feelings between the men, don't get me wrong, but these feelings tended to consist of friendship and a sort of brotherly care and compassion which never seemed to ignite into passion. We are told, many times, that both men find each other physically attractive and although that attraction develops into a sexual relationship, we only get one very short sex scene (where one of the men is practically unconscious) and the rest of the sex scenes are fade to black.  This may partly be responsible for my feelings about their romance. Josh Lanyon's sex scenes from his other books have always been instrumental at showing the reader the passionate, tender emotions of his characters and because those types of scenes weren't represented in this book I felt that connection was missing. It doesn't help that, on the whole, Strange keeps a tight lid on his feelings. He's so afraid of admitting to himself that he may be falling in love with Grimshaw, that that any emotional feelings were squashed. Even the way Strange protects Grimshaw and promises never to leave him, can still be read as the bond of friendship or comrades in arms, rather than romantic love, especially given the military background of Strange. There are many of you who may disagree with me about this aspect, who probably thought that the romance worked well, but I got to the end of the book and saw only two men who had become great friends, not two men falling in love.

The second aspect which didn't work so well is only minor really and is to do with the pacing of the story. There were a couple of parts of the book where the pacing slowed down to almost a crawl, when very little actually happened. I understand that the author was probably trying to show the tediousness of a long journey or the feeling of time passing slowly during the two men's stay at the monastery, but this made the story drag and I found myself getting a bit bored - something I've never experienced with a Josh Lanyon book before. There were a couple of times where I had to force myself to keep reading and had it been any other author, I may have even given up on the book at that point. Having said that, once the two men leave the monastery the pace picks up and continues swiftly right to the end of the book, so I would urge you not to give up on the book, but keep going, as I did!

I'm sorry to have had to focus so much on the negatives in this review, but I wanted to make sure I explained myself thoroughly.

Although the romance didn't work for me and there were a couple of slow spots, this was still a great book. Josh Lanyon has shown that he can move from the comfort and familiarity of the contemporary mystery into a fantasy adventure setting with ease. I would recommend Strange Fortune for those, like me, who love fantasy books and it gets a grade of 'Very Good'.

Review: Personal Demons by James Buchanan

I've read and enjoyed a number of James Buchanan books, but Personal Demons ranks among one of the best of her police crime novels that I've read so far.

The book begins with a tense stand off between our third person narrator and FBI agent, Chase and his partner Jason with notorious hit man Garcia. Shots are exchanged, killing Jason and severely injuring Chase. Fast forward five years and Chase is still on the trail of Garcia, except this time it's personal. Garcia has been tracked to LA where it is feared that he has kidnapped an ex-girlfriend. Chase is teaming up with the LAPD to assist them in tracking Carmen, hopefully before Garcia can kill her. The LAPD cop assigned to work with Chase is Enrique, who is of Cuban descent and also a follower of the mysterious religion Santeria, which from what I can gather is a curious mix of Catholicism and voodoo. The two men have an instant attraction and Chase is surprised at how comfortable he finds it to work with Enrique. Together they painstakingly follow leads and track clues, all the time hoping that they won't be too late to save Carmen's life.

There are a number of really wonderful things about this book that I could probably fill many paragraphs, but to save time and stop you all from falling asleep, I shall highlight three areas in particular which makes this excellent police mystery stand out from the crowd.

The first area is in the characterisation of Chase and Enrique. I've always loved the way that James Buchanan writes her men and, Chase especially, is a fine example of a man. Chase is the narrator, which means we get to find out more about him and how he works than any of the other characters. He's a man on a mission - an admirable trait - but that mission is also slowly destroying his life as he is spiralling slowly into alcoholism. I felt that this aspect was done very subtly throughout the book. Chase thinks about alcohol a lot and counts down the hours until he is off duty and the drinking can begin. This shows us two things, firstly that he takes his job seriously as he doesn't allow himself to drink until his shift finishes, but also that the need for alcohol is still strong - just not currently as strong as his self-will. There's a very telling scene part way into the book (which I won't divulge in too much detail here) which tells us just how dependant Chase has become on that Bourbon at the end of his shift and said much about just how finely balanced the war with alcoholism is within Chase. Enrique is seen through the eyes of Chase and, as Chase finds Enrique quite irresistible, he is slightly biased in the way he views him. This leads to lots of descriptions of Enrique's good looks and his general sex appeal as well as the diligence in his police work. Other than that the character of Enrique is fleshed out through many of the incidental details we, along with Chase, discover about him so by the end of the book I felt I knew Enrique just as well as I did Chase. There are two defining aspects of Enrique's character, one is his Cuban heritage, shown in the lilt of his accent and laid back personality; and the second is his belief in the religion of Santeria, which is another aspect which stood out when reading this book.

I have to admit I knew nothing about Santeria when I started reading the book. What did strike me though was how easy it would have been for the author to ridicule this religion made up of superstition, saints, devils and a whole host of different types of spirits, good and bad. However, through the patient explanations of Enrique both Chase and I were educated in the ways of the religion so that, even if I did still feel it was a bit weird, I could understand the roots and the basics of the religion. The fact that Santeria is so crucial to the plot, because it is linked to both Enrique and Garcia, also made it important that the reader understands its significance in the lives of those characters. I actually found those parts of the book which dealt directly with Santeria - the scene where Chase has a 'reading', visiting a faith healer and a very disturbing scene at a gathering of Santeria followers - to be the most interesting and compelling part of this complex novel.

One final part which worked well in the book was the way that all characters, no matter how much page time they had, were given little quirks to their personalities which prevented them from being just standard cardboard cut outs. So even very minor characters, such as female FBI agent Wyatt with her self depreciating sense of humour, or the faith healer who channels a man with a German accent, were people in their own right. Even Chase's dead partner, Jason, is brought back to life through the use of Juicy Fruit gum. This attention to detail with all characters added to the wealth of information and minute detail throughout the book. It amazes me to think how much research must have gone into this book - not just with the Santeria and Palo Mayumbe religion, but with police procedures for infiltrating buildings, how to effectively search a car and a wealth of other tiny incidental matters.

My only concern about Personal Demons is that it will not be to everyone's taste. The fact that it deals extensively with the religion of Santeria, with its strange and mysterious practices, may be off putting to some readers. Plus there is a scene involving a Santeria gathering which contains some rather wild goings on involving spirit possessions of both adults and children. Whilst I wouldn't go as far as labelling this book as a horror, there are some areas where those readers without a strong stomach or a liking for supernatural events may be turned off the book.

However, for those of you who love mysteries and don't mind a bit of spiritualism in the mix, this book will be ideal. I thoroughly enjoyed this well written and captivating book. I could go on and on about other areas such as the breathtaking action sequences; the beautiful, tender way that the relationship between Chase and Enrique develops over the story; and the way that the city of LA comes alive in the descriptions of the city, but you can find all that out for yourself when you read the book, which is highly recommended with a grade of 'Excellent'.

A Few Questions

I've not got much time to post today as I've been busy, busy, busy so I'm throwing out a few questions for my own information and to help with the way the blog works.

1. When you read reviews (not just here but elsewhere) do you only read reviews for books that you have been considering buying or do you read all reviews of books regardless?

2. Do you read reviews for short stories or are you just not interested in that length of story?

3. If you use a blog reader like Google reader, would you prefer it if I changed my format so that you can see the whole post on your reader rather than a first paragraph and then you have to come here to read the rest? or would it be annoying to clog up the reader with the whole post?

Thanks for your comments. Here's your reward....




Just make sure you return him in good condition, please.

Behind the Scenes Heroes

I was thinking the other day about the proliferation of cop heroes in m/m books. This was partly sparked off by KZ Snow's questions on her blog, but also because I seem to be reading an awful lot of books recently which are either police mysteries or where one of the heroes just happens to be a cop. I don't mind this. I like cop heroes. Some of my favourite m/m heroes are cops.

However, after an aside to Tam in the comments of my Saturday Shorts post this week, I began to wonder why other jobs in and around law enforcement are under represented when it comes to heroes. For example, I love the TV programme CSI, and yet I've yet to read a m/m hero who is a forensics expect. Is this because their job is essentially to collate and examine minute evidence which may lead to a conviction and so doesn't make as great an impact as someone who chases the bad guys and gets to charge around all gung-ho?

Warwick *sob* How could they?

But surely as CSI is such a popular programme, there must be an author who can make a forensics expect sound like good hero material?

Another area of police work which is under-represented in hero material is Pathology. Now I know that very occasionally one or both heroes may visit the pathologist to find out the results of an autopsy, but the pathologist him (or her) self is usually either rather officious with zero sense of humour or quirky. They are never the hero, always the secondary character who may come on for a scene and then forgotten about.


Why is that? There's a hugely popular show called Silent Witness in the UK which features pathologists. I haven't watched it for a while but I understand there is a romantic sub-plot in it. If TV viewers have pathologist heroes, why can't we have them in m/m? Is it just squeamishness or the notion that the implied stink of death overshadows any tender, romanticism in the story? I would have thought that anyone who spends their days with dead bodies would relish the warmth of the living.

You're probably going to prove me wrong now and throw out several m/m titles where the heroes are either forensics experts or pathologists, in which case, great, I'll be happy to read them. Or do you agree that cops are rather over-represented and it's the turn of the behind-the-scenes experts to get their chance at love?

Saturday Shorts

The Pirate's Gamble by Eden Winters
I was attracted to this story because I love pirates and time-travel stories so what could be better than a time-travelling pirate? The book begins with hero, Ian, on his pirate ship. However, Ian is no ordinary pirate captain. He travels backwards and forwards in time between the present day and the 18th Century Caribbean islands using a special stone which was found in an archaeological dig where he also met his lover David. As a pirate he 'rescues' important artifacts from ships which are known to sink without a trace whereupon he hides the treasure in a special place for David to find in the 21st century. He then travels back to the present time to fame and fortune. There were quite a number of things I liked about this short story: I felt that the author had done a good job in showing the differences in Ian between the past and the present; I also liked that David is much older than Ian, but that aspect wasn't the cause of the friction within their relationship, but rather David's unwillingness to bring their relationship out into the open; finally, I liked how David was Jamaican in origin but that their interracial romance was not held up to be a big deal apart from Ian citing it as a possible reason as to why David won't be open about him. If I have one criticism of the story it is that there were a number of things which were either glossed over and not explained fully or could have been expanded upon. This would have made the story longer, but I felt that maybe the story would have been better for it. However, these are just slight niggles in an overall interesting and well written love story and how it pays to take a chance on love rather than let it slip away. Rating: 'Very Good

Aniseed and Juniper by GS Wiley
I was attracted to this short story not only because it is written by the consistently excellent GS Wiley (I’ve not read a bad story from her yet) but also because the setting – Roman Britain – seemed fresh and interesting. It turns out that the first part of the story is actually mostly set in Rome, where out hero Marcus is the spoiled and indolent son of a celebrated Roman hostess. His mother is marrying for money and political alliance for the third time. Normally the men his mother marries have little or no impact on Marcus’ life but this time the senator is determined to make a man of Marcus by sending him to Britannia to stay with Marcus’ uncle Falconius. On the whole I enjoyed the story which was well researched and included a lot of accurate detail about life in Ancient Rome and Britain. The contrast between the two settings was done well and Marcus was a likable main character. I was slightly disappointed with the abrupt end to the story which began just as the romance plot was starting to take off, but that wasn't enough to spoil the story too much. Rating: Very Good.

Sympathy by Jordan Castillo Price
This short was a bit of a surprise. I was expecting something paranormal and creepy for Halloween, but what I actually got was a lovely contemporary about a man coming to terms with a horrific accident where he was badly injured and how that has affected his self confidence and body image. Tony, who part owns a landscape gardening business with his two brothers, delivers some hazel trees to a creepy old house known as the 'Hook House' where he and his brothers used to scare each other. The house now has a new owner, David, an artist who creates little clay sculptures of himself and other people. The story follows Tony and David through a tentative first meeting through to the beginnings of a HEA and along the way we discover more about Tony and the accident which has changed his life. This is quite a deceptively simple story made up mostly of verbal and non-verbal interaction between Tony and his brothers and Tony and David. This led to a number of emotionally intense scenes where more is said in a few words or gestures than some authors take pages to produce. The story wasn't your classic horror by any stretch of the imagination, but did have a slightly uneasy feel to it - created mostly by Tony's superstition. Overall this was an extremely enjoyable story of fate and love and relationships which gets a grade of 'Excellent' from me.

Review: Reckless Passion by Amanda Young

I've been eagerly awaiting this new release from Amanda Young's 'Reckless' series. Reckless Passion is the third book and follows on from Reckless Seduction and Reckless Behavior. In my reviews of the previous books I said that although I'd liked the stories between Dante and Cody, I was more intrigued by the character of Beau, Cody's uncle who had raised Cody when he parents had died. This book is Beau's story and I was eager to find out more about this elusive man. Did this book satisfy my questions? Well, yes and no.

The book begins with Beau lusting after his new personal assistant, Adam. It turns out that this lust is reciprocated and the two men fall into a relationship involving sex only on a semi-regular basis. As the months go on, Beau starts to feel that Adam is becoming much more to him than a quick shag but before he can begin to articulate these feelings to Adam, Beau discovers that there is another man in Adam's life.

The story mainly follows Beau and Adam and so there is very little space for other characters in the story - except for a brief scene between Beau and Cody. I didn't mind this so much because there are a number of issues which are dealt with in this short novella and in order to fit those around the sex scenes there wasn't really room for anyone else. I liked Adam a great deal. He wasn't shy in getting what he wanted from Beau, and was also rather resigned that their relationship was to be sex only. He's a little idealistic and naive in the way that he views life and I felt that fit well, given that he is only in his early 20's. I also liked that the reader is given more about Adam other than being Beau's PA. He has a difficult life and the sense of pathos that surrounds Adam when we get to see him outside of Beau's mansion house added an extra dimension to his character. The scenes with his son showed a caring side to Adam and his interactions with Johnny were realistic, paternal and tender. Johnny teetered a little over the line of 'nauseatingly cute' but that is more to do with my own feelings about the general portrayal of children in books than a direct criticism of the book. I'm sure many readers will find Johnny to be a lovable, sweet boy.

I was a little disappointed with the character of Beau. In the other books he came across as a stern father figure for Cody and also as someone who knew what he wanted out of life and set out to get it no matter what. Whilst the opening to the book certainly showed that side of Beau, Beau also spends an awful lot of time naval gazing, worrying about his relationship with Adam. For some reason I had expected that he would have been more direct in his dealings with Adam, rather than turn everything over in his head as much as he did and so after a while I got a bit annoyed with this. However, Beau's inability to articulate his feelings out loud, coherently, did fit well with his character as did his impatience with Adam's overly cautious attitude towards Johnny. In the end, I was happy for the two men and thought the closing scene rather romantic.

Overall, I enjoyed Reckless Passion. There are plenty of Amanda Young's hot and dirty sex scenes to satisfy those who like sex in their m/m books, but this book also had characters who were better fleshed out than I felt Cody and Dante had been in previous books. The story is just a focus on two men and their relationship, but that type of book always appeals to the romantic in me. This book may be the third in a series, but I felt it could be read as a stand-a-lone too as, aside for a brief appearance from Cody, the two stories between Dante and Cody/Beau and Adam are not mutually reliant on each other. I would recommend Reckless Passion, which gets a grade of 'Very Good', to those who, like me, have long awaited Beau's story, but also to those readers who are looking for a hot, tender romance.