M/m Paranormals

I've been thinking a lot recently about my reading habits. This mostly started when I was trying to get my 'best reads of 2008' posts together but I've also been reading about other recommendations by other bloggers. One thing I've noticed about myself is that I'm not really that interested in m/m paranormals. I've read a few, mostly by accident (in that I didn't realise they were paranormals until I started reading them), but I don't go out of my way to look them up or buy any.

The thing is, I can't understand why not.

I read lots and lots of m/f paranormals. Vampires, werewolves, demons, I love 'em; but only, apparently with het romance. This year I fell in love with several male paranormal creatures so I don't know why I'm not interested in falling in love with two. The only exception to this would be Viscious and Butch from JR Wards BDB series. If she'd been brave enough, that is!

The only reason I can think of is that most paranormal heroes are Alphas or at least dominant in some way. I find it difficult to believe that there can be a successful relationship between two dominant men and therefore I'm a bit worried about being disappointed with the romance.

Perhaps what I should do is take the plunge. Shell out some money on a few m/m paranormals with the understanding that I may be disappointed - but then again, I may not.

Any recommendations as to where to start?

Not Quite a Review: Collision Course by K.A. Mitchell

How do you know that the book you are reading is something special?

For me it's by one of two different ways of reading. I either cannot put the book down; have to finish it; read to the exclusion of everything until it's over and I surface, blinking into the world or I savour the book by reading it in chunks; taking my time; thinking about the book when I'm not reading it; wake up in the morning to the happy thought that I've more of the book to read; feel sad when it's done, like I've lost a good friend.

I read this book the second way, taking over three days to read it - which is very unusual for me.

I wanted to write a review on this great book, spread the word and tell everyone what a wonderful experience reading this book is. However, after spending a couple of days with bits of a review going round my head, I've realised that I can't write a review without including spoilers, can't describe why I loved this book so much without discussing major plot and character developments and I don't want to do that.

Instead, I'm going to talk about two things in this book which struck me as unusual and which added to my enjoyment of the book as a whole. I think I can do this without giving anything away.

Firstly, the characters.

Like most books, Mitchell introduces us to the characters of Aaron and Joey early on and as a reader, I was left to make judgements about them. Nothing unusual there. However, as the book progressed I realised that the first impressions I got of these characters were actually not quite right. It's not that the characters changed or developed away from my initial assessment of them, but rather that my assumptions about them were wrong, and proved to be wrong later in the book. I hope I'm describing this in a way you can understand! It's actually a bit like real life when you meet someone new for the first time - you make very quick assumptions based on their looks and what they say to you at that first meeting. However, when you get to know someone better, they can be quite different from that first impression. This just blew me away when I realised what Mitchell had done. It was so clever and very unusual.

Secondly, the sex.

I've mentioned before how I get very bored with books which contain multiple sex scenes and can even get to the point of exasperation, wondering whether the book will ever get back to the plot. Well, in this book the sex was central to the plot. Each sex scene (and there were numerous) was written to show either something about one of the characters or something about their growing relationship. At no point did I feel bored or fed up with all the sex, in fact I found myself looking forward to the next sex scene to see what would be revealed next. Again, I was amazed when I realised what was happening.

I urge anyone reading this to go out and buy this book. Even now, three days later, I'm still thinking about parts of it - again the sign of an outstanding book. I'm giving it a grade of 'Excellent', but to be honest, "Collision Course" goes beyond that grade.

Get it Right!

I was seriously pissed off yesterday after reading one of the advent stories. Not because it was badly written as such, or the story was awful - although it was a bit mushy for my tastes 'I love you desperately even though I've only known you less than 3 hours' etc - but because of the total lack of regard for English vocabulary as opposed to its American counterpart. It was painfully obvious that this particular author had never set foot in England or even done some basic research or she would have known that the words were wrong.

Boy does this tee me off.

The story was set in 1890's London, but everyone spoke and acted as though they were in the USA. I counted at least 3 vocab errors that pulled me right out of the story and had me grinding my teeth in annoyance. It's not the first (and probably won't be the last) time this has happened, but usually it's only maybe one word in a book or story, not three.

In my opinion all American publishing houses who publish books or stories set in England with English characters, be they large or small, should employ an English spot editor to read over the scripts and check for obvious mistakes. Or failing that, find an nice English person who is happy to do it for free.

Here are the three errors used in the story yesterday:

1. Sidewalk - it's a pavement in Britain.

2. Fall - We call it Autumn.

3. Pants - in Britain pants are underwear. if I want to buy pants I'll go to the equivalent of 'Victoria's Secret' (oh who am I kidding, I get all my underwear from M&S). If I want to buy trousers I buy them at various clothing outlets. The author may have been able to get away with 'pantaloons' but not the shorter form, pants.

This next one didn't feature in the story but is a mistake which is often made by US authors.

4. Block - Anyone who has ever visited England will tell you that our towns and cities are not set out in blocks. Our streets have evolved over hundreds and even thousands of years, so they are twisty and turny with no logical pattern to them whatsoever (unless you live in Milton Keynes, but that's another story). Therefore we don't think of short distances in terms of blocks, but rather yards - 100 yards, 50 yards etc.

These common errors I find again and again in historical novels set in Britain. It's just so irritating! I know that some people argue that US readers won't get the reference if the correct English term is used, or that the novels are aimed at a US market and therefore it doesn't really matter. It matters to me and it probably means I shall be steering clear of this particular author's work in future.

Life's small pleasures

Am I the only one who hates the mouse finger pads on lap-tops?

Well, hooray, hooray I got a notebook laser mouse for Christmas from Hub (not the only thing, I hasten to add). I've just used it for the first time and it's GREAT!!!

Just thought I'd share that with you...

Back on Monday!

'Til next week

Just a quick one today - for obvious reasons. I've been busy all morning making Christingles (I smell very strongly of oranges - still, could be worse!) and then we're off to sit in the candlelight and sing 'Silent Night' in a couple of hours, lovely.

I'm to-ing and fro-ing to relatives over the next few days, so I'm not going to be able to blog until Monday at the earliest.

Until then...

Merry Christmas!

Hope your day is fun.

Review: The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks by Josh Lanyon

Let me start by telling you that I've been looking forward to this book for months. Ages ago I had a look at Josh's website at the books that were coming soon; saw this one, read the extract and thought, 'Wow, this sounds great! When's it coming out - WHAT! DECEMBER!... grumble grumble...that's months away!'. Finally it's here. I bought it this morning and read it almost in one sitting (I thought it very inconsiderate of the kids to want their lunch!).

So, did it live up to expectation, especially after DOAPK? Well, yes and no.

The book begins with our hero, Perry, returning early from a disastrous holiday to find a dead man in his bathtub. After enlisting the help of our other hero, Nick, an ex- Navy SEAL, they discover that the body has disappeared. The police don't believe Perry and neither do the other residents of the boarding house - a strange, eclectic bunch of people, usually only found in murder mysteries by authors such as Agatha Christie. Nick does believe Perry and together they try to find out what's going on, encountering more murders from past and present on the way.

What attracted me to this novel initially, was the character of Perry. He is as unlike your average m/m hero as you are likely to get. He is very slender for a start, with asthma, and he looks about 14. Lanyon constantly uses words such as 'thin', 'delicate' and 'pale' to describe him. He's idealistic, polite, naive and very sheltered in his upbringing. I liked him a lot, especially as he turned out to have a very determined personality which belies his fragile image. I got the impression that Lanyon had spent quite a bit of time thinking about Perry as he is incredibly well rounded and fleshed out - in personality, if not in physical form. As a result of this the character of Nick pales a little when next to Perry. Oh, he's got the physical presence, but I never felt that I knew him as well as I did Perry.

Lanyon's prose is as superb as ever. This time particularly in the descriptions of the setting. The house was dark, dusty, musty and damp. In a great example of pathetic fallacy (look it up, I used to teach English) the weather is constantly raining, cold and stormy. The perfect setting for murder. The murder mystery aspect gets a big thumbs-up from me as I didn't guess whodunnit. Although, as I've said in previous posts, I'm always rubbish at guessing the killer. The whole claustrophobic atmosphere in the house was spot on as was Perry's increasing fear of being watched. Very creepy.

So, what about the no? Well, this was mainly in the romance between the two men. I felt slightly uncomfortable about the way Nick views Perry. He constantly refers to him as 'kid', much to Perry's disgust. He refers to himself as a cradle snatcher and thinks of Perry as being a boy, when in fact Perry is in his mid-twenties and only 10 years younger than Nick. This coloured their relationship slightly, especially when Nick describes his feelings at one point as 'Paternalistic'. However, things do start to change and improve by the end of the book - but I'm not going to tell you about that.

All in all, this was an absorbing read - as you can tell by my mammoth reading session. The book clipped along at a great pace and I was hooked from start to finish. I'm giving it a grade of 'excellent'. It wasn't as good as DOAPK - something Lanyon was quick to point out himself a few week's ago, but it was still a fantastic book.

Confessions of a Dirty Mind

I have such a dirty mind. Then again that can be a good thing sometimes...

I took my daughter, aged 7, to see her first ballet on Saturday (my first one too!). We went to see 'The Nutcracker', which was absolutely lovely. During the second half, when Clara and her Soldier Prince are watching all the different dances, there was an Arabian type dance. The male dancers were clad in Arabian style pantaloons (or whatever they call them) and that was it - so they were bare chested.

This is where my dirty mind starts working. Instead of concentrating on the dancing I began marvelling at the muscle definition of the dancer's chests. I even borrowed the opera glasses from my daughter so I could have a better look. I know, I know.

Anyway after thinking various lascivious thoughts about the male dancers, I thought: 'Well, they might have great looking bodies but they're probably gay'. I then thought: 'Mmmmm, why hasn't anyone written a m/m story involving ballet dancers? That would be really hot'. I know, I know.

At that point a little lightbulb came on in my head and I had a sudden flash of memory of a book that I had read about a gay ballet dancer - and it was (gasp) a YA novel.

Of course this has bugged me like mad since then trying to remember what it was called. I read it when I was a youngish teenager myself in 1986 (stop counting!) and I could remember that the book in question was a sequel. I could also remember the author - Jean Ure. The first book was about a boy who had got roped in to helping out with his sister's ballet class because they needed a strong boy. He then grew to love it and the book ends as he gets into a ballet academy. The second book deals with him leaving home and starting to train at the ballet academy. He also discovers that he is gay. Pretty heavy stuff for a YA novel.

Anyway after trawling through Google books (what a marvellous resource this is) I found it! The first book was called "A Proper Little Nureyev" originally, but changed to "What if They Saw Me Now?" later on - presumably because kids today won't get the reference. The sequel is called "You Win Some, You Lose Some".

It occurred to me that actually this was the first m/m book I ever read. At the time, I was a bit disappointed because my teenaged self thought the boy was pretty hot and therefore wasted on being gay. Now I'm amazed that something so controversial at that time as coming out as gay was dealt with in a YA book - remember this was the mid 80's at the height of the AIDS awareness media campaigns. I think it just goes to show that, then at least, many people hadn't got a clue as to the topics of YA books and couldn't care less what we were reading.

Nowadays, it's all very different. There was a massive fuss not so long ago when Melvyn Burgess released a YA book with a sexually promiscuous teenaged heroine. He also wrote one about a teenaged drug taker which caused a similar fuss. In some ways it's a shame that YA books are under such scrutiny today. Would Jean Ure have been able to release a sensitively written book about a gay teenage boy today without being villified by the British Press? I'm not sure she would. Yet, it's those sort of books which deal with the reality of teenage life such as sexuality, eating disorders, drugs and alcohol which are needed by teenagers today.

So back to my dirty mind. I may have spent some time ogling ballet dancers but at least it got me thinking about books and their impact on the lives of young adults. Not such a bad thing after all.

Books of the Year Part 2

Yesterday I dealt with the m/f romances that I had read and enjoyed during 2008. Now is the turn of m/m romance. These should be more up to date because firstly, it's a relatively new genre and secondly, I do tend to buy more m/m new releases. So here we go again...

Historical

Standish by Erastes

I wanted this book so badly that I bought a paper copy of it - can you believe it, after my 'no new paper books rule'? I wasn't disappointed. This is a historically accurate book about being gay in the 19th Century, so you can imagine that there is a lot of angst and anguish in this book. I was riveted.

Contemporary

Faith and Fidelity by Tere Michaels

This was a lovely book about two straight men who form an attraction against their better judgement. One is a widower and the other a single 'ladies' man'. I know that the 'gay for you' plotline is not everyone's cup of tea, but this was handled sensitively and you really felt the struggle these two men felt coming to terms with the change in their sexuality.

Urban Fantasy

A-Muse-Ing by Willa Okati

I don't usually like m/m urban fantasy but this was a comedy as well. I enjoyed the banter between the two characters and the main hero, Harper, was a great mix of insecurity and bewilderment.

Futuristic

The Englor Affair by JL Langley

I nearly went for "My Fair Captain" as I liked the hero of that (Nate) more than I did the hero of this one (Simon). However, hands down this was a more exciting story with a better beta hero - despite the jock strap fetish. Taking the story away from the claustrophobic planet of Regelance was a good move.

Paranormal

His Gift by Clare London

This was a creepy, disorientating ghost story. You are kept guessing right up to the end as to what is happening. Great stuff.

Favourite Alpha Hero

Lucas Sloane from Purgatory by Jet Mykles

I had so many options for this category including Nate Hawkins and Jake Riordan. In the end I went for Lucas because he doesn't look like a typical alpha but does have all the personality - bull headedness, pushy, has to have his own way regardless and a top.

Favourite Beta Hero

Adrien English from the Adrien English Mysteries by Josh Lanyon

There was just no contest with this one. He's funny, sexy, great at getting into trouble and uses words like a weapon. Fabulous.

Short Story

Third Time's a Charm by Chrissy Munder

This is in "Make Me a Match Vol 1"

I loved this really sweet story of a construction worker and a doctor who are both too insecure to get together until they are thrown together in disastrous circumstances.

Novella

Purgatory by Jet Mykles

All the "Heaven Sent" books are brilliant but this one is my favourite. Rock star Lucas Sloane comes back to his home town to visit and meets up with Reese, a guy who once made a pass at him. The scene in the classroom towards the end of this story is worth the price of the book alone.

Overall Favourite Read of 2008

Death of a Pirate King by Josh Lanyon

I've read all of Josh's books/novellas this year and this one is hands down my favourite. The relationship between Adrien and Jake was the obvious highlight but I also found all the secondary characters particularly fascinating, especially the toe-curling Paul Kane. The book was beyond marvellous, beyond fantastic, beyond fabulous. In fact I think I might have to go and re-read it right now.

So there you have it, my list of m/m romances for 2008. If you haven't read any m/m before I recommend you start with any of these and you won't be disappointed.

Books of the Year Part 1

I did all the intro stuff yesterday, so let's get down to business. Jenre's favourite and recommended reads for m/f romance this year are....

Historical

The Shadow and the Star by Laura Kinsale

A tortured virgin hero, a lonely virgin heroine, death threats, tropical settings and love redeeming all. Lovely.

Contemporary

Nobody's Baby but Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

I laughed long and hard several times whilst reading this book. The sparky dialogue between the two leads was priceless.

Urban Fantasy

Another One Bites the Dust by Jennifer Rardin

I love Jaz Parkes. She's a lean, mean killing machine, but has a centre full of self hatred and guilt. Despite this, the books are really funny. I loved the belly dancing and the relationships between Jaz, Vayl, Cole, Bergman and Cassandra.

Futuristic

Rapture in Death by JD Robb

I thought long and hard over which 'in death' book to choose here. I decided on this one because there were some terrific set pieces and the relationship between Eve and Roarke really comes into its own in this book.

Paranormal

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

The best thing about this book was the relationships between the werewolves. Even in human form they acted like a pack, the constant touching and the dominant/submissive roles. I also really liked the heroine, Elena Michaels, like Jaz Parkes she is tough on the outside but a bit of a mess on the inside - hmm, I see a bit of a theme here!

Fantasy

The Sharing Knife: Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold

The world building in this book is fantastic: From the intricate religious system to the two separate types of people - Lakewalkers and Farmers - the whole setting was meticulously drawn. As was the growing feelings between Fawn and Dag. Who knew that a one-armed, depressed, battle-scarred man could be so sexy?

Favourite Heroine

Eve Dallas from the 'in death' series by JD Robb

She's dedicated to her job, hates fussing about her appearance, is a straight talker and finds relationships difficult - what's not to like? An original.

Favourite Hero

Matthew Hawkwood from the 'Hawkwood' books by James McGee

A bit of a cheat here as he's not technically a romance hero but I really like him. He's a bit rough and ready, finds authority difficult, makes lots of mistakes but gets his man/woman in the end. He's also tall, dark and handsome.

Novella

The Mad Earl's Bride by Loretta Chase

This is in the anthology "Three Weddings and a Kiss"

The hero is a bit overwrought and the heroine is very sensible, a good combination for me. The story has some angst and some laughs and Bertie Trent.

Overall Favourite read in 2008

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

I'm a big fan of the 'Outlander' books. I read the previous two books late in 2007 so I can't count them. I go back and read select scenes from this book time and time again, especially the scene where Jamie is reunited with Claire. One day I'll get around to re-reading the whole series again but that would take up such a huge chunk of time.


So there you have it. I hope I've inspired you to read a few books that you haven't read before or to re-read a few oldies.

Tomorrow is part 2 - the m/m romance awards.

Decisions, decisions

It's that time of year when various blog writers are setting out their picks of the year. I thought this was a great idea but I've encountered a problem.

Firstly, I only got back into reading romance about 4 years ago and then I only really read historical romance. I'm still catching up with the backlist of several historical romance writers so I've only read a few historicals released this year.

Secondly, after getting an ebook reader, I have now branched out completely with my reading habits. I now read m/m whereas I didn't last year, I read a wider range of genres, I've discovered new authors. This has meant that I'm now also catching up with the backlists of authors such as Lois McMaster Bujold and many, many m/m writers. Again, this has the knock on effect that I'm reading books that were published 2-3 years ago rather than in 2008.

So, instead of a 'best of 2008' awards, I'm going to do a 'best that I've read this year' instead. Who knows, it might encourage people to seek out some of the backlists rather than sticking to books that have just been published. After all, it's always nice to have a recommendation for a good book - often better than just choosing a new release based on a review (or a good cover!).

I'm going to divide my list into two and do m/f romances tomorrow and m/m romances on Saturday.

Historically Accurate?

Until about a year ago, I read mostly Historical Romance. I loved the costumes, the manners and the rules that society dictated during the 18th and 19th Centuries. I still read the odd historical – in fact as you can see from my side-bar I’m reading one at the moment – but now I read a mix of different genres: Fantasy, futuristic and contemporary. Most of the books I have read recently have been m/m romance but I don’t often read m/m historical romance.

You may be wondering why I don’t read m/m historical romance. After all it also contains the costumes, the manners and societal rules. It’s not that there aren’t any m/m historicals - admittedly, it’s quite a small genre but there are some excellent authors who write m/m historicals so why do I tend to steer clear of them? Here are my reasons:

1. Sodomy was a crime punishable by death. It’s very difficult to believe in an m/m HEA when the slightest hint of discovery could lead to imprisonment and death. One of my favourite historical m/m books are the “Lord John” books by Diana Gabaldon. However, I’ve read many reviews complaining about the lack of HEA for poor Lord John. In some ways this is why I like them (other than fantastic period detail and sympathetic hero). They show what it would have been like for gay men in the 18th Century – scary, furtive and secretive. There would have been no way anyone could have been openly gay 200 years ago.

2. Society was very religious and there would not have been many people sympathetic towards a gay man. In many of the m/m historicals I have read there have been loyal servants or villagers who tolerate their masters/landowners sexual preferences and even protect them. In fact many people would have been sickened by the thought of a gay master.

3. Many gay men of the time would have been disgusted by their sexual urges, which would lead to self loathing. However, in many m/m historicals the heroes are open and accepting of their own sexuality.

When I read a m/f historical romance, I expect the period detail to be well researched and accurate. I’m not a fan of so called ‘wallpaper historicals’ which have modern day people inhabiting an 18th/19th Century world. This the case for my m/m historicals as well. You cannot sweep the threat of punishment and death under the carpet and pretend that society is a-ok with gay men – it just didn’t happen.

I’m not saying there aren’t any good m/m historical out there. I’ve already mentioned the "Lord John" books, and “Standish” by Erastes was another great book which dealt accurately with the life of a gay man in the 19th Century. I’ve also heard good things about “Captain’s Surrender” by Alex Beecroft but have yet to read it. However, for all the historically accurate m/m historicals, there are still many which try to pretend that being a gay man in the past wasn’t a problem. Sadly, it was.

Warning: Romantic Comedies are Seriously Bad for your Love Life

Or so some boffins at an Edinburgh University would have us believe...

Unbelievable.

Did they actually check to see what sort of person watched romantic comedies in the first place? I think the boffins would've found that their test subjects already believed in true love and destiny before they watched the flipping romance film.

I like watching romantic comedies. In fact, I watched one last night whilst wrapping Christmas presents. I really enjoyed it as it was a bit of light entertainment and perfect background for the task I had to do. Does this mean that I now believe that I have somehow missed out on my 'one true love' because I didn't meet hub in extraordinary circumstances? Well, no. Does it mean that I feel that hub and I were destined to meet and be together always? Er, no. Does it mean that I think Matthew McConaughey has got a great bod and a sexy Texan accent? Hell, yeah!

Romantic comedies, just like romantic novels are pure fantasy. There is no point thinking otherwise, or you'll just end up sad and alone. In the words of the ever lovely Bridget Jones - a very practical heroine from a romantic comedy:

"At times like this, continuing with one's life seems impossible... and eating the entire contents of one's fridge seems inevitable. I have two choices: to give up and accept permanent state of spinsterhood and eventually be eaten by alsatians... or not, and this time I choose not. I will not be defeated by a bad man and an American stick insect! Instead, I choose vodka. And Chaka Khan."

Guilt or Blog?

I'm a terrible procrastinator. I'm really good at finding little, useless tasks to do instead of doing the big, useful task that really needs doing. Today I've pootled about doing all sorts before I finally sat down at my computer to write this. I knew I had to do some blogging today, but couldn't think of anything to write. Oh, I've got lots of ideas jotted down for various blog posts, but couldn't get enthusiastic about any of them. This is mainly because in order to write them I will have had to do a bit of research, re-reading bits of books and thinking carefully about how to phrase my argument. To be honest, I couldn't be bothered today.

You may wonder why I've bothered to blog at all then, since I'm obviously not in the mood. Well it has to do with my experiences as a blog reader. I've been reading various blogs for nearly 4 years now on a daily basis. I like reading other people's blogs, reading their likes/dislikes and their opinions. I never used to comment on the blogs because I'm a bit shy and felt that no-one would really be interested in what I had to say anyway, so I lurked, occasionally putting my head out of the bunker if I felt I had something useful to say (which was about once a year). One thing that always really disappointed me as a lurking blog reader was when the people who wrote my favourite blogs didn't blog daily - unless like Book Utopia Mom, they have specific days when they post. I somehow felt a bit cheated, as though I'd missed out on part of my blog fix. Now, I completely understand why blog writers can be erratic in their posting. Family commitments, work and millions of other daily hassles can prevent someone from having the time to put fingers to keyboard and post on a blog, but that didn't stop me feeling a bit let down.

When I started this blog I decided that I would begin by blogging daily (except Sunday) and see how that went. If I couldn't cope with such a regime, then I was going to reduce this to three times a week. The trouble is, I can't even bring myself to do that now! I have to blog daily to try and keep my meagre readership going and also because I feel guilty if I don't. I don't want to be responsible for someone feeling a bit disappointed because I wasn't in the mood. I'm also a bit worried that if I start to let things slide, then the whole thing will crash and burn, and actually I do like blogging and want to keep up the discipline of writing daily.

So after looking on facebook, looking at semi-naked men on the beautifulmag site and checking out other people's blogs, here I am. Blogging about nothing. Just so I can stop feeling guilty. I can't help thinking that I might be going slightly mad.

Scratch, scratch

The Christmas tree has taken its revenge on me for suggesting that it is tasteless by giving me a nasty, itchy rash.

Who knew I was allergic to tree sap?!

Lonely this Christmas?

In reading all the advent stories for the last 13 days, I've noticed a bit of a trend. That somehow if you don't have your house decorated from top to bottom over the Christmas period, then there is something seriously wrong with you. Anyone who is lonely or without love at Christmas in these stories cannot be bothered to decorate their house or put up a tree. Somehow it's a metaphor for how sad and lonely they have become because there is no tree in their house.

Well I have a confession to make. Until my first child came along I didn't put up a Christmas tree at Christmas - now don't faint in horror, but it's true. I was happily married for 4 years before I had kids and we didn't have a tree. Hub and I just didn't see the point when we spent the day itself and Boxing Day at either my Mum's or his parent's house. So, if you came to my house around Christmas you would find a bit of tinsel around the pictures and the Christmas cards and that was it. Was I sad and lonely? No, just practical.

Now I know that things are done a bit differently 'over the pond' in that decorating your house for Christmas is seen as an essential part of celebrating the season and the Christmas tree is therefore a focal point in the house. In Britain though, you are seen as a bit of an oddity if the outside of your house is festooned with lights (we have to do a 'drive by' of a house near us which has loads of tasteless lights and decorations in the garden so the kids can go 'ooh' at it and hub and I can snigger). It's all about being 'tasteful' and understated in this country. However, as I said to hub today, "you can't have kids and expect to have a tasteful tree".

So where am I going with today's ramble? Just to say that it would be nice if not decorating your house was seen as the practical thing it is to a single person or a couple without kids. It doesn't always mean that you have a bah humbug attitude or that you are too sad and lonely to care.

I shall end with a picture of my tasteless Christmas tree. I hope all you happy people approve!

Friends to Lovers

The Advent story today by Catt Ford used a plot device that many romance readers love - the friends to lovers storyline. I have to admit, I'm not the greatest fan of this plot line, although I enjoyed today's story and thought it worked well.

Basically, there are certain times when friends to lovers works for me and certain times when it doesn't. It all depends on how the plot device is used as to how I feel about it. Here's a few thoughts on when I think it woks for me and when it doesn't:

When it works:

1) The friends have only known each other a short time. In other words, they didn't know each other very well when they were children.

2) There has been a separation. They may have been former friends, grown up and gone to school together, but there has been a period of time when they have been apart. They then come back together and discover a mutual attraction.

3) One of the pair has been in love with the other for a long time but has been unable to confess their love due to other factors such as the other one being married or in a relationship. Once the barrier is removed then the first character is free to confess their love and woo the other person.

When it doesn't work:

1) When there is a significant gap in ages. One character may have been an adult when the other was a child and as the child matured the first one develops an attraction. This squicks me out a bit, especially if the author is not very clear as to when the attraction first develops.

2) When two people, who have been friends for years, suddenly discover an attraction. I always wonder why the attraction hasn't developed before.

3) A third point would have been great here as it would have evened up the argument, but I can't think of one, darn it!

The story today, titled "The Long Way Home", was a sort of mix between 2 and 3 in the 'it works' section which is why I enjoyed it. On the whole I try to stay away from these sorts of storylines which is actually a great shame because as I have been writing this post I've been thinking of some really great books like "When He Was Wicked" by Julia Quinn and "Web of Love" by Mary Balogh which use the friends to lovers storyline; books I've enjoyed immensely.

Review: To the Highest Bidder by Kate Steele

This book caught my attention for two reasons. Firstly because one of the heroes is a famous person and I have a secret soft spot for a character who is famous - hence my love of the "Heaven Sent" books by Jet Mykles as well as the film "Notting Hill". Secondly, I thought the initial premise was a bit different. Our heroes meet when Ben, through a gift from a friend, wins dinner with Mitch, a famous television actor. Now personally, I can't think of a worst gift. I would hate having to meet a stranger and have dinner with them, even if they are famous, even if it were David Tennant (actually, no, I would go if it were David Tennant). Imagine how awkward and stilted the conversation would be. Anyway, Mitch behaves like an arrogant prig and Ben ends up leaving during the main course.

Of course there's a reason why Mitch behaved like he did and afterwards he feels contrite and contacts Ben again to make it up - and boy do they make it up!

I really enjoyed this novella. I liked watching the two guys getting to know each other, facing past hurts and learning to trust despite the rough start. Kate Steele's use of language was simple and effective, and her characters were likeable - there were no flamboyant heroes, just real men with real feelings. It was refreshing to read about two men who were just, well, normal. The length of the story left little room for other characters but those who did appear were also rather normal people. There were no cliches or stereotypes here.

If I have any disappointments with the story it was that we didn't get to see how the two men coped with Mitch's fame and the meeting of Ben's family - except for a short 'two years later' chapter at the end of the story. Then again, I suppose this was a novella about the start of a relationship, not a full length novel charting the ups and downs of their lives.

All in all this was a quick, interesting read with great characters and great writing which left you with a feeling of wanting more. I'm giving it a grade of 'Excellent' because I'll surely be reading this again.

Cover Up

One of the benefits of owning an ebook reader is that you don't have to worry about embarrassing covers. That used to be the worst thing about being a romance reader; getting caught reading a book with either a dreadful clinch cover or some serious man-titty.

I was once in the sports centre reading a book whilst doing the interminable wait for the swimming lessons to finish, when a friend of mine came up behind me. I wasn't fast enough hiding the book cover and she exclaimed "What are you reading?" and burst into peals of laughter so that several other mums looked round to see what all the fuss was about. I must have blushed several shades of purple. The thing was, the book was really good. It was the cover that was awful.

See what I mean.

Loretta Chase used to be one author whose covers were truly awful. Thankfully they are currently being updated, but I have copies of all the old ones. When I want to try and corrupt convert my friends to romance novels I always start with "Lord of Scoundrels". Unfortunately my copy of the book looks like this:

You can imagine the looks I get when I hand that over! People think I'm deranged. After all how can a good book have a cover that bad?

Another good thing about no book covers is that I don't have to hide the explicit ones from my kids. I'm usually very careful but Hub was really cross with me when I accidentally left this book lying about in full view of the kiddies.

I didn't blame him really.

I've written a number of times at how I am frequently swayed by a good cover, so what sort of cover attracts me to a book? I don't actually mind tasteful man-titty. In fact most of my m/m book buying is as a result of seeing some man's lovely chest. I don't like full face shots though because I like to have the face left to my imagination. Also, sometimes if I see a full face shot, I don't actually find the man attractive and that can put me off a book. I once bought a book that was highly recommended on several sites, but the model on the cover looked like some dodgy geezer who might try to sell you cheap watches down the pub. If it hadn't been for the good reviews I would never have bought the book. I also get a bit cross when the cover model's body doesn't match that of the hero. I've read a number of books containing very slim men with only small muscles, yet the cover shows a big beefy muscle man on the cover. That's like having a blond haired model on the cover of a book containing a dark haired hero - very annoying.

I think I've mentioned before how much I like PL Nunn's cover art.

Here are some covers I've liked recently:

I have to say though that it's been nice this year, not having to worry about book covers. I can read what I like, where-ever I like and not worry about censorious looks or people making assumptions about me based on my choice of reading. Yep, very nice indeed.

Santa Baby

I saw this picture on the web and couldn't resist. It is relevant. Honest.

Looking back on my posts recently I've realised that I've been doing a lot of moaning: Moaning about the snow, moaning about epilogues and moaning about disappointing books. So it may come as a bit of a surprise when I say that today I'm not going to moan.

I read a story today which contained a plot device I usually don't like. And do you know what? I liked it. Yep, plot device and all, I thought it was great.

The plot device was 'will they or won't they get caught having sex'. It's sort of like public sex, but with added tension. It was a m/m story and the heroes were having sex in a shop stock room. At one point the door to the stock room is partly open, then someone nearly comes in and then someone does come in, but fortunately doesn't see them. This way the tension is turned up ever so slowly throughout the story.

Usually this sort of plot device has me squirming in my seat with barely contained embarrassment - I can't bear the thought of the humiliation they (and therefore I) would feel were they caught. I remember one book I read a while ago which had the hero having phone sex in his office and right at the point of ejaculation he was caught by his boss. I almost stopped reading at that point (in fact I wish I had because the rest of the book wasn't great) because I was dying inside.

Thinking about it, there were a number of reasons why I liked the plot device in the story I read today.

1. The stock room was dark and therefore the likelihood of them getting caught was lessened.
2. The sexual tension was palpable and therefore drew attention away from their predicament.
3. It was a short story so I knew that any repercussions of them getting caught would have to be resolved fairly quickly.
4. I liked the heroes - even though it was a short story and therefore we hadn't had much time to get to know them, I wanted them to get together.

So there you go, no moaning (OK maybe just a tiny bit). It goes to show though, that with the right story, the right characters and good writing, you can get away with all sorts of plot devices.

Oh, the story? It was "Where's Santa" by Clare London and you can buy it here.

Christmas Romance

I've never been one of those readers who have to read all the Christmas themed books which magically appear on the bookshelves in November. This is possibly because I've never really found Christmas to be a particularly romantic time, despite the fact that Hub and first I started going out on the 19th December and I have fond memories of making out under the Christmas tree!

Last year though I decided to buy a copy of "Under the Mistletoe" by Mary Balogh. This is a collection of stories that had been previously published in other Christmas anthologies (plus one new story). I really enjoyed these and could suddenly see why anthologies like these are so popular. They focus on the 'peace, joy and goodwill' aspect of Christmas and conveniently forget about about the hassles which precede the day itself. This allows you a 'rose tinted' view of Christmas which can be quite diverting during the hectic rush that actually is Christmas for me.

This year I have opted for the set of Advent stories/novellas from Dreamspinner Press - see my side-bar. I'm having a mixed response to this. On one hand I like the idea of getting a Christmas story a day - my own personal Advent calendar, on the other hand the stories have been rather mixed in quality. I've enjoyed the stories by those authors whose work I've read and enjoyed in the past, such as Sean Kennedy and Chrissy Munder and I've also discovered some other authors whose work I may buy in the future such as Ashlyn Kane. There have been a few stories, however, that I've thought were rather poor. As a result of this I'm not sure I would buy this next year if the publisher offered it again. Instead I'll look out for Christmas anthologies of authors whose work I know or buy a few of the stories separately from those authors I like.

Epilogue disaster

There was a discussion at Dear Author not too long ago about epilogues in books. There was a varied and mixed response with some people hating them and never reading them, to others who liked them and always read them.

I've always secretly quite liked the epilogue. The romantic in me likes the little peek into the HEA that these often give the reader. I might find myself rolling my eyes a little at yet another barren woman who has children through the power of the hero's super-strength sperm, but on the whole they give me a bit of a warm fuzzy feeling.

However, yesterday I read a book where the epilogue spoiled the entire story for me.

Most epilogues take a point a short distance (up to 2-3 years usually) in the future where we meet our h/h still much in love. It provides a poignant moment with them surrounded by their children, or off on their travels, or creating their dream. Yesterday's story was different to this.

The story was a rather sweet m/m historical romance. I spent most of the time reading it being rather impressed by a) the correct use of speech and language for the time period and b) the way that one of the hero perceives his sexuality and the dangers of being 'outed'. I got to the end of the story and didn't even mind that there hadn't been any sex, just a few kisses at the end. Then the epilogue began...

The book had been written in the 3rd person until the epilogue where it changed to the 1st person. The voice of the narrator wasn't one of our heroes, but rather one of the other characters in the story, the young niece of one of our heroes. She was writing as an old woman and telling us about the lives of these heroes, how they had found a way to stay together their whole lives. This was a bit odd, but I suppose rather nice to hear that they had been able to remain together despite the threat of imprisonment. Then came the line which ruined the whole thing for me:

"I will not tell who passed away first, or relate the quiet suffering endured by the survivor, for that is not my tale."

Arggghhhh!!! What happened to my lovely HEA with them standing kissing each other under the mistletoe? All that is now forgotten, leaving only thoughts of one of them dying and the other left lonely and sad. All I can say is 'Why?'.

I was in a bit of a bad mood after reading that story. It should have been a bit of light entertainment, a Christmas interlude. Instead I was reminded that love may last a lifetime, but death takes it away eventually. Gee thanks.

Why I hate...snow

Ok, this post has nothing to do about reading or romance (sort of) but I'm looking out of the patio doors in my dining room and I can see the snow. Isn't that what they tell you - write about what you know?

I have a confession to make: I hate snow. May the Lord strike me down for making such a dreadful statement, but it's true. Snow. Hate. It.

Here's why....

1. It's cold and wet
I hate being cold and wet

2. I'm crap at snowball fights and making snowmen
I'm always the one who ends up getting cold and wet due to not being able to dodge snowballs and falling on my bottom trying to avoid snowballs. My snowmen are abominations. My kids make better snowmen than I do.

3. Snow often means exercise
I don't like physical stuff and trudging up hills dragging sledges counts as heavy duty exercise.

4. The roads are blocked
Britain is crap for this. One hint of a snowflake and the roads are chaos. The snowploughs are always late out so everything just grinds to a halt. Other countries are not like this at all. I once went to New England in March and the snow in Vermont and New Hampshire was several feet deep. The roads, however, were all clear and gritted - even the small side roads. I was amazed. I could live with snow if it meant I could actually get from place to place without it taking 3 hours to drive 5 miles.

5. Puddles in the hall
The kids go out in the snow, then in again, then out, then in, etc, etc. They then leave wet clothes/shoes all over the hall and I spend ages clearing up.

Yes, I am a grumpy so and so.

There's only one time I like snow. That is when I'm cosily ensconced in my favourite chair reading a good romance. The snow looks pretty and atmospheric then. I can live with that.

All I want for Christmas...

It's that time again when I'm being pestered left right and centre from various relatives about what I want for Christmas. What? I cry. You mean it's not enough that I've had to provide comprehensive lists of presents to buy for my children? I've now got to give you some suggestions for me?

I'm really easy to buy for:
1. Book tokens
2. Money that I can spend on ebooks
3. A choice of books from my Amazon wish list

But do I ever get these? No I don't. When I ask, after Christmas is over, why I didn't get any of these, I get various excuses from, 'Book tokens or money are boring' to, 'I can't understand how to access your Amazon wish list'.

Let me get this straight: Books are NOT boring.

I spend lots and lots of my spare time reading. I LOVE reading. The best present anyone can get me for Christmas is a book because it means I won't have to spend any of my own hard earned cash on buying it in the future.

I have to add a proviso to this: It must be a book that I actually want to read. Not a book that the present giver thinks I ought to read. I spent far too many Christmases as a child pretending to be happy about being bought a 'worthy' book for Christmas, such as "Lorna Doone" or "Swallows and Amazons" when I'd much rather have got one of Enid Blyton's Famous Five books. Not that there's anything wrong with those books, just that it always seemed a bit of a back-handed present. Even if the giver has enjoyed the book themselves then it won't always follow that I will like it, unless it is a romance, then I might enjoy it!

I'm in a privileged position at the moment in that all my children like to read. This means I get to buy them books for Christmas. You won't find me buying them any of those 'worthy' books that were foisted on me by well meaning relatives. I'm going to buy them books that I liked reading and hope that I can continue to encourage their reading rather than make them feel that they are in some way being punished for liking popular fiction over its rather snooty counterpart.

A Rose By Any Other Name...

Supposedly they would smell as sweet. True, I guess, but would it affect how we felt about the plant if it was called something else? It might.

A few weeks ago I wrote a review on a short story with a hero called 'Burk'. At the time I commented how this had spoiled my enjoyment of what was actually rather a nice romance because every time I read the name it reminded me of the British word 'berk', an unflattering term for a clumsy or idiotic person. In that case the name did matter - if the hero had been named Hans or a different Germanic name then I would have enjoyed the story a whole lot more.

To me, names are very important, especially for the hero. The trouble is, as with the example above, it's difficult for authors from countries such as the US, Canada and Australia to know which names to avoid if us Brits are going to get the wrong image in our heads. There are a number of men's names in Britain which are associated with 'nerdy' or 'dorky' men - not at all the image you want to give to your manly hero. Take nearly everyone's favourite Historical Romance hero (though not mine - a post for another day) Derek Craven for example. Derek is not a sexy name in this country nor is Colin, Gregory, Allan, Nigel, Adrian, Percy or Neil, and yet all of these have been heroes in romance novels. My heart often sinks when I come across a romance with a dorky name for the hero and it will take me longer to get into the book when it's a name I don't like.

So what's the alternative? Well, I don't think I'm the only one who is a bit sick and tired of all the Raphaels, Damians, Gabriels and Lucian/Lucius names in Historical Romance. They may be sexy, manly names for our heroes, but I don't think they are actually all that historically accurate. I suspect you were more likely to be called Obediah or Archibald than Damien - not that you are likely to see those names as a romantic hero!

The funny thing is, my perceptions of a name can change when I come across a hero I really like. I didn't like the name Rupert until I came across Rupert Carsington in "Mr Impossible" by Loretta Chase and now I love the name. This has been the case for names such as Nicholas, Marcus, Sebastian and Adrien. I now no longer view those names in a negative light, which is probably a testament to the skill of the various authors who used those names originally.

Unfortunately, I don't think there's anything that can be done in the long run, except grin and bear it when I come across a name which fits with my idea of a weedy dork rather than a manly hunk. I can't possibly expect authors to do a straw poll of all the world's nationalities to check that the name isn't viewed negatively. That would just be insane.

Short Review: Not in Kansas by RG Alexander

Plot: This erotic short story begins with our hero, Kansas Frayne, walking in the fields around his farm in Iowa. A sudden storm carries him away and deposits him in a strange land, peopled by odd creatures. In order for him to go home his companions take him to see the wizard. Sounds familiar? This is a very tongue in cheek pastiche of "The Wizard of Oz" and very amusing it was too. Once Kansas meets the wizard he is told that the only way home to Iowa is to refuse the king's commands - the trouble is the king is gorgeous and Kansas finds him hard to resist. That was about all the plot there was. As an erotic story, the whole story was a series of sex scenes hung around a minimal plot. For once I didn't mind this. The story doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it was: an amusing interlude and I enjoyed the story and the sex scenes. I did wish there was more of an emotional connection between the King and Kansas and so found the HEA a bit forced, as though it was tagged on as an afterthought to all the sex.

Characters: The only vaguely fleshed out character was Kansas, the rest were rather two dimensional. There was a vast array of different lifeforms: The constantly aroused catman; the birdlady with no sense of direction; the water; the silver pleasure droid; the golden wizard and king. The main characteristic for all of them (except the birdlady) was that they all wanted to have sex with Kansas and many of them did - including the water! However, given the nature and length of the story, I wasn't really expecting much depth of character.

Overall: I spent a rather pleasant hour with a glass of red wine reading this story, chuckling to myself at the silly references to "The Wizard of Oz" and being mildly titillated by the sex scenes. What more could you ask for in an erotic comic short story? It gets a grade of 'Very Good' because I know I will read it again when I'm in the mood for something short and sexy.