Review: Broken by Dawn Kimberly Johnson

I was attracted to this book because one of the heroes, Eli, has a damaged leg and I thought it would be interesting to see how this would be handled. The book is also set in the UK and it's very rare that I can pass up a m/m book with a British setting. In the end I was glad to have taken a chance with this new author because Broken is a terrific book.

The book begins with a section heavy in emotion. Eli dreams of his lover Bennett, awakening to the realisation that, as Bennett was killed nearly two years previously, Eli will never again see his face or hear his voice. Eli has withdrawn from the world, caught up in an unending spiral of grief and self-hatred over the attack which left him seriously injured and his lover dead. This incident is shown to the reader through a graphic flashback quite near the beginning of the book. Eli lives in a shared house with Black American lesbian Ilsa, and two British gay men, Lyle and Tony. His housemates are concerned about him, non more so that Ilsa who arranges for a new man to move into the spare room. This man, Alec, is a fellow American and friend of Ilsa. He is also a psychologist and the author of a book about how to overcome trauma and grief. Ilsa asks Alec to befriend Eli and see whether he can help him move on from the grief and guilt he feels over Bennett. Alec agrees, but finds that, as he begins to fall in love with Eli, he is torn between admitting his feelings or trying to remain just friends.

Those of you who don't really like a lot of angst with their romance may not like this book but I love stories like that so it was ideal for me. There's a lot of emotion simmering on the surface and not just from Eli. Many of the other characters have their own difficulties to face, especially the housemates as they cope with their own grief for Bennett as well as other troubles. Alec also has his own problems too, as he starts his new life in London. Despite this, the book is not depressing because a theme of hope runs through it. Alec brings a change in the household, especially with Eli as his gentle friendship coaxes Eli out of his introspection. As Eli begins to emerge from the grief we see how oppressive those feelings have been for the whole household as they too seek to break free from their roles in the house and start something new. Lyle epitomises this as he initiates change in his life which then impacts on the other housemates. The whole impression is that the household is emerging from under a cloud, just by having someone new in the house, someone who didn't know Bennett or was directly involved in the tragedy. It was subtle, but done very well.

The majority of the story is taken up with Alec and Eli. Alec likes Eli almost from the start and falls quickly in love with him. It's difficult for Alec though as Eli rebuffs his attentions and in a heartbreaking scene tells Alec:

“I’m broken, mate. Not just my body,”— he indicated his leg —“but everything inside me.” He met Alec’s gaze. “I can’t give you anything you need or deserve.”

Fortunately for Eli - and for us - Alec doesn't agree and through gentleness and patience he begins to draw Eli away from the pain and towards a life where he can become whole again. It was beautifully done and even the slight misunderstanding towards the end - which had been signposted clearly almost from the start - didn't spoil my enjoyment of this engaging process. I was wholly immersed in seeing Eli recover and how that recovery affected the other people in his life. Eli's physical injury was handled very well. In one sense it is a constant reminder of the death of Bennett, but also the way that Eli had adapted to his injury, fought and won against permanent disability served as an opposite to his mental state: His body had healed and although not perfect, was as well as it could get; his mind was unable to heal, to move on from the trauma.

There were a couple of little niggles: Firstly Bennett is an absolute paragon. He was handsome, liked by all, loving, caring, stood up for what was right and his death was devastating for everyone who knew him. Now, I know we see Bennett through the eyes of his friends, and that friends have a tendency to forget all the bad stuff when someone they love dies, but it did make Bennett a little unrealistic. The second niggle was to do with the point of view. Mostly the third person pov is with either Alec or Eli, but occasionally it shifted to Ilsa, Lyle or Tony. It wasn't always clear whose point of view we were in when it shifted so I found myself thinking I was in one character's head, but finding after a paragraph or so, that actually I was in the head of a different character. This meant that I had to go back and re-read from the change in viewpoint and it got a bit annoying after a while.

Overall, despite these very minor niggles, this was an excellent book. The characters were well drawn and sympathetic, the situation realistic and the writing flowed gently to a satisfying conclusion. I was so caught up in the lives and interactions of these characters that it wasn't until I got to the end when I realised that there hadn't been a sex scene. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of kissing and touching, but the book ends just as the physical relationship between Alec and Eli is about to begin, and I was quite happy to leave them to that. If you like strong, emotional stories; if you like realistic characterisation with good, but flawed people; if you want to be dragged into a story about recovery and how love and friendship can heal; then this book is for you. I highly recommend Broken with a grade of 'Excellent'.

Buy this book HERE.

Saturday Shorts

Two short stories and a novella today.

I Can't Drive 55 by Jade Falconer
After enjoying Cold Hands, Warm... last week I thought I'd read another story by this author and see if I would continue to enjoy her writing.  I did.  This raunchy tale tells the story of Kyle who has decided to go for a fast drive down a lonely highway at 2am.  He's hitting 110mph when he's pulled over by a cop, John.  Kyle knows that if he gets a ticket for speeding then he'll lose his license, so he offers up a blow job as a bribe.  The BJ goes ahead but both men get more than they bargained for when they discover a chemistry between them.  The story wasn't the most original of premises - in fact I've read just such a scenario in another book recently - but it was well executed and both men are likeable and as well rounded as possible for such as short story.  The sex was hot but there was also a hint of tenderness in it and a promise of things to come which I liked a great deal.  Grade: Very Good.

Buy this book HERE.

Sins of the Father by Anna O'Neill
This historical short set in Japan began very well with a breathless chase through the forest.  Two comrades, Sora and Kaname who are Shinobi, or spies for the feudal Lord, are escaping from the nameless enemy, persued by dogs.  They decide to hide themselves by posing as lovers having sex in a pool.  This works and the enemy passes, only Sora is affected by the sexual exchange and starts to develop feelings for the older man.  This was a great start, but unfortunately things went rapidly downhill after that.  The writing was good, the historical detail was interesting, but there was too much crammed into this short story.  This meant that I found it a little confusing as to what was going on.  There were also a few characters who could have been cut from the story altogether.  I like the yaoi aspect of the story but again some of the humour found in yaoi, and included in this story, came across as slightly jarring with the overall serious tone of the book.  A shame really because the story had great promise.  Grade: Good.

Buy this book HERE.

Dangerous Ground 2: Old Poison by Josh Lanyon
I must be the only 'Fanyon' who wasn't that fussed about the prequel to this book: Dangerous Ground.  Don't get me wrong, I liked it, thought it was well written and liked the characters of Will and Taylor, but I wasn't too bothered about reading another book about them and it certainly didn't incite the amount of rapture in me that I've seen from other fans.  I'd rather have a seen a sequel to Cards on the Table to be honest.  Despite this, I picked up this novella and prepared to be entertained, which I was.  Old Poison picks up a few weeks after Dangerous Ground.  Taylor has recovered from the shooting and is about to go back out onto the field.  It's Taylor's birthday and he receives a package which turns out to be a cobra in rice wine.  Other strange things happen too which add up to a set of threats on Taylor's life.  Will and Taylor work together to try and find out who would want to harm him and why, and along the way have to cope with ex-boyfriends, diva wives of African presidents and working out just how committed the two men are to their new relationship.  In some ways this was more Will's story than Taylor's - although they both get plenty of page time, both together and apart.  Taylor has jumped into their relationship with both feet and is putting the pressure on Will to join him.  Will still has quite a few things he needs to sort through in his head before he can fully commit himself to Taylor and I liked how this is explored within the story.  In the previous book, my sympathies were more with Taylor than Will, as he struggled to overcome his injury, but in this book, I felt more sympathy for Will.  Taylor has put him in a difficult position and it was interesting to how he reacts to temptation from others, and to pressure from Taylor as well as his thoughts as he thinks carefully about his future with Taylor.  Great stuff.  The sex scenes were carefully choreographed to show the development in the heroes' feelings for one another and as a result were very moving as well as steamy.  Overall, a great read.  Grade: Excellent.

Buy this book HERE.

A Nice Cover

I like this cover. Shall I tell you why?

It's because the model's tummy is just slightly rounded. It makes me want to reach out and give it a poke and smooth my hands over it. It will feel warm and just slightly squishy under my hands.

I've never been particularly attracted to washboard abs. They look too hard and rigid, like you might hurt yourself on them.

This tummy looks just right. Not too fat, or too muscled. The sort of tummy that you would probably find on many ordinary men. My only regret is the lack of treasure trail.

What do you think? Do you like this rounded tummy or would you prefer a tummy which has been subjected to a rigorous and sustained amount of sit-ups?

Not a Thanksgiving Post

This picture reminds me of The Goodies

It's Thanksgiving in the US today - as if anyone in blogworld didn't know already.  We don't celebrate Thanksgiving in the UK.  Mostly because it's a 'founding fathers' thing (I think) but also because we Brits are almost never thankful for anything.  It's not by accident that we are known as 'whinging poms' by our cousins in the Antipodes.

So in the spirit of non-thanksgiving, here are some reasons why I'm not thankful today:

1.  All the shops are playing Christmas music and it's not even December yet.

2.  Every time I've stepped out of my front door in the last week, I've been rained on by very cold rain.

3.  My boss hasn't had much work for me to do recently so I've had to do all the crappy 'filler' jobs that I put off when I'm busy - like filling in all the regular bookings in next year's diary.  Tedious.

4.  The house elf has gone on strike again.

5.  The evil cat keeps doing horrid orange sicks on my beige bedroom carpet and even 1001 stain remover can't get rid of the mark it leaves.

6.  Even though the council have opened a new car park for the train station, people who work in Leeds are STILL parking their cars on the surrounding roads which causes no end of problems and jams when you're trying to drive anywhere and there's a big bus coming towards you in the narrow gap left between parked cars.  EEK!

7.  My smug friend who has already bought and wrapped all her Christmas presents and written her Christmas cards and stamped them ready to send.  Bully for you missus.

8.  That my kids wrote on the internal walls of the church hall on Sunday morning, leaving me to scrub it off, feeling mortified and furious, especially as the main culprit was eight and should have known better.

However, there IS something that I'm VERY thankful for today, and that is that when I returned home from work this afternoon, feeling wet, tired and a little pissed off, there was a package from Kris.  In the package was my combined birthday/Christmas pressie - a signed copy of Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy.

So THANK YOU to Kris and to Sean for doing that.  It brought a smile to my face on a day when I was feeling pretty miserable... and tears to my eyes - honestly, guys, you're all doing your best to ruin this whole 'stiff upper lip' thing I've got going on.

BTW, Kris, you can let Sean go now.  No really, he has to work on the next D&D book, so you have to let him out of the cage.

Anyway, for all you non-US people out there - the US people will be too busy stuffing their faces with turkey and pumpkin pie to be logging onto the blogs today - what are you NOT thankful for today?  Go on, get it off your chest, it's good to have a moan once in a while.

Review: Snow on the Mountains by PD Singer

Snow on the Mountain is the sequel to the excellent Fire on the Mountain (reviewed here). Whilst it can be read as a stand-a-lone, I would recommend that you read Fire on the Mountain if you really want to get the true measure of how the character of Jake, especially, has developed since the end of the previous book.

The book begins a few months after the end of the previous book. Jake and Kurt have finished their summer job as forest rangers and are now working at an exclusive ski resort for the rich and famous - Kurt as a private ski instructor and Jake as a ski lift operator. The two men are very much still in the honeymoon period of their relationship and Jake in particular has grown in confidence in his feelings about Kurt and his sexual experience with Kurt. Kurt is pleased that he's landed a well paid job, but begins to get suspicious when hints are dropped about some of his 'other duties' towards his clients. After realisation hits, Kurt tries to all he can to get out of his contract and that's when the real trouble starts.

The story is told in two different points of view. All Jake's point of view is in the first person (which is how Fire on the Mountain is written). Kurt's point of view is written in the third person. This may sound a little clunky, but it wasn't at all. I found it easy to switch between the two different views, especially as it is necessary to the plot for us to see a little of what Kurt is doing whilst Jake isn't around.

Jake is such a delightful character, even more so from the first book, as he revels in his feelings for Kurt and his new found sexual confidence. The first sex scene between them was instrumental in showing how much Jake's feelings have become entangled with Kurt and his possessiveness, rather than being alarming was endearing as he shows Kurt exactly how he feels about sharing him with other people. Underneath the confidence though is still the same Jake who I grew to love in the first book. He's socially awkward and finds it difficult to interact in social situations and yet seems to be able to connect well with children. It isn't long before he's accidentally sent mixed messages to another worker at the resort, Mark, and spends most of the book trying to entangle himself from that relationship without hurting Mark's feelings. The use of the first person viewpoint also lends itself to some humourous scenes where Jake seethes with jealousy internally when Kurt is hit on by others whilst putting up a good front of nonchalance on the outside. There's also one hilarious scene where Jake is drunk and trying to listen in on an argument/discussion which is happening in front of him, trying to keep focused but eventually failing. Actually, humour was used quite effectively on a number of occasions in the book to diffuse serious conflict or tense scenes which, whilst still keeping a serious tone didn't allow any angst to overwhelm the book.

I said in my review of Fire on the Mountain that Kurt was a little idealised. In some ways, seeing some of the book from Kurt's point of view in this book allowed us to see some of his failings. I liked that and it allowed me to connect to Kurt better than I had in the previous book. As Kurt is the skier (Jake doesn't ski very well), he is the one who gets most of the skiing scenes and describes to the reader the exhilaration of skiing. I have never skied, but the wonder and excitement that Kurt feels - and Jake too later in the book - made me wish I did. There isn't the space in the book for the huge sweeping descriptions of the mountains which I loved so much about Fire on the Mountain. Instead the focus is on the relationships between Jake and Kurt and their co-workers, and how that impacts on their own developing relationship. I was quite happy about this - after all how much description can one possibly have about snow? - and enjoyed instead meeting some of the secondary characters such as Mark (who I'm hoping is going to get his own story) and Marty, Egon the disgruntled Bulgarian, Todd and Gracie the terrible twins and other assorted work colleagues; all of whom were fleshed out into real people.

If I have any niggles at all about the book - and these are very minor - it's that the villains of the piece were maybe just a little over the top. The other niggle was that I found it difficult to always picture the ski resort because I've never been to one and didn't always understand the skiing terms used in the book - those of you who do ski will probably find the attention to detail with the skiing a bonus, rather than a detraction. However, both of these niggles were not enough to spoil my overwhelming enjoyment of this book.

It's not often that I give five starts to a book (as I have in this review over at Wave's site), but in the case of Snow on the Mountain it is well deserved. I picked the book up and could hardly bear to put it down again. I finished the book immensely satisfied with the conclusion, but also sad that I'd finished with these two wonderful heroes. If you are looking for a book about two men who are perhaps both a bit naive and yet love each other very much; a book where the romance is balanced with exciting action sequences, with humourous situations and with tense and thrilling scenes; then this book is for you. Highly recommended with a grade of 'Excellent'.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: The Care and feeding of Demons Anthology

I was attracted to this book because I'm a big UF fan and thought that the premise sounded interesting. Whilst all the stories in this anthology were well written with good characterisation and structure to them, what ultimately let it down as a whole was the similarity between all of the stories. Nearly every story followed the same pattern: Demon hunter/human meets demon, they have an antagonism towards one another, lots of sex, they fall in love, the end. Many of the demons were incubi and their falling in love with the human heralded a change for them as they found meaning in that relationship. Non of this is bad, just that I did get to the stage where I was thinking 'what again?' when I read the stories and began wishing for more originality in the stories.

Having said that there were stories which stood out from the crowd and are worth mentioning. Reasonable Force By Meredith Shayne told the story of Daniel who as far as I can tell is a lapsed monk who hunts demons with the other 'brothers'. He's a bit of a loose cannon as he suffers guilt and grief over the death of his lover and fellow brother, David. He meets a demon, Karim, who proves to be a worthy foe and they often meet to spar with one another until all that aggression and pent up emotion takes a different turn altogether. I very much liked the character of Daniel and empathised greatly with his grief and how he used his aggressive behaviour to deal with that. I also liked that the relationship between Daniel and Karim wasn't something that was wrapped up in a neat bow, but we are left with the promise of things to come - an ideal ending for such a short story, especially one packed with so much detail as this.

Screaming Demon by Kiernan Kelly was another story I greatly enjoyed. This time the demon is Azarian, who is half-human. He has little in the way of powers and is despised by the other demons for his human side, so spends quite a lot of time hiding from the demon hunters. Azarian is tracked by Demon Hunter, Mick, who tries to 'send him back to hell' but eventually, through pleading his case and the approach of dawn, Azarian manages to convince Mick is isn't a threat to anyone. Mick refuses to release Azarian until he helps him track down the meaning of a mysterious stone found at the site of a demon hunt. The strength of this story lies in the character of Azarian who is the 'little guy' of the demon world. I felt rather bad for him that he is hated both by humans and demons and I was cheering him on at the end. Mick is the typical alpha demon hunter, but had enough about him to gain my sympathies. An overall entertaining story.

There was one story, The One Who Comes in the Night By Kate Roman, which probably would have been my absolute favourite were it not for the last 11 lines. It tells the story of Drew, a timid man who works hard to make ends meet. He is gay but has had a bad experience in the past which shook his confidence. As a result he seems unable to find to courage to meet another man so he lives for his job and is incredibly lonely. Through no fault of his own, he is in danger of losing that job and now despairs of what his future holds. That night an incubus, Blaise, visits him in his dreams and gives him, for one night, a taste of what life would be like if Drew had someone who cared about him and protected him. He pleads in his dream for Blaise to return and even though it's against the rules, Blaise comes back. My heart ached for Drew and his situation and I felt so sorry for him and his situation. The scenes where he is with Blaise were a mix of wonderful and yet heartbreaking because there seemed to be no future with them. I rejoiced when they found a way to be with each other and then everything was spoiled in the last few lines when, instead of leaving the two men to work out their life together and the difficulties of making ends meet, Blaise is suddenly, out of the blue, gifted with powers to make everything OK and all the loose ends are magically (and improbably) tied up without any foreshadowing of these powers earlier in the story. I was so cross about this as I felt it ruined the story. What a shame.

Honourable mentions need to go to A Calling for Pleasure by JL Merrow whose incubus, Rael, had the best character and lines of the entire anthology and Payday by Sean Michael, whose darkly erotic tale of two men and their deal with a demon was a deliciously sexy read.

I said at the beginning that all the stories were written well, so there wasn't any story that I can highlight which didn't work, or had major flaws. This can only be a good thing in an anthology, but I did find it a disappointment to find that this anthology, which seemed to have a lot of promise in that it was an original idea for a set of stories, turned out to be so similar overall. Because of this similarity in the stories, I can't highly recommend the anthology, which gets a grade of 'Good', but I do think that if you like stories with a UF theme, or if you fancy a set of stories mostly about incubi and their demon hunter lovers, then The Care and Feeding of Demons should appeal to you.

Buy this anthology HERE.

Stressed Out

I'm in the middle of reading a scene in a book where the hero is being coerced, through threats and intimidation against himself and the other hero, into doing something he doesn't want to do. It's one of those scenes where the villain uses his physical strength coupled with a weapon to force the hero to do something he finds distasteful and abhorrent. The hero, as you can imagine, is very stressed about this and worried about the other hero at the same time. Whilst I'm reading this scene, I could feel my stress levels rising with the hero and I became very anxious. I could hardly bear to keep on reading and yet also felt compelled to continue, to find out how the hero was going get out of the situation or whether he would have to do as the villain ordered. In the end I was quite thankful when my daughter's gymnastics class finished and I had to stop reading. However, I'm still feeling the stress of it, because in the back of my mind I'm still involved in the story and worried about having to go back straight into that stressful scene. In some ways I wish I had been able to read on past that part before having to stop reading.

I've always found this when I read books where the bad guy gets the upper hand and seems to hold all the cards and the poor hero (or heroes) is at the mercy of the villain. I get so that I can barely continue and I want to skip ahead because my emotional investment in the characters becomes just too much, too involved. My heart starts pounding and my anxiety levels go through the roof.

This reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend the other day about the film Bridget Jones' Diary. She'd watched it recently when I'd loaned her the DVD and when I asked her what she had thought of the film, the conversation went a bit like this...

Me: What did you think?
Her: I didn't really like it, to tell you the truth.
Me: Oh? Why was that?
Her: I found it almost too embarrassing to watch. The way that she made a total fool of herself all the time really stressed me out and I kept wanting to stop watching or leave the room.

I didn't find the film at all stressful. I sympathised with Bridget's plight and although some parts of the film did contain some socially awkward sections that made me squirm a little, I certainly didn't get anxious or want to leave the room.

In some ways this shows how us humans are all wired differently. I expect there are plenty of you who could read the scene I'm reading and feel only a mild sense of peril for the heroes, or watch Bridget Jones' Diary and be either collapsed with laughter at the situations in which she finds herself or curled up in embarrassment.

So what about you? What gets your anxiety levels to spike? Is it the same as me, or something else? Perhaps the threat of an unknown assailant, or a ghost story or even something as simple as an argument between the heroes or their families.

Saturday Shorts

I've obviously had a hankering for college boys as all the themes in the short stories I've read this week have been about college boys getting down and dirty with one another.

Cold Hands Warm... by Jade Falconer
I've not read a story by this author before and I'd like to thank Tam for pointing me towards this story as it was a lovely, heatwarming tale of two College roommates who are stuck together in a snowstorm.  The heating goes off and they have to huddle under the blankets to keep warm.  Neither is sure that the other one is gay and both have limited experience when it comes to sex but it doesn't take them long to figure it all out.  A sweet, well written short about two nice guys feeling their way into a new relationship.  Grade: Very Good.

Buy HERE.

The Tutor by Sean Michael
I read this because it was mentioned in the post I did this week on teacher/student relationships.  Peter is a English and History grad student who tutors in his spare time.  His new pupil is Kai, a freshman who is struggling to make the grades.  Kai is gay but hasn't had much sexual experience because he comes from a small Oklahoma town and Peter is more than happy to give him the experience he wants.  Just shy of PWP, there's a lot of smexing to be had in this story, as is often the case with Sean Michael, but there's still enough of a story about Peter's fear that as he is Kai's first lover, eventually Kai will move on to pastures new, to have satisfied my need for some plot with my sex.  Grade: Very Good

Buy HERE.

Born to Be Wild by Addison Albright
This very short story (coming in at just over 5,000 words) concerns two sets of college students who are attempting to play pranks on one another.  Roland is asked by his friend, Trey, to play a practical joke on a supposedly reserved fellow student, Fisher. The idea is that Trey will send Fisher round to Roland's house whereupon he will spy all the housemates making out in the living room.  Roland's housemates are all up for the joke, but before it comes to fruition, Roland realises that Fisher isn't actually reserved at all and perhaps Trey is double crossing him.  Roland then decided to turn the tables.  There was alot of amusement to be had from all the frat boy shenanigans and I quite liked the explosive conclusion to the story, but I wasn't quite sure what the point of the joking around was - or even if there was supposed to be a point, so that part left me a scratching my head a little.  Still, it was a nice little story and not bad value for 62p.  Grade: Good.

Buy HERE

Review: Dreamlands by Felicitas Ivey

Dreamlands is told by three different first person points of view. Firstly, there is that of Mason, an African American man working for a Boston based secret agency called Global International run by 'trustees'. Mason is in security and his job is to protect the building and its inhabitants from attacks from the Dreamlands. These attacks are usually in the form of monsters who get through portals and reap havoc when they do. Secondly, there is Keno, a young Japanese man who was dragged from his college dorm room and kidnapped by the agency for accidentally breaking into their computer system. Keno is then held captive and forced to work as a IT technician whilst also being verbally and physically abused by his coworkers. Thirdly, there is Samojirou, a Japanese demon or Oni who lives in the Dreamlands after being banished by a lover.

The book begins in confusion as Mason recounts a breach in the building caused by one of the agency workers, Heiseg, who is able to use magic. Monsters pour in and devour many of the technicians and in the chaos Heiseg goes mad and rapes Keno who was unfortunate to be caught up in the situation. Suddenly a beautiful woman appears and sets her 'reapers' on killing the monsters and then disappears, taking Keno with her. The view switches to Samojirou. He is the consort of the beautiful lady, Tamazusa, who gifts Samojirou with Keno to be his companion and lover. The story then follows Keno as Samojirou attempts to gain his trust after his horrific experience and also switches backwards and forwards from the Dreamlands to Boston as Mason and his co-workers attempt to open a portal to the Dreamlands to find out what happened to Keno.

One of the ongoing themes of this book is the contrast between the so-called monsters or demons in the Dreamlands and the civilised humans in the real world. Every single one of the humans, including Mason come across as selfish, conniving and generally unpleasant. The demons, however, treat Keno with courtesy, kindness and compassion. They strongly observe the traditions from ancient Japan and to them honour and esteem mean a lot. There's a lot of black humour to be derived, through Mason, when the demons and the humans eventually meet, especially in the way that both parties conduct themselves. I found this part of the book, set in the Dreamlands to be the most interesting and well written section.

Whilst the interweaving first person narratives were certainly one of the most unusual things about this book, it was also perhaps its weakest aspect. This was not because of a lack of individuality in the voices of the three characters - quite the opposite in fact, but rather that the changes in voice often heralded a change in scene which made some of the book seem a little choppy. The three first person point of views allows more perspective than a single first person pov, but it is still limiting enough that you are never quite sure of the motivations of the other characters. Whether you will enjoy that will depend on your opinions of books written in the first person. I thought it worked well, especially with Keno and Samojirou. However, I found Mason, in particular, to be difficult to understand in the way that he spoke and didn't really like the sections where we had his point of view, especially as it was often used to break up the story of Keno and Samojirou. I found myself getting impatient and tempted to skip on back to the Dreamlands setting as I was more interested in those sympathetic characters than the humans in the real world. This got better when all the characters got together in the Dreamlands. Another side effect of have all the humans as unsympathetic characters was that I didn't particularly care for any of them, even Mason, which meant that any of the dramatic tension in the all-action end section was lost as I was hoping that all the humans, apart from Keno, would come to a sticky end. One other confusing aspect was that three of the human characters had names that began with the same letter - Mason, Murphy and McGann - whilst this is only a minor annoyance, it did make it slightly difficult to work out who was who at first which may be another reason why I didn't warm to the humans as much as the demons.

One aspect which was done extremely well was the world building which was rich and intricate. The Dreamlands, in particular, contained a wealth of information and history, not just in the main characters but in secondary characters (of which there were many) and even the land itself. The Dreamlands follows a pattern similar to ancient Japan with many hierarchies in terms of position in society and although I'm not entirely familiar with Japanese history, I knew enough that the place seemed familiar but still retain its mystery as a good fantasy setting should.

If you like fantasy and urban fantasy (of which this book seems to be a mix), then I would highly recommend that you read this book. There is enough in Dreamlands to satisfy those with a taste for gentle romance, for action sequences, for character driven stories and also (as a brief warning) mindless violence, especially towards the end of the book. Felicitas Ivey is a new author and I'm very impressed with this book as a first novel. I shall be keeping a look out for her books in future. Grade: 'Very Good'.

Buy this book HERE

Keeper Review: Lord and Master by Jules Jones

Chatting about this book with Jules Jones on yesterday's post reminded me that I'd been meaning to do one of my 'Keeper' reviews on it for ages.

I was first attracted to Lord and Master by the gorgeous Anne Cain cover. I was fairly new to m/m and I'd been having a nosy through the author lists at Loose Id looking for something I might like when I saw this cover and had to check it out. The blurb made it sound fun and so I bought it. I'm so glad I took a chance on this book because it's become one of my comfort reads. A book I'll turn to if I need cheering up or have read several 'meh' books in a row.

The story begins with our young hero Mark. He's nearly finished his science PhD and is starting to think about his future. Mark's supervisor and friend suggests that he apply for a post as a research and personal assistant to the charismatic Steven who runs his own very successful business with strong links to the science sector. Mark is a little worried at becoming what could essentially be a glorified secretary, but once he meets Steven and hears what the post entails he is happy to consider the post. His decision might also be influenced by the fact that Steven is gay, handsome and an older man - so pushes all Mark's buttons.

What I really like about this book is the way it takes certain romance conventions and turns them on their head. So whilst this looks on the surface to be a secretary/boss romance in the tradition of Mills and Boon/Harlequin, the power dynamic is actually very evenly balanced. Mark makes his attraction to Steven known almost immediately and their affair is by mutual consent. There are lots of delicious scenes of sex on the desk, or other parts of the office which you definitely didn't get in the M&B books I read in the 1980s! You would expect that as the boss and the older man, Steven would hold the greater amount of power in the relationship but Mark's self assuredness and the way that both men talk through their expectations of the relationship dissolves some of that power struggle. I have to admit that the way the men talk to one another is far and away one of the best things about this book. They discuss their feelings, they are open about any problems and when there are mix ups the two of them talk through how and why those misunderstandings happened and how they can move on from that. Wow! Men who are actually reasonable human beings!

Another aspect I like about this book is that it's a May to December romance. Once again, rather than this aspect being an opportunity for Steven to hold all the power, it is Mark who has to constantly reassure Steven that he is not taking advantage of Mark and that Mark is naturally attracted to older men - Steven is in his 40's whereas Mark is 25. There's a few jokes made about Mark's lack of self-control which is attributed to this age, but on the whole the age issue isn't a big deal. Instead, the age gap is seen as more of a problem for the other people in the office building, who look at Mark and see 'young office totty' for Steven. This stereotype is used by Mark and Steven, as they play off on that image of Mark in order to gain the advantage over Steven's business rivals.

The final thing I like about this book is that it isn't just a light, fluffy read. It deals with some issues such as workplace harassment and bullying, mental illness and the struggle to be taken seriously in your chosen career. These themes are mixed into a lovely romance between two men who start a relationship based on casual office sex, but which eventually leads to something much more meaningful.

If you haven't read Lord and Master yet then I would highly recommend that you read this book. Its British setting and characters may make me a little biased, but it's one of my favourite m/m books and one that I've read over and over again since I bought it. Grade: An unsurprising 'Excellent'

Buy this book HERE.

Yaoi and the Student/Teacher Relationship

As many of you know, I've been reading quite a lot of yaoi recently.  One thing I've noticed about this is the proliferation of plots involving students and teachers that litter yaoi manga in particular.  Now I suppose this fits nicely into the yaoi genre because usually there is one older guy with a lot of authority and a younger guy who gets taken advantage of (only to turn the tables later, I've noticed).  Occasionally it's the other was around with the teacher as the 'cute young thing' Uke and the student as a younger, yet still more dominate Seme.

There are a lot of m/m books based on yaoi and yet I've yet to read one where there is a teacher/student relationship.  I've read a couple like The Professor's Passion by ML Rhodes which have a university professor and a post-grad student but non with an 18 year old high school student and a teacher (which are the ones which crop up the most in yaoi and sometimes the students are younger than 18).  This made me wonder why.

• Is it because there's a faint whiff of seediness about an older man in authority who has an affair with one of his students?

• Is it that western readers are uncomfortable with teacher/student romance?

• There are a number of romance books which have teachers getting together, including one of my favourite m/m romances Caught Running by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux, so it can't be that the school environment is considered unsexy.  

I don't mind the whole teacher/student storyline and I wish that there were some m/m books which use that plot.  Or maybe there already are some books like that, but I haven't heard of them.  In which case I'm sure you'll correct me!

Review: To Be Where You Are by KZ Snow

To be Where You Are follows on from the excellent InDescent (reviewed HERE). At the end of the previous book our heroes Adin the ex-vampire and Jackson the wizard had realised that they mean more to each other than the occasional weekend fling. The trouble is Adin is still living with Celia, who he loves and respects but has begun to realise is not the life long partner he once thought she would be. Celia also realises that she has lost Adin to Jackson and also that perhaps Adin and Jackson have always been destined for each other. Before Celia can finally cut the ties that bind her and Adin, another wizard interferes in a desperate attempt to get Jackson to help him find his missing lover.

Before I begin, I feel I ought to mention that this book is part of a ongoing series of books involving Celia, Jackson and Adin (non of which involve a menage, I hasten to add). It's not necessary to have read all the books in the series before you read this one, but I would recommend that you read InDescent and possibly the one before that, Obsessed (reviewed HERE), to get a true understanding of the characters, especially Celia, and how they have arrived at their present situation.

This book follows two intertwining story lines. Both of these take up equal page time as we swap and change between the paranormal mystery involving voodoo witchcraft and Jackson's attempt to discover the whereabouts of fellow wizard Perez, and the domestic scenes between Adin and Celia as they struggle to come to terms with the breakdown of their relationship. This actually means that our two heroes don't spend very much page time together, but instead the focus is mainly on Jackson as he works through the implications of finally admitting he is gay, of being in love and his frustration at being forced to be apart from Adin. This is done quite cleverly using characters who try to tempt Jackson. On three separate occasions in the book Jackson is propositioned by different men and each time the temptation is stronger as he considers giving in to their sexual advances. The way that Jackson reacts to these temptations, coupled with his sexual frustration and worry that Celia may not release Adin, is a turning point in the book and the series as a whole. These incidents show us how Jackson has begun to allow himself to look at other men in a sexual way and to accept that it isn't just a case of 'Gay for You' with Adin, but that he's attracted and tempted by other men also. It's quite a subtle shift in Jackson's viewpoint but an important one for him and for us the reader to recognise.

Alongside that is the paranormal plot involving the missing wizard Perez. At first I was a little irritated at how Perez's story dragged me away from what was happening with Jackson and Adin, but as the book progressed I began to be drawn into the weird, almost dreamlike, situation. Perez is an intriguing character and most of what we find out about him is done second hand through Jackson and Perez's lover, Noah. When we do eventually get to meet him he is so disorientated that he's almost a different person to that described earlier. I liked this contrast and also that his own folly has directly affected Jackson. One part that did surprise me slightly was the way that this part of the plot was so easily dealt with. I was expecting some 'whizz bang' witchcraft but everything was dealt with quite quickly and easily. I'm not sure quite why I was so surprised, after all, it is probably more realistic to have everything go to plan smoothly rather than have a lot of contrived difficulties added to the plot to make it more of a challenge for the characters!

Finally there is the situation with Adin and Celia. Those of you who are uncomfortable with infidelity, how ever much it may be sanctioned and accepted, will still find this aspect of the book and series uncomfortable. I have always found Celia's reaction to the whole thing quite baffling at times and as a result she does come across as rather saintly. Having said that, I felt that the way the situation was resolved was handled well, especially as we are given a legitimate future for Celia and I was happy at the way this aspect of the story was concluded.

To Be Where You Are is a character based book which is high on emotion. I love books like that, love getting inside a character and really getting to know them and this book was able to satisfy me through the use of excellent, realistic characterisation. I devoured the book in one sitting and reached the end of the book both with a sigh of contentment and a slight feeling of disappointment that it was all over. This may well be the last Adin/Jackson novel (although KZ Snow has hinted of the possibility of more) and I've invested a lot of emotion and time on these wonderful characters. I want more, but I may just have to content myself by re-reading the series again. I highly recommend this book, with a grade of 'Excellent' for all those, like me, who have fallen in love with Adin and Jackson but also the whole series in general for those who are looking for an emotionally fulfilling story about two men who have to overcome a series of difficult obstacles to be with one another.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: On a Bruised Road by Pepper Espinoza

This ghostly paranormal story may not be to everyone’s taste with its themes of lust and desire from beyond the grave and how that affects the lives of two men, but I found it to be a compelling read.

On a Bruised Road begins with a car – a 1962 Alpha Romeo Spider. Edwin has been saving up, and searching all his life for this car. He’s finally found one in mint condition and when he slides behind the wheel, the experience is almost orgasmic.

Edwin slid behind the steering wheel, closing his eyes to absorb the ambience, the atmosphere, of the car. For a moment, everything felt perfect. The sun was high overhead, heating the leather, and the steering wheel was solid against his palms. The most solid thing in the world. Something inside of him surged, like fire erupting from a mountain. Sparks swirled in a whirlwind, spiraling through his core, engulfing his heart. It was akin to love, or maybe a junkie’s rush of adrenaline.

I’m not a big fan of cars in general, but Edwin’s utter contentment at finally finding this car, after all the time, effort and money he had spent looking for it, immediately made me warm to his character. Edwin has had a rough past. He was addicted to pain killers in his twenties and so feels that he has somehow missed out on that part of his life. At 47 he is unhappy at this supposed lost youth and does think, with a great deal of resentment, of all the missed opportunities that his addiction caused.

Edwin’s contentment with his new car is short lived when he discovers that it is haunted by the ghost of a young man called Cooper who died in a accident whilst driving the car in 1962. Cooper is attached to the car, and can interact with people most strongly when in or next to the car, but he can also exist outside the car, although not usually in a fully formed way. Cooper sees how much Edwin loves his car and, in his loneliness, becomes obsessively attached to Edwin with whom he can talk and even touch. Edwin is at first horrified by Cooper, but through his own lack of self worth, plus Cooper’s manipulation starts to consider whether he should give in to Cooper’s demands to be with him. Into this situation comes Carson who also likes Edwin and wants to get to know him better. This proves to be difficult when Cooper’s jealousy threatens to put a stop to their blossoming relationship.

The strength of this story lies with the character of Edwin and his conflicting emotions as he tries to choose between a ghost and the very-much-alive Carson. There are a whole host of reasons why he should choose Carson, who is funny, sexy, hard working and finds the much older Edwin a complete turn on. Yet every time Edwin makes the decision that he wants Carson, Cooper gets into his head and uses Edwin’s insecurities about his age and his addictive personality to manipulate him to the extent that he even forgets to turn up to dates with Carson. It is even worse when Edwin is having sex with Carson, as Cooper tries to invade his thoughts and get Edwin to think about him, rather than Carson. The whole three-way relationship, with Edwin as a pawn in the middle, left me feeling very uncomfortable – in a good way. I’m a lover of psychological horror stories and found this one to be utterly chilling. The way that Cooper uses Edwin to assuage his loneliness and in doing so plays on all Edwin’s fears of getting old was quite unsettling. It made me squirm, it made me want to shout at Edwin for being so foolish and yet I also felt a great deal of sorrow and pity for Cooper.

Another part which worked well in this book was Edwin and his previous addiction to painkillers. The fact that Edwin knows that he has a weakness, not just for painkillers but for any drug, be it alcohol or even sex was an interesting concept. Cooper is able to invade Edwin’s dreams and put him into a coma-like state similar to that of some drugs. This frightens Edwin and yet the sense of peace, of being disconnected to the real world, is addictive to Edwin and he allows Cooper to take over his mind, almost killing him in the process. This contentment Edwin feels when in this dream-like state is contrasted with the difficulties he has in real life, making being with Cooper seductive and an easy option. I liked how this became a metaphor for the drugs that he took in his youth and I could see that Cooper’s influence is more an addiction than a choice. This made some of the decisions that Edwin makes more easy to stomach.

If I have any negative things to say about this book, it would be that the end was just a little too conveniently done and perhaps that, when compared to the complexity of Edwin and Cooper, Carson was a little less fleshed out.

One note of warning: This book does contain quite a graphic and harrowing scene of non-con sex. I can’t say much about it as it would give too much away in terms of spoilers, but I’d ask you not to let that put you off the book. The scene marks a turning point in the relationship between the three men and, as a result, is not gratuitous but rather very necessary to the plot.

Overall, I was completely hooked by On a Bruised Road. I got very annoyed when RL meant that I had to put the book down. The complex, creepy psychological plot and the swift pacing all combined to make this an exciting journey, one which was enhanced by the flawed emotions of the characters. I highly recommend this book for those readers who love horror and chilling psychological drama.  Grade: Excellent

Buy this book HERE

Saturday Shorts

All the shorts this week are sips from Torquere books.

Smoke Screen by Stevie Woods
This historical tells the story of Justin and Richard who have been friends for a few years.  They are both in love with each other but daren't say anything in case their love isn't returned and also for fear of any repercussions.  In desperation, Richard travelled abroad and returned married.  This only reinforces Justin's idea that Richard is straight and so he resolves to keep his secret and just be Richard's friend.  All that changes when Justin inadvertently lets his feelings slip.  I like historicals and this one was a good short read.  The characterisation was done well, and I liked the slightly ambiguous ending over what would happen with Richard's wife.  I'm giving it a 'Very Good' and I recommend it for anyone who likes historicals.

A Dangling Conversation by Dallas Coleman
Tam recommended this Halloween short to me. It's very different from the normal type of story because it's structured like a monologue, with one (unnamed) character taking to another (unnamed) character who either won't or can't speak back to him. The two men are waiting for a third to arrive and during the course of their time together the first man relates how he met and came to know the third man. It's difficult to say too much more about this without giving away major spoilers, but the whole creeping atmosphere of the story was deliciously chilling.  I also loved the way that the character of the first man comes across strongly in his accent and the way he phrases his disturbing story. My favourite line out of the whole thing has to be: "We ended up in a rent-by-the-hour place, because, well, he was buying and I wasn't near as classy then as I am now, you know?". A perfect story for Halloween or for anyone fond of unsettling psychological horror stories.  Grade: Excellent.

The Starlight by Vic Winter
This lovely second chance at love story concerns Dan who is persuaded by his friend Billy to go out to what used to be the favourite haunt of Dan and his lover Ben, who was killed nearly 14 months previous to the start of the story.  Dan is reluctant to go out, but makes the effort.   When he gets there he meets Bo and despite a slight inkling that he may have been set up by Billy, he gets on well with the other man.  At 12 pages, this was just a tiny read but I very much enjoyed Dan's emotional journey as he begins to move away from the grief which has held him for the last few months.  My only complaint would be that I didn't really find out much about Bo other than he was tall, blond and had a good sense of humour.  Still this was a sweet story with likeable characters and gets a grade of 'Very Good'.

The Things you do for your Invisible Buddies

ETA: Thought I ought to add for all those people who are popping over from other blogs that Kris and I have a history of insulting each other.  She likes it, really.

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.

Winners and ME ME ME!!!

The winners of the draw to win copies of Sympathy by Jordan Castillo Price are:

Pia Veleno and Shannon

Congratulations to you both. Could you please email me at jenre30@gmail.com and I'll pass your details onto Jordan so she can send you your books.

Today I'm over at Reviews by Jessewave being interviewed in her For the Love of Books series. Do go over there to find out the sort of things my children do to torment me or even my views on the whole reviewing process.

You can also throw rotten tomatoes at me or something like that if you prefer.