On Call: Dancing by PD SingerThis is the second story about white doctor Keith and black vet Dante. The first being On Call: Afternoon which I reviewed a couple of weeks ago here but both these stories can be read as stand-a-lones. This time Dante is trying to get Keith out of his comfort zone and go dancing. Up to this point the men have had a pretty low key few weeks of getting to know each other and hanging out alone. Dante wants to take Keith to a club and show him off but Keith has two left feet and avoids dancing whenever he can. After thinking about it, Keith decides that if it's what Dante wants, then he's fine going dancing. Unfortunately circumstances conspire against them when both men are needed for their medical skills. This is another really well written short by an author who is rapidly becoming one of my favourites. I liked the mix of pace within the story: the slow build up and slight antagonism between the couple as Dante tries to persuade Keith to go dancing; followed by the heady adrenaline rush as the men are involved in helping out at an accident site; followed by a slowing down as Keith discovers a few, not entirely pleasant things about Dante and his real reasons for wanting to go dancing. Even though Keith is the narrator, I found Dante is the character that I am most intrigued about, perhaps because he is still a slight enigma to Keith too. There's a lot going on under Dante's 'nice guy' exterior and if I have one complaint about this story, it's that the medium of a sip is too short to satisfy my curiosity about him. As for Keith, he's trying hard to make their relationship work, to compromise and to not sweat the small stuff. The way that his genuine affection for Dante shines through his actions made Keith a character that I liked a great deal and I'm hoping that this won't be the last I see of these guys. Grade: Excellent.
Buy this book HERE.
With This Ring by TA ChaseThis is a follow-on short to Tabloid Star which I reviewed here a couple of weeks ago. It begins about a year after the end of the previous book and Ryan and Josh are getting married on New Year's Eve. The story then follows the present day preparations of the wedding day and also how they get to the point of their wedding, which is told in a couple of short flashback scenes. This story had the possibility of straying into the 'too sweet' category for me, but managed to avoid being too mawkish by the appearance of a feisty elderly aunt, the sadness of Ryan over some of his family refusing to come to wedding plus the fact that I liked these guys and wanted to see their HEA. I have to admit that aunt Edna did somewhat steal the story with her slightly risqué comments and kind heart but that was no bad thing. Overall a great story for those who loved the characters from Tabloid Star and want another peek into their lives. Grade: Very Good.
Buy this book HERE.
I've also reviewed a few shorts at Wave's blog this week. Click here for a review of Toy Box: Shaving featuring stories by Sean Michael, Winnie Jerome and Lee Benoit; and here for a review of the TQ chasers Seeking the Balance 1, 2 & 3 by AR Moler.
I loved Aunt Edna. She was hilarious. It could have been overly sweet but as you said, there was enough other stuff to keep it from straying.
ReplyDeleteSips definitely too short for the first one which makes me afraid that I'm going to sucked into buy another bunch of them to follow this. But maybe not.
Both good reads.
Hmm, how many of those PD Singer shorts are there going to be? I'm not getting involved until they're all out. :) Been there, done that, got annoyed...
ReplyDeleteWith This Ring overloaded my sugar quotient when I read it. I suspect that I was already on sugar overload when I read it, so my results now might be different. :)
Hi Tam
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about the sips. What I really want is a nice long novella featuring these guys so that there's really time to explore some of the obvious problems that Dante has from his past.
Not sure whether that will ever happen though.
Hi Chris
ReplyDeleteI was surprised at With this Ring usually m/m marriage stories are guaranteed to hit my nausea button from sweetness overload, but this one didn't. Hmmmm. Not sure why cos there are many scenes, especially towards the end which were very sugary.
*shrugs*
Perhaps I was just in the mood for it.
Oh and I'm totally in love with the wedding cake on the cover of TA's book. I would get married again just so I could have it. Well, maybe not. LOL
ReplyDeleteTam: Except that the wedding cake in the story is in the shape of a camera with the Examiner newspaper on the side. I was scratching my head about that a bit when I saw that it didn't match the one on the cover :).
ReplyDeleteI love the On Call stories not only for Dante and Keith, but for all their furry little companions. Even in small doses these characters come across to me as real, though I, like you, Jen, would like to see more.
ReplyDeleteI am an absolute sucker for gay marriage stories, as well as Aunt Edna scene stealer types. I may have to give this one a look-see.
Thanks for the kind words, Jenre. I rather like these two guys, but don't plan more for them. Never say never, but they said pretty much what they had to say to me already.
ReplyDeleteHi Eden
ReplyDeleteThe cats certainly livened up the story. I loved the bit where the two men wake up to discover that there are more cats on the bed than when they went to sleep :).
Hi Pam
ReplyDeleteThat's a shame, but at least I can always re-read these lovely shorts :).