Saturday Shorts (on Sunday)

Where There's Smoke by DG Parker
I bought this short because I've enjoyed all the short stories from DG Parker which have cropped up in various DSP anthologies and was pleased to see that she had a new story out.  This follows fireman Jamie who loves his job and has a great friendship with fellow fireman Dennis, the only man he's out to at work.  When one of his colleagues is injured the replacement is non other than Jamie's high school tormentor, Chuck Positano, who had made Jamie's life hell during the last couple of years at high school for being gay.  It doesn't take long before Chuck is making snide insinuations and Jamie fears that he will be outed to his other colleagues.  One of the great things about this story was that I really sympathised with Jamie.  He's escaped high school and has a job that he loves.  I really felt all his fear and frustration over the possibility that Chuck could ruin all that with some carefully chosen words.  I also found it an interesting study on how easy it is to revert back to how you were as an adolescent when the confident and cheerful Jamie is reduced to an insecure wreck by Chuck's actions.  I can't give too much away, but I rejoiced when circumstances meant that Jamie could get the upper hand for once.  My only niggle in this well written story was that I wanted Chuck to suffer more.  He got off too easy in my opinion.  Grade: Very Good.

Buy this book HERE.

Around the World by Jade Falconer
This was a good little older/younger man romance.  Stephan meets Patrick when Patrick moves into a room in one of the apartments in Stephan's block.  Stephan is suffering a little after the recent break up of a long term relationship and even though Patrick seems to be interested in him, his low self-esteem won't allow him to admit that the younger man might find him attractive.  I liked Patrick who can only be described as perky and thought he made a nice contrast to the more staid Stephan.  I did find it a little frustrating that Stephan just couldn't see what was right under his nose and wanted to give him a bit of a slap round the back of the head for being obtuse.  The scene at the end (which I don't want to say too much about as it might be spoilerish) also annoyed me a little, but that's possibly because I get irritated by characters who don't know how to behave with decorum in public.  Overall though, a cute story.  Grade: Good.

Buy this book HERE.

Tart and Soul by Storm Grant
This story begins with ex-marine, Cam, having an allergic reaction which triggers his PTSD, ending with him being bailed out by his mother and placed in her care. His mother, Grace, who was by far the best character in this story, has owned and run the best brothel in the area for thirty years along with her partner, Joy. Cam has no choice but to work for his mother and her first job for him is to scout out some new talent for the brothel. At the bus station he meets Joshua who is newly arrived in San Francisco with the vague promise of a job in the publishing industry. Part of my problem with this book is that I was a little unsure of what tone it was trying to adopt. On one hand, Cam has a very dry tone of voice and a self-depreciating way of looking at life. This gave the story quite a humourous feel to it for most of the time, helped by the character of Grace whose wit excelled that of Cam. On the other hand some of the themes of this book: being coerced into prostitution, pimps who abuse their whores, PTSD, murder, and losing your job through no fault of your own, are serious and didn’t always sit comfortably with the slightly jokey tone adopted in the writing. Having said that this story is still worth reading. The characters are well balanced and fleshed out for such a short story; the story itself is interesting with an unusual setting of a brothal; and the writing is good. Grade: Good.

Buy this book HERE.

Not Saturday Shorts

Just a quickie to say that I'm doing the Saturday Shorts post tomorrow instead of today.  I'm on a decorating bent and after 5 hours of painting yesterday and another 4 hours today, I've had enough and I'm going to sink into a hot bath and ply myself with wine to ease my poor aching limbs - I've been decorating the upper landing which has involved lots of stretching and contorting my body into odd shapes to reach difficult wall and ceiling spots whilst hanging off ladders over stairwells.  Eek!  I just had to keep telling myself not to look down, lol.

Anyway, will definitely be back tomorrow with the Shorts post.  Sorry to keep you all waiting :).

Whatever happened to Frank or George?

This fine specimen of a man is called George

One of the things which I really liked when I started reading m/m romance was that the men all had normal names. I'd come from reading m/f historicals and I was getting rather sick of reading about men called Damien/Damon, Lucius/Lucien/Lucas, Sebastian, or some stupid bird/place hybrid such as Raven de Ville, Duke of Stormrock.  The normalcy of men called Jake or Stephen or Mark or Matthew was quite refreshing.

However, just recently I've noticed an alarming trend in m/m romance.  Yes, the unusual names are creeping into m/m too.  Here are a few I've read recently - apologies to any authors who may recognise these names, I'm not picking on you, honest.

Carrick, Avery, Sterling, Javier, Cal, Tracy and Angel

Now I know that it does get a little dull to read the same names over and over again - I've reviewed at least three books recently where one of the heroes was called Dylan - and I've lost count of the number of books I've read with heroes called Tyler, Scott, Caleb or Jake.  Still, for me those names are infinitely more preferable to something too unusual because an odd name pulls me out of the story every time I see it.  With a name I'm comfortable or familiar with, it just becomes another aspect of their personality rather than something which defines them.

In some ways I can see why an author will give their character an unusual name.  It perhaps then makes that character stand out in the mind of the reader. After all, I've lost track of the number of times I've come to write a review and had to go and look up the name of one of the heroes - I can remember what the book is about and the good/bad things about it, but the names sometimes all merge into one.  Sometimes the unusual name is drawn attention to by the character being slightly embarrassed about it, sometimes not.  In which case, why bother, why not just call your hero Bob?  Actually there are very few Bobs in m/m romance heroes - that's a name reserved for best friends or homophobic step-fathers.

I'm a great fan of good old fashioned names.  What about you other readers?  Have you noticed a trend recently of unusual names in m/m romance or have they always been around and I'm just slow on the uptake?  What about you authors, what made you choose the names for your characters?

Review: Bound and Determined by Jane Davitt and Alexa Snow

Bound and Determined is one of those books that other readers kept recommending to me. I'd review a book by Jane Davitt or a book with a BDSM or D/s theme and nearly every time someone would mention this book as a great book to read. Having now read the book I can see exactly why those others readers recommended it to me because it is an excellent book.

The story begins with Sterling, a college student in his final year, attending a BDSM club with his friend Alex. A few weeks earlier Sterling had stumbled upon Alex having sex with a Dom and it lit all sorts of fires in him that he had never considered before. Alex has taken Sterling to the club to get an idea of the BDSM scene and whilst there he meets one of his old professors, Owen, with whom he had an antagonistic relationship in class. Sterling finds himself yearning to be taken on by Owen and introduced to the lifestyle, but there are many obstacles in the way such as the age gap and the fact that Owen used to be Sterling's teacher.

One thing I found most interesting about this book is that for once I could really see how submitting to another person is beneficial for the sub character in a BDSM story. Sterling is a strong, forceful man who has spent years fighting to get the upper hand over his domineering father. His natural reaction to authority is to push and rebel, so he automatically assumes he is a Dom. After meeting Owen, Sterling realises that what he actually needs is someone to submit to, to have the power taken away from him and allow another to dominate him. This frees Sterling from the struggles in his life, especially those to do with his father. The scenes where Owen teaches this to Sterling, showing how liberating it is to allow another to take over, were extremely well done, especially as we get to see the slow changes in feelings that the men have from BDSM teacher/pupil towards lovers.

Another thing I liked about the book is that it was so much more than just the sex, which again made it different from some other BDSM books that I have read. Although the many BDSM scenes in the book have sexual undertones, the men do not actually engage in sex with each other until quite late on in the book. This meant that many of the scenes where Owen is teaching Sterling about being a sub were more emotion led than overtly sexual. Sterling has many needs and problems and they all have to be dealt with by Owen one by one before he can move onto the next stage. During this time Owen makes just as many mistakes as Sterling and this was another aspect I liked. All too often the Dom is portrayed as a god-like figure who knows all the answers, but in this book Owen doesn't have the answers, lets his feelings get in the way and occasionally messes up. He seemed, in fact, like a human being who is doing his best to help the man he is falling in love with. I think it helped that we see both men's points of view, because that means that I was able to understand Owen's motivations just as much as Sterling's.

As far as BDSM stories go, this one was very tame in terms of the type of BDSM used in the book. It's mostly kept to spankings, some scenes where Owen is tied up, a little wax play and the occasional use of paddles and crops. This means that the book will probably be accessible to most readers. As the book is basically following Owen as he teaches Sterling about how to be a sub, there were many times when Owen explains what he is doing and why, as well as how to keep their playing safe. Because of this, I think this would possibly be a good book for someone who thinks they may like BDSM romance and needs a gentle introduction to it. It also helps that the book has a strong romantic theme and I found it interesting that Sterling is the one to teach Owen about that side of their relationship.

There were a couple of niggles about the book. Sterling seemed incredibly isolated for a young man at college. He only seems to have one friend, Alex, and they've only met recently. I couldn't understand why Sterling didn't have a circle of friends his own age and it was never really explained why he was so much on his own. Another slight niggle is that Sterling's father is so much of a monster that he tipped slightly too much into overly dramatic in my opinion. We are never told why he treats Sterling so badly, or the motivations behind his deep hatred for his son. As a result he came across as two dimensional and stereotyped.

Despite these niggles, Bound and Determined is still a terrific book. I was glued to it the whole time I was reading and didn't want to put it down. If you are looking for a BDSM book with genuine, sympathetic protagonists, who are more than just your typical Dom and sub who are defined only by those roles, then this would be the book for you. Highly recommended with a grade of 'Excellent'.

Ratings Confusion

I've got my knickers in a twist this week about the various rating systems that I have to work to.  I'm pretty much OK with the one I devised for this blog - it's rather vague (deliberately so) and as a result I'm comfortable using it.

The other two rating systems I use are the two different 5 star systems used at Wave's blog and at Good Reads. It's these two systems which I'm getting all in a muddle about.  It all stemmed from a discussion I had with another reviewer on Twitter over a book I'd reviewed at Wave's and given 4 stars to and yet I'd given it 3 stars at GRs.  She wanted to know why there was a discrepancy in the grades - a good point to make.  I tried to explain my reasoning but it's damned hard to make a decent point when you're only working with 140 characters at a time and frankly, I did a piss poor job of it.  Anyway, I went away wondering whether I had perhaps been a bit generous with the review grade at Wave's because I certainly didn't think it merited 4 stars at GRs.  This then got me to really consider the way that I assign grades at GRs.

Let's have a look at their system:

1 star =  Didn't like it
2 stars = It was OK
3 stars = I liked it
4 stars = I really liked it
5 stars = It was amazing

When I compare this to the thinking (at least in my head) of how Wave's star grading system works.  If I liked a book enough to have a good positive feel about it and would recommend it then it gets a grade in the 4s - moving up the scale depending on the quality of the book.  If I liked a book but there were a number of things I didn't think worked about the book it gets in the 3s.  In the case of the book in question, I felt it was written well enough to just sneak into a grade of 4 as I enjoyed reading it, would recommend it, but just felt it was perhaps a little unoriginal in its ideas.  However, I didn't 'really like it' so it got a three at GRs.

Moving away from that particular book, I've found that there are lots of other books where I've perhaps given a lower star grade at GRs than I have elsewhere.  The top 5 star grade of 'It was amazing' often puts me off giving 5 stars to a book, even if I've enjoyed the book a great deal, because it's rare that I think a book is 'amazing' - the adjective is just too effusive.  Yet, I give out quite a number of 'Excellent' grades which, if you are comparing like for like, would be the equivalent of a 5 star grade - except of course, it isn't.  I've given 'Excellent' grades out to books I've only given four stars to at GRs and at Wave's.

Do you see what I mean about getting myself in a knot about this?  Even this post is almost incoherent because I can't seem to get my head around it.  I think the only way to solve the problem is for me to state, on the record, that these two star systems are different - they have different criteria attached to them.  As a result, I will often give different ratings at GRs to that which I give here on this blog or at Wave's and that my ratings at GRs will sometimes be a bit lower than the ones I give to reviews at Wave's - not all the time, sometimes they will tally, but there will be occasional discrepancies.

Another thing I find about GRs is that I sometimes change my mind about a grade.  This has mostly to do with the fact that my GRs grade is often based on my feelings straight after finishing a book.  It's not until I then go back and think carefully about a book for the purposes of reviewing that I will then change my mind.  Sometimes I realise that the book has a number of holes in plot and characterisation which I didn't spot until later; sometimes skimming through the book gives me a better appreciation of what the author was trying to achieve.  It's at those times when I will either lower or raise the mark at GRs depending on my change in feelings.  I don't think there's anything wrong with doing that especially as GRs is basically just my thoughts on books and so should reflect any changes of heart that have occurred since reading.

What about you lot?  Do you see a 5 star rating system and just assume it all means the same?  I often look at a reviewer's own criteria when I'm visiting other blogs as I know that different reviewers have a different idea of what fits under each star.  What about GRs?  Do you find their star system a little too simplistic and not really that helpful?  Am I just having a big old fuss about nothing (again) and really the important thing is what is said in the review and not the rating at all?

Review: Lift Me Up by Raine Auster

This novella is proof of the importance of a good cover. I saw the cover at DSP and even though I'd not heard of the author before, it made me click on the link and read the extract. After that I was hooked and had to read the rest of the book.

The novella begins with Avery involved in a dreadfully embarrassing situation in a lift with his friend. After escaping from the lift he is so shaken up and distressed that he can't even get into his apartment and slumps to the floor in a hurt and mortified heap. He is jolted out of his self absorbed navel gazing by someone tripping up over him, breaking his ankle in the process. That someone is new neighbour Dylan who then gets Avery to hospital and before you know it mutual attraction is blossoming.

The main attraction of this book for me was the voice of the first person narrator, Avery. He has a dry wit about him and a self depreciating sense of humour which I found appealing. As far as a could tell, Avery was relating this story of how he and Dylan met from some unspecified point in the future as he often drops in information about Dylan and Dylan's friend, Michael, which he couldn't have possibly known at the time. This gave the narration a slightly awkward feel at first as I was pulled out of the story whenever I'd come across phrases like...

Okay, so maybe, if anyone could do it, Michael could. He has an overwhelming personality and knows how to get what he wants.

...because having only met Michael for about 2 minutes, Avery couldn't possibly have known that Michael had an overwhelming personality. However, once I worked out that an Avery in the future was relating the incident to us, I became more settled with the narration and didn't find it quite as jarring.

The story itself is a pretty simple one. We follow the two men as they meet and overcome a couple of obstacles on their way to love. I enjoyed reading their stories and found the characters of Avery and Dylan likeable and fairly well rounded. The other characters who flit in and out of the book were less well defined and really were just there to serve a role such as the jealous ex, or the betraying friend, or the supportive friend. As a result they never really stepped away from those roles. I was especially disappointed in Avery's backstabbing friend, Kayden, as his role as supposed best friend to Avery could have been fleshed out a great deal more than it was and I found myself wanting to know why he had behaved in that way and how he and Avery deal with each other after what he did. Unfortunately this was never explained, and the odd incident with Kayden at the very end of the book served only to add to my questions about him.

Overall though this was a undemanding read about two men who meet and fall in love. There's nothing heavy or angsty or complicated about the story which suited my mood when I read it. Avery's humourous tone of voice was a big plus, as was the amusing but tender sex scenes. I would recommend it, with a grade of 'Good', to those readers who are looking for something quick and light-hearted to chase away the cold evenings.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: Ice Cream on the Side by Wren Boudreau

I picked up this novella a while ago from Loose Id because Wren has been a lurker/commenter on this blog for a while now and I was curious as to how that online presence would match with her writing.  This is also the reason that it's sat on my TBR pile for a few weeks because I was worried that I wouldn't like it!  Fortunately for me (and her), I did like it:  It wasn't perfect, but it is still a darned good read.

Ice Cream on the Side begins with architect, Dylan, meeting teacher and artist, Michael, during a meeting to discuss a new arts block at the school where Michael teaches and it isn't long before the pair act on their mutual attraction.  However, the road to love isn't smooth for these guys, especially when Dylan has to deal with the appearence of an ex-lover as well as the discovery of a dead body who turns out to be another of Dylan's ex-lovers.

Ironically, the thing I liked most about this book is also one of its weaknesses.  The book has a light breezy tone to the writing, and the third person narrator, Dylan, has a wonderfully self-depreciating, dry, witty voice.  This narration worked extremely well for the first part of the book as we see Dylan and Michael meet and fumble their way to a tentative relationship.  Dylan's wry obversations on his sex-life (or lack thereof), coupled with his lust for Michael and bewilderment when things don't go to plan had me laughing at his expense a number of times.  Once the two men begin this journey towards love, the novella moves into darker territory as the first body is discovered and Dylan is involved in some distressing scenes with ex-lover Ian.  It was at this point that I began to find the tone a little jarring with the content.  Dylan is connected to the first murdered man, and the witty asides that had seemed so engaging in the first half of the book made Dylan seem a little cold-hearted and unfeeling when placed alongside murder.  As the bodies pile up, I began to lose a little sympathy for Dylan and his sarcastic comments.

One unusual aspect of this book is that it is set in the art world.  Dylan has close links to the art scene and both Michael and Ian, are artists. I liked that Ian and Michael showed opposing elements in the artistic temperament.  Ian is conflicted, tormented and self-destructive; whereas Michael is optimistic, positive with a flair for the dramatic. The way that Michael throws his all into everything, both in his art and his relationships was endearing and I found that I liked him a great deal.

The mystery element of the book worked quite well for me, even if it was a touch melodramatic on occasions.  There were plenty of false leads and red herrings and I didn't guess the murderer.  In fact I was completely convinced that it was going to be a certain character and it turned out to be someone else entirely.  This made it a good read, as I like mysteries where I'm completely fooled.

Overall, I really enjoyed Ice Cream on the Side.  Even my feeling about Dylan's seemingly callous tone towards the end wasn't enough to detract from my enjoyment.  As a first published piece, this was very impressive and I shall certainly be reading future books by this author.  I would recommend the book, with a grade of 'Very Good' for those who are looking for a quick, clever read which doesn't take itself too seriously but which also contains interesting and likable characters.

Buy this book HERE.

Saturday Shorts

OK, so I'm going to cheat big-time today because I don't have a lot of time to write the post.  This week all the shorts that I've read have been reviewed at Wave's blog so instead of rehashing the reviews here, I shall just provide links.

Yeah I know, it's lame and cheating so sue me.

Click on the book title to be taken to the review and the buy link.

A Stranger's Touch by Anne Brooke
A fascinating short story about a male prostitute that visits a client in a darkened room and gets more than he bargained for when the stranger changes his life for better.  Grade: Very Good.







Beyond Meridian by CC Bridges
One of the three Men in Space books released next week by Samhain.  Captain Rick Raine agrees to take young man Karl to a planet in the heart of Confederation territory, oblivious to the fact that Karl is hiding a secret from him.  Grade: Good.







Moonlust by Kallysten
The second of the Men in Space books.  Kar, the captain of a merchant space ship, takes on a dodgy mission to steal some expensive chromore, hindered by the fact that he lusts after his two crew members Jay and Will who are involved in a relationship with each other.  Grade: Good.






Crimson by Ethan X Thomas
The third in the Men in Space books.  Vice cops Ben and Adam return from a failed mission to discover that they are being sent to the pleasure planet Granatas, where they get involved in the BDSM scene and discover the presence of a new drug, Crimson.  Grade: Good.






One thing I will say here that I didn't in any of the reviews is how much I love the covers for the Men in Space books.  They are all individual and relevant to the story but have links with each other.  Samhain have done a good job with these.

Have a great weekend folks.

D/s Lifestyle Romance Books

From Flikr

When I first started reading m/m books I was a bit squicky about BDSM themed books in general.  I wasn't sure I really liked reading about men who liked inflicting and receiving pain.  As time has gone on, I've developed an appreciation of these books, especially if they are written well. I like the dynamics within them, like seeing how the characters behave in and out of a scene and how the BDSM aspect of their life reflects other areas of their relationship.  One area connected with BDSM books which I have never been able to connect with though, are those books which deal with the D/s lifestyle where one man is submissive to another at all times.

I've only read a few D/s lifestyle books and out of the ones I've read only A Man a Jersey and a Tight End by AM Riley was enjoyable, perhaps because it dealt with three couples rather than just one.  A lot of people have recommended the Dr Fell stories by Syd McGinley, but I just don't fancy reading them.  In fact, I'm reading a Syd McGinley story now in the TQ anthology Hard For the Money, which whilst it didn't start as a D/s story it's slowly turning into one - hence prompting me to write this post.

The thing is, I'm not sure why I don't like these types of stories.  I like BDSM stories and have no problem reading about D/s characters when they are performing a 'scene' or having sex, so why is it that when the D/s aspect moves out of the bedroom, or playroom or dungeon, then I start getting uncomfortable?

Partly, I think my discomfort stems from the fact that I am a woman, and therefore bound to that shared history of subjugation by men.  Throughout time women have been forced into a submissive role in marriages and relationships, and it's a bitter pill to swallow.  Reading about men who get their sexual kicks from being downtrodden by another man, with the knowledge that with the utterance of a single 'safe' word, that they can leave that life, is a bit of a kick in the teeth for all those women who don't get to have a safe word.

Another part that makes me a bit uncomfortable is that the submissives in these stories are often helpless, unable to live on their own without their 'daddies' or 'papa-bears'.  This child-like way of showing young men isn't really my thing at all.  I like my men to be strong and independent, not weak and dependent on others.  No matter how much these stories may stress the power that a submissive has over the dominant partner, the balance of power is always ultimately with the Dom, or that's how I see it, even if it isn't wholly true.

Finally, I think that the fact that I am a fairly strong minded person contributes to the fact that these books don't work for me.  I can see the appeal in letting go for a short time, to allow yourself to be dominated in the bedroom and to have someone else dictate your sexual pleasure, but I can't see the appeal of allowing someone to dictate your entire life.  I feel scornful towards the submissives in these books and want them to rebel, to break away from what I see as an unnatural way of being in a relationship.

There may be some of you out there who have experience of living like this, who will think that I have judged you unfairly.  I'm not judging, good for you if you have a D/s lifestyle relationship, whatever floats your boat is what I say.  I freely admit that one reason why I don't like these types of books is that I just don't understand why anyone would want to live their life that way because it's not in my nature to want to live like that myself.

So whilst I read and enjoy BDSM books, on the whole I avoid those which deal with D/s 24/7.  What about the rest of you, do you read and enjoy D/s lifestyle m/m books - why or why not?

Like Pulling Teeth

I've got a terrible case of reviewer's block today.

I sat down to write a review for Wave this afternoon - a review which I had promised to post today - and the words just wouldn't come.  It must have taken me over 2 hours to eventually write the damn thing - and it wasn't a particularly long review.  I typed words, then deleted them, then got up and wandered round the house trying to collect my thoughts, before sitting down and writing a paragraph, then coming to a screeching halt as I tried to think what to put next.  Every single word was dragged out of me and they were all pretty crappy.

Eventually, I managed to arrange my thoughts into some sort of coherency in order to set them down on screen, but it still isn't a great review.  There's a LOT of repetition of words, lots of woolly phrases and a lack of elegance in my writing.  I'm a bit ashamed, to be honest.  If it wasn't for the fact that I promised the review to Wave for today, I may have just given up and tried again tomorrow.  But, as usual, I'd left it to the last minute and so the review went up in a less that satisfactory (for me at least) state.

I always find it a bit odd that some days I can start a review and 'clickety, clackety, click' I can summon up an erudite review containing lots of fancy words and insightful views in about 45 mins and other days it's like pulling teeth as I drag each word, each phrase, out of me, one at a time, and when I do produce something it's trite and sub-standard.  Why?  Why can't I be clear and focused in my reviewing at all times?  I had no problem yesterday when I reviewed Dakota's book, so why should today be all about hard work?

It's very frustrating.

Anyway, for those of you who are interested in my below-par review, it's HERE.  Please be kind, my reviewing muse obviously has a dreadful hangover.  Although why he was getting drunk and having such a great time last night, when I was at yet another dull evening meeting is anyone's guess.

Review: Seeing You by Dakota Flint

This novella was originally part of the print Studs and Spurs anthology at MLRP, but has now been released as a e-book at Samhain.  It tells the story of Dylan who, after the death of his brother Simon in a car accident, has escaped from his brother's ranch in small town Montana to the big city where he is working on trying to forget those unhappy memories of his brother's death.  Whilst we are never told  who was driving the car at the time, Dylan still feels a tonne of guilt because Simon left behind his lover Wade and Dylan feels that Wade must wish it was he who had died and not Simon.  Dylan is also in love with Wade and has been long before his brother's death, something else about which he feels guilty.  As the story begins it's 18 months after Simon's death and Dylan returns to Montana after his sister phones him and tells him that Wade is running the ranch into the ground.  When Dylan returns he finds that ranch in a poor state, all the hands have been sacked or left because they weren't getting paid, the cattle sold off to pay bills and Wade, who is so mired in grief and depression that he is barely functioning.  Dylan then has the hard task of turning the ranch around and pulling Wade out of his grief, all the while continuing to hide his true feelings for Wade.

This novella is unusual from many of the stories of people recovering from the death of a partner in that both characters are grieving for the same man.  Simon and Dylan are brothers by adoption, when Dylan was taken in by Simon's family after the death of his parents and so they were the same age and the best of friends.  As we get the story from Dylan's first person point of view, it is his version of Simon that we see the most.  Simon as a mischievous child, as a flamboyant adult and as he lay dying in Dylan's arms.  By the end of the story I really felt like I knew the character of Simon - or at least as Dylan had known him, and this made me able to identify with the grief that Dylan feels for his brother and understand why he felt the need to escape to the city when his environment constantly reminded him of his loss.  On the flip side, this meant that I didn't know very much about Simon and Wade, except that Wade loved him a great deal.  In the end I think this was a good thing as the romantic times with Simon then didn't become too much of a barrier to the developing relationship between Wade and Dylan.

The story takes place over a few months and during that time Dylan is helping Wade come to terms with Simon's death.  Many of their scenes together are them remembering Simon or packing away Simon's things or talking about their grief and so it isn't until the last few pages that their own relationship started to develop in any way.  In a way I can understand why the story was written like that:  As a reader I needed to know that Wade was definitely ready to move on and begin a new relationship, but I was also frustrated that Simon seemed to be present, hanging around their thoughts, for most of the key scenes in the book.  This often meant that the scenes which focus solely on the development of feeling between the heroes seems to happen off page and a number of times I wished that there were more scenes with just the two men, talking, and being with each other without the intrusion of Simon in the relationship.  As a result of this, when Wade was ready to move on, it seemed very sudden and just slightly forced - something which may not have been so if there had been just a few more scenes of Wade and Dylan growing romantically closer to one another without the spectre of Simon hanging over them.  Having said that, I understand that the length of the novella probably meant that there wasn't room for more scenes and given the choice between an in depth portrayal of Wade and Dylan overcoming their grief or a too rushed and perhaps inappropriate move into a new relationship, then I would prefer the way it was done in the book.

Dylan was a very sympathetic narrator and I warmed to him a great deal.  His feelings for Simon and his sister, Erin, were genuine and heartfelt.  I felt sorry for his grief and also understood the guilty feelings that Simon's death brought, especially the thought that his brother's death had now made it possible for him to have the man he has wanted for many years, and who was previously unattainable.  Wade was a little less well drawn and was mostly defined by his grief for Simon.  However, as the story progressed, I began to see glimpses of the man that Dylan fell in love with and I was certainly pleased for their HEA.  As so much page time is spent with Dylan and Wade, the secondary characters fade a little into the background.  This wasn't a bad thing, as they were all still well rounded enough to fulfil their roles in a believable way, especially Erin and the old ranch hand Mack.

Overall, as a study in overcoming grief this novella was spot on.  I sympathised with the characters, wanted them to heal from their sorrow and was happy with the way the novella ended.  It also managed all this without being too heavy on the angst, as there were a number of scenes where the funny or the good times with Simon were mentioned as part of the healing process.  This is the first published story I've read by Dakota Flint (although I have read the freebies on her website, which were really good), but it certainly won't be the last.  I'd recommend this novella, with a grade of 'Very Good' to all those who like cowboy stories and who want to read a great story about two men overcoming their grief to start a new life together.

Buy this book HERE.

What I should be doing....

....Reading the sci-fi books I'm reviewing for Wave later in the week or at least a book which has been in my TBR pile for a while or finishing The Sin Eater's Prince which I am half way through.

....Writing a review of Dakota Flint's new novella Seeing You which is out today HERE at Samhain and which I promised to review.

....Sticking to my diet.

....Peeling potatoes for tea.


What I am doing.....

....Reading the yaoi novel, Sweet Admiration, which arrived from Sara this morning - thanks sweetie.

...Writing this blog post about nothing in particular (sorry, Dakota.  Tomorrow, I PROMISE!)

...Eating one of those new jam and custard Jammie Dodgers which is definitely NOT on my diet.

...Contemplating serving oven chips instead of mashed potatoes cos I hate peeling potatoes.


What I want to do this evening....

....Have a warm bath

....Drink wine

...Have an early night


What I will be doing this evening....

....Going to an evening meeting where I shall return all buzzing and be unable to sleep for the third night in a row.

Hope your day is going more to plan :).

Bits and Bobs

Thanks to those of you who responded to my poll last week.  I've amended the post and added the results at the bottom of it.  You can read that HERE.

Following on from that, I found it interesting that the highest number of people hadn't actually bought the anthology at all.  In order to satisy my nosy nature, I've added another poll asking the reasons why people didn't buy the anthology and I'd be obliged if you would fill out the poll.  Ta.

For those who were interested in the book I was reading over the weekend - The Silent Hustler by Sean Meriwether - I've written a review for Wave's blog HERE.  I'm not posting it up here as I'm not really sure it fits in with the sort of reviews I usually post on my blog - ie. romance.  By all means pop over and read it if you wish.  I'll still respond to any comments from there if you have anything to say about it.

Finally, the Preditors and Editors poll closed last week and Well Read came a rather respectable joint 21st.  I was amazed by this as I hadn't expected to come anywhere near as high.  Thanks to all of you who voted for me, it put a smile on my face to know I'm appreciated for what I do here.  Results for all the review sites HERE.

I'm not quite sure why the cat in the picture is making a big fuss.  Naked men in showers sounds just fine to me.

Saturday Shorts

I've read a great set of shorts this week.

Upwardly Mobile by Clare London
This short takes the idea of two guys having phone sex and then moves up to the next level as one of the guys is on a very public train.  Owen is on his way home from work feeling very pissed off.  Due to bad weather all the fast commuter trains are cancelled so he's stuck on a slow train home.  He calls his partner, Caleb, to let him know he's going to be late to find that Caleb is stuck in traffic.  Caleb is bored and horny, so decides to liven up Owen's journey by talking dirty to him down the phone.  Despite a relatively simple premise, this short works really well.  I was surprised at just how much information about the characters and their lives could be included in a story about phone sex so that actually the story isn't about sex at all, but about the relationship between these two lovers.  Both men are individuals and their personalities shine through the story: Owen is uptight and controlling; Caleb is laid back but also knows all the right buttons to push to get Owen to respond to him.  As the story progresses, Caleb's words pick away at Owen's tight control until he unravels in a scene that was sexy as well as having an edge of humour.  Clare London's tight prose kept me reading and not a single word is wasted.  Great stuff.  Grade: Excellent.

Buy this story HERE.

As Serious as the Grave by Kiernan Kelly
Tam brought this short to my attention not so long ago when she reviewed it on her site.  It is, rather unusually, a zombie friends to lovers romance.  Tyler had been dead only a few hours when he was brought by to life by the waning effect of a comet which passed by the Earth a few years before.  He's one of the lucky ones as his body didn't have time to decompose before he was reanimated, unlike fellow work mate Will Fenton who Tyler describes as 'grungy'.  As to be expected the dead are regarded by the living with a range of emotions from outright hostility to tolerance.  Tyler's best friend Daniel, has stuck by Tyler even after his death.  After a drunken almost-kiss, Daniel confesses that actually he's got deeper feelings for Tyler than just friendship.  I liked this story a great deal, especially the tone which was a mixture of sharp satire, humour and seriousness.  Tyler has a dry wit and resigned feelings to his dead status which I found engaging and sympathetic.  He understands why people would shun him, but it still hurts when he's rejected for something which was beyond his control.  I also liked the references to society's reaction to the reanimated, especially in that it doesn't take much prodding for the living to turn against those who are dead - in fact this was quite a chilling reminder that it doesn't take much to inspire hatred and a mob mentality.  As such the story would have rang false if there had been a sudden HEA.  Instead an entirely plausible HFN left me happy for these guys.  The only niggle I had was that I would have liked to know more about how the Tyler's body functioned as a reanimated person, but that niggle wasn't enough to have given this a lower grade. Grade: Excellent.

Buy this story HERE

The Night Sky Man by Mallory Path
This short, written in the present tense, tells the story of ex-army former model turned agent Tolly who has a relationship with one of the models on his books, Nate, who he has known since childhood.  Tolly has trouble reconciling his bisexual status so he basically gets drunk, has sex with Nate, Nate leaves before morning and Tolly pretends it was all just a dream.  One morning Tolly wakes up just as Nate is leaving, causing him to face up what is happening and make some decisions about his relationship with Nate.  The story has an unusual dream-like feel to it as we see the world through Tolly's alcoholic haze.  It was difficult to like Tolly at first as he uses Nate but as the story progresses though I got the impression that Nate manipulates Tolly too, getting him drunk so that he can have sex with Tolly.  The final scene where Tolly finally admits his feelings for Nate was so beautiful and tender that it almost brought tears to my eyes and made me forgive Tolly for the way he treats Nate.  Highly recommended with a grade of Excellent.

I've written a longer review of this story for Wave HERE, if you are interested, and for those of you who might have read the story there's an add-on short on the author's blog, told from Nate's point of view HERE.

Buy this story HERE.

Where am I?

Today I'm over at Clare London's blog.  It's her birthday month and to celebrate she's gathered a whole bunch of disparate bloggers, authors and friends to take over her blog for a day.  It's my turn today.

So pop over there where I'm talking about food (yes, I am on a diet - obsessed, much?).

I want to eat these. NOW!

You can find the post HERE.

Review: Finding Utopia by KZ Snow

Finding Utopia is the fourth  and final instalment of the Utopia X urban fantasy/futuristic series by KZ Snow.  The series involves a future Earth which now contains not just humans but 'Other Beings' such as vampires, gnomes, wizards and all manner of creatures.  The first three books have all followed the romantic journeys of three alterationists, Win, Tole and Zee, hybrid human/demon/angels, Exceptional Beings and the 'Powers' of utopian multiplex Regenerie.  The purpose of this novella seems to be to round off the series and tie up some of the loose ends that have been kicking about from other books.  This means that it's not a book for those who haven't read any of the previous books in the series.  Having said that, you could probably read this story after the first book, Looking for Some Touch, as long as you don't mind a few references to Tole and Zee's lovers plus an occasional mention of some other characters from previous books.

One of these loose ends was in the way that the alterationists used their sexual energy to power an orb called the Celestine.  This orb allows them to see into the future or gives advice on how to solve difficult problems, but only if enough sexual energy is poured into it by the alterationists engaging in group sex.  Now that each of the men have fallen in love, they are no longer interested in engaging in sex with each other.  In order to solve the problem of how to work the orb, the triumvirate take themselves off to the Academy for Exceptional Beings, leaving Pablo, Win's lover. behind to hold the fort for three days.  Pablo decides that an evening out with his old mates is in order.  Unfortunately Pablo gets completely wasted and wakes up to find the house trashed, scratches all over his body and a very furious Win holding a knotted used condom.  The rest of the story follows Pablo as he tries to find out what had happened the night before, and Win as he deals with what he thinks is Pablo's infidelity as well as trying to work out who had been in the house.

The thing that I noticed about this book is that it's missing the breadth and scale of the world building that appears in the other novel-length books in the series.  This is mostly due to the story having the same setting - Regenerie - as the first book, so the need for long explanations of the setting isn't there.  However, the book did fill me in with little details showing how things had changed in Regenerie since the first book, such as how the situation for 'Givers' has changed, plus one very amusing scene where the alterationists travel in a "Speedwell's Sling".

Linking with the above, one area which I found slightly disappointing is that I would have liked to know a bit more about the world of the Dark Elves and felt that the section involving them and their leader Ormegen, was a little glossed over.  I wasn't sure why they wanted to take over Regenerie, other than its wealth, or even why their own kingdom was so bad they felt the need to move out and invade another city.  This meant that Ormegen isn't as complex as some of the villains in previous stories and comes across only as a despot, too concerned about gratifying his own sexual desires to be an effective leader.

In many ways this is more Pablo's story than Win's or the other alterationists as we get to see how his transition from 'Giver' (the name for state sanctioned prostitutes) to a 'Pro' ( a someone from the professional class) has affected him.  I found the scenes where he spends time with his old buddies some of the most interesting parts of the book as we see Pablo enjoying himself but also on the edges of his conscious he is aware that his standing in Regenerie society has changed.  Win is always on his mind as the love between them has deepened from the first book and there were some lovely scenes between Win and Pablo which showed how much their relationship has developed.

The length of this story means that the other two alterationists are relegated very much to a minor role.  As this was Win and Pablo's story, I didn't mind that too much, although I finished this book wondering how Sebastian and Zee (from the third book) would cope with their long distance relationship.  My one regret is that Ridley doesn't make an appearance which was a great shame as he's my favourite character from the series, although there are a few other previously very minor characters who get a bit more of a starring role and I found that Skeep almost stole the book from under Pablo's nose in a couple of scenes.

Overall, this was a fitting end to the series.  The loose ends are satisfactorily tied up, the characters are sent onward to their HEA via a dramatic and thrilling climax, there was a good mix of seriousness and humour, and I finished the book quite happy to say goodbye to the series.  It's difficult not to compare this novella to the longer and more complex stories from the other three books, and in that regard this is definitely the weakest book of the series, but I would still recommend Finding Utopia, with a grade of 'Very Good', to those who have read and enjoyed the other books in the Utopia X series.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: A Red-Tainted Silence by Carolyn Gray

I have to admit I was nervous as I sat down to read this book. Wave had 'announced' I was reading and reviewing it and after that lots of people let me know that it was either one of their favourite m/m books or how much they had liked it. After that, I began to worry what would happen if I didn't like the book or had a lukewarm response to it. Fortunately all my worries were unfounded as I loved the book. Loved it.

A Red-Tainted Silence is proof that if a book is written well it can overcome even some of my most hated things about m/m books. For example, I hate men who cry too much, I hate characters who suffer needlessly because they won't tell anyone their troubles and I generally don't like stories with extended flashbacks. All of these things happen in this book and yet the story swept me away to such an extent that I didn't mind these things, even understood why the characters behaved as they did and cried so much. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The book begins with two men who are recovering in hospital. The first person narrator Brandon is a famous guitarist in what used to be a very popular band, Dream. The singer from the band and Brandon's lover, Nick, is the other man in hospital. The two men have just recently reconciled after a split of two years but before they could begin their new life together Nick was kidnapped and held captive for several weeks. Brandon found and rescued him, but both men were badly injured in the escape, Nick especially, which is why they are now in hospital. They are just starting to think that all will be well now when it is discovered that the man who had kidnapped Nick was actually working for someone and that the pair are far from safe. Whilst in hospital, Brandon, who finds it difficult to express his feelings, decides to write his memoirs of the time when he first met Nick so that Nick can read them and understand what was happening in his head throughout the 12 years they've known each other. The story then alternates between the present and the past as slowly horrifying things are revealed about Brandon's past.

Part of the reason this story worked well for me was because of the length of the book. At nearly 500 pages, it allowed me plenty of time to get to know these characters and get an understanding of their motivations. The book is very emotional and in some ways difficult to read because of that. Throughout the years that Nick and Brandon are together they suffer over and over again from things happening to them over which they seem to have no control. Every time something wonderful happens there is something bad lurking round the corner to take the shine off their relationship. I found myself feeling a wealth of emotion as I read the account of the men meeting; of them building their lives together; of Brandon's struggle with his family after coming out and the cool relationship with his father and brother, Adam; of the exhilaration of first love; of their belief in their ability to make it as singer/songwriters. All of it combined into an experience which was both breathtaking and sometimes uncomfortable.

Another reason to like this book is in the characterisation as we are presented to two flawed, complex men who love each other deeply, but whose love also causes most harm. The main character in the story is Brandon and although we do get Nick's point of view later in the book, it is Brandon's story that is the main focus of the book. He's a difficult narrator because he is so locked in a spiral of self hatred and blame, that it was sometimes hard to like him, even as I sympathised with his situation. He's also quite emotionally unstable, like many very creative people, in that he's prone to depression, he feels things sometimes too deeply and finds it difficult to shrug off some of the small hurts that may not affect some people. Having said that, I was thoroughly absorbed in his story and read in fascination as he allows himself to be manipulated by everyone he meets, even Nick, letting everyone think that he is happy when in fact he is just hiding his true feelings from everyone. As the story draws to a conclusion and the other people in Brandon's life discover the truth about him, I rejoiced that finally things were going to change for Brandon now that he had allowed others to see through the armour he has cloaked himself with so effectively.

The character of Nick is easy to like. He's charming, gregarious, and very opposite to Brandon in that he seems able to easily shrug off anything bad that has happened to him and focus on the good. Even his days in captivity are dealt with easily by him opening up to his friends and counsellor and allowing the hurt and the horror to be healed. Having said that, as the book progresses we also see that he is easily distracted and sometimes quite fickle which leads to Brandon feeling rejected and shut out at times.

As the present day story is focused mainly on the reconciliation of the heroes, we get to see them in the full blush of renewed love. This led to many tender moments between them which I found quite beautiful. This then contrasted with the deterioration of the relationship in the past and also allowed me to feel a little better about what happened in the past because I knew that no matter what they had gone through, they were together now and could start to move on from past hurts. This is the main reason why the mix of present day and flashbacks worked so well. I don't think I could have coped with the emotional intensity if the book had followed on in a straight chronological order, it would have been too much angst, even for me.

I've given this book an 'Excellent' grade, not because it's perfect, it isn't. There are a few things which could have been done better. For example there is 12 years between the characters in the past and present and yet there doesn't seem to be a change in maturity at all, their characters pretty much remain the same through the whole time and I would have liked to have seen some difference to show that the characters in the present are no longer young men of 18/19. Also, as I said, I found Brandon a little difficult to relate to and extreme in his emotions. Plus there were a few other little niggly things which are too minor really to mention. However, in my opinion, this book is a keeper. The breadth of emotion, the complexity of the characters and the sheer intensity of the book, all combine to make A Red-Tainted Silence a wonderful book which I would highly recommend.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: Warriors and Healers by HJ Brues

There were a few things which attracted me to this book. I'd quite enjoyed this author's story in the Games in the Dark anthology (reviewed here) and wanted to see whether that quality of writing would be sustained over a longer book; I like m/m/m stories; and the setting of this book - a Native American reservation - was unusual and I was intrigued how that setting would play a part in the story. In the end, this book was well written with the three men being flawed and complex characters but overall the story suffered from trying to deal with too many themes and ideas, many of which ended up being glossed over or forgotten about.

The story begins with the arrival of Dr Daniel Ugarte, a Spanish doctor who is taking a few week's secondment from his busy job in Madrid, to volunteer at a clinic in a Native American reservation. The social worker who has arranged the secondment with him is Jeff Redbear. There's an attraction between the men, but Daniel firstly believes he is straight and secondly has an abusive past which has lead to feelings of low self-worth. Jeff has abandonment issues as his father died and his mother left him with an aunt and uncle when she moved to the city with his sister. Both men start a friendship with Sean McCallum, the local sheriff. When Daniel returns to Spain, Jeff and Sean start a relationship but it's not long before they realise that they need Daniel in their relationship too.

Those of you who don't like angst will not like this book. All three of the men are suffering in some form or another which often leads to them shutting down and withdrawing, causing problems in the relationship between the men. Daniel has been physically abused as a child and as a result still has regular screaming nightmares plus a fear of being restrained. Despite being a successful doctor in Spain and fully estranged from his abusive past, he is unable to get close to anyone and remains cold and aloof at all times, throwing himself into his work in order to avoid all close friendships except for his Spanish friend, Raul. Jeff suffers from extreme low self esteem after being abandoned by his immediate family to live with his uncle and aunt. This was one aspect of the story I found difficult to understand as Jeff is brought up in a loving environment as the son his aunt and uncle could never have, and yet he behaves like he was an unwanted child. The extremes of feeling that he has about his childhood just didn't tally with what we see in the way his uncle and aunt love him, and so I found myself unable to understand Jeff's feelings. Sean also has issues in that he comes from a large family and so felt lost amongst all his other siblings. The rejection of Daniel and Jeff hits him hard as he is a natural protector and wants to look after both men and heal their wounds.

We find out all the above information through the internal monologue of the characters. They inwardly moan and gripe about their lives, the perceived and actual hurts that others have done to them, their worries about the other men, and their feelings of self-loathing and hatred. This goes on for pages and pages of navel-gazing introspection which made me rapidly lose patience in the characters. Most of the problems in their relationship would be solved very quickly if they just talked to one another rather than exist in their own miserable sphere. There's actually very little page time when the men are together, talking or interacting in any way and a lot of their time together is told to us 'off page' by one of the characters. This had the effect that I was distanced from them as a threesome because I rarely saw them together. In fact, it wasn't until near the end of the book when they finally started telling each other what they were thinking that I began to have any sympathy for them or their situation and after that point I grew to like them more and was happy that they got their HEA.

Apart from the relationship between the three men - which is the only real focus of the story - there were a number of other themes or ideas thrown into the mix which could have been interesting but were only dealt with on a superficial level. The setting of the NA reservation and the people who lived there was one of these. Jeff is supposed to be a social worker but we never see him doing anything except for asking advice about a drunken man in the town. There are hints that drugs and alcohol are rife in the community, and that Jeff's mother and sister are victims of this, which concerns Jeff, but then nothing ever comes of that. Other things were thrown in too like the odd BDSM scene in Sean's office late in the book; Jeff's aunt and uncle who play a prominent role in the beginning of the book but then disappear from sight; Jeff's uncle Jack who crops up late in the book to condemn Jeff but we've not heard of him before or after that point; The fact that all the men seem to have an awful lot of spare time, given their stressful jobs; the way that Jeff and Sean's relationship is so violent during sex yet that too seems to tail off without explanation; Jeff's inferiority complex about being a Native American which doesn't tally with the respect shown generally to him. The book would have been so much better if there had been some consistency with all this jumble of ideas, if the book had been pared back with some themes discarded and others allowed to flourish.

So despite my love of angsty, character based books, Warriors and Healers didn't really work for me. I found myself getting impatient with the main characters and bemused at all the different themes and ideas thrown seemingly randomly into the story. Having said that, the writing was good and I will definitely be looking out for more of this author's books in future.  Grade: Good.

Buy this book HERE.

Monday Mistletoe Madness Minis - Round Up

Looking back over the month of Mistletoe Madness, I've been trying to decide whether I made the right decision in buying the anthology or not.  I wasn't going to because I hadn't been impressed with the June anthology, and had basically decided that I would just buy the stories from the authors that know I can trust.  Then when I realised that there were so many new authors who had contributed to the advent anthology, I changed my mind. How could I be sure that I wasn't missing out on a terrific new author?  I couldn't, so I took the risk and was pleased to find that the risk paid off as my ratings for this anthology are much more favourable than the ones for the June anthology.

Let's look at the ratings then:

Excellent: 5 stories
Very Good: 15 stories
Good: 11 stories
Poor: 1 story

When I compare that to the June anthology which had the same number of 'Good' stories but 3 'Poor' and 1 DNF, I felt that I had done much better out of this anthology than I did in June.

What I tended to find with the advent anthology was that, despite the Christmas theme, there were fewer sickly sweet stories than in the June anthology - the theme of marriage and commitment in that anthology seemed to inspire lots of stories where the characters were far too sappy with each other.  That didn't mean there weren't any sappy stories in the advent anthology - there were - but there seemed to be fewer.  Then again I know lots of readers who love that stuff and I could accept that those stories were aimed at them and not me.

Another thing I noticed is that there were six stories which were snapshots in the lives of couples from other books or stories by the author.  Whilst I didn't mind this, I felt they weren't aimed at me, especially since I'd only read three of the books/stories that the follow-ons were based on.  In some ways I had to wonder whether it was appropriate to have those stories in a 'daily dose' format as there were bound to be a number of readers who wouldn't have read any of the previous books.

So which 10 stories would I recommend to those of you who didn't get the daily dose and who don't mind reading Christmas themed stories after the decorations have been put away?  Here's my list, just click on the story title to go to the mini review:

1. Earth and Sun, Cedar and Sage by Margaret Mills & Tedy Ward
2. Two Christmasses by Anne Brooke
3. Charity Starts at Home by Zahra Owens
4. Holiday History by Heidi Champa
5. Spam, It's What's for Christmas by Lenore Black
6. Seasons Greetings by Chrissy Munder
7. If I Must by Amy Lane
8. Collingsworth by Andy Eisenburg
9. Snow Follies by Chelle Dugan
10. One Night Stand by Clare London

Going back to my original thought of whether I felt I'd made the right decision in buying the daily dose format of the Mistletoe Madness anthology, I do feel much happier that I got my money's worth of great stories this time around.  In the end, the format and themes of the June anthology made it so that many of the stories were just not to my taste, whereas the Christmas themed stories worked much better.  When the June daily dose comes around this year I think I'll pass, but will probably buy the 2010 advent anthology again.

I'd be interested in your thoughts about the anthology and so I've put a little (completely anonymous) poll on the side bar asking you what you thought.  By all means comment below as well as I'd like to know whether your favourite stories tallied with mine or whether there would be others you would recommend.

ETA: The results of my poll showed that most of you just bought individual stories and that generally you were pleased with the one's you bought, except for one person who thought the quality was variable.  Those who bought the whole anthology thought it was mixed in terms of quality with only one person who liked all the stories.  The highest number was made up of those who didn't buy the anthology at all and I wonder what it is about the anthology that put you off buying.  Hmmm, perhaps I'll do another poll about that!

VOTE FOR MEEEEEEEEE! (or not, if you'd rather vote for someone else)

I've been nominated for a blog award for best review site over at the Preditors and Editors Awards. This came as a total shock to me, but I'm also very honoured to be in such illustrious company.

A BIG THANK YOU

to whoever nominated me. I'm chuffed to bits that you thought I was worth nominating.

Anyway, I'm under no illusions that I will win as some of the other blogs that I'm with are HUGE compared to this tiny blog, but if you want to pop over there and vote for me, then please do :). You've got three days to register your vote.

VOTE HERE!

Review: Torment by Iona Blair

This story arrived in my inbox with the title "Review Request" and that was it apart from a blurb and publisher URL.  I was slightly taken aback because I don't usually get sent books for review without the publisher asking me first if I want to do the review.  I'd not heard of the publisher before - Club Lighthouse Publishing - nor had I heard of the author.  I checked out both the publisher site and the blurb which stated that this was a GBLT book.  The blurb sounded interesting so I sat down to read.  After a short while I decided that this book must have just been mailed out generally to all review sites because if this publisher had known anything about me or this site then they definitely would not have sent me this book which contains just as much m/f sex as it does m/m.

It's a long time since I've read a book where I've wanted to throw a book at the wall on so many occasions.  In fact I stopped reading the book many, many times as I became increasingly disgusted at what I was reading, but each time I picked up the book again in horrified fascination as, like watching a train wreck, I couldn't prevent myself from finding out how the book was going to end.

The story begins with army officer, Jay, who has almost finished his tour of duty in Afghanistan.  He's looking forward to going back to his wife in Toronto, but that anticipation is slightly marred by the uncomfortable sexual feelings he's been having for one of the men under his command, Darren.  When circumstances conspire to put the men alone in a store cupboard, all that pent up desire explodes and they shag each other's brains out, leaving Jay disgusted with himself for having sex with a man and for his infidelity.  After leaving Afghanistan for the required adjustment period in Cyprus, Jay, is still confused about whether he is gay or not.  In order for him to regain some of his equilibrium he pays a prostitute to have sex with him, after which he feels more like the proper heterosexual man he wants to be.  However, before he can head back to Canada, he gets a call from his superior officer in Afghanistan to say that his patrol has gone missing and asking for his help in locating them.

Where do I start to explain why I didn't like this book?  Firstly, I hated Jay and I mean hated.  He's your classic anti-hero, except that in this case I could find no redeeming features whatsoever.  I was first put off by the infidelity with Darren, but then again I also understood that situation.  He had confused feelings and had been without sex for a long time.  It was a heat of the moment thing which he seemed to regret afterwards.  It was the later infidelities that I couldn't forgive.  Jay has sex with three female prostitutes throughout the book, plus he continues to see Darren even whilst still married.  I felt so sorry for his wife who was a lovely woman who didn't deserve all the lies Jay fed her.  Jay also lies constantly to himself and everyone else.  It's only the niggly voice of his conscience which shows that he has any feelings of remorse for his actions and if it hadn't been for that voice in his head I would have given up on the book long before the end.

As Jay's lies and infidelity and confusion about his sexuality start to build up he starts to drink more and more. he seems to be one of those men who can function well even when tanked up on whisky, so he drives and goes to work whilst drunk.  However, he begins to become increasingly irrational leading to a scene where he rapes a woman in a lap dancing club.  It was this point where I lost any sympathy for Jay at all as he taunts the woman after she confronts him:

“Don’t flatter yourself, darling. You were hot to trot and panting for it.” He kept a hold of her as she struggled to get free. “Who do you think the cops will believe?” he demanded, “a tramp who “lap dances” in a sleazy bar, or an army officer?”

At that point this book was nearly a DNF, but as I said earlier, I wanted to know how it was going to all pan out.  Surely Jay was going to get his comeuppance?  Sadly, no he doesn't.  His marriage breaks down and he gets his HEA with Darren - all the while I was shouting unfair, unfair.  Jay didn't deserve the happy ending he got.  He deserved to be rotting in a jail cell somewhere.

I suppose you are wondering whether there was anything redeemable about this book.  I will say that the author writes well, and although I hated the character of Jay, the fact that I had such strong emotions towards him is a sign that he was a well rounded character.  A lot of the first part of the book was interesting in that it's set in Afghanistan and I thought the descriptions of the setting and the life of a soldier were realistically done.  As a story of a man in free-fall, conflicted and self-destructive, this book does fulfil the task and if it wasn't for my utter gall that Jay ends the book relatively unscathed then I would have admired the author's bravery in writing such a book.

Can I recommend this book?  No I can't.  There were just too many things on top of the rape scene and the m/f sex that I disliked, such as the weak mystery sub-plot, for example.  If you want to read a book which sends your blood pressure soaring sky high and which doesn't contain a single likeable character, then by all means buy and read this book.  Despite the fact that I admire what the author has tried to do here and also acknowledge that she has some skills in creating a novel, this still gets one of my very rare 'Terrible' grades.

Buy this book HERE.

Saturday Shorts

Go Fish by HT Murray
This hilarious short centres around male model, Ian who has recently moved in with his best friend, Cal.  Cal is gay but Ian is straight - or so he says, more in an effort to convince himself since he spends quite a lot of time checking out Cal's arse.  The pair discover a mutual love of fish and when Ian starts keeping them in his room, Cal just has to come in each morning whilst Ian is still in bed to check that the fish are OK, leading to longing looks over the bedcovers.  It takes the help of the shop assistant at the pet shop and a game of strip go-fish before the pair finally get together.  Along the way there's much amusement from Ian's observations on life, fish and denying he has sexual feelings for his best friend.  I laughed out loud on several occasions and it if wasn't for the occasional difficulty in picturing the positioning of the two men when they were together and also that Ian's denial that he's not gay got a bit wearing after a while, then this story would have been pretty perfect.  As it is, it gets a grade of 'Very Good' and I recommend it to all those who need cheering up today.

Buy this story HERE.

Half of the Other by Joanne Kells
This British set short features first person narrator Charlie waking up the night after the office Christmas party with a raging hangover and the mortifying knowledge that he made a pass at his friend and work colleague, Tom, who he's had a crush on for a year.  Charlie obsesses over this mistake for the rest of the day, nearly ruining a presentation he is making to clients, but a text from Tom asking him to meet up at his flat later gives him some hope that all may not be lost.  How much you like this story will depend on your feelings for Charlie.  Either you will find him charming, ditzy and loveable or you will find him self-absorbed, irritating and tedious.  Unfortunately, I found him to be the latter and it wasn't until later in the book when something happens to calm Charlie down that I began to have any sympathy for him.  The story is also written in the present tense which might be off-putting to some of you but which I stopped noticing after a page or two.  I loved the character of Charlie's Mum and thought she stole the whole book from under him in the two short scenes she was in.  A longer review of this book can be found at Wave's site HERE.  Grade: Good.

Buy this story HERE.

Balls to the Walls by SL Majors
Don't be put off by the cover, which is just a generic one used by the publisher.  This is another British set m/m story but with a different feel to it.  Callum is an up and coming football (or soccer if you are in the US) player whose personal trainer is David.  Callum has the hots for older and wiser David but can't seem to get him to notice him in any way other than trainer/client.  In desperation he practically throws himself at David in the shower room of David's exclusive gym club, Balls to the Walls.  This time he gets what he wants and well as much more than he ever hoped for.  I really liked this little story which had lots of sex, but also enough of a plot to keep me happy. Callum was a good mix of pride and confidence in his skills as a footballer but nervous about David and his reaction to him.  If I have one complaint it's that the story was a bit too short to get a real handle on the characters, especially David who had a 'still waters run deep' thing about him which I would have liked to been able to explore more.  Still, this was a great short for anyone looking for a steamy read with some plot.  Grade: Very Good.

But this story HERE.

ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

As you can see I've got the builders in.

One builder, actually.  The terrific Lea from Closet Writer has agreed to help me put together a new look for my blog. Isn't she lovely?

We're still working on the colours but the banner is made - thanks to an idea by Tam and to Hub who fiddled about with my photo.

So bear with me over the next day as you might find that things keep changing every time you pop over.  I'll be back later today with Saturday Shorts.

Review: Wintergreen by Jane Davitt

Wintergreen is the sequel to Wild Raspberries which I reviewed last week (here). I'd really enjoyed that book and was keen to read this sequel and see how some of the loose ends at the end of the previous book would be tied up. Whilst I still enjoyed this book a great deal, it wasn't as wonderful as the first book.

At the end of Wild Raspberries, we left our heroes, Dan and Tyler, planning on staying in their isolated cabin over winter in order to spend time with each other and also to plan a long vacation which they intend to take in the spring. As Wintergreen starts it's the middle of winter. Dan's jobs have dried up with the end of the harvest and the tourist season and Tyler is beginning to wonder whether they shouldn't just start to trip early as cabin fever starts to set in. Things suddenly change when Tyler's ex-boss, Cole, comes to see him and asks him to do a job for him. There's a rogue agent who is selling secrets to targets which means that three agents have been killed before they can perform the hit on their target. As an outsider, Cole feels that Tyler has the emotional distance to find out who the rogue agent is. Dan isn't happy about this and becomes increasingly more unhappy as Tyler takes the job and shuts himself away with his computer for hours at a time. Then something happens which threatens both their lives.

The main purpose of this story seems to be to pick up on some of the questions left at the end of the previous book. First and foremost is the question of how well Tyler's old life as a government hit man will impact on their new life together. This is the main focus of this book and is immediately brought to the forefront of the story in a tense scene where Dan surprises Tyler as he's shovelling snow and nearly gets a shovel in his face. The ensuing argument is only just cooling down when Tyler hears from Cole saying that they want to meet. The next few chapters are a mix of hot sex, which the two men seem to use to settle all arguments, and tension as the work that Tyler is doing for Cole starts to drive a wedge between them. I found this section quite frustrating at times, mostly because of Dan. For the first time I began to feel that Dan's youth would cause the break up between them. He's bored, petulant, demanding and behaves like a spoiled brat. I found myself with a great deal of sympathy for Tyler as he tries to cope with the pressures of dipping back into his old life, exhaustion and worry over the work he is doing and then on top of that dealing with Dan's increasingly immature behaviour. What also became apparent is that the two men never really resolve their arguments. Instead they use sex as a way of smoothing over the waters, only burying the underlying problems rather than dealing with them openly. It isn't until later in the book when circumstances force Dan to really understand the nature of Tyler's old career, when sex is out of the question for a while and they are forced to talk to one another that I felt they were getting anywhere with the relationship. As it was, by the end of the book I began to feel more upbeat that actually they were going to survive in the long run, that their differences were keeping them together rather than forcing them apart.

The other loose end which is tied up in this book relates to Dan's past. He left home suddenly, unable to stand the thought that his father hates him for being gay. When he finally returns and sees his father for the first time in months, it's a poignant moment, but one which emphasised how Dan's immaturity has led to undue suffering for him and his father. I found myself, once again, losing sympathy for Dan as he floundered around unable to make a decision about his life and stick with it. He goes home, but doesn't want to stay; he wants to be with Tyler, but messes Tyler around so much it's a wonder Tyler doesn't lose all hope and just take off without him. In fact it's a measure of how much Tyler does care for Dan that he sticks around with Dan bounces from crisis to crisis. It certainly made me view him in a more favourable light than from the first book.

Despite my feelings towards Dan in this book, Wintergreen was a still satisfying read. I finished the book happy that the loose ends had been tied, that certain issues had been faced and resolved, and that I could happily see these men off into their HEA. Along the way there is much tension and one very terrifying section which had me on the edge of my seat; lots of arguments, but also lots of times when there is tenderness and loving. I may not have enjoyed this book as much as Wild Raspberries, but Wintergreen was still a great story and I would recommend it with a grade of 'Very Good' to those who have read the first book.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: Windows in Time by M Jules Aedin

Windows in Time was one of those books which languished for months in my TBR pile.  Why?  I have no idea other than I had so many other commitments that it just kept getting pushed further and further down the pile.  I'm embarrassed about this no end, because it turned out to be a pretty terrific character based book.


The book follows two different story lines.  It opens with Jonah, who is recovering from a broken leg after falling down the stairs to his apartment.  He's bored and restless and generally irritable.  Looking out of the window of his apartment he sees a man in the opposite apartment block who appears to be stripping for him.  He gets the surprise of his life when an old woman in a green housecoat walks right through the man just as he disappears.  Over the next few weeks the man appears again at the same time and day and, with the help of Liam, the nurse hired by Jonah's sister to take care of him, Jonah is determined to find out who the mystery ghost is.  The second story takes place in 1957 where ace society reporter, Buck, starts a relationship with cross-dressing Oliver.  The two men live a double life with Buck and Oliver as friends and Buck and Mina (Oliver's alter-ego) as dates.  They have great fun privately thumbing their noses at society as they mingle with the rich and famous in Hollywood but Oliver's father and brother's are increasingly suspicious of his activities, and Buck has also made an enemy in a female starlet who now has links to the mob.


Each story is structured chronologically as we follow Jonah and Liam as they investigate the mysterious disappearance of Buck, the man who used to live in the apartment opposite to Jonah, and then follow Buck and Oliver as they meet, fall in love and as they move towards the time leading to Buck's disappearance.  This is done through alternating chapters as the story takes us back and forth in time.  Now I have to admit that usually this type of story structure drives me nuts, mostly because I tend to find that one half of the story is more interesting than the other.  This means that when we get to the end of the chapter I'm then frustrated at having to move onto the second story line.  However, in the case of Windows in Time, I didn't feel like that at all, probably because I liked both stories and both sets of characters and I was interested to see how each story was going to continue.  Having said that, the story involving Buck and Oliver was perhaps my favourite as I loved all the little period details and the way that Buck moved through Hollywood society in its heyday.  


The two different stories also complemented each other.  Jonah is stuck in his apartment and feels all the oppressiveness of that.  In the other story the oppression comes from society and the fact that the two men have to be careful wherever they go.  Jonah and Liam are slow moving into an intimate relationship as Jonah is nursing hurt feelings over his recent break-up as well as having a broken leg and Liam is shy, unable to make the first move, meaning that they've already developed romantic feelings towards each other before the physical .  With Buck and Oliver they throw themselves wholeheartedly into a physical relationship and the feelings grow as a result of that.  I found the way that the stories mirrored each other very interesting as though the metaphor of the two apartment windows facing one another related also onto the lives of the men living in the apartments.


In terms of characters the stories are told from Jonah and Buck's third person point of view.  This allowed me to get to know them very well, especially Jonah as he comes to terms with the break up in his previous relationship and moves slowly towards a relationship with Liam.  Out of the four men Liam is perhaps the least well drawn and I found it sometimes difficult to understand why he messed Jonah about on occasion by blowing hot and cold.  Hands down though, my favourite character was Oliver.  This surprised me because I've always found cross-dressing heroes a bit difficult to relate to.  Perhaps it was because we see Oliver only through the eyes of Buck, and he finds the fact that Oliver is a man underneath all the silk and ruffles a complete turn on, but I had a great deal of sympathy for Oliver and loved his sense of fun and adventure, even if he did live in constant fear of exposure.


Those of you looking for a conventionally happy ending are doomed to disappointment.  After all, Buck is a ghost in the present day and there is a definite reason why he is standing looking into Jonah's apartment.  Plus there is a harrowing scene towards the end which brought tears to my eyes.  Don't be put off by this though as the ending is upbeat and provides a sense of closure and although I felt sad and a little angry about some of the things that had happened, I also recognised that the book had to end this way.


Overall, I found Windows in Time to be a compelling read.  I could hardly put it down as I read it with a tense expectation as to what was to come.  What else can I say other than this was a great, original book with sympathetic, likeable characters and a story that gripped me from the first page.  Highly recommended with a grade of 'Excellent'.


Buy this book HERE.