Review: A Brush of Wings Anthology by Dreamspinner Press

I have to admit that I was a bit unsure about getting this anthology. Not because I thought the writing would be bad, or that I wouldn't enjoy the stories; I had simply convinced myself that the stories were all going to be far too similar in theme and therefore I would get bored of the anthology before the end. I'm quite glad to say that this wasn't the case at all and I was surprised at how varied the themes within each of the stories turned out to be.

The theme that I thought would be most prevalent in the anthology is that of the guardian angel who falls in love with his charge. This story or a variation of that theme did appear in the anthology on a few occasions, but was so well done by most of the authors that two of those stories turned out to be amongst my favourites. The Angel Blues by Cornelia Grey told of world weary cop Morgan who is visited by a strange man. The man appears and disappears at random, causing Morgan to suspect that he is going insane, especially when he holds conversation with the strange man. This story had one of my favourite lines in it which made me smile. Morgan asks the strange man, who he now convinced is his guardian angel, what his name is, to which the reply is, Spencer:

Morgan snorted a half-laugh. “Right. What kind of angel has a name like Spencer? It should sound, like, aristocratic. Something snobby and important, you know. Maybe in French,” he added, suddenly intrigued. French did seem very apt for an angel.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” the angel—Spencer, whatever—said, cocking his head to the side. “I’ll make sure I bring this very important matter up during the next council. All angels should switch their names to French.”

The second story containing this theme that I liked is The Platypus Learns Astrophysics by Matthew Vandrew. The story follows bad tempered Jonas who is not impressed when an angel appears in his office wanting to change his life. When things go pear shaped, Jonas is stuck with the angel until they can figure out how to clear up the problem. The mix of the sarcastic Jonas and the confused angel, coupled with a sharp witty tone to the writing, made this a delightful story to read.

Another theme which cropped up from time to time is that of the angel who uses his powers to help two men who are in trouble or to get them together. In A Voice in the Darkness by Patric Michael, two men are trapped in a car after a rock slide falls on their car. Landon comes round to find his husband, Bryce, unconscious and possibly badly injured. The voice of a strange man outside the car, helps Landon through the ordeal and gives him the encouragement to escape his confinement. This was a poignant story, told partly through flashback, of the relationship between Landon and Bryce and how they came to be travelling that lonely road in a storm. I was gripped by the tension of their present situation, which then contrasted nicely with the parts which showed their love for each other. Another story which used this theme was a much sweeter and light-hearted story, The Archangel of Castro by Diana Copland, which told of a kind hearted older man, Nick, who is in love with Brian, a younger man but Nick's low self esteem means that he thinks he has no chance of love with him. It takes a nudge from a very unusual angel to get them together.

I liked the stories which took the angel mythology and worked it into the story. For example, my favourite story from the anthology, Redemption by Clare London, took place in the "Arrivals Hall" of what seemed to be hell. Ziba takes men to work for him so that they can eventually redeem themselves. His attention is drawn to a man, kneeling unobtrusively at the back of the hall. The story then follows Ziba's relationship with this man and his reasons for being at the arrivals hall. The atmosphere of the story was full of oppressiveness and sorrow at the beginning and I liked how this gradually changed as the story progressed. I also liked the faint note of hope running through the story.

There were many other stories I could recommend from the anthology and honourable mentions should go to The Tenth Avatar by Roland Graeme, which told the story of a Indian gay man whose relationship with a delivery man causes him to evaluate his life and his Hindu faith; and In the Hands of the Gods by Jana Denardo whose historical story set in ancient Pompeii, gave an insight into the customs and expectations of living in Roman society.

There were also a couple of stories to which I had mixed feelings. Sariel by Mary Calmes, began really well with a great mixture of horror, sexual tension and angelic mythology, but I felt it lost its way a little towards the end and that the HEA was a little forced. Also A Trail of Feathers by Sarah Ann Watts, was well written but the dreamlike quality to the writing left me feeling a little disconnected to the events and characters.

Overall, I would recommend this anthology with a grade of 'Very Good'. Its themes and characters are varied, the writing is consistently good throughout all the stories, and the ideas are well constructed and executed. If you like fantasy stories then this should be an anthology which appeals to you. I'll also say that for those of you who don't really like angel stories, the definition of 'angel' in this anthology is wide enough that I think that many of the stories should still appeal to you too. I think I shall find myself re-reading some of these stories again in the future, which to me is a sign of a good anthology.

Buy this book HERE.

For Dot

I was supposed to be writing a review today, but I'm so tired I can barely concentrate.

Part of the reason for this is that I've been at the funeral of hub's grandma this afternoon.  It wasn't an especially sad affair - she was 95, had led a long and fulfilling life, and didn't want us to be sad for her passing - but the heightened emotion and socialising that comes with funerals has completely drained me.

So no review.

Instead, I'm posting up this song which was played at the funeral.  It's a lovely old folk tune by a singer who was very popular during hub's grandma's youth.




RIP, Dottie. I'll miss you.

Happy Blog Award Thingy

The lovely Wren over at Nonsense and Little Things has tagged me for a blog award.  How nice.

What to do:

List 10 things that make you happy.

Try and do at least one of them today.

Tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day and let them know.

Link back to the person that tagged you.

To be honest, this hasn't particularly been a 'happy' day for me, so it's probably wise for me to have a think about what does make me happy and count my blessings as it were.

1. A good book
2. My blogging friends and the laughs we share
3. Wine night with hub
4. Peace and quiet
5. Being appreciated for the small things
6. My kids' excitement when the tooth fairy visits
7. BBC comedy programmes
8. When the cat chooses to sit on my knee (a very rare event)
9. A tasty meal I didn't have to cook
10. When hub does a housework job without being asked first

Nearly all my blogging friends have been tagged with this so I'll just put a couple who I don't think have had it:

Tracy and Chris.

Feel free to chip in with anything that makes you happy or pass the award along yourself :).

Review: All or Nothing by James Buchanan

This is the third book in James Buchanan's Taking the Odds series. A word of warning: You could probably read this book as a stand-a-lone, but to get the full benefit of the character development and an understanding of the situation the two heroes are in, you really ought to read the first two books in the series, Cheating Chance (reviewed here) and Inland Empire (reviewed here).

All or Nothing opens a short time after the previous book. Brandon and Nicky have been continuing their long distance relationship and seeing each other every couple of months. It's coming up to the new year and Brandon has made the journey from So Cal to Las Vegas to see Nicky. However, this time he's brought his daughter, Shayna, along with him to meet Nicky. Brandon is still in the closet and so there's immediate tension between the two men as Nicky has to pretend to be Brandon's friend, rather than his lover. When tragedy strikes, Nicky finds himself with an increasingly unstable Brandon and a house full of unwanted guests, plus the constant guilt that he is to blame for the misfortune.

As with the previous book, the mystery plot here is secondary as the focus is very much on the relationship between Brandon and Nicky, firstly as they have to make some hard decisions as to where their relationship is going and secondly as they deal with the aftermath of the tragedy. In fact, the villain of the piece was very easy to identify, deliberately so, I think, as that meant the mystery was more concentrated on when Brandon and Nicky would twig as to what was happening, rather than the discovery of the culprit.

As with all the books in the series the narrative shifts between Brandon and Nicky. I found that my sympathies veered between the two men during different points in the book. It was hard not to feel sorry for Brandon, to share in his pain, and the understand how the stress of events lead to him starting to lose the plot. Before the tragedy, Nicky puts pressure on Brandon to make some hard decisions about them, and whilst I could understand why Nicky did this, I also felt Brandon's fear of moving too quickly, and of coming out to his family. When the tragedy happens, that additional pressure gets mixed in with Brandon's worries leading to some painful moments for both men. I felt that the way that Brandon feelings were shown: How he veered between needing to be strong and keep a stoic front for the benefit of his family, and the jumble and chaos of his internal thoughts as guilt and remorse crashed through him, was realistically done and at times heartbreaking.

Having said that, I also sympathised with Nicky, who I have a great fondness for with his ostentatious dress and his slightly dramatic temperament. He's trying hard to be a part of Brandon's life and yet has to be content to remain quiet about their relationship. He's willing to give up his job, his house and his friends to be with Brandon, but knows that Brandon may not be able to make the same commitment to him. He has to put up with an awful lot in the book: meeting Brandon's daughter; supporting Brandon when the tragedy happens and dealing with his increasingly erratic behaviour; coping with the police invading his house and having his sex life laid bare to strangers; dealing with Brandon's ex-wife and his stepmother who not only stay in his house and sleep in his bed, but also snoop about - then getting the blame from Brandon because he did hide things well enough - and criticise his taste in furnishings. As well as this he has his own guilt to deal with, but he has no-one to talk to, to confide in because everyone else in the house is suffering more than he is and he feels he can't add to that. One of the most emotionally satisfying scenes in the book was when Nicky eventually found someone with whom he could share his worries, as was the tentative friendship he develops with one of his work colleagues, Ada.

Like Ada, the other secondary characters were also well drawn, especially Brandon's stepmother, Edith. Even Diane, Brandon's ex-wife, became more than she at first appeared as the book progressed. We also reconnect with Orozco, the detective from the first book and find out more about his past, which I felt was a nice touch and added greatly to the overall complexity of the novel and the characters within it. The scenes where Brandon struggles to connect with his daughter were often highly amusing and the scene where he takes her to a pre-teen beauty parlour was just priceless.

As you can probably guess from what I've written above, this is a highly emotional book. However, it's not overwrought. Much of the intensity of the book comes from the characters having to deal with the frustration of circumstances beyond their control, as well as interact with one another. Nicky finds this most difficult of all, as he is a relative stranger to many of the people in the book and feels disconnected and pushed out by the fact that Brandon won't acknowledge that he is more than a friend. The book ends with a large number of loose ends, from this book and the series, mostly tied up. I'm not sure whether this is the final book in the series or not. Part of me thinks that I am happy with the end andwould be content to leave this as a final book, and part of me loves Brandon and Nicky so much that I'm reluctant to leave them to their happy ending.

If you've read the previous books in the series, then this is a must read. There is so much in terms of character development, especially with Brandon, in the book, that fans of the series will be delighted. I enjoyed it a great deal, more than the previous two books, and I highly recommend it with a grade of 'Excellent'.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: Violet: Thunder by Kate Cotoner

I picked up this book because I'd recently been very impressed with a story by this author in an anthology and I was interested in reading more of her writing. I'm so glad I did, as this book was a real treat and so absorbing it even drowned out the annoying chatter of two women sitting opposite me on the train.

The story begins with a fire in a small village which started at the house of our hero Jin. Standing and looking at the charred remains of his home, with the knowledge that his parent's bodies lay inside, he turns his back on the devastation and sets off to walk to the city in order to sit his exams. Jin is full of high ideals as to how he will use his brains to pass the exams, make his parents proud and also make a real difference in the world. After being rejected at an inn along the road, he is directed to a small inn in the forest where he beds down for the night. The next day he discovers that he has accidentally stayed at the home of a reclusive nobleman, Zhen, who asks him to stay for a couple of days.

In some ways this fantasy story follows the idea of the Noble Quest. Jin is the innocent young man, who has lived a quiet, studious life in his small village and through tragedy sets out into the unknown to make his name. Jin's naivety is appealing, but it's his mix of idealism and pragmatism which I really liked the most. He burns with righteous anger towards the man who was seen near his house before the fire began, a man who Jin had rejected as a lover, and yet instead of rushing off to confront the man and perhaps put himself in danger, he resolves to go to the city to gain qualifications which would provide an opportunity for him to do good in the world. As with many quest stories the hero is sidetracked along the way, in this case by Zhen. As the book is written from the point of view of Jin, we don't know much about this enigmatic man at first, only that he offers a safe haven for Jin and an opportunity to help him with his studies.

Another aspect of the story with worked well was in the sexual chemistry between Jin and Zhen which is sizzling. I liked that there was a slow build up between them, slight touches, longing looks and conversation before they succumbed to their attraction.

The fantasy part of the story worked well too. I'm not familiar with Japanese mythology but this part of the story was so well explained that I soon picked up on what was happening. I especially liked the way that the different realities were shown to intermingle through Jin's perception and corner-of-eye glances. The use of the colour violet was used to heighten the fantasy parts, giving the descriptions of Zheng and his powers a visual sensuality which matched the sexual tension which ran as a undercurrent through the interaction between Jin and Zhen. It was all rather cleverly done.

The story continues with the quest theme and ends, as you might expect, with a much wiser, less innocent Jin, who is now a man of the world, but also still a good man. It was nice to see that this growth in character didn't entirely crush Jin's idealism, but rather added a practical, realistic edge to his dreams.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed this story. The fantasy aspects were interesting, the character of Jin appealing and the setting unusual. If I have any niggles it was that the discovery of the talisman and its retrieval at the end of the story was perhaps a little convenient, but that certainly wasn't enough to spoil my enjoyment of what was a pretty gripping tale of innocence lost, and love found. Highly recommended with a grade of 'Excellent'.

Buy this book HERE.

Blogging Fail

Just popping in to apologise for my lack of posting this weekend.  I've been in London Friday/Saturday and then really busy all day today.

 To make it up to you, here's a couple of men who need a good wash.  Any volunteers?

Back to normal tomorrow.

Review: All For One by Nicki Bennett and Ariel Tachna

All For One opens by throwing the reader straight into the sexual relationship between three men. Aristide, Perrin and Léandre, are firm friends, companions and lovers. Aristide returns home from duty and straight into bed with his two friends where we are provided with a lengthy ménage sex scene between the men. Now this could have the effect of drawing you into the story, or, as was the case with me, find it all a bit confusing as to who was who and why they were in bed together. Having said that, the main theme of this book is the changing relationship between Aristide, Perrin and Léandre, so I could see why the authors were keen to show them in bed together so early on in the book. Their relationship is defined both by their shared comradeship, occupation, and their physical attraction to one another and as the fourth main character, Benoît, is introduced shortly after the conclusion of the sex scene, the ménage scene provides the reader with a series of pieces of information about the relationship between the three men, which is necessary as we move on into the main thrust of the story.

Once Benoît is introduced, lying bleeding beside the road, the story diverges into three separate paths. The first path is that of who shot Benoît and why he was carrying a letter which made accusations against M. de Tréville, the man in charge of the Musketeers. The second path is that of the relationship between Benoît and Aristide. The third path is how that relationship then impacts on Perrin and Léandre.

For those of you who've read the other book by these authors set in this world, Checkmate (which I haven't read), you will be pleased to see some of the characters from that book make an appearence here as well. In fact, those characters are pretty instrumental in solving the mystery plot as they seem to come up with all the ideas and spend large amounts of time talking sense into the musketeers who want to haring off and fling accusations wherever they go. There's also an appearance by the healer, Raul, who by an amazing coincidence (or perhaps his hinted at gypsy powers) seems to turn up just as someone is in dire need of medical attention. Actually, I found the action sequences, the intrigue and the plotting, all rather exciting in places. I also liked the characters of Christian and his Spanish lover/bodyguard Teo, perhaps more even than the main characters of the four men.

The second plot between Benoît and Aristide was a 'gay for you' storyline. Benoît is from a small town in France and is at first shocked and appalled by the open sexual relationship between Aristide, Léandre and Perrin. Out of the four men I liked Benoît the most. I could sympathise with the terrible things that had happened to him in the past. I could, given his upbringing, understand why he feels as he does about the relationship between the other men. I could see how, through a mixture of loneliness and a longing for human comfort, he would reach out to Arisride, whilst also being confused about the true nature of his feelings. All that coupled with the way that he is shown to be lacking in self-confidence, frustrated at his lack of skills and strength when compared to the others and full of a mix of naivety and self disgust made him by far the most complex character in the book. Compared to Benoît, Aristide seemed quite two dimensional. He falls in love quite quickly with Benoît, something I found difficult to understand given the way Benoît rejects him, and even a few hints about his past weren't enough really to make him anything other than a fairly bland character.

The same goes too for Léandre and Perrin, although I would say Perrin was perhaps the most well rounded out of the three with his wicked and bawdy sense of humour and his habit of acting and speaking without a great deal of forethought. Whilst the plotline, which covered the change from the men sleeping as a three to Léandre and Perrin finding a new path as a couple, was certainly very hot and sexy, filled with many, many sex scenes, I didn't find it as engaging as the other parts of the books. I grew impatient whenever the focus shifted to Léandre and Perrin and wanted to get back to the mystery or the fraught tension of the relationship between Benoît and Aristide.

Overall then, I had quite a mixed reaction to this book. Some of it was swift moving and exciting, some of it slow and ponderous. The sheer number of characters were sometimes a bit difficult to keep track of but they also added colour to the story. There was a lot of great humour and joking in the book, much of it of the rude variety but then there were also (in my opinion) far too many overly long sex scenes which slowed the pacing. In the end, this will be a book which will appeal to those who are looking for an unusual setting of pre-revolution France, like ménage sex - and lots of it, as well as lots of just m/m sex, and also to those who have read Checkmate and want more the characters from that book.  Grade: 'Good'.

Defining Insta-love Quiz

I had an interesting exchange with a nice lady on Wave's blog yesterday under my review of When the Jazzman Sings.  We were talking about insta-love and the lady asked in general how I (and other reviewers) would define insta-love.  Well I have to say that it knocked me for six for a while.  How would I define insta-love? And I've been thinking about this on and off for most of the afternoon (yes, I am that sad).

Firstly, at least in my mind, insta-love is not love at first sight.  Love at first sight is (as the name suggests), that instant connection, bolt of lightning feeling that happens the minute that two people's eyes meet.  Insta-love is when two people fall in love in, what the reader considers, a very short space of time.  It's a little more difficult to define because the timing can vary depending on the situation and the personal feelings of the reader.

But what are my personal feelings?  And what are yours?  They could be two entirely different things.  To test this theory I've devised a little quiz - just for fun.  Below are a few different scenarios, some of which I would define as insta-love and some I won't.  I'll let you choose yours and then I'll reveal my preferences tomorrow.

1. Couple meet, spend an evening and most of the rest of the day together, including sex.  By the third day they are in love.

2. Couple meet, spend an evening and the next morning together, including sex.  Then they don't see, speak or contact each other until the next weekend when they do the same as the previous weekend.  Then they are in love.

3. Couple meet and go on a date ending in sex.  They text each other all week, meet the following week for dinner then sex again.  At this point they are in love.

4. Couple meet and go on a date, no sex.  They text each other during the day and have long phone calls at night.  They meet the following weekend and have sex.  They are now in love.

5.  Couple are forced into close proximity, day and night, for up to four days during which time they spend much of the time talking about themselves and have sex.  When the time comes to part they realise they are in love.

6.  Couple are forced into close proximity, day and night, for up to four days during which time they hate each other's guts and constantly argue before succumbing to attraction and having sex just before they leave.  At which point they declare their love.

7.  Couple spend a week in each other's company, but not necessarily the whole time.  After that time they are in love.

8. Couple spend 2 weeks seeing each other now and again and talking on the phone.  Then they declare their love.

9.  Couple go on dinner dates each Saturday night for a month and don't see each other outside of those dates.  No sex.  At the end of the month they are in love.

10.  Couple see each other pretty intensively for a week, then don't see each other for a few weeks.  They meet again and after a couple of days, declare their love.

So which of these 10 scenarios would YOU define as insta-love?  Leave your answers in the comments, and remember folks, there's no rights and wrongs here, so no bickering!

Perhaps you have your own scenarios you want to add.  Feel free to stick them in the comments too.

Review: When the Jazzman Sings by Karma Eastwick

Your feelings about this book will depend on three things: Whether you like hairy men; whether you like men who over-think everything; and whether you like insta-love. The writing in this story was good but I'm not too keen on two out of those three criteria which is why I can't highly recommend the book

When the Jazzman Sings opens with a surprise meeting. Lonely antique store owner, Eli, is locking up for the night when he sees a image of masculine goodness walking down the road towards him. The man turns out to be Gray, who is new in town and looking for somewhere to eat. After much flirtatious banter Eli agrees to show him a local eatery, and even stays to have a meal with Gray. They get on like a house on fire, and Eli, who has been pretty much stifled and sex starved for two years, is ready to jump Gray's bones. It isn't to be though and after a scorching and bone melting kiss the two separate.

This novella takes place over a period of about three days and during that time they fall in love with each other. In some ways this was my biggest difficulty with the book because it all seemed too fast for me. Both men are experienced older men who have been around the block a bit and yet, after only knowing each other a short while they are falling in love. Perhaps I'm just an old cynic but I rolled my eyes a little at that part of the book, especially when the men are looking deep into each other's eyes and sharing words of love the day after they met.

Another part which didn't work so well for me was in the character of Eli. He's a bit of an internal fretter and has a tendency to overthink everything. Much of the book is taken up by his internal monologuing as he ruminates on his boring life in the small town, regrets leaving the city for familial duty, debates whether he is actually clinically depressed and looks constantly back on what he saw as better times. To be honest I was getting a bit fed up of his whinging and things didn't get better when his thoughts turned to how much he was falling in love with Gray. Perhaps my feelings for Eli just stemmed from the fact that he is so unlike me, that I found it difficult to identify with him. One thing I did like though, is that Eli is, as he calls himself, a bear. He's got a beard and moustache and a hairy body. I found this so refreshing as many heroes are usually waxed and buffed up with no stray hair to be found. I also liked that Gray found Eli's body incredibly sexy and commented several times on how gorgeous he thought Eli was.

Despite these couple of problems, there were some really good things about the book. The writing is good and the characterisation solid. I loved the character of Bertie, the dirty minded 70 year old lady who works in Eli's shop and delights in being a crude as possible in order to embarrass her boss. I chuckled on a number of occasions at some of the things she said and thought that she rather stole the book under Eli and Gray's noses. I also liked Gray, what we know of him. As the book is written in the first person from Eli's point of view we only find out a little about him. What I did find out made him an interesting an admirable character.

Overall, this would be a great book for those who like stories where the heroes fall in love quickly. There are no complications or problems in the book so the story is just about two men who meet, find they are attracted to one another and act on that attraction, which is no bad thing. Grade: 'Good'.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: The Telling by Eden Winters

Michael returns from Iraq a broken man.  On one hand he's full of embarrassment for his medical discharge due to loss of hearing in one ear, and on the other he's full of sorrow and guilt over the death of a close friend in a convoy raid. He returns to the small Alabama town where his mother and sister are living, determined to stay for a short while and then move on.  On his first day back he meets Jay, a gay Hispanic man, who is studying at the local college.  Michael is attracted to Jay, but thinks he has too many issues to deal with, as well as only recently realising that he is gay, to start a relationship with Jay.  However, Jay is a kind and compassionate man who, for his own reasons, is willing to wait for Michael to resolve those issues, as well as support him during his recovery from PTSD.

There was much to like about this gentle story of loss and recovery.  First and foremost were the strong lead characters of Michael and Jay.  Michael's condition manifests itself as strong agoraphobia, especially when he is in a place surrounded by lots of people and noise as this leads to intense flashbacks and panic attacks.  I thought the way that this was portrayed in the book both heartbreaking and realistic.  I felt for Michael, felt all his anger and frustration at what he sees as weakness, felt for his low self esteem as he battles with every day tasks and finds even walking down the streets of his home town impossible, felt for his embarrassment when his friends and family see him having an attack.  Yet underpinning this is his great guilt over the death of his friend who died sitting in a position in a convey where Michael would usually have sat.  This guilt casts a pall over his memories of the war, and fills him with such sadness that it's hard for him to move on.  As well as coping with his guilt and PTSD, Michael is also struggling slightly with the realisation that he is gay, and that he needs to come out to his family.  All of this may sound like Michael's character, and thus the story, is rather heavy going.  Actually, I didn't find this the case at all.  Yes, when you list Michael's problems, there does seem like there's a lot for him to overcome, but the story had a lightness of touch which, whilst never dismissing or belittling Michael's problems, prevented the story from wallowing in a mire of misery.

Partly, this was due to the relationship Michael has with Jay, firstly as friends and then more.  Jay, too, has his problems, first and foremost being a Hispanic man in a town of nearly all white people, and living as an 'out and proud' gay man in the bible belt of the USA.  However, he sees the wounded Michael and his heart breaks for him.  All through the book, Jay is there for Michael, helping him cope with life through little thoughtful gestures such as closing the blinds on a balcony to keep it enclosed, or rescuing Michael from more predatory gay men, or holding Michael through his panic attacks.  It was this beautiful, tender and caring relationship which won over my heart in the story as I was absorbed in watching them meet, overcome a few difficulties, get together, cement their feelings and fall in love.  Marvellous.

The other characters in the book are well drawn too.  I especially liked Michael's free-thinking, flighty mother and his PTSD councillor whose wise words which rang with experience helps Michael immensely.

Although this book doesn't shy away from the harsh realities of war, and of the tragedy for both the survivors of war and the friends and families of causalities, this is essentially a book about hope and moving away from tragedy into a brighter future.  I enjoyed it a great deal and would recommend this book to anyone looking for a sweet, gentle romance with the theme of the redeeming power of love.  Grade: Excellent.

Eden calls this book a gift to her readers, because it is free.  You can read it on-line at the link below, or Eden is also quite happy for me to provide you with a pdf copy of the book.  Email me at jenre30ATgmailDOTcom and I'll send a copy to you.

Read this online HERE.

Poetry Corner

April is national poetry month in the USA and Canada, and to celebrate, Erotic Horizon has sent a call out to us bloggers to do a post either about our favourite poet, poetry or to write our own.

Now, I'm no poet, although like many creative people, I did produce some really dreadful, heart-wrenching stuff during my teenage years.  I'm also not much of a poem lover.  Years of an English degree and forcing bored teens to study poetry can pretty much kill anyone's love of the form.  However, I can appreciate it when I see it, understand the beauty in condensing emotion into a few tightly packed phrases.

When I saw EH's post, at first thought I wouldn't be able to think of a favourite poem.  I have favourite poets, whose books I will occasionally skim but I was sure I wouldn't be able to identify a single poem that stood out for me.

Well, I was wrong, because the more I thought about it, three poems sprang quite easily to mind.  The first one is The Passionate Shepherd to His Love which I discovered when I was studying English at university.  Written during the Elizabethan period, at first glance it's a very romantic poem, but I think it's also mocking the rural idyll that many city dwellers had for the countryside as well as being a bit naughty for its time as the shepherd isn't asking for marriage, but rather for his love to give up her virginal ways and move in with him.

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe

Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That valleys, groves, hills, and fields,
Woods or steepy mountain yields.

And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of th' purest gold;

A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs:
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me and be my love.

The shepherds' swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May morning:
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love.


Let's move on a few hundred years now, to the 1930s.  I studied the literature of the 1930s at uni, and the next poem, The Pylons by Stephen Spender, has stayed with me long after I've forgotten the poems by WH Auden.  It seems to sum up the bright hopefulness that many young people had about the onset of technology, especially as Britain began the slow process of electrification.  Nowadays it seems quite odd that Spender would have been so excited about electrical pylons that he wrote a poem about it, but at the time these eyesores represented the dawning of a new electrical age and with it, progress.

The Pylons by Stephen Spender

The secret of these hills was stone, and cottages
Of that stone made,
And crumbling roads
That turned on sudden hidden villages.

Now over these small hills, they have built the concrete
That trails black wire;
Pylons, those pillars
Bare like nude giant girls that have no secret.

The valley with its gilt and evening look
And the green chestnut
Of customary root,
Are mocked dry like the parched bed of a brook.

But far above and far as sight endures
Like whips of anger
With lightning's danger
There runs the quick perspective of the future.

This dwarfs our emerald country by its trek
So tall with prophecy:
Dreaming of cities
Where often clouds shall lean their swan-white neck.


Finally, onto Sparrow by Scots poet Norman MacCaig.  This was my favourite poem as a young teen.  I love sparrows and would spend ages looking out of my bedroom window at them flying and chattering in my back garden at home.  There was a scare a few years ago when the sparrow numbers began to dwindle.  The horrid magpies were on the increase and they would invade the sparrows' nests and eat the eggs before they hatched.  Thankfully sparrows seem to be on the increase again.  This poem captures the plain little birds perfectly.

Sparrow by Norman MacCaig

He’s no artist.

His taste in clothes is more
dowdy than gaudy.
And his nest – that blackbird, writing
pretty scrolls on the air with the gold nib of his beak
would call it a slum.

To stalk solitary on lawns,
to sing solitary in midnight trees,
to glide solitary over grey atlantics-
not for him: he’d rather
a punch up in a gutter.

He carries what learning he has
lightly – it is, in fact, based only
on the usefulness whose result
is survival. A proletarian bird.
No scholar.

But when winter soft-shoes in
and these other birds -
ballet dancers, musicians, architects-
die in the snow
and freeze to branches,
watch him happily flying
on the O-levels and A-levels
of the air.

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed reading some of my favourite poems.  Why don't you join in too and post some of yours.  Link back to EH's blog and we'll all get to see them.

Review: A Faint Wash of Lavender by Lucius Parhelion

Having enjoyed the last TQ colour box story from this author, Silver Lining (reviewed here), I grabbed at the chance to review another of Parhelion’s historicals. This time the focus is on the 1940s and is set in the artistic and bohemian Californian town of Laguna Beach.

Having served his country in the second world war, Tony has come home to run his uncle’s grocery store. The town of Laguna Beach is full of eccentric, liberal people and as a gay man, Tony feels comfortable surrounded by like minded men and those of a more accepting mind. As the story begins Tony’s friend from the war, Ben, is coming to stay for a while. Tony is a little worried about what Ben may think of some of the men that he knows, especially as some are more “lavender” than others. Within a couple of hours of arriving in the town Ben, along with Tony, has been roped into the town’s famous art pageant which leads to some surprising discoveries about the true nature of Ben’s feelings for Tony.

What struck me in particular about this story is that, although Tony and Ben’s relationship is important in the story, the main focus is the town of Laguna Beach and its eclectic bunch of residents. Therefore, through Tony’s rather fond eyes, we see his aunt, her ‘gentleman friends’, the members of the pageant committee and some of the men who have a ‘whiff of lavender’ about them. This all combined, along with a strong sense of period history to immerse me in the story as I was drawn into Tony’s life. As should be the case, Tony was very careful about his homosexuality and was nervous at all times that he didn’t come across as ‘lavender’, especially during the war and to Ben who up until recently was going to be a missionary. He was also nervous about introducing Ben to some of his friends in the town in case it was obvious, as it is to him, that many of these men are gay and I found Tony’s embarrassment and discomfort about the way that some of the gay men, especially his friend Joey, behave, quite amusing.

The story has a lightness of tone to it that I enjoyed a great deal, just as I liked Tony. Ben was a little more difficult to understand as we see him only through the eyes of Tony, but what I did find out about him made him into sympathetic character. The pacing was a little slow, in keeping with the sleepiness of the Californian town, I suppose, but that didn’t spoil my enjoyment too much as I was having too much fun with the secondary characters and watching Tony fight his attraction to Ben.

Another of the things I enjoyed about the book was the use of some of the euphemisms for being gay. I found the use of words and phrases such as ‘lavender’ and ‘allowing someone to buy them ginger ale’, on one hand quite delightful, but also showed how dangerous it was to be more explicit about homosexuality during the 1940s and it helped ground the story within the time period.

Overall, if you like historical short stories, you can’t go wrong with A Faint Wash of Lavender. It’s a story with great characters and a firm sense of time and setting. Recommended with a grade of 'Very Good'.

A m/m Greek Billionaire Secret Baby Romance?

This woman has got such a masculine looking face she could almost be a cross dressing man.

It's my final day over at DIK, so no Saturday Shorts today.  Pop over HERE where I'm bemoaning the lack of other category conventions in m/m and putting out a plea to m/m authors to remedy that.

Cowboys Galore

I'm over at DIK again today talking about my favourite category romance conventions in m/m cowboy books.

Yee Hah!!

Review: Brushback by Jamie Scofield

This review is also posted at Three Dollar Bill Reviews.

I love a good mystery. One where you can really get your teeth into solving it yourself, but which leads you up and down the garden path with its false clues and red herrings. One which contains a range of characters some of whom you know you can trust, but many more of which you are unsure of their true motivations. One which resolves everything to your satisfaction with a dramatic, and in this book's case, bloody conclusion. Brushback was all that and more for me, and despite a couple of tiny niggles, is a book which I can highly recommend to those who, like me, love a good mystery.

The strength of the book lies with its first person narrator Evan, who is an ex-cop turned private detective. If you mix together Adrien English and Jake Riordan from the Adrien English mysteries by Josh Lanyon and then add a dash of Dave Brandstetter from the Joseph Hansen books, then you've pretty much got the character of Evan. He's a tough, pragmatic and uncompromising man who is just as likely to use his fists as well as his brains to solve a mystery or make a point. Underneath the tough exterior is a man who cares about injustice, especially when he sees the weak being exploited by the strong, and who has a great deal of love and affection for his friends. When we first meet him, Evan is on a blind date which he calmly interrupts to prevent a man hitting his girlfriend, leading to repercussions later in the book. In many ways it's difficult to describe Evan's character with any great coherency because he's got so many layers to him. As the book progresses the reader gets to see each layer revealed showing how complex a man Evan really is. He's also a man of opposites who is just as comfortable in the squalor of the poorer areas of town as he is in the opulence of the rich houses. He is a skilled fighter who also has a love of interior design and lush furnishings. He has been hurt by lovers in the past, but hasn't allowed himself to become bitter and continues to search for Mr Right. I liked him a great deal, especially as he isn't always shown to be to the perfect detective. He makes mistakes, gets himself into tricky situations, finds himself outwitted on occasion. This made Evan all the more human and I felt all his annoyance and frustrations during the times things went wrong for him.

The story is divided into two plots: The first plotline is the case which Evan is investigating. He has been employed to find a young man and his father for a British solicitors firm who wish to pass them details of a substantial inheritance. Evan's research leads him to the young man, R.J., and his guardian, Roman. The plot then takes several twists and turns as Evan tries to work out exactly what the terms of R.J.'s inheritance is, whilst also fighting an attraction to Roman. Part way through the book this plot splits again as new, and dangerous, characters are brought into play and Evan finds that he has to protect R.J. from those who wish to harm him. The way that the plot developed was quite fascinating as was the way that Evan's feelings for Roman and R.J. moved away from the purely professional to the more personal and affectionate. Evan's tentative romance with Roman is developed slowly through the book to the extent that by the end there had been a connection made, a promise of a start for the two men, but nothing more than that. Those of you looking for erotic content are going to be disappointed but I liked that the romance was very much low key, a subplot to the main mystery. I also liked that Evan's growing feelings for Roman were not separate from the story as a whole but had a direct impact on the events that happen in the book. One of the little niggles I had with this book is centred on the relationship between Roman and Evan. There are several points in the book where the relationship starts to move forward, through discussion or through the physical. Nearly every time this happens the men are interrupted by phone calls, people arriving or some other event. The first couple of times this happened were fine but when it happened every single time, I began to tire of it and felt that it was getting a little clichéd.

The second plot involved the young woman Taneesha and her abusive boyfriend, Jamal. This plot was completely separate from the above, except in the way that some of the events connected with it impacted on Evan's physical and emotional state. In many ways this plot was used to highlight how physically tough Evan is, but also the lengths which he will go to in order to help a complete stranger. It added greatly to the characterisation of Evan and for that reason alone was important to the overall story.

My only other niggle about the book was that the climatic end to the story was a little overblown. Then again, I often find that with mystery novels so it didn't bother me too much. It was slightly jarring after the carefully paced, emotionally tight story to suddenly find a huge action/fight/showdown scene at the end which gave the ending a cinematic feel which was out of character with the rest of the book

I could go on at much greater length about all the things I loved about this book from the well rounded secondary characters which included a number of positive female characters, to the depth of emotion the story brought to me. I finished the book quite sad to leave Evan, but pleased that this is the first part of a series. There are a couple of threads left hanging at the end, one of which is the development of Roman and Evan's relationship and another which I am assuming is going to be the bulk of the mystery for book two. If you like complex characters and well plotted mysteries then you can't go wrong with Brushback. I thought it was terrific and can't recommend it highly enough with a grade of 'Excellent'.

Buy this book HERE.

Where am I?

Today I'm over at the DIK blog where I am talking about my favourite Mills and Boon historical romance conventions and how they have been transferred to some of my favourite m/m books.

See you there!

Review: The Shunned by Jay Hughes

It's been difficult to avoid many of the negative things said about this book at Good Reads or some other review sites so I have to admit that my expectations going into reading this book were not particularly high.  After reading the book, I found that it was slightly better than I had expected.  There wasn't a point when I felt like throwing the book at the wall, or want to stop reading - all criteria for what I would give my 'terrible' grade.  Having said that, it wasn't a good read either, just OK with quite a few things which troubled me or which I felt didn't work.

The book begins with our hero James who works at an organic grocery store.  James ran away from the Amish community three years ago and is a student at Penn State on a scholarship.  A handsome man, Fred, comes in and chats James up, making it known that he'd be in for a hook up if James was interested.  James knows that he's gay but has no experience with men at all.  He's very willing to set aside his virgin status so after his shift he meets with Fred and they go back to Fred's large house.  Fred is a defence lawyer who has defended members of the mob.  Unfortunately for Fred the mob bosses were not too happy that his last client ended up in jail and they storm his house trying to kill him.  Fred and James escape but are now on the mob hit list so they have to go into witness protection.  What better place to hide the two men than back in the Amish community where James had escaped from?  James is not happy, but realises that he must go back if only to keep him and Fred safe until they can testify.

The first part of the book moves at quite a swift pace, and although the whole set up with the mob storming Fred's house was a little unrealistic, there was an urgency in the action sequences that meant I was propelled along with what was happening.  I could forgive some of the inconsistencies with the way the FBI and the police operate because I knew that these first few scenes were just a set up to James having to return home, which formed the basis of the novel and the meat of the story.

It was once James returns back to the Amish community that I began to feel rather uncomfortable with the story.  Prior to going back, James isn't too complimentary about the Amish, something which I felt fitted in with his teenage memories of the bad-treatment he received at the hand of his father.  However, once he returns to the community, the negative descriptions of the Amish increase so that I was frankly quite astounded at how badly the Amish were portrayed.   There is nothing positive in this book about the Amish or their way of life, except for the portrayal of James' mother who is only shown in a positive light because she breaks the rules of the community by trying to help James.  I fully admit that some of what is shown in this book may be true, but to completely slander a whole community of people in this way, to show them as having no redeeming features whatsoever, was reprehensible, especially as the author takes it a step further and shows that many of the community leaders and members are behaving like hypocrites by teaching one thing, but then breaking the rules themselves.  I wondered whether the author was ex-Amish and bore a grudge for the way he was raised as that would explain why he showed the Amish in this way, but no, the author isn't originally from the Amish community.  For me this was the hardest part of the book to accept and it made me very feel very uneasy to read so many bad things about the Amish.

Another aspect which didn't work too well was in the relationship between Fred and James.  They barely spend any time in each other's company and yet within a few days they are supposed to have a happy ending.  James also spends most of the book hating Fred for being the reason why he is forced to go back to the Amish community and yet has a complete about-face in the last few pages.  I also found it difficult to like either of the men.  James is a real whiner and spends most of the book feeling sorry for himself, and Fred is a selfish and rather unpleasant man who seems only concerned about himself.  Another part which turned me off James was a rather baffling episode with another gay Amish man which had no bearing on the plot and seemed to have been included only so that there was an anal sex scene.  What it did show was a rather cruel and callous streak to James who seduces the young man and instantly forgets about him.

The story itself is rather preposterous with clichéd portrayals of the mob, clumsily characterised FBI agents who seem to blunder about with no clue as to what they are doing, and a whole range of other unsympathetic characters.  For me what saved this book from being a completely bad read was the character of undercover agent Abraham who I actually rather liked, along with his family.  There were also a few genuinely heartfelt moments, such as the point when James meets his father for the first time in three years and sees how changed he is, or when James reads the letters his mother has kept for him, or an incident towards the end of the book involving James' brother Jacob or the final scene between James and his father.  It was at these points when I was most engaged with the story and what pulled the story from being a truly terrible read.

Unfortunately, I can't in all honesty recommend this book to read.  There were some good things about the story, but my overall feeling was that it was a prejudiced diatribe against the Amish people wrapped up in a flimsy love story with some outlandish action sequences.  Grade: 'Poor'.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: Company Man by Felicitas Ivey

Having read and enjoyed the previous book by this author, Dreamlands, I was very much looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately, whilst the writing was still as good as Deamlands, the story itself was confusing and too heavily reliant on erotic content to for me to highly recommend.

The story begins with us meeting our hero, Shaku. I say hero, but he's very much an anti-hero at least at first. Shaku has lost all memories of everything that occurred before about 12 years ago when he was selected by the Icelandic based company, Forráðamaður, and turned, through extensive biological modification, into a 'fixer'. As a fixer he is sent by the company into situations where he uses his special skills to fix problems, usually through a mixture of sex and violence. He is programmed to obey whomever is given authority over him. At the beginning of the book he is sent to Boston where he is told to obey a man called Padrig. Padrig recognises Shaku, although Shaku has no memory of him, and he introduces Shaku to Úlfur, a brain damaged middle aged man. Things are thrown into chaos when Úlfur is abducted and disappears, only to reappear as a young, mentally whole man. This leads to Shaku running from the company to keep Úlfur, now called Leif, safe whilst also fighting his strong physical attraction to the young man.

Company Man is divided into two halves. The first half is the most complex and perhaps also the most interesting and intriguing part of the book. Shaku is not an easy character to like as he is a trained killer and whore who comes across as extremely matter of fact, even cold hearted about his job and what he is trained to do. At first this makes him difficult to like, but as the story progresses and Shaku regains some of his memories as well as starts to display some humanity, then I found myself warming to his character. As the book is written in the first person from Shaku's point of view, and also because Shaku has a very detached air, it was difficult to really understand the other characters or their motivations in the story. This is especially true for those who represent Forráðamaður because Shaku never questions why he is asked to do the things he does, he just does them, shrugging off any qualms he may have and blaming his modifications for his lack of feelings. As a result Shaku is almost like a robot. One consequence of this is that as a reader I also became detached from the other characters. I didn't care about them, not even Leif, for whom Shaku does develop slight feelings, and so, unlike many first person narrative stories which allow you a great deal of insight into at least one character, I had no real insight into any of the characters.

The world building in the first half was quite unique, but also rather confusing. It is never clear what the sinister company of Forráðamaður actually deals in, although we are told that part of their mission is to create demon hunters who kill the demons that threaten humankind. Other than that, and their supposed altruistic charitable donations, the company is a shadowy threat always on the horizon, bent on unknown nefarious deeds for what purpose we are never really told. When the story begins and Shaku is brought to Boston, I thought that the story would involve Shaku fixing some problem with the Boston branch of Forráðamaður, especially as that is the focus of the first part of the story with Shaku landing in Boston and having a boardroom meeting. Then the story takes a sharp left turn which seems to come out of nowhere and suddenly Shaku is on the road protecting Leif from Forráðamaður for a reason which is unknown right up to the end of the story. To say I was a bit surprised and a confused by these turn of events is an understatement and I found myself wondering what the purpose of the whole first part of the book had been.

Once Shaku and Leif are on the road the story takes yet another turn and the second half of the book is made up of page after page of sex between Shaku and Leif, followed by the introduction of another character for no apparent reason than an opportunity for ménage sex and a possibility of escape and a happy ending for Shaku and Leif. For those of you who like lots of sex in their books, this might be a bonus, especially as much of the complicated world building is set aside as Shaku and Leif explore each other instead. The sex is well written, but suffered again from that lack of connection because of Shaku's detachment from himself and his surroundings. The book does end with an explanation of sorts as to why Leif is as he is, why Forráðamaður are trying to kill him and a HEA, but all that information is crammed into the last 30 pages leaving me with an impression that the book is a mass of confusing plot twists plus lots of sex.

I've given Company Man a grade of 'Good' just because it has some interesting ideas and the writing is good. However, the plot is too overly complicated and the last half of the book too heavily weighted in favour of sexual content for me to highly recommend this book.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: The Gentleman and the Rogue by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon

I really enjoyed the last historical story, Seducing Stephen (reviewed here), by this talented pair of authors and so I was looking forward to this book especially since it contains one of my favourite themes of the gentleman who falls in love with the prostitute.  I'm glad to say that this story didn't disappoint in the slightest.

Male whore, Jem, is picked up one evening by a mysterious gentleman and take to the man's house.  The man in question is Alan, who has returned from the Peninsula war a broken man both mentally and physically after being injured in the battle for Badajoz.  Alan can't bear the lonely life he is living or the horrific memories of the battle and its bloody aftermath, so he has decided to have one last night of pleasure before doing away with himself the next day.  Fortunately for Alan, Jem cottons onto his plans and successfully thwarts them.  Having become oddly attached to Jem, Alan then offers him a job as his valet and Jem accepts.  Things are not smooth sailing for the pair as their stations in life are so different and it takes a trip away from London before Alan realises how much his 'valet' means to him.

The strength of this book lies mostly in the character of Jem who is irrepressible.  He's lived a tough life as the unwanted babe of a prostitute and having been brought up on the harsh streets of London.  Despite this he has an optimistic attitude to life and a cheerful acceptance of all that life throws at him.  It is this optimism which Alan finds so attractive and which helps to bring him out of the funk he's in.  At one point Alan marvels at this fact:

How could this youth live the rough life he did and be so unblemished? And Alan didn't mean that in a purely physical way. There was a lightness, a sense of a soul untouched by the vagaries of life, that imbued Jem's very being. Cheerful. Buoyant. As if his terrible circumstances hadn't stolen his hope yet. What was his secret?

One of the highlights for me were the numerous humorous stories which Jem told about so called friends and members of his family which were scattered about the book and had me laughing along with Jem and Alan.  Jem is also quick witted with a delightful pragmatism.  When Alan offers him the job of valet, he knows that really it's just a ruse to keep Jem in his bed, and yet instead of being offended, he grasps at the chance to escape from the slums and better his situation.  Despite finding it difficult to adjust to the confines of life 'below stairs' Jem tells himself constantly that he may be bored but at least he's warm and well fed reminding himself and the reader of where he's come from.  This constant reference to the differences in social status between Alan and Jem, added a tension to the story and the relationship.  I liked that this side of their relationship was addressed because it fit in well with the historical setting where it was very unusual for those from the slums to mix even with servants, never mind Baronets like Alan.  I also liked that this book didn't turn out to be an 'Eliza Doolittle' story for Jem.  He's still the same at the end of the book as he is at the beginning. This means that the relationship focus is on the strength of Jem's personality changing Alan, or at least improving Alan's life, for the better, rather than Alan influencing and changing Jem.

Another part which worked well in the book was the change in pacing and plot as the book progresses.  The first part is focused on Alan and Jem meeting and getting to know each other; on Jem fitting in with life as a valet; and on Alan's gradually pulling away from his depression.  It's quite a static setting with the majority of the time being spent in Alan's house.  However, about half way through the book the pace changes from quite a slow, but steady build up of feeling between the pair, to a much faster paced story as Alan and Jem take a road trip to Sheffield.  This change of pace added a freshness to the story and helped to prevent any sort of 'mid book slump' which can occur in some books.  Instead the swift pace carried me through to the end of the book.  I like how Jem and Alan's relationship continued to develop whilst on the road and that the problems with their social differences were also still explored.  The move away from the house and into the country meant that Jem is taken out of his comfort zone but also allowed Jem to show some of the streetsmart cunning  that he'd developed growing up on the streets.

Overall, I was completely hooked by this story.  The character of Jem was an absolute delight and his exuberant personality was nicely counterbalanced by the more thoughtful and, at times, melancholic Alan.  The other minor characters were well fleshed out and I forgave the fact that the bad guy was a little too much the 'mad doctor' cliché.  The story took the old m/f historical romance plot of the whore and the gentleman and turned it into something new and exciting with the m/m twist.  I highly recommend The Gentleman and the Rogue to all those who love historical romance.  I'm hoping that there're going to be more historicals from this pair of authors because I've certainly liked what I've read so far.  Highly recommended with a grade of 'Excellent'.

Buy this book HERE.

Saturday Shorts

Troubles by GS Wiley
After finishing the marvellous anthology of shorts by this author I craved more of her stuff.  Then I remembered that I'd won this short over on her blog not too long ago so I dug it out of the TBR pile.  It's set in London in 1992 and follows Belfast born Protestant, Donal, who moved to London with his mother and sisters when he was a child after his father was killed in a bombing during the troubles.  Donal doesn't care about religion, but his mother does, to the extent that she refused to speak to her now dead Catholic neighbour.  When the neighbour's nephew, Diarmit, arrives to set the house in order ready to sell, Donal is very attracted to him and it isn't long before they start on the road to romance.  That road isn't smooth for the pair, however, when more than religion could prove a roadblock to their relationship.  Growing up in the 80s it was impossible not to hear about all the dreadful things that happened during that time in NI and I found that aspect of this story very interesting, especially Donal's thoughts about his mother and father and how his Belfast accent is viewed in London, even after years of living there.  Donal has a wry sense of humour which was quite endearing and an accepting attitude to everyone, including his cross dressing friend and his Catholic hating mum, even if he didn't agree with her views.  The other characters were equally as well rounded for such a short form.  This was a well written story which had a number of sly, amusing references to keep me firmly in the time period but the story also had a punch of a serious message.  Overall a great mix of humour and pathos.  Grade: Excellent.

Buy this book HERE.


Heart Shot by GH Worth
Ashton is a rich man who joint owns an exclusive art gallery.  It's almost a year since his stalker ex-lover shot him in the chest and it's been a long and painful recovery for him.  Ashton decides that he wants to have a tattoo to cover up one of the scars left by the shooting so he meets up with Mark, a tattoo artist.  There's instant heat between them, almost enough to have them doing the dirty on the tattoo shop floor, but they manage to restrain themselves at least for a short while.  Tam recommended this story to me and I can see why: tattoos, a bit of humour and hot sex, what more could you want in a story?  All the characters were given enough to make them more than cardboard cut outs and I liked the overall message of facing your past and getting over it.  The writing was solid and if I have any niggles it's that the way the men talked was a little unrealistic, for example who tells their friends that they've just met a guy and "I want to hear him scream"?  Perhaps I'm just too British, but that stuck me as a little over the top.  Other than that niggle, I still enjoyed the story and would recommend it to anyone looking for a hot little story about a guy with tattoos.  Grade: Good.

Buy this book HERE.


Special Delivery by Cassandra Gold
Mark is a secretary to a high powered lawyer and works hard.  Unfortunately all this hard work means that he never gets to play and add that to his natural timid and shy nature and it's been a long time since Mark met anyone special.  When a gorgeous new delivery guy, Tim, starts work at the firm all the secretaries are gossiping and it isn't long before they're laying bets on who's going to be asked out by Tim. Mark doesn't think he's got a chance, but perhaps his quiet, unassuming nature is just what Tim's looking for.  I have to admit that I loved this story.  I like shy heroes and Mark was just perfect.  He's got quite a low sense of self esteem and it doesn't take much for it to get knocked down further by the sometimes cruel comments of the other secretaries.  The way that he blushes, fumbles through interactions with Tim and generally makes a fool of himself was extremely endearing, although I can see how some readers might find that irritating.  I also liked the peek into office life from the view of the secretaries rather than the usual boss being the hero.  The best thing about the story was the gentle lead up to the romance, with a slow build up in the tension and a wholly satisfying conclusion.  The romantic in me was sighing sweetly and fluttering her eyelashes by the end.  Marvellous.  Grade: Excellent.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: Love Means...No Boundaries

Love Means...No Boundaries is the third in the series of the Love Means books by Andrew Grey. I really liked the other two books in the series: Love Means...No Shame and Love Means...Courage (reviewed here and here) and I was very much looking forward to reading Joey's story.

We first meet Joey in Love Means...No Shame as a teenager hired by Geoff to muck out the stables in payment for riding lessons. At the start of this book Joey is now a young man who after finishing college came back to the farm to work for Geoff as his crop manager. Joey has recently been in a motorcycle accident which left him basically unharmed apart from a series of bad scars on his face. This has left Joey with a great deal of self loathing for his marred looks which is not helped by the reactions of the townspeople when they see him. The actual story begins when Eli and Geoff take in a young man, Robbie, who is touring with an orchestra and staying in the area for a couple of weeks. Robbie is blind and Joey finds that he can relax around Robbie as well as help Robbie become more confident and strong in relation to his disability. It isn't long before the pair develop feelings for one another despite knowing that Robbie will soon be returning home.

The story is told in the third person alternating between Joey and Robbie. I found the sections of the book where we get to 'see' things from Robbie's point of view absolutely fascinating. Robbie is away from home for the first time and trying to live independently of his controlling mother, who still phones him three times a day, and his best friend Arie, who also tries to coddle him. The way that all the descriptions are done by sound and smell were very evocative, especially when it came to Robbie's growing feelings for Joey. I liked that Robbie is attracted to Joey's firm, but not painful, grip on his arm as he helps him, his voice and his smell before he even gets to know Joey as these fill in for the usual initial visual attraction that is usually found in romance. In many ways the story is not just about the developing attraction that Robbie and Joey have for each other but also about Robbie realising that he is gay and all the internal turmoil that brings. This aspect of the book was also done well as we are able to join Robbie as he thinks through his attraction to Joey and all the problems/solutions that brings to Robbie.

In terms of the character development in Joey, most of his growth in story is not to do with the acceptance of his sexuality - he's already comfortable with that - and more to do with accepting his newly disfigured looks and to stop being hurt by the often unconscious reactions of other to his scarred face. Robbie's blindness helps a lot with that, but as his facial scars begin to heal, so do his mental ones as Robbie teaches him that the most attractive part of himself is his kind personality. It was quite delightfully done.

As the blurb suggests towards the end of the story there is a separation between the characters. Normally I don't like forced separation in my books, but in the case of this book it was inevitable and so I found that easier to accept. It also didn't last long as within a few pages Joey goes to visit Robbie and they are reunited. This last part of the book had a mixed response form me. On one hand I knew that it was necessary as part of Robbie finally growing up and becoming independent for us to see him in his own environment. However, I also found it baffling and a bit irritating that two grown men had to sneak about like teenagers and that Robbie's mother behaved like some sort of guard on Robbie's virtue. I can understand why this happened - Robbie may be a grown man, but he's allowed others to treat him like a helpless child right through into adulthood - but it didn't stop me getting a bit annoyed, especially as Joey played right along instead of standing up to Robbie's parents.

Apart from that very slight niggle, this book was just as enjoyable as the others in the series. Like the previous books the focus is very much on the romance of the story and the development of the feelings of the two men for each other. There's lots of other great parts too such as Robbie's passion for his violin, the way that Joey allows Robbie to take part in farm life and little quirky things like the dog Rex and his kittens, which all added to the general atmosphere and my enjoyment of the book. There's also a peek into the life of Geoff and Eli for those fans of the first book, but not too much that it detracts from the current romance. For those who haven't read the other books in the series, then it doesn't matter as this can be read as a stand alone, but I would perhaps suggest that you read Love Means...No Shame first to get the background on Geoff and Eli, and how Joey fits in with that.

If you're looking for a gentle, sweet romance with good characterisation which also deals sympathetically with the issue of blindness, then you can't go wrong with this book. Highly recommended with a grade of 'Excellent'.

Buy this book HERE.

Au Revoir

Last week was mine and hub's 15 year wedding anniversary so we're off to Paris to celebrate.  Yep, Paris in the spring.  It's a bit of a cliché but so what?  I've never been before.  In fact, it's the first time I've been abroad for 8 years so I'm pretty excited.

I'll be back on Saturday, but have scheduled a review on Friday for your reading pleasure.

See you at the weekend when I shall return with a better dress sense and a more sophisticated attitude :).

Review: The Devil's Fire by Sara Bell

At the beginning of The Devil's Fire we meet Gareth who is still grieving over the death of his husband, Kiel. He is summoned to the king, Tristam, who is also his brother-in-law and told that in order to prevent Tristam's kingdom from being overtaken by their enemy Denmar, they must ally themselves to another kingdom through Gareth's marriage to prince Alric. At first Gareth is furious at being forced to marry so soon after Kiel's death, but after meeting Alric and learning of the good in him, his feelings gradually change towards the marriage. Gareth also learns of Alric's special power which is both a blessing and a curse, as Denmar would do anything in his power to get Alric for himself and exploit Alric's powers for his own ends.

My favourite thing about fantasy books is the way that the setting and characters take you to somewhere both familiar and unfamiliar. In the case of The Devil's Fire, the setting is very close to that of Medieval Britain but there are also a number of surprising and unique twists. The setting is that of a large country ruled by a High King. Within that there are several kingdoms ruled by minor kings and princes. These kingdoms are constantly vying for power and dominance over one another and so it is important for them to have strong allies formed through kinship and marriage. At first I found it a little confusing as to which kingdoms were ruled by who and whether they were allies or enemies of other kingdoms, but after a while I managed to work it all out and everything was quite simple to follow after that point. There's much to be comfortable and familiar with in the setting especially if you like Mediaeval set stories and I found it easy to picture the way that the characters lived, the food they ate and the way that they dressed.

There's much to be familiar with in the characterisation too. Gareth is a bastard son who gained a large holding as part of his father's inheritance. His power stems from his loyalty to Tristam and his skills as a warrior. As such he is your typical battle hardened man, confident in combat and the strategy of war. When he learns of Denmar's betrayal and his plans to overthrow all that he holds dear, then his lust for revenge is strong. This side of Gareth then contrasts to the gentle lover and fierce protector that is shown at first in his grief for Kiel and then later in his love for Alric. He lives by rules of honour and fealty to his king and in essence Gareth is the epitome of the Medieval Lord being both civilised and brutal at the same time.

Obviously one of the main differences between a Medieval romance and this fantasy is that the men can be wedded to each other if that is the way their sexual tastes incline. Thus I was interested to see how the character of Alric would fit into the gender roles within the book. I have to say that I was rather disappointed by this. Instead of having two warriors paired with one another seeking justice through battle with Denmar, Alric is relegated to the women's role of staying at home and waiting for the husbands to return, his gift apparently making him too much of a risk to take into battle. I found this disappointing because Alric is shown at the beginning to be just as strong as Gareth, more so perhaps having survived a horrific ordeal in the past and using his powers on a couple of occasions to save the day, and yet as the book progresses Alric seems to become weaker both mentally and physically. Gareth's overbearing need to protect Alric causes him to diminish in my eyes as he is kept 'safe' at home and then excluded from Gareth's plans later in the book. Yet Alric accepts all this when I was hoping he would stand up for himself more and prove himself as a man. Even at the end he is relegated to the role of helplessly watching Gareth fight for his life instead of taking an active role in saving him. As such, I found myself thinking that Alric's character was a bit of a missed opportunity. He could have been a strong partner for Gareth but instead he became the ideal medieval woman in all but body.

There are a myriad of other characters, all who are connected to each other either through marriage or past dealings. These characters provided a richness to the setting, as well as a complexity to the story which showed a great deal of thoughtfulness by the author. The day to day lives of the characters and the way that they interacted with each other was one of the highlights for me, showing the importance of kinship and friendship in the book. This was especially true for Gareth and Tristam, whose bond of affection and friendship was delightful to read and added toGareth's sympathetic qualities.

Despite my disappointment with Alric, this was still a very good read. There's a good mix of action and intrigue; battle scenes and quiet romance; family bonds and duty to the king. I raced through the book, keen to find out how it was going to end. If you like fantasy, like complex stories of love, loyalty, conflict, betrayal and magic; then you will love this book. I enjoyed it a great deal and it gets a grade of 'Very Good'.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: Then and Now by GS Wiley

As a reader I often find that there are certain authors whose writing naturally appeals to me. It may be something about their characterisation, use of description or even just the way their ideas and stories seem to stand out from the rest of the other books in the m/m genre. GS Wiley is one of those authors for me, so when I discovered that she was self publishing a print anthology of her previously published ebook short stories, I jumped at the chance to review it. I was also pleased to find that, despite having read many of the author's stories in the past, I'd only read one of the stories from this anthology.

The anthology is made up of 14 stories and structured into two halves.  The first half, Then, is made up of stories from the past.  For those of you who aren't really too keen on historicals, I feel I ought to point out that, apart from one story set in ancient Rome, the stories are set in the twentieth century and take us right up as far as the Millenium.  The second half, Now, is made up of stories set in the present.

One of the things I like about GS Wiley's stories is that they often take you to unexpected places.  This means that they rarely contain the conventional HEA or even HFN that many romance stories have.  Don't get me wrong, all the stories have happy endings and are satisfactorily concluded, they just may not end in the way you might anticipate.  Many of the stories are 'slice of life' stories about an established couple, or a story about two men who come together only to part, or a couple who are just embarking on a relationship.  Many stories contain themes of the outwardly straight man who falls in love/is attracted to a gay man.  The characters span all ages from the college age through to the very old.  This mix of different themes, characters and plots meant that each story was unique and I was never sure what I was going to expect when I started to read.  The settings of the stories are also varied, with many of them set in Britain, but also a fair few set in other European countries and in the USA/Canada.

Canada is the setting for one of my favourite stories, Connections, which also happens to be the final story in the anthology.  The story begins six months after Bryan's lover, Max, was killed by a car.  He's stuck in a "paralyzing depression" and can't seem to move on when he is struck by an idea of how to help himself feel better.  Bryan begins to text Max, initially telling him how much he misses him, but also to fill Max in with what is happening in Bryan's life.  After a year of doing this, the inevitable happens and Max's mobile number is reassigned to a lady called Sarah, who turns out to be the one person Bryan needs to help him move on from Max. This is one of the chastest stories in the anthology, with not even a kiss, but I was moved by the emotional development of Bryan and the way that the focus was very much on character.  There's little action in the story with everything concentrated on how Bryan feels, his grief over his lover and the odd friendship he starts with Sarah.  However, that didn't matter because I was so caught up in the emotional intensity of the writing and the overall theme of hopefulness.

In fact, if I had to describe the anthology in a phrase then 'emotionally intense' would be the phrase that springs to mind.  All the stories are focused on the development of character and relationship rather than action, except for one story set in the 1920s Chicago, It Had to Be You, which was a mystery and perhaps my least favourite story in the anthology, despite the accurate and dangerous setting of US under prohibition and mob rule.  This meant that I was drawn into the worlds created by the author and the situations the characters were placed in, to such an extent that I felt a genuine sadness when I finished the anthology because there were no more stories to enjoy.

If I have any niggles about the anthology at all it comes from having read the stories one after the other.  I found that all the sex in the book was basically the same.  GS Wiley doesn't usually have very explicit sex in her stories anyway, with some of the stories having the sex behind closed doors, and so when the sex happens in the book it often followed the same pattern.  If I hadn't read the anthology all in one go but left a gap between the stories, then I probably wouldn't have noticed this at all, so it's only a very minor niggle and certainly not enough to spoil my overwhelming enjoyment of this anthology.

If you like anthologies, like well written stories which are heavily focused on character and setting then this anthology will be just the sort of book you will enjoy.  I found it a delight and a treat to read and can't recommend it highly enough.  Grade: Excellent.

Buy this book HERE.