Mid-Book Slump Disease

I don't know what's wrong with me lately.  I start a book and it's all 'Yeah, this is totally fabbo'.  I read like a demon until about half way through and then I'm like, 'can I be bothered now?'.

The thing is it has nothing to do with the book I'm reading.  All of these books have been really, really good and I want to read them, I do.  I want to find out what happens to the characters, what plot twists may occur and whether our hero gets the guy (OK, maybe I've already guessed that part :)).  The books aren't even suffering from that general book milaise - mid-book slump.  The plots are still fast paced and the characters alive on the page.

It's just me.  I have mid-book slump disease.

I currently have several books on the go because I start a book, get half way through, get mid-book slump disease, stop reading.  Then I start another book in the hope that things will be better, only to find the same happening.  I doesn't seem to matter whether it's an ebook, or a paperback both brings me out in mid-book slump disease.  I've even tried reading short stories, thinking that it was just a length thing, but no, I've even stalled on short stories.  It's frustrating.

The odd thing is, once I force myself to keep reading, I seem to get over this and I can happily push on to the end of the book.  So perhaps that's my solution.  Force myself to get through those tricky 30 or so pages and all will be fine.

Review: The Tourist by Clare London

Clare London is an autobuy author for me so I was pretty excited to see that she's got a new release out at Carina. The last Carina book of hers, Blinded by Our Eyes, was a five star read for me. The Tourist was a completely different book to that one, focusing more on a relationship in freefall rather than being a mystery, and whilst I had some issues with it, I still found it to be a very good read and would recommend it.

The story has an unusual premise. The main character is Ace, who calls himself a tourist. He's a bit like a ghost, but also not because he has no form and spends his days flitting from one man to the next, residing in that man's body and then moving on when the whim takes him. Ace's goal is to latch onto a gay man, enjoy a time of hot sex and then move on once the sex is over but he also tries to manipulate things so the man has a better sexual experience as a result. As the book begins Ace has landed in Dan's body and enjoys a nice bit of shower sex with Dan's boyfriend Ricky. Once the sex is over Ace discovers that the couple's relationship is at a turning point. Part of Ace wants to move on to the next sexy man, but he's also curious to see whether he can make a positive difference in their lives.

I usually start with the positives and then move onto negatives but I'm switching it about today and starting with the main niggle I had with the story. The story is told in the first person from Ace's point of view. However, as the story progresses, I found it a little difficult to decide whether the thoughts and feelings of the character are actually Ace's thoughts or that of Dan or Ricky. Sometimes it's very obvious that Ace is narrating because he talks to the reader and tells us things about his past, but sometimes the lines were blurred and I couldn't work out whether I was really meant to be in the 'possessed' man's head or whether Ace was so connected the other man it was Ace who was experiencing their feelings too. This, and also because Ace is essentially just an observer or hanger-on, had the effect that I was slightly distanced from the characters of Dan and Ricky. I didn't feel their pain or be immersed in their situation, or be carried away by moments of emotional intensity, such as during the sex scenes, as much as I would have done had Ace not been there. This strange disconnectedness carried on for most of the book and I couldn't shake the feeling that as the reader I was more an observer of the relationship, rather than being immersed in their story.

That was the only niggle I had with the book though, and the rest is a very well executed paranormal story. The initial premise is unusual, and I liked how Ace's background and past is interwoven with the story, so that he becomes a real 'person' to the reader. I also liked that Dan and Ricky's points of view are both shown and that the problems between them were realistic. Ace is shown at the beginning to be a 'good time boy', and I liked that his assumptions based on looks and body shape were thrown out the longer he spent time in the men's bodies. Many of the problems in the relationship are caused by lack of self-esteem or even self hatred, showing how much the men are lying to each other and themselves. It was interesting to see this all unravel with a little prodding from Ace.

Most of the action in the story is internal as we follow the thoughts of the men and their awkward interactions with each other, but that then leads to a period of high drama and tension which worked well to lift the story from just internal angst. The plotting is swift and packed with emotion. Above all there is Clare London's marvellous prose which is intelligent as well as expressive.

Overall, despite my odd disconnectedness with the characters at times, this was still a very good read, and I'd recommend it with a grade of 'Very Good', to those who are looking for a tightly written emotional drama with an unusual paranormal twist.

Buy this book HERE.

Reviews and Bad Editing

I think that a good, strong content editor is worth their weight in gold.  These people can look at a book and immediately see what bits are working, what bits aren't and can guide the author in such a way that they turn what is a good book into something extraordinary.  I have the highest respect for a good editor.

Having said that, there are many m/m books out there which are not edited well.  I'm not talking about typos or name switches or spelling errors - although those can be very annoying for the reader.  I'm talking about the lack of a decent editor who can take a critical eye to the author's manuscript, cover it in metaphorical red pen and send it back to the author, who then cries for a while but eventually, through the suggestions of the editor, whips their book into shape.  Many m/m authors do not have the luxury of getting an editor like this.  Many authors do not get a content editor at all.

Just recently I've read a few books where I've got to a section and found the writing a little clumsy, or something wasn't working quite right, or the hero did something out of character, or there was an awkwardness about the situation.  Each time this has happened I've been pulled out of the book with the thought that a good editor should really have picked up on that and helped the author to sort out the bit that wasn't flowing, or picked up that the character is suddenly behaving in an odd way.  When I've come to write the review of these books, there's a part of me that wants to put across my disappointment about the lack of decent editing in the book.  I don't though, I hold back and stick to general statements about the lack of cohesion, or inconsistent characterisation.

I've read reviews by other reviewers who have picked up on the lack of decent editing and the author has been upset that their editor has been criticised in the review. They claim that any failings in a book should be attributed to them as the author and not to their editor.  It's this that has made me hold back from mentioning my concerns about the editing in my reviews.   But a book is not just the responsibility of the author is it?  It's in the three way relationship between author, editor and publisher that a book becomes published in the first place.  Yes, the author writes the book, but the publisher buys it and the editor works on it for the publisher.  Therefore any failings are not just the responsibility of the author - especially when, in my view, the failings could have been so easily resolved by an editor firm enough to steer the author in the right direction, no matter how much of a hissy fit the author may have as a result.  Surely it's better for both the author and publisher that good content editors are employed for not only the sake of sales, but also the publisher's reputation as a fine producer of m/m romance?

Anyway, back to my original point.  Should I, as a reviewer, mention my frustrations with bad editing in a review or should I keep the blame solely on the author?  Part of me wants to be able to hold publishers to account for bad editing, but I can also see the author's point of view here.  Their name is on the cover, not the editor's (unless it's an anthology) so they should be the one to take the flak.

I'd be interested to know what you think.

The Permanent Hard-On

From Deviant Art

According to hub, men do not walk round all day with a hard-on, either a full or semi.  He must be lying though because in most of the m/m romance stories I read the men are always popping a boner at even the most inappropriate of times - or should that be especially at the most inappropriate times - or are so caught up in thoughts of their lover that their dick is hard enough to drill holes in their trousers all day whilst at work or socialising with their friends.  No one seems to notice the fact that there's a tent in their trousers either.  Strange that.

Because we all know that m/m romance always tells the absolute truth.

Review: Taking You Home by Cooper Davis

I picked up this book for two reasons.  Firstly it had been recommended to me after my post on cross-dressing heroes over at Brief Encounters Reviews and secondly, because I'd read the previous book, Boys of Summer and loved it.

This story takes place a few weeks after the end of Boys of Summer.  Hunter, our first person narrator, has proposed to his lover Maxwell and they intend to get married in the spring.  The story then takes us on that journey of about six months leading up to their wedding as the men deal with Maxwell's family and share their secrets with each other.

As I said, I really liked Boys of Summer.  It's much shorter than this book (about half the length) and the deep romanticism of that novella worked well in the shorter format.  In Taking You Home, that romanticism is still there in the writing as Hunter reminds us again and again why he loves Maxwell.  It's in everything about him: His looks; personality; his sexy body; the way that he knows and accepts Hunter.  The story is structured in such as way that the reader is led through a series of either events or short incidental scenes showing aspects of their lives together, and each scene or event concludes with Hunter reiterating his love for Maxwell, or by growing to love him even more.  I have to admit that after a while this became a bit too cloying for me and I had to put the book down and 'rest' for a while.  It's a shame really, because this type of story worked well as a novella but just didn't translate as well into the longer format - at least not for me who has a very short fuse when it comes to overly sweet stories.  Other readers who love sweetly romantic stories will probably lap this up.

One aspect I was very interested in was the cross dressing theme.  In the end this too was a little disappointing.  Maxwell reveals to Hunter that he likes dressing as a woman, and Hunter really liked it when Maxwell became Maxine.  I thought more would be made of this, but apart from one evening and a short scene later in the book it wasn't made that big a deal of and was used more to show how much Hunter loved and accepted Maxwell, than any real understanding of why Maxwell would want to dress as Maxine, other than as a role play kink.  I was also slightly uncomfortable at the suggestion that Maxine tapped into Hunter's bisexuality and that he would somehow 'need' Maxine to make the relationship with Maxwell work overall.  In the end, I wondered why such a theme would have introduced if it wasn't then going to be made more integral to the story.

Despite my reservations about the cross dressing theme and the fact that the book pushed my 'too sweet' buttons from time to time, this was still a good romantic read.  The heroes work well together, talking through their problems in a mature fashion and supporting each other in difficult times.  Hunter is a very sympathetic narrator and I was so caught up in the story that I didn't even notice it was written in the present tense until about a third of the way through the book - which is very unusual because I often find present tense stories hard to get into at first.  The writing is quite beautiful with a lyricism that appealed to me and this was most apparent in the sex scenes which as you may imagine were very tender as well as steamy, and in the scenes where Hunter is amazed at how beautiful his husband-to-be is.

Another thing that worked well in the book is the Gay For You theme.  The scene where Hunter is trying to explain his attraction for Maxwell to Maxwell's sister really hit the nail on the head for me as to why this theme works so well:

“I was always straight. I had plenty of girlfriends over the years, slept with my share of women, and I won’t lie and say I didn’t enjoy it. But when I met your brother…” I hesitate, trying to figure out how to explain it. “He changed me. Suddenly something that I’d never thought about just had me in its grip. Maybe it had always been just below the surface, I don’t really know.”

She stares at me, her jaw actually dropping. Mine is dropping, too, because I seriously can’t believe I just opened up to her like that. Then those big brown eyes get a little wider, and she says, “Oh my god. You fell in love with him, didn’t you?”

This idea is reinforced throughout the book, especially as Hunter sometimes struggles with the idea of being bisexual.  This book is one of the most open and honest GFY books I've read, one which deals sensitively and accurately with the theme whilst also allowing me to understand Hunter's feelings exactly.

So once again I'm struggling with how to grade this book.  Really it falls slap bang in the middle of 'Good' and 'Very good'.  The very good grade would be for the writing, characterisation and the handling of the GFY theme; and the good grade for it pushing my 'too sweet' button and for the disappointing use of the cross dressing theme.  Hmmm, I'm going to sit on the fence here and award both grades.  Overall, I would still recommend this book, especially if your sugar threshold is much higher than mine, and if you are in the mood for a well written and deeply romantic novel.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: Something Like Summer by Jay Bell

Warning: Spoiler alert!

I like coming of age stories and this book had the interesting idea of taking the story beyond the point of that tricky teenage phase and on into adulthood. The book is essentially in two sections both from the third person point of view of our hero, Ben. The first part deals with his Junior year in high school where he meets new boy Tim and has his first relationship. The second half deals with Ben as he copes with College life and more. I’ve had to put spoiler warnings on this review because it’s going to be hard to talk about my feelings about the book without making mention of some of the things that happen quite far into the story. This is mainly because whilst I loved the first half of the book, I had some problems with the second half and in order to explain myself I shall have to make reference to some of the events in that second half.

Let’s start with some of the things I did like about this story. Firstly, I really liked Ben – and that didn’t change throughout the book. Many coming of age books has their teenage hero as the nerdy character, and this book was no exception. However, Ben isn’t actually that much of a nerd, he’s just not a jock. He hates sport and isn’t very good at it which I suppose puts him in the nerdy category, but he’s certainly not the sort of super-intelligent nerdy guy that can populate some coming of age books. Instead Ben is what I would consider just a normal kid. He’s got brains but he’s not top of the class. He’s not in the ‘popular’ gang but he has friends and gets on OK at school even with being openly gay. In short Ben would have been the sort of kid I probably would have hung about with a school and that went a long way towards me liking him a great deal. I also liked that he made mistakes and acted up like a teenager usually does, and yet under all that he’s still a nice guy. One of his main flaws is a tendency to be led astray by others or be too passive when it comes to his friends and their demands. In fact if I had any frustrations with his character it was that he allows others to make decisions for him, and also that he made snap decisions based on the will of his friends rather than thinking about what he actually wanted. On the other hand his loyalty to his friends is also one of his strengths as a character.

The first half of the book was very absorbing and I greatly enjoyed reading Ben’s developing relationship with Tim, the frustrations of loving someone who refused to come out of the closet, and the pain of hard choices that had to be made. This part of the story, which takes about half the book, takes place over a single school year and I felt the concentrated time period worked well in getting us to understand Ben as a young man and follow his joys and sorrows.

The second half of the book picks up after a gap of about two years and then follows Ben over a period of a few years as he meets Jace and reconnects with Tim. Whilst this section had a really interesting love triangle storyline, I became uneasy about the way the author handled the relationship between Ben and Jace. The story skips forward, often in years, and we get a snapshot of two men who love each other a great deal. The time slows down again as Tim starts to intrude in that relationship, but speeds up again later. This gave this section a rather disjointed feel. I also knew that for Tim and Ben to get their happy ending then something had to be done about Jace – I didn’t like that, and was even more unhappy about the way that aspect was handled in the story, mainly because I felt it tipped the book too far into melodrama. Plus I liked Jace a great deal more than I did Tim.

Even though I didn’t like Tim very much, I thought the author had taken a brave step in making him a very flawed and rather selfish man. Tim and Ben have a relationship that’s very much push/pull. Ben loves Tim and can’t help the attraction he feels, even when he also loves Jace. It was an interesting dynamic which I felt the author explored well. I never doubted Ben’s love for Tim or Jace and wholly understood how helpless he feels when faced with Tim and the sexual desire and consuming love Ben has for Tim.

Overall, this has been a difficult book to review because there was a lot to love about it. The character of Ben, his relationship with his parents and his friend Allison, and the way that he’s a genuinely nice guy who wants to do the best for himself and those he loves were all huge plus points for me. As was the fact that all the main characters are very well rounded and fully realised as people; the writing is excellent and pulled me quickly into the story. And yet, the second half was slightly disappointing for me, especially the disjointed feel of the narrative and the way the situation with Jace is resolved.

Something Like Summer is still a good book though and one I would recommend, with a grade of 'Very Good', to readers who like coming of age stories or stories where love is shown in all its complexities. This is the first book I’ve read by Jay Bell and I liked it enough that I will certainly be reading more of his books in future.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: A Rose is a Rose by Jet Mykles

I'm a huge Jet Mykles fan and so was thrilled when I saw that she had a book out in time for Valentine's Day. This story follows the lovely Carson who works as a entertainer in a Burlesque show, whilst also enjoying the attentions of a wealthy sugar daddy. When Anthony decides he's had enough of Carson, things stop going so well for the man and he begins to realise how much he depended on Anthony's benevolence and influence. Whilst feeling rather sorry for himself, Carson meets the superintendent of his apartment building, the taciturn Eddie. They're very opposite in terms of lifestyle, but somehow they work together. That doesn't mean that Carson can commit, not when he's got bills to pay and an expensive life to maintain, something he knows that Eddie can never provide for him.

What I found most surprising about this book is the risk that the author has taken with Carson. Let's face it, he's not a particularly nice man. He's vain, self-indulgent, selfish, spoiled, completely oblivious to the feelings of others and bursts into tears whenever things are not going his way. He's been brought up by a similarly selfish mother to believe that life should be handed to him on a platter, preferably by a rich man. It could have been so easy to not like Carson and to have no sympathy for him whatsoever. Fortunately we meet Carson at a crossroads in his life, and a point at which he's about to get his eyes opened to a lot of truths about himself and those around him. This means that we go on a journey with Carson, one where he emerges a much better person and I delighted in taking that journey with him. It also helps that Carson is actually a very engaging man. He's lively and fun - one of the main things that attracts Eddie to him - and I liked being in his head, despite wanting to smack him around the head a few times. That smacking happened to him anyway, and I got a great amount of satisfaction seeing Carson brought low, before he was able to pick himself up again.

In comparison to Carson, Eddie is rather overshadowed, but I think that is the point of the story. Eddie is the quiet one who provides unconditional support for Carson, and even allows himself to be trampled on in the process of Carson 'finding himself'. I would have liked more from Eddie, a better indication of his feelings and perhaps a little more background on him, other than just living and growing up in the apartment complex. Having said that, his quiet nature and steadiness was a perfect foil for Carson's flightiness and tendency for the dramatic and I was happy with the way the book ended, confident in leaving them to their HEA.

Another part I enjoyed reading were the descriptions of life in the Burlesque show, the actors and dancers who take part and the back stage drama, love and general cattiness which takes place. In some ways it's a shame there wasn't a bit more of that in the book, as I found it all rather fascinating. The character of Eddie's mother, and indeed Carson's mother too, were well characterised and gave me an insight into the heroes and why they act as they do.

If I have any niggles about the story, it's in the way that the story skips forward at the end. I would have liked to have been with Carson during that time and seen his development, rather than just get the finished product presented to me at the end. However, that is just a tiny niggle in what was a very enjoyable story.

Those of you who love opposites attract stories are going to be very pleased with this book. I found it to be a wonderfully romantic read with a hero who changes for the better because of the love of a genuinely nice guy, and would recommend it with a grade of 'Very Good' to all those who are looking for a great romantic read.

Buy this book HERE.

Review: Clear Cut by Alexa Snow

This book's a bit of an oldie, having been released in 2005.  It's one of those books I may have passed by and never read at all were it not for the fact that TQ has just re-released the follow on short Back Cut (as one of those 'classic' shots) and I picked up the short for review at Brief Encounters reviews, unaware it was a follow on.  Of course, once I discovered there was a prior book, I then had to read it, hence the reason why I picked up and read this book

The premise had real promise.  Environmentalist, Carter, is writing a book about the logging industry and the harm it does to the environment.  In order to get more dirt on the loggers he arranges to go to Oregon and spend a month with a group of loggers.  He's hoping to get their side of things and hopefully show them to be a bunch of selfish, money grabbing men who care nothing for the environment.  Whilst there he meets Nate, the manager of the site (or side as the loggers call it).  Nate hates him, and is opposite to him in every way.  Despite this, circumstances bring the two men together and Carter finds that things aren't as clear cut as he used to think.

The initial idea was really good. I like opposites attract stories and was looking forward to seeing the initial antagonism between the pair move into attraction and more.  Unfortunately, the story was just a little too all over the place in terms of themes, ideas and characterisation and this prevented me from being fully immersed in the story or the characters.  The story is told in alternating third person points of view of Nate and Carter.  On the whole, this worked well and allowed me to see the feelings of both men.  Out of the pair my sympathies ran mostly with Carter as he tries to get to know the loggers and begins to realise that these men are not the monsters he first believed.  This change is perhaps the part of the book which worked best.  Other parts of Carter were not done quite as well.  He carries a lot of emotional baggage, from the circumstances surrounding his divorce to the relationship with his family to his past as an 'eco-warrior'.  Because the heroes have such great difficulty in communicating with each other, these problems and issues are never really fully explored within the relationship dynamic which led to the vague feeling that Carter was a troubled man but nothing else really beyond that.

If Carter isn't fully explored as a character, then Nate is even less well realised.  He spends most of the book in a bad temper, grouching to himself, being rude and obnoxious to Carter and generally being unpleasant.  We never really find out anything else about Nate other than he's a logger and he resents Carter at first.  The change in his feelings towards Carter just happens without any real soul searching on Nate's part.  This meant that I never really understood what it was about Carter than Nate liked.  They begin the book as such opposites and yet nothing about Nate really changes by the end.  I also found it hard to understand why Carter would be attracted to a man who so obviously hates him.  There wasn't even much in terms of sexual tension or charge between them - or rather we are told that they find each other attractive, but I never really 'felt' it, if you see what I mean, as there seemed to be little or no chemistry between them.  Nor did I believe it when the men claimed to have developed feelings for each other.  This meant that I wasn't especially hopeful for a happy ending for these guys.

Having said that, the book wasn't all bad.  I thought the author did a good job of showing the dangers of the logging industry as well as the views of those who campaign against it.  Much of this was shown through the secondary characters of the other loggers.  The story wasn't dull by any means, it skipped along at a good pace and had some great action sequences.  My problem lies solely in that I just didn't believe the romance and as a result it left me feeling flat.

I've dithered about what grade to give this book and in the end I've gone for 'Poor', not because the writing is terrible, or that the ideas were bad, just that the romance was such a tremendous flop for me that I don't think I can recommend it.  However, I am only one reader out of many and there may be others who enjoyed this a lot more than I did.

Buy this book HERE.

Where am I?

In a staggering display of blogging sluttery, not only am I here, at Wave's site and at BE reviews today, but Tam and I are also hanging around at Marie Sexton's blog discussing why we love reading short stories

Join me and Tam and share the love of short stories.

Review: Pirates of the Narrow Seas book 2: Men of Honor by M. Kei

I’d had a mixed response to reading book 1 of this series, specifically because I’d never read an age of sail book before, or been particularly interested in boats or sailing. I’d got a bit lost with the technical jargon in The Sallee Rover but still liked the story enough to want to read Peter Thorton’s further adventures.

When we left Peter at the end of the last book he had converted to Islam, become captain of his own ship and is living in what is now Turkey and blissfully in love with his ex-lover’s brother in law, Shakil. As this book begins we are thrown into a tale of politics and intrigue as Peter and Tangle rescue an exiled Portuguese prince from the clutches of the Spanish and set out to bring him back to a place where he can take back his throne. On the way, they encounter the British navy in the form of Peter’s old ship The Ajax. Things do not go well for Peter when he boards The Ajax as he discovers that his resignation from the navy was not valid. Before he knows it, Peter is on the way to Menorca to be tried for desertion, converting to Islam, and for sodomy – which is punished only by the death sentence.

My feelings about this book were very similar to the first book in many ways. The writing was just as good, the descriptions vivid and the characters as well rounded. Once again, I struggled a little during the long action pieces, mainly due to may lack of knowledge of sailing and the number of nautical terms used. I know that this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because those who love sailing will get a good and accurate feeling for what is happening, but I found it difficult to picture the scene in my head, especially those parts where ships are facing off against each other. When the action scenes narrowed down to a small area (such as the gun deck, for example) I was able to follow that much better than the scenes where two or three boats are trying to manoeuvre into position and attempting to blast each other out of the water. Some readers will find these parts of the book breathless and exhilarating, but I got a bit lost at times and so what the author probably intended for an exciting action scene was a little dull for me because I couldn’t work out what was going on sometimes. Having said that the book excelled at showing the harshness of life at sea, especially during those battle scenes with its blood and casual violence and I got a real feel of the dangers for a sea man of being in the midst of such battles.

Where the book shone for me was in the relationships between the characters. I found I didn’t like Peter as much in this book as I did the first. This was possibly because he comes across as very conflicted both in his loyalty to the British navy, the Sallee navy and in his relationships with Shakil, Tangle and Perry. Peter is proud of being a captain and having his own boat, yet he gives that up too easily in my opinion – without even a fight – when it is discovered that his resignation from the British navy doesn’t hold water. He almost willingly goes to what could be his death just because of some misguided sense of loyalty to a career that has caused him nothing but trouble, and who was happy to abandon him to his death in the last book. This irked me no end, and lessened my opinion of Peter. Having said that, I thought the author had done a good job of showing Peter as a very flawed man, a confused man in many ways, especially in his love for Shakil and the feelings of attraction he still has for Tangle and Perry. So whilst I didn’t always like Peter (or for that matter Tangle and Perry), I could still admire the skill that the author had of eliciting those feelings within me.

This made this a difficult book to review and the rate. I’ve gone for 'Very Good' because really those who like Age of Sail books will love this one, just as they will love the first book in the series. There’s still much to learn about Peter – which I think is coming in the third and final book of the trilogy. Despite my reservations about Peter and my confusion about some of the battle scenes, I’m still interested enough in Peter and his life to want to read that third book and I look forward to it.

Buy this book HERE.

Should Reviewers be Friends with Authors?

I've seen lots of posts around recently where authors give advice to other authors about reviews and reviewers.  Usually these posts tell authors to ignore reviews of their books and if at all possible to maintain a professional distance with reviewers.  This makes me laugh a little inside because this sort of advice is nearly almost impossible to follow, especially in the close knit world of m/m romance where authors are reviewers, reviewers become authors and where everybody pretty much knows everybody else's business.  It also implies that reviewers are professional people.  That also makes me laugh a little inside too.

Let's get one thing straight here: I am not a professional reviewer.

I review for a hobby, for love even (although at times I wonder why I bother).  I don't get paid. I have no official accreditation for reviewing, other than perhaps my degree in English lit and a teaching certificate which perhaps shows I have some experience at 'judging' the written work of others.  My reviews are just my opinion.  Mine alone.

I'm getting slightly off the point here but what I'm trying to say is that in the small, insular world of m/m romance - when it's often us against the rest of the romance reading world - it's natural that various bonds and friendships are going to form between those who write m/m romance and those who read it.  Email, blogs and author websites mean that authors are accessible and indeed authors welcome emails about their work.  Or rather most of them do.  Well, they do if it's positive!

Just because authors and reviewers do form friendships doesn't mean that it's necessarily a good thing.  I've had a very mixed experience with author friendships and, over the two or so years I've been reviewing, have experienced the good and the bad side of being on friendly terms with m/m romance authors - and by friendly terms I mean more than just me sending a gushing email and them replying.  I mean that they have shared a little of their private life, or health, or day to day things and I have shared my own in return.

I have one or two very close relationships with m/m authors.  We email regularly, share triumphs and commiserate failures.  These people know the names of my children and hub and could have met me in person.  They are 'safe' people who I know will not pass on private information and who I can rant to when things get tough.  They know that I am a safe person too.  These people are precious to me and I count them just as much as a friend than anyone I know in RL.

I have several friendships with authors where we email each other from time to time, often to privately discuss books or the latest 'wank' on the net.  These people are also 'safe' in that I trust them not to pass my views around the net and they trust me too.  I enjoy the friendships I have with these people and delight in knowing the person behind the writing, as it were.

One thing I find with having an author as a friend and also being a reviewer is that I'm often put into a situation where I'm asked to review their book, either by the author themselves or through another site.  When an author asks me if I will review their book, whether they are a friend or not, I always tell them that I'm happy to review but it will not guarantee them a good review if I don't like the book.  I always feel a little embarrassed in having to spell this out, especially if the author is one of my m/m friends, but I won't compromise my reviewing integrity.  This has not always made me the most popular person and perhaps I should have refused the book for review for the sake of friendship.  However, I've always thought it ruder to turn down a book than to offer an honest opinion in a review.  Every single author has agreed that they don't expect a positive review but would rather I gave that honest opinion - good or bad.  Every single one.

As you can imagine, this has not always turned out to be a great experience for me.  One very popular author sent me their books regularly for review but stopped abruptly when I gave a lukewarm review to one of them - not a bad review, just one which didn't gush and fawn over the book because there were some things in the book that I didn't think worked too well.  Up to that point I had had a friendly relationship with this author, had exchanged emails regularly and counted them as a couple of steps up from acquaintance and into friendship.  Obviously I was kidding myself because this author has not emailed me since that review, nor sent me any more books and has even removed me from their Good Reads friends list.  They joined Twitter not so long ago and 'followed' nearly all my twitter friends.  Except me.

As a reviewer I have to separate the friendship I have with an author and the book they give me for review. I have to.  Otherwise I'm not being fair to the readers who look at the review to decide whether they want to buy the book or not.  If the review is less than glowing, it is not a personal attack.  It's not personal.  I am reviewing the BOOK not the FRIEND.  Whether you believe that or not, it's true - at least it is in my head.  It saddens me when authors grow cold towards me or cut me off entirely because I've been honest.

One final thing to say.  I've noticed that some authors think that the way to get a good review for your book is to make friends with the reviewer.  Get them on your side, as it were, and then they will give you glowing reviews because you are friends.  That doesn't work for me, I'm afraid.  You have to take your chances with sending your book to me.  If I love it, then I'll praise it and recommend it to all my readers and m/m friends.  If there are parts of the book which didn't work for me, then I'll point them out in the review.  Either way I'm being myself.  Often it's hard to review a friend's book because I know that someone I like and admire may be upset with my review but at least I'm being true to myself and being honest with them.

So to come back to my original question - should reviewers be friends with authors?  Well, I think it's almost impossible to avoid in such a small genre as m/m romance.  I personally wouldn't want to give up the friendships I have developed with many authors but it's sometime difficult when the lines between objective reviewer and friend are blurred.

What do you think?  Have you had similar experiences to me?  If so do share them.  Do you agree that friendships between authors and reviewers are inevitable?  Do you welcome author friendships or are you wary?

Review: Beached Hearts by Scarlet Blackwell

Now that I don't have so many reviewing commitments I'm trying to make a concerted effort to clear some books from my TBR pile.  I really ought to have a system such as first in, first out, but most of the books on the pile I've had for so long I can't actually remember when I bought them, only that they've been there awhile.  Anyway, Beached Hearts is one of those books.  It came out in July of last year and I seem to remember buying it shortly after publication.  Why I bought it is anyone's guess, but I probably saw a good review, or maybe I was attracted to the unusual Irish setting, who knows!  Anyway, after that long-arsed introduction let's get on with the review.

Beached Hearts is set  in a small fishing town in County Cork, Ireland.  As the story opens the Chief of Garda (the local police force), Conor, is mourning the death of a whale which washed up on the beach a couple of days ago and which he and the other town residents failed to rescue.  He's even more annoyed that the whale is now going to be the subject of a filmed autopsy by an eminent US marine biologist, Eli.  When Eli arrives Conor finds it difficult to stay angry in the face of his enthusiasm and good nature.  There's an attraction between them that Eli is keen to explore.  Having had his heart broken previously, Conor is not willing to risk a short term relationship with Eli.  Conor's constant rejection leads to bruised hearts and hurt feelings for both men.

Whilst overall I really enjoyed this book, I did at times also find it a slightly annoying read, mainly because of the character of Conor who needed a swift kick up the backside for the way he leads Eli on and then rejects him at every turn.  On one hand I could understand Conor's reasons for not getting involved with Eli.  He falls in love easily, and after being rejected so cruelly in the past the fact that he was guarded and wary of Eli fitted in with his character.  On the other hand, his indecisiveness was frustrating to read.  As this was pretty much the whole point of the story - whether Conor will get his act together, stop being defined by his past and the actions of others and accept Eli's love - then it made the book a bit of a roller coaster in terms of emotional content, so much so that I wearied of it on occasion.  I also found it hard to identify with Eli who throws himself open to Conor, only to be hurt and rejected in turn.  Eli could be seen as an optimist, someone who is determined to win Conor not matter the obstacles - and indeed this is how the author probably intended Eli to be viewed - but by the time we get towards the end of the story, I saw Eli more as a victim as he slowly changes from the bright, engaging man he is at the beginning to a clingy, controlling man by the end. Conor changes him, and not necessarily for the better.

In some ways the fact that I was so engaged by the characters, that they moved me to the extent that they did, that I found them in turn frustrating, sympathetic, annoying and appealing showed that the author had produced two well rounded heroes who were worthy of note.  This can be said of the secondary characters too such as Conor's friend, Aidan, his work colleague, John, and his mother, who was a study in cold maternal regard.

One aspect that I did think was handled well in the book was the setting of small town Ireland, where everyone knows each other's business and the influence of the Catholic Church is strong in people's minds.  The beautiful setting of a seaside town, and the difficulties that Conor has with the arrival of the film crew, were perfectly described with a nice balance of atmosphere and drama.  This was no idealised Ireland, instead accurate rainy weather and dismal winter conditions added colour to the book.  I also liked that Conor's job was an important part of the book and fit well with the setting of small town life.

I've been debating over the grade for this book.  It is, undoubtedly well written with interesting characters and a story that caught my attention and which many would consider very romantic.  However, it was also a frustrating read at times and the actions and development of the characters were sometimes difficult to relate to.  In the end I've gone for 'Very Good'.  This is the first book I've read by this author (although I have read a short story) and the quality of the writing was such that I would seek out other book by her.

Buy this book HERE.

Rambling on at BE reviews

Those of you who have missed my 'rambling on' posts should pop over to Brief Encounters Reviews today where I am rambling about cross dressing heroes.



See you there!

Our Some Sugar on It Anthology Edited by M. Rode

I picked up this anthology from TQ because I tend to like their anthologies. They often provide a good mix of stories and have a solid set of authors who contribute. It didn’t take me long before I realised that maybe this anthology wasn’t quite to my taste and also that many of the stories were very similar.

The general premise of the anthology is that of stories which contain some sort of confectionery or sweet food stuff. This ranged from chocolate, candy or even honey. This is all well and good, but I’m not wholly fond of stories where food is used as a sexual enhancement and since quite a lot of the stories revolved around a sex scene where food is drizzled over one of the heroes and then licked off by the other, then I spent most of the time reading those stories shuddering about how terribly sticky it all was. Those of you, however, who love stories where the heroes cover each other in food as a form of sexual play will probably like the stories a great deal!

Having said that, there was one story like that in the anthology which I did enjoy, possibly because it was such a fun and over the top scenario, I couldn’t help giggling at it. The story was The Candyman Can by Rob Rosen and tells of a steamy hot encounter in a sweet shop. The various inventive uses for the sweets such as candy bracelets and lollipops meant that I don’t think I shall ever be able to view those sweets in the same light again!

Not all the stories used sweets as sexual aids though and I found that those were the stories I enjoyed the most. For example, Favorite Dish by Cari Z was a follow on story from Wanting More, which can be found in the DSP Sindusty 2 anthology. I loved the original story and was very pleased to revisit the characters of James and Alex, and to get to see some of their HEA. In this story the sweet stuff was a caramel apple pie that Alex bakes for his friend Johnny so the focus was more on the couple and how they are coping with the fact that James has to work away so much. Great stuff.

Another story which is possibly my favourite from the anthology is Going to Eleven by Lee Benoit. It featured a young man, Chip, who has had a string of real bad luck with boyfriends and how he meets shy berry farmer Bartholomew. I loved the ever-optimistic Chip who was determined that each new boyfriend was ‘the one’. He contrasted nicely with the steady and sensible Bartholomew and I was cheering them (and the cat) on all the way.

As I said earlier, one of the problems with the anthology was that many of the stories were just very samey. Nearly all the stories are short – at about 10 pages or so – and each story involves at least one, if not two sex scenes. This left very little space for plot and most of the stories were structured so that the main focus was on the sex scene. This didn’t mean that the stories weren’t well written because many of the better stories managed to fit in enough characterisation for it to be a romance rather than just dressed up porn. One such story was Banana Ice-cream by Emily Moreton which told of two ex-army men who take a short holiday because one of them is suffering from a stressful time at work. This was a follow on from a previous short story by this author but I still got a good sense of how much the men loved and cared for each other.

So whilst I can’t say that any of the stories in this anthology were badly written, quite a few were easily forgotten. It means that I can’t wholeheartedly recommend this anthology to the readers of this site, and it gets a grade of 'Good', but some of you may still enjoy it, especially if you like sticky sweet stuff mixed in with your sex scenes.

Buy this book HERE.

Introducing...

As many of you know, mainly cos I've been going on about it on Twitter for weeks, I've been in the process of adopting two four month old kittens.  They arrived yesterday and are now starting to settle well into my already chaotic household - by which I mean adding greatly to the chaos!

I promised several people some pictures so rather than do anything book related, here are some pictures of my kittens.

Meet Fred.  He's the slightly smaller and more timid one who lets his brother take charge.

Meet George.  He's bigger and more adventurous.  He likes waiting until his brother isn't looking and then pounces on him and apparently he always gets first dibs at the food bowl.

Here's one of them together looking ultra cute.

They also like the laptop.  George managed to pop two keys off the keyboard this afternoon - eek!  Fortunately it mended.

So there you go.  My Kitties!

Review: Boystown 2: Three Nick Nowak Mysteries by Marshall Thornton

This review can also be found at Three Dollar Bill Reviews.

I really enjoyed the first collection of stories in the Boystown series and was looking forward to finding out how Nick got on in his new relationship with Bert. I was hoping that Bert would be able to soften some of the cynicism in Nick. In the end, that wasn't the case, but I still liked these stories a great deal.

Like the previous book, Boystown 2 is divided into three short stories, each one containing a mystery for Nick to solve. The stories are connected not only to each other but also with the three stories in the previous book through Nick's story arc mostly to do with the relationships he has with various men. Whilst I liked the mysteries which are all very well written and surprising, it's this overall story arc which kept me reading as I hoped that Nick would find someone to love. In the case of this book, Nick is torn over his relationship with Bert. He feels that he loves him, but is still holding back slightly and also still having sex with random strangers. Nick sees the irony in his situation with Bert, as the main contention between them is the fact that Bert is a closeted cop - the same situation Nick had, when he was a cop, with his former lover Daniel and what ultimately caused the split between them. Despite this, Nick is harsh with Bert, putting him an almost impossible situation, and my sympathies were with Bert on this as he struggles with his job and the demands that Nick places on him.

As with the last book, the mysteries were all well executed and realistic in that most of Nick's time is spent doggedly interviewing people and chasing up clues. Out of the three mysteries my favourite was the final one where things start to come to a head with Bert and Nick and also Nick's former lover Daniel makes an appearance. All through the book Nick is confused about his feelings for Bert, but things become clearer for him in this story and I felt that for the first time he knew what he wanted. Having said that, the story ends on a bit of a downbeat cliffhanger which left me feeling not particularly hopeful for Nick or Bert. I only hope that Boystown 3 is coming out soon!

Nick is one of those characters who is difficult to like at times, even as I sympathised with him. He's cynical and downright morose most and his life is made up of mostly dull detective work interspersed with sex. The sex scenes are almost cold in their descriptions, even thought what is happening is often very erotic. This is due both to my feelings of disgust that Nick would consistently cheat on Bert and also that Nick often holds back emotionally during sex, analysing his feelings even when with Bert. It's only in the final sex scene that I felt a difference in Nick and thought the author had done well to show the reader how this time it was more than just sex for Nick. The fact that I had such strong feelings about Nick, that I liked but also disliked him at the same time, shows just how much he got under my skin as a character, and also how well rounded he is. This was the case for the secondary characters too even if they are shown to us through the limited first person narrative of Nick.

Once again the 1980's Chicago setting featured strongly in the stories and not just in the descriptions of the clothes, the music or hair (I was giggling over the fact that one of the characters has a mullet). The spectre of AIDS is beginning to rear its ugly head but not to the point where anyone really understands what its impact will be to the gay community. The setting is also there in the attitude of the characters and the corruption and rampant homophobia. It meant that these are not easy stories to read and are quite bleak in places.

Some of the problems I had with the flow of the narrative in the previous book were ironed out here and really the only problems I had with the book were to do with the way that Nick tom-catted his way through the story. Having said that, I also appreciate that Nick had his reasons for behaving in that way - but that didn't mean I had to like them!

Overall, I thought this book was an engrossing read which contained a very flawed hero. I may not have liked Nick at times, but he was certainly compelling enough as a character to keep me reading the book. Those who are looking for a set of downbeat, hard-boiled mysteries or those who read and liked Boystown 1 will really like this book. I did and I'm giving this a grade of 'Excellent'.  I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Buy this book HERE.

Um....

Well you may have noticed I'm sort of up and running again here. I had hoped to slip under the radar all quiet like but it seems I do have some people who kept me on their blog reader and noticed there was stuff going on again.  Thanks for all the nice emails/tweets from people who have expressed pleasure that I've returned home, as it were.

Having said that, I'm not going to be posting here as frequently as I did before.  There was a reason I had to give up last year and I don't want to get myself into that situation again.  Besides, I also have a loyalty to my other site, Brief Encounters, where you can find me and Tam pretty much every day.  So the plan is to post a couple of reviews a week and maybe one opinion piece.  If I have any shorts that haven't been reviewed at the other site, then I may also do a Saturday Shorts post as well, but I'm not making any rash promises.

Anyway, that's all to say really other than I quite glad to be back in my own place again.  I know I tend to put myself about a bit all over the m/m sites, but I have missed not having a corner of the web where I can hang up my coat and get comfy.  It would be great if you could all join me on the sofa again.