This short story by A.J. Ryan, another pen name for Geoffrey Knight, author of the Fathom's Five series, is a pure fun and naughty sexy romp. Eighteen years old Tommy and his nineteen years old newly stepbrother Dash are all alone for the summer, since they parents left for the honeymoon, and they promise to stay together and look for each other... like asking to the wolf to look out for the sheep... oh yes, Dash will look good for Tommy, but his idea is not to protect the boy. As the author well says, the two boys are very similar... apart that one is blond and the other brunette, apart that one has blue eyes and the other green, apart that one is a wasp boy and the other an Afro-American from the ghetto... yes they are the same in the desire to get into trouble and get into each other pants. Both Tommy and Dash are into sleuthing and there is a mystery to solve: in a small college twon each month, during full moon, a male virgin is murdered. Dash wants to find the truth and Tommy wants to tag along... there is only a problem: Tommy is a virgin! Obviously there is a way for Dash to protect Tommy, watcha bet how much time will Dash take to understand what he has to do? ;-)
There is really nothing serious in this short story, and even if I had too less pages to fully enjoy these two boys, I can already say that Tommy is one of my favorite character of ever. I don't really know if he is really dumb or if he is the most clever men of all, since, in the end, he obtains what he wants and he is the one who enjoyed all the aspect of their adventures. Tommy is so out of every normal definition of man/boy that I sometime worried for him and his innocence; oh no, not his "physical" innocence, that I was eager to read when he would have finally lost it, but his "inner" innocence; he is so open and friendly that everyone can take advantage of him, but in the end, I don't believe Dash is so much different from Tommy. In the end, the author was right, Tommy and Dash are really the same.
http://www.eternalpress.ca/thedarcyboys.h
Amazon: The Darcy Boys and the Case of the Secret Skulls
The Rainbow Awards: Third (and last!) Phase: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/85035
All right, this was a very daring book. And it's the classical book that who read and like it, as me, then feels bad about liking it. Why? Because we are "programmed" to consider certain things as bad, and I hate it! I would really be able to read a book like this one and closing it with only a satisfied feeling, not guilty at all. Well, at least I read it, and I liked it, so, that is a step more, isn't it? Problem is the book has two sex scenes between a boy and a man in shifted form, a wolf. Actually that is not exactly true, Brian, the shifter, is actually a wolf, Saoi, who is able to shift in human form. As the authors well explain, he is not a werewolf, he is a faewolf; once upon a time, so far away that it was lost when and where, a fairy had sex with a wolf and a new breed was born, the faewolf. Saoi left his pack when he realized that his people were dying, not having a place in the world where they could prosper undisturbed. Saoi shifted in Brian and now he is living among the humans, but he is more a wolf than a man, and even when he is in human form he still thinks as a wolf, he actually lives like one, in his cabin in the woods, he has no one of the comforts humans usually wants. During the day he is a graduate student and TA for a biology college course, but during the night he roams the wood in wolf form.
Who is the partner for a man/wolf like him? Kiya is a half-blood Native American at his first year of College. He is very young, I believe barely legal, and he really gives me the impression of a modern Little Red Hiding Hood left alone in the clutches of the Big Bad Wolf, pun very much intended. Only that, in this version of the story, the Big Bad Wolf is the hero and the Hunter is the villain, and I don't think the coincidence are only by chance, I think the authors had clearly in mind that they were rewriting a classic. But coming back to Kiya, I don't want to talk bad about him, I think the way he was is the only way possible for his character to be in the story.
First, his Native American's heritage allows him to be at comfort with the woods, and with the animals who live in them. More, wolves are sacred for Native Americans, and so when Kiya meets Saoi (when I talk of the wolf I will call him Saoi, the man is Brian, and so did the authors), he actually thinks to have found animal spirit who will protect him. As I said Kiya is very young, and in his first year far from his family he did some bad choices; he is just out from an abusive relationship with Ted, an older boy who took advantage of him and above all who forced Kiya to have non consensual and non protected sex. This is, lucky for me, one of the think we only heard but don't read in the story, see how my mind works? I have trouble, but I can read about sex in shifted form, but I don't want to read about "real" non-consensual sex. Anyway, the trouble for Kiya is that he needs, and wants, a protector; Kiya is a submissive for nature, he is used to be part of a "pack", his family, and when he is out alone, far from them, he desperately tries to replace them with a lover, someone who can shelter him like his family does. Even if Kiya is 18 years old, he is still very much like a youngster, and I don't think this will change with him grow older; it's in Kiya's nature to be like that, see how he sucks his thumbs when he is worried, and being him like that, he is the perfect partner for Brian/Saoi, someone who thinks pack is the only way to live, and who actually misses very much one. Kiya and Brian give to each other what both miss and want.
So, the sex in shifted form... it's not free, it's entwined in the story, it's the only way this story could evolve. If you want to read this story, you have to read that. Yes, all right, you can flame me on the comment section, saying me that this is not romance, that this is not right, you can say everything you want, I will only reply to you: the story had its flaws, sometime Kiya was really too much of a unwilling teaser for his own good (the lollypop were almost too much even for me), and Brian was almost too good to be true, but a flaw was not the sex. And to add a very minimal flaw, but too prove you that I didn't read the story lightly, I even found an END EXCERPT at some point, probably an oversight of who sent the book to print (and BTW I bought my ebook copy, so as I found it everyone else can find it); since it was almost at the beginning of the book, it didn't leave me with a good impression at first, I was annoyed, I thought to have bought a less than high quality book... and instead, in the end, after having read it all, sex scenes included, I think, again, this was a very daring book. And since it was so daring, I can overlook to some editing faults.
Amazon: Faewolf
Amazon Kindle: Faewolf
The Rainbow Awards: Third (and last!) Phase: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/85035
Cover Art by Ponderosa
This is by this time the fourth book I read with this fellows, and so now they are for me as familiar as old friends. I know them and I don't need to find new hint to understand them, but, it's strange, they seem always a bit different from book to book. Jonty has always been the more easy of the two, in everything he did, job, life and love. Both Jonty and Orlando had bad experience in the past, but Jonty probably had the more traumatic experience, he was abused when he was a young boy at school. Despite this, he grew up as a good boy and with a joy of life that seems untainted by what happened years ago. And instead in this book, where he has to investigate in the murderer of the same two men who abused him, we discover that Jonty is very good in wearing a mask. A mask that, for a bit, he is unable to lift even with Orlando, who is the real love of his life.
Also Orlando changes a bit in this book. He has always been the shier of the two, the one who always worried for the future, who was always skittish to express their love through a physical manifestation. And instead now, he is very much physical, almost if he understands that Jonty needs the material assurance that a warm body gives. And he is also very protective, but always in a quiet and good way, even if he has all the reason to hate the men who abused Jonty, he realizes that he can't have an outburst of rage, it would be worst for Jonty than everything else.
As you all know, I'm not much for the mysteries, so, when I read one, I notice other things ;-) This time for example, my attention was caught by two different things: the setting, and with that I mean the various habitat where Jonty and Orlando move, like they restored Georgian cottage or Jonty's family country house. The author describes them in such a detailed way, that it almost seems to the reader to be there, living with them. The second thing I noticed where the supporting characters, that were as nice as the main ones, and sometime take the center stage; above all, Jonty's mother, Mrs Stewart and her husband, but also Jonty and Orlando's housekeeper, Mrs Ward, and finally, but not last, Rex Prefontaine and Matthew Ainslie, this last a character I would really loved to see having an happily ever after of his own.
I like this series, since it has a suspending feeling, it's an historical, obviously, but it is set in a time that it's not so far from us, and so we can identify in the men. How they live, how they think, how they love. Orlando maybe, is a bit too innocent, but I think he would be the same even in a modern setting, Orlando is an innocent at soul. And Jonty needs him to be like that, to cancel the ugliness of his past experiences with men very much not innocent.
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/les
Amazon Kindle: Lessons in Power: Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Book 4
Series: A Cambridge Fellows Mystery
1) Lessons in Love: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/41768
2) Lessons in Desire: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/50666
3) Lessons in Discovery: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/64111
4) Lessons in Power
The Rainbow Awards: Third (and last!) Phase: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/85035
I suspect that Charlie Cochrane is a little prude as her character Orlando; and since I like Orlando, don't take this as a complaint, it's only that Charlie Cochrane's books are not notorious to be overly erotic, but more subtly sexy. The first book in the series was almost chaste, with some hints here and there that something was happening between Orlando and Jonty, but not real explicit proofs. In the second book it was expected for them to move on in their relationship, to deepen it... now, don't think that they jumped in bed and replayed the Kamasutra, but well that time something happened.And in the third book? It's not in the nature of these characters to be daring, or at least not from Orlando's side, and so Charlie Cochrane adopted a trick that Monopoly's players well know, the "start again" penalty. And so at the beginning of the book, Orlando opportunely suffers from amnesia and Jonty has to start all over again his seduction play. It's indeed a nice play, and I enjoyed all over again the very prim and proper behavior of both characters, not only of Orlando; also Jonty is quite conservative: for example, when he finally manages to have Orlando again in his bed, he lets himself being swerved from his seduction plan for a coughing attack... and all end with both of them in their respective beds in separate not only rooms but even buildings... not exactly the behavior of a man overcome by passion.
But indeed Orlando and Jonty are right like they are, the nice stereotype of the two English professors of the beginning of the XX century, clever and full of knowledge, but maybe too often with their heads on the clouds instead of the ordinary things of life. They are allowed to being in that way since they live in a quite protective environment, the walls of Cambridge. In this case for them those walls are not a "prison", but their shelter, Cambridge is like a natural reserve where people like Orlando and Jonty can thrive where instead, outside those walls, they would perish. Some of Orlando's behaviors made me want to knock him on the head, but then I realized that I was thinking with a XXI century mind, and instead Orlando, and all his reserves, is the consequence of his upbringing in a very strict late XIX century family; we have to comprehend him and allow him to live in his safe world inside those walls, that are not only the physical walls of Cambridge, but also the mental walls he erected to protect himself, and that maybe are also one of the reasons for his amnesia.
I like also the new mystery they undertake in this new book; if it was another real murder, I would have suspected that Orlando and Jonty were like some unlucky charm, and I would have suggested to people to avoid them to not ending dead... And instead this time their investigation is aimed to resolve a more than 400 years old mystery, an investigation that is led through papers and legends, deciphering codes and making assumptions, some of them during a Christmas holiday spent with Jonty's family, they solve a mystery like modern families play at Cluedo. The mystery this time is more playful and less angst, above all since regarding people long ago dead and not directly involved with the heroes.
The new Cambridge Fellows Mystery confirms to be a nice and enjoyable book, with a very sweet romance, and two endearing characters.
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/les
Amazon Kindle: Lessons in Discovery: Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Book 3
Series: A Cambridge Fellows Mystery
1) Lessons in Love: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/41768
2) Lessons in Desire: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/50666
3) Lessons in Discovery
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You First by Kim DareThis is one of the most nice novella I read lately. And it's strange since usually I don't like BDSM story, but this one is a very slight shade of D / s play, so light that it's more a real "play" between the two men than a real lifestyle.
Luke is 23 years old and he is in love for the first time, even if he still doesn't know it; he is having a perfect relationship with Justin, an 18 years old boy he met in his usual hook up night club. They meet two days per week, on Wednesday and Saturday, and even if Justin in way younger of his usual dominant lovers, he is always able to make their encounter perfect. He is controlled and confident, he leads Luke with a skill that is almost too much for a boy his age; after sex, he is gentle and caring, and he is actually able to have a conversation other than during sex. He cares for Luke's ordinary life, he kindly asks how was his day, if he is tired or worried... Justin is perfect, too perfect.
Luke is a submissive, no doubt about it, but he feels inferior to Justin in everything, not only during sex. It's not right that Luke, older and more experienced, is always the first to come when they are having sex. Luke focuses on this point as the proof that he is not right for a man like Justin. If he is not able to outlast his lover during sex, he is not good to have a real relationship with him. With time, Justin will realize how inferior Luke is, and he will dump him. There are a lot of self-consciousness issues inside Luke that are boiling, and he is not able to overcome them; he is so full deep under them that he is risking the first and only good relationship he is having in years.
Justin maybe is the one that I found a bit too much unbelievable. I don't know, maybe it's only since, from my point of view, 18 years are too young to be so self-confident. Justin is independent, with a good work, a car, a good life, strong basis and positive attitude toward a steady and long term relationship... maybe too much for his age? But there are little chances that he is coming from a good and positive environment, from a supporting family that allows him to grew in the man he is now. If so, it's possible that he is so mature even at only 18 years old. Justin has that aurea around him, the aurea of a boy who is happy and comfortable with himself, an happiness that usually is something you haven't reached but it grew with you. And when the turning point of the story will reveal that yes, Justin is really an 18 years old boy, it's even nicer, since it will prove that he is not some aloof and detached sex machine.
The author is really good in rendering the feeling without making the story full of angst. Luke's issues are real, but he faces them with a light and funny attitude, almost all the time enjoying himself and being good for his lover. If there is a little pouting for not being able to last longer than Justin, it's soon forgotten when Justin cuddles him after sex. Overall the mood of the story is more fun than angst, but fun doesn't mean that the story is not well plotted and good developed; I find it's always a bonus when it happens in a novella, since I believe it's harder to plot and develop a good story in few pages than doing it in a full novel.
http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?s
Time To Do by Kim DareThis is one of the most romantic love story I have read lately.
Brennan and Rigby are best friends since forever. It's not clearly said, but I have the feeling that they come from middle-class families that probably lived in the same neighborhood and their parents were probably friends. For all their life, where it was Brennan there was also Rigby: schools, holidays and now college, always together and more or less in the same house or room. Even in college they are roommate. Brennan is the wiser and Rigby the happier. Brennan is gay and Rigby is straight. When Brennan came out to his best friend, Rigby said, cool, lets go eat a pizza. Rigby is so comfortable around Brennan that it's not important for him that his best friend his gay; his love for Brennan goes beyond their gender. They love each other so much, that it's almost incestuous to think that something could happen between them.
While Rigby loves Brennan like a part of himself, Brennan is like a brother, better Brennan is a part of his past, present and future, Brennan loves Rigby like a gay man can love another man. Brennan compares every man in his life with Rigby, and every man looses in the comparison. So when Brennan finds a list by Rigby, a "things I have to do" type of list, and he reads that his friend is open to the chance to have sex with a man, Brennan jumps in: he offers to Rigby to be his training ship. Problem is that Rigby doesn't even remember the list, and when Brennan offers himself, it makes Rigby sees his best friend Brennan with different eyes. Brennan has never talked about sex with him even if he has always listened to Rigby's past experiences with girl. Till that moment, Rigby probably has never ever realized that Brennan has a sex life, and that sex life is something Rigby has no part in. It's some side of Brennan's life that he doesn't know, and he doesn't like that: Brennan is him, and he has no right to give himself to someone else.
Now, don't get me wrong, Rigby is not possessive of Brennan in a selfish way; probably if Brennan had a steady relationship with a good man, maybe Rigby could be fond of the idea. But what he is learning about Brennan is about one night stands with strangers in the backroom of some bar. This is no acceptable, Brennan is better than that. Rigby has really at heart Brennan's good, even more than Brennan himself. For example, while Brennan is willing to let Rigby experiment, for the chance to have at least some fond memories, Rigby feels that it's not right for Brennan. What I liked most is that Rigby didn't jump to the obvious conclusion without thinking, he pondered his choice: Rigby had some expectation on his future, a family, children, things that, if he plans a relationship with Brennan will have to change. But again Rigby proves to be more than the happy-to-go guy that he seemed at the beginning of the story: in a way he is way more wiser than Brennan.
The story is a perfect example of two favorite gay romance subgenre of mine, "Friends with Benefits" and "Gay for You". Rigby loves Brennan despite his gender, Rigby is not gay, but he is not even straight; he could be bisexual, but he is planning to have a monogamous relationship with Brennan... so what Rigby is? He is simply a man in love, a man that wants the best for his partner, even if the best for Brennan means that Rigby has to renounce to something he considered important. In the balance of life, Rigby arrives to the conclusion that it's better to follow his heart.
You probably have understood that I'm very fond of Rigby. It's not that Brennan is not a good character, I like also his mix of pretty boy who has the potential to be a strong man; I like how he was always basically faithful to Rigby, if not with his body at least with his heart. I like him above all since he was able to inspire such a devotion in a man like Rigby. But as I said, I think that Brennan is not so wise as he looks, that he really needs someone like Rigby beside him, someone who forces him to face the truth and not to hide; if left alone, Brennan tends to shield against the world closing himself in a ball and not letting anyone inside.
As I said, this is a very romantic story. I like the setting, College, I like how young the characters are, how everything is still possible for them. I like the feeling I had at the end of the story, that this two boys will become happy and strong men, and that probably the life will be good for them.
http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?s
Amazon: Perfect Timing Vol 1
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First of all, strange events in the publishing industry I'm not aware of, made that the first book in the series was out with Starbook Press, and this second with Cleis Press. True, it's not necessary to read The Cross of Sins to understand and enjoy The Riddle of the Sands, but without it you loose one of the most interesting aspect of this novel, the fact that it's the quintessence of all the gay fantasies, and probably the result of a lively imagination fed with lot and lot of adventures movies and books. There is one for every taste in the Fathom's Five: you like them careless and friendly, like a homemade dish? Shane, the Western modern cowboy is your man. You like them exotic and fascinating, like an ethnic speciality? Eden, brazilian doctor is ready for you. Young and fast, like burger and fries, but served in a china plate? Will, the son of an American ambassador and part time history student, part time pro football player is on the drive through. Traditional and just with that spicy taste? Luca, Italian dongiovanni and former art model, ready to please. And last but not least, you like coffe and donuts? Jake, half mercenary half good hearted man, is always a right choice. All right, now I'm hungry, and Geoffrey Knight's novel is the only one that can satisfy all those fancy ideas. It's useless that I summarize the story, first since I can't do that without giving to much details and risking to spoil the story, and second since, truth be told, the story is classic, like all the adventure books of the last 100 years, there is something to find, there are the good boys who are always first on the place, and there are the bad boys who always follow closely. The good boys are doing that not for money, but for a bigger and worthier reason, and the bad boys are only interested in finding a treasure. What I probably liked best in this second book is that the adventure seemed more innocuous, there were less dead bodies around, and probably there were also more funny moments. I liked very much Will's scenes with his estranged father, and was very interesting in the apparently sweet love story between Jake and Sam, even if, actually, since it is soo sweet (meaning that without sex or anything sexual at all), I didn't understand if Jake has a fatherly interest in Sam or something more personal. My favorite from the previous book, Luca, has only a secondary role here, but I think the author is thinking at something special for him, and I had the strong impression that, the author himself, through the words of Professor Fathom, let the reader know that Luca is also his favorite. Eden and Shane have their own little story going, and it's Shane's turn to have a little sexy story on the side, as Eden had in the previous book; they are important supporting role, and the author is always kind with them, but they have not yet achieved the upper level like Will, Jake and Luca.
The Riddle of the Sands is a surprisingly easy and fast book to read, I thought to have just started it and when I realized that I was more than half the book away. For me it's a compliment, it means that I was so sucked into the story, that I lost track of the time.
Amazon: Riddle of the Sands
Amazon Kindle: Riddle of the Sands
Series: A Fathom's Five Adventure
1) The Cross of Sins: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/64007
2) The Riddle of the Sands
The Rainbow Awards: First Week results: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/81134
This is a strange story, a mix of paranormal and contemporary, but the paranormal element is dealt in a normal "way" that it seems nothing special.Christian is a pyromancer, a man who controls the fire, better who is controlled by fire: when his emotions are too high to be suppressed everything around him could burst in flame. The positive side is that he can control the flames, and so it is pretty convenient that he is a firefighter. Plus he is a very wealthy and handsome man, having inherited a lot of money from his dead parents. But he is alone, he doesn't want to risk harming a person he cares for if he is not be able to control his powers.
During a long and lonely night he can't bear no more to stay alone and he resolves himself to call for an escort male. Tanner is the guy who answers his call. He is young and cute. Like all the old classical tale on "call girls", he is doing this work to repay the debt of his dead father and to pay his college tuition. But Christian is eager more for companionship than sex, and the night ends up with him giving Tanner a blowjob and nothing else.
After few days, Christian discovers that Tanner is the son of one of his fellow firefighters, dead on duty. He can't possibily leave the boy continues to sold himself to live but he has to convince Tanner to accept his help and maybe his love.
Like Tanner has the chance to discover, Christian is a very kind and gentle man, but also very insecure: he is too conscious of his powers / problems and he can't see what he can offer to a man. On the other hand he is overprotective and treats Tanner like a child. Tanner is young and stubborn, and maybe he needs a fatherly figure, but Christian is not exactly the steady and strong character up to the role.
The story is interesting, not very original, but "classical" in a way that makes it like a warm blanket in winter; on the other hand the sex scenes are very well written even if not too intrusive, they are right and the right moment.
http://www.loose-id.net/prod-Pyromancer-6
Amazon: Pyromancer
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Cover Art by April Martinez
Fortunate Son by Fae Sutherland & Marguerite LabbeFortunate Son has a double meaning. At the beginning of the story I believed that the fortunate son was Ricky; he is the second son of a not so wealthy country family. His older brother died in Vietnam and his parents sold part of the family farm to allow him to go to College and so, avoid to be a conscript. But Ricky is still mourning Randall's loss, and instead of having his mind on the study, he thinks on protest and getting high, since when you are high the world seems better. At college he meets Charlie; Charlie is a lover and an artist, he has all those great ideas in mind and in a way, he directs Ricky's rage in something more useful than sulking. And maybe Charlie is the fortunate son, the one who is against something for principle and not since it touched him like it did with Ricky. Being not so involved, allows Charlie to be a safe harbor for Ricky, allows him to be the steady figure Ricky needs to not drift apart.
Ricky and Charlie are young and sons of their time; being always high, not thinking at tomorrow, but always living the day, they are like a lot of young people in 1967, the year in which the story is setting. But during the March on the Pentagon, Ricky and Charlie start to think that having a tomorrow, and having it together, maybe it would be nice. They can't have a formal recognition of their love, it's so far from their time that the idea doesn't even pass in their mind, but they can have it with words between them; being aware of the world around them, make them more aware of who they are and what they want in life.
This is a really nice short story, 2 sex scenes and a night and a day in the life of two young men; you don't know what it will be of them, but you can have the feeling that they will be together and happy; I like the easy mood of the story, the feeling that, even if they are living in a dangerous period, they are somehow shielded by their love, life seems easy for them and I can see a future behind the corner.
http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/Fo
Amazon Kindle: Fortunate Son
The Mask He Wears by Fae Sutherland & Marguerite LabbeThis is a short story that manages to be unexpected and surprising despite being short. Apparently the plot is simple, Ian has a secret crush on his boss, lawyer Stephen; being Ian his secretary and having the firm a strict no fraternization policy, Ian has never made any move on Stephen if not being always available for him and always with an eager to please smile on his face. Then at a office party, Ian eavesdrops another colleague asking Stephen about his wife, and Ian's world crashes around him.
Here is the unexpected element of the story. Usually the office affairs relationships among men are hot and dirty, little or not so little secret affairs almost always based more on sex than love. But Ian is a romantic soul, he believes in love at first sight and forever love. He wants Stephen, but he doesn't want him only for a passing affair, he wants him as his long term relationship partner, he wants him in full daylight.
On the other hand Stephen has always preferred to maintain his private life exactly like that, private. On the outside Stephen appears to be an independent and strong willed man, but in private he is insecure and not so strong. He always related to his friends advice and he was always willing to help them to resolve their romantic trouble but was never ready to resolve his own. Delay was the key, not facing the issue was the best strategy. Stephen's character is the other surprising element of the story, above all how different he is from what he appears; it's a nice surprise since he gives originality to the story.
If Stephen was one another alpha male boss, who is a boss both in office than in bedroom, this one would have been one another office affair story, nice maybe, but nothing more. Instead both Stephen than Ian are different from who you were expecting, they are both very emotional men, men that probably are not imposing and domineering, but that are lucky enough to find each other and to discover that, despite the difference in social status and career level, they have more in common than they thought.http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/Ma
Amazon Kindle: The Mask He Wears
http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/Ta
Amazon: Taking Chances
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Stone is a 36 yeard old historian professor. He is also an historical fiction writer and he has had a sudden success with one of his novel. He has agreed to do a on the road tour all along US and now he needs a personal assistant, cause Stone is blind.Him and his last partner have friendly taken different paths one years ago. Stone is quite independent when he is at home or in familiar places, but in unknow territory he is lost. So here comes Mason, an ex army soldier and then boduguard, who needs something more in his life. And Stone could be the right man. Since the first day they meet, it's immediately sex and fun.
Mason and Stone are the perfect pair, Mason just a little overprotective and Stone not so sorry to allow Mason the up hand in their relationship. Stone has not the usual behaviour of the man who wants to demonstrate that he can do all alone: he has no problem to admit that he likes to be cuddle and spoilt.
Even if this is a sip, it's pretty long, about 100 pages, but it spams for a little period of time and it's almost all spent in the bedroom. But the sex is hot and the characters are interesting. I like a lot how Sean Michael has decipted Stone and his positive attitude toward life.
http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?m
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Boy Midflight is a coming of age and coming out story without the angst that usually accompanies both this genres. It shows us a short period in Ashley's life, that moment in life when you have to take some important decisions for your future life, and with the help of some flashbacks it also goes back to his teen years. When the story starts Ashley is 18 years old and attending a performing art college in Canada. It's quite clear that Ashley is a bit confused about his sexuality, or better about him and his sexuality related to the world. Ashley is not new to the gay world, actually his first sexual impulses were for boys not for girls, and from his memories we also learn that he has had some gay experiences with boys his age or slightly older, some good, some bad, but he has also had some girlfriends in between, and when he meets Chris, his love interest in this story, he is with Rachel. Rachel is only a name, since she disappeared even before the story starts when Ashley dumps her to be free to flirt with Chris.
I think that basically Ashley is an everyday boy, with all the insecurities of his age and the certainty that only a boy his age can have. Ashley faces everything full front, with little second thoughts. He is also very driven by his body and desires, but he always pinks his perspective with the illusion of love. I'm not criticizing him, I like his attitude: for him everything is about love, maybe even the slight tingle of sexual desire that someone else would scratch without thinking too much. Ashley has an innocence and naivete that crash a bit with his older attitude: Ashely is living alone, far from home, and he is facing some very delicate and important issues, as what would be his future, and what he has to renounce to to be himself; Ashley is not weak, but he is fragile, since he hasn't yet built a protective shield from the world, and all his feelings and naked nerves are plainly exposed. It's easy to hurt him, but at the same time it takes to him very little time to heal from the wound: Ashley is not yet a man, but he promises to become a good one in a few years.
In the less than 200 pages of the book, we follow Ashley through all his life experiences that are often paired with a sexual experience: it seems like the turning points on his life are spurred by a boy/man, the little and the important ones, and the length of the relationship depends on the importance of the decision. It seems like Ashley takes with him, or gains force, from the men in his life and from everyone of them he learns something. Ashley is not selfish, he is really searching for true love, for the one who will love him forever like the prince charming he has always dreamed, but he is easily distracted by the glitter of a lesser prince.
I like the style of the author, it's young like his character, and the flowing of words are right in role for Ashley, you are inside his mind and you can see his development from boy to almost man, almost since, even if there is an happily ever after, Ashley in the end is still an 18 years old boy with all the world in front of him. The book is also quite sexy but again, I feel a "strange" innocence: Ashley has various sexual experience, from the simple kiss to the complete intercourse, but the author prefers to linger on the sweetness and cuteness of a kiss, sometime even replayed moment for moment, taste for taste, and skates over with elegance on the more intimate details. I actually didn't understand if and when Ashley looses his "innocence" or if he still had it at the beginning of the story... it's not actually important to know, Ashley faces every new relationship like it's the most important one of his life.
Amazon: Boy Midflight
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( Otter Fashion & Gay Top Model present the cover boys for Charlie David's book )
Jonty and Orlando go on holiday. It's a nice thing, and so it gives a new light to their story. And it's exactly the feeling I had reading the book, light, in both its meanings, the book is more easier and joyous than the previous one, and, even if the previous setting in Cambridge was a dear one to me, it had a sense of gothic and darkness, that in this new adventure you will not find.Even if at first Orlando doesn't feel comfortable to be outside the protective shell of Cambridge walls, he in the end arrives to enjoy the sense of freedom and the chance to be alone in a double suite with Jonty. They decide to spend in the Channel Island of Jersey, in a little beach hotel with an upper class clientele. During the trip and on the island, the reader has the chance to see a side of Jonty that I don't remember to have notice in the previous book: he is quite protective of his dear friend Orlando, and he, at the same time, pushes the friend to experiment all the possible joys the life can give them, and to share his past with him, a way to exorcise the nightmares that still prevent Orlando to fully love Jonty.
Even if in the previous book both Jonty than Orlando's past were presented to the reader, I really haven't had an idea of them outside the college. There were some hints on Jonty's family and some memories of Orlando's parents, but it's only in this new book that I have a whole idea of them, and at the same time, understand better the reason why Orlando seems unable to be completely involved with Jonty; I know, and appreciate, that the author is faithful to the period, and I understand that Jonty and Orlando would never be able to have an open relationship, but when they are inside their room, with the door locked, at the college, or at Jonty's house, or even there in the hotel, before reading of Orlando's reasons, I never really understood why he wasn't comfortable with Jonty's proofs of affection. There is that very first night, when Jonty almost implores him to share the bed, and Orlando stearnly refuses, that I would like to knock him on the head; but then he is so tender with Jonty and from that very first night Orlando seems to blossom to new life, accepting Jonty's dares that become every day more challenging and intimate.
There is obviously also a mystery, but I'm not good at describing it, I never know if I'm giving too much details with the risk to spoil the story... so I will let you discover it all by yourself, I will only say that it's good and with a very surprising ending.
Comparing the two books, I have to say that this second is way better than the first. In the first book both characters were nice, but they almost remained captive in themself, like the wall of the college protecting them from the outside world in a way were also shading them from the reader. Instead in this second book both characters shine, they are in the open, they walk in the sun, and in this way they are displayed to the reader. Also the sexual relationship between them evolves and it's more clear to the reader, but always with privacy: it's not necessary to give much details, when a word here and there is enough to give you the idea of the whole.
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/les
Amazon: Lessons in Desire
Amazon Kindle: Lessons In Desire: Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Book 2
Series: A Cambridge Fellows Mystery
1) Lessons in Love: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/41768
2) Lessons in Desire
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Jonathan Stewart, Jonty for the intimate friends, and Orlando Coppersmith are both young professors in one of the Cambridge's college at the beginning of the twenty century. They are at opposite in work and behavior, Stewart a literature professor and Coppersmith a mathematics, Stewart open and friendly, both with students than colleagues, Coppersmith aloof and always lost in his mind. They also had very different family, Coppersmith now orphan and with two very cold and distant parents, Stewart still surrounded by a loving family.But they are both rather young and so they click together. Jonty has no problem to admit that he has also a personal interest in Orlando, being him not new to feel a maybe not appropriate moving for another man. Instead Orlando is more hesitant, but not since he judges inappropriate that feelings, but since he never before has felt something similar for a man or a woman. Orlando was taught to avoid any personal emotion, to suppress any physical urges, so soon and so strong in his youth that he never allowed himself to disobey that teachings.
When Jonty tentatively tries to introduce Orlando to such physical contacts, Orlando believes that kissing and cuddling is the greatest extent of what two men can do together, not having any knowledge of what happens in bed between man and woman let alone between two men. But Jonty, even if in love with Orlando, can't be satisfied with simple being a little more than a dear friend for Orlando, and gently pushes for something more.
Just when Orlando is letting go a bit, a string of murders targets the students, and all the victims are men who were known to prefer the company of men. To Orlando's inhibitions is now added also the fear of what it could happen to Jonty if someone should know of their "particular" friendship.
The story is a good mix of romance and plot; the relationship between Orlando and Jonty has the lion share on the plot, leaving the investigation on the killing in second line, never interfering with the development of Orlando and Jonty's exploration of love. Even if the relationship reaches and deepens to a sex level, it's never in graphic details, always maintaining a sweet romance grade.
The setting is the same of the previous tale by Charlie Cochrane, the Old University buildings of Cambridge, with its all male atmosphere where women are only seen as intruders.
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/les
Amazon Kindle: Lessons in Love
Amazon: Lessons in Love
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Beautiful Boys is exactly what the title promises, a collection of short stories on young and cute beautiful boys whose main trouble in life is find someone to have a fling with, and obviously hot and naughty sex. Even better if after the sex there is also the romance, and a forever love story, it is always nice to see the pretty boys being happy together.The first story is about Dean, just dumped by his lover, who stubbornly decides to go with the ex on the previously planned holiday in Greece; more than an broken heart, Dean is nursing a frustrating lack of sex, and when he finds on a desert island an handsome, young and naked boy, there is only time enough to ask him the name and they start to have sex right away.
At home, Dean's brother, Neil, has a chronically fear of fate and destiny, and for this reason he doesn't like birthday parties: having someone wish you the best is like calling bad luck. But his co-workers have other idea, and during an impromptu party at Neil's house, they hire a quite clumsy stripper, Jinx, who, accident after accident, causes Neil to break a mirror: seven years of bad luck! but if Jinx is near him to help spending the time, and if they manage to not kill each other with stupid accident, well maybe Neil has found is better luck with the worst lucky man ever.
Jinx's childhood friend and former boyfriend Nathan is happy for his friend, but he is also a bit envious: also him would like to find his dream man, or better he would like for his dream man to realize he is there. Nathan has a crush on his roommate Gage, but the man is straight... or not?
And in the end, Nathan's friend and also Neil's coworker, Andy, is still daily fighting with his colleague Luke: they are both young and talented, and obviously attracted to each other, but instead of steaming off the desire through sex, they feed it with job's competitiveness. They have only to find the right occasion out of a job contest to realize that it's better to use that fire during sex instead.
Dean and Neil's stories are the two with a bit of plot, even if I wouldn't have minded to read something more on Dean and Nico after their first encounter, while I have some info on Dean and his past, Nico seems really to come out from nowhere, he has no past history and I had the feeling he was like a some magical creature born from the sea foam (but don't get me wrong, there is nothing paranormal in the story). Neil's story main focus instead is the bad luck of Neil and the even badder luck of Jink, like a mathematical theory, two negative give a positive and so maybe the two together are perfect. Both Dean and Neil are around thirty years old, and their lover barely twenty, so there is also a bit of may / december feelings in their stories.
The other two couples, Nathan and Gage, and Andy and Luke, are nothing more than a nice sex scene. All four couples together work just fine to give an idea of a bunch of beautiful boys with very few trouble in life, a supporting and happy family environment, where they can continue to live like in a forever beach party.
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Cover Art by Anne Cain
Play On is another short story by J.M. Snyder sets around some sport field, this time soccer played by college guys. Sean is a junior at College and also in the soccer team. He is one of the best player but then Cordero joins the team; it's not the competition that distracts Sean from the game, it's the man: Cordero, with his African American look and his cool behavior is like fire for a moth, Sean can't resist to be near the man.Quite daring for someone you don't know well, Sean makes clear his preferences with Cordero the first day, and good for him, Cordero returns the interest. It's hot, fast and often sex till first day, but only after practice; it seems that, other than a great sexual agreement, there is nothing much else between them: they have different friends, different interests... The mood of the story is exactly like that, it's not a romantic love between Sean and Cordero, and I'm not saying that they will have no chance to an happily ever after, it's only that, in this moment, no one of them is searching something more. Now the only problem is to have enough sex to satisfy the initial hunger so that they can also play on the field, instead of playing only out of it. Or the other possibility, is to find the time to meet also out of the practice day, so that when it's time to start the game, they are not horny like two teenagers who have just discovered sex.
Another hint that basically this is an erotic romp, and not a sweet romance (if sex in the shower, on the couch, on the kitchen table is not enough...), is that Sean's attraction for Cordero is very much physical; Sean doesn't even know what Cordero is studying, what he likes, what he wants, he at first doesn't even know if Cordero is gay, but despite all of this, Sean knows that he wants the man; Sean likes African American men, he even tries to melt with the slang, that is not his own, to have better chances at success. So Sean is more attracted to what Cordero represents than to who really Cordero is. But as I said before, for a sexy romp without expectation to be more, this is more than enough and leads to very naughty and enjoyable sex scenes.
http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/Pl
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I usually don't read reviews of book I have in mind to read myself since I don't like to be influenced in my judgment. But the eyes sometime caught something, and I'm true, I look out with more attention when it's a new author. So as soon as this book was out, I read a very negative review for Horizons by Mickie B. Ashling and I was a bit surprise, since from the blurb and the quality of the publisher, I was really interesting in reading it. What last more to me of that review was the critique on the lack of research in the specific matter, the College Football environment, and the too emotional behavior of the main heroes. I will give mine own opinion in both matters further on in this post. Jody is a 33 years emergency doctor in an Oakland hospital. He is out and proud to be and he was helped in being so by a supporting family, which not only accepted him when he came out but also helped with good advice and love all around. So Jody had the easy way and the only bump in his gay life was a fated love story with Rick, a man Jody met when Rick was already HIV positive and who died three years after their relationship started. But despite the heartbreak, it was nevertheless a good and fond memory, since Rick was a good man, a man who helped Jody in the transition from sheltered gay teen at home to gay man exposed to the big bad world. Again, Jody had it easy, Rick was a wealthy and respected personality of the San Francisco society, and Jody was not exposed to the harshness usually reserved to a young man coming out. So even if Jody is 33 years old, I have the feeling that he is a bit "naive", a bit pampered from life: it's easy for him to be out and proud, he has never witnessed the negative implication of it.
Clark is a 23 years old college student and gay in the closet. He came from a very conservative family, the fifth of five sons. His father is a jailor at Folsom, and he is the worst homophobic man you can imagine. He brought up all his sons in an homophobic environment where he described gays like the worst sinner and perverted people. When Clark realized that he has different feelings towards men, sexual feelings, he was not easy for him to reconnect it with what he was listening at home. He was still at that stage in life where you are too young to question your parents words and so he really believed that he himself was wrong in his desires. To add shame to shame, he has Attention Deficit Disorder and his father dealt with it with the same obtrusive way, ignoring it. Since Clark was good at football, the fact that he was not good at school was not a problem, it was all right to have a dumb son, if that son had the change to bring home a lot of money using his body instead of his mind. Again Clark has not courage to question his father's beliefs, and his ADD problem is another proof that he is wrong, in more way than one.
When Clark meets Jody, the young man has big behavioral problem. He has not self-esteem, he thinks that his only worth lies in his body strength, any possible damage to it is a damage to his future. The smallest injury is a drama, taking drugs to help him concentrate is not to be discussed. Plus for Clark is the first time he has the chance to meet a gay man, and for him it's like meeting with an alien. All right, at the beginning, and maybe even during their relationship, Clark comes out with some sentences that make me cringe for how homophobic they are, but I believe in that moment his Clark's father speaking, not the boy. Both men sometime ring wrong, like they are out of this world, but I believe that, in Jody's case, it's the way he has always had it easy in life, and for Clark's it's that I'm not used to speak with homophobic people... and I'm not saying that Clark is homophobic, I'm saying that he talks like one because he was taught to be like that.
It's true, both men are quite emotional, but it's not like they are crying every page or so. For Clark then I believe it's a way to react to his inner struggle; he has always to behave like this big and strong jock, he has a lot of turmoil inside, and he doesn't know how to come out from the trap he is in. On the other side, Jody only comes to tears when he has a very personal involvement, when he thinks that his story is slipping away from him; again I think it's only a natural way to react to the situation.
And then the big trouble, the fallacy on the timing of the Football season. First of all, I'm not an excerpt so I can use only the few I collect on the web. From what I read, the College Football season starts the Labor Day and ends at the beginning of December. The book didn't exactly says what time it is when the story starts, but Clark has a bone injury during a game (he is in full uniform) and he is stopped for a month; than there is a period he visits Jody after that month, then they starts to meet once/twice a week since Jody is tutoring Clark, and more or less at the third meetings it's Thanksgiving (end of November) and Clark says that his season is over. I don't believe there is a so big fallacy in the timing, it's possible that Clark was injured during an official game, he was out for a month, then started again but his team didn't make the finals, if so, it's possible that at the end of November the season is over for him. What probably it's not so believable, it's that being stopped for a month during the game season didn't worried so much nor Clark or his father. But truth be told, all the aspects related to Clark's life as football player, games, trainings and so one, are not so much detailed, not in comparison to other sports themed novel I read. Only once we witness to a game and never once to a training. So yes, maybe all the sports side of the novel could have been better, but I think it doesn't matter so much since it is not so essential to the story: the essential point is Clark's desire to be a professional player in a big money sport, the sport itself in this case is football, but it could have been baseball or basket or something else for that matter.
What instead I found unsettling at the beginning, but that then I think it makes the book even more original, it's the different point of view of the heroes. The book is not a total first point of view, it's like that only when it's Clark's time to think and speak, for all the rest of the characters it's a third point of view. As I said, at the beginning it's strange, also since I found that Clark was way more too overanalyzing. He spoke of himself as if he was another person, like he was the third point of view narrator describing the main hero. Since I started with an idea of Clark and a dumb jock, it was strange to "hear" him speak like that. But more on the story, I understood that Clark was in a coming out process, that he was analyzing his life and his beliefs to find the courage to do the right think.
All in all I think this is quite a particular novel, since it's not following the "normal" standard. To like it you have to put yourself inside the characters, trying to judge their action not by your standards but by their own. For example, Clark being a 23 years old student and Jody a 33 established doctor, it's something that lead you to believe them being at distance, in expectation and behavior; but as I said, Jody is almost "naive", and Clark is in a growing process, and so the distance is not so big, and it's almost a non existent factor. For normal standard this is wrong, but if you think like the characters it's not.
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/current
Amazon: Horizons
Amazon Kindle: Horizons
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Rover is an apparently perfect love story with an unexpected turn, and truth be told, the turn does good to the story itself since otherwise it would have been too perfect. Patrick is mourning the loss of his lover Douglas; it's more than a year that Douglas is dead in a car accident but Patrick has not yet got over it. He is still living in the city where Douglas wanted to live, far from Patrick's relatives; he sold their home but he has still the expensive car Douglas bought for him and the cabin where they spent almost all their holidays. Patrick is not doing anything to forget and if not for a nightdream during which Douglas tells him to move one, he would have continued like that. All right, now he had decided to move back to Houston where is family is, but, truth be told, it's not exactly his decision, it's once again Douglas' decision that Patrick blindly follows.
In Houston he meets Sean, a 26 years old boy who is still living as a college student while trying to end his degree. Sean is the typical South Californian boy, all surf and tan, but he had a bad experience in the past. His family sent him to live with a gay uncle and his partner, hoping they would had been a good example for him. And so it was, and now Sean is still again on the right path, but he lost some years; that is basically the reason why, even if between Sean and Patrick there are only eight years of difference, it seems much more. Sean is still trying to decide what he wants to do in his life, and instead Patrick feels as he saw too much and now he wants to be quiet and comfortable, maybe yes, still mourning his lover.
Despite being younger and evidently the lesser "steady", not in a financial way than in expectation for life, Sean takes the lead of the relationship: he asks Patrick out, he initiates the first sexual encounter, he is always the one to suggest things. True, Patrick is ready and eager to follow, but I believe that is the wrong approach with him. Little by little we start to discover a different side of Patrick, and also a different point of view on his relationship for Douglas. Douglas himself, the perfect dead lover, was really not so perfect, and even if he was completely different from Sean, the same like him he was the leader in their relationship.
Here is the turn of the story: Patrick tends to lie down with his partner, he tends to blend on the background letting them shy. Everything can be perfect if you are a rising star, if the light you emanates is strong enough to overwhelm the lack of sparks from Patrick's side. And maybe, if you fall in a comfortable routine, you can even continue like that for forever. But Sean is wise enough, despite the age, to understand that like that, Patrick is slowly dying inside; Patrick never talks about his interests and he is so used to be all alone with himself, that he also stopped to ask for other people's ones. What the reader at the beginning thought to be a wonderful and nice love story, is little by little shattered by the lack of communion: Patrick and Sean are perfect in bed, but out of it, what do they have? Patrick doesn't know almost anything of Sean, and Sean, so wrap inside his trouble, and yes, maybe even a bit selfish, that selfishness given by the young age, realizes that also him knows very little of the real Patrick.
It was really interesting to see how the author first built an ordinary and nice love story, and then destroyed it in a bit, like an house of cards that was built from the start upon unsteady fundamentals. But don't worry, this is, after all, a romance...
http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?m
Amazon: Rover
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Kyle and Travis represent two different ways to be gay. Travis is comfortable with his sexuality, but he doesn't feel the need to flaunt it; he came out to his parents when he was in high school, he had not too much trouble, probably due to the fact that he is from a middle class family and has always lived in good neighborhoods and with all the allowance he needed to fulfill every whims. Travis wants to be like all the other guys, he doesn't want to be pointed out. His theory is: if you are straight, you don't claim it at first encounter, so why, as a gay guy, he should state it beforehand? If directly asked, he doesn't deny, but if not, he doesn't willingly prompt the info.On the other side there is Kyle; from more or less the same environment as Travis, middle class family and good neighborhood, he faces his homosexuality at the exact opposite. If he could, Kyle would tattoo "I'm gay and proud" on his forehead. He is always first in line when there is something to argue upon, he is gay, vegan and extremist, and everyone who is not with him, is against him.
Apparently Kyle and Travis are a mismatch, but as the old motto says, opposites attracts. And I think also that their attitude toward the "gay" thing, is not so much due to a life turning decision but more to a personal behavior. Even if they were not gay, Travis would be the same a conservative type of guy, good boy and best friend, the one who has never given trouble at home, handsome but, truth be told, a bit on the average side, someone you would not pick on the crowd. Kyle instead is the dissenting type; since he is gay, he brings on the LGBT campaign for gay rights, but if he was not, he would have another reason to protest. It's in Kyle's nature to contest, and when there were no reasons, he probably would invent one.
Travis and Kyle are not so young, they are over 21 years old, but all in all, they are still boys at play. Their ways to face the life is probably the same attitude they will have in the future, but for now it's all a game. Other than being at the opposite in their beliefs, they have no real trouble in life. They are, maybe, a bit spoiled brats, but they are nice guys. Their story is not dramatic, and both of them, despite the differences, are good at heart boy, I envision for them a bright future, possibly together, but nevertheless good. This is a light and nice story of two young boys in love, with good sex, healthy and simple good sex, that comes before love but that obviously leads to it.
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Amazon Kindle: Off the Beaten Path
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Cover Art by Marci Gass
Mulligans, A Novel, is probably an example of when an adaptation from a movie script is better than the movie. And since the movie was good, you have an idea of how good the book is. I liked Mulligans, the movie, but I felt real sorry for Chase, the young gay man who falls in love for his best friend's father and who, at the end of the movie, walks away from the happiness he found with that family. It was sad, even if probably true, my romantic heart was really weeping for that little boy, since the movie didn't give him any hope. In the book there is an important difference that is completely overlooked in the movie. From this moment on I will talk of the novel, not of the movie, and my remarks on the characters are with that in mind; if you like the story, mind that it's different from the movie, and that difference is centred around Chase's experience, past, present and future.
Chase is spending the summer in the lake house of his best friend and roommate Tyler. While Tyler treats Chase has his best friend and maybe as his little brother, Chase doesn't consider himself at the same level as Tyler; it's not only a financial issue, even if it can't be hide that Tyler has another and higher money availability than Chase; it's also the way Tyler approaches life: he is sure, confident and full frontal, it will probably arrive the time when Tyler will realize that life is not that easy, but not yet. Chase instead has already faced that moment; he knows that if he wants to succeed in life he has to do that all by himself, and to add question to question, he is also wondering on his sexuality. Better Chase deep inside knows that he is gay, but he is not confident, and so he has never had the courage to face that notion with himself, and consequently, with the outside world. Chase is in the closet not since he wants to hide, but since he has not the courage to open the doors of that closet. And from inside the closet, he admires Tyler, since he sees in him all that courage that he has not. The important distinction with the movie, is that, from Chase's point of view, before joining Tyler's family to the summer house, he was not hiding anything to his best friend, since he still hadn't admitted it with himself.
At the summer house, to Chase's admiration for his best friend Tyler's attitude towards life, it is now also added a little envy for his family; Chase has no real family, his dad is long time dead, and his mother is inexistent. Basically Chase is alone, and when he meets Tyler's family, mother, father and little sister, they all, as a whole, represent the forbidden fruit. True, he can also recognize that he is attracted by Tyler's father, from an aesthetical point of view, but at the same way he is attracted by Tyler: Chase has no problem to admit that he likes his best friend, and now his best friend's father, in a sexual way, but there is no way that he can consider something with them. It's far from his mind. And so, at first, if he has the idea to "steal" something from Tyler, is not a specifically desire for a man, Nathan, Tyler's father, but more for the whole family, he wants for himself the happiness he sees.
From a sexual point of view, he is instead interested in Jarod, the African American boy who is Tyler's childhood friend. And this is another point where the novel totally diverges from the movie: there is not hint of sexual relationship between Chase and Jarod in the movie, Jarod is supportive to Chase only as a friend. Instead in the novel, Jarod is a main character, since it's due to him that Chase starts to question his own sexuality and desire, and his need to find a way out of the closet. Chase and Jarod have a budding relationship whose sudden abortion cause Chase to question what he wants in life. It forces also Chase to find the courage to come out, with Tyler, with Tyler's family, with the world. As a chain reaction, Nathan, Tyler's father, who for all his life has chosen the easy path to stay inside that closed, is suddenly faced with an alternative: he can take the same path as Chase. In a way, Nathan is taken advantage of Chase, like two men in a snowstorm, Nathan is following Chase's steps on the snow, and the harder job is the one that is making Chase. On this perspective, is right that neither Nathan or Stacey blame Chase for the breaking of their fake marriage happiness, no one forced Nathan to follow Chase's steps. If in the movie, the romantic hearts are disappointed by the failure of Chase and Nathan's love story, reading the book you realize that from the beginning it wasn't a love story; truth be told, if there is a real love story in the novel, it's the one between Chase and Jarod, and from this point of view, the novel gives more hope to Chase than the movie.
All in all this is probably the first time where a novel from a movie is better than the movie, and I highly recommend to whom liked the movie, but not as it ended, to read the novel, they will be not disappointed this time.
Amazon: Mulligans
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Cover Art (photography) by Matthew Mew
The lasting impression I have, after reading this book, is of young and sexy, of men that could be on a glossy magazine. It's an erotic dream and the author well know this, since she herself wrote that her characters can be an erotic imagery of both gay guys or straight girls. For gay since it shows two "apparently" straight boys that are hot for each other... it gives hope, isn't it? If the object of your desire is a straight man, reading about two straight men who realize that they can be attracted by another man let the gay guy believe that it can happen also to him, to find a straight man that can be "turned". And instead if you are a girl, it's sexier to read about two real "men" getting busy together; as the author wrote, the male fantasy about two women in bed is never played by lesbian, but always by the male idea of a beautiful woman. Evangeline Anderson also plays along the "gay for you" theme that already explored in "The Assignment": Maverick and Duke are two college students and jocks. They met as freshmen in the same soccer team and they went to live together as roommate. They are real buddy friends, and Mav learned from Duke to be more open and friendly: the son of divorced parents, Duke replaced his lost family with a lot of friends, of every shades, straights, gays and in between. Mav, coming from a conservative family, has never thought to be possible to be like that and he is fascinated by his roommate; from looking to him in a perplexed way, after four years Mav actually respects his friend, and maybe he also envies him.
Duke is also a very touchy feeling guy, one who seems unable to don't couple his words with a hug, a massage or some other touch. Being him like that with everyone, Mav got used to it, and he has no trouble at all if not that lately he is starting to respond. He is starting to wonder how it would be to do something more, to go a step further. They start to play gay chicken, getting always more intimate and daring to other to give on first. At first I had the idea that the "gay for you" character was Duke, it seemed to me that it was Mav that started to question their friendship and to wonder. But then I realized that there was something strange, Duke was always to eager to start the dare. I realized that he had planned a slow seduction of his best friend, and Mav was trapped, and he didn't understand when it happened.
It would have been a perfect plan if Duke wasn't so eager and he didn't rush exactly when he was near the goal... not a right move for a skilled sportsman. Luckily for Duke, this is the romance, and the author doesn't ruin the mood; usually the "gay for you" themed novels have a heavy mood, but not this one, it always remains light and sexy.
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/str
Amazon Kindle: Str8te Boys
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Hershie’s Kiss (Campus Cravings) by Carol LynneAnother little step in the Campus Cravings soap opera. We just knew that Charlie, the supervisor of the all gay KB dorm, and Jack, the retired Marine and now cook, were lovers. And we also knew that, after an hot encounter on the kitchen table, Jack disappeared.
Now Jack is come back, with a fifteen years old son! And Charlie doesn't know if he is ready to be a lover AND a stepfather... plus Charlie has the impression that Jack is ashamed of him: they go pretty well on bed (and actually on any other surfaces) but Jack never once asked Charlie out. And Charlie has had the same experience in the past, with his family, a family ashamed of a blind son... or not? Since Charlie, who was always convinced to be a pure African American man, discovers thanks to Jack, that maybe this is not the real story: green eyes and straight hair don't match good with a pureblood African American. And so Charlie finds out that there is a secret in his past and he needs to go back to Los Angeles to investigate; he also needs Jack's support, but the man can't leave his newfound son alone...
As always, in a Carol Lynne's book, there is a lot of sex, a free enjoyment of life and a big social issue; in this case it's the relationship between a blind man and his lover, but also between a single gay father and his lover. Both problems are dealt with a light hand, not much angst in this story, but as always it's rather enjoyable. And as always we have the chance to meet the next heroes in the series, Theron (the last "straight" standing on the Demakis brothers) and Michael.
http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?s=p
Theron’s Return (Campus Cravings) by Carol LynneIn the fictional college town where Carol Lynne sets her gay soap opera, being gay is the standard and straight men are scarce. And so now it's time for the only straight of the three Demakis to walk on the dark side.
Theron is the older, the wiser and the smaller on the three brothers. He is also the one who self-imposed himself the task to produce an heir for the Demakis family, giving that both his brothers are totally gay. On that matter, Theron is not totally straight, he liked men in the past, but he prefers to take his gay escapades in the closet.
When Michael, one of the residents of the gay dorm founded by Demitri Demakis, is raped, Theron volunteers to be his psychological help. But when the young guy starts to develop a sexual interest in him, Theron runs away: he can't be tempted. Only that for Michael this is a once more rejection he has not the strenght to overcome.
Michael is a young and friendly guy, but for how much big he is in body, he is very fragile in soul. He is also very young, always pampered by his family, and when for the first time he needs to walk alone, he is not ready and falls. He obviously needs a fatherly figure in his life, and Theron is just there, just that figure he needs so much. It's not very fair for Michael to unload a so heavy charge on Theron, but he can't avoid it.
Theron is not so clever as he seems. Being the older brother he takes upon himself the task to be the pater familias, but maybe he didn't realize that it's not necessary, since his father is still very good at it and has never expressed the need to be replaced. In a way Theron hides behind a finger, he tries to substitute his being smaller and less charming than his brothers, with being the wiser.
The story is pretty enjoyable, maybe a bit too simple, since in reality I believe it would not so simple to come out from all the problems (a rape, family pressure, moving in a new place, changing work...). And then I would really like to find a greek conservative family who has not problem in having all of its three son being gay... But well, as I always said, we don't expect reality in the gay soap opera by Carol Lynne.
http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?s=Y
Buy from Amazon: Campus Cravings: BK House
Series: Campus Cravings
1-2-3) Campus Cravings 1: On the Field: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/13379
4-5) Campus Cravings 2: Off the Field: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/16506
6-7) Campus Cravings 3: Back on Campus: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/23255
8-9) Campus Cravings 4: Dorm Life: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/30557
10-11) Campus Cravings 5: BK House
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Why, Why, Zed? by Leigh EllwoodIn a futuristic Toronto Zed and Nick are lovers. Zed is an IT genius and Nick a kept man; when they met, Nick was a struggling artist and since Zed was a wealthy man, he convinced Nick to stay at home and take care of him. But one year later, the initially sex frenzy is cooled and Zed is spending and lot of time at work, and even when he has free time, he prefers to spend it alone and not with Nick.
Nick is unable to make clear his uneasiness, and prefers to find comfort with friends and hobbies. But this is leading him astray and the future is not bright. An unexpected call awakes Zed from his torpor. He realizes how much he loves Nick and that he needs to do everything to make him happy and with him. A leisurely afternoon spent together will teach both to Zed than Nick that being happy is easier than expected.
A very short tale, less than 35 pages, but with a good plot and well developed characters. Plus there is a twist in the plot that makes the book even more original.
Very good and fast reading.
http://www.king-cart.com/Phaze/product=W
Making Magic by Jade FalconerTommy is a brat. You can't describe him with any other words. He is 18 years old and a freshman in college and he likes a lot to flirt with every male that caught his eyes. Straight, gay, they are all the same for him, the important thing is that they should be handsome and maybe a bit rough: Tommy likes to be ordered around.
When one of his friends dares him to seduce their professor, Tommy accepts, and then he finds the professor pretty hot, so he doesn't see any harm in doing so. Elliot teachs witchcraft and he really believe in magic, so when Tommy proposes him to help with some experiment, Elliot is very glad to find a so cute pupil. And when the sparks fly between them, Elliot is even more happy to initiate Tommy in the sex magic.
The story is funny and nice. Tommy is a very cute character, so young and bratty. He is careless and "friendly", truth be told also a bit slutty, and he is not afraid to claim it and to gain all the pleasure he can in doing so. But he is not a bad guy and this is a good thing since Elliot, even if should be the strong character in the couple, for me is the more likeable to be wound since he has an open heart and he is too ready to trust people.
Making Magic is not very long, less than 60 pages, but it is fast and smooth, it flows easily. Sure, you don't have to give it too much "importance", it's a light tale and it serves its purpose. http://www.king-cart.com/Phaze/product=M
Amazon Kindle: Making Magic
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You Can Leave Your Hat On is what the title promised, a naughty little novella on a stripper and his lover. The starting point of the story is one I already see in the past, a young and handsome College TA, Harlan, who has the hots for his even more handsome, a slightly older, College professor, Sawyer. The book respects the rules of a May / December romance plus the College setting with an Office Affairs theme... the shorten the thing, this is the classical romance by the rule, with the twist of being a gay romance. So I would say that it can appeal both to the old fan of the gay romance than to a newbie who wants to try her hand on the genre.Being Sawyer older and also Harlan's superior, he has all the trouble of the case: he can't take advantage of his position, he doesn't want to be involved with a younger man who can have everyone he wants, and plus there is also a little problem of appropriateness... Harlan to make the ends meet has a side job as a stripper in the local gay club, and Sawyer saw him at his workplace. So the point if Sawyer is gay is no more a question, but now there is the biggest problem that, even if Sawyer manages to move on the fact to have a relationship with a student, the fact that said student is a stripper is a big NO for the career of a college professor.
And so Sawyer didn't make a move on Harlan, stopped to go to that club, and forced himself to have a strictly professional relationship with the boy. Only that Harlan is not of the same idea, and as soon as he reaches his graduation day, he is also ready, willing and naked for the professor to take. Harlan has all the cockiness of his young age, he is really convinced that Sawyer is avoiding him only since they have a professional relationship to preserve, and he thinks that, as soon as that problem is over, Sawyer will be all his to take. In a way I like how daring and careless Harlan is, but this only proves that he is really young.
Being Harlan one of his students, it's not the only problem for Sawyer; there is also the question of his side job, as a stripper, that is not exactly a good visiting card to prove his willingness to commit and being exclusive; and then even if Harlan wants a real relationship, it's not said that Sawyer wants the same thing: he is arrived at an age where or you start to think seriously to commit, or you run at the minimum hint that there is a chance to be shackled... There is quite a controversy inside Sawyer, he is jealous of Harlan, mainly due to his job, but he is also skittish when it's time to commit and give something real to Harlan. Where Harlan is open and maybe careless, at least he has his mind clear and he knows what he wants... for all the years Sawyer has more than Harlan, he has not yet reached that level of maturity.
Anyway this is a novella, mostly and erotic novella, with a lot of sex scenes, hot and nice, and all in all it spans only two days in the life of our characters, so there is not enough time to develop a lot, but I have the idea that the author has something more in mind, since she introduced some supporting characters (Harlan's brother, Rhys, and Sawyer's friend, Macon) that have too much deepness to be only a passing spectator
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Amazon Kindle: You Can Leave Your Hat On
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Turner and Turner: One Good Turn by Amber GreenThis is the second book I read by Amber Green and for the second time I have the feeling that I'm plunged in the middle of the story, with all a past behind me that I have to rebuild collecting clue here and there and a bigger future ahead of me that I'm reaching at a fast pace and I haven't the brakes.
Kendall Turner (KT) is the spoiled son of a very wealthy family; I haven't really understood if his family his old wealth or mafia style, in a way or the other, KT is the black sheep, the gay boy who tried to loose himself in alcohol and the only thing he gained was a bad experience in jail, an experience that his rich father didn't save him from since he had to learn his lesson. After that big demonstration of fatherly love, KT decided that he would be better alone and took his separate way. He is now a quite complicated young college professor, with a strange circle of friends, not exactly a perfect life, but at least it's his own life. Only that someone decides to blackmailing his family using a video in which KT plays the unaware role of porn star, and the family decide to let the matter in the hand of Turner Kendall (Turn) Scott (yes same name, reverse order), the poor cousin who entered the family when KT was still a child and became not only his father's favorite, but also the protagonist in all KT's teen wet dreams. Turn disappeared for a long period when KT was still a teenager, but now it's again inside the family, and once again the perfect son for his father, something nor KT or his brother Dean manage to be.
I believe that the instability that permeates the book is a mirror of the instability that is KT's life. KT seems unable to stay put, he is always in an hurry, probably he is running away both from his family than from himself. Neither Turn, who is maybe the only constant in KT's life, is able to stop him, and KT has the uncanny ability to always end in some trouble or dangerous situation. KT is not exactly a weak man, he is quite clever and able to collect all the clues he needs, but his inner unsteadiness causes him to put himself and the people around him in danger. Turn seems to be a nice character, but actually I have the feeling that he is not fully developed, we learn something of important about him practically at the end, and we have not enough space to fully understand it and its implication: is Turn gay? is he in love with KT?
This is only a first part of a series and due to the open ending, I believe that also the second book will focus on KT and Turn, and so probably we will have time to better understand Turn.
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The Men of Smithfield: Gobsmacked by L.B. GreggMark and Jamie are in-live lover in a small town where everyone knows everyone. Problem is that no one had the courage to tell Mark that perfect boyfriend Jamie was cheating around and Mark finds out in the worst way, unexpected coming back home and finding Jamie screwing someone on their bed. At first Mark doesn't react but then, as in a perfect play setting in a small town, he attacks Jamie during mass in the main church ot the town... telling about washing your dirty laundry in public...
But the cheating is not the only thing that Jamie was doing to Mark, he finds out that his bank accounts are cleaned out and that they didn't pay the last months rent, and this means that Mark is also without an home thanks to dear Jamie. Among all this disaster the only rock for Mark is old friend Tony, the local cop and his first crush. Actually this is a point I didn't understand so well: apparently Mark had a crush on Tony when he was 14 years old and Tony 17. Tony obviously didn't act upon that crush since they were too young, but then, when they were both adults, and Tony was available, Mark wasn't. Worst, when Tony was in need of a friend due to some family issue, Mark instead started a relationship with cheating Jamie, a man that no one in their circle of friends seem to like. I can only think that Mark is a bit selfish, not too much mind you, but he is the type that first of all think on himself and what he wants and likes, and then, if what he wants and likes is in common with his possible partner, only then he is willing and ready for a relationship. Mark is the classical man who needs a caretaker, he is not at all the strong side of a relationship, he is not able to take reasoned decision, he tends to have emotional reactions. Tony is perfect for him, since he was young, he always takes his decision considering all the consequences, and he always puts Mark's interests in front of his own. Maybe I would like for him to be a bit more selfish (on the contrary of Mark ;-) ), and for example, interferes when Mark started a relationship with a man that was obviously wrong for him.
Anyway, as first attempt from a new author, the book is nice and easy to read. Maybe Tony should have more space to develop, but you have to consider that the book is only 140 pages long.
http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/more-h
Amazon Kindle: Gobsmacked (Men of Smithfield)
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Amazon: Smart Ass: Close Quarters
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This is a coming of age story: Kim is 18 years old and his beau, Dash, is 19 years old, so this is the classical story of love that feels too much and too strong, of difficulties that seem insurmountable, of the awkwardness to find a place where you can be together, when you are still living with your mother or in a dorm with a roommate. The fact that Kim is a gay teenager out and proud who is struggling to finish the last year of high school to finally reach the dreamland that is the college campus, and that Dash is a strange guy, all long trench and eyeliner, would make this already an interesting book, but there is something more.Kim is not exactly a gay teenager, he is a transgender female to male; the previous year, when he was still underage, he had a breakdown, but the consequences were not so bad, both his mother than his doctors understood that for Kim was not just an attitude, he was really a man trapped in a woman body, and they took the necessary step. Now Kim frequents a new school and both his friends than his family think at him as a guy. And he looks also as a guy, a pretty boy sure, but a boy nevertheless. And so when Dash meets him, he has no doubt that he is looking and a very pretty boy, one he would be interested to frequent.
Dash is a first year university student with a bit of a rebel behavior, but all in all not a bad life. From a wealthy family that seems to have not problem with him being gay, Dash is also quite handsome and so he has no problem to meet guys. Actually Dash is the perfect teenager dream date, all dark and fashion, what fashion define an emo boy, I believe. He has some bad experiences in the past, he lost his sister to illness, and even if not exactly explained, I believe there were some tensions with his family on his chosen path for the future (both as sexual preferences than professional career); but truth be told, Dash comes out like a very lucky guy, even maybe a little spoiled, his family fears to deny him something since having lost a daughter, now they pour all their love on the remaining child. Knowing that, Dash's first reaction to Kim's revelation that he is transgender is almost expected: Dash is not used to have things don't go as he wants, and he is used to have all simple and ready; probably at first he thinks that it's not worth to complicate his life with Kim. But then Dash is not a bad guy, and after the first shock he is willing to try.
Dash is a nice character, but most of the story turns around Kim. The plot doesn't develop Kim's struggle to be accepted as a man, when the book starts he has already the support he needs, now it's only a question for him to really understand if he has to go on with the change. It's not even something related to the outside world, if we arrive to the bone of the matter, Kim is attracted to men, so probably he would have no problem to find a man that would comply with his request in bed even if he was a woman. Kim decides to change since he is not comfortable with himself, he is not comfortable inside his body. It's not a matter of Kim related to the world, it's a matter of Kim related to himself.
As always Laney Cairo chooses a not simple plot, and deals with it with enough analytical approach to make it real, but also with enough romance attitude to make it appealing; while reading you are aware that this is an important issue, that it was not simple for Kim, and that probably it will be not even in the future, but you are also aware that this is a love story, and it's sweet and romantic, and powerful as only a teenager love story can be.
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Amazon Kindle: Circle of Change
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Cover Art by Pluto
In the best James Bond or Indiana Jones tradition, the Fathom's Five are five handsome, skilled and clever gay men working for Professor Fathom as treasure hunters. Almost half the book is spent to introduce us to the five:- Jake Stone, the newest member of the group, is a bit of a lone wolf; he is "for hire", means that if you pay him enough, he will find everything you want. Jake is not a bad man, he is only used to take care of himself, and only himself. His only Achilles' heel is young Sam, a street kid he shelters in his New York loft.
- 19 years old Will Hunter is the spoiled and neglected son of an American diplomat; he has everything he wants in life, but it's never enough. Will is young, friendly and careless and in this moment he has nothing and noone important in his life (well he is only 19 years old!) and so he can play like if life is a big game.
- Shane Houston is your classical western hero, hat and horse and all of it. Always ready for an adventure, he faces every new challenge full front, caring very less for his own safety, but as an old fashioned cowboy, you can always count on him when you are in trouble.
- Dr Eden Santiago is the high head levelled of their group; he seems always in control, always ready to face every events. The less playful of the group, he is probably the one that has less open endings in his life and so, for this reason, he is the more reliable of all of them. Everyone can count on Eden, and loving him will never being an hazard.
- Luca da Roma is the most beautiful of all of them, he is beautiful like an angel, and in fact he has a very special relationship with God. Luca is an orphan and he was raised by three nuns in a remote Italian convent. He doesn't know who were his parents, but, after all, he hasn't had a bad life. When he was still a teen he went in Rome and he became the muse of a lot of artists, on the canvas and on the sheet, and as they took from him inspiration, he drank from them the love for arts. But Luca seems never to be happy, he has quite a mourning attitude and he seems in searching of something that always slips from his hands.
The new quest for this five heroes is to track down an ancient holy cross, a Renaissance artwork who caused the death of his creator since it was framed as sacrilegious. To recover the artifact our heroes have to find two stone tables and an ancient book, the three pieces together will lead them to the treasure. But obviously they are not alone in this hunting party, and their enemies know well how to hit them where it hurts, and I'm not speaking of body parts.
The book is really good in mixing fun, sex and adventure, playing all around the World, from Tonga to Italy, from Turkey to England. Our heroes, when not running away from gunshots and explosions, are involved in sexy escapades along a swimming pool or in poshy five stars hotel. There is a bit of "naughty" talk during sex, but it's never too much to ruin the sophisticated feeling that permeates all the book, and, on the other hand, the fun and careless sex helps to balance the adventure part, so that even a less adventurous reader will find it enjoyable and interesting.
All five heroes are enough developed that the reader could care for them, but from my side, my favorite is Luca, maybe since he is Italian. I have no problem to say that I will look forward to the following book in this new exciting series.
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Amazon: Fathom's Five Volume One: The Cross of Sins (v. 1)
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If you have The Arrangement, you already know the main characters of this novel, Eric and Nick, and Ally on the side. And you already know what happened to them as adult. If you haven't it, this is their story as young students who are entering their adult life and have not yet decided who they will be. By Chance is the third book in the Courtland Chronicles, but it's actually a prequel, developing that little glimpse on Eric and Nick's life we had at the beginning of The Arrangement, when they remember how they met in college. So, sincerely, I will not spend time in telling what happened in The Arrangement, and truth be told, I would almost recommend to the newbie of this series to read first By Chance and then, if they liked it, to try also The Arrangement. I say so, since By Chance is mostly Eric and Nick's story, and it's sweet but with a doomed feeling on it.With Eric and Nick, Cat Grant plays the card of the contrast: Nick is a jock, and in the common imaginary, jock and college mean a dumb guy with only sex in mind. And instead Nick plays football only to have the full scholarship his family couldn't afford and regarding sex, Nick has the good example of his parents' love in mind and he is waiting for true love, like a true old fashioned man. On the other hand, Eric has all another example from his parents, and for him sex, and also all personal relationships, are something to not trust: Eric presents the same cold facade to both possible lover or friend. When Nick and Eric are forced to share a room in the dorm, it not takes Eric much time to involve Nick in a sexual relationship, and even to ask him for commitment, a commitment Nick is not ready to give. Nick is used to ponder every decision, to weight the pros and cons, and he is not ready to catch Eric's sudden offer; he probably doesn't understand that it's the last time that Eric behaves on the wave of his heart and not following a cold plan (but this is another story, the one you find in The Arrangement).
As in the Arrangement, it would be easy to say that Eric is the "cold" character, and Nick the one that is mistreated, but sincerely, this time I felt like the misunderstood one was Eric. This time we have a clear look on his family life and in all the events that lead him to be so detached and aloof; Eric is the classical character that needs love and again love in his life, and maybe someone that is able to move on to some of his up and down in mood. At first Nick seems to be able to be that one, he offers a friendly shoulder and the proof that a real relationship, between friends or lovers, can be good and a safe haven for a lost boy like Eric. But maybe Nick is too young, maybe he is not ready, or maybe also him still has doubts on what he wants for their future, and he doesn't understand that, to anchor a man like Eric, you have to be always near him; instead Nick thinks they can face this budding relationship like two simple boys who met in College... but Eric is not a simple boy. In The Arrangement, most of the guilt for the troubles in their relationship falls on Eric, here instead, I have the feeling that all of it started way before, probably in the time in which By Chance is setting, and the episode between Nick and Ally is one proof more: Nick probably is not the strong man that Eric needs to straighten his idea on love and commitment.
Knowing all this, the reader has a different perspective on the events of the following book in time: Eric is not the cold man who takes advantage of Nick's love, and Ally is not exactly a victim that enters an arranged marriage without knowing what is expecting her.
http://www.lyricalpress.com/by_chance
Amazon Kindle: By Chance
Series:
1) The Arrangement: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/30946
2) Strictly Business
3) By Chance
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I have some stories that are swirling in my mind that probably I will never fix, and so I was really happy to find this book, that in a way matches with an idea I had: a love story between an apparently "perfect" man, cultured and sophisticated and a "simple" boy, someone who has a special look on life, and a world all of his own in his mind.Dane is a part time janitor in a private college and a semi-professional boxer. He is a little "slow", he was always like that and people never tried to see the world from his eyes, and so he often comes out as dumb or stupid. But Dane is a very special man, with a big heart, and sometime the world is better from his perspective, since he seems unable to see the nasty things of life. A retired boxer, Charlie, took care of him since he was a young boy, and even found him the job as janitor, and through the boxing he is trying to teach him how to be independent and to trust in his own possibility. And so Dane is not a sad man, and he is not really alone, but he misses the companionship of someone special, a "boyfriend". Dane is an handsome man, and if he wants to find easy sex, he has no problem to be picked up in a bar; actually he is so trusting and friendly, that often people take advantage of him. But Dane, even if easily fooled, always realizes when this happens, and time after time, it's becoming more and more difficult to bear it.
Dane decides his boyfriend will be Noel, the little and shy man he always sees studying in the library. Noel is a very beautiful man, but he is crippled, due to an accident he had when he was still a boy, and his leg often causes him great pain. He is living a sheltered life in the care of his father, his only parent alive, but he is almost a captive: his father forbids him to do everything, always telling him that he is too weak. Even if his father is always there for him, he is not a loving man, he is often lead by anger and Noel is missing the kindness of a lover. Giving their background, Dane a boxer and an "experienced" lover, and Noel a scholar and a virgin, you could easily expect the development of their relationship, but here arrives the nice surprise: Dane being so simple and trusting, becomes Noel's protege, and Noel, being for once the one to take care for another, gains a bit of trust in himself. Noel becomes the master and Dane the pet, and doing so, they rebalance their differences in body and strenght.
This is not an easy book to like, there are some points in which my "inner" self was sending me warning alerts, above all, having Dane obviously some "troubles", it was right for Noel to assume the role of the Master in his life? To this my heart replied that Dane has his own perspective in life, and he is well aware of what is wrong and what is right, and he chose to submit to Noel, but still I can't help to feel as if Noel is taking advantage of Dane. The really strange thing is that I never felt as it was happening the opposite, never once I felt like Dane was taking advantage of Noel thanks to his body strenght; it's true, Dane awakened Noel to his physical desires, but from the beginning, he did it in such a way, that it was always like Noel was only waiting for something to happen, Dane never imposed him anything. There is a bit of "gay for you" in this book, since Noel is not really "gay", he is a newbie at sex at all, but how he reacts to Dane's body, makes me think that, as I said, he was only waiting for the right one, and the right one happens to be a man.
The are other minor things that didn't ring right to me, like as they often use the "Daddy" naming for Noel, or when Dane often dismissed Noel's feeling for him, and in doing so, diminishing their story. I'm also not sure that I like how the things evolved with Noel's father and the sudden "revelation" on his past. And truth be told, I always felt "uneasiness" during the sex scenes, but maybe this is due to what I said above.
Now I'm sincere and I said what made me uneasy in the book, but they are all points that made me think, they are not points that I didn't like, and this is an important distinction; on the contrary, I think that they are exactly the points that made this book so interesting. And there are also some points that moved me, almost to tears, especially when Dane was alone and was thinking to his life and how he would have liked it to be. Dane is a very special and wonderful character, and him alone makes it worthy to read this book.
http://www.loose-id.com/prod-The_Janitor-9
Amazon Kindle: The Janitor
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http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bott
Cover Art by April Martinez
Charlie and Joel were not exactly a perfect couple, truth be told they are at the opposite; they always fought, they didn't like the same things, they had different expectation in life, but for some strange alchemy, they were perfect together. Probably the stronger glue was sex, that was always terrific between them; when they couldn't agree on something, they always found a common path in the bedroom. Joel was a college professor, a bookish type, Charlie was an engineering and a jock, and they difference in body and life were respected in the bedroom, where Joel was happy to leave the lead to Charlie and to enjoy his dominant behavior. Also since he knew a different Charlie, a man who loved romantic comedy and that believed in love at first sight.And so they were perfect, but on Joel's 29th birthday, only 10 months after they met, Charlie died at sea, drowned while he was trying to safe Joel, and Joel, after a year, is still mourning his lost lover. To the reader it seems almost impossible that a man is so devastated after the loss of who you can hardly define the love of your life, a man who was only 10 months in the life of Joel, and if not for the paranormal turn, probably I would have considered Joel a bit too weak and silently told him to get a grip on his life and move one. And instead while Joel is trying to drown in the alcohol his pain, he sees a man who is exactly like Charlie, worst he is Charlie, since he has all the physical sign that were only of his lover. But this man has something completely different than Charlie, a ruthlessness in his eyes that Charlie never had, and Joel sees him killing with bare hand a woman. Now Joel is on the run from the man that he believed to love, and who said to love him back.
This is only a novella, but despite being short, I didn't find it rushed. I read it like the opening book in a longer series, and so it should give to readers all the details to build the setting and be prepared for the rest. An hard task in less than 100 pages, and probably in more unskilled hand, the love story would have lost space to the setting. And instead the relationship between Charlie and Joel is complete, it has not only a present, but also enough details to build a past, to give the reader the feeling of intimacy between Charlie and Joel, of their past common memories. A love story, a so small thing in comparison to the safety of the world, is able to distract the reader from what it's happening outside and almost forces him to concentrate in those little details, on the likes or dislikes of the man who was Charlie, on the regret of Joel to abandon his ordinary life, made of college lessons and family trouble. But in the end these are the real thing, and the paranormal plot that is happening outside, it's so distant, that it becomes ordinary and simple.
It will be interesting to see if in the following book, the paranormal subplot will take center stage in the story, and if it will be again a story between Charlie and Joel, since I don't believe that it's ended between them.
http://www.loose-id.com/prod-The_Valde__
Amazon Kindle: The Valde: Water
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Cover Art by Christine M. Griffin
This is a very sweet novella, a bit heavy in the angst department, but not without hope.Matthias is a fragile soul. A music student with a full scholarship for an US college, he left his home in Ireland, where maybe he was sheltered and protected, to come to a stranger land. And the first approach was not a good one, since Matthias obviously is not a man that can take care of himself against jocks and similar people. Matthias is as fragile in body and in soul, and after that experience, he ran away back home. But now is another year and lucky for him, another dorm: this time to welcome him there is Kent, a stocky man to the outside, but a gentle soul inside. Probably Kent is used to be judge from his look, and even if he is majoring in sport medicine, he probably passes for a man not so endowed in the brain department as he is in the body. Matthias and Kent are apparently totally mismatched, tall and lanky Matthias, small and tought Kent; skittish and hard to be near to Matthias, friendly and easygoing Kent. But thanks to the fate that put them together in the same door some days before the other students come in, Kent manages to conquer Matthias's trust.
Matthias is not a man who will learn to be independent, he will always remain a fragile being that needs a protector. We haven't to judge him weak, he is only a man who lives on another level, lost in his music and who will never understand that there are nasty things in the outside world. Matthias is a man who would be happy to live in a golden cage, if allowed to play his music. On the other hand Kent, even with his tough exterior, is a gentle man who will never take advantage of Matthias; Kent feels almost privileged that a beautiful human being as Matthias allows him to be near. Matthias is not beautiful in a strictly physical speaking way, his beauty derives by his fragility; and Kent understands that, if he wants to conquer Matthias' trust, he has to give the man the impression that he is not a danger, that he is not forcing the man to take step he is not ready to take. Giving him the feeling that he is taking his own decisions, is the way to hold him forever.
In a little way also Kent is fragile, he fears to be rejected; probably Kent is very self-conscious of his look, and maybe, even if it's not said, he had bad experiences in the past with people presuming he was tough and strong, when maybe Kent is only a very gentle man, and sometime he is the one who needs to be reassured. Yes, Kent assumes the role of protector for Matthias, but at the same time, he finds in Matthias' a soul mate, someone who is gentle and fragile inside as he himself is.
This is only a novella, a maybe it's a bit rushed in the conclusion, but all the first part, when Matthias and Kent get to know each other is very nice and tender. There is sex, but it is always more tender than erotic, more cuddle than anything else.
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/novella
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All right, this book was quite a challenge; I will not give up the story saying that Cody and Dante, the main characters in Reckless Seduction, are now having a good relationship, six months after the end of the previous book, but promiscuous. Here is where the author pushes one of my sorrowful button, I don't like promiscuous relationships... even more since Cody, in the previous book, even if a bit slutty in behavior, it was not so in the reality, he was on the contrary a virgin that practically seduced the much older Dante, a family friend, and at the end of that book I was expecting for them to walk toward the sunset in blissful harmony. And instead here they are, having threesomes like eating candy... and as almost to add weight to my "pink glasses" perspective on love, they are not happy. Since both of them seem to be unable to voice their discomfort, they continue in that path, but Dante is weary and he is begun to "feel" the age he has, and Cody is tired, at the beginning the novelty was nice, but now he would be content enough with only Dante in his bed.The novella starts with a live threesome, to continue with the memory of the first time Dante proposed to his young lover Cody to "experiment"; probably this serves to the author to prove that Cody had the chance to "taste" everything and so he is now able to consciously decide that he wants only a lover and a monogamous relationship. Deep down I know that this is right, thinking that young and virgin Cody was in a monogamous relationship with Dante since the beginning, and never ever in his life would taste something different, was really a too much "pink glasses" perspective; a relationship like that was fated to fail, since probably Cody, sooner or later, would have questioned if what he had was really what he wanted, and if not maybe outside there was something different and better.
So yes, my gut says that I don't like how the book starts, but my brain says that it's right and I like how it ends. Other than all my speculation on the almost "educational" behavior of Dante in regard of Cody's good, the book is also a way for Amanda Young to write a really naughty book, full of detailed sex scenes (3 long sex scenes in a novella lenght), so, if you like your sex hot, down and dirty, and a bit kinky, you have a reason more to read this one. Plus there is always the factor that this is a sequel, so if you read the first one, and liked it, probably you should read also this one. Be warned the readers with pink glasses like me, and take in account that, in the end, this is not a bad turn in a romantic story, only a temporary derailment ;-)
http://www.loose-id.com/prod-Reckless_Be
Amazon Kindle: Reckless Behavior
Series:
1) Reckless Seduction: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/41382
2) Reckless Behavior
Reading List:
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Cover Art by Anne Cain
In a previous book always by Fae Sutherland for Ellora's Cave, her main character was a boy whom second name could have been "Pollyanna", he was so naive and with a pink glasses perspective of the world that people avoided to wound him to not seeing him cry. One of the character of this story, Alex, is innocent and trusting like that one, but more than a Pollyanna story, this is a naughty version of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.When Alex meets Joshua, he knows that the other boy, even if only 21 years old against his 18, is way more experienced, he also wonders, the first time he finds himself in his bed, how many other innocent boy has lost their virginity in that bed. Yes, since Alex, barely 18 years old and for the first time far from home (even if "far" are only 40 miles) is meeting his fate as soon as he steps out of the safe shelter of his home; he is an easy prey for hungry wolves, and the first to spot him is Joshua. Joshua is an art student who "catches" Alex with the excuse of him being his muse and his absolute need to paint him... strange that, when Alex agrees to come into his lair, all thoughts about paintings disappear and instead Joshua begins the "hard" task to debauch the virgin... Never once in all the book Alex really models for Joshua ;-) Oh, well, it's pretty clear that it's not a paint that Joshua wants from Alex.
But now don't think that Joshua is a bad guy who passes from virgin to virgin (also since it's not so easy to find one, and when you manage, it's a good idea to not let him escape...): Joshua is really gentle with Alex, and their only troubles are those little silly thing that always happen between young lovers: why hasn't he called me? should I go to look for him? Almost all the troubles arrive from Alex that is still very young, not out with his family, and a bit self-conscious with his body. Alex is not a "beautiful" man, but above all he is still not a man: he is a boy and he has still all the insecurities of that age. There is maybe a bit of yaoi here (and the author even make a note on it), with Alex playing the blushing uke, unaware of his attributes (that most of all are the fact that he is virgin), and Joshua in the role of the gentle seme... yes, yes, Alex blushes, whimpers, pleases, but well he is cute and tender like a puppy, so I can't not feel a "maternal" instinct towards him... Ahah "maternal"? well, yes, Alex is not exactly the hero that arouses my sexual fantasies, but considers that Joshua, even if a bit more experienced, it's only 21 years old, so not much more adult than Alex.
There a little angst, with Alex's incapability to come clear with his family, but truth be told, it's soon resolved and the author even let us have a glimpse on Alex and Joshua's life in the future... another proof that Joshua is not interested in Alex only as his "muse".
http://www.jasminejade.com/p-7038-joshua
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This is a nice and creepy short story. Scott is a college student and the only gay guy on the dorm; he has a little crush on one of his fellow students, but probably he is too shy to say or do something, and so he is prepared to go through college in completely loneliness. Then his uncle sends him a calendar as birthday present, and Scott eye-dreams on one of the guys in it, Mr. October. Problem is that his daydreamings become even too real when at night Mr. October comes to visit him. But Scott's roommate, an homophobic jock, is not so happy for Scott.This is really only 16 pages so I can't say much without giving out the story. So let me only say that the story is nice and Scott's character is young and cute, but not a "nerd", he is probably only shy. And his crush on Andre could be something real if he only found the courage to make a move: Andre has not many chances to speak, but from some little details, I think he could be talk in try something with Scott, he is not totally against the idea, even if, I think, he can't be Scott's real love; he can be a nice college intercourse.
I like the twist of the story, both in Scott's relationship with his roommate (Scott decides to not be always the subject of his roommate's nastiness) and with Andre (at least they start to talk...); it could be interested to know what will happen between Andre and Scott.
http://allromanceebooks.com/product-lone
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This is a classical coming of age story with a bit less angst than usual. I'm really fond of teens story, I always say that in them I find an innocence and a sweetness that it's hard to find in a normal contemporary story. Teenagers are so eager for love, and the love so hard that it's impossible to not heart for them; problem is that I'm maybe a bit too realistic, and I always wonder if a story that starts when the boys are underage have really a chance to last.This is the main reason why I liked this book, since it spans almost two years in the life of Wes and Toren, from when they are still in highschool till when they approach their adult life, with college and work and stuff like that.
Toren is a cute nerd little student; he is obviously gay, he has written it all over his face but he is so worried to come out: his parents got divorced since his father fell for a man when Toren was 12 yeard old, and since then he lives with his mother; he loves so much his mom that he fears to hurt her with the truth and so he represses his feelings. But then Wesley enters his life and he can't help to fall hard and love is impossible to hide. Plus Wes has not a supporting family and Toren becomes not only his lover but also all the family he has.
Probably Wes and Toren have to grew too soon and too fast, but as I said this is not an angst story: even if they went through some not nice events, mostly their story is made of tenderness and cuteness; there is clearly a yaoi imprint in it, but not so much as other western yaoi novel I read. Wes is clearly the top in the relationship, he assumes the role of the caretaker, the man of the family, the one who goes to work and comes back home to his little "wife". But he is not an authoritative man, he is not an absolute top, he is only a real good boy; and it's strange since in highschool he had the fame to be a bad boy, the one born in the wrong side of the city. But for most of it was only a role he played as reaction to what he was living at home, with parents that never once supported him, even before they knew he was gay.
Toren instead is the classical bottom, all blushing and tears, but he is not weak, he only needs to find a bit of courage to come out, and not only in a sexual way. But don't forget that Toren is 17 years old when the story starts, he is still mostly a boy and he has plenty of time to grew; I like that he is not forced to take steps he is not ready to do only since around him people don't understand. And I think that Wes, with his protective attitude, somehow helped Toren to walk at his own pace.
There is a lot of sex, and there is clearly the fascination of a woman author for two young boys in love, another legacy from the yaoi influence; not only that, there are also some female characters in the book that probably represent the author herself (actually the female are the strongest characters in the book). But the sex is also tender, as all the book, and so it's very nice to read it.
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/current
Amazon Kindle: Wes and Toren
Amazon: Wes and Toren
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http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bott
In the beginning of the nineteenth century, Micah ia a young letter student from Harvard. He is almost near to graduate and his professors want for him to be published as a poet. But Micah is from a middle class wealthy family that doesn't see a scholar career like something worthy or important for one of their sons. Luckily for Micah he is only the fourth son, and so he manages till now to escape the pression from his family and pursues his love for poetry. A love that lures him to Wroxham, a little village hours far from Boston, where he hopes to meet Jefferson Dering, a poet he listened to a lecture at Harvard, and that he hopes could give him some good advice for his writing.When he meets Jefferson, he finds a man who lives like an hermit in a little village where no one seems to be aware of the great poet they have among them. Jefferson seems to be eager to have a kindred spirit to talk, but soon both Jefferson, with awareness, and Micah, without awareness, realize that there is a lot more than only love for poetry between them. It's also a physical love. But Micah is a very innocent and naivee boy, he has never had sexual experience before, nor with women or men, and the first reaction is to run away for this too much strong feelings.
Then they start a mail correspondence, first like two friends that talk about a common interest and little by little turning in a love correspondence. But Micah has to take some decision and there is also something of not human that binds Jefferson to Wroxham, something that has his rutes in Jefferson's family.
The story is very long and it's peaceful and quiet, it flows like a placid river. It starts slow and continues with a almost straight course. But it's very beautiful and romantic. The paranormal event is only a second line aspect, and this is for sure an historical romance. Reading it I remember some biography I have read of poets who chose to live alone far from the so-said civil society, to enjoy the nature and the simple life of the country. In this case there is also the matter of homosexuality, and Jefferson chooses a self-imposed exile to avoid the consequences of a sexual scandal in the scholar Harvard community.
Almost all the story is setting in Jefferson's cottage, and in a very small village, and both Micah than Jefferson come from wealthy family who provide for them, and so they live in comfort. But more than the historical accuracy of the setting, it's the sensuality between the two men that draws me, the poetry that becomes love stimulation, the words that become sex toys...
Beautiful cover that enlights you in one of the sexual game they play... you should read it!
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/a-h
Amazon Kindle: A Hidden Beauty
Amazon: A Hidden Beauty
Reading List:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bott
Cover Art by Anne Cain
The common theme of this anthology are men in drags, for different reason and at different level.About Something by Jet Mykles: Shawn is a cute college guy, maybe even too cute. He is an actor and he has always played in men roles, but now Roscoe, young director and college teacher, wants for him to play a female role. Why on earth he has that idea Shawn doesn't know, all right Shawn is a pretty man, but he is ALL man, he has plenty of ex girlfriend to prove it. Anyway, Roscoe is very good in prospecting to Shawn a big success if he does as he says, and Shawn agrees. On while on stage he dresses as a woman and speaks the words of a woman, his perception of Roscoe is changing: he starts to see the man in a different way than before, he is no more the cool young director who can give to Shawn the chance of his life, he is now a very handsome man that Shawn would like to know better. And so Shawn starts to "bring" home his role, he starts to dress as a woman even outside the theatre and every time is good to tease Roscoe. And Roscoe is easily teased, but he tries to resist, since even if Shawn is not so younger than him for age, he is new to the whole gay life scene, and Roscoe instead knows that he is ready for commitment.
Jet Mykles' story is light and enjoyable, there is not the usual angst of a college affair between a student and a teacher, Roscoe is not so worried to overstep his role, the real big problem for him seems to be that he doesn't want to awaken Shawn's desire for gay sex and then be dumped by the young imp. Shawn is a bit of a teaser, he is set to conquer his teacher and he really doesn't think on the future or on what it will happen if he manages to: he is focused on the moment and on the pleasure he can have; it's quite a typical behavior of a man so young.
Amazon Kindle: About Something
Sometimes, Life's a Drag by J.P. Bowie: Patrick is a young singer who audictions for a role in a drag show. The one man show is Kenny, a forty something drag queen who is all you can expect from a drag queen who passed his prime age: bitch and jeloaus, always searching for reassurance that he is still the only real queen. And when Patrick not only unveal to be a lot better singer than him, but also steals the interest of Ian, a police detective Kenny was set out to conquer, the queen becomes a real bitch. There is also a murder to resolve, but it's not so interesting as to read the bickering between Kenny and Patrick. Patrick will be obviously the winner, but I have to say that I really like Kenny: Patrick and Ian are a good couple, they are right together, but who has really the more interesting role is Kenny. And I really like that, in the end, the author will give also to him a piece of cake.
This is probably one of the best short story I read by J.P. Bowie. It's not so romantic as other stories I read by him, but the small world of a show business made more of sweat than glitters, is skillfully rendered; it reminds me one of my favorite movie, Chorus Line, and all the characters, even the minor ones, were so fascinating... I was so waiting to see what would happen between Laurence and Albert.
Amazon Kindle: Sometimes Life is a Drag
Women's Weeds by Kimberly Gardner: David is a young director who is searching the right actor for a Olivia / Cesario in Twelfth Night, and when Kieran, the young and very pretty man he met the day before, auctions for the role, David knows that he will be perfect. Problem is that Kieran not only like to dress as a woman on stage, he likes to do that also in his everyday life; Kieran is like that, one day he awakens and he feels a man, the other day he feels like a woman, and he dresses up to his feelings. Kieran really likes David, but David has to accept him like he is, since Kieran can't change.
I like this little story, even if for sure Kieran is a lot more of a character than David. David is a nice background role, he plays well along Kieran, but it's Kieran that holds all the story. Kieran is young but I believe he has already clear who he is and what he wants in life. And he is not all over David in a desperate way: yes, he would like for David to be the one, but I believe that, if something would happen against his story, Kieran would have the strenght to close this chapter of his life and open another one.
All three stories are of very high quality, probably all of them would live without problem as independent story, but put them together, and you have a really nice anthology.
Buy at 1 Romance Ebooks
http://www.mlrpress.com/ShowBook.php?boo
Buy at 1 Romance Ebooks
Amazon: Bravo! Brava!
Amazon Kindle: Bravo! Brava!
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Dev and Lee are both college students. Dev is a jock and Lee is not a nerd but almost, he is for sure a "straight" student like Dev: Lee is gay, he is part of the LGBT circle and he writes gay themed play for the local theatre group. When Lee's friend, Brian, is attacked and sent to hospital by two football players for the only reason that he is gay (even if later in the story probably we realize that Brian isn't a so easy character, and probably is not a 100% victim), Lee decides to vengeance his friend at his own way: he dresses in drag and goes to the pub where the local football team is celebrating a victory and hooks up with one of the jocks, Dev. If at this point someone is wondering how Lee could deceive Dev so much, disguising himself as a girl without no one notice it, well, it's simple, there are no clear elements to tell Lee from a girl, like a breast or gentle hips, if not his male attribute (that he can hide under a skirt), since Lee is a fox and Dev is a tiger. Out of Position is another of the anthropomorphic novels by Kyell Gold, and for me his best so far. As in the other contemporary romance I read by Kyell Gold, Waterways, the problems that Dev and Lee have to overcome in order to have their happily ever after are the same of an ordinary couple, but in this novel there is the bonus that they are both "furry" characters, with tails, and paws and scents... plus there is an obstacle more, they are of different breeds, but this one is not so important as the other big one, that they are gay. Actually at first Lee approaches Dev believing him a 100% straight boy: Lee wants to teach to Dev a lesson, proving him that he can have sex, and enjoy it, also with a man. Problem is that Dev non only enjoys it, he is almost addicts to Lee: Dev can't help to search for Lee even if they are at opposite; Dev is in college with a sport scholarship, he is not a perfect student but he manages to have his credits thanks to his sport success; Lee is the classical perfect student and he and his friends look upon the jocks at college with superiority, like something to suffer since they can't do anything else.
At first Dev comes out like the simple mind guy who discovers that he can enjoy also a male partner; he is not an homophobic, but he has never considered having sex with a man. But if you read with attention Dev's introduction, you will realize that he is not simple as appears; in a world where Dev has the chance to have all the girls he wants, thanks to his jock status, he has a discriminating attitude, he is more for the quality than the quantity. For Dev is not necessary only a willing body, he wants that his partners have also a mind of their own, he wants to be challenged. And so when he meets Lee, after the first shock when he realizes that Lee is a man, he is ready and willing to overcome this obstacle due to the fact that he really likes Lee as a partner, not only as a body to have sex with. Not that the sex is not important, and in the book you will find plenty, so yes, if you can't go through the fact that this is an anthropomorphic novel, be careful since you will have to face a lot of scenes in which the fact that the two characters have furs, paws and tails is clearly in display.
The book is very long and follows the two characters in a long span of their life: not only as two college students that have to hide their relationship due to the homophobic environments where Dev lives, but only as two young man, Dev as a professional football player and Lee as a sport procurator for a professional football team. Strange is that it's not Dev that realizes that living as an openly gay man is not so easy as you imagined in college: it's Lee that has to come to reality, Lee who always though to change the world, and instead now is living and working in an all-male world where gays are not supposed to be. It's Lee that is questioning his beliefs and what he wants to do with his life. What the reader thought at first of the two main characters, Lee the steady one with his future all planned and Dev the uncertain one with no real skills other than being good with a ball, is totally turned up: outside of the secured walls of the college world who has problems to settle down is Lee.
I like a lot how Lee and Dev's relationship evolves: even if they have to face a lot of obstacles, they are always together, and for together I don't mean in the physical way; for work Lee and Dev have to live apart from time to time, but they are always sure of their love, they never question who is the real forever love for each other. They can have problems, they maybe have to change idea on something they thought was the right thing to do, but never, never they think to give up to their relationship. I also like as Dev comes out of the story, how his character develops and deepens to prove to the reader that being a jock not always means being dumb; all in all who makes the most embarrassing and dangerous mistakes is Lee, the one who should be the clever of the couple.
http://www.sofawolf.com/catalog/product_
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Cover Art by Blotch
I first met Lucas and Nate in a short story released under Christmas time last year. It was a nice story, but as always when the two characters are so nice, I regretted the fact that it was so short. Now the author writes a full lenght novel for them and it's again very nice.Lucas is a young college student; since he was a teen he was always a lonely kid, with a very special relationship with his father, his only relative alive. But soon before he started college, his father passed away from cancer, leaving Lucas without any financial worries, but plenty alone. It was not easier for Lucas that first Christmas alone, and so he let the mother of his roommate drags him back home with them where he met her son Nate. Now let me say that Nate is the classical spoiled son of a wealthy family; he is gay but he has no courage to come out with his family and prefers to play the role of the brooding son, the dark one in opposite to his outspoken and sunny big brother. But outside his family home, Nate is not an angel, and, if I remember well, he seduced Lucas.
In this new book, Lucas and Nate decide to live together in the Village, Nate still pretending with his family that he will only share an apartment with Lucas since it's nearer to College. Living together at first seems paradise, but probably both Lucas than Nate have rushed things: Lucas is at his first sexual experience, and he is insecure and still tentative; plus he still believes to be nothing special, and he sees Nate with starry eyes, all the world turns around his lover, and when they are not together, Lucas feels lost. On the other hand, Nate probably believes that Lucas is just like him, so sure and strong, even if only outside his family home; he doesn't feel necessary to woo and reassure Lucas, since he really doesn't see any reason why Lucas hasn't to be a strong and independent man like him...
A lot of unspoken words between them lead Lucas to make a very big mistake, but I really haven't the heart to blame him in total; sure Nate wasn't cheating him physically, but in a way he was cheating the trust Lucas had in him. From his spoiled brat perspective, Nate didn't see that Lucas needed something more, not only sex and fun, but also the comfort and the reassurance of a family, the certainty that he has someone to come home to.
I like the story, maybe it has a bit too much of Christmas feeling in it (better Hanukkah), with a final scene that could be well into an Hollywood movie with James Stewart, but then, if every Christmas we sees that movies, there will be a reason, will not?
http://www.loose-id.net/detail.aspx?ID=8
Series:
1) Eight Nights: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/20110
2) Daybreak
Reading List:
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Cover Art by April Martinez
The first in the Between Friends series (even if not the first to come out) is the story of, as the title says, when Harry met Jason. Jason is a post graduate student; he wants to be a teacher and he is quite a dreamy guy: he dreams of prince charming and knight in shining armor. His dreams come true when he meets Harry. Harry is a police officer who finds Jason to a party: they were called over since someone spiked the beverages with drugs, and Jason is one of the victim. Unable to have coherent answers from Jason, Harry decides to take him home, and from the morning after their relationship starts in a very easy way, even if Harry asks to Jason to wait before moving the relationship on a sexual level, he wants to be sure and to wooing Jason a bit before... a man who behaves like a knight in shining armor is the best for Jason who willingly decides to be chaste for a bit.Before meeting Harry, Jason was living with Sammy in a friends with benefits relationship; they never took their relationship seriously since both Jason than Sammy knew that they were searching something different in a partner. But they are really good friends, and sometime they help each other in an almost stress relief sex; nothing too serious, some hand jobs and blowjobs, but never anything else. And when Jason starts his relationship with Harry, he maybe would consider to stop for good, but Sammy is having a lot of trouble with a stalker a man who treated him pretty bad and now the last thing he needs is to loosing also his buddy friend Jason.
As usual there is a lot of sex in the story, but in comparison to other books I read by Sean Michael, in this one the plot has a main role, and the sex is only a nice side part. Actually the interaction between Harry and Jason, and Jason and Sammy is quite interesting, since, even if Jason brings on his "odd" relationship with Sammy, I never felt that he was cheating on Harry or similar, above all since Harry was aware of all and very understanding. I'm now very interesting in reading Sammy's story, since both him than Jason are really sweet characters and Sammy in particular is cute and tiny, fragile but not weak, a really charming character: in a way, he stole the scene to both Jason and Harry. As for them, Jason is a little firecracker, good-hearted, open and friendly; Harry is the typical cop hero, strong, steady and caring.
http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?m
Amazon Kindle: When Harry Met Jason
Amazon: When Harry Met Jason
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Cover Art by Pluto
Even if the story is short, 47 pages, it took me so much that I would really like for it to be longer.This story is full of Angel. Pretty like an Angel is Dillon, an eighteen years old guy who was thrown out of his home when his father found out him being gay. Dillon is too young and unskilled to find a good job, and so all his dreams of college and bright future were abruptly ended and Dillon has even problem to make both ends meet. He has a seasonal job in a big department store and a second hand car to reach it he called Angel, since it's a miracle that the car starts every day.
At the store works also Gabriel, Gabe, called Angel by his fellow police officers. Gabe is a undercover detective that is investigating a string of thefts; when he meets Dillon, Gabe is sure that the young man can't be involved, he has plastered "innocent" all over the face. But Gabe is interested in Dillon for other reason than the thefts; Dillon arises in him all his protective feelings, he wants to pamper and cuddle the man, all the while debauching him, but without making him loose his Angel face.
I like the story, it's a classical little romp, with a strong alpha male, and you can almost see him puff out his chest to impress the little omega; Dillon is all tenderness and tears, but he is soo sweet that you cannot like him. I like also the mix of Christmas story and naughty speech, even if, all in all, there is almost nothing of naughty in the story, some kisses and a fast encounter in a public restroom...
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/advent.h
Reading List:
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This is really a sweet story; it's divided in three part, three different period of Clive's life: 1955 when he is a teen and the seeds of his love for Philip blossom in his heart without him realizes it; in 1964 when he is a young man and he can finally reach for his lover; and in 1974 when they are both adult men with a quite and warm love story between them.
Clive meets Philip, Mr Osborne at his prep school; Clive is 16 years old and Philip 27, but at that time Clive doesn't realize that it's love that pushes him toward his history professor and he pours out all his love in the studying. When he is 25 years old and a young professor in the same school, he finally is able to admit that all the feelings he feels for Philip are real love and that his feelings are reciprocated by Philip, who never once in the past has allowed to his love to be seen. Only when Clive is enough adult and mature to make a conscious and aware decision, only then Philip allows to himself to show to Clive another side of himself, a very personal and tender side. Ten years later we have a glimpse on Philip and Clive's relationship, lead with discretion and all the quite possible, in the same buildings which saw its birth.
I like very much the atmosphere of this tale, a very sweet romance, that, even if didn't show us any hint of sex, it's full of sensuality. The love is all in the little signs that Clive sends to Philip, and in the quite and gentle behavior of Philip, which is full of warmness even if it's not hot.
For me a very good first taste of a new author who for sure I will follow in the future.
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/advent.h
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