I was wandering a lot around Michael Thomas Ford's novels, never deciding to buy one since, first there were so many to choose from that I didn't know where to start and second I was worried to become addicted and knowing me if I liked one than I for sure I would have bought all of them. So I waited and waited and then in a gay bookstore they were all there, looking at me from the shelves and they are so pretty with those covers that I picked one. The saleswoman told me pick one random, they are all good and my choice was Looking for it. It's strange, usually I don't like stories with too much characters, I never know for whom to care for and always feel like no one of them has enough space. And above all, at least one of them has not an happy ending. And instead Looking for it made me rethink on my assumptions. It's true, it's the choral story of a groups of friends, all of them gay and all of them represents a way to face gay life. There is Mike, the bartender of the Engine Room, the pub where all of them gather. He seems the more steady of them, always ready to listen to other problems. But also Mike has his bad experience in the past and maybe he is alone since he fears to be burnt again. But Mike is a too good guy to stay alone forever and so enter Father Thomas Dunn, the new episcopal pastor of the S. Peter's Church, the same church where some of the above friends go. So, in a way, Mike and Thomas do the same work, they listen to people problem trying to forget that also them have their own relationship issue. Thomas was in love with a fellow seminarist, a boy he didn't have the courage to love and who died. Since then, Thomas's guilty grew so much that now he is convinced that his punishment is to be alone forever. What I liked of Mike and Thomas' story is that it was without angst; both of them new that it was not an easy relationship but they faced it with an easiness that made it sweet and tender.
The other known couple in the novel is John and Russell, who are facing the classic 7 years love relationship crisis. They love each other, but they arrived in a moment in life and in their relationship, where the other is granted, and you believe that you haven't to prove your love. John and Russell were since the beginning a strange couple, Russell full of joy and life, and John so quiet and shy. Probably this is the reason why they love each other, but living together is a play of balancing, and probably they forgot that. It will be not easy for them to find a way to stay together, but what I liked of their story is that they never stopped to love each other.
Then there is Simon, one of the best character of all. He is 65 years old and recently "widower". His more than 40 life partner died of cancer the year before, and Simon is wondering why he didn't die with him. He has friends, a place to stay but he is alone, and at his age he doesn't believe possible to have a second chance in love. And even if it was, how will he recognize it? He was out of the dating game for so much that the rules are all changed, and he doesn't know if he likes how they are playing now.
The last two men, but not the least important, are Stephen and Greg. In a way they are similar, they both are in the closet but in the opposite way: Greg came out simply living his family and all he knew to live in another city, among strangers who accept him for who he is and not for who they want him to be. Stephen instead is out with his friends but completely in the closet with his family, and living one door next the other it's quite impossible to have a normal relationship. So both of them are limiting their relationship to one night standings, believing in this way to quench the thirst of love they have, and instead gathering so much need inside that sooner or later they will explode.
On a side note there is also the story of Pete, probably the sadder of all. A man who was raised believing that being gay is the worst evil of all, and that has no way to understand his needs and feelings. The only way to claim them is with violence. Even if he is not a "good" guy, I think the author considered him another of his boys, another way to live being gay, I wish this one being the less chosen, but I know that in reality, for many people is the only one. I can't hate Pete, neither after knowing what he did, I can only feel a great pain for him.
On a closing note, Looking for It is a wonderful romance, and it's also pretty sexy, something I seldom have the chance to find in a more mainstream novel. The sex scenes are all good, even the one that serves to the author to prove something, they are enough but not too much, and above all, they are more romantic than free.
And now my only problem is how to choose the next one among the Michael Thomas Ford's novels...
Amazon: Looking For It
Michael Thomas Ford's In the Spotlight post: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/42362
The Rainbow Awards: Third (and last!) Phase: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/85035
Cover Art by Steve Walker
I was all for expecting to like this story, I'm not new to Jet Mykles' pretty boys and her work, where western romance blends with yaoi without being overtly influenced. And I was expecting for it to be fun and light. But I wasn't expecting to be surprise to the turn of event and for the reversed role of the main characters. Yes, I'm true, I was expecting the usual "gay for you" book where a strong alpha male, and supposedly straight, falls in love, after having fallen in lust, for a pretty young gay boy, and then happily ever after. So see, nothing complicated and everything good.But no, the story is not so "straight" (pun intended) as I was expecting. First of all Kevin, the "straight" man, is not an alpha male, far from it. He is more like a lost puppy with melting "puppy" eyes and all. And no, he will not play the role of the sheep fallen in the clutches of the Big Bad Wolf, or of the closeted shy gay boy who was only expecting to be freed by gay superhero. Kevin has all a role, and philosophy of his own. I think Kevin is super-gender, meaning that he likes girls, but has not issue to admit that he can like also boys. Basically Kevin is a man (boy) who doesn't like to take the lead in life, in relationship and in bed. He prefers to be the leaded. So yes, it's entirely possible that Kevin could find a strong girl who will command him in bed, and life, but it's more probable that the role is taken by a man.
And here the second surprise, the above said lead man, Justin. In the conventional scheme of straight Alpha Male meets gay omega boy, Justin has to be your typical flamboyant gay boy, young and pretty. But we have already said that Kevin doesn't fit his conventional role and so doesn't Justin. Justin is older than Kevin, and yes, maybe he is a bit flamboyant, but not so much to outshine poor Kevin. I think Justin was like that when he was 20-25, but not that he is more than 30, he has arrived to a moment in his life when he is looking for Mr Right. And yes, maybe in his mind Mr Right is an older, and wealthier, man, but love has other idea. When Justin meets Kevin by chance, on the street, he is suddenly smitten, and in love.
At first Justin comes out so strongly, that the reader has a bit of trouble to judge Kevin. From the blurb, I wasn't really thinking to like Kevin, I don't know, I had this feeling that Kevin was taking advantage of "poor" Justin. But then, as I said, the reader has the chance to see that basically Kevin is a good boy, that he really doesn't want to hurt Justin in any way, and truth be told, Justin seems a man who is more than capable to look after himself. There is a fine play of balancing, Kevin is the one who needs something by Justin, but Justin is the one who has probably the strongest will, and so I have never felt as Kevin was wronging him.
It's also a pretty sexy story, not so much and so soon as I was, again, expecting. At first it's more kissing and cuddling, more sweet than sexy, but when the sexy part arrives, it's good and fun. Even if Kevin is shy in life, he is not shy in bed, not at all; I have the feeling that Kevin has arrived first to understand his sexual desires than his life-choice ones.
http://www.loose-id.com/Just-for-You.asp
The Rainbow Awards: Third (and last!) Phase: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/85035
Cover Art by P.L. Nunn
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
You can't never forget your first love...Paul is the perfect All American Boy of a small town USA. Quarterback, Golden Boy, wealthy and handsome, he was the dream of every girls in high school, but also of one boy, Randy. Randy was from the wrong side of the city, he was a bit of a goth and plus he was also gay. Not that he could do nothing in the small town he lived, other than dreaming about Paul. And he would never imagine that also Paul dreamed about him.
But eighteen years old are too few to have the courage to do something and so Randy chose to leave the town and made a own and successful career in the IT department. And Paul returned back to home after college to be a lawyer in his father firm and to become the perfect city major with a barbie doll girlfriend.
Now twenty years later they meet again at the school reunion. Randy is a millionaire businessman who admitted to be gay to colleagues and friends, but not with his mother, his only live relatives. And Paul is still denying his homosexuality. But when Paul meet Randy, denying is not more an option, and Paul needs to find the courage to coming out with his parents, but also with all the small town, and Randy with his mother. But a little surprise is waiting our two heroes.
This one is maybe the most romantic novel I have read by Shayla Kersten. It's a very classical romance, with all the little things that make squeeze a romance lover. And then I always have had a thing for first love turning in everlasting love. Plus both Paul than Randy are very nice characters, and Randy is perfect in his behaviour, he knows when to push Paul, but also when to stepback and give him enough room to make his own choices. My only regret is that this couple has to wait twenty years to be together, but maybe is better in this way, cause they are both enough mature to know what they really want in their life.
A very sweet romance, highly reccomended to who wants to see the world throught pink glasses, and sometime this means to have a better disposition toward life.
PS: HOT HOT HOT cover by Les Byerley, I would buy the book only to have this cover, and since the book is very good, the cover is a very appreciated plus!
http://www.jasminejade.com/p-7722-past-l
Amazon: Past Lies (Ellora's Cave Spectrum)
Reading List:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bott
In a futuristic world where people went back to live like in the nineteen century, it's like the industrial revolution never happened, and the work of engines is done by slaves. Slavery is also legal, all cons, at the third conviction, lost their freedom rights and are sold into auctions. Jacob is the wealthy owner of a farm that not only utlize the work of those men on his land, but profits also of their well-endowed body in beds. When David arrives to his farm injustily framed of theft, Jacob suspects that he is innocent, but nevertheless decides to enjoy his new slave in bed.This is probably the most interesting point of the short story: I really don't know if I like so much Jacob, he is not a nice man. But I think that this gives deepness to his character. I have the feeling that Jacob has never had a trouble in his life, even if it's not said, I think he was born wealthy and raised as a spoiled child, everything he wanted he had to have. So Jacob is not a bad man, he is only selfish. And he doesn't see anything wrong in owning slaves, since this is what he has always seen and learned as the only right thing to do to manage the new turn of his futuristic world. When he sees a slave he doesn't see a man, he sees a beast. Even when he starts to care for David, sometime he still refers to him as a stud, a beast, a pony. It's both a way to play kinky, but also his innate perception of things.
On the other hand, truth be told, David is not so strong or independent to help Jacob seeing him in a different way. Oh, he is strong in body, but as attitude, he is very much a submissive. Even the way he was convicted and condemned, I didn't feel like he fought hard to avoid it. He sometime seemed to me a martyr, someone who accepted his destiny since he thought it was right for him to go through all of that. It's not that the story is a real BDSM story, but it has its hints to that: the bench, the almost non-con sex, even if David enjoys his first experience and he doesn't protest, nevertheless he didn't agree to it, and he has no other chance.
The story is really short, less than 40 pages, but I think that, even in so few pages, it manages to build an interesting alternative reality, worthy maybe to be further explored.
http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?s
The Rainbow Awards: Third (and last!) Phase: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/85035
I have always found that Cameron Dane's books have an high emotional level impact and this last one is not different. What maybe I found different was that the story is "normal", nice and sweet, without paranormal elements, and so maybe more linked to reality.Jonah and Christian were foster kid in the same home. Not really kid truth be told, more young men, at 14 and 16 years old. Maybe since they were similar in age, or maybe since she saw ahead of them, Marisol, the woman who took care of them, put them together in the same room and asked to Jonah, the older, to be as an older brother for Christian, to play as role model. That last part didn't work right, and Jonah made the bigger mistake of his life and went in a juvenile prison. But before he was taken by the cops, Christian shout out his love for Jonah to everyone who could hear him. That was the last time Jonah and Christian were together in the previous 15 years, even when Jonah came out of prison, he didn't come back to Christian, on the contrary he tried to cut off any bond he had with him other than Marisol. But now Marisol is dead and she asked him to help Christian to renovate her home and then sell it for raising money to donate to child care. Jonah can't deny this last wish to the only woman who showed him love, and so now he is again in front of Christian.
Jonah is the typical abused child. Having no one shows him love for the first 14 years of his life, doesn't teach him as to do it. The only person he thought was his only love bond, even if an abusive love, turned him to the system. And when Marisol entered his life, it was too late for him to learn how to love. What he felt for Christian is not exactly love, it's more a protective feeling: even if Christian had his problem with his own family, there are still hope for him to grown and become a good man, and so Jonah reflects in him what he knows he can't achieve. Christian becomes Jonah's hope for the future, he will have the good life he can't have. But Jonah doesn't achieve his goal becoming Christian's protector, on the contrary, he decides to leave him: Jonah considers himself not worthy of Christian's love since the man deserves someone better than him.
Years later Jonah is forced to face again Christian; in the last 15 years Jonah hasn't really had any relationship with another human soul, nor friendship or love. He is like an half man, like the single wing he has tattooed on the shoulder, he is not complete. Probably if Christian had a good life for his own, he would let him in peace, but Christian is alone. At first Jonah continues to deny what he and Christian himself really desire, but then he rushes to the center of it: from not wanting Christian to almost trying to hiding him to the world to have him all for himself. There is a rollercoast of emotion in the book, no half measure, and there is definitely a changing in the characters: at first Jonah appears to be the one in charge, he is the one who decides if starting or not the relationship, but for real, I believe that is Christian who sets the pace. Jonah is always on an edge, his feelings are raw and primitive, and Christian always soothes him. He did that in the past when they where teens, and he does it again now, both in their day-to-day life than during sex; Jonah bounces and Christian welcomes, and with his welcoming he is also dictating the relationship, and this evolution is reflected also in their lovemaking: at first Jonah is only able to take, to be the one in charge, but more their relationship evolves, and more Jonah becomes the one on the receiving side.
In Jonah's first attitude I really can see the foster kid, the one who has nothing and to whom all was stripped away; Jonah has the urge to take and hide (even the sperm of his lover!), and to do that in an hurry, since maybe someone else could arrive and take it from him. More the soothing presence of Christian arrives to him and more he starts to relaxe and to enjoy what the life has in reserve for him.
http://www.loose-id.com/prod-A_Fostered_
Amazon: A Fostered Love
Amazon Kindle: A Fostered Love
Reading List:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bott
Cover Art by Anne Cain
I was really surprised, after reading the previous book and posting about it, to discover that The Katman's Mate was so popular among the M/M romance readers. And no, it was not a surprise due to the fact that the book was not good, as I said in my previous post, despite some typo errors, I really enjoyed that story, but I really thought it was not a story for all. There are some squeack factors that I thought would have taken aback some readers, especially male readers, and instead I have a first hand experience of a male reader who said it loved it... so, maybe, even if I try not to, also I have some preconceived ideas that are wrong.The Katzman's Mate, and Dream Mate even more, are male pregnancy stories. I couldn't say it clearly in the previous post, since the male pregnancy of the main character was the final surprise of that book, but here instead is the central event and even the starting point: Demyan, mate of the Katzmen ruler, Chellak, is pregnant and he wants a doctor from his own planet. Chellak, who dotes on his mate, sends one of his warrior, Trajan, to fetch a suitable doctor. When Trajan arrives on Elquone and sees for the first time Saris, the chosen doctor, he knows that he has found his mate. Saris was a bruter, a genetically changed man who is able to give birth, but he didn't like the side effect, being a property of the sire of the babies, and chose to be a doctor for them, instead. Even if he doesn't like the idea to be the property of a man, also him recognizes Trajan as his mate, since he is the man he dreams at night.
From this moment on the story follows the usual path: the two fall in love, they have to overcome some perils, in between they have the chance to deepen their relationship, even to "mate" a time or two, and then the happily ever after, with full accessories. Again I think the story is very much as an old classic futuristic romance, when I read story like this one, I always think to Johanna Lindsey and her Warrior's Woman, and it's a compliment I'm paying to the books, I loved that old savage futuristic romance.
What struck me is that a story like this one could be of appeal for a man. All right, I can understand the appealing for a woman, seeing a man going through the labor (pun intended) of a pregnancy is like a little vengeance; no, I don't think it's much the idea to "womanize" the man, it's more a thing of "see what it means?". But for a man? maybe the appeal is the idea that, even if in a fictional way, the men are now independent from women, even for that "little" particular that is pregnancy (again reverse pun intended).
What probably it's less "squick" here than in the previous story, is that Saris is a little less feminine; not in body, he is, like Demyan, lithe, small and beautiful, almost cute like Trajan thinks, but at least in behavior he is stronger; he is also more independent than Demyan, he has a strong core that let me think that he would be able to take care of himself even alone, something that I didn't feel for Demyan.
Anyway, again, the story was surprisingly easy to read, and this comes from someone like me that usually is not very fond of Futuristic/Fantasy setting. Truth be told, I was expecting a sequel to the previous book with the two main characters of before as central characters here, and instead this second book is focused on another couple... nevermind, we have still the chance to see what happened to Demyan and Chellak, and from the plan of this story, I think that the author is not yet finished, there are at least 2 other men that could probably be future main characters in other sequels.
http://www.bookstrand.com/product-dreamm
Series:
1) The Katzman's Mate: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/77683
2) Dream Mate
The Rainbow Awards: Third (and last!) Phase: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/85035
On Wings, Rising by Ann SomervilleMy friends know that I'm not an huge fan of futuristic romance, but I can be "converted" if the book is good. And On Wings, Rising is very good. Ann Somerville recreates an entire universe and mixes up legends and technology.
The setting is a post apocalyptic colony planet where people have to live more or less like in a country village of the nineteen century. Energy is a rare goods, things work most thanks to human and animal work, people live on barter but there are still the tax! and also very high! Homosexuality is not a crime, but unnecessary: in a world where procreating means having more hand at work, a man or woman who choose not to gave birth are only weight for the community. Dinun is one of that men, and even if he had three kids with a woman (it's not really said, but probably through artificial insemination...), he didn't marry, mostly since the woman didn't want a man in her bed, and since Dinun prefers to be alone if he can't be in a same sex relationship. He jokes that the childs are tax relief, since a man with offsprings pays less tax.
During one of his searching trip (Dinun collects stones and furs to barter in the village) he makes a stunningly discovery: a injured angel. Angel in Dinun's world are mythical creature but not the fairy men of our tales: they are bigger than an human, with white fur all over their body and leathery wings; their bones are lighter than human ones, and so even if they are stronger than an human, they actually are lighter and apparently delicate... very much like birds I should say.
Hundreds years before, Dinun's forefathers chose to mix Angel's DNA with the human's one to create a stronger breed, a breed who can live in the harsh condition of the newborn colony planet. They were right, since the new breed survive, while the full-blood humans wither and die; with the lost of technology, chimerical humans also lost the knowledge, and so Angels become myth and no one see them again.
Now Dinun has in front of him an Angel who can't speak like him but only shrill, who can read his mind and send him flash of image to communicate, an Angel who was harvesting his child in a pouch like a kangaroo when he was injured by a full-blood human from off-world who stole his child. When Moon, the Angel, is nursered to health, Dinun and him discover that other five Angel childs were stolen and their fathers killed. Dinun sets himself to help Moon, for the good of the stolen childs but also since he is starting to feel something for the beautiful creature.
Moon is not a simple characters; apparently playful and sexy, he is behaving like his similar: Angels live in small pack within the village, they share bodies for comfort and relieve, they don't know the concept of couple like family. Sex is not only a way to procreate, it's also a way to voice joy and belonging: when Moon starts to see Dinun as a fellow companion, it's only natural and right to share also their body. Moon is also young, he is still not a grown Angel, and so it sounds right that his character is somewhat more playful than the others; but the impression the reader can have of him as a tender "puppy" is soon shattered when we see him in battle (probably the scene that gave me more problem...): but again, Moon is behaving like his people always do, according to a natural law that found its fundamentals more in the Nature course rather than in beliefs instilled by traditions.
Dinun is an easy character to like; he is tender and caring, he follows the rule, live and let live. Even if he is alone, he is not really mistreated by the villagers, maybe he is only considered a bit odd. I believe that his loneliness is more due to his own decision rather than to a real ostracism. Sometime I found him a bit too detached from his own relatives, something that maybe allows him to be more at ease when he is far from them.
In the end I would like to add something on the erotic part of the book. I believe that in the past Ann Somerville's works was sentenced as too much cold and not enough graphic detailed... I haven't find lacking on that department this book. It was not an easy task, since we are speaking of men with real different characteristic (fur, wings, pouches...), but I really enjoyed all the sex scenes, but also the playful erotic teasing of Moon... maybe I would like to read something "more", since technically, Dinun is still a virgin, at least in one way as I said in my tags... read no anal sex. But this is book one in a series and then I'm the one who skip the sex scenes if they are too much in comparison to the plot!
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/on-w
Amazon Kindle: On Wings, Rising: Book 1 of the Encounters series
Reaching Higher (Encounters 2) by Ann SomervilleIn the previous book the pair of lovers were in a way "naivee": Dinun, even if adult in age, was still new to love; being gay in a farmer society where all that matter was how many children you can have, made him a different from his similar, and so it was quite easy for him to accept to share his life with Moon, a wild Angel, a breed of men with white fur and wings.
In this story there is another type of diversity, due to the "alien" nature of one of the main character. More, he is not only "alien", he is also the villain, one of the men that in the previous book tried to kidnap the Angels' babies to study their DNA. To Raelne is now given a chance: life imprisonment or cooperate with the government to retrieve the lost technology knowledge; in exchange of that cooperation, Raelne has a very slim possibility to repair the spaceship and return back home. Since Raelne has just realized that what they did is not exactly an honorable thing, he accepts and as interpreter and colleague he has Suaj. Suaj is an human like Dinun, a breed of men with mixed blood, human and angel together. But in Suaj the Angel DNA is more remarkable, and he is like them, with almost black skin, white fur and he would have also a pair of wings if they were not surgical removed as an infant.
The relationship between Raelne and Suaj is not easy at first; Suaj can't hide the fact that he is not very fond of Raelne's people and what they did. Even if he is not a wild Angel, he looks at them like his real people, and so, in a way, he takes upon himself their rage on Raelne. Raelne instead is fascinated by Suaj, I believe both as a potential lover (even if his interest is a bit fetish like) than as a friend, since Raelne has a very curious mind, and Suaj stimulates his desire of knowledge.
It's more a battle/meeting of mind than body; probably if there was not an intellectual interest, Raelne and Suaj would never come to have also a sex relationship, and the intellectual nature is what lead all their future encounters: neither of them will never arrive to let their heart take their decisions, the rationalism will always be first. Even if, in the end, if really faced to a choice, it's possible that for once... Again there is still the fascination of a relationship between two very different men, not only in culture but also in shape. This time the difference is not so strong, Suaj lost most of his original physical traits, and maybe the author is a bit more reserved in describing him, helped also by the fact that Suaj is dressed (less details to give). Also the language barrier is no more a problem, and so the reader can concentrate more on the characters than on the setting: the two of them and their interaction is not so different from a "normal" one, they bicker like an all too normal couple, and also feign to despise what they really want.
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/rea
Amazon Kindle: Reaching Higher: Book 2 of the Encounters Series
Amazon: Encounters
Reading List:
http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bott
Cover Art by Anne Cain
Conquest is one of those books that you like despite yourself. Personally I didn't like nor Jesse or Evan, the two main characters, but this is exactly the reason why I liked their story. Jesse and Evan are two young rock star, Jesse still a struggling one, but he is only 20 year old, so he has time to succeed, and Evan is a burnt star, he started when he was only 17 years old and now at 27 he seems to have lost the passion for it. They are moody, hot tempered and arrogant, in few word they are the perfect rock star. Jesse is young and full of life, he has not supporting parents, they kicked him out when he told them he was gay, but his brother Brandon is playing the role of perfect older brother-substitute father. And so at 20 years old, Jesse only real trouble is how to find the money to produce his first album, his love life is still like he was a teenager, no really life burnt there, and Brandon is trying his best to protect him from the big bad world. I think Jesse is not yet a fully man, he has not really had bad, he is spoilt and too much self-conscious, but in a way, I like that in him: why someone has to suffer to be a good character? Jesse is lucky enough to have someone who takes care of him, and when he meets Evan, he only changes protector, from his brother Brandon to his lover Evan, and again, he didn't suffer in the shift.
Evan on the other hand is a full arrogant piece of... man. And as he said he was arrogant even before being a rock star, so his behavior only worsen in the change. He went in a self-imposed exile after a very bad experience, but again the experience was mostly his own fault. Evan has no one to blame if not himself, and to add badder to bad, it's not that the exile changed him so much. Basically he is a temper tantrum artist, and you have not to be on his path. But if you are on his right side, than Evan could be the perfect best and boy friend. In comparison to Jesse, maybe Evan had some trouble while growing up and also during his career, but again, I don't feel like he is a fully grown man, I still see him like an overgrown child playing with fast cars but still needing the comfortable embrace of a loving family, something he has lost and still miss. So when he finds Jesse, and his brother Brandon, Evan thinks to have found it all, and doesn't think twice to make them his own makeshift family... and here again, in a way, he is behaving more as a selfish man than a really caring lover.
I'm too harsh with them? I don't think so. See for example the little details, the safe sex issue. Jesse is a virgin, and his brother Brandon is always pestering him about being safe when he finally will do that. Jesse always replies like he is having that "boring" lessons, but you think, he, at least once, listened to that? And then, first time he has sex with Evan, he forgets it all. And Evan? he is older, wiser, responsible? No. Maybe, you think, he knows he is safe, but what lesson he is teaching to Jesse? They met that same night, I don't think they could play the exclusive card, and so? That is only a little detail that made me look at them more as child than really adult men.
Anyway, the story is one I like, I have always loved the show business setting and despite their fault, Evan and Jesse are cute, it felt more like I was reading about boys playing with their parents clothes, but still, they were sweet. Both are not macho men, they tend to be very emotional, and there is also a lot of sex, but again, I think it's in their characters. At the end of the book there is sneak peek on the sequel, so maybe Evan and Jesse will have the chance to grow in their second book.
http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?boo
Amazon Kindle: Conquest
The Rainbow Awards - Second Phase: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/82368
This short story is a big teaser, and I'm not sure I'm using the word in a positive meaning :-) Joke aside, I like it but after having just finished one of the nicer sex scene I read lately, I'm here eager to read more and the short story is ended, just like that, in a blink of an eye. (big pout).First teasing: the cover. Have you seen that? well obviously you have, I'm posting it very big so you can see it. The cover is actually a big teasing even if it's not fully respectful of the main character, Ankerite is more a lost puppy than a dangerous killer like he appears in the cover. Nevertheless the cover served its scope, since it teased me into getting this short story, even if I usually don't read the shorts by this publisher.
Second teasing: the story. Yes, I know, many of you are skittish when dealing with human and "animal", and thinking at a boy/man who is not fully man and not fully wolf, a guy with eyes, ears and tail like a wolf and all the rest like a man, makes you cringe. Me? it makes me interested. What can I say, I find it cute. Even more when the guy not only has "external" evidences of his nature, but also some inner "urges", like the need to mating, and get all excited around his mate, Linden. And Linden is more a big mutt than a dangerous wolf... right, he can be dangerous if he wants, and he is an Alpha for his pack, but with Anke he is more a both lover than "brother", he represents all the family the boy lost and now he desperately needs.
Third and last teasing... big one this one: the end. Actually also the beginning and all in between. The reader is plunged in the middle of a story, there was something else before, and it seems really interesting, Anke's original family. They need to be wealthy, they hired a bodyguard for their "freak" son, and this bodyguard was a nice man. What happened? where is that nice man? Why Anke felt the need to leave his family when he was only 16 years old? And then what happened before?
On Linden's side: what is his story? Who is Darren? and Cole and Ron? what is his life before that made him such a nice, but strong man? And now that he has found his mate, what will happen to them? This story is just too short to fully satisfy me, I see a lot of potential in this setting, I really hope this is only an excerpt of something longer, just a taste to tease the reader to come back for more. To me, it worked perfectly.
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/p
The Rainbow Awards: Phase 2: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/82368
Cover Art by Evelsys
Cooking with Ergot by Luisa Prieto Dominic is a good witch; most of his enchantments are spent to create beautiful haunted gingerbread house he presents during a cooking show in a private television channel. His life is good and happy, he has a soul familiar in the form of a stuffed tiger he animated when he was eight years old. Everything is perfect if not that there is a cooking books author who is murmured to be a witch hunter, and he will be his next guest in his show.
Instead of waiting for Carter to come to search for him, Dominic decides to do the first move and goes in search of Carter. And what he finds is Carter threatened by his cousin Simon, the real witch hunter. And he finds also out that probably Carter is his chosen, his soul mate.
Writing a book like this one it could be really difficult since it would be easier to push on the "funny" elements, and get on the right side of the most romantic reader, or push on the creepiness, and make an enemy of that same reader. This book instead balances very well both elements and even when it's obvious that we are reading the funny side, we are always aware that there is a danger outside, but the danger remains always on the edge and for me it's better, since I'm that reader, or spectator of an horror movie, that hides behind her hands when there are the most bloody scenes...
So talk about the funny things: what about a stuffy tiger as a soul familiar? and a stuffy tiger that when is speaking as an old fashioned English accent and behaves like a real high level butler? Or what about the fact that all the magical stuff turns around kitchen and cooking factors? The witch is a pastry chef and the witch hunter is a cooking book author; and after sex the first thing that comes in mind is to cook!
Speaking of the characters, both Dominic or Carter arrive to me as "little brothers" type of man; they are not domineering, they are not alpha males, they are more the supporting character type more than the full hero one. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that they are not interesting, but only that they need their cozy habit, made of comfort and warm, to shine; they would be lost in a big bad adventure, they need the coziness of a little book with stuffy tigers and gingerbread house.
http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/new-re
Buy at 1 Romance Ebooks
Amazon Kindle: Cooking With Ergot
Bittersweet by Maura Anderson Actually there is nothing of "bitter" in Maura Anderson's story: it's really a classical and good romance, and the setting in the middle of a wedding makes it even more sweet.
Brandon is a bad boy type if you only look him, but he is instead a very sweet man; the owner of a chocolatier shop, he spends his days and nights creating sweet treats for his customers and he is specialized in "sexy" chocolate, a thing that goes well with weddings and similar events. But even if Brandon has a lot of love around, he is alone, still mourning the betrayal of a past lover.
David is an happy-to-go guy, good job and good friends, he has not trouble in life. When he meets Brandon doing a favor to his soon-to-be bride best friend (David is the "man of honor"), he falls immediately in love. Like a teenager with his first crush he can't spend a minute without thinking or talking of Brandon, and then finally, finds the courage to come back to the shop... only to be brush off by a skittish Brandon, who can't believe that a successful business man like David is interested in him.
A kiss and a wedding will help the two men to be together, and if not for an hot encounter during the rehersal of the wedding, there would haven't been neither a sex scene in this very romantic story... the sex scene was nice, don't worry, but this story was more romantic than sexy after all.
http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?boo
Buy at 1 Romance Ebooks
The Shape of a Heart by Kimberly Gardner Kimberly Gardner is another of those author who likes to play with stories more centered around the characters than the plot.
In The Shape of a Heart the focus shifts from Zach to Keith letting them have their emotional development. Zach is the mourning owner of a coffee-bookstore (and this gave me a pang in my heart, people who knows me since a bit know why...). Mourning since two years before he lost his lover Jay, and he is still grieving from the loss. Like often in these cases, Zach is basking in his pain and has no intention to let the memories go; who suffered a lost like him, recognizes all the signs, like when you are always expecting for your lover to enter the room, and when you think something, your first reaction is to tell it to him, only for suddenly realizing that he is not there, and to be stabbed again by the pain of the loss. But that pain is almost welcomed, since it's the only sign that you are still alive, that you are not dead like the man you still love.
And since you cling to these feelings like your safe anchor, Zach doesn't welcome well Keith in his life. Keith apparently is younger (apparently since he is really 29 years old to the 38 years old of Zach) and pain-free. He is always smiling, gentle and caring, and for Zach every smile is a stab more. Zach doesn't want to care for Keith, since it would mean to betray his lost lover Jay.
Keith is the new bartender of the coffee-shop. Zach was the librarian and Jay the coffee maker, and so, when Jay passed away, the coffee shop languished away. Now Rhonna, Zach's partner, hires Keith and Zach has no really reason to go against this decision if not that looking at the man is too painful.
As I said, at first the focus is Zach, he seems the only to have a past, and a painful one, but little by little we realize that Keith is not a simple character as he appears. At first it doesn't ring wrong that he is hired to be a bartender, since the reader thinks him to be young, and maybe he is still a student and this is a job to makes the ends meet. But then we realize that he is not so young, and that he is obviously too skilled for the work, and so who is he really?
The story is nice, but as always when the story is nice but not so long, I have a regret: the second part, soon after we are starting to realize that Keith is more complex than expected, it seems a bit rushed. All right, usually I'm not very fond of the fully drama stories, but I really believe that this one would be gain the up-level from nice to very good, with only some pages more. And maybe Keith's character suffers a bit from the lack of those pages more.
But nevertheless, it's for sure above the average of most of the story around, the sex is very good, just that bit of naughty that makes it arousing but not embarrassing, and the characters are also good.
http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/new-re
Giving Thanks by Maura Anderson Troy and Derek are lovers since two years and they also share an home full of joy and comfort. They would be the perfect happy couple if not for the fact that Derek is not out with his family and this means that, at every family reunion, Troy has to play the role of the "roommate" with Derek's family. But Troy loves Derek and he would do everything for him, and so he is approaching once again the Thanksgiving festivity with the same good disposition as before.
But this year something changes: it's Derek that can't bear no more to listen to his father complains on his private life and how he undervalued Troy's role in Derek's life; so he snapped the day before Thanksgiving, and since he also works in the family's restaurant, he finds himself at the same time without family and work. But Derek wants to give the best Thanksgiving to Troy, and so we read of all the preparations to have a huge Turkey and everything else around only for two.
I like the story: it's nice and tender. Troy and Derek, despite Derek's reluctance to come out, are a very communicating and supporting couple; Troy never once makes Derek feel wrong for not presenting him as lover to his family, and never once let Derek without his support, even when Derek is stubbornly invading the kitchen with an huge amount of food they can't possibly eat in two. On the other hand Derek is very comprehensive of Troy's work, and how it's very tiring for his lover, and so he tenderly takes care of him in the best way possible: even when he is suffering for his father's reject, he still finds time to take care of his lover and to be always open and "straight" to their relationship. Derek doesn't hide to suffer alone, he shares his pain with a gentle smile on his face.
The story is not very long, 51 pages, but it's a very nice fast reading in the warm atmosphere of the holiday season.
http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/more-h
Amazon Kindle: Giving Thanks
Devon Cream by Jet Mykles I will not make this a rule, but usually Jet Mykles' characters are always paired with a very self-conscious man and another one that is cute, funny, maybe straight, or at least he believes so (Heaven, Faith...). In Devon Cream I found again that pair, but with some interesting differences.
Steven should be the self-conscious gay man, the one who has everything clear in his life. But Steven is also the mother-hen of the story, the man who can't help himself to help everyone around him, from feeding neighbors to collecting stray cats. Steven is a really nice man, and even if he is alone since eight months, he is not the type of man who I see alone for a long time. He is so nice and generous, that sooner or later someone will snatch him away. So Steven is not the male version of a spinster, he is not in desperate need of love, his love towards Devon is not as it was his last chance to happiness, and for this reason I read it as more sincere.
Devon is the young boy who moved upstair Steven's apartment. Devon is handsome, physically he is also more imposing than Steven, tall and muscular, but he has those puppy eyes that practically melt Steven's resistance. Devon is not used to live alone, he was kicked out from his parents house since he failed college, and now he has to take care of himself, a task that at first he is obviously not ready for. And so Steven starts to take care of him, and yes, maybe he exaggerates in doing so since he is infatuated of Devon. But the things are clear between them till the first day (thanks to his noisy other neighbor Patty): Steven is gay and instead Devon is straight, so no way that Steven could have his way with Devon.
Said that, I don't believe that this story could be classified as a 100% "gay for you" one; there is not tortured decision in Devon, not an almost painful realization... Devon is only really young, and he hasn't had any chance to "experiment", so he is really a "virgin" to love in absolute, both male than female (even if he is not "really" a virgin, mind you). Jet Mykles is really good in planning Devon's slow but sure path towards his adult life, and along the path we see Devon's changes: they are both physical (he blushes less, and he acquires a "feral" look, from puppy to wolf) than behavioral (he starts to do things before people tell him to do so).
Steven didn't set up a plan to seduce Devon, I really think his truly idea was to help a boy in need, but it's like putting a match near the straw, at the first spark the fire is uncontrollable. What I like of Steven is that he didn't hide his feelings, or at least he didn't do that to whom has eyes to see (since maybe, as I said, Devon is too young to read the signs); Steven likes Devon, and he almost accepts his caretaker task as a torment of Tantalus, having near something you can't reach. On the other side, there is no malice in Devon, he didn't parade himself around Steven to tease him, even if he parades and a lot!
This story is a funny sexy romp, the sex is good and just the right dose, Devon has the right dose of cuteness without being a female in a male body and Steven is a believable gay man without being flamboyant. Nice contrast in Devon being the pretty thing of the couple without having the physique du role, he is the taller and stronger in the couple. http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/more-h
Amazon Kindle: Devon Cream
http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?boo
Amazon: Hot Comfort by Maura Anderson, Kimberly Gardner, Jet Mykles & Luisa Prieto
(print anthology)
Cover Art by Amanda Kelsey
First of all, big warning: if you don't like a chick with masculine "characteristics" (don't let me go into details), you will not like this book. I think we have to be quite sincere, there are books written by men for men AND women, there are books written by women for women AND men, and then there are books written by men FOR men and by women FOR women. It's not impossible that men could enjoy romance only for women, I know there are out there men who read, for example, Danielle Steel, and more recently, Suzanne Brockmann. But they are aware that they are entering an exclusive playfield, a playfield that is open to special admission nevertheless.Enraptured is a romance by women for women. It's a man on man story, but the I would not say that it's gay. True, being setting in a futuristic world where "homosexuality" is not more an issue, there is not even the smallest problem for the "all male" nature of the characters. More, being an inter-breed story, between Demons and genetically modified Humans, the issue is more the difference in race than the same-sex relationship. To add spicy to the thing, the Demons are an all male breed, their women all died for a virus centuries before, and they naturally modified their genetics to be able to reproduce between males. So yes, there is male pregnancy in there, and that is another plus factor for the submissive male to be more a chick than a rooster.
Said all that, it's a good romance? IF you try to read it knowing the purpose for which it was written, then yes: Enraptured is a funny romp, the futuristic setting is light and easy and the story didn't fall in the overadorned style that usually these stories have. The futuristic world is very much like a medieval "romance" setting, not the real Middle Ages, but more the fictional rendering that you often find in a romance novel; the plot is classic, the bastard son of a king raised in a monastery and subject to the lascivious attention of a villain, a powerful mage. Just when the evil father promised the innocent son to the villain for a much abhorred mating, an handsome stranger prince comes to the rescue of the "damsel" in distress. Only that the prince is not exactly a "prince charming", but more a demon with black leathery wings.
Where is the originality of the story? I think it's in the lightness, all events, even when dramatic, are more funny than angst. This is more a sexy romp than a sci-fiction novel. There are also a lot of kind homages to similar fiction out there: the human princes have long and colorful hair, they have to be virgin till they come to age, and so on.
So yes, if read with the right perspective, this debut novel by Scarlet Hyacinth is very nice, and I think I will read also the following books in the saga.
http://www.bookstrand.com/product-enrapt
The Rainbow Awards: Phase 2: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/82368
I'm an old romance reader, old since I like the romances of the '70 and '80; I'm not that old of age, but in Italy those romance arrived more or less 10-15 years after their officially release in the United States. And so, when in America the Western Romance was becoming a passed fashion, I discovered it. There is one that was and still is, one of my favorite, Morning Glory by LaVyrle Spencer, the story of an ex con (framed for the murder of a prostitute) who is hired by a widow with two little sons and a third arriving. It's a wonderful romance and it was later made into a movie with late Christopher Reeves as the hero. But more than Morning Glory, my favorite, that I read and read again, was The Rainbow Season by Lisa Gregory. Probably to many of you the name Lisa Gregory says nothing, but she is now more famous and read, as one of the queen of Regency Romances as Candace Camp. But sincerely I think that the Rainbow Season, the love story set at the end of the XIX century between the bad boy, and ex con, of the town, with the young spinster who is in love with her brother in law and decides to marry the hired man of her late father, is and will always be her best novel. There is only another one that can compete, Satan's Angel by Kristin James, the story of a lawless who falls in love for the woman he kidnapped, a woman who was traumatized when she was still a child, and now she is maybe too simple, unable to see the evil in other people... but Kristin James is Lisa Gregory, so, you see, it's obvious why I like that romance as much as the other one. Why this long introduction? To pay my compliments to Jan Irving to be able to make me feeling again as the teenager of so many years ago, reading a story that is able to take me in another world, a place where your dreams come true. The Hired Man is a perfect Western Romance, as seldom you find today. The Historical Western Romance are strange, since you can read of a recent past history: you can enjoy an historical romance without feeling too far from their characters, escaping in that world is like taking a short trip over the weekend, you are far from the city, but the city is not so far from you. The feeling is the same, the world at the end of the XIX century had still a quiet pace, it was a world of baking cakes at home and doing chores in the barn, actually not so different from the life you can see in some places in the world.
Bryn is the bad boy of this novel: young and pretty, he had the bad luck to be born in the house of a drunken man who never cares for him, and when his mother died, Bryn was all alone. Nobody wondered when he was framed for raping a young girl and sent to prison. To the great surprise of the townfolks, when his conviction ends, Bryn comes back home. The only person who is willing to hire him is Reverend Ian, a man that even before Bryn always looked upon as a good man. But while Bryn was in prison, Ian changed: his wife killed herself soon after murdering their newborn child, and Ian was never the same after that. He lost his faith, and only the cares of Mrs Robson, his housekeeper, keep him going. Despite that Ian hires Bryn, since he sees in the boy's eyes the desperation of not having anything and anyone in the world.
It's a mutual need that brings Ian and Bryn together: Ian is searching for the family he lost, and Bryn for the lover he always dreamed. Even before going in prison, Bryn had "unclean" thoughts on the pious reverend, and his experience in prison only let him with the knowledge that sex between men is possible, but that is a dirty act. Bryn can't possible believe that the perfect Ian is willing to have a relationship with him.
Actually I think that, from Ian's side, there is more the need to protect and having someone to care of than love; it's strong, I know, but I felt like Ian was more a pater familiae than a lover for Bryn. He wants to protect Bryn, he wants to hide him from the ugly thing that is the outside world, and if to do so he has to be Bryn's lover, to fulfill even that side of Bryn's need, than so it be. There is an hole in Ian's past, something I didn't catch quite well: why he became a Reverend? he was from a wealthy family, from what I gathered he had a strict upbringing, but actually I didn't find in him the fire that usually lit a man of faith, even if that fire is smothered by a tragic event. To me Ian seemed more like a man with an extreme need to love and care for people, but not in a religious way, but actually in a very personally way, he needs the feeling to be part of a family, to be whole again. In a way Ian is too selfish to be a good reverend.
On the other hand, Bryn is eager as well, but not for something he lost, but for something he never had; Bryn wants a family, and at first he is willing to barter his body for that. All he knows is that his body is the only worthy thing he has, and that using it he can have shelter and protection. I really think that, with his behavior, in a way he corrupted Ian. I don't think Ian would have ever thought to that possible evolution of their relationship if not for Bryn's attempt to "pay" him for his kindness. Or at least not so soon. I think it's an obvious conclusion of both men's predisposition: Bryn is gay, and he is young, and he has needs; Ian wants to take care of Bryn, and of Bryn's needs, any of them.
I like also how the author dealt with the townfolks, not like they were living in a fairy land where the good Reverend can do everything he wants. There is not easy acceptance from who find out, but more a resignation, like they understand that is not something they can fight. I think this is a righter attitude than some other quite unbelievable situation I read in similar gay historical romances. Said that, the author is quite conscious that she is writing a romance, and a romance has to be romantic, even if it's not realistic. Again, I think that Jan Irving does know well the art of writing a romance with that old fashioned taste of my teenager memories.
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/p
Amazon: The Hired Man
Amazon Kindle: The Hired Man
The Rainbow Awards: First Week results: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/81134
Cover Art by Paul Richmond
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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The first story in the Screen Shots series was nice, kinda sweet if you consider the setting, a porn movie company that sells online video. The basic concept is that 20SomethingTwinks is a family company, the two owner, Katherine and Thom are more interesting in having a friendly and comfortable working environment than doing money, and they want for their boys to be pretty sure of the step they are taking... quite an utopia, but it's nice to dream that it exists. And then there are the boys, all young men, most of them just out of college, till now all of them in needing of an easy and fast way to raise the money they need to survive out alone in the big bad world. This is probably the only real thing that makes an appearance in this novella series, these boys are doing that since they need money, they are lucky enough to like what they have to do, and that they are doing it in a nice environment. Plus all the boys share a friends with benefits bond, in and out the set, but some of them have a special bond, a bond that follows them at home.This time is the time of Brandon, a newbie of the porn movie industry, but really a newbie at everything, even if it's not clearly said, I think he is a virgin. But Brandon has fantasies, pretty hot fantasies, and he is also in dear need of money. So the chance to see his fantasies come true, and plus being paid during that, it's too much to refuse. Like a sacrificial lamb, the first day at work, Brandon is spotted by Gabriel and Dylan, a perfect duo on the set and a real life couple outside of it. The duo is famous for being very intensive alone, and together they are something no one has ever tried. But they want Brandon, at least for his first time, and they don't want to wait for Brandon to go all over the usual step. In a normal context, Gabriel and Dylan would have been the last step, and maybe something no one will ever reach, for Brandon they will be the training ship. Problem is, starting with something so intensive can ruin a man for life.
It's all about sex, pretty good and hard sex, at least in this second novella. But it's not only about that. Willa Okati with this series built a special world, a world where something that usually is paired with dirty and obscure, here becomes a game in the sunlight, a funny and good game, a game where everyone is a winner. A game so good that people playing it are still willing to continue, even out of the set. It's like a community, you can be friends or lovers, but both bonds are important.
http://www.changelingpress.com/product.p
Series: Screen Shots
1) Seduced: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/75169
2) Smolder
The Rainbow Awards: First Week results: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/81134
There is a bit of Cinderfella, a bit of The Beauty and the Beast, and yes, also a bit of the Puss in Boots, all mixed together in a resulting tale that is a winning formula. Often I read historical fantasy tale, but most of the time they have not originality, they are only a way to tell a story of man love in frilly garments without the burden to do an historical accurate research. in Year of the Cat, Selah March is not trying to masquerade an historical tale with the fantasy freedom, she wants to tell you a fairy tale, a naughty fairy tale, and she reaches her purpose. Etienne is the third and favorite son of an old merchant. His father always sheltered him from his older brothers and from the outside world. It's not that Etienne is dumb, it's only that he has a gentle soul and a tendency to obey if commanded, and not willingness to rebel. His father knows that, once he dies, Etienne will not survive at his brothers' rage and tells Etienne to run away, in a isolated cottage in the forest. To this exchange there is a witness, a silver cat.
The cat, that Etienne will call Jacques, is a cursed man. More than 50 years before he was cursed by a witch and now he doesn't remember anything of his previous life, he behaves more like a beast than a man, even when he is in his human form. Jacques is damned to be a cat by day and a man by night. And like a cat, he is drawn by pretty things, things with which he wants to play. At first he thinks Etienne being an angel, someone who will surely help him to break the curse. But when he realizes that Etienne is only an innocent boy, he changes his plans: Jacques will play with Etienne, he will use him for his pleasure, always treating him like a precious thing, his precious toy.
And so it's, the relationship between Jacques and Etienne is very strange, their sexual intercourse edges on pain, but then Jacques is always careful to provide Etienne with everything he needs, a shelter, food, books, even music papers. Only that Etienne has to behave, he is Jacques' property, more his slave than his master, even if Jacques tells people that Etienne is a wealthy marquis, and Jacques is his manservant.
It's strange, there is obviously a BDSM tone in the story, but more than a modern thing dipped in a fantasy context, I see Jacques' behavior like something I would expect from a cat, being jealous and protective at the same time of the things he loves. Even the play with knives I found very right, have you ever seen a cat playing with a bird or a mouse he caught? They can be very cruel. So yes, the BDSM tone sounds very good in this fantasy tale, and it didn't ring wrong as other time similar tale did.
And a nice surprise was also Etienne: in many fairy tale, the damsel in distress is not exactly a clever woman... Cinderella, Belle, and other colleagues, if not for the help of some fairy godmother or divine intervention, they were more sacrificial lambs than real heroines. Instead Etienne, even if debauched innocent, has an inner strength that will help him by his own. Etienne is not, and will never be, a leader or a fighter, at least not with his fists, but he is clever, and above all he is in love. But even if in love, he knows where to rely his trust, not on his brothers, or on a wealthy patron... even if in rags and scruffy, his cat / man is the right one. And to add a point to Etienne's cleverness, it didn't take him long to realize that the silver cat Jacques was the same man who appeared to him one night, barely few hours... I do think Belle took longer to find out who the Beast was!
http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/Ye
Amazon Kindle: Year Of The Cat
The Rainbow Awards: First Week results: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/81134
When I started this book, I had the feeling to read one of my favorite old sweet romance. I confess, I was an avid reader of those old Harlequin Present series, above all the Long Tall Texan series by Diana Palmer. In those romance, the hero was always an handsome and wealthy Long Tall Texan rancher and the heroine was always some sweet virgin, and often it was some family friend's daughter, or a neighbor, or the foster child hosted on the ranch. A bit of age difference was requested, but not so much to be insurmountable. Usually the two lovers were aware of their feelings soon enough, but the wiser and older hero was reluctant to take advantage of someone he considered under his protection. The Convenient Husband is all of this. Tucker is the oldest son of a Texan rancher; he built his life far from the ranch, but he was often back home to visit, at least until Micah reached his 18 years old. Micah was the nephew of the ranch's foreman, and he has always lived on the ranch since 4 years old. And he was always the shadow of Tucker. But on his 18 years old birthday Micah was suddenly the forbidden fruit and Tucker surrendered to temptation. A night of passion, Micah still a virgin, was enough to make Tucker run away; as usually in this story, Tucker thinks he is doing Micah a favor, he is too old and bitter for a young thing like Micah. Problem is that Tucker doesn't realize that, in a isolated ranch in Texas, there are not so many chance of hapinnes for a gay boy like Micah.
Four years later Micah needs Tucker to be back home: Tucker's grandfather is dying and he wants his nephew near him; plus the old man's will states that he will leave the ranch to the first of his nephews to marry... even if it's not a legal marriage in Texas. Being both Tucker than Micah gays, the obvious solution is for Tucker to marry Micah, so the young man will be able to remain forever on the ranch, and this time even as a real family member... But once Tucker tastes again the forbidden fruit, will he be able to walk away from him again?
The story is mostly funny and it doesn't last long in the life of the two main characters, only few days, but there is a nice Epilogue that let you have a glimpse in their future life. It also avoids almost all the angst usually linked to a gay relationship in a "unwelcoming" setting, only one man has something to say against Tucker and Micah's relationship, and inside their home, all other people around are supporting and happy, like it was the only thing they were expecting. So there is no really trouble among Tucker and Micah, if not only a bit of stubbornness from both side, exactly like on those old sweet romance I loved so many years ago. The Convenient Husband is a modern tale with an old sweet feeling. The only bittersweet feeling I had was for Tucker's grandfather, even if he has not really any scenes, he seemed a very interesting man, and it was very sad to see him gone. Also the other old man of the story, Micah's uncle, Juan, reserves a nice surprise to the reader and even to Micah's himself, and in the epilogue, the author hints to a story that I would really like to read, a love story where one of the characters is 69 years old and the other one 35... a may december relationship with plus a silver romance in it... really something the author should consider to write.
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/his-c
Amazon Kindle: His Convenient Husband: Innamorati, Book 1
Rainbow Awards, The Game is On!: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/80750
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
When I was young I read a lot of classics and enjoy them very much. Strong stories with well written characters and able to take you awake till late and eager to read more. Sometime romance, cause there were a love story on them, but not erotic cause there were no sex on them. But I didn't miss the sex, cause I could imagine in my mind what happened behind the closed door of a bedroom, usually between a married couple. Captain's Surrender is a such story? in some way yes. In an epublished world where sex is the easiest way to drawn the reader (and I'm first in line to it, as I always say I like my sex scene...) Alex Beecroft has chosen the hardest way, writing a very good story, with wonderful but very human characters and giving us a lot of love but very few sex, barely some hints. I'm accusing her for it? Oh, no, not at all. Cause her book is right like it is and one of that book I will read again and again, to find every time something new in the very rich prose she has used.Josh is a midshipman in a ship under the command of a crazy captain. A man who has no problem to beat to death a sailor who has spoken aloud his believes, unfortunately not the same of his captain, and who will have no problem to hang a man framed with sodomy (and in that time he has also the right to doing it). So Josh, who judge himself an abomination to crave the touch of another man, tries to do his work and not react to the captain's wickedness. But he knows that the captain has read into him and soon or later he will hang. And then Peter enters his life: a young lieutenant, third son of a nobleman, but with no money of his own, Peter his the epitome of grace and cavalry. To Josh's eyes he is like an angel, someone he can't dirty with his sin. But Peter his like a magnet, and soon Josh finds himself to surrender to this man, with body and soul.
Josh is a wonderful character. He is the real "noble" man, and even if he is younger, and less cultured than Peter, he is more wise and I think also more brave. He first of all thinks to the better of whom he beloved and then maybe to his desire. Peter instead is like you can imagine a nobleman and a spoilt son: sure he is good, full of his own idea of what is right and what is wrong in the world, but he is also sure that he is like a gift to Josh. He never say it aloud, but sometime his behaviour let me think like he is doing a favour to Josh. Oh, yes, he loves John, no doubt in it, but at what he renounces to stay with Josh? Nothing, and when he has to take a decision, what do you think he will do? So in the end I like a lot Josh and I think he maybe deserves someone better of Peter, and to regain my sympathy, Peter has to behaviour very good.
As you see, every book that manages to awaken in you such strong feelings is for sure a good book. Due to the matter, historical fiction setting in the sea world, I was exepcting it to be maybe a little bit demanding, and instead I have read it in a session, without grown tired neither for a moment, and eager to turn the page to see what would be happened to my heroes (yes even to Peter, cause I wanted to see if he made amends for his selfishness :-) )http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/cap
Amazon: Captain's Surrender
Alex Beecroft's In the Spotlight post: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/53435
Cover Art by Anne Cain
This is not the first twincest story I read by Sage Whistler and now like before I was warned on the Taboo nature of it... strange to say, I have more problem to read about BDSM stories or on non-con sex than about twincest, actually I don't have any "squeaking" feeling about it. Let's be clear, probably it's like so since we are talking of a male on male twincest, so no worries about possible genetic trouble for the progeny... see how odd my mind is? I'm not tickled by gender prejudice or moral question, but a scientific issue could set me off, probably I should stop to be so analytical. So, coming back to the story, it was not the twincest side that was important to me, but more the balance between the twins.Gabriel and Tristan are 24 years old, but they don't see each other since they were 17. At that age Gabriel, the older of few minutes and also the hot-head of the two, came out to their parents and he was kicked off home. It's not clear if at that age Tristan had not enough courage to follow his twin, or if he, even if for a brief moment, felt the same as his parents, the result was that the twins were separated and only spoke on the phone from that moment on. Now 7 years later, Tristan needs a place to crash after a bankruptcy, and Gabriel is there to help him.
At first, from Gabriel's thoughts, and despite Tristan's behavior at 17 years old, I felt as Tristan was the stronger brother. And it's strange since it was Gabriel who went out of home when he was still a teenager, it was him that managed to become a famous rockstar, it's him that now has the money to help also his brother. But while Gabriel was waiting for his brother to arrive, I saw Tristan through Gabriel's eyes like a steady and solid figure, like the mainstay that Gabriel needs to not wreck. Tristan is to good one who always was the son their parents want; he is the cultured and honest to God, while Gabriel is the "gay" one, with a past drugs addiction. He is also the one who, even at 17 years old, fantasized about his twin, desires that he still has today.
But then we meet Tristan, and we realize that he is not at all what his twin sees. Tristan is a man eaten by remorse, he feels like a failure, first to his twin to abandon him so many years ago, and now to his parents to not being able to be the successful son they wanted. And even if he has not the courage to come out like his twin, also Tristan has forbidden desires, even if he has never played upon them. This is probably something I didn't understand so well, meaning that I didn't understand if Tristan is gay, and his desires are first of all towards his twin and then also other men, or if he is only focused on his brother. Actually it's not so important to know, but it would help me to better understand Tristan.
Of the two twins, Tristan is for sure the one with more personal issues. I feel like he stopped in his evolution when his brother left, and he is only now starting to grow again. Gabriel on the other hand, lived and mistook, but at least he tried the world; strange to say, despite it I feel like he hasn't a big self-esteem, a problem he probably inherited by his parents refusal. Both twins need each other to be complete, since they both see in the twin the man they would like to be, or maybe the other half they lack.
Broken is a novel with great potential, and since I even have a "twincest" tag on my menu, I'm happy that there are authors out there willing to write on this subgenre, but I wouldn't have minded some further investigations on some issues: the relationship with their parents, the sexual orientation of Tristan aside from his love interest for Gabriel and maybe a test on their relationship outside the safe haven of their home. And now the point of strength: the story is very romantic, there is a bunch of supporting characters that I wouldn't mind to see in upcoming novels (there is good material for at least other two novels) and the sex is good (I like the blushing virgin attitude of Tristan, and the naughty behavior of Gabriel).
http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?s
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Even if he now would never admit it, Tim knows that when he met Con for the first time, he found his true love. Problem is that Tim at that time was 10 years old and Con only 12; they still hadn't reached the phase in which someone wonders about being straight or gay, and they had only an year to be together. They were both in boarding school, but then Tim's parents died in a car accident, and Con's father had financial trouble and he went to live with his grandparents. Still they remained in touch, first with letters and then with emails; Con became Tim's internet friend, someone always present, but far enough for Tim to not feel threatened.Probably Tim was already a troubled boy, being sent in a boarding school at a so young age didn't allow him to form the first important emotional bond in life, the one with your parents. And the the accident and the various foster homes didn't help either. Tim repressed all the feelings of abandonment and sadness and became a control freak. He has to have control in everything, above all in his own feelings; as I said, Tim just met the only person in the world who can find a breach in the walls he built around him, and that person is far from him, he even controls that weak side of him, knowing in every moment where Con is and what he is doing. Tim starts to date women, since it's expected from society, but he knows that a woman has no chance to pull down his barriers and so he is safe with them. This is not a "gay for you" romance, first of all since Tim, deep down him, knows that he is in love with Con, and second since Tim is a full-figured virgin, in any meanings of the word: he has never allowed anyone near him enough to tolerate a physical touch.
But now Con has invaded his space and started to work on that breach. He is in Tim's apartment, in Tim's life again, and he is too huge: not only in the physical meaning of the word, but also to an emotional level. Tim freaks out, he feels his control slip out for his hands. What I like of Tim is that he seems unable to be nasty with Con; he is sharp and edging, but he always tries to do the right thing with the man. True, when Con has to go away for a period, Tim tries to rebuild his walls, but at the same time he tries also to understand himself better and his feelings for Con; when everyone around him already knows that Tim is gay, Tim has still some hope that this is not true, since if he is gay, he is in love with Con and he is in big big trouble.
The book is not so simple that the "little" realization of being gay allows to our hero to happily walk hand in hand toward the sunset (don't get mislead by the cover...). That is only the first step and maybe the simpler, it's only stating the obvious; if till this point the book was almost funny (with sentence like "after a month he was always sure to be more gay than not"...), now it turns in something more complex and moving. Even if Tim is a doctor, he has still huge mental barriers that don't allow him to admit that he needs the help of a specialist; on the other hand Con, even if a real good man, is a firefighter, not a therapist; but he tries to help the man he loves, he tries to be supporting and sympathetic. I really like as he comes out as character, since the reader can really understand that he is not like that, he is not for real an always careful and cautious man, but he knows that he has to be like that for the good of Tim, the man he loves... and when he momentarily forgot, the real Con comes out, with his requests of a puppy (when they are both men with eclectic working hours) or for Tim's to take cooking classes (when the man has already his days full with his job and other bigger problems).
Both characters are wonderfully rendered, but Tim comes out in full force. I was really taken by this man that apparently is aloof and detached, but instead has so much to give: I was almost regretting that it was not allowed to these two men to live their childish love, to grew together and being always happy since that tender age... but probably they would have been not able to realize the beautiful love story that now they are living. By Degrees is a very good novel, that mix romance, eroticism and a bit of drama, but that has also a funny core that always warms even the more angst scenes.
http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?m
Amazon: By Degrees
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Second in the Futuristic Regency series by J.L. Langley, this is the story of Payton, the older brother of Aiden, and second in line to the throne of Regelence. Regelence is a planet where men can marry, more it's more common for the peers to marry a man, and they can also procreate in lab an heir with the genes from both male parents and without the female component.Payton is a IT geek and Nate, Aiden's husband, asks him to help in decipher a message which probably hides a conspiracy against both Regelence than Englor, the other planet in the Alliance that lives accordingly to the Regency rules. But in Englor those rules are more strictly than in Regelence, and even if same-sex marriage is not against the law, it's highly discouraged. And so Payton, who is a pampered prince nursed to become a beautiful ornament to the arm of a powerful and rich man, finds himself suddenly free to roams Englor's street without a chaperon, even if it appears that his genetically modified interest in other men is not so welcomed.
But not all the men on Englor are the same, and Payton meets Simon, not other than the heir to Englor's throne. Simon is a friendly and very sexy man, one that, as soon as he spots the pretty new officer, can't help to seduce him. Not that Payton resists so much to the advances... it's almost not clear if Simon seduces Payton or if Payton is the "innocent" seducer.
Even if Simon is the supposed Alpha male, he is really too open and young to be a real dominant character; Simon is the perfect scoundrel, very good in the battle field as well as in the bedroom, no matter that, in his case, the chosen bedroom partner is a male and not a maid. And Payton is not the usual virgin maid type of character; true, he is virgin, but he is a lot older than his 19 years old. In a way, Payton is more ready to be a king than Simon; Simon still needs the advice of faithful counselors, but not since he is prudent, I believe since he is still too young. So Payton and Simon make a good match, and together maybe they will manage to not destroy Englor...
As usual in a J.L. Langley's book, there is a lot of funny situations, and Payton is the perfect little firecracker, cute and to be handed with caution. Not sure if Simon is strong enough to handle him. So funny and sex as well, but I have to said that the sex it seemed more... dirty, but in a good way. Sex was always an heavy component in the mix for the previous books by the same author, but in this case it was an orgy of sense, down and dirty; with the balance of the humor, the result is a very involving story.
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/the-e
Amazon: The Englor Affair (Sci-Regency)
Amazon Kindle: The Englor Affair
Series:
1) My Fair Captain: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/10650
2) The Englor Affair
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Cover Art by Anne Cain
Cover Art by Anne Cain
A Rose Among the Ruins is another of those gay historical romance that author and readers have to tag as fantasy to allow the possibility of a man on man love story in medieval time to be possible. But aside the small expedient of the love potion to loosen the reluctance of both men to admit they are in love with another man and the use of an imaginary kingdom, all the novel is a pure medieval romance, there are no more magic, or fantasy creatures or permissive behavior.Rhicer is the Master of Arms for the king of Ageselm. He is also one of the oldest friend of the king and a faithful servant. It's many years that their kingdom is at was with the near kingdom of Mordyn, and finally they have found a truce: Emyl of Ageselm will marry the Mordyn princess and will sign a peace treaty. Rhicer is not so sure to like the idea, he has lost his soon to be bride 20 years ago to the hands of Mordyn warriors, she killed herself after being raped, and Rhicer has no good feelings in his heart for those men. More, the young men of Ageselm had to learn how to fight when they were way too younger, like Kanath, that is now Rhicer's lieutenant.
Rhicer and Kanath are good friends and fellow warriors, but never once it passed in their mind that they can be more. True, Rhicer has listened to some whispered tales of norther barbarians who bond in war with other men, but it's not something he can even consider... and even if he can consider it, what is the mechanism? With a woman he knows, but with a man? Surely it's not possible. But actually those are thoughts that Rhicer starts to have after Kanath stole a bottle of wine from the bride's dowry. Kanath believes it to be a simple bottle, and instead it's a love potion, intended to ease the first night between the king and the princess. When Kanath shares with Rhicer the bottle, everything changes between them.
Where Rhicer has loved a woman before, and knows the feeling, Kanath is still to young. And impulsive. When the love potion starts to work between them, Kanath is both repulsed than attracted by their feelings; but he is also to scared to do something, other than being irrationally jealous when some woman is near Rhicer. It will be Rhicer instead that, with the wise of his older age, will analyze their situation and try to find a suitable solution. And again, when that solution will not work, it will be again him that will find another one painful solution, but the only possible for two men in love in that situation.
Even if it's a fantasy that tends to be more realistic than some historical romance I read, A Rose Among the Ruins manages to still remain a romantic love story. More, it's also a quite naughty love story, once the two men understand how good it can be sex between men. This is only a novella and so the sex scenes weigh a bit on the length of the story, but since they are good, I didn't mind. Actually I think that, with some time more spent after they discover of the love potion they have taken and before they take their final decision, this story could have been without problem a full novel. But even like this, it's for sure above the average of many gay historical romance I read.
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Passion's Victory by K.C. KendricksMicah is the not so young son of the owner of an important architecture firm. At 34 years old he is already a partner in the firm and owner of the 25% of it. Micah is also gay and out, but he doesn't flaunt his sexuality in respect of his older father and grandfather. And then when he turned 30 he suffered from a strange case of tiredness... he is tired of no strings attach relationships and he is searching for Mr Right. To him, Mr Right is an older man with a domineering behavior... like Jonas. Jonas is the "new" employee of the firm, but he is not "young": 48 years old and with a hidden past, he is handsome and more compelling since he is like a treasure to uncover; and the first mystery is to find if he is straight or not. Micah's gaydar doesn't work well with Jonas... well, if for gaydar you mean his penis' reactions, "it" works very well when Jonas is around, but still Micah doesn't know if the object of his attentions is available. It seems like Jonas build a shield around him.
The story is not too short, 70 pages, but it's really two scenes: the first in which Micah and Jonas play the touch and run game to know each other better, adn the second in which Micah and Jonas consume their relationship. But it's not simple, nor the first or the second scene. Jonas is not an easy character, he has a lot of layers and he is touchy feelings; Micah is walking in a minefield and he has to be very careful to not make Jonas run away. Actually if Micah was not so interested in the man, I don't know if he was worthy of all this patience... But Jonas is worthy, he has suffered a lot in the past, both physically than emotionally, and even if he is the older in the couple, he is now like a newborn baby to feelings, he needs to learn again to trust and love.
Even if different in age, Micah and Jonas are very similar characters, both used to be the master in the relationship, but now they need to compromize if they want to be together. But no one of them has to have the feeling to having lost his masculinity.
This is the second time that I like a K.C. Kendricks' story, but that in the end I'd be glad to have more to read. She builds very well plot and growing tension, there is a firecrack explosion, and then the end... why didn't she tell us more about the morning after? In this story there is a lot to say, a may/december relationship, an office affair, a family in the background ready to make its appearance...
http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/Pa
Amazon Kindle: Passion's Victory
Surrendered Victory by K.C. KendricksThis is a little discovery: little since it's really short, less than 60 pages, and a discovery since I didn't expect to be so enthralled by the story.
Dalton and Reed are dancing around each other since six weeks. Both in the same business field, construction enterprises, they meet every Friday at the same pub. Some beers together, sometime a dinner, a lot of teasing but not touching. Both are aware that it's not friendship that links them together, but Reed is uncertain on what he wants. He is 33 years old and he is still in the denying phase: he has had his string of girlfriends, to prove that he is the son his father wants, but his relationships always end in a bad way. Now he moved in a new city, far from his father, and maybe he is ready to admit what HE wants, and to do something to make it happens. Dalton seems the right man.
43 years old and divorced, Dalton has long ago admitted that he prefers men. He is not openly out, but he is willing to a bit of flirting and teasing, and maybe, if Reed is willing too, to some playful time together. What Reed nor Dalton are expecting is that in the end, their night together is more involving and not so easy to forget and move on.
Almost all the story is the slight mounting of their excitement during the fatal night: from the light teasing in the pub, to the full bloom of their expectations when they are at Dalton's house. It's a game of reach and fly away. Reed wants and fears, but he takes that final step that brings him in Dalton's embrace, and to an experience he cannot deny for long. But when he makes his mind clear, and reaches for what he wants, he is ready to dive into it with all himself. Maybe Dalton instead is ready for a casual relationship, but a full commitment is not what he is expecting; but he finds it and he needs to deal with the new turn of events.
Sexy, deeply erotic, very graphic in details but not vulgar, this story is a very good reading, fast and enjoyable.
http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/Su
Amazon Kindle: Surrendered Victory
Shining Victory by K.C. KendricksShining Victory is a nice May December novella. Stacy is a 40 years old business man; he has a comfortable life, a good job and a beautiful home, but he is alone. Truth be told, he is not searching hard someone to fill the void: when he was 20 years old Stacy was charged for assaulting a 16 years old boy he was teaching martial arts. Obviously Stacy was innocent, but the experience weighted on him and now he is weary when trusting someone else. Even is consciously Stacy tells to himself that he doesn't need a man near him, all his attitude is for finding that one man.
Even if Stacy is 40 years old, he is still behaving like half his age; he lost that part of his youth and I think he missed it. So when he meets Levi, 25 years old but look younger, it's like a second chance to be young. Levi is all strutting and cocky attitude, and that leads Stacy to believe that he is dealing with someone old enough to have a relationship with. Even if they joke on the age difference, Stacy calling Levi "puppy", and Levi calling Stacy "old man" or "daddy", all in all they seem quite on the same level. There is not strict roles in the relationship, no top or bottom, not daddy / boy game.
Till this moment the novella was nice and enjoyable, but average; it was a good read but it didn't give any particular thrill. I was already filing it in the nice reads, when the author chose to give a shift to it: it comes out that Levi is not so experienced as he appears, that he is not out with his family and that probably Stacy is his first male lover. The balanced roles are now shattered, Stacy is facing his worst fear, to be framed once again of corrupting a young man. And this new side of Levi gives him also a deepness that he was before lacking. Truth, the shift brings back the story to a more ordinary may / december theme, but all in all I prefer it like this.
Overall the story is not so dramatic, the main focus of it is for Stacy and Levi to find a way to rebalance their relationship. The point is that, the age difference is there and it matters. Levi, even if he parades himself around like an independent man, is still a young boy who has not had the chance to grow into a full man. On the other side, Stacy is a grown man who wants to still feel the thrill of a 25 years old man. The two together complete each other and give to both of them the chance to have what they want. I think their is a potential good relationship, even if I wonder what will happen when Levi will realize the power he has on his hand, the power of youth. http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/Sh
Amazon Kindle: Shining Victory
Amazon: A Taste Of Victory
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Dona Nobis Pacem is one of those lost pearls that sometime you find; a lost pearl is a book you start thinking to read a nice and good novel (since you like the author and the publisher), but maybe a bit on the average side. You start it maybe on the brink of sleep, already with half mind shut down for the night, and soon realize that you are reading something different, that this is not your usual average novel, that you have on your hand a special romance.Dona Nobis Pacem is an historical western romance; there is not precise time period, but probably it's the late nineteen century. Donnell is a mute saloon owner. He is born mute, the son of a "soiled dove" that died two hours after giving birth to him. People told to those women to let him die, that it would have been a pitiful thing to do, but another woman, Bettina, didn't listen anything of it and raised him. As often happens when you are born in certain places, Donnell has always spent his life in saloon and brothel; he has a clever mind and did a bit of money with gambling. He used that money to buy his own saloon and now he lives there with his "mother" Bettina and an impromptu family made by his employees. Donnell communicates through his hands and the music he learned, he is now the piano man of the saloon, but his music sometime also conveys his moods. Donnell has also soon learned that he prefers men, but it's too dangerous to indulge in his preferences with temporary lovers, and so he swore to Bettina to be careful.
Then a day Donnell sees a man in front of his saloon. Nathan is young and beautiful, with big blue eyes and a stubborn behavior. He has nothing, not even the right clothes to be under the sun, but he is also to stubborn to accept help without giving something in exchange. He wants a job, but he is too dirty, weak and "odd" to find one. He collapses in front of Donnell, and Donnell takes him home, like a stray dog. For Donnell it's love at first sight, maybe also since Donnell is lonely and he recognizes another lonely soul in Nathan. During the day and night that Donnell spends to take care of a feverish and delirious Nathan, the story of the man comes out: he was a seminarist and threw out from the "church" when he didn't pass the last temptation test; Nathan has desires for men and this is the biggest sin.
Nor Donnell or Nathan are really strong characters, at least in a physical way; they both have a strong will, but in my mind I built them more ascetic; Nathan with his latin words, and Donnell with his elegant hand moves, they are a bit of a bohemian artists soiled by the dust of the Far West. Even if Donnell, with his disability, should be the weaker one, it's not like that: both Donnell than Nathan are at the same level, both of them have their own disability, and they compensate each other.
After that, the story is not much more complicated, it's more or less based on Nathan and Donnell's discovery of each other, of their tentative to build a relationship, a relationship that will add the last piece to Donnell's odd family, a companion for himself. As Nathan says, they are both fallen angels, and their love is not a sin inside the strange haven of Donnell's saloon, doesn't matter what happens outside. It's not the purpose of this book to be realistic, to show you that it would have been impossible for Donnell and Nathan to have a life together, even in that particular condition. It's not that the novel underestimates those problems, they are there, just outside, it's only that the author prefers to have a more romance sight on the story, to let you dream and believe that it's possible for two fallen angels to be happy together.
http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?m
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Cover Art by Rose Lenoir
Recently I read a gay romance written by a man and my comment was that it was the proof that men can write romance. But still I think their intake on the romance is different from the one of a woman. Woman are more brainiac, they always did things more complicated than necessary. Like in this case: Boys of Summer is basically a simple story, but all the brainstorming happening inside the mind of one of the character makes it complicated only to realize in the end than complicated is not. Now I'm not saying it in a derogatory way, I like both men in this story, but maybe they are behaving more like a woman would do in the same situation, and so perhaps this is the reason why I can identify so much in Hunter's trouble.When the story starts, Hunter and Max have already realized that their story is something more than friendship, after some years they met, one night at the beginning of summer Max kissed Hunter and their love story started. Only that Max, even if handsome, self-assured and wealthy, is still a virgin to sex (both with men than women), and to finally give his virginity to someone else, he wants for it to be a true gift of love, and he wants for it to be with the right man, the man that will remain in the bed the morning after, the man with whom he can build a life together.
Hunter knows he loves Max, but he isn't so sure that he wants to commit to that level. For all the summer they met every night, they did heavy petting, but Hunter left every morning at dawn on his motorcycle (another quite romance image). Hunter and Max are part of a tight circle of friends, Max's childhood ex-girlfriend Louisa and Hunter former girlfriend Veronica are part of it, and so is Max's neighbor Ben... coming out as Max's boyfriend for Hunter means coming out full front with a lot of people and changing all his life. It's not a simple decision, and they decided to go on holiday together, far from all their friends, to see if their story has a future.
So at the end of summer we find Hunter and Max together, and we read the story from Hunter's point of view. There is no doubt in Hunter's mind and heart that he loves Max, and it's not that the problem. Truth be told, I don't think it's even a problem for Hunter coming out, admitting he is gay. I have the feeling that Hunter's trouble is one common to a lot of people, he fears to commit, he fears to settling down with one person, to do the shift from boy to man. I really don't think it's the "gay" thing the problem, I think Hunter is more a good and friendly boy who reached that point in life when he has to do something right. In a way, this made him even more real, more masculine... the fear to commit, to settle down, is very common in young men, maybe the way Hunter brains over it it's more a woman's thing, but aside that, Hunter is all "man" in his behavior.
When he finally decides that he wants something more with Max, he becomes all "boyfriend" attitude, carrying heavy things for his lover, beaming when Max is doting over him cooking or doing other sweet things. For good part of the book, Max has really a "bottom" attitude, he has even the teasing behavior that usually women have when they want something, he even uses the sex card, denying Hunter till the moment the man surrenders to his desires. I like how the author chooses to give also to Max his mainly moment, to scroll down a bit from him the idea that he was a bit too feminine.
Boys of Summer is only a novella, and the first book I read by this author, but I like it. It's sweet and sugar, a bit of an old fashioned romance, and sometime it's refreshing to go back to simple and nice stories like this one.
http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/boy
Amazon Kindle: Boys of Summer
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I bought this book since I read in another post by a friend of mine of a particularly development of the story that I was really interested in seeing, but since I'm mean, and since finding out that development is part of the surprise of the book, I will not say what it was ;-) Yes, yes, I know that I had an advantage on you, but still I'm incorruptible. Apart from that first element, the Katzman's Mate has many traits that usually I like in a futuristic gay romance: first of all the "furry" nature of one of the main characters, even more when it's the top of the situation. Truth be told, Chellak, the katzman, has less "fur" than usual, and he has not a tail, only pointed ears and a bit of more hair on his body than a human. And a cat like nose. And long and thick hair like the mane of a lion... said like that he seems not so handsome, but he purrs, so I can accept that.
Chellak is the commander of a small pride who comes back to his home planet to get rid of the usurper who killed his father more or less thirty years before. Having Chellak a bit of feline nature in him, he is all in all the classical "feline" man of a paranormal romance, all instinct and "you are my mate" attitude: when a Alpha Male katzman finds his mate, he gets in a frenzy mating and he has only one thought in mind... well, to be true, not so different from any other male, feline or not. Anyway Chellak finds his mate in Demyan, a small man from an exotic planet who was a slave of the usurper: Demyan is a beautiful little thing and the villain used him as carrot to his stubborn son; if the "Boy" behaved in a good way, he was allowed to play with his "toy", Demyan, otherwise the toy was put in a cage. From that experience Demyan comes out a bit traumatized and also mute, due to an harsh punishment he suffered to have refused unwelcoming sexual advance from his captor.
This is not exactly a yaoi novel, it lacks of some of the main characterizations (big blurry eyes, blushing virgin and so on), but many of the elements that draw female reader to gay romance are there: the Top and Bottom pair, with clear and precise play roles without shifting; the chick with dick bottom, a boy who behaves mostly like a girl, when girl where demure and shy; the exclusive and strictly monogamous couple. In the end the big "why" I was attracting to this book at first, the one I can't say, but that I know it's a big NO for some gay romance readers (especially the "purist"), but that has some fans among other. If I'm to be sincere, I like all of above, true, not always and not in all my books, but sometime I like it; I'm all for a big bad Alpha Male who can pur, and I like Demyan's character, a mix of innocent and teaser, sometime you wonder if he is dumb, but then you realize he is really only very young and not used to deal with strangers.
So yes, I liked it, and please don't take my following comment like a reason to not read it; I feel to write it only as an advice to the author and the editor: being me not English mother tongue, it's hard for me to notice typos, but I found some, one even in the second sentence of the book, first page. They are quite simple mistakes, I believe most due, maybe, to an automatic proof reader that perhaps changed a word in the wrong way. Most of them probably you can find and correct with a second pass from a skilled reader. Since, as I said and want to remark, the story is good and the characters also, I think it's a shame that a reader is distracted by those typos.
http://www.bookstrand.com/product-thekat
Amazon: The Katzman's Mate (Siren Publishing)
Amazon Kindle: The Katzman's Mate (Siren Publishing)
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The last novel by P.A. Brown surprised me in a good way; it's true, it's not that I read many novels by this author, only her famous L.A. Heat, but from that one I had the idea that she was a good mystery / thriller author, who wrote very good characters, out of the ordinary and original, and good love story, even if not particularly sexy. In L.A. Heat there was sex, but it was not the main course of the story, and the story between the two men was intimate without giving so much details on their private moments. So you can imagine my surprise when, just from the first pages of this new novel, I realized that I was starting to read a sexy and funny romp. Todd is an hotel assistant manager with a passion for dogs; he has two German dobermans, quite impressive animals, but they behave more like puppy than threatening dogs. Todd is also a old-fashioned gay guy, he is searching for the right man, but in the meantime he doesn't mind a bit of eye candy. And so when he meets the new young vet, Keith, he is open to the chance of love at first sight, even better when the feeling is mutual.
Like Todd, also Keith is more the old fashioned guy than the animal party. I also had the feeling that he is also a bit less experienced than Todd, and this, being both virgins at least in one way, makes them quite the naive couple. But Todd would have been more willing to accelerate the things between them, and instead Keith is the one who wants to wait and see if what they have found together is the real thing... at least for one day! Yes, it's not that Keith doesn't put out for a long time, but at least not at first appointment.
Meanwhile to their new family bliss is added a new element, a little chihuahua named Taco. Everything seems perfect, so good that it was almost pouring sugar from the side, when an unexpected event forced them to take a decision that it was probably on the horizon, but not so soon: they need to decide if what they have is real and forever love, or if it's only a temporary nice fling. Obviously being this a romance, they will take the right decision.
The novel is clearly divided in two part; the first one is more intimate, almost all spent between Todd and Keith with very few interferences from the outside. Even when they have to face that decision, they do that with a bit of drama, but all in all in almost smooth way. There is one scene, quite harsh and disturbing, when Todd takes his "revenge" for Keith's temporary abandonment: he searches for mindless and meaningless sex with a stranger, putting himself and their relationship in danger. It's a brutal scene, but probably necessary to shake off the reader from the blissful he was till the moment before; it's a way to prove how bad life can be for both of them, Todd and Keith, if they are not together. Strange to say, to me was also a way to prove how much stronger and tougher Todd is in comparison to Keith.
It's not that Keith is not a negative character, it's only that I have the feeling that he is a bit soft and not tempered by life. Everything was quite easy for him, and yes, maybe now he is struggling to build his career, but it's a little struggle, nothing serious. At the first real trouble in his life, he reacts in a very bad way, closing off Todd, who was instead supporting and willing to help. Todd's reaction to this attitude was maybe drastic, but he realized soon his mistake, and was ready to make penance. He also behaves with honesty towards Todd, an honesty that was all willingly given, since there was no way Todd would have found out otherwise.
The following part of the novel is more smooth and easy, at least for what regards the relationship between Keith and Todd. The trouble this time are not between them, but we see them against the outside world, even if, truth be told, is a very little fight. In this second part the author introduce another couple, Charlie and Tyler, a couple I wouldn't mind to have a deeply insight: they stood out in a way that makes me think they are not merely supporting characters, that maybe there is a story planned also for them: but what I would be glad to read is not what will be of them after this book, but how they met and arrived to make their appearance in this story.
What at first appeared to be a simple and funny sexy romp, in the end is a complex romance all bore by the characters more than the plot, characters that have unexpected layers, positive but sometime also negative. The story flows smoothly only to be shaken by three dramatic events that serve to the author to not let the reader falls in the sugar feelings of the romance. To top all like a cherry on the cream, there are a lot of sex scenes, sexy and detailed.
http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?boo
Amazon: Man's Best Friend
Amazon Kindle: Man's Best Friend
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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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I was first drawn by this book for the topic of the son of a minister who finds out he is gay. Someone who has always heard that being gay is a sin, that is not natural, how terrible it could be for him to realize that he is gay? And how a negative figure has to be the father, the preacher, who is not kind enough to love his own son, how he could be a "father" for a community? And so, starting to read the book I was pretty surprised to see that Joseph, Paul's father, was not at all a negative character. A recent widower, he didn't let his pain close his heart, and he is still ready to be a supporting father and a good reverend. He moves to a big church in Dallas, bigger than the one he was used to, but the change is necessary for him and also for his son. He is also very happy when his son finds a friend in Jeremy, a same-age guy of the parish. More, Joseph also starts to date Janet, a divorced mother of two little girls who serves as secretary for the church. If you wonder why I spend so much time talking of Joseph, it's since Joseph is the perfect example of a man who has had no chance to see the "truth": basically Joseph is a good man, a good father and a good reverend, but he is stuck with the old teachings, the ones saying that being gay is a sin, that it's not acceptable. When Joseph learns that depending on the church there is also a "correctional" center, a place where supposed "doctors" teach to young men to not being gay, he only worries that they are not using violence, but medicine and brainwashing are all right. Not even when a young man kills himself, a boy he talked with and said he wanted only to arrive to the day he could leave the "center" to be free, not even then the good reverend questioned his beliefs.
In a way, being Joseph a good man is even worst for his son, since Paul can't reconcile his feelings for Jeremy with the teachings of his father; his father is a good man, Paul loves him, and if his father tells him that being gay is bad, young Paul can only believe it. And then there is also the fact that Paul is an only son, that he is the only family his father has, and if he leaves his father, he will leave him all alone. When Paul meets Jeremy, he is the perfect good son of a reverend: at 18 years old he is a perfect virgin, he has not even masturbated himself. But if Paul's mind doesn't know, his body well does, and being near Jeremy awakens all the forbidden desires. There is not much struggle on Paul's side, as soon as he realizes that Jeremy is gay, and that he is interested in him, Paul throws himself in the relationship, without second thoughts. It's quite easy, also Jeremy has to hide from his parents, and they can hide together.
At first I found a bit disconcerting all the sex between the two boys; it seemed to me reckless and odd that they were trying to hide from their respective parents, and in the meantime they were spending all possible time together in bed. But then it struck me: they are two teenagers, they don't think as adults, they are not adults at all! They are two boys in love and in that moment, the most important thing is to find a way to consume that love. I don't know if it was an author's choice, or maybe the fact that probably the author is not an erotic, and not even a romance writer, but also the sex scenes were very "bare" and basic, almost clinical; there was not foreplaying, not knowledge how to do "things" to easy and heighten each other pleasure, the main purpose was to get off as soon and as much as possible.
Nor Paul or Jeremy behave as adult men, nor during sex or in the choice they take. Without the help of elder people around, they will not even reach an healthy choice; again someone could question if it was a good behavior, and again I answered myself, it was probably the right behavior for a 18 years old guy in that same situation. Paul and Jeremy are not good "example", they are not two role models for gay teenagers, they are two boys who are in love but are still too young to help that love to grow. They are lucky enough to have other people around wiser than them, and ready to help.
The novel has maybe a simple perspective on the issue, for Paul and Jeremy it's not easy, but all in all it goes better than many other boys in their same situation; Paul's father, Joseph, maybe takes a little too late the right decision, but at least he did. In a perfect world, he should have reached that decision not since he realized that his son was in danger, but since it was the right thing to do, and so neither him proves to be a "perfect" character, but again, maybe it was not the idea of the author to write perfect and unbelievable characters. Paul and Jeremy are 18 years old boy, born and raised in a privileged society, and so they are not ready to face the big bad world alone. Joseph is a good man who believes in certain preachment, and till the moment the bad side of those beliefs don't hurt him, he doesn't realize they are wrongs. Maybe Paul, Jeremy and Joseph are not perfect, but I believe they are right for the society where they live.
The Preacher's Son is not a perfect novel, I still feel like the sex scene where a bit too rough and the ending a bit too fairy-tale and sugary, but all in all, it was a sweet coming of age story (with a scene that remembers both An Affair to Remember or Sleepless in Seattle, an appointment on a skydeck), and if you like to read of young boys in love, with the big bad world just outside but not too threatening, this is the right novel.
Amazon: The Preacher's Son: A Southern Coming-Out Story
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Elected by Pepper EspinozaThis is a really short, 35 pages, but really nice story. Sam and Owen know each other. More, they probably spent more than one night together knowing each other better. But Sam and Owen can't be friends.
Sam is a Republican strategist while Owen is a Democratic news producer; and even if it's not clear if Sam really believes in what he promotes, it's more than clear than Owen is a Democratic for passion and not only for convenience. In the only 35 pages we had, it's not said how they met, probably for work related reasons, but Owen knows very well and in a very intimate way Sam, and Sam is more than willing to prolong this acquaintance, if they are discreet. Sam is also willing to make some changes in his life, to find a work that allows him to be near Owen, even to behave as Owen's boyfriend in their private life, if he could maintain his public face. And their attraction is so strong, and truth be told, Sam's behavior when they are alone is really good, that Owen is willing on his side to let go the "little" facts that he absolutely doesn't like Sam's boss, Sam's work, Sam's public face.
The story is a really good example of how you can't choose the person you love. And that it's better to try to fit together you different personality rather than be sturdy and wait for the other to change. Being extremist only led you to be alone in your bed.
http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/El
Peanut Butter Kisses by Pepper EspinozaAs the candies in the title, this romance is sweet like sugar.
Peter is a big pastry chef, he is at the top in every competition, but always second. He is again competing at a national level and again he has as an assistant Josh. Josh is a young chef who looks with starry eyes upon Peter: for Josh everything Peter creates is perfect, and when Peter loses, for Josh is almost a personal matter. Obviously Josh is in love with Peter but he has never had the courage to make a move on Peter, both since he doesn't judge himself worthy of the love of wonderguy Peter, and because he really doesn't know if Peter is gay, since the man never express an interest in him, other than for work.
But this time Peter seems a bit more interested in Josh as a man than in Josh as a pastry assistant...
The story is short, less than 40 pages, but really really sweet. I like above all the fact that Peter is really not a special guy, maybe he is even a bit overweight, and he is really a sweet guy; but for the loving eyes of Josh he is wonderful.
http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/Pe
Amazon Kindle: Peanut Butter Kisses
The Obsolete Man by Pepper EspinozaThis is a really, really, really nice short story... I have said to many really? well sorry but it's what I was continuing to replay in my mind while reading this book.
James is an average man; good looking, nice, beautiful eyes, probably if he was a little more self-conscious he could be the classical successful man, and instead he is quite and maybe even a little shy, he doesn't consider himself worthy of more than he has and he settles down to a life that maybe it's not what he dreamed, but that is good and so why change? There is a part of James' life that remains obscure, and it's how he ended married with a woman when he is clearly attracted by men. Anyway James being a nice man as I said, has never thought to cheat on his wife, even if he has noticed the handsome man on the 7.23 a.m. train he takes every morning to work.
But if drama didn't hit James' life, he would probably have continued with his daily routine till the end of his working life to then settle down again in a retirement routine, letting that handsome man slip in a hidden closet of his mind. But in a blink of a moment, James becomes an obsolete man: at 45 years old he is too old to learn again how to be printing technician in the publishing firm he has worked for 25 years and he is fried; his wife, that probably has never shared passion with him, has not enough patience to support her husband in a life change, and leaves him. Without his daily routine of going to work and coming back home, James is lost, and the only solution he sees is to end his life "using" that daily routing, throwing himself under the 7.23 a.m. train.
In the spur of the moment, and since he has really nothing to loose, James decides to devote his last day to realize his secret fantasy, approaching the man of his dreams, the handsome stranger on that train. He is nicely surprised when Chad not only welcomes the approach but confesses that also him had noticed James before. There is no question on the fact that Chad is gay, maybe since we are at San Francisco, and Chad has "that" attitude, maybe only since he welcomes James' approach in a way a straight man wouldn't do, anyway James chooses the "straight" way (pun intended) and asks Chad to follow him in an hotel and share a morning of sex. And Chad accepts.
Chad's character is not really full developed, at least not as James' one. He is a nice man, he is gentle and caring, and from the things he says, we can understand that he is not selfish; he not only noticed James since he was a nice looking man, but he also noticed when the man stopped to smile, so in a way, he noticed when life started to spiralling down for him. He is not so unselfish to refuse an offer of easy sex from an almost stranger, even if Chad knows that something is not right with the man, but then he is really nice, trying while having sex, to also understand James' reasons and troubles.
I don't believe that James really wanted to commit suicide, he only needed a nice gesture from someone; but if that gesture hasn't come, probably James would have gone on with his intent, the author is really good in mounting the tension till the break point.
http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/Ob
The Prince Who Never Smiled by Pepper EspinozaLeopold is the prince of a fantasy medieval kingdom. He has never smiled and so people think that he is deformed or maybe cursed. Recently his mother is not well and her only wish is to see her son's smile and so the king, who is deeply in love with his wife, sends out a decree: the first person who will make his son smile will marry him.
After being subjected to all the type of "show" from a string of wanna-to-be princess, Leopold takes a break and goes on an hunting expedition in the country, and here he meets Dexter, a young peasant who is going to court in search of a well-paid job to help his family. Leopold, who actually prefers the company of men, even if, till this moment, neither men were able to make him smile, as soon as he sees Dexter, can't help the smile on his face. Why is not exactly clear, if not a sudden case of love at first sight, since Dexter hasn't done anything of really funny.
This is the classic example of Cinderfella's story, with also a bit of breeches rippers: Leopold is besotted by Dexter, and he claims that he only wants to please him for once, since till this moment people only pleased him. But truth be told, Leopold bends upon a full debauching plan to strip Dexter of his virginity, and there is a bit of droit du seigneur in this story, with Dexter that feels as he can't deny anything to Leopold since he is his prince. But Dexter is not so against the idea, and once Leopold shows him what they can do together, he is more than a willing participant. He almost forgets that he has a family at home waiting for him.The story is a quite enjoyable novella, a funny romp between the sheets with a fairy tale atmosphere (even if nothing of really "strange" or out of ordinary happens), but all in all it's more tender and romantic that real funny, with almost a little core of sadness.
http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/Pr
Amazon: It's Only Love
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In a metropolis where it's possible to live by night as you live by day (it's your choice), we find a quite disrupted Fred; 24 years old and still a virgin, Fred was struggling with the realization that he was gay when he was killed in a car accident. Only that he didn't die, the hit man was a vampire, Daniel, who turned him and took residence on his couch and bathtube. Daniel calls Fred his "fledge", and he pretends that he is teaching to Fred how to be a vampire. Trouble is that to Fred it seems that Daniel is only living on his shoulders: Fred comes back every morning (he works at night), with dinner, a cup of blood, he bitches a bit with Daniel, who is slumbering on the couch, and then both of them go to bed in separate room... they are the perfect old married couple! Blissful life as a couple but without sex... and Fred has not yet realized that sex could be a bonus of this new life.During the first chapter the book has a definitely funny mood, and the roles seem clear: Fred plays the blushing virgin who will be deflowered by the dashing vampire Daniel. Maybe Daniel is not exactly the epitome of the perfect vampire, and drinking blood from a styrofoam cup is not so sexy. Anyway I was really enjoying this new intake on a classical vampire tale, when the author decided to give another twist in his story. It comes out that Daniel is not a simple vampire, he is a renegade; in the world there are two opposite vampire armies, the one for the Queen and the other for the Emperor; if you are turned by a vampire of a side, you have to be part of that side. Daniel instead, being a whore even before being turned, decided that he didn't like neither side and chose the renegade life. And being Daniel his fledging, now Fred is hunted down by both sides.
The quiet and almost "ordinary" vampire blissful life Daniel and Fred were having, is so turned upside down, and now they are running away from enemies who come out at every corners. At first Fred doesn't know what it is happening, since Daniel instead of telling the whole story, gives him only bit of info when it's strictly necessary. But during the run, the reader, and Fred himself, start to understand that Fred is not a normal vampire and that maybe he is stronger not only of Daniel, but also of the vampires who are hunting them. The roles are reversed and now it's Fred who is playing the hero in shining armor trying to save Daniel from the bad boys.
In the end, it seems that everything Daniel does, even turning Fred in a vampire, it's an accident, something he wasn't planning. He wasn't planning to become a vampire, he wasn't planning to kill Fred, he wasn't planning to turn him, he wasn't planning to fledge a powerful vampire... Daniel is the initiator of all events, but he is not doing it by choice. Fred, at first seems the victim of Daniel's clumsiness, and instead, in the end, he is probably the only one who is able to redirect Daniel's unwilling generating force in something useful. One without the other is no one, together they are an invincible force... even if they don't know how to use that force.
Even if the second part tends to be more adventurous and dark, overall the book maintains a funny mood. The sex scenes are enjoyable but not too detailed, as all in the story, even the sex is something not too serious.
http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?m
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I think that basically Lex Valentine is an het romance writer, and a good one, and she decided to write a gay romance episode to mount it in a series, Tales of the Darkworld, that again, is basically an het paranormal romance series. The result is good and enjoyable, but clearly aimed to those readers that, before shifting to the gay romance world, enjoyed the classical paranormal romance. I will not be strict, and say "women", since I know there are also men, even if few, who like that genre, but I think that the intake the author has and writes on men, is of a straight man who, for a reason or the other, loves another man, but only that one. Holden, the straight man, is a women's man, but his mate is another man, and the pull of the mating is stronger than his sexual preferences; so Holden is forced to accept Garret as his mate, but this doesn't mean that he stops to like women. Holden has written "gay for you" in his forehead, and the author is very much aware of this subgenre, since she is the first to use, and put in the mouth of her characters, that definition. Holden's family is an ancient dragon clan, black dragons, and Holden and his brothers and sisters reach that age when they have to mate. When Holden meets Garret, thanks to the help of a family friend, from his smell and from the reaction of his body, he soon understands that Garret is his mate. Doesn't matter that Garret is a man, and even less doesn't matter that Garret is a green dragon. The pull of mating goes beyond gender differences and clan old fights. Being Garret a declared bisexual, he has fewer trouble than Holden to accept the unavoidable; and on Holden's side, the first rebuttal reaction is soon forgotten and he is ready to come down to pact.
Holden's behavior is very much what you would expect from a straight man who has to deal with an homosexual relationship; in a way it's like Holden and Garret are forced in an arranged marriage, and their personal preferences don't matter. Holden fears everything he is not able to relate in some way to an het relationship: that his partner can go down to him or that they can have anal sex (with Holden on the giving end), those are things he can understand and accept, but everytime he arrives to the realization that his partner has a penis, he freaks out. But Garret is patient and Holden is like a good little boy who follows the command of his parents, like a virgin maid sent to sacrifice.
The relationship between them starts with Garret letting Holden experiment all the new way they can have sex, and Holden who plays a little the coy virgin girl, refusing to officially "mate" till the moment he is not sure that he can really love Garret, despite the mating bond. Basically Holden wants to understand if, even without the mating pull, he would have been able to find Garret's attractive. Even if they are having a full and very intimate sexual life, Holden doesn't put out, he preserves the "last" virgin territory, till the moment he is not sure of his real feelings for Garret... in a way I find this behavior quite funny, above all since it arrives from a big bad boy like Holden.
The story is a good mix of sex, paranormal and even funny moments (I really like the in dragon form teasing scene, even if they don't arrive to really have sex in shifting form, don't worry). Again, I recommend it to who likes the paranormal genre (all the "mating" related matter...) and my opinion is that it's a story aimed to a female target.
http://www.pinkpetalbooks.com/index.php?
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At first, reading the blurb of this story, you can think for it to be a fantasy tale: the king of a small realm who falls in love for a woodsman and makes him his consort... how else it could happen if not in a fantasy tale? But truth be told, if you pass upon this detail (not little, you are right), The King's Tale is all for all an old fashioned historical romance. The time and custom are well described and researched, and even the "trick" they use to be together is historically based: the handfasting ceremony was common among the medieval people in what is now England, two people, usually a man and a woman, forged a pact to be together for an year; if within the year they had a child, the pact would turn in a marriage, if not, they would have the change to come back to their family without any other string to bound them. The handfasting was a regular and recognized ceremony well before the institution of the modern christian marriage and for the hereditary law it was biding as well. But shall we come back to the story. Christopher is the beloved son of a kingdom in the Cornish coast. The time is perhaps the late X century or the beginning of the XI; I don't believe it is after the Norman conquest, since the custom are more similar to the old Saxon legends. But truth be told there is a feudalism structure that resembles very much what was introduced by the Norman; and there is also a reference to a King Henry, who, from an historical point of view, could be linked to King Henry I, the son of William the Conqueror. I believe the author did an hard work to write an historically accurate novel allowing herself only some small freedom to make Christopher and Dafydd a possible match.
At the beginning of the story, Christopher is just became king, after the death of his father. Even if his father knew of his son's preferences for men, he told to his son that he had still to marry, to produce an heir to the kingdom. So Christopher is travelling the kingdom in search of a woman he can love, but obviously the quest is impossible. Christopher can't really love a woman. At the same time, Dafydd, the fourth son of a wealthy welshman, moved to Christopher's kingdom: as fourth in line he has nothing on his own, and his father prompted him to search his own path far from their land (maybe fearing for him to be an obstacle to his other sons). So Dafydd is leading a quite and comfortable life as woodsman, even if he is way more skilled than the task requires. On a snowy night, Christopher searches shelter in Dafydd's cottage and some days after in Dafydd's bed; when he asks to the man what he wants in exchange of his kindness, Dafydd replies that he wants a story of beauty, since he has seen few beauty in his life. And Christopher decides that he will tell to the man a tale of beauty AND love. He makes Dafydd his consort and brings him to live to the castle.
As I said, the chance for it to be real are few, but not impossible. Christopher's choice is not easy and not seen well by all his people. But he is the King, and what he wants he has. This is probably the best part of him and yet also the baddest: Christopher doesn't ask to Dafydd if he wants to be his consort, doesn't give him a choice; he brings the man to the castle and forces him upon his people. In doing so, he also puts the man at great risk, and what will happen it's in part due to his decision. If someone could think that Christopher is selfish and uncaring, I think instead that he is coherent to his character: he is a leader, he was raised to command and to have his wishes satisfied; he can be good and merciful, but only if he wishes, he has not to be. He may asks, but most of the time, he doesn't since he is not used to be refused.
A different man from Dafydd probably will have not bear such a man. But Dafydd is a gentle soul, he has not a selfish bone in him and he deeply loves Christopher. Even before the king's desire for him, he was already in love with him, a love he feeds from afar. He is also a strong man, both in body than in will, and only due to that love he can submit to Christopher's love, that is both love than ownership. Both Christopher than Dafydd know that it was Dafydd's choice to submit, and this is the reason why their relationship could last.
As I said I will tag the story as fantasy only since there are not clear references to a precise time period, but for all the rest, the story is pure historical. Even Christopher's decision to bear a bastard child he can then claim as an heir is the obvious decision that a man in his situation and time would have done. So, even if at first I didn't like the momentary interference of a woman between the two men, it was necessary as the only way to allow them to be together.
The King's Tale surprised me, since I was not expecting for it to be so "real", I opened it ready to read a fantasy tale, and instead I lost myself in an engrossing era, the Middle Ages, that I have always loved. I would also like to highlight the effort of the author to use a language that is right for that era, an expedient that maybe at first could make it difficult for a common reader to start the book, but that in the end, it has a main role in allowing that "lost in the tale" feeling that I mentioned above.
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/current
Amazon: The King's Tale
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As the cover suggests (and btw, a beautiful cover by P.L. Nunn) there is a bit of yaoi in this romance, above all in the character of Jason, the blushing virgin. I'm not disappointed by it, since I bought the book expecting it, this is one of the time where the cover tells and enriches the story in the right way.When I say that there is a yaoi influence it's not only in the blushing of Jason, but also in the way he is forced by Enitan, the Storykeeper, to admit his desires. Deep inside himself, Jason knows what he wants, but he has not yet act according to his desires. Jason is even too pretty, pale translucent skin, blue baby eyes, blond curly hair; all his life he was avoided by girls since he was too cute, maybe even more than them, and by boys since he wasn't male enough. In this situation, Jason has not really had the chance to decide what he really likes, he simply avoided every temptation. He devoted himself to his study, becoming the classical library mouse.
Then his sister came to live with him and brought a very special novelty in his life: her collection of romance books. Among those books, Jason found something unexpected, man on man love stories (cameo role for the Tin Star and J.L. Langley who is the first author our Jason tried). From that moment on, a more than 20 years old Jason is awakened to his own desires, homosexual desires. But he still doesn't act on them, he limited himself to read and dream. Then one day he finds a very special book, a book that writes itself while Jason is living the story, and that brings Enitan in Jason's life. Enitan is an immortal being, and he has no actual corporeal form, he assumes the body that Jason likes, tall, dark straight long hair, chocolate skin... it's not difficult to notice that he is at the opposite of Jason, both in body than behavior. Where Jason has problem to express his feelings, Enitan is more than ready to voice them and to act according to them. He teaches to Jason all he has to know about sex and love, but the book will be ended soon.
The plot of your dream man who comes out from the book is not new, I remember a novella by Sherrilyn Kenyon, who then developed her famous Dark Hunter series from another similar story, Fantasy Lover. Here the interest lies in the character of Jason and probably in his repressed feelings, Enitan not only represents who Jason wants as companion, he is also who Jason would like to be, and for this reason he is dark where Jason is light, and he is bold where Jason is shy. More than dreaming to be Enitan's lover, Jason would like to be Enitan himself.
The book is basically a sexy romp played in the little bedroom of a shy book mouse... probably the story half and more the romance reader are dreaming.
http://www.aspenmountainpress.com/new-re
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I remember when the two authors were planning to write this book, Angelia Sparrow wondered if it was possible for a boy raised as a girl, and having no real contact with anyone if not his own maid and guardian, a man himself disguised as a woman, to really believe that all people, men and women, have a penis, and the only difference that distinct them is how they behave in public.The book is a good and precise retelling of the Robin Hood's legend. The twist is that Marion, the bastard son of dead King Richard I, was raised by Sir David as a princess. Sir David was Richard's lover, and was supposed to be killed during the crusade. Instead, to accomplish the last dying bed desire of his lover, he disguised as a woman, Bess, and collected Marion from his peasant mother family, and brought her to Locksley, where Robin's father betrothed his son to "princess" Marion. Years later, Robin is an outlaw and Marion is taken in almost captivity by the Sheriff of Notthingham.
Adult Robin, even if he doesn't know Marion's true nature, is not against the idea of man on man love, in fact, among his merry band, he is quite intimate both with Will Scarlett than Little John. But with them it's more friendship than love, and when he meets Marion, and discovers his true nature, it's no problem at all to fall in love and swear to his guardian Bess, that he will take good care of the "princess". In all this plan, poor Marion doesn't come out as a very clever boy, he is all in all the perfect example of how a young lady was raised at that time, with little regard to his mind, since she doesn't need it, and all the efforts spend to make her a perfect and proper lady. But Marion has some surprise on her bow.
The story and the point of view on the history is more Hollywood type than historically accurate, means that it's more important to show the nice and naughty side of the age, than the real life style, much as it is always done on the movie from the Errol Flynn's time to Kevin Costner, passing from Sean Connery and also Walt Disney. Said that, if someone wonders why there are so many homosexual relationship, maybe the strange thing is that there are so many in the same place, but don't forget that they are not historically inaccurate, it's well known that Richard I was scolded both from the Pope than from his mother to have not accomplished his due as an husband.
There is quite a lot of sex in the story, but even it is accurate, having in mind, for example, Marion's innocence, or the discomfort of having sex in the wood without the proper equipment (oils and similar). All of that, managing to make it good and enjoyable nevertheless.
I think that the quality of this book is above to the usual level I found on Ellora's Cave and for once, even the cover is right for the story itself.
http://www.jasminejade.com/p-7439-heart-o
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The Screen Shots series is a woman perspective on the gay porn industry. Here Willa Okati imagines that a former female porn star, who likes to see man on man action, and her gay best friend, have founded a porn producing company, Twenty Something Twinks. They manage it like a free sex community, in a small farm just outside the city, where both producer, director and actors are happy to go every morning, like it is a day at play more than work.The new addition to this odd family is Cody. Cody is just out college with a degree in philosophy that didn't help him to find a job. Take like that, you could think that he decided to try the porn industry path since he was desperate for a job, but it's not exactly like that. Cody is bi-curious, and even if he has never had a same-sex experience, he is not against the idea, and why not earn also some money? For Cody is simple, he has never had trouble with his sexuality.
Not of the same attitude is Aaron, Cody's roommate. Aaron was never at ease to share his sexual exploits with Cody, and now that is friend is doing it for work, it's even worst. Aaron is feeling something, maybe jealousy, and the worst thing is that he really likes the guys with whom Cody is working. If Cody was working with some ugly men in a sad environment, maybe there would be the chance for him to stop, but like that? No way. And so, if you can beat them, why not join them?
The turning point of this story is, can you really love a man, but share him with a bunch of other guys just only for sex? Apparently yes, otherwise all the porn stars would be single. The story is a funny romp, easy and enjoyable, and it's almost sweet to read the common life of Aaron and Cody, both of them so unfit to the simplest housekeeping chores, not exactly the epitome of the flamboyant gay guy, more boys in need of a mum to look out for them.
http://www.changelingpress.com/product.p
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One of the complaints I heard most from gay romance authors is that the genre often doesn't respect the reality. In today time it's not so easy to be gay or to come out, and all those romances where people are out and proud, and happy and comfortable, are not realistic. Coming out is still an issue for most gay men, and often to gather the courage to do it takes years and you arrive well over 20 years old without having done so.In Fire on the Mountain there is a similar situation; Jake is the new arrive on a mountain ranger station and he is paired with Kurt to patrol a small patch of mountain. They have to spend six months in a small cabin, most of the time alone. Jake is gay but he has not yet done coming out. More, he is scared to do that. All his sexual experience amounts to some mutual strokes with one night stands when he was still in the city. Now he has a big crush on his fellow fire ranger Kurt, but he fears to let it knows since if the feeling is not mutual, he has to still spend six months with the man. And so Jake is suffering the pain of hell being unwillingly teased by Kurt and by the forced proximity. But maybe it's not so unwillingly: in Kurt's action I read something that makes me thing that he is teasing Jake for real, and with a clear purpose in mind.
The story is basically simple; what I find most interesting is, like I said, the process of coming out of a twenty something young man, Jake, and all his insecurities. He is not experienced, everything is unknown and scaring. Even the physical aspect of the thing, how to have sex, what he wants or what his partner doesn't want, is something to be worried about; not to give too much details, but for example Jake is worried about his measures (let us say that he is bigger than usual), and he has never had the chance to be encouraged by someone like him.
On this perspective, the story is pretty sweet, Jake is apparently a big and strong man, but inside he is still a novice. He is not able to speak his desires not since he is shamed, but since he exactly doesn't understand them. On the other hand, I didn't rightly framed Kurt: I have the feeling that he is more experienced, and we know that he is not at his first sexual experience with a man, but still, like Jake, more than face the matter full front, he tries to walk around it. If not for a dangerous experience they share, I don't know if these two men would have ever found the courage to come clear to each other. This is exactly what I was saying at first: coming out is not so simple.
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Daniel is a thirty years old guy like many in New York. He flew from a small town in Wiscounsin hoping to become an actor at Broadway; during high school he was the classical misfit, not actually out as gay but nevertheless the target of those guys who considered themself normal. As often in those cases, losing himself in daydreams was the only way to survive and playing a role on stage was another way to escape reality. In a small town, Daniel's ability to perform was something special, but in New York City he was only one other daydreamer; Daniel left his small town since he didn't fit there, but it's not better in New York City. Young and alone, Daniel was starting towards the path of selling himself, more for being noticed (and having enough to eat) than really for money. Who saved Daniel from that sad destiny, was his makeshift family, full of wonderful characters like Bette Midler, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, all in drags. In his small town, when Daniel thought to himself as gay, he never once imagined himself in drag, but then he realized that it was another way to play a role, on stage, but also in life. On stage Daniel wore glitters and satin, out of the stage he had still a mask. His own was 2Di4, a female impersonator of Lady Diana; and it worked for many years till the day the real Lady D died in a car accident. Daniel was not only playing a role, 2Di4 was also his life, and losing his source of inspiration was like losing again himself. At thirty Daniel is again at the starting point, the last 12 years lost forever. More or less at the same time, he also finds out that his lover Jeremy is cheating on him with a common friend, Robert. So Daniel takes a whole turn on his life: he moves to Hell's Kitchen in a small apartment with a little garden and he spends the summer planting seeds and trees in that garden, another way to delay. At the end of the summer, the garden is a little eden, and Daniel has not yet decided what to do with his life. His friends, mostly drag queens, want for him to perform again, but he has not that in him. He meets Sheila, a young girl coincidentally from his same small town, who is temporarly living with Blaine, another fellow townfolk. Blaine is actually Mr 5.33, the same man Daniel is spying from his garden every day coming home and doing an impromptu and unwilling little striptease for the neighbor. At first Daniel befriends Sheila for the chance to meet Blaine, but then he finds out that he really likes the girl; Sheila's relationship with Blaine is strange, but from the beginning it's clear that it's not love, at least no more. Sheila also convinces Blaine to hire Daniel as Personal Assistant; Daniel has no real skill for the work, but he learns looking at DVD like Working Girl and From 9 to 5. The job allows him to get nearer to Blaine, and to discover some of the man's secrets.
Meanwhile, Daniel's ex, Jeremy, is regretting is choice to leave and wants to come back home to Daniel, and also Jeremy's new lover, Robert, is making a move on Daniel... from not having no one and being dumped, Daniel has now three possible lovers in line. Quite an ego burst. And the real good thing is that now all of the are interesting in Daniel, the real one, and not the face 2Di4 he was on stage. What Daniel didn't do 12 years ago, and what he delayed misguising as a female, he is doing now: he is coming out, from the closet, from the small town, from the dresses he used to hide. He is no more living on the shadow of someone else, replaying on stage her mistakes, Daniel is now doing them all by himself.
Even if there is a nice and tender love story between Daniel and Blaine, the story is mainly focused on Daniel. Blaine is all in all a good character and a nice man. He made some big mistakes in his life, but now he is trying to straighten (no pun inteded) them. Maybe at the very beginning, he is not so straightforward (again, no pun inteded) with Daniel, but it's really a question of few days. After that, he becomes the perfect possible boyfriend, comprehensive and caring, sweet and tender. But still, his character remains quite in second line in comparison to Daniel.
The love story between them is sweet, tender and very normal. A classical office romance, with a little of teasing and nice development. There is not detailed sex, when they do it (and they do it), the author chose the "and afterward..." tactic, means that we leave the characters just before the main course, to rejoin them at the afterward. No bad, the story is funny and light enough to fullfill the gap.
Amazon: It Had to Be You
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Characters: Alpha Males, Cinderfellas (from rags to riches...), Friends (with benefits), Multicultural Lovers, Pretty... Men! (hustlers) & Virgins (at least in one way)
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All cover art, photo and graphic design contained in this site are copyrighted by the respective publishers and authors. These pages are for entertainment purposes only and no copyright infringement is intended. Should anyone object to our use of these items please contact by email the LJ's owner.
All post tagged as "My Blog" are only announces for the full post on "Rosa is for Romance" (http://rosaromance.splinder.com/).
This is an amateur blog, where I discuss my reading, what I like and sometimes my personal life. I do not endorse anyone or charge fees of any kind for the books I review. I do not accept money as a result of this blog.
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