Elisa - My reviews and Ramblings

Voting on each slot will happen every 2 weeks.

- in round 1 there will be 12 slots, 1 for each month in the Submission period (from September 2011 to August 2012).
- in parallel with the poll, a special jury will vote the covers; the jury is composed by: Damon Suede, Dylan Rosser, Jodie, Julie, Max Rhyser, Mitzie, Tammy.
- you can vote as many covers as you want, using the poll in this post or "liking" the cover on FB (I prefer the poll, it's easier for me, and you can vote logging with FB, Twitter or other accounts)

Most Voted Covers last round:


Weregild (Anne Cain)


Rare Event (Anne Cain)


Spell Cat (Shobana Appavu)

All the covers are here:

http://www.elisarolle.com/rainbowawards/2012CoverContest_08April.htm

or here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.407927115908043.97338.100000722741394&type=3&l=d6b9ce261e

and here is the poll:

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A futuristic approach to the old fashioned Cinderfella story, Redemption is the story of Jason, a young man who has an immediate need for money and the fastest way to find it is to sold himself into a bondmate contract for 20 years. Even if the term “bondmate” can suggest something more romantic, the bondmate contract is basically the modern way to be a slave: accepting the contract Jason accepts to become a property of someone else, man or woman is the same, if they have the money to buy his contract.

In a way, Jason is lucky since the one to buy the contract is Devin, an handsome man in his thirties who is basically a workaholic without time for a private life. Buying a bondmate is a perfect solution, during the day Jason will be Devin’s personal assistant, during the night he will share his bed, if Devin is in the mood, or otherwise he will stay in his room, without risk to hear recrimination. Devin’s former wife was a society butterfly and she left when she realized Devin was not her personal escort, but he had actually a job he had to do.

I liked the contrast between Jason’s expected role and his physical appearance: Jason is strong and young, not at all weak, and if not for the urgent need of money, he had also perspective on the future, he was a post-graduate student with excellent credentials. When Devin takes him home, I had the feeling Jason felt like an elephant in a glass shop, and I think also Devin was questioning if he had done the right choice.

Another interesting point is how homosexuality in this futuristic society is no more a taboo, basically everyone is bisexual, and indeed Jason had only one previous homosexual experience, but he has no issue at all at being bought by a man, while instead Devin, from what I understood, had his same share of women and men in the past, and I think he has picked a man now since he is still burned by the bad experience with his ex-wife.

Amazon Kindle: Redemption
Publisher: ODC Press (April 1, 2012)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading_list&view=elisa.rolle

Romance in full swing. That is probably the entire review in 4 words, but I will add more, don’t worry. Christie (that despite the name and the looks is a man) is the unexpectedly single father of Frankie, unexpected since a) Christie is completely gay and b) he was supposed to be only the biological father, a favour he was doing to his best friend Caro and her partner Liss. But then Caro and Liss died in a car accident and Christie is the father of Frankie, and of course he has to take care of her, doesn’t matter Christie is a career soldier soon to be deployed. He strikes the lottery when he meets State Trooper Robert Lindstrom, that not only is the Norwegian god the name suggests, he is also ready to be part of an already made family and has a lot of relatives ready to give an hand if necessary.

That between Robert and Christie is love and lust at first sight, and Christie doesn’t really need much wooing to allow Robert into his life and above all bed, 2 steaks and a bottle of wine and he was ready to open the door (no pun intended). Truth be told, Christie was probably on a too long dry spell, and Robert is the answer to many prayers, he is the oddity among the gay guys, someone who is not scared by commitment and a toddler.

I liked the full romance mood of the story, I liked the happy ending and I also liked they had some trouble but nothing major they couldn’t face and manage. I think the army setting was good and realistic, maybe I wondered of the chance of an openly gay man like Christie, that apparently is screaming “gay” as soon as you see him, to be a career soldier with apparently no trouble from his fellow soldiers and commanding officers. True the story is set in the period when gay marriage is becoming legal in some of the United States, but still I think the Don’t ask Don’t tell was still strong inside the army. Anyway, as I often said, this is a romance, and if happily ever after are not in the romance, where should they be?

Despite all the romance and pink glasses perspective, and the flaming gay attitude of Charlie, the author didn’t forget she was dealing with two men, something you can clearly see in their interaction, especially that first night, when basically Robert is trying to score from moment one without knowing that Charlie has already decided to let him win; while Charlie can desire a long-term partner, he has also his “needs”, and there is nothing bad in having Robert help with that.

http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=CN_SLDTR

Amazon: The Soldier and the State Trooper
Amazon Kindle: The Soldier and the State Trooper
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: MLR Press (August 13, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1608204022
ISBN-13: 978-1608204021

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading_list&view=elisa.rolle