Imposition by Juniper Bell

Imposition by Juniper Gray
Publisher: Torquere Press
Genre: Sci-Fi, GLBT
Length: 215 pages


Summary: Therse Bodan is a Navy Lieutenant of exceptional caliber, approached with an offer of his dream position in the upper echelons of Navy Command. Therse is on a transport cruise ship, returning from a far-flung region of space with only his best friend and chronic under-achiever Genham Drisjic for company when he realizes that if he accepts the offer, he and Genham may never see one another again. Therse wants to confess his long-held feelings for Genham but is afraid he might be pushed away.

The arrival of Meitou, a member of the military's secretive elite, aboard their quiet ship throws them into turmoil, forcing Therse to confront events in his past, and making Genham face up to feelings of his own. And the ship itself is no stranger to dark secrets...

In space, no one can hear you weep.
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Even a large spaceship can feel too small when your only crewmate keeps getting in your face. Therse Bodan can't get away from Genham Drisjic, isn't sure he wants to, and has a huge desire to smack Gen when they're together. Imposition by Juniper Gray gives us the complicated course of their careers and relationship.


Therse and Gen go back all the way to their first days as new recruits. Even as cadets they had a stormy relationship, where friendship didn't quite apply, nor did competition. Now, when their career paths could diverge considerably, they are still sparring. Each has his secrets and his guilt, piled on in layers with every major step in their careers.

It isn't enough to be saddled with a cranky AI to run the ship; tensions rise further when Meitou comes aboard. He's a master manipulator; neither Therse nor Gen stand a chance. It was never really clear why Meitou wanted to shake them up, because his agenda seemed larger than toying with them just because he could, although he probably wouldn't turn down the chance for some fun in the course of hitching a ride on the larger ship. It just seems too calculated to be only his travel entertainment.

Gray paints the relationships and the manipulations masterfully – with one arch comment her characters send one another into frenzies of lust, doubt, and self examination. This is the meat of the book; watching Meitou practically reach out to punch a button with a word. Age and treachery beat youth and enthusiasm, and take it to bed, too – there is a lot of sex here, but it all drives the plot. By the time Meitou departs, Therse and Gen are so addled they might just forget to lie to one another.

What seems to be missing is a sense of proportion: one of Gen's actions early in their association is so heinous in its effect that it's surprising the other cadets didn't put him out the friendship airlock, and Therse beats himself up for an offense far more than it could deserve. There are hints of larger plans for Gen that make taking the time to administer Meitou's special brand of attitude adjustment worthwhile, but only hints.

If there's a sequel planned, then many of these issues could be resolved, including the open question of how Therse's promotion will affect the pair. The result could be space opera along the line of David Weber or Elizabeth Moon. What's here is a great romance element and a great set-up for the science fiction element that I'd love to read to the end. Imposition gets our two lieutenants out of their ruts, and we can hope Juniper Gray is planning to give them their worthy opponent.  4 Marbles

A Picture is Worth...

Well, Thursdays are becoming Mondays and Tuesdays for getting a prompt pic up. (Let's all wish Deb at Dark Divas a speedy recovery! We miss her there and it adds to my erraticness here. Is that even a word? It is now.)

I liked this young man sitting by the water, playing his, um, his what? Tell me who he is, what he's playing, and whatever else you can work into a ficlet or an excerpt. A hundred to a thousand words works best. More than one story per pic allowed, because there are so many fabulous imaginations roaming around. We've been getting some super excerpts lately.  I'll post it here, with covers, blurbs, news, and links.

7 Arguments for Assessment

I totally stole this from Janna at Rarely Dusty Books, because it's just such an amazingly good summary of what to look for in a book. I found this after I started reviewing, and it really made me think, and I hope it made me review better.

The seven arguments:

1.Realistic argument -- A book is good (or bad) when it’s projecting the world (un)realistically, when the story’s reality is (un)believable.

2. Moral argument -- A book is good (or bad) when it contains certain ideas about sex, religion, morals or politics.

3. Structural argument -- A book is good (or bad) when its structure is (not) solid, when the story is (not) built/paced well, when there’s (no) consistency.

4. Stylistic argument -- A book is written in a good (or poor) writing style.

5. Innovation argument -- You can learn something from the story. The book contains original ideas and provocative thoughts.

6. Emotivistic argument -- A book has to touch you emotionally. It has to entertain you, move you and captivate you.

7. Intentional argument -- The reader/reviewer assumes that the writer has a certain purpose/intention with his story and assesses whether the author has managed to achieve that goal.

It's probably not possible to touch on every argument in every review, and some of them just don't apply all that much. #5 isn't nearly as big a reason for reading a romance as #6. But still, who wants to read the same sort of take on Subject X from 32 authors?

If #1 isn't on, I'll notice it. Usually that's what I notice first when something isn't working for me. Consistency matters, continuity matters. Adherence to the laws of physics, or at least the laws of that world, matter.

#3 is important to me too, but I can be a little more flexible there if #6 and 1 are working. And if #3 is working really well, I can be flexible even on that highly important #1. # 2 usually isn't an issue in my romance reading unless an issue pops up to beat me over the head: it's happened. And for some reason, #7 is usually an accident for me, and I notice it when some happy author says I noticed it. I guess I figure if #1-6 are humming along, #7 will come automatically. Maybe that isn't a good assumption.

#6 is kind of a given for a romance, but do any of the others especially matter for you?

Tea and Crumpet, edited by Josephine Myles

Tea and Crumpet ed. Josephine Myles
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Genre: Anthology, Contemporary, Erotica, Historical, GLBT
Length: 193 pages



Raise your rainbow umbrellas high and celebrate!

Enjoy this enchanting, entertaining and thought-provoking collection, a heartfelt expression of what it means to be queer in Britain, past and present. All these stories reflect the iconic sights and national character of the British Isles: a taste of our idiosyncrasies and eccentricities, but also an unashamed representation of the love, loyalty and laughter of our people.

Including a wide range of style and subject, this is the perfect way to sample different authors and to find both existing and new favourites. Follow the British way of life from historic villages to modern cities, from the countryside to the sea, through history and with a fantasy twist, in gardens, churches, campus and the familiar, much-loved local pub.

The stories cover universal themes of romance, desire, remembrance and reconciliation. The authors range from multi-published to up-and-coming, and they all share a passion for their characters, whether through great drama, erotic excitement, humour -- or a combination of all three!

Contributors include: Alex Beecroft, Jennie Caldwell, Stevie Carroll, Charlie Cochrane, Lucy Felthouse, Elin Gregory, Mara Ismine, Clare London, Anna Marie May, JL Merrow, Josephine Myles, Zahra Owens, Jay Rookwood, Chris Smith, Stevie Woods, Lisa Worrall, and Serena Yates. Edited by: UK MAT (UK Meet Acquisitions Team).

This anthology is a souvenir of the 2011 UK Meet, an occasion for GLBTQ supporters to get together in a relaxed setting to celebrate and chat about the fiction community they love. Funds from the sale of this anthology will go towards future UK Meets, to which all are welcome.
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Oh, my, this is what happens when the constraints of American publishers, American-speak, and standard romance conventions are released. Tea and Crumpet is a charming collection of short stories from British authors in all their native glory.

More than half of the authors here are new to me, with a wide variety of style and voice. There are eighteen stories that span most of the social spectrum, though if I wasn't quite sure what a "chav" is, I could glean a lot from context. And from Google – who wouldn't want to know more about something called "Insanely Bad Elf"*? Most are m/m, a few f/f – and while the f/f stories did not stand out as distinctly in voice, the diversity was welcome.

With this many stories, I'm not going to go into each in detail or we'll be here for 100 pages, so I'll mention a few of the standouts, though please understand, the entire collection is worth the read, particularly if you yearn for a gay story that doesn't adhere completely to the HEA/HFN model.

JL Merrow provides another one of her humorous shorts with Good Breeding. Giles finds himself confronting all his snobbery when he discovers that his own antecedents aren't as posh as he could wish when he tracks down his birth mother. Between his even snobbier boyfriend Hugh and his level-headed roommate Oz, Giles gets an attitude adjustment and a lesson in priorities. Funny, with a little sting.

The Utterly True History of Guy Alien and the Rise and Fall of His Band, X-Wing is one of the non-standard-romance stories, though Stevie Carroll reveals the relationships and the caring. Part is a magazine exposé, part the reactions of the readers, it lets the identities of the readers unveil slowly, and by the end, you'll be utterly content with the lovers.

A follow-up to another story I now feel compelled to track down, We’ll Always Have Brighton #2 from Zahra Owens stands alone, both as narrative and in voice. Told from "I" to "you", you being the other member of the couple, this is a structure I've seen only once before. It works well in this tale of recovery from a terrible incident. Names are neither given nor needed; the whole universe is this couple and a place that means a great deal to them.

Not to slight any of the other fine authors who have contributed to this anthology, but after these three I'm going to suggest that you get the collection and read for yourself. 4.5 marbles




*Insanely Bad Elf is an imperial red ale with an ethanol content designed to remove paint.  But I will not tell you how it fits into the story.

Call and Answer by Val Kovalin

Call and Answer by Val Kovalin
Publisher: Amber Quill Press
Genre: Contemporary, GLBT
Length: 131 pages



Summary: Small-town Louisiana in 1959 is a dangerous place to have a gay affair. But Henri can't help his instant attraction to Gabriel, a handsome black musician who accepts his advances with amused tolerance. Henri hopes for a summer of hot, uncomplicated sex before he leaves for college. He doesn't realize that Gabriel is a powerful shapeshifter who also lives as an alligator in the bayou.

When Henri first sees Gabriel transform into an alligator, he mistakes him for the Devil. Then he learns that Gabriel exists to raise power through sex-magic. For that, Gabriel needs a human lover. In the past, some lovers have helped Gabriel spend the power for the good of the land, and others have squandered it for personal gain. What will Henri do--given that he never wanted to be a magic-wielder in the first place?

As his summer romance with Gabriel deepens into passionate love, Henri must learn to face responsibility as he encounters prejudice, family feuds, and startling glimpses into the underworlds of New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Can he persuade Gabriel to take a chance on a future with him?

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So many things are off the beaten path with Call and Answer--this shapeshifter story is definitely an unique offering. Set in bayou country in the late fifties, the elements of time and place shape but do not overwhelm the plot. Val Kovalin has created something special here.


Henri Broussard, horny eighteen year old, blows past the conventions and into the arms of Gabriel, a gorgeous black man/land spirit who insists Henri know and understand his alligator form and nature. It's easy for Henri to agree to the responsibilities that come with Gabriel, much easier than to actually discharge them. Henri's thoughtless and a little wild; Gabriel might have been right to think Henri's called him too soon.

Kovalin weaves the small town, pre-Civil Rights movement, pre-women's lib attitudes through the plot very deftly, without resorting to coarse language in doing it, yet it all simmers within the story, much as it must have done in that time. Combine that with the heavy bayou air, the water that's too dangerous to swim in for anyone except Gabriel, and the pull of sex, and the sweat rises off the reader.

Gabriel's a mystery, yet very open, too. He doesn't question what he is or why he's bound in certain ways; he's been in the swamps since "before whites or blacks." It's been a long time since his seasonal partner was a man, but Henri burns with lust – he's the one. There's a serious maturity gap here, yet Gabriel cannot be the guide Henri so urgently needs because of the way the power works. Somehow that's fitting – look into reptilian eyes and there's no one in there you can communicate with.

This is so much the story of Henri's growing up, going from simple lust to understanding and maybe even love, and coming into manhood in so many other ways. Henri's character in the beginning seemed under compulsion – there were no moments of reflection on how many of society's rules he was breaking or that he was doing it deliberately or with understanding, just boom – into the arms of the most unsuitable (on the surface) lover around. By the end though, this young man is a much finer person. A varied cast of secondary characters assist him in their various ways, from Sofie, who wants a different life and feels a claim on Gabriel, to Mr. Jackson, a middle-aged black teacher who's been beaten, but not beaten down, by the color bar, and a family already astraddle two cultures.

Henri's young and the mistakes he makes reflect that – unbridled horniness and hesitating to fulfill a frightening duty -- by the end he's much deeper than he starts, when his every action has consequences greater than he first expects. His decisions cost him dearly, and yet, the story ends on hope. I want to see what happens in the spring. 4.5 marbles

A Picture is Worth...

Our last pic netted a tantalizing excerpt of JB McDonald's Dragon Hunted; nothing brings a couple together like the thought of meeting eternity inside a monster's belly.

How about a museum? What kind of story can be told about people looking at paintings and statuary? Or about the art itself?  Any author who has a ficlet or an excerpt for this scene (100 to 1000 words), send it to CryselleC AT gmail DOT com, with blurbs, links, covers, and news, because we want to read it!

I know, it's not Thursday, but posting around another blog's schedule has me going .

Whoops

Apologies to everyone who stopped by during the construction; we were trying to make the place more readable, not less.

Note to self; adding a poll screws EVERYTHING up. Apparently the javacode overrides a lot of other instructions. Not doing that again.

But now that you're here, tell me what you think? I'd had a couple of people tell me that reading the white on black gave them after images and that it wasn't pleasant, so, we picked a color that is supposed to match the tones in the picture. Is it too dark to read comfortably?

A Thousand Word Thursday Story by JB McDonald

An Excerpt from Dragon Hunted

He whipped around, yanking a knife free before he even realized the voice was just Katsu. He grinned and tucked the blade away. "Katsu! I didn't think anyone was around here!"

"What, you thought I'd leave everyone to get gored by a dragon on their own? What's the point in having a medic?" Katsu tromped through the forest, heedless of breaking branches or snapping twigs. It was almost like he was daring the dragon to come back and eat him -- and Ashe doubted even a dragon had those kind of guts. Katsu'd probably give it indigestion.

Ashe fell in beside Katsu, relieved to have company, glad it was the medic. Somehow, things seemed better with Katsu around. "Do dragons gore people? I don't think they have horns to gore with." Ashe squawked as Katsu slapped the back of his head, sending him stumbling forward. He caught his balance, rubbing his skull. "Bad medic."

Katsu snorted. "Bad medic? Bad elf. Shouldn't you be up with the others trying to kill yourself? Or do you save that for your off time?"

Ashe fell back into step with Katsu. "I save that for my off time. How else am I going to get to see you?"


Katsu gave him a sharp look, but kept walking.

"And if I don't get to see you," Ashe put his hand to his chest, faking heartbreak, "my day would just never be bright."

"I hate elves," Katsu muttered. "You're all drama queens."

Ashe grinned but dropped his hand. "Is there anything you do like, Katsu?"

"Peace."

"I hate peas. They look like marsh griffin spawn. Have you seen a marsh griffin?"

Katsu gave him a disgusted look.

"They're about this big," Ashe held his hands a foot apart, "and they eat bugs."

Katsu kept walking.

"When they spawn, they squeeze out these nasty, ooze-coated egg things. The male—"

Katsu slapped the back of his hand into Ashe's chest, stopping them both. "Do you hear that?"

Ashe listened. Something growled. Slowly, carefully, he looked around the forest. It took two sweeps before he realized that he wasn't seeing fireflies, but rather the moon reflected off a scaled hide. He traced it with his gaze, up to a finely wrought head with a strong jaw.

This dragon wasn't as big as the last. More like a horse than a wagon. But it was looking right at them.

"Moran's teats," Ashe whispered.

"Is that bad?" From the corner of Ashe's eye, he could see Katsu looking around, the human's vision not quite spotting the dragon.

Ashe nodded slowly. "Start backing up. We need to find cover." They took a step backward, and the dragon's head lowered. A split tongue flickered out of its mouth, tasting the air.

"There was a ravine to the right," Katsu murmured. "Thought I saw some caves."

"Go."

Katsu bolted. Twigs and dry leaves underfoot turned Katsu's run into a clear trail. The dragon didn't move. Ashe waited, watching the dragon as it watched Katsu. He drew his knife once more, even though he knew it would do precious little against a dragon. It might do something.

The dragon's gaze flicked toward him for just an instant, as if aware he might be a threat. Then the creature moved. Like oil across water, it slid through the forest lightning fast, twisting around trees as if they were nothing. Ashe leaped for it, knowing he was too slow. Far too slow, even as he pushed through possibilities and drove his muscles harder, calling on the magic in his blood to aid him.

It wasn't enough. He'd waited too long.
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They’re always cute when they’re small, but dang, they grow…

This delightful tidbit is from JB McDonald’s Dragon Hunted, the first in the  the Dragon Series. It starts with Dragon Hunted and continues with Dragon Traders, available on the 17th of August, and will continue far, far after that! It could really be re-titled The Adventures of Katsu and Ashe, Fantasy Mercenaries and Male Lovers, but that might get a little lengthy. ;)
 


Getting eaten by a dragon wasn't part of Ashe's plan. Not that there was much of a plan to begin with, but it had definitely involved more chasing and less running. Ashe supposes there's one good thing about all this: if he has to be trapped in a cave with a very large predator outside, at least he's with Katsu, the company medic and Ashe's current crush.

Even better, Katsu has enough knowledge of dragons and medicine that he might just be able to hatch an escape plan. Even better than that, Ashe is discovering that Katsu might not dislike him after all. It's a small step, Ashe hopes, from not disliking him to something significantly more. That is, assuming they don't get eaten first.


Find JB’s news at her website here www.jbmcdonald.com or at her blog at jennabreen.livejournal.com, where she announces contests and things.

And we’ll get more story on the 17th when Dragon Traders comes out!

Where He Belongs by Rachel Haimowitz

Where He Belongs by Rachel Haimowitz
Publisher: Storm Moon Press
Genre: Fantasy, GLBT
Length: 31 pages



Summary: The hottest name in network news is Daniel Halstrom. He is a sensation, a rising star. He is also a slave, owned wholly and completely by NewWorld Media.

But before he was a star, he was a frightened child from a bad place with a promising, if limited, future ahead of him. In The New Kid, young Daniel begins his schooling. Then, for a slave, the simple pleasure of a Bathroom Break is sometimes the only pleasure to be had. Later, Daniel doesn't know it, but A Chance Encounter might be the most important of his life. Next, in Camera Obscura, one of Daniel's colleagues reflects on the fact that as much as the camera may show, it can hide even more. Finally, when you're a slave, Independence Day is just another day.

Exclusive Bonus Content!

Excerpt from Anchored by Rachel Haimowitz, the debut novel in the Belonging series
The never-before-published prequel to Anchored
A sneak peek at Counterpunch, the upcoming Belonging novel by Aleksandr Voinov
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In a series of very short, flash-length stories, Rachel Haimowitz outlines an entire world, giving hints and glimpses, and somehow managing to build a rather complete society in Where He Belongs. Meant as companion stories to the already published novel Anchored, they still stand alone and completely sucked me in.

Each story is a small gem – Daniel is revealed through others' eyes in three stories and two are in his POV. He's beautiful, bright, and not so beaten down with the pain of being a commodity that he can't dream of more. The alternate universe that contains him isn't explained to death, instead, major societal differences are laid out tidbit by tidbit. With each story, I ached for Daniel and his limited horizons, wishing his world contained more. From the simple skills Daniel came to late, to the crashing importance of someone named Victor, seen only in glimpses and memories, there is a sense of striving, and sometimes of desolation and resignation.

These are vignettes more than stories in a "completed arc" sense, and they are excellent teasers for the larger work, which I am now thoroughly anxious to read. 5 marbles

Treasure of Love by Scotty Cade

Treasure of Love by Scotty Cade
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: GLBT
Length: 214 pages



Summary: Hunky Alaskan dive master and charter boat captain Jackson Cameron is absolutely sure he’s straight until openly gay treasure hunter Dax Powers calls him and offers him the adventure of a lifetime: Dax and his sister Donatella have found the Anna Wyoming, a ship that went down during the 1889 gold rush on return from Skagway Island—very possibly carrying a fortune in gold.

But real treasure is never free, and this one comes with some heavily armed strings attached. Jack and Dax struggle to keep their small crew safe from a powerful threat while they fight against the attraction they feel for each other. Between the danger of the hunt, the risks in the dive, and the thrill of being lost in passion, Dax and Jack are going to have a hard time holding on to their treasure... and to each other!
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Treasure hunters need good maps, good hunches, and a lot of determination to find their booty, and Dax Powers has both when he charters Jack Cameron's dive boat. In Treasure of Love by Scotty Cade, Dax starts by looking for gold but finds a great deal more.



Both Dax and Jack are alpha kinds of guys, who start out with friction. The back and forth over the treasure diving trip makes for some great reading; they growl at each other to cover up the attraction, which is mutual, to Jack's great surprise. Poor Jack gets a lot of flak from his crew/friends Mac and Brad about this – paybacks are hell, but such fun for the reader. The relationship unfolds more gently than it starts out, and kudos to Dax for not pushing too hard. He pushes just hard enough:

"―If all I need to do is go on a tirade to get you to kiss me, look out, Jack. Your life is about to become very confrontational."

They do find their treasure ship, too, using seriously unsafe diving practices – twice they nearly run out of air, no one thinks to leave spare tanks below, and the words "safety line" or similar do not appear anywhere -- and salvaging the valuables is suddenly the least of their dangers. The shadowy danger materializes with explanations – a LOT of them, that seem reasonable for modern day and really weird for 120 years ago. The day is saved though, through an outside agency that had not previously appeared in the story and seemed tacked on.

The style of the book, unfortunately, doesn't flow very well: there are huge chunks of exposition, some unnatural sounding dialog, and a lot of explanations of the "as you know, Jack" variety to convey information that could have been worked in more naturally. The POV is not stable – it can go for pages in one person's POV, only to flip for a sentence or two and then back. The occasional forays into a true omniscient POV worked to convey menace, and I don't consider those a problem, but really didn't like the dizzy-making quick trips through other heads. The heads all had similar names: Jackson/Daxton/Dax/Jack/Mac/Brad.

The love story was the best part here; Cade writes good relationships, not only between lovers, but with friends. I wish the adventure had matched. 3 Marbles

Aisling Book Two: Dream by Carole Cummings

Aisling Book Two: Dream by Carole Cummings
Publisher: Torquere Press
Genre: Fantasy, GLBT
Length: 408 pages


Summary: What begins as Constable Dallin Brayden escorting the prisoner Wilfred Calder back to Putnam quickly turns into a flight for both their lives. Political betrayal and malicious magic lurk behind every bush and boulder in their flight across the countryside, resulting in Dallin becoming more protector than gaoler, and fostering a growing connection between him and his charge. Haunted by dreams not his own and pursued by just about everyone, Dallin begins to understand that he’s not just protecting Wil out of duty anymore.

As the shadow of Wil’s previous life as a captive and tool continues to loom, the shadow of the man who kept him prisoner looms larger. Forced into a terrifying battle of both will and magic for not only his life, but his soul, Wil discovers that the Aisling is sought by more powerful enemies than the Guild and the Brethren: ancient gods and soul-eating spirits seek what lives inside him as well. And it seems his only salvation may well be Dallin and his goddess, the Mother, against whom Wil has been warned all his life.

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It's been worth the wait – the second installment of Carole Cummings' Aisling trilogy is out, at last. I've been going nuts waiting to find out what's happened to Wil and Dallin since I finished Part 1: Guardian. That was a 5 marble read here. Part Two: Dream is every bit as good.



This is definitely a continuation of the story – the narrative picks up where it left off, and you'll be confused for a while without the advantage (pleasure) of reading Guardian. Wil and Dallin have reached a place of tenuous safety and have a breath or two to assess what they have been through, but hardly more than that, and then dangers start again. Since Wil and Dallin are coming only slowly to an understanding of one another, small things could escalate to grave danger with no trouble at all. A few secondary characters come to add to this, and the sick edge of distrust taints every small advance to truth.

Dream is a book of reversals – what was a flight and pursuit becomes a pilgrimage of sorts, what were enemies become something both more and less than friends and lovers, fear becomes trust, and yes, trust does become doubt. By the end of the book, very little is as it started, and the changes are perfectly plotted and in character.

Dallin and Wil themselves come to a better accord and a somewhat better understanding – this is an evolving relationship. They do come together sexually in a scene that is a brilliant "fuzz to dark gray" that manages to be one of the all time sexiest scenes I've ever read. Of course, after that, Wil needs a good sharp slap, but rethinks things before I can give it to him. Love Wil, poor scarred man/boy who holds keys he doesn't understand. Love Dallin, too, and want Wil to find the wholeness to love him as much as I do, and yet... this adventure is not over.

The language is at turns poignant and pointed – we yearn for Wil to see a river as much as Dallin yearns to show it to him, and somehow a river becomes a wider world much safer than any they've lived in so far. Simple actions and wishes become astonishing in her descriptions – the words are the words of English but the stringing together is – magic.

This segment climaxes in a moment that brought me to tears; Wil extracts a promise so heartbreaking in its trust, love, and horror that I'm fogging up again just typing. I want Part Three so bad I can taste it, and the publisher is making me wait for months yet. December, I am told; that's so far away. 5 Marbles

Artie the Good Witch by Scarlet Hyacinth

Artie, the Good Witch by Scarlet Hyacinth
Publisher: Silver Publishing
Genre: Fantasy, GLBT,
Length: 239 pages



Summary: My name is Artie and I have a problem. My dear grandfather Brew died, succumbing to his love for pastries and leaving me all of his possessions. I now officially own a crumbling tower and two black cats. Unfortunately, this means I also have to take on his responsibilities as a wizard, an impossible thing for me, since I am not one. I am a witch, a good witch, and terribly poor at it. My cats are no help, and they only mock me. My parents are off gallivanting Goddess knows where. I suck at casting spells, yet I am supposed to participate in the very important ritual of the Beckoning in Brew's stead.

To top it off, instead of trying to figure things out, I keep drooling over weird men and finding love in all the wrong places. Wizards and necromancers? What's next, a dragon? In my defense, choosing a boyfriend is really difficult when you're trying to resurrect the land and save its ungrateful people. It doesn't help that I have to avoid being seriously hurt by evil geniuses and cackling witches. Help me out here. I pay in hugs and black kittens. For an inquiry, call 0-900-ARTIE-THE-GOOD-WITCH.

Content advisory: This title contains references to near rape.



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Artie, the Good Witch opens in classic fairy tale fashion, with a knight doing valiant deeds and the story proceeds along those lines, lightly and with humor, told by the self-admitted poor excuse for a hero, Artie. Scarlet Hyacinth mixes some modern references in, keeping the story from lapsing too self-consciously into Brothers Grimm territory.

There are some cute touches here – Artie reads books titled Witchcraft for Dummies and Clinical Occultism, and the author really goes to town with a lot of the standard wicked villain tropes. The baddies make all the classic villain mistakes, like over-explaining, done with a wink so we know she meant to do that. It's fun.

Artie, for all he's lived with his familiars for more than five decades, has very little understanding of what he is or what he's meant to do. He's actually childlike to the point of it being squicky that he'd take off his pants for anyone, and his first foray into sex left me with an acute need to punch the other man square in the nose, for both the reasons the author intended and because Artie is innocent bordering on simple-minded. In fairness, the blurb does warn for this, and it was a tense time in the story. His second attempt seems only a little better, leaving me mistrusting the reasons for the insta-lust and not really warning up to his new and truer lover, who spends much of the rest of the story either carrying Artie from place to place, or off fighting, or managing wild monkey sex at unlikely times. Another trope that the author's having some sly fun with, the inappropriate sex is an important plot point, but does manage to evoke that "No, please not right now," reaction in the reader, and the promises it makes don't quite carry through.

The scene stealers are the familiars: they have the best lines and the most sense. The other supporting characters either don't have a very good set of clues politically or emotionally, or are busy posturing. The baddies do get nicely subtle punishments in the end – this is a fairy tale, of course evil is punished – but the unfolding is so heavy handed that it's hard to appreciate the nuances of the punishment itself.

The story doesn't quite manage to carry off its knee-slapper promises—repeating a joke a dozen times does not make it funnier—but does succeed as light entertainment with a satisfying ending. 3 marbles

Winterlude by Tam Ames

Winterlude by Tam Ames
Publisher: Torquere Press
Genre: GBLT
Length: 22 pages
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Summary: Eric hates the cold weather and his broken-down car, which means venturing out on foot into the sub-zero temperatures. Navigating the icy sidewalks, he runs into Omar, literally. An impromptu hot coffee on the cold day findsthat tattooed and pierced Eric and government IT guy Omar might have more in common than they expected. When Omar is called away before Eric can get the guy's number, Eric believes it may only have been a pleasant winterlude to temporarily distract him from the cold. Or is there a possibility his winter will get a lot warmer?

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Tam Ames makes the rugged Canadian winter a character in this story. The weather dictates everything: how Omar and Eric meet, how much ogling they can do, where it makes sense to go, and how much effort it's going to be to get undressed. Winterlude is a skirmish against the elements.

The story is sweetly humorous – within a few paragraphs we get a feel for Eric's witty if grumpy personality. Omar can sling the humor right back. His ethnic background is more a getting to know you talking point than a plot point, but it's good to see a character with a different cultural viewpoint.

The men are in easy accord; their trajectory from snowy street to bed is pretty straight. The story's charm lies in the banter, the sex, and the struggle with the winter more than any struggle with each other. It's a nice pick-me-up on a day you need a smile. 3.5 marbles