Saturday, June 28, 2014

Love You Forever by Amelia Bishop

Title: Love You Forever
Author: Amelia Bishop
Purchase at Amazon
Cover Art: Dan Skinner
Genre: Contemporary, paranormal
Length: 68500 words
Formats: mobi, print

They grew up together, and fell in love along the way. But the night Cole & Rick came out to their parents their lives changed in ways they never expected. Before their romance could stand on its own, they were cursed by the gods to remain together, or die.

What happens when kissing your boyfriend becomes a life or death situation? When you have to stay together no matter how your feelings change?

Cole promised he’d love Rick forever. He had no idea how difficult that would prove to be.

****

Examining what happens when a young relationship goes from being the best and happiest choice in the world to being a condition of staying alive occupies this book. Cursed on the night of their coming out, Rick and Cole have two traumas to recover from, plus all the practical matters that go into maintaining the conditions a playful or spiteful character out of mythology can think up.


That Cole and Rick love each other is clear, but when it goes from being their joy to an obligation, things do get sticky. To their great credit, each of them makes sacrifices and changes plans to make this awkward arrangement work, but some sacrifices are greater than others, and some kill the soul with too much togetherness.

Drunken cursing should be a “get smacked by Zeus” offense, because Silenus comes up with something that’s a real problem in the modern world. Silenus is associated with Dionysus (Bacchus), and he’s usually portrayed in situations where a good time was had by all.

 (Frans Duquesnoy (1594-1643) Sleeping Silenus, gilded bronze and lapis lazuli, scene from a story by Virgil)

Except, this time, for Cole and Rick. They are loving, they are smart, talented, and thoughtful, but they are also bound by an obligation that wears like manacles after a time. How they deal with this and deal directly with Silenus lets the story unfold. It’s not the evolution that the mythological character foresaw, but better.

The story shouldn’t be seen as YA though we start with the MCs in their late teens, on the cusp of graduating and going on to college in their chosen fields. The entire arc takes decades to unroll, and there’s quite a bit of onstage and explicit sex, which puts the story in the adult realm. The book is frontloaded with sex, almost to the point of excess, but the story does settle into more plot and less groping.

Silenus and Dion only show up at moments of great emotional disturbance, to create issues or to be bargained with. The fantasy element of the story is secondary to the real world problems it creates, but is an interesting point, particularly as the young men need to find out who they’re dealing with and how they might gain the upper hand.

The writing style evolves with the characters and their situation, which was a nice touch—the older, wiser, and a little sadder characters don’t sound just like their 18 year old selves, and their characterizations let me follow along in their emotional journeys. They’re complex enough to add depth to the character driven plot, and to make the happy ending something they’ve worked for and deserve. 4 marbles

Thursday, June 26, 2014

A picture is worth...


It's Renfaire season again! Or a thousand years ago. Who are these knights to each other? Tell us more in 100 to 1000 words (drabbles are fine, really) and send your news along too. See How Thousand Word Thursday Works for details.

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Won't Back Down (Anthology)

Title: Won’t Back Down
Editor: Samantha Derr
Authors:Andrea Speed, Caitlin Ricci, Mell Eight, Archer Kaye Leah, Kish Swanson, Mina MacLEod, Diana Sheridan, Annabelle Kitch, S.S. Skye, Freddie Milano, August Aimes
Purchase at Less Than Three Publishing
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: Aisha Akiju
Genre: Anthology (contains fantasy, science fiction, contemporary)
Length: 189k words
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf,

Blurb: MMA. Jousting Knights. Dueling swordsman. Gladiators. They do it for the money, for the love, and the necessity. They aren't afraid of bruises, blood, and broken bones. Less Than Three Press presents a collection of stories about people who won't back down even when the whole world seems stacked against them.

****

Due to the huge number of stories in this volume and my woeful tendency to say something about each one, the individual story blurbs will get pushed down into the review section. There is something for everyone here.

Only a few of the pieces have on-screen sex, which is an interesting choice for the anthology and generally a good choice for the stories. None of them lose anything for not having the explicit, and a few are weakened by having it there. A few need every touch and thrust the author gave them.

Word counts where offered are my best estimates based on the number of Kindle locations, which very roughly give you 22-23 words per location.

*

Heart's Tournament by Mell Eight—Torn apart by the guilds vying for control of the city, twin brothers Keel and Saar must learn to fight, and win, if they hope to reunite—but winning might be exactly what tears them apart forever. Note: This story contains twincest.


This was a novella length fantasy piece (est 30k) that turned out to have a number of irrelevancies stuck in, made to look important, and then ignored. Start with the twincest: I read this anyway although twincest usually hits my squick buttons. Turns out there’s nothing there to squick me with. If you want on-screen sex, don’t look here, nor should you look for the boys’ examination of why they became lovers. We only get third party psychobabble about a two sentence issue. You wanna push this button, at least make me care one way or the other about it. The trainers Sariel and Linalee were the more interesting couple.

Another example: the battle cats’ only function was to separate Saar and Keel. Battle cats? I want to know more than that they grow to over 400 pounds and are orange with stripes. Which sounds like a tiger. I want to see what they do. Here, nothing.

Long, shallow, and ultimately tensionless, this was not a good lead-off piece for the collection. It’s a big bucket of meh. 1.5 marbles


Champion by Andrea Speed—Kell is the first Human heavyweight champion in the Ultimate Fighting League of the Unified Worlds, where Humans are considered the lowest of the low. His presence could make a difference for his race, especially with his lover contending for featherweight champion—if they survive.

After struggling through the first piece, I was rewarded with the story that should have led the collection. In this science fiction story, humans are the low species on the totem pole, and like marginalized groups gaining acceptance through boxing, look to grab acceptance via physical triumph. We have an established couple who worry for each other, support each other, and love each other. I bled in the ring with Kell and Layne, and rejoiced with them after. 5 marbles


Canis Project by Kish Swanson—There is no one Liam loves more than his twin brother Alex. In the eyes of society, they probably love each other too much, but that's never stopped them. When Alex is brutally taken, however, it does stop the police from investigating. Then a stranger offers Liam a chance for revenge against the genetically-engineered monsters who murdered his brother... Note: This story contains twincest.

If you want on-screen brotherly love, here it is. Once we’re sure how dear Alex and Liam are to each other, we follow Liam through years of revenge-hunting until he meets the opponent who can take him down. There are wheels within wheels here with motivations, and the truth might be out there somewhere. Annoying and possibly deliberate absence of understanding on what genetic engineering actually is, but go with it, the story has some interesting twists. 3.75 marbles


Experiment Number Six by Mina MacLeod—When his mission goes sideways, sniper Jason Slate wakes up in a strange hospital, drugged out of his mind, and captive of a shrewd terrorist organization. He's rescued by the military and placed in the care of Eric Archer, a warrant officer charged with helping him recover. But did the terrorists lose Jason... or let him go?

Excellent contemporary/science fiction story, with a plot worthy of more examination in a longer piece, although my tolerance for present tense might not hold out that long. The slow bloom between Eric and Jason is tense, with self-awareness on both sides that this may be a product of isolation and manipulation. Jason’s undergone prolonged medical torture and interrogation for information he doesn’t have, and Eric helps put him back together. Great team, interesting scientific twist in the plot. 4.5 marbles


Knight & Novice by Cassandra Pierce—Renulf's tedious days of copying manuscripts is interrupted by two unlikely visitors to the Sanctuary: a rampaging, troll-like thief, and the knight who slays him. In thanks for his assistance, Lord Bazel is invited to stay at the Sanctuary for a few days. But when night falls, he asks Renulf to secretly translate a strange manuscript...

Here’s a fantasy short that’s really the first act in a longer piece, it perks along and then chops off after the first mystery is resolved, but not the greater problem. Renulf is torn between loyalty to his old codger of a master and excitement from the visitor to their remote sanctuary, who has hints of the greater world and is terribly sexy. Sword and sorcery, but without the truly exciting bits. 3 marbles



Fight to the Finish by Diana Sheridan—Maltroos has always been proud to be a Pledger and fight against other swordsmen for the amusement of the king. But he clings to the promise of his secret lover, Prince Saxtry, who vows that one day he will abolish the brutal duels. Then the king announces a Grand Competition—and that all fights will be to the death.

Told like a rehashed fairy tale but without the logic that usually applies when a king offers the hand of his heir. Maltroos fights for the right to live openly with his beloved, Saxtry worries, and there you have it in a rather flat style. 2 marbles

Rule Breaker by Archer Kay Leah—Gren has a very simple list of rules: no attachments, no loyalty, he'll fight for anyone willing to pay. His only exception to the rule is Tracel, a healer who is also his casual lover. When she is taken hostage, however, Gren realizes he may have broken his rules, and he'll have to break a few more to get her back.

One of the gems of this collection, with very full and rounded characters, a plot worthy of the name, adventure, and excitement. Here’s the story that made me sad to end and want to reread. Tracel is *trans, in a world where lifestyle is possible but difficult, and physical modification too dangerous to contemplate. She’s a beautiful character and nuanced to the bone. Gren has two fights, one with himself over what’s truly important and one with the upstart Allon. There’s a lot of worldbuilding in a very small space. At about 18k words, it’s long enough to tell the story and short enough to leave me wanting more. 5 marbles


A Little Magic by Annabelle Kitch—When Thrim is taken to the south, he believes he can sink no lower. The slavers took his dignity, the guards took his book of magic and the arena will take his life. Then an unexpected friendship earns Thrim a new enemy, who uses Thrim's own magic to shrink him to the size of a rat and leave him even more helpless.

What was probably meant as humor came out as TSTL to get Thrim captured, and then to be shrunk to a pocket-pet adds to the indignity. Fortunately, the character starts thinking better when his brain is the size of a pea. One of the other gladiators befriends him, and the story becomes a partnership between the two. There’s no sex, and the story didn’t even really need to be cast as m/m to work. 4 marbles


A Good Man by Caitlin Ricci—When Emory loses his job he's afraid of what his boyfriend will think. A friend at the gym offers a solution: go one round in an upcoming fight and he'll give Emory a job training the guys. But Emory hasn't been in the ring for years, and getting back into fighting won't make his boyfriend any happier than the lost job.

The motivations are there, the backstory is there, but it’s all on the surface. I didn’t feel any of this, and Emory’s shame, his connection to his father, and his decision to get punched in the face repeatedly all ought to get more of a reaction. Nor did I feel any real understanding of the sport. 2 marbles

Gladiatrix by S.S. Skye—When Daelan is sold to the kingdom to pay off her father's debts, she knows she is bound for the Games—and not likely to last long. When she arrives, however, she unexpectedly finds she has a patron who seems determined that Daelan come out of the Games alive...

This is the one lesbian story of the group, which is mostly focused on external plot. It takes place in a medieval-feeling world with some Roman Empire tendencies toward bread and circuses. It’s well done—the other MC is crucial to the resolution, and the story wouldn’t work the same if they weren’t potential lovers. Daelan’s terror and determination come through very strongly. Little of the word count is devoted to them getting physical, but you just know that this couple will work. 4 marbles

Feint of Heart by Freddie Milano—For the past six years, Cal has been trying to gain the attention of Sir Taren Veretti outside of training sessions, but Taren refuses to see him as anything but a squire. He's forced to set aside his amorous goals, however, when he stumbles across a plot that could ruin Veretti and everything they've worked for.

Cal’s adorable: he’s a squire and thus a knight in training, but he’s still like a big puppy in some ways and very much picked on by another squire. He’s enamored of the knight to whom he gives service, and he manages to be in the right place at the right time almost as often as he manages to get into trouble. There’s lots of court intrigue and fighting which are bright on the page, and a sweet ending. 4.5 marbles

Chasing Coyote by August Aimes—Jove has been chasing his quarry for more than a year, but infamous thief and magic worker Coyote always manages to stay one step ahead—until suddenly he isn't, and Jove is way more tangled up than he ever wanted, in ways he never expected...

This is the Western in the group, with magic. Not quite the American West, but with the right feel. The magical system is well thought-out and not over-explained, which let talisman worker/thief Coyote and not-too-bright but rather humorous bounty hunter Jove chase each other around, working mostly at cross-purposes and occasionally in tandem. The goal isn’t what Jove thought it was, and the ending is perfect. 5 marbles

As with any anthology, the stories will vary, and my favorites may not be your favorites. However, the huge gap between the stories that worked well or really well and the three that felt phoned in makes me wish this anthology had worked out 50k words shorter. That would have improved the price point (which is steep for an ebook) and given the overall volume a 4.25 average rating instead of the 3.5 marbles which is unfairly penalizing some really good stories.

Copy received through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Coming this week

Yeah, I've been dazed and confused, but I know this week what I have coming up.

Last week we had A wonderful piece of flash fiction from Clare London, a review of a very good YA fantasy from James Erich, more bare skin than I usually risk on our Thousand Word Thursday picture, and a demonstration of what happens when Cryssy Crankypants gets loose.

For this week, expect a review of the Won't Back Down anthology from Less Than Three Press, another yummy prompt pic, and a review of Love You Forever from Amelia Bishop.

I do feel another rant coming on, but no promises. 

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Of objectivity and snark

Some days I really hate that living up to the person I want to be requires me to try to be fair and even handed with reviewing. It would be a lot less work to splat my first reactions on the page. Being aware also that this is a small genre, and everyone knows everyone, or knows someone who knows, and stuff gets around, including the news that there were tears, I don't publish reviews like this one.

It's not my style. I think I'm smart, I have been called a bitch, but I try to keep the bitchy out of the review.  On the other hand, Smart Bitches have about forty billion gazillion more readers than I do. These things are probably related.

Notice I didn't say I don't write snarky reviews. I don't post them.  Or try not to, someone may point out where I'm wrong. But not posting them is different from not writing one.

Reading a review that discusses unicorn sparkle peen with Justin Bieber flakes, or whatever brain buster she actually wrote in that linked review (I can't bear to look again) made me recall a review I wrote to get the snark out of my system. Binky is the bad example character Nicole Kimberling wrote her very funny "how not to do it" articles about for Jessewave  and Novel Approach. He's pretty awful in those posts.

With my best attempt to redact all identifying information about the book, here's what Cryssy Crankypants snark really does look like.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Title:  {Binky Rides Again}
Author: author’s 14 year old sister who loves Twilight
Cover Artist: some unfortunate person who only had to read the art request, thank God
Publisher: Pirate outfit who stole publisher’s logos
Buy Link: withheld for your protection
Genre: tweenlit with inappropriate sex scenes
Length: too long
Rating: no stars at all because this book is a giant black hole that sucked all 5 stars in

A Guest Review by She Who Should Have Heeded the Warnings

Review Summary: This book's entertainment value is as a drinking game.

Blurb

Blah blah blah, whatever it actually says

Review

The last [author name] book I read left me with the impression that [he or she] was a passable writer who could construct a plot, create endearing characters, and entertain me. Since none of that exists here, I am forced to conclude that [his or her] much younger sister stole the outline for a decent novel and wrote it her way.

Arm yourself with a bottle of vodka and a can of peanuts, and follow these instructions for a good time.

Take a shot each time:
  • the word [*****] appears in any form (May require a second bottle)
  • an infodump appears
  • a cliché appears
  • the wall of exposition goes on for more than 2 pages
  • {MC 1} displays an inexplicable skill (This will be in retrospect, so drink when you realize how unlikely it is)
  • {MC 2} does something directly counter to [what he's been working on]. You may skip the shot IF you really think this is subtle characterization of his state of mind. You may NOT skip the shot if the text says in so many words that this is his state of mind.
  • a scene stolen directly from Nicole’s articles appear
  • You’re convinced Bella Swan wandered in to play the scene. Take a second shot if she’s playing both parts.
  • each time [MCs] make an unwarranted conclusion
  • each time you have to scroll upward to figure out whose POV this is supposed to be
Because we wish to conclude this game without killing the participants with alcohol poisoning, eat a peanut each time:
  • an adverb appears
  • a word explaining the emotion someone is supposed to be feeling appears
  • you roll your eyes. Chase it with a shot if you actually speak/yell something at the Kindle.
  • you read a sentence with only four words. Chase it with a shot if there are three in the same paragraph.
  • each time [MC] displays a complete personality transplant in either direction. Skip the peanut if you believe this is a rational change for the scene.
  • each time you recognize Binky
You are allowed to stick your finger down your throat once for each sex scene you actually find hot.

At the end of this game, the vodka will be gone, the peanuts will be gone, and it is unlikely there will be any barf to clean up. Which is a good thing, because you will be lying on the floor in an inebriated, bloated heap, wondering if the acquiring editor had accidentally triple dosed on the Valium before reading and accepting this mess.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back to our regularly scheduled but not as much fun opinions.

Thursday, June 19, 2014

A picture is worth...

Is he losing by accident or on purpose? Tell us more in 100 to 1000 words (drabbles are fine, really) and send your news along too. See How Thousand Word Thursday Works for details.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Dreams (Dreams of Fire and Gods) by James Erich

Title: Dreams (Dreams of Fire and Gods #1)
Author: James Erich
Purchase at Harmony Ink/Dreamspinner
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: Paul Richmond
Genre: fantasy, YA
Length: 79,700 words
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf, print

A thousand years ago, two factions of gods, the Stronni and the Taaweh, nearly destroyed the Kingdom of Dasak by warring for the land and the frightened humans who lived there. Then suddenly the Taaweh vanished and the Stronni declared victory.

Now, as tensions escalate between the emperor and his regent, Vek Worlen, the vek's son, apprentice mage Sael dönz Menaük, finds himself allied with a homeless vagabond named Koreh. Together they flee the capital city and make their way across a hostile wilderness to the vek's keep, mere steps ahead of the emperor’s assassins.

But Koreh has dreams—dreams of the ancient Taaweh—and he knows the looming war between the emperor and the vek will be nothing compared to the war that is about to begin. The Taaweh are returning, and the war between the gods may destroy the kingdom once and for all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a complex world with complex problems, and our two heroes are squack on the opposite sides. While it isn’t obvious at first how they can overcome the barriers even a little, Sael and Koreh do find a way to come together, at least partially, by the end of the story. This is a trilogy, and so nothing is completely resolved. And that’s way more than okay. More story for Cryssy!


I enjoy YA for the sweet dawn of understanding and coming together, and I appreciate the moderation of YA, where every push, poke and grunt isn’t on screen. Sael, the more prudish and restrained of the pair, comes from the high ranks of the realm. His father, the vek, has raised his sons to the equivalent of estate and clergy, not that it keeps Sael from needing to take on skills and responsibilities he never expected to need. His magic expands under the tutelage of Geilin, the mage tasked as his guardian. Geilin’s responsibilities increase exponentially as the quarrel between the vek and the emperor grows. They’d be lost without Koreh, whom they find on the road to Harleh.

This is a big, expansive plot, on the level of the humans and the supernatural, and the way they twine together. Koreh, who’s grown up as a street urchin, has no reason to trust Geilin and Sael, and little understanding of how he feels for the lordling who comes closer and backs away with every danger. Sael both yearns for Koreh’s approval and hesitates to give up his spare clothing when everything Koreh owns is washed away in a river crossing. Of the two, Sael needs more growth.

By the time the two (three, Geilin’s still there) survive the dangers of the road and reach their destination, the two young men know both that the warring factions of the gods separate them as much as their differences in ranks and expectations. Koreh, though, has enjoyed the tutelage of the underdog Taaweh, and has to act on behalf of more than one master.

The story is delightfully complex with its worldbuilding and with relationships: both young men have others pulling their strings, and not always in the same direction. Sael’s readiness to take offense or see motives where none may exist, while failing to note honesty (in his defense, it’s a rare commodity in his world) complicate their course. Being gay isn’t a major strike in this world; it does complicate life for someone of Sael’s rank.

While there is a glossary at the front and much is available from context, the difficult balance between “This is strange and other” and “here’s your story” wobbles a little. The local language becomes a little intrusive and overexplained, as if the author doesn’t entire trust us to “get it” but this flaw should be overlooked as the Taaweh maneuver their human champion through the war that is only partially theirs.

This is a sweeping epic and not yet complete, and I want the rest! 4.5 marbles

Sunday, June 15, 2014

A Thousand Word Story from Clare London


TOUCH ME by Clare London
© Clare London 2014

(NSFW but oh so good -- Cryselle)


“Touch me,” I whisper.

The undergrowth rustles and creaks around me: the air is thick and moist. It’s warm in the clinging, humid way that I’ve learned to expect in these caves. I try to raise my arm but it’s pinned at my side.

The trap was sprung well.

“Touch me! It’s what you want, isn’t it?” I raise my voice, though the fingers at my throat are strong, pressing hard on my throat, thickening my breath.


But they’re real fingers: real hands. The answering breath at my neck is human enough for me to recognise. To appeal to. To crave.

My heart is beating higher in my chest than normal. Sweat beads on my skin. A trickle of it rolls down my back between my shoulder blades.

The sticky tendrils on my belly shift very slightly. The arm across my chest tightens, the skin cool and taut on my own fevered flesh.

He’s listening.

“Make use of me,” I say. My thighs clench at the thought of his other hand sliding down from its grip on my waist, of it reaching lower into my shorts. A flex of those fingers and the cloth will be ripped away. I’ll be naked; bound in his clutches. I cannot move my legs. I cannot see his face. I cannot fight back. But I can feel every inch of that muscular body behind me, the pinioning strength of his limbs.

I’m naked already, in all other ways.

The air ripples softly around me. It’s the sound of a slow but powerful beat of huge wings stretching themselves, reaching for release.

“Don’t waste me,” I say raggedly. A tighter grip of his hand, and my neck will be broken. “I want you before I die. I want to know you.”

The reaction to fear is a strange one, but unmistakable. My cock is swollen, aching to be freed: to be stroked. I’m an inch from death, but my body aches for him.

Did I allow the trap to take me? Did I deliberately step into his web of tangled roots and viscous thread?

One of the fingernails at my throat scrapes almost gently over my bared skin. His other hand slides down my hip, dragging and tearing my last clothing with it. The body behind me shifts again. My bindings don’t loosen but me legs are pulled further apart. I’m like a doll. A plaything.

I don’t expect a verbal response: I don’t get one. But I’m still alive.

The wings beat again, the air being sucked in and out of our space. The hanging vines slap against my skin. Breathing hurts. There are tears at the corners of my eyes, but they’re not for sorrow.

Anticipation has no time to be savoured. He enters me before I have time to brace for it. I can take his forcefulness, but I’m not being asked. My back arches as he thrusts. The bindings tighten on my thighs and arms, then relax as he pulls back. Then tighten again as he pushes into me.

He fills me, but the smooth movement is unexpected. There’s desire and demand, but no cruelty. Every stroke both claims and caresses me. I’ve no time to wonder at this. The warmth across my groin is more than just the atmosphere around us. The prickle of need is getting urgent. My arse quivers, the buttocks clenching against him.

He must feel it too.

His next thrust is long and deep and I come with a wail of satisfaction and anguished pleasure, my hips rocking with the involuntary movement of my cock, my mouth opening wide, careless of his hold on my head.

But his fingers don’t bite into me: I don’t feel the gasping horror of further strangulation.

Shaking, I feel him inside me for a longer time, time enough for me to lose myself in the motions, to arch against his rhythm, to feel both relaxation and a secondary throbbing in my balls.

When he comes, he’s embedded so deeply my whole body is compressed against his. We jolt and shudder together. It’s as if the tendrils respond to his grasp. They cling to me like a lover’s touch, yet with a captor’s greed. The wings brush my shoulders as if closing around us both. It goes on for far longer than my own relief.

I lie stretched in my bonds, feeling his skin shiver against mine. I daren’t think that shows anything more between us than physical reaction.

Will it be now? Has he taken what he wants, and has no more need of me? Will the hands tighten on my neck and wrench my spine apart? I want to feel some satisfaction in my last moments – in this coupling.

But it’s not enough.

It never will be.

“I want more,” I whisper. My voice is hoarse from my cries and from the tension. “That’s the truth. Take that from me as well.”

His shivering eases. The tendrils loosen around my arms and legs. Slowly at first, I slump down, then fall to the ground. The foliage is thick here despite the rock beneath it. There’s no botanical sense to it, but it makes for a relatively soft landing.

For a shocked, disbelieving moment I lie there, afraid to move.

Afraid to escape.

The wings beat behind me. I turn my head, but my neck is agonisingly painful and my whole body’s stiff. By the time I’ve opened my eyes, there’s nothing to see except the damp fronds hanging around me like a veil, and a ripple of movement in the dark depths of the cave.

Withdrawal.

I’m still alive. I’m aching, not just from physical pain.

The last tendril slides off my body, tickling the skin on my belly, lingering on my flesh for far too long before plopping to the soft ground.

As if reluctant to leave me.

My relief is much more than the joy of being allowed to live. His touch is mine.

We’ll meet again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow! I post a darker picture and Clare London said her "every writing synapse" went to work!

After that we need some more of her delicious imagination, which we'll get in her new release, No Angel, available from Amber Allure.

Felix’s life is full, juggling a supportive homelife for his disabled brother, a job as a care home assistant, a brand new boyfriend – and now he’s had his arse pinched by a lewd gay ghost on the late night bus!

If only that were the end of it. But Bryn the ghost follows him home and wheedles himself into Felix’s life. That includes sharing his shameless opinions on the patronising way Felix treats his brother, on how Felix should eat more food and put some flesh on his bones, and – worst of all – exactly how Felix should be getting down to it with his seriously sexy new boyfriend Mickey! And in between all that, Bryn finds time to leer at Felix himself and make outrageous suggestions on what they’d be doing if Bryn wasn’t … well … ghostly.

Felix considers he’s a tolerant guy. But the last thing he needs now is to get wrapped up in the mystery of a missing teenage girl, the inhabitants of a local squat, and conversations with a fire-and-brimstone old preacher. However, with a nudge or six from Bryn, the help of his brother Patrick, and some cosy loving from Mickey – Felix starts to wonder how he ever thought his life was busy before!

Thursday, June 12, 2014

A picture is worth...


How beautiful is the music they're making together? Tell us more in 100 to 1000 words (drabbles are fine, really) and send your news along too. See How Thousand Word Thursday Works for details.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

In His Command by Rie Warren

Title: In His Command
Author: Rie Warren
Published by Grand Central/Hachette
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: Claire Brown
Genre: dystopian
Length: 97k words
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf, print

In the dystopian future, two men discover attraction isn't just dangerous, it's deadly.

Two generations ago, the world was annihilated by a series of catastrophic environmental events. The remaining survivors were driven closer and closer to big city centers-damaged but not destroyed-divvied into sixteen identical international territories ruled by the Company.

Oppressive to the core, the Company has one rule in order to recoup the world's devastated population: homosexuality and deviant sexual behaviors are hanging offenses. First time offenders are last-time offenders.

It is the year 2070. Commander Caspar Cannon has a stellar military reputation-and a life-threatening secret. When a revolution rips through the territories, Cannon is ordered to escort Company Executive Nathaniel Rice to a secure location. Leaving the besieged city behind, their journey becomes a minefield of sabotage, betrayal, secrets . . . and intense desire for one another.

Cannon's militant self-repression takes a direct hit, his suspicions warring with passion for a man who can never be his, not while the Company remains in power. True to his mission, he delivers Nathaniel to the safe bunker where a fate he never expected awaits him.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I seem to be reading this series out of order: this is the first, and I started with In His Sights (review here)  which I enjoyed enough to come back for a second helping.

Here we have a couple of alpha males, on opposing sides of a very wide gap. Nathaniel is a Company man with a more convoluted path than his military lover and escort Caspar can imagine. In this world, the population has been depleted by war and by plague, creating a very stratified society where the major goal is to repopulate the world. If you can stomach the nonsensical worldbuilding of Divergent, you can probably buy into the Company, their complete intolerance for homosexuality, for people who don’t toe their lines, and the carnage that follows on from it. For a society that wishes to expand their numbers, they do kill off more than they breed.


Resistance is inevitable, and Nathaniel, a Company mucky-muck in IT, needs to be evacuated to a safe compound nearly 500 miles distant from the city, through what seems to be mostly wilderness, as 90% of the urbanization has disappeared between now and 2070. Tying down the date so tightly introduces reality, which doesn’t promote the suspension of disbelief this story requires. One has to take Nathaniel’s attraction to and feelings for Caspar as a given as well, because some sideways glances and a blowjob do not a relationship make.

Swallow the set-up as a bitter pill though, and get to the adventure, as they make their way to the compound in the north, which is punctuated by multiple sex scenes, most of which can be skimmed without losing anything, although I did almost blow by one that mattered to the plot and had to go back and read in detail.

The author does do a fine job of keeping her characters off balance, introducing twists and turns that distort the fragile trust they have in one another. Some of this is brutal reading, but it makes sense, and is one of the finest aspects of the book. Simple goals become complex goals, and then become as simple as “stay alive” again. In the course of this I did believe in the relationship, as Caspar had to go from bare physical attraction to love, via distrust and sometimes despair. Nathaniel’s path to Caspar is simpler, though he has to navigate all the reasons for distrust and overcome them.

The style is simple and gritty, we’re inside the head of a career soldier on the battlefield, which makes the frequent endearments Nathaniel uses kind of ludicrous, and only when he spoke them ironically did I not flinch. YMMV.

I would have been perfectly content with a brief epilog after Chapter 18, but the ending abandoned the alpha male adventure and descended into flowery romantic territory where I came close to throwing my Kindle. I was moderately prepared for it after having read the novella, but didn’t like it any better the second time. The book seems to be trying to be all things to all people, which comes across as serious breaks in characterization. Really, it’s okay to have alpha men be alpha men and express the more tender side while staying in character. And seriously, men, particularly in situations of danger or while wounded, can think with their big heads.

I am embarrassed to admit how much of this book I had to skim: I *never* skim, but the incessant sex scenes strung together with a few pages of plot, and then the smooptastic ending required some “reader editing” or the book would have been a DNF. There is some very good stuff in here, particularly after they arrive at the compound, but it has to be picked out.

Don’t show me the peen unless it advances the plot. 3 marbles




Saturday, June 7, 2014

Current Goodreads Giveaways

backstroke Cigars in the Parlor
Civil War era novel
cigars
mermen Caged
20627118 backroadtowonderland
10894894 looking after joey
20775899 Some of these books end very soon, so if you’re interested, click now.

The dark, unmarked cover contains the first three books in The Back Road to Wonderland series: Paradox, Seduction of a King and Madness of a Bleeding Heart.

To the authors who do giveaways: to maximize your chances of getting found, use lots and lots of tags. I found these using gay, gay romance, mm romance, mm, glbt, glbt romance, and I didn't find one book that had more than 2 of those tags. I'm betting I missed a couple goodies because I couldn't find them. Tags are my friends.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

A picture is worth



Baseball season's already open. Tell us more in 100 to 1000 words (drabbles are fine, really) and send your news along too. See How Thousand Word Thursday Works for details.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Picks & Pucks by Teegan Loy

Title: Picks & Pucks
Author: Teegan Loy
Purchase at Dreamspinner
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: Christie Caughie
Genre: contemporary, sports
Length: 254 pages
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf, print

Rising men’s figure skating star, Justin Corrin, is coming home to train for the upcoming season and face his demons. The last thing Justin needs is to fall in love with a hockey player. Instead of getting rid of his demons, Justin is collecting more. He tries desperately to control his growing feelings for CJ Daly, but finds being with CJ keeps his nightmares away.

Justin isn’t the only one with problems, and hidden fears and secrets threaten to separate the two. With the pressure mounting, CJ starts to pull away, and Justin doesn’t know why. His skating suffers, and he decides to stop wasting his time on love and focus on winning the nationals.

If Justin can destroy his demons, he might have a chance for happiness on and off the ice. But if the demons win, Justin’s life could be ruined.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What I had here was a story that I wanted very much to enjoy, with a quirk that came a hair’s breadth from causing a DNF in chapter 2.

If I *never* see the word “demon” again, that will be just fine. This book has a lifetime’s supply.

Yes, Justin has some. So do the other characters. Yes, they need to be vanquished. Doing so with subtlety makes for a good story. These demons are personified, given actions and implied dialogue. As seen from the first person POV of Justin, the whiz-bang skater of all styles and sports, they are a huge distancing effect from the emotions of the story. Yes Justin feels their effects, but they’re outside of him. The effect might have been intended to make his feelings concrete, instead, they become a barrier between him and his ownership of his feelings and reactions.


There’s some really good stuff in here, with family coming together, eventually, and in Jack’s case, a little unbelievably, with love and closet-dwelling, with teammates being important beyond the rest of the world and ingrained prejudices, and the slow realization of love with a background of two twenty-year-olds’ assholery, and the physical prowess of the young and highly trained.

They almost, but not quite overshadow some absurd plot points, such as Marina the Russian skating coach’s personal plans, CJ’s unbelievable silence in the face of threat, and an entire group of young men’s inability or unwillingness to use basic internet tools. I don't believe for a minute that a team wouldn't try to find out about the newcomer.

Justin’s family has been torn apart by the death of his mother. He, his brother, sister, and father all have to come to terms with their reactions to and blaming for her death, and watching them heal is one of the strong points of this story. An extraordinarily gifted child such as Justin can be a disruptive force in the family, and this story doesn’t shy away from exposing the cracks in the unity.

The degree of physical dedication to skating at this level was an integral part of the story, but not overwhelming, and made a very rich atmosphere. That CJ is also a highly ranked athlete was great, it gave them balance on the stardom issues. CJ is a hockey star who’s also a whiz in the kitchen, and amazingly well balanced until all of a sudden he needs to be something else, which was a little jarring. Another character, Danny was an interesting study: he was torn between what he wanted and what he thought he could have, what he wanted to do and what he thought he was expected to do, and his arc may not be quite complete.

This story left me torn, because there are some excellently done aspects mixed in with the less believable and the outright aggravating. I found enough to like in this book that I read past the Chinese water torture of the demons, but it was a near thing. After the initial chapters, the framework of the personified demons would fade away for a while and I could sink into the story, until Ack! There they are again! Yanking me out of the story and denying the characters ownership of their emotions.

This author can write, and I would give her work another try, but this book has enough problems that I can’t rate it more than 2.5 marbles.