A picture is worth...

Did these two guys snap together after the party? 100 to 1000 words to tell us, please. Directions here.

Turnabout is fair play, right?

I've been interviewed at Jamie Lake's blog. So have a bunch of other m/m bloggers. I need to make friends with some of these folks.

Blog hop review: Damon Snow and the Nocturnal Lessons

Title: Damon Snow and the Nocturnal Lessons
Author: Olivia Helling
Purchase at Amazon

Cover Artist: Lou Harper
Genre: Regency, paranormal
Length: 25k words, ~100 pages
Formats: mobi

Damon Snow thinks he has the world figured out. As an incubus and male prostitute, it’s a cruel, dark, lonely place where men only want one thing. But when his long-time patron Byrne discovers he’s dying, Byrne offers to leave his entire fortune to him. There’s just one catch. Damon has to write about the reason why another patron procures his services. Caught up in his patron’s impossible love life, Damon suddenly isn’t so sure he knows the answer.

This is pretty far removed from the world of Jane Austen: life in the less attractive parts of Regency London is a struggle to survive with any of the finer feelings intact. Damon has additional strikes against him, being of uncertain and illegitimate parentage, and with a ravening something inside that demands to be fed with lust.

Damon has no illusions about humanity, being able to feel what’s moving inside the minds of his patrons disabused him of believing in kindness and love, to the point of not recognizing it when this rare bird descends. The strange request his patron makes forces him to look outside himself for answers. It’s a strange mirror as well.

This isn’t a romance in the classical sense, though there is an arc with a happy ending. Damon’s the observer who thinks he has nothing to learn. His encounters are the joyless interactions of molly and cull. Something changes for him by the end of the book, but not enough for him to become anyone’s true partner. Further stories are hinted at, and Damon needs the lessons there.

This is Regency from the underclass, no one’s sending calling cards or being seen by the ton. I’m not a scholar of the period by any means, but what I do recognize seems in period, and characters stay consistent with the times. Frequent mention is made of Damon’s incubus but it seems almost extraneous to the story. His fellow mollies have just as much reason to drink themselves into oblivion—they don’t need to sense deeper to know how they’re being abused. However, I’m prepared to believe it will make more difference as the series progresses.

This novella made an interesting opener: the promised legacy hasn’t been signed over yet, and Damon has more to learn about his humanity. I’ll be alert for the next installment. 4 marbles

Coming this week

Thanks for hanging with us this week! While my Thursday hottie didn't appear on time (mea culpa, I hit the wrong button) he is here, and so were reviews for A.J. Truman's Out in the Open and Wild Horses from Kate Pavelle.

For this week, Olivia Helling's blog tour for Damon Snow and the Nocturnal Lessons will take us back to Regency era molly houses. Look for 1809 vintage rent boys on Tuesday when her blog tour stops here.  We'll also see Must Loathe Norcross from Summer Devon.

I've been posting book reviews for almost 4 years, and that requires some celebration. Some of my favorite authors will be posting as guests, and we'll be doing some giveaways. Blogoversary week is coming, so stick with us. Bring your friends!

Out in the Open by A.J. Truman

Title: Out in The Open (Browerton University Book 1)
Author: A.J. Truman
Purchase at Amazon
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: James of Goonwrite.com
Genre: NA, contemporary
Length: 208 pages, 61,000 words
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf

Libraries are meant for studying – not sex

College sophomore Ethan Follett never says what’s on his mind and never wants to rock the boat. After a high school social life spent anonymous and alone, things are finally falling into place for him. He’s found a group of friends just as studious as he, and is on track for a promising legal career. Out in the open, things couldn’t be better, but secretly Ethan yearns for some real excitement in his life.

He finds it in cocky fratboy Greg Sanderson, who challenges every rigid, preconceived notion Ethan lives by. Soon, their sparring relationship turns sexual, and these enemies-with-benefits get their freak on all over campus. Yet the more Ethan comes out of his shell, the more Greg retreats into his, working overtime to keep his ladies man public persona intact. As the sex gets hotter, and they get closer to getting caught, one part of their arrangement can’t stay hidden any longer: love.

OUT IN THE OPEN is a M/M new adult romance filled with humor, heart, and hot guys. The book is intended for audiences 18+ as it contains explicit sex and language.

When the hot guy in your political science class would rather talk to you than take notes, it’s hard to ignore. Studious, virginal Ethan attracts the ire of the professor but the attention of the frat boy pre-law student who’s the hottest and darn near only guy to ever grab Ethan’s naughty parts. Poor Ethan’s confused but interested, and lets Greg tease him into sexual encounters with seriously high risk of exposure, but never a kiss. Kisses are important, kisses might mean Greg wants more than to get his rocks off with the eager nerd.


Always the wallflower, Ethan has a hard time reconciling Greg’s interest against the way his friends are leaving him out of activities, and out of self defense, he has to find other outlets. Ethan’s our only POV character, and we get to listen to him flounder about divining Greg’s true intentions, sometimes with the help of a sorority girl. Lorna becomes his native guide into frat culture, with a route running through keggers and tailgate parties. Drink leads to stupid, and Ethan gets to share the evil morning afters with the reader, where barfing becomes the least of his problems.

Greg’s side of the story unfolds in bits and pieces, which the less than socially adept Ethan has to piece together. The reader’s usually 2-4 steps ahead of him, and being able to yell “No! Don’t!” at the kindle wards off nothing.

The author does a terrific job of pulling us into the college atmosphere and Ethan’s head, which is completely turned by the dazzling “straight guy’s” attentions. Completely confused by Greg’s behavior, Ethan alternately pursues, is welcomed for sex, treated like a friend, and rejected.

The college atmosphere is vivid, where the scent of beer and brats at the college games hangs heavy in the air, the screams of team spirit and the moans of passion all mix together. All of the young people, including Ethan’s gang of stick in the mud friends, are in the process of finding themselves and refining their values. This seems to be the first of several books to be set in the college, and this first book promises a highly readable series.

Greg’s motives are much clearer to us readers than to Ethan, which makes the resolution of the book feel rushed and somewhat unfinished. While the immediate problem of Greg and Ethan as a couple resolves neatly and in a very satisfactory style, Greg’s hovering problems resolve in a way that feels rushed and rather pat. He’s been on edge from day one, and the ending just doesn’t justify that level of tension.

The story feels young adult for emotional maturity, but is rated new adult due to the level of sexual content. Still, the story is cute and more than enough to make me glad I’ll never be a sophomore in college again. 4 marbles

A picture is worth...

What's on this gent's mind? Is he in costume or does he always look like his goblet should be filled with blood? 100 to 1000 words to tell us, please. Directions here.

Wild Horses by Kate Pavelle

Title: Wild Horses
Author: Kate Pavelle
Purchase at Dreamspinner
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: Aaron Anderson
Genre: contemporary, horses
Length: 117k words, 350 pages
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf, print

A Steel City Story

Homeless pickpocket Kai Alwright steals a cell phone and some cash one day only to find the owner texting him, appealing to his better qualities. The request to return the phone stings Kai’s pride; he rides his rusty bicycle all the way to the stables north of the city, where Attila Keleman, the phone’s owner, offers him a new start in the form of a job and a roof over his head. Soon Kai discovers a natural talent for work with horses, and he makes every effort to separate his new existence from his promiscuous past on the streets.

Attila is a reclusive horse trainer whose dressage trophies gather dust, and whose broken heart has been walled off. His undiagnosed Asperger’s makes life around people a challenge, but though he prefers the company of horses, Attila finds Kai’s presence tolerable—even refreshing.

When a client who rides at the stable with her daughter finds out Attila is “still gay,” she tries to run Kai off—and she doesn’t stop there. Mortified, her adult daughter runs away and falls victim to a dark figure from Kai’s past. Kai joins Attila in a rescue mission that tears the civilized masks off their hidden pasts.

In my disjointed way, I’ve come at last to the first of the Steel City stories. Broken Gait (reviewed here) is the continuation of these two characters’ story, but here’s where Kai and Attila start out. Actually where they really start out is in a story of the same name in Dreamspinner’s Animal Magnetism anthology, but since we have 117k words in the novel, there’s certainly more going on.


The story of the waif and the horseman has had other treatments elsewhere, but I did gobble up this one, because of Attila Keleman’s character. He’s controlled, formal, precise in his movements and dealings, and terribly shocked with himself if he does something spontaneous. The blurb mentions undiagnosed Aspergers’, but I wish it didn’t because that wrecks the reader’s opportunity to figure it out for herself. I at least got that treat because I read everything assbackwards, the blurb last of all.

Attila trains horses and is an acclaimed dressage rider, whose pithy text to the thief who stole his iPhone is a distillation of his personality. “Remember, you are better than stooping to such acts of petty thievery.” Short, controlled, high expectations, and the force of personality that makes people and horses tend to do his will. I liked Attila a lot, in part because his expectations are that people and horses will do the right thing.

Kai’s more problematic. He’s twenty-four but reads a lot younger, as if he has very little experience on his own, though that isn’t the case. He’s been on his own more than long enough to have picked up some street smarts and practical abilities. His background is a mining town in Appalachia. Dialect colors his speech infrequently, to the point where he becomes a trifle flat. He has the kind of stiff pride in doing the right thing, and occasionally the stupid but masculine thing, that Attila can respect. Attila also respects Kai’s natural ability with the horses as well as his willingness to shovel horse shit.

Attila’s family remain (start out as) the interesting people they were in the second book, although some of the other secondary characters were not as deftly drawn. One in particular is Evil Harridan #3 and mostly unique for her cougar-to-the-point-of-foulness ways. She could have been shut down fast, but was not, and that she pushed her daughter into desperate acts made sense. Daughter seems to have grown up in a remote cave, and also reads younger than stated age, though she has a couple of good moments.

The arc is mostly the coming together of the two men, overcoming Attila’s asocial ways and Kai’s fears of rejection, to the point where the action adventure sections become less about the mission and more about the relationship. This veered the story into an unsatisfactory path, at least for me, though it mostly ended well.

In the course of stripping away Kai and Attila’s secrets from each other, there was a brief foray into BDSM which at first had me going WTF? And Why now? but the author did resolve this in a way that a non-BDSM reader like me could deal with and believe in. There was in fact a trail of breadcrumbs that was more clear in hindsight.

I like this author’s writing style, and had to remind myself that this is one of her earlier pieces with some rough characterization and plot edges. Kai in particular is uneven and his actions don’t match who he’s supposed to be. He really comes across as about 16 in places, and so I’m glad I read out of order, and encountered him in the second book first. It’s true stable chores never end, but enough with the details of horse poop. Other issues repeat in odd and noticeable ways.

The horse sections are sweet and honest, very affectionate, and I had no idea horses would play like that. The author is a rider and would know.

This book was a step back in time for the author’s writing, and while there is a great deal to like in here, there are also issues that don’t exist in her latest work. That makes Wild Horses not my favorite of her books, but leaves the author as a go-to read. And maybe Attila and Kai get a third story where they can be their mature and confident selves. 3 marbles

Coming this week

Thanks for sticking around! My heart was in Chicago where it was fangirling on everyone at GRL, I think if I'd actually been there I would have swooned. Maybe some day!

Here on the home front, we had reviews for Seducing Jordan by Andrea Dalling, a bit of erotic coming out, and Broken Gait from Kate Pavelle. Also, Officer Hotty showed up on Thursday. Plot bunny, anyone?

Broken Gait has a book 1, which is Wild Horses. Of course, because I started in the middle, I went back and read it. Which means reviewing Wild Horses, so it will be a back to back Kate Pavelle week. I'll also be looking at A.J. Truman's Out in the Open.

In some wonderful news, my old review buddy from Jessewave's will be posting a review here now and then as her busy life permits.  I'm looking forward to Feliz's opinions.

Keep reading!

Broken Gait by Kate Pavelle

Title: Broken Gait
Author: Kate Pavelle
Purchase at Dreamspinner
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: Aaron Anderson
Genre: contemporary
Length: 236 pages, 77k words
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf, print

Attila Keleman can find no flaw in Kai’s work at his stables. Three months later, toiling side by side, Attila is smitten. Proud of his new partner, Attila wants to introduce them as a couple at an upcoming horse show. First, however, he has to conquer his demon. Attila can’t stand crowds of people, and a horse shows means just that. Grandpa Keleman can’t help him with his crippling social anxiety from afar. Attila turns to his horse, Sen. His equine partner is trained to help him through the most difficult panic attacks. With Sen and Kai by his side, Attila knows he can risk everything and emerge out of his comfort zone.

Kai agrees to do the show only to help Attila out of his shell. Once there, the press are all over them. Kai’s personality and looks results in media buzz and modeling offers—while Attila falls apart when Sen goes lame. Unable to deal with the pressure, Attila is convinced Kai would be a fool not to flee for greener pastures. Meanwhile, Kai is hell-bent on showing Attila his weakness is also his greatest strength—even if it means resorting to deception.

This is the third of the Steel City novels. Having read them out of order, I can say confidently that doing so works, and which you’d choose depends on your mood. Broken Gait is a character driven novel of consolidation, while the first Kai and Attila story, Wild Horses, (review to follow) has more adventure to it. Jack and Wyatt from Zipper Fall have the tiniest of cameos here, and the connection is mostly in the location.

The author brings us up to speed on Kai and Attila in snips and details, enough to establish what we as readers need to know about what happened before in order to enjoy and understand this story. We find them here already a couple, but still on shaky ground with each other and with themselves. By the end of the book, they’ve found their footing.


Attila’s shocking (to Kai, it was more ^^ to me, but that’s for the Wild Horses review to come) revelation about how he deals with people is the driver for this story. He’s reserved and formal, which keeps people at a distance. Crowds and other high stimulus environments tax him deeply, a major cause of his leaving high-level dressage competition. Because he believes in doing the best for his students, which includes Kai, he forces himself back to the competition. They couldn’t have picked a worse time: a hurricane threatens to drown the show site or blow it out to Bermuda.

Kai, who is 25 and at last reads it, is the hit of the show. Tall, muscular, handsome with his flowing red hair, charming and a natural horseman, Kai and his equally gorgeous and unruly stallion Cayenne are the hit of the show, and all eyes are upon him. Kai isn’t quite sure how much he wants to capitalize on this or how, and the attention to him worries Attila. What can he offer Kai that’s this heady?

Where initially Kai was the uncertain one, in this story Attila has the graver doubts about his ability to keep Kai interested, and Kai’s more worried about being able to fit into horse-y society, given his coal-mining roots. He wants to do Attila proud and also protect him, which leads to some huge gaffes.

The story remains low key, as they two have to sort out how they fit together and what kind of accommodations they need to make to keep Attila functioning, all against the backdrop of the endless stable chores. When Attila’s beloved horse falls ill with no guarantees of recovery, it devastates him, and it’s all Kai can do to keep the stables going while Attila falls apart.

Here we spend more time in Attila’s head, seeing and hearing the world as he does, which made me think Asperger’s syndrome, something confirmed much later by reading the blurb to the first book. (I said I did this out of order! And that it didn’t create a problem.) Kai’s loving and helpful, and there to be a rock of support. He frets that he doesn’t know enough practical horse matters to really pull his weight, but time and experience will fix that, even though he needs it like, last week.

Attila also has the chance to bond with his brother in law Tibor as part of his coming to terms with what he perceives are his flaws. Attila’s family are vivid characters, his nephews especially are young men finding their true selves, and Kai’s acceptance into the family spans both books.

The winds and rain setting seemed to build up to the kind of action adventure we’re accustomed to from this author, but it’s more a nuisance in the background and reflector of Attila’s moods. The thrust of the story is definitely how Kai and Attila get past their insecurities. Given Attila’s need for structure and repetition, something that makes him extremely good with his horses, I was prepared to forgive the frequent “honey” and other endearments. (This usually drives me bonkers but it’s characterization for something other than twu lub. So maybe only a quarter bonkers this time.) Attila's voice has a quirky formality, which suggests both Eastern European roots and his need for precision and control. Kai's voice wobbles more, sometimes with a hint of his roots and more often as standard American, which seems like a wasted opportunity. His one full-out moment of going all Attila on someone's ass made me chuckle, as he used his lover's mannerisms to convey his Deepest Disapproval.

The arcs here were for Kai and his confidence, and for Attila and his confidence and coping. They learn and grow in themselves and each other. These two fit well together, and their H looks like it will be EA. 4 marbles

A picture is worth...

l

I didn't do it, Officer! But somebody oughta. 100-1000 words on law enforcement at its nudest, please. Directions here.

Seducing Jordan by Andrea Dalling

Title: Seducing Jordan
Author: Andrea Dalling
Purchase/borrow - KU at Amazon
Cover Artist: n/a
Genre: contemporary, coming of age
Length: 26k, novella
Formats: mobi

Princeton-bound Jordan Callahan is done with pining over his straight best friend Rick. He can’t wait for college so he can find a man to drive away his pointless crush. Alone on a camping trip just weeks before the semester starts, Rick confesses he’s been fantasizing about Jordan. With his secret wish within his grasp, Jordan is torn between lust and good judgment. Sex will change their relationship forever, and giving in could cost him his oldest friend.

Rick Ferguson can’t escape his obsession. To get Jordan out of his system, he plans a weekend away together without revealing that the mountain cabin has only one bed. Curiosity gives way to deeper feelings, forcing Rick to choose between his best friend and his own identity. Seducing Jordan could be the biggest mistake of his life.

Warning! This m/m gay erotic romance novella is intended for an adult audience. It contains scenes of groping, fumbling, wet kisses, angst, shirtless volleyball, sex toys, and two-man showers.

Eighteen years old and full of questions, Rick sets up a situation where he can get his openly gay best friend into bed. He’s manipulative, and owns up to it, which doesn’t keep him from doing it again and again, and Jordan lets him get away with it about half the time. Calling BS on your best friend takes some guts, especially when he’s teasing you with what you want most.

Rick genuinely is questioning his orientation, but dragging Jordan into his dithering was pretty self-centered, and he flipflops a lot on what he’s willing to do. Kind of understandable, kind of irritating, and probably why nobody should have to date eighteen year olds except other eighteen year olds. Some of it is sweet, some of it is hot, and some of it made me reach for the cluebat. Flirting with the waiter deserved a quick rap in the teeth. Holding back on reciprocating after being the one to set everything up—grrr... Jordan and the readers definitely get whipsawed.

The guys at least are talking, although a fair amount of what they’re saying sounds like wisdom from a much older person, not young men at an age when they know it all and think more frequently with their little heads than their big ones. It wasn’t always the thought that made me think parental POV, more the phrasing and word choice.

Still Rick and Jordan do cover some important emotional ground, a couple years’ worth in a weekend, and some fumbly sexual ground. Jordan does find his spine when Rick tries to have things both ways, which was a big advance for him and a much deserved reality check for Rick. The story ends on a beginning, a romantic place to leave them. 3.5 marbles

Coming this week

 

Oh, we had a lovely week here at the blog! This was our first full week at the new URL, which is www.crysellesbookshelf.com. All previous links should continue to work, this is more a redirect than a transfer. Or so my techies tell me. Andy is my hero, because I could never have figured out the transfer on my own. I cry when reading things like svc.ww.oikjnmo. Put that where? Wahh!

I had some lovely reading this week. Cornelia Grey's The Circus of the Damned was steampunky/fantasy/magical/demony fun. I guess you'd call that genre-bending. Also, I finally got Keira Andrews' Amish gay romance, A Forbidden Rumspringa, up. I delayed to let Reading Reality post it first. I cross post there now and again, and this one was of interest to the readers there. 

Coming up, we have Seducing Jordan from Andrea Dalling, a new to me author, and a new one from Kate Pavelle: Broken Gait. This is a sequel to Wild Horses, which many of you have read and enjoyed. Of course we'll have Thursday's prompt pic, and if  *A*Certain*Author* ever gets her butt in gear, we'll have that prompt ficlet.

Who else wants to play? Any of the prompts are fair game.

Also, the four-year anniversary of when I decided to review systematically is coming up in a few short weeks. We ought to have a party! What kind of cool stuff should we have? Let's see if I can get some of our regulars to help me plan.  I can't exactly do cupcakes.... or can I? ;)

Keep reading!

A Forbidden Rumspringa by Keira Andrews

Title: A Forbidden Rumspringa
Author: Keira Andrews
Purchase at Amazon
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: Dar Albert
Genre: Amish, contemporary
Length: 76,000 words
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf, print

When two young Amish men find love, will they risk losing everything?

In a world where every detail of life—down to the width of a hat brim—is dictated by God and the all-powerful rules of the community, two men dare to imagine a different way. At 18, Isaac Byler knows little outside the strict Amish settlement of Zebulon, Minnesota, where there is no rumspringa for exploration beyond the boundaries of their insular world. Isaac knows he’ll have to officially join the church and find a wife before too long, but he yearns for something else—something he can’t name.

Dark tragedy has left carpenter David Lantz alone to support his mother and sisters, and he can’t put off joining the church any longer. But when he takes on Isaac as an apprentice, their attraction grows amid the sweat and sawdust. David shares his sinful secrets, and he and Isaac struggle to reconcile their shocking desires with their commitment to faith, family and community.

Now that they’ve found each other, are they willing to lose it all?

Note: Contains explicit sexual situations and graphic language. This is not an inspirational/Christian romance.

If you think you're seeing double, it's because a slightly different version of this review was posted at Reading Reality.

When two young men fall for each other in an atmosphere as circumscribed as the Amish town of Zebulon, there’s only a few branches on the decision tree if there’s going to be an HEA. So everything rides on the style and the details.


Keira Andrews gives us a book that flows, in plain language that fits the community that Isaac and David belong to. This offshoot of a larger group is struggling to make ends meet in a new place, with less interaction with the outside, and tighter rules than ever before. Where these young people had expected to have a time of freedom and tasting the “English” way of life, now, no such chance exists. As for joining the church under these circumstances—it doesn’t feel like a choice. The families that emigrated to found Zebulon all seem to be touched by tragedy brought by the young people experimenting, and therefore, no one shall experiment again: it’s too dangerous.

But the young will test their boundaries, and some cannot fit within the narrow confines.

Finding out the details of why strict went to straightjacket took long enough to make me impatient, because a life that strict seemed one step away from hell to me, and there had to be a reason why putatively sane people would do this to themselves and their children. When even an orange safety reflector on the back of the buggy is too worldly, there has to be a reason. It was a while coming.

Not for Isaac and David to question why, though, they’re young, not yet “following church” or slipping into the life path expected of them. Isaac eyes David’s sister with fear—she’d make him a fine, hard-working wife, and if people pushed them together any harder there’d be bruises. Meanwhile, down in the barn, David and Isaac make more than furniture.

The two of them dance around the growing attraction as long as possible, but once they acknowledge the heat between them, they can’t keep their hands off each other. There were a lot of sex scenes which mostly drove the plot, but no sense of fumbling or inexperience, and I really don’t believe one raunchy magazine read by David long ago was enough to make them as adventurous or skilled as they were.

The author put a lot of effort into understanding the culture she writes about, and the respect is clear and unjudgmental, even where I as reader judge more harshly. (“God gave us brains, it’s an insult not to use them” is a hard attitude to put aside.) The sense of following the Ordnung, the religious directions, as a way of life is strong, though for David and Isaac, the sense of religion as faith is almost absent. Thinking for one’s self is anathema, and difficult for the young men to do.

The author tackled a tough situation with few options, writing with skill and dignity. It may be that I’m not able to see exactly how much because of what I bring to the reading experience.
Still: 4.5 marbles

In a separate but related note, the ebook is very prettily put together, with lovely chapter headers and buggy dingbats.

A picture is worth...

Oooh, what's going on here? If you have 100-1000 words to explain, send them and your news along. Directions here.

Circus of the Damned by Cornelia Grey

Title: Circus of the Damned
Author: Cornelia Grey
Purchase at Riptide

Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: Kanaxa
Genre: steampunk, fantasy
Length: 91500 words
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf, print

Magician Gilbert Blake has spent his entire life conning drunkards in the seediest pubs in the darkest towns, careful to hide the true depths of his power. But when he spends a little too much time in Shadowsea and the infamous slumlord Count Reuben gets wind of his abilities, hiding within the Circus of the Damned may be Gilbert’s only chance at survival.

But there’s more to the Circus than meets the eye. Every time a performer dies, a new one must take his place, or the entire circus suffers the consequences. And while the handsome ringmaster Jesse isn’t one to coerce unwilling performers into giving up their souls to the devil, a recent death in their ranks makes Gilbert exactly what they need.

Yet the longer Gilbert stays with the Circus, the more danger he seems to bring them. Being with Jesse is more than Gilbert could have hoped for, but as Count Reuben’s men continue to search for Gilbert and the Circus loses another performer, they all face running out of time long before the Devil claims his due

~*~*~*~*

Last time we saw Farfarello, he had his hands full with a dissipated blues guitarist. He’s back, again not as the POV character, but as a mover and shaker offscreen. You don’t need to read Devil at the Crossroads to understand this book, but your enjoyment at Gilbert’s consternation will be that much greater.


Gilbert, who’s fended for himself on the streets since he was a youngster, has a heart full of ache and a head full of bravado. He reads younger and far less world-wise than his situation would indicate, since he hasn’t mastered keeping his head down very well. He’s confident enough to make his bets and win them, and foolhardy enough to show off at the wrong moment and before the wrong audience. But hey, Saturday night is livelier if you’re running for your life, right?

His magical abilities make him a perfect fit for the circus, and if he doesn’t understand what he’s agreed to nor how tightly it would bind him, he’s not alone. All of the other performers were there once, and their amusement and eyerolling at the newbie is funny.

Gilbert has little experience in caring about others or acting for anyone’s good save his own, aside from his constant companion, a mouse named Emilia, who seemed underutilized as a character (and very well pocket-broken). We get to watch him learn to think outside of himself, a slow process, and while he’s hot for Jesse from the beginning, he has to expand his thinking to become a worthy sex partner and finally to be a worthy lover. We’re in Gilbert’s head the whole time, and have to follow Jesse’s arc from outside. Jesse’s tired, and he has a history, and maybe it’s time to put this cup down. Farfarello has his own reasons for keeping the circus going, and has little tolerance for sudden changes of mind.

The intensity of the story takes some of the sting out of the enormous size of the piece, but it could have been tighter in sections and occasionally did make me mutter, “Get the hint already!” Still, we come to care about the denizens of the circus and their fate, and if Emilia never gets her moment to shine, a lot of other folks do. Gilbert’s love affair is almost more with the circus and a place to belong than it is with Jesse.

It’s a lovely, if longish, journey for young and impulsive Gilbert and the more jaded Jesse to come together and then more effort to stay together, but since it’s in Cornelia Grey’s trademarked atmospheric prose, the gambling dens’ fug and tattered tents’ flapping are thick on the page. Be prepared to get sucked completely into this magical, Edwardian world. 4.25 marbles

Coming this week

Well, last week was certainly interesting! We had the latest installment in the Delectable series from EM Lynley, Spaghetti Western, which was a great read, and Duende from E.E. Ottoman. Eden Winters came by to show us the 21st century version of opera singers, who all looked good enough to take home, so we could see where she got some of her inspiration for Sebastian in A Matter of When.

Coming up this week, we have reviews of Circus of the Damned from Cornelia Grey (more Farfarello!) and Keira Andrews’ A Forbidden Rumspringa. This last got caught in a scheduling warp—every now and then Marlene from Reading Reality gets to post one of my reviews before I do.

Of course there will be a Thursday picture prompt. Hot guys this time, I promise. Last week’s picture was hot cat shifters—someone ought to write them a little fic.

I am told by reliable sources that this is Queer Romance Month. I'm all for that: it's Queer Romance Life around here after all.

For various blog posts on all sorts of topics, check the Queer Romance Month site.

Spaghetti Western by EM Lynley

Title: Spaghetti Western
Author: EM Lynley
Purchase at Dreamspinner
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: LC Chase
Genre: Contemporary Western
Length: 220 pages
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf, print

A Novel in the Delectable Series

Cordon Bleu-trained chef Riley Emerson arrives in Aspen, Colorado for a summer at the best restaurant in town, only to discover his jerk of a boyfriend has dumped him, leaving his heart and his plans in tatters. Doubting himself and longing for a change of pace, he takes a low-paying position at the Rocking Z guest ranch, though he expects nature up close and personal won’t hold a candle to his exciting Paris lifestyle.

When born-and-bred cattle rancher Colby Zane spots a newcomer being pawed at by a passel of horny cowboys at Aspen’s Club Rawhide, he rushes in, throws the guy over his shoulder, and rescues him. Sober, Riley Emerson is sweet and sexy, but not interested in more than a one-night stand. Still, Colby’s over the moon when Riley later arrives as the new cook on his family’s ranch.

But all’s not well at the Rocking Z. Unsurmountable financial problems force them to seek a cash infusion from outside investor Fitz Wellington. Fitz is hot for Colby, and he won’t sign on the dotted line without some very personal incentives. The future of the ranch is at stake, and Colby’s just that desperate, but saving the Z might mean losing Riley.

~*~*~*~*
Well, this was a roundup of emotions, a couple crossed signals, and an excellent ending. I've been reading this series, where the books can be read in any order, and enjoying them greatly. We get a tiny cameo from Josh Golden from Lighting the Way Home, another novel in the series, but the story lies in the mountains of Colorado.

Riley and Colby are such opposites, but they have a huge similarity – they’ll take what the other one says at face value, which makes for a couple of problems. If the other guy is saying what he thinks you want to hear, and not what he’s really thinking, or letting you make assumptions, it’s going to take a while to get to the truth.


Which is fine: they take us along for the ride. Riley’s walked face-first into a door with his perfidious boyfriend, who turns his life completely upside down so they can be together, and then again when boyfriend doesn’t want so much to be with Riley after all. Riley’s self-destructive reaction to that needs someone who’s thinking clearly enough to save him from himself, enter Colby, and then exit Riley, because that episode’s over and done.

So when Riley takes over the kitchen at what turns out to be Colby’s ranch, they’ve got a really bad foundation for anything lasting. Given their shifting workloads and need for secrecy, they also have a bad time getting together for the no-strings-attached nights that each thinks the other wants. And when things start to change and the grabby PITA investor shows up, they’ve got another set of problems completely.

These two guys whipsaw us and each other while they’re figuring out how to save all the bacon, and it’s fun to watch. You can pretty much see each of them sliding over the cliff called love, grabbing at straws and other handholds to keep from getting involved when each thinks the other’s only in it for right now. It delays an obvious solution to another problem, but the joy of this story is the journey as much as the destination. It’s a good look at early love, and the intersection of desperation and the unthinkable.

Fortunately, Colby’s family is pretty accepting, and Riley’s sister, the only one of his family we really meet except through some unhappy memories, is all for this match of haute cuisine and down-home cooking. Riley’s got to learn a whole new culture, where a pasta salad and marinated fruit aren’t enough calories, stick to the ribs food means survival, and where land isn’t just a possession.

The author’s found a new, higher gear in her writing and her character’s interactions, which carries the story along and a quick clip. Everywhere but into the sex scenes in the later part of the book, where a same-saminess encouraged me to skim and I was happy where it was allowed to fade to black in a few places. A few things could have stood to be fact checked with a native, but most folks won’t spot that. I live out here, I notice.

But I loved the ending, so full of hope and woven of clues laid all along the way—this story has so much wrapped up that even if Riley and Colby don’t make it after all (though I hope they will!) the Rocking Z surely will. 4.5 marbles

A picture is worth...

There has to be a story here, right? If anyone wants to tell it... 100 to 1000 words please, directions here.

Guest post from Eden Winters: Not your Grandma's opera

Eden Winters joins us for a few thoughts on music and nommy men (and it isn't a spoiler that she gets their clothes off in her book, is it?)

What comes to mind when you think of opera? Barrel-chested men and comfortably padded women belting out shrill notes in another language?

In my latest novel, A Matter of When, bad boy rocker Henri Lafontaine meets his match in shy, unassuming opera tenor Sebastian Unger. But while Seb might idolize the likes of Pavarotti and Domingo, he’s of the new breed of opera singer, who are just as competitive about their appearances as the average movie star. And the competition is steep.

And while he definitely wouldn’t pass down a role in tried and true operas like La Boheme and The Wedding of Figaro, he and his ilk are equally likely to belt out popular music as well.

I give you exhibit A: Il Divo. Young, handsome, gifted. And not a barrel-chest among them. Here they are singing Unbreak My Heart (and looking spectacular while doing so).

I'll take two of those, Eden! And the music is fine too! ;)

Eden's been watching more than a little opera lately, and maybe listening to some rock and roll, because her latest book has a hot romance and both kinds of singers. Five marble read, folks.


Wealth. Fame. Gold record. Hookers and Cocaine front man Henri Lafontaine has it all…including a control freak manager, band members who smile as they sharpen blades for his back, and last but damn well not least, a fan out to steal his heart. Literally. Trying to write hit songs and plan a comeback in the midst of the hi-fi white noise of LA feels more like watching his world implode, until he’s offered a month in the Colorado Rockies for vocal coaching.

Sebastian Unger’s rich, classically trained tenor inspires wicked thoughts. More than a pretty choir boy, he cracks the whip without hesitation to drive tattooed bad-boy Henri to give his all to his music. Working, fighting, and finally establishing a fragile peace, they find inspiration and perhaps more in each other. But the clock is ticking. Time will pull Henri back to the grit and gold of LA’s mean streets and fame machine, while Sebastian must return to the opera circuit, where a mysterious man known as “the patron” holds far too much sway. Only the trust they've built on a handful of notes bridges their two worlds...and shields them from malice.

A Matter of When is now available at:
Dreamspinner Press
Amazon
All Romance eBooks