Man-Hunt by Angelia Sparrow and Naomi Brooks

Title: Man-Hunt
Author: Angelia Sparrow and Naomi Brooks
Cover Artist: Trace Edward Zaber
Publisher:  Amber Allure
Genre: Historical
Length: 14k words

June is too fine a month for a man to die. So when Thomas Lanton is informed that he's finally facing execution for the murder of his brother-in-law, he manages a prison break and flees.

For a while, Thomas's good luck holds out, and the attractive and lonely farmer in whose barn he hides takes a serious liking to him. But as Thomas soon discovers, not all chains are made of iron, nor all prisons built with stone. Indeed, sometimes blue eyes and soft words can be as effective as bars, and love can be too heavy a piece of baggage to take on the lam...
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We first meet our POV character Thomas, after he’s escaped from prison, about a week ahead of his date with the electric chair. Running like a fox and using the same tricks to evade the hounds, he finally holes up in a barn, where he figures he can exchange some chores for a meal and some clothing—he left his prison stripes miles away for the hounds to bay at.


Unfortunately he can’t liberate anything that fits, so Hank finds Thomas in a horse blanket and a shirt that can’t button across him, which is fine by him. Thomas has more needs than just a pair of trousers, which would only get in the way anyhow, and the two of them are getting it on in almost no time at all. What follows is a quick exploration of sex, farm chores, and maybe even finding out about love.

The authorities of course want to find Thomas and let him “ride the lightning” for the death of his brother-in-law, harsher justice than a drunken brawl gone wrong really merits. They’re combing the county, and there’s only so many places to hide. Thomas doesn’t try to plead innocent to Hank—he doesn’t try to plead anything but being a tough man in hard circumstances, and that he can be a nice guy to have around. Hank find this pretty convincing.

I enjoyed the story, with some confusion, since it’s set in some nameless place and uncertain time. Some of the slang says ‘twenties, some says ‘sixties or ‘seventies (just because a word is older than you think doesn’t take away its associations), and there’s Model Ts and implications of Dust Bowl so this story is also lost in time. It’s a time and place where a few whittled wooden spoons can bring cash enough for a bag of flour. A few things brought sideways looks from me, such as the lightning speed of getting from death threats to the promise of sack time—less than a page. Not that Thomas couldn’t just take what he wants from his much smaller host, but he’s been in prison and knows more than he’d like about taking vs. giving.

The book has lots and lots of sex, which drives the plot, but surely there’s something around the homestead that works better for lube than spit.

Thomas and Hank are good together, settling into a rhythm occasionally disturbed by lawmen coming to hunt for the condemned killer. Bloodhounds and talkative shopkeepers fill them with fear, and there are only so many ways to elude them and stay together.

The story has what might be considered a “happy for now” ending given the alternatives, or maybe a “happier than it could have been.” Starting with the darkness of avoiding Death Row, the possibilities of “handholding in the sunset” endings aren’t there, and the authors don’t try to shove in anything that discordant. It’s perfect considering what came before.

I just wish I’d felt more grounded in time and place, and seen more development between the men. Hank became a perfect “farm wife” almost instantly, as if clean barns and the possibility of sex without condemnation overrode any trust issues he might have entertained. There was no transition from fear to willingness, and they went straight from introductions to trust, or behaving with trust.

Read this story with an eye to the language—it’s perfect for the characterization and sets the mood, and hold tight to the promises of the ending. 3.75 stars

Can't Be His by Shawn Lane

Can't Be His by Shawn Lane
Publisher: Amber Quill Press
Genre: GLBT
Length: 34 pages



Exterminator Lonnie "Roach" Raines and ice skater Alexi Summerville have been friends and roommates for years, but they've never taken their relationship to the next level. When Alexi's coach wants him to train for the World Championship in another state, however, Roach is forced to examine his feelings before he loses Alexi, possibly for good.


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Friends to lovers describes Roach and Alexi's relationship; they've known and liked one another for years. Never being single at the same time, nothing has ever happened between them, and it begins to look like nothing ever will. Shawn Lane jolts these two out of their complacent little rut in Can't Be His.


Roach and Alexi are an unlikely pair: a top level figure skater who shares an apartment with an exterminator. They get along really well, both being serially monogamous, more or less, and discovering a shared kink. They've just never quite managed to be single at the same time and get together. Roach is protective of Alexi, and the affection between them is blindingly obvious to everyone around them.

Even a casual date can see the score before Roach does. Alexi's coach understands what's going on and figures it's bad for his skater's career. One advises to go for it, the other thinks there should be several states separating them. Since Roach celebrates Alexi's newly single status by making him listen to drunken screwing in the next room, I was in the "several states over" camp before Chapter 3. Roach may be protective of Alexi but he certainly isn't thoughtful.

There was actually very little story for the page count, about 6200 words divided into three chapters over 34 pages, some taken up by a beginning excerpt and various credits at beginning and end. Most of the really interesting action happened off-screen. The unfortunately named Roach, which I could see as a nickname for a man with cans of poison but it provided endless small icky jolts when applied to a leading man in a romance, tells about his encounter with the wasps afterward when getting first aid, but we don't see him in action. Alexi's skating is over and barely described after we find him wiping away the sweat. There's dialog and then sex.

The story missed the potential in the contrasts and similarities between the willowy but strong artist/athlete and the tatted, gruff working man. I liked the premise and their discovery of a shared kink, but the execution of Can't Be His didn't provide enough for this reader to fall in love with. 2.5 Marbles

Kissing Sherlock Holmes by T.D McKinney and Terry Wylis

Kissing Sherlock Holmes by T.D McKinney and Terry Wylis
Publisher: Amber Quill Press
Genre: Historical, GLBT
Length: 255 pages

"My dear Watson, how does one go about kissing a woman?"......Sherlock Holmes' question leads to a lesson Watson never expected to teach. And feelings he never thought to explore. A single kiss alters Watson's world while the announcement of Holmes' upcoming marriage sets an odd fear in his heart. Amidst the beauty of an English country party, the greatest detective the world has ever known searches for a traitor. Somewhere among the glittering nobility a sadist lurks, using blackmail to destroy lives and endanger a nation. Only Sherlock Holmes can save an innocent man and bring the traitor to justice. It's a search that could cement the greatest friendship of all time into something far deeper and stronger...if the hunt doesn't end Watson's life first.

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It seems delightfully in character that Sherlock Holmes would launch this story by precipitating a change in his and Watson's relationship in the name of acquiring information. While Kissing Sherlock Holmes does not break new ground in assuming a homosexual attraction between them, TD McKinney and Terry Wylis do provide a sexually charged pastiche with a mystery to solve.



The mystery elements have a well-weighted share of page time: the problem is worthy of Sherlock Holmes' attention before Watson arrives at Toddington Oaks. Once he's there, the danger is no longer confined to treason and blackmail, but becomes personal when a freshly kissed Watson is repeatedly endangered. The culprit becomes evident far too early in the book, but there is a certain entertainment value to watching Holmes flounder around before he figures it out.

The authors pay attention to the late Victorian sensibilities very well at some times, though not so well at others. Holmes and Watson pay lip service to not being caught, but when they are found out by one person, Watson does not even contemplate the possible consequences, and not because they are too horrid to think about. The entire matter takes on the same social importance as spitting in the potted plants – it disappears entirely. The "whirlwind romance" of a few weeks from first meeting to wedding that Holmes and Winnifred are planning would have been a scandal; everyone would have assumed he'd gotten her pregnant with such a short engagement. Yet Holmes does play the stern male authority figure, putting her in her place when she steps out of the assigned female role.

The unfolding of Holmes and Watson's physical explorations is very sweetly done – they need to invent everything for themselves, every small touch is new and wondrous. The change in their relationship is marked with vast numbers of "darlings" and "dearests" which rather stepped on the sheer intimacy of Holmes using Watson's given name. I boggled at Watson using "darling" in front of another person, no matter how sympathetic that person was.

The language, "darlings" aside, matched the tone of Holmes canon nicely, and the ending was certainly the best that could be hoped for as far as the Toddingham family was concerned. The mystery was tragic in the classical sense, being made inevitable by the character's fatal flaw; I had sympathy for the villain, though to explain why is a spoiler. Some of the villainous behavior was just over the top, requiring a huge amount of collusion from other parties, and could have been dispensed with.

All in all, the joys of this well done pastiche outweigh the flaws: Kissing Sherlock Holmes is a good, solid read, and the prospect of Holmes and Watson's return to 221b Baker Street is a joyful one. 4 Marbles

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

Ink Illusions by Val Kovalin

As a gay man, Aaron never dreamed he'd end up in Houston, Texas, helping a female friend raise her child. Then he learns that the child's father has just been released from prison. Will Travis threaten Aaron's new family? To find out, Aaron conceals his identity and meets Travis during the chaotic splendor of Mardi Gras, when no one is what he seems. Travis is ruthless when it comes to locating his child. Otherwise, he's not the criminal Aaron expected. Aloof and intuitive, he works as a tattoo artist. The intricate tattoos on his body celebrate his commitment to Asatru, a Norse pagan religion. Meanwhile, Aaron is his polar opposite, a talkative Jewish sales rep from Las Vegas, who never misses a chance to have fun.

What they have in common is neither man can turn down a fight. Neither can resist their affair, which turns into an intensely erotic struggle as each seeks to master the other. As their lust deepens to love, Aaron knows he must tell Travis the true reason they came to meet. Meanwhile, he fears that the darkness inside Travis's soul may lead him to break the law and end up back in prison.
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The central philosophy of Asatru is the interconnectedness of all things, all life, Travis tells Aaron, and the connection between them is strong, immediate, and while it takes a while to play out, it directs their lives from the moment they meet.

Travis is newly out of prison, where he'd spent most of his daughter's life. Belinda's seven years old, a darling little tomboy with a passion for Yiddish words that she uses with devastating effect. Travis doesn't know his daughter at all; her mother, Rosemary, has broken contact with Travis and his family. Rosemary and Belinda live with Aaron, provider of Yiddish words, male parenting presence, and home, which is a mutual benefit arrangement, not romantic, because Aaron is gay.

Rosemary is the pivot point of all this interconnectedness, and her refusal to be reasonable brings Travis and Aaron together. Instead of making some rational visitation arrangements, she assumes the absolute worst of a man who went to prison for protecting her, and eventually pushes him into doing what she fears the most. Rosemary redeems herself by the end of the book, but not before needing to be slapped six or eight times.

Aaron and Travis meet at Mardi Gras, where Aaron has gone to suss out Travis on Rosemary's behalf -- they head nearly straight to bed, which gets derailed because of some of the choices Travis had to make while in prison. They back off and take it slowly, getting to know one another before another romp in the sack, although Aaron's role in Rosemary and Belinda's lives doesn't come to the surface for a while. But it's a situation that could work to everyone's benefit with some goodwill from all. Getting to that goodwill is the challenge.

I loved Aaron -- he's caught between a rock and a hard place when he falls for his best friend's hated and feared ex, trying to broker an agreement that will work for everyone, using his salesman's wiles and a mean right hook. Travis is the conflicted one, trying to reconcile protecting himself and his family with the things he has to do to accomplish that. He knows he's done wrong things for good causes, and fears that they will cost him Aaron's love.

This story is tied more tightly to the calendar than anything non-historical I've ever read, we know day, year, and day of the week for major milestones, but it isn't clear why; weeks and months pass without action, until Travis does what he's been repeatedly warned not to do, out of the blue. The pacing bothered me -- when things were happening, the story perked right along, but there were close to five months where absolutely nothing happened, except possibly an offstage unmentioned romance between Rosemary and the loathsome Chad, and the primary romance shouldn't suffer for trying to grow plausibility for a secondary couple. Fortunately that time was heavily condensed, but it didn't seem necessary for Travis and Aaron.

I enjoyed the second half of the story greatly, when some secrets came out, the relationship between Travis and Aaron had to change and grow, and Rosemary got her head out. 3.5 marbles



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