Favorites from 2016

I've been fortunate to read some great books this year. Each of these books had a something special to make it stay on my mind. Thank you, authors.

Panopolis by Cari Z

Title: Panopolis
Author: Cari Z
Purchase at Amazon
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: LC Chase
Genre: Science Fiction/Superheroes
Length: 22500 (Smoke) + 31900 (Fire) total 54,400 words
Formats Mobi, EPUB, PDF

Panopolis, the City of Heroes: a place where exciting things happen every single day. Things like mad science, reckless public endangerment, corporate espionage, and political puppetry.

You’ve got to wonder, why would anyone ever want to move here?

And once they get here, why would they ever want to stay?

Maybe for the excitement of watching real super-powered Heroes battle it out with Villains every day—preferably from a few hundred yards back. Maybe for the chance to become one of those Heroes, brave and stalwart and always doing the right thing.

Or maybe . . . just maybe . . . some people stay because they prefer to take their chances with a Villain or two.

Contains the complete texts of Where There’s Smoke (Panopolis #1) and Where There’s Fire (Panopolis #2)

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Where There’s Smoke

Panopolis is a rough place to be an average Joe. I came here looking for adventure and excitement, but nobody cares about one more normal guy in a city filled with super-powered heroes. The closest I’ve come to glory is working in a bank that villains often rob.

But then I maybe accidentally-on-purpose helped a villain escape the hero who was trying to save the day. Imagine my shock when, a week later, that villain asked me out for coffee. One date turned into more, and now I’m head over heels in love with Raul.

Falling in love with the guy dubbed the Mad Bombardier isn’t without its downsides, though. I’ve had to deal with near-death encounters with other villains, awkwardly flirtatious heroes who won’t take no for an answer, and a lover I’m not sure I can trust. It’s getting to the point where I know I’ll have to make a choice: side with the heroes, or stand fast by my villain.

Either way, I think my days as a normal guy are over.

Where There’s Fire

Making a name for myself as a Villain in Panopolis is hard work. Six months ago, my boyfriend broke me out of jail. Now he’s spending most of his time defending our turf against other Villains he accidentally freed along with me. And my new psychic powers are not only impossible to control, but they’re also giving me migraines.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. My skills are improving every day, and Raul — aka the Mad Bombardier — and I have never been happier. That is, until my first solo job is interrupted by a mysterious woman who tells me that Raul has been kidnapped by a ruthless new Villain. The only way to free him is to do a job for Maggot, a man with scary ideas and an even scarier superpower.

I can’t go to the cops or a Hero for help. Odds are they wouldn’t listen to me anyway. If I fail, Raul will be killed. If I succeed, we’ll both be bound to a man who’ll stop at nothing to put Panopolis on the path to civil war.

It looks like the only way to win is to take out the competition.

These two novellas definitely belong together, being the first and second parts of Edward and Raul’s story. Each has a complete story arc, but the second is definitely better for having read the first. Usually we get things from the Hero's perspective, but the Villains often have more interesting things to say.

Edward’s our POV character, and at first he’s just a normal guy, new to town, who’s an innocent bystander sucked into the action between Villain and Hero because he’s standing where the money is, in a bank.

As the fallout from his ordeal progresses, he gets to know Raul on a personal level, and begins questioning all he’s been told about this strange city where super-powered people duke it out for truth, justice, and television ratings. Edward does a little math, which gets him questioning how and why this public mayhem is not only tolerated but encouraged. There’s a very dirty underbelly to the rivalry, and the running commentary from the mysterious SuperTruther points out some of the ideas Edward is groping toward from ground zero.

Because oh my goodness, Panopolis is one fucked up place, where the corporations run amok in people’s lives and maybe only the “bad guys” have the right idea. They certainly have enough flash to attract the train wreck of Hero attention, at which point things really go to hell.

While Edward is feeling his way toward his place in this urban jungle, he meets Freight Train, the Hero of  Where There’s a Will, reviewed here.

Freight Train’s starved for affection, and tries courting Edward, a situation bound for trouble, because Edward can’t admit to being involved with the Mad Bombardier.

Trouble from Book One catches up to Edward and Raul in Book Two, and here’s where reader squeamishness and the story don’t mesh well. There’s a graphic and horrible event, and even at one remove, it was really stomach turning. It went from a kind of comic book violence to something much, much too real. I had to put the book down and go for a walk, and only my trust in this author made me finish. The aptly named Maggot is only one of the Villains Panopolis offers.

The story isn’t over, in this town where manufactured superheroes and their equally manufactured worthy enemies fight and keep the attention from far worse doings. Maybe SuperTruther will get a story?

I can’t separate ratings for the books because they’re so entwined in my head but even with the need to drop the Kindle like a poisonous snake there for a minute, this was a good read.

The stories are available separately, but I would recommend buying the single volume so you don't have to pause reading after the first. 4.25 marbles

Perilous by Cari Z

Title: Perilous
Author: Cari Z
Purchase at Amazon
Purchase at All Romance eBooks 
Cover Artist: Aria Tan
Genre: Historical
Length: 43K novella
Formats Mobi, epub, pdf

In 1803, England declares war on France, staking the fates of two mighty empires against one another. Thousands of men serve in the British navy, hungry for distinction in the battle against Bonaparte.

One of them, Lieutenant Thomas Williams, thinks he knows what he wants out of life: prize money at sea, a career of decent note, and the means to maintain his independence when he leaves the navy. What he finds is service under Captain Christopher Knightly: a tactical genius, inveterate charmer, and the youngest son of a wealthy noble house.

Their unexpected and perilous love affair is a gamble against the odds, for in a time of war, nothing is sure to last. If the French don’t tear them apart, one slip in front of the wrong eyes or ears might. When the demands of Christopher’s family take him from Thomas’s side, he thinks it might be the best thing for his captain. Little does Tom realize just how far Christopher will go to return to him, and when life takes a turn for the worse, how much further he will go to save him.

I do love some Hornblower and Jack Aubrey, and also some Alex Beecroft and Charlie Cochrane, but let me say right now that Perilous fits in with this company!

Cari Z gives us a perfectly plausible way to get our two characters together, and to let them have some stolen moments of happiness. While Captain Knightly is aboard, the endless blockade work and the stealthy attacks on the French have panache and derring-do. And the celebrations afterward have to be very, very quiet, because an 18 gun sloop is a very small ship!


The penalties for male/male contact in those days were severe, so the captain and his lieutenant had to be extremely careful. When duty to King and family rears its ugly head, Captain Knightly has little choice in obeying. Duty above all, to those in the Royal Navy, and Thomas does his to his lover as best he can. Heartbreaking for both of them.

The style will be very familiar to Hornblower readers, descriptive and a little distant. The story has more of what they’re doing than the details of ship-handling, which is fine, I didn’t feel deprived of leewards and starboards and such, I can get that from Patrick O’Brien, who will never ship Aubrey/Maturin like we do. The romance is satisfying, and the ending both heartbreaking and endearing, when happiness is at last in reach.

I was a little concerned how Captain Knightly advanced to his rank without being much of a shiphandler, because how would he have the opportunity to demonstrate his tactical skills? Once I stepped back and let him wow me and (and fluster the French!) it was fine. I think my bigger quibble was a collision of rimming and the hygiene of the day, and a requirement for penetrative sex. A little more sensory input would have been nice: I didn’t feel entirely present on board ship, but I did cheer for the Perilous and her gallant officers. 4 marbles

Where There's a Will by Cari Z

Title: Where There’s a Will
Author: Cari Z
Purchase at Amazon
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: LC Chase
Genre: Superhero
Length: 228 pages
Formats MOBI, EPUB, PDF, print

Being a Hero in Panopolis means living the high life: parties, money, influence, even reality television. And I’m one of the most powerful Heroes in the city. I have plenty of fans, a manager who looks out for me (after himself), and a job that pays the bills. I should be enjoying myself.

Unfortunately, the downside of my superpower means I can’t touch anyone, which tends to put a damper on things. I probably don’t deserve all those perks anyway, since I’m working in secret with two of Panopolis’s biggest Villains to undermine GenCorp—my main sponsor and the company that controls what gets through my force field.

I obviously don’t trust my corporate overseers, but they’ve hired a new scientist who actually seems interested in helping me. Dr. Mansourian might have the answers to all my questions—not to mention a starring role in most of my dreams—but he’s hiding something big. If I let him have what he wants, I might not live to regret it.

Then again, the way things are going in Panopolis these days, I might not live either way.

Once again, I’m coming in late on a series I now have to devour completely. I grabbed the first two Panopolis stories in a single volume, so I have goodies for later. Because I just enjoyed this book so much.


Our POV character is Freight Train, almost never known as Craig Haney, a Hero in a city that requires all augmented persons to choose sides. Stumble into, or choose, a superpower, and you have to be either a Hero or a Villain, no middle ground. In Panopolis (nice touch, this is Gotham City, Metropolis, Your Home Town, and a touch of ancient Rome all rolled into one), the Heroes not only protect the citizens from the Villains, they’re the bread and circuses too. It’s not a real rescue unless the cameras are watching, is it? But it’s not scripted so it can go down the toilet fast, and the real powers that be, GenCorp, don’t care what it does to the people who fight the battles.

The force field that’s become part of Craig prevents almost everything from passing in or out, but his invulnerability comes with some serious limitations on survival, and intimacy is another casualty. He can neither touch nor be touched, and he’s so much a victim of his celebrity and his power that to be called by his real name becomes the most human contact he can hope for. And he almost never gets it. How this author turns something so simple into heartbreak is an art.

Dr. Ari Mansourian does call Craig by name, and he knows a few things about his force field. But who is this mysterious scientist, and what is he really doing in the GenCorp labs? That force field makes their burn slow enough to answer questions.

GenCorp happily pits their manufactured heroes against one another, offering this one a reality show while that one languishes in obscurity, or poverty. There’s a grim undercurrent of favoritism, keeping everyone off balance and asking the wrong questions.

All is never as it seems, and there are twists, turns, betrayals, saves, and some smiles, in true comic book hero style, with depth and a wry humor. Characters from the first two books have parts to play here, which neither spoil the earlier books nor overwhelm this one.

The writing is wonderful, and the situations are classic superhero seen through the jaundiced eye of the person who has to live them. The plot twists are canny, and one major issue was resolved with such audacious perfection that I gasped out loud and then screamed YES! at my Kindle.

The chance conversation that led me to this book was a happy one, because I quit watching Batman 4 movies ago and might not have picked this one up. But I’m off to read the rest of the Panopolis stories, because this was a terrific tale in every way! 5 marbles

A Thousand Word Ficlet From Cari Z

Cari Z, whose wonderful Panopolis books have me completely absorbed, found a picture that inspired her.

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“Dance with me.”

I shake my head at Greg, who’s on his third glass of champagne tonight. I can’t blame him; his sister just got married. Everyone else is well into their cups at this point too―there’s something to be said for a southern wedding, namely that the food is better and the alcohol is freer than at any other event I’ve ever attended. The company, however? That definitely leaves something to be desired. We’ve gotten more dark looks for our matching suits than I can count, although that could be in part because Leila’s colors are purple and gold. Purple’s not a good look on me.

Still, it doesn’t make sense to rock the boat now. We’ll be gone in less than an hour, and I sincerely hope to never be the center of this much awkward attention again.

“Dance with meee,” Greg insists, leaning his head forward on his hands. He’s shorter than I am, very cute, and debilitatingly adorable when he wants to be. Like now. “C’mon, we practiced and everything!”

“Watching Dancing With The Stars doesn’t count as practice,” I say.

“It does, though! Rory, c’mon.” He grins at me. “You don’t have to dip me or throw me in the air. We just have to move together.”

“Greg…”

“What?”

I gesture around us. “What about them?”

“What about them?” he persists. “It’s Leila’s wedding, they’re not going to say anything. If they do, she’ll shut them down before we can even open our mouths. Rory.” His grin turns into a smile, soft and private. “Please, dance with me. Just one song.”

That’s the reason we’re wearing coordinated suits. I have a hard time saying no to him. “One song,” I agree, and stand up. The lights are dim, but I still feel like everyone is watching me. I’ve been in too many arguments, too many fights, to want to take that scrutiny in silence, but then Greg is in front of me, stepping close. He puts his right hand in mine, and I tuck my free hand in the small of his back. He feels warm even through the layers of suit, and when he brushes up against me, his eyes are locked on mine.

“Now we move,” he tells me, a bit breathless.

“Yes,” I say softly, and lead him into the first step of the dance.

***********

Mmm, yes, Cari Z knows how to get the guys to cuddle up. Or punch noses, or survive zombies, or... Cari's guys do a lot of things.

Love superheroes? You'll love them even more Panopolis style, with adventure, angst, and a couple of tropes stood on their heads.

Her latest, Where There's a Will, gets reviewed next week, but it's not a spoiler to say I LOVED IT.

Being a Hero in Panopolis means living the high life: parties, money, influence, even reality television. And I’m one of the most powerful Heroes in the city. I have plenty of fans, a manager who looks out for me (after himself), and a job that pays the bills. I should be enjoying myself.

Unfortunately, the downside of my superpower means I can’t touch anyone, which tends to put a damper on things. I probably don’t deserve all those perks anyway, since I’m working in secret with two of Panopolis’s biggest Villains to undermine GenCorp—my main sponsor and the company that controls what gets through my force field.

I obviously don’t trust my corporate overseers, but they’ve hired a new scientist who actually seems interested in helping me. Dr. Mansourian might have the answers to all my questions—not to mention a starring role in most of my dreams—but he’s hiding something big. If I let him have what he wants, I might not live to regret it.  

Then again, the way things are going in Panopolis these days, I might not live either way.

Preorder at Riptide, read May 2.

Wanting More by Cari Z

Title: Wanting More
Author: Cari Z
Purchase at Rocky Ridge Books
Purchase at Amazon
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: P.D. Singer
Genre: contemporary, short story collection
Length: 15k, 53 pages
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf

After a late-night rendezvous is interrupted by the partner of the man who hired him, stripper and high-end escort Alex Kidman can't get James Fitzgerald out of his head. So when James comes to watch him dance a few weeks later, Alex knows it's time to make his move--but James isn't comfortable with him if he isn't paying for his time.

This short story also appeared in the Dreamspinner Press anthology Sindustry II.

Bonus Story: Favorite Dish

With his lover James away on business for three weeks, Alex does his best to distract himself by keeping busy with his work as a chef, but not even the most elaborate meals can keep him occupied when all he wants to do is cook for two. Fortunately James has the same problem, and can’t resist coming home early to satisfy his hunger for Alex.

This short story also appeared in the Torquere Press anthology Pour Some Sugar On It. 

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These two stories are so perfect together that it’s a shame they ever appeared apart. Both told from the first person POV of Alex, we’re allowed to watch as dancer and rentboy Alex falls for James, and James falls even more reluctantly for Alex. Then we have the delight of seeing them a year later and finding out what they’ve become to each other.


The two are off to a very rocky start, since they meet while culinary student Alex, in his persona of Cristof the dancer, sits in the lap of a third man. James has enough flexibility that what could be catastrophic is merely tense and horrible, leaving Alex wondering. James comes back to find out for himself what Alex is all about.

The book has a lot of sex, which is probably why the author listed it as erotica at ARe, but make no mistake, it all drives the plot and fuels the character growth. This is truly a romance plot arc, and both men have to grow and change in order to be with each other. They are definitely more than a good time to each other, which the second story illustrates.

Flash forward to a year later, when once again James goes out of the country, leaving Alex home to cook, and wryly chuckle to himself that he’s pining for his lover. Homecoming can’t come soon enough for either of them. Short, sweet, hot. Very loving.

In a way, these two stories read like the first chapters and the last chapter of a larger work, though they weren’t written as such, and if Cari Z wanted to put a middle in, I’d read that in a heartbeat. I’m not much of a BDSM reader, but the very mild bondage scene didn’t frighten me off: it was hot hot hot, mostly because of how much Alex was getting off on it. Less pleasant was James calling Alex “baby” a couple times, which I find a bounce out of the story.

If you’re in the mood for short, sexy, and intense, these two stories will feed your need. 4.75 marbles

Reclaimed by Cari Z

Title: Reclaimed (Treasured #3)
Author: Cari Z.
Cover Artist: Winterheart Design
Publisher: Pink Petal Books
Genre: fantasy
Length: 44 pages
Rating: 3 stars out of 5


Everything seems perfect for Daniel Hart, set to graduate with his PhD and in love with the attentive but mysterious Rhys Daveth, a doppelganger and wanted criminal. Daniel's happiness is shattered when he has to make a painful choice between the man he loves and the vocation he's meant for. Even worse, a jealous figure from Rhys' past is determined to remove Daniel from the picture, which for him means taking on Daniel's shape and killing the original. If Rhys can't find him in time, Daniel will die, but after their last meeting Daniel doesn't even know if Rhys is interested in finding him any more.

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Some series are loosely connected—the order doesn’t matter and the entire backstory isn’t required to understand the current plot and world. Others must be read in strict order to get the entire picture. Starting here at Book 3 was probably not my best choice, and had I realized at the time it was a series, and tightly connected at that, I’d have read first things first.

There’s enough backstory here to understand what went before, although the presentation comes in big chunks. This affects the perception of the world building—not all of it happened here and a lot of it was presented more organically in books one and two. Here it comes in lumps, along with the mentions of events in the first two books.

Rhys can change his shape, taking on the form of someone he’s “absorbed.” Recognizing him means finding subtle clues—Daniel can pick him out, even if he’s “wearing the shell” of a woman. There’s a magical/scientific explanation for why Rhys and a handful of others can do this, but suffice to say, the government would like to control all individuals with the ability—they’d make formidable agents.

Daniel, on the verge of acquiring his degree, is also acquiring a conscience—he loves Rhys but is growing increasingly uncomfortable with him being on the shady side of the law. Daniel studies and curates magical artifacts—Rhys heists them from museums. Daniel respects Rhys enough to not ask him to change, but their relationship can’t continue as is.

The two of them make great reading, and the peril Daniel endures is very possibly terminal—the story itself is very engaging, and the ideas behind the world are interesting. A “doppelganger” could get into a lot of mischief, and does. The HEA does happen--a matter for rejoicing and some giggles at a third character's reaction.

Unfortunately, where this story falls apart is the great wall of text. The author chose to work without chapter breaks, which adds to the heavy feeling created with large dense paragraphs and infrequent dialog. About a quarter of the story is information repeated from the first two installments of this series, which is necessary to understand what’s going on now.

Breaking this story into three parts didn’t do the characters and the fascinating ideas of magic and outlawry any favors—characters who played parts earlier pop up out of nowhere in the middle here, and the plot bogs down in the information repeated from earlier sections. I was left wishing I had read one longer but more streamlined work. 3 marbles

Wild Passions (anthology) edited by SL Armstrong

Wild Passions by S.L. Armstrong
Publisher: Storm Moon Press
Genre: M/M, Fantasy, Science Fiction
Length: 188 pages


Summary: Authors: S.L. Armstrong, Cornelia Grey, Elizabeth Hyder, Wayne Mansfield, K. Piet, Angelia Sparrow, & Cari Z

Editor: S.L. Armstrong

Other worlds, other planes of existence, other places where humans are not the only type of creature to walk and talk. Human-like animals populate the pages of Wild Passions! These are not shifters, but humanoid animals that experience love and lust in their sometimes wild, sometimes civilized worlds.

Meet Liam, a half-fox in a world where 'urban jungle' isn't a metaphor. When trouble comes in the form of an organized militia looking to experiment, Liam must put his trust where he never expected -- in the hands of a human.

Koit is a Shterpi, a reptilian alien with a reputation for womanizing. A dare from a friend has Koit changing his target to other men, and he finds that variety really is the spice of life.

Alec and Nahale are feral-Maith, genetic offshoots from a fantastic race. Under pressure, Alec challenges Nahale for leadership of their clan, threatening to destroy the relationship they'd been building for years.

Panos only wants to live a normal life, free from the secret that's kept him isolated from others. However, he still needs a roommate, and his attraction to the other man has him wondering if opening up might not be so bad after all.

Ferran is making his last trip away from his home planet of Perelan before duty calls him back. But a rakish spaceship captain tosses a wrench into his finely crafted plans, and his world may never be the same.

Gordon and Leo work in the freak-show at a traveling carnival, wowing audiences with their half-animal physiques. But when animal constructs are second-class citizens and legal property of others, falling in love is the most dangerous act of all.
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Wild Passions provides several fine takes on what love and sex might be like for other beings, alien or animal. The worlds vary from Earth to Earth-like, to not-Earth, and humans figure as everything from enemy to owner to non-existent, which means the variety editor S.L Armstrong put into these pages is really wide.

Cornelia Grey's 'City of Foxes' features a dystopian future where animal-people live in the cracks of society. Life is harsh, trust is rare, and when it does happen, it can bring everything down. This is my second sample of Grey's fine atmospheric writing; I could taste the grit of the city and feel the shards of betrayal. The love story plays against an exploration of man-as-animal and man-worse-than-animal: we humans need our shining individuals to have any claim to worth as a species.

'Trust Me' from Elizabeth Hyder takes us into space; several races co-exist in sufficient harmony to have joint ventures such as space stations and higher education, in a very easy-going society. A meddling friend of the half-Shterpi Koit prods him in the direction of same sex encounters – his blundering along is humorous because it has the feel of an elective class in a subject that has to grow on the student. His eventual partner is a really delightful pain-in-the-butt. Much is made of a Shterpi attribute that ended up feeling tacked on rather than integral to the story, but perhaps there will be other stories in this setting that utilize it better.

Co-authors S.L. Armstrong and K. Piet bring us 'Alpha's Pride,' which looks at authority and complacency as well as the relationship between two strong males. The power struggles between Alec and Nahele come from their different views of what is good for the tribe and branch into the personal; I bled with them because neither is entirely right or entirely wrong. The "other" here is not well defined, leaving them feeling more like aliens than part animal, but it's still a fine story.

Panos, from "I Do Like to be Beside the Seaside" is more closeted by what he is than by his sexuality, so trust is his huge issue. He fears, rightly, what could come from trusting Jason, because he could easily become the center of much horrible attention. Fortunately Jason's a good man with some useful skills, if not enough empathy early on. Given his situation, Panos had to either be inexperienced or have trusted before, but author Wayne Mansfield doesn't address either option, leaving me wondering.

Cari Z has drawn a love affair between the human captain of a passenger freighter and a scion of a great family from another planet. 'Opening Worlds' unfolds the relationship between Captain Jason Kim and Ferran, an empathic, be-quilled Perel, who doesn't have as many options in his life as he comes to wish for. Why this should be is doled out in small tragic bits, giving their love a special piquancy. The story is very tender and the resolution is cause to rejoice.

A bit of Depression-era steampunk closes the anthology. Angelia Sparrow's constructs, part animal, part human, are property, and as such their lives can be so awful they have to look up to see down. Arthur, the bear-boy, and his bear-mother are fortunate to be loved by Daddy Frank, who goes along with the charade of ownership only to keep them safe. Gordon, the lion-boy, is not so fortunate – his owners are abusive and predatory. 'Songs for Guitar and French Harp' has by far the darkest themes but is one of my favorites in this anthology. Arthur is both teen-aged boy and bear; his view of society is the outsider's view for both reasons, and he may be the only one in the world who can really be there for Gordon.

The stories here vary from good to very good, and are more imaginative than the inaccurate blurb-writing would suggest. The theme wobbles a little, in that several stories feature out and out aliens, but it's worth sampling their animal magnetism. 4 marbles