The Queen's Consorts by Kele Moon

Title:   The Queen’s Consorts

Author:   Kele Moon

Publisher listing:   Loose Id

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Cover Artist:  Scott Carpenter

Genre:  Fantasy, Menage

Length:  95,200 words (long novel)

Formats:  epub, mobi, pdf, prc, html

Blurb: The Queen’s Consorts. Just laying eyes on one is a death sentence. So when Sari, who spent most of her life on the streets, ends up entangled in a steamy relationship with the two most forbidden men on the planet, she knows it can’t end well.

After a brutal attack, Sari’s taken to the Sacred City, exposing her to the secret lives of the Rayians who rule in the long lost queen’s absence. It’s in this darkly sexual world where she first meets the legendary consorts.

Too handsome and talented for their own good, Calder and Taryen have learned to trust only each other in order to survive. Bred to be feared warriors and exclusive companions to a queen, instead they’re slaves to other Rayians desires for them.

Their brutal lives make the two consorts hesitant to care for Sari when she’s unexpectedly dumped in their laps, but they soon discover she’s different from the cruel women they’re used to serving. Drawn to Sari on a soul deep level, Calder and Taryen can’t seem to stop themselves from going back for one more taste of the beautiful outsider… even when it puts the fate of the entire world in jeopardy.

Review:

In retrospect, I should have turned this one down. I’m probably not the target market, because I grew up reading science fiction and fantasy, and therefore have some expectations about world building, like consistency combined with cause and effect.

If I were reading only for the sexxors, I probably would have been happy. Sari, Taryen, and Calder are hot, and if one can dissect out the background, they do well together, moving from attraction with “oh no mustn’t touch” to “oh no but have to touch” to “touchy touchy touch” in what is a nicely paced and rather hot progression. In place it’s m/m, m/f, or m/m/f, elsewhere the action is m/f/m, and no one’s left to be the clap and cheer section. Sex scenes are occasionally marred by stilted dialog.

HOWEVER.

The world building is essential to the story, and it’s lacking.

This is a world that by definition has gone through the kind of cataclysm that should have brought governments crashing, economies crashing, populations crashing, and generally become post-apocalytic. The weather went through an abrupt and apparently irreversible change in such a way as to ruin agriculture and keep it ruined, but hey, everything’s in greenhouses  under lights, no big. It’s nice, orderly, and enough to support the entire population of the world and still have endless acres for flowers. The sun hasn’t been seen in close to 20 years, but only the street urchins seem to be starving and the elite sport tans.

The ruling class, the Rayians, can be identified at a glance, women are outnumbered three to one by men and are considered divine apparently just because they’re scarce, but an elite female can be kept as a sex slave without comment. Not only that but she’s still virgin, even though she’s been the chief instructor for “how men should pleasure women” classes. At apparently age fifteen. Or maybe younger. It's very handwavy.

An elite class woman can appear out of the blue without introductions and antecedents, and be totally accepted, at least at on the surface. Sorry, that didn’t work in the Regency era, and it doesn’t convince me here. This is a small enough group that everyone would know everyone, or know their people, but Sari’s included in the very top levels without a blink. There’s only one obvious candidate of this age bracket, and no one aside from She Who Knows even thinks of it, and she seems to be insane.

Most of them seem to be insane, actually, resulting in an entire flock of the sort of Evil Harpy #2 characters generally reviled in m/m. Their entire thought process seems to be “let’s torture two of the three people who could really, really, get even with us if our grip ever slips.”  Otherwise, not a hint of nuance, and no one actually seems to be running things.  

Everyone finally does get laid, wrongs are righted, political structures remade, the sun finally comes out, yay. There’s a reason the old queen traveled around the realm, but Sari’s fine with sitting in one place licking her wounds for more than half a year while the problems of her people and her country *that she could be fixing* are allowed to persist. She’s traveled the world undetected (!) in her earlier days, seeing the troubles first hand, so she has no excuse for delay. Even Sari describes herself as useless during this period, and she's right. Her consorts have been ruined with their sycophancy training: neither Taryen nor Calder kick her butt into action.

In the name of genre I’m willing to accept some of the more fantastical elements, such as facility of languages, elemental connections, and even, I choke to say it, the soul-mate issue. However, in exchange, I want the ordinary parts of the story to make sense, and plot points that are made to seem important to actually be important. The true heart issue is one that felt tacked on - apparently one needs to be a genetic weirdo to be a kind person on this planet.  Many issues I’ve mentioned and several I have not have been tossed at the story without their ramifications being considered, and I am not one of the readers who will shrug at their mismanagement because the sex is hot.

I actually set this book aside at the 25% mark for several months and would not have finished it except for the sense of obligation.  Read it for the sex and the relationship, and gloss past everything else if you value the fantasy genre without the sex. 2 marbles.

The Art of Touch by Dominique Frost

Title: The Art of Touch
Author: Dominique Frost
Cover Artist: April Martinez
Publisher: Loose Id
Publisher Buy Link: The Art of Touch
Genre: contemporary
Length: 20,517 words/ 79 PDF pages

Jared Hamilton is the director of the famous law firm, Hamilton & Hamilton. He’s a brusque, no-nonsense type that doesn’t suffer fools gladly. Thus, it is no surprise that he finds Kyle Washburn instantly and aggravatingly annoying.

Kyle is Jared’s massage therapist and is cheeky and irreverent. Jared doesn’t like cheekiness or irreverence. Unfortunately, Kyle also turns out to be absolutely brilliant at his job, which means that Jared can’t find an excuse not to return to the massage parlor when Kyle’s massages are clearly having such a beneficial effect. Jared is more relaxed and congenial than ever - well, as congenial as he can be.

It is only when another one of Kyle’s customers implies having had sex with Kyle that Jared realizes that he, too, finds Kyle sexually desirable - and that the thought of anyone else touching Kyle is unbearable. This revelation changes Jared’s perspective and his behavior, and he finds himself more and more attracted to Kyle with each therapy session. But does Kyle want him, in return, or is all that flirtation just part of the art of touch?
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Failing to read the excerpt in this case was an extremely good thing, because I might have bailed at the present tense within a paragraph or two. And that would have been a shame, because this turned out to be a lot of fun.


Jared specializes in being an uptight asshole, although he’s got enough covert sparks of humanity to go with it that everyone around him, from his sassy personal assistant to his wealthy uncle, looks out for him. Not that he likes that or appreciates it, because he doesn’t, and he’s loud about kicking and screaming at every sign of thoughtfulness, which he manages to lap up. Under severe protest, of course.

Kyle turns out to be another one of those persistent, pesky caretakers, and he’s just adorable. He gently contradicts Jared at every turn, performing his particular brand of magic, which turns Jared more nearly human. Unfortunately, that humanity returns in stages, and some of the stages are kind of ugly. Kyle teases gently or calls bullshit on him, which brings out more of that latent humanity.

The relationship between Kyle and Jared has to blossom more as a friendship, giving Jared time to rejoin the human race. A lot of details about the two men come out during this unfolding. It’s deftly done and develops the characters beautifully. When they do finally come together, Jared is a very different man than he began, and Kyle has revealed a number of depths.

The story is periodically humorous, although it doesn’t go for non-stop knee-slapping. Jared’s moments of foot in mouth aren’t glossed over with humor but are treated with the seriousness the offenses deserve. He’s not let off lightly, although he does most of the tormenting himself.

I really enjoyed the pacing of the story and the interplay between the men; their hidden details are unrolled slowly and in such a way that you can see them falling in love. There was one sex scene that seemed shoehorned in, and one element of the ending was probably meant to illustrate hidden depths but came so completely out of the blue that it was weird instead of illustrative, but otherwise the story was very nicely done.

Present tense stories usually leave me cold, because the form is hard to manipulate for character and development, with the action always stuck in the now. This story is among the best examples of present tense work in any genre I have read, and the development stacks up with the best. Warmly recommended. 4.5 marbles

Prelude to the Night by Angela Ploughman

Title: Prelude to the Night
Author: Angela Plowman
Cover Artist: Valerie Tibbs
Publisher: Loose Id

Publisher Buy Link
Genre: historical, vampires
Length: novella 136 pages, 34k

Victorian England is a place of double standards and hidden mysteries. A chance meeting at the opera propels dutiful, innocent Christian into the seductive arms of an older man.

Valentine has come to England searching for a reason to live. He walks in the darkness listening for that siren's song which will recall him to life. He may have found it in beautiful young Christian but can he persuade Christian to give up the conventions of society and walk a more dangerous path?

Between the two there are perils in the London fog which could separate them forever. The conflict of his comfortable life on one side and the dangers of loving Valentine on the other threaten to tear Christian apart. Whichever path his choose, listening to the music of the night is likely to cost Christian his soul.
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This novel takes us back to a more formal time, when young men escorted their mothers to the opera and liked it, and young women could lose their reputations at a glance. Christian is the man of his family, his father being deceased, and is responsible for his mother and sister. It’s a year past the date when Oscar Wilde went to prison, and Christian doesn’t plan to tell a soul where his desires lie.

The writing is beautifully atmospheric, its slight formality and period word choice take us back 120 years. I had no trouble at all feeling transported to London of the late nineteenth century, where culture and appearances reigned in the well lit quarters, ruffians lurked in every dark corner, and modern conveniences like antibiotics didn’t exist. The story is framed as a flashback so there isn’t much question about which choices are made, but the language of the frame is lovely.

Valentine is a fairly standard vampire, the Count of somewhere Carpathian, centuries old and bored with having seen it all twice. He’s entirely too fascinating to Christian, and tends to turn up in the strangest places because of his attraction to the young man. It’s totally an insta-want/insta-love on his part, but to Valentine's credit, he doesn’t use Dracula’s less pleasant methods to obtain his desires.

It’s insta-lust on Christian’s part, though perhaps not of his volition. He, of course, is torn, but the choices become no longer his in a way that was both startling and perfectly in period. This was equally horrifying and suitable, and made me adore a secondary character.

I enjoyed this book, although in places I was thinking I’d read “generic vampire trope,” but something unique in the ending and the lovely language rescued the book from the mundane. 4 marbles

The Cost of Secrets by Cassandra Gold

Title: The Cost of Secrets

Author: Cassandra Gold

Cover Artist: Kalen O’Donnell

Publisher: Loose Id

Genre: Contemporary

Length: 121 pages (PDF)/Word count: 35,457

Police officer Dan Fallon knows the streets, but he's a rookie at romance, and still very much in the closet. He thinks sexy fitness instructor Isaac is way out of his league, until a dangerous situation breaks the ice between them.

Isaac Weiss has spent years trying to get his life back together after a series of terrible mistakes. The last thing he should be doing is trying to have a relationship with a cop, especially with his past. Too bad he's unable to resist sweet, shy Dan.

It's not long though, before the secrets both men are keeping rise to the surface and threaten to destroy the fragile connection they've forged with one another. Can Dan and Isaac find acceptance or will the cost of secrets be too high?

Review

The blurb sure looked good. Given that the stated theme is secrets, one expects that total honesty will be hard to achieve, but the problems in this story go far beyond difficulties in communication. Between the treatment of some serious life issues and stylistic clunkers, I would have DNF’d this story at the 20% mark had I not been reading for review. 

I was very disappointed, because the major issues in each character’s life would make establishing a healthy relationship challenging, and they deserve thoughtful treatment. Here, unfortunately, they are used only as defenses against communication, and growth in overcoming them isn’t really happening. Body image is an important topic, as is unwilling participation in exploitive situations and drug addiction, but they deserve better handling than they received here.

Officer Dan Fallon is the confident, adept policeman, but Dan the man carries around the memories of a difficult adolescence as a 450 pound band geek, and takes off his social skills with his uniform. Personal trainer, kick-boxing instructor, nursing student Isaac is the sexy twink who’s making his life into something better. At twenty three, he’s still trying to recover from the horrors he went through as a teenager, and what he went through would definitely leave marks. He’s determined to keep everything about his past to himself, believing he’s too sullied for a wonderful guy like Dan, who of course hasn’t a clue about his appeal. 

All of this could be worked up into a touching and healing story, but that’s not what we have here. Various plot points occurring in the present day are either handled clumsily or ignored, and the past traumas come to light as bricks of prose thrown at the plot whenever handy. This cheapens very real problems of sexual abuse and exploitation, drug abuse, morbid obesity, and suicide, and does a disservice to those who have suffered. There isn’t a lot of thoughtful examination or of character growth and change, more melodrama than drama. 

Dan comes across as having personality transplants every few pages. It’s disconcerting, unpleasant, and overdone, and when his off-duty persona bleeds into his professional life toward the end, it’s consistent but irritating. He’s shed 240 lbs and still finds himself too soft in the middle for his own liking, but feeds on chocolate milk and sticky rolls even in situations where it’s not clearly for comfort. His unwillingness to be seen naked at least rings true, and renders it somewhat likely that he’s twenty eight and never been kissed. He’s certainly sweet, a word that appears 17 times and yes I counted, but he’s not very interesting. That’s sad, because he could be.

Isaac has had way too much sex and no love, and can’t believe he’s more than a sex object. He spends much of the story either melting, angsting, or weeping, and at no time is it clear how he obtained the skills he makes his living with. One would expect a certain amount of street smarts from Isaac, given his history, but he stops to worry about Dan’s bloody nose before they’ve completely subdued the armed robber. Once the robber is carted off to the station, the incident is never mentioned again—it’s only a device to get the men alone together.

Again, the point of the book is secrets vs communication, but this devolves into one Big Misunderstanding after another, which is not improved by style. Walls of exposition go on for pages, telling us what the characters are doing and thinking, but not illustrating it with an incident or even breaking it up with dialog. The POV is very shallow and distant, not really allowing the readers to feel along with the MCs and exacerbating the feeling of glib treatment of the major traumas. Between the adverbs, the feelings named outright rather than being illustrated, and caroming from cliché to cliché, the story offers no stylistic balm to make up for the characterizations and clunky plot. 

I would like to say that the sex was completely hot, but alas, that consolation is not there either. We are in Isaac’s POV when they first have sex and this event is more a cause for terror for Isaac than a source of joy—he’s the bottom without discussion, apparently because he’s built more slightly and/or has his horrid exploitive past. He doesn’t even stop to savor the orgasm before he’s running away from the big handsome cop he doesn’t deserve. Of course he has no idea of the significance of the event for Dan, just one more thing they don’t discuss. The fallacy of only anal sex is real sex is alive here, and lube is optional. The final sex scene where they are saying some really cheesy things together, and aware of the cheesiness and able to laugh about it, is the warmest moment of the story.

The premise, two damaged men healing from their pasts and learning to find their own worth and accept love, is ambitious but poorly executed, and I cannot recommend this book. 1 marble

Wanting It All by Emma Lai

Title: Wanting It All
Author: Emma Lai
Cover Artist: Jana Hansen
Publisher: Loose Id
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 75 pages

Clayton Palmer is an up and coming lawyer in the family's East Coast firm. A long-standing agreement with his father allows Clayton to head to Colorado during the summer--to work hard as a dude ranch hand and if he's lucky, play harder with a hot cowboy, or two. But this summer, his luck is all bad. His normal bunk buddies are missing, and a lawyer from a competing West Coast firm is a guest.

A week-long retreat with clients doesn't hold any appeal for James Owens until he spies Clayton hauling in the luggage. James has lost to Clayton in the courtroom more times than not, and while he's longed to gain the upper hand over his attractive nemesis in trial, he'll settle for winning in the bedroom when Clayton approaches him and offers to do anything for James to keep his secret.
Though he's always been attracted to James, Clayton's unprepared for the emotions the man inspires and runs scared. Haunted by his feelings for James and doubts about his lifestyle, he decides it's time to seize hold of the reins of his life. When the dust settles, will James be willing to let him into his heart?

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This book left me with some very mixed feelings: the writing is smooth and engaging, and I really like the style. When the prose is almost good enough to lull me into ignoring or accepting inconsistencies and plot holes, that’s very good writing indeed. Emma Lai’s style makes me want to read more of her work, with a more logical plot attached.

Clayton uses his summer for playing gay cowboy; wrangling on a dude ranch and spending hot bunkhouse nights with a couple of pals. They both managed to find permanent partners and didn’t return this season, leaving him alone, horny, and regretting the time spent, at least until his hot competition shows up.

James, a lawyer for a firm on the opposite coast, is openly gay, and has argued cases against Clay, so they have more than a passing acquaintance, but only on the professional level. He’s certainly not expecting to find a legal hotshot carrying suitcases and saddling horses, and James, I’m right there with you. They’re in the sack pretty fast.

The mismatch between James’ expectations of a partner who’s out and proud and Clayton’s life in the closet send them in opposite directions practically before they finish coming. James has no patience for hiding, and Clayton’s stayed in the closet because of family pressure, which is the flip side of the family advantages of wealth and position. As long as he refuses to do without what his father can provide, Clayton has to abide by the old man’s wishes and hide his true self. His encounter with James sets him thinking, evaluating, and making changes.

And the next time we see him, those changes are all made and he just has to convince James to go along with it, which takes little more than some mind blowing sex.

This is supposed to be a story of coming out, and it does have the bare facts of Clayton’s revision of his life, but there’s a pretty substantial gap in the emotions of it, and also in the practical aspects. All of these are dismissed in a few paragraphs, and then it’s off to more sex, which clinches the relationship.

Unfortunately, all Clayton’s interesting growth after his initial decision to come out falls into the missing six months. There have to be a lot of practical issues to consider, quite a lot of self-examination, and it would be nice to see some relationship growth. James and Clayton have yet to establish that they can stand to be in each other’s company for more than an hour while not engaged in litigation or sex. But similar career trajectories and hot sex have to be enough for this story to end in an HEA. In short, there’s just enough text in the middle to string the sex scenes together.

This might be enough for readers primarily looking for the hawt, although I don’t consider it complete. I also have issues with some of the world-building. Students get three month summer vacations, hotshot litigating lawyers’ cases don’t fall so neatly into the calendar, but this is a longstanding habit for Clayton. Lawyers who have yet to make partner don’t have the luxury of months off at a time, even if Daddy is the boss, and lawyers who have made partner are harder to discard than Clayton was, so what was he really? His cover story for those three months off every year is so flimsy as to be insulting to the reader; if he’s in the London office, surely someone will try to pick up the phone and ask him a question, and good luck with that if he’s really on a horse in Colorado.

I wanted to be happy with this story, because it does flow like water, but I kept bumping into the logical and developmental rocks and getting bounced out. Had I been reading strictly for the sex, I’m sure I would have been more satisfied. 3 marbles

Hawaiian Gothic by Heidi Belleau and Violetta Vane

Title: Hawaiian Gothic
Authors: Heidi Belleau and Violetta Vane
Publisher: Loose Id
Cover artist: April Martinez
Genre: Paranormal
Length: 168 pages


Ori and Kalani were childhood friends too afraid to be lovers. Now in their darkest hour—Ori disgraced and Kalani a wandering spirit—they’ll fight the world and death itself for a second chance.

Gregorio “Ori” Reyes thought there was nothing left for him in Hawaii. A former Army Ranger and promising MMA fighter, his dishonorable discharge turned him into the family disgrace, and his childhood best friend Kalani never could love him back--not the way Ori needed to be loved--even before Kalani’s doctors declared him to be in an unrecoverable coma. Ori’s return to Hawaii seems fated to be a depressing reminder of every chance he never took... until Kalani himself impossibly welcomes him home.

Kalani’s body is bedridden, but his spirit is free to roam, and it turns out it’s not just Ori who had unspoken yearnings. Kalani is eager to prove that he can still savor all the pleasures of this world. Together, they remember all those years of surfing, wrestling, touching and aching but too afraid to act; now, they cross that final barrier and struggle against each other in an entirely different way.

Passionately but tenuously reunited, the pair must solve the mystery of Kalani’s unlucky life, sorting through dark family history and even journeying to the Hawaiian ghostworld. And the greatest terror of their journey is that Ori might have to put Kalani to rest.

Review

“Gothic” implies dark and mysterious goings on, an interesting balance against the bright sunniness of Hawaii. This book is a juxtaposition of many more things, with an unique structure, and it works out in a most surprising fashion.


The story opens in the middle—Ori’s now released from Leavenworth, and Kalani’s lying comatose in a hospital bed, the victim of a savage attack. Many things are not what they seem, including Kalani meeting Ori at the airport.

This is an extremely non-linear story—important chunks of flashback (clearly marked, one is never lost in time) take us back and forward, revealing important details about the men and their relationship. Fast friends since nearly forever, they complement each other in many ways, but haven’t taken the step to be lovers until it’s nearly too late. Ori also has a mystery to solve; who did this to Kalani, and how can his spirit go on to its proper destination, wherever that might be?

A substantial portion of the story takes place in the Hawaiian spirit realm, a place I’ve never visited even in fiction, because of Kalani’s background. Ori tries to follow and understand, and his own Filipino background gives him tools to work with. The spirit realm is far from benign, and for Ori to reach it takes a bold and gruesome act, so this story may not be for the squeamish, though the rewards for the persevering reader are great.

At one point the story steps backwards in time and out of the main characters’ POV, to a time before Kalani’s birth. His mother Malia, who is variously loved and reviled, lays the foundations of all that is to come, in a brief excursion into a non-standard but loving relationship. Ladybits warning for the mm purist, but this section is important, beautifully done, and both romantic and tragic.

A few things seem a little overdone, like Ori’s career as both an Army Ranger and an MMA fighter, but serve to highlight his fall from grace and his return to it. He is a man who understands sacrifice and duty, and doing the hard tasks. I wanted to hurt one of the secondary characters for taking steps to harm the innocent, but that character does achieve a kind of redemption.

I loved this story for bringing me into unfamiliar cultures and places, including the parts of Hawaii tourists never see, and for letting me share the evolving relationship between Ori and Kalani. It’s is hot, loving, a little tentative in its changes but built on a solid foundation. Also, hot. These characters have to work extremely hard for their happiness, and I was glad to follow along. 4.5 marbles

Take Me Home by Sloan Parker

Title: Take Me Home
Author: Sloan Parker
Cover Artist: Marci Gass
Publisher: Loose Id
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 91K words


Aspiring television writer Evan Walker has been in love with his best friend since high school, but Kyle doesn’t do boyfriends. Never has. Never will. Evan knows it’s a bad idea to give in to desire when he wants more than a friend with benefits. He has a new dream job. Now all he needs is the dream partner.

Kyle Bennett is a mystery novelist with a severe case of writer’s block. He needs a change. He has three days on their cross-country train trip home for the holidays to figure out how to tell Evan he’s staying there for good. He also has to write the overdue pages for his editor. Only, he’s a little too distracted by the close quarters in their sleeper compartment—and Evan’s ass—to get much done.

The sparks that fly between them are hotter than ever. Good thing they have a real-life mystery to focus on: why people all around them, including Evan’s new boss, want to get their hands on a journal that once belonged to Kyle’s grandfather.

When a blizzard traps them in the mountains, Kyle and Evan steam up the train’s windows and must finally face their true desires.

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I’m not sure if this story qualifies as a big misunderstanding or not, because all the doubt and evasion is justified based on what Kyle and Evan knew of each other from their youth and the subsequent years. In this friends to lovers tale, every time they try to talk about the changes something interrupts them or they are otherwise derailed; they are talking, but damn, is it slow.


Kyle's always been the one who didn't want permanence, who went from man to man. Everyone in the story but he and Evan knows it's because Kyle really wants Evan. A youthful almost-relationship between them gets referred to often. Considering that Kyle had pushed Evan into situations he didn't want and that were extremely unsafe, abandoning the relationship early sounded like a really good idea to me, even if Kyle later took corrective action. That Evan would still be pining for Kyle even through a ten-year committed relationship with another man, enough to prompt certain actions from that man, seemed on the far edge of believable.

Kyle does some rethinking during the six months he has a post-breakup Evan in the guest room, but saves most of it for when we have to endure it. Listening to the endless dithering, which pervades the entire book, well past a place where it would be reasonable to have made a decision, gets rather old. Prolonged to the screaming point by the constant interruptions, it made me want to slap him and shake Evan, and tell them both to just get on with it already! Hours alone in a remote cabin should have given them the talk-time and moved the relationship farther forward. Why they were out at the cabin at all, and the visitor they had, also defied good sense.

The external plot, regarding Evan's screenwriting job and a journal left to Kyle, had both several unbelievable points to it and the most interesting part of the story. The journal, written by Kyle's grandfather, detailed an important year in his youth and the decisions he made, and I was left yearning to have read that story in full detail rather than the scattered journal entries. Another stretch—how everyone and their brother knew this journal just had to contain enough keys to the mystery to make a considerable amount of skullduggery from several parties worthwhile. A character Kyle refers to as 'Dickhead' had the most sensible reaction to the skullduggery's resolution, but Kyle and Evan went out to do something foolish instead.

So many plot points demanded more suspension of disbelief than I could muster that the style became a secondary issue. The voices of the two characters are very similar, and while I wasn't exactly seeing headhopping, it was sometimes hard to know who was POV. I found myself scrolling backwards to be sure I knew whose head we were in, because it felt like there was a change, although usually there wasn't. The read felt otherwise monotonous, probably due to the nearly unvarying sentence structure, and because certain plot elements repeated several times. And no, I do not want to know some stranger's gastro-intestinal problems with broccoli. This chunk is definitely part of the 15k bloat the book is carrying.

The ending, with all its frustrations, was satisfying; all the various subplots came together coherently. This is the strength of the book, even if it required contortions to get there. Kyle and Evan get their shot at an HEA, although I found myself not caring all that much, since I hadn't managed to like them all that much. My favorite characters were actually 'Dickhead,' for his willingness to act decisively if occasionally stupidly and his late interjections of good sense, and especially the deceased grandfather, who had romance and heartbreak in his journal snippets. I wanted to like this story, but mostly I was just glad it was over.
2.75 marbles

Make You Sweat by Pia Veleno

Make You Sweat by Pia Veleno
Publisher: Loose-ID
Genre: LGBT Contemporary
Length: 163 pages
Ready for change, Tyler Pierce has the whole summer ahead of him when he flies to Sand Piper Beach to turn over a new leaf. Sun, swimming, exercise, he'll return home a new man, sexy and buff. Best of all, several states away from home and college, no one but his dad knows him, so he can muddle through the challenges of getting fit without friends laughing at him.

During his first visit to the fitness center, Tyler meets the sculpted and toned Cody Dawson, fitness instructor and sexy gay man. Not only does Cody help Tyler learn how to use the strength training equipment, but he crashes through Tyler's fantasies and lures him into bed.

Just a passing fling, Tyler decides. Cody, after all, could get any number of better looking men without even trying. Besides, the summer doesn't last forever and, too soon, Tyler will return to campus leaving Cody to the ex who wants him back. A summer fling can grow into something more, but it's up to Tyler to recognize if it's true love or just heated summer lust.

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Tyler, with his senior year of college ahead of him, is on that cusp of near independence and tentative adulthood that makes his still-spindly frame a source of frustration. Make Me Sweat brings him farther into maturity, and Pia Veleno has captured his insecurities and small triumphs on the way.


Tyler is ready to bring his physique into line with his life; spending his summer working out throws him together with Cody, the best looking guy on the beach. Tyler has trouble believing that Cody's for real on finding him desirable for more than a night or two, and I did too. Cody's head over heels for Tyler based on nothing more substantial than his body type, and I thought Tyler's wariness was a good thing. We're in Tyler's head for most of the story, and his inner thoughts, outer actions, and huge personal growth make some great reading.

Cody is not so clearly drawn – he's yummy but a little fuzzy on relationships. He wants Tyler, but he's not firm enough on the ex-ness of an ex to convince either Tyler or the ex. The few times we have his POV, it doesn’t illuminate him very much. Still, props for recognizing that being a twink is one but not the best of Tyler's attractions.

The other secondary characters, Tyler's father and Cody's ex, provide some tension, but the father is mostly around to spout homophobic comments, and his display of jerk-itude is over the top, especially considering the complete dysfunction of his relationship with his ex-wife and son. Tyler's reaction to his father, though, is a true-feeling back and forth of wanting to stand up to him as an adult, cower down like a child, and avoid him as self-preservation. The father does have a redemption of sorts, and Tyler is man enough to accept it for what it is. The ending is cluttered with convenient revelations about the father and the ex, who would be a more credible threat had he been more charming.

It's Tyler, with his growth and evolution, who makes this story, and he deserves a great big smooshy hug for making such a huge step into maturity. He and Cody have more to explore, which offers hope for a sequel. 3.5 marbles