Summer School by Tam Ames

Title: Summer School
Author: Tam Ames
Cover Artist: Reese Dante
Publisher: Silver Publishing
Genre: contemporary
Length: 38k words 

Jeremy Decker is preparing for the worst summer of his life, teaching summer school and healing from his recent breakup. But maybe his sexy young teaching assistant will be able to put an end to Jeremy's summer doldrums.

English teacher Jeremy Decker's split with his boyfriend has left him with no plans for the summer and credit card debt. One solution is to teach summer history classes. College history major Lucas Van Sloan is brought in to assist Jeremy, and is thrilled to have a summer job that doesn't include supervising kids at the hometown swimming pool.

A summer heat wave has Jeremy snarlier than even upbeat Lucas can handle. Lucas drags the teacher back to his place and out of the heat, determined to pull Jeremy into his bed while he has him there. However, Jeremy's ex isn't quite ready to let go, and a college student may be no competition for a high-powered attorney.

Review

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times... Oh yeah, Dickens did get that line first, but it does apply to the summer session where Jeremy’s teaching a subject he’s woefully unprepared for, and Lucas is getting his first real experience in his field. They’re approaching the session from completely opposite mindsets.


Jeremy’s coming off a bad breakup—his long distance lover had more going on in the area than Jeremy could tolerate, although he made a frantic last ditch effort to salvage an 8 year relationship. That did bad things to his credit card and led him directly into this unappreciated teaching gig. He’s surly and comes off as kind of a jerk. He’s got an assistant who knows the subject inside out, but Jeremy prefers to stand up and admit he’s not sure when the sixteenth century was. A heat wave that turns his apartment into an oven is the last straw.

Lucas thinks Jeremy’s the grumpiest hotty he ever encountered, and little things that keep Jeremy from acting on his interest, like an age gap, being his supervisor, and being truly single for the first time in his adult life don’t mean as much to Lucas. He’ll reach for what he wants, and be honest about it.

Lucas is living in the lap of someone else’s luxury while he housesits, and there’s lots of room, plus a pool and other amenities. It’s a sweet set-up for Jeremy to come to terms with a lot of things, like admitting he’s really interested in Lucas, finding out what he wants and doesn’t want, and getting over David, the ex, who wanted a lot of things Jeremy didn’t know about and wouldn’t have agreed to anyway.

The story is sweet—they get past the initial difficulties, plus others that aren’t so dire, and have lots and lots and lots of sex. David never did certain things, so Lucas has plenty of chances to expand Jeremy’s horizons in some fairly basic directions. It’s kind of cute, the expectations from his experience of a long relationship are so different from his reality.

This story is really about Jeremy’s slow flowering—the relationship that consumed most of his adult life had a certain toxicity and he’s getting over that, so of course when ex makes a last play, it’s a bit stomach churning but Jeremy’s found a spine somewhere. This is the best part of the story—Lucas wants to take over but reins himself in. Although he’s desperate to tell everyone how things are going to be, he lets Jeremy direct the encounter and Jeremy needs the confidence that brings. These two are going to be good as a couple.

This author does humor well, and there are lots of little touches to keep things light, though she wasn’t going for a humor piece here. It’s a sweet romp with an underlying serious theme of knowing what you want and being willing to speak up to get it. The couple does spend a lot of time in bed, which did occasionally have me thinking “Again?” and Jeremy was hard to like at first, being prickly-funny with a side of dumb (teachers use lesson plans for a reason, Jeremy!). He grows more likeable with time. Lucas is just adorable—young and ready to grab life with both hands, he’s got lots of confidence, and he doesn’t need to change much over the course of the story because he’s got his act together.

What I didn’t get, really, was what had kept Jeremy and David together as long as they were—Jeremy was kind of clingy, but David seemed like a “want all the shinies” kind of guy. The relationship was all over except for the shouting when we meet any of these guys though, so we can’t really see why David was so cavalier for eight years and then so insistent after he was told no. Maybe it was the novelty of “no”.

The story is sweet and sexy, and if it’s not breaking major new ground, it’s still a pleasant light read. 3.75 marbles

Almost Paradise by Caitlin Ricci

Title: Almost Paradise
Author: Caitlin Ricci
Cover Artist: Lee Tiffin
Publisher: Silver Publishing
Genre: paranormal, shifter
Length: 17,300 words



Travis will do anything to keep his daughter safe, now that he finally has custody. Financially ruined, he cannot even afford food for himself most days. Could a stranger’s offer to dogsit be the solution Travis has been hoping for?

Travis has done everything to keep his daughter safe. He's fought a long, hard battle with the courts to gain full custody and has finally found some breathing room. But that security comes at a heavy price.

Staying in a motel and living off his quickly dwindling savings is no way to raise a toddler, so when Liam steps into his life and offers him hundreds of dollars just to watch his dogs for a weekend, it almost seems too good to be true.

But when he finds out there is more to Liam than he ever thought, he has a hard decision to make. Can he and his daughter stay and be safe or will he need to leave?

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I both adored this story and was frustrated, as an assortment of interesting plot points got rushed treatment. I would have gladly followed along for a slower ride. Even so, I was charmed.


Liam, who is introduced as both dominant but not the supreme alpha of his shifter group, starts out by taking his enormous, half-grown dogs on a shopping expedition for trinkets and clothing. He encounters Travis, who’s there to beg a job, any job, if it will just pay something he can use to feed his toddler daughter Hannah. Totally the center of Travis’ world, keeping Hannah has cost him his home and his prosperity, and he knows down to his bones that his baby girl is worth it. But it’s costing him meals to keep her fed.

Little scene stealer that she is, Hannah interrupts her father’s pitch for work, wanting to touch Liam’s giant dogs. The animals adore her, and her cheerful shouts of “Puppy!” punctuate the rest of the book. All her loving daddy’s goodnight stories bear strange fruit—she’s distressingly accurate about puppies.

Things happen dizzyingly fast after that—what starts as a simple offer of a much needed meal becomes an offer to dogsit while Liam takes care of Shifter business—Travis is understandingly spooked by the instant trust, a hint of charity, and maybe an exchange of favors, and if he wasn’t desperate he’d be backing away quickly. Even if Liam is so damned hot.

Travis has been fighting for Hannah since her birth—the mother is a promise breaking horror, and the relationship between her and Travis has been messy, although what each wanted from the other was never clear and has changed with time. She’s persistent, with a hint of strangeness. Travis had a child with her, but he’s never explored his true desires—a single kiss from Liam wakes more in him than he’s comfortable with.

The story resolves several elements in a very open-ended fashion; the story is marked the first of a series and there’s all sorts of issues to explore in more depth. I’m intrigued enough to read more in spite of a couple of eye-rollers like the incredible shape-shifting clothing. The structure of the shifter group has story potential, especially since a few other characters are introduced in depth but don’t play direct roles in the plot arc here, which would annoy me more if they weren’t so clearly sequel bait.

Hannah and the dogs get a little more depth than do Travis and Liam—there’s chemistry there that we don’t see consummated, but Liam is smitten with both of them—his dreams of a family are fingertip-close, if he could just gentle Travis into accepting what’s crackling between them. Liam’s frustration is one of my favorite aspects—he can dominate dogs and people into obeying his demands, but any application of pressure on Travis and he’ll be gone like smoke, Hannah with him.

The sexual tension between Liam and Travis could be cut with a knife and is not exactly resolved. I wish certain elements had received deeper treatment and that certain issues of trust hadn’t been whipped past so quickly, but this beginning has a lot of promise. 3 marbles

The Wrong Impression by James Ryder

Title: The Wrong Impression
Author: James Ryder
Cover Artist: Reese Dante
Publisher: Silver
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 12,300 words


Ben Garrett might have got it wrong about his former High School bully, Corey Donovan, who now regrets the past and wants to be friends. But when sexual attraction shatters their tentative truce, Ben wonders if the wrong impression might have been the right one after all.

Getting roped into writing essays for his former High School bully is the last thing Ben Garrett anticipated doing at college. Corey Donovan is an arrogant, privileged jock. And to make matters worse, he's hot as hell!

To Ben's surprise however Corey wants to be friends...and possibly more? Corey's killer smile and charismatic seduction is impossible to resist. Did Ben get it wrong about Corey? After all, people change, don't they?

But their night of passion comes at a high price. Corey is nowhere to be found and Ben might just have landed himself in a whole lot of trouble with Corey's homophobic frat brother, Teddy Hayman. Was Ben's wrong impression the right one all along?

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The set-up looks like it ought to be good for an enemies-to-lovers story, and it probably would, with different handling. Unfortunately, the one shred of decent behavior in this entire book doesn’t kick the co-existence level anywhere that high.

From the opening scene where Max manipulates his buddy Ben into writing the newly transferred jock Corey’s essays (for a fee, of course) so that he can get into a social group that would otherwise reject him, the ethically questionable behaviors come hard and fast. While each action individually is somewhat understandable, given the pressures to fit in and make friends, the aggregate is a peek into a cesspool.


So what if Corey’s hot? That lasts until he opens his mouth, and Ben has two years of physical assaults and bullying at Corey’s hands to temper his physical reaction, not that it helps. Perhaps a college age man is more led by his cock than most, but the sight of Corey’s body during a condom run in an interlude with a slutty cheerleader (author’s term) is enough to turn Ben’s larger head off in spite of the horrible history between them.

The blurb promises friendship on Corey’s side, but that isn’t the case. More using/self-centered behavior is closer to the mark, and all Ben’s ruminations with his friends don’t let him see that. The dirtbag behavior hasn’t escalated to manhandling, but Corey isn’t treating Ben decently this time around either, and his apology for the past didn’t even begin to acknowledge the depth of his offences, though it might have been adequate for accidentally stepping on toes. Charismatic seduction? Don’t think so: this is crude come-on.

So why is Ben hoping for more, a lot more? When he gets it plus some more ill-treatment, he retaliates with the only weapon he has, which lets him meet face-to-fist with Corey’s team- mate Teddy the homophobe. What follows is the only moment of decent behavior in this entire tale.

It’s a mess of a story when the only character who has convictions of any strength is the bad guy of the piece, in this case, Teddy. He’s a homophobic horror, but he’s consistent. Max is out for himself, Ben is delusional, a doormat, and intellectually dishonest. Corey depends on getting away with anything short of murder because he’s a jock and model-handsome to boot, and the world (including Ben) isn’t even trying to convince him it might not always work that way. I hated every single one of these characters and everything they did by halfway in, to a degree that was unrecoverable.

The ending had some reassurance that these were supposed to be thinking beings rather than cardboard cut-outs with no moral compasses, but it was much too little, far too late. Very likely each and every one of the behaviors outlined here has happened on campuses everywhere, but the display en mass is a cautionary tale of the bad behavior of humans, not romantic. The revelations are supposed to make up for everything but I’m not convinced. 1.5 stars

Shadow Men by Edward Kendrick

Title: Shadow Men
Author: Edward Kendrick
Cover Artist: Reece Dante
Publisher: Silver Publishing
Genre: action/adventure
Length: 49K

Two men, Rafe de Lorca and Steele Reid, are committed as deeply to their job as they are in their love for each other. Trained in espionage, they are killers by necessity and patriots by choice. Betrayed by the very people they work for and on the run, will they manage to survive, or will those who are after them prevail?

Espionage agent Anders must protect Grant Eastman and his son, Nicky, after Grant discovers information vital to national security. Teamed with a third man, they attempt to get the information into safe hands while trying to elude those who would kill them to retrieve it.

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I’m coming at this book as a fan of both Jason Bourne and James Bond, and also as a John le Carre and Eric Ambler reader. I’m willing to be thrilled, can tolerate a high body count, and think sexytimes after the chase ends is perfect. I also like to know what’s at stake.


Rafe and Steele belong to some undefined but well-funded and well-staffed government espionage agency. They are deeply committed to each other and make a formidable team, being able to out-shoot, out-sneak, outwit, and out-maneuver 98% of their colleagues. A good thing, because once they locate the prized information, they have to elude everyone in their quest to bring this information to people who will act on the knowledge.

What’s important enough to make Rafe and Steele kill their former associates, who may or may not be untrustworthy or only believing information given to them by their superiors? Your guess is as good as mine—the blurb is almost as detailed as the book on that score. The fade to black issue is very visible here—they have the documentation but don’t share with the readers.

Little details that should bring the action to life get the same treatment, like this:

"Help me. Let me in before they find me."
"Who are you?" Steele called out.
"{name redacted}."
"Prove it."
The man spoke three words, paused, and then added a short phrase.

This disrupts the rhythm of the scenes and unfortunately feels sloppy, like the author didn’t spend the effort to invent something convincing.

Rafe and Steele are alive on the page though—they banter, kiss, bind wounds, and defend each other across countries and continents in their patriotic effort to stop whatever is going on. They are an established couple, and their devotion to each other and to their country is one of the book’s very brightest spots.

At about the halfway point, focus switches to Grant and Anders. Grant’s stumbled into this mess by trying to do the right thing, and the agency is still a house divided—Grant can only determine which side to trust by the direction of the shooting.

Anders is another good man—he’s as committed as Rafe and Steele to bringing the unnamed malfeasance to an end and while Grant is freaked out about participating in the operation, he’s also noticing Anders as a man. The tension between them is thick, whenever they have a lull in the action, but Grant’s been widowed once and isn’t in the market for sex as tension relief only. Their back-away-closer dance produced some tension on its own.

The story has a low heat rating for the sex, which is fine; a lot of on screen humping and moaning would sit uneasily in the middle of the mounting body count, and I’m assigning it a high rating for sexual tension, which is also fitting. The book should also have a very high tension rating over “What made this all worth it?” which is not so okay—it kept me from being invested in the good guys’ success for any other reason than because they’re the good guys. “Bad men are bad” seems to be the rest of the reasoning, and considering the substantial carnage, that’s not enough.

Trying to manage the conventions for both action/adventure and for romance in the same story produced a compromise that stepped all over one of the best action/adventure elements, and inadvertently smashed an extremely romantic element, IMHO, although I’m sure others might disagree with me on this. Even so, the author managed to balance everything except for the reader knowing why the victory was worth the cost. 3.5 marbles

Library Science Just Got Sexy by EM Lynley

Library Science Just Got Sexy by EM Lynley
Publisher: Silver Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, M/M
Length: 33 pages


Drake Talbott is a young university professor with a big secret: he's been dating a student. Hunky, handsome Kerry Monroe isn't in any of Drake's classes, but he has a public sex kink that Drake is in no particular hurry to curb. In fact Kerry's brought out a wilder side of Drake that he never knew he possessed. When an extracurricular tryst in the library stacks nearly brings their relationship to the attention of the powers that be at the university, Drake's just not sure whether his career will survive Kerry's appetites--or his own.



In EM Lynley's short, hot, and exhibitionistic story, Kerry and Drake are a newly formed pair, who have every reason to keep their activities under wraps. Drake's professorship might not survive the exposure. Library Science Just Got Sexy shows us a couple of guys who just can't keep their hands off each other.


These two haven't solidified as a couple; they're still finding out about each other, and their explorations turn into quite a lot of steamy sex. Drake's fears of exposure are on the opposite ends of the spectrum from Kerry's love of the edge, though he's rapidly figuring out what Kerry likes about semipublic adventures. Drake does have a lot on the line, but he wants to please Kerry, who's young enough to think of the thrills ahead of the risks.

Kerry doesn't completely disregard the risks to Drake, and that's where this story gels. Each man has to work to getting what he wants and needs while still respecting the other's wants and needs—they do it well enough that you can tell that these two are going to make it as a couple, and possibly induce heart attacks in the readers, too. 4 marbles

Artie the Good Witch by Scarlet Hyacinth

Artie, the Good Witch by Scarlet Hyacinth
Publisher: Silver Publishing
Genre: Fantasy, GLBT,
Length: 239 pages



Summary: My name is Artie and I have a problem. My dear grandfather Brew died, succumbing to his love for pastries and leaving me all of his possessions. I now officially own a crumbling tower and two black cats. Unfortunately, this means I also have to take on his responsibilities as a wizard, an impossible thing for me, since I am not one. I am a witch, a good witch, and terribly poor at it. My cats are no help, and they only mock me. My parents are off gallivanting Goddess knows where. I suck at casting spells, yet I am supposed to participate in the very important ritual of the Beckoning in Brew's stead.

To top it off, instead of trying to figure things out, I keep drooling over weird men and finding love in all the wrong places. Wizards and necromancers? What's next, a dragon? In my defense, choosing a boyfriend is really difficult when you're trying to resurrect the land and save its ungrateful people. It doesn't help that I have to avoid being seriously hurt by evil geniuses and cackling witches. Help me out here. I pay in hugs and black kittens. For an inquiry, call 0-900-ARTIE-THE-GOOD-WITCH.

Content advisory: This title contains references to near rape.



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Artie, the Good Witch opens in classic fairy tale fashion, with a knight doing valiant deeds and the story proceeds along those lines, lightly and with humor, told by the self-admitted poor excuse for a hero, Artie. Scarlet Hyacinth mixes some modern references in, keeping the story from lapsing too self-consciously into Brothers Grimm territory.

There are some cute touches here – Artie reads books titled Witchcraft for Dummies and Clinical Occultism, and the author really goes to town with a lot of the standard wicked villain tropes. The baddies make all the classic villain mistakes, like over-explaining, done with a wink so we know she meant to do that. It's fun.

Artie, for all he's lived with his familiars for more than five decades, has very little understanding of what he is or what he's meant to do. He's actually childlike to the point of it being squicky that he'd take off his pants for anyone, and his first foray into sex left me with an acute need to punch the other man square in the nose, for both the reasons the author intended and because Artie is innocent bordering on simple-minded. In fairness, the blurb does warn for this, and it was a tense time in the story. His second attempt seems only a little better, leaving me mistrusting the reasons for the insta-lust and not really warning up to his new and truer lover, who spends much of the rest of the story either carrying Artie from place to place, or off fighting, or managing wild monkey sex at unlikely times. Another trope that the author's having some sly fun with, the inappropriate sex is an important plot point, but does manage to evoke that "No, please not right now," reaction in the reader, and the promises it makes don't quite carry through.

The scene stealers are the familiars: they have the best lines and the most sense. The other supporting characters either don't have a very good set of clues politically or emotionally, or are busy posturing. The baddies do get nicely subtle punishments in the end – this is a fairy tale, of course evil is punished – but the unfolding is so heavy handed that it's hard to appreciate the nuances of the punishment itself.

The story doesn't quite manage to carry off its knee-slapper promises—repeating a joke a dozen times does not make it funnier—but does succeed as light entertainment with a satisfying ending. 3 marbles