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?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

A Picture that Inspired Thousands of Words from Heidi Belleau and Violetta Vane

Photo taken by Heidi Belleau at Newgrange in Ireland, 2012

The triskelion, also known as a triskele.

An ancient symbol that consists of three bent arms that all radiate in rotation from a center point, it features heavily in Celtic art in one form or another. One of the most famous instances of the shape is where it is carved as a triple spiral into the huge stones that surround the Neolithic passage tomb at Newgrange, in Co. Meath, Ireland. It’s been ascribed many meanings over the years, from the Christian divine where it represents the holy trinity, to pagan meanings where the number three is held sacred, to representations of the three trimesters of pregnancy. I even hear that some consider it just a strange image dreamed up by ancient Irish carvers who’d been taking hallucinogens. Whatever its original meaning, it represents a symbol as essential to Ireland as the Celtic cross or the Claddagh.

Here are three arms of the triple spiral that shapes The Druid Stone.

They watched as the train tracks warped and bent, rearing up from the ground like the back of a snake and slapping down again. There was a horrible metallic creaking, like a car crash, and the tracks seemed to turn and curl, furling like a fiddlehead, the landscape melting and bending around them.

He recognized it immediately: the arm of a triple spiral, and they were at its outermost—and simultaneously innermost—point.

***

“Good. Do you have weapons? A horse? A bow? Are you a soldier?”

The scrutiny was cruel, but necessary. He spread his empty palms. Showed her his hands, smooth and free of calluses. It was no use lying to her; she’d see right through him, soon enough. But he needed this woman’s help. She knew the land, which this far in time was something foreign to him. He had to convince her she needed him too. He pulled up his sleeve, exposing the blue shape of the triple spiral nestled in the inside of his elbow. “I’m a druid,” he said, and it was a strange thing to say it so plainly and expect it to carry weight.

The admission seemed to set off a storm of conflicting emotions. She shrank back. Crossed herself. Took a long breath with her lips closed tight, nostrils flaring. Met his eyes again, and bowed her head deeply to him. “You still guard the old ways.”

“Longer than you know.” So much longer.

***

“There’s one, near Loughrea. And the last point is under Galway.” Sean saw the triangle now, connecting the three points.

Cormac, possessed by some fit of passion, snatched up a black marker and inked the triple spiral across the map, the innermost points of the furls located atop the three points Aoibheann had indicated. “I understand,” he said, and Sean could tell that his mind was working furiously, inexorably, to uncover the supernatural architecture. 

 ****************************

Sean never asked to be an O'Hara, and he didn't ask to be cursed by one either.

After inheriting a hexed druid stone from his great-grandfather, Sean starts reliving another man's torture and death...every single night. And only one person can help.

Cormac Kelly runs a paranormal investigation business and doesn't have time to deal with misinformed tourists like Sean. But Sean has real magic in his pocket, and even though Cormac is a descendant of legendary druids, he soon finds himself out of his depth...and not because Sean's the first man he's felt anything for in a long time.

The pair develop an unexpected and intensely sexual bond, but are threatened at every turn when Sean's case attracts the unwelcome attention of the mad sidhe lords of ancient Ireland. When Sean and Cormac are thrust backward in time to Ireland's violent history—and their own dark pasts—they must work together to escape the curse and save their fragile relationship.

Find it at Carina, Amazon, or Barnes & Noble

Policy change

Due to a recent unpleasant experience, I have updated my reviewing criteria. The changes are primarily in the realm of BDSM. and now look like this  (it's also on the If You Want a Review page);


A story that pleases me will have a couple of well developed characters, a relationship, and something plotwise outside the relationship. I like plot, that's the point of a book. I like sex, too, but sex has to drive the plot. The daily drivel of the character's lives in between sex scenes is not plot -- plot has conflict and resolution, and it needs to make sense. Logic fail will get noticed out loud and if I can't find the plot beyond "hawt guys fuck" you can call me Cryssy Crankypants.

Things that stop me in my tracks:

•  Rape, unless it's a past trauma and offstage
•  Incest, especially twincest. A survivor is fine, but current relationship -- NO
•  Non-con -- don't kid yourself, the right name is rape
•  All the squicky stuff that epublishers put in their 'don't submit to us' list
•  Most BDSM. Personal preference, no apologies. Please don't offer it. Absolutely no pain play, blood play, flogging, bondage, humiliation, gagging, CBT. If it requires implements, I don't want to read it, I don't have to explain why, and I don't want to be nagged for exceptions. Wheedle or push, and I will review, using boilerplate. "Book, DNF, author, TSTL."**
• Het. Really, people. I'm not the right reviewer for that.**

Iffy stuff:

• Dub-con. We might not agree about where the line is. I'm likely to be more restrictive in my definition than you are.
• Soul mates -- this one hits the gag reflex, no matter what the writing looks like, 99 times out of a hundred, and the hundredth one is probably involving a non-human. A deep bonding after personalities get explored is fine, just no "only one personnnnnn in the universssssse for meeeeeeeee!" 
• BDSM of the non-implement variety. Psychological aspects might be okay, but know you're taking a risk.

**Yes, someone tried. Learn from their error.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is not to say I will never read BDSM, it's just that I will choose it myself. I already know of one book I intend to read that has some psychological elements going, but I don't expect it to be a regular thing.

What happened was a classic case of how not to ask for a review. It went something like this, and I paraphrase to protect the guilty.

Review my book please.

No thanks, it’s het.

Review my book.

No, it’s heavy BDSM.

REVIEW MY BOOK.

I ALREADY SAID NO.

*I SAID* REVIEW MY BOOK.

 

And I don’t want to set the keyboard on fire again by repeating what I said after that. Maybe instead of “No” I should have said “Shakespeare” or “Chrysanthemum.” 

 

 

Cop Out by KC Burn

Title: Cop Out
Author: K.C. Burn
Cover Artist: Reece Dante
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: contemporary
Length: 200 pages


Detective Kurt O’Donnell is used to digging up other people’s secrets, but when he discovers his slain partner was married to another man, it shakes him. Determined to do the right thing, Kurt offers the mourning Davy his assistance. Helping Davy through his grief helps Kurt deal with the guilt that his partner didn’t trust him enough to tell him the truth, and somewhere along the way Davy stops being an obligation and becomes a friend, the closest friend Kurt has ever had.

His growing attraction to Davy complicates matters, leaving Kurt struggling to reevaluate his sexuality. Then a sensual encounter neither man is ready for confuses them further. To be with Davy, Kurt must face the prospect of coming out, but his job and his relationship with his Catholic family are on the line. Can he risk destroying his life for the uncertain possibility of a relationship with a newly widowed man?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cop Out starts out with a bang, literally; Kurt’s been shot and his partner killed. He’s been paired with Ben a long time, but in a work relationship, not a true friendship. They have nearly no personal interactions, no shared confidences, and Kurt is floored with the realization of exactly how little he knew the man he trusted with his life.


It isn’t until Ben’s funeral and then by accident that Kurt realizes Davy was Ben’s partner for ten years, and then he’s further horrified to find out what sort of narrow existence Davy was forced into by Ben’s secrecy. Nothing of Davy's personality could contaminate Ben’s life, not even a few colorful items sprinkled around their icy-white home.

Knowing that Davy would need support in his bereavement, and thinking it very unlikely that he’d get it from anyone else, Kurt appoints himself a friend and guardian; he’s got quite a bit of spare time during his recuperation, and later he’s a constant, as much as Davy will let him be. Appalled by how far short of a loving relationship between equals Ben and Davy had, Kurt wants to help Davy heal. Little moves like cheering his own favorite sports teams and bringing out the crazy quilt to stain a pristine white room mark Davy’s grieving and recovery, and Kurt’s pleased with helping along each small step.

Kurt’s own life requires some recovery: a new partner with a normal curiosity and friendship to offer helps heal him of Ben’s miasma. His new partner is there for him in a series of small milestones, and to worry about him when he’s not doing well. Simon is the antithesis of Ben; he’s a complete and decent human being.

As Kurt and Davy do a slow build back to normal, Kurt starts’ to question his feelings—this isn’t friendship as he knows it, not with ever-harder-to squash-back sexual feelings, culminating in a bout of angry sex that brings matters to a head. Because Davy rightly calls BS on Kurt for treating him the way Ben did, in many important ways.

This book is an extreme emotional roll-coaster; we see everything through Kurt’s turmoil, first over the existence of a long term relationship he never suspected, then his anger over Ben’s treatment of Davy, and especially over his own growing sexual desires. Kurt’s always thought of himself as straight but not highly sexed, and the slow reveal of the truth, first to himself, and then to family and friends, is the main focus of the story. Cop work is a background topic: even the eventual take-down of the crime lord responsible for Ben’s death is treated as a throwaway scene.

The emotional upheaval makes this a very vivid out-for-you story, and as long as we’re focused on Kurt, it’s enjoyable: even his falling-to-pieces times were well-drawn and believable. Davy though, has a decade of what is essentially an emotionally abusive relationship, and while I loved that he grew confident and even assertive, and refused to tolerate a second round of it, thinking too hard about those ten years is a little stomach churning. I hated Ben deeply by the middle of the book, and he gets no screen time as a live person.

Kurt does eventually decipher himself and comes out, although his choices of people to tell were a matter for headdesking. Unfortunately, whacking him with a clue-by-four was not an option for the reader.

Davy and Kurt do reconcile nearly as traumatically as they met, and it’s quite satisfying to read. We’re even allowed to share a bit of them being happy together, and one closes the book with a lascivious but happy smile. 4 marbles


**Clue-by-four shamelessly stolen from Angela Benedetti, but she left it lying around in a comment.

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?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

An Excerpt from Cartography for Beginners by Jenna Jones

From Cartography for Beginners by Jenna Jones, an excerpt


"Here's your room."

"Oh, my God," Leo breathed as he walked in. The room was pale cream with rose and cream brocade curtains, and matching brocade curtains around the rose-colored bed. There was a dormer window with a window seat that looked out over the garden, the olive trees and the vineyard on the slope below, and then beyond that, cherry trees and lavender bushes and more olive groves, and further still was a green valley and the white clustered buildings of the village.

"I thought you might like the view," Stuart said softly behind him. "I know the colors are a bit feminine."

Leo turned to him. "I love it. It's beautiful. It's like a fairy tale."


"La Belle et la Bete," Stuart said.

"Which one's that?"

"Beauty and the Beast. Though his castle was enchanted, of course. Invisible servants, while my workers," he pointed out the window, and Leo could see figures moving among the vines in the setting sun, preparing for the close of day, "are quite mortal."

"You're definitely not the Beast," Leo said. Stuart toyed with the strap of rose-colored silk that tied the curtains back from the window. "Though if you are under a curse, that would explain a lot." Stuart chuckled wryly. Leo said, "You look amazing. Do you work in the vineyards too?"

"I do. I like the exercise. It relaxes me."

"You look incredible with a tan. You look like you've been getting a good workout, with the-- whatever you do in a vineyard. I guess it's not exactly lifting bales of hay."

"Not exactly," Stuart murmured. "Weeding, tying vines back, pruning. Picking the grapes, now."

Leo pushed a lock of sun-gold hair back from Stuart's face, and Stuart closed his eyes again. "It's so good to see you. I've missed you so much."

"Leo," Stuart began.

"I know. You put me in a separate bedroom. I get the hint. But I have missed you. I just want that out there."

Stuart nodded, and turned closer to Leo so he could press their faces together for a moment. He opened his mouth to speak when Ben bellowed up the stairs, "Guys! Come eat!"

They parted and looked at each other painfully. "Suppertime," Stuart said.

"I've never had ratatouille."

"You'll like it," Stuart said and called up the stairs, "Boys! Supper's ready!" and they all came thumping back down the stairs again.
*********************************
Cartography for Beginners is now available from Torquere Press!

At the age of fifty-one, Leo Bellamy from Chiaroscuro and Something Beautiful has to do what he never expected: start over. Leo has been mourning the end of his long-time relationship for over a year. It takes the death of a close friend to convince Leo that he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life being bitter. It's time to move on and find a love that will last. Leo accepts his friend Stuart Huntsman's invitation to visit him in London, where Leo's friends hope he will find a holiday romance that will kick start that "moving on" business.

Meantime, Stuart has been tentatively rebuilding his relationship with his estranged children. For twenty years Stuart thought his children were better off with him, and it's a shock to learn they don't feel the same way. Stuart doesn't think he's good for anyone -- and certainly not for Leo, even if he and Leo call each other daily and Stuart is always a welcome guest in Leo's home.

There's no road map to true love and it's easy to get lost along the way. But with patience and understanding, Stuart and Leo may find their way to each other.

Italian Ice by EM Lynley

Title: Italian Ice
Author: E.M. Lynley
Cover Artist: Anne Cain
Publisher: Dreamspinner
Genre: action/adventure
Length: 290 pages

In this exciting sequel to Rarer Than Rubies, gay romance author Trent Copeland and former FBI agent Reed Action head to Italy for a Roman holiday. What should be a relaxing and romantic vacation is interrupted when Reed’s not-so-former boss asks for his help with a case. Trent's shocked to discover in the six months they’ve been living together in LA, Reed hasn’t been completely honest about his "retirement."

Reed heads for Sicily on the trail of a suspected antiquities-smuggling ring and to find Peter Isett—a former FBI partner he also hasn’t been completely truthful about. Stung by Reed’s dishonesty, Trent questions what else Reed might be hiding. But when he overhears something that tells him Reed's life is in danger, Trent follows Reed to a remote chain of ancient volcanic islands off Sicily's northern coast. Soon Trent is caught up in the smugglers’ web, and Reed must decide between his heart and his mission—a decision complicated by his past with Peter. Reed’s position is perilous: unless he can learn to put the past behind him, he risks destroying everything he's built with Trent.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There’s nothing quite like getting called in to work while you’re on vacation halfway around the world from home—but if you’re vacationing where the work is, goodbye sightseeing. Reed’s phone goes off while he and his lover Trent are exploring the Vatican museums, and that’s the end of fun in Italy.

Reed and Trent got together in Rarer than Rubies, and if you don’t care to start with an established couple, definitely read that first. (Read it anyway, it’s good.) These two are on much shakier ground than either of them believe, so if you don’t mind catching up on the history as you go, this also stands alone. The reveal of the backstory is nicely done and doesn’t go beyond what’s needed to enjoy this one.


Trent’s shattered to find out how much Reed has kept from him all this time; while he doesn’t expect to hear every detail, something as big as still being an active agent ought to get mentioned. Given that Reed had a personal relationship with his old partner Peter, and that Reed’s never really told Trent much about this part of his past, this new mission has the potential to cost them their relationship.

The writer in Trent has to pick at the mystery and follow the clues: he was deeply if accidentally involved in the Ruby Buddha affair in Thailand in the first book, and a visit to an antiquities auction puts him in the middle of Reed’s newest mission. The volatility of their feelings mixes with the danger Reed’s walking into, and Trent cannot just sit back and let Reed go. At every turn Trent’s somehow mixed in, and very often he has a critical insight or action that makes it possible for Reed to pick apart the mystery. It’s a lovely dance, this mix of educated novice and professional, and critical to their ultimate success.

The men have a lot of differences in tastes and philosophies, and some very different ways of seeing the world. They manage to meet in the middle in ways as side effects of everything else they are involved in, which is very deftly done.

The setting, starting in Rome and moving to the volcanic isles of Sicily, is very nearly a character too. EM Lynley makes us smell the volcanic fumes, feel the ocean spray on our faces, taste the fresh from the sea food, and occasionally smell the alleyways. Once in a while it’s a little guide-booky, but the author clearly loves this region and makes us feel it too. Smatterings of Italian streak the pages, and the local proverbs for chapter headers add a nice touch.

I loved Trent, although I did occasionally get aggravated with his focus on relationships rather than the external dangers—romance writers do stay on topic. I also liked Reed, and sometimes wanted to shake him over matters of honesty in his relationships; he’s willing to let 800 lb gorillas sit in the living room for long periods. However, the two men and their needs interwove tightly with the smuggling plot, and the finale brought everything together with a giant crash and wrap.

The smuggling plot had layers on layers, with smiling villains that didn’t go over the top. The stakes were high but not ridiculous, the evil bad but dedicated to achieving specified ends. The odds were stacked deeply against Reed and Trent, but on a scale that was difficult, not absurd. Overall, a good balance.

The epilogue was the weakest section, bending belief in Reed and restaurants, and leaving me wanting to choke one minor character with a piece of bruschetta. Fortunately, the main story already left me confident in Trent and Reed’s solidification as a couple.

I’ve read other art/adventure books by this author and enjoyed them, and was really glad to see a new one. 4.5 stars