Tasim's Tale -- Stephanie Vaughan

Tasim's Tale

Captured by the Kundari, a neighboring kingdom, Tasim is a stranger in a strange land. When he is made part of the entertainment at a lusty reward ceremony for the king's soldiers, Tasim has one hope for survival: make Dorian, the rugged captain of the regiment, his protector. A single encounter will shock them both -- but first they must survive the night.
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The story, told from Tasim's point of view, tells what happens to the captives after a border skirmish. One would expect fear, confusion, and a sense of outrage after a handler inserts a very large butt plug, but Tasim takes this all far more calmly than the situation warrants. He's more concerned that he's getting hard while bathing with three other men during preparations. The butt plug isn't exactly a spoiler; the scene is excerpted on the publisher's web site.

All in all, Tasim is busy trying to make himself agreeable and what would rationally be a dub-con scenario feels much more like "Oh, okay." There's a lot of sex, and Tasim is fully compliant and even having a good time, in situations where a lot more upset seems called for. The lancers' distress is actually more palpable, and they are minor characters. The tension and thrills that the blurb promise might be very clear in the author's head, but I'm just not feeling it.


There is a sequel to this due out soon, and the excerpt available sounds good, so I do plan to read it.


Buy it here.

Gently Down the Stream -- Connie Bailey

Heading to his country home after a long week of work, Matthew Janssen meets a young man on the train – a startlingly handsome young man named Albin, who claims he can read Matthew's mind and show him his most hidden desires. But when he wakes at his stop, he's alone. Leaving the terminal, Matthew dismisses the incident as an erotic daydream – until he collides with the same young man, who's just missed the last train. Albin insists he's never seen Matthew before, but Matthew isn't about to let him disappear a second time.

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Fans of twu insta-wuv will probably like this better than I did. I tried reading it as a fairy tale, but the absence of a quest plus language that bounced from the self-consciously lyrical to normal to crass (cum is not a romance construction, really)spiked that.

I tried looking it as a fantasy, which probably worked better, given the mind-reading aspect and the complete and total insta-love, but it kept being a fantasy of the one handed read variety, not the plot type, because the plot basically ended at meet, fall in love, sex, total elapsed time, 1 hour.

A story that features phrases such as 'quivering arousal,' 'yearning cock,' and 'anus' has me using both hands to cover my eyes, so that didn't work so well, either.

It seemed like a good idea when I bought it.






Late note -- after looking at how I planned to rank stories more thoroughly, I decided I'd been too harsh and upgraded to a 2. Apologies to those few, those happy few, who were with us on St Swithin's Day.

Song on the Sand -- Ruth Sims

I'm having a guest review from PD Singer today, because she's reviewed an amazing story and I don't think I can find better words to talk about it. "Read this!" she tells me, but forgets to mention that a box of Kleenex would be a good idea for this sad, beautiful, and ultimately not-sad story.


Tony Dalby finds himself on the wrong end of his 80s, confined to a nursing home, with his days as a dancer a thing of the past. The appearance of Drew into his life brings a welcome distraction, as well as a bit of mystery as to why Drew constantly visits the wheelchair-bound, comatose Jesse. As secrets are revealed, Dalby finds he may have a renewed purpose for living after all.


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I first met this story as an excerpt posted on the author's blog, and was moved to write the following after only a few hundred words:

You have just officially broken my heart. This is what I do professionally -- not primary care, but admin/supply a couple levels up and out -- and what I've felt lurking in everyone I talk to. You've given them the voice that I hear as a sussurus of time and experience, of knowledge forgotten as words. Sometimes as disjointed conversations, sometimes as the cry of one whose body will no longer do his will. Excuse me, I'm going to go cry now.

And I did. Then I ran to read the rest.

I stand by those words, but know that the despair drawn so eloquently at the beginning changes to other emotions that moved me equally strongly, as the old man and the young man pooled their unachievable dreams and drew something amazing, beautiful, and uplifting from them.

I cried again at the end, but for other reasons.

5 stars at Goodreads only because they don't have 10

Buy at Amazon, Diesel, or Smashwords.

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Thank you, Pam, and thank you for all the pretty coding. And I agree about the stars!

Sticky Fingers - HT Murray

Several months into the romance phase of their lifelong relationship, Cal Jerome and Ian Jeffries, of Go Fish fame, are just returning home from a vacation on the Jerome ranch and enjoying a taste of home that involves backyard barbecue and watermelon. Ian's never been particularly suave, so it's no surprise he ends up wearing more watermelon than he eats. Completely turned on by the image of Ian covered in watermelon juice, and now, equipped with a handy dandy rind with which to staunch the trademark Ian Jeffries mood-thrashing rhetoric, Cal decides sweet with a side of salty makes for spicy hot fun.

This one was great!

HT Murray has provided another look at Cal and Ian, who had to work so hard to get together in Go Fish. (Hmm, I read it, why didn't I review it? Maybe before…?) That was cute, and had some surprising, and, you'd think, unsexy elements to it, but it worked out great. Now the guys are back.

I love an 'established couple' story, because the story doesn't always have to be some potential couple-shattering event. Sometimes, it's all about the moment. Sticky Fingers is all about the moment, a sweet, salty, sexy, loving, teasing, happy moment that made me smile and be glad to spend the money and the time.

Hot fun. Loved it. Buy it here. Now.

5 of 5 on Goodreads.

Port of Call Me -- Teddy Logan and Mel Spenser

Peter is a recently spurned travel writer who takes a cruise and brings along his on again/off again friend, Tony. The guys meet up with Carlos, a sexy, hot Latino masseur who works on the ship.

However, it's Carlos and Peter who pair off. Even though their time together on the cruise is short, they are extremely attracted to each other. Peter has bad luck jumping into relationships too quickly, and Carlos has avoided hooking up with passengers for fear of becoming too attached, which is exactly what happens when he becomes involved with Peter.

Will Peter and Carlos decide to give their relationship a try? Does what happens on a cruise ship stay on the ship?



I wanted to get all excited about this story, but somehow I couldn't get that worked up. The setting attracted me: I love cruise ships and wish I could go every year. The guys attracted me: who wouldn't love a hot masseur, a horny but sea-sick passenger, and a travel writer with a broken heart but a lively lust? The peek behind the scenes in a ship certainly put a different face on vacations at sea.

And yet-- what I was hoping for in a hot beach read, or a Lido Deck read, didn't quite come together. I never got the feeling that the characters were really engaged with each other. Situations that called for anger or lust felt tepid. I wanted the anger, I wanted the desire, but... I'm still wanting. It had all the elements in place, but they didn't quite move. The point of view didn't feel very settled -- there was a feel of head hopping and I found myself scrolling upward to see whose head I should be in this time.

There were moments of shock -- a good sort, to find out how crew really feel about the tourists (puts a whole new face on that communications officer who kissed me) and humor (what happens to a threesome when the ship rolls?) so I'm glad I read this overall, but it could have been so much more.

3 of 5 at Goodreads 

Buy it here.

Disclaimer

I guess I should mention that I buy the books I'm reviewing here. No one likes my opinions well enough to ask for them on purpose, so you nice readers get what you get because I liked the blurbs or someone recommended it or... Something attracted me.

I'm kind of a butterfly when when it comes to buying, although I spend a little more money at Torquere because some of my buddies from a writing site publish there. Some Dreamspinner cause I like their website, and the other publishers' things I get from Fictionwise because I'm too lazy to set up accounts all over the internet.

What does attract me, aside from a juicy review or a rec from a friend? Sometimes it's a new story from a known name, sometimes the blurb (gotta love a well written blurb, it's like a quick condensation of the first quarter of the story and you HAVE to read more) or the setting. That isn't quite the blurb to me, that's just where I find out about the setting. If the setting doesn't sound like every other story in the genre, or a character sounds like he's got an interesting hook or a flaw, that will make me want to read.

If all of that stuff works out, I'll read most anything. I don't go looking for BDSM, but I've read stories with that that really worked for me, and others that were DNF. Paranormal, sometimes, we're back to that blurb thing, urban fantasy, science fiction, all good, contemporary, sure, bring it on.

The covers don't matter so much: the writers don't have a lot of control over that, although I click past some covers REAL fast. It's the words I want. Pick a good excerpt if there's going to be an excerpt, 'cause that tells me style and content. I read those before plunking my money down.

Beautiful C*cksucker II What a Good Boy

For too many years, career obligations and cultural expectations cost Mikisaburo Nabeshima the possibility of love.

Now older, wiser, and infinitely more alone, personal business takes Miki back to New York where another chance encounter with another handsome policeman rouses suppressed desires.

David Kirkland is a brash young cop who grew up on New York’s meanest streets. When the man he believes killed his foster mother is set free, Dave vows revenge. If he needs to leave the country and go undercover with a sexy but infuriating older man then so be it, though he never expected the business arrangement to turn personal.

As Dave confronts a deep-seated need he’s never fully acknowledged, the killer they're after proves more deadly than they anticipate.


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A few too many headdesk moments to really enjoy this. Why does an administrative level Japanese policeman on holiday, out of uniform, and WAY out of jurisdiction, not to mention in a time and location where you have to pass through a metal detector, have handcuffs with him? Why does a woman get killed in a way highly specific to the role of the other victims of this method when she has absolutely no connection to the reasons for the others, except to draw the other protag into the story? Why is it a good idea to rely on the judgment of someone who's getting extreme mindgames played with him? Why is all of a sudden it's a good idea to make what has been a big and career-breaking secret part of the investigation on home turf? When the Churchlady invades a story saying, "because it's conveeeeeenient!" it kind of spoils the read.

The sex was hot and plentiful, but plot is not the dull stuff between sex scenes.

Buy here.

Rated 2 of 5 on Goodreads