Happy New Year!

 

Thanks to all who have made my 2011 such an interesting year, and here's to a fabulous 2012 for all of us! (and where is this guy hiding? I want to grab!)

The Valley of the Shadow of Death by Julie Bozza

Title: The Valley of the Shadow of Death
Author: Julie Bozza
Cover Artist: Nelson Mejia
Publisher: Manifold Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 218 pages

Joshua Delaney and Carmine Angelo Trezini, cop and low-level mobster, should have absolutely nothing in common; yet, accidentally brought together, they rapidly became both lovers and allies against important crime figure Matthew Picano. Of course, taking down a man like that was never going to be easy – but Josh has no idea of the scale of the sacrifice he will eventually be called upon to make.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Give it to Cryssy: she'll read anything. This is another not-HEA story.

Chicago police officer Joshua Delaney is dangerously naïve, showing no awareness of his surroundings, having no eye for the cronky, for what doesn't fit and may be dangerous. Someone less suited for police work is hard to imagine, and the wonder is not that he survives two attempts on his life in the first forty pages, it's that some earlier, more casual attempt wasn't successful.


Delany considers that if the way things ought to be differ from the way they are, they must be brought into alignment by the most direct way. This comes across as a nearly religious certainty, and like other religious revelations, it is infectious. Otherwise sensible cops and district attorneys are converted, with one lone skeptic in the FBI agent. He converts high-level (yes, the blurb says low level, but he runs one of the boss's prize properties and is described as the smartest of the inner circle) mobster Angelo Trezini to the side of the angels with his uncomplicated suggestion of redemption, and is converted with one kiss to being gay.

I would like to say it was more complex than that, that Trezini reconsidered his life and that Delaney was bowled over by Trezini's strength of personality, with latent desires surging out to overwhelm and confuse him, but it really was nearly that simple. By page 44 and less than 24 hours acquaintance, Trezini has taken the 'always thought he was straight' Delaney home to mama, announced his love and intention to commit slow suicide by going against his mafia boss/childhood friend, and they adjourn upstairs for Delaney's first ever experience of sex with another man.

The first ninety pages are full of this sort of simplistic plotting. Delaney comes across as a holy fool: much like the monk who started the Crusades but left the actual details to the kings and knights, he has this fab idea about taking down the local mob kingpin with Trezini's cooperation but leaves it to others to accomplish it. His contribution is having sex with Trezini three times a week, and he doesn't take Trezini's prediction of a greatly shortened lifespan seriously. The realist of the pair, Trezini is quite aware of the consequences of turning on his boss, but is prepared to pay that price as the cost of achieving redemption.

The second half picks up considerably, with the first signs of deep thought about what they are attempting, and about the relationship they've embarked on. It doesn't help that the first half is all distant third person; we never get close enough to either man to really experience what he's thinking or feeling. The distance is so great that they are still using last names even in middle of sex, and while the POV gets close enough to see some depth to both of them in the second half, all the truly contemplative scenes belong to third parties.

The set up demands that certain questions be asked, about loyalty, friendship, redemption. What are they? What does one owe others? Achieving redemption is not as simple as attempting a do over of the initial wrong turn, as this book implies; the one time Trezini shows his understanding of this is when he kills a young man who trusts him. Then he leaves the body and the matter disappears, even though this young man is one of their own. The questions go mostly unasked, and mostly unanswered.

The relationship is pretty much in the background; while the men form a strong bond, it goes unexamined, and serves primarily to support Trezini in his suicide mission. There is one very interesting take on the sex. When they do arrive at the moment of attempting anal sex, Delaney isn't thrilled down to his socks and yearns for it to be over, but he wants Trezini to be happy. Not sexy, but unique, and one of the few moments we see the relationship growing.

The ending is as tragic as the title promises, the last line the most moving in the entire work. The entire story improves as it goes on; had I not been reading for review, I would have bailed before page 60 for insta-love and implausibility, and would have missed the best parts. But I'm not entirely convinced the end was worth the beginning. 3 marbles

End of the Year Stats

It's been an interesting half a year: I started reviewing for Dark Divas, and about three months later, Jessewave gave me a shot. The requirements are different for the reviews, which is why the styles jump around a bit here, and the books we are offered differ as well, certain publishers don't request review at Wave's who do at DD. Keeps the TBR pile balanced, I suppose.

I've also started crossposting at Amazon. They don't seem to be as accepting of terminology. :S

Here's how the last six months break out.

39 reviews at Dark Divas, they had a head start.
15 reviews at Wave's
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54 total      A few are written but are still to post, something I have more control over at Wave's. Apologies to all who have been waiting on reviews; the Dark Diva reviews have all been delayed by the big holiday extravaganza, but should be appearing presently.

I have a couple books out, best get reading! The stats here are going to be combined.

By publisher:

Amber Quill		4
Carina		1
Cheyenne		1
Dreamspinner		12
eXcessica		1
JMS Press		2
Loose Id		2
MLR		5
Nazca Plains		1
Pink Squirrel		1
Riptide		2
Samhain		1
Self		2
Silver		3
Storm Moon		2
Torquere		12
Total E-Bound		1
Untreed Reads		1

Guess it's reasonable that the bigger pubs are better represented; I do try to catch a variety. But never again on Nazca Plains: that book was scarring, and after reading the pub site, another equally bad experience seems far too likely.

About authors:  a couple of authors that I've read more than one from: I'm allowed to have favorites.  Eden Winters, Carole Cummings, JL Merrow, Mara Ismine, Val Kovalin, and Josephine Myles all turn up more than once. I do try to sample a lot of folks.

By Genre:

Anthology		3
Contemporary		18
Cowboy		2
Fantasy		7
Historical		7
Paranormal		10
Science Fiction		2
Spiritual		1
Steampunk		3
Bizarro		1

No BDSM. My choice, no apologies.

Ratings

1	1
1.5	1
2	1
2.5	3
2.75	1
3	10
3.25
3.5	7
3.75	1
4	13
4.25	2
4.5	4
4.75
5	9

My gradations have gotten a little smaller since coming to Jessewave's, where reviewers use quarter stars. I really don't want to cut it any finer. I average 3.73, which isn't too surprising; I don’t ever choose to read a book I expect not to like. Some trends: I'm giving out fewer 5's, partially, because I'm getting pickier, but mostly because I’m getting a real rash of just-okay books. I try to judge each story on what it's trying to accomplish and has it done that. If it's a humor piece, did I actually laugh? If it's science fiction, did I believe in the world? It's supposed to be m/m, did I get a CWD/m? I'm always a little perplexed by having to rate a short humor piece on the same scale with a thoughtful novel.

Some of the stories haven't had happy endings, and they've been rated very high, at 4.33 average, probably because it has to be a superior story to even see the light of day without an HEA or HFN.

It was an interesting year, and I'm looking forward to 2012!

Naughty: The Santa Problem

Title: The Santa Problem
Author: Tam Ames
Publisher: Torquere Press
Genre: contemporary, holiday
Length: 6800 words


Lane would do most anything to make his live-in love Gavin happy, but this is taking things too far. Just because Gavin can’t find someone to play Santa at his office building, doesn’t mean it’s Lane’s problem too. But Gavin can be very persuasive when he wants his way, and Lane may be taking on more than he can handle in order to keep his man content.


~~~~~~~~~~~

After the first coffee snort, I put down the cup, and my computer is grateful for it. First, Gavin has to wheedle Lane into agreeing to play Santa, and a less likely Saint Nick is hard to imagine. Young, buff, and regarding kids as some exotic species best kept on leashes, Lane takes a lot of convincing.


Gavin seems born to play a particularly naughty elf, all big eyes and tights-worthy legs. Any chance Lane had of evading the red velvet suit was lost about the time these two got together, some unknown time ago. They are a couple, but still feel like they are in the honeymoon phase. Lane is still inching his way out of the closet in some directions, and Gavin's letting him choose the ways to do it.

Of course Lane gets his ho-ho-ho on eventually, and don't plan on drinking anything while he does it; it will land on your reader. From the scared, to the wild, to the mercenary, every sort of child, not all of them housebroken, ends up on his lap. Boy, does Gavin owe him for this!

Reading between the lines on Lane's objections, there are clues that holiday and family aren't good memories for him, that this whole Christmas business is more painful than he'd like to let on. Did he not love Gavin so much, he'd be impossible to persuade, even with the winsome pleading and the *heh* bribery. And because Lane does allow himself to be persuaded, there's also a bit of healing for him; Christmas becomes better in the arms of his lover.

This isn't just a humorous romp, this story shows a relationship taking a step forward in a sweet way, and a different step in a naughty way. Two sex scenes in such a short piece are not excessive; they move both the story and the relationship along, and are just plain fun to read, too. Gavin and Lane learn something new about each other, and I'd like to peek on them again after they've had some time to explore their new information. Once again, Tam Ames has combined funny with hot, and shows growth for the couple. This author does great humor pieces (who else would give us were-hamsters?) but here the underlying serious theme gives dimension to what would otherwise be a just a lark. Fun, but with depth. 4.5 marbles

A Merry Christmas Drabble from Eden Winters

Prancing before a cardboard fireplace, Leo eyed the bulging stockings, hoping they held enough tips to warrant shaking his nearly naked ass when he could be home, wrapping presents. He glanced at his routine partner, Ben, reminded of why he'd volunteered to strip tonight. He'd been screwing up his courage and, after the show, he'd tell the man how he felt. At last the song ended and the curtain fell, and he danced over to the spot he'd marked earlier, stopping and looking up. "Mistletoe," he murmured hopefully.

Ben kissed him and replied, "And my Christmas wish just came true."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you, Eden! I knew someone would know what these two were up to!

Eden does some wonderful holiday based stories, good at any time of year. The latest, A Lie I Can Live with, is now out, and on top of my TBR pile.

With a few extra pounds and a geek reputation, Otis Tucker despairs of ever finding someone to share his life with. When the GLBT dating service GetaDate.com matches him with handsome hunk Garret, he thinks it's some kind of joke. But the more he learns of Garret, the more he realizes that even gorgeous people can be taken at face value and that Mr. Perfects come in many different sizes.

Find it here.

Nice: The Joy of Christmas Shopping by Mara Ismine

Title: Nice: The Joy of Christmas Shopping
Author: Mara Ismine
Publisher: Torquere Press
Genre: contemporary, holiday
Length: 5700 words

Is visiting a sex shop with your best friend a good antidote to Christmas shopping? Or is it a good way to move the relationship to something more than just best friends? Keith and David are about to find out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Keith and David are both products of the foster care system; it's left its mark on both of them. Trust is precious and seldom bestowed, a friendship that lasts ten years is too valuable to risk screwing up with sex. Neither of them is entirely sure making the step from friends to lovers is possible, though both of them think it's desirable.

David is the more scarred of the two: whatever happened in his childhood to get him into the system isn't discussed in detail (thank you, author, that would have given the story a much darker feel) but is hinted at. The most obvious mark is that he's missing people skills; he knows he's missing people skills, and in his slightly robotic way, he's trying to make up the lack. Keith has been nudging him along in the right direction for nearly as long as they've known each other, but he has a way to go still. Without any real clue as to how to let Keith know he'd like more, he feels doomed to be forever the best buddy.

Keith, who is bi-sexual and a much freer spirit, doesn't have the slightest idea of the interest simmering under David's stoic and slightly menacing surface, and is quite frustrated about it. More confident in his interactions with people, he's stymied by David's apparent lack of interest in anyone, and draws a number of erroneous conclusions. Even so, he treasures David for much more than his ability to navigate crowds.

By the time we get through into what Keith and David are actually doing, we've got seven pages of exposition in two points of view, which gives the story a slightly wooden feel. This goes with David's closed-down demeanor, but probably could have been handled in a more interesting fashion.

Once we're into current events, the story comes into present tense, giving it a more immediate and lively feel than it's had before. Keith's frustration over David's apparent disinterest boils over, and the way to get some answers, Keith decides, is to check out a sex shop. One of the feelings David can express is competitiveness, even if it's over something as ridiculous as the coin-operated "stud-meters". And then, the cat is out of the bag—David's been so closed off that Keith is floored by the thought that David not only is gay, he's cool with being gay, and there's a better than good chance for them as a couple.

I like the idea of this story more than I liked the execution; the third of it that is exposition and back story doesn't showcase this author's talent for creating situations and resolving them that is more clear in the later two thirds of the text. That the two would cling to each other as life rafts in a harsh world makes perfect sense, and really so does David's apparent asexuality. He's fine with himself, he just hasn't the emotional skills to flirt or even express interest, but as with so many things, if Keith shows him the way, he can keep going. Their first kiss is sweet and really an "aw" moment. This is a couple I'd like to check back on, because they have this extra layer of difficulty to overcome.
3 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.

*************
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