Stories from The Real Story Safe Sex Project from Ty Nolan and Eden Winters

The Real Story Safe Sex Project, spearheaded by Brent Hartinger, is gathering up stories and blog posts promoting condom use. Many talented authors have contributed stories to this worthy project. If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, said Oscar Wilde, and Brent also knows that if you want to reach and teach, it helps a lot to entertain.

To do my small part in boosting the signal, I’m going to spotlight these stories rather than review them. Every author has a different take on this message, and everyone has something valuable to add. Please read and forward the stories, which are free, and thank you, authors, to anyone and everyone you know who needs to protect themselves, male and female alike. Because that old ounce of prevention is really worth a pound of cure, or a ton of battle.


Our two highlighted stories for this week:

From the 2014 BP Readers Choice Award Winning Author--
The uniquely sexy Native American Two-Spirit hero from Memoir of a Reluctant Shaman is back in a standalone tale. He's in the Big City to visit his old friend Otter as they continue to explore sexuality. Otter has discovered attending a monthly safe-sex workshop is the best place to find a date who is already interested in "love with a glove."

They'll have a chance to hear new legends—like the Dancing Deer Woman and more about Coyote than our Reluctant Shaman would ever want to know—from the workshop leader, Professor Comesflying. He's enjoying the experience—until Coyote himself walks into the workshop.

Warning: this story uses explicit language and is sexually graphic. But it also might tell you a few things you didn't know.

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Thank you to Ty Nolan for reminding us that the delivery has to be in terms the audience can hear. Coyote is just the one to whisper, “Just this once it won’t matter.” We can all benefit from knowing how to ignore that seductive voice.

Find it at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo.

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Two teenaged boys, an unlimited supply of condoms, and too much time on their hands. What could possibly go wrong?

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Eden Winters found a way to leave us rolling in the aisles while imparting an ultimately serious message. A lot of folks crab about two young guys who have no history with anyone else don’t really need condoms, but good habits have to start somewhere. Here’s a great place.

Find it at Amazon and  All Romance eBooks.

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Find these and all the stories in the Safe Sex Project here. Enjoy, be happy, be safe.

A picture is worth...

Anybody besides me want to go for a ride? Tell us in 100 to 1000 words (drabbles are fine, really) and send your news along too. See How Thousand Word Thursday Works for details.

The rest of us will try not to drool on the leather. But maybe not very hard.

The Moon's Dirty Light by H.L. Holston and Eleanor Bruce

Title:The Moon's Dirty Light
Author:H.L. Holston and Eleanor Bruce
Purchase at Exstasy Books
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: Carmen Waters
Genre: paranormal, shifters
Length: 114 pages, 27,700 words
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf, more

Is there ever a good time to tell the man with whom you just had mind blowing sex that you're a werewolf and, chances are, come the next full moon, he'll be sporting fur and fangs too?

Police Officer Logan Robinson isn't sure. Logan's been in lust with his partner and best friend Dylan Reed for as long as he can remember. But Logan is a werewolf and after accidentally giving his partner the mating bite during sex Dylan will become one too.

Dylan is royally pissed when he finds out because Logan conveniently forgot to mention his little affliction until after they'd spent the night humping each other's brains out. As if turning into a creature of the night wasn’t enough, Logan and he are investigating murders that look suspiciously like dog-attacks, but they're not.

Finding a killer is tricky enough. Now it will be almost impossible with their personal issues clouding the investigation. And if Dylan does turn into a four-legged freak at the next full moon, the fur will fly.

Review

I really liked the premise of the story: oopsie, you’re going to be a wolf. Played for humor, this could be funny, and I’ve seen it done well. Played seriously, it can be quite moving. The story didn’t quite fall on the side of humor, because Dylan, the bitten partner, reacted very seriously before he got into the spirit of the thing, and the police work had the promise of real police work before it fell apart.


Though this story didn’t quite hit the mark for me, others may like it better. The blend of the over-the-top werewolfisms and the dead bodies, even considering the choice of victims, took itself just seriously enough that the whole came across as heavy handed rather than parody or even happy excess.

For those who are amused, some inconsistencies become chuckleworthy, absent development is an in-joke, and getting smoochy in the middle of carnage is just that old loveable trope where Captain Kirk nails Yeoman Rand (or Spock) while the Klingons are bearing down on them.

Proofreading was sufficiently inadequate as to draw attention to itself.

The ending did actually get me to smile, and could have been played a little harder even.

Perhaps I’m not the right audience for the piece, because it reminded me of my old fandom. 3 marbles

The Forester II: Lost and Found by Blaine D. Arden

Title: The Forester II: Lost and Found
Author: Blaine D. Arden
Purchase at Storm Moon Press
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: Nathie
Genre: paranormal, elves
Length: 36k words, novella
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf,

Blurb:

"The Guide mentioned puddles, but I envisioned lakes, deep treacherous lakes, and I was drowning."

One turn has passed, another Solstice is just around the corner, and having an illicit affair with not one but two lovers—smith Ianys and shunned Forester Taruif—is taking its toll on Truth Seeker Kelnaht.

If it isn't sneaking around to find some quality time with his lovers, it's heavy rainfall hiding traces of a missing stripling, or waiting for the elders to decide whether or not to set Taruif free.

And if that's not enough, Kelnaht fears that in gaining one lover, he might be losing another, as Ianys seems to be pulling away from them, and it looks like someone is, once again, trying to frame Taruif.


Review:

Well, after that blurb there’s just not a whole hell of a lot I can do to spoil it.

Lost and Found is the follow-up story to The Forester, reviewed here. This second stands alone reasonably well, since all pertinent relationships are explained within the text. That means a certain amount of repeating from the first book, but it’s kept brief and to the point. Some aspects are explained more fully, and I’m afraid those explanations cost at least one character some sympathy points.


A year after the events of the first story, Truth Seeker Kelnacht, our first person POV character and the only voice we hear, is seeking a youngster who’s lost in the forest. This quest took roughly half the book, but would have been wrapped much faster had Kelnacht stayed on task or used the capabilities outlined in the first book. His endless returns home to have sex and check with someone or other, in that order of importance, plus a negative retcon of the elves’ abilities, stretched the search out longer than I could maintain interest.

Taruif is a problematic partner because of his past: he’s been outcast from society for a crime that seemed tragically romantic in the first story. Here he explains more fully, and if I can find a way to word my reaction more gracefully than WTF I will edit it in. Sometimes the right word to use is No and to say anything else is either evil or stupid. The first time around it came across as an act of omission, here as an act of volition, and I actually yelled at my Kindle.

The interplay beween Ianys, Taruif, and Kelnacht is the best part of the story, but the world itself has been retconned to accept gay relationships and triads, so part of the sense of forbiddenness has disappeared. Not that it’s bad for elven society, only for story continuity.

The story arc is such that it remains for Ianys to reconcile his honor and his future with his past, so I anticipate a third section to wrap that up. Whether it will use the world building of book 1 or book 2, or some further changed society remains to be seen. Why the complete story arc wasn’t done in one book, given the lengths of the sections and the possibility for more consistent society building if it was all together is a mystery.

The first story by itself was fine, this one taken alone is okay, but the author broke her own rules. 2.5 marbles

A picture is worth...

Oh please someone put words to this!  Tell us in 100 to 1000 words (drabbles are fine, really) and send your news along too. See How Thousand Word Thursday Works for details.

Captive Magic by Angela Benedetti

Title: Captive Magic
Author: Angela Benedetti
Purchase at Torquere
Purchase at All Romance eBooks
Cover Artist: BS Clay
Genre: Urban fantasy
Length: 307 pages, 92K words
Formats: epub, mobi, pdf, print

Teleporter Breck Bayes made a deal with a demon to save the life of his little sister Amanda, who was dying of cancer. The demon expects Breck to work off the debt -- as a thief who can get past any walls or locks. If Breck balks, Amanda's cancer will come back, and she'll die. Breck's a good guy, but a few trinkets versus Amanda's life? It's no contest.

Manny hears about Breck's popping around town and uses his own talents to find and confront him. Sentinels are supposed to prevent the magegifted from using their talents to steal, by force if necessary, but then he gets the whole story. Manny understands family, and he decides that his Sentinel persona is going to have to suck it up and deal while he helps Breck get out from under the demon -- even if it means becoming an accomplice to the thieving while they plot Breck's escape. But then the demon notices Manny, whose truesight and seeking would be very useful in its quest to own things that don't properly belong to it, and suddenly it's not only Breck who's in trouble.
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This is the third novel in the Sentinels universe, and it’s time for Manny’s story at last. He’s been left behind to mind the magic in California while the rest of the Sentinels are dealing with the craziness in the Seattle area in the previous book, Emerging Magic. (Good stuff, read it.) Since this world busts out with elves and incubi and elementals, Manny’s reaction to a report of a guy who disappears *poof* is—who is he, why is he doing this, and what does he want? Not how’s he doing it or he couldn’t possibly be doing it.


Turns out Breck is indebted to a being who isn’t from around here, who has talents not normally seen around here, and who wants various artifacts that make no sense to Breck. As long as his sister’s in remission, he’ll steal, and as long as he steals, she’s healthy. It’s a true devil’s bargain.

The story seems to start off a bit slowly, but it’s an introduction to the world if you’re starting here, and a slow burn of Manny and Breck developing interest in each other and context for their skills. Their families variously encourage or discourage them. Real life problems are more important than constant smexing, which is a refreshing change from a lot of mm. These guys can stay on task and they can stay on task together, once they come to trust each other enough to be clear on what’s going on. No insta-anything here, they have to work for each smidgen of trust.

One recurring idea in this universe is that humans aren’t the biggest, baddest magic-wielders around—smarts, negotiation, and guile make for more intriguing reading anyway. While magic isn’t hidden in this world, sometimes a talent doesn’t want to admit what he can do, and sometimes mere talent isn’t enough to solve a problem.

The sister and the niece are especially charming characters, Manny and Breck each have a teen girl to love, cherish, and be exasperated by. The rest of their families felt real enough to invite to dinner. Not all the action takes place in our plane, and the other dimensional setting was strange and unique.

While I think I understand the reason for the pacing, it did feel a little too leisurely at times, but I am really glad to have Manny’s story. Breck could be a wonderful addition to the Sentinel team, and aren’t there more characters who should come back from Seattle for their own books? Cal? Aubrey? 4 marbles.

Current Goodreads Giveaways

Here's what I could find for giveaways tagged mm, romance, or GLBT. Some end soon, some have a ways to go. I can personally recommend Blue Notes which is now out in a second edition. Good luck!