Update #18

Sweet Oblivion: Brazen by Jordan Castillo Price (63 pages)


This is a continuation series of the Morpheus series. Told from Wild Bill's perspective it seems that Michael is up for a threesome which WB is all for until he says he wants it with another Vampire Damien. But he agrees and it goes well but after Michael admits he can't have an orgasm without being bitten but it seems he can if he's drinking WB's blood. So they start to wonder what that means and WB suggests maybe Michael should be drinking blood which he's willing to try. I love these stories and it just moves it ahead one little step at a time with some hot sex thrown in.

Junjo Romantica Vol. 1 by Sungiku Nakamura (193 pages)



Its basically two stories in one book that are "sort of" interlinked at the beginning. The first story is (Japanese names escape me) a 28 year old famous author and the 18 year old brother of his best friend. He tutors the younger brother and then when the older brother gets married and moves away (the author was in love with him) the younger guy moves in with the author to go to school and they get down with the young guy screaming all the way he's not gay. Uh huh. The second story seems to be about a friend of the author who was in love with him (unrequited) and he starts tutoring a young guy who dropped out of school for university entrance and the young guy pursues him and they start a relationship.

Junjo Romantica Vol. 2 by Sungiku Nakamura (193 pages)



The stories continue a few months down the road for the first one. The author's female editor shows up and young guy thinks the author and her have a thing. He gets angry that the author writes yaoi under a different name but using him as a character. It seems the editor pushes for that. He finally admits he loves the author but still resists him more or less. In the second story, the younger guy got accepted to med school in the US and just leaves, doesn't tell his boyfriend he's going and doesn't write or contact him for a year. Needless to say the older guy is pretty hurt (I'd kick his ass to the curb permanently) and the older guy is now a professor. They get back together but young guy never explains why he did it so older guy breaks up with him. Some drama ensues regarding a late flight (call ahead people, its Japan, its not like the flight leaves NYC on time and somehow gets delayed over the Pacific Ocean) but they get back together and move in when the older guy finds a bag of letters that younger guy wrote him but never mailed and he admits if he'd had contact he would have wanted to come back too badly, he thinks he's not "good enough" and has to be an equal to the older guy. Now I'm curious about Vol. 3. LOL

It was pretty good although I got kind of annoyed with the 18 year old who kept waffling between "I love you" and "don't touch me you pervert" and in the second story the guy who just took off annoyed me but I think I liked it better. Not sure. Have to see what happens in Vol. 3.

Turner & Turner: One Good Turn by Amber Green (116 pages)



Another pretty complicated mystery with two guys with complicated names. Turner Kendal and Kendal Turner. Riiiight. Supposedly Turner is an illegitimate cousin. Kendal (referred to usually as KT) has the rich uptight family from hell who seem to think because his ex videotaped them having sex he needs to be hospitalized. Being gay is an illness? Oooookay. He escapes with Turner who takes him somewhere and takes his clothes. He eventually escapes and it seems that Turner is not who he thinks, that he's investigating KT's family and is really part of the FBI and there are some dead ex's showing up. I thought it was a bit complicated and the whole KT had a crush on Turner was a bit icky but then it turns out they aren't blood relatives so I guess that helps. I thought Kendall was kind of snarky and funny and smarter than most people gave him credit for. So on the whole I enjoyed it even if at times I wasn't quite sure what was going on and it ended without a clear explanation of the family's crimes. I like things wrapped up with a bow. My foible.

Update #17

Toy Box - Vibrators with stories by Alex Marcus-Jacobs, S. Blaise and Chris Owen (36 pages)


A little trio of stories about boys and their toys. I really didn't realise that each story was only 10 or so pages long. They seemed longer. First one is a university student who thinks he's alone in his dorm over Christmas and buys himself some toys. He's walked in on while using them with a friend/crush who joins in of course. Second story is a "straight" guy who goes to buy a vibe as a joke for his friend getting married and gets hit on by the adult store owner. He opens the package (curiosity killed the cat) and has to go back for another and gets a lesson from the owner. Third one is two detective and one gets a mystery package with a bunch of toys. They use some of them and then realize someone sent them to him to hide from his sister. Ooops. Used her toys. Not sure I had a fave of the three. They were all cute little stories and as I said, for 10 pages each they packed quite a bit in and were satisfying. (haha)

Tangled Web by Cassie Stevens (188 pages)


Val gets a chance to go to the jungle as an anthropology intern but gets waylaid by his sister who insists he go and rescue her kids who were supposedly kidnapped by drug dealers who killed her husband and beat her up. Seems the anthro boss's family wants him to go and find his pregnant sister who also disappeared so he and the sister's fiance set off and just happen to meet up with the intern. So they team up and actually find the kids with the sister and they weren't really kidnapped. Huh? They get back to civilization (someone dies on the way) and it seems purely by coincidence the intern's mother was having an affair with Rick's father AND grandfather back in the day so Val's sister is either Rick's sister or aunt and there is DEA involved and blackmailers and ... Okay, I actually tried to draw out a family tree to figure out if Ricks Dad and Val's Mom had a baby, would Rick and Val be blood relatives? I was scribblig on a piece of paper and I'm still not really sure how the guy was rescuing the kids with the diamonds and why they send two people on the same mission. It truly was a tangled web. Now I liked Rick and Val as characters although they pretty much fell in love on first sight, not lust, love. The jungle setting was cool (or hot I guess) and described well but I just found the whole story a bit confusing. I think they need a follow-up story with less happening, just tell me about their 3 months on the dig site, maybe a jealous coworker to stir things up and a case of malaria and that's plenty of action. There was so much action I didn't think the guys really got much chance to interact as they were constantly fighting off soldiers, dealing with gun shot wounds, fire ants, the DEA, spies, etc. Lots of potential, just a bit busy for me.

My Paranoid Next Door Neighbor by Kazuka Minami (100 or so pages)


This is my first yaoi and I read it on-line. I wish it was all in color, it would have been easier to tell them apart. Basically a story of childhood friends who drifted a part. Blue hair moves in with his friend because its closer to the school where they are studying for university entrance exams. Of course blue hair pursues brown hair who is freaked out. There is this weird English teacher and a best friend who try to come between blue and brown but eventually they work it out. The story was fine and pretty typical but it seemed all the boys in the gifted program were aggressive doms who would basically attack and molest any person from the normal program who wandered into their halls. It was like a Japanese teen gay Mad Max. The English translation needed some work but on the whole it was okay for my first experience. Oh and there was no next door neighbor. Although it was explained to me that the one kid was the neighbor as in "the next bedroom" being his neighbor. Oooooooo. It should have been called My Paranoid Room Mate because I kept waiting for the neighbor to show up and then it was over. LOL

Happy Ending by LB Gregg (101 pages)


Seth goes for a massage and gets so turned on he humps the table and freaks out David. (No doubt - I didn't blame David at all for freaking) but I thought Seth was a asshole (which was the point I guess). Seth is now raising is dead sister's daughter and suddenly notices David is a waiter at the restaurant. Much misunderstanding and condesension follow and they eventually get together. Meanwhile the little girl's father starts demanding money and Seth's ex shows up and its a bit crazy. The father attempts to kidnap the little girl when she's out with David. She's okay and Seth realizes that David's little sister is his daughter, some misunderstandings and arguing happens (oh and yeah and someone took pics of them having oral sex in a parking lot - let that be a warning boys and girls). But in the end they work it out. A case of opposites attract, Seith lightens up a bit and ... I'd love to have seen an epilogue of Seth and David living with both little girls, but I'll have to imagine it. I liked the story and although I didn't like Seth all that much he had some good points. He didn't let anyone bully him and was prepared to go to the cops or get a lawyer when needed. It was a fun read with some funny parts, not as funny as Gobsmacked but still a recommended read.

Update #16 0h yeah, my slump is over

Not sure why I was out of sorts for a bit. Ended up rereading bits and pieces of books, couldn't focus on anything long (still sort of there) but being kid-free seems to equate spending money on books and staying up too late reading them. Bad me.

Reunion by Vic Winter (26 pages)



Kind of a typical story of geeky nerd goes back to highschool reunion 10 years later as hot rich dotcom guy and meets up with highschool jock he always had a crush on. At least in the case the jock had not been a total jerk to him. For a short story I liked it (I like this author's shorts) and it seemed to cover a lot. It dealt with him wanting "revenge", to show them up and rub their noses in his success and then realizing maybe that wasn't so important. And the popular high school jock who was a virgin because he wasn't really out yet but had always liked the nerd and now Ryan (Mr. Nerd) is more confident and the sexually experienced one. There were humerous moments, where they are heading to the hotel room because Ryan as the "stuff" and they get cornered by the head cheerleader and forced to go to brunch. While trying to think up excuses why they can't the jock goes "I hope they have bacon." and there is a little funny piece about "that was the best you could come up with?" It made me chuckle. I thought it ended a bit too much as if they were in high school but maybe that was the point. When you go back to these things you revert back to how you call acted and it would have been appropriate. Cute story though and I enjoyed it.

True Colors by Clare London (240 pages)



This is the first book I've read by this author and I noticed in reading the review that some people said they couldn't put it down. Ummm. Yeah, EXHAUSTED yesterday because I was up until 1:00 to finish. I really really liked it. I liked the characters, I like how it took them awhile to get to the good stuff and I was even okay with the mystery which some people were eh on. But I have to say, it so reminded me of my past life. My ex was an artist and I swear never again, can't deal with that volatile personality (although he was not as wild as Zeke LOL) but I could see the dynamic there. Whew. So highly recommend it. Great read. Oh and I hope Red and Carter get a story.

Food for Love by Cassandra Gold (175 pages)



Another one I stayed up way too late reading. See? I'm awful. This is a May/December romance story. Rob is a 21 year old college senior and his next door neighbor Vince is a 45 year old college professor. (not the same college to avoid the squick factor) I know some people really don't like the huge age gap romances and in real life I'm not sure it works for me but I don't mind reading about it. Rob sets his sights on Vince (and of course Vince thinks he's cute) but it takes about 3 or 4 months before they kiss and then Vince freaks out thinking he's too old, blah blah blah so he's harsh and they are apart until March when they finally hook up and agree to take it slow. Then Vince leaves to care for his ailing father and starts to get angsty again about what if he's old, etc. They do finally get back together at graduation and it shows them a year later living HEA. I liked it because the author made it clear why Rob was attracted to him, that he wanted stability, someone who wasn't into bars and partying and sleeping around so it seemed like he would be honestly attracted to him. It wasn't just about sex, he wanted what Vince represented so it worked for me. Would it work in real life? It worked for my cousin. I've never read this author or heard of her but I enjoyed the writing.

Bittersweet by Stever Berman (15 pages)



I bought this because he wrote Vintage which I loved. Its another YA with two high school students. One of who has some kind of disability and is going away for surgery and could lose his foot. When he drops out of contact the first one starts to question could he love him if he's an amputee and he cheats on him with some kid in the forest. He then finally gets a call saying his BF will be okay and the surgery worked and then it just kind of stops. Ummm. What? What happens? But there were lots of refernces to the gingerbread man and parallels to that story which starts when he asks the BF if he'd rather sleep with the gingerbread man or the fox so that was very well done and clever. I like his writing but I thought it was just kind of an abrupt ending but maybe I missed the point.

Audition by Thom Jaynes (10 pages)



Okay, this reminded me of porn that has a loose plot. Famous out singer interviewing body guards. Seems guard is a HUGE fan and within 10 min. has singer bent over the desk, no lube or condoms in sight and they do it twice. You're hired, the end. Didn't do it for me at all. It was just extremely unrealistic and I know it was only 10 pages but I've read plenty of shorty shorts that I enjoyed.

Around the World by Jade Falconer (28 pages)



This is the second short I have by this author with the same theme, May/December romance. I also seemed to have a theme yesterday. Another young neighbor story. This time a 40ish year old travel writer runs into his new 21 (or so) new neighbor (with neon orange hair?). They get to talking about travel and just being friends (old guy always figures no way young guy is interested) when he gets an invite to a wedding where he knows his ex will be there with his younger lover. So young guy kind of hints that great revenge would be to show up with a stud of his own so they plan on that with old guy thinking "just friends". Once they get to the wedding and ex is rude they ramp it up and end up missing the ceremony and getting funky. Considering how short it was I liked it. I thought it seemed plausible, getting to know each other, angst over the age difference. Its a HFN story, you don't know if they end up together for always but I liked the characters and the idea of getting back at your ex by showing up with someone hotter than he has. LOL

Update #15 Getting back in the saddle

I seem to have gotten back in my reading groove and actually read something of more than 30 pages. Well, still a couple of shorties I was following up on but seemed to be mostly mysteries for me this week.

Deadly Dreams by Victor J. Banis (248 pages)



The continuing story of Stanley and Tom. Tom quit the police force and they've opened a detective agency. Seems Stanley had an older brother that is now a possible terrorist and the feds are looking for him. You know that Andrew is a psycopath trying to get rid of Tom who saw him at their father's funeral and you're not sure if he wants to kill Stanley or not. In the end Tom is severely injured in a fire while Andrew escapes yet again. In the hospital there is yet one more confrontation between Stanley and Andrew and Tom finally says the L word. I enjoyed this story as well as the preceding two. Good mystery, Stanley and Tom are great characters and I love how they interact. Highly recommend the series.

Finding Farro By Amber Kell (55 pages)



This is a continuation of A to ... Despite the title this was less about Farro and more about Anthony. Farro's son is kidnapped by the mutant wolves who took him to the Dark Fae. They go to find him and bring home a Fae who has decided Farro is his mate but the author doesn't really get into their relationship but lots of time is spent on Anthony trying to become a wolf and the problems that causes. The fae invented weres but its now prohibited but some mad scientist is creating mutants so they are on his trail now.

Zero at the Bone by Jane Seville (302 pages)



Excellent mystery of hit man who goes on the run with his victim. Love ensues as he opens up about his life and why he does what he does plus the mystery of who is trying to kill him and who is trying to kill the victim who is to testify in a drug lord case. Lots of hit man type stuff, guns and fights and being on the run and blowing things up. I really enjoyed it and it kept me interested for 302 pages. I'll be honest, I haven't read the epilogue which I understand is more like the first chapter of the next book. Lots of debate over that but I will read it eventually. But for now I enjoyed the book immensely and will definitely check out the next one.

Dark Horse by Josh Lanyon (134 pages)



I seemed to be on a mystery bent. This starts after the stalker of a famous actor has supposedly been killed. Meanwhile the cop protecting him and the actor have started a relationship. Soon it looks like maybe the stalker wasn't killed (no body found) as the stalking starts up. The actor is "fragile" and at first everyone just thinks he's a bit paranoid but then it starts to get worse. Angst and a break-up ensue, the bad guy is captured (not the stalker who was dead) and they get back together. I didn't love Sean. He was so high maintenance, high strung I guess. Granted he'd been stalked for a year so I guess its allowed but you don't know all the details (I think those come in the next book) so he kind of annoyed me sometimes and I wanted to tell him to buck up and get a grip. Always a good mystery though with Josh Lanyon and I like his style a lot.

Hellbourne Bound and Determined by Amber Kell (37 pages)



A continuation of the last one. Luc has his vampire servant who's feeling better, and he reconciles with his werewolf lover Bram. Meawhile he also gets a demon servant, an old friend who his brothers injured so he'd use his energy to heal him and be weak when he goes back to hell on his birthday. If his brothers can break him and he loses his soul to his father they get some kind of reward. The only way to get his strength back is to have sex with both Bram AND Nikkolai who also claims him as his mate. To save his life they agree to a threesome and to both admit he's their mate. Oh and there was a little "bonding" with Jerrod the vampire servant. So I guess the next book he goes to hell, we see if he survives and if the three of them can live happily every after. I like the character of Luc a lot and Jerrod, the alphas not so much, I get tired of the growling and "mine" "mine" stuff.

Update #14 (I wonder if I'm sick?)

Well is been 3 days and I've read a grant total of 1 e-book and finished one paper book. Huh. Am I sick? This must be a record. I have books in my TBR file that I WANT to read but I just can't seem to get the motivation to start them. I've read all my shorts. LOL I have the poodle flu according to Kris. Just can't focus. Oh well. This is saving me money. On with the show.

Nut Cream by Jade Buchanan (90 pages)



Highly recommended by Kris I had read all the others in this series except this one for some reason. So I did. :-) Great little story about werewolves in Calgary (which so lacks the cachet of werewolf in London). The older brother's best friend finally makes a move on the half-breed younger brother. Sexy use of nut cream and bath oil ensue. Very sexy story with likeable characters you are rooting for.

The Back Passage by James Lear (199 pages)



The first paper book I've read in a while. Its taken forever for me to finish, not that it wasn't good, I just don't usually read paper books anymore. Recommended by Wave and Erastes. Agatha Christie mystery meets gay slut. It was humorous and yes everyone was boinking everyone but the main character was just so damn likeable you were okay with it. And I'll be honest, I didn't quite figure out the why of the mystery or the details of who until the end. I loved that whole era of the AC mysteries so it was very pleasurable to experiece that. I have The Secret Tunnel waiting in the wings.

Update #13

Dreaming of You by Ethan Day (143 pages)



Mixed feelings here. I loved the first 100+ pages. Laughed out loud several times. Then? If he was my boyfriend and he told me what he did I would kick his ass to the curb. To blow me off when I offer you half my business, you claim to love me then go chasing after some guy from a freaking dream just in case he's better? How many other dream guys are you going to chase wondering if maybe they are better than me? So I have to say I went from loving it, loving the characters to not liking him very much at all and while sure, he went to Cali to be with Logan I felt Logan deserved better, maybe his friend Sam would respect him enough not to wonder if the next best thing was waiting around the corner. So mixed feelings.

Physical Therapy by Z.A. Maxfield (152 pages)



This is one of my favourite authors. This is a continuation in a sense of St. Nacho's with Coopers old boyfriend Jordan who's finally got his head on straight and is a massage therapist. He moved to St. Nachos and gets a job at the local gym doing personal training and therapy. He meets a young baseball player who is recovering from an injury when he was hit by a drunk driver. Even though that's why Jordan was in prison they are drawn together. Jordan has angsty issues about not being worthy of anyone and having to atone for what he did and Ken's family thought he was straight and even if he's gay they don't want him with an ex-con ex-druggie. Angst and an unsolved attack on Jordan follow and in the end its a HEA. I loved many of the secondary characters. Ken's youner brother who liked Jordan but had trouble dealing with his brother being gay, Izzie the body building gym owner, of course Cooper and Shawn were around a bit and Jordan's Mom who was trying to escape an abusive marriage. So all in all a great read despite the fact that its in first person POV which is a bugaboo for me. It wasn't bad.

Lone by Rowan McBride (263 pages)



Seth is a math professor and werewolf and Rafe is is unknowin human lover. They go to DC and Seth is attacked in a bar but basically takes everyone out. It happens again in a bookstore and he finally has to admit to Rafe that not only is he a werewolf he's a mutant and most like him are killed at birth, he's being hunted, he's dangerous, etc. Rafe does pretty well dealing with it although Seth has trouble accepting anything other than what he's been told about people like him. In his werewolf form he's agressive, in human he's submissive. Eventually the hunters he's been running from find him and a vampire named Dorian helps him because he admits he loves Rafe and wants to protect him which supposedly ravagers can't do. So he lives HEA with Rafe who accepts his wacky side. Overall I really liked the story and I know some people think its too angsty because Seth can't just accept that Rafe loves him, but based on 32 years of being mistreated and told you are an abomination, I don't think that just fades away the first time someone says they love you. I enjoyed it a lot.

Stranger Things Have Happened: Dallas by Willa Okati (41 pages)



Daniel and Rack continue the tour and Daniel continues to befriend Josh. He convinces Josh to get a tattoo and some piercings. Things get weird when Rack thinks Josh is after Daniel. Josh confesses he wants both of them and wants a threesome. Rack kisses Josh and freaks out Daniel and says he's up for it if Daniel is. Angst ensues.

Stranger Things have Happened: Denver by Willa Okata (41 pages)



Rack decides that Josh likes the "idea" of him and Daniel so they should show him what's its all about. So basically Josh watches Daniel and Rack do the dirty and decides they are right that he shouldn't have tried to come between him. They are tired of the life on the road so decide to take off early and head home taking Josh with them to act as their accountant or some such. They introduce Josh to their family at the studio and he fits and in and one of the guys seems drawn to him so all live HEA. I thought the having sex in front of him thing was kind of weird but it was okay and I felt compelled to finish it just because I'd started it.

Update #12

Heart Doctor by Drew Zachary (132 pages)



Well, I'll read most anything by Drew Zachary, partly because they are set in Canada and it gives me a patriotic thrill. LOL Story of a new cardiologist who falls for the cardiac unit head nurse who is half Indian half white so this could be considered IR I suppose. He cooks mostly Indian food and they talk about what he looks like a lot and some about his family. I liked the characters muchly, especially Drey who is totally "Rainbow Boy" at work as some of the other nurses call him. It was basically just a story about Brady getting past his "I don't date coworkers" rule which lasted about 15 min. And then the fear of them being found out as the hospital doesn't allow couples to work in the same units. But it was NOT angsty at all. I would like to have seen more intereaction with Drey's family or with Brady's. The only significant secondary character was Brady's neighbor Eve who he would gush about Drey to on his patio. She was cool I liked her and they were on her case to stop smoking. So I think it could have had more depth to the story but with likeable characters it was a fun read.

David's Dilema by Lynn Lorenz (235 pages



I really like Lynn's work and this was no exception. I felt for David having to deal with his father's Alzheimers and the guilt that goes with that. I liked how the men became friends first although (this seems to be becoming a theme with me and maybe I'm getting old?) it seemed to move pretty fast. I mean they were calling each other baby and honey after the first phone call. Okay, I guess when it click it clicks. LOL I could see the big climax coming or a variation of it but that was okay. Overall though I really enjoyed it, good characters, it made me feel for their situation.

Facets 2: Polishing by Rob Knight (35 pages)



This is a continuation of Facts 1. Surprise. This was kind of more of the same. Paul is still showing up at the apartment for hot sex with Six and Jules, I think in this one he finally got to be on the receiving end if you know what I mean. There didn't seem to be much development, just sort of more random sex although Paul got kind of pissed one day because he had a day off work and Six and Jules slept all day so he was stuck sitting around with nothing to do. They claimed they got off work at 6:30 in the morning but wanted to sleep until 9:00 at night. Ummm. Do you really need to sleep for 15 hours? Holy shit. Although Six was on various drugs so maybe that helped. LOL But it wasn't much of a progression from book one. They fought, they made up, they fucked like bunnies.

Facets 3: Setting by Rob Knight (35 pages)



Six and Jules have been evicted because they forgot to pay the rent. They have money they just forget stuff like that. Paul is living in a boarding house until he decides where to get an apartment but he's got a suit and tie job now. They decide to move in together and get a nice loft place with the yuppies. Paul says if they give him money he'll keep track of paying all the bills (which I imagine would get old really fast when the novelty of triad sex wears off). The only thing I didn't get was Six comes home totally freaked because he had to go to a clinic for blood tests (for work, I guess tattoo artists do that periodically) and tries to burn his clothes in the bathroom sink and is rambling about "bees in his head". They never really explain it, Jules just walks him through it in the shower and they have sex and its all better. The end. Umm. Okay. What the hell was that? Definitely a HFN ending but in real life I'd give Paul 8-12 months till he gets fed up and leaves. LOL

Update #11

Bravo Brava by Jet Mykles, J.P. Bowie and Kimerley Gardner (280 pages)



Three stories about boys who wear girls clothes. Although in the second one the main character doesn't wear dresses. I liked the second story better, not sure if its because he wasn't wearing a dress or if it was the plot. It was more of a mystery which I enjoyed where the other didn't really have a plot except one guy realizing he liked to wear dresses and way gay not straight after all and the third one he was worried the new boyfriend would realize he wasn't just wearing a dress for his role in the play. I don't find boys in dresses hot but I liked the characters but I kept thinking "No way in hell could I bring home someone wearing a dress to the family reunion. Awwwwkwwwarrrrd." Ooops, my intolerance is showing.

Guess this counts as the anthology thing from way back.

Chameleon by Aaron Michaels (12 pages)



A hitman goes to Vegas, snaps some guys neck in a toilet, runs across a hustler he saw in the street who is also a limo driver. They boink in the back of a Hummer and he starts considering maybe staying in Vegas and giving up the hitman life. Ummm. Okay, one fuck with a stranger and you change your life. I didn't really connect with the main character, not because he was a hitman, I've read hot hitmen, just didn't care about either character much. So okay, but not memorable.

Update #10 aka "I need a life"

Too many books, too much money, too much reading, not enough housework, oh well. I'm not longer really counting but just putting stuff here to remind myself what I'm doing. Most are shorts, so that's my excuse.

Affair in Paradise by Matthew Haldemann-Time (23 pages)



I REALLY like this author. I re-read his free shorts on his website a lot. So anything I find of his is an autobuy but there's not much out there so far. This case young guy (he tends to write mostly college age guys I find) goes on Caribbean vacation with a girl friend (not a girlfriend) and meets young single guy. They hit it off but the other guy never makes a move. Finally on the last day young guy decides to go for it. Turns out single guy is a total sub who starts calling him Master. Kind of freaks him out but he goes with it to a point - no Master he makes him use his name - (penile piercing not withstanding - ouch) and they end up having some hot beach sex followed by room sex with cuffs and blindfold. Overall I enjoyed it and it was kind of a case of the sub being pulled out of his comfort zone and a "normal" guy being pulled out of his and becoming more of a dom. Interesting dynamic for such a short piece.

Lessons in Mastery 1: Under Control by Laine Williams (25 pages)



Wow. Dealing with a difficult subject of spousal abuse (not the main characters though) and getting past childhood abuse to trust and understand power within a relationship. Very powerful and touching story. I really enjoyed it despite getting teary at the end.

Stranger Things Have Happened: New York by Willa Okati (43 pages)



This is a follow-up to Stranger Things Have Happened which I bought and didn't love. First book I bought with extreme piercing and tattoos. I love me some tattoo stories but it made me squeemish, however I got sucked in and bought this. Will I buy Dallas and Denver the next two books? Arrgghh Probably because I just need to know what happens. LOL Basically they are on a tattoo tour and find a puppy (Gulf war vet) to bring home. Conflict ensues.

Slap Shot by Dianne Fox (11 pages)



Being Canadian its mandatory to like hockey stories. It was okay for 11 pages. Young hot shot gets sent to the minors, pisses off vetern goalie. They fight and end up room mates. He figures out young guy is gay and going out to get laid, says that's bad for your rep, let me help, mutual BJs ensue. In 11 pages its kind of hard to get into. Would I want to read more about them? I suppose. Longer would have been better.

One More Word by Dallas Coleman (11 pages)



I found the first few pages of this book hilarious. Hardly any words on the page. One word paragraphs but funny. Romance writer gets frustrated, ends up hooking up with his ex who cheated on him 5 years ago and they've been hooking up periodically ever since. Ex finally tells him to get over it and let him come home. Ex is a cowboy. Not bad plot for 11 pages. More would be good, better than the hockey players. I would read more by this author.

Feather Dustery by Drew Zachary (14 pages)



Robert and Sam of On Fire are back and getting kinky with a feather duster. A little revist with the guys. Nothing all that special but cute.

Facets: Rought Cut by Rob Knight (33 pages)



Young college graduate goes to tattoo parlor with friends on graduation. Decides to come back the next day for a special tattoo by tattoo artist Six. Meets Six's boyfriend Julian. After he gets it done he's all turned on (never works that way for me) so Six and Julian take him out for a drink, 3 orgasms in about 15 min. ensue and he goes home with them. He must have been shooting powder by the end of the night. There are two more books in this dealing with the difference of two free spirits who can't be bothered doing laundry so buy more and sometimes pay the electricity sometimes don't vs college grad who does laundry and buys groceries. Will I buy the other two? Arrggh Yes. Tattoos. What can I say.

Paxton's Winter by T.D. McKinnley (137 pages)



Great book. In the old west bounty hunter finds his prey who's like a Western/Southern James Bond to me (but gay), ends up believing him that he's not the bad guy, they fall in love and band together to take out the bad guy with a gun battle in the street. My only concern was within 48 hours the bounty hunter changes his mind, falls in love and decides to stay with him forever and ever. HEA. I think if things had taken place over a longer period of time I'd have found it more believable but I still liked it.

Out of the Blue by Glyn Soitino (78 pages)



A genie in a bottle helps a man get over the death of his lover 2 years ago in a car accident. Loved the characters, great little story.

Keeping Karma by Tory Temple (120 pages)


Lots of animals and the one guy can hear animals thoughts which are really funny. He hooks up with Animal Control Officer. The main conflict is Animal Control guy doesn't believe the fact he can hear animals. My only complaint was they seemed to be having issues because he didn't believe him, BF is attacked, Animal Control Officer saves him and that's it, suddenly everthing is fine and dandy. No explanation of why he suddenly believed him or them working through the issues. Just from fear that the relationship was drifting apart to sure honey, I believe you. But it was a cute idea and I liked the animals talking.

Give it Time by BA Tortuga (36 pages)



Bull rider and Medic (not sure his title) start flirting when bull rider refuses to stop riding and keep irritating groin injury that could lead to impotence. Finally he agrees so that he can have sex eventually with cute medic. He's cured, they go on a cruise and boink like bunnies. It was okay, it was good, but I felt like there wasn't much background. Lots of other characters thrown in that didn't add much except to show that rodeo is freaking dangerous and damaging to your body parts. More about who the guys were, their lives outside the show circuit would have worked for me.

Bruised 1: Connection by Sean Michael (28 pages)



I should know better than to buy these Sean Michael stories with weird ass fetishes. Sigh. Cherry Sours anyone? This time the guy discovers (seems to be a new fetish) that he likes leaving hickeys and bruises (not from hitting but holding tight) on his new lover, a Texas cowboy lawyer. Guy is a mechanic and they meet when the lawyer brings in this truck. Its basically them spending the weekend together and figuring out this little bruising thing which they both seem fine with. Book 2 and 3 are them further expanding their relationship. Will I buy book 2 and 3? Not right now. I didn't really connect to the characters that much. But then I didn't think that about Cherry Sours either and I enjoyed the sequels now many months later so who knows. But unliked Facets: Rough Cut I won't be running out and buying them anytime soon.

A Bit of Rough by Laura Baumbach (212 pages)



212 pages of sex with a bit of plot/character development built in. Well done sex, but its basically two opposites meet and get together and fall in love within about 30 min. I enjoyed it and didn't find the sex too repetitive or anything so for what it was it was enjoyable. Unusual use for garlic dip.

Update #9

Channeling Morpheus Series by Jordan Castillo Price Published by Changeling Press

Payback (37 pages); Vertigo (40 pages); Manikin (54 pages); Tainted (40 pages); Rebirth (61 pages)





Amazing series. Loved the characters and how each book switched perspective from Michael to Wild Bill. Looking forward to reading the next series of works with these two guys. They weren't as gory as I'd expected based on what was said. But vampire hunting is a dirty job so there's going to be some amount of blood and smoking hot sex. Highly recommend. I love this author since I've discovered her.

Bitten by Sean Michael Published by Torquere Press (223 pages)

This is book two in the series and focuses beyond Anton and Greg by adding Jackson (Geoff) and Nathan's story to the mix combined with the war to protect their territory. It was good, I got into the story and I liked Geoff and Nathan but I was getting a bit tired of the same old sex scenes between Greg and Anton with tons of growling and biting and "mine" "yours" "mine" "mine". Yeah yeah, their wolves I get it. Their intense, yeah sure. I found the scenes with Geoff and Nathan more appealing. But overall I enjoyed it.

This was my "in my TBR file for more than 2 months" read.

Deadly Wrong by Victor J. Banis Published by MLR Press (252 pages)

This was the second in the series following Deadly Nightshade. It was great to see the Stanley and Tom grow closer even if they have the strangest relationship ever. I love Stanley, nothing gets him down, he's quick to adapt to the situation and make it fit what he wants. Looking forward to reading the next installment.