More Freaking Updates, Bad me for getting behind

If I have one complaint about the wedding shorts its that there are so many and I almost forget them as soon as I read them unless there is something really outstanding. Not saying I don't enjoy them but its kind of like brain overload. But that doesn't seem to be stopping me you'll notice. :-)

Wedding Favors by D.G. Parker (27 pages)



Bobby is tired of weddings and it starts off with an anonymous hook-up between the ceremony and reception with a guy who's name he can't remember. Some time later he's at another wedding and there is anonymous guy and they have a quickie in the garden shed and he figures that's it. Some time later he's at a vacation wedding in Hawaii and holy crap, anonymous guy (who is now Jason) is there AGAIN for the wedding. They spend some time together and it kind of leaves it hanging but perhaps this will grow into more than a wedding fuck as they both seem to like each other. Kind of a cute premise of running into the same guy at each wedding.

Walking on the Moon by M. Jules Aedin (27 pages)



Philip and Clive are both teachers at a college in 1969 and get "engaged" even though they can't even tell anyone they are together or risk everything. It then hops to 1974 and they are living together and talks a bit about Philip's experiences in a concentration camp during the war and they are still in love. It then hops to 2004 with the wedding announcement that at the ages of 76 and 65 they are one of the first gay couples to marry in Mass. This is a continuation of Philip and Clive's story from Vespers in the Snow as mentioned at the end. To be honest, this story freaking chokes me up. In a few short pages it really touched me. Not often I get teary in 27 pages when its not even a sad book. LOL

Tying the Knot by Nicki Bennett and Ariel Tachna (70 pages)



This is the story of Tate and Mason and is a continuation of Weather the Storm which I will have to check out. Tate and Mason are getting "married". Mason's family is 100% behind them and everyone and his dog will be at the wedding Tate's parents kicked him out and the only support he has is his best friend Sarah. (Woohoo, a female BF character that I liked - well done.) It's a nice story about Tate dealing with his family's rejection and understanding the acceptance of Mason's family and accepting their love when he thought he'd never have the love of anyone. I really like the writing of both of these authors together and alone, and its a really sweet story and as I said I'd love to read more about Mason and Tate so will check out their beginnings.

To Find and To Keep by Serena Yates (85 pages)



I know some people think this book is a bit too sweet but its more of the perfect fairy tale and works for me. Ryan's family reacts badly to his coming out and make threats so he leaves town and disappears. He moves to Canada (or all places Sudbury - sheesh, have some pride) and finds out his twin is marrying his best friend so he decides to sneak back. The night before the wedding he runs into Daniel, his best friend's older brother who always had a thing for Ryan. He takes Ryan home and convinces him to go to the wedding and not hide. Daniel is afraid his sister and friend hate him and his parents will freak but he goes and of course everyone is thrilled to see him except his parents and his sister kicks them out of the reception when they get jerky. Sort of a HEA all around and a bit of a fairy tale as I said but I could also see that at 18 he believed the threats of his parents while many of us ... um, older would have realized the threats where baseless and laughed at them. 18 year olds are dumb. :-) So while perhaps not the most realistic book I've read, I enjoyed it for what it was. A good dose of sugar is good for the soul sometimes.

The Whirlpool by Jaymz Connelly (37 pages)


Jon is such a nice guy he agrees to come from England to Canada for his ex's wedding even though he's hating every minute of it. He then meets the new groom's brother Eric and Eric convinces him to toss off the mini-golf and explore the Niagra region. They talk about why Jon and the ex broke up (ex is the stereotypical gay guy worried about appearances, etc.) and Jon is "boring" and Eric is a mechanic. They have a great time and while this part was a bit unrealistic (I have timing issues) Eric decides to move to London to be with Jon and be a mechanic there. Ummm. You've known him 5 days and its not that easy to emigrate, trust me, I work for the government. I might have liked to see them try a long distance romance for a bit to try out the relationship THEN move, but hey, it was 37 pages. I liked both characters muchly though.

The Ties That Bind by L.J. LaBarthe (37 pages)



This is one of the few that really didn't work for me. Its a combination of the story of two grad students and then the story of Richard the Lionheart and his "companion". One guy is doing research on why Richard seemed in favor of same-sex marriage and starts doing research on Richard and his companions relationship. Lots of letters incluced in this one from Richard and other research. Meanwhile two guys live together and support each other's research and talk about getting married. I think there was supposed to be a parallel in a way or a lesson taught but I found I would rather have had way more superficial info on the Richard angle and just more focus on the two guys. So this is one of the few so far I just couldn't get into.

Sensitive Pornograph by Ashika Sakura (183 pages)



These books always confuse me a bit because its not usually all one story. It starts with a budding manga artist who meets his idol and they have an affair which leads to love. Of course. Then there is the guy who has a fling with the bosses photographer so who takes explicit photos of them having sex. Weirdly the boss thinks its cool and claims that his so likes employee as shown by the photos. Ooookay. Then the pet sitter goes to an apartment to feed a pet rabbit and finds a guy locked in the closet as a slave. He is supposed to have sex with him so they do and the rabbit rebels, get the crap beat out of him by his master but shows up at pet sitter's school (all beat up) and says he wants the new guy. Wow. That was weird. Anyway, typical stuff. Didn't love it, didnt hate it.

Barefoot Waltz by Romuco Miike (182 pages)



More shorts starting with the cover guys, an older author and a young guy he had a fling with a couple of years ago. Young guy shows up out of the blue asking for a place to stay and kind of becomes his housewife. Then there was a very confusing story about a kid who takes pictures of the track tream for school but he's on the team and has a thing for the high jumper. I'm so confused. I didn't get it. There were a couple of others with school kids again that I didn't really get. Not the best book for me. It would come to "the end" and I'm like "huh? What happened, I don't get it?" Sigh.

I Want to be Naughty by Mei Sakuraga (170 pages or so)



Mostly the story of bleached blonde pierced boy who is under attack by the student council (I don't get the Japanese system) for not conforming. He makes friends with dark haired boy when loe and behold he finds out he's the Student Council President. Ooops. But the President dislikes the members who are all rigid about code with the bad boys brothers thrown in for comic relief. Then a story about school kids and another about a guy who comes back from college and finds his young neighbour (friend? whatever) all grown up and they get together. Much more coherent than the last one. At least I understood all the stories this time. LOL I liked the first one best probably.

Yes, there are still freaking more. 9 more wedding things I think. I'll try and do the rest later. I'm exhausted but this kind of a great way of remembering what I read. LOL