The last of the shorts ... I think

I think I'm ready to tackle some longer books now. But I am REALLY getting tired of this weather. Snow, snow, snow. I have fears we are going to have another winter like a few years ago where we came within centimetres of beating the all-time snow record for our city. They stopped plowing the streets because there was no where to put the snow. Sigh. It's light snow but it JUST WON'T STOP!!!! Vent done.

The Stroke of Midnight by Jordan Castillo Price (12 pages)


This is a little Psycop freebie (that I kept forgetting to snap up). Jacob and Vic are supposed to go to a NYE party at Vic's friends' Keith and Manny. Vic gets called in on a case and Jacob goes alone to the party where he feels a bit melancholy without Vic and his friend Keith who left the department after being outed has been getting snarkier and snarkier. He goes home early and Vic manages to sneak home and give him a NY kiss in the guise of taking his meds. It is interesting to see things from Jacob's perspective and to sort of realize they have lives outside of the book. That Jacob has friends he sees and talks to that you don't realize. Just a cute little story to give us a taste before the next book.

Silver Lining by Lucius Parhellion (35 pages)

Grooviest author name ever. Anyway, this is set in the 1950's where Rob and Phillip (who is referred to as Argent - his last name, in the whole story) are scientists doing some work on the nuclear bomb tests in Nevada. They are stuck in Vegas and bored and feel each other out and find out they are both gay. But due to the nature of the program, they are watched constantly, their phones and rooms bugged, etc. They take it very well though in my opinion, they just kind of accept that it's the way it is. They have a free day and go hiking but get caught in a storm. They are soaked and cold so stop at a hotel to get dry and warm and manage to get some alone time. *wink* *wink* They agree to meet-up back in Washington and pursue things. I did learn a lot about the nuclear program (and I think was sitting open mouthed at some of the stuff that was done which now seems so incredibly stupid) and the whole nature of hiding you are gay when you are being followed and watched more than usual, in a time where being gay would get you fired. I liked how they dealt with it, I guess years of practice of being the soul of discretion. So it was an interesting story from an historical perspective as well as enjoying the two characters together.

A Knight at the Speedway by Jaxx Steele (50 pages)

Artis and Kris were best friends in college and then Kris went off to join the motorcycle racing circuit and Artis stayed in Indianapolis as a travel agent. 10 year's later Kris is coming to town to race but he can't get tickets. A good friend manages to get him tickets to the trials and a chance to meet with the riders after. Kris is thrilled to see Artis after 10 years and invites him to the party that night. Kris makes a move on Artis and tells him he's been in love with him forever. Also seems that Artis has been following Kris around the world and been to nearly every race thanks to his travel agent job. They have smoking sex and Kris tells him he wants to move back and be with him and quit racing. Artis freaks and doesn't want to be responsible for ruining Kris' dream of racing and runs. Later he gets invited to an anonymous party by none other than Kris who quit anyway and moved back to open a racetrack there. Issues. They haven't even SPOKEN in 10 years and within hours Kris is asking to move in with Artis and willing to quit his job. Okay, maybe he's not that happy but hell, maybe Artis is married with two kids or something. They never got that far. And seriously, stalking the guy around the world, your former best friend but you never ONCE make any attempt to say hi, how are you? Although this wasn't insta-love in the traditional sense, they hadn't even known each other was gay when they were friends so it wasn't a case of former lovers reunited, it just moved WAY too fast for me.

Making Lemonade - Lemon Yellow by TC Blue (56 pages)



This was highly recommended by Jen and I was kind of shying away because of the content and I wasn't sure I could wrap my head around it. (Still not sure I have 100%) but then the Silver Lining book reminded me of it so I tracked it down and read it. I'm glad I did. So Evan and Bill were together 8 years (Bill was 16 years older) when Bill died of cancer. Evan is devastated but offers his home to Bill's nephew Gray who's coming to pay his condolences. Meanwhile Gray thinks he's coming to meet Eva. Ooops. But he's fine with it, he's gay as well and it explains why Bill never came home much. Gray is about 30. After a rough night of memories Evan kisses Gray and kind of freaks but Gray doesn't push and tells him to come visit them in Montana as he's family. They form a phone friendship and it follows their lives as Evan deals with the grief and their growing closeness but Evan is still freaked. His lover's nephew? Ewwwww. He goes to visit but isn't ready and Gray agrees to wait for him. Okay, I still get a bit squicked thinking of the relative factor. I try to visualize it in my own life and *shudder*. But I found the fact that the story takes place over almost one year and built up gradually and they hadn't known each other all their lives kind of thing made it work. I really liked the relationship they developed over the year with Gray giving Evan what he needed to heal, not pushing him like some of his friends did. So I have to agree with Jen, it was an excellent story and I'm glad I finally read it. I forgot to say that I didn't like Gray's sister much. She's all "yeah yeah, go for it." *wink wink nudge nudge* Then man's spouse had just died for Christ's sake. Have some sympathy lady. Maybe he's not ready to hop into bed with his dead lover's nephew. She annoyed me everytime she was "on page".

Fuck the Foreplay by JM Snyder (16 pages)


This was a freebie I found when buying JCP's At the Stroke of Midnight. Free, how could I say no? Tory is in his first semester at college and hating it because he's missing Jon, his boyfriend. Jon and he were family friends for years and finally started dating when Tory was 16 and Jon 18. Tory's roommate is going away for the long weekend and Jon is coming to town and Tory is DESPERATE for some smexin'. When Jon gets there, they kick the roommate out and have a quickie, hence the title. It's just a little steamy story about two guys in love and peach lube. The author mentions doing a story explaining how they got together but I'm not sure how long ago that was or if it's ever been done.

U Don't Know Me by Rakun (200 pages)

This is Korean yaoi. Is that such a thing? I think it has another name. Anyway, Seyun and Yoojin have been friends since they were children, their parents were friends but now they go to different high schools. One day Yoojin gets pissed off because he thinks Seyun has been sleeping around and basically rapes him. Ooops. Seems it's another guy who LOOKS like Seyun. (I never really got the whole subplot of the friend who looks like Seyun). Anyway, they both confess their love and start dating. But Seyun's mother took off (too stressed) and his Dad moved away for business so he's not big on relationships. Yoojin's parents have take Seyun under their wing and want him to move in with them but he gets too freaked having sex with Yoojin in his parents' house. The parents both know they are together, and after freaking are supportive. Seyun gets past his fear of the relationship going to hell when his friend says basically enoy it while you can. There is also a guy who wants Seyun to be a prostitute but I didn't quite get that either. LOL Some of it didn't make sense to me but I did like the relationship between the two guys, that they'd been friends forever and besides the initial time they were both eager to have sex as often as they could. And it's all on the page. LOL Not overly graphic but lots of nekkidness. Although Yoojin's father seemed to be constantly beating on him for hurting Seyun or for no reason whatsoever. Is that normal for a Korean dad to beat up his 17 year old 6'4" son? I've also noticed lots of yaoi where the mother has simply abandoned the family. Does this happen in Asia? On the whole I enjoyed this but as I said, a bit of it went over my head and some of the cultural stuff maybe I didn't get. Was it supposed to be funny when his Dad beat him? *shrug* A good read though.