Saturday Summary - Some More Freebies as well

Arrgghh. Blogger won't let me schedule a post again. I give. I'm in the day early theme for one more post.

Yay, it's the weekend. I've been kind of unmotivated this week. I think I read A to Z last Sunday. Seemed with my birthday and the special author letter post, I've been kind of piddling around the net rather than reading, however I seem to keep buying. Ack! I'm going to start having a panic attack soon.

Don't forget to check in at My Friend Amy's blog to see her author letter today. Or click on the button on the side bar for the list.

Also this weekend All Romance e-books has a 50% rebate deal. For every dollar you spend they put .50 back into e-bucks. So you have to buy more books to access the money (or you can send it to someone else to use) but I think most of us shop there repeatedly so it's not like we won't use it sooner or later. And there's no expiry on it I don't think unlike the freebie discount coupon you get for every 10 books you buy.

So Chris sent me the link to some freebies at Queer Magazine. The first three here are the freebies, it's a bit weird to try and download them because one of them is pdf only but the others have two choices and you're not sure which one you're getting till you click on it. You have to register too, but it's fast.

A Serious Business by Anne Brooke (5 pages)

(No cover) Jack caught his ex cheating and moved out. Dan shows up with an offer to be a gardener. They become friends over the summer when Jack's ex shows up. This triggers Jack to realize Dan is more than just a friend. It's a cute little story that covers quite a bit in 5 pages as Jack puts his life back together after the split and finding new love.

Semper Fi by SJ Frost (28 pages)

(No cover) Cameron is on 30 days leave from the Marines. His Saudi lover had died in Iraq but he decides to try a gay bar although he's nervous. He sees Gabe the classic twink and is smitten. They hook up and Gabe is very up front what he wants so they head back to his place. They end up having a great time and Gabe asks him to stay with him for the month rather than at a motel. They fall in love and Cam worries about the distance as infidelity is a deal breaker and he knows how hard it is to be apart for months at a time. I thought they moved a little fast, Gabe only knew him a couple of hours when he asked him to move in but I suppose in the end it worked out and he did admit that it was whirlwind, which I suppose in cases where you know you only have 30 days you really can't afford to goof around and decide if you want to date someone.

The Healing by Andrew Grey (9 pages)

I think this is set in the world of Satyrs the author writes about. Don has always wanted to give it up for his lover of 10 years Robbie, but anything more than one finger and it's too painful. It's very frustrating for him but Robbie accepts that. So he goes on a week-long business trip and this guy is giving him the eyeball at the gym. They end up in the sauna together and he offers to "heal" him and admits to being a Satyr. When Don gets home he gives it the old college try and it works like a charm. Kind of odd, I mean, maybe he needed to see a shrink. LOL But I'm not familiar with the world built around this so maybe it would make more sense to those who follow that series.

A to Z by Marie Sexton (250 pages)

Zach kind of drifted into owning a video store, but he's really not much of one for movies. Angelo is kind of punky and comes into rent and gives Zach a hard time about his "system". Eventually Zach asks him to work for him and they start to become friends. There is a whole issue of Zach's new landlord who seems to think lower rent = butt secks that makes Angelo crazy as he falls in love with Zach. They go to a folk festival and meet up with Jared and Matt (from Promises) who convince Zach that he should move his movie rental business to Coda into Matt's old store. The concept of moving permanently precipitates a crisis on the part of the non-couple which they have to work through. Okay, could Zach BE anymore clueless. Holy shit, hit him upside the head with a clue, which Jared finally does, but sheesh. Dense. So I found him a bit frustrating but Angelo comes with his own baggage from growing up in the foster system, so they were quite the couple. LOL Everyone says "I didn't like it as much as Promises" and I'll agree, but it was certainly still a good read and it was fun to see Jared and Matt again.

You Were Always On My Mind by Deirdre O'Dare (59 pages)

Garth is a high profile entertainment lawyer in Vegas. His high school friend who now fronts an uber-famous Native American rock band shows up in trouble. They had a little incident once in high school but nothing more. But before they make it out of the office, Peter has him bent over his secretary's desk bare-backing. Ack! Considering that Peter was "straight" and with a bevy of women, Garth needed his head examined, old friend or not. So he spends some time trying to eliminate the trouble without exposing the woman Peter was with the night of the incident and getting to know each other while having tons of condom-free sex. Peter was too good to be true. Kind, wonderful, true to his heritage, thoughtful, great in bed, rescued kittens in trees (well, I'm sure he did) but he swore up and down he was bi to Garth and yet when the woman asks for a threesome he suddenly declares himself firmly gay. What? He also insinuated the woman he was with was into drugs and sex and yet later claims she is a wonderful virtuous friend he never slept with. He had my head spinning with so many stories. I also found this to be a bit flowery for my taste. Apparently Peter is huge, (aren't they all) and after a particularly vigorous session he asks if Garth is hurting. The response is:

"If there was any hurt it was the good kind, the kind that makes it almost too powerfully sweet to bear. I've waited half a life time to be with you this way. Unless you literally tore me apart, it couldn't possibly hurt. Maybe even not then."

Seriously? My rewrite would be "Yeah, I'm good. Got anything to eat, or a beer." I don't think most guys talk like that, or at least I'm not into characters who do. So this one really didn't work for me. Ah well. I'm sure there are others who like things a bit more flowery.