Sunday Sunday

Time to catch up on some of the stuff I've been reading.

Staking His Life by Kiernan Kelly (50 pages)

This is set in a time when paranormal creatures are out and more or less accepted in society. Seth is a vampire who was turned against his will and he lives with werewolf friend Mark. After a rough day at work, Mark convinces Seth to go to a club. There Mark sees his rogue sire who turned him and then ran, he tries to get Mark out of there but Valerian tries to get him to join with him. Finally Mark gets Seth to realize he wants a relationship with him (typical oblivious room mate routine) but then Valerian capture Mark to blackmail Seth who has to save him despite being clueless as to his vampire abilities. It was interesting to see a world where paranormals are out and even they have a pecking order (zombies are out) and Seth just wants to be a normal guy and not deal with his vampire abilities but is finally forced to. I enjoyed it.

I Fell In Love With A Zombie by Sean Kennedy (75 pages)

The flu pandemic finally hits leaving people dead and eventually a type of zombie. They don't eat brains but when they find humans they freak out and kill them. Jay's boyfriend died during the crisis and he's been hiding out in his house. He finally decides to get out of town. After some adventures on the way he ends up in the town of his ex Dave. Just as he's about to be killed by a zombie mob, he's saved by another zombie, Dave. He goes home with Dave who seems to be some kind of a different zombie who still has his humanity. When the town zombies figure out Dave's not "normal" they go on the run, hoping to find other humans who survived. It was a great story, seeing how Jay coped with being nearly the last human in his area and then dealing with his feelings for Dave and was Dave Dave or is he something else now. There was some humour, some gore, some sweetness. A great mix although I'm not sure I think the remaining humans were going to be as welcoming as Jay hoped. I've seen too many "evil government" movies. :-)

Gemini: The Wicked Things by Pepper Espinoza (164 pages)

Travis left his life in London to care for his increasingly addled mother in a small village. In her state she warns him about a legendary black dog that roams the hills. One night he goes for a walk and holy hell, comes across a giant black dog. It doesn't harm him and escorts him home. He starts to look for the dog and some weird stuff starts happening. He later finds out the dog is the trapped soul of a man who was convicted of murdering his wife a few hundred years ago. The dog can become a man and finally convinces Travis that an evil witch is causing his mother's illness, as she's a former fairy and all manner of magical creatures are involved. At first Travis thinks it's nuts, but he finally believes after a troll attack and is determined to break the spell on his mother and free her mind. It's quite complicated with lots of characters and the why and how of the witch stuff (some of which I probably never quite got) but I really liked Travis and he was plucky and would do anything to save his Mom and he gets to know John and they grow closer. John was interesting because although he's been around he really doesn't understand modern people much. It was very interesting for me and I really enjoyed it.

Out of Balance by Stephani Hecht (76 pages)

Trevor works as an assistant manager of a small bank branch when sexy Drake comes in to open an account and asks for him specifically. Drake owns a restaurant with his family and has been crushing on Trevor since he noticed him at the bank. Trevor's life is less than stellar, his ex left him for the mailman, his roof leaks and his job kind of sucks so he agrees to a date with smokin' Drake an they hit it off. Things at the bank and at his apartment get worse as he and Drake get to know each other. It's a sweet little romance and Trevor has some funny interactions with his "roommate" Rocky. It's an enjoyable light read.