Special thanks to Leontine from Leontine's Book Realm for the super header.


Friday, July 2, 2010

Friday Update

Well, I did manage to get some reading beyond yaoi done on vacation and since I got back. Only work today and then the weekend. After Canada Day it's a nice system. One day of work and two days off. I could live with that.

If you'd like to read a cute free story, author Matthew Vandrew has a story up on his site called Strange Carnivorous Flowers from Outerspace. A very funny and touching m/m short. Stop by and give it a read.

Wolf Town by Joely Skye (55 pages)

Werewolf Rory is sent to Toronto to watch Scott, who is a Minder (can control people with his mind). Usually Minders end up in pods and use their powers for nastiness but Scott has been on the run for a couple of years. When Scott is attacked by some nasty Minders, Rory rescues him and takes him to Wolf Town. Scott is freaked and runs because he fears bringing down the Minders on the town. Rory and his father manage to track him down in ... Ottawa, (how funny) and convince him to come back and give a relationship with Rory a go. I think this might be part of a series of books the author writes about Minders but I read it as a stand-alone and it was fine. I liked Rory's openness (reminded me of a big puppy) and Scott who was so used to being alone and on the run but desperately wanted human contact. It was a fun quick read for me. I think it's the first I've read by this author and I would definitely try more.

Luke by Jan Irving (90 pages)

Small-town out doctor Taylor sees a young man at a church when he's going to check on a patient. He's immediately struck by him but doesn't think much until he finds the man outside with a baby who seems ill. Taylor takes Luke and Jessica to his house/office to check the baby who is fine. Luke's girlfriend (?) dumped him with their baby and he's considering giving her up as he has no job. Taylor offers them a place to stay in exchange for work around his crumbling ranch and the attraction between the two (buttsecks virgin Luke) ensues. I am a sucker for the guy with a baby storyline and I quite enjoyed this. Luke's jealousy over Taylor's casual relationship with a professor was kind of amusing as he hadn't even really admitted that he was attracted yet and I liked that Taylor was up front about his attraction to Luke, that he never pretended he didn't find him hot. Also the stress of dealing with babies who don't sleep all night and get sick was I think pretty accurate (what I remember LOL). This is a follow-on to another book whose title I forget but I think there was really only one or two scenes with the other character so is fine as a stand-alone.

Tatterdemalion by Anah Crow and Dianne Fox (184 pages)

Dane is a cursed shifter whose mage "boss" sends him to rescue a young mage who has been held against his will when his rich political family decided they wanted him "cured" of his magic. He's basically been tortured and experimented on for two years. Dane is then assigned to take charge of Lindsay and help him get his magic fixed and thus begins their journey to Germany, Mexico, back and home all while trying to stay one or two steps ahead of the bad guys who are determined to get Lindsay back. I really liked this. I liked that it was an adventure story as they dealt with all the fixing magic thing and I liked the relationship as hard-ass loner Dane comes to care for Lindsay and while Lindsay is physically frail at first, he's strong inside and never broke in captivity. They compliment each other well. I understand there will be a sequel, I hope so because the ending did not clarify what happened to the bad guys and brought up some other kinds of mages but then didn't say more so I was left with more questions than answers but if it's setting up for more that would be good. I keep saying Dane calls Lindsay "little bunny" which I found cute but I know some people hate stories with pet names, but it seemed fitting. Anyway, this is one of my fave books I've read recently and I know it stuck with me if I find myself lying in bed thinking about it days after the fact. That's my "clue" that it worked for me in a big way.

His One and Only by Shawn Lane (78 pages)

This is book 4 in the series. Drew sees law partner Mark at Barnaby's BBQ and invites him out for coffee. He doesn't really expect him to show up but amazingly he does. Mark lost his partner years earlier and doesn't date and he doesn't really think he wants to date Drew despite how attractive he finds him and he gives him the "let's be friends" speech which Drew accepts. However once his mother kicks some sense into him they start dating and things are going well until Mark's total obliviousness ends up sending a bad message to Drew who to be honest overreacts and breaks things off. When Drew's mother falls ill Mark comes to support him and they work out their problems. At the end all of the couples in the books along with Drew's friend Steve and his girlfriend come together for one big huggable moment. I enjoyed these stories, they are light fun reads, not too much angst but a few misunderstandings along the way.

22 comments:

Chris said...

Obviously I need to read Tatterdemalion! :)

Tam said...

I think so Kris. It was actually Kassa who made me consider it when she reviewed it at TDB because I saw the name and passed right over because it meant nothing to me. I'm glad I read her reivew because I think it's a great book. Kassa actually looked up the meaning of the title in it does make sense and there is one small reference that ties in, but I'm not about to go googling book titles. No time or patience, I shouldn't have to.

Have a great long weekend.

Tam said...

Shit. I called you Kris. LOL Ignore that. Chris.

Chris said...

Hee hee. We are Khris. :)

Tam said...

Australia, Minnesota, almost exactly the same. :-)

Lily said...

I liked Luke and His One and Only. Both were entertaining, light and fun reads. The other two are on my Reader.

Tam said...

Light fun reads are just what you need sometimes Lily. Hope you are enjoying your holiday, cot sleeping notwithstanding.

Chris said...

Ok, this was weird - the elevators at work have these little screens in them for the "Captivate" network (you are trapped in the elevator and we will show you commercials interspersed with weird news, trivia, and weather - which would be more effective in a building taller than our 8 stories...). Anyway, today's vocabulary word was "tatterdemalion"!

Tam said...

GET OUT!!! Wonder who programs those things? Someone who reads m/m? If Kassa hadn't looked it up I would have presumed it was a made up word. LOL

Chris said...

Crazy, huh?! I feel that the universe is pushing me to buy and read that book tonight...

Tam said...

The book gods are pushing you. You know this means you're going to hate it right? LOL

Chris said...

No! Don't say that!

Average Reader said...

I'm kind of curious about Luke and Tatterdemalion ...

Tam said...

Luke has a few flaws, he takes to the man-love without much effort, but I am a sucker for the baby thing.

Anonymous said...

Tam, I'm glad you liked Luke. I always feel a bit guilty when I like a book and my friends don't. I hate thinking that I encouraged them to waste their money.

I may read Tatterdemalion one of these days; I'm kind of off the whole mage thing.

Tam said...

I'm the same Eyre. LOL I feel like I steered them wrong. I'm usually not a fan of mages but I did enjoy this one. So I guess it really depends on the mood I'm in.

Anonymous said...

LOL, Tam! I'm kind of glad it's not just me. Funny thing is, I never blame my friends when a suggested read doesn't work for me. I know that not everyone will like every book, but I still get those guilty feelings.

Tracy said...

I've only read one book by Joely Skye but I liked it. I'll have to look into this one.

Tatterdemalion sounds good - thanks for the heads up.

Luke sounds cute.

Erotic Horizon said...

Tatterdemalion - I'd read that just because of the title...

I definitely have the first two on my list - Saturday morning read for me..

E.H>

Tam said...

They were all fairly entertaining reads this time around Tracy. Have a super July 4 today.

Tam said...

See I had the opposite reaction to the name EH, I passed right over it and would never have looked twice because it meant nothing to me until Kassa said it was a great book, then I went and bought it and I'm glad I did. Amazing how something like that will appeal to some and not to others.

Hope you had a great weekend.

Erotic Horizon said...

Thank god for Kassa then or you would miss out on a good read...

Happy 4th

E.H>