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


Saturday, August 28, 2010

The Long and the Short of It

So I've read a couple of longer books and a couple of shorter books. Way to mix it up huh? :-)

We are getting another heat wave. Until next Wednesday it's supposed to be in the high 30's C (nearing 100F). I guess this is our last kick at summer. The kidlet is heading to camp on Sunday so she'll be sweating out there riding all day. I'm hoping the rain they are predicting for late in the week holds off. Nothing worse than being wet and muddy. But that's a long way off so who knows. It will be weird to have almost a whole week of coming home to just the cats.

An Unexpected Vintage by Andrew Grey (186 pages)
Dreamspinner Press

This is book 3 in the Vintage series. Gary has had a bit of bad luck, getting laid off, no boyfriend, but he's finally doing well in a new job, and making some new friends including the guys from the other books. At a party he meets Phillip whose roommate for a cruise they booked had to cancel. Everyone is going and they convince Gary to go. He and Phillip give it a whirl but he's too vanilla for PA wearing Phillip but they stay friends. On the ship he meets Scott. Scott seems skittish and he confesses he was wrongly imprisoned for rape and just got out a few months ago. They have a great week and then have to deal with a long distance relationship as well as the aftermath of Scott's release. What I enjoyed was the characters from Spot Me were Scott's friends he was on the cruise with, so it was a meeting of two series and I'm a sucker for that. This is a very sweet story about falling in love on a cruise (I actually enjoyed all the details of security and stuff on a cruise from an outsider's perspective) with a few obstacles to overcome. For fans of the author it's a nice addition to the series.

After Hours by Cassandra Gold (14 pages)
Torquere Books

Cory is a college student who works in his brother's bakery/coffee shop. One night he's forced to close up and is annoyed and even more so when a customer shows up at 10 min. to closing. He's surprised that it's hot young doctor Kyle. He invites him to stay and they chat and before he knows it he's offering to lick the icing off Kyle's fingers. Ooops. This however leads to some hot sex in the middle of the bakery in front of the big windows. Double oops. It's just a hot little story about two guys starting a relationship thanks to a glazed donut. If only all true love started over a donut. Sigh.

Chaos Magic by Jay Lygon (226 pages)
Torquere Books

I got this because Chris recommended the series. This is book 1. Sam is a sub who has recovered from a bad beating his ex gave him nearly killing him. He prays to his gods for a perfect top and is a bit dismayed to find him. He doesn't like to be touched outside of sex. He wants to be dominated hard, then leave and not let anyone close. Hector is a well-known top who takes him on and is determined to break through. Once he finally gets Sam to explain why he's having panic attacks he is even more determined to go slowly which both appeals and frustrates the hell out of Sam. Although there all kinds of gods (god of traffic, god of please let my period come, god of fear (his ex)), they take the form of real people and are his friends who are protecting him from the ex and offering advice, but it's kind of a typical tale of a stalker abusive ex and coping with PTSD. My heart broke for Sam as he tries to be the perfect sub for jealousy-prone Hector and he basically locks himself in this imaginary Japanese pagoda in his mind and becomes a mindless perfect obedient robot and Hector doesn't "get" what is happening. Maybe it's PMS but I had a real emotional response to his breakdown near the end. I'm looking forward to the other books.

My one comment. Sam is a pain slut and Hector is into blood play. Although it doesn't get into too much detail, a couple of times Hector draws blood. But then there is never any mention of scabs as the cuts heal or scars from the aftermath. In books everyone has perfectly smooth skin despite having been beaten to bleeding. Hell, I still have a scar on my arm where my cat scratched me 7 years ago. Okay, not everyone scars easily, but not everyone heals with supernatural powers in 24 hours either.

Fantasy Man by Aaron Michaels (21 pages)
Torquere Books

Mitchell works in a high rise and has been watching a hot foreman on the work-site next door. One day he can't take the fantasizing anymore and jerks off in his office. He glances up and sees what appears to be the guy looking at him, but he's sure he can't see him. Later he's at the bar after work with some coworkers when a guy sends him a plate of fried zucchini. Oh my god, it's the guy, Owen and yes, he did see him in his office. They decide to go somewhere else and Owen takes him up to the floor and shows him that he could see him and he'd been watching him as well. Mitchell finds out he might be a bit more into public sex than he ever thought. A hot little story. Kind of unusual that I managed to have two shorts with a public sex theme. LOL

16 comments:

Chris said...

I'm glad you enjoyed Chaos Magic! I got anxious on Sam's behalf while reading parts of it, but not overwhelmed - I HAD to keep going.

Oh, it's been a while since you've had serendipitous theme reading!

Tam said...

I was the same Chris. My heart hurt for him. I'm looking forward to the other ones.

It was a while since I've run into my weird reading coincidences. Maybe it's time again. :-)

Tracy said...

Fantasy man sounds yummy. :)

I'll have to try some other Andrew Grey books after I finish the Farm series.

Tam said...

It was cute Tracy. I enjoy AG's work, but I know some people like more angst and sometimes problems seem solved easily, but that's what I'm in the mood for sometimes. I get a weary of excessive angst.

Average Reader said...

Chaos Magic sounds unusual and intriguing!

Tam said...

It was quite complicated (in a good way) with the many gods around us all the time. It could have been just traumatized sub with not really getting it new Dom but adding in the paranormal element made it quite different.

Anonymous said...

I've heard so many great things about Chaos Magic, I guess I'll have to read it soon. :)

Tam said...

I hadn't really heard anything about it Eyre until Chris said it was good. I'm glad I checked it out. Definitely worth a read.

Kris said...

I've heard the same things as Eyre about Chaos Magic, but have never read it. Might have to rectify that. :)

Tam said...

Hmmm. I seem to have been the only one in the dark on this one. Oh well, I've been enlightened now. :-)

Lily said...

I loved the Chaos Magic series. Hector and Sam go through a lot of stuff and yes, sometimes it's almost too much to take, but I was so into them.

Unexpected Vintage was nice but I haven't read the other two.

Hope the kidlet has a great time at camp. Enjoy the heat before the cold comes back. :)

Tam said...

It was kind of angsty Lily, but I couldn't help powering through it I was so into it. Looking forward to the others.

Chris said...

And Tam, I hadn't heard of the books at all until the week before I started reading them. :)

Tam said...

Whew, thought I was just out of the loop. LOL

Ingrid said...

Heatwave??? We are going straight into autumn here. I feel almost inclined to put the heating on. I think it was just 60F (15C) with rain showers here today :(:(

Oh and I do like the sound of Chaos Magic

Tam said...

It's 39C with the humidity today Ingrid. (102F) Ugh. Not pleasant. I'm not looking forward to walking out to my car. It's supposed to stay in the 30's all week. My daughter will be melting at camp.

It was a good read. If you try it hope you like it.