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


Tuesday, November 9, 2010

A wacky hump day this week

This is kind of a strange week for me because I have Thursday off. It's Remembrance Day in Canada (Veteran's Day in the US) and it is a federal holiday, which means all federal employees get the day off (i.e. me) but it's not a provincial holiday so my kid has to go to school and yet the city by-law says all stores over a certain size must remain closed until 12:30. Kind of weird. They are trying to make it a provincial holiday so everything would be closed since we are one of two provinces who don't have it as a holiday. I hate that I get the day off and have to get up anyway. Not fair. *pout* So working for 3 days, one day off, then working for one day is a bit disconcerting. Oh well. I'll either spend the day being productive or sitting on the couch reading in my pjs. Any bets on which one will happen?

Faerie Bound by Jenna Castille (111 pages)
Ellora's Cave

Garrick is a very successful alpha but he's lonely and wishes desperately for a mate. In desperation he signs up for a dating service for supernaturals knowing that if his desire to be sexually dominated gets out, he'll face a difficult time as an alpha. When he gets his match he has bigger problems, his match is a banished faerie and the war between the paras and the Fae is still fresh in most people's minds. It soon becomes obvious that slight, tattooed, pierced Dom Faolan and Garrick are perfect mates, but Faolan's mom, the Faerie Queen is not content to let peace reign if she can help it. I really enjoyed this book, although as Lily noted, I would have been content to leave out the whole thing with the Faerie Queen and just focus on the guys and having someone so dominant outside the bedroom cope with being an untrained sub inside and facing his pack when it all comes out. My only note was during the whole book, Faolan never once fucks Garrick, he always allows him to do it (okay, not that many times but still). I'm not against a Dom taking it, but I thought at least ONCE to show his dominance the author would have shown it. *shrug* Faolan was NOT the smug Dom, he kept telling Garrick he needed to tell him what was what in order to be a good Master which was a nice change. Oh, I am kind of tired of the psychopathic Faerie Queen thing. Is that a must? Change it up, make her nice for a change.

I looked and there is a pre-quel to this, it's the story of the witch and the satyr who run the dating service (m/f) and there were lots of hints thrown that Faolan's best friend was going to find a mate (but unclear if it would be a girl or boy as he goes both way - or both I suppose) although there was nothing on the author's website about a sequel. If it's m/m I'd definitely seek it out.

Chance Meeting by Mara Ismine (19 pages)
Torquere Press

Andrew and Sebastian dates YEARS ago (20?) and ran into each other at a conference. When Sebastian's room was double-booked and he's stuck, Andrew offers his room, and more than a bed. The story only takes place over a couple of hours and is told in present tense, first by Andrew, then by Sebastian. Andrew remembers their relationship before Sebastian wakes and then Sebastian wonders if there can be second chances in life as he realized he tossed something good away for fear of being labeled gay. I'm afraid present tense and I are not that good of friends and there's nothing wrong with the story, of course you are only getting glimpses of the past through their memories in the moment, but I just felt kind of removed from it all.

Unbound: Bonded II by Lay Lygon (105 pages)
Torquere Press

Things are sailing along for Brandr and his three young house mates. Just as he starts to realize he cares about Kyle more than he thought, he falls ill, then realizes that something happened to Tyler, the human he bonded with accidentally (Bonded). They rush home to find some strange vampire has killed Tyler and he kidnaps the three boys. He obviously has it out for Brandr who has no clue who the guy is. He's forced to change Tyler to save him and then they set out to find the boys. I just ADORE these books and Kyle in particular. The other vampire has no clue what he's in for. He lives in a dump and the boys never let up with the complaining. When he orders them to stay on the couch (they have to obey as he's their maker) he finds them naked and having sex. When he orders them to stay in the apartment, he comes home to find Tyler putting on an impromptu strip show on the table for the neighbors who also served as lunch. It seems he's starting to rethink the wisdom of his kidnap plan. I was happy to see Brandr finally realize that Kyle is his boy and pull his head out of his ass. I swear I was smiling almost the whole time I was reading this, except when Tyler was dead of course, I'm not totally heartless.

Turn the Other Cheek by Chris Owen (230 pages)
Torquere Press

This is the follow-up to Cheek to Cheek. Mal and Will have fallen into a comfortable relationship but they finally realize they have to tell their boss as it's against the rules to have couples working on the same shift. Mal's not thrilled as he keeps his personal life private, but they have no choice. In general people are okay with it, although Will's brother still seems to hate Mal for being white. When it's time to take the next step, Mal freaks and does something hurtful. Will's enforced "break" forces him to really decide what he wants from the relationship. There's no huge crisis here beyond a short break, but you see the relationship move from Mal denying it's anything but fuck buddies to serious status and you get to know Mal's family who were non-existent in the other book. You also get to see Drew (and Scott and Eric) from 9-1-1 which was fun as this overlaps with there 9-1-1 ended. A nice finale if a bit sweet for some people.

13 comments:

Chris said...

LOL about smiling except for when Tyler was dead! I have that Chris Owen - I just need to read it. :)

Chris said...

Oh, and I'm jealous you get Thursday of - it's Veteran's Day here and federal employees get the day off, but I have to work. I'm betting you spend the day in your pjs. :)

Tam said...

I have had it for a while too but when Eyre posted about it, it encouraged me to start it.

Yeah, it's kind of awkward being the only one off, but there is a provincial holiday in Feb. so I have to work but no school for kids. I hope they switch it, there's a motion in the legislature to do so, we'll see if it passes for next year.

Anonymous said...

Schools here are out on Thursday. I'm scheduling a nap. :)

The Chris Owen book was sweet, but you know I love sweet stories.

Average Reader said...

Great reviews, Tam! I didn't find Cheek to Cheek interesting enough to read the sequel, but the other ones sound intriguing.

Tam said...

It seems to be quite individual, I guess by State or Province what is open or closed that day Eyre. Enjoy your nap. :-)

Sweet is just the ticket sometimes Eyre.

Tam said...

It's more of the same in Turn the Other Cheek Val, more detail as it's longer and you get into the family dynamic a bit more but a very similar feel. I did enjoy it, but not my fave Chris Owen.

I really love the Bonded series. I know there is supposed to be a short in the future about how Henry came to be with them but this was a nice addition.

Lily said...

I really liked Faerie Bound, our mind-meld seems to be working on this one. Turn the Other Cheek's been in my TBR for ages. I'll get to it eventually.

I'm off on Thursday only because it's my usual day off otherwise I'd be at work. I usually miss most National Days off due to working in Credit Cards. Damned division is open 99.99% of the time. :)

Enjoy your day off. I vote for pj's and reading. I'll be at the doctor's and then with the kiddies. No rest for me.

Tam said...

Service departments rarely get days off Lily. Kind of sucks. I had Turn the Other Cheek for a long time too. Go figure. It was enjoyable.

Janna said...

Damn, your hottie is HOT!
Uhm, yeah nice book reviews too. ;) But gosh that first cover is ugly, isn't it?

Tam said...

Isn't he though Janna? I made him my wallpaper.

It's kind of busy but accurate. He does have looooong blond hair and red and blue wing tattoos with piercing that turn into his fairy wings. It just looks a bit messy but at least they tried to match the character. So I'll give them points for that.

Tracy said...

The Lygon books sound great. I haven't read the first book so I'll have to look that one up but the humor seems right up my alley.

Tam said...

I just adore the Bonded books Tracy. They are very funny and hit just the right note for me.