I read a couple of longer books, I do seem to find myself reading like mad for a couple of weeks then blahing out for a week or so, then reading again. Maybe it's hormonal? Can't women blame everything on hormones? that works for me.
Dreamspinner Press
on sale for $3.50 - about a cent a page - good value even if you only like half
This whole anthology revolves around stories featuring uniform wearing heroes. This includes fire fighters, police officers, soldiers and even a mailman. I can't go into detail of each one, there are too many, I've copied the table of contents below:
Chasing Jamie by Eric Arvin
Famished by Lou Harper
Delayed in San Diego by Pepper Espinoza
Hot Stuff by Maria Albert
Duty by Emily Moreton
Discovering Columbus by Shae Connor
Firehouse Flame by Paul Taylor
Sold! by K.R. Foster
Heat of the Moment by Dawn Douglas
Double Cross by Lesley Hastings
The Night Shift by Louise Blaydon
Jean-Paul by Ryan Loveless
Walk a Mile by G.R. Richards
Secrets and Lies by Jay Starre
The US Male by Lisa Worrall
Good Things Come… by Rowan McAllister
Like all anthologies, some will tickle your fancy and some less so. A couple of the ones that really caught my attention were: Famished, about a young man who purposely gets himself pulled over so that he can meet the hot motorcycle cop who pulled him over a few days ago, only he doesn't get a date, he gets a $175 ticket. Delayed in San Diego, about a young man going home to Utah after losing his savings in a bad investment, stuck at the airport due to weather, who meets a marine returning to Utah from Afghanistan. Heat of the Moment, about a doctor doing a 30 hour shift because of a bad building explosion, and the fire fighter brother of a badly injured fire fighter whose family shuts him out. The Night Shift, about a property clerk at the police station and the cop he strikes up a friendship with, and they dance around their attraction for months until an injury finally kick-starts them into a relationship. Jean-Paul, set in WWI Paris, a young man heading into battle questions his abilities and finds a young man in Paris to spend his last day with. (non-graphic m/f in this one but it fit). Good Things Come ..., about a fire fighter who wakes up very hungover, unsure what he did with a young art student who is NOT his type. His only thought is getting out of there fast, until he gets to know him, and maybe he might be his type if he opens his heart and mind. This last one was longer, a few chapters so you got to see the relationship develop more, even if it took place over about 24 hours.
So I'm sure there is something for everyone. A few historicals, all types of men in uniform and I have to confess, fire fighters are my fave, with police officers close behind. :-)
Torquere Press
This story follows two couples, although you only get to see the one couple from the perspective of the main pair which was interesting. Zane wants to be a director but as taken the job of personal assistant to one of the stars Elliot in order to get his foot in the door. They seem to hang out with Davey, a costume assistant and Cristiano the costume designer. Zane is straight (he doesn't count those men he was in bed with), Elliot is in the closet as many actors are, Davey and Cristiano are out and proud. Zane is attracted to Davey, and tries to avoid it until eventually he gives in to Davey's pursuit. Meanwhile Elliot and Cristiano start up a relationship as well. The story starts in Morocco where they are filming, then goes to Cairo and eventually Paris. The parts about how awful it was filming in the desert were great. Hot and dirty and you felt it. Zane runs hot and cold with Davey. Pushing him away, apologising and doing it over again. When Zane's out brother Ian arrives to visit, and hits on Davey, things come to a head and Zane finally confesses to his brother that he's sleeping with Davey, but by then Davey has dumped him for his behaviour. Ian insists they pursue Davey and win him back and ... oh god. Ian was great, his idea of romantic meant Zane ends up with a broken nose. Zane had his reasons for not wanting to admit he was Davey's boyfriend (that was a BIG deal for him - "I'm not his boyfriend" - Honey, you're bare-backing, exclusive and sleeping together every night, you're his boyfriend). As a rule the hot and cold, I'm not gay or freak out if anyone finds out, characters make me nuts and I hate it, but for some reason the author made me understand why Zane did it and while I didn't agree, I wasn't so annoyed I wanted to stop reading. I think it helped that Davey didn't take too much crap and called him on the carpet, and was willing to leave him if he didn't change. He wasn't a door mat. The story-line with Cristiano and Elliot was kind of running along with it's own drama and I really hope there is a follow-up story of Ian, who couldn't understand why Zane was pushing away an amazing guy who loved him, something he'd give anything for, just because people would know he's gay. So despite my reservations about in-denial-Zane, I ended up really liking this one.
3 comments:
I have Uniform Appeal. I just never seem to remember to read my anthologies. Hmm.
Not sure about the second one. Seems like I'd really want to slap characters.
Yay, bloggers back.
Normally I would have wanted to slap him too, but it seemed to work for me surprisingly. Or maybe the other story lines helped to keep it from being overwhelming. Not sure but I did enjoy it.
Anthologies can be hard to get into because of theme burn-out but the fact that this one mixes many different careers you get variety, from house fires to traffic stops to mail delivery.
Ok, I added Uniform Appeal to my smudgy post-it.
Yeah, been kind of a quiet day for comments in bloggerland, what with people not being allowed to leave them and all...
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