Anthology Thursday

Okay, it's not really an alliteration per se, but close. It's my last day of work today. Yay. Canada Day tomorrow. Not sure if we'll go downtown or not. There are going to be a bazillion people here because William and Kate are visiting. They will be showing up at noon which means if I want to get close enough to see them I probably have to be there are 9:00 waiting and bored. My kidlet is not all that keen, especially as I'd have to pick her up at her Dad's even earlier. So maybe we'll skip it, perhaps go down for fireworks at 10:00. We'll see. A three-day weekend is always a bonus though. :-)

British Flash (87 pages)
Smashwords (Free)

This is a small collection of flash fiction (2-3 pages each) with a distinctly British flavour. I won't go into each one, but it's free so you have no excuse not to pick it up yourself. Some are quirky and amusing, some are memories of love lost, some tackle more serious themes. There are historicals, contemporaries and even a very appropriate paranormal with a perfect ending to the whole anthology. There are also a couple of f/f and and m/m/f so if you wanted to try one of those but didn't want to pay for it, here's your chance to see if you like it in a couple of pages. All excellent authors with different visions of Britain.

This anthology is a souvenir of the 2011 UK Meet, an occasion for GLBTQ supporters to get together in a relaxed setting to celebrate and chat about the fiction community they love. I'm looking forward to the Tea and Crumpet anthology which will be on sale soon with more comprehensive stories with a popular British flavour. 

Skater Boys edited by Neil Plakcy (265 pages)
Cleis Press


This is a paper book *gasp* that I picked up after Kassa recommended it. It's been in my purse forever and I would pull it out and read a story when I was stuck waiting somewhere. There is something for everyone here, but as the by-line reads "gay erotic stories". Some have a definitely romantic bent, and some are pure one-off erotica pieces. Some I adored, some I skimmed. :-) When you're screaming at the character (in my head of course, I do have some sense of decorum) "Are you f-ing nuts? He's a stranger for god's sake, wrap that sucker up!", probably not a favourite story. Some were kind of sad, some were funny and some left you thinking. So if you're in the mood for some hot skater action, or some more straight up erotica with only the slightest dash of romance, it's well done. As I said, not every story will likely appeal which speaks to the breadth of the stories. They aren't just all the same-old-same-old. It was worth a read.

Thousand Word Thursday - Free Story

Eden Winters sometimes posts about the Thousand Word Thursdays at Cryselle's Bookshelf. Every Thursday she posts a pic, and invites people to write 100-1000 word stories about it. So when I saw this one I was inspired. Of course the world would come to an end if I wrote anything less than the limit, so at about 996 words, you get Late ... Again. 

Just click on the boy above and it will take you to the story. Have a great Wednesday everyone. 

Old and New

 

So, life is ... bleh (possibly looking up but not holding my breath). Whatever. I'm trying to maintain my "whatever" attitude. Sigh. It's a short week, what more can I want. Let's not discuss it shall we?

So what is the point of my title, and cute pic? Today I have two books. One I bought June 23, 2011 and one that was one of the oldest in my TBR file. It's been there since November 18, 2009. Wow huh? 

Fighting Chance by Viki Lyn (193 pages) [The new one]
Loose Id

This is a follow-up to Last Chance which I quite enjoyed. Corbin has been "babysitting" vampire Johan for awhile now, and giving him the serum to hopefully turn him back to a human. And hating every freaking minute of it. It pisses him off to no end, that he can't just kill Johan, and what pisses him off more is his physical attraction to him. When Corbin is selected to take a test to make him the ultimate warrior for his people, he's forced to take Johan along, and when Johan finds out Corbin's plan is to go after the vamp who killed his father, Johan insists he's going to help, even though Corbin is a miserable SOB most of the time. There's some angry sex, and Corbin's insistence that he hates Johan, and he could never be human and should die. I got a bit tired of Corbin's constant negativity. He kept on about how he couldn't have a relationship because of what he did, blah blah blah. But yet his people have babies, his father had a relationship with is mother, so what makes you so damn special, besides a chip on your shoulder? I was really feeling for Johan, and thinking he should have pushed Corbin in the pit, and gone and got himself a boyfriend who appreciates him. :-) In the end it all works out I suppose, but Corbin got a bit tiresome. I would have liked to see something happen with the mother here, since she rejected Corbin for being gay, but seems to accept his GFY brother no problem. A nice family confrontation would have been nice.

Bound And Determined  by Jane Davitt and Alexa Snow (190 pages) [the old one]

Loose Id

Sterling is a young man who is pretty sure he wants to be a dom. He goes with his friend Alex to a club where he runs into his freshman English professor. He suddenly realizes he wants to be a sub, and wants Owen to train him. Owen is NOT interested. He remembers Sterling was a smart-ass student and, just that, he's a student which could be troublesome. Eventually Sterling wears him down, and he agrees with some conditions. Most of the book is Sterling figuring things out, he pushes, Owen punishes, Sterling changes tack, they fight, they make-up. While it doesn't sound like much, it was really very good, and seeing Owen's confusion about a sub he would normally kick to the curb, but he couldn't help caring about was good, along with Sterling figuring out what it all meant to him and his reasons for submission. There is lots of talking, how he felt about different acts, what he needs and wants and learning on both sides. There's no smug dom, Owen screws up a few times, as does Sterling, and his father is certainly a prize. But on the whole if you like a BDSM read (and there's not much beyond some heavy duty spanking and bondage), more on the D/s side, it's a well written book and I was happy that it all worked out for them, despite their issues.

Gay Pride Month

I have nothing in the book realm today. Well, I've been submersing myself in the fictional world the last few days as a way to avoid dealing with the real world (healthier than crack and vodka I suppose), but I came across a few pics of Pride Parades around the world really so thought I'd post some that caught my eye.

Gay partners Mike McDonald (L) and Joey Infante (R) during the New York City gay pride march. The New York state legislature voted June 24 to become the sixth state in the US to legalize same-sex marriage. The New York city couple have been together for 31 years

A storm trooper supports gay rights during the 2011 Gay Pride Parade in Manhattan. (Love it)

OMG. So cute. In a little baby carrier. LOL

 A massive rainbow fro in NY.

A participant runs under a rainbow flag during a gay pride parade in central Istanbul June 26, 2011.

Christopher Goeken, left, his partner Glenn Magpantay, right, and their son Malcolm Magpantay, 4, from the Queens borough of New York, smile before the start of the Gay Pride Parade, Sunday, June 26, 2011, in New York. Goeken and Magpantay have been together for 18 years.

Revellers take part in a gay pride parade in San Salvador June 25, 2011.

Revellers pose for a photograph during a gay pride parade in Mexico City June 25, 2011. Thousands of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights activists participated in the annual parade.

San Francisco 2011. Seriously tie-dye chaps. How cool is that?

San Francisco again.

People carry a rainbow flag during the 15th Gay Pride Parade in Avenida Paulista in Sao Paulo June 26, 2011. More than 3 million LGBTs (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders) took part in the annual Sao Paulo Gay Pride Parade, making it the world's largest gay pride march, according to Brazilian tourism authorities. (3 million! Ack!)

Men kiss in the Place de la Bastille in Paris as they attend the 10th Gay Pride parade in Paris June 25, 2011.

The Windy City Cowboys perform on Halsted Street during the annual Gay Pride Parade in Lakeview. (Chicago)

 

 

Armand Collins and Rich White, from left, both of South Bend, carry a flag with members of American Veterans for Equal Rights on Halsted Street during the annual Gay Pride Parade in Lakeview.

 

 

Demonstrators attend the Europride gay rights march in Rome, Saturday, June 11, 2011. The Europride parade, held every year in a different European city, ends Saturday evening in Circus Maximus, a grassy field where ancient Romans would gather for entertainment, where Lady Gaga is expected to sing "Born This Way".

 

Looks very cool to see the rainbow flags in front of something as ancient as the Colliseum.



Gay rights supporters take part in the Gay Pride Parade in New Delhi.

Many Canadian celebrations are later in the summer. Although Toronto is this coming weekend. My city has it at the end of August and I know Montreal and Vancouver celebrate in July. I believe London is this coming weekend as well.

For those of you who attended your parades, hope you had fun. I'm looking forward to ours later in the summer.

Celebratory Saturday!

 

So last night was a very special night for many of my friends. NY State passed the same sex marriage bill, and now ANYONE can get married (if they are crazy enough ;-) I kid, I kid. It's great that it's an option for anyone who wants it. Choices are always good. Congrats to those of you who fought so hard, getting the word out, phoning your senators and bringing world-wide attention to the fight. Y'all did great and I'm proud of you. May other states follow in NY's foot steps.

Oh and I believe Sweet Corn also got voted official state vegetable. Big shout out to corn on the cob!

Except for the good news about NY, I've been kind of blah. Feeling down. Ick. Work is not going well these days, and I'm feeling a bit under-appreciated. It will get better I know but for right now it kind of sucks and means sleep issues. Plus the pouring rain the last couple of days haven't helped. I did get some reading done though.

Unchaste by Mia Watts (68 pages)
Resplendence Publishing

Flynn is a native American shifter who feels compelled to check out wood henge which was supposedly built by his ancient ancestors. While there, something weird happens and he wakes to find himself the captive of two native warriors. At first he thinks it's a gag, but soon realizes he has gone back in time and that he's in a society ruled by a high priest who is a shifter. They two men talk about "testing" him, and it becomes clear that the high priest must be gay and there is a test to see if he can be aroused by women, and the current high priest in training is a bad guy who gets off on creating tension and blood shed. Both Koda and Amara were childhood friends who are now in conflict over power, however both believe it's their task by the jobs to keep Flynn chaste before the test. Little do they realize he's as gay as they come and this is right up his alley and he soon realizes that it's up theirs as well, although their culture doesn't allow for gay warriors. After the big show-down with the bad guy, Flynn decides to defy convention and take the two men as his spouses rather than the bevy of twinks that are usually reserved for priests. This is kind of a wild twist on time travel and shifters and menage. It's very sexy and each character was quite distinct. I found Amara a bit of an ass, but he came around, especially once he accepted his desire for Koda and Flynn. If you're in the mood for something sexy and a bit different a good choice.

Telling the Truth by Lee Brazil (72 pages)
Breathless Press

This is book two in the Truth or Dare series. While I enjoyed much of Keeping House, the insta-love kind of ruined the ending for me. This book does not suffer that. And oh, lookey here, me and menage again ... wheee. Dex and Trick, twin friends of Mischa from book 1, have caught the eye of older brother Terry. He's recently admitted he's gay, but is far too shy to act on his attraction to the two whom he sees often at Mischa's house, but when Mischa recommends he find a gay bar and check out the action, he ends up running into them, and it seems the twins have been hot for him as well. They have a great night and are thrilled that Terry wants them both, however when leaving in the morning are confronted by older brother Brandon who tells them to get out, and threatens to reveal their secret. Even though Terry tried to contact them, they decide it's best to just stay away causing much distress on all sides as Trick falls into a depression due to the threats. This is twincest, although they don't "do it" all the way. I know that's not everyone's cup of tea, but I did like both guys even if there was the typically fragile optimistic twin with his more jaded brother watching over him, and I was glad that Terry gave his brother hell for what he said. You also find out about the child Mischa and his BF adopted and that he's older and has special needs, which makes the all too sweet ending in book 1, much more palatable. So while I know this book won't be for everyone, I still enjoyed the author's style, a bit of humour and the fact that Terry had known the twins for 6 months before they got together made the fact that they moved quickly after that seem more acceptable.

Wednesday again?

Yeah, I'm feeling kind of blahbitty. Nothing in particular, just kind of blech. I can't seem to focus much. Read 5 pages, check twitter, read 3 pages, post something. I think it's my usual up and down slump I tend to hit with regularity.

On the upside. Thanks to everyone who said such nice things about Winterlude. I really appreciate it and you made my first release pain-free. When I get my first 1-star review I'll come back and cry. :-)

I took my daughter driving for the first time ever on Sunday. We went to the big arena parking lot which was blessedly empty and she just kind of drove around. We had a bit of whiplash to begin, as she adjusted to the brake, and I'm glad there were no cars she was going past, but she did okay. The hardest thing was trying to describe going in reverse. For the life of me I couldn't use words to describe which way you turn the wheel when you want to go left or right. It was weird. I can do it, I just can't tell you how to do it. LOL She's not ready for the road yet, but we'll head out a few more times before she tries out quiet neighborhood. I only had the urge to press my foot to the floor a couple of times, so not too bad.

I did read a couple of things on the weekend.

Elderflower: Let's Get Familiar by Amylea Lyn (75 pages)
Torquere Press

This cute short starts with Brian taking his boyfriend of 6 months to meet his mother and sister. However it all goes to hell, again, when his family who are witches (Brian is a null with no power) scare him off claiming it's for his own good because he's not right. He was number 7 they've done that too. Later that night during a storm he takes in a stray cat and after drowning his sorrows in beer and whining to the cat, he decides on a whim to try one of his grandmother's spells to find a mate. When he wakes up in the morning, he's in bed with a very sexy guy ... with a tail and ears. There were things I loved in this story, Tom, the cat-man was perfect. He was aggressive in the bedroom, but a typical cat outside, curling up in the sun to sleep, watching the birds out the windows, eating tuna, very sweet. I liked Brian when wasn't around his family, I hated his family. It was a classic case of "we can do whatever we want and get away with it, as long was we say 'it's because we love you'". Somehow that makes any disrespectful treatment acceptable. And he got sucked into it. He couldn't be angry with them because "they loved him". *bangs head on wall* That's a personal thing for me and most people probably found it endearing or even funny. It makes me buggy. However Tom was so cute and cuddly I could live with it, and his family did kind of fade out, or become less obnoxious, after the first bit, with the focus on Brian and Tom. So if that kind of interfering family doesn't bug you, you'll love this (stalker alert), but as I said, Tom made it worth it, even with my little hissy fit.

All Stirred Up by ZA Maxfield (173 pages)
MLR Press

This is a follow-up to Stirring Up Trouble with Brendan, the twin brother. Following his experience with a fatal car/pedestrian accident that killed some acquaintances and nearly his mother, Brendan is suffering from PTSD, although denies it. However his company tells him go and get yourself fixed or else and they hire a psychiatrist to accompany him to a rehab. He is not happy but eventually agrees he needs help. However within hours he and Dirk are tossed off the plane and having sex in an airport bathroom. Dirk quickly removes himself from the case but after a few panic attacks they decide to drive from Dallas to Santa Fe, leading to more adventures in a Walmart and a small town. Eventually they make it and Dirk leaves, leaving Brendan to his therapy. The therapy is a success and Brendan is warned off Dirk by Dirk's father (owner of the rehab) who wants him to marry a woman. Eventually his family prods him into finding Dirk. This was a bit over the top. Really, you had sex with your client within hours? I know it's all about "I don't normally do this but you obviously make me crazy" but come on. You were 28, not 18. I also wanted to know what had happened to Dirk while they were apart. Was he really back with his ex-GF as his father said? It was never addressed again. It was an entertaining read, although I found Brendan's coping with the PTSD and the accident itself more intriguing than the romance, although it was hot sex.

Release Day!

Ack. Panic attack. Panic attack. Pass the xanax. I'm never going to Good Reads again. 0_o

Anyway, panic attack, and need of good drugs aside, today is the day my Torquere Sip Winterlude is released. I am over at the TQ Livejournal site off and on all day, so stop by and say hi, and you too could win a free copy. :-) Hopefully you'll learn some more about me (most of you here probably know EVERYTHING already) and about the background to the story and maybe there'll be some eye candy later in the day. Because no release day is complete without cookies.

Blurb:

Eric hates the cold weather and his broken down car, which means venturing out on foot into the sub-zero temperatures. Navigating the icy sidewalks, he runs into Omar, literally. An impromptu hot coffee on the cold day finds that tattooed and pierced Eric, and government IT guy Omar, might have more in common than they expected. When Omar is called away, before he can get his number, Eric believes it may only have been a pleasant winterlude to temporarily distract him from the cold, or is there a possibility his winter will get a lot warmer?

Finally Friday

Boy it seemed like a long week, even though I was off work Wed. afternoon. Why was I off work? Because I had to take the kidlet to the DMV to write her driver's test. Ack! My baby is old enough to drive. It's a rather long process of hurry up and wait there, but she passed with 100%. Now we have to find a very large empty parking lot for her to try driving. She's never driven ever so I think we better start somewhere with no people or cars. LOL She's not allowed to drive without someone in the car for at least a year. It's a very strict system here, learner permit at 16 for one year, license with restrictions for one year and then another test for a regular license. It's kind of weird.

Oh and why do so many people at the DMV smell bad? And why do they always seem to sit next to me?

What else? My friend Nathan and his sister came and stayed with us for a few days. I spent Sun. evening with them but they were busy the other days with friends and family so I didn't really see them. To say thanks he went all the way to the gay bookstore to buy me a book because he knows what I read. He had no clue what he was, buying so he saw something with a sexy cowboy on it and picked it up. Later when they were looking at the book with friends, they discovered he somehow managed to grab the only book in the entire gay bookstore that is m/f. LOL It's a Samhain book called Cowboy Fever. Why on earth they had an m/f book in there I have no clue. Anyway, today after work I'll head over and see if I can exchange it. It was too funny.

That's about it for the week. I only read one long book, and I've had it in my TBR for about 2 years. Sheesh. Blah, still no work on the job front but some options kicking around. Same old same old. Have a great weekend.

Warrior's Cross by Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux (302 pages)
Dreamspinner Press

Cameron has the same client every Tuesday at his restaurant. He's crushing but the guy doesn't even talk, until one night, after work they hook up and before long they have a semi-regular thing, however Cameron has no idea what Julian does. It's all mysterious and people are afraid of him. We know Julian kills people, but we don't know why or for whom. Eventually it comes out that Cameron could be in danger because of his relationship with Julian and finally Cameron says it's too much, not knowing if Julian will come back or not. Eventually after breaking up, a man shows up looking for Julian and when he threatens Cameron, basically Julian lets himself get into a show-down, leading to his death. Or is he? When the bad guy comes after Cameron six months later, the truth comes out. Well, half-assed truth. It was an okay story, I liked it and yet I  had issues. Cameron NEVER asks what the hell Julian does. Who pays him, why he kills people, etc. And Cameron feel soooooo guilty because he told Julian to take a hike. Umm, the guy lied to you about EVERYTHING, you wouldn't be in danger if he hadn't hooked up with you, he let you think he was dead for 6 months and would have forever if you hadn't been kidnapped. WTF? YOU feel guilty? And you forgive him after one punch and an "I'm sorry"? Uh no. So I'm torn because as I said, I liked it, but I was left really mystified how any sane person would just accept all the "trust me, I can't tell you" when you know the guy lied his ass off to you, and you feel guilty when calling him on the bullshit. Twisted.

Author Fan Letter Blog Crawl

It's my turn to gush today. Thanks to Amy over at My Friend Amy who had a great letter yesterday, and I hope you'll follow me to Fiction Vixen's place tomorrow to see who her letter it addressed to.  Also a big thanks to Kassa for organizing this whole experience.


Dear Ms. Huff,

I first discovered your books about four years ago, when I switched from reading almost exclusively detective fiction, to reading paranormal romances. Your Blood Books came up on a forum I was on at Amazon, and as I was just getting my feet wet in the whole shifter/vampire world, I was taking recommendations, and picked them up and loved every minute of them.

When I discovered your Smoke series I may have squeed out loud, or at the very least in my head. And when I found out Tony and Henry were in a relationship, I probably swooned slightly. This was before I had discovered m/m romance, but I knew it was how it should be for those two. Even though their relationship didn’t last, I was so totally in love with Tony at that point, I was okay with that, especially when he set his sights on Lee.

I couldn’t put the books down. I was caught laughing out loud on airplane - to my daughter’s total embarrassment - and I was rather sad when I got the end of the third book, and there was no more to follow. I would definitely love to see Tony and Lee move forward. (Any chance begging would help me see that?) I also came to love the secondary characters who all had their own personalities that leapt off the page.

Those books were the first time I became seriously invested in fictional characters, and remain so years later. I may have written you, in total outrage, when I read a production company was going to turn Tony into a girl, and “ruin” my favourite books. How could they DO that to me? You so kindly replied, and explained how it all works, and while totally selfish, I’m happy to see it hasn’t happened yet.

Your use of humour in your work, without turning it into a slapstick comedy, it something I would aspire to in my own writing, and to this day, those three books still rank up there with my favourite stories of all time. I am also immensely proud to claim to be a fellow-Canadian, and your Canadian settings just bring those books even closer to my heart. So thank you, for introducing me to such amazing characters, and making me care about fictional people, in a way that still slightly freaks me out. :-)

Tam

Clickon the button on the left to see the whole

schedule of bloggers participating in this event.

Monday Mumbling - A Boy and His Dog

 
Okay, maybe not necessarily HIS dog, but a dog, or a cat, or a gerbil, or horse. Inspired by Kris' comment last week about vets, I thought I'd mention some of my fave vet books. There's something about a guy who loves and animals and wants to take care of them that makes you go all smooshy inside.

So some of my fave vets have been:

In A Sure Fire Cure by Kate Steele, shy repressed vet Dean is swept off his feet by horse-rancher Scott, while dealing with a nasty politician father, and a stalker (sorry Chris, this is older, so stalker were new then LOL).

Once Upon a Veterinarian by Drew Zachary found vet Ben and cop Tim meet on a case of pet poisoning and have a bit of trouble getting together, no thanks to Ben's obliviousness to his female partner's no so subtle sabotage of his relationship.

Newly graduated vet student Wally, tags along with his friend Phillip when he goes to visit rancher Dakota in Andrew Grey's Shared Range. A cute story of a closeted rancher finding love.

Florist Jude finds vet Rex, new to town when he needs help for his cat in Shawn Lane's Twice in a Lifetime. Another sweet one with Jude a bit nervous about starting a new relationship.

Man and Wolf by Kate Roman has wolf-shifter Rob meets vet Jamie when his dog falls ill and there is instant attraction, combined with a government conspiracy that Rob has run from, a psycho animal control officer and a funny little dog they adopt.


So, any favourite vets I've missed? I'm sure there are. Do you find a guy with an animal makes you just go "awwwww"?

Saturday Update

So I should be cleaning,but hey, it's 10:00 and I've already cleaned up my living room more or less. My kid's alarm went off at 7:00 this morning and it woke me up. So wrong on a Saturday. My friend Nathan, who came and stayed with us last summer, is coming tomorrow to stay for a few days which means house cleaning. It was a last minute decision so I didn't have time to plan my cleaning. LOL I was talking to my neighbor and he is like me, he said it's a good thing people come to visit, or he'd never clean. Yep.

Our heat wave has passed and it's going to be cool for the next while, we'll coolish, low 20's C. For someone with no central air that's a good thing and I'm not complaining. Have a great weekend everyone.

Bases Loaded by Sean Michael (276 pages)
Torquere Press

Brett is a pro baseball player whose shoulder was injured and he may not play again. He's been drowning his sorrows in a bottle but his team has made arrangement for him to go to a private rehab place for several months as a kind of last chance. He just wants to play out his contract then retire. His partner Benj goes with him. Brett is surly, angry at the world and the couple who run the centre, Jean (who deals with the nutrition side) and physiotherapist Ralph have difficulty getting Brett to get with the program, especially the mental/emotional side. It's almost like two stories because there is lots of Jean and Ralph and their sex-life (it is Sean Michael of course) and then Brett and Benj, and their efforts to get their life back on track. All this is derailed by discovery of another illness requiring Brett to have brain surgery as well. Jean didn't like Brett, but I didn't mind him, even if he's surly he always treated Benj well, and Benj is kind of your typical Sean Michael twink, sweet and adorable. The thing that might make some people crazy is Jean is a Cajun and "talks" with an accent and sometimes it took me a while to get into it. It wasn't bad after awhile but at first it would kind of slow me down as I adjusted to his accent. Lots of sex, I may have skimmed some, and some angst, but really two couples madly in love, and that part is never the conflict, it's the outside force of Brett's injuries.

Becoming His by Shawn Lane
Amber Allure

I'm not going to go into too much detail here as Jenre will be reviewing this on BER in the coming weeks, however this is the continuation of Accidentally His which I reviewed. Kirk's stripper friend Toby and Elijah's bi actor brother Lucas. When they meet up on the set, Lucas finally breaks up with his girlfriend so he can pursue Toby. He thinks Toby is hot, but the whole dating a stripper while you are trying to be an actor has problems and while Lucas claims he's fine with Toby's career, yeah, not so much. While at the end Lucas promises to not bug Toby about it and that he's fine with him stripping, I just didn't buy it. Sure he says that, but could he really sacrifice his career for a relationship with a stripper? Somehow I don't see this ending well, and sometimes it's hard for me to get past my cynicism even in the romance world. :-) Toby was adorable though.

Cup Check by Stephani Hecht (100 pages)
eXtasy Books

Team Captain Kip has been attracted to young Sergei and befriended him but never said anything because he fears his chances at the NHL will be lost if he's gay. However when they run into each other at a gay bar and have angry sex in the rain in the parking lot (really?), Sergei thinks there might be something until Kip makes it clear he'll never come out and Sergei should keep his mouth shut as well. However during the play-offs against Sergei's old team (where he took a lot of awful abuse for being gay), Sergei is very badly injured and Kip finally realizes he'd rather have him than even a career in the NHL. I really liked Sergei and felt for him and all the crap he's put up with along with his parents' treatment of him for being gay. I was angry on his behalf for the abuse he took at the hands of his old team, however I would have made Kip suffer way more. No no to sex in the parking lot Sergei. Bad move hon. Bad move. But it's a sweet story set in the hockey world.

Happy Hump Day!

Ah, it's been awhile. What to report. Umm, last Sunday was the awards ceremony for the high school plays/musicals in our city. My daughter went and it's a very fancy event for them all. This was the dress we hunted high and low for in Toronto. Originally $135, on sale for $81. The shoes were $50. The advantage is because the dress is a heavy cotton, she can wear it just for other less formal events. It's not covered in sequins or lace. I thought she looked cute. Her musical that she was in, The Drowsy Chaperone was nominated for 16 awards and they won 7 including Best Musical. They were very excited.

Otherwise not a lot of other excitement. It's getting to be summery here. It's much warmer and summer has finally arrived. Hope everyone else is getting a break, not too hot, not too cold, no tornadoes or other wacky weather.

GhosTV by Jordan Castillo Price (379 pages
JCP Books

This is book 6 in the PsyCop series and picks up shortly after the other one leaves off. Vic tries to contact Lisa in LA and it seems she's disappeared, along with her roommate. Vic and Jacob head out to help find her and get sucked in by the feds who regulate the psychs, Dreyfuss. Vic doesn't trust him, or like him, but he doesn't have much choice and as a reward gets his own GhosTV to play while trying to use it's tricks to find Lisa. It's suspected a wacky group of religious freaks against psychs are behind the disappearances and soon another professor and the Director of the school Lisa was attending are also missing and the TV is giving Vic some new powers of his own. It was great to see Vic and Jacob again and I loved that they are still madly in love and it was kind of nice to see their insecurities come to the fore in this one, and work their way through that. If you like you books with a touch of the spooky and mysterious this is an excellent choice as the paranormal aspect is right up front as usual. I'm glad there is another book because my jaw dropped along with Vic's at the end of the book. Wah? :-) Anyway, a must read for fans of the series and for those who haven't read these books, what are you waiting for? They're perfect for a weekend or vacation binge read.

Snapshots and Bylines by Stephani Hecht (75 pages)
eXtasy Books

This book is kind of divided into two parts. The first 2/3 of the book is Sammy and Marc as high school graduates who have been best friends since Sammy moved to town. Although they knew each other was gay, they finally get together and it's amazing being each others first. However Marc's Mom is a loser and abusive and when she reveals some information he is sure will cause Sam to hate him, at the same time she's up and moving them to another town, he leaves without telling Sammy why, and it breaks Sammy's heart, he thinks he's been used. Years later, Marc is a film maker who wasn't to do a film using Sammy's GLBT centre and despite his feelings Sammy agrees and their friends decide it's time for the two to talk, whether they like it or not. To be honest I thought Sammy gave in too quickly. LOL Yeah, I'm mean that way. Apparently Marc had been talking to their friends for years but refused to contact Sammy and everyone was "but you didn't contact him". Umm, yeah, he didn't walk out without a word. It wasn't on him to explain or ask forgiveness. I wouldn't have minded the ending being more drawn out as most of the story was them at age 18 rather than at age 30something, but the romance of friends to lovers as kids was sweet and intense as young love often is and Sammy's elderly neighbor was a hoot.

The Wicca Man: Tongue Tied by Emily Veinglory (98 pages)
Loose Id

Sean is a college professor and practicing Wiccan in a world where vampires exist but it is due to a possible disease. People just wake up one day, completely changed and forgetting their past lives, turning into violent vampires. One night on his way home, Sean is nearly attacked and without thinking enthralls the vampire to save himself, leaving Thane thinking he's in love with Sean. Sean has never acted on his attraction to men and feels guilty for enthralling the vampire and tries to figure out how to reverse it, however Thane is very persuasive. Before long he's kicked out of his coven for enthralling a vamp and is blackmailed into helping some powerful wizards. It was a bit different, with vamps being mysteriously created and wizards very powerful but more interested in using their power to get more office space at the university than rule the world. But ... oh ... my ... god. I wanted to slap Sean so badly. He was such a wet rag. He seemed to have no opinion, no backbone whatsoever. He's being sexually harassed by his TA and just takes it. He avoids everything and everyone, ugh. He does finally suck it up when Thane is captured by the evil wizards but even then he was such a blah character I didn't really care and had no clue why Thane was attracted to him either. This seems to be the first in a series as it kind of sets it up for the wizards to come after him and he's banded together with the vamps. Would I read another one? Maybe. It just didn't cut it for me, maybe for Thane and the vampire queen (or sorts). For Sean? Not so much.