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


Sunday, December 12, 2010

Nasty Weather Sunday

We are having some nasty weather here today, although I know now as bad as some places in the Midwest. But we have freezing rain and I think I'll be canceling my daughter's riding lesson which is out in the country. We need to get our tree decorated anyway. Every year I swear I have to buy an extension cord to plug in the lights. What the heck do I do with that thing every year?

Well, my update got interrupted by a power outage of nearly an hour. Ooops. Let's hope that's not the first of many. We started decorating in the dark (very dark outside) and once the power came back on we stopped for breakfast and internet. LOL We'll get back to it soon and I've been told no green balls on the tree this year. Okay, she's the boss. Hope everyone stays warm and safe if you're somewhere getting hit by the storm.

Just One Bite by various authors (54 pages)
All Romance E-books

This is a free book at ARe which has six m/m paranormal shorts in it. Hey, it's free, you can't go wrong. I'll just give a quickie about each story.

The Unlikely Vamp by Scarlet Blackwell - Zacariah is a shy vamp who has his servant bring him home a willing dinner. Unexpectedly, Andrew shows up for dinner, Zacariah is NOT gay, he's sure. I liked how this tipped things with the human pursuing him, having seen him in a vamp club. Sort of a GFY in reverse.

Sacrifice by J.L. Merrow - Hearing tales of virgin sacrifice at the stone circles from his mother, Damien is determined to sacrifice his own virginity to gain back what he lacks after his rich father's rejection of him when he came out. He picks up Rafe in a bar and has it all figured out. But maybe the riches he'll gain aren't monetary after all, but something deeper with Rafe. A cute story.

One Last Wish by Josephine Myles - A retelling of the genie in the lamp, when surfer dude Scott finds Xavier and his lamp. Rather than wish for things for himself, he eventually frees Xavier who grants Scott a few extra wishes. *eyebrow waggle*

Mayan Time by Erik Orrantia - Shane has always been compelled to travel to Mexico and visit the temples despite the misgivings on his family and boyfriend's parts. In a temple finds Hanab, his lover he left centuries ago to travel through time. To be honest I was a bit confused here as I wasn't sure he stayed, left, what really happened or was happening. I don't deal well with that kind of paranormal brain twisting. :-)

Fire Can Make Rain by Nix Winter - This is a fantasy story set in a kingdom experiencing a severe drought. To make it rain a prince must marry a virgin bard. Jewls is chosen and he's nervous but it turns out his husband has been watching him and wanting him for some time and must soothe his fears of their wedding night (which comes complete with an audience).

The Hunter & the Hunted by Stevie Woods - Damian is a vamp who's been pursued by hunter Aaron for some time. He tends to toy with him, often ending up in bed which makes Aaron nuts. Finally when Aaron knows that Damian could kill him anytime he wants, he tries to understand why and is surprised that vamps have feelings and fall in love too.

These were all pretty good little reads all by some m/m authors I've enjoyed or heard good things about. They are very short but on the whole I enjoyed them and they are like a nice light snack when you need a break and hey, as I said FREE!!!!

Hope and Fears by Rowan Speedwell (60 pages)
Dreamspinner Press

This is a follow-up to Finding Zach which I haven't read but you don't need to. Brian is the author who wrote Zach's book, he's now teaching in Chicago and wrenched his injured knee and goes to a physio clinic. He meets Jerry and he's instantly attracted but Jerry is clear, he doesn't do hook-ups and Brian doesn't do relationships. He also hates Christmas and is more or less estranged from his family since he came out. He runs into a drunk Jerry and ends up taking him home and Jerry starts to dig as to why he hates Christmas and his relationship with his family, acting as the catalyst to bring them together. What I loved what that I was just in Chicago and it described the physio clinic as right where I'd been, at the skating rink at Millennium Park, so I was all "squeee". :-) This one made me cry, although I thought maybe Jerry was a bit pushy about the whole thing and I likely would have walked out, but it's a sweet story about reconnecting and getting past old hurts and starting over. I'm sure fans of Finding Zach will enjoy this little peek as there is much reference made to Zach.

17 comments:

Chris said...

I think I'm going to save the Rowan Speedwell until after I get up my nerve/angst reserves to read Finding Zach...

Must read that collection! It's on my reader...

Good luck getting the tree decorated and having electricity/internet for the day!!

Tam said...

I don't think it was nearly as angsty as the Zach book and as I said you don't NEED to read the other first but there would probably be a deeper level to it if you did.

The tree is almost done. No tinsel cause someone likes to eat it and it's not the kid or me. LOL Still can't find my stupid extension cord. Grrrr. But at least riding lessons were canceled. The pine tree out back looks lovely with each needle covered in a coat of ice, not so great for the roads.

wren boudreau said...

I hope you stay warm and well-powered! We had to give up the tinsel a long, long time ago, after a 2:00 AM visit to the emergency vet.

I hope you find your extension cord. I keep mine in with the Christmas lights for that very reason!

Veri: huslybu
Not sure why, but I love it.

Tam said...

So far we are still powered. :-) Luckily our kids haven't ever had problems with the tinsel, it managed to come out, but I don't want to take a chance.

Average Reader said...

Great reviews, Tam. I have that free anthology and I should dig it out and read it. And I know just what you mean about running across a specific setting in an m/m book that you know about in real life -- it's always a bonus! I really like that.

Tam said...

The anthology is a fast little read Val. It's fun when you read a description of somewhere you've been for real.

Janna said...

Both of these are on my ereader. I'm afraid the free anthology has to wait for a bit. That TBR gets scarier every day. ;)
Good to know that the second one can be read without reading Finding Zach first. I look forward to it. Nice reviews Tam!

Tam said...

I know what you mean Janna, the books just pile up. I didn't even realize I was reading a sequel until I got about half-way through and though the whole thing with Zach sounded familiar. Certainly not necessary though.

K. Z. Snow said...

It is kind of funny, though, to see an animal poop out tinsel. It's so...festive!

wren boudreau said...

KZ, you are an odd, odd woman.

Tam said...

LOL Yeah but when they are dragging a tinsel attached piece around behind them it's less so.

Sweet Vernal Zephyr said...

I totally loved the anthology as well. Read it being lazy in bed over Thanksgiving vacation. Highly suggest it!

Tam said...

That's a perfect way to read it Miranda. It was enjoyable.

Lily said...

I've got the anthology on my reader. Looking forward to it.

Hmm, I really loved Finding Zach, I'll have to add Hopes and Fears to my wish list.

It rained here most of the day which brought in another cold front. Tomorrow it will be 28F when I get up to take Alex to school. *shivers* So cold!! I know it's nothing compared to your weather but for me that is effing cold!!!!! :D

Jenre said...

I have the anthology on my reader too. It may be on there a while, even though it sounds really good :(.

I'm seriously getting behind with my Advent reading! I have 3 unread and one half read (which I must finish cos I think I'm supposed to review it tomorrow - eek!) This is what happens when you get dragged off overnight to somewhere with no internet access. Oh well, I got some other stuff read instead :).

Tam said...

That is cold for Florida Lily. My friend just went to Orlando for work, he may be wishing he was back in DC. :-) If you read Finding Zach then I think you'll appreciate the sequel even more although Zach is not the "star" of the book, he's definitely a presence.

Tam said...

Good luck Jen. Yeah, your weekend was kind of a bust, hopefully you can get back in the groove this week when things settle down. When are your kids finished school for the holiday? This is our last week.