Work is slow

So I've had a chance to read a few shorts and I'm a fast reader. I think I read today's DSP Christmas thing in 17 min. before I left home this morning. So it looks like a lot, okay, it is a lot, hush up and let me live in my own little world kay?

The Dickens With Christmas by Josh Lanyon (75 pages)



A few points. a) What the hell is that guy wearing? A belly vest? Are those in? b) When you open this file you go "Oooooh, nearly a 100 pages of Lanyon goodness, only to realize that the last 25 pages are ads for other Loose-Id books. Hmmm. Moving on. James, a book authenticator is hired to check out a rare Dickens Christmas novel Sedgewick is auctioning off. (British - because no American would name their child Sedgewick). James has a past where he got tangled up in a murder/forgery thing 3 years ago so is forced to work for some unsavoury clients but needs the cash. He meets Sedgewick and under unusual circumstances he ends up getting together with him but even though the sex is hot they always seem to get into some kind of tiff and James storms off. There are some other things that keep them apart but I won't go into details. I felt for James, losing everything when he was innocent, having to work at Barnes and Noble to pay the bills (although I'd like to think that was my dream job). You don't find out much about Sedgewick except for what he tells. There is lots of humour, some of it a bit dark but on the whole a great read for the season (or anytime really).

Two Christmases by Anne Brooke (25 pages)


Danny has been living with his older lover Jake for 9 months, he's tried to change his ways, easing off the drugs and booze but one night gets high/drunk and sleeps with his ex who did not take their break-up well and decides to blow the whistle on him the week or so before Christmas. Danny tries to apologise but knows he screwed up. He tells his boss everything and his boss offers him drug/alcohol counselling in order to keep his job. A year later he meets up with Jake again and they see if they can start over. I really liked this story as it went from Danny thinking he had things under control in his life (obviously not since he had sex with his ex) and a statement that showed this was "I was off the drugs, almost." Umm. you were off or you weren't. It wasn't heroin or anything but still. The story was told from Danny's perspective and as he worked his way through the crap and counselling and accepted responsibility for why he did what he did. It certainly wasn't a sugary Christmas story, dealing with the effects of drugs and alcohol on someones life but it does leave you with the potential for a much healthier Danny and Jake to have a HEA. I really enjoyed it. No smexin'. :-)

Silver & Gold by Devon Rhodes (66 pages)


Although this has a different cover it's part of the DSP thing. The cover. Sigh. Is he with his Grandpa? I'm sorry. In the book he's only 12 years younger, he looks 22 years younger here. Not that the older guy isn't good looking but .... Okay, Geoff is just divorced (from a woman) and suddenly his first love (a boy) gets in touch and says "Let's get together over Christmas." He gets very excited but kind of freaked about his age. He tries to color his silver hair but Abe, his secretary's gay stylist refuses because he thinks it looks great. Abe and Geoff get together and have wild monkey sex and good times for a week but Abe finds out Geoff plans on reuniting with his ex and the tears begin. Sigh Too many tears. He's only known him a week or less. I would be pissed off, finding out you were the practice fuck for the ex, but Abe is heartbroken especially when he overhears Geoff talking to the ex and making it sound like Abe is nothing. So Geoff goes home and realizes he wants Abe, not the ex and then has to make it right. Abe cries some more. I liked Abe but he did tend to cry a lot for me. Not that I'm against boys crying, really, I don't, but in perspective. I also have issues where people fall in love in a week. I know with Christmas stories unless you involve characters who've been in a relationship it's hard to cram in a HEA into the Christmas season. Granted it seems to start on Nov. 1 at 00:01 hours, but I have issues with declaring yourself in love within 72 hours. *shrug* That's me, a personal thing. Nothing wrong with the story, just my little niggle.

Gay for Pay by Kim Dare (48 pages)



Ben Smith (niggle, sometimes he's referred to as Smith, sometimes Ben, I prefer first names, just me) is pissed because he has to chase after his rich client's spoiled son who has "run away". He finds him in a low-class BDSM club as part of the slave auction where he claims to be "gay for pay". So Ben buys Nate to save his ass and takes him back to the hotel. He finds out that Nate is really submissive (or wants to be) but for some twisted reason won't admit he's gay but wants a master. So naturally Ben is pleased since he's been lusting after Nate all along and is a dom. They go home and Ben confronts Nate's dad about the "not gay" thing and seems his father knows Nate's a gay submissive and is afraid some guy will take advantage of him. But a woman won't? Get a clue mister, we can be just as evil as the boys. Anyway, Ben declares he will take care of Nate *wink* *wink* and Nate's dad is fine with that. Okay. There's some hot smexin' but I thought Nate's Dad was pretty naive if he thought marrying a woman would protect his son. An okay read.

Finding Love by Simone Anderson (75 pages)



I've never read this author before. Nick gets a phone call that his ex Tristan has disappeared. He is on medical leave from the Chicago PD after being shot. He rushes home and they find Tristan chained in a shed wearing a mask. Seems someone has been sending Tristan messages saying they are going to kill Nick which is kind of weird since they've been split up for a year after Nick couldn't admit to loving Tristan. (BDSM relationship) So they spend a lot of time screwing around and getting more freaky threats in the mail and trying to figure out who the hell is doing this. Some things that weren't really made clear were the fact that Tristan's brothers and sister seem to hate him because he's gay I guess, they make reference to it but you don't really find out the whole thing and then there is reference to Tristan's "body sensitivity" issue which makes him less than perfect and the reason Nick couldn't love him? Huh? I wasn't sure. But if you have an overly sensitive body, would you be into getting whipped? Wouldn't that be too much? And he's a martial arts teacher. You take some hits to the body. So they just made reference to this body thing but didn't explain what it was or why it was a problem. Nick was a bit of an ass, must have you and fuck you stupid, push you away and say it was wrong, must have you and you fuck me stupid, push you away .... Sigh. I must say the person I suspected of being behind it wasn't. Surprise. Usually I guess. So that was okay.

An Australian Christmas in New York by Sean Kennedy (22 pages)


Vince has been living in NYC with his lover Chuck for 4 years and while he loves the traditional white Christmas, he's feeling a bit melancholy and missing a steaming hot Christmas back home in Australia. In order to help combat the home-sickness, Chuck decides to try and make an Australian Christmas for Vince. It was a really cute story and I loved finding out so much about Christmas in Australia since of course the season is the exact opposite. Playing in the pool on Christmas day is appealing to me, but I would probably miss a white Christmas after a few years too. Lots of fun traditions explained and special desserts and foods that are traditional in Australia. So a social studies lesson in the habits of the Aussie celebrating Christmas along with a sweet story about a guy trying to give his partner a taste of home.

Haven't I Been Busy?

Most of these are shorty shorts so hence it seems like I've read a phenomenal amount in 24 hours. LOL Also I read Mind F*cked earlier in the week and kept forgetting to include it. I'm not TOTALLY obsessive.

Rip Cord by Jeanne St. James (42 pages)



This is the geek goes back to high school reunion and gets together with jock he always admired theme. The difference? PwP. Ugh. Gil, still a geek, goes back to is 10 year reunion. Seems that Rip Cord (yes, that's his name - sigh) shows up. He is the bad boy of the NFL (football) but famous and of course Gil crushed on him in high school. Suddenly Rip comes on to him and they leave the dinner before it starts to go and find their old lockers where Rip fucks him against the locker then they go to the gym locker room where Rip informs him he never bottoms and they fuck in the showers and then it's 11:00 and everyone left and Gil is just thrilled Rip wants to see him again. The end. Rip was a jerk, Gil was hardly even able to stand in his presence without swooning, it was nothing but sex 10 years after having never seen each other and Gil was thrilled with that like a dog thrown a bone (pun intended). Sigh. Overall unless you are looking for pure sex, pass. I skimmed most of the shower room to see if there would be anything else. Nope.

The Perfect Pumpkin Pie by Aaron Michaels (37 pages)



I bought this for one reason. I loooove pumpkin pie. Leo lives with Denny, his weird anal retentive germophobe know-it-all best friend. He's watching Denny and his girlfriend make pumpkin pie when a fight breaks out because Denny insists that nutmeg is poison. He ends up getting Leo to make a grocery run for more supplies (as a make-up pie). Of course it's 2 days before Thanksgiving and no pumpkin to be found. Fortunately the gorgeous asst. mgr. finds Leo a dented can in the back, still good. Nope, Denny freaks so he goes back and this time Judson has new cans for him and Leo asks him out although he can't figure out why a hot guy would want to be with him. He goes to meet him for coffee and sees Judson with another hot guy and figures he should just leave so stands him up. A few days later Denny needs bananas so Leo is forced to go the same store, sees Judson and they figure out what happened and make another date. Okay, there was the whole running gag of nutmeg being poison (which it apparently is if you eat a pound or so) which was cute but I did find Leo's horrible insistence that Judson couldn't really want to date him a bit annoying. So it's a cute funny story with a bit of angst but not excessive. This line made me laugh, as someone who bakes it was pretty funny I thought:

"...two cans of something called evaporated milk. You'd think if the milk was evaporated and in its gaseous state, the cans wouldn't be so heavy."

Moving Along by Addison Albright (10 pages)



This was the follow-up to the Halloween short Moving On. I didn't love that one because the idea of the ghost of Brandt's ex giving direction while he has sex with a new guy was kind of icky to me. But now it's been a couple of months and Brandt and Mark are having their first Christmas. Brandt is still trying to figure out if he loves Mark and working through having a new guy and they are both angsting over their gifts to each other (don't we all?). Anyway, it's just a cute little story where they decide where the relationship is going. I bought it because I read the first one. Yes, I'm a sheep. I like Addision Albright so it was a good read but you need to read the first one to get the whole picture, well, a better picture.

Mind F*cked by Mia Watts (121 pages)



Sage is half-fae in the family security business. His curse (for being half-human) is he can see people's thoughts and he's so gorgeous they all want to sleep with him so he usually works nights to avoid it. He is forced to go the bank and meets Joe, the manager who for some weird reason he can't read. But whenever he's near Joe he's forced to say the truth no matter how ridiculous. Joe just thinks he's a vain asshole but due to security issues they are forced to stay at the bank 24/7. Sage is desperate to get Joe to like him but keeps screwing up and Joe likes Sage but figures he's a gorgeous user. There is the whole sub plot of protecting the valuable items and someone hacking the security system. On the whole I really liked this. The mystery thing was a bit far fetched but I liked how Sage who claimed to hate knowing what everyone thought was absolutely flummoxed when he couldn't read someone and it made him crazy, along with some weird compulsion to say whatever was in his mind, no matter how much he didn't want to. This should not be confused with Mind F*ck which is apparently VERY different.

Joys of the Season, An On Fire Christmas by Drew Zachary (14 pages)



This is a little taste of Sam and Robert. Sam brings all the kids to the fire hall for the Christmas party, stressing Robert (I don't blame him) and then Robert is worried his gift for Sam won't come on time. That's about it. To be honest it was meh for me. It wasn't one of the better follow-ups that I've read.

A Hike on Mount Shady by Chris Owen (11 pages)



This is a follow-up to Shady Ridge and the Neon Sky. Hank and Charlie have been together a year, built their house and are now on a hike in the "mountains" looking for fir branches to decorate when they come across a possible grow-op site. It was kind of pointless to me, Charlie makes Hank phone the man whose land they are on to get permission and they get a lecture about respecting each other and then they fuck over a rock. The end. Eh. I loved the original but this didn't really do it for me either. Maybe I should learn my lesson and stop buying these things.

The Elegant Corpse by A.M. Riley (158 pages)



Roger is a total anal retentive OCD homicide cop who comes home to find a mummy lying on his couch. Seems it's a young man who disappeared 25 years ago. The victims younger brother Sean starts to insinuate himself in the investigation and Roger's life which makes him nuts. Roger is part of the leather set and is a dom and there seems to be a connection to the lifestyle which he keeps hidden. He's also dealing with the death of his partner (life not work) from cancer 5 years ago and has major control issues and Sean starts showing interest in subbing. Roger made me crazy. For god's sake, the man made a fake wall on his desk so his partner's muffin crumbs wouldn't touch his desk. I liked his partner though, good female character. Sean seemed younger than his years to me at 32 but I liked how he twisted Roger (45 maybe?) up. And the mystery was great, for once I didn't see the bad guy 100 pages in advance. I think my jaw may have dropped when I realized who it was. Looking back I suppose I should have seen it. My only complaint with the mystery was that the bad guy was killed and I REALLY wanted to know what made his mind tick. Watching too much Criminal Minds I guess. But just saying "Oh he was crazy" isn't enough. I want the profile, the reason, the logic. LOL Call me a crime geek. I did like that they showed how Sean and Roger dealt with the aftermath of the whole investigation as well. Too often it just ends HEA and that's the end, but this went beyond which was nice. So a great mystery if you can get past wanting to tell Roger to lighten up constantly and don't mind not knowing "why".

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Since I don't have a real life I am able to read and read to my heart's content. :-)

Wild Angels by Bethany Brown and Ashlyn Kane (262 pages)



This is book three in their interlinking series so you don't NEED to read the others but it helps you understand the whole dynamic of the group. Anyway, Patrick is sent to Alberta after his gunshot wound (previous book) to recover with Julian and Jack (first book). While there he meets Brad and they start a "thing" but of course Patrick is only there for a month and he used to date Julian and still is a bit in love with him. Very complicated. On the whole I enjoyed it. Some things I liked were: the fact that after the menage (sort of), there was a not so good fall-out. Too often everyone's just happy dappy after (which can be fine), but this had negative repercussions which had to be dealt with, I like Julian a lot even if he is a worry wort and he had a big part of the book, it's not a HEA, Brad doesn't quit his job after dating someone for 3 weeks and move 3 provinces away, it's more of a "let's see if we can create a HEA" which was entirely realistic. What I didn't like so much: Patrick was pretty angsty, thinking he's only good for sex (sleep with everything on legs and you get a rep bud), the whole sub-plot of the lost kid and they never did explain what the hell she was doing or how she got lost, Julian sister who is a nosy tactless bitch but everyone let her get away with it because she had a miscarriage. Umm. No, rubbing your friend's nose in the fact that you slept with his boyfriend is NOT funny, NOT teasing, NOT cute, that's fucking rude and tactless. Just feeling bad after someone calls you on it doesn't count. Okay, I have personal issues with people like that. Also seems Jack and Patrick had hooked up at some bar in Calgary years ago. What? Are there only 5 freaking gay guys in Alberta? Not needed. So on the whole I think some of the stuff with the lost kid/mystery could have been cut and just stuck with the relationship. I didn't like it as much as Julian and Jack's story, but it was a good read.

Chris inspired me to create this chart when she mentioned how complicated these relationships were. Yep. Patrick was a slut. If he was a little less gay he could have screwed Roz too. :-P

A Policy of Lies by Astrid Amara (181 pages)



Set in the future, Levi is a journalist who has spent his life working on a story about the mining company crackdown on his home planet that consisted of torture and murder, his father committed suicide, his mother and sister were killed and it was covered up. He gets a memory chip with evidence and proceeds to find out who sent it to him and get them on camera as per his bosses instructions. He is mugged and helped by a hot Dr. in the slums (for lack of a better word) and they get freaky and start a relationship as he believes the Dr's. receptionist is his informant. I saw who the bad guy was a MILE away and the resulting disaster coming down the road. Levi was soooo naive and would tell anyone anything about his story. These people torture people for a living and you think you can just wander around yapping about it? *shakes head at dumb boys* There were also things I didn't understand about regeneration (I won't say more) but I didn't really get the ramifications of it on their relationship and it was never discussed, just kind of tossed out there and then forgotten. So I was left with some questions but it was sort of your typical futuristic investigative reporter story with hot guys. All in all a good read although I started it a couple of months ago, got to page 50 and stopped. Not sure why. No good reason. I'm glad I finished it though.

Christmas Perfection by Bethany Brown (25 pages)



It's Bethany Brown day on here. :-) Derek and Sky are an IR couple who have both family's coming over for Christmas dinner. Sky (Skylark) comes from a family of hippies with a lesbian Mom and wacky sister and kids and Derek, also the product of an IR relationship comes from a more normal family except for his mother's obsession with everyone wearing Christmas sweaters. The whole sweater thing was pretty funny and made me smile several times. Sky stressing over cooking all the food and some of his family's weird food requirements and their first time with both families together was pretty cute. It's a nice story that some may find a bit sugary but with a good dose of humour thrown in. I wondered if this is a look at a couple already in existence as there seemed to be a bit of back-story about Sky and Derek that I wondered about. Maybe not, but it just had that "revisit" feel to it.

Mitchell's Presence by D.W. Marchwell (45 pages)



Arthur is a cynic, hates Christmas, the homeless are lazy, money's all that's important, his family is a pain in the ass. While buying the obligatory office gift he meets Mitchell, a clerk in the bookstore. He gets Mitchell's number and they hook up but seems Mitchell is a do-gooder. Gives money to the homeless, works two low-paying jobs, opposite of Arthur who doesn't GET it. They try to get together again and similar results with Arthur being Mr. Negative and Mitchell always seeing the bright side of life. Mitchell forces Arthur to look at things from a different less negative angle and change his whole outlook because he wants Mitchell in his life. Okay, I thought it was set in Toronto because he uses a real sub-way stop name there, but then at the beginning he makes some snide references to Canadians. The author is Canadian so I'm thinking he was having some fun teasing us about Canadians and then using a Toronto subway stop that only those of us familiar with the city would recognize. I thought it moved a bit fast. They meet on Dec. 10 and by Dec. 23 (after precisely 2 dates which ended rather badly) he is ready to change his whole life to be with Mitchell. I think a more realistic approach rather than a Scrooge-like transformation would have worked better for me. I found Mitchell a bit too perfect but I also know there are people like him out there. I'd like to think I'm not QUITE as cynical as Arthur though. Seriously, I'm not. :-D

The Christmas Reading Begins

I signed up for the Dreamspinner Christmas thingy so everyday I get a holiday story. That's fun, I love shorts. Of course I'm still reading my other stuff too. I'll have to keep up-to-date here. Last time with the Wedding things I got so far behind. :-P

Old Poison by Josh Lanyon (108 pages)



I seem to be on a JL kick, not that it's a bad thing. This is the follow-up story to Dangerous Ground. Taylor and Will have been a couple for several weeks now since Taylor's gunshot wound (last book). They are still working out the whole "we're a couple thing" but Taylor is about to get back on the job, things are going well when Taylor gets a freaky birthday gift. Okay, weird but whatever. Then someone leaves a half-assed bomb on his door. Freakier. It seems that someone/thing from Taylor's former life working Japan is back to haunt him. I have to say the big climax (no, not THAT one) to this book was very gripping for me. I was holding my breath to see how it was going to end. And kindly *insert eye roll* Josh took the time to ensure that what delicate shreds of my innocence remain were further stripped away. I had to google "butterfly board". Don't, really, I'm doing you a favour here. Just let it go. Sigh. It was a very high action story with some funny stuff tossed in and some schmoopy romance. I'm going out for Japanese food now Saturday night. I really enjoyed it.

The Assignment by Evangeline Anderson (155 pages)



WHAT?!?!? you say scandalized. You've never read this book? Yes, yes, I read it near the beginning of my m/m reading career (if it only it could be a paying career) but after much discussion on Kris' blog I thought I should read it again since I didn't seem to have the same love of said book as others. Did my opinion change a year later? Umm, no. I didn't dislike it but I was curious to see what about it didn't turn my crank since I couldn't really remember. (WHY IS MY KEYBOARD STUCK ON FRENCH? Grrrrr.) It's GFY. I like that. It's friends to lovers. I like that. (Str8te Boys - oh yeah - THAT worked for me.) But what I determined was Nick just made me crazy. He's an experienced cop, who has been undercover before and yes, he's got the hots for Sean and it's disconcerting but he damn near blew their cover several times because he was freaked out 24/7 about his feelings. Holy angsty boy. On the job suck it up and deal. People get killed here, it's not like you work at Borders and can afford to zone out while restocking the chick lit section. So there you go, I liked Sean, a lot, but Nick was so freaking uptight and angsty for most of the book he made me like it less. Oh yeah, plot, undercover cops at a gay resort. ;-) Fun times.

Four Gold Rings by T.A. Chase (7 pages)



Why you ask are you talking about a 7 page free story? Sometimes I do. So there. But really, this cover so turns my crank in a major major way (and there's not even any naked man titty there). I would frame it. I just am totally in love, the font, the feel, the red balls. Sigh. Okay, this is a little freebie you can get at Samhellion. I think they are going to have a bunch of Christmas freebies so check it out everyday although not all are m/m. Anyway, this is a little short about Casey and Garrett (of Out of Bounds and High Line fame) and their men and four gold rings. LOL Not too hard to figure out but I'm one of those people who likes to revisit favourite characters so it's pleasing for me, pretty steamy and romantic. Oh yeah and did I mention that cover?

Season's Greetings by Chrissy Munder (28 pages)



The first in the Christmas series is this one with love 'em and leave 'em Ross who writes greeting cards and is now working on the Easter campaign (in late Nov) and is having major writer's block. He knows why, it's the new guy Ian. But he likes him and they've become friends and he doesn't want to fuck it up by having a one night stand. After a failed attempt at hooking up with a stranger, Ian arranges for him and Russ to stay late and decorate the office for Christmas. *wink* I really enjoyed this story. Russ is totally pissed off that he can't get Ian out of his head, he's trying to write Easter stuff while Christmas music plays, he lives in Florida where they don't get snow, everyone is so freaking cheerful it's making him nuts. He is my ideal character. Snarky, pissy and frazzled. And it was pretty funny. There is a running bit about a stuffed bunny that he's trying to use for inspiration that made me giggle a few times. It's not a sugary tale of true love at Christmas with rings exchanged (which is not a bad thing but that's not the angle this book takes) but I found it very amusing and loved Russ a lot. A cute story.

Biting the Biscuit by Dawn Kimberly Johnson (20 pages)



I' m reading this and thinking "Hmmm, this set-up seems kind of familiar. Guy with a bum leg, lover killed ..." Oh shit, this is the follow-up to Broken that Jenre reviewed HERE. Ooops. You don't NEED to read Broken first, enough is explained to make it clear but it would likely mean more if you did. Basically Alex and Eli agree to go and spend Christmas with Eli's dead lover's family. Awwwwkwarrrd. Eli thinks they are perfect since neither he and Alex had good childhoods. But it's a sweet story about moving on after someone dies, not only from the two protags experience but as much is covered about the ex's family moving on as well. A nice read, poignant I'd say but as I said, it would like have been better if I'd read the other book first. That happens fairly often in these anthologies where I'm not always aware of all the back story but it is easily a stand alone.

My vacation in paradise (with a spy thrown in for good measure)

Seems I'm obsessing about the coming winter and as some kind of subconscious resistance to the cold I read a bunch of books set in tropical places and tossed in a spy. We'll start with that.

I Spy Something Wicked by Josh Lanyon (50 pages)



This is a little slice of life piece with Mark and Stephen of I Spy Something Bloody. Mark has been retired from the spy life for 4 months, is going to college, happy, things are going well when he gets contacted by the old organization and they need him to do one more run to Afghanistan (where he'll likely die) to save his old boss/lover's political career. He's got 48 hours to decide if he breaks his promise to Stephen about never going back or if he gives into a totally misplaced (in my opinion) sense of loyalty. I have to admit that Mark makes me crazy. I work for a government, trust me, you owe no one anything and no one gives a damn about you, you are always dispensible. His sense of "owing" them something makes me berserk and I just want to shake him and tell him to get a grip. I don't care if you slept with your boss, they'll toss you under a bus if it's convenient, that's how it works in government. So I guess I'm not very sympathetic to Mark's plight and dilemma, for me it's a no brainer. But of course the writing is outstanding and it's nice to see Mark and Stephen happy and living a "normal" life down the road.

Tropical Hedonism by Dakota Rebel (74 pages)



Starting my trip to a tropical isle (or two). This starts with Wesley, a Dr. on a tropical island being called to help a young man found washed up on the beach. He's not hurt badly and Wesley takes him back to his home to fix him up. There is instant attraction (like Sean is jumping Wesley within 20 min. of waking up from being unconscious) and then there is all this mystery about explaining stuff to him and finding him a sponsor so you know this is no ordinary tropical island. I won't go into it but I liked the idea. What didn't I like. Insta-love. Arrggh Within 36 hours Sean and Wesley declare their undying love. Next? Big misunderstandings. No wait, just assumptions made after overhearing one sentence of a conversation which makes older Wes sure that younger Sean will dump him now (despite declarations of undying love made not 15 min. previously). There were just things that happened or we're told happened that I'm like "Huh? When was there time for that?" So I have to say it had great potential and then it was all rushed into too few pages. If there had been a period of attraction between the two over a period of weeks (or even days rather than minutes), a gradual development of love, more explanation as to how things worked on the island, etc. it would have been much better. Insta-love and me are not fans and while I get insta-lust, it really went downhill for me after the mutual declaration of twu wuv.

Netting Neptune, Taming Triton and Poseidon's Pleasure by KC Kendricks (82, 97 & 117 pages)



My next trip to a tropical island, St. Lucia where I would kill to go in real life. These are three books that all centre around one resort in St. Lucia and a combination of men who are all interconnected in some way. I'm not sure I should have read them one after the other. It brought out flaws to me that I likely wouldn't have noticed if I'd read them each several weeks apart as they were published. Too late now I suppose. If you like a formula that is pleasant enough, these are the books for you. What I mean: (Using N, T and P for easy reference)

Older guys: N - Theron 39, Cody 40; T - Steve 30, Austin 42; P - Brett 49, Mark 38

How they all connect: Theron is Austin's brother, Austin is Brett's lawyer and Mark is Brett's old lover.

Damaged guys: N - Theron spent 9 months in jail for a crime he didn't commit but his lover did - life now in the toilet; T - Austin's lover cheated on him after 12 years because he was helping Theron; P - Brett's Dad used to beat him just for fun and hated him, Mark was nearly a hate crime statistic and gave BJs for money to survive in his youth

Plot: Couple meets, couple falls in lust has some fun, one guy leaves island early either because freaking out about relationship or for some other quasi-legitimate reason, lover left behind more or less chases after to declare themselves. Brett didn't run in the last one but not for lack of trying.

Now I'm not saying these things made the books bad. They are all likable characters, I wanted them to get their HEA, I believed the attraction and even more (not necessarily insta-love but a connection), the setting sounds freaking divine but there were some things that I noticed repetitive. Some of the sex scenes from one book to the next sounded very similar. I know with genetics there could be relatives who stroke off the same way (it's freaky how my daughter sleeps in the same position as her father, that's not learned) but for 6 guys to all use the same technique seems a bit unrealistic. And as I said, the same format, meet, freak, run, reunite read one after another was a bit ho hum. Not tons of angst, no serial killers or freaky exes. These are actually what I guess you'd call good beach reads. Pleasant stories to read but then you move on (while imagining yourself in the setting). So I'd definitely say worth a read, especially because they are older characters who've had life and relationships but I would say read one every couple of weeks to escape the rigors of winter rather than in one fell swoop like I did. I have a feeling I would have enjoyed them much more that way.

Vroom, the sound of my eyeballs reading quickly

A couple of these I missed the other day and some I've read since then. Whee, I'm on a roll.

The Strongest Shape by Tessa Cardenas (232 pages)



Fashion photographer Caleb moves to LA with his actor boyfriend who promptly dumps him. He meets Jason who introduces him to Scott and Chris who are together but for some weird reason hide it. Anyway, eventually the invite Caleb to join their relationship which he does. There is skepticism on the part of some of their friends as to whether it will work and dealing with parents understanding and accepting the relationship, dealing with jealousy (external not internally) and two guys who are total guys who don't like to talk about feelings and one who drags it out of them. The writing style is kind of first person present tense or something like that. It's weird and took me a while to get used to, not totally off-putting but definitely different. On the whole I enjoyed the story although it strayed perilously close to PwP after they got together but there was enough other stuff going on to save it. I liked the characters, you wanted it to work for them but I think the realities were pretty well done. So I enjoyed it despite the narrative style.

Masquerade by Clare London (74 pages)



Okay, I'm really not into fantasy especially when it's medieval type. This is 4 shorts (or one medium and 3 shorty shorts) each set in a different fantasy time from medieval to industrial revolution and each one has a paranormal twist to it. From kind of an empath, to a wizard, to a vampire to ... silkworm thing? I have no clue. LOL None of them have a typical HEA. The writing is well done and the imagination is certainly there to come up with these worlds and ideas but it's really not my thing. So I didn't dislike the book(s), it just didn't catch my interest all that much.

Horsfall 3: As the Crow Flies by Jade Buchanan (76 pages)



Book 3 in the series of Simon and his shire horse shifter twin lovers Bay and Marshall. Simon's on a business trip in the mountains where he meets some weird crows who turn out to be shifters as well. Then he finds out Bay has disappeared along with their old nemesis Tim Y. He races back to the ranch to help Marshall find Bay with the help of the crows. He also finally admits to his friend that he's with both guys. It was okay, more plot about the bad guy and the crows explaining things and less about the relationship which really has me curious as this does not appear to be twincest but they share together sometimes, but he also seems to indicate that they don't always sleep together so I'm more curious about they make a relationship like that work without more jealousy which was never really touched on. So it was okay and I like all the characters but I'd like to see more about how they are making the relationship function on a day-to-day basis.

Diamond in the Shade by DJ Manley (109 pages)



I've had this sitting in my file forever and for some reason didn't read it. No real reason it just didn't appeal. I finally settled down and read it. This is my first book by this author. Diamond is a Hungarian orphan who was raised by some kind of religious order with one goal, kill vampires, no emotion, no feeling. He is sent to NYC when the slayer there dies and he runs into Sebastien Shade, a vampire who also hunts bad vamps and had a relationship with a slayer years ago. Diamond is stuck in the old black and white world of vamps = bad, end of story. He's forced to rethink things when Shade captures him and forces him to work with them against a greater evil and he falls in love with Shade as well. It was a good story about Diamond being forced to finally face his feelings and break away from good/bad world and see some shades of gray. I liked Shade's coworkers although I thought Diamond went from no emotions to falling in love pretty fast and my one niggle was the ending was just kind of wrapped up in a cople of paragraphs that I would have liked to know more about. It was like "That's it? The bad guy is dead and it's over? Why?" So some more explanation would have worked or me. But I liked it on the whole.

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys by Lynn Lorenz (100 pages)



This is a book about role playing and while I'm not into boys in skirts and had concerns when I bought it, it didn't turn out to be what I feared. That makes no freaking sense. Anyway, Simon's hotel owner boss is having a costume party where guests have to come in drag or as a man depending on their invite. Simon gets stuck in drag and is trying to find a costume when a guy helps him buy an Indian princess outfit. Seems it wasn't a salesman but another party guest who's attracted to Simon and is going as a cowboy. Cowboys and Indians, get it? Oh and Simon is Korean. So they meet at the party and hit it off right away and within minutes get a room. And then do the whole role play thing about him being and Indian Prince in disguise captured by the cowboy and forced to submit. It's very well done with lots of playful banter between the two guys. The first half of the book is them meeting then the last half them in the hotel room. The gist of the story? Two guys develop a love of guyliner. :-) It was a cute story, I liked Simon a lot, I thought his interactions with his sister were very funny. A nice little read but I like this author's work as a general rule so I wasn't too worried.

Wow, I've been reading up a storm

I should go shopping more often, seems to inspire me to read more. That and having no one around to distract me.

Shall we begin?

When Work is Pleasure by Alix Bekins (132 pages)



I have never read this author before but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. Well, not surprised because that assumes I thought it would be crap, so just pleased I guess. Garrett writes for a gay magazine in SF and the boss decides porn is the next big story. Garrett suggests and gets picked to interview some porn stars who will be at the Folsom Street Fair. He ends up meeting his "idol" if you will and they hit it off as friends (and a bit more). Garrett's a bit freaked out, the guy lives in LA, he sleeps with men for a living but he really likes him and he's not sure if they are dating or what. He has to deal with the reality of dating a porn star and when Justin (Alec) plans to move to SF for work what that will mean. On the whole I just liked the writing style. I snorted many times because there is lots of sexual banter and teasing which honestly reminded me so much of some of my friends and I went we get on a roll on-line. The way it came across made me smile and while it's a HFN, it would be fun to read how things go for them down the road, dealing with the porn business and living in the same city. I would definitely check out the author again.

Starting Over by Annmarie McKenna (85 pages)



Garrett (huh, another Garrett, weird) is a cop who sees a motorcycle rider hit by a car. For some reason he's attracted to the guy and after talking with is doctor lover Dane they agree to bring Aaron home with them to recover from his injuries and see if he could be the third they are looking for. Meanwhile Aaron is recovering from the drowning death of his lover 2 years ago and not looking for a relationship. Garrett and Dane go into overdrive trying to get him to agree to join them and he holds out for 3 weeks then finally gives in and agrees to try. On the whole, besides a big debate that's been had as to whether he could get a hard-on just mere hours after surgery for a broken leg and hopped up on morphine, I enjoyed the story and like the characters. How Aaron was dealing with a phobia he developed after his lover's death was interesting and while the two guys were pretty pushy they didn't tip over into annoyance for me. On the whole a good m/m/m story.

Reckless Passion by Amanda Young (95 pages)



This is the story of Uncle Beau from Reckless Abandon. It was implied in that book that he had a thing with his assistant Adam and this is their story. They have a thing but it's work only, more like fuck buddies although you find out Beau hasn't been with anyone in the last year. He then finds out that Adam has a son and that kind of interferes with their fun. I appreciated Adam's efforts to put his son first and not drag a plethora of men through his life and his concern that if he moved in with Beau and it was just a fling the effect that could have on a 4 year old, moving houses and not understanding why. So I thought that was really well done although I thought a little talking could have cleared up some of the confusion since despite sleeping with the guy exclusively for a year he never actually said anything like "hey, you're my boyfriend" LOL. I think I liked this one more than the Cody story, I felt more connected to the characters.

Love and Loyalty by Tere Michaels (207 pages)



This is sort of a follow up to Faith and Fidelity, the story of James (Jim) who we met in the first book. Following a rough case where the murderer go off, Jim has had a close relationship with the father of the victim. Finally he's agreed to let Hollywood and tell the story of his daughter's death and meets Griffin who swears it will be respectful. Jim is jaded and weary but attracted to Griffin. They end up almost living together after one weekend and things are going great on the personal front until Griffin finds out that he likely doesn't own the rights to the story and the studio wants to sensationalize it. He tries to fix it while freaking out at a stressful time. This is a great story about two guys who don't really think they'll find true love but do and near the end I was bracing myself for the inevitable BM where Jim would accuse Griffin of being in on the whole thing and double crossing him so there could be a separation and make-up and it didn't happen. I was almost stunned. Jim believed Griffin when he told the truth and trusted him to try and fix it as best he could. Wow! Niiiiice. While it would have added another 30 pages of drama I am so thankful the author didn't do it because it would have made me like the book a lot less if she'd stooped to that. A great read.

High Country by Michael Barnette (145 pages)



Another new to me author that I bought on a whim. Bradford is a SF author who rents a cabin on a ranch in Colorado (I think, somewhere with mountains) for a month to write and to escape his abusive ex. The ranch is run by Linn and they connect immediately. But freakishly it seems that Bradford's ex has followed him there. Linn tells Bradford that the ex is a "creature" (seems he's a rogue vampire) and ends up confessing that he's a puca. He vows to protect Bradford who may have some supernatural blood of his own. This was told in a bit of a different manner with LOTS of internal dialogue done in italics for both guys. Not just what he thought but kind of talking to themselves. It was different. The story itself was okay and I liked both guys and wanted them to get their HEA but I'm not sure I loved the "internal thoughts" device. It might grow on you I suppose.

Other Books Update

I've been on a shopping spree so should have some goodies to add here, am not expecting company, my house is relatively clean, it's free sailing reading for me. Oh wait, Christmas is coming. Arrgghh. Always something.

Fionn 'o the Fae by Kiernan Kelly (90 pages)



Despite Kris' disdain for this cover :-P, I did read it. It is a compilation of three of those Torquere Chaster things combined into one book which is not without it's issues. I'll get to that. Fionn is a Fae who gets caught screwing the Queen's favourite lackey. His punishment is that he can no longer have an orgasm unless it is part of someones "wish". He can be called to the human world by a phrase in a book to grant one wish. So for several centuries he has blue balls and the first two parts of the book are him having interludes with various men when he FINALLY gets relief. He finds a way to facilitate this so he gets more and more action pissing off the Queen even more. The last part of the book is his relationship with the one human he actually cares about and him trying to protect him from the Queen and find a way to break the curse. I enjoy this author's writing style and it was kind of light and witty and Fionn was a likable character with a cute Irish accent. However just sticking the three stories in one book was kind of jarring. You could tell that it wasn't written as one book even though it's presented that way. The break between the stories was kind of harsh, but on the whole, despite the cover :-D it was an okay read but I think a little more editing when putting it together would have made it better.

Fathom's Five: The Cross of Sins by Geoffrey Knight



Wow, what a ride. Think Indiana Jones, James Bond and make it more of a wild time and gay. Anyway these 5 guys work for Professor Fathom finding lost objects of value and doing it for altruistic reasons. The loner fortune hunter Jake, the football player/student Will, the Brazilian Dr. Eden, the Italian model and art expert Luca and the Texas cowboy Shane. They go on a quest for the "Cross of Sins" while being pursued by a weird off-shoot of the Catholics who want to destroy it. It's non-stop action from London to Ankara to Vienna to Venice and all points in between. It's very much like James Bond in you just suspend belief and go with the flow and enjoy the ride. They get beat up, poisoned, shot, shot at, face boiling lava and come out of it unscathed and horny to boot. Anyway if you are looking for pure escapism without much of a touch of realism it's the way to go. In fact sometimes it was almost overwhelming how much they endured it was hard to read. But it was a rollicking good time. You don't go to see an Indiana Jones or James Bond movie for the high art. This is similar. I ordered the second one. It's not really a romance per se although there is sex (not buckets of it but it's pretty hot).

Screen Shots 4: Submission by Willa Okati



Well, I started reading these and despite my frustration with 2 and 3 I felt compelled to continue. I found this one was better. Newbie Skylar is pushing Thom hard and he's resisting. Seems Thom is all into zen and eating right and hasn't been with anyone in 6 years and is a total Dom. The others try to warn Skylar off but he's insistent. Finally Thom gives and Skylar is in for a wild ride and enjoys every minute of it after some resistance. So it was an okay story for me. There was less of this vague philosophical stuff and more just accepting the D/s thing for Skyler.

Screen Shots 5: Sexology by Willa Okati



So now the guys are all paired/trioed up and still happily fucking each other stupid on camera. Seems business is so good they are all getting a raise. Suddenly there is a big storm and they all end up in the basement in case it's a tornado, including Jake the grad student who's been studying them. So what else would 10 guys do in the basement in a storm? You guessed it. For some reason Thom is all worried about freaking Jake out (even though he's been watching everyone screw around up close and personal for months) and wants to go slow and seems everyone's been eager to get a taste of him. Anyway, this is less of a romance and more of just one big fat orgy X 10. I give the author credit though for keeping all those body parts straight. I have to admit I am one of those people who visualizes a scene and I'll notice if you have them in some improbably position (barring yoga) and in this she seemed to manage to keep them all in reasonably logical positions. But really, while they were all hot to have Jake and now he's going to work in front of the camera, at the end of the night he was going home alone. There was no romantic pairing for him.

Sweet Treats by Stormy Glenn



Brandon the bakery owner wipes out at the Jazz Festival and Dr. Nick comes and helps him up and latches onto him right there. They go home but Nick gets called to work. They finally hook up and have some fun and Nick gets called in again. There is some conflict at work that Brandon kind of facilitated but he manages to get it all cleared up since conveniently his uncle is the hospital administrator. I enjoyed this because Brandon is not hard bodied and gorgeous. He admits he is a bit on the plump side and has a big ass and Nick thinks he's amazing and loves that he's not twig thin. I thought the convenience of Brandon's uncle being the administrator was a bit overdone, might have been more interesting to have Nick actually face off with the other Dr. over harassment charges rather than have it all wrapped up in a nice bow and who the hell is Dino? There is this big thing that he's coming and Nick asks who he is and gets the "you'll see" and then while he talks there is no mention of who he is. You ASSUME he's the uncles lover but it's never said. It could have been his son for all you know. Anyway, that kind of annoyed me but maybe that's to be found in another story? It is a pretty sweet sugary story but on the whole it was fun and I liked both characters and it's quick light read that at the end that leaves you feeling like you just want a chocolate eclair ... baaaad. Or maybe that's just me.

Yaoi Update

I've been reading a fair bit of yaoi and have a bunch of yaoi novels I have to get to so here is the yaoi update and I'll do a regular m/m update later. I haven't been on here in forever.

Shy Intentions by Shoko Takaku



This is a very sweet story about Miyuki, a middle school art teacher who meets Kaoru at the hospital while visiting with his sick mother. They hit it off and even though Miyuki is very shy and not very confident, Kaoru encourages him and brings him out of his shell and doesn't push. *gasp* Yaoi and he didn't coerce, beg or force him into bed. I'm shocked. It's kind of told as a flashback as a young man just starting a relationship at his school asks Miyuki how he got together with carpenter/teacher Kaoru and he shares his story. I quite enjoyed this one.

Our Kingdom by Naduki Koujima



Akira lived in the country with his grandmother and upon her death finds out he's actually a candidate to become heir to a rich family. But it seems he's in competition with his cousin Rei for the job. Only thing is Rei could care less and Only wants to be with Akira who doesn't want the job of heir either really and is all confused. If you don't mind the first cousin relationship thing it is kind of a cute story. They are both 15 so there isn't any smexin' *gasp* Yaoi without underage smexin'. WTF is going on? There is some conflict with Rei's nephew (or uncle or some weird relationship) as he shows up and is jealous of Rei and tries to take it out on Akira. This is Vol. 1 so there are more tales out there about their time together with their grandmother "competing" for the title of heir.

The Noodle Shop Affair by C. J. Michalski



Two years ago Ukyou (spoiled son of Yakuza boss) was treated kindly by Kakeru in his Noodle Shop. Two years later after returning from exile (by his father) Ukyou finds Kakeru being attacked by a rival Yakuza gang. He saves him but Kakeru won't have anything to do with him as he's Yakuza. So he disguises himself (yeah right - messes up his hair) and moves in with Kakeru to help him in the noodle shop. There is a whole subplot of why the Yakuza want Kakeru and rival gangs and Ukyou's Father's expectations that Ukyou will become head of their Yakuza. It ends (Vol. 1) with Kakeru finally being free from the Yakuza and finding out who Ukyou really is. *gasp* Damn, 2 yaoi in a row with no smexin'. What the hell is going on? Why am I buying these things if not for vaguely drawn sex acts? Sigh. It's okay but it was kind of hard to believe and the author even says that at the back. LOL

Naughty but Nice by Naduki Koujima



Kakeru (must be like David in Japanese) sees his homeroom teacher drunk and in a fight one night and in an attempt to help him pushes him off a bridge. With friends like that who needs enemies? He drags him home and the teacher has amnesia and seems very different and not so "nice". He tells Kakeru that since he can't remember if he had a lover and it was Kakeru's fault he got pushed off a bridge and lost his memory that Kakeru has to move in with him and take care of "everything". *insert eye brow wiggle* And Kakeryu's parents agree? Huh? Someone call Children's Services. Anyway this is only Vol. 1 and they don't actually do much sexually *gasp* three friggin' books in a row? I'm about ready to give up. Sheesh. but it was pretty far fetched and didn't really do it for me.

Golden Prince and Argent King by Kouko Agawa



Yuki's family dies and he goes to live with his two half-brothers Masumi who is only slightly older than him and goes to the same school (uni I think) and Gai who is 27 and runs the family business. They all had the same father but different mothers. Masumi is very outgoing and friendly with Yuki and helps him fit in at school and home and Gai is your typical all work and no play kind a guy. Masumi confesses his love of Yuki who kind of freaks because he's realized he's in love with Gai who just happens to be his brother. This doesn't seem to bother most people here. 0_o Anyway, when he confesses Gai says he can't mostly because of the brother thing and Yuki moves out. Seems by some twisty family genetics maybe they can be together without being arrested for incest. I didn't mind the story except for the incest angle which is never completely ruled out and hey, they had sex ... once. Sigh. It was so-so.

So there is my yaoi update. Must get reading those novels.

Stuff I finished last week

I wasn't very good at keeping myself up to date on what I've read. Oh well, better late than never.

Nick of Time by T.A. Chase (239 pages)



I started reading this on TA's blog and then he stopped to put it out in book format. Nick is tossed into a cell with a starving vampire by his ex who was using him to track down information on preters. When Nick wouldn't give him the info he was beaten and his back broken. He offers himself to Gryphon who rescues Nick as well. Seems there is someone out to eliminate preters and when Nick is attacked again Gryphon takes him to a sacred cave and asks the gods to save him. They do making him their avatar (rep on earth?) and giving him a spirit guide of a cobra who is sometimes a tattoo and sometimes live. They then go on a quest to find a magic book that has spells which could destroy preters along with Nick's best friend a werewolf and Gryphon's friend a vampire. They end up in Romania and England and eventually do find the book although their friends are captured. It ends open with another book assumed to be in the works. But seriously TA, a snake? Was that necessary? Why not a squirrel or a lemur, something cute and cuddly? I hate snakes.

Love, Like Ghosts by Ally Blue (181 pages)



I have not read the other BCP books but this is kind of a stand-alone. Set in the near future, Adrian (with psychic abilities) is a natural introvert who spends his time studying physics and keeping to himself and controlling his power. He meets Scotty while helping set up the haunted house on campus and they hit it off but Adrian is afraid to a) tell the truth about his abilities b) get involved with anyone because it usually ends badly. They eventually start dating and Adrian also discovers there really is a ghost in the old house they are turning into a haunted house and he starts trying to figure out how the guy died. So there is sort of two story-lines, the relationship between Adrian and Scott and the mystery of the ghost in the tower. I quite enjoyed it as I usually do Ally's stories. Adrian and Scotty were very hot together and their conflict was pretty understandable.

Because of the Brave by Laura Baumbach, ZA Maxfied and Josh Lanyon (165 pages)



I've had this forever and finally read it. In fact I think I might have won it. If I did, thanks. :-) It was three short stories involving soldiers.

*The first one was a soldier on medical leave who hooks up with a young man who's brother died in the Middle East. There is more to the soldier than meets the eye. He rescues the young man from an abuser and they hit it off, some bumps ensure.

*Then there is a soldier who finally goes home because his mother is dying of cancer. He hits it off with the hospice worker who is caring for his mother and he has to face losing her and he's a bit of an ass as he freaks at first and doesn't want to deal with it. I thought his Mom was a spunky character right to the end, I liked her character a lot.

*And finally in Afghanistan an Army Ranger has to take his team in to rescue a Navy Seal whose team was killed. Turns out the Navy Seal in question was his lover when they first joined the military and it ended on not so good terms. It was done in an interesting manner with a bit of what was happening currently, then a flashback, then current, etc. It was really well done and you got the sense of the Taliban coming after you and scrambling for your life.

On the whole a great read with different types of characters although the stoic, do your job, dedicated soldier was always there, only to get tipped on his head by love. And it was for a good cause with money donated to a good cause from the sales.