Make the Yultide Gay Blog Event

Starting today, the lovely Keira Andrews is hosting a bunch of authors with Christmas stories at her blog over the next three weeks, including your's truly on December 17. I'll repost that day with link to remind ya'll, but if you click on the banner up top you can get to her blog and read the posts form the other authors. There will be some give-aways and interesting posts and maybe some excerpts and lots of fun Christmas shenanigans.

The authors stopping by in addition to me are: (in random order as I don't have the full schedule yet)

Berengaria Brown

GR Richards

Jaxx Steele

JM Cartwright

Kayelle Allen

Matthew Lang

PD Singer

Samantha Kane

Silvia Violet

Sloan Parker

ZA Maxfield

Keira Andrews

Someone Special by TC Blue

Title: Someone Special
Author: TC Blue
Length: 209 pdf pages
Publisher: Torquere Press

Blurb:

Gracen loves Christmas. It's his favorite time of the year. So much so that he works as a mall photographer for the season, taking pictures of children with Santa. There's something about seeing all those happy families that he finds satisfying, which may be slightly odd since he's so very alone, himself.

Working three jobs is never fun, but when Jesse takes a part time position as a greeter elf at Santa's Workshop in the mall, he meets Gracen and realizes that maybe job number three isn't that bad, after all. The handsome photographer appeals to him, even with all Jesse's family issues.

Two lonely men, one Santa's Workshop, elf costumes, curl-toed shoes and a camera. They aren't exactly a recipe for finding that someone special… except maybe they are.

Review:

This is a super sweet Christmas story that some people may find a bit sugary at the end. Gracen and Jesse meet at their mall jobs and Jesse bites the bullet and asks Gracen out. He doesn't really expect much, but is surprised by how much he likes Gracen and that he is a truly nice guy. It soon comes to light that Jesse's mother suffered from schizophrenia and snapped and killed his father, and now Jesse is just counting the days until he also comes down with the diseases, hence he works several jobs to allow his younger sister to attend university to become a lawyer.

Eventually, Gracen finds a way to break through Jesse's walls and perhaps find the a solution to his fears. My biggest issue was I was so frustrated with Jesse. He had access to google. For one thing there was little chance he would snap and go from perfectly normal to full blown schizophrenia. Also while it can be hereditary, it often manifests itself in the late teens I thought and he's now 25 with no  signs whatsoever. He's never seen a doctor about it, he completely kept his fears from his sister who had as much of a chance of coming down with it as he did. Should she not have been on the look-out for signs of schizophrenia? And not all schizophrenics flip out and kill people. Many live pretty normal lives. So I thought his whole reason for never getting close to anyone, including Gracen was kind of lame.

He worked as a bagger at an overnight grocery store making minimum wage, but turned down a better paying job with benefits at the mall because ... no clue. Did he think he was going to flip out and kill a customer? Just as much of a chance of doing that at a grocery store.  He would have medical coverage if he did get ill but he refused it. So I was very frustrated with Jesse who seemed unwilling to deal with his fears in any rational way at all and was basing his reactions on myth and fiction. I am also getting a bit frustrated with characters who refuse to take any help from anyone for any reason. I realize it's to show a strong independent streak and being mature and self-reliant, but when that kind of behaviour is actually harmful to your family or yourself? Then it's just dumb and no longer noble.

I liked Gracen and Jesse together when he wasn't coming up with half-baked ideas as to why they couldn't be together and Gracen's agent and best friend Alonzo was quite funny, especially once he met up with Jesse's snarky sister. The sex was hot and at times romantic, but I did get a bit frustrated with Jesse's behaviour and it got a bit sweet at the end, but that's something that I can live with more than some people. So when you need sweet and uplifting, it's a good Christmas story.

Oh and I have to say I'm in love with that big S on the cover.

The Closer You Get by L.A. Witt

Title: The Closer You Get
Author: L.A. Witt
Length:  170 pages
Publisher: Samhain

Blurb: Sequel to The Distance Between Us

Self-described manwhore Kieran Frost is loving the single life. Two years after moving to Seattle, he still has his friends with benefits, Rhett and Ethan, plus a never-ending supply of gorgeous, available men wandering through the bar where he works. A relationship? Spare him the drama and heartbreak. He’s got no complaints about his unattached lifestyle.

When Rhett’s daughter introduces him to newly-out-of-the-closet Alex Corbin, Kieran’s interest perks up. After all, the quiet ones are always the freaks in bed. But Alex isn’t just shy and reserved. He’s a virgin in every sense of the word, having never even kissed anyone else.

Kieran is no one’s teacher, and his first instinct is to run like hell in the other direction. But his conscience won’t let him throw the naïve kid to the wolves for someone else to take advantage of. The plan is to introduce Alex to his own sexuality, pull him out of his shell, then go their separate ways.

It’s the perfect, foolproof plan…assuming no one falls in love.

Review:

I confess I have not read the first story in this series, but you really don't need to in order to enjoy this one. Enough of the history from that first book is explained to make it clear. Kieran is immediately intrigued with Alex, although he's stunned the guy is a total virgin at the age of 21. Usually Kieran stays away from virgins but he likes Alex and fears that he'll hook up with someone who could hurt him, so he decides to help "educate" him about being gay in Seattle.

There is lots of fun stuff like a trip to the sex toy store and bars. Although I did wonder that Alex claimed to have never watched porn. Yes, when he lived at home he didn't want anyone to find out, but he's been in Seattle for a year and it's not like internet porn isn't rampant and free. However, putting that aside, I have to say that the build-up to sex is "whoa hot" in this. Wow, the first kiss is smoking and you just want to see more. Although you never get into Alex's head, it is rather fun to hear Kieran who's a bit like an eager puppy but trying to keep it cool and not freak out Alex.

There is a whole sub-story of Kieran's father's wedding and dealing with his mother who has not gotten over the divorce and Kieran's disgust with his father's cheating, which explains in part his refusal to have a "relationship". There was the separation thing, but it was short-lived so didn't annoy me as it wasn't dragged out. All in all, if you are in the mood for a super-steamy story it's a great choice.

I will likely go back and read the first one, I know some people had issues and it's not on some moral grounds I've not read it, I just never did and this one grabbed my attention. I think fans of the first book will also enjoy the epilogue for this one greatly.

One Year Together

 

It's been one year since Jen and I joined in holy blogrimony and we started Brief Encounter Reviews, which is devoted to reviewing short stories in the m/m genre. It's been a fun year where we've gone from a monogamous twosome of reviewers, to more of a polyamourous love-in with five of us now. So stop by the blog to read a recap of the past year and our impressions of one year of happily ever after.

Winter Warmers Anthology

Title: Winter Warmers
Authors: Chrissy Munder, Clare London, JL Merrow, Josephine Myles, Lou Harper
Length: 126 pages
Publisher: Pink Squirrel

Blurb:  


Baby, it's cold outside! Beat the chill with Winter Warmers - a seasonal anthology

Mulled wine. Butterscotch kisses. Hideous sweaters. Candy at the beach, or a trip to a sex shop in Amsterdam. And the man of your dreams, wrapped around you...

Winter warmers come in many shapes and sizes, from the tongue-in-cheek to the hot-as-hell. Enjoy a quintet of heart-warming tales of men loving men from Clare London, Chrissy Munder, JL Merrow, Josephine Myles, and Lou Harper that are guaranteed to leave you with a smile on your face.

One thing's for sure—it's going to be a red-hot Christmas!

Review:
  
This is going to be an abbreviated look at each story saying what I liked about it. 

Lucky Dip - Clare London: A story of a grade school teacher who is forced to work with his ex (the uncle of a student) to prepare for the Christmas carnival. They manage to get locked in a storage closet for the night, complete with bottles of wine and mince pies where the ex gets a chance to explain his behaviour. I really liked that while it all worked out over the night, Andy didn't give in easily to a second chance. He made him grovel and seriously was ready to move on. I get frustrated when one guy just say "gee sorry" and the other goes "okay". Nooooo. Groveling is good. Lots of fun descriptions of the kids preparing for the fair with a good dose of humour. 

Butterscotch Kisses - Chrissy Munder: A man dumped by his bf because of his fear of heights and refusal to go on the toboggan run, is determined to conquer his fear, if it means showing up every day and paying to climb a little more each day. Flirting with the ticket sales guy with the funky hats is just a bonus. When he's rescued by hat boy, they finally get a chance to talk. It was a very cute story and I felt for Matthew who suffered from dyslexia as well and felt that he couldn't live up to the "perfection" that was his twin brother, but was determined to beat this one thing. The hats were amusing.

Wintertide - Lou Harper: Escaping noisy neighbours, Jem sees a sexy older guy on the pier. They flirt and end up at sexy guys place, although later after waking Jem sees pics of another guy and figures he's with a cheater, but Oscar tracks him down and explains it his lover who died and they decide to try dating. This story had one of my hot buttons, BIG age gap. Oscar was 45+ and Jem was not yet 21. Long term viability? I find it hard to buy into that. If I look at in a "for a period of time that works for them" maybe. I just tried not to think about the numbers much. Well written and I'm sure others won't mind the gap at all.


When in Amsterdam - Josephine Myles: An interracial couple head to Amsterdam to spend Christmas with Jos' parents. Brandon is first freaked out by all the pieten he sees in the store windows (little black elves who help Santa) and he's also feeling self-conscious about the fact that Jos is into BDSM and he's very vanilla. However taking shelter in a sex store from the rain, maybe he's not quite as vanilla as he thought and could give Jos what he needs. This was more sexy and intense and a while not angsty or serious, not so light as the others. Seeing vanilla Brandon explore his Dom side was very interesting and hot.



A Pint of Beer, a Bag of Chips and Thou - JL Merrow: Liam, who lives with his mum and two aunts who are witches, spends his evenings playing his saxophone in the metro to earn cash. Everyday he sees an older man but they never talk. His family is eager to get him mated off but end up knitting him a variety of odd items they insist on wearing. A hat that covers his mohawk, a long Dr. Who scarf and a god awful cardigan. Each item seems to bring him closer to meeting his crush, the cardigan being the last piece of the puzzle. I snickered many times reading this. The hat that looked like he had a tea cozy on his head and the references to Dr. Who were very funny. Even though there was another big age difference, maybe because they only spent the evening together I didn't feel the same squick factor. *shrug* Who knows with me. 


Anyway, these stories are all fun reads, all have a light hand with humourous moments, although some are more outright funny and others less so, but when you're in the mood for something that leaves you feeling light and positive about the season it's a great selection. All of these authors are ones I can rely on to give me a good story with strong writing and appealing characters, so you can't go wrong with this collection.

Island Affair by Cait Miller

Title: Island Affair
Author: Cait Miller
Length: 90 pages
Publisher: Ellora's Cave

Blurb:  When Robin decides to spend his vacation at a gays-only resort on a beautiful island to escape from his suffocating hometown, falling in love wasn’t on the agenda. John is handsome and unashamed and Robin finds himself swept away. However, the enigmatic Scotsman harbors a dangerous secret.

Their island affair explodes with a passion neither man expected. As they realize something stronger is blossoming between them, events conspire to separate them and both men are irrevocably changed. Robin returns home to pick up the pieces of his life, slipping back into the small-town closet and putting the island behind him. John has other ideas, but staying together might be the least of their worries.

Reality has a way of making you work for your happily ever after.


Review:

John and Robin's relationship starts off with a bang, as John's attempt to keep Robin from falling in the pool means he cracks his own head on the edge and nearly drowns. Not an auspicious start, however John is fascinated by the young man who turns out to be much less experienced and shy than John, however before long they're spending their time together in and out of bed at the resort. John finally has to explain why he has four body guards. Seems he stopped a crime in progress and now is in protective custody until he can testify against the crime boss who ordered the hit. He hates it, but Robin's presence on the island helps distract him, however before long it's time for him to head back, leaving Robin who tells him it was only an island fling and it's over as he's not prepared to step out of the closet in his small Texas town.

At the last minute Robin changes his mind but it's too late, however Dan, the body guard promises to tell John, but the men after John don't give up and when they see Robin wearing John's shirt, well, it doesn't go well for Robin. However John doesn't find out any of this until weeks later after the trial because Dan kept it secret and John goes to find Robin and made amends.

I really enjoyed John and Robin together. John is from Scotland originally although living in New York now and I swear I could hear his accent. It was written with just enough "accent on the page" to let you hear it without being impossible to read as sometimes accents are written. He's older and more experienced than Robin but the passion and sex between them was very hot. I also liked the fact that they had to deal with the residual effects of the attack on Robin, including epileptic attacks. It wasn't just happy happy no problems when they got back together, also dealing with the homophobic small town was part of the challenge.

The only thing that kind of threw me off was Robin was often referred to as Rob. I know it's a personal thing but I've never known anyone named Robin who went by Rob. I associate that with Robert. *shrug* Personal thing. I know this is the author's first m/m as she's published several m/f stories but I think she did a fine job and I liked both characters a great deal.

New Release - The Santa Problem - December 14

 

So I finished this little story on the way to and from New Orleans last month, so I guess I can thank the city for contributing to my success. But no scenes of drunken bar crawls included.  :-) It will be released by Torquere on December 14. There's not a buy page for it yet. I just finished edits on the weekend so when I'll post the info on the release day. 

The Santa Problem

Lane would do most anything to make his live-in love Gavin happy, but this is taking things too far. Just because Gavin can’t find someone to play Santa at his office building, doesn’t mean it’s Lane’s problem too. But Gavin can be very persuasive when he wants his way, and Lane may be taking on more than he can handle in order to keep his man content.

Boats in the Night by Josephine Myles

Title: Boats in the Night
Author: Josephine Myles
Length: 150 pages
Publisher: Smashwords

Blurb:

Like two ships passing in the night—if one was a narrowboat and the other a luxury yacht.

Disgraced private school teacher Giles Rathbourne has been sent home on extended sick-leave and is stuck in a rut of obsessive housework and drinking. His ex may have been a snobbish bastard, but without him, Giles is adrift, rattling around his huge, lonely house. When a dreadlocked narrowboater’s engine breaks down at the end of his canal-side garden, Giles is furious at this invasion of his privacy—for a while.

Smutty might not have ever held down a proper job, but the fire-dancing, free-spirited traveller can recognise an opportunity for mutual benefit when he sees it. Giles’ extensive gardens are in as desperate need of attention as the upper-class hunk is himself, whereas Smutty knows a thing or two about plants and needs a place to moor up.

A simple business arrangement between two men who have nothing else in common? It would be—if they could keep their hands off each other!

Review:

For those readers who were fascinated by the long-boat culture in Barging In will enjoy this second foray into the experience, although most of the action takes place off-boat. Giles' life kind of sucks. His ex left him and after a drunken flip-out on his students he's been put on administration leave. He spends his days obsessively cleaning and his nights drinking himself to sleep. He's not impressed when the freaky guy in the long boat ends up at the end of his garden, although really, the boat is broken, what can he do, besides basically tell him to move along. However despite his better judgment he's kind of curious about the flame haired supposed fire dancer, and ends up going for a visit that evening, which turns into more than a visit.

I'll be honest. At first Giles is damned annoying. He has this habit of putting his foot in it more often than not. He comes across as a bit of a jerk, who probably thinks he's better than most and a bit weak. Especially when you see him interact with his ex. However I adored free-spirit Smutty right off the bat. I have a feeling there is some part of me that wishes I could be like that, just travel, do whatever, see the world, no responsibilities, no commitments. Sigh. However once you get to know Giles he's not such a jerk after all and his defence of Smutty whose had some nasty run-ins with guys in bars was sweet and touching, for the reader and Smutty who'd never really had anyone stand up for him before.

I loved seeing Smutty bring about a change in Giles. Sex on the kitchen table? How "unsanitary". Maybe? Is it? Could he? Perhaps. And he's not alone. Giles makes Smutty think about some things that happened to him as a young man and the hurts he's still holding onto that affect how he looks at life and his need to keep on moving. But his exuberant good nature can't help but drag Giles out of the doldrums and Giles even manages to stand up to his ex a bit. An ex who appears to be a psychopath, not in the murder you and wear your skin way, but in a callous no feelings way which based on his history didn't really surprise me.

The only odd little niggle I had was the odds of Giles' ex and Smutty having a connection, although I suppose Smutty did grow up not that far from Giles, but still, I kind of thought "hmmm, what are the odds?" but hey, it worked with the story and by then I was totally invested in Smutty and Giles so I was okay with it. It's a very sweet story of opposites who bring out the best in each other and make changes in their lives for the better.

Oh and if you've never seen a fire dancer do their thing at night, it's amazing and if you get the chance do it. I've seen them perform after dark and it's probably dangerous as anything but it's dazzling and a true skill I wouldn't even attempt. I was very happy with the way it ended and it was a real pleasure and kept me coming back to it while I was reading. I have a tendency to get distracted while I read and I will read a bit then surf or watch TV and read a bit, but this one kept dragging me back as I wanted to see how it was all going to go. Definitely worth a read so pick it up as soon as you can or sign up for the author's newsletter and get a code for a free download. Free people, seriously, hop to it.

Magic Mansion

 

Have y'all been reading the Magic Mansion over at Jordan Castillo Price's site? It's a monthly serial where she posts anywhere from 4-6 chapters once a month and then you get to vote on some aspect of the story. Because this is based on a reality TV show for magicians, you get to vote someone "off the island" or "out of the mansion" I suppose, or this time it was someone to switch teams. It's great fun although I was quite disappointed at who got voted off last time. :-( Oh well, them's the breaks. 

If this was a real show I would watch it. I generally hate reality shows (unless they involve cooking) but it is fun to hear about the tricks they have to do and how they are done. Maybe that's why I enjoy it. There has to be some skill involved, not just who is the most annoying or whiny. It's also fun to see the "behind the scenes" stuff as they try to make the show more interesting. I'm wondering how this is going to wind down and eagerly awaiting to see what's up next. So stop by and read up on the last chapters. It's up to Chapter 19 but they aren't overly long and you can quickly catch up with the action.

I'm torn between cheering for John or Ricardo. Maybe a tie? :-)

By the way, voting this round ends tonight. So hurry. 

Learning to Walk - Drew Zachary

Yes, you're seeing a whole new format here. I've kind of gotten in the habit from BER and since I'm reviewing fewer books I can do it this way.

Title: Learning to Walk (City Hospital #3)
Author: Drew Zachary
Length: 180 pages
Publisher: Torquere Press

Blurb:

A terrible motorcycle accident leaves Kit in pain, living with his father and needing to teach his legs how to walk again. He's actually lucky to be alive, but don't try telling him that; Kit's too wrapped up in bitterness and pain to feel any sort of happiness.

Neil knows exactly how lucky Kit is. As Kit's physiotherapist, he's seen the man's medical records, and knows a lot of people never recover after an accident such as Kit’s. His job is to get Kit moving and to get him walking again, so when Neil finds himself attracted to Kit, he buries the feelings and focuses on the job.

That's hard to do, though, when Kit starts falling for Neil in return. And starts making moves. Neil is determined to keep things professional between them, though, because he feels that Kit's recovery is far more important than a physical relationship. Can Neil teach Kit to walk again without either of them getting their hearts broken? 

Review:

While this is #3 in the series, there is no overlap with the other books so is essentially a stand-alone. I thought this did a really good job at the beginning of showing how Kit was coping, or not as the case may be, with the fall-out of motorcycle accident. He felt guilty that now he father had to care for him when he should have been having his own life and I imagine like most of us, the whole "Well, at least your alive" thing wore thin as he struggled with life in a wheelchair. Needless to say, he was less than hospitable with his physiotherapist, however Neil was one of those people who never let a surly client get him down. Probably as annoying as hell in real life, but he managed to drag Kit along with him.

It was nice to see their friendship grow before they hopped into bed. In fact Neil refuses to date Kit while he is his therapist. So often in romance they hop into bed right away, ethics be damned and oh, wait, he's cured by the magic healing power of twu wuv. But in this case no. The therapy was long and grueling, their friendship slowly developed and granted I got a bit annoyed with Neil who kept telling Kit that he only liked him for now and he'd move on. Sheesh, give people some credit. But it was nice when Kit took the bull by the horns and fired Neil so they could date.

The awkwardness of going out for a date in a wheelchair, having his Dad have to drive them, it was all awkward but sweet and Neil was great about seeing Kit, not the guy in the wheelchair. So on the whole I really enjoyed this and even though Kit eventually does walk, he's never going to be running marathons. It sounds kind of awful, but I like it when someone with a handicap isn't "cured" so that they can fit the "normal" stereotype of romance leads. Even people who walk with a cane or in a wheelchair fall in love.