Somebody Killed His Editor by Josh Lanyon (Holmes & Moriarity #1)

Synopsis:
Thanks to an elderly spinster sleuth and her ingenious cat, Christopher Holmes has enjoyed a celebrated career as a bestselling mystery writer. Until now. Sales are down and his new editor is allergic to geriatric gumshoes.

On the advice of his agent, he reinvents his fortyish, frumpy, recently dumped self into the sleek, sexy image of a literary lion, and heads for a Northern California writers conference to try and resurrect his career. A career nearly as dead as the body he stumbles over in the woods.

In a weirdly déjà vu replay of one of his own novels, he finds himself stranded in an isolated lodge full of frightened women—and not a lawman in sight. Except for J.X. Moriarity, former cop and bestselling novelist. The man with whom he shared a one-night stand—okay, maybe three—long ago. The man who wants to arrest him for murder.

A ruthless, stalking killer, or a hot, handsome ex-lover. Which poses the greater danger? It’s elementary, my dear Holmes! 


Christopher Holmes is a writer who writes mysteries a la Agatha Christie’s Ms Marple. Or he used to, apparently they’re not selling anymore. This is why he’s taking a break from his reclusion and going on a trip to a writers’ conference hoping to reinvent himself just enough to sell another book. Well, no. The reinvention is his editor’s idea, who along with everyone else in the hotel becomes a suspect the moment Christopher stumbles on a dead body. Also, there’s a storm.

It isn’t much of a mystery but Lanyon successfully kept me distracted with gossip and Christopher’s reheated love affair with another mystery writer J.X. Moriarity. Yes, you read that right and no, that’s not a typo. Lanyon isn’t paying homage just to Christie but to Conan Doyle as well.

Somebody Killed His Editor is written in Lanyon’s usual style, in first person voice, and is full of witty remarks and the kind of gaslighting an unreliable narrator causes. There is an attempt to sketch a few of the secondary characters in more detail but not quite enough for proper characterisation. The object of Christopher’s desires is left aloof and only mirrored in his reactions to J.X. I’m guessing the rest of the specifics are delivered in the sequel.

Other than that, there’s very little to say about the book. I enjoyed reading it but it wasn’t anything special. Still, I wouldn’t call it a meh-book either.

Love Has No Boundaries: Short Stories & Short Reviews Part 3

These short stories were written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.


Deep in the Count by Madison Parker

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This came as close to perfection as I've seen a short story get in a long while. The plot and characterisations where there as were some of the details. I would've liked a bit more description, which I don't say often.


You Get Full Credit For Being Alive by Cari Z.

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

You wouldn't think that a retired assassin falling in love would make for a good story, would you? Of course it would and thank heavens I'm not alone in thinking that. I enjoyed reading the beginning of this novella even with the gruesome details, but as the story progressed other little details started gnawing at my enjoyment.

I didn't think the tools and skills of the assassin's trade—namely wiretapping—were believable. Neither did I enjoy the bits of French dialogue that read like something I'd get from Google translate. Clunky at best—and I only know the basics of the language. And then there was the ending, which I can see being pleasing others was far from satisfactory for my taste. Such a shame.

The Brat Whisperer by J.A. Rock

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Somewhere between two and three stars. It's not a bad story at all, a character study of sorts with a dose of healthy BDSM. There's spanking and discipline, but those aren't really my thing and neither was there anything to elevate this above all the others. I'm tempted to round down due to that ending but I won't.

Dirty Boys by Kyle Adams

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

That was fun. Ridiculous but fun in a sweet, plotless, sex-addled-mind kind of way.




The Field of Someone Else's Dreams by Amelia C. Gormley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

That was really good. A story about a college student and an injured baseball player drifting, trying to decide what he wants or even dares to expect from the uncertain future. There's a secret boyfriend and there are difficult parents. Read it.

Love Has No Boundaries: Short Stories & Short Reviews Part 2

These short stories were written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

The Touch Of Hope by Brandon Shire

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's a really good story about two homeless teens, but the sex scenes almost ruined it for me.



Friends or Lovers? by Sara York

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

"I want to feel that again. I've never felt that before. You were amazing. Like totally and completely over-the-top amazing.

Yeah. Not so much. This is a little pwp without either of the p's. It's simply without. Someone might disagree but I've blocked out the pathetic attempt at the porn from my mind.


Breathing Snow by Dev Bentham

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this one. The author focused on the behind the scenes stuff and relationship development rather on the publicity side, which I would have liked to have seen more of. Snark is one way to my heart and there was a distinct lack of snark here. As for their competitors: Oh how I miss the days when we Finns didn't suck at keeping the doping secret ;) Nah. We've always been terrible at that.

Treasure by Kim Fielding

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm rounding up to four stars. This is where the sickly weak bookworm gets his own story. Best of all, he doesn't he already lives in a fantastical world, which gives this gay version of Tristan & Isolde like meet cute it's own flavour.

I liked it, I really liked it but there were just one too many convenient lessons in Kit's past as well as packing accidents. The vocabulary was off, which I could have ignored had it been revealed that Kit was lying about certain things. And then there was the fact that the author was obviously a keen student in the school of euphemisms. *shudders*

Brandon's Laughter by Ellen Holiday

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really liked this one but then again I do have a huge soft spot for anything angsty and borderline melodramatic. One of my pet peeves is the presence of lyrics in prose: I don't mind a line or two but a whole song no matter how original is too much. Some stories can overcome that crippling flaw but this one had a tad too sappy reunion and ridiculous ending for my taste.

Love Has No Boundaries: Short Stories & Short Reviews Part 1

These short stories were written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

The Tail of a Dog by Summer Devon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cute. Told from the dog's point of view, and shows how two kind-hearted men find themselves through an unfortunate event. My favourite parts were where Javier was confiding in the dog, because people do talk to their pets and tell them things they wouldn't dream of saying to another human being.


Falling Away by Lisa Henry

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It was written in third limited, so that's one good thing about it. It also had that good meh-like thing going on until it promptly fell flat on its face with that ending. I liked Dark Space, but this made me doubt whether I want to read The Island or not.


Smoky Glimpses by Nicole Forcine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Left me slightly weak in the knees. It's told in third person limited but Kaden's voice is clear and personal. Also it's a paranormal that left me wanting more of the story and the world.



Last First Kiss by Piper Vaughn

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It wasn't bad but neither was it anything especially good either. An angsty short story that touched subjects far too big for its ~10k word count. Especially because a third of it was dedicated to the sex. Friends to lovers trope.


#First Impressions #Second Chances by Heidi Belleau

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another friends to lovers story. It started out really well, then took a dip with the reveal, and only partially recovered. Cute but skimpy on the reality details.

Thick as Thieves by Tali Spencer

Synopsis:
After Vorgell the barbarian fucks himself with a unicorn horn, he ends up in a cell with Maddog, a pretty young thief. It’s lust at first sight for Vorgell—but honestly, he can’t help it. Unicorn horn is a potent aphrodisiac, and now he can’t stop thinking about sex. Luckily, Madd is one male witch who knows how to put Vorgell’s new magical body to good use when he tricks Vorgell into a kiss that helps them escape.

Vorgell may desire sex in general—and Madd in particular—but Madd has no intention of being screwed by a man twice his size. He has problems of his own, including an enchanted collar that causes him to desire his most hated enemy. He wants that collar off as soon as possible, but that requires stealing a basilisk egg from the castle they just escaped.

Drawn together by lust and magic, the two men join forces and soon find themselves up to their necks in witches, wizards, and trouble. Vorgell and Madd might just be perfect for each other, but first they have to survive long enough to find out.

After reading the very first line of the blurb, I knew I had to read this book. If you haven’t read it yet, here’s why:

After Vorgell the barbarian fucks himself with a unicorn horn, he ends up in a cell with Maddog, a pretty young thief.

If that right there isn’t the hook that’s grabbed you, I don’t know what is. It promises a unicorn horn dildo, a barbarian, and a thief. What else could you possibly ask from a fantasy m/m story? Witches and Wizards? It has those too. Creative place names and adventures? Likewise. Witty one-liners and loveable characters? Done and done. You can also add adorable, deadly pets on the list. I’m not even going to complain about the female characters.

It’s true that the world-building has men in somewhat a disadvantage and that most women are hostile towards Madd in the beginning, but as the story progresses the reasons are revealed. Those reasons are real, based on characterisations and the story history, not flimsy deus ex machinas.

Everyone is flawed and no one is simply the best in anything. Even Vorgell has his difficulties. They’re average people by their own standards with individual fears and desires. They have limitations and rules they must follow. There’s death and suffering too. And significantly fewer inappropriate erections than you’d expect from a book with a sex magic inflicted cock. That’s another testament to a strong characterisation.

Don’t misunderstand me, there’s sex. There’s oral and anal, but in the end it’s not the driving force of the story. It’s a convenient set up. One that surprises you again and again with its implications. Or maybe that’s just me. I can be slow at times.

Be careful with this book. It pulls you under, makes you slightly uncomfortable—in the good way—and has you holding in your laughter. If you’re lucky you’re in a place where you don’t have to hold it in and you can make as much noise as you want. And no, I don’t think it’s just me.

I highly recommend you read Thick as Thieves.

The Storyteller by Jenni Michaels

Synopsis:
Two men. One kingdom. A secret that could cost them everything...

Gareth has been bringing home strays to his thatch-roofed cabin since he was a young boy with his head in the clouds. Helping others is more than a hobby to him--the need to heal flows through his veins. Ellis is far from a helpless stray. His shoulders are broad enough to hold the weight of the kingdom that rests upon them. But when he's captured by slave traders, he finds himself in need of help from an unlikely ally, loath though he is to accept it. 

Neither of them expected to find the other, and neither of them meant to fall in love. It won't just change their lives--it could change the fate of an entire kingdom. And each will be forced to choose: gain everything he wants, or lose what the heart holds dearest...


Gareth lives alone in a small village in a small valley and he’s alone in the woods when a battered stranger faints at his feet. Softhearted healer that he is, Gareth risks breaking his back bringing the stranger to his cabin and tending to the strangers wounds. It’s not quite love at first sight but it is love after a fashion, so when stranger leaves, Gareth follows.

The title could refer to either of the main characters or a couple of the secondary characters introduced later when the past casts its shadow to the present.

This is a case of I wanted to like it more than I did.

I liked Kit and I liked Gareth, because they reminded me of other characters I’ve given my heart to. That is also the reason why I couldn’t round up the rating in the end. I couldn’t be quite sure if the story would stand on it’s own without the connections drawn to Merlin (BBC 2008) in my mind. There’s a knight, and there’s a physicians apprentice. There’s the tiny foster sister, there’s magic, there are four kingdoms instead of five… and there is my active imagination finding all these little “clues.”

The writing was well enough, maybe slightly too inexact for my tired mind. It’s either that or the editors were sleeping on the job. The disagreement at the end—and the characterisation that lead to it—felt somewhat manufactured and the resolution that followed was too quick. Still nice—nice is definitely a good word here—enough tale, at least for Merlin fans. Then again, why pay for a book when you can read stellar Merlin fanfic online for free.

Rameau's Revie Archive: Taxes and TARDIS by N. R. Walker

Rameau's ramblings: Apparently according to Goodreads this edition is no longer available. Hmm. I wonder why. Originally posted on Goodreads on December 19th 2012. 

Synopsis:
Brent Kelly is a laid-back tradesman whose only concerns are drinks with friends and which man to bed next. In need of a new accountant to sort out his nightmarish shoebox of tax receipts, he's referred to Logan Willis. He doesn't expect to be intrigued by the science fiction-loving, geeky guy with dark-rimmed glasses and a TARDIS-blue shirt. So his fascination with the soft-spoken Englishman surprises him, and their mutual attraction is completely unexpected. He most certainly never expects to fall in love. One a jock and the other a geek, both men know the differences between them are vast and could cause problems. But in this opposites-attract erotic drama, maybe it's the differences between them that make staying together worth the fight.

Taxes and TARDIS by N.R. Walker

I liked the Tardis coloured shirt and nothing else. Even the occasional witty lines were depressing because, obviously, everything else had been sacrificed for them.

Brent and Logan meet, they have sex—a lot—and they apparently fall in love. The only reason I know this is because they say so at the end. I couldn’t detect any sort of character development or sketching in between every single romantic cliché imaginable and the fanfiction-like writing.

What’s it called when a porn-without-a-plot story tries to introduce and is ruined by brief plot-like scenes? Whatever it is, this book suffers from it. And to add insult to injury the smut isn’t even that good.

I’ve read my share of original romantic stories revolving around Doctor Who fandom, and some of them were even good. This wasn’t.

Rameau's Review Archive: Galley Proof by Eric Arvin

Rameau's ramblings: Originally posted on Goodreads on March 21st 2012. 

Synopsis:
Fiction writer Logan Brandish is perfectly happy in his peaceful small-town routine with his best friend, his cat, and his boyfriend—until he meets the editor of his next book, the handsome Brock Kimble, and the lazy quiet of everyday living goes flying out the window. Faced with real passion for the first time, Logan becomes restless and agitated, and soon his life and his new manuscript—a work in progress he’d always thought would be completed—are in a shambles.

But as Logan is learning, you can’t always get what you want… at least not right away. To take his mind off the mess, he takes a trip, but even the beautiful Italian, um, scenery can’t keep his thoughts from his erstwhile editor for long. Logan just might have to admit there are some things you can’t run from.

Galley Proof by Eric Arvin

Everybody has read those books–usually they come with horrendous cover art–that start with an apparent self-ironic scene that tries to justify using a cliché. It's some trope that has been beaten, hit, struck, battered, hammered, trashed, pummelled, and flattened to the ground ages ago. And for a while it works.

The author works his ass off and makes the first person past tense voice of his character sound like something hilarious, something new, refreshing, and witty. Then he crosses the line from a fine comedy to unadulterated spoof and ruins the effect. If you, the reader, are very lucky the narrative still sounds entertaining enough to carry through to the end and lets you finish a book instead of feeding your DNF pile.

If you're very, extremely, exceptionally, not-that-uncommonly-at-all unfortunate, you'll end up with a WTF face and whole lot of wasted hours. Hours of your life that you'll never be able to reclaim. At which point you either decide to move on and give this author a wide berth in the future, or you decide to give something back to the reading community and write a longwinded review that starts with a handful of meta-paragraphs sure to annoy innocent review readers.



Welcome to my life.

This book reads like an autobiography trying to be self-ironic and falling short by miles. It's like the author decided to skip coming up with anything original or fictional and instead document his day-to-day life in the publishing world. Maybe his editor told him to throw in a few outrageous characters and give them the kind of urban legend lives you only hear around the water cooler or wherever the workers go to smoke illicitly. Maybe the author was bored and decided to imitate a handful of his idols–in one book.

Whatever led to the creation and publication of this book, is everything that's wrong with the publishing industry today. This book is unbalanced, tactless, and inane. If it had to be published, why couldn't it be an in-house newsletter to amuse the people who are able to recognise and appreciate the publishing jokes. If it had to be published as a gay romance novel or erotica wannabe, why not write one. If this had to be published at all, why not just do it and NOT market it as something it's not.

This book is mislabelled as a gay romance. It's mislabelled as a romance. There's no romance here. There is simply a string of sex scenes and fuckbuddies without anything resembling a plot.

Also, Arvin went there. He had the ex-editor-fuckbuddy-friend attack-comment on a one star rating-review. How is this any better than the author–still talking about the book characters, just want to make it clear for Goodreads staff–himself commenting on a negative review? Just having it in the book is like condoning bad behaviour and I've had my limit. I would have given this book one star regardless, this just removed any guilt I might have felt.

Had Galley Proof been shelved under general fiction I might be more forgiving to the abrupt style changes and the utter lack of the thin red line that connects it all, but it wasn't and I'm not. If only Arvin had said what he made his character say:

"I have decided it's not worth my time to write nor is it worth her time to read."

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

You can also read this review on Sandra's My Fiction Nook-blog.

Review: The Island by Lisa Henry

Book info:
Form: pdf e-book
Genre: m/m romance, suspence/thriller
Target audience: adults only

Synopsis:

Adam Shaw is smuggling a stolen Cezanne, The Boy in the Red Vest, to a private tropical island somewhere in the Fiji archipelago. The island is owned by a rich drug warlord called Vornis who is also the buyer of the painting. Shaw hopes to earn a lot and to gain precious business contacts as well – happy Vornis has invited some of his buddies (read: high-profile criminals, filthy rich and influential) to celebrate the Cezanne acquisition . Shaw is also rewarded for his troubles with more than money– as a welcome gift he is lent a young man who is supposed to fulfill all his sexual fantasies. A fuck buddy. A live toy. A sex slave. All depends on your own definition of morality. Soon enough Shaw feels responsible for the fate of Lee although it is absolutely against his own best interest.

Stolen from Zurich, recovered in Serbia on April 12, 2012

The normal life for Lee Anderson ended when he was captured by Vornis men during a DEA raid in Colombia. All his team dead, he caught the eye of Vornis himself and was allowed to live. And suffer. First he was imprisoned, then transported to the private island while repeatedly beaten, raped, drugged, tortured, debased and humiliated by a very gifted sadist and anybody from his entourage who expressed such a wish. He was moulded into a thing, treated worse than an animal, reduced to a form of casual and very cruel entertainment.

When he is sent to Adam Shaw’s hut he expects nobody else but another monster who wants to take advantage of his helplessness and hurt him. To his surprise he meets with cunning kindness and compassion instead. He starts to hope against hope that somehow he will be saved before it is too late. But will he, really?

What I liked:

I am not a fan of m/m romance but this novel was really good and I can appreciate a good story when I read one. The character of Shaw was really ambiguous enough to make me forget his constant repetitions which after a while, could be construed as whining. Well, they were not. They bordered philosophy. I am a sucker for philosophy in novels. Shaw fought hard and long to manage his position with grace, not to succumb to the charm of Lee’s innocence. He fought and lost because he was not a monster. Still he felt really uncomfortable being where he was – on an indecently beautiful island, dined and wined by Vornis, a real monster BDSM sadist who had to be deceived and cajoled because he could turn vicious and murder his guest any time. Only near the end you find out why Shaw was so willing to play his role to the bitter end. I wish he was reading Nietzsche.

The ordeal of Lee was horrible but I really loved the fact that the author didn’t stop half-way and didn’t end her narration right after the successful rescue (as it often happens in such a books). The fact that she showed Lee’s struggle afterwards was the most compelling part of the book in my view because being rescued is one thing and learning to live with your burden of experiences is quite another, sometimes even more daunting task. It is not a coincidence that some Holocaust survivors committed suicide years after being rescued from Nazi death camps.

I also loved how the romance between Lee and Shaw was developed – slowly, steadily, without the unnecessary rush (mind you I mean here romance, not sex, which is not the same). It made the final much more real and gripping, especially that you didn’t know what to expect practically to the last page.

What I didn’t like:

In short: lack of research. I could stop here but I decided to give my darker side an opportunity to charm you. :)

I admit I wondered how come Shaw, being on an inhabited tropical island in the middle of Pacific with just a laptop enjoyed a decent Internet connection (small wonder, taking into account the fact that my own Internet was shaky at that very moment I was simply jealous like hell) but I could write such a blunder off. I wondered how come Vornis didn’t attempt to hack into Shaw’s computer to check his mailbox but perhaps he wasn’t that curious and/or safety-crazy. I admit I smiled with indulgence while reading that a certain woman called Irina (a nice Russian name) said ‘ukochany’ (a Polish word) twice but still it was just a fluff, who can distinguish between all those Slavic people and their strange languages (certainly not an Aussie). But after a while I reached a major slip-up. Really major and completely Anglo-Saxon if not straightforwardly American. Let me present my case properly.

One of the main characters, the hapless and much abused Lee Anderson, just 22, is a simple boy, apparently without any university degree or/and experience. His dad and mum own a small, local hardware store somewhere in the Midwest so they are neither influential nor rich. According to the author Lee wanted to join the police force but somehow he happened to find a job with the DEA; he was even taken on one of their foreign special missions which actually was the beginning of the whole ordeal. You might start thinking now that the DEA is something like a soft option for those who don’t qualify as cops but aren’t completely hopeless either. And here everything goes down crashing, at least for me.

I am aware that Ms. Henry is Australian but hey, I am not an American as well. Still even a very perfunctory and basic Google search (I made it really short and sweet) allowed me to gather plenty of ammunition for this section of my review. Yes, call me anal, call me anything you want; still the facts remain as follows (I am quoting here the Wikipedia and the official DEA website, both sources easy to find and completely accessible to the wider audience):

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States. WITHIN mind you, not abroad (more about it later).

Yes, they can employ you but not without a training and, according to their website, the average age of the students is 30 years. 30, not 20. Why? Approximately 60 percent of all trainees arrive with prior law enforcement experience, while 30 percent come from a military background. In addition, the majority of the students possess a bachelor’s degree and nearly 20 percent have some post-graduate educational experience. After receiving a conditional offer of employment, recruits must make it through a 19-week rigorous training which consist of firearms proficiency including basic marksmanship, weapons safety, tactical shooting, and deadly force decision training. As you see they don’t offer entry positions for barely adult wannabe cops and you don’t have to be a genius to realize that in real world somebody like Lee would never stand a chance of employment.

Could he go abroad with them? Yes, he could – but once again only theoretically. You see, DEA has a section called Foreign-deployed Advisory and Support Teams (FAST – isn’t it a nice acronym by the way?). Still the selection for FAST is extremely difficult; attrition rates are usually above 50%. Selection is rumored to last 8 weeks where events such as timed runs, timed ruck sack marches, land navigation and many others are conducted daily. Once selection is complete, advanced training begins with emphasis in small unit tactics, and close quarters battle. Only after such a training the FAST agents are sent abroad. It definitely sounds more like SEAL or SAS than a job opportunity for young, undereducated police hopefuls without any skills. Now tell me, can you imagine Lee as one of FAST agents? I have to admit that I can’t – not with the characterization he was given.

I really do understand why Ms Henry needed Lee to be a bit gullible and as young as possible. She had to present him as a puppy-cute youth, vulnerable, impressionable, mentally fragile but also full of the desire to live, with his whole adulthood before him. Shaw, the older and more experienced guy, was sometimes literally hurt just imagining the wasted potential Lee represented. Still making him a DEA agent ruined the whole premise for me because such an individual would be noticeably older, more devious, definitely better trained and not so innocent and defenseless as the fictional Lee was, even facing such a monster as Vornis. Perhaps such a hardened version of Lee would make the whole story better, who knows. It would certainly made me a happier reader.

BTW I am not a fan of the cover art either. Just a torso with artificial abs ? Not impressed. Give me the island instead!

Final verdict:

A surprisingly good story, flawless when it comes to the psychology, told in an interesting way, with some nice characters. As long as you don’t explore the DEA angle too closely you’ll be fine even if you don’t like m/m romance.

Review: Tigers & Devils (Tigers & Devils #1) by Sean Kennedy

Synopsis:
The most important things in Simon Murray’s life are football, friends, and film—in that order. His friends despair of him ever meeting someone, but despite his loneliness, Simon is cautious about looking for more. Then his best friends drag him to a party, where he barges into a football conversation and ends up defending the honour of star forward Declan Tyler—unaware that the athlete is present. In that first awkward meeting, neither man has any idea they will change each other's lives forever.

Like his entire family, Simon revels in living in Melbourne, the home of Australian Rules football and mecca for serious fans. There, players are treated like gods—until they do something to fall out of public favour. This year, the public is taking Declan to task for suffering injuries outside his control, so Simon's support is a bright spot.

But as Simon and Declan fumble toward a relationship, keeping Declan's homosexuality a secret from well-meaning friends and an increasingly suspicious media becomes difficult. Nothing can stay hidden forever. Soon Declan will have to choose between the career he loves and the man he wants, and Simon has never been known to make things easy—for himself or for others.

When I saw that this book was written in first person voice, I almost stopped reading it. I’m glad I persisted.

Simon Murray, a football fan, a film critic, and a gay man tells a story of how he fell in love with a football player. You’d think that the celebrity bit would define the story, and it does, up to a point. However, I found that the description of how Simon falls in love and embraces a meaningful relationship meant more than the external challenges of dating a celebrity who lives in another city in Tasmania—as opposed to in Melbourne—because it defines his character.

The protagonist and the narrator of this story isn’t an easy man. He’s flawed and difficult to his friends who know and love him despite his aloofness. Simon is terrified of commitment and at the same time it’s what he envies in others and wants desperately for himself even if he won’t admit it. He’s as stubborn as he’s loyal and he hides his insecurities behind his directness. Most people would find that off-putting but for Declan Tyler™ it’s refreshing to find someone not bending over backwards to please him. It’s Simon’s foul mouth that tempts the big scary footballer to risk exposure.

They experience a whirlwind romance with the full advantages and disadvantages of an illicit romance as well as face the challenges of a more established relationship. That is to say they get to meat the parents and other assorted friends. The story covers a period over eighteen months and shows how someone inured to single life struggles to open up and to let someone else to share his life in full. There are misunderstandings but not counting the final one they’re not treated as prolonged romance clichés but tackled and dealt with.

Although I’d classify Tigers & Devils as a modern gay fairytale, Kennedy doesn’t shy away from the darker side of being out and proud. Both Simon and Declan experience heckling and insults, but it’s never explicit. Neither are the sex scenes by the way. Things aren’t glossed over per se; the focus simply is on Simon’s personal growth and evolving relationships. You know, on the important things.

I liked how Kennedy used little things to illustrate Simon’s character. For example, the reader see all the characters through Simon’s eyes and gets only the information he thinks is important about the people he meets. That is why the reader is as shocked to learn the reason for the other WAGs shunning Lisa as Simon is. Having said that, the adverbs were killing me. And the ending felt a tad drawn-out.

Rameau's Review Archive: Counterpunch (Belonging #2) by Aleksandr Voinov

Originally posted on Goodreads on Feburary 8th 2013.

Synopsis:
Fight like a man, or die like a slave.

Brooklyn Marshall used to be a policeman in London, with a wife and a promising future ahead of him. Then he accidentally killed a rioter whose father was a Member of Parliament and had him convicted of murder. To ease the burden on the overcrowded prison system, Brooklyn was sold into slavery rather than incarcerated. Now, he's the "Mean Machine", a boxer on the slave prizefighting circuit, pummelling other slaves for the entertainment of freemen and being rented out for the sexual service of his wealthier fans.

When Nathaniel Bishop purchases Brooklyn's services for a night, it seems like any other assignation. But the pair form an unexpected bond that grows into something more. Brooklyn hesitates to call it "love"—such things do not exist between freemen and slaves—but when Nathaniel reveals that he wants to help get Brooklyn's conviction overturned, he dares to hope. Then, an accident in the ring sends Brooklyn on the run, jeopardizing everything he has worked so hard to achieve and sending him into the most important fight of all—the fight for freedom.


Counterpunch by Aleksandr Voinov

This review can also be found on Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell-blog.

Imagine a modern Britain where at least two or three decades ago the politicians gave up on trying to keep up with the ever-growing prison population, chucked the fourth article of the Universal Declaration of Human rights, and started to commute life sentences into slavery. Now people are both born and condemned to it. And it’s not just in Britain, it’s all around the world.

Brooklyn Marshall was born free and worked hard to build a good life for himself. Then a simple mistake, an accident, at the job took all that away from him. He was made into an example and his life was no longer his own. Now he boxes because it’s better than getting shot at in a war zone, and he fucks and is fucked because he is told to. He is used. He’s chattel that can talk.

”You haven’t resigned yourself to slavery yet, have you?”
“No. And I never will.”

It’s cruel to give hope to a such man, but that’s exactly what Nathaniel Bishop does.

I’m not a fan of romanticising slavery, and I’m not a fan of any relationship that’s based on a severe imbalance of power, but I’m always curious to see if the author can make it work. If those obstacles of differing wealth, social status, and culture can be overcome believably. Realistically. Even in urban fantasy.

It works here because Brooklyn has never accepted his status as anything less than a human being. It works because both Brooklyn and Nathaniel recognise how wrong their situation is, and because both are fighters in their own way.

Much of the story focuses on the boxing—again, something I know nothing about—and how it reflects Brooklyn’s growth as a character. He’ll never see any of the winnings, but the fighting he does is for himself. He’s broken and beaten both in the ring and out, and he is affected by it, but he’s also a survivor. What doesn’t kill him makes him stronger, and the final fights show this vividly.

If I hadn’t struggled with the beginning of the story—it was good but not amazing—the ending would have earned Counterpunch its fifth star. Voinov opted out of the fanciful and kept it realistic.

P.S. The story includes triggers for <spoiler>    rape    </spoiler>.

Rameau's Review Archive: Skybound by Aleksandr Voinov

Originally posted on Goodreads January 13th 2013.

Synopsis:
Germany, 1945. The Third Reich is on its knees as Allied forces bomb Berlin to break the last resistance. Yet on an airfield near Berlin, the battle is far from over for a young mechanic, Felix, who’s attached to a squadron of fighter pilots. He’s especially attached to fighter ace Baldur Vogt, a man he admires and secretly loves. But there’s no room for love at the end of the world, never mind in Nazi Germany.

When Baldur narrowly cheats death, Felix pulls him from his plane, and the pilot makes his riskiest move yet. He takes a few days’ leave to recover, and he takes Felix with him. Away from the pressures of the airfield, their bond deepens, and Baldur shows Felix the kind of brotherhood he’d only ever dreamed of before.

But there’s no escaping the war, and when they return, Baldur joins the fray again in the skies over Berlin. As the Allies close in on the airfield where Felix waits for his lover, Baldur must face the truth that he is no longer the only one in mortal danger. 


Skybound by Aleksandr Voinov

World War II fantasy love story between two men.

That’s the shortest summary I can think of for this lovely little novella. I don’t know enough about planes and I’ve mostly forgotten the details of war I learned on my history lessons to really gripe about the historical accuracy, but the weekend holiday, the family gamekeeper connections, and the ending did stretch my suspend disbelief abilities. That’s why there’s the word fantasy in my nine word summary.

And as the story didn’t wow me, three stars.

Review: Among the Living (PsyCop 01) by Jordan Castillo Price

Book info:Form: pdf e-book
Genre: urban fantasy/paranormal m/m romance/crime story
Target audience: adults

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Victor Bayne, the psychic half of a PsyCop team, is a gay medium who’s more concerned with flying under the radar than in making waves. He hooks up with handsome Jacob Marks, a non-psychic (or “Stiff”) from an adjacent precinct at his ex-partner’s retirement party and it seems like his dubious luck has taken a turn for the better. But then a serial killer surfaces who can change his appearance to match any witness’ idea of the world’s hottest guy.

Solving murders is a snap when you can ask the victims whodunit, but this killer’s not leaving any spirits behind. What's wrong?

What I liked:

I am not a fan of romance. I am definitely not a fan of m/m paranormal romance. My first impression was I wasn't going to like it. Vic hops on the first page higher than a kite and not ashamed or worried about it (as he is officially allowed to take drugs). Marks, Vic's crush, seems at first a bit too power-crazy and domineering for my taste, not to mention the fact that he is a gym rat through and through. I still ended up liking this novel quite a lot, all things considered. Why?

 Firstly it was an original idea, to present psychics not as shadowy charlatans they normally are (my skewed opinion of course) but as rare professionals whose talents are much sought-after by different government agencies, police and intelligence services among them. Accordingly Victor Bayne is a PsyCop, working with the local Chicago police force, with the ability to see and communicate with the dead. Imagine that: he arrives at a crime scene and he can actually see and sometimes even talk with the victim. He can't do anything else but his brains and intelligence make him more than just a level 5 medium. Detective Bayne also investigates and solves crimes - quite a nice surprise.

Apart from that Victor has one of the most fascinating narrative voices I've met recently.He's been through a lot, firstly diagnosed as schisophrenic and institutionalized, then closed in Camp Hell, where his unusual skills were supposed to be honed and developped and where he suffered mental and physical abuse. It left him scarred, perhaps for life. Now he is not bothered by his flaws and moderately interested in what happens around him if he's not involved. He keeps himself to himself. He is raw honest and not ashamed of practically anything = a flawed hero I like. And of course he has his secrets, not to be revealed to anyone, among them the true scope of his possibilities.

He is paired with Jacob Marks, "a big, strapping guy with a deep voice and a piercing gaze that could nail you to the wall." It is evident what those two see in each other: Vic, emotionally unstable and physically weaker, is looking for protection against the ugly world around him. Jacob admires Vic's skills when it comes to the souls of the departed, even though he is the elegant, smart and fitness-club-poster muscled one. Their love story started a bit too suddenly for me (but I suppose it will be explained in more detail later) but then it was surprisingly sweet and steamy for an m/m romance arc. Yes, the sex is rather prominent but the book actually has an interesting plot as well so I became a very tollerant and patient reader all of a sudden.

Finally let me say that I liked Lisa Guttierez - an  interesting albeit secondary character with an unusual gift. I do hope to meet her again.

What I didn't like:

My slight disappointment with this one was the showdown. Spoiler, highlight to read: so there is that shape-changing incubus which explodes, end of the story. That’s it? Really? That's all you've got? Oh, right…still a little anti-climactic. I wish there was a little more world building as well but I keep in mind the fact that it is just a beginning of a series so there is some hope. Let me also add that the sex scenes sometimes bordered on too descriptive, even gratuitous, but perhaps it's just me.

Final verdict:

There is so much scope for this author to build on.I have a feeling that if I continue with the series that Jacob and Vic will grow on me...considering that I really do like flawed characters and urban fantasy, even if it comes with m/m flavour.

Rameau's Review Archive: Dark Space by Lisa Henry

Originally posted on Goodreads February 1st 2013.

Synopsis:
Brady Garrett needs to go home. He’s a conscripted recruit on Defender Three, one of a network of stations designed to protect the Earth from alien attack. He's also angry, homesick, and afraid. If he doesn’t get home he’ll lose his family, but there’s no way back except in a body bag.

Cameron Rushton needs a heartbeat. Four years ago Cam was taken by the Faceless — the alien race that almost destroyed Earth. Now he’s back, and when the doctors make a mess of getting him out of stasis, Brady becomes his temporary human pacemaker. Except they’re sharing more than a heartbeat: they’re sharing thoughts, memories, and some very vivid dreams.

Not that Brady’s got time to worry about his growing attraction to another guy, especially the one guy in the universe who can read his mind. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s just biochemistry and electrical impulses. It doesn’t change the truth: Brady’s alone in the universe.

Now the Faceless are coming and there’s nothing anyone can do. You can’t stop your nightmares. Cam says everyone will live, but Cam’s probably a traitor and a liar like the military thinks. But that’s okay. Guys like Brady don’t expect happy endings.


Dark Space by Lisa Henry

This review can also be found on Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell-blog.


Are you interested in reading an M/M, scifi, military, mind connection, mostly character study book with creepy angels aliens?

That’s how I recommended this book in a tweet the day after I finished reading it. I threw after a warning about sibilant hisses galore but forgot to mention the rape triggers. I also might have persuaded someone by saying “you’ll like the ending” vaguely implying I was less than satisfied. And I was, but it didn’t stop me from thoroughly enjoying everything else.

Dark Space is set in an unknown future where humans fight a terrifying alien race called the Faceless. There are space stations that orbit the Sun (presumably) at the edges of our solar system and keep watch. These stations are manned—quite literally—only by human men because women are too precious to be put in danger like that. This was the world building detail that most annoyed me, but if the alternative was reading about poorly constructed female characters I’d suspend my disbelief for a short book any day.

Some of the world building details I liked were every single thing that made Brady Garrett the nineteen-year-old conscripted recruit three years into his ten year military service—fifteen should he choose to become an officer—trying to keep his head down, and out of trouble while helping out at the medical bay. I loved the idea of stark class differences, refugee camps, factories, and all the problems that were only implied instead of infodumped on the reader. That includes the alien race, which—as creepy as they were—was nothing compared to the Weeping Angels.

Cameron Rushton is an officer—three or seven years older than Brady depending on how you look at it—and a prisoner of war who has just been returned to home. Or as close to it as Defender Three, Brady’s space station, is. The doctors make a mistake and Brady becomes a temporary human pacemaker to the man who no one trusts. They’re locked together in a room and have to spend prolonged periods of time together adapting to this new situation. Their connection forces them to learn much about themselves and about each other.

Because it’s an M/M novel, sex is a big part of that learning process. And because I liked it, you can expect to read about dark themes, and horrible things being done to the characters.

The pacing is pretty much perfect. Whenever I started to think “that’s a bit much” the author would make shift that not only made sense within the story but also advanced the overall storyline. There weren’t any unnecessary scenes or exposition for the sake of exposition. The repetition that was there—like Brady thinking of his home and family—felt natural to the cycle of human psyche and the way humans think. We get stuck on something, move on, and come back to it when the time is right again. Brady also didn’t accept the mind melt connection unreservedly. He had doubts and he fought it, but he also learned to trust his own judgement about the connection.

And the heartrending goodbye… Well, I’ll let you read about that on your own.

Rameau's Review Archive: American Love Songs by Ashlyn Kane

Originally posted on Goodreads September 2nd 2011.

Synopsis:
Jake Brenner has too many wild oats to sow to fall in love-or so he claims. Besides, he's much too busy with his band, the Wayward Sons, to go looking for romance. His reticence has nothing to do with his embarrassing crush on Chris, the band's lead singer and Jake's erstwhile best friend. But that was before enigmatic wanderer Parker McAvoy signed on as the band's new lead guitarist.He can only deny his attraction to sweet, dorky Parker for so long before the urge to do something about it becomes impossible to ignore. The trouble is, Parker knows all about Jake's philandering ways-and oh, yeah, he's not gay. Or so Jake thinks until a string of related events provides encouraging new insight. Can he convince Parker to overlook his colorful past and give him a chance? Or will this love song fade out before it even begins?(

American Love Songs by Ashlyn Kane

I've read nearly a hundred books this year. Some of those have been decent, several I can call good, and a handful were really great. But there's been only one book that's lingered in my mind like this. Until now.

Jake Brenner is a twenty year old college drop out of his own volition. He chose music and the band, or more accurately, he chose Jimmy, his best friend, and Chris, his long time crush, over school. After a drunken mishap the band is forced to find a new guitarist and Jake a new roommate.

In walks Parker McAvoy, a mysterious musical genius, who finds a his place with them after a long drifting period. And he quickly finds his way into Jake's heart too.

I spent two days in a reading haze immersed in these boys' lives. I cried, I laughed, and I felt my heart tumble. The characters swept me along with them on this amazing journey from uncertainty and anonymity to certainty and fame. I watched these characters grow and accept change like too few people do.

Most of all, I enjoyed the writing. It didn't drag me down with false bravado, but carried me through the scenes and showed me their emotions effortlessly. The characters stayed true to themselves and their actions made sense, even Parker's whose motives weren't revealed until the end.

And you know how I'm always complaining about the annoying point of view changes usually between first person voice and third limited, well, it turns out it doesn't matter one bit when it's done right. From the beginning the story is scattered with Jake's blog entries and occasional emails, which feel like just extension to the dialogue. Jake's voice is clearest in his postings.

I read the ebook, but I'm still eyeing the hardcover. It's that good.

Review: Trick of Time by J.L. Merrow

Synopsis:
A lover from another time

When Ted Ennis steps out the doors of the Criterion Theatre for a cigarette and finds himself in Victorian London, he begins to doubt his sanity. At first he thinks it's all a film set, and is sure that the strikingly handsome young man leaning against a lamppost must be the leading man…

What starts as a sordid transaction with a beautiful rent boy quickly turns into something much deeper, drawing him back again and again as he gets to know Jem and craves meaningful encounters with him.

But Ted doesn't understand the exact conditions necessary for his trips through time—and for Jem, time may actually be running out. Now Ted has one last shot to get back to Jem and save their relationship, before it's too late…



This was a sweet, fluffy novel about Ted who had lost his family—and possibly his sanity—in a car accident. A year and a half later he has a new career and a life. He wanders outside for a smoke and steps into 1886. His second stumble is in insta-love with the nearest rent boy.

There was quite a lot of clichéd sex and very little relationship development, but I did understand why Ted wanted to save Jem, why he’d fancy himself in love again. I just didn’t believe Ted was in love. Yet. Maybe at the epilogue but we never got to see exactly how they got there.

Rameau's Review Archive: The Marrying Kind by Ken O'Neill

Originally posted on Goodreads June 18th 2012.

Synopsis:
Wedding planner Adam More has an epiphany: He has devoted all his life’s energy to creating events that he and his partner Steven are forbidden by federal law for having for themselves. So Adam decides to make a change. Organizing a boycott of the wedding industry, Steven and Adam call on gay organists, hairdressers, cater-waiters, priests, and hairdressers everywhere to get out of the business and to stop going to weddings, too. In this screwball, romantic comedy both the movement they’ve begun and their relationship are put in jeopardy when Steven’s brother proposes to Adam’s sister and they must decide whether they’re attending or sending regrets. 


The Marrying Kind by Ken O'Neill

As I was browsing through NetGalley I happened on this book. I glanced at the cover, read the blurb, and thought maybe not. Then I looked at the author's name, and thought maybe yes.

A M/M romance written by a man? Definitely, yes.

Skimming through the blurb I thought this book would be more about Adam, the wedding planner who quits his job in protest until he can legally marry his partner Steven, but as it turns out it's not. It's more about Steven, the columnist for The Gay New York Times, with a Romanian family and more than his share of neuroses. He tells the story of how their wedding boycott started and how others embraced it. He shows how the wedding plans of their siblings created conflict not only between them and their families but between Adam and Steven and their cats too.

The Marrying Kind is written in first person limited there's only one way to win me as a reader over once that writing choice has been made: The narrator's voice. I'll either love it, tolerate it, or hate it. While I can't claim to be ready to drop down on one knee and profess my undying love, neither can I dismiss O'Neill's writing as merely tolerable.

Despite the slow start I found myself swept away even by the long paragraphs flashing back to Steven's childhood and other significant moments of his life that usually annoy me with all that telling going on. And then there were the moments of showing. I might have awed a couple of times, but I was usually giggling, cackling, or guffawing loud enough to scare the unsuspecting passes-by depending on the moment. Most of my status updates are direct quotes from those moments I once again scared the neighbours.

The book is filled with classical film references some of which I recognised and others didn't. Luckily, the author provides a short summary for the relevant parts. One thing the book isn't filled with is erotica. The plot doesn't dissolve into pure porn and there is exactly one reference to a sex scene and it's vague. That fact almost makes me want to give this book an extra star.

Though, I've shelved this book under romance, it's more than that. The story is set in New York in 2007 when gay marriage was yet not legal in the state. It's about fighting what's right and making your family see it. It's about the reality of a stable relationship and accepting your partner as is. It's about showing why equal rights should be equal.

I couldn't recommend this book more if I tried.

I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.