AUTHOR: J.J. Massa
PUBLISHER:
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 33k)
GENRE: Gay erotic romance
COST: $5.99
Tyler Baker has been transferred. Strike that. He’s been shipped off as part of a bribe, from all his troubles in
J.J. Massa is one of those authors whose name I’ve seen online here and there, but have never bought from before. Considering the rash of not so great gay romances I’ve seen around lately, when I found one that sounded like it had a real plot, I decided to take a risk. For once, my risk-taking didn’t screw me over.
The prologue on this story is a marvel. It’s short, but its brevity gives it even more of an emotional punch. In it, the reader is thrust in shallow waters on a beach, with
Paytah is a gorgeous alpha male - Native American (yum!), tall and broad, intelligent and forceful - but my primary complaint about the book is that I never really bought the romance between him and his new, openly gay partner. It’s one of those stories where one of the heroes never, ever considers a male partner…until the perfect one comes along, courtesy of the author. Those kind of stories only work for me when the author takes the time to show why he’s willing to switch hit all of a sudden, to build the UST and make the coming together inevitable. That didn’t necessarily happen here, though I think the fact that this is only 33k – with a pretty hefty cop story running alongside the romance – held it back. There are hints of some really good UST, but the sex when it happens wasn’t nearly as mind-blowing for me the reader as
The advantage this story has to others where I don’t completely buy the romance – gay or straight – is that there’s a solid enough B-story to keep me engaged. These two men act like cops, spend time acting like cops, and do enough things other than staring at each other googly eyed to entertain me as a reader so that the romance isn’t nearly as crucial to me as it could be. That’s a lot more than most romance writers do these days.
| Readability | 8/10 – Realistic dialogue and reliable pacing keeps this an even flow. |
| Hero #1 | 8/10 – I felt for poor |
| Hero #2 | 7/10 – Not as sharply drawn as his counterpart, and his sudden jump from hetero to gay didn’t ring true |
| Entertainment value | 7/10 – A solid enough read with a good balance between the romance and the cop world |
| World building | 8/10 – Nice to see a world where it feels like a world I could actually live in, with a good balance of varying personalities |
| TOTAL: | 38/50 |
11 comments:
OH MAN! This is an author that I have bought but am worried to review. I find J.J. Massa excels at the canned plot line.
If there was a chance to label anyone writing a Werewolf Romance sorta Inspirational she has found that voice with the Montgomery Family series. She stripped them of any animal like characteristics and made her werewolves almost saintly.
Don't drink, don't smoke, What do you do?
Like an old Donny and Marie Christmas Special. You watch it for the camp but you are always waiting for the religious aftertaste to kick in.
Ack. That's going to keep me away from that series, that's for sure. Thanks for the heads up.
Oh now I did not want to warn you away. Massa is a capable writer.
I am interested if I am the only person that gets that after taste.
I'll review one of her books that I kinda thought was ok in a way.
Yeah Book 3... I think it was A Family Portrait. Oh, and either the man or the woman or someone close to them has to suffer a medical emergency of some type that requires soul searching and bed rest. It's like clock work.
Well, I'll try the first one on a slow week. You read a lot, lol.
FYI, I picked up an older Langley title, The Tin Star. I'm looking forward to it.
Oh, check out the first book of her werewolf series at Samhain. I am currently helping her on the next one With Caution.
She rocks at characters.
Oh, I can explain why the hetero character so suddenly achieved an appreciation of Tyler's charms!! It's because the story was originally written as a fanfiction story in the Startrek Voyager fandom. The intended readers were wanting and expecting a romance between Tom Paris and Chakotay so the relationship didn't need a great amount of exposition. Chakotay (in case you don't know) was the american indian first officer of Voyager. If you aren't Voyager fans, I suggest you watch an episode or two and you'll understand exactly who the characters in this story were based upon. You'll find that the characterisations are spot on, even if the scenario was different.
Why do I know this? Because, oddly enough, it was me who wrote the story. JJ Massa is a thief.
I'm aware of the show, Amanda. While I can see the possibility of this being based upon other characters, I would like to suggest that perhaps my blog is not the place to make accusations without offering proof. If you're serious about accusing someone of plagiarism, there are proper channels you should pursue. Maligning an author on a review blog without offering evidence is not one of them.
Hey did you guys just hit on Elisa's review site too.
http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/195766.html
Thanks for pointing that out, Teddy. I'll be keeping an eye out to see what happens with this.
My apologies, Book utopia mom, but in my defence I would point out that I haven't actually maligned the author of this book - given that I'm actually the author. And, as the author, I was agreeing in principle with the review comments and simply pointing out the reasons for the weaknesses within the story. Also, given that the story is available on line for free in its original format it would be a shame for some of your readers to spend good money simply to read an unauthorised, somewhat edited copy.
Still, I apologise if you feel I hijacked your blog.
Amanda, first of all, my apologies for what it looks like you're going through. This is not going to be a pleasant situation at all. Since you've brought this to my attention, I've been following it elsewhere, much to my ever growing chagrin.
I realize your earlier comment was made in the heat of the moment, but my response was meant merely to diffuse what looked potentially volatile. Accusations of plagiarism are incredibly serious to authors, and when you first posted, I had simply your word against a published author. I'm not taking her side; after reviewing the evidence, I think this is abominable. However, leveling accusations like this on a public forum without offering supporting evidence has the potential to generate drama. That's not what this blog is about. I made the suggestion I did to channel your attentions in the proper direction, or to spur you to present evidence supporting such a serious allegation. That was all.
Again, my sincerest apologies that you're having to go through this.
Post a Comment