Bastards and Pretty Boys by K.Z. Snow

TITLE: Bastards and Pretty Boys
AUTHOR: K.Z. Snow
PUBLISHER: Liquid Silver Books
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 35k)
GENRE: Contemporary gay erotic romance
COST: $5.50

Charlie Larkin’s latest purchase—a cottage on a lake—will give him a retreat as well as a hunky neighbor who distracts him every time he sees him. His boyfriend of the past five months isn’t quite as thrilled about the distraction, calling to mind all the doubts Charlie is starting to have about their relationship. Those doubts become even stronger when he actually meets the neighbor. Booker is gorgeous, talented, and fun to be with, but as Charlie learns more about him, he has to decide for himself what it is he really wants…

I have a love/hate relationship with this author’s work. On the one hand, her work tends to have a very lyrical literacy to it, helping it stand out of the crowd, and when her characters work, they really work. On the other, she often makes stylized choices within them that seem more about the craft than the storytelling, as well as having a propensity for liking soapboxes. This is one of those stories that falls on the short end of the scale for me.

Told in 1^st person, it’s the tale of Charlie Larkin, a twenty-nine year-old man whose divorce two years earlier was about his finally coming to terms with the fact that he’s gay. A successful business owner, he has bought a cottage on a lake, partially because he wants to face his fear of the water, partially as a retreat. His next door neighbor catches his eye right away, but when Charlie’s boyfriend notices his interest, the boyfriend turns it against him, using it first for some hot sex, then announcing that Charlie isn’t the only guy he sleeps with. Charlie has started wondering if he and Kenneth (the boyfriend) really have much in common, but it’s his budding relationship with the neighbor, the practically perfect Booker, that helps to make up his mind.

I liked Charlie at the start, primarily because of the author’s voice. She really does have some different turns of phrase than what’s normally out there, and I find the lyricism of it compelling more often than not. My problems begin when Booker starts revealing his secrets to Charlie. Booker is an ex-con, on parole from time spent in jail for dealing marijuana. It’s a minor offense—a point repeated more than once—and provides one of those soapboxes the author is fond of. This one is about how drug laws in the US need to be revamped, an opinion that not only Charlie and Booker become vehement about, but so does Charlie’s ex-wife later on in the story. I loathe being preached to in a story. It’s hard to do it well. Most of the time, it’s obvious and heavy-handed, which is exactly how this came across to me. It doesn’t matter if I agree or not (I did in this case, and frankly, usually do). It’s the manner of how I feel being lectured to that bugs me so much.

This personal peccadillo aside, the story derails for other reasons as well. Halfway through, the plot takes a complete left turn, when Charlie and Booker’s lives outside the lake become inextricably linked. I found it completely implausible that such a coincidence could occur, and almost gave up the story on the spot. I hoped that it would rectify itself somehow, but honestly, it only got worse. Plot points were introduced and never followed through on (the help he gets from his ex-wife), and the ending was too pat and too abrupt.

I’d like to say at least I had the romance to fall in love with, but I didn’t. Yes, the two leads have chemistry and they’re actually quite sweet with each other. But Charlie is head over heels in less than a week, in spite of everything he’s learned about Booker, and I didn’t believe for a second they’d survive the long haul. Charlie idealized Booker too much to make him any kind of equal partner. I can sometimes let myself go and give insta-love more quarter, but not in contemporaries like this one. Toss in all my other issues with the story, and this one’s a miss for me.

Readability	8/10 – A smart voice gets hindered by completely implausible plot twists and a plot that just wanders off
Hero #1	6/10 – Showed promise at the beginning, but never lived up to it
Hero #2	5/10 – Sweet, but idealized since seen through Charlie’s eyes
Entertainment value	4/10 – I liked the start, but the implausible plot twists as well as a romance I don’t believe for a second will last dragged this down
World building	6/10 – The lake is its own vital character, but the rest of it falls to the wayside in the face of Charlie’s needs and feelings
TOTAL:	29/50

The Prayer Waltz by K.Z. Snow

TITLE: The Prayer Waltz
AUTHOR: K.Z. Snow
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 27k)
GENRE: Gay contemporary erotic romance
COST: $3.99

Steven has come to Prism Falls in search of answers. Eight months ago, his lover of four years died in what was called a freak accident, but even now, Steven doesn’t know how to deal with it. He hopes that by coming to the town Frank left behind he’ll be able to find the closure he needs. His first stop is St. Jerome’s, the church where Frank served before leaving the priesthood. His second is the bar across the street, where he meets Evan, a local who had his own relationship of sorts with Frank…

I am an immersive reader. When I read, I lose time because I go deep into a character’s POV, which is why headhopping bugs me as much as it does. Getting jerked out of the moment always disorients me, and it’s hard to trust the story or author enough to allow myself to get in that deep again. What this means is that I’m in the minority among romance readers. I absolutely love 1^st person POV. I know a lot of romance readers want to know what’s going on in other characters’ heads, but I’m of the opinion that a good writer can tell me that without having to switch to their perspective. I love 1^st person because it allows me to sink even deeper into a character than 3^rd does.

This aspect of me is why I can’t say that I was blown away by this novella. The author has an absolutely fantastic voice, with a smart ear for dialogue and lyrical descriptions that leap off the page. The first thing I read by her was written under a different pseudonym, a story I was intensely fascinated by, so I’ve kept an eye on her gay stories, waiting for something that would interest me to the same degree. This was the first to do so, but while it started out well, the author made a stylistic choice that jarred me out of the story.

The novella is told in 1^st person from Steven’s POV. It works amazingly well to suck you into Steven’s grief, as well as introducing Evan and his own unique position. Then, in the middle of chapter 4, there’s a switch. The story jumps to 3^rd person, Evan’s POV, a recounting of a memory for Steven’s benefit. While telling, it completely threw me out of the emotional narrative, because of the way I read. It switches back briefly to 1^st, but then, at the top of chapter 5, there’s a letter written by Evan that Steven would have no knowledge of. More of those follow, though the majority of the story is in 1^st, but it’s enough to disrupt my flow, putting me at a distance from the story that wasn’t there at the start. I understand why the author chose to do it this way, and for most readers, it’s unlikely to make a difference. I imagine a lot of romance readers would actually embrace getting the other perspective. But when it switched to 3^rd, I grumbled a lot and asked myself, “Well, why didn’t she just write the whole thing in 3^rd?” There was no going back to my original immersion then. I was too far removed.

Don’t get me wrong. I still liked the story. A lot. I had issues accepting Steven’s method of closure after being so intensely immersed in his questions, but Evan is sympathetic and rich, evoking stronger reactions from me across the board. His struggle with his sexuality, mirrored in his struggle to understand those around him, is poignant and real. By the time I reached the climax of the story, it was his closure I craved. His resolution was the one that made me want to smile, and if I didn’t cry as I think was expected, it’s only because of my earlier struggles. His characterization is the emotional core of this novella for me, a terrific example of the author’s attention to well-rounded, meaningful casts.

Readability	7/10 – Loved the author’s voice, disliked the POV choices
Hero #1	7/10 – His grief was palpable, but I had a few problems buying the closure of it
Hero #2	8/10 – More real to me than the narrator, sympathetic and rich characterization
Entertainment value	8/10 – If it wasn’t for getting yanked so hard out of the story, I’m sure this would have been one of those stories I go gaga for
World building	8/10 – Some exquisite detail, realistic and well done
TOTAL:	38/50