One Good Year by Rowan McBride

TITLE: One Good Year
AUTHOR: Rowan McBride
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 824k)
GENRE: Gay paranormal romance
COST: $4.99

A year after Spade was on in a card game, he’s still devoted to his master Ace but wondering why he doesn’t feel more secure in the relationship. Ace does everything he can to convince him, but it takes another of Spade’s kind threatening to tear them apart forever for the lovers to face what it means to belong to each other…

Revisiting loved characters in subsequent books is often dangerous, especially when a lot of time has elapsed. Unfortunately, this short sequel to One Good Hand fails to deliver much of anything except a brief walk down memory lane.

Told in 1^st person from Spade’s POV, this is a short revisit in Spade and Ace’s lives together, almost a year after Ace won Spade in a poker game. Spade is an alien species, designed to be the perfect match for whoever owns him, and in the first book, proved he was the right partner for Ace when their bond was solidified. Spade meets another of his kind who has been looking for them ever since they crashed fifteen years ago, but his intentions soon become evident. He thinks Ace will hurt Spade, so he’s determined to separate the two permanently by erasing their memories.

While I really enjoyed the first book, and often find this author very enjoyable, this story ultimately didn’t work for me. First of all, it relies too heavily on knowing its predecessor, with characterizations that tell more than show and too little attention breathing fresh life into them. Even recognizing it won’t work as a standalone, however, it becomes mired in its own over-romanticism and sentimentality. These guys are mushy from the very start, and it borders on nauseating because there’s just no ebb and flow to make their relationship feel real.

On top of that, we’re introduced to Ancel, another of Spade’s kind, who was defective and thus has other abilities that Spade doesn’t. He becomes this omnipotent force that threatens to come between Ace and Spade, but his conflict is introduced too late in the story for it to have much impact, not to mention I had very little opportunity to really get to know him as a character before the threats began. Maybe if he’d seemed more genuine or if I’d known him better, I wouldn’t have been as annoyed by what felt like manufactured conflict.

In all fairness, I think this short novella would do best with readers who were highly invested in the couple as based on their first story and really want to see something – anything – with them again. Otherwise, I’d pass.

Readability	7/10 – Overly romantic and too repetitive to be a quick read
Hero #1	5/10 – Even though we’re in his POV, I felt I knew him better in the first book than this one
Hero #2	6/10 – His constant indecision and fear were grating
Entertainment value	4/10 – Doesn’t work as a standalone at all
World building	5/10 – Too much is left unexplained, new readers won’t get it easily
TOTAL:	27/50

Sexual Persuasion by Maryn Sinclair

TITLE: Sexual Persuasion
AUTHOR: Maryn Sinclair
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 62k)
GENRE: Contemporary erotic romance
COST: $6.99

When Charlotte Stone first spotted Alex Andros, she didn’t know he was the lawyer for one of the most dangerous men in Boston or rumored to be his lover. She only knew the reaction she had to him – instant, chemical, dangerous. She’s prepared to take her friend’s advice and avoid him, but when her ex corners outside of the party, Alex is the one who rides in for the rescue. He wants her to come to her own conclusion about him, outside of what she’d heard, but Charlotte is reluctant, at least until her ex decides to try blackmailing her into coming back to him…

I had such high expectations for this book after the first sizzling chapter. But this is one example of things going steadily downhill.

Charlotte owns an upscale furnishing store and attends an auction with hopes of winning some art work to sell. There, she runs into her ex, a man who did various BDSM things to her while she slept the last night they were together. She tries to get away, but ends up getting rescued by the gorgeous stranger who’d been watching her since her arrival. His name is Alex Andros, and he’s the attorney to one of Boston’s top racketeers. He’s also rumored to be the man’s lover, but Charlotte finds it very hard to believe he’s gay after the way he looks at her. She brushes him off, but when her friend has to leave her to get a ride home by herself, Alex comes to the rescue again. They spend a pleasant evening having drinks, only to have Charlotte come face to face with her ex again once Alex drops her off. Charlotte barely escapes being raped, and calls Alex for help. Drawn to Charlotte already, Alex knows he has to do whatever he can to get the ex off her back.

The sexual tension in this story crackles from the very start. My first reaction was that it was too intense too soon, and I almost gave up on it, but I got too sucked in by Alex’s charisma and the chemistry between the pair to stop. I read avidly, drinking it all in even through the near-rape. It all started to fall apart for me, however, once Alex and Charlotte consummated their attraction. The sex scenes didn’t work for me nearly as well as the tension and plottier scenes, and gradually, my interest dwindled. I grew tired of hearing just how terrific Charlotte’s breasts are (they’re very large, very natural, and apparently worshiped by all men who see them), as well as the over the top dialogue and certain terminology (the author has a propensity for using the word “hole” too much during sex scenes). It would ebb when they’d return to their tense, non-sexual scenes, but not for long.

It’s also not helped at all that the big conflict in this is Alex’s absolute refusal to share anything personal about himself. Well, that’s not entirely true. I can understand that kind of reaction if what he’s refusing to share is so truly awful. But he’s ultimately hiding an affair that he had in college with a man. He already neither confirms nor denies his bisexuality to the public or Charlotte. I just never understood why it was such a big deal that this one relationship remain such a mystery except to create artificial drama.

This spiral downwards accelerates at the end, with an added twist (that wasn’t really a twist) that came out of nowhere to give Charlotte something to misunderstand and both of them something to hash out. It turned the entire last scene into something completely unbelievable, and there, the chemistry that had saved much of the story for me already, was gone completely. The last few paragraphs are unexpectedly abrupt and crass considering what’s been going on (I mean, really, she calls it making love to Alex’s face but then turns around and in the big romantic moment tells her employees she’s going upstairs to fuck?!? Um, no.), and I’m left with a sour taste in my mouth. It’s such a shame, too, because there was such genuine heat and allure in the first third of the book. It just fizzled when they actually came together.

Readability	7/10 – I had a much easier time with the tension than the sex scenes or later dialogue
Hero	6/10 – The longer it took for him to discuss what happened, the less I liked him
Heroine	5/10 – Other than her physical attributes, I never understood what the appeal was
Entertainment value	5/10 – The tension that crackled at the beginning wasn’t followed through in the sex scenes or overplayed ending
World building	6/10 – More was needed to give the villain any kind of depth or believe Alex’s reputation
TOTAL:	29/50

Reckless in Moonlight by Cara Bristol

TITLE: Reckless in Moonlight
AUTHOR: Cara Bristol
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 44k)
GENRE: Contemporary erotic romance
COST: $5.99

Dana Markus is in the middle of a divorce. Her husband left her for a woman barely older than their daughter, and now she finds herself wondering about her own desirability at the age of forty-five. During an evening skinnydip in her pool, she fantasizes about her neighbor’s twenty-eight-year-old son, only to have him show up in the hot, living flesh only moments later. Attraction flares from the start, but Dana isn’t looking for a relationship, and especially not one with a younger man. But their desire for each other is combustible. Is it so wrong to want some of that passion for herself for a change?

I have to admit, I’ve been curious about this author. I hadn’t read anything by her before now, because the titles I’d seen were domestic discipline in nature, and while I understand it’s purely fantasy and escapism, that’s a no-go area for me, no matter what. So when I saw this older woman/younger man story come up, I decided to take the plunge and try her. I learned something very important. Her erotic style and sense of humor don’t mesh with what I enjoy.

It’s a straightforward contemporary. Dana is forty-five and in the throes of a divorce. Her husband cheated on her and left her for a woman only two years older than their daughter, and Dana is feeling less than desirable. She fantasizes about the neighbor’s hot son, a twenty-eight year-old doctor with a body like Adonis. The night they actually get to meet face to face – in her backyard after she’s been skinnydipping – that fantasy becomes reality. Lon has been lusting after his parents’ hot neighbor for months, and now that he has got a taste of her, he wants to have a go at dating. She’s a little hung up on the age difference, but he quickly takes care of that. With lots and lots of sex.

Buying from LI is a lot like buying from EC 90% of the time. The focus tends to be on the sex in the romances, which isn’t always a bad thing. It only gets in the way when the erotic style doesn’t work for me, and unfortunately, that was the case here. Much of it has to do with terminology, and that’s a preferential thing that varies from reader to reader. What bothered me – like having cocks and pussies referred to as “weeping” – might not bother others. I did debate early on if I should keep going once I realized I was going to have issues with it, but because it’s such a recent release and because I’ve been so curious about this author for so long, I stuck it out.

It wasn’t just the erotic style that didn’t work for me. Attempts to lighten the mood with jokes and banter fell flat as well. Humor is so subjective, though. Lines like, “I plan for you and my cock to get to be best friends,” are obviously meant to be funny (within the context of the story), but just made me roll my eyes and wonder if I was reading about teenagers instead of adults. I ended up feeling rather indifferent about the whole experience, from the characters to the romance to the sex. I don’t regret buying this book, though, because my curiosity has finally been satisfied.

Readability	6/10 – Purely based on the author’s humor and erotic scenes not working for me
Hero	4/10 – So much was spent on the sex there was too little time to learn what he might actually be like when he wasn’t
Heroine	5/10 – At least she didn’t whine about the age difference for half the book
Entertainment value	3/10 – I learned the author’s erotic style and sense of humor does not mesh with what I enjoy
World building	5/10 – Everything felt skimmed over in favor of all the sex
TOTAL:	23/50

In the Darkness by Charles Edward

TITLE: In the Darkness
AUTHOR: Charles Edward
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 73k)
GENRE: Gay historical fantasy erotic romance
COST: $7.99

Gareth is a monster. That’s what he’s always been told. He needs to hide away at night, never be seen. But his curiosity about the outside world drives him to watch, and in watching, he falls in love with a beautiful young man named Evin. Evin is the sexual toy to a powerful young man in his village, and when Gareth sees him getting hurt, Gareth breaks all his rules and interferes. In the days after Evin sees him, refusing to acknowledge him as a monster, the two become fast friends…then more…

This book is just further proof that I’ll finish a mediocre read if it targets one of my bulletproof kinks. In this case, it’s the Beast archetype.

Gareth is that Beast. Forced to spend his days in his parents’ cellar, he is only allowed out at night to do the chores. His parents have warned him his entire life that if he gets seen, he’ll be killed as a monster. The reason for that? He’s green and very large and strong. He also learns that he has unbelievable recuperative powers, which only seems to reinforce the monster accusation. His one escape is sneaking away to watch the people in the nearby village, specifically a beautiful young man named Evin. Evin is the sexual plaything for another young man, one with a great deal more power, and one night, when Gareth witnesses Evin getting hurt, he breaks the rules he’s been given to save Evin. He’s afraid to show himself to Evin, but Evin demands it. Though Evin is at first taken aback by his appearance, he soon gets over it, and the two eventually become lovers. But Evin’s so-called “master” isn’t happy about Evin’s shift in attention, and eventually, Gareth and his peace is interrupted.

In a lot of ways, this is two different books. The first half is straight-up romance. Evin and Gareth are all lovey and sexual and the only conflict is internal. Then, halfway through the book, it shifts to an action fantasy story. There’s no smooth transition, and the writing isn’t nearly sophisticated enough to meld the two. The problems I had in the beginning with an incredibly stilted voice morphed into a lack of clarity once the action set in. Much of that is due to being thrust into a fantasy world with such little preparation. There’s new characters, new politics, new dangers, and it took a long time to get it sorted. Too long. It needed more seamless world-building in the first half to make the latter easier to process. (I was also chagrined to see the perspective slip at the very end of the story. What had been a reasonably tight 3^rd all of a sudden headhopped in a crucial scene.)

So why did I finish it if I had a problem with the voice? Because of Gareth. The Beast archetype is an exceedingly common one in romance, and is one of my bulletproof kinks. I kept on going because I cared about Gareth, in spite of not being fully invested emotionally in the story. His simple ways, coupled with his unexpected gentleness, go a long way in making up for other shortcomings.

Evin isn’t quite as fully fleshed out as Gareth, mostly because he serves as a foil for Gareth in the first half, and then spends too much time not himself in the second. I kept waiting for more, but when it finally came, it was too late for me, and I finished the story a tad disappointed.

It’s certainly not a bad story, but it’s not a great one, either. Readers who are sensitive to sexual violence should likely steer clear, as well as those who’d rather not see any het contact in their m/m.

Readability	6/10 – The stilted voice in much of the first half makes it drag, and the schism between the two halves detracts from it further
Hero #1	6/10 – Tantalizing possibilities with him though not all were realized
Hero #2	7/10 – I’m a sucker for the Beast archetype and Gareth is no exception
Entertainment value	6/10 – Hard to engage because of writing style, then because of disjointed second half
World building	6/10 – It felt like a lot of good ideas that never got the fleshing out they deserved
TOTAL:	31/50

Shapes in the Blood by Kim Knox

TITLE: Shapes in the Blood
AUTHOR: Kim Knox
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 27k)
GENRE: Paranormal erotic romance
COST: $4.99

Aila can’t believe how her luck has changed. The hottest guy at her new job has asked her out, and it looks like she’s actually going to get what she wants for a change. But when he shows up late, then drags her to a war memorial and starts talking about needing her, alarm bells begin to peal louder than her hormones. She tries to leave, but he won’t let her go easily. She has no choice but to accept the help of the strange man who suddenly shows up, telling her she’s just this demon’s latest intended victim…

I’d hoped choosing an author I’d enjoyed before would make this a good reading week for me, but unfortunately, this is probably the weakest story I’ve read by her yet.

It starts in a rush. Aila has been working for six weeks at her new job, and just that morning, garnered the attention of a gorgeous co-worker. He asked her out for that night, then ended up showing four hours late for their date. The lust she has for the man overrides her better sense, and she agrees to go out at that late hour, but when he directs her to a war memorial for some annual ritual he does, then proceeds to tell her he needs her help in doing what he’s come to do, she finally comes to her senses. She tries to leave, but he doesn’t want her to go, changing right before her eyes into something not quite human. A stranger then appears out of nowhere offering to help, and on instinct, she tosses him her car keys and lets him drive her away.

It only gets confusing from that point on. I could try explaining it all, but honestly, it took me so long to figure it out for myself—and even then, it took the bulk of the information that doesn’t get revealed until the very end—that it would be pointless for me to try. Because that’s this story’s greatest weakness. The ideas behind the world-building are ripe with potential, incredibly intriguing and different from the norm, but the way they’re conveyed is next to impossible to keep straight. Details get twisted around by dreams that might not actually be dreams, while facts about who Aila is and what the demons wants with her are vague and unnecessarily circuitous. The novella is only 27k, but it reads much longer, mostly because of the lack of clarity given to the world-building and what exactly is going on with everything.

Part of that likely stems from the thick tension that permeates the story from page one. The author excels at UST and making things steamy, but in this case, it ends up obscuring the actual story that’s being told. Too much focus is placed upon Aila’s raging hormones, all the way down to awkward dreams that play out her hidden thoughts about Matt, the stranger who helped her escape. It’s too hard to tell where manipulations end and genuine reactions begin, and while some of that is intentional, there’s just too much. It gets in the way of understanding who Matt and Aila really are, and if there is any kind of real future there outside of the too-convenient one we’re told they’ll have.

As much as I’ve enjoyed this author in the past, I can’t recommend this story at all except to romance readers who are mostly interested in hot tension rather than clear storytelling.

Readability	6/10 – Clarity gets sacrificed for oblique prose
Hero	4/10 – Hints that I should find him attractive, but the story is too muddled to give me any kind of idea of what he’s truly like
Heroine	4/10 – Um, ditto
Entertainment value	3/10 – Though the sexual tension runs rampant, it’s not nearly enough to counter the muddy storytelling
World building	5/10 – Great ideas, poor execution
TOTAL:	22/50

Ready and Willing by Cara McKenna

TITLE: Ready and Willing
AUTHOR: Cara McKenna
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 25k)
GENRE: Contemporary erotic romance
COST: $4.99

Abby wants a baby, but rather than go with an anonymous donor, she places an ad and picks out two men. Rob is the most gorgeous guy she’s ever seen, while Noah feels like somebody she’s known forever. There’s no strings, and having sex with both men means nobody will know who the actual father is. Except almost from the start, Abby feels a pull she wants to ignore, one that proves more and more irresistible as time goes by…

While I’m still excited about this author, I’m pretty sure my lower enjoyment of this particular novella is at least partially my own fault. See, the publisher lists a ménage as part of the warnings, and I didn’t read the blurb very carefully when I was so greedily buying up this author’s backlist. I was expecting a ménage romance, and though there’s a ménage (mfm) scene, this most definitely is not.

At thirty-two, Abby is feeling her biological clock ticking. She wants a baby. She doesn’t want an anonymous donor, however. She wants to meet the man who might be the father. After taking out an ad, she picks two men, who agree to her payments and no-strings offer. Rob is gorgeous, and the thought that she gets to have sex with him turns her on. Noah is good-looking, too, but his appeal comes from something else, from the feeling that they’ve known each other forever. The differences between the two men is stark, right from the beginning, and it doesn’t take long for Abby to realize that keeping things casual is a lot easier said than done.

So let’s get this clear. This is not a ménage romance. It’s not even really a “who will she pick” romance. It’s obvious from the beginning that the way Abby and Noah hit it off is important. Their chemistry is sweet and tangible, leaping off the page. I adored the first scene in the story where they meet up. It’s funny and charming, much like a lot of this author’s work. But unlike more traditional romances, Abby isn’t sexually exclusive to Noah. She can’t be. Her intention is to have sex with both men so nobody will know who the real father is, which means, sex with both men. It didn’t bother me since it seemed obvious that it was going to happen that way, but for some readers, it might prove a stumbling block.

The disparity between the two is so blatant, however, that there’s not really a lot of tension. Abby doesn’t even come when she has sex with Rob. She has to get herself off afterward. Noah, on the other hand, is as into her needs as he is his own. Plus, he’s uncomfortable with the payment part of it. It all adds up to an easy choice. There’s a solid HFN as pay-off.

The one weakness in this, and it was a doozy for me, is that their sex talk is supposed to be hot and dirty. It just wasn’t for me. It felt forced and fake, like bad porn. That makes it really hard to get into the sex scenes. The erotica worked best for me when they weren’t trying to have sexy talk, when it was more organic and real. Unfortunately, that just didn’t happen often enough.

The story is told in 1^st person, present tense, a choice that might put some readers off, but honestly, I thought worked great for this style of story. It lends Abby an air of relatability, especially since the author’s voice is so distinct. My only wish is that the rest of it had been as strong.

Readability	7/10 – The dirty talk came across as more awkward than hot, but I flew through and loved all the rest of it
Hero	7/10 – Adorable and wonderful, I just needed more
Heroine	7/10 – I needed her motivations sooner than I got them, but her independent streak was fantastic
Entertainment value	6/10 – Not buying the dirty talk really held me back in enjoying this
World building	6/10 – The contemporary setting precludes much of anything here, though there was a nice setting when it hit Christmas
TOTAL:	33/50

The Darkling Thrush by Josh Lanyon

TITLE: The Darkling Thrush
AUTHOR: Josh Lanyon
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 49k)
GENRE: Gay fantasy erotic romance
COST: $5.99

On an exchange program from Boston, Colin Bliss finds himself sitting behind a desk in London, trying to get over the fact that he’s had an affair with his married supervisor and has been discourteously dumped, when he’s offered the chance to find a book nobody is even sure exists. It seems like the opportunity of a lifetime, especially since he’s desperate to get away, so he takes the job, only to find his co-worker, the enigmatic Septimus Marx, on his heels the entire way…

I picked this up off the TBR pile in hopes that it would be a safe read from an author I trusted. Unfortunately, it turned out to be my least favorite work by him by a long shot.

The story starts out with Colin Bliss, a book hunter working on an exchange program in London, receiving an odd invitation to come view the book Colin had found. Colin goes, only to be offered the chance to search for a book that most believe to be a myth. His would-be employers are convinced otherwise, and he accepts. It’s a combination of a couple of things – curiosity, professional drive, and the desire to escape his workplace for a while. The affair he’d been conducting with his married boss has recently come to an end, and things are awkward at work to say the least. The search isn’t as easy as it seems to be however, especially when one of his co-workers, the enigmatic Septimus Marx, ends up on the same train to Scotland. It only gets harder once he arrives.

In some ways, this has the Lanyon stamp all over it. Told in 1^st person, the narrator has a similar physicality to previous Lanyon heroes, as well as the same idealistic nature. The prose is mostly lovely, and the mystery/action (once it gets into full swing) paced well. But there are definite differences, too, things that most decidedly pulled me out of enjoying it very much.

First of all, the beginning is mired in awkward information dumps. For a fantasy world, he needs to acquaint the reader with what he’s created, but I found these pages the hardest to slog through of the entire story. It’s confusing until much of it comes into context later on, with a lot of unfamiliar names thrown at the reader all at once. It might not be so bad if I wasn’t also trying to get a grasp on what the differences in this world were. But I was, and so ended up trying to keep all these details straight without having the right or comfortable context for it.

It’s not helped by early editorial mistakes. For instance, Colin is introduced to the Lady Margaret Lavenham, the museum procurator. She alternately gets called Lady Margaret and Lady Lavenham (in the midst of trying to keep all the other names straight), and then gets referred to as Lavinia by Anstruther, the museum’s presul. The name Lavinia is never mentioned again. I can only think that maybe the character had a name change from an earlier draft and this one was missed. Mix these kind of mistakes with the brewing and messy world-building that was going on at the same time, and it turned into a big headache.

As familiar as he was, I did like Colin and his innocence, but the romance never worked for me. Part of that is my fault. Marx is introduced (in quite a negative light and in a very menacing way) as being tall and thin with shoulder-length black hair and slashed eyebrows. I couldn’t get a picture of Snape out of my head for the entire book. Part of it, however, is the insta-love feel when they get to the ending. It was rushed and unexplained, and ultimately unbelievable. The plot and action helped to keep me engaged with the story once I finally settled into the world halfway through, but even that seemed slighted by the hurried last quarter.

In the end, I just don’t think Lanyon’s fantasy writing is my cup of tea. This needed more pages to better explore the characters and explain the world, as well as a tighter editorial hand.

Readability	7/10 – The information dump and early editorial mistakes bogged down the first third, though it picked up as the story went on
Hero #1	7/10 – Naïve and idealistic, though oddly charming
Hero #2	4/10 – Some interesting ideas behind him but never felt realized
Entertainment value	4/10 – A boggy first third and an unbelievably rushed last third makes this my least favorite Lanyon title
World building	6/10 – I liked the ideas as I finally sorted them out, but the beginning was laden with awkward info dumps and too much was left unanswered
TOTAL:	28/50

Flying Fish by Sedonia Guillone

TITLE: Flying Fish
AUTHOR: Sedonia Guillone
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 24k)
GENRE: Gay historical erotic romance
COST: $4.99

Daisuke has returned to the land where his wife was murdered in cold blood to seek revenge. What he finds instead is the most beautiful man he’s ever seen bathing in a hot stream. A chance encounter leaves them both yearning for more, though each recognizes it can never be. But when Daisuke can’t get Genji out of his head, a night at the theater changes both of their lives forever…

My TBR pile is big enough that I still have books on it from before I started my review blog. Though this one isn’t quite that old, I was more than a little relieved to clear it off the list, if only because it was such a sweet story to read.

Set in Japan in 1684, it tells the story of Daisuke, a ronin (a masterless samurai), who has returned to the Kai province to seek revenge for the murder of his wife five years earlier. He happens upon Genji bathing in a hot stream, who is the most beautiful man he’s ever seen. They indulge in an afternoon of passion, but because of Daisuke’s mission and Genji’s lack of freedom (he’s owned by the theater owner and is forced to service samurais after each performance), know that it can’t be repeated. Daisuke learns that the man who killed his wife is now dead, replaced by his son, but is warned off on taking his vengeance now. The son is a good man, he is told, and the province is peaceful and prosperous again. Frustrated and not knowing what to do, Daisuke blames part of it on Genji and the fact that he can’t get Genji out of his head. He decides to go see Genji perform, in hopes that will sate the desires that are currently controlling him.

I know very little about Japanese culture, nor do I really care for yaoi, but I was drawn into buying this for its stunning cover and the romantic blurb. I can’t compare it to what seem to be its inspirations, so I have to judge it on its own merits. For all its eroticism, there’s a sweetness that pervades the story almost from the start. Genji, especially, seems delicate but displays stunning strength at the most unexpected times, while Daisuke is the opposite, seemingly invincible but possessing such a soft, broken core I sometimes wonder how he managed to survive long enough to even meet Genji. There’s an almost instant connection between the two, one that translates into the romanticism of their first encounter and makes their inevitable separation a little painful. All of this is wrapped up in highly stylized, overtly romantic prose. There is never any doubt this is meant to be seen through rose-colored glasses. If a reader is willing to give oneself over to that, it can be a quite satisfying read. I was certainly able to do so for a good part of the story, even as I recognized the strings being pulled to manipulate me into feeling the way I did.

That’s a side effect of the stylization for me. It probably wouldn’t bother a lot of readers who are more eager for this kind of storytelling. Not to say I didn’t enjoy it, because I did, but I never forgot I was reading, and I never felt immersed in the passion of what they were feeling. I went through the bulk of the story in a constant state of “Awwwww,” very much like I was watching a performance rather than engaging in it.

Because of this pervasive romanticism to the story, solutions seem easily come by. I can’t say that I bought the ending, even if I was glad for the men’s sake that it happened that way. I just needed something more to push what was an enjoyable read into a wonderful one, a depth rather than the skim over the surface that it felt like I got.

Readability	8/10 – Highly, highly romanticized prose, clean but if it isn’t your thing will bog you down
Hero #1	7/10 – Oddly vulnerable in spite of his power, though his turnaround at the end seemed too easy
Hero #2	7/10 – Sweet without being saccharine though I found myself wanting more from his POV to help explain his past
Entertainment value	7/10 – It sometimes felt stylized due to its prose, but there’s such a pervasive sweetness between the heroes that it’s hard to be turned off by it
World building	7/10 – I know next to nothing about Japanese culture, and while it didn’t leap off the page, it certainly explained enough to serve the story
TOTAL:	36/50

The Good, the Bad, and the Naughty by Lena Matthews

TITLE: The Good, the Bad, and the Naughty
AUTHOR: Lena Matthews
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 28k)
GENRE: Contemporary erotic romance
COST: $4.99

When her right-hand man gives his notice, lingerie designer Maryam James finds herself at a loss on how to replace him. The trick of it is, though, Xavier has no desire to actually leave. He just wants Maryam to realize how badly she needs him off the clock, too…

I knew going into this story that it would focus primarily on the sex. I just wasn’t expecting the sex to be the weakest part of the story.

Maryam James is a high-pressure designer with even higher standards, both for herself and for those around her. Few can put up with her, but her assistant/right-hand man Xavier Sun handles her better than she can handle herself. They’ve been working together for seven years, but now, Xavier has given his notice, and she has four weeks to find his replacement. She doesn’t want to. Nobody can replace Xavier, but he’s not budging in his decision. For Xavier, it’s a deliberate ploy. He wants Maryam to finally admit to herself that there’s something between them. Leaving is meant to force her hand. But his plans get fast-tracked when an impromptu kiss leaves them both breathless.

There was never any doubt this story was meant to focus on the erotic. I mean, it’s a het romance from Loose Id, written by Lena Matthews. I knew all this going in. I was prepared for it. What I wasn’t prepared for was being turned off by the eroticism rather than vice versa. This author has worked for me in the past, and I adore the hotness potential between the two leads – Maryam is African-American, and Xavier is Asian/European – but the actual execution left a lot to be desired. Its primary fault is that it ultimately tries too hard. For instance, in an effort to keep the prose as varied as possible (since so much of it is sex and repetitive), there are more euphemisms than I generally like. The sex pretty much lost me at “crinkled star” in the anal scene. The attempts at dirty talk always felt over-the-top and unrealistic, even within the context of such a fantasized scenario. That’s because the author had already set up a very realistic contemporary feel with the banter between her two protagonists in the non-erotic scenes. Their dialogue was often funny and unforced, flowing far better than anything created within the sexual escapades, and the contrast ultimately lowers any heat their coming together might have created for me.

It took me a while to warm to Maryam, too. Frankly put, she’s a bitch at the top of the story. She knows it. Xavier knows it. I didn’t like her. My opinion didn’t change until I got to see her through Xavier’s more knowing eyes. His perspective turned her from a harridan into someone human, and I could finally relax and enjoy their chemistry. Or at least, I could until they hit the sheets.

By the end of the story, I found myself wishing it had been done for a different publisher that didn’t have as much emphasis on the sex. Perhaps somewhere else, the characters could have spent more time outside of the bedroom (and the shower, and her desk…) and grown into the people they had the potential to be, but ultimately were not.

Readability	7/10 – Fun banter makes up for the over-the-top sex scenes
Hero	6/10 – I always felt like there was more there that we never got to see
Heroine	6/10 – My first reaction of what a bitch was tempered by Xavier’s perspective
Entertainment value	5/10 – Oddly enough, too much sex because it was definitely the weaker aspect of the story
World building	5/10 – Not a whole lot of attention paid to it
TOTAL:	29/50

Cold Victory by Fiona Jayde

TITLE: Cold Victory
AUTHOR: Fiona Jayde
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 33k)
GENRE: Sci-fi futuristic erotic romance
COST: $4.99

Zoya Scott has specifically been assigned to the battleship Victory, though nobody but her knows why. All her commander Galen Stark knows is that he’s got a convicted thief on board, and that every time he touches her, all he can think about is taking her to bed…

After so many ho-hums lately, I decided to go with an author I’ve had better luck with in the past and opted for this space erotic novella. It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely a cut above the rest of the stories I’ve read recently.

Galen Stark is the commander in mankind’s latest battleship, preparing to continue the war with an enigmatic species they’ve been fighting for years. Resources are stretched thin. Personnel is short. He’s forced to take on pilots with no battle experience, trained exclusively in holofights. Not all of them are so inexperienced, though. One in particular has flown extensively before, but Zoya Scott is a convicted thief who was caught stealing supplies from the military. He doesn’t want her around. When he confronts her on her first day, however, he’s shocked at the intense physical reaction both of them have to each other. Zoya is equally dismayed at the reaction, though for different reasons. She has ulterior motives being on the ship. One of the few survivors of a planet that was sacrificed in the war, she has been tasked with a suicide mission that will hopefully put an end to the war, once and for all. Nobody onboard knows about it, especially Stark. But she can’t keep her physical response to him under control and quickly discovers, neither can he.

Something about the way this author writes gets to me. Her stories aren’t perfect. She often sacrifices world-building for expediency, and keeping choreography straight – either of action scenes or ensemble dialogue scenes – isn’t her strong suit. But her lush hand in evoking emotion compels me to ignore a lot of my normally critical assessments in favor of getting lost in what she describes. This novella is no exception. In all the more intimate scenes, I was completely and utterly enraptured. For instance, there’s a scene midway, after one of their pilots has died in an attack, where Stark and Zoya come together. For her, it’s meant to obliterate her grief. For him, it’s meant to help him forget. It ends up being so seductively sensual I was breathless by the time it ended. Every time he whispered, “Will you come for me?”, it ratcheted the heat up another twenty degrees. It sold me on Stark as a romantic hero far more than any of his macho posing prior to that (especially since Zoya keeps describing him as too muscled from all his implants, for too much of the book I kept picturing over pumped weight lifters which did not work for me at all). It’s the push/pull of their attraction and mistrust of the other that fuels the first third of the story, but it’s all so much hotter and better once they indulge in it and start letting the other one in. It’s an honest emotional core to an otherwise vague sci-fi story and helps it overcome its other shortcomings.

The action driving these two toward their goals is vaguely formed. Zoya is working with another survivor on this suicide mission, but the details about it and her physical well-being aren’t clearly delineated until far too late into the story. Without that solid basis, it feels very nebulous. I understand it was probably a deliberate choice to create tension, but its ultimate effect was to dilute it since I never really understood the risks that were being undertaken. I can’t appreciate the sacrifice if I don’t see what the potential loss might be. The ending itself, too, is incredibly anticlimactic. There’s a sense of fatality that pervades the last quarter of the story, but then the resolution ends up coming so abruptly and so…cleanly that I didn’t buy it. I felt cheated, in fact. Especially since Zoya and Stark get one more page of post-climax time together, and then poof, the story’s over. It dragged down my overall enjoyment of the story, because even in spite of my other niggles, I was committed emotionally to what was going on and to the characters. After the disappointing climax, that commitment was lessened.

Still, I can’t say it puts me off this author, because in the end, even with its flaws, this was a superior read to much of what I’ve consumed lately. The emotional truths she roots out with her characters call to me. For any romance reader, that’s worth it’s weight in gold.

Readability	8/10 – I love this author’s lush prose, though the space battles probably required a bit clearer pacing and verbiage to make them visual and understandable
Hero	8/10 – He won me completely over in the scene where they’re grieving together
Heroine	7/10 – I understood all her reasons for what she was doing, but her tight rein on her emotions distanced me from her as well
Entertainment value	8/10 – This probably would’ve been higher if it weren’t for the very abrupt ending
World building	6/10 – Air battles were confusing, enemies deliberately unclear, and the delineations between political/military divisions too indistinct to really make an impace
TOTAL:	37/50

Red Light by Thom Lane

TITLE: Red Light
AUTHOR: Thom Lane
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 32k)
GENRE: Gay contemporary erotic romance
COST: $4.99

Jeff is on vacation in Provence, the vacation he was supposed to take with his ex. A chance lunch with a young man named Benet leads to an evening, and then a night, and then another day. Jeff keeps reminding himself this is just a vacation fling, though that gets harder and harder as Benet takes him to the vineyard where he works and Jeff is sucked into the family he meets there…

This book’s predecessor holds a special place on my virtual keeper shelf, and though this displays many of the qualities I loved about that one, it doesn’t quite rate as highly.

Jeff is an English doctor on vacation in Provence. The trip was originally meant to be a vacation for him and his boyfriend, but when they broke up a few months prior to the story’s start, Jeff decided not to let the tickets go to waste. At the top of the story, he’s sitting at a restaurant, wishing the waiter wouldn’t refuse to serve him the bouillabaisse when he overhears a nearby customer trying to order the same thing. Jeff offers to share the dish with him so that they might both get what they want, and thus starts a delicate song and dance as he meets Benet, another Englishman currently working for a vineyard in an attempt to learn French methodology. Their lunch eases into the afternoon, then the evening, as their attraction grows. Jeff is all too aware this is only a vacation fling, but the more time he spends with Benet, the more he likes the young man. That inner struggle is only exacerbated when he drives Benet back to work at the vineyard, where Jeff is immediately sucked in by the family.

The true star of the first book was its delicate, sensual prose that brought to life the French setting. That voice is back in this offering, and while it served to entrance me for the first two-thirds of the story, it ultimately wasn’t enough when I started getting frustrated by the narrator. The novella is told in 1^st person from Jeff’s perspective, and while he’s likeable, he is blind to his own emotions and too stubborn to consider alternatives to what he’s already decided. While I can certainly appreciate that he’s only recently broken up with the man he’s spent most of his adult life with, he seemed far too intelligent to be quite as rigid as he was. I was frankly surprised to discover he was only five years older than Benet’s twenty-four. He acts much older and treats Benet like he’s much younger. I’m sure that colored my initial perceptions of him, because I fully expected him to be more attuned than he actually was. Inevitably, I spent the last third of the story annoyed at him more than anything else, and not even the prose could overcome it.

Because of Jeff’s blindness and the POV, it’s much harder to get a real grip on Benet as a fully fleshed out character. He’s presented as the pretty but whimsical casual fling, a role he fulfills magnificently. He’s charming and funny and very much fits into the French holiday vibe the prose works so hard for. I know his job and his age, and I get a feel for some of his personal peccadilloes, but Jeff is so good at keeping him ensconced under the label of not long term, that was all it felt like I ever discovered.

Where the book excels is exactly where the first story did – the loving, sun-drenched detail of the vineyard and the slow, serene pace of French life. There’s a sweet sensuality to the way it’s portrayed, a trait that comes through in more intimate scenes as well, so enjoying the author’s voice will go far in appreciating the story for what it does. It might not be for anyone. The languid pace at which the story travels will likely be considered too slow for some, and the ending, while an HFN, was mildly unsatisfying in that it didn’t seem to actually resolve the issues that really do plague these two. Characters from the first book make a reappearance here, but that doesn’t get in the way of enjoying this as a standalone. They are merely the backdrop for Jeff, Benet, and the setting – because France is most definitely a third character in this, that much is made clear with the care given to its presentation.

Readability	8/10 – Sweetly sensual though it drifts the longer the story goes on
Hero #1	6/10 – His stubbornness about his celibacy and lack of love seemed extreme for a man of his intelligence and age
Hero #2	6/10 – Charming but with everything from Jeff’s POV, I never felt like I got to know him
Entertainment value	7/10 – Sweet and sensual, though I didn’t enjoy this as much as its predecessor
World building	9/10 – The prose is in love with its setting, and it comes to life in loving, sun-drenched detail
TOTAL:	36/50

A Vintage Affair by Josh Lanyon

TITLE: A Vintage Affair
AUTHOR: Josh Lanyon
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 42k)
GENRE: Gay contemporary erotic romance
COST: $5.99

Master of wine Austin Gillespie is on assignment when he arrives at the fading Georgia house. He’s there to catalog and count their cellar, but what he finds is a house full of some of the most interesting Southern characters he’s ever seen outside of literature and a dead body left amongst the wine racks…

I’m slow to get around to reading this particular Lanyon story, mostly because I was finding a sameness to his work that precludes consuming it rapidly. If I did, I most assuredly would find myself bored before too long, and I respect his writing too much for that to happen. That being said, this isn’t as strong as other Lanyon works I’ve read.

Austin Gillespie is a master of wine in a slightly precarious professional position. There’s every possibility in the world he’s not going to get the promotion he deserves, in favor of it going to one of the bosses’ fiancée, so he throws himself into his latest assignment in hopes of it saving his job. According to the inventory his company has been provided, the Cashel wine cellar has many excellent and exclusive vintages, but none more exciting than the famous Lee bottles. If he can find those, Austin has his future set. What he doesn’t anticipate is finding the dead body of a local sommelier in the cellar, too. Through the initial stages of the investigation, he’s forced to interact with the decidedly unusual family, including the daughter’s friend, Jeff. Jeff seems interested in Austin, but this is the south, and he’s not entirely sure he’s reading the man correctly.

What starts out as a more traditional mystery set-up devolves into what is probably one of the more typical romance stories I’ve read by Lanyon. Focus shifts a third of the way into the short novel from the question of who the killer is to the attraction between Austin and Jeff, and then slides even further away once their relationship is consummated. Jeff is very much in the closet in what felt like a very realistic portrayal of a Southern man from an old family, and Austin is very comfortable about his sexuality, uncomfortable with the way Jeff denies himself. The plot breaks down into this dynamic for the last half, including an attempt on Jeff’s part to “prove” his bisexuality by involving Austin in a threeway with a woman. It’s very different tonally to what is set up at the beginning with the mystery, though in all fairness, fits perfectly with the questions Austin’s life and choices raise. It’s a story about self-discovery and sticking with what makes you happy, even when it doesn’t thrill other people. I only wished it flowed better than it did since it was set up as one thing and ultimately became something else.

Austin and Jeff are familiar archetypes in Lanyon’s catalog – the wealthy artist-type sure of his sexuality, the strong but most definitely unsure of his sexuality crime professional. I really liked Austin at the beginning, however, as his viewpoint as seen through wines was crisp and unusual. Why that disappeared after the one-night stand, I have no idea. On the other hand, Jeff was charming enough for me not to care too much that he wasn’t wholly original, but considering how much he built up his denial, I just couldn’t buy into his swift turnaround at the end. Timewise in the plot it wasn’t that short – a month – but none of it happens on the page, and so as a reader, I had little time to work it through and accept it emotionally. I only got told about it after the fact, and Lanyon did far too good of a job portraying him as a man in denial for me to believe it so readily.

Not my favorite of Lanyon’s works, but I did enjoy the wine aspects a great deal. That very much rang true.

Readability	7/10 – Lacks the narrative flow I expect from Lanyon, though the slightly pretentious verbiage is a perfect fit for the subject matter
Hero #1	6/10 – His turnaround never felt organic to the character I’d been introduced to
Hero #2	6/10 – I liked his confusion regarding his orientation, but didn’t believe much of his behavior of the ending
Entertainment value	6/10 – Flawed but still fascinating
World building	8/10 – The greatest care is given to the wine world, and it’s terrifically genuine
TOTAL:	33/50