The Manny Diaries by Kilt Kilpatrick

TITLE: The Manny Diaries
AUTHOR: Kilt Kilpatrick
PUBLISHER: Ravenous Romance
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 59k)
GENRE: Gay contemporary erotic romance
COST: $4.99

Evan hasn’t come out of the closet; he’s been dragged out by his best friend. In his bid to get over his new identity crisis, he starts out by trying to find a job. As a struggling artist, though, he doesn’t have many options. A chance encounter at the museum leads him to what seems like the perfect opportunity – as a manny to a precocious eight-year-old. He gets a Vespa, gets paid to play with a child he adores, and, oh yeah, the dad is the Clive Owen-lookalike of his fantasies. What could go wrong?

I’m always hesitant to buy things from this publisher. My luck with them has not been the greatest. Then when I do, they tend to sit on my TBR pile for that very reason. When I get around to reading a book from them, however, it never seems to sway my opinion one way or another. This one was no exception.

Told in 1^st person, this is the story of Evan, a young man in his twenties, who has only just realized that he’s gay. He’s had no experience. Until six months prior to the story’s start, he’d been dating the same girl for over five years. Once he realizes the truth, however, he’s ready to embrace it, starting with turning a new leaf in his life. First priority: find a job. As a struggling artist, he has few marketable skills, and much of his early efforts are frustrating. He goes to the museum as a treat before another interview, and there bumps into two people who will change his life – a gorgeous Clive Owen-lookalike and a precocious eight-year-old girl. He takes to the girl immediately, and when her mother offers him a job as a manny, he leaps at the opportunity. It’s only later that he learns that his dreamboat is also the girl’s father, so he has to figure out how to keep his libido in check and not ruin the best thing that’s happened to him in a long time.

This is pure fluff escapism right from the very start. The characters are slightly over the top and often funny, and Evan’s propensity to go off into fantasies at the drop of a hat indicative of the slightly whimsical nature of the entire story. In order to be best enjoyed, this is the nature in which it should be read. Anyone expecting a lot of realism and well-roundedness, things that are usually found in contemporaries, will likely find themselves very frustrated.

Evan’s humor and light tone go a long way in helping the story along. For a good chunk, it doesn’t feel like a romance, but rather, the gay man’s version of chick lit. Evan goes about his life, trying to find himself, being attracted to people along the way, before finding a path that ultimately leads him to the man he really does want, who in this case turns out to be his charge’s father. The humor helps in perpetuating this tone, and if some sections get bogged down in discussions and details that do little to advance the plot (and honestly, feel more like attempts to show just how much research has been done), I was forgiving of it, because I still liked Evan at that point.

But then he and Liam, the girl’s father, get involved. And things went downhill from there. It’s not just because Liam is dry and boring (their first real conversation that went on for pages about science and religion and other stuff almost had me stopping right there). It’s also because it didn’t feel like the same book I’d started. Gone was the madcap nature. In its stead was a bland, predictable romance that felt like it was trying to be more realistic in tone but couldn’t break free of its more escapist beginnings. By the time Evan’s boss suggested the trip to Cancun, I was ready for the book to be over. I wasn’t believing or enjoying any of the characters by that point, and the pacing really got stuck in the mud.

I never recovered from that. What charmed me at the start failed to remain consistent throughout the story, and ultimately, I felt let down.

Readability	7/10 – Evan’s lighthearted voice makes up for the sometimes sluggish pacing and minor editorial stuff that niggled at me
Hero #1	6/10 – Likeable but hugely inconsistent
Hero #2	5/10 – Bland and a little boring
Entertainment value	6/10 – It started out well, as long as I considered it as pure fluff and escapism, but I really had to struggle to read the last third
World building	8/10 – A ton of detail, not always deftly doled out, gives Evan’s world a very vivid feel
TOTAL:	32/50

The Manthology Anthology by various authors

TITLE: The Manthology Anthology
AUTHORS: Adam Carpenter, Derek Clendening, Ginevra Ermine, Ken Ives, John Jockel, Dalyn A. Miller, Ron Radle, Parker Sheridan
PUBLISHER: Ravenous Romance
LENGTH: Anthology (roughly 44k)
GENRE: Gay erotic romance
COST: $4.99

A collection of eight gay erotic romances…

I have to admit, I bought this last February and let it languish on my TBR pile primarily because of who the publisher is. I’ve reviewed three other Ravenous books on my blog, of varying success though each problematic, but I’ve also seen reviews elsewhere, for books I haven’t bought, and my impressions of the publisher diminished. In fact, I haven’t bought a book from them since March, though I still have two more of their books on my TBR. While a few of the stories within this anthology didn’t rise above my expectations, several exceeded them, one so much so that I feel little guilty about judging this anthology based on other preconceptions. I can’t say I’m now excited about Ravenous offerings, but perhaps I won’t drag my feet about trying the other ones I own.

The anthology starts strong with “Adam” by Ron Radle, the story of a bookstore manager crushing on a young man who works in a DVD/record store in the same mall. Though this one does become erotic, the emphasis is on the gradual, almost whimsical development of their friendship/relationship. Both men are vividly drawn, and I ended the story with a smile on my face, eager to move on to the next offering.

That was “Arezzo Development” by Adam Carpenter. This is one of the shortest stories in the collection, the telling of a young American traveling to Arezzo on the train and the hot Italian he hooks up with on it. There’s no romance here. This is purely erotica, and while the setting is evocative and lovely, the characters and the rest of it fall flat. I do have to say, however, I adore the title. I smiled when I saw it, and I smiled again as I wrote this review. I think it’s delightfully clever.

Things didn’t improve with “Emergence” by Parker Sheridan. This starts with the premise that in 2012, instead of the world ending, all the lost civilizations re-emerged, including a desert empire called Al Tahar. British Neil Barton is traveling with his sister, the diplomat, to try and gain an audience with Al Tahar’s Sultan. Instead, they meet one of his generals, Asad, a man Neil suspects is the Sultan himself. While this story was more creative than some, I never engaged with it. First of all, it was way over the top. Asad is some Japanese/Native American mixture – which, granted, sounds sexy as hell – but he’s a caricature, not a fully fleshed man. All Neil does is lust after him, and his eventual seduction, with Neil in a submissive role, does nothing to make him more interesting. One of the big misses for me.

The worst story in the anthology for me, though, was what came next. “I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy – and Girl” by Ginevra Ermine is a ménage about a couple who, after an unfortunate incident with another woman in their bed, decide they want a committed threesome and settle on the gorgeous Charles. I think it’s meant to be humorous. I hope it’s meant to be humorous. My first introduction to Charles has the narrator – the husband – asking him what it’s like to be gay. Charles then launches into how he discovered musical theater, and then Barbra Streisand, so of course he turned out gay. It all turns out to be one big joke, but it plays out for pages and pages, and it just wasn’t funny. What bothered me even more than the failing humor, though, was how Charles freely admits he’s gay…except for the wife. It’s a Straight For You story that never succeeded in convincing me he wouldn’t just ditch the girl at every opportunity once he had the chance. It's made even worse by continuity that's shoddy at best – the wife enters the hotel room, takes off her top, then a few pages later the husband slips his hand under her blouse (that she’s supposedly still wearing), and then a few pages after that when they’re laying down in bed, she’s got a tank top on. It’s like watching Sean Connery’s collar open and close in The Untouchables.

I wanted to be done with it by now, but then came “Second Chances” by Derek Clendening. Young man Peter gets an email from college buddy Dale asking to meet up after not seeing each other for years. Peter had a crush on Dale in college and fears attending. There’s nothing hugely original or outstanding about this one, though the characterization of the two guys is top notch, but I think coming after the increasingly disappointing stories previous, it shines.

But not as much as “South” by Dalyn A. Miller. This story – by a mile – was my favorite. It tells of Kenneth and Daniel as they travel south in Daniel’s A/C-less pick-up truck. The difference here is that Kenneth and Daniel have just broken up recently after a long relationship, and now Daniel is driving Kenneth back to his parents in Alabama, to turn around himself and return to Seattle alone. We learn what happened in their relationship – how they met, what came between them – through the course of the story, but this was so heartfelt, gut-wrenchingly real, that I was holding my breath for these two by the last page. I literally shouted at my screen when I read the last sentence. And then promptly went back and read the whole story again. This story all on its own made the cost of the anthology worth it.

Needless to say, it would be hard to follow that. “The Big Bang” by John Jockel is the romance between two astronomers who work together, a nerd and the gorgeous guy who loves nerds. It’s easy-going and mostly nice, and a good way to come down from the emotional high of “South,” but I’m not sure if I’d remember it very well if it came elsewhere in the anthology or stood on its own.

The final story is “Willie the Wad: A Sentimental Reminiscence” by Ken Ives. In this, a man gets his invitation to his 20-year high school reunion, and then reminisces on the jock he crushed on at the time. The emotions feel genuine for the ages of the two men in the flashback, and the sex is surprisingly hot. On an erotic level, this was my favorite one, and so ended the anthology on a very positive note.

But “South” is what made it worth it. By a mile. A long, hot mile with wet sandals. Which makes a lot more sense once you’ve read the story.

Readability	8/10 – Surprisingly strong, with only a couple stories really letting this down
Erotica/romance	6/10 – Most of these only work as one or the other, not as both
Characterization	7/10 – A couple stories drag this down unfortunately, with over the top, unbelievable characters
Entertainment value	7/10 – I was surprised by how few stories I just didn’t like
World building	7/10 – Again, a couple stories just really dragged this down
TOTAL:	35/50

Wicked Pleasures by assorted authors

TITLE: Wicked Pleasures
AUTHOR: Kris Cherita, Elizabeth Coldwell, Cynthia W. Gentry, Ralph Greco Jr., Alex Picchetti, Jean Roberta, Elle Rose, A. Silenus, Peter Tupper, Sage Vivant
PUBLISHER: Ravenous Romance
LENGTH: Anthology (roughly 48k)
GENRE: Erotica
COST: $4.99

A collection of twelve erotic short stories, all exploring the kinkier side of women’s sexuality…

There’s a sentence in the editor’s introduction to this anthology that I really, really like. Another way to look at it, in terms of sex and love, is that evil is nonconsensual, while wicked is consensual. It’s astute, and typifies all of the stories within this collection. While I can’t say that I necessarily liked them all, I find myself respecting the anthology for its efforts, because of that introduction. It presents a well-rounded, healthy view on sexuality, embracing a diversity of relationships.

The sexuality contained within the stories tends to rely heavily on BDSM and power relationships, with both female dominants and female submissives, f/f interactions, and ménages. It’s probably not for the faint of heart, though the cover and blurb should make that perfectly clear. These are also not romances, though more than one has a romantic relationship within it. This is purely for the erotic factor. Don’t expect anything more.

A large portion of the stories ran middle of the road for me, but four of them stood out. “Temporary Reversals” by A. Silenus is about a man who discovers his submissive side, only to fear he’s losing the woman who inspired it in him. Not only is it well-written and the characters are fully fleshed out, but it offers an almost melancholy desperation as he tries to hold on to the one thing he needs.

“Just Friends” by Cynthia W. Gentry is a little more light-hearted. Jane used to have a long-distance relationship with Matt, broke up when she realized it wouldn’t work, then made up and became friends a year later. She’s in New York on business and meets up with him for dinner, one thing leads to another, and all of a sudden, one of the fantasies he’d encouraged in her starts coming true. For me, this one was all about the characters. I loved the relationship between the two, and then the third that gets introduced. The sex was hot, as well. I was only let down a little by the ending, though that seems to be a weakness amongst most of the anthology’s offerings.

“Fair Game” by Elizabeth Coldwell is a comeuppance story about an Englishman named Donovan who deliberately haunts bars on the weekends when hen parties are in full swing, to pick a different woman up each time. They’re all one-night stands, because he has no interest in getting tied down. But his latest conquest has a different plan in mind. The characters in this one sparkled, and the sex, though not the most erotic of the bunch, worked well. I liked this one as much as I did because of how well it succeeded as a short story, feeling complete without letting me down in any regard.

“The Invited” by Ralph Greco, Jr. is the story of a woman who is about to get married. On her last weekend fling, something agreed upon with her fiancé though they’re not sharing details, she invites five of her former lovers to a hotel – at staggered times, so there’s no overlap – for one last spanking session. Because that’s what gets her off. On the surface, it’s a highly charged sexual fantasy, but this one has more depth than that. Surprisingly, too, all of the men who actually show up all feel real and distinct. Really well done.

The rest of the stories don’t really inspire me to mention them specifically, but in reviewing the ones I did really enjoy, the one common thing holding them together is the characterization. They all shine. Short stories don’t have to skimp on that, you see. Even if you’re just writing erotica. These stories are proof.

Readability	7/10 – Mostly clean editing (though one story doesn’t know its thans from its thens and it’s very annoying)
Erotica	5/10 – Mostly humdrum, with only a few standing out
Characterization	7/10 – Some of them are surprisingly sharp, though there are typically weak ones
Entertainment value	6/10 – Most of these are fairly average, I’d only seek out four of these authors on their own
World building	7/10 – Most of the stories do well in bringing their erotic milieus to life
TOTAL:	32/50

Marrakesh by John Jockel

TITLE: Marrakesh
AUTHOR: John Jockel
PUBLISHER: Ravenous Romance
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 54k)
GENRE: Gay historical erotic romance
COST: $4.99

You’ll find this review different than my usual fare. I sincerely debated whether or not to write anything on this at all. Not because I didn’t finish it, but because of my conflicting emotions about it. I rather enjoyed it, actually, and read through the whole thing in swift time.

No, the source of my conflict lies in the fact that this is a blatant retelling of Casablanca. I pretty much knew that when I bought it, but I didn’t suspect it would be as blatant as it actually was. Basically, what the author has done has taken the homoerotic subtext of the movie and made it text, creating a whole gay backstory for his protagonist and expanding on some of the characters. I had fun with it, and I genuinely liked most of the characters, but the fact remains, it’s so obviously Casablanca that it’s a very guilty pleasure.

Names are thinly disguised. Rick Blaine becomes Frank Chandler, Sam becomes Dan and Frank’s ex-lover (and all those reasons about why he can’t go back to the US are due to being discharged from the Army for being gay), Ilsa is Lilli, and so on, and so on. Rick’s Café Americain becomes Frank’s American Nightclub. Situations and scenes are lifted and expanded. Even the montage in the movie about Rick and Ilsa in Paris has a correlating chapter, though the content in the book is more erotic and not quite the same. Decae (the prefect, in the movie it was Renault) has the same habit of calling Frank, “Frankie,” just like Renault called Rick, “Ricky,” in the movie. It was a little disconcerting to occasionally see actual lines of dialogue – none of the famous ones – appear in some fashion in the story, too (like the exchange about showing the Germans to a table because they would just take it anyway).

So you see my dilemma here? I feel tremendously guilty enjoying the book even a little bit. The writing is certainly solid enough, but knowing just how much of it is lifted from the movie spoils the effect. But others will know now just how blatant it is, and they can make their own decisions about buying it. Would I still have bought it, knowing how obvious the retelling was? I don’t know. Probably not.

An Officer and His Gentleman by Ryan Field

TITLE: An Officer and His Gentleman
AUTHOR: Ryan Field
PUBLISHER: Ravenous Romance
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 52k)
GENRE: Gay contemporary erotic romance
COST: $4.99

Chance Martin’s got it rough. The only way for him to have a roof over his head is to accept the less than noble terms of his aging boss – work in the market by day, be naked in the man’s presence during off-hours. Chance gets through it by focusing on his love for cooking, one day dreaming of making it big on the Food Network, but when a gorgeous naval officer on leave catches his eye, his dreams start to expand…

I have a number of Ravenous Romance books sitting on my TBR pile, books I bought months ago before a lot of the recent brouhaha about the company seemed to appear in the blogverse. I have to admit to being a little reluctant to pull any of them out, but when one of the nicest things I can say about this particular book is that it isn’t nearly as terrible as I feared it would be, I wonder if I should review it at all. Except I’ve read it now, and while it’s not as awful as might be expected, it’s still pretty bad.

The basic premise is that Chance is a pretty young thing who can’t afford to live on his own, kicked out by his parents when they found out he’s gay with little talents except his love for food, and his love for sex. He gets a job and a room to live in at an Italian market, on the condition that after hours, he doesn’t wear any clothing. The lecherous old man who owns it doesn’t do much more than grope him, but it’s still a pretty tacky situation. I had hoped from reading the blurb and excerpt that it would end up being quirky instead, but Dan treats Chance so abysmally, it might as well be abuse. And the problem is, Chance takes it. This was one of my biggest stumbling blocks in the entire set-up. Chance is an incredibly talented cook. He’s young. He’s reasonably bright. He’s a hard worker. How am I expected to believe this is his only alternative? There’s never enough reason or depth provided to make this situation plausible in the slightest. Its only purpose seems to be to put Chance in the most awful circumstances possible and then show him a man who can save him from all that.

Not that Brody Chambers, the Naval officer, is really all that terrific. He’s certainly nice enough at the start, but when his behavior turns belligerent and controlling early in their relationship, I applauded Chance’s decision to leave him in the dust. The reasons given to explain it away are flimsy at best. Plus, Brody is pretty much in the closet and is going to stay that way, he’s only in town because his mother is dying, and all he seems interested in Chance for is sex. None of this inspires me to invest in the romance. Not in the slightest.

Along with the weak characterizations, the prose suffers from frequent editing errors. There are shift tenses and inconsistencies galore. For instance, the first time Chance is going to meet Brody at a nearby amusement park, it’s agreed that they’ll meet at eight. The store closes at seven, Chance finally gets to dash out just past seven-thirty, but when he arrives at his friend Sarah’s house – the girl who is acting as his front for his boss – she complains that it’s nearly seven. Oops. This is just the first of many mistakes, which increasingly annoy me. There is no usual romance dirty talk in this, either. The language in the sex scenes is crude and meant to be so, and lines such as this are not uncommon: “I'm gonna fuck you hard, baby. I'm gonna breed that fucking hot ass until you can't take it." “Breed” is actually a favorite word in this, used repetitively throughout the book. I know it’s meant to be erotic, and perhaps for some people it is, but I didn’t find it particularly so.

There is one aspect that’s done amazingly well. Any time Chance focuses on food or cooking, the details come to life. My mouth watered more than once at the description of one of his specials, and I found myself wishing for more material like that, rather than the endless parade of sex scenes with Brody. There’s not enough of it to carry the weaker sections of the story, however, and ultimately, I was just relieved to be done with it.

Readability	5/10 – Frequent editing errors and tedious characters made this a slow read
Hero #1	4/10 – Never really believable for him to be in the situation he is, it’s hard to feel sorry for him when he doesn’t look at options
Hero #2	4/10 – Flat and a control freak
Entertainment value	4/10 – The appeal wears thin quickly when it’s obvious there won’t be any depth to the story
World building	7/10 – The food parts were particularly great, as well as some of the quirkier character bits
TOTAL:	24/50