Poetic Injustice by Alicia Dean

TITLE: Poetic Injustice
AUTHOR: Alicia Dean
PUBLISHER: Wild Rose Press
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 32k)
GENRE: Romantic suspense
COST: $4.50

The murder of Judge Mona Morrison just might bring Detective Samantha Colby the promotion she so desperately wants, if she could only keep her thoughts on the case and not the hunky bad boy ME, Dexter Hawkins…

In a lot of ways, this reminds me of the stories that I used to read in my grandmother’s magazines when I was growing up. The mystery was always fairly basic but functional, the characters unthreatening and flat, and the romance palatable for the most conservative of audiences. They were fine when I was ten. Now that I’m older, the same kind of experience is vaguely unsatisfying, like having dry toast for breakfast when you’d really like a gooey cheese omelet.

Sam Colby is brisk and efficient, focusing on her job since she’s just come off a bad divorce. The last thing she needs is an unexplained attraction to the new ME, Dexter Hawkins, especially since he looks like the same kind of bad boy who just screwed her over. Their relationship is fractious, with both of them behaving badly, and I found it very difficult to like either one of them. My ill will toward Dex only increased after his ex-wife showed up and started extolling all the man’s virtues. In the course of a single conversation, I’m expected to throw away all my feelings about what a jerk he is and realize that he really is a knight in shining armor, too good to actually be true. Nope, didn’t happen. If anything, it annoyed me even more. It doesn’t help that Sam’s characterization is flat, with her reactions predictable and her motivations shallow. I didn’t care a single iota whether these two hooked up or not.

The murder mystery is handled more competently than the romance, and feels throughout the course of the story that this is really the part of the plot the author cares about. A lot of attention is given to the details of the case, and while it’s not anything hugely original, it’s engaging enough to keep me reading when I really don’t like the main characters. It becomes evident early on that there are only three viable suspects, and the author tries to build suspense by occasionally dipping into the murderer’s POV, without ever revealing the identity. It works to a small degree, and probably would have worked better for me if I cared about impending danger to Sam. The ending seemed to come far too abruptly, as well, while the entire last quarter with Sam and the murderer dragged on far, far too long. That imbalance is indicative of the problems that plague the whole book, in fact, and doesn’t make this one I can honestly recommend.

Readability	6/10 – Simplistic with easy editorial errors, though swift
Hero	4/10 – A jerk, and then too good to be true
Heroine	5/10 – Flat if efficient
Entertainment value	4/10 – Only the suspense elements save me from being bored
World building	7/10 – Solid attempt
TOTAL:	26/50

Through the Closet Door by Rick R. Reed

TITLE: Through the Closet Door
AUTHOR: Rick R. Reed
PUBLISHER: Amber Allure
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 11k)
GENRE: Gay contemporary erotic romance
COST: $4.00

Gregory is caught – between the real life he has with a perfectly wonderful woman and the secret life he details in his private journal. He knows what the world expects from him, how wrong they see his hidden desires, but it’s getting harder and harder to lie to everyone on a daily basis, especially himself…

I’m reluctant to label this a romance at all, though the publisher does so and there’s likely a HFN on the horizon after the conclusion of this short story. This is the tale of a young man on the brink of identifying his homosexuality, caught in all too familiar circumstances. Yes, there is a male figure in the background that provides a focus for Gregory, but Jake, albeit appealing, is more a placeholder for what Gregory is lacking than any real romantic force. Their so-called connection is overshadowed, intensely so, by Gregory’s inner turmoil. But that doesn’t detract from this short gem. It just momentarily diverts attention.

The story goes between Gregory’s journals, detailed with his most private fantasies, and his present day life. The author’s choice to use present tense lends an immediacy to the emotions. There is never any question the reader is experiencing the intense moments as Gregory is, every second of guilt, every minute of confusion. His emotions are so on the edge, they actually feel a tad over the top at times (he has a tendency to cry a lot). But he does everything he thinks he can, walking such a narrow line that he runs when faced with an obstacle he can’t immediately deal with. When his wife pushes about a baby, he flees. When he pushes the boundaries of his relationship with Jake, he flees. The physical acts of running away mirror his internal conflicts all the way through the story, until he finally reaches the decision he knows he must. Only then does he stop trying to escape.

The author’s phrasing is evocative and fresh, even when I got occasionally frustrated by Gregory’s crying. It sets this short story even further apart from others in the genre, and stands the author amongst a select few who successfully break free from the normal constraints. Reed is an author to trust. Don’t be afraid to try him.

Readability	9/10 – Evocative phrasing and present tense makes this heartrending
Hero #1	8/10 – Bordering on breaking, his angst is palpable
Hero #2	5/10 – Felt like a placeholder, likable but more of a representation of what Gregory is missing than a real personality
Entertainment value	8/10 – Poignant and real
World building	8/10 – Though the greater world isn’t fully explored, the microcosm of Gregory’s immediate life is vivid
TOTAL:	38/50

The Holiday Spirit by Dani Harper

TITLE: The Holiday Spirit
AUTHOR: Dani Harper
PUBLISHER: Cobblestone Press
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 20k)
GENRE: Paranormal romance
COST: $4.99

Just like in the movie, Kerri Tollbrook can see dead people – except Galen McAllister is adamant he’s not a ghost. He convinces her to go check out his not really comatose body at the hospital, where she figures out someone has likely locked his spirit outside of his own body. With Christmas fast approaching, can she help him regain himself, or will he be left a ghost forever?

I purchased a number of Christmas stories this past year that I didn’t get around to reading, either because I’d overdosed on the season or ran out of time. This was one of the stories I never got to reading until now, and I wonder if being away from the season where it’s much easier to forgive weaker storytelling hindered my enjoyment of it.

Both lead characters start out the story delightfully fresh. Kerri is frazzled with the season in a ditzy but cute sort of way, while Galen walks the right line between delight at finally being seen and frustration that she insists on believing he’s a ghost. Their charm carries them through the whole beginning and into their fledgling relationship, even as the vague paranormal glimmers turn into a cavalcade of borderline clichés by the time Kerri’s witch Aunt Elizabeth is introduced to help. I forgave the new details that seemed to keep popping in out of nowhere, thinking, “This is a Christmas story, of course I have to suspend my disbelief even further than I normally would.” Some of my initial charm dissipated as Kerri took on an even ditzier persona as the story progressed, but still, Galen was normal enough to counterbalance her so I was okay with that.

Then came the finale/resolution. I’m not going to spoil anyone, but there was a believable, if hasty, resolution to Galen’s situation, with a twist I didn’t actually see coming. I kept waiting for the twist to get explained, and waiting, and then, when the story took a whole new turn, I figured there it was. Except…no. Throughout the story, the author went to great pains to add a lot of explanations for the paranormal activity, all the way down to the uses of various crystals in the magic that gets involved. Yet, when it came time to explain the resolution, it vanished. It’s simply not there. I can accept a Christmas miracle as much as the next person, but not when the author has gone to such lengths to offer explanations every step of the way. Because of this easy out ending, I enjoyed the story less, considerably less, actually, because at that point, the romance felt like a cop-out. It’s a shame, really, because up until that, I generally liked the characters and thought the story sweet. Now, I’m just left with a sense of vague annoyance that a slightly charming story couldn’t live up to its potential.

Readability	9/10 – Easygoing and fast, with believable dialogue to help
Hero	7/10 – An everyday joe kind of vibe, likeable
Heroine	6/10 – Personality is all over the place
Entertainment value	6/10 – A sweet, if implausible, romance is spoiled by an easy out ending
World building	7/10 – The glimmers of the paranormal here are interesting, but the lack of any real resolution detracts from it all
TOTAL:	35/50

What Worse Place Can I Beg in Your Love? by Syd McGinley

TITLE: What Worse Place Can I Beg in Your Love?
AUTHOR: Syd McGinley
PUBLISHER: Lyrical Press
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 10k)
GENRE: Gay sci-fi erotic romance
COST: $1.50

Being captured on an alien planet is hard enough. Being submissive and sold as a pet to one of those same aliens might be a dream come true…

I bought this short story at the recommendation of a friend of mine, who’d read it, liked it, then came back to me a few weeks later to tell me how much more she liked it upon reflection. Now, after having read it myself, I think I understand what she meant. At first pass, this is a rather simplistic short story, slightly disturbing if you’re not comfortable with some of the D/s aspects or alien sex. I can’t even say that I was moved one way or another by it. The story is told in first person, and much of it has the rhythm of, “This happened, and then this happened, and then this happened…” The two lead characters aren’t even named.

Yet, well after I’d finished the story, I found myself thinking on it some more. I still wasn’t emotionally entangled with the characters, but I couldn’t stop thinking about them. The lead – a submissive human who doesn’t wish to have to make any decisions – retains an odd sort of individuality and strength, in spite of his many passive choices and lack of control within his situation. I wondered if it was due to the perspective – completely in his head – or because of the actions that transpire, and even now, have not reached a satisfying conclusion. It’s likely a combination of both. The narrator coaxes the reader into his head, and because he doesn’t have a name, subsequently usurps the reader’s identity. Or this reader, anyway. It becomes, not a story, but a diary of events, and with no embellishments to the prose, uncomfortably easy to claim as your own.

There are a lot of potentially disturbing elements in this story that might bother more sensitive readers. This is not your traditional D/s story. The narrator has no say in his circumstances, and he becomes a pet in every sense of the word. He lives in a cage, and is exercised as a pet, fed as a pet, and punished as a pet. The addition of his owner’s sexual release is merely a recognition of the narrator’s sentience, and in fact, though it’s starkly described, I found it more clinical than erotic. There is also the matter that the alien is very much one. There is no anthropomorphism here. He has alien habits, moves like an alien, and looks like an alien. The narrator never lets you forget that.

I think I understand what it was my friend meant now. This wasn’t a story that engaged my emotions, but rather challenged to think about it beyond its simple structure. I’m not sure I’d read it again, though considering how much I’ve thought about it afterward, that’s likely unnecessary. The characters are already ingrained. That’s a lot more than I can say about most stories, especially short ones.

Readability	7/10 – The simplistic style isn’t very engaging, and it felt like telling more than showing more than once, but it works sufficiently well for a short story of this length.
Hero #1	7/10 – Sympathetic and surprisingly realized
Hero #2	6/10 – His alien nature remains so for much of the story, though it’s the lingering aftereffects that strikes me the hardest
Entertainment value	7/10 – For the way it made me think long after I’d finished it
World building	7/10 – The detail might be scarce in parts, and it might not be the most originally presented, but by the end of the story, it feels like this other world really exists.
TOTAL:	34/50

Woman in the Mirror by Joyce Ellen Armond

TITLE: Woman in the Mirror
AUTHOR: Joyce Ellen Armond
PUBLISHER: Liquid Silver Books
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 56k)
GENRE: Historical gothic erotic romantic suspense
COST: $5.95

The relationship Robert Reavings had with his lover was a twisted one, especially after an unfortunate accident took her life. Now, he’s obsessed on giving her spirit, trapped in her mirror, a new corporeal form. When he advertises for a new assistant, Charlotte Grand poses as a boy in order to get the position. She is desperate to escape the clutches of her evil grandfather, and earning enough money to escape to America is her only hope. Except the ghost Lillian doesn’t like her, and Charlotte’s not even sure if she can survive in Robert’s home, let alone win his heart…

The one thing this short novel isn’t lacking is atmosphere. Dense, moody, and more than a little haunting – no pun intended – it dares the reader not to get lost in the world the author has created, and even more, the characters. This is solid gothic suspense, wrapped up in a taut, psychosexual package, and I devoured it from start to finish.

Robert is the hero – third son to an Earl with an interest in science rather than society. He doesn’t fit in, and takes that mantle to heart by pursuing a twisted relationship with the infamous Lillian Ragget, a woman with lovers galore. They have this constant need to hurt and one-up the other, but just when he’s about ready to call an end to it, Lillian meets an accidental death. Robert blames himself, and when he discovers her spirit hasn’t passed on but is instead trapped inside her full-length mirror, he takes it upon himself to free her of her new prison, thus proving her hero and besting her, once and for all. Even after her death – or maybe even especially – they have a dysfunctional relationship. He is thoroughly obsessed with this new plan, so much so that society calls him mad. Tortured and driven doesn’t even begin to cover it, and I have to admit, I fell for it, right from the start. There’s something horrifically broken about Robert, and the single-minded passion he has for this task is chillingly contagious. Part of that is because Lillian is most definitely an evil entity. She wasn’t a nice woman when she was alive, and death hasn’t changed that a bit.

In counterpoint to Robert is Charlotte Grand. Raised by a pirate uncle, she finds herself trapped in her grandfather’s house after her parents are killed. Her grandfather has this sick notion of marrying her off to his favorite toady, for the sheer purpose of having her for himself. She is tortured for weeks in his household before she finally escapes, and she takes on a new identity, posing as a boy, in a desperate bid to raise enough money to flee to America. When he hires her as his new assistant, Robert is taken in by her ploy, but she is attacked by Lillian upon arrival, setting her on a chain of events to find out just what is going on. It’s classical gothic romantic suspense, with a willful and resourceful heroine, a tortured hero, and an evil nemesis. Each character is fascinating in its own right.

Where the story stumbled for me was in its romance. About halfway through the story, Charlotte decides that her feelings for Robert have shifted from friendship into love. That’s all well and good, except it comes out of nowhere, dumbing Charlotte down slightly as she now reacts like a woman in love rather than the capable woman on the run she’d been before. The turnaround for Robert is even swifter, and thus, even less satisfying. While it makes this a romance in name, it doesn’t do so in feeling, because I’m never convinced that the emotions between the two – in regards to love – are real.

The danger and suspense, however, are very much so. This is what carries the story through from start to breathless end. I even really liked the characters for as long as they didn’t act like lovesick ninnies. It’s a creepy, fascinating ride.

Readability	9/10 – Dense and atmospheric, this hooked me from the very beginning
Hero	8/10 – Because he is just so, so, so messed up
Heroine	6/10 – I didn’t believe the turnaround in emotions, but it’s nice to see someone so capable
Entertainment value	8/10 – For the suspense and horror aspects, rather than the romance I never quite believed
World building	9/10 – I mentioned the atmospheric, didn’t I?
TOTAL:	40/50

The Phoenix by Ruth Sims

TITLE: The Phoenix
AUTHOR: Ruth Sims
PUBLISHER: Lethe Press
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 125k)
GENRE: Gay historical romance
COST: $18.00 (print), $9.00 (e-book from ARe)

Kit St. Denys wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but from the time he turns on his abusive father, all he wants to do is escape his past. He forges a new existence in the theater, becoming one of the most celebrated actors in London. It’s there he catches the eye of a young Puritan doctor. The relationship Nick and Kit share spans years, continents, lifetimes. It’s never easy, but for them, it’s always worth it…

As the title suggests, this is a story of rebirth, not just of the obvious primary character of Kit, but of his lover and sometime companion Nick. Rich with historical detail, it spans both their lifetimes, opening in the slums of London and Kit – then Jack Rourke – as he struggles to balance his dreams with his reality. The situation gets forced when his abusive father goes too far, and his subsequent “adoption” by the stage actress he’s befriended is just the first of his many transformations. Nick’s aren’t quite as dramatic. He is born in the country, to a country doctor, and told early on he will be following in his father’s footsteps. A natural healer, Nick has no problems with that, except for the fact that he’s not content to cater to their small community, complete with veterinary requirements. He wants more – more education, more chances to help – and his escape to London is the first major change he enacts upon his life.

This theme of constantly reinventing themselves hangs over the entire novel. Every time something crucial occurs in their lives, Nick or Kit takes a radical left turn. This makes for a lot of twists and turns, some of them quite melodramatic, more than one a tad over the top. While they fit with the way the characters are painted, after a while, it becomes a tad too much, especially when some of the choices don’t necessarily help me like the characters any more. Kit, especially, suffers from this. While I never doubted the realization of the character for a second, I can’t say that I actually liked him very much once he hit his late teens. Some of the selfishness of his choices, and his egocentricity, while appropriate both for the fact that he’s an actor and learned at an early age to fend for himself, don’t necessarily endear him to me, especially since I cared for Nick so much more. When Kit behaves badly and then turns on Nick when Nick dares to be upset by it, I was ready for Nick to walk out for good. The fact that that happened only a third into the story, however, meant they still had a very long road ahead of them.

The novel is written in 3^rd person omniscient, which has the unfortunate effect of distancing me emotionally from the characters. This is a trait specific to me; I know of plenty of readers who have little problem engaging in this perspective. For me, however, the constant shift of headspace – to minor characters as well as the two primaries – yanks me out of the moment, and reminds me that I’m reading a story rather than experiencing it. While I still felt for what was happening within the context of the novel, I was never immersed in it, which is one of the biggest things that separate good reads from great ones for me.

What I did get immersed in, though, was the setting. Every place in this is gorgeously drawn, whether it’s dark and ugly or bright and shiny. It contributes to the saga feel of the story, and broadens the scope of its appeal. There’s never any question of where I am, or when, and that helps to root me within the story when sometimes the characters frustrated me. It’s a rich reading experience. Readers who enjoy historicals, especially long, involved ones, will likely love it.

Readability	8/10 – 3rd person omniscient is not my favorite narrative form, and while there was a definite flow, it often pulled me from immersing with the characters and emotions
Hero #1	6/10 – Selfish, even though he’s fully realized
Hero #2	7/10 – I empathized more with Nick from the moment he was introduced
Entertainment value	7/10 – In spite of sometimes being annoyed by the selfish behavior and some of the melodramatic twists, I was engaged
World building	10/10 – A lot of very believable detail that leaves no doubt of any of the worlds the characters inhabit
TOTAL:	38/50

Sugar Shack by Paisley Scott

TITLE: Sugar Shack
AUTHOR: Paisley Scott
PUBLISHER: Wild Rose Press
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 23k)
GENRE: Contemporary erotic romance
COST: $3.00

Reporter Catherine Bennett just got a new assignment – a nostalgia piece on Vermont for the holidays. She hasn’t been back in ten years, not since she broke up with her college sweetheart and the love of her life. Back then, she’d wanted to experience the world, but that meant leaving Luke behind. A snowstorm makes it too dangerous to get to her parents’, so she takes an unexpected detour – straight into Luke’s life again…

The snowbound lovers motif is a common one, for very good reason. Few distractions, heightened emotions, it all lends itself to a potentially hot story. It falls apart, however, when one of the two people the reader is forced to deal with on a page-to-page basis isn’t someone likable. That was one of my biggest problems with this short erotic romance. Although the potential was there, my dislike for the heroine made it difficult to want to slog through to the inevitable happy ending.

Catherine is a reporter for a travel magazine, and goes to Vermont for the holiday season under mild duress. She hasn’t been back since dumping the best lover she ever had, and spends the vast majority of her time on the journey back reliving all the fabulous sex she and Luke ever had. Multiple scenes. They’re all right, I suppose, but nothing that really sparked for me. It felt like I was being told about their chemistry rather than really getting to experience it, especially since it seemed all these two ever had in common was sex. I didn’t mind so much once I got to meet Luke, as he’s definitely the more interesting of the pair, but my respect for Catherine plummeted the more she talked. Like her waffling on what exactly she wanted from Luke, whether she was there for more hot sex, to get some closure, or to try again. Or like the fact that she went there specifically for an assignment, had something due within a couple days of arriving, and didn’t take a laptop because hers was “in the shop.” How on earth did she think she was going to get her work done? If her computer was in the shop, what kind of professional doesn’t take a back-up? Luke’s questioning was probably meant to mitigate the effect of it, and I understand the author did this specifically to have the article she writes as a point of conflict for the couple, but it destroyed what credibility she had for me.

The author does create a nice sense of scene with the various snowstorms, but the setting isn’t nearly enough to keep me engaged with the romance. The more Catherine talked, the more I disliked her – like her weird sense of morality about it being okay to sleep with Luke if he has a girlfriend but not if he’s engaged. I certainly don’t mind cheating sex in stories when the characterization demands it, or as a kink, but in this case, it just didn’t work me. In the end, there just wasn’t enough good stuff about this short erotic romance to compel me to care about the HEA.

Readability	6/10 – Flashback sex scenes felt like filler, and the lack of anything else until the end made it a little tedious to get through
Hero	6/10 – Stalwart and sexy, his biggest flaw is wanting anything to do with the heroine
Heroine	3/10 – Flaky, unbelievable as a professional, and just generally unlikable
Entertainment value	4/10 – Luke is the best thing about this, but otherwise, fairly mundane
World building	7/10 – The snow in Vermont is the one thing that comes most to life in this
TOTAL:	26/50

Breathe 1: Sanguine Shadows by Willa Okati

TITLE: Breathe 1: Sanguine Shadows
AUTHOR: Willa Okati
PUBLISHER: Changeling Press
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 15k)
GENRE: Gay vampire erotic romance
COST: $3.50

Darce has done his best to live off the radar as one of the bloodkind, keeping himself separate from the company of other vampires and the danger they court. The cowboy might be lonely in his solitude, but he’s safe.

Raven’s come to change that. He’s come to change everything.

A newly made bloodkind, Raven’s out to shake up the old world order that oppresses their kind. He carries Darce along in his wake like a leaf on the tide, pushes and goads and tops from the bottom, inciting Darce to lust, passion and action. He makes a centuries-old cowboy feel alive again, something well worth taking risks for.

But when Raven challenges the Sanguine, the most dangerous of all vampires, has he gone too far?

NOTE: This is a review originally written for Uniquely Pleasurable.

I don’t usually use publisher blurbs in my reviews, but when I was looking at this one, it just fit too perfectly not to. Because that is exactly what this short novella is all about. It’s succinct without being too terse, but doesn’t give off so many details that it feels like an information dump. I’m reminded of why exactly I wanted to read this particular short, and glad that in this case, the promise of the blurb is followed through on with the story.

The story opens in Darce’s favorite bar, but his desire for solitude is shattered almost immediately by the arrival of the upstart, Raven. Darce has no delusions about what he is, and no need to act out. In fact, he seems rather disgusted by human pain junkies who hang out with vampires in hopes of a fix. But Raven won’t get out of his face, and hits on Darce for all he’s worth. Since it’s been too long since Darce could simply enjoy sex, he ends up taking Raven up on the offer of a quickie in the alley, an encounter that is as hot as it is telling about the characters. This is where the story shines. Both characters are snappy and vivid, leaping from the page from the very first words. Raven has an irrepressible charm that makes it easy to understand Darce’s fascination with him, while there’s a melancholy languor to Darce that meshes with his whole lone cowboy vibe. I wished I could have known more about Darce, but as this is the first of a series, I imagine that the questions I have about him will be answered in future installments. As for Raven, what you see is pretty much what you get.

Conflict revolves around the fact that a self-appointed judgment board of bloodkind, called the Sanguine Court, has decided Raven is a threat to their existence. He preaches rebellion to the new and disenchanted, supporting the ideas that bloodkind shouldn’t be relegated to prey and shadows. The last thing Darce is looking for is chaos in his very ordered, very predictable world, but the Sanguine refuse to let him off the hook, since it’s obvious to anyone with eyes that something is going on between him and Raven. From there, the story rushes forward in a “just who is going to get who first” race, that brings the end around even faster than its brevity would suggest. While I thought some of the resolution was just a little too easy, I have to admit that I was thoroughly sucked into the action anyway.

This is a fun, hot, and exciting start to a new series for Ms. Okati. I’m looking forward to seeing the charming Raven draw Darce out of his shell, as well as see these two really create some sparks, both in the bedroom and in the world of the bloodkind.

Readability	8/10 – Clean, hot, and evocative
Hero #1	6/10 – Likeable, but I felt like I wanted to know more about him
Hero #2	7/10 – With an irrepressible charm, you can almost see Darce’s fascination with him
Entertainment value	7/10 – I’m not sure I believe it could be as easy as that, but I had fun following along
World building	8/10 – An interesting vampire world the author has created, I’m curious about seeing more
TOTAL:	36/50

Shining Victory by KC Kendricks

TITLE: Shining Victory
AUTHOR: KC Kendricks
PUBLISHER: Amber Allure
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 21k)
GENRE: Gay contemporary erotic romance
COST: $5.00

At 40, Stacy James is ready for something more than a one-night stand, though he has to wonder what kind of future he would have with a man fifteen years his junior. Not even 25, Levi Wright knows what he wants, and he doesn’t care about the age difference when the man is as hot as Stacy. But scars and secrets have a way of holding them back, even when both men only want to go forward…

While I mostly enjoyed this short novella as I was reading it, when it came time to sit down and write the review later, I realized I didn’t remember all that much from it. The characters that had carried the story along – I did read it all in one sitting, after all – now seemed to fade into the background, as did the plot. I had to refresh my memory on details in order to draw any kind of general conclusions, which in all honesty, doesn’t bode well for me remembering this story in the long term. It was nice, but nothing stood out as particularly unique or powerful enough to have this leave any lasting impressions.

The age difference is played nicely and realistically. Each man is at a different stage in his life, and those disparities aren’t ignored as the romance attempts to work them through. I won’t elaborate on the secrets that are eventually revealed, except to say that while I appreciate the effort of them being included in order to create drama, I was never struck by the emotional impact of any of them. I had problems reconciling how much Stacy kept saying he was scarred by what had happened, and then not really putting up that much of a fuss at getting involved with another young man. That’s not even taking into consideration the fact that Stacy thought he was likely in love with Levi the first night they spent together. For the depths of what had happened, I would’ve expected more time to be necessary, and the entire effect was a bit too romance cliché for me.

If I had to pick one word to characterize the entire story, it would be sweet. The feelings are sweet, the sentiment is sweet, even the sex is sweet. It’s graphic, but never lasts for more than a few paragraphs which lessens the effect of any hotness for me. In the end, I’m not convinced of the steam between these two, though I do believe the emotional need. That was enough to carry me through to the end with a smile on my face.

Readability	8/10 – Simple and unassuming
Hero #1	7/10 – Strong and believable
Hero #2	6/10 – Realistically young, though he didn’t engage me as much as I expected
Entertainment value	7/10 – Sweet, but not something I’m likely to remember for long
World building	5/10 – Nothing was definitive, with the focus on the characters rather than the world they live in
TOTAL:	33/50

Shadow of the Antlered Bird by David Sklar

TITLE: Shadow of the Antlered Bird
AUTHOR: David Sklar
PUBLISHER: Drollerie Press
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 44k)
GENRE: Fantasy
COST: $3.95

As the son of a human father and a mother made of magic, Tam straddles worlds, even though his mother would wish him to leave humans alone. When he attempts to break free, the magic creates problems he never imagined, putting him on the run for his life…

I struggled writing a blurb for this short novella. At its core, the plot is a simple chase sequence – protagonist does something, ends up on the run for his life. But there are so many different layers on top of it that it morphs into something else, something brand new, something so unique from other stories I’ve read in recent months, that it takes upon a whole new life, and I’m left flummoxed how to adequately describe it.

The one element that elevates this above so much of what I’ve read in recent months is the author’s evocative use of language. The fantasy genre in general lends itself to more unusual imagery as the story wends around worlds unknown. Sklar exemplifies this tendency, then moves a step beyond by penning sometimes horrific, always vivid pictures with his words. The prose is densely packed, and yet, the dialogue between Tam and April, the young college girl who helps him run, reads naturally and realistically, creating an even starker distinction between the two worlds Tam straddles. Toss in the influences of various real world mythologies, and the result is something completely and utterly unique.

The prose also helps the plotting and pacing. It’s written in present tense which adds an immediacy to the already urgent fears propelling the story along. The flow of the words rolls more and more swiftly as the two lead characters are literally chased to the wall (in this case, the Pacific Ocean), and it’s impossible to stop – or often, just take a breath – until the characters themselves do.

All that being said, it’s not necessarily an easy story to read. Because of both the suspenseful nature of the plot and the creation of a world unknown to the reader, there are questions throughout the text of what exactly is going on, how exactly does this fit in, how on earth will this ever be resolved. Each question is its own strand, but the wonderful thing about this particular weaving, nothing is left to dangle. Questions are answered, often in ways completely unexpected but that make total sense. Resolution is found, again in corners I hadn’t anticipated. This marks the talent of not just a superb wordsmith but a master storyteller. It’s always a joy to find gems like this one.

Readability	8/10 – Dense, evocative prose that only gets slowed down by the lack of answers about what was going on
Characterization	8/10 – Sharp and vivid for primary characters, lesser characters tend to blur
Plot	8/10 – Though it’s basically a simple chase story, the intricacy of the world and beauty of the prose don’t make this a simple story.
Entertainment value	8/10 – Intense and swift, with some of the most intriguing prose I’ve read in a while
World building	9/10 – Though there are questions galore as the story progresses, the beautiful detail and the way it all gets pulled together at the end make up for it
TOTAL:	41/50

Windy City Love Affair by Jane Leopold Quinn

TITLE: Windy City Love Affair
AUTHOR: Jane Leopold Quinn
PUBLISHER: Phaze
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 20k)
GENRE: Contemporary erotic romance
COST: $3.00

When Lorren Samples runs into a sexy cowboy on the streets of Chicago – literally – an instant attraction offers the possibility of something a little bit more. Not much more, though. Because Jess Croften is about to be shipped to the Middle East, and he can’t give any woman what she needs…yet.

Sometimes, there are so many elements of a story that don’t work for me that I don’t know where to start. In this case, probably one of the biggest things was my sheer and utter dislike for the heroine. It seems like Lorren is meant to be a chick-lit-ish type of heroine – professional, slightly self-absorbed, and trying to be funny and/or sharp and/or observant. How she comes across to me is vulgar and a bitch. There is one section where she is trying to find fault with Jess – because he just seems too perfect – and settles for (and amuses herself with) the fact that he must fart, loudly and smellily (her word, not mine). It’s meant to be played for laughs – at least, I hope so – but it just falls flat on its face. There’s also the section she goes out on a day-long date with Jess, that ends with him getting her off in public (in the shadows) under fireworks. It ends there because Lorren freaks out, and without even a kiss goodnight, demands to be taken home, leaving him frustrated and annoyed. Now, I’m not saying if you get some, you give some, but in this case, Lorren is so callous and unthinking of anybody but herself that I lost absolutely all sympathy I might have had for her. It never came back.

Without liking the heroine, I’m left looking for enjoyment elsewhere. In a short erotic romance, that usually falls on the sex scenes. Here, though, I couldn’t stop laughing at some of the descriptions and word choices. Manly nubs refers to Jess’ nipples, and apparently, he ejaculates with Olympic proportions. Lorren’s sex talk never flows, while her anal orgasm from being penetrated by his thumb alone made me roll my eyes. Of course, it excited Jess to the point where he had to flip her over and immediately go at it sans condom. I’m glad someone was enjoying themselves.

So, no heroine to like, no sex scenes to enjoy. That leaves the plot. Jess is being shipped off to Afghanistan and is in Chicago for a last fling. Okay, I have no problem with that. It seems like a completely male instinct. The first half of the story deals with their time spent together. Then, there is this incredibly awkward time jump where we get told, Almost two years later somewhere in the mountains of Afghanistan. There is a very brief section (less than nine hundred words) describing the horror Jess is going through in the war and what happens to him. It is graphic, unamusing, and actually pretty well written. It also sticks out like a sore thumb, and doesn’t fit the style or pacing of the rest of the story at all. Right after, we go back to Chicago and his attempt to find her after he’s been discharged, at which point we get some forced drama (she witnesses one of his nightmares and he kicks her out of bed in the middle of the night) and such details like, Her green eyes had turned blue with the swimming tears. Neat trick, that. But the entire effect is disjointed, and I finished the story unsure what exactly the author was trying to achieve with it.

Readability	6/10 – Editorially clean, but when the humor and sex scenes don’t work for me, it makes for slow reading
Hero	5/10 – His reasoning for his secrets is practically nonexistent, and he’s a tad boring but at least I don’t hate him
Heroine	2/10 – I haven’t actively disliked a heroine this much in a while
Entertainment value	3/10 – Uneven pacing, an unlikable heroine, and sex scenes that made me laugh (not in a good way) keep this low
World building	7/10 – I see the efforts to make Chicago come to life, but giving me a Zagat’s guide to sights doesn’t actually make it happen.
TOTAL:	23/50

Like a Prayer by AJ Wilde

TITLE: Like a Prayer
AUTHOR: AJ Wilde
PUBLISHER: Torquere Books
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 10k)
GENRE: Gay contemporary erotic romance
COST: $2.49

Dorian West is torn between his feelings for his straight friend Josh and the ethereal statue Raphael. He can have neither, and vents his pain and frustrations through rough, anonymous sex. That way only leads down, but will there be someone to save him before he crashes?

This short story presents me with a dichotomous reaction I had a hard time resolving throughout the course of the story. On one hand, I thought the author’s voice had a sharp, melancholy edge to it that perfectly underscored the protagonist’s fatalistic attitude, because let me tell you, Dorian is one messed up fella. I was also enraptured with the idea of such a character as the main hero. At the start of the story, he gets excited about the statue, tries to go to confession and doesn’t find absolution, and then has to face his straight crush. The fact that he’s a sex addict who uses these anonymous acts to self-medicate the self-loathing and guilt only makes him more interesting.

But then there’s the other hand. In the first 700 words, there’s an editorial inconsistency that completely yanked me out of the story. Father Michael is described as a tall, middle-aged man dressed in a black cassock and collar. Less than 200 words later, we get, The young priest nodded. Huh? Details like that are easy to miss in longer stories, or with bigger sections separating them, but there are only six lines of dialogue between two blatantly different descriptions. So which one was it? And why would you want to make a reader who was enjoying the prose stop dead in her tracks? But after some unhappy grunts and scowls, I eventually returned to the story and got caught up for the next half. Only to get extremely disappointed when the plot takes a turn straight into left field, complete with declarations, rape, and an ending that lets down all the promise of the first half. Yes, the rape is a spoiler, but you know what? It’s a touchy subject for a lot of people. I’m not going to avoid mentioning it and then have someone get unpleasantly surprised when it’s a hot button for them.

So where does this leave me? Well, the story ends up being kind of a wash in the end, since my opinion of Dorian is tainted by the whole turnaround of emotions in the last third. But I still really enjoy the way the author crafts words and evokes images, like how the morning came with a watery glare. I want to read more by this author, but perhaps longer works, ones that give space to fully develop a story instead of do whatever is necessary to end it.

Readability	8/10 – An interesting voice gets hampered with editorial mistakes and clumsy plotting
Hero #1	7/10 – Broken and fatalistic, intriguing possibilities are let down by the unbelievable seesaw of emotions
Hero #2	4/10 – Never really developed, more of a device than anything else
Entertainment value	6/10 – So much promise falls apart in a too-pat, too turnaround of a last third.
World building	7/10 – I want this to be higher because of the author’s voice, but I just can’t when the whole last third of the story comes out of nowhere.
TOTAL:	32/50