White Flag by Thom Lane

TITLE: White Flag
AUTHOR: Thom Lane
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 21k)
GENRE: Gay contemporary erotic romance
COST: $4.99

Travel writer Charlie has the perfect life. He gets to travel where he wants, do what he wants, all without having to worry about ties. When he meets Matt alongside a French canal, he expects nothing more than something casual. After all, he only has two free nights to stay. But Matt’s charming insistence coaxes Charlie to change his immediate plans, the life he introduces Charlie to entirely too seductive…

I fell in love in this story.

Not with the characters, though they are certainly charming enough, each in his own way. And not with the romance, because honestly, there wasn’t anything new and the ending itself was incredibly sappy and a little contrived.

No, I fell in love with the setting, and more than that, with the author’s delicate, almost ephemeral, prose.

The story is a simple one. Told in 1^st person from Charlie’s perspective, it starts with him fishing in a French canal, relaxed, enjoying the atmosphere, then enjoying the beauty of a young man walking along. The young man, Matt, stops and starts flirting with Charlie, which ends in an arrangement for dinner. One thing leads to another, they spend the night together, and Charlie thinks that’s it. It’s not for Matt. He manages to charm Charlie into coming to his house – his family owns the neighboring vineyard – for dinner and to spend the night. Thus, Charlie gets introduced to a family utterly tied to his surroundings, a trait that both amazes and boggles him as he can’t imagine staying anywhere for that long.

Charlie and Matt function perfectly well in the roles they’re assigned. As a third party observer and a journalist to boot, Charlie is naturally detached from much of what is going on around him, with the exception of Matt. Matt, on the other hand, is charming and affectionate, so much so that any flaws he might have become nonexistent. It flattens his characterization a bit, creating an idealized version of the character instead of something rounder, but his sweetness and charm compensate for that.

Where the story shines is in the author’s voice. Suitable to its setting, there is an ethereal quality to his descriptions and commentary that only heightens that sense of airiness. It felt like I was in France again (I’ve been there a couple times on vacation), that nonchalant whimsy that makes you feel like you’re floating along with the prose. It’s hard to put a finger on any one phrase, though. Sentences like this, He smiled then, with a sort of slow urgency that makes no sense unless you were there, unless you saw it: like saying his wine was honey-dry, the words work against each other, but the moment itself was absolute., make me smile, because of the truth it tells, but on they’re own, they don’t necessarily seem all that remarkable. Instead, it’s a cumulative effect, like floating on your back at the edge of some body of water with small waves lapping at your sides, only to find yourself who knows how much later far away from shore because the tide has carried you out without you realizing it. By the time Charlie sat down with Matt’s family for that first dinner, I was utterly enamored with the story, racing through it to see these two get their happy ending. And even though nothing remarkable happens (and in fact, the sappiness of the ending did ultimately drag down my overall enjoyment of the story), it didn’t matter. I had already surrendered to their love story, and only wish it had been longer, that some of the time they spent together had been as lovingly detailed as the beginning rather than hastily summarized. A delicate, romantic read that will remain a keeper.

Readability	10/10 – I’ll admit it, I absolutely fell in love with the delicate romanticism of the writing in this
Hero #1	7/10 – A little detached, necessarily so, from the events, but I still liked him
Hero #2	7/10 – Suffers from the same fate of idealized hero, though he’s still sweet and charming
Entertainment value	8/10 – I fell in love with this because of the writing rather than the characters
World building	10/10 – The setting came to life for me, ringing very true
TOTAL:	42/50

Going with Gravity by Cate Masters

TITLE: Going with Gravity
AUTHOR: Cate Masters
PUBLISHER: Wild Rose Press
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 17k)
GENRE: Contemporary romance
COST: $3.50

Publicist Allison Morris gets a midnight call from the partying actress she represents, necessitating an emergency trip to Hawaii. On the plane ride, she meets surfer Wes Hamilton, and feels an instant attraction. But when the plane is forced to make an emergency landing, their relationship takes on another turn, all the way until Allison’s job rears its ugly head again…

A lot of these short contemporary romances that I get, very often from Wild Rose Press, are what I consider reading snacks. They satisfy an immediate need, but there’s often not anything special about it at all. In fact, these are the hardest reviews to write, because often there’s not anything specifically wrong about these stories to point a finger at and say, “That’s why I didn’t enjoy it.” Too many times, though, there’s just not anything outstanding about it, either. This is one of those stories.

The story opens with Allison getting woken up from a night’s sleep by her incredibly needy employer. Michelle, the actress for whom she works, is always getting into trouble and needs spin put on a lot of situations. She’s also blind to everything Allison does for her, with high expectations and offering low rewards. It’s easy to feel sorry for Allison for working for such a witch, but at the same time, I have to wonder why, if she’s so good at what she does, she puts up with it. It makes her feel like a doormat, which is never a great way to make me like a heroine.

Things pick up a little when she meets Wes. Wes is gorgeous, charming, and on the surface, not her type, but the chemistry feels genuine and it’s easy to go along for the ride. Wes doesn’t feel like a real character until far too late in the story, instead epitomizing the perfect man for the time she needs him to be. It’s all right for the length of the story, but it holds it back from making me truly engage with the romance of it. His character also adds to the whole muddled feeling of the ending. Questions are raised once he’s in Hawaii (like what the heck really is the deal between him and his brother?) and never answered, as well as the whole resolution with Michelle. It makes the story feel half-baked at the finish. Pleasant, but nothing I’ll remember.

Readability	7/10 – Clean, easy, believable, though it fell apart toward the end
Hero	5/10 – Charming, but felt a little too perfect and one-dimensional for any real emotional depth
Heroine	6/10 – I liked how professionally with it she seemed, though it weakened when the hero got involved.
Entertainment value	5/10 – Pleasant and diverting for what it is
World building	7/10 – Some nice details about their lives and Hawaii, but there are a lot of questions left unanswered that bring it down
TOTAL:	30/50

Bound by Blood by Evie Byrne

TITLE: Bound by Blood
AUTHOR: Evie Byrne
PUBLISHER: Samhain
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 40k)
GENRE: Paranormal erotic romance
COST: $4.50

As the middle son, Gregor Faustin doesn’t expect to be the first one married off. So when his mother has a prophetic dream about his future mate, he fights his so-called fate as long as he can. He’s his own vampire, after all. And this Madelena Lopez de Victoria is human, of all things. And a librarian. And definitely not what he wants. He avoids her as long as he can, but when he accidentally hits a woman with his car, he’s appalled to discover he’s found her anyway. And now, her blood is calling to him…

Though this is the second of the Faustin stories, this actually takes place before the first chronologically. When I finished it, I was dying to go back to the first and see where Gregor and Maddy might have played in the first, and like all good series, it has me dying to read the story of the last remaining brother. Because this was fantastic, and now I want more.

At the start of the story, Gregor is a gruff businessman, focused on his clubs, not ready to settle down in the slightest. He’s more than a little miffed that he’s been singled out as the first to get married, to someone who seems the antithesis of everything he’d ever imagined. Maddy is a librarian and human, to boot. He does everything he can to avoid it, and succeeds…until he hits her with his car. From there, it’s all downhill. In person, she’s even less than he’d hope for, with her glasses and hair that hides her face and frumpy clothing. Then he makes the mistake of wanting to help her heal, tastes her blood, and the bonding process starts.

I really liked Gregor, but I loved Maddy. She’s funny and down-to-earth, and the issues she has never cross the line into melodrama. She doesn’t care what other people think, and yet, cares enough about what’s going on with herself not to want to have to deal with the crap anymore. She resists Gregor as much as she can, but when she gives in, it’s hot, it’s seductive, and I wanted more. Much more.

While there are serious issues at hand, and thankfully, the author doesn’t cheat on resolving them, this isn’t a heavy story at all. The humor and genuine chemistry between to the two leads carries it far into romantic comedy territory (Strange things happen when you and me and cars mix, Faustin.), careening from event to event with an irresistible vim and vigor. That’s one of the things I love about this author. There’s a certain energy to her work that dares the reader not to tag along. It’s there in her voice, the slightly twisted spin she puts on normally mundane details. It’s in nearly of her characters, leaping from the page in crisp, vivid life. Even when the world building feels a little muddied (still original, but not nearly as cleanly presented as it was in the first book), her work shines.

I have the third book on my TBR. I’ve had it there since it was released. I can’t wait to see where she decides to go with Mikhail, the oldest brother. If ever there was a reluctant hero, I think he’ll be it.

Readability	9/10 – Funny without losing its pathos
Hero	8/10 – I really liked his gruff nature combined with his romantic side
Heroine	9/10 – Manages to be real and flawed without ever falling into melodrama
Entertainment value	9/10 – Definitely stronger than the first book, worth it for the rewarding romance that doesn’t take the easy road as well as the humor
World building	8/10 – Elements of the vampire/vampyr world didn’t seem quite as consistent this time around, but still a welcome departure from the usual fare
TOTAL:	43/50

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

His Black Pearl by Colette Howard

TITLE: His Black Pearl
AUTHOR: Colette Howard
PUBLISHER: Changeling Press
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 17k)
GENRE: Paranormal erotic romance
COST: $3.99

Hallie Brandt has just been offered the commission that could change her career. The only drawback is the fact her new patron, the sexy Aaron, insists the nude she paints is herself…

The erotic promise in this short novella drew me in, especially since the hero seemed unrepentant in his pursuit, and the heroine reasonably intelligent. I even stuck with it when it felt a little manipulative and easy, because there was a romanticism to the sexuality that appealed to me. I liked both the leads, too, even if I didn’t feel like I knew them very well. But even in a story of this length, it just didn’t last.

Hallie is an artist, trying to break through a certain distance in her painting. Aaron is keen to point it out, but it’s clearly a means to get her into bed. The attraction between them, even at the start, sizzles, though the overt comparisons between Hallie and the black pearl Aaron wants as part of the painting are heavy-handed to the point of being unnecessary. I didn’t need to be reminded constantly. I just wanted to see them get on with their romance.

And they do. Multiple times. Once their relationship is consummated, however, it loses some of its edge that I liked in the beginning, a weakness that only grows worse as the ending approaches. There are hints scattered throughout the book of Aaron’s true nature, but the follow-through on the conclusion is ambiguous at best. I’m never completely sure what is going on, or why, and I’m left with even more questions than I would’ve had if it hadn’t gone in that direction at all. It drags the story into erotic romance, when it was working far better as erotica. I would’ve preferred a more clear-cut resolution. As such, it becomes an intriguing idea with a mildly satisfying execution, rather than anything really memorable.

Readability	7/10 – An easy eroticism that hooks the reader in, only the ambiguity of the ending lets it down
Hero	6/10 – Enigmatic on purpose, though his persistence is definitely sexy
Heroine	7/10 – I had problems with her stiffness in the beginning, and completely didn’t buy the ending, but the eventual explanation of her attitude helped to compensate
Entertainment value	6/10 – I was really enjoying this as an erotic short until the ambiguous ending ended up raising more questions than answers, and left me unsatisfied
World building	7/10 – The beginning and everything with her art was very rich; it’s the rest of it that lets it down
TOTAL:	33/50

Three of a Kind by Sean Michael

TITLE: Three of a Kind
AUTHOR: Sean Michael
PUBLISHER: Torquere
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 30k)
GENRE: Contemporary gay menage erotic romance
COST: $3.95

After an explosive fight with his “boyfriend,” Zane steals his truck and heads west, only to break down at the side of the road, six hours away from his destination. He’s rescued by Butch, the owner of the junk yard, who takes him home and offers him a place to stay as he gets the truck fixed and heals up. Butch and his lover Randy are interested in more than nursing the young man back to health, though…

I think it’s time for me to admit that Sean Michael’s books are just not for me. This is the third book I’ve read by him, though only the second I’ve reviewed, and it’s gone downhill since I struggled to get through Bent. While I can appreciate some of what he does with characterization, his voice is just far too spare to satisfy me. I need more than the skeletal dialogue that comprises the majority of the story, and the lack of any kind of detail – except for the occasional scattering – prevents me from getting immersed. I’m a visual reader, not auditory. I need visual clues far more than anything else to lose myself in a story. If I can’t see it, I can’t get into it.

This gay ménage is symptomatic of everything I find difficult. There’s a heavy imbalance toward dialogue, much of which feels directionless and inane, and while I had no problems differentiating between the three men, I was never able to connect emotionally to any of them, not even poor battered Zane. The build-up to the actual ménage was handled well, with both Butch and Randy understanding of the time Zane needed, but once they reach that plateau halfway through, all they do is have sex. It’s all right for what it was, but I was just too disconnected by that point to be really interested.

The bare bones plot of Zane’s abusive boyfriend gets resolved far too easily at the end, too. It just happens, with no intervention from any of the three men, enhancing the sense of passivity that prevails for me throughout the story. Zane does counter that to some degree by refusing to take advantage of Butch’s generous nature and actually pulling his own weight, but generally speaking, it’s not enough. That pretty much characterizes my reaction throughout the whole thing. Not enough. But at least I know now.

Readability	5/10 – Calling it spare is generous
Menage	5/10 – I didn’t dislike the guys together, though I can’t say I believe they’ll last very long
Characterization	6/10 – The fact that all three guys had distinct personalities is the best part about this story
Entertainment value	4/10 – I was bored for most of it
World building	3/10 – Focus is on dialogue and very little else
TOTAL:	23/50

Lost Gods by Kim Knox

TITLE: Lost Gods
AUTHOR: Kim Knox
PUBLISHER: Liquid Silver Books
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 63k)
GENRE: Sci-fi futuristic erotic romance
COST: $5.95

Waking up from a cryogenic tube with no memory isn’t the worst of Katya Ortaega’s problems. Neither is her attraction to James Kinsare, the extraordinary man who rescued her. It’s the fact that coming back to life…just might be the death of her. The one name she remembers – Paxton – seems to be the source of all the danger that now chases James and Katya to their doom…

I’m not even going to try and explain the details of this book. It’s convoluted, complex, and would end up taking up more space than I usually allow for my entire review. Suffice it to say, Lost Gods is the story of a terraformer scientist named Katya Ortaega, who wakes up from a thirty-year stasis in a cryogenic tube without any memory, and almost immediately ends up running for her life, with a man she’s incredibly attracted to at her side who keeps telling her that as soon as she has her memory back, things will definitely become less amicable between them. It’s an intriguing start, right from the get-go, and both leads are entertaining enough – smart, funny, confident – to keep me going even before the action kicks into a high gear.

That doesn’t take long. The action never stops. When they’re not physically running, they’re arguing, or having sex, or Katya is having action-packed dreams which she recognizes as memories. Each chapter ends on another cliffhanger, twisting the story into a new direction. It’s next to impossible to stop reading at the end of one, too, because the need to go on, to follow these characters along this new path, is too great to resist. It left me breathless, and hungry to see how it was all resolved.

James and Katya are both strong individuals, with their own snarky attitudes and enough attraction to keep me panting for more, even when I wasn't entirely sure what was going on. Unfortunately, that happens more than once. With all the twists and constant forward motion of story, some of the explanations about the political machinations involved in everything that’s going on get murky. It would be easy to get lost, and hurts the story in the end, but honestly, I was having so much fun with what was going on, and enjoyed both leads so much, I didn’t really care too much. Could it have been better explained? Oh, yeah. The 1^st person presentation means everything is viewed through a Katya filter, and with her memory like Swiss cheese, and her feelings all over the place, it’s understandably muddled. But the use of cliffhangers kept me wrapped up in the events to the degree that this flaw is minor for me.

This was a sexy, fun-packed read, with a lot of fascinating Machiavellian detailing to both the plot and the worlds in which the characters reside. I’ve got another of this author’s books on my TBR pile. I’m really looking forward to seeing what else she has to offer.

Readability	9/10 – Action-packed and snarky, the author doesn’t give the reader a chance to take a breath
Hero	9/10 – His bad pick-up lines notwithstanding, he can rescue me from a cryogenic tube anytime
Heroine	9/10 – Smart and kickass
Entertainment value	8/10 – Some of the explanations for stuff at the end gets a little jumbled, and they don’t always pick the most appropriate times to have sex, but…I was having too much fun to really care
World building	7/10 – I loved the possibilities of everything that was presented, but they were overly complex and not clearly explained in the end
TOTAL:	42/50

The White Knight by Josh Lanyon

TITLE: The White Knight
AUTHOR: Josh Lanyon
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 34k)
GENRE: Gay contemporary erotic romance
COST: $4.99

While filming in Wales, actor Sean Fairchild takes a fall and ends up in the hospital, concussed and without any memory of what happened. He asks for his boyfriend, but Dan’s arrival introduces a whole new set of puzzles for Sean to fathom out. The tale unfolds, both of the story of how they met as well as why Sean was put in the hospital in the first place – his fall might not necessarily have been an accident…

The White Knight is the sequel to Lanyon’s novella, The Dark Horse, but I find myself debating whether or not it’s better to have read the first prior to picking this one up. The way this novella is structured and presented, it works as both a prequel and a sequel, filling in the backstory for Sean and Dan that was only hinted at or simply sketched in before, as well as providing an explanation of what happened to them afterward. It does so by experimenting a bit with perspectives. For much of the book, each chapter is split into three sections – a present day in 1^st person, a past in 3^rd, and then a past in 1^st. It takes a little bit to get used to the unusual structure, but it becomes easy to follow soon enough. Even better, it lends an urgency to everything Sean is going through in the present.

The fact that a lot of this backstory gets fleshed out is part of why I’m uncertain whether or not reading the previous story improves this one. On one hand, it helps to round out the characters, having read them before. On the other, much of the backstory ends up feeling redundant. Because I know the outcome, and know enough about what happened, it never really feels like there’s much of anything new in these sections, and thus, they never sparkle as much as the present day material does. I honestly don’t know if that would be the case for someone learning/experiencing it for the first time. All I know is that I wasn’t nearly as involved with the story of how they met as I was with what the hell had happened to them in the interim. The fact that things seemed less than rosy, almost from the start, filled me with dread, and I devoured it all, hoping to find satisfactory answers swiftly.

Even with so much of the story about Sean, about his stalker and his struggle to remember everything that has happened, Dan is the one who comes off as the more sympathetic of the pair. Part of that is due to the fact that much of what we see of him is through Sean’s eyes, and he clearly idolizes and adores the man. He ends up bearing a lot of the responsibility about what has happened, and whether it’s merited or not, I found myself blaming him, too. That colored my liking of the character, though only a shade. I cared enough to race through to the end and find out exactly what was going on. I just hoped a little bit harder that Dan got what he wanted, too.

So does this work better as a standalone? I’m not sure. I do know that the experimental POVs made it a more intriguing read, and likely kept my interest in the flashbacks more than it might have been. I also really loved how the present day events unfolded, in sharp, realistic detail. Sean might not have been as sympathetic this time around, but the tale of their romance is. That, alone, made it worth it.

Readability	9/10 – The experimental POVs take a chapter or two to get used to, but the pay-off in the end is worth it.
Hero #1	7/10 – As before, his status as an unreliable narrator is irrefutable, but it’s not quite as sympathetic this time around
Hero #2	8/10 – Still solid and charming, even with so much of the story about Sean
Entertainment value	7/10 – A lot of the flashbacks actually felt a tad redundant, but the present day stuff was superb
World building	8/10 – Some crisp detailing that brings both settings to life
TOTAL:	39/50

A Wolf at Her Door by Kate Willoughby

TITLE: A Wolf at Her Door
AUTHOR: Kate Willoughby
PUBLISHER: Ellora’s Cave
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 45k)
GENRE: Paranormal erotic romance
COST: $5.20

Paige Mahoney never expected the wish she made on a drunken night with her two best girlfriends to ever be granted, especially since it involves a werewolf. But get it she did, and though it’s a week until the full moon and his monthly shift, nature photographer Adam Jaeger goes along with it. The attraction they feel ends up extending longer than their initial twenty-four hours, but how much longer can it last when they come from different worlds?

This short novel is the second in Willoughby’s Be-Wished series, following the novella, All In. While the first one was barely paranormal – only in the granting of the wish – this one does more than dip a toe in. Both characters dive headfirst into the paranormal deep end, with Adam’s shifting a core element within the story.

The humor I love so much about this author is prevalent yet again, in the light, natural banter between Adam and Paige, between Davina and anybody she interacts with, between Paige and her girlfriends. It’s not the driving force, however, as this longer work allows more room for exploration and depth within the relationship. The one drawback to getting it, however, is that we have to get past the initial rush of sex first, the first twenty-four hours, and then their encounters until they actually start the work on the suggested collaboration. That takes the first half of the story, and I’ll admit, for a little while, I thought it was going to be the focus and was mildly disappointed it was going that route. There seemed so much more potential than that.

And then it switched gears. As soon as they start the real work on their collaboration, it becomes more about the people and not their body parts. This is where Adam and Paige really come to life, through their interactions with each other and those around them, and the complications that are introduced then are infinitely more interesting than the casual sex/attraction that dominates the first half of the story. In terms of being realistic, I buy into this kind of arc completely. Many relationships start out with that rush of desire, and time blurs by as the couple can’t keep their hands off each other. In a book, however, it ends up being a lopsided read, and ended up dragging down my overall enjoyment of the story.

Not that that was by far. I was so absorbed in the author’s humor and voice that I finished it in what felt like record time. The shifter world the author creates is interesting and rich enough to merit further exploration, and her characters, as always, sparkle. I’m looking forward to the last of the girl’s wishes. The hints offered at the end of this of what was to come promise another great read.

Readability	10/10 – Over so fast, I was barely aware I’d spent any time on it.
Hero	8/10 – Charming and funny, though I didn’t fall head over heels for him
Heroine	8/10 – Resourceful and independent
Entertainment value	8/10 – I actually enjoyed this a lot more once I got past the initial twenty-four hours of sex
World building	8/10 – There’s some fascinating possibilities in her shifter world; she provides just enough detail to make it plausible and tempt you into wanting more
TOTAL:	42/50

Love with a Welcome Stranger by Lynnette Baughman

TITLE: Love with a Welcome Stranger
AUTHOR: Lynnette Baughman
PUBLISHER: Wild Rose Press
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 69k)
GENRE: Contemporary romance
COST: $6.00

A near-fatal encounter with a stalker fan turns actress Mandy McKay’s life upside down. She has to rebuild herself, piece by piece, memory by memory, but once she’s a little better physically, she has no desire to return to her old life. Instead, she goes back to Montana, and comes face to face with a man who makes her stomach flip. Cam West is one of the most eligible bachelor ranch owners around, but he lost his heart years ago to Mandy. With the holes in her memory, though, she can’t remember him at all. Considering how they broke up, that’s not necessarily a bad thing…

I have to admit to a predisposition to liking this story. I have a soft spot for Montana. It’s absolutely gorgeous country, and if it wasn’t for the harsh winters – beautiful in their own right – I’d hound my husband to move there a lot more than the occasional casual comment about how nice it would be to live in such a breathtaking place. So when I saw this, the story of someone who left and now has come to rediscover both her life and the state where she grew up, I snatched it up. I wasn’t disappointed, though its appeal stems mostly from its solid leads than any visual painting of its setting.

The story starts out in Cam’s perspective, as he learns that Mandy is returning. We know from the start that they were crazy about each other the summer after she graduated, when she was eighteen and he a twenty-four year old hired hand on her father’s ranch, and we quickly learn that it ended badly, with Mandy storming off at the end of the summer to head for Hollywood. We’re not told the exact reasons until the end, and the tale of how these two orbit each other in this new existence – Cam knowing everything about their past, Mandy only getting the occasional snatch of memory – is the thrust of the slow-building romance.

Both characters are given time to develop as human beings before anything explosive happens in their relationship. Through a lot of flashbacks, we learn about their history, their likes, their dislikes, the things that make it easy to believe that fictional characters just might exist. Cam is solid and engaging, with a sexy cowboy edge tempered by a gentlemanly conditioning. He pushes just enough buttons without ever seeming belligerent or obnoxious, but never falls into the trap of being too accommodating and thus losing his alpha persona. Mandy gets the same careful treatment, and though we learn just how shallow her Hollywood existence was, in her new mindset, it’s painted in far more sympathetic shades. It’s incredibly easy to feel sorry for her and for what’s happened, and even more so, to root for her to finally find some happiness and peace. Some of that is dampened at the end when she exhibits what feels like over extreme reactions to certain plot developments, but that’s a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things. It certainly doesn’t detract from the growth she accomplished throughout the course of the story, though it might dampen my reaction a little to the ultimate outcome.

While the author is a headhopper, it’s fairly unobtrusive most of the time, enough so that I only bumped occasionally when the POV shifted. I had little problem with the prose itself. In fact, a lot of the believability of the entire situation is due to the well-detailed vignettes that populate the present day events. In this case, the flashbacks worked, making this a heartwarming, deeply satisfying romantic read.

Readability	7/10 – Dense, detailed relationship history that still manages to be clear and very readable in spite of headhopping
Hero	8/10 – Solid, sexy, and gentlemanly without losing his cowboy edge
Heroine	8/10 – I really empathized with her dilemma until things turned around at the end
Entertainment value	8/10 – Liking both leads goes a long way to wanting to see their happy ending
World building	9/10 – Even though so much of their story is told in flashback, it fleshes it out to the point of me not noticing
TOTAL:	40/50

The Quickening by Antonia Tiranth

TITLE: The Quickening
AUTHOR: Antonia Tiranth
PUBLISHER: Lyrical Press
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 56k)
GENRE: Fantasy romance
COST: $5.50

Jo Moreau gets a shock when her best friend from high school shows up at her parents’ house in the middle of the night, after a five year absence. Aer Gwindor disappeared before graduation without a word, leaving Jo to pine after him all this time. Now, though, he needs her help to rescue his brother. The catch? Neither Aer nor his brother are exactly human. In fact, they’re Rikashi, dragons who can shift into human form. Oddly enough, Jo isn’t that freaked out, since her dreams lately have taken on the same tenor…

Dragons aren’t normally my thing, but when an idea catches my eye, I’m willing to take a second look. What caught my eye on this one was how spunky the heroine seemed she could be in the excerpt, so I bought it to give it a go. While she was spunkier than many heroines out there, it wasn’t in a way I expected, and I’ll admit, a style I don’t particularly like.

There’s a reason you won’t find YA reviews on my blog, just like there’s a reason you won’t find ones for inspirational romances. As a general rule, they don’t work for me. I find the idealism in a lot of YA too much to take, and often, the issues and emotions end up feeling very After School Special. I don’t know, maybe I was never really a kid. Either way, I don’t buy or read them anymore, not since I’ve decided to stop trying to convince myself that just maybe one out there will work for me.

This isn’t billed as a YA. It’s billed as fantasy romance. Fair enough. But reading it, I get overwhelming impressions of YA writing. It’s not that it’s a fairly clean romance; there are enough romances out there that don’t open bedroom doors or do much more than a few simple kisses. The subject matter is mostly adult, too. Aer and Jo have to deal with finding his brother, and then dealing with the fact that somebody is trying to kill off dragons. The action is fairly continuous, with a lot of cliffhanger chapter endings, and it clips along at a brisk pace. It’s more about the tone and the idealized emotions the two leads have.

Aer and Jo are five years out of high school and have been secretly in love with each other all that time. Both are too honorable and proud to actually say or do anything about it, and there’s a distinct pedestal quality to the way they treat each other. Aer, especially, acts more like a teenager than any young adult I know or have known, and while Jo fares better, she lapses into the same sort of behaviors in the latter half of the story. The charm of her fire wears off quickly as I increasingly feel that I’ve stepped into the middle of an episode of Veronica Mars, with added dragons. It just never ends up working for me, in spite of chapters done in alternating 1^st POVs for both protagonists.

It’s hard for me to tell if this story ends up falling short because of something in the story that I failed to put a finger on or my own inability to enjoy stories that suggest YA to me. It’s very possibly the latter. Sometimes, personal biases are just too difficult to overcome.

Readability	7/10 – Quick and mostly clean, but the simplistic presentation felt so much like YA that it was hard to get into
Hero	6/10 – Charming enough at the start, but simplified, idealistic emotions help contribute to the whole YA feel that distances me from the story
Heroine	7/10 – I liked her more than Aer, because at least for the first half, she seemed more like an actual adult
Entertainment value	6/10 – I really liked the ideas, and the pacing was fine, but not being able to shake the YA feel kept me at arm’s length
World building	7/10 – Some good stuff there, though the occasional information dumps were clumsily done
TOTAL:	33/50

Bound to Him by Ava March

TITLE: Bound to Him
AUTHOR: Ava March
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 30k)
GENRE: Gay BDSM historical erotic romance
COST: $4.99

For six months, Lords Oliver Marsden and Vincent Prescot have been lovers, their longstanding friendship now even more intimate after their true desires were revealed. Through it all, Oliver has hoped that his feelings will be reciprocated, that the deep love he’s always felt for Vincent will be returned, but even now, Vincent refuses to acknowledge the depths of their relationship. When familial responsibilities force Vincent to make a drastic choice, both men are thrust into deciding what paths their lives will take…

Because of the HFN nature of the first novella featuring these two characters, I was eager to see if they would be able to manage some sort of HEA in the long-term. While their relationship is more richly delved into in this sequel to Bound by Deception, I found some of the character’s weaknesses more grating this time around, making it harder to fully appreciate the romance.

Oliver has been in love with Vincent for years and years, and in the first book, his yearning was so heartfelt and passionate, it catapulted me through the story. Six months later, his yearning has taken on a slightly different tenor. He is, justifiably so, a little frustrated that Vincent seems to be standing in one place regarding their relationship. Their sex life remains great, but nothing deeper ever happens, a status quo Vincent is perfectly fine with. But the empathy I felt for Oliver in the first story didn’t materialize. Instead, his clinginess and whining reminded me all too much of a nagging housewife. I suspect it’s because I didn’t read the stories back to back. It’s been almost a year since I read the first story, and while I had impressions of it with enough remembered details to certainly not feel lost, that was it. I think if I’d read them consecutively, Oliver might have seemed more sympathetic, but based on his actions just on this story, he’s not for me.

Vincent doesn’t fare much better, I’m afraid. The walls he had erected in the first story are still there, and now, with the advantage of time elapsed, they paint him as a user rather than a man afraid of consequences. He’s fully aware of Oliver’s feelings for him, and yet, he gives little more in return. It’s not until he gets caught between a rock and a hard place when his father makes the demand he marry, and the repercussions of that, that he starts to become more human for me, but by that point, Oliver, too, is starting to grow up a little and return to the same person I loved in the first story. They are both far stronger by the end, with a clearly defined character arc, but my initial impressions lingered too long to make this a real winner of a romance. The erotic scenes are still the highlight, with sensual BDSM elements thrown in, but they are overshadowed by the negative emotions.

I’m glad to see them work through their relationship, though. For readers seeking closure, this will provide it.

Readability	8/10 – Clean and rich with historical detail
Hero #1	6/10 – Oliver’s initial neediness and weakness gave him room to grow but made it very difficult to empathize with him this time around
Hero #2	6/10 – Until he had his turnaround, felt too much of a user to genuinely like
Entertainment value	6/10 – The eroticism is well-done, but it’s harder to root for the romance when neither man provided enough of an anchor for me to love
World building	9/10 – Incredibly well done and rich
TOTAL:	35/50

A Spirit of Vengeance by Angela Benedetti

TITLE: A Spirit of Vengeance
AUTHOR: Angela Benedetti
PUBLISHER: Torquere
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 17k)
GENRE: Gay paranormal romance
COST: $2.25

His lover’s brutal death has left Josh broken and confused, especially when Kevin starts visiting him in his dreams, speaking of murder and revenge…

From the very first words, the unrelenting emotion and overwhelming grief grip the reader by the lapels and refuses to let go. There is no preamble. The author shoves you straight into the middle of Josh’s confusion regarding his partner’s death, and holds you down in it until there’s nowhere else to turn. That’s not a bad thing. You’re hardly aware of being so expertly corralled until you’re there, and then, it’s just a short, intense ride through the rest of the story as it plays out around you.

Josh doesn’t know how to process Kevin’s violent death, a crime that seems to have been inspired by hate. His palpable feelings twist and turn until neither he nor the reader knows which end is up, so when Kevin’s ghost starts visiting him, it’s disconcerting at best. There’s absolutely no reason to distrust Josh’s fearful reaction to it, and the time it takes for him to come to grips with the possibility that, yes, he’s not crazy, only serves to further cement my belief in how hard this loss has hit him. This reaction, so real, so human, provides the fulcrum upon which the rest of the story balances. Because I can believe that, I can believe in Kevin, and the plot that follows, even if it seems to be secondary to the more relevant task of processing his grief.

The suspense portion of the story, that of satisfying Kevin’s need for revenge, felt rushed in comparison to the careful unfolding of Josh’s emotions. That holds it back a little, as the other players almost seem extraneous. The details supporting the so-called real world, too, never rang as vibrantly true as Josh and his feelings, but they were certainly more than adequate to keep the story believable and moving forward. The true thrust of this novella is Josh and Kevin’s love story – and I’m deliberately choosing to use that term rather than romance – and for this alone, it provides a poignant, compelling read.

Readability	9/10 - Driven, anguish-filled prose hooks you from the very first page
Hero #1	8/10 – Very real emotions, very real reactions, just very real
Hero #2	7/10 – While he’s the driving force behind the actions, his function as catalyst slightly overshadows his function as character
Entertainment value	8/10 – The grief and mourning overwhelms the suspense part of the story, not necessarily in a bad way
World building	7/10 – Enough details to provide a background, but the focus on this is in the relationship
TOTAL:	39/50