In the Darkness by Charles Edward

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Should We Drown in Feathered Sleep by Michael Merriam

TITLE: Should We Drown in Feathered Sleep
AUTHOR: Michael Merriam
PUBLISHER: Carina Press
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 18k)
GENRE: Futuristic fantasy
COST: $2.69

Crippled as a teenager, Grace survives in her post-apocalyptic world as best she can, but time is beginning to weaken her defenses against those who see her as a burden. While she sleeps, she hears the mysterious loons whose magic governs human’s new way of life. Nobody else can, and the annual meeting to sacrifice one of their own to them is upon them…

One of my resolutions this year is to be pickier about which books I read, and by read, I mean actually finish and review. I started two before settling on this short novella, one that was DNF and one that left too little to talk about to waste time on a review. My hopes are that it’ll give me a lot more to be excited about this year than I was last.

This short futuristic fantasy from Carina is a solid entry into those ranks. It’s the story of Grace Kriske, a young woman in her twenties who has been stuck in a wheelchair since she was a rebellious thirteen. She’s still rebellious, hating to be waited on, but she is slowly losing her strength to beat against those odds. Sometimes, she dreams that she can hear the mysterious loons that reputedly populate a nearby lake. These same loons are the focus of an annual ritual whereby locals and traders meet up at the lakeside, conduct a lottery amongst the citizens, and send the chosen one to the loons. Supposedly, it’s to give something back to the community, but those who are chosen don’t seem to benefit from it. At the meet-up, Grace gets to see her once a year lover David, but it’s there, too, she discovers something that will change her life forever.

Because of the story’s brevity, to give away too much of the details would spoil what happens. That’s a shame, because it’s those plot twists, even in such a short space, that add to its compelling nature. What I can say is that the authorial voice is by far the strongest aspect of it. The tone is ethereal and melancholy, very much matching Grace’s mood and emotions, with haunting details that seep from every page. It sucked me in, even when I had lingering questions about what was going on and what the loons part in it all was. It definitely makes me want to seek out more of this author’s work, since a unique voice is often so hard to find.

What I wish worked better was the exposition side of the story. Some details are skimmed over or simply not given at all, and the resolution, while a natural progression from the plot, occurs too abruptly and with little emotional arc. I imagine a good number of these weaker aspects are due to the story’s short length. I don’t think it should’ve been a novel by any means, but perhaps just a thousand or two more words might have answered enough of my questions to anchor me more securely within its world. It would have enriched some of the secondary characterizations as well, giving David a bit more depth for me to understand Grace’s complex feelings for him, or to help differentiate the various elders amongst the others.

Still, it made a welcome change to read something that takes more risks than typical genre fiction. I’ve also found a new author to check out, which is always a bonus.

Readability	8/10 – An ethereal, melancholy voice only hampered by not quite enough exposition
Characterization	7/10 – Grace has the best job of this, since she’s the protagonist, but some of the more important secondary characters tend to blur
Plot	7/10 – Not as clear as it could’ve been, and the resolution was a little abrupt
Entertainment value	8/10 – I enjoyed this more for the mood and authorial voice than the story
World building	7/10 – The background wasn’t quite clear enough to provide the clearest picture of the present, but the details provided were evocative and lovely
TOTAL:	37/50

Iodine by C.L. Hilbert

TITLE: Iodine
AUTHOR: C.L. Hilbert
PUBLISHER: Drollerie Press
LENGTH: Short story/novella
GENRE: Futuristic fantasy
COST: $2.99

Wolf has one mission in life – to find Red. In a world gone wrong, where humans have been driven underground, where mutations are common and life is dark, it’s the only thing that keeps him going. Even as he realizes, she’s hunting him in return…

Though I often start with a plot summary, it’s almost pointless in this case. This is a reworking of the fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood, set in an apocalyptic future where humans are barely surviving underground. Wolf is a bounty hunter of sorts, and Red a technical genius, armed and dangerous. He’s been on the hunt for her for years, but she eludes him at every pass. Things start turning around for him, though, until he realizes that she is deliberately leading him down an unknown path, one littered with the tortured memories of their mingled pasts. He could give it up, but what’s the point? She’s become the sole reason for his existence, and he’ll die before he lets her get away for real.

I can’t give an exact word count on this to help judge the length, but it’s not long, short-story length or at most, a short novella. But there is a lot crammed into so few words – an apocalyptic world that bleeds and glows with descriptions that I could practically taste, a broken protagonist more tortured and twisted than I’ve read in a long time. It paints a future both grim and terrifying, and does so with razor-like precision. In fact, it’s the prose that is really the biggest selling point of this short. Phrasing like, …the terminal cynicism carved in the lines of his face could crush cities, and ...the silk whispered over his skin like acid through rock, soothing and searing, catching sweet kisses on his calluses, stole my breath away, keeping me enraptured with what was going on even when I had absolutely no idea what was happening. Questions upon questions tumbled together, though not all of them got answered. I didn’t care. Even when I sat staring at the ending, wondering how I was going to interpret it, I didn’t care.

But that’s the story’s primary weakness. As interesting as this reworking is, there are so many loose ends left dangling that a reader who doesn’t like them will finish feeling unfulfilled. Even the ending has the problem, because I could see it being interpreted in more than one way. This lack of definitive answers was annoying, that’s for sure, but I loved Wolf’s complexity and the author’s voice so much, I was willing to let it go. Do I wish this was longer and better explained? Oh, yes. At the same time, I wonder if I would have overloaded on the world’s darkness. It might have reached a saturation point that made it intolerable; it’s that grim. Lucky for me, the story is short enough not to outstay its welcome. This will be one I’m thinking about for a long time to come.

Readability	9/10 – Love this author’s gritty, visceral voice
Characterization	8/10 – Wolf is utterly fascinating, broken and driven, though I have an abundance of questions by the end
Plot	7/10 – It’s a simplistic chase sequence, but with enough twists to keep me guessing all the way to the end
Entertainment value	9/10 – In spite of the holes in the world building and my multitude of questions, I was absorbed by this all the way to the end
World building	7/10 – The nihilism of this futuristic world is an excellent backdrop, aided by the fantastic prose, but there are too many aspects left unexplained to really satisfy me completely
TOTAL:	40/50

The Darkling Thrush by Josh Lanyon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Once Upon a Kiss by Kate Willoughby

TITLE: Once Upon a Kiss
AUTHOR: Kate Willoughby
PUBLISHER: Ellora’s Cave
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 38k)
GENRE: Contemporary fantasy erotic romance
COST: $5.20

Livvy is the last of her friends to get her true love wish, but a technicality makes it impossible for her to get it by legal fairy means. Davina figures out how to grant her wish for a fairy tale ending using black market magic, which has the unfortunate result of a house made of gingerbread, hair that weighs a hundred pounds, and finding a naked man asleep in a glass coffin on her front yard. All right, so that last one isn’t unfortunate, especially since the man is her hot new neighbor, and Davina’s magic has restored the use of his legs…at least for now…

This is the third story in the author’s Be-Wished series, but surprisingly enough, can be mostly read alone. However, compared to the first two books, I can’t say that I enjoyed it quite as much.

Livvy is a freelance illustrator, the last of a trio of young women who made wishes on vacation a few years earlier to find true love. Her two friends have found theirs, but when Livvy had been offered hers, she’d turned it down as a joke, thus nullifying Davina’s commitment to her. Now that she’s seen it come true for her friends, she’s more open to it, especially with her friends wanting it for her as well. Davina decides to use black market magic to satisfy Livvy’s request for a fairy tale ending, but the results end up turning chaotic at best. Most of them are temporary, thank goodness. Like Livvy’s walls turning to gingerbread. And her hair growing ten feet over night. But then she discovers her gorgeous new neighbor, the paraplegic Joe Kimball, asleep in a glass coffin in her front yard. She kisses him awake, and after momentary confusion about whether or not he’s dreaming, he whoops for joy at being able to use his legs again. There’s a catch, though. Every time he leaves Livvy’s house, all of his clothes disappear. Which is convenient considering how much sex they are about to have.

My respect for this author is no secret. I love that we seem to generally share the same sense of humor, something I’ve found surprisingly rare in romantic fiction. While this romantic comedy is much in the same vein as its two predecessors, however, I can’t say that I enjoyed it quite as much. It has some fantastic farcical elements, with the various fairy tales enacting themselves in her life, and while I did laugh at some of them, as soon as the new scenario with Joe was introduced, I found myself more worried than anything else. See, none of the other things that had happened with the wish had lasted. Compound that with the knowledge of how erratic Davina’s magic is at the best of times, and I couldn’t shake the dread that Joe’s legs were going to give out on him at any moment. With that ominous thought always lurking in the back of my mind, I was never able to completely give myself over to the moment and enjoy what was going on between them. I also didn’t understand why Livvy wasn’t more worried about it, either, which lowered my respect for her as a character. She’d reacted accordingly to all the earlier problems, why not to this one which had so much more at stake?

Joe’s disability isn’t dwelled on too much, actually. There’s a single scene of him in his wheelchair before the glass coffin incident, and then he’s so exuberant about being able to walk that any drama is tossed out the window. Some attempts are made later on in the story that generate a little conflict, but it felt a tad too orchestrated by that point, especially considering their lack of a serious reaction earlier in the story.

For the first time, I found myself not amused by some of the humor, too. That’s more likely due to the characters and my lack of immersion more than the author’s skills, however. The jokes are there, and I laughed or smiled at a good number of them, but not everything is going to tickle my funny bone and sometimes it just felt like these guys were trying too hard. Like Joe’s characterization. He’s a gorgeous war hero who has a secret geek side, and his excitement about getting to spend a night with Livvy having sex and playing Dark Source (a collectible card game that sounds remarkably like Magic: The Gathering) annoyed me a little as both a tad immature (even if probably accurate in regards to male thinking) and too hard to believe.

Did I enjoy the read? Ultimately, I did. I like the characters, and there’s a farcical edge to the whole thing which differentiates it from much that’s out there. But it doesn’t quite attain the same levels as its predecessors for me. It’s more of a sketch than a fully rendered picture, appreciable for its potential and hints of what it could be but ultimately not quite as satisfying.

Readability	8/10 – Mild headhopping and some humor that doesn’t always work for me (a first with this particular author) detracts here
Hero	6/10 – For some reason, I kept expecting more depth in regards to his disability, though in keeping with the romantic comedy mood, I suppose the lack of it makes sense
Heroine	7/10 – I liked her humor and independence, but I couldn’t help but wonder for too long why she wasn’t more worried about Joe’s legs
Entertainment value	7/10 – Diverting entertainment, but not as memorable as I’ve found other work by this author
World building	7/10 – There’s more exploration into the fairy world, but it seems to skate over the surface rather than fully satisfy
TOTAL:	35/50

Scorpion by Aleksandr Voinov

TITLE: Scorpion
AUTHOR: Aleksandr Voinov
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 71k)
GENRE: Fantasy gay erotic romance
COST: $5.99

Kendras knows two things. How to fight, and how to survive. When he is left for dead, his foot smashed and broken, he somehow finds the strength to get to Dalman, the city he was fighting for. There, a mysterious man with gray eyes offers to pay him for sex. With so few options and no money of his own, Kendras agrees, but one night turns into more when his benefactor finds him a medic and offers him a trade of services – time and a place to heal in exchange for Kendras’s abilities when the time comes. Kendras accepts, but only because he wants to heal and go off in search of the rest of his group – the infamous Scorpions, the deadliest mercenaries of them all…

Aleksandr Voinov is one of my finds this year, but this was the first solo title of his I’d picked up. I started it wondering how it would differ from the collaborative work I’d read. I finished it wondering how long I would have to wait before reading more of his solo attempts.

The story is a complex one. It takes place in a fantasy world where three cities vie for dominance – Dalman, Fetin, and Vededrin, each with their own internal politics as well. Kendras is a soldier of a group known as the Scorpions, an elite band of men led by one known only as the officer. At the top of the story, he has been badly injured, his foot crushed beneath a siege engine when he is left for dead. He has no money, no knowledge if his comrades are alive or dead, so when a gray-eyed man offers to pay him for sexual favors, he accepts. It’s the only way to live. The man, who introduces himself as a mercenary named Steel, takes Kendras under his wing, providing medical attention and offering a place to recuperate. In return, he’d like Kendras’s aid in a job once he’s better. Kendras agrees, as a measure of expediency, and thus starts his participation in a story of politics, fighting to the death, and Machiavellian intrigue.

It’s not an easy read, but it’s made compelling by the author’s visceral prose. Action leaps from the page in slashes of red and gray and black, and the pace is relentless. Even when the characters are at rest, there’s a sense of constant forward motion, made possible by the vibrant description and underlying energies of his cast. It’s the novel’s greatest strength, making it nearly futile to try putting the book down, even to regroup and try to assimilate all of the background information necessary to understand and fully appreciate the machinations of what’s going on.

The dense world-building is both a good and bad thing. While it provides a lot of substance for a reader to sink into, there’s so much of it that it took me a while to get everything straight, and even then, I wasn’t always sure I was reading something right. It’s not for the lack of explanation. There’s a lot of it in there. For me, I think that part of my slowness in fully comprehending what was going on politically stemmed from where those explanations were placed. For instance, much of chapter three is a flashback to when Kendras first joined up with the Scorpions. Near the end of his initiation (or betrothal as it’s called), the officer takes him up onto the mountain, presumably to be the last of the Scorpions Kendras spends time with. There, he lays a lot of the foundation of this fantasy world’s history. It’s clear and concise, but honestly, most of it went right past me. Why? Because Kendras wasn’t concerned about any of that. He’s wrapped up in all his strong feelings for the officer and anticipation of what’s to come. I was just as wrapped up in Kendras by this point, which meant the necessary exposition the officer was giving glanced off my awareness. I don’t know if this would be a problem for other readers (though honestly, I don’t consider it a problem for myself, it was just a stumbling block). When I’m that engaged with a story, I’m so immersed I find it difficult to dissociate. It’s a credit to the author that I could get that deep so quickly as much as it is anything else.

Along with the detailed world-building, there is a wide cast of rich characters to discover. Characterizations are generally strong. Kendras and Widow especially leap off the page, as well as minor characters such as Vistar and Kiran. I do have some reservations about two of the other primaries, though. Steel and the officer both have pivotal roles in the way things develop, and while the romance centers around Kendras and his hero worship of the officer, I never really believed Steel was such a bad option. As a reader, I met him first, in an act that if not altruistic was certainly merciful. He was also considerably flawed, which made him more interesting to me than the perfect officer, too. Toss in the fact that the officer’s characterization is colored by Kendras’s rose-colored glasses, and I found it harder to completely write off Steel.

Sex is plentiful and sometimes coarse, so readers who are sensitive to the hero having relations with anyone other than their love interest should probably be aware. It’s also much more heavily focused on the politics and intrigue rather than the romance. Neither of these were issues for me, and in fact, made the book more realistic and absorbing as a result. The author has shot up to one of my favorite finds this year, and I’m excited about what we’re going to get from him in the future.

Readability	9/10 – Addictive, visceral prose
Hero #1	8/10 – Driven and fascinating
Hero #2	6/10 – Slightly idealized for me, I kept wishing I could see more of him as an individual rather than this idol of hero worship
Entertainment value	9/10 – Utterly absorbing, I couldn’t put it down
World building	8/10 – In a world where religion plays such a heavy role, I needed more explanation than what I got
TOTAL:	40/50

The Stolen Warrior by Anastasia Rabiyah

TITLE: The Stolen Warrior
AUTHOR: Anastasia Rabiyah
PUBLISHER: Sugar and Spice Press
LENGTH: Short story (roughly 15k)
GENRE: Fantasy erotic romance
COST: $3.99

Hessa is a slave owned and branded by the Omi House, but her scarred face keeps her to hard labor rather than as a pleasure slave. As she’s delivering food to the men used to fight in the pits for the enjoyment of the masses, one in particular grabs her attention when he asks for her help in escaping. Attracted to a man for the first time in her life, she opts to do what she can, though considering how little power she actually has, she’s not sure how she’s going to do it…

The first short story I read by this author got to me on a gut level. I was hoping for a repeat of that experience, but unfortunately, it never quite materialized.

Hessa Omi is a branded slave, scarred at a young age. The marring of her beauty makes her unfit for being a pleasure slave so instead she works hard labor. One of her jobs is feeding the imprisoned pit fighters. A select group who have survived are waiting to be used to breed more fighters, and Hessa is drawn to one in particular. He introduces himself as Gunnar, an air singer from a distant island, and asks for her aid in escaping. She initially says no, since she has no idea how to get him out anyway, but she can’t stay away from him, and when an opportunity arises to do as he requests, she grabs it.

For a short story, a lot actually happens in this, which ultimately proves to be its greatest weakness. There’s too much story going on to make it fleshed out enough to enjoy. It’s a fantasy world that only gets a minimal amount of building, with a heroine that is a passive archetype (outside of her one act to help Gunnar escape). Many of the events that occur happen around Hessa, and the changes that come do so at the behest of other characters instead of her own actions (again, with the single exception of the key to their escape). It makes her very dull as a result, and I never understood why Gunnar would be willing to trust in her…except, oh yeah, he prayed and then she showed up and he just knew she was the one. It’s completely circumstantial and uninteresting, as well as flattens any depth he might have otherwise had.

The potential of the story never fully appeared. It’s not overly erotic, so it doesn’t appeal on that level, the heroine is too passive for me to really root for her, and the hero so two-dimensional I didn’t have the romance to latch onto, either. Disappointing, though I haven’t given up on this author yet.

Readability	7/10 – Not the cleanest, and some telling instead of showing, but swift and mildly intriguing
Hero	5/10 – He’s a figure more than a person, I kept expecting more depth
Heroine	4/10 – A victim of circumstance, except for her big moment in the middle she has things done to her rather than instigates change for herself
Entertainment value	5/10 – I kept waiting for the potential of the story to play out, but it didn’t really come
World building	6/10 – Not nearly enough explanation or detail to do more than hint at the promise of the fantasy world
TOTAL:	27/50

Briar Rose by Lila Dubois

TITLE: Briar Rose
AUTHOR: Lila Dubois
PUBLISHER: Liquid Silver Books
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 33k)
GENRE: Fantasy erotic romance
COST: $5.50

Princess Aurora is blessed with beauty, grace, and obedience at birth, but when the fourth fairy recognizes the curse obedience really is, she offers a gift that will break it. Until she turns eleven, Aurora is the perfect princess, and perfectly dull, too. Once she has free will, however, she seeks out her own happiness, even when it means falling in love with a woodsman instead of the prince she’s been betrothed to since birth…

One of these days, I’ll learn that breaking my own rules is never a good idea. See, I love the cover on this book. I’d heard good things about the author. I trust Liquid Silver. So I bought it without actually reading the excerpt. If I had, I would never, ever have handed over money for it.

If it sounds like a retelling of Sleeping Beauty, it is. It very closely resembles the Disney cartoon, except with a lot more sex. Prince Phillip even talks to his horse like he did in the movie. It’s kind of pointless for me to summarize. It doesn’t veer off the story everybody knows very much. There’s a princess, yadda yadda, she’s off in the woods and meets a boy and falls instantly in love, yadda yadda, neither know the other is royalty, and so on. Some of the variations come in her relationship with Maleficent, who is pretty much her only friend (and occasional lover if the open-mouthed kisses and groping is anything to go by), and the details of the sleeping curse, but that’s pretty much it. Otherwise, it’s Sleeping Beauty with a lot of pointless sex.

So what’s my problem with this novella? It starts on the first page with silly editorial errors. If I’d read the excerpt (which for LSB is always chapter one), I would’ve seen them and passed on buying. I only continued reading because I kept hoping it would get better. It didn’t. And they really are silly errors. We must got tell Millie, and It took then a week, and The gelding let out a surprised whiny, and…well, I have a very long list that I bothered to take a note of. You don’t need to see them all. One of the fairies gets described as “titan-haired” but I’m pretty sure it’s meant to be “titian-haired.” What color is titan-haired supposed to be? At one point, Phillip calls her Aurora when he doesn’t know her true identity and only knows her as Rose. Even Maleficent’s name changes spelling at the end of the story.

If I sound frustrated, I am. I don’t expect this level of mistakes from this publisher. And I’m annoyed with myself for not reading the excerpt and saving myself both the time and money I spent on this. If the story itself had been original enough to distract me from the errors, it might not have been so bad, but it just isn’t. It’s told in fairy tale style, with an omniscient POV (which wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been, thankfully), and I kept picturing the movie every time they were in the forest. If one of them had burst into song, I wouldn’t have been surprised. The story does try to add a darker element at the end as Aurora’s frustrated father tries to control her, but honestly, the violence of those scenes and the suggestion that she’s going to be raped as well as whipped never gels with the rest of the novella.

I’m going to stick more closely to my rules from now on. And wish fervently that this is a blip in LSB’s usual reliability.

Readability	5/10 – So many silly mistakes in this, it was hard to believe it was an LSB book
Hero	6/10 – Charming enough, but this is still a fairy tale
Heroine	6/10 – I was just getting invested in her when she started making foolish choices that didn’t seem to fit the strong woman I thought she was
Entertainment value	4/10 – Sloppy editing and story threads that are never explored make this a half-baked effort from the start
World building	5/10 – A fairy tale, yes, but generic and flat
TOTAL:	26/50

The Sevenfold Spell by Tia Nevitt

TITLE: The Sevenfold Spell
AUTHOR: Tia Nevitt
PUBLISHER: Carina Press
LENGTH: Novella
GENRE: Fantasy erotic romance
COST: $2.69

Talia and her mother earn their living through spinning, but when a curse placed upon the princess drives the banning of all spinning wheels in the kingdom, their lives are irrevocably changed. Talia’s future becomes bleak when the man she’d expected to marry is ordered by his father to join the monastery. She decides to take her future into her own hands, but that means inviting speculation about her morality and breaking royal laws…

When I bought this last fall, it was because it promised to explore a minor (or nonexistent, since she’s not specifically mentioned) character in the popular fairy tale Sleeping Beauty. It’s not categorized as a romance or even erotic, but within a few pages from the start, it’s clear that’s what it is. This revelation didn’t bother me, because the more I read, the deeper I sank into the story.

Talia is a Plain Jane, complete with warts, and would have few prospects at finding a husband if she hadn’t already decided she’d take what she could get and befriended a farmer’s son at the market. Willard is as plain and awkward as she is, and she spends more time listening to him than really getting to know him, but still, they’ve decided they’re going to have each other regardless of their appearances. Then, all the spinning wheels in town are collected and destroyed, leaving Talia and her mother without the means to earn a living. Willard’s father, who was already not happy about Willard’s desire to marry Talia, orders him to join the monastery, and Willard isn’t strong enough to say no. With her only prospect leaving town, Talia makes the choice to get whatever future she can from him – a child. They become lovers for the time before Willard has to leave. Thus marks the beginning of the rest of Talia’s life.

It’s probably inevitable there will be some spoilers as I talk about this story. It’s not long, and it’s a very untraditional romance in a lot of ways. When Willard leaves, Talia throws caution to the wind and opts to find pleasure wherever she can. That means she has sex with a lot of men. Most of it isn’t detailed, but some readers might take issue with the fact that she does it. I didn’t. By that point, I loved Talia so much that I just didn’t care (though I doubted I would care anyway because I don’t hold most fictional characters to such puritanical standards).

This story proves that it’s not just the fairy tale princess that gets the happy ending. Talia’s life isn’t an easy one. She becomes the town pariah with her affairs, and she struggles with self-esteem issues. There are struggles over how she and her mother will survive, and her anxieties about her childlessness. Talia’s attitude toward marriage and children might aggravate readers looking for a contemporary heroine, and though she certainly exhibits modern sensibilities in her owning of her sexuality, this is most definitely set in a fairy tale world. In the context of this story, it made perfect sense, and in fact, endeared her to me even more. She is far from perfect, and she makes a lot of mistakes, but all of it succeeded in making her more realistic, and as a result, I fell head over heels for her. Since the story is told in 1^st person from her perspective, its success lies primarily with the reader being able to feel for Talia. I did. A lot.

The fairy tale as most people know it dances in and out of Talia’s tale until finally binding with it for the last third. I loved the ways they intersected, especially in how human so many reactions were to events out of the characters’ control. When I reached the end, I had a happy tear in my eye. That is not metaphorical. It filled me such strong feelings of hope and satisfaction that I promptly went back to page one and read it all over again. Fairy tales have evolved into lessons for children, offering the happy ending as the reward for doing good or resolving the conflict. This is the grown-up’s version. It embraces all sides of what makes us human, warts and all, and provides just as much of an fantastic escape as any of the classics did when I was a child.

This is the first of a series for the author, though it’s the only one currently available. When more show up, I’ll be first in line to get them.

Readability	9/10 – Though not what I was expecting, I devoured this
Hero	5/10 – He’s absent for a good portion of the book, but what we got of him, I thought was both sweet and promising
Heroine	9/10 – Loved, loved, loved her. I might not have agreed with some of her decisions (and is probably the only reason this isn’t perfect) but I understood what motivated most of them
Entertainment value	9/10 – Ended this with a happy tear in my eye, like the best kind of fairy tales can do
World building	7/10 – The fantasy milieu of the fairy tale realm was credible, but I often had questions about the set-up for Talia and her town throughout the first 2/3’s of the story
TOTAL:	39/50

Choice of Masters by Joey W. Hill

TITLE: Choice of Masters
AUTHOR: Joey W. Hill
PUBLISHER: Ellora’s Cave
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 33k)
GENRE: BDSM fantasy historical erotic romance
COST: $5.20

Thomas has lived his life by the code King Arthur set, and now has one final quest to complete – rescue the Lady Lilith from her captivity. He dreams of her constantly, and in those dreams, he knows her, loves her, recognizes her as his soulmate. After learning what he must to set Lilith free, he ventures to the wizard’s realms, where the world is not what he expected. Lilith is, though, and now he must show her that she has the power to make the choice to leave…

I adore Joey Hill. I may not love everything she writes, but for me, the sensual eroticism of her prose stands alone. I just have to remember as I read more and more of her backlist – because even though this was just recently released by Ellora’s Cave, it was originally published seven years ago in an anthology – that not only will she hit on some of my buttons, she will also show varying levels of skill in her storytelling abilities.

This one is a little hard to describe. Thomas is a knight who has been dreaming of Lilith, a woman notorious for being held prisoner by a wizard for years with an entire stream of other knights who have failed to rescue her. Thomas is convinced she’s his soulmate and is ready to do whatever it takes to make her accept him as her Master. He spends a month with a group of priestesses renowned for their sensual delights to learn how he can break Lilith free. When he feels he’s ready, he sets off and finds Lilith as the Great Whore in Zorac’s household. He is granted the right to attempt to rescue her, but Zorac is certain he’ll fail and leave in the morning without Lilith. Thus begins Thomas’s quest, a night of unbridled sensuality.

Some people think Hill’s prose is too purple, and I can see how it can sometimes verge in that direction. Much of the time, I adore it. It’s lustrous and rich, like sinking in thick, soft velvet. She has a way of wending and winding with her words that sucks me in, even when the events that unfold might bother other sensibilities. Then, it’s not until I’ve finished the story that I see some of the flaws it might contain.

This particular story has quite a few potential hotspots, but one in particular will likely bother a number of readers. Lilith is being held prisoner and forced to act as the whore to anybody Zorac wants. Worse, she is bound by a spell that keeps her forearms and hands immobile, invisible shackles if you like. On top of that, the magic also keeps her on the brink of orgasm without ever giving her a release. So Lilith is the victim of continual nonconsensual acts, with the demonstration of one at the dinner Thomas shares with Zorac after his arrival. I have to admit, this didn’t bother me so much in this, because it was so clearly fantasy from the very first page, however others are likely to disagree.

While Hill’s eroticism shines, especially in how surprisingly sensual the rituals Thomas performs are, the story suffers in other areas. Lilith lacks much of any kind of personality for much of the story, since she’s already wound tight from her lack of release. She’s much more of a damsel for Thomas to save than I normally like to read. Any strong sense of setting disappears as well. The entire tale has a dream-like quality, making it very hard to pinpoint. Definitive explanations on who Thomas really is or what he really can do are lacking, too.

But you know what? These were problems I identified once I’d already devoured the story. I was so lost in the sensuality of it, much of the other issues didn’t raise their heads until afterward. Thus, my rather skewed scores.

Readability	8/10 – Minor editorial problems broke up the flow, but Hill writes lush, sensual BDSM like nobody else
Hero	7/10 – Proud and honorable
Heroine	4/10 – She feels more like a vessel than anything else
Entertainment value	7/10 – Logic and depth of any kind of explanation gets thrown out the window for the gorgeous eroticism
World building	6/10 – With so much focus on the eroticism, the world and its nature felt very superficial
TOTAL:	32/50

House of Stone by Vaughn R. Demont

TITLE: House of Stone
AUTHOR: Vaughn R. Demont
PUBLISHER: Samhain
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 83k)
GENRE: Gay fantasy romance
COST: $5.50

For Richard Stone – minor Fae noble, gay porn star – getting married is just another day in the life. That is, until he discovers that the Azure Blade, his family’s magic sword, refuses to show its fire when he unsheathes it. Without the fire, his family is shamed, because it means he’s no longer worthy to bear it. He has eight days to figure out what he’s done and reverse it, but even with the help of his new wife and his faithful manservant, he’s not sure how to make it happen…

NOTE: In the matter of full disclosure, I was offered a copy of this book for the purpose of a review.

The first story I read by this author showed definite promise, enough that when I was offered his latest Samhain title for review, I gladly accepted. I’m glad I did. While this wasn’t a perfect read, much of what I enjoyed initially was still present and improved upon, showing this is an author to keep an eye out for.

The novel is not an easy one to summarize. It’s the story of Richard, a minor noble Fae, the current head of the House of Stone, and liege to a county that has seen far brighter days. In order to make ends meet, he’s an active participant – read: actor/star – in his county’s strongest industry. Porn. He’s on the fringe at best, but he still has noble blood, and thus, is bound by the protocols adhering to all the noble Fae. The book starts with him being invited to his aunt’s for the ceremony of his arranged marriage to a woman he’s never met. He’s not thrilled about it, but it’s part and parcel of his responsibility so he goes along. Simaron, his manservant, prepares him for the night, but when Richard is on his way to the ceremony, the wedding carriage is ambushed, at which time he discovers that his family’s magic sword, the Azure Blade, refuses to show its fire for him. That’s a sure sign that it no longer recognizes him as worthy to wield it, which will bring shame to the entire house and pretty much ruin his life if it ever comes to light. His aunt grants him a reprieve to try and reverse it, giving him until the Solstice Tournament eight days hence. Thus starts his mission, during which he’ll learn as much about himself as he does the people in his county and world.

The book is intricately plotted, with enough machinations to twist the story in a new direction with each chapter. It never lets up, refusing the reader the room to take a deep breath or slow down. While it’s fascinating to get sucked into the politics of this Fae world, it’s a double-edged sword. Demont has created an intensely dense world, with a wide cast of characters. It’s sometimes difficult to keep it all straight and requires going back and re-reading to put the details in the right order. That slowed me down. More than once. It’s helped by the engaging narrative voice, but I have a feeling that if it had been in 3^rd person, I would have slowed down even more.

Like his previous work, this is told in 1^st person, a good choice since Richard has a definite self-deprecating humor. It's funny, more than a little glib, and highly literate. Fantasy readers will likely catch allusions/references to favored authors. I smiled/laughed at a number of them, especially the Pratchett. But the author also uses parentheticals extensively, sometimes too much. Other readers might not have the same reaction I did, but after the second or third chapter, I was finding the constant asides a little tedious. It was a little too much of a fun device. What was charming at first ended up less so, the overall effect diminished by the overproliferation. It was a relief when they became fewer and fewer as the book progressed. I had the same reaction to the constant reminders that Richard was Fae. I got it the first few dozen times, making the repetition of who/what he was, what he was responsible for, and so on, not only unnecessary but annoying. I would have much preferred getting clarification on other world-building issues.

What the 1^st person does, however, is end up endearing the narrator to me. Privy to all of his thought processes, I can appreciate his growth throughout the story, and end up really liking him as a result. He doesn’t really want me to at first. He’s not really proud of who or what he is, and he doesn’t seem to like the Fae in general most of the time. In fact, the only person he seems to truly respect is Simaron. But that doesn’t stop me from slowly warming to him, feeling for his confusion and frustration with events that are out of his control, respecting the choices he ends up making to try and rectify everything. He and the nonstop action are the two best reasons to read this, because both supply a steady source of surprises.

Because I like Richard so much, I really wish I believed the romance more. The problem is, Richard and Simaron have known each other their entire lives. They’ve been sexually involved for a long time. A lot of what their relationship is based on is already established at the start of the book. That’s not always a problem, but in this case, when there is so much happening that doesn’t seem to have much at all to do with their romance, that lack of involvement proved detrimental for me. I never felt like I ever really got to know Simaron. His position and attitude are very distanced, and though I recognize that he’s a good guy, I don’t feel it. And it’s that lack of emotional connection that messed with the romance for me.

That being said, it didn’t keep me from enjoying the book. Between Richard’s accomplished characterization and the intriguing twists of the plot, this was an absorbing, entertaining read.

Readability	8/10 – The parentheticals grow tedious, and the constant reminders that he’s Fae overkill, but the perpetual action and narrator’s humor help to maintain interest
Hero #1	8/10 – My annoyances with some of the voice issues aside, his personal growth and sense of humor end up endearing him to me
Hero #2	5/10 – I find myself wanting to like him, but I never feel like I really know him
Entertainment value	7/10 – The intricacies of the plotting and liking the narrator carry this far
World building	8/10 – There’s no denying the intricacy of the world the author has created, though it’s not always executed very gracefully
TOTAL:	36/50

The Cadaver Client by Frank Tuttle

TITLE: The Cadaver Client
AUTHOR: Frank Tuttle
PUBLISHER: Samhain Publishing
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 25k)
GENRE: Fantasy mystery
COST: $3.50

Markhat is back. Mama Hog introduces him to spook doctor Granny Knot, who wants to hire him to find a dead man’s wife and child. He’s never found anything for a cadaver before, but there’s a first time for everything…

It’s no secret I love Frank Tuttle and his Markhat books. His sense of humor and vivid detailing, both in setting and characters, hooked me from the start, so I had high expectations going into this. It’s a little disappointing that this doesn’t measure up to its predecessors, but a weaker Tuttle story is still miles ahead most of what’s out there.

Markhat is celebrating being a Finder for ten years, when Mama Hog shows up at his door with her friend, Granny Knot, in tow. Granny wants to hire Markhat to find a woman and her daughter, and is willing to pay a lot of money to do so. It’s not her money, but rather the dead man’s, and though Markhat doesn’t necessarily believe any of this, money is money, and he takes the job. This starts him out on what turns out to be the most laidback, unimposing of the adventures we’ve yet to see him on. He spends a lot of time nosing around for information, usually without too much success. When he decides to take more direct measures, the action speeds up, but the climax – while cleverly set up – lacks any real tension.

That anticlimactic feeling is probably what disappointed me the most. I was all prepared for Markhat to face off and defeat the bad guy, but a few lines of dialogue, some creepy cold, and then it was over. That was it. I needed more than what I got.

It’s also mildly disappointing that the emotional journey Markhat took in the previous story is abandoned in this. No mention is made of Darla, the woman who drove him to such lengths in the last book. I didn’t necessarily need her in this, but for a linear reader, it’s disconcerting to find no kind of explanation as to why she’s not there. I didn’t need much, just a sentence or two. But when I’m accustomed to such excellence from Tuttle, any shortcomings stand out. Don’t be mistaken, though. I still really enjoyed this quieter tale. The author is easily one of the most consistent, original writers I’ve found in the e-world. His creation in Markhat deserves every reader he can get.

Readability	8/10 – Slower paced than previous stories, and not as funny, but still a standout
Characterization	9/10 – This is where Tuttle always shines
Plot	7/10 – A quieter installment to the series, though the ultimate motivations seemed a little shallower than I’ve come to expect from the author
Entertainment value	8/10 – Questions about his missing girlfriend (he went to a lot of trouble for her) and the slower pace rates this lower than other installments but he’s too good not to enjoy
World building	8/10 – While we got some answers about other aspects of the world, I found myself lacking some in regards to aspects of this story
TOTAL:	40/50