Rough Stock by Cat Johnson

TITLE: Rough Stock
AUTHOR: Cat Johnson
PUBLISHER: Linden Bay Romance
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 48k)
GENRE: Contemporary menage erotic romance
COST: $6.99

Best friends Clay and Mason have noticed a change in the girl they’ve grown up with. At eighteen, April has turned into a woman, a beautiful sexy one at that. Both want her. Both love her. When her prom night turns violent, the boys come to her rescue, binding all three of them in new, exciting ways. They don’t know what to make of the changes, especially when April seems unwilling to talk about it. But when she tells them both she loves them, they decide to keep at it, even if at the end of the summer, all three will be parting ways…

One of the things I’ve learned over the past few years of buying e-books is that I’m incredibly picky about ménage romances. I have no specific needs when it comes to sexual interactions. I don’t care if the men get it on together or not, and I don’t hold the woman in disdain for being a female getting in the way. All I care about is the emotion involved. Convince me that this group loves each other, or, at the very least, need each other, and I’m a happy camper. Unfortunately, I’ve discovered that the vast majority of ménages that I read are content to rest on their sexual laurels. Like they think...the sex is hot, everybody gets off, therefore it works. They rarely sell me on the emotional connections.

Ultimately, that’s where this book ends up falling. The story starts out with the trio finishing out their senior year in high school. Clay and Mason work at April’s father’s ranch, and the three have been inseparable for years. The entire first half of the book is told in alternative POVs between Clay and Mason, and through their perspectives, we see two young men, coming to terms with their burgeoning sexuality, trying to resolve their sudden attraction to the girl who shouldn’t be a woman. We get to experience their confusion and love for April, quite effectively, actually, so it really comes as no surprise when they succumb to lust. They’re teenaged boys. They care about her a lot. They’re willing to put aside their jealousy – because really, both of them express more than once that they’d rather be the only one in her life – in order to be with her. I’m actually okay with the ménage through most of this section, because it’s more than a little sweet seeing these young men fall over themselves. Their voices ring true for me.

April, however, doesn’t. None of the first part is told through her perspective. When the boys try to get her to say who she wants, she simply says, “I don’t want to have to choose between you.” And the boys let her get away with it. April comes across as immature and selfish in this. Her attitude is essentially, “I love you. I want both of you. Take it or leave it.” I can’t fault the boys for going along with it for the summer. She’s hot, she wants sex, they love her. Even Mason only sees it as a temporary thing, since he admits that after they’re all apart, they’ll just “see what happens.” Why should I ever think this is anything lasting? The boys fall over themselves in the first part to make April happy. She, in turn, seems to almost expect it and does little in return.

The story isn’t helped at all that part two jumps an indeterminate number of years into the future. All three are grown up, somewhere in their twenties, with three different lives. Clay and Mason are still harboring feelings for April, who hasn’t bothered to get into contact with either of them except for an occasional Christmas card, since she moved away after that first summer. Oh, gee, look, more selfish behavior on her part. Her reasons are exposed later on, but it’s too little, too late. By that point, I’ve washed my hands of them. Even Clay and Mason, who I had been incredibly sympathetic with in the first part, aren’t enough to make me care. Frankly, if that’s who they wanted, and they’re willing to put up with her, all the power to them, but nothing is going to convince me that they had some sweeping romance that couldn’t be held back by time. They deserved far better than April. It’s too bad they didn’t know it.

Readability	8/10 – Unchallenging and easy flowing, with minimal errors
Menage	4/10 – Though I liked and understood the two men, the fact that we never get the female’s perspective on why we should understand her made me dislike her
Characterization	6/10 – I liked and believed both men. It was the girl I had a problem with.
Entertainment value	5/10 – There’s a sweet kind of charm to the first half, but without being able to invest in the ménage, or understand why I should be willing to put up with these sort of jealous feelings, I can’t care about the ending romance
World building	7/10 – The set-up is great, very evocative, but an indeterminate number of years pass between the first and second parts, and the second half seems cobbled together just to make the romance happen.
TOTAL:	30/50

Frost Fair by Erastes

TITLE: Frost Fair
AUTHOR: Erastes
PUBLISHER: Linden Bay Romance
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 36k)
GENRE: Gay historical romance
COST: $5.99

When the printing community turned its back on his dying father, Gideon Frost decided never to have to rely upon another again. He does what he must to try and make the printing business he inherited survive, and if that means he must occasionally sell himself in order to pay a bill, so be it. But he does so on his terms. The only man who even tempts him to bend those personal rules is his client, the richer, older, attractive Joshua Redfern. When the Thames freezes over, circumstances bring them even closer together. Gideon has to decide whether the opportunity Redfern offers is charity, or something more…

The heart of this long novella is Gideon Frost, a young man beset by troubles yet determined to prevail without having to accept charity. There is a dignity to his strength, a pride and gentility that creates an aura superior to those of the supposedly upper class. He conducts himself professionally, providing strict boundaries for himself even when he is forced to seek out other means to pay creditors. There is never any doubt he will do what he must, and do so with his respect intact, which makes him a pillar amidst the chaos rampaging around him.

Therein lies my difficulty. In his attempts to protect himself, Gideon has thrown up walls that hold other characters at bay, including Redfern, a man he’s mad for. Those walls do a lot to shield the reader as well. While I certainly felt for Gideon in regards to his personal situation – both financially and professionally – I found it much more difficult to engage with his feelings regarding Redfern, much because as a general protective measure for himself, he tries not to dwell on them too much. He opens up very, very gradually after his circumstances change halfway through the story, but it’s just not quite enough to fully invest me in the romance aspect of the story.

The romance isn’t aided by Redfern’s characterization, either. His initial attraction to Gideon is well done and utterly believable, and I had high hopes once the river started to thaw. That promise isn’t quite followed through, as Redfern proves to suffer from the same sort of rigidity Gideon does. It’s apropos for the period, don’t get me wrong. But Redfern’s swiftness to take things on faith without proof is much harder to empathize with than Gideon’s drive to be self-sufficient. His quick reversal is even more so, and I was left with the feeling that I had missed something somewhere along the line. It just felt a little easy, when throughout the first half, a strong part of the story’s charm was that it wasn’t easy, that sometimes life meant hard choices.

In spite of my distance from the romance, this is solid storytelling. Period detail is vivid and puts the reader completely in the moment. At first glance, the parallelism of the frigid weather with Gideon’s walls isn’t exactly subtle, but it works anyway, primarily because of the author’s clear sympathy for her lead and her love of the environment. It contributes to the melancholy air pervasive of the entire story that serves both Gideon and his professional dilemmas very well. Above all else, this is an engrossing character study, with solid writing and detail that should please any fan of the genre.

Readability	9/10 – Mostly uncomplicated and quite readable, a much swifter read than I expected.
Hero	7/10 – Multi-layered, but the distance he holds other characters at works against him with the reader
Hero	6/10 – A nice enough man, though many of his various transitions of mindset seemed overly simplistic
Entertainment value	7/10 – Though I liked Gideon, I didn’t really trust the romance aspect of the story.
World building	9/10 – Vivid, very much puts the reader in the moment
TOTAL:	38/50

Trilogy No. 111: Speak Its Name by Charlie Cochrane, Lee Rowan, & Erastes

TITLE: Trilogy No. 111: Speak Its Name
AUTHOR: Charlie Cochrane, Lee Rowan, and Erastes
PUBLISHER: Linden Bay Romance
LENGTH: Anthology (roughly 72k)
GENRE: Gay historical romance
COST: $6.99

A trio of gay historical romances, each offering love amongst Englishmen.

The anthology starts out with “Aftermath” by Charlie Cochrane. The story of two young men attending Cranmer College in England in 1920, it describes how two men of supposedly opposite demeanors and upbringings can come together and find love, in spite of the societal and cultural pressures. Edward Easterby is a chemistry student, awkward and antisocial, while Hugo Lamont is revered by all on campus as the man to be. Discovering they share a secret is both the best and worst thing to happen to them. As sweet as the potential of this romance is, however, it’s characterized by a device that very rarely works for me. Sections of the story are told in third person omniscient POV, which, while it’s reminiscent of other classic historical works, is always something I’ve struggled enjoying. For me, the intrusive narrator that both describes backstory as well as makes blatant connections for the reader distances me from getting involved. I’ve always found the need to draw lines within the text mildly patronizing, like I can’t do it myself. In this story’s case, since it happens as early as the third page, I’m shoved out of experiencing the story almost right away. I never find that footing with it. Dialogue that makes me cringe, even for the setting (I've fallen in love with you, Edward; I knew it from the moment you laid your precious head on my manly chest, that day by this same river.), doesn’t help that.

I moved on to the second story, Lee Rowan’s “Gentleman’s Gentleman,” with mild trepidation, then. If all three stories employed this device, I very likely would have set the entire thing aside. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. Rowan tells the tale of Lord Robert Scoville and his valet, Jack Darling, as they undergo a diplomatic assignment for the Crown. Darling served under Scoville in the armed forces, and took the post of valet afterward because he’s in love with the man. For his part, Scoville is very aware of his own proclivities, and though he’s always held a desire for Darling, he hasn't, and never would, acted upon it. Because they’re of different stations, the last thing he would ever want is to force a man to accept his advances, so they live comfortably in this stasis for over a decade. There’s an elegant charm to this entire tale, as the plot thread about their assignment wends along, that sucked me in. I delighted in both characters, chuckled along at their camaraderie, and was more than pleased with how they eventually found the truth of their feelings.

The final story is “Hard and Fast” by Erastes. Major Geoffrey Chaloner, the third son in a family of means but not title, has returned from the Napoleonic Wars to find his father determined to marry him off. The most recent candidate is Lady Pelham, but first, Chaloner must get through her cousin, Adam Heyward. Heyward is a very mystery of vexation, driving Chaloner to distraction more than once, and when their odd relationship explodes in an entirely unexpected direction, Chaloner is left adrift at what to do. Where the first story left me cold, this final offering thoroughly and utterly enchanted me. Told in 1^st person from Chaloner’s perspective, I found myself tumbling along with his confusion, charmed by his responses, and just as eager to find a resolution to all the madness of his feelings as he was. Adam is suitably enigmatic, and provides an interesting foil for Chaloner. Ultimately, it was the romance I got swept up by the most. This story is different in tone and focus than Rowan’s, reflective of the various environments they chose for their heroes. Where Rowan’s story focused on the escapade as a means of breaking down the walls between them, this one utilized more internal monologue in order to accomplish the same feat. Both succeed, just in different ways.

Readability	7/10 – My difficulties with the first story are the only thing holding this back.
Romance	8/10 – I invested in varying degrees with the romances, though all have something to offer.
Characterization	8/10 – The best overall aspect of the anthology.
Entertainment value	7/10 – It’s hard for a multi-author anthology to be perfect, and my difficulty with the first story illustrates that.
World building	8/10 – A reverse here, I actually had the best sense of place and time with the first story.
TOTAL:	38/50

Captain's Surrender by Alex Beecroft

TITLE: Captain’s Surrender
AUTHOR: Alex Beecroft
PUBLISHER: Linden Bay Romance
LENGTH: Novel (roughly 60k)
GENRE: Gay historical romance
COST: $6.99

Midshipman Joshua Andrews knows his lustful desires for other men will have him hanged should anyone discover the truth, but from the moment he lays eyes on First Lieutenant Peter Kenyon, his heart is lost. He maintains the utmost of professionalism, though the two become friends under a brutal captain many would like to see fed to the sharks. When tensions run high onboard the Nimrod, everything about their world changes. It’s up to them whether or not they can survive, and whether or not they wish to survive together.

As far as recreating a historical setting and putting you into the middle of the action, Captain’s Surrender is at the top of its class. There is no denying the author’s knowledge on her subject matter. The detail is dense and evocative, calling to mind some of the classics I studied in college. When she writes a battle between two ships, as a reader you are right in the thick of the action. You can hear the roar of men and cannons, and smell the blood and sulfur. This is, by far, the novel’s greatest strength. The author has created a world of honor and seamen, and submerged you within it, right from the very first page.

Curiously, one of the other novel’s strengths has left me divided emotionally. She incorporates multiple POVs throughout her storytelling – one chapter will be from Josh’s perspective, one from Peter’s, another from Summersgill, the Englishman riding aboard the Nimrod. On one hand, this helps to both make the world even more vivid and to flesh out what might otherwise be flat, background characters. On the other, it ended up giving me distance from the two male protagonists so that I couldn't better get involved with their romance. Of the first 10 chapters, only 3 are actually in the perspective of either Josh or Peter. In fact, we get 3 chapters alone in each of Summersgill’s head and his daughter Emily’s. While it engages me with the overall action and thrust of the story, it keeps me from really understanding either Josh or Peter, or gaining more than a passing sympathy for them. My feelings for Emily and her father are as strong, if not stronger, by that point, and that, inevitably, holds me back from investing more in the romance.

I have to admit, the other thing that held me back was Josh’s over-effusiveness when he first sees Peter in the first chapter. He has decided, by the end of the chapter, that he’s in love with the man, though he’s barely said a word to him. It’s difficult for me to take love at first sight seriously anyway, but this is hindered by the lack of insight into Josh’s thoughts (we don’t get his perspective again until chapter 7).

Overall, though, the book is a solid read. Though the romance in and of itself didn’t resonate emotionally for me as well as it probably could have, there was enough meat in the rest of the arc to keep me entertained, and to care about everyone, not just the two heroes.

Readability	9/10 – Dense, evocative prose.
Hero #1	6/10 – Proud and honorable, but a little too self-righteous for my tastes
Hero #2	6/10 – Competent and likeable though his highly emotional inner thoughts when we finally got them felt over the top for me
Entertainment value	7/10 – A solid read, I only wish I could have engaged with the romance more.
World building	10/10 – Superlative detail that makes you smell the salt.
TOTAL:	38/50

The Edge by J.J. Massa

TITLE: The Edge
AUTHOR: J.J. Massa
PUBLISHER: Linden Bay Romance
LENGTH: Novella (roughly 33k)
GENRE: Gay erotic romance
COST: $5.99

Tyler Baker has been transferred. Strike that. He’s been shipped off as part of a bribe, from all his troubles in San Jose to Philadelphia where supposedly he gets a clean slate from the suspicious murder of his partner/lover 14 months earlier. His new partner, Paytah, is Mr. By the Book, but when they get thrown into the middle of what’s been discounted as suicides, Paytah learns that there’s more to Tyler than just his pretty face. The connection and respect grows between the two men as they try and find the redheaded woman they think is a murderer, until their passion explodes. Only problem is, so does their case.

J.J. Massa is one of those authors whose name I’ve seen online here and there, but have never bought from before. Considering the rash of not so great gay romances I’ve seen around lately, when I found one that sounded like it had a real plot, I decided to take a risk. For once, my risk-taking didn’t screw me over.

The prologue on this story is a marvel. It’s short, but its brevity gives it even more of an emotional punch. In it, the reader is thrust in shallow waters on a beach, with Tyler talking to Daryl. Except Daryl’s dead, and Tyler is almost so, and what could have been melodramatic turned into a gutwrenching wallop that completely sucked me into the story. For the most part, the rest of the story held me there, even if it never quite reached the magic of those first few pages.

Paytah is a gorgeous alpha male - Native American (yum!), tall and broad, intelligent and forceful - but my primary complaint about the book is that I never really bought the romance between him and his new, openly gay partner. It’s one of those stories where one of the heroes never, ever considers a male partner…until the perfect one comes along, courtesy of the author. Those kind of stories only work for me when the author takes the time to show why he’s willing to switch hit all of a sudden, to build the UST and make the coming together inevitable. That didn’t necessarily happen here, though I think the fact that this is only 33k – with a pretty hefty cop story running alongside the romance – held it back. There are hints of some really good UST, but the sex when it happens wasn’t nearly as mind-blowing for me the reader as Tyler claimed it was for him the following morning.

The advantage this story has to others where I don’t completely buy the romance – gay or straight – is that there’s a solid enough B-story to keep me engaged. These two men act like cops, spend time acting like cops, and do enough things other than staring at each other googly eyed to entertain me as a reader so that the romance isn’t nearly as crucial to me as it could be. That’s a lot more than most romance writers do these days.

Readability	8/10 – Realistic dialogue and reliable pacing keeps this an even flow.
Hero #1	8/10 – I felt for poor Tyler, even if I didn’t completely believe the romance
Hero #2	7/10 – Not as sharply drawn as his counterpart, and his sudden jump from hetero to gay didn’t ring true
Entertainment value	7/10 – A solid enough read with a good balance between the romance and the cop world
World building	8/10 – Nice to see a world where it feels like a world I could actually live in, with a good balance of varying personalities
TOTAL:	38/50