Category: Contemporary fiction

Review of The Gift of Air by L.T. Ville

Rating: 4.25 stars

Paul Sinclair met Mark Conwell in the science lab in high school.  It  was Paul’s first day in a new school.  At lunch time,Paul seeks out his new acquaintance again only to have Mark calmly announce that he’s gay and that Paul might not want to sit there. Paul just grins,throws a french fry into his mouth and asks if he plays any instruments. And so begins a remarkable friendship that continues into their senior year in high school, the two of them inseparable inside school and out, they even make plans to attend the same college. Then Mark starts having pains in his side their senior year.  While he tells Paul about them, he doesn’t go to the doctor until he collapses on the driveway during a pickup basketball game.

The prognosis? Advanced cancer.  Shattered, Paul helps Mark deal with his terminal illness and finally admits to them both what he has known all along.  He loves Mark and has for several years.  It turns out that Mark feels the same way, but was afraid to say so.  Neither boy was willing to risk losing their friendship before now.  Mark’s condition deteriorates until he falls into a coma.  Grief stricken, Paul puts his life on hold to visit with Mark each day, unable to deal with his impending death.  Ronnie is a volunteer at the hospital who reads to the terminally ill.  When Ronnie goes to read to Mark, he sees himself in Paul’s pain and immobility to move forward.  Can both men find the strength to deal with their  grief and loss?  Or will the death of their loved ones freeze them forever in the past?

The Gift of Air is a wonderful story of firsts.  The first love, the acceptance of one’s sexuality and coming out, and the first loss of a major love. L. T. Ville eases us into the beginnings of Paul and Mark’s relationship with the deftness of someone familiar with teenage boys and the high school social obstacles they have to navigate.  I was immediately drawn to Mark’s vulnerability and courage in outing himself to Paul at lunch time.  He acknowledges that he is both gay and social outcast to give Paul an “out” of their conversation and potential friendship.  Then the scene turns heartbreaking as Paul realizes that Mark has changed shirts since he last saw him in lab that morning. Mark stoically tells Paul he had a run in with some jocks “who didn’t like him too much”.  Nothing more is said, letting the change in shirt speak for itself about the encounter.  Paul nods, says he thinks Mark is pretty cool, and changes the subject.  Perfect and so typical of that age.

Paul is a wonderful character so easy to empathize with and relate t0.  His family life is nice but not perfect.  The last child in a large  smart and athletic family, he is just a little off of his family’s norm, the different drummer as it were.  In so many ways he is a typical teenage boy who becomes remarkable upon meeting Mark, his best friend and first love.  I love watching the dynamics of their relationship change when Mark’s illness is diagnosed and they admit their love for each other.  At times the pain makes them so mature and at other times in laughter and tears they are so very young.  I think the author strikes the perfect balance here.

The final main character is Ronnie, a young man whose partner and love had died three  years earlier.  Ronnie has not moved on, continuing to volunteer at the hospital where his lover died as a way to stay close to him.  When Ronnie sees Paul becoming as immobilized emotionally as he is, he decides to help Paul accept Mark’s death and go forward as Mark would have wanted him to. Both men start a fragile friendship over shared loss and have difficulty accepting that it might become more.  Again, L.T. Ville realistically handles the new relationship between Paul and Ronnie, acknowledging the guilt each feels over moving on and the pressures that come from their families view of their new relationship. All families have their flaws as well as their strengths and both are represented here in The Gift of Air.

I know there are some that will criticize the author saying this story glosses over the horror and pain that comes with terminal illness, such as a quick mention that Mark has lost all his hair and is wheelchair bound at graduation without going into detail. But that is not the focus of this story in my opinion.  It is how you deal with impending loss of such a magnitude, no matter your age, that is the subject here. Loss, grief and acceptance. As you might expect from a book with those themes, there are quite a few tears to be shed when reading this story.  Don’t let the threat of those tears make you stay away from this book. For with the tears, also comes the joy of remembrance and the happiness you can find in someone new.Paul says at the beginning that Mark “taught him how to love without fear”.   Goren Persson said “Do not be afraid that joy will make the pain worse; it is needed like the air we breathe.”  With this wonderful gentle story L.T. Ville has given both Paul and the reader The Gift of Air.

Cover:  Simple, perhaps too much so.  It doesn’t pull one in and induce any curiosity about the story within.  Could have been so much better.

Available from Amazon as a free read, and Lustyville Press.

Review of Grade-A-Sex Deal (College Fun and Gays, #2) by Erica Pike

Grade-A-Sex Deal (College Fun and Gays #2)

Rating: 5 stars

Daniel Corrigan hates his life.  He used to have it all.  Affluent lifestyle complete with great paying job, loving wife, two children, great house and even a dog.  Now all gone because he simply couldn’t live a lie any longer.  With two little words “I’m gay”,  he’s lost everything and everyone in his life, with the exception of his brother, a college principal.

Now depressed, penniless and living in a college dorm room, Daniel makes a living teaching macroeconomics at his brother’s university. The only bright spot in his life is Troy Anderson, a sexy student in his class.  The deal they made, exchanging sexual favors for a favorable A in his class, is about to come to an end along with the semester and Daniel is not sure he can handle the loss. What will happen when the Grade-A-Sex deal comes to an end?

I love surprises and this short story is all that and a cupcake with dark chocolate sprinkles on top. From the title, I would never guess at the angst, bitterness, and despair that is emerges from the tale of Daniel’s life after he comes out.   I am always amazed at the courage it takes for someone to come out of the closet, whether they are a teenager or a middle aged adult.  While you hope with all your heart for acceptance and love, the stories you most often hear of those of loss, contempt, and pain.  Daniel is no different.  His expectations of his family’s reaction might have been naive but the actuality of their disgust and rejection was crushing. Erica Pike got this so right, I often had tears in my eyes as I read the story (and this is a short story mind you).

Daniel’s room is littered with the debris of his life, left over food containers, clothes he can’t be bothered washing, all symptoms of a deeply depressed man just going through the motions.  Every detail Erica Pike paints for us is meticulous.  There is not a false word or emotion here.  Troy Anderson has surprises of his own in store for us.  Needless to say, my lips are sealed here.  Just know that Troy is no cardboard figure, he too is fully alive and breathing.  It just takes a little longer to get to know him.  The sex is hot, fast, and overlaid with desperation.

When I first read about the sex for grades issue, it bothered me, but as I got further into the story, it became easier to accept. Daniel had only done it a few times and it fit right in with his poor self esteem and “hitting rock bottom.” If one ignores the depression cycle he is on, his behavior is hard to understand. As it is, he is not a likeable human being at the beginning of the story. However, the deal entered into between the teacher and the student here is a way for the older man to have any type of a relationship with this man he has come to love. It is more a ploy of desperation than something he does with others, and he despises himself for it.

I have not read the first College Fun and Gays story. I really don’t feel its necessary in order to read and appreciate the beauty of this little gem.  But you know that I won’t be able to rest until I go back to the beginning of the series.  I will let you all know what I find.  In the meantime, you will just love this!

Cover:  I don’t know if it is just me but any cover color in the red range is hard on my eyes and this is no exception.  There are some wonderful graphics in the background that really clue you into the story but they are lost with the highlighted image of the college.  I also  prefer a stylistically plainer font. IMO, it’s just easier to read. Grade A story, Grade C cover.

Book available from No Boundaries Press, Amazon, and ARe

Review of You Don’t Ask We Don’t Tell, Book 1 Basic Training by BL Morticia

Rating: 2

Cody McCayne and his best friend, Dari, have taken their relationship past friendship and into being sexual partners, a situation that confounds Cody.  Cody refuses to believe he is gay, no matter his feelings toward Dari.  His family, especially his father say its a sin, an abomination towards God and church.  And Cody believes it makes him less than a man.  After some thought, Cody decides that the Army is the way to go.  Although he doesn’t like the Army, he believes it will make a man of him as well as curing him of his deviant ways.

Army Recruiter Sgt. Justin Belvidere sees in Cody a younger version of himself, and takes the young man under his wing and into a special platoon made up of solely gay and lesbian soldiers.  Their goal?  To teach Cody to accept himself, and that being gay does not make him less a man.  Will Cody “man up” and accept their help or will he stay mired in his family’s mindset?

As I read further into this story, I started hoping that it would turn out to be high camp, a witty take on the Army and DADT.  Why?  Because that might explain the hilariously bad dialog, cardboard characters, and a total lack of understanding of anything Army related including military procedures, rules, regulations, and recruiting guidelines.

Let’s start off with the dialog.  The author has the characters speak in terms of “lil”, “bout”,”gon”, “gits”, and “dems” with an obnoxious sprinkling of “coloreds” and “faggots” that is supposed to be a dialect from the South.  Cody and friends here make Lil Abner Yokum and the citizens of Dogpatch USA the very height of eloquence in their use of language.  There are several writers, BA Tortuga comes to mind, who can take colloquialisms and make them work seamlessly within a narrative.  BL Morticia is not one of them.  Here is one less painful example:

“Listen, you need to git yourself a girl, man. Even if it’s one of dem colored gals.”

Then of course, there is the remarkable scene where Sgt. Belvidere tells Cody in the Army Recruiter office “I’m gonna travel down wit’cha, Cody. Deliver you personally with a few other boys that need the guidance just like you, ya’ hear? We gon get a chance to talk on the way down and I need ya’ to tell me the real reason why you’re joinin’, boy. “Cody, yous a good kid. The ASVAB may look dauntin’ but you’ll make it, right? I like you a lot, boy! I see the potential. It’s down there.” He poked Cody’s stomach.”

No, no, no.  Absolutely not.  Nothing of the Army’s Core Values or Personal Ethics, or Standards are referenced here obviously. Irrespective of how you might feel about the Army, it is easy to recognize the absurdity of the scene.   Then it goes from bad right into WTF territory as Cody is taken into Company 9669, whose “purpose wasn’t only to teach the men to accept themselves as gay but also defend other homosexual privates and officers when they were taunted or bashed.”  Including sexually attacking straight “homophobic” soldiers in the barracks. *head desk* That is when they aren’t having sex with each other all over the base, no matter the rank of the soldiers involved.  Obviously fraternization is not an issue here!

Anyway, I will save you further pain and just say Company 9669 teaches Cody about gay sex and being a “man”, he reunites with Dari, and they live happily ever after with the denizens of the gay Company.  It was all I could do to wade through to the finish.  Reading this book has cost me a bottle of Excedrin but if I have saved you from buying this book, it was worth the headache.

Cover:  Artist Carl J. Franklin. Not bad considering the drivel inside.

Available from Rebel Ink Press, LLC.

Review of Fall Into The Sun by Val Kovalin

Reviewed for JoyfullyJay blog on 4/10/12:

Rating: 4.75

Bobby Gallegos and Alejo Sandoval met when they were 6.  It was 1972 at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church.  Alejo was being picked on by three boys who had stolen his marble.  Bobby came to his rescue and into his life.  From that time forward, they were inseparable even though their families were so different.  Bobby came from a rough family of four boys whose dad was in prison. His older brothers were petty criminals following in their fathers footsteps who only saw the youngest boy as a punching bag.  Alejandro’s family were strict, ran a family restaurant and was devoutly Catholic.  But none of that mattered as the years passed and their connection deepened into love.

The summer of 1982 changed all that with a series of devastating events that would separate the boys for 22 years.  Over time, Alejo got married, and had a family and ran the family restaurant, his bisexual tendencies buried deeply in the closet.  Bobby  moved away, went to law school in Houston, Texas where he was now a gay successful criminal lawyer. Only once did they try to reconnect but bad timing and distance interfered.

Now they are both 40, their lives at an impasse. Alejo is divorced and Bobby has returned to Albuquerque to persuade Alejo to make a change so they can finally get their happily ever after they have been denied for so long.  Bobby has seven days.  Will it be enough time?

Let me say right from the start that I love stories about first loves getting their second chance at happiness so this pushed all the right buttons.  Val Kovalin also did such a wonderful job with her characters that identifying with them was easy.  There is never any doubt as to who these men are and how their pasts molded them.  Both men have real depth and layers to their characters, including their flaws which help drive them apart.

Bobby was the easiest of the two to empathize with.  His obstacles to overcome are so clearly black and white, starting with an abusive family that he managed to escape from while staying true to who he is.  Alejo had it much tougher in a way.  His parents love, expectations and strict adherence to the Catholic church buried Alejandro’s own career choices and sexuality under a blanket of guilt and parental love.  Now at 40 and getting ready to attend his ex-wife’s marriage, his children, especially his wayward son, keep him from reaching out to Bobby and a new future.  The reader’s frustrations with Alejo’s indecision and inability to parent his son mount with Bobby’s .  Yet, so skillfully is Alejo drawn that his rational is clear and in keeping with his history.  Both the reader and his lover understand his actions even if you don’t like them.  It’s your flaws that make you vulnerable and oh so human. So you are never ready to give up on Alejo and neither is Bobby.  I thought their entire relationship realistic as it grows and adjusts from ages 6 to 40.

I really enjoyed this book and notice that it is called Fall Into The Sun Bobby and Alejo #1.  I am hoping that means we will be seeing more of these two and their hard won future together.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

Cover:  I loved this cover.  The models were perfect for Bobby and Alejo.  Just wonderful from the expressions in their eyes and that they seem more in keeping with the age of the characters.  Great job.

Available at Amazon and ARe.

Review of Under The Gun by Michael Mandrake

Rating: 4 stars

P.I. Camdyn Hardy is having a bad day, bad week, bad everything.  His business partner and lover has walked away from their business and their relationship.  And the worst part?  Tay left him for a woman.  It’s not as if he didn’t know that Tay had taken a walk on the hetero side before, but damn, to leave everything they had build up together?  So cold, so final, so on the downlow.  Now Camdyn is looking for a partner to fill up all the empty spaces, both in the office and in his heart.

Malik Day had been doing a good job of hiding his sexual identity from the Army right up until the time he caught some fellow soldiers beating up on a private from his platoon.  Why the attack?  The private had been caught beating off to a Playgirl.  So he intervened and was consequently ushered out of the Army, courtesy of DADT.  So he came home to parents not thrilled that he’s been discharged from the Army and determined that between the Church and a godly girl, Malik can be saved from his sinful lifestyle.  And he needs a job.

A chance encounter at the shooting range gives both men a possibility for a future together as partners in all ways if only they take a risk and reach out to each other.

This is short story from Michael Mandrake exudes testosterone, sweat, and the smell of two men at their prime physical condition.  The dialog smacks of men from a certain station in life, middle class, assured of who they are, confident in their sexuality and their abilities. And both men have a love of guns that adds kink to the sexual play they enjoy.

Both men are very likable and the author has done a good job of giving them dimension within the confines of such a short story.  The sex is hot, especially if you like it a little kinky, and by that I mean gun fetish.   I liked that it clearly lust at first sight and then a case of personalities/sexual needs meshing, not a love at first sight which would be out of character for Camdyn and Malik.  Very nice job on all accounts.

Cover: Cover art by Dakota Trace.  Very sexy cover,  from the models to the gun, all perfect for the story within.

Available from No Boundaries Press

Review of The Groom’s Cake by Jacqueline Vick

Rating: 4.5 stars

A catastrophe has fallen among the citizens of  Crabapple Grove.  Their legendary baker, Imogene Spunkwuzzle needs a new oven and until she gets one,  she has stopped baking.  The townspeople are aghast at the thought of no pies, cakes, tarts, petit fours, spritzes, blintzes or most importantly groom’s cakes.  And no one is more devastated than Charlie Whatnot.  Close on the eve of his marriage to the lovely Penelope Rose, the very notion that he would be lacking in the Groom’s Cake department leaves him “shaking his fist at the cruel whims of Fate” and determined to cancel the wedding.

Enter Walter Fenderbottom, Charlie’s friend and fellow devotee of all Spunkwuzzle baked goods.  Together with local writer and friend, Timothy “Tip” Pinchlet, a plan is devised to raise the necessary funds for the stove, get Imogene Spunkwuzzle back elbow deep in flour, and save Charlie’s wedding to Penelope.  But as said plan was concocted over many glasses of things alcoholic in nature,  what could possibly go wrong?

The Groom’s Cake is a lovely throw back to the gentle British drawing room comedies I am so fond of.  They usually employed witty banter, a leisurely pace,  and a fondness for silly names among the gentility or upperclass.  While The Groom’s Cake may knock it’s citizens down a social notch or two, all the other wonderful characteristics remain intact. There is hale hearty fellows, stout women of unshakeable reputation, and gimlet-eyed yet comely young ladies, waggish dialog and lively contretemps.  What’s not to love?

Nary a harsh word passes the lips of these Crabapple Grove dwellers, even while under the influence of a bottle of gin.  Whether it is Walter’s ever ebullient spirit or Charlie’s good natured determination to get Imogene that stove, their banter is that of best friends going forward, arm in arm. It is a joy to eavesdrop on their conversations, watch as their fool-hearted plans go awry, and generally stumble their way to a solution.

Jacqueline Vick and The Groom’s Cake are a delight.

The book is available here at Wicked Ink Press.

I am so happy I won this book in a contest at  Keith Publications’ Blog.

Cover:  The cover by Delilah K. Stephans is simple yet in keeping with the story.