Great Saturday, Marvelous Sunday, Fall is Here! The Week Ahead in Reviews

I had a great day yesterday. Friends came over, a fellow blogger, and an author, both wonderful. We had a time of it, discussing books, movies, Spartacus, you name it while drinking wine, gobbling up bread, cheese and crackers while the sun shown down! Does it get any better than that? I don’t think so. Kirby loves visitors and was so excited to see them both, going from one to the other before roaming around looking for squirrels and bugs and things. Winston and Willow are just happy to sit in the chair with me and chill. And today? Just beautiful, cool, sunny, the perfect football weather as they say. Daughter and SIL off to the Redskins game and RGIII’s first home game. I know, I know. I swore off the Redskins but habits are hard to break! So consider this a work in progress.

Three more bushes to go into the garden, Firelight Spirea. The foliage changes color three times during the year. In the spring, the leaves are a orange green changing to greenish yellow in the summer and then turning a lovely deep red in the fall, all that and beautiful pink blossoms that beacon to bees and butterflies for weeks while they are in bloom. Sigh! I love gardening and the discovery of new plants. The windows are open, letting in the cool breezes to refresh the house air. A ruby throated hummer just buzzed the window letting me know the feeders still need filling as there are still migrants making their way south and they shouldn’t be forgotten.

I am just finishing up the first in the Wolf’s Own series by Carole Cummings and loving it. Look for the review at the end of the week. I am starting the week off with a bang and a great book by Amy Lane. Don’t miss out on this one. As always so many books, so little time, but I am working on it. Just a reminder, the first week in October is JL Langley week and I will be giving away a copy of My Regelence Rake to a lucky person who comments on the week which will include a interview with JL and recaps of all the SciFi Regency books to date. So let’s get to it:

Monday: Sidecar by Amy Lane

Tuesday: Magic’s Muse by Anne Barwell

Wednesday: Gilbert by Bailey Bradford

Thursday: Wolf’s Own: Ghost by Carole Cummings

Friday: Inferno by Scarlett Blackwell

Saturday: Second Hand by Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton

Have a wonderful week. Get out and enjoy this weather! Happy Fall All!

Saturday Brings a Change in Plans and a mini rant on book endings

So here it is Saturday and the week has gotten away from me. Between lunch at the farm, and several trips to Sun Nursery (one of my favorite addictions), the reading and writing didn’t get their allotted time of my day. OK, I will also have to blame it on this fabulous fall weather we are having here in Maryland. Cool, crisp with sunny blue skies overhead, I just couldn’t stand being inside, the gardens, pond, the farm, they all called to me. And I listened. And went outside. All day long.

The dogs loved it, the birds loved the new feeders that went up and the stones got here for the new deeper winter pond for the fish, all four of them. I wonder how the Great Blue Heron will feel about having to work for its dinner instead of just idly and with no effect at all, grabbing out my fish one after the other. But I learned and now they have places to hide from the predators that visit with the goal of takeout. Really, can goldfish and koi taste that much better than the creek chubs in the stream down the road?

The one book I did finish so frustrated me that I almost pitched the Kindle right out the window. But why blame the messenger when the author is at hand? Never in my life have I read such a beautifully crafted story that the author completely demolished in the last 10 pages. That occupied my thoughts for quite a while. How does that happen?

Does someone read this story of a man self destructing over a sexual compulsion and say to the author “oh, that will never sell unless you have a HEA?” And the author listens? Or does the author fall so much in love with her characters that a HEA becomes the overriding factor that negates everything that goes before, the characterizations as well as the legitimacy of the plot? As you can tell, this is still bothering me big time. I just don’t understand someone treating something so well written in such a cavalier way. It’s as though someone took The Maltese Falcon and attached a My Little Pony ending onto it. *shudders* If anyone out there can shed some light onto this for me, do so. Are these behind the scene shenanigans something that happens at the publisher or the editors? How on earth does this happen? Inquiring minds want to know. And then blog about it.

So two friends are coming over for lunch, one a fellow blogger, the other an author. I will pose the questions to them as well. I feel a mini rant coming on. The review for this book is coming up in the next couple of weeks. I am sure you will know which one it is. I must get going so I will leave you with a repost from one of my favorite blogs, The Blood Red Pencil. If you don’t know about it, you should. They blog on writing from every aspect and its wonderful as well as informative. It’s separate from this post so don’t miss it.

Carole Cumming’s Ghost will be reviewed next week. This is the first in a series and I am enjoying the complexity of her world building and characters. I hope it ends in the same fashion in which it started. I mean really, are there ghost writers out there, lurking about, just waiting to pounce on unfinished novels and trash the endings? That is one explanation. Tell me what others you can think of. I am going back outside. It is safer there.

Review of Making Contact Anthology

Rating: 4.25 – 4.5 stars

Space, the final frontier, as a certain well known Federation Captain would say on his 5-year mission into space, has always consumed our thoughts and dreams. We have always wanted to know what is out there, its vastness and mystery ever present. All we need to do is look up to be faced with the unknown. How will we get there and what or whom will we meet once we do are questions innumerable authors have tried to answer in poems, movies, stories and graphic novels. Making Contact is a new science fiction anthology from Dreamspinner Press that examines some of those questions along with what type of love will be found among the stars?

Making Contact gives us ten stories by eight authors. The stories range from aliens attempting to “fit it=n” among the human inhabitants when they arrive on Earth, humans trying to live in isolation on a lonely outpost, intergalactic conflicts among the races, an alien drunk tank and pirates in space. There is humor, mystery, heartbreak, and a swashbuckling yarn of space pirates and derring do.

I found this to be a really strong anthology and the variety of stories and themes keep me glued to the Kindle one after another. Don’t expect cohesion other than the fact that they fall under the science fiction m/m banner. Just a look at the authors represented should tell you that their visions of space are as unique as they are. Their narratives explore space from so many different perspectives. The first story, Better Than Cola by JL Merrow is the only one to feature an alien so far removed from the humanoid mold that the author had to come up with an equally alien method of sexual exchange. I loved this story as it left me with more questions running around my head than was answered. Some of the aliens are recognizable in form that the authors have put their own twist to, aliens with fur, aliens with different skins tones and facial markings, and even a new take on vampires in space that will break your heart as it did mine.

Normally when I review anthologies, I only mention the stories I loved. In Making Contact, that includes them all in varying degrees. Here they are in the order they appear in the book.

Better Than Cola By JL Merrow

Newly arrived on Earth to work in the Melliti embassy, Summer Storms meets Nathan Chambers, who is tasked with teaching the alien visitor how to deal with human social interaction. The thrill of casual touch exposes an immediate attraction between them, but how far can intimacy go between two totally different life forms?

JL Merrow has done a fantastic job of giving us an alien so far removed from us but still one whose thoughts and emotions can stir attraction in another. Summer Storms is a plurality of beings contained inside a “human shaped envelope”. They have to adjust themselves to casual human touch and the way in which their “envelope” reacts to the human sent to help them deal with interspecies interaction. This story has so much charm while still being sexy and alien. Merrow left me wanting to know more about their physiology and culture while giving me a satisfactory glimpse into the unknown.

Revolving Realities By Cari Z.

Dr. Eliot Hollister is desperate to locate the Ulysses and her crew before tragedy strikes… again. The lone survivor of a hostile attack compounded by human error, Eliot is using an alien artifact to search through alternate realities, trying to change the outcome in a parallel dimension. Eliot’s challenge once he finds the ship? Convince Captain Paul Alvarez he’s for real before the Ulysses falls prey to the same trap.

Cari Z brings alternate universes into play with her story of a lone survivor grabbing as a last chance to save his lover from death, even if it is not his actual lover, but the man he is in another universe. Wonderful characterizations play off against time as Eliot tries to stop the scenario from playing out again in the new universe but runs up against the same scientist hell bent on exploring the world beneath them. His frustrations become ours because we know what will happen if he can’t stop the mission. My only quibble is that it ended too soon.

The Sacrifice By Sue Brown

After twelve years, the leaders of the Free Worlds have finally found a man willing to sacrifice his life to the gods of Segelian to ensure an alliance with the mineral-rich planet. But when Stane raises the dagger to perform the rite, he looks into the human Steven’s eyes and is horrified to discover he is destined to kill his life partner. If Stane doesn’t complete the ritual, it will destroy any chance for a treaty… and it might also change the world of Segelian forever.

Sue Brown uses two worlds, one homophobic (human), one a male/male warrior culture and the extended war between them that will end with a human sacrifice. She does a nice job of world building including a world divided by religious caste and the warrior caste and makes us believe it. I loved Stane and Steven however implausible the final intervention.

Alone By Andrea Speed

Scientist Logan Murakami doesn’t have much to keep him company during his lonely vigil at Outpost Proserpina. But he knew that going in, and it’s the perfect place to focus solely on his work: a neuro-optical interface that would be the perfect engine for artificial intelligence… an intelligence that Logan hopes is taking on a life of its own.

What I loved most about this story is that it plays out internally in the mind of Logan Murakami. Solitude and remoteness are definitely two of the factors to be considered when talking about space travel. How to achieve it, do we need a base of operations to extend our exploration? And what type of person will be able to handle those conditions? All compelling questions that need viable answers and Speed attempts to provide some of them in the person of Logan Murakami. Raised in isolation in Alaska and solitary by nature, he unexpectedly ends up alone at the outpost and uses this time to perfect his neuro-optical interface with the goal of having it attain intelligence. What happens exceeds his expectations and gives him something so much more. Just outstanding.

Losing Sight of the Shore By Emily Moreton

Secondary communications officer Jay is assigned to a boarding crew when the Hydra discovers a seemingly abandoned, powerless ship floating in space. While exploring the derelict ship, Jay finds a barely conscious man with purple skin and silver eyes. After surviving a raider attack, Felix is understandably afraid to let Jay go—even when cultural differences threaten to stop any contact between them.

Moreton gives us romance in space that emerges from survivors of an attack upon their ship. I liked the romance even if I wanted a little more of the alien culture and history of the purple skinned people living in ships among the stars. I got some lovely bits of characterization from Jay and the other members of the crew, I just wish I felt I got the same result from the aliens. A really sweet story that could have been fleshed out a little more to make it absolutely terrific.

Gifted in Tongues By JL Merrow

After inadvertently outraging local sensibilities, space pilot Torvald “Spitz” Spitzbergen faces a five-year stretch in a Lacertilian jail. His only consolation is trading insults with his cellmate, Tao, a six-foot libidinous Felid. But Tao seems to have a distinctly fuzzy understanding of the difference between fighting and foreplay…

Merrow gives us an alien drunk tank! How could you not love this? Spitz seems like the very type to get his drunk on, outrage the locals, and be very surprised to find himself with the remains of a hangover, two very different cell mates and the worst morning after he has had in a while. I chuckled throughout this story, Merrow’s descriptions painting the scene so perfectly that I had no problems picturing it all as it happens. Cracked me up, made me blush, and left me wanting more. Now if only I can talk the author into bringing Spitz and Tao back for further adventures. Pretty please?

Analytic Geometry By Andi Deacon

Kevin Ikoro has an incredible opportunity: his boss at Helix Multicorp wants an analyst’s view of how the corporation’s Exploration division works, and Kevin is now a member of explorer team Alpha 3IG. His teammates, a set of brilliant twins named Cameron and Theo Banark, are fascinating, and Kevin finds himself harboring a serious case of lust for Cameron. But exploration is unpredictable, and his teammates may not be what they seem. The shortest distance between two bodies isn’t always a straight line.

Another neat story full of twists that added dimension and depth to this little space gem. I don’t want to go into this except that I loved the characters where the attraction of the mind trumps attraction of the body. Sexy, humorous and with a little bit of mystery thrown in. Again the characters that Deacon creates here are so terrific, so unique that as the end I wanted so much more. The surprise alone is worth the story but it is the family that is forming that captures my interest, imagination and heart. Just a great job.

The Monsters Below By Lyn Gala

Brai’s never dreamed of fighting the monstrous sub-humans who infest Kestia, but when his lover joins the service, Brai does what he always does… he follows. Then Rick is lost on his first mission, and Brai is left alone in a murderous rage. Now on his own first mission gone terribly wrong, Brai has his chance to get back at the monsters for killing Rick—only the government hasn’t been honest about the nature of the enemy, and Brai might find that the caves hide a secret that could change his life.

I was not prepared for the heartbreak that is this story. Lyn Gala gives us an intense, knuckle biter of an update of vampires in space and makes it hurt even as the characters bleed out and die. Again for me to go into detail would ruin it but Gala’s characters are beautifully realized and the situation they find themselves in so dire that our hearts and minds are caught up in their plight immediately. This story kept me up and thinking into the wee hours of the morning.

Feral By K.R. Foster

Desperate to end a war, the king of the Lunar Pryde agrees to submit one of his offspring to mate with a member of the Sol Pryde royal line. Cynfael, prince of the Lunar Pryde, fled the planet six months ago searching for freedom, and nothing could convince him to return… except his father’s threat to marry off Cynfael’s twelve-year-old sister Adara. After fighting for freedom his entire life, Cynfael must return to Starion to face his unknown mate and an equally unknown future.

What is it about felids or specifically felids that walk upright with many of the same emotions and thoughts of humans that captures our imagination so? I kept running across so many of them from author after author and genre after genre. Still, I end of loving them all. Feral is Foster’s newest addition to felids in space. Cynfael is another prince being forced to wed the son of warring royal line and bring peace to the planet they inhabit. There are so many nice touches here from Cynfael’s ability to communicate with the planet to a comb made of filed down teeth that I wanted an extended version to fill in the gaps left by the story. We are left in the dark about the loss of Cynfael’s mother, the war ongoing, the purity of his genes (does it relate to his color?) and so much more. A little more volume was needed to add layers to an intriguing tale.

Ganymede’s Honor By Cornelia Grey

Colonel Ardeth Connor has been rescued from death, but he’s not sure his new life is any better: he’s effectively trapped aboard a rebel ship that defies the Federation to collect ice meteors, stealing life-sustaining water for the poorest of planets and asteroids. As an anonymous part of Captain Gabriel’s crew, Ardeth is biding his time until he can escape… and learning there’s more to space than just the Federation.

This story reminded me so much of an interview I just saw with an astrophysicist. She was talking about space travel, space ships and the Tardis. Ok, yes, I am a geek. I make no bones about it. She was talking about the fact that our modes of transportation in space didn’t need to be those sleek versions that populate the page and movie screen, that we could travel about in something as funky as a phone booth or a Rubic’s Cube. On in this case, a space galleon similar to those that rode the waves way back when. I loved this story. It left me smiling for hours just picturing the Ganymede under her solar sails in search of meteorites to capture. Cornelia Grey’s story gives us pirates in space or should that be rebels in space and turns it into a swashbuckling story of love, sexy rebel captains who shouts to his crew ‘Unwind those cables, bunch of useless yobs!” as they prepare to harpoon a ice meteoroid out of a swarm, and his crew man the sails and chains as the ship rockets under them. What a scene, what a crew! It got the blood boiling, the eyes wild, the heart pounding…..oh how I wanted to be on the ship with them and maybe snuggled up against Ardeth and Gabriel, just saying. I do have a thing for his tats.

And just the idea of a galleon sailing through space, the stars all around her…that’s magic right there. Grey’s story hit a lot of my buttons and left me cheering the crew on to great glory and many more stories. I feel much the same about every author here with their diverse take on space and making contact. I loved their stories, I wanted more of their aliens and human interaction. I hope this spawns even more novels featuring the being that made me laugh, made me cry and made me exult that space means no boundaries of any sort. No boundaries to the imagination and no boundaries as to who we can love and be loved by in return. More please. Much, much more. Engage.

Cover art by Analise Dubner, cover design by Mara McKennen. Love the cover, great colors and a catchy design.

Review of Life as a Fairy Thrall by Katey Hawthorne

Rating: 4.25 stars

Tammas and Aeron have just gotten over one shock to their relationship when two more happen right in a row. Emry is successful in his work on their bond and Kamala appears on their doorstep with a problem and her nephew, Firez, in tow. Firez is an old schoolmate of Tammas’ and his sister has been kidnapped by a fae. He has come to ask for their help in rescuing her, knowing it will take all the magic and the assistance of one of the fae to get her back. Firez is not totally welcome in their home. He is a part of those who hurt and bullied Tammas in school. Aeron demands payment for their help and Firez must enter into a Fairy compact if he wants their help.

Kidnapping humans to keep as thralls is illegal. Only those humans who go willingly may become thrall but kidnapping the unwary is occuring in the Fairy Court. But Tammas and Aeron know that if they can get her back, the chances of the fairies coming after her again are nil. So with the help of Aeron’s sister, Awela, Kamala, Tammas, Aeron, Awela, and Firez head out to the portal into the Fairy Realm. The plan is for Kamala to watch the portal until they are safely back while Aeron and Awela travel to the Court with Tammas and Firez disguised as their human thralls.

Once at Court, their plans become even more complicated, as the Lady holding the girl wants more humans to take her place. With danger all around them and the eyes of the Fae upon them, Tammas and Firez must act the part of human thralls right down to the collars they wear. The girl is there but unaware of who they are. All must tread delicately or the ones to pay the price will be Tammas and Firez with the cost of their freedom.

Life as a Fairy Thrall is the second story in the Fairy Compact trilogy by Katey Hawthorne. The first story, The Dangers of a Fairy Compact relates the first meeting of Tam and Aeron, although they have been connected by a fairy compact all Tam’s life. Without giving too much away of the plot of that story, it goes without saying that Fairy compacts always come with a price to be paid, ones that will resonate through the years and even alternate worlds. The trilogy is the story of Tammas and Aeron’s entwined lives and the relationship that comes out of a compact neither made of their own volition. These are not your Disneyfied fairies but the fae of old Gaelic myths and lore. Capable of great cruelty as as great good, their moods interchangeable and indeterminable. They cannot be held to human standards something humans often forget. Katey Hawthorne gives us the Fae made real, from their diaphanous wings and unworldly beauty to the power and magic that swirls around them like an aromatic.

It is through the author’s vivid descriptions and wonderful characterizations that Tammas’ world comes across as realistic as the neighborhood I live in. I can see the small cottage with its gardens and trees surrounding it, but more importantly I can feel it as the story is as tactile as moss on a stone. The magic here engages all the senses, it is smelled, and stroked. It is the burbling of a stream and the mist of the woods and that gives these stories a wonderful depth and realism, both needed when the reader needs to believe in the world and characters before her. This tactile nature of these stories carries just as vividly into the sex scenes. Who knew that winged sex could be so hot? Indeed it is so be prepared when entering Hawthorne’s fairy world or her human world either. At the end of the story we are left with Tam and Aeron’s relationship facing yet another hurdle, with another major decision to be made. It will be a hard one, full of angst as well as love. I can’t wait to see how the trilogy finishes up.

I love stories of the Fae and have since I was a child. Tinker-belle never interested me but the Fair Folk of Irish lore fascinated me as much as they had the ability to terrify me. Katey Hawthorne is giving us a wonderful trilogy in this same tradition. Start with the first one. It can be downloaded for free from either Katey Hawthorne’s website, visit http://www.kateyhawthorne.com/p/fairy-compacts.html. Or visit All Romance Publishers and download it free from there. I think you will love the stories as much as I do plus the illustrations by Ruxandra Lache are not to be missed.

The Dangers of a Fairy Compact (Fairy Compact #1)

Life as a Fairy Thrall (Fairy Compact #2)

Autumn Comes to Maryland, Vote 6 for Equality and the Week Ahead in Reviews

Good morning to all and what a spectacular day it is here in Maryland. The sky is that crystalline crisp blue that I only see in Fall, the clouds fluffy white and a huge flock of Canada geese just flew overhead, their cries trumpeting the arrival of Fall. How I love this time of year, my pulse quickens, my step is a tad more brisk (such as it is these days), and I feel like rejuvenated after the sweltering heat of summer. The Monarch butterflies are flitting through the garden on their way to Mexico, and what a journey they have in front of them, over 3, 000 miles of ingrained need to fly to a place they have never been. Amazing when you consider they are fragility on wings.

Autumn is a time of movement, a time of activity, both measured and frantic. Beaver and muskrats are busy with caches of food and antlers, so too are the squirrels and white footed mice. All have plenty to do to make sure the food stores are full for the winter. Bees zoom around the garden, gathering pollen and nectar from the spectacular profusion of gold, white and purple flowers of the season. The New England asters, goldenrod, the Black-eyed Susans, and the Joe Pye weed that linger on. Most people think of Autumn colors as red, yellow and orange, but the fall gardener knows that the harbinger of Fall also carries the colors of white, gold and purple to all the gardens and fields around us.

Fall brings change. Leaves swirl to the ground as the sap returns to their roots in preparation for Winter, seeds are scattered by wind and animal alike, and the animals start their migration to the winter feeding grounds. The songbirds seek the safety of the night for their travels while the raptors, secure as top predators of the air, wing their way south during the daylight hours, soaring above as they follow the coasts and mountains. I watch the squirrels stuffing leaves into the neighbors chimney with all the energy and enthusiasm of teenagers on energy drinks. I have never seen those neighbors use their chimney and hope that for the squirrels sake that this continues. My old bird feeder finally fell apart from the relentless onslaught from the non flighted visitors and a new one should arrive any day, carrying with it the hope of a squirrel proof feeder. Hah, I say from experience. My money is on the squirrels.

I am hoping for another change in Maryland this fall. It is 51 days until the election and I am hoping that this fall brings Marriage Equality for all in the state of Maryland. If you live here, please vote for Question 6 and make it legal for all GLBTQ to marry here. It is long past time for this to happen, equal marriage rights are long overdue. Let’s be a voice for progress and become a partner in movement for equal rights for all. Vote yes for Question 6 and let’s make the promise a reality! I will be there on voting day and hope you will join me.

Finally, October will see several special events on my blog. First up, actually the very first week is Regency Sci-Fi week with JL Langley in preparation for My Regelence Rake release October 1st. I have an interview with JL, recap of the series to date, a discussion about Regency novels, and a contest to give away a copy of My Regelence Rake to someone who comments during the week! Whew! I am also participating in the Howloween Blog Hope at the end of October where I will be giving away a Amazon gift card during the blog hop! So stay tuned, my pretties, we have a great time planned this fall. Change is in the air, I can feel it. Can you?

Here are the books to be reviewed this week:

Monday: Life As A Fairy Thrall by Katey Hawthorne

Tuesday: Making Contact (Sci Fi Anthology)

Wednesday: Nate’s Deputy by Lavinia Lewis

Thursday: Gregory’s Rebellion by Lavinia Lewis

Friday: The Melody Thief by Shira Anthony

Saturday: Wolf’s Own Book One Ghost by Carole Cummings

Review of Unconventional at Best Anthology

Rating: 3.5 stars

Unconventional at Best is an anthology from six authors of stories featuring romance in and around conventions. GayRomLit convention last year provided the inspiration for this selection of stories by Carol Lynne, TA Chase, Amber Kell, Jambrea Jo Jones, Stephani Hecht, and Devon Rhodes. The stories run the gamut of lovers reunited, best friends to lovers, alien love, geek love, confectionary love and love among tops and it all occurs at a convention.

I found this anthology to be a fifty fifty proposition. Out of 6 stories,only three kept me completely entertained, staying with me once I was done with the anthology. The others remained just nice stories, forgotten as soon as I put them down.

Here are the ones that stayed with me. I think they are just wonderful stories.

‘Ninja Cupcakes’ by T.A. Chase

Ethan Gallagher is a baker of very special talents. His cupcakes are not only delicious confections but when certain ingredients are added, downright magical. When Ethan and his business partner agree to supply the desserts for his brother’s sci-fi convention, it presents the perfect opportunity for Ethan’s floury confections to work their particular magic on certain participants, including an astrophysicist Ethan has been corresponding with for four years. With just the right timing and the special ingredients, Ethan bakes cupcakes that insure that love is in the air or desserts. Or perhaps we should say Ethan insures that everyone gets their just desserts!

This is a delicious little story. I have always found that cooking, or in this case baking, and magic were natural combinations. T.A. Chase does a terrific job of doing just that in Ninja Cupcakes. From that great title to Chase’s wonderful characters, I just loved this story and wished to see them all again once I was done. This is fun, frothy and still is grounded in realistic characters that capture your hearts. Ethan and Callum were an especially endearing couple. I wish I had their story, complete with how they first met, and what happening to each of them during their four year correspondence.T.A Chase, this would make a wonderful story. Just saying.

‘Operation: Get Spencer’ by Jambrea Jo Jones:

“Even if superpowers were real, Benjamin still might not get his man.” Good friends Benjamin and Spencer are spending the day at Comic-Con, something Spencer has always wanted to do. Benjamin has a surprise for Spencer to go with their day at Comic-Con. Benjamin intends to tell his friend that he is in love with him and decides the convention is the perfect time to reveal it. The problem? Spencer believes Benjamin is straight and with good reason as Benjamin has told everyone he is straight over and over again. But Ben hopes that a convention where everything is possible is the perfect place to make Spencer believe in his love.

Friends to lovers and gay for you, both happen here in this story about sexuality, perceptions and fear of change. Jones takes two completely recognizable characters and brings them together at Comic-Con for her story of friends and lovers. Ben has been so busy denying that he is gay that everyone believes Ben is straight even if Ben no longer believes it himself. His best friend Spencer is gay and they have always done everything together. But recently Ben has discovered that his feelings for Spencer go beyond friendship and into romantic love, but how to tell his best friend?

Jambrea Jo Jones makes us laugh and sympathize with Ben and Spencer throughout it all. From Ben’s mishaps, missteps and outright screwing up his announcement, we are still on his side and hope he gets his man. Spencer is authentically confused about Ben’s change of heart regarding his sexuality, we understand his point of view as well. He doesn’t want to mess up his relationship with his best friend, his confidant, and we get that too. Somehow it all comes together in a satisfying end back where they started it all – Comic-con.

‘Fan-Tastic’ by Stephani Hecht

“Everybody knows the best lovers are geeks.” The setting this time is the annual Comic Book and Horror Convention. Here Deke Masters, a well-known actor in a zombie TV show is ordered to appear on a panel for his show. Also in attendance is Blake Tallision. Blake is trying to sell his comic book Star Cats and other items that he has been working on so hard. Blake also has a crush on Deke going back to their school days. Even then Deke was a star and Blake the nerd hiding in the shadows of the stage. To Blake’s amazement, Deke is a fan of Star Cats. The convention turns out to be the perfect stage for a romance neither saw coming.

This was my favorite story of the anthology. In Deke Masters and Blake Tallision author Hecht gives us characters worth cheering for. Blake is an especially memorable one. In pursuit of his art, he has starved himself, living in the basement of his abusive mother’s home, almost despairing of making it. Blake was so real I could see his skeletal frame and intense features. His vulnerability drew me in and kept me there. Deke also came across a fully realized human being, a guy who has worked to get where he is now but misses being wanted for just himself. While Blake wants nothing more than to be noticed by Deke, when that happens, Blake is believably wary and insecure, not seeing himself as others do. Deke is perfect for him, the normal guy who just happens to be a tv star, he understands Blake’s struggle because he was once at that stage himself. Everything about this story from the dialog to the characters just cried out for a larger version, especially to delve further into the relationship between Blake and his mother who had a secret she was hiding from him. Great job.

Sunday After The Storm, September Thoughts and The Week Ahead in Reviews

Well, that wasn’t a fun night for anyone around here in Maryland, or even straight up the coast and into NYC. High winds, tornados, hail, and rain, lots and lots of rain. Our neighborhood was without power for about 8 hours, but at least we did not have tornados to deal with, as others in Maryland, Virginia and NYC did. Other than some branches falling, we came out of it rather well. I wish I could say the same for others. Nature is all stirred up and doing something about it. Perhaps we should listen a little harder to what she is trying to tell us. Just a thought. Now on to more pleasant things….

September always seems to me to be the reset month. Summer has ended but Autumn has yet to make it’s appearance. September is the breather between the two. September gives us time to gather our thoughts, to recollect on Summer doings and to think ahead and plan for Fall. For a gardener, it can be such a busy time. Hydrangeas need fertilizing and mulching in, so do the roses, some of which are still blooming. Trees get to be trimmed, old vegetables dug up and composted while still remembering to refill the hummingbird feeders for the last of the migrants on their way south. Some flowers will be left standing, their seed-heads offering food to Goldfinches and the like. The windows will open and Kirby will be the first there to rest his head on the windowsill, contemplating the birds, and squirrels, and the hawks circling in the sky above. The geese honk overhead, hurrying their way to the Marshlands as a few leaves turn yellow and drop. I love this time of year. I have time to smell the last rose, put mums in the planters, and admire the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds skimming through the gardens, visiting the feeders before their long journey ahead. Less humidity means more time spent outside, reading, observing, and enjoying the cooler breezes. I hope you all are doing the same.

Here is the week ahead in Reviews:

Monday: Play It Again, Charlie by R. Cooper

Tuesday: Alone in the Crowd (Cattle Valley #27) by Carol Lynne

Wednesday: Love in La Terreza by Ethan Day

Thursday: Unconventional At Best Anthology

Friday: Love, Hypothetically by Anne Tenino

Saturday: Life As A Fairy Thrall (Fairy Compacts #2) by Katey Hawthorne

VGB Looks at When Talking Dirty Makes You Giggle or Spank Me Harder, Bunny Poo!

Note: Let’s just agree that this column is for mature audiences only shall we? If you continue reading, you are clearly over the age of 18 and don’t need your parents approval. We are serious, people! Words used in the most despicable manner is no laughing matter!!! Ok, well it is a laughing matter or we wouldn’t be here. Getting off course again. Sigh.

It’s been a while since our last get together and you can chalk that up to the quality of the books I have been reading lately. While they have run the gamut from middling fair to absolutely splendid, very few have fallen into the rainbow skittle of passionate prose that gets me going in eye blinking disbelief. That choice of words worthy of a double take or three, the “oh no she/he didn’t” selection that begs the question “why, oh why did he say that?” It’s the mesmerizing moment you realize that someone actually put those words in a sentence in a paragraph on a page in a story that halts you in your tracks. But this particular topic has been running around my head like a gerbil on a squeaky wheel for a while now just waiting for something or some word to prod it into action. And a recent novella did just that. It shocked that gerbil into an all out sprint and here we are examining what makes some dirty talk sexy and others hysterical.

I realize that bed talk can be subjective. What turns one person into a puddle of goo sends another into paroxysms of hilarity or worse delivers a veritable cold shower to any sexy thoughts or actions that up until then had been looking pretty darn promising. I get that, really I do! We have the school of “Harder, faster, deeper, there, fuck meeeeee ” dirty talk. Short bursts of words that spit forth from a participant’s mouth in the midst of a flurry of physical activity often imagining the verbal directions being given. I find this can be really sexy if done right. Say the author has written this vividly described sex scenes and the men are having at it in all ways sweaty and real. Throw those words in to make the men frantic in their need for each other. I get it (and so do they if they are lucky). Done well, I find it to be very effective *waves a fan*. But add a word or too, and hilarity replaces sexy in a heartbeat. Example: ” Yeah, do it, do it harder. Fuck me with your big, hairy sausage, boo boo Daddy!” *cough, cough, cough* Sexy turns into spew event and the ambience is gone.

You can also find the “Give it to me now, I want it all, I can take it, make me want it, pound me into the mattress” format. I call this type the Drill Master of Smut Talk. The person, could be a bossy bottom or someone topping from the bottom, is letting the other person know exactly what is expected here and woe to that person if they don’t deliver. Again, in the right hands *snort*, this can turn up the heat and be informative, all at the same time. You get the how, when and where and a lesson on how to communicate better in bed. What’s not to love? Everyone’s a winner!

Some people despise the lack of pronouns from a partner in passion. For these lovers of all things proper and sentence structure, it ‘s all about syntax and semantics. Doesn’t that sentence just make you quiver? They shudder (and not in a good way) at “need you, want you, touch me, fuck me”, for those persons complete grammar is required. Who exactly “needs” what? And where do they “need” it? I can see some frenzied folk getting confused. Throw out that “fill me, fuck me”, and replace it with “Oh, I need you now, Alphonse. Please take me to bed post haste, and have your wanton way with my beauteous form, you magnificent bastard.” That just might be all some need to pole vault into the four poster, all sweaty and raring to have at it.

Others find certain proper nouns a complete turn off. “Take it slut! You like a big thing up your hole.” Yep, the word causing a heap of “bleck” would be slut, although I do have problems with that entire sentence. Whore, Daddy, boy, slut are terms that either delight or disgust when used in bed. Papi was another. It’s almost fifty fifty with people coming (hah) down on one side or the other. Personally? Not big on the slut thing, but I won’t mark a book down for it when it comes to the review. If it works for the character, then it works for me.

Then we get to the sounds. You know what I mean. Two or more men are having a splendid time writhing about in as many positions possible. And instead of words, it’s animalistic sounds urging them on to greater highs of sexual heat and prowess. They moan, they groan, they growl and roar, purr and whimper. Whew! *waves the fan madly* I am all about the animal sounds, love them in fact. Except when the mewl turns into a mew, and I start to wonder where the kitties are hidden. Some men apparently even “chirp” in bed. Huh. Hard to picture that one. Bird fetish perhaps to go along with the whinny?

What doesn’t work? Stilted comments or comments so fatuous that just reading them makes me laugh out loud, never a good thing when the author is going for hot and heavy. Take this sentence. “Mmm, can’t wait”—Randy lay sprawled on the bed—“to feel that dick of yours stretching my channel.” Again “Stretch my channel, stretch my channel.” Umm, does that strike anyone as sexy? How about two idiots and a gun? Here they are covered with lube,“The safety is on, babe! We’ll play a little more with that later. Right now, I wanna pump your ass full of my lead.” Or perhaps it’s the would-be astronauts, where Rick wants Lance to “ride my pocket rocket into the stars”. And then for me the giggles start. I always want the author to take the time to say those phrases out loud, to take them around the verbal block so to speak. If it sounds funny when saying it, the chances are pretty good it is going to read that way too. I’m trying to be helpful here, folks!

Who knew talking dirty could be so funny? Well Jade Buchanen for one. Thank you, Tam, for this one:

From Jade Buchanan’s Del Fantasma: Duck Fart

“Drake let Bailey go just far enough to look at the other man. He wanted to hear more spilling from Bailey’s lips. “Come on, talk dirty to me, baby.”

A look of panic crossed Bailey’s face. Drake hid his grin. This should be fun.

“Uh…I want you to put your alligator in my love tunnel?”

Eyes wide, Drake started to choke. He could barely breathe, bent over the steering wheel now, laughing so hard his belly hurt.”

From hot to hurl, from sexy to snigger, dirty talk provides us with memorable moments in stories, from wonderfully realistic sexy scenes to the WTF smut verbalizations of a hominid in heat. Authors, before you write it, say it, try it out! Ask around, find out what real people are really saying or yelling as it were. It might amaze you to find out what you think works in bed is far more suitable to Barnum and Bailey’s Circus or Cirque de Soleil than to two or more people getting their lust on.

If not, then your characters might just end up saying something like ” “I want you to stuff your massive demon cock in my tight, waiting hole.” Thank you, Julia, for that little gem. And if they do, the chances are they might just end up being featured in a Vocabulary Gone Bad. I’m reading away, people, gobbling up page after page. You’ve been forewarned and now it’s up to you. If your characters “want it, need it, hurts so bad, Bunny Poo”, make sure its as sexy as you think it sounds, or the giggling you hear might be mine.

Review of the Jewel Bonds Series by Megan Derr

Rating: 4.75 stars

For the Jewel Bonds series, Megan Derr creates a rich world of wizardry and combatants. In this fantasy world, we have the Territories full of wild creatures and dragons, a lawless land that is constantly infringing on the civilized cities and towns. To deliver the full measure of protection to the civilized zones, it takes a bonded team comprised of a mage and a warrior. One to go forward in strength and combat, the other to watch his back and keep safe all around them by magical means.

Children with an affinity for magic or sword work and able to pay tuition go to live at the University of Magic and Combat where they are taught lessons in warfare and magic. The children are all ages. The different schools seem to correspond to our system here. Some arrive in their teens for studies at the university level. Neither gender or social status matters, both can be warriors or mages, as long as the tuition is paid or scholarships hold, they can attend. When a mage is finishing their third year in the University, clear jewels are implanted in their wrists and foreheads, showing they are ready to become full mages able to use their magic to the fullest of their abilities. Mages tend to have a talent for one area of alchemy like fire or wind and when they find a warrior to bond with, their jewels take on the eye color of their partner. But for some mages, whatever the reason, a warrior is never found to bond with, leaving them to become a field mage or research mage on their own.

Within this realm of harsh realities, of learning acquired through pain and physical deprivation, Megan Derr gives us three short stories of mages and warriors at different stages in life. Two are still in school at The Royal University of Magic and Combat in the capitol city, the middle pair have left their schooling behind them, one to glory and the other to ignominy and despair, and the third pair sees a mage in his forties, in straightened circumstances, facing a life without a position, possessions or a bond who in his most desperate hour meets a young warrior in need of a temporary mage. Derr gives us a glimpse into their lives, the hardships they endure to become warriors and mages, and the strange journeys made to find fulfillment and love.

An Admirer (Jewel Bonds #1) introduces us to Kaeck, a poor student working three jobs to help subsidize his scholarship in order for his to stay in school. By inclination (he feels unloved by family and peers) and circumstances (he works from predawn hours to midnight), he has isolated himself from most of the student body. Kaeck’s daily routine and expectations rarely changes until the day he opens his student post box and finds a letter from a secret admirer, One letter is followed by others and then gifts. And Kaeck finds his outlook changing, someone admires him, thinks him beautiful! Kaeck wants to meet his admirer and give him a gift back. But while his admirer is anonymous, Kaeck has met a fellow student, Bellamy, with whom he shares common interests and insecurities and soon Kaeck wonders if their friendship could turn out to be more. But Bellamy is enamored of another student and Kaeck is left wondering if his secret admirer will ever come forward.

I took Kaeck to heart immediately. Who hasn’t had someone like him in their lives, doing everything he can to keep afloat and make his dreams come true. Kaeck’s family is harsh and lacking love growing up has contributed to his sense of worthlessness. I just wanted to grab him up, give him a huge hug and feed him a massive dinner. Kaeck is so fully realized that his pain became mine as well. It was just as easy to become invested in Bellamy. A “country mouse” late to class his first day of advanced swordplay and in his ignorance he treated the Lord like a regular professor. Bellamy gave his all in a swordfight, earning his Lordship’s respect and earning a coveted apprenticeship as well as the continued resentment of his peers. Neither young man is comfortable around others, one silent, the other babbles when nervous. But together, they find a ease with each other they have found no where else. Derr brings the stress and angst that comes from school cliques, trying to find your way, and awkwardness in school and transfers it believably to a fantasy world. I loved this story and want so much more of these two. At 36 pages, it felt just too short as I was totally invested in these young men and their world. You will feel the same.

Kiss the Rain (Jewel Bonds #2) is a neat time shift as the two heads of Magic and Combat, Lord Jenohn and Master Selsor, almost 60 years old in An Admirer, here are only 18 when the story begins. We meet Selsor as he is being brutally attacked by bullies in the school yard at the University. Told from Selsor’s POV, this is a difficult paragraph to read as you feel every blow to the ribs, every kick to his head as curses rain down upon him. In his fear, he strikes out with his magic, which up to now has never worked. A lightning bolt comes out of the sky, killing another student in the courtyard by accident. Selsor is hauled before the University council who refuse to believe him about the attack and the accident. They tell him the student is dead because of him. Selsor is banished, forbidden to use magic upon threat of death, and his jewels turned black by the University mages. Three years have past, and we meet up with Selsor, age 20, scrubbing the floors of a lowly inn, living in the straw above the animals in the stable, reduced to almost starvation levels as no one will hire a disgraced mage. So depressed he has tried to kill himself, he is beaten regularly by the sadistic innkeeper. Into the inn comes Jenohn, a warrior and a group of soldiers on a mission from the Prince. The town they are in is being inundated by rain to the point of extermination and the Prince wants to know if black magic is the cause. Jenohn needs the help of an uncorrupted mage and picks Selsor for the job, to his amazement and distrust.

In Kiss The Rain, Megan Derr takes the hard life and isolation of Kaeck’s student life and then deepens it into abuse and horror for Selsor. Selsor only wanted to become a mage and bond with a warrior, just like his parents had. But his pretty features and slight build made him an easy target at school where the bullies endless physical and emotional abuse was a daily occurance. Not only was Selsor afraid for his life but his magic doesn’t want to work even though he knows he has it, adding frustration to his fear. Selsor commands both our empathy and understanding as he tries to deal with horrific living conditions and the loss of his dreams. Especially horrifying are his circumstances when we meet up with Selsor years later only to find him being kicked and abused again, only this time with no magic at hand. So when this golden warrior, Jenohn appears, offering him enough silver to live on and escape the life he is living, we are just as wary as Selsor. He knows from experience that life is never fair nor kind. But just as Jenohn grows on Selsor, so does he grow on the reader. Arrogant but able to back it up, kind in a sort of “need to smack him” sort of way, Jenohn just gets under your skin, Selsor’s too. Selsor finds it hard to keep his grump on when faced with such irrespressible good nature, and all of it directed at him. Great characters, both of them. I loved seeing their backstory after getting a glimpse of them in old age. This story has it all, tears, angst, rage and laughter all in 47 pages. Amazing.

An Exception (Jewel Bonds #3) takes us into the life of Riot, a lonely mage. Mage Riot never thought he would be jobless and practically homeless at the age of 40. After 20 years of service to the lord of the territories, making sure the land is safe from dragons and that the kingdom prospers, his lord dies. The new lord is an arrogant, smarmy young man who bullies all around him and expects Riot to submit to his sexual demands. An honorable man, Riot refuses the pipsqueaks’s ultimatum, and leaves with nothing as all his belongings are confiscated by the new lord. Even worse, once Riot is cast out, rumors are spread, casting aspersions on Riot’s honor and magic abilities. Almost penniless, Riot is trying hard to hold on in a land that no longer seems to put a value on his experience, and accumulated wisdom. What is a mage to do when all the rules he has lived by are deemed old fashioned?

I loved Riot immediately. He is such a unique character. He is older, forty to be exact. His hair is graying and he is well aware that any chance he had of being regarded as handsome is long past. His former lord was a good man and Riot was happy in his service, even though he had never met a warrior who wish to be bonded to him during that time, to his everlasting sorrow. Now his crystals in his forehead and wrists have turned gray from lack of use and he despairs of ever finding another job, especially at his age, let alone a warrior who would want an older man. How that rings true no matter the setting, our world or that of fantasy. Riot is so relatable in every way.

Derr excels at characterization and her people, like Riot, have emotions, thoughts and feelings that match ours. How can we not relate to them, trying to get through life without compromising who they are and dealing with the stress of everyday life? Even if that life means keeping the kingdom safe from dragons? All that to deal with and at middle age too. Depressing, even heartbreaking. I felt I knew Riot intimately. Rior meets his match in Coroe, a warrior in need of a mage. Coroe is in charge of seeing his Lady safely to the lands of her new husband in a neighboring kingdom and all the mages he has hired have been disastrous, either drunk or incompetent or both. Coroe’s gorgeous looks belie his warrior status just as Riot’s rough warrior like exterior is atypical of mages.Both men have had problems stemming from peoples assumptions about their appearance and both are equally wary about the other. Each also feels their age difference matters to the other in how they are perceived. Again, how realistic. Coroe’s character has the same level of complexity that Riot has, but it comes out in difference ways. I loved him too. Both men circle around their mutual attraction, held back by Riot’s insistence on a firm separation of business from pleasure. I liked this plot twist that keeps the men from acting on their romantic impluses because with the physical sexual act removed from the action, Derr is able to concentrate on building her characters, their backstory and amble, instead of run, to the start of a romance. Here too, Derr gives us a complex duo in 10,000 words. Do I want to see more of them? Why yes, I do!

I hope Megan Derr will continue to give us wonderful stories in the Jewel Bonds universe, Perhaps more of Selsor and Jenohn as we are missing 40 years of their lives. Or perhaps Kaeck and Bellamy after graduation. The plot possibilities are endless and so are my hopes for the series. Don’t pass these up.

Covers by Megan Derr. Hard to argue when it is the author themselves creating the covers for her stories. Love them.

It’s Football Season and I’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling, the Week Ahead in Reviews and A Cocktail

It’s Labor Day weekend here in the States, a time to hunker down and celebrate the end of summer. For some families this means a last dash to the beach or the start of school. It is also the start of football season. It’s the start of tailgating parties, stadium crowds and team colors. Mine used to be red and yellow, the colors of the Washington Redskins, my family’s team. It all started with my Dad. He loves the Redskins. We have been fans through thick and thin as they say. I can even remember Dad taking me to a Redskin home game when they were coached by Vince Lombardi. That was 1969. My dad and his friend Tom Cox had a group of season tickets and when one of “the gang” couldn’t go, Dad brought me. What a thrill. Redskin fans are beyond fanatical, they are legendary. And every game, RFK shook from the ground to the rafters with their fervor. I will never forget it as long as I live. Screaming until I was hoarse, the people towering around me as all stood to watch a play on the field and then the ride home, Dad’s either thrilled because we won or furious with a loss. Later on, the ride home included Dad listening to Sonny and Sam (that’s Sonny Jurgenson and Sam Huff) dissect the day’s game. We had Redskin blankets, hats, and scarves. We went through the George Allen and Jack Pardee years before we arrived at the Golden Age. That would be owner Jack Kent Cooke, affectionately known as The Squire, Bobby Beathard the GM, and Joe Gibbs, the Winningest Coach of them all. From 1981 to 1992, we basked in the glory that was the Redskins and quite frankly made up for all the years it took to get there.

But 10 years ago, the Squire died and Dan Snyder bought the team. I hung in there as long as I could but the soul went out of them that day. Dan Snyder single handedly has ruined the Redskins for me (and many others). How can you back a team when the owner sues it’s fans? When die hard season ticket holders could no longer afford their season tickets because of the economy (some losing everything), the Redskins sued their fans to recover the costs of the passes, even a grandmother living on retirement! No other team did that. Made the headlines, they recanted, a bit. Still did it though. Then a small free newspaper takes Dan Snyder to task over his actions. He sues the newspaper! I guess free speech is not to be tolerated in Snyder territory. On and on it goes, one man’s arrogance and bad karma wiping out half a century of fans adoration and goodwill.

And now I give up. I won’t root for them any longer. Some will say the very name “Redskins” is cursed. Perhaps they are right. It’s long past the time to retire a name offensive to so many. Maybe I will look around for another team to root for. The Ravens don’t do it for me. I like the Packers and the Saints. So who knows? In the meantime, I have the Capitals and Ted Leonsis to cheer for. And The Washington Nationals have risen above their “Natinals” days to become an inspiration and a team worthy of cheering for and not just because they are winning, but winning in the right way! Go, Nats! Without football, perhaps I will have more time to knit, certainly to read. And reflect on the past.

This coming week’s reviews are:

Monday: Solid As A Stone by Amylea Lyn

Tuesday: Gambling Men, The Novel by Amy Lane

Wednesday: Jewel Bonds series by Megan Derr

Thursday: One Day At A Time by Dawn Douglas

Friday: Summer Sizzle by Berengaria Brown

Saturday: Vocabulary Gone Bad Looks at Sexy(Not) Dirty Talk or Spank Me Harder, Bunny Poo!

Our last summer cocktail to finish out the summer this Labor Day weekend for those of you in the States is the Sidecar!

The Sidecar.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons superfine sugar
1 lemon wedge
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) Cognac
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) Cointreau or other Triple Sec orange liqueur
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) fresh lemon juice
1 cup ice

Directions:

Spread superfine sugar on small plate. Rub lemon wedge halfway around rim of chilled martini or coupe glass. Dip moistened side of glass in sugar to lightly coat outside rim of glass. Set aside.
In cocktail shaker, combine Cognac, Cointreau, and lemon juice. Add ice and shake vigorously until well chilled, about 30 seconds. Strain into prepared martini or coupe glass and serve.

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