A Free Dreamer Review – Page 5 – Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

When a vaudeville dancer meets a sexy mobster in a speakeasy for men, the sparks fly, the gin flows, the jazz sizzles—and the heat is on…

New York City, 1927.

Eddie Cotton is a talented song-and-dance man with a sassy sidekick, a crowd-pleasing act, and a promising future on Broadway. What he doesn’t have is someone to love. Being gay in an era of prohibition and police raids, Eddie doesn’t have many opportunities to meet men like himself—until he discovers a hot new jazz club for gentlemen of a certain bent…and sets eyes on the most seductive, and dangerous, man he’s ever seen.

Lane Carillo is a handsome young Sicilian who looks like Valentino—and works for the Mob. He’s never hidden his sexuality from his boss, which is why he was chosen to run a private night club for men. When Lane spots Eddie at the bar, it’s lust at first sight. Soon, the unlikely pair are falling hard and fast—in love. But when their whirlwind romance starts raising eyebrows all across town, Lane and Eddie have to decide if their relationship is doomed…or something special worth fighting for.

Meet Eddie, a Broadway starlet in 1927, NYC. He’s gay and fine with it, but if the truth about his sexuality ever got out, his career would be over. Because you just aren’t openly gay in this day and age. Sure, it’s an open secret that many of the men working in the theatres on Broadway are gay, but actually knowing that a somewhat famous man like Eddie is queer would be something else. But Eddie is fine with that. After all, queer men don’t fall in love, right? So when the mood strikes him, he buys some company for the night and goes back to his normal life the next day.

Lane is a mobster and gets bullied into running a speakeasy for queer men. His boss believes he’s the man for the job because of his peculiar tastes. Just like Eddie, Lane prefers men, but unlike Eddie, he knows that queer men can and do fall in love. First, Lane isn’t too fond of having to run a speakeasy. But then he decides to make the best of it and create a safe haven for men like him, which easier said than done. Being queer is illegal and serving alcohol is as well. In order to remain in business and out of jail, he regularly bribes the police officer who seems to have taken a special interest in this particular speakeasy.

When Eddie and Lane meet in Lane’s speakeasy, there’s an instant spark of attraction. But how can there ever be more than that, when Eddie’s so convinced love between queer men doesn’t exist and being seen anywhere near the speakeasy is a very real threat to his career? Because Eddie is married to his career and loves his show. And when Lane faces trouble with his suppliers and the officer keeps asking for more and more money, the clock starts ticking.

“Such a Dance” is definitely very unique. I don’t think I’ve ever come across a book with a similar setting and I’ve most definitely never read anything like it. I was hooked from the very beginning.

I loved reading about Eddie’s work. He lives to perform. It’s a little sad to watch how lonely he is in the beginning, even if he keeps telling himself that his career is the only thing that matters and that he can’t fall in love anyway.

Lane was also quite intriguing. He has such a sad past and it’s inspiring how he gets over it and falls for Eddie. I liked that he wasn’t completely callous about his work in the mafia but at the same time wasn’t all broken over it either.

The setting of the speakeasy felt very real to me. It was like I was on the dance floor with Eddie, showing the men how to do Charleston. Or sitting with Lane and watching Eddie dance. I could practically hear the jazz, smell the cigarette smoke and taste the gin.

The tone was very realistic. There was no magic pocket of firmly tolerant people surrounding Eddie and Lane so they could live happily despite everything. No, they had to face homophobia and were slightly racist themselves. They weren’t extremely racist, but there was the occasional casual remark that just fit with the opinion of black people back then. Like when Lane talks about a black musician and says that the man is good, “even though he’s a negro.” That’s just how people back then were and more often than not, historical novels tend to gloss that part over, making only the antagonists racist and intolerant.

There was plenty of plot outside the romance, which is something I highly appreciate. We get to see Eddie perform and read about Lane’s trouble with running the speakeasy. We also get to read about the difficulties they face eventually, because obviously they can’t live like this forever. This could’ve easily turned into an extremely angsty read, but it didn’t. Sure, there are some dark elements, but the author doesn’t focus on those. There is homophobia, but it’s not the main theme. Both protagonists have had their fair share of trouble in the past, but again the author doesn’t focus on that. Instead, the plot focuses on the here and now, on the happy parts as well as the darker parts. It’s perfectly balanced.

Still, sometimes it kind of missed a certain something. I can’t even say what it was exactly, but the book somehow missed some spark to make it not just really good, but absolutely amazing. That’s why I decided to give this “only” 4.5 stars, and not the full 5.

Overall, “Such a Dance” is a very unique, realistic historical novel that I enjoyed very much. The setting is extremely well done, there’s plenty of plot outside the romance and the characters are very interesting. I really enjoyed this novel, even if I felt there was a bit of a spark missing at times. I’m definitely going to read more by this author and would love to read more about this time period, which previously didn’t interest me at all.

Cover Art: I have a kind of love-hate relationship with the cover by Ellen B. Wright. When I first looked at it, I thought it was kind of ugly and rather generic. Then I read the book, looked at it again and suddenly realized that this is Eddie, right out of a scene from the book. So now I actually think it’s great, even if it’s still kind of ugly.

Sales Links: Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details: ebook, 320 pages
Expected publication: October 27th 2015 by Lyrical Press
ISBN: 9781616507992

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

A good demon?

Ezra is a timekeeper in Hell, responsible for building and maintaining the clocks that tick away eternal torment. He’s never believed he deserves to be in Hell, and when the reason he’s there is revealed, he’s horrified…yet filled with hope. But is this just another form of torture? When Ezra’s given a chance to go to the surface, he’s determined to uncover the truth, but his fellow demons seem just as determined he won’t survive the journey.

A bad angel?

Roman doesn’t understand why an angel who failed his training the first time round has been given the job of policing paranormals in the UK’s capital city. He’s consumed by unhappiness. He might not be in Hell, but sometimes it damn well feels like it.

When Roman meets Ezra his failings come back to haunt him. Ezra makes him want to break the rules, but an angel protecting a demon? Discovery would bring an eternity of suffering, and with a boss none other than the archangel Michael, it’ll take more than a miracle for the lovers to stand together.

Let me start off by saying that while this is part 3 of a series, it works perfectly fine as a stand alone. I didn’t even read the blurbs of the two other books before starting this one and I had absolutely no trouble understanding what’s going on.

You should also be aware that this is a pretty dark book. There’s rape, there’s dub-con, there’s violence and there’s depression and potentially suicidal thoughts. If that’s not your kind of thing, back away slowly.

So, there’s Ezra, sweet, gentle, good Ezra. He lives in Hell but has no idea why. Usually you have to be at least 16 before you’re sent to Hell. But not Ezra, who was apparently born in Hell. He works as a timekeeper, making sure the countless clocks that are part of the eternal torment of the demons are in working order. He’s different from the other demon. For one, he’s far smaller than even the females and he looks unusually normal. That makes him a prime victim to the other demons, who delight in making his life miserable. He was also chosen as one of a handful of demons to go to the surface and corrupt humans for a week. But Ezra has other plans: He wants to run, to hide, to never go back down to Hell again. He wants to see snow, see clouds and for once in his life to experience what it means to be cold.

Then there’s Roman, the jaded head of supernatural London, who makes sure the other supernatural beings (vampires, werewolves, faeries, gargoyles) stick to the rules and remain undiscovered. He’s an angel, but not a very good one. Angels are supposed to be free of sin, yet he always lusts after other men. He’s very unhappy with his life. Maybe not exactly suicidal, but definitely close. He doesn’t care too much about whether he’s dead or alive one way or another.

Of course Roman is part of the team that has to catch the demons before they can do any serious harm. When Ezra and Roman meet, it’s lust at first sight. But why can’t Roman sense Ezra’s a demon? And how can an angel and a demon ever have a HEA?

For the most part, I enjoyed this book.

I liked both Roman and Ezra from the beginning. They were nice guys. Though in Ezra’s case, I’d have to say he was too nice. He was so very sweet and kind, even though he’s only ever known sorrow and pain. He’s been raped countless times, yet he’s all too happy to have a sexual relationship with Roman. The past abuse seems to have no effect on him whatsoever, except that he’s kind of sad and occasionally flinches back when Roman makes a sudden move. That’s something I definitely don’t like. If you’re going to include traumatizing events such as rape and abuse, make sure your character actually is traumatized. Rape doesn’t make you go all sweet and submissive and happy to be of help to strangers. Though I did like the way he acted otherwise, he was funny and witty and had an interesting story to tell.

Roman is jaded through and through. He’s hurt, he’s lonely and he hates his life. It’s a little hard to understand just why he is so miserable in the beginning, but I promise there is an explanation eventually. I thought he was far more realistic that Ezra.

Since the two of them fall in instant lust, there’s plenty of sex. Almost too much, really, even if it is very hot. A little less sex and a little more world and character building would definitely have helped me really like this story though.

I’m generally none too fond of insta-love/lust and “The Demon You Know” was no exception. I get that they found each other attractive from the very beginning, so I understand all the sex they had, even at the most inappropriate moments. What I had a hard time understanding though was what made them fall in love with each other. It’s understandable that Ezra falls for the first person to have ever treated him kindly. But I have absolutely no idea what made Roman return those feelings. They barely knew each other. They only spent a few hours together, really. And why would Roman risk everything for a demon, when he knows it will only be trouble and that Ezra must have done something truly awful to be sent to hell?

Usually, I avoid books about angels, simply because there tends to be a strong element of religion and belief present most of the time. Being an atheist, this tends to bore or annoy me easily. “The Demon You Know” had very little religion and belief for the most part. Sure, there was a bit of talk about God and the devil, and about the Seven Deadly Sins, but for the most part, it just focused on the two MCs. I liked that.

To sum it up, “The Demon You Know” is a quick, hot read, without a lot of depth. With more depth, this could have easily been a truly great story. As it is, I had fun and I finished it within two days. If you don’t mind the darkness of this and are willing to suspend your disbelief for a bit, you’ll most likely enjoy this too.

And I’ll definitely take a look at the previous book, Bloodline, which is about two of the minor characters in this book.

Fiona Jade’s cover is just wow. Breathtakingly beautiful. I think it matches the story well, you can see Roman’s anguish and the flames from hell licking at the bottom of the cover and his wings show Ezra’s influence. The background shows various famous sights in London, so it does not only reflect the protagonists but also the setting. It’s one of the most beautiful covers out there, one that I’d love to have in my physical bookshelf.

Sales: Loose Id LLC | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here