An Ashlez Review: Star and Fire by R Parr

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Star and Fire: an m/m illustrated romance novella, with an alternate medieval setting.

Banished from the Kingdom for kissing another man, Prince Teo seeks refuge at the base of the mountain. There he finds Lyndon: a kindly washerman who lives alone in a secluded log cabin. Will Teo get another chance at happiness, or will outside forces invade the warmth and safety of his new home?

Boy was I mistaken when I saw illustrated romance, I had such different expectations than I had initially gone in with.  I thought there were going to be a lot more illustrations than there were, not that I thought that it would be a graphic novel but having only a few illustrations in the whole book was disappointing.
That said the story itself was good, it was extremely adorable and sweet.  It jumps right in to Teo and Lyndon and the cabin – theres a lot of talk of privy use so if that isn’t your thing perhaps skip this, there is also a lot of “washing” talk given Lyndon’s job it wasn’t a total shock but it was very descriptive and I felt perhaps a bit slow ,which is why the rating is a 3 instead of a 4 (I still am disappointed by the lack of illustrations).
That being said, overall it was a generally sweet story (I adore Lyndon and his personality), the old timey speak didn’t even bother me at all, but did they swear back then?? Who is to really know.
Cover – It does pertain to the story, but it also doesn’t draw a person into it
Sales Links:  Amazon
Book Details:
Kindle Edition, First edition, 134 pages
Published September 27th 2019 by R. Parr
ASIN B07YHWV245
Edition Language English

A VVivacious Review: Toy by R Parr

Rating: 4 Stars out of 5

Troy works as a sex worker at a licensed brothel, Priapus where one day a client turns out to be his old high school bully, Nick. Things immediately go south but Nick decides to make things right and apologises for mistreating Troy when they were in high school. Nick proposes they start a bromance but things get messy when Troy realises a bromance isn’t all he wants.

With a whole host of characters, Toy is a romance about taking chances and putting yourself out there.

I really liked this story, even though it used the miscommunication trope which I really hate but it made it work. Even though all I really wanted was for Nick and Troy to talk about their feelings the fact they didn’t till the end wasn’t such a stretch of imagination and works very well given the plot.

Troy starts working part-time as a brothel as a way to support his mother while still going to Uni but when Uni gets over and Troy finds himself overqualified and under-experienced for most job opportunities and he decides to take up the work full time. I really liked the way the author handles this accept of Troy’s characterisation. I really liked the level of maturity that this book has while dealing with this topic. Also, I instantly liked Troy.

Troy is a very likeable character and I found myself invested in him very quickly. He is really lovable and fun. He radiates so much positivity that you can’t help but gravitate towards him.

I really loved all the characters at the brothel, Brett, Ari, Qiu, Melissa and Damien and even their various clients with their quirks. All those conversations in the staff room made for a lot of fun moments. Also, it was really good to revel in the level of friendship these characters share.

Nick is a nice guy and mostly I am not miffed about him and Troy getting together but it is pretty obvious from the beginning that Damien also likes Troy and while Damiens’ feelings are handled very respectfully I really wanted Damien to have more of a chance because I was really intrigued with that idea. So, my opinion of Nick is very biased even though I can objectively point out the author works hard and succeeds at making Nick a three-dimensional character while limited to Troy’s Pov.

In the end, this was a real slice-of-life kind of fiction, salty and sweet with all the emotions mixed it. In the end, I was really satisfied with this book and the ending we got.

This book has a bunch of illustrations and photographs that didn’t show up well on a kindle but despite that hindrance, they really added to the story and I liked the personal touch. Also, the author hid a heart in every illustration and it was fun to go back and try to find each one in the end. Overall, I had a great time reading this book.

Cover Art by R. Parr. I like the cover, I think the illustration of Troy on the cover really lends to his character and how he perceives himself.

Sales Link:  Amazon’

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 380 pages
Published April 29th 2019 by R. Parr
ASIN B07RB63CBZ
Edition Language English