Review of Gambling Men the Novel by Amy Lane

Rating: 4 stars

Quentin Jackson and Jason Spade have been best friends since their freshman days in college. Where Jason leads, Quentin has followed. Dorm to apartment, college into business, year after year, the path ahead for one is the path for both. Orphaned at an early age, Jason grew up with his uncle and his partner as role models and the game poker as his bible. Need a rule to live by? Poker has the answers, at least for Jason. For Quint? Not so much. An out bisexual, Jason spent his years in and out of bed after bed, regardless of their gender. Quint, on the other hand, followed his families strictures, and dated women and watched his friend avoid relationships and commitments at all costs. Jace has been aggressive in his approach to life, his “shark like” mannerisms making him sucessful, but at a price. Quentin has always come behind Jace smoothing the ruffled feathers and feelings of those that came into contact with Jace and his methodology. But eight years later, all that changes in one daring moment when Jace makes a sexual move on his friend that results in a night of passion.

For years, Jace has waited until the odds of success were in his favor to make a romantic play for Quent. When Jace is rewarded with a night of unsurpassed passion, both men must come to grips with a long unstated love now out in the open. For Jace, he needs to learn that all of life is not a poker game. For Quentin, he needs to trust that Jace can learn that winning at all costs will not help them build a relationship that will last. To call or fold before a relationship is even started? That’s the question both men must answer before they can find their HEA.

In Gambling Men by Amy Lane, the author uses the game of Poker as a format for her story of two friends fumbling their ways to love and happiness. As someone only minutely familiar with the game, I found using different Poker hands and actions fun if not occasionally confusing. Jace is convinced that all life is a Poker game to be won, a belief he picked up in adolescence living with his uncle and partner. Amy Lane does her usual great job at characterization by helping us understand Jace’s somewhat juvenile application of a Poker’s rules approach to life’s hardships and hurdles. Equally open is Quentin’s background in cementing his ideals and more passive life style. Winning versus nurture. Or in these case, a winning nature supported by a nurturing one.

Lane really understands relationship dynamics so the story really engaged me when Jace had to learn to adjust his life and its expectation to include Quentin in a role he had never occupied before. Up until then, Jace was still a little too shallow for me if still understandable. It was so appealing to watch each man flounder in turn, as they danced around dating, outing their relationship to their friends and employees, and then finally taking the steps to deepen their commitment to each other by moving in and finally emotionally moving on into the future they both want and deserve. Surrounding these relationship gyrations are a circle of friends as unique and indelible as Jace and Quent themselves. I loved their Poker playing group, their real family, as Quent’s family disowns him after he comes out. I wish I had been given more of these men, so compelling were the glimpses into their lives the author gave us.

Do I have a quibble with the story? Yes, I do, two in fact. One, the Poker game analogy got a tad stale for me after a while. I am not a Poker enthusiast, so Flushes, Draws, etc. became overdone not only as a format for the chapters but as it was used throughout the story even with Jace’s “life is Poker” outlook. I am sure that there are many Poker widows/widowers out there that feel much the same. The other wee quibble? The title. I have way too much Monty Python in me not to look at it and think “Gambling Men: the Novel?” As opposed to “Gambling Men: The Paragraph”? “Gambling Men: The Comic Book”? “Gambling Men: The Tweet”? The possibilities are endless, at least in my somewhat warped brain. Anyone out there with insight on the title, write me, tweet me, inquiring minds want to know. In the meantime, pick this one up and have a wonderful time as two old friends develop into the lovers they were always meant to be.

Cover: Hysterical. Perfect for the novel. Or should I say Gambling Men: The Novel. Really.

Review of The Cool Part of His Pillow by Rodney Ross

Rating:5 stars

It’s Barry Groom’s forty-fifth birthday and he’s wondering why his partner of twenty-five years isn’t answering his cell phone. Andy should have been back home by now. So when Barry’s cell rings, he doesn’t even look at the caller id until an unfamiliar voices asks for him and his world explodes. Andy and their two beloved pugs, Gertie and Noel, all dead, crushed by a falling crane downtown. Barry doesn’t even know what they were doing there. From there on out, Barry’s world consists of pain, and loss,and grief and lack of direction. His, no make that their friends and even his mother try to console him but he finds himself to be unconsolable, watching the tv video of the accident over and over again.

Faced with his business he can’t force himself to go to or phone calls he can’t accept, Barry heads off to his and Andy’s home in Key West hoping to find some answers and much needed space. Time spent in Key West only emphasizes his status as the one left behind as he works on chores Andy would have done at their house and runs into friends who haven’t yet heard the news. Another change is needed, this time to New York City where Barry is hoping that old memories are overrun by the crowds, the frantic pace and noise of the City. Trying to embrace change in his life, Barry tries everything from online dating to nudercise in his efforts to recover from grief and move his life forward. But an unexpected event brings him home to where it all started, “back to the town where he grew up for one more ironic twist that teaches him how to say good-bye with grace.”

What an amazing story and one of the hardest reviews I have had to write. For the longest time, I would come to the keyboard to write the review and come up with nothing. Or come up with far too much. And I find that fitting because those are the emotions this book left me with. The first part of the story had me as inconsolable as Barry, my empathy so strongly engaged that I sobbed at his loss and raged at life’s unfairness along with him. At other times, I felt empty, hating to move forward with the book, so indelible is the imprint that Barry, Andy, and his memories leave upon you. Grief is a tough topic and an even tougher thing to get through. Who of us has not lost either a person or a pet and been overwhelmed by the vacancy they left and grief stricken at the thought of not seeing or hearing them ever again? Rodney Ross takes us back to those events in our lives through Barry Grooms and makes us relive it all over again through him. And he does so beautifully, the stages of grief rendered so realistically that I felt I was reading an autobiography instead of a fictional account.

Ross takes one of life’s great unfairnesses “why the one I loved” and gives us Barry’s recovery from the worst horror to happen to him, the loss of his soul mate. In doing so, Rodney Ross gives us a character so real I was convinced he bleeds when cut, gifts Barry with a voice so unforgettable, so persistent in its need to be heard that I would recognize it on the other end of the phone or isolate it in a crowd of New Yorkers. It is one of intelligence, humor, deprecation, and sadness. Barry’s outlook is dry witted, reflective and full of loss, less so once he reaches New York. Here is Barry in his NYC condo, responding to his online dating emails.

“During this I received my first dick pic. I primly respond that I prefer a face pic. I get a second dick pic with a face drawn on it. The lips were especially upsetting.”

A perfect Barryism. I will admit to roaring with laughter through Barry’s dating travails whether it was Hugo who Barry thought was “furry as in bear” turns out to be a Furry complete with Cousin Itt’s slippers. There’s Olaf the fire eater, Bryce the actor who thinks Madonna was the first Evita and can’t place the name Patti LuPone, and Boaz the beer bully. And then there is Barry attempting to meet other and exercise during an hysterical session of Nudercise! Yes, it is exactly what one thinks it is. This includes a hard look at his body and a Nudercise participant who uses the time to masturbate instead of centering himself, directly on the mat in front of Barry. Through every humiliating episode and outrageous encounter, I felt myself nodding in sympathy and acknowledgement of the pitfalls and ego deflating scenes that dating after 40 brings with it. Then Barry hooks up with the store Theatrilicious, a theater district shop that sells or rather stores bits of everything Broadway. Its owner is Marjorie Lewis-Kohl, in her sixties, painfully thin with capes that vary with her moods. Soon Barry is working there, accumulating employees that start to look like friends and his life starts to fill up.

There are so many remarkable characters in this story, none of whom ever feel anything less than real as well. From Mr Floor 14 whose daily personal grooming habits in the elevator signal the way Barry’s day is going to turn out to Barry’s mother, Aunt Sarajane, Artie from the store, Marjorie herself and Jarod Pugh, the young limousine driver Barry starts to date. Each is so fiercely unique, so strongly authentic that I kept going back to the bio to make sure this was fiction. And both Key West and New York City acquit themselves beautifully as main characters as well. I love Key West and Ross gets the tone exactly right, no small wonder as he lives there. But Rodney Ross must also spend an equal amount of time in NYC, as his love affair with the city comes across as strongly as the people inhabiting his pages.

Life is full of surprises, some bad, some not so good and some wonderful. Ross recognizes this and brings it into Barry’s tale in full measure. Everytime I think someone or something is solidly known, Ross upends it and gives us a different perspective on that person or that event. We start off that way and we end there as well. In the beginning, Barry is standing in front of a counter as the store clerk says “You change.” At the end of his story, we find ourselves with Barry standing there again, waiting patiently as “Bunwoman” taps the register again. “You change”. And by then, Barry has and so have we by meeting him and living through his journey with him. When I picked up this story and the tears started falling, I never thought that I would find myself missing Barry. And now 340 pages later, I do. I miss him terribly and wish him well in his new life. I know I will be skipping back to The Cool Part of His Pillow for small visits, something I could never have imagined when I started. Some might ask if this is a love story and I will say that it is but not in exactly the way you might think. It is a love sonnet, it is an elegy, it is a love affair with new beginnings while never losing sight of the loves of the past. Pick this book up. Don’t let the fear of loss and the pain of grief in the beginning pass by this remarkable story of recovery and perseverance done with love and humor. It is one of my top books of the year. I think it will be yours too. Bravo, Mr. Ross, bravo.

Cover: Art by Anne Cain. Simple, elegant and haunting.

Available at Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, and All Romance Ebooks.

A New Addition to the Garden, the Week Ahead in Reviews and the Sazerac, an American classic cocktail

So, here we are again. It’s a rainy Sunday in Maryland, perfect day for reading and snoozing with the pooches. I was out earlier in the week, gallivanting around and made a quick stop into one of our local nurseries to check out their perennial sale (50 percent off woo hoo!) and what did I behold? A zen froggy waiting for someone to take him home. Really how could I pass him up? Here’s are 2 pictures. He is now perched in all his zen-like concentration behind the fish pond to Kirby’s everlasting confusion. I watch Kirby looking at him every time he goes out and can just see the slow wheel turning in our third smartest dog’s mind. Like “hmmmm, didn’t see that before, wonder if it is edible” “will he play with me?”. Cracks me up everytime. So I believe our zen froggy deserves a name. Any suggestions?

Now on to the Week in Reviews. There were just some lovely books this week. Lashings of Sauce was a standout based on just the shear number of great authors who contributed to this anthology. We run the gamut from contemporary romance to supernatural lovers this week:

Monday: (Un)Masked by Anyta Sunday & Andrew Q.Gordon

Tuesday: Shelton’s Homecoming by Dianne Hartsock

Wednesday: Wick by Megan Derr

Thursday: Lashings of Sauce-a British Anthology

Friday: Weekends by Edward Kendrick

Saturday: The Cool Part of His Pillow by Rodney Ross

Cocktail of the Week: The Sazerac

The Sazerac, created in New Orleans in the 1800’s, an American Classic Cocktail

Ingredients:

1 1/2 teaspoons (1/4 ounce) club soda
1 sugar cube (preferably rough-cut and unbleached*) or 1/2 teaspoon raw sugar, such as turbinado or Demerara
4 to 5 dashes Peychaud Bitters
5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces) VSOP Cognac
1 tablespoon (1/2 ounce) absinthe
1 cup ice
1 lemon
Directions:

In chilled cocktail shaker or pint glass, pour club soda over sugar cube. Using muddler or back of large spoon, gently crush sugar cube. Swirl glass until sugar dissolves, 20 to 30 seconds, then add bitters and Cognac and set aside.
Pour absinthe into chilled double old-fashioned glass or stemless wineglass. Holding glass horizontally, roll between your thumb and forefinger so absinthe completely coats the interior, then discard excess.
Add ice to cocktail and stir until well chilled, about 20 seconds. Strain cocktail into chilled glass rinsed with absinthe. Using channel knife, cut thin 4-inch strip of peel from lemon directly over glass, then place peel in glass and serve.

Review of Good Bones by Kim Fielding

Rating: 4,25 stars

Dylan Warner was quiet, shy, a milquetoast kind of guy that no one noticed. An architect, he normally stayed home with his plans until one impulsive night out changed his life forever. Dylan can’t believe his luck when a hot guy in leathers, Andy, picks him up and takes him home for an evening of hot sex. One evening stretches into many with Dylan hardly coming up for a breath. Then one night he awakes to hear growling in the living room and opens the door to see a wolf in the middle of his carpet. Before he knows what is happening, the wolf attacks him, biting him viciously and then bounds out the door. Dylan has been bitten by a werewolf and his life changed in an instant.

Now Dylan lives by the phases of the moon, dreading the nights he will have to lock himself away in the steel reinforced room in his condo. Only his brother and sister in law know what has happened to him. In an wry turnaround, Dylan now finds himself bulked up, gorgeous, and a sexual magnet as a side effect of his new status as a werewolf. Everyone wants him and Dylan won’t let anyone close for fear of hurting them, an irony he is well aware of. Living in the city is choking him and his wolf so when his brother suggests buying a place in the country and telecommuting, he is all over it. Dylan purchases a former Christmas tree farm and begins renovations.

But Dylan’s new country farmhouse comes with an attractive neighbor, Chris Nock, with tons of his own baggage. Then Andy shows up again, determined to keep Dylan a part of his pack. Everything that Dylan worked so hard to achieve, his peace of mind, his friendship with Chris, everything is in jeopardy unless Dylan can deal with his inner wolf and the alpha that has come to claim him.

I am a sucker for a shifter story and look forward to the details each author adds to the shifter lore and any new twists added to the werewolf genre. Some authors go for the seamless shift from human to wolf and back. Others get into the nitty-gritty physicalities of body transformation including vivid descriptions of bone breaking and accompanying pain. Some authors go the whole mate route, you know “wolves mate for life” with instant mate recognition path while others go for the human romance “harum scarum” route. In some books, the wolves shift by the moon and others shift on command. That’s what I love about this genre, there are no hard and fast rules. I love watching each author come to a werewolf or shifter story from their own perspective and Kim Fielding is no different, giving us some new twists on a popular character in m/m fiction.

In Dylan Warner, we have a mild mannered “grey” sort of man who is transformed into a sexy “beast” after being bitten by a werewolf. Fielding gives us a Kent Clark/Superman persona but substituting werewolf for Superman, an intriguing notion. Then Fielding takes it one further with an ironic twist in that now a very sexy Dylan refuses to act on his new status because he fears the very thing that has made him so attractive. Instead of becoming big man on the town, Dylan withdraws into his shell, isolating himself from others in a way he never was before his transformation. Indeed, Dylan separates the “human” from the “wolf” inside, a duality not as common in other shifter fiction. Usually the human mind is aware and active inside their wolf body, not entirely so here, a problem when it comes to hunting. Another reason Dylan barricades himself inside a fortified room. Hunt humans or hunt animals? He has seen Andy kill a person and wants to make sure he does not do the same.

Fielding’s other characters aren’t given the same amount of depth that Dylan has. Chris Nock, the attractive neighbor next door to Dylan’s farmhouse has a troubled history that is only referred to on a couple of occasions. As he is so much of the story here, I would have preferred to learn more about Chris’ past. He calls himself a “whore”, mentions bouncing around the foster system and then nothing more. Chris came across as extremely judgmental in the beginning but where is the basis for that? Especially given the events that follow? I would have loved to have seen Chris given a better foundation for his character and his actions throughout the story. I liked Chris, more information would have made me love him.

Andy, the werewolf who instigated all the events here engendered mixed feelings from me. I could understand his desperation to have a pack or his need for companionship, but in a sort of throw away line, we find out Andy has become a serial killer in his attempts to recreate a Dylan to an almost absolute lack of horror from Dylan. Why didn’t Dylan react more to that fact when he hears it? Not sure, given his reaction to an earlier kill Andy made. In fact while I could see what Fielding was trying to achieve with the relationship dynamics between Andy and Dylan, I am not sure I ever bought it. Dylan’s reactions to Andy fluctuate dramatically, so much so he is telling him to get lost and then having sex with him, albeit in an animalistic manner. One such moment left an acrid taste in my mouth, considering the events that happened just prior. I don’t want to include any spoilers but it just seems to me that the author could have gotten the same point across in another fashion. Wolf vs human actions, how to handle the dichotomy. Got it, don’t hit me in the face with it, though.

I really enjoyed Good Bones and Kim Fielding’s take on werewolves. I found only some minor editing errors. A “close guy” instead of closest guy but on the whole, it is very well done. This is the first book of hers I have read and it won’t be the last. This is a wonderful addition to the werewolf genre, don’t hesitate to pick it up. You won’t be sorry.

Cover: Christine Griffin was the cover artist and I think she did a terrific job conveying the subjects within with a darkly moody cover and great graphics.

Book available at Dreamspinner Press. All Romance Ebooks, Fictionwise and Amazon.

Review of Bedazzled by Pelaam

Rating: 3.75 stars

Jem’s life has been hard since his father died. His stepmother has control of the family business, his step brother and sister have all her affection, and his health, both physically and mentally, was shattered by his loss. Only his good friend, Byron, makes it possible for Jem to get through his day of cleaning and restocking the shelves in Diamond, the bar where they both work. Then in an instant, Jem’s life changes when he rescues a stranger being attacked on his way home.

The stranger is none other than Prinz, the only son of the Space Station’s galactic billionaire businessman. He is immediately attracted to Jem, and when the gorgeous young man disappears after rescuing him, he vows to find him. Jem can’t get the man he saved out of his mind, and the stranger occupies his dreams nightly. Byron is mystified and more than a little protective when Herne appears in the bar asking for Jem. Herne is Prinz’s best friend and bodyguard, sent to look for Jem and reunit him with Prinz. He doesn’t count on his reaction to Byron or Bryon’s to him. It seems like love is all around the space station. But there is more to all 4 men then they are telling. Secrets mount up until the night of the Station ball when one is revealed to Jem’s devastation and he runs away. How will this fairy tale end when the futures of not one but two couples rest in the balance.

This is a very cute retelling of the Cinderella story, ala Cinderfella times two. It has been relocated to space with a mixture of alien shapeshifters thrown in for good measure. It’s light and frothy and the slight danger to our hero is never more than that. The main issue here is that the secondary pairing is much more interesting than our Cinderfella and Prinz. All the characterization details and depth is given over to Byron, a shapeshifting being with a slutty reputation he neither earned or deserved and Herne, Prinz’ best friend and associate, who finds himself falling for the alien despite the rumors around the station. Not making these two the main characters was a missed step in my opinion. I got the feeling that even the author had to remind themselves to return to Prinz and Jem’s storyline after getting carried away with Byron’s backstory. Alas, the names Prinz and Jem (get it, he is a priceless gem) says look at me, fairy tale here while the other duo asks for more serious respect. And they get it.

There is, of course, the evil stepmother. The bratty step siblings make a slight appearance as well. Sinister doings are happening aboard the station and it is never in doubt as to the villain behind it all. Alls well that ends well. Again, almost too well as a third pairing makes an appearance at the end and its a Gay for All, toasts, celebrations and well, you know, a Happily Ever After in caps. Come at this with low expectations and a small amount of time to spend reading it and you will find an enjoyable fairy tale read. But if you like our fairy tales done expertly in an adult manner, then perhaps this is not the story for you. But I will pick up the next book by Pelaam if only because of the promise shown by Byron and Herne.

cover: Cover art by Lee Tiffin. Great cover. I love the colors, the graphics and the font choices.

Review of Phoenix Rising by Theo Fenraven

Rating: 3.5 stars

It’s early morning hours when Det. Artemis Gregory gets a phone call from his partner, Rachel Wayland. Another body has been found and that makes three in all. The victims were young, gorgeous gay men killed on the full moon of each month. Each body looks posed and peaceful with little clues left at the scene to help them identify the killer. The latest victim has a fresh tattoo, exactly like the first body discovered. It’s the logo of the hot rock band Phoenix Rising.

An interview with the owner of the tattoo parlor leads them to Talis Kehk, the lead singer of Phoenix Rising. With his violet eyes and almost narcotic charm, he sets off Det. Gregory’s suspicions. The more they investigate the timing of the murders, all leads keep pointing back to Talis Kehk. Talis seems remarkably unconcerned for a man under suspicion of murder and his continued attempts to see Artemis confuse the Detective even as he becomes attracted to Talis. Det. Gregory believes he is a good cop. He has sacrificed his relationships and his private life to the hours required to be a Detective. How can he reconcile his reactions to this impossible man who may just be a serial killer with his duties as a police officer? The time of the next full moon draws near and the moon killer will surely strike again. Can Artemis find the killer before its too late and will the killer’s identity destroy his chance for love.

Phoenix Rising is the first book I have read by Theo Fenraven and it has many wonderful qualities. Fenraven’s myth building here is terrific. He does an excellent job of bringing mythology to life with vivid descriptions and small attention to detail. I can’t go into too much details here otherwise I would be giving away too many spoilers but let’s just say I could clearly see the splendor of the author’s creation. His humans fall a little short though after a promising start. Det. Artemis Gregory comes across at the beginning as a typical cop. He’s harried, sleep deprived, job obsessed and lonely. Artemis long ago came to terms with the emotional costs of his job, it even lost Artemis his most recent relationship as his boyfriend recognized he would never be a priority that Artemis’ job was. Rachel Wayland makes a good partner as well and they balance each other nicely. I liked the details of the police investigation, they have an authentic ring to them and the author has clearly done his homework with regard to police work.

So what is the quibble? That halfway through the story, Artemis Gregory discards his hard won persona and becomes totally unbelievable. It’s very hard to talk about how his characterization failed without giving away the plot of the story but right up until a certain dramatic event, Artemis Gregory is as thorough and compulsive a cop as you will meet outside of Law and Order. He’s watchful, sneaky, and smart. I totally got him. And then it all disappeared. Kaput. At one point in the novel, Gregory wonders how he is to live his life, how is he to occupy his time. A reasonable question and the first reappearance of the man who started the story. And then the question is never answered and the Detective I loved disappeared never to return, leaving a shell of a persona behind. What a shame. Tossed away as well are the other fleshed out characters of his partner and coworkers.

The other quibble I have is that a tight, cohesive story starts to resemble swiss cheese about two thirds of the way through. A building burns around their ears and no one seems to care, a huge deal is made of the killing of the young men and then a surprising tossed off comment at the end made me confused at to the purpose of it all. A Interpol agent says she will remove warnings from the files yet police around the world are now involved so that becomes a moot point. Hole after hole appears with nothing to plug them up. It’s quite dismaying because the first part of this book is just terrific. If I could divide the book in two, the first half gets a 4 rating, the second half? No more than 2.75 stars. That’s how big a shift takes place within the story. I would love to read a book from Theo Fenraven where the promise shown here is carried throughout the book. I will look forward to it, In the meantime, you will have to decide if only half a good book is worth your while.

Cover: Beautiful, dramatic cover by Anne Cain. Perfect for the story.

Review of Inside the Beltway by Ellen Holiday

Rating: 4 stars

Senator Davis Hudson’s life is all about politics. Endless committee meetings, Senate hearings, as well as constituents to attend to, all contribute to an almost 24/7 work day. But Senator Hudson has his eyes on a bigger target these days as several of his senior staff members are urging him to make a run for the Presidency. Davis decides to test the political waters to see what kind of support he might have and that means he needs more publicity. To that end, Senator Davis ends up sitting in the makeup chair at CNN, under the care and skill of makeup artist Kurt Lamb. Davis finds Kurt’s opinions interesting. As they spend the time before the interview chatting, Davis Hudson realizes it’s not just Kurt’s viewpoint he likes, but the man himself.

A return trip to CNN means a chance to reunite with the attractive makeup man, Kurt and things start to progress out of the Senator’s control. Kurt is gay, Davis finds Kurt compelling in a sexual way, and his entire self image shifts in a manner he is not really comfortable with. Kurt is interested back and doesn’t try to hide how he feels about the Senator. As Davis Hudson tries to come to grips with his feelings about Kurt, he realizes he could be jeopardizing everything he has worked for his entire life. Unknown to him, Davis’ ex-wife is watching him being touted as the next presidential candidate and fuming over the fact that she should be standing there with him ready to reap the long denied benefits. Outside forces are aligning against Davis even as he tries to find a future with Kurt. Can David Hudson find the courage to be himself before he is forced to leave Kurt behind?

I picked this book up based on the title alone. OK, I live in the DC metro area and that title is like catnip to a mouse around here. We are so steeped in politics,on county to state to federal levels and everything in between, that I am usually very skeptical of any book purporting to have a view of DC from the inside. Imagine my delight when Ellen Holiday gets it right from almost every aspect. A quick trip to her bio gave me the answer. She lives in DC. No wonder there is not a wrong touch here. From the various locations, to the inner workings of the Senate, and even the local news, Holiday gets it right, again and again. How I loved this as nothing is more grating then reading an author’s attempt to tell me that someone made it from Reagan National to the Mall in 10 minutes, via the Red Line no less. No worries on that front here. She knows DC and depicts it exactly as it should be. Great job as well as a example in writing what you know.

Then there are the characterizations. Here comes my first quibble. Ellen Holiday gave us very believable people to read about. From the ego centric and arrogance of Davis Hudson, smug in his belief that his smooth manner, a good looking face and physique (but not too goodlooking, mind you) will see him into the President’s seat, Holiday gives us a realistic portrait of a politician at the top of his game. Kurt Lamb with his interesting background is typical of the types of people drawn to DC. As for Davis’ staffers, from Matt to Alex, both are such great depiction of the staffers seen every day on the Hill. My favorite? That would be Senator Pierce Randolph. Yes, Senators like him do exist. So if I am all that about Holiday’s characters, why the quibble? I just didn’t like David Hudson very much. He is such a smooth politician that I didn’t buy his conversion. Or the fact that he fell in love with Kurt. Kurt deserves a much better person than Davis, even a lobbyist and that’s saying something. So I never really invested myself in the love affair, that’s my quibble. Holiday did a great job making Senator Hudson a believable Senator, the consummate politician. Those A types don’t throw over their careers, in my opinion unless they are forced to as was Davis. Our newspapers, news casts and TMZ contain no small amount of stories such as these. Do the names Jim McGreevey , Anthony Weiner or Eliot Spitzer ring any bells? That doesn’t make them likable, just realistic.

So I had a great book, full of terrific characters, accurate locations and believable drams. And half a great couple. I can’t wait to see what Ellen Holiday comes up with next. Just no lobbyists please. How about some nice schmo who works for the Smithsonian or a think tank wonk? All good characters for me. We have a great city that just legalized Gay Marriage. I look forward to reading what Ellen Holiday does with that.

Cover by Catt Ford. Great design but that red font color still doesn’t work for me.

Review of Priceless by M. A. Church

Rating: 2.75 stars

Billionaire Garrett Shiffler glances up from the craps table to see good looking young man watching him as he played. The young stranger brings Garrett luck at the tables as well as turns him on. Garrett is determined to take him to bed, and what Garrett wants, Garrett gets.

Randal Jones of Memphis, Tennessee is in Las Vegas for the weekend when he spies a gorgeous and obviously wealthy man at the craps table. Their eyes meet and Randy is unable to move from his spot, frozen by instant desire. When hunger causes his stomach to rumble, the man laughs, introduces himself as Garrett and hauls him off for food and sex. After a weekend of intense sex, both men start to wonder at the deeper feelings they have for one another. Randy can’t believe someone like Garrett could fall for an average guy like him and runs home to Memphis without so much as a note or goodbye. Garrett believes Randy is the one for him but where does Randy live and what is his full name? Is it true love that binds them both? Between Cupid and romance lies the answer for Randy and Garrett.

Priceless is the first book for author M. A. Church and has some lovely qualities that make it a nice read at 99 pages. However, that said, Priceless contains quite a few problems that I would contribute to an author just beginning their craft. The plot is one that anyone familiar with generic love stories will recognize. The very rich man, scornful of those who would love him for his money and status, meets someone who argues with him. The younger person/man/girl of lower status doesn’t care about money, and runs from him. Then the rich man has to chase the person down, woo them and live happily ever after. It takes an author of skill to elevate this common plot line, but Church needs more experience to deliver it here.

The characters of Garrett and Randy are pretty generic and the author has not given them her own twist to make them more interesting. Randy seems to spend an inordinate amount of time weeping over a lost weekend after he has left Las Vegas. Garrett is too much the stock arrogant persona. We never get a real basis for their actions in the story because we lack a foundation upon which we can build a belief in these characters. We are told they fall in love but only get an abundance of sex scenes, not ordinarily a bad thing but when used in place of plot and depth, then it is no substitute. Garrett tells us everyone wants him for his money and yes, he can act like an arrogant ass (that we do believe) but why does Randy see anything different in him?

Instantaneous love rears its head here, although Church uses poor Cupid as the supposed basis for Garrett and Randy’s “instalove”. The author has Cupid appearing throughout the story and then promptly dispels his participation as the cause of the love at first sight. Cupid and his arrow is one of those “deus ex machina” that tells me the story is in trouble from the beginning. It’s too “cute” and not needed if you have a good plot to begin with.

The dialog between the men becomes an issue too. One character tells Garrett to “cool your jets”, an older phrase that seemed out of place. Then Randy tells Garrett to “I can’t wait to have your dick stretching my channel”, more than once. Such odd terminology in the heat of passion was just perplexing. Try shouting it out like you mean it and you will understand my reaction. The author seemed to be trying too hard in searching for terms and descriptions. This sentence is the perfect example. “Their shirts hit the floor like discarded scratch tickets.” Scratch tickets? In another scene perhaps, but not when conveying clothes flying off due to crazed lust.

The first book can be a hard book for an author in many ways. Inexperience, lack of critique partners, structure and editing issues are often apparent. When they do pop up, I always hope that the author’s love of writing shines through as well. It does here. M. A. Church has talent so I will be looking forward to her next book. And as for Priceless? Not a bad way to spend some time if you happen upon it as a free read but I wouldn’t recommend it otherwise.

Cover: Catt Ford has done a great job with the hot Las Vegas cover.

Review of A Foreign Range (Range #4) by Andrew Grey

Rating: 5 stars

Country singer Willie Meadows is tired. He is tired of the fame and the lifestyle that comes with it, he is tired of the hangers on and he is tired of living in houses that don’t feel like home. Mostly, he is tired of feeling like a fake, of singing songs about being a cowboy when he can’t even ride a horse. On impulse, Willie buys a small ranch in Wyoming, hoping the change in location will bring him a home, a connection to the land in the songs he wants to write and a return to being Wilson Edwards, his real name.

Steve Peterson is desperate, hungry, out of gas and out of money. After escaping his father and the cult’s attempt to deprogram Steve of his gayness. He arrives at the ranch, expecting to find a job promised to him by the previous owner, unaware the ranch had been sold, and his job gone. Devastated, he sneaks into the barn, hoping just for a warm place to stay for the night.

Wilson finds Steve and sees a young man who is barely hanging on. Steve is shaking from the cold and hunger and when the dilapidated truck he is driving dies at the end of the ranch’s driveway, Wilson decides to give him a job, helping around the ranch, looking after it while Wilson is on the road performing. After the band’s road trip, Wilson returns home to find Steve training horses for his neighboring ranchers and the ranch alive once more. Wilson loves seeing horses on the land, and watching Steve brings up all the feelings he has put aside in the name of fame.

As Steve and Wilson find their mutual attraction leading into a relationship, both men find their past rising up to block their future together. Steve’s father and his followers find him, threatening to pull him away from the home and people he had come to love unless he can stand up to them. Wilson too must make some decisions. He has stayed closeted all these years in fear of losing his fan base and his band. But now he could lose Steve, who won’t be someone’s dirty little secret. Can both men find the strength they need and finally come home to love?

It had been a while since I had read one of Andrew Grey’s books and for the life of me I can’t figure out why I have let this terrific writer’s recent books go unread. I loved A Foreign Range, which is the fourth book in this series, and will now go running back to start at the beginning. But if you are like me and haven’t read the previous books, don’t worry, it isn’t necessary to read those in order to love this one. All the wonderful elements I associate with Mr. Grey’s writing is here. Real characters, locations described with great feeling and depth, and emotional turning points in peoples lives dealt with sensitivity and warmth.

Wilson Edwards and Steve Peterson are two great main characters whose disparate lifestyles highlight their superficial differences while their true natures and similar values pull them together. Mr. Grey does a wonderful job with this dichotomy of status while he is endearing Wilson and Chris to us in scene after heartbreaking scene. Both men seemed so real to me from the very beginning, and their emotional rollercoaster ride to a shared home and love went straight into my heart. Andrew Grey has a deft touch with creating layered, multidimensional characters and Steven and Wilson are prime examples. Secondary characters also stand up to close scrutiny. I loved Maria, Wilson’s housekeeper and her daughter, Alicia, is an adorable young character capable of giving the viewer a change in viewpoint of the events and relationships. Howard, Wilson’s friend and manager, could have easily stayed a one-note villain he appears to be at the beginning of the story but the author shows us that Howard is real person and that his actions, however flawed, are those of a friend and agent who wants the best for Willy the star if not for Wilson the person.

And then there is the setting, Wyoming’s wide open spaces that come complete with tornados as it does with the peace, quiet and sounds of nature that speak to your soul and replenish it. I understood those passages even though it has been years since I set foot on Wyoming soil. Andrew Grey really gets it and then writes it in a manner that lets the reader feel it as well, even if they have never been there.

So, yes, I loved this book. I will go back and now read the others in the series, but no matter what I find there, A Foreign Range will always have a space in my heart. Pick this one up, I think you will find that you will feel the same.

THE RANGE STORIES

A Shared Range

A Troubled Range

An Unsettled Range

A Foreign Range

Cover. Cover Artist is Reese Dante who hits all my buttons with this one. Gorgeous men, palomino horse and beautiful colors. Sigh. Loved this!

Three Fates by Andrew Grey, Mary Calmes and Amy Lane

Rating: 5 stars

The Fates sit, spin and weave the fabric of all human life. Some people’s threads are guided to the path of true love, some are lucky in love and life while others have their lives or threads cut short, their loves lost , while others still have waited many lifetimes to find their true love again. All human life woven into a tapestry by the Fates with some surprising and unexpected results, even to the Fates themselves. Three Fates weave the stories of three very different couples, from werewolves in Germany to Scandinavians in California.

Fate Delivers A Prince by Andrew Grey gives us a young werewolf with a terrible itch who visits Germany with his family only to run into a prince who takes his royal duties very seriously. Only an intervention by Clotho will put these two on a path to love.

Jump by Mary Calmes brings us into the lives of Egyptian gods and the Fates. When one god loses his mortal lover, he renounces his immortality and dies. Bereft his brother God begs the Fates interference to bring the two together again, no matter how many lives each must live before they find each other again.

Believed You Were Lucky by Amy Lane stars Loki and Thor as the Nordic gods whose meddling changes the patterns of two families, giving one the abundance of luck after stealing the luck from another. When Lief, the lucky bike messenger saves the life of Hacon, who is laboring under a family curse, the Fates have a chance to right a wrong as the Gods look on.

What a remarkable trio of stories by three amazing authors. In each story, the Fates weave out the pattern of peoples lives but things never go as planned, not without a little interference by the weavers themselves. If you have ever heard someone say “well, it must have been fate” and you believed it, then these stories are for you.

In Andrew Grey’s story, he brings the Greek Gods, or rather Clotho , the youngest of the Moirai or Fates to help two young lovers accept their destiny. Clotho is responsible for making decisions, weaving the human story. When it looks like Cheyanne the young were is going to listen to his insecurities and poor self image instead of attending the ball, Clotho sends the appropriate dress and instructions to send him to the ball and a meeting with his prince. Chey is young endearing young man, whose position in the family as the baby plus an undiagnosed skin disease has turned him into someone who craves a library and books over human interaction and society. The descriptions of Chey interactions with his father were so touching and had that authentic feel of a father and son trying to navigate their issues with each other. In fact all the relationships here feel very real whether it is family dynamics or odd man out at the ball. Reading this story gave me the feeling of being there watching it all unfold. Andrew Grey gives us a great sense of setting with his descriptions of the buildings and streets in Munich, Germany combined with terrific characterizations.And the idea that love is an itch you must scratch as well as the balm? Priceless. And so is this gentle tale of love and a forever prince from Andrew Grey.

Anubis and Horus come to life in this touching tale of love lost and centuries later found once more. Haven’t you ever looked at someone and sensed an immediate connection beyond all logic? I did and let the moment and the person go by to my everlasting regret. So this story had a special resonance for me. When Raza and Cassidy meet and seem to know one another, I almost wept so right did Mary Calmes get that feeling, that moment in time. And the character of Cassidy Jane is someone I have never seen from her before. Short, skinny, bald and wearer of bowties! I kept thinking where did you come from? And I loved him! And Raza, seemingly implacable until Fate smacks him in the chest in the form of Cass and they put right what went horribly wrong so long ago. But this is a Mary Calmes story, so you have two lovable and oh so human best friends for our two main characters, Snow Drake and Jamie Kidd. I loved them too. And there is angst, and anxiety towards the end that it will all go wrong again but the Fates have other ideas, and so does Anubis. That climatic scene at the end? Scary and fun? Ah, Mary Calmes, you did it again. This was wonderful. I so love Cass! Can we please see all of these people again?

Our third and last weaver of human destiny is Amy Lane. Here she invokes the Gods of Asgard and the Fates called Verdandi (neccessity), Urdh(fate), and Skuld (being). Here the Fates or Norns, also known as the three sisters, live under the world tree,Yggdrasil, in the realm of Asgard. They weave together the destinies of men and gods as well as the changing laws of the cosmos. Their tapestry was interrupted, the pattern broken when Loki comes and steals a golden thread of luck from one baby and gives it to another. The Fates are horrified at Loki’s act, Skuld takes the broken threads and spit splices them together as best she can. This results in “The family with the thread, they shall be lucky, long-lived, and blessed—mostly. And the family without? They shall be unlucky and doomed—but optimistic and intelligent and resourceful.” A temporary fix until a solution comes around in the form of sons from each family that meet and heal the break in their destinies in a most extraordinary way. Here we meet two of the most remarkable creations, two sons of Norway residing in California, undeniable in their uniqueness and depth of character. Lief, the lucky “Thundergod” of bike messengers glows his way off the pages and into our hearts, his personality larger than can be contained within this story. Hacon Haldor aka Hake took a little longer to creep into my heart. Dark, thin, brooding, he can kill tanks of tropical fish by freezing them and make his mother’s plants turn black as he passes, although he doesn’t really believe he is to blame no matter what his ex boyfriend and brother says. Flanking these remarkable beings are Lethal, a pint sized bit of attitude and energy who is Lief’s best friend, Andre who is Hake’s ex boyfriend and cop, and two unforgettable cats, Loki (of course) and Vanir who have their own roles to play. Element upon element, layer upon layer, the yarn Amy Lane has woven intertwines until we are given a story tremendous in scope, as large as Asgard itself. We have mythological elements, the scary world of bike messengers, marvelous explanations of the meaning of stories and hero figures, knitting, and some of the best cussing phraseology that has come down the pike. I am talking some memorable wall hangings and cross stitch pillows just screaming out to be made with those phrases in mind. And no I cannot repeat them here. You will have to read the story! Uh hem.

I loved these stories. They spoke to my mind and my heart. Clearly these wonderful authors were fated to write them as we are to read them, enjoy them and bring them close. Don’t pass these by, don’t give Loki a reason to make more mischief (like he needs any). Whether you believe in Fate or happenstance, these stories are for you. No quibbles here. Trust me. You’ll love them.

Cover art by Christine Griffin. Love it. What a great sexy cover. Amy Lane says she is the Fate in the hoodie. Of course she is. So who do you think are the other two?

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