Missing Spring, Rejuvenation, and the Week Ahead in Reviews

Sigh. The Vernal Equinox has come and gone, the calendar proclaims its spring without refute for all who look at it but the weather will not cooperate! One day of nice weather is quickly followed by a week of sullen skies, cold winds, and the threat of snow or sleet. And while we have been truly lucky here in the DC metropolitan area in that all the snow and ice have gone around us, others like my daughter in Gainesville received over a foot of the white stuff.

To add insult to injury, I just received my first order of plants from a catalog nursery and each morning as I get my coffee, I see them lined up on the windowsill looking out over the gardens where they will live if this weather ever changes. I swear I can hear them sigh along with me as we gaze over ground as hard as concrete and a bird bath filled with ice crusted water.

All the squirrels and birds wait for me to fill the feeders each day as they are emptying them as quick as I top them off. I am sure they too are wondering if the weather will ever turn clement. Red-tailed Hawks along with their smaller cousin, the Red-shouldered Hawks are wheeling over head in their aerial courtship displays. The black capped chickadees are inspecting the nesting boxes in the backyard so I know that soon the weather will change for the better and this cold, glum seasonal waiting room will be just a memory. But at the moment, it just feels as though we are stuck in a pattern that refuses to let us go.

Sometimes that happens in life, whether we recognize it at the time or not. What does it take for us to see that we are stuck in a rut? When does routine translate into a holding pattern? I am not sure of the answer, only that sometimes, if you are lucky, a change happens to bring about a seasonal changeover in a person’s life and you feel renewed once more. Old hobbies are picked back up, or new interests in life are discovered. Much like the small green sprouts I see trying diligently trying to emerge from the ground in my gardens, your outlook on life changes and things take on a bright, new patina. Other aspects of your life that previously seemed dull and uninteresting are rewarded with a double take as they too reveal a different side of themselves.

I love spring and the changing seasons. It doesn’t matter whether it is the spring slowly occurring outside my window or the one happening deep inside. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate winter too for one is necessary for the other to be truly glorious and appreciated. The plants have needed their rest, some seeds requiring the cold in order to germinate in the spring, and a winter chill will keep some insect populations under control. A cold winter’s night can make the moon and stars glow with a beauty found only during the winter months. But oh, how wonderful the first warm, moisture laden air of spring! It smells of rejuvenation, of new life, and I can’t wait to throw open my window and feel its breath on my face again.

It’s coming and soon. I just need to be patient, along with my plants on the windowsill. Sometimes, that is the hardest thing to do.

Here is the week ahead in reviews:

Monday, March 25: Covet Thy Neighbor by L.A. Witt

Tuesday, March 26: Storm Season by Nessa L. Warin

Wed., March 27: Creature Feature by Poppy Dennison, Mary Calmes

Thursday, March 28: Diversion by Eden Winters

Friday, March 29: The Mayfield Speakeasy by LA Witt

Saturday, March 30: Collusion by Eden Winters

Happy St. Patrick’s Day and the Week Ahead in Reviews

sláinte! Happy St. Patrick’s Day. To start your St. Patrick’s Day, here is some great music from Brogan’s Bar in Ennis, Ireland to get you fired up!

Half Irish, half Scottish, I love this day and today the weather has gone along with the program and seems particularly Irish. Overcast, damp, but not too cold, perfect for marching in parades all over the nation.

I have travelled to Ireland several times and found the leaving of it always comes with a crease in my heart, as though even my cells know that we are saying farewell to home. My first time visiting with my high school daughter was both a delightful and revelatory, her feet seeming to find paths that she should not know where there. My nights were filled of dreams of seals and shores and music carried along the winds over gorse covered hills, studded with stone. And on the penultimate day, Heather and I were hiking in a verdant forest, far away from any others or so we thought. And then we heard it, or heard them more accurately. First the sounds of a waterfall, the roar getting louder the closer we got. But what really made that day magical was the sounds of piping coming from high overhead. We craned our necks to see where it came from and finally we found him, standing on a rock ledge, eyes closed, bagpipes swelling as he lost himself in the music he was playing. We listened for a while and then quietly left, rejuevenated and enriched by a magical experience shared before she left for college. One of my finest memories.

So day I hope for the best for all of you, of laughter shared, of love found and family held close. And as this website is, mostly, devoted to books I will leave you with a quote from an Irish author:

“As a writer, I write to see. If I knew how it would end, I wouldn’t write. It’s a process of discovery.”
– Author John McGahern

Here is the week ahead in book reviews:

Monday, March 18: An Unconventional Union by Scotty Cade

Tuesday, March 19: Never A Hero by Marie Sexton

Wed., March 20: Redemption of the Beast by Amylea Lyn

Thursday, March 21: Family Man by Heidi Cullinan

Friday, March 22: Nights in Canaan by Kendall McKenna

Sat., March 23: Natural Predators by Neil Placky

So, that’s the week. Have a safe and wonderful St. Patrick’s Day. Forego the green beer, that’s gross anyway and have a Irish Manhattan, so much better!

Review: Metal Heart by Meredith Shayne

Rating: 4.25 stars

It is 1990 and a local band called King Phoenix is looking for a lead guitarist to round out the band. When 20 year old Scott King shows up to audition, his music and song writing abilities mesh perfectly with the songs and sounds King Phoenix embodies and they welcome him into the group. Scott also bonds closely with their lead singer, Ash Walker. As the rock band evolves from anonymity to fame, Scott and Ash form first a close friendship which turns into a intense, sexual and romantic relationship that lasts for four years. But unlike his other band members, Scott starts to experience stage fright the bigger the venues they play. His coping mechanisms coupled with some bad friends, start Scott on a downward spiral that Ash and the band are first unaware of, then unable to stop. Pressure mounts until the stresses and rumors of Ash leaving the band, cause Scott to implode, ODing on drugs and alcohol. While Scott lies in a coma in the hospital, the band leaves to go on tour without him. There will be no further communication between the band and Scott until 16 years later.

2011, Berry, Australia. Scott King has worked hard since coming out of rehab to become a successful music producer with his own studio. He’s healthy having been clean for 16 years. Scott likes his quiet life, he lives with his twin sister and his niece, he has friends and ex lovers, and is mostly content. His past is safely secured in a box tucked away in a closet in his bedroom, a box that never gets opened lest the past bring out all the old demons he has fought for so long.

Then he gets a phone call from the past, his old band manager, who wants Scott to play at a benefit gig for King Phoenix’s old sound man who is dying of cancer. The benefit is to raise money for his wife and child and Scott is needed to reunite the band. Prodded by his sister and fond memories of their sound man, Scott agrees against his better judgement. But seeing Ash, who wants to take up where they left off, starts to shatter Scott’s self control as does the stage fright that starts to come back. Can Scott handle the stress of seeing the only man he has ever loved under the same conditions that once broke him? Or will this reunion cost Scott everything he has worked so hard to build, including his sobriety.

I love a good rocker book and Metal Heart is terrific. It is my first introduction to Meredith Shayne and I will eagerly check out the rest of her library. Metal Heart has so much to recommend it, including a gritty look at the effect of drugs and alcohol on someone vulnerable enough to let them take over his life. Actually, I think this element of the novel is perhaps the best part of the story, elevating it even over the lovers reunited.

Shayne starts off by giving us the character of Scott King, a naive 20 year old gay musician. A friend and later band manager drags him to audition for a scruffy local band called King Phoenix. Scott is someone who loses himself in his music, from the compositions he writes to the lead guitar he plays. Shayne gives him a vulnerability that shows the reader how open emotionally Scott can be to all things, including love in the form of Ash Walker. I love this character and we watch him grow and struggle over a 16 year period. For Scott, the best part of his life is the early years with Ash, before the band caught on and became famous. Young, impressionable, artistic and happy, those are his defining years. But the stresses of playing to large crowds, as well as hiding their romance and sexuality from all around them, places such a strain on Scott that the cracks start to appear and fissure, and we feel helpless as we watch it happen. The author then goes on to demonstrates how readily available drugs and alcohol allowed musicians and others to cope with the demands of touring and the pressures of fame. The scenes where associates introduce Scott to drugs rings true as does the resulting addiction that others are helpless to derail.

This leads us into discussions of therapy and rehabilitation as well as the fact that once you are an addict, you are always an addict. Shayne is careful to give us an authentic portrayal of someone in the throes of an addiction to someone living the life of a recovered addict. The temptations to succumb to the pressure to use again are always present and Scott is that addict personified. Really, this is just a remarkable characterization.

The character of Ash Walker is one that, while he didn’t quite work his magic on me, will be a favorite of most readers. A little older, Ash is less vulnerable and more savvy than Scott, even at the beginning. And while we never doubt the love he holds for Scott, he comes across as the most secure and ambitious of the two. He wants fame, and is at ease with the pressures that come with it, unlike Scott. And while there is more to his story than is revealed at the beginning, I still found myself disconnected from this character, especially after he continues to pressure Scott to resume playing while acknowledging that Scott is showing the symptoms of cracking under the stress. I did find it realistic that the band members would be so self involved not to understand what was happening to Scott in the 90’s but for them to consider his actions that of a “jerk” when he is clearly trying to protect himself and his self control in 2011, well I found that to be less feasible, more objectionable than anything else.

This also applies to the “aha” moment of the story which I won’t divulge here. But one thing that is repeatedly brought up is the fact that Scott “disappeared” and that in 16 years Scott never tried to contact the band members. They all knew he was in rehab and a little research would have shown that those in rehabilitation are not to have contact with those that helped enable them. Plus Scott King became a successful music producer, and they couldn’t find him until 16 years later? Again, that just doesn’t seem all that realistic. But those qualms aside, this author delivers a vibrant, enthusiastic portrait of young rockers, love and the price of fame to life in Metal Heart, and then leaves us with the promise that sometimes love is enough, even after 16 years apart. For me, this is still a HFN, instead of HEA and there seems to be plenty of room for another book to see where they take the relationship next as not all obstacles have been cleared away. Either way, this story will please fans of rock n roll stories and bad boys with music to burn as well as those of romantic lovers reunited at long last. All fans will be left satisfied at the end of Metal Heart. Pick it up and happy reading!

Cover art by Anne Cain. Love, love this cover. From the graphics to the color choices and fonts, just perfect.

Review: Venetian Masks by Kim Fielding

Rating: 4.75 stars

Jeff Dawkins is 30 years old. His partner just left him for an older, richer man and now he has to sell his house because he can no longer afford the mortgage. And on top of it all, he has been left with a prepaid, non refundable month long Grand Tour vacation package they planned to take together and that Jeff never wanted to do in the first place. So when his mother, the real estate agent. explained that the least painful way to show and sell his house was if he was away, Jeff grudgingly agreed to go on the vacation as planned and leave everything in her hands.

Jeff has never travelled outside of Sacramento, unless you count one trip to Canada as a kid with his parents. But prepared as always, he has his Kindle, laptop, travel guide and plans well in hand, hoping to make the best of a bad situation. Then he arrives in Venice and all his carefully laid out schedule flies out the window when he meets ex pat Cleve Prieto. Cleve is handsome, tattooed and familiar with the language and city. So when Cleve offers to be his tour guide, for a price of course, Cleve is both suspicious and intrigued enough to say yes. But nothing about Cleve is what he says it is, his story about his background is constantly changing and he appears to have no visible means of support. Still even with all the lies and misleadings, something about Cleve just pulls at Jeff’s heart, drawing him in just as the City of Venice does, making him fall in love twice over.

Then Cleve’s dark past arrives in Venice looking for him and Jeff must decide whether to hold onto his precious control and safe life or throw all caution away to pursue a love he never expected to find across a continent where nothing is familiar or safe, starting with the languages. Venetians like to hide behind masks and Jeff must discover what is under Cleve’s before it is too late for both of them.

What an amazing, lush journey Kim Fielding sets the reader on in Venetian Masks. Everything is here, a sumptuous banquet of travelogue, mystery, self discovery and of course, love. It doesn’t hurt that Fielding sets her story in the city of love, Venice, Italy, a place it appears she is familiar with and loves with a fervor equal to that of a Venetian themself. The city is described in vivid, knowledgeable, and affectionate terms, from the well known Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square) to the less familiar island of “Isola di San Michele” where the main cemetery of Venice is located. We tour the canals via gondola or by the water bus known as vaporetto, and always we feel as thought we are sitting next to Jeff and Cleve instead of reading a tourist pamphlet on local sightseeing trips. I have been to Venice and still Kim Fielding made me see it again through Jeff’s eyes as it works its magic once more on those who visit her. I thought this section of the book perfection. Because it takes time for Jeff to fall in love with the city, so caught up in his breakup and preparedness that it takes a while before he starts to let go and enjoy himself. And I loved it as we are there every step of the way. Every day as Jeff starts out from his timeshare, the desk clerk, Mita, asks him if he has fallen in love with her city yet, and with each new day we listen in as the answer evolves. This is how it starts

Jeff shakes his head. “Well, she’s pretty cute, but I’m not sure if she’s my type.” Mita laughed. “You will see. My city is special and she will claim your heart.”

And you just know it will. You will too.

Into this amazing city, Kim Fielding creates two totally human and endearing characters, Jeff Dawkins and Cleve Prieto for her story of love and self discovery. We meet Jeff at a crossroads in his life, a life that has not been easy by any standards. He has lost his partner of 6 years, he is losing the house he loves because with his partner’s income gone, he can’t afford the mortgage and this trip is pulling him out of his comfort zone of his hometown of Sacramento, California. He is also 30, a crossroads age as well. He likes his life safe and he likes being prepared for any contingency and now Jeff feels like that is gone. Furthermore he is forced to go on a trip he never wanted because it is prepaid and his mother needs him gone to sell his house. Here is a man adrift in every aspect of his life while still trying to assert some measure of control. How can you not love him? Jeff is human, complex, and recognizable in his flaws.

Then he meets Cleve Prieto, his opposite in life. Like Jeff, the reader isn’t sure what to make of Cleve at the beginning. His personality is all shadow and smoke. But soon flashes of uncertainly and pain show through his smooth, casual demeanor, and we are trapped along with Jeff. We are unable to look away from this charismatic man, who might be a liar and thief who still manages to be the love of your life. Fielding did an outstanding job when she created the dichotomy that is Cleve Prieto. We understand immediately why Jeff cannot let him go, no matter what his actions say about him. Cleve is the one person who can make Jeff leave his carefully built zone of safety to reach for something more, and we get that immediately.

I think the plot here is thrilling and actually realistic and when the angst and adrenaline kicks in, it does so with a punch right to the gut as Jeff races across Europe with only a vague destination to go along with the goal in mind. Just sensational. And yet here is where my only quibble also makes an appearance. As Jeff arrives in Zagreb, he is on a mission and knows his time is running out, yet Fielding cannot let go of her inner travel agent. Too much time is spent on describing the gray edifices of Zagreb, bland communist buildings everywhere, local food and cafes, even the facial expressions of the denizens as they go about their everyday business. Jeff is too consumed to have noticed all that, intent on his goal and for the reader it just interrupts the flow of the story unnecessarily where the descriptions of Venice enhanced it. Had the descriptive portions of this section of the book been parred down, then this would have the 5 star rating this story deserves.

Kim Fielding is an author I only recently discovered and she went immediately into the “must read” column because her books are so well written and enjoyable. Venetian Masks is a wonder of a book and I cannot recommend it enough. The same goes for its creator. Make note of both and go get this book. You’ll be thanking me even while spending more money to grab up everything else she has written. But start here and prepare to fall in love with Jeff and Cleve and of course, Venice, the City of Love.

Cover Art by Shobana Appavu. This cover is as gorgeous and sumptuous as the story within. One of the best covers of the month and probably of the year.

Review: Wake Me Up Inside (Mates #1) by Cardeno C

Rating: 4 stars

Zev Hassick has always been attracted to Jonah Marvel from his first memory of the man. They were children and Jonah was a toddler playing in his backyard. It was Zev’s first shifter change and his travels brought him near the Marvel home. But it was toddler Jonah that brought him closer and the child too sensed the connection, coming over to play with the wolf pup. From then on, they were inseparable as time and again, Zev worked to attend the same schools as Jonah, pursuing a relationship with the human that was frowned upon in the shifter world.

Then Jonah goes away to college to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor, putting a strain not only on their relationship but on Zev as a shifter in need of his mate. As the son of the Alpha, Zev was expected to find a female shifter and mate, not only to produced progeny but to remain healthy. But Zev has never been attracted to anyone but Jonah and it wasn’t until high school that he realized that it wasn’t just a deep friendship he had with Jonah but a mate bond. But Jonah’s humanity and college goals stopped Zev from claiming him, also from even telling Jonah that he was a shifter.

Now Jonah is about to graduate from college and its time for all the secrets to come out. But Jonah isn’t well. He feels like he is losing his mind. And his father’s behavior is unsettling. Not all the secrets belong to Zev. Will Zev and Jonah’s relationship be able to withstand the tumultuous events on the horizon or will the secrets of the past tear them apart?

Wake Me Up Inside is the first book in the Mate series from Cardeno C and I can’t wait for more. Cardeno C has a straightforward narrative that delivers the story in a manner that makes it easy for the reader to follow the timeline of Jonah and Zev’s relationship as it grows from childhood to adult. There are just enough flashbacks to explain their history without it overwhelming the story. I found the flashback to Jonah and Zev as toddlers especially endearing. Take a good long look at that marvelous cover and it gives you an accurate picture of a scene in the book. Boy and wolf pup and Jonah and Zev, always together no matter the form Zev is in. How does that idea not draw you in?

It is the characterizations that make or break a story for me and in Zev and Jonah we get two characters to connect with immediately. Zev is wonderful as a shifter with huge expectations placed on his shoulder by his father and pack at an early age, The author lets us watch as Zev shoulders these responsibilities with ingenuity and grace as he ages. He accepts his role as future Alpha and then makes it his own. Zev is just a lovely creation and he was easy to relate to. So was his mate, Jonah who had plenty of problems of his own. His father was full of secrets and extremely overprotective. But his ease at accepting his sexuality and his own depths of compassion and responsibility made him a perfect match for Zev and the reader.

I liked the concept of the shifter society as one held back by its own traditions and isolation. I just wished it had been explored a little more throughly. We get bits and pieces of shifter law and lore but establishing a firmer back story for the Pack governing structure would have helped at the end of the story when all sorts of leaders and governing agents appear at of nowhere. The same lack of back story popped up again towards the end when an unexpected pair bonding becomes an essential part of Zen and Jonah’s story. It is not much of a spoiler to tell you one is a vampire and until that is revealed I had no idea that vampires were part of this universe. I wish that had been folded into the story earlier on so its appearance would have been less startling and made more sense.

My few quibbles aside, this is a terrific addition to the current wolf shifter fiction available. I hope that each new story will give us more information about the Mate universe Cardeno C is creating. I anticipate that Zev and Jonah will make a reappearance and a certain couple gets their story told.

Cover art by Reese Dante. This was a Best Cover of 2012. Just look at the pictures, the composition and its relation to the story within….all perfection. I never tire of looking at it.

Review: Spot Me (Work Out #1) by Andrew Grey

Rating: 4 stars

Dan’s life is in flux and not all of it of his choosing. He just turned 40 and his partner of 10 years up and left him for a much younger man. Luckily for him, he has a best friend Lonnie and his wife supporting him and helping him back into the swing of things, including a workout schedule at their local gym. While working out, he happens to see Gene Harper, a competitive bodybuilder, working out near him and almost collapses in a fit of lust. But his mind tells him that someone that gorgeous would never want a older man like him, and he turns away, not noticing his interest is returned.

Gene Harper is 28. He is a competitive body builder tired of meeting men who can’t see past his physique. When he meets Dan, he recognizes the man’s humor and intellect that just happen to go along someone shy and inherently self effacing. Gene knows what he wants and that is Dan, if only he can get Dan to realize it and see past his insecurities. As they work out together and get to know each other better, the more Dan starts to trust that Gene means exactly what he says. When Dan’s old boyfriend wants back in the relationship, will Dan seek safety in the past or go forward into the future he has always deserved?

At 95 pages, Spot Me is a quick read and a delightful introduction into another Andrew Grey series. This series revolves around a gym and its clientele, in this case a bodybuilder and computer programmer. It is also a case of May December romance as well. Dan is coming out of a long term relationship he is just starting to realize was borderline abusive. His ex so dominated Dan over the stretch of their relationship, including in the bedroom, that he demoralized Dan in more ways than he knew. Dan is full of insecurities, hyper aware of his age and afraid to go forward when romance comes calling. I understood Dan immediately and thought Andrew Grey did a great job in creating this character.

Gene Harper is more of a unknown. He is an IT recruiter as a profession and a competitive body builder by passion and sport. At 28, he has had an unusual amount of success in his sport but dislikes the attention it brings from men who can only see the body and not the man inside. I have little knowledge of the sport of body building but Gene professes that his goal is to become the first Mr. America without using chemical enhancements and that startled me. Aren’t steroids banned from use? So aren’t all bodybuilders supposedly “chemical free” to start with? Yeah, yeah, like the world of professional bike racing, that is not the case but it still struck me as odd. And really if you are a competitive body builder, don’t you expect people to judge you on your body? That just seemed so naive that it lessened my believability in the character. Gene tells Dan some of what it entails to train for his sport and that includes the constant weighing and a rigid diet, but I knew a woman who was into this sport and her regimen was far more intense that what was reported here. Again, perhaps it was the length that determined the lack of accurate bodybuilder requirements, sacrificing them for the romance between the men.

It is hard although not completely impossible to build a believable romance between such diverse characters and Grey comes close to achieving it here. This is a sweet story between two men who deserve a happy ending. The story ended abruptly but I think it is safe to say we will be seeing this couple again throughout the series as that is Andrew Grey’s style. I would like more time to get to know them better and this was a good way to start.

Cover Design by Mara McKennen. Very sexy and speaks to the bodybuilder within.

Here are the books in the order they were written and should be read. The last is a compilation of all the stories in the series.

Spot Me (Work Out, #1)

Pump Me Up (Work Out, #2)

Core Training (Work Out, #3)

Crunch Time (Work Out, #4)

Positive Resistance (Work Out, #5)

Personal Training (Work Out, #6)

Cardio Conditioning (Work Out, #7)

Work Me Out (Work Out, #1-6)

Review: The Last Grand Master (Champion of the Gods #1) by Andrew Q. Gordon

Rating: 4 stars

Grand Master Farrell, the Prince of Haven, is visited by an avatar of his God, Honorus, the first of the Gods. The giant white eagle tells Farrell that a messenger in dire need of his help approaches the Kingdom . The true entity behind this messenger’s request? None other than Honorus’ sister god, Lenore. who is sending her messenger directly to Farrell. Her messenger is the unicorn Nerti and it is the legendary beings, the Muchari who are engaged in a losing fight against the evil wizard Meglar and Farrell is their only hope. But the gods also tell Farrell that his true mate is among those under siege and he must hurry or all will be lost.

Traveling on the back of the unicorn, Farrell enters the battle and meets the mighty immortal Muchari warrior Misceral, the one the Gods have said is his mate. Misceral too has been informed that Farrell is his one true love, something his father, the lord of the Muchari finds distasteful. But their foretold bond must take a backseat to the battle at hand. For the evil wizard Meglar is determined to capture all the Muchari and turn them into invinsible soldiers of evil that will help him conquer the world.

There is only one wizard left in the world powerful enough to fight back against the evil Meglar, and that is Farrell, the Last Grand Master. But Farrell is hiding a powerful secret from all of those around him, one that will either bring him help him succeed in defeating Meglar once and for all or bring about the ruin of everyone and everything he loves.

It is the action, the wild magic wielding military combat/battles sections of this book that really garnered the 4 star rating. From the opening page, Andrew Q. Gordon propels the reader along with Farrell into battle and brings it to life with vivid descriptions and a concisely worded narrative that kept me on the edge of my seat, thrilling at each new magical encounter. The author moves us quickly through each hard fought engagement, delighting us with inventive uses of magic by our young resolute wizard, making us gasp with each near escape from death and destruction, and marvel at the sights and sounds Farrell is encountering during his ferocious battle of the magic wands. There are humongous raptors, unicorns of both sexes who are bonded to our heroes, aged crones and more magical explosions than in a Die Hard movie. How I loved this part of The Last Grand Master, cue “Wild Thing”.

During this opening segment of the novel I also found I liked the manner in which we meet and watch Farrell handle a variety of situations, all stressful and fraught with danger. But, and here is the first quibble, the reader is left wondering about half the time about Farrell’s world and what has happened to it for it to get in such a state. I am not a fan of those books where you must slog through glossary pages of world building minutiae before the story even starts, preferring the author to frame it out during the narrative. But here some of the most basic of exposition seems to be missing and it hurts the reader’s connection to the story. I had to read Dreamspinner Press’ blurb to figure out about the “war that shook the earth,” and the Six gods of Nendor, otherwise I would have been clueless as to some of the most basic facts of this story.

My second quibble would be the characterizations. I loved the Farrell we first meet, The confident, brave young wizard sure of his powers and his ability to see his mission through to the end. But that persona wavers like the image in a fun house mirror throughout the story. Sometimes he is so unsure of himself he flees down hallways, or misjudge conversations and while that may make another character more vulnerable and real, here the manner in which these character fluctuations happen to Farrell just serve to bemuse the reader and make us wonder what happened to the young man we fell in love with at the beginning of the story. Each time he turns a corridor in the castle, it seems that we see yet another Farrell and such uneven character building just drags the story and the rating down with it. Even his soulmate, the legendary immortal Misceral just comes across as the sweet boy down the hall. Honestly, there is not much about him to make us believe in either their bond or his mythic attributes. In fact most of the characters we meet, while not exactly one dimensional, have a certain blandness about them that just doesn’t measure up to the sensational descriptions of battles, and cities under siege, and magical enchantments gone awry. That is where this author and this novel excels.

Gordon’s ability to make us believe in this world, even populated with less than notable characters, elevates this fantasy story up from the mundane and into the marvelous. Even his small touches such as the endless pockets on Farrell’s clothing where Farrell can retrieve his sword or anything else for that matter. I want those. Redesigning your quarters with a flick of a wand instead of months of renovations? Yep, want that too. I loved the spells and artifacts used for conjuring, the large white eagles and peregrine falcons. When this story goes to battle, then it really soars along with the unicorns with all the energy and magical flare one could hope for (and then sags when the participants are at rest). So even with all the unevenness I see within, this book still rates 4 stars because when it gets going, it is great and for now that is enough for me.

Cover art by Paul Richmond. It really suits the book, great job.

Review: Tell Me It’s Real by T.J. Klune

Rating: 5 stars

It’s Paul Auster’s 30th birthday and he’s spending it pretty much like he does every night, waiting for his best friend, Helena Handbasket the drag queen to go on stage and perform. Sure he could be down in the crowd of gorgeous gay boys but he knows that he is just not their type or anyone’s type. Paul looks at the mirror and sees a slightly pudgy, totally gay, shy, boring guy. Certainly not the type to turn heads or break hearts. He lives in Tuscon where he has a house, his best friend Sandy aka Helena Handbasket, a two legged dog named Wheels, and his two devoted and slightly insane parents. His grandmother loves him, her homophobic parrot, Johnny Depp doesn’t. That’s pretty much it and then it all changed in one night just as it did for his parents.

His name is Vince Taylor and he is everything every good gay boy dreams will someday come and drag him off to Happily Ever Afterland. He’s tall, gorgeous, sex on two legs and everyone is trying to date him, have sex with him or just stand next to him. And for some reason Vince wants to go out with Paul. Paul just doesn’t get it, and keeps saying no in every way possible even though his heart, best friend and certain appendages tell him he’s crazy. Then Paul puts Vince in the hospital after his car and Vince’s bike have their own run in of sorts and he must take Vince home to watch over him after he is released from the hospital. Just getting to know Vince better brings them closer and hope starts to spring up inside Paul that maybe, just this once, love just like his parents and others have can be theirs, that just once it’s all real.

Ok first let’s start with a Public Service Announcement:

If you suffer from chronic COPD, Asthma, or any other pulmonary thingy that makes you pass out when you heave with laughter, make sure you have your inhalers and a close friend handy before you start the first chapter . And then keep them beside you and for every chapter after that until the book is finished. Better yet, have a BFF read it aloud for you. That way when you pass out, help in available to revive you so you can continue on. Or they can explain the circumstances to the EMTs. I am just saying.

End Public Service Announcement.

Now to the review. From “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.” or perhaps “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.” , these opening sentences will forever stay in your hearts and memories, evoking the books that made them famous. Add to that list (ok maybe way down on the list) the following sentence:

“JUST so you know, I don’t have a gargantuan penis.”

And immediately you know you are in the presence of a unique, and definitely off kilter mind. That mind happens to belong to Paul Auster, the outrageous, unforgettable, and wholly vulnerable character created by T.J. Klune for Tell Me It’s Real. I will tell you right now I don’t ever remember laughing so much or so hard ever when reading a book and I have read a ton of books. Paul Auster is just such an amazing character but he needs to come with warnings.

Warning One. Paul’s inner voice, and ok , his outer voice too. It is a constant stream of thoughts strung together in an order that nature might not approve of. One subject is started on and then Paul’s inner voice hijacks that subject, twists it, turns it, making balloon animals out of it and somehow you end up somewhere totally unexpected and ahem, lively. This will take some getting use to. Please gather your patience, or whatever you need to and stay with it until his unique narrative winds its way into your heart. It will get there. It took me a couple of chapters even while laughing away to really get into his mind and heart but once there, I was hooked and stayed hooked.

Paul Auster is an endearing man. I love him. I want everyone else to love him too. T.J. Klune has done a marvelous job with this book because he gifts us not only with Paul Auster but with his entire family, his best friend Sandy, aka the fabulous and fierce Helena Handbasket, his dog Wheels (and can I say that dog almost wheeled away with his parts of the story), his parents, grandmother, well everybody. And then there is Vince Taylor. I won’t go into Vince’s characteristics, I think that would almost spoil the joy of meeting him in the story. From his own offbeat look at life to his generous heart, Vince will stay with you on the same deep level that connects you to Paul. Each person you will meet within these pages has such a distinctive and down right idiosyncratic voice that you never lose track of any individual or their part in this story. You can’t, they are all unforgettable and human. What a magnificent job the author has done in creating this cast of characters.

Warning Two, an endearing storyline you won’t want to end except when you want to throttle Paul. Is there a plot amongst all these denizens of Tuscon’s quirky underbelly? Sure boy meets boy, boy doesn’t believe he is good enough but the other boy does, boys get together eventually and live happily ever after. T. J. Klune takes this simple storyline we have read before and elevates it with humor, compassion, and love, all the while making us giddy because we are oxygen deprived from the laugher or sometimes its tears. This story is full of heart as it addresses the challenges that come from meeting all life can throw at you and still be standing looking forward to the future, and if you are lucky someone is standing there with you.

Warning Three. You will start spending time texting things like sex face >_< or blow job face *o* or making up your own. Maybe blowjob face for varying sizes, you know *o*, *O*. Really, it’s exasperating because you can’t stop.

Warning Four. See Public Service Announcement. No, seriously, I thought I was going to need oxygen. Early on there’s this part where Paul starts to choke on a piece of lettuce…..nope I will let you read that one for your self. In fact, hardly any of this book can be safely quoted in a family friendly media or Amazon, well I am sure you are getting the picture.

Are there real Paul Austers out there? I believe so and T.J. Klune has so beautifully given them a voice here. For every gym queen there are those happily in love with their Prius, their carbs and their lower key lifestyle. But then T. J. Klune thinks it’s ok to be a gym bunny too because when it comes down to it, it is still the inside of a person, their true nature that counts. Tell Me It’s Real should speak to everyone who reads it because it speaks to our vulnerabilities, to our ability to connect with others, including that one person who just might be the love of your life if only you give them the chance.

Pick up this book, give Paul Auster a chance to work his titled, off center magic on you. You won’t be sorry. And just in case, get the phone, friend and oxygen handy. You will need them. More please, Mr. Klune.

Cover art by Reese Dante is absolute perfection. I love it, love the story, they are just irresistible in every way.

Sunday Morning Sports Commentary in Maryland and the Week in Reviews

Sports are on my mind this morning, so bear with me. Lots of things going on…..Maryland beat Duke in what will probably be their last matchup because of the change in divisions and money grab. So yeay for Maryland and boo for Maryland. And it looks like no students were beaten by Prince Georges police in last night’s celebration, so good for that! A step forward at any rate.

The boys of summer are back in spring training and I have high hopes for the Nationals this year. Davey Johnson is hanging in there for one more year before he retires and all the boys look healthy and in great shape. Go Nats!

The Caps are playing again as is the rest of the NHL. About time, nuf said. Now if they could just consistently get it together I would be beside the moon. But I am still rocking the red! Go Caps!

The debate on whether the Redskins should keep its racist name is getting louder but as long as Snyder remains as owner I don’t see any changes coming. Consider who he is and the actions he has taken to date. Sued old ladies who were long term fans, sued a free newspaper, cut down a gazillion trees against the law along the Potomac to improve his view from his home (never mind the bald eagles there), and generally behaves in almost every instance like a wealthy overindulged brat (in my opinion, lawsuits, people) who knew he could get away with anything and does. If you have time to waste, run over to the Skin’s website and look at the statements he made as to why the racist name couldn’t be changed. Yet he sued a free news paper over saying it had called him a Jewish slur. No it hadn’t but he is brazen enough to use the charge when it suits him, The bad karma this team is wracking up should see them in bottom of the league for quite some time to come. RGIII, look around for another team to play for! The smell around the Skins is rank and getting worse.

In the saddest news out of South Africa, a man, Oscar Pistorius – the Blade Runner has been arrested and charged with premeditated murder. Already the bloggers and commentators are out in force trying to put their spin on this tragedy. Was it the instant fame and fortune, a man brought down by hubris? Or was it his real nature that had been hidden all along. Perhaps we will never know but you can be sure we will be reading about it for years to come. A very sad end for a remarkable tale of endurance and achievement.

We are still flipping back and forth here weather wise, spring one day, winter the next, and then literally back to spring within hours, so the reviews are along the same lines, all over the place. Several brand new releases, some older books I am just getting to with the only thing that ties them together is the high ratings:

Monday, Feb. 18: Where Nerves End by L.A. Witt

Tuesday, Feb. 19: Tell Me It’s Real by T.J. Klune

Wed., Feb.20: The Family: Liam by Katey Hawthorne

Thursday, Feb. 21: A Volatile Range by Andrew Grey

Friday, Feb. 22: Lessons in Trust by Charlie Cochrane

Saturday, Feb. 23: Upcoming Author Spotlights

So there you have it. A gut busting comedy, vampires, cowboys, Cambridge dons, and the first Tucker Springs novel. All great and none of them should be missed. And remember to send me your questions that you would love to ask an author! See you all here on Monday.

Review: The God Hunters (The God Hunters #1) by Mark Reed

Rating: 2.75 stars

David Ruger has a nice if not exactly exciting life. He has a job as a car mechanic, a nice house, two dogs, and a sometime boyfriend named Wyler. Wyler is the most uncertain part of David’s life. Wyler will appear suddenly, baggage in hand, stay for a while and then disappear once more. David is not quite sure what Wyler does exactly but he’s not going to push the issue because he is happy with the status quo. Then one night, Wyler starts to talk of things and places he has been that are so fantastic, so unbelievable that David fears for his “little buddy’s” sanity. Until Wyler says he can take David with him to see these things for himself, specifically a destination called the Expanse, an alien universe that is Wyler’s home.

David thinks Wyler is joking, until Wyler tells him that change is coming to the Expanse and David’s part in that change has been foreseen by someone close to Wyler. A half joking “seeing is believing” comment later, and David is standing with Wyler on an alien world, far away from home and trouble is indeed on the way. Wyler hasn’t been exactly truthful to David. Wyler is a shifter, able to shift himself and others, including humans from universe to universe. Long ago, the Expanse underwent a horrific war when a group of shifters known as The God Hunters and the old gods fought. Now it seems the God Hunters are plotting again, so are the old Gods and David is smack in the middle of things.

There are floating cities to traverse, a trio of brothers to meet and winged demons to fight before David can even begin to understand his place in the Expanse and uncover the real reason everyone is hunting him. But David must hurry because some of those hunters don’t just want to capture David, they want him dead.

Let’s start with something positive, shall we? There is a marvelous graphic novel in here somewhere, buried under layer after layer of repetitious and nap inducing verbiage. And that’s a shame because I think the author has a terrific plot and some really endearing characters in The God Hunters. All Mark Reed needed, in my opinion, is someone to reign him in and edit, edit, edit. But starting with the Prologue, the author is clearly in love with words and descriptions, so much so that once they start flowing, he seems unable to stop.

The author takes us from a god’s viewpoint of the cosmos to our first meeting with David and Wyler, who David calls his “little buddy”. Shades of the Skipper and Gilligan! And how appropriate for someone soon to be marooned in an alien universe. David Ruger is a somewhat bland character, leading a bland little life. Wyler is only moderately more interesting. So it is very hard to connect with these two people who don’t seem all that connected with each other. I was hoping for more “sparks” as the location changed from St. Louis, Missouri to the Expanse but what followed was description after description of the places they were walking through. Dull, vast, sleep inducing descriptions, really, it was so monotone a narrative that I had to read it in spurts, or not go forward at all.

It didn’t begin to get mildly interesting until two thirds of the way through the 308 pages when the hunt for David got a little exciting. I wish I could tell you that the other characters were better realized or at least more memorable than the main creations but even now as I try to remember who and which of the three brothers David meets and hooks up with, nothing springs to mind. No characters, nothing. There is a Bryan, a Doug and James but all have been created along the same lines (the brother thing not withstanding) as to make them interchangeable. The final four chapters brings a sense of drama and excitement missing from all the previous chapters when our heroes find themselves under fire and in danger for their lives. And while once again we have far too many words for the actions taking place, at least the narrative here is more streamlined and moves the plot forward swiftly enough to grab at the reader’s attention and make us wonder why the author waited until the end to make things exciting. Because by that time, most readers have disappeared, vanquished by a dense narrative and a flood of blandness.

What is amazing here is Mark Reed’s artwork. He has created a website for this series/book The God Hunters where he displays his notes and artwork for the series. And it is within the art that the magic of The God Hunters finally comes to life. The digital scenes Reed creates for his book are rich in color and dimension. They leap off the page with all the drama and mystery the written story is lacking. As I said, with a ruthless editor, a pared down version of The God Hunters, combined with these illustration would make a graphic novel that would be hard to beat. The drawings alone almost gave this story a 3 rating but in the end, the novel’s dense, mind numbing narrative defeats itself and the reader. What a shame.

Cover Art by Brooke Albrecht. The artwork is beautiful. I just wished the novel deserved it.

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