Tag: m/m fiction

Review: Mighty Casey by Willa Okati

Rating:  5 stars out of 5

Mighty Casey coverCasey Sprague has a job he adores as a wedding planner and a wonderful committed relationship with a man he loves deeply, Nate Rule. Casey knows the man he loves is a man of many passions, and while Casey may take the top spot in Nate’s life, baseball comes in a very close second.  Casey has never shared Nate’s love of baseball, primarily due to his name and a certain much quoted poem about the Mudville Nine.  Casey has long come to terms with the irony that while Casey may plan others weddings, he will not be planning his own.  Nate has a thing about getting married and Casey has come to accept that won’t be in their future, after all relationships are all about compromise and Nate has accepted Casey’s feelings towards baseball.  Or so Casey thought.

When Casey loses a strip poker bet to Nate, his forfeit is to spend the day watching Nate’s team play a day of tournament games, all in the name of charity.  But Nate has an ulterior motive for getting Casey to the game and as the day wears on and the games continue, surprises await both Nate and Casey, ones that will have lasting impact on them and their relationship.

This is the reason why I love Willa Okati.  She has the ability to write long, angst filled stories of complicated men and their journey to love, slightly dark and full of heartbreak.  And then Okati can write a story like Mighty Casey. I loved Mighty Casey.  I finished it (it’s not long) and turned around and read it again. Why?  Because it’s joyous, it’s fun, and it’s so full of life and the best things about being in a loving committed relationship, that’s why. When I picked it up, I thought cute premise and couldn’t wait to see what Willa Okati did with it.  But oh, what a mighty swing and home run the author accomplished here (yes, expect baseball metaphors to follow).

First off the bat is Okati’s characters.  I loved each and every one, not just the main characters of Casey and Nate, but the rest of the team like Mimi (a star in her own right) and Kenneth, and the various players from the other teams. Casey and Nate’s each are such realistic characters.  They talk and feel like a couple who has been together for years and find themselves even more deeply in love after having made the necessary adjustments and compromises a long term relationship requires.  You can feel the mutual respect and love that flows between them.  Not once was there a missed ball by the author in terms of their personalities and the depth of their commitment.  Obviously, Okati knows a thing or two about relationships and that knowledge underlies every scene and dialog between them.  Just a perfect pitch every time.  And the rest of the team? As I already mentioned, you couldn’t ask for a better line up, especially Mimi.  Oh, she made a place in my heart right from the start.  Sparkly, outsized personality, she is everywhere in the story, running in the outfield, making all the necessary plays that Nate asks from her (and not all of them include the game).  Trust me, this is an all star line up.

Second at bat is the plot.  At first glance, just a normal romcom situation (think minor league) but Okati takes it and elevates it into the owner’s box seats and beyond.  She gives us one day in the life of Casey and Nate, but a very important one.  She starts it off as the alarm goes off and carries us through to the end of the day and the last of the charity tournaments games.  I won’t give away any spoilers but as Casey sits and watches Nate’s team progress through day, winning game after game, we see, through his interaction with Nate, Nate’s team, and the other players from competing teams, just how well these two are matched. We see the joy and contentment they find with each other, the sizzle and desire that bubbles just under the surface, and the manner in which they can still surprise each other after all the years together.  You will find yourself laughing out loud, pleased as can be, as the day and the tournament unfolds before you.  And to fully bring you to the edge of your seat in anticipation, Okati makes sure you (and Casey) know that Nate has something special planned for the end of the day.  I thought I had it figured out, but the author gave me another little surprise here too that I loved.  Great job, great game plan, perfect follow through, and another runner is on the base.

Third at bat? The heat between Casey and Nate.  They love each other and are so familiar with each other’s bodies and sexual desires.  In one funny and hot scene after another, Casey and Nate have little sexy interludes between games that speak of their love, their desire and their knowledge of each other.  It is a great way to demonstrate the authenticity of their relationship and heat up the story at the same time.  Now all these  bases are loaded.

And here comes the home run to bring everyone over home plate and win the game.  That would be the Epilogue.  It’s the final resolution and it finishes off the story with all the glee, all the triumph, and gratification that comes from seeing a perfect game and acknowledging just how special they are.  That is Mighty Casey all together.  A perfect game of a novella.  I cannot recommend this story enough.  Grab it up, along with some Caramel Poppernutter Crunch, and settle in for a pleasure filled day of baseball and love.

Cover Artist: Mina Carter.  It’s a fun cover but the models are far too young for the men in the story. Surely there are older models out there that could fit the bill and make the cover more in tune with the story.  Plus where is the Poppernutter Crunch? Sigh.

Book Details:

Novella, ebook

Published May 28th 2013 by Loose-ID
ISBN139781623003180
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://www.willaokati.com/

Review: Fennel and Forgiveness by Ari McKay

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Fennel And Forgiveness coverMaitre’d Darius Cooper of the renown Montgomery House has his work cut out for him this week.  Rhys Montgomery, owner of Montgomery House,  has decided to allow the Gourmet Network to use the restaurant for an episode of a reality show, while still keeping it open for business.  That means  Darius has to keep things running smooth and ensure that their famous and famously volatile chef, Executive Chef Stephen Pierce, is kept happy, no small feat.  But things start to go wrong from the beginning.  The bride picked out by the Gourmet Network turns into bridezilla, and the man in charge of the reality show shoot?  None other than Max Boyd, the only man Dare ever loved and the man who broke his heart seven years past.

Max Boyd has had seven years to grow up.  He left Darius Cooper to pursue his career, not ready to settle down to one man and a long term relationship.  But those years apart have seen Max mature and realize that he had left the only man for him behind in his pursuit of life as a producer.  Now Max wants Dare back but as Dare has made clear, Dare doesn’t trust him and wants nothing to do with Max.

With Chef Stephen Pierce threatening the bride, the owner threatening to toss them out , and Dare asking him to leave, how will Max pull off the production shoot  of Southern Wedding Belles and get his (and Dare’s) second chance at love?  Sometimes all it takes is a little fennel and forgiveness.

I love a plot where former lovers reunite for a second chance at love, that always gets to me.  So no surprise that the book description was really the thing that drew me to this story in the first place. I found this to be a sweet story but somehow just short of satisfying and it is hard to put my finger on exactly what component is the problem.

McKay has given us a wonderful location and setting for the story.  Montgomery House is a famous, historic restaurant in Charleston, SC.  and in it McKay has placed a renown chef with a huge ego and volatile attitude to match his reputation, an owner immensely proud of his restaurant and his restoration work and a Maitre’d equipped to handle both men and all other challenges except the one closest to his own  heart.  So far, great.  I loved them, the restaurant, and even the silly reality show brought into the mixture.  Southern Wedding Belles.  Someone has been watching a lot of TLC to get that one so right.

I think my problem is with the character of Max Boyd, the tv producer and the man who devastated Darius Cooper when he left him all those years ago.  I think the back story created for Max is a pretty realistic one.  Max was someone too young to handle a long term relationship with an older man who wanted to settle down.  Instead Max wanted to concentrate on his career, again understandable.  But the older Max still seems a little immature in my opinion.  Here is Max, after he has seen Darius again for the first time in seven years:

Looking back, he had to place the blame for their break-up squarely on his own shoulders. He’d panicked when Darius had asked him to move in, because at the time, he’d been more interested in climbing his career ladder than in settling down with one man yet. Ten years his senior, Darius was as solid as he was intense, and he’d wanted a commitment with a capital “C”, no holds barred and no going back. Unfortunately, Max was too immature and self-absorbed at the time to deal with the tougher aspects of sustaining a relationship and to compromise as much as he needed to. Max hadn’t been able to love Dare the way he deserved back then, but age and experience had helped Max understand that relationships required more than romance and sex; respect and a mutual commitment to making it last were vital.

The damnable thing was that he hadn’t been able to find anyone he wanted to commit to since then. He kept comparing his prospective partners to Dare, and they all fell far short of the mark.

So Max hasn’t found anyone as good as Dare so far?  And all this time, Max never looked up his former partner? Uh, no.  While McKay made me believe in Darius’ pain and the devastation Max inflicted upon his self image and ability to trust, I never really believed that Max loved Darius all that time they were apart.  I think it is that lack of belief in Max and Darius’s love that leaves this story foundering a bit.  It is sweet but not particularly memorable (or believable).

Also, while there is some discussion about them not getting back together immediately because of the pain inflicted, of course it happens almost immediately within the duration of the production shoot (after saying it would take time). Sigh.  I could see that a longer version might have made for a more realistic, better imagined reconciliation than the one that occurred within this story.  But as it is, it is too saccharine and far too unrealistic to be believed.

However, there is a lot to like here as well.  Mostly I loved Chef Stephen Pierce and Stephen’s PA Robert Logan.  Arrogant, snarky, and so much fun, they were the most interesting and absorbing characters in the story.  It was their story I wanted to read about, not Dare’s (disliked that nickname) and Max’s.  Ari McKay (a pen name for two people coauthoring as Ari McKay) has written the owner Rhys Montgomery’s story in Bay Leaves and Bachelors.  So I can only hope that Stephen’s story will be written as well.  That one I can’t wait for.

This is a sweet story, enjoyable and short at 102 pages.  It is just not very deep and multi dimensional but that fine, not every romance has to be.  I think most people will enjoy Max and Darius’ relationship.  I know they will love Montgomery House and the rest of the characters involved there.  I certainly did and look forward to more in this series.

Cover illustration by BS Clay.  Models are cute but Darius is 40, where is the older man in this picture?

ebook, 102 pages
Published May 8th 2013 by Torquere Press
ISBN
161040470X (ISBN13: 9781610404709)
edition language

Review: Flawless (Irresistible Attraction #4) by Cat Grant

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

Flawless coverSteve Campbell’s life has just hit a few speed bumps now that he has gotten a little older.  His best friend and coworker has found true love, and now has little time to spend with Steve.  They are also arguing about a new client and the direction a job should take.  On top of that, Steve is frustrated by comparing his life to that of Connor’s new status as a happy man in love.  Steve had long repressed his feelings for Connor, preferring to stay safely in the “straight” category until it was too late and Connor had met someone else.  Steve realizes that his life is stuck on hold but is unsure how to move on, romantically and sexually.

Then Steve’s Ferrari refuses to start up in the parking lot outside his gym, and Gil Alvarez comes to his rescue. Gil Alvarez has not had an easy life. He has struggling through childhood and rejected by his family for a body that didn’t match who he was inside. A skilled driver and mechanicm Gil Alvarez now owns his own body shop but is struggling to make it a success.  With all the complications he is currently dealing with, a white, rich, clueless guy is not what he needs in his life.

But one date and steamy night later and both Gil and Steve realize their lives have changed forever.  Steve wants a committed long term relationship and thinks Gil is the one man for him, if he could just stop putting his foot in his mouth whenever the other man is near.  For Gil, the obstacles are much greater. Gil’s ex has reentered Gil’s life, and not in a good way.  Plus Gil harbors a secret that he fears will turn Steve away once it is revealed. Can Gil and Steve pull down the barriers between them and have the life and relationship both men crave or will they let love slip away?

Flawless is the fourth book in the Irresistible Attraction series but the first one I have read.  Based on the high quality of the story I just read, I know I will be running back to grab up the rest of the books in the series.  At 91 pages, it might seem a quick read but don’t let that short length fool you into thinking that it will be short on characterization and plot depth.  Quite the contrary.  From a slightly fluffy “boy meets boy” romcom meet cute start, the story then veers into a more complicated, and realistic tale of self-actualization as well as finding the courage to stand up for who you are as well as who you love.  I have to admit I thought Steve Campbell pretty funny from a number of angles as well as being a realistic representation of a man who has been more caught up in his career than his personal life.  Steve is someone not at ease in a casual conversation, particularly when he is talking to someone he is attracted to.  Being brilliant in a lab does not translate necessarily to one’s personal life.  Steve is awkward and just finding out who he is late in life, a wonderful characterization.

Gil, on the other hand, is someone Cat Grant has imbued with a number of personality traits more in line with someone who has had to pull himself up from a poor start to achieve his goals, yet Gil has more a feeling for community and history than Steve does.  And there are further, more fundamental issues here that are only hinted at in the book blurb from Riptide Publishing.  I really don’t want to get into that here, mostly because how it is brought to  Steve’s and therefore the reader’s attention is so beautifully done that I would hate to spoil it for you all.

At the core of this love story is the fundamental idea of self, of one’s true nature.  For Steve, it is something he has only recently acknowledged after having repressed feelings towards men all his life.  It has cost him Connor and now he wants to come out but doesn’t know how.  Gil is Steve’s opposite.  Gil has always known he is a man but the consequences of that knowledge is something he is still having to deal with.  Cat Grant does a wonderful job with this aspect of the story, treating it realistically and with great sensitivity.  Gil Alvarez is a terrific character, one who captured my sympathies and compassion immediately, if nothing else but for the manner in which Gil was reaching for his goals, no matter the obstacles in his path.

I will admit that the length of the book does come into play.  At 91 pages, Steve and Gil get a HFN rather than a HEA, there just is not enough time for them to achieve a deeper relationship.  And that is precisely what this story needs in my opinion, a little longer peak into their relationship down the line to see how they adjusted to commitment and each other’s life.  But as it is, I highly recommend Flawless, it is a great read and one that shouldn’t be missed.

Here are the other books in the Irresistible Attraction series.  They can be read as stand alone stories.

Priceless (Irresistible Attraction #1)

Doubtless( Irresistible Attraction #2)

Fearless (Irresistible Attraction #3)

Flawless (Irresistible Attraction #4)

Book Details:

ebook, 91 pages
Published April 22nd 2013 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN 1626490120 (ISBN13: 9781626490123)
urlhttp://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/flawless
seriesIrresistitableAttraction

Cover Art by LC Chase who did a great job with the models and of course that cherry red Ferrari.

Review: Aria of the Eclipse by Vivien Dean

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Aria of the Eclipse coverFor over 20 years Dek has lived in captivity, caged like the songbird he is presumed to be.  Captured and sold to various buyers since the age of 13, Dek has long given up trying to speak and now the only sounds he makes are songs, music that he is prized for.  His owners call him an “it”, and treat him as a highly expensive and desired pet.  His current owner, the Regent, houses him in a gilded cage, brought out to sing to his guests or for his own amusement.  Now the planet Ymoro and its ruler, the Regent prepare for a momentous occasion, one that has not happened in their lifetime, a total solar eclipse.  And Dek’s life is about to change forever.

Tylen Merodine and his older brother Dourack have been invited by the Regent to observe the solar eclipse in the special solarium built for this incredible event.  Tylen has just come to age and unlike his more conservative and stolid older brother, is excited by all the sights and sounds around him.  Then he hears music so painfully beautiful it moves him to tears. Its source astonishes him.  A slender alien singing from a golden cage in the Regent’s quarters, intelligent dark eyes that watch his every movement, pulling Tylen forward towards him.  The Regent tells him it is an Astinian songbird, but Tylen looks at Dek and knows that is wrong, Dek is sentient and wrongfully caged.  When Tylen breaks all the rules and sneaks into the room that holds Dek’s cage at night, and Dek speaks to him , Tylen knows he has to do something but what?

As the eclipse draws closer, all becomes chaos around Dek and Tylen. As events threaten to pull them forever apart, can Dek and Tylen find a way to break Dek out of his cage into a future where they can be together?

I loved Aria of the Eclipse.  Vivien Dean’s incredible imagination and vivid descriptions brings to life an alien unlike any I have met before.  Dek and his race of Astinians captured my heart and mind immediately from the opening paragraphs:

As much as I crave my freedom, I’ve lived so much of my life in a cage that I’m not sure what I’d do with it once it was mine. I have fantasies of mocking those men who think me some stupid animal, but sometimes, when the night is deep and I’m curtained away from any glimmer of civilization, I wonder if I’m becoming what I fear most, if the lack of true companionship is molding me into the creature they profess me to be.

These are my nightmares. These are what force my hand when my cage is on display and I’m instructed to sing. I will not succumb to complacency, no matter how impossible my circumstances seem.

I cannot.

The powerful emotions that ring out from Dek imprisoned in his cage bring the reader intimately into his mindset and we are ensnared along with him.  Dean has created a magical, shadowy world as Dek’s birthplace.  As Dek starts to relay his history to Tylen, we get glimpses of Astinia, filled with his species that migrate, and sing and fly across the waters.  A sentence here and there, they only serve to stimulate our own imaginations to fill in the blanks she has so artfully left for us.  Instead of missing a backstory, Dean has given the reader a wealth of clues from which we can extrapolate a world far more extraordinary than might have been created by words.  Dek is as beautifully crafted, and as imaginative an alien as I have come across.  Just the manner in which Dek creates his music is spellbinding, just as his history is heartbreaking.

This story is told from two points of view in alternating sections, that of Dek and Tylen,an endearing exuberant young man.  While the transition between povs is not always smooth as it should be, the power of the narrative and the reader’s desire to know Dek’s future drives the story forward, along with the author’s lovely way with the language and descriptions of the events unfolding.  Here we listen to Dek as he “sings” his music:

I was lost in the music when the doors swung open and Johaf, the porter, announced the Regent’s first guests. Their approaching footsteps added an unwanted bass to the music, so I closed my eyes and concentrated inward, on the way I tipped and tilted my hands to stir the webbing into the proper notes, on the vibrations in my vocal folds as I sang the lower line. Like most of my songs, this had no words, nothing to distract from the purity of the music. Everyone could understand. Everyone could appreciate.

Everyone listened.

From that passage, we start to get an understanding of some of Dek’s physiology but we don’t really see him until Tylen does, then it all comes together.  This method both stirs our  imagination, and leaves us satisfied with substance.  I won’t spoil the surprise of Dek but leave that to this marvelous story.

Everything works here, from the settings to the characterizations.  But even more amazing is the “aha” moment at the end with the eclipse and Dek as its stars.  I was not prepared for the inspired idea that culminates the story, almost visionary.  It delights me each time I think about it. So too is the ending.  There are two issues for me where I had to suspend that part of me that asks down to earth questions.  One would be how does someone so humanoid be mistaken for a non-sentient being for over 20 years.  The other cannot be asked without giving away a major spoiler for the story.  But my love for Vivien Dean’s tale outweigh such pragmatic issues.

If you love science fiction, this story is for you.  If you love music, all aspects of music, real and imagined, Aria of the Eclipse is for you.  It is magical, conceptually stirring and still full of romance.  And all of that is accomplished in 120 pages.  I wanted more, so much more but am happy with those that I got.  You will be too.  Grab this one up as it is highly recommended to all.

Cover Art © 2013 Trace Edward Zaber.  Just absolutely gorgeous.  One of the best I have seen.

Book Details:

ebook, 120 pages
Published 2013 by Amber Allure
ASIN
B00CIYSG2U
edition language
English