Tag: m/m novella

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

Review: A Silence Kept by Theo Fenraven

Rating: 4.25 stars

A Kept Silence coverWhen Mikal Gray discovers that his boyfriend is cheating on him, the results are devastating.  It costs Mikal not only the man he thought he loved, but his home and his job as he had worked as his partner’s business manager in their restaurant.  And it evens costs Mikal, their annual summer vacation spot on Fire Island.  Mikal can’t even begin to concieve of spending his month avoiding their mutual friends and watching or watching his ex hook up, so he decides to rent a house in the opposite direction.  Mikal figures this way he will have a home for the summer while he figures out what to do next.

His realtor tells him that the 1800’s farmstead on the Hudson would be the perfect place for him.  Quiet, charming, near the water, everything Mikal could want except for one little thing she must mention.  It is already occupied by a ghost. Not believing her, Mikal signs the papers and steps into a old tragedy that will cut close to his heart and a ghost who needs his help.  With his friend Alice, and a handsome ghost hunter named Seth, Mikal sets out to unravel the mystery of the weeping man of New Paltz.

A Silence Kept is a short  supernatural  mystery, only 80 pages, but it has the feel of a much longer story.  Theo Fenraven does a remarkable job of letting the reader step onto the farm and into the mystery along side  Mikal, our narrator.  This is such an intimate way to tell a story and when it is done well, as it is here,  it brings with it the closest connection a reader can feel with the main character.  Mikal is deeply hurt by his lover’s betrayal.  He had thought that they would make it last so everything he had was tied into the relationship and his partner.  They worked together at his boyfriend’s restaurant, Mikal as his business manager, they lived and vacationed as an established couple.  Now all of that is lost and Mikal is left to mourn and try to figure out how to move on.  I don’t know anyone who has not gone through this brutal event, it hurts and its devastating in that the loss goes beyond the death of love into other areas of the person’s life.  Fenraven gets that and puts all that pain and heartache into Mikal, but not without a dash of humor thrown in:

“But we were exclusive,” I shot back. “We were together three years, and you threw that away for some twink who can’t even make radish roses. Are you insane?”

“I’m in love with him,” he sniffed, running a hand through his close-cropped hair. “It happens.”

I stared at him, remembering how that gesture used to turn me on. I remembered a lot of things in that moment, and some of them were pretty good. Like the time he’d made me chicken soup when I’d been down for two days with a nasty cold. Or the time he’d bought expensive tickets to a concert I’d really wanted to see. The night he told me he loved me, and then went on to prove it three times. How he smelled right after a shower. How he smelled when he hadn’t had one in a few hours, which was even better.

We had history, damn it. We’d created a life together. For a moment—just a moment—I almost relented. The thought of starting all over again with someone new made me want to curl up in bed and sleep until the next millennium.

That sounds so real, including that bit about the radish rose, human and oh so authentic.  Mikal is a fully rounded human being, he sounds like one and acts that way too.  As do all the characters in this story, all alive and multilayered.  I loved one, each and every one.  And Fenraven’s gift of creating moving characters does not stop with the living, but extends to the dead and ghostly as well.

The painful backstory of the ghost is quite literally a haunting one.  It will hit close to home for Mikal and for the reader as well.  I love the supernatural touches  that Fenraven uses to introduce the ghost into the story, the blasts of cold air, and moving rocker, and more.  But those little chills are best left for the reader to discover on their own.

My only issue with this story is the resolution at the end.  At 80 pages, I felt it was a little rushed and wished for a longer ending.  But my quibble aside, I loved this story.  It intrigued me as the mystery was so well done and it left me satisfied at the end.  I wouldn’t mind seeing more stories of Seth and Mikal sometime in the future, they make a great pair.  I highly recommend this for all you lovers of romance and tales of the supernatural.  Within these pages, you will find both lovingly accomplished.

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 80 pages
Published February 28th 2013 by Voodoo Lily Press (first published September 12th 2011)
ASINB00BNWB6UC
edition languageEnglish
urlhttp://voodoolilypress.com/

Review: Breaking the Devil by Bailey Bradford

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Breaking the Devil civerTwelve years ago, Mack Wilson made the mistake of his life, giving his love and virginity to his best friend Justin who then threw his love back at him telling Mack he was just a youthful experiment before leaving town for good.  Justin’s hateful message left Mack a broken man unable to get past that experience and Justin.  Now Justin has returned wanting to pick up where he left off, in Mack’s bed.  And despite Mack’s pain and fury, he lets him.  But the past is still haunts Mack and Justin has many obstacles to overcome before he can reclaim the man he walked away from.

Will pride and pain stand in the way of true love or  together can Mack and Justin break the devil of a past to have the love they always dreamed of.

Normally when I finish a Bailey Bradford story (either in the Southwestern Shifters or Leopard’s Spots series), I allude to the shortness of the book as one of its faults.  Here at 127 pages, I can actually declare that Breaking the Devil is far too long.  But let’s get to the positive element of Breaking the Devil.  That would be the storyline.  I love a “lovers reunited” story as well as the next person.  I can’t wait normally to see what each author brings to such a common plot line.  Bailey Bradford has the ability to create interesting universes or flesh out cliched ones, unfortunately neither of that happens here.  But at least she started out with one guaranteed to catch ones interest.  Too bad it stayed at that level, an idea.

First the plot and the title, Breaking the Devil, which refers to a stallion Mack has been given to break.  Right away things go off course as Mack states

Inside the corral stood the meanest, foulest stallion he’d ever seen—and also the most magnificent. A huge horse, too, his size matching his nasty disposition. Mack wondered half the time why he’d ever bothered buying the damn critter. The other half of the time he admitted it was because he didn’t like anything that was easy, not in most cases, at least. While he didn’t want a horse that was going to stomp him to death, he did like a challenge.

In that paragraph, Mack has bought this stallion.  Now a mere two paragraphs later, see if you can spot the error:

“Enough already,” he scolded himself. It was a certainty that Justin hadn’t wasted years—years—dwelling on what might have been. Normally Mack didn’t think on it so heavily himself, but that angry red horse just stirred up memories. He really shouldn’t have agreed to tame the damn critter.

Yep, quickly it has changed from Mack owning the horse to Mack taming the horse for someone else and that is at the beginning of the story.  Plus Mack starts to “gentle” the horse, not break him, a huge training difference (except to an author who hasn’t done the homework).  This is one of the mildest of errors located in Breaking the Devil.  Because shortly thereafter this scene, Justin reappears and for the next 100 or so pages, they do nothing but hump like bunnies, tons of by the book sex scenes that actually lack the heat of Bradford’s other stories.

The reader is told that Justin’s leaving broke Mack (his word) but instead of exposition we get tons of sex scenes.  What happened to the storyline?  Why did Justin leave and what happened to all the anger and pain Mack storied up over 12 years?  Seemingly unimportant because we have to wait until almost the end and then get just the thinest explanation possible.  I don’t know about you but I like a story with my story.

Then there are the thin characterizations. Both characters come complete with over the top emoting and dialog more suited to Telemundo’s telenovelas. The men glare and “squeal like girls” , (again Mack’s description), ready their fists and sneer, voices hit “like daggers to the heart”, and they swoon and are consumed by love. Now keep in mind, Justin is a hardened vet, with several tours of duty behind him and Mack is 30 years old rancher and you can see the issues. Mack and Justin, and particularly Mack seem more like a conglomerate of personality traits than an actual character. Even the dialog put into Mack’s mouth is as disconnected as the aspects of his personality. He will call someone an “idjit”, then “bub” , then a countrified saying like “He asked me what was wrong when he found me in the barn, sobbing like a baby denied the tit, you know.” pops out , then Mack returns briefly to sounding like a 30 year old. Mack is a seasoned rancher but can’t stand the sight of his own blood, a real problem when just the daily chores brings more cuts than you can imagine. This might seem like a funny trait to give a character but if you are well acquainted with the chores of a ranch hand, then you know it makes no sense. Justin too never comes across in any realistic way as a Marine.

A character called Craig, a soldier with Justin, returns with Justin to help run his ranch.  We are told Craig, a fellow Marine, is dangerous, a murderer for his country (Justin’s words), etc,  and the reader starts to have expectations that Craig will figure greatly into the storyline.  Instead after considerable buildup and attention to Craig’s explosive persona, the character disappears completely.  I thought this a real misstep as Craig was far more interesting than either Justin or Mack, although more thug than Marine.

The ending finished it off for me.  I have ridden  horses all my life and owned three.  At the end of the story, Justin and Mack decide that Diablo (the stallion now has a name) will remained unbroken, that they

 “…kind of like the evil bastard like this, all angry and righteous and untamed. He’s beautiful, like raw power set free on this earth, and I know it sounds silly probably, but I just would hate to see his spirit lessened from this brilliant, fiery sun to a dim glow.

*head desk*

And  all I could think was really? How was the horse to get groomed? Or the vet to give him the necessary shots or float his teeth when the horse can’t be touched?  And basically they didn’t “break the devil” after all.  So much for the title and so much for any type of research. All dumped in favor of an unrealistic ending to a mess of a book, more a collection of cliches than actual realized plot.  Give this book a pass even if you like Bailey Bradford’s stories because there isn’t one here.

Cover art by Posh Gosh is lovely but just as over the top as the storyline.

Book Details:

Breaking the Devil

ISBN # 978-1-78184-315-4

©Copyright Bailey Bradford 2013

Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright April 2013

Edited by Eleanor Boyall Total-E-Bound Publishing

Previously published by Loose id in 2009 at 66 pages. Skip that version too.

Review: A Beautiful Disaster by Willa Okati

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

A beautiful Disaster coverSean is trying to start his life over after being abused and almost killed by  an ex lover, but he wears his past for all to see in the scars that crisscross his body and the limbs that no longer work as they once did.  Sean’s scars are internalized as well, revealing themselves in his inability to trust and move forward in his life.

Riorden is both a tattoo artist and nurse who also is familiar with scars and life’s unwelcome surprises.  Rio is drawn to the pain filled man he sees waiting for the bus near the hospital, one glimpse and he is hooked although he can’t say why.  An accidental meeting at a bar brings Sean and Rio together again, and while the sexual heat flares, trust remains elusive.

Sean too  wants the gentle inked nurse but can he overcome his painful past and issues of trust to move forward with his life and find the love he has always dreamed about?  Only time will tell if Rio can save the beautiful disaster that is Sean.

This is not a love story for the light or faint hearted but one that is dark, pain filled and shows only glimpses of hope towards the end. Willa Okati delivers two memorable men, carrying traumatic scars of their past.  One is a veritable canvas of scars from the event that cost him everything, his self image, his trust, and his greatest joy, the ability to draw.  The other man’s scars are more easily hidden but no less dramatic.  He too almost lost his life but in a far different fashion, one that left his self image and future intact.  But it is how each man has dealt with the trauma that both pulls them together as each recognizes something about the other, a similarity that exists under the surface.  Willa Okati brings these outwardly disparate yet inwardly compatible men to life in these story of pain, hardship and renewal.

Rio helps cover scars for his former patients with tattoos that help them recover.  An article this week at MSNBC told the same story of a woman who rejected breast reconstruction and had a gorgeous full chest tattoo inked in their place (see picture at breast-cancer-survivor.jpg). We get into his head and heart as Rio talks to and about his patients.  And once we enter the tattoo shop and meet his best friend Jae, we better understand why he is so driven to pursue both careers at the same time.  Sean’s mind is a tough one to connect with, dark, depressed, and in stasis, unable to move forward or back.  All 136 pages chart his faltering progress to jumpstart his life, connect again with his art, and find his ability to love and trust once more.

For most of the book this is a bleak picture.  But each time the story gets caught up in its depths, Okati offers the reader glimmers of light ahead.  That glimpse of hope,plus the compelling characters of Sean and Rio, will serve to pull along those readers in search of a passionate love story.  The rest of us will not hesitate to go where Willa Okati leads  which is to an ending both realistic and heartening. One that leaves the reader optimistic for Sean and Rio’s future and the healing they have found with each other.

Cover Artist: Ginny Glass. I am not sold on this cover.  There was so much within this story for a cover artist to draw from that I am at a loss to say what might have prompted the design on the cover. It doesn’t really speak to anything within the book, not even the tattoos described within that carry so much meaning.  A complete misstep in design in my opinion.

Willa Okati and Loose id LLC post some very important links in the afterword about domestic abuse and organizations that deal with domestic violence.  These are wonderful resources for those in need.

For more information about domestic abuse, please check out the following: National Coalition Against Domestic Violence http:// http://www.ncadv.org/ Gay Men’s Domestic Violence Project http:// gmdvp.org/ about-us/ Resources for Victims of Domestic Violence (via The Advocate)   http:// http://www.theadvocates-aplacetogo.org/ Additional-Resources.php

Review: Nights In Canaan by Kendall McKenna

Rating: 5 stars

Nights in Canaan coverEternal redemption, eternal damnation. Two warriors, one good and one evil caught in an timeless loop, forever being reborn, fated to love and then die to keep the balance of the universe intact.  Each time, the ancient vampire pleads with his warrior of light love to let the vampire turn him so they can be together forever and each time the warrior hesitates longer before making the killing blow.  Is this the reincarnation where the warrior for good finally gives in to his hearts desire or will the pattern continue as love is sacrificed for the greater good?

Kendall McKenna continues to astonish me with her powerful stories.  Her writing is precise, compelling, and memorable.  Nights in Canaan is just another terrific example of her ability as an author to bring her vision to life, no matter the genre.

I will say that this story is not for everyone.  If you are someone that needs a HEA or a HFN, Nights in Canaan will not meet either requirement.  But if a haunting story of eternal love is one that you seek, than this is a story for you.

Nights in Canaan opens in the City of Gina, Egyptian ruled Land of Canaan, 3rd Year of Pharaoh Akhenaton (1350 bce).  Both the ancient vampire and his other half, the winged warrior have risen to do battle with each other again.  The warrior for good is fated to kill his lover, the vampire but not before they are given a short time in which to love each other, indulging in blood drinking and sex.  Then memory and duty take over and events repeat themselves.  As time moves forward we watch this happen until we reach the year 2004, City of Fallujah, Iraq. We meet Marine Sgt. Jayden Lindberg on patrol with other members of his unit.  It’s nighttime and Jayden watches in disbelief as one of his men is attacked by a vampire and drained before his eyes.  Somehow he knows that his weaponry is worthless against this enemy, and Jayden does nothing as his man dies.  McKenna’s Marine characters are wonders of realism, and Jayden’s confusion and inner turmoil is shattering.  He cannot understand his behavior in face of his soldier’s death and the easy manner in which he lied about his role.  McKenna captures the dangers inherent of a patrol in Iraq and then ups the terror as the men face not just insurgents but a vampire intent on building his own army.

As the events move towards the inevitable conclusion, memories starts to resurface, and we watch as the viewpoint changes slowly from that of a human to that of an immortal.  Just masterful, using a change in word choice here and there to denote someone removing themselves from a intimate connection that used to be the norm to an elevated dispassionate stance.

At one point in the story, the warrior’s memory awakes and he wonders of his ancient vampire lover:

” Did he experience excruciating pain when his fangs first lengthened and his body began to crave human blood?”

And I wonder as well, wishing for the vampire’s pov as much as the warrior’s.  Both characters are weary of their continued battle, full of pain at the inevitability of their roles and yet their love is as potent as ever.  The story ends as it should, the only way it can.   At 65 pages, it is short in length but will stay long in your memory.

Cover Art by Deana Jamroz is nice but not nearly as good as the story within.

Review: A Chip in His Shoulder (Falling Sky #1) by LA Witt

Rating: 4.5 stars

A Chip in his ShoulderWhen assassin Liam Lansing receives the name of his next target, he sees the chance for not only a big monetary pay off but a chance for revenge as well. The name of his next victim is Daniel Harding, heir to the Cybernetix empire and the reason for Liam’s descent into hell and his life as a contract killer.  A formerly wealthy vampire, Liam now lives in The Gutter, the place where all the earth’s industry and refuse (material and human)  is consigned. Liam once lived in The Sky, with the clean air and fantastic skyscraper towers where the wealthy live and play, where Liam’s family still live.  All lost because he took a human lover, Daniel Harding.

Daniel Harding hates his father and Cybernetix, the modification empire his father founded.  The firm exists on the exploitation of it’s workers, the environment, and Daniel hates that the modifications are turning people into more machines than human beings.  Even the vampires has been seduced into the modification frenzy that Cybernetix promises.  But Daniel has been imprisoned by his father in his condo in The Sky and waits his father’s next move in their war between them.

Liam’s hatred for Daniel runs to the father as well.  So taking money from Harding to kill his son seemed like a wonderful idea until he finds out that Harding doubled crossed him and has laid a trap for Liam, with Daniel being the lure.  But when Liam and Daniel comes together again after years apart, will Liam’s hatred hold true or  can he put it aside long enough for them to work together and escape the trap planned for them both.

It is hard for me to believe that A Chip in His Shoulder is a mere 78 pages, as it is such a densely packed vision of a vividly described dystopian world.  Witt really makes both The Gutter and The Sky come to life, especially the torments of life in The Gutter.  I had visions of Victorian England in the worst parts of the city, blackened by coal, air dense with sooty particles.  The Gutter has much the same acrid flavor and the author makes you feel the grimness of life there and the poverty of spirit acutely.  The Gutter is contrasted beautifully by The Sky with its dwellings, sleek structures of steel and glass that shine brightly in air that is being constantly cleaned to the detriment of all who live beneath in The Gutter.

Dropped into this setting are just wonderful characters that will find you craving more of their backhistories.  Liam, the reluctant contract killer, who once was an idealistic young man in love with the wrong person.  Liam was then, like many a fallen hero, thrown out of heaven or in this case The Sky for his impudence and life choices and lands in hell.  During his confrontation with Daniel, we get glimpses of just how far Liam fell but nothing further.  Perhaps that will come in future books.  But it all adds up to a marvelous, multilayered character who captures our empathy and imagination from the start and never lets it go.

Daniel Harding is that recognizable erstwhile well off idealist whose privileged background has given him the reason as well as outlet for his pent-up anger and outrage.  He is perhaps not as immediately emotionally accessible as Liam, but as their confrontation continues, it becomes clear that the author has given just as much thought to Daniel as she has Liam, and that there are hidden depths waiting to surface in him.  Daniel really grew on me in this story and one of it’s major frustrations is that the book stops just when you feel you getting a handle on him as a character.

The plot is tightly woven and intense, the swift-paced action  moving the story forward at a clip.  Really, parts of this story will take your breath away.  Had this been a movie, the popcorn would have been munched at as rapid a pace as the story unfolded.  The au;thor really knows how to build the suspense and keep it balanced right on the edge, before she drops you  over.  L.A. Witt does such a great job that when the end does come, you are not quite prepared to let this couple and their story go.

And that is my major and only quibble with this story – the length.  The author just did not seem to complete the picture she started painting.  The outline and major elements are brilliant, the swatches of paint bold and applied with fervor but just a little more detail was needed to complete this portrait of a couple and world in the first stages of revolution.  I just loved it and am moving on quickly to its sequel,  Something New Under The Sun (Falling Sky #2).  Really, what an amazing start to a new series.  A Chip in His Shoulder is another example of why L.A. Witt has become a “must read” for me and many others.  Don’t pass it by.

Cover:  Cover art by L.C. Chase.  I find the cover very dramatic.  I only wish there had been some way to convey some of the modifications on the model that are so central to the characters and the story.