Miss Predictable Freya’s Bower

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Author: Kelly Ethan
Publisher: Freya’s Bower

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Ms. Ethan? Hello? Are you there? FAN ALERT AHEAD!

Well, what can I say? Miss Predictable is an absolutely stunning, laugh out loud read. Thoroughly enjoyable! If you buy one ebook this year, make it this one.

Cassandra tries to check into a hotel—the one that her mother is staying in—only to find there isn’t any room at the inn. Cassandra is a woman who knows what she wants, and the lack of rooms irks her no end. Enter Hermes, the hotel manager. He saves the day and offers her a suite.

Upon leading her to the elevator, a mishap occurs. The mishap ensures Cassandra and Hermes get a little closer to one another than expected. Cassandra doesn’t ‘do’ casual sex; however, fate has a different idea in store…

The plot evolves. Cassandra finds herself amongst people who say they are Greek gods of mythology. Oh, come on! Cassandra thinks. This is just too whacky to be true! But is it?

With hilarious accidents, mad capers, and a couple of spiteful females that will make you want to poke their eyes out, Cassandra has to learn to accept previously unknown things about herself. Will she embrace her new persona? Does she fall for Hermes, the beautiful man who makes her weak at the knees? Will her mother reappear and answer the questions that now storm through Cassandra’s mind?

A gripping start, middle and end will have you wiping tears of laughter and seething at some of the characters. I haven’t read such a fresh book in a while. By fresh, I mean that Miss Predictable is crisp, refreshing, and well written. Oh, and did I mention funny? I did, didn’t I? Very funny.

The Chosen Freya’s Bower

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Author: Gwen Hayes
Publisher: Freya’s Bower

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Upon being followed and accosted by a man who ran off afterwards, Madigan visits a trio of private detectives. Intent on helping her find her stalker, one of the detectives, Morgue, finds her more intriguing than his average client. Morgue kills demons, and his dealings with Madigan show him that she is just like he is—a killer.

However, making Madigan accept this isn’t easy. Morgue has to show her what she really is—by instructing her on who to kill and when. Unable to deny the urges inside her, Madigan—though understandably reticent at first—accepts her new life.

With the added spice of the pair being attracted to one another, both parties find themselves examining their emotions and pasts in an attempt to see if they are able to embrace a relationship with one another. I enjoyed the character arcs here and identified with both of them on various levels.

Madigan struggles with the urges she now experiences. Add to that her growing affection for the sometimes irritating Morgue, she has quite a feat on her hands. Not to mention sinister goings on that dog her every step, it’s a wonder that she doesn’t break down. Will Madigan find the strength to cope with her newfound life? And can she make the decision of whether to go it alone…or invite Morgue to share her world?

The Chosen shows how—despite the dilemmas of every day life and the catastrophes that beat down on us at times—the human spirit learns to adapt and accept new ways of dealing with things. An enjoyable, “make you think” read, packed full of great visuals.

Handyman Kensington

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 and a half!

Author: Jodi Lynn Copeland
Publisher: Kensington

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A collection of three erotic romance novellas, linked by the theme of a team of construction workers who need to make money fast – and so they offer their services as gigolos.

Coming in First

Lissa has a weakness for bad boys, but after being hurt one too many times, she decides to find Mr Nice Guy. Out one day she spots a gorgeous hunk who fits her ideal. She picks up his business card and discovers he’s a handyman with a company called Loose Screws. Fortunately she has a good excuse to call him…

Thad is a reformed bad boy and the co-owner of Loose Screws, a construction company that’s recently diverged into providing more discreet and intimate services for women. When Lissa offers him a job, he thinks she’s propositioning him. He soon realises that she really did want him to fix her leaking roof, but now he’s torn. Will Lissa still be interested in him when she learns about his past – and about his other job as a gigolo?

Hot and raunchy, this story is a great start to the collection. It introduces the three guys and gives good reasons for why Loose Screws has its extra-mural division. Liss is a bad girl who loves sex, but she wants love, too. Her relationship with housemate Sam is hilarious and fun. When Liss and Thad get together, the sex is explosive. Four and a half Flutes for this action-packed sizzler!

Not a Second Too Late

Genevieve is hiding in her closet during her own bachelorette party, desperate to avoid the rest of her family. Her best friend Tia had tried to make the party a surprise, but instead of wild drunken antics with hot guys, Genevieve’s spiteful younger sister Allison invited staid maiden aunts and young cousins. Dressed inappropriately for high tea with her wealthy, snobbish family, Genevieve feels the need to escape. She goes to a bar and picks up a hunk named Nash who offers to dance naked for her – for a price.

Nash, another of the co-owners of Loose Screws, recognises class when he sees it. Originally from a moneyed family, he’s made his own way in the world. Genevieve intrigues him but he doesn’t want her to be just another rich society girl kicking over the traces with a low-life guy. When she calls him offering $10,000 if he’ll be her boyfriend for two weeks, he doesn’t hesitate. But mixing business with pleasure is never a wise move – especially when Genevieve hsn’t told him about her fiancé…

Filled with just as much froth and fun as the first story, ‘Not A Second Too Late’ also has a more fulfilling plot. I loved Genevieve and Nash. Their first no-sex sex scene is fantastic, but what I loved most was their emotional development and the way they get to their happy ending. Definitely my favourite story of the collection, this gets a well-deserved Five Flutes.

Third Time’s a Charm

Holly, a mental health therapist, wonders why she’s taken her cousin Tia’s advice to get some sexual healing from a gigolo. She thinks she’s out of her mind, until she sees the scars on Benny’s arms. She wants to help him – but will he let her get that close?

Benny has left Loose Screws and ditched his friends Thad and Nash following the slow, lingering death of his beloved foster mother. Now he makes his living as a gigolo, believing that sex and booze can blot out the emotional pain. He certainly didn’t suspect that Holly would care about him as a person rather than as a sex-toy…

I admit I had some doubts about a plotline involving a therapist and a cutter, but I applaud Ms Copeland’s decision to include the topic in an erotic romance. While some of the humour made me wince, the relationship between Holly and Benny was well-paced. Their affection and trust grow with each meeting as Holly effectively counsels Benny through his trauma by using sex as a therapeutic tool. This story is intelligent and touching, but some readers may find the frank discussions of cutting and therapy not to their taste. Four flutes for this bold and open look at a difficult subject.

If you’re feeling stuck in a mid-January rut, let Jodi Lynn Copeland add some spark back into your life with this sexy, entertaining collection of erotic romance. With excellent writing and deft characterisation, the three stories are great fun.

All three couples are hiding secrets from each other, and sometimes from themselves. Getting intimate and trusting a lover means opening up and learning more about yourself, and this point is neatly illustrated in all three novellas. I imagine most readers won’t be buying this book in the search for anything deep and meaningful, but there’s more to Handyman than just a succession of sex scenes. There’s love and laughter here too, and some neat little life lessons tucked away.

But mainly, there’s a lot of very hot sex.

Go buy it.

White Tiger, Beautiful Samurai Torquere

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Author: Sedonia Guillone
Publisher: Torquere

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American psychic John and his Japanese lover, police detective Toshi, are adjusting to their relationship after hunting down a serial killer. Toshi’s uncle Musashi has just died, and after the funeral Musashi’s secret lover, Tokuma, approaches Toshi and John asking for their help.

Tokuma’s nephew Yuzo has gone missing. Rejected by his parents for being gay and headstrong, Yuzo got involved with the yakuza before finding sexual and spiritual peace at the Temple of the White Tiger. Tokuma fears that his nephew has been kidnapped and is now in deadly danger from a yakuza boss.

John uses his psychic abilities and Toshi his more pedestrian powers as a detective to discover the truth. Undercover at the Temple of the White Tiger, they learn more about their sexual and spiritual connection. Toshi’s understanding of the relationship between his uncle and Tokuma helps him face his family. Debts of honour are paid and relationships are broken and strengthened before Yuzo is found during the tense finale.

This is the sequel to My Beautiful Samurai, which I haven’t read. Not that it matters, as the events of the previous novel are explained in a gradual and non-intrusive manner.

The affection between John and Toshi is lovely to read and gave me the warm fuzzies. Toshi doesn’t like feeling controlled but is willing to give a lot in bed. John’s care and generosity towards his lover is really heart-warming.

There’s several love stories going on in this book - John and Toshi, Yuzo and Kiku – but my favourite couple is Tokuma and Musashi, whose story begins during the Second World War. I absolutely loved these two characters. Their passion is frowned on by society and they know they can never be together forever, but despite this they try to be happy.

The themes of guilt, shame and honour run through all of the plotlines, and fit the background of the story – Japan, with its cultural insistence on ‘face’ – perfectly. Toshi strives for acceptance from his father. Yuzo ran away from his own family because they were ashamed of him. John is still haunted by his feelings of guilt from the Gulf War. Musashi allowed society’s rules to force him apart from Tokuma.

The path of the White Tiger, which I believe features in other books by Sedonia Guillone, seems to be the gay version of the Dragon/Tigress concept in Jade Lee’s books. While I found it a bit daft in Jade Lee’s stories, I thoroughly enjoyed it here. The ‘live demonstration’ attended by John and Toshi is very hot and yet intensely romantic.

White Tiger, Beautiful Samurai delivers a strong plot, great characterisation and genuine emotion along with the feel-good fluffier moments. This is exactly the kind of M/M story I’d like to see much more of in e-publishing and I heartily recommend it. Now I’m going to go buy the first book. Sedonia Guillone just got herself a new fan.

Saving Gracie Wild Rose Press

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Author: Kara Lynn Russell
Publisher: Wild Rose Press

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Pansy and Misty are the rival matchmakers of Orchard Hill. Can one outwit the other in a “challenge” to match up the most people who deserve love?

Enter Riley and Gracie the main focus of this e-book. Gracie has just been left at the alter while, Steve, her husband-to-be flies off with one of Gracie’s waitresses who works for her. Riley has had enough of Steve’s self-serving ways when it comes to Gracie, so he embarks on a mission to show her how much he’s loved her over the years. Can Gracie let her guard down and love again after the fiasco of her first love, or does she take a chance?

Saving Gracie is a good, clean inspirational romance that reminds the reader that there’s someone out there for everyone if they just be patient. It also captures small-town life quite well. My only beef about this title was the numerous points of view in such a short work, which made it a bit difficult to keep track of and remember all of the characters.

This is one of my favorite parts of the e-book because I’ve lived in a couple of small towns so I saw this perfectly in my mind and actually felt the atmosphere that surrounds Orchard Hill. The town of Orchard Hill was actually a valley. The name came from the apple orchard at the top of the hill overlooking the town. No one complained about the inaccuracy. It was a nice name for a town.

So, who won the matchmaking contest? Pansy or Misty? Well, if you like inspirational romance, you’ll just have to read Saving Gracie to find out.

I give Saving Gracie four champagne flutes.

Shifting Back Torquere Press

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Author: Various
Publisher: Torquere Press

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‘The Law of the Jungle’ by Sean Michael

Spanish pirate Marco discovers that his crew have given him a gift – a ferocious black panther in a cage. Marco is fascinated with the animal, but when it escapes from its cage he’s even more amazed to find that the panther can shift into human form.

The panther, Abrigo, is at first confused by his new surroundings but soon learns that he can trust Marco as his Alpha. But not all of the ship’s crew welcomes the new arrival, and when mutiny threatens, Abrigo must save the human he’s come to love.

Usually I enjoy Sean Michael’s stories, but this one irritated me from the first page. It’s just a personal preference but I hate any kind of accents—especially ‘arrrhh Jim lad’ pirate accents—in written form as it always comes across as either ridiculous or like bad POTC fanfic. There was also a lot of repetition, several typos, little explanation for any of the actions and the plot was trite and stereotyped. The historical and geographical details were so vague as to be nonexistent, which seems silly for a collection of historically themed stories. A disappointing 2 Flutes.

‘With Wings To Fly’ by Kara Larson

Cai and Artur are foster brothers whose lives change when Myrddin, a follower of ancient Druid lore, arrives to tutor the young Artur. Cai is jealous, and is forced to admit his feelings towards Artur. Their passion sparks a change in Cai, one that explains the dreams of flying he’s had since childhood.

Myrddin turns his attentions on Cai, encouraging him to learn more about his new abilities as a gyrfalcon. When Artur is seized by a rival clan as a political pawn, Cai is the only one who can rescue him…

An excellent, historically rich tale, this story will delight any fans of Celtic lore and Arthurian legend. After the disappointment of the first offering in the collection, it was a joy to read such a well-researched, plot-driven story with such strong characterisation for even the minor roles. I especially appreciated the explanation of how Cai became a falcon—even better, it was believable in the context of the story. I loved Cai’s reticence towards Druid lore and Myrddin’s dislike of Christianity. This is an intelligent, multi-layered story, and well recommended. A very impressive 5 Flutes.

‘Serpents’ by Naomi Brooks and Angelia Sparrow

Arqam, a young djinni from Arabia, is a curious creature. His curiosity leads him to wander through foreign lands to India, where he intervenes in a ritual to save a villager from becoming the sacrifice to a monster.

Rakesh, a naga (serpent deity), is the ‘monster’ who devours one human sacrifice a year. When he finds Arqam—a sacrifice he can’t eat—he’s intrigued and aroused. They become lovers, fascinated by their differences, but soon they’re forced to flee when Arqam’s vicious cousin Shahib causes trouble.

A lovely understated story that mixes the history of Colonial India with the mythologies of two different cultures. The prose is beautiful, languid and evocative, richly sensual, making this tale a joy to read. Arqam and Rakesh are fantastic characters—what a great idea to use mythological beings as shapeshifters rather than the usual human/shifter standard—and I’d love to see their story continue. An enjoyable 4 Flutes.

‘A Matter of Choice’ by Cat Kane

Richard, Lord Aysgarth, lives on the edge of the Yorkshire moors with his young lover Keir. A chance meeting in London and an attack by a pickpocket brought Keir close to death; to save him, Richard passed on his own supernatural gift. Now both men are werewolves, but Keir is headstrong and reckless, and the villagers have become suspicious. When Keir is seized by the village men, Richard is forced to make a terrible choice…

Another excellent story with a tense, almost Gothic plot. The historical setting is a little hazy—I couldn’t decide whether it was Regency or Victorian—but the writing was so strong and the plot so tight that it didn’t matter. You really get a sense of place and attitude with this one: the wilds of the moors and the freedom (and the restrictions) of life as a werewolf contrasted with the small-minded villagers and the tedious social whirl of London.

Richard and Keir are total opposites and must both learn to compromise in their relationship in order to survive. Cat Kane doesn’t shy away or sugarcoat the more primal aspects of being a werewolf—this is not a fluffy shifter tale. It’s strong, emotional, brutal and intelligent, a werewolf story first and a romance second. Some readers may be shocked by the twist—I saw it coming and still found it shocking, which is testament to Ms. Kane’s excellent writing. A superb 5 Flutes.

‘Snake Oil’ by BA Tortuga

Shapeshifter Haskell is enraged when a travelling circus comes to town. Amongst the collection of animals are several with the ability to shapeshift—including Haskell’s mate Truett, who was captured several seasons ago. Haskell goes to see the animals ‘perform’—shift into their human shape—and learns from their ‘owner’, Dr Diavolo, how the animals are kept beaten, starving and drugged.

Haskell frees the animals and they run back to the wild. But Truett doesn’t recognise his mate. When the circus men hunt them down, Haskell and Truett must stand together to fight for their freedom—and for their love.

While I liked the premise of this story, I found the presentation strangely lacking and often frustrating. Like Sean Michael’s story, this one seemed rather stereotyped and two-dimensional in terms of both plot and characters. Again there was no real attempt at grounding the story in a historical period—it could be a contemporary, the setting is so vague. The style, with its very short, simple sentences, came as a shock after the three previous stories. The similarities in style to Sean Michael’s story are so strong that I wonder if Michaels and Tortuga are the same person. However, I liked Tortuga’s premise more, which just lifts it to a middling 3 Flutes.

Summary

By turns disappointing and exquisite, Shifting Back showcases a diverse range of historical periods, moods and talent. Torquere regulars Michael and Tortuga open and close this anthology, but their stories (for me) were the weakest of the lot. It’s in the middle three stories, by Larson, Brooks and Sparrow, and Kane that this collection really shines. Unique voices, strong storytelling, intelligent and layered, these three stories really stood out as fine examples of m/m fiction.

The overall score is 3.8, rounded up to 4 Flutes.

Exposure Torquere Press

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Author: Kit Zheng
Publisher: Torquere Press

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Vincent is a man who blends in with his surroundings so well, he’s practically invisible—and that’s just how he wants it. There are many benefits to being unseen, and in his line of work, it’s important that he’s untouchable. But it’s a lonely life, filled with part-time lovers who forget him the next day.

Until Oscar sees him—really sees him.

At first Vincent thinks it’s a fluke, but when Oscar keeps crossing his path, it becomes clear that something unusual is going on. Is it destiny…or is it something much more sinister?

I first read this a week ago and it’s been on my mind ever since, despite the distractions of Christmas and New Year. Beautifully written, the story is taut, without any excess padding anywhere. Such sharp, clear writing makes the story seem longer and rewards the reader’s investment. The effortless prose carries you along to the story’s clever conclusion, with plenty of hot, voyeuristic sex and witty one-liners along the way.

Part of Torquere’s Tarot Card line of short stories, this uses the card ‘The Sun’, the all-seeing and watchful. While The Sun is mainly a positive card in Tarot, it can burn those who come too close. Kit Zheng has captured the meanings of the card perfectly with this short story, and done it with such style that Exposure is a must-read for anyone who appreciates tight plotting and great writing.

Quite simply, this is brilliant. Quirky, clever, intriguing and fulfilling. They don’t come much better than this. Definitely a keeper.