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What will remain the most with you of this romance is the language, almost poetic. Sometime I had the feeling I was reading a poem, not a novel, and it was so enthralling that I was almost forgetting the plot or the characters. And you should not because the author decided to being totally honest with them, especially Diego.

Diego is the villain, that character that usually will remain unpaired at the end, if he arrives at the end of the story; a villain can have honor, but if he doesn’t redeem, he cannot have the happily ever after, or at least so are the romance rules. Well, here Diego will not redeem, and until the very end, he will maneuver is dark empire with a coldness that is scaring, a coldness that, on the other hand he doesn’t reserve to Alec, the man he found lost at sea and that he brought back to life… apparently. Sure Diego has a tragic past, and he became who he is as an act of rebellion, but instead of fighting to destroy the system, he decided to conquer it; sure, he has honor, he will not trade with the worst kind of smugglers, but while weapons and drugs are not human lives, they nevertheless kill them. And not, do not hope he will be rescue by Alec’s love into a new and better man, that is not where the story is aiming, on the contrary, in a way, it will be Diego that will drag Alec into his den.

Alec has amnesia, he doesn’t even remember who he is; Diego is his only constant, and even if the police will tell him the true about the other man, nevertheless Diego remains his only shelter. Living in Diego’s remote mansion, I think allow Alec to deny he has not more his own life; no one is asking questions, no one is pretending answers. Alec can build a new life, while Diego can reborn a little. In a way they are both hiding, Alec from a past is better he doesn’t remember, Diego from his own past he doesn’t want to remember; since Alec cannot share his past, at the same time he is not asking Diego about his own, and Diego is not volunteering the info. They are both willingly falling into oblivion. And no, there will be no return, to them, that is their happily ever after.

Amazon Kindle: The Foundling
Publisher: Eye Scry Publications (June 23, 2012)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle
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Miami Moon is at the same time original and old fashioned. It's old fashioned for the way it looks on the vampire's lair, a den of debauchery where pain is mixed with pleasure and where the kiss of a vampire is both deadly than arousing. It's original for how it plots this novella, starting from the full light of a sunny day in Miami's South Beach to end in the moon light of a cold Chicago's night.

The first scene is like a Playgirl centerfold, an handsome blong guy with an hairless broad chest and beautiful blue eyes is soaking in the sun. Apparently he is like everyone else on that beach, someone who is spending the day lazing on the beach before heading home and probably towards a night of sex and play. But Jason is not like everyone else, he is a man who is running from a destiny that was already planned before he could decide anything; and at the beginning he was all right with it, but then he had a taste of how feeble human life is and of how powerless he was. Now Jason is searching a new meaning for his life and the sunny Miami seems the right place to find it.

In another scene that seems to come out from another glossy '70 or '80 magazine, Jason leads in the water while the sun is melting around, and it's like he is washing away his past and getting ready for what is expecting him that very night. Jason has not even time to get used to the city and the atmosphere that he is swallowed up by the night and thrown out in a vampire's lair.

Again it's like being in a lustful set for an erotic shot: men strutting around in nothing if not studded collars, candlelight, poshy furniture and a vampire master as naked as his thralls: he is alluring and tempting and he is promising something to Jason, the immortality, the lack of which was the first reason why Jason left his old life. And to add a cherry to the top, the immortality comes along with unbelievable sex, something Jason was not yet ready to admit, but that he probably already wanted.

Reading this book, the lasting impression I have is of sex that borders more on being erotic than vulgar, even if it's very detailed. There is a care to details that is clear both in the setting than in the sex scenes, sorry if I go too much into graphic description, but I believe it's the first time that in a sex scene the attention is equally distributed between the balls and its near companion... it really hit me and made me wondered if this is one of that things that let you understand when a sex scene is written by a woman or by a man.

http://www.wildecity.com/books/gay-erotica/miami-moon-vampires-lair-book-one/#.UY0xy8oazyA

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle
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I'm a faithful reader of T.A. Chance from the beginning; long or short, with cowboys or sport stars, fantasy, historical or contemporary, a new story by T.A. Chase always climbs the first place in my reading list. They are always different but still there is always this mix of romance and naughty sex that make them so good. And in a way, I can say that T.A. Chase loves everyone of his characters.

Padraig is a ghost; but he is not living in Paradise, he is wandering the earth since when he died, he left too much things behind, above all his unrequited love for Gareth. When he was in life, Padraig was an hot head; he worked in the docks in Belfast and he was not exactly a good boy. And probably he didn't believe he was good enough for Gareth, a shy man who worked as employee in the docks office. Padraig and Gareth exchanged glances but seldom words, and at the moment Padraig died in a fight bar, he had just gathered enough courage to go finally talk to Gareth. Only that he hadn't time to do so.

Gareth is a really nice character, but who came out in full in this novella is Padraig. I can almost see him, always self deprecating himself, always thinking that, someone like him, doesn't deserve anything better than what he gets. As a dead man, he almost arrives to think that, well, maybe it's better that he ended like that, for his mother and Gareth will only be better without him. Even when he has the possibility to come back to life in the body of another man, a dying man, he has still this little doubt that maybe the dying man was better than him, and so he shouldn't deprive him of his life: mind you, Patrick doesn't do nothing to "kill" the man, he only happens to be there at the right moment for him to possess the body of a man that would die in any case.

Ten years for Padraig were without "time". Padraig knew he was a ghost, but for him time means nothing and so, when on St. Patrick's Day he has a second chance with Gareth, for him it's like he left the man only seconds ago. Not the same for Gareth, who is mourning his lost chance with Padraig for years, even more since when Padraig died, he received his last gift, the token which should have marked the beginning of their love together. And so when he is approached in a bar by a man with the same green eyes of Padraig, he does the unthinkable, he brings him home. Probably since so many years ago Gareth hadn't the courage to grasp his chance at love, and he always regretted it, now Gareth gives to this "second" Padraig in his life the chance he didn't give to old Paddy.

This is a novella and so spans only a night and a day in Padraig and Gareth's life. Their present time together is spent practically always in bed, like they have to make up for the lost time; the romanticism and the sugary feelings arrive all from their past together, even in few words, T.A. Chase manages to let you imagine the life of these men, when they were young and full of hope, when they still had all their life ahead of them. From here derives the mix between sex and romance I said before: when the reader is almost to the edge of tears, thinking to all the lost things, then he is plunged in an erotic scene, that even if detailed, it's never vulgar.

http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=TACGHOST

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle
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Aside from being among the Bestsellers in Gay Romance for last year, I was drawn by this series for the m-preg theme. I think someone suggested this to me, and being the first one a novella, I thought, why not? The commitment is not too much if I don’t like it, and if I like, there is always book 2. I read it in one night and bought the second novella the same night.

Valentina Heart doesn’t shy away from the chosen theme, and actually, it’s the main reason why Prince Rinin is able to barter a marriage instead of being a sex slave to King Merinej. Rin is now alone, his kingdom lost the war against Merin’s one, and now the council has decided for him: he will be the pawn to beg mercy. Since he was born, Rin wasn’t fated to be a warrior, too fragile and precious; he was special, a man able to give birth, but that is also coming with the almost certainty of death if he tries. And now he is supposed to be a sex slave to Merin, him that doesn’t have any idea of what sex or even the simple contact with a man means. But for once Rin decides to rebel, and proposes to Merin a marriage: he will bear Merin’s child, a child of two kings, someone destined to be powerful and of perfect lineage. If death will come, for Rin it will be better than a life as a slave.

This is for sure a story that appeals to many, but at the same that is not suitable to all. This is a gay version of the Savage Romance, with many of the clichés of that genre, but also with all its attractiveness. It’s not realistic, it’s not about equality in a relationship, it’s about a strong character in relationship with a more fragile one, but fragility doesn’t mean stupidity. Rin is not stupid, he is naïve; he is the first to admit he was not raised to be a leader, and he doesn’t want to be. But at the same time, he is proud of his ancestry, and wants the respect he deserves.

I strongly suggest to approach these two novellas as a whole, and to read both of them close to each other.

Amazon Kindle: King's Conquest (Mending the Rift)
Publisher: Silver Publishing (January 21, 2012)
Amazon Kindle: Owner of My Heart (Mending the Rift)
Publisher: Silver Publishing (July 14, 2012)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle
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Nice and easy romance, went down smoothly like a drink of fresh water in summer; yes, that was the feeling, something good, not exotic, but nevertheless satisfying; Justin is a cop, but just an ordinary one, not an hero, even if, most of the things he does are hero stuff, like saving a school bus full of children, or assisting people injured in a car accident: those acts can make the first page of the local paper, but they are soon forgotten to the bigger audience, but not to whom those acts saved the life.

Anyway, out of work Justin is painfully shy, so much that he was never able to talk to the guy he likes, Rock, the local firefighter, near to him Justin isn’t able to speech a word, giving Rock all the wrong impression. Until the day Justin finds a way to communicate not involving words…

There isn’t really much to say on the plot, but as I said, is not much the story but more the feeling that makes this romance so good; it’s romantic, sweet, sometime even cute. It’s about living in a small community, with the goods and the bads. It’s about two ordinary guys sharing beers and pizzas, and then sharing kisses and sex, more or less with the same easiness.

I have to say, ordinary sometime is good, it’s good to read about the next door guy, it warms your heart and it comforts and cuddles you in a lazy Sunday afternoon.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3675

Amazon Kindle: Heat Under Fire
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press; 1 edition (March 26, 2013)

Series: By Fire
1) Redemption by Fire: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/2018139.html
2) Strengthened by Fire
3) Burnished by Fire
4) Heat Under Fire

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading+list&view=elisa.rolle
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I liked the story but I also felt like it was more an introduction than the whole, complete plot. Travis and Aaron are living together, but even if Travis is in love with Aaron, he is behaving more like a caretaker, a role he picked up after the death of his brother Timothy, who was friend and guardian angel of Aaron. There is a lot of Travis worrying about Aaron’s careless attitude towards sex, so much that I was expecting something was behind the corner and it was not good. Instead it’s Travis that suddenly needs Aaron’s assistance, and this brings the other man to admit his own feeling for the younger man.

Meanwhile there were two subplots, a young man with a talent for singing, and another very young man who really needs help, both of them well plotted, but remaining on a blossoming stage. Sure, this is a number 1 in a series, so I’m sure the author has more to come for both of them.

The story was cute, and no paranormal/fantasy elements the cover was suggesting; Timothy is a strong presence in the lives of Travis and Aaron, even if he is dead, but his is an emotional presence, the memory of someone who was important to both of them, and also to the family he left behind. Nothing really tragic happens to these guy, maybe since the tragedy of losing Timothy is already the maximum they can bear. So after that, and after a little bit of heart troubles, the author prefers to give them cute and sweet, and yes, also a little sexy.

Amazon Kindle: Incongruent Angel (Liquid Sin)
Publisher: The Rooster & The Pig Publishing (July 9, 2012)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading+list&view=elisa.rolle
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I was quite surprise to find out that, even if this is a novella length story, it was well developed and I quite enjoyed the evolution of both main characters. Dirk is a good fireman but he is also a troubled man, with a difficult relationship with his father and a clear example of closet case. Dirk is so full of complexity that his whole life is in the closet, not only his sexuality: he has no friends, no close relative, no one. When he is injured on the job, he finds that in the worst way, all alone with no one coming to visit, if not his father and Lee, the new guy on the job. But even Lee is not welcomed, on the contrary, their first encounter is more a clash than a pleasant visit to a colleague.

Lee is able to see beyond Dirk’s fears, and his sullenness, and manages to crash all his barriers. Now Dirk is open to find happiness or being badly hurt.

Truth be told, even if Dirk has a very bad relationship with his father, and on the other hand, the father is a uber-conservative, stuck on fake “Christian” principles, I thought their relationship was not entirely lost. Dirk’s father is for sure a difficult man to deal with, but I think he loves his son, and maybe it will not be easy, but I have the feeling that, on the chance to really loose the son, he would reconsider his principles.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2921

Amazon Kindle: Redemption by Fire (By Fire Series)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (May 1, 2012)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading+list&view=elisa.rolle
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Short novella, a mix of sci-fi and futuristic romance, with a touch of steampunk, I had the feeling this was part of a bigger plot, but knowing Willa Okati, I’m not entirely sure, she is not new in building an almost complete universe, just for one short story (and that is major bonus to her).

Jazz is a an expert on explosive, and he likes them as much as the next shining thingy; Riot, Jazz’s lover, is both scientist than pilot than busboy, he is basically everything Jazz needs, in and out of bed. Together they are they own crew of pirates, a crew of two, but more than enough to strike the target and run away with the goodies, all with a big bang boom but not casualties.

Jazz likes to cross-dress, and in a world where steampunk is the last fashion, he can enjoy the satin and silk of those shining gowns, that are also very useful to hide his little tricks. And when he is back with Riot, the matching stocking to the gown, are alone enough temptation for his lover, even without the gown at all.

One book, a run, and an hot aftermath, and the story is already to the end, but as I said, Willa Okati managed to concentrate in it an entire universe, and a past and future for her characters, allowing the reader to know them with only few highlights.

Amazon Kindle: Jazz Bang Boom
Publisher: Changeling Press, LLC (November 18, 2011)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle
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This story surprised me because, well, I was expecting to have to suffer more for these boys to be together. Nick and Angelo grew up together, both gays and misfits, and everyone was expecting for them to get together; and instead Nick ran away with the first guy showing a real interest in him, leaving Angelo, big bro, the one who, maybe, was only waiting for Nick to be old enough.

Both Nick and Angelo are from eclectic families, not bad, but maybe not steady and safe like a sheltering environment is supposed to be. Angelo, the older and more grounded, played the big brother role, but truth be told he wasn’t so much experienced and sure than Nick. Or strong. And when Nick decides to leave, obviously following a fake star, Angelo let him go. Now Nick is back, and Angelo is sure that he doesn’t want for him to have a chance to go away again. Like Angelo, also the reader was probably expecting a fight, maybe a little denial, but Nick surprised both, Angelo and the reader, taking the lead and seducing Angelo in the shower the very first day of his coming back.

From that moment on, I was waiting for the bomb to explode, and indeed there are some firecrackers, but nothing really destroying; Angelo and Nick are indeed made for each other, and once they both admit it, it’s only a question to find the right equilibrium. More than the story of how they got together, this is a series of vignette on their life as a couple. Some of what are probably the passions of the authors (yaoi manga and co.) are turned into the main characters, but it’s more to play than anything else. So far so good.

What I really like is the intimacy Nick and Angelo have with each other, how they are able to reach a deepness in their relationship so soon and so fast thank to their past history. In a way, I even understood Angelo’s passion for jocks, a type completely different from Nick: since it was impossible for him to fall in love with someone so different from Nick, it wasn’t like he was really betraying Nick, he was only passing the time waiting for Nick to come back.

http://www.stormmoonpress.com/books/After-the-First-Taste-of-Love.aspx

Amazon Kindle: After the First Taste of Love (Nick and Angelo)
Publisher: Storm Moon Press LLC (November 16, 2012)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle


Cover Art by Yana Goya

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Steampunk is a popular genre in fantasy and I have to say that the cover artist did a fantastic job with this cover, enticing but also subtlety sexy. If I have to be sincere, I’m not a big fan of fantasy in general, but this particular subgenre, Victorian/futuristic setting, appeals to me; most of the time, like in this case, the author introduces some fantastic element (in this case an airship) maintaining the historical accuracy. Aside from flying instead of sailing, our heroes don’t have anything else of modern.

Henry is a simple hand on a luxury airship, he is no fancy officer, he comes from a poor background and learned a job that is allowing him to live but probably not to comfortably retire when it will be time. He for sure has no money to marry, even if he was incline to this option; but Henry prefers the company of men, a secret he hasn’t shared aboard, something he satisfies on the brief time he is allowed ashore. When his airship is hijacked by pirates and he lands in the hands of handsome pirate captain Volentine, he is not really happy, not until he doesn’t see that being the pet of an handsome captain can have its advantages.

Alone in the captain cabin, Henry can free his hidden desires, he can satisfy all of them, plus he can quill his sense of guilty thinking he is forced by Volentine. But actually Henry doesn’t put up much resistance, and he is soon a willing partner to Volentine.

If I have to be sincere, while Volentine plays the role of the sadistic captain, I really didn’t perceive him like that; he is quite kind and sensitive, always worrying of Henry’s needs, sometime even having them in mind before his owns. He always tries to find the solution that will bring less danger to Henry, and even when he finds Henry in a compromising situation, he is ready to believe his words, without questioning too much. To me, Volentine was everything other than ruthless, and the ending, while funny, was actually quite in line with the idea I had of this man.

http://pinkpetalbooks.com/Sky-Rat-Angelia-Sparrow.html

Amazon Kindle: Sky Rat
Publisher: Pink Petal Books (October 7, 2010)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading_list&view=elisa.rolle


Cover Art by Christine M. Griffin

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Very short and sexy story about yet another Rawlings man, an English family whose men seem to have two characteristic in common: being constable and gay with a penchant for BDSM kinky sex. But this time there is a difference, this Rawlings man, Dane, is petite and almost feminine; only that you have not to mistaken him for weak, he is also a boxing champion. This time the constable is Ross, one of Dane’s cousins colleague and to return the favour to the family he babysits Dane one night when the man is involved in an arson accident. From babysit to dinner to hot sex the time is short and the passion burning brighter and brighter. But with Dane is not possible to have a casual fling, first of all since Ross needs to gain Dane’s trust, and it’s not simple, and second since, once he goes beyond Dane’s barrier, he meets the strong wall that is Dane’s family, with them it’s full commitment or nothing.

To fully appreciate the series it’s probably better to read 2 or 3 of them together.

Amazon Kindle: Handcuffs and Pretty Things (Rawlings Men Series, Book Eight)
Publisher: Resplendence Publishing, LLC (June 23, 2011)

Series: A Handcuffs & Lace Tale
1) She's Got Balls by Mia Watts: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/901006.html
2) Handcuffs & Leather by Kim Dare: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1348704.html
3) Handcuffs & Glory Holes by Kim Dare: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1229667.html
4) Handcuffs & Headlocks by Kim Dare: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1249728.html
5) Handcuffs & Trouble: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1218548.html
6) Handcuffs &Spreader Bars by Kim Dare: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1257715.html
7) Handcuffs & Ball Gags
8) Handcuffs & Megabytes
9) Handcuffs & Pretty Things

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading_list&view=elisa.rolle
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Quite a complex plot for being barely a novella length story; in a fantasy/futuristic world, once that reverted back to more or less medieval times, Galon is a mage and he is a man’s man. For a mage that is not acceptable, also since mages have to reproduce as much as possible being theirs an hereditary trait. But Galon is not able to renounce to his most basic desires and so he is often in danger, like this time when Anzel arrives to save him.

Anzel is the scion of a wealthy and important family, and the power of his family name protects him even if he is the same as Galon; Anzel helps Galon and offers him shelter and love, something that Galon has never had in all his life.

I’m really surprise on how much the author packed in only 29 pages, she often did some elapses in time, but that didn’t diminish the strength of the story. The strange thing is that, this plot works in 29 pages but it would have been probably worked also in a longer fashion, probably even in an epic fantasy.

There is a latent sensuality in all the story, even if this is definitely not an erotic romance, so that it resembles more a story you can tell for goodnight.

http://www.phaze.com/book.php?title=The+Master%27s+Lover

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle
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A 100% Cinderfellas story: Cyrus and Weber met some years before during one of Cyrus’s travel with his friends. A surgeon from San Francisco and a cowboy from Texas is apparently a mismatch, but they click together in a perfect way. Weber thinks the only reason is that they are meeting every few months, so that Cyrus has always the feeling it’s a light escapade; Weber is sure that, if they had to enter in a routine, the novelty will soon wear off and the wealthy surgeon will find a better match.

But when they are over forty and Weber’s career as bull rider is over, he forgets the last time he left Cyrus he was told to not come back if it wasn’t to stay forever; Weber’s need for warm and comfort brings him to Cyrus, and Cyrus is there to welcome him. Weber thinks he will “recharge” his soul and then he will go away, again with the idea that this is the only way his relationship with Cyrus can work. But this time there is a difference, Cyrus’s sister desperately needs a nanny, and Weber has a way with her three kids. Not only Weber is now the hero of the younger members of Cyrus’s family, he is also loved by Cyrus’s parents, sisters and brother, plus sister in law and also Cyrus’s friends… nothing seems to be against the idea of them together as a couple if not Weber’s feeling he is not enough for Cyrus, like a frog with a Prince Charming, only that, for how much kisses Cyrus is giving to Weber he will not turn into a Prince.

It was a nice and simple romance, full of good feelings and family values; maybe some situations were a little too much pink glasses perspective, but well, it was a romance after all, wasn’t it? I really liked Cyrus, how he was persistent in his loving Weber, how he was able to wait and ready to catch his man when it was time.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2892

Amazon Kindle: Frog
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (April 24, 2012)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle
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Warning, this is a Bittersweet Dreams title: It's an unfortunate truth: love doesn't always conquer all. Regardless of its strength, sometimes fate intervenes, tragedy strikes, or forces conspire against it. These stories of romance do not offer a traditional happy ending, but the strong and enduring love will still touch your heart and maybe move you to tears.

Drake is a dragon tamer, Aedan is a fire mage with dragon blood in his vein; tamers and mages are supposed to be enemies, but Drake is the only one who is able to tame the fire within Aedan, and so they tight a bond that is both love but also dependence.

I liked the fairy tale feeling of this novella, in a fantasy world were your skills identified the clan you belong to, Drake and Aedan should hate each other, but it’s not in Drake’s beliefs to hate anyone, not even your worst enemy. Here the tamers are not doing their job out of force or dominant attitude, but more through kindness and love. That is the way to conquer Aedan, a free spirit someone else already tried to tame with passion and submission; that was right the wrong way to do it, since passion instead of taming his fire, enkindle it even more.

In Drake Aedan will maybe not find burning passion, but he will find peace; a peace Aedan is willing to sacrifice everything he has to maintain, for him, for Drake, but also for the people they love.

Be aware of the warning, The Dragon Tamer is a story of love and devotion, a devotion that pushes Aedan to the ultimate sacrifice.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2749

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle


Cover Art by Shobana Appavu
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Lord of the Trash is only a novella, but I really enjoyed it and when I arrived at the end I was really hoping for more. It’s not strictly a gay romance, it’s maybe more a Young Adult story, but basically it’s the story of two brother and sister who need to know each other and what they want to be in their life. While for Sam, 17 years old, this is normal, for Dana, 32 years old, that was time.

Dana and Sam have the same father but different mothers, and when Sam is orphaned of both his parents, Dana is legally his caretaker. Dana, an army nurse, has little of maternal in her, she is more a soldier than a mother, but she knows what a due is, and there is no question that she will take Sam for the year that is missing to his college time.

Dana is living in a rural country, far away from the city, and when Sam arrives, with his skinny jeans, tight shirts and pink scarf, she is a little worried, not by the idea that Sam is gay, but that he will be ostracized by the other boys and girls. I don’t know if Dana is denying it, or if for her is really no issue at all, but the “gay thing” never crosses her mind, she never once used the word gay to refer to her brother, never when a twenty years something young man knocks at her door searching for Sam.

Sean, apparently Sam’s boyfriend from Chicago, installs himself in Dana’s house, sleeping in Sam’s room, starting to behave like a 100% house husband, and neither then Dana’s question her brother’s sexuality, or having a doubt on the fact his brother his underage and the other guy is not. Again, not since she knows they are having sex and she doesn’t care, but since the thought of sex never crosses her mind, when it does, she is the first to point the finger to Sean and to the fact that Sam is underage.

So yes, this is an unusual coming of age story, almost innocent in its way, but really nice.

Amazon Kindle: Lord of the Trash
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle
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This is a charming novella, about two very ordinary guys, a classic boy meets boy, boy falls for boy story. Shawn is a salesman for a fragrance company and he had to start from the bottom, i.e. working a stand in a department store; with a business degree, maybe that is not the realization of his dreams, but Shawn is facing it with a good predisposition. More than the job, maybe he is worried about his love life; even if young and handsome, Shawn is very shy and he has trouble to meet guys. Actually sometime, he meets them, but his shyness makes him aloof, and the other guy thinks he is giving the cold shoulder.

So when Shawn meets Graham, a customer who is buying a cologne for his boyfriend, he has double the reason to not hope: Graham is taken and for sure he is not interested in a simple salesman. But actually Graham is giving Shawn a lot of hints, he is always kind and interested in Shawn, always ready to exchange pleasant conversation. They meet more than once always by chance, but Shawn is always so unsure of himself, that in the end, I suppose Graham translated that attitude as if Shawn is really not interested in him.

Scent of Attraction is not a complex story, but it’s engaging. Nothing of unusual happens, and actually Shawn and Graham’s story is made mostly of chance encounters, a play of serendipity, like it was fate for them to be together, despite their wrong choices, past and present. I think that meeting by chance, without having searching for it, your soul mate, is the dream of most of us, and it’s nice to read a story about that. Sweet and romantic.

https://spsilverpublishing.com/product_book_info/glbt-contemporary-c-53_54/products_id/261?zenid=319019f36145a21e6f2bccea47d5a001

Amazon Kindle: Scent of Attraction
Publisher: Silver Publishing (April 7, 2011)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle
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This story reminded me a little The Boxer by Jan Irving, but only since the incipit is similar, after that the development is very different, and above all Muscling Through has a full English flavour. Al Fletcher is this big guy with a kind heart but with a different perception of reality; he is not stupid, but Al is not able to fake emotions, not even the small things you do to not hurt people. To Al, what you say is what you think, what you do is what you want. Larry on the other side is small and lithe, an history art college professor.

The first time Larry sees Al, he is scared, he thinks the man to be a rapist, and when he realizes that he has judged Al from his looks like all the other people, maybe Larry is ashamed, and he decides he wants to know the real Al, the kind and sweet man, the one who will never hurt him or anyone else. I like that, being Al an artist and all is not what is influencing Larry’s decision, Larry and Al’s relationship start before that, Larry is not considering All an idiot savant or a special art project. Sure, he will help Al with his art, he will push him to follow his talents, but that is only since that is what Al likes, and not to prove to someone else that Al is better than what they believe. Al is exactly what he looks, a simple man who loves Larry with all his own, whose first priority is to make Larry happy.

I really like the setting, the college town of Cambridge, and also the English characterization of Larry and Al is good, when they talk about blokes, and mates, and other similar slang, they didn’t feel forced or fake, and after a bit, it was almost like if I raised my eyes from the screen I could see outside a rainy cobble paved street outside my window.

Muscling Through is sweet and romantic, sometime sexy, but mostly it’s a love story with a wonderful happily ever after.

http://store.samhainpublishing.com/muscling-through-p-6382.html

Amazon Kindle: Muscling Through
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (July 19, 2011)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle
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“When Lucifer looked upon God's works, he vowed to destroy it all. He followed Adam and Eve from the Garden and stole Abel's soul before his drew his final breath, thus creating the first vampire. Since then all vampires have been damned creatures, their souls lost without hope.”

This is the incipit of this vampire/angel paranormal novella, first instalment in a continuous series (be warned, if you like it as I did, you will want to read them one after the other). David is a 50 years old vampire turned when he was barely 18 years old; being a vampire he should not have a soul and for sure he should not believe in the mercy of God, but David’s mother was a pious woman who made David promises he would find his brother Danny, lost when he was only 10 years old. After 50 years of useless search, David realizes he has only one last chance, to ask help to God. And surprisingly, God decides to answer to his pray and send Jophiel, an angel, as David’s aid.

Jophiel is the first one to be surprised since he was taught vampires have no soul, but he soon finds out David is different, and if at first he had questioned God’s mission, considering it a punishment, now he is very much involved.

There is sexual tension between David and Jophiel, but nothing that in this novella will be consumed. David is gay, but Jophiel is, like angels should be, asexual. I love how the author presents Jophiel, and is blinking to express every emotion, blink to disapproval, blink to surprise, blink approval, is so cute, especially since David is able to understand him even without words.

I like the author played with common paranormal elements in an original way, there was nothing really new in this novella, but how she mixed them together made for a very nice reading.

http://www.rainbowtrailpress.net/2011/10/intercession-first-impressions_12.html

Amazon Kindle: First Impressions (Intercession)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle
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In Spinning Jaime Samms introduced her two heroes, Mikko and Kenny. The world in which they are living is 100 years in the future, and it’s a dark and new gothic environment, the waste of energy today world did caused for our descendants to live in almost total obscurity, especially when natural light is down. The obscurity is reflected also in their approach to life, news and research tools are hard to find, and people is slowly going back to a way of life that is mostly conduct to real connections more than through the online net.

Mikko and Kenny’s relationship is strange, Mikko himself is coming from a Dom and sub relationship where he was the sub, but Kenny needs grounding and so Mikko is posing as a Dom for Kenny. I didn’t really feel that is what Mikko wants, but that is what Kenny needs and Mikko is in love with him. So much in love that when Kenny asks, at the end of the previous book, to be free to go back to his former boyfriend to understand if there are chances for them, Mikko let him go. That is what you do if you love someone, letting them go and if the love is strong, they will come back to you.

Again Grounded is not a final chapter, but a step more into Mikko and Kenny’s love story. Kenny is discovering himself, and Mikko is helping him. Both Mikko and Kenny have particular powers, but from what I understood, Kenny is more powerful than Mikko, and that is a nice contrast, since Kenny is the sub in their relationship. As the title suggested, Mikko is giving the chance to Kenny to be grounded, to be enough steady and strong to enter in his own powers and be able to manage them. But the Grounded in the title I think is referring also to their relationship, to the fact that Mikko and Kenny want to set down, to be grounded to a place, the place that will become their safe shelter.

http://pinkpetalbooks.com/Grounded-Jaime-Samms.html

Amazon Kindle: Grounded (The Ageless)
Publisher: Pink Petal Books (October 7, 2010)

Series: The Ageless
1) Spinning: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1223704.html
2) Grounded

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle
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On the summer of 1969, Young Man is a high school dropout who is spending his days prowling the East River Park in NYC. He has never actually spoken with any of the other park patrons, but he knows them: the man with the Chihuahua, the woman with the Dalmatian, and that old man who is always looking at him. Young Man doesn’t understand himself or his feelings, at times he is attracted by the woman, at times by the men, I think that whoever of them would approach him, Young Man would be fine, since basically he needs a leading hand. And Mr Chervy alias Miss Crystal, a retired teacher who cross-dresses only in the intimacy of his home, will be the one to take in hand, literally, Young Man. Young Man and Miss Crystal’s relationship is very much that of teacher and pupil, and while Young Man likes Miss Crystal, he doesn’t like the authoritarian persona he represents and he, liked dropped out of school, arrives to a confrontation with Miss Crystal that leads him away. Out again in the street, he meet the Librarian, almost a replica of Miss Crystal, another kind and lonely man who wouldn’t like better than finding a companion, someone who is never to leave him. Young Man will be the bridge between Miss Crystal and the Librarian, and maybe for the time being he will be with them, but I think that his task is accomplished, Miss Crystal and the Librarian will never be alone again, they now have each other, and if they wish to help other young men, why not, but the most important thing is that, while these young me will come and go, they will always have each other.

I know that probably this is not the most literary novella by Mykola Dementiuk, he wrote much important works, but to my romantic heart, this is my favourite; I really like Miss Crystal and the Librarian, they are compassionate men who need love, and I’m so glad that in the end they met each other. Young Man is probably a desperate case, he could probably improve, but I have the feeling that he will be always like that, a bad boy with a bad mouth. But that doesn’t matter, since he has not a bad heart, on the contrary, he is confused and needing love as much as Miss Crystal and the Librarian need. And for a little time, or maybe forever, they have found that love and each other.

https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/376/The-Men-of-Grand-Street

Amazon Kindle: The Men on Grand Street
Publisher: Noble Romance Publishing (January 25, 2012)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

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