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Dangerous Beauty is the second in the A Pride of Uttor series; I haven’t read the first, an het romance involving the sister of Endre, a destitute prince, and Gaspar, the emperor who conquered their kingdom. Endre is now living as a privileged captive, more a guest than a prisoner, but nevertheless his father instilled into him the dislike for everything related to Gaspar; moreover, Endre is fighting an attraction for men, something that in his culture is punished by death and that instead in Uttor is not only accepted, but even legal, so much that man can take male consort. Instead of being a consolation for Endre, that is even a worst damnation, since he is fighting the attraction for Arshad, prince of Tabar, ally to the emperor, and for connection, his own enemy.The novel is so explicit when concerning the sex, that if not for the uplifting ending, and more or less, the exclusivity of the main characters, this could be easily classified as erotica. Like it is, it’s for sure Erotic Romance, and I say it like a warning, because there is a lot of sex; oddly, it’s very basic, no kinky undertones, even if sometime there is the use of the words Master, submissive, slave… but they are just that, words, and mostly the two men enjoy quite ordinary, if not intensive, sex sessions.
There is also a lot of play around the concept of virgin, and Savage Romance/breeches rippers theme, but again, it’s more a play than the real thing: Arshad thinks about conquering the virgin Endre, to debauch the innocent princeling, but when it comes the time, not only it’s more Endre seducing Arshad, also Arshad will display a side of him that is almost kind, and for sure young. That is what I noticed also in another event, when Arshad needs to take the army against his enemies, realizing he has never really gone into a real fight… it was like a boy who until that moment has only posed as an adult who is suddenly asked to behave like one. After that, I had some difficult to see Arshad like a real domineering lover.
For sure Endre is a submissive, but that doesn’t mean he is not a man; Endre loves to be told to do thing, first by his father and then by Arshad. Once he admits with himself that he likes Arshad, he has no trouble at all considering him the ruler on their relationship, but I see it more like Endre admitting his submissive nature, not like renouncing to his masculinity.
Amazon Kindle: Dangerous Beauty (Pride of Uttor Series, Book Two)
Publisher: Resplendence Publishing, LLC (February 13, 2013)
Series: Pride of Uttor
1) Captive Heart
2) Dangerous Beauty
Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bott
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.
I’m not usually a big fan of sci-fi, but I have a kink for the Sci-fi Regency sub-theme, probably a legacy of my past as Regency Romance reader. So as soon as I started this novel, I knew it was up my alley. Actually there is very little interaction between the main characters and the outside world, so the Sci-fi setting is not so overwhelming. This is basically the story of the slow seduction of pirate Valero towards captain Tristan, and Valero behaves like a real gentleman. A former military man himself, Valero is intrigued by young Tristan, who displays courage in a moment when, really, only a fool would have fought back.
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.
This is one of the most beautiful romance I have read. Robert is a young nobleman tortured by his father who fear his son and heir being homosexual. But Robert doesn't know nothing about sex and nothing about love. But one night he meet Greyson, a duke who is searching an angel... from that moment his angel is him, and from that moment his name is Angel. In fact, we only know him like Angel, his real name is revealed only at the end when Angel is ready to break free of his cage and declare his love.
In a way, The Prince’s Boy by Cecilia Tan is an old fashioned novel… now people are thinking what the hack I’m saying, a BDSM fantasy gay romance couldn’t be “old fashioned”. Yes, you are right, but I was more referring to the plot development than the theme of the story; I still remember my literature classes, when I read about the Charles Dickens or Alexander Dumas’s novels, this books were serialized in weekly magazines, and readers were eagerly waiting for the next instalment since the author always left them hanging on some edge, often with the life of the main characters in danger. That was the main rule, maintaining the attention of the reader very high, and that is the reason why, to a today reader, who reads the story from beginning to the end, sometime it results in a rollercoast reading, from low to high every chapter, with your heart that is bumping up and down with the misadventures of the heroes.
At the fourth book in the series there is always the risk that the story becomes “ordinary”; actually for some readers this can be even a good point, many readers like to be familiar with the heroes, like to know a lot about their life and love. I think Lee Rowan did a trick with this novel to satisfy both types of reader. 
At the end of the nineteen century, two lovers have to face the worst of separation, death. They are both men, but this is not the story of how difficult it was for them to be together, when the story starts they are a couple and they would be happy if not that Philip is deathly ill, consumption, and day after day he is fading away. Jonathan, who is also the wealthier of the two, decides to bring Philip in a big mansion just outside New Orleans, not in the hope to see him better, but to alleviate his last months; in the isolated place, with only the servants as witnesses, Jonathan and Philip are building memories that will serve to Jonathan to survive losing his lover. 
