Elisa - My reviews and Ramblings

Rowan McBride has a series of stories about the "growing muscle" event: one or both main characters change their looks to suit the taste of their beloved.

Joel is the perfect guy: six foot six of football player, he is not the usual jock, he has also a thinking brain. But he is too used to be adored by everyone, he can have all the girls he wants and all the friends he likes. At 19 yd he is the raising star of his college.

But everyone around him continue to warn him against his college roommate, Walker Cain, a creepy geek, always with a book in hand and that everyone seems to avoid. Walker is a skinny guy, five foot four, all bones and big eyes. But he has a costant perfume around him that appeals a lot to Joel, and told be truth, Joel likes to be around Walker. Obviously not in a sexual way, Joel has never had a second though on Walker in that way, but still he is comfortable around him.

Walker is cursed. He is the last descendent of the biblical Cain, and he now belong to a long line of wizard. All the Cain has the chance to cast a big spell in their life and Walker chooses to use it to bond Joel to him forever: through the bond he can make Joel doing everything he wants, and he forces Joel to have sex with him. Everytime Joel reaches a climax, he passes to Walker some of his strenght and physical appereance.

Both Walker and Joel think that the spell will stop when both of what Joel was will be pass to Walker, but they are wrong. And things seem to spiral down to a unthinkable end.

Joel is a character in travel: during the book he will experiment many lifes and different perspective and he will learn to deal with them. You can think that Joel is a victim, but truly he "needs" this experience to see the world in the right perspective. All the things he gives granted to his physical strenght, could be not so granted if you are weaker, but you can also learn that your attitude can represent you more than your look.

Walker is a sociopathic, no doubt in that. And he is also very selfish and without regrets. Even when he could see all the wrong things he has done, still he is not repentant: maybe, he says, he would do something different, but still he would cast the spell to bond Joel. Cause he wants Joel. Walker is not a good person: I think he can play the role of a good person if he has by his side Joel, but left alone, he can be a lethal weapon. He has not conscience by himself, his conscience and his good behaviour are given by Joel.

For this reason, the bond between Joel and Walker is almost a sickly one. But it is also a very powerful and enthralling one. Want Me is a very original and powerful book, a pretty long story which will take you bond to the book till the last page.

http://www.loose-id.com/want-me.html

Amazon: Want Me
Paperback: 200 pages
Publisher: Wheatmark (February 15, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1587369346
ISBN-13: 978-1587369346

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

This is another of those college boys story where the author could have used the cuteness factor and instead she decided to give it a more intense layer.

Connor is a supershy, little nerdy boy who is literally thrown into college; from the overprotecting, and sometime overbearing environment of his house, where his mother was lord and master, Connor is suddenly free to manage his own life... If he is able to have a life at all. When he is picked to be the tutor of two jocks, for sure he wasn't expecting to find love.

Jared is a boy who has to live up to a dream and an example, that of his father who died just the year before, but not without providing for his family. His father like football, and so of course Jared is playing football, his father married and had three kids, and so of course Jared has a girlfriend and is seeing his future life as a family man. But falling in love for Connor was not in that picture.

I like the author didn't make it easy for these boys to be together and make the choice they did. Love is not the answer to all, and being out and proud is a nice concept, but then you have to compare it with the option to stay in the closet and not having any trouble at all.

I also like the author didn't make of these two boys two little men, these are 18 years old boys who sometime still need their momma; they can make stupid choice, but the good thing is that they are young enough to correct them.

Amazon Kindle: Social Skills
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

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

Just the other day I was reading a story about college boys and thinking how they were really too naïve in their behavior for being guys living out of the protective umbrella of their family. Here the feeling was exactly the opposite, when first we met Chase, I didn’t feel the vibes of a college boy but of a more mature man. Then in the course of the story, and especially when we met Alex, the college boys theme is more accentuated, but still, I have the feeling this story could have been also between two older friends suddenly realizing their mutual feeling had turned into something else.

The author pushes a lot on the bisexual button, so much that I’m comfortable in saying this is more a bisexual than a gay romance, even if there is no woman in the mix; but the author wants her characters to be bisexual, and like that, I have no trouble in picturing this couple, maybe in a next future, opening their relationship to a woman, given that they find someone who is compatible with both of them.

The moving from friends to lovers was not sudden, it was something boiling between them for a long time, so long that it doesn’t seem strange when they almost rush to the sexual aspect of their relationship. It’s a rush for the reader, since they have just met them, but it’s not for them, who are best friends since high school, and now something more, something deeper for a long time.

There is a lot of sex, long, detailed sex scenes between Chase and Alex; maybe my only complaint is that I would have not minded to see them interact a little more with the external world, even maybe testing the waters about their relationship with someone else other than trusted friends. But maybe that is the subject of another novel for this author?

http://store.samhainpublishing.com/best-both-worlds-p-6622.html

Amazon Kindle: Best of Both Worlds (Friends and Lovers)
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (January 31, 2012)

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

I was expecting something more dramatic, and this is not always a bonus for me, and so I was pleasantly surprised to find out this was a nice and sweet college romance. Now we are talking of students and coach, so it was also “sweat”, meaning that these are two men with their hormones all working at high speed, so there is also hot sex, and good teasing, and even some dirty dancing, but all in all this was a romantic story.

Nick is the 29 years old coach of a college rowing team and he is a little embarrassed to realize he is attracted by one of his students, Morgan. Even if they have less than 10 years separating each other, Nick is in no position to make a move on Morgan, and so he is basically pining for the guy, and trying in every way to push him away. Problem is that Morgan has the hot for the handsome and young coach, and he is not allowing any pushing, unless it’s not the right push (yes, pun intended).

It’s basically a college romance, these guys seem to not have much trouble in their life if not making the trials and completing their test; Morgan is on a scholarship, Nick is both studying for his bachelor degree and coaching, their prospect future is pretty clear and they can enjoy their romance. Indeed, as Morgan states, Nick’s reticence on the assumption he is the coach and Morgan a student is pretty lame, and for that reason Morgan decides to not take it too seriously.

I like the nice contrast that was Morgan, big and muscle bound, but with a tender heart; Morgan came out to his family when he was a teenager, he had his time to experiment, and now he wants commitment, a boyfriend, and a bond for the future. Plus, even if bigger and stronger than Nick, he likes a dominant lover, and Nick, with those years on him and the role of the coach, plenty fit the description. Actually I think that, if they were same age, they wouldn’t be so perfect together, since Nick didn’t come out as very domineering, actually he seemed to me more the quiet one, someone who likes things pretty and simple. In any case don’t get me wrong, Morgan is not searching for a D/s relationship, he is more for a little role/play in bed.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2211

Amazon: Rocking the Boat (CalPac Crew, No. 1)
Amazon Kindle: Rocking the Boat (CalPac Crew, No. 1)
Paperback: 230 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (February 28, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 161581843X
ISBN-13: 978-1615818433

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


Cover Art by Paul Richmond

I liked this book very much since it made a paranormal romance almost “normal”; Bastian is a newly made vampire, but he is so new and unprepared to the event that he is almost trying to convince himself it didn’t happen. Sure, growing an allergy to sun and long fangs don’t help him. And the drinking blood issue neither. But Bastian is still hoping it will go away, especially now that he is falling in love with Riley, and he wants to enjoy this new love like any other college kid.

The first part of the story is really sweet, from what I gather Bastian and Riley spent 10 months just “courting” each other, with nothing more sexual between them than a goodnight kiss. Riley is trying to go over a very bad past experience with an abusive boyfriend, and Bastian is trying to understand how to be in love with Riley without hurting him.

If I have to find a fault to this story is only one point, the reaction of Riley to Bastian’s revelation. My impression of Riley was of a spoiled kid, more worried about himself than their relationship. One example? Bastian has just told him he killed a man as soon as he was turned, and Riley almost doesn’t take notice of that. But as I said that is only a point, and maybe it was part of Riley’s character, something that well bond with how he will behave at the end of the story, and by the way it’s also something that gives deepness to Bastian’s character: more we find little faults in Riley, more it’s possible he will be able to accept Bastian and his changes, otherwise if Riley was really perfect, he would have been too uptight for him.

As I said, even if this is a paranormal story, it was mostly sweet and very much like a college romance. Actually Bastian could have been simply “ill”, allergic to sun, and his and Riley’s story would have been nice the same. I love the meetings in the coffee shops, the dinner and cinema dates, and even the first friends night with them ending playing a card game… it was all very young and pretty and yes, even a little preppy, but I really loved the whole thing.

http://www.stormmoonpress.com/books/Other-Side-of-Night-Bastian--Riley.aspx

Amazon: Other Side of Night: Bastian & Riley
Amazon Kindle: Other Side of Night: Bastian & Riley
Paperback: 190 pages
Publisher: Storm Moon Press, LLC (September 23, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1937058255
ISBN-13: 978-1937058258

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


Cover Art by Nathie

I usually don't read reviews of book I have in mind to read myself since I don't like to be influenced in my judgment. But the eyes sometime caught something, and I'm true, I look out with more attention when it's a new author. So as soon as this book was out, I read a very negative review for Horizons by Mickie B. Ashling and I was a bit surprise, since from the blurb and the quality of the publisher, I was really interesting in reading it. What last more to me of that review was the critique on the lack of research in the specific matter, the College Football environment, and the too emotional behavior of the main heroes. I will give mine own opinion in both matters further on in this post.

Jody is a 33 years emergency doctor in an Oakland hospital. He is out and proud to be and he was helped in being so by a supporting family, which not only accepted him when he came out but also helped with good advice and love all around. So Jody had the easy way and the only bump in his gay life was a fated love story with Rick, a man Jody met when Rick was already HIV positive and who died three years after their relationship started. But despite the heartbreak, it was nevertheless a good and fond memory, since Rick was a good man, a man who helped Jody in the transition from sheltered gay teen at home to gay man exposed to the big bad world. Again, Jody had it easy, Rick was a wealthy and respected personality of the San Francisco society, and Jody was not exposed to the harshness usually reserved to a young man coming out. So even if Jody is 33 years old, I have the feeling that he is a bit "naive", a bit pampered from life: it's easy for him to be out and proud, he has never witnessed the negative implication of it.

Clark is a 23 years old college student and gay in the closet. He came from a very conservative family, the fifth of five sons. His father is a jailor at Folsom, and he is the worst homophobic man you can imagine. He brought up all his sons in an homophobic environment where he described gays like the worst sinner and perverted people. When Clark realized that he has different feelings towards men, sexual feelings, he was not easy for him to reconnect it with what he was listening at home. He was still at that stage in life where you are too young to question your parents words and so he really believed that he himself was wrong in his desires. To add shame to shame, he has Attention Deficit Disorder and his father dealt with it with the same obtrusive way, ignoring it. Since Clark was good at football, the fact that he was not good at school was not a problem, it was all right to have a dumb son, if that son had the change to bring home a lot of money using his body instead of his mind. Again Clark has not courage to question his father's beliefs, and his ADD problem is another proof that he is wrong, in more way than one.

When Clark meets Jody, the young man has big behavioral problem. He has not self-esteem, he thinks that his only worth lies in his body strength, any possible damage to it is a damage to his future. The smallest injury is a drama, taking drugs to help him concentrate is not to be discussed. Plus for Clark is the first time he has the chance to meet a gay man, and for him it's like meeting with an alien. All right, at the beginning, and maybe even during their relationship, Clark comes out with some sentences that make me cringe for how homophobic they are, but I believe in that moment his Clark's father speaking, not the boy. Both men sometime ring wrong, like they are out of this world, but I believe that, in Jody's case, it's the way he has always had it easy in life, and for Clark's it's that I'm not used to speak with homophobic people... and I'm not saying that Clark is homophobic, I'm saying that he talks like one because he was taught to be like that.

It's true, both men are quite emotional, but it's not like they are crying every page or so. For Clark then I believe it's a way to react to his inner struggle; he has always to behave like this big and strong jock, he has a lot of turmoil inside, and he doesn't know how to come out from the trap he is in. On the other side, Jody only comes to tears when he has a very personal involvement, when he thinks that his story is slipping away from him; again I think it's only a natural way to react to the situation.

And then the big trouble, the fallacy on the timing of the Football season. First of all, I'm not an excerpt so I can use only the few I collect on the web. From what I read, the College Football season starts the Labor Day and ends at the beginning of December. The book didn't exactly says what time it is when the story starts, but Clark has a bone injury during a game (he is in full uniform) and he is stopped for a month; than there is a period he visits Jody after that month, then they starts to meet once/twice a week since Jody is tutoring Clark, and more or less at the third meetings it's Thanksgiving (end of November) and Clark says that his season is over. I don't believe there is a so big fallacy in the timing, it's possible that Clark was injured during an official game, he was out for a month, then started again but his team didn't make the finals, if so, it's possible that at the end of November the season is over for him. What probably it's not so believable, it's that being stopped for a month during the game season didn't worried so much nor Clark or his father. But truth be told, all the aspects related to Clark's life as football player, games, trainings and so one, are not so much detailed, not in comparison to other sports themed novel I read. Only once we witness to a game and never once to a training. So yes, maybe all the sports side of the novel could have been better, but I think it doesn't matter so much since it is not so essential to the story: the essential point is Clark's desire to be a professional player in a big money sport, the sport itself in this case is football, but it could have been baseball or basket or something else for that matter.

What instead I found unsettling at the beginning, but that then I think it makes the book even more original, it's the different point of view of the heroes. The book is not a total first point of view, it's like that only when it's Clark's time to think and speak, for all the rest of the characters it's a third point of view. As I said, at the beginning it's strange, also since I found that Clark was way more too overanalyzing. He spoke of himself as if he was another person, like he was the third point of view narrator describing the main hero. Since I started with an idea of Clark and a dumb jock, it was strange to "hear" him speak like that. But more on the story, I understood that Clark was in a coming out process, that he was analyzing his life and his beliefs to find the courage to do the right think.

All in all I think this is quite a particular novel, since it's not following the "normal" standard. To like it you have to put yourself inside the characters, trying to judge their action not by your standards but by their own. For example, Clark being a 23 years old student and Jody a 33 established doctor, it's something that lead you to believe them being at distance, in expectation and behavior; but as I said, Jody is almost "naive", and Clark is in a growing process, and so the distance is not so big, and it's almost a non existent factor. For normal standard this is wrong, but if you think like the characters it's not.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/currenttitles/horizons/horizonsbuynow.htm

Amazon: Horizons

Amazon Kindle: Horizons

Reading List:

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