Exposure by G.A. Hauser

Robin is a 25 years old guy without a meaning in his life. He hasn't had a good example from his mother, a single mom who lived on welfare for the most part of Robin's life and then she married a wealthy man. Actually Robin didn't have a bad life, his step-father also volunteered to pay for his tuition, only that Robin doesn't know what he want from life. Personal relationships didn't help, since he was always treated like a boy-toy, probably since he never gave the impression to be more than a pretty face. Anyway Robin is not a bad guy, he is very sensitive, and easy to be hurt... he is not a true negative character, he maybe only need a push toward the right direction, and perhaps a firm hand and more attention of what he has received till now.

Kipp is a more than 40 years old Republican senator. He always wanted to be a politician, he came from a family of politician, and since his family was from the Republican party, he himself joined than wing. But Kipp is also gay and he needed to hide his true identity; so he married a woman through a mutual agreement, a woman who was aware of the fact that the marriage would be only a cover. Nine years later, Kipp is tired to hide himself, and his wife has started to regret all the thing she gave up for money. When Kipp meets Robin, he is ready to risk his career and all his money for a piece of heaven.

Even if Kipp is actually a cheating man, he is not so bad... I like how he faces his errors and how he puts in danger himself to not deny who he is and who he loves. Above all I like that he never lets Robin down, he never chooses the easy way if it means to make suffer Robin. Robin is always his first thought.

Robin maybe is not a fully grown man. He is the fledgling of a possible good man, but he needs time to metabolize and probably he needs to be forced to face the real life. I don't know if Kipp is good to him, since Robin needs to be shacked and firmly directed, and instead Kipp tends to protect and hide him from the sharp edge of life.

Then there is Louise, Kipp's wife. She should be the negative character in the story, but well, she is too pathetic to be wicked. She is not so better than Robin, since I believe also she is childish and immature. Sometime, instead of hate her, I feel pain for her. And her partner in crime, Alonso... well, probably he is the most unbelievable character of all, so unbelievable to be almost funny!

So yes, another romance by G.A. Hauser where no one of the characters pass the test to be the perfect romance hero, and yet another romance that I read in one session, another page turning book that took me glued to the screen to see what it happened next. And with this one I also realized that it's not even an erotic thing, since the erotic scenes are not enough detailed or graphic to be considered the main event of the story... And so I realized, after I don't know how many books by this author, that it's truly the plot and the characters that hold me enraptured.

Amazon: Exposure
Amazon Kindle: Exposure
Paperback: 178 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (August 20, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1449593003
ISBN-13: 978-1449593001

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

Exposure by G.A. Hauser

Robin is a 25 years old guy without a meaning in his life. He hasn't had a good example from his mother, a single mom who lived on welfare for the most part of Robin's life and then she married a wealthy man. Actually Robin didn't have a bad life, his step-father also volunteered to pay for his tuition, only that Robin doesn't know what he want from life. Personal relationships didn't help, since he was always treated like a boy-toy, probably since he never gave the impression to be more than a pretty face. Anyway Robin is not a bad guy, he is very sensitive, and easy to be hurt... he is not a true negative character, he maybe only need a push toward the right direction, and perhaps a firm hand and more attention of what he has received till now.

Kipp is a more than 40 years old Republican senator. He always wanted to be a politician, he came from a family of politician, and since his family was from the Republican party, he himself joined than wing. But Kipp is also gay and he needed to hide his true identity; so he married a woman through a mutual agreement, a woman who was aware of the fact that the marriage would be only a cover. Nine years later, Kipp is tired to hide himself, and his wife has started to regret all the thing she gave up for money. When Kipp meets Robin, he is ready to risk his career and all his money for a piece of heaven.

Even if Kipp is actually a cheating man, he is not so bad... I like how he faces his errors and how he puts in danger himself to not deny who he is and who he loves. Above all I like that he never lets Robin down, he never chooses the easy way if it means to make suffer Robin. Robin is always his first thought.

Robin maybe is not a fully grown man. He is the fledgling of a possible good man, but he needs time to metabolize and probably he needs to be forced to face the real life. I don't know if Kipp is good to him, since Robin needs to be shacked and firmly directed, and instead Kipp tends to protect and hide him from the sharp edge of life.

Then there is Louise, Kipp's wife. She should be the negative character in the story, but well, she is too pathetic to be wicked. She is not so better than Robin, since I believe also she is childish and immature. Sometime, instead of hate her, I feel pain for her. And her partner in crime, Alonso... well, probably he is the most unbelievable character of all, so unbelievable to be almost funny!

So yes, another romance by G.A. Hauser where no one of the characters pass the test to be the perfect romance hero, and yet another romance that I read in one session, another page turning book that took me glued to the screen to see what it happened next. And with this one I also realized that it's not even an erotic thing, since the erotic scenes are not enough detailed or graphic to be considered the main event of the story... And so I realized, after I don't know how many books by this author, that it's truly the plot and the characters that hold me enraptured.

Amazon: Exposure

Amazon Kindle: Exposure

Reading List:

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

D.J. Manly: From Canada with Love

D.J. was one of the first M/M author I "met" online. I always liked D.J. Manly's style, but lately I think to have read the best of D.J.'s works. And so I was a bit surprise to see the sudden change in publisher, and I though to ask why...

Elisa: You live in Canada, even if I believe you are not of Canadian origins (please feel free to correct me...). Since in Canada gay marriage is legal, I was expecting to have more gay romance from Canadian authors, and instead probably I know only you and another one. Am I wrong? There are authors who don't cross the Canadian borders? Or do you believe that all the excitement around the Gay Romance is only due to the fact that it's still "illegal", if not for law in some minds?

D.J.: Yes I live in Canada, and I am very much a Canadian, and a proud one. I live in Quebec where the majority of people speak French. I am also proud of being from this province with it's unique language and culture. Quebec has always been very socialist in its views, very left politically, and I fit right in there. My native tongue is English, but I speak the French language, a beautiful language. My business is to teach English as a second language to Francophones.

I am sure there are other Canadian authors who write gay romance, but you're right, we appear to be a rare breed :) I don't think the 'excitement' about gay romance is related to the legality or illegality of marriage, personally. I believe that gay romance may be considered new and fresh, and people feel as if they are "permitted" to enjoy it, on the same scale as het romance.

Elisa: Recently you left one of your publishers, I will not say the name if you don't want. Do you want to tell us why?

D.J.: It is fine to mention Loose Id, a wonderful publisher. I was sorry to leave them. We had a very honorable disagreement. We agreed to disagree about an issue, which shall remain private. I hold them in the highest of esteem and recommend them to any writer looking for a good publisher on the web.

Elisa: For what I know you are a very busy person. You write, you teach, you have a long term relationship, two cats to tend, you also cook! Are you a very organized person? Or is your life in chaos, like mine would in the same situation?

D.J.: Yes, I write, teach, edit for a translator, and run my own business. I have only one cat now unfortunately, having lost my 19 year old baby, Prosper this summer. I only cook when absolutely necessary...but I cook in the bedroom...:) he he he. I'm a multi-tasker...my life isn't chaos because I have a lot of support.

Elisa: Sometime ago I wrote a post where I said that I would be more disappointed in discovering that Bobby Michaels is a woman, since for what I know I'm sure that he is a man, than in discovering the same thing about you, since I'm not sure if you are a man or not. And so... are you a man?

D.J.: I will answer you in the same way I answer anyone who asks me this question, and I get asked alot. I think that gender should be a non issue when it comes to writing, and when it comes to life in general. We all make too much of gender, are all too hung up on masculinity and femininity, and on who sleeps with whom. I prefer that people form their own opinions on that. I have some people calling me he, some she...I love it, because inside, I am both, and all of us are both, aren't we?

And now a little excerpt from D.J.'s Halloween release, Golden God, third in the Brennus Witch series:

GOLDEN GOD: While Brennus and Darien are off traveling the world; Darien’s sister attempts to restore her brother’s mortality. Playing with powerful magic she doesn’t understand, Anna opens the Portal of Decadence, which allows demons to slip into the world and ultimately will release the god Pan.

Meanwhile, Vortimere is gaining in power and is as obsessed with Brennus as ever. He has joined forces with the darkness that is threatening to destroy the world.
Unknown to Brennus, he is the Golden God, the one prophesized to save the world from the darkness Anna has unwittingly unleashed. But Brennus has his own problems, struggling with the idea that Marcel, rather than himself, sired Darien, which has created an inevitable attraction between them.

( Excerpt )

D.J. Manly: From Canada with Love

D.J. was one of the first M/M author I "met" online. I always liked D.J. Manly's style, but lately I think to have read the best of D.J.'s works. And so I was a bit surprise to see the sudden change in publisher, and I though to ask why...

Elisa: You live in Canada, even if I believe you are not of Canadian origins (please feel free to correct me...). Since in Canada gay marriage is legal, I was expecting to have more gay romance from Canadian authors, and instead probably I know only you and another one. Am I wrong? There are authors who don't cross the Canadian borders? Or do you believe that all the excitement around the Gay Romance is only due to the fact that it's still "illegal", if not for law in some minds?

D.J.: Yes I live in Canada, and I am very much a Canadian, and a proud one. I live in Quebec where the majority of people speak French. I am also proud of being from this province with it's unique language and culture. Quebec has always been very socialist in its views, very left politically, and I fit right in there. My native tongue is English, but I speak the French language, a beautiful language. My business is to teach English as a second language to Francophones.

I am sure there are other Canadian authors who write gay romance, but you're right, we appear to be a rare breed :) I don't think the 'excitement' about gay romance is related to the legality or illegality of marriage, personally. I believe that gay romance may be considered new and fresh, and people feel as if they are "permitted" to enjoy it, on the same scale as het romance.

Elisa: Recently you left one of your publishers, I will not say the name if you don't want. Do you want to tell us why?

D.J.: It is fine to mention Loose Id, a wonderful publisher. I was sorry to leave them. We had a very honorable disagreement. We agreed to disagree about an issue, which shall remain private. I hold them in the highest of esteem and recommend them to any writer looking for a good publisher on the web.

Elisa: For what I know you are a very busy person. You write, you teach, you have a long term relationship, two cats to tend, you also cook! Are you a very organized person? Or is your life in chaos, like mine would in the same situation?

D.J.: Yes, I write, teach, edit for a translator, and run my own business. I have only one cat now unfortunately, having lost my 19 year old baby, Prosper this summer. I only cook when absolutely necessary...but I cook in the bedroom...:) he he he. I'm a multi-tasker...my life isn't chaos because I have a lot of support.

Elisa: Sometime ago I wrote a post where I said that I would be more disappointed in discovering that Bobby Michaels is a woman, since for what I know I'm sure that he is a man, than in discovering the same thing about you, since I'm not sure if you are a man or not. And so... are you a man?

D.J.: I will answer you in the same way I answer anyone who asks me this question, and I get asked alot. I think that gender should be a non issue when it comes to writing, and when it comes to life in general. We all make too much of gender, are all too hung up on masculinity and femininity, and on who sleeps with whom. I prefer that people form their own opinions on that. I have some people calling me he, some she...I love it, because inside, I am both, and all of us are both, aren't we?

And now a little excerpt from D.J.'s Halloween release, Golden God, third in the Brennus Witch series:

GOLDEN GOD: While Brennus and Darien are off traveling the world; Darien’s sister attempts to restore her brother’s mortality. Playing with powerful magic she doesn’t understand, Anna opens the Portal of Decadence, which allows demons to slip into the world and ultimately will release the god Pan.

Meanwhile, Vortimere is gaining in power and is as obsessed with Brennus as ever. He has joined forces with the darkness that is threatening to destroy the world.
Unknown to Brennus, he is the Golden God, the one prophesized to save the world from the darkness Anna has unwittingly unleashed. But Brennus has his own problems, struggling with the idea that Marcel, rather than himself, sired Darien, which has created an inevitable attraction between them.

( Excerpt )

iDo by Willa Okati

Guy and Cameron are the perfectly happy gay couple since the marriage issue breaks between them. Guy eavesdrops a chat between two colleague and realizes that the two women don't consider his relationship with Cameron steady since they are not "married". And since Guy is sure to love Cameron, and he is sure to want to be with the man forever, he makes his proposition not knowing that trying to organize a marriage in two weeks is nearly impossible. On the other hand, Cameron, the last bachelor in the family after all his married sister, knows better and he is not so happy to the prospect; but he himself loves Guy and so he accepts to make a try.

As expected more the fatal day is near, more problems arise between Guy and Cameron, to the point that they question their love and the steadiness of their relationship.

The story is pretty short, less than 60 pages, and I have almost the feeling that Guy and Cameron are not a "new" pair... I have the feeling that for Willa Okati this little story is almost a epilogue, the "what happens next" an happily ever after of a longer story... This is actually a spin off story of the two novels by Willa Okati, The Name of the Game and It's How You Play the Game, and both Seth and Clay, and Tony without Roan, make a brief cameo appearance.

Both Guy than Cameron are not much develop as characters, we only have a fast impression and some bit of information about them. Cameron seems an happy-to-go guy, the classical beach boy with a positive attitude toward life and a perennial grin in his face; he is funny but also tender and caring, very handsome but more a cuddling type rather than a clubbing animal. Guy is the "straight" and right of the two, the responsible one; probably he is the one who makes the shopping list and remembers to pay the bills.

Again the story has not the feeling of a short story. It has a whole world developed, a bunch of worthy supporting characters... Actually I don't know if I would like to have more on the story before or after, or maybe this is the real strenght of the story as it's, the fact that in only 60 pages I'm so involved with the characters that I'm feeling like I don't want to let them go.

http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&manufacturers_id=76&products_id=1521

Reading List:

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

iDo by Willa Okati

Guy and Cameron are the perfectly happy gay couple since the marriage issue breaks between them. Guy eavesdrops a chat between two colleague and realizes that the two women don't consider his relationship with Cameron steady since they are not "married". And since Guy is sure to love Cameron, and he is sure to want to be with the man forever, he makes his proposition not knowing that trying to organize a marriage in two weeks is nearly impossible. On the other hand, Cameron, the last bachelor in the family after all his married sister, knows better and he is not so happy to the prospect; but he himself loves Guy and so he accepts to make a try.

As expected more the fatal day is near, more problems arise between Guy and Cameron, to the point that they question their love and the steadiness of their relationship.

The story is pretty short, less than 60 pages, and I have almost the feeling that Guy and Cameron are not a "new" pair... I have the feeling that for Willa Okati this little story is almost a epilogue, the "what happens next" an happily ever after of a longer story... This is actually a spin off story of the two novels by Willa Okati, The Name of the Game and It's How You Play the Game, and both Seth and Clay, and Tony without Roan, make a brief cameo appearance.

Both Guy than Cameron are not much develop as characters, we only have a fast impression and some bit of information about them. Cameron seems an happy-to-go guy, the classical beach boy with a positive attitude toward life and a perennial grin in his face; he is funny but also tender and caring, very handsome but more a cuddling type rather than a clubbing animal. Guy is the "straight" and right of the two, the responsible one; probably he is the one who makes the shopping list and remembers to pay the bills.

Again the story has not the feeling of a short story. It has a whole world developed, a bunch of worthy supporting characters... Actually I don't know if I would like to have more on the story before or after, or maybe this is the real strenght of the story as it's, the fact that in only 60 pages I'm so involved with the characters that I'm feeling like I don't want to let them go.

http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&manufacturers_id=76&products_id=1521

Reading List:

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

Tan Lines (2006) directed by Ed Aldridge

Director: Ed Aldridge

Writer: Ed Aldridge (writer)

Genre: Drama, Romance

Plot: From the sun-drenched beaches of Australia comes this sexy coming-of-age romance. Cute teen Midget Hollow (Jack Baxter) wanders through life riding big waves and partying with surfer boys. When Midget s best friend s gay brother Cass arrives on the scene the two quickly dive head first into a clandestine sea of sexual awakening. As his lusty romance with the dark-eyed Adonis is soon discovered Midget has to navigate between his friends reaction and his newfound love all while growing up during a hot summer of fun in the sun!

@IMDb
@Amazon: Tan Lines
@Netflix
@TLA Releasing
@Wolfe Video

 

( more pics )

Cast (in credits order)
Jack Baxter ... Midget Hollows
Lorena Arancibia ... Betty Hollows
Jed Clarke ... Dan Masters
Curtis Dickson ... Paul
Harry Catterns ... Dogboy (as Harry Plato Catterns)
Joshua Bush ... Dickhead
Daniel O'Leary ... Cass Masters
Lucy Minter ... Alice McQuillan
Ana ... Party People
Bes ... Party People
( rest of the cast )

Tan Lines (2006) directed by Ed Aldridge

Director: Ed Aldridge

Writer: Ed Aldridge (writer)

Genre: Drama, Romance

Plot: From the sun-drenched beaches of Australia comes this sexy coming-of-age romance. Cute teen Midget Hollow (Jack Baxter) wanders through life riding big waves and partying with surfer boys. When Midget s best friend s gay brother Cass arrives on the scene the two quickly dive head first into a clandestine sea of sexual awakening. As his lusty romance with the dark-eyed Adonis is soon discovered Midget has to navigate between his friends reaction and his newfound love all while growing up during a hot summer of fun in the sun!

@IMDb
@Amazon: Tan Lines
@Netflix
@TLA Releasing
@Wolfe Video

 

( more pics )

Cast (in credits order)
Jack Baxter ... Midget Hollows
Lorena Arancibia ... Betty Hollows
Jed Clarke ... Dan Masters
Curtis Dickson ... Paul
Harry Catterns ... Dogboy (as Harry Plato Catterns)
Joshua Bush ... Dickhead
Daniel O'Leary ... Cass Masters
Lucy Minter ... Alice McQuillan
Ana ... Party People
Bes ... Party People
( rest of the cast )