Poor Boy by Jaime Samms

Who is the poor boy of the title? Reading the blurb you can expect that rich boy Roy is the lucky one, and hustler Scooby is the poor, but in this tale what you expect is not all what you get.

Roy is the classical spoiled brat of a too wealthy family. His mother is a drunk who killed a family while driving; the money of the husband saved her from prison, but not from her problems, and now she is an empty shell. His father is only preoccupied to avoid for his son to be on the first pages of z-rated magazines, and not to avoid for his son to have reasons to be on that pages. His brother was killed one night while trying for the endless time to convince him to come back home instead of going away with his addict boyfriend... Apparently there are no hopes for Roy to redeem, and actually no reasons. When his father finally kicks him out, obviously his boyfriend does the same and Roy is on the street, like the two kids of the family his mother killed were so many years ago.

For Roy is like a falling to hell, in a world he has never been, neither in his worst period. A world were you can be killed on a street, but also where only the poorest help the poor. And so it's only Scooby, a young hustler, who offers an hand and a shelter to Roy. But Scooby for Roy is not a stranger, in him Roy sees the boy his mother orphaned and his father didn't help, and so, even if he is not even capable to care for himself, Roy decides to take care of Scooby. Scooby is an hustler, but it's not like what Roy did with his friends and for his friends is so much different.

It's not even a love story at first, Scooby latches to Roy and he sometime does with his brother Clark, a man who would like to have a life of his own, but can't since if he leaves, for Scooby will be the end. In a way Roy wants to prove also to Clark that he is able to provide for Scooby, but Roy realizes that he can't do that alone, and he also realizes, maybe for the first time, that he is really alone: no more father to pay him out, no more boyfriend to throw in the face of his father, no more brother to help him; Roy is all alone with Scooby, a man who is too unstable to be of any help.

The story is till too much real and cruel, but the world in which Roy ends it seems almost a metaphor of the dark side: it's described in a way that makes it feel full of shadow and with an endless night, and when Roy, for brief moments, escapes it, it's like if all of sudden the light breaks through. Roy's quest for taking Scooby away from it, reminds me some mythological fall in Ade with the hero who tries to save his lover. Nor Roy or Scooby will escape without scars, some old, some deep, and it's not like in the end all is perfect and the past is behind them, the past, the hell, is only meters away and the path toward the full light is still long.

 

So, in the end, who is the poor guy of the title?

http://www.freyasbower.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=10&products_id=157

Reading List:

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

Poor Boy by Jaime Samms

Who is the poor boy of the title? Reading the blurb you can expect that rich boy Roy is the lucky one, and hustler Scooby is the poor, but in this tale what you expect is not all what you get.

Roy is the classical spoiled brat of a too wealthy family. His mother is a drunk who killed a family while driving; the money of the husband saved her from prison, but not from her problems, and now she is an empty shell. His father is only preoccupied to avoid for his son to be on the first pages of z-rated magazines, and not to avoid for his son to have reasons to be on that pages. His brother was killed one night while trying for the endless time to convince him to come back home instead of going away with his addict boyfriend... Apparently there are no hopes for Roy to redeem, and actually no reasons. When his father finally kicks him out, obviously his boyfriend does the same and Roy is on the street, like the two kids of the family his mother killed were so many years ago.

For Roy is like a falling to hell, in a world he has never been, neither in his worst period. A world were you can be killed on a street, but also where only the poorest help the poor. And so it's only Scooby, a young hustler, who offers an hand and a shelter to Roy. But Scooby for Roy is not a stranger, in him Roy sees the boy his mother orphaned and his father didn't help, and so, even if he is not even capable to care for himself, Roy decides to take care of Scooby. Scooby is an hustler, but it's not like what Roy did with his friends and for his friends is so much different.

It's not even a love story at first, Scooby latches to Roy and he sometime does with his brother Clark, a man who would like to have a life of his own, but can't since if he leaves, for Scooby will be the end. In a way Roy wants to prove also to Clark that he is able to provide for Scooby, but Roy realizes that he can't do that alone, and he also realizes, maybe for the first time, that he is really alone: no more father to pay him out, no more boyfriend to throw in the face of his father, no more brother to help him; Roy is all alone with Scooby, a man who is too unstable to be of any help.

The story is till too much real and cruel, but the world in which Roy ends it seems almost a metaphor of the dark side: it's described in a way that makes it feel full of shadow and with an endless night, and when Roy, for brief moments, escapes it, it's like if all of sudden the light breaks through. Roy's quest for taking Scooby away from it, reminds me some mythological fall in Ade with the hero who tries to save his lover. Nor Roy or Scooby will escape without scars, some old, some deep, and it's not like in the end all is perfect and the past is behind them, the past, the hell, is only meters away and the path toward the full light is still long.

 

So, in the end, who is the poor guy of the title?

http://www.freyasbower.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=10&products_id=157

Reading List:

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

Weathering the Storm by Nicki Bennett & Ariel Tachna

Being stranded in a car in the middle of a snowstorm seems to be a rather common way to find true love during Christmas time...

Mason is heading toward his mother's home to spend Christmas with his family when he has a car accident. Things seem to go pretty bad, being in the middle of nothing, when trucker Tate stops to help him; not that they can do much, other than shared the warmer cab of the truck and the home baked cookies Mason was bringing to his mother.

I don't know, probably in a normal situation, the last thing that would happen is for Mason and Tate to have a one stand night adventure, but this is a romance, and obviously this is what happens. The originality is more on the characters than in the story, being Tate not the usual bulky truker, but rather lean and small, but with a dominant streak; Mason instead, with his home baking skill, you should expect to be the pretty and cute of the couple, and instead he is the stronger one, but with a penchant to be the bottom in bed.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/advent.htm

Reading List:

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

Weathering the Storm by Nicki Bennett & Ariel Tachna

Being stranded in a car in the middle of a snowstorm seems to be a rather common way to find true love during Christmas time...

Mason is heading toward his mother's home to spend Christmas with his family when he has a car accident. Things seem to go pretty bad, being in the middle of nothing, when trucker Tate stops to help him; not that they can do much, other than shared the warmer cab of the truck and the home baked cookies Mason was bringing to his mother.

I don't know, probably in a normal situation, the last thing that would happen is for Mason and Tate to have a one stand night adventure, but this is a romance, and obviously this is what happens. The originality is more on the characters than in the story, being Tate not the usual bulky truker, but rather lean and small, but with a dominant streak; Mason instead, with his home baking skill, you should expect to be the pretty and cute of the couple, and instead he is the stronger one, but with a penchant to be the bottom in bed.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/advent.htm

Reading List:

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

Man Candy Day: Brent Van Zant

Brent is a dark horse in my stables of Men Candy, since he is the last entry and I decided to post him so soon, but he made a rather big impression in a recent meme about the Man who turns you on, and definetely Brent corresponds to my liking (marquesate and erastes it's all your fault). There aren't many pictures of him around the web, but they are almost all pictures in underwear, but since he is a underwear model it's expected. I rather like also those classical '50 poses of him like a pinup... Brent van Zant is a 26 years old fitness and underwear model. Brent has done the cover of Men’s Fitness and countless swimwear pictorals and fashion shoots. From the cover of Men’s Fitness to his hot swimwear spread in the February issue of Aussie mag DNA, decked out in Aussie Bum undies, Brent has killer abs and a gorgeous look that’s almost too much to handle.



( more pics )

Brent Van Zant was born in a place called Paradise, in Northern California. "It's a small town and it was a great place to grow up," says Brent. "I spent a lot of my childhood fishing and camping." Brent Van Zant now lives in Hermosa Beach, which is a 30 minutes south of LA. "It's a real board shorts and flip-flop type place. I love that kind of laid back scene."

Brent says his much drooled-over photo shoot (photo 7) with DNA photographer Lewis Payton has boosted his modelling career. "The offers have kept rolling in. I'm a late starter in the business and that shoot has really improved my book. I just did a Guess Jeans campaign which I shot in LA recently. I think the DNA shoot had something to do with it." Photographer Lewis Payton describes Brent Van Zant as being “almost painfully shy in a casting situation, which is something he's since overcome. That just made him more enigmatic and appealing. This super hot guy who is at the same time initially totally awkward and nervous. Creatively, my shoot with Brent was the easiest and most enjoyable I've worked on. He's one of those guys who everyone just likes. He's got a spark in his eye that makes you smile," says Payton. Brent has also done some naked shots (photos 1, 2 & 3) for Bruce Weber.

Brent is interested in acting, although the cut-throat world of LA is not this beach boy's scene. "LA is a very competitive place, which isn’t me at all. People here have had years of experience, so I’ll have to do some training. To tell you the truth, I really don't like LA. That's why I have to live on the beach, or I think I'd go crazy."

Brent was a student and a construction worker before entering the world of modelling. "If you'd told me back then that I'd be flying to New York and Europe to be photographed I never would have believed you," he says. "And there is so much of the world I'd like to see. I've travelled to Europe, but I want to see more." For a man most comfortable in a pair of board shorts, Brent Van Zant is itching to see what's on offer on Australian shores. "I've heard you guys have amazing beaches. Growing up in California all my life I'm such a beach guy. I'd also like to check out New Zealand and Asia." In the future, this down to earth Californian would like to be starting a family.

And how does he feel about being voted number two by DNA readers? "Kind of shocked and very flattered. It's a cool that people all the way across the other side of the world have voted for me. I'd have to agree though that Brad Pitt deserves number one."

( video )

@Major Model Management

Man Candy Day: Brent Van Zant

Brent is a dark horse in my stables of Men Candy, since he is the last entry and I decided to post him so soon, but he made a rather big impression in a recent meme about the Man who turns you on, and definetely Brent corresponds to my liking (marquesate and erastes it's all your fault). There aren't many pictures of him around the web, but they are almost all pictures in underwear, but since he is a underwear model it's expected. I rather like also those classical '50 poses of him like a pinup... Brent van Zant is a 26 years old fitness and underwear model. Brent has done the cover of Men’s Fitness and countless swimwear pictorals and fashion shoots. From the cover of Men’s Fitness to his hot swimwear spread in the February issue of Aussie mag DNA, decked out in Aussie Bum undies, Brent has killer abs and a gorgeous look that’s almost too much to handle.



( more pics )

Brent Van Zant was born in a place called Paradise, in Northern California. "It's a small town and it was a great place to grow up," says Brent. "I spent a lot of my childhood fishing and camping." Brent Van Zant now lives in Hermosa Beach, which is a 30 minutes south of LA. "It's a real board shorts and flip-flop type place. I love that kind of laid back scene."

Brent says his much drooled-over photo shoot (photo 7) with DNA photographer Lewis Payton has boosted his modelling career. "The offers have kept rolling in. I'm a late starter in the business and that shoot has really improved my book. I just did a Guess Jeans campaign which I shot in LA recently. I think the DNA shoot had something to do with it." Photographer Lewis Payton describes Brent Van Zant as being “almost painfully shy in a casting situation, which is something he's since overcome. That just made him more enigmatic and appealing. This super hot guy who is at the same time initially totally awkward and nervous. Creatively, my shoot with Brent was the easiest and most enjoyable I've worked on. He's one of those guys who everyone just likes. He's got a spark in his eye that makes you smile," says Payton. Brent has also done some naked shots (photos 1, 2 & 3) for Bruce Weber.

Brent is interested in acting, although the cut-throat world of LA is not this beach boy's scene. "LA is a very competitive place, which isn’t me at all. People here have had years of experience, so I’ll have to do some training. To tell you the truth, I really don't like LA. That's why I have to live on the beach, or I think I'd go crazy."

Brent was a student and a construction worker before entering the world of modelling. "If you'd told me back then that I'd be flying to New York and Europe to be photographed I never would have believed you," he says. "And there is so much of the world I'd like to see. I've travelled to Europe, but I want to see more." For a man most comfortable in a pair of board shorts, Brent Van Zant is itching to see what's on offer on Australian shores. "I've heard you guys have amazing beaches. Growing up in California all my life I'm such a beach guy. I'd also like to check out New Zealand and Asia." In the future, this down to earth Californian would like to be starting a family.

And how does he feel about being voted number two by DNA readers? "Kind of shocked and very flattered. It's a cool that people all the way across the other side of the world have voted for me. I'd have to agree though that Brad Pitt deserves number one."

( video )

@Major Model Management

Hajiri's Pet by Auburnimp & Michael Barnette

Well, well, well, it's not easy to write something on this book and let you understand the mixed feelings it gave me. Hajiri is a former gunwhore (a mix between a paid bodyguard and a whore) and now a zonewarrior, a man paid for resolving other people problems maybe not in a legal way. In one of his nightly wandering in the wealthy zone of an apocalyptic Tokyo, Hajiri finds himself with something he is not sure to want, a pet, a genetically engineering mix between a human and a snow leopard. Kenshin, as he named the pet, was trained to protect his Master, and to please him in every way, in and out of bed. He is used to be considered an animal, to live in a cage and to behave like a pet in every moment of his life; worst, he has a chip that, if he "behaves" badly, releases in his system a pain that can arrive to kill him.

Kenshin has absolutely need for a Master, he can't live without one, and so he decides that Hajiri will be his next Master, and if he is good enough, he will be the last. And here Kenshin proves that he is not as all the other pets, he is faulted, he has a working brain! And here is my guilty pleasure in reading this story: I liked Hajiri and Kenshin's relationship, I liked when Kenshin behaves like a little kitten, I liked when he purrs and kneals his Master... all right, I'm guilty! My mind continued to send discording messages, saying that Kenshin is not a pet, he is a man, and he deserves to be treated like a man, but then, Hajiri didn't force him to behave like that, and so it's Kenshin's choice; but it's not his choice, he was brainwashed, he has chip in his brain that prevent him to disobey. Here the big dilemma: to be pet or not to be pet? Probably this is the same dilemma someone like me will always have reading a full yaoi style novel.

Other than a strange love story, there is also a lot of violence in this novel, violence that doesn't save anyone, men, women and children alike: the futuristic apocalyptic world recreated by this duo (that will be familiar to whom read Michael Barnette's work at Mojocastle Press) is not a clean and spotless futuristic world lead by technology, but it's more like a big slum with few and elite safe zones. Everything can be bought and sold, above all the human (and not human) life.

http://www.king-cart.com/cgi-bin/cart.cgi?store=linda018&product_name=Hajiri's+Pet&return_page=&user-id=&password=&exchange=&exact_match=exact

Reading List:

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


Cover Art by P.L. Nunn

Hajiri's Pet by Auburnimp & Michael Barnette

Well, well, well, it's not easy to write something on this book and let you understand the mixed feelings it gave me. Hajiri is a former gunwhore (a mix between a paid bodyguard and a whore) and now a zonewarrior, a man paid for resolving other people problems maybe not in a legal way. In one of his nightly wandering in the wealthy zone of an apocalyptic Tokyo, Hajiri finds himself with something he is not sure to want, a pet, a genetically engineering mix between a human and a snow leopard. Kenshin, as he named the pet, was trained to protect his Master, and to please him in every way, in and out of bed. He is used to be considered an animal, to live in a cage and to behave like a pet in every moment of his life; worst, he has a chip that, if he "behaves" badly, releases in his system a pain that can arrive to kill him.

Kenshin has absolutely need for a Master, he can't live without one, and so he decides that Hajiri will be his next Master, and if he is good enough, he will be the last. And here Kenshin proves that he is not as all the other pets, he is faulted, he has a working brain! And here is my guilty pleasure in reading this story: I liked Hajiri and Kenshin's relationship, I liked when Kenshin behaves like a little kitten, I liked when he purrs and kneals his Master... all right, I'm guilty! My mind continued to send discording messages, saying that Kenshin is not a pet, he is a man, and he deserves to be treated like a man, but then, Hajiri didn't force him to behave like that, and so it's Kenshin's choice; but it's not his choice, he was brainwashed, he has chip in his brain that prevent him to disobey. Here the big dilemma: to be pet or not to be pet? Probably this is the same dilemma someone like me will always have reading a full yaoi style novel.

Other than a strange love story, there is also a lot of violence in this novel, violence that doesn't save anyone, men, women and children alike: the futuristic apocalyptic world recreated by this duo (that will be familiar to whom read Michael Barnette's work at Mojocastle Press) is not a clean and spotless futuristic world lead by technology, but it's more like a big slum with few and elite safe zones. Everything can be bought and sold, above all the human (and not human) life.

http://www.king-cart.com/cgi-bin/cart.cgi?store=linda018&product_name=Hajiri's+Pet&return_page=&user-id=&password=&exchange=&exact_match=exact

Reading List:

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


Cover Art by P.L. Nunn