A Calling of Souls by Pepper Espinoza, Vivien Dean & Jamie Craig

Walk Among Us by Vivien Dean

I appreciated in the past Vivien Dean's originality, when she gave a twist on an unusual vampire romance. Now she creates another terrific (or horrific...) novel about an former priest who sees demons...

Calvin is back on his hometown near Chicago for his father's funeral. But Calvin is not mourning the loss of his father, since the man was an homophobic who kicked him out when he found his son was gay. But Calvin managed to build a good life in New York as an appreciated artist. Actually he doesn't know why he bothers to come back, since no one in the small town seems to understand his detached behavior. And then during the funeral a sniper killed a man and Calvin sees him perfectly. Matthew is a very handsome man with a brooding behavior and tormented eyes. The artist in Calvin is immediately attracted by this perfect image, and the man in Calvin is attracted by the handsome man.

In an usual romance, you would expected that Calvin is horrified by Matthew's action, but like Calvin is detached by his father's death, he seems to be detached by all the little world around the man. Calvin doesn't know the man Matthew killed, and he is more interesting in Matthew, than in the act he did. Probably Calvin closed something in his soul when his father kicked him out, he hid in the safe of his heart all the emotions, and now he has like a shield around him. A shield that protects him from the demons.

The demons prey on the mourning souls, and this is the reason why Matthew was at the funeral of Calvin's father. Matthew is only a man, not an hero. He is not thrilled by the idea to have the skill to see demons, and if possible, he avoids the crowd, so he has less chance to see demons. But here and there, Matthew's conscience nags him and he needs to do something to stop the demons. So he goes to funeral, the likely place to find mourning soul. But this time is not a relative of the dead who is mourning: Calvin doesn't regret his father's death, and so he is not the target for the demon.

The book is not very long, less than 90 pages, but it's very well plotted. It mixes very well the demon's matter with the erotic part, and the two erotic scenes in the book are really good and arousing. Calvin's character is a bit more developed than Matthew, even if probably Matthew is the most intriguing. All in all another very good book by Vivien Dean.

http://www.samhainpublishing.com/romance/walk-among-us

Amazon Kindle: Walk Among Us: A Calling of Souls story

If All the Sand Were Pearl by Pepper Espinoza

First of all the setting: I would say a fantasy world... there are not high-tech elements to make it a futurist novel, and the only "modern" intrusion, is the presence of some plastic dildos... in the past there were dildos but they are made of wood, I believe. So yes, I will go for the fantasy.

Anyway, in this fantasy world, same sex marriage is not forbidden, even if it is not common for the simplest reason: wealthy families needs heirs and in a same sex marriage a natural heir is not possible. Jag is the last son of a once wealthy family; since he was born when all his other siblings were just betrothed or married, he was left with a decision: become a scholar or a priest. He set for priest and he was happy with the decision at 12 years old, but later one thing of priesthood left him "unsatisfied": chastity. Anyway he has never had a chance to be sexually active and so he really doesn't know what he is losing. He only knows that he dreams of the hard body of a man rather than that of a woman. So when financial problems push his family to negotiate an arranged marriage also for him, the only choice he is left is the gender of the betrothed... and he chooses a man.

Jag has never seen before his betrothed and he fears the wedding night. He is not sure of what expecting, and since he is rather young, also the physical appearance of the man is a huge problem for him. And then, is he enough attractive for the other man? Jag is lithe and small, he has the body of a scholar and he only knows that his betrothed is a big man used to work outside. The more innocent problems swirl in his mind, the same questions a virgin maid would have in the same situation.

Brace lost the hope to find a suitable partner long ago. He prefers man and no noble family would allow him to marry one of its son. And now he has a last chance. But he doesn't want to marry a man compelled to take a decision he doesn't like. And so he sends to Jag a gift, a very rare pearl, worthy enough to buy back his freedom and allow to him and his family a comfortable future. With that pearl in his possession, if Jag will decide to marry him, he will do that only according to his real desire.

Brace is a good man; he has no problem to find a willing partner for a one night tryst, but he wants a long term relationship. He doesn't want an husband to fill his nights, he wants a man to fill his days. Brace is true and simple like the life he likes: his horses, his travels... More than a lover he needs a companion.

In the end, you would expected for Jag to be the brooding one, the scholar type, and instead Jag unveils to be a young man waiting to be freed, and Brace could be the key to his freedom.

The story is pretty classic, and in this case "classic" is the right term, since this novel has an old fashioned style, but it's also erotic, the sex scenes are good and explicit, but always in line with the mood of the novel, even if that plastic dildos make them a bit kinky.

http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/if-all-the-sand-were-pearl

Amazon Kindle: If All the Sand Were Pearl

No Fear in Love by Jamie Craig

This is the second story I read in the A Calling of Souls anthology by Samhain Publishing, and like the other one is a story about a night which changes forever the life of two men.

Weston and Mark were buddy friends since they were teenagers; from a small English village, they share everything since they both feel stranger among other people. Probably Weston realized before his friend what that strangeness was, he loves his friend Mark, and it's not a friendly love. But Weston probably is more cautious and probably he fears to leave the comfort of his small village life and so he searched shelter in the church and in the chastity: he became an Anglican pastor. He removed passionate love from his life and most of the time he is content with it. Not when he is with Mark.

Mark chose to leave the small village for the big city, for London. He still returns back sometime, mostly to spend time with his best friend Weston. Also Mark is gay, but he has not chosen chastity... instead he tried to search his love in a lot of men, only to realize that he has just found it, and he is Weston. So now Mark is determined to spend a night with Weston, to prove him how it could be between them, and to have at least that night for them.

And so Mark consciously seduces Weston, he destabilizes his friend beliefs, and he puts the seed of doubt in his mind; is the church only a substitute of what Weston really wants? can he risk his comfort life for the uncertainty of a life with Mark?

I like both Weston than Mark, but in both of them I found something to blame: why Weston didn't dare to fight for his love and instead chose the easy way of becoming a priest? if he knew that his friend was gay (and he knew it since he said that Mark went to him the first time he was with a man), why he lied to himself?

On the other hand Mark... perhaps he didn't realize to be in love with Weston before moving to London and realizing that he was searching the man in other partners. I could think so, and thinking in that way, I find him nicer than Weston, since he decides to do something, he decides to risk their friendship in the hope to obtain love.

The story is not very long, 60 pages, and since it's mostly a one night story, there is not much space to develop the characters. They haven't the chance to interact with other people, the issue of Weston being a priest is not so much a problem, if not for him, there is not judgment from outside. There is also no space to develop Mark and Weston's relationship as friends, to let us know how they were as young gay teens in a small village. The story is appealing and I'd like to read something more both before than after the central night.

http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/no-fear-in-love

Amazon Kindle: No Fear in Love: A Calling of Souls story

http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/a-calling-of-souls (print book)

Amazon: Calling of Souls

Reading List:

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


Cover Art by Anne Cain


Cover Art by Anne Cain


Cover Art by Anne Cain

A Calling of Souls by Pepper Espinoza, Vivien Dean & Jamie Craig

Walk Among Us by Vivien Dean

I appreciated in the past Vivien Dean's originality, when she gave a twist on an unusual vampire romance. Now she creates another terrific (or horrific...) novel about an former priest who sees demons...

Calvin is back on his hometown near Chicago for his father's funeral. But Calvin is not mourning the loss of his father, since the man was an homophobic who kicked him out when he found his son was gay. But Calvin managed to build a good life in New York as an appreciated artist. Actually he doesn't know why he bothers to come back, since no one in the small town seems to understand his detached behavior. And then during the funeral a sniper killed a man and Calvin sees him perfectly. Matthew is a very handsome man with a brooding behavior and tormented eyes. The artist in Calvin is immediately attracted by this perfect image, and the man in Calvin is attracted by the handsome man.

In an usual romance, you would expected that Calvin is horrified by Matthew's action, but like Calvin is detached by his father's death, he seems to be detached by all the little world around the man. Calvin doesn't know the man Matthew killed, and he is more interesting in Matthew, than in the act he did. Probably Calvin closed something in his soul when his father kicked him out, he hid in the safe of his heart all the emotions, and now he has like a shield around him. A shield that protects him from the demons.

The demons prey on the mourning souls, and this is the reason why Matthew was at the funeral of Calvin's father. Matthew is only a man, not an hero. He is not thrilled by the idea to have the skill to see demons, and if possible, he avoids the crowd, so he has less chance to see demons. But here and there, Matthew's conscience nags him and he needs to do something to stop the demons. So he goes to funeral, the likely place to find mourning soul. But this time is not a relative of the dead who is mourning: Calvin doesn't regret his father's death, and so he is not the target for the demon.

The book is not very long, less than 90 pages, but it's very well plotted. It mixes very well the demon's matter with the erotic part, and the two erotic scenes in the book are really good and arousing. Calvin's character is a bit more developed than Matthew, even if probably Matthew is the most intriguing. All in all another very good book by Vivien Dean.

http://www.samhainpublishing.com/romance/walk-among-us

Amazon Kindle: Walk Among Us: A Calling of Souls story

If All the Sand Were Pearl by Pepper Espinoza

First of all the setting: I would say a fantasy world... there are not high-tech elements to make it a futurist novel, and the only "modern" intrusion, is the presence of some plastic dildos... in the past there were dildos but they are made of wood, I believe. So yes, I will go for the fantasy.

Anyway, in this fantasy world, same sex marriage is not forbidden, even if it is not common for the simplest reason: wealthy families needs heirs and in a same sex marriage a natural heir is not possible. Jag is the last son of a once wealthy family; since he was born when all his other siblings were just betrothed or married, he was left with a decision: become a scholar or a priest. He set for priest and he was happy with the decision at 12 years old, but later one thing of priesthood left him "unsatisfied": chastity. Anyway he has never had a chance to be sexually active and so he really doesn't know what he is losing. He only knows that he dreams of the hard body of a man rather than that of a woman. So when financial problems push his family to negotiate an arranged marriage also for him, the only choice he is left is the gender of the betrothed... and he chooses a man.

Jag has never seen before his betrothed and he fears the wedding night. He is not sure of what expecting, and since he is rather young, also the physical appearance of the man is a huge problem for him. And then, is he enough attractive for the other man? Jag is lithe and small, he has the body of a scholar and he only knows that his betrothed is a big man used to work outside. The more innocent problems swirl in his mind, the same questions a virgin maid would have in the same situation.

Brace lost the hope to find a suitable partner long ago. He prefers man and no noble family would allow him to marry one of its son. And now he has a last chance. But he doesn't want to marry a man compelled to take a decision he doesn't like. And so he sends to Jag a gift, a very rare pearl, worthy enough to buy back his freedom and allow to him and his family a comfortable future. With that pearl in his possession, if Jag will decide to marry him, he will do that only according to his real desire.

Brace is a good man; he has no problem to find a willing partner for a one night tryst, but he wants a long term relationship. He doesn't want an husband to fill his nights, he wants a man to fill his days. Brace is true and simple like the life he likes: his horses, his travels... More than a lover he needs a companion.

In the end, you would expected for Jag to be the brooding one, the scholar type, and instead Jag unveils to be a young man waiting to be freed, and Brace could be the key to his freedom.

The story is pretty classic, and in this case "classic" is the right term, since this novel has an old fashioned style, but it's also erotic, the sex scenes are good and explicit, but always in line with the mood of the novel, even if that plastic dildos make them a bit kinky.

http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/if-all-the-sand-were-pearl

Amazon Kindle: If All the Sand Were Pearl

No Fear in Love by Jamie Craig

This is the second story I read in the A Calling of Souls anthology by Samhain Publishing, and like the other one is a story about a night which changes forever the life of two men.

Weston and Mark were buddy friends since they were teenagers; from a small English village, they share everything since they both feel stranger among other people. Probably Weston realized before his friend what that strangeness was, he loves his friend Mark, and it's not a friendly love. But Weston probably is more cautious and probably he fears to leave the comfort of his small village life and so he searched shelter in the church and in the chastity: he became an Anglican pastor. He removed passionate love from his life and most of the time he is content with it. Not when he is with Mark.

Mark chose to leave the small village for the big city, for London. He still returns back sometime, mostly to spend time with his best friend Weston. Also Mark is gay, but he has not chosen chastity... instead he tried to search his love in a lot of men, only to realize that he has just found it, and he is Weston. So now Mark is determined to spend a night with Weston, to prove him how it could be between them, and to have at least that night for them.

And so Mark consciously seduces Weston, he destabilizes his friend beliefs, and he puts the seed of doubt in his mind; is the church only a substitute of what Weston really wants? can he risk his comfort life for the uncertainty of a life with Mark?

I like both Weston than Mark, but in both of them I found something to blame: why Weston didn't dare to fight for his love and instead chose the easy way of becoming a priest? if he knew that his friend was gay (and he knew it since he said that Mark went to him the first time he was with a man), why he lied to himself?

On the other hand Mark... perhaps he didn't realize to be in love with Weston before moving to London and realizing that he was searching the man in other partners. I could think so, and thinking in that way, I find him nicer than Weston, since he decides to do something, he decides to risk their friendship in the hope to obtain love.

The story is not very long, 60 pages, and since it's mostly a one night story, there is not much space to develop the characters. They haven't the chance to interact with other people, the issue of Weston being a priest is not so much a problem, if not for him, there is not judgment from outside. There is also no space to develop Mark and Weston's relationship as friends, to let us know how they were as young gay teens in a small village. The story is appealing and I'd like to read something more both before than after the central night.

http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/no-fear-in-love

Amazon Kindle: No Fear in Love: A Calling of Souls story

http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/a-calling-of-souls (print book)

Amazon: Calling of Souls

Reading List:

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


Cover Art by Anne Cain


Cover Art by Anne Cain


Cover Art by Anne Cain

Handyman by Claire Thompson

Jack is a 44 years old widower. Since the day his wife suddenly death he had a pretty quite, even if not exciting life: married at 19 years old to have get pregnant his highschool sweetheart, Jack has never had the chance to choice what to do; clever and with a lot of possibilities ahead of him, instead he had to skip college and became a carpenter to bring soon and fast money at home. He doesn't regret having his two sons, and he was fond of his wife, but he didn't love her; actually even that first time with her, when she got pregnant, was due to the fact that Jack was trying to understand his feelings for his bestfriend and buddy of highschool. Now twentyfive years later he is still at the same point, wondering if what he feels for Will is real love or only curiosity.

Will is 30 years old and wealthy. An easy life, he passed from highschool, to college, to work always knowing what he wanted and what he liked. He likes men and even if he is conscious that in his life of work his better not to flaunt it, endlessly numbers of one night stand prove that he has not problem to reach what he desires. But Will is in a moment in his life that if he doesn't slow down, he will be burn out soon. He decided to leave his multimillionaire work for six months and see where life brings him, instead of lead his life. And here he is, with a sudden interest for a man that usually he would never notice. Jack is not handsome, wealthy or powerful. He is a simple man who quietly listen to him and always seems comfortable with himself. Will feels good around him and would like to take on the relationship to a step up, but he even knows if Jack is gay or at least bi-curios.

The story could be simple and erotic, being a gay version of the rich woman who has a torrid relationship with the handyman, and instead Clare Thompson chooses to write it as an almost sweet romance, made of tender wooing and gentle encouragement. Jack is not the hot stud of every woman fantasy, he is an almost middle age man with plain feature and an apparently non interesting work. But Jack hides secret, like the fact that he loves beauty and he can create it with his hands; he seems rough but instead he is gentle and caring.

Also Will is a surprising character: I really believed for him to fail to proof of love... oh, yes, I was expecting my happily ever after, but I was sure that it would be Jack to bring it home. And instead Will revealed to be a very good seducer since this time his purpose is not to love them and leave them, but to assure him a man for his life.

And for who is wondering about that sweet romance thing, don't worry, this is a romance by Clare Thompson, and so, yes, you will have also the erotic part, and for me, it is one of the best erotic part I read lately.

One final note: I was really expecting Jack's confrontation with his family, with his two adult sons, and in fact I was counting the pages to the end to see if and when the author chose to write it. She did, but in my opinion, there is space for more, maybe another book where deepen Jack and Will's relationship, but also Will's relationship with Jack's sons, and why not, that of Jack with Will's world.

http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/handyman

Amazon Kindle: Handyman

Amazon: Handyman

Reading List:

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

Handyman by Claire Thompson

Jack is a 44 years old widower. Since the day his wife suddenly death he had a pretty quite, even if not exciting life: married at 19 years old to have get pregnant his highschool sweetheart, Jack has never had the chance to choice what to do; clever and with a lot of possibilities ahead of him, instead he had to skip college and became a carpenter to bring soon and fast money at home. He doesn't regret having his two sons, and he was fond of his wife, but he didn't love her; actually even that first time with her, when she got pregnant, was due to the fact that Jack was trying to understand his feelings for his bestfriend and buddy of highschool. Now twentyfive years later he is still at the same point, wondering if what he feels for Will is real love or only curiosity.

Will is 30 years old and wealthy. An easy life, he passed from highschool, to college, to work always knowing what he wanted and what he liked. He likes men and even if he is conscious that in his life of work his better not to flaunt it, endlessly numbers of one night stand prove that he has not problem to reach what he desires. But Will is in a moment in his life that if he doesn't slow down, he will be burn out soon. He decided to leave his multimillionaire work for six months and see where life brings him, instead of lead his life. And here he is, with a sudden interest for a man that usually he would never notice. Jack is not handsome, wealthy or powerful. He is a simple man who quietly listen to him and always seems comfortable with himself. Will feels good around him and would like to take on the relationship to a step up, but he even knows if Jack is gay or at least bi-curios.

The story could be simple and erotic, being a gay version of the rich woman who has a torrid relationship with the handyman, and instead Clare Thompson chooses to write it as an almost sweet romance, made of tender wooing and gentle encouragement. Jack is not the hot stud of every woman fantasy, he is an almost middle age man with plain feature and an apparently non interesting work. But Jack hides secret, like the fact that he loves beauty and he can create it with his hands; he seems rough but instead he is gentle and caring.

Also Will is a surprising character: I really believed for him to fail to proof of love... oh, yes, I was expecting my happily ever after, but I was sure that it would be Jack to bring it home. And instead Will revealed to be a very good seducer since this time his purpose is not to love them and leave them, but to assure him a man for his life.

And for who is wondering about that sweet romance thing, don't worry, this is a romance by Clare Thompson, and so, yes, you will have also the erotic part, and for me, it is one of the best erotic part I read lately.

One final note: I was really expecting Jack's confrontation with his family, with his two adult sons, and in fact I was counting the pages to the end to see if and when the author chose to write it. She did, but in my opinion, there is space for more, maybe another book where deepen Jack and Will's relationship, but also Will's relationship with Jack's sons, and why not, that of Jack with Will's world.

http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/handyman

Amazon Kindle: Handyman

Amazon: Handyman

Reading List:

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

A Very Romantic Picture

These days in blogs there are a lot of posts on various Gay Pride parades all over the world. They are funny, they are colorful and I like to see them all. But this morning I found a picture that is so romantic, I can't not share with you:



This is from the Gay Pride in Berlin. A photographer took pictures of people parading and witnessing. The two men on the pics apparently didn't know they were on the lens, they are behind a wall of people and they are looking at the parade... hand in hand! How cute! And the matching leather outfit? I'm still smiling :-)

A Very Romantic Picture

These days in blogs there are a lot of posts on various Gay Pride parades all over the world. They are funny, they are colorful and I like to see them all. But this morning I found a picture that is so romantic, I can't not share with you:



This is from the Gay Pride in Berlin. A photographer took pictures of people parading and witnessing. The two men on the pics apparently didn't know they were on the lens, they are behind a wall of people and they are looking at the parade... hand in hand! How cute! And the matching leather outfit? I'm still smiling :-)

Behind the Cover: Blake Morrow

"Born April 4th, I am a photographer, designer, illustrator and big idea guy currently living in Toronto, Ontario.

I've been brought up on a diet of TV, comic books, action figures and make-believe, shaping my passion for pop culture and the inspiration I find in the world around me.

I also like woodgrain, all things vintage and shiny things!" Blake Morrow



( more pics )

http://www.blakemorrow.ca/

Behind the Cover: Blake Morrow

"Born April 4th, I am a photographer, designer, illustrator and big idea guy currently living in Toronto, Ontario.

I've been brought up on a diet of TV, comic books, action figures and make-believe, shaping my passion for pop culture and the inspiration I find in the world around me.

I also like woodgrain, all things vintage and shiny things!" Blake Morrow



( more pics )

http://www.blakemorrow.ca/

Kaji Sukoshi and The Shining One by Connie Bailey

Sitting down to write this review what is whirling in my mind is that the novel was not at all what I was expecting and that it surprised me in more point than one... and that, in a way, it was also a teasing book.

The story is told in first point of view by Benjamin Blume, a former rock and roll groupie London boy of the late '80, who now, 20 years later, is become a rock band manager in Tokyo. He is the manager of Hayate, a young boys band which is struggling to emerge, but they have potential and Ben believes in them. He is also very protective, like a mother hen, especially for Kaji, Little Fire, the lead singer. Barely legal, Kaji as a past of troubled teenager and for what I understood, Ben took him from the street. Ben and the four boys are now living in a former garage turned in both studio than living apartment. Having seen all in his years, Ben is trying to smooth the path for "his" boys.

Then Ben receives a proposal: an idol of Japanese pop music, Kazuki, The Shining One, is searching for a pretty boy to pose as his lover. Saro, Kazuki's manager and brother, wants to profit of Kazuki's androgynous imagine, and of the gossip around his sexuality, to raise interest on him. The two boys haven't to do anything special, just appear on some official occasion and being a little more intimate that two friends would be. There will be no official statement, the media will buzz around and do their suggestions, and they will not confirm them. Ben, after consulting with his protege, accepts, knowing that this will help his band to obtain a contract with Kazuki's production company. But he doesn't know that Kaji has a teenager crush on Kazuki, and that for his "little" boy it will not be only a posing.

Kaji ends with a broken heart, and Ben would like for him to forget everything about Kazuki, but Kaji can't; Ben is not able to understand the relationship between Kaji and Kazuki, above all since he finds Kazuki to be cold and aloof, but Kaji is always ready to justify and support his lover. It's very interesting to see the clashing of culture between Ben's point of view and Kaji, above all since Ben had a similar experience in the past: when he was less than 20 he was in love with Rune, a wanna-be singer; he thought to the man as a God, and he behaved like his welcome carpet... Obviously the relationship was doomed and Ben went away with a broken heart and bitter regrets. Now, at the same time when the story is repeating between Kaji and Kazuki, Rune reappears in Ben's life, claiming his forever love for Ben and wanting to start again. And to add trouble to trouble, Ben is also starting to feel something for Yoshi, Kazuki's lawyer, a man who is the symbol of all it's Japanese: gentle, caring, understanding. Yoshi also pushes Ben to analyze his lasting feelings for Rune, and to not rush the things between them if Ben is not sure that he is not still in love with Rune.

When I said that the novel was not what I was expecting, I mean that it's way more deep and serious than the sex, drugs and rock and roll type of story I was ready to read. Plus, I was also very ready to have the usual "lightness" of a yaoi novels, with uke, seme, blushing cheeks, big blurry eyes, and so on... Not at all. The story has more the feeling of Ben's reaction to this world, like a detached glance: Kaji and Kazuki's relationship is seen from the outside, the only sexual contacts we read are witnessed through Ben's eyes, as he himself is witnessing them. And so there is almost no sex for more than 200 of the 260 pages of the book. It was strange, I started the book expecting to find it sexy and explicit, not only for the yaoi factor, but also since Connie Bailey, in her last two long novels I read by her, has used me to be so; at first the lack of sex was frustrating, I was turning every page expecting that that would have been THE page. More I turned pages, less sex I found, and more I was involved in the story. The sex was no more important, I was more enthralled by the story, I was inside Ben and I was eager like him to see that "his" Kaji was not armed. I became the mother hen. And when finally the sex arrived (and not between Kaji and Kazuki, remember, I was Ben in that moment), it was a nice surprise, an added bonus, but not more the main focus of the story. In the course of the book, the author manages to change my mind, and making me close the book fully satisfied.

Closing note: wonderful Anne Cain's cover (again), that few lucky buyer will have the chance to buy as signed print from Dreamspinner Press website.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/currenttitles/kaji/kajibuynow.htm

Amazon Kindle: Kaji Sukoshi & The Shining One

Amazon: Kaji Sukoshi and The Shining One

Reading List:

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


Cover Art by Anne Cain

Kaji Sukoshi and The Shining One by Connie Bailey

Sitting down to write this review what is whirling in my mind is that the novel was not at all what I was expecting and that it surprised me in more point than one... and that, in a way, it was also a teasing book.

The story is told in first point of view by Benjamin Blume, a former rock and roll groupie London boy of the late '80, who now, 20 years later, is become a rock band manager in Tokyo. He is the manager of Hayate, a young boys band which is struggling to emerge, but they have potential and Ben believes in them. He is also very protective, like a mother hen, especially for Kaji, Little Fire, the lead singer. Barely legal, Kaji as a past of troubled teenager and for what I understood, Ben took him from the street. Ben and the four boys are now living in a former garage turned in both studio than living apartment. Having seen all in his years, Ben is trying to smooth the path for "his" boys.

Then Ben receives a proposal: an idol of Japanese pop music, Kazuki, The Shining One, is searching for a pretty boy to pose as his lover. Saro, Kazuki's manager and brother, wants to profit of Kazuki's androgynous imagine, and of the gossip around his sexuality, to raise interest on him. The two boys haven't to do anything special, just appear on some official occasion and being a little more intimate that two friends would be. There will be no official statement, the media will buzz around and do their suggestions, and they will not confirm them. Ben, after consulting with his protege, accepts, knowing that this will help his band to obtain a contract with Kazuki's production company. But he doesn't know that Kaji has a teenager crush on Kazuki, and that for his "little" boy it will not be only a posing.

Kaji ends with a broken heart, and Ben would like for him to forget everything about Kazuki, but Kaji can't; Ben is not able to understand the relationship between Kaji and Kazuki, above all since he finds Kazuki to be cold and aloof, but Kaji is always ready to justify and support his lover. It's very interesting to see the clashing of culture between Ben's point of view and Kaji, above all since Ben had a similar experience in the past: when he was less than 20 he was in love with Rune, a wanna-be singer; he thought to the man as a God, and he behaved like his welcome carpet... Obviously the relationship was doomed and Ben went away with a broken heart and bitter regrets. Now, at the same time when the story is repeating between Kaji and Kazuki, Rune reappears in Ben's life, claiming his forever love for Ben and wanting to start again. And to add trouble to trouble, Ben is also starting to feel something for Yoshi, Kazuki's lawyer, a man who is the symbol of all it's Japanese: gentle, caring, understanding. Yoshi also pushes Ben to analyze his lasting feelings for Rune, and to not rush the things between them if Ben is not sure that he is not still in love with Rune.

When I said that the novel was not what I was expecting, I mean that it's way more deep and serious than the sex, drugs and rock and roll type of story I was ready to read. Plus, I was also very ready to have the usual "lightness" of a yaoi novels, with uke, seme, blushing cheeks, big blurry eyes, and so on... Not at all. The story has more the feeling of Ben's reaction to this world, like a detached glance: Kaji and Kazuki's relationship is seen from the outside, the only sexual contacts we read are witnessed through Ben's eyes, as he himself is witnessing them. And so there is almost no sex for more than 200 of the 260 pages of the book. It was strange, I started the book expecting to find it sexy and explicit, not only for the yaoi factor, but also since Connie Bailey, in her last two long novels I read by her, has used me to be so; at first the lack of sex was frustrating, I was turning every page expecting that that would have been THE page. More I turned pages, less sex I found, and more I was involved in the story. The sex was no more important, I was more enthralled by the story, I was inside Ben and I was eager like him to see that "his" Kaji was not armed. I became the mother hen. And when finally the sex arrived (and not between Kaji and Kazuki, remember, I was Ben in that moment), it was a nice surprise, an added bonus, but not more the main focus of the story. In the course of the book, the author manages to change my mind, and making me close the book fully satisfied.

Closing note: wonderful Anne Cain's cover (again), that few lucky buyer will have the chance to buy as signed print from Dreamspinner Press website.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/currenttitles/kaji/kajibuynow.htm

Amazon Kindle: Kaji Sukoshi & The Shining One

Amazon: Kaji Sukoshi and The Shining One

Reading List:

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


Cover Art by Anne Cain

Best Futuristic Novel (3° place): Hell Cop by Astrid Amara, Nicole Kimberling & Ginn Hale

Next of Kin by Astrid Amara

In a futuristic world, the type I tagged Apocalypse Now, people live side by side with demons. Actually demons seem to have replace human in the most common jobs, and they are at the command of special men, the sorcerers. There are some big families of sorcerers, they are like the new aristocracy, and every sorcerer have some special powers, who more, who less.

Jay Yervant is one of those special men, but his powers brought more pain than anything else to him. He is a blazing man, like a human torch. He can't touch a human since he leaves deeply burns, and so he "banished" himself from his family. He became an Hell Cop, a special unit to fight the renegade demons. Jay has also another reason to disappoint his family, he is gay. But actually, other than feel desire for men, he has never acted upon it, since no lover can bear his touch.

Enter Brian, a 21 years old naive man... he is like a child in a candy store. Brian has always lived in a rural community which refused the modern technology, and above all the magic. But Brian didn't fit in the community and he left for the big city. Only that he wasn't prepared to what the big city is, he didn't know that demons were real, and not only a bogus the priest on the community used to scare the kid. Among all the caos the only thing normal seems his attraction to Jay, actually I didn't understand where and when Brian acquired all his sexual experience, unless in that community they did something else other than pray ;-)

Anyway it seems that Brian is the only guy able to touch Jay without being injured, and Jay was attracted to Brian even before discovering this "little" particular... maybe the days of Jay as a virgin are limited! If you think I'm joking, you are right, since the novella has a very funny mood on it. It deals with bloody killings, with body parts splattered all around, but I don't know how, it still manages to be funny. Maybe it's Brian's innocence, his fixation on having sex with Jay that makes him forget everything else around. Maybe it's also a bit the Cinderfella theme, since Jay is from a very wealthy family, but he chose to live far from them, and Brian is this poor guy living in a shitty apartment...

Really I don't know, usually I'm not a big fan of futuristic setting and too much blood around, but this time I read it all and would have been willing to read more. And in a nice play of contrast, both men preserve a type of innocence: Brian with his isolated upbringing has an innocent soul, even if he experienced sex, and instead Jay, who has seen too much and lived in a corrupted world, due to his special powers is still a virgin, at least on a physical level.

Red Sands by Nicole Kimberling

The story is set in the same universe as before, and this time has as main hero another Hell Cop, colleague of Jay. Actually Jay makes only a cameo for reference and instead Brina has a little role, where he confirms his naivete. Argent, Jay's colleague, is of a different sort from his friend. From what I understood, Jay comes from a sorcery family, and he has his special powers as a birthright, instead Argent chose to become an Hell Cop and was trained in the art of sorcery. Due to that, Argent, and his story, has a different feeling, it's more simple, and almost not "paranormal".

To balance a bit the lack of paranormal event, Argent chosen lover for the story is Michael, an half-demon half-human. From someone with demon blood you would expect from him to be something special, and instead Michael is an average man. He is a college professor, an anthropologist, who spends a lot of time far from his planet in some mission. When he is at home, he is not even a particular affectionate man, he has a family that obviously loves him, but he is detached from them. Michael's father was a famous rocker, and probably he used his relationship with Michael's mother, a demon from another planet, to gain popularity. Even if proud of his son, Michael's father was too much lost on his sex, drugs and rock and roll world to be a paternal figure. How strange that a otherworldly kid like Michael was subjected to the same destiny of the sons of the rich and famous.

Maybe since he is tired to be "different", maybe since he is alone, Michael's relationship with Argent flows in a nice and quite way; there is no paranormal event, no sudden passion, they meet, they like, they love, probably the only ordinary thing amid the extraordinary that is around them. Even Michael's special powers to read people mind by touch are neutralized by Argent's training, putting them on the same level of emotion.

Overall the lasting feeling is of a nice romance cop, and even the final solution is somewhat simple like that.

Touching Sparks by Ginn Hale

The last story is even more ordinary of the previous two, and I'm using the word ordinary in a derogatory way, remember that the futuristic genre is not usually my cup of tea.

No one of the two men involved in this story has special powers or half blood otherworldly lineage. Moran is an Hell Cop, and as all the Hell Cop, he was trained in sorcery, but all his powers are learned not inherited. He is the classical cop of wet dreams, dark, handsome and mourning. And as all the mourning cops, he needs a "fresh" boy to bring him out of his sadness.

James Sparks, Sparky for Moran, was the teenager kid who lived near Moran many years ago. Now he is a successful photographer who is stumbled in a drugs illegal market with illegal fight side entertainment. James is too good boy next door to let it go and obviously he asks help to Moran and forces the man to involve him as undercover spy. Moran has some trouble to match the memories of the skinny teenager with this young man, and he builds in his mind an imagine that is not exactly true: he sees James like a virgin damsel in distress that Moran has to help but not debauch.

This is the shorter of the stories and probably the less light of the three. It's a dark and gothic feeling, a sense of danger probably enhanced by the fact that no one of the heroes involved have special powers to shield them from death.



http://www.loose-id.com/detail.aspx?ID=827

Amazon Kindle: Hell Cop by Astrid Amara, Nicole Kimberling & Ginn Hale

Reading List:

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


Cover Art by April Martinez

Best Futuristic Novel (3° place): Hell Cop by Astrid Amara, Nicole Kimberling & Ginn Hale

Next of Kin by Astrid Amara

In a futuristic world, the type I tagged Apocalypse Now, people live side by side with demons. Actually demons seem to have replace human in the most common jobs, and they are at the command of special men, the sorcerers. There are some big families of sorcerers, they are like the new aristocracy, and every sorcerer have some special powers, who more, who less.

Jay Yervant is one of those special men, but his powers brought more pain than anything else to him. He is a blazing man, like a human torch. He can't touch a human since he leaves deeply burns, and so he "banished" himself from his family. He became an Hell Cop, a special unit to fight the renegade demons. Jay has also another reason to disappoint his family, he is gay. But actually, other than feel desire for men, he has never acted upon it, since no lover can bear his touch.

Enter Brian, a 21 years old naive man... he is like a child in a candy store. Brian has always lived in a rural community which refused the modern technology, and above all the magic. But Brian didn't fit in the community and he left for the big city. Only that he wasn't prepared to what the big city is, he didn't know that demons were real, and not only a bogus the priest on the community used to scare the kid. Among all the caos the only thing normal seems his attraction to Jay, actually I didn't understand where and when Brian acquired all his sexual experience, unless in that community they did something else other than pray ;-)

Anyway it seems that Brian is the only guy able to touch Jay without being injured, and Jay was attracted to Brian even before discovering this "little" particular... maybe the days of Jay as a virgin are limited! If you think I'm joking, you are right, since the novella has a very funny mood on it. It deals with bloody killings, with body parts splattered all around, but I don't know how, it still manages to be funny. Maybe it's Brian's innocence, his fixation on having sex with Jay that makes him forget everything else around. Maybe it's also a bit the Cinderfella theme, since Jay is from a very wealthy family, but he chose to live far from them, and Brian is this poor guy living in a shitty apartment...

Really I don't know, usually I'm not a big fan of futuristic setting and too much blood around, but this time I read it all and would have been willing to read more. And in a nice play of contrast, both men preserve a type of innocence: Brian with his isolated upbringing has an innocent soul, even if he experienced sex, and instead Jay, who has seen too much and lived in a corrupted world, due to his special powers is still a virgin, at least on a physical level.

Red Sands by Nicole Kimberling

The story is set in the same universe as before, and this time has as main hero another Hell Cop, colleague of Jay. Actually Jay makes only a cameo for reference and instead Brina has a little role, where he confirms his naivete. Argent, Jay's colleague, is of a different sort from his friend. From what I understood, Jay comes from a sorcery family, and he has his special powers as a birthright, instead Argent chose to become an Hell Cop and was trained in the art of sorcery. Due to that, Argent, and his story, has a different feeling, it's more simple, and almost not "paranormal".

To balance a bit the lack of paranormal event, Argent chosen lover for the story is Michael, an half-demon half-human. From someone with demon blood you would expect from him to be something special, and instead Michael is an average man. He is a college professor, an anthropologist, who spends a lot of time far from his planet in some mission. When he is at home, he is not even a particular affectionate man, he has a family that obviously loves him, but he is detached from them. Michael's father was a famous rocker, and probably he used his relationship with Michael's mother, a demon from another planet, to gain popularity. Even if proud of his son, Michael's father was too much lost on his sex, drugs and rock and roll world to be a paternal figure. How strange that a otherworldly kid like Michael was subjected to the same destiny of the sons of the rich and famous.

Maybe since he is tired to be "different", maybe since he is alone, Michael's relationship with Argent flows in a nice and quite way; there is no paranormal event, no sudden passion, they meet, they like, they love, probably the only ordinary thing amid the extraordinary that is around them. Even Michael's special powers to read people mind by touch are neutralized by Argent's training, putting them on the same level of emotion.

Overall the lasting feeling is of a nice romance cop, and even the final solution is somewhat simple like that.

Touching Sparks by Ginn Hale

The last story is even more ordinary of the previous two, and I'm using the word ordinary in a derogatory way, remember that the futuristic genre is not usually my cup of tea.

No one of the two men involved in this story has special powers or half blood otherworldly lineage. Moran is an Hell Cop, and as all the Hell Cop, he was trained in sorcery, but all his powers are learned not inherited. He is the classical cop of wet dreams, dark, handsome and mourning. And as all the mourning cops, he needs a "fresh" boy to bring him out of his sadness.

James Sparks, Sparky for Moran, was the teenager kid who lived near Moran many years ago. Now he is a successful photographer who is stumbled in a drugs illegal market with illegal fight side entertainment. James is too good boy next door to let it go and obviously he asks help to Moran and forces the man to involve him as undercover spy. Moran has some trouble to match the memories of the skinny teenager with this young man, and he builds in his mind an imagine that is not exactly true: he sees James like a virgin damsel in distress that Moran has to help but not debauch.

This is the shorter of the stories and probably the less light of the three. It's a dark and gothic feeling, a sense of danger probably enhanced by the fact that no one of the heroes involved have special powers to shield them from death.



http://www.loose-id.com/detail.aspx?ID=827

Amazon Kindle: Hell Cop by Astrid Amara, Nicole Kimberling & Ginn Hale

Reading List:

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


Cover Art by April Martinez