One Marriage and Three Weddings by Jenna Hilary Sinclair

I remember with pleasure the first story I read by Jenna Hilary Sinclair. It was not a romance, it was a coming of age story about a teenager who had some real big trouble when he found out he was gay in a small town USA were he was pretty isolated, and about his mother, who wanted so much to help his son. To help these two arrived like two Angels on a Christmas day, Harry and Mike. The time were the late '80 and Harry and Mike were not some out and proud gay men who fight against society. They were two ordinary men that after spending years trying to ignore what they were feeling for each other, decided to take the courage in hand and move together in a ranch just outside the small town. It's true that it's not always easy to be gay in a little town, but sometime it can be easier than in the big city. The period, almost 20 years ago, is not the same as today. If today we are speaking of gay rights and equality, 20 years ago it was almost a miracle to find a place where being allow to be yourself. In the little town where they live, Harry and Mike are on the mouth of everyone, but everyone also knows that they are gentle men, always ready to give an hand to help; the town decided that, since the two of them are pretty much on their own, it doesn't matter what they are doing inside their home. It's not acceptance, it's more turning a blind eye on what you don't want to see.

For 8 years it was enough and then, Harry is starting to think, at their age, it's really necessary to desire something more? To Harry, living most of the time on the ranch, with his horses, it's not a punishment, it's almost the perfect life. He knows that Mike was used to something different, he was more a city man, he went in places and met people, but now he is with Harry, and he took him 12 years to decide to be with Harry and only Harry, and why he should need something more? I don't know if it's a conscious choice, but I have the feeling that Harry prefers to be like an hermit with Mike on the ranch since he fears that, if Mike will have the chance to see what there is outside, how the world is changing, maybe he will change his mind as well, and living only with Harry will be no more enough. On the other hand, maybe Mike is thinking that he is a comfort choice for Harry, that Harry has never had the chance to see something different, to try and taste every shade of life.

And so both Harry than Mike, like two newborn babies to the gay world, starts to shyly "come" out, at the young age of 40/45 years old, to see how the world is changing, how it's possible for them to be together in public, in a pub, even if it's a very secluded "only for men" pub, in an almost abandoned side of the city. Harry and Mike come out from their isolation to see that yes, the world has the chance to be better, but that, in the end, they already have what the other men are trying to reach, an happy life together, a commitment that will last and it's lasting for years, the comfort to know that the really important people in your life accept and love you, unincondionally. There is no need for Harry and Mike to come out, to change what they are, they are already out and proud for the people who really care, they have already found the path to happiness.

Jenna Hilary Sinclair confirm her ability to write a warm and simple story, a story that is near to the fundamental things in life, love, family, home and happiness.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

Amazon Kindle: One Marriage and Three Weddings

Series:
1) Gifts of the Season: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/463717.html
2) One Marriage and Three Weddings

Reading List:

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

One Marriage and Three Weddings by Jenna Hilary Sinclair

I remember with pleasure the first story I read by Jenna Hilary Sinclair. It was not a romance, it was a coming of age story about a teenager who had some real big trouble when he found out he was gay in a small town USA were he was pretty isolated, and about his mother, who wanted so much to help his son. To help these two arrived like two Angels on a Christmas day, Harry and Mike. The time were the late '80 and Harry and Mike were not some out and proud gay men who fight against society. They were two ordinary men that after spending years trying to ignore what they were feeling for each other, decided to take the courage in hand and move together in a ranch just outside the small town. It's true that it's not always easy to be gay in a little town, but sometime it can be easier than in the big city. The period, almost 20 years ago, is not the same as today. If today we are speaking of gay rights and equality, 20 years ago it was almost a miracle to find a place where being allow to be yourself. In the little town where they live, Harry and Mike are on the mouth of everyone, but everyone also knows that they are gentle men, always ready to give an hand to help; the town decided that, since the two of them are pretty much on their own, it doesn't matter what they are doing inside their home. It's not acceptance, it's more turning a blind eye on what you don't want to see.

For 8 years it was enough and then, Harry is starting to think, at their age, it's really necessary to desire something more? To Harry, living most of the time on the ranch, with his horses, it's not a punishment, it's almost the perfect life. He knows that Mike was used to something different, he was more a city man, he went in places and met people, but now he is with Harry, and he took him 12 years to decide to be with Harry and only Harry, and why he should need something more? I don't know if it's a conscious choice, but I have the feeling that Harry prefers to be like an hermit with Mike on the ranch since he fears that, if Mike will have the chance to see what there is outside, how the world is changing, maybe he will change his mind as well, and living only with Harry will be no more enough. On the other hand, maybe Mike is thinking that he is a comfort choice for Harry, that Harry has never had the chance to see something different, to try and taste every shade of life.

And so both Harry than Mike, like two newborn babies to the gay world, starts to shyly "come" out, at the young age of 40/45 years old, to see how the world is changing, how it's possible for them to be together in public, in a pub, even if it's a very secluded "only for men" pub, in an almost abandoned side of the city. Harry and Mike come out from their isolation to see that yes, the world has the chance to be better, but that, in the end, they already have what the other men are trying to reach, an happy life together, a commitment that will last and it's lasting for years, the comfort to know that the really important people in your life accept and love you, unincondionally. There is no need for Harry and Mike to come out, to change what they are, they are already out and proud for the people who really care, they have already found the path to happiness.

Jenna Hilary Sinclair confirm her ability to write a warm and simple story, a story that is near to the fundamental things in life, love, family, home and happiness.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/

Amazon Kindle: One Marriage and Three Weddings

Series:
1) Gifts of the Season: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/463717.html
2) One Marriage and Three Weddings

Reading List:

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

Lovers, Dreamers, and Me by Willa Okati

In a small town USA Tolliver is the manager of an antique curiosity and bookshop. The real owner is his ward, his little sister Sarah, the one he became responsible for when he was only 18 years old; six years later, Sarah is a troubled teenager who had to give in adoption her daughter. Tolliver tried to do his best, but still he was only a teenager himself, and he was not ready to be a parent. He is now scared to let Sarah go, he is like a mother hen and when he is not worried for his sister, he has only in mind the shop he needs to maintain for her.

Then in their life enters Noble, tall and mysterious. He is searching for some old tarot cards, but what he finds is Tolliver, a man who has never lived, where instead Noble has lived, and seen, too much. Tolliver is a surly type and blind to the world outside, but he is not a bad guy: he faces the world in the only way he knows. But when he sees Noble, for the first time in his life something stirs inside him, a desire he never knew: at 24 years old, Tolliver is a virgin, not only to sex but also to life.

It was Sarah who set his brother up with Noble, but now she is jealous, for the first time she fears to have to share the unconditionally love of Tolliver for her with someone else. I like that Tolliver doesn't react to her fears in the usual way, letting Noble go to satisfy the selfish behavior of his sister (don't get me wrong, Sarah is not a bad girl, she is only very young and scared). It's not Sarah's fears that come between Tolliver and Noble, but Noble's past.

Noble is a strange character; he is a seer, he sees things, but this is not at all a paranormal romance. What Noble sees are like flash of possible future, something he can change if he wants. So when he sees Tolliver, he knows that they can have something good together, and he is willing and ready to catch it. As another character in the story said, Noble didn't ask to Tolliver, he forced him to accept him in his life: if he had to wait for Tolliver to realize that he was there, he would wait forever. Tolliver has around him a thick shell, a protective shield from the world that too many time wounded him, and now to reach him, a man has to break through that shell, since from inside Tolliver is no more able to see outside.

I think this is one of the best book I read by Willa Okati, since it maintains the fairy atmosphere that I always like in her books, but it's also enough long to make me feel for the characters, and enough real to let the reader identifies with them. It's also a good mix between story and sex, and when it arrives to sex, it's good and tender and naughty, all at the same time; I noticed that, in the main sex scenes, Tolliver always ends on his back on the bed, waiting for Noble to come to him... it's very right for the story, since, as I said, Noble takes what he wants from Tolliver, almost forcing Tolliver to admit that he wants that and he wants Noble.

http://www.loose-id.net/prod-Lovers,_Dreamers___Me-865.aspx

Amazon Kindle: Lovers, Dreamers, and Me

Amazon: Lovers, Dreamers, and Me

Reading List:

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


Cover Art by Anne Cain

Lovers, Dreamers, and Me by Willa Okati

In a small town USA Tolliver is the manager of an antique curiosity and bookshop. The real owner is his ward, his little sister Sarah, the one he became responsible for when he was only 18 years old; six years later, Sarah is a troubled teenager who had to give in adoption her daughter. Tolliver tried to do his best, but still he was only a teenager himself, and he was not ready to be a parent. He is now scared to let Sarah go, he is like a mother hen and when he is not worried for his sister, he has only in mind the shop he needs to maintain for her.

Then in their life enters Noble, tall and mysterious. He is searching for some old tarot cards, but what he finds is Tolliver, a man who has never lived, where instead Noble has lived, and seen, too much. Tolliver is a surly type and blind to the world outside, but he is not a bad guy: he faces the world in the only way he knows. But when he sees Noble, for the first time in his life something stirs inside him, a desire he never knew: at 24 years old, Tolliver is a virgin, not only to sex but also to life.

It was Sarah who set his brother up with Noble, but now she is jealous, for the first time she fears to have to share the unconditionally love of Tolliver for her with someone else. I like that Tolliver doesn't react to her fears in the usual way, letting Noble go to satisfy the selfish behavior of his sister (don't get me wrong, Sarah is not a bad girl, she is only very young and scared). It's not Sarah's fears that come between Tolliver and Noble, but Noble's past.

Noble is a strange character; he is a seer, he sees things, but this is not at all a paranormal romance. What Noble sees are like flash of possible future, something he can change if he wants. So when he sees Tolliver, he knows that they can have something good together, and he is willing and ready to catch it. As another character in the story said, Noble didn't ask to Tolliver, he forced him to accept him in his life: if he had to wait for Tolliver to realize that he was there, he would wait forever. Tolliver has around him a thick shell, a protective shield from the world that too many time wounded him, and now to reach him, a man has to break through that shell, since from inside Tolliver is no more able to see outside.

I think this is one of the best book I read by Willa Okati, since it maintains the fairy atmosphere that I always like in her books, but it's also enough long to make me feel for the characters, and enough real to let the reader identifies with them. It's also a good mix between story and sex, and when it arrives to sex, it's good and tender and naughty, all at the same time; I noticed that, in the main sex scenes, Tolliver always ends on his back on the bed, waiting for Noble to come to him... it's very right for the story, since, as I said, Noble takes what he wants from Tolliver, almost forcing Tolliver to admit that he wants that and he wants Noble.

http://www.loose-id.net/prod-Lovers,_Dreamers___Me-865.aspx

Amazon Kindle: Lovers, Dreamers, and Me

Amazon: Lovers, Dreamers, and Me

Reading List:

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


Cover Art by Anne Cain

In the Heat of the Moment by Kim Dare

The story caught me a bit unprepared since it plunged me in the middle of something happening between Brett and Shawn. They are not stranger, Shawn works for Brett, but now they are not at work, they are in a BDSM resort. They are not together, and the reader doesn’t know if Brett went there to stop Shawn to do a big mistake, or if he was there just by chance. What the reader knows is that Brett has his eyes on Shawn for months now, and he is not willing to let someone else snatch the boy from under his nose.

Brett is a dominant and he recognized in Shawn all the signs of a submissive; not only Shawn is little and pretty, he is also very willing to let someone else take the lead during lovemaking. But once the sex is finished, Shawn refuses to continue with the game, claiming that he is not a submissive. Actually I think that Shawn is for sure a submissive but he has not found the right dominant: Shawn is at the same time cute and bratty, he is like a kitten, ready to purr but easy to scratch the hand that is stroking him if he notices a lack of interest in the stroke. Shawn is not a submissive eager to please; he is a submissive eager to let someone else please him.

Shawn is exactly what you define an high-maintenance boy-toy, he is not for every man, only a very self-conscious dominant will be able to rein him. Only a dominant who doesn’t need to be reassured on his power can take in hand a submissive like Shawn, since Shawn will never reassure anyone, Shawn will ask, will pretend, but he will also surrender with grace.

I like the story, but I would have liked it more if it was not only a moment in time; I missed the preface, the little and continuous teasing of an unwilling Shawn (or maybe not so unwilling) during job hours, and I missed what it will be of them once they will leave the resort to go back to their everyday life. I wouldn’t have minded to have a bit of office affair romance spiced with naughtiness.

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=507

Amazon Kindle: In the Heat of the Moment
Publisher: Total-E-Bound Publishing (July 13, 2009)

Reading List:

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

Doggy Style by Ashley Ladd

Doggy Style is not a story so simple as it could at first appear. Devon is a male nurse who is temporarily on a forced leave after a small kid died under his watch; Devon is sure he is not to blame, but nevertheless he is torturing himself with regrets and ifs. One of his outlet is playing semi-professional baseball with a local team, and even there trouble are arriving, even if they are way more light than his career stop: the new sponsor, Sandy Falco, wants them to wear a jersey with emblazoned a bulldog wearing a biker’s leather jacket and the motto “Doggy Style”. Obviously the real meaning is to advertise the High Fashion pet clothes line of Sandy Falco, but to Devon it doesn’t sound so funny. Even less when he finds out that Sandy will play with them and that Sandy is a really handsome man.

First of all, two things I liked but let me a bit perplexed. Devon and Sandy’s homosexuality is neither flaunted nor hidden; it’s almost like a normal thing. More, in the same team there is another couple of men that are obviously also life partner. Now, I’m not familiar with South Florida, and the team is not a LGBT team, so, yes, it sounded strange, but not in a bad way. It was good to read, for once, about a relationship that has no trouble for its “nature”; not that there aren’t trouble, but being Devon and Sandy gays is not one of them.

The second thing that was quite strange to read, but positive, was the “out of character” of the two men. Devon apparently is the stronger man, the rough and sharp, the down-to-earth macho man, but he is almost always the bottom in the relationship, even playing the damsel in distress and being carried away on the shoulder of his hero at least two times, and Sandy, the fashion designer, the one who treats his dog like it was his son, ends to be the top. I think most of the time it’s a way to play, no one of them takes the role too seriously, but it’s fun to see. Actually all the story has a funny tone that almost crash with the subplot regarding Devon and his forced leave from work. It’s not a crash that it’s not dealt, au contraire, I think the author did it with purpose, to have the turn on the story even more of impact.

Finally there is the plot development, also this one quite original: Devon and Sandy start the relationship like two buddy friends having fun in the backseat of a car after two beer more. It's not a love story, and so, for the first two or three times they met after that, the relationship between them it was still that of friends and not lovers. Love comes later in the story, after they realize that they can like each other both as friends than lovers. I don't know, but I found this way to approach the relationship way more realistic than most of the romances I read.

Overall Doggy Style was a surprise, and the surprise lasted till the end of the story, I was not sure how it would have ended till the last pages.

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=505

Amazon Kindle: Doggy Style (Bats and Balls)
Publisher: Total-E-Bound Publishing (July 13, 2009)

Reading List:

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

In the Heat of the Moment by Kim Dare

The story caught me a bit unprepared since it plunged me in the middle of something happening between Brett and Shawn. They are not stranger, Shawn works for Brett, but now they are not at work, they are in a BDSM resort. They are not together, and the reader doesn’t know if Brett went there to stop Shawn to do a big mistake, or if he was there just by chance. What the reader knows is that Brett has his eyes on Shawn for months now, and he is not willing to let someone else snatch the boy from under his nose.

Brett is a dominant and he recognized in Shawn all the signs of a submissive; not only Shawn is little and pretty, he is also very willing to let someone else take the lead during lovemaking. But once the sex is finished, Shawn refuses to continue with the game, claiming that he is not a submissive. Actually I think that Shawn is for sure a submissive but he has not found the right dominant: Shawn is at the same time cute and bratty, he is like a kitten, ready to purr but easy to scratch the hand that is stroking him if he notices a lack of interest in the stroke. Shawn is not a submissive eager to please; he is a submissive eager to let someone else please him.

Shawn is exactly what you define an high-maintenance boy-toy, he is not for every man, only a very self-conscious dominant will be able to rein him. Only a dominant who doesn’t need to be reassured on his power can take in hand a submissive like Shawn, since Shawn will never reassure anyone, Shawn will ask, will pretend, but he will also surrender with grace.

I like the story, but I would have liked it more if it was not only a moment in time; I missed the preface, the little and continuous teasing of an unwilling Shawn (or maybe not so unwilling) during job hours, and I missed what it will be of them once they will leave the resort to go back to their everyday life. I wouldn’t have minded to have a bit of office affair romance spiced with naughtiness.

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=507

Amazon Kindle: In the Heat of the Moment
Publisher: Total-E-Bound Publishing (July 13, 2009)

Reading List:

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

Doggy Style by Ashley Ladd

Doggy Style is not a story so simple as it could at first appear. Devon is a male nurse who is temporarily on a forced leave after a small kid died under his watch; Devon is sure he is not to blame, but nevertheless he is torturing himself with regrets and ifs. One of his outlet is playing semi-professional baseball with a local team, and even there trouble are arriving, even if they are way more light than his career stop: the new sponsor, Sandy Falco, wants them to wear a jersey with emblazoned a bulldog wearing a biker’s leather jacket and the motto “Doggy Style”. Obviously the real meaning is to advertise the High Fashion pet clothes line of Sandy Falco, but to Devon it doesn’t sound so funny. Even less when he finds out that Sandy will play with them and that Sandy is a really handsome man.

First of all, two things I liked but let me a bit perplexed. Devon and Sandy’s homosexuality is neither flaunted nor hidden; it’s almost like a normal thing. More, in the same team there is another couple of men that are obviously also life partner. Now, I’m not familiar with South Florida, and the team is not a LGBT team, so, yes, it sounded strange, but not in a bad way. It was good to read, for once, about a relationship that has no trouble for its “nature”; not that there aren’t trouble, but being Devon and Sandy gays is not one of them.

The second thing that was quite strange to read, but positive, was the “out of character” of the two men. Devon apparently is the stronger man, the rough and sharp, the down-to-earth macho man, but he is almost always the bottom in the relationship, even playing the damsel in distress and being carried away on the shoulder of his hero at least two times, and Sandy, the fashion designer, the one who treats his dog like it was his son, ends to be the top. I think most of the time it’s a way to play, no one of them takes the role too seriously, but it’s fun to see. Actually all the story has a funny tone that almost crash with the subplot regarding Devon and his forced leave from work. It’s not a crash that it’s not dealt, au contraire, I think the author did it with purpose, to have the turn on the story even more of impact.

Finally there is the plot development, also this one quite original: Devon and Sandy start the relationship like two buddy friends having fun in the backseat of a car after two beer more. It's not a love story, and so, for the first two or three times they met after that, the relationship between them it was still that of friends and not lovers. Love comes later in the story, after they realize that they can like each other both as friends than lovers. I don't know, but I found this way to approach the relationship way more realistic than most of the romances I read.

Overall Doggy Style was a surprise, and the surprise lasted till the end of the story, I was not sure how it would have ended till the last pages.

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=505

Amazon Kindle: Doggy Style (Bats and Balls)
Publisher: Total-E-Bound Publishing (July 13, 2009)

Reading List:

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

Man Candy Day: Alexey Veter, Anton Antipov & Jarek Pietka

This week my Man Candy day is devoted to the men from the cold... people always talk about how sexy it's a latin man, but there is who likes also the ice blue eyes and the pale skin of the men for the East Europe. And so I picked up three very different men but with the same origins: Alexey is from Moscow (Russia), and I bet that many of my friends already know his catlike moves, if not his name; Anton actually lives in New York but his origins are from Belarus; and Jared is a promising new face of the fashion industry from Poland.



( Alexey Veter )

Bendable Russian model Alexey Veter hails from Moscow. He's 25-years-old, hot and knows how to take care of himself - he's big into boxing, Russian-style.

“I like swimming, vodka, Moscow, dance, finance, Polina Griffits, Egypt, ocean, Putin, music, Sweet November, red caviar, yoga, water, Deepest Blue, smiles, John Faulz, Alsou, Russia, crazy ideas, sea, Christina Aguiler, etc. I like photography as an art. All my photos depict inner-me, my ideas, my feelings... I would be glad to work as a model, a creator.... I will be glad to talk with you about everything what you want :)”



( Anton Antipov )

Anton Antipov was born on May 6th, 1983 in Bobruisk, Belarus. At the age of 13, he moved with his family to New York. While attending college and working at A|X, he was approached with several modelling offers. After submitting his photographs to several agencies, he signed with BOSS models.

Anton has done runway work, and has appeared in a published ad campaign for the Italian jewelery company, Pomellato. He also starred in a coffee table book by famed photographer Kal Yee, and has been featured on the websites Allamericanguys and Sixpacknow.



( Jarek Pietka )

Jarek Pietka is 19 years old model from Warsaw, Poland. This 6'1" (185cm) looker with green eyes is represented by KS Management. Now, he walks the runways for big names as Calvin Klein, Frankie Morello, Dsquared and Gucci.

Jared Pietka appeared on Issue #1.09 of Toni Perez and Victor Soria’s online magazine Vanity Teen. After his appearance in Contributing Editor, he looks better than ever, thanks to Zuzanna Krajewska and Bartek Wieczorek.

@Model Mayhem - Alexey
@Anton Antipov
@Models.com - Jarek

Man Candy Day: Alexey Veter, Anton Antipov & Jarek Pietka

This week my Man Candy day is devoted to the men from the cold... people always talk about how sexy it's a latin man, but there is who likes also the ice blue eyes and the pale skin of the men for the East Europe. And so I picked up three very different men but with the same origins: Alexey is from Moscow (Russia), and I bet that many of my friends already know his catlike moves, if not his name; Anton actually lives in New York but his origins are from Belarus; and Jared is a promising new face of the fashion industry from Poland.



( Alexey Veter )

Bendable Russian model Alexey Veter hails from Moscow. He's 25-years-old, hot and knows how to take care of himself - he's big into boxing, Russian-style.

“I like swimming, vodka, Moscow, dance, finance, Polina Griffits, Egypt, ocean, Putin, music, Sweet November, red caviar, yoga, water, Deepest Blue, smiles, John Faulz, Alsou, Russia, crazy ideas, sea, Christina Aguiler, etc. I like photography as an art. All my photos depict inner-me, my ideas, my feelings... I would be glad to work as a model, a creator.... I will be glad to talk with you about everything what you want :)”



( Anton Antipov )

Anton Antipov was born on May 6th, 1983 in Bobruisk, Belarus. At the age of 13, he moved with his family to New York. While attending college and working at A|X, he was approached with several modelling offers. After submitting his photographs to several agencies, he signed with BOSS models.

Anton has done runway work, and has appeared in a published ad campaign for the Italian jewelery company, Pomellato. He also starred in a coffee table book by famed photographer Kal Yee, and has been featured on the websites Allamericanguys and Sixpacknow.



( Jarek Pietka )

Jarek Pietka is 19 years old model from Warsaw, Poland. This 6'1" (185cm) looker with green eyes is represented by KS Management. Now, he walks the runways for big names as Calvin Klein, Frankie Morello, Dsquared and Gucci.

Jared Pietka appeared on Issue #1.09 of Toni Perez and Victor Soria’s online magazine Vanity Teen. After his appearance in Contributing Editor, he looks better than ever, thanks to Zuzanna Krajewska and Bartek Wieczorek.

@Model Mayhem - Alexey
@Anton Antipov
@Models.com - Jarek

Death or Life by T.A. Chase

All right, at the beginning I had this story all wrong. I was so sure of what it was happening that it was surprising, but nice, realizing that the author managed to bring me around where he wanted and then presented me with the real story.

Noah is the classical neglected son of a wealthy man, more interested in being a perfect politician in front ot the public opinion, than a good father in his private life. All in all Noah managed to grew up in a fine man, a chemical engineering that would like anything more than being left alone from his father as he has always done. But now Senator Wiltson is running for President, and Noah has to play the role of the good son... only to come back one night and find a killer in his apartment. The man, Lord, says that he was hired by the good Senator to get rid of the inconvenience that is having a gay son. Yes, since even if Noah has always maintained a low profile, he is gay and this is not acceptable for the political aspirations of his father. Only that Lord has his own reason to not like the Senator and he is double playing: he will not kill Noah, on the contrary he will give the man all the evidence he needs to find shelter in his grandfather's home and being safe from that moment on.

Two months later Noah is living with and working for his grandfather and he meets Cain; the man is the new head of security for his grandfather's chemical firm and he seems to have come out from nowhere two months before. He has no past, everything is new around him, his work, his home... And to Noah, Cain remembers a lot the man of the night, Lord. Is it possible that Cain is trying to bring on the mission he refused months before? or maybe Cain wants to be sure that Noah is safe and sound? or maybe he is not the same man? It seems impossible, too many things are similar, the wrapping up of the story it's obvious from the beginning...

The contraposition between Noah and Cain is quite clear: Noah is the gentle and quiet man, the one who doesn't like to be under the spotlight, a man who likes to be the cherished and cuddled lover. Noah is not an imposing figure, he doesn't mind to be led and directed, he has not the core to be independent. On the other hand Cain is the classical leader, forceful but caring, a man who will protect who is under his care with all his own. Cain likes to be in control, both in his public than private life, he is really convinced that only him can be the savior of the world. Maybe a little proof that he is not invincible can be a good thing to him, but all in all, he is the perfect partner for Noah.

Noah and Cain are nice characters, but if I'm to be true, I think that someone else stole them the scene. I don't want to spoil the story, enough to say that there is another man, Mars, a skinny and skittish former hustler, that even if he has only few scenes, he has probably the most interesting role of all the book. Noah and Cain's love story is good and enjoyable, but I found myself waiting for Mars and his lover to appear on the scene, and in the end, I was really hoping for the author to write a book all for their story. A story that started before Noah's one, and that will have its happily ever after more or less at the same time.

http://www.king-cart.com/cgi-bin/cart.cgi?store=linda018&product_name=Death+Or+Life&return_page=&user-id=&password=&exchange=&exact_match=exact

Amazon Kindle: Death Or Life

Reading List:

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


Cover Art by Anne Cain

Death or Life by T.A. Chase

All right, at the beginning I had this story all wrong. I was so sure of what it was happening that it was surprising, but nice, realizing that the author managed to bring me around where he wanted and then presented me with the real story.

Noah is the classical neglected son of a wealthy man, more interested in being a perfect politician in front ot the public opinion, than a good father in his private life. All in all Noah managed to grew up in a fine man, a chemical engineering that would like anything more than being left alone from his father as he has always done. But now Senator Wiltson is running for President, and Noah has to play the role of the good son... only to come back one night and find a killer in his apartment. The man, Lord, says that he was hired by the good Senator to get rid of the inconvenience that is having a gay son. Yes, since even if Noah has always maintained a low profile, he is gay and this is not acceptable for the political aspirations of his father. Only that Lord has his own reason to not like the Senator and he is double playing: he will not kill Noah, on the contrary he will give the man all the evidence he needs to find shelter in his grandfather's home and being safe from that moment on.

Two months later Noah is living with and working for his grandfather and he meets Cain; the man is the new head of security for his grandfather's chemical firm and he seems to have come out from nowhere two months before. He has no past, everything is new around him, his work, his home... And to Noah, Cain remembers a lot the man of the night, Lord. Is it possible that Cain is trying to bring on the mission he refused months before? or maybe Cain wants to be sure that Noah is safe and sound? or maybe he is not the same man? It seems impossible, too many things are similar, the wrapping up of the story it's obvious from the beginning...

The contraposition between Noah and Cain is quite clear: Noah is the gentle and quiet man, the one who doesn't like to be under the spotlight, a man who likes to be the cherished and cuddled lover. Noah is not an imposing figure, he doesn't mind to be led and directed, he has not the core to be independent. On the other hand Cain is the classical leader, forceful but caring, a man who will protect who is under his care with all his own. Cain likes to be in control, both in his public than private life, he is really convinced that only him can be the savior of the world. Maybe a little proof that he is not invincible can be a good thing to him, but all in all, he is the perfect partner for Noah.

Noah and Cain are nice characters, but if I'm to be true, I think that someone else stole them the scene. I don't want to spoil the story, enough to say that there is another man, Mars, a skinny and skittish former hustler, that even if he has only few scenes, he has probably the most interesting role of all the book. Noah and Cain's love story is good and enjoyable, but I found myself waiting for Mars and his lover to appear on the scene, and in the end, I was really hoping for the author to write a book all for their story. A story that started before Noah's one, and that will have its happily ever after more or less at the same time.

http://www.king-cart.com/cgi-bin/cart.cgi?store=linda018&product_name=Death+Or+Life&return_page=&user-id=&password=&exchange=&exact_match=exact

Amazon Kindle: Death Or Life

Reading List:

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


Cover Art by Anne Cain

White Flag by Thom Lane

White Flag is a strange novella since it mixes the dreamy atmosphere of a fairy tale with the naughtiness of an erotic romp, and the author is so good in blending them, that you almost don't realize when the fairies (no pun intended) are suddenly turning into little devils. It's always a pleasure when I find a new author that is able to arise my interest at first taste, even if, in this case it's my fault, I bought the first book by Thom Lane, but as sometime happens, it shifted in my reading list. Now I will be sure to pick it up and put it in first line.

Charlie is a modern vagabond, a minstrel who uses pen and ink instead of voice and lute. He is a travel guide writer, he spends a month in a place and another at the opposite end of the world. He likes to savor all the tastes of new places, but he is very careful to not become addicted, he doesn't want strings, he doesn't like commitment. And then, while sailing along a French river, like a naughty fairy, or a modern Bacchante, Matthieu lures him at shore: Matt is young and fresh like the wine he is harvesting, and willing and sparkling as well. Matt's life is easy and lazy like Chalie's, but in a way, completely different. Where Charlie has no root or obligations, Matt is firmly set in his family home, and is roots are deep like the one of the vineyard he so much love. Where Charlie has no family or real friends, Matt is living inside a welcoming family, a matriarchal society were the women lead the house and the men the affair, but deep inside, it's the woman who will have the last word on everything.

Charlie is enthralled, the first day he spends with Matt is almost like a dream, and he is convinced to be able to wake the morning after and being free from the enchantment. But Matt's power is too strong, and Charlie, like pushed by an invisible force, is forced to leave his boat and ventures on Matt's ground, among the vineyard, and inside his home. It's like a magical land, where everything is perfect and simple, where Charlie can spend the day doing nothing and the night having passionate sex with Matt. Even if Charlie's mind is constantly denying the truth, Charlie's body and heart are lost, too much involved in the lure. And then Charlie finds the strength to go away, to break the spell; but Matt is not ready to let him go, he decides to go with Charlie, at least for some days. But more the boat takes Matt and Charlie far from the vineyard, and more Matt seems to die out, like a fire without fuel.

As I said it's a strange novella, it's totally a contemporary tale, there is nothing of fantastic or paranormal on it, and nevertheless, I had the feeling to read a fantasy tale. Even the way as the time flew, inside and outside the vineyard was different, even the sex between Charlie and Matt was different, more forceful and down and dirty on the boat, almost ethereal and less graphic inside Matt's bedroom. I believe the author interweaved a story full of symbolism and atmosphere, making it at the same time light enough to be also quite arousing.

http://www.loose-id.com/prod-White_Flag-974.aspx

Amazon Kindle: White Flag

Reading List:

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


Cover Art by April Martinez

White Flag by Thom Lane

White Flag is a strange novella since it mixes the dreamy atmosphere of a fairy tale with the naughtiness of an erotic romp, and the author is so good in blending them, that you almost don't realize when the fairies (no pun intended) are suddenly turning into little devils. It's always a pleasure when I find a new author that is able to arise my interest at first taste, even if, in this case it's my fault, I bought the first book by Thom Lane, but as sometime happens, it shifted in my reading list. Now I will be sure to pick it up and put it in first line.

Charlie is a modern vagabond, a minstrel who uses pen and ink instead of voice and lute. He is a travel guide writer, he spends a month in a place and another at the opposite end of the world. He likes to savor all the tastes of new places, but he is very careful to not become addicted, he doesn't want strings, he doesn't like commitment. And then, while sailing along a French river, like a naughty fairy, or a modern Bacchante, Matthieu lures him at shore: Matt is young and fresh like the wine he is harvesting, and willing and sparkling as well. Matt's life is easy and lazy like Chalie's, but in a way, completely different. Where Charlie has no root or obligations, Matt is firmly set in his family home, and is roots are deep like the one of the vineyard he so much love. Where Charlie has no family or real friends, Matt is living inside a welcoming family, a matriarchal society were the women lead the house and the men the affair, but deep inside, it's the woman who will have the last word on everything.

Charlie is enthralled, the first day he spends with Matt is almost like a dream, and he is convinced to be able to wake the morning after and being free from the enchantment. But Matt's power is too strong, and Charlie, like pushed by an invisible force, is forced to leave his boat and ventures on Matt's ground, among the vineyard, and inside his home. It's like a magical land, where everything is perfect and simple, where Charlie can spend the day doing nothing and the night having passionate sex with Matt. Even if Charlie's mind is constantly denying the truth, Charlie's body and heart are lost, too much involved in the lure. And then Charlie finds the strength to go away, to break the spell; but Matt is not ready to let him go, he decides to go with Charlie, at least for some days. But more the boat takes Matt and Charlie far from the vineyard, and more Matt seems to die out, like a fire without fuel.

As I said it's a strange novella, it's totally a contemporary tale, there is nothing of fantastic or paranormal on it, and nevertheless, I had the feeling to read a fantasy tale. Even the way as the time flew, inside and outside the vineyard was different, even the sex between Charlie and Matt was different, more forceful and down and dirty on the boat, almost ethereal and less graphic inside Matt's bedroom. I believe the author interweaved a story full of symbolism and atmosphere, making it at the same time light enough to be also quite arousing.

http://www.loose-id.com/prod-White_Flag-974.aspx

Amazon Kindle: White Flag

Reading List:

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


Cover Art by April Martinez