The Englor Affair by J.L. Langley

Second in the Futuristic Regency series by J.L. Langley, this is the story of Payton, the older brother of Aiden, and second in line to the throne of Regelence. Regelence is a planet where men can marry, more it's more common for the peers to marry a man, and they can also procreate in lab an heir with the genes from both male parents and without the female component.

Payton is a IT geek and Nate, Aiden's husband, asks him to help in decipher a message which probably hides a conspiracy against both Regelence than Englor, the other planet in the Alliance that lives accordingly to the Regency rules. But in Englor those rules are more strictly than in Regelence, and even if same-sex marriage is not against the law, it's highly discouraged. And so Payton, who is a pampered prince nursed to become a beautiful ornament to the arm of a powerful and rich man, finds himself suddenly free to roams Englor's street without a chaperon, even if it appears that his genetically modified interest in other men is not so welcomed.

But not all the men on Englor are the same, and Payton meets Simon, not other than the heir to Englor's throne. Simon is a friendly and very sexy man, one that, as soon as he spots the pretty new officer, can't help to seduce him. Not that Payton resists so much to the advances... it's almost not clear if Simon seduces Payton or if Payton is the "innocent" seducer.

Even if Simon is the supposed Alpha male, he is really too open and young to be a real dominant character; Simon is the perfect scoundrel, very good in the battle field as well as in the bedroom, no matter that, in his case, the chosen bedroom partner is a male and not a maid. And Payton is not the usual virgin maid type of character; true, he is virgin, but he is a lot older than his 19 years old. In a way, Payton is more ready to be a king than Simon; Simon still needs the advice of faithful counselors, but not since he is prudent, I believe since he is still too young. So Payton and Simon make a good match, and together maybe they will manage to not destroy Englor...

As usual in a J.L. Langley's book, there is a lot of funny situations, and Payton is the perfect little firecracker, cute and to be handed with caution. Not sure if Simon is strong enough to handle him. So funny and sex as well, but I have to said that the sex it seemed more... dirty, but in a good way. Sex was always an heavy component in the mix for the previous books by the same author, but in this case it was an orgy of sense, down and dirty; with the balance of the humor, the result is a very involving story.

http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/the-englor-affair

Amazon: The Englor Affair (Sci-Regency)

Amazon Kindle: The Englor Affair

Series:
1) My Fair Captain: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/106500.html
2) The Englor Affair

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

The Englor Affair by J.L. Langley

Second in the Futuristic Regency series by J.L. Langley, this is the story of Payton, the older brother of Aiden, and second in line to the throne of Regelence. Regelence is a planet where men can marry, more it's more common for the peers to marry a man, and they can also procreate in lab an heir with the genes from both male parents and without the female component.

Payton is a IT geek and Nate, Aiden's husband, asks him to help in decipher a message which probably hides a conspiracy against both Regelence than Englor, the other planet in the Alliance that lives accordingly to the Regency rules. But in Englor those rules are more strictly than in Regelence, and even if same-sex marriage is not against the law, it's highly discouraged. And so Payton, who is a pampered prince nursed to become a beautiful ornament to the arm of a powerful and rich man, finds himself suddenly free to roams Englor's street without a chaperon, even if it appears that his genetically modified interest in other men is not so welcomed.

But not all the men on Englor are the same, and Payton meets Simon, not other than the heir to Englor's throne. Simon is a friendly and very sexy man, one that, as soon as he spots the pretty new officer, can't help to seduce him. Not that Payton resists so much to the advances... it's almost not clear if Simon seduces Payton or if Payton is the "innocent" seducer.

Even if Simon is the supposed Alpha male, he is really too open and young to be a real dominant character; Simon is the perfect scoundrel, very good in the battle field as well as in the bedroom, no matter that, in his case, the chosen bedroom partner is a male and not a maid. And Payton is not the usual virgin maid type of character; true, he is virgin, but he is a lot older than his 19 years old. In a way, Payton is more ready to be a king than Simon; Simon still needs the advice of faithful counselors, but not since he is prudent, I believe since he is still too young. So Payton and Simon make a good match, and together maybe they will manage to not destroy Englor...

As usual in a J.L. Langley's book, there is a lot of funny situations, and Payton is the perfect little firecracker, cute and to be handed with caution. Not sure if Simon is strong enough to handle him. So funny and sex as well, but I have to said that the sex it seemed more... dirty, but in a good way. Sex was always an heavy component in the mix for the previous books by the same author, but in this case it was an orgy of sense, down and dirty; with the balance of the humor, the result is a very involving story.

http://samhainpublishing.com/romance/the-englor-affair

Amazon: The Englor Affair (Sci-Regency)

Amazon Kindle: The Englor Affair

Series:
1) My Fair Captain: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/106500.html
2) The Englor Affair

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

Anthony Boccaccio: A Series of Contrasts

Anthony Boccaccio began his career with National Geographic Magazine. His work has taken him to over 30 countries in as many years. Like most photographers, he is a series of contrasts... He is probably most known for his beautiful travel shots, yet while working with the human figure, his sensitivity rivals that of the great painters.

Indeed, his artistic life began as a young painter trained in the classical manner. He has studied classical piano at the Eastman School of Music and plays bluegrass banjo.

 
Friday, 14 x 11, Silver Print

( Sensual by Anthony Boccaccio )

 

He has taught photography at the college level and has studied classical sculpture in Rome, Italy.

“Boccaccio is a straight shooter. You always know where you stand with him. He speaks his mind and reacts to life on a visceral level. He is not afraid to take risks in his photography. He follows his instincts and works constantly to be better. We think of him as part Ansel Adams and part Hemingway.” - Paul Ambrose, Desert Dolphin Agency

CLIENTS INCLUDE: National Geographic, Time Magazine, Eastman Kodak, McGraw Hill, BBC, Saturday Evening Post, Psychology Today, Natural History, Hewlett Packard, The Smithsonian, Hilton Hotels, Holt Rinehart Winston, Apple Computer, CBS Records, Newsweek Magazine, Simon & Schuster, Independent Minds UK, H.T.H. Corporation Japan, Doubleday, Woman's Day, Ikegami.

http://www.boccacciophoto.com/

More Photographers at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Art

Drag Queen in the Court of Death of Caro Soles

I usually don't like to much mystery, it's not my genre, but this one is different, I have the feeling that the main character, Michael, more than trying to solve a mystery is trying to find himself, and for a 47 years old man it's probably the time.

When Michael was 22 years old, he was the classical good son of an upper class family, English teacher in a private school, already married with a family friend, it seemed a perfect life. But then Ronnie entered the picture, 17 years old and American refugee in Canada, officially to avoid the war in Vietnam. Even if Ronnie was underage he was way more experience than Michael, and Michael didn't know that. To the young boy it took not so much to convince closeted case Michael to leave job, family and respectability and living as a bohemian in a little apartment: sex as food for love was enough. But the fairy tale didn't last, another man entered Ronnie's life, and Michael was soon forgotten, apparently.

25 years later Ronnie is dead, AIDS complications, and Michael is named executor. It's not something he likes, he wasn't so near Ronnie anymore, and I have the feeling that Michael wanted to remember Ronnie as that 17 years old, the boy who still loved him. The man who is now dead is a stranger and looking through his things is like starting to destroy the image of that 17 years old boy to substitute it with the adult Ronnie. To help that destroing process, Michael finds a mummified corpse in a trunk inside Ronnie's apartment, the same apartment the man always lived in and stubbornly refused to leave. Someone could think the reason was that it was difficult to remove a corpse and it was better to stay there near it, instead I think that, like Michael, also Ronnie wanted to remember the time when he was happy, when Michael was there with him, probably the only man he loved and was loved back.

As often happens when I read a novel with a deceased character, who can't speak for himself, I try to imagine what his voice is; I like Ronnie's voice, probably since, despite the fact that Ronnie dumped him and they didn't speak for years, Michael still loves him and can't believe that he is a murder. Since Michael is a good man, there should be a reason if he thinks so highly of Ronnie. Of Ronnie himself we have only some pictures, in different moments of his life and a diary, where he mostly talks of his great love, Michael... what happened to Ronnie to renounce to that love?

This is what wants to know Michael: it's not a question to discover the true to have some sort of justice, most of the people of that time is not more alive, Ronnie is dead, the corpse is obviously dead and no one seems to have missed him in 25 years... To Michael is important to know the truth since, if he mistook to judge Ronnie, he probably mistook all his life. And in the search of the truth he will grow: at first he is still anchored to 25 years before, when he was hardly a man and loved a boy. And so, even if he is now 47 years old, he still loves a boy, Ryan, someone that maybe remembers him Ronnie, a runaway kid without family to back him, someone who needs the comfort and steadiness of a man like Michael. But Michael is no more 22 years old, and as I said, he grows during the story and he grows tired also of Ryan. To excuse him, Ryan is not exactly a saint, and not even a boy in dear need, and so it's no hard blow for the romantic readers. Instead I found way more interested the other two men who gravitate around Michael, Jaym and Logan. Actually I really wondered about Logan, the straight friend, who was like a Jimmy Cricket for Michael, even if he didn't give advice but only borrow a friendly ear.

The story is all about Michael, and I like very much how it wrapped up. I'm still a little sad for Ronnie, but he was already dead when the book started, so there was no hope for him... but he is anyway the strongest voice in the novel, Michael is more the silent type, pondering and doing always the right thing.

http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=DQCD0001

Buy Here

Amazon: Drag Queen in the Court of Death

Amazon Kindle: Drag Queen in the Court of Death

Reading List:

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

I'm on leave for the following two weeks

I'm reading a book in this moment, but I don't know if I will finish it for tonight, so probably this will be the last post before my travel starts. I will be on leave from my reviewing activity for the following two weeks, I will travel down and up, and viceversa on the East Coast (USA). I will try to post once a day, at night, about the things I see and do during the day, so if you are interested let's talk of travels for a bit, otherwise I hope to see you again in two weeks, the normal activity here will resume on September 22.

I'm on leave for the following two weeks

I'm reading a book in this moment, but I don't know if I will finish it for tonight, so probably this will be the last post before my travel starts. I will be on leave from my reviewing activity for the following two weeks, I will travel down and up, and viceversa on the East Coast (USA). I will try to post once a day, at night, about the things I see and do during the day, so if you are interested let's talk of travels for a bit, otherwise I hope to see you again in two weeks, the normal activity here will resume on September 22.

Notturno by Z.A. Maxfield

I should plea forgiveness to Z.A. Maxfield. More or less one year ago she told me she was thinking to write a book with a dashing Italian vampire and asked me if I knew of a place that could be his Italian home. If I remember well she did me some inputs and I told her that San Sepolcro could be the right place. Then some months later she sent me a first draft and I checked the italian words, but really, she did the work all by herself and I didn't find any mistake. So you see my help was little thing and when she sent me a print signed copy I was really glad but it was not necessary. The book arrived more or less at the end of July and obviously I emailed back the author to thank her but since it was a print book, I saved it for a travel in train or plane, when I prefer to read a real book instead of my laptop. So I enjoyed the hand written dedica on the first page, and looked at how pretty the cover was and the book remained on my nightstand table till today (ndr I'm writing this post on a note book on my flight to Philadelphia).

Obviously as soon as I was seated on my sit I opened the book ready to enjoy some hours of dashing vampires and what was there on the second page? A printed dedica to me! OMG, Z.A. Maxfield dedicated the book to me and to another friend for all the world to see and I haven't even written back to ZAM to appropriately thank her, what did she think of my ungrateful behavior? So this long introduction is to let ZAM know that I'm really stunned and honored and deeply grateful.

Coming back to the story, it delivered what promised and I had my dashing vampire, Donte, and the vampire himself had a worthy partner in Adin. Actually on the contrary of the usual tale on the innocent victim fallen prey of the most erotic and dangerous vampire, here it's the vampire who seems to fall for the apparently innocent Adin, who has instead a naughty core.

Adin is a professor, but he is not the mousy type, he is an exerpt in ancient erotic manuscripts, and his latest discovery is a XVI century journal of two noblemen in a clandestine affair. Being Adin gay, the idea of that is even more appealing. At first Adin has a detached attitude towards the journal, he sees it like a piece of erotica and he is not interested in the personal lives of the men in it. But then he meets Donte: since Donte has sex with him and meanwhile sucks his blood, it doesn't take much to Adin to find out Donte's true nature. The man claims to be the author of the journal and he wants it back. Again the focus of the story is more the sex than the reason why Donte wants back the journal, and again Adin seems not moved by the situation, or at least not so much... it was good sex after all.

The the story takes a turn, Adin starts to read the journal and he finds out that it's not an erotic journal, but a love story. Like the nature of the jorunal changes in Adin's eyes, so does the mood of the book, and Adin himself, who claimed to not believe in love, and has always had one night stands or meaningless relationships, starts to wonder how could it be to have a real love like the one in the journal. And he is lucky enough that the man who lived that love is still here. The problem is, could that man loves another man so much?

The story is a full and classical vampire tale, and like that it has its high erotic mood, but it's a classy eroticism, even when the sex happensin an airplane lavatory. Both characters are good but strange enough it's Adin who comes out as the strongest, Donte is powerful and ancient, but he has the behavior of an artist, instead Adin is more the warrior type. And it's really strange since it's all a question of attitude, Adin is small and lithe and he always takes the submissive role during sex. Nevertheless I found him bigger than himself.

http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=NOTTURNO

Buy Here

Amazon: Notturno

Amazon Kindle: Notturno

Reading List:

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

Amazon gives me advice how to review

I sent an enquiry to Amazon wondering why some reviews were not posted. I was replied that there were some forbidden words (as usual, hand job, blow job), and that I was welcomed to post them again without them. But they also give me an advice more... directly from their words:

"Also, please make sure you are providing your opinion on whether the items you are review are good or bad and the reasons why. It appears that the majority of your reviews are just the descriptions of the plots of the books."

Strange, I was very well certain to do exactly the opposite. If I retell part of the story, it's only to point out some side of the characters... but well, they probably know more than me, don't they?

A very pissed off Elisa, who is really wondered why she bothers to post reviews on Amazon (I know why, I do that to promote the books, Amazon is till the main online booksellers, but still...)

Amazon gives me advice how to review

I sent an enquiry to Amazon wondering why some reviews were not posted. I was replied that there were some forbidden words (as usual, hand job, blow job), and that I was welcomed to post them again without them. But they also give me an advice more... directly from their words:

"Also, please make sure you are providing your opinion on whether the items you are review are good or bad and the reasons why. It appears that the majority of your reviews are just the descriptions of the plots of the books."

Strange, I was very well certain to do exactly the opposite. If I retell part of the story, it's only to point out some side of the characters... but well, they probably know more than me, don't they?

A very pissed off Elisa, who is really wondered why she bothers to post reviews on Amazon (I know why, I do that to promote the books, Amazon is till the main online booksellers, but still...)

Notturno by Z.A. Maxfield

I should plea forgiveness to Z.A. Maxfield. More or less one year ago she told me she was thinking to write a book with a dashing Italian vampire and asked me if I knew of a place that could be his Italian home. If I remember well she did me some inputs and I told her that San Sepolcro could be the right place. Then some months later she sent me a first draft and I checked the italian words, but really, she did the work all by herself and I didn't find any mistake. So you see my help was little thing and when she sent me a print signed copy I was really glad but it was not necessary. The book arrived more or less at the end of July and obviously I emailed back the author to thank her but since it was a print book, I saved it for a travel in train or plane, when I prefer to read a real book instead of my laptop. So I enjoyed the hand written dedica on the first page, and looked at how pretty the cover was and the book remained on my nightstand table till today (ndr I'm writing this post on a note book on my flight to Philadelphia).

Obviously as soon as I was seated on my sit I opened the book ready to enjoy some hours of dashing vampires and what was there on the second page? A printed dedica to me! OMG, Z.A. Maxfield dedicated the book to me and to another friend for all the world to see and I haven't even written back to ZAM to appropriately thank her, what did she think of my ungrateful behavior? So this long introduction is to let ZAM know that I'm really stunned and honored and deeply grateful.

Coming back to the story, it delivered what promised and I had my dashing vampire, Donte, and the vampire himself had a worthy partner in Adin. Actually on the contrary of the usual tale on the innocent victim fallen prey of the most erotic and dangerous vampire, here it's the vampire who seems to fall for the apparently innocent Adin, who has instead a naughty core.

Adin is a professor, but he is not the mousy type, he is an exerpt in ancient erotic manuscripts, and his latest discovery is a XVI century journal of two noblemen in a clandestine affair. Being Adin gay, the idea of that is even more appealing. At first Adin has a detached attitude towards the journal, he sees it like a piece of erotica and he is not interested in the personal lives of the men in it. But then he meets Donte: since Donte has sex with him and meanwhile sucks his blood, it doesn't take much to Adin to find out Donte's true nature. The man claims to be the author of the journal and he wants it back. Again the focus of the story is more the sex than the reason why Donte wants back the journal, and again Adin seems not moved by the situation, or at least not so much... it was good sex after all.

The the story takes a turn, Adin starts to read the journal and he finds out that it's not an erotic journal, but a love story. Like the nature of the jorunal changes in Adin's eyes, so does the mood of the book, and Adin himself, who claimed to not believe in love, and has always had one night stands or meaningless relationships, starts to wonder how could it be to have a real love like the one in the journal. And he is lucky enough that the man who lived that love is still here. The problem is, could that man loves another man so much?

The story is a full and classical vampire tale, and like that it has its high erotic mood, but it's a classy eroticism, even when the sex happensin an airplane lavatory. Both characters are good but strange enough it's Adin who comes out as the strongest, Donte is powerful and ancient, but he has the behavior of an artist, instead Adin is more the warrior type. And it's really strange since it's all a question of attitude, Adin is small and lithe and he always takes the submissive role during sex. Nevertheless I found him bigger than himself.

http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=NOTTURNO

Buy Here

Amazon: Notturno

Amazon Kindle: Notturno

Reading List:

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