East Coast Day 10: Sturbridge & Hyde Park

tYes, I know, Old Sturbridge Village is a tourist trap and I hate tourist trap, but I was also a fan of Laura Ingalls and the Little House, and so I couldn't avoid to stop here. Truth be told, we managed to enter exactly at 9.30, so the majority of tourists were still asleep and we had the village almost all for ourself. I liked it, it was fun and the actors were really in their role. After that we headed further south, stopping to see the Vanderbilt Mansion and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt home place in Hyde Park, passing throught the Berkshires and the Hudson River Valley. The weather was so and so, in Sturbridge was wonderful and not so good in the other places, but we still managed to see something. We also wanted to stop at West Point, but the route was interrupted, I guess what it was...

 

( more pics )

Around the Wor...

By Elisa Rolle

Book Preview

East Coast Day 10: Sturbridge & Hyde Park

tYes, I know, Old Sturbridge Village is a tourist trap and I hate tourist trap, but I was also a fan of Laura Ingalls and the Little House, and so I couldn't avoid to stop here. Truth be told, we managed to enter exactly at 9.30, so the majority of tourists were still asleep and we had the village almost all for ourself. I liked it, it was fun and the actors were really in their role. After that we headed further south, stopping to see the Vanderbilt Mansion and the Franklin Delano Roosevelt home place in Hyde Park, passing throught the Berkshires and the Hudson River Valley. The weather was so and so, in Sturbridge was wonderful and not so good in the other places, but we still managed to see something. We also wanted to stop at West Point, but the route was interrupted, I guess what it was...

 

( more pics )

Around the Wor...

By Elisa Rolle

Book Preview

Broken by Sage Whistler

This is not the first twincest story I read by Sage Whistler and now like before I was warned on the Taboo nature of it... strange to say, I have more problem to read about BDSM stories or on non-con sex than about twincest, actually I don't have any "squeaking" feeling about it. Let's be clear, probably it's like so since we are talking of a male on male twincest, so no worries about possible genetic trouble for the progeny... see how odd my mind is? I'm not tickled by gender prejudice or moral question, but a scientific issue could set me off, probably I should stop to be so analytical. So, coming back to the story, it was not the twincest side that was important to me, but more the balance between the twins.

Gabriel and Tristan are 24 years old, but they don't see each other since they were 17. At that age Gabriel, the older of few minutes and also the hot-head of the two, came out to their parents and he was kicked off home. It's not clear if at that age Tristan had not enough courage to follow his twin, or if he, even if for a brief moment, felt the same as his parents, the result was that the twins were separated and only spoke on the phone from that moment on. Now 7 years later, Tristan needs a place to crash after a bankruptcy, and Gabriel is there to help him.

At first, from Gabriel's thoughts, and despite Tristan's behavior at 17 years old, I felt as Tristan was the stronger brother. And it's strange since it was Gabriel who went out of home when he was still a teenager, it was him that managed to become a famous rockstar, it's him that now has the money to help also his brother. But while Gabriel was waiting for his brother to arrive, I saw Tristan through Gabriel's eyes like a steady and solid figure, like the mainstay that Gabriel needs to not wreck. Tristan is to good one who always was the son their parents want; he is the cultured and honest to God, while Gabriel is the "gay" one, with a past drugs addiction. He is also the one who, even at 17 years old, fantasized about his twin, desires that he still has today.

But then we meet Tristan, and we realize that he is not at all what his twin sees. Tristan is a man eaten by remorse, he feels like a failure, first to his twin to abandon him so many years ago, and now to his parents to not being able to be the successful son they wanted. And even if he has not the courage to come out like his twin, also Tristan has forbidden desires, even if he has never played upon them. This is probably something I didn't understand so well, meaning that I didn't understand if Tristan is gay, and his desires are first of all towards his twin and then also other men, or if he is only focused on his brother. Actually it's not so important to know, but it would help me to better understand Tristan.

Of the two twins, Tristan is for sure the one with more personal issues. I feel like he stopped in his evolution when his brother left, and he is only now starting to grow again. Gabriel on the other hand, lived and mistook, but at least he tried the world; strange to say, despite it I feel like he hasn't a big self-esteem, a problem he probably inherited by his parents refusal. Both twins need each other to be complete, since they both see in the twin the man they would like to be, or maybe the other half they lack.

Broken is a novel with great potential, and since I even have a "twincest" tag on my menu, I'm happy that there are authors out there willing to write on this subgenre, but I wouldn't have minded some further investigations on some issues: the relationship with their parents, the sexual orientation of Tristan aside from his love interest for Gabriel and maybe a test on their relationship outside the safe haven of their home. And now the point of strength: the story is very romantic, there is a bunch of supporting characters that I wouldn't mind to see in upcoming novels (there is good material for at least other two novels) and the sex is good (I like the blushing virgin attitude of Tristan, and the naughty behavior of Gabriel).

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=561

Amazon Kindle: Broken
Publisher: Total-E-Bound Publishing (September 14, 2009)

Reading List:

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

Single White Knight by Brynn Paulin

The book starts in a quite sad way but soon turns in a romantic comedy. Alwyn, “Wyn”, is a XVI century English knight, but he is now without name and family, his own disowned him when he was accused to be a sodomite. It’s not clear how they found out, Wyn’s only lover, Tobias, was killed 8 year before and Wyn has never forgotten him. But now Wyn is fated to the same end, to be tortured by an enraged mob who wants to kill the deviant man. When he is almost there to loose his life, an angel appears to help him: he has the chance to follow her to an unknown destiny. Wyn is not so happy to choose the easy way out, he would probably prefer to die in battle, but something pushes him to accept the offer.

Wyn finds himself in the XXI century in the same room with a man who is too much alike Tobias to not being him; he has also almost the same name, Toby, and he knows Wyn’s language, ancient English. Wyn is sure that he is his squire, his lover, his Tobias, and indeed Toby dreamed of Wyn, but he was convinced that they were only dreams, that he was a very imaginative kid. Toby has always loved the Middle Ages and its culture, especial the English one, and now he realizes that maybe there was a reason for that.

There are two main plot in the story, one it’s Wyn’s trouble to adapt to the modern time. The author indeed started in a good way, putting various obstacles on Wyn’s path, above all the language barrier: often in a time travel novel, the differences in language are not considered; English is not the same through the ages, and if you shift a man of 800 years, what he speaks it’s not what he will listen, even if he is always in an English language country. And then, even if he finds someone like Toby who is able to speak the same language, there are words that didn’t exist, words that are very much common in our age, like “office”. Anyway, the author is aware of that, and she introduces the obstacle, but then she has also probably had to bend to the length needs, and so she chose a highway solution for her heroes.

The second theme is the comparison of the prejudices through the ages. In the XIV century, Wyn and Tobias were not able to love each other, and indeed both of them lost their life for that. In the XXI century, apparently they should have more freedom, but Toby seems reticent to the idea of being in the open; he always finds an excuse, his job, the little town, everything to prevent them to be free to claim their love. There are indeed some obstacles, but Toby’s reticence has deeper roots. When he will be free from it, then he will understand that is not impossible for them to be happy now.

To conclude, this is a book that, for different reason, could have been very heavy on the angst side, but the author chose to take a more light insight on the story, she played a lot with the knight in shining armour stuff, and the approach she had on the story is more comedy than drama.

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=558

Amazon Kindle: Single White Knight
Publisher: Total-E-Bound Publishing (September 14, 2009)

Reading List:

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

Broken by Sage Whistler

This is not the first twincest story I read by Sage Whistler and now like before I was warned on the Taboo nature of it... strange to say, I have more problem to read about BDSM stories or on non-con sex than about twincest, actually I don't have any "squeaking" feeling about it. Let's be clear, probably it's like so since we are talking of a male on male twincest, so no worries about possible genetic trouble for the progeny... see how odd my mind is? I'm not tickled by gender prejudice or moral question, but a scientific issue could set me off, probably I should stop to be so analytical. So, coming back to the story, it was not the twincest side that was important to me, but more the balance between the twins.

Gabriel and Tristan are 24 years old, but they don't see each other since they were 17. At that age Gabriel, the older of few minutes and also the hot-head of the two, came out to their parents and he was kicked off home. It's not clear if at that age Tristan had not enough courage to follow his twin, or if he, even if for a brief moment, felt the same as his parents, the result was that the twins were separated and only spoke on the phone from that moment on. Now 7 years later, Tristan needs a place to crash after a bankruptcy, and Gabriel is there to help him.

At first, from Gabriel's thoughts, and despite Tristan's behavior at 17 years old, I felt as Tristan was the stronger brother. And it's strange since it was Gabriel who went out of home when he was still a teenager, it was him that managed to become a famous rockstar, it's him that now has the money to help also his brother. But while Gabriel was waiting for his brother to arrive, I saw Tristan through Gabriel's eyes like a steady and solid figure, like the mainstay that Gabriel needs to not wreck. Tristan is to good one who always was the son their parents want; he is the cultured and honest to God, while Gabriel is the "gay" one, with a past drugs addiction. He is also the one who, even at 17 years old, fantasized about his twin, desires that he still has today.

But then we meet Tristan, and we realize that he is not at all what his twin sees. Tristan is a man eaten by remorse, he feels like a failure, first to his twin to abandon him so many years ago, and now to his parents to not being able to be the successful son they wanted. And even if he has not the courage to come out like his twin, also Tristan has forbidden desires, even if he has never played upon them. This is probably something I didn't understand so well, meaning that I didn't understand if Tristan is gay, and his desires are first of all towards his twin and then also other men, or if he is only focused on his brother. Actually it's not so important to know, but it would help me to better understand Tristan.

Of the two twins, Tristan is for sure the one with more personal issues. I feel like he stopped in his evolution when his brother left, and he is only now starting to grow again. Gabriel on the other hand, lived and mistook, but at least he tried the world; strange to say, despite it I feel like he hasn't a big self-esteem, a problem he probably inherited by his parents refusal. Both twins need each other to be complete, since they both see in the twin the man they would like to be, or maybe the other half they lack.

Broken is a novel with great potential, and since I even have a "twincest" tag on my menu, I'm happy that there are authors out there willing to write on this subgenre, but I wouldn't have minded some further investigations on some issues: the relationship with their parents, the sexual orientation of Tristan aside from his love interest for Gabriel and maybe a test on their relationship outside the safe haven of their home. And now the point of strength: the story is very romantic, there is a bunch of supporting characters that I wouldn't mind to see in upcoming novels (there is good material for at least other two novels) and the sex is good (I like the blushing virgin attitude of Tristan, and the naughty behavior of Gabriel).

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=561

Amazon Kindle: Broken
Publisher: Total-E-Bound Publishing (September 14, 2009)

Reading List:

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

Single White Knight by Brynn Paulin

The book starts in a quite sad way but soon turns in a romantic comedy. Alwyn, “Wyn”, is a XVI century English knight, but he is now without name and family, his own disowned him when he was accused to be a sodomite. It’s not clear how they found out, Wyn’s only lover, Tobias, was killed 8 year before and Wyn has never forgotten him. But now Wyn is fated to the same end, to be tortured by an enraged mob who wants to kill the deviant man. When he is almost there to loose his life, an angel appears to help him: he has the chance to follow her to an unknown destiny. Wyn is not so happy to choose the easy way out, he would probably prefer to die in battle, but something pushes him to accept the offer.

Wyn finds himself in the XXI century in the same room with a man who is too much alike Tobias to not being him; he has also almost the same name, Toby, and he knows Wyn’s language, ancient English. Wyn is sure that he is his squire, his lover, his Tobias, and indeed Toby dreamed of Wyn, but he was convinced that they were only dreams, that he was a very imaginative kid. Toby has always loved the Middle Ages and its culture, especial the English one, and now he realizes that maybe there was a reason for that.

There are two main plot in the story, one it’s Wyn’s trouble to adapt to the modern time. The author indeed started in a good way, putting various obstacles on Wyn’s path, above all the language barrier: often in a time travel novel, the differences in language are not considered; English is not the same through the ages, and if you shift a man of 800 years, what he speaks it’s not what he will listen, even if he is always in an English language country. And then, even if he finds someone like Toby who is able to speak the same language, there are words that didn’t exist, words that are very much common in our age, like “office”. Anyway, the author is aware of that, and she introduces the obstacle, but then she has also probably had to bend to the length needs, and so she chose a highway solution for her heroes.

The second theme is the comparison of the prejudices through the ages. In the XIV century, Wyn and Tobias were not able to love each other, and indeed both of them lost their life for that. In the XXI century, apparently they should have more freedom, but Toby seems reticent to the idea of being in the open; he always finds an excuse, his job, the little town, everything to prevent them to be free to claim their love. There are indeed some obstacles, but Toby’s reticence has deeper roots. When he will be free from it, then he will understand that is not impossible for them to be happy now.

To conclude, this is a book that, for different reason, could have been very heavy on the angst side, but the author chose to take a more light insight on the story, she played a lot with the knight in shining armour stuff, and the approach she had on the story is more comedy than drama.

http://www.total-e-bound.com/product.asp?strParents=&CAT_ID=&P_ID=558

Amazon Kindle: Single White Knight
Publisher: Total-E-Bound Publishing (September 14, 2009)

Reading List:

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