The Hustler Prince by Lee Benoit

This is a very little jewel.

Martin is an american doctor who travels to Cuba on a research mission. He is 32 years old, latin-american with only the appeareance of latin man and all the attitude of an american. He has suffered for love and doesn't want to take another risk. But the very first day he meets Alexei, a twenty years old guy, all love and need.

Alexei is like a stone puppy: do you think this is a strange definition? but no, cause he is strong and determinated but also wants desperately a lover like Martin. A tender and caring lover who can give him an hope for the future.

Even if Martin tries to negate also with himself the growing feelings for Alexei, he cannot leave him alone and when Alexei searches for him, he will run to him, like a knight in shining armor.

I hope to read more by Lee Benoit, cause this Single Shot has left me with a strong curiosity.

http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2183

Reading List:

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

The Sight of Home by Sean Michael

Stone is a 36 yeard old historian professor. He is also an historical fiction writer and he has had a sudden success with one of his novel. He has agreed to do a on the road tour all along US and now he needs a personal assistant, cause Stone is blind.

Him and his last partner have friendly taken different paths one years ago. Stone is quite independent when he is at home or in familiar places, but in unknow territory he is lost. So here comes Mason, an ex army soldier and then boduguard, who needs something more in his life. And Stone could be the right man. Since the first day they meet, it's immediately sex and fun.

Mason and Stone are the perfect pair, Mason just a little overprotective and Stone not so sorry to allow Mason the up hand in their relationship. Stone has not the usual behaviour of the man who wants to demonstrate that he can do all alone: he has no problem to admit that he likes to be cuddle and spoilt.

Even if this is a sip, it's pretty long, about 100 pages, but it spams for a little period of time and it's almost all spent in the bedroom. But the sex is hot and the characters are interesting. I like a lot how Sean Michael has decipted Stone and his positive attitude toward life.

http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2162

Reading List:

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

By Degrees by J.B. MacDonald

Even if he now would never admit it, Tim knows that when he met Con for the first time, he found his true love. Problem is that Tim at that time was 10 years old and Con only 12; they still hadn't reached the phase in which someone wonders about being straight or gay, and they had only an year to be together. They were both in boarding school, but then Tim's parents died in a car accident, and Con's father had financial trouble and he went to live with his grandparents. Still they remained in touch, first with letters and then with emails; Con became Tim's internet friend, someone always present, but far enough for Tim to not feel threatened.

Probably Tim was already a troubled boy, being sent in a boarding school at a so young age didn't allow him to form the first important emotional bond in life, the one with your parents. And the the accident and the various foster homes didn't help either. Tim repressed all the feelings of abandonment and sadness and became a control freak. He has to have control in everything, above all in his own feelings; as I said, Tim just met the only person in the world who can find a breach in the walls he built around him, and that person is far from him, he even controls that weak side of him, knowing in every moment where Con is and what he is doing. Tim starts to date women, since it's expected from society, but he knows that a woman has no chance to pull down his barriers and so he is safe with them. This is not a "gay for you" romance, first of all since Tim, deep down him, knows that he is in love with Con, and second since Tim is a full-figured virgin, in any meanings of the word: he has never allowed anyone near him enough to tolerate a physical touch.

But now Con has invaded his space and started to work on that breach. He is in Tim's apartment, in Tim's life again, and he is too huge: not only in the physical meaning of the word, but also to an emotional level. Tim freaks out, he feels his control slip out for his hands. What I like of Tim is that he seems unable to be nasty with Con; he is sharp and edging, but he always tries to do the right thing with the man. True, when Con has to go away for a period, Tim tries to rebuild his walls, but at the same time he tries also to understand himself better and his feelings for Con; when everyone around him already knows that Tim is gay, Tim has still some hope that this is not true, since if he is gay, he is in love with Con and he is in big big trouble.

The book is not so simple that the "little" realization of being gay allows to our hero to happily walk hand in hand toward the sunset (don't get mislead by the cover...). That is only the first step and maybe the simpler, it's only stating the obvious; if till this point the book was almost funny (with sentence like "after a month he was always sure to be more gay than not"...), now it turns in something more complex and moving. Even if Tim is a doctor, he has still huge mental barriers that don't allow him to admit that he needs the help of a specialist; on the other hand Con, even if a real good man, is a firefighter, not a therapist; but he tries to help the man he loves, he tries to be supporting and sympathetic. I really like as he comes out as character, since the reader can really understand that he is not like that, he is not for real an always careful and cautious man, but he knows that he has to be like that for the good of Tim, the man he loves... and when he momentarily forgot, the real Con comes out, with his requests of a puppy (when they are both men with eclectic working hours) or for Tim's to take cooking classes (when the man has already his days full with his job and other bigger problems).

Both characters are wonderfully rendered, but Tim comes out in full force. I was really taken by this man that apparently is aloof and detached, but instead has so much to give: I was almost regretting that it was not allowed to these two men to live their childish love, to grew together and being always happy since that tender age... but probably they would have been not able to realize the beautiful love story that now they are living. By Degrees is a very good novel, that mix romance, eroticism and a bit of drama, but that has also a funny core that always warms even the more angst scenes.

http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1864

Amazon: By Degrees

Reading List:

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

The Sight of Home by Sean Michael

Stone is a 36 yeard old historian professor. He is also an historical fiction writer and he has had a sudden success with one of his novel. He has agreed to do a on the road tour all along US and now he needs a personal assistant, cause Stone is blind.

Him and his last partner have friendly taken different paths one years ago. Stone is quite independent when he is at home or in familiar places, but in unknow territory he is lost. So here comes Mason, an ex army soldier and then boduguard, who needs something more in his life. And Stone could be the right man. Since the first day they meet, it's immediately sex and fun.

Mason and Stone are the perfect pair, Mason just a little overprotective and Stone not so sorry to allow Mason the up hand in their relationship. Stone has not the usual behaviour of the man who wants to demonstrate that he can do all alone: he has no problem to admit that he likes to be cuddle and spoilt.

Even if this is a sip, it's pretty long, about 100 pages, but it spams for a little period of time and it's almost all spent in the bedroom. But the sex is hot and the characters are interesting. I like a lot how Sean Michael has decipted Stone and his positive attitude toward life.

http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2162

Reading List:

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

The Hustler Prince by Lee Benoit

This is a very little jewel.

Martin is an american doctor who travels to Cuba on a research mission. He is 32 years old, latin-american with only the appeareance of latin man and all the attitude of an american. He has suffered for love and doesn't want to take another risk. But the very first day he meets Alexei, a twenty years old guy, all love and need.

Alexei is like a stone puppy: do you think this is a strange definition? but no, cause he is strong and determinated but also wants desperately a lover like Martin. A tender and caring lover who can give him an hope for the future.

Even if Martin tries to negate also with himself the growing feelings for Alexei, he cannot leave him alone and when Alexei searches for him, he will run to him, like a knight in shining armor.

I hope to read more by Lee Benoit, cause this Single Shot has left me with a strong curiosity.

http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=2183

Reading List:

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

By Degrees by J.B. MacDonald

Even if he now would never admit it, Tim knows that when he met Con for the first time, he found his true love. Problem is that Tim at that time was 10 years old and Con only 12; they still hadn't reached the phase in which someone wonders about being straight or gay, and they had only an year to be together. They were both in boarding school, but then Tim's parents died in a car accident, and Con's father had financial trouble and he went to live with his grandparents. Still they remained in touch, first with letters and then with emails; Con became Tim's internet friend, someone always present, but far enough for Tim to not feel threatened.

Probably Tim was already a troubled boy, being sent in a boarding school at a so young age didn't allow him to form the first important emotional bond in life, the one with your parents. And the the accident and the various foster homes didn't help either. Tim repressed all the feelings of abandonment and sadness and became a control freak. He has to have control in everything, above all in his own feelings; as I said, Tim just met the only person in the world who can find a breach in the walls he built around him, and that person is far from him, he even controls that weak side of him, knowing in every moment where Con is and what he is doing. Tim starts to date women, since it's expected from society, but he knows that a woman has no chance to pull down his barriers and so he is safe with them. This is not a "gay for you" romance, first of all since Tim, deep down him, knows that he is in love with Con, and second since Tim is a full-figured virgin, in any meanings of the word: he has never allowed anyone near him enough to tolerate a physical touch.

But now Con has invaded his space and started to work on that breach. He is in Tim's apartment, in Tim's life again, and he is too huge: not only in the physical meaning of the word, but also to an emotional level. Tim freaks out, he feels his control slip out for his hands. What I like of Tim is that he seems unable to be nasty with Con; he is sharp and edging, but he always tries to do the right thing with the man. True, when Con has to go away for a period, Tim tries to rebuild his walls, but at the same time he tries also to understand himself better and his feelings for Con; when everyone around him already knows that Tim is gay, Tim has still some hope that this is not true, since if he is gay, he is in love with Con and he is in big big trouble.

The book is not so simple that the "little" realization of being gay allows to our hero to happily walk hand in hand toward the sunset (don't get mislead by the cover...). That is only the first step and maybe the simpler, it's only stating the obvious; if till this point the book was almost funny (with sentence like "after a month he was always sure to be more gay than not"...), now it turns in something more complex and moving. Even if Tim is a doctor, he has still huge mental barriers that don't allow him to admit that he needs the help of a specialist; on the other hand Con, even if a real good man, is a firefighter, not a therapist; but he tries to help the man he loves, he tries to be supporting and sympathetic. I really like as he comes out as character, since the reader can really understand that he is not like that, he is not for real an always careful and cautious man, but he knows that he has to be like that for the good of Tim, the man he loves... and when he momentarily forgot, the real Con comes out, with his requests of a puppy (when they are both men with eclectic working hours) or for Tim's to take cooking classes (when the man has already his days full with his job and other bigger problems).

Both characters are wonderfully rendered, but Tim comes out in full force. I was really taken by this man that apparently is aloof and detached, but instead has so much to give: I was almost regretting that it was not allowed to these two men to live their childish love, to grew together and being always happy since that tender age... but probably they would have been not able to realize the beautiful love story that now they are living. By Degrees is a very good novel, that mix romance, eroticism and a bit of drama, but that has also a funny core that always warms even the more angst scenes.

http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1864

Amazon: By Degrees

Reading List:

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

In the Spotlight: Robin Reardon

The Book: "I love the long distance run, when you feel like you’re about to die…and then you reach this place where you feel like there are no boundaries for you anywhere…"

In many ways, Jason Peele is like any other teenager. He hits the books, hangs with his friends, flirts with girls, and omits the full truth of his life from his Aunt Audrey and Uncle Steve, who have raised him since his parents died. But there’s one way that Jason Peele is very different: when he dreams at night, it isn’t about girls; it’s about David Bowie. At sixteen-years-old, Jason is just beginning to understand that he might be gay.

The one place Jason feels comfortable is on the track where he can run fast and hard. He loves the feel of the wind at his back, of his legs propelling him furiously around, the roar of the crowd in his ears. But now, even his sanctuary feels threatening. It isn’t just the jerks who call him “faggot” in the locker room. A new guy has joined the team, and everything about him will challenge the way Jason sees life. From late-night showings of “La Cage Aux Folles” to reading Gandhi, he’s running a new race on an uncertain course, and only one thing’s for sure—his senior year is going to be unforgettable…

With A Secret Edge, Robin Reardon delivers a sexy, sensitive coming-of-age novel about identity and courage, love and honor, anger and hope, and the many ways the truth can really set you free.

“As sexy as it is surprising. A Secret Edge is a refreshing spin on the coming out story as well as a memorable new love story for the new millennium.” --Brian Sloan, author of A Tale of Two Summers.

( My Review )

Amazon: A Secret Edge

( Other Books in the List )

The Author: Robin Reardon is an inveterate observer of human nature and has been writing forever — childish songs, poems, little plays.

If you enjoy Robin’s books, you should read her open letter: THE CASE FOR ACCEPTANCE: An Open Letter to Humanity. In this work Robin uses reason, physical and social sciences, psychology, various other provable disciplines, and religious scripture to remove any rational objection to homosexuality. The letter also takes a stab at explaining why so many people refuse to let go of their gut-level, knee-jerk negative response to gays, and how their very humanity could help them. How it could help everyone.

By day Robin works as a communications manager for an international financial institution, creating strategic communications approaches specializing in intranet delivery of internal communications. Interests outside of writing include singing, photography, and the study of comparative religions. Robin writes in a butter yellow study with a view of the Boston, Massachusetts skyline.

http://www.robinreardon.com/

Top 100 Gay Novels List (*)

External Link to the Top 100 Gay Novels List (simple - without photos)

External Link to the Top 100 Gay Novels List (wanted - with photos)

*only one title per author, only print books released after January 1, 2000.

Note: I remember to my friends that guest reviews of the above listed books (the top 100 Gay Novels) are welcome, just send them to me and I will post with full credits to the reviewer.

Other titles not in the top 100 list:

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/top50MM

In Flesh and Stone by Hal Bodner

Horror and romance with an healthy dose of eroticism is a not easy mix to deal with, and also a quite strange combination, that it would have made me wonder if I didn't read something on the author's bio that helped me to understand better the book. I think that, in a way, this book serves to the author to exorcise a sad past experience, and maybe to find in it an "odd" happily ever after that he didn't have in the real life.

Alex and Tony were a married and perfect couple; they were perfect since they weren't perfect, meaning that despite the love for each other, they were aware of the other faults, and willing to forgive for the joy to be together. Alex is an artist with a quite disorderly past, but in Tony he seemed to find a balance; sometime he still had some out-tracks, mostly with his friend with benefits Corey, but Tony knew and allowed it. This didn't mean that Tony didn't care, but only that he knew that, for having Alex in his life, he should have allowed him some freedom. And then it was not that Tony was not incline to a sporadic derailment here and there, only that, on the contrary of Alex, he was more inclined to a "stranger" body, someone who was there in the moment and soon forgotten. Both Alex, having sex with his best friend, that was almost a brotherly thing, then Tony, having sex with strangers who didn't mine his steady relationship, are faithful in their way to each other. As I said, they were a perfect couple.

But then a strange virus takes Tony, if not to death but almost near: Alex's husband is in coma and it's months already and no doctor seems to have an answer. To be near to his lover, and probably to lessen the burden of a full house, Alex rents an apartment in a building that was a former library. In Alex's main room 12 statues representing the Zodiac are personified by 13 naked men (2 for the Gemini), all beautiful even when half-beast. As soon as Alex sees them, he starts to fantasize about having sex with one or more of that Signs, and this is the moment the reader starts the voyager with him; so yes, it's not exactly a good start since, let be sincere, having sexual fantasies involving half-man half-beast characters while your husband is dying in an hospital? it doesn't put you in a good light. But strange to say, from the first scene where Alex describes in details the physical attributes of the statue (and even if it was strange for what I said before, I felt like Alex was betraying his lover, it was a well written scene), more Alex indulges in his sexual fantasies, and more I feel him being nearer to Tony.

The first scenes are tamed, not even full intercourse, and so the feeling of betrayal towards Tony is stronger: Alex is healthy and he is having fun, how he could possibly be really upset for his husband's condition? but then the sexual fantasies shift in nature, even if Alex still enjoys the sex, it's more and more a pain and pleasure game, and I feel like Alex is "forced" to enjoy it, two times it even felt to me almost like a rape. More the games become extreme, less they are healthier, and more Alex is near Tony. There is a balance they have to reach, or Alex has to loose his strength to be near Tony, or Tony has to gain renewed force to come out from the coma.

More Alex is having sex with stranger (and strange creatures) and more I feel him in love with Tony; if I think well, there are very few sex scene between Alex and Tony, most of them a remembrance, and almost never the two of them alone, but despite all of this, I could really feel the bond between them. Beforehand, I would haven't said that the two would have been my ideal couple, but I was wrong. All the theories I could have on the behavior of Alex (he is coping with the pain trying to affirm life through sex, he is trying to diffuse the pentup energy he is not able to dispel through those fantasies), all of them are presented and explained in the novel as possible reasons, the authors know them well and he is not trying to be obscure. More, he was able to write an horror romance that, till the end, is not clear to the reader if what Alex is living is actually a real experience, or only the projection of his pain.

I wouldn't say that this novel is light, even if there are some slightly funny moments, especially in Corey's character, or in the daisy chain of doctors who try to help Alex and Tony. Probably this is only a point more on Hal Bodner's skill to mix different elements in a particular but very interesting romance. Mind you though, it's not probably cup of the tea for the most traditional romance readers.

http://www.ravenousromance.com/fantastica/in-flesh-and-stone.php

Amazon: In Flesh and Stone

Amazon Kindle: In Flesh and Stone

Reading List:

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

In Flesh and Stone by Hal Bodner

Horror and romance with an healthy dose of eroticism is a not easy mix to deal with, and also a quite strange combination, that it would have made me wonder if I didn't read something on the author's bio that helped me to understand better the book. I think that, in a way, this book serves to the author to exorcise a sad past experience, and maybe to find in it an "odd" happily ever after that he didn't have in the real life.

Alex and Tony were a married and perfect couple; they were perfect since they weren't perfect, meaning that despite the love for each other, they were aware of the other faults, and willing to forgive for the joy to be together. Alex is an artist with a quite disorderly past, but in Tony he seemed to find a balance; sometime he still had some out-tracks, mostly with his friend with benefits Corey, but Tony knew and allowed it. This didn't mean that Tony didn't care, but only that he knew that, for having Alex in his life, he should have allowed him some freedom. And then it was not that Tony was not incline to a sporadic derailment here and there, only that, on the contrary of Alex, he was more inclined to a "stranger" body, someone who was there in the moment and soon forgotten. Both Alex, having sex with his best friend, that was almost a brotherly thing, then Tony, having sex with strangers who didn't mine his steady relationship, are faithful in their way to each other. As I said, they were a perfect couple.

But then a strange virus takes Tony, if not to death but almost near: Alex's husband is in coma and it's months already and no doctor seems to have an answer. To be near to his lover, and probably to lessen the burden of a full house, Alex rents an apartment in a building that was a former library. In Alex's main room 12 statues representing the Zodiac are personified by 13 naked men (2 for the Gemini), all beautiful even when half-beast. As soon as Alex sees them, he starts to fantasize about having sex with one or more of that Signs, and this is the moment the reader starts the voyager with him; so yes, it's not exactly a good start since, let be sincere, having sexual fantasies involving half-man half-beast characters while your husband is dying in an hospital? it doesn't put you in a good light. But strange to say, from the first scene where Alex describes in details the physical attributes of the statue (and even if it was strange for what I said before, I felt like Alex was betraying his lover, it was a well written scene), more Alex indulges in his sexual fantasies, and more I feel him being nearer to Tony.

The first scenes are tamed, not even full intercourse, and so the feeling of betrayal towards Tony is stronger: Alex is healthy and he is having fun, how he could possibly be really upset for his husband's condition? but then the sexual fantasies shift in nature, even if Alex still enjoys the sex, it's more and more a pain and pleasure game, and I feel like Alex is "forced" to enjoy it, two times it even felt to me almost like a rape. More the games become extreme, less they are healthier, and more Alex is near Tony. There is a balance they have to reach, or Alex has to loose his strength to be near Tony, or Tony has to gain renewed force to come out from the coma.

More Alex is having sex with stranger (and strange creatures) and more I feel him in love with Tony; if I think well, there are very few sex scene between Alex and Tony, most of them a remembrance, and almost never the two of them alone, but despite all of this, I could really feel the bond between them. Beforehand, I would haven't said that the two would have been my ideal couple, but I was wrong. All the theories I could have on the behavior of Alex (he is coping with the pain trying to affirm life through sex, he is trying to diffuse the pentup energy he is not able to dispel through those fantasies), all of them are presented and explained in the novel as possible reasons, the authors know them well and he is not trying to be obscure. More, he was able to write an horror romance that, till the end, is not clear to the reader if what Alex is living is actually a real experience, or only the projection of his pain.

I wouldn't say that this novel is light, even if there are some slightly funny moments, especially in Corey's character, or in the daisy chain of doctors who try to help Alex and Tony. Probably this is only a point more on Hal Bodner's skill to mix different elements in a particular but very interesting romance. Mind you though, it's not probably cup of the tea for the most traditional romance readers.

http://www.ravenousromance.com/fantastica/in-flesh-and-stone.php

Amazon: In Flesh and Stone

Amazon Kindle: In Flesh and Stone

Reading List:

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