Petit Morts 1: Sweets to the Sweet by Jordan Castillo Price & Josh Lanyon

Hue, Tint and Shade (Petit Morts 1) by Jordan Castillo Price

When Jordan Castillo Price wants to be romantic, she masterly manages it, always preserving her little “creepy” core (and I’m using the word creepy with a positive connotation).

Since the first sentences you understand that Tommy is not your usual nerd guy, or at least, he is a bit of a nerd, but he is also horny enough not to let a good chance at love pass by. Tommy is desperately shy, and he would do anything to being cured of it, even contacting a faith healer. The first appointment is at Chance’s Sweets to the Sweet, a little patisserie on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago; Tommy more than in the faith healer is interested in Chance, and so the reader understand that Tommy’s shyness manifests when he is trying to hook up with boys. At the beginning Chance is so nice and sweet with Tommy, that I really hoped he was the one who would cure him, but he has someone else in mind.

The next scene introduces us to Nathan, the man at the opposite of Tommy: where Tommy is shy, Nathan is outrageously cheeky; where Tommy is a white collar worker (a car salesman), Nathan is a blue collar one (a window washer); where Tommy behaves and dresses to meld with the tapestry, Nathan is a punch in the eye, eyeliner and all; but there is something in Tommy’s shyness that draws Nathan’s protectiveness (and lust), and Tommy is like a deer caught in the headlights, he can possible refuse Nathan’s advances.

Even the main set of this brief romance, an old fashioned theatre, helps to give a strange atmosphere to the story, and the ending is both surprising than sweet: for the sake of his possible newfound true love, Tommy will find the courage to get free of his shyness, to finally take in hand his life, and to fight for something, even if that something, for now, is only a possible “sleepover”… but there are good chances that it will be not only that.

To the most romantic readers, don't worry, the creepy factor is only an exotic spice on a pure chocolate truffle, and this is basically a very sweet romance.

http://jcpbooks.com/ebook/hue.html

Buy at 1PR

Amazon Kindle: Hue, Tint and Shade (Petit Morts)

Slings and Arrows (Petit Morts 2) by Josh Lanyon

It’s common knowledge that I like college boys, they are always so cute, and the two in this novella are even cuter in their indecision, typically of an age that is not meat or fish, when you are on the edge of becoming the man you will be.

Carey is an average student, not particularly clever so that, he is doing good in College, but he needs to work a lot for it, he has good friends, he is on the swim team, he is not a nerd but he is not even a jock, he is cute but not drop dead gorgeous, and so he basically has to be committed on what he does. Then to this average guy happens something unexpected, two days before Valentine’s Day he receives a box of expensive chocolate from a Secret Admirer. He has not idea who he or she is, but he would like for it to be Walter, the TA of one of his college courses: Walter is the odd one, aloof and seldom smiling, he is not even so handsome, but love is blind, and he is the one Carey is in love with. Maybe pushed by the search of this Secret Admirer, or maybe by the love is in the air feeling near Valentine’s Day, Carey has the courage to approach Walter, and surprisingly Walter seems to reciprocate the interest. But Carey and Walter are so young and insecure, that when one offers a way out to the other, fearing the other wants it, but hoping he doesn’t take the chance, the other thinks the same… it’s like a pull and push, like pulling the stone and hiding the hand, sometime I wanted to knock them on the head to make them see the true, but in the end, they were so endearing and sweet.

I have already noticed it in the recent past, but here even more than before, I had the feeling that Josh Lanyon was really writing a true to good romance, even the little “mystery” of the Secret Admirer is really nothing in comparison to the love story between Walter and Carey. And despite their insecurity when dealing with feelings and the awkwardness when they have to admit them, sex instead is easy and nice, as it should be at their age.

http://jcpbooks.com/ebook/slings.html

Buy at 1PR

Amazon Kindle: Slings and Arrows (Petit Morts)

Moolah and Moonshine (Petit Morts 3) by Jordan Castillo Price

This is probably the strangest in the Petit Morts I read till now (but I have still 2 to read, so maybe it will be not in the end): Chance, the owner of Sweets to the Sweet, is again playing matchmaker, and this time he decides that Emmett, the thirty something lonely man who is loosing his girl best friend to Paris, needs the companionship (friendship, love, or whatever) of Sam, the twenty something handyman; the official reason is that Emmett has a very old and decrepit house that needs maintenance, the real reason is that both of them, Emmett and Sam, are perfect together.

Emmett is not a daring man, he has always dreamed to do something special in his life, but in the end, he is setting himself for a boring, and lonely, old age. He is the perfect friend, the perfect uncle, the perfect son… but he is not, and has never been, the perfect lover; not since he is not a good man, but since, probably, he has never dared to try. Sam on the other hand, is yes a bit shy, but maybe he has still the carelessness of being young; and maybe, when it will be the moment to deciding of giving a completely turn to their life, the fact that his actual life is not so great, and that he has never to loose, will be of help in his decision.

The author decided to give an unexpected paranormal twist to the story, and it’s a good and light one, but basically the story was already a sweet one. Emmett and Sam are like those average men who alone are nothing special, or at least not someone you will notice on a street, but together are a perfect, and enviable, couple; even without the paranormal twist, they would be happy and perfect together. But, after all, they are living in Kansas, and we all know that in Kansas everything is possible, don’t we?

http://jcpbooks.com/ebook/moolah.html

Buy at 1PR

Amazon Kindle: Moolah and Moonshine (Petit Morts)

Other People’s Weddings (Petit Morts 4) by Josh Lanyon

Other People’s Weddings is a romance with a dark shade, but not too much dark to tinge the pink feeling of the story. Griff is a wedding planner, probably the epitome of “gay” job, and of course he is gay; more he is probably one of the few openly gay men in the little town where he lives, and he is planning the wedding of his secret lover, Joe. Joe is not exactly Griff’s dream lover, but he is at least a lover, something Griff is missing. I think Griff doesn’t estimate himself good enough to be allowed to have a “public” lover; other than moral issues that should have forced him to not accept the job, there is also the very real downfall economic trend, Griff really needs the job, and Joe’s soon to be wife’s family is among the wealthiest of the town. So Griff is grinding his teeth and doing the bitter work with a sweet smile on his face.

Then, just when he is almost done with it, Griff meets again Hammer/Hamar, former high school mate and nemesis; at the beginning the reader doesn’t understand Griff’s cold attitude towards Hamar, a prank joke in high school seems too little thing for a long lasting resentment; something like that you could expect from a wounded lover: for example, Griff is not saving the same cold behaviour with Joe, and Joe is marrying a woman! Little by little the truth is unveiled and maybe for once, Griff will have to plan his own happily ever after.

The story is nice and sweet, very romantic but not at all sexy; despite this, I think it’s a very good romance, and it’s strange, since the only sex scene is not even between the two romance heroes, who neither share a kiss. There is a whole entire story after what happens in this novella, the author can decide to write it or to let to the reader the task to build it in its mind, in any case he gave enough details, in the characters, in the setting and in the story to not leaving the reader, at the end of the story, with the feeling that something was untold.

http://jcpbooks.com/ebook/other.html

Amazon Kindle: Other People's Weddings (Petit Morts)

Spanish Fly Guy (Petit Morts #5) by Jordan Castillo Price

This is basically the story of Ryan and JP, but I think that Chance had an interesting development in it. Chance is the thread of all five stories, his candy shop Sweets to the Sweet is the place where everything starts and ends; it’s a magical place that appears when people need it and disappears when the mission is accomplished and Chance is needed somewhere else. Moreover Chance is teasing with a lot of guys, but he is not for them, he is the matchmaker and for all of them he will find the right partner; he is kind and sweet, always caring for the destiny of the men eating his candies. Only that this time Chance is not at all kind, he is almost rude and he seems to not like at all JP: I’m not sure if he helped him with Ryan since he wanted to help Ryan himself, or since he wanted for JP to go away from Brightside, the little town where Chance landed with Sweets to the Sweet.

JP is like one of those fake healers populating the border towns at the end of the XIX century; they arrived with glitters and fanfare and most of the time they went away with more coins and some broken hearts behind. But while JP is fake, Chance is all true, and I think he doesn’t like for another seller of dreams to pouching on his territory. I had the feeling that Chance helped JP to not have his townsfolf being disappointed by JP’s promises.

In the spat between Chance and JP, Ryan has nothing to do; he is only a young man with little dreams, but even if they are little, there is no space in Brightside for them. When JP arrives in town, Ryan is not expecting big changes, but at least he is hoping for a little distraction: the summer is almost at the end, and why not having a last days of summer fling? JP is handsome and sexy, and once he will be gone, no one will question Ryan. But as I said, Chance has other ideas, and while he is protecting Brighside’s people from JP, maybe Ryan is the only one who doesn’t need to be protected by JP, maybe JP is the right care for him. After all, JP is a seller of dreams, and Ryan needs to buy a little more of them, what he has is not enough to fulfil his young life.

In a way, even if Spanish Fly Guy has an happily ever after, as the other in the series, I think this one was the darkest and also maybe the more disturbing: Chance showed a side that was almost scaring.

http://jcpbooks.com/ebook/spanish.html

Amazon Kindle: Spanish Fly Guy (Petit Morts)

Amazon: Petit Morts 1: Sweets to the Sweet (print book)

Reading List:

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

Petit Morts 1: Sweets to the Sweet by Jordan Castillo Price & Josh Lanyon

Hue, Tint and Shade (Petit Morts 1) by Jordan Castillo Price

When Jordan Castillo Price wants to be romantic, she masterly manages it, always preserving her little “creepy” core (and I’m using the word creepy with a positive connotation).

Since the first sentences you understand that Tommy is not your usual nerd guy, or at least, he is a bit of a nerd, but he is also horny enough not to let a good chance at love pass by. Tommy is desperately shy, and he would do anything to being cured of it, even contacting a faith healer. The first appointment is at Chance’s Sweets to the Sweet, a little patisserie on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago; Tommy more than in the faith healer is interested in Chance, and so the reader understand that Tommy’s shyness manifests when he is trying to hook up with boys. At the beginning Chance is so nice and sweet with Tommy, that I really hoped he was the one who would cure him, but he has someone else in mind.

The next scene introduces us to Nathan, the man at the opposite of Tommy: where Tommy is shy, Nathan is outrageously cheeky; where Tommy is a white collar worker (a car salesman), Nathan is a blue collar one (a window washer); where Tommy behaves and dresses to meld with the tapestry, Nathan is a punch in the eye, eyeliner and all; but there is something in Tommy’s shyness that draws Nathan’s protectiveness (and lust), and Tommy is like a deer caught in the headlights, he can possible refuse Nathan’s advances.

Even the main set of this brief romance, an old fashioned theatre, helps to give a strange atmosphere to the story, and the ending is both surprising than sweet: for the sake of his possible newfound true love, Tommy will find the courage to get free of his shyness, to finally take in hand his life, and to fight for something, even if that something, for now, is only a possible “sleepover”… but there are good chances that it will be not only that.

To the most romantic readers, don't worry, the creepy factor is only an exotic spice on a pure chocolate truffle, and this is basically a very sweet romance.

http://jcpbooks.com/ebook/hue.html

Buy at 1PR

Amazon Kindle: Hue, Tint and Shade (Petit Morts)

Slings and Arrows (Petit Morts 2) by Josh Lanyon

It’s common knowledge that I like college boys, they are always so cute, and the two in this novella are even cuter in their indecision, typically of an age that is not meat or fish, when you are on the edge of becoming the man you will be.

Carey is an average student, not particularly clever so that, he is doing good in College, but he needs to work a lot for it, he has good friends, he is on the swim team, he is not a nerd but he is not even a jock, he is cute but not drop dead gorgeous, and so he basically has to be committed on what he does. Then to this average guy happens something unexpected, two days before Valentine’s Day he receives a box of expensive chocolate from a Secret Admirer. He has not idea who he or she is, but he would like for it to be Walter, the TA of one of his college courses: Walter is the odd one, aloof and seldom smiling, he is not even so handsome, but love is blind, and he is the one Carey is in love with. Maybe pushed by the search of this Secret Admirer, or maybe by the love is in the air feeling near Valentine’s Day, Carey has the courage to approach Walter, and surprisingly Walter seems to reciprocate the interest. But Carey and Walter are so young and insecure, that when one offers a way out to the other, fearing the other wants it, but hoping he doesn’t take the chance, the other thinks the same… it’s like a pull and push, like pulling the stone and hiding the hand, sometime I wanted to knock them on the head to make them see the true, but in the end, they were so endearing and sweet.

I have already noticed it in the recent past, but here even more than before, I had the feeling that Josh Lanyon was really writing a true to good romance, even the little “mystery” of the Secret Admirer is really nothing in comparison to the love story between Walter and Carey. And despite their insecurity when dealing with feelings and the awkwardness when they have to admit them, sex instead is easy and nice, as it should be at their age.

http://jcpbooks.com/ebook/slings.html

Buy at 1PR

Amazon Kindle: Slings and Arrows (Petit Morts)

Moolah and Moonshine (Petit Morts 3) by Jordan Castillo Price

This is probably the strangest in the Petit Morts I read till now (but I have still 2 to read, so maybe it will be not in the end): Chance, the owner of Sweets to the Sweet, is again playing matchmaker, and this time he decides that Emmett, the thirty something lonely man who is loosing his girl best friend to Paris, needs the companionship (friendship, love, or whatever) of Sam, the twenty something handyman; the official reason is that Emmett has a very old and decrepit house that needs maintenance, the real reason is that both of them, Emmett and Sam, are perfect together.

Emmett is not a daring man, he has always dreamed to do something special in his life, but in the end, he is setting himself for a boring, and lonely, old age. He is the perfect friend, the perfect uncle, the perfect son… but he is not, and has never been, the perfect lover; not since he is not a good man, but since, probably, he has never dared to try. Sam on the other hand, is yes a bit shy, but maybe he has still the carelessness of being young; and maybe, when it will be the moment to deciding of giving a completely turn to their life, the fact that his actual life is not so great, and that he has never to loose, will be of help in his decision.

The author decided to give an unexpected paranormal twist to the story, and it’s a good and light one, but basically the story was already a sweet one. Emmett and Sam are like those average men who alone are nothing special, or at least not someone you will notice on a street, but together are a perfect, and enviable, couple; even without the paranormal twist, they would be happy and perfect together. But, after all, they are living in Kansas, and we all know that in Kansas everything is possible, don’t we?

http://jcpbooks.com/ebook/moolah.html

Buy at 1PR

Amazon Kindle: Moolah and Moonshine (Petit Morts)

Other People’s Weddings (Petit Morts 4) by Josh Lanyon

Other People’s Weddings is a romance with a dark shade, but not too much dark to tinge the pink feeling of the story. Griff is a wedding planner, probably the epitome of “gay” job, and of course he is gay; more he is probably one of the few openly gay men in the little town where he lives, and he is planning the wedding of his secret lover, Joe. Joe is not exactly Griff’s dream lover, but he is at least a lover, something Griff is missing. I think Griff doesn’t estimate himself good enough to be allowed to have a “public” lover; other than moral issues that should have forced him to not accept the job, there is also the very real downfall economic trend, Griff really needs the job, and Joe’s soon to be wife’s family is among the wealthiest of the town. So Griff is grinding his teeth and doing the bitter work with a sweet smile on his face.

Then, just when he is almost done with it, Griff meets again Hammer/Hamar, former high school mate and nemesis; at the beginning the reader doesn’t understand Griff’s cold attitude towards Hamar, a prank joke in high school seems too little thing for a long lasting resentment; something like that you could expect from a wounded lover: for example, Griff is not saving the same cold behaviour with Joe, and Joe is marrying a woman! Little by little the truth is unveiled and maybe for once, Griff will have to plan his own happily ever after.

The story is nice and sweet, very romantic but not at all sexy; despite this, I think it’s a very good romance, and it’s strange, since the only sex scene is not even between the two romance heroes, who neither share a kiss. There is a whole entire story after what happens in this novella, the author can decide to write it or to let to the reader the task to build it in its mind, in any case he gave enough details, in the characters, in the setting and in the story to not leaving the reader, at the end of the story, with the feeling that something was untold.

http://jcpbooks.com/ebook/other.html

Amazon Kindle: Other People's Weddings (Petit Morts)

Spanish Fly Guy (Petit Morts #5) by Jordan Castillo Price

This is basically the story of Ryan and JP, but I think that Chance had an interesting development in it. Chance is the thread of all five stories, his candy shop Sweets to the Sweet is the place where everything starts and ends; it’s a magical place that appears when people need it and disappears when the mission is accomplished and Chance is needed somewhere else. Moreover Chance is teasing with a lot of guys, but he is not for them, he is the matchmaker and for all of them he will find the right partner; he is kind and sweet, always caring for the destiny of the men eating his candies. Only that this time Chance is not at all kind, he is almost rude and he seems to not like at all JP: I’m not sure if he helped him with Ryan since he wanted to help Ryan himself, or since he wanted for JP to go away from Brightside, the little town where Chance landed with Sweets to the Sweet.

JP is like one of those fake healers populating the border towns at the end of the XIX century; they arrived with glitters and fanfare and most of the time they went away with more coins and some broken hearts behind. But while JP is fake, Chance is all true, and I think he doesn’t like for another seller of dreams to pouching on his territory. I had the feeling that Chance helped JP to not have his townsfolf being disappointed by JP’s promises.

In the spat between Chance and JP, Ryan has nothing to do; he is only a young man with little dreams, but even if they are little, there is no space in Brightside for them. When JP arrives in town, Ryan is not expecting big changes, but at least he is hoping for a little distraction: the summer is almost at the end, and why not having a last days of summer fling? JP is handsome and sexy, and once he will be gone, no one will question Ryan. But as I said, Chance has other ideas, and while he is protecting Brighside’s people from JP, maybe Ryan is the only one who doesn’t need to be protected by JP, maybe JP is the right care for him. After all, JP is a seller of dreams, and Ryan needs to buy a little more of them, what he has is not enough to fulfil his young life.

In a way, even if Spanish Fly Guy has an happily ever after, as the other in the series, I think this one was the darkest and also maybe the more disturbing: Chance showed a side that was almost scaring.

http://jcpbooks.com/ebook/spanish.html

Amazon Kindle: Spanish Fly Guy (Petit Morts)

Amazon: Petit Morts 1: Sweets to the Sweet (print book)

Reading List:

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

Trinity Trespass by Val Kovalin

It was not easy to enter in the fictional world Val Kovalin created with this story, but that is always the problem with a Fantasy setting (or at least, it’s my problem). Moreover, Val Kovalin chose also to unsettling our few certainties, our traditional belief that Angels are good and Demons are bad; truth, sometime there are Demons who behave as if they have regrets, but sincerely I had only one other experience with Angels that are not the good guys.

I think the main reason is that in this novel Angels are full of themselves, really presumptuous, and they are a bit too much sure they will go to Heaven, no matter what; Demons instead seem to not like the idea of Hell (and that is another novelty), and the threat to be killed and going to Hell is something that makes them wonder two time on their action.

Other than the novelty on the balance between Angels and Demons, there was also the fact that this story deals with what should have been ethereal creatures, above Angels, but instead put them in a gritty environment, made even more dusty from the choice of New Mexico: these characters are interacting in the middle of nowhere, far from what we usually consider civilization, and even if it’s not actually underlight, I had the strong impression to feel the hot weather, the sweat coming down from the back, and yes, even the smell. Sometime there was a reference or two to the necessity of a shower, to the fact that one of the character didn’t shave and so on; now in a contemporary setting this would be normal, but we are speaking of Angels and Demons, and so I read it as a way to make them more real, less ethereal.

By the way even the reason why they are in the real world, and not in Hell or Heaven, is due to a more than human action, the launch of the first atomic bomb by J. Robert Oppenheimer at Trinity Site, New Mexico, in 1945.

For this reason, it’s not strange that, aside from an adventure plot, the rescue of an half-breed Angel/Demon, Roberto Chavez, in the New Mexico territory, the main plot is the one happening between Parnell and Navarro. Both Demons and sometime working partners, Parnell and Navarro have also a tentative love relationship developing between them; only that Navarro tends to be the overprotective type, always trying to shelter Parnell from the big bad world, and Parnell is not the one to like being a submissive. Strange is that I didn’t mind Navarro’s attitude and truth be told, I didn’t read him as much as a Macho Man, but more like a man in love who is not used to be weak, since love is indeed a weakness. Sometime I wanted for Parnell to be more kind and attentive with Navarro, like if Parnell was the one in control and not viceversa.

There is a ménages going on among Navarro, Parnell and Chavez, but in the end, I think the real, and long-last relationship is the one between the original pair, Parnell and Navarro, and so the ménages was a nice addition, not an unsettling element.

http://www.loose-id.com/Trinity-Trespass.aspx

Amazon Kindle: Trinity Trespass

Reading List:

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

Trinity Trespass by Val Kovalin

It was not easy to enter in the fictional world Val Kovalin created with this story, but that is always the problem with a Fantasy setting (or at least, it’s my problem). Moreover, Val Kovalin chose also to unsettling our few certainties, our traditional belief that Angels are good and Demons are bad; truth, sometime there are Demons who behave as if they have regrets, but sincerely I had only one other experience with Angels that are not the good guys.

I think the main reason is that in this novel Angels are full of themselves, really presumptuous, and they are a bit too much sure they will go to Heaven, no matter what; Demons instead seem to not like the idea of Hell (and that is another novelty), and the threat to be killed and going to Hell is something that makes them wonder two time on their action.

Other than the novelty on the balance between Angels and Demons, there was also the fact that this story deals with what should have been ethereal creatures, above Angels, but instead put them in a gritty environment, made even more dusty from the choice of New Mexico: these characters are interacting in the middle of nowhere, far from what we usually consider civilization, and even if it’s not actually underlight, I had the strong impression to feel the hot weather, the sweat coming down from the back, and yes, even the smell. Sometime there was a reference or two to the necessity of a shower, to the fact that one of the character didn’t shave and so on; now in a contemporary setting this would be normal, but we are speaking of Angels and Demons, and so I read it as a way to make them more real, less ethereal.

By the way even the reason why they are in the real world, and not in Hell or Heaven, is due to a more than human action, the launch of the first atomic bomb by J. Robert Oppenheimer at Trinity Site, New Mexico, in 1945.

For this reason, it’s not strange that, aside from an adventure plot, the rescue of an half-breed Angel/Demon, Roberto Chavez, in the New Mexico territory, the main plot is the one happening between Parnell and Navarro. Both Demons and sometime working partners, Parnell and Navarro have also a tentative love relationship developing between them; only that Navarro tends to be the overprotective type, always trying to shelter Parnell from the big bad world, and Parnell is not the one to like being a submissive. Strange is that I didn’t mind Navarro’s attitude and truth be told, I didn’t read him as much as a Macho Man, but more like a man in love who is not used to be weak, since love is indeed a weakness. Sometime I wanted for Parnell to be more kind and attentive with Navarro, like if Parnell was the one in control and not viceversa.

There is a ménages going on among Navarro, Parnell and Chavez, but in the end, I think the real, and long-last relationship is the one between the original pair, Parnell and Navarro, and so the ménages was a nice addition, not an unsettling element.

http://www.loose-id.com/Trinity-Trespass.aspx

Amazon Kindle: Trinity Trespass

Reading List:

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

Event: An Evening of Lesbian Romance

Date: 11/20/2010
Time: 5:30 pm
Place: At 12th & Pine Streets in Philly's "Gayborhood" in Center City
345 South 12th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Featuring Jeanine Hoffman, Nann Dunne, S. Renée Bess, and PJ Trebelhorn

These four authors have many books in print, some brand new and more on the way this spring. Come for a good sampling of the regional talent!

Strength in Numbers by Jeanine Hoffman
Paperback: 254 pages
Publisher: L-Book ePublisher (April 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1934889512
ISBN-13: 978-1934889510
Amazon: Strength in Numbers

Lesbian Fiction: Romance - Four women. One ran from her best friend years ago but wants to make amends, if she can. A second has buried herself in work for so long she isn't sure she knows how to do much else. The third has traveled and played the field, while playing some of the finest golf courses of the world. And the fourth is the best friend that had her heart broken so many years ago. She hasn't trusted many since. All four women have things to face about themselves and the others. What do these women have in common? A crisis. Their lives are all about to turn upside down and the outcome can only be determined by their faith in the saying, there is Strength in Numbers.

( more books )

Event: An Evening of Lesbian Romance

Date: 11/20/2010
Time: 5:30 pm
Place: At 12th & Pine Streets in Philly's "Gayborhood" in Center City
345 South 12th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107

Featuring Jeanine Hoffman, Nann Dunne, S. Renée Bess, and PJ Trebelhorn

These four authors have many books in print, some brand new and more on the way this spring. Come for a good sampling of the regional talent!

Strength in Numbers by Jeanine Hoffman
Paperback: 254 pages
Publisher: L-Book ePublisher (April 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1934889512
ISBN-13: 978-1934889510
Amazon: Strength in Numbers

Lesbian Fiction: Romance - Four women. One ran from her best friend years ago but wants to make amends, if she can. A second has buried herself in work for so long she isn't sure she knows how to do much else. The third has traveled and played the field, while playing some of the finest golf courses of the world. And the fourth is the best friend that had her heart broken so many years ago. She hasn't trusted many since. All four women have things to face about themselves and the others. What do these women have in common? A crisis. Their lives are all about to turn upside down and the outcome can only be determined by their faith in the saying, there is Strength in Numbers.

( more books )

The First Real Thing by Cat Grant

This book was a little surprise since I’m not used to find pretty much classical romance in the Ellora’s Cave offer, erotica plenty, don’t get me wrong, but erotica not always equal to romance.

Moreover The First Real Thing is also a classical theme, the hustler who fall in love of his/her customer. What probably gave me the nicer contrast it was the cold and detached description of Cameron’s life as whore and instead the sweet romance of his relationship with Trevor. And in a way it’s better that the description of Cameron’s life as a whore is cold and detached, than dirty and down, otherwise there would be too much distance between the two side of Cameron, the whore and the lover, and it would be impossible for him to concile them.

The first encounter between Cameron and Trevor was a mistake, and so Trevor doesn’t know that Cameron is a whore; by the way, as Cameron himself will say, he doesn’t look as a whore, he is average handsome, very much elegant and discreet; he gathers to an expensive clientele, and he is proud of it. Cameron’s life as a high paied rent boy is not that bad, but for sure it’s a bit cold; when he, accidentally, has the chance to experiment what it means having a boyfriend and a steady relationship, he re-evaluate all his life.

When Cameron was young he liked sex, as probably many other guys that age; he was not interested in a long-term relationship, he was only interested in getting off and having fun; when money got short, becoming a rent boy was an easy and fast solution. Cameron is not dumb, and he was enough clever to understand the do and don’t of the profession. But at almost 30 years old, Cameron is also clever enough to understand that his career is reaching to final point. Now I’m not sure that Cameron falling in love with a nice man is strictly related to the fact that he, in any case, couldn’t continue for all his life with his chosen career, but for sure it was a good coincidence that those events matched.

Even if older, Trevor is not more experienced, on the contrary he is pretty naïve; he has no idea that Cameron is a rent boy, and when he wonders on Cameron’s lifestyle, he is smitten enough to believe to the tale of a wealthy family. Probably Trevor, who was in the closet for 16 years, married and with a son, is still astonished by the fact that an handsome man like Cameron picked him up in a bar, and not only that, Cameron also agreed to meet again; Trevor is enjoying the ride until it lasts, and when things get serious, he is too blinded by happiness. Trevor basically is a nice man, as they don’t exist today, and probably in his naivite he is the only man who can really accept Cameron and his past.

As I said the story is a really good romance, made of nice dinners, sweet kisses, and yes, also some hot sex scenes, but they are not so much, or too much, to ruin the overall feeling of romanticism.

http://www.jasminejade.com/p-8625-the-first-real-thing.aspx

Amazon Kindle: The First Real Thing

Reading List:

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

The First Real Thing by Cat Grant

This book was a little surprise since I’m not used to find pretty much classical romance in the Ellora’s Cave offer, erotica plenty, don’t get me wrong, but erotica not always equal to romance.

Moreover The First Real Thing is also a classical theme, the hustler who fall in love of his/her customer. What probably gave me the nicer contrast it was the cold and detached description of Cameron’s life as whore and instead the sweet romance of his relationship with Trevor. And in a way it’s better that the description of Cameron’s life as a whore is cold and detached, than dirty and down, otherwise there would be too much distance between the two side of Cameron, the whore and the lover, and it would be impossible for him to concile them.

The first encounter between Cameron and Trevor was a mistake, and so Trevor doesn’t know that Cameron is a whore; by the way, as Cameron himself will say, he doesn’t look as a whore, he is average handsome, very much elegant and discreet; he gathers to an expensive clientele, and he is proud of it. Cameron’s life as a high paied rent boy is not that bad, but for sure it’s a bit cold; when he, accidentally, has the chance to experiment what it means having a boyfriend and a steady relationship, he re-evaluate all his life.

When Cameron was young he liked sex, as probably many other guys that age; he was not interested in a long-term relationship, he was only interested in getting off and having fun; when money got short, becoming a rent boy was an easy and fast solution. Cameron is not dumb, and he was enough clever to understand the do and don’t of the profession. But at almost 30 years old, Cameron is also clever enough to understand that his career is reaching to final point. Now I’m not sure that Cameron falling in love with a nice man is strictly related to the fact that he, in any case, couldn’t continue for all his life with his chosen career, but for sure it was a good coincidence that those events matched.

Even if older, Trevor is not more experienced, on the contrary he is pretty naïve; he has no idea that Cameron is a rent boy, and when he wonders on Cameron’s lifestyle, he is smitten enough to believe to the tale of a wealthy family. Probably Trevor, who was in the closet for 16 years, married and with a son, is still astonished by the fact that an handsome man like Cameron picked him up in a bar, and not only that, Cameron also agreed to meet again; Trevor is enjoying the ride until it lasts, and when things get serious, he is too blinded by happiness. Trevor basically is a nice man, as they don’t exist today, and probably in his naivite he is the only man who can really accept Cameron and his past.

As I said the story is a really good romance, made of nice dinners, sweet kisses, and yes, also some hot sex scenes, but they are not so much, or too much, to ruin the overall feeling of romanticism.

http://www.jasminejade.com/p-8625-the-first-real-thing.aspx

Amazon Kindle: The First Real Thing

Reading List:

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