Life or Something Scary like That by T.C. Blue

Jack can't wait to start his life with Paul... but not as you are thinking. Jack and Paul were roommate at College, they shared the same dorm room and they went so good along that now that they are both in graduate program they decided to rent a small apartment together. No more shared room, each of them will have a private bedroom. And with that Jack hopes also to have a private life, since in the past four year he was almost a monk. Jack is not searching for Mr Right, but Mr Right Now is another question: Jack would do with a buddy friends relationship, someone with whom shares the bed and the morning after kiss goodbye till the next time. Someone who knows him but who doesn't want to "have" him for all the day and night.

And instead Jack finds himself with a new roommate, since Paul got knocked his sweet girlfriend Melissa, and they are marrying and Melissa's brother, Cliff needs a room. Jack is not so happy on the agreement, but when he sees Cliff he can change his mind. Cliff is a 21 years old guy with an hot body and a friendly behavior, the wet dream of every gay man. Jack is beginning to think that lucky smiles to him when he realizes that he probably has found the only 21 years old gay who is tired to play the field and wants to settle down!

So apparently two men who are perfect together, for real don't have so much in common due to only a little particular: Cliff wants forever and Jack wants now.

Jack is not such a bad guy as someone can think. He is facing the end of a very important relationship in the only way his mind could afford: rejecting the idea to allow to someone else to take the side that was of the other man. From the chaste life he had before Cliff, to the frenzy of one night stands after meeting him, Jack is in full denial.

On the other hand, Cliff, who apparently is the man who is searching a steady and long term relationship, is also him, in a way, in denial; pretending to find Mr Right at first sight, an almost impossible quest, he is avoiding to face the risk to be hurt again. He hadn't a very bad experience like Jack had, but even in his little, he was burned by love, and now he is cautious. But hoping that at 21 years old someone takes him seriously, is almost like not searching at all.

I like this story, it's a good contemporary story on very young characters. Maybe even too good for so young characters: they are behaving like worn out men with a lot of experience behind, and instead we are speaking of two boy of less than 25 years. It's not impossible that people like them really exist, but probably if there were more of them, world would be better.

http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&manufacturers_id=205&products_id=1634

Reading List:

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

Life or Something Scary like That by T.C. Blue

Jack can't wait to start his life with Paul... but not as you are thinking. Jack and Paul were roommate at College, they shared the same dorm room and they went so good along that now that they are both in graduate program they decided to rent a small apartment together. No more shared room, each of them will have a private bedroom. And with that Jack hopes also to have a private life, since in the past four year he was almost a monk. Jack is not searching for Mr Right, but Mr Right Now is another question: Jack would do with a buddy friends relationship, someone with whom shares the bed and the morning after kiss goodbye till the next time. Someone who knows him but who doesn't want to "have" him for all the day and night.

And instead Jack finds himself with a new roommate, since Paul got knocked his sweet girlfriend Melissa, and they are marrying and Melissa's brother, Cliff needs a room. Jack is not so happy on the agreement, but when he sees Cliff he can change his mind. Cliff is a 21 years old guy with an hot body and a friendly behavior, the wet dream of every gay man. Jack is beginning to think that lucky smiles to him when he realizes that he probably has found the only 21 years old gay who is tired to play the field and wants to settle down!

So apparently two men who are perfect together, for real don't have so much in common due to only a little particular: Cliff wants forever and Jack wants now.

Jack is not such a bad guy as someone can think. He is facing the end of a very important relationship in the only way his mind could afford: rejecting the idea to allow to someone else to take the side that was of the other man. From the chaste life he had before Cliff, to the frenzy of one night stands after meeting him, Jack is in full denial.

On the other hand, Cliff, who apparently is the man who is searching a steady and long term relationship, is also him, in a way, in denial; pretending to find Mr Right at first sight, an almost impossible quest, he is avoiding to face the risk to be hurt again. He hadn't a very bad experience like Jack had, but even in his little, he was burned by love, and now he is cautious. But hoping that at 21 years old someone takes him seriously, is almost like not searching at all.

I like this story, it's a good contemporary story on very young characters. Maybe even too good for so young characters: they are behaving like worn out men with a lot of experience behind, and instead we are speaking of two boy of less than 25 years. It's not impossible that people like them really exist, but probably if there were more of them, world would be better.

http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&manufacturers_id=205&products_id=1634

Reading List:

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

Rainbow Awards: Current Submissions 161 to 170

161. K.Z. Snow - Mobry's Dick (Loose Id)
Gay, Paranormal / Horror

Late-19th-century illusionist Alain Mobry, a short, homely man with a clubfoot, is known primarily for his elaborate clockwork automata. But his private life is even more complex than his mechanisms. Mobry is a homosexual and a member of the Green Carnation Club, a secret gathering place for gay men of the theater. He’s also dabbled in “real” magick. There are hints of it in an illusion called the Fountain of Youth--in which a beautiful youth called Puck, never seen in public, emerges from a diorama and disappears back into it--and in a profane automaton Alain has devised specifically to entertain the Green Carnation’s members. He would like his creation to be for one man in particular, a fellow magician with whom he’s infatuated. But he never gets the chance to offer his gift... Over 100 years later, a peculiar item turns up at an outdoor flea market. It looks something like a blunt-nosed artillery shell to Cameron Waters, the young real estate broker who buys the piece out of curiosity. It looks like the legendary automaton known as Mobry’s Dick to Paul Patrillo, a graduate student who’s been researching the history of stage magic. While Cameron inches his way out of the closet and Paul struggles to free himself from a sugar daddy who’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants, the unlikely pair grow closer as they tackle the mystery of Mobry’s Dick.

162. Ruth Sims - Counterpoint (Dreamspinner Press)
Gay, Historical

At eighteen Dylan Rutledge has one obsession: music. He believes his destiny is to be the greatest composer of the rapidly approaching twentieth century. Only Laurence Northcliff, a young history master at The Venerable Bede School for Young Gentlemen, believes in Dylan’s talent and encourages his dream, not realizing Dylan is in love with him. But Dylan’s passion and belief in his future come at a high price. They will alienate him from his family and lead him on a rocky path fraught with disappointment, rejection, and devastating loss that kills his dream. A forbidden love could bring the dream back to life and rescue Dylan from despair and bitterness, but does he have the courage to reach out and take it? Will he deny the music that rules his soul?

163. Scarlet Hyacinth - Elven Journals Unseen Paths (Noble Romance Publishing)
Gay, Fantasy

For an elf, the worst curse in the world is blindness. Alix Skyeyes learned that the hard way. Scorned from birth for his innate handicap, he lives as a pariah in the fae elf palace and survives only due to his acute senses and battle skills. Having lost faith in their entire race, Alix is surprised when a dark elf approaches him in a hesitant attempt of friendship. A hardened warrior, Jan’ke carries heavy scars due to his time in the neighboring demon country. When he meets Alix Skyeyes, he sees in the blind elf a soul that echoes his own jaded grief. They find comfort in each other—and slowly, but surely, their friendship evolves into love. When Jan hides his engagement with a noble woman from Alix, his lies push Alix into revealing secrets of his own past in the worst way possible. Compromises are made, unlikely alliances are forged and many more secrets revealed. Jan finds himself forced to make the toughest choice in his life. Will he remain loyal to his country or will he save his lover?

164. Scarlet Hyacinth - Enraptured (Siren Publishing)
Gay, Fantasy

The son of the Alarian king and an unknown human woman, Gabriel is forced to live more than half of his life buried in a monastery, under the iron fist and lascivious hands of its superintendent, Lothar. However, things can always get worse. On his 19th birthday Gabriel finds out that he is to be mated to his worst enemy. In despair, he decides to take his own life, but a chance encounter changes the course of his life, uniting him with Lucien, a demon prince. What follows is a tale of impossible love, a journey from despair to rapture, threatened and cursed by secrets of the past and by pain buried but not forgotten. Not only does Lucien have to fight death to save his young lover, but he has to rebel against his parents as well. In a world of prejudice and hatred, can one impossible love survive?

165. Harper Fox - Life After Joe (Carina Press)
Gay, Erotica Contemporary

It's not the breaking up that kills you, it's the aftermath. Ever since his longtime lover decided he'd seen the "heterosexual light," Matt's life has been in a nosedive. Six months of too many missed shifts at the hospital, too much booze, too many men. Matt knows he's on the verge of losing everything, but he's finding it hard to care. Then Matt meets Aaron. He's gorgeous, intelligent and apparently not interested in being picked up. Still, even after seeing Matt at his worst, he doesn't turn away. Aaron's kindness and respect have Matt almost believing he's worth it—and that there could be life after Joe. But his newfound happiness is threatened when Matt begins to suspect Aaron is hiding something, or someone...

166. Justin Lamar - Basecraft Cirrostratus (Furplanet Books)
Gay, Fantasy

Things have just gotten very difficult for Professor Elor Kaya. When Emperor Salaar's secret police, the Nightwatch, decide the cougar is a threat to the regime, he flees to the holds of the Basecraft Cirrostratus, a sort of flying airport.  Within its holds, in a hastily-built shanty town, he and several hundred other creatures try to make out a living in a lawless parallel society. There, Elor is forced to confront gangsters, thugs, gun runners, and bloodthirsty smugglers... and his ex boyfriend, a wolf named Vinz, who fled the surface nine years before.  Complicating things even further, Vinz's current love interest- a fox named Laz- ends up falling for Elor. Will Elor be sucked into a life of crime? Will Elor reunite with Vinz, or will Laz break Vinz's heart? And how long can they survive inside the dark, sunless holds of the Basecraft Cirrostratus? Author Justin Lamar is proud to present the very first of his books to see publication, a story that blends adventure, action, romance, and intrigue that crosses genres.  Fans of Noir and Dieselpunk fiction will enjoy the gritty, dangerous setting reminiscent of 1930s Europe.

167. Charlie David - Shadowlands (Dreamspinner Press)
Gay, Paranormal / Horror

Shadowlands is a collection of heartfelt and sometimes heartbreaking short stories from well-known actor and entrepreneur Charlie David that explore the passion and pain of gay sexuality. Ancient myths are re-imagined with an exciting queer twist, masterfully depicting the charged, fragile relationships of urban life today. Story genres in this collection include romance, science fiction, fantasy/paranormal, horror, mystery/suspense, and poetry. The host of the TV travel series Bump!, which now airs in over 55 million households worldwide, Charlie David has played many roles in M/M film and television, including A Four Letter Word and Kiss the Bride, Bravo’s Godiva’s, Showtime’s Reefer Madness, Sundance Channel’s award-winning Terminal City, and a starring role in the gothic gay soap opera Dante’s Cove. In 2007 he started Border2Border Entertainment Inc., a production company whose award-winning films include Mulligans, Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride, and Judas Kiss. Most recently he’s opened Charlie David Travel, which specializes in luxury travel to the southern hemisphere.

168. Marshall Thornton - Boystown 2 (Torquere Books)
Gay, Mystery / Thriller

In the second Boystown collection, Chicago private investigator Nick Nowak finds himself involved with a young man who murdered his stepfather but refuses to assist in his own defense, hired to find the murderer of a dead porno star, and, in a case that traps him between the two men he loves, searching for a serial killer’s only living victim. Set in the second half of 1981, Boystown 2 follows Nick as he juggles his deepening relationship with Detective Bert Harker with the return of his ex, Daniel Laverty. Which man will he choose? Or will he be able to choose?

169. Linda Reilly - Sculpting Clay (Dreamspinner Press)
Gay, Fantasy

When Taran Lorenz enters Clay Stevens's life, Clay is still reeling after his long-time partner, Javier, abruptly ended their relationship. Taran gives Clay the motivation to start living again, but Clay’s insanely jealous ex threatens to nip their relationship in the bud... only Taran won't give up, even when Javier gets their mutual employer, the manipulative billionaire Vincent Torres, to mark Taran for “removal.” It's the start of a fight on three fronts: Javier confessing his continued love for Clay while he tries to run Taran off, Taran fighting to be loved and accepted for who he is—not what he is—after magically returning from the dead, and Clay trying to figure out how he got stuck in this fairy tale of monumental proportions and where he can find the happily-ever-after ending.

170. Johnny Miles - Casa Rodrigo (Loose Id)
Gay, Historical

On a lush, tropical island inhabited by rogues, thieves and villains, where men take the law into their own hands, a father and son are thrust into tumultuous events that will change their lives forever. Bernardo de Rodrigo is proud of his son. Alonso is handsome and winning, and everyone he meets is instantly drawn to the tall, warm Spaniard. But how could either of them have known that a forbidden love is about to claim Alonso’s heart? Arbol, the charismatic male slave who was saved from the clutches of Raul Ignacio Martín, feels an instant connection with Alonso, the moment he looks into Arbol’s eyes, the moment they touch. Bernardo has other things to worry about, however. He’s trying to exorcise himself of an intensely gratifying yet shame-filled sexual affair with Raul, who secretly adores Bernardo but doesn’t know how to show it. When Raul blackmails Bernardo, their dark and sordid relationship not only threatens the bond between father and son, it places Arbol’s life in danger. Now Bernardo must make a difficult choice that could further alienate his son while Alonso must find a way to keep the man he loves.

Rainbow Awards: Current Submissions 161 to 170

161. K.Z. Snow - Mobry's Dick (Loose Id)
Gay, Paranormal / Horror

Late-19th-century illusionist Alain Mobry, a short, homely man with a clubfoot, is known primarily for his elaborate clockwork automata. But his private life is even more complex than his mechanisms. Mobry is a homosexual and a member of the Green Carnation Club, a secret gathering place for gay men of the theater. He’s also dabbled in “real” magick. There are hints of it in an illusion called the Fountain of Youth--in which a beautiful youth called Puck, never seen in public, emerges from a diorama and disappears back into it--and in a profane automaton Alain has devised specifically to entertain the Green Carnation’s members. He would like his creation to be for one man in particular, a fellow magician with whom he’s infatuated. But he never gets the chance to offer his gift... Over 100 years later, a peculiar item turns up at an outdoor flea market. It looks something like a blunt-nosed artillery shell to Cameron Waters, the young real estate broker who buys the piece out of curiosity. It looks like the legendary automaton known as Mobry’s Dick to Paul Patrillo, a graduate student who’s been researching the history of stage magic. While Cameron inches his way out of the closet and Paul struggles to free himself from a sugar daddy who’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants, the unlikely pair grow closer as they tackle the mystery of Mobry’s Dick.

162. Ruth Sims - Counterpoint (Dreamspinner Press)
Gay, Historical

At eighteen Dylan Rutledge has one obsession: music. He believes his destiny is to be the greatest composer of the rapidly approaching twentieth century. Only Laurence Northcliff, a young history master at The Venerable Bede School for Young Gentlemen, believes in Dylan’s talent and encourages his dream, not realizing Dylan is in love with him. But Dylan’s passion and belief in his future come at a high price. They will alienate him from his family and lead him on a rocky path fraught with disappointment, rejection, and devastating loss that kills his dream. A forbidden love could bring the dream back to life and rescue Dylan from despair and bitterness, but does he have the courage to reach out and take it? Will he deny the music that rules his soul?

163. Scarlet Hyacinth - Elven Journals Unseen Paths (Noble Romance Publishing)
Gay, Fantasy

For an elf, the worst curse in the world is blindness. Alix Skyeyes learned that the hard way. Scorned from birth for his innate handicap, he lives as a pariah in the fae elf palace and survives only due to his acute senses and battle skills. Having lost faith in their entire race, Alix is surprised when a dark elf approaches him in a hesitant attempt of friendship. A hardened warrior, Jan’ke carries heavy scars due to his time in the neighboring demon country. When he meets Alix Skyeyes, he sees in the blind elf a soul that echoes his own jaded grief. They find comfort in each other—and slowly, but surely, their friendship evolves into love. When Jan hides his engagement with a noble woman from Alix, his lies push Alix into revealing secrets of his own past in the worst way possible. Compromises are made, unlikely alliances are forged and many more secrets revealed. Jan finds himself forced to make the toughest choice in his life. Will he remain loyal to his country or will he save his lover?

164. Scarlet Hyacinth - Enraptured (Siren Publishing)
Gay, Fantasy

The son of the Alarian king and an unknown human woman, Gabriel is forced to live more than half of his life buried in a monastery, under the iron fist and lascivious hands of its superintendent, Lothar. However, things can always get worse. On his 19th birthday Gabriel finds out that he is to be mated to his worst enemy. In despair, he decides to take his own life, but a chance encounter changes the course of his life, uniting him with Lucien, a demon prince. What follows is a tale of impossible love, a journey from despair to rapture, threatened and cursed by secrets of the past and by pain buried but not forgotten. Not only does Lucien have to fight death to save his young lover, but he has to rebel against his parents as well. In a world of prejudice and hatred, can one impossible love survive?

165. Harper Fox - Life After Joe (Carina Press)
Gay, Erotica Contemporary

It's not the breaking up that kills you, it's the aftermath. Ever since his longtime lover decided he'd seen the "heterosexual light," Matt's life has been in a nosedive. Six months of too many missed shifts at the hospital, too much booze, too many men. Matt knows he's on the verge of losing everything, but he's finding it hard to care. Then Matt meets Aaron. He's gorgeous, intelligent and apparently not interested in being picked up. Still, even after seeing Matt at his worst, he doesn't turn away. Aaron's kindness and respect have Matt almost believing he's worth it—and that there could be life after Joe. But his newfound happiness is threatened when Matt begins to suspect Aaron is hiding something, or someone...

166. Justin Lamar - Basecraft Cirrostratus (Furplanet Books)
Gay, Fantasy

Things have just gotten very difficult for Professor Elor Kaya. When Emperor Salaar's secret police, the Nightwatch, decide the cougar is a threat to the regime, he flees to the holds of the Basecraft Cirrostratus, a sort of flying airport.  Within its holds, in a hastily-built shanty town, he and several hundred other creatures try to make out a living in a lawless parallel society. There, Elor is forced to confront gangsters, thugs, gun runners, and bloodthirsty smugglers... and his ex boyfriend, a wolf named Vinz, who fled the surface nine years before.  Complicating things even further, Vinz's current love interest- a fox named Laz- ends up falling for Elor. Will Elor be sucked into a life of crime? Will Elor reunite with Vinz, or will Laz break Vinz's heart? And how long can they survive inside the dark, sunless holds of the Basecraft Cirrostratus? Author Justin Lamar is proud to present the very first of his books to see publication, a story that blends adventure, action, romance, and intrigue that crosses genres.  Fans of Noir and Dieselpunk fiction will enjoy the gritty, dangerous setting reminiscent of 1930s Europe.

167. Charlie David - Shadowlands (Dreamspinner Press)
Gay, Paranormal / Horror

Shadowlands is a collection of heartfelt and sometimes heartbreaking short stories from well-known actor and entrepreneur Charlie David that explore the passion and pain of gay sexuality. Ancient myths are re-imagined with an exciting queer twist, masterfully depicting the charged, fragile relationships of urban life today. Story genres in this collection include romance, science fiction, fantasy/paranormal, horror, mystery/suspense, and poetry. The host of the TV travel series Bump!, which now airs in over 55 million households worldwide, Charlie David has played many roles in M/M film and television, including A Four Letter Word and Kiss the Bride, Bravo’s Godiva’s, Showtime’s Reefer Madness, Sundance Channel’s award-winning Terminal City, and a starring role in the gothic gay soap opera Dante’s Cove. In 2007 he started Border2Border Entertainment Inc., a production company whose award-winning films include Mulligans, Beyond Gay: The Politics of Pride, and Judas Kiss. Most recently he’s opened Charlie David Travel, which specializes in luxury travel to the southern hemisphere.

168. Marshall Thornton - Boystown 2 (Torquere Books)
Gay, Mystery / Thriller

In the second Boystown collection, Chicago private investigator Nick Nowak finds himself involved with a young man who murdered his stepfather but refuses to assist in his own defense, hired to find the murderer of a dead porno star, and, in a case that traps him between the two men he loves, searching for a serial killer’s only living victim. Set in the second half of 1981, Boystown 2 follows Nick as he juggles his deepening relationship with Detective Bert Harker with the return of his ex, Daniel Laverty. Which man will he choose? Or will he be able to choose?

169. Linda Reilly - Sculpting Clay (Dreamspinner Press)
Gay, Fantasy

When Taran Lorenz enters Clay Stevens's life, Clay is still reeling after his long-time partner, Javier, abruptly ended their relationship. Taran gives Clay the motivation to start living again, but Clay’s insanely jealous ex threatens to nip their relationship in the bud... only Taran won't give up, even when Javier gets their mutual employer, the manipulative billionaire Vincent Torres, to mark Taran for “removal.” It's the start of a fight on three fronts: Javier confessing his continued love for Clay while he tries to run Taran off, Taran fighting to be loved and accepted for who he is—not what he is—after magically returning from the dead, and Clay trying to figure out how he got stuck in this fairy tale of monumental proportions and where he can find the happily-ever-after ending.

170. Johnny Miles - Casa Rodrigo (Loose Id)
Gay, Historical

On a lush, tropical island inhabited by rogues, thieves and villains, where men take the law into their own hands, a father and son are thrust into tumultuous events that will change their lives forever. Bernardo de Rodrigo is proud of his son. Alonso is handsome and winning, and everyone he meets is instantly drawn to the tall, warm Spaniard. But how could either of them have known that a forbidden love is about to claim Alonso’s heart? Arbol, the charismatic male slave who was saved from the clutches of Raul Ignacio Martín, feels an instant connection with Alonso, the moment he looks into Arbol’s eyes, the moment they touch. Bernardo has other things to worry about, however. He’s trying to exorcise himself of an intensely gratifying yet shame-filled sexual affair with Raul, who secretly adores Bernardo but doesn’t know how to show it. When Raul blackmails Bernardo, their dark and sordid relationship not only threatens the bond between father and son, it places Arbol’s life in danger. Now Bernardo must make a difficult choice that could further alienate his son while Alonso must find a way to keep the man he loves.

His Hearth by Mary Calmes

This is was quite a “fast” story, meaning that the reader is plunged in the middle of it with little preparation and sometime I had the feeling to having lost the thread. But sincerely I think that was the purpose of the author, and my feeling is also that this is, in the author’s mind, only a first story in a series and so probably the loose ends where nothing else that the starting point of following stories.

Julian is an apparently average and old fashioned guy; he doesn’t like to sleep around, and so, even if he has a six weeks long relationship with a colleague, they have never had sex yet. For a reason or the other, his boyfriend is not so happy, and he decides to cheat on Julian right the day Julian has got a promotion and is invited by the big boss to an important dinner with his partner. Suddenly Julian becomes the hottest guy around, from not having neither a boyfriend to take to dinner, he has: the said boyfriend praying forgiveness, an hot former model and tv entertainer wanting absolutely to take him home, an very wealthy businessman who would like to take him away from his dinner and finally an hot stranger in a bar crusing him without shame. Moreover, Julian’s last boyfriend, the one before the cheating one, comes back asking for a second chance.

I was really wondering if Julian hadn’t taken a love potion that makes him irresistible, but apparently that was not the reason; I spent a lot of time trying to link the above men with the following story, but aside for Ryan, that is the fomer model and future boyfriend, there is no further connection with the men… is the author thinking to use them for another situation? If not some of them, like the businessmen or the stranger in the bar, are worthy of a story, their characters come out in only few sentences.

Almost half the book is spent in one night, like an old movie: the night seems to last forever, before dinner, during dinner, after dinner, at home, during the night… a lot of events will happen and all in one night. And during this night there is something else that let me a bit perplexed: why the author described Julian like a very old fashioned man, absolutely no sex with stranger, and even safe one night stand is not his thing, and then, even if Ryan has not exactly a stellar reputation, he has unprotected sex with him? True, Ryan told him he is tested every 6 months, and last test was 2 weeks before, but Julian has not seen Ryan’s test, and in any case, it didn’t sound right to me that he accepted to do that first night they are together.

This was an all right story, but I think it will be best read with a sequel, to help the reader the close the loose ends.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=1945

Amazon Kindle: His Hearth

Reading List:

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

His Hearth by Mary Calmes

This is was quite a “fast” story, meaning that the reader is plunged in the middle of it with little preparation and sometime I had the feeling to having lost the thread. But sincerely I think that was the purpose of the author, and my feeling is also that this is, in the author’s mind, only a first story in a series and so probably the loose ends where nothing else that the starting point of following stories.

Julian is an apparently average and old fashioned guy; he doesn’t like to sleep around, and so, even if he has a six weeks long relationship with a colleague, they have never had sex yet. For a reason or the other, his boyfriend is not so happy, and he decides to cheat on Julian right the day Julian has got a promotion and is invited by the big boss to an important dinner with his partner. Suddenly Julian becomes the hottest guy around, from not having neither a boyfriend to take to dinner, he has: the said boyfriend praying forgiveness, an hot former model and tv entertainer wanting absolutely to take him home, an very wealthy businessman who would like to take him away from his dinner and finally an hot stranger in a bar crusing him without shame. Moreover, Julian’s last boyfriend, the one before the cheating one, comes back asking for a second chance.

I was really wondering if Julian hadn’t taken a love potion that makes him irresistible, but apparently that was not the reason; I spent a lot of time trying to link the above men with the following story, but aside for Ryan, that is the fomer model and future boyfriend, there is no further connection with the men… is the author thinking to use them for another situation? If not some of them, like the businessmen or the stranger in the bar, are worthy of a story, their characters come out in only few sentences.

Almost half the book is spent in one night, like an old movie: the night seems to last forever, before dinner, during dinner, after dinner, at home, during the night… a lot of events will happen and all in one night. And during this night there is something else that let me a bit perplexed: why the author described Julian like a very old fashioned man, absolutely no sex with stranger, and even safe one night stand is not his thing, and then, even if Ryan has not exactly a stellar reputation, he has unprotected sex with him? True, Ryan told him he is tested every 6 months, and last test was 2 weeks before, but Julian has not seen Ryan’s test, and in any case, it didn’t sound right to me that he accepted to do that first night they are together.

This was an all right story, but I think it will be best read with a sequel, to help the reader the close the loose ends.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=1945

Amazon Kindle: His Hearth

Reading List:

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

The Forbidden by Jay Hughes

The Forbidden is the sequel to The Shunned, and like that, it re-uses some of the themes from the previous book, like the young naïve Amish, gay and totally alone in his community, and the contraposition with the big bad world outside and the apparently safety of the Amish community.

Like in The Shunned, the Amish community is not as pure as they pretend to be, and avarice and selfish motives drive the one who should be all for the community, the elder. Samuel, the young naïve 18 years old guy actually had a little role in The Shunned, he was the young Amish with whom James shares loneliness and desires in a barn. But as Samuel says of himself, he has not the same strength, or courage, or recklessness of James, and so when his father decides that the “liberal” community where they were living was not strict enough for his family, they moved to an even more traditionalist one. Problem is that, in the new community, there are only 2 young women in marriage age, and one possible candidate.

Now Daniel is not exactly a good match, he has a widow mother and three spinster sisters, but a man is alwas a man… problem is that Daniel has no interest in women, and as soon as he lays his eyes on Samuel, he recognizes a soul mate. From the glance to the same situation as above in a barn (only a different barn) the step is short. But there is a big difference from The Shunned and The Forbidden: where James, even if an unlikely hero, had at least a strong core that allowed him to leave the community after his Rumspringa, and he was literally forced to come back in the community, nor Daniel or Samuel are stong characters, they are even less heroic than James. I think they found in each other not only a soul mate since they are both gay, but also a similar attitude, same fears and same hopes. One without the other would have probably remained in the hide, and unhappy, for all his life, together they have a small chance of happiness.

There is again, as before, a sub-plot involving, this time, drugs and mob-dealers. Again the evil insinuated in the Community and the less liable to suspicion is the culprit. But on the contrary of The Shunned, where, if I remember well, James’ mother tried at least to help her son, here almost al the female characters are negative, spineless or plainly selfish. There is also few family feeling, that probably a conseguence of the above situation, and so sincerely, I did find quite difficult to understand why Daniel stands so long (he is 28 years old), if not for what I said above, without someone to support him in his decision, he would have never been able to be free.

http://www.ravenousromance.com/m/m/the-forbidden.php?keyword=Forbidden

Amazon: The Forbidden

Amazon Kindle: The Forbidden

Series:
1) The Shunned: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/997269.html
2) The Forbidden

Reading List:

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

The Forbidden by Jay Hughes

The Forbidden is the sequel to The Shunned, and like that, it re-uses some of the themes from the previous book, like the young naïve Amish, gay and totally alone in his community, and the contraposition with the big bad world outside and the apparently safety of the Amish community.

Like in The Shunned, the Amish community is not as pure as they pretend to be, and avarice and selfish motives drive the one who should be all for the community, the elder. Samuel, the young naïve 18 years old guy actually had a little role in The Shunned, he was the young Amish with whom James shares loneliness and desires in a barn. But as Samuel says of himself, he has not the same strength, or courage, or recklessness of James, and so when his father decides that the “liberal” community where they were living was not strict enough for his family, they moved to an even more traditionalist one. Problem is that, in the new community, there are only 2 young women in marriage age, and one possible candidate.

Now Daniel is not exactly a good match, he has a widow mother and three spinster sisters, but a man is alwas a man… problem is that Daniel has no interest in women, and as soon as he lays his eyes on Samuel, he recognizes a soul mate. From the glance to the same situation as above in a barn (only a different barn) the step is short. But there is a big difference from The Shunned and The Forbidden: where James, even if an unlikely hero, had at least a strong core that allowed him to leave the community after his Rumspringa, and he was literally forced to come back in the community, nor Daniel or Samuel are stong characters, they are even less heroic than James. I think they found in each other not only a soul mate since they are both gay, but also a similar attitude, same fears and same hopes. One without the other would have probably remained in the hide, and unhappy, for all his life, together they have a small chance of happiness.

There is again, as before, a sub-plot involving, this time, drugs and mob-dealers. Again the evil insinuated in the Community and the less liable to suspicion is the culprit. But on the contrary of The Shunned, where, if I remember well, James’ mother tried at least to help her son, here almost al the female characters are negative, spineless or plainly selfish. There is also few family feeling, that probably a conseguence of the above situation, and so sincerely, I did find quite difficult to understand why Daniel stands so long (he is 28 years old), if not for what I said above, without someone to support him in his decision, he would have never been able to be free.

http://www.ravenousromance.com/m/m/the-forbidden.php?keyword=Forbidden

Amazon: The Forbidden

Amazon Kindle: The Forbidden

Series:
1) The Shunned: http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/997269.html
2) The Forbidden

Reading List:

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