![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reviews_and_ramblings
Muse Me Only by Princess S.O.Gay Erotic Romance
Paperback: 280 pages
Publisher: Talon ps (January 25, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0692372946
ISBN-13: 978-0692372944
Amazon: Muse Me Only
Amazon Kindle: Muse Me Only
Xherdan Chantal is an artist still trying to find his place among the masters of color. He’s a rather independent soul, working at the New York Metropolitan Museum, who lends no time to pretending to be anything he’s not or be involved in anyway other than to stimulate his muse. However, when a local pole dancer sneaks a shoulder-mount-to-flying-half-flag maneuver into his life, managing to seduce far more than Xherdan’s muse, he’s not sure how to put it all into perspective. Then again, painting is Xherdan’s artistic magic, not words. So, while poetic prose may have failed him, he still enjoys exploring this new sensation with loyal attention that sets Sreven above the rest of the world that’s only purpose is to feed his muse. What Xherdan was never expecting was for Sreven to become the living breath and motion of his muse. But there’s just one fight a lover should never pick with an artist.
This was an interesting one. Certainly not your mass market M/M, but it turned into a truly rewarding read. “Muse Me Only” excels in setting development, and that includes all the settings used in the book, as well as the technical details pertaining to the MC’s world. The characters reveal themselves as the story progresses and are interesting, flawed, yet sympathetic. The plot could’ve been a plain “boy meet boy,” except the the element of the artistic Muse adds an extra dimension that can either drive or thwart the romantic development of the story, thus adding tension. The writing style is almost archaic in its pacing and paragraph structure, but once I got used to it, I found its eloquence refreshing. In a world where most of us are told to “reduce, reduce, reduce” and keep cutting words and shortening sentences, it’s refreshing to see a writer who revels in their love of language and it’s various textures and flavors. I was torn whether to give points off for what I consider “craft issues,” or give extra credit for an unapologetically fresh and unique writing voice. I made sure not to penalize the occasional typo or punctuation oddity - this book would benefit from a better proof-reading, but the storytelling was compelling enough to make me realize my scores are about the story, not about the publishing aspects of the final products. Well done!
