Strays And Lovers by John Inman
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short story (152 pages)
Other: M/M, Anal Play
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Forty-six-year-old Eddie Hightower has a problem. He’s all alone. The only thing that saves him from facing that stark reality is the fact that he isn’t really alone at all. He has a house full of pets and a refuge full of stray unwanted animals he spends every waking hour trying to place in homes. While he loves what he does with all the joy in his heart, that same poor aging heart is still missing something. And Eddie knows exactly what it is. Romance.
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But wait. Cue the music. Suddenly, beyond all hope, it happens. In the small desert town of Spangle, California, where Eddie lives, comes a sad young stranger with piercing gray eyes. They are the palest, most stunningly beautiful eyes Eddie has ever seen. Poor Eddie Hightower is swallowed up in their silver depths and disappears without a gurgle. The stranger’s name is Gray Grissom. Gray, like his eyes. Without hesitation Eddie opens his doors—and his heart—to the lost young man. After all, that’s what Eddie does. He finds homes for strays. But this is one stray Eddie intends to keep for himself.

Eddie opens his home and heart to all manner of strays – the animals helping to keep his ever-growing loneliness at bay. While Eddie could feel himself getting older and this solitude was not how he’d have chosen to live, he loves his home, loves his pets and makes do. Until one day a stranger comes into their tiny town. Gray is certainly a stray – albeit a human one – and Eddie simply can’t turn the lost soul away. Eddie knows this is completely different to his other companions, but something about Gray hits him hard and he wants to build something with the very private man.

I enjoyed this emotional and interesting story. Gray and Eddie were both layered characters and there was plenty of mystery surrounding Gray in particular. I initially found it a little difficult to get a read on Gray – he seemed to blow hot and cold a little and while this was fully explained throughout the course of the story it still meant I took a while to really warm up to his character. Eddie, in comparison, was a lot easier for me to become fond of. With an enormous heart and a house full of stray pets I almost immediately wanted Eddie to find his happily ever after. I also really loved how there didn’t need to be a whole swag of secondary characters to help round out the stories – Eddie’s closest pet cats and dogs filled this area out nicely and I loved how the author gave each of the main pets their own characteristics and they helped both highlight the isolation Eddie felt but also stopped the book from feeling as if it lacked the supporting cast it needed.

The slower pace of the romance really appealed to me. Gray has a complicated past and instead of info-dumping or having it all come out in a rush to help move along the romance between Gray and Eddie I enjoyed the fact there was quite a bit of to-and-fro between the two men first. While readers looking for an intensely erotic and heavily-sexed up story might feel the pace a little too slow for their tastes I preferred letting the plot and characters unwind a little more sedately. It seemed to suit the story to my mind and keep the feel of the story real. Gray didn’t at all strike me as the sort of character to just open up immediately, so this extra time felt real and I liked how both men needed to work their way together over the course of a number of exchanges.

The sex, when it occurred, was deliciously hot and intense. There was so much emotion between the two men – so much hurt and loneliness that they bridged together. It felt to me like it just rolled from the pages. While hot and sexy, I really feel the depth of emotion and connection between Eddie and Gray is what makes this book stand out so much from others like it. Readers who enjoy intensely emotional, hurt/comfort style of stories should really enjoy this story and find it as satisfying as I did.

Cops And Comix by Rhys Ford
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short story (38 pages)
Other: M/M, Anal Play
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A Murder and Mayhem Short

It’s all fun and games until someone leaves a dead body on the floor.
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Life for comic book store owner Alex Martin usually runs to the mundane. Sure, he has a regular influx of geeks and freaks, but for the most part, it’s a familiar weird. That all changes when he opens up Planet X Comics one morning and finds a corpse in the middle of his shop.

When Detective James Castillo is called in to investigate, Alex is torn between wanting to climb the man like a tree and giving him a wide berth. Luckily for Alex, the handsome detective is just as interested in him—as a suspect in the murder.

Alex was understandably upset when he returned to his comic book store only to find a dead body lying in the middle of the floor. Detective James Castillo might be a police officer, but he’s also the sort of deliciously off-limits type of man Alex usually lusts after from afar and never approaches. Can the two men figure out their attraction to each other – and what happened to the dead man in the comic book store?

I found this to be a fun and lighthearted short story. Alex and James are interesting and good characters that I liked. The plotline is a little crazy (in a good sense) and my only real complaint is that the vast majority of the police work and solving the crime was conducted completely off-screen. I understand that the author had a limited amount of space in the short length of this story and I sympathise with the fact the relationship building between Alex and James needed to take higher priority than solving the crime. But I have to be honest, I felt rather short-changed that we jumped from one scene where James and Alex are taking witness statements and discussing the dead body and the next scene is James explaining to Alex how he’s solved the crime and everything is all laid out. There was no chance for me as a reader to discover who the dead person was, to think or listen about motives etc – we literally jumped from discovering the body to being told how and why he was murdered. It made most of that aspect of the plot feel very much like a red herring or afterthought.

The romance between Alex and James, thankfully, was not given short shrift though. I enjoyed watching the two men learn about each other and hunger for each other (their first official date was funny and I actually laughed aloud reading it). The sex was hot and while it was a brief scene this is a very short story and I could totally forgive the quickness of it when so many other things were happening at the same time.

Fun and light this is a great short story. While it’s part of a series I personally feel that it stands completely alone – the characters are all independent and there’s no reference of previous stories. I enjoyed the small hints of geekiness and comic-book fandoms and felt both Alex and James’ characters were vibrant and interesting. With a bit of sex, a dash of laughter and the plot of a dead body to brighten things up this was a lovely story I thoroughly enjoyed.

Fair Isn’t Life by Kaje Harper
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short Story (148 pages)
Other: M/M, Anal Play
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Luke Lafontaine survived the past year by not thinking about the father he lost, the dairy farm he couldn’t save from bankruptcy, or his way of life that vanished with the rap of an auctioneer’s hammer. Cleaning up city folks’ trash at the Minnesota State Fair is just another dead-end job. But at the Fair, surrounded by a celebration of farm life, ambitions he’d given up on and buried deep start to revive. And seeing Mason Bell in the parade—gorgeous, gay, out-of-his-league Mason—stirs other buried dreams.
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Mason left his hometown for college in Minneapolis without looking back. Student life is fun, classes are great, gay guys are easy to find, but it’s all a bit superficial. He’s at the State Fair parade route with his band when he realizes a scruffy maintenance worker is Luke, his secret high school crush. Luke should be safely home working on his dad’s farm, not picking up litter. Mason wishes he hadn’t fallen out of touch. He’s an optimist, though, and it’s never too late for second chances. Now he just has to convince Luke.

Luke and Mason knew each other in high school but never really managed to connect. Mason is out, proud and loves his life in college, whereas Luke was happy to remain quiet and focused on the life he loved, his family farm. Only life isn’t meant to be fair – Luke lost his father and the farm and Mason has come to understand while easy, casual student sex is great it’s rather soul-less. The two men meet up at the Minnesota State fair and realize they might be able to start something meaningful together.

I found this to be an interesting and emotional read. I really enjoyed Luke’s character, an honest, sturdy and heart-felt kind of guy who misses his old farming life but is realistic enough to know that there’s not much he can do but roll with it and do your best when life throws crap at you. I have to admit it took me a little longer to warm to Mason’s character. Next to Luke, Mason initially felt to me a little superficial and young – while chronologically they’re roughly the same age Luke has weathered a few more hard knocks and just feels more strong and mature, whereas Mason was still pretty carefree, living the idle and slightly self-centered lifestyle of a college guy. I think it’s important to note that at no point did I dislike Mason, but it did take me a while to warm to him.

I really enjoyed the slower romantic pace of this story, it helped the plot and overall feel of the book feel a lot more realistic to me. And while I feel it wouldn’t have been unusual for Mason’s character to jump right into it, Luke needed the slower pace and so it helped me relax and really come to understand the dynamics growing between the two men. I also was really impressed that the relationship growing between Mason and Luke wasn’t the only point of the book – I felt there was a quite well-developed plot surrounding Luke and his looking for work on a farm and both Luke and Mason’s respective friends and room-mates. I thought all this helped the book feel rounded and like it wasn’t just a one-dimensional romance about two people coming together. The sex was tender and hot and while not over-the-top prolific I feel it should satisfy the need for spice for most erotica readers.

With lots of interesting secondary characters, two different and complex main characters and a whole lot of steamy romance this was a good read I really enjoyed. While I might not have warmed instantly to Mason he and Luke were a great pair and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the two men coming together and sorting out their respective lives. A good read.

Prophet’s Pass by Chapman Brown
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short story (112 pages)
Other: M/M, Anal Play
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Fern

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Aiden might be a big-wig journalist, covering the political scene in DC and even getting to speak to the highest people in the country – but he had never forgotten his roots and where he came from. Out one night clubbing with some old friends, Aiden bumps into a seriously interesting man, but circumstances have them parting and Aiden didn’t even know his name. When Aiden travels out to Utah to cover a newly risen politician he is shocked to meet his mystery club man once again.

I found this to be an interesting and quite deeply plotted story. I was particularly pleased that Aiden and Hunter didn’t simply hook up the moment they crossed paths in a New York club and jump right into bed. While their initial meeting was brief, it helped set the scene wonderfully and I honestly feel that having much of the rest of the story – Aiden’s journalism career leading him to cover a rising politician and navigating the completely surreal state of Utah and its resident Mormons – filter down and really get the plot side of the story moving. I’ve been interested in journalism myself for a long time so seeing things through Aiden’s eyes and having the plot add a lot of depth and dimension to the story really helped guarantee my interest. So by the time Aiden and Hunter actually meet up properly and exchange more than a few words I felt the story was ripe for some romance and a lovely relationship.

Some more traditional romance readers mightn’t like that Aiden had a one-night hook up before properly meeting Hunter. Personally I didn’t mind that – it showed that Aiden wasn’t simply on the rebound from his previous break up and also that Aiden was a fairly normal, red-blooded man. I could understand though that a casual, no-strings hook up mightn’t be everyone’s cup of tea in a romance story before our two hero’s meet up. Indeed, Aiden and Hunter had chemistry a-plenty, but there were a number of obstacles in their way to the point where their emotional connection was where most of the book’s focus occurred. It wasn’t until the final quarter of the story that they actually became intimate – and so I’m not sure this low level of spice to the story will appeal to readers who like their stories strongly erotic.

Personally, I really enjoyed this story. Plot-heavy and with oodles of characterization and a number of very strong secondary characters who I found were well fleshed out, this was an interesting and vibrant read to my mind. While a little low on the steamy sex, Aiden, Hunter and Hunter’s large family were all multi-dimensional and interesting, with plenty of politics and insights into the Mormon religion. A different and rather fresh story, this was a great read and one I really enjoyed.