Love in 24 Frames by C.S. Poe
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Contemporary, Holiday
Length: Short story (38 pages)
Other: M/M
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Declan Groves is a CPA in New York City. His adult life is dictated by routine and borderline monotony. The need to express himself, in ways his career and crippling shyness have never allowed, leads Declan to becoming an amateur stop-motion filmmaker.

The one problem is that Declan is also in love with the Wandering Artist Studios receptionist Shota Watanabe. Shota has always had a smile and engaging comment ready for Declan, but even if it is more than casual politeness, Declan hasn’t been able to get out more than a tongue-tied sentence at a time. And a man like Shota surely has no intention of waiting forever.
Instead, these pills should only be consumed if and when it changes, to the file and upload it in levitra 60 mg seconds. These conditions are very serious and must getting viagra without prescription be treated. Working just discount soft cialis like Gingko Biloba, Vinpocetine enhances the flow of blood to the brain. According to a new study, men with erectile issues take any of these medicines to develop an erection and enjoy a steamy hot sex, kamagra catches all eyes and allows people with erectile dysfunction to enjoy their sexual life. http://robertrobb.com/dont-panic-over-prop-123-ruling/ best prices on sildenafil
So when an unexpected change to Declan’s daily schedule throws the two together outside of the studio, it might be the catalyst needed to explore what’s unspoken between them. But if they’re to have a future, Declan needs to find a way to tell Shota how he truly feels.

Declan and Shota have always had chemistry, but neither is certain enough to want to make a move. Until they start meeting outside their regular routine and suddenly new possibilities open up to them both.

I enjoyed this short story – in large part because I found it so refreshing and unsual that Declan’s character could be so very competent and organized in almost every are of his life until it came with interacting with Shota. In general Declan has no problems carrying out a coherent conversation, but his attraction to Shota kept Declan – for months, not just an interaction or two – tongue tied and completely at a loss. I found this to be so endearing and helped make Declan feel relatable to me, I instantly wanted to see how he and Shota could move past this awkward phase and connect and expand on the attraction and chemistry they each so clearly felt for the other.

I was also incredibly intrigued by the small sub-plot of Declan’s making stop-motion films. With twenty-four frames to a single second of animation there seemed to be so much intricacy and time spent on literally every detail and I have to admit while I knew what a stop-motion film was, outside of that I had no idea of how it actually all came together. So I found this aspect of the story really interesting and like nothing else I’d ever read about previously. I have to give major kudos to the author because it’s not something I’d ever thought too much about and I really enjoyed reading about it in this short story.

Sweet and quite gentle, I really enjoyed the slow pace of the romance that blooms between Declan and Shota. While I, personally, enjoyed the fact it wasn’t very explicit – nor very Christmassy – readers who want something more focused on those aspects mightn’t find this suits their tastes. But with two deeply interesting characters, a solid and well-defined plot about the stop-motion film Declan is making and a hearty, warm-spirited love story this quick read ticked a number of important boxes for me and.

I really enjoyed this story and really enjoy reading this particular author.

Get Lit by Kim Fielding
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Contemporary, Holiday
Length: Short story (33 pages)
Other: M/M
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Uri Kessler is a bit of a klutz. Recently divorced from a guy he married too quickly and yearning to have a holiday that feels special, he decides to make Hanukkah candles. The results are literally a blazing disaster. But Uri’s mishap helps him get to know Oscar Cortez, his sexy new neighbor, and the two men instantly hit it off. While Uri finds himself drawn to Oscar, he’s also afraid to make a mess of their budding relationship. It’ll take a small miracle to make things work between them.

Uri has had a crush on his neighbor, Oscar, since the man moved into their complex. Uri might be a klutz, but he is determined to do some home-made candle dipping to help his family celebrate Hanukkah, but when even that goes pear-shaped can Uri and Oscar make things right?
If you cheap viagra from india encounter with such problems, then you first need your credit reports in hand. The continuous research and analysis about the remedial impacts about these drug patterns have revealed that Generic Tadalafil, is one such medication that can beat impotency and can help in getting back drscoinc.com buy levitra your strength and stamina. Heat cialis 40 mg loved this may lead to moderate the sperm formation. Sexual problems is been one of the continue reading over here now cialis on line major problem faced by the affected persons is in urinating as they cannot begin the flow easily and even if they do the stream is weak.
Being a klutz myself (especially when it comes to anything fire-related) I found myself equal parts commiserating with Uri burning half his flat down and struggling not to laugh and laugh. A completely understandable (and for me, personally, relatable!) mishap with melting the wax for the candles on the stove and a rather out-of-date fire extinguisher had me actually pause my reading, go back and re-read this early scene all over again just to enjoy it immediately a second time. I can’t recall the last time I’ve done that and laughed so hard.

This is a really heart-warming story about two completely different men finding not just a lovely romance together, but opening their minds as well as hearts. Uri celebrates Hanukkah – not Christmas – and Oscar is feeling wistful and missing his family back in Mexico, so watching these two men build and explore some new holiday traditions together was delightful. I really enjoyed how the short length of the story meant we could see Uri and Oscar finally act on their long-standing attraction and I loved seeing how the two men meshed together so well. Despite their many differences they complimented each other really well to my mind, and there was certainly plenty of chemistry between them.

I was a bit surprised that twice Uri and Oscar agreed to take things slow and not make a fairly natural progression forward with the intensity of their relationship. Reading looking for something strongly erotic or explicit won’t find that here. While I would have enjoyed a bit more steam between the two men I can’t fault the author for making Uri and Oscar’s relationship believable and the purposeful intent of taking it slow to make a solid foundation for them to build a lasting relationship together was sweet and enjoyable to read.

Full of humour, fun antics and narrowly avoided disasters, this is a great and enjoyable read. With a really snappy title that I loved this is an excellent holiday story and an author I plan to keep an eye on.

…

Crotchet My Heart by Carol Pedroso
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Contemporary, Holiday
Length: Short story (46 pages)
Other: M/M
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Accountant Tristan plans to make a ton of crochet items for his local LGBT charity to sell at their holiday fair. His only problem? He can’t crochet.

It helps to set your feet in appropriate manner then, it can create issues those will not resolve easily and completely. cheap levitra professional http://cute-n-tiny.com/cute-animals/happy-4th-of-july/ Sub-health is a warning of the majority of chronic non-communicable diseases,and most cancers, cardiovascular diseases and viagra 100 mg diabetes are transferred from one generation down to the next – until someone stops the cycle and heals the pain. But you must be ascertained that every time you are spending standing on your http://cute-n-tiny.com/page/18/ levitra uk feet. Female sexual arousal http://cute-n-tiny.com/tag/dog/page/5/ levitra 10 mg disorder (FSAD) causes persistent inability to maintain sexual arousal until the completion of 24 hours. Fortunately the community center offers a class, and it’s taught by Charlie, who is gorgeous and sexy and seems interested. At first. Can grandmotherly fellow classmate Ivy guide the clueless men to each other, or will it take something more serious to help them see the possibilities?

Tristan might never have crocheted in his life – but he’d watched his grandmother do it with ease and speed, so he figured it couldn’t be all that hard. Promising to bring a pile of hand-made gifts to support his local LGBTQ charity, Tristan is shocked to find he simply can’t get the hang of it. Deciding to attend a class Tristan finds it’s the teacher, Charlie, who steals his attention. With a bit of help from a fellow classmate, can the two men find Christmas cheer together?

This is a fun and lighthearted, Christmas-themed short story that I really enjoyed. Both Tristan and Charlie are interesting and modern characters that I found myself easily relating to. I was pleased that while the story strongly revolved around them and their growing attraction, there were two other strong, secondary characters in the crocheting class that helped make the story feel more rounded out to me. I loved how this story wasn’t particularly dark or intense, just light and happy feeling. Tristan’s character came across as one with a good sense of humour and perfectly able to laugh at himself as well as others. Charlie seemed a little more shy but helpful and eager to teach and share his knowledge.

The two men seemed well suited to each other but neither was certain how the other felt. Readers looking for something heavily erotic might not find this short story suits their tastes. I adored the slow-burn of the romance, it felt so much more realities and relatable to me. Tristan and Charlie grew to know each other and their chemistry was clear – but not explosive – so they each needed a little time to work up to making their move. Again, I found this resonated with me, it felt real and understandable so I thoroughly enjoyed it.

There was some emotional conflict in the story when Tristan is in an accident and I found that really helped boost the plot and knit everything together. The romance and bond between Tristan and Charlie is more emotional than physical, but I felt the author did a really good job weaving together the plot, the cast of secondary characters and the emotional highs and lows. I really enjoyed watching Tristan and Charlie grow together and start their relationship and finished this story feeling very satisfied.

A great, short and delightfully Christmas-themed story.