PATCH DAY

PATCH DAY by Mychael Black

Pages: 38

Date: 06/06/2014

Grade: 3+

Details: No. 2 Dungeon Crawl

             Received from New Changeling Press

             Through Love Romances and More

Own / Kindle

The blurb:

“Gamer Elijah Burrows has rather seamlessly taken over the life of his game character, Elian Surgis, in the world of Timiria. Alongside his lover, the lupine mage Sarin Eckhert, Elijah leads survivors of Sarin's mystical order through the wilds of the province of Tasmorum. They manage to stay just one step ahead of Timiria's monarch, King Mirov, who seeks to destroy every magic-wielding soul connected to the Labyrinthine Order.

From encounters with a mysterious group of traders on the road, to a revelation of epic proportions, it's a miracle Elijah has any time to explore his relationship with Sarin. Then Fate throws a wrench into the mix: the appearance of another "traveler" -- another gamer stuck in the game world Elijah now calls home. But this particular gamer has ulterior motives that have nothing to do with the Order's survival”

My thoughts:

Dungeon Crawl is probably best described as a serial novel and as such should be read from the start. I would strongly advise against reading ‘Patch Day’ if you haven’t read ‘Loading,Please Wait’ yet.

Elijah Burrows has very quickly settled into his new life in Timiria. The world that up until recently only existed in his game console is now his reality and he is more at home here than he has been in his ‘real’ life for a long time. That’s not to say life as Elian Surgis is easy. Under threat from King Mirov’s army and assassins, Elijah has to rely on skills he barely knew he had in order to keep the people travelling with him as well as himself and the man he is starting to love, safe.

At the same time, his relationship with Sarin, a Lycan as well as a mage, is anything Elijah could have dreamed up and than some. With danger lurking around every corner and other ‘travellers’ working for the king who would destroy Sarin and all other mages, it is a miracle the two men have time to grow the relationship between them.

I’m enjoying this story. I like the concept – a man ending up inside his favourite game – and the way the author applies it. The story is well written and very easy to read. I also enjoyed the lighter moments in this story such as the reaction of some characters to Elijah’s ‘other world’ language and Elijah’s reflection on food:

“Though he had to admit, fresh, fire-roasted rabbit tasted a hell of a lot better than boxed macaroni and cheese.”

While there is a lot happening in relatively few pages, there is time for more tender and sexy moments as well. In fact, I think the balance between action and intimacy was just about spot on in this instalment.

“Sometimes, Sarin said. Words aren’t needed.”

Having said that, I do think publishing this story in instalments has one real down-side. Certain elements have to be present in each short novella in order to keep the reader fully in the story. The format means that scenes feel rushed at times. I would have like more detailed and longer descriptions as well as more time to settle into a scene before the next one starts.

Mind you, I am now rather fascinated with Elijah, Sarin and the world they’re trying to save and want to know what is going to happen next. I may wait until the full story is available before reading on though, provided I can keep my curiosity under control.

A DANCE WITH DOMINATION

A DANCE WITH DOMINATION by K.C. Wells

Pages: 220

Date: 05/06/2014

Grade: 4.5

Details: No. 4 Collars & Cuffs

            Received from Dreamspinner Press

            Through Love Romances and More

Own / Kindle

The blurb:

“Recently returned to the UK after living in the States since he was eleven, Andrew Barrett is determined to keep busy and make a new life for himself. He works full time as a copywriter and strips at a club on Canal Street on weekends. But it still leaves him too much time to think. Then he finds the BDSM club, Collars & Cuffs, where at twenty-nine, he is their youngest Dom. Young doesn’t mean inexperienced, however. All this activity keeps him focused with no time to dwell on the past. But the past has a way of intruding on the present.

It’s been four long years since Gareth Michaels last set foot inside Collars & Cuffs. But when he finally summons his courage and steps back into his former world, he finds the man who drove him away is still a member, and what's more, he wants Gareth back. Two men in pain need the freedom they find in each other, but it takes another man’s horrific plans to make them see it.”

My thoughts:

Let me start by saying I loved this book. It was well written with captivating characters and a gripping storyline. The balance between feelings, action and description was just about perfect and kept me in the story even when I wasn’t reading it.

Andrew Barrett was a wonderful and multi-layered character. He comes across as a man in charge of his life, a confident Dom fully aware of what he wants and needs until he is confronted with his painful past and the loss he’s suffered. The wonderful thing about Andrew was that the pain and confusion his past cause didn’t make him week or feeble. Quite the opposite; watching Andrew as he confronts his feelings, comes to terms with them and moves forward made him all the more likeable, strong and realistic in my eyes.

The same is true for Gareth. While he may seem quiet and even painfully shy at times, there is a depth to his feelings that delighted me and his strength and courage once he’s acknowledged his feelings left me in awe.

One or two things really made me sit up and pay attention in this book.

I have to be honest and admit that I’d never given much thought to any possible differences between hetero and M/M BDSM practices. In fact it’s fair to say I was pretty much convinced it was much of a muchness give or take one or two body parts. Andrew’s talk with his supervisor opened my eyes and has left me with quite a few things to think about and maybe even investigate.

A second thing that caught my attention was the way the dynamic between Doms and subs played out in this book. All too often it is a very black and white issue with one person being in control while the other just follows along. It only dawned on me how many angles there are to that dynamic when a character says that he wants someone as ‘his friend, lover and submissive’.

I do like it when a book opens my eyes and forces me to think.

This was one hot story as you might expect since it’s set in both a strip and a BDSM club. In fact, given the setting the author might have gotten away with wall to wall sex and relatively little story should she have chosen to do so. I’m delighted that she didn’t fall into that particular trap and had the sex serve the story rather than the other way around.

Having said all of the above there were one or two things that slowed me down while reading this book.

The first ‘issue’ is probably in large part one of my own making since this is the fourth book in a series of which I haven’t read the first three titles. The sheer number of characters in this book had me gasping for breath at times as well as scrolling back to see who exactly I was dealing with. With the majority of the story taking place either in a strip club or the BDSM club it is no mystery why there are so many people crossing the page and, if I’m honest, they did bring the story to life and made it more realistic. But, it also had me confused at times, especially with some of them having different names in different settings.

The shift to a second point of view at about 40% into the story took me by surprise too. Once the second voice started and continued it worked perfectly fine, but the first time his voice appeared I was taken aback and slightly confused about what exactly was going on.

Overall I have to say this is a fascinating and well written book that has left me with a taste for more. I’m lucky enough to have a copy of the first title in this series on my Kindle and I’ve got a feeling it won’t be long before part two and three will join it there. Here’s to yet another author I have to add to my must read list.

HIGH AND TIGHT

HIGH AND TIGHT by Vanessa North

Pages: 81

Date: 01/06/2014

Grade: 3.5

Details: Received from Carina Press

            Through Love Romances and More

Own / Kindle

The blurb:

“Pilot Adam Walker has had one great love in his life: Harris Kingston. But twelve years ago, when he accepted a scholarship and joined the Navy, he chose duty to his country over love. Their on-again off-again relationship was never more than private joy, a frustrating fact of military life.

Harris never wanted to be anyone's dirty little secret. When Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealed two years ago, Adam broke his heart one last time. He's picked up the pieces and moved on, building a great career and dating guys who aren't afraid to be seen in public with him. But when Adam strolls into his salon asking for a haircut, his newfound happiness goes to hell in a handbasket.

Adam's been at war with himself for over a decade. Now on the verge of leaving the military, he's desperate to court Harris the right way and be forgiven. With two weeks' leave and a Navy man's conviction, he's ready to start over…if he can convince Harris he's ready to come out and commit.”

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My thoughts:

Adam Walker was a teenager when he discovered girls didn’t excite him whereas his sister’s friend Harris Kingston did. Adam wasn’t prepared to admit he was gay though. His big dream was to be a pilot and join the navy, a dream that made the love he felt for Harris impossible. For the past twelve years Adam and Harris have only hooked up in secret while Adam was home on leave.

Harris Kingston has loved Adam since he was a teenager. For ten years he’s patiently waited for Adam while accepting his on again off again lover couldn’t commit to him. He’d hoped the reversal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ would make it possible for them to have a future together, but Adam hasn’t come back home or contacted him since. That final rejection brought Harris to the end of his patience. He’s moved on, is together with a man he’s happy with even if he can’t call it love and determined not to allow Adam to mess up his life again.

When Adam returns home on leave while deciding whether or not to extend his contract with the Navy he is determined to win Harris back. He only has two weeks to convince Harris that he is ready to come out and commit. Harris, after more than a decade of being someone’s dirty little secret isn’t sure he can face the emotional rollercoaster again. He may not be able to deny his love for Adam, he can and will put his own emotional welfare first this time.

I’m a bit ambivalent about this novella. On the one hand I loved the idea of two men who have loved each other for over a decade at last finding the courage to be together. On the other hand I wanted to slap both Adam and Harris. I found it hard to like Adam considering how he’s been treating Harris and while I adore Harris for his loyalty I wanted to scream at him to stop thinking about others and put himself first for a change. Having said that, the way the author described the two men together made the story plausible and their relationship, flawed as it was, easy to believe in, if not to accept.

I wasn’t completely convinced by Adam’s sudden change in attitude. For someone who denied his homosexuality for over a decade and actively avoided coming home in order not to deal with the man he’s supposed to love, he suddenly finds it very easy to admit to everything he’d been so afraid of. And I didn’t like the way he expected Harris to just fall in with his change of heart.

I did sympathise with Harris and completely understood his reluctance to believe Adam’s sudden change of heart. What I did have an issue with was his decision after Adam has at last come out and they spend a wonderful night together.

Adam and Harris together were beautiful and hot though and made up for a lot of my reservations. In fact, the scenes of the two men together, be it in a social setting or in private, made this book a sweet, if at times exasperating, read.

“Trust was a fragile thing, and this little bridge they built with their bodies was precious to him, he wouldn’t destroy it by beings selfish.”

ROPED

ROPED by S.J.D. Peterson

Pages: 210

Date: 31/05/2014

Grade: 4+

Details: # 4 Guards of Folsom

            Received from Dreamspinner Press

            Through Love Romances and More

Own / Kindle

The blurb:

“Life has been known by a series of constants: Violence, anger, drugs, sex, death, heartbreak, pain, fear and the most common, hunger; Always hunger. Not the kind that can be satisfied with food, but the kind born of circumstance. The kind that not only claws within a gut, but settles into a heart, consumes a mind. Deeper—Encircles, penetrates the soul. Hunger for something more, something better, safer. Always just out of grasp—Craving—Starved.

It’s part of me.

Who I am.

Born of blood and violence, hunger is my fate.

Yet, the slightest things can change the directions of a life. An unplanned circumstance, random act—a connection—a chance event, like a lightning strike, fate is trumped.

Jamie is my lightning strike.

Tek Cain

Tek Cain was cultivated from birth to lead the motorcycle gang, Crimson Eight. Jamie Ryan, his best friend, is destined to be his second. But forbidden desires have them questioning everything they know, and an undeniable bond makes them want more than their supposed brotherhood can provide. Their love could get them killed, but they are bound to each other—from the cradle to the grave.”

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My thoughts:

This is the fourth title in the ‘Guards of Folsom’ series and I have to confess I didn’t read the first three books. I can’t escape the feeling I would have gotten more out of this book if I’d been familiar with the back story. Not that I didn’t enjoy this book – I did and was captivated by the story – I just think it is possible I would have enjoyed it even more if I had read ‘Pup’, ‘Tag Team’ and ‘Pony’. I guess the only way to find out for sure if that assessment is right is to read those three prequels and I hope to be able to do that in the not too distant future.

Tek Cain had my heart broken. Trained from birth to lead the motor cycle gang, Crimson Eight, he’s had to do some nasty things. Things he only managed to do by making his mind go blank, through not thinking about his actions and their consequences for others. But it hasn’t been easy and he knows sooner or later the darkness will overpower him, rob him of his humanity.

The only thing keeping Tek from turning into a monster is his life-long friend Jamie. They’ve been together from birth and Jamie is destined to be Tek’s second in command when the time comes to assume his role as leader. Jamie and Tek are more than friends and gang brothers though. Their feelings run deeper; the attraction between them is undeniable. Being part of a gang that frowns on homosexuality and would cast them out or kill them for their love should their secret ever be discovered, Jamie and Tek have to hide their feelings for each other and pretend to be what they are not.

When hiding and pretending are no longer enough to keep them safe, Jamie and Tek have to embark on a new life far away from everything they know. But while it’s possible to run from danger, leaving the past behind is far more difficult and may well turn out to be impossible.

This was a rather dark but completely captivating story. The reader is given the opportunity to really get to know Jamie and Tek through glimpses of their younger years before we get to the moment when they both become full gang members and give in to their feelings for each other.

Crimson Eight is a full blown, hard and violent gang. This book isn’t trying to romanticize gang membership. Yes, there is the unquestioned loyalty towards each other but it comes at a huge price. In order to be the man the gang expects him to be, Tek will have to sacrifice his humanity. And while being with Jamie allows Tek to keep a grasp on that humanity, the risk they take simply through giving in to their feelings for each other is huge. And Tek knows that it is only a matter of time before he performs that one act of unimaginable violence that will throw him into the darkness forever.

I loved the relationship between Jamie and Tek. Two strong and dominant men, constantly fighting for the upper hand while finding unexpected pleasure in occasionally losing that battle to the other.

Every chapter starts with an excerpt from what I suspect is Tek’s journal and they gave me a wonderful insight into what makes the man tick. Those sections were deep, at times almost philosophical and gave small but enticing hints as to what was to come next.

“Love is too small a word to define everything I feel for him, the meaning too simple. Too many intangible feelings for such a common four-letter word.”

I don’t want to say too much more about the story since it would be a shame to spoil it. I do need to add though that the book ends on the sort of cliff-hanger that makes it a foregone conclusion that I will be reading the next book as soon as it becomes available. I’ve fallen for Jamie and Tek and need to know what happens to them next; I have to make sure they will be okay.