'Butterfly Tattoo' by Deidre Knight

From the BLURB:

Michael Warner has been drifting in a numb haze since the death of his lover, who was killed by a drunk driver. As the anniversary of the wreck approaches, Michael's grief grows more suffocating. Yet he must find a way through the maze of pain and secrets to live for their troubled young daughter. Out of the darkness comes a voice, a lifeline he never expected to find—Rebecca O'Neill, a development executive in the studio where he works as an electrician.

Rebecca, a former celebrity left scarred from a crazed fan's attack, has retreated from the limelight, certain no man can ever get past her disfigurement. The instant sparks between her and Michael come as a complete surprise—and so does her almost mystical bond with his daughter. For the first time, all three feel compelled to examine their scars in the light of love. But trust is hard to come by, especially when you're not sure what to believe when you look in the mirror. The scars? Or the truth?

Michael Warner’s daughter, Andrea, doesn’t call him ‘daddy’ anymore. That name is reserved for her dead father, Alex. The father she was in a car crash with, that left her with a scar running down her leg and recurring nightmares.

Michael takes Andrea to family counseling, where he is told to be patient and wait for her to start treating him like her father again . . . as opposed to the ‘left-over’ parent, the substitute.

Rebecca O’Neill is moving up in the film business. She is about to close a big novel adaptation deal that is already generating Oscar-buzz. And she has just received some good news; her parents are moving back to Georgia after staying in California for three years and nursing (coddling) Rebecca back to health. Rebecca is grateful for all they’ve done, since the stalker-attack that left her with a scarred face and prematurely destroyed her acting career.

Michael and Rebecca meet on the Hollywood lot, where Michael works as an electrician and first glimpses Rebecca in the dark . . . but they both feel the attraction.

But their heat and chemistry is a burden for both. Rebecca, because she can’t imagine someone as beautiful as Michael being attracted to her damaged self. And Michael because he was in a committed relationship for many years . . . with a man.

Rebecca and Michael can’t deny their attraction for long, though. And things become especially complicated when Michael’s daughter, Andrea, starts to open up to Rebecca about her scars and the car crash that killed her daddy. Forces are pulling Michael and Rebecca together, and all that stands in the way is their own doubts.

‘Butterfly Tattoo’ was the 2009 contemporary romance from Deidre Knight.

I admit, I was a little skeptical going into this book . . . I am an avid reader of M/M romances, and there was a small part of me that read the ‘Butterfly Tattoo’ blurb and worried this would be a book about a gay man miraculously falling for a woman (with a few not-so-subtle connotations about choosing your sexuality etc, etc). Oh, how very, very wrong I was . . .

When we meet him, Michael is barely back on his feet since his husband died one year ago. Michael is left with their young daughter, Andrea, who refuses to call him ‘daddy’ and does not talk about the accident, ever. Strained relations with Alex’s family in the wake of his death, and Michael’s own estranged father (a minister, who didn’t take kindly to Alex) mean that for the last year, Michael has felt fairly isolated in his grief. He has relied on the kindness of his and Alex’s friends, but he knows that it’s time to start returning to the living, at least for Andrea’s sake. . .

Rebecca O’Neill, meanwhile, is a lesson in slow-to-recover. It has been years since the attack that ended her career and left her face scarred . . . and in that time Rebecca hasn’t dated, she still jumps at every little noise and is wary of her TV fan-base. She is convinced that no one will want her, the way she is now.

Enter Michael, and Andrea. Michael is the local electrician on the Hollywood lot where Andrea works, and one day a black-out has them crossing paths. Michael brings Andrea along to his last-minute job, and the young girl is fascinated by Rebecca’s obvious scars, which can’t be hidden, not like Andrea’s. The two of them strike up an unlikely friendship, and Michael is awed (and even a little bit jealous). But Rebecca’s connection with Andrea is a good excuse, because Michael wants to see Rebecca again. Even though that’s nuts. He was with Alex for years, and despite his dead husband’s protests that he’s bi-sexual as opposed to homosexual, Michael is still reeling at his attraction to Rebecca.

‘Butterfly Tattoo’ is a gorgeous and sensual romance, telling the tender-tale of loving blindly and healing slowly.

What made me skeptical in the blurb is actually a rather beautiful and logical love story woven by Deidre Knight. Michael has a romantic track-record of loving the person, not their gender or their looks. This explains his and Alex’s relationship, which evolved from friendship, to confusion, and finally into a happy marriage full of love. And this explains his attraction to Rebecca – who he finds beautiful, despite her scars, and who sparks life in him after a year of drowning in grief.

And let me just say, there is a lot of grief in this book. Despite falling for Rebecca, Michael still misses and loves Alex, and Knight spends a good portion of the book examining grief and longing;

Andrea and I've spent the past year steadily erasing Alex’s fingerprint from this place. Bedroom shoes, eyeglasses, razor, toothbrush, these are the things that mark a home as belonging to someone distinct, and so long as that person is alive, you take every balled-up athletic sock, every discarded tissues and half-finished Coke for granted. It’s only afterward, when you wander through each room, that you’re spooked by the illusion that your lover might simply waltz through the ether into your bedroom, slip on those eyeglasses, and finish the novel he left cocked open bedside.

I really, really appreciated the fact that Michael didn’t stop longing for Alex after meeting Rebecca. As he is slow to realize, there will be no ‘getting over’ Alex. The pain of losing him, the joy of loving him, will remain with Michael, always. That’s a tough lesson to learn, in conjunction with falling for someone new (who is painfully aware of the hole in his life, left by his dead husband). Add onto that the fact that Michael is also battling his attraction to a woman, after being married to a man for so long . . . it sounds like it should be a soap-opera, but Deidre Knight reigns in the outlandish and focuses on the tender heartbreak inherent in the story.

‘Butterfly Tattoo’ is a gorgeous and tender novel that looks at love, from all sides, and examines the process of healing (but not forgetting). I owe a big thank-you to Mandi of Smexy Books for recommending this novel to me. I absolutely balled my eyes out through a lot of this book . . . but days after I finished reading the characters are still with me, the story lingers and definitely imprints on the heart. Sublime.

5/5

'Something Like Summer' by Jay BELL

From the BLURB:

Love, like everything in the universe, cannot be destroyed. But over time it can change.

The hot Texas nights were lonely for Ben before his heart began beating to the rhythm of two words; Tim Wyman. By all appearances, Tim had the perfect body and ideal life, but when a not-so-accidental collision brings them together, Ben discovers that the truth is rarely so simple. If winning Tim’s heart was an impossible quest, keeping it would prove even harder as family, society, and emotion threaten to tear them apart.

Something Like Summer is a love story spanning a decade and beyond as two boys discover what it means to be friends, lovers, and sometimes even enemies.

Benjamin Bentley came out of the closet when he was fourteen. His parents are loving and accepting, as is his best friend Allison. If only the same could be said of Ben’s classmates. Ever since Ben came out of the closet he has been the school piranha – bullied by the jocks, sneered at by the cheerleaders and even his teachers are wary of his open sexuality. It’s no surprise that Ben is the only ‘out’ teenager at his Houston school . . . and if he’s honest, he can’t ever imagine meeting someone and finally having a proper boyfriend.

And then Mr Blue Shoes runs by.

The summer before senior year Ben spots a new face around town. A tall, dark, handsome senior has just moved into the area and Ben is smitten. But then school starts and Tim Wyman (aka ‘Mr Blue Shoes’) turns out to be just like all the rest. He hangs with the jocks, starts dating the prettiest prom queen and wouldn’t look twice at Ben . . . until the day that Ben literally crashes into him.

What starts as friendship soon has Ben receiving his first kiss and desperately wishing that Tim would come out of the closet and into the open with him. But where Ben is happy being honest with himself, Tim is wary of his pious parents and becoming a school outcast. Tim is the love of Ben’s young life, but Ben doesn’t want to be anyone’s dirty secret and their affair ends on a sour note. . .

Skip ahead four years and Ben is studying in Chicago when he meets Jace. Jace is a twenty-six-year-old air steward who makes Ben’s head spin. Until Jace, Ben was still hung up on Tim and what could have been. But Jace makes him forget, and pretty soon the pair fall madly in love and dream of a romantic Parisian holiday together. And then Ben bumps into Tim, again. Tim, who is now openly gay and desperate for a do-over with the one that got away.

‘Something Like Summer’ is an M/M romance from Jay Bell. The book opens in Houston, Texas in 1996 and follows Ben and Tim’s various encounters up until the year 2008.

I loved this novel. It was a very tender and true examination of first love and second chances, while also being a very earnest examination of young gay love.

Tim and Ben are each other’s high school sweethearts. But their story is vastly different from the typical heterosexual tale of first love. Usually when a boy and girl embark on first love in high school the romance has an expiration date – it will run its course and end through nobody’s fault but moving away for college or simply outgrowing each other. But it’s different for gay teenagers, Ben and Tim especially. Ben and Tim’s high school romance didn’t get to run its course . . . their affair came to an abrupt and painful end because Tim was unwilling to admit his feelings for Ben and be open about his sexuality. In other words, their relationship didn’t die of natural causes, and as a result both men spend the next twelve years wondering “what if?” It’s the sort of pondering that could send a person insane. Always second-guessing and wondering if you let ‘the one’ get away simply because you (or they) weren’t brave enough to admit to that love. This is not the sort of dilemma typical young heterosexual couples ever have to go through.

I loved how Jay Bell spanned this love story over yearly intervals. We meet Tim and Ben when they are teenagers – and as a reader, you can see Ben’s heartache coming a mile away. I was reading that first stretch of time with my heart in my throat – because Ben was adorable and vulnerable. He felt like he’d found a life-raft in Tim, someone to love and understand him . . . unfortunately, Tim was scared. It’s understandable, but I still felt for Ben and for the unfair predicament that being gay in high school put both boys through. Remember, this novel is set in 1996. There’s no ‘Will and Grace’ and certainly no Kurt Hummel ballads on ‘Glee’.

“Pff,” came the reply. “Please. This is a 3000GT!”

“Right.” Ben risked a glance over to see Tim wearing an expression of mock offense.

“What kind of guy doesn’t know his cars?” Tim pushed.

“I’ll give you three guesses,” Ben said evenly.

Tim was silent for a moment. “So it’s true?”

Ben let a slow smile play over his face. He loved this part. It always felt like revealing to a disbeliever that he had magical powers or something. “Yup.”

“Hmmm.”

That took Ben off guard, since it wasn’t the usual response. Normally, one of two things would happen. The guy would either play it off like he wasn’t surprised and name some random gay uncle or somebody else he barely knew to show that he was both worldly and accepting of such things, or he would slide straight into being offensive. Tim had done neither and opted for a musing “hmmm.” Whatever that meant.

I was thrilled when Ben met Jace. Jace, who was uncomplicated, honest and thoroughly infatuated with Ben. Though Ben has been out of the closet for years, Jace marks his first really mature relationship and I loved reading about Ben finally finding happiness. And then Tim reappears – now openly gay and in hot pursuit of Ben. If Jay Bell hadn’t written such a tempting character in young Tim, I may have been annoyed by his reappearance and interrupting of Ben and Jace’s blissful happiness. But Bell’s woven back-story for these men coupled with the undercurrents of lust and longing, mean that it’s impossible to begrudge Ben his continued yearning. I never knew who Ben would end up with . . . or who I wanted him to be with. Jace, who was always so honest and loving. Or Tim, who clearly needed Ben’s redemptive love. Jay Bell writes a perplexing love triangle that’s as frustrating as it is titillating.

A good portion of ‘Something Like Summer’ is written from Ben’s perspective as a senior in high school. But then the novel jumps ahead to eventually end with Ben in his early thirties. There are a few sex scenes and constant lusting throughout – but I would still recommend this book to young adult readers. Especially young gay readers.

The novel is very honest about what it is to be a gay teenager – both ‘out’ and closeted. Aside from some very stark frankness about what young boys get up to at sleepovers, Jay Bell also explores the many facets of being young and gay (without ever sounding like a preachy Lifetime channel movie).

Quite a lot of young adult gay romances feature a young person who has yet to come out and admit their homosexuality. In a lot of these novels, you get the impression that coming out is the be all and end all – the magic solution to every problem in a gay teenagers’ life. Not the case, as Ben illustrates. Ben is a very well-adjusted young man; he became open about his sexuality at a young age and he is very comfortable with who he is. He has very supportive parents and an amazing best friend. But none of these things equate to an easy time for Ben. He still gets picked on at school. He has no avenues for meeting like-minded gay teenagers. For all of his openness and honesty, Ben is still quite lonely.

Meanwhile, Tim is at the opposite end of the spectrum – gay, but unwilling to admit it. He’s scared of his parent’s wrath and damaged social status.

I appreciated the fact that Jay Bell told both sides to the gay story. I can’t say that either has a happy high school ending, or that Jay Bell is prescribing one course of action over the other . . . I think it’s just more likely that high school is hard for everyone. Nobody really knows who they are and everyone just wants to fit in and not be ostracized.

‘Something Like Summer’ is amazing. Aside from an awesome 90’s soundtrack (seriously, everything from Beck to Lauryn Hill is mentioned!) Jay Bell has written one of the most heart-felt and sincere M/M romances I have ever encountered. This is a love story that spans twelve years – a story all about getting a second chance with ‘the one that got away’.

5/5

'I'll Be Home For Christmas' by Adrianna DANE

From the BLURB:

Destrie Two Rivers and Benedict Webster--an orphaned half-Indian and a wealthy rancher’s son. Men who were boyhood best friends, turned secret lovers when they were eighteen. And then one nightmarish night they were discovered and Destrie almost died as a result.

Now, eight years later, just before Christmas, Destrie, an Army sniper, returns to Wyoming on leave to attend the funeral of his foster father. Both men have changed and the distance between them seems wider than the Continental Divide with no way to breach the chasm. But just as the creek where they first made love runs powerful and constant, Destrie and Benedict’s passion for each other still burns undeniably deep and everlasting.

Re-igniting their unquenchable desire could prove fatal. Until the heavy guilt and shocking secrets of the past are revealed, neither of these two men can truly come home for Christmas.

‘I’ll be Home for Christmas’ is a short M/M e-book novella from Adrianna Dane.

Destrie ‘Two Rivers’ has returned home to Wyoming after an eight-year absence... and his reason for leaving is sitting at the bar he walks into on his first night back. Benedict Webster – he was once Destrie’s best friend, then lover, until Benedict's elder brother viciously attacked Destrie and sent him packing for the United States Army.

Destrie is back in town for his foster father’s funeral. But seeing Benedict ignites an old flame, even if both men know that they’ll never have anything more than a carnal fling. Because Benedict won’t leave Wyoming, and Wyoming won’t ever accept what Destrie and Benedict mean to each other. . . but maybe all that will change when Christmas is in the air.

I liked the first half of this book, but felt that the second half ran away from the author.

The premise starts out bitter-sweetly wonderful and wrought with tension. Destrie left Wyoming after a gay-bashing, and he returns after eight years to unchanged hostility and the knowledge that what he is will never be accepted by the small town’s small-minds. Not even serving for his nation’s army will change these people’s opinions. But Destrie likewise can’t change the way he feels about Benedict – his high school sweetheart and only man he has ever loved. These two are combustible and I was not surprised when, in the opening chapter, they’re getting hot n’ heavy against an alley wall.

Maybe the Wyoming setting and rancher characters are reminiscent of ‘Brokeback Mountain’ – but the resemblances are only superficial. The Wyoming setting is actually really beautifully written and utilized by Dane, who casts the dusty landscape according to her character’s moods and the tension of the scene;

Destrie watched him go. A lump formed in his throat, his eyes stung, and he blinked rapidly.

Benedict stopped at the top of the ridge for just one moment. He was silhouetted against the wide gray Wyoming sky. He was alone, a solitary figure. A stark image that Destrie knew would stay with him until the day he died. That was how he would remember the strong man that he loved. In his own way hard as the earth, willing to sacrifice for his people and for the ranch he loved. Proud and so damned beautiful, it hurt to look at him.

And then he was gone, and Destrie stared at the empty gray landscape, feeling as though all the warmth had been sucked from inside him.

The book started to get away from me half-way through. . . when Adrianna Dane seems to remember that she’s writing a Christmas-themed M/M and throws in a ghost (of Christmas past?) for good measure, to steer Benedict on the right path. Then Destrie learns a few unsettling things about the interim eight years and what Benedict has been doing with his time. . . and then Dane throws in a sordid past for Benedict and Destrie’s parents to really tie the plot into a knot.

I didn’t think all these extra bits and pieces were really necessary to the storyline. There was enough tension and drama simply in Destrie coming home, and facing rampant homophobia, I didn’t need all those other curveballs.

The sex scenes are hot and sensual, Destrie and Benedict have chemistry that ignites the page. . . but I wish Adrianna Dane had kept to the adage ‘less is more’ and not made her plot so soap-opera complicated.

3/5

'Life After Joe' by Harper FOX

Received from NetGalley

From the BLURB:

It’s not the breaking up that kills you, it’s the aftermath.

Ever since his long time 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 new-found happiness is threatened when Matt begins to suspect Aaron is hiding something, or someone….

Matt has lost his childhood sweetheart, best friend, partner and true love. Joe and Matt grew up together, and had been in a committed relationship for six years when Joe walked out. Not only did he walk out, but Joe revealed that for two years he had been carrying on a relationship with a woman and that they now planned to get married and have children.
Understandably, six months later Matt is still crushed and reeling.

We meet Matt at that six-month mark. He has boozed and fucked his way through the grief, losing sight of his medical training and losing himself to creeping addiction.
Right when Matt is at his worst he meets Aaron. Aaron is an oil-rig worker, a little too old for the gay club scene, but rough and handsome and intriguing. Matt wants Aaron to be just another one-night-stand and temporary cure to his loneliness, but Aaron has bigger plans.

I am always up for a good M/M romance, and ‘Life After Joe’ seemed to have the angst and tension I so love in my romance books... but Harper Fox didn’t deliver.

‘Life After Joe’ is often a frustrating read because Fox insists on writing so much in summary. Pages and pages without dialogue become almost unbearable, especially when scenes that would have made for great dramatic tension are coldly recounted.
Early on in the novel Matt is visited by Joe’s wife, Marnie. Marnie and Joe want Matt to move out of the apartment he and Joe shared, because they need the money from the sale. This scene would have been great to read – but there’s no dialogue and no action, just a cold lifeless narrative as Matt recounts the awkward conversation.

I don’t know if Fox was using the summary as a literary device – trying to illustrate Matt’s detachment from life? But it was just frustrating to read. Don’t get me wrong, Fox has a wonderful voice and some of her writing is poignant and heartfelt;

My eyes closed. When he leaned back on the sofa, I went with him, turning my face to his shoulder.
Another trouble with breakups – the instant loss of the dozens of daily touches, the background tapestry of comfort, given and received. You can screw your way through half a city’s population and never get that back. I had been starving for it without knowing. I pressed myself to him, feeling his embrace close round me, hard and strong, so tight my ribs popped.

But the dialogue is so lacking that by the end of the book I didn’t feel like I knew Matt or Aaron, or had spent any time with them. I felt very detached from them as characters, purely because I hadn’t read any of their conversational nuances or rhetoric.

This is a novel about the aftermath of a break-up. Matt is not a pretty picture, but Joe’s betrayal is sour enough that you completely empathize with him and understand why he is so depressed. I had no problem with the somewhat bleak bent of the novel, especially because Aaron’s presence shifts the plot to a romantic interlude. But I wish Fox had spent more time on the Matt/Joe/Marnie triangle. We only get one quick scene with Joe (and in it he acts like a caricature) and only one summary-scene with Marnie. I felt like the angst of the novel could have been hit home a little more by including a few extra scenes with Joe and Marnie.

I really wanted to like this M/M, but I didn’t. A severe lack of dialogue disconnected me from the main characters, and when the novel is all about betrayal and break-up I wanted more tension and angst.

2/5

'Simply Sinful' House of Pleasure #2 by Kate PEARCE

From the BLURB:

Forced to wed at a young age, Abigail Beecham is tired of living in a sexless marriage. She longs to succumb to the delicious pleasures of pure carnal lust that she has only read about. And if her husband can't satisfy her erotic needs, she's ready to find a man who can...Peter Howard is accustomed to unusual sexual requests. His ten years as a slave in a Turkish brothel left him skilled in sensual delights. But there is little that actually arouses him-- - until he meets Abigail. Now he longs to tease and torment her until she cries out with pleasure. Maybe then he'll finally experience that exquisite feeling of bliss he so desperately desires...

This is the second book in Kate Pearce’s ‘House of Pleasure’ erotica series.

‘Simply Sinful’ is the story of Peter Howard, who we met in ‘Simply Sexual’. Peter was imprisoned in a Turkish brothel with his friend Valentin Sokorvsky. During his time in the brothel Peter became addicted to sex and opium; ten years later he has managed to kick the drug addiction, but is unable to slacken his sexual appetites. Peter enjoys sex with men and women, a dangerous predilection in 18th century England where ‘unnatural’ sex can see you take a short drop and a sudden stop.
But since his good friend (and occasional bed partner) Valentin has settled happily into married life, Peter is feeling the lack of his own constant companion. He is under no impression that he could be anyone’s husband, but he is sick of being a pity fuck or bit of frivolous fun. And then he is approached by the wealthy James Beecham.... James and Peter share a steamy night together, both men half infatuated after their tryst. But there is more to James’s interest... he wants Peter to help him impregnate his wife.

James was forced to married Abigail Beecham, his young cousin and childhood friend, when the girl was just sixteen and James’s father had just discovered his son’s preference for men. James and Abigail are fond of one another, with sibling affection, but in the 15 years of their marriage they have never enjoyed sex with each other. Abigail knows and understands James’s love of men, and is content to live in peace in their country home while James cads about town. But now Abigail wants a child, and James owes it to her to give her one... which is where Peter will step in. James knows of Peter’s affection for men and women, he has seen firsthand Peter’s sensuous threesomes, and he is willing to try anything to reconcile his marriage bed.

Having read ‘Simply Sexual’ I know Kate Pearce likes to write tricky plots in her romances. The storyline is complicated ten-fold in this second novel. However, whereas I thought Pearce admirably reconciled all of the difficulties in Valentin’s story... I don’t think she quite managed to do the same for Peter’s HEA.

Reading this book I just felt sad for Abigail. She was forced into marriage at 16 to prevent her family’s disgrace. She has spent her formative years shying away in her country home while knowing her husband seeks male bed-partners in London. She asks but one thing of James, to give her a child, and his response is to bring his current lover to their marriage bed.
Abigail spends most of the novel never sure whether James or Peter genuinely likes her in their bed, or if she is simply in the way of their romance. Likewise, as a reader I got the impression that they were just tolerating her (James especially). I felt sad for Abigail’s predicament, but I also sympathized with James’s position – being gay in stuffy ton society.
And then I also felt a twinge of pain for Peter – who has been everyone’s bed partner, but nobody’s love.
All around it’s a triumvirate of sadness, and I don’t think Kate Pearce ever reconciles any of the character’s pain.

Above all I wanted Abigail to be happy. At one point Peter tells her she should have her own love affair, and I couldn’t help but agree. I never thought that Abigail would find happiness in between Peter and James, never sure if they cared for her or tolerated her – I really wanted Abigail to find her own romance with someone else.

I think Kate Pearce was really forcing the triangle, desperate to make this threesome come across as a romantic match. But it just wasn’t. It was sad. Nobody really got what they wanted out of the arrangement. Peter was acting as a sort of sexual plaything, bought into James and Abigail’s marriage bed for his outlandish appetites, despite the fact that at the beginning of the book he was hinting of a growing disdain for his flippant couplings. James clearly wanted more from Peter, to maintain a relationship with him without his wife between them. And then of course there was Abigail, I found her saddest of all. Abigail maintains that the reason she is willing to debauch herself between her husband and his lover is that she wants a child.... she hints that the main reason is to provide James with an heir and get her mother-in-law off her back. But it was clear to me that Abigail was desperate for someone to love her unconditionally – the love between a mother and child, the type of unbreakable bond that Abigail never found romantically. Abigail never articulates this need, but I thought it was blindingly obvious... but, then again, maybe I’m reading between lines that just aren’t there?

Becuase of all of the above, I could never turn my mind off and enjoy the sex scenes. I kept wondering at Abigail’s feelings, and if she felt ‘in the way’ between Peter and James. I know if I was Abigail I would be convinced that both men were merely abiding me in their bed... waiting for the time when they could be alone together.

James gripped the back of his chair, his expression serious. "No, not tonight." His fingers caressed the satin brocade. "I hope she comes back. For the first time I can see her as a woman as well as my friend." He smiled at Peter. "Thank you for giving me that."
Peter shrugged. "If I said that pleasure was entirely mine, would you call me out?"
James's answering smile was slightly crooked. "Only if you both decided I had become irrelevant."

One of my biggest complaints about this novel was how Kate Pearce wrecked ‘Simply Sexual’ for me. Valentin and Sara make important appearances in this second novel, but their side-story only worked to unravel the ‘happily ever after’ reached in ‘Simply Sexual’. Valentin admits to Peter that he won’t be satisfied with just Sara in his bed, and that he *needs* Peter to join in their marriage... the implication being that if not Peter, then he may just seek additional bed partners. How sad. Here I was thinking that Valentin had found a sexual equal in Sara and someone he truly loved... turns out it all meant nothing without Peter as a third wheel. Now I was feeling sad for Abigail AND Sara, two women who crave trust and commitment but have fallen in love with men who seem incapable of providing either?

Despite my grumblings I must say that Pearce kept me reading. I was drawn into the character’s complicated lives and sexual forays. Pearce never lost my interest, and in fact I do wonder if I would have enjoyed the book more if I’d treated it (and the characters) more flippantly? If I hadn’t been so caught-up in Abigail’s predicament and just enjoyed this as a good bit of erotica?

I don’t know how I feel about this series now. I absolutely adored ‘Simply Sexual’ and was thrilled at the prospect of sinking my teeth into an erotica series that is five-books-deep... but things sort of fell apart for me in this second book. I will probably keep going with the series, but I hope not all of the books revolve around Kate Pearce trying to force love triangles and threesomes onto her characters... sometimes monogamy works too, even in erotica novels.

2/5

'Simply Sexual' House of Pleasure #1 by Kate PEARCE

From the BLURB:

Sexual Satisfaction

Ten years as a sex slave in a Turkish brothel left Lord Valentin Sokorvsky with an insatiable appetite for sex. Now the time has come for him to marry, but finding a woman who can satisfy his lustful desires proves a challenge...until he meets Sara and all he can think about is having her lie under his rock-hard body, begging him to taste and touch her...

Sensual Seduction

Sara Harrison knows she should be shocked and scandalized by Lord Sokorvsky's bold advances, but instead she is secretly aroused by this sensual, seductive man. For beneath her calm and composed manner is a wanton woman who longs for a man's intimate caress. She is most willing to be educated in the art of sensuality, to receive and give pleasure and to succumb to the wild desire that knows no limits.

This is the first book in Kate Pearce’s ‘House of Pleasure’ erotica series.

Lord Valentin Sokorvsky and his friend Peter Howard are infamous in London. When the boys were only 11-years-old and travelling with Valentin’s father they were abducted and held captive in a Turkish brothel... where they remained for 7 long years. Valentin and Peter were rescued by fellow Englishman, Mr. Harrison, and now ten years later Valentin sees fit to repay his debt to Harrison, by marrying one of his daughters’s and saving him from financial ruin. The daughter in question is Sara Harrison, a twenty six-year-old spinster who was too clever and stubborn for a ton marriage. Valentin chooses Sara out of the three Harrison girls to be his bride, because something about her fiery indignation at his rakish behaviour sets him alight. Valentin is also drawn to Sara’s innocence... a stark contrast to his own dark sexual appetites.

By the end of the opening chapter of ‘Simply Sexual’ I thought Ms. Pearce had set herself an impossible task for this erotic romance. To begin with, the opening scene involves Sara spying on Valentin as he roots her maid. That’s not exactly the most romantic introduction between a book’s protagonists.
Within the next few pages Pearce also sets up Valentin’s sordid and sad back-story of having been a sex slave in a Turkish brothel. Valentin makes it very clear that he and his fellow-captive, Peter, were not made to perform sexual acts until they were old enough to get an erection (about sixteen), but the sexual abuse and enslavement is likewise an uncomfortable storyline to swallow in this ‘romance’.
I really didn’t know how Pearce would handle Valentin’s character and his uncomfortable history.... but I came away pleasantly surprised and a little bit impressed with Kate Pearce.

‘Simply Sexual’ is the dark chocolate of erotica – it’s a rich and heady read, not to be attempted by novice erotica readers. The sex scenes are explicit and blush-worthy, inventive and frequent. Kate Pearce is certainly adept at writing sensual smut, and though there is sex in just about every chapter, I was never bored or tempted to skim-read. The sex is heightened by a lot of it takeing place in London’s ‘House of Pleasure’ (which the series is loosely based around). The House is owned by Madame Helene and is a dark den of antiquity and sensuality – there are different rooms of different eras, a little something for everyone. If you feel like playing a sacrificial virgin, step into the Egyptian room complete with stone-slab and oiling slave-men. Or you can watch aerobatic karma sutra being performed in the Harem room.
Valentin and Peter discovered London’s House of Pleasure upon their arrival back in London, when both men found that they needed their sexual appetites sated.

The story about Valentin and Peter being former sex-slaves is a touchy one, but also rather interesting. In the blurb it sounds ridiculous and seedy, but Pearce actually treats the back-story with a great deal of care and ingenuity. Their time spent in the Turkish brothel, pleasing men and women alike, scarred Peter and Valentin forever. They were subjected to the worst forms of sexual abuse and performance during their formidable teen years, and their time in the brothel has impacted them greatly... especially where both men’s sexual appetites are concerned. Both Peter and Valentin have high sex-drives, leading them to think that monogamy would be impossible for them. Their appetites also run to the dark side, and the men are concerned about what would happen to them if their preferences were made public.

Everything changes for Valentin when he marries Sara. He finds that his appetites can only be satisfied by his wife, and for the first time since returning from Turkey he wants to try and be faithful to one woman.

“I was thinking about your breasts.” He glanced at her averted profile. “If I might be even more specific, I spent several hours wondering what colour your nipples are. Some women’s nipples match the colour of their lips, others are a surprise. Now, your lips are a deep rose pink. Are your nipples the same shade?”

Valentin and Sara had a lot of obstacles before them, not least of which were Valentin’s psychological and emotional scars. It made for a fascinating coupling, and it was a case of ‘warts and all’ between these two. I hate when, in historical romances, a male character is touted as being the rakiest of rakes, but upon falling in love he easily reforms his rakish ways. That wasn’t the case in ‘Simply Sexual’ – and actually Valentin and Sara have to become quite inventive and flexible in their marriage. As much as I hate an easily reformed rake, an ‘open relationship’ happy ending never sits well with me either. I don’t want to give anything away.... but Pearce writes around these problems with aplomb and delicacy, and I was pleasantly surprised and satisfied by the resolutions reached, even though they were never neatly tied up. I will warn that some people won’t be happy with the ambiguous, somewhat open-ended resolutions that Valentin and Sara reach.... but like I said, this is not an erotica novel for novices.

Kate Pearce sets herself up for a lot of tricky and sometimes uncomfortable storylines in ‘Simply Sexual’. But it all comes together to make for a delightful and darkly sensual read. I will definitely be picking up the rest of the books in her ‘House of Pleasure’ series (currently with 5 books, a 6th to be released in 2011).

4/5

'Truth in the Dark' by Amy LANE

From the BLURB:

“I am not beautiful…”

Knife’s entire existence has been as twisted as his flesh and his face. The only thing beautiful in his life is his sister. When Gwennie is obliged to turn a suitor down because she fears to leave her brother to the brutality of their village, Knife is desperate for anything to ensure her happiness.

Her suitor’s cousin offers him a way out, but it won’t be easy. Aerie-Smith has been cursed to walk upright in the form of a beast, and his beloved village suffers from the same spell. Aerie-Smith offers Gwen a trousseau and some hope, if only Knife will keep him company on his island for the span of a year and perform one “regrettable task” at year’s end.

Knife is unprepared for the form the island’s curse takes on his own misshapen body. In one moment of magic, he is given the body of his dreams—and he discovers that where flesh meets spirit and appearance meet reality, sometimes the only place to find truth is in the darkness of a lover’s arms.

‘Truth in the Dark’ is a Dreamspinner e-book by Amy Lane. It is a very different type of M/M erotica and *utterly* brilliant.

Naef was born ‘crooked’. He has a club foot, twisted spine, too-big teeth and walks with a limp. In his little fishing village he grew up tormented and teased, abused and violated by the villagers. His only saviours were his mother and sister. Naef grew up despising himself, and throughout his life he has refused to look in a mirror.
One day his beautiful and tender-hearted sister, Gwennie, falls in love. Her man is a sailor called Klyn who offers for her hand, but an obligation to stay with Naef and defend him against village persecution forces Gwennie to refuse. Klyn will not give up so easily however, and sends his cousin to help him in his courting.

And so Aerie-Smith, Klyn’s cousin, arrives on the island, proposing that Naef come away and live with him on his own private isle for one whole year in exchange for a marriage chest for Gwennie. Aerie-Smith is a nobleman, rich and well-connected. He is also half-lion.
A ten-year old curse has seen Aerie-Smith take the shape of a lion-man; able to walk on two feet and speak through his muzzle, but with fur and a mane he looks more beast than man.
For his sister, Naef agrees to the year-long exile to Aerie-Smith’s island. But Naef gets more than he bargained for when he realizes that Aerie-Smith’s curse extends to the inhabitants of his island, humans who have taken the forms of animals. And Naef is further surprised when he reaches the island’s curse and his twisted body is made smooth and beautiful...

I loved this book! It is a very odd type of MM – a combination surrealist/fantasy/fable. There’s no clear time period in which the novel is set, and it could plausibly be modern day, alternate universe or from ‘a long, long time ago’. Either way, I was hooked from the first page of this book. ‘Truth in the Dark’ is a very poetic MM romance, and I’m not actually 100% comfortable with labelling it ‘erotica’ because I think there’s a lot of merit in the book beyond the smut.

Don’t get me wrong, the romance is hot and sensual, even when half of the couple is a lion. The sex scenes are intense and blush-worthy. Half of the joy in reading them is because Naef genuinely loves Aerie-Smith and adores his body. He doesn’t care that he looks like a lion, because when he touches him all Naef can feel is man. It’s beautiful and adds a layer of intensity to the lovemaking.

Amy Lane’s writing is beautiful – lyrical and passionate and utterly charming. The opening chapter is confronting and awful, truly harking back to brothers Grimm fairytales in which the hero is existing in the worst of circumstances. Naef is a wonderfully complex character – he thinks himself ugly on the outside, and has therefore made himself ugly on the inside. But scenes with his mother and sister reveal a tender-heart that he safeguards, and for good reason. Naef’s life is sad, lonely and the opening chapter is heartbreaking.
Enter the white-knight, Aerie-Smith who whisks Naef off to his private and cursed island. It is here that Naef’s body is transformed by the curse. Where the magic made all of the island’s humans take animal form, the magic gives Naef the body he was denied. Naef’s complexities are revealed when he rages against his new perfection;

“Change it back,” I muttered, hating it. My insides matched my outsides... I had spent years...I had spent my entire life twisting myself inside so that I could match the body and the face the fates had plagued me with. “Change it back!”
“I can’t!”

‘Truth in the Dark’ is an MM romance – emphasis on the *romance*. The fable quality of Naef and Aerie-Smith’s coupling is wonderful. The obvious connotation is ‘Beauty and the Beast’, but when I was reading I was reminded of the Greek myth of Eros and Psyche. That Greek myth has a moral message about trusting your love, and seeing with your heart what you can’t with your eyes. I think that’s the message in this book, and the love between Naef and Aerie-Smith.

I highly recommend ‘Truth in the Dark’ for those who want to read slightly high-brow MM erotica. Amy Lane does wonders with the prose and characterization, but at its heart this is a sexy fairytale romance, and one that will surprise you.

I would say if you enjoy Josh Lanyon's variety of M/M romance (à la 'Adrien English') then this book is for you.
I must thank K.C. of ‘smokin’ hot books’ for recommending this to me.


5/5

'Faith & Fidelity' by Tere MICHAELS

From the BLURB:

New York City Vice Detective Evan Cerelli has lost his wife, the only person he ever loved and slept with. He's trying to get on with his life, build a life for his children. Former Homicide Detective Matt Haight is a ladies' man, all sex, no commitment. He's depressed, having a midlife crisis, and not sure where his life is headed.

The two find friendship in the bottom of a shared bottle. When the friendship turns to love, it shakes two straight men to the core and flips their lives inside out. Kids, families, careers that are not gay-friendly -- can all the love in the world overcome the obstacles to faith and fidelity?

This is Tere Michael’s first book, and it’s very, very good.

Ever since Josh Lanyon’s ‘Adrien English’ series I have had an insatiable craving for M/M romances… and this certainly hit the spot.

The book starts out quite sombre. We meet Evan at the lowest point in his life – his wife, Sherri, has been killed in a car crash and he is left to raise four children alone.

Matt Haight is also at a low point – he retired from the police force years ago after ‘narcing’ on some crooked cops, but he still feels the gaping loss of his blue family even now. He hates his job, is nearly 50 years old and he doesn’t do long-term relationships.

Matt and Evan meet at a mutual friend’s retirement party – they hit it off, and start meeting for casual drinks. Over these drinks they spill their guts – Evan about how much he misses his wife, Matt about how much he misses the force. At some point their platonic friendship becomes something… more.

The first half of the book concerns Matt and Evan separately freaking out over their feelings for one another. Both are ‘guy guys’, and have always previously been attracted to women. Evan’s only sexual partner was his wife, who he met when he was 14. Matt was always a one-night-stand kinda guy, a self-confessed ladies man. Separately they are completely floored by their homoerotic dreams and the pulse-racing feelings they have when around each other. But after a late-night profession, everything comes out in the open…

“Just tell me next time, okay? You can say whatever you need to man, more than anything else, we’re friends.”

“Friends in a beer commercial sort of way?”

Matt laughed. He moved gently until they were both on their sides and facing one another.

“That’s exactly what I was thinking. Wanna go out and rebuild your engine block?”

They laughed, moved their bodies in tiny increments, until the right parts were aligned. Matt watched Evan’s eyes darken with arousal – this was better. This didn’t feel like guilt. No, this felt like – a hard-on.

Evan and Matt are great. They’re both Alpha males, but in their sexual relationship they never try to one-up each other. They are both navigating this new and strange relationship as best they can, with the utmost decorum and understanding. It’s thrilling to watch, and very, very sweet.

It’s all made doubly complicated by Evan still being a grieving widow… and further by the fact that he has children to ‘come out’ to. If you thought Adrien English and Jake Riordan were complicated… they’ve got nothing on Evan and Matt!

At times I felt a little squeamish at how difficult the men’s situation was. There were moments when reading this that I literally gasped and thought “how the heck will this work out?!”

There were also times when I found the whole concept quite unbelievable. Evan being gay wasn’t so much a stretch – when you consider that he found his wife when he was 14 and they were each other’s only sexual partners, there’s a bit of wriggle room for believability because Evan never got to ‘experiment’ with his sexuality. But Matt Haight is in his late 40’s, and an ex police officer. He’s a ladies man and very Alpha. Yet he takes the whole dormant homosexuality thing quite calmly and reasonably. I thought, given the situation, Matt would have been more outwardly confused – manifesting in anger and self-loathing? That was my only real qualm with the story – that Matt wasn’t more destabilized by his feelings for Evan.

I loved this book. Apart from the fact that Matt and Evan are completely hot-to-trot and smouldering… this is actually a real page-turner. The stakes are so high, there’s so much on the line for these characters that I could not stop reading. I was totally sucked in.

Thanks to Ms. Smexy for recommending yet another M/M winner!

4/5

Tere Michael’s second book is about a character that briefly appears toward the end of ‘Faith and Fidelity’.

'Gobsmacked' by L.B. GREGG

From the BLURB:

No more Mr. Nice Guy.

Mild mannered Mark Meehan-s good judgment flies out the window when he finds his lover banging another man. Things go from bad to worse as Mark-s crazy revenge scheme uncovers shocking secrets-sending him straight into the arms of hunky lawman and old friend, Tony Gervase, a man of limited patience and secrets of his own.

This is the first book in Gregg's 'Men of Smithfield' series.

I absolutely loved the opening of this book.

After walking in on his boyfriend and their hairy landlord, Mark Meehan corners his cheating lover while he takes Mass – whacking him on the back of the head with a Bible:

My hands clenched the book rack, and my fingers brushed against the Bible proudly displayed there. Staring at Jamie’s once sweet curls hugging his rough jaw, I slid the good book out of its safe haven. The cracked leather was worn, but its bulk reassuring. Encouraging, even. So I hauled back, fueled by boiling rage, and gobsmacked that bastard as hard as I could in front of God and everyone. The Bible hit the back of Jamie’s head with a resounding Thwack!

Ah, sweet revenge – best served Biblically.

As Mark’s life unravels he learns more and more the extent of Jamie’s betrayal. Not only did he screw anything with an XY chromosome, Jamie also stole $20,000 right out of Mark’s bank account. Learning the depths of Jamie’s depravity, Mark seeks help from childhood friend and gay policeman, Tony Gervase.

Mark and Tony have a history. Tony was the friend of Mark’s older sister, and both harboured secret crushes on each other – Mark kept his secret in case Tony turned him down, and Tony never made a move because he was in the closet throughout high school. L.B. Gregg tries to communicate Mark and Tony’s history – but it falls a little flat. There’s one flashback too short to reveal much and the rest of their ‘history’ is attempted through Mark’s internal monologue recounting his feelings for Tony.

Regardless, Mark and Tony are hot and left my M/M addiction well fed. They absolutely smoulder on the page, even without much believability behind their unrequited high school crush story.

My biggest complaint about ‘Gobsmacked’ was length. Right at the most interesting point in the story, when Mark learns the extent of Jamie’s betrayal, the story hastily wraps up. I think the e-book could have conceivably gone on for another 50 pages at minimum.

Despite this rather big qualm, I really enjoyed ‘Gobsmacked’. Mark was funny in spite of living out the worst 2 days of his life. Mark and Tony were absolutely sizzling and delicious and Gregg absolutely knows her way around M/M erotica.

Thanks to Ms. Smexy for recommending another M/M winner.

3.5/5

'Tigers and Devils' by Sean KENNEDY

From the BLURB:

Football, friends, and film are the most important parts of Simon Murray's life, likely in that order. Despite being lonely, Simon is cautious about looking for more, and his best friends despair of him ever finding that special someone to share his life. Against his will, they drag him to a party, where Simon barges into a football conversation and ends up defending the honour of star forward Declan Tyler -- unaware that the athlete is present and listening.

Like his entire family, Simon revels in living in Melbourne, Victoria, the home of Australian Rules football and Mecca for serious fans. There, players are deemed gods and treated as such - until they do something to cause them to fall out of public favour. Declan is suffering a horrendous year of injuries, and the public is taking him to task for it, so Simon's support is a bright spot in his struggles. In that first awkward meeting, neither man has any idea they will change each other's lives forever.

As Simon and Declan fumble toward building a relationship together, there is yet another obstacle in their way: keeping Declan's homosexuality a secret amidst the intrusion of well-meaning friends and an increasingly suspicious media. They realise that nothing remains hidden forever... and they know the situation will only become more complicated when Declan's private life is revealed. Declan will be forced to make some tough choices that may result in losing either the career he loves or the man he wants. And Simon has never been known to make things easy - for himself or for others.

I absolutely adored this book. Not only is it a fantastic M/M romance, but it’s also set in my hometown of Melbourne (Australia).

Mandi (Ms. Smexy) recommended this book to me because she knows I need to feed my newfound M/M addiction. ‘Tigers and Devils’ doesn’t have any smut – absolutely no explicit sex scenes – but it is thoroughly romantic. Simon and Declan are a very sweet pairing, especially because they are total opposites. Simon is an ‘arty wanker’ who organizes Melbourne’s local independent film festival. Declan is AFL’s star football player and deep in the closet. This is such a great case of ‘opposites attract’ – Simon and Declan could not be more different, but they work because they revel in each other’s differences.

It becomes pretty clear early on in the story that the possible ‘climax’ in Declan and Simon’s relationship will come if Declan brings Simon to AFL’s coveted awards ceremony, the ‘Brownlow’. The Brownlow is AFL’s version of ‘The Oscar’s’ – the actual ceremony is very boring (basically counting scores) but the red carpet is scrutinized by the Australian media and is a very big deal in the AFL community. It’s all about who the players bring and what their WAG’s (‘wives and girlfriends’) wear (or don’t wear).

“It should be you,” Declan whispered, reading my mind.

“I don’t think I could outrun a whole auditorium of footy players if I went as your date,” I said. “You would have to leave me behind in order to save yourself.”

He shook his head. “You’re so noble.”

“You’re lucky I am. Because you look so fucking good tonight that I want to tackle you and tear you right out of that tux.”

He groaned. “Don’t start. I don’t need another reason not to go.”

I love the fact that ‘Tigers and Devils’ surprised me with regards to plot – Sean Kennedy took the story further than I predicted. After the ‘happy ending’ Kennedy examines Declan and Simon’s adjustment period and fall-out from Declan’s ‘coming out’. The second-half of the story was brilliant and made for a far more in-depth romance. And I think 'Tigers and Devils' is also a very honest story of what it's like to be homosexual in Australia. Kennedy explores family dynamics when a relative comes out of the closet - Simon's parents are only just (after 6 years) starting to feel comfortable discussing his love life with him. I also think Sean Kennedy's 'what if' scenario of a gay AFL player hits very, very close to home.

All of these 'real' issues that are discussed make 'Tigers and Devils' into a very compelling read, and elevate it above 'just another romance'.

I loved the romance, but I also loved the fact that the ‘Tigers and Devils’ is set in Melbourne. Sean Kennedy is quite clearly a Melbourne boy – he knows the city and his love is there in the details. His protagonist, Simon Murray, lives in the ‘hip’ (but not ‘yuppie’) suburb of Brunswick and there is great affection in Kennedy’s describing Melbourne’s ‘four-seasons-in-one-day’ weather. I read this while on the train, passing by all the landmarks Kennedy mentions throughout – my cityloop train terminates at the famous Flinders Street station and passes by the MCG. I don’t read enough books set in my hometown, so I got a lot of enjoyment out of ‘Tigers and Devils’ purely for the fact that I had ‘insider’ knowledge and absolutely got all of Kennedy’s local jokes and found his descriptions and musings to be spot-on.

For example, this gem of a joke;

Roger scratched at the end of his nose. “What kind of guy turns down a blowjob?” he asked, just as the barman returned with our drinks.

Not realising it was a rhetorical question, the barman answered, “No guy would.”

“You got to have standards, though. You wouldn’t just take one from anyone, right?” Roger asked him, completely forgetting he was discussing sex with a total stranger.

“Dude, I would take a blowjob from Mr. Squiggle, if it was going free.”

I shook my head. ‘That’s just sick.”

“Calling it as I see it.”

For the record, this is the children’s program character, Mr. Squiggle;

I love, love, loved ‘Tigers and Devils’. I will definitely be reading more of Sean Kennedy’s stuff, and probably re-reading ‘Tigers and Devils’ just because I love it so much.

Sean Kennedy also wrote a free online short story called 'Chicken Soup for the Soul, and all that Crap' - which is set in the 'Tigers and Devils' timeline and is very funny and sweet.

5/5

Background info:

I thought I’d contextualize a few plot points of ‘Tigers and Devils’. Just for those of you who won’t be so familiar with the ‘in’ references (Sean Kennedy is quite reference-heavy)… but also because the whole story of a gay AFL player is very intriguing (and exciting) to me, and I think it’s worth exploring.

There are 640 players in the AFL, and statistically speaking some of them must be gay or at least bisexual. But no one talks about it and there are no openly ‘out’ AFL players. But there is the occasional speculation (mostly started on chat-boards rather than the media) when a player attends the “Brownlow” awards date-less.

Back in 1995 an NRL (rugby) player by the name of Ian Roberts spoke out about his homosexuality – but no more closeted players followed suit and to this day people are left to speculate about the possibility of homosexual AFL players.

It is a very macho sport. All you have to do is log onto Australia’s two biggest newspaper websites (‘The Age’ and ‘The Herald Sun’) and you will undoubtedly find articles about player antics causing scandal for the sport. This week alone a player called Michael Hurley has appeared in court over physical assault charges – over the weekend he was drunk and attacked a taxi driver. Also this week, Brendan Fevola, a player with a history of drunken antics is in hot water over leaked topless photos of his ex-girlfriend, Lara Bingle. Bingle is Australia’s version of Paris Hilton (but *more* useless) and in 2006 she had an affair with a married Fevola. Apparently some photos Fevola took of Bingle in the shower have been passed out amongst AFL players and have now made their way to the media – and Bingle is seeking a breach of privacy lawsuit.

It is a very macho sport (despite the uniform of short-shorts and knee-high socks) that creates typical badly behaved jock stereotypes of its players. The corporate AFL is trying to clean up player images and eliminate stereotypes, particularly concerning violence against women and anti drinking/drugs. I think having a gay player would definitely aid the AFL’s PR campaign – just to prove to the media and fans that (contrary to popular belief) not all footy players are made from the same mould.

The “Brownlow Medal” is the AFL’s version of ‘The Oscars’. Men watch it to see their favourite players win ‘best and fairest’, but men *and* women watch it to see what the players dates look like and wear. It is always a big deal and the Australian media, without fail, do a big report on ‘who wore what’. If this sounds pretty pathetic and un-newsworthy, you’d be right. But it’s actually pretty funny because all the WAG’s (‘wives and girlfriends’) try to one-up each other and grab the spotlight. Here are some examples;

At last year’s ‘Brownlow’ a WAG by the name of Brynne Gordon turned up to the awards in this get-up. She is on the arm of one Dr Geoffrey Edelsten, who used to own one of the AFL teams. She is 26 to his 67...

In 2004 Rebecca Twigley attended the event in this little number;

Her boyfriend actually won the Brownlow medal that night, but media covergae of Chris Judd was nothing compared to the attention Ms. Twigley and *that* dress received. As a result Rebecca Twigley was offered a modelling contract and is currently the weather girl for a major Australian news network.

So, the 'Brownlow' is a big deal - players and their WAG's are scrutinized, idolized and epitomized. Hopefully that will give some people an idea of what a big deal Declan/Simon would have been turning up to the award hand-in-hand.

'The Dark Tide: Adrien English #5' by Josh LANYON

From the BLURB:

As if recovering from heart surgery beneath the gaze of his over-protective family wasn’t exasperating enough, someone keeps trying to break into Adrien English’s bookstore. What is this determined midnight intruder searching for?

When a half-century old skeleton tumbles out of the wall in the midst of the renovation of Cloak and Dagger Bookstore renovation, Adrien turns to hot and handsome ex-lover Jake Riordan -- now out-of-the closet and working as a private detective.

Jake is only too happy to have reason to stay in close contact with Adrien, but there are more surprises in Adrien’s past than either one of them expects -- and one of them may prove hazardous to Jake’s own heart.

This is the last book in Josh Lanyon’s ‘Adrien English’ series (*tear*).

A lot has changed since the events of ‘Death of a Pirate King’. It’s only been five weeks in the series timeline, but Adrien is recovering from open-heart surgery and Jake Riordan has retired from the force and come out of the closet. Jake has made it obvious that he wants a relationship with Adrien now that everything is out in the open – but Adrien is still recovering from the war wounds Jake inflicted two years ago and is reluctant to lose his heart again.

This book delves deeper than ever into Jake and Adrien’s relationship and their respective personalities – in particular, Adrien’s. We’ve known from book 1 that because of his heart murmur Adrien was living on borrowed time. But in ‘The Dark Tide’ his surgery means that he’s gained longevity and will most likely live to a ripe-old age. A lot changes for Adrien now that he isn’t scared of dying – and we see a few of his walls and defenses come crumbling down.

The best thing in this final book is the tentative rekindling of Jake and Adrien’s relationship. It isn’t an explosive re-coupling, but rather a slow burn indicative of the hurt Adrien endured because of Jake’s self-hatred. A lot of dirty laundry is aired and lots of pink elephants are finally addressed.

“I’m begging,” I said.

He looked at me and grinned. “You never begged in your life.”

“I suppose you have?”

An odd expression flickered in his eyes, a sudden recognition of something in the distance – or the past. “I begged for something once.”

To be straight? That would be about right. Or did he mean it in a sexual context I didn’t want to know anything about?

I said drily, “And did you get what you begged for?”

“Yeah.” His voice sounded funny. “I did.”

This is a very satisfying reunion, and entirely romantic. I never thought of this series as M/M erotica – yes, the sex scenes are hot, but above all else Jake and Adrien are an entirely romantic, sweet couple. Never more so than in ‘The Dark Tide’;

He smelled like soap and sleep and bare skin. He smelled familiar. Not the déjà vu familiar of Guy or Mel. Familiar like… the ache in your chest of homesickness, of longing for harbor after weeks of rough seas or craving a fire’s warmth after snow – or wanting back something you should never have given away.

I wasn’t too keen on the murder plot in this book. I didn’t mind that it was a cold case, some fifty-years out of date. I had a problem with the contrite way the murder was made to reflect Jake and Adrien’s life in a ‘Sliding Doors’, ‘what if’ kind of way. It was just a little bit too convenient and mushy for my liking – and I would have preferred the series to end on a hard-boiled bang.

Having read the series I’m a little disappointed that it wasn’t released under a more mainstream publishing house. The Adrien English books (and e-books) were released by independent publishers MLR Press (Man Love Romance). Maybe Josh Lanyon never wanted the likes of Penguin and Macmillan to represent his work – maybe he went straight to the experts for his genre and protagonist and never even thought of taking his series to the mainstream. I sort of hope that is the case – I would hate to think of this wonderful series being passed up by publishing conglomerates purely because of a homosexual protagonist and a healthy touch of M/M erotica. If that is not the case though, and MLR Press were the only takers for Lanyon’s series – then I find that very sad. Because these books are good.

Yes, the series does scratch that particularly smutty M/M itch and the romance is gush-worthy and intense. But aside from that, Lanyon is a damn good writer. He borrows from the old-school likes of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler and puts his own twist on the classic hard-boiled detective novel. He’s written an entirely engaging and enigmatic character in the form of Adrien English and devised interesting sleuthing expeditions to keep his protagonist sharp while also weaving an insanely complex and satisfying romance throughout the series. I have fallen head over heels in love with this series and my heart bleeds to think that there won’t be any more Adrien English books.

You cannot relegate the Adrien English series purely to M/M erotica, because it is above all else a murder-mystery series and a damn good one at that. I have enjoyed this series immensely and really wish that Josh Lanyon would write more books in the series. There’s still a lot of ground uncovered, mainly concerning Jake’s family and his new life as an out homosexual. Regardless, I enjoyed the ride while it lasted.

5/5

I would love to read more of Lanyon’s work – can anyone recommend which of his books/series I should read next?

'The Death of a Pirate King: Adrien English #4' by Josh LANYON

From the BLURB:

Gay bookseller and reluctant amateur sleuth Adrien English's writing career is suddenly taking off. His first novel, Murder Will Out, has been optioned by notorious Hollywood actor Paul Kane. But when murder makes an appearance at a dinner party, who should be called in but Adrien's former lover, handsome closeted detective Jake Riordan, now a Lieutenant with LAPD -- which may just drive Adrien's new boyfriend, sexy UCLA professor Guy Snowden, to commit a murder of his own!

This is the fourth book in Josh Lanyon’s ‘Adrien English’ series.

Two years have passed since the events in ‘The Hell You Say’ and a lot has changed. Adrien and the UCLA occult professor, Guy Snowden, are an item – with Guy pushing for more in the way of holy matrimony. Adrien has gotten used to his extended step family and even, dare say, loves them. Especially his fourteen-year-old steps-sister, Emma, who he shares a love of horses with. Adrien’s heart murmur has gotten worse and open-heart surgery looms. And Adrien hasn’t spoken to married Lietuenant Jake Riordan in two years…. Until one night at a swanky Hollywood party, Adrien is sitting next to a wealthy producer who keels over and dies. Enter Lt. Riordan, back in Adrien’s life and more confusing than ever.

Once again Adrien is suspected of murder. He is unwittingly bought into the sleuthing side of the murder investigation when bisexual film star, Paul Kane, insists that Adrien help Jake Riordan with the case. But there’s more to Paul Kane’s insistence that Jake and Adrien work together, and the plot thickens and congeals…

It was pretty risky of Lanyon to jump the book forward by two years, but it works really well. The hurt Jake inflicted on Adrien has had time to settle and fester, and as old wounds are reopened the emotional stakes feel higher than ever. I didn’t know how much worse it could get for Adrien when it came to his ex-boyfriend, Jake Riordan, but Lanyon manages to increase Adrien’s heartache ten-fold. I was literally gasping in certain passages, as Adrien learns more of Jake’s secrets and looks at his and Jake’s relationship from a whole new angle.

And I thought maybe I didn’t need to worry about my heart anymore because it had stopped beating a couple of seconds earlier, and I was still sitting there living and breathing – though admittedly I wasn’t feeling much of anything.

The increased emotional tension makes for intensely addictive reading. But it is also painful to read – Adrien isn’t really one for confrontation, and as he learns more about his and Jake’s previous relationship he remains tight-lipped - much to my chagrin.

In this book I really responded to the murder plot. It’s made more interesting by the fact that the players are all Hollywood moguls, and the added fact that certain persons have a personal relationship and interest with Adrien and Jake. This book definitely has a ‘noir’ feel to it; there’s lots of seedy underbelly being revealed and the sleuthing is better than ever.

And as if I didn’t love Adrien enough as it was. In this book he makes reference to one of my all-time favorite TV shows; ‘Veronica Mars’. Makes sense, since the show was about an amateur sleuth and leaned heavily toward the noir side of things… but I like to think the reference is yet another indicator that if Adrien English were a real person, he and I would totally be bosom buddies.

I loved this book (as I’ve loved all the Adrien English books thus far) and I’m going into the fifth and final book ‘The Dark Tide’ with a little trepidation. I don’t want the series to end! I want to prolong it for as long as possible, but I know my addiction to Adrien will win out.

5/5