Angel Martinez - Writer, Reader, Woman about town

Ah, mysteries...I stopped reading them some years ago when the story lines began to run together. Probably not the fault of the authors, just simple over-saturation on my part. Here comes the however part (you knew that) - However, this mystery felt wonderfully fresh and new, with well-drawn characters and excellent pacing.

For any exclusive M/M readers - there are no girlie bits in this one. Just want to make that clear at the outset.

Mr. Lanyon's writing style, both literate and comfortable, sweeps the reader along effortlessly. The mystery is a good one, with plenty of red herrings dropped along the path to keep us on our toes. The characters are both engaging - though it takes a bit longer to warm up to Tucker, a dramatic necessity, I thought - and though this is not structured as a typical romance would be (hooray for different!) the conflict between them was believable, palpable, and often fun to watch. Loved the subtext in all the phone calls between Elliot and Tucker, all the things half said and not said, just the way people in real life cling to their mis-perceptions and insistence on being the wronged party.

Elliott's internal struggles tug at the heart, and though he has his moments of self-indulgent pity, the reader truly wants him to be happy. A little self pity is understandable after all he's lost.

The setting, in Seattle and the islands nearby, was marvelous as well. That's where my father grew up - always has a place nestled next to my heart.

This one's a keeper, folks, a good mix of internal strife and external peril, with solid dialogue and a tense dramatic climax.

Dickens was once a word from which I cringed. It's probably a crime in some countries to force people to read his work too young, before any understanding of the history and social advocacy could be properly understood. Couple that with the memories of a too-smug, arrogant acquaintance of my youth who lived and breathed Dickens and acted as if no one, but NO ONE could possibly understand them like he could.

Personal issues aside, I re-discovered Dickens later in life and found him not half bad. Preachy by modern standards, yes, but we are all a product of our times. So it was with a good deal of curiosity that I tackled this story. (Which was free, I will add, for the season, winning it extra points in my empty-wallet household.) Would Mr. Lanyon actually try to write Dickens? Would this story be a Dickens send-up, or an attempt at a modern Dickens fable with all the trappings?

Yes and no. We do have an orphan who had a brush with falling into bad company, a character who desperately needs redemption, an amoral, greedy villain, and a complex series of circumstances to lead us to a resolution. All classic Dickens, but there the resemblance ends. Thank goodness, or it would have been a rather dry romance. This is a more personal journey for James and Sedge, in which the "lost" Dickens Christmas story is only the vehicle. The heroes are both a little odd, a little adrift, each in their own way, but are both endearing. The story is told with wit and wry humor, never too heavy, even in its sadder moments.

I enjoy Mr. Lanyon's writing style - literate, intelligent, with a good feel for well-placed detail and an excellent sense of timing. My only real nits are the over use of angel/wing metaphor in the sex scenes (OK, I get it, Christmas time, nice and thematic, but it started to feel a bit forced after a bit) and the abrupt, if appropriate, ending. I felt as if I had been suddenly kicked out so they could have some privacy. Don't mind a few lingering questions, but there were just a few too many in this case.

Overall a lovely story for the holidays. And the faux Dickens? Quite believable and charming. It made me long for a story that doesn't exist. I'm sure it would have had a happy ending, too. Even for the mouse.

Sorry, I've been remiss in writing this one - finished it a bit ago and have been short on time, temper and warm socks. Anyway...readers are most familiar with Kilt's work in the short form. I've thoroughly enjoyed his inventive and often hilarious short stories and was curious how he would do in the long form.

Some books, I think, should be approached in the spirit intended. This is a fun read - I smiled, I snickered, I guffawed out loud and had to clap a hand over my mouth because my family gave me odd looks. Are all the plot points perfect and does everything make sense? Well, no. In real life, I would hope someone would call social services. Courtney is a terrible mother who seems not at all concerned that her child was wandering around a museum in the company of a strange man and so on. But this is a romantic comedy - the genre allows for more oddities and suspensions of disbelief.

The little bits of disbelief moments didn't seriously interfere with my enjoyment of the story. Evan is just adorable - quirky, slightly flighty, often self-deprecating - and his flights of fancy are part of the charm. Many of the secondary characters were scene-stealers, not in a bad way, with Trini and Monette vying for favorite status. I do wish Liam had been a little better fleshed out. While I don't have an issue with a single POV first person narrative, I think in this case, the story loses a bit without Liam's internal dialogue. We never really understand why he's drawn to Evan, or why he would want more than just a fling with him.

It's not goofy, zany slapstick, though (thank goodness.) There are serious moments, some steamy hot scenes, a lovely look at a piece of Mayan mythology, and a truly dark black moment towards the end where I did worry about Evan. Comedy or no, his character is so engaging, it was hard not to worry.

I wasn't disappointed and I look forward to the next Kilt novel - I want to see where he takes us next.

4.5 I like to read Andrew's stories when I feel down and tired of humanity. The warmth, the kindness inherent in his stories always help me back to hopeful again.

A Shared Range, while it may look, on the surface, like another cowboy story, is so much more. We're brought into the gorgeous setting of Wyoming cattle country, nestled amidst the mountains, but we're reminded that this lovely scenery is also Matthew Shepherd country, with the implication that brutality and hate still live here as well. Andrew works in other current issues as well, with the controversy of reintroducing wolves into the National Parks system central to the story. These issues, real and relevant now, lend a depth and breadth to the story that I think Andrew has not shown us in previous tales.

Another of the issues facing our loyal and stoic Dakota hit much closer to home for me. Dakota's Dad has MS. So do I. While Jefferson's disease has progressed much faster than mine (which all has to do with how quickly the first intervention occurs) I still read the scenes with him with a little bit of a lead weight in my stomach. We fear this - all of us with this strange and unpredictable condition, that we will someday become a burden to our families. While it's quite clear that Dakota never, ever thinks of his father as a burden, I know, without being told, that his father sometimes feels differently.

Anyway... so this one felt closer to home and Andrew treats the situation with the compassion and understanding we've come to expect from him. The love story...oh, yes, there is one, did I forget to mention? lol The romance between Dakota and Wally is a lovely one - some readers may think that it happens quickly and easily, but most of their conflicts are external. When you meet your heart's desire, I think most people know. I enjoyed this less traditional handling of a romance and neither Dakota or Wally are hissy, suspicious people - much easier for reasonable, well-balanced people to come together than if there are huge internal issues lurking.

A lovely story, I smiled a lot, and felt better after reading. Thank you, Andrew.

Holden Worthington - Holden -born with a silver spoon, all the advantages in the world, white bread, Connecticut WASP - Worthington - I really didn't want to like him. But wait...the man has agoraphobia so intense, he passes out in a panic attack two steps outside. And...wait...he likes Tom Waits...and he's been through so much...and he's not a bad guy.

*sigh* darn it, L.B., but you made me like the rich Yankee WASP.

A bit of a mystery, a bit of suspense, a lot of fun sexual tension, and, of course, our two rather quirky and damaged protagonists make this a wonderful read. I had some issues with the scene where the perpetrator finally reveals himself in rather spectacular and somewhat unbelievable fashion, but otherwise I was fully engaged and even read through my last migraine.

Well-written dialogue and a lot of amusingly sardonic insights from our narrator put the icing on the cake. Well done, L.B.

4.5 stars

I first came across Jay DiMeo in the anthology Bedknobs and Beanstalks in which appeared her lovely short story "The Merman's Tale". It was, without a doubt, one of my favorites in the collection, so when I saw that Jay had written a full length, I had to check it out.

There are a lot of gods and goddesses running around in the paranormal/fantasy romance world these days but this story was unique. It tackles the rather more difficult world of Egyptian mythology. Greek and Roman and even Celtic gods are accessible to the modern mind. They act like us, think like us. But the gods of Egypt were an odd lot, mystical, changeable, their motives more difficult to fathom.

Ms. DiMeo tackles them and takes them to the mat. The world building is quite original, with the gods doomed to repeat their same mistakes from one human incarnation to the next, causing destruction and grief in their wakes. Mythology becomes propaganda, with the 'good' gods we're all familiar with only good because they rewrote history to please themselves. While the victor has always been the one to write history, it's a uniquely Egyptian pastime to erase it. Often a pharaoh, having conquered his rival, would pull down said rivals statues and monuments, have the tomb leveled, erase his predecessors name from the records. The ultimate death, to be erased from memory.

Caught in this perpetual war between the gods are James and Silver, the young avatars of Horus ans Seth. Just coming into their powers, just finding out what the heck they're embroiled in, it's a poignant and frightening journey for them as they navigate the rocky waters of this forever conflict and their growing love for each other. Trust issues abound - but our boys are stubborn, never fear.

There are unanswered questions, such as where the 'jewels' came from and why the gods have them in the first place, but it looks like this is only the first part of the series, so I don't expect all to be explained in the first conflict. The only nit I had was with the ending, which proceeds at something of a breakneck pace - It's most likely a personal thing, I like my epic battles drawn out a bit more. The final riddle the boys had to solve I found perhaps a bit obvious (to me) but since both of them are young and inexperienced, it's certainly feasible that they didn't catch on as quickly as a jaded, old romance reader.

With characters who will steal your heart, sex that will singe your curtains, and a plot that twists and turns in delightful ways, this is a paranormal/urban fantasy not to be missed.

Extremely torn about this book. And, really, I know it's personal and that Ms. Ione won't pay any mind to what I think. Which is fine. A writer needs to stay true to the vision.

I love the world building in the Demonica books - if I were reviewing on that alone, I'd give the whole series a 5+ - an 11 out of 5. The author has created such a complete and wonderful demon subculture, or more accurately sub-cultures, each species having their own peculiarities of interaction and social structure. The politics, the family issues, the unique biological issues are all detailed in loving fashion. Marvelous.

Even the perpetual Alphas in every book - and there really has been no variety, these are uber Alphas to the last - are appealing, each in his own way. They all have their own histories, their own issues and, forgive me, inner demons. So a 5 on the characterization.

I even enjoyed this story more than the ones for Wraith and Lore. It's more personal, less global, more focused on one main thread with several tendrils rather than the disparate pieces we had in the previous two. Solid 4 for a fast-paced, exciting plot.

So what the heck's my problem? It's something that's been bothering me since the first Demonica book. The word 'gay' is only used in disparaging terms. Males, even brothers, showing affection are taunted with the comment. OK. It fits the characters saying it at the time, so I let it go. But in this book...in this book you have the first interactions sexually between males. None of the main characters, heaven forbid, or even minor ones but mentioned in the background. We are told that most vampires will sleep with anything, (therefore indiscriminate in their partners) although our hero (partly vamp) most certainly would not. Then we are shown that adolescent werewolves will screw each other in lust and violent driven frenzy. It's not that they truly want a male at that age, they simply need something to take the edge off. So - in this world homosexuality is a choice born of desperation, immaturity, or indiscriminate behavior.

Oh, yes, this bothered me. And I can't get past it. If there had been a gay character, somewhere, in all five books, a real one, I could overlook the rest. But there wasn't. And I can't. And it's soured what should be a truly fun read for someone who loves the paranormal/urban fantasy realm.

I need to start off by saying this is truly a fun read. From the publisher's blurb, I was expecting something else entirely - it sounded like the MC jumps from one bed to the next and that this would just be a sexual romp.

It has some lighthearted and funny moments, but this turned out to have much more emotional depth than I was expecting. Our hero, Cassidy, has had his share of lovers and isn't adverse to a bout of pure lust-driven carnality for the short term, but his inability to go in for the long haul is catching up to him by the time the story opens. He needs to confront some hard questions about himself, his place in the world, and how he relates to people. His old/new flame, Nate, isn't much better, unable to communicate, shutting his pain away.

The locale itself becomes a character, as well as Cassidy's deceased grandmother (no it's not a ghost story, but her presence is a driving force throughout.) Add in a sprinkling of quirky friends and ex-lovers, and you have quite an entertaining melange.

The only points where I cringed sometimes during the story were some of Cassidy's choices of language. He's supposed to be a brilliant PhD candidate, literate, literary minded. Sometimes when he spoke, I heard frat boy instead.

An interesting tale of love despite all the obstacles and of redemption having no expiration date.

I wanted to like this, I really did... and in some respects it was a lovely story. I truly enjoy Ariel's characters, love her historical work, so I was excited to see an SFR from her.

I just wish there had been more SF. The initial premise is so intriguing - an alien race with medically gifted wings - that I was looking forward to some solid world building, some serious culture clashes, some intersting differences in anatomy. It never quite panned out. There really wasn't a wide divergence from Earth in any serious way. Cities. Restaurants. Familiar job structures. Familiar furniture and plumbing. The aliens are essentially human in most ways, males having oddly identical equipment to their human counterparts, down to the prostate, which probably bothered me most.

But, I'm an old SF geek, and these things are important to me. They most likely wouldn't be to others. I just fell that if you're going to set a romance on an alien world, there should be some ...alien-ness.

All that said- the characters are sweet and their tender courtship quite touching. The healing, of course, refers to more than just the physical of which Ryan is in desperate need. As with all of Ariel's characters, it was hard not to get attached and I did root for them despite all else I've said.

I love a beautifully written work. My degree is in English lit, and while I came to appreciate Romance novels for what they are in middle life, I often wish that many of them were better written. This one is, with beautifully crafted turns of phrase and sentences that aren't ashamed to be more than six words long. In many ways, it feels more like a denizen of the literary shelf than the erotic romance shelf.

Don't let the lovely writing fool you, though. The story is often dark, perhaps too real for some romance readers. The single perspective isn't what romance readers are accustomed to and the hero is not your traditional romance hero. Some readers may find Matt difficult to take in his willful, self-destructive behavior. But this is a very real portrait of depression. He knows he's going down the tubes, he's knows it's idiotic, but he can't stop his downward spiral, almost as if he watched himself from the outside at times. He hasn't merely suffered a break up, his world has shattered, and the portrayal here is convincing and very real.

Aaron is a bit of a cipher through much of the book, but this is dramatic necessity. Even while he keeps his distance from us and keeps his secrets, the strength wrapped around terrible vulnerability comes through loud and clear. His actions speak for him and the reader feels drawn to him.

My only issue with this book is the ending. In such a carefully constructed plot, where both feet are firmly planted in gritty reality, the scenes leading up to the resolution suddenly made a far leap into the absurd. That such a series of events could occur just seemed...difficult to believe, to say the least.

All in all, though, this is a marvelous story about two people in need of rescue. Most of the Romance elements are there, the growing attraction, the emotional conflict, the obligatory Black Moment, the resolution, but this is not your traditional Romance. A good thing for me. I've always loved different.

OK, we all know I don't read too many straight romances, but for certain authors, I make exceptions. Ms. Bybee is one of them.

This is the second installment for the MacCoinnich clan (Binding Vows was first) and I found I enjoyed this one more, both in the complexity of plot and the depth of the characters.

Part of the fun of Time Travel romances is seeing how characters deal with the unexpected differences of another time period. With the Ren Faire setting in the first book, all the culture shock fell on our 20th century heroine. In Silent Vows, both main characters have the chance to experience the time displacement fully. And I do like these characters.

Myra, the sheltered daughter of a powerful family, has never had to stand on her own. She's no kick-ass, in your face heroine, but she is admirable because of this - the courage she shows trying to navigate a new and hostile world she is woefully unprepared to face. I don't usually like the whole damsel in distress thing, but she tries, with every bit of her own resourcefulness, to take care of herself rather than standing around wringing her hands. That she ends up needing a little help is just a matter of inexperience and bad choices.

Todd, cynical and suspicious of anyone's motives, is the perfect hero for the situation. He's relentless in his pursuit of the truth and too smart to accept Myra's evasions. Handsome and honorable, his fear of commitment has kept him single but it's a fear born of good intentions rather than selfishness or immaturity. The reasons for his hard shell and the distance he keeps relationship wise are poignant and understandable. A wounded, lonely soul, you can't help feel for this modern day knight in shining.

There's a real sense of danger and suspense to the story, a well-crafted, well-paced plot that keeps you turning pages, enough sexual tension to set your desk or e-reader smoking, wonderful secondary characters and Ms. Bybee's wry sense of humor underpinning it all.

3.5 stars. Let's say 3.65. I enjoyed this book, loved the concept, and found the characters very likeable. They're both a mess in their own ways, just how I like my romance heroes.

It starts off with a bang - late night jaunt for reasons Jude can't fathom, but still feels compelled to do, ending in nearly getting killed by three monstrous dogs in order to save a fourth dog. Now, we the readers know early on that this is no dog, though Jude hasn't a clue. Loved this idea of Alpha in dog form (and he's a beautiful dog - I want one.)

The tight, tense story arc began to unravel a little for me once they crossed the Veil, though. I wanted to see a fully realized world, wanted to see complicated things going on and plot twists revealed. While Midrin was interesting, as far as the reader is allowed to see, we don't really see as much as I would have liked.

The ending gave me pause. This is a two person POV story. But just when we reach what promises to be the climactic conflict, we get whisked away back to our world to do marketing stuff with Jude while Eoin battles the forces of evil. Um. Oh, dear. As a reader, I found this an odd choice and being told about it all in sketchy terms after the fact made me feel shoved aside.

Despite the odd ending (and, OK, the last scene is just adorable) this is a fun read and I did find myself smiling quite a bit throughout.

I realize to my chagrin that I never reviewed this collection. Bad, bad reader. So here goes - Anthologies are tricky to review since it's impossible to like all of the stories equally. There are a couple of stories here I would have given 3'2 and a couple would receive 5's if they were standalone, so I've taken the average for the whole.

EM doesn't have an entry herself in this set but she does a fabulous job as editor, a harder prospect than one might imagine. Themed anthologies can be deadly boring, with too many of the stories sounding the same. EM has managed to find a perfect balance of mood, style and theme. Each story is a reworking of a different folk/fairytale (with one for which I couldn't come up with a predecessor at all.)

There are a couple that didn't quite measure up but perhaps that's not fair, since the writing in many of them is exceptional. Sort of like breaking the curve on the Physics exam.

Two are hilarious - Jack and the Peenstalk, a retelling of, well, you know, with some biting social commentary and a magic cock ring. Come on now, how can you not read a story with a magic cock ring? Then there's Kilt Kilpatrick's retelling of Hansel and Gretel, Handsome and Grateful. As usual, Kilt has his fingers all in the pie of pop culture, with references to John Waters and Andy Warhol. Please, before anyone gets huffy, Kilt's characters are young but definitely adult. And before anyone can jump to the other ugly conclusion - incest would be difficult since both brother and sister are gay. (A warning to my staunch M/M reader friends - there are girlie bits in this one - easily skimmed if you can't stand the thought so you don't miss the rest of this uproarious story.)

Couple of my other favorites - the hauntingly beautiful Swan Made, the lovely reworking of folklore in feudal Japan in Kintaro, and the well-crafted, heart wrenching last story The Merman's Tale.

All in all, a fun collection for any fan of M/M fantasy or any aficionado of folk and fairytales.

Oh. My. Goodness. This is actually a 4.5

Are you looking for an easy, unchallenging read, full of cliches? Then do not read this book. Are you looking for the same old tired m/m plot lines? Then don't read this book. Do you need to have everything explained to you upfront in great, info-dumping detail? Have all your questions answered? Then Don't Read This Book.

From the first heart-pounding scene to the last, Tatterdemalion seizes the reader in both taloned fists and refuses to let go. Action and violence enough to satisfy the adventure-lover, sex both tender and heated to satisfy the erotic lover, and world building enough, ah, yes, to satisfy the fantasy lover.

World building. So often lost in erotic romance or scattered about in such scant and negligent detail to feel almost insulting. Not. Here. Breathe it in. Let it take you. The fairy house in the woods was painted in such wonderful detail. The grime and grit of alleys. The anthill scurry and anxiety of airports. I'm so often busy analyzing that I forget to enjoy. I enjoyed, and often became anxious, actually Anxious for the characters, so much so that I snapped at my family to go away during tense scenes.

The characters? On the surface, you may think you see the classic m/m romance couple - Big Tough Man and little pretty man (boy). Ah, but it's only surface. Our Alpha is not cast from the typical mold - Dane is damaged and confused by human interaction more often than not. And Lindsay, though horribly broken in mind and spirit, is hardly the cringing flower in need of constant rescue. The growth, together and separately, was both satisfying and believable. There's enough left open at the end where there could be more, but I didn't feel it was necessary. If the writers want to leave us there, I'm content.

There were a couple of pacing oddities, but these were minor bumps and I did sort of cock my head to the side like a puzzled terrier when Lindsay never really confronts that fact that he killed a heck of a lot of people. He understands it was horrible, though it was a desperate sort of accident on his part, but he sort of holds the knowledge at arms' length, I thought.

Want some lovely writing and a ripping good story? Want characters who get to keep some of their secrets and who dare you not to fall in love with them? Read. This. Book.

I'm always hesitant to try a new contemporary author. My heart lies in the SFF world, it's not big secret. Not to mention I had the bad grace to pick up the third in a series. Go ahead. Get the ruler. I'll sit still for the knuckle smacking.

However... (show of hands - who knew that was coming?)

This is the third in Andrew's Farm series but it's not necessary to have read the previous two. Would be nice to know what happened previously but not at all vital to enjoying Robbie and Joey's story. It's very tightly focused on the two of them, on their insecurities (Robbie's blind, Joey feels he's too hideously scarred from an accident to face other people) their doubts and their dreams.

There's no magic of any kind, no violence, no abuse, no kidnappings, no extortion. And yet, I really liked this book. It's sweet, but not in an "aw, gee, how cute" kind of way. It's more...triumphant in its quiet, gentle treatment of what appears to be a doomed romance. The writing flows well and if some of the characters seem a bit too mice, well, one can hope that there really are kind, patient, understanding people left in the world.

As some of us often point out, a five star rating system isn't always adequate. I want more shading in my reviews, more gradation for works like this.

Gut reaction first. Or heart reaction. My heart adores this book. It plucked all the right chords and accomplished all the right things a romance should. I wanted more for Wulfgar, I wanted someone to come along just for him. And here we are. I love both protagonists, our enormous, gruff thane and feisty little Kintaro (yes, yes, he's a little over the top in some scenes, but he's genuinely caring, intelligent and people-smart - gotta love he little drama queen :) )

Intellect reaction says this is well done as a historical and the premise and plot are engaging, the writing well done, the sex scenes sizzling. The whole 'kidnapping' felt a little forced at times, though, with a feeling of 'haven't we done this before?' as far as the 'don't know what you have until you've lost it' lesson. I understand the why of it and I applaud the result. Just wish there had been a more believable way to go about it.

Nits aside, I greatly enjoyed the story and send my gratitude to Fae and Marguerite for satisfying my Wulgar craving. (yum.)