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End of Year Review Round-Up: Part Two

With the end of the year fast approaching already here, I wanted to take some time to catch up on my latest reads. It’s been a busy month, both with family drama that I hope will sort itself out in the new year and a heavy post-vacation editing/proofreading schedule, so I’ve fallen behind in my reviews. I still want to do justice to those literary worlds where I’ve found solace and moments of peace, though, so I hope you’ll excuse the brevity.

Title: Like A Breath Of Flame 
Author: Cecilia Tan & Cosmin Alexander
Publication Date: December 12, 2024 by Riverdale Avenue Books
Genres: Fiction | Erotica
Representation: Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Nonbinary MCs

Okay, so here’s the thing – when it comes to dragon romance and erotica, I tend to have a bit of a size kink. I mean, let’s be honest, unless you’re reading for the scales, claws, or tails (all of which is perfectly okay), we love dragons because they’re big . . . monstrously big. For that reasons, the stories in Like A Breath Of Flame that got me all hot and bothered were the ones that play with the idea of size.

The Terms of Our Alliance by KJ Kabza introduces us to the first man to become a dragon rider and takes the ‘riding’ in a direction I did not expect; The Last Whisper of Killitch by Julian Oliver-Fenn explores a pair of outcasts who embrace the danger of dragon pleasure; Outermost Claw, Front Right Foot by Steven Schwartz (my favorite by far) really plays with the size element, but not with the parts you might think; while Sleeping with Dragons by Kimber Camacho is a surprisingly sensuous story of size.

My one exception would be Prince Lovely and the Three Dragons by Nobilis Reed, which has an element of size in the background, but a human relationship at the forefront that’s inventive, magical, and has fun with gender roles.

If your tastes do run more towards shapeshifting encounters of equally sized individuals, Cecilia Tan & Cosmin Alexander have selected even more fantastic stories here. Call it fantasy erotica or romantasy with a queer kick, it’s a great read either way.

Rating: 1/2

My sincere thanks to the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Old Wounds 
Author:  Logan-Ashley Kisner
Publication Date: September 10, 2024 by Delacorte Press
Genres: Fiction | Horror
Representation: FTM & MTF MCs

I’ll be honest, Old Wounds is a book I picked up solely for the purposes of seeing if the trans colors on the cover were a deliberate choice, but as soon as I read the hook in the cover blurb, I knew I had to give this a read.

Logan-Ashley Kisner tells the tale of a young trans man and a young trans woman stuck in the backwoods of rural middle-America, chosen to be sacrificed to a cryptid that feeds on girls. The hook, of course, is the philosophical dilemma around whether a mythological creature is as bound to the gender binary as the masochistic hicks looking for a sacrifice.

This is a book that’s very much about gender identity and the transgender experience. It’s about the different paths Erin and Max have taken to becoming themselves, and how those journeys have shaped their attitudes and opinions. She had it relatively easy, with the love of her family, while he’s fought against hatred and disapproval at every step. Even when things are at their darkest – literally, in a night that seems destined to never end – how they’re treated by the hateful hicks is cruel and unfair.

As for the horror, I loved a lot of this, especially the creepiness, the mystery of the cryptid, and the all-too-human violence of their captors. Where it fell a bit short/flat, though, is in the . . . well, I can’t say resolution, so I’ll just say ending.

Rating: 1/2

Title: Her Drag Barbarian
Author: Kate Raven
Publication Date: Published October 24, 2023
Genres: Fiction | Romance
Representation: Drag MC

Oh my, what a weird, wild, wanton ride Her Drag Barbarian was. This is a story bedazzled with tropes, none of which should go together, but which somehow work. Kate Raven flips the gay-for-you trope and has an arrogant, aggressive gay drag queen fall for the bisexual woman who has been sent to manage the conflict he’s generated.

Beau is a largely unlikable character for most of the story, far too Alpha-with-a-capital-A for my tastes. He’s rude, crude, and doesn’t give a damn about the other queens aside from how well and how often they’ll bend over and take him. Even after I warmed up to him, his relentless pursuit of Elowyn veered deep into dubcon territory, which left me as uncomfortable as it did aroused.

Oddly, for a book about drag, one that takes place around multiple stage shows, we don’t get a lot of drag visuals. Aside from their sizes/ages, I really couldn’t tell you what any of the queens looked like or how they moved. It’s a small complaint in a story that’s really about the pursuit of Elowyn by a drag queen who wants to breed the first woman he’s ever taken, but it was in the title . . . so my expectations were set.

Rating: 1/2

Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post

Stacking The Shelves (Reading Reality) and The Sunday Post (Caffeinated Reviewer) are both blog memes about sharing the books we’re adding to the shelves and sharing news of the week ahead.

New Purchases

While they weren’t my purchases, my Christmas gifts were all picked from my wishlist, so they’re kind of mine (LOL). They swear it wasn’t planned, but my spouse and my kids all went with an adventure theme, picking up copies of Sheba by Jack Higgins, Tomb Raider: Path of the Apocalypse by S. D. Perry, The Ark Files by Luke Richardson, and Blue Descent by David Wood.

Between Boxing Day sales and the GST tax holiday, there was no way I was leaving the bookstore empty-handed this week! I’ve heard good things about What Doesn’t Break, the latest Critical Role novel by Cassandra Khaw, so that was a quick pick-up; I knew nothing about Logan-Ashley Kisner, but I spotted the trans colors on the cover of Old Wounds and had to see if it was deliberate (much to my delight, it is); and American Gods is one of those Neil Gaiman books that has never quite made it to the shelves, so I rectified the situation.

For Review

Nothing new on the review front this week, which is just as well since I went hard on the review requests all month and have a few stacks of books to be read over the next few months,

Currently Reading

As for what I’m currently reading, I’ve got several books on the go. Crown of Vengeance by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory is my current paperback; Old Wounds by Logan-Ashley Kisner has taken over as my current hardcover, and Like A Breath Of Flame by Cecilia Tan & Cosmin Alexander is sharing time with Spyder’s Trouble by Korin I. Dushayl as my current Kindle reads.

Weekend Freebies – Transgender & Gender Exploration

Well, if it’s another weekend, then it must be time to bend our hearts and minds around preparing for the week ahead, and how better to do that than with some Weekend Freebies!

Every weekend I search through the free titles on Amazon, looking for those that might interest visitors to the ruins. Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can still download the titles through one of Amazon’s free reading applications.

Please do be sure to check the price before downloading anything, as most freebies are limited time offers, and some are specific to certain regions.

Enjoy!

End of Year Review Round-Up

With the end of the year fast approaching, I wanted to take some time to catch up on my latest reads. It’s been a busy month, both with family drama that I hope will sort itself out in the new year and a heavy post-vacation editing/proofreading schedule, so I’ve fallen behind in my reviews. I still want to do justice to those literary worlds where I’ve found solace and moments of peace, though, so I hope you’ll excuse the brevity.

Title: Gigi
Author: Red Haircrow
Publication Date: December 14, 2024 by JMS Books LLC
Genres: Fiction | Erotica
Protagonist Gender: Male

Gigi was a short read but a good one, a story of making connections, discovering one’s self, and making the most of the moment. Darren is an effeminate young man, cast out by his homophobic father, and barely clinging to his job as a convenience store clerk. Rob is the man he’s been secretly admiring, a coworker who proves to be bisexual – and very interested. No commitments, no promises, but he’s happy to help.

Although this is my first literary encounter with Red Haircrow in over a decade, it’s written with the same sophisticated easy I remember. The characters have remarkable depth for such a short tale, and not only is the sex eminently satisfying, but there’s a surprising sense of closure.

Rating:

My sincere thanks to the author for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Title: You Like It Darker
Author: Stephen King
Publication Date: May 21, 2024 by Scribner
Genres: Fiction | Horror
Protagonist Gender: Various

“You like it darker? Fine, so do I,” was the pitch that got me excited for this. I’ve been a Stephen King fan for decades, but have chafed against his turn away from supernatural horror, so the promise of another collection like Night Shift or Skeleton Crew really appealed to me. Sadly, his definition of darker is a far fry from mine, but there were enough gems here to make it worth the read.

The first three stories were solid, with Two Talented Bastids defined by its telling, The Fifth Step having a great twist, and Willie the Weirdo altogether creepy, morbid, and mysterious. But then the collection hits a soft spot with Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream interesting but marred by a flat ending, Finn just stupid and abrupt, and On Slide Inn Road filled with unlikable people and dragged down by an ending that leaves too much unresolved. Red Screen gets the collection going again with a twilight zone type story, and The Turbulence Expert was an interesting read that doesn’t try to explain how or why, but then Laurie was just pointless and maudlin.

Rattlesnakes was the best story in the collection, a creepy tale of dead twins, and even if the Cujo connection was unnecessary, it offers a glimpse into life after a story closes. Sadly, for all its potential, The Dreamers failed to hold my interest, but the finale, The Answer Man, was a vintage King story of wonder and mystery.

Rating: 1/2

Title: Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
Author: Grady Hendrix
Publication Date: January 14, 2025 by Berkley
Genres: Fiction | Horror
Protagonist Gender: Female

Witchcraft for Wayward Girls is less a book searching for a theme, and more a story wandering around in hopes that a theme will land. Grady Hendrix takes a very long time to get to the witchcraft (30% into the book) and even longer to get to the horror (50% in), and risks losing the reader with a boring tale of flat, uninteresting characters before getting to either of those progress markers.

It feels like he was trying to write a Stephen King style novel about relatable characters in an unfortunate situation with a dose of cultural commentary thrown in, but it just feels awkward and disjointed. Even after we get the first mention of witchcraft, I found myself skimming to get to anything that advanced the story, and let me tell you, that was a fair bit of skimming.

Eventually, we get a villain to go with the witchcraft, but not a very compelling or frightening one. As for the witchcraft, it does lend itself to a small handful of amusing, well-orchestrated scenes, but they are too few and too far between to maintain any sense of drama or pacing. It doesn’t help that Hendrix attempts to establish a time period with nothing more than a bunch of hippy references and an embarrassingly bad (and lazy) reliance on the magical negro trope to save the day.

Rating:

My sincere thanks to the publisher for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Dominion and the Sugilite
Episode 11 | Episode 12 | Episode 13
Author: B.J. Frazier
Publication Date: Oct 14 to Nov 15, 2024
Genres: Erotica
Protagonist Gender: Various

The Dominion and the Sugilite is a serialized erotic science-fantasy soap opera by B.J. Frazier, one set on a female-ruled planet where the power exchange is the foundation of a fantasy-themed society fueled by the magic of gems known as sugilite. If you missed my review of the first 10 installments, you can catch up here, here, and here.

There’s so much to explore in these three chapters, so let me stick to the highlights. For one, I loved the deeper exploration of the dom/sub games between Chip and Geo, especially as it leads to a deeper discussion of the hierarchy among men. On the flipside, I loved Pebbles’ first Dominion BDSM class, but the politics around it, especially involving her mother, are pure soap opera! Getting back to Geo, his conversations with Naqqi about the role of sex, gender, and the power exchange are smart, funny, and deeply thoughtful.

With so much established in the first ten stories, it really feels like Miss Frazier has the freedom to open things up in this next sequence, to get deeper into the story without having to hold our hands. The characters, the themes, and the philosophies have been compelling from the start, but it feels like the connecting plots are really coming alive.

Rating:

My sincere thanks to the author for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post

Stacking The Shelves (Reading Reality) and The Sunday Post (Caffeinated Reviewer) are both blog memes about sharing the books we’re adding to the shelves and sharing news of the week ahead.

New Purchases

Nothing new on the book-buying front this week, but I noticed a few items have disappeared from my Amazon Wishlist, so perhaps Santa will tuck a few titles under the three.

For Review

First on the review shelf this week was a quick approval of Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame by Neon Yang – last week’s Can’t Wait Wednesday pick – followed by an automatic approval of Daughter of Tides by Kit Rocha.

Like A Breath Of Flame by Cecilia Tan & Cosmin Alexander was another automatic approval – romantasy with dragons under Cecilia Tan’s watch – while Gigi is a review request from Red Haircrow, an old acquaintance.

Currently Reading

As for what I’m currently reading, I’ve got 3 books on the go. Crown of Vengeance by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory is my current paperback; Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson my current hardcover; and Spyder’s Trouble by Korin I. Dushayl my current Kindle read.

Weekend Freebies – Christmas Kink & Merry Romance

Well, if it’s another weekend, then it must be time to bend our hearts and minds around preparing for the week ahead, and how better to do that than with some Weekend Freebies!

Every weekend I search through the free titles on Amazon, looking for those that might interest visitors to the ruins. Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can still download the titles through one of Amazon’s free reading applications.

Please do be sure to check the price before downloading anything, as most freebies are limited time offers, and some are specific to certain regions.

Enjoy!

Top 10 Books I Loved Reading

This year I read 167 books, the shortest being 23 pages, the longest 990 pages, and the average being 223 pages. Mind you, 56 of those were books I proofread or edited, which means I read them more than once in the process, so some extra page credit is warranted!

Now, no year is ever perfect, and there are bound to be disappointments. I don’t want to dwell on them, but Stephen King’s You Like it Darker was not particularly dark, Kagen the Damned by Jonathan Maberry was everything I find distasteful about grimdark, Ritual of Proof by Dara Joy was either an awkward satire or deliberate cheat, and John Wiswell’s Someone You Can Build a Nest In just didn’t work for me on any level.

With that ugliness out of the way, these are the 10 books that made an impression on me this year, the books that I enjoyed, that stick with me, and that I’ve made a point of sharing with those around me. They may not all be 5-star critically acclaimed works, but they have taken up permanent residence in my head and my heart, and they’re welcome to take up all the space they like.

(click through the images to revisit my reviews)

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Idolfire by Grace Curtis

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. Find out more here.

My choice this week is an epic sapphic fantasy roadtrip complete with sword fights and a slowburn romance.

Idolfire

by Grace Curtis
Fantasy } Romance
March 11, 2025 by DAW Books

An epic sapphic fantasy roadtrip inspired by the fall of Rome, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Frontier and Floating Hotel

On one side of the world, Aleya Ana-Ulai is desperate for a chance. Her family have written her off as a mistake, but she’s determined to prove every last one of them wrong.

On the other, Kirby of Wall’s End is searching for redemption. An ancient curse tore her life apart, but to fix it, she’ll have to leave everything behind.

Fate sets them both on the path to Nivela, a city once poised to conquer the world with the power of a thousand stolen gods. Now the gates are closed and the old magic slumbers. Dead — or waiting for a spark to light it anew…

A character-driven science-fantasy road trip book with sword fights and a slowburn romance, Idolfire delves into the vastness of history and the terrifying power of organized faith.

Stacking the Shelves & The Sunday Post

Stacking The Shelves (Reading Reality) and The Sunday Post (Caffeinated Reviewer) are both blog memes about sharing the books we’re adding to the shelves and sharing news of the week ahead.

New Purchases

Back from an amazing vacation in Orlando, where we not only did 4 days at Universal Studios, but we got to see a SpaceX launch on our day at Cape Kennedy! Didn’t get a lot of reading done while I was there, but I did splurge on the latest weighty tome from Brandon Sanderson as soon as we got home – Wind and Truth: Book Five of the Stormlight Archive.

For Review

In putting together a Most Anticipated list for 2025, I requested a bunch of new ARCs, and 4 were approved almost instantly – plus I got a surprise review copy from an old friend!

In many ways, Dragonclaw was the soft launch of my return to regular reviewing, so nabbing a copy of L.R. Lam’s Emberclaw was never in question. Idolfire by Grace Curtis was a book I saw featured on Instagram, and it had me at the promise of “epic sapphic fantasy roadtrip with sword fights and a slowburn romance.”

As an editor, I always love what queer collections Lee Mandelo puts together, so Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity is a very exciting addition to the review shelves. I actually requested a copy on Edelweiss over a month ago, so getting an immediate NetGalley approval was a huge relief. Wooing the Witch Queen, the new romantasy by Stephanie Burgis, is another lingering Edelweiss request, and another case of NetGalley to the rescue!

That old friend I mentioned? None other than the amazing M.Christian,who kindly gifted me a copy of the new edition of his collection, In Control: The Short, Kinky, Otherworldly Fiction of M.Christian.

Currently Reading

As for what I’m currently reading, I’ve got 3 books on the go. I’ve gone back to finish the last few stories in You Like It Darker, this year’s Stephen King collection, not because I’m hugely excited (it’s far from the vintage dark horror I was looking for), but because I want to clear the currently-reading shelf. Crown of Vengeance by Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory is actually a vacation reread, but with an ARC of the final book on my TBR, I want to refresh my memory. Finally, to no great surprise, I’ve cracked the spine on Wind and Truth, but I know it’s likely to be an on-again/off-again kind of read for a while.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame by Neon Yang

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted here to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. Find out more here.

My choice this week is a queer novella about a dragon hunter finding a home with a dragon queen.

Brighter Than Scale, Swifter Than Flame

by Neon Yang
Fantasy } Epic Fantasy
May 6, 2025 by Tordotcom

A new Queer, Asian-inspired fantasy novella about a renowned dragon slayer who never takes her armor off in public, Brighter than Scale, Swifter than Flame reads like She Who Became the Sun meets The Mandalorian, with dragons!

The fiercely independent nation of Quanbao is isolated, reclusive, and something of a mystery to the rest of the world. It is rumored that there, dragons are not feared as is right and proper but instead loved and worshiped.

Yeva is perhaps a strange emissary to these people. Not only because their face has never been seen in public, but because they are a hero born to a birthright that makes them suited for their task—hunting dragons.

And so the dragon hunter must woo Quanbao’s queen—the Lady Sookhee—to understand what secrets she is hiding. A woman reasonably suspicious of Yeva’s intentions, and the imperial might of the throne she represents, Sookhee bears the burden of the safety of her entire people. How can she trust this stranger newly arrived to her court, a weapon forged in blood and fire, to understand what her people need and how best to safeguard their future?ence and darkness, in which monsters vie for control of royal courts and destinies of nations. She discovers the bloody secrets of the Four Chains Trading Company, and the truth about her real mother’s death, nearly twenty years before…