A.R. Jarvis's Blog

Hello?

Is anyone still there? Should you still be there? Am I still here?

Well. I am still alive, despite 2020’s best attempts. I stepped away back in…whatever year that was…because I was distracted with trying to buy a house, and then I just let life distract me completely away. But 2020, being a shit year that highlighted every shit thing about everything, also managed to highlight just how much I hated my job (which was not quite as much as that version of the job hated me, though it was pretty close), so after being told I could accept a position I didn’t want, or else quit in the middle of a pandemic-driven unemployment crisis, I…did not quit, but worked there for another 6 months while trying to find another job.

Turns out I’m particularly bad at job searching (this is not news), but at the end of the next transition period at work, when the position (which I hadn’t wanted) was slated to work under the person who’d undermined the last appearance of competence I had with management (I mean, honestly, management had had it in for me for a couple of years at that point, it wasn’t like she had to work very hard, but she still did it…I’d say I’m not bitter, but I’m really fucking bitter)…where were we? Right. At the next transition period, I tallied up my monthly expenditures, compared it to my current savings, and decided that quitting was the sanest course.

Maybe I’ll write you a story about how awful that last year was there, but mostly we’re supposed to put on a happy face and repress everything, and I’m terrified that my reasonable complaints plus my tendency to dramatically rant when I’m upset make me sound like an entitled asshole who caused all the things that happened to her out of arrogance and Not Trying Hard Enough–which now that I write it out, sounds like maybe that job did more of a number on me than I thought.

Anyway, since I’m unemployed until further notice, and since being an author is maybe the only dream I keep coming back to, I figured I might as well give it a whirl, again, For Real. I don’t think the money will last quite long enough to get published (I should be good for 4-5 months, assuming nothing goes horrifically wrong), but if I’m slowly looking for jobs alongside, or doing part time work, or…I don’t know, but I’m hoping I can get a bulk of writing done while I’m unemployed, so when I have to give up and crawl back to the industry I just left (which complicates the job search; I want OUT, else I could probably have my pick of jobs), I can maybe lie to myself that it’ll only be temporary while my dreams of Becoming An Author are realized.

And in the meantime I can be every third millennial who’s “taking some time” to “write my book.” Goddammit.

But anyway, I outlined an actual plot for Eggs Unsung, then realized Equipoise was more than half written, so I’m working on that, and intending to do EU next. Work is coming along steadily on Equipoise so far, although I’m mostly only adjusting things, and I expect that speed to slow as I reach the parts that need more serious work (or, you know, haven’t been written at all yet). But today I have a headache I can’t work around, so rather than write and delete the same 200 words three more times, I thought I’d resurrect this blog, for whatever three followers it might still have.

So yeah. Hi. Hello. I hope 2021 is treating you okay so far.

SSBB #61 Something Old, Something New

I’m not dead, I swear. I just got caught up in the complex and time-consuming process of utterly failing to buy a house. And then it felt weird to update the blog after so long, so I just kept putting it off. And now here we are.

Luckily, Shousetsu Bang*Bang did not attempt to buy a house (although what a great house it would be if they did!), and were thus, of course, able to put out the newest issue waaaaaay back on Monday, which, coincidentally, is also the day I finished reading the issue. I have no good reason for why I didn’t write the summaries earlier than this, but if you need one, then I say to thee, “Parent-Teacher Conferences.” One parent brought me booze. She said it wasn’t a bribe.

But that’s neither here nor there.

On to the Issue! The theme was Something Old, Something New, intended as a tribute to the legalizing of gay marriage last June.

There were only five stories, but they were good ones.

Down On My Knees: Two men, strangers, meet in a bar. Pretty predictable, for me, at least. But it was hot and sweet.

Employee engagement: Perhaps the most complex tale of the bunch. On the surface it’s just a couple of coworkers, but a little deeper and there are a few plot lines that twist softly…I don’t know, perhaps “complex” is the wrong word, but it has a large number of characters for a short story, and they are all dimensional and it was just really good.

Layer Cake. Woah. Super hot. A baker of cakes, and an affianced couple looking to order one, except they are both terrible groom-zillas, and have changed their minds just at closing time one night…

The Happy Knot You Tie: This one I found confusing. It was heartwarming, to be sure, and once Things were explained it made more sense, and…maybe there is another story in this world somewhere, in which case we already knew the slew of characters, which would greatly help with the confusion, but as it stood this story was decent and sweet, but not fantastic.

Bachelors and Bouquets: Two parts. One single man, four engaged friends, one summer. A large number of characters were dumped on our heads right in the first scene, and I won’t admit the depths of my confusions over them here. I will say that they didn’t matter all that much, and after shrugging the whole passel of them off with the summary line above, my enjoyment of the story increased immensely, and I really loved it. It was a good balance of all the things you might like to see in a wedding romance story, without actually being any of them.

Shousetsu Bang*Bang no 60

The theme for this issue of Shousetsu Bang*Bang was Anyway, Here’s Wonderwall. And it came out on my birthday! Which is my excuse for not getting these summaries/reviews out earlier, and I’m sticking to it. Now, let’s see if I can remember what any of the stories were…

Figgy duff and spotted dick: A pair of boyfriends who are opening a coffee shop are nearly there. We get just a small slice of their life as they take a brief break from working to fulfill their dream.

know your meme, but, like, in the biblical sense: A secret from the new co-worker’s past comes back to haunt him, but the MC doesn’t really see it as a bad thing.

Eight to Five (twenty-two and a half inches): A football guy and a band guy. While still being short and sweet, this one took some time to deal with the closetedness (or not) of the two guys. Also, they were very…human, I guess, in that they had some clear,  yet simple flaws–like the one guy was a bit of a jerk. Not to any extreme, just a forgivable amount that’s enough to be human without being super-humanly flawed.

The Scene is Dead: A really interesting take on a ghost story. At least one of the Big Things was skipped over (The Big Reveal, if you will), but then again, I didn’t feel betrayed by that, just mildly miffed, since it’s clear what happened, and that it wouldn’t have been a very dramatic scene to begin with.

Anyway, I’m Not That Wonderful: A man and his sometimes-hookup, and how that changes. It’s a simple story, but also sweet, and it had a very good use of name-reveals that I totally approve of.

Savior (tfw maybe bf): This was the only 2-part story in the bunch. It was…interesting. There was some drug-use, although not by the MC (and it was more referred to afterwards as explanation than explicit during the story). I’m uncomfortable with the events of the story, because I’m always uncomfortable with things like people shacking up with strangers and putting themselves socially on the line for looking like an idiot, but if you put that aside, it’s a very interesting story. It traced the tipping point for one young man’s life; the moment when it goes from being carefully planned to being much more wild, yet what he wants. So it’s sweet with a hopeful ending, yet not without its rough patches.

Love is an Open Road: The End

Yes! This should be the last time you see that shitty picture of a road! I’ll bet you’re all very excited to hear that, if nothing else.

Well, this post includes the last three stories, as produced by the M/M Romance Goodreads Group for their Don’t Read in the Closet Event. I saved the best for last, too.

Give an Inch by KD Sarge: This was a sweet short about a movie star who moves to a small town to get away from it all, and then has kittens. I’m not sure that I can buy a small town never having heard of dyslexia in this day and age, but otherwise it’s a basic feel-good story of unexpected love. Also, kittens.

In Heaven and Earth by Amy Rae Durreson: An amazing sci-fi offering by one of my favorite authors. Lots of unexpected turns in the plot, and it was really refreshing how the characters figured out actual realistic solutions to the problem, even if that meant saving everyone else in the universe (but not themselves). Plus the dynamic between the two MCs was fantastic, and the Enemy was fascinatingly creepy.

Deep Magic by Gillian St. Kevern: This was a bit of a risk to save for the very last, because while I loved The Biggest Scoop, it could have been a fluke. And now I’m happy to tell you that it absolutely wasn’t. Deep Magic is, by very brief description, the tale of a man and his merman. But it really masters its trope, and goes way beyond that into ocean politics, family drama, and ancient Welsh magic. The characters grow, the mystery is slowly revealed, the flashbacks are kept well in check, the conflict resolutions were foreshadowed (but subtly enough that I didn’t fully guess them), and a few things are left unsolved because life is never quite that neat and tidy. It was just a very wonderful read, and the prefect note to end my journey down this long (if open) road.

It looks like I read 124 of the LiaOR stories over…a few months. And so far I’ve read 69 books of my 100-book goal, which is kind of impressive, if you ask me. I’ve found a few new authors, revisited a few old ones, and I’m looking forward to not reading Don’t Read in the Closet books for a few weeks at least (months, right? it’s a summer thing?). I can take a crack at that pile of paper books that’s been slowly growing on my shelf!

Love is an Open Road: Readers’ Choices

Another thing that the M/M Romance Goodreads Group does is host a huge voting event for favorite books. I mostly just ignore that because I can hardly keep up with the stuff I choose to read, I can’t be bothered with trying to read things that other people recommend, and then…judge them, or whatever goes on in there. But this year I noticed that it was up, and I went in to the results looking to see what stories won the Readers’ Choice awards for the event. I was hoping Splinterpoint won, but I guess that’s why I should probably have voted.

Because I’ve been saving my favorites for last, so I can end on a high note whatever else I might be reading, I also decided that it would be a good idea to put those three winners into the “Save for Later” slot as well, assuming they couldn’t be too bad.

Assumptions are dangerous things, as it crowd-sourcing the best of anything. But here are my blurbs about the three Readers’ Choice Awards:

fawn by Nash Summers: I read this one first. I read this one first, and my god, if it hadn’t been “recommended” by being a Readers’ Choice, I would have abandoned it. In other words it was a very good lesson that “Readers’ Choice” sometimes translates to “Author with the Most Friends.” I mean, look, it was cute, in the end. There was one kid who was the gay version of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, and this other kid who was pretty much a YA Brooding Hero (both of whom I follow on twitter…), and it was sweet that the two lost and found each other, and that they were fated or whatever, and who doesn’t love a dreamy artsy kid with feathers and bones in his hair? Or the angsty dark-haired misunderstood abused guy he falls for? Or meandering purple prose overgrown with metaphors, allegories, flashbacks, baroque descriptions, cliches, and sentimentality? Me. Me, that’s who. I didn’t like it.

Waiting for Clark by Annabeth Albert: Now that my expectations were appropriately lowered, I read this story second. It was way more in line with what I would expect from a “Readers’ Choice.” It pretty much had everything; subtle humor, less subtle humor, UST, superheroes, cons, pinball, bat caves…pretty much anything you could ask for. And, yeah, I really liked it. I’m still not sure that it was better than Spliterpoint or some of my other favorites, but it was at least on par with them, and I really enjoyed reading it.

Chasing Death Metal Dreams by Kaje Harper: This one was already in my fav’s when I saw it was a RC award, so I figured it would be pretty damn good. But I must admit I hesitated when I saw that it was about a FTM person. Transgender stories tend to be hit or miss with me because it’s really way beyond the scope of my experience, and also I suspect because many authors make a hash of the issues (although I can’t firmly attest to that, because I don’t actually know…). Anyway, I got over my hesitation and read it. And it was good. Like, really good. Like, I don’t think a hash was made of anything important, and it was just a really great story that included pretty much everything about being trans (and colored), without being preachy or patronizing or whatever on any of those topics (as far as my white cis-gendered ass can tell, anyway). The sort of …end plot was…weird and borderline unnecessary, but then again, if it hadn’t been there I would have whined about wanting more, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.

But still. This Reader’s Choice is Splinterpoint.

Love is an Open Road: the Longest Story

Mr. Felcher’s Grand Emporium, or, The Adventures of a Pair of Spares in the Fine Art of Gentlemanly Portraiture by Eric Alan Westfall clocks in at well over 200k words, making it easily the longest story in the Love is an Open Road collection.

I loved Westfall’s installment last year (The Rake, the Rogue, and the Roue), because it was written with language appropriate for its era, and it was filthy and smutty and fascinating. So while I was slightly intimidated by the length of Mr. Felcher’s, I was still anticipating reading it.

But I had to give up about half-way through. It isn’t bad, and it’s still filthy and fascinating and smutty and period-appropriate, it’s just also fuck-tons of digressions (to the point where I can’t follow what is happening when), and it seems to lack even the vestigial plot that last year’s book had.

Now there will be people who love this book, and I fully believe that it deserves to have tons of dedicated fans. But I’m just not one of them.

The premise is that two young man (“spares” or second-sons) are introduced to all the pleasures and porn of an alternate Victorian England (where you won’t be killed for being gay, but will probably be ostracized and possibly gay-bashed). The two young men go right from “hey, pr0n!” to having oodles of public and semi-public sex with pretty much any cock they can get their hands on (or so it felt). There are far more detailed descriptions of cocks than I have ever seen elsewhere, even if you added them all up in one. And There were lots of pop-culture references, some of them were period-appropriate, like when the characters quote Shakespeare, and some were clearly just for the entertainment of the modern reader (a roundabout joke about Viagra, for example), but others I wasn’t sure about (a rhyming couplet from a Christmas song that a character thought, but without context to imply if he knew the song, or was just thinking a thought which the author made use of for the audience).

But like I said, there were infinite digressions of all calibers, where you’d be reading and then three pages later be reminded that you’re still in the middle of the character trying to detail a metaphor for why his cock is like a tree, or whatever.

I also didn’t like the public sex. Or, that’s not a good way to explain it, because I do like a good voyeur/exhibitionist story. So it wasn’t the basic fact of public (or non-private) sex, so much as it was the absurd lengths that the…uh…Emporium went to to make sure that ALL THE SEX was public, and not just some of it. There were ways to invite or not invite people in to join you, but no mention of a way to close the peep holes. It was just…absurdly complicated set-ups for everything, that still didn’t allow for privacy (you could leave if you didn’t like it), and even though the guys were all terrified of being found out as “Neddy boys,” they still would whip their cocks out for all to see.

Plus the digressions (let me mention them a third time), which would occasionally leave me confused as to what the overly-described position even WAS…and I just couldn’t get into it. I tried and I tried, and I couldn’t do it.

SSBB no. 59 Some Assembly Required

Phew, I made it. Actually it didn’t take very long to read the whole SSBB issue this month, but it was a fun one! And I loved that the quality of writing was far more consistent and reliable than with the Don’t Read in the Closet event writings. I previously would have said they were about the same, but honestly there was a lot more mediocre writing and editing in the DRitC () stories.

But whatever, this month’s theme was Some Assembly Required, and it fit the theme really well overall. There were only seven stories, and of them only one had two parts. I probably could have finished them all yesterday if I hadn’t spent so much time trying to out-nap the cats.

There was no secret hidden theme this time, but I did find it interesting that two of the stories had BJs with condoms. I’m pretty confident that I can state that’s unusual, at least in fiction. I know it’s (allegedly?) not as dangerous to suck without a barrier in reality, but I also know the sex-how-to talks I somehow attended at college without burning up emphasized that one should always always suit up. And yet you don’t see that as much in fiction–not even when the characters are obsessed with protection the rest of the time. So to have two stories talking about poor flavoring and latex on tongues in a random selection of seven is odd (not entirely random, but you get the idea).

Anyway, here’s some summaries, which you have all waited so very patiently for:

Mimeo Killed the Radio Star, by Iron Eater: A young man commits himself to publishing a zine on mimeograph in the 80s (pretty sure it was the 80s), but finds the deadline looming too closely, and ends up calling on an unlikely volunteer. It’s a good non-romance story. There’s smut, and there’s dynamic between them, but it sets out not to be a romance, and it ends without being a romance (perhaps they become friends-with-benefits? or just booty-call-buddies? does that spoil too much?)

Be Careful What You Fish For, by Aosora Hikaru: An odd one where a Michigan man finds something unexpected on a regular fishing trip. This was our two-parter, and I think the best thing about it is the fact that it’s…a standard type of set-up, and I kept expecting this one thing to happen (because it always does in this sort of story)…but it never did, and the ending…I hate to call it a twist, because that makes it seem like it was really dramatic, and it wasn’t, but the quietly different path this story took was wonderful.

Another pair of hands, by Hyakunichisou 13: This was about a new homeowner, who needs almost as much work as his house, although he’s determined to do both by himself. It’s another quiet and not-quite-as-expected story, and I loved that it’s applicable to me because I’m just starting on a quest to buy a home, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be doing the exact same things as he did in less than a year…

Stuva, by Hiwaru Kibi: A new neighbor moves in, and it turns out he needs a hand with assembling a DIY crib, which the MC is content enough to provide when beer is offered. I think I might say that this was the hottest of the bunch, certainly it was the only one with pretty much any UST at all.

The Antidote We Make Together, by Iseya Misu: A certain young lordling secretly takes on a job as a servant-for-hire, providing any and all services required by the people he serves. Which makes him sound like a whore, and he’s not, I don’t mean that. It was…on the absurd/improbable side, if you think about it too hard, but it’s very sweet if you don’t.

The Lemon Priest, by Wasureta Yume: This was maybe the most unusual of the stories. The MC is sent to a far-away land to help a failing glass factory, but things aren’t as they seem, and the glass may be out to kill him. It helps that the gardener and the lemon tree are on his side, though. I really enjoyed the bits and hints of culture and character that the story gave us, but I must say that it ended far, far too soon, and I was really hoping it would be a two-parter, or that perhaps someday we can see more of this world.

Terra Cotta, by Kuruma Ebi: This is one where information is withheld from the reader until well into the story, so I’m not sure what I can say that won’t give something away that you’re not supposed to know at the outset (although it’s not my favorite story-telling style, so I’m tempted to just blurt stuff out), but…it’s a story with large monsters, a future both known and unknown, and a few people who just want to live. It was strange in a good way, and heart-warming in the best way.

Love is an Open Road #14

I know many of you are probably disappointed that this isn’t an SSBB post, but I was so determined to get through these LOR stories that I’ve put SSBB aside for now. I’m going to read those stories next, and then start on the last seven LOR stories after, so it shouldn’t be a long wait. I just hope no one is too put out by having to wait to read my reviews of free gay romances while I review free gay romances.

I got through 19 stories this week, taking me from 26 down to 7, and those 7 are my “private reserves,” if you will, of stories that I know will be good (and two reader’s choice stories that I hope will be good).

Line of Sight by Jenn Burke: A simple sci-fi story of a stranded alien. The sci-fi aspect is a bit more “framework” than “essence,” but then again, I shouldn’t say that because it has some serious play at the end. Mostly it was just a short and sweet story about learning when and how to choose love.

The Downs by Kim Fielding: The Downs is a really interesting thought-story about a guy who gets exiled from the city he calls home, and sent to the Downs, which is a certain death-sentence. He devotes his remaining life and existence to getting his revenge. There’s some economic and ecological things that don’t really add up, but this story wasn’t written for those, it’s more a fascinating character study, on which it delivers very well.

Salvaging Toby’s Heart by Lexi Ander: DNF This story begins as a fascinating sci-fi world with an interesting economic system, and a puzzle that could shake the fate of several planets (and/or several large companies), with our MC right in the middle of it. At least until the love interest is introduced. Because from that moment–from that very fucking sentence–onward, the story becomes one of two men struggling eternally and internally with the battle of I’m attracted to him. But I shouldn’t be. But I’m attracted to him. But I shouldn’t be. But I’m attracted to him. But I shouldn’t be. But I’m attracted to him. But I shouldn’t be. But I’m– okay, I think you get it. There was also still some mumbles about plot here and there, but in order to make the romance work, the economic/cultural system had to be shot full of holes, so that was done. And I feel personally betrayed by that. It really got my hopes up, you know?

Hellion by Lisa Henry: This is a regency romance with…basically no twists at all. It’s fairly short, so it doesn’t immerse you in the world (but pretty much everyone already knows the regency world as is), and the characters are sweet and realistic, although the switch from antagonists to lovers is…on the abrupt side. Basically it was a solid example of a modernly-written gay regency romance.

The Alpha and His Ace by Ana J. Phoenix: This is the story of a werewolf who finds that his fated mate is an asexual. Compared to Not Even Close, which is a terrible attempt at writing a werewolf and his demi-sexual mate, this was good. Not that NEC sets a very high bar. The author referred to the popular known asexual website (name of which slips my mind), and appears to have actually read it (possibly even understood it). There are even some direct quotes. But it’s still an overall disappointment. The story focuses mainly on the fact that the alpha cannot comprehend someone not wanting sex, and the ace being disappointed that the alpha doesn’t understand. And then the final “Oh, I can have sex, I just don’t get it up,” scene almost sounded a bit like erectile dysfunction, rather than asexuality. So it was better than the most similar story I’ve ever read, but it was still …improvable.

Lima Oscar Victor Echo and the Truth About Everything by Suki Fleet: This was a sweet story about two old friends in a small town figuring things out. I vaguely recall that the writing style isn’t top-notch, but it was a decent read.

The Frat Brat by Nico Jaye: A hot PWP about a frat boy with a crush. Hard to say more than that, because that’s pretty much all it was.

The Forest Savage by Claire Davis & Al Stewart: This is a slow a heart-wrenching redemption story about two guys in a half-way house finding their ways, sometimes together, sometimes apart.

Brewing Up Trouble by Jessie G: A policeman and his barista/baker crush. Sweet, short, silly at times, nothing heavy or deep. I barely remember it…

Obsidian by Rory Ni Coileain: Snake-shifters. Highly improbable, but a fun and sweet read. Short. If you look at it too hard, it becomes dub-con, though. I mean, the story does a decent job of explaining it as biology and life-saving, but…yeah, don’t look at it too hard.

All About Trust by DP Denman: Speaking of heart-wrenching redemption stories, this was another one, only way more heart-wrenching and realistically redeeming. I’ve never been in a setting from which I would need to be redeemed and move on (thank god), but I think this is the or one of the closest to what that would be like; learning to trust everyone and everything there is again. And the romance is as slow as it needs to be for such a story, nothing rushed about it.

Blood on Sand by Ofelia Grand: Another shifter story, this one with lizards, wolves, minotaurs, and other things. They have an interesting …um…shifting style? where there are a few different stages, and they can’t talk except in the fully-human one (but can mind-speak, of course). But it’s also a slavery story where one of the slaves…I can’t explain without giving too much away. Basically it’s an interesting story with a few unusual patterns in the shifter’s society and set-up, and with an unusual twist at the end. But the writing is no better than mediocre, and the characters were a bit shallow.

The Raven’s Flight by Catherine Lievens: More shifters. This story has some things that the feminist in all of us can rant about for paragraphs, but if you ignore those things (or accept them as nearly-unavoidable romance-story tropes), then it’s okay. I can’t say that I was sold on the romance between the two guys, and the cliches were plentiful, but I read the whole thing, and I don’t regret it.

Open Road #13

I breezed through a lot of stories again this week, getting my total down to 26 from 46. And most of those are short, although I do have a collection of 7 stories by my favorite authors that I’m saving for later (well, two of them are Reader’s Choice winners rather than specifically my favorites, but they are still being reserved), and one of those is, I believe, the longest story from the Love is an Open Road collection. So I have definitely one more week for the unknowns, plus at least a week more for my private reserve. And then I can go read other things! Or possibly just knit more.

Anyway, on their website.

And here are my thoughts on the ones I read this week:

Reubaltach Cridhe by K. Mason: This was a brief tale of two Scottish warriors who fall for each other. It’s tagged “low sex content,” but has two sex scenes in 21k words, so I’m worried about the author’s baseline expectation for smut in novellas. And, while it was sweet, and the characters seemed to have a good dynamic, we saw NOTHING about the building of that dynamic. Just a few side-comments about how they’d become friends over the last few weeks. And also all the things that could cause issues are solved with near-magical ease. So it’s a cute read, but probably only scores a 6 on my 1-10 scale that I never talk about.

Out in the Deep End by Lane Hayes: A fairly hot story about two water polo players who hate each other, probably.

The East Wind and the Rootless Cypress by Elyse Night: Much like the first one above, this was an interesting story with an interesting world (fantasy this time), and a pretty good dynamic between the two characters…yet without the readers getting to appreciate the building of that dynamic. And here we got to be with the two men right from the moment they met…except their relationship was still built by a statement like “We’d been traveling together for two weeks, and had become friends by now,” which isn’t quality writing. There was also something about the second guy’s past, and emotional reaction to ‘spirit walkers’ (and his release thereof) that was…let’s just say improbable because otherwise we’ll be here all night. So yeah. Can’t recommend it.

The Spinner, the Shepherd, and the Leading Man by Kris Ripper: This was a surprisingly believable contemporary threesome story. It was hot and convincing, and I really enjoyed it. Except for two things. One, it was based at “Summer stock,” and never fully explained what that was. I think, for the author, that it was obvious, but since I’m not a theater person, I had to piece it together from the things stated by the characters, and we were halfway through before I felt like I knew what the hell “summer stock” was. And then beyond that there was something in the way characters were referenced that left me often confused as to who was doing/saying what. Not like things were mislabeled, more like they were unlabeled, and it’s not a huge detriment, but I spent lots of time rereading passages to figure out what was going on.

Shelter from the Storm by Mia West: A cute little …I don’t know how to explain it. It’s written as a letter to the reader about a rancher in the Old West who gets a mail order bride. It’s mostly sweet, and a little bit absurd, and also kind of hot. It’s also a reassuring and affirming story of the best sort.

Matters of State by A. Phallus Si: An odd sci-fi story which I am not sure how to explain. It has a bit of Dom/sub going on in it, and some …miscommunication? but it’s intentional on the one man’s part. It’s good, fairly hot, and has some fairly public sex in it (if that’s your thing).

This We’ll Defend by Leona Windwalker: A tale of two army guys and how they make it work despite everything. Short, sweet, a few twists.

Pull Down the Sun by Danni Keane: A slightly off-kilter story of a romance that blossomed over several years. Has some dark undertones and themes, which were handled pretty well, although they (or something else) gave it a weird glaze, if you will.

Aniki’s Garden by Claire Cray: Since I didn’t put up any DNF stories, this probably gets the WTF award. It seemed like…a story…and then turned into just a thin excuse for tentacle porn. Hot tentacle porn, but still. I feel like there should be more to say, but that’s all; it started, and then there were tentacles, and then it was over, with many things left unclear.

Alex’s Surprise by Chris McHart: A paranormal mpreg story! It was terrible. Just terrible. But apparently I’m a sucker for terrible mpreg, because I read the whole thing, and might even mumble that I enjoyed it if I don’t think anyone is listening. The world was built precariously just so that it could heighten the drama of the plot, with little bits of it shored up when needed. The characters were cliche and suffered from drama-building (but unrealistic) mood swings (even if one guy was pregnant and supposed to be moody). AND it wasn’t even a full story, but is to be continued in a sequel. I think I’ll pass on that one, though. There’s enough other terrible mpreg to read in the world, I don’t have to seek it out.

Lost in a Dream by Dawn Simmons: A young man and his incubus. Has BDSM elements to the sex, but for an incubus tale there wasn’t really all that much sex –it was there, don’t get me wrong, but the plot was actually more important than the sex, who would have guessed??? It was a very interesting take on incubi, being both old-school, and completely different from what I usually read. So yeah. I recommend this one.

Ten Simple Tips for Surviving the Apocalypse by Cari Z: This was maybe my favorite of this week’s reads. It has a most interesting structure, with each chapter being a tip and revealing stuff from the past, and stuff from the present…it was just amazing. Plus it has a new take on the post-apocalypse world, which is always fun. And…yeah. Great read.

Wrong Direction by Kelly Jensen: Couple college suitemates falling for each other, in a hilariously literal sense at times. Hot, sweet, hurt/comfort, nothing unusually great about it, but certainly a great beach read (um, curled-by-the-fire read? It is February…).

Open Road #12

This was apparently Read All The Things week, because I went from 67 stories to 46. Most of the DNF ones are left unmentioned because we ain’t got time for that, and nearly all of them were short (which helps with reading so many in a week). It’s especially impressive because I also did a million and three things this week (give or take a million of them, but whatever). Maybe I can finish them all by April. Maybe even by March!

Genetic Redux by Kathryn Sparrow: DNF. The writing on this one wasn’t all that bad, but the premise wasn’t one that I could handle. Some aliens “attacked” Earth and took all the people from one island nation (a million) as “definitely not slaves” to help them re-boot their own race genetically. The MC spends a lot of time trying to ask about how it wasn’t slavery, which the aliens avoid answering, and I can’t parse out for myself. Especially since the Earthlings aren’t given a choice, and get a whole “We’re going to DIE without each and everyone of you” emotionally-manipulative guilt trip. Maybe it’s explained better in the second half? Certainly the MC was well on his way to a Stockholm Syndrome when I left.

Trapped by Kenzie Cade: Two espionage partners are going through a rough patch in their relationship, so their boss sends them to a couples’ retreat. And then life sends them a few more curve balls. Good, basic, not much on the spying, lots more on the partners secretly in love, fairly tasty UST.

Not Even Close by Lisa Oliver: DNF. I’ll freely admit that I barely know what I’m talking about, but this was supposed to be a demi-sexual story, meaning the MC didn’t feel sexual attraction to a person until they got to know them, but it read more like a person who had intentionally chosen to remain virgin until marriage in a sex-crazed society. So it was all “I’m demi-sexual, woe is me” one paragraph and “I had to hold my wolf back from going after him,” the next (where it is impossible to separate the wolf of werewolves from being an emotional metaphor). Which made it read far more like a moral struggle than a lack of initial sexual interest. If it hadn’t been for that clumsy execution, it might have been worth reading.

Tonight by Karen Stivali: This was a really hot story of a man falling for his older brother’s best friend, who is probably not gay. It was really hot, and had some great UST, and it’s not, you know, deep or anything, but is an awesome sort of beach-read (if you are somewhere that does beaches in February, that is). Not entirely certain it was the best choice for a bus read, since I was blushing and smirking most of the time, but that’s why I have a scarf; to hide my face.

Lifeboat by Rob Colton: A short and strange little heart-warming sci-fi story. Not much to say, but worth a read.

Eat Crow by Jacob Lagadi: Speaking of strange, this is a very strange shifter story. A crow-shifter is bound unwillingly to a bear-shifter by some legal stuff, although that’s a misleading summary. It’s…good, I guess? A sequel is needed, but I’d pass on it, if only for kink reasons ‘cuz that’s not my cup of tea.

Moondrop by Katey Hawthorne: This one has a ‘shifters’ tag, but at half-way through there were no shifters, only a wonderful, near-perfect little romance tale, and I was starting to worry how ruined it would be by the sudden reveal of said shifters. I shouldn’t have. It remained sweet and perfect and wonderful, with a only soft nuggaty, perfect center of shifters.

Vice and Exploitation by J.T. Hall: This was a menage story, which I like, but also a BDSM story, which I don’t. But actually, aside from the fact that I did skim the smut, I thought this was a very interesting read. There were two…not separate story lines, but two very different things that were occurring at the same time, and the author did a very good job of balancing them without ruining either one for the other (and without destroying the “reality” of the situation to make either happen), so even though I knew all along I didn’t want to read the sex, I was still really curious about how they’d get there. So yeah, worth a read, especially if threesome BDSM is your bag, but also maybe if it’s not.

Trace Memories Will Save Us by Nan Hart: Another short and weird sci-fi story, this one needing much in the way of sequels. There was no sex, and only the barest amount of romance, but the glimpse of the sci-fi world was interesting and worth checking out.

Agenda by Alp Mortal: The WTF award winner for this week’s collection, this is an exceedingly strange “British, humor” story. I read it, and I didn’t hate myself for doing so, but it did plow new furrows of confusion in my brow, which may never fully leave, and I honestly don’t recommend it.

Snowmancer by Olivia Helling: I’ve been looking forward to this one, because that title is awesome, but I know better than to anticipate good stories with these events because I’m almost always disappointed. And when I read the first sentence, I *was* disappointed. But I gave it a bit more or a try, and next thing I know I was supposed to have been asleep hours before so I could go to work the next day. In the end I really, really enjoyed this story and the world it was set in (even if some parts were a bit too convenient, and the first sentence was not the only awkward one). It was bittersweet, and just sweet, and dire, yet not, and I’m so glad I gave it that second chance.