Chris Cox's Blog, page 2
June 1, 2014
Review: Sinner’s Gin
Sinner’s Gin by Rhys Ford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Great fun action/adventure story. The pace is quick, which suits the story well, although that means some relationship growth must be read between the lines, instead of spelled out for the reader. I especially love the poetry–the song verses–that highlight some of the scenes. I’m now in for the whole series.
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May 26, 2014
Review: Static
Static by L.A. Witt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read this a while ago, but got hold of the new reprint and just read it again. And it’s just as fantastic.
This story challenging readers to think of people as people of many dimensions and not solely as their outward trappings. Interesting that te author chose to use first POV for both the MCs. I wonder if this gave us an insight that might not have been possible using 3rd POV. Although there was plenty of self exploration, I’m always up for more angst. While this could have been a tear-jerking story, overall, it was more a message story. The subtle (okay, sometimes not so subtle) way the characters are made to see each other, the assumptions of bias. The premise is poignantly genius.
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May 25, 2014
Review: The Prisoner: Broken Series Complete Collection
The Prisoner: Broken Series Complete Collection by Kol Anderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Chilling. Kept trying to put it down because of the subject matter but the writing compelled me to see what happened next. The author played that balance between horror and hope masterfully.
I want to take away the star b/c of the cliffhanger ending, but the writing is just too good to do that to.
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May 16, 2014
Why I Write What I Write
Hi, I’m Chris Cox and I write LGBT romance, gay romance if you want to be particular about it. Some say my specific subgenre is called m/m romance. I say gay romance because m/m reminds me too much of candy. While I love M&Ms, and some say that my stories are as sweet as candy coated chocolate, I really want my stories to last longer than one bite and then be forgotten.
I try really hard to get out of my own way and tell the story that needs to be told. Key in on that ‘needs to be told’ part.
I write about Louisiana boys in love. Why? Because I write what I know. I’m Louisianan, born and raised.
And I write to make the world a better place. I hope, I pray, that I can make the world a better place. At least a small corner of the world. At least one person’s world. Hopefully, my brother’s world.
My mother explains my brother by saying he’s never been married and never will be.
Is that not the loneliest thing you’ve ever heard? What if your mother said that about you? What if it were true?
No, damn it. That futility is going to change. I am going to do everything I can to change it. I am going to write so many stories of Louisiana boys in love that one day, one of my stories is going to fit and my brother is going to find his happily-ever-after. Because he’s human. As a human, he has the right to find someone who loves him, someone who shares hopes and dreams and arguments and screams and making up before going to sleep and everything else that goes with a close relationship.
He has that right.
I know he has that right.
But not everyone else knows that. So, in the way I shout the loudest, I’m going to show them why he and everyone else has that right. Hopefully, he’ll hear me. (Isn’t that the saddest part? That he’s been told over and over again how he’s less than, how he doesn’t have the same rights other men have? He’s been told so often that he has believed ‘them’.)
So, I write from the heart—and not just any heart, but a heart that cries out for my brother, for your brother and your son, and your nephew and your best friend when you were growing up together in grade school. And I hope and pray that your heart hears what my heart is trying to say. That your heart hears that love is a good thing among humans. That being lonely is sad and scary and, too often, dangerous to heads and hearts and souls. Loneliness makes humans feel like they don’t matter. Like they aren’t important. Like they have no worth.
So, I write of the special love that keeps away the loneliness. The love that makes humans feel worthy of existing. Feel worthy of being valued. Feel worthy of being cherished.
Because the sad truth is, not every human feels that way. Maybe It’s your brother, or your son, or your grandchild, or the kid down the street who used to be so carefree but now acts like he’s got something he needs to hide.
You can make a difference.
If you know someone who needs a hug, please give them one of yours. You can always make more.
Chris
You can change your own little corner of your world, today and every day. International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (May 17th)
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May 9, 2014
Conflict? Yes!
May 7, 2014
Review: Broken Pieces
Broken Pieces by Riley Hart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Poignantly written story of intertwining lives. This is one of those stories that spans the years (okay, I typoed tears, then decided it was more Freudian than a typo). Though simple and straghtforward in plot, this novel is intense and complex in emotions. Interesting wrap up.
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April 28, 2014
Inside Scoop and Giveaways
I'm going to send out my newsletter soon. (Really soon.) I do giveaways and other things like inside scoops. Want to sign up? Go here and look in the right-hand column: www.chriscoxwrites@gmail.com
April 23, 2014
Review: Only Love
Only Love by Garrett Leigh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Previously, I’ve read three Garrett Leigh books and thought they were fantastic. This one makes four.
Leigh has the rare ability to portray flaws, physical, mental and emotional in her characters, without making her characters weak. Instead, through her MCs, she shows the strength that comes from living with adversity. To make the picture even bigger, the author shows how strength can be both a help and a hindrance. In Only Love, strength–and pride–gets in the way of healing and of accepting love. To move ahead in life, to be a part of a relationship, means being brave enough to let go of being strong.
The struggle to give in and be vulnerable makes this story poignant and page-turning, and real. This book isn’t about tugging on hearstrings in a melodramatic way. It’s about surviving, and then learning to thrive, in a world of war that is so harsh and violent and full of shades of gray.
Garrett Leigh is firmly on my auto-buy list.
April 19, 2014
Review: Always
Always by Kindle Alexander
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Always has clean, solid writing, just like all the other Kindle Alexander books I’ve read.
I like the whole history of their relationship. It gives the overall story depth, I think. Makes me wish I knew all the parts in between the chapters! I especially like the view of the future, where the world is a bigger, smarter place to better accept diversity. The ending of this story made me reflective, bitter sweet.
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April 16, 2014
Review: Into Deep Waters
Into Deep Waters by Kaje Harper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I’ve read a few stories by Kaje Harper, none of them cooking cutter. The one thing that does stay consistent is her brilliant writing skills. She adds the perfect details to her story to let me know her characters, know their world and their thoughts and, best of all, their emotions.
In this FREE story, Into Deep Waters, I am transported back to WWII, back to a time of fear and patriotism. Back to a time when loving another man could get you killed as fast as an enemies’ torpedo blast. Yet, in this story, I learn of a love that is too big to deny.
This isn’t an over-the-top melodrama about love conquering over all difficulties. Instead, it’s a beautifully honest story about two men who endure the hardships both the war and the world impose on them, and triumph because they love.
This story will stay with me for a very long time. One of the great ones.
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