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