Love is an Open Road #8
I suppose I should clear this out of my “drafts” stage, so I can start the new year without any unreviewed books hanging over my head. Aside from whatever I read after I post this, of course.
As always, these are stories from the M/M Romance Goodreads Group’s Don’t Read in the Closet “Event” which this year is . They are offered for free, and are wide enough in variety that there is something for everyone, and lots for me.
After reviewing these, I have… 107 left to deal with. I wish that I kept better track of how many I read, skipped, DNF, loved, ect–but I didn’t. Oh well, perhaps next year.
The Tower of Fire by Ellie Black: An urban fantasy story of unrequited love, princes, secretive witches, magical cats, and a traitor hidden in the midst. It’s basic in both parameters and style, but solid and clever nonetheless.
Black Horse River by Robin Studwick: DNF. Tags said something about magical creatures, but the only magic I found by half-way was that of the endless whine. Endless.
The Supreme Might of Love by Christa Tomlinson: A hot Roman threesome. Heavy on the sex, light on the conflict resolution, but a very good read if Roman threesomes are what you’re in the mood for.
Full Exposure by Amy Jo Cousins: A younger brother agrees to help his elder brother out with a photo shoot of a pop star. And then nothing goes as planned. This was pretty hot, and rather unexpected in direction, though it did seem a bit too neat at times. Not that you can really fault it, since it’s just a short story.
Hollow’s Trouble by N.J. Nielsen: DNF. This wasn’t bad, I just finished the first section, and felt that I had read my fill. I wouldn’t say that it was predictable, just that it wasn’t anything special, although it rather seemed to think that it was.
Scar by Dee A: OMG, this was good. A man just out of prison tries to start over far from the home and family he’d had before. And he does a pretty good job of that restart, even if a certain annoying and pushy man keeps ending up underfoot. Violent, and also rapey. The violence just added to things, since it’s also a story about an underground fighting ring, but the rape (sorry, “forced consent”)…I don’t want to say that it was gratuitous or pointless or poorly handled, but when I finished the story and looked back over it, it felt like the tale could have been told just the same without it. Which is my new analysis tool for non/dub/forced-con in stories. I still liked the story overall, of course, but it’s not for the easily triggered.
First Dance by E. Davies: A man who works in a bookstore has an incredibly attractive customer, who turns out to have an unexpected job. Short, hot, and sweet. So sweet.
Love Like the Medici by Edmond Manning: An American tourist in Italy has his life stolen out from under him (in a figurative sense). This was sweet and good, but as much as I love art and art history it really dragged and dragged and dragged at times.
His Perfect Match by Aiden Nicholas: College romance. Cute, sweet, some drama, nothing too special.
Stretched Too Far by Sloan Johnson: DNF I read two-thirds of this story, but cannot remember what it was about. I’m even trying to reread bits, which usually jogs my memory, but I still have no idea… Okay wait, got it; a brother and sister get a new yoga teacher, and the brother and the teacher have the hots for each other, but play the self-denial game because that creates Dramatic Suspense (otherwise known as “plot”?). It started out as some hot UST, but then just…lost my interest (and apparently couldn’t hold my memory).
If a Star Should Fall by L.E. Hale: DNF, but I feel bad about it. It’s actually a pretty okay story, about a demon trying to win back his angel lover (who is now human), and they meet other supernatural people who help out, so it’s interesting, and there’s a fairly solid world that it’s built on. But. For some reason it just wasn’t able to draw me in.
Dared and Confused by Adara O’Hare: A hot story about two guys in a group of friends that like to play a rather risque game of Truth or Dare. Some of the things that happened were…too good and perfect, but it was a fun and simple story to read.
