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Friday Film Review: Latter Days

Joan/SarahF — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:00:23 +0000

Latter Days (2003)
Genre: Gay Romance
Grade: B

I’m an absolute sucker for coming out stories and especially, apparently, for “religious twink overcoming his background to accept who he is” stories. This film delivers quite nicely. I came to it oddly: I stumbled across a novelization of the film while cruising (so to speak) the gay and lesbian fiction section at Barnes & Noble. Being what I am, I read the end and loved it, so streamed the movie on Netflix. The ending in the novelization was actually better than the ending in the movie (a little more dialogue, a little more emotional depth), but I still wasn’t disappointed in the movie.

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Christian is your typical — one might even say stereotypical — gay LA party boy: a gym rat who fucks a new guy every night and has a job as a waiter while he tries to break into acting (I think — not super-clear). (Jacqueline Bisset, BTW, still gorgeous, moonlights as his wisdom-dispensing, snarky boss.) Aaron is a Mormon from Idaho on mission to LA. He lives with three other Elders in the same apartment complex as Christian and Christian and his friends make a bet that Christian can seduce one of the Mormons. He goes after Aaron because Aaron isn’t a blatant homophobe, but Christian’s first attempt at seduction is aborted when he uses his “seducing straight guys” line of “it doesn’t have to mean anything” on Aaron and Aaron balks because, to him, his first kiss, his first sex DOES mean something. Because Aaron is for real. He really believes in his mission, he really believes that he can do some good, and he really believes that things should have meaning. He accuses Christian of being shallow, which, of course, is true, spurring Christian to undergo a Cher-from-Clueless-like shallow-person personality makeover that actually sticks and is quite cute.

When they finally get together, they are, of course, discovered, and Aaron is sent home in disgrace and shame. The emotional violence his mother inflicts on him will haunt me. I know the answer to this, but do people really do this to their children? I guess the question is, HOW can people do this to their children? How can belief overcome what should be unconditional love? How can a mother drive her child to suicide by rejecting him and then not understand that it’s her fault? These scenes were played sparingly and well.

The actor who plays Christian occasionally overacts in the really emotional scenes. The requisite scene in which he tells his own coming out story skirts the edge of farce where I kept expecting him to stop, smile, and say “psych!” which is not necessarily the response the film was attempting to evoke. But all that is nothing when confronted with his sheer prettiness. :) Additionally, the pacing is, at times, odd: slow then superfast, told, not shown — but not distractingly so. And I could have done with a little more lingering over the denouement, but then I’m a emotions-whore.

Fair warning (or, perhaps, enticement): the film is not shy about swearing and even less shy about nudity. Christian and Aaron take off all their clothes and you don’t get just discrete flank shots. While there’s no erect penises, there are certainly penises. And that’s very happy-making! :)

This movie is not a romantic comedy but it’s not a drama either, because it has its happy ending. The themes in this movie are not subtle, but they’re heartwarming and true, nonetheless: interconnectedness and community, character depth and worthiness, how we effect and affect everyone around us. The narrative does a great job of showing how one person’s small, unthinking kindness can work in others for good or ill in an ever-widening web. There are no coincidences, or if there are, they can still serve a purpose. Everything means something, in one way or another.

And love is love is love and deserves to be recognized as such. Grade: B

P.S. I watched this again with my husband and it’s just as much fun the second time around and I felt the emotions more deeply, perhaps because I was comparing it with itself, rather than with the novelization. A happy, feel-good movie with a great message.

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REVIEW: Tangle Girls (anthology edited by Nicole Kimberling)

Janine — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 21:00:31 +0000

Dear Readers,

Back in July of 2008, I reviewed Tangle XY, an anthology of short speculative m/m stories. Earlier this year, Blind Eye Books, the publisher of Tangle XY, came out with Tangle Girls, an f/f anthology. As with Tangle XY, some (not all) of the stories are multicultural, and many have fairy tale or science fiction elements, but in this anthology the commonality all the stories share is the focus on girls who love other girls. Here are my reviews of the six stories:

“Raccoon Skin” by J.D. EveryHope

In “Raccoon Skin,” Sophia, a college student, arrives at her parents’ home on a pre-dawn morning. After seeing that her parents’ trash can that has been upended by a raccoon, Sophia goes outside to put it back up, and while there, she sees crows attacking a golden eagle. The eagle falls to the snowy ground, and Sophia chases the crows away. Just as she is debating whether to take the eagle inside, the bird shifts shape and turns into a human girl — and not just any girl, but Sophia’s girlfriend, Caterina.

Caterina and Sophia met in college and began dating, but Sophia never told Caterina that she hadn’t come out to her parents. Now it seems Caterina has also been keeping secrets: not only is she a shapeshifter, she is also a princess from another realm, and her younger brothers’ lives are in danger. Caterina wants to return to her land and rescue her brothers, but her injuries are serious. Sophia convinces her to ask Sophia’s parents for shelter and help and allow Sophia to save her brothers instead.

Caterina gives Sophia a ring which will open a path to Caterina’s world when dawn arrives. Just as Sophia is about to go through the portal, a raccoon speaks and warns her that Beyond, where she is about to venture, is a dangerous place. Her odds of success will be better if she and the raccoon trade skins.

Sophia agrees. Clothed as a raccoon, she enters Beyond and it is indeed a dangerous journey. Fortunately, the raccoon skin proves very helpful.

“Raccoon Skin” is a charming quest story that reminded me a bit of some of fairy tales I read as a child. I loved the way the mundane was transformed into the magical, and enjoyed the clever ways Sophia found to see past the deceptive illusions of the Beyond. It was also neat to see the traditional gender role upended, so it was a heroine who charged to the rescue. I would have liked to see more of Sophia and Caterina’s relationship, but on the whole, I really enjoyed the story. My grade for “Raccoon Skin” is a B+.

“Amazons” by Jesse Sandoval

“Amazons” was the reason I plopped down $12.95 for Tangle Girls. I loved Sandoval’s story in Tangle XY, “Los Conversos.” The setting of “Amazons” is unnamed, although the title of course alludes to the Amazon. As the story, which appears to be historical, begins, its unnamed female narrator is rowing a boat on a jungle river. She observes the crocodile beneath the water and the black snakes hanging from the trees above with respect.

Once I saw one of those snakes lift a grown man off his feet and swallow him whole. The man pissed himself as the snake wrapped herself around him as if she were falling in love. She opened her thin mouth and took him in a deep kiss. I watched her eyes the entire time. She had the mesmerized gaze of utter adoration, as if this man’s form, his meat and muscle, had entranced her and drawn her into an unthinkable action.

I remember seeing that same unflinching stare long ago, looking back at me from a silver mirror. My hands trembled as I tried to load the pistol, the slender bullets wavered and slipped between my fingers. Then I caught sight of myself in a mirror. I gazed into my own eyes, the wide pupils dilated, entranced with desire. My reflection knew that I was a murderess before I did. She passed that assurance to me in a glance. My fingers have never trembled since.

How did the narrator come to look in the mirror and see a murderess? Since this story is only six pages long, I don’t want to give it away, but the story begins in Europe, where the main character met a woman named Maria, with whom she shared slices of cake and stories about the New World.

The imagery in “Amazons” has a hallucinatory beauty that captures what it is like to be drunk on love, willing to do anything for the other person. The story is haunting and powerful, though I wish it were longer so that I could feel I really knew Maria. I can’t wait for Jesse Sandoval to write a novel or a short story collection so that I can drown in his gorgeous prose. Ms. Kimerbling, if you’re reading this, can you do anything about that? My grade for “Amazons” is a B+/A-.

“The Conclave” by Trent Roman

Tanya Drake has been dating Erin, a centuries-old fey, but the relationship is becoming frustrating for her. The two met at the private Catholic school in which Tanya was enrolled. It wasn’t long before they became lovers. But Erin has a habit of comparing Tanya’s lovemaking to that of lovers from her past, lovers as famous as Sappho and Gengis Khan’s concubines. Erin also disappears for days on end only to reappear expecting the relationship to resume as though she’d never left.

After one such disappearance, Tanya tries to question Erin and find out how serious she is about their relationship. To make it up to Tanya, Erin offers to sneak her mortal lover into “the biggest bash in two worlds,” a party for immortal beings known as the Conclave. What kind of adventures will Tanya have at the Conclave, and how will they affect her relationship with Erin?

“The Conclave” is written in a crisp, snappy style I enjoyed. I liked the way Tanya and Erin arrived at the Conclave, too. But though Tanya is said to be a high school student, the character comes across as older. Erin is jaded and doesn’t treat Tanya that well, taking their relationship very lightly, so it’s hard to care about her, but Tanya isn’t sure if she’s serious in her feelings for Erin, either, so it’s also hard to care about how the relationship will change.

I felt that essentially, nothing that is deeply important to the characters happened in the story, so nothing that happened was all that important to me as a reader, either. After “Raccoon Skin” and “Amazons,” it was hard not to be disappointed in this one. My grade for “The Conclave” is a C-.

“Under Suspicion” by Dr. Philip Edward Kaldon

Set on the spaceship Mastodon, “Under Suspicion” begins when a shipwide alarm sounds, alerting United Star Fleet Ensign Lily Branoch and her fellow crewmembers to an accident in the main hanger. In the process of helping to rescue people trapped under “cargotainers,” Lily encounters a beautiful marine whose name she doesn’t catch. She glimpses the woman again before she learns that she is Lt. Cruz-Ortega.

Lily is powerfully attracted to the woman, so much so that she can’t get the lieutenant out of her mind. But this distraction becomes a problem when Lily begins to suspect that the beautiful Daniella may be involved in a plot to smuggle weapons off the Mastodon. Could Daniella Cruz-Ortega’s lovely face be hiding treachery? And even if not, will Lily ever get up the gumption to ask her out?

“Under Suspicion” was an enjoyable story and it probably had the most relationship focus of any of the stories in this collection. Lily was likable and the enigmatic Daniella was compelling. The worldbuilding was solid and I liked the military atmosphere. My main complaint is that due to the nature of the plot, the relationship between the two women did not develop that much. Nonetheless it was fun, though I would have liked it to be a bit more substantial. C+/B- for “Under Suspicion.”

“Cupcake” by Erin MacKay

Erin MacKay’s “Cupcake” takes place in the future, on a colonized world. The viewpoint character is Stasya, a professional assassin. As the story opens, Stasya receives an assignment from Rupi, a man who has hired her to kill in the past. This time Stasya is astonished at the target, whom she describes as “just a…a cupcake.”

Mitusko Jennings-Villega’s husband wants to collect on his wife’s life insurance policy, but Mitsuko is constantly watched by her wealthy father’s guards. To kill her, Stasya has to infiltrate “High Street,” Mitusko’s rarified world of corporate celebrities. Yet once she meets Mitusko, Stasya is in for a surprise. Mitusko realizes she is an assassin, and she is willing– no, ready — to die. Will Stasya be able to kill the woman she is beginning to admire and care for?

“Cupcake” is written in clean, straightforward prose and while the worldbuilding isn’t completely fresh, it’s well-executed. The story felt a little oppressive to me (though not nearly as much as MacKay’s story in Tangle XY, “Crossing the Distance”), but on the whole I liked it.

Stasya is a compelling character, though I wish her past, and especially her reason for becoming an assassin for hire, had made her more sympathetic. Mitsuko isn’t as morally ambiguous, but her life hasn’t been very meaningful. Though neither character is always likable, the story still kept me involved, probably because of the danger and high stakes. My grade for “Cupcake” is a B.

“Dead and the President” by Tenea D. Johnson

Set in a dystopian future, Tenea De. Johnson’s “Dead and the President” begins when the consciousness of the main character, a young black woman named Dead, is inhabiting the body of the President. Dead intends to speak to the world from within his body, but the President pulls out a gun and shoots himself in the head.

Dead then begins recounting her history to the reader. She was born in the Basin, where many people have inherited the special abilities given to blacks by a doctor who believed he was making genetic reparations. Dead’s talent is “phasing” into other people and controlling their actions.

Dead is a motherless twelve year old when she is tagged by the Internal Processing Department, which tracks those with unusual abilities, and uses her talent to escape. She ends up Topside, where life is much nicer and safer, but she can’t forget about the hungry kids she left behind in the Basin, and eventually, she hatches a plan to help them.

Dead has the potential to be a sympathetic character, and there were a number of relationships that could have been involving in this story, not just the sexual one Dead eventually has with another young woman, but also her friendships with a girl named Nina in the Basin, and with an elderly woman named Cecilia in Topside. But these pass by the reader quickly, like houses glimpsed briefly from the window of a moving car. It is hard to get invested in these people, even when they mean a lot to Dead, because we readers hardly get to spend time with them.

What gets the most attention in “Dead and the President” is the setting. Dead’s world is an interesting place, but I almost stopped reading a few pages in, when the unfamiliar terms became difficult to decipher. I still don’t understand exactly what a couple of them mean, even after reading certain paragraphs three or four times. Johnson has a nice writing style, and another thing I liked about the story was the way the futuristic setting reflected social and political injustice. This aspect of the worldbuilding was well handled and thought-provoking, but for me, it’s not enough to make up for what’s missing. C- for “Dead and the President.”

Overall, the anthology was a bit uneven, but still worth reading in my opinion, with four enjoyable stories and two weaker ones. I want to reiterate my plea for more fiction from Jesse Sandoval, who writes so beautifully. I will be keeping my eye out on future offerings from Blind Eye Books, too. My overall grade for Tangle Girls is a B-.

Sincerely,

Janine

This book can be purchased at Amazon. No ebook.

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REVIEW: Memoirs of a Hoyden by Joan Smith

Jayne — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:00:26 +0000

Dear Ms. Smith,

Your comedic trad Regencies are always a delight for me. There are some that have had me cackling with glee as I read them since I love it when an author can turn the standard Regency conventions upside down – or at least twist ‘em a little.

Miss Marion Mathieson takes no prisoners and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. She followed her English Army father across the Peninsula then after he died and she got shipped off to boring relatives, she got a secretary, Ronald Kidd, and took off for parts more interesting which she detailed in a book. Her daydreams are for the three romance novels she’s penned under another name. So when she and Ronald are traveling via coach to a speaking engagement and it gets held up, she’s eager to see what happens so she can add it to her next manuscript.

To her utter disgust, she displays more gumption then any of the men with her including one Corinthian who is merely either bored or more bored throughout the whole event. But something about it strikes her as odd and she eventually bullies Lord Kestrel out of his boredom to set off after the men she thinks are Frenchie spies.

But are there really spies and if so, where are they? And for a woman who is past thirty and has made no bones about her lack of interest in marriage, Marion is startled to find her interest caught by Kestrel. Even if she does want to brain him half the time.

The plot machinations and time that Marion expends convinced that she knows exactly what’s going on are enough to make my head hurt. At times I can see why Kestrel wants to return the favor of clobbering her over the head. But no one can say Marion isn’t ready and willing to hold up her end of the events which unfold. To his credit, I think Kestrel is going into their marriage with his eyes wide open and fully ready to battle his way out of whatever Marion might get them into.

The whole spy stuff plot is nothing new. The reason to read the book is for the sparks which fly whenever Marion and Kestrel are in a room. The fact that they keep from killing each other on their way to saving England is a wonder. The secondary fact that I buy into the fact that they go from despising each other and fighting with each other to kisses that seem as if they’ll cause these two to explode with passion and all in the course of 3 days says something for your writing skills.

“Memoirs of a Hoyden” is another oldie but goodie that I’m glad that “Regency House” has reissued it. B

~Jayne

FTC discloser – I bought this with my own money and you can buy it at Fictionwise in DRM free multiformat.

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REVIEW: Home for the Holidays by Sarah Mayberry

Jane — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:00:11 +0000

Dear Ms. Mayberry:

I think this might be your most emotional romance yet. I certainly felt a little misty eyed (damn you) at the end of the story. Hannah Napier and Joe Lawson meet under inauspicious circumstances. Joe is exhausted and all he can hear is the loud sound of an engine next door. It’s keeping him from enjoying some solitude and it’s bound to wake his kids. Hannah is working on her motorcycle. Once it’s finished, Hannah is going on a long awaited road trip, escaping her ex fiancé and her sister who have found love together. She thinks Joe is good looking but a jerk and Joe, well, he doesn’t appreciate Hannah’s physical attraction either.

Joe lost his wife, Beth, in a car accident a couple of years ago and he is left to parent their two children. He feels like he is losing control over his kids. He does not want to be over his deceased wife Beth. He resents his body’s attraction to Hannah.

Worsening the situation is that the one place where Hannah felt safe, a bar/restaurant called The Watering Hole, has been purchased by Joe. It was Beth’s dream to own a restaurant and when she died and he found himself needing to be with his kids, he quit his job as troubleshooter on oil rigs and bought this restaurant. I found the scenes about and in the restaurant to be unnecessary. It seemed contrived that Joe would buy the one place that Hannah enjoyed hanging out. Given that they lived next door to each other, I wasn’t sure why this was even included. It didn’t add anything to the conflict and after a couple scenes, the bar was almost forgotten.

These are two reluctant lovers. Hannah hasn’t really recovered from the body blow to her heart and ego when her fiancé jilted her for her sister. Joe is trying to reconcile his love for Beth and his feelings for Hannah. Hannah is so much one of the guys that the holding of the door open for her is something that gives her pause. She feels completely out of here element. Their first date is a study in awkwardness. Problematically, Hannah is getting near completion of her bike and Joe can hardly bring himself to talk about the wife’s death without choking up.

They both acknowledge that they are too screwed up to be dating and from then on, the flirting, the talking, the companionship comes easier and harder. Easier because there is no pressure and harder because neither are ready to expose themselves to vulnerability by admitting that there might be a future for them.

It was really wonderful watching the two of them fall in love and it was heartbreaking to see them face difficult challenges. This was a very emotional book and I admit to feeling a tiny bit manipulated at the end. I kept thinking that they had both already suffered and now you were laying this on top of it???

Ben and Ruby were very conflicted about their dad dating, as were Hannah’s mother and Joe’s mother. Everyone seemed to question Joe and Hannah together. I liked it when Joe responded to his mother’s request that Ben come stay with her: ”No. We’re a family. He can’t opt out when it suits him. We have to work this through.” There weren’t easy solutions for any of them although Ben’s resentment over Hannah’s inclusion in their lives resolved rather quickly toward the end.

I loved Hannah and the way that she grew back into believing in herself with the help of Joe and Ruby and even Ben. And Joe as the struggling single father falling back in love was sweet. B

Best regards,

Jane

This book can be purchased at eHarlequin.com or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

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REVIEW: SEALed and Delivered by Jill Monroe

Jane — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:00:52 +0000

Dear Ms. Monroe:

Is it too corny to say that this book delivered for me? I’m not a huge fan of the Navy SEAL books anymore because I think that there are so many of them and I worried about the machismo level of the hero but nothing about the book was very expected. That was a good thing.

Hailey Sutherland and her sister have taken over the family business, a San Diego institution that was once the place for social events like showers and parties and small receptions. Hailey was not as excited about the revitalization of the family business as was her sister for although she had been engaged three times, she doesn’t really know much about party planning. Because she was engaged three times, had her heart broken three times, she really isn’t in the mood to celebrate others’ newfound love.

When a SEAL team exercise plays out in front of a shower party and the women are drawn to the beach like George Clooney to brunette cocktail waitresses, Hailey recognizes that the Sutherland’s position on the beach could present some unique marketing opportunities for The Sutherland.

Lt. Commander Nate Peterson is stateside helping to train a new set of SEALs due to an injury that has left him unable to perform his duties. He resents being sidelined and stuck training newbies but realizes that in another year or two one of these newbies might be fighting along side of him. I liked that Nate was both a bit peeved but also realistic.

Part of the setup, where Hailey is playing a shower game which requires her to kiss the first man she sees, was a bit irritating. Would Nate Peterson, SEAL hardcore, really stop and kiss some chick during a training exercise? I wasn’t sure but one off note in the book didn’t slow me down. Part of the scene, the part after the kissing, did a great job at rendering how tough the SEALs were. One of the trainees was hit in the head and lost consciousness. Peterson dragged him to the shore and allowed him to recover. The shore was right in front of the Sutherlands. The SEAL trainee recovers and then goes back into the ocean to finish out the training exercise because, as Nate points out to a shocked Hailey (and a concerned reader), the trainee would have to endure much worse in battle.

Hailey’s plan to use the SEAL training exercises as a way to draw in more business is a concern to Nate. He comes to ask her to rethink her plans because the attention and boisterousness of the crowd interferes with the training. In other books, this would become an issue of contention between the two but both recognize and value the other person’s position. Nate recognizes that Hailey needs the business and is willing to listen to an alternative plan. Hailey accepts Nate’s explanation that the training is being compromised and offers up a different solution.

This is not to say that the book is conflictless, but the conflicts weren’t based on disrespecting the other person. The conflict was based on Nate wanting nothing more than an affair and Hailey having sworn off men. She falls in love too easily. Nate begins to court Hailey. There’s no other word for it and I really thought this part of the book was charming.

Nate and Hailey have a deep physical attraction toward each other, but they do not fall in bed immediately. Maybe some would say that means that their passion just wasn’t strong enough but for me, this detail helped me buy into Nate and Hailey’s happy ever after. Nate would be going back into service once he was fully healed which would mean long separations for the two of them. Their ability to forego immediate gratification made me believe the two would be able to survive Nate’s obligation (and desire) to be part of the SEAL teams. Hailey clearly could survive without Nate by her side.

I also appreciated the secondary romance between a young bride to bride to be. The arc of Nate and Hailey’s romance was somewhat echoed in that of the secondary characters. B

Best regards,

Jane

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

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REVIEW: Hidden Conflict by Various Authors

Joan/SarahF — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:00:01 +0000

Dear Authors and Readers.

If you will excuse a personal history, you will see its relevance to my review. I enlisted in the Army National Guard after 9/11. I became a US citizen and commissioned (became an officer) in 2003. I accepted a medical retirement in May of this year, at the rank of Captain, after 7 ½ years of service. I never went overseas, but I served in the Katrina response in Louisiana. I was a soldier and damn proud to be so.

But I am also bisexual (with some extra kinks outside the Kinsey continuum). This is the first time I’ve been able to admit this in public (well, I came out on Twitter on National Coming Out Day) since figuring it out because of the US military’s destructive Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy. My sexuality in no way affected my service. All outward appearances show a happily married, monogamous, heterosexual soldier, which is mostly what I am. But every now and then the issue came up and I had to bite my tongue. I could have been kicked out of the service if anyone had dug too deep, for a reason that didn’t affect my service or that of others around me.

At a time when Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is destroying the careers of loyal, hard-working, supremely competent soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen of the American Armed Forces, this fictionalized retrospective of men who serve together and love each other is never more necessary and welcome. I was thrilled to receive it (free) from the publisher (through Jane) and while it did a great job of showing the soul-destroying problem of homophobia in general, I could have wished that it had focused more specifically on the subtle differences of the problem of being gay in the military, rather than just showing gay military men.

“Blessed Isle” by Alex Beecroft
I don’t know what it is about Beecroft’s writing that ravishes me so. Maybe it’s that her prose is like Keats’ poetry to me: redolent with scent, aching with color, and beautiful with taste and sound. Maybe it’s how she scours me inside with the deeply-felt emotions of her characters. But this story manages to do in 58 pages what False Colors did to me in more than 300.

Set in the late eighteenth century, Captain Harry Thompson, late of her Majesty’s Navy, safely ensconced in Rio, begins a journal of his relationship with his Lieutenant, Garnet Littleton. They met when Harry took his first command of the Banshee with orders to escort three transport ships to Australia. Buffeted by storms, typhus, mutinous convicts, and his own yearning for the free-spirited Garnet, Harry only finds happiness when he and Garnet are marooned for months on their own small Pacific island. The actual sexual activity is minimally detailed, but you feel every prick and rush of longing and satisfaction, the abject fear and bone-deep rightness when the men fall in love. See how much Beecroft can do with so few words:

When we woke, that first morning, we made love. Nothing needed to be said; we both understood it would happen as soon as we had the physical resources to allow it. It was sweet and weary and gentle, and afterwards I held Harry tight and mourned for all the things he had had to lose to make this possible. I wished I might give his prudishness and his confidence and his career back to him. And in a petty part of myself I wished he might have come to me despite them, instead of needing to be ruined first. But I will say that holding on to him afterwards, in the warm glow and satisfaction of coitus, I entertained the inexcusable thought that the past months had been worth it.

Harry and Garnet find their happy ending and record it for posterity, for a time when their love might be celebrated rather than reviled, for a time after their death when they don’t have to pretend. The story is told in journal form, with Harry’s memories interspersed with Garnet’s as they reveal to each other, even after years together, their feelings and motivations in the past, as they reveal them to their reader, who also becomes a character in the story. So even the journaling has a place in their relationship. Brilliantly, perfectly done. Grade: A+

“Not to Reason Why” by Mark B. Probst
This is a narrative — a very boring narrative – of Custer’s last campaign, told from the perspective of a corporal (I think? Too bored to go back and look). Brett has the hots for Dermot. Dermot is married to Sarah. Dermot loves Sarah very much, and Brett is jealous of Sarah. There’s absolutely NO indication that Dermot feels anything at all for Brett beyond deep friendship and besides one kiss Brett almost (but not quite) forces on Dermot a few days before the big battle, there’s nothing overtly romantic about this story at all. In fact, there’s nothing covertly romantic either. This is not a romance (especially since it does not end happily); this is a narrative representation of a campaign: They saddled up, then they stopped here, then had dinner, then dicked around in the evening as soldiers tend to do, then slept, then had breakfast, then saddled back up for another grueling day of chasing Indians, then stopped for lunch, then…. Seriously, with a little more detail to prove that Probst had done his research (They stopped under overhanging cliffs. They crossed the stream eight times.), that’s what the story is like. Every now and then Brett will think something emotional for a sentence or two, but then he’ll ignore it and move on. I hate to play to stereotypes, but this read like it was a “romance” written by a man, and hey, look! It was written by a man. Okay, dude, you did your research; now tell me a fucking story.

And seriously, someone please proofread: “Dermot was in line looking none the worse for wear, though Brett could see his eyes were still vacuous from lack of sleep.” Really? I do not think that word means what you think it means.

And if we’re going to have a story about a man who runs away from battle, who deserts his troops, then lines like “The heat was stifling and there were times Brett would have welcomed a warrior arrow straight into his heart just to end it all” are not only not helpful, they’re patently wrong.

After Brett does desert, the level of his thought processes about his actions are symptomatic of the level of emotion and characterization in the rest of the book:

The wind and his body heat had dried his clothing and he began to warm up. His thoughts were a jumble of images and confusion. He couldn‘t sort it out enough to put together a plan of action. A piercing accusation kept surfacing—You are a coward and a deserter. Was he? What good would it have done to have stayed and died with the rest? Perhaps a couple more Sioux and Cheyenne may have been wounded or killed, but it would not have saved a single soldier‘s life. He longed to be unconscious so he didn‘t have to think. After the celebrating quieted and morning drew near, he got his wish and fell asleep, lying on his side on the creek-bank.

Oh! Coward! Deserter! Right, check. Let’s move on, folks, nothing to see here.

The author didn’t seem to be aware of the weight of his words, and coming after Beecroft’s clarity and precision, it was almost painful. At one point, Brett engages Dermot in deep conversation:

“Wrong side?” Dermot frowned. “How can you say that? There is no wrong side against the Indians.”

“I mean wrong side, in that it may not be the victorious side.”

“There‘s nothing wrong with dying to protect your country.”

“Dermot, haven‘t you ever noticed how these things are reported in the newspapers? When we win they say it‘s a victory, but when they win they say it‘s a massacre.”

Then after the Brett escapes/deserts, he listens to the Indian victory drums: “It went on for hours. The chanting haunted him. He wanted it to stop. It tormented him by constantly reminding him of the massacre. He sat huddled on the riverbank; the drums felt like his own heartbeat.” Completely, utterly without irony, Probst uses the word he’d previously questioned.

Dermot was cardboard, Brett was an unlikable, whiny, cowardly turd, there was no romance, no emotion, no connection. What there was was wishy-washiness. Was this deep, thoughtful commentary or just campaign details? Neither. Sorry. Grade: F

“No Darkness” by Jordan Taylor

Okay, so when the book starts like this:

“Lieutenant Darnell!”

“Sir?”

“Oh, there you are. Why are you skulking, man?” The red-faced, broad-shouldered platoon sergeant did not wait for an answer but plowed on before Darnell could even open his mouth, “Find someone to take with you down to the cellar. There should be half a ton of supplies in this bloody shack and no one seems able to find so much as a tin of jam.”

Private Morgan stepped forward and saluted the sergeant. He had large front teeth and matching ears that reminded Darnell of a corgi.

“Sir,” the private said. “Me and Stokes searched the cellar already. Nothing, sir. No sign anything‘s been in there for some time, sir.”

The sergeant walked right past him as if he had neither seen nor heard the private. “Well, Lieutenant? What are you waiting for?”

I’m confused. Unless things are very different in the British army in World War I from the US Army now, lieutenants don’t call platoon sergeants “sir” and platoon sergeants don’t call lieutenants “man” and give them orders. And no one salutes NCOs. So I don’t think much of your research abilities if that’s how the book starts. I mean, seriously. And my father (British AND British history buff) also confirmed for me that the officer corps in 1915 was still very much of and from the upper classes and Darnell is not upper class. He’s almost the opposite of upper class.

Inaccuracies aside, this has to be one of the most depressing stories I’ve ever read. This is precisely why I don’t read stories that aren’t romances with HEAs. Yes, I understand that World War One was a desperately horrible war. Yes, I understand that being gay in the military is terrible. AND, I understand that the purpose of this anthology was not all about the happy endings. But can we have ANY bright points of light? Can we have ANY happiness in the story? Apparently not.

LT Darnell and PVT Fisher get shelled into a cellar with no way out. Fisher’s broken so many ribs he can’t do anything to help get them out. Darnell literally ruins his hands digging them out, but even when they get out, it takes days to find anyone else and of course when they do, disaster strikes. There’s only a relationship between these men on the level of two men who find themselves stuck in a cellar together, trying to get out. The fact that they’re both gay doesn’t really factor into it at all.

What I do think is interesting is that both this story and the last both conform to the melodramatic abjection of the married gay man being the one to bite it. Think Brokeback Mountain, right? Sure, Jack’s more out, more comfortable with himself than Ennis, but he’s the one who marries first and stays married so he’s the one who has to die. Ditto these two stories.

This story isn’t a romance. Not in the slightest. Not that it’s trying to be — and that’s fine, of course. But it isn’t really even a story about being gay in the military. It’s just a depressing story about a horrific war. I don’t know how to grade it. It’s not badly written like the previous story (research abilities aside). It’s just…not something I choose to read. So, I guess…Grade: C-

“Our One and Only” by E.N. Holland
This is the only story that truly deals with the problems that being gay specifically in the military can produce. Philip is Eddie’s lover, but when Eddie dies in France in 1944, Philip is left feeling invisible, able only to admit to being Eddie’s best friend, not able to fully express his grief over his beloved’s death. The story is told over 40 years, at intervals of a decade. We see Philip deal (or not) with Eddie’s death, even though every now and then you want to hit him over the head and say “Get OVER yourself already!” The story shows the expected and unexpected repercussions the life and death of one soldier have on his friends, fellow soldiers, and family. While not amazing, this story is thoughtful, interesting, and eventually has a hopeful ending (not with Eddie, obviously).

One thing pulled me out of the story. In 1954, Philip thinks, “he always thought war was sort of pointless and his feelings only sharpened after Eddie‘s death.” Maybe this is just me overthinking things, but if there was one “just” war, one necessary war, it was World War Two and I don’t think very many people can disagree with that. Yes, war is devastating and horrible, but with Hitler as an aggressor, there’s not much else that the Allies COULD have done besides what they did. WW2 was not a pointless war; of any war in history, it was the least pointless. The mindset Philip expresses is very much a post-Vietnam mindset and I found it jarring in this story.

Other than that, I enjoyed watching this man through 40 years of his life and I was very happy that he had a hopeful ending “blessed” by his long-lost partner. Grade: B

Overall, while I think that an anthology against DADT, showing the emotional devastation it causes, is a wonderful idea, it was only the last story that really dealt with the peculiar problem of being gay specifically in the military. Because in 1790, 1876, 1915, and 1944, being gay was a problem NO MATTER WHAT. So being gay in the military was no more or less difficult that being gay anywhere else (it might have been easier, perhaps, considering close proximity). I would really like to have seen the awful Custer-era story or the depressing WW1 story dropped, and a story about the Gulf War or even Iraq or Afghanistan added, to make the point that “being gay in the US military” specifically IS an issue NOW, because being gay now is much more accepted than in 1876 and it’s the military that’s ridiculously behind the times.

I once had someone ask me why a gay person would join the US military when they know they’re not wanted, and the question made me shake with rage. Gay and bisexual men and women want to join the military for the same reasons as everyone else: we love our country and want to defend it, we like the opportunities and benefits, we’re loyal and hard-working and honorable people. Just like everyone else. Why should we not be able to serve? We have just as much to offer — more, perhaps, since we’re joining knowing we’re not wanted, joining knowing we’re going to have to hide who we are in order to serve.

Anyway. Overall, I’d give the entire anthology a high C+ or a low B-, but the whole thing is completely and utterly worth buying just for the sublime Beecroft story, “Blessed Isle,” with a nice added bonus of the gentle “Our One and Only.”

Best regards,
-Joan/Sarah F.

This book can be purchased at Amazon. No ebook version that I could find.

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REVIEW: Blaze of Memory by Nalini Singh

Janine — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:00:06 +0000

Dear Ms. Singh,

Blaze of Memory begins shortly after Devraj Santos finds an unknown woman unconscious on his doorstep. Dev is the director of the Shine Foundation, an organization that assists the Forgotten and protects their children from those who would exploit their psychic powers.

For those who haven’t read the earlier books in the Psy/Changeling series, the Forgotten are the descendants of Psy who dropped out of the net that psychically links the members of that race. Those Psy intermarried with humans, and their descendants manifest psychic gifts that are frequently different from those of the Psy. Some of the high ranking Psy view the Forgotten as a threat, which is why they persecute them.

As director of the Shine Foundation, it is Dev’s role to put the Forgotten first at all times, and to do whatever is necessary to keep them from harm. Dev has a cold and ruthless side to his personality partly because of that, and partly because of his psy ability, which remains shrouded in mystery for much of the book but is said to involve metal. But despite his hard edges, Dev feels protective of anyone who has been abused, and the woman he finds on his doorstep clearly qualifies.

When she wakes up, the mystery woman does not remember anything, even her own name. She is also malnourished, and her amnesia appears to have been brought about by psychic tampering. But she is quickly identified as Ekaterina Haas, a former colleague of Ashaya, the heroine of Hostage to Pleasure.

Katya, as she renames herself, begins to remember bits and pieces of the psychic violation that has altered her and left her able to experience emotions. The visions come to her in nightmares, and she is not always able to retain the memories. One such nightmare reveals to the reader, but not to Dev or to Katya, that Katya is a sleeper agent whose mission is to infiltrate Shine and gather information on the children of the Forgotten and their abilities. After she has done so or attempted to do so, she is to kill Dev.

But although neither of them knows the exact details of her mission, both Katya and Dev are keenly aware that she may be programmed to do something treacherous. Katya asks Dev to kill her before he allows that to happen, and Dev agrees. It is in fact something he has already planned on, but Katya’s courage earns his admiration and makes the prospect of killing her even more painful.

Once Katya is well enough to leave her hospital bed, Dev insists that she come with him to his house in Vermont, since he can’t trust her not to harm the children he has sworn to protect. Although Katya knows that she may in fact be a sleeper agent, she feels a compulsion to head north. Katya is angry at finding herself an effective hostage when Dev denies her the freedom to leave. She is also offended by the fact that Dev distrusts her even when she is being completely honest.

But despite the tension between them, Dev and Katya can’t completely resist their growing attraction to one another, especially when Katya’s nightmare memories leave her in need of Dev’s comfort. They are uncertain about what the future holds for either of them, and everyone who observes them feels that their love is doomed.

Katya and Dev’s storylines are interspersed with hundred-year old letters written by a mother with Psy powers and addressed to her young son, Matthew. The letters chronicle the lives of the writer’s family through the implementation of Silence, the protocol that keeps the Psy from experiencing emotions but also prevents them from committing horrific crimes.

Also interspersed are logs from a place called Sunshine Station, where something bad happened, and scenes that involve the members of the Psy Council, some of which are becoming aware of a dark patch forming in the PsyNet, something that may prove dangerous to all the Psy.

The first third of the book was slow to engage me for the following reasons. First and foremost, Katya and Dev’s story felt a bit repetitive early on since their budding relationship keeps running into the wall of Dev’s justifiable distrust. I felt that in that section of the book, they were essentially arguing in circles.

Secondly, much of the information in the letters to Matthew is about the inception and early implementation of Silence, and this terrain has already been covered in earlier books in the series, albeit not from this perspective. I realize that some readers won’t have read the earlier books leading up to Blaze of Memory, but for the reader who has, there isn’t much that is new in the epistolary storyline.

Third, like the main plot, the subplot about the Sunshine Station takes a while to kick into higher gear. And lastly, we don’t visit much with the changeling characters until later on in the book. I have grown attached to those characters, and before they appeared, I missed seeing them.

However, in the second half the book really gathers momentum. Since to go into the details would involve spoilers, I’ll just say that the Sunshine Station subplot eventually grabbed this reader by the throat, changeling characters from previous books play a significant role in the second half, and most importantly, Katya and Dev’s relationship turns around. Their arduous, star-crossed path to a happy ending makes their relationship richer and deeper, and that makes reading about it very satisfying.

The ending of the book is very emotional, and although I’ve begun to detect a pattern in the endings of your last three books, it still got to me viscerally. I think I may have cried harder toward the end of this book than I ever have while reading your books.

While this book isn’t up there with my favorites in the series, Caressed by Ice and Branded by Fire, I still felt it was worth reading and would not hesitate to recommend it to readers. B for this one.

Sincerely,

Janine

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony on November 3.

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REVIEW & Giveaway: Queen of Song and Souls by CL Wilson

Jane — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:17:31 +0000

Notes: It is impossible for me to write this review without giving spoilers for the series so if you just want to enter the contest, skip to the comments and tell me your favorite soul mate story. We are giving away five copies of this book (and by we, I mean Dorchester and Dear Author).

Dear Ms. Wilson:

I can see you don’t hesitate in ripping out the reader heart and squeezing it until we are gasping. This is not a bad thing. ne thing that sets you apart from other authors (not all but some) is that you are willing to take chances with your characters. Rain and Ellysetta, the main protagonists, remain inviolate. Their love continues to flourish, but war is not without its casualties and the knife of the soulmate can create real tragedy.

Ellysetta Baristani is a Tairen Soul, one of the only female Tairen Souls in the land. She was found living amongst the humans in Celieria when a dangerous glimpse through time, aided by magic, revealed to Rain, a Tairen Soul and leader of the Fey, that she would somehow help to save his people. It was discovered that Elly is Rain’s truemate, destined by magic to be his other half.

The Fey people are in decline. Too few women to be truemates to the men. Too many men giving up hopes of finding a truemate and dying. Too few progeny and ultimately, too many enemies. The Fey are tottering on the edge of extinction and swept up in a true good versus evil battle with the Mages. The story continues with the increasingly fraught battle between the humans, Mages, Fey, and even an Elf or two.

The Mages, workers of Azhran, a black power, are increasing their control over humans and spreading the mage marks far and wide. Mage marks are magical marks on a person that puts them nearly completely under the control of the Mage who has marked them. Through these marks, humans act as puppets for the Mages.

There are humans who are working with the Fey to combat the Mages and their marked humans, but the battle is taking increasing tolls. I know, because this is a romance, that the Fey will ultimately win out but as I read the series, I begin to wonder at what cost. Oh, your readership isn’t full of fear at every turn of the page like a George RR Martin reader, but I do confess to trepidation at the end result.

Probably my biggest complaint is that while I do enjoy Rain and Ellysetta, their conflict is the least interesting to me at this point. Their romance has been consummated and the conflict, both emotional and external, does not really rest with them. For me, the storyline that continues to have the most power is that of Shan and Elfeya, the birth parents of Ellysetta.

The two are locked in the dungeons of the High Mage. One cannot live without the other and their love for each actually keeps each other alive when perhaps the truest mercy would be for them both to pass into the spirit world. Instead, they each keep funneling power to the weaker party, helpless to stop themselves because their mate bond means that they must be together.

Queen of Song and Souls also returns to the story of Adrial vel Arquinas, and Talisa Barrial. In book one, it was realized that the Fey had mates amongst the Celerians because the Celerians had all descended from Fey some long, long time ago. The problem is that the Celerians were intermarrying with the Elds to form political connections. One recently married Celerian, Talisa, found out that Adrial, a Fey, was her truemate. Talisa had dreamed of Adrial and refused marriage proposal after marriage proposal and then, when it seemed like she would never meet with Adrial, she agreed to a political marriage. Just one month after she married, Talisa and Adrial meet. Talisa had taken her vows and her husband refused to release her. Talisa initially wishes to leave her husband but her father reminds her of the importance of her marriage and honor is what makes a person worthy of love. He counsels her to act with honor.

Throughout the book, Rain is called upon to make decisions for the betterment of his people as a whole. He breaks Ellysetta’s heart again and again as his decisions leave some in peril and some in despair. Ellysetta has to deal with the horror that her existence was brought forth from immense pain and sorrow in order that prophecies may be fulfilled.

I was really impressed with how you’ve taken the soul mate concept and shown that it is not without its consequences and not every truemate instant ends in happiness. I thought the pacing of this book was a bit uneven but it ended with a bang. I look forward to the conclusion of this high fantasy romance and hope that there will be more to follow. B

Best regards

Jane

This book can be purchased at Amazon. No ebook format that I can find.

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REVIEW: Her Best Bet by Pamela Ford

Jayne — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:00:55 +0000

Dear Ms. Ford,

Sometimes I’m in the mood for a nice, gentle story to cuddle up with. A story that features good people who act sensibly without throwing snits over Big Misunderstandings. A story about families who get along. A story set in small town America but one which doesn’t denigrate big cities. Or have characters who all have double first names. “Her Best Bet” fits all them all.

Izzy Gordon faces the fact that in the ten years since she graduated from high school, she’s let go of her major dream. But is it too late for her to break from the perfect life her parents have mapped out for her and reclaim her goal to direct movies? With the help of her room mate, she decides to shoot a documentary for a contest and what better place then at a lake resort in Wisconsin which her parents own. Well, they don’t own the buildings, just the land, and the 100 year lease is ending soon.

Gib Murphy’s family has run the White Bear Lodge for almost 100 years but changes are coming fast. The place has gotten run down and his grandparents look a little frayed at the edges too. 10 years ago, Gib followed his dream to a career in photojournalism and, even after the tragedy that struck friends in Iraq, has no interest in staying on to manage the place. When Izzy and her friend arrive, he sees the place in a new light while she helps him cope with the nightmares that steal his sleep. But what will happen when her true identity is revealed? And is this the end of the Murphy family at the resort?

The main theme of the book seems to be discovering what our dreams really are versus what we think or imagine they are. And then how to deal with them when they collide head on with reality. Izzy thinks she wants to be a film maker but discovers there are other ways to do that than in Hollywood. Gib thought he always wanted to get away from the quiet of the Wisconsin backwoods only to find that peace and quiet take on new meanings after the road side bomb explosions of Iraq. I like that both are open to their dreams changing without putting up angsty fusses.

Izzy’s room mate, Shelly, stands in for Izzy’s non-present family. Their good natured teasing and mutual support are a relief after so many books with bitchy female relationships. Shelly’s Nature Bonding Ritual is a hoot. The Murphy family make the perfect hosts for the resort. Cheerful, helpful, ready to work around a crisis and forgiving of each other. I just wish they’d come right out and tell each other what they really want to do about the resort. The goal here kept changing so much I honestly didn’t want to hazard a guess as to how it would be resolved.

I like that you worked in the current real estate financial situation into the plot but didn’t make it a total downer. As well, no giant corporation is hauled in to be the villain of the story. And when the truth about Izzy comes to light, Gib is hurt but willing to listen to and understanding of why she did what she did. I was fully expecting pouting and stomping of feet from him and relieved when it doesn’t happen.

Oh and before I forget, the fishing scene with Izzy and Gib when they do nothing but laze in silence and contented company is a winner. No forced slick moves, no attempts at being witty just comfortable, warm hours spent relaxing. I also enjoyed when Izzy helps Gib relax and sleep during the storm. I kept waiting and expecting tons of sex but you did something better. Yeah, there is eventual sex but the early scenes are Izzy and Gib getting comfortable with each other so when the sex arrives, I feel these two are ready for emotional as well as physical intimacy.

Gib doesn’t drown in angst though he probably deserves to. Again I could feel the connection between him and Izzy as she gently questions him about what happened then helps him realize he can and should move forward and do what it is he wants to. And oh the bliss of not being drowned in mental lusting. Shelly and Izzy delight in secretly calling Gib “Beautiful Boy,” but no one stands like a statue drooling over the thought of the other.

“Her Best Bet” is like slowly swinging in a hammock, lazing away the afternoon. The neat way you wrap up the story that takes into account what Gib and Izzy both want is a treat. No one loses and everyone seems to get what they want. Win-win. B

~Jayne

This book can be purchased at eHarlequin.com or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

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REVIEW: Demon Ex Machina by Julie Kenner

Jayne — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:00:53 +0000

WARNING: spoilers for the first four books are impossible to avoid.

Dear Ms. Kenner,

I’ve been addicted to this series since it first started four books ago. While some things have stayed the same, others, thank goodness, have changed and evolved as the series has progressed. And if there’s one thing I can count on, it’s a bang up finish with a “to be continued…” bombshell to make me frantic for the next installment.

Kate Connor, level five Demon Hunter, is once again faced with the powers of Darkness in her otherwise quiet CA beach town of San Diablo. But now her secret identity, which she struggled to hide during past books, is not so secret anymore. Her almost fifteen year old daughter knows, her best friend knows and now her second husband, Stuart, knows. Oh and her first husband, Eric, who was murdered five years ago then returned to her in the body of another man and who is now known in town only as a teacher at their daughter’s school, also knows. Yeah, it’s a lot to keep straight.

The book starts with the usual attack of a demon who utters cryptic threats against Kate and hints of the demonic showdown to come. But this time, the showdown looks like it will involve Eric and a secret he kept from Kate during their youth and marriage. It’s a secret that could cost him not only his life, but his soul as well. And the demon of the day has her sights on their daughter Allie as well.

Kate is still a suburban mom who carpools, grocery shops, tries to keep up with the destruction her toddler son wrecks on her house while arranging birthday parties. She still goes out hunting demons as night with her trusty stiletto in hand. Once again she’s faced with a demon moving in on her turf and as usual, she needs to rely on friends and family to help her discover which particular demon it is as well as the best way to eliminate said demon. I’m not sure whether to laugh or roll my eyes at the fact that some of the information is obtained via an internet RPG. I guess you gotta take the information where you can find it. And I love the fact that Fed Ex delivers something that absolutely, positively has to be there.

I cheer at the way you keep the characters and their environment from becoming stagnant. Stuart now knows about Kate’s past and all she managed to keep hidden from him in the earlier books. He’s even training along with Allie to hunt demons with Kate. Kudos to you for having him have to take some time to get used to it all. Yet, as the book progressed and more people than ever learn about demons and Kate’s job, I had to wonder that Kate doesn’t just take out an ad in the local paper and have done with any anonymity.

One thing that has bothered me in past books and which really bothered me in this one are all the secrets Kate has kept and her instinctive reaction to lie when someone is close to discovering the truth. At first, I could understand why she didn’t want her past to intrude on her present or to color the way people she loves view her. But in this book, despite her pledge to tell people the truth, she still lies. But just as it was really getting to me, you take this, turn it around and have Kate face the music for her lies as well as realize how Eric’s lies are now going to come back and bite them all in the collective ass.

A second issue that was bugging me is the relationship between Kate and Eric and how it interferes with Kate’s current marriage to Stuart. Talk about difficult and being torn between two lovers. I didn’t think that it could continue as it had for much longer and bless your heart, you used this in the current conflict as well. Up until the final moments of the story, you kept me guessing as to whether or not Eric would survive the demon throw down. Lots of points to you for that. As well, I wondered what would happen with Kate and Stuart’s marriage. Let’s just say I want the next book in my hand right now to discover the answers.

So, I’m tearing my hair out for the next installment and – am I psychic or something? I guessed the locale where you’d take the story next – am enthused to see what will happen there. B for “Demon Ex Machina.”

~Jayne

This book can be purchased at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony or other etailers.

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