Dear Author: Romance Book Reviews, Author Interviews, and Commentary

Dear Readers,

Since this review covers my responses to nine short stories and two novellas, I’ve decided that for the sake of clarity, it would be simper to address this letter to you rather than to eleven authors.

Tangle is an anthology featuring a variety of same-sex love stories. All the romances here have two heroes, most contain fantastical elements, and happily, I enjoyed the majority of them. Here are my impressions of each one:

“Moons of Blood and Amber” by Gene Mederos

This high fantasy novelette, the first story in the anthology, centers on Prince Ballantyr’s attempt to ascend to the throne and acquire the title of Pentarch, or high king of five realms. Ballantyr’s lover and high councilor, Dallan Haleson, is actually the POV character of the novelette, which alternates between the storyline of Ballantyr’s attempt to gain the pentarchy, and that of how Ballantyr and Dallan first met.

In the former storyline, Ballantyr’s ascension is contested by his older half-brother Taranthel, against whom Ballantyr has to prove himself in contests of fighting prowess and knowledge of the law. He and Dallan must also solve the problem …

Dear Ms. Sinclair,

Games of Command, your science fiction romance, begins shortly after an alliance is formed between the Triad and the United Coalition. Captain Tasha “Sass” Sebastian, formerly of the United Coalition, is surprised to learn that she has been assigned to the Vaxxar, a huntership under the command of the biocybernetic Admiral Branden Kel-Paten. When Tasha was working for the United Coalition, the “Tin Soldier” was her nemesis, and on the Vaxxar, Kel-Paten continues to dog her heels, so Sass believes he doesn't trust her.

Tasha and Kel-Paten each have a secret they are keeping from one another. In Tasha's case, the secret is that she is really the notorious “Lady Sass,” a rim runner who supposedly died in prison. In Kel-Paten's case, his secret is that he has been in love with Tasha for years, and his many run-ins with her in the past were orchestrated by Kel-Paten partly so that he could have a glimpse of her.

If Sass's secret is found out, the crucial alliance could be torn apart, and the United Coalition and the Triad could both fall prey to their mutual enemies. If …