Two Book Reviews Posted Today

The stars must be aligning because two of my reviews are running today.

Unfortunately, Forty-Two Stairs doesn't publish until June 2014, but it's like everything else I've read by A. F. Henley--brilliant.  If you've never tried reading a gay romance novel because you really don't want to know anything about gay sex, then this is a book I'd recommend.  While the two men acknowledge that they have sex, it isn't described in depth, at least not as in depth as so many of the straight contemporary romances I've been reading these days.  Instead, Forty-Two Steps is an honest look at overcoming addiction--that it's not the program but the person who makes the difference.  Here's an excerpt from The Romance Reviews:

There might be 12 steps to the AA program, but for Owen, a recovering alcoholic, the 42 stairs leading up to his new apartment are the real challenge.

Owen started drinking heavily when he was a teen, but it took two DUI's and nearly killing people in another car as well as a judge's sentence to persuade him to get his life in order. In the process, Owen, who's in his early thirties, loses his boyfriend Eli, his house, his money, and job while picking up a mountain of debt as a result of legal expenses, fines and penalties.

What he retained was an AA sponsor, his loyal younger brother Dennis, who helps him move into a minuscule low-rent apartment, and 42 stairs from ground floor up to his new life.

On move-in day, Owen meets Sebastian who has the apartment below his. In his mid-twenties, Sebastian, with his purple hair, elfin face, and artistic nature, is completely out of Owen's experience as a former white collar worker with a flashy car and elegant home. More than anything, Sebastian challenges Owen to find out who he really is and what he wants out of life.

Click here to read the rest of the review.

The other review today is of Sarah Mayberry's Satisfaction.  What can I say?  I usually love Mayberry's books, but this one left me cold.  Somehow a woman obsessing about the fact that she's never had an orgasm was very off-putting for me.  I kept hoping that Mayberry would help readers find the woman's inner adult, but alas, it wasn't to be.

Here's an excerpt from All About Romance:

Mayberry has a gift of making seemingly ordinary, sometimes not particularly likable people into romance characters whom readers care about and applaud. This book is a case in point.
 
Melbourne, Australia, bookstore owner Maggie Hendricks feels as if she's been missing out on something essential in her life. Fortunately one of her friends suggests a way to fill that void.

Twenty-seven-year-old Maggie has never climaxed even though she's had a number of boyfriends and isn't by any means a virgin. She's beginning to think there's something clinically wrong with her and is considering a visit to a doctor when a member of her reading group touts the prowess of a tattoo artist who gave her friend more than a tattoo.

Maggie figures if this artist with the amazing physical attributes and lax attitude about having sex with customers can't give her an orgasm, then it's a clear sign she must make a doctor's appointment. So dressing in her sexiest undies and prepping herself with a few stiff drinks, she books a meeting with Brazilian-born Eduardo at Brothers Ink.

Instead of Eduardo, unfortunately, she gets his twin brother Rafel who despises his brother's penchant for having sex with customers. But when humiliated Maggie flees the tattoo parlor, Rafel tracks her down, feels sorry for her, and promises her an orgasm or two.

Click here to read the rest of the review.