Another Guards of Folsom from Peterson

Since I live so close to Folsom, SJD Peterson's Guards of Folsom series has always intrigued me, especially since the Guards in her books is located in New York City even though one of the books took place in Florida.

This time around, the fourth Guards book starts out in California, closer to what I think of as the Guards of Folsom.  Here's an excerpt from my review of Roped, her latest, that was posted today at The Romance Reviews:

From California to New York City, two scions of a powerful motorcycle gang realize they are outcasts because of their love for one another.

This fourth book in the Guards of Folsom series begins in the small town of Chatom, California, where Gunner Cain, son of the leader of the Crimson 8 motorcycle gang, gets a TEK-9 as a birthday gift from his best friend Jamie Ryan for his eighteenth birthday and changes his name to Tek.

Since they've been together nearly since birth, Tek and Jamie share gang experiences as other children share playground antics. Although the Crimson 8 don't traffic in drugs any longer, they still defend their territory and are hard, violent men backed up by strong, sassy women.

But once Tek and Jamie kiss, they realize they are different from everyone in the gang because they are gay, and gays are definitely not tolerated in the group. As they ponder their options, they get more and more involved in gang activities, including murder.

Unable to reconcile their love for each other and the disdain of the group members towards gays, they steal some of the Crimson 8 funds and head to New York and a new, free life. There Tek gets a job as bouncer at the Guards of Folsom, a BDSM club, and the two from gangland California get an education about some of the possibilities in an alternative lifestyle.
Read the rest of the review at The Romance Reviews.

Recovering the Hard Way

Trying to recover from alcohol addiction and taking pictures for a photo journal as his dying second mother begs him to do are taking a toll on central character Jamie in Con Riley's Recovery, the sequel to Salvage.

Here's the first few paragraphs of my review that was posted today at The Romance Reviews:

When the only real mother he's ever known is diagnosed with terminal cancer, a former bad boy, now a rising photographer, meets the challenge with love and art.

Jamie Carlson, last seen in Riley's Salvage, has turned his life around after joining Alcoholics Anonymous and being given Alec Bailey as his sponsor. Bailey brings with him his wife Belle, who has given Jamie what he's always missed: a mother.

When Belle is diagnosed with cancer, she asks Jamie, now a rising photographer, to record the family's last years. This is difficult on many levels for Jamie, particularly as he's still struggling with sobriety and watching her dwindle away makes him crave the blackouts alcohol provides.

Into his life comes successful businessman Daniel Priest, twenty years his senior, who's newly divorced after deciding to stop living a lie and embrace the fact that he's gay. As he watches Jamie struggle with Belle's decline, Daniel provides part of the support the younger man needs to fulfill his promise to Belle.

A source of irritation, however, is Alec and Belle's son, a children's book author, who has resented Jamie since his parents informally adopted him and who hates his once-alcoholic father for his past neglect of the family.

When I first started reading the book, I thought that Jamie and the children's book author were going to be the ones to hook up since they started out sniping at one another, but seemed to have a solid bond. I discounted Daniel, not because of his age, but because he seemed to be exploring his new life as a gay man. Even though he kept saying that he'd had his flings while he was married, Daniel struck me as someone who was ready to play rather than settle down again.
Read the rest of review at The Romance Reviews.

Hockey Vs. Ice Skater: Who's More Manly?

Having grown up around ice and skating, I've always been jealous of those who can put on skates, get on ice, and look confident.  After many years of lessons and just "goofing off" on the ice, I never learned the skill--and it is definitely a skill!

That's why Teegan Loy's Picks & Pucks intrigued me.  Here's an excerpt from the review that was posted today at The Romance Reviews:

If an ice skater is equally talented as both a hockey player and figure skater, is it less manly to hone his figure skating skills? Teegan Loy's romance lands solidly on the line, declaring that both figure and hockey skating demand strength and precision.

The author also tackles the question of image as figure skater Justin Corrin works to become a member of the United States Olympic team while coming out as a gay man. Justin's been in a closeted relationship with his friend Danny, a hockey player.

Danny's a real piece of work, acting hot and heavy when he's with Justin behind closed doors and making fun of Justin in front of the hockey team.

This all changes when Justin throws over Danny after he meets C. J. Daly, a new hockey player on the team that Justin's father coaches. While Justin and C. J. immediately click, Justin realizes right away that something isn't right with C. J., a fact corroborated by others who know him.

Since Justin hasn't really talked to his father after he reacted badly to Justin's coming out, Justin leaves C. J. alone, not demanding that he talk about his troubled past. Besides, Justin has demons of his own.

Read the rest of the review at The Romance Reviews.

British Teacher Pushes Mentor Out of the Closet

From my review of Love Lessons Learned by K. C. Wells that is posted at The Romance Reviews:

A closeted mentor teacher falls for his fledgling out-and-proud instructor in this British romance that flirts with improper conduct.

When John Wainwright is hired to teach at an impoverished Manchester elementary school, he's immediately attracted to Head Teacher Brett Sanderson, who is also his mentor. But John thinks closeted Brett is straight, an impression Brett works hard at maintaining.

Since John, whose brother is a married gay man, wants to ultimately have the same kind of relationship his brother enjoys, he doesn't pursue Brett, but settles into his new living arrangement with three other out-and-proud men.

Brett, too, feels an attraction to John, but since Brett's only acknowledgement of his true self is as "Rob" in the gay resort of Brighton during school holidays, Brett too is ignoring his attraction to his mentee.

It's a stand-off until, one day, overcome by his attraction, Brett kisses John, and then the floodgates open. But is it wise to have an affair with John when he's supposed to be mentoring him?

Read the rest of my review at The Romance Reviews.

How the Fake Becomes Real

Reading Challenge / April 2014: Contemporary Romance

Pull Me Under by Zarah Detand
Rating: B+

After a video of Ben, a famous footballer who's closeted, dancing with a guy goes viral, his manager suggests Ben get a fake boyfriend to show what an upstanding guy he is.  Henry accepts the challenge of becoming Ben's ersatz love because he admires Ben and wants to help him.  This doesn't go over well with James, who's in love with Henry and sees his "sacrifice" in becoming Ben's media boyfriend as too much.

The story on the surface revolves around how Ben and Henry get together as real lovers and overcome their fake relationship to find happiness.  But on a deeper level it's the story of how Ben grows up and stops believing his publicity in order to become himself.

What Ben and Henry don't understand at the beginning of the book is that Henry is in love with Ben's media image.  When that image changes from interesting footballer to gay sports icon, Henry falls even deeper in love with the fake Ben.

Consequently, both men have to change.  Both must look beneath the fame, money, and media images to find who they really are in order to come together on a level that is potentially lasting.  Until they do, not only are they cardboard cutouts but their relationship is too.

Detand is masterful in writing Ben's stream-of-consciousness first-person narrative.  Ben's at once puffed up with his sports prowess yet still uncomfortable with his success.  He has great rapport with his teammates and other athletes but is unsure of himself with anyone else.  He's self-conscious enough to be aware that maybe he isn't as great as the media think he is.  And that's a troubling thought.

Henry, on the surface, seems like a saint, putting up with Ben's often larger than life ego.  But Henry's got a secret agenda.  Henry can see how important Ben is to gay boys and men everywhere.  Henry knows that he's the one responsible for keeping Ben from becoming outrageous and embarrassing himself and everyone around him.  Ben's image is important to the gay cause, and Henry's there to help him keep that image clean.

James who wants Henry to be his boyfriend and is contemptuous of Ben is the third interesting character in this romance.  James sees Ben as a buffoon who should be ignored.  He can't understand why Henry would want to protect and promote Ben at all since as far as James is concerned there's nothing real about the footballer at all.  Instead of seeing how Ben's potentially a good role model, James sees him as a setback to the cause.

Although it took me a while to get into the first person streaming presentation, I very much enjoyed this book because it brought an entirely new look at gay athletes and their part as role models in society, especially since some of these athletes aren't the most mature or thoughtful people.  Maybe some of them really do need Henrys to make them think like adults and not just party and respond like teens.

Canadian Hockey versus Curling

Burning Up the Ice by Devon Rhodes and T. A. Chase marks the first time I've heard that Canadians break down into two groups about ice sports.  I knew both hockey and curling were huge crowd pleasers in Canada, but I never knew that the ice is prepared differently for the sports and different kinds of ice are needed for each one.

Call it the education of an American who as a child spent her time both on lake ice and inside on auditorium ice.  I understand and appreciate the vast difference between these, much preferring the auditorium ice only because I didn't have to take a snow shovel beforehand to clear snow and debris off the ice before I could skate.

I was particularly taken by injured NHL hockey player who turns into a little boy when his friend and soon to be lover lets him drive the Zamboni.  Having watched a Zamboni make its rounds before a skating lesson or to clean the ice before public skating, I too have always wanted to drive a Zamboni.

Have sex on it like the two men in the story do?  Not so much.

Intriguing New Author: Darien Cox

Challenge: New-To-You Author (an author you've never read before)

Title: Guys on Top

Author: Darien Cox
Grade: B+

My M.O. on Amazon to pick out books to read is to look at the suggestions listed below the books I've really enjoyed (A-list books) and sample them for new authors.  That's what I did in this case, but I can't remember which of my A-list books prompted this author and title.

I've found that I can't read the entire Amazon sample, but try to stop myself somewhere in the middle.  If I read the entire sample, I've been known to buy a book that sounds interesting, but don't have time to read, and then read it later.  But later I think I've already read the book because the beginning sounds so familiar even though the little Kindle indicator says I haven't finished the book yet.

All this brings me around to Guys on Top, a book that I read in one day, staying up at night to finish.

Two other things you need to know about me:  I've read so many gay romances in the past two years that I often can tell exactly what happens in the book having read the first two chapters.  In some ways the romance is gone from the romances I read.  The second thing you need to know is that I haven't stayed up in a long, long time to finish reading a book because I'm uneasy about where it could be heading like I was with this one.

The plot started fairly normally.  After breaking up with a longtime boyfriend who was cheating on him and subsequently getting involved in a lawsuit that bankrupt him, Doug Crandall is rebuilding his life and getting a new apartment out of his brother's house.  But the first week is a nightmare because the upper floor tenant in the house he's renting carries on parties nearly 24/7.

When Doug meets his new neighbors, two beautiful, hunky men, he's enamored with Stewart, a professional plumber and electrician, and repulsed by Corey, a masseur who's angry with Stewart because the landlady called Stewart and Corey about the noise.

At first I thought this might be a ménage romance and wondered why I hadn't filtered it out even though I've read ménage books (particularly memorable is SJD Peterson's Tag Team), too many of them have been silly excuses for excess sex with no substance.

But as I kept reading and Corey got weirder and weirder with seemingly level-headed Stewart becoming odder and odder for putting up with Corey, I started getting the Stephen King uneasiness about the story.  Would Doug, who has a history of anger issues, tear into Corey?  Would Stewart play love-'em-and-leave-'em with Doug, breaking down the fragile Doug even more?

As if that weren't enough, I started wondering about Doug, the point-of-view character.  Was he a reliable viewpoint character?  Or was I relying on the wrong character to get the facts of the case?

Doug and Stewart were having sex like hyper rabbits, and Corey was getting even more angry and schizoid.  Instead of building to a romantic finish for me, the whole story seemed to be building like a tornado about to run riot over a Midwestern community.  I could envision fallout not only from the main characters but also from the peripheral ones as well.

So I read into the night, trying to figure out where Cox was going.

As is reflected on the grade I've given it, the ending didn't quite meet my expectations--if so the book would have gotten an A+.  But explaining why I was disappointed and what didn't hang together for me would entail major spoilers, so it's better that I rest my case and let readers decide for themselves.

Suffice it to say that I'm now intrigued by Cox and his writing style.  He's definitely on my watch list.

Love and Angst in Britain

I can't image having a sister hit by a car and losing her identity the way Lyddie does in Sue Moorcroft's Is This Love?  Being the younger sister and witnessing a bright older sister regress to having the mind of a child for the rest of her life must be unusually difficult.


As the oldest sister in my immediate family and the oldest cousin on my father's side of the family, I've seen death come too many times among my contemporaries.  While death takes a chunk out of one's heart, the hole is less painful as the years pass although it never goes away.


But to see someone regress like Lyddie did in the novel, I'm not sure would be as easy to reconcile.  Lyddie's sister Tamara in the novel seems to be a saint in how she helps her parents work with Lyddie and how she keeps from getting totally frustrated and angry with her older sister.  I'm not sure I could step up and be as accommodating as Tamara.


Perhaps the real story in the novel is how yoga helps Tamara, who is an instructor, live life without having to run into a nearby green space and yell.  Maybe as my daughter has been telling me for years, yoga really is the answer.

Reed's Sequel to Hungry for Love

I absolutely love the passion that leaps off the pages of Rick R. Reed's books.  His Legally Wed isn't as gritty as his Raining Men or as sappy as Hungry for Love, but it shows how completely vested he is in his story just as the others also demonstrate that trait.


Having been married to a gay man for a year and having left the marriage bitter and resentful because he wasn't up front about the fact that he was gay, I empathized with Marilyn in Legally Wed a little more than I think Reed did.  But then how could he know some of the thoughts that go through the heads of the Marilyns of the world?


This is one of the few times I've wished I could have been in on a writer's creative process and possibly helped the writer turn a really good book into a great one.  Between what I know as the wife of a gay man and what Reed knows as a gay man, I think we could have turned out a terrific romance.  (LOL)


As it was, Reed was on his own, writing an interesting and impassioned novel.  Thanks for another good read, Mr. Reed!

Valentine's Day Redux

Had I gotten the galleys for two Valentine's Day novellas before February 14, I would have gotten the reviews to my editor so that the stories would have been highlighted on or before the day in question.

I still don't understand why the review copies of  John C. Houser's Valentine Shower and Bru Baker's Campfire Confessions were sent after the fact.  Once upon a time, I was a PR person for a small publisher.  I remember having trouble convincing editors why it was important to get galleys out to review outlets in a timely manner.  Any publicity at any time was okay with them, but not for me.

And something like Valentine's Day novellas being reviewed before Valentine's Day seems like a no-brainer to me.  Obviously not to Dreamspinner, the publisher of these two stories.

The overall concept of a Valentine's Day rainbow, with covers in the colors of the rainbow--in this case green for Baker's title and blue for Houser's--is a clever one.  Perhaps Dreamspinner has enough paying members that it doesn't need outside sales, in which case promoting these stories to reviewers isn't necessary.

But I've yet to see a publisher that turns away sales, as this one did, by not sending review copies in enough time for reviewers to recommend the books as perfect add-on Valentine's Day gifts.

Returning as a Better Person

No Such Thing by A. M. Arthur, the review of which you can read at AAR, has an interesting premise.  A hellion returns to the tiny town where he grew up and routinely caused havoc as a teen, only he's changed drastically.

No, he isn't a multimillionaire bully who runs a corporation like a sweatshop.  Instead, the anger and belligerence have left him, and he returns in order to help his wonderful, patient foster mother who is raising two children alone now that her husband has recently died.

The guy realizes that without this couple's help, he would probably be in jail now.

What the book doesn't go into is how the foster mother feels about this young man returning.  As someone whose students were often troubled young men and women, I can imagine she feels like I did when students returned to tell me how well they were now doing in school or in their jobs.  My pride in them and their accomplishments was staggering.  When they'd been in my class, I'd believed in them, and now they believed in themselves.  It was wonderful.

So while No Such Thing is a wonderful gay romance and well worth reading for its plot, teachers, former teachers, and foster parents will probably find a little more in the book than just the surface story.

Selling Men Cosmetics? Why not?

I was dubious when I saw the galley of Talya Andor's The Fall Guide available on NetGalley.  But after reading the sample, I decided to read the book for review at AAR.  I'm glad I did.

At first glance, Eric looks to be a complete twink flake.  As we all know, however, looks can be deceiving, which is the point of Eric's new line of cosmetics for men.  Eric's vision isn't just for gay men but for all men, just as cosmetics for women are for all women.

While it sounds on the surface as silly, at least to someone like myself who wears no makeup, it isn't since as Andor points out so many men wear makeup on the job.  No?  You don't think so?  Think again.  What do Mr. Rogers, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Cruise, and any other male stage or screen star have in common on the job?  Yup, makeup.

So once I got past my prejudice about men and makeup, and let myself go with the flow, The Fall Guide became an interesting and enjoyable book.  Good job, Andor!  I can't wait to read more of your work.

Hospital Tales Enliven Romance

I really enjoyed Jake Wells' A White Coat Is My Closet as much for the stories about the children that the surgeon who's wearing the white closet tells as much as the coming out of the closet story.  I just wish that Wells had had a better editor.  There was a lot of repetition in the novel that distracted from Wells' wonderful points about being a doctor and about being accepted for who one is.

At first I was skeptical about reading this book especially since the first chapter or so are grizzly.  I had two C-sections and reading about someone in danger during childbirth and the resulting C-section isn't really something I would have sought out to read.  Fortunately, the rest of the hospital tales are about children which was marginally easier to take.

I've had five major operations in my life, so my view of hospitals is a little skewed.  One operation was an emergency one held during a nurses' strike.  That was a particularly grim hospital stay as anyone could imagine.  Another operation went wrong and the surgeon found himself over his head in complications or so I found out after the operation when the surgeon nearly refused to see me, and his staff spilled the beans.

So reading a book, even a good one, about hospitals and surgeries was difficult.  However, Wells' smooth writing style helped me get through the rough parts without too much angst.

Two Hanukkah Tales

Yesterday two review sites featured my reviews.  Today The Romance Reviews is featuring two of my reviews of Hanukkah stories.  Both are by Dreamspinner Press, and I'm still trying to figure out why these stories are included in Dreamspinner's Advent Calendar.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I think Advent is a purely Christian concept.  So why are Jewish holiday stories included?  Or why isn't the Advent Calendar called something like the Holiday Calendar?

Anyway, the two novellas that I review on the TRR site are both nice, "awwww"-inspiring tales.

In Bashert by Gale Stanley, a Jewish Penn State freshman is having religious doubts and meets up with a Jewish grad student who celebrates Hanukkah with him.  The word bashert translates as "destiny" or "soul mate" which I think is a little presumptuous for this particular story.  Just because two people click for eight days doesn't mean they're destined for each other.  I don't think because someone is Jewish (or Roman Catholic, or Southern Baptist, or any other religion for that matter), he will automatically become a soul mate of a person who practices that same religion.  Isn't more necessary to make someone a soul mate?  My answer's yes.

In Another Life by Cardeno C., on the other hand, is a strange riff on It's a Wonderful Life.  Instead of seeing what life would be like if he weren't born, the Jewish 18-year-old who is committing suicide sees what life would be like if he lived.  Hanukkah is mentioned in the story, but isn't a focal point like it is in Bashert, so calling this a holiday novella is stretching the point as far as it'll go.

But the author's use of humor in an otherwise grim tale makes the story likable.  As holiday stories go, however, it falls very short, making me wonder why it was included in the Advent Calendar.

The Slow Way to Gay

Author Riley Hart seems to be implying that some people are just on a collision course and are in each other's orbit in Collide.  I don't know if I really believe that, but Hart does go a long way to persuade me with a very good story.

What I liked best, and don't say in the review, is that Hart ties up all the loose ends very well, making what seems to be a coincidence fit neatly within the storyline.  I like the symmetry of that since so much of the fiction I read these days reminds me of the buildings in Cairo, all bare rebars in the sky because finished buildings are subject to tax.  So the stories, like the buildings, consist of bits and pieces left handing.

Another thing that I liked was how patient Noah is with his friend Coop.  Deep friendship, which usually demands copious amounts of patience, is the best basis for a romantic relationship, meaning Noah and Coop have a very good chance of happily ever after, a rarity in many gay romances that are based solely on sex.

I'm not sure I would have chosen the cover as the one to illustrate all of this, however.  The cover models don't look like they're colliding nor do they look particularly loving.  But maybe the publisher thinks this will sell books.  Thank goodness (again!) for my Kindle, so I don't have to see this when I go to reread the book.

The Beauty of Salvage

Only Con Riley could make the beauty of salvaged articles compelling.  In Salvage, one of the characters explains, “Salvage is everything we keep here—old things that can be used again by a different owner. Sometimes, finding out about where all these things came from, and about the people who might have first used them, is worth far more than treasure.”

That comment stuck with me for the entire book, and I've often thought of the "old things" scattered throughout my house that I'm using.  Unfortunately, many of them, like the old TV cabinet in the living room that we transformed into a stereo unit, we have no idea about the people who owned them first or why they gave them away.  I would love to know about that TV cabinet and also the upright piano in the family room with its inlaid gold, copper, and shell images.

How did the cabinet end up in Colorado and the piano get from England to south Texas?  Who were the people who bought these items and why did they let them go?

Riley's poignant book looks at family and friends as it does the salvaged items, giving readers more than a satisfying romance, giving them something to ponder as they look around the people and things in their lives.

Fear on Halloween

Had to laugh today when the editor of All About Romance (AAR) ran my review of Fear which she said she couldn't resist for Halloween.

Fear, however, isn't a funny book at all since it deals with the physical and mental abuse of a gay man by his partner.  Getting some one with low self-esteem extricated from an abuser is neither easy nor fun, which is why Kendrick's book is so hard-hitting.

If you or someone you know is being abused, please get help from:

• Day One
• Safe Horizon
• Gay Men's Domestic Violence Project
• The National Domestic Violence Hotline

or your church, synagogue, temple, nearby hospital, or the police.

Don't let fear take over.

Junk Is Not Junk, but Interesting Romance

I love the double entendre of the title "Junk" for a gay romance.  Although the subject of hoarding is serious, there's something deliciously funny about two gay men talking about one of the men's junk and meaning both definitions of the word.

I was pleasantly surprised at how enthralling Josephine Myles' Junk was considering that when I first saw the title I thought the book might be one of those great concept, not so great execution titles.  You know what I mean--those books that sound great in the blurb, but turn out to be mundane or nearly dreadful when you read them.

Myles' book isn't one of those.  The main characters have baggage, but not so much that they can't get together and not so much that a reader doubts their ability to have a happily ever after.  And in the end, that's all we want really--just a chance to wish the protagonists of the books we read long, healthy and joyful lives.

Another Hit from Reed and Reviewing Gay Romances Update

Rick R. Reed's gay romances are often the highlights of my reviewer pile.  Hungry for Love is no exception.

Reed travels from the general to the specific, making his almost painful story not just a story about how two guys hook up for more than sex but also a story about meaning of love in general.  As he says in the book,  "Love was also about taking a leap into the unknown, making yourself vulnerable. It was a chance taken. It was a cosmic gamble. It was faith. It was a belief that happy endings could happen and did, every day."  The novel is a messy, all-too-human example of that.

In other news, my days as a reviewer of gay romance may be numbered.  I bought a great majority of the gay fiction I've reviewed for AAR, a review job that is unpaid.  But after reviewing over 40 gay novels, my retirement budget no longer supports that approach, and having publishers reluctant to send me galleys, I think it's time to go back to picking review books from the pile of those sent to AAR or those posted on NetGalley that sound interesting and are okayed by my AAR editor.

I'm pretty sure that Dreamspinner, Rip Tide, and the other gay publishers won't miss me.  Perhaps some of the authors will.  But who knows?

Formulating My Top 100 for AAR

 It's that time of year again, when I have to re-order my Top 100 Romances list for the AAR poll. This year I want to add all the A and B gay romances I've reviewed during the past year.  What would those be?  Well, take a look:

5-star:

• Almost Like Being in Love by Steve Kluger
• With or Without You by Brian Farrey
• The Nothingness of Ben by Brad Boney
• Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy
• The Cranberry Hush by Ben Monopoli
• Love Lessons by Heidi Cullinan
• Beyond Duty by SJD Peterson
• Something Like Autumn by Jay Bell
• Raining Men by Rick R. Reed
• Covet Thy Neighbor by L. A. Witt
• Plan B by SJD Peterson
• After the End by Alex Kidwell