Review: Shying Away

May 25, 2011Kassa Leave a comment

Shying Away by Kate Sherwood
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

I’ve come to expect a lot of internal conflict and a slower pace from Sherwood’s stories and Shying Away fits that description very well. The characters spend most of the time with little to no reason for being apart other than emotional fear and chaos. The pace is pretty slow as the characters have no external conflict and the internal source drags out. This isn’t bad usually but since the characters can’t rely on sex scenes or sadly much sexual tension the story starts to drag. Once they get together things aren’t actually much better and eventually I became pretty bored as the story just kept going without any real interest. Continue reading →

Review: Cherry Pie

May 20, 2011Kassa 2 Comments

Cherry Pie by Samantha Kane
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

I like Samantha Kane’s writing so when this m/m book came out I couldn’t wait to read it. One of the defining aspects of Kane’s books is how hot and sexy they are. Unfortunately Cherry Pie feels like a complete departure from any previous writing and comes across a little cold and unfeeling. There’s a noticeable lack of chemistry between the two men while money seems to solve most problems. I’m not entirely sure why these two men got together and just couldn’t really believe they were that compatible. This is an ok book but a disappointing one when compared to some of Kane’s more exceptional stories.

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Review: After the War

May 13, 2011Kassa Leave a comment

After the War by T.C. Mill
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

After the War is an intriguing idea but never quite pulls off the concept. The story is interesting enough to read, something slightly different in the genre but if there are better alternate universe/fantasy books. I think the story gets caught in its own circular path and forgets to actually show the reader all the little details that are clearly hiding behind the scenes. The writing is engaging though and story easy to read and if readers are looking for a quick novella just slightly out of the ordinary this could satisfy.

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Review: Flesh & Blood

April 25, 2011Kassa 2 Comments

Flesh & Blood by Ethan Stone
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Flesh & Blood is the sequel to Ethan Stone’s In the Flesh debut novel. The strengths of the first novel were not the nearly non-existence romance but the pseudo interesting mystery and the author’s voice. Here the romance remains immaterial except for a lot of sex scenes while the mysteries are obvious, foreshadowed, and extremely cliché. The author’s voice is the best thing about this story which unfortunately fails in several ways. The writing tends to be abrupt and tells almost every time instead of showing. The actions are equally blunt with little descriptive prose. I didn’t mind that so much and actually like the brusque nature but the story is bland and too obvious, often gliding over incredibly difficult and complex problems in the blink of an eye. Sadly the sequel doesn’t stand up to the first book, although I’ll likely read the third book hoping it gets better.

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Review: Passing Time

March 25, 2011Kassa 3 Comments

Passing Time by Ash Penn
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Although Passing Time is definitely a romance, I found it rather depressing. The main character is well crafted and comes across as fully complex and deeply flawed. His struggle with letting his dead lover go takes up the majority of the story and focus. His sexual affair with a younger man is supposed to draw Louis back into the world of the living and it does to some extent. Unfortunately I found the ending to be pretty depressing and sad despite the slight sense of hope amid the realism.

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Review: Dead End Job

February 17, 2011Kassa Leave a comment

Dead End Job by Clancy Nacht
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

This is a short zombie story that offers a clever twist on zombies then ruins it with an anemic romance. I wish the story had stuck with the original trajectory but I suppose just as many readers would have disliked that too. Instead there are a few twists that may appeal to those zombie fans but overall this is a sad and likely forgettable short story. There are a few moments of humor and wit that shine, showing the author has skill with comic timing and I’d be interested in reading something else by Nacht. Continue reading →

Review: Zombielicious

February 15, 2011Kassa Leave a comment

Zombielicious by Timothy McGivney
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

2.5 stars
Zombielicious is a horror story about zombies mixed with a lot of sex and several different narrators. I can see some readers appreciating the over the top style and the action film like fights so perhaps this is for the right reader. Unfortunately none of the various characters ever really appealed to me and I didn’t like any of the sex scenes, of which there were a lot. The book reminds me of numerous zombie movies so I can easily see some readers liking that but for me it failed in the writing, the plot, and the fact that the story feels like so many other zombie stories.

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2.5 stars

Review: Shying Away

Review: Cherry Pie

Review: After the War

Review: Flesh & Blood

Review: Passing Time

Review: Dead End Job

Review: Zombielicious