reviews

Chasing Smoke by KA Mitchell

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Chasing Smoke by KA Mitchell

Blurb:

In the best of times, Daniel Gardner hates visiting his family. With his boyfriend pressuring him for a mortgage-serious commitment, Christmas in Easton, PA sounds, for once, like a welcome escape. His old house holds more than memories of a miserable adolescence, though. It has Trey Eriksson.

At seventeen, Trey was taken in by the wealthy Gardner family after his father was jailed for his mother’s murder. Until he left for the Army, he fought a double-edged battle—for proof of his father’s innocence and against his attraction to Daniel.

Fifteen years later, things haven’t changed. Trey is still looking for the real killer. And Daniel has never forgotten how Trey used to sneak into his room at night.

Now new clues to the murder are resurfacing—and so is Trey and Daniel’s sexual chemistry. Except this time, Trey has come to terms with his orientation.

But their connection may not be enough to overcome the mistakes of the past. Not while a murderer still walks free…

 

scooby-doo had more mystery ..

Second Thoughts by Steve Berman

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Second Thoughts: More Queer and Weird Stories by Steve Berman

Blurb:

In Berman’s second collection of stories and essays, a scent of loneliness entices children to start eating away at a caretaker’s historic house; a nursery rhyme tempts a young love; and a meek accountant finds himself abandoning the mundane life he knew to chase after monsters.

 

 

Review:

This highly unique and masterfully written collection of short stories delivers a mixture of fantasy, horror, and fairytale. Often these elements are incorporated into a story inspired from common actions and giving rise to an imaginative world based on a different reality. After each short story is an author’s note that sometimes offers his explanation for the inspiration and sometimes is a narrative with no bearing on the previous story. Both the stories and notes are fascinating and compelling in their own right but not necessarily related, thus creating a larger collection within the book than originally intended. Either way, this is a fabulous group of stories and thoughts which will change upon each reading.

The subjects vary amongst the stories and notes, which also cast doubt on the veracity of the notes themselves. No doubt the narratives offered also contain some elements of fantasy and whimsy. Some of the inspiration that comes through repeatedly is an unrequited love interest of the author’s and the stark, lingering impact of such strong feelings. The undeniable romantic edge to the stories shines through brightest in the powerful story of young temptation based on a fairytale “Bittersweet” and the brilliant, futuristic tale “Tear Jerker.”

A few stories certainly stood out from the rest but there were no bad offerings in this diverse collection. The stunningly creative and witty alternate universe of “Caught by Skin” pops out from the collection, as does the note afterwards. This story is set in a reality where plastic surgery is the norm and gay men constantly remake themselves into the latest in fashionable faces. The twist at the end was slightly sad with a hint of hope, as with most of the stories. Also notable is “Always Listen to a Good Pair of Underwear” for its humor and delightful imagination. The peek-a-boo boxers who alternatively tease and taunt with forbidden flesh give a fun, tongue in cheek story with a cartoonish edge.

“A Rotten Obligation” is possibly my favorite of the group, though it’s hard to choose as some of the author’s notes could vie for that title as well. Here a young gay hustler is distracted from an obligation by a pretty young busboy. The mix of paranormal, romance, and reality all blend to create a witty and entertaining story with a great twist at the end. The snappy dialogue and quirky premise has me sorry the tale had to end and wondering about what came before and after the scene. This is the best kind of story that can spark the imagination of the reader as well.

The writing itself lacks any lyrical elegance but instead is able to evoke emotion and chills with simple turns of phrase and the highly original worlds of alternate reality. The style of writing changes often within the collection; sometimes narrative, sometimes fantasy and always giving entertaining dialogue with a punchy impact. The prose is sparse without unnecessary words and has an ease to the reading quality, compelling and engrossing the reader from the start. Although the material is not always light with numerous touches of horror and dark fantasy, humor and creative imagery are woven into the darkest of stories.

Fans of short stories will definitely want to read this collection, more than once. In no way is this collection limited to gay fiction but instead offer characters with gay sensibilities in a highly innovative reality. 

Get it HERE!

 

New Rainbow Reviews

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 New Rainbow Reviews up this week. I’m been incredibly busy lately, thus no updates to the blog for a week. *le gasp* I’ve still read various books but haven’t really had the time or energy to write a whole lot of reviews. I may still or may not. But regardless, I do have a bunch of reviews coming up this week. Let’s hope I get back in the swing of things. In the meantime here is the selection from this past week:

 

A Different Kind of Love by Jay Mandal

Fair Winds by Chrissy Munder

Heart of Truth by Eon de Beaumont

Jacob’s Pony by Jude Mason

Seeds of Time 2: Bread on the Waters by G.S. Wiley

A Different Kind of Love by Jay Mandal

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A Different Kind of Love by Jay Mandal

Blurb:

Jay Mandal is unique in his writing of gay love ~ his uplifting stories focus upon romance rather than sex, on fulfillment rather than despair.

Of course, there are tragedies in these pages. Life’s like that. But the difficulties faced and the thrills enjoyed by his characters are the lot of lovers of any gender in a world both bad and beautiful.

This is a collection of beautiful love stories ~ sad, humorous, heart-warming ~ made different simply because the main characters share not only passion and compassion but also gender.

different…engaging

Dragon’s Kiss by Ally Blue

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Dragon’s Kiss by Ally Blue

Blurb:
In a future ruled by superstition and fear, wanting the wrong man can be deadly.

A Mother Earth story.

The rules governing a Pack-Brother’s existence are simple. Love your Brothers. Protect each other and your Tribe with your life. Seek sex only within the bonds of Brotherhood, or your life is forfeit. The laws are harsh, but fair. Or so Bear has always thought. Then he and his Brother Lynx capture a stranger in the Carwin Tribe’s outlying lands—Dragon, a Brother from a distant Pack, banished from his Tribe for the crime of challenging things he shouldn’t.

Dragon intrigues Bear from the start, and not just because of his exotic beauty. Interest in the decadent old world is discouraged in this post-Change society. Dragon is the first person Bear’s ever known, other than himself, who’s curious about the vanished past. That kinship sparks a forbidden attraction between them. An attraction which is, if they give in to it, punishable by death.

In the space of a day, everything Bear was raised to believe is called into question, and he must make a life-changing decision—follow the law, or follow his heart.


[More naked chests, but it’s an Anne Cain naked chest so… that’s better? It’s prettier at least.]

Review:

I’m always up for a post-apocalyptic story and throw in some hot sex between two guys and really, can you go wrong? Dragon’s Kiss doesn’t necessarily go wrong but it focuses more on the hot sex between the men than the world building. However, the world building included is intriguing and evocative and the story has a noticeably hanging ending, fairly screaming for a sequel. For a short introduction to the concepts and ideas, this story is pretty decent. It’s not much more than an introduction and the short length would work against other stories in this universe, but for now I’m intrigued.

The world has been destroyed by a natural disaster of some kind and left small groups of people bonding together in tribes, reminiscent of early cave dwelling clans. Separate from these tribes are Packs, but the exact nature of Pack versus Tribe is not thoroughly explained and still somewhat ill described. Packs apparently are filled with all men, each containing some essential identifier that sets them apart from the Tribes, but again what exactly marks men as Pack at an early age is never elucidated. These Packs live by a set of rules which demands they only have sex with each other, no monogamous relationships, and never think or wonder about the past. These rules are enforced with a variety of archaic and barbaric rules and punishments meant to keep people docile and ignorant.

Bear is a member of a Pack and has always hidden his curiosity about the past. He knows that if he divulges that he actually wonders what life was like before the big disaster, he could be executed or exiled. So instead, Bear has ignored those thoughts and goes about his days patrolling and having sex with his various brothers. All of this changes when he meets Dragon, an exile from another Pack who questions the rules of secrecy. His interaction with Dragon rejuvenates all the queries and wonders he had ignored and the sizzling chemistry between the two is too much for Bear to ignore.

The characters of Bear, Dragon, and even Lynx are given life but no depth. The hints of personality are started but never finished as each is interrupted by a sex scene or conversation about the consequences of their actions. Bear seems more interested in finding a monogamous sex partner in Dragon than in exploring the past. Curiosity about the past is supposedly the shared bond but really the sex is too good between the men to ignore. This left all characters slightly empty as the focus on the chemistry and erotica took over the world building and plot. The hanging ending comes about abruptly and clearly was meant for more installments, so perhaps the characters will develop and grow in subsequent stories.

As a short story that focuses on the erotic element with tantalizing glimpses of characters and a world, this tale is decent. It’s intriguing enough to start the series and the writing has a simplistic yet emotive quality. The prose is easy to read while being descriptive without overly dramatic language. Additionally, there are numerous erotic scenes within the story that spans 30 pages. So if you’re a fan of the author and are looking for an introduction to a new world with hot sex – this may work for you.

Get it HERE!
 

New Rainbow Reviews

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 New Rainbow Reviews up this week. I had the privilege of reading some really unique and outstanding stories this past week. They all were highly reviewed, which is a rare week for me. If you only read one from this list – and really you should read them all – read Drag Queen in the Court of Death. I’ve bought three paperback copies (with the old cover) to pass out to friends. The new cover makes me cringe and thankfully I found sellers with the old cover, I hope there were no new edits.

Anyway, for something absurdly different check out the Androgynous Murder House Party. I’d love to talk to someone who read it and compare notes. Anyone who thinks they’re especially clever in figuring out details in mystery stories, try this one and then tell me about it, please!

For a wonderfully sweet romance that spans 2000 years with some great humor, The Rest of Our Lives fills that without any explicit sex even. Shocking, but possible.

Of course I had to get my smut in and read a hilarious Yaoi book where the boy has a self lubricating ass. I kid you not. The visual images totally grossed me out. I’m debating sharing with the world.

 

Tinseltown Blues, #1: All That Glitters by Acer Adamson

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Tinseltown Blues, #1: All That Glitters by Acer Adamson

The Blurb:

Everyone knows all that glitters is not gold and in Hollywood that couldn’t be more true.  

For screen star Harley Sheffield, the constant sparkle of champagne bubbles and flash of the media’s cameras are made bearable by only one thing—his older brother, Trey. Unfortunately, in a world where a celebrity’s life is held under continual, microscopic scrutiny, Trey is increasingly uncomfortable with their illicit affair and leaves for six months to search his soul for answers. 

When the need to see Harley becomes overwhelming and Trey returns home, Harley gives him the night to decide what is more important: avoiding the cold glare of Tinseltown and the risk of being discovered, or once again knowing the warmth of his brother’s love.

 

when only your brother’s ass will do…

Pottery Peter by Rick Reed

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Pottery Peter by Rick Reed

Blurb:
Josh, between his freshman and sophomore years of college, gets a job at the pottery, a place where sweaty men dressed in sleeveless T-shirts, with biceps glistening and bulging, hoist heavy molds and liquid clay.

For Josh, it’s an eye-opening summer, building his own muscles and falling in love for the very first time. But falling in love is never uncomplicated, especially when two hot men have caught Josh’s eye. Which one of them will claim Josh’s virgin territory? Will it be Dale, the heavy-metal blond God with the tattoos and rough demeanor? Or will Kevin, Josh’s beefy, red-haired Irish boss, steal his heart, along with a few other parts further south?

Come along for a ride during one long, hot summer where the job benefits for an aroused young man are way more than what Human Resources promised!

 

 
[Naked chest cover streak alive and strong!]


Review:

Who knew Rick Reed could write pure porn? He has written the classic pure porn without a plot story that spans a mere 20 pages, 6k words to be precise. This is a short story meant to entertain and titillate (I think) and full of raunchy, outrageous sex. It’s partly tongue in cheek – and yes that does apply to every conceivable use of that phrase – partly humorous and completely outrageous. Reed has even made up a few new porn terms. There is not much depth to this book, besides the obvious.

Considering the author wrote this purely to entertain with hilarious turn of phrases, descriptions, and love poles, there is not much for me to really analyze or talk about. This particular story didn’t appeal to me but far be it for me to judge what another person may enjoy in the porn variety. I do realize some don’t appreciate incestuous tentacle porn (plebeians) so I’ll just add a few quotes here and if this seems like your kind of fun, go for it. It’s at a cheap price for a couple of bucks so if you like the quotes and want the story for some fun with your favorite toy, enjoy.

 

I gobbled him, my spit leaking out of my mouth to cover his shaft and balls. I could hear his breath quickening and his balls drawing up closer to his body. I shut my eyes, wanting whatever he would give me, burying my face in the fiery curls of his bush. He grunted and pumped my mouth full of hot cum. I could barely breathe—let alone swallow—as his cock spit out what seemed like an unending load. Oh my God, I thought—greedily gulping down his cream and savoring its starchy taste—this is what I’ve always wanted.

“If I’m not careful, I’m gonna shoot down that college boy throat…and I can think of a lot better place for my scum.” He pulled his dick out of my mouth and I reached out for one final taste.

Dale threw my legs in the air and spit on my asshole. His dick was already dripping with his pre-cum and my spit. He poised the head of his dick against my sphincter, then slowly shoved in, deeper and deeper, invading that dark, dank manly hole.

I felt the cum building in my balls. I shut my eyes and bit my lip, willing it not to happen. But in seconds, without even touching myself, I felt the first hot splash of splounge on my chin, then my neck, then all over my chest.

I looked up and saw Kevin’s ass, open and spilling some of Dale’s seed. I put my mouth to that just-fucked asshole and sucked out a taste of Dale’s sweet nectar. Then I stood, turned, and kissed him.

Get it HERE!