Review Time! - Growing Up by Tricia Sol

Title: Growing Up

Author: Tricia Sol

Genre: Contemporary, New Adult/NA, LGBTQ+, Romance (m/m,) Short Story/Novella

Release Date: 13 April 2016

Amazon: UK - USA

A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book from the publishers, Less Than Three Press, via NetGalley. NetGalley provides review copies from publishers in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

Something about this one caught my eye - I don't know why.

I guess I was interested in where the premise was headed, and whether the author would be able to pull it off without it going wrong somewhere along the lines.

So I requested it for review, and was happy to have my request accepted by the ever interesting Less Than Three Press.

It's quite short: about 74 pages, depending on what e-reader you're using.

And I read it in a day (partly because I wanted to know what happened, dammit!)

This book is in ebook format only.

Premise:

Kelly is back in his hometown, Glenn.

Although it's just a few hours away from his college, he tries not to go back too often - not least because no-one back home knows he's gay.

And then he runs into his former high-school teacher - Mr Bastion.

Except he wants Kelly to call him Luke now. And Kelly has had a crush on him since forever.

But Mr Bastion - Luke - he couldn't be interested in Kelly at all, could he?

Best bits:

Sol got this oh-so-right where it could've gone oh-so-wrong. Kelly is an awesome character - you 100% feel for him, and feel with him.

The awkward moments? The tension? The worry over his unaccepting family? You can totally feel the emotion in those paragraphs.

And those moments are where Sol truly excels - those moments are real.

I also liked the way this was a book about a guy who falls in love - not a book about love and sex that happened to have characters in it.

Kelly has a life outside of Luke - and there's a real sense of him trying to find his way in the world as an individual.

The love-scene is no less steamy for all that (fans self profusely,) but it's sex with real love and intimacy, not just porn for the sake of porn.

The balance of love, everyday life, character, etc. is pretty spot-on. It doesn't get overly-gooey, or overly-trashy. Which is great - and shows a potential for thoughtful plots on the part of Sol.

And the writing? Sol is a debut author, but she clearly has some talent. And I hope she keeps writing.

Not so great bits:

There is explicit sex here. Which isn't going to be to everyone's taste, no matter how well it's done.

There's also some swearing - again, not for everyone.

And there's some domestic violence and threats of sexual violence which may be distressing to some people. I personally, though, thought the subject was handled quite well.

The writing does get clumsy in places. Overall it's fine... but there are moments when it clunks instead of chimes.

Not the end of the world, but it's slightly jarring when you're reading.

I also felt like some places were a bit sketchy on detail. Some points could've been expanded and explored more.

We really could've done with Sol zooming in on the detail - the emotional detail, rather than buttons and carpets - particularly in terms of Kelly's ex, who sometimes feels more like a plot device than a flesh-and-blood character.

And if Kelly could stop going on about how inexperienced in love/sex he is at 21, that would be great.

21 is not old. Sex is not the meaning of life. Get over it.

Verdict:

This could've gone so wrong - it could've come across creepy, or over-sentimental, or overly-trashy.

Instead we have a story with heart and complex characters that I really enjoyed, and managed to give real moments of emotion and the complexities of life.

Buy Now UK – Buy Now USA – Goodreads – Tricia Sol's Author Profile

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Friday Fics Fix! - Vegas Baby!

Update 24th September 2017: This fic is no longer available



OK, so this is FrostIron. But we've been through this guys. I ship the ship.

(Fangirl note: Shipping the FrostIron ship means that you really want Tony Stark to kiss and/or do unspeakably cute and/or sexy things to and/or with Loki.

And who wouldn't want that?)

This week's fic is:

What Happens in Vegas... by xXFanGirl23Xx

In which Tony and Loki pull a Ross and Rachel.

via GIPHY

There's some sexual references, but no actual sexy times!

I know! That's the second week in a row that I've tracked down fanfiction with no explicit gay sex! I'm a little worried, actually. Isn't that one of the signs of the apocalypse?

But you know what? Read the fic. It's actually pretty good, and pretty cute. :)



via GIPHY

And I'll attempt to come up with something non-Loki-related for a change next week ;)

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Mini-Review! - Play Hard by J T Fox

Title: Play Hard

Author: J T Fox

Genre: LGBTQ+, Romance (m/m,)Short Stories, Contemporary

Series: Hot for Him (#1)

Amazon: UK - USA

Verdict:

18+ only

I picked this up for free on Kobo, because I have an addiction to free smut.

This is about two American football players who play for rival teams... and just happen to fancy the pants off each other (quite literally - this is a steamy romance dammit!)

I didn't understand a word of the American football stuff, but luckily it served as background more than plot.

Amongst all the naughty goings-on (which are mighty hot, might I add!) Jordan and Eric are dodging match-fixing scandals, helping out sports programmes, doing news interviews, and hiding in the closet so far that they can probably see Narnia!

The closet-thing is for their careers (the inference being that gay players will be dropped from the team.) But they just can't seem to keep their hands off each other...

And all this in just over 50 pages!

Seriously, this is quick and breathless and damned hot. Luckily there are plenty of references to showers, so you can cool down.

There's also actual relationship stuff: will-they-won't-they moments and some feelings stuck in for good measure. So it's not just about the pretty faces ;)

Buy Now UK - Buy Now USA - Goodreads – Author's Facebook

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Review Time! - Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Title: Carry On

Author: Rainbow Rowell

Genre: YA, Paranormal, Fantasy, LGBTQ+ (M/M)

Amazon: USA

A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book from the publishers Pan Macmillan via NetGalley. NetGalley provides review copies from publishers in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

I had the opportunity to review this in connection with the new edition released by Pan Macmillan on 25th Feb.

I've heard loads about Rainbow Rowell, but had never read any of her books before (I can hear your collective gasping from here.)

I figured 'Carry On' would be the Rowell book I'd be most likely to enjoy, so decided to give it a shot.

I know this is kind of a spin-off of Fangirl (UK - US) - but figured since it was a book based on the fictional series mentioned in Fangirl (so... it's a book based on a series in a book about fanfiction... my head hurts,) that it would be OK to read it standalone (and it was.)

Premise:

Simon Snow is a Mage; probably the most powerful Mage ever to live. And with the World of Mages about to fall into about ten kinds of war, that's probably not the best thing to be.

And then there's his room-mate: Baz. Who may or may not be a vampire. And who may or may not be plotting against Simon.

Alongside that is the threat of a mysterious force called the Insidious Humdrum, and a mystery surrounding the death of Baz's mother.

Lots of challenges ahead for Baz and Simon: will they face them as friends, foes, or something else?

Best bits:

This book was like Harry Potter fanfiction on steroids - and yes, that's a compliment. (From me, that's a compliment.) 

It takes a Harry Potter-esque world and gives it a healthy dose of the 21st Century; it works.

I loved the sense of humour here - it's not a book that takes itself overly-seriously. And the school being at Watford? Just brill.

It's witty and self-knowing - which I really enjoyed.

The characters are great. Particularly Baz - Rowell knows her audience, and has created a deeply vulnerable Draco Malfoy/Loki hybrid; he's sharp, he's smart, he gives all you fangirls the feels. Well done Ms Rowell, well done.

I also loved Agatha - a sentiment that isn't shared by everyone, I'm sure. I think that the problem is, she's a fabulous character... who belongs to a different story.

She's not a part of this story - she's a part of her own; so she always feels a little out of place.

I also adored the way that spells are created from language - from the way people use language, and the way that it evolves. I thought that was really poignant.

Not so great bits:

This book, to me, waxes and wanes - there are parts that are slow, and parts that are fast. And, personally, there are aspects I would've explored to greater depth, and aspects that I would've trimmed down a little.

That's fine - and, obviously, down to personal preferences. But I can't help but think that with a few changes it could've been something truly special.

And the first quarter-ish of the book is basically Simon having a small pout over nothing and everything. Hold on - it gets so much better!

I also predicted all the twists - it didn't bother me that much, because I was just chuffed that I'd figured it out, but I know a lot of people don't like to be able to figure out plot-points.

There's also a bunch of the usual: some swearing, some violence, etc. If that stuff bothers you then it's maybe not the book for you.

And not everyone is going to appreciate the humour - but, personally, I loved it.

Verdict:

I surprised myself by really enjoying this book. True, there were some minus-points, but they didn't really detract from the whole. And I love Baz; he's just awesome.



UPDATE: 16th May 2017 - Some people have problems with this book with regards to bisexual erasure. If anyone has any blogposts or reviews which discuss this, please let me know!

Buy Now USA – Goodreads – Author's Site

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Mini-Review! - Omega Beloved by Aiden Bates

Title: Omega Beloved.

Author: Aiden Bates.

Genre: Romance (m/m,) Paranormal, Fantasy, Werewolves, Short Story, LGBTQ+

Series: Omega Beloved #1

Amazon: (UK - US)

Verdict:

This is an 18+ book - I mean it! (Stay in school, don't commit crimes, etc. etc. - don't let your parents yell at me. Please.)

This is a book that I mentioned in my post on guilty pleasures - and how we need to ditch the 'guilt' part.

Basically, what we have here is a fairly steamy m/m werewolf romance. It follows the Omegaverse trope - something which will be fairly familiar to fanfiction readers like myself.

It's also quite sweet in places, very well-written, and there's signs of real character development, and real heart.

So, yeah, I thought it was pretty damned awesome - even though, at 35 pages, it's short to say the least. Time well spent.

Buy Now UK - Buy Now USA - Goodreads – Author's Facebook

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Pleasure, Not Guilt

No more guilty pleasures.

I refuse to feel guilty about what I read.

The other day, I stopped, I stalled, I hesitated. I didn't want to record books I'd read on my Goodreads - even though that would've upped the number-count on my challenge.

Because, putting it frankly... it was m/m werewolf porn.



Felt the need to put a full moon in here... just because.

So I hesitated - I didn't want family and friends seeing what I'd read, because I didn't want them thinking I was weird (well... ship has probably sailed on that one... weird-er.)

(By the way, the reason that I don't share my Goodreads profile with you lovely people is that it's linked to personal social media accounts, and, knowing my luck, I'll be the one who the crazy mad-axe-murdering stalker decides to fixate on. It's just inevitable.)

So, did I actually add those books to my account?

Damn right I did!

I suddenly realised that I had to - because otherwise I'm sending a message that some types of books are 'worthier' than others. And you know what? That's simply not true.

Those books (Omega Beloved by Aiden Bates and Omega in Heat by Heather Silver - you can tell that I usually read a lot of fanfiction, right?) while short, and not what many would consider 'literature,' still had things to say.

And, actually, Omega Beloved in particular was very well-written, and gave a lot of scope for development in the further books of the series.

To further fan the flames of controversy -

I've tried to read Possession by A S Byatt not once, but twice. This is a 'literary' and 'worthy' book that a lot of people flap on about and are over the moon for.

I couldn't finish it. I couldn't get on with it. I just couldn't connect; I found it too pretentious and wooden.

Would I say that, to me, the time spent reading Omega Beloved was time better spent than the time I spent trying to force my way through Possession? Completely and utterly.

I'm not saying that people shouldn't read things held in critical regard.

Quite the opposite. I'm saying people should be accepting of both.

I didn't like Possession - a lot of people did. To those who genuinely enjoyed it - good on you. It wasn't my cup of tea, so what?

And if m/m romance isn't your cup of tea? Fine. I don't mind. But please don't think there's anything wrong with reading it - or anything else, for that matter, just because other people don't.

Reading is the key part - and then, you can judge the book on its own merits, instead of on preconceptions of genre or style.

No more guilty pleasures! We shouldn't have to feel guilty about reading what we enjoy.

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Review! (Yaaaay!) - The Invisibles by Francis Gideon

Title: The Invisibles.

Author: Francis Gideon.

Genre: YA, Romance (M/M), Contemporary, LGBTQ+.

Release Date: Jan 6 2016.

Amazon: UK - USA.

A few starting notes:

I received a free digital review copy of this book via NetGalley. NetGalley provides review copies from publishers (in this case +Less Than Three Press, LLC ) in exchange for fair and honest reviews.

I didn't really have any expectations of this short story - never heard of it, never heard of the author. I picked it solely on the premise, because it seemed quite interesting.

Premise:

Mike is the new kid in school. No one suspects that the 9th of September, 2001, will be anything but another day.

In the chaos that hits the whole country when the towers fall, Mike slips out of school with Ray and Johnny - and they bond over movies and comic books.

Against a backdrop of comics and friendship, Mike starts to wonder if Johnny has his own secret identity... and if it's an identity he's willing to share.

Best bits:

This is a really sweet (but luckily not overly sweet,) story - capturing perfectly the awkwardness of teen identity, friendship, and romance.

The awkwardness never gets cringe-y, and remains cute but not patronising. To be honest, achieving this balance is pretty damned difficult to achieve, and I was impressed by the level of skill that Francis Gideon uses to pull it off.

I also love the comic-book language that the boys use to converse, and to make their way through life.

Of course, being a total nerd, and knowing that comics are more than just comics, I would delight in these bits - but I'm pretty sure non-comics-savvy-folk would understand enough to not be left in the dark.

Not so great bits:

Some people may not be too happy about the references to porn, but there's nothing graphic sex-wise here. There is some swearing, which won't be to everyone's taste.

Occasionally, there is an awkwardness to some of the prose - maybe the syntax (order of the words - check me out with my technical terms and my smarticalness!) is a bit off in places. It's not a big problem, but it's a little jarring when reading.

To me, the 9/11 fixation seemed a little much, but then I was very small and living in South Wales at the time, so wouldn't know to what extent it affected everyday life in the USA.

Verdict:

This is a sweet and well-written romance with an excellent depiction of the awkwardness of teenage social life, and the uncertainties of love and identity.

It flows really well, and will melt some of the most frozen of hearts.

Buy Now UK - Buy Now USA - Goodreads – Author's Site

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