Review: Jude in Chains by KZ Snow

(This book falls into my M/M Reading Challenge)

Awhile back, Kris over at Kris-n-Good Books held a contest, and offered a copy of several books. I won Jude in Chains. At first, I wasn't sure about this one, the premise seemed like kind of a downer...but as is becoming all too familiar - I was wrong! I tore through this book in less than a day!


From Dreamspinner Press:
Hoping further to expose the fallacy of "reparative therapy" for non-heterosexuals, writer Misha Tzerko enrolls in a weeklong program at the Stronger Wings Camp and Conference Center. He's already lost a long-term boyfriend to the ex-gay movement—Robbie abandoned him for a straight life complete with wife—and for his own closure as well as his job at Options magazine, Misha intends to get an inside look at the ministry established by C. Everett Hammer III.

Misha is shocked and dismayed to find someone else from his past at Stronger Wings, a man with whom he shared two brief but captivating encounters. He knows he can’t save everyone in the program, but he's determined to save Jude Stone... no matter what it takes.

___________________________


Misha is a gay reporter whose last serious lover left him to persue a relationship with a woman. He's getting ready to head out to a "reconditioning program*" to make gay men straight. He's going to pose as a straight reporter so that the founder will allow him to stay and interact with the clients. Right after he signs in, he runs into Jude, whom he'd met two years earlier at a wedding - it had been instant attraction but he never saw Jude again, until they meet at the program.

Jude had parental issues at the time of the wedding, and apparently they'd gotten worse. He's at Stronger Wings because he doesn't want to be gay anymore, he doesn't want his parents to be disgusted by him anymore.

The times Misha spends with Jude during the week, just talking about themselves and their pasts are so tender and sweet. As Jude fights his attraction to Misha, Misha falls harder for Jude. The interactions between Misha and the other camp "residents" are pretty funny. I especially liked Ash and Samuel. Hammer made a great bad guy - I have my doubts about him :)

Misha had a great sense of humor. Near the end of the story, Misha decides to dance, and chooses his dance partner thusly:

"She'd been eyeing me, so I figured she was an ace in the hole. Not my hole, of course, but whatever hole aces went into."

The ending was a bit fantastic, but oh, so funny. And hopeful. It was a bit open-ended but I think there's an HEA there.

I give Jude in Chains 4 out of 5 stars! Thank you so much Kris for introducing me to KZ Snow's books, I will definitely be going back for more!

*I have to add that the name of the facility - Stronger Wings - kept making me think of the Big Brother-type organization in the movie Role Models - Sturdy Wings (my adolescent sense of humor loves this movie!).

Quickie Review: Losing my Josh Lanyon virginity with Adrien English Books 1 & 2

This book falls into my M/M Reading Challenge.

I have heard so much about the Adrien English series I thought I knew what it was all about but these books were not what I expected at all. I guess I didn't expect the stories to focus mainly on the mystery and not so much on Adrien's love life. Don't get me wrong, there was a bit of the sexin' going on, but it wasn't the focus of the stories. I liked them.

Adrien English is an independent bookstore owner who also happens to be gay. He's got a bad heart as the result of a childhood illness, and because of it has a tendancy to pass out when he's excited, surprised, or anxious. He had a bad breakup with a significant other, but apparently that's been over for a while and hasn't had anyone special in his life for a while. The first book, Fatal Shadows, focused on a serial killer. As the book opens, he learns his employee/high-school friend has been murdered. Of course he ends up a suspect, and things aren't looking good when someone else he knows turns up dead. Poor Adrien stumbles around getting more and more involved in the case, and as the clues come together he realizes his life is in danger.

The second book, A Dangerous Thing, has Adrien involved with one of the officers, Jake Riordan, who worked on the case in the first book. Apparently things aren't going well and Adrien spontaneously decides to take a short vacation at the ranch his grandmother left him when she died many years ago. The first thing he runs into, almost literally, is a dead body! He calls the local Sheriff, and when they go back to investigate the body is gone. There's a missing caretaker, a huge field of pot plants, an anthropology group digging on his land with forged approval documents, and to top it all off Riordan shows up! After several attempts on his life and a refusal by the local law to accept Adrien's insistence that his life is in danger, he and Riordan work together (using that term loosely) to solve the mystery. This one kept me guessing until the very end, and I also think I like the turn Adrien and Riordan's romance seems to be taking. (IF Riordan can get over some self-identity issues he needs to address). *

Completely off topic - I don't know why but I keep imagining Adrien as a wiry older guy, (maybe like Hugh Laurie), even though I think he's supposed to be about 32? Riordan I think I'm imagining right, but for some reason my brain refuses to picture Adrien as a younger guy. Oh - and I'm never going to look at a bottle of suntan lotion the same way ever again!

Anyhoo, I thought Fatal Shadows was pretty good, and A Dangerous Thing was great, so I give this compilation 4 stars.

*(Finished book 3, The Hell You Say) this weekend - definitely do NOT like the turn their romance is taking!!!)

Review: Almost Like Being In Love By Steve Kluger

This book falls into my M/M Reading Challenge.

This book makes me laugh. And it makes me feel better about my own idiocyncracies. Because even if these are fictional characters, someone had to think this stuff up.

Travis Puckett is something of a nerd, and he's got the hots for the hot-shot jock, Craig McKenna. They attend an all boys boarding school, and although neither of them know it, they're both interested in each other. They do finally figure it out, and spend the remainder of their senior year talking walks and lots of showers together. Then they spend an amazing summer living and working together before going off to different colleges and lives

Fast-forward 20 years and Travis is a History teacher at the University of Southern California and Craig is an attorney in New York. And while Travis has had a series of hysterically failed relationships and Craig is in a long-term relationship, neither has forgotten their first love. After going back and forth and generally working himself into a tizzy, Travis decides to try to find Craig.

This book is not written in typical story fashion. It's done in memos, journal entries, newspaper articles, test answers, and the like. It takes a few pages to get used to but it really does showcase the idiosyncracies of the characters spectacularly. And I love how Travis and Craig "get" each other; even after a lapse of 20 years, when they think about each other it's eerily funny how much they're right about. I also loved Travis' friend Gordo. He was hysterical - and a true friend (and I loved how his life changed throughout the book as well).

I really, really enjoyed this book. I'm not going to pretend I got all the sports references, or the showtune references either, but for the most part it didn't really matter; this book had me laughing out loud in so many places. But here's the thing - I didn't like the end. I got all worked up over how it was going to be possible that they were going to end up together, it seemed so hopeless (I even wondered at one point if the author would turn them into a trio!). Then, sudenly, I was at the end of the book! It seemed to me to be abrubt and a bit vague about what happened - it all got wrapped up in about 6 pages or so.

The ending is the only reason I'm giving this book 4 stars instead of 5. It was a really terrific book and I'll be thinking about these two for a long time.

Review: Cheating Chance by James Buchanan

This book falls into my M/M Reading Challenge.

I bought this book at Chris' recommendation - Thanks Chris, you were right; I loved it!

Cheating Chance is about Nick, a young goth computer geek. He works for the Nevada State Gaming Comission checking the computer code in slot machines to make sure they're all legal. He's recently broken up with his boyfriend, Jake, who really did a job on Nick's psyche.

As the story opens, Nick is feeling sort of sorry for his situation when he meets Brandon at a Goth convention. There is instant attraction and they go back to Brandon's room. They intend to just have a fling, but their chemistry is strong and they exchange numbers and e-mail.

Brandon is a cop who lives in California, and is definitely NOT out. When Nick and Brandon get together for a fun weekend, Nick's feelings are hurt when Brandon starts flirting with women. Brandon exlains it's habit and promises to work on it because he wants the relationship to work. Of course, they stumble a few times and have some issues to work out, and Brandon has a few surprises for Nick.

The relationship storyline is nicely tied in to a mystery involving casino slot machines and a murder. There were a few scenes where I had to go back and read the technical stuff twice, but I pretty much understood what was going on and why Nick got involved; I got the "who" but was curious until almost the very end about the "why" of the mystery.

I loved the scenes between Nick and Brandon - the sex was hot and the emotional scenes drew me in. I was rooting for these two through the whole book. The scene where they talked about having sex with women had me in stitches - Nick is so freakin' cute! I got why it was difficult for Brandon to show his feelings for Nick outside the bedroom, and it made the ending that much more emotional. I'm definitely going to grab the next book about these two, Inland Empire.

I give Cheating Chance 4 1/2 out of 5 stars! Thanks Chris!!!

Review: Faith and Fidelity by Tere Michaels

This book falls into my M/M Reading Challenge.

I had seen several reviews of this book around the blogosphere and my curiosity was piqued. I really, really liked this book...with one reservation; which I'll address at the end of my review.

Evan Cerelli is a NY City cop. His wife died one year previous to the events in this story, leaving him alone to raise 4 children - 2 teenage girls and a set of younger twins. He'd basically been going through the motions of living since his wife died, living his life in a fog. While at a retirement party for a fellow cop, he meets Matt Height, a former Detective who'd left the force a few years earlier after turning in a dishonest fellow cop.

Evan and Matt each see something familiar, I think, in the other, and they start meeting for beer and to talk about their losses - for Evan, his wife and for Matt, the job that he'd loved. Their meetings grew into a friendship, then something more. Matt started having dreams about Evan which confused and excited him; dreams about being with Evan. He fought the thoughts going through his head because he didn't want to ruin this friendship, one of the only friendships that he'd had in a long time.

One thing leads to another and Evan and Matt confront the feelings that have been developing between them. Both are concerned about their jobs, Evan's kids, and other people's reactions. They start the relationship and it grows deeper, until Evan starts having second thoughts.

I really liked this story. The scenes between Evan and Matt were so tender and sensual and emotionally charged. The wants and fears and desires were well-written and my heart ached for both men when things got rocky.

Ms. Michaels' secondary characters were engaging and a nice foil for Evan and Matt's relationship. I liked Evan's boss Vic, and his partner Helena - they were both open and accepting of this surprising relationship between Evan and Matt. Their concern for Evan was heartwarming and sincere. Evan's kids were realistic and enchanting, not obnoxious at all, and added another layer to this already intriguing story.

Here's my reservation: It was hard for me to believe that two previously heterosexual men would suddenly (or gradually, as the case may be) fall in love. I just don't see it happening; probably because of my belief that you're either born gay or you're not, you don't actually get to choose. BUT, the story was so well-written and engaging it was easy to fall right into it and take an interest in their lives.

I give Faith & Fidelity 4 1/2 out of 5 stars - I really enjoyed reading it!