"Divine Devine's Love Song"

Review - "Divine Devine's Love Song" by S. A. Garcia

Truly a haunting and inspiring book

Highly Recommended

It is a very fine line to walk for a writer who is building a world for his or her story, especially when that world is in our future.  It is doubly hard when there are two worlds to consider - one thirty years apart in time from the one in the main body of the story.  And both still in our future.  And yet that is what S. A. Garcia has done with such a deft touch in this amazingly original book.

Set sometime in the future, in what appears to be a post nuclear event world, a physically twisted young man named Trill chances upon a Netpad as he and his companions visit "sacred" grounds.  Hiding it from the rest of the group, which includes his boyfriend Shatter, Trill ventures home and trades some of his prized possessions to the local junk dealer for what he hopes is a functional battery for the Netpad.  When it works, what he finds is the story of one of his heroes, Pokatawer, who led a group south away from the destroyed and unsafe area of ManH.

And so begins the story of Sam Devine who, thirty years before, was instrumental in a rebellion against the corporate powers that have replaced government in what was the United States.  During Sam's lifetime, the U.S. has broken down into a series of city states, which are under corporate control.  After a nuclear event, ManH (Manhattan) is isolated from many others, parts of it unsafe, the weather uncertain because of the attacks.  The area is buffeted by storms called Howlers, and only Sam's technological innovation helps keep the area safe, and him alive and doing the bidding of his BCM corporate masters.  Seems he was slated for death, but was rescued from execution by Dan, a man who believed in him.  Seems he is allowed some leeway as long as he doesn't outlive his usefulness.  But his attitude is a problem for TPTB.

Enter Pokatawer.  Captured as part of an attack, he is slated for torture and experimentation as the leaders of BCM attempt to learn the secrets of a new drug the enemy is using to make the user into a beserker.  Recognizing a kindred spirit, and sick of the inhumanity, Sam steps in and saves the young warrior, offering to BCM to unlock his secrets in exchange for his freedom.

What follows is an amazing whirlwind ride of danger, love and unexpected twists and turns.  Ms. Garcia has taken this story, and me, by the balls and turned us every which way but loose.  I was stunned by the detail she worked in about the world these characters populate.  From the descriptions of the ride into the city by Sam to the brutal storm that shakes his house, and then to Trill's world, where harm and death hide in the beauty and old skeletal remains of homes and cities.  It is a bleak, haunting, vividly imagined world that drew me in and both horrified and fascinated me. 

But the really touching part?  In the midst of what is the crumbling of the world as we know it, two men, thirty years apart, take the chance and open their hearts to each other and forge an uncertain future together.  Sam and Pokatawer, and Till and Shatter, each venture out of what is and into what could be. 

Not the average boy meets boy and happily ever after story here.  But DAMN IT, this story engages the mind as well as the heart and points south.  I LOVED it.  I hope to see more from this intriguing and talented writer.

If you are looking to take a risk, get this book.

Tom

"Nothing Ever Happens"

Review - "Nothing Ever Happens" by Sue Brown

A beautiful, harsh and forgiving story

Highly Recommended

There is a sanctity and favor when God looks at one of His creations and smiles that can only be defined as grace.  And then there is a certain eloquence of style when an artist creates something of beauty that can also be considered grace.  Sue Brown has created something of grace and beauty here that shines with a quiet painful dignity. 

Andrew and his family live in a quiet neighborhood. and lead a quiet life.  A scarred man inside and out, Andrew is a photographer, a father, and a man staying in a marriage he never wanted with a woman he loves as a friend to please a religious mother.  When the pressure builds too badly, he escapes for a night to find release with a man he will never see again.  Then back home to pretend for another little while that life is fine.

Nathan moves his pregnant wife into Andrew's neighborhood looking to settle down, start his career as a teacher, and raise his soon-to-be son among other happy young families.  He and Andrew strike an immediate friendship, and while Nathan wonders why Andrew has his own room downstairs, he begins to like Andrew a lot.  At least until he finds the gay stroke mag stuck in between Andrew's couch cushions, and assumes the worst.

While they patch up their friendship, can the two men deal with the attraction that grows between them?  And when Andrew's wife asks him for a divorce to marry the man she loves, what will happen to both families?

Where lesser writers would wrap this up quickly with both men leaving their wives and walking off into the sunset together, holding hands under a rainbow, Ms. Brown takes the much harder road and has life, in all its' sticky, uncomfortable and messy ways, happen.  We see Andrew having to come to terms not only with the present, but with his painful past - how his overbearing and religious mother allowed him to be physically abused in the name of normalcy, how he bowed his head and tried to be the man they wanted, how he struggled and ended up with a pregnant girl friend and a son and a life he never wanted.  And we see how his future is uncertain and scary.  What is a man to do and who is he to be when he loses what everything he defined himself as?

And Nathan.  Where Andrew had fought to be "normal" all his life, Nathan WAS normal.  And now that he has fallen for man, what does that mean for him and his wife and his son and his self image?  Can he be what he needs to be to be in a relationship with Andrew?  Or will his fear be the master of him?  Will Nathan take the easier road, the less risky way?  Will his flame be dimmed, and allowed to die out?
The message here is that life is rarely simple, cut and dried, or comfortable.  All of us brave the trials, the fires, the tears and the bitter harsh realities in which we baptize our pains in order to come out the other side renewed.  For, as Ms. Brown shows us so clearly with Andrew and Nathan, the easy road seldom feeds the soul, and the struggle, while painful, allows our spirits to break free and shine.

It may only be through trial that we are rewarded.  Lessons learned without cost may not sustain us when rough times come.

Andrew and Nathan certainly learn that grace comes with a cost.  And we learn that grace may just be worth the costs.

I found this book to be a lovely, painful, harsh testament to the power of love, redemption and sacrifice.  I hope you will too.

Tom

"Marathon Cowboys"

Review - "Marathon Cowboys" by Sarah Black

Knocked me the hell OUT

VERY Recommended

Lorenzo Maryboy is home from war.  An aspiring cartoonist, this Navajo Marine is on his way to Marathon, Texas to meet up with a potential mentor.  After two tours of duty in the Middle East, he is ready to start his new life. 

Jesse Clayton III is out'n'proud.  A recognized artist, he is on his way back to his grandfather's home in Marathon to get back in touch with his roots and start a new series of paintings inspired by the strong men there.

When Maryboy saves Jesse from a beatdown in a redneck bar in a small town outside Maarathon, they discover they have a lot in common.  Both are headed to Marathon.  Both are artists.  Both like men...

Maryboy is used to rules and order and regulation, and when he finds himself falling for the unpredictable, volatile Jesse, he decides to approach the situation like a war game.  Strategize, plan, stay the course.  Of course Jesse is having none of that - he makes his own rules, and his art comes first.

This book started with a gallop and NEVER let up!  Sarah Black has created two unforgettable characters who storm through this story like a Texas twister.

What makes this book fly is the care with which Ms. Black builds her characters.  It would be so easy to make Maryboy as much of a cartoon as the ones he draws.  Or have Jesse be the mindless twink he appears at first blush.  And The Original a caricature of the old crusty redneck that populate so many other books.  But these characters are made from sterner stuff - the love with which they were crafted shows in not only the shading of all of them, but in the care with which the dialogue is written.

"Jesse reached down, cleaned the sand around the shrine. 'I came here when my grandmother died.' he said.  'I was about seven, I think.  Maybe six.  We put her picture inside, and a prayer card, and I lit a candle and prayed that the virgin would make sure my grandmother got into heaven, even though she had spanked my butt the night before she died, and kept me from those cookies.'  That was the moment, watching Jesse pick dead leaves from the shrine, that I fell in love with him."

God, does it get much better than that???  It's called draw the character, give him great depth and true words to say and real things to do, and stay true to him.  So few get it right - Ms. Black does.

And the quirkiness - so good.  " 'Make it so', I said, quoting Captain Jean-Luc Picard and pointing down the long, dusty road back to Marathon.  'Failure is not an option.'  I wondered if a street map of San Francisco would look anything like the Borg."  Holy Jesus, that send shivers down my spine. 

A little over halfway through, I felt absolutely freaking gob-smacked.  Hit over the head with a two by four.  The story hit fifth gear and just...took me along for the ride.  And guys, I went WILLINGLY.  In good hands.

And then...

"Inside this house, we were warm and loved.  A couple of old men sat on the porch, enjoying the silence, keeping watch do we could sleep."

I died and went to heaven.

Join me - read this book.

Tom

"It's Not Shakespeare"

Review - "It's Not Shakespeare" by Amy Lane

A love song to hope

Highly Recommended

Hope.

Such a wonderful and fragile thing.  When we are young, we hope for a bike for Christmas, or a puppy for our birthday.  That that cute boy or girl will notice us.  We hope to get into a good school.  That we get a great great job and a hot car.

We hope for love.  For that special someone to be ours. 

And sometimes, we just hope that this time it will be real.  That we don't get our heart broken.  That we have one more try in us...

James is a forty something year old professor at a community college in California.  Betrayed by his partner on the East Coast, he has moved out West for a new start.  Three years later, he and Marlowe, his Boston Terrier, have each other, and that's enough. 

Raphael is a late twenties blue collar Hispanic guy who looks like an underwear model.  Unlucky in love, he stays one foot in the closet to make his Catholic family happy.  He plays tough guy, but his heart is a tender one. 

When Raphael's friend, who just happens to be in James' class, sets them up, will sparks fly or will the past hurts and the age difference keep these two apart?

This book is, at heart, all about hope.  James' hope that life hasn't passed him by.  That forty doesn't mean the end.  That his lying cheating ex didn't kill that spark in him, that fragile hopeful heartbeat of romance and love.  And Raphael's hope that someone will take a chance on him and not make him choose love over his family.  That being Hispanic working class doesn't mean unlovable.  That his fragile painful hope that James will put his heart on the line with him and not leave him hanging out there alone isn't in vain.

"Well, sometimes small dreams had grandeur, he thought with dignity.  Sometimes, the small dreams were all a person needed to live."

God, Amy Lane gets it so right. 

These two men dare to dream small, but hope bigger.  And, thank God, sometimes dreams come true and hopes are answered. 

Because when I read this fine, fine book, my hopes were given given wings.  Hopes that romance can conquer fear, that love doesn't quit being possible at 40 (or even 50), that there are still men out there who have the balls to say things like "I get laid plenty, baby.  I don't remember ever being asked to sleep.  There's different kinds of loneliness, Jimmy." and mean it.

So, thank you, Ms.Lane, for writing a beautiful love song to hope. 

Tom

"Sauntering Vauguely Downward"

Review - "Sauntering Vaguely Downward" by Nessa L. Warrin

Charming and well developed story

Highly Recommended

Dylan is in Atlanta for Dragon*Con, the annual convention in Atlanta for all things scifi/fantasy/geek/fanboy/girl, but his long time roommate Eric cannot make it at the last minute.  Frustrated, he advertised on the boards for someone at the last minute to split the cost of the room with him.  Since he plans on being at events, panels, parties and all the general merriment to be had at the long Labor Day weekend event, maybe he will luck into someone who won't piss him off too badly.

Brendan also has his long time roomie Nate also bail on him at the last minute.  He too doesn't really want to foot the hotel bill by himself, and when he runs across Dylan's ad, he jumps at the chance to find a roommate.

Unfortunately, Dylan is a bit...anal...about having his schedule adhered to and being on time, and when Brendan is late meeting him on Thursday at 2:30 pm exactly, the two don't start off on the best footing.  Never mind that Brendan has to deal with a late plane, the world's busiest airport, Atlanta mass transit and traffic - Dragon*Con waits for no man!

Such a shame too, because Dylan is immediately attracted to Brendan.  Too bad the guy isn't gay...and the convention will be over soon and Dylan will be back in New York.

And Brendan thinks Dylan is an ass, but a cute ass.  Too bad he isn't gay...and the convention will be over and Brendan will be back in New York.

Will these two guys manage to find some common ground, or will they let an opportunity for something good saunter on southward?

Being an Atlanta native and having been to one of the early early early Dragon*Cons back when dinosaurs walked the earth, I had very high hopes and expectations for this book.  And I have to say, I was very happily surprised. Ms. Warin has crafted a fun and entertaining story about two guys who meet under unlikely circumstances and manage to fall into something pretty special.

What I really liked about this book is how the two characters slowly came around over the course of a long weekend, recognized that the setting could be affecting their interactions and judgement, and yet decided to take a chance on love anyway.  What started out as the opportunity for just a little weekend fun (and what guy doesn't want to carpe THAT diem) managed to grow over the course of five days into both men wanting to see where it might go.

There was an easiness to the writing of these characters that doesn't show itself often.  The fact that both held back initially from expressing their feelings, not wanting to name what was happening and jinx what they felt, was very true to the characters.  It sometimes is so easy to compromise the integrity of the characters to move the story along, but I found Ms. Warin wielding a deft hand here, letting the relationship unfold as it should and having the emotional connection dictate the flow and action. 

Since the setting required the story take place, at least initially, within the five days of Dragon*Con, the build was slow and sweet.  At first, I had some qualms over how much alcohol fueled some of the action, especially with Brendan.  But it in no way was outside of the actions that I think would have happened anyway, and didn't compromise the characters or the flow of the story.

Overall, I was impressed with the sweetness of the feelings between these two men and the way they slowly decided to open their hearts to each other.  The evolution of the relationship was nicely done.  And the epilogue, the nice cherry on this very sweet sundae.

Job well done.

Tom

"When Love Is Not Enough"

Review - "When Love is Not Enough" by Wade Kelly

Shattering, lovely, painful hopeful tale

Very Highly Recommended

When I ran across this book and saw it was part of the Bittersweet Dreams titles, and that the main character had committed suicide, of course I knew this would not be the happily ever type of book.  And, to be honest, I had to wonder how Mr. Kelly would be able to make this anything but a depressing autopsy, or a couldawouldashoulda melodramatic weeper.  I have read a couple of the Bittersweet Titles before and loved them (including "The Night Porter" by Sue Brown), but how do you make suicide...palatable?

This is a very personal subject.  I have known two people in the course of my life that have committed suicide and loved both, one like a brother and one like a lover.  Both losses devastated me.  It is so hard on those left behind, as we struggle to understand the why and the how do we go on and the anger and the grief and try to remember the love.

So, I picked up this title with some little trepidation, and started.  And got hooked immediately in this beautifully imagined and executed tale.  Mr. Kelly has crafted a touching tale of love and hope in the face of pain and loss and tragedy.

This book, ultimately, is about secrets, large and small, of the heart and soul.  It is also about the lengths we will go to and the things we will do to ourselves and to each other to keep and protect these secrets.   And, most importantly, it is about the consequences of the fear those secrets inspire in our souls and how it kills us by separating us from those we love.

Jimmy and Matt have been best friends for year.  Growing up together as neighbors and childhood buddies, Jimmy, or Jamie as Matt calls him (think early Van Halen of all things), have shared life and school and secrets, the biggest of which is that Matt is gay.  Jimmy keeps this secret for Matt, since Matt's family is religious and would not tolerate having a gay son.

When Jimmy's parents separate and divorce, the family moves and Jimmy splits time between his mother's new home and his father's small place.  Jimmy and Matt are still best friends, but the distance physically allows other gaps to form.  And it is at his father's new home that Jimmy meets Darien.

Darien is all emo twink, the complete opposite of steady solid jock Matt.  And Jimmy is fascinated.  Intrigued.  And drawn in.  Darien is also gay.  As their friendship grows, Darien becomes Jimmy's best friend too.  But Jimmy doesn't share this with Matt.  Although Darien knows some about Matt.  Another secret kept.

When Darien is hurt by intolerant boys at his school, Jimmy's feelings boil over as does his attraction.  Jimmy, it seems, has been keeping at least one secret of his own.  One he shares with Darien but not Matt.  And he acts on it.  One more secret.

This heartbreaking tale jumps back and forth between high school and the present day, when the boys are out of college and starting careers.  The book starts with the preparation by Matt for Jimmy's funeral, because we know he has killed himself.  We learn, little by little, that Jimmy has been living a double, almost triple life.  As have Matt and Darien, although in vastly different ways.

We follow Matt as he meets Darien.  And we watch Matt learn all of Jimmy and Darien's secrets as he finds Jimmy's journals.

And our hearts just keep breaking.  Secret after secret kept.  Lie after lie told.  Opportunity after opportunity lost.  Hope after hope dashed.  Until we finally find out the biggest secret of all - why did Jimmy do it.  And then we bleed.  We bleed for this beautiful young man.  These beautiful young men.  I can't give away why this tragedy happens, but I can say, it explains why Jimmy made the puzzling choices he did time after time.

This is Jimmy's tale, but it is also Matt's and Darien's.  Because as this tragedy has already happened, these two meet and a new opportunity is presented.  New choices can be made.  New truths told rather than lies and secrets kept.  New love shared rather than kept hidden.  New hope allowed to grow rather than old pains to shrivel and kill.

And isn't that how it should be?

Give this remarkable book a chance.  Mr. Kelly's voice deserves to be heard.

Tom

"Home and Heart"

Review - "Home and Heart" by Chris Quinton

Warm Holiday Tale

Recommended Highly

Ben is a homesitter, taking on assignments for Home-Safe to earn money while he saves up enough to go back to University to get his Masters in Psychology.  This ten week assignment for the crotchety old Ms. Bonney, while she recuperates from surgery and takes a nice cruise will allow him some breathing room.  And he gets to dog sit.  But he is warned, no shenanigans with loose women - like that will be an issue.

Adam is Ms. Bonney's grandson.  He has lost his business, his lover, and, he thinks, his family.  After sleeping in his car for the past four days, taking a chance on asking his grandmother for help is looking like a better and better idea.  But will she turn her back on him again?

When Adam shows up at Ms. Bonney's door, he meets Ben.  Will the initial attraction win out, or will Adam's irritation and temper?


There is an easiness and sweetness to Ms. Quinton's writing that draws me in and makes me care about these two very different men.  Where Ben is all  glass-half-full, Adam is rough edges and elbows and angles.  Ben has been to college, ha family that is willing to help him out, has a plan for the future, and is looking for that one man to complete his life.  Adam, as we see, has a much rougher backstory, and sometimes is his own worst enemy..  But what I really like about these two characters - they are realistic, behave as real men would, want something more than sex, and, eventually, act to get it.


The integrity in the two men shows up in the writing also.  Ben refuses to compromise this promises to Ms. Bonney.  Adam refuses to allow to allow Peter, the ex he runs away from, to run his business or his love life.  Neither settle.  And Ms. Quinton structures this charming story simply - boy meets boy and they fall in love - and sticks with it in tone, language and feel.  A small English town as the setting, Christmas the time of year, and two characters who play off of each other so well.   It is wonderful when a writer commits to an idea, sets the stage, then spins out a yarn that wraps around you like a warm blanket in front of the fire on a cold winter's night.

What better present to have under the tree than this quiet gem of a story from a writer who knows what she is doing.  Happy holidays to you too, Ms.Quinton.


Hot chocolate for the soul.


Tom