Tag Archives: lgbtq

Waiting for the Flood

Book Review of Waiting for the Flood, by Alexis Hall

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Waiting for the FloodI received a copy of Waiting for the Flood, by Alexis Hall, from Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
People come as well as go.

Twelve years ago, Edwin Tully came to Oxford and fell in love with a boy named Marius. He was brilliant. An artist. It was going to be forever.

Two years ago, it ended.

Now Edwin lives alone in the house they used to share. He tends to damaged books and faded memories, trying to a build a future from the fragments of the past.

Then the weather turns, and the river spills into Edwin’s quiet world, bringing with it Adam Dacre from the Environment Agency. An unlikely knight, this stranger with roughened hands and worn wellingtons, but he offers Edwin the hope of something he thought he would never have again.

As the two men grow closer in their struggle against the rising waters, Edwin learns he can’t protect himself from everything—and sometimes he doesn’t need to try.

Review:
I’ve basically come to the conclusion that I will read anything Alexis Hall writes and enjoy it. (Have a spare shopping list, good Sir? I could probably pass an afternoon with it.) I love the way he can pack such an emotional punch into fewer words than any author I know of. It’s beautiful and I always (ALWAYS) fall in love with his characters. Waiting for the Flood is no different.

Having said all that, it didn’t work quite as well for me as some of the others. Still loved it, just a smidgen less than, say, Prosperity. The reasons are that some of the vague wordage left unclear of exact meanings. I didn’t care for the 3rd person intro to first person point of view chapters. (Though I loved the way the chapter title and first sentence merged. I was clever and created a wonderful sense of place.) Once the initial obstacle was overcome, the men seemed to jump from rocky start to relationship in milliseconds and I…OK, I hate to admit this but…I really felt Hall’s Oxbridge education on this one.

This is something I find both endearing (because who doesn’t like smart fiction) and off-putting (because some of it leaves me feeling a bit like a dullard in comparison). On the whole, however, I loved finding some wonderful surprise references, Edwin’s carefulness with words, Mrs. P. (Mrs. P!), Adam’s gentle insistence and two adult men addressing grownup concerns without the need for over the top drama. Certainly, opening yourself to love again is a daunting adventure of its own, if only looked at properly.

Borderline

Book Review of Borderline (Delarosa Secrets, #1), by T.A. Chase

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BorderlineI bought a copy of Borderline, by T. A. Chase.

Description from Goodreads:

Surrounded by secrets, two men search for a serial killer, while trying to keep it from becoming personal.

Mac Guzman is a Texas Ranger and lead detective on a serial killer case rocking the city of Houston. He’s willing to take help from anyone, especially when it comes in the form of the gorgeous FBI profiler, Tanner Wallace. Mixing business with pleasure has never been an option for Mac, but he just might change his mind and seduce Tanner into his bed. 

Tanner Wallace joined the Bureau and became a profiler to catch bad guys. Also, it might have a little to do with making up for the evil caused by his family’s business. When he’s called in to consult on a serial killer case in Houston, Tanner never expects to meet Mac. The handsome Texas Ranger brings to mind hot, sweaty nights wrapped in each other’s arms, yet Tanner knows Mac would walk away if he ever found out who Tanner’s family really is. 

With the threat of another murder hanging over their heads, Tanner and Mac will have to find a way to work past their differences before the killer strikes again.

Review:
Honestly, while this might be a fine book, I found myself bored. It somehow comes across as unengaging, despite involving an FBI profiler, a Texas Ranger and a Drug Kingpin. It almost seems like boredom shouldn’t be possible, but apparently it is.

Everything about this book was just OK. The characters were OK. The plot was OK. The setting is OK. The sex was on the low side of OK. The mystery was OK. The writing was OK (though it could do with a little more editing).

Basically, while nothing was horrible, it wasn’t great either. My biggest complaints were that the scenes from the killer’s point of view were horribly cheesy and stiff. The sex scenes were of the uninspired, stick it in and be done kind, with little foreplay or buildup, and didn’t inspire any of the emotions the book claimed were resulting from it. The fact that Mac would risk letting the perp walk on a technicality by not recusing himself from the investigation seemed unlikely, as did the fact that Tanner would risk so very much by telling Mac about his family. And the writing was occasionally stiff, especially in dialogue where names were used far too often to feel natural.

All in all, an OK read, but nothing I’m going to rave about.

Book Review of The Gentleman and the Rogue, by Summer Devon & Bonnie Dee

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The Gentleman and the RogueI bought a copy of The Gentleman and the Rogue, by Summer Devon & Bonnie Dee.

Description from Goodreads:
Lad from the streets meets lord of the manor. Both men’s lives will be changed forever.

When Sir Alan Watleigh goes searching for sex, he never imagines the street rat he brings home for one last bit of pleasure in his darkest hour will be the man who hauls him back from the edge of the grave. Despite his harsh life in the slums of London, Jem is a bright, cheerful young man. He’s also witty, irreverent, glib, and makes Alan laugh–a rare occasion since war time trauma and the death of his family have made the man a ghost of his former self.

A single night of meaningless sex turns into an offer of permanent employment. Jem acts as Alan’s valet, but offers him so much more than polished boots and starched cravats. Just as the men are adjusting to their new living arrangement, news about a former soldier under his command sends Sir Watleigh and Jem on the road to save a child in danger.

The journey brings them closer together as they travel from lust toward love. They rescue the girl from the clutches of an insane surgeon, who is as interested in experimenting on the vulnerable human spirit as he is on physical bodies. Alan realizes his love for Jem when he nearly loses him, but is Alan’s love strong enough to risk society discovering the truth about him? And is he strong enough to finally accept his sexual nature?

Review:
I have to admit that I’ve not historically been a fan of historical novels, though I’ve read a couple recently and I’m starting to convert. Further, I’ve never enjoyed stories based on the cliché ‘hooker with the golden heart’ trope, especially when that golden heart is healing some emotionally damaged wealthy patron, as it so often is in romance. So, this book had a lot going against it from the beginning. But I found that I enjoyed it despite containing elements I’ve traditionally dismissed as unpalatable.

The reason, I think, is that it never tried to play Jem off as a prostitute in name only. Think Julia Roberts in Pretty woman and how she was a prostitute, but shown to be so new as to be almost unspoilt. She’s a whore in name, but not practice. The authors didn’t do that here. They never tried to play Jem off as anything other than what he was and as such I was much more able to tolerate him than I would have been otherwise. Similarly, Alan wasn’t made out to be some pure soul who’d done something other than hire a man for sex. That something more developed is bonus, but the story made no attempt to dismiss Jem’s profession. I liked that.

The authors also never hid Jem’s motives behind pure good heartedness. He had ulterior motives in the beginning and by acknowledging them, the reader was more able to watch and believe as they changed to genuine affection for Alan (and visa versa).

I did think that the bad guy’s tendency to monologue his ill intentions was a little cheesy, I had a little trouble with some of the cant used (possibly because I’ve read so few historical novels) and I might have like a more obvious declaration of love from Alan, but all in all, I rather enjoyed the book.