Tag Archives: m/m fantasy

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Book Review: Mechanical Magic, by Lorraine UIrich

Here I am, at the end of another year, trying to finish up my author alphabet challenge. I set out to read a book by an author whose surname begins with every letter of the alphabet each year. Just as almost every previous year, we’ve reached mid-December, and I still hadn’t read an author whose name starts with a ‘U.’ I find these the hardest to find usually. So, I purchased a copy of Mechanical Magic by Lorraine Ulrich to fit the bill.

mechanical magic cover

When Aster Genisov, a creator of mechanical novelties, is asked to help a wounded elf, his special talents and painful past could be the key to the elf’s survival.

Y’rean was born to touch the sky, but when his wings are destroyed by a cruel master, not even the life he begins to build with Aster can assuage his despair. Aster has the means to help him—it’s written in his gypsy blood—but is love enough for Aster to face his past and embrace his talent for mechanical magic?

my review

It’s a good thing that I don’t bother with star ratings here on the blog because this would be a hard book for me to rate. I think if I had read it five years ago, I would have loved it; I probably rated it five stars. I was very into M/M romances at the time, and I think I would have appreciated the quietness of the story. But tastes change with time, and now the sedateness of the story left me wanting. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I was bored. But it definitely wasn’t hitting the notes I currently enjoy. However, if you are someone who enjoys a calm, soft romance, this is a good one to pick up.

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Other Reviews:

Mechanical Magic By Lorraine Ulrich

 

Book Review: Queen’s Man, by K. D. Sarge

queen's man cover

About the book:
Joss Ravid works security for a major tribe on Kari’s Star, but he’ll tell anyone that he doesn’t actually care if the ruling families kill each other off. He’s not interested in politics; he just likes getting paid to hit jerks, and also the many opportunities for hitting on straight men. The Galactic-imposed Interdiction may keep Kari citizens stuck on their war-torn world, but Joss has connections. If the situation gets too messy, he can leave whenever he wants.

Review:

I thought that this was cute. It had characters you really want to like, some variety in their appearance, and enough action to keep things interesting. However, I also thought that the characters, while entertaining, weren’t very deeply written. The HEA romance came out of nowhere and wasn’t well developed. The events were often over-the-top ridiculous, and while it was hinted that Joss had been a member of the Dream crew at some point, I couldn’t figure out where to place him. (For a long time, I thought that with all that beauty, red hair, fair skin, and anti-woman attitude, he might turn out to be Keen from His Faithful Squire, but apparently, he’s just another beautiful, fair-skinned redhead who hates/fears women and worked on the Dream. Who knew they could be so common.)

All in all, a perfectly acceptable piece of entertainment. Recommended for those who would like a clean m/m read (no sex).