Tag Archives: m/m romance

Havesskadi

Book Review of Havesskadi, by Ava Kelly

I received a copy of Havesskadi, by Ava Kelly, through Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
Nevmis, the red dragon, is hunting her own. Up in the icy peaks of the northern mountains, Orsie spends his lonely days hiding from her, but eventually he is found and his dragon magic stolen. Cursed to wander the lands as a mortal unless he recovers his magic before twenty-four rising crescents have passed, Orsie embarks on an arduous journey. Spurred by the whispers in his mind, his quest takes him to a castle hidden deep in a forest.

Arkeva, a skilled archer, is trapped in an abandoned castle deep in the woods, his only company two companions—one kind, the other cruel. Then a stranger arrives, a young man who soon finds himself confined by heavy snowfalls—and in danger from what slumbers in the shadows of the castle.

Review:
This isn’t horrible, but it’s too long by half and heavily dependent on two people not having a conversation that the continued avoidance of feels manipulated and unnatural. Further, there’s very little character development and almost no actual characters beyond the two main ones. I also have questions about these all important dragon souls. It’s an interesting idea, but not nearly well enough explained. All in all, it’s a sweet story, but it’s a poorly executed book.

 

Book Review of Hot Flash, by Nicole Casey

Author, Nicole Casey sent me a copy of their novel Hot Flash.

Description from Goodreads:
Give him your latest novel, Ariana says. It’ll be the best way to thank him, she says.

Yeah. If only it were that easy.

After all, Dylan is a firefighter who runs into burning buildings to save lives. It’s how I met him—and how, after a freak accident at my apartment complex, he saved my life.

What could he ever see in a guy like me, who’s little more than a writer who sits in front of his computer all day?

I guess Ariana is right.

There’s only one way to find out if he’s interested.

Review:
As I said, I received an ARC of Hot Flash from the author, some time ago, and then promptly lost it in my jungle of ebooks. I rediscovered and read it tonight. I liked it better when it was lost and just an idea to me. It has a sweet plot, but is rushed and unsupported. Nothing feels natural or believable. The parrot was cute though.

rook

Book Review of Rook, by T. Strange

I received a copy of Rook, by T. Strange from Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
For killing his husband, Rook is sent to B-226—an alien planet populated by deadly creatures, where the average life expectancy for a prisoner is three weeks. Rook is relieved by the sentence—all he wants is to die and rejoin his husband.

Upon arrival on B-226, Rook is partnered with Stevie, who has beaten the odds and survived for several months. Rook is drawn to Stevie in a way he didn’t expect in the aftermath of losing his husband. Before Rook can untangle the mess of his emotions, the already deadly situation on B-226 worsens, plunging Rook and Stevie into an even more desperate struggle to survive.

Review:
This book has an interesting blurb. Man gets sent to a prison planet, is partnered with a slightly more experienced prisoner, and feels drawn to him. That’s the basics of the blurb. It’s also the basics of the book. There is almost nothing more to the book than is in the blurb, which is fine, except that the book is 218 pages long. That is nowhere near enough plot to fill 218 pages. Nowhere. Near. Enough. The book is just FAR TOO LONG for the plot points it contains and the last 1/4 or so of it is just almost completely tell about what happens after….well, after the book should have ended.

The copy editing is pretty good, but there are a few consistency problems. (Hopefully those get cleaned up in the final edit. I read an ARC.) But there are some frankly ridiculous occurrences that I can’t really discuss without spoilers—finding things they need conveniently abandoned or knowing things immediately from little available information—that sort of stuff.

OK, this is a spoiler (be warned), but I have to say it, the occurrences and decision that get them off the planet and home was just more than I could believe. The government does not just suddenly decide to let prisoners they’ve convicted to death go free! I don’t care what favor you did or what new information was miraculously discovered.

I do appreciate that Strange death with depression, PTSD and readjustment after the characters went through something traumatic. And I didn’t hate the book. But I think it needed to be pared down quite a bit.