Tag Archives: M/M

Wolfsong

Book Review of Wolfsong, by T. J. Klune

I borrowed a copy of T. J. Klune’s Wolfsong through Hoopla.

Description from Goodreads:
Ox was twelve when his daddy taught him a very valuable lesson. He said that Ox wasn’t worth anything and people would never understand him. Then he left.

Ox was sixteen when he met the boy on the road. The little boy who talked and talked and talked. Ox found out later the little boy hadn’t spoken in almost two years before that day, and that the little boy belonged to a family who had moved into the house at the end of the lane.

Ox was seventeen when he found out the little boy’s secret and it painted the world around him in colors of red and orange and violet, of Alpha and Beta and Omega.

Ox was twenty-three when murder came to town and tore a hole in his head and heart. The boy chased after the monster with revenge in his bloodred eyes, leaving Ox behind to pick up the pieces.

It’s been three years since that fateful day—and the boy is back. Except now he’s a man, and Ox can no longer ignore the song that howls between them.

Review:
Oh, I really loved that. Yes, it was a tad repetitive and the writing was occasionally more stylistic than easily readable, but overall I truly enjoyed it. It was tragi-sweet, as in most of it felt like a tragedy, but it was quite sweet too.

I think it’s fairly safe to say that those looking for a standard, straight-forward romance won’t be thrilled with this. I mean, the couple meets when one is 10 and the other is 16, so a large portion of the book happens when one is a child, no one is thinking romance. Then, just when the younger finally reached the age of maturity, he leaves. Plus, I wasn’t lit on fire by the few sex scenes there were or felt I really got to know the non-POV half of the pairing. But I loved just about everything else about the book.

This was my first Klune book and I’ll be coming back for more.

How to Bang a Billionaire

Book Review of How to Bang a Billionaire (Arden St. Ives #1), by Alexis Hall

I received a copy of Alexis Hall‘s How to Bang a Billionaire through Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
If England had yearbooks, I’d probably be “Arden St. Ives: Man Least Likely to Set the World on Fire.” So far, I haven’t. I’ve no idea what I’m doing at Oxford, no idea what I’m going to do next and, until a week ago, I had no idea who Caspian Hart was. Turns out, he’s brilliant, beautiful . . . oh yeah, and a billionaire.

It’s impossible not to be captivated by someone like that. But Caspian Hart makes his own rules. And he has a lot of them. About when I can be with him. What I can do with him. And when he’ll be through with me.

I’m good at doing what I’m told in the bedroom. The rest of the time, not so much. And now that Caspian’s shown me glimpses of the man behind the billionaire I know it’s him I want. Not his wealth, not his status. Him. Except that might be the one thing he doesn’t have the power to give me. 

Review:
I’m not really sure how to review this book, because I think my biggest problem with it is that it is what it is, and that’s hardly fair. It is my understanding that this is the first in a trilogy following the same couple, which makes this book roughly a 1/3 of the story. And while it did end at a natural place and it is long enough that I didn’t go all ragey about “why is it broken up,” like I do with some novella/serials, I still FEEL like I read a third of a story and didn’t get the payout I wanted in the end. But that’s what the book is, so should I really fault it for being what it is? In the end, I really just wish I had waited until they were all out to read any of it. Then I could look at the complete arc instead of trying to judge just part of it.

Based on what I’ve read so far, I like Arden and Caspian. But so much of the book is so painfully awkward. Which makes sense, since it’s two men being awkward with one another and failing to make a ‘relationship’ work. They pull it together in the end, but most of the book is them failing.

One of the things Hall seems to really like to do is take familiar tropes and subvert them, turn them on their head. And that’s what he’s done here. It’s a pastiche of the broody, emotionally stunted alpha billionaire. He’s recognizable, but far from what you’re used to and I appreciate that. (We even have Caspian and Arden, C & A, like Christian and Anna, maybe? A purposeful head nod?)

As always, the writing is lovely and lush and, in this case, funny too. I liked it. I’ll be looking for the rest of them. But I think I’ll wait until the series is complete.

Wake Up Call

Book Review of Wake Up Call (Porthkennack), by J.L. Merrow

I received a copy of J. L. Merrow‘s Wake up Call through Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
South London mechanic Devan Thompson has gone to Porthkennack to track down someone he’s been waiting all his life to know. But Dev’s distracted from his quest by Kyle, a broodingly handsome local of only a few months, who’s already got a reputation as an alcoholic because of his strange behaviour—including a habit of collapsing in the street.

Kyle Anthony fled to Porthkennack to escape from the ruins of his life. Still raging against his diagnosis of narcolepsy—a condition that’s cost him his job as a barrister, his lover, and all chance of normality—the last thing he wants is another relationship that’s doomed to fail. But Dev’s easy-going acceptance and adaptability, not to mention his good looks, have Kyle breaking all his self-imposed rules.

When disaster strikes Dev’s adored little sister, Kyle steps up to the plate, and Dev sees a side of his lover he wasn’t prepared for: competent, professional—and way out of Dev’s league. With one man determined that they don’t have a future, and the other fearing it, life after Porthkennack is starting to look bleak for both of them.

Review:
I thought this was cute, but I won’t say I was blown away by it. I’ve read Merrow’s work before and quite enjoyed it (Muscling Through is one of my all time favorite MM novels), so I figure this is just one of those books I liked less than the others. It happens.

While I liked the writing and I enjoyed Dev’s regional dialect, I just thought nothing in the book stood out as special. Sure, the author included some heavy topics—chronic illness, adoption, rape, ‘the system,’ economic disparity, race, etc.—after a while they started to feel little more than plot mechanisms than anything deeply explored or fitting seamlessly into a natural story.

All in all, not a bad book. Again, I did think it was cute. I wouldn’t tell anyone not to read it. But it doesn’t stand out either.