Tag Archives: M/M

Vespers

Book Review of Vespers (Hours of the Night #1), by Irene Preston & Liv Rancourt

VespersI received an e-ARC of Vespers, by Irene Preston and Liv Rancourt, for review.

Description from Goodreads:
Thaddeus Dupont has had over eighty years to forget… 

The vampire spends his nights chanting the Liturgy of the Hours and ruthlessly disciplines those unnatural urges he’s vowed never again to indulge. He is at the command of the White Monks, who summon him at will to destroy demons. In return, the monks provide for his sustenance and promise the return of his immortal soul.

Sarasija Mishra’s most compelling job qualification might be his type O blood… 

The 22-year-old college grad just moved across the country to work for some recluse he can’t even find on the internet. Sounds sketchy, but the salary is awesome and he can’t afford to be picky. On arrival he discovers a few details his contract neglected to mention, like the alligator-infested swamp, the demon attacks, and the nature of his employer’s “special diet”. A smart guy would leave, but after one look into Dupont’s mesmerizing eyes, Sarasija can’t seem to walk away. Too bad his boss expected “Sara” to be a girl.

Falling in love is hard at any age… 

The vampire can’t fight his hungers forever, especially since Sara’s brought him light, laughter and a very masculine heat. After yielding to temptation, Thaddeus must make a choice. Killing demons may save his soul, but keeping the faith will cost him his heart.

Review:
There is so much to appreciate about this book. I thought both the main characters were cute in their own subtle ways. I liked that Thaddeus was an incredibly unreliable narrator. His view of his situation was so colored by his religious beliefs that he couldn’t see himself clearly. I liked that one of the characters was Hindu, from an Indian family, and his outsider’s view of Catholicism was by far my favorite part of the book. I liked that his religion was presented as equally valid and that it was allowed to be so without him being strictly adherent to it. I liked the dual viewpoints. I liked the heroism and the action.

However, as much as I appreciated all that, I never truly felt I was enmeshed in the lives of these characters. I always felt a step removed from them and the events of the novel. I also thought a couple characters who popped up and then disappeared felt like loose ends, Sara had a couple TSTL moments and the book ended VERY ABRUPTLY. It’s not a cliffhanger, just sudden.

But for the most part, I enjoyed this and will be looking forward to book two.

Fast Connection

Book Review of Fast Connection (Cyberlove #2), by Megan Erickson & Santino Hassell

Fast ConnectionI won a copy of Fast Connection, by Megan Erickson and Santino Hassell, from The Book Queen’s Palace. I reviewed Strong Signal, the first book in the series, here.

Description from Goodreads:
After a decade of serving in the Army, everyone still expects me to be Dominic ‘Nicky’ Costigan–the skirt-chasing player. They don’t know I’ve been spending my days trying to figure out my post-military life. Including how to pick up guys.

When I meet Luke on a hookup app, he makes it clear it’s for one-night only. That’s fine with me, because I’m down to see what this silver fox can do. But after I arrive at his doorstep, it doesn’t take long to realize we have serious chemistry, and we end up meeting again.

He’s got more walls around his heart than a military base, but I think he’s as addicted to me as I am to him. He can’t resist me for long. I mean, who can? Except Luke’s rules exist for a reason, and when I test his limits, things get complicated. Maybe too complicated.

Review:
I generally enjoyed this, but I have a surprising number of negative comments about it. How does that happen?

Dominic’s personality seemed to have shifted a bit between his appearance in the last book, Strong Signal and now. The inconsistency bothered me at first. However, I did really like him as a character. In fact, I liked all the characters. I though Luke was a good toppy-top grump-face, the teenagers believable, and the ex real. I very much appreciated seeing a failed relationship that remained cordial and a female past love-interest who wasn’t a harpy.

I did think that Dominic’s parents were a little over the top, especially since there seemed to be a miraculous change in disposition that led to the happy ending. Much like I thought the change in Luke in the beginning, allowed the relationship to progress. These changes were necessary, but I thought a little unfounded.

The sex was hot. There too I have a “but,” though. I thought there was too much of it for the length of the book. It cluttered the plot up a bit. I did appreciate that the plot dealt with real life issues like family stressors, veterans’ transitions, split families and relationships, etc.

All in all, I love Hassell and Erickson as a writing team and I liked these characters and the plot. But I thought the book felt rushed and the online sections of it, as well as the discussion of the importance of it, felt like repeats from book one. Though, to be fair this idea that relationships that develop over social media are real and important to people, but often dismissed, is the theme of the series. Either way, I’ll keep picking them up as long as E & H keep writing them. They don’t have to be perfect for me to want more.

The Silvers

Book Review of The Silvers, by J. A. Rock

The SilversI received a copy of The Silvers, by J. A. Rock, from Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
What humans want from the Silver Planet is water. What they find is a race of humanoids who are sentient, but as emotionless and serene as the plants and placid lakes they tend. 

B, captain of the mission, doesn’t believe that the “Silvers” are intelligent, and lets his crew experiment on them. But then he bonds with Imms, who seems different from the others—interested in learning, intrigued by human feelings. And B realizes that capturing, studying, and killing this planet’s natives has done incalculable damage. 

When a fire aboard B’s ship kills most of the crew and endangers Imms, B decides to take him back to Earth. But the simplicity of the Silver Planet doesn’t follow them. Imms learns the full spectrum of human emotions, including a love B is frightened to return, and a mistrust of the bureaucracy that wants to treat Imms like a test subject, even if they have to eliminate B to do it. 

Review:
Before I say anything else I want to rave about how beautiful the writing in this book is. It’s worth reading for that alone. So, go read the book. For real, go read it. Go luxuriate in the magnificent prose.

The themes here are not new to science fiction—what it means to be human, to love, to be loved, to be weak or strong or broken or flawed, to protect someone or allow yourself to be protected, the place of humans in the universe and our roles and responsibilities toward others we encounter. They’re not new, but they are well done. You could easily relate to the characters positions and the growth they experienced.

What I had more trouble with was Imms’ and B’s relationship. As much as I loved the writing style here and the stark, honest look into the characters it provided, I don’t think it provided enough evidence of the good parts of their time together. I kept wondering why they loved so hard if they made each-other so miserable.

Lastly, I struggled with a persistent sense that despite all the ways humanity was showing itself to be destructive and cruel, it was still presented as preferable to being a silver. Imms always thought humans more attractive, smarter, more worthy of appreciation than his silver brethren. By becoming human he was becoming more, not just different, and I thought it had an uncomfortable whiff of ethnocentrism to it. But I also felt that was not where Rock was trying to go with the story.

All in all, I truly enjoyed it.