Pepper EspinozaCritiques
Auteur de My Only Home
Critiques
Pisces: From Behind That Locked Door (Boys of the…
The Arsonist's Apprentice by India Harper: 3 stars
The story’s realism and its clear and minimalist writing pave the way for total escapism. You’ll be transported into the backseat of one broken-down car in a desert thunderstorm. Within are two young men struggling with a secret, long-standing desire for one another. Their passion leads to a fistfight, one hot sex scene, and a chance for true love.
The story starts with Ed driving from Wyoming to California. He’s earned money for his sightseeing trip through farm work. Now, before they both get drafted into the war, he’s invited along Sammy about whom he has fantasized for years. Sammy is playful and reckless whereas Ed is sensitive and brooding.
Ed’s car breaks down, stranding them on the deserted Nevada highway during a thunderstorm. The boys retreat to the backseat to wring out their clothes, and Sammy starts flirting with Ed. However, Ed’s insecurity causes him to reject Sammy who walks away down the highway.
On page 18, Sammy thinks, ” …about the way Ed smelled after a day of hard day’s work – the strong, musty scent of his skin, and dirt, and sweat. His hair damp, hanging over his brow. His full mouth parted so he could catch his breath, his dark lashes – almost as long as a girl’s – shielding his eyes.”
A Busted Afternoon shows you that moment when the smallest decision can cause you to lose everything or to win your heart’s desire.
Val for AReCafe
But wait, there is a sequel!!!
Energetic and confident rookie plays on one team with his idol, a veteran quarterback (just recovering from injury and betrayal) and they fall in love.
Not outstanding or especially amazing, but well written with a solid storyline, without insta-love or too many cliches. I liked both characters and the fact how they conneted though in very different places in their life.
A good, comfy read for a rainy day, especially if one likes American Football and understands a bit about the game.
I still really enjoy the author's writing and Quarterback Sneak remains an all-time favorite of mine.
The not so good: - Patton's feelings and attitudes about being injured, past his prime and dumped by his team were probably pretty realistic, but they certainly went on and on. I was 40% into the book before there was any relief from the sulking and emoting and gloom. And he wasn't Mr. Cheerful after that. I wish we had more of DeShawn's POV and less of Patton's. - The oddest epilog I've ever read. The ending is HFN and unsettled, so I was looking forward to the epilog to find out how the gays are doing, and it was some commentary about a game. We learn that DeShawn is still playing and Patton isn't. That's it. Nothing about their relationship at all.
The story is a pretty standard sports-with-romance tale. Whether you like it will depend on whether you like the sport and whether you like the guys. The writing was fine, but I found some of the choices about what to cover in detail and what to skip over with a sentence a bit awkward.
Aside from this little detail, and the introduction that Travis does of the village, Nether Stowey, and its people, all the rest of the story is a fairy tale about damned souls, wicked witch and good fairies; practical Travis will fall in love for the ghost of John Walford, a man who was hanged for the murder of his wife and that, by the way, was in love with another woman. Even if John is a protector, I think his mutual love for Travis is a little biased, meaning that he has not exactly many chances, Travis will prove to be someone very important and powerful, and John can only return the love (or he will be lost forever…). In a way the form John takes when he is cursed, that of a big black dog, well match this attitude: the dog John loves Travis since he is the first kind soul trying to help him; it’s a love without condition, that doesn’t consider the gender; the man John can only continue to love Travis, without condition as well.
This is not a long novel, and I had the impression the author, like me, was more interested in the “ordinary” life of Travis other than in his otherworldly adventure; for this reason I think she conveniently skimmed most of it, and the second part of the story was a little less captivating than the first, or at least it was like that for me.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1602727899/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Patrick is new to Rome and Italy, and he is, like Lealdo, a bit shy. He is fascinated by Italian men, but he has never had the courage to do a move. Truth be told, he has not noticed Lealdo before, and he is not exactly the classical darkhaired and intense Italian man that usually make Patrick’s heart flutters, but nevertheless, Lealdo is handsome, and to Patrick, he seems also straightforward, or at least more than Patrick’s himself. It’s probably love at first sight, and Lealdo kind and gentle courtship will conquer Patrick in less than one day.
I like both Patrick than Lealdo, they are probably average guys in an average situation, but they are really nice. It was a delight to read about their first meeting, the awkardness of two people who don’t know each other, but that they would really like to. Strange enough, there was not awkardness in understanding that both of them were gays, and that indead Lealdo was doing a pass on Patrick, a gentle and gallant one, but nevertheless it was clear that Lealdo was interested in Patrick not only in the sake of being gentle towards a stranger.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003WQAOZ0/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
This is the story of a menages, clear and simple.
Greg and Phil are in a long-term relationship, 2 years as lovers and another 2 years as committed partner. It's a very good relationship, Greg a librarian, Phil a chief inspector for the local police department at Cambridge, England. Always seems perfect if not that lately Phil is pretty taken with his job, working odd shift. But Greg never has expressed any complaint, he is happy with their life; Phil is not a simple man to love, he is reserved and taciturn, but he is also very attentive; Greg feels cherished and protected when he is with his lover and on the other hand, Greg knows when his lover needs to be comforted and embraced in the warm arm of his lover and their house, to shut down the world outside.
Then arrives Jim, an American pilot who tests prototypes in the near Air base, recently moved on the neighbor. Jim is outspoken, friendly and handsome. And he has no problem to make clear to Greg that he finds him very attractive. Greg is not blind, and he can see all the good sides on Jim, but he really loves Phil and he would do nothing to compromise their relationship, neither a little kiss. And when at first Phil is sharp and detached toward Jim, Greg thinks that he can only offer a friendship to Jim, and better if the friendship arrives from both of them, Greg and Phil, without allowing to much private meeting between Greg and Jim. But then Phil's behavior changes, he seems to push the boundaries of Greg's fantasies, letting him imagine and taste how it could be with Jim and Phil together; not only that, Phil seems to desire that Greg builds something with Jim's only, trying to imagine what it would be if Phil was not there with him...
It's not simple to read of Greg's interest in Jim without reading it like a cheating on Phil, even if Phil is aware and consenting. There is never a moment in which Phil makes Greg feel guilty for what he feels for Jim, so I have not the feeling I used to when reading a menages, that one of the men is a cheater; but it's also true that Greg remains the "center" man, the link between Phil and Jim. True, the author tries all the possible combination, Phil & Greg, Phil & Greg & Jim, Greg & Jim, Phil & Jim, but she doesn't linger when the three are not together, making so stronger the menages and not the simple couple.
The feeling on the story is that Phil and Greg probably would be an happy couple also without Jim, Phil is the stronger man on whom Greg lean to, and Jim adds to the couple a new breeze, a bit of lightness, but probably Greg and Jim alone would not work out; for Greg, Jim would be a flirt, someone he could be happy for a bit, but not the man he would choose for a long-term relationship. In all this, Phil emerges as the master, the puppeteer of both Greg and Jim, but he reaches this rank without being nasty or aloof.
Sins of the Past by Amanda Young
First of all... don't get pissed of the mistery which was not a mistery. I don't know if Amanda Young wants intentionally give us so much clue to unveal the hidden secret from the start, but she does that and so the big surprise you will have at the end of the book for me is not so big.
And so I have had the chance to indulge in something else, like the tender wooing Ryan starts with Andrew. Ryan and Andrew meet thanks to a blind date common friends organize. In the beginning Ryan thinks Andrew not to be his type: Andrew is rich and cultered, lives on previous accumulated wealthy and is a single father. Ryan is an exterior architect and has built his fortune by himself. He is a simple man and loves the handwork. And at thirtyone years old he has just stopped to cruising and maybe he is ready to start something serious, but a man with a little daughter? But Andrew is so nice and sexy...
I like both Ryan and Andrew. They are different, as different as can be white and black, but the sparks between them are hot. Ryan is the down-and-dirty soon type, Andrew is the quite and thinking one. Ryan is a Harley and denim type, Andrew a SUV and slacks one. But in bed they are very compatible and so, maybe, they can find a way to be together.
One only regret: when Amanda Young has introduced the supporting character of Bobby, at the beginning of the story, how she has described him... well, I'm, for some moment, been a fan of him to be the main character of the book :-)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1605047775/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
I appreciated in the past Vivien Dean's originality, when she gave a twist on an unusual vampire romance. Now she creates another terrific (or horrific...) novel about an former priest who sees demons...
Calvin is back on his hometown near Chicago for his father's funeral. But Calvin is not mourning the loss of his father, since the man was an homophobic who kicked him out when he found his son was gay. But Calvin managed to build a good life in New York as an appreciated artist. Actually he doesn't know why he bothers to come back, since no one in the small town seems to understand his detached behavior. And then during the funeral a sniper killed a man and Calvin sees him perfectly. Matthew is a very handsome man with a brooding behavior and tormented eyes. The artist in Calvin is immediately attracted by this perfect image, and the man in Calvin is attracted by the handsome man.
In an usual romance, you would expected that Calvin is horrified by Matthew's action, but like Calvin is detached by his father's death, he seems to be detached by all the little world around the man. Calvin doesn't know the man Matthew killed, and he is more interesting in Matthew, than in the act he did. Probably Calvin closed something in his soul when his father kicked him out, he hid in the safe of his heart all the emotions, and now he has like a shield around him. A shield that protects him from the demons.
The demons prey on the mourning souls, and this is the reason why Matthew was at the funeral of Calvin's father. Matthew is only a man, not an hero. He is not thrilled by the idea to have the skill to see demons, and if possible, he avoids the crowd, so he has less chance to see demons. But here and there, Matthew's conscience nags him and he needs to do something to stop the demons. So he goes to funeral, the likely place to find mourning soul. But this time is not a relative of the dead who is mourning: Calvin doesn't regret his father's death, and so he is not the target for the demon.
The book is not very long, less than 90 pages, but it's very well plotted. It mixes very well the demon's matter with the erotic part, and the two erotic scenes in the book are really good and arousing. Calvin's character is a bit more developed than Matthew, even if probably Matthew is the most intriguing. All in all another very good book by Vivien Dean.
If All the Sand Were Pearl by Pepper Espinoza
First of all the setting: I would say a fantasy world... there are not high-tech elements to make it a futurist novel, and the only "modern" intrusion, is the presence of some plastic dildos... in the past there were dildos but they are made of wood, I believe. So yes, I will go for the fantasy.
Anyway, in this fantasy world, same sex marriage is not forbidden, even if it is not common for the simplest reason: wealthy families needs heirs and in a same sex marriage a natural heir is not possible. Jag is the last son of a once wealthy family; since he was born when all his other siblings were just betrothed or married, he was left with a decision: become a scholar or a priest. He set for priest and he was happy with the decision at 12 years old, but later one thing of priesthood left him "unsatisfied": chastity. Anyway he has never had a chance to be sexually active and so he really doesn't know what he is losing. He only knows that he dreams of the hard body of a man rather than that of a woman. So when financial problems push his family to negotiate an arranged marriage also for him, the only choice he is left is the gender of the betrothed... and he chooses a man.
Jag has never seen before his betrothed and he fears the wedding night. He is not sure of what expecting, and since he is rather young, also the physical appearance of the man is a huge problem for him. And then, is he enough attractive for the other man? Jag is lithe and small, he has the body of a scholar and he only knows that his betrothed is a big man used to work outside. The more innocent problems swirl in his mind, the same questions a virgin maid would have in the same situation.
Brace lost the hope to find a suitable partner long ago. He prefers man and no noble family would allow him to marry one of its son. And now he has a last chance. But he doesn't want to marry a man compelled to take a decision he doesn't like. And so he sends to Jag a gift, a very rare pearl, worthy enough to buy back his freedom and allow to him and his family a comfortable future. With that pearl in his possession, if Jag will decide to marry him, he will do that only according to his real desire.
Brace is a good man; he has no problem to find a willing partner for a one night tryst, but he wants a long term relationship. He doesn't want an husband to fill his nights, he wants a man to fill his days. Brace is true and simple like the life he likes: his horses, his travels... More than a lover he needs a companion.
In the end, you would expected for Jag to be the brooding one, the scholar type, and instead Jag unveils to be a young man waiting to be freed, and Brace could be the key to his freedom.
The story is pretty classic, and in this case "classic" is the right term, since this novel has an old fashioned style, but it's also erotic, the sex scenes are good and explicit, but always in line with the mood of the novel, even if that plastic dildos make them a bit kinky.
No Fear in Love by Jamie Craig
This is the second story I read in the A Calling of Souls anthology by Samhain Publishing, and like the other one is a story about a night which changes forever the life of two men.
Weston and Mark were buddy friends since they were teenagers; from a small English village, they share everything since they both feel stranger among other people. Probably Weston realized before his friend what that strangeness was, he loves his friend Mark, and it's not a friendly love. But Weston probably is more cautious and probably he fears to leave the comfort of his small village life and so he searched shelter in the church and in the chastity: he became an Anglican pastor. He removed passionate love from his life and most of the time he is content with it. Not when he is with Mark.
Mark chose to leave the small village for the big city, for London. He still returns back sometime, mostly to spend time with his best friend Weston. Also Mark is gay, but he has not chosen chastity... instead he tried to search his love in a lot of men, only to realize that he has just found it, and he is Weston. So now Mark is determined to spend a night with Weston, to prove him how it could be between them, and to have at least that night for them.
And so Mark consciously seduces Weston, he destabilizes his friend beliefs, and he puts the seed of doubt in his mind; is the church only a substitute of what Weston really wants? can he risk his comfort life for the uncertainty of a life with Mark?
I like both Weston than Mark, but in both of them I found something to blame: why Weston didn't dare to fight for his love and instead chose the easy way of becoming a priest? if he knew that his friend was gay (and he knew it since he said that Mark went to him the first time he was with a man), why he lied to himself?
On the other hand Mark... perhaps he didn't realize to be in love with Weston before moving to London and realizing that he was searching the man in other partners. I could think so, and thinking in that way, I find him nicer than Weston, since he decides to do something, he decides to risk their friendship in the hope to obtain love.
The story is not very long, 60 pages, and since it's mostly a one night story, there is not much space to develop the characters. They haven't the chance to interact with other people, the issue of Weston being a priest is not so much a problem, if not for him, there is not judgment from outside. There is also no space to develop Mark and Weston's relationship as friends, to let us know how they were as young gay teens in a small village. The story is appealing and I'd like to read something more both before than after the central night.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1605043133/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
I like a lot this short novel by Pepper Espinoza. It's really angst, it's not a simple and sweet romance, but I like it.
Guillermo Rivera, Guy, is a 27 years old Spanish MBA student; while he is in United States he had a bad car accident. Now, one month after, he not only has bad injuries that force him in a wheelchair, he has also a short term amnesia. He doesn't remember his previous life, nor who he knows or doesn't know in this stranger country. He needs a caregiver and lucky him he has Dane.
Dane is the perfect nurse, he always knows what Guy wants, like he has the memory that Guy lacks... he is so perfect that Guy is becoming dependent from the man. And it's not what Dane wants... Dane is not an unselfish nurse who is paid for doing a job. Dane is Guy's former lover, and in their past relationship, Dane did unforgivable things. But now Guy needs him, and Dane can't mistake a second time. This time he will do the right thing, and not to have a second chance with Guy, but to have a second chance for his own life: for Dane is vital to do at least one thing right, to have the right push to continue in doing the right thing.
Guy and Dane, in different way, are needing a caregiver: one for physical injuries and the other for emotional ones. In this perspective, Dane is not a saint, and he has his reasons to fear what will happen when Guy will remember everything.
Pepper Espinoza is very good in rendering Guillermo uncertain behavior the first day after the accident. The reader lives with him his fears, his needs of comfort and reassurance. And she is also very good in penning, with only few words, Dane's world and life outside the safe heaven of Guy's apartment. The story could be short, but it's a complete tale and very good.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1602728623/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
This is a really short, 35 pages, but really nice story. Sam and Owen know each other. More, they probably spent more than one night together knowing each other better. But Sam and Owen can't be friends.
Sam is a Republican strategist while Owen is a Democratic news producer; and even if it's not clear if Sam really believes in what he promotes, it's more than clear than Owen is a Democratic for passion and not only for convenience. In the only 35 pages we had, it's not said how they met, probably for work related reasons, but Owen knows very well and in a very intimate way Sam, and Sam is more than willing to prolong this acquaintance, if they are discreet. Sam is also willing to make some changes in his life, to find a work that allows him to be near Owen, even to behave as Owen's boyfriend in their private life, if he could maintain his public face. And their attraction is so strong, and truth be told, Sam's behavior when they are alone is really good, that Owen is willing on his side to let go the "little" facts that he absolutely doesn't like Sam's boss, Sam's work, Sam's public face.
The story is a really good example of how you can't choose the person you love. And that it's better to try to fit together you different personality rather than be sturdy and wait for the other to change. Being extremist only led you to be alone in your bed.
Peanut Butter Kisses by Pepper Espinoza
As the candies in the title, this romance is sweet like sugar.
Peter is a big pastry chef, he is at the top in every competition, but always second. He is again competing at a national level and again he has as an assistant Josh. Josh is a young chef who looks with starry eyes upon Peter: for Josh everything Peter creates is perfect, and when Peter loses, for Josh is almost a personal matter. Obviously Josh is in love with Peter but he has never had the courage to make a move on Peter, both since he doesn't judge himself worthy of the love of wonderguy Peter, and because he really doesn't know if Peter is gay, since the man never express an interest in him, other than for work.
But this time Peter seems a bit more interested in Josh as a man than in Josh as a pastry assistant...
The story is short, less than 40 pages, but really really sweet. I like above all the fact that Peter is really not a special guy, maybe he is even a bit overweight, and he is really a sweet guy; but for the loving eyes of Josh he is wonderful.
The Obsolete Man by Pepper Espinoza
This is a really, really, really nice short story... I have said to many really? well sorry but it's what I was continuing to replay in my mind while reading this book.
James is an average man; good looking, nice, beautiful eyes, probably if he was a little more self-conscious he could be the classical successful man, and instead he is quite and maybe even a little shy, he doesn't consider himself worthy of more than he has and he settles down to a life that maybe it's not what he dreamed, but that is good and so why change? There is a part of James' life that remains obscure, and it's how he ended married with a woman when he is clearly attracted by men. Anyway James being a nice man as I said, has never thought to cheat on his wife, even if he has noticed the handsome man on the 7.23 a.m. train he takes every morning to work.
But if drama didn't hit James' life, he would probably have continued with his daily routine till the end of his working life to then settle down again in a retirement routine, letting that handsome man slip in a hidden closet of his mind. But in a blink of a moment, James becomes an obsolete man: at 45 years old he is too old to learn again how to be printing technician in the publishing firm he has worked for 25 years and he is fried; his wife, that probably has never shared passion with him, has not enough patience to support her husband in a life change, and leaves him. Without his daily routine of going to work and coming back home, James is lost, and the only solution he sees is to end his life "using" that daily routing, throwing himself under the 7.23 a.m. train.
In the spur of the moment, and since he has really nothing to loose, James decides to devote his last day to realize his secret fantasy, approaching the man of his dreams, the handsome stranger on that train. He is nicely surprised when Chad not only welcomes the approach but confesses that also him had noticed James before. There is no question on the fact that Chad is gay, maybe since we are at San Francisco, and Chad has "that" attitude, maybe only since he welcomes James' approach in a way a straight man wouldn't do, anyway James chooses the "straight" way (pun intended) and asks Chad to follow him in an hotel and share a morning of sex. And Chad accepts.
Chad's character is not really full developed, at least not as James' one. He is a nice man, he is gentle and caring, and from the things he says, we can understand that he is not selfish; he not only noticed James since he was a nice looking man, but he also noticed when the man stopped to smile, so in a way, he noticed when life started to spiralling down for him. He is not so unselfish to refuse an offer of easy sex from an almost stranger, even if Chad knows that something is not right with the man, but then he is really nice, trying while having sex, to also understand James' reasons and troubles.
I don't believe that James really wanted to commit suicide, he only needed a nice gesture from someone; but if that gesture hasn't come, probably James would have gone on with his intent, the author is really good in mounting the tension till the break point.
The Prince Who Never Smiled by Pepper Espinoza
Leopold is the prince of a fantasy medieval kingdom. He has never smiled and so people think that he is deformed or maybe cursed. Recently his mother is not well and her only wish is to see her son's smile and so the king, who is deeply in love with his wife, sends out a decree: the first person who will make his son smile will marry him.
After being subjected to all the type of "show" from a string of wanna-to-be princess, Leopold takes a break and goes on an hunting expedition in the country, and here he meets Dexter, a young peasant who is going to court in search of a well-paid job to help his family. Leopold, who actually prefers the company of men, even if, till this moment, neither men were able to make him smile, as soon as he sees Dexter, can't help the smile on his face. Why is not exactly clear, if not a sudden case of love at first sight, since Dexter hasn't done anything of really funny.
This is the classic example of Cinderfella's story, with also a bit of breeches rippers: Leopold is besotted by Dexter, and he claims that he only wants to please him for once, since till this moment people only pleased him. But truth be told, Leopold bends upon a full debauching plan to strip Dexter of his virginity, and there is a bit of droit du seigneur in this story, with Dexter that feels as he can't deny anything to Leopold since he is his prince. But Dexter is not so against the idea, and once Leopold shows him what they can do together, he is more than a willing participant. He almost forgets that he has a family at home waiting for him.
The story is a quite enjoyable novella, a funny romp between the sheets with a fairy tale atmosphere (even if nothing of really "strange" or out of ordinary happens), but all in all it's more tender and romantic that real funny, with almost a little core of sadness.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1602728518/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Pepper Espinoza loves the unlikely lovers who win over everything. And she loves romance. This last book is a very nice novella, about two football quarterback in love; but it's not one of that story where love suddenly strikes and the two lovers can't do nothing if not surrender, it's the story of two childhood best friend grew together with a common passion, football, but this very passion drew them apart, first in different college and then in different teams. Despite the distance and the need to be discreet, Eric and Cache managed to build a steady relationship, lived inside the wall of their home, far from the eyes of everyone else, family, friends, fellow players and fans.
Eric played football to prove to his father that he was worthy, that he was the best; football for him was not his first choice of career, but he did good, and his father was happy. And after his father he played football for Cache, to have something more that bounded him to the man he loves. Eric is loyal and clever, but he has not a deep love for the game, he would be glad to throw all away to be able to claim his love for Cache, but he played accordingly to the unspoken rule that all football players are straight only to please Cache.
Cache played football since he thought it was the only thing he could do well. His father was a football player, and he always supported his son; probably he would supported him even if he came out, but Cache never did. When Eric almost forced him in a relationship, and not his first experience with a man, he was more worried on having a long-term relationship since it was easier to be discovered. Cache loves Eric, but he loves also football, and since no one asked him to choose, he thinks to can have both. But when his career is on stake for a bad injury and his relationship with Eric lands on the first page of newspaper, Cache has to choose what he loves more, football or Eric.
I like the story, it is a parallel tale of both Eric and Cache's life as young man at the beginning of their career and as two well-known professionals. Without the story of them at the beginning of their relationship, maybe the reader would only side with Eric, and blame Cache for being a coward. But with the tiny insight on their life together, and seeing him also through Eric's eyes, we now that Cache is a good man and that he was and he is good for Eric. The story is both tender and sexy, a very good mix of romance and erotica.
Making Waves by Pepper Espinoza
The story is not very long, and it's a shame since one of the characters is my favorite type, an actor. The starting point is pretty common, a famous Hollywood actor, Scott, has to remain in the closet to not ruin his career and he even asked to a woman to marry him. But the night before his wedding he has second thoughts and to find the courage to go on with the fake marriage he decides to get drunk. Andy his the bride's brother, and his sister asked him not only to find Scott but also to bring him to the wedding ceremony in San Francisco. Problem is that Scott, as soon as he sees Andy, makes a move on him and Andy is not enough stoic to refuse the man, since he has a crush on him since his sister introduced them.
As I said the plot is not very original, but it's original as the author deals with it. Nor Scott or Andy are the usual perfect hero: it's necessary very little persuasion to Andy to have an affair with his sister's groom the night before the wedding. Even if Scott knows well that he is making a big mistake, he decided to marry a woman to hide the true from the media, that he is gay. Scott is not at all a brooding character, he is not strong and sure of his behavior, to go on with his plan he needs to get drunk. When they are together, other than having sex more than once, Scott and Andy smoke pot, since Scott wants to try everything he has never done, before marrying his lover's sister.
Reading all this, have you had an idea of both Scott and Andy? have you realized that no one of them is a square perfect All American hero? All right, Andy is openly gay, but he is also a grown man without a steady work, he lives in a borrowed house, he realizes that he is betraying his own sister, but still he does so, and not only, he even tells everything to his best friend! (kiss and tell philosophy...). Actually between the two, probably I like best Scott: all right he is lying to the media, but be honest, can he do otherwise without loosin his career? probably he is only wrong when he decides to marry a woman instead of choosing the bachelorhood, but this is another story, and you need to read the book to know what will happen.
All in all, the story is good and enjoyable, I like the atmosphere of little escapade and also the relationship between Andy and Scott, with all their faults and imperfections; probably, at long distance, a real relationship will be not simple between them, no one of them is strong enough to be the mainstay, but the book covers only two days.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1602728453/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
Johnny Leach has a good life. He’s married to Elizabeth, a woman he loves, he lives in a quiet frontier town, and he owns a successful saloon. In some ways, it’s a better life than he might deserve. Still, he keeps the past firmly behind him, not because of what he’s done, but because of who lurks there ... the man he rode with for ten years ... a man a part of him still loves.
A man who rides into town one morning without warning.
Brody James is running from his own past, and his ultimate goal is South America. He claims he stopped to say goodbye to Johnny, and claims he’ll catch the four o’clock train to Galveston. But where Brody James goes, trouble follows. Before four o’clock, Johnny and Elizabeth will find their secure world falling into an uncertain future.
BOOK REVIEW:
It's pretty common for shorter menage stories to use characters' histories to get us to the action faster ~ an ex-lover comes back to town, say, which is exactly what happens here, but here it works, and it works well.
Both the situation that separated Brody and Johnny, and the small-town politics Brody walks into as soon as he comes back into Johnny's life are vivid and believable. Ditto Elizabeth's ~ Johnny's wife's ~ reaction to the situation ~ she genuinely comes across as a smart, confident, independent woman. She has her worries, her moments of fear about what she's getting into, but ultimately, this is a very balanced, very equal threesome. The author's done a great job of showing the reader what each of the three of them has to offer, has to gain, and has to loose, and the net result is a set of decisions that I could really get behind, and a poly relationship I really want to see succeed.
Fitting everything into a very tight narrative, the action of the book all takes place in just a few hours. It is an impressive feat, and makes for a very taut, well-balanced story. There's a constant awareness of time passing, which gives appropriate weight to both the character's conversations and the sex scenes, and a sense of urgency and immediacy to the action.
The wild west setting may not be 100% historically accurate, but it's imaginatively very real ~ the book itself, all those movies you half remember watching growing up, all those cultural tropes, come together to create a background that shapes this story, and makes it shine. You really get a feel of the hot, dusty, Wild West from the pages and the story is well rooted in that setting, the realities of life there.
Pepper Espinoza has written a compelling menage story, and an unusual action-packed western, which was a genuine pleasure to read.
(originally reviewed for Rainbow Reviews - http://www.rainbow-reviews.com/?p=1557)
James is an average man; good looking, nice, beautiful eyes, probably if he was a little more self-conscious he could be the classical successful man, and instead he is quite and maybe even a little shy, he doesn't consider himself worthy of more than he has and he settles down to a life that maybe it's not what he dreamed, but that is good and so why change? There is a part of James' life that remains obscure, and it's how he ended married with a woman when he is clearly attracted by men. Anyway James being a nice man as I said, has never thought to cheat on his wife, even if he has noticed the handsome man on the 7.23 a.m. train he takes every morning to work.
But if drama didn't hit James' life, he would probably have continued with his daily routine till the end of his working life to then settle down again in a retirement routine, letting that handsome man slip in a hidden closet of his mind. But in a blink of a moment, James becomes an obsolete man: at 45 years old he is too old to learn again how to be printing technician in the publishing firm he has worked for 25 years and he is fried; his wife, that probably has never shared passion with him, has not enough patience to support her husband in a life change, and leaves him. Without his daily routine of going to work and coming back home, James is lost, and the only solution he sees is to end his life 'using' that daily routing, throwing himself under the 7.23 a.m. train.
In the spur of the moment, and since he has really nothing to loose, James decides to devote his last day to realize his secret fantasy, approaching the man of his dreams, the handsome stranger on that train. He is nicely surprised when Chad not only welcomes the approach but confesses that also him had noticed James before. There is no question on the fact that Chad is gay, maybe since we are at San Francisco, and Chad has 'that' attitude, maybe only since he welcomes James' approach in a way a straight man wouldn't do, anyway James chooses the 'straight' way (pun intended) and asks Chad to follow him in an hotel and share a morning of sex. And Chad accepts.
Chad's character is not really full developed, at least not as James' one. He is a nice man, he is gentle and caring, and from the things he says, we can understand that he is not selfish; he not only noticed James since he was a nice looking man, but he also noticed when the man stopped to smile, so in a way, he noticed when life started to spiralling down for him. He is not so unselfish to refuse an offer of easy sex from an almost stranger, even if Chad knows that something is not right with the man, but then he is really nice, trying while having sex, to also understand James' reasons and troubles.
I don't believe that James really wanted to commit suicide, he only needed a nice gesture from someone; but if that gesture hasn't come, probably James would have gone on with his intent, the author is really good in mounting the tension till the break point.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1602728518/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
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elisa.rolle | Mar 29, 2009 |
elisa.rolle | Mar 29, 2009 | After being subjected to all the type of 'show' from a string of wanna-to-be princess, Leopold takes a break and goes on an hunting expedition in the country, and here he meets Dexter, a young peasant who is going to court in search of a well-paid job to help his family. Leopold, who actually prefers the company of men, even if, till this moment, neither men were able to make him smile, as soon as he sees Dexter, can't help the smile on his face. Why is not exactly clear, if not a sudden case of love at first sight, since Dexter hasn't done anything of really funny.
This is the classic example of Cinderfella's story, with also a bit of breeches rippers: Leopold is besotted by Dexter, and he claims that he only wants to please him for once, since till this moment people only pleased him. But truth be told, Leopold bends upon a full debauching plan to strip Dexter of his virginity, and there is a bit of droit du seigneur in this story, with Dexter that feels as he can't deny anything to Leopold since he is his prince. But Dexter is not so against the idea, and once Leopold shows him what they can do together, he is more than a willing participant. He almost forgets that he has a family at home waiting for him.
The story is a quite enjoyable novella, a funny romp between the sheets with a fairy tale atmosphere (even if nothing of really 'strange' or out of ordinary happens), but all in all it's more tender and romantic that real funny, with almost a little core of sadness.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1602728518/?tag=elimyrevandra-20
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