Missy Welsh

synopsis:
truman is hiding a secret that's bigger than the fact that he's gay; he likes dressing in women's clothes. when the urge overcomes him, he heads to another town, far away from his fraternity, and meets strangers on the internet. stasi has a crush on truman, and follows him one day to the hotel. when stasi learns truman's secret, he doesn't reject him or think that he's weird, he just thinks that it's part of who truman is. truman still doesn't want to come out to his frat, thought, because he'll lose his scholarship and he won't have any place to live because his parents disowned him. something happens, though, that brings everything out in the open.

what i liked: i liked the build in relationship between stasi and truman. i also liked that stasi liked truman for who he was, not what he thought he should be. i liked that just one person's faith in him caused truman to start having more confidence in himself. i liked the fact that the frat was fairly welcoming; a lot more so than truman thought that they would be, and i liked the fact that the president of the chapter was working hard to eradicate the bad name that the frat had for not being diversified.

what i didn't like: grrrr. that there were no repercussions for the teacher who was involved in the scandal with truamn.… (plus d'informations)

I only read about half the stories in this anthology. It's mostly a mixed bag. There were a couple I really like (one particular stand-out story is Clare London's "Say a Little Prayer"), most were just ok. With such short stories, I felt a lot of the sex scenes were totally unnecessary, and some stories seemed to be set up around the sex scene, with character/plot background just to pad it out so it wouldn't be totally about gratuitous porn. Meh, most of these were not really my taste, I suppose.

J.P. Barnaby, "End of the World As We Know It". Did not finish. The age gap involving a minor really puts me off.

J.C. Chase, "Open Tackle". 2 stars. The relationship between best friends and football teammates Owen and Rory change when Owen confesses his feelings for Rory, then runs off after taking Rory's stunned silence for a rejection. A basic misunderstanding plot, really common in yaoi manga, which I find rather unrealistic and gets resolved fairly quickly.

Jaya Christopher, "Cody and the Hermit". 2 stars. Cowboy Cody pines after a former childhood friend and longtime crush when said crush returns to his hometown after several years away. I didn't really find this one believable at all. The sex scene was also clearly tacked on and didn't really add anything to the story.

Poppy Dennison, "Blindsided". 3 stars. Boxer/fighter Noah is nervous about his upcoming fight, his fellow boxer comforts him. This is a plot that I like a lot and wish I could read as a full novel. As a short story, the ending is too easy and unsatisfying and would be better if it was more developed.

Rachel Haimowitz, "Jungle Heat". 2 stars. American Ranger Pete gets captured by a drug cartel, is given cocaine and raped. The story completely falls apart at the end when the love interest (a fellow Ranger) comes to save him, confesses and suddenly everything's ok???

Jambrea Jo Jones, "Wild Blue Yonder". 2 stars. Bruce leaves his lover and fellow soldier Rick when it seems like Rick can't offer him the commitment he wants.

Marguerite Labbe, "Tears of the Sea". 2 stars. David is tied up by Liam, his crush and the husband of his husband's twin brother, in an attempt to make him remember memories he lost. An interesting enough idea but terribly executed. It dragged on way too long and wasn't particularly well-written.

Clare London, "Say A Little Prayer". 5 stars. While working a summer job, Jonathan finds a winged and naked man on the beach waiting just for him. This was a real gem of a short story and absolutely compelling from beginning to end. I like how the "mystery" unravels itself slowly and allowed for the development of some really delicious tension and heat. This was also one story where the sex scene felt like it was important and fit into the story rather than being a gratuitous scene added in. (Ironically, this is one story where I wouldn't have minded more sex-- I guess because I was very invested in the two characters.) Lovely writing and wonderful story overall. I will definitely check out more of this author's work.

M.J. O'Shea, "Bridges". 2 stars. I've read this one before, my review is here. Sweet but ultimately forgettable tale of two enemies turned lovers.

Devon Rhodes, "His Last Resort". 3 stars. A college freshman comes out to his roomate.

Andrea Speed, "My Bloody Valentine". 4 stars. Cody takes Drew to an abandoned house for some spooky fun. Super short but packs a real punch.

V.J. Summers, "Liar, Liar". DNF. Didn't like the writing.

Bryl R. Tyne, "Alipio". 3 stars. A very poetic and dream-like short story about an artist who becomes infatuated with the slave who is his model.… (plus d'informations)