What to say about Selling Mars? Once again Rae Gee has proven that she can produce poetic prose and string them together into a book. Her writing is beautiful and it strikes just the right tone for a steampunk tome. The phrases are just far enough off of the norm to sound right, if you know what I mean. Despite all of that I wasn't happy with the book. This is not a actual indictment of it, just a personal response to the story. I couldn't understand Cedo at all. If he loved Billy, but was contractually abliged to Erus I would get it. Or if he loved Erus and was just using Billy, I would get it. But he was supposed to truly love them both. Uh-uh, not feeling that. I wanted to cry for both of them (Erus & Billy). Both deserved better. This isn't to suggest that I didn't like Cedo. I did, just not the situation all of them seemed to pretend was doable. The sex is a lot more explicit than in [b:Mars on the Rise|13616947|Mars on the Rise (Veetu Industries, #1)|Rae Gee|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335379848s/13616947.jpg|19219051], which is fine as long as you know what you're in for. This is an M/M romance (or almost more of an M/M/M romance). It is steamy. Don't let it surprise you.

The book did addresses Cedo's genteel manner, which I felt was needed after the end of the first one. It helped to understand how someone as guileless as him had survived in the big bad world. It also explained a lot about him and his personality. I appreciated this. I also appreciated Billy. I'm not saying I appreciated his personality, or his looks, or his actions. I just appreciated Billy. He was wonderful in every way possible. If the world had more Billies in it we would all live longer, happier, healthier lives. I'm not completely sure Cedo deserves him. I did get a little tired of all the affirmations though. I lost count of how many times they thanked each other. That just leaves Erus, the errant Master. I've always liked Erus, despite his cruelties and that didn't change here. But I found it really hard to see his proud demeanour tarnished. It grated on me, as I'm sure it was meant to. I look forward to his redemption.

The book seemed to leap from emotional upheaval to emotional upheaval and then ended on a serious cliffhanger. Never pleasant when the next isn't available yet. But it is a worthy continuation of the Veetu Industries saga. ( )