Phantom Touch by Delilah Storm

Title: Phantom Touch
Author: Delilah Storm
Length: 7,300 words (25 pdf pages)
Publisher: Torquere Press
Genre: m/m/m (?) erotica contemporary paranormal
Rating: C+

Blurb:

Coerced by his friends, Chris enters the old Weyburn mansion on Halloween night.  The most haunted housed in Ashville, Weyburn mansion is supposed to be possessed by the spirits of Mrs. Weyburn and her many lovers. From the moment Chris enters, he’s plagued by touches which quickly turn into caresses and then more. How can Chris possibly escape all the pleasure those touches bring, and does he really want to?

Review:

This is weak on the romance side, but if you are interested in some hot paranormal erotica, this might be the choice for you. Chris is bullied by his friends into participating in a haunted house challenge. He’s terrified of all things horror-related, but after one bad experience, he tends to go along with things rather than risk the ridicule. He has to enter the house, go to the attic, ring a bell and come down. He finally makes it out of the basement, only to have his flashlight go out, and before long, he’s being molested by ghostly touches, however, that’s not such a bad thing.

The next period of time is the ghostly encounter with one (or more since there are more hands than two, or maybe that’s a ghost trick), and Chris is getting it from all sides and angles, and before long has even run out of spunk. Once it’s over, he finds the door and gets out, only to be criticized by his friends for making them wait.

Chris accuses their gay jock friend of being behind it. He denies it, however promises to give a better blow job, having learned from the best. He smirks at the house and given his comment about last year’s experience there, I’m presuming he had a run-in with the ghost as well.

To be honest, I didn’t much like Chris’s friends or the love interest. The friends, especially his friend Karen who was a real bully, were not very supportive.  Not liking scary movies or horror myself, I could relate to Chris, and was angry on his behalf for the pressure his friends exerted. I also thought Heath, the love interest was very smug and arrogant. Besides being a hot jock, he didn’t come across as very appealing.

I thought the author did a great job with Chris’s fear and anxiety during the story, and even his confusion over what was happening, but his inability to stop it during the sex. Or perhaps his desire NOT to stop it. I just found the characters surrounding that even rather obnoxious and off-putting. But that is my interpretation and others may not find them so. But if you enjoy some paranormal sex, you will probably enjoy this short spooky story.

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Brian on the Bottom by Dawn South

Title: Brian on the Bottom
Author: Dawn South
Length: 5,000 words
Publisher: Self Published
Genre: m/m contemporary erotica
Rating: C+

Blurb:
Brian Yates is a quarterback in the SexFL. Teams in this football league go wild after the final play, with the winners picking a member of the losing team to help them take full advantage of their victory.

Brian’s been bored with life in the SexFL, but everything changes when an unexpected twist lends Brian on the bottom. Getting touched and teased by his teammates, with his favorite receiver calling the shots, leaves Brian feeling desire – and pleasure – that he never expected.

Review:
This short piece of erotica centres around a fictional American Football league called the seXFL. The football games are normal, but once the games are over the teams strip off and have sex with one of the losing opposing team. Brian is the quarterback for his team and is so good that his team often win. He’s not too bothered about the sex until the tables are turned and it’s his turn to be on the bottom.

If this all sounds a bit like a porn film, well that would be a fairly accurate description! To be honest, I rather enjoyed it in all its porny glory and the fact that it’s well written added to my enjoyment. Brian seems like a decent bloke and I liked that we get to see some of the things he likes about being in the league – such as getting to play football – and some of the things he doesn’t – like his smug teammates. The build up to the sex was nicely done and the sex scene itself was fairly inventive, if a little difficult to picture at times. Given that it’s erotica the sex is pretty tame (or as tame as group sex can get!) but again that suited me as I’m not a huge fan of dirty erotica.

The story is only short and so, aside from Brian, the characters are a little flat but given that they are there mostly to facilitate the sex then that wasn’t so surprising. The story is based around one sex scene and the ending only hints at a possible romance between Brian and another character which I felt wasn’t necessary to the story. Having said that, I liked the lighthearted tone and the cheeky humour in the narrative. If you’re looking for a very short and naughty quickie then this could be one for you.

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Body Language by Katrina Strauss

Title: Body Language
Author: Katrina Strauss
Length: 15,013 words
Publisher: Self Published – Amazon, Smashwords
Genre: m/m contemporary romance
Rating: B

Blurb:
Seth Winters has a dirty little secret: he likes to be watched. When he discovers online playground Body Language, he finds a world of anonymous men eager to watch him perform naughty deeds on cam. Anything goes, so long as viewers only see him from the neck down. If only he could broach the topic of his taboo fetish with offline love interest Logan…

Logan Chase blogs food reviews by day, and gets off to online exhibitionists at night. He repeatedly deletes his profile at Body Language, vowing to focus on real-life pursuits like his sexy new friend Seth, only to return to his guilty pastime again and again. When the voyeur gets up enough nerve to reveal his true identity to his favorite cam performer, will it be a match made in heaven? Or the biggest mistake of Logan’s life?

Review:
It’s been a while since this author released a new m/m romance story so I was pleased to see this self published short. I was even more pleased when I got a sneaky peek of one of my favourite D/s couples – Blue and Derek from the Blue Ruin series – whetting my appetite for their new book coming soon :).

This book isn’t about Blue and Derek, but rather Seth who works in his aunt’s cafe. When a sexy guy, Logan, comes to the cafe, it sets off a curious chain of events which leads to Seth discovering that he’s a closet exhibitionist.

Body Language has all the hallmarks of this author’s books. The writing is crisp and the characters are well rounded enough to suit the word length, especially Seth. I liked the way he begins to explore his new-found exhibitionism – the slight worry and shame about posting explicit pictures of himself, coupled with excitement, bravado and pleasure at the response he gets from those viewing the pictures. The explicitness of the act, alongside the thoughts and emotions of the characters made the story a sexy but also satisfying read for me.

I also enjoyed the tentative relationship between Seth and Logan and the way their dating ran alongside their online interaction for a while. When the inevitable happens and they discover the truth about each other, I was a little irritated by Logan’s response and the fact that he makes Seth seem like the bad guy when they were both to blame. However, this was only a brief part of the book and so I forgave him his temper tantrum. Seth seems the more emotionally secure of the two, despite being younger and new to voyeurism, and it gave me hope that they would be able to last the course when he was able to own up to fault.

Overall, this was a nicely constructed short with two decent characters who have great chemistry and some hot scenes of voyeurism. It made me think a little about the thought process behind the kink as well as giving me a happy feeling about the romance. If you like stories based around voyeurism or are looking for something from this author to tide you over until the next book then this will be the story for you.

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Absolutely Magic by Julia Talbot

Title: Absolutely Magic
Author: Julia Talbot
Length: 3,200 words (14 pdf pages)
Publisher: Torquere Press
Genre: m/m paranormal
Rating: B+

Blurb:

Damon McTavish is a demon hunter. He’s pretty damn good at the job, too. There’s just one thing his boss wishes he wouldn’t do — sleep with the pretty ones before he sends them back to Hell.

Alisdair is an old demon who wants his humanity back and sleeping with Damon is how he plans to do it. First he has to convince Damon to participate in a little sex magic, though, so it’s a good thing just a touch between the two is electrifying.

Can demon and demon hunter make a little magic and come out unsinged?

Originally published in the Demon anthology.

Review:

This is a cute lighthearted look at the demon hunter/demon match up. Damon is always in trouble with his boss for sleeping with the demons before he sends them back to hell. But hey, the job doesn’t pay well, so why not have some fun. One night as he’s getting ready to send a particularly nasty demon back, another demon arrives and dispatches the creature and soon convinces Damon to have sex with him so that he can try a spell to turn human again.

Despite being a determined top, Damon is soon ready to give it up and the two are almost drunk on the effect they have of touching each other. When the moment comes… well, it doesn’t go quite as Alisdair had hoped.

I do enjoy stories that don’t take the demon mythology too seriously. The spell book burns the hands of humans, so Damon wears oven mitts while he uses it. And oh, tails, yeah, demon tails are good. 🙂

It’s just a short light little story, but when you want to end up smiling when you are done, it’s a perfect choice for a quick pick-you-up between more serious stories or before bed.

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Full Moon Dating: Aiden & Ben by Julia Talbot

Title: Full Moon Dating: Aiden & Ben
Author: Julia Talbot
Length: 10,100 words (38 pdf pages)
Publisher: Torquere Press
Genre: m/m paranormal (shifters)
Rating: C+

Blurb:

When Aiden goes to Wyoming on the dime of the Full Moon Dating service, he doesn’t really think he and country wolf Ben will be right for each other. He just wants some time off from city life.

Ben knows better right away. He and Aiden are meant to be together, despite Aiden’s city ways and cluelessness about being a werewolf. Can he convince Aiden to stay with him, or will Ben, and Full Moon Dating have to write this one off as a mistake?

Review:

This is a cute little shifter story which is pretty typical of the author’s style. Aiden and Ben both sign up for the dating agency and are put together, even though on the surface it doesn’t look like a match. Ben is definitely a dominant top, but Aiden makes no mention of being into the lifestyle, but they are set up together. Aiden, a photographer travels from Dallas to Wyoming to meet Ben and they soon hit it off.

The biggest issue is that Aiden is a city wolf. He’s grown up in the city where shifting at will is not safe and even on the full moon they shift only for one night. When after their first night he wakes up in his shifted form, he totally freaks out and runs. Ben finds him and helps him through it, but it happens yet again, forcing Ben to chase after him.

Because of the paranormal aspect you have the instant mates thing, but Ben is strong and caring and kind, and Aiden is cute as the city wolf feeling completely out of his element. If you like the author and/or shifter stories you’ll enjoy this. It sets up the second book with the next couple to try out the dating agency. It was a fun light read, but fairly standard fare.

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Indie Radio 113.9 by Saura Underscore

Title: Indie Radio 113.9
Author: Saura Underscore
Length: 80 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: m/m contemporary romance
Rating: B-

Blurb:
Jacob Timber is hopelessly crushing on very private radio personality Ethan Moore—host of the most famous Indie music radio show on London’s 113.9, the Jukebox Hour—but being in love with a voice isn’t much different than being alone. Jacob’s not even sure the man is gay.

Jacob is so infatuated that all he wants for his birthday is to meet his crush in person—and he gets his wish. With Ethan and Jacob, it’s love at first sight.

But do dreams really come true? Despite how he feels in Ethan’s arms, Jacob doubts it. He knows he’ll never be happy with a man who pretends to love him, only to bring his true girlfriend to public events.

Review:
This sweet story begins with Jacob who works in a London bar whilst studying for a degree in Law. His dream is to meet the presenter of his favourite radio show, Ethan Moore, whose sexy voice gives Jacob wicked thoughts. His dream comes true but 18 months later Jacob’s dreams are shattered when he sees Ethan kissing a woman.

The story is in two parts with the first part dealing with the beginnings of Jacob and Ethan’s relationship. Jacob is one of those likeable characters with a sweet and unassuming personality. I quickly warmed to him and wished him well, smiling when he gets a chance with Ethan. Ethan is less well defined but we learn enough about him through Jacob’s narrative to get the impression of a nice guy whose attraction to Jacob is strong.

The second part of the book is twenty months later. Jacob is in despair after splitting up with Ethan two months previously. He’s persuaded to listen to Ethan’s show (he hasn’t listened since they split up) and makes a startling discovery. This part was done well too with a frantic change of pace as Jacob realises he may have made a mistake. Forced separation isn’t often my favourite plot device but because the separation has happened off page, and the focus is on the reconcilliation, the story worked well for me. There’s a decent amount of character growth as Jacob has to face up to the fact that he may well have been the cause of his own misery by refusing to speak to Ethan, and the story ends with a warmth that I found pleasurable.

This is a new author to me and I enjoyed her writing. There were some occasional stilted phrases but on the whole the story was smoothly written. I gobbled up the story and found it to be a fairly satisfying read. My only niggle was that whilst these characters were nice guys and the radio show was an unusual twist, I can’t see this story sticking in the mind for long. However, I would still recommend it to those of you looking to pass an enjoyable half hour.

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Truth and Roses by Veronica Sloane

Title: Truth and Roses
Author: Veronica Sloane
Length: 6,400 words
Publisher: Torquere Press
Genre: m/m romance
Rating: C

Blurb:
High in the trees of a dense forest rests a bower made of roses. It stands as delicate fortress around the Prince, a magician and ruler of the surrounding kingdom. Given the choice, he would stay there forever, but the world outside makes its demands in the form of a dragon and a persistent amnesiac young man, whose only desire is to serve his Prince.

Review:
This story is very much in the tradition of a Grimm fairy tale. The Prince has been ruler of the lands for many years. He thinks he is content to live in his tree of roses forever until a weary traveller comes to see him and a dragon begins to attack his lands.

I rather liked the idea for this story but it suffered a little because of the genre constraints. The Prince is an enigmatic figure and all we really know about him is that he is a magician and that he is so protective of his lands and the people in them that he would sacrifice almost anything to save them. He’s the heroic figure but I couldn’t warm to him.  I felt distanced because we know almost nothing personal about him. The same goes for the young man whose amnesia is a convenient way of making him a blank page. He never discovers his past and that in itself was a little frustrating.

Another aspect of the fairy tale genre is that of instant love (something much lampooned in the film Enchanted) and here the men fall for each other quickly. Insta-love is not my favourite plot device and even though I knew it was convention, it didn’t work for me here either.

The story wasn’t a bad one though. There’s an exciting scene with a dragon and some of the imagery in the writing was quite beautiful. The way the men begin to get to know each other was touching and had that been expanded upon, I would have probably felt better about the speed that they fall in love.

Overall, if you are the sort of reader who enjoys fairy tales then this may be a story for you and the fact that it sticks strongly to convention will be a plus point. As for me, I thought it was a decent story but not one which wholly engaged me.

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Reynaud’s Redemption by Jaxx Steele

Title: Reynaud’s Redemption
Author: Jaxx Steele
Length: 15,577 words (83 pdf pages)
Publisher: Silver Publishing
Genre: m/m paranormal
Rating: B-

Blurb:

After a year of bliss with Cameron by his side, Reynaud began to feel uneasy. Can a call from his past threaten to ruin his present and future with Cam?

Reynaud had everything he ever wanted with Cam and yet something nagged at him. Now that his magic was back, he could not ignore the pull he felt to go ‘home’. He hoped going home would ease his weariness, but it was apparent that things had changed during his absence. Friends had lost their places and enemies had gained power. Will the final confrontation with his past destroy everything Reynaud had in his present and prevent him from having a future with Cam?

Review:

This is a follow-up to Cam’s Best Friend which I reviewed here. A year later, Cam and Reynaud have settled into their life running a restaurant, although since Reynaud started to get his magic back, something has been nagging him. It’s causing a rift between the two of them, but Cam tries to help him figure it out. There are basically two points of view in the story, Reynaud and the villain, Baptiste, so it switches back and forth as Reynaud sets out to figure out if it’s the leader of their sect who is calling to him.

Meanwhile, Baptiste is keeping the elders semi-captive until they die so that he can can absorb their power and thus take control of the council. However Reynaud finds the leader and she passes on all of her power to him, telling him she knows he was not guilty of the crime that had him banished to life as a dog, and that he is meant to be the leader. A fight between Reynaud and Baptiste ensues.

There is not much emphasis in the story of the relationship between Reynaud and Cam, they are still in love and it was kind of nice to see a couple get in a spat about things, but primary story is Baptiste’s efforts to steal power and Reynaud trying to figure out his life now that he’s got his magic back. There is one m/f scene between the villain and a prostitute, so be aware if that’s a no-no for you, but I didn’t have a problem with it, as it doesn’t involve the main characters.

If you enjoyed the first book and wanted to know more about Raynaud’s past and the paranormal element, then you’ll enjoy it. It’s definitely recommended you read the other one first though. You’ll have a much greater understanding of the animosity between Reynaud and Baptiste.

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Thunderballs by Andrea Speed

Title: Thunderballs
Author: Andrea Speed
Length: 24 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: m/m contemporary
Rating: B+

Blurb:
Luke Diaz signs up for an adult dodgeball league out of morbid curiosity and a love for a crazy movie. After all, sports aren’t his thing. Then attraction to the team captain, Shane Kinrade, keeps him from ducking out of tryouts, and Luke discovers he’s actually rather good at hitting where he aims. Along with his newfound ability, Luke considers the charming team captain to be right up his alley and luckily, Shane shares his interest.

Review:
This is one of the shorter stories in the daily dose and yet worked really well for me. This is mainly because as a short it was very well crafted with just enough characterisation to lift the characters from flat and enough to the story to satisfy without either cramming too much in or leaving me feeling I needed a whole lot more.

The story follows Luke, who in a moment of madness signs himself up for a dodgeball tryout. He arrives to find out that not only is he quite good at dodgeball but also that the guy in charge is gorgeous. Luke alternates between drooling over the guy and being annoyed with himself for drooling, but is delighted when it turns out that Shane is gay too.

As well as being well balanced in terms of plotting, this story had a genuinely likeable narrator in Luke. He’s a bit self-effacing but is also the type of guy to readily admit when he’s in the wrong. He finds the idea of grown men (and women) playing dodgeball a bit embarrassing but openly admits that he has a great deal of fun playing the game. I liked that the game itself is shown as being fun. There’s a competitiveness and desire to win, but that this tempered by a shared enjoyment and a lack of meanness. There’s no trash-talking here, just healthy exercise and laughter. It made me smile and I finished the story feeling happy.

The relationship between Luke and Shane is only just beginning when we finish the book but the camaraderie between them, the obvious desire and the shared interests left me with a strong impression that these were two guys who would last the course. I was also pleased that there was no tacky sex scene forced into the end of the story. It’s a chaste book, but that fit with the length of time the two men have known each other. It was still chock full of sexual tension, but of the kind which led to easiness and teasing and the promise of more. This meant that despite its short length this has been my favourite of the daily dose stories so far.

So overall, if you’re looking for a fun, lighthearted story with a very likeable narrator then this would be a great story to pick up and I’d highly recommend it.

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Love Over Gold by Glyn Soitiño

Title: Love Over Gold
Author: Glyn Soitiño
Length: 14,100 words
Publisher: Torquere Press
Genre: m/m contemporary romance
Grade: B

Blurb:
Chris and Paul are about to register their Civil Partnership, the closest thing you can have to a same-sex marriage in England. The registrar has been booked, the reception is all laid on, and the invitations are ready to go out. Now, only two weeks away from the ceremony, all that remains is for them to break the news to Chris’ parents. But that shouldn’t be too much of a problem — everybody loves a wedding, right?

Right — unless the father of one of the bridegrooms cannot accept the fact that his son is marrying another man. Chris, an only child, is heir to both the family name and fortune. Clinging to the misguided conviction that Chris’ homosexuality is merely a transient phase, Roger resolves to do whatever is necessary to secure his family’s future. But stubbornness runs in the family — like father, like son — and when things come to a head, well, who knows what might happen?

Review:
Paul and Chris are in love and ready to tie the knot by registering their Civil Partnership. Both are excited about the event, but want to keep things low key. Paul has never met Chris’ parents, mainly because Chris knows his father won’t approve as he’s still clinging onto the hopes that Chris is going through a phase and will soon snap put of it, settle down and marry and nice girl. Chris is also worried about a jinx, where whenever he introduces his parents to a boyfriend, they break up almost immediately afterwards but Paul assures him that love will win out, no matter what happens.

This was a rather lovely story about two men in love. The beginning firmly establishes the relationship and one of the best parts of this story was seeing how well the gel as a couple and how they talk through any problems. The pair have only been together a few months but there’s a sense of rightness between them that made it seem believable that they should take the big step of a civil partnership so soon.

The story is about families, Chris’ in particular and although we find out some detail about Paul – his job for example – the focus is mainly on Chris and his parents. Chris’ father is boorish and rather unpleasant, used to getting his way and so utterly frustrated that Chris is gay. This was offset by Chris’ Mum whose lively personality helped save the book from too much nastiness. The twist in the story was one I saw coming but I liked the way Paul dealt with it.

Despite the theme of parental expectation and disappointment, this was actually quite a light read, mainly because of the deft touch with the narrative and Chris’ Mum. Things begin to escalate, and at one point stretched incredulity a little for me, but that soon passed. I also liked the way that the author played a little with convention – the angry dash out in the rain, the crashed car – but turned it on its head so that things were not as they may seem.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this story. A British setting is always a plus for me and I liked the characters. If you’re looking for something light and sparkly with a happy ending that will leave you smiling, then I’d recommend this one.

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