Review: Pawprints

Title: Pawprints
Series: Pawprints
Author: Anne Cain
Publisher: Loose Id
Publication Date: 6 November 2007
Reviewed Format: ebook
Length: 114 pages

Rating: 3 out of 5

Review: Veterinary student Adrien works for a local animal shelter, where he meets a scared black and white cat. Little does he know that the cat is not just a cat, but rather has a second human Nature, and that he has escaped a bleak life as a sex slave. Adrien can't help but fall in love with Lal, even as Lal is hunted by his Master's minions, who threaten to shatter the new relationship.

My disclaimer: I am so not a fan of the slavery trope that it's not even funny. As such, my regard for the story is perhaps biased more than it should be.

This is a novella that wanted to be so much more. There is a lot missing when it comes to meat on its bones--the concept of the Realms, Natures, the magic system, they all could easily have been fleshed out to provide a richer experience. It's never clarified why/how Lal escaped, or how Caleb came to do the same. The magic of the world, including the many Realms and the Natures of the shifters, is barely touched on; although it didn't need to be fully explored, a little more exposition would have made the central premise slightly less gratuitous.

The relationship between Adrien and Lal moved with the unrealistic speed so common to the romance genre (and the male/male romance genre in particular); they meet, they have sex, they fall in love, all within the span of a few chapters. This is another way in which the story could have benefitted from greater length. The relationship never seemed to develop naturally, rather rushing along to meet the plot devices.

The characters themselves never really get fleshed out enough for me to be very invested in them, either. Kal, Caleb, and Jaylen in particular remained shallow; I couldn't bring myself to care much about the forbidden love between the latter two as they, Jaylen more than Caleb, were barely established as personalities, much less characters I should care about.

In truth, despite my complaints and within the constraints of a novella, it's not a bad little story. It just has the potential to be so much more. I'd have liked to see more of a resolution for Kal and more development overall, but it's certainly possible to do worse.

Review: Beautiful Boys

Title: Beautiful Boys
Author: Anne Cain
Publisher: Loose Id
Publication Date: 11 August 2009
Reviewed Format: ebook
Length: 107 pages

Rating: 4 out of 5

Review: Beautiful Boys is actually four related stories; each chapter is dedicated to a separate couple, after a short prologue to introduce the characters.

Getaway: Dean planned a spectacular getaway to Greece with his boyfriend, Stephen. Plans probably should have changed when Dean found Stephen in bed with another man but, though they broke up, it's the principle of the thing: Dean is taking that vacation. Things go awry when Stephen strands Dean on a deserted island, which isn't so deserted after all.

Jinx: Neil just wants his birthday on Thursday, the unluckiest day of the week, to be over. Discovering that his coworkers have arranged a surprise party--complete with stripper--at Neil's apartment does not help. Things go from bad to worse when a stripping mishap results in seven years of bad luck for Neil. Or is it good luck after all?

Calculus and Condoms: Nathan and Gage have been college roommates for years. All that time, Nathan has been harboring an unrequited crush on Gage. It takes the threat of Gage failing Calculus to propel Nathan into action--even if the action is breaking into the professor's office to steal the answer key. Little does Nathan know that he'll be finding answers to more than Calculus questions.

Designing Love: Andy and Luke are both design interns at a magazine, and they're constantly at each others' throats--they can't even agree to disagree. When Luke makes a change to one of Andy's projects without consulting him, it's more than Andy can take. Finding that he can't even escape Luke at the neighborhood bar, Andy may just have to face a few hard truths.

Of the four, my favorite is probably Jinx, for all that I find Jinx's bad luck a wee bit contrived. I like the build-up, the fact that there's quite a bit of story before they fall into bed together. I like cranky!superstitious!Neil despite myself, and the easy chemistry between him and Jinx is charming. Not that the other stories aren't appealing--they've got conflict, they've got reparation, they've got sweet, sweet mansex. What more could you need?

My few quibbles are more in the author's style than anything. Some of the euphemisms make me snicker (I don't know why, but 'knob' amuses me endlessly.) and there are an awful lot of gaping holes. Some of the descriptors are not to my taste enough that they actually threw me out of the story to wonder over their choice. Overall, though, while my immersion wasn't complete, it was still a great distraction.

Although I usually prefer longer stories, these were still a joy, with a good blend of story and sex. There are definitely worse ways to pass time.

Review: 911

Title: 911
Author: Chris Owen
Publisher: Torquere Press
Publication Date: 13 December 2006
Reviewed Format: ebook
Length: 339 Pages

Rating: 4 out of 5

Review: Firefighter Drew and doctor Scott meet thanks to a hazmat scare.  In short order, they're roommates and, before too much longer, lovers.  Life is good.  They toy with the idea of adding a third to their relationship, but it's purely speculation until they meet EMT Eric.  Two becomes three as they struggle to overcome injuries, addictions, and the reactions of those around them.

I like Drew.  I like Scott.  I like Drew-and-Scott.  If the entire book had been about their relationship, I would've been happy.  This isn't to say that I don't like Eric, too--though his insecurity occasionally grates.  I even like the dynamic of their threesome.

What I like a little bit less is the pacing (though it's pretty standard for the genre).  By chapter 3, Drew and Scott are sleeping together.  By chapter 6, they're professing their love for each other.  It's a bit too compressed for my tastes, especially the declarations of love; there just isn't enough build-up to make it believable.

And then there's the sex.  There's a lot of it.  A lot.  There are 51 chapters in this book, and probably fewer than a half-dozen of them don't involve graphic sex.  It's hot sex, granted, but it's still a lot of sex.  The evolution of the various relationships between the characters is sometimes lacking, as it seems that they do most of their communicating with their penises.

I also didn't much care for the reactions of Drew and Scott's parents when their duo became a trio.  It just didn't jive for me with how their parents had behaved up to that point; it seemed like melodrama for the sake of melodrama.

Despite my quibbles, I really do rather like this book. The characters are mostly likeable, the sex is fantastic, and the ending is satisfying.  I wish that neighbor James had gotten his own spin-off, but, self-contained, this book is a definite keeper.

Review: Patchouli for Christmas

Title: Patchouli for Christmas
Author: Bren Christopher
Publisher: Loose Id
Publication Date: 6 December 2011
Reviewed Format: ebook
Length: 67 pages

Rating: 3 out of 5

Review: Michael is a 33-year-old party planner.  Jude is a patchouli-wearing painter.  They're thrown together when Jude's grandmother insists upon displaying Jude's (rather emo) paintings at the holiday bash she's having Michael plan for her.  Neither is terribly impressed by the other, despite Michael's initial attraction and Jude's subsequent teasing.  Things go a bit south from there when Michael finds out that his brother, Doug, is filing for divorce.  Oh, and then there's yoga.  And sex.

The chemistry between Michael and Jude is interesting enough (though the sex itself is a bit bland), but the subplot involving Doug's divorce is a distraction that doesn't really offer much to the story, for all that it apparently drives Michael's actions for a decent portion of it.  In order for it to be less of an apparent plot device, this short story really needs to be something more, something with a bit more flesh on its bones.

There's so much potential for exploration there.  Michael's issues with his father's abandonment (presumably, as it's never overtly addressed), Jude's evolution into a hippie and feelings over his parents' deaths, even the machinations of Jude's grandmother--they all could easily have been expanded upon and given a bit of depth, instead of being glossed over or sprung without any foreshadowing.  This novella could easily have been so much more.

As it stands, this is a bit of a throwaway read, too short for all of its elements to come together cleanly and satisfy.  I'd love to see this as a full novel; it makes me sad that I can't really recommend it in this form.