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.