Review: Life After Joe

Title: Life After Joe
Author: Harper Fox
Publisher: Carina Press
Publication Date: 28 June 2010
Reviewed Format: ebook
Length: 35,000 words

Blurb:
It's not the breaking up that kills you, it's the aftermath.

Ever since his longtime lover decided he'd seen the "heterosexual light," Matt's life has been in a nosedive. Six months of too many missed shifts at the hospital, too much booze, too many men. Matt knows he's on the verge of losing everything, but he's finding it hard to care.

Then Matt meets Aaron. He's gorgeous, intelligent and apparently not interested in being picked up. Still, even after seeing Matt at his worst, he doesn't turn away. Aaron's kindness and respect have Matt almost believing he's worth it—and that there could be life after Joe. But his newfound happiness is threatened when Matt begins to suspect Aaron is hiding something, or someone...

Rating:

Review:

Main Characters:
Matt is a deeply troubled man. His life is falling apart after his lover, Joe, leaves him for a woman he's been sneaking around with for two years. He's struggling with everything when he sets his sights on Aaron at a bar and, despite a rocky beginning, starts to pick up the pieces as they come to know each other. He's terrified of being hurt again, though, and the impression that Aaron is keeping secrets from him doesn't help.

Matt is a hard character to actually like, though I did enjoy his story. I found him to be a rather pathetic figure in the beginning, so tied up in his memories of Joe that he didn't care about anything else, whether it was his job, his friends, or his own life. His holding pattern is almost aggravating; I found myself wishing I could smack him for much of the story, even as I can understand how he'd be so lost in his own head.

Aaron is much more even, though not without his own grief. An oil rigger on leave, he shoots Matt down very efficiently the first time they speak, only to later come to his rescue when Matt's attacked on his walk home. As they come to know each other, Aaron provides a calming influence in Matt's life, although he does have his own issues. He recently lost his lover, Andrew Rose (a.k.a. Rosie), in a helicopter crash and has had difficulty letting go; the emotional trauma was enough to leave him with greying hair. Despite his loss, he's much steadier, kind and generous, but firm, not letting Matt walk all over him or ruin himself.

I adore Aaron, I really do. He's willing to help Matt but not willing to compromise his own principles to do so; he'll help him, but he won't carry him on his back. I do wish that he hadn't rolled over quite so easily in the end when Joe returned for Matt, but his reaction when Matt came out to the oil rig was so sweet that I couldn't really hold it against him.

Chemistry:
The dynamics between Matt and Aaron are at first glance uneven, but I think they're actually well-balanced the more I dwell upon it. Matt needs someone to give him a kick in the pants and Aaron needs someone to need him, someone to keep him steady. It felt a bit rushed in parts--in particular when Aaron presented Matt with a ring--but it still worked, and I came away smiling and hopeful for them as a couple.

Secondary Characters:
The supporting cast mostly drove me mad. Lou, Joe, and Marnie all made me grit my teeth, although Lou was perhaps the one who aggravated me the most, springing his issues on Matt when he was already down, then siding so obviously with Joe and Marnie rather than being a friend when Matt so desperately needed one. (I nearly had to put the book down and walk away when Lou showed up at the apartment with a realtor; the level of presumption he showed was ridiculous.)

Story:
The story follows Matt as he comes to know Aaron and recover himself. It's fairly straightforward, but that's just fine; it works for what it is, bringing Matt and Aaron together and addressing their issues so they can form a healthy relationship. It flows nicely from beginning to ending, with just the tiniest touch of suspense regarding Rosie's identity and situation, enough to keep things from wallowing.

Writing:
I particularly enjoyed the writing.

He put out a hand to me. His grip was warm and dry. He closed it on my wrist as if he’d known me for years, as if he could have known I liked to be held that way. When he spoke, he carried easy through the beat, though his voice was low and soft. Accent local but not Geordie—no, a cultivated landsman’s voice, west Cumbrian, maybe. Slowly I tuned in from the feel and the sound of him to what he was actually saying. And then I, like my many predecessors, got off my bar stool and walked away.

It's very much one-sided, not particular dialogue-heavy, but the flow of it is almost lyrical in parts. The general lack of errors certainly doesn't hurt, either.

Overall:
Characters who were almost too broken occasionally bogged down an otherwise-tight story, but eventually carried through to the sweet, if predictable, ending. I enjoyed seeing their growth, both individually and as a couple.

Review: Striker

Title: Striker
Author: KyAnn Waters
Publisher: Carina Press
Publication Date: 9 January 2012
Reviewed Format: ebook
Length: 16,000 words

Blurb:
Sports writer Max Myers just discovered he lives next door to the hottest soccer player to hit the field. If he scores a coveted interview with the reclusive striker for the Denver Blaze, he could take himself from sports blogger to mainstream sports authority.

Riley Grayson has no interest in interviews or in outing his private life to the public. He wants to be known for the scoring he does on the field and not in the sack. But Max is a temptation he can't resist. Taking a chance, Riley and Max discover they have more in common than passion for soccer and hot sex between the sheets.

Just as they begin to trust each other outside the bedroom, Max is put in a no-win situation: write an article about Riley exposing accusations of drug use, or risk destroying his own credibility. If he does, he'll lose Riley. If he doesn't, he'll lose everything he's worked hard to achieve.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Review:

Main Characters:
Max is a sports blogger of some renown, on the brink of making it into the big time. He's 5'8", Swedish/Puerto Rican, newly-arrived in Denver, and out as a gay man. He purportedly doesn't mix business with pleasure, though he's quick enough to dip his toes into the company pool, even if he's not on the clock at the time. He's willing to bend the rules to make things work out, but he's not willing to completely compromise on his principles. We unfortunately never learn much more about him, but it's enough of a hint to make him a likeable character, one I wouldn't mind seeing fleshed out more.

Riley is the intensely-private MLS-champion forward of the Denver Blaze. He's gay but not out, not wanting to be defined as "the gay athlete". He tends to be a bit selfish but never annoyingly so. It's more that he has a narrower world-view than Max, and doesn't consider the same angles. Although he had moments in which I wanted to smack him, I think he came out well in the end.

Chemistry:
By the end of the second paragraph, Max is eyeballing Riley's crotch, so the attraction is pretty apparent straight off. They're a surprisingly cute couple given the conflict in their careers, but I never got the sense that they really knew each other as people. Maybe this is why I found the sex a little flat; I never got the sense of a real spark between them, beyond the physical. The physical is fine, but I like a little more development with my sex.

Secondary Characters:
The secondary cast is minimal, just enough window-dressing for the story. Most are off-screen or brief inserts, appearing just long enough to set something into motion before disappearing again. Some (like Max's editor) could have used just a little more development, but overall they worked well in the confines of the story.

Story:
There is a little bit of story around the sex, as the blurb would have you believe. It doesn't really come up until two-thirds of the way through the book, though; up to then, it's primarily a lot of sex. It moves along well once it's introduced, right up until Riley's grand gesture at the end.

Writing:
Although it got the job done, I can't help but feel that the writing was missing something. I never really got a sense of investment or urgency. It was also a little choppy for my tastes; those with a personal preference for shorter phrasing may find things more to their liking than I did. There were a few errors here and there, a couple a little confusing, but none particularly noteworthy.

Other Thoughts:
I have to admit finding it hard to believe that a sports blogger and a champion soccer star would have incomes convergent enough that they'd live next to each other. Maybe I'm vastly underrating what sports bloggers make (or overrating soccer players), but I never quite got past wondering how Max could afford to buy into the high-priced gated community in which he meets Riley.

Overall:
In the end, I did enjoy this story--it was a light, pleasant read. Something was missing for me, though, to take this from OK to good. I wouldn't have objected to seeing this story fleshed out more beyond its short length, but in and of itself there are certainly worse ways to push happy soccer player buttons.