Review: No Souvenirs

Title: No Souvenirs
Series: Florida Books
Author: K.A. Mitchell
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Publication Date: 9 March 2010
Reviewed Format: ebook
Length: 158 pages

Rating: 3 out of 5

Blurb:
A vacation fling. No complications. No connections. And no regrets.

Trauma surgeon Jae Sun Kim has just lost the job he wanted more than anything else in his life. Looking for a way to hit the reset button, he takes a scuba vacation. He didn't plan on seasickness, or a dive master who is sex-on-the-beach personified.

Shane McCormack's tendency to drift away from complicated situations has landed him a job as a dive master in Belize, which isn't as glamorous as it sounds. But with the big three-oh looming, asking his parents to bail him out again isn't an option. The job isn't without its perks, though, and as soon as he figures a way to keep that hot but arrogant ass of a doctor from tossing his cookies over the side of the boat, he plans to flirt the control freak out of his brittle shell.

The close quarters on the ship generate more heat than either expects, but a vacation fling is all that's in the plans. An unexpected adventure leaves them changed in ways that make it impossible to go back to their old lives. The risks they'll both have to take could leave them with nothing but more scars, or the best souvenir of all.

Review:

Main Characters:
Kim is prickly and unapproachable, even his closest friends held at a distance. He lives to work--and also in fear that his parents will discover that he's gay. He's an unequivocal top with no real history of relationships and a near inability to express himself. He's also an arrogant asshole. Despite that (or, perhaps, because of that), I adore him. He's uncompromising when it comes to his beliefs, but also isn't above trying to change when he feels it necessary. His evolution throughout the story is interesting to witness, and I think he comes out as quite likable (if you tend toward the prickly sorts).

Shane is far more easy-going. After nine years in college and with difficulties finding a position in his field, he takes a position as Divemaster as a stopgap, not having any idea what exactly he's going to have dropped in his lap. He's got a family that knows he's gay and loves him, although he doesn't really seem to have any other close friends. (At least, I can't recall any being mentioned, even in passing.) I liked him well enough, but he seemed a little more generic than Kim to me.

Chemistry:
Kim and Shane are definitely an attractive couple, which is good as they have a lot of sex. I particularly enjoyed that Kim was the dominant one in the relationship despite the height trope, although I could have lived with a little bit of reversing. I could also have done with a little more conversation, as, aside from one or two revealing talks, they never really seemed to get to know each other all that well.

Secondary Characters:
The supporting cast was thin on the ground; the largest were Joey and Aaron (from Collision Course), and even they barely made an appearance. While it was interesting to see how Joey and Aaron were doing, it also seemed as though they were thrown in for the sake of the cameo, without having any real impact.

Story:
Although there's a lot of sex, there's also a welcome amount of plot to be found here, mostly centering on a mishap during Kim's tour. Things move along well through much of the book, although almost too smoothly; there's not really any confrontation (mishap aside) until quite late. It could easily have been expanded, I think, especially as it's already a fairly short book--over 100 pages shorter than the previous book in the series.

Writing:
The writing flowed nicely, competent if not particularly captivating. It was easy to sink into, with few noticeable errors.

Other Thoughts:
This is so a non-issue, but I had to blink that at one point a condom was flushed down the toilet. Would you believe that threw me out of the story more than anything else? Tsk.

Overall:
An interesting story made for a good vehicle for appealing characters. If not particularly memorable, it's still an enjoyable read that has a place on my shelf.

Review: Collision Course

Title: Collision Course
Series: Florida Books
Author: K.A. Mitchell
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Publication Date: 9 December 2008
Reviewed Format: ebook
Length: 266 pages

Rating: 3 out of 5

Blurb:
Immovable object? Meet the irresistible force.

Paramedic Aaron Chase doesn't have anything against love. It just comes with a lot of responsibility, like when he had to raise his sister and brothers after their drug-addicted mom took off for good. Now that the last one is off to college, Aaron's anticipating enjoying life on his own terms. He certainly wasn't expecting Joey Miller to accidentally drop into his life.

Joey's sexy, funny and annoyingly optimistic, and his tendency to get into trouble keeps sending him Aaron's way. Even the fact that Joey works for the hated social work system isn't reason enough to keep him out of Aaron's bed.

Joey knows all about love. He's fallen in it ten times—he thinks. It's not that he can't tell the difference between sex and love. All that experience has to count for something, right? With Aaron it's different. Maybe because there's something to fight for.

This time Joey's fallen for good. He's not going to let number eleven get away.

Review:

Main Characters:
Joey is an affable man who makes his living as a social worker, trying to save kids from bad situations. He enjoys surfing and has a waterbed simply because it's the closest he can come to sleeping on the waves. He's had ten boyfriends, with most of whom he remains friendly. He puts up with a lot, but isn't afraid to put his foot down when he feels that he's being needlessly targeted. He's certainly likable, and easy to root for.

Aaron is a bit more of an enigma to me. A paramedic (not an EMT) who raised three younger siblings when his crackwhore mother split, he's an arrogant asshole with issues maintaining close relationships. He also has no love for the social work system--or those who work in it. He never really evolved past the arrogant asshole for me, ultimately less compelling than Joey.

Chemistry:
Joey and Aaron might not have the best conversational skills, but they certainly did heat the sheets. It's a truly good thing they worked so well together, because there is a lot of sex in this book. There's also a touch of mild kink, though not enough to make most people uncomfortable, I think. I do wish they'd talked a bit more without one or the other of them getting angry, but they still shared enough that I could believe in them as a couple, rather than just fuckbuddies. They're a confrontational couple, but still a believable one.

Secondary Characters:
The supporting cast was widely varied and mostly well-drawn. I wish that some had gotten more attention--it seemed to me that Darryl was often overwhelmed and his issues kind of petered out--but they nevertheless worked well within the confines of the story.

Two of the secondary characters (Noah and Cameron) were the main characters in the preceding book in the series. It probably helps to understand them better to have read the first book (I didn't), as I found them a bit annoying; backstory may have mitigated that.

Story:
Honestly, I can't remember if there was much of a plot, as probably 75% of the book (if not more) was sex. Most of what happened that wasn't sex seemed to be a setup for sex, though there were a few events that provided revelations before the sex, at least. There was some family and work drama, but nothing with lasting repercussions; that came from the more personal, relationship drama. As a vehicle for the relationship as it progresses from sex to something more connected, though, the story is perfectly adequate.

Writing:
The writing was solid and enjoyable, with both prose and dialogue flowing well. There were a few errors here and there, but nothing noteworthy and not frequent enough to be annoying. Although there was nothing wrong, though, there was also nothing magical; no particular turn of phrase particularly stuck out for me.

Other Thoughts:
Both Joey and Aaron had voices in this story, though thankfully not at the same time; their points of view are clearly delineated by section. It's just enough to give an insight into both men, though I still feel that Joey is the clearer of the two.

Overall:
Well-developed characters and pleasant writing make this a quick, easy read. Although it lacks a spark to make it truly stand out, there's still plenty to enjoy here, with more in the series to look forward to.