TWO CENT REVIEW: The Cost of Secrets by Cassandra Gold

Title: The Cost of Secrets

Author: Cassandra Gold

Grade:  B

Review: I really liked this book.  

Isaac and Dan are both flawed and only a little broken by the things they've overcome. Mostly they are survivors bumbling along trying to do the best they can. Neither of them were physically perfect either which I always appreciate, but I think the characters would disagree with me when describing one another.

My quibbles are minor...It's a bit too short for the major issues involved.  The story would have benefited from having a little more time for the romance to marinate.  I wonder if that's why the ending felt a little abrupt.  I think an epilogue would have helped me feel more confident that the ending was really a HEA. As written, I'm only 75% sure that's the case.

 Isaac's story is one that's been seen quite a bit and it getting to be almost cliche in the genre. But Dan's is one I hadn't seen before and would really have liked to have heard more about it.  I wonder if the book would have been even stronger if it had been written solely from Dan's POV instead of the head hopping, which was very well done by the way.

Overall, a good read. Well worth my time and money.

Angel eye candy... Something about this photo just seemed so wrong, which made it pretty close to perfect.

(Source: 24-Media)

REVIEW: All Bets Are Off by Marguerite Labbe

Title: All Bets Are Off
Series: Mountain Boys
Author: Marguerite Labbe

Grade:  B-

Review:  Overall this was an enjoyable read.  It's always nice to see characters suffering with the same Red Sox mania I live with everyday. The characters were great. The two main characters were funny and had distinct voices. The secondary characters were well done too, but a little generic for me.  I would have loved to have them more like real New England yankees (small y, Yankees big Y are evil and are not worth writing about).  I live in western Maine so it's something I am probably oversensitive to, but I felt nonetheless.

The plot was good. The secondary plot about the army buddy was especially good. The twist on the who-done-it was interesting if obvious.  I'm trying not to give any spoilers, but if you read the book you'll know what's coming before you actually read it. That's not bad; it's just not high drama, but I don't think it's supposed to be.  FWIW--The sex was well done too.

I close with the eye candy...

Red Sox Jason Veritek & Kevin Millar circa 2004
 (Source: DC Landing Strip)

Two Cent Reviews & Look! I made a header

After some discussion and perhaps a few cocktails with my peeps, I have decided to add reviews of some of the M/M Romances I seem to be constantly reading. These are going to be SHORT (two or three paragraphs) and WILL NOT include the blurb or a synopsis of the plot.  I will however provide the link to the Goodreads page for the book so you can find that stuff yourself.  If not having the blurb annoys you, let me know in the comments and I will add them if you insist. I have decided to use a grade system (ie A, B, C, D & F) to give my overall impression because it's simple, not cutsie, and people will easily understand it.  There are lots of review sites out there but I hope mine will be pithy enough that they don't sound like literary criticism but will tell what I liked or didn't like about the book.

My next post will be a review and this will all make perfect sense.

Lucky for me, I read A LOT and very fast.  I was one of those reading prodigies that had taught myself to read at three and was reading at a fourth grade level before I started school.  Words just made sense to me right from the beginning. I always felt I should put all that reading to some sort of use, so I'm gonna give reviewing a try.

Because it's my blog and I want you all to be happy...  Here's your eye candy...

(Source: Pics I Like)

In case you hadn't noticed... I made a new header and changed the look of my blog today.  This is better I think, but I value your opinions.

Book Inspired Eye Candy

Finished Moonstruck (Lucky Moon #3) by Piper Vaughn & MJ O'Shea today.  I was late getting to the party and read the whole series over the last month or so.  Great series. Moonstruck was my second favorite after The Luckiest (Lucky Moon #2). I suppose you can't go wrong with either of these authors who happen to be some of my favorites.

So... Here's some rock star eye candy...  Enjoy.

Writing a blurb is like torture only more painful

Having an inquisitive mind, I set out to do some research on writing blurbs... you know, those teaser paragraphs on the back cover of a book... What I learned sounds easy. Write a synopsis of the story that will make people want to buy your book.  More than that, you need to tease the prospective reader, seduce them, sell them on spending some of their hard earned money. You have to include enough detail to illustrate how your book is different from all of the millions of others available without giving away any spoilers and you only have just 200 words to get all that done.  No pressure.

Argh.

I spent the better part of Sunday writing and re-writing over and over again only to delete the whole thing and begin again.  I have written 10K words in less time than it took to write the following 211.  I still hate it, but that isn't a good measure for me.  I tend to hate everything I write until I get some distance from it.  I put chapters aside for few days before I can decide how I feel about them.  When I finished the book, I put it away for six weeks before I did my first major edit.  

Here's the blurb for Where I Belong...

At seventeen, Harper Ellison lost everything—the love of his life, his family, his friends and his community. Ten years later, Harper has built a new life for himself and while it's not perfect, he isn't looking to revisit what happened. When the sister  finds him and asks him to come home before it's too late, Harper is torn between protecting his heart and finally letting go of the past so he can find some peace.

Harper returns to his small North Carolina hometown to see if it's even possible to reconcile with the family who shunned him for being gay and the town that blamed him for a tragedy that wasn't his fault. In the process, he meets Lucas Rhodes and learns that home isn't necessarily a place and where you belong isn't always where you expect it to be.

How do you forgive the people who were supposed to love you unconditionally after they failed you in every conceivable way? How do you tell someone all of your secrets and trust them not to walk away?  One way or another, Harper is going to find out.  

Let me know what you think.  Does you want to know more about the book or is it the the cliche drivel I currently think it is?  

While you ponder, enjoy the eye candy...

(Source:  Lionelphotographe)

Welcome My Better Angels

(source: Female Imagination)

Okay, so the photo is gratuitous male nudity with just a little kink thrown in to make me happy, but there is a point...  People ask about where My Better Angels comes from pretty regularly, so I thought I'd answer once for the entire class.

First thing to know is that I'm a huge West Wing fan.  Early in the first season President Bartlett has a line that stuck with me ever since I first heard it...  

"My demons were shouting down the better angels of my mind?... You think that's what is stopping me from greatness?"  

I have come to the conclusion that the demons of my mind have interfered with my happiness for far too long. So, I am going to try harder to listen to my better angels and seek out a little greatness or at least a little good-enoughness for myself.  As of now the demons have been summarily told to sit down and shut the hell up tho I'm not tossing them out altogether as they are occasionally useful, but they are not going to get in the way any more. 

To that end, I've had an idea for an M/M romance novel for a long time, but I hadn't done anything about it because of all the crap my demons have be been hollering at me.  Once the demons were quiet, I sat down and wrote my first book. It's is a 95,000 word tale that I occasionally like, generally don't hate and only sometimes want to burn on the hibachi to prevent me from embarrassing myself by allowing anyone else on earth to read it.

After months of writing, re-writing and editing, but I finally have something I'm willing to send off to a few of my favorite publishers.  You will hear much more about the book and my journey to get it published as we move along.  My current challenge is writing a blurb and author bio that doesn't sound like complete drivel.  I'll post drafts of those soon, I hope.

Just so you know, my plan for the blog is to write mostly about my path to becoming a published author and a little about my crazy life; all tastefully decorated with pictures of nearly naked, handsome men who tend to populate my daydreams.

Welcome to the new home of my better angels.  Thank you for reading!

Jae