Day: June 3, 2015

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Coffee, Pop, and Bisexuality by Nicole McCormick


Daily Dose Short Story from Dreamspinner: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6549
CoffeePopandBisexualityBlurb
When a stranger runs into Douglas, makes him spill his coffee, and offers to buy him another one, Douglas thinks that’s all it will be. Even though the man is gorgeous. Even though his daughter has other plans. Turns out, the stranger, Anthony, has other plans as well, and Douglas soon agrees to go to a movie with Anthony. It’s absolutely not a date. Douglas has slept with men, sure, but he isn’t gay. Or bisexual. No matter what Anthony says.
However, a late night and a frank conversation with his daughter’s best friend leaves Douglas with a different opinion. Not that he plans on letting Anthony know he considers it a date. It’s too much fun to wind Anthony up. After one not-so-perfect date, Douglas thinks maybe if he keeps Anthony around, turning fifty won’t be so bad.

Review

Doug has never dated a man, though he’s messed around with a couple in college. He’s divorced from a woman and about to become an empty-nester. One day, at a coffee shop, he literally runs into a guy and the attraction between the two men is encouraged by Doug’s 18 year old daughter.

Over a cup of coffee, Anthony, a much younger man than Doug, convinces Doug to at least try being friends and Doug agrees to a “friend date” of a movie.

Feeling awkward, he solicits advice from his daughter’s gay friend and decides to be open-minded about the date.

Things go well on the date and by the end Doug and Anthony are a couple.

**

I love short stories and what they can accomplish. This one tried to make a simple statement – keep an open-mind, you never know how your own prejudices can hamper you.

It was not a terribly convincing move from straight/exploring to openly dating and gay sex. I never really liked Doug, even his daughter calls him an asshole and he kinda is. Other than a basic physical attraction, I never saw what Anthony saw in him and so as a story I was never really “sold”.

I appreciated the moral and the writing itself was good, but I think I needed a bit more time with the characters to make this great leap.

2.5 of 5 hearts

2.5

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Despite the Odds by Chris T Kat

Dreamspinner Presents http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6459

DespitetheOddsBlurb

Never judge a book by its cover.

Michael Campbell can’t hold a job for more than a few days. He’s lucky his foreman is giving him another chance with the solar panel project at an elementary school in Atlantic City. When he spies a man walking strangely in front of the school, Michael laughs, assuming he’s drunk or high. Little does he realize that Joshua Stone, a teaching assistant, has cerebral palsy, and he’s having a bad muscle control day. Taking a tumble right in front of the handsome construction worker is just his luck.

When Michael learns the truth, he feels bad for his cruel behavior. He offers to give Joshua—and his tricycle, the Racing Rhonda—a lift. Joshua accepts the help, and suddenly there’s a gorgeous man breezing into his life, turning his world upside down. But Michael has more issues than his inability to hold down a job, and neither man is sure if they’ll be able to overcome their fears in order to be together.

Review

In a nutshell, Michael makes fun of (sort-of) Josh, but then finds out he has has cerebral palsy, makes up and they begin dating.

Michael is a sweet guy but has trouble keeping a job (for reasons we find out) and has a fairly low self-esteem but is generally laid back.

Josh really wants to trust Michael but he’s been burned before.

This is a book that could have been a touching and profound story to two men overcoming huge obstacles to be together, but instead was merely a sweet, fairly light-hearted romance.

The issues of Joshua’s disability as well as Michaels are mostly glossed over. The couple become a kind of non-sexual boyfriend then suddenly they move in together and HEA.

I still enjoyed reading this, it was short and sweet, but it felt very superficial and I was disappointed that we didn’t get to delve more deeply into these complex MCs. I was also rather disconcerted by how the sex was handled in that it went from zero to sixty and I think that taking some time to really move the couple through their emotions would have made their coming together more poignant.

I give it a 3 of 5 hearts because the writing was nice, the editing was good and I loved the MCs.

3

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Only Love Audiobook by Garrett Leigh Narrated by Michael Stellman

Dreamspinner Presents http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6400

OnlyLoveAUDMedBlurb

The diagnosis of a chronic stomach condition leaves 32-year-old Sergeant Jed Cooper with little choice but to call time on his Army career. Then on the dusty streets of Kirkuk, an ambush gone tragically wrong decimates his team, and he returns to the US with a shattered leg and the memory of his best friend dying in his arms.
Life in his sleepy hometown proves intolerable until he finds solace in a lakeside cabin with vivacious young carpenter, Max O’Dair. In the shadow of the epilepsy that periodically plagues Max, he and Jed form an unspoken bond. After a late night episode, Jed realizes how much Max means to him, and life has taught him not to waste time.
But the lines between contentment and complacency are blurred. Things left hidden resurface to tear through their world, and before they can repair the damage, death comes to call again. Faces, past and present, rally around them to weather the storm, but before long, they are left with only love.

Review

Jed and Max are two very broken men who must look to one another to help find the healing they so desperately need.

As you can tell from the blurb they have health problems, family problems and emotional baggage that keeps this angst ridden story flowing. It feels like there is rarely a quiet moment except when the two men find solace in the other.

Their romance is a slow burn with a few moments of steam, but their relationship is the center of the story, not the sex.

The audiobook is narrated by Michael Stellman and he does an AMAZING job with this. He handles the different characters so well, each with a distinct voice and accent. The emotions are superb and his non-dialog, reading voice is so easy to listen to and let yourself become immersed in the story.

This is one of those books where the audiobook absolutely sold me on it. I am not one to sign up for the super angsty books very often, and had put off reading this for that reason alone. When the chance came along to LISTEN to it, I jumped, especially once I knew the narrator was Mr. Stellman.

The writing of Garrett Leigh is superb, her characters are rich and well developed, her storylines are complex but flow well and the overall effect a strong novel of deep emotion. Combine this with an excellent narration like Michael Stellman and you have a winner!

If you’re in the mood for a dark, emotional and angsty read/listen this is for you.

4.5 of 5 hearts

4.5

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