Eli's Favs: Made for You by Anyta Sunday

I adored this book. I think it's my new number one from Anyta Sunday, which is saying a lot. It's slow burn romance , may-december, with hurt-comfort elements. Those are my favorite things in a romance.

We have two brothers -- Ben and Milo. Ben is trying to raise his little brother Milo after their parents are killed, but he's not quite making it. Between emotional issues, trying to work enough to pay the bills, and Milo acting out, Ben is drowning.

Enter Jack, one of Milo's teachers, and a guy who fixes up houses to flip in his spare time. When he sees the difficulties the brothers are in, he offers to help them fix up the family home for sale. Ben is much younger than Jack, but he's immediately attracted to him. Jack, though, tries to keep Ben strictly in the friend-zone because of the delicate situation, all while falling for the Ben-Milo-and Me family dynamic.

So well-written and excellent all around. I highly recommend!

GOODREADS LINK

AMAZON US LINK

Eli's Favs: Bigger Love by Rick R Reed

It's been a while since I read Big Love, so I read this as a stand-alone. It works fine in that regard.

This YA novel is about courage--the courage to be true to yourself no matter how non-conforming that is or the cost in bullying from others. Truman, the main character, lives in a small Ohio town and he’s openly gay and quite femme presenting. He is a senior in high school and doesn't hide his light under a bushel, so to speak. His has friends and a single mom who are incredibly supportive, so this isn't a bleak story in any way, though there is some bullying.

Truman's love interest is Mike, a good-looking, butch guy who has recently moved to town. He was gay in his previous home of Seattle, but he's trying to fly under the radar in Truman's small town. Although immediately attracted to Truman, for quite a while Mike ignores him, not wanting to reveal his own homosexuality. He's a bit hot and cold with Truman, but fortunately, he ultimately steps up to the plate.

There's a high school play Truman is involved with that brings matters to a head with both the town bullies and with Mike. Fortunately, Truman handles it with aplomb and we get an HEA.

If you enjoy gay coming of age stories, you will enjoy this one by Rick Reed. As usual, his writing is terrific and I read this through without a pause. Recommended.

Eli's Favs: Little Harbour by Sophia Soames

I saw this book mentioned on Facebook. I’d never heard of the author, but based on the blurb and enthusiastic recommendations, I decided to try it. I’m happy to give it my rave review as well!

The romance is set in Oslo and it’s between a professor of poetry, Axel, who lost his wife a year ago and is struggling to get through every day with this four children, and a male midwife/nurse, Jens, who is single. When Axel runs across a photo of Jens on a blog post, he realizes it’s a guy he knew in college. They’d been the closest of best friends until a kiss caused awkwardness between them. The widower, Axel, decides he must reconnect with his old friend. It turns out Jens has been in love with Axel all these years. And Axel very quickly has to convince Jens he’s not going to mess with his head again, that he wants to try for a real relationship

There’s a lot to enjoy in this story. I loved the Scandinavian setting. I loved that Axel and Jens are basically soul mates who met when the time was not right, and later find each other again. Axel and his children are sort of a mess after the death of his wife, so there’s a hurt/comfort element of the story too as Jens comes in and has to tread carefully, and yet he ultimately brings so much healing to this family. And I loved the family aspect of it, all four kids. The author doesn’t shy away for including the kids in the story, often and loudly, and very messily too. I can’t recall reading a m-m romance before that had so much family time in it. It felt very realistic, and I really liked that. To me, there was still plenty of romance to balance out the family scenes.

This appears to be Sophia Soames’ first book, and I hope to read more from her in the future.

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ELI'S FAVS: NEW CHRISTMAS BOOKS FOR 2019 - PART 2

More Christmas goodies! I haven’t had nearly as much time to read this season as I’d like, but here are some new Christmas books I read and recommend.

The Christmas Angel Series. I’ve now read nearly all the books in The Christmas Angel series, a series I have a book in myself. I love N.R. Walker’s books as a rule, and this one was particularly good. I loved the 60’s setting and the hurt/comfort aspect of the book when her Vietnam soldier comes home wounded. Read it!

GOODREADS LINK

The Christmas Angel Series. Anyta Sunday’s contribution to the series is really fun. Her story is based on “The Taming of the Shrew”. Pax Polo is a great character, witty, clever, and always has an angle. He starts of trying to distract the “shrew” next door (the older brother of a lovely young woman) in order to give Pax’s roommate and a business associate a chance to court the girl. But he ends up falling of the shrew. Really well-done.

GOODREADS LINK

Keira is another favorite author of mine. In this Christmas-y tale, she has a hunky, grumpy lumberjack character who is roped into playing Santa. He and his younger, twinky elf find they’re a perfect match. Steamy holiday fun.

GOODREADS LINK

I met Ella and Brooke at Y/Con in Paris in December, so I was eager to check out their Christmas book. It’s a fun, light rom com featuring a guy who meets the man of his dreams briefly, but when he goes home for Christmas, the same guy shows up as his sister’s boyfriend. It’s all a mix-up and the angst is very light. Well-written and definitely recommended. It has a Hallmark feel, which I loved.

GOODREAD LINK

I’m heading out for 10 days in Seattle for the holidays. Hopefully I’ll get to read more holiday goodness. Have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year! See you in 2019.

Eli

Eli's Favs: New Christmas Books for 2019 - Part 1

I love Christmas romances, both writing and reading them. So far this year, I’ve had good luck with the ones I’ve read. In no particular order:…

My first Christmas season read of 2018 and I loved it. Ben and Adam meet when Adam walks into Ben's "kosher style" bakery in Boston while travelling there with the ice hockey team he coaches (he's from Montreal). Both men have similar histories. Both were skaters (one hockey, one a speed skater) who had to give up on dreams of Olympic glory. Both are Jewish, though Adam's father was a rabbi and Ben's family was unobservant. I loved Adam's young hockey players--they sounded like real kids and added a family flavor to the story. And Ben and Adam were sweet together, earnest guys who have some bumps along the way to trusting one another. Highly recommended. 

GOODREADS LINK

A lovely Christmas book from Annabeth Albert. It features a retiring Sergeant Major from the military MP who believes he's over the hill and who has a job lined up in Florida, and a young social worker who lives in a small, cold, northern town stuffed full of his relatives. When the military guy, Nick, is roped into playing Santa for the social worker, Teddy's, community fund raiser, Teddy is star struck immediately. It takes Nick longer to warm up to the idea of having the younger man in his bed and longer still for him to admit they have something worth changing his vision of his future for.

I love Christmas stories that have lot of snow and extended family fun, and this one has that in spades. Fun, sweet, and hot. Highly recommended!

GOODREADS LINK

THE CHRISTMAS ANGEL SERIES

I’m in a series this year with six other amazing authors, so I am slowly reading through the other books in the series. The entire series releases Dec 2nd. My book is CHRISTMAS ANGEL, which you can read about here.

So far I’ve read Kim Fielding and RJ Scott’s entries, and I loved them both.

I loved the fairytale-like royal setting of this story, in the beautiful little kingdom of Montaunoit with the snow and tons of Christmas lights, Christmas market, hidden passages and archives in the palace, etc. The Christmas Angel is believed by the palace staff to be a "golden ghost" and she has a nice influence in this story, steering Prince Rafe and the British Museum historian, Marc, to true love. I always enjoy RJ's Christmas books and this one will be one of my favorites.

GOODREADS LINK

This historical is a lot of fun. It's set in 1880's New York, which is an unusual period for a romance. It features the son of a wealthy department store owner and a rough cowboy who is a bit of a fish out of water in New York. The romance is sweet. I loved the way Kim used the angel ornament as a kind of guardian angel figure in their lives, urging them together. Great and hopeful ending. I always love Kim's books and this is no exception.

GOODREADS LINK

Lots more Christmas books in the pipeline. It’s not even December yet! Whee! More reviews soon.

Eli

Eli's Favorite Angsty Gay Romance Books

I'm a guest on The Novel Approach today talking about my favorite angsty books including books by Trish Gillham, Amy Lane, Sue Brown, Andrew Grey, Jamie Fessenden, Kim Fielding, Rick R. Reed, Jane Seville, and Felicia Watson.

CLICK HERE TO READ POST

Eli's Favs: An Unnatural Vice by K.J. Charles (Audiobook)

I spent quite a few weeks immersed in editing BOY SHATTERED, so it’s been awhile since I’ve had the leisure to read a book for fun. I picked a K.J. Charles because I’m in the middle of writing my Christmas book for this year, which is a historical, so I wanted a historical romance.

I always love K.J. Charles. Her writing is intelligent, clever, and well plotted, with a narrative thrust that pulls you through to the end and not a lot of meandering.

AN UNNATURAL VICE features a romance between a fake spiritual medium and an upright solicitor who disapproves of his trade. The two are thrown together over a case of a missing heir and serious sparks fly. There’s a mystery case and strong backstory on both characters, but the romance definitely holds the spotlight. There’s plenty of steam here and some angst and danger.

The narrator, Matthew Lloyd Davies, was wonderful and now I have his voice permanently lodged in my head!

Highly recommended.

Here it is on Audble.

Eli

Eli's Favs: Rökkur/Rift (2017)

I loved this Icelandic horror/thriller movie featuring a gay ex-couple, Gunnar and Einar. There are so many things to say about it, it's hard to know where to start.

Let's start with the LGBTQ angle. I loved that this is a horror/thriller movie and the main characters' sexuality is secondary. I've seen reviewers say the couple could have been m/f and it would have been the same movie. I don't think that's quite true because the couple's relationship dynamics and a lot of the symbolism was deeply interwoven with queerness. However, it's still awesome to see a film with gay main characters where the story isn't about them being gay but about something else. The movie also explores their relationship dynamics and past trauma as gay men, so it's got a very strong romance subplot.

Secondly, the story is set in a remote area of Iceland that was just stunning. The cinematography is truly exceptional. I like stories that take place in remote areas where the scenery is natural, huge, even bleak. The vast isolation is a tangible quality in this film. It adds so much texture and tension to the tension and fear in the film as well as simply making for beautiful viewing.

Finally, the thriller/horror storyline was intense! Gunnar has broken up with Einar and worries Einar is suicidal. When he gets a mysterious phone call from Einar in the middle of the night, he drives out to this remote cabin to check on him. Once there, the two face the end of their relationship as well as mysterious knocks in the middle of the night, sightings of mysterious figures, and an ominous car. It's the sort of horror that's subtle and psychological rather than violent, and in the end you're left with a lot of questions. There's a definite metaphysical element to it, similar to Lost or The Sixth Sense in that there are some twists that change the way you see the story. Just don't expect everything to be tied up with a neat bow, because the ending is deliberately ambiguous. It kept me mesmerized throughout and I watched to rewatch immediately to pick up more clues.

I highly recommend this movie if you like thrillers or horror. It's on Amazon Prime right now! You can see it here.

Eli's Favs: Love Me Whole by Nicky James

I love hurt-comfort stories. I recently led a panel at Euro Pride Con about the appeal of the underdog character. I get more emotionally involved when a character has some difficult personal challenges to overcome such as a disability, homelessness, abuse, or other trauma in their past. I get very invested in seeing this type of character find love and get their HEA.

Some of my favorite books in the m/m genre that fit this theme are "Ethan, Who Loved Carter" by Ryan Loveless, "Blind Faith" by N.R. Walker, and "Love Comes Silently" by Andrew Grey. I've also written my share of books with an underdog hero including "The Mating of Michael", "Falling Down", and "Tender Mercies."

I just read "Love Me Whole" by Nicky James and it goes into the top tier of my favorite hurt-comfort slash underdog love stories. In this book, the love interest, Oryn, suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder, or multiple personalities. This was presumably caused by horrific childhood trauma. Wisely, Nicky doesn't get into spelling out what that was, instead focusing on the "here and now" -- Oryn, as a young man, trying to navigate his life when he often loses time to these other personalities and has very little control over his world. Vaughn is the love interest, a man who befriends Oryn after they meet in a college class. He falls for Oryn despite the challenge of being in a relationship with someone who can disappear in the blink of an eye.

I loved this book. Not only was it highly readable and addictive, it was also fascinating. I learned a lot of things about DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder) that I didn't know before. I especially loved the way the Vaughn had to navigate, not only his relationship with Oryn, but with each of the other personalities that resided within Oryn as well, including one who was very much a "straight dude bro" and another that was a child. Vaughn had to respect each personality as a separate individual, win them over, and earn their trust. And his relationship with the "main" personality, Oryn, had to be taken extremely slowly due to Oryn's tendency to trigger when Vaughn pushed too far too fast in a physical relationship.

This book was SO well done. I highly recommend this hurt-comfort story as one of the best. Cudos to Nicky James for managing a very, very difficult narrative and pulling it off 100%.

Here's a link to the book on Goodreads where you can find purchase links.

Eli's Favs: "Wolf at the Door" by Charlie Adhara

I've been in a bit of a book slump lately, starting books and not finishing them. This book roared in like a band of bad ass bikers, grabbed me by the throat, and dragged me along til the last page. I simply loved the writing--it's filled with intelligence, wit, and genuine characters. The murder mystery plot was good with lots of characters and clues. I did figure it out before the big reveal, but not so soon it was disappointing. I enjoyed the secret werewolf agency angle. The romance was slow burn, which is exactly my cup of tea. There was enough of it to feel fulfilling even though this is only the first book in a series for this couple.

But mostly.. the writing. I'm a sucker for good writing.

My only disappointment is that Charlie Adhara has no other books out right now. However, the sequel to this book is coming in September. (Yes, I already pre-ordered it.)

"Wolf at the Door" is only 99c on Amazon right now -- so you know what to do.

AMAZON US LINK

Eli's Favs: "The Henchmen of Zenda" by KJ Charles

This book is so fantabulous, I want to hold it up and sing songs to it. 
OK, that might be a bit much. But it really is marvelous. The writing is excellent and the daring-do characters are so much fun. This is definitely an intrigue/swashbuckler tale with a dash of romance, as opposed to the other way around, but it is a perfect read IMHO. It gets the historical tone just right, and the first-person narration sparkles. Just smashing!

Eli's Favs: "Creature" by Kim Fielding

Yay! This book was a homerun for me. I was listening to an interminably long thriller and got bored with it. I wanted something quick and fun to blast through the book doldrums.  "Creature" was the right pick. I loved it.

Kim begins with a heartbreaking scene showing the "creature", John, in captivity. This immediately establishes empathy for him. I have a soft spot for underdog characters (versus perfect alpha males), and so I fell in love with John at once and had to see him get his happy.

He's removed from what might be decades of solitary confinement by the Bureau and Harry, who is picked to use John on a case. John is so grateful to be free and to be treated kindly. And Harry soon realizes John is much more than a "thing". 

This is a sweet, dark little fairy tale and I read it in one sitting. Kim's writing is so effortless and appealing, it just pulls you right through the book, forgetting everything else.

Highly recommended.  Now I want to go back and read the first two Bureau books.

Eli's Favs: "Femme" by Marshall Thornton

This book is an absolute delight. Marshall Thornton is an amazing writer, more literary author than romance author, but I love when he turns his hand to romance. Lionel ('Lynette') is a self-described queen, and her voice is just a scream. I listened to the audiobook and Joel Leslie was perfect. 

Lionel begins a "thing" with Dog, a softball player who is more masc and can pass for straight. The road to true love, however, is rocky, as Dog has some growing up to do before he can admit Lionel is his boyfriend to his family and friends. The humor keeps this from being too angsty in spots, even when Dog messes up big time. There are some interesting musings here about femmes in the gay culture and the value of being yourself. But mostly, it's just pure pleasure to immerse yourself in Marshall's smart, witty characters. I would have rolled right into the sequel, "Masc, but it's not out for a few more days.

Highly recommended!

Eli's Favs: "His Quiet Agent"' by Ada Maria Soto

I loved this novella from Ada Maria Soto and ate it up in one evening. What's to love? 

First, the setting of a "secret agency" was unique and fun. Arthur works as a data analyst in a "government" building (though he tells his mom he sells insurance). Everyone else in this shadowy organization keeps very much to themselves, even in the lunchroom. When Arthur decides he needs to improve his visibility by being friendly, he upsets the gloomy, uber private facade--especially when he picks the quietest, weirdest guy of all to befriend. There isn't a lot of explanation about what this secret agency does, but we don't really need it. The "secrecy" angle works to keep even Arthur and the reader in the dark. In this case, the author depends on us knowing basically what a secret agency is thanks to James Bond and its ilk. The setting felt very dry and tongue-in-cheek and was nice change from the usual romance tropes.

Second, the writing is really very good. As a writer myself, I'm always thrilled to run across a new writer (to me anyway) in romance who can cause me to smile and underline like a fool. 

"I'm sure there's a culture somewhere where silently shoving finger food at someone is an acceptable form of courting. Hobbits maybe."

I enjoyed every word of this book. Sometimes an author's sense of humor connects with you and sometimes it doesn't. I've read some highly-ranked books filled with brash, constant sexual references and juvenile potty humor that I didn't find funny at all. But then, I've always tended toward the dry and subtle, and that describes this book's sense of humor to a T.

"Agent Sims used to do it, but he bashed a fax machine to death with a three-hole punch, then quit. So, that's an open position, as it were."

Third, I also appreciated the uniqueness of the characters and the romance. This is not your typical first kiss-bj-anal sort of romance. The characters aren't even sure they're in a romance for most of the book. One character is asexual and the other isn't sure what he is. It's fine with the characters if they never have sex, and it was fine with me too. Their sweet-weird-caring relationship was all kinds of awesome. I give the author all the props for just the freshness of this in the market and for the way the characters themselves had to feel around the edges of what they meant to each other.

But the word 'friend' seemed not to fit. It was too vague and common. What he felt was more complicated than a word tossed about by children or achieved through a click of a mouse. ... Martin let him see the cracks that night and the smallest hint of what lay beyond. He wanted to know what was truly beneath those cracks but also knew he would fight anyone who tried to break Martin open. For that feeling, he knew of no words.

If you're not sure if a romance like this will be your cup of tea, try it anyway. It's only 111 pages and I guarantee the smooth-funny writing will pull you through and make you smile.

In Ada Maria Soto, I've found a new author to follow and bless wishings upon from afar. :-) Hope you enjoy her too.

AMAZON LINK

Eli

Eli's Favs: "Love, Simon"

This past weekend, I went to see "Love, Simon" on opening day with a lovely author friend who was visiting, RJ Scott, and her husband. I expected to like the film, but nope. I loved it.

It's a standard high school film set-up with a theater group, wacky principle, and a group of friends. One of the friends, Simon, is secretly gay. He hasn't not come out for any profound reason. His family is pretty cool and open-minded. His friends would probably be supportive. But, as Simon says, he just doesn't want things to change. He has it pretty good, and he wants to just enjoy the rest of high school without drama. 

But when a rather wanker-y kid at school blackmails Simon and threatens to out him, Simon does some not-so-cool things to keep him quiet. And then, of course it all blows up.

It's a fairly simple story, but what makes it so great is the level of diversity and acceptance in the movie. When Simon does come out, it's the actions he took when blackmailed, and not the fact that he is gay, that upset his friends. There's a lot of diversity in the cast. And finally, finally, there's a happy ending and the boy gets the boy.

I love reading gay romance, and I'm often frustrated there aren't more gay romantic films out there. "Shelter" is my favorite because it has a happy ending. "Latter Days" is good for that reason. But so many times, films with gay protagonists have to end in misery, such as the otherwise fabulous "Free Fall". Even "Call Me By Your Name" has a sad ending.

Let's hoping the success of "Love, Simon" brings more great gay romance (HEA included) to the screen.

What was almost as good as the film, though, was the audience reaction. Our five o'clock showing was filled with women, mostly teenagers, and they screamed, sighed, and applauded. I've never been to a regular het romance film that got that kind of reaction. I love the open-mindedness of the younger generation. And, yes, I felt proud to be a gay romance author!

So here's my rec: Go see "Love, Simon!"

Eli