Dear Diary by Allison Cassatta

Story 7

Presentation 9

Total: 16

Publisher: XoXo Publishing

M/M Contemporary

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Blurb:

Chris Bishop is an All-American type guy with the perfect family, perfect grades and perfect girlfriend, with a bright and shiny future ahead of him.

He thought he had everything planned, thought he knew it all. But one summer, a kiss, and a green-eyed hunk changed his whole life. Volunteering in a law firm was an opportunity for his future but it took him in a direction he never thought of or dreamt could happen.

Review:

Tender, emotional, a power packed short story that for the most part I loved. I think any lover of m/m romances and coming of age romances will enjoy this story. We learn about Chris and Josh through Chris’s own words. While reading the story, I liked the glimpse I was getting of Chris’s history and the journey that Ms. Cassatta was taking us on. The writing is good, wrought with emotion and turmoil. So reading the story was enjoyable, but all the while I had the niggling irritation in the back of my mind. While his date for the prom is waiting he has to record this memory of the man he’s fallen in love with. I have to say, it was a bit irritating because as a reader, I was distracted from what his “story” was because the timing seemed out of place. Why couldn’t he wait until the next day to “remember” everything? (Well, keep reading because you’ll find out.) He’s putting off his date, his mother is threatening to come up to get him and it only magnifies the “setting” issue with book. In my opinion, it doesn’t work and only detracts from the really wonderful story or the characters. However, in the end, I understood why the author chose to reveal the story this way. And while I like what she tried to do with the story, I wish I hadn’t been wrinkling my nose at the contrived “waiting for prom” method to get to the end. I’m sure readers will overlook that aspect, like I did, because I really did love the end of the story.

Whom Gods Have Favored by Denyse M Bridger

Story: 5
Presentation: 5
Total: 10
Publisher: XOXO Publishing
Historical Erotic
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Blurb: Pompeii lies complacent and decadent in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, the populace thriving on their depravity and their hunger for blood and Games. In the midst of the looming destruction, an ancient evil emerges, and claims not only a celebrated general of Rome, but the slave girl he has slowly grown to love and cherish. A girl who will follow him into hell itself, and rewrite the Fate that awaits so many...

Review: The story, like the blurb, has a lot going on. While Ms. Bridger does an excellent job of setting the scene--generals, slaves, politicians, gladiators, oh my--there are too many points of view presented during the story. While the multitude of povs provide glimpses into the intrigues boiling under the surface, which does add to the realism of the setting, the story is just too short to fully develop the characters. Additionally, the sex scenes aren’t as detailed as I would have liked for an erotic story.

Soulbound by Mahalia Levey

Story: 8.5 Presentation: 9
Total: 17.5
Publisher: XOXO Publishing
M/M/F Contemporary Ménage
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Blurb: Upon finishing the first semester of college three child hood friends meet up again at their familiar haunting ground. Fantasies never acted out, have the chance to happen for one night. Addie, Galen and Teagan find in each other’s arms an affinity for each other that has never evaporated but grown stronger during the length of their long lived friendship.

Review: The opening of Soulbound was a bit slow but offered needed backstory to give this hot ménage a foundation. Once Addie arrives on scene with Galen and Teagan, the story erupts with hot erotic action. What I liked best was that Addie wasn’t left out. Teagan and Galen are involved, but she is the missing element in the story. She’s not the center of this relationship, but she is an equal part. Ms. Levey pulled this off with erotic style and flare. Not easy to do since Teagan and Galen were so intensely sexy on their own.