BOOK REVIEW: The Back Passage by James Lear

The Back Passage has multiple meanings, beyond the obvious, in this gay send-up/homage to the British Manor house mystery genre; the obvious reference to m/m sex, the servant’s stairs in manors, and in this case, hidden passages.  James Lear writes a funny, fascinating, mystery with a sexually graphic gay twist to it.  I am no fan of m/m books, so this was new territory for me and I wasn’t at all sure I’d like it, especially since it dared to trifle with a favorite genre of mine – British manor house mysteries.  This book was published back in 2006, but I’d never even been aware of it till last year when my foray into erotic romance and lifelong affinity for the British cozy caused Amazon to pop this title in their never ending list ‘might also enjoy’ books.  The reviews were so good I decided I’d give it a try.

The book is written in the first person by Edward ‘Mitch’ Mitchell, an American doing post-graduate studies for a year at Cambridge in 1925.  Mitch is a lively, observant, exuberant, sexually promiscuous, supremely horny narrator the way a 23 year old can be.  In his case, he’s also a totally gay one.  It is the tone that Mitch strikes that makes the story work for me.  I’m not entirely sure how Lear pulled it off, but for all the very explicit m/m sex, I wasn’t offended and the story held my interest.

Erotic Romance and ebook Roundup – May Part 2

Here we go with some more erotic romance with varying degrees of hotness and quality – and several of these are scorchers.

Howling for My Baby by Beverly Rae (Novel length)

This novel is a Romeo and Juliet story with a werewolf and the daughter of a hereditary werewolf hunter who fall in love.  Ms Rae gives it a couple of twists and the happy ending isn’t all-inclusive, but that’s better than if it had been.

Sydney Skeller is so desperate to stop her erotic dreams of a werewolf lover she ends up going to see a psychic for help.  Apparently, Madame Medusala accurately predicted the new husband of one of her gym club members would turn out to be a werewolf – and he was.  And she keeps using the words like ‘mate’ instead of boyfriend.  What’s wrong with her?

At the insistence of Syd and her friend Charlie, Madame Medusala starts her summoning of spirits and Syd focuses so hard, she blacks out.  Convinced something happened, Madame Medusala finally tells her – she howled, and then she chucks them out.

Erotic Romance and ebooks – May Roundup Part 1

Here we go again with the popular erotic romance roundup.  As usual, we have a mix of good and bad, and a first for me – one I found so offensive I couldn’t finish it.   It was an odd mixture this month.  Some are real ‘keepers’ and others forgettable.  This month might be 3 parts as it seems I read more novellas/short novels than usual and fewer full length books.

.

A Little Less Conversation by Rhyannon Byrd (novella)

This traditional little contemporary love story is about two everyday kind of people, Mark Logan, a womanizing bar owner and Melanie Green, the owner of a travel agency directly across the street from the bar in Foggy Bottom Beach.  They’ve been staring at each other and smiling for 6 months now.  Or ‘mooning over her’ as Mark’s older brother Cain keeps teasing him.  For the first time in his life, Mark wants more than uncomplicated sex, he wants …….. more.  Of course he won’t get anything if he doesn’t at least ask her out.

Melanie Green has been fantasizing about Mark Logan since she moved to Foggy Bottom Beach six months ago.  Despite some offers, she has no desire to date anyone – except Mark Logan, the drool worthy bar owner.  She’s damned tired of being such a ‘good girl’, the ‘dopey geek’ and longs for a walk on the wild side, and Mark Logan has the ‘wild man’ reputation.  But why would a guy like that be interested in her?  But finally, FINALLY, he asks her out!!!!!

Erotic Romance – April Installment Part 2: The So-So

Here we go with the second part of the monthly installment of erotic romance reviews and we’ll open this segment with a three part futuristic romance from Annabel Wolfe, a series published in book form as The Starlight Chronicles (Book 1 contains the first two ebooks) from Siren and sold as 3 separate ebooks on their website. I read the three ebooks, each a short novel/novella running just 30,000 words or so each.  Annabel Wolfe also writes mainstream and erotic Historical romance as Emma Wildes.

Starlight Chronicles by Annabel Wolfe –  Futuristic

Here’s the setup for the three books:  Sometime in the future, an advanced race of space faring genetically altered humans that evolved through genetic engineering in colonies that Earth founded when it got too crowded, called S-Species, or Superhumans, have an agreement with Earth to ‘harvest’ females for sexual slavery of sorts.  Human females are tested throughout their childhood to determine suitability.  The potential candidates are watched to make sure they have the proper psychological and genetic makeup  – not only intelligent, and physically beautifully, but free of negative genetic traits and with a strong sense of survival. The S-species looks down on humans, as they haven’t evolved as far and can be dominated by the technologically advanced and physically aggressive S-Species.  But the S-Species don’t have enough females, and the genetic engineering that made them bigger, stronger and smarter also gave them an increased sex drive that can only be relieved by females.  Plus, they can breed human females, something they badly need to do.  The catch – the children always stay with the fathers.  After a certain number of years, the harvested females are released and allowed to return to Earth should they choose.  An entire generation of half Earth hybrids is growing up and that means the future will change again, but the S-Species is slow to accept that humans are their equals.

BOOK REVIEW: Storm Warning – Triple Trouble Part 2 by Tymber Dalton

I reviewed Tymber Dalton’s first installment of this trilogy, Trouble Comes in Threes, last month in my Erotic Monthly review. Storm Warning is the second book in the series and continues the story of Elain Pardie and the Lyall triplets where it left off in the first installment. Elain and Alpha triplets Ain, Brodey and Cail, are just starting to get to know each other.

”Elain lay on her stomach on a towel by the pool, trying to relax in the sun. When the huge, black, green-eyed wolf crept out of the nearby woods, it soundlessly leapt over the fence surrounding the pool and stalked her.

Moving silently, it circled around her until it pounced and started frantically humping the back of her leg.

“I don’t give a crap how much I love you,” she mumbled, not moving, not even opening her eyes. “If you want to fuck me, Brodey, you damn well better shift back. You try to make me do it like this, I’ll dope your dinner and shave you bald. You’ll look like a freaking mutant Chihuahua next time you shift.”

You gotta love it. It isn’t easy for Elain to adjust to the whole idea of werewolves or being mated to three Alphas. Even worse her emotions are just out of control. Incredibly, she can ‘hear’ the thoughts of her mates over great distances, not something that a full human should be able to do. Ain calls for information from a clan in Maine and his friend agrees to look into the history of any similar events.