Review: The Silent City

The Silent City by Ginn Hale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rifter Book Eight: The Silent City continues to piece together the long reaching and rather complicated plot. This is one of the better installments from my perspective because I’m an unabashed John/Jath’ibaye fan so the fact that he’s the narrator and main focus works very well for me. Here the story picks up after Ravishan and John left the Holy Road and are hiding in the woods. John, as the Rifter, is unleashing a hellish storm to help his healing but he can’t control the storm. A group of revolutionaries, the Fai’daum, find and take in both John and Ravishan as John learns to control his power. Their relationship deepens and takes on more significance with even a rare on page sex scene (don’t miss it!).

Review: A Solid Core of Alpha

A Solid Core of Alpha by Amy Lane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Solid Core of Alpha is an impressive book. It’s intense, angsty, drama filled, and sure to make you cry more than once. Even so, once the drama stopped and the inevitable slow glide to a happy ending started, the book started to lose me. The characters definitely deserve a happy ending but when the story lost it’s intensity, the characters did as well and ultimately the book ended on a whimper as compared to the explosive beginning. I would still eagerly recommend this story to those who love angst and drama filled stories. This is intense in the best ways and sucks you in right from the start. This is definitely a not miss book.

Review: Enemies and Shadows

 

Enemies and Shadows by Ginn Hale
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

We’re over halfway in the Rifter series and book #7, Enemies and Shadows, is a quieter edition that starts to pull together all the various little details and threads. There’s not a lot of exciting action or romance that occurs but instead various political subplots and details (both past and present) are discussed and handled to make the core of the story more solid. It’s a good, if not terribly exciting, installment.

Review: Muffled Drum

Muffled Drum by Erastes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Muffled Drum is an absorbing page turning historical story. In fact I didn’t want to put this down as the setting and characters sucked me in from the beginning. The story is poignant and often bittersweet but with a solid HEA ending that should definitely please fans. The writing is very strong with a rich, descriptive setting and lots of contrasting interests. The characters are intriguing with flaws and nuanced depth. My only slight issue is with the predictable “villain” character thrown in towards the end that I’m not sure even needed to be there. It adds a certain tone to the story but I disliked the obvious nature of his inclusion and furthermore the treatment of the character. However those could be personal reader preferences too and others won’t be bothered.

Review: Demonic Harmony

Demonic Harmony by Rob Knight
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Demonic Harmony is a short story that is considered paranormal I guess. I’m not entirely sure I understood the story or the angle the author was aiming for, though it’s enjoyable enough to read for a quick tale. The story centers on musician Shy who is some kind of paranormal creature. I’m not sure what kind, since the story doesn’t specify other than to say he feeds off energy. Lucky for him he meets a demonic guitarist, Seth, with energy to spare. The two get down and dirty quickly and often in this erotic short.

Review: Dark Sun

Dark Sun by M.J. O’Shea
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As a fan of dystopian fiction, I was pretty excited to read Dark Sun. The story has a very nice urban fantasy setting that fulfilled that craving I always have for the genre while the characters and plot are decent. They’re not great unfortunately, partly due to the short nature of the novella, and the entire story rushes from start to finish. The characters feel unfinished and somewhat empty as they stick close to pretty well known stereotypes. There is a vague Romeo and Juliet feel to the star crossed lovers from warring families while one character is a pretty typical Robin Hood by stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Because of these obvious tropes, the story never quite satisfies and moves into something wholly unique but the various elements included are enough to make an interesting enough story if you’re a fan of urban fantasy.

Review: Broken Fortress

Broken Fortress by Ginn Hale
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the last installment of the Rifter, John and Ravishan were left together and bleeding on the Holy Road in a very hanging ending. Instead of picking up where that left off, this particular installment makes the odd choice of leaping back to a hanging ending of a prior book but a future scene (future as far as the timeline). It’s a bit confusing at first. For those following along you’ll remember that Kahlil (Ravishan in the future is Kahlil) went to the future while John went to the past. Eventually the two meet up with John as Jath’ibaye when Kahlil saves Jath’ibaye’s life and Jath’ibaye in turn saves Kahlil’s life and they run off on a sailing ship. Well that storyline had been shelved in favor of revisiting how John became Jath’ibaye. We’re not quite to the point but the story has skipped ahead (again) and is back with Kahlil and Jath’ibaye.

Review: Bear Like Me

Bear Like Me by Jonathan Cohen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Bear Like Me is a satirical look at the gay bear community. It’s a little dated as a contemporary piece but the humor translates for the most part if you’re looking for something very light and heavy on the obvious puns. The ending is ridiculous and completely over the top but that’s mostly the point. It’s meant to be outrageous and unbelievable with one gag after the next. The characters are decent and likable to a point but none stand out very much. In the end this is a fun, easy book to read but not one I’ll especially remember.

Review: British Flash

British Flash by Josephine Myles
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

British Flash is a collection of flash fiction stories – just a few pages each – that center on being gay and British. There are 21 stories with 16 m/m, 3 f/f, 1 m/m/f, and one gender bending story. So there truly is a wide range of stories for everyone but the collection will still appeal most to m/m fans. This is an especially good collection if you’re looking to taste various authors you haven’t tried before. I found those authors I usually quite like to shine very well here while a few surprised me and I’ll definitely be looking at their backlists.

Review: Highway Man

Highway Man by Eden Winters
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m pretty open about my admiration and love of Eden Winters’ writing and dayum, that woman has done it again with Highway Man. Just a quick story, too quick in my opinion, that introduces some intense characters, a hint of possible love, painful pasts, and a cowboy future. Seriously I’m not sure what else the author could have included but altogether this delightful little story is wonderfully angsty, incredibly hot, and a delicious bite you won’t want to miss.