Jordan Taylor (1)

Hindsight
In this short story, we see how Noah and Archer get together. Kind of a prequel, if you will, about how they get to where they are in First Sight. It also explained Noah's loss of sight, so it was mostly for background information.

First Sight
In First Sight, Noah and Archer are married and heading to Amsterdam on their honeymoon. There was way too much whining for my sake. Noah kept inferring that he hated being pitied, but he really seemed to pity himself more than anything. I honestly couldn't see what Archer was staying for with the way Noah treated him most of the time. I think Noah truly meant well, but he never really listened to Archer regarding anything until the end when Archer finally pushed to be heard. I am hopeful for their future, but Noah really needs to get his head out of his hindquarters and keep it out of there.

I am voluntarily reviewing an ARC received by IndiGo Marketing & Design… (mehr)

Worth Waiting For by Nancy Garden: This was my first experience with Nancy Garden but I know she is like an icon of the lesbian Young Adult genre, and after reading this short story I can understand why. The story is sweet and full of hope, about a small town girl, Mari, who falls in love for the first time; her love is new-in-town Molly and in this girl meets girl plot there is a lot of angst (small town short-end mentality, gratuitous cruelty among the other kids, difficult relationship with parents) but there is also romance, a romance that, as the title says, it’s worth waiting for. Mari and Molly are contemporary girls, with contemporary comparison: unfortunately for them, they are not those of the big city that maybe are detached, but at least are various; in the farm country where they live, the past is Matthew Shepard, the present is the everyday fight to have a GSA group at school, the future is the problematic relationship with your mother, who listens to much to her pastor and the town gossips and not so much to the silent plead of her daughter.

A Line in the Sand by Robin Reardon: Robin Reardon’s story is completely different from Nancy Garden’s one, but very much in line with what I’m used to read from her; here we have a teenager gay boy who had the lucky to come out to his parents and find them supporting. Dustin is nor your typical teenager, he loves beautiful things like fashion and having a pic-nic with silverware and crystals and he dreams to be a designer (for fashion or theatre he has not yet decided). In his young life he has already had a broken heart due to a guy who was not out, and now that he meets Randy, he wants to play it cool. But Dustin is a romantic at heart, and Randy, even if a little older and still in the closet, is a dream comes true. Pity they have only a summer week and then a life on the opposite site of the country. Even if this story has not the classical happily ever after (but suggestion, Randy wants to be a jazz player, Dustin a designer, what place is best than New York City for that?) in the end the story was sweet and full of hope, I can see that, even if Randy and Dustin will not end together, in any case they will have a good life in front of them.

Shattered Diamonds by Jordan Taylor: I’m sure this story will break your heart like it did to mine, but I had a fair warning; beginning scene is about an unnamed teenager who is remembering the death of a schoolmate, Jeremy, and how he feels guilty about it. Little by little we understand that actually Jeremy had his own issues and that maybe unnamed guy is not really guilty if not of not have been a friend. I’m not sure that, with a friend, Jeremy would have overcome all his troubles, but at least he would have been a chance, a chance to not shatter in thousand of pieces like a beautiful, but fragile diamond.

Pervert by Brian Katcher: this is not my first experience with a transgender story but I think this is, among the few I read, one of the best. Again the author decided to not give a name to the boy/girl who are living their hell in high school, feeling they are inadequate, a pervert. The boy/girl are so scared of their own skin they don’t realize they are not alone in this world. Unfortunately I cannot say they have not reason to believe so, the few real life cases of transgender people I read about usually are not story with an easy happily ever after, transgender people seem to have it even harder than gay or lesbian, but I think that with this short story Brian Katcher wants to prove that, with the support of the family, even a miracle is possible.

All net proceeds from the sale of this book will benefit The Trevor Project
MISSION: The Trevor Project is determined to end suicide among LGBTQ youth by providing lifesaving and life-affirming resources including our nationwide, 24/7 crisis intervention lifeline, digital community and advocacy/educational programs that create a safe, supportive and positive environment for everyone.
VISION: A future where the possibilities, opportunities and dreams are the same for all youth, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0982826761/?tag=elimyrevandra-20… (mehr)

Hidden Conflict is a collection of four historical novellas chronicling the lives of closeted gay military men. Timewise, they run from the late 18th Century to WWII, but in tone and mood they seem to cover even more ground. Approach this one with an open mind because while the first and last stories are traditional romances, the middle two (literally and figuratively the "meat" of the book) are fairly unsentimental and downright gritty.

Mainstream gay romance writer Alex Beecroft has a lovely way with words and her research here is evident. Her 18th Century seafaring epic, "The Blessed Isle" is overflowing with lush imagery and historical detail. But occasionally both went into overkill, distracting from the action, rather than enhancing it. Sometimes less is more. But overall a fun piece. A love story told in successive diary entries by two British sailors, it’s peppered with the tropes of the m/m romance genre - the jocular teasing/flirting, the compulsory injured pride and the petulant lovers’ quarrels. This one is more of a guilty pleasure than any reflection of real-life. If you’re looking to read about what things may have been like for homosexual sailors in Jane Austen’s England, you aren’t going to find it here. This is a sensual and deeply romantic love story. Escapist? No doubt. Enjoyable? Sure. Historical? Not so much.

The last novella, "Our One and Only" is the story of Philip Cormier who is left a "war widow" after his lover, Eddie Fiske, is killed in WWII. Author E.N. Holland re-visits him every decade, showing us a stifled, lonely man unable to move on with his life. An endearing character, Cormier ages into the stereotypical bachelor uncle to Eddie’s nieces and nephews, but Holland spoils any potential pathos by amping up his bitterness over not being allowed to grieve publicly. While I agree with the politics, from a literary standpoint the story would have been much more powerful if her protagonist was merely sorrowful, rather than angry. Better to leave the outrage to her readers. But putting the overly obvious politicking aside, it makes for an engaging character study.

Mark Probst’s "Not to Reason Why" offers an harrowing account of Custer’s last stand. An obvious fan of tales of the old West, this is a meticulously researched version of the famous battle that one is not likely to find in your standard high school history text. I think romance readers might have a hard time here. This story is bloody and unsettling, with a youthful narrator who [inwardly] questions the morality of the unwinnable battle he’s being forced to fight as well as the motives of the vainglorious leader who is marching them to their deaths. Oh yeah, did I mention? In case you don’t know your history - there isn’t any happy ending here. It should also be noted that the gay aspect of the story is almost completely incidental to the plot and, personally, I found the ending to be a bit of a head scratcher. But nonetheless, a truly suspenseful and chilling read.

My favorite piece is "No Darkness" by Jordan Taylor. It takes place during the First World War, an era for which I have a particular fondness. After an explosion, two men - an officer and an enlisted man - get trapped alone together under the rubble of a house. Taylor does a wonderful job capturing those Chariots of Fire/Brideshead Revisited types - all crisp English reserve masking emotions and desires seething just below the surface. This is an intimate story, in its setting and tone, and it’s romantic without being obvious. And all the more poignant because it doesn’t deliver the expected ending all neatly tied up with a bow.

I recommend this collection to any gay fiction lover. It offers a romantic escape for readers who tend to gravitate toward more realistic, contemporary themes and a dose of reality for those who choose romance novels to the exclusion of all else. Check your preconceptions at the door and give it a shot.… (mehr)

Tributary by Erastes

The first impression I had of this story is that it was lost in time; it’s set in 1936, but it could have been well 50 years before (if not for the car the hero is using at the beginning of the story) or 50 years later: the Hotel Vista a top of a mountain with a wonderful view of the valley is something you can still find in Italy, and an experience quite similar to that of the hero I did in Portugal, when I found a posh hotel in the middle of nowhere right at the top of a glacial valley. Probably the South European people tend to pick up the best places for their hotel, and it’s not a coincidence that both Italy than Portugal are favourite destinations for English travellers.

Aside from that, the feeling of being lost in time is also due to the fact that almost all the people who are spending time at Hotel Vista seem to have a reason to avoid reality. Guy, the Englishman who feigns indifference, I think is still mourning the loss of his lover, Arthur, and his escape from England and conventions are in true and escape from memories; plus, maybe, Guy is trying to live how Arthur and him would have dreamed to, without worrying of other people’s judgement; Arthur died too young, and Guy is trying to live for both of them.

Hotel Vista is also the hiding place of James Calloway and his young secretary Louis. It’s clear that they are not only boss and assistant; that James is trying to find in Louis his lost youth, same as Guy is trying to find it in the escaping. At first I thought that Louis was a gold digger profiting of a weak James, weak both in health than resistance to the allure of youth. But Louis is a more complex character of what he appears at first, and it’s not a game of who, between Guy and James is richer and though more appealing for Louis, it’s a game of understanding who, between Guy and James is more daring, who will have the courage to risk everything for the love of Louis. Among them, Louis is not promising anything to anyone, he is mobile and elusive, like youth and lost dreams, and Guy, or James, have to play careful to catch him.

The White Empire by Chris Smith

The Honourable Edgar Vaughan is a missionary, but he has not the “call”; joining a mission in Hong Kong in 1839 was another way to go far from the “gossip” of the ton, that was well aware of Vaughan’s particular inclinations. Second son of a baronet, when it was clear that his older brother would have been able to survive and reproduce, there was no real reason for him to stay around and create more trouble. Vaughan is a strange man, he is also able to pretend with himself: he claims to being fond only of men of his same social level, but then, gathering bit of info here and there, the reader understand that more r less, Vaughan enjoys men wherever he can find them willing, or maybe not even so willing but in need of money. Vaughan is not exactly a nice man, I found him quite pompous and narcissistic.

But as it often happens, even the narcissistic men find someone else other than themselves to fall in love with, and for Vaughan the man is Lord Runfold, heir to a Duke. Yes, Edgar likes to fumble in dark places with strangers, but when it’s the time to fall in love, the chosen one is someone from his same level or above. Truth be told, I don’t think it was a conscious choice for Edgar, but probably it’s in his character, he can’t really being interested in someone that is not above him, he needs to feel a sense of wonder, and respect, otherwise he will get soon bored.

Archie Runfold is a mix of debauched angel and careless chap. He is probably a better man than Edgar, but he is still young; probably in 10 years or so, the real man will be formed, for now he is still enjoying his freedom. Being him the heir, and having obligations, it would be interesting to know what he will choose, but I have the feeling that Lord Runfold could be one of those men with a wife and 2 sons (one to spare) at home, and a male lover in society.

Do you think that, since nor Edgar or Archie are behaving as perfect romance heroes, I don’t like them? Wrong, I like them even better, since probably they are more real like that, two perfect example of XIX century gentlemen.

Sand by Charlie Cochrane

Charlie Cochrane’s heroes are always good boys, even in their name they are simple and friendly, Andrew and Charles. Charles is a wannabe writer of the Edwardian England (among the two World War maybe?) who is forced to play the role of chaperon to a wealthy middle class man whose mother thinks he is better far from female temptation in a dig in Syria. Andrew is the one managing the dig and dreading the “invasion” of stranger, but at the same time, I think he is also hoping to find a matching soul in one or both the men.

The story is not long and there is not either big revelation; there is no drama, no hidden and suffered forbidden feelings, when Andrew and Charles met it’s clear there is a matching of both minds and hearts, and the step from being friends to being lovers is short. Again they have a vantage in being far from society, and so, more or less, from judging eyes and ears: who will question the strict bond between two men if they are alone in the desert with no woman on the horizon? By day they are only friends, and what happens at night is not questioned.

But Andrew and Charlie are not perfect together only since they are alone and there is no other choice around, they are really good for each other; they are very similar, clever and of few words, maybe even a bit shy, but well aware of their own worth. They are so similar that, in a way, they are first friends and than lovers, passion between them arrives only after they learn to like, and trust, each other. What bonds them is more a question of minds than guts, and so, something more lasting.

The Ninth Language by Jordan Taylor

This is the second time I read something by Jordan Taylor, and like the last time there is something in common, a slightly sadness throughout the storyline. In 1898, in some isolated land in Canada, the natives are struggling to survive the coming of different cultures that instead of mingling are clashing with the local culture. Mitsrii is willing to do everything to preserve at least a little piece of land for his people, even to kill the white man. Troy is a linguist and a dreamer, he believes that studying the language of people he will know them, but when he meets Mitsrii he finds that there is a language more that he is not able to learn on books, and it’s the language of life.

At first Mitsrii doesn’t trust Troy, not since he believes he is trying to deceive his people like many before, but probably since Troy is too naïve and innocent; men like him, in his carelessness, could be even more destruction; worst, if Mitsrii allows him near his people, and his heart, it will be hard to survive when the novelty of a new culture to unearth will end and Troy will decide that he is better in a modern city. For Mitsrii there is no choice, even if he was alone, and he is not, for him it would be impossible to live in the city; he can fight one man at time, but the hordes that are invading his homeland are too much even for him, and his only choice is to retreat even more inland, far from “civilization”.

Mitsrii’s character is so bonded with nature, that I was almost expecting from him to be some paranormal character, and instead this is a pure historical; so much my mind is contaminated by modern culture, that when I find someone who is really in line with nature, I think he is someone “unnatural”, and instead Mitsrii is only someone of a not so distant era, little less than 100 years, but of a lost, unfortunately, culture.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1605922099/?tag=elimyrevandra-20… (mehr)