Month: September 2012

At His Throat, A Promise by Lilith Grey

Title: At His Throat, A Promise

Series:  N/A

Author: Lilith Grey

Genre: BDSM

Length: Full Novel

Publisher: Amber Allure (December 4th, 2011)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5Hearts

Blurb: In the slave city of Spire, Ellis has been discarded. His former master, a man who was supposed to teach him and take care of him, passed away, leaving Ellis alone and in danger of being taken to the Facility. Ellis is desperate to avoid that fate. He seeks a master to take him on, guiding him into adulthood as well as a profession. Ellis has had desire stolen from him—he’s been trained to blush, to submit, to give in. He doesn’t know how to cope with William, a man who wants the real Ellis.

William is a Master, a man born in a neighbor city that does not deal in slavery. He has had bad experiences with slaves in the past, but all that changes when he rescues Harte, a young slave whose abusive master had all but destroyed him. Together, they are content in their mutual roles, not looking for anything more. But when Ellis catches the eye of Harte, and by extension, William, their relationship changes in ways for which they are unprepared.

Harte is a born submissive, a young man who lives for his role. He’s bratty but genuine. William, his master, is his entire life. Harte never expected to have room in his heart for another, but Ellis is beautiful and different and fills a place in his life that he hadn’t known was empty.

If only Ellis could learn to ask for what he desired, what he needed, then maybe William and Harte could help him. But Ellis is trapped inside himself, insecure and afraid. To stay with William, he only has to ask…but that’s the one thing Ellis cannot do…

Advisory: This book contains some non-consensual sex, hardcore bondage and punishment, torture and abuse. May not be suitable for the more sensitive reader. (via Goodreads)

Product Link: http://amberquill.com/AmberAllure/AtHisThroat.html

Reviewer: Adrienne

Review: A few words of warning ~ This book takes place in a world where intelligent children are forced into slavery from age 16 to 20, to learn their master’s trade, but are also used sexually by their masters. Many parts are hard to read, as there is non-con/dub-con, sometimes involving underage children.

That said, At His Throat, a Promise is extremely well-written. The characters all have complete, yet not overwhelming, backstories that lend credence to their actions. Their life stories are doled out at appropriate times during the book, neatly avoiding the information dump so many authors use. The build of both characters and plot is almost flawless.

I did have a few issues with William, who is the ‘nice’ master of the book, but… if he’s so nice, why is he still making his slaves have sex with him? Why does he punish his slaves? And most importantly, why does he have slaves at all? But that was me reading as though At His Throat, A Promise takes place in a world with our morals, and once I put myself into their mindset, these actions make sense.

Ellis is a bit of a snitching brat, but he has his reasons, and his actions are understandable when read contextually. Similarly, Harte has his moments of being irritating, but when you learn of his life before he met Ellis his personality makes complete sense.

There are some spelling/grammatical errors, usually a source of abject vexation, but I was so caught up in the well-planned plot that these mistakes hardly registered.

My suggestion? Suspend your reality, hide your moral compass, and read on. This book is worth it.

Patient Privilege by Allison Cassatta

Title: Patient Privilege

Author: Allison Cassatta

Genre: Contemporary

Length:  Novel (286 pages)

Publisher: Silver Publishing (August 18th, 2012)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥3Hearts-liked it

Blurb: Dr. Erik Daniels hasn’t had it easy. He lost love and fought addiction to get where he is, one of the best substance abuse counselors people with no money and no insurance can get. Not the dream life he had in San Francisco, but at least he has something to call his own. Everything seems to be on the right track until Angel, a heroine addicted male prostitute, and the kid’s lover happen to cross his path.

Erik not only sees a lot of himself in Angel, but he also sees a lot of potential in the kid and he quickly realizes he’s willing to sacrifice a lot to get him on the right path, even his own love life.

Product Link: https://spsilverpublishing.com/product_book_info/new-release-c-1/products_id/1185/?zenid=b79494e51cf262ea6f78b46bcdbc383c

Reviewer: Showme

Review:  I expected to shed tears, at some point while reading this book, after reading the blurb. Addiction, prostitution, broken hearts and homes sounds like it should come with a box of tissues, if you ask me.  I never did cry. There were plenty of situations that screamed for me to but I just never connected with characters to produce tears.

Most of the story is told from the POV of Dr. Erik Daniels, a counselor and recovering alcoholic at a free clinic.  He knows what it’s like to lose everything to addiction. He used to have a committed partner whom he loves, private practice and a beautiful home in San Francisco, but lost it all to his addiction to alcohol.

Angel is a drug addicted prostitute with no place to call home. His only reason for being is to get his next high and pay for someplace to crash after shooting up. He has one true friend named Jon who loves him, but Angel isn’t capable of loving himself much less anyone else.  Every day is the same for Angel.  Selling his body and relieving him of the grotesque memories through drugs. It’s a vicious cycle that he has no desire to get out of until one night he ODs.  A night in the ER brings him in contact with Erik and a very dramatic blow up gets Angel in Erik’s rehab center.

There are three different love stories going on in this book. I was kind of into the two going on in the first 2/3 of the book and I was looking forward to seeing everyone get their happy ending.  Then everything changed and I didn’t really like how it did. It seemed to happen all at once without any subtle hints or working up to it. Until this, I thought I knew how the book would play out. I wish there had been less time getting me invested in couples that were never going to happen and more time showing me how the couple at the end of the book fell in love. Maybe the author will write the other guy’s stories next and if so, I’d give it a try.

Firebird by Pelaam

Title: Firebird

Author: Pelaam

Genre: Science Fiction

Length: Novella (128pgs)

Publisher: Silver Publishing (1st September 2012)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Cassian finds he is to be the bait when his Monarch wants to trap a Firebird. But are Firebirds merely beasts or will Cassian find that real monsters exist much closer to home?

Palace Scribe Cassian is stunned to be called before his ruler, Great Monarch Maurus, to be the bait to trap a Firebird, a dangerous predator and beast of legend that lives high in the mountains on his country’s border.

Injured as he climbs the mountain, a rescued Cassian discovers Firebirds are not animals. Instead, he uncovers Arturri, an intelligent being from another world, living as a castaway. But Cassian is helpless to prevent Arturri’s capture by Maurus’s dangerous and evil head of security, Phrixus.

Maurus is more monstrous than even Cassian ever imagined when the secret beneath the palace is revealed. Who can he trust? Can he save not just Arturri, but the other prisoners of Maurus?

CONTENT ADVISORY: This title contains scenes of rape or near rape.

Purchase Link: https://spsilverpublishing.com/product_book_info/products_id/895

Review: Cassian is ordered to be used as bait to lure the Firebird out of hiding. But, Cassian is given no choice in what he does, so accepts what his king has ordered. But, when he is rescued by the Firebird from a dangerous predator he learns that Arturri is just a lost soul who just wants to return home. Arturri has been stranded on this hated world for many long years. His entire family is gone, some captured by the evil men and others perished. When he discovers Cassian, he rescues him and learns the truth. it is just the kingdom he has landed in that is evil and over the mountains is his means of escape.

This is a wonderful science fiction story of an alien who has just landed in the wrong part of the world, and ends up helping to release a kingdom from its tyrannical reign. Cassian lives in a kingdom where the king reigns with an iron fist. Nobody is free and everyone lives in fear. When he is called before the king, he is terrified and has no choice but to do as ordered and he sets off to be bait in a trap. Arturri discovers Cassian in the forest and takes care of him and the two falls in love. But, they discover that they can’t just escape and Arturri ends up captured and Cassian has to do what he can to protect his love.

Cassian for me is the greatest character, as he showed an enormous amount of bravery and devotion throughout the book. Arturri is a wonderful character and your heart goes out to him for the emotional turmoil he must have been through to have been stranded on a planet and then to lose all his family. All the while knowing what his fate might be if he is ever captured, after witnessing the savagery of the natives. Cassian and Arturri do make a great couple, even though they are separated by a cage and two vicious men.

The storyline is great, the characters are wonderful, even the ones who are self-motivated, and there is danger, rescues, escapes and chases with close shaves. Cassian is a true hero, when he discovers what is being kept hidden under the castle, and he puts his life in danger so others might escape. There are some uncomfortable moments where the king’s head of security, Phrixus, looks like he might get his way *shudder* and some instances of violence.

So, if you love science fiction, hot sexy men, escapes from evil men, rescues, danger, hot sex, and a very happy ending then this is the book for you.

 

 

 

Warrior, Ride Hard by Erin O'Quinn

Title: Warrior, Ride Hard

Series: The Iron Warrior 01

Author: Erin O’Quinn

Genre: Historical, (Ireland, Roman, England 400+)

Length: Novel (292pgs)

Publisher: Siren – BookStrand (8th August 2012)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3 ½Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Former Roman soldier Gristle—“tough and hard to swallow”—has rarely allowed anyone in his life to become close to him. One outstanding exception is Tristus, a man he saved ten years before from the urges of lonely soldiers near the Wall of Hadrian. Tristus became his own lover for eleven months, and then he disappeared. Ten years later, the young pony trainer Wynn is smitten by Gristle’s looks and manner and follows him to his new home in Éire (Ireland) where he becomes his lover.

The stories of the three men interweave until at last they all three meet briefly in sacred Tara, home of the High King. Wynn is abducted by druids with sinister and lustful designs, and Tristus wants to follow the ministry of Father Patrick.

Thus no sooner has Gristle found an old lover and a new one than they are all pulled apart by the one whom Gristle calls “the bitch goddess Fortuna.”

Purchase Link: http://www.bookstrand.com/warrior-ride-hard

Review: Gristle is a sworn armsman, unlucky in love and rarely seeming happy. He is sworn to protect the hellion, Caylith, and it is a journey that will take him to Ireland and discovering new and old love. Wynn is the pony trainer. He wishes for Gristle to train him, but he is also strangely attracted to Gristle as well. But, love doesn’t run smoothly when Gristle’s old love turns up and Wynn finds himself in more trouble than he ever imagined.

This is a very interesting novel that pulls us into 5th Century Ireland as Roman, Welsh and English immigrants flee from the Saxon promise of invasion of Britannia. Gristle lost the only man he had loved when he disappeared in the night 10 years before, and now with Wynn he has a new opportunity to embrace love, but the path is not an easy one. Wynn wants nothing more than to be with Gristle, but when Gristle’s old love arrives on the scene he has brief doubts. But, before he can reaffirm his love with Gristle, Wynn is kidnapped and Gristle thinks he has run.

I must admit to enjoying the storyline of an old Roman soldier, Gristle, and a Welsh pony trainer, Wynn, falling in love and then Tristus arriving confusing Gristle. I found those aspects of the story to be good and the way something would come up to keep them from sorting out the problem was interesting. Wynn’s kidnapping was surprising and added a touch of meat to the bones, but was completely unrealistic, and Gristle’s casually dismissal of Wynn when Tristus turned up was much more than just dented pride. Tristus was a great character who came through as a much better man than Gristle did.

I will admit to being completely baffled when the story suddenly took a turn back in time by ten years to when Gristle and Tristus first met. Mainly because Gristle had already remembered it all earlier on, but secondly because it didn’t add anything new, until we got to Tristus’s POV and we find out why he disappeared. It just seemed to be more filler than any useful aspect of the story. The author has done a very good job of creating a world for Gristle and company and using artistic license to make it work.

So, I will recommend this to those who love historical stories, Romans, Welshmen, primitive hot sex, fighting for survival and a happy for now ending.

 

Garrett's Home by Shelby Lynn

Title: Garrett’s Home

Series: Haven’s Wolves 01

Author: Shelby Lynn

Genre: Paranormal, Shifter

Length: Novella (128pgs)

Publisher: JK Publishing (19th July 2012)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥2Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Garrett longed to get away from the abusive Pack he belonged to. The problem was he had nowhere to go. With his Alpha getting crazier and crazier, he has no choice but to run when he is beaten within an inch of his life.

Haven is on his way to the Cedarhill Pack; his friend’s sister has not contacted her family in weeks. His Beta asks him to go and find his sister as a favor, since he was driving by in the first place. However, Haven finds a lot more than the answers he is seeking. His badly beaten mate. Now with the help of a neighboring Pack they have to help the rest of the wolves in the Cedarhill Pack, before they are all destroyed.

Purchase Link: http://shop.jkpublishingbooks.com/Garretts-Home_c38.htm

Review: Garrett’s Alpha is completely insane. the abuse that he has heaped on the pack is getting worse and Garrett has finally managed to escape, barely making it out alive. Haven is asked to investigate the disappearance of his friends’ sister and almost hits his mate as he runs out into the road, and discovers more about what is going on in the Cedarhill Pack. With the help of a neighboring pack and his mate Garrett, the Weir council and Haven set about to bring ruin on the Cedarhill pack Alpha.

This book is, erm, okay, well it’s urm… *sigh* okay, this book is poorly written and poorly edited. *sigh* it gave me a headache trying to keep track of whose  POV was what and it would suddenly change with no warning, sometimes just for a few sentences. The storyline was a good one, but very poorly executed. Surprises would suddenly jump out with no warning and with no explanation afterwards or the characters wouldn’t know anything and then later they suddenly did. There is also an abundance of characters who’s POV we flit through, which made it confusing at times and there is no background building for the paranormal world.

I will be honest and say that this book would have worked better in the ‘less is more’ attitude. There was just too much being thrown in for an inexperienced writer. The writing should have been left concentrating on the main characters Haven and Garrett, and with better explanations as to the new paranormal aspects that were being introduced. And, the slower introductions of those paranormal aspects. The writing could be sometimes confusing in the way that the characters spoke to each other. It was difficult to follow at times.

Okay, now that I have said all that, let me tell you this, this author has huge potential because she has all the bare bones there to make a great story. The characters were great and quite loveable, the storyline was interesting and unique with a great many twists and turns and the sex was hot and sexy. Haven and Garrett make a great couple and their friends are interesting and their stories also begin in this book, we also get a good hint of what will happen in the next book (Tyler’s Dreams).

So, I will recommend this to those who love the paranormal, surprises and twists, hot sex, a multitude of sexy men, an interesting storyline and some great characters. I will be keeping an eye on this author’s work as she has some great ideas.

Outfield Menace by Mark A. Roeder

Title: Outfield Menace

Series: Gay Youth Chronicles, book #1

Author: Mark A. Roeder

Genre: Gay/Romance/Adventure

Length: Novel

Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (June 8th, 2005)

Heat Level: Low

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts ~ loved it

Blurb: Outfield Menace is the tale of Kurt, a fifteen-year-old baseball player, living in a small, 1950s, Indiana town. During a confrontation with Angel, the resident bad boy of Blackford High School, Kurt attacks Angel, earning the wrath of the most dangerous gang in town. When Angel finally corners Kurt, however, something happens that Kurt wouldn’t have imagined in his wildest dreams. As the murder of a local boy is uncovered, suspicion is cast upon Angel, but Kurt has learned there’s more to Angel than his bad boy image. Angel has a secret, however, that could get both Kurt and himself killed. Outfield Menace is a story of friendship, love, adventure, and perilous danger.

Product Link: http://www.amazon.com/Outfield-Menace-Mark-Roeder/dp/0595362346

Reviewer: Thommie

Review: Outfield Menace is a story set in the 1950’s, following Kurt, a fifteen year old boy whose interests are different from those of other boys his age. That doesn’t seem to be an issue for him, until he sees Angel at the school dance and his whole perspectives change. One thing is certain and clear for him, Angel is beautiful. The moment he realizes his attraction to Angel, to a boy, Kurt is devastated. His mind is in turmoil and when Angel tries to talk to him, his instant reaction is to punch him. That did it. Angel is part of the baseball varsity team, or more accurately, he’s part of Adam’s gang. Life dramatically changes for Kurt; his mind is attacking him from the inside while Adam and Angel are trying to get him from the outside.

This story is narrated from Kurt’s point of view. We see as the author gives full credit to his teenage protagonist, emotions are exaggerated in the unique way teenagers see the word. Drama heightens while the story goes on.

Kurt experiences terror that is multiplied even more in his own head and when everything seem to him doomed, life take another turn and happiness awaits him in the corner. When Angel finally gets to him, Kurt is in it for a big surprise. Angel’s feelings match his own, what’s more Angel makes him see that being homosexual is not a disease, and it’s not wrong or perverted. After all, how can love be wrong?

From sheer terror to ecstatic elation I fully experienced an emotional travel back in time, to my own teen days. The insecurity, the twisting of facts and the emotional charge that are so characteristic in a teenagers mind were not lost in this book. The way we fall in love and dramatize everything about it, the emotional attachment that is so pure in those early days is completely palpable in Outfield Menace.

This book is very intense and the plot twists and changes in every corner. I loved Kurt’s character, his naivety and sheltered life, his sensitivity and guilt that follow him around like his own shadow. But I loved Angel’s character even more. I’m not sure how realistic his approach was, he seemed very intellectual for his age, no matter, I totally adored him. His love for Kurt was amazing, so very beautiful and romantic and his final deed to prove that love nearly broke my heart.

I found Outfield Menace to be a great book; if it wasn’t for the constant repetition of some things I’d be even greater. At some point I found that repetition quite a bit tiresome, however the story, the plot, and the characters make up for it. This is a must read book in my opinion, totally worth it.

 

 

Raine Fall by DC Juris

Title: Raine Fall

Series: Sequel to ‘Where He Belongs’

Author: DC Juris

Genre: BDSM/Contemporary

Length: Short Story (39 pages)

Publisher: Torquere Press (August 2012)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3.5Hearts

Blurb: Vance, Andrew, and Raine are back! We met this sexy trio in “Where He Belongs,” but now we get to find out how it all started. Raine’s world is turned upside down when his sister, Lilly, dies unexpectedly. She’s left him the Dew Drop Inn, and everything seems very cut and dry – he’ll sell the place and return to his calm, uncomplicated life. But his former lover, Vance, and Vance’s saucy sub, Andrew, have other ideas, and when Vance makes a counter offer, Raine is left wondering what the right thing to do really is. Is everything he’s worked for worth it without love? Can two powerful Doms even coexist under the same roof? (via Torquere)

Product Link: https://www.torquerepress.com/fiction/rainefall.html

Reviewer: Adrienne

Review: Raine Fall is a short follow-up to Where He Belongs, the novella that first introduced Andrew, Raine, and Vance, that focuses on Raine following his sister’s death. This offers an introspective look into Raine’s life since leaving Andrew and Vance, and a glimpse into his personal relationships. Though short, Raine Fall allows readers a unique chance to see inside a character’s thoughts about himself, his family, friends, and lovers. Although that can be interesting, Raine isn’t totally likeable, and there seems to be distance between his character and the reader that is difficult to bridge, leaving a slight disconnect between these three men and the reader.

Three Reasons NOT to Self-Publish by Jordan Castillo Price

Self-publishing has become incredibly doable. The year 2007, which was the year I began self-publishing, doesn’t seem all that long ago. Not until you realize that the Kindle eReader didn’t even come out until mid-November! Back then, the idea of making a living writing eBooks seemed pretty implausible. My entire Kindle eBook sales for the year of 2008 totaled less than $10. How stunning that by the end of 2009 I was able to hand in my resignation to my day job and begin writing and publishing full-time the following year.

Writing is an intensely personal endeavor, so the appeal to own the entire process, from the genesis of the story idea to the receipt of the royalty check, is understandably strong. But is self-publishing necessarily the best way to go?

Motivation

Some people are more internally motivated than others. You may be the type of person who thrives under the direction of a mentor, who gets crazy amounts of work done as a deadline approaches, who enjoys the camaraderie of touching base with co-authors in the publishers’ private groups. If so, working alone may feel too isolated for you.

Stigma

As long as an eBook is well-produced, and it’s sold in convenient locations, many readers don’t care whether it’s self-published or not. Unfortunately, so many self-published authors are unable to handle every aspect of eBook production themselves, and unwilling to pay someone else to do it professionally, that they end up putting out an inferior product. The more authors do this, the longer “self-published” will be synonymous in many readers’ minds with “unedited” and “poorly formatted.”

Expense

An ePublisher will typically keep 60-75% of the cover price of an eBook, so it stands to reason that if you self-publish and keep all the sales, you’ll make more money. Right? Not necessarily. There are many expenses that the publisher absorbs. In all third-party sales (places like Amazon or B&N) the seller keeps a cut of the cover price. Publishers also need to pay their own operating expenses, as well as the fees of the rest of the team responsible for editing, typesetting, and creating a cover for your book.

Many new self-publishers can certainly save money on overhead by working from home, but then they skimp on things they shouldn’t, like professional editing, proofing, cover design and typesetting, then attempting to do these things themselves. If they do succeed in training themselves to handle each of these tasks, the outlay in time spent learning all the skills is quite high. And if they’re not as brilliant of a cover designer or proofreader as they think they are, chances are they’re contributing to the stigma of self-published work being amateurish that I described above.

Yes, you might slap an unedited book on Amazon and find yourself with a runaway success that makes you a bazillionaire overnight…but you have just as much of a chance at winning the lottery. Most of the “overnight” self-publishing successes you hear about are the result of years of work.  This isn’t meant to deter anyone, only to give a more balanced view of what self-publishing involves. While self-publishing may not be for everyone, many authors (myself included) do enjoy the creative control resulting from our investment of time, money and energy.

Author and artist Jordan Castillo Price is the owner of JCP Books and the author of many award-winning gay paranormal thrillers, including PsyCop and Magic Mansion. Her latest series, Turbulence, is a twisted foray into the Bermuda Triangle. Check it out at JCPbooks.com

Connect with Jordan in the following places:

jordancastilloprice.com [http://jordancastilloprice.com]

JCP News: Jordan’s monthly newsletter [http://psycop.com/newsletter.html]

Facebook:

-Jordan’s Fan Page [http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jordan-Castillo-Price/257078438055]

-PsyCop Fan Page [http://www.facebook.com/JCP.PsyCop]

Jordan’s LiveJournal blog [http://jordan-c-price.livejournal.com/]

The Brush Whistler's Song by Augusta Li

Title: The Brush Whistler’s Song

Author: Augusta Li

Genre: Fantasy

Length: Short (56pgs)

Publisher: Storm Moon Press (24th August 2012)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Young Arjin is caught in the web of an ancient truce. Barely into his adulthood, he is given as tribute to the mysterious Najadira, part of a race of nigh-immortal horned warriors known as the Ansari. But Arjin is no innocent. Since his childhood, he has been trained for this day, groomed by the temple priests for a singular purpose: not to please the Ansari, but to murder him and free his people from the terms of their agreement.

Najadira, though, is old and jaded, and unsurprised by Arjin’s true nature. Still, he chooses to keep Arjin near to him, finding that the young man’s zeal quickens his old blood like few before him ever did. He allows Arjin access into his world, a world of beauty and wonder that had before now been denied. And as Arjin learns more about Najadira, he begins to question his teachings about the Ansari. Ultimately, he must choose between taking a life in the service of his beliefs or abandoning his duty and thereby condemning his soul to the decadence and sin surrounding him.

Warning: Some scenes of dubious consent.

Purchase Link: http://www.stormmoonpress.com/books/The-Brush-Whistlers-Song.aspx

Review: Arjin is being given as a tribute to one of the Ansari, Najadira, as part of a treaty signed hundreds of years before. Arjin has had all the training that the Clergy of the Faithful thought he’d need… to put an end to the Treaty once and for all, and to destroy the creature of decadence and sin. Najadira knows full well what the Faithful’s plans are, but Arjin intrigues him like none before him has. Najadira begins to wear Arjin down and begins to make him question his faith and all he has been taught. But, can Arjin put aside the years of conditioning and teachings to let Najadira live.

This is a great short story of the views of decadence and sin, right and wrong, questioned beliefs and giving into what you truly desire. Arjin has been brought up to have only one focus; to kill the Ansari who lives in decadence and vice. He has been trained from an early age to be a tool of the Faithful. But, when he is finally within his goal, the Ansari is not what he has been led to believe. Najadira has seen the many tricks that the Faithful have tried and he knows that the beautiful young man sent to him now is another one. But, this man is different; he thinks for himself and questions, but breaking through the conditioning of the Faithful is difficult to do.

I loved this book for its fantasy aspects that allows for people to question what they have been taught without being dragged into the real world conflicts. the way that Arjin had questioned the Faithful even before he arrived at Najadira’s and how Najadira could show just by being himself that not everything that Arjin had been taught was quite true. That looking in a mirror or listening to music isn’t a vice. The way that Arjin likes what happens with Najadira, but feels shame because of the teachings; I also liked how it showed that even the self-righteous would ignore their own teachings to get what they want.

Arjin is an interesting character, trying to be obedient, but struggling with the strictures placed on him, having his own longings, but feeling shame for having them… the dubious consent is more consent than dubious because Najadira truly does give Arjin what he really wants, but because of the shame and his teachings Arjin can’t ask for it and doesn’t want to admit that he wants it. Najadira is a great character, as he is just normal, enjoying what life offers but also still mourning the loss of his people. Arjin offers him a distraction that excites him. Yes, Najadira is very longed lived and has horns and a bit of magic, but really you can’t hold that against him.

I recommend this to those who love fantasy, questioning beliefs, finding your own discovery of the truth, some hot sex, great characters and a new beginning for Najadira and Anjin.