Hi guys, we have Lee Benoit popping in today with her newest release Songbook: Paulo & Preston Shorts, we have a great excerpt and fantastic giveaway and Lisa’s review, so enjoy the post and click that Rafflecopter link <3 ~Pixie~
Songbook: Paulo & Preston Shorts
by
Lee Benoit
Cue the music! SONGBOOK collects, for the first time ever, all of the stories in the Paulo and Preston series!
PRESTON is a lifestyle Dominant, recently retired from a career on stage at an exclusive BDSM club. When the series begins, he’s single and looking forward to a quieter life. All that changes on the night of Preston’s last performance when PAULO, a complete novice, takes the place of Preston’s usual stage submissive. By day Paulo does odd jobs and sings in the Sister City Gay Men’s Chorus. After that first night with Preston, however, he wants more. He wants everything. Can a newbie sub and a gracefully aging Dom learn to harmonize?
Each story chronicles a new phase in Paulo and Preston’s relationship and features song lyrics mangled in deliciously naughty ways by Paulo.
Title: Haven Series: Haven Author: Lee Benoit Genre: Contemporary Length: Novella (64 pages) Publisher: Torquere Press (30 July 2014) Heat Level: Moderate Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts Blurb: Haven Tucker tore up his coal country roots so he could live his life as a gay man. Then he shut down his Leatherman lifestyle so he could pursue a medical career. Now the former Vietnam Army medic is working as an ER nurse in Boston where he’s about to meet his future.
Tadeo is an Argentine dancer on the wrong side of his country’s Dirty War who’s stranded Stateside with a brand-new baby. Official channels won’t help him keep his son with him and stay safe. Enter the singularly attractive Haven and his unique brand of problem-solving. The pair tries to keep their mutual attraction in check as evil forces mass on all sides to tear Tadeo and his son apart — and away from Haven.
Can Haven’s past ride to the rescue, before Tadeo’s present destroys their future?
This novella originally appeared in Torquere’s Bedside Manner anthology.
Review: This is a wonderfully paced book about the lives of two gay men in the 70s (I think it’s about mid-70s). It is the story about Haven, ER nurse/ex-army medic who had served in Vietnam and Argentinean dancer, Tadeo, who find each other and love in not the best of circumstances. Both men are discreet with their homosexuality, though Haven is ever so slightly less cautious.
However, they both need to look over their shoulders, either fearing losing their jobs or even their lives.
The way the chapters are set up means that there is some overlap in the story between chapters. Each chapter is either from Haven or Tadeo’s POV, but it is wonderful to be able to see the relationship between the men develop and from both POVs.
It’s an interesting journey, one that shows the world pre-AIDS/HIV awareness.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *
Title: Haven: Generations Series: Haven Author: Lee Benoit Genre: Single Author Anthology Length: 54 pages Publisher: Torquere Press (March 18th, 2015) Heat Level: Moderate Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts Blurb: Get ready for three stories from Nurse Haven Tucker’s world! In CODE SWITCHING, Haven and his dancer lover Tadeo have spent four years living their happy-ever-after, raising their son and making a discreet home in Sister City. When a friend and patient dies of a rare pneumonia, their secure life is threatened. Attacks — and support — emerge from unexpected quarters in this story set at the dawn of the AIDS crisis.
André is a confused and angry fourteen-year-old boy whose aunt rescues him from state care after the death of his mother and takes him to live with her motley extended family in a ramshackle old house. Against the backdrop of plans for a most unconventional wedding, André finds himself increasingly helpless to resist the charms of his eccentric aunt, moody grandfather, and sexy tutor. VADE MECUM is ultimately about finding a place to be oneself and to belong without question.
Finally, in LAST DANCE, high school teacher Suyai has spent months helping his school’s Gay-Straight Alliance members win the right to attend prom with the dates of their choice. Now none of them will get out on the dance floor until Suyai goes first. What’s an out and proud – but woefully single – teacher to do?
All three stories were previously published by Torquere Press and represent a sequel to “Haven”.
Review: Haven: Generations is a collection of three stories which are sequels to the book Haven. The stories here are obviously in the right order, but I recommend reading Haven first because there will be some details that you will miss.
My overall rating for the book is 4-hearts and likewise, each story I have happily rated 4 hearts each.
First off there is Code Switching, this is story carries on from the first book, Haven. We are thrown back into the lives of Haven and Tadeo and it is completely charming and very emotional. In four years Haven and Tadeo have built themselves a comfortable life in an unexpectedly eclectic neighbourhood. Tadeo’s son, Suyai, is also there and he is completely adorable. The emotion of this story, however, comes from that this is based on the emerging threat AIDS/HIV was to the gay community in the late 70’s – early 80’s.
Next is Vade Mecum. This is another charming story, which drives the message of the importance of love and family. At first it does not seem directly related to Code Switching and the characters, but it is. It’s now 14 years after Code Switching and Suyai (Tadeo and Haven’s son) has grown into an intelligent and good-looking guy who is in grad school.
However, it is Andre that is the main character. He also happens to be a gorgeous character (inside and out). He’s a confused teen in a world that is changing and you don’t need to be gay to appreciate or relate to his issues.
Finally, we end with Last Dance. We back to following Suyai, now a little older and working as a high school teacher. He’s certainly inherited a lot of his personality from his father’s and is a wonderful and enjoyable character to read in any of these shorts.
Now that he has helped the gay/lesbian population of the school attend the prom with same sex dates, he needs to find a date for himself. It’s a fitting end to the series and ends in a similar spirit to how it started with Haven and Tadeo.
The reappearance/mention of previous characters really wraps things up nicely.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *
Title: Haven
Title: Haven: Generations