Half Pass, Astrid Amara

• Author: Astrid Amara 
• Editions: Paperback and Ebook 
• Published: Samhain Publishing 2011
• M/M Contemporary Romance 

He looks good on a horse, but it's hard to love a man with a big ego and a small alibi.

Paul King's inheritance is named Serenity Stables, but for him it's far from serene. He has one plan for the crumbling facility: unload it as fast as possible. But two months on the market, and he's still mucking stalls and dreaming of his old life back in San Francisco.

It doesn't help that he seems to have misplaced a horse. Not just any horse—Tux, a million-dollar Warmblood who, despite lacking opposable thumbs, has an Olympic medal to its name. So does its Brazilian trainer, Estevan Souza, a man whose darkly sexual, smoldering glances almost make Paul forget his horse phobia.

Intriguing as Paul finds Estevan, distractions are piling up. The boarders are picky. The arena roof is leaking. His drunken cousin is wreaking havoc. Tux's owners are threatening to sue. On top of that, a bucket of blood points to possible murder.

Suddenly, Estevan's glances are looking more suspicious than sinful. And, if Paul can't come up with a plan to save Tux, he could lose not only his chance with Estevan, but his life.

I have always loved Astrid Amara's work, from The Archer's Heart to The Devil LancerI have adored her novels. However Half Pass was the first of her contemporaries I have read, and I was not disappointed. This book is crammed with gorgeous characters and plenty of will they wont they tension. And of course their are lots of HORSES! The mystery of this novel made me giggle. There is nothing better than nasty villains or three but don't worry no spoilers. This book is too good to think about spoiling it for you.  

Paul King, returns to his hometown Lyden, Washington after living in San Francisco for six years after his relationship disintegrates and he is fired from his job. His aunt Beth has died and Paul has inherited her stables. At first he intends to run it until he can find a new owner who he is happy with as Paul is petrified of horses, after a nasty accident years ago. Paul finds friendship with the horses and Estevan, the Brazilian trainer working at Serenity Stables and seems to find his place back in the town he grew up in. 

I liked the slow build of the relationship and how difficult it was for Estevan really showed throughout this novel. Astrid's love for horses really shon through this narrative as each one was well written with their own district characteristic. Overall an enjoyable narrative.

Greenwode J Tullos Hennig

• Author: J. Tullos Hennig 

• Editions: Paperback, E-book, Audiobook 

• Published: Dreamspinner Press (originally published 2013)

• Genre: M/M Historical Romance 

"The Hooded One. The one to breathe the dark and light and dusk between.... "

When an old druid foresees this harbinger of chaos, he also glimpses its outcome. A young peasant from Loxley and his sister will be the greenwode’s last bastion of the Old Religion, but a young and devout nobleman could well be their destruction: Gamelyn Boundys, whom Rob and Marion have both befriended.

In a risky bid for happiness, Rob dares his god to reinterpret the ancient rites, allow Rob to take Gamelyn as lover instead of rival. But in the eyes of Gamelyn’s Church, sodomy is an abomination... and the old pagan magics are an evil that must be vanquished.

This new and enchanting take on the Robyn Hood legend had me captivated from start to finish. Rob is the son of Adam Loxely the forester of the Wode and firmly believes in the Pagon Gods. He is being groomed to take his father place as the Horned Lord the King of the forest. Gamelyn is the third son of a nobleman and enclosed in the christian church. When the two meet they swerve on to a path filled with confusion, love, danger and betrayal. These characters challenge the Gods path for them,  and try to define their own fate, but is it really possible to go against a God?

This story takes the well loved legend of Robin Hood and gives us a rich, descriptive tale of his beginning and his doomed love affair with Gamelyn. Both Rob and Gamelyn are worlds apart, but they will fight fiercely to be together in a world that frowns on homosexuality. 
The conflict of this novel is much more spiritual than you would first believe. The pagans of the forest just want to be left alone, while the church demands the demise of the heathens and is ever trying to convert everyone to the White Christ. Set in 1190's when the church ruled higher than any king, one Pagan and One Christian are drawn together against all odds, finding a love that is forbidden by the ever dominating church. Robyn Hood fights against the Gods, and his family and goes  against what is expected of him to be with Gamelyn, the man he loves. 

Gamelyn is stuck in a world that would d never allow him to love Robyn; a nobel man and a peasant, or two men, in the church's eye it is forbidden. And this shows in Gamelyn's anguish as he tries to resolve his belief in God, with what he sees around him. 

I have read this series three times now, and love it because this tale takes the legend and gives it a twist. I love the way it shows the clear distinction between peasant and noblemen, pagan and Christian. Both sides are portrayed brilliantly by Hennig, as she draws us into the conflict of a time that is cruel. 
This book takes the Robyn Hood legend and gives it a whole new standing by looking to the beginning of his tale. 

I would recommend this to anyone who loves myths and folk law, historical romance, fighting for love against all odds, betrayal and devastating endings that leave you with a glimmer of hope. 

   

Changing Fates Design

Changing Fates Design

I am going to tell you a tale, this story like many others will begin and it will end. We all know the ending; it has been passed down to us from father to son since the beginning of time. A time when Icarus flew to the sun, and Artemis ran through the forest her silver stag by her side.

Once upon a time there was a man, a prince to be exact, who’s name will one day be passed down through the generations. However when we are first introduced to this person he is still a boy, a kind soft-spoken lonely boy who lived far away in a kingdom that no one has ever heard of.  This boy may be a prince, but is a constant disappointment to the king. The king spends his days complaining to his deaf and old advisers, who like to nod and agree, while dreaming of days when they were young. Yet this tale is not about them, but his son, who at the age of seven did not join the other boys to fight, but liked to play on his own in the mountains beyond the castle. This castle sat nestled on the sea front dominating the beach and all that occupied it. The boy was quite content with his own company and enjoyed the sound of silence only interrupted occasionally by the waves hitting the sand far below, and the smell of salt on the wind.

Now the boy is older, but still quiet and shy, his father has commanded that he is sent away to make him into a man. The boy clings to his mother tears sliding down his face begging her to fight for him, not send him thousands of miles away where he knows he will never see his mountain again. The mother is only silent looking down her nose disapprovingly. The Queen never wanted children, and was unlucky that the potion given to her by the crone who lived on the beachfront, forgot to mix the remedy properly. But lets not forget that this tale is about her son, and the tragedies that brought his mother to this moment do not matter, you will not need them.

On the other side of the world, the destination that our hero will spend the next decade of his life, is a place that everyone recognizes, so I wont insult your intelligence by giving it a name. Here the prince is loved; he is thirteen but is showered with praise and can do no wrong. Achilles is ten when he first meets Patroclus, his father has taken him to the unknown Kingdom that holds the games that year, he sees the shy boy sitting next to the king clutching the wreath, now shiny, as the boy rubs his thumb nervously over the dark emerald leaves. This is the wreath he will win, as his pink heels lick the sandy track as he races the older boys to the finishing line. Achilles hopes that this small boy will place the wreath on his head, but the king snatches the leaves from the boys lap, and with an envy that Achilles has never seen in his own father’s eyes, the king places it on his head.

Achilles is told countless of times that his father, Peleus, trapped a mermaid, who was known in this kingdom as the goddess of the sea, and married her. This mermaid known, as Thetis, was furious and tried in anyway to get out of the knot of marriage. She searched high and low for weeks, only to find that the solution was to have a son, an heir for the father to love and care for. Thetis agreed and on their marriage night a demi god was created. Thirteen years later Thetis could still be found on the shores of the beach luring unsuspecting sailors into an untimely watery grave. But this tale is not about her, although she craves the attention of others constantly, she is vain, just like her son. Her beauty was given to her little Achilles, who shone golden in the sunlight with blond hair and sparkling blue eyes; his heels pink and skin sun kissed and olive brown. This boy was truly blessed, which puts him in complete contrast to the shy boy who will be arriving any day. When Patroclus wobbles his way off the war ship a week later still trying to adjust to his land legs, Achilles’ father gruffly greets him and promptly pulls the boy back up the beach to the castle’s entrance.

The father worries. The boy Patroclus, he thinks his name is, wont speak. He has tried everything from whipping to fighting, but the boy remains silent. The king has been paid a lot to teach this whelp the way of men, and he is uncomfortable with the boy’s shyness. The father sees this boy as the shadow of his son, dark where Achilles is golden.  It is on one of these scorching hot days when Achilles finds himself once again alone with his fighting master. He knows what is coming, he has heard the sickening sound of the whip through the air to meet flesh at least twice this week, and feels pity; a feeling that at the age of thirteen Achilles has never felt. In a moment of friendship that will change the course of the oracles sight, Achilles goes to find Patroclus. Surprisingly, but not at all unexpected, as the Gods have their eyes on these two young boys, Achilles finds Patroclus curled in a fetal position in the corner of his room.

Patroclus remembers Achilles, the golden winner that his father had looked at with an envy and pride that Patroclus had never experienced. However, he felt no resentment towards this older boy he now lived with, on the contrary he was as drawn to this golden creature as everybody else. Achilles knelt down next to Patroclus and stared at him with unflinching curiosity. Patroclus tried to return the intense gaze, but was, as expected the one to look away first. In an instant Achilles had grabbed Patroclus’ wrist and started dragging him to the throne room, he made no attempt to resist the will of this unwavering demi-god. Achilles made no effort to knock, but barged his way through the double throne room doors. His father sat on a raised platform at the head of the hall, and looked up from a sheet of parchment he had been intently reading, at the sound of the doors hammering open.

“Achilles, my boy?”

“He is the one I have chosen,” his father looked to Patroclus, as if studding something unpleasant at the bottom of his shoe, or an artifact that seemed useless and simple.

“But you could have anyone, why him?”

“I find him… interesting. He is to be my Therapon.” Companion.

“Very well Achilles. Have the slaves place another bed in your room.”

 And that was that, the beginning of a friendship that would last eighteen years. They would never be parted. At first Patroclus was shy around Achilles, but as the weeks turned to months the two found each other’s company rewarding. Patroclus never minded losing the games that he would play against Achilles. Who could be upset when watching Achilles laughing delightedly, as they sprinted across the beach racing one another? As the years flew by Patroclus became happy, the nightmares left him, and Achilles voice lulled him to sleep, as they spoke about simple nothings in the quite darkness of their room.

It wasn’t until the two had been studding with Chiron, for a few years that with the sticky juice of figs on their fingertips, and the taste strong on their tongues did their lips meet. Clumsy and frantic like plump bees crashing together, as though the time apart rushed in all at once. They fell back into the grass Achilles pinning Patroclus to the ground trying to taste as much as him as possible. Running hot kisses down the side of his neck like water never to dry. In this moment, their fate was sealed. If they had listened quietly they could have heard the sound of the three sisters of fate, pulling the golden string taught, and getting ready to cut through it.

We all know how this story ends with the rage and grief that will destroy Prince Hector outside the walls of Troy. But this is not about endings, but the beginning. A beginning that changed the fates design, a friendship that re-stitched destiny. In the end, I am told, Achilles begged for the arrow, welcomed it even. Apollo, lying lazily on his back, helped the vain prince Paris shoot the killing blow, with an accuracy that only a God could hold. In the afterlife Achilles hid Patroclus in the fields of Elysium, so that no God could ever touch him again. Achilles will always remember the moment of their first kiss on that mountainside, hidden from the gazes of Thetis and Chiron. He will remember the shy boy who grew into a man, who followed him to Troy and stayed with him through all the agonies. And in the darkness of Hades, two shadowy hands stretch through the hopeless, heavy night, desperately reaching for one another. Their hands meet and light spills in, flood like, a hundred golden urns pouring out the sun.

Iliad - From Patroclus' Point Of View

My Love
I wanted to keep you
I wanted to hold you
Until mortality took me.

Did you feel betrayed by mighty Zeus,
Who held mortality in his fingers?
Who watched me fall at the hands of Hector
And did nothing.

You told me once
That I was the exception.
You were the Hero
With the happy ever after.

But there are no happy endings for the great,
And you were the greatest man I knew.

Man not god
As your mother desired,
For eighteen strong years I was enough,
Until your pride destroyed me.

That golden armour
That always kept you safe,
The one I could see
Like the sun
Behind closed eyelids,
Was the death of me,
My Love.

Now come,
Come and join me in eternal sleep,
Feel my hands on your chest,
Feel my tongue exploring yours.

Let my love you like I once did,
When Troy was our home
We were together
And our stories were known.

When our names were one
And I was yours
Under the protection of the rising sun.

Highfell Grimoires

Highfell Grimoires - Langley Hyde

'Highfell Grimoires' has has me on tenterhooks from the first page. I have to say I don't usually read steampunk but it has intrigued me and this book did not disappoint it was incredible from start to finish. I am reluctant to put it on my 'best of the best' shelf, only because although it completely deserves 5 stars I wouldn't read it agin. However this book kept me hooked from the first page till the last. 

This novel starts with our protagonist Neil Franklin who is a Lord but loses his fortune after the death of his parents and must work at a charity school up in the clouds called Highfell to repay his debts of his family. We see instantly that the school is cruel and more like a victorian workhouse rather than a place of learning. I love to use my imagination when reading and this book was full of wonders that aloud my mind to explore. I love how Hyde includes a map at the beginning of her novel so that the reader gets a feel of the layout of the school. This picture gave me a constant almost claustrophobic ache at the cramped rooms that Neil, Leofa and the boys must live in.

The characters were all well thought out, even the few boys that came into the narrative and I wanted to know how they saw the narrative, especially Stanley, he was my favourite boy under Leofa's and Neil's care. Neil and Leofa were perfect but the story is definitely more an adventure thriller that a Romance and I really enjoyed that about the book. And yet the love between Neil and Leofa held the narrative together and I was constantly aware of the danger they were both in. 

Overall this novel was incredible and I cannot wait to read more of Hyde's work. I must praise Blind Eye Books, the publisher who I know that I will always enjoy the novels that they publish and cannot wait to read more of their new releases.

Rating 4.5 Stars 

The Line of Beauty

The Line Of Beauty - Allen Hollinghurst Review

Highly recomeneded to me by a lot of friends and we were going to look at this book in my Book Club. I was interested in this novel because I noticed 'The Strangers' Child' By Hollinghurst and wanted to know what other work he had written. This novel, now turned BBC mini series in 2006, explores the decade of the 80's through the eyes of Nick Guest, a homosexual man living in upperclass London. 

Nick struggles to find his place in this world, which is far away from the middle class background he grew up in. He tries to find his place living with a friend's family who's father is a Tory MP. Nick struggled throughout this book to adjust himself to his environment and goes from being an innocent boy straight from uni to truly understanding how it feel to be homosexual in London in the 80's. Hollinghurst does not romanticise Nicks life, like so many others, but portrays this world as being brutal and almost cruel. 

Nick is a character that I feel the reader can connect to as he is innocent and even naive at the beginning and we want him to succeed in finding unconditional love, which he craves. However is not achieved and therefore Nick struggled even harder to find beauty (or love), where there is none received. 
Hollinghurst creates a very realistic world that is difficult to pull away from. This world is all encompassing and extremely realistic in the poetic and lyrical language that Hollinghurt uses to portray the environment that Nick is experiencing. 

The aspect of this novel which I didn't take to was the ending, as it left me feel dissatisfied because I wanted Nick to find the happiness (beauty) that he had been trying to find the entire way through the novel. He is left alone with no place to belong and with the threat of AIDS over his head. For me I wanted Nick to find someone to love and be loved in return as this is all he craves throughout the novel. 

I would recommend this book to a reader who enjoys a challenge and likes to work at a novel to find the meaning the author was looking for. This book is not a light read and deserves attention to be read properly. 

I would rate this book 3.5 /  5 stars  

To Lose A Loved One

To lose her
would break me.
She knows me
loves me and holds me.
One mistake
One touch of fate
Could crack our fragile world.

I'm alone
no longer whole
As she is my heart
and my soul.

The one who wronged us is loved
Dearly
Truly
Completely.

I am torn in two
left broken of the side
forgotten
but never forgiven.