{A Kelly Coffee Review} The Return by Brad Boney

Title: The Return
Author: Brad Boney
Publisher: DreamSpinner Press
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Male/Male Romance
Publication Date: July 5, 2013

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Synopsis: 

Music. Topher Manning rarely thinks about anything else, but his day job as a mechanic doesn't exactly mesh with his rock star ambitions. Unless he can find a way to unlock all the songs in his head, his band will soon be on the fast track to obscurity.

Then the South by Southwest music festival and a broken-down car drop New York critic Stanton Porter into his life. Stanton offers Topher a ticket to the Bruce Springsteen concert, where a hesitant kiss and phantom vibrations from Topher's cell phone kick off a love story that promises to transcend ordinary possibility.

 

 

Okay, so the holiday kind of ate my life and I haven't had much time to read/listen to anything since November. However, today I was called for jury duty selection, which involved sitting around for almost the whole day, giving me a chance to get caught up on some reading. 

As you can see from the publication date, this one has been on my to-read list for a while. So, you may remember my review of Brad Boney's The Nothingness of Ben two years ago. In that review, I praised the building of the love story, the pacing and the dialogue. The Return shows us that it wasn't a fluke. 

The Return takes place in the same world as The Nothingness of Ben and even includes cameos and supporting roles from most of Ben's cast, but they are not (that I can find) listed as part of the same series, and it can be read independently just fine. 

I have had this book bought and downloaded pretty much since the day it came out. But it also came out when I was in the middle of the Wheel of Time books and when I started doing most of my reading via audiobooks on my commute. Today, literally locked in a room with strangers that I wasn't encouraged to engage with and no internet access, was the perfect excuse to get some reading caught up on.

I did not expect to read this whole book today, but I could not put it down. The rhythm and pacing of this book is different than Ben. In fact, I was a little worried when I began reading. While dialogue is one of the author's greatest strengths, some of the dialogue in the beginning of the book is a little choppy and could stand some more narrative interruption. I was also confused by a flashback chapter early in the book, and it took a couple of those chapters to figure out why they were there. 

One of the things the synopsis doesn't warn you about is the fact that this romance is what is usually called a May-December romance, meaning there is a significant age difference between Topher and Stanton. Usually May-December romances aren't my thing, and it was a bit of a surprise, but there's a really good reason for it and I fully embraced it.

Though the first 6-7% of the book was not quite as smooth as I expected, there are ways in which I think that The Return may even surpass Ben. Where Ben crafted a relationship beautifully, showing its evolution and life with a care and development that I think is so often missing from "romance" novels, The Return shows less the development of the relationship and more the emotional journey of two people who are inexplicably drawn together and trying to reconcile those feelings with both past issues and the realities of a relationship between two people with such a significant age difference (Topher is 26 and Stanton is 50). 

Here, it is not just about the relationship, there is the building of a world and a mythology within that world. There are some paranormal elements in this book, but I don't want to say anything else. Seeing it unravel and putting the pieces together myself from the unexpected twist was so much fun, I do not want to spoil, but I will give this teaser:

"Have you ever heard of the I Ching?"

"No. Why?"

"It's a book of Chinese philosophy. It explores the idea that everything happens for a reason, that nothing in the universe is random."

With Ben, there was great sympathy with the couple who seem to make sense but they make real and relatable mistakes with each other. There is something about The Return that evokes less sympathy and more heartbreak. I mourned with these characters, my heart wrenched for them... I cried. There is an innate tragedy in Topher and Stanton's story that takes a while to unravel, but once it does, watching them struggle is really heartbreaking. The resolution is beautiful, leaving you with relief, satisfaction and joy which almost cause happy tears. I blasted through this 350-page book today and all I want is more from Boney. More of this world. More of this mythology. More of these characters. I love them all.

5 stars for both narrative crafting and sheer emotional impact. Next book in this world is due out sometime this year. I'm not waiting six months to read it this time.

{A Kelly Coffee Review} Greenwode by J Tullos Hennig

Title: Greenwode

Autor:J Tullos Hennig

Series: Book One of The Wode

Genre: Historical, High Fantasy, slash

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Synopsis:
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 sees whom it will claim: young Rob of Loxley. Rob’s mother and father, a yeoman forester and a wisewoman, have raised Rob and his sister, Marion, under a solemn duty: to take their parents’ places in the Old Religion as the manifestations of the Horned Lord and the Lady Huntress.

But when Gamelyn Boundys, son of a powerful nobleman, is injured in the forest, he and Rob begin a friendship that challenges both duty and ideology: Gamelyn is a devout follower of the Catholic Church. Rob understands the divide between peasant and noble all too well. And the old druid has foreseen that Gamelyn is destined to be Rob’s sworn enemy—to fight in a blood sacrifice for the greenwode's Maiden.

In a risky bid for happiness, Rob dares the Horned Lord to reinterpret the ancient rites—to allow Rob to take Gamelyn as a lover instead of a rival. But in the eyes of Gamelyn’s church, lust is a sin—and sodomy is unthinkable.

Disclaimer: This is an adult gay romance novel. That means sex between men. Don't like don't read--though in this case it would be a crying shame to pass the book up.

There is so much good about this book I'm not even sure where to start. First, I'm an old fantasy nerd, and Robin Hood hits it hard. This retelling is fantastic, in both the original meaning of the word and in the awesome meaning of the word.

Let's start with the basics: the language. A minor pet peeve of mine is historical novels where everyone speaks modern English. It just sort of hinders my willing suspension of disbelief. Hennig crafts a world where I can hear the accents in the voices--the variety between the low and high born. There are touches of French, Latin and Gaelic (I think, may be Welsh, I don't remember that it's specifically named), but their use is historically accurate and lends such depth to the world.

The myth maintained: I actually took a class that focused 1/3 of the semester on Robin Hood, so reading this story, seeing where the author has pulled from some of the oldest ballads and woven in all of the key components and characteristics of Robin Hood, yet, making them into a story that I haven't quite read was thrilling. The author did her research and it shows. Both in her weaving of the traditional tale and in her historic details.

The original take: One thing the original myths don't really focus much on is religion. It is present, but not a focus. So, Greenwode has a unique and creative--yet logical--twist on the Robin Hood myth, placing not only the rich against the poor but Christianity against the native pagan religion.

"The old gods aren't dead... we forget that at our peril..."

 --Brother Dolfin

The mysticism and magic of the old religion, and honestly, just the information about and portrayal of the old religion, is completely fascinating. 

And then, we have the characterization. The characters, the heart of the story and my ultimate draw-- They're the icing on the cake for this one. Rob and Marion are spectacular as brother and sister and Rob's developing relationship with the the near monastery-bound Gamelyn is portrayed wonderfully. The two are magnetic. I can't think of a character that isn't well crafted and defined--from Rob, to his parents, Gamelyn's family and the Horned God himself. All I could think at the end was "Wait, that's it?!"

No. Fortunately, it's the first in a duology... the second just doesn't come out until late this month. Where Greenwode explores mostly pre-myth Rob, the sequel promises to give us more of the Robin Hood--or Hode--myth that we know and love. Honestly, I can't wait for it.

This one is a highly recommended read. Just read it. It blew me away.

{A Kelly Coffee Review} The Actor and the Earl

Title: The Actor and the Earl
Author: Rebecca Cohen
Genre: Historical fiction, adult, slash, Romance
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Synopsis:

Elizabethan actor Sebastian Hewel takes his bow at the proscenium only to embark on the role of a lifetime. When his twin sister, Bronwyn, reneges on the arrangement to marry Earl Anthony Crofton, Sebastian reluctantly takes her place. At nineteen, Sebastian knows his days as a leading lady are numbered, but with this last performance, he hopes to restore his family’s name and pay off his late father’s debts. Never mind the danger of losing his head should he be discovered.

He didn’t expect Anthony to be so charming and alluring—not to mention shrewd. While he applauds Sebastian’s plan, Anthony offers a mutually beneficial arrangement instead. Sebastian will need every drop of talent he has to survive with both his head and his heart intact, because this is the best part he’s ever had.

This is a gay fiction book and contains homosexual content. Recommended for mature readers.

This was just a good read. When I first read the synopsis, I thought that Sebastian was going to be a traditional cross-dresser and possibly a caricature more than a character. I was completely wrong and very glad to be. Sebastian is a man who loves to act but was the sort of build that usually played women, so while he doesn't take particular issue with having to cross-dress, he doesn't actively enjoy it. It's a relatively minor, but important distinction that grounded him and just made him come alive to me.

The most compelling part of this book was the characters. Although the setting is fun--Shakespearean England--it is the characters who grounded it and allowed you to enjoy the setting. Sebastian was, in my opinion, exquisitely executed, and it is through him that the story is told. The heart of this book are the characters and that falls right into my preferred wheelhouse. They're believable, multifaceted and well-developed. Their interactions are amusing and heart-wrenching appropriately.

There were two minor things that kept this from being a 5-star review. The first was a strange pacing lull in the middle, where I just walked away for a couple of days. The second was that while I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, I wasn't blown away. There are some somewhat-lengthy Shakespearean quotes that didn't quite work for me (but I don't always enjoy Shakespeare). But on the whole, it is a very enjoyable book.

{Waiting on Wednesday} Cloak & Silence by Sherrilyn Kenyon

This is a weekly book meme, hosted by

Jill @ Breaking the Spine,

which features future releases that

we book bloggers

are eagerly anticipating!

Here's my pick for this week!

Title: Cloak & Silence
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Series: The League #6
Release date: December 15, 2012
Genre: Sci-Fi/Romance
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Synopsis:

One of the fiercest soldiers the Phrixians have ever produced, Maris Sulle has been an outsider the whole of his life. He grew up with a secret that cost him everything- His birthright, his family and his military career. In all his life, he’s only had one love and he has sacrificed his own happiness to see his best friend reunited with the woman he loves. But now that his good deed is done, he feels lost and adrift. Even though they do their best to include him in their new family, he’s once again on the outside looking in.

Ture has spent his life hiding from everyone around him while trying desperately to fit in. His family, the world, you name it. Badly hurt by everyone he’s ever known, he trusts no one except his own best friend. And honestly, he can’t understand why he trusts her. Nor can he believe her when she describes a loyalty between friends the likes of which he’s never seen.

But when he is in his darkest hour, he’s saved by a hero he thought only existed in novels. A man who is every bit as scarred and mistrusting as he is. One who has no interest in being dragged into another relationship with anyone.

Having spent his life as a living study of doomed relationships, Maris is well aware of the courtship and fiasco that invariably follows. Still, there is something about Ture he can’t resist. Something that won’t let him walk away when he knows he should.

But when old enemies return to threaten them both, they either have to stand together or die alone.

 Why I'm Waiting for it:

Probably this Sunday I'll do a Series Sunday for The League and tell you all why it's so wonderful, but ignoring the fantastic series and the amazing author whom I adore, the reason I'm waiting for this book is (because you read the synopsis correctly), it's mainstream slash. Yes, I mean male/male love story. Since I'm still very new and you wonderful readers don't know me very well yet, my ultimate guilty pleasure is slash fiction. I love taking the woman out of the equation and seeing how two guys handle a relationship. Plus, hot guy + hot guy = two hot guys. What's not to love about that?

But what has me most psyched about this book is that I am actually getting my love story in a mainstream novel. Don't get me wrong, I frequent self-published slash and have loads of the material published by Dreamspinner Press (an all-slash online publisher), but to see one of my favorite authors take my favorite world and believe so strongly in her world, in her characters and in her fanbase to publish a full-length slash novel in the mainstream just has me doing cartwheels. Plus, I totally love Maris, who is a prevalent character in the previous book, Born of Silence. To see him get his own book has me unbelievably psyched. I've been waiting for a gay Dark Hunter for ages, but Maris' book is not one I would even contemplate passing up. December, hurry up and get here!