Hello everyone! Today we are wrapping up Week 3 of our month-long Reading Challenge Month. This week is Genre Challenge Week and we have been reading books that push our genre boundaries, trying to find stories that are outside our usual genres and reading styles. I think this was the hardest challenge, so thanks to my fabulous reviewers, as well as the amazing readers who took on this challenge with us!
As always, you guys can play along with this event in two ways. First off, you can leave a comment on any of this week’s challenge week reviews. And second, if you read along with your own challenge book, you can tell us all about it here on this post and get mega contest entries.
This week’s prize is sponsored by Less Than Three Press and includes a copy of all 12 books released this month, plus the winner’s choice of an audiobook from their catalog! All entries also make you eligible for the big grand prize donated by Riptide Publishing.
Ok, before we get too far, some things you may need to know:
- All the contest details and rules are in this post or at least linked from here
- This week’s deadline to leave comments on our reviews, or your mini review of your own book here on this post, is Sunday night. All entries will be tallied at that time and the Week 3 winner announced. All entries will also carry over for the grand prize at the end of the month.
- If you read along your own challenge book this week, leave your mini review here on this wrap up post.
- And if you missed the chance to leave any comments, here is quick recap of the books we read this week:
- On Wings of Song by Anne Barwell
- Nor Iron Bars a Cage by Kaje Harper
- Right Here Waiting by K.E. Belladonne
- Property of the Alpha by Shannon West and Victoria Sue
- Obsidian Sun by Jon Keys
- Agamemnon Frost and the House of Death by Kim Knox
- Beneath the Scales by Aurora Peppermint
Our final week of our Reading Challenge Month kicks off on Monday with Favorites Week. For this challenge you should pick a book from one of our Favorite Books lists (or one of the Favorite Book List themes if you prefer). We hope you will join in the fun!
I read the Bells of Times Square by Amy Lane. I give it 5 stars. I love all things Amy Lane, but this one had been sitting on my TBR pile for almost a year, since I don’t generally like historical or war books. Plus, from the blurb, I suspected it was not going to have a happy ending, another thing I don’t prefer in the books I read. So, thanks for this challenge, which finally made me read this book. It was truly lovely. The book starts with an old Nate going on an outing with his grandson and meeting his grandson’s boyfriend for the first time. He hears about his grandson’s fears, and then starts reminiscing about his true love, which he met during the war. I felt for Nate and Walter and their circumstances. As suspected, it was also heartbreaking. I think I went through about 6 Kleenexes and couldn’t breathe through my nose during the final portion. Still, it was yet another beautiful book by Amy Lane, and I am glad I finally read it.
So glad you liked this one Jennifer. I loved it as well. I am glad this challenge helped inspire you to pick it up!
I read just about every genre, but I have never read a book with an asexual main character or that delves into asexuality. So, I choose Blue Steel Chain by Alex Beecroft and it was a 5-star read for me. Here is my review:
Blue Steel Chain was beautifully written. I loved both James and Aiden and learned some things from Aidan. The author did a great job of portraying him and also defining his asexuality without doing a lot of “telling.”
Abuse is a major factor in the narrative and there are several scenes that were difficult to read. They made me very sad and angry – as intended I am sure. (These scenes are not memories and are rather descriptive – so warning to those for whom that is a trigger or hard stop.) I did think they were important to who Aidan was and how much he grew by the end. (The significance of the title comes clear partway into the novel.)
There was also more action than I expected (not a complaint) and I was on the edge of my seat much of the time. I had a difficult time putting my Kindle down.
I was curious to see how Alex Beecroft would resolve the issue of sex between James and Aidan. I thought the way it was handled was authentic (although I have no real experience to know if it was). Their relationship was not perfect, but still beautiful. This book made me cry – both for sadness and happiness.
Thanks Jen, great review! I am glad this worked so well for you!
Like everyone else I have my predilections for certain genres (contemporary, historicals, mysteries) but I don’t think there’s much I have never tried, and yet again among genres I’d quickly claim I don’t like or enjoy there have definitely been more than one book I enjoyed, and even fallen completely in love with, so I thought this was a tricky challenge, and as with the previous two weeks I wanted it to be something I already had on my ereader.
“Soulless” by T. Baggins has been there waiting for quite some time – I think it was a freebie at Amazon at some point. It’s a paranormal with vampires. Paranormal is not among my first choice genres and I actually think I have never read a m/m vampire novel (just a short story/novella by Kim Fielding once) so I thought it would do. In hindsight having read this weeks reviews here on the site I think maybe I cheated a little. I’ve read this author before and enjoyed myself, and apart from being labeled paranormal this novel could also be labeled historical, which is one of my favorites.
The story is about a crippled man named Nicholas whose been sought out by the mysterious Ban, acting on behalf of his sickly “father” to purchase the estate of which Nicholas is the owner. Already at their first meeting Nicholas instinctively realizes something is off about his handsome visitor, but it’s not until Nicholas grandmother intervenes and breaks the spell Ban has put him under that he is able to chase away the unwelcome intruder. Soon though, Nicholas realizes he is not entirely repelled by the creature, the vampire and when they meet again their connection deepens.
Ban is not his own man but under the influence of his maker Sebastian. Even though he wants to break free from Sebastian he find it difficult to accomplish it, especially now that he realizes Nicholas is not just any man, but a reincarnation of an old lover. Together they try to find out the real reason as why Sebastian wants the estate and to finally conquer him.
The story offered a different view of vampires than the one I have previously met (in straight fiction) and the author gave me quite a surprise as all the pieces of the puzzle came together. Although I easily felt connected with Ban and his story – his backstory being my favorite of the novel, as it offered a not so common medieval setting for a gay character that wasn’t even a knight – the more superior Sebastian and his likes gave me the chills and I ended up with a night of night mares. The end itself was a bit unsettling too, although I guess for most readers it would be considered happy.
All in all a pretty good read – 3.5-4/5. The historical aspect is well done, the picture of vampires felt unique and interesting, and it was a bit darker than I had originally anticipated.
Thanks Sara for the great review!
MY FAIR CAPTAIN (Sci-Regency #1) by J.L. Langley
Blurb: Talk about a compromising situation!
A storm of political intrigue, murderous mayhem and sexual hungers is brewing on planet Regelence.
Swarthy Intergalactic Navy Captain Nathaniel Hawkins ran from a past he had no intention of ever reliving. But when his Admiral asks him to use his peerage, as an earl and the heir to a dukedom, to investigate a missing weapons stash, he’s forced to do just that. As if being undercover on a Regency planet where the young men are supposed to remain pure until marriage isn’t bad enough, Nate finds himself attracted to the king’s unmarried son.
All Prince Aiden Townsend has ever wanted was to be an artist. He has no interest in a marriage of political fortune or becoming a societal paragon. Until he lands in the arms of the mysterious Earl of Deverell. One look at Nate’s handsome face has Aiden reconsidering his future. Not only does Nate make a virile subject for Aiden’s art, but the great war hero awakens feelings in Aiden he has never felt, feelings he can’t ignore.
After a momentous dance at a season ball, Aiden and Nate find themselves exchanging important information and working closely together. They have to fight their growing attraction long enough to find out who stole the weapons and keep themselves from a compromising situation and certain scandal.
Review: I never would have thought to mix sci-fi with Regency romance, let alone m/m, but Langley balances all the genres very well. I think MY FAIR CAPTAIN tilts slightly more in the Regency direction, with much of the sci-fi limited to the explanation of the world-building. (I would have liked a little more insight into why the Regelence society worked the way it did along with the explanation, because my interest was definitely piqued.) My attention was held, though I experienced the same feeling I have during more traditional Regencies: namely, the more elegantly structured language held me at arm’s length emotionally at times. (This made the transition to Aiden’s no-holds-barred deflowering, complete with “sugar kink” elements, a little jarring, though no less enjoyable!) That said, I did care for these characters, and will continue with the series.
I am glad you liked this one even with some reservations. This is actually my favorite of the series but I really have enjoyed them all. I love the older man/young virgin theme so I think that is why I especially enjoyed this story.
I think i’m one of those readers that reads very diverse genres but the one thing i hadn’t read yet was an incestual story so i choose Entwined by Liberty Lace. Here is my review: The story shows us the twins Tobias and Thomas who are in a secret relationship and when the family comes together to celebrate grandma’s 80th birthday their secret comes to light. This sounds very promising and i was prepared for some hot taboo sex and a lot of drama but to my surprise i didn’t get either. When the family finds out that Tobias and Thomas are in a (sexual)relationship only the new wife of their father reacts the others are surprised but accept everything very easy? to me this is so un-real and i think when you write about such a taboo theme you should write it so it feels real and to me that didn’t happen in this story. The relationship is accepted very easy and the problems resolved to quick. I feel that for such a strong taboo theme this books was just to short and my rating is 2 stars.
Interesting review Angela. I agree with you that part of the appeal of an incest story is the illicit thrill of the taboo and so if that doesn’t come through it can be less satisfying.
SciFi is not normally a genre I read, it is generally too far from reality for me to get my head around. However I am in awe of the authors who create these worlds and situations from scratch. I chose some stories from the Goodreads MM group Love is an Open Road event which I had been putting off. All three were tagged scifi.
In Heaven and Earth by Amy Rae Durreson
In this story I found that the world building and story were excellent and I admire the skill of the author. The story was well paced and engaging.
In this one I was doing OK until Reuben went into Vairya’s dream and nanites became knights, there were roses then it got a bit too intricate for me – I missed the no doubt subtle references, I am very much a literally ‘take it as read’ person.
I liked it, it was a gentle story and not too much doom and despondency.
Virian Conundrum by Robin S Krizan
This one was actually the easier and more enjoyable read for me as it was more about the men, just based on another planet. The one area I was not so keen on is the mpreg, it’s just not something I really like as a theme.
I did get a bit confused with spiritual selves and who actually were the assassins – were they real or imaginery and it just seemed to be resolved very quickly.
This story was engaging and well paced, keeping me engaged throughout when before reading I had thought I would struggle more with it.
So after reading these two fairly easy and soft scifi reads, I then went to read ACID by Wulf Francu Godgluck and S van Rooyen and what a different read this was!
The writing style was easy to read and kept me reading a story that is really not my cup of tea, all that dystopian dog-eat-dog mentality society, brutality etc
I didn’t mind the language. I don’t like to read of violence and death but it didn’t squick me out too much, but it wasn’t comfortable at times.
Other than the theme of revenge by son on fathers and fathers on each other, I did get a bit lost in all the convoluted plots but I am in awe of imaginations and skills that can produce such stories.
Thanks Suze! You outdid yourself this week!
I read a fairly new genre to me- shifters. I read Mary Calmes Old Loyalty, New Love. I love her Matter of Time series so I thought I’d give this a try. I was not disappointed. It’s a story about Quade, a jackal shifter who falls in the with Roman, a much younger man who he acts as a bodyguard for. Roman has been horribly scarred in an accident and is often emotionally distant. The story of how these two come to realize their love is fantastic. Mary writes strong, alpha males like nobody else and Quade is no exception. His chemistry with Roman is off the charts and the story of how they deal with Quade’s pack accepting his mating with a man is fantastic. I highly recommend this book.
I liked this one too, and the next book in the series as well. Glad you gave it a try!
I read in a number of genres but not in Horror (not even for you!) and very little in general literary fiction. This week I read Ruth Ozeki’s A Tale for the Time Being; it’s the first book of hers that I’ve read. Basically, the book has two stories. In one thread, we read the journal of Nao, a teen with Japanese parents, raised in Sunnyvale, and recently returned to Japan after her father becomes unemployed. Nao has been the victim of bullying; she’s intent on telling the story of her great-grandmother, a Buddhist nun, before she (Nao) commits suicide. In the other thread, we read about Ruth who finds Nao’s journal and some other items in a plastic bag on the beach of the small Pacific Northwest island on which she and her husband live. Ruth believes that Nao’s items may be flotsam from the Japanese tsunami. Ruth spends much of the book trying to learn more about Nao and her family. Nao’s part of the story was intriguing; more so, I feel, than Ruth’s. While much of the story was straightforward, there was an element of the mysterious as well. Overall, I enjoyed the book and would read more by this author.
LOL, that’s ok, I won’t make you read horror! Glad you tried something new this week and that you enjoyed it!
Nor Iron Bars a Cage
Wow! A riveting, beautiful, heart-breaking story about duty, friendship and love, that’s what Nor Iron Bars a Cage is. Told from the first person narrative, in Lyon’s voice, we first meet him living his isolated existence in a remote village, afraid of darkness and traumatised by his experience as Meldov’s apprentice. When Tobin turns up, he stirs emotions Lyon thought long forgotten. Fifteen years ago they were best friends, but when Lyon ran away from Meldov he hid and was deemed dead by most of the people he knew. Tobin is thrilled to find Lyon alive, although he’s just a shadow of the man he used to be. During the trip to Riverrun, and the events that take place afterwards, we witness how these two slowly recover the friendship they once shared, and how those feelings blossom into something different. But Lyon is deeply wounded, and it is going to take all of Tobin’s patience and love to convince him to open to the world. So this is not only an amazing story of magic and adventures, it is also a story about second chances and the power of friendship and love to mend a broken soul. It is a story about the courage it takes to open your heart again when it has already been abused once. I loved both characters, but specially Tobin, with his patience and sense of humour, and his unwavering trust in Lyon and their love. Secondary characters like Xan, the long-time dead warrior, or King Faro, provide subplots and depth to an already interesting story (I specially loved Xan’s sad story about how he tried to save his clan).
If you enjoy a love story with wounded souls, magic, reluctant ghost, secret plots, some mystery and deserved happy end, this is just the thing for you. I’m so glad I decided to read this book after reading Jay’s review. I just loved it.
Aw yay! I am so glad you enjoyed it, especially since you picked it from my recommendation. I agree with everything you said, especially about Tobin and how sweet he is. Thanks for the review!
I’ll read just about any genre. So this week’s challenge was well . . . a challenge. I decided to go with fan fiction since this is something I normally don’t read a lot of. I don’t watch TV so I don’t get into shipping characters when I don’t know anything about them or their world. I chose Balloon Animals are Awesome by DiscontedWinter (AKA Lisa Henry)
First of all – I’ve never watched one single episode of Teen Wolf. Please don’t stone me. I just don’t watch TV. I haven’t for years. So there’s a lot going on in the Sterek world that I’m pretty clueless about. I know nothing about the backstory for either MC or any of the other characters or anything about this universe. That’s right, I live in a TV world vacuum.
Even though I feel like I’ve just crawled out from under a pop culture rock, I still was able to get the feel for what’s going on through the talented crafting of Ms. Henry. And I was giggling like a teen for most of the story. ‘Cause Ms. Henry writes good snark. And I’m a huge fan of the snark.
But then near the end, something happened. My eyes filled & my nose started running. And it wasn’t funny anymore. Poor Stiles. So much pain. And Derek was right there holding him through it. Then all was right with the world again.
I’ll definitely be reading more about Sterek from Ms. Henry’s POV.
It’s nice to finally meet my neighbor in the TV world vacuum. It’s a fine neighborhood!
Oh, what a good idea to try fan fiction! Glad you enjoyed it, and yes, Lisa is a great writer!
I decided to go with m/m historical romance since I ususally shy away from it unless its paired with another subgenre (which still is not something I read a lot of). I picked Protection by S.A. Reid.
It’s 1931. Gabriel MacKenna is confined to Wentsworth prison for two life terms. When going in he made a promise with himself never to lay with a man and for five years he keeps that promise. Then comes along, Joseph (Joey) Cooper and all Gabriel’s promises to himself go out the window. Gabriel finds himself attracted to the good ole doctor, whom was wrongfully imprisioned. He offers Cooper protection in return for Cooper becoming his “girl”.
The storyline was fascinating, reading and learning about how Wentworth was run and the kind of relationship among guards and inmates. There was a certain amount of detachment for me when reading the story since there wasn’t much character development on Joey or Gabriel’s part and readers don’t get much in the ways of the characters feelings. I feel I should warn other readers that this may not be a book for everyone since there is a scene depiction of rape and talk of rape in the story.
Also forgot to mention that there’s an element of stockholm syndrome in there for readers looking for books of tbat type.
I used one of the Good Read’s Love is an Open Road event. Every year I am challenged to read things I wouldn’t normal read and I try to do a little bit of everything not just pick those that would be more my favorite genre. Anyway this week I ready Alex’s Suprise by Chris McHart. It has vampires, alternative universe, and m-pregnancy. All of which are not my go to pick. It wasn’t a bad story and I was actually starting to enjoy it when it ended in an abrupt cliff-hanger. Ugh.
oh, cliff hangers are a killer! glad you got a chance to try something new!
I chose to read dystopian/sci-fi- Meatworks by Jordan Castillo Price.
Desmond Poole lost his dominant hand and has a robotic prosthesis that he’s never learned how to use. The supporting characters are Des’s new boyfriend Corey, who he met at a support group for amputees and his former boyfriend Jim.
This story show’s a perpetually drunk Desmond eventually lose both Jim and Corey due to his actions, he then hits rock bottom and starts pulling himself back up. I know this isn’t supposed to be a “romance” but the relationship between Desmond and Corey was actually pretty good. There was a lot of depression and hopelessness in the story but in the end I felt like everything was, if not great, at least looking up.
I knew I’d like the book because I don’t think I’ve ever read anything by JCP that wasn’t good but this really isn’t a genre I prefer so I kept putting it off. I think I’d definitely give this book a near perfect score.
Thanks for the review. I have been curious about this one!
I read Alpha Trine by Lexi Ander. I gave it 4 stars. Sci fi is probably one of my least read genres in M/M romance.
This story reminded me of those epic sci-fi/fantasy series that I used to read before I was introduced to M/M romance. There was so much world-building, and different species, and planet names that it got kind of hard to keep them straight. And that’s a pity, since the story was very intriguing and easy to read.
The story starts off with a bang, and contained all the feels. The Empress of the Mar’Sani, a alien race, is mourning the recent loss of a child who disappeared. In the midst of the mourning, she and the Emperor hear about an abandoned spaceship with a lone survivor aboard – a 2 month old child. She takes this as a sign and is strongly drawn to this infant. The Mar’Sani couple decide to adopt this infant, Zeus, and treat him as a son in every way despite the fact that he’s Terran (human) and blind. There is an incident in the book that might be a trigger for some.
Despite the love and support of his family, the other Mar’Sani families don’t all treat him as true prince. Because of that, he decides to spend time as a mechanic on a space station away from home. It is there that he meets Dargon Kal-Turak, who has a symbiotic relationship with Alpha, and is a member of a marsupial shifter race. Their adventure begins when Dargon decides to kidnap Zeus to work on his ship without knowing his true identity.
Overall I liked the pace of the story, showing Zeus’ life from the time of his adoption to current day. And there was continuous action while learning more of the back story. However, there were so many alien races, place names and governments that I just couldn’t keep all of them totally straight. I did like the story, so I would consider reading more in the series.
I chose something I don’t read very often at all, non-fiction. I chose the Paul Alan Fahey edited The Other Man: 21 Writers Speak Candidly About Sex, Love, Infidelity, and Moving On. I’m not usually engaged by non-fiction, though I push through it just fine. While the topic would have been interesting to me from a sociological point of view, what really got me to buy this one is that it was essays from authors. Though I didn’t really know most of the names I saw, I thought they’d have a style that would engage me, which is sometimes the issue I have with non-fiction.
Confession time: I’m only 2/3 through my book, which means I’ve read 14 of the 21 authors. I still think that’s a fair number to be able to review this honestly, though I’m sure there are some surprises waiting for me in the pages ahead.
I know that both cheating and open relationships in romance aren’t very popular, or at least I seem to see a lot of strong dislike for that aspect in books. I personally have no problem with them in stories because I think they bring interesting dynamics and can show how people deal with different aspects of the real world. I grew up with a father who cheated (lied about being with other women), so it’s always been something I’ve thought a lot about, and I know people who are in open relationships (honest about having sex with someone other than their partner). People are complicated, so I don’t judge on what decisions someone’s made, even if they’re not for me. (Obvs, I can judge my dad because that was my own life, but I can understand even the complexity there.) Back to the book. Each story has been fascinating to me. Some writers have been “the other man”, some have been the man who’s been on the other side, whether they new about it or not. Some pieces are told with a rich language, and some are more matter of fact. I’ve been blown away by what these men have gone through because of theirs or someone else’s decision. Some people have come out of it with a lesson learned or a life enhanced, and others seem almost still wounded. This book is a wonderfully candid and engaging read. I can already tell that a few of these people’s lives, the bit I’ve gotten to see, will stay with me. I don’t know what others will get from it, but I think even if I didn’t have a personal connection to the topic, I feel I would have come away with some great insight. Because a fair number of these authors seem to be older and definitely from a time where one’s homosexuality had to be hidden, there’s another layer to their stories, where readers get to look back in time. This is where I say fascinating again. It just is. I have been reading this all week, and the reason I’m not finished is because some of these stories really do leave you pondering life so I can’t just take them in like a handful of m&ms. And of course, some were just sad, where I couldn’t necessarily just move on to the next. I definitely recommend this book for anyone who spots it. I know those not interested or disdainful of the topic would pass it on by, so I’m speaking to anyone who sees the title and wonders if it’s a worthwhile and quality read. The answer is: definitely!
This one sounds really interesting! I am glad you tackled some non fiction! Sounds like you came away with a good one!
It was harder to pick a book for this week’s challenge than any of the others. I really didn’t have many books on my TBR that were in a genre that I don’t read, but I went ahead with Wayward Grace by Eon de Beaumont. The genre is steampunk, basically they are steampunk pirates. I’m going to give this story 2.5 stars. The premise and world building are interesting, but there was an over-usage of epithets that kept throwing me out of the story.