Title: Cold
Author: Brandon Shire
Genre: m/m romance
Print length: 215 pages
Publication date: May 14, 2013
Rating: Five Stars
Blurb: Book 1: Prison is a brutal, heartless, and demeaning environment. No one knows this better than a man sentenced to life in prison for murder. Lem Porter is a high-profile prisoner who had a solid career ahead of him in a field he loved until he killed his brother. He has spent almost eighteen years behind bars and doesn’t have much hope left.
Anderson Passero had it all. He built a career, a name, and a relationship with a man he thought he loved. Only after he very publicly landed in prison did he realize how ignorant he’d been. He has eight months left on his sentence and he is eager to go home and put prison life behind him. He doesn’t know it yet, but he will always carry these eight months with him, and they may just help him to understand what love really means.
Review:
I fell in love with Lem. What can I say.
This entire book was surprisingly sweet. It caught me surprise; you just don't expect something like this from a prison tale. The story is so wonderfully put together, so detailed, from the very beginning you feel like you've just been dropped right in the middle of everything. There are bits and pieces of Anderson's life emerging throughout, enough of them that you have no issues relating to the things he's been through. Even so, I never really warmed up to him. And I don't mind admitting it. For me, my like or dislike for Anderson centers solely on the way he interacts with Lem. Because Lem is, for the lack of a better word, magnificent. A true flesh and blood character. Someone created with a piece of the author's heart and soul. His full story is still unknown. The crumbs that the author doles out don't allow us to make a judgment. Not yet. But by the end, even though you will yearn to know more, you will be ready to forgive Lem anything. Anything at all.
I'll admit that I've been looking forward to reading this. But I never expected to give it more than four stars. Rarely ever do all the pieces of a tale line up perfectly for me. Even when the book is excellent, most authors make the sex scenes cruder than they should be. I never expected such a lush and heartbreaking connection between the characters. So much beauty when they are together for the first time.
*sigh* Now I have to wait even longer for the next installment. But that's ok; now I know it will be more than worth the wait.
This entire book was surprisingly sweet. It caught me surprise; you just don't expect something like this from a prison tale. The story is so wonderfully put together, so detailed, from the very beginning you feel like you've just been dropped right in the middle of everything. There are bits and pieces of Anderson's life emerging throughout, enough of them that you have no issues relating to the things he's been through. Even so, I never really warmed up to him. And I don't mind admitting it. For me, my like or dislike for Anderson centers solely on the way he interacts with Lem. Because Lem is, for the lack of a better word, magnificent. A true flesh and blood character. Someone created with a piece of the author's heart and soul. His full story is still unknown. The crumbs that the author doles out don't allow us to make a judgment. Not yet. But by the end, even though you will yearn to know more, you will be ready to forgive Lem anything. Anything at all.
I'll admit that I've been looking forward to reading this. But I never expected to give it more than four stars. Rarely ever do all the pieces of a tale line up perfectly for me. Even when the book is excellent, most authors make the sex scenes cruder than they should be. I never expected such a lush and heartbreaking connection between the characters. So much beauty when they are together for the first time.
*sigh* Now I have to wait even longer for the next installment. But that's ok; now I know it will be more than worth the wait.
Buy it from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Cold-ebook/dp/B00CT9X5WA/ref=cm_cr-mr-img
More titles by Brandon Shire:
Title: Listening To Dust
Author: Brandon Shire
Genre: m/m romance
Print length: 143 pages
Publication date: March 10, 2012
Overall reviewer rating: Five Stars
Blurb: Murder touched Stephen Dobbins when he was a young boy and left him living in a void of aching loneliness. A chance meeting with a young American chased away the fear that he would always be alone and brought him the prospect of a new existence.
Dustin Earl joined the military and escaped his small town Southern upbringing with the hope that he could give his mentally challenged brother a better life. But Dustin had never known real love, an honest hug, or a simple kiss. He considered his sexuality a weakness; a threat that had been used against those he cared about.
For eight months their relationship blossomed until Dustin suddenly returned home. He cherished Stephen, but felt his responsibilities to his brother outweighed his own chance at happiness.
Shattered, unable to function and unwilling to accept Dustin’s departure, Stephen flew three thousand miles to get Dustin back and rekindle what they had. But what he would learn when he got there… he could never have imagined.
Review by wayne bentley:
"nothing is perfect, not even love" --Brandon Shire
In "Listening to Dust" Brandon Shire's first work since his stunning debut with The Value Of Rain,the author once again drives with poetic abandon through the landscape of the heart, ruthlessly plowing through every intersection of love and pain in this engaging and haunting work.
In London, Stephen Dobbins, whose parents were murdered for mysterious political reasons, meets Dustin Earl, a drunk American soldier with a troubled past and an uncertain future. Dustin's tour of duty has just finished and Stephen takes him home. Their night together engages Stephen's emotions but Dustin explodes with anger the next morning and disappears. He returns eventually and begins a tenuous relationship with Stephen that grows deeply over the course of eight months. From the outset Dustin makes it clear that he will, for family reasons, return to his home and eventually does leaving Stephen bereft and lonely. Stephen hides out in France for a year before finally deciding to go to America to bring Dustin back. He is unprepared for what he finds in America where an awful irony accentuates the paths that love and pain travel together, where love can not save anyone from death, but death cannot destroy love.
"Listening to Dust" is well worth reading many times. There are no wasted words, no comforting platitudes, no perfect romances just life told by a master story teller with a razored and haunting insight into heart and soul.
In "Listening to Dust" Brandon Shire's first work since his stunning debut with The Value Of Rain,the author once again drives with poetic abandon through the landscape of the heart, ruthlessly plowing through every intersection of love and pain in this engaging and haunting work.
In London, Stephen Dobbins, whose parents were murdered for mysterious political reasons, meets Dustin Earl, a drunk American soldier with a troubled past and an uncertain future. Dustin's tour of duty has just finished and Stephen takes him home. Their night together engages Stephen's emotions but Dustin explodes with anger the next morning and disappears. He returns eventually and begins a tenuous relationship with Stephen that grows deeply over the course of eight months. From the outset Dustin makes it clear that he will, for family reasons, return to his home and eventually does leaving Stephen bereft and lonely. Stephen hides out in France for a year before finally deciding to go to America to bring Dustin back. He is unprepared for what he finds in America where an awful irony accentuates the paths that love and pain travel together, where love can not save anyone from death, but death cannot destroy love.
"Listening to Dust" is well worth reading many times. There are no wasted words, no comforting platitudes, no perfect romances just life told by a master story teller with a razored and haunting insight into heart and soul.
Buy it from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Listening-To-Dust-ebook/dp/B007JB6ATS/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1369541523&sr=1-4&keywords=brandon+shire
More titles by Brandon Shire:
Title: Afflicted
Author: Brandon Shire
Genre: m/m romance
Print length: 215 pages
Publication date: September 4, 2012
Overall reviewer rating: Four and a Half Stars
Blurb: A high priced male escort and a blind gay man meet by chance. What ensues is a hot, steamy romance by two men looking for something more than a one night stand. But can they reach beyond their own insecurities to grasp what they really desire?
Hunter Stephens is gay, tall, dark haired, and he’s hot. Very hot. But he doesn’t rely on the visual cues when appraising a man because he’s also blind. He listens to the timbre of their voice, trembles at the touch of their skin, and luxuriates in the deep richness of the aroma of man. He’s hard of the hand because he’s a black belt and takes no shit, but soft of the heart because he’s lonely and has been for a while.
Until he meets Dillon.
Dillon Chambers is straight man candy. He’s a high priced male escort that works with an exclusive agency who handles only the wealthiest of clients. But it wasn’t always like that for him. At sixteen he was thrown out of the house for being gay and struggled to survive, turning tricks on the street and finding food and a place to sleep wherever he could. He met two people that changed his life, but he has never met anyone who could change his heart.
Until he bumped into Hunter.
And now they are both Afflicted.
Review by Shirley Quinones:
4.5 stars
This was a surprisingly good book to read. Why surprising? Well, I just had the synopsis to go by and I was convinced that a relationship between a blind man and a male escort just was not viable. I know, shame on me! However, I very humbly admit that the author brought these two characters together seamlessly and their journey was a joy to read. You get to know the characters inside out and you just have to root for them to make it work.
Both characters had issues to deal with that interfered with finding love, but they were great characters to get to know. Hunter, so strong and determined, revealed a very vulnerable side filled with loneliness and a need to love and be loved. And Dillon, sweet, sweet Dillon, he had a rough past, a very interesting present and a loneliness so great that you could only feel for him. I very much enjoyed how these two got together.
I have to congratulate the author for such beautiful writing. Every emotion - lust, loneliness, anger, insecurity- was so magnificently written that I felt each and every one of them. Especially Hunter's. The author managed to describe these in a way that really let me relate to him. The sex scenes described from Hunter's point of view were splendid. At first, I had to really pay attention since it was so very different from what you read everyday with a sighted MC. Not only for theses scenes, but for every single detail. Page after page filled with feelings, smells, tastes and sounds. The dialog was superb, both entertaining and captivating. It all made for a great read.
So you might be wondering, "Why the .5 deduction?" Well, I feel that the ending came abruptly. I could not believe that it finished so unexpectedly. I remember looking at my location in my Kindle and thinking to myself that it was a mistake. In my opinion, they were in the middle of one of the most defining moments of their relationship and I thought they would start sharing more about each other which in turn would take their relationship to the next level. They did that up to a point, but not to my satisfaction. But that's just me, I tend to take my fictional characters too seriously, so it was a minor detail in an otherwise marvelous book.
I am looking forward to next book since I am very interested in knowing how Hunter and Dillon continue together. Well played, Brandon Shire! You had me hooked from the start, now I have to wait and see where you take us next.
This was a surprisingly good book to read. Why surprising? Well, I just had the synopsis to go by and I was convinced that a relationship between a blind man and a male escort just was not viable. I know, shame on me! However, I very humbly admit that the author brought these two characters together seamlessly and their journey was a joy to read. You get to know the characters inside out and you just have to root for them to make it work.
Both characters had issues to deal with that interfered with finding love, but they were great characters to get to know. Hunter, so strong and determined, revealed a very vulnerable side filled with loneliness and a need to love and be loved. And Dillon, sweet, sweet Dillon, he had a rough past, a very interesting present and a loneliness so great that you could only feel for him. I very much enjoyed how these two got together.
I have to congratulate the author for such beautiful writing. Every emotion - lust, loneliness, anger, insecurity- was so magnificently written that I felt each and every one of them. Especially Hunter's. The author managed to describe these in a way that really let me relate to him. The sex scenes described from Hunter's point of view were splendid. At first, I had to really pay attention since it was so very different from what you read everyday with a sighted MC. Not only for theses scenes, but for every single detail. Page after page filled with feelings, smells, tastes and sounds. The dialog was superb, both entertaining and captivating. It all made for a great read.
So you might be wondering, "Why the .5 deduction?" Well, I feel that the ending came abruptly. I could not believe that it finished so unexpectedly. I remember looking at my location in my Kindle and thinking to myself that it was a mistake. In my opinion, they were in the middle of one of the most defining moments of their relationship and I thought they would start sharing more about each other which in turn would take their relationship to the next level. They did that up to a point, but not to my satisfaction. But that's just me, I tend to take my fictional characters too seriously, so it was a minor detail in an otherwise marvelous book.
I am looking forward to next book since I am very interested in knowing how Hunter and Dillon continue together. Well played, Brandon Shire! You had me hooked from the start, now I have to wait and see where you take us next.
Buy it from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Afflicted-ebook/dp/B0096BF3LU/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_i
Part II is also available:
Title: Afflicted II
Author: Brandon Shire
Genre: m/m romance
Print length: 220 pages
Publication date: December 3, 2012
Overall reviewer rating: Four and a Half Stars
Blurb: Hunter and Dillon finally came to terms with the idea that they wanted more than just hot sex with each other. Dillon decided to quit hustling in order to invest his time and energy in building their relationship, and Hunter let his barriers down and opened his heart. But fear has a way of creeping up and dismantling things that we hold precious. Dillon’s family isn’t quite finished with him yet and Hunter is torn about whether he should step into the fray.
Their journey together comes to a thrilling conclusion.
Review by D Allan:
Brandon Shire has a way of writing that pulls you in from the beginning and will not let go until he's ready to let you go.
I loved the first book and that book along with it's sequel are on my favorites list and definitely favorites of 2012.
I know whatever I say about this book will not be sufficient to how great it is, and how much I feel everyone should read not only these books, but anything Brandon writes because every book is such a visceral reading experience.
Hunter and Dillon connected by chance, but then could not stay away from each other, despite the supposedly "obvious" reasons they should. The first book ended with them deciding to try this relationship, even though Hunter knew Dillon was keeping a secret from him.
This book begins with Dillon taking Hunter away for a weekend, and he shares his secret about his cousin and how that relates to the younger man Hunter's mother is dating.
The book then goes through how Hunter wants to protect Dillon, but his choices, well meaning as they may have been, take life choices away from Dillon, because as Hunter admits, he is a bit controlling!!!
Going from lovers to partners is an interesting challenge, especially if you have two characters who don't want to offend, or have the one they care for hurt in any way. That and reconciling the past - Dillon discovers his father has passed away, but he actually wanted to see him before he died, Hunter finds a way to shift from seeing his mother as his controller, to actually have a friendship with her, as she finds herself opening up to people she had once kept at arms length or further.
Navigating through all of these dynamics amongst the characters could make a book very busy, but Mr. Shire does it in such a way that it is all part of the story flow.
And the ultimate question when characters get together in one book and get a sequel - will they make it? You'll have to read it to find out - and for anyone who read and enjoyed the love scenes in the first one, there are plenty here and as many people, the scene where Hunter wants Dillon to make love to him to the rhythm of the rain, one of the most sensual scenes ever!
Amazing story that I will read again and again, and highly recommend to anyone who enjoys love stories with real challenges, dealt with in a mature, real way (most of the time, both characters do also get to be drama queens on occasion!).
Buy it from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Afflicted-II-ebook/dp/B00AIABPRO/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
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