Title: Mourning Heaven
Author: Amy Lane
Genre: m/m romance
Print length: 200 pages
Publication date: September 6, 2012
Rating: Three Stars
Blurb: Heroes fall.
Peter first came to the tiny backwater of Daisy, California, as a child, and he was sure of one thing: his cousin Michael would take care of him. When Michael started a friendship with the fragile, haunted Bodi Kovacs, Peter's consolation in losing any claim to Bodi was that Michael would care for him too. But tragedy struck, and Michael ripped himself out of their world and threw away the people who loved him most.
Six years later, Michael is coming home in a box. All it took to destroy a hero was a town full of bigotry and hatred. Reclaiming him will take strength of heart that neither Peter nor Bodi had six years ago. Since Michael left, Bodi has been lost and alone. Peter can try to make Bodi his and take the role Michael should have had, but first he and Bodi have to confront the past. They will need to face Michael, the good and the bad, the beauty and the sadness, and see his memory truly for what it was and not what it could have been. It's a simple act that may destroy them both: sifting through the flaming ruins of heaven is a sure way to annihilate a bleeding mortal heart.
Review:
I will spare everyone the usual complaints about Amy Lane's writing style, which is simply not to my taste. Instead I will say that this is one of those rare books of hers I actually liked. Thankfully, her tendency to only outline the characters before throwing them in emotional distress was absent from this one. It struck me that this story must be closer to her heart than most of the others I've read. If this is the case, she would do well to try and tap into that place again. Like I stated above, I have plenty of complaints, from unrealistic dialogue to unrealistic reactions. But, I will say I grew attached to the characters and the story.
Buy it from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Mourning-Heaven-ebook/dp/B00971EN8I/ref=cm_cr-mr-img
More titles from Amy Lane:
Title: Under the Rushes
Author: Amy Lane
Genre: m/m fantasy/erotica
Print length: 340 pages
Publication date: December 21, 2012
Overall reviewer rating: Four and a Half Stars
Blurb: Ten years after Dorjan trusted a boy's word over his superior officer's, he and his best friend, Areau, are still living the aftermath-and trying to stop the man responsible. Locked in a careful dance to bring down a corrupt government, Dorjan struggles to balance his grief with Areau's anger. Just when Dorjan reaches the end of his rope, he sees a familiar face in the shadows, and the boy he trusted a decade before offers him unexpected kindness.
Taern remembers the soldier who found him under the rushes and listened to his pleas to save his family. When Dorjan reappears in his life, Taern is both captured by his commitment to justice and terrified by the risks he takes. All Taern wants to do is fix him, but the oncoming destruction has been ten years in the making, and Dorjan doesn't want his help. Not if it puts Taern at risk.
Powers clash and a world's fate dangles between Areau's madness and Dorjan's nobility. While Dorjan fights to save the world, Taern joins the battle simply to save Dorjan, knowing everything hinges on the heart of a man in armor and the strength of the man who loves him.
Review by C Green:
This author has a a brilliant imagination and a solid feel for the heart. This story is is set in a Universe I have never seen before. It is sort of steam punk with with mechanical devices called rabbits , crickets and centipedes for locomotion, sort of old England with Estates for growing food in the country and a gentry Parliament in the city and a bit SciFi with with asteroids tethered and mined with the the assistance of symbiotic alien bugs. Whoa! I am impressed just with the world she has created.
And of course Amy Lanes characters are always so rich you just fall in love with them. Dorjan is a gentry son who joins the military and looses his innocence when he sees innocent civilians killed for political, economic gain while a very different story is being told at home.
Dorjan and his inventor friend Areau are physically and emotionally injured in this event and its fallout. Their relationship becomes twisted with Areau handing out punishment and Dorjan taking the blame.
Meanwhile with Areau's inventions and assistance Dorjan becomes a vigilante hero protecting the poor and downtrodden against the corrupt elite and roaming gangs. Dorjan is also a member of the elite government where he does more good pretending to be an idiot than bringing up honest problems that the ruling elite do not want to face.
Dorjan and Areau have a pretty dark life until a boy named Taern reappears in their life. He is the rent boy with the heart of gold and he can't stand to see Dorjan giving so much and taking so little. But even as Taern brings light to Dorjan's life the corruption and greed of the elite make things darker and more dangerous.
Many parallels to the evils of our world have crept into Amy Lane's universe here but in the end heart and intelligence win out. This is not a sweet Christmas story but it will stick with you a lot longer.
Buy it from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Under-Rushes-Amy-Lane/dp/162380244X/ref=la_B008FRGFG8_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1368060166&sr=1-5
More titles by Amy Lane:
Title: Truth in the Dark
Author: Amy Lane
Genre: m/m romance
Print length: 145 pages
Publication date: June 16, 2010
Overall reviewer rating: Four and a Half Stars
Blurb: "I am not beautiful..."
Knife's entire existence has been as twisted as his flesh and his face. The only thing beautiful in his life is his sister. When Gwennie is obliged to turn a suitor down because she fears to leave her brother to the brutality of their village, Knife is desperate for anything to ensure her happiness.
Her suitor's cousin offers him a way out, but it won't be easy. Aerie-Smith has been cursed to walk upright in the form of a beast, and his beloved village suffers from the same spell. Aerie-Smith offers Gwen a trousseau and some hope, if only Knife will keep him company on his island for the span of a year and perform one "regrettable task" at year's end.
Knife is unprepared for the form the island's curse takes on his own misshapen body. In one moment of magic, he is given the body of his dreams—and he discovers that where flesh meets spirit and appearance meet reality, sometimes the only place to find truth is in the darkness of a lover's arms.
More titles from Amy Lane:
Title: Under the Rushes
Author: Amy Lane
Genre: m/m fantasy/erotica
Print length: 340 pages
Publication date: December 21, 2012
Overall reviewer rating: Four and a Half Stars
Blurb: Ten years after Dorjan trusted a boy's word over his superior officer's, he and his best friend, Areau, are still living the aftermath-and trying to stop the man responsible. Locked in a careful dance to bring down a corrupt government, Dorjan struggles to balance his grief with Areau's anger. Just when Dorjan reaches the end of his rope, he sees a familiar face in the shadows, and the boy he trusted a decade before offers him unexpected kindness.
Taern remembers the soldier who found him under the rushes and listened to his pleas to save his family. When Dorjan reappears in his life, Taern is both captured by his commitment to justice and terrified by the risks he takes. All Taern wants to do is fix him, but the oncoming destruction has been ten years in the making, and Dorjan doesn't want his help. Not if it puts Taern at risk.
Powers clash and a world's fate dangles between Areau's madness and Dorjan's nobility. While Dorjan fights to save the world, Taern joins the battle simply to save Dorjan, knowing everything hinges on the heart of a man in armor and the strength of the man who loves him.
Review by C Green:
This author has a a brilliant imagination and a solid feel for the heart. This story is is set in a Universe I have never seen before. It is sort of steam punk with with mechanical devices called rabbits , crickets and centipedes for locomotion, sort of old England with Estates for growing food in the country and a gentry Parliament in the city and a bit SciFi with with asteroids tethered and mined with the the assistance of symbiotic alien bugs. Whoa! I am impressed just with the world she has created.
And of course Amy Lanes characters are always so rich you just fall in love with them. Dorjan is a gentry son who joins the military and looses his innocence when he sees innocent civilians killed for political, economic gain while a very different story is being told at home.
Dorjan and his inventor friend Areau are physically and emotionally injured in this event and its fallout. Their relationship becomes twisted with Areau handing out punishment and Dorjan taking the blame.
Meanwhile with Areau's inventions and assistance Dorjan becomes a vigilante hero protecting the poor and downtrodden against the corrupt elite and roaming gangs. Dorjan is also a member of the elite government where he does more good pretending to be an idiot than bringing up honest problems that the ruling elite do not want to face.
Dorjan and Areau have a pretty dark life until a boy named Taern reappears in their life. He is the rent boy with the heart of gold and he can't stand to see Dorjan giving so much and taking so little. But even as Taern brings light to Dorjan's life the corruption and greed of the elite make things darker and more dangerous.
Many parallels to the evils of our world have crept into Amy Lane's universe here but in the end heart and intelligence win out. This is not a sweet Christmas story but it will stick with you a lot longer.
Buy it from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Under-Rushes-Amy-Lane/dp/162380244X/ref=la_B008FRGFG8_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1368060166&sr=1-5
More titles by Amy Lane:
Title: Truth in the Dark
Author: Amy Lane
Genre: m/m romance
Print length: 145 pages
Publication date: June 16, 2010
Overall reviewer rating: Four and a Half Stars
Blurb: "I am not beautiful..."
Knife's entire existence has been as twisted as his flesh and his face. The only thing beautiful in his life is his sister. When Gwennie is obliged to turn a suitor down because she fears to leave her brother to the brutality of their village, Knife is desperate for anything to ensure her happiness.
Her suitor's cousin offers him a way out, but it won't be easy. Aerie-Smith has been cursed to walk upright in the form of a beast, and his beloved village suffers from the same spell. Aerie-Smith offers Gwen a trousseau and some hope, if only Knife will keep him company on his island for the span of a year and perform one "regrettable task" at year's end.
Knife is unprepared for the form the island's curse takes on his own misshapen body. In one moment of magic, he is given the body of his dreams—and he discovers that where flesh meets spirit and appearance meet reality, sometimes the only place to find truth is in the darkness of a lover's arms.
Review by Chris Castle:
I can't say exactly what drove me to purchase this book, but I'm so glad I did. As a little girl I had of course heard every fairytale out there: the princesses were always beautiful, the princes always dashing and the endings always fair. And I have to say, it warped my sense of self and logic.
I grew up believing that only certain people deserved certain things and that I was not one of them. I grew up believing the world was fair to those whom deserve it - and that's a lie. Everyone deserves to be happy - but the world is anything but fair. As a parent, I have struggled to find a balance in teaching my daughter these things.
This book lays it all bare. For every fat, crippled, poor, or homely person who has ever become 'the funny one' or 'the rude one' in order to cloak the hurt inside, this fairytale is long overdue.
I've always enjoyed the story of 'The Beauty and the Beast', but truth be told, it has always been flawed. It teaches that if you're a good person and want something badly enough, things will magically change and become 'right' or 'just' and that simply isn't true. Life isn't fair and sometimes that starts right at birth, but you have to love yourself in order to allow others to love you. You can be fat, crippled, poor, or homely and someone, the right someone, will love you and look at you like life is worth living because you exist. THAT is a lesson worth learning.
I grew up believing that only certain people deserved certain things and that I was not one of them. I grew up believing the world was fair to those whom deserve it - and that's a lie. Everyone deserves to be happy - but the world is anything but fair. As a parent, I have struggled to find a balance in teaching my daughter these things.
This book lays it all bare. For every fat, crippled, poor, or homely person who has ever become 'the funny one' or 'the rude one' in order to cloak the hurt inside, this fairytale is long overdue.
I've always enjoyed the story of 'The Beauty and the Beast', but truth be told, it has always been flawed. It teaches that if you're a good person and want something badly enough, things will magically change and become 'right' or 'just' and that simply isn't true. Life isn't fair and sometimes that starts right at birth, but you have to love yourself in order to allow others to love you. You can be fat, crippled, poor, or homely and someone, the right someone, will love you and look at you like life is worth living because you exist. THAT is a lesson worth learning.
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