You Must Read This Book

Y'all.  The sun is shining, the birds are singing (okay, the geese are honking, which isn't quite as pleasant, but whatever), and I read a really, really good book today.  One of my Goodreads friends recommended it to me, and I'm so happy they did.  This story should not be missed.

Here's the blurb (it doesn't do the story justice by any means, but it's what we've got to work with):

Straight jockboy Kevin thinks he has gay, cross-dressing 
Danny under his thumb. Kevin only likes girls. 

So... why does he keep thinking about her? 

Or him. 

Whatever.


Kevin is a star football player on the verge of losing his spot on the team because of his grades.  But that all changes when he spots a pretty girl across the room at a party and realizes that it's actually Daniel, the new kid in school and the second string quarterback.  Kevin makes a deal with Dani-- she helps him pass his classes and he won't tell the whole school about Dani's little hobby.


The relationship between these two characters is absolutely magic.  Real and easy and loving and painful and everything that a true relationship is, no matter the genders or sexualities of the people involved.  It's a beautiful thing to watch unfold, and the author does an incredible job sharing it with us.


Kevin may be presented as a typical jock, but he's so much more than that.  There is real kindness there, under the rough, teenage boy exterior.  And Daniel, Danny, Dani, is a real person, struggling with issues of identity and acceptance.  More acceptance of self than acceptance by others.


It's not perfect.  There are places where difficult dynamics seem to be more in the characters' heads than on the page.  Well, many of our problems are more in our heads than in reality.  But in the relationship between Kevin and his father, Kevin seems to be pushing hard against an obstacle that just isn't there.  At the same time, the author doesn't shy away from some difficult, painful truths in Kevin and Dani's relationship.  Both have their issues, and something kind of horrible happens between them that must be overcome.  I'm not sure how I feel about that incident, but it's a lot like looking at other relationships that have hit a hard speed bump.  Could I get past it?  I don't know.  But do I believe that these two have managed to move on?  Absolutely.


That's what's so wonderful about these characters.  They're real and believable.  They grow and change individually and as a couple, and it's a wonderful journey.  The end of the book is a little after school special, but Kevin and Dani are so terrific that I'm willing to forgive that.


So where can you buy this amazing book?  You can't.  Because for some reason it's not been picked up and published by anyone.  (Silly, silly publishers.)  It is available for free, though, published online by the author.  (And that is the final proof of how good this story is-- I hate reading on a computer screen for any length of time, but I happily spent the entire afternoon reading this.)  So here it is: The Girl For Me by Failte.  If you enjoy it half as much as I did, I hope you'll pass the link on to everyone you know.  This story deserves to be read.

Rock the Vote!

Dabwaha is getting down to the nitty gritty.  Voting is going on for the second half of the Elite 8.  If you haven't already, I'm going to ask everyBetty to go vote for Fair Game by Josh Lanyon.  It was a good book, better IMO than it's competitor, and Lanyon is an excellent author in general.  Plus, I'd really like to see a m/m title make a good showing again this year.  (Last year a m/m title, Zero at the Bone by Jane Seville, made it to the final two.)

So if you would, head on over to http://dabwaha.com/ and cast a vote.  Lanyon's behind right now, but he can catch up with our help!

Review: The Adrien English Mysteries by Josh Lanyon

Review by Chronic Betty

Relationships can be murder. Bookseller and mystery author Adrien English is looking for love in all the wrong places -- and, according to hot and handsome LAPD detective Jake Riordan, it's liable to get him killed.

Fatal Shadows
A serial killer is stalking gay men, and a tawny-eyed LAPD detective wants bookseller Adrien English in handcuffs -- for all the wrong reasons!

A Dangerous Thing
When his romance goes south, Adrien heads north to the California Motherlode country. Can murder -- and Adrien's favorite LAPD detective -- be far behind?


I love mystery series with a romance that evolves over multiple books, particularly if the romance is complicated.  Think Julia Spender-Fleming and Deanna Raybourn.  Well, this weekend I found a new author to add to that list- Josh Lanyon.


Adrien English is a gay bookstore owner with a bum ticker and a serious problem.  His best friend has been murdered, and he's Suspect #1.  Jake Riordan is the hostile, deeply closeted detective who's been assigned to the case.  As the bodies start piling up, all Adrien wants is to figure out who the real killer is and clear his name.  What Jake wants... is a greater mystery.

These books were phenomenal.  I read all five books in the series over the course of three days, and the whole thing has been rolling around in a big ball of goodness in my head ever since.  After being that immersed in the series, it's hard to know what to say without spoiling something.

What I can tell you is that the mysteries were exciting and well plotted.  The relationship between Adrien and Jake was intense, and it drags you right along with them.  Books three and four smashed my heart into a million pieces.  Book five slowly put it back together again.  The sex is explicit, and hot, but never over done. These are mysteries with strong romantic elements, not erotica.  And you may pick up the next book in the series because you're dying to see what's going to happen between Adrien and Jake, but that's never the main focus of the story.

I give the whole series an A.  Excellent, excellent work.  And in case you were all wondering if I've flipped my wig after this mess of a review (wig flipping always being a possibility with me), I've found a few people who agree with me.  The fifth book in the series, The Dark Tide, made the American Library Association's 2010 Over the Rainbow List.  The third book, The Hell You Say, was the winner of the 2006 USA Book News award for best GLBT fiction.  And that's just for this series.  There are plenty of other awards for his other work, too.

I borrowed The Adrien English Mysteries 1&2 through the Kindle lending program.  Once I finished devouring those, I popped over to Fictionwise and bought the rest of the series.  In three days my borrowing period will be up, and I'll have to hop online and buy myself a copy of those first two books, because there's no way I can go without them.  One of you will not have that problem, however.

I loved these books so much that I'm going to do something I've never done before.  I'm going to put my money where my keyboard is.  I'm having a contest!  To enter, just comment on this post.  Have you read any of Lanyon's stuff?  Do you want to?  Do you have questions about the series?  Any old comment will do. On Friday night I'll close the comments and randomly draw a winner.  That winner will get an ebook copy of The Adrien English Mysteries 1&2.  That's the first two books in the series.  It's available from several different vendors, so I can be flexible to meet your device's needs.  There don't appear to be any geographic restrictions for this title on Fictionwise, so it's open to everyone.  If you absolutely can't do an ebook, well, the two book collection isn't available in paper.  But I'll do my best to get the first book, Fatal Shadows, into your hands.

So go forth and comment!  And if you're impatient (like me) and can't wait for the drawing, Fictionwise has a 40% off coupon running now through the 14th.  (vday2011)  Great books and a great deal!

And I suppose I ought to say, just in case the FCC is one of the handful of people reading this, that no one paid me in anyway to do this.  The prize is coming out of my own pocket.  I loved this series that much, and I wanted to share it.

Read a Happy Book Week

I've been in a real funk lately.  It seems like the whole world has been in a funk lately.  At a certain point I think all the misery out there just sucks all the happiness out of your tank.  What we all need is a refill.

So I am declaring Read a Happy Book Week.  I want you to find something that makes you happy, that will bring a few moments of joy into your life, and read the heck out of it.  That new book you've been saving up for the right moment?  Now would be the time.  The old favorite that always makes you smile?  Sounds good to me.  Does a good murder mystery always make you sigh with pleasure when the bad guy's caught and all is right with the world again?  Murder on.  And I know you all know a few good romcom authors.

The book I've picked out to start Read a Happy Book Week is Warrior by Zoe Archer.  I've heard good things about this series, and it's definite the kind of book I enjoy.  Adventure, romance, mysterious bad guys, exotic locations, and magic.  Sounds like a good time to me!

So go fill up your happy tanks, everyone.  Let us all know what book you pick, and if this little reading adventure helps!