L. E. Bryce

DNF after reading at least 3/4 of the book. Couldn't bring myself to continue when I realized that the MC existence would continue in its bleakness, with no HEA or even a HFN. I need happiness, dammit!

LE Bryce's writing is beautiful. Her characters grab a reader's heartstrings, and the setting is wonderfully exotic yet oddly familiar. I have enjoyed a couple of the authors other stories with her signature Middle Eastern flavor, and something about this one called to me. Only after I finished it, I wish I had never read it.

This story had an unhappy ending. A really unhappy ending as far as I was concerned, and the story was also sad to begin with. Suryo has been promised as a "bride" to show more Alasson because of a foolish oath their fathers made before they were born - while drunk no less.

Slight spoiler ALERT: As a result, they must marry for a year and then Suryo will be forced into the priesthood and Alasson will gain Suryo's birthright. The men obviously develope feelings for one another, only love didn't conquor all and I felt cheated. The epilogue, which follows up 2 decades later simply rubbed salt into the wound. After I finished, I thought about this story a long time. I felt so sorry for the two lovers, but especially Suryo. His life was literally destroyed, and that is not the way I want to feel after reading what I thought was romance.

If you enjoy Bryce's stories of unlikely love overcoming great obstacles, you won't find that here. If you want realism, this story has it in spades. Though I didn't like this story, I highly recommend readers try her other work, such as "The Golden Lotus." show less

In a strange exotic land, Erred is an initiate of a powerful sea goddess. Without salt water he will die, as his spirit form is hrill, a type of creature reminiscent of a dolphin. On returning from a pilgrimage he and his entourage are attacked and at first the attackers think he is a woman with his silks and his veiled face. When it is discovered he is actually a very beautiful man, they decide not to kill him but capture him as a slave. Erred is taken across the desert to the city of show more Tajhann where he is trained to become a pleasure slave.

This is not a book for the faint of heart. It is beautifully written but the things that happen to Erred are not glossed over, including his first rape at the hands of a greedy merchant who bought Erred for his son but then couldn't resist having a taste of the slave himself. It is a brutal scene, with Erred being drugged and unable to defend himself at all. It is harrowing and you really feel for Erred, but although it is a difficult scene to read without it the book wouldn't have been as strong.

Erred is a slave, he is there for his master's pleasure and nothing else. As he progesses and obeys he is moved through the ranks and one day may have the option to become a free courtesan, wherin he will pick and choose his own clients, but up until then he has no say in who his masters wish him to pleasure.

The book does have a hopeful ending, but I don't want to give it away. The characters are well drawn and you feel yourself drawn into this world of slaves and courtesans where one wrong look or word can mean your death; where friendships are one of the most important things and where love can be found even in the most unexpected places. Lots of political intrigue helps the plot along and I didn't want to stop reading I was so keen to see what happened to Erred.

The story is poignant, touching and erotic and one I would re-read again. show less

After Ki'iri, L.E. Bryce returns to the fantastic world of the Lady of the Waters and of her lovers, the beautiful taleve. In Becoming we have glimpses of Arion and Daro, but the story is all about Olenwe and Ninion.

Ninion is an 18 years old guy that, for some uncofessable secrets chose to drow himself. But the Lady of the Waters makes him her lover and he is brought to the Blue House, among the others taleve. Olenwe, a bit older taleve, is immediately drawn by this young and begins to show more woving him. But Ninion seems to be embarassed by the man and also by his reaction to him.

If you search for reckless sex among young beautiful men, this novel is not for you. The journey of Ninion in his adulthood is written with delicacy and tenderness. Olenwe, despite his different upbringing (he is a former fisherman, while Ninion is from aristocracy), treats Ninion like a precious thing and insinuates himself in his like with small gifts and costant presence. Without consciousness, Ninion begins to turn to Olenwe for everything, and in the end, also for love.

Like in other works I have read by hers, L.E. Bryce has a poetic writing style, which can hardly classify her works like erotic, and which distinguishes her among the other M/M authors.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/159426693X/?tag=elimyrevandra-20 show less