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144 reviews

SerenaYates 4,509 reviews

Couched as a Question by Jane Davitt

While on the surface this story is about a red leather couch that needs to be replaced, there is a deeper truth to what happens. For Matt, the couch has become a symbol of what is good between him and Jordan. For Jordan, it is just a piece of furniture. The underlying misunderstanding, and Jordan's inability to read Matt's mind, is at the heart of what these two go through. Written with tongue firmly in cheek, this story made me laugh out loud several times as Matt and Jordan navigate their show more way through a lack of communication and Matt's unwillingness to admit his true feelings about the situation.

Matt is a landscaper, and not exactly in touch with his emotions. He feels them deeply, but just thinking about discussing them gives him hives (metaphorical ones). For some reason Matt has formed a deep emotional attachment to the couch, and when Jordan becomes adamant it has to go because it has the wrong color for the new decoration scheme, Matt panics. He sort of knows what he feels is ridiculous, but he has no idea how to deal with it.

Jordan has no idea what goes through his boyfriend's head, and is totally focused on his newest decoration project. He isn't inconsiderate, and asks Matt for clarification several times, but there isn’t a whole lot he can do if the man doesn't open up. He has a great sense of humor, and I suspect that is one of the reasons he manages to deal with Matt. The solution he finds once the misunderstanding is solved was great and made me smile.

Some stories have more than one message and this is one of those. The object of contention, the couch in this story, is a symbol for the state of the characters' relationship, but only in Matt's mind. I loved his "fond memories" of all that has happened on it, and his treatment of the piece of furniture like a pet was hilarious. If you like stories about couples who struggle to communicate, if you're interested in seeing how characters who are very different in temperament get along, and if you’re a fan of hot on-the-couch action, you will probably like this short book.

NOTE: This book was provided by Torquere Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. show less

Oct 19, 20173 other reviews

AB_Gayle 193 reviews

Wild Raspberries by Jane Davitt

The Problem with Rushing the Sex

There is a growing tendency amongst ebook erotica publishers to want, if not demand, that there be a sex scene within the first three chapters. Apparently sex sells and (some?) readers are impatient if they have to wait too long for it.

Re-reading one of my favourite m/m romances, Jane Davitt’s “Wild Raspberries” proves how wrong that concept can be.

While the couple have a few brief sexual encounters about halfway through the book, these and the rest of show more the plot only heighten the tension so when the full-on main event finally does occur, it becomes so much stronger for the reader and the participants themelves.

To quote Tyler: “He loved doing this. Loved feeling the self-imposed frustration build, deepening the intensity of his arousal...”

Similarly, Jane’s lead up to this act, deepens the intensity of the encounter. I’ve read a lot of m/m books in my time, but the next ten or so pages have to be the best written sex scene I’ve found so far. There is just the right amount of physical description to allow you to picture the moment, but also you’re right there in Tyler’s head, feeling everything he feels. Every reaction he has to Dan leads on logically from what has come before.

Recently, I participated in one of Linnea Sinclair’s online classes on how to write kick-butt action. Amongst the many helpful hints she gave was to use prequels and sequels (scenes not stories) to provide the reader with all the facts they need to prevent these details slowing the pacing down when the shit starts hitting the fan.

In many ways, this is what also has to happen to really make a sex scene mean more than slot A into slot B in a step-by-step description.

If we know why Tyler is holding back, if we can picture Dan’s eagerness, if we are familiar with the house and the setting, we only need to glimpse these briefly in the sex scene to pad it out mentally.

Similarly, we don’t need the full on emotional reaction within the scene, these can come afterwards in the “sequential” scene.

Finally, within the scene, there has to be good balance between the reactions to what is happening and the actions themselves. To sum up, the actual sex scene needs to follow the rules of writing action, full speed ahead, then a pause for a second before continuing. In Jane’s case, before resuming the action, she inserts some more description of the setting, then ratchets the action up a notch to an even more scorching level.

It’s not just mundane description either but more the way the character reacts to the setting rather than just describing the scene: “The room was lit only by moonlight and the glow of the forgotten lamp still burning in the main room, and Tyler decided to keep it that way. There was enough light for him to see what he was doing and enough darkness for Dan to feel less on display.”

Hardly prize winning writing, but just the correct weight of words and context to suit the purpose. Breaking the action with description, mirrors the momentary downturn in intensity as they relocate to the bedroom.

Writing good sex scenes is akin to writing good action scenes. The same rules apply.

Recently, I’ve been reviewing my m/m collection, sorting out which ones have stood the test of time and a re-read. “Wild Raspberries and its must-read-as-well sequel “Wintergreen” together make a great story. But they will always stay near the top of my re-read pile purely because of the way Jane has written this great sex scene.

Perfect.

I'd blogged an interview with Jane a while back. This can be read here: http://www.abgayle.com/1/post/2011/09/delving-into-the-mind-of-jane-davitt.html

Okay. I admit to being a fan. But with good reason. As an author, I've learnt a lot from her writing. As a reader, I'm always interested in what she's going to come up with next. Her books are definitely not just variations of the same premise or writing style. Compare these ones with "Hourglass" and "Spoken from the Heart". Each has that little touch of difference that will make her writing last when many other, more popular writers fade from memory. show less

Mar 31, 20138 other reviews

SheReadsALot 1,250 reviews

Truthful Change by Jane Davitt

Duplicity and Dandelions.

Duplicitous Dandelions.

I swear looking at this book's cover makes me smirk even harder. Love it.

Duplicity and Dandelions, you're wondering(WTF)?

This is my second title for "[b:Truthful Change|8352979|Truthful Change|Jane Davitt|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1275373685s/8352979.jpg|14618027]". It's unofficial but it fits.

Aiden is a gay FBI agent, living with his doctor boyfriend, Scott. With Aiden out working undercover a lot and Scott being well a doctor, these two show more are on different schedules. It seems like different wavelenengths really. Scott's the boring vanilla in Aiden's wishful cinnamon-ginger spice sex life.

Not.

Good.

So when the FBI assigns 31 year old Aiden to be undercover as being bait as 22 year old, gay virgin and gardener Adam to a well known gay ex-mercenary, Karl, what could go wrong?

Not a lot in my book. All of the wrongs were oh so right!

When Aiden and Karl are together, they are everything but vanilla.

(And if you're not a fan of 'cheating' in romance, don't read this story unless your prepared for some yummy steamy action.)

Karl? Hubba hubba.(I'd like one of him please)

Karl is one sexy bad-ass mofo, anal retentive (& an asshole--at times says me and Aiden) ex-mercenary. He's forced into an early retirement and takes out his frustrations on his gardener, Adam who seems to keep missing pulling out all of those dandelions.

These two are like gasoline and sparks. Just made for each other. When Karl bites (Did I mention he's a biter? God loves a biter and so do I!) Adam when 'introducing' him into the joys of gay sex? Great.

And then around 50% when Karl finds out about Adam being Aiden? They turned up their fire from hot-hot-high to scorching.

Gimme a minute.

I loved the story. Loved the duplicity all around. (Aiden in my book was great. And he redeems himself if you need to be sold. How? Read this book.) The way the authors intro Aiden, then we are slammed into Adam - his thoughts and that acting like a blushing newbie to gay sex? LOVED it. And Karl and Aiden/Adam...they were just great together.

Oh and not only is there hot man action, there's action (car chases, bad guys, guns a-shooting, etc.) too. A little something for everyone. I'd totally recommend to M/M Romance lovers, for sure.

Excuse me while I resonate on this sexy, man-on-man tale...

(I'm purring on the inside, oh the duplicity of it all...)" show less

Jun 20, 20162 other reviews

AB_Gayle 193 reviews

Hourglass by Jane Davitt

Have you ever picked up a book, started reading it and gone WTF? Hourglass did that for me.
I bought it purely because I love Jane Davitt's writing (possibly the ones she writes by herself more than the ones with Alexa). I didn't read the blurb first and found Ben - the guy whose POV the first chapter is written in - frankly obnoxious. Then Samantha his daughter arrived on the scene....
Now, I'm not one to stop reading because of unlikeable characters and have even rated books higher if the show more author can sell me a story where the main protagonists are less than perfect ([b:Bad Company|10804074|Bad Company (Bad in Baltimore, #1)|K.A. Mitchell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1307664103s/10804074.jpg|15717466]), but when I first picked up "Hourglass", it didn't grab me.
Maybe I wasn't in the mood.
I left it in my Mobipocket reader library along with all my other unread stories. Over the next few weeks, other purchases came and went as I read through them quickly, but still Hourglass remained. The weird thing was that my reader for some reason uses one cover as a default, so out of, say, thirty books, half may have one illustration. Every time I opened my reader the multiple images of an hourglass grabbed my attention. It was almost as if the book was yelling at me to read the damn thing.
Finally, I succumbed and am bloody glad I did.
There are only a couple of writers whose work resonates with me as being "original". Other readers may not see them that way, but something in their books or their characters jumps out as "different" and enjoyable, mainly because of that difference. [a:Syd McGinley|2009672|Syd McGinley|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-F-50x66.jpg]'s Dr Fell and [a:Jay Lygon|1180595|Jay Lygon|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] "Chaos Magic" books fall firmly into that category. Interestingly they are also published by Torquere Press.
At this point of writing, I'm half way through Hourglass and dreading that Kate Mc's review of (Brilliant first half, shame about the rest) remark is correct.
So far so good. Now that I have the hang of what is going on, I'm enjoying the structure. The characters and their romance is one level, but the underlying circumstances with the real life parallels to shows like Torchwood and the little digs at the movie industry and the workers in it are worth reading for their own sake.
Ben is growing on me and even the presence of the daughter is not an eye-rolling diversion.
In fact, seeing the couple from Ben's POV adds another dimension to the story. The cynical onlooker. A device that [b:Take My Picture|7823352|Take My Picture|Giselle Ellis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1267837931s/7823352.jpg|10866624] could have used (see my review).

Reading on......
Part of the "problem" people have with the book is the amount of "telling" versus "showing" there is, particularly bits from Ben's POV where we gets lines like this:

The read-through a week earlier had been a disaster. Morden and Simons had sat as far apart as was humanly possible at a round table and said their lines to each other with an icy politeness that robbed them of meaning, or a bored mumble. Sure, no one expected a cold reading to be Oscar-material, but the tension had been palpable. The only time they'd behaved like professionals was when the script called for them to talk to someone else. For those scenes, they'd taken their heads out of their asses and actually given him something resembling a glimmer of hope that this movie would be halfway watchable.

Now, in most m/m romances you would get this scene "shown", but then it would have to be in one of the character's heads, so it would have been uneven as neither would ever admit to themselves they were being pig-headed. So, by telling it from Ben's perspective, we are able to picture the scene ourselves simply because we already know the characters so well. Sure, we're not spoon-fed with it by seeing it in detail, but I can still picture everything that happens.
Perhaps that's why I'm enjoying the book so much. There is freedom for me to fill in the gaps.
Which reminds me of one of my current peeves. There is a growing fashion in romance writing for everything to be shown (and I'm not just talking graphic sex scenes, but that's one symptom of it). I think it's great if we get a good balance between the two forms of writing. Used intelligently, in the appropriate place, and then read patiently, a good tell can be just, if not more rewarding.

Anyway reading on......
By now, Ben's really growing on me.

"Son, the writers put a palomino in that scene," Ben said with his friendliest, scariest smile. "If you want to be the one to tell them that you couldn't get them what they wanted, if you want to be the one to destroy their artistic vision, just trample it to the ground, then go right ahead. They're in that little room beside the men's john."
"The broom cupboard?"
"Is that what they're calling the writers' room these days?" Ben inquired innocently. "Like the green room or something?"
"No, I think it's actually a --"
"Go away," Ben said softly, with emphasis, tiring of the game.

Pity he's straight! I might even be tempted to the dark side of m/f reading, if it was a short about him and his ex-wife, Maddy!

Two-thirds of the way through now. Still OK, still making sense. Logical relationship progression. Not too fast, not too slow.
Fucking each other once, no matter whether the earth moved or not, is not going to magically atone for ten years of having their lives fucked up. Some criticisms have been levelled at the tired old trope of the big misunderstanding being used, but that was only one aspect of their problem. They admit themselves that they weren't ready for a relationship at that stage, society was less accepting of celebrities being gay and an element of professional jealousy prevailed.
I think another reason I'm enjoying Hourglass is that the author treats her readers as people with intelligence. A rare occurrence. Take this bit for example:

If this was a movie, the script would call for him to splash water on his face, stare at his reflection in the mirror, maybe punch a wall. Ash didn't want to do any of those things, which just went to show how artificial scripts were. He sat on the toilet, with the seat down, and stared at the floor, a spotless white tile, subtly patterned with swirls and with an iridescent gleam.

I can really relate to that.

Reading on.... Ooh, something unexpected happens. This must be the spoiler that Kate deleted. Hm, not too sure what I think of this development. I can see where the author is coming from, though, making a pretty heavy statement about the right of celebrities to live their lives in peace, without papparazi or the public thinking they own them, just because they see them regularly on their little rectangular boxes in their living rooms.

Reading on....
Dramatic, but hey, the whole incident parallels the television series they starred in which almost demanded something of this magnitude. In a way, their real life resembles a movie script (more of that later).
Also, I may have commented somewhere that reading half a good book and putting it down because the rest is no good is more rewarding than reading the whole of one mediocre book. Whle this may be true, the sentiment doesn't apply in this case.
There's nothing "wrong" with the last half of Hourglass. For starters, if you did stop, you'd miss the snarky scene between Ash and Ben at the swimming pool.
Lately I've noticed that too many authors just churn out book after book, filled with repetitive chunks of their own writing or are derivative of other people's work, complete with plots you could fill in after reading the first chapter, so it's good to discover that Jane has in a number of instances deliberately skipped the clichéd turn of events, eg people recognising someone when the obvious plot move would be not to.
And as for the show vs tell debate... the point is that that the author has some great "shown" scenes in the book. But they're kept for the important sections.
At no stage did I think these two guys were chicks with dicks. At no time did their angsting, or their dialogue feel anything but right for the character.
I like it when one hero can say to the other:

"You're just one tangled mess of hang-ups and issues, you know that?"

and the remark is uttered affectionately, naturally. The sort of dialogue two men would have.
Sure, Lee's statement above about Ash was a spot on and accurate assessment of his faults. But that didn't stop him loving him, or as he so succinctly puts it later:

Let me know when you've stopped emoting and I'll finish the foreplay and get to your favorite bit."

There was a word or two here and there I would have tweaked to an alternative that might fit better. But, hey, that's me, over-refining the text until it's almost too slick to be real.
And the sex?
Despite what Lee says above, the foreplay for the last, very satisfying sex scene was the best part of it. All "shown" beautifully, dahlings.
I loved the laugh-out-loud bits of dialogue (and there are lots of those). This is a feel good, smiley book if you let it be.

Lee laughed. That was Ash all over. If he was issued a halo in heaven, he'd probably ask if it made his ears look big. "You make bed head look good, trust me."

Even the ending of the original television series is sigh-worthy.
Now for the final zinger. “Why did the author start and finish the book through the eyes of Ben?” My best explanation is that this makes the love story between Ash and Lee feel like just that, a story boxed up and presented to the reader by Ben, the producer. Although we quickly switch into feeling it is their story, we get pulled back out often enough to give the impression that we’re watching this love affair unfurl on television - complete with interruptions - while segments of the TV series, magazine articles, horoscopes, action told from another point of view are slotted in, much like television commercials.
Whether or not you think, as a reader, this is a good thing or not remains to be seen. At least in this case those “breaks in the viewing” are relevant and act almost like a Greek chorus, commenting indirectly on what’s just happened or about to happen. Removed but pertinent.
To sum up. If you’re reading m/m romances to get a quick sexual titillation, then maybe this isn’t for you. (The sex/romance is there. I can point out the page numbers if you like!) If you’re looking for your standard boy meets boy, they have a bit of conflict but get together in the end, well that’s also there but that’s not all that’s there. If you’re looking for a story about two men in love presented in a way that suits that love, then that’s there in spades.
If you’re sick of the same old, same old and despair of the standard of m/m romances, then give “Hourglass” a burl, but first lose the expectations, lose the preconceptions about how m/m romances should be written. Love the characters for who they are, enjoy watching them connect and discover that there is a relationship beyond the sex. Savor the carefully crafted touches that make this book stand out far above the crowd.
It could have been written as a straight gay romance, but by “wrapping” up a simple love story and presenting it in a box, interleaved with sheets of “tissue paper” Jane has given me, at least, an unforgettable ride of a read.
Or, in this case, in the words of Samantha who by now I liked nearly as much as her Dad: