Jeff Mann

I think I need to start this with the table of content: Highland Sleeper by Jeff Mann, No Mincing Words by Rob Rosen, Elsewhen by ’Nathan Burgoine, Mount Olympus by Jeffrey Ricker, Reunion on the Rails by Hank Edwards, The Blue Train by Erastes, The Train Home by Rick R. Reed, Royal Service by Dale Chase, Resist Me, Please! By Daniel M. Jaffe, Engine of Repression by Gavin Atlas, One Night on the Twentieth Century by Jay Neal, Shadow Mapping by J.D. Barton, Geronimo’s Laughter by Joseph show more Baneth Allen, The Roundhouse Men by Dusty Taylor, The Last Train by William Holden. Why? Because aside for very few names I didn’t know about, this is a collection of la crème de la crème in Gay Fiction. All these authors are bestsellers on their own, and having them all together in one anthology is a treat that make me forget for a moment that anthologies are usually not my cup of tea. It’s also a compliment to the editor, Jerry L. Wheeler, because I think it hadn’t to be simple to put them all together, maintaining by the way the feeling of uniqueness of the collection, all the stories work together for the same target.

Like the majority of these anthologies, Riding the Rails falls into the Erotica category, but I was quite surprise to find out that indeed this is also a Romance collection; some of the stories in it are not even about sex ( see ’Nathan Burgoine’s one), and almost all of them are about love story with an happy ending. Sure there is a bittersweet aftertaste all along the anthology, something that, truth be told, I have always found when reading stories related to trains… there has to be some deep connection between the two things, or maybe the train itself is a metaphor for something you wish but cannot catch. In any case, aside for maybe one or two exceptions (Rick R. Reed and Jay Neal probably), the romance reader will have plenty of happily ever after to enjoy, some of them a little kinky (Jeff Mann), some of them sweet (’Nathan Burgoine) and some of them funny (Daniel M. Jaffe)… to everyone their own.

A collective compliment to all authors go for the high quality of the stories, more little novel than short stories; different in genre, from historical, to sci-fi, to steampunk, but all of them way more than the average you usually are expecting to find in a collection; here the authors sent their best production, not what they had laying around in a forgotten folder.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1602825866/?tag=elimyrevandra-20 show less

I read this book as part of a challenge called 'Pushing Boundaries'. Well I'll have to admit that it definitely fit! This truly was stretching what I feel comfortable reading, but having said that I did enjoy the book. It was extremely well written and drew me into the story and the characters.

Did I like the rape or the violence that was rather graphically described here? No, not really. But it wasn't all about that. There was also the other side of the coin shown; caring, concern and show more tenderness. Not by the same person, but that's what made the book work in the end.

While this is not a story I'm likely to revisit I must admit that I I'm glad that I did 'push my boundaries' and read it. show less

This was a cute book. I imagine I would have connected with it more when I was the same age as the protagonists and not out, so I definitely would recommend this book for young queers - especially young queers who may feel intimidated or alienated by the queer community as seen in the media, which is usually flamboyant and always overwhelmingly urban. There are a lot of narratives that involve young queers who suffer in the middle of nowhere and then life improves when they go to the big show more city to find themselves. What I like about this book is that, while there is a "big city" with an open-minded university and queer community, our protagonist Travis is always thinking about getting land in the country and settling down with a farm outside of the city. I also really like that this story doesn't wrap-up. We don't really know what happens with Travis and Mike after the events of the book, and I think that adds to the charm of it.
I can't say I really like the way the dialogue was written...I got tired of hearing about Mike's "scrumptious butt" after a while, and there was something stilted about how the characters spoke to each other that I didn't really like, but overall, this was a lovely story. show less

Jeff Mann isn’t shy in using a rough imaginary to set his stories, whereas they are in XIX century American frontier, or in XVIII century Scotland, but even amidst the blood and sweat, and tears, you can find the tenderness of two men loving each other.

Angus and Derek are like two halves of the same apple, they were brought up together, Derek the laird’s son, and Angus his second hand, his protector, the one who has to give up his life in case to protect Derek. And he will do. But not show more only for a born duty, but also cause Angus is deeply in love with Derek and they call each other such, “lover”. The same night Angus is killed, Derek is turned into a vampire, in a ceremony that mixes love and death, sex and rape; yes, it’s rape, even if Derek will enjoy the act, he clearly didn’t want it, he was still mourning the loss of his half soul. That is the tenderness amidst the violence, a Derek in search of vengeance who is asking his sire to not have sex with him, cause, yes, he is in mourn, and he needs the time to heal.

The first story, the making of Derek, is probably the longer, taking half the book; after that we follow Derek in the centuries to come, up until modern time, with Derek paired with an husbear, Matt; not being familiar with the bear culture, it was the first time I “met” a bear bottom: it’s not really a term to describe their preferred sexual position, cause, as Derek said, they switch sometime, but it’s more to describe Matt’s playful attitude, something that remains with him way longer his young age, cause, in the end, Matt is more than 40, but nevertheless, still a bear bottom.

I didn’t really understand the decision of Derek to not turn Matt, they seem happy together. What I can think is that, deep down, Derek is still in love with Angus, a man that was totally opposite to Matt, in a way, Matt is to Derek, what Derek was to Angus, and so Derek needs someone different than Matt, someone who can be to him what Angus was. Still, deep down, I’m hoping he will change mind.

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