The Water Witch - Review

The Water Witch by Juliet Dark is the second book in the The Fairwik Trilogy.  The first book being The Demon Lover, if you are interested in reading the review of the first book it can located The Demon Lover- Review.  

In the second installment we are taken back into the life of Callie McFay, who is still recovering from casting out an Incubus and her lover.  Now she has to fight the closing of the portal between earth as we know it and the fairy realm.  Along the way she loses and gains friends and allies.  Also the dreams connecting her and her Incubus are still going on, her house if falling apart, she is fighting evil witches and warlocks and she can only thank the powers that she doesn’t have to deal with all the students.  If she did she couldn't possibly save the Undines, the gate and perhaps all the Fairy left on earth. 

Juliet Dark once again leads us to a magical realm with more than enough realism to make us feel that this could be our life, a main character that you connect too and an Incubus that is all too human.  She has never failed to please and I simply cannot wait until I can finish the trilogy.  Once again she has left me wanting more and unable to wait.  This was the perfect set up for the third and final part of the trilogy.  I don’t think that these books could offer me more if they tried.  I give another five stars to Ms. Dark!

The back of the book reads

"After casting out a dark spirit, Callie McFay, a professor of gothic literature, has at last restored a semblance of calm to her rambling Victorian house. But in the nearby thicket of the honeysuckle forest, and in the currents of the rushing Undine stream, more trouble is stirring. . . .

The enchanted town of Fairwick’s dazzling mix of mythical creatures has come under siege from the Grove: a sinister group of witches determined to banish the fey back to their ancestral land. With factions turning on one another, all are cruelly forced to take sides. Callie’s grandmother, a prominent Grove member, demands her granddaughter’s compliance, but half-witch/half-fey Callie can hardly betray her friends and colleagues at the college. To stave off disaster, Callie enlists Duncan Laird, an alluring seductive academic who cultivates her vast magical potential, but to what end? Deeply conflicted, Callie struggles to save her beloved Fairwick, dangerously pushing her extraordinary powers to the limit—risking all, even the needs of her own passionate heart."

Surprising Lord Jack - Review

Surprising Lord Jack by Sally Mackenzie is a fun story about a woman who is completely uninterested in marriage and a fake rake who uses his reputation to hide his altruistic tendencies.

 Frances Hadley gets into trouble when she hears that her aunt has sold her into marriage and plans to ruin her to get her to the altar.  To avoid this fate she chops her hair dresses like a boy and tries to get London.  If she can get her dowry she can live by herself well away from anyone.  On a cold night she takes refuge in at an Inn only to wake up having slept with Jack Valentine in the same bed.  Not only that but someone knows about it.  Now what is she to do?

Jack uses his reputation as a horrible rake to cover up his real activities the last thing he wanted was to be shackled to anyone.  However, he takes the boy he found at the inn under his wing and is determined to help the lad.  When he discoverers that Francis is really Frances he is honor bound to marry her.  Even if it is the last thing she wants.  He ends up enlisting the help of his mother and every other family member he can to try to convince the very unconventional woman that he is not as bad as everyone thinks. 

Sally Mackenzie leads us on a fun and exciting love story filled with a lot of passion and possibilities.  Jack is what most women want in a man, and Frances has everything she never knew she wanted, including the dog. 

A Most Scandous Proposal - Review

In A Most Scandalous Proposal by Ashlyn Macnamara we end up with two love stories the story of the sisters Julia and Sophia.  Both Julia and Sophia would be diamonds of the first water if only one thing were true.  They are not from a family with a title.  However, their poise and beauty easily get them into the best balls.  Sophia has been in love with the Earl of Clivesden since she came out.  Julia has decided that she will not marry for love.  However, all plans are blown when the Earl proposes to the wrong sister.  He wants Julia and not Sophia.  In order to get what he wants the Earl sets Sophia up to be compromised by someone else.  The unwilling suspect is a man with a dark past and a lot of honor. 

Julia decides that she is going to get herself compromised in the most scandalous way in order to get out of her betrothal to the dark Earl.  For this she asks help of her childhood friend Benedict Revelstoke. 

The book had a good romance story.  However, I think it takes on a little too much.  Instead of just one romance we the readers are trying to keep track of two.  While this does allow double the sex scenes it can get confusing. 

Ashlyn Macnemara leads us on a great and well told story.  However, this could have been broken up into two books to save on the confusion.  The reason that this gets confusing is when it switches points of view it doesn't always tell you what view you are currently in.  However, this author will have a lot to offer us in the future. 

The discription given for the book reads as follows, It only mentions one of the romance stories. 

"After watching her beloved sister, Sophia, pine over the ton’s golden boy for years, Miss Julia St. Claire has foresworn love and put herself firmly on the shelf. Unfortunately, her social-climbing mother and debt-ridden father have other ideas, and jump at the chance to marry Julia off to the newly named Earl of Clivesden . . . the man of Sophia’s dreams.

Since resigning his cavalry commission, Benedict Revelstoke has spent his time in London avoiding the marriage mart. But when he discovers that the Earl of Clivesden has his sights set on Julia, Benedict tries to protect his childhood best friend from the man’s advances—only to discover that more than friendship is driving his desire to defend her. He surprises them both with the force of his feelings, but when Julia refuses him, and her father announces her betrothal, Benedict fears he’s lost her forever—until Julia approaches him with a shocking scheme that will ruin her for all respectable society and lead them into an exquisite world of forbidden pleasures."

Promises in Every Star-Review

Promises in Every Star is not normally what I would have chosen for myself. However, there are some great stories hidden in this book of short stories.  It would be a mistake to label any of these stories Romance, some are not even that erotic, and in fact almost all of them end in almost a sad way.  While there is defiantly a touch of hot and steamy, but in some of the stories the sex is not the main focus.  There are stories about lost love, new adventures, ghostly encounters, and encounters with creatures of the deep in this book.

What this book does offer is a great view on the insight of an aging gay male and the fantasy's that one might have.  However, each fantasy is touched with more than a little reality.  At the end of the book I couldn't help but feel sad for most of the men I met.  While they do get sex, most do not find what they are really looking for. If you are looking for happy endings, and forever ever after I strongly suggest you find another book.  If you are looking for a collection of erotic stories with a touch of real life thrown in then you might want to give this book a read. 
 

Here is the Synopsis for the book.  

Todd Gregory has become one of the most acclaimed writers and editors of gay male erotica over the past ten years. His short stories run the gamut from romance to noir to horror to fantasy—but the common denominator is always hot, passionate sex between two men. Published everywhere from websites to anthologies to magazines, Todd Gregory is always provocative—physically and intellectually. Here, in Promises in Every Star, for the first time, all of his published short stories are in one place. This collection also includes several never-before-published stories.