At eighteen Dylan Rutledge has one obsession: music. He believes his destiny is to be the greatest composer of the rapidly approaching twentieth century. Only Laurence Northcliff, a young history master at The Venerable Bede School for Young Gentlemen, believes in Dylan’s talent and encourages his dream, not realizing Dylan is in love with him. [...]
Filed under: 19th Century, England, Fiction, Reviews, Ruth Sims, five stars | Leave a Comment »
It’s the Roaring Twenties. Skirts are short, crime is rampant, and booze is in short supply. Prohibition has hit Little Egypt where newspaper man David Flynn has come to do a follow-up story on the Herren Massacre. But the massacre isn’t the only news in town. Spiritualist Medium Julian Devereux claims to speak to the [...]
Filed under: 1920's, 4½ Stars, America, Fiction, Josh Lanyon, Murder Mystery, Reviews, ebook, novella | 2 Comments »
Henry Chadderton’s father earned his wealth in trade, but he looks to elevate his son to the gentry through marriage into a titled family. And so it is that Edward Montford, the second son of an impoverished baronet, accompanies his twin sister Emma to London in order to introduce her to her future husband. Henry [...]
Filed under: 19th Century, 2 stars, England, Farida Mestek, Fiction, Regency, ebook, novella | 5 Comments »
In London during the gross indecency trial of Oscar Wilde, Douglas Shrove finds himself still haunted by memories of his dead lover while skirting violence, blackmail and the affections of two men. There are two who seek you out That is what the gypsy told Douglas Shrove a few months after the death of his [...]
Filed under: 19th Century, 4½ Stars, England, Fiction, M J Pearson, Reviews, Victorian | 3 Comments »
Lord Vincent Prescot’s life couldn’t be better. Thriving investments, well-respected by his peers, and mind blowing sex with a man who submits to his every desire — what more could he want? Lord Oliver Marsden should be more than happy with his life. He’s been in love with Vincent for over a decade and six [...]
Filed under: 19th Century, 4½ Stars, Ava March, Fiction, Regency, Reviews, ebook, novella | 1 Comment »
Bitter Creek is a town on the brink of war. Lines are being drawn and sides taken as two powerful men gather armies of gunfighters. The townspeople are helpless and the law worthless. One man has already died in the opening salvo of this land war and an air of fearful anticipation hangs over the [...]
Filed under: 19th Century, 3½ Stars, America, American Civil War, Fiction, Reviews, T A Chase | Leave a Comment »
Aristide, Léandre, and Perrin pledge only three loyalties in life: their King, their captain, and their passion for each other. So when the musketeers discover a plan to accuse M. de Tréville of treason, the initial impulse to kill the messenger, Benoît, is tempered by their need to unmask the plotter. But their first two [...]
Filed under: 17th Century, 2 stars, Ariel Tachna, Europe, Fiction, Nikki Bennett, Reviews | Leave a Comment »
For readers who’ve loved Jane Austen’s most popular novel—the inestimable Pride and Prejudice—questions have always remained. What is the real nature of Darcy’s intense friendship with Charles Bingley, to explain why he would prevent Bingley’s marriage to Elizabeth’s beautiful and virtuous sister Jane? How can Darcy reconcile his own desire for Elizabeth with his determination [...]
Filed under: 19th Century, 2 stars, Ann Herendeen, Bisexual, England, Fiction, Regency, Reviews | Leave a Comment »
He thought he knew who he was. Now he’s a stranger to himself. Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Book 7 When Jonty Stewart and Orlando Coppersmith witness the suspicious death of a young man at the White City exhibition in London, they’re keen to investigate—especially after the cause of death proves to be murder. But police Inspector [...]
Filed under: 1900's, Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Charlie Cochrane, England, Fiction, Reviews, detective, five stars | 4 Comments »
Crippled by a devastating stammer, Alfie would prefer to hide himself away in the audience of London’s theaters. But as the perfect Georgian gentleman, it’s his responsibility to find a husband for his ward Eleanor. The pain of having to converse with strangers is lessened by the appearance of the kind-hearted Lord George Caldwell and [...]
Filed under: 19th Century, 4½ Stars, Age of Sail, England, Fiction, G S Wiley, Regency, Reviews, ebook, novella | 1 Comment »
“When I think of the things that happened and the things I did, it is as though I were living them … My hands feel what I touched, and the smells that surrounded me fill my nostrils … Old joys swell my heart, old sorrows clutch at my throat … I remember every face, every [...]
Filed under: 18th Century, 19th Century, Anel Viz, Europe, Fiction, Reviews, five stars | 1 Comment »
Peter Thorton and his lover set out on a quest to rescue a captive duke who is the pretender to the throne of Portugal. Thorton is arrested and placed on trial for desertion and sodomy. Men of Honor continues the further adventures of a gay officer during the Age of Sail, replete with perils, excitement, [...]
Filed under: 4½ Stars, Age of Sail, Fiction, M Kei, Reviews | 3 Comments »
An emperor’s search for love destroys the very person he most adores. Crime/mystery/romance historical fiction based upon real events and characters of pagan Rome. Set two centuries before Rome’s recognition of Christians, it is an era of intrigue, torrid relations, raging ambition, wild sensuality, & unconventional love. Caesar Hadrian’s ‘favorite’ is found one dawn beneath [...]
Filed under: 4½ Stars, Ancient Rome, Ancient World, Fiction, George Gardiner, Reviews, history | 6 Comments »
Patrick, fabulously wealthy and with a good eye for pictures and young men, brings the impressionable Nicholas Milestone to London, intent on reducing him to utter dependence by playing on his naivety and greed. But Nicholas proves to be not quite as pliable as hoped, and a witty social comedy develops as he struggles with [...]
Filed under: 1940's, 4 stars, England, Essential Reads, Fiction, Michael Nelson, Reviews | 1 Comment »
‘I know who you are.’The cat’s tangled thongs fell a second time. Mick flinched, arching away from the lash. ‘I know what you’ve done.’ Mick’s strong shoulders shivered under another blow. He caught the eye of the handsome midshipman. The stinging heat on his broad back increased, as did the burning ache between his spread [...]
Filed under: 18th Century, Age of Sail, Fiction, Jack Gordon, Reviews, pirates, three stars | 1 Comment »
This long out-of-print and newly rediscovered novel tells the story of two boys growing up in the cotton country of Mississippi a generation after the Civil War. Originally published in 1950, the novel’s unique contribution lies in its subtle engagement of homosexuality and cross-class love. In The Bitterweed Path, Thomas Hal Phillips vividly recreates rural [...]
Filed under: 19th Century, 2½ stars, America, Fiction, Reviews, Thomas Hal Phillips | Leave a Comment »
Justin Alexander Taylor had always dreamed of a life at sea. Living on the tip of England’s coastline, Justin escaped one night from his abusive father and stowed away on a ship. What Justin didn’t realize was the sloop, His Revenge, was a pirate ship, out for a broadside and gold. Captain Richard Jones escaped [...]
Filed under: 18th Century, 1½ stars, Age of Sail, Fiction, G.A. Hauser, Reviews, ebook, pirates | Tagged: 18th Century, 1½ stars, Age of Sail, ebook, Fiction, G.A. Hauser, pirates, Reviews | 24 Comments »
A “who and why-done-it” mystery set in 1940s Florida, Dan Ewing is the manager of the Caloosa Hotel, which privately caters to the very special needs of its guests, and Bud Wright is a police detective whose passionate desire for Dan is in conflict with his desire to shut Dan’s business down. When one black [...]
Filed under: 1940's, Elliott Mackle, Essential Reads, Fiction, Murder Mystery, Reviews, World War II, five stars | Tagged: 1940’s, Elliott Mackle, Essential Reads, Fiction, five stars, Murder Mystery, Reviews, World War II | 4 Comments »
Graphic Novel Dreaded pirate Black Wade has a cruel mind and an explosive sexuality. His mercilessness is legendary, but it wavers when he encounters the young and warm-hearted English officer Jack Wilkins. these two absolutely different men are prisoners to their fate. overwhelmed by their passion they unite in a fight for freedom and love. [...]
Filed under: 18th Century, 4½ Stars, Age of Sail, Fiction, Reviews, graphic novel, pirates | Tagged: 18th Century, 4½ Stars, Age of Sail, Fiction, graphic novel, pirates, Reviews | 4 Comments »
It’s 1955, Las Vegas is swinging, and David Lonergan has the chance of a lifetime when he accompanies his cousin to be the headlining act at the Thunderbird Casino. A pianist who cut his teeth in the jazz clubs of Chicago, David is dazzled by the lights, the music, and the anything goes attitude of [...]
Filed under: 1950's, 3½ Stars, America, Fiction, Jamie Craig, Reviews, ebook, novella | Tagged: 3½ Stars, Fiction, Reviews, ebook, America, novella, 1950’s, Jamie Craig | 3 Comments »
What does a jaded earl see in a studious, shy man? Everything he never knew he was missing. Their first, scorching hot sessions were about passion, not love, but now Peter is desperate to win back the young man he spurned. Review by Erastes This book sort of took me by surprise. First of all, [...]
Filed under: 19th Century, 4 stars, Bonnie Dee, England, Fiction, Reviews, Summer Devon, Victorian, ebook | Tagged: 19th Century, 4 stars, Bonnie Dee, ebook, England, Fiction, Reviews, Summer Devon, Victorian | 6 Comments »
Bitten Peach is an eleven-story anthology capturing the essence of the deliciously euphemistic Oriental world of men making love to other men, arranged in a chronological sequence covering a 2,200-year period. These are stories that go beyond the random act of sexual release between men. They offer more complex and context-richer studies of gathering age-old [...]
Filed under: 3½ Stars, China, Fiction, Habu, Reviews, ebook | Tagged: 3½ Stars, Fiction, Reviews, ebook, China, Habu | 4 Comments »
Brendan Townsend is a young man who is very loyal to his friends. So when Tony—his best friend, occasional lover, and a complete screw-up—comes to him in trouble, Brendan is determined to help. Tony is being blackmailed by the owner of a “molly house”, the private club that Tony—and other like-minded gentlemen—frequent in order to [...]
Filed under: 19th Century, 4 stars, England, Fiction, Lee Rowan, Regency, Reviews | Tagged: 19th Century, 4 stars, England, Fiction, Lee Rowan, Regency, Reviews | 2 Comments »
The place is gaudy yet drab, lively yet death-like, dispassionate mother hen to a brood of dithered chicks. Discover its bizarre existence from the inside, through the muddled collective mind of the outcast in-group, a gay throng of third-sex bewildered ones who frantically seek a why–but must always settle for The Why Not! Review by [...]
Filed under: 1960's, America, Fiction, Reviews, Victor J Banis, five stars | Tagged: 1960’s, America, Fiction, five stars, Reviews, Victor J Banis | 6 Comments »
Pirates! Rapiers! Cannons and flintlocks! These are all the idea behind Galleons and Gangplanks. Bringing back the days when pirates ruled the high seas, this collection of stories has no shortage of adventure, danger, and excitement. From Sean Michael comes Searching the Seas, a story about an honest man kidnapped by pirates, used as collateral [...]
Filed under: 17th Century, 18th Century, 3½ Stars, Age of Sail, Fiction, Julia Talbot, Mychael Black, Reviews, Sean Michael, Willa Otaki, pirates | Tagged: Age of Sail, 3½ Stars, Fiction, Reviews, 18th Century, 17th Century, Julia Talbot, Mychael Black, Sean Michael, Willa Otaki, pirates | 2 Comments »
J.S. Cook debuts haunted American expatriate Jack Stoyles, whose numb exile in an unexpected Atlantic outpost is suddenly brightened by a stranger who kisses him — and then dies. Betrayal, graft, a lost girl, and too many deaths. With good reason Jack called his place Heartache Cafe. This short story in ebook format part of [...]
Filed under: 1940's, 4½ Stars, America, Fiction, Joanne Soper-Cook, Reviews, World War II, ebook, novella | Tagged: 1940’s, 4½ Stars, America, ebook, Fiction, Joanne Soper-Cook, novella, Reviews, World War II | 2 Comments »
Lucius Mettelus Carbo, once a legate on the rise in the Roman army, rescues a beautiful young prostitute, Varick, who immediately stirs him. However, Lucius doesn’t believe anyone could want him, a man cursed by the gods with an ugly, twisted leg. He resists his attraction to the pleasure slave as they forge a tempestuous [...]
Filed under: 3½ Stars, Ancient Rome, Fiction, Jan Irving, Reviews, ebook, novella | Tagged: 3½ Stars, Fiction, Reviews, ebook, novella, Ancient Rome, Jan Irving | 4 Comments »
Josef Jaeger turns thirteen when Adolf Hitler is appointed Germany’s new Chancellor. When his mother dies, Josef is sent to Munich to live with his uncle, Ernst Roehm, the openly-homosexual chief of the Nazi brown shirts. Josef thinks he’s found a father-figure in his uncle and a mentor in his uncle’s lover, streetwise Rudy, and [...]
Filed under: 1930's, 4 stars, Fiction, Jere' M. Fishback, Reviews, YA | Tagged: 1930’s, 4 stars, Fiction, Jere' M. Fishback, Reviews, YA | 2 Comments »
“Calico” is something of a breakthrough novel in that it spans a bridge which is only now opening for two-way traffic. The author describes “Calico” as a “western/romance/adventure/mystery with a twist”…the twist being that its cowboy hero/protagonist just happens to be gay. Calico Ramsey finds himself with the responsibility of seeing that two 17 year [...]
Filed under: 4½ Stars, America, Fiction, Reviews, Western, YA | Tagged: 4½ Stars, America, Fiction, Reviews, Western, YA | 4 Comments »
Cornwall, 1906 After inheriting Trevaglan Farm from a distant relative, Jonathan Williams returns to the estate to take possession, with his best friend, Alayne, by his side. He’d only been to Trevaglan once before, fourteen years earlier when he’d been sent there after a family scandal and his mother’s death. But that was a different [...]
Filed under: 1900's, Donald L Hardy, England, Fiction, Reviews, five stars | Tagged: 1900’s, Donald L Hardy, England, Fiction, five stars, Reviews | 11 Comments »
Complementing each other on the dance floor isn’t enough to form a relationship. Is it? It’s 1953, and Hollywood is booming with extravagant musicals. Coming off a string of hits with MGM, Paul Dunham couldn’t be hotter. Hoping to capitalize on Paul’s popularity, the studio announces its attention to pair him with the latest actor [...]
Filed under: 1950's, 4½ Stars, America, Fiction, Jamie Craig, Reviews, ebook | Tagged: 1950’s, 4½ Stars, America, ebook, Fiction, Jamie Craig, Reviews | 4 Comments »
Jack saves Nehemiah from drowning, or worse, on the Cornish coast, surprised to find he has an American in his midst. He’s also afraid that his fellow villagers will kill Nehemiah rather than look at him, all for the peridot ring on his finger. He takes Nehemiah in, sharing his home, and eventually his secrets. [...]
Filed under: 19th Century, 4 stars, England, Fiction, Reviews, Syd McGinley, ebook, novella | Tagged: 19th Century, 4 stars, ebook, England, Fiction, novella, Reviews, Syd McGinley | Leave a Comment »
When Feldwebel Horst Stussel is murdered in Jake’s Plenty’s brothel, local police chief Captain Nicholas Renard suspects Jake’s involvement in the crime – but with an Allied invasion of North Africa mere days away, Jake and Renard must combine their wits, their cunning and their courage to defeat the Nazis for once and for all. [...]
Filed under: 1940's, 4½ Stars, Fiction, Joanne Soper-Cook, Reviews, World War II | 2 Comments »
A colorful novel of the circus world of the 1940s and 1950s, rich in detail, bursting with power and emotion. Mario Santelli, a member of the famous flying Santelli family, is a great trapeze artist. Tommy Zane is his protege. As naturally and gracefully as they soar through the air, the two flyers find themselves [...]
Filed under: 1940's, 1950's, 4 stars, America, Essential Reads, Fiction, Marion Zimmer-Bradley, Reviews | 10 Comments »
The history books tell us that Piers Gaveston was many things: arrogant, ambitious, avaricious, flamboyant, extravagant, reckless, brave, and daring, indiscreet, handsome, witty, vivacious, vain, and peacock-proud, a soldier and champion jouster, the son of a condemned witch, who used witchcraft, his own wicked wiles, and forbidden sex to entice and enslave King Edward II, [...]
Filed under: 13th Century, 14th Century, 4 stars, Fiction, Reviews | Tagged: book review, Brandy Purdy | Leave a Comment »
He thinks he has everything. Until someone tries to steal it. Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Book 5 For friends and lovers Orlando Coppersmith and Jonty Stewart, a visit to Bath starts out full of promise. While Orlando assesses the value of some old manuscripts, Jonty plans to finish his book of sonnets. Nothing exciting…until they are [...]
Filed under: 1900's, Cambridge Fellows Mysteries, Charlie Cochrane, England, Fiction, Reviews, detective, five stars, novella | Tagged: 1900's, Charlie Cochrane | 5 Comments »
Reynard is the impoverished son of a cavalier, driven to highway robbery to support his sister, Emilia. But a puritan he robs proves to be his new neighbor–and Emilia returns to the house with her intended fiancé, who demands her promised dowry or the deeds to the family lands. Finally a new sheriff turns up [...]
Filed under: 17th Century, 4 stars, Emily Veinglory, England, Fiction, Reviews, ebook | Tagged: 17th Century, Emily Veinglory | Leave a Comment »
Running away in 1762 from a dull life in fashionable Georgian Bath, Jesse Sunderland joins an ocean-going merchant ship. Just nineteen years old, naive and keen for adventure in the expanding world where England rules the seas and dominates the colonies, he has to not only deal with the harshness of this life at sea [...]
Filed under: 18th Century, 1½ stars, Age of Sail, America, England, Fiction, Reviews, Steph Minns | 13 Comments »
After his younger sister is killed in a tragic accident, William Palmer’s family flees their quiet Warwickshire village for the bustling metropolis of Elizabethan London. The deaths of his parents and the marriage of his remaining sister soon separate William from his family. Taken on by a company of actors in an era where women [...]
Filed under: 16th Century, England, Fiction, Reviews, three stars | Leave a Comment »
Lieutenant Commander Gabriel Conlan, United States Navy Seabees, knows he’s not in Kansas anymore when he steps off the launch at the small island of Ile Dorée and sees gorgeous Frenchman René Dubois waiting for him on the dock. The year is 1943, the place is the Pacific and the world is at war. Free [...]
Filed under: 1940's, 4½ Stars, Fiction, Reviews, Samantha Kane, World War II, ebook, novella | 6 Comments »
When Lucien Mayer, 14th Earl of Ravensberry is taken hostage by a gang of highwaymen, he is drawn to the damaged, reclusive Ambrosius and the dangerous, brooding Dante. Torn between escaping and satisfying his body’s needs, his life will never be the same again. Review by Erastes Oh dear, I thought. Another kidnap/rape-non con turns [...]
Filed under: 18th Century, Fiction, Reviews, Scarlet Blackwell, ebook, novella, three stars | Leave a Comment »
For seven years, Emmett Ward has harbored amorous feelings toward his partner, Jack Robison. A chance encounter brought them together—Emmett slaved in an illegal warehouse run by a Korean criminal known as the Dragon Lady, when Jack, a notorious bounty hunter with his sights set on her son Lin Ji, was captured. Emmett helped Jack [...]
Filed under: 19th Century, Fiction, ebook, novella, three stars | Leave a Comment »
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