Book Reviews
Review: “Burning Intuition” by Makenzi Fisk
Genre: Lesbian Paranormal Mystery/Thriller Length: Novel MINNESOTAN POLICE officer, Erin Ericsson, travels to Canada to catch a criminal that fell through US cracks. Lily is a killer who is just getting started in her killing career—she’s only a teenager. Besides her trusty knife, the same one she stole from her dead mother who died of suspicious circumstances, Lily uses fire to wreck havoc, and instill terror in her victims. No one is safe. Not Erin or Erin’s loved ones. Not her own family. Not even her friends, including the girl she meets in school, and her family. She’s a … Read more
Review: “The MCB Quarterly” by MacLeod, Sparks, Dair, Collins, Coatsworth, and Ander
Genre: LGBTQ+ Literary Magazine Length: Anthology A GREAT anthology, and the first volume of what I expect will be a successful quarterly magazine. The magazine features short LGBTQ+ works, and within that category, the genres are limitless. In this issue there was horror, literary fiction, humor, drama, and so much more. There was even art in the form of book covers, and interviews—something for everyone. I would like to review a few of the highlights of this anthology, and Fascimilie by Mina MacLeod was one of the stories that stood out for me. Great writing and a truly haunting. … Read more
“Spirit Sanguine” by Lou Harper
Genre: MM Paranormal Length: Novel GABE LEAVES eastern Europe to return to his old stomping grounds in Chicago USA, and to rough up some vamps, like the good slayer he is. Fortunately, before he can make too much of an ass out of himself, he stumbles upon Harvey, an understanding vegetarian vampire, who explains to Gabe that not only are his ideas of vampires old fashioned, but they’ll get him in trouble in both the human and vampire community. Gabe isn’t sure what to make of that, but he tentatively accepts Harvey’s offer of friendship, and lurks around him, … Read more
Review: Lore & Logos, by Matthew P. Buscemi
I came to this book in kind of a round-about way. Matt is one of our newer folks in the Queer Sci Fi group, and he posted this one a few weeks ago on a Me Me Monday. The cover is soooo NOT sci fi – but there’s a reason for that – you’ll just have to read the Acknowledgement. We ended up talking a bit online, and he offered to send me a copy. Great, I thought, another eBook to throw on the stack. But Matt surprised me – he’s kind of old school, and really likes printed books … Read more
“Charmed and Dangerous” by Ford, Hale, Charles, Kimberling, Price, Hawk, Cochet, Harper, Speed, and Amara
Genre: MM Paranormal Mystery/Thriller Length: Anthology THIS ANTHOLOGY was superb, and a must-read for any MM Fantasy or Paranormal lover. The writing was crisp, the characters were authentic, and the plots were compelling. The stories featured detectives, or other arcane crime fighters, and usually had a mystery component to them. They also had just enough of the sexy to keep you hungering for more, which was cool, because that’s my bag in a nutshell, baby. Dim Sum Asylum by Rhys Ford A story about a fey-human hybrid, Roku, who works in arcane law enforcement, and has … Read more
Review: Off World, by Jonah Bergan
I had the pleasure to receive an advance copy of Jonah Bergan’s new MM sci fi book Off World. The cover of the book is gorgeous – it immediately made me interested in reading the story. The image of the main character is mysterious and gorgeous, and the planetary background promises a lush sci fi adventure. The story doesn’t disappoint. Let me say up front that the book does include some semi graphic sex with a dominance theme. But one of the things I loved about it was that the sex was both secondary and integral to the science fiction … Read more
Review: “Chaos Station” by Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen
Genre: MM Sci Fi Romance Length: Novel THE WAR leaves Felix Ingesson physically scarred and emotionally damaged. However, just when he’s made a place for himself on a ship under an understanding captain, out of the blue a man he thought was permanently out of his life comes looking for his crew’s help. An old friend from the academy… and an ex boyfriend. Zander Anatolius was a prodigy, but the war has changed him too, namely leaving him with alien chemical technology in his body—technology that’s probably going to kill him sooner than later. He gets quite a shock … Read more
“Obsidian Sun” by Jon Keys
Genre: MM Romantic Fantasy Length: Novella WEAVERS AND spinners are two peoples of the Talac—phenotypically different, and the way they use the ancient magic of their peoples is different. Out of tradition they keep to their own social clusters, but Anan, a spellweaver, and Terja, a spellspinner, are about to discover through hardship that the two peoples are meant to be as one. When their village is attacked, Anan and Terja ban together in blood vengeance against the tribe that enslaved and killed their people. Their trust is fleeting, but as they fight and care for one another, it … Read more
“The Homecoming” by J. Scott Coatsworth
Genre: Gay Science Fiction Length: Novella ALDISS AND his crew crash land on a forgotten Earth, expecting it to be abandoned after hundreds of years. Their own world is destroyed, and now Earth is their only chance for a new start. But it’s winter, the climate is harsh, and Earth is not as forgotten as they thought. The inhabitants also may not be as open to new arrivals as Adliss’s crew hopes. I loved this book. The setup was interesting, and the characters were engaging. I loved how spacemen and werewolves collided: technology meets primal Earth. First contact between … Read more