Eli Easton Reads

Loved this very mature m/m romance. I really was impressed by the realistic handling of the fact the one MC was married and had children while being in a long-term relationship with the man he loved. Both of the MCs were young in the 70s when being out was not much of an option, particularly for two men who loved their army careers. While some reviewers have complained about the cheating in the story, I find it very realistic and heart-breaking. The truth is that life isn't always a fairy tale and moral choices aren't always cut and dried. A lot of gay men have married either because they were trying to change or deny their own nature, or for family or societal pressure or even just because we all make rash mistakes. Both men were honorable and did the best they could given their own filters and circumstances.

This is a very entertaining read but also intelligent and thought provoking.

Wow. So having hundreds of books on my TBR list right now, I decided to sort by rating and read the highest rated ones. That's how I decided to buy and start reading THIS magnificent gem of a story. So glad I did!

This reminds me a little of a few other books I've read recently like "Billy's Bones" and "Where the Allegheny Meets the Monongahela" in that it's so much more than just a m/m romance book--it is a deep story that deals with serious issues and is well-written and impeccably researched.

In "Hidden Away" the issue is the imprisonment of homosexuals in concentration camps during WWII. While I'm not that attracted to historical stories of this WWII era, this one was just brilliant. It's clear the author did a lot of research, and both of the MCs, and their stories, felt painfully real.

The story alternates between the first person POV of one MC, John, an American vet who is haunted by what he saw when he was part of the force that liberated Dachau. The other MC, Kurt, was a young gay musician in Vienna who was imprisoned in a concentration camp for three years for being homosexual. The author tells a lot of Kurt's story through flashback scenes of what happened to him as he found his first lover in Vienna and then later was arrested and sent to the camp with him. The story of what happens to the two of them in the camp is heartbreaking but never angst for the sake of angst. The love they share always bleeds through. It felt like an important story to read as well as keeping me glued to the page.

The other part of the story is the slow building of a relationship between Kurt and John, who meet in Berkeley after the war where Kurt is working as a janitor at the university where John is a student. Both these men are deeply traumatized, yet John is drawn to Kurt and is compelled to try to get to know him. These two can understand each other because of their shared experiences and provide some amount of mutual healing, though the author never goes so far as to imply the things they went through can ever be erased. This romance is a fine hurt/comfort story.

5 big stars from me and highly recommended!

I saw the great reviews for this and had just finished a longer piece with a homeless MC that I really enjoyed (Sue Brown's The Sky Is Dead) so I scooped this one up.

This is well-written and I liked the MCs. It was interesting to see Pudding's POV on the world and he was a very interesting character. I give it 4 stars instead of 5 because I personally would have preferred a non-tragic ending. Overall it was a bit on the bleak side for me-- I prefer my angst with some balancing upside. But it's short, and I recommend it if you have any interest in the topic or like angst.

After reading the recent FAST Balls, I realized I had missing one in the Balls to the Walls series--this one--and hurried to remedy that.

As usual with Tara Lain, I enjoyed this quick, easy-to-read romance. Sky and Adam were both very appealing, and I liked the antagonism sub-plot and how they both affected each other's outlooks on life. It was rewarding to see Adam come out of the closet and find himself.

This was quite a good read. Not my favorite in the series but very good. Recommended!

I started reading this because I've enjoyed some of Carol Lynne's other books and Campus Cravings Vol 1 was so highly rated. Unfortunately, I was only able to find Vol 1 (which contains this story and 2 others) as a Print version from Total E-Bound. Come on, TEB - give us ebooks! I ended up just buying this individual story from ARE.

Perhaps the Vol 1 edition is better, but this stand alone ebook has a lot of formatting problems. There is no break whatsoever between scenes so you are in bed one sentence and in the kitchen hours later in the next and several times I've had to stop and re-read to figure out what was going on.

I can also tell this was an early work of Carol's because the writing is not at her current standards. Several critical scenes take place off the page (like the older MC's fight with the younger MC's father). One minute there's a knock on the door and then next minute (with no break in the text) he's holding a bag of frozen vegs to his battered eye and he talks about the fight he just had. It would have been nice to SEE that dramatic scene.

Since this is my first book in the Campus Cravings series I may hop next to one of the more recent ones to see if the experience improves.

Tara, I'm a fan! I've read most of the Balls to the Walls series and I really enjoyed this one as well. I couldn't rip my eyes away and I read through this in one go.

Mick is a luscious virginal, in-denial MC, and it was fun to watch his thoughts progress from 'wow, it's sort of weird that I keep staring at that guy's ass', to sort of falling into sex with Jerry, and ultimately coming out to all and sundry. And Jerry was very sweet and together in this story. It was a solid hot/sweet read just the way I like them. Yes, Tara's characters can be a little extreme, but it's fantasy, it's fun and sexy fantasy, and I like it!

It was nice seeing Rodney again and I actually realized, when I didn't recognize 'Adam' and 'Sky' at the party scene, that I'd missed a book in the series. Must rectify that.

I think my favorite in this series is still Fire Balls (Rodney, the tiny flammer with the black belt and the toppy 'tude, is just too cute) but this one is maybe #2 for me.

I read this new Max Vos story in practically one sitting. I loved furry Johnny and sleek Rich. The slow build of the UST and sexual relationship was a lot of fun. The angst points were just right. Great job, Max! I would have liked to have seen how Johnny's coming out was handled by the football team, but otherwise this was a very satisfying read.

I always enjoy Sue Brown's books. This was a well-written, as usual, and I enjoyed (if that's the right word) living in the shoes of a homeless kid for the length of these pages. It wasn't too angsty and dire, but real and moving and something I've really not spent much time thinking about. Danny/David's lack of ability to trust was sad but understandable. I also liked the romance a lot and Harry's stubbornness.

Like some other readers, I had a bit of difficulty swallowing the central conceit in the story That Harry/Jack would not recognize Danny/David. Nevertheless, it was a good read and I whipped through it in a day. Thank you so much, Sue!

This was my first book by BG Thomas and I quite liked it. I've read similar Cinderella stories before, about abandoned young men taken in by the older, established man, and it can be a fun trope. This story is well-written and I enjoyed the descriptions of Gabe and the deeper themes of forgiveness and paying it forward. There was some nice built up of UST before the characters ended up in bed and all in all it was a sweet, relatively low-angst romance. Five stars from me and I'll definitely read more from BG.

I can hardly believe I read this book -- at 750 pages, it's WAY longer than I normally prefer. But I was intrigued by the blurb and the cover and the reviews, so I went for it.

Overall, the book kept me engaged and I really liked the MCs and the hurt/comfort romance plotline. I enjoyed the femininity of Christy's character and how Michael accepted that (I'm also a huge fan of Andrej Pejic!) The UST and sexual elements were nicely done. I liked the friends at school -- Jake and Lisa etc. For the fact that is kept me reading for 750 pages (miracle!) I give this book, and promising author, 4 stars.

I think the book could have used stronger editorial guidance. It did not need to be so long and there were many repetitive plot elements that were hard to swallow--as others have mentioned, the sheer incompetence of the police and security allowing the violent antagonists to escape so they could attack again and again. I also felt there were *too many* enemies, all seemingly unrelated. The amount of violent homophobia in this story was a bit extreme.

That being said, I did enjoy the romance plot a lot and the drama kept me reading despite the above issues. I am looking forward to seeing what C. Kennedy does in the future!

I was looking forward to this new book from Kim Fielding but I didn't expect to LOVE it as much as I did.

I have read almost everything of Kim's and I love her voice -- it's so effortlessly flowing and easy yet can often surprise me with a little extra jolt of humor or angst. But I particularly loved the plot and theme of this book. I've always sort of been fascinated by the old insane asylums and the horrible things done there by supposedly well-meaning doctors. It's strange to think that as recently as the 50's educated doctors were doing things like electro-shock therapy and lobotomies. The fact that these things were done not just to people with serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia but those who didn't fit the societal norm like homosexuals is beyond tragic.

In this book, the author does a wonderful job of showcasing this topic without losing sight of a primary romance or becoming over angsty and dark. In the present day William, a deeply closeted man from a strict religious upbringing, becomes caretaker at an abandoned asylum. There, he finds an old tin box with letters from a patient who lived there in the 30's, also named William, who was committed for homosexuality and who wrote letters to his lover which were never sent. Through the letter-writer's descriptions of the events that happened to him, we learn about the treatments and conditions such patients had to endure. But the 1930's William's letters are still full of love and determination and hope. Though his story doesn't have a happy ending, his courage and the things he had deal with help current-day William realize he has the freedom to be gay and to let his own comparatively small problems hold him back is an insult to what men had to go through back then.

The romance itself involves a happily out-and-proud man, Colby, who lives in a nearby town. Thanks to the letters in the tin box, William finally gains the courage to admit to Colby that he's gay and to start a relationship with him. Colby was sweet and cute. The lack of communication in the last quarter of the book was a bit much -- I wanted to yell at William 'just go TELL him how you feel'. But I can understand that William was (rather annoyingly) shy and not necessarily an action-taker. The HEA resolution was very satisfying.

A big 5 stars from me. Thank you, Kim! I adored it.

I'm a big JL Merrow fan and pre-ordered this book. The book was more mystery than romance and I missed a heavier romantic element. Part of that was that Paul was just so consumed by his memory loss and the frustration of that. And it was hard to know exactly how to take Viggo, if he was a good guy or bad guy, so it was hard to get invested in their relationship. But I enjoyed the characters, the story of Egil, and the Icelandic setting a great deal. I look forward to JL's next book.

I'm looking forward to this anthology, especially Kim Fielding's story! I have a story in here called "Caress". You can read more about it, including an excerpt, on my site:
http://elieaston.com/books-by-eli-easton/caress/

Eli

I adored this book. I always find Marie Sexton's books well-written and compelling and this was no exception. I found the Mormon family, and the way they tried to deal with their gay son, interesting and unique for a m/m book. And Jamie's abuse trauma was also very well done. I enjoyed how long the build up was before the MCs finally had sex. A stellar job--Marie Sexton cannot write fast enough for me!

Really excellent m/m romance involving therapists and spousal abuse. Not necessarily happy subjects but this is well-written and compelling. Loved it.

This is now out! On my website you can view my 'desktop' post--images I used for inspiration while creating this story:
http://elieaston.com/desktop-puzzle-me-this/

This is the first m/m story I ever wrote, it just got a little behind in the production side of things. It's a sweet little novella, 20K words, which you may enjoy if you like any of the following:
* stories with a disabled MC
* nerds
* puzzles and games

You can read an excerpt here: http://elieaston.com/books-by-eli-easton/puzzle-me-this/