ISP by CB Potts [OK]
Graham has a secret. He's not willing to tell anyone he knows about the strange dreams he's been having, dreams that keep him up at night, dreams that make him want...want more than he's ever had before. He won't tell anyone -- but he'll blog about it.
Sharing his deepest, most secret fantasies on the Cyber Confessional website results in something Graham never expected: his dreams start coming true, in disturbing detail. As his fantasies come to life, will Graham keep participating -- or will he be scared off by the magnitude of what he wished for?

Slightly PWP, but not too graphic. BDSM.


Cat Scratch Fever by Jane Davitt [Poor]
Garin's having a pretty bad day. He doesn't use his magic very often, because his human lover Simon doesn't like it, but sometimes it just builds up inside him. Like today. Which is why, when he's faced with a health inspector and a wayward cat, he ends up with a magical debacle.
Suddenly, he has to deal with Tom, who used to be a cat, a very angry Simon, and the problem of trying to get Tom back where he belongs. Can Garin fix the problem with Tom, and with Simon's distrust in his magic, in time to set everything back to rights?

The writing is kind of scrambled and loose, and it lacks characterization.


Genie in the Family by Lorne Rodman [OK]
Warren thinks his old aunt is a little crazy when she leaves him a rusty old lamp. Especially when the lamp is supposedly the answer to his loneliness.
Then he meets Selim, and finds out the lamp is more than he thought it was. Selim can give him whatever he wants, except what he wants is more time with the fascinating genie of the lamp himself. Can Warren wish himself the love of his life?

Porn with plot. The characters are likeable and nice together.


Resonance by Jack Sunday [Poor]
Stockton doesn't remember much before The City, but one thing he does know is that he's a part of her in a way he can't explain. His sanity is already in question, but Stockton begins to doubt it even more when he wakes up on the doorstep of an attractive stranger named Rhodes who is not all that he seems. As each question leads to another, and every mystery deepens, Rhodes becomes the unlikely cornerstone of Stockton's sanity and much more.
With two rival factions hunting Stockton for their own designs, dark creatures out for his blood, and death a touch away, will Stockton and Rhodes survive to find the answers they seek?

Confusing and barely comprehensible. The ending is hanging.


The Devil's Fire by Sara Bell [OK]
Forced into an arranged marriage after the death of his true love, Gareth has no intention of giving Alric of Kray the time of day. He'll do what he has to, but he knows he'll never find a love like the one he's lost. Alric has problems of his own, but is willing to go along with the wedding to help defend his kingdom from the forces ready to tear it apart.
When Alric is gravely injured, Gareth discovers the secret of Alric's magic, and discovers that he has feelings for Alric that he's been trying to deny. They may be able to heal Alric's wounds, but can they defeat the enemy that lurks behind the scenes, waiting for them to make one false move?

Long story with many characters, more epic than romantic.

Yesterday was a bust. I slept in and didn't go to work, instead I went to the mall.

First, my lunch order of fish and chips was horrible, apparently they didn't know the existence of salt and spices. Even my drink, called blue something, tasted like watered blue soda. Then I went to a hair salon to have a hair spa treatment. The job was bad because my head didn't feel any lighter after the treatment and the woman who did my hair also gave me a neck and shoulder massage. She's surprisingly strong that when I got home, I realized my neck and shoulder area felt bruised.

After the hair salon, I went to the supermarket, and while it looked big and complete, I couldn't even find canned corn! So I didn't buy anything there and went to the bookstore while waiting for my dad to get me home. And it's no surprise that I didn't get anything either.

I went to another supermarket and got some things, including this smelly cilantro since I planned to try making salsa. When I got home, I tried my hand on making shepherd's/cottage pie. I combined the recipes from Antony Worrall Thompson, Michael Chu, and Elaine Lemm. It tasted good, but a bit soft.


My reading material this long weekend is Infected Series by Andrea Speed (Notmanos). There are 10 books available, 9 are complete and the tenth is WiP. Total words count is around 700,000!

This is a detective/horror story with werecats and violence abound. It's grim and gritty, but it's real, so very very real. It doesn't romanticize werepeople, it doesn't depend on lust and sex to build the story. The characters are deep, strong and loveable and the mysteries are not predictable. Overall, this is a powerful and intriguing story that I highly recommended.


This is my last entry for 2009. Next time I post an entry, it'll be 2010. So many things happened this year, the good and the bad, and I want to thank you for all your supports. I hope next year will be much much better for all of us.


HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Lost Shifters 1: Primal Passions by Stephani Hecht [Poor]
Jacyn had always considered himself a pretty normal guy. Little did he know that he couldn’t be more wrong. Attacked by a group of gunmen, he suddenly finds himself shot at, kidnapped and chained to a wall. Not exactly the kind of day a normal guy has. All he knows is that all of it is somehow connected to his birth family. Rescued by a tall dangerous looking stranger who claims to have been sent by his long-lost family, Jacyn doesn’t know whether to run with him or away from him. Especially when the stranger claims to be able to shift into a jaguar.
The last thing Logan wants is to be rounding up some stray jaguar shifter, but he has never refused an order. Even as he tells himself the mission will be a snap, he finds himself having to launch a one-cat rescue party when Jacyn gets himself captured by their enemy.
As the two males run for their lives, they find that not only are they having to battle their enemy, but they are also fighting a growing attraction to each other. Passion is the last thing they should be thinking about, however. Because if they don’t keep their attention focused on the enemy, they could very well pay the ultimate price.

The characters suck, them being shapeshifter is merely an ignored background. The story is lame and the undeveloped characters don't add anything to it.


Wylde by Jan Irving [OK+]
Noah Matthews brought his son Josh to the pristine woods of Washington State to make a fresh start. The first night in their new home, Noah meets Kell Farraday when the laconic police chief shows up on his doorstep searching for two people lost in the forest. It's the start of a sexy new friendship when Kell decides to pursue the shy but flirtatious Noah.
But a new beginning won't be so easy. Noah's former boyfriend shows up to try to reclaim a place in his life, and worse, Josh is drawn to the growing mystery in the forest. People disappear and then one turns up dead. There's something haunting the forest. Something watching. And soft-spoken and confident Kell's reassurances can't ease Noah's fear when Josh goes into the woods alone.

I'm quite disappointed with this story because it has a lot of potential and can be expanded into something better, but the author seems to think this is enough. The plot is there and the setting is alive, but I can't empathize with the characters because the author only touches the surface of the characters. This is more like a movie, pleasing to the eyes but you don't get the satisfaction of delving deeply into the characters.


Cinnamon Dreams by Vic Winter [Good]
Digby Waters hates his job. He's an office drone in a big, soulless company, and most days he has to drag himself off to work. One day he doesn't make it into the office. Instead, he's drawn into a bakery by the delicious smell of their trademark cinnamon buns wafting out into the street. When Digby sees the help wanted notice in the bakery window, he's convinced it's a sign.
Early morning hours and a gruff baker can't deter him from taking the job, especially when the baker, Keith, is built like a linebacker and Digby admires more than just his buns. Has Digby found more than just the job of his dreams?

I wish I were Digby. Really. Such a sweet story that ends happily.


The Manny by Sara Bell [Good]
Tate Fuller's life is a God-awful mess. He's flat broke, his dead lover's parents are suing him again and his asshat landlord A.J. Boyd is evicting him from his bike shop, the one constant in Tate's life. He's starting to think things will never look up when sees an ad in the paper for a night and weekend nanny. So what if the guy who's doing the hiring is none other than A.J. himself, or if A.J. makes Tate's blood heat with something other than anger?
After having his wife dump him because she claimed a bisexual man could never be faithful, A.J. Boyd has stopped being surprised when life throws him curve balls. Stopped being surprised, that is, until he finds out his ex-wife has died and left him with a six-week old daughter he didn't even know he had. Now he's sleep-deprived, scared stiff, and ready to do something really stupid, like hire the stubborn, infuriating, cocky Tate. And if the tension between them's hot enough to restart the Chicago fire, well, so be it.

A nice, heart-warming familial story.


The Dickens with Love by Josh Lanyon [Great]
A quirky holiday romance about Faith, Hope, and…er…glow-in-the-dark condoms!
Three years ago, a scandal cost antiquarian “book hunter” James Winter everything that mattered to him: his job, his lover and his self-respect. But now the rich and unscrupulous Mr. Stephanopoulos has a proposition. A previously unpublished Christmas book by Charles Dickens has turned up in the hands of an English chemistry professor by the name of Sedgwick Crisparkle. Mr. S. wants that book at any price, and he needs James to get it for him. There’s just one catch. James can’t tell the nutty professor who the buyer is.
Actually, two catches. The nutty Professor Crisparkle turns out to be totally gorgeous—and on the prowl. Faster than you can say, “Old Saint Nick,” James is mixing business with pleasure…and in real danger of forgetting that this is just a holiday romance.
Just as they’re well on the way to having their peppermint sticks and eating them too, Sedgwick discovers the truth. James has been a very bad boy. And any chance Santa will bring him what he wants most is disappearing quicker than the Jolly Old Elf’s sleigh.
Warning: This book contains an ocelot, songs by America, Stardust martinis, tinsel, long-lost manuscripts, Faith, Hope and…Love.

It's a bit late to rec this, but you absolutely have to read this story. From all Josh Lanyon's books, this one is my most favorite. It's sparklingly beautiful, very well-balanced, romantic without being mushy, full of hopes, and makes you truly believe in Christmas miracle.


Collingsworth by Andy Eisenberg [Poor]
Michael is the poor cousin, living on charity and a scholarship to an exclusive boys' school, Collingsworth, after his parents' deaths. With the help of a sympathetic teacher, Michael is outfitted for the formal masked ball, and when the girls' school pulls out at the last minute, the Headmaster of Collingsworth holds the event with only the boys of Collingsworth attending--and Michael may have the chance to recognize his dream and dance with his longtime crush, David. But will it mean nothing in the end and leave Michael despondent and alone for the holidays?

Cliche and boring.

Christmas this year was just another holiday on my calendar. I guess I was being a Scrooge or a heathen. I spent my days reading until dawn then sleeping until afternoon. Anyway, it seems that my mood is reflected on my reading materials.

Here are some fics that are clearly not in the spirit of Christmas but that I enjoy:


Muffin 1-20 by Mahsa
He was just a homeless kid wandering the streets, never expecting his life to change, for the worse or the better.

Ignore the cute title and the light summary, because the story is serious and full of plots. Interesting characters, mysterious intrigues, and the charm of rags to riches cliche.


Kissing a Jock 1-5 by BRBChurch
Jay is seventeen, in the closet, and has a sexy, sadistic jock lover. Let's review how this happened, shall we?

One of my guilty pleasures ;)


Lord of the Phones by Landen
Charlie, in the process of pretending to be a 13 year old girl, meets the man of his dreams who quickly becomes the man of his nightmares.

There's a dubious consent moment in the story, but everything ends happily.


Dandruff 1-23 by Munez
After walking in on his revered mentor in a kinky, compromising position, Jacob blackmails his way into the man’s home… but he never estimated ending up in his bed, too.

Like the author said, the characters in this story have no moral and no redeeming quality. This is like semi-porn soap opera. Contains cheating husband, slutty boy, and BDSM.


Moonlight Denial 1-57 by Darkness
Nicoli always looked down on those who believed in things like vampires, witches, and ghouls. But when he moves to the town of Whixton he’ll realize that the things that go bump in the night are more real than he ever imagined.

This one is an action/adventure story that I didn't put down until the last chapter available. The characters are great and the sex is damn hot!