| Genre | Gay / Contemporary / Artists/Actors/Musicians/Authors / Blue-Collar Workers / Erotic Romance / Holiday |
| Reviewed by | Christy Duke on 09-April-2016 |
Cupid is visiting Bluewater Bay, and he’s leaving chaos in his wake....
Nothing’s been the same in this sleepy little logging town since Hollywood came to shoot the hit TV show Wolf’s Landing—especially Valentine’s Day.
In L.A. Witt’s Just Another Day, beloved actors Levi Pritchard and Carter Samuels have an announcement for their fans, while in Z.A. Maxfield’s I’ll Be There, actor Spencer Kepler and his boyfriend Nash Holly brave a blizzard and a fan convention to spend their first February the 14th together.
Of course, it’s not just TV stars celebrating the day. In Anne Tenino’s Helping Hand, an aspiring artist eager to escape Bluewater Bay decides he just might have a reason to stay: lust-inspiring logger Gabriel Savage. In SE Jakes’s No Easy Way, a local teacher reconnects with an old lover working security on the film set. And in Amy Lane’s Nascha, a Bluewater Bay elder recalls how his own unconventional family used to celebrate the holiday.
Real life may be nothing like TV, but when Cupid comes to town, there’s plenty of romance and drama to go around.
Nothing could've made me happier than to have a little Valentine's Day anthology with shorts starring some of my very favorite characters, and new ones I hadn't met before.
Just Another Day by LA Witt
Why was I not surprised to discover that Levi loathes Valentine's Day because of all the cheesy, crappy commercialization? Typical Levi, he laid down the law, so to speak, to Carter months in advance that he doesn't "do" this ridiculous holiday. However, he neglected to ask Carter about his feelings regarding this romantic day. Uh. Oh.
When Levi and Carter both realize that neither cares about the commercialization of the day, but they do like the sentimental side of Valentine's Day…well, that changed the whole ball game. But how can Levi salvage this after making such a mess of it with the one man he loves more than anyone? Not to spoil it, or anything, but I think Carter's tweet said it all: Levi hates VDay, but he can sure pick out a great gift. #BestBoyfriendEver #MakeThatFiance.
Thank you, Lori - I do adore these guys!
Nascha by Amy Lane
Trust Amy Lane to have me crying through a story of loss, pain, hope, joy, and love. Nascha is seventy-one, and has been living with Alzheimer's for the past few years. This is his story. His memories of his life. His remembrances of the love he shared with Kitten and Rawlings, their days of grifting and laughter and love. His years of being a father figure to his niece when her mom died, and then to her boys when she and her husband were killed. His heartbreak when Kitten died so suddenly, and Rawlins, in his grief, threw him away. Watching his grandnephew, Cal struggling to care for his autistic brother and his great uncle with Alzheimer's. A true story of family and love.
"Him and Raw, if they were going to be in the retirement home together, were going to leave Cal with a future. A man Nascha’s age had no use for the future. The past was the only place he had to go. He was lucky his past wanted him home."
No Easy Way by SE Jakes
Cary and Dylan grew up in Bluewater Bay. They were supposed to be together forever, and then Dylan left, leaving Cary heartbroken and alone. Now, six years later, Dylan has come home after his stint in the Army, and he's working security on the Wolf's Landing set. Cary is a high school teacher, and an author of a series of hot romances based on all the things he always wanted to do with Dylan, and doesn't have a clue how to handle this man being back in town. Especially when he discovers that Dylan has been reading his series (and rereading it) for the past five years. But there are a lot of things that Cary doesn't know about the time Dylan left, things Cary's parents did behind his back, things Dylan isn't sure how to tell him.
This was a really good addition to this anthology. I liked seeing the lives of people in the community who aren't there just because of Wolf's Landing, but because they live and work there. Plus, Dylan and Cary were pretty hot.
Helping Hand by Anne Tenino
Getting to see Bluewater Bay years before Wolf's Landing arrived on its shores was such a treat. Even better was shy, nerdy, artist, Lucas, who is in his senior year of high school, just got accepted to a fabulous art school in California, and he just knows there's no way he can go. His dad is a logger and they don't make any money, and his mom is the cafeteria lunch lady. So, basically, Lucas's family couldn't afford for him to go, not to mention his dad's reaction to what type of person goes to art school. You see, Lucas has had a beard all of these years, his amazing best friend, Audrey, who will be heading to fashion and design school. He's been lusting after his brother's best friend, Gabriel, since he was fifteen, even though Gabe is a logger and his family owns a tree farm so Gabe will never leave Bluewater Bay.
This was a great story about a young man coming out, dealing with his family, and learning how to make adult choices about who he wants to be. Plus, since I cheated and looked at the blurb for book seven in this series, I already know it deals with Lucas and Gabriel! Good thing, too, since as a young adult, Lucas doesn't see, or understand, the choice Gabe makes that leaves Lucas with a bruised ego but a bigger determination to get away from this town.
Thank you, Anne, for ending it the way you did. It was heartfelt and touching!
I'll Be There by ZA Maxfield
Oh, Nash and Spencer have been two of my favorite characters, so I loved it that ZAM was bringing them back to me with a delicious Valentine's Day, combined with snowpocalypse and a man's determination to get to his lover, no matter what. Nash is determined to reach Bloomingdale where Spencer is at the Wolfapalooza con. Unfortunately, a massive snowstorm has descended and pretty much all flights in and out of the Midwest are cancelled. So, what does he do? He calls his genius twin brother, Healey, to get him and his geek friends to map him a way to get there in time. And, by the way, Healey and his friends were hysterical.
“So that’s what we need to concentrate on. We need more data. Do we know what Nash will be driving?” Park asked.
“Not yet.” Healey shook his head. “We need that information. And then we need to get hold of every engineer who worked on the design of that car from bumper to bumper. Then I want you to talk to every man and woman who worked on the assembly line that built it. I don’t care if they only worked on the fucking ashtray, no lovesick twin brother of mine has ever died on some dubious Valentine’s Day Wolfapalooza love quest, and he’s sure as hell not going to do it on my watch. Failure is not an option.”
Nash isn't making this journey so much because it's their first Valentine's, either. It's way more because Spencer is actually very shy unless he's acting or with the people closest to him. He agreed to attend this con because the guest of honor is a woman dying of cancer and her one wish is to meet Spencer. How could he say no? But he's not good in these situations, and even though he tries to hide it from Nash, Spencer is terrified he'll bollocks it up. Yeah, I did the whole "awww" thing too.
A truly fantastic ending, ZAM. Thank you, it made my heart ache.
Thank you to all five of these incredibly talented women for bringing me this wonderful anthology. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of all of these characters in future installments.
DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Riptide Pub;ishing for the purpose of a review.
| Format | ebook and print |
| Length | Anthology/ 5 Short Stories, 256 pages/64000 words |
| Heat Level | |
| Publication Date | 08-February-2015 |
| Price | $6.99 ebook, $17.99 paperback, $24.98 bundle |
| Buy Link | http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/lights-camera-cupid |
