| Livia and
Resonant |
| Nuance |
|
|
Excellent
Adult
Romance
Novella |
|
Jim develops his ability to
read people, until it's almost psychic. Hyperactive senses were bad enough
to deal with, but suddenly having a hotline to other people's innermost
lives was too much for him. Blair, enthusiastic about Jim's new ability,
has something to hide. Meanwhile, a man has been murdered and Simon
expects Jim to do his job. I'm loving the originality and the nicely woven
tale. Excellent writing. |
| |
| N'Wanda |
| In Sickness and In Health |
|
|
Excellent
Adult
Drama
Novella |
|
Jim receives a traumatic
brain injury and must go through recovery, rehabilitation, and beyond with
Blair's help. Steven doesn't particularly care for Jim's lover taking care
of Jim and, well, money talks. The writer is either familiar with
traumatic brain injuries or has excellent research skills. This a story
fueled by the idea of "love conquers all" and I, closet romantic and
love-skeptic that I am, bought into it. It's perfect for a good cry, the
kind when you just need to get puffy eyes and drippy snot and then feel
really good about it when it's finished. |
| |
| Polly
Bywater |
| The Retrieval Series : The Good Fathers |
|
|
Great
Adult
Drama
Novella |
|
H stumbles across Blair in an
institution where his father-in-law was in Memphis months after Blair had
gone missing. The mute and withdrawn Blair didn't, or couldn't, speak so
no one knew he was anything but what his kidnapper claimed he was. He
starts coming back to himself the moment Jim gets there to take him home.
This isn't your run-of-the-mill Blair is kidnapped and Jim must save him
sort of thing. It's actually a pretty believable plot and developed enough
so that incredulity never reared its ugly head. The best part was that the
kidnapping and stuff that Blair suffered was never used to wring angst, it
was all done the right way, through character development. |
| |
| Rae Evans |
| Two Birds with One Stone |
|
|
Great
Adult
Drama
Novella |
|
New
detective Blair Sandburg kills a man in the line of duty and Internal
Affairs is ready to assume the worst. With Simon sidelined by
hospitalization and Joel covering for a captain in another department, the
Chief appoints Jim Acting Captain. The plot was nicely done with a well thought out Machiavellian
crime, though at points it stretched the ol' credulity a tad (a very small
tad). I think about 10 to 15 thousand more words of plot development would
solve any of those issues. Character was done well, though. The usual
gratuitous sex stuff found in slash, but it was nicely woven in.
|
