LGBT: 2014 Favorite Books & Authors

Happy New Year everyone! I wish you all the best for the coming year -- health, love, happiness, and prosperity!

I am beginning my blogging year by posting a list of favorite LGBT books and authors of 2014. My reading was not as prolific in 2014 as in previous years. Fortunately, my reading experience was excellent and I recommended many wonderful books along the way. In the end, however, my choices came from the most memorable books read, reviewed, and graded A (5.0) and A-/B+ (4.75/4.5) throughout the year. Following, in no particular order, is my list of the talented authors or editors whose LGBT themed novels and short stories became my favorite reads of the year:

FAVORITE BOOKS & AUTHORS:

Scruffians! Stories of Better Sodomites by Hal Duncan
SFF Single Author Short Story Collection (2014, Lethe Press)
Hal Duncan is one of those authors whose short works always leave me craving one more story. In Scruffians!, a homoerotic collection of fantasy and mythology-based short stories with its fairies, pirates, and other adventures, Hal Duncan's writing skills, imagination and extraordinary capacity for weaving dreams can be really appreciated. I read this collection early in 2014 and needless to say, it continues to be a favorite.

Cub by Jeff Mann
YA Contemporary Romance Novel (2014, Bear Bones Books)
Jeff Mann! Now here is a favorite author whose talent seems to have no bounds. He just keeps on adding to his already magnificent backlist of winners. This, of course, is not surprising to readers familiar with Mann's works -- poetry, fiction, erotica, historical romance. With Cub, the ultimate outsider YA story, Mann adds to his already impressive repertoire by writing one of the most unique LGBT YA books I've read to date. I can't help but believe that it became a classic the moment Mann finished writing it.

Butcher's Road by Lee Thomas
Historical Thriller Novel (2014, Lethe Press)
Lee Thomas is a personal favorite and his works always seem to make it to my favorite list at the end of the year. In 2014 it was Butcher's Road, a historical, spec fic/mystery thriller that was so good it spoiled my reading momentum for a while. I just wanted more of that edge-of-my-seat, adrenaline high I get from reading Thomas's books. Butcher's Road is dark, violent, bloody, and filled with magnificent contrasts masterfully rendered by the author. A winner!

Wingmen by Ensan Case 
Historical Fiction / Romance (Reprint, 2014, Lethe Press)
Talk about a 2014 reading obsession! This World War II novel with its subtle, yearning romance, sexual tension, well-researched historical background, down-to-earth, sexy as hell fly boys and epic air battles, was it for me. I read, researched battles, read, research airplanes, read, and loved! What is there not to love about this epic historical fiction novel by Ensan Case? I gushed in my review, I'm gushing now, I know, but if you want to read a fantastic LGBT epic tale set in the Pacific during World War II, this is it.

The Unwanted by Jeffrey Ricker
YA Fantasy Novel (2014, Bold Strokes Books)
Jeffrey Ricker's mythology-based fantasy with a gay young adult as the central character is a book I would recommend to any young adult. And that's one of the many reasons it belongs right here on my list of favorites. The mythology is well integrated with family and young adult conflicts. Most importantly, young adults can relate and see themselves in Ricker's characters. I particularly love the end of this book where Ricker takes a huge risk and wins. I'm hoping for a sequel!

The Bears of Winter ed. Jerry L. Wheeler
Gay Erotic Fiction Anthology (2014, Bear Bones Books)
I adored this anthology! It is Bear erotic fiction and all of those factors are reflected in the stories. The eroticism is strong, but so is the "fiction" factor, which adds depth to the collection as a whole. Wheeler's introduction, editing, and choice of talented writers did it for me, making The Bears of Winter my favorite, most reread anthology of the year!

The Affair of the Porcelain Dog & Turnbull House by Jess Faraday
Historical Fiction/Mystery (2011/2014, Bold Strokes Books)
What a fantastic duology! I read a slew of LGBT historical mysteries this past summer and Jess Faraday's Porcelain Dog duology was a stand out. Its focus on mysteries set in London's gritty East End has a fabulous atmosphere. Combine that with Faraday's morally questionable characters and the historical facts she utilizes as background to build on the gay theme that gives depth to this duology, and you have a winner.

That Door is a Mischief by Alex Jeffers
Gay Fantasy Novel (2014, Lethe Press)
It just seems that I read this gay fantasy by Alex Jeffers at the right moment. I was struck by the beauty of his prose and imagination, yes. But, I believe that for me this story's beauty lies in Jeffers' ability to marry fantasy with reality, to let the reader see behind that magical door into life's truths. Life is beautiful and magical -- happiness and sorrow are just part of the magic. A gorgeous book!

My Favorite Uncle by Marshall Thornton
Gay Comedic Romantic Fiction Novel (2014, Wilde City Press)
I had such fun reading this book. My favorite aspect of My Favorite Uncle is the great combination of wit and depth Thornton uses to develop this generational tale. It clearly details how two different generations of gay men see, experience, and navigate the world. But, this is also a family story with all the dysfunctions that go along with that. Thornton integrates both threads with wit and a deft hand. This book is on my reread shelf!

Provoked, Beguiled, Enlightened (Enlightenment Trilogy) by Joanna Chambers

M/M Romance (2013/2014, Samhain)

The Enlightenment trilogy by Joanna Chambers is a late addition to my list of favorites as it was read in December, but it is a fabulous addition. The slow building romance filled with sexual tension, sensuality, and both inner and outer conflicts make the final outcome worth the journey. Additionally, the setting and atmosphere, as well as the well incorporated historical facts and details are a big plus to this beautiful m/m romance trilogy.

FAVORITE SHORT WORKS: My favorite short works are all chosen from single author collections and anthologies read and reviewed during 2014. All collections are highly recommended in their entirety. I have chosen 10 short stories and believe me, that was not an easy task this year! Here they are, in no particular order:

"Anthology of Spoon River AIDS Walk" & "One Hundred Kisses"
Naming Ceremony: Stories by Chip Livingston (2014, Lethe Press)

"Cruel Movember" & "Persimmon, Teeth, and Boys"
Red Caps: New Fairy Tales for Out of the Ordinary Readers by Steve Berman (2014, Lethe Press)

"The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere" by John Chu" (also reviewed Tor.com edition)*
"Caress" by Eli Easton
"57 Reasons for the Slate Quarry Suicides" by Sam J Miller
"Super Bass" by Kai Ashante Wilson
Wilde Stories 2014: The Year's Best Gay Speculative Fiction ed. Steve Berman (2014, Lethe Press)

"Werewolf" by Michael Carroll 
With: New Gay Fiction ed. Jameson Currier (2013, Chelsea Station)

"Ma tu sei pazzo?!" Tommi Avicolli Mecca

Best Gay Stories 2014 ed. Steve Berman (2014, Lethe Press)

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2013 Favorite LGBT Books & Authors
2012 Favorite LGBT Books & Authors
2011 Favorite LGBT Books & Authors
2010 Favorite LGBT Books & Authors
2009 Top Reads

Hilcia's Minis: Provoked, Beguiled, Enlightened by Joanna Chambers

Provoked is a great read on a few different levels. The two main characters are conflicted and therefore intriguing. There's a high level of chemistry and the sexual tension between them is off the charts throughout the story. David with his naive honesty comes off as a bit of a prig, but a lovely one. Murdo is more worldly and outwardly a bit of a cynic, but his passion just burns. They are each right and wrong and although there is not a "happy ever after" or even a "happy for now" ending to this book, Chambers sets up this slowly developing romance perfectly for the second installment. Edinburgh as the main setting gives this book a unique atmosphere. I particularly like how Joanna Chambers uses historical facts from the Radical War in this first installment. It is always a pleasure to read a historical romance where "history" is both well researched and well incorporated. Highly recommended. (Samhain Publishing, July 2013)

After reading Provoked, I couldn't resist and immediately picked up Beguiled.

Provoked hooked me on this series, but with Beguiled I fell in love with the characters. Two years later during King George IV's first visit to Edinburgh, Murdo and David meet again, and the passion between them is scorching! Chambers uses those two years of separation as the basis for character growth. David is still honest and straight forward but now open to what Murdo has to offer. Murdo's passion for David is palpable but tenderness also becomes an obvious, beguiling factor that goes along with the rest. The historical details are just as good in Beguiled as they were in the first installment. Chambers brings back secondary characters from Provoked and, by utilizing David's friend Elizabeth's bad marriage, develops a side story focusing on women's lack of rights and/or choices during that period in time. Additionally, pomp and ceremony details from King George IV's first visit to Edinburgh are featured as background. Sensuality is on the high end of the scale with many more bedroom scenes than in Provoked. The end to Beguiled is dramatic and keeps the reader in tenterhooks wondering how things will work out in the end for Murdo and David. Highly recommended. (Samhain Publishing, December 2013)


After reading Beguiled, I immediately downloaded Enlightened.

Enlightened focuses on David and Murdo. It gives the characters the together time and space to work out the remaining conflicts in the slow-burn of a relationship that was ignited in Provoked and burst into flame in Beguiled. That slow burn has evolved into a passionate attachment that neither man will name but both feel. For David it is all about his inner doubts, but for Murdo the conflicts come from personal mistakes and an outside source. Chambers uses multiple settings for this book. It all begins in Laverock House, Murdo's estate in Perthshire, Scotland where David has been recuperating from his injuries, briefly moves on to Edinburgh, and goes on to London where both men have business to attend to. David must contact Elizabeth and Euan to warn them of possible danger, while Murdo has unknown business with his father. In this last book of the Enlightenment trilogy, there are secrets and revelations that affect the growing love and trust between our main characters. But really the main thrust of this story is about the characters allowing themselves to finally grasp that elusive happiness. The pacing is inconsistent with a slow start that picks up after a while and stays true to the end. It is really tough to find a workable or believable resolution in m/m historical romances, however, Chambers finds her way around those problematic points quite well. Both characters surrender important parts of their lives to achieve happiness, but in the end Murdo and David get the beautiful life they deserve. Together. Recommended. (Samhain Publishing, May 2014)

Of the three books Provoked and Beguiled are my favorite, with Enlightened dragging a bit, but still coming in as a solid read by providing all the right answers. Overall, Enlightenment is a great m/m historical romance trilogy with excellent atmosphere and historical research, and a romance that is memorable for the author's fabulous use of sexual tension and sensuality to build-up a relationship that begins with a sexual encounter between strangers and ends with a fantastic happy ever after. Highly recommended.

Review: Unforgivable by Joanna Chambers

Unforgivable by Joanna Chambers

A notorious rake is about to make the ultimate faux pas—fall in love with his own wife.

Gil Truman has eyes only for the beautiful Tilly—until he is forced to marry plain, sickly Rose Davenport to reclaim the lands his father foolishly gambled away. After a disastrous wedding night tainted with his bitterness, he deposits Rose at his remote Northumbrian estate, soothing his guilt with the thought that she need never lay eyes on him again.

Five years after the mortifying wedding night that destroyed all her romantic fantasies, Rose is fed up with hearing second- and third-hand reports of Gil’s philandering ways. She is no longer the shy, homely girl he left behind, but a strong, confident woman who knows how to run an estate. And knows what she wants—her husband, back in their marriage bed.

Gil doesn’t recognize the bold, flirtatious woman he meets at a ball, with or without her mask. Yet he is bewitched and besotted, and their night together is the most passionate he has ever known.

But when he confesses his sins to the beautiful stranger, the truth rips open the old wounds of their blighted history. Threatening any hope of a future together.

I loved Joanna Chambers' debut novel The Lady's Secret where she managed to give that old cross-dressing heroine trope a new fresh twist, so I looked forward to reading her second foray into historical romance. In Unforgivable Ms. Chambers again tackles a well-known trope, this time it is the marriage of convenience.

Gil Truman's father gambles away the family's lands and properties, forcing Gil to marry the sickly and very young Rose Davenport to save them from ruin. Gil loves Tilly but marries Rose and after a terrible night together bitterly rejects and leaves her at his Northumbrian country estate for five years. During those five years Rose grows from an insecure young lady into a strong, beautiful woman who makes the best out of a raw deal. She is admirable, if too soft and easily forgiving of Gil. Gil, in the meantime, becomes a philanderer known throughout London for his multiple affairs and beautiful mistresses.

Rose wants a real marriage and decides to confront Gil personally in London, but when they first meet at a masked ball and Gil doesn't recognize her, Rose lies about her identity. Gil falls hard for this beautiful woman and the two have a short, passionate affair. Hurt after some truths surface, Rose retreats to the country without telling Gil the truth. Soon after Rose contacts Gil with news that brings him rushing to the country estate where he finds out that the woman he fell in love with was his own lying wife. After five long years, this neglected marriage finally gets a second chance, but can they get over the hurt feelings and bitterness?

I like Joanna Chambers' writing style and hope to enjoy more of her historical novels in the future. As a matter of fact, Unforgivable is a well executed romance. Unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy parts of this romance because of a personal disconnect with the unsympathetic male protagonist that did not change at the end. The female protagonist is portrayed as a woman of strength and a sympathetic, emotionally available character. I connected with her although under the circumstances I found her to be much more forgiving than expected.

Unforgivable is a quick read with excellent flow, and truthfully I read it in one sitting because I wanted to know what Gil was going to pull next. Gil is a superficial fool who initially has valid reasons to be bitter about how things turn out for him but errs by placing the blame on the wrong person, Rose, and unfortunately as the story moves along compounds that error with continuous bitterness and actions that make it tough to sympathize with him. It's interesting because this behavior continues even after he falls in love with Rose! Rose is forgiving and takes too much responsibility for the situation between them, particularly since Gil is pretty much intractable. Frankly Gil is more than a flawed character, he becomes irredeemable almost to the very end.

Unforgivable is a well written historical romance with a sympathetic heroine and what I think of as an "irredeemable" hero. The story is riddled with lots of angst and conflict and a too easy resolution with passion found in the middle of it all.

Category: Historical Romance
Series: None
Publisher/Release Date: Samhain/January 15, 2013
Grade: C+

Visit Joanna Chambers here.

Review: The Lady's Secret by Joanna Chambers

So yes, I read The Lady's Secret by Joanna Chambers as soon as it released. In case you don't know this yet, Ms. Chambers is long-time romance blogger "Tumperkin." I knew she had a book releasing and meant to read it because of course I've been curious. However, interestingly enough this book was with my recommendations at Amazon and I placed it in my "Wish List" without realizing it was "Tumperkin's" book! I can be so clueless at times! But since it caught my attention all on its own, I'm sure Ms. Chambers won't mind too much.

The Lady's Secret
by Joanna Chambers

London, 1810
Former actress Georgiana Knight always believed she and her brother were illegitimate—until they learn their parents were married, making them heirs to a great estate. To prove their claim, Georgy needs to find evidence of their union by infiltrating a ton house party as valet to Lord Nathaniel Harland. Though masquerading as a boy is a challenge, it pales in comparison to sharing such intimate quarters with the handsome, beguiling nobleman.

Nathan is also unsettled by Georgy's presence. First intrigued by his unusual valet, he's even more captivated when he discovers Georgy's charade. The desire the marriage-shy earl feels for his enigmatic employee has him hoping for much more than a master-servant relationship...

But will Nathan still want Georgy when he learns who she truly is? Or will their future be destroyed by someone who would do anything to prevent Georgy from uncovering the truth?

Joanna Chambers uses a true and tried trope for her debut historical romance novel The Lady's Secret, the one where the male protagonist falls in love with the cross-dressing heroine. Oh yes, you might say we've seen this done before, particularly in those old medievals where the girls attempted to hide waist-length hair and some impossible-to-hide female attributes. However, that's not what you'll find in this book at all, instead you'll find that Chambers makes some of those impossibilities possible and makes this trope her own with details, details, details.

Georgiana grew up in a theater and works as a stagehand. She tried her hand as an actress, but stage fright kept her away from following in her mother's footsteps. However, these are skills that serve her well when the time comes for the biggest role of her life. Georgy and her brother Harry know they are the true heirs to the Earl of Dunsmore fortune and title, but before they can claim either proof that their dead parents were legally married must be found.

As Harry travels from parish to parish trying to find that proof, Georgy plans to take their investigation further by going through the Earl of Dunsmore's own home, hoping to find something there. Her plan is to pose as a servant but there are no openings. The opportunity presents itself when Lord Nathaniel Harland, who is in need of a personal valet, is heard to be invited to the Dunsmore's Christmas celebration. Georgy disguised as a valet applies and is hired for the position and the deception begins.

Now think of what it means to be a personal valet. It's not just dressing the man, it's performing all those personal, everyday tasks for him that create intimacy -- shaving, supervising his bath, bringing him breakfast in bed, taking care of him when he's sick, sharing his personal space and all the small intimate details that reveal the man behind the Lord. This is what Georgy shares with Nathan before he even realizes she is a woman.

The key words above are "intimate details." Joanna Chambers truly gives the reader that sense of intimacy between the two characters during this time. And details also take center stage when it comes to Georgy's masquerade. I admit that I kept looking for those moments when you say "aha! the girl gave herself away"... but no, in Georgy, Chambers creates a female character that truly fits her role perfectly. I'm not just talking about Georgy's physical attributes, but the way she carries herself as well. Chambers doesn't place her character in impossible situations either. I don't want to give away too many details or spoil it for the readers, but if you decide to read the book you'll know what I mean.

Besides the fact that the female in the story fits her role as a valet beautifully, one of the reasons this plot works so well is because the deception doesn't go on for too long, and once Georgy is discovered the romance really takes off. However, before she's discovered the intimate scenes serve to build up sensuality -- the head massage scene in particular comes to mind. Too good... just too good!

Nathan is not necessarily attracted to Georgy when she's the valet, but well... there's something about "George" that doesn't quite seem right to Nathan. Once Georgy is unmasked, all that intimacy makes for some excellent, sizzling sexual tension between Georgy and Nathan. I really liked this couple. It's all great fun!

The plot takes place in different settings: London, the Earl of Dunsmore's country home, and later on Nathan's own country estate. I loved the scenes in London and everything that happened at the Earl of Dunsmore's home. The Christmas get together for the servants was a wonderful scene. It's interesting experiencing a romance from both points of view at the same time: the upstairs and downstairs. My one quibble is the couple's behavior while they stayed at Nathan's country estate. As for the rest, well... for me the final resolutions to the conflicts were all satisfying in the end.

The Lady's Secret by Joanna Chambers is a historical romance that I'll remember for the way the intimate atmosphere heightened the romance between two great characters, and for a true and tried plot that stood out because the author really took her time with the details. I enjoyed Ms. Chambers debut novel from beginning to end and will definitely read her next book.

Category: Historical Romance
Series: None
Publisher: Carina Press/November 7, 2011 - Kindle Edition
Grade: B+

Visit Joanna Chambers here.