This n That: Update, Reads, + The Manservant, Sentient Trains & OTT Mothers!

Hello! I've been out of commission since the 9th. My computer is at the Apple hospital getting full check up, and in the meantime my backup computer crashed! I've been going through withdrawals. I refuse to blog from my iPad because it is really a pain even to try and I'm not in the mood to go through that much frustration.

I read my book for the March TBR Challenge early in the month, but unfortunately missed posting the review. I followed the theme "catching up with a series" by reading Hunting Ground (Alpha & Omega #2) by Patricia Briggs. Actually, I read Fair Game, #3 and Dead Heat, #4 and I'm up to date now. I will post reviews for those books as soon as I am able.

Additionally, I have completed three other books in March, Vision in Silver (The Others #3) by Anne Bishop, Closer Than You Think (Faith Corcoran #1) by Karen Rose and Lovely Wild by Megan Hart. To date, my favorite March read was Fair Game (Alpha & Omega, #3) by Patricia Briggs, however, I have enjoyed all of them.

In the meantime, my TBR pile is bulging. I purchased many books last year that remain unread, still that did not stop me from losing control of my book budget in January and February and purchasing books I missed last year, and a few new releases. It's a bit crazy even for a book addict like me, particularly since I'm not reading at the same pace as I was on the prior years. Worse than that, I have DNF'd some pretty expensive books.

I'm working on a few reviews. In the meantime, I had these minis from some of my February reads more or less ready way back when.

The Manservant, Michael Harwood's debut novel, is a very British, highly entertaining, quick-paced contemporary gay fiction piece with an upstairs, downstairs flavor and a dash of BDSM restricted to some spanking, but without graphic sex scenes. This is very much contemporary British fare, so please do not expect gay versions of Downton Abby or 50 Shades of Grey. The novel focuses on the adventures of main character, Anthony Gower (please don't call me Tony!!), a young, thoroughly modern gay man whose experience as a footman to the Royals allows him to first find employment in a posh London hotel, and later as private butler to a Lord. His questionable judgment, however, gets him in deep hot water more than once. Harwood partially explores his main character's background, but I am hoping that he will write another book with delicious Anthony as his main character. And, more Frank please! Recommended.

Where the Trains Turn by Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen is a SFF novella about sentient ghost trains, an imaginative boy, a mother who prefers her life as well as her son's be grounded in reality, and a meeting with destiny. The story grabbed my attention once I got passed the clumsy translation from Finnish to English. The narrative is austere and even with the problematic translation the story retains a heavy atmosphere. The boy, whose obsession with trains is fed by his father's, is socially inadequate with a healthy imagination. After a tragic incident, the mother eliminates everything from his life that may spark the imagination and the boy's life takes a new course. A chance meeting with destiny changes that. What made this story a great read for me were the fantastic twists that came at the end. I never saw them coming. Online free read at Tor.com

The Mothers of Voorhisville by Mary Rickert is another SFF novella from Tor.com and a Nebula nominee. This sff horror story begins with a stranger passing through a small town and seducing a group of women. Nine months later, there is a baby boom. But there is something different about these babies. The mothers will go to great lengths to protect them from those who might hurt them.

This story begins on a ominous note and ends quite well. Unfortunately, the middle drags rather badly. Narrated through journal entries by the different mothers, the reader never meets the babies' "father," the man or creature that so easily seduced the women of this little town. The mothers -- some of them children themselves, others married, divorced, single, or widowed -- are secretive at first. They love their little monsters too much to care what they are or they will be getting up to. This story is fantasy/horror. With the exception of little monster babies with tiny wings, the fantasy side in this novella is left to the reader's imagination since there are no real explanations as to what they are, where they come from, or what the real purpose of their existence is. The real horror in this story lies on the mother's disquieting actions once the "mother's instinct" comes into play, the rest is mild in content. Free online read at Tor.com.

The Mermaid's Sister by Carrie Anne Noble

2014 Winner — Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award — Young Adult Fiction

There is no cure for being who you truly are...

In a cottage high atop Llanfair Mountain, sixteen-year-old Clara lives with her sister, Maren, and guardian Auntie. By day, they gather herbs for Auntie’s healing potions. By night, Auntie spins tales of faraway lands and wicked fairies. Clara’s favorite story tells of three orphan infants—Clara, who was brought to Auntie by a stork; Maren, who arrived in a seashell; and their best friend, O’Neill, who was found beneath an apple tree.

One day, Clara discovers shimmering scales just beneath her sister’s skin. She realizes that Maren is becoming a mermaid—and knows that no mermaid can survive on land. Desperate to save her, Clara and O’Neill place the mermaid-girl in their gypsy wagon and set out for the sea. But no road is straight, and the trio encounters trouble around every bend. Ensnared by an evil troupe of traveling performers, Clara and O’Neill must find a way to save themselves and the ever-weakening mermaid.

And always, in the back of her mind, Clara wonders, if my sister is a mermaid, then what am I?

The Mermaid's Sister by Carrie Anne Noble is a whimsical short fantasy novel geared toward young middle schoolers. There are elements of the fairy tale in it, but the story itself is not based on a fairy tale.

Sisters Clara and Maren grow up happily with their Auntie on a small cottage high on a mountain. They help Auntie with her healing potions and she tells them fantastical stories, including their favorite of how Clara was brought to Auntie by a stork and Maren arrived on a stormy night in a giant seashell, while their best friend O'Neill was found beneath an apple tree.

The story takes off from there with Maren as a sixteen year old beginning to change into a mermaid with sparkly scales and the kind of beauty that maddens men. Soon they all realize that Maren will die if she is not taken to the sea. O'Neill and Clara place her on O'Neill's gypsy wagon and set off. Their journey is long and filled with troubles. Along the way they encounter evil and battle personal doubts, love, jealousies, and selfish love, as neither O'Neill nor Clara want to let Maren go to the sea.

There are a couple of threads about acceptance that are perfectly suited for young adults. Maren accepts who she is and knows where she needs to go, but can she learn that she can't always get her own way? The journey, however, turns into more of a quest for Clara, one in which she needs to figure out who she really is and what she is capable of doing. In reality Clara and Maren are adopted sisters, but in their hearts and minds they are sisters born. Their love for each other is boundless and Clara shows that love in thought and action. For O'Neill the journey becomes a lesson about letting go by accepting a loved one's decisions.

The Mermaid's Sister is a book that  young middle schoolers will enjoy, it is not for adult reading. As an adult reader, I found one too many unanswered questions at the end and a fairy tale "happy ever after" between two sixteen year olds that did not make sense. The story is well written. It contains joy and sadness, good and evil, a bit of magic, and a few extra surprises. I read it to find out if my younger nieces would enjoy it and yes, I believe they would.

This n That: News, Minis, Reads

Hello everyone! I've been MIA, but truthfully behind the scenes trying to come up with a few reviews and / or minis while having a heck of a hard time getting my thoughts together. So, I thought a "this n that" post was called for since my reviewing mojo has taken a break.

First, a couple of days ago the 27th Annual Lambda Literary Awards Finalists were announced. As always, I check out the list to find out if any of my favorite reads or authors are included, or if there are books that may interest me. I was very happy to see a few of my favorites among the finalists: (Click on titles to read reviews)

• Gay Erotica: The Bears of Winter by Jerry L. Wheeler 
• Gay Memoir/Biography: The Prince of Los Cocuyos by Richard Blanco (read in 2015)
• Gay Mystery: Fair Game by Josh Lanyon (although I'm wondering if it's supposed to be Fair Play (2014) since Fair Game was a 2010 release?) 
• SF/F/Horror: Butcher's Road by Lee Thomas

Regretfully, the list of books by finalists still sitting in my TBR is longer than the list of books above. It was one of those years. I am going to try to read a few before the winners are announced in June.

Congratulations to everyone!
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SFF:
In February I read a few sff novellas, novelettes, and other shorts works. I reviewed two separately here and here. The two novelettes below are very different in content and structure. I liked one more than the other. Yet, they have something in common. Both stories made an impact and stayed with me long after I read them.

Of the SSF short works I read in February, my favorite was Kai Ashante Wilson's 2014 SFF novelette The Devil in America, a free online read at Tor.com that has been nominated for a Nebula Award. Last year, this author's short story Super Bass was among my favorite.

With "The Devil in America," Kai Ashante Wilson introduces fantasy elements while making a strong social statement. He combines ancient African magic with the left over legacy of slavery in America. The central story, where the fantasy elements of the story are focused, takes place in a post Civil War South. Small sections, depicting racially motivated crimes committed against African Americans throughout US history and to contemporary times, are inserted throughout to punctuate consequences of events occurring in the magical section of the narrative. This excellent novelette is short, to the point, and packs a punch.

I am also familiar with Dale Bailey's short works through his contributions to Asimov's Magazine. His novelette The End of The End of Everything is not nominated, however, in my estimation it is one of the best I read in February. Think of a dystopian earth where everything in the world is slowly dying from a sort of darkness, described as ruin, that is killing everything it touches: man-made structures as well as all living things, including man. When a couple moves to an exclusive artists' colony with a friend, his latest wife and her child, they find the wealthy, famous, and semi-famous indulging in end-of-world free-for-all dissipation and suicide parties that result in carnage. A mutilation artist becomes the ultimate horrifying temptation for the main character, a philandering poet who questions the mediocrity of his life.

This story has excellent sff elements that are utilized throughout the story as a whole. The central character works as both the focus and narrator, and the world-building although murky in its inception, is clear enough for the story's purpose. This novelette, however, is sff/horror, one that is filled with the kind of violence, blood, and mutilation that is horrifying and truthfully not for everyone. That aspect of story did not bother me personally. What this very well-written, fascinating novella was missing for me, was a real representation of the psychological torture that the living should have been experiencing. Instead everyone is portrayed as very sophisticated and for the most part clinically detached. Yet, this novelette stayed with me and I will probably reread it. There is so much going on in this story that I may have missed something. Check out that great cover illustration by Victo Ngai! Free online read at Tor.com.

FANTASY ROMANCE:

I also read Radiance, Grace Draven's latest release, Part 1 of her Wraith Kings fantasy romance series. Draven's fantasy world-building is as attractive and compelling as her characters. Imagine two cultures and peoples so different in customs and physical appearance that the other appears to them as 'monsters.' Then imagine the royal houses forging an alliance through a marriage where the bride and groom find each other so physically repulsive they have a problem looking at each other without flinching. What are the chances that they will find a happy ever after?

This fantasy romance has some gushingly sweet lines between two people who find each other physically repellent. That's because Ildiko and Brishen genuinely like each other from the moment they meet.

She drew a circle on his chin with her fingertip. "Your skin color reminds me of a dead eel I once saw on the beach."

Brishen arched an eyebrow. "Flattering, I'm sure. I thought yours looked like a mollusk we boil to make amaranthine dye."

Draven does a fantastic job of utilizing a growing friendship and understanding as a building block to romantic love. Political intrigue is well integrated with both the fantasy and romantic elements of this novel. But there are also battles of wit as well as physical battles, warriors, magic, dark, light, and more. My one niggle is the overly formal dialog that creeps in between the main characters even during intimate moments. But that was not enough to spoil my enjoyment of this story or the beautiful romantic ending to Radiance. That is until you get to the epilogue, which almost serves as a prelude to what promises to be a more politically complex and fantasy-filled series. I will not miss the next installment.

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What have I been reading recently? I just finished Vision in Silver: A Novel of the Others by Anne Bishop. More of Meg, Simon, Lakeside Courtyard and Thaisia intrigue. I'm hoping to review this book next week. I'm also trying to catch up with Patricia Brigg's Alpha & Omega UF series and finished Hunting Ground with the hopes of reading books #3 and #4 in March. Maybe I will write one of my series overviews for this one? Let's see if I get going on that!

Right now I'm attempting to read a few books: Echopraxia by Peter Watts, a hard sci-fi novel (stuck at 17%); the contemporary novella Snowed In (Kentucky Comfort #3) by Sarah Title(almost done), and We Are the Cloud by Sam J. Miller, a free online sff novelette at the Lightspeed Magazine site (just began).

SF Mini: "A Short History of the Twentieth Century, or, When You Wish Upon a Star" by Kathleen Ann Goonan

Illustration / Cover by Wesley Allsbrook

Recommended by Locus Magazine. This novelette was acquired and edited for Tor.com by consulting editor Ellen Datlow. A novelette that’s science fiction by association.

This novelette, set in the post 1950s, brought back memories of that moment when I first heard that man landed on the moon -- the wonder, hope and dreams. At the time, I owned a children's picture book about Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin's first journey into outer space, and was already stung by the "space bug."

This touching and nostalgic story is about a little girl, the daughter of a rocket scientist working on those first space modules for NASA, who dreams of becoming an astronaut. Her parents encourage her despite the fact that at that time girls and women were not expected to want careers based on science, much less to harbor dreams of becoming an astronaut. I love the connection Ann Goonan makes with Walt Disney's building of Tomorrowland and to the detailed documentaries aired by Disney describing plans for future space travel.

This original story's connection to science fiction is tenuous at best, however as it was posted in honor of Tor.com's sixth birthday, I believe that for that purpose it works well. This historical event sparked the imagination of adults and children alike. Personally, I can't believe the nostalgic feelings of wonder the story brought back!

Read online at Tor.com. Buy it here.

SF Minis: "Sleep Walking Now and Then" by Richard Bowes

In February, I continued the process of catching up by reading a few short works on Locus Magazine's list of recommended SF reads, as well as the 2014 Nebula Award Finalists. To date I've read eight novellas and novelettes -- most of them available as "free" online reads / downloads. Today I am featuring Richard Bowes.

Illustration/Cover by Richie Pope

A Nebula Award Finalist and recommended by Locus Magazine. This novelette was acquired and edited for Tor.com by consulting editor Ellen Datlow.

"Sleep Walking Now and Then," is set in the Big Arena, a futuristic New York City, where class and financial divide are wide and marked. Residents of the Big Arena will do anything to stay at the top of their game in 2060. That wider look at time, place and society is the perfect cue to the more intimate setting, characters, and motivations that come along next. Bowes' main character is Jacoby Cass, a successful playwright, director and actor whose star seems to be waning. Everything depends on the success of a new interactive production at The Agouleme Hotel in a dilapidated Kips Bay neighborhood. The hotel's original owner and two deaths, one of them a suspected but unproven murder, are the inspiration for Cass' play.

Bowes mixes up the future (2060) with the past (1890s and 1960s) through the play's dialogue, descriptions of the hotel as the set, and the actors' wardrobe. Atmosphere is grand throughout the story. Greed, egos, staging details, as well as the "anything for a hit" show business attitude are also easily captured by Bowes. The above mentioned and the idea of having the public become part of the play (imagine an interactive play set at the Algonquin), became more a focus for me than the murder mysteries. The end fits the story, characters, and attitudes perfectly.

Richard Bowes is a favorite author. Through the insights and knowledge of New York City, past and present, found in the body of his works it quickly becomes evident that the City is an intricate part of the writer, just as the writer has become part of the City. In my opinion, one of Bowes' biggest talents is the subtlety with which he infuses his New York City tales with fantasy. I again found that subtle touch in "Sleep Walking Now and Then."

I purchased this novelette to go with the rest of my collection of ebooks by Richard Bowes.

Read online at Tor.com. Buy it here.

March 2015 Releases: Kasuo Ishiguro, Anne Bishop, Jonathan Harper

I'm keeping it simple this time around. Following are three highly anticipated March releases.

• Kasuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day is a favorite book to this day. Highly anticipated, The Buried Giant seems to be a different sort of book from this author. I'm certainly not missing his first novel in a decade.
• Anne Bishop's The Others fantasy series has turned into a "must read" for me. Vision in Silver is another book I will be reading as soon as it releases.
• I have enjoyed Jonathan Harper's short stories as they were included in different anthologies and won't be missing his debut collection Daydreamers: Stories.

The Buried Giant by Kasuo Ishiguro - Fantasy Fiction
Releasing: March 3, 2015 (Knof, Random House)

From the author of Never Let Me Go and the Booker Prize-winning The Remains of the Day.

The Romans have long since departed and Britain is steadily declining into ruin. But, at least, the wars that once ravaged the country have ceased. Axl and Beatrice, a couple of elderly Britons, decide that now is the time, finally, for them to set off across this troubled land of mist and rain to find the son they have not seen for years, the son they can scarcely remember. They know they will face many hazards—some strange and otherworldly—but they cannot foresee how their journey will reveal to them the dark and forgotten corners of their love for each other. Nor can they foresee that they will be joined on their journey by a Saxon warrior, his orphan charge, and a knight—each of them, like Axl and Beatrice, lost in some way to his own past, but drawn inexorably toward the comfort, and the burden, of the fullness of a life’s memories.

Sometimes savage, sometimes mysterious, always intensely moving, Kazuo Ishiguro’s first novel in a decade tells a luminous story about the act of forgetting and the power of memory, a resonant tale of love, vengeance, and war.

Vision in Silver: A Novel of the Others by Anne Bishop - Fantasy
Releasing: March 3, 2015 (Roc)

The Others freed the cassandra sangue to protect the blood prophets from exploitation, not realizing their actions would have dire consequences. Now the fragile seers are in greater danger than ever before—both from their own weaknesses and from those who seek to control their divinations for wicked purposes. In desperate need of answers, Simon Wolfgard, a shape-shifter leader among the Others, has no choice but to enlist blood prophet Meg Corbyn’s help, regardless of the risks she faces by aiding him.

Meg is still deep in the throes of her addiction to the euphoria she feels when she cuts and speaks prophecy. She knows each slice of her blade tempts death. But Others and humans alike need answers, and her visions may be Simon’s only hope of ending the conflict.

For the shadows of war are deepening across the Atlantik, and the prejudice of a fanatic faction is threatening to bring the battle right to Meg and Simon’s doorstep…

Daydreamers: Stories by Jonathan Harper - LGBT Fiction Single Author Collection
Releasing: March 28, 2015 (Lethe Press)

Ne'er-do-wells, prodigal sons, and young men without so much as a clue to their present state of mind let alone their futures are waiting to be met in the stories within Daydreamers, Jonathan Harper s debut collection. But these men are not Walter Mittys everyday life refuses to allow them languor. Whether it be the roll of the dice in a Dungeons & Dragons game played in a hostile, rural bar, the lure of body modification and being suspended in front of a crowd, or discovering a body on the beach, the rough edges of each young man cannot help but be noticed, even admired. And once a young man is admired, he needs to decide whether or not to awaken from his daydreams.

"A catalog of suburbia's petty desolations and meditations on lost chances; Harper makes for a keen archivist of his characters' flawed, unfinished manifestos." --Genevieve Valentine, author of The Girls at the Kingfisher Club and Mechanique.

TBR Review: Kiss & Tell by Alison Kent

The February theme for Wendy's 2015 TBR Challenge is "Recommended Read." Kiss & Tell seemed like the perfect choice. The ebook has been sitting unread in my Kindle since 2009 because a friend, a big Alison Kent fan, recommended the author's works. Additionally, I am in the mood for spicy contemporary romances and this book fit the bill.
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We have Miranda Kelly, a lovely, sexy woman keeping a few secrets about her past and present and Caleb McGregor, a man of dubious character in what seems to be a permanent sexual haze. This Harlequin Blaze is made up of secrets and a hot, sizzling fling that takes place in a week's time.

I am not giving away spoilers by including the following information as it is included in the book summary. Miranda is keeping two secrets: she moved back to her hometown to hide after having been hounded by the media during a very public divorce. Additionally, since coming back home, by day she is a florist at her own shop and by night, Candy Cane a sexy singer performing incognito at Club Crimson where she wears wigs and sexy costumes to hide her true identity. Club Crimson is where she meets Caleb McGregor who is in town to attend a wedding. Miranda hasn't been with a man since her six year old divorce and Caleb, who falls in lust on sight, catches her eye. With a song and a kiss, the two embark on a steaming hot fling that places Miranda's secrets in danger of discovery and her heart on the line.

Caleb and Miranda embark on an adult relationship, a sizzling affair with certain boundaries and a time limit. They both understand the limits and stick to this understanding even as their feelings for each other begin to change. There are no misunderstandings between them -- and no whining during or after! During their time together this couple spends plenty of time having sex or engaged in sexual play, but they also take the time to get to know each other, slowly revealing their secrets to each other. There are good, valid conflicts and the paths taken to resolve them are not overly dramatic. Most of all I enjoyed the fact that these two people like each other. In this case the adult factor wins.

There is also a secondary storyline pertaining to Miranda's best friend and her two daughters. This storyline is peripherally intertwined with the conflict that crops up between Miranda and Caleb -- Caleb's secret. As a reader I became invested in the secondary characters' conflicts, unfortunately the resolutions to their problems are glossed over and kept off the pages. My second problem comes with the time line and how it affects the central romance between Miranda and Caleb. One week of lusting, hot sex, keeping secrets, and final revelations strikes me as too short a period to achieve a happy ever after.

So far, Alison Kent's romances have been mixed bags for me. I enjoy the characters and romances. Kent writes some steamy sexual scenes that are off the charts, as is the case in Kiss & Tell and I find her adult romances very attractive. However, my experience to date shows that somewhere along the line some aspect of the storyline is left under-developed. Of course this is an older book as are the other books I have read by this author. I need to pick up a current release to find out if there is a difference in execution. Recommendations anyone?

Category: Contemporary Romance
Series: None
Publisher: Harlequin Blaze
Grade: B-

SF Mini: City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett

The city of Bulikov once wielded the powers of the gods to conquer the world, enslaving and brutalizing millions—until its divine protectors were killed. Now Bulikov has become just another colonial outpost of the world's new geopolitical power, but the surreal landscape of the city itself—first shaped, now shattered, by the thousands of miracles its guardians once worked upon it—stands as a constant, haunting reminder of its former supremacy.

Into this broken city steps Shara Thivani. Officially, the unassuming young woman is just another junior diplomat sent by Bulikov's oppressors. Unofficially, she is one of her country's most accomplished spies, dispatched to catch a murderer. But as Shara pursues the killer, she starts to suspect that the beings who ruled this terrible place may not be as dead as they seem—and that Bulikov's cruel reign may not yet be over.

City of Stairs by Bennett was my favorite December 2014 read. The book has much to recommend it. It begins slowly with an investigation into a murder that has political ramifications affecting two continents -- truthfully for a while I thought the story was going to evolve like other sff/mysteries I read last year. That was not the case.

Instead what develops is rather unique. There are layers and layers to the story -- history of war, the consequences of slavery, censorship and forced acculturation by conquerors, secrets that shatter the characters' views of themselves as well as their homeland's actions, and the hidden secrets of Bulikov, City of Walls. Most Holy Mount. Seat of the World. The City of Stairs. Nothing is as it seems and everything is revealed at the right moment. Bennett digs into some of these layers while only touching on others.

The characters are fantastic, from Shara to Sigrud, Vohannes, and Mulaghesh. This is a conflagration of genres and tropes: dark fantasy with magic, technology, gods and goddesses thrown in for good measure and a fantastic crime mystery at the center of it all. City of Stairs was my last read of 2014 and I don't want to go on without giving it a high recommendation. It was the perfect way to end the year. (September 2014, Broadway Books)

Review: Entreat Me by Grace Draven

Entreat Me by Grace Draven was chosen as the February read for my Internet Book Club -- an interesting choice.

Grace Draven utilizes key, recognizable elements from the Beauty and the Beast children's fairy tale to create an adult fantasy romance with unique central characters. She splits both Beauty and the Beast into two couples by having Louvaen Duenda and Ballard take on the adult, experienced central role while Cinnia and Gavin play the young romantic (beautiful and virginal) secondary one. Intermingled with the romances, at its core, this is also a beautiful father and son tale of love and sacrifice.

On the romantic front, Lou and Ballard take center stage. Lou is no sweet Belle, instead she is considered an indomitable shrew -- there is no taming her. A widow, Lou is strong, determined, and brave, making her the perfect candidate to serve as protector to her weak father and beautiful sister Cinnia against the local villain. When she follows her impulsive sister to the magically hidden castle that Gavin calls home, Lou is better prepared than Cinnia to deal with Gavin's father Ballard and the cursed situation as a whole. Ballard, like the Beast from the original fairy tale, will break your heart. His sweetness and sacrifice for love trumps beastliness. His shame, resignation, and yearning for Lou will make an impact on fairy tale and romance lovers alike. Sex scenes abound in this story -- not a complaint, just surprising.

The romance between Gavin and Cinnia is definitely secondary. They play the more traditional role found in fairy tales. His is the extremely handsome and honorable role of a troubled prince, and hers is that of the poor, virginal, but extreme beauty who garners attention from miles around and incites the lust of a villain. Gavin falls for her and attempts to save the beautiful lady in distress by whisking her away to his magic castle in hopes that she in turn will save him and his family from an old curse. Draven chooses to have two very different romantic couples in this story fighting similar conflicts. Gavin and Cinnia work well as secondary characters, unfortunately, the connection with them as a couple is tenuous. This is mainly due to the fact that their relationship develops on a superficial level, lacking intimate (one-on-one, on the page) details as it evolves.

The sweet and sour dialog between the central characters is engaging and entertaining. The secondary characters also have a lot to offer in that respect. The slower moments, the happy ones, in the middle of the book flow with their friendship, loyalty and love. The magic aspects of this story feel organic to a fairy tale with some details taken directly from the original Beauty and the Beast, while others are incorporated by the author.

The father and son tale of love and sacrifice plays a key role in this fantasy romance. It is intermingled with the curse and the situation faced by the couples. Short flashback sections are utilized throughout the story to give the reader the complete picture while the characters -- Lou and Cinnia -- remain in the dark. Key to the story as a whole, at times these flashbacks interrupt the flow. Regardless, the positives outweigh the negatives and I really enjoyed this story to the end.

I recommend Entreat Me to readers who love Beauty and the Beast, adult fairy tales, fantasy romances, unusually strong heroines as central characters, and strong bonds between fathers and sons.