Last week I may have had too much birthday cake and Halloween candy. In a sugar induced frenzy, blood cut off from my brain due to suddenly restrictive clothing, I whipped out my credit card and shopped for books. Barnes and Noble. Borders. Amazon. Even the Stop and Shop. Finally, my wrist cramping from C.C.F. (credit card flip), dodging pumpkin bearing men LEFT and RIGHT, I sought out those clever bitches at Ellora's Cave. I desired more sophisticated reading material to offset some of the, frankly, better written stuff I had on hand. (Ouch!) I waffled over reviewing these...I mean, you know what you're in for once you open it. Do you really need my oppinion? Then it occurred to me. Why the f not? It's all in good fun. So, crack open a cold one ladies, I found one I liked.
The best of the entire lot was, hands down, The Courage to Love~ Samantha Kane. A certain someone recommended this book and what sweet, outrageous, melodrama it turned out to be!
Tears gathered in Kate’s eyes, and she looked away, pulling her hands from Tony’s. “You put me in an untenable position. If I succumb to your pleas, I ruin your lives. If I deny you, I condemn you to a life of celibacy and loneliness. How am I to choose?”
“Is it our lives that will be ruined, Kate, or yours?” Jason asked quietly. He watched her dash her tears away with a gloved hand. “Is the scrutiny, and yes, perhaps condemnation of society for the relationship we’re offering more than you can bear? You have suffered enough. It is not right that we ask you to suffer more for our sakes.” He looked away and took a shaky breath.
“If you cannot bear the thought of what society will say about our marriage, I understand, darling. But please, don’t shut us out. Let us be a part of your life, if only as, I don’t know, friends, preferably lovers.” The look he gave her cut directly to her heart. “I cannot bear to be parted from you again, love. The memory of your sweet body welcoming mine, the vision of your face in the throes of climax, will be with me always. I had hoped to make more such memories, but if it is not to be, then please, at least don’t deny us the sight of you, the pleasure of your company, the sound of your sweet voice. Please, Kate, please.”
“Oh, you scoundrels, to tell me these things now, here, at Gunther’s of all places! Have you no shame? I cannot think here, cannot make a decision now.” She looked up, and quickly wiped away the last vestiges of her tears. “Veronica returns. We will discuss this later.”
Cheesy? Check. Unintentionally hilarious? Check. Yet, I think we can get beyond it because this is not your every day regency affair. Sure, there's the obligatory duel, eating of ices, near fatal shooting, night at the opera (or play or something), and an emergency wedding, but that's all trappings. What's fascinating is that Samantha has created this series, Brother's in Arms, which is, in essence, man couples looking for their wife. Shocking! 2 men and a lady. And, unlike the book that shall not be mentioned, yes indeedy, there was menage. Lots of. Each one upping the ante for the next scene. What I enjoyed about the Courage to Love was that as the relationship(s) (and whatnot) build between Jason, Tony and Kate, the men begin to realise and physically act upon the love they feel for each other. All with Kate's approval, encouragement and, you betcha, enjoyment. How refreshing that the gay angst meter was set to 0%. No hand wringing. No anguish. No name calling. Just a beautiful (if graphic) physical expression of their desire. FU Vishous and Butch. You could have had that, too, but nooooooooooo. ( I'm not bitter)
Um. A wee warning for those of you out there that might not want to read about teh mens lovin teh mens: This book contains just about every imaginable intersection of body parts you may or may want to know. While not entirely gratuitous, it's frequent, somewhat athletic, and fairly dexterous. I was never quite sure how they contorted into the shapes they did, but, however they did, it was wildly amusing. Phew. I had to read it in teensy weensy, small portions because I'm just a sweet stay at home mom and this little story was a 5 alarm fire. Way out of my league! No really. NO. Seriously. hurmph. Anyway: I give it a thumbs up.
