All the RomCom of Qi Xi

Rant ahead.

I love Warrior's Cross by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux. I really really do. I love it so much that it is one of the few m/m books I go back and re-read. Often.

However, I don't know that I can read it again after I noticed something in my most recent re-read. ( spoilerish discussion that includes discussion of puppies and puppy habits )

You ever read a book and think, "this shit is so bad that I have to share it with the world"?

Below, is a c/p of a sex scene in a book called Bareback Mountain by Frank Sol. It is, hands down, the worst sex scene I have ever read. I laughed so hard I started choking. I scared my dogs as my laughter echoed off the walls of my room.

( armpit licking, man-juice, gobbling, uncut prime piece of meat and when no means yes, all for the opportunity to slurp everything out of a fleshy tube )

I'm suddenly feeling a lot better about my own writing...

ETA:

"Poke, poke, poke," Clint said. "Oh, I just love poking things. Poke, poke, poke, WHAM!" and Clint shoved his hard dick up Jesse's ass.

DYING

Reviews (More Not Good) Good to come. Promise

( Freaks in Love by TA Chase )5 out of 10
( Brothers without Borders by Lieland Dale )2 out of 10
( Heart of the Mountain: A Loving Hart by Leiland Dale )2 out of 10
( Be The Air For You by TA Chase )3 out of 10
( Shining in the Sun by Alex Beecroft )3 out of 10
( Because It's True by Willa Okati )3 out of 10
( Bound by Nature by Cooper Davis )6 out of 10
( Curious (A dreamspinner Anthology) ) Overall, 4 out of 10. There were a few stories in this anthology I would rate as 8 out of 10.

Poor elanorofcastile has been stuck listening to me babble about this new system registry cleaner I downloaded. It worked like a charm. My computer now reboots instead of freezing up on the shutting down phase. It takes about 3 minutes to reboot including loading up firefox when it used to take 20. Word loads instantly instead of taking a couple of minutes. iTunes loads in about a minute instead of 10. I sort of love this registry cleaner. My system commitment is lower now, with multiple hog programs running, than it used to be upon start up with no programs running.

The Ebon Hawk - she's holding together.

I sort of want fic where Kirk and Bones are old men together. Like - either together or not together and regretting it. Any recs for me?

I've been reading some m/m novels with the older men protaganists cause, tbh, I'm tired of reading about teenagers falling in love. I can't get beyond the whole "dude, ain't gonna last" personal issues thing. So, here, have a review:

( Sins of the Father )1 out of 10

Zero at the Bone - is a brilliant read. I heartily recommend it. It features a hitman and a maxillofacial surgeon. Yeah, I know. How the hell does that work? See, the hitman is sent after the surgeon cause the surgeon saw something he shouldn't have. It just flows, oh man does it flow. It's got brilliant pacing, wonderful characters, an engrossing plotline and more.

I'm eager for a sequel. ( more blather, loads of spoilers )

The book reminds me a bit of the Administration Series in the psychopath/borderline psychopath and the way that there's a disconnect with emotions, they just know what they know and it's hard to go back to being 'normal'. I really liked D, even if he is a hitman/contract killer. I loved Jack with his sense of justice. They're both awesome in their own ways. A definite enjoyable read that is heartily recommended. If I could score it higher, I would. But, it's a a million 10 out of 10.

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks. This book pulled me in, held me under the water and drowned me in its awesome. ( some flailing, some plot points, I'm trying to avoid spoilers and I overuse the word  ) 50 out of 10. Or, since I can only score it at 10 out of 10 - that's what I'm giving it.

Anyone else read this? Anyone want to discuss? I'm getting the next two books in the series either tonight or tomorrow depending on my back and I'd love to talk about this series with people.

I've been reading The Administration series of short stories, novels and novellas. It's original homoerotic sci-fi fiction featuring an unlike(able)ly hero who happens to be a professional torturer and a computer programmer. It's featured in a future period where the government is The Administration and it rules every aspect of life. Anti-Administration feelings or sentiments are quickly squashed and should you actually act on any of it? You get to meet Toreth, a "para-investigator". He's not perfect though no one should expect him to be what with his job and all. He's a moody bastard, afraid and virtually unable to connect to other humans but, somehow, Warrick (the computer programmer) connects with him. The relationship doesn't go smoothly, Toreth isn't capable of that.

I'm not a fan of dystopian worlds. To be honest, most of the time, they depress me and annoy the fuck out of me. This one, though, it works and I think that it's because of the way that the author writes it - it's not dystopia for the sake of dystopia.

Heavy on the BDSM and D/s, sometimes graphically violent, the books and stories are amazing in the way that they show the characters, warts and all. Toreth isn't at all likeable but I found myself cheering for him throughout, moaning at his falls and cheering when he caught himself. I wouldn't like him in real life but I wanted him to succeed regardless.

I highly recommend the series to any and all who want an engrossing and lengthy ready because once you read the first book, you'll want to keep tearing through all of them and there are a lot of them. Because some of the books contain so many "triggers" - there is a separate disclaimer/warnings page.

And because the various bibs and bobs I've read are now published in three book forms, I shall take this as three books for my new year's resolution.

ETA: Some general spoilers in the comments. Nothing that gives away major plot points.

Also - for those interested mannazone looks to be the fan community for this series. and mannazone_news for updates on when the books come out/new works/etc.

I am appalled at how behind I am. So here goes - a few catch-up reviews. Standard disclaimers apply - spoilers and such are rampant throughout. Books I highly recommend have links so you can get a better description of the plot.

After this? there's only 52 more to go that I've accomplished so far. :/ When I say behind, I really really mean behind.

Books:
Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi( I couldn't relate... )7 out of 10
Silver Master by Jayne Castle( for what it is, it's enjoyable )8 out of 10
Child of a Dead God by Barb and JC Hendee( Awesome series that everyone should read if they like fantasy novels ) 10 out of 10
Chasing Midnight by Susan Krinard( Susan Krinard is moved off my  ) 4 out of 10
Lick of Forst by Laurell K. Hamilton( *points and laughs* )A surprising 4 out of 10 (because of the lulz)
Strangers in Death( Still Awesome Series ) 9 out of 10
All Night Long by Jayne Krentz( interesting story that didn't give away the main enemy until just the right moment )10 out of 10
Wait Until Midnight by Amanda Quick( meh ) 3 out of 10
The River Knows by Amanda Quick ( better than Wait Until Midnight but not up to the normal expectations ) 6 out of 10
The Paid Companion by Amanda Quick ( Getting there... ) 7 out of 10
Lie by Moonlight by Amanda Quick ( this is more like it )9 out of 10

Resolution Reviews – First Batch for 2008 – 7 movies, 4 books –

( Ratatouille )

6 out of 10

( The Simpson's Movie )

6 out of 10

( Eastern Promises )

5 out of 10

( Stardust (movie) )

10 out of 10

( Stardust – Neil Gaiman )

10 out of 10

( Dragonlance – Dragons of Autumn Twilight (animated movie) )

11 out of 10

( Balls of Fury )

9 out of 10

( Pirates of the Carribean 3 )

7 out of 10

( Plum Lucky – Janet Evanovich )

10 out of 10

( Captain's Fury – Jim Butcher )

7 out of 10

( Morning Light – Catherine Anderson )

3 out of 10

I'm in the middle of the first book for fandom_reads so I will probably write my review after the discussion opens there. You have until February 15th to read Persepolis and join the community to get to discuss it with the rest of us. Join before then and you'll get a chance to pick the next book, too! They don't all have to be serious or anything.

Resolution Reviews – Same disclaimers. These are all obviously my own opinion. In addition, random points awarded for hot guys, points taken away for plot predictability. In other words, random.

Also – Spoilers abound. Let me repeat that - SPOILERS WITHIN

( Storm Front: Dresden Files )
9 out of 10

( Fool Moon: Dresden Files )
9 out of 10

( Grave Peril: Dresden Files )
9 out of 10

( Summer Knight: Dresden Files )
8 out of 10

( Death Masks: Dresden Files )
10 out of 10

( Blood Rites: Dresden Files )
10 out of 10

( Dead Beat: Dresden Files )
5 out of 10

( Lean Mean 13 )
10 out of 10

( Furies of Calderon: Codex Alera Series )
7 out of 10

( Academ's Fury: Codex Alera Series )
8.5 out of 10

( Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows )
9.99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 out of 10

( Ghost Rider )
8 out of 10

( Yossi & Jagger )
9.5 out of 10

( Bridge to Terabithia )
8 out of 10

( Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix )
4 out of 10

( Blood and Chocolate )
3 out of 10

( Children of Men )
2 out of 10

( Reno 911: Miami )
8 out of 10

( Pathfinder )
4 out of 10

( The Bourne Ultimatum )
5 out of 10

( Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead )
2 out of 10 **DID NOT FINISH**

That's it for now – I'm up to 36 movies and 42 books for the year. There's another 3 book reviews coming and I have 6 movies to watch this weekend or Blockbuster's going to get pissy with me.