Uniquely Pleasurable

New review blog – Outlaw Reviews

Ann Somerville — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:15:39 +0000

Uniquely Pleasurable is now closed for all users. Existing reviews and discussion posts will remain archived here, though I’ll be deleting all the promotional posts.

My reviews and those by Paul Bens have been duplicated at our new review blog, Outlaw Reviews. We’ll be reviewing GLBT fiction and non-fiction there, as well as film, TV and other media, but also anything else that takes our fancy. Please feel free to wander over and take a look.

Thank you to all who have supported UP since it was set up in 2005.

The Silent Hustler by Sean Meriwether – review

Paul G. Bens, Jr. — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:39:11 +0000

Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★

Title: The Silent Hustler
Author: Sean Meriwether
Genre: contemporary literary fiction, erotica, single author anthology
URL: Amazon
Price: US$15.00
Other information/warnings: Explicit content.
Summary (from the publisher): Best known for being the editor of edgy gay fiction of the Velvet Mafia website, Sean Meriwether has quietly been writing short fiction and building up a body of his own work. The Silent Hustler collects his short fiction published over the last decade. Meriwether’s fiction spans in range from the literary (“Things I Can’t Tell My Father”) to the revolutionary (“Burn the Rich”) to the downright raunchy (“Sneaker Queen”). Slip into bed with The Silent Hustler. You won’t feel guilty in the morning.

My Review: For years, Sean Meriwether has served as editor of two of the most cutting-edge web magazines out there: Outsider Ink (now shuttered) and Velvet Mafia: Dangerous Queer Fiction. During his time with both markets, Meriwether has found exceptional literature by some of the best writers working. Occasionally he’s also thrown one of his own works into the mix and that is how I first discovered Meriwether as an author in his own right. Over the years, Meriwether has been…

Reviewing and site changes

Ann Somerville — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:12:54 +0000

Effective immediately, the review team at this site will no longer be accepting material for review, and we will do no further solicited reviews through this site.

However, BookUtopiaMom is still willing to accept material to review at her excellent review site. Please contact her through that site.

I personally am unlikely to do any further reviews in the m/m genre, as I have become deeply disillusioned by the attitudes and homophobia recently on display. I may review, I may not. Right now, I’m not feeling too enthusiastic.

Reviews from existing members are welcome, and encouraged. However, I have closed off non-member commenting, and new member registration, as we’re being afflicted by spammers. If someone needs a member login, they should contact me. If you have any questions, please contact me.

Promotional posts for commercial material are no longer allowed.

Promotional posts for free material are encouraged.

I have decided not to close the site as it’s possible people still may wish to add reviews. However, if there is no demand for this facility, then the site will be mothballed, with the existing posts left up as an archive.

At Earth’s Edge by Christine McKay – Review

BookUtopiaMom — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 04:42:51 +0000

Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Title: At Earth’s Edge
Author: Christine McKay
Genre: Fantasy romance
URL: Samhain
Price: US$2.50
Other Information/warnings: Explicit het sex, violence
Summary [from the publisher]:
Man is an upstart species that was once welcomed by Aderyn’s kind—the Others. Like a weed, humans left much in ruin. And the Others retreated behind an enchanted wall guarded by Keepers. Aderyn is one such Keeper. And Man’s battles have reached her tower.
Owen, the nearly dead ex-soldier she once found at her gates, is a different sort of man. He didn’t want anything—except to give her flowers and make her laugh. As he drank in her healing magic like life-giving water, she drowned in his eyes. She was taught to defend against Man’s violence; she was helpless in the face of his kindness.

Now that she has had a taste of it, she would kill to keep it.

Her visions tell her it’s only a matter of time before more soldiers attack her boundary. With no intention of failing her people—or losing the man she loves—she uses her magic to unleash an apparition with the power to decimate armies.

But there’s a price to be paid—in

…

Sweet Oblivion 5: Elixir by Jordan Castillo Price – review

Ann Somerville — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:44:05 +0000

Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆

Title: Sweet Oblivion 5: Elixir
Author: Jordan Castillo Price
Genre: Paranormal/vampires
URL: Changeling Press
Price:US $4.49
Other Information/warnings: Violence, explicit m/m, gore and graphic medical details
Summary [from the publisher]:
Wild Bill and Michael might have thought they made it out of the subterranean vampire nest unscathed, but in her anger, Silk left Michael a taste of her wrath that’s impossible to shake.

It’s a race against time to cure Michael of a bizarre affliction, and though the hunter and his favorite vamp have few enough friends, Bill can’t ash a cigarette without burning another bridge. Now Wild Bill must decide what he’s willing to sacrifice to save his lover.

His friends? His scruples? His pride?

His humanity?

My review:

In Elixir, Michael and Wild Bill are trying to evade hunting vampires, having made the mistake of staying put for too long and being detected. But Michael falls seriously ill as Bill arranges their escape, and it turns out that one of their many enemies knows the one sure way to kill a vampire – or a vampire-infected human. That’s one of the ‘elixirs’ in the story. Bill has to make some…