Blush by Kimberly Gardner

Blush by Kimberly Gardner
Stars: 2.5/5

Length: 70 pages
Blurb
Once Vinn might have believed that vampires were nothing but legend and myth. But when his life is threatened by a legend, it takes a myth to save him.

Overall
Fair to middling writing, this story is classical vampire and thus somewhat unoriginal in its telling. Evil vampire wants young thing's blood, good vampire must protect him, even if it will cost him his life. That said, it was a fairly enjoyable story with some sexy times.

Review
Despite the resolution of the major points in the plot, there were some gaping holes by the end of the story. The role of Vinn's professor seems to be broached and then cast aside with no real purpose aside from reiterating the positives of the bloodstone (for both the reader and Vinn, but if you can't trust what your vampire boyfriend has to say about it, who can you trust?). Her involvement for that one scene seems to indicate an importance that is never really played out, despite raising several questions.

Another problem I had was the ending, which seems to be saying something different than the previous scene would indicate was going to happen. While the end result can be guessed from the beginning, I felt jarred by the juxtaposition between what was said and what happened. Plus the ending felt tagged on in a too-happily-ever-after way. Cutting the last scene would have left the reader hanging, but would have felt like an appropriate ending to me.

Travis is a nice addition to the story, a considerate friend offering good advice that Vinn listens to (mostly). He's also a good knowledge source later in the story as everything falls apart.

This story mainly serves as a sex-centric story with an overall plot and classic vampires. Readers looking for this type of story will find an enjoyable nugget, but otherwise there isn't much meat here.

The Ties That Bind, an anthology

The Ties That Bind, an anthology
Stars: 3/5

Length: 244 pages
Blurb
What ties you to your lover? Love, need, desire, scarves, rope or ribbons. Stories of love and the ties that bind lovers together both figuratively and literally. Enjoy Key To Me by multi-talented author and artist Jet Mykles, Gift of Eros by newcomer Kimberly Gardner, One Good Favor from the combined talents of best-selling author J.L.Langley and new voice Dick D. Than add lusty moments of bondage and blindfolds in Rough Ride with Laura Baumbach's award winning characters from A Bit of Rough, Bram & James.

Overall
A collection of fairly strong stories that are all well written, although not amazing. Honestly it's hard to have an amazing short story, and these give a good showing, especially the first story, which is a perfect mix of emotions and hot sex. The stories have bondage, but nothing too heavy. This anthology is worth picking up if you want some light tying up.

Key To Me by Jet Mykles
This story goes through several different shifts, with most of it being light-hearted and playful, mixed with sexy, seductive bedroom scenes, and then gushing romantic at the end. Although the end in somewhat predictable, the journey to get there is what makes this story worth reading.

Roughly Tied Together excerpt from the novel A Bit of Rough by Laura Baumbach
While I enjoyed the story overall, because this was part of a larger story, there felt like there was gaping holes of knowledge. Most of it was explained, but somethings were hinted at and seemed to contrast with what else we knew from the story. Fun and nice, but left me lukewarm.

The Gift of Eros by Kimberly Gardner
A good story, for what it's worth and an enjoyable read, although there isn't terribly much to take from it. Seemed to have good research into Eros and Greek mythology/literature.

Rough Ride by Laura Baumbach
A tumble in the snow leads to some sexy-sexy time in front of the fireplace for this committed couple. A delightfully hot scene that turned me off a touch because of language choices.

One Good Favor by J.L. Langley & Dick D.
While this story has a somewhat predictable 'twist,' I don't think the authors were trying to hard to trick the reader either. Funny scenes with his horse Gus and hot scenes with his mystery man Aaron create a fun dichotomy for the main character to bounce between. Had a humorous cell phone thread that ran throughout, tying things together.

Too Soon for Love by Kimberly Gardner

Too Soon for Love by Kimberly Gardner
Stars: 3.5/5

Blurb
Michael Stricker is still reeling from his partner's sudden and untimely death when he meets someone new, someone he could really care about. But first he needs time, time to get his life back in order and time to get over is lost love. But learning to live alone again is nearly impossible with his well-meaning relatives treating him like a poor helpless blind guy.

When Alan Stuart befriends Phillip DiMartino's grieving partner, the last thing he expects is to discover hidden lies and infidelity. Guilty over his attraction to the still-grieving man, Alan resolves to stay silent. But the truth has a way of coming out, and soon a dead man's secrets bring about more heartbreak than Alan could have imagined.

Although both men vow to keep their distance, staying away is easier said than done, even when it's Too Soon For Love.

Overall
Focusing on the concepts of forgiveness, second chances, and independence, this novel is highly enjoyable, if not a little slow moving. While the pace dragged at times, I never lost interest in the characters or what was happening in their lives, although I did want to slap all of them upside the head. More than once. In a loving way, of course.

Strengths
Writing was good and I'd definitely check out other books by this author. I enjoyed Gardner's style; it was to the point most the time and descriptive when it need to be.

Characters. Although I wanted to throttle them at times, I really wanted them to find their happiness. Both characters were distinctly human in their strengths and their faults as they fumble through a friendship, a relationship, and a friendship and then through the reveal of a dark secret.

Realism. The plot may have been outside my own experiences and maybe a little expected, but it felt more like a mirror than a story. The important part of the book are the characters, who all felt extremely realistic (except maybe Robbie, who felt a little plastic...but that is how some people are). It was the realism of the characters that kept me going through the story, plus the side characters were enjoyable with the little quirks they added.

Weaknesses
Pacing was slow or a little off. While I liked it for two reasons, it also was the hardest part for me to get through. It was appropriate because the grieving partner needed time to heal and find himself, so the story needed time to grow for that reason. Also because they went through a soap-opera like series of emotions, we were given the time to be introduced to various side characters who eventually brought everything together in the end. So the length/pacing isn't horrible, just slower than I may have liked.