I recently blogged about my disenchantment with contemporary romance, and concluded that it was the lack of compelling conflict that was the problem for me. For me, believable conflict is thinner on the ground in contemporary romance than in any other sub-category of romance. Whereas in historicals - disapproving governesses, slutty rakes - and in paranormals - blood-suckers, death, immortality - the conflict is right there, bred into the bones of the story.

I should have added to my post that M/M romance is another sub-genre with built-in conflict. If I had done so, I could have neatly quoted Jay, one of the protaganists from Bonnie Dee’s new novel, Undeniable Magnetism:

“Daring to trust is hard enough in any relationship, but for a gay man it’s compounded. There’s a lot more at stake than two guys who happen to like each other and want to become involved. There’s a whole raft of outside issues impacting them.”

With M/M romance, you don’t need to manufacture a WTF storyline or a Big Mis to provide the conflict. You can have your Romeo and Juliet (or Romeo and Mercutio) doing their ‘You And Me Against The World, Baby’. Conflict - sorted.

And so, in this book we get two rather lovely men - Jay and Simon - who fall headlong for each other but who have a few obstacles to negotiate on the path to their HEA.

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Teddy Pig, who does a great line in - well, great lines, described this book as ‘Regency Gayness in Space’. And I couldn’t put it better myself. And before I go any further - I can’t hold it back - I liked this book.

Ok …. rewind.

The Cover

I don’t generally like mantitty covers, but…. this is a mantitty cover with hair. And I’m already officially on record as liking moustaches [Bam: Grody!]. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’m partial to a hairy chest. Yes, I likes me the hirsute fellows.

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Let me start on a positive note: although I didn’t like this book, there were things I liked about Ms Tenorio’s writing. There is an energy to her prose that is appealing, and she is funny (always helpful when you write romantic comedies). However, for me, this book just didn’t work: the story was weak and I didn’t believe in the two main characters.

The Plot

Travis and Vetta are research scientists who have known each other since college. They are ‘best enemies’. You know the kind: they bicker and fight all the time but there’s a strong underlying friendship. They share lab space and have neighbouring apartments. Vetta is researching whether men are driven by sex or money and Travis is researching the effect of hormones on ovarian cancer.

Vetta comes from a phenomenally wealthy family. Her father owns a huge pharmaceutical company and her mother is a Swedish actress and all-round sexpot. Vetta lives with her ‘nanny’, Jade, a manipulative mother-hen. Travis, by contrast, comes from an ordinary background and has recently run out of research money.

At the start of the book, we learn that Vetta is gathering questionnaires from potential subjects. To annoy her, Travis submits one with snarky answers and obscene cartoons. We learn that Vetta intends to select a candidate from the questionnaire respondents and offer him a million dollars if he will agree to have no sex for a year. The candidate in question will have to give regular sperm samples and keep a diary.

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Grade: A

Note: this is out in the UK now; out in the US in January.

Kristina Lloyd is a phenomenal writer. I picked up her first novel, Darker Than Love, in a second-hand bookshop. DTL is a fairly typical piece of historical erotica (ingenue heroine is kidnapped by pervert peer, subjected to unspeakable degradation and eventually rescued by handsome hero) but there was something about her prose that lifted it above the usual. It was enough to prompt me to buy her second novel set in contemporary Brighton, Asking For Trouble. That book blew me away.

Consequently I ordered Split from Amazon as soon as it came out in the UK and I was not disappointed. It’s another contemporary novel with the action taking place in the brooding Yorkshire Moors.

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Grade: D+

My TBR pile is not in fact one single pile but lots of little piles. Amongst others, I have an “immediate TBR” pile of books I’m dying to read, a “worthy TBR” pile of books I feel I should read and “suck-it-and-see TBR” pile of books I’ve picked up without knowing who the author is just to see what they’re like. Manhandling, by Karen Anders was in my suck-it-and-see pile. I obviously bought it (oooh - two years ago!) cos it was a ’special price’ book but have never gotten round to reading it. Till now.

The Cover

….is dark. Not atmospheric-dark. Not deep-and-angsty dark. Just so fucking dark that I can’t actually make anything out except the weird green streak in the female model’s hair.

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