Slade James<\/a><\/strong>
\nI find the title of this story both silly. I mean, it\u2019s a story about lumberjacks at a gay camp. The story, however, isn\u2019t silly, and is in fact quite sweet. <\/p>\nHank has had a crush on his cabinmate, Gunnar, since they first met. But two-and-a-half years later, he is finally going to act on his crush. He is going to ask Gunnar out\u2014as a bet.<\/p>\n
I admit I was unsure what a gay lumberjack story would be. But as I read that one of the guys wore a kilt and eyeliner, I felt a little better\u2014even though that did feel a little bit Monty Python.<\/p>\n
For two guys who had a bedpost notching contest, their interactions were really sweet, especially as they discussed their pasts, the present, and what they might want for the future. <\/p>\n
I would definitely read another story or book by this author.<\/p>\n
Sexual content. (47 pages)
\nRating: 8\/10<\/strong>
\n
<\/p>\n![\"incidental](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/incidental-magic.png?resize=192%2C288&ssl=1\")
“Incidental Magic” (2021) Jordan Castillo Price<\/strong>\t<\/p>\nCasey is a Junior Magical Inspector, and although he\u2019s been at the Agency for twelve years, he still hasn\u2019t been promoted, he hopes the upcoming Jubilee will make his career.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve read several stories by this author, and I seem to always feel conflicted by them. The writing is good, so perhaps it\u2019s the world building that falls flat for me.<\/p>\n
This was fine, but I wasn\u2019t ever quite sure about the difference between the characters or how the magic worked, or even how the situation was actually resolved in the end.<\/p>\n
Sexual content (67 pages)
\nRating: 6\/10<\/strong>
\n
<\/p>\n![\"winter](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/winter-term.png?resize=192%2C288&ssl=1\")
“Winter Term” (2020) Neil S. Plakcy<\/strong><\/p>\nI had a lot of issues with this story, but I\u2019m not sure which of them were mine and which belonged to the story.<\/p>\n
It has been months, but Will is still mourning his partner. However, when he meets a handsome ski instructor, he wonders if he\u2019s ready to move on.<\/p>\n
First issue is entirely mine: Will\u2019s partner was killed when he fell into a ravine off a mountain. As I lost a cousin in a mountain climbing accident, this was going to be an issue for me, no matter what. <\/p>\n
On top of that, Will\u2019s partner\u2014of eight years\u2014was unlikable, at least in retrospect. He wouldn\u2019t come out of the closet, which sort of forced Will into the closet. He didn\u2019t have Will as an emergency contact\u2014even though they had been together for EIGHT YEARS\u2014and it reads like he didn\u2019t have a will or any other papers, which is ALSO NOT OK when you spend your life doing dangerous activities. But that also ties into my primary issue.<\/p>\n
He had kept our relationship secret from all those he climbed with, so I didn\u2019t even hear that he\u2019d had an accident until the rest of his team returned to the US and someone messaged me that Rafe wouldn\u2019t be coming home.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The more I think about that, the madder I get. Even if people believed they were only friends, why the hell wouldn\u2019t someone think tell Will what had happened? What kind of jerk would tell someone\u2019s long-term roommate and friend of their death in passing?<\/p>\n
Then Will jumps into a relationship with Jeremy, even though he\u2019s not sure about it, and then jumps to conclusions of all kinds from there. I mean, from their conversations, they aren\u2019t really dating, just hanging out and having sex. So I\u2019m not sure what right he has to get mad about anything.<\/p>\n
OK, yes, he can be unhappy about the unreturned texts, but they are not officially dating! They may have feelings, but they don\u2019t talk about those feelings, so what the hell?<\/p>\n
Another problem I had (and this is a big one) was his so-called friend ME.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will get better, Will,\u201d she said. \u201cI promise you that. I told you how badly I reacted when my father passed away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou weren\u2019t exactly generous to your mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I agree. And I was so caught up in managing her grief that when I finally came back to Vermont from Madrid I was almost immobilized. Fortunately, it was during the summer or Richard would have had to drag me to classes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She sipped her coffee. \u201cDon\u2019t put that burden on me. You have to start living your life again. You love to read, I know that. So find yourself a book, a self-help book, and read it. \u201c<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I am mad all over reading this again. This is NOT how you help someone with grief. You don\u2019t tell them to read a self-help book and GET OVER IT.<\/p>\n
And you REALLY don\u2019t tell your grieving friend they are a fucking BURDEN.<\/p>\n
There are so very many better ways that could have been handled, first and foremost, helping them to seek grief counseling or therapy. Grief has no expiration. ESPECIALLY complicated grief which would come from losing a partner who kept their feelings for you secret. If you\u2014as a human\u2014are unable to help your friend bear their grief, that is understandable. It really is. But in that instance you push them to seek counseling. You don\u2019t tell them they are a damned burden.<\/p>\n
UGH. The more I think about this, the madder I get. In fact, I\u2019ve dropped the story two points since I started writing this, I\u2019m so mad about it.<\/p>\n
Sexual content (67 pages)
\nRating: 2\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"daydream\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/daydream.png?resize=180%2C288&ssl=1\")
“Daydream” (2020) A.M. Rose<\/strong><\/p>\nBen is taking an unexpected work trip\u2014some place called Daydream needs an electrician to come fix the town\u2019s bakery.<\/p>\n
Initially Ben was disappointed he wouldn\u2019t be staying an a hotel with a pool, but when he meets Sage, the baker in question, he decides Daydream might not be too bad.<\/p>\n
This is a cute story. Nothing amazing, but a fun little escape.<\/p>\n
I will note that the sex scenes did seem excessive for the amount of story here, but to each their own.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not sure if Ben really would have taken the existence of magic quite so calmly, even after two weeks of seeing things out of the corner of his eye. <\/p>\n
Something about the ending felt a bit off. I think I would have preferred it to be less dramatic\u2014after all, it\u2019s a short story set in a magical town. The world building is the draw here, not the dramatic tension in the final pages when you know Ben is going to come back, because this is\u2014after all\u2014a romance.<\/p>\n
Sexual content (99 pages)
\nRating: 6\/10 <\/strong>
\n
<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/snow-angels.png?resize=189%2C288&ssl=1\")
“The Trouble with Snow Angels” (2021) Kayleigh Sky<\/strong><\/p>\nNoah has decided he wants to win the Christmas tree farm where he went with his mom\u2014those are some of the happiest memories he has with her before her death. But there are others in the contest who want to win as well\u2014including Noah\u2019s first love, Cal.
\nThe characters were cute and entertaining. The story, however, was all over the place. OK. Fine someone wants to give away a Christmas tree farm. That\u2019s possibly reasonable.<\/p>\n
The problem had with to do with the excitement added into the story. How did yellow truck guy even know he had correct answers aside from the ones he picked up from Noah and Cal? And the \u201crace\u201d to the finish line? That was ridiculous enough to actually irritate me.<\/p>\n
Sexual content (148 pages)
\nRating: 5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Right after New Year I stumbled across Prolific Works Winter Giveaway and picked up a bunch of free ebooks. Since many were short stories, I decided to only do individual reviews if the ebook was a novel or novella and if I really liked it. I haven’t read all the stories yet, but I have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18,292,2,207,196,148,26,56,35],"tags":[777,50,584,213,738,343,544,507],"class_list":["post-13871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-anthology","category-ebook","category-fantasy","category-mental-health-rep","category-novella","category-queer","category-romance","category-sexual-content","category-short-story","tag-a-m-rose","tag-boinking","tag-daydream","tag-grief","tag-holiday","tag-jordan-castillo-price","tag-mm","tag-slade-james"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-3BJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14069,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14069","url_meta":{"origin":13871,"position":0},"title":"Tarot Sequence novellas & stories","author":"Michelle","date":"March 7, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Tarot Sequence novellas & stories (2020) K. D. Edwards (The Tarot Sequence) I was informed that there were Tarot Sequence short stories and novellas online. After finishing The Hanged Man I immediately sought them out. Most of them can be found in the twitter thread I linked to above. There\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13840,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13840","url_meta":{"origin":13871,"position":1},"title":"Recipe for a Curse","author":"Michelle","date":"January 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Recipe for a Curse (2021) Lissa Kasey (Romancing a Curse) I downloaded this novella as part of a Winter Wonderland giveaway of holiday short stories and novellas. As the first story I read wasn't good, I haven't expected too much from the other stories I've read. Montana works as a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Recipe for a Curse","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Recipe-for-a-Curse.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20081,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/20081","url_meta":{"origin":13871,"position":2},"title":"The Cubby Hole: A Bear Camp Short","author":"Michelle","date":"July 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Cubby Hole: A Bear Camp Short (2022) Slade James I've enjoyed the other stories I've read by Slade James--I picked the first novella up free, and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. (It's set in a gay nudist camp, so there was a whole lot of potential\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24078,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24078","url_meta":{"origin":13871,"position":3},"title":"A Measure of Menace","author":"Michelle","date":"November 13, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A Measure of Menace (2024) Jennifer Ashley (Kat Holloway #7.5) Set in London in 1883. Kat Holloway is once again asked to assist in a mystery--this time by Lady Cynthia's father, Lord Clifford, who is more than a bit of a cad. Couldn\u2019t you have used that to pay back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Measure of Menace","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/A-Measure-of-Menace.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/A-Measure-of-Menace.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/A-Measure-of-Menace.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14195,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14195","url_meta":{"origin":13871,"position":4},"title":"Interlude: Snow & Winter Collection Volume One","author":"Michelle","date":"April 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Interlude: Snow & Winter Collection Volume One (2021) C.S. Poe (Snow & Winter) This is what it says on the tin: A collection of Snow and Winter short stories. Dopamine: Take Only as Directed Lunch Date Credit Scores and Cohabitation The Ghost of Durango Interpersonal Relationship Studies on the Way\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Interlude Snow & Winter Collection Volume One","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Interlude-Snow-Winter-Collection-Volume-One.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19611,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/19611","url_meta":{"origin":13871,"position":5},"title":"Christmas Dessert Murder","author":"Michelle","date":"January 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Christmas Dessert Murder (2021) Joanne Fluke (A Hannah Swensen Mystery) This is actually two novellas: \u201cChristmas Caramel Murder\u201d (2016) \u201cChristmas Cake Murder\u201d (2018) The first story is Hannah (the main character) telling a friend with whom she is out to dinner, the story of a murder she get involved in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cozy"","block_context":{"text":"Cozy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/cozy"},"img":{"alt_text":"Christmas Dessert Murder","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Christmas-Dessert-Murder.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13871\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"cookies](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/cookies-and-collusion.jpg?resize=181%2C288&ssl=1\")
\u201cCookies and Collusion\u201d (2020) Sara York<\/strong>![\"uncut](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/uncut-wood.png?resize=180%2C288&ssl=1\")
“The Uncut Wood: A Bear Camp Short” (2020)