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mad_about_books's review
5.0
Never Say Never
Ravenous Romance publishes erotic horror - over-the-top erotica for every sexual preference. Their guidelines state “Every book must be a compelling romance, with a great love story and passionate, explicit sex.”
I don’t read romance novels, and I don’t read erotica. You’ve heard the expression ‘never say never?’ It applies here in spades. On the other hand, I am an avid reader, and I read everything and anything from fantasy to no-nonsense non-fiction.
A good writer is a good writer no matter the genre in which he or she is writing. Hal Bodner is a good writer, and IN FLESH AND STONE is a good book. If you’re not into M/M erotic fiction, you just need to learn how to read it. When I started the book, I think I actually dreaded getting to the first steamy, hot scene. When I got there, I took a peek and fast forwarded through the worst of it while pausing to be sure I didn’t miss anything necessary to the plot. Fast forwarding is easy when you read on a Kindle, and as you flip the pages you can readily pick out words of import, read what’s around them, and stop on a dime. As I continued, I found myself less inclined to fast forward through sex scenes simply because they weren’t gratuitous inserts written to titillate, but rather an integral part of the story of love and loss unwinding before me.
The characters here drive the story. They have real personalities, complete with quirks and foibles. As you read, you know that the love is real and the anguish is real, and that puts flesh on the skeleton of words. It’s not just the main character, Alex Restin, but those around him that add life and truth to the tale. There is Corey, the irrepressible gamin, who gains a certain maturity by book’s end. Nadine Shermer is Alex’s agent and owner of the art gallery that shows his work. An older, more sophisticated gentleman, Charles Wannamaker, collects Alex’s art and provides some stability as events spin out of control. Tony, Alex’s love and lover, is both central and peripheral to the story. He is in a coma, hospitalized, and there isn’t much hope. IN FLESH AND STONE is all about dealing with day to day life, anticipating the future and what it may hold, and ultimately coming to grips with death.
I must confess that this is not a book I would have sought on my own. I needed a little push, a very little push. I had read Hal Bodner’s short story “Virtuoso,” in TRAPS, edited by Scott T. Goudsward, and I loved it. Then Hal posted, on Facebook, that he had a new book, FOR LOVE OF THE DEAD. I went looking for that book, and somewhere along the way, I read that it was, in some ways, a sequel to IN FLESH AND STONE. The bottom line, I bought them both, and I’m looking forward to reading FOR LOVE OF THE DEAD.
If you are reading this, and wondering if I would recommend this book to my mother, probably not. Come on, we’re talking my 83 year old mother here. But you, yes you! Put on your big girl panties and take a walk on the wild side. You won’t be sorry.
Ravenous Romance publishes erotic horror - over-the-top erotica for every sexual preference. Their guidelines state “Every book must be a compelling romance, with a great love story and passionate, explicit sex.”
I don’t read romance novels, and I don’t read erotica. You’ve heard the expression ‘never say never?’ It applies here in spades. On the other hand, I am an avid reader, and I read everything and anything from fantasy to no-nonsense non-fiction.
A good writer is a good writer no matter the genre in which he or she is writing. Hal Bodner is a good writer, and IN FLESH AND STONE is a good book. If you’re not into M/M erotic fiction, you just need to learn how to read it. When I started the book, I think I actually dreaded getting to the first steamy, hot scene. When I got there, I took a peek and fast forwarded through the worst of it while pausing to be sure I didn’t miss anything necessary to the plot. Fast forwarding is easy when you read on a Kindle, and as you flip the pages you can readily pick out words of import, read what’s around them, and stop on a dime. As I continued, I found myself less inclined to fast forward through sex scenes simply because they weren’t gratuitous inserts written to titillate, but rather an integral part of the story of love and loss unwinding before me.
The characters here drive the story. They have real personalities, complete with quirks and foibles. As you read, you know that the love is real and the anguish is real, and that puts flesh on the skeleton of words. It’s not just the main character, Alex Restin, but those around him that add life and truth to the tale. There is Corey, the irrepressible gamin, who gains a certain maturity by book’s end. Nadine Shermer is Alex’s agent and owner of the art gallery that shows his work. An older, more sophisticated gentleman, Charles Wannamaker, collects Alex’s art and provides some stability as events spin out of control. Tony, Alex’s love and lover, is both central and peripheral to the story. He is in a coma, hospitalized, and there isn’t much hope. IN FLESH AND STONE is all about dealing with day to day life, anticipating the future and what it may hold, and ultimately coming to grips with death.
I must confess that this is not a book I would have sought on my own. I needed a little push, a very little push. I had read Hal Bodner’s short story “Virtuoso,” in TRAPS, edited by Scott T. Goudsward, and I loved it. Then Hal posted, on Facebook, that he had a new book, FOR LOVE OF THE DEAD. I went looking for that book, and somewhere along the way, I read that it was, in some ways, a sequel to IN FLESH AND STONE. The bottom line, I bought them both, and I’m looking forward to reading FOR LOVE OF THE DEAD.
If you are reading this, and wondering if I would recommend this book to my mother, probably not. Come on, we’re talking my 83 year old mother here. But you, yes you! Put on your big girl panties and take a walk on the wild side. You won’t be sorry.
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