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A review by papercranestitches
Heart2Heart: A Charity Anthology (Collection), Volume 2 by May Archer, Leslie Copeland, Leslie Copeland, R.G. Alexander
2.0
Let me just start by saying that I appreciate all of the authors for donating their time and creative energy to participate in this anthology and help raise much needed funds for their favourite LGBTQ charities. You're doing a wonderful thing and I hope this book sells thousands and thousands of copies!
Forget Paris by R.G. Alexander ~ 2 stars
This was my first story by this author, and I can't say that I was impressed. In fact, I don't think that you can actually call this a short story since there was no real beginning and no satisfying ending; it was a single, unfinished scene about an uptight American and a beefy, more-than-meets-the-eye Canadian that ends abruptly with fade-to-black sex.
It sounds harsh, but there is nothing of substance here. It wasn't funny or super sweet or heart wrenching, it just sort of... was. The vapid characters didn't earn a HEA, so, in a way, I'm glad that the author didn't bother to give them one.
If this was supposed to be the amuse-bouche for the anthology, I'm already rethinking the next course.
Los Angeles by A.E. Wasp ~ 3 stars
Another story by a new-to-me author, this time with a slightly better outcome. I liked this story about a compassionate and a little OTT pediatric cancer nurse who meets up with a hunky firefighter on Halloween and instantly falls in lust.
Although I appreciated Zane's sweet attentiveness (the effort he put into seeing Kurt after their initially meeting was swoon-worthy), the highlight of the story for me wasn't the romance between the two main characters, but the relationships and interactions that Kurt (the nurse) had with his coworkers and patients, especially Calvin. Those were the moments that his character sparkled and I found myself rooting for him to get a HEA.
I did find the story's timeline to be a little frenetic, flip-flopping rapidly between the present day, flashbacks, and then fast forwarding near the end of the story in order to give readers even a semblance of reality to the characters' HEA.
Also, the story could have used some serious proofreading. Not only did the name of the club that the characters met at change throughout the story (Trunks to Tracks and then back again), but there was all sorts of wonky punctuation, spelling errors, etc.
Cincinnati by Aimee Nicole Walker ~ 2.5 stars
Let me be upfront with you: I love best friends to lovers stories! Maybe it's my inner teen that swooned when Joey and finally Pacey got together, but these stories usually score big with me.
This one... Was sort of hit or miss.
I liked the characters well enough, but when - BAM! - the straight-presenting dude all of a sudden started getting possessive and handsy over his best friend of 9 years with little conversation about the whys and whatfors and whynows (beyond he was a "late bloomer")...? I was majorly disappointed. I absolutely buy the gay dude pining after his straight bestie keeping that knowledge to himself, but I didn't feel like the reasons why the reverse would be true was resolved in a way that felt at all rooted in reality.
Also, the dream shtick was cute for the first 30 seconds or so, then it became eye roll inducing.
Oakland by Alexa Land ~ 3 stars
Shout out to a biracial MC (neither of which was Caucasian)! That rarely happens.
I really appreciated the meet cute in this one. Or, rather, the re-meet cute giving that all of these stories start with the Heart2Heart fundraiser. An escape room is either a really awesome or a really terrible first date option and this story flirted with both. Now I want to try one, but it may be tougher because I definitely don't have the head for random trivia that Ryan did.
I also appreciated that Ryan was vulnerable and forthright about what he viewed as his shortcomings; it was a refreshing mix. And Rick's persistence at the end? Yeah, that dude's a keeper.
Overall, this was a cute story that felt complete.
Cape Town by Alison Hendricks ~ 2 stars
Honestly? This story did nothing for me. I couldn't relate at all with the celebrity/infamy of the two main characters and Mitchell outright irked me.
Apparently, Mitchell was a teacher who fell into the profession as a back up plan when his true dream (being a marine biologist) was crushed beneath discovering that he had a crippling fear of sharks. At one point, Mitchell protested that he didn't hate his job, but he wasn't too convincing and all of the other characters in the story seemed to innately know how much he loathed it.
Full disclosure: I'm a teacher.
I wanted to be a classroom teacher from the time I was 5 years old and I never wavered from that goal. I graduated teacher's college back in 2008, and although I eventually chose not to work in a classroom, I still consider myself a teacher (I work in the museum sector now; who do you think plans your kids' school trip programming, creates hands-on interactive exhibit components, and schedules your insanely interesting and informative public lectures?!).
It sounds lame, but teaching really is a calling. I've never met a single teacher who just "fell into" the profession or anyone who entered the profession but stuck it out for years and years when they didn't truly enjoy it, so this bit of Mitchell's background story made me want to throat punch him. Or, like, push him into the ocean without a shark cage.
Also, what the hell was with his drama queen moment over Lucas' grand gesture? Of course he didn't ask your permission, dummy - he was trying to surprise you! Grrr!
Definitely not a favourite story of mine.
Boston by Annabella Michaels ~ 3 stars
Did anyone else find it strange that the editor of this anthology put two stories back to back in which the characters were having their blind date at an aquarium? Or that they both had a character who was a teacher and, in one case, he wanted to be a marine biologist and, in the other, the second MC was a marine biologist? That is one heck of a coincidence.
Fortunately for Annabella Michaels, she came out the victor in this apples to apples comparison.
I know everything about this story was sweet and easy - too easy, really - but I was cool with that. It was a cute story that provided me with a few moments of entertainment, and sparked my interest enough to check out something full-length by Michaels to see what she can do with a little more time to develop her characters and their story.
Athens by Charlie Cochet ~ 3 stars
Utterly predictable, but that's half the fun of soapy trope-y stories, right?
And with Charlie Cochet as an author, you know you're at least going to get a solidly written, well edited story with likeable characters and a smile inducing HEA.
Denver by E. Davies ~ 2 stars
I think there was too much story here for the number of pages written. The characters, their back story and their relationship development really needed – and deserved - more pages in order to be told properly.
Melbourne by Eden Finley ~ 3.75 stars
I spent this whole weekend with a bunch of rowdy Aussies who came to Canada for my friend's wedding, so I could clearly hear their accents ringing in my head as I read this story about a cute graduate student and an older, workaholic music label exec.
Unfortunately, that was only possibly due to my imagination, not because there was anything in this story that screamed "I'm set in Australia!" That's right, this was yet another story that could have been set in any city in any country on any continent in the world. Thankfully, the story did actually have a strong sense of place - the sights and sounds and smells of a weekend music festival are distinctive - and I think Finley did a great job capturing this vibe.
I also really liked her characters. Their banter was cute and their chemistry was unexpected and therefore exciting.
I would have gone to 4 stars, but I had to knock off a little bit because I didn't get to see enough of the payoff of the story's set up. I wanted to see Marty get the dream experience Luce promised him, and then see how the two of them interacted in the immediate aftermath of that (can we say gratitude sex?! lol).
Even with that minor hiccup (which is totally a personal preference, anyway), this story is still the strongest outing in this anthology that I've read thus far and I'm finally a happy reader!
San Francisco by Hailey Turner ~ 2 stars
I know I have a shitty memory, but I read this story last night and I've already forgotten the characters' names, most of the plot, and my general feelings towards the story. I mean, there was nothing offensively bad about this one, it just wasn't very memorable.
One thing that it did have going for it was a strong sense of place. This story FELT like San Francisco - it had specific street names and related traffic woes, mentions of particular neighbourhoods and landmarks, San Fran's quirky line culture, specific businesses, what seems like never-ending disruptions due to filming, etc. So kudos to the author for that.
Scotland by K.M. Neuhold ~ 2 stars
While all of the other authors in this anthology picked a specific city to set their stories in, Neuhold went with a generic "Scotland", and it wasn't particularly well done.
I've never been to Scotland before - can you drive from one end to the other in a few hours? It sounds implausible to me, but that's how the author made it seem when her characters were able to have adventures in the morning, explore - off page, mind you - Tucker's ancestral castle, have more sightseeing adventures in the afternoon, and still make it back to the hotel long before midnight.
This is my skeptical expression...
Washington by Lucy Lennox ~ 4 stars
Good banter, hot sex. I'm a fan of this story.
New Orleans by Macy Blake ~ 3 stars
Okay, this one had an energy level that I appreciated. Cute but forgettable.
Toronto by Max Walker ~DNF @ Chapter 6
The two main characters interacted more with the zookeeper than each other, and had barely any dialogue in the main story, yet I was supposed to believe that they fell madly in love with one another over the course of a single night. Yeah, okay. *snort*
But you know that saying, "be careful what you wish for"? Well, that applies here. Because although I was bummed about the lack of dialogue in the first half of the story, when we finally did get some dialogue, all I wanted to do was chant "make it stop, make it stop!"
What the HELL was that mascot phobia reveal scene?! Someone should have told this author 'no' during the editing process. I rarely say this about an author's plot point because it's all part of the artistic license, but... this reveal was beyond dumb and had no place in a story that was supposed to be taking itself seriously.
Boston by May Archer ~ 2.5 stars
A struggling writer shows an uptight tech tycoon how to stop and smell the roses (or enjoy Disneyland as the case may be). The story was fine. I mean, it got the job done, but I won't remember a single thing about it in 3 days.
Baltimore by Ruthie Luhnow ~ 2 stars
This story felt like it was a one night stand kinda couple that the author wanted you to believe - and hope! - could make it in the long run, but I just don't believe they could. Too short (in terms of both word count and time passed in the actual story) to see any real feelings develop between the MCs.
Atlanta by Sloane Kennedy ~ 3 stars
I actually think these characters and their story would have made for a great full-length novel; I wanted to know more about what made them tick and what made them infinitely perfect for one another.
Uncle Frank's shenanigans were a little too over the top for my liking, but I think that they'd play well with many other readers.
Oh... Canada by R.G. Alexander ~ 2 stars
Call me crazy, but I think stories in an anthology should stand on their own - especially since readers may pick up and put down the volume over several days/weeks/months/years, reading a little bit here and there. That's what I did, anyway.
So, by the time I got to this scene at the end of the antho, I couldn't remember the characters from their first appearance at the start of the antho, and their sexy shower scene and subsequent HEA meant nothing to me.
Overall anthology ~ 2.5 stars
Can someone please tell me why none of these stories that are set all over the world have any sense of place? The only reason I knew the first one was set in Toronto was because they told me it didn't live up to the MC's dreams of Paris, L.A. felt like any other generic American city, and with the descriptions of stained glass and painted Victorian houses, I honestly forgot one of the stories was set in Oakland and thought it was set in San Fran.
Also, if this raffle is sponsored by Heart2Heart, why are some people winning an amazing week in Scotland as their trip and others only won 4 free drinks at a bar where they weren't even allowed to skip the line?!
Forget Paris by R.G. Alexander ~ 2 stars
This was my first story by this author, and I can't say that I was impressed. In fact, I don't think that you can actually call this a short story since there was no real beginning and no satisfying ending; it was a single, unfinished scene about an uptight American and a beefy, more-than-meets-the-eye Canadian that ends abruptly with fade-to-black sex.
It sounds harsh, but there is nothing of substance here. It wasn't funny or super sweet or heart wrenching, it just sort of... was. The vapid characters didn't earn a HEA, so, in a way, I'm glad that the author didn't bother to give them one.
If this was supposed to be the amuse-bouche for the anthology, I'm already rethinking the next course.
Los Angeles by A.E. Wasp ~ 3 stars
Another story by a new-to-me author, this time with a slightly better outcome. I liked this story about a compassionate and a little OTT pediatric cancer nurse who meets up with a hunky firefighter on Halloween and instantly falls in lust.
Although I appreciated Zane's sweet attentiveness (the effort he put into seeing Kurt after their initially meeting was swoon-worthy), the highlight of the story for me wasn't the romance between the two main characters, but the relationships and interactions that Kurt (the nurse) had with his coworkers and patients, especially Calvin. Those were the moments that his character sparkled and I found myself rooting for him to get a HEA.
I did find the story's timeline to be a little frenetic, flip-flopping rapidly between the present day, flashbacks, and then fast forwarding near the end of the story in order to give readers even a semblance of reality to the characters' HEA.
Also, the story could have used some serious proofreading. Not only did the name of the club that the characters met at change throughout the story (Trunks to Tracks and then back again), but there was all sorts of wonky punctuation, spelling errors, etc.
Cincinnati by Aimee Nicole Walker ~ 2.5 stars
Let me be upfront with you: I love best friends to lovers stories! Maybe it's my inner teen that swooned when Joey and finally Pacey got together, but these stories usually score big with me.
This one... Was sort of hit or miss.
I liked the characters well enough, but when - BAM! - the straight-presenting dude all of a sudden started getting possessive and handsy over his best friend of 9 years with little conversation about the whys and whatfors and whynows (beyond he was a "late bloomer")...? I was majorly disappointed. I absolutely buy the gay dude pining after his straight bestie keeping that knowledge to himself, but I didn't feel like the reasons why the reverse would be true was resolved in a way that felt at all rooted in reality.
Also, the dream shtick was cute for the first 30 seconds or so, then it became eye roll inducing.
Oakland by Alexa Land ~ 3 stars
Shout out to a biracial MC (neither of which was Caucasian)! That rarely happens.
I really appreciated the meet cute in this one. Or, rather, the re-meet cute giving that all of these stories start with the Heart2Heart fundraiser. An escape room is either a really awesome or a really terrible first date option and this story flirted with both. Now I want to try one, but it may be tougher because I definitely don't have the head for random trivia that Ryan did.
I also appreciated that Ryan was vulnerable and forthright about what he viewed as his shortcomings; it was a refreshing mix. And Rick's persistence at the end? Yeah, that dude's a keeper.
Overall, this was a cute story that felt complete.
Cape Town by Alison Hendricks ~ 2 stars
Honestly? This story did nothing for me. I couldn't relate at all with the celebrity/infamy of the two main characters and Mitchell outright irked me.
Apparently, Mitchell was a teacher who fell into the profession as a back up plan when his true dream (being a marine biologist) was crushed beneath discovering that he had a crippling fear of sharks. At one point, Mitchell protested that he didn't hate his job, but he wasn't too convincing and all of the other characters in the story seemed to innately know how much he loathed it.
Full disclosure: I'm a teacher.
I wanted to be a classroom teacher from the time I was 5 years old and I never wavered from that goal. I graduated teacher's college back in 2008, and although I eventually chose not to work in a classroom, I still consider myself a teacher (I work in the museum sector now; who do you think plans your kids' school trip programming, creates hands-on interactive exhibit components, and schedules your insanely interesting and informative public lectures?!).
It sounds lame, but teaching really is a calling. I've never met a single teacher who just "fell into" the profession or anyone who entered the profession but stuck it out for years and years when they didn't truly enjoy it, so this bit of Mitchell's background story made me want to throat punch him. Or, like, push him into the ocean without a shark cage.
Also, what the hell was with his drama queen moment over Lucas' grand gesture? Of course he didn't ask your permission, dummy - he was trying to surprise you! Grrr!
Definitely not a favourite story of mine.
Boston by Annabella Michaels ~ 3 stars
Did anyone else find it strange that the editor of this anthology put two stories back to back in which the characters were having their blind date at an aquarium? Or that they both had a character who was a teacher and, in one case, he wanted to be a marine biologist and, in the other, the second MC was a marine biologist? That is one heck of a coincidence.
Fortunately for Annabella Michaels, she came out the victor in this apples to apples comparison.
I know everything about this story was sweet and easy - too easy, really - but I was cool with that. It was a cute story that provided me with a few moments of entertainment, and sparked my interest enough to check out something full-length by Michaels to see what she can do with a little more time to develop her characters and their story.
Athens by Charlie Cochet ~ 3 stars
Utterly predictable, but that's half the fun of soapy trope-y stories, right?
And with Charlie Cochet as an author, you know you're at least going to get a solidly written, well edited story with likeable characters and a smile inducing HEA.
Denver by E. Davies ~ 2 stars
I think there was too much story here for the number of pages written. The characters, their back story and their relationship development really needed – and deserved - more pages in order to be told properly.
Melbourne by Eden Finley ~ 3.75 stars
I spent this whole weekend with a bunch of rowdy Aussies who came to Canada for my friend's wedding, so I could clearly hear their accents ringing in my head as I read this story about a cute graduate student and an older, workaholic music label exec.
Unfortunately, that was only possibly due to my imagination, not because there was anything in this story that screamed "I'm set in Australia!" That's right, this was yet another story that could have been set in any city in any country on any continent in the world. Thankfully, the story did actually have a strong sense of place - the sights and sounds and smells of a weekend music festival are distinctive - and I think Finley did a great job capturing this vibe.
I also really liked her characters. Their banter was cute and their chemistry was unexpected and therefore exciting.
I would have gone to 4 stars, but I had to knock off a little bit because I didn't get to see enough of the payoff of the story's set up. I wanted to see Marty get the dream experience Luce promised him, and then see how the two of them interacted in the immediate aftermath of that (can we say gratitude sex?! lol).
Even with that minor hiccup (which is totally a personal preference, anyway), this story is still the strongest outing in this anthology that I've read thus far and I'm finally a happy reader!
San Francisco by Hailey Turner ~ 2 stars
I know I have a shitty memory, but I read this story last night and I've already forgotten the characters' names, most of the plot, and my general feelings towards the story. I mean, there was nothing offensively bad about this one, it just wasn't very memorable.
One thing that it did have going for it was a strong sense of place. This story FELT like San Francisco - it had specific street names and related traffic woes, mentions of particular neighbourhoods and landmarks, San Fran's quirky line culture, specific businesses, what seems like never-ending disruptions due to filming, etc. So kudos to the author for that.
Scotland by K.M. Neuhold ~ 2 stars
While all of the other authors in this anthology picked a specific city to set their stories in, Neuhold went with a generic "Scotland", and it wasn't particularly well done.
I've never been to Scotland before - can you drive from one end to the other in a few hours? It sounds implausible to me, but that's how the author made it seem when her characters were able to have adventures in the morning, explore - off page, mind you - Tucker's ancestral castle, have more sightseeing adventures in the afternoon, and still make it back to the hotel long before midnight.
This is my skeptical expression...
Washington by Lucy Lennox ~ 4 stars
Good banter, hot sex. I'm a fan of this story.
New Orleans by Macy Blake ~ 3 stars
Okay, this one had an energy level that I appreciated. Cute but forgettable.
Toronto by Max Walker ~DNF @ Chapter 6
The two main characters interacted more with the zookeeper than each other, and had barely any dialogue in the main story, yet I was supposed to believe that they fell madly in love with one another over the course of a single night. Yeah, okay. *snort*
But you know that saying, "be careful what you wish for"? Well, that applies here. Because although I was bummed about the lack of dialogue in the first half of the story, when we finally did get some dialogue, all I wanted to do was chant "make it stop, make it stop!"
What the HELL was that mascot phobia reveal scene?! Someone should have told this author 'no' during the editing process. I rarely say this about an author's plot point because it's all part of the artistic license, but... this reveal was beyond dumb and had no place in a story that was supposed to be taking itself seriously.
Boston by May Archer ~ 2.5 stars
A struggling writer shows an uptight tech tycoon how to stop and smell the roses (or enjoy Disneyland as the case may be). The story was fine. I mean, it got the job done, but I won't remember a single thing about it in 3 days.
Baltimore by Ruthie Luhnow ~ 2 stars
This story felt like it was a one night stand kinda couple that the author wanted you to believe - and hope! - could make it in the long run, but I just don't believe they could. Too short (in terms of both word count and time passed in the actual story) to see any real feelings develop between the MCs.
Atlanta by Sloane Kennedy ~ 3 stars
I actually think these characters and their story would have made for a great full-length novel; I wanted to know more about what made them tick and what made them infinitely perfect for one another.
Uncle Frank's shenanigans were a little too over the top for my liking, but I think that they'd play well with many other readers.
Oh... Canada by R.G. Alexander ~ 2 stars
Call me crazy, but I think stories in an anthology should stand on their own - especially since readers may pick up and put down the volume over several days/weeks/months/years, reading a little bit here and there. That's what I did, anyway.
So, by the time I got to this scene at the end of the antho, I couldn't remember the characters from their first appearance at the start of the antho, and their sexy shower scene and subsequent HEA meant nothing to me.
Overall anthology ~ 2.5 stars
Can someone please tell me why none of these stories that are set all over the world have any sense of place? The only reason I knew the first one was set in Toronto was because they told me it didn't live up to the MC's dreams of Paris, L.A. felt like any other generic American city, and with the descriptions of stained glass and painted Victorian houses, I honestly forgot one of the stories was set in Oakland and thought it was set in San Fran.
Also, if this raffle is sponsored by Heart2Heart, why are some people winning an amazing week in Scotland as their trip and others only won 4 free drinks at a bar where they weren't even allowed to skip the line?!