For
adults only.
Tara Lain has a fascinating m/m romance series set in Laguna Beach, California that is called 'Balls to the Wall'. All of these novellas feature males who either have overcome prejudice and abuse to reveal their preference for same sex relationships or who are struggling to make that transition and 'come out' of the closet. There are sizzling hot scenes in these books but I like them because they don't gloss over the difficulties that these men have faced which have made them into the strong people they are now. Multiple themes are addressed in this inventive series, including the futility of falsely changing to try to be a person you think the other person wants you to be and the pain that you can inflict by trying to force others to conform with your standards. There are a variety of reactions among the characters' families (from wholehearted support to outright rejection) which accurately reflects our society today. I don't always agree with the actions of some of the characters (I think that some of them are terrible jerks at first) but I like that there is always hope and of course, my required HEA (happy ever after) is present.
The first in the series is
Volley Balls and features a couple of Australian hunks and the guy who helps them find the courage to reveal their sexual preferences. My Amazon review is at this
link.
The second is
Fire Balls and features a yummy fireman who is out but dealing with harassment at work and the gentle man who feels that he must pretend to be something other than he is in order to attract the firefighter's attention. My Amazon review is at this
link.
Beach Balls centers around an environmentalist and a lawyer who are diametrically opposed about a development project. Fortunately, they meet without knowing all of the things that could be a problem but reality quickly rears its ugly head. My Amazon review is at this
link.
Most recently,
Snow Balls, is the latest story in this series and features a hunky cop who is very reticent to be open about his preferences. I was a bit annoyed at the way he treated his love interest (a sign of a good author, right, someone who makes me care enough about the character to be disappointed in his actions, lol). I also was irked by the mannerisms of the love interest. Even though I have known some pretty flamboyant guys this particular guy just annoyed me with his exclamations. My Amazon review is at this
link.
This talented author also has a new release out called
Hearts and Flour which features a health food aficionado and a baker who cross-dresses in secret. My Amazon review is at this
link.
Update 2/19/13
One more thing I forgot to mention...I am delighted to announce that Tara Lain is one of the featured authors at the new releases chat at Writerspace on Tuesday, March 5, 2013 at 6:00 PST. Please join us as we discuss books with several intriguing authors at this
link. If you have never attended one of these chats, the only thing to remember is that if you are informed that
protocol is being used, this means that you need to type a question mark ( ? ) and wait until your name is called upon before you ask your question. Usually it is best if you type your question mark and hit send, then type your question and NOT hit send but wait until you are called before hitting the send button. That way you are not frantically typing when you are called upon and the rest of us are not twiddling our thumbs waiting around (although we usually find ways to entertain ourselves). There is a button at the bottom to the right of the emoticon button that allows you to save the chat, just hit it at various times throughout the discussion and you can go back and catch up if you need to. Come by, enjoy the virtual nutella and libation of your choice and interact with other people who are as enthusiastic about reading as I am (0:
If you have other questions, please feel free to leave a comment on my blog and I will do my best to answer them.
