Showing posts with label Cameron Dane. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cameron Dane. Show all posts

Monday, October 19, 2009

Romance Book Review: Dreaming In Color

Author: Cameron Dane
ISBN: 978-1-59632-978-2
Genre: Contemporary Romance/ Paranormal/ M/M

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For two years Colin has been dreaming about a house and a man. He knows it is all in his head, but when he comes across a rundown version of the house in his dreams on a remote Fuji island, he knows he has to investigate.

Marek doesn't know what what to make of the man from his past who lands on his doorstep. He has came to this island to forget about partner who was murdered two years ago. When Colin tells Marek he is there because of a dream, Marek worries that Colin is out to exact revenge from their shared past.

When it become apparent that Colin is just what he seems to be, a man looking for answers about his dreams, Marek realizes that Colin doesn't know the secret that has haunted Marek for years and now it is too late to tell Colin without losing him. But will Marek lose him anyway when Colin finds out?

Cameron Dane has done a wonderful job with this emotionally charred novel of two men and how they deal with their individual homosexuality and their past. Marek has always been in the closet, keeping himself sheltered from harm and those, including his family members, who don't approve of his lifestyle. His relationships, even his relationship with his murdered lover, had always been in secret. He is a tortured soul that many times authors have a problem relaying with just words alone, but Cameron caught the essence of so well it made the book interesting and inspiring.

Colin is just the opposite of Marek in that he has lived through the worst that life could offer and pushed back to live a full life. After being nearly killed at the age of 17 he isn't afraid to put his neck out there and risk the hurt again. His strength of character is one of the best things about this book.

To top off an already interesting story is the mystery of Colin's dreams and what brought the two men together after all those years. The answers are worth the read.

Description:
Can a house possess a soul and want two men to fall in love?

The sight of the red door saves Colin Baxter in his dream, but very quickly a man appears and the dream becomes something of raw sexual need with a person Colin can’t identify. He just knows the man needs him, and Colin aches to heal his lover…even if the man doesn’t really exist.

Marek Donovan just wants to be left alone to lick his wounds and recover from a terrible loss. The rundown house in Fiji suits his minimal needs just fine. He doesn’t want to face the world again, and on a small, secluded island figures he’s safe from everyone and everything. Particularly guilt from his past.

Dreams of this nameless man and his house plague Colin for two years, but he’s come to care about his phantom lover so deeply he doesn’t want them to end. Then Colin visits Fiji and comes face-to-face with the house from his visions, prompting him to believe these dreams just might be his destiny.

Colin knocks on the door, determined to find answers.

He doesn’t expect the man who answers to be someone he already knows.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Romance Book Review: A Fostered Love

Author: Cameron Dane
ISBN: 978-1-59632-902-7
Genre: Contemporary Romance/ M/M

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Cameron Dane always pens with such raw emotion that it brings her characters to life. In A Fostered Love, Cameron tells the story of two foster kids who are reunited after 15 years when the woman who took them in dies and leaves the request that the kids she helped fix up her house and sell it for as much as they can and leave the money to charity. Christian has stayed in touch with his foster mother Mari and takes the task with ease. Jonah, who left the home, and roommate Christian, after being arrested and taken away by police, joins him.

Over the years Jonah had kept up with Marisol, as well and was more than willing to take on the responsibility to fix up her home. With the help of two others that Marisol fostered, Rodrigo and Abby, Jonah and Christian begin to work on the house while getting to know each other again. Along the way Jonah and Christian form a friendship and a loving bond that Jonah has never in his life experienced. For a man who never had been able to show any kind of emotion, other than in his work, that was saying a lot.

As Jonah gives his heart, danger finds Christian and Jonah fears that something will happen to the man he's come to care for. Can Jonah convince Christian to get help before it is too late?

Cameron does a wonderful job in describing Jonah's character. In the news you hear stories of children who are brought up in homes like Jonah and how they wind up spending their life in jail for committing crime, after crime. Jonah's character steps away from the shackles of his past, but he still has a hard time reaching out emotionally, except with the one man who he has always had a soft spot for, Christian. There are few authors who can really delve into a character like that and make you stand up and notice. Cameron doesn't just do it in this book, but in several others I've read from her the past year. Kudos for you, Cameron for achieving that status.

Description from book:
Christian Sanchez never thought he would see Jonah Roberts again. Foster brothers for a short time as teens, Christian developed a massive crush on Jonah, his tough, older roommate. That all ended when the cops came and arrested Jonah, stealing him from Christian's uncertain world.

Jonah never forgot Christian, even though he cut off all contact with the boy. Jonah knew the kid with the crush on him would be better off forgetting that Jonah ever existed. Jonah stayed in contact with his foster mother Marisol, but refused to hear stories about Christian, and made the woman promise never to tell Christian anything about him.


Fifteen years later, Marisol passes away. She leaves a request that Jonah come home and help Christian renovate her house. Jonah can't refuse, even though he knows he will have to face Christian once again.


Although they haven't seen each other in years, neither man has forgotten the other. Neither man will deny Marisol her final request either…even if it means facing their past, working together, sharing the room they had as teens, getting to know one another now as men, and discovering that the brief friendship they shared has altered into a consuming, abiding love.


About the author from the back of her book:
I am an air force brat and spent most of my growing up years living overseas in Italy and England, as well as Florida, Georgia, Ohio, and Virginia while we were stateside. I now live in Florida once again with my big, wonderfully pushy family and my three-legged cat, Harry. I have been reading romance novels since I was twelve years old, and twenty years later I still adore them. Currently, I have an unexplainable obsession with hockey goaltenders, and an unabashed affection for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Sometimes the only thing you can do is go home again

Seeking Redemption: Aidan & Ethan
Author: Cameron Dane
ISBN: 978-1-59578-515-2

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Description:
Redemption, Maine. Never had the name of a town been more apt or mocked a person more.

Aidan Morgan made many mistakes in his young life, but moving to Redemption gave him a chance to wash away his poor choices and repair his relationship with his siblings.

Ethan Ashworth had the blond good looks of a hometown football star, but the picture didn’t match the heart and mind of the young man living inside.

The new kid in town with a history of getting into trouble and an unlikely geek don’t often make a match, but a unique friendship forms. With one searing kiss on graduation day, promises of a future are made. One day later Aidan is gone, and Ethan’s heart is left broken.

Redemption, Maine. Never had the name of a town been more apt or mocked a person more…twice.

Thirteen years ago Aidan disappeared in the dead of night, but he is home now. Aidan has come home to take the job of chief of the fire department and to reconnect with his brother and sister. He wants Ethan back too. Unable to forget their kiss, Aidan wants to explain why he went away, and he wants a second chance to win Ethan’s heart.

Too bad for Aidan, Ethan isn’t so quick to forgive and forget. He dealt with a life-changing crisis after Aidan went away. His hurt and anger at how Aidan left him alone has resurfaced, bringing the controlled man back to life. Ethan will listen to Aidan’s reasons for leaving when he’s damn good and ready…and not a minute before.

Redemption, Maine. A place for second chances. Will the town -- and Ethan Ashworth -- give Aidan Morgan another shot to get it right?

My View:
I don't read a lot of gay romance, but of those I've read I've seen that generally those from mainstream authors are pretty well done. This is a great example. The issues aren't all about the pitfalls of being gay in this age, which could get boring if done too often. We already know that being gay is not easy even in today's accepting world, but they are about real life issues outside of that realm. In Aidan and Ethan's novel the story line is all about forgiveness and getting over a long hurt. This is something we can all relate with whether we are gay or not.

The story is well thought out and the couple involved works well together. I liked the supporting characters, as well. After checking out Cameron's web site I see that sometime in the future she might come back and visit this series. Some of the other characters deserve a second look, so I hope that happens.