Island of Icarus, by Christine Danse

Content warning: This is an adult novel, and may not be suitable for younger readers.

Title: Island of Icarus
Author: Christine Danse
Publisher: Carina Press
Released: out now!
Source: review copy via NetGalley

Description from publisher website:
Field Journal of Jonathan Orms, 1893

En route to polite exile in the Galapagos Islands (field work, to quote the dean of my university), I have found myself marooned on a deserted tropical paradise. Deserted, that is, except for my savior, a mysterious American called Marcus. He is an inventor—and the proof of his greatness is the marvelous new clockwork arm he has created to replace the unsightly one that was ruined in my shipboard mishap.

Marcus has a truly brilliant mind and the gentlest hands, which cause me to quiver in an unfamiliar but rather pleasant way. Surely it is only my craving for human companionship that draws me to this man, nothing more? He says a ship will pass this way in a few months, but I am welcome to stay as long as I like. The thought of leaving Marcus becomes more untenable with each passing day, though staying would be fatal to my career...

My thoughts: I'll be honest - I was disappointed with this story. Two men on a desert island making interesting clockwork things while they fall in love - it sounded interesting. The story starts with Jonathan describing how he was pushed into taking a sabbatical from the university where he was working. Although I liked knowing how he got to the island, I found myself skimming over the first two chapters, until he was shipwrecked.

I feel like the story went too slowly - I was often scanning over pages, waiting for something more interesting to happen. I think some of it might have been the way the story was told - it's all written as Jonathan's diary, and takes place in the 1890s, so is very... staid, in the way Jonathan writes. The time period was something else that bugged me, for different reasons. I'll admit I don't read much historical romance, but I think some points are fairly consistently agreed on, and a couple of the things Jonathan describes as having happened just don't seem likely to have happened.

He also seems to adjust very quickly and easily to the idea of being attracted to a man, and this man being attracted to him. To me, it just didn't feel very realistic, and it was the little things like that that kept pulling me out of the story.

I did like Marcus's inventions - they were very interesting. It wasn't a boring story, or too unbelievable, it just felt very 'meh' to me. I'd love to hear other people's opinions on this book if you have read it - what did you like/dislike? Have you read anything else by Christine Danse? What did you think of that?

Overall, I give Island of Icarus 5 out of 10.

~Ailsa

One Real Thing

(Note: this novel is aimed at adult readers)
One Real Thing, by Anah Crow & Dianne Fox

I received this for review from Carina Press via netGalley. It is available for Kindle from today.

Can you believe this is the first m/m novel I’ve ever read? Yeah, me neither.

One Real Thing is a very sweet story, I think. At the start of the book, you see that organised, happy Nick is still concerned about his college friend Holly even when they haven’t seen each other for a long time. You also get to see how much of a mess Holly is in, staying in a dilapidated motel with a room full of drugs and a girl he doesn’t care about. Luckily for him, Nick realises he can’t just sit and watch his old friend’s self destruction, so making up a story for his wife and telling his boss he’s following a lead on a story, he goes to find Holly. It’s clear as soon as he pulls Holly away from the motel and back to Nick’s hotel that he cares for Holly a lot, but he doesn’t know that Holly would like to be a lot more than friends. As Holly recovers back in New York at an apartment Nick has rented for him, Nick remembers more about how he felt when they were in college together. He likes Holly, but keeps denying to himself how he really feels. I really liked how Nick took care of Holly. It’s the friendship between them, despite how much Holly thinks Nick should leave him alone, Nick stays there. I’ve found that’s an important part of friendship - taking care of someone when they can’t do it for themselves, even if they think they don’t need the help.

I like the way that Holly’s submissiveness is slowly introduced to his thoughts, and the reasoning behind it for Holly. It seemed real, and added to the sweetness of the story. He feels better just being around Nick, but at the same time he feels like he (Holly) is not good enough for him. It’s natural for him to do what Nick tells him, and Nick likes it when Holly just does things he says, without asking. There’s nothing particularly sexual about it, it’s just the right thing for them to do.

One character I really didn’t like was Danner, who Holly goes to work for. He just didn’t seem realistic. He’s very enthusiastic, but at one point his wife, Julie, compares being with him to looking after a puppy. To me, that’s exactly what it seemed like reading the book. He doesn’t act like a grown man, he acts like an immature kid who needs constant attention. Any scene or conversation with Danner in just had him acting so silly, I had to wince at the awkwardness of it. Thankfully, though, he doesn’t have a very large part in the book.

The second half of the book was my favourite. When his wife leaves him, Nick’s life falls apart, and it takes a while before Holly finds out, but he drops everything with his new job to come and help Nick. Free from his marriage, Nick is ready to listen to his feelings for Holly, and things get much more interesting: “I want your mouth. You always looked so good like that, your lips all soft and swollen. Such a pretty mouth.” Everything between them is always about taking care of each other, trying to please the other. I think that’s one of my favourite things about the story. I love how Nick opens up to Holly, and lets himself enjoy what they’ve got. You know that it’s going to be ok in the end, but it’s still nice to watch and see how they manage it. A very cute story, I really enjoyed it, and I would probably read more from these authors. I give it 7 stars out of 10.

~Ailsa