Brief Encounters

Title: Cemeteries
Author: Lynn Lorenz
Length: 13,000 words
Publisher: Amber Allure
Genre: m/m contemporary paranormal
Rating: B

Blurb:
At the place known as Cemeteries, strange things happen…

Mike meets Jacob on the bus and they start a hot affair. Both men are falling hard, and Mike wants forever with Jacob. But Jacob is content to leave things the same, so each night, they go their separate ways—Mike to the next bus, and Jacob just disappears.

When Mike tries to find Jacob, he follows the young man into a cemetery, only to lose him among the great stone tombs of one of New Orleans most famous Cities of the Dead.

Jacob has a terrible secret, and only Mike holds the key to Jacob’s future. But will Jacob’s secret destroy them both?

Review:
Cemeteries is part of a set of stories from Amber Allure which contain the theme of ghosts. I’m not a huge fan of ghost stories but I do like this author and so I decided to set aside my reservations and read the book. The story centres around Mike who lives a fairly lonely existence and has just started working at a bar. His shift ends late and so he gets the 4am bus home where he meets Jacob. There’s an instant attraction between them and over the course of several nights and bus journeys this develops into a lot more. Mike starts to fall in love and wants Jacob to come home with him, but Jacob refuses.

I really liked the first part of this story. The character of Mike is very sympathetic and I really felt for him as he deals with a crappy job and the loneliness of his flat. He’s attractive enough and finds sex easy to come by, but longs for something more. The unconventional relationship that he and Jacob have aboard the bus was a mix of sweet and sexy. I liked how the author had made them so compatible, with their feelings being just as much a mutual gelling of personalities as about trouser stirring lust (although there is that too). It wasn’t too difficult to see where the story was heading and to guess what Jacob’s big secret is and I was interested to see how the author would resolve the complication.

It was in that resolution where the story lost me a little. The ending wasn’t bad, in fact it made a great deal of sense. The trouble I had with it was the same trouble I have with the endings to many ghostly romance stories – I never find them wholly satisfying. I don’t want to go into detail because that would spoil the ending for everyone, but personally I wasn’t keen on how it ended. That doesn’t mean that it won’t satisfy other readers though, and the writing and characterisation are certainly pleasing that this book will appeal to many. In fact, I still recommend that you read Cemeteries because the vivid setting of New Orleans coupled with a pair of likeable heroes makes this an engaging read.