Brief Encounters

Title: Love Tokens
Author: Megan Derr
Length: 12,500 words
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Genre: m/m fantasy romance
Rating: B

Blurb:
Chanda is the Lord of Honey Flower House, which specializes in catering to those who have a taste for the paranormal between the sheets. Being an incubus makes him all the better at the job, even if the job makes him lonely. Then a demon appears on his doorstep in search of a missing person, and Chanda is quickly reminded why he prefers the relatively quiet life as master of a pleasure house.

Review
Megan Derr takes an unusual look at the rent boy theme here in this fantasy story. Chandra is an incubus who runs a brothel. A demon, Azar, arrives, looking for someone and Chandra finds himself doing what he promised never to do again – fall in love with a demon.

There was much to like about this story. I enjoyed the way that the demon looked nothing like your stereotypical demon, and yet played on that sweet external image. Like many fantasy books by this author, there was lots of great setting and world building crammed into the book and she somehow managed to solve the mystery and provide a great romance plot at the same time.

Chandra and the Azar have a great push/pull relationship – mostly due to past hurts in Chandra’s past. Chandra matched Azar perfectly, giving just as good as he got, although I winced a little at their rough lovemaking! There was lots of great dialogue as the pair sparred off each other and my only real niggle was that the romance happened a little too quickly. Azar is only seen from Chandra’s point of view but he comes across as tricky and aggressive at first, and later possessive and loyal. I liked the way that my perception of Azar changed as Chandra began to warm more to him.

Another part which worked for me was the way that Chandra is portrayed as an incubus. Once again, there’s enough shown to the reader about how it all works for him for us to get a good feeling for him, without there being any unnecessary scenes. I liked Chandra a great deal and little seemingly incidental scenes such as when he comforts a young incubus, added to both his character and my liking for him.

Overall, I very much liked this fantasy story. I’m not usually too keen on demon stories but this one definitely worked for me and I would recommend it.

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Title: The Dragon’s Tamer
Author: Megan Derr
Length: 10,300 words
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Genre: m/m fantasy romance
Rating: B-

Blurb:
Summoned to the royal palace by the King, Alaith spends his days either handling the dragons that plague the kingdom, or holed up in his lonely tower. Unusual in appearance, manner, and his method of taming dragons rather than slaying them, his only distractions from his painfully outcast state are caring for the tamed dragon who resides with him, and admiring the handsome Lord Trey—and arguing with the infuriating Prince Rythe.

Review:
Alaith is a Plainsman who has been brought from his homeland to serve the king as a dragon handler. He’s deemed a strange man and an outcast and so is banished to live in the far tower of the castle, out of the way. Prince Rythe, who Alaith finds supremely irritating, arrives with his friend, Lord Trey, and asks Alaith to accompany them to where a black dragon is causing trouble. On the way, things don’t quite turn out as planned.

I have to admit, I liked Alaith a great deal. He’s a grumpy so and so who obviously has a huge crush on Rythe but refuses to admit it, even to himself. This means that he picks up on all the irritating things about the prince, in particular his tendency to smugness and outrageous flirting. As the story continues so does Alaith’s opinions of Rythe until by the end he is focused on the good. Neither man particularly changes in the story, their perspectives change instead. I thought that was rather cleverly done.

Another part I liked a great deal was the good-natured sniping and teasing dialogue between Alaith and Rythe. No matter how much Alaith tries to push Rythe away, Rythe manages to come back with a witty remark which keeps them talking. As well as the verbal jostling there’s physical oneupmanship too and there were some amusing scenes with pushing and shoving which made me smile.

The story itself is another one of those Megan Derr fantasies which manages to cram in a whole load of setting in and around a string romantic storyline. The setting wasn’t as complex as some of her stories, with the main theme being around the dragons and the way they are treated, the role of magic in society, plus some detail about Alaith as a Plainsman (similar to Native American tribes). This meant that more time was spent with the main characters which I felt was a good thing.

My only real niggle was that the ending was a little rushed and the main action scene at the end seemed a little too easily done. However, this wasn’t enough to spoil my enjoyment too much.

As far as I’m aware this is a one off fantasy, rather than a spin off from one of the author’s series and I’d recommend it to those looking for a fantasy quickie with a couple of engaging characters.

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Title: Dire Straits
Author: Megan Derr
Length: 15,600 words
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Genre: m/m fantasy romance
Rating: B

Blurb:
Less than a century ago, the world was a dangerous place. Monsters ran wild, and the only thing more dangerous was the humans attempting to control them. The chaotic lands were eventually tamed by a group of people who came to be known as the Crown, and they formed a government that helped to maintain peace in the untamed lands.

Bannick Poore is one such maintainer of peace, an infamous Priest with guns at his hips and a blood red collar around his throat. He is equal parts mage and gunslinger, and it is his sworn duty to uphold the law and drive back the monsters that still crop up in a land that is still learning to be civilized…

Review:
I’m always in awe of the way that this author manages to produce consistently excellent and varied fantasy stories. This one tell of Bannick who is a blood priest of the Goddess. His responsibility is to be sent into the field to investigate serious problems involving magic. On one such occasion he visits a town where he discovers a ‘dire demon’, a undead being created to cause mayhem. It’s currently trapped in a cave but is about to break free. This sort of dark magic is beyond Bannick so a necromancer, Ezell, is sent to aid him. It’s been fifteen years since Bannick last saw Ezell but he hasn’t forgotten to powerful attraction between them, and neither has Ezell.

Once again this author has manage to combine a complex and imaginative setting with a steady but arresting romantic pairing. Bannick is a sensible man with a slight weariness about him, and a strong love of his job. The pride he feels at his position in the priesthood shines through his interactions and although Bannick tells us that he has seen and done much that he didn’t like, he obviously relishes the challenge and the respect his job brings him. His reunion with Ezell was sweet and lovely, but also tinged with a sadness brought by the hard years since they last parted. I liked how they worked well together as a team, and thought the author had done a good job in showing how the years melted away when they meet up

If I have any complaints it’s that there was a section in the middle which filled in the setting and was a little info-dumping. Whilst it was interesting to read all the different levels of priesthood, my attention did wane a little, especially as it came during a quiet point in the book – maybe that was the reason it was placed there. However, this was just a couple of pages in a story which mostly kept my attention.

This was just a minor niggle though in a story which was very engaging with great characters and a twist which surprised me but which slotted seamlessly in with the characters and setting. The quasi-wild west fantasy setting was a bit different from the usual high fantasy/medieval type setting and it allowed for a recognisable gunslinger type character in Bannick with a paranormal bent. If you’re a fan of this author, or looking for an interesting paranormal fantasy then this is a definite must-read.

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