The stories you are about to read celebrate love, sex and romance between men. They are a product of the Love Has No Boundaries promotion sponsored by the Goodreads M/M Romance Group, and each anthology is published as a gift to you.
What Is Love Has No Boundaries?
The Goodreads M/M Romance Group invited members to choose a photo and pen a letter asking for a short M/M romance story inspired by the image; authors from the group were then encouraged to select a letter and write an original tale. The result was an outpouring of creativity that shone a spotlight on the special bond between M/M romance writers and the people who love what they produce.
Nearly 190 stories were submitted and have now been published as a twelve volume set with two additional bonus volumes, titled Love Has No Boundaries. This edition is Volume 5.
Words of Caution
The stories in this collection may contain sexually explicit content and are intended for adult readers. They may also contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that the reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.
Stories in Volume 5:
ROAMING CANISTERS by Adrian Fridge THE ONLY WAY OUT IS IN by Lyn Gala WHEN YOU WERE PIXELS by Julio-Alexi Genao LEARNING TO DANCE by Annette Gisby BRING HIM HOME by Sammy Goode IN THE RIGHT LIGHT by G.B. Gordon THE FIELD OF SOMEONE ELSE’S DREAMS by Amelia C. Gormley WHEN IT’S RIGHT by Aria Grace FOREVER. I PROMISE. by Lily Grace OPEN ARMS AND OPEN EYES by Michelle K Grant THE IDEAL CUT by Elinor Gray HARD AND FAST by Jack Greene THREE’S A CHARM by C.R. Guiliano OFF SIDES by Dianne Hartsock FALLING APART by Kathleen Hayes PICKUP LINES by Kathleen Hayes ONLY MINE by Valentina Heart FALLING AWAY by Lisa Henry
Kathleen Hayes is a bit of an all around geek. She has mastered the art of procrastination, is owned by two crazy cats and is excited to have just added a fellow super geek to her clan. Kathleen loves to explore worlds – whether in her head or on page. She welcomes you into her worlds and hopes you have as much fun there as she does!
The stories in Love Has No Boundaries anthologies celebrate love, sex and romance between men. They are a product of the Love Has No Boundaries promotion sponsored by the Goodreads M/M Romance Group. The Goodreads M/M Romance Group invited members to choose a photo and pen a letter asking for a short M/M romance story inspired by the image; authors from the group were then encouraged to select a letter and write an original tale. The result was an outpouring of creativity that shone a spotlight on the special bond between M/M romance writers and the people who love what they produce.
A very good collection! With a few exceptions, I enjoyed these stories very much.
Roaming Canisters by Adrian Fridge - 3 stars My review.
In the Right Light by G.B. Gordon - 5 stars My review.
The Field of Someone Else's Dreams by Amelia C. Gormley - 3 stars My review.
Forever. I Promise. by Lily Grace - 4 stars My review.
Open Arms and Open Eyes by Michelle K. Grant - 1 star My review.
Pickup Lines by Kathleen Hayes - 2 stars My review.
Roaming Canisters by Adrian Fridge 2.5 stars - I wanted to like this so much more. The premise was great, and sci-fi romance is one of my favorite genres. But it was just so... flat. No emotion. From anyone. I get that he is excited to meet aliens, but the MC wakes up naked and chained in a cage, and doesn't freak out at all. That just isn't realistic.
Then there is a lot of show and not too much tell with regards to their growing relationship. Despite Waters claiming an attraction, I just didn't see it. The sex could have been hot but given that I wasn't emotionally invested, that fell flat for me too.
Lastly, there was a lot of inferred world building about the aliens that was never really fully explained. Casey mentioned their observation of Earth and their intentions , he seemed to have ulterior motives, but nothing was elaborated on which made the whole thing feel underdeveloped. Instead of trying to do complex world building, but not really having the time to fully suss it out, I think the author would have been better to keep this as a light human-meets-alien story.
The Only Way Out Is In by Lyn Gala 3.5 stars - (sci-fi) I was a little disappointed for about one second, when I realized this was only based on the character from Firefly, and he wasn't the actual character. I got over that pretty quickly, and it was just great. To quote Zeke, "I like the world the way you see it, Jacqs. It makes a lot more sense." There was no hemming and hawing, once Jacqs figured out what he wanted, he went and got it. The verbal and physical sparring were funny and super hot. And I have to say, I love the world Lyn Gala created. Het = heterosexual, Homosexual, Pansexual = Bi (I think), Hypersexual, and Stenosexual = I like one particular trait in whoever. Everyone registers and it's no big deal, just avoids confusion. Really interesting take on things.
I do wish our guys had gotten together a bit earlier in the story, as it was it was mostly build-up. And while I enjoyed the final (sex) scene, I was a tad disappointed . Lastly, I have one complaint about the practicality .
When You Were Pixels by Julio-Alexi Genao 4 stars - Cooooool pic! And the tone of the story captured the feel of the picture very well. I was hesitant about the "No HEA or HFN" tag, but honestly, I dunno, oddly enough I felt hope at the end of the story. Antho was just so content that it's hard to feel any differently, no matter what ended up happening . Buuuuuut I hear a rumor there is more to come and I cannot wait to get a continuation of these guys (both to hopefully get a little HFN action and to find out more about our mystery man). Like I said, I actually felt hopeful at the end, but not knowing what would happen, that first paragraph killed me.
My name is Antho, and I love you.
You don’t remember me.
That’s okay.
I’m going to leave this for you where you’ll find it, in that long black coat you wear with all the secret pockets. It might take you some time, but I don’t mind.
I watched you kill my boss. Then I watched you fall.
I think I maybe loved you as early as then. He was an asshole.
But that’s not really what I need you to know.
You’ll need to read these words one day, and I hope you believe them:
You are not alone.
You forgot me three times, and every time, we started over.
Maybe I’m already dead. Maybe you killed me like you said you would.
Doesn’t matter.
I loved you even when you forgot me.
And― for a little while― you loved me back.
Learning To Dance by Annette Gisby - I debated whether I should round up or down, but ultimately the decision was based on my complete lack of emotional involvement with both the story and the characters. I think this is a good first draft. Add in some set-up where we see the two men in class together, maybe a private lesson with some sexual tension. Then split up the one main sex scene so it transitions Daniel into the lifestyle more smoothly. As other reviewers said, it was all just too rushed. From zero to Master in 16 pages.
Forever. I Promise. by Lily Grace 4.5 stars - Oh my goodness! What a beautiful, sweet, and sad story. I loved the connection between Pat and Zach. I loved that they got together with almost no agnst. I loved their smexy innocent exploration during the ultra sweet sex scenes. I even loved the pain I felt when things weren't going well. The one thing I didn't love, was their parents reactions. I'm OK with the unfortunately realistic plot device of parents not understanding. Pat's parents were actually better in the realism I think but I didn't like the way Zach's mom was portrayed. It just seemed like it was trying a little too hard to make things too hard for them. But great story, sweet Epilogue. I'd love to see a sequel of these guys, or even better, of Joel and Brad!!!
The Ideal Cut by Elinor Gray 2.5 stars - This was a fun little short. One thing that bothers me in stories, though, if when a thief or assassin acts unprofessionally. I know I know, that sounds stupid. But Clayton is supposedly this world renowned jewel thief, but he's bumbling around through the first half of the story. It was cute the way they found each other out, but I wish he had been confident up until that point instead of bumbling. It just didn't ring true.
Opposite issue with Theo. He was all suave, calm-cool-and-collected during the heist, then was all innocent newbie the next morning. I will, however, say... that sex scene was smokin! Cute little HFN.
Falling Away by Lisa Henry 3.5 stars - Swoon. Although well formatted and complete in the HFN sense, this was such a tease! I would love either a full-length follow up, or even if this was stretched out into a full length book. We didn't get to see how they met (although we got the cliffs notes version) and this could certainly continue on as they begin their relationship together and figure out how to manage the change. But as it was, just a sweet little short. Started out with a hot bondage-y scene, then we experience Jason's grief and torment over realizing he is in over his head and needs to get out before he loses his heart completely. Dylan, Jason's brother, was a nice little secondary to character as well.
I'm so sorry for this low rating. I read this for a challenge even though I knew this was not a genre I enjoyed reading. So, if you love this genre, READ THIS! I'm sure you will love it!
I can add that I absolutely loved story #3, "When You Were Pixels"
And I thought "Open Arms and Open Eyes" was adroable and "Pickup Lines" was interesting.
This one was one of the better of these anthologies that I have read. As always there were ups and downs but the ups were really high and I enjoyed it a lot. My absolute favorite was When You Were Pixels and I'm SO sad none of the full length stories in this world seem to have ever been published. Honorable mentions to Pick Up Lines and In the Right Ligh
Read this for a goodreads challenge and overall, I liked it. There were, of course, some really great ones. When You Were Pixies was definitely a standout for me. All in all, 4 Stars.
ROAMING CANISTERS by Adrian Fridge THE ONLY WAY OUT IS IN by Lyn Gala WHEN YOU WERE PIXELS by Julio-Alexi Genao LEARNING TO DANCE by Annette Gisby BRING HIM HOME by Sammy Goode IN THE RIGHT LIGHT by G.B. Gordon THE FIELD OF SOMEONE ELSE’S DREAMS by Amelia C. Gormley WHEN IT’S RIGHT by Aria Grace FOREVER. I PROMISE. by Lily Grace OPEN ARMS AND OPEN EYES by Michelle K Grant THE IDEAL CUT by Elinor Gray HARD AND FAST by Jack Greene THREE’S A CHARM by CR Guiliano OFF SIDES by Dianne Hartsock FALLING APART by Kathleen Hayes PICKUP LINES by Kathleen Hayes ONLY MINE by Valentina Heart FALLING AWAY by Lisa Henry
Several stories were dnr, because not in genres I favor.
4* The Only Way Out is In When You Were Pixels Bring Him Home Pickup Lines
3* In the Right Light The Field of Someone Else's Dreams When It's Right Forever. I Promise Open Arms and Open Eyes Three's a Charm Off Sides Falling Away
2* The Ideal Cut Hard and Fast Only Mine
DNF Roaming Canisters Learning to Dance Falling Apart
I absolutely loved Lyn Gala's "The Only Way Out Is In." I had high expectations to begin with since the Story Letter mentioned using Firefly/Serenity as inspiration, and the author definitely didn't disappoint me. There were some other good stories in this anthology, but being a sci-fi fan, that one was definitely my favorite.
Normally, I don't have the patience to read anthologies, but there are some really good stories in here that I enjoyed. It's good to read in small doses... a few stories here and there before taking a break and reading something else, but it's like chocolate. You can't just have one.
As with all anthologies some stories I loved, others I liked and some just were. The highlight was "When You Were Pixels". So different, I thought it was brilliant. I also enjoyed "The Only Way Out Is In", "Bring Him Home", " When It's Right", "Forever I Promise" and "Falling Away".
I read all the stories - some I like better than others (of course) but the entire event is amazing and so are the people who donate their talents & their time for it.