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Sin & Salvation
A selfish act of greed or a self-less act of love eternal? Ian Flynn, a vampire finds his perfect love in 1823 Victorian England in the form of Trevor Sheffield, a young stage actor. He keeps his true nature a secret from his lover until one Christmas Eve when Trevor is brought to the edge of death by a street gang mugging. Rather than lose the man who helped him discover he still had a soul (and a heart to break), Ian turns Trevor. Afterwards, he spends every Christmas Eve alone, wondering if he committed a selfish act of greed or a self-less act of love eternal.
64 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 11, 2012
45 people want to read
About the author
Laura Baumbach
48 books311 followersLaura Baumbach is the best-selling, multi-award winning, acclaimed author of short stories, novellas, novels and screenplays. Most recently, Mexican Heat, written in collaboration with Josh Lanyon, has been chosen as a FINALIST for Best Gay Romance in the 2009 Lambda Literary Awards, a FINALIST in the 2010 EPPIE Awards, and has received an Honorable Mention at the 2009 San Francisco Book Festival. Laura was nominated for Best GBLT Author 2008 in the LRC's Best Of Awards for 2008. Her adventure story The Lost Temple of Karttikeya won the 2008 EPPIE Award for Best GLBT novel. Her sequel to the best-selling novel A Bit of Rough, Roughhousing, was 2007 Reviewers' Choice Award Winner.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 18, 2012
Review posted at The Armchair Reader.
A Christmas story in July, Laura Baumbach's latest paranormal short story is at once contemporary and historical, recounting the beginning of the relationship between Ian, a vampire and lover of the theater, and Trevor, an actor in a stage adaptation of Frankenstein in London in the early 1800s. Told through one long flashback and bracketed by their present time relationship, Ian and Trevor both have emotions and guilt that they've not completely worked through over the centuries they've been together. These issues come to a head every Christmas, keeping them apart until they can hopefully overcome them.
The blurb pretty much tells the story here, and I wondered after I started reading and realized how central the theme of Christmas is to the story if it were published now so as not to fall into the masses of Christmas stories later this year. Possibly, it definitely stands out more this way, and the theme of Christmas, of the savior and the will of good to all that are so central to these characters stand out thematically instead of as a prerequisite backdrop to the events in the story.
Overall, this is pretty typical vampire fare. There isn't anything new, but it is still solidly well written, like the rest of this author's writing. Much of the relationship is shown through Ian and Trevor's passionate sexual connection, most especially in the historical section of the story. Whatever the reason for this is, be it the short length, or the combination of the newness of their relationship at the time (and therefore highly sexual as they are) and the dichotomous contemporary scenes where their relationship has matured, I would have been a bit happier with more of the growing relationship, especially in relation to the climatic scene where Ian must make the choice to save or not save Trevor from death. The way this middle section is give to us is with little narration bridging the scenes of them together, and with many of those scenes being sexual, it left less room for other relationship growth.
I had no qualms with the historical detail in the story. It is certainly underplayed, but is still sparks subtly against the modern portrayal of London. The back alleys of London which set the scene for two of the critical pieces of the story both contrast and compare in subtle but important ways that neither distract from the story, but also differentiate.
This wasn't a story that really wowed me, but then I can see it isn't meant to. The story works nicely and is written well on the vampire lore we are already familiar with, making this a story that is great for readers who are looking for something simple, and perhaps a little bit of Christmas during the dog days of summer.
A Christmas story in July, Laura Baumbach's latest paranormal short story is at once contemporary and historical, recounting the beginning of the relationship between Ian, a vampire and lover of the theater, and Trevor, an actor in a stage adaptation of Frankenstein in London in the early 1800s. Told through one long flashback and bracketed by their present time relationship, Ian and Trevor both have emotions and guilt that they've not completely worked through over the centuries they've been together. These issues come to a head every Christmas, keeping them apart until they can hopefully overcome them.
The blurb pretty much tells the story here, and I wondered after I started reading and realized how central the theme of Christmas is to the story if it were published now so as not to fall into the masses of Christmas stories later this year. Possibly, it definitely stands out more this way, and the theme of Christmas, of the savior and the will of good to all that are so central to these characters stand out thematically instead of as a prerequisite backdrop to the events in the story.
Overall, this is pretty typical vampire fare. There isn't anything new, but it is still solidly well written, like the rest of this author's writing. Much of the relationship is shown through Ian and Trevor's passionate sexual connection, most especially in the historical section of the story. Whatever the reason for this is, be it the short length, or the combination of the newness of their relationship at the time (and therefore highly sexual as they are) and the dichotomous contemporary scenes where their relationship has matured, I would have been a bit happier with more of the growing relationship, especially in relation to the climatic scene where Ian must make the choice to save or not save Trevor from death. The way this middle section is give to us is with little narration bridging the scenes of them together, and with many of those scenes being sexual, it left less room for other relationship growth.
I had no qualms with the historical detail in the story. It is certainly underplayed, but is still sparks subtly against the modern portrayal of London. The back alleys of London which set the scene for two of the critical pieces of the story both contrast and compare in subtle but important ways that neither distract from the story, but also differentiate.
This wasn't a story that really wowed me, but then I can see it isn't meant to. The story works nicely and is written well on the vampire lore we are already familiar with, making this a story that is great for readers who are looking for something simple, and perhaps a little bit of Christmas during the dog days of summer.
July 23, 2013
Laura Baumbach, I will admit, has been an auto-buy for me for...well, since I discovered her books. It has been tough watching such a talented writer put her craft in the back seat while steering her Press (MLR) into the publishing juggernaut it has become. So, imagine my delight when I saw that she had released this little gem, Sin and Salvation. If I am not mistaken this is actually a re-release of an older work, The Bite Before Christmas. No matter what the title--it is a delightful story--a sweet tale of love that draws you in and leaves you wanting for more.
One of this author's strengths is her ability to evoke real emotion in the reader. She captures your heart, has you secretly cheering on her characters--despite their flaws. Her stories are often a mix of sweet and sexy--with the emphasis often falling on sexy--this woman knows how to write sensual--remarkably well. And even though this is a mere sip of a tale, you walk away feeling as though you have known the main character, Ian, most of your life--and you feel for him--the tortured existence he has led--knowing that it is his very act of salvation that his lover views as sin.
This is a story that reminds us that we can never fully escape our past, nor our past actions. Sin and Salvation reminds us that living a life of what-if’s or never should have is like trying to find the origin of a rainbow…impossibly frustrating, and unfulfilling.
One of this author's strengths is her ability to evoke real emotion in the reader. She captures your heart, has you secretly cheering on her characters--despite their flaws. Her stories are often a mix of sweet and sexy--with the emphasis often falling on sexy--this woman knows how to write sensual--remarkably well. And even though this is a mere sip of a tale, you walk away feeling as though you have known the main character, Ian, most of your life--and you feel for him--the tortured existence he has led--knowing that it is his very act of salvation that his lover views as sin.
This is a story that reminds us that we can never fully escape our past, nor our past actions. Sin and Salvation reminds us that living a life of what-if’s or never should have is like trying to find the origin of a rainbow…impossibly frustrating, and unfulfilling.
July 28, 2012
Not usually into historical's, but I love vampires and this one sounded good. It was. I loved both Ian and Trevor. The ending was beyond sweet, loved it.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews