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March: Kiss Me
Can a gay porn star find love reflected in Irish eyes?
As a freelance photographer, Mal Donnelly is a complete professional, and doesn’t bat a lash at any assignment. Even the special St. Patrick’s Day photo-shoot on the set of a gay pornographic film. But just the sight of the film’s star, Alejandro Marroquin, is enough to turn him into a tongue-tied fool. When Alejandro asks him to dinner, Mal knows it truly is his lucky day.
Alejandro doesn’t date. With his career, it is difficult to have any sort of real relationship. But Mal, the soft-spoken, talented photographer, had captivated Alejandro from the moment they met six months prior to the St. Patrick’s Day shoot. Still covered in green paint from the photo-shoot, he gathers up his courage and asks Mal to dinner. Alejandro can only hope that their mutual desire will overcome the obstacle of his career. After all, it isn’t easy being with the hottest porn star in town...
Genres: Gay / Contemporary / The Arts / Series
As a freelance photographer, Mal Donnelly is a complete professional, and doesn’t bat a lash at any assignment. Even the special St. Patrick’s Day photo-shoot on the set of a gay pornographic film. But just the sight of the film’s star, Alejandro Marroquin, is enough to turn him into a tongue-tied fool. When Alejandro asks him to dinner, Mal knows it truly is his lucky day.
Alejandro doesn’t date. With his career, it is difficult to have any sort of real relationship. But Mal, the soft-spoken, talented photographer, had captivated Alejandro from the moment they met six months prior to the St. Patrick’s Day shoot. Still covered in green paint from the photo-shoot, he gathers up his courage and asks Mal to dinner. Alejandro can only hope that their mutual desire will overcome the obstacle of his career. After all, it isn’t easy being with the hottest porn star in town...
Genres: Gay / Contemporary / The Arts / Series
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
73 people want to read
About the author
Jamie Craig
112 books173 followersJamie Craig is actually a pen name for the collaboration of authors
Vivien Dean http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/... and
Pepper Espinoza http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
ABOUT JAMIE CRAIG
Vivien Dean and Pepper Espinoza have been writing and publishing together as Jamie Craig since 2006. They have published with Juno Books, Samhain Publishing, Liquid Silver Books, and multiple titles with Amber Quill Press.
Pepper Espinoza has been writing and publishing erotic romance since 2005. She grew up in Utah and lives there now, where the landscape and history provide a great deal of inspiration for her work. Besides writing, she enjoys playing video games, watching movies, and going to concerts.
Vivien Dean returned to writing in 2005, and has published with Liquid Silver Books, Samhain Publishing, and Amber Quill Press. She currently resides in northern California with her husband and two children.
Vivien Dean http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/... and
Pepper Espinoza http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...
ABOUT JAMIE CRAIG
Vivien Dean and Pepper Espinoza have been writing and publishing together as Jamie Craig since 2006. They have published with Juno Books, Samhain Publishing, Liquid Silver Books, and multiple titles with Amber Quill Press.
Pepper Espinoza has been writing and publishing erotic romance since 2005. She grew up in Utah and lives there now, where the landscape and history provide a great deal of inspiration for her work. Besides writing, she enjoys playing video games, watching movies, and going to concerts.
Vivien Dean returned to writing in 2005, and has published with Liquid Silver Books, Samhain Publishing, and Amber Quill Press. She currently resides in northern California with her husband and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 11, 2010
There's an art to short story writing. I think it's much harder than writing a novel, because a short story has such a limited space to introduce the characters and the conflict and then create a satisfying resolution. It requires a specific economy of vision and language that's hard to carry off.
Kiss Me does not carry it off.
First—and most importantly—there's no conflict. There could've been conflict. There was a set-up made for conflict—a relatively insecure photographer dating a porn star who wants a real relationship—but Craig didn't follow up on her set-up, instead penning the couple's fairly uneventful dates, where their biggest 'problem' is the unlikeable Mal's case of blue-balls when Alejandro won't put out until the third date!
Mal's insecurity about Alejandro and Alejandro's career comes briefly into play a few pages from the end—too late to create any tension or do much good—but is resolved quickly by Alejandro's heartfelt reassurances.
Which leads into my next problem: lack of realism. Okay, the entire set-up of the gorgeous photographer and the equally gorgeous porn star isn't one that reeks of realism. But. Within the boundaries of your set up, you still need to create an acceptable level of realism for your reader to swallow the tale you want to tell. A mistake that Craig makes—and one that is all too common in the genre, imo, is the lack of realism inherent in the concept of immediate trust/total communication.
Mal and Alejandro are immediately open to each other, pretty much on first contact. They look at each other and know how the other is feeling, know that the other is just as into him as he is to them. They verbally pour out their feelings to each other and confess how no one has ever made them feel like this before…pretty much on first meeting.
…and my willing suspension of disbelief comes to a crashing halt.
Real relationships are more tangled than that, more uncertain. By the time we are adults, our scars have taught us to censor what we say and to withhold total trust until said trust is earned. We might think we've glimpsed our soulmate across a crowded room, but we don't say so on first meeting…unless we want the object of our desire to think we're psycho. And if we're on the receiving end of such a declaration after first meeting…we're likely to think something is functionally wrong with the other person, up to and including psychosis.
More than that, from a writing standpoint, it's easy, lazy writing. Communication is a negotiation, it's a slow process of learning a similar but foreign language as we study the vagaries of how our partner does—or doesn't—communicate. Miscommunication is inevitable (and a good source of conflict/tension) and so when the two main characters are openly, unguardedly communicating and in total sync with each other, especially on short acquaintance, it throws me out of the story. Because relationships just ain't that easy.
Another problem I had was with characterization. Alejandro and Mal read too much alike. Though I read the story in epub format, the natural formatting of the story itself meant that there were times I wasn't sure who was talking, their voices too similar to tell them apart. (it probably didn't help that I started disinterestedly skimming about halfway through, but it was a problem before then) Other than their physical appearance, there wasn't a lot to distinguish them otherwise, either, and I felt through much of the story that Craig herself couldn't make up her mind how to characterize them—Mal, in particular.
Initially, Mal is presented to us as relatively shy and uncertain, amazed that someone as gorgeous as Alejandro would be interested in him. Later, he comes off as toppy and aggressive, driving the relationship and always pushing Alejandro for more. Then, toward the end, his uncertainty surfaces again, just in time for Alejandro to soothe it away. Too, even the presentation of his job as a photographer seems inconsistent and indecisive—first he's struggling and just starting out, then he's actually on the cusp of success and expanding his business into other states…it feels all over the place and ill thought-out.
The greatest disappointment for me is that the story did have a lot of potentiality. I liked the dynamics that put the big, buff porn star as the physical bottom of the relationship and I would've been interested in how that played with a toppy Mal if he hadn't also come off as kind of a jerk (the tantrum in the parking lot when Alejandro didn't put out on the second date REALLY turned med off). Alejandro as a successful, moderately famous porn star and Mal as a just-starting-out, 'average' guy had a lot of potential to it, from the issues of infidelity (or perceived infidelity), an income disparity, experience disparity, etc. The set up was rife with conflict threads Craig could have picked up and it was a disappointment that she didn't choose to go with any of them.
Overall, I was just disappointed, period.
Kiss Me does not carry it off.
First—and most importantly—there's no conflict. There could've been conflict. There was a set-up made for conflict—a relatively insecure photographer dating a porn star who wants a real relationship—but Craig didn't follow up on her set-up, instead penning the couple's fairly uneventful dates, where their biggest 'problem' is the unlikeable Mal's case of blue-balls when Alejandro won't put out until the third date!
Mal's insecurity about Alejandro and Alejandro's career comes briefly into play a few pages from the end—too late to create any tension or do much good—but is resolved quickly by Alejandro's heartfelt reassurances.
Which leads into my next problem: lack of realism. Okay, the entire set-up of the gorgeous photographer and the equally gorgeous porn star isn't one that reeks of realism. But. Within the boundaries of your set up, you still need to create an acceptable level of realism for your reader to swallow the tale you want to tell. A mistake that Craig makes—and one that is all too common in the genre, imo, is the lack of realism inherent in the concept of immediate trust/total communication.
Mal and Alejandro are immediately open to each other, pretty much on first contact. They look at each other and know how the other is feeling, know that the other is just as into him as he is to them. They verbally pour out their feelings to each other and confess how no one has ever made them feel like this before…pretty much on first meeting.
…and my willing suspension of disbelief comes to a crashing halt.
Real relationships are more tangled than that, more uncertain. By the time we are adults, our scars have taught us to censor what we say and to withhold total trust until said trust is earned. We might think we've glimpsed our soulmate across a crowded room, but we don't say so on first meeting…unless we want the object of our desire to think we're psycho. And if we're on the receiving end of such a declaration after first meeting…we're likely to think something is functionally wrong with the other person, up to and including psychosis.
More than that, from a writing standpoint, it's easy, lazy writing. Communication is a negotiation, it's a slow process of learning a similar but foreign language as we study the vagaries of how our partner does—or doesn't—communicate. Miscommunication is inevitable (and a good source of conflict/tension) and so when the two main characters are openly, unguardedly communicating and in total sync with each other, especially on short acquaintance, it throws me out of the story. Because relationships just ain't that easy.
Another problem I had was with characterization. Alejandro and Mal read too much alike. Though I read the story in epub format, the natural formatting of the story itself meant that there were times I wasn't sure who was talking, their voices too similar to tell them apart. (it probably didn't help that I started disinterestedly skimming about halfway through, but it was a problem before then) Other than their physical appearance, there wasn't a lot to distinguish them otherwise, either, and I felt through much of the story that Craig herself couldn't make up her mind how to characterize them—Mal, in particular.
Initially, Mal is presented to us as relatively shy and uncertain, amazed that someone as gorgeous as Alejandro would be interested in him. Later, he comes off as toppy and aggressive, driving the relationship and always pushing Alejandro for more. Then, toward the end, his uncertainty surfaces again, just in time for Alejandro to soothe it away. Too, even the presentation of his job as a photographer seems inconsistent and indecisive—first he's struggling and just starting out, then he's actually on the cusp of success and expanding his business into other states…it feels all over the place and ill thought-out.
The greatest disappointment for me is that the story did have a lot of potentiality. I liked the dynamics that put the big, buff porn star as the physical bottom of the relationship and I would've been interested in how that played with a toppy Mal if he hadn't also come off as kind of a jerk (the tantrum in the parking lot when Alejandro didn't put out on the second date REALLY turned med off). Alejandro as a successful, moderately famous porn star and Mal as a just-starting-out, 'average' guy had a lot of potential to it, from the issues of infidelity (or perceived infidelity), an income disparity, experience disparity, etc. The set up was rife with conflict threads Craig could have picked up and it was a disappointment that she didn't choose to go with any of them.
Overall, I was just disappointed, period.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 31, 2011
We sometimes think a gay porn star who has a ton of fans would live an easy life, at least when it comes to love life. That's not the case with Alessandro. He's lonely, despite having sex with so many gorgeous men on screen. He longs for a companion, who wants him for he is, not his body to fulfill their fantasy. But, how many men (or women for that matter) can stand having their significant other getting screwed (and looks happy from it) by other men all the time? Perhaps the man behind the camera can.
Mel is a freelance photographer who took Alessandro's pics months ago. He always had eyes for the model who always bottom on screen. However, he thought a man with Alessandro caliber wouldn't even be aware that Mel exists. That is, until Alessandro asks him out for a date.
This is a nice novella. The protagonists know what the other does for a living, which may not be easy to accept for 'ordinary people'. The author does a good job with a subtle conflict, instead of an open one commonly found in M/M. I like that they (Jamie Craig is two persons) make Alessandro a shy person despite his experiences in bed. Mel is gentle, patient person who is willing to take things slowly. I enjoyed reading it for its simplicity. Even the sex only comes later, which is interesting considering what the two do for living.
It's not everyone cup of tea. There's angst, but not for those who long for tug on their hearts!
Mel is a freelance photographer who took Alessandro's pics months ago. He always had eyes for the model who always bottom on screen. However, he thought a man with Alessandro caliber wouldn't even be aware that Mel exists. That is, until Alessandro asks him out for a date.
This is a nice novella. The protagonists know what the other does for a living, which may not be easy to accept for 'ordinary people'. The author does a good job with a subtle conflict, instead of an open one commonly found in M/M. I like that they (Jamie Craig is two persons) make Alessandro a shy person despite his experiences in bed. Mel is gentle, patient person who is willing to take things slowly. I enjoyed reading it for its simplicity. Even the sex only comes later, which is interesting considering what the two do for living.
It's not everyone cup of tea. There's angst, but not for those who long for tug on their hearts!
February 18, 2010
Mal is a photographer working on the set of a gay pornographic movie. Alejandro, currently one of the hottest bottoms in the industry, has been the object of Mal's secret fantasies for months. Apparently Alejandro has been feeling the same way about Mal and eventually asks him out on a date. As they spend time together and start to develop strong feelings for each other the guys have to deal with their insecurities as they each worry they may not be good enough for the other. However, since they do talk to each other about their feelings it never becomes a stumbling block in their relationship and by the end of the book Mal and Alejandro are looking forward to a future together.
I enjoyed this story. Both Mal and Alejandro were interesting characters and the fact they had insecurities to deal with was a nice touch to the story. There are some hot sex scenes in the book as well as some sweet moments. This book is part of the Calendar Boys series however, except for the first and last ones, the books are not connected in any way and can therefore be read in any order.
I enjoyed this story. Both Mal and Alejandro were interesting characters and the fact they had insecurities to deal with was a nice touch to the story. There are some hot sex scenes in the book as well as some sweet moments. This book is part of the Calendar Boys series however, except for the first and last ones, the books are not connected in any way and can therefore be read in any order.
September 29, 2015
3.5 stars. Cute, hot, and sweet. I like that Alejandro and Mal's jobs weren't glossed over, but were part of each's shyness and insecurity about being seen as worth dating/keeping.
August 2, 2012
3.5 stars
May 16, 2013
lots of build up to a sweet but hot ending
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews