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Masquerade by Clare London

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MASQUERADE By Clare London

Summary

In BONDED, Chancellor Chariz imprisons a young man with strange ways and a shocking power. Chariz seeks only sexual entertainment, but Oriel offers something in return that will transform his captor for ever. In TRICKERY, two young servants are brave adventurers on their Prince's Quest, but when it's hijacked by a lusty Magician, they are dragged into a murky and magically sexy mess! In POSSESSION, Lucas is the young and passionate heir to the Fides Auction House. When charismatic Gideon Arnaud intrudes into his life, pursuing him both professionally and personally, Lucas struggles to keep both his freedom and sanity. In THREADBARE, Edward takes a young mill worker under his protection, and is drawn into a web of beauty and mystery. What price will he pay for the delight and passion that Mori brings him? 

Excerpt

Oriel stirred on the bed, hearing me, and his eyes slid half open. The flash of green was almost luminous in the darkening evening light. "Get up," I said sharply. He struggled up to a sitting position, glancing around to see where I had brought him. He rubbed the back of a hand across his face in a sleepy gesture, and I felt that strange frisson again.

"Are you recovered?" I asked, abruptly.

His eyes hooded briefly, and he nodded. He swung his legs slowly over the side of the deep mattress. "Thank you for allowing me to rest," he said, softly. "They only see your arrogance and aggression - you hide the compassion well."

"You sound like a memory-caller at the fairground stalls," I snapped. "Trite, cheap talk. Or do you expect some payment for it? You can have the lick of my whip around your shriveled balls, if you like."

He didn't flinch, a slim, half-bare figure swamped by the plump comfort of my fleeced covers. "You use crudeness to intimidate them all. To keep people away from you." His voice was a little sluggish, but still absorbing. "You're respected in your work, but they're all scared of you. They obey you without question. They accept your lies as truth."

"Lies?" My heart beat a little faster. "I prefer to call it diplomacy, fool, and you'll watch that tongue or I'll slash it off for sport and let the servants sauce it for the supper broth!"

He was shaking his head now, eyes wide. "No, not the lies of politics, of your work. I meant the lies to yourself, the lies about your love for your mother; about your loneliness; about the loss of your younger brother."

I struck him then - the slap of the blow reverberated around the room. He cried out and slid off the bed on to the floor, scrambling with hands and knees to keep his balance.

"How dare you talk about me with such familiarity!" I hissed. "Who gave you that right?"

"You did," he gasped. "You spoke to me, sir! Your sadness; your anger. I can't deny it, the connection's rarely been so strong. I didn't know not to say it."

I bent down to him, wrenching his head back again. There was a red, shining weal on his face made by my hand. His pupils were dilated again and he was panting slightly. "Is this how people connect with you, Oriel? They strike you?"

"Sometimes." he whispered. His gaze met mine, a braver resistance than any of my servants had ever shown after such a blow from me. "They do what they want. Sometimes they use me instead."

I grimaced. "Is that what the captain did? Saved you from the common soldiers only to use you himself? What kind of protection is that?"

"It's how I serve," he said. His voice was teasing at my nerves again, yet the tone was steady and almost unemotional.

"You're a ridiculous mystery, Oriel! You describe yourself as a helpless, passive victim, used by your masters, sexually and otherwise, and still following like a household dog, begging for more abuse. Yet your eyes show strength you shouldn't have ." I looked back down on them, which was perhaps my greatest mistake. But I couldn't help myself; I felt drawn into his weird, disorientated gaze. Even as I felt an unfamiliar shame at losing my temper with him, I wanted the touch again. From finding him insipid and disinteresting, I now felt the strongest flame of desire that I'd ever known, flaring suddenly to life inside me.

He drew in a deep gasp, as if he'd felt it too. I let go of his hair and forced myself upright again. For a moment I was frozen there above his kneeling form, trying to regain control over my feelings. My trousers tightened across my groin; my fingertips brushed lightly across the flat muscles of my belly, tormenting the goose bumps that sprang in response.

"Is this your magic working on me?" I groaned.

"It comes from you," he whispered. His face was level with my groin, his hands fisted gently at his sides. He dropped his eyes from mine and gazed instead at my arousal, straining against the silk cloth. "I can only respond. Let me serve you." His hands were gentle but confident as he teased down the fabric, letting my cock spring out to blessed freedom. I tried to remember when I'd last been swollen, so hotly, so swiftly.

 

Reviews

Review by Becky at BITTEN BY BOOKS
Categories: Adult Content, GLBT, Magic, Sci-Fi, Vampires, e-books

Containing four stories, Masquerade is an anthology featuring very different men from different times but who still want the same thing; someone to love them.

In Bonded we meet a pampered but outwardly cruel Chancellor who finds the key to belonging in a young sensitive. Two squires separated from the king they serve, are on a quest to rescue a princess but find more than they bargained for in Trickery.

Possession shows us a young man haunted by sensual dreams who struggles to save his family's business. The owner of a fabric factory finds comfort and solace in one of his employees in the final story, Threadbare.

All of the stories explore the sensuality between two men and sometimes completely change the lives of the men involved. The stories and characters were both well written but something just did not click for me. There was almost a desperation to most of the main characters that turned me off. Based on the plots I believe that the desperation was intended but for me, there was just a bit too much. If you are a fan of M/M erotica, this may be the book for you.

Book Stats:

* e-book, digital format
* Publisher: Eternal Press
* Book Length: Anthology
* Language: English
* ISBN: 978-0-9804581-2-1

Masquerade
By: Clare London
Eternal Press
ISBN: 978-0980458121
December 2007


Reviewed By: Kathleen Bradean
Erotica Revealed

Clare London's short story collection, Masquerade, is m/m erotic fantasy. Oh I know, what erotica isn't fantasy? In this case, I mean science fiction/fantasy genre, so maybe speculative fiction is a better description, but other than geek girls like me, who uses that term? I was torn over classifying this collection as romantic erotica, but only two of the stories fit that description. So I'll stick with m/m erotic fantasy.

Have you ever wondered what's up with the m/m? The term 'M slash M,' or slash, comes from the world of fanfic. I've heard that the first slash stories were Star Trek universe with intimate pairings between Kirk and Spock, for example. I suspect that young Victorian ladies dreamed of Van Helsing and Dracula necking though. Heck, while Bathsheba was putting on a bathing beauty show for King David, she might have been indulging in Cain and Able slash. (Trust me - women don't soak in a tub for an hour because they're trying to get clean.) Like the term Yaoi, slash refers to stories generally written by women for women that feature male lovers. As in any genre, there's a wide range of work out there. Some of it is hardcore erotica; some of it is sweet romance. Some of it's even written by gay men. No longer confined to fanfic, the term slash now can apply to original characters and stories. It is the fastest growing corner of the erotica/romance world. Yes, straight women like reading sexually explicit stories featuring gay men. The secret is out.

Now that you know, back to discussing Clare's collection for four short stories:

"Bonded" is the most romantic story in this collection. The narrator, Chariz, is full of his own importance and bored. So very bored. He will tell you this many times as he recounts his tale. A strange servant named Oriel is brought into Chariz one morning as Chiraz is recuperating from a night of debauchery, which is his usual custom. He quickly dismisses the servant as unimportant, but on close inspection, the man Oriel fascinates him. They end up in bed. Chariz, who is used to having many bed companions every day, and never the same ones for long, disdains all others and learns to love Oriel, who seems to soothe Chariz's long buried angst. Oreil, however, has unusual powers and people who are jealous of him want him dead. They almost succeed, but Chariz, having now grown a heart, sacrifices his beauty and fortune to save the slave he loves. While the language in this one started off stilted, it eventually smoothed. I found myself wanting to see more of the world, but that's more of a testament to Clare's world-building ability than a complaint.

In "Trickery," two young squires are trying to find the Prince they were supposed to follow on a quest. Everyone got separated during an attack by bear-cats, and at some point dragons too, but it was never clear if those were separate attacks or if the dragons and bear-cats were inter-species allies against questing Princes. The Prince hired a magician with a rather questionable reputation to help with the quest, but along with the Prince and the guards, the Magician has disappeared. The squires know that the Prince is looking for a tower, and they stumble upon a tower in the middle of the forest, so they climb it in hopes of finding their Prince. Near the top, they find many guards who have obviously been indulging in wild sex asleep as if deeply enchanted. In the room at the top of the tower, a person who appears to be their Prince is having his way with a servant boy. The older squire realizes it's the magician in the guise of their Prince and slays the magician. This didn't make a lot of sense to me. If the magician could cast an enchantment that made everyone want to bend over for him, why did he need to look like the Prince? And why did the magician have to die? But that wasn't by far my biggest problem with this story. I'm not a fan of nonconsensual sex. Call it an enchantment or roofies, rendering a person incapable of saying no to sex does not mean they said yes. If it hadn't been for that, I would have enjoyed this story a lot more. The language was much more relaxed than in the first story and the banter between the squires hinted at a growing relationship between them. I wished it would have focused more on that relationship and skipped the scene in the tower.

"Possession" is the Godfather meets Dracula. Lucas is about to lose the family business when a mysterious stranger named Mr. Arnaud makes him an offer he can't refuse. As if he has a choice. Mr. Arnaud will allow Lucas to sell a priceless collection of rubies in exchange for Lucas's body. Lucas has the hots for his assistant Valentine though. Ah, but Valentine wants to marry Lucas's sister. What to do? Give in to one desire or another. That's all Lucas can do. While Possession doesn't add anything new to the vampire genre, it's as lush as velvet.

The last story in this collection is "Threadbare." The owner of a textile mill is drawn to a young man who works in his factory after the gruesome death of the young man's friend on the factory floor. All the workers in the young man's group are of the same clan/family/background, and during their spare time they work on a tapestry that captures the mill owner's attention. I wanted the sex to be more explicit than it was, but if you like your erotica on the softer side, you might not mind. This story bordered on science fiction, but don't let that scare you away. Usually, I have a strong conviction on my rating. This one, I'm waffling. On one hand, there were problems with the editing (italicized words for emphasis in dialog is a huge pet peeve of mine) and the writing in the first story was a bit stilted. Masquerade is definitely slash fiction with a softer focus on the sex. However, I enjoyed most of the stories. Since I'd rather go with my positive instinct, I'm giving Masquerade a thumbs up.


Masquerade


Elisa-Rolle (Live Journal)

http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/263263.html

Excerpt

All the anthology has the flavour of the old fables of my youth. Even if in this tales our characters make passionate love. But still, the sex doesn't seem to break the aura of fantasy and ethereal love that pervades this anthology. The first and the fourth tales are my favourite, maybe cause they are also the longer. And in the case of Threadbare I say it almost with sadness, cause it's not at all a joyous tale... but sometime I can love a story even if it makes me cry. A very good fantasy anthology, more romantic of what you could think from the cover. Highly recommended if you like to dreams, but also if you have a naughty sense that sometime breaks through the clouds of your daydreams.


Uniquely Pleasurable
http://unique.logophilos.net/?p=396
Excerpt

This anthology is just incredible value for the price, and is highly recommended if you like intelligent erotic stories, rather than plain old porn. Even if you only buy it for the first and the last stories, you will find it well worth the effort and the money.


Rainbow-Reviews
http://rainbow-reviews.com/?p=150
Excerpt

Masquerade is a fine collection of fantasy short tales. Each is finely delineated, with descriptive backgrounds and rich characterization. The sensuality also is rich and appealing, and intimately detailed. Review by Frost's Fancy


BoysNextDoor
http://www.discarnate.com/boysnextdoor/reviews/manga/masquerade.html
Excerpt

There's always been a touch of warmth in the author's writing that shines through, even when she's writing scenes that are sad and upsetting or even disturbing. There's this undercurrent of happiness that lets you know that things are going to work out for the characters. I may be an angst princess, but I can appreciate that thread of warmth.

It's a great release and one I would very happily add to my collection of print books if it ever gets a printed release. Fantasy fans are going to find that there is a lot to fall in love with in this collection. It's got all the elements to make me into a very happy girl. Good writing, engaging characters and lovely, hot smut. I couldn't ask for more.

CREDITS

MASQUERADE © 2007 by Clare London

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic of mechanical including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. This book is a work of fiction. Characters, names, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

An Eternal Press Production

Eternal Press 206 - 6059 Pandora St. Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, V5B 1M4

To order additional copies of this book, contact: www.eternalpress.ca

Cover Art © 2007 by Renee Cocco

Edited by Pam Slade

Layout and Book Production by Ally Robertson

eBook ISBN: 978-0-9804581-2-1

First Edition * December 2007

Production by Eternal Press