A Special Thanks to Boys in our Books, a review of Another Place in Time and a Giveaway!

During our anniversary celebration Boy Meets Boy Reviews would like to give a HUGE shout-out to Susan and the gang at Boys in our Books. When we were in the planning stages still trying to get BMBR up and going, Susan graciously shared info they'd gathered, connections they'd made and valuable lessons they'd learned when starting their blog. The information she shared with us saved us a tremendous amount of research time and the insight was invaluable.

As a thank you and an acknowledgment of Susan's kindness and generosity we are giving away a copy of the BioB sponsored anthology, Another Place in Time. All proceeds of this anthology go to AllOut.org, an amazing nonprofit Fighting for equality for the LGBT community worldwide. If you haven't already, check out this amazing anthology (we did, see Ann's & Lorix's reviews below) and leave your info in the comments for a chance to win a copy. If you can't wait, and we don't blame you, and buy your copy now or if you've already purchased this amazing book, register anyway. If you're name is chosen give us the name and email address of a friend and we'll send it to them as a gift from you!

Welcome to another place in time...where one can be swept away into lands and eras long forgotten.

This collection of short stories was birthed because a sworn "I don't like historicals" reader fell in love with what have become some of her favorite books by most of her favorite writers. Surprisingly, they were all historicals. Determined to make others feel the love, these authors were asked to contribute small tastes of how amazing historical storytelling can be.

Included in this anthology:
"Office Romance" by Tamara Allen
"Introducing Mr. Winterbourne" by Joanna Chambers
"The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh" by KJ Charles
"Unfair in Love and War" by Kaje Harper
"Carousel" by Jordan L. Hawk
"Deliverance" by Aleksandr Voinov

Along with a foreword written by Alex Beecroft, enjoy these original short stories that make up "Another Place in Time".

All proceeds from the purchase of this anthology will be donated to AllOut.org in celebration of LGBT History Month, October 2014.

Ann

This is just yet another reason why we love our Stallion. While herding the cats that is us, trying to plan pretty much anything (apologies to our Calendar Queen and Organizer Extraordinaire Sunshine), Justin reminded us that we had other people to thank and being that it is the month of Thanksgiving and our anniversary, what better time than now! I absolutely loved every story in the anthology. I'm an unapologetic slut for all things historical, so I launched on it to review. Thanks again to Boys in our Books, this is amazing and y'all done good!

Office Romance by Tamara Allen

Sweet, subtle and simple. I loved the language, this is a perfect example of why I love reading historical stories. The language had me visualizing the setting, the characters and the mood so well. Casey had me completely charmed with his brave face and sunny attitude in the face of all he was dealing with. Of course, you don’t know any of that when the story begins, you have an inkling that more is there, but that comes later. These two have lived through the horror of war and now are asked to metaphorically battle it out in the office. Their story is beautifully constructed and I could feel the tension they were dealing with in the face of office cutbacks. They’ve both had enough of fighting and I loved how their attitudes evolved when they got to know one another. Foster is deeper in self-preservation mode, so it took him a little longer, but Casey was a perfect balance for him. It ended on a positive and realistic note for the time and I couldn’t have been happier for Casey and Foster.

Introducing Mr. Winterbourne by Joanna Chambers

Fencing and fawn colored breeches FTW! I love the setup for the HEA on this one. Love it! Adam is so very stoic and strong while Lysander is so much more than his pretty package. Adam is surprised at the unexpected humility and heart of Lysander and it was so sweet reading their courting. Which it totally was. Of course it wasn’t to either of them at the time, but once you get to the end and think back on all the little “moments” of their day, you can see it plain as the bulge in a pair of breeches. The “moments” are what made this story for me. The little sweet and innocent things, like when they get swoony from using their “given names” and the dance lesson. Oh, the dance lesson! They were only together one day, but it was insta lust/love done right.

The Ruin of Gabriel Ashleigh by KJ Charles

“On the morning of his destruction, Lord Gabriel Ashleigh woke up with Satan’s own head.”
I fell in love with the first sentence and the love affair continued throughout the story. Lord Gabriel’s life is in ruin because he’s a spoiled pretty boy with no thought beyond the next party. He’s given one chance of redemption by a not-so-friendly adversary. Yes please! This one really did the “is he?” or “isn’t he?” thing well. I love that tension before one of them finally says SOMETHING and puts all their cards on the table, in this case, literally. There was a decent amount of backstory that explained Webster’s attitude well and Ash’s overall cluelessness. Without it, Webster wouldn’t have been a particularly likable character, but with it, I could sympathize and connect with him. I wanted him to win this. It also ratcheted the sexual intensity up a few zillion notches. Supremely sexy and really quite sweet in the end.

Unfair in Love and War by Kaje Harper

This one was both painful and beautiful to read. It read true, it read hopeful and hopeless in the turn of a page. This is the longest offering in the anthology and I’m so glad. These two characters had a lot of story to tell and to have any less for them would have been wrong. Both Warren and Stefan have lived a lot of pain before they meet. Warren is a pretty open book and I really respected his strength and attitude. Stefan is treated with both caution and callousness at the hands of the townspeople. He’s Swiss, but his accent is thick and Germanic plus he looks the epitome of the blonde and blue eyed ideal of the German army. During war time this is a dangerous description and Stefan is a man sage beyond his years. He deals with the harassment with a stoic patience that belies his loneliness.

The anger and frustration Warren felt on Stefan’s behalf was noble and his protectiveness was quite sweet. Stefan has a trunk load of secrets and as the two become closer and move from being convenient to one another in the stress release department to something more, it’s obvious something has to give and Stefan’s story has to be told. And good gravy, what a story. It really gave the war a face. The effect on the young soldiers, regardless of what side they fought on is heartbreaking no matter what role they played in battle and this story captured that perfectly. Thank God for the epilogue, it was a complete necessity to finish Warren and Stefan’s story. This is one that will stick with me. Perfectly done and highly recommended.

Carousel by Jordan L. Hawk

Loved it! Loved it, loved it, loved it! I was so excited to start this. I’m such a huge fan of this series and every little nugget I can get about Whyborn and Griffin I am on like Christine on a mummy. This was soooooo creepy and Jordan Hawk writes creepy soooooo well! She can take a sweet and innocent childhood memory and in a brief sentence horrify the hell out of you with it. The absolutely charming repartee between Whyborn and Griffin is perfectly swoony and balances the story just right. Given that most of the time, their tales are told from Whyborn’s perspective, reading from Griffin’s view reminds why he will always be at the top of my list of book boyfriends.

Deliverance by Aleksandr Voinov

Knights and chivalry and honor and sin, what a great setup. I loved this story, it was a frustrating struggle that I can only hope will end as well as Guy demands it to. William is a hot mess of confusion and given the time period and where he’s committed his allegiance it’s no wonder. Fate drops his former lover Guy into his world and everything William thought he had pushed beneath his holy robes comes rearing back to life. His story was told so well I could feel his torment and I really need more of their story. It ends on a very cautious, but realistic HFN. Anything else would not have read true and I have to respect that the author ended it there. There is a lot more story there to tell and I would love to read it.

Lorix

What a beautiful anthology. My, what a beautiful anthology. Huge kudos to Susan for organising this and to the authors, and everyone else who had a part in making it happen. I have to say I ADORED this book. I loved the fact that all the stories were set in different era's - it wasn't all the era of the Ton, England with Lords and ...well Lords I guess dancing and making merry. 

When I read the foreword by Alex Beecroft I was so excited, she was talking about an area I'm very familiar with and, related or not, it made me want to read it even more. And none of the stories disappointed. 

I'd be hard pushed to choose a favourite - in fact, I don't think I can. I didn't read the Jordan Hawk one, simply because, though I've read book 1, I've still to read the rest of these books and didn't want to spoil them! 


The others though - well they were all amazing. From different times and different countries they all have in common love against the odds. Truly wonderful love stories that break and mend the heart in a few short pages. Such a treat to have such a wonderful bunch of authors in one anthology. Thank you everyone for producing this. xx


For more info on Another Place in Time, check it out over on Goodreads!

***a copy of this anthology was provided to us for an honest review***

To enter to win and ebook copy of Another Place in Time, please leave a comment on this blog post and let us know your name and a means of contacting you (e.g., email, Twitter handle, link to Goodreads account, etc.). Or the contact info of the lucky person you would like to gift to.

The giveaway is open until 10:00PM (Pacific time) on 12/04/14. Shortly thereafter, we will contact a winner whom we will select using a highly scientific "names in a hat" method (or, you know, an internet randomizer). Please respond to the winning notification within 48 hours or we will choose another winner.