Michelle Labbé

Her Way by Anya Levin (F/F): when the story starts, the gender of one of the character is unknown and so is the name; they are part of a mission in the desert to discover the ruins of the Lost City and through the eyes of the unknown character we see all the others, like Mark and Clay. When they finally reach the right place, it’s a moment of discovery, and not only of some ancient ruin: there is a mysterious woman waiting for them, and apparently she is not waiting for the most obvious partner, like Mark or Clay, she is waiting for her, the unknown character. In the time of one night many things will be unveiled, but not the name of the unknown character, that in the end will remain the real mystery of this story.

Blue-Eyed Djinn by Angela Goldsberry (F/F): this is definitely an erotic tale, an unexpected turn on the old fashioned Arabian tales; an old peddler promises to a Sultan the most satisfying night of his life at the hand of a Blue-Eyed Djinn who lives inside a special bottle. But the Sultan has everything, money, power and an harem full of beautiful women, what the Blue-Eyed Djinn can give him that he has not yet experimented? I think that other than being an erotic tale, the meaning of the story was that if you are kind with stranger the kindness will pay you back.

Catch and Release by Sunny Moraine (M/F): this is a re-telling of the Alladin’s legend, I believe, only that Alladin here has the name of Sulieman, and he is not a young man, but an old fisherman; and the genie is not a big, bulky man but an ethereal woman who can grant only one wish. Of course the immediate choice would be to not let the beautiful woman go, but is that the right choice? Sulieman is old, and saw a lot, and maybe now he desires something else.

The Eater of Stories by Sophia Deri-Bowen (M/M): no, I’m not biased when I say that The Eater of Stories is my favorite of this collection; it’s not because is the only man on man story, it’s since is the one with a beginning, a development and an happily ever after. The story is about two young men living in an isolated oasis; they grew up together and Ghraith, the bolder of the two, is the one who moved their relationship from friends to lover, and the narrator of this story is deeply in love with his young storyteller. Indead Ghraith loves to tell story, and for this reason he is the one to go to the Eater of Stories, a stranger who arrives to their village offering gold in exchange of stories, old and new stories, but the price of selling these stories is that you will not be able to tell them again. Ghraith thinks the price is fine, but he doesn’t realize that losing the stories he will lose also the ability to tell them; Ghraith finds himself blind, mute and disabled, but his young lover, the narrator, still loves him, and will take care of him until the last of their days. And maybe with the time passing, he will be able to make up new stories, and feed their love, and with their love his lover. This is a tender and very romantic story, well worth all the anthology.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004089E0U/?tag=elimyrevandra-20… (altro)