Hearts from the Ashes is an anthology of stories by three of the best gay romance/erotica authors this reviewer has had the pleasure of reading. I’m not usually one for the romance genre, but the stories enclosed have realistic, well-developed characters that are a pleasure to read about. The graphic sex, while hot, is not the main element of the stories. It comes naturally in the stories based on the characters personalities.

The stories stand alone, but each author entwined elements from the other’s stories. Each story is set in Asheville, NC. (I never knew so much gay action happened in Asheville. I may have to visit there some time to see for myself) Characters and locations from each story are mentioned (or inferred). The way the authors accomplished this is very interesting and shows creativity on their part.

Eros Rising – Scott has been with his boyfriend for too long as he discovers when they go to the town’s sex club Ganymede’s Grotto. Logan, Scott’s boyfriend, wants to have a threesome; Scott doesn’t.

When Logan leaves to go to the bathroom, Scott sits and enjoys the strip show performed by Keegan. Scott instantly falls in love with him. Over the following weeks, Scott spends more time at the club getting to know Keegan. Eventually, their feelings for each other explode to the surface, but Scott can’t do anything until he leaves Logan.

Eventually, Scott and Keegan come together, but they still have to deal with the pain of Keegan’s past; a past of abuse both physical and mental.

Café Noctem – Willa Okati weaves a tale of Cherokee mythology into a story of love, loss and discovery. Grey, Jimmy and Nicholas were best friends for years. Grey and Jimmy became closer as lovers. Jimmy suddenly developed cancer that took his life in a matter of months. Grey was devastated.

Nicholas stood by Grey through his grief. He helped out in Café Noctem (which was owned by Grey and Jimmy) and did all he could to help Grey deal with Jimmy’s death. Eventually, Grey came to love Nicholas and they became partners. The only problem was the specter of Jimmy hung over them.

On the evening of a major celebration, Grey and Nicholas are visited by a mysterious young man in an odd looking mask. In the beginning, it seems he is trying to separate Grey and Nicholas. In the end, he helped to keep them together.

With Love – Devlin is a werewolf. He is moving to Asheville with his business partner from Texas. Soon after his arrival, he is called by Victor, the pack Alpha, to meet about joining the local pack. Devlin drives to the meeting place to find Victor and a few of his Betas abusing another member of the pack. Devlin flies into the middle of the group and easily defeats them all due to his size and strength. Once the assailants are gone, Devlin discovers by scent that the injured one is his mate.

Laine is the pack Omega. He doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut and is a major klutz. After being chased and beaten by Victor and his Betas, Laine wakes up next to Devlin and realizes Devlin is his mate. He fears for himself because of Victor. It seems Victor wants him, but Laine has no interest in him. Devlin vows he will protect Laine and do whatever he has to to protect him.

Victor decides to send a message by sending his Betas to mess up Laine’s flower shop. He even attacks Laine in the men’s room of a restaurant. When that doesn’t work, he kidnaps Laine’s grandmother. This pushes Devlin to the breaking point. With the help of his business partner, Cole, and the former pack leader, Devlin is able to defeat Victor and send him packing, thus becoming the new pack leader.

The secondary characters of the story: Cole, Caroline (Cole’s wife), Beth and Serena (Laine’s co-workers) and Grammy (Laine’s grandmother) add a wonder fully realistic dimension to the story. They are as fleshed-out and three-dimensional as the main characters with fun personalities.

I highly recommend this book to any who like gay romance/erotica. It is well written and a pleasure to read. The stories move quickly and capture your interest. I couldn’t put it down and ended up reading it in one evening. ( )

I picked up this book because I'm a big fan of Ally Blue and Willa Okati; I didn't expect my favorite story to be JL Langley's "With Love!" Her story of two werewolves had a fresh take; an alpha and an omega fall in love. Yes, Laney is very much like an uke in a traditional yaoi story - but, I like yaoi. He is a little effeminate, which may seem stereotypical, but there are men like this. Certainly not all gay men, or even all "bottoms." This is a fantasy romance after all. Laney's clumsiness is a little over the top, but his relationship with Dev is sweet and hot. I would have liked the characters to be more developed, but this is a short story. Langley sets the stage for her "With or Without" werewolf series, which gets more depth in the next two novels. Langley’s writing was so good, I immediately ordered her novel "The Tin Star" (also excellent!)

"Eros Rising" by Ally Blue was also enjoyable. Scott is hanging onto a dysfunctional relationship with Logan--until he sees "Eros" stripping at a club. But, Eros has horrors in his own past. Will they get their happy ending? (of course!) And also some hot sex to boot!

My least favorite story was Willa Okati's. It WAS very well-written with detailed Native American mythology woven into it. Gray is hanging onto the memory of his dead lover Jimmy, despite being involved with Nicholas. I didn't like the story because I spent most of it feeling sorry for Nicholas. Gray was so insensitive, I had trouble liking the character. At one point, he even calls Nicholas "Jimmy" while making love. Since this was a short story, there wasn't as much sex, so having it ruined like that was a let down. With a little magic, Jimmy shows Gray and Nicholas how special their love is, but it was too little too late for me. Willa Okati is a very good author, I just didn't care for this offering. I highly recommend this anthology to fans of M/M romance. ( )

An antohology of m/m only erotica. A friend recommended this when we were discussing whether straight women would like sexually explicit books about 2 men. She said Willa Otaki is a great writer, and she actually is a very good writer, but I found that the story didn't engage me. I guess I do need a woman in the mix there somewhere for me. The first story by Ally blue was just boring. There is nothing offensive here for me, but I just didn't feel involved, and probably won't visit this genre again. ( )