Sophia Titheniel

BOOK BLURB:
Evan and his friend and protector, Sadie, have a life together. Alone. Just the two of them. And that's just the way they like it. Well, Evan, anyway. Sadie may be a dog, but she's more trustworthy than any human Evan's met since his accident.

Sadie thinks Evan needs a human companion. So when Casey, the social worker from the LGTB Support Center shows up to rescue Evan from himself, she puts her cunning plan into action. It starts with the little things. Like a kiss.

BOOK REVIEW:
I wanted to love this story ~ it has so much going for it.

Casey is a thoroughly adorable protagonist ~ sweet, uncertain, lacking self confidence while being a thoroughly good guy. He's been hurt, but he never quite gives up on hope. Evan's another one of my favourite character types ~ independent, prickly, cantankerous, and generally trying to stay well away from hope, and all its dangers.

The whole set up is pure wish fulfillment ~ I suspect LGBT support centres in big American cities don't work exactly as they do in the story, and I'm absolutely certain that the very last thing I'd want to do within hours of being beaten into unconsciousness is have hot, passionate sex, no matter how delicious the young man who'd ridden to my rescue.

If you can suspend your disbelief enough to go with the flow, though, the sex is blistering, and the whole cast of characters ~ Casey's boss, colleagues, and clients, plus Sadie herself ~ are very endearing, although they didn't get quite enough page time.

My real tripping point, though, was the paranormal element of the plot, which seemed a little out of place in what would otherwise be a sweet and sexy contemporary story. It does serve to move the plot along, but it's not integral enough, not explored in enough depth, to shift the story's primary flavour from romance to paranormal, particularly within the confines of the word length.

I did enjoy the story, though, and I'd love to discover that this is the first of a series ~ more stories would give me more time with these fascinating characters, and might give the author space to develop a different balance between the real-world and the paranormal elements.

(Originally reviewed for Rainbow Reviews - http://www.rainbow-reviews.com/?p=5856)… (altro)

As for the previous book in this series, I liked that the paranormal side of the story was not so overwhelming, in a way this was a very ordinary romance about extraordinary events.

Morgan is at his last year in highschool and he is probably like many other teenagers with no so caring parents: he is insecure and shy, not able to look after himself and easy target of every type of bully. Plus he is gay and this add only problem to problem: not only he is a misfit in school he is also the target of physical violence, small violece true, but in any case violence. As result of one more prank, Morgan runs away from the school field to be hit by a passing car.

Casey, the psychic from the previous novella, “listen” to Morgan cry for help and in a way he sends him Derek: Derek is an intern in the hospital where Morgan is hospitalized, moreover his mom is Morgan’s doctor and the one who is collaborating with Casey’s association in help to LGBT youth.

When I said that this is an ordinary paranormal romance, I mean that Derek is able to see Morgan’s spirit, that is disembodied by his body, and he simply talks with him, without much of a drama: maybe for the first time Morgan has someone he can talk with, someone he can trust with all his deepest worries and desires.

Another element that I liked of the novella is that, the sexual part is still played by Casey and his partner Evan: I think this was done for two reasons, one to not having to think on awkard situations between Morgan and Derek (through, Morgan has a body even in his spirit form, but he is still a spirit), and second since Morgan is, after all, only 18 years old, and he needs time to accept things before having to move on a step in his life towards also a sexual relationship.

http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1147346.html… (altro)

Sadie’s Kiss is a little different from the previous all Alpha Males and paranormal novellas by the same author I read. First of all is really romantic, and as usual when there is a pet as supporting character, it’s also cute. Casey is a just out of college virgin gay boy; he is working for a LGBT support center, something he chose to do when he was ready to admit he was gay. On the contrary of the kids he helps Casey has not had a bad family experience with his coming out, but he nevertheless has not an easy relationship with his blood family and so he rebuilds his personal family environment inside the Support Center. Apparently Casey is an ordinary guy, and he likes thing like that, he doesn’t want to be noticed. But Casey is not “normal”, and being gay is not one of his oddity factors: Casey is a psychic and he can hear other people thoughts and emotions; plus he believes in true love, and for this reason he is saving himself for Mr Right.

Evan is a blind guy with very bad experiences behind when speaking of love; he doesn’t do love, he doesn’t do date, he prefers one night stand. Evan fears abandonment, something he experienced when his former boyfriend left him soon after causing the car accident in which Evan lost his sight. When they first met, Casey knows that Evan is Mr Right, but Evan is scared by this kid who is immediately speaking of love, how can Casey loves someone like Evan, and how above all he can be sure of it so soon.

But with the help of both their family, the chosen one of Casey at the Support Center, and the one represented by Evan’s guide dog, Casey and Evan will arrive to a compromise, that will allow to both to enjoy having found the right man where and when you would least expect.

I liked Casey, so cute and innocent, and I think I would have liked him even if he was not a psychic. The paranormal trait of him is not something that weight to much on the story; it’s a characteristic more of him, but not his main trait. Evan on the other hand is still on his rebounding period, from the lost of a lover and of the only life he knew, but there is hope for him to change in better, and becoming the right man Casey is expecting.

http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/1015662.html… (altro)

Damon's is the new series by Sophia Titheniel. In comparison to the previous one, I think this is more light, young and also maybe funny. The main characters are elves, living in a fantasy Los Angeles where human and otherworldly people live together in peace; if you put aside the pointed ears and the long curly hair, Damon and Alyan are as any other everyday gay boy: suffering for an heartbroken while at the same time you are worried that your hair is not stylished enough or that your skin is not perfect.

Alyan was dumped by his boyfriend, and he is a month that is moping inside the apartment he is sharing with his sister. Said sister is tired, and probably also a bit disgusted, since Alyan lacks of personal hygiene in that month, and enrolls his brother in a speed dating night. After some remonstrances, Alyan goes to the night club, whose owner, Damon, is Alyan's longtime crush, even before the treacherous ex boyfriend. That night Alyan comes back home with a stranger, after spending all the time trying to catch eyes with Damon, but the one night stand doesn't help him to forget... but who is Alyan trying to forget? the former boyfriend or the never boyfriend, Damon?

As you can see, there is practically no drama in this story, and as I said, the elf nature of the characters is only a nice add, but doesn't influence so much their behavior; plus the author has a romantic insight on the story but with a modern taste: Alyan loves Damon, but when Thomas approaches him in the night club, he doesn't put much resistance. More, he has sex with him more or less since it wouldn't be nice to say no (well, you couldn't say that Alyan is a teaser...). And truth be told, sex with Thomas is good, even if he is not the love of his life.

And Damon? How does he cope with Alyan being a bit of a slut? more or less like it's nothing important, for sure nothing that could compromise any chances they have to be together. The important thing is that Alyan is able to realize that they are fated to be together, no matter how many men he has to bed to arrive to that conclusion.

http://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/799654.html… (altro)