Yes, I do like them long...

Hi everyone, my name's Lily and I'm so happy to be on the Island today. It was a lovely surprise when Tracy invited me to be a guest blogger (per Kris's suggestion). This is my first time as a guest blogger anywhere and I'm having loads of fun already. The weather's great, the men I see walking around are hot hot hot and for it being early morning the drinks they're serving are going to have me falling down onto one of these convenient hammocks pretty soon. Oh well, I'm sure they'll take good care of me.

Since Tracy's invitation I've been trying to figure out what to talk about before I list my six DIK books. What came to mind is size. I'm a definite 'size queen' although I can be satisfied with something smaller. Now please everyone, get your minds out of the gutter, what I'm talking about when I say size is the length... of a book, of course. I love to read long books, the longer the better. I think my love of big books came about when I read The Stand by Stephen King many, many years ago. That book totally grabbed me and pulled me in and even at 1152 pages I didn't want it to end. Since that time I've always preferred to read novels more than novellas and short stories. Not that there aren't great novellas and short stories out there and I do read them but there's just something about sitting down with a well written novel that calls to me.

Related to my love of big books is that I also love to read series. I think it's all tied in with my 'I want more' and 'no, I don't want it to end' mentality. If I fall in love with the characters I find myself just wanting to know more and more about them. They have their happy ending and then I'm curious, well what happens next? Maybe that's why I watched soap operas for so long. They kept giving me more and more to watch. I finally did stop when RL just got to hectic to watch them, even if taped them to watch later. But no way am I ever giving up my books!

And so here's my list of the six books I'd want with me if I were stuck on an island. My list consists of M/M books since that's what I've been reading for over three years now. Of course there would have to be a way to recharge my Sony otherwise I'd be out of luck as most of my books are in fact ebooks. In alphabetical order they are...


A Red-Tainted Silence by Carolyn Gray is an engrossing story that shows how love can triumph over pretty much anything. Nicholas and Brandon are musicians and have been lovers on and off for over ten years. The book uses flashbacks to tell the story from their first meeting at a high school play to the present as they try to overcome a life threatening event that Brandon rescued Nicholas from as well as dealing with a danger that they know is there but can't figure out who's causing it. This is a very emotional book and there is a lot of angst and crying but the complex characters, solid writing and emotional connection between Nicholas and Brandon that resonates throughout make this an engrossing and memorable love story.

I loved everything about this book and the added bonus of it being about 500 pages long was great. :)

Bareback by Chris Owen is one of the first M/M cowboy books I read. It's also the first one one that made me so angry I could have thrown it across the room, if it had been a print book, as well it's the first that made me cry. Jake and Tor are unforgettable characters and their love story, told over a long period of time, is volatile, sweet, super hot, very emotional, sad and above all it's a beautiful portrayal of a relationship with all the ups and downs that could come with it.

The added bonus in this one was the super hot sex scene when Jake and Tor 'played' with a couple of friends. It was the first foursome I had read and yeah, it was pretty darn hot! I also like how they expressed their commitment to each other with some very special 'rings'.

Kelland by Paul G. Bens Jr is an amazing book. It's not a M/M romance although there are gay characters as well as loving relationships. Kelland is a story of evil hidden behind the guise of goodness and piety and the effect it has on the lives of some of the people that come into contact with it. Whether that effect is felt first hand or as the result of damage done to a loved one it is nevertheless felt quite keenly throughout the book. It's a very well written and thought provoking story.

The bonus here is the flawless writing that totally captivated me. I did not want to put this one down.



My Fair Captain by J.L. Langley is a fabulous historical romance in a futuristic setting. It's a fun and engaging story and introduces one of the sexiest heroes I've read about, Navy Captain Nathaniel Hawkins. Nate is gorgeous, strong, smart, super hot, definitely swoon worthy and a total Alpha male. Especially when he's putting on a private show for Aiden. Nate is also the first character I read about with a piercing (Prince Albert) and after I Googled and saw that piercing and many others I added that little kink to my existing love of tattoos.

This story's added bonus aside from the PA were the super sexy scenes between Nate and his Boy. I loved both characters and some of the scenes between are amazing, very sexy and sweet at the same time. A wonderful combination.


Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy is a great book. It's an entertaining, funny and romantic story and I really enjoyed reading about Simon and Declan. Simon is sarcastic and sharp-tongued but also a nice guy and a great friend. Declan is a football player who's very popular. He's a great all around guy living in the closet mainly because of what he does. They meet at a party, in a very amusing way, and slowly become friends. That friendship turns to love and the ups and downs of their relationship over a two year period was very well written by Sean Kennedy. A great point to make is that only when I reached the end of the story did I realize there had been no explicit love scenes in the book. There is sex in the book, after all they are two healthy young men in love, but the scenes are not explicit and they don't need to be. The story works beautifully without them.

With such a wonderful story there's not much to add as a bonus but I will say that the excellent characterizations in this book and the ability that Sean Kennedy has to convey so much in a simple sentence is fabulous.

Zero at the Bone by Jane Seville is a gritty, action packed thriller that is full of suspense and action yet at the same time it's also an emotional and sensual story. The protagonists were both very appealing although quite different from each other. D is a hired killer and Jack is a doctor who witnesses a murder. When D is contracted to take Jack out his conscience, which doesn't let him kill innocents, stops him and instead he becomes Jack's bodyguard. These men are very different but as they spend more time together the sexual and emotional connection between them is undeniable. This was an awesome book, very intense and gripping with great characters and some very hot sex scenes as well.

This is another case where the excellent writing shines through. I really fell in love with the characters, D most of all and it was great seeing him come out of his self-imposed 'prison' and see him find his emotions, accept himself and finally be able to love. Awesome!

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Well, my stay is almost over now but before I leave I'd like to thank all of the DIK ladies and of course anyone who dropped by today for the warm welcome. I've had a lot of fun here today and the memories of this beautiful island will stay with me when I get back to the little town I live in. I'd love to have you all come by my little corner of the web anytime you'd like. My blog, which in a little over a week turns one (hard to believe, it feels like it was just born yesterday) is simply called I Love Books. Pretty easy to remember and so very true.

































I brought along a few friends to keep me company on the plane ride and now they're telling me they are having so much fun they don't want to leave. I guess I can't blame them. I'd stay on the island all the time, sipping on yummy little umbrella drinks and admiring the view, if I didn't have a RL waiting for me. Maybe I can use the excuse that I need to come back to get them so I can stop by for another visit.

Thanks for letting me come and play on the island.