Title: Fireflies
Author: Ally Blue
Publisher: http://samhainpublishing.com
Genre: Gay-Lesbian Romance
Length: 224 pages (print)
Rating:***** (out of 5)
The first time Joey Vines sees Braeden Shay, a Sidhe warrior, he is five years old. Braeden tells him that he is a faery but Joey’s mother has the strangest reaction before warning him that faeries do not exist and he should not talk to him again. Braeden appears in Joey’s room the next night as a firefly/faery and he is enchanted and in awe of him; when he is allowed to touch his wings he is so moved the event changes his life. Braeden promises to return for him when he’s ready to assume his heritage but 20 years later Joseph, who now has a pair of wings tattooed on his back to remind him of Braeden is still waiting, until one fateful day when his life is transformed. Joseph is sent home from work that day because he is unwell but on his way home there is a strange occurrence before he falls into a deep sleep and he imagines that a firefly is hovering near him.
Joseph wakes up in a cabin in the wilderness where Braeden has taken him and he meets him again but as an adult this time, and he feels that he’s living his dream with one very significant difference – he’s attracted to him. When they kiss and Braeden wraps his wings around him he is transported into another world, one of sensuality and desire and longing. Joseph soon finds out that faeries are not that different from human men in terms of their sexual responses and he has the most wonderful sensual experience of his life. The lovemaking between them is breathtaking, intense and magical as they both appear to weave spells around each other in a mixture of lust and a more ethereal bonding of their minds and hearts.
Braeden later tells Joseph about his heritage, that his true father is a Lord of the Unseelie Court, and that he is half fae with an ability to control the plant kingdom. But there is a huge storm cloud hanging over him – his father Lord Caratacus, who is bound and determined that Joseph will never fulfill his destiny of saving the worlds because Caratacus wants to have power over both the Sidhe and human realms.
This story, while sad in parts, is beautifully told as Ally Blue always paints amazing pictures with her words and her world building is brilliant. Fireflies is a fantasy setting where anyone could escape to from real life for a few hours and inhabit Braeden’s and Joseph’s world. The author has an amazing gift of putting her readers in the heart of the action and if a writer can make me feel that I’m right there with her characters then she has done her job. The plot is very different from her previous books and she demonstrates considerable imagination and range in setting the stage and telling this engrossing story.
In Fireflies you have to suspend belief and once you do so you are totally enchanted by this story of a love that triumphs over all odds and saves two worlds that are threatened, Tir-na-nog and earth; it’s the age old fight between good and evil. The battle between Caratacus, Joseph and Braeden is well planned and executed, with magic being an integral force in the fight. Unfortunately, there are always casualties and loss in life and although the story is somewhat dark it does have its funny moments. I never knew that wings were such an erogenous zone and that there were so many erotic uses for plant life; Ms Blue has certainly given me new erotic avenues to explore
I was captivated by the characters which is a trademark of Ms Blue as her characterizations are what always set her books apart and make them so popular with fans and new readers alike. I really loved Braeden’s heart and the way he was so open about his love for Joseph and even though he was a warrior you felt his emotions which were always on the surface. I loved this book and highly recommend it to anyone who likes fantasies or just a really good story.
Sounds beautiful, with a dreamlike atmosphere. I don’t read fantasy very often, but the idea of soft, erotic, M/M fantasy appeals to me a lot. And that cover is gorgeous. Thanks for the review!
Hi Mary
I LOVE fantasies and paranormals so I read this book with the right frame of mind. This author’s characterizations are always what get me and Braeden and Joey are no exception (Braeden is my favourite).
As I said in the review, you have to suspend belief and to me that is the key to enjoying this book or any fantasy – if you try to impose a contemporary perspective then fantasies might not work well for you.
Suspend disbelief. Hmm, I can do that, I think. I wouldn’t be able to love the BDB books or watch an American disaster movie otherwise :-D. But caracterization is more important. A good world building is important to sustain your story, but if you don’t have strong characters that readers will like, no one is going to care about the world anyway. I just received Ally’s book WILLOW BEND this morning, so I’ll read this one before buying something else from her, but FIREFLIES sounds like a good possible second AB purchase ;).
Hi Mary
Prepare to cry for Willow Bend. It’s very emotional and sad. I have it out to review in a couple of weeks. Read it when it first came out and I loved the story.
Re Fireflies – just think ‘outside the box’. I really loved Braeden because he was so sensitive even though he was a warrior. But as I said in the review, for fantasies you really have to be in a different frame of mind.
Man, I thought I’d commented here already! Doh. I’m such a dork :B
Thank you for this lovely review! I’m so, so glad you liked Fireflies! It was interesting to write, me having never really done fantasy before. I’m glad I did it, though my crit partners will attest that it about drove me up the wall at times LOL
The cover is an Anne Cain original. She is a GODDESS. I heart her like crazy 😀
The cover is indeed beautiful, Ally! Did you have any say about the design or was it entirely up to Anne and her vision of your story?
Do you plan on writing more fantasy in the future or was it a one-time thing? Any other new genres you’d like to explore too?
Hi Ally
You did send me an email so I know that you really liked the review. I hope that you’ll write another fantasy sometime in the future – other than the characters I loved the world building and you do have a knack for putting the reader right in the heart of your stories. Thanks for a wonderful story.
Mary, thank you! Samhain always gets author input on the covers, yeah. Of course I’m no artist, so my ideas are usually pretty vague. I’m always asking for a certain “feel” rather than a particular look, which has to drive the artists nuts but they never say so, they just produce beautiful covers 🙂 Anne can read my mind, I swear. Her covers always have the exact “feel” I’m looking for 😀
Will I write more fantasy? I’m not sure, actually. Maybe. I have a short story, “Dragon’s Kiss”, that I’d kind of like to develop further, it’s a futuristic post-apocolyptic type thing, so not exactly true fantasy, but similar. Soooo, yeah. Maybe *g* I also had fun doing “Into The Black” which is a sci-fi. I’d love to do more of that. I’d REALLY love to do full-on horror, but I’m skeert I’ll screw it up O_O
Jesse, again thank you so much! Right now I’m just trying to catch up with my current deadlines before I add more on, but yeah, I’d love to do more of this kind of story 😀
OH btw, both the short stories I mentioned are in the print zine Forbidden Love. “Into The Black” is in the first issue, Bad Boys, and “Dragon’s Kiss” is in the third issue, Sacred Bands. Here’s the webshop link:
http://www.genreconnections.com/shop/index.php?p=catalog&parent=7&pg=1
Tell you what, though, if anyone’s thinking of buying one of these? Get Sacred Bands. It’s ALL m/m. The first one, mine’s the only m/m story in it, I mean the others are good stories but there’s just the one m/m. Plus, since “Into The Black” is free of being exclusively there’s now, it’s up elsewhere:
http://www.forbiddenfruitzine.com/black.htm
Okay, I gotta go to work. Man, I’m rambling this morning! LOL
Hi Ally
Looking forward to seeing you on the blog on Monday, June 30 for Anne’s interview (she promised to answer your questions:).
I will check out the ‘forbidden fruit’ zine for those stories and thanks for the tip about which one is the best deal for M/M readers. My reading is now about 85 – 90% M/M these days (as if you couldn’t tell); I have made a total turnaround in the past year. I do love sci fi, fantasy and paranormal stories.
OKay *stomps and pouts* Gawd Wave you guys are seriously killing me. I want! or at least that’s what my inner voice says
Hi Sarai
Sorry about that. We all have the same problem – too many books to buy, too little money and too little time to read them all. Does that about sum it up?
On the bright side you should check out the e-zine Ally mentioned. You could download the story for free. I love free LOL
http://www.forbiddenfruitzine.com/black.htm
Thanks Ally! I’ll be checking those links!
Cool, I’ll definitely have to tune in for Anne’s interview! Thanks 😀
Y’all enjoy the stories 😀 There are LOTS of great free stories on Forbidden Fruit. And Sacred Bands has a way cool pirate story by Jet Mykles too! It’s awesome!
Hi Ally
I have already checked out forbidden fruit and I will pass the word along to the ladies. This is so cool – I’ll never have to live in the real world again!