Title: Tart and Soul
Author: Storm Grant
Publisher: Torquere Books
Genre: m/m contemporary romance
Length: 35 Pages
Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5
A guest review by Jenre
THE BLURB
Ex-Marine Cam isn’t sure what to do with himself when he comes back to his mom’s place. Especially since his mom is the madam of a brothel called Tuesday’s Child. He’s desperate to pay his debt to her, too, which is how he meets Joshua, a grad student who needs money in the worst way.
Joshua thinks he doesn’t need what Cam has to offer, but soon enough, he changes his tune. Nasty pimps, atypical allergies, and a decorating scheme gone horribly wrong work together to bring Cam and Joshua closer and closer. Can they work together to find a whole new definition of monogamy?
THE REVIEW
I picked up this short because I’d heard some good things about the author and wanted to try out her writing. I enjoyed this story of ex-marine Cam and grad student Joshua but it wasn’t without its problems.
The story begins with Cam having an allergic reaction which triggers his PTSD, ending with him being bailed out by his mother and placed in her care. His mother, Grace, who was by far the best character in this story, has owned and run the best brothel in the area for thirty years along with her partner, Joy. Cam has no choice but to work for his mother and her first job for him is to scout out some new talent for the brothel. At the bus station he meets Joshua who is newly arrived in San Francisco with the vague promise of a job in the publishing industry.
Part of my problem with this book is that I was a little unsure of what tone it was trying to adopt. On one hand, Cam has a very dry tone of voice and a self-depreciating way of looking at life. This gave the story quite a humourous feel to it for most of the time, helped by the character of Grace whose wit excelled that of Cam. On the other hand some of the themes of this book: being coerced into prostitution, pimps who abuse their whores, PTSD, murder, and losing your job through no fault of your own, are serious and didn’t always sit comfortably with the slightly jokey tone adopted in the writing.
Having said that this story is still worth reading. The characters are well balanced and fleshed out for such a short story; the story itself is interesting with an unusual setting of a brothal; and the writing is good. I’d recommend Tart and Soul for those looking for a decent short to fill in a gap between books.
