Heart and Mind by Olivia Lorenz

When a chance encounter brings two very different men together, they have to travel a very difficult road in order to make their relationship work.  However, they have the help of a mysterious ghost that will help bring them closer together, if they can decipher the meaning of the poems that the ghost leaves behind.

Heart and Mind is a historical yaoi romance that takes place in China.  The characters are interesting as is the plot.  However, the story is very long, almost a full two thirds of the entire volume. Also, the physical aspect of the romance was entirely implied until the end of the story.  Heart and Mind would have benefited from being a shorter story; as it is I found myself impatient to get to the end of it, just so it would be done.

Zinged! by May Powers

Ving Chen is participating in yet another training mission with a rookie.  Generally, these missions are a bore, but this mission has had a few unexpected surprises – like Ving’s unexpected attraction for his subordinate Officer Quan

Shei Imotra.  Quan, however, has felt an attraction for Ving from the very start, but has been hesitant to approach the man for fear of being rejected.  Once these two men touch and experience the zing, they can do nothing else but see where it takes them.

The premise of the plot for Zinged! makes for a really interesting sci-fi story and the universe it’s set in is worth further exploration.  However, the story would have benefited from thorough editing, since the sentences were oftentimes choppy and difficult to follow, making the flow of the story as awkward as the dialogue.  These issues took away from my enjoyment of a book that I otherwise would have liked.

Don’t Ask by J.J. Massa

Captain Zach Smith has known all his life that he preferred men, but being in the armed forces has forced him to hide who he really is.  Falk Thayer is an FBI agent and also in the closet, but he has always felt the attraction between himself and Zach.  When one case brings them closer together than they have been before, they open a Pandora’s box of sexual discovery by coming together.  How will they manage, while working in organizations that ask that they deny themselves?

Don’t Ask by J.J. Massa is a wonderful story, which is gripping, passionate and emotional.  Both characters are very well drawn and you won’t be able to stop reading until you reach the end of the story.  I loved Don’t Ask and it more than made up for the shortcomings of the other books in the anthology.

The anthology Yaoime is average and I would only encourage you to buy it if you have nothing else to read or if you are a fan of J.J. Massa.  Heart and Mind and Zinged! are so-so stories, but Don’t Ask is excellent