Padme's Library: Monday's Montage Mantlepiece: Men of Steel

Monday, March 21, 2016

Monday's Montage Mantlepiece: Men of Steel

Summary:
Shazam! Who better to safeguard a man's heart than a hero? Mr. Fantastic may be out there on a wing and a prayer, playing a Longshot, but a handsome He-Man has the power, courage, and derring-do to see his quest for true love through to the happy ending. For romance of superhero proportions, check out these Men of Steel.

Stories included:
A Raven’s Ruse by Eon de Beaumont
Along with his dream of being a professional comic book artist, graphic designer Jack Bremstone has a huge crush on Kris, one of the IT guys at work. Last year, Jack found out that Kris is sweet on the city’s masked vigilante, the Raven, and a Halloween party gives Jack the opportunity to impress him by constructing an authentic costume to win Kris’s affection.

On his way to the party, Jack stumbles across a young hooligan trying to steal a woman’s purse. Emboldened by alcohol and anonymity, he intervenes—and after witnessing the courageous act, Kris very much wants to express his gratitude to the Raven in a personal, private way.

Administrative Leave by Ryan Loveless
For young superhero Keen Haabe enthusiasm trumps strategy. When his save-everything exuberance results in an explosion and the bad guys getting away, the big boss forbids him from using his powers and slaps him with a desk job. While he’s hobbled, Keen meets Robbie, a normal man with a protective nature who has no inkling Keen is a superhero. For the first time, Keen is the one saved from danger, and he likes it enough to want that feeling again—regardless of the risks.

Collision Vector by Liam Grey
When he’s rescued from the rubble of a fallen building, Captain Vector receives a kiss to build a lawsuit on: his relieved boyfriend, Lockdown, plants one on him in front of the news cameras. But Vector’s Secret Identity Agreement has a “present to public as straight” clause, and his employer is furious.

Somehow he has to appease his boss, distract the reporters, and maintain the illusion of his public persona—all while he deals with a very upset lover. And if that wasn’t enough to spin a genius superhero’s head, he’s got to fix it all before Locke’s mother, the most powerful telepath on the planet, gets involved and decides to fry his brain. Captain Vector’s on a collision course with trouble, and the odds are not in his favor.

Behind the Mask by Jeanette Grey
For Mack, invisibility is more a curse than a blessing. He’s used his power for good, but he can’t help hoping that someone will see him—someone like the Neutralizer, Metropolis’s only openly gay superhero and the only man in the world who can counteract others’ powers.

Life as the Neutralizer brings Jeff plenty of visibility but very little real connection. Everyone is too dazzled by his mask and cape to get to know the real him. Everyone, that is, except the mysterious man he discovers lurking at a crime scene one day. Little does he know the man he’ll meet is not only invisible, but also extraordinary.

Meant to Fly by B.G. Thomas
Daniel, a huge fan of the superhero Paragon, is beside himself with excitement when he gets a chance to meet his hero. The problem is that Daniel’s dream only comes true when he’s thrown out a skyscraper window by the super-villain Tyrant—Paragon saves Daniel but then disappears into the night.

Months later, Daniel makes a trip to New York City to meet his hero again, but just when everything seems to be working out perfectly, Tyrant attacks again. Is it the end of the world or will Daniel find a different destiny in Paragon’s powerful embrace?

That Which Doesn’t Kill You by Pearl Love
Steve Johnson and Victor Ramirez are the best reporting team on cable news, and they don’t just have each others’ backs while in the field. They’re madly in love, but there’s a problem: Victor is the invincible superhero El Magnifico, and through a cruel twist of fate, contact of the naughty kind renders him powerless.

Steve would do anything to get into the hunky champion’s spandex pants, but for the good of the populace, he and his would-be lover are resigned to a celibate relationship. When a menace from beyond the stars threatens Earth’s very survival, Steve and Victor discover that touchy-feeling fun isn’t the only thing that robs El Magnifico of his ability to save the planet. But will this unstoppable hero’s weakness turn out to be his greatest strength?

Act One by Kim Fielding
Garret Souders came to Hollywood a nobody from a backwater town intending to amaze the studios with his imagination and wit—and maybe find a movie star boyfriend. Instead he works at a shoe store and a parking garage, and turns out scripts nobody wants to buy.

One of the few bright spots in Garret’s life is a man who dresses as Nourish-Man, a third-rate superhero from an eighties cartoon, to pose for photos with tourists on Hollywood Boulevard. Then one evening disaster strikes and Nourish-Man comes to the rescue—in more ways than one.

Bulldog and Smash by David Connor
They each earned the title “hero” in totally different ways. Smash is a gorgeous TV personality with a bit more brawn than brain. Bulldog is young, inexperienced, and, despite an incredibly difficult life, happy-go-lucky, friendly, and hopeful when it comes to people—and to love.

When Smash’s archnemesis—an irate ex-politician going by the name of Blast—leaves the superhero scarred and blinded, their mentor pairs Smash with his “seeing-eye Bulldog” as a crime-fighting team. The dynamic duo heads to Hollywood’s Academy Awards on guard duty, little knowing that Blast has some dramatic plans of her own.

Right Hand Man by Elinor Gray
Simon McFarlane is Sparks, the heat-impervious and super-fast sidekick to the local superhero Aero. Together they fight crime and save lives, but their main focus is a rival they call Blackout, who shrouds the scenes of his crimes in impenetrable darkness.

Simon’s been enamored of Aero since he was a teenager, so keeping his crush in check while they work together is extra difficult now that he knows the man behind the mask. Simon’s attempt to get Aero to see him as an equal backfires when he’s kidnapped and wakes up in Blackout’s lair. Like so many other sidekicks, Sparks is being used as the bait to get Aero where Blackout wants him. Will Aero finally be able to see what’s right in front of him?

First Timers by Michael G. Cornelius
A powerful newbie and a handsome veteran hero meet when the fumbling Stingray helps Poltergeist foil a bank robbery—though in the process, Stingray manages to tear off his entire costume. Poltergeist helps him obtain a new one, and the two meet for a friendly dinner… friendly until Stingray presumes more between them than just dining, including taking off their masks.

The resulting confrontation with the angry Poltergeist sparks something deeper, but being a superhero is never easy, as Stingray is finding out. Sometimes having superpowers detracts, rather than adds, to intimacy—in more ways than one.

Prototype by Claire Russett
The Augment Initiative genetically enhances embryos to produce people with advanced physical and cognitive capabilities who are intended to render humanitarian aid to victims of natural disasters. But Initiative scientist Robert Taunton has doubts about the weapons developed for the augments. His concerns aren’t purely scientific; his close friends, augments Zach and Allison, are testing the new energy-pulse weapon.

After a cataclysmic test, Zach stops by Robert’s lab to see if he can assist with what the scientist is working on—something to help defuse rather than exacerbate armed conflicts—and the results are incendiary, both in and out of the lab.

Author Bios:

Eon de Beaumont
Eon de Beaumont is a versatile author, craftsman, and raconteur. He has written a number of short stories, novellas, and novels, both solo and with his longtime writing partner and best friend, Augusta Li. Eon is an accomplished playwright and actor under an alternate identity. Above all Eon loves storytelling in all its myriad forms and sometimes has trouble sleeping for the abundance of ideas in his brain. Eon is alternately a mask maker, seamstress, doll maker, and amateur cook. His passions include makeup, shoes, comics, movies, and the pursuit of an ever-higher gamer score. He has recently discovered burlesque, finding another outlet for his creative expression.

Ryan Loveless
Ryan Loveless is a farmer’s daughter. She has a BA in English from a private college in Illinois and a master’s degree in library and information science with an archival certificate from a university in New York. Raised in a conservative family, she was shocked and relieved when her coming out was largely uneventful. She has been writing since she could read and has always drifted toward M/M because she enjoys the relationship dynamics. It’s possible that her first story was about GI Joe. She wishes she still had that story.

Liam Grey
Liam Grey is a numbers and data nerd by day, an aspiring author and hopeful romantic by night. Both his parents and his teachers fostered an early love of books, though it's doubtful any of them imagined it leading to him writing gay romance. He currently resides in the Pacific Northwest, and is in love with the mutable weather and landscape (though his sinuses politely decline to comment.)

Jeanette Grey
Jeanette Grey started out with degrees in physics and painting, which she dutifully applied to stunted careers in teaching, technical support, and advertising. When none of that panned out, she started writing.

Her sexy romances run the gamut from secret billionaires to broke college kids, and from athletes to high-tech futuristic military heroes. What ties them together are Jeanette's love of love, her snarky sense of humor, and her passion for infusing her stories with the perfect balance of emotion and heat.

B.G. Thomas
B.G. loves romance, comedies, fantasy, science fiction and even horror—as far as he is concerned, as long as the stories are character driven and entertaining, it doesn't matter the genre. He has gone to conventions since he was fourteen years old and has been lucky enough to meet many of his favorite writers. He has made up stories since he was child; it is where he finds his joy.

In the nineties, he wrote for gay magazines but stopped because the editors wanted all sex without plot. "The sex is never as important as the characters," he says. "Who cares what they are doing if we don't care about them?" Excited about the growing male/male romance market, he began writing again. Gay men are what he knows best, after all. He submitted his first story in years and was thrilled when it was accepted in four days.

"Leap, and the net will appear" is his personal philosophy and his message to all. "It is never too late," he states. "Pursue your dreams. They will come true!"

Pearl Love
Pearl Love has been writing since she was a kid, but it was the pretty boys who frolic around in her head who finally convinced her to pursue it seriously. She’s a mid-west transplant who current thrives in the hustle and bustle of the nation’s capital. She enjoys any type of story so long as the boy gets the boy. Pearl is a Marvel fan girl and owns a ridiculous stash of knitting supplies.

Kim Fielding
I have lived in Illinois, Oregon, Nebraska, and Croatia, but for a long time now I've called the boring part of California home. I have a husband, two daughters, a day job as a university professor, and a passion for travel. I write in many genres--contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, historical--but no matter when and where my stories are set, I love complex worlds and complicated characters. I think that often it's a person's flaws that make him stronger and more beautiful.

David Connor
David Connor lives in a small town in New York with his dog, Max and a cat named Mrs. Fat Pants. His grade school English teacher, after reading one of David's stories, suggested David write for As the World Turns someday. Books, magazine articles (including the soap mags), the stage, and even radio, he has done just about everything except write for daytime TV. He is still hopeful –as long as there are still some left.

David's vivid imagination refuses to shut down even when he sleeps. His dream life is far more interesting than his real life, and is often the genesis of plot lines for his stories. If you'd like to contact him, look him up on Facebook. He will update his status after his nap.

Elinor Gray
I have been reading and writing m/m romance since the early 2000's in the form of Lord of the Rings fanfiction. I have hopped, skipped, and jumped through a few fandoms since then, and am currently making myself known in the Sherlock Holmes canon world, writing Holmes/Watson romance and adventure! These stories can be found at Archive of Our Own, under the pseudonym "mistyzeo."

Having honed my craft in fanfic, I started writing original m/m romance and erotica in 2010,

As a reader and writer, Elinor has an affinity for gay romance, fantasy, sci-fi, historical pieces, and the wild west. She has dabbled in short contemporary fiction as well. She is happiest when she can mix and match these genre elements to come up with something particularly unique, like a New Adult romance in space, or a morally ambiguous gay superheroes. She will always say yes to the Victorian era.

Michael G. Cornelius
Michael G. Cornelius is the author of five books of fiction. His work has been nominated for an American Library Association Award and an Independent Press Award, and he was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Prize in 2002. In addition, he has published dozens of stories in journals and magazines and has won several grants and awards for his writing. He has been with his partner for thirteen years, his dog for two, and he can’t imagine life without either of them.

Claire Russett
Claire Russett is a researcher who is lucky enough to live in the lively town of Brighton in the UK. She believes in exercising just enough to justify her love of baking, loves all things sci-fi and is a scientist at heart. She writes m/m stories with a lot of sex and a dash of science. Science is sexy and when you add two cute guys to the mix, things sometimes get out of control!