Release Day Review ~ Flying Fish by Sedonia Guillone

Release Day Review ~ Flying Fish by Sedonia Guillone

Title: Flying Fish
Series: Sword and Silk: Book One
Author: Sedonia Guillone
Release Date: August 17, 2016
Category: Historical: World, Timeless Dreams
Pages: 81

Blurb:

In eighteenth century Japan, during the golden age of samurai and of the Kabuki theater, young actors known as “flying fish” traveled the countryside, performing for audiences by day and giving their bodies to their samurai patrons at night.

Genji Sakura is one such flying fish, yet he dreams of finding the man he can give his heart to and leave the loneliness of his itinerant life behind. Though he loves theater, he doesn’t love every part of his profession, especially some of the patrons. So when a handsome ronin comes upon him stealing some solitude for a bath in a hot spring and their encounter turns passionate, Genji’s surprised and delighted.

Daisuke Minamoto’s past fills his life with a bitterness that grips his soul and makes him dangerous. Yet passion takes him when he spies on a graceful young man bathing naked in a hot spring. He has always loved women, but he can’t deny the call of his heart.

After an afternoon of sexual bliss, his heart and soul are tormented and torn. Keeping this miraculous lover will require giving up the one thing that has kept him alive for years: his hatred for the lord who murdered his wife. If he loves another, how will he go on and who will he become?

A Timeless Dreams title: While reaction to same-sex relationships throughout time and across cultures has not always been positive, these stories celebrate M/M love in a manner that may address, minimize, or ignore historical stigma.

First Edition published by Loose ID LLC, 2009

Goodreads

Dreamspinner Press

*** Copy provided by Dreamspinner Press to Bayou Book Junkie in exchange for a fair and honest review. ***

I loved Genji and Daisuke. They were amazing together and their lovemaking was sensual, sweet and passionate. I just adored seeing them overcome the different issues they encountered and emerge stronger and more in love, despite all that was going against them. Daisuke, especially, had such a turnaround, and it was nice to see how love managed to heal the deepest of wounds and that the fact that Genji was a man wasn't really a problem for him. 

This was such a lovely read. Sedonia Guillone did an outstanding job recreating the feudal Japan era in which the Samurai lived. It was realistic and written in an elegant, almost poetic prose, with vivid imagery that you could nearly see, taste and feel. It's difficult to find a historical story that not only feels real, but that captures that ineffable quality that transports you in time and this one is one of them. 

Definitely a must-read and a book that's going on my To-Be-Read-Again pile. 

Rating: 5 Stars!!!