Venetian Masks Paperback – 11 Feb 2013

I have read all of Kim Fielding's novels and whilst I enjoyed this one , it isn't my favourite of her list. I found the glossary at the front of the book rather annoying - a better place would be at the back - and at times the novel read more like a travel guide. But, as ever, it is well written and I enjoyed the fact the main character was getting pushed out of his comfort zone with taking a holiday in Europe alone. With danger and intrigue thrown in, Venetian Masks is worth a try.

Had this on my Kindle for ages, put of reading it, found the cover a bit naff.eventually thought give it a go.Venetian Mask is actually better than the cover suggests.lots of goings on, lots of travel, lots of skulduggery.enjoyed.

I was surprised by the subtlety, the cool, clear-headed writing, the beautiful sense of character and place that the author brings to the unusual story line.Jeff Dawkins has cocooned himself in a world of predictable normality, while Cleve Prieto has never had a safe or secure moment in his life. They find each other in Venice, that magical and illusory city, as each of them - in very different ways - flees a horribly failed relationship. As divergent as their lives are, the experience of sudden death is something they share, and in each other Jeff and Cleve find the possibility of an escape from the pain and fear that has proscribed their lives.Kim Fielding offers us an m/m romance novel (in which the main character is addicted to reading m/m romance novels on his Kindle, LOL) that goes deeper than the average fare in this much-loved genre. Kudos to Ms. Fielding. I expected to like this - but not as much as I ended up liking it.

I read this book as a suggestion from a coworker and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I'd never read a M/M specific romance novel before. I'm happy I gave this book a shot. It was a beautiful love story and the author does an incredible job weaving a tale of mystery and history throughout. The characters were well written and beautiful. The ending couldn't have been better. Overall a lovely read.

Jeff's boyfriend has dumped him and he's left with non-refundable tickets to a European vacation that wasn't even his idea, but his parents convince him to take advantage of it, and he'd just sit about and mope if he didn't go.Jeff hasn't traveled much at all, but he's a careful, serious IT guy, working for a timeshare company with places around the globe, so he's done his homework and read up and booked the best places he could. He's still somewhat trepidatious, but decides he should at least try and be a good tourist. And then he meets the handsome and mysterious... or perhaps just downright sketchy Cleve, who offers to show him around...I love fish-out-of-water tales. I love stories set in exotic locals, and although I've been there myself several times, Venice certainly qualifies as that. Jeff hits a lot of the highlights--AND finds a gorgeous guy. Oh, what can be better??? And the mysterious rogue definitely has a past--one that looks like it's going to cause some big trouble. And Jeff himself has a past, despite seeming to be a such a typical boy-next-door. I really liked both of the MCs. Neither were stereotypes, even though one could certainly easily slot them into types, given their backgrounds.There's nothing too deep or involved here, but there is definitely enough for a fun read. It's like taking a low-cost but fabulous mini-vacation to far-away places with a bit of a thrill-ride thrown in--and of course, love! Seriously, what is not to like about that?

I really enjoy Kim Fieldings books because of all the wonderful detail she includes. She seems to enjoy bringing together unlikely lovers which I also get a kick out of. Her unique use for an e-reader was also entertaining,

###############spoilers@@@@@@@@@@@@@@I hesitated in purchasing this book after reading the sample. I have read a few books where the main character goes on a holiday and what you get is a tourism brochure and very little story. I made the decision to buy the book because it was a good length and the 'dark' past sounded interesting.To recap the story Jeff goes on a solo holiday after breaking up with his partner. He meets Cleve and Jeff agrees to pay Cleve as a tour guide. So yes, you get the scenery, the description of the people and the shops, accommodation and the food/drink selection as Cleve shows Jeff around. This lasts for half the book. I found the first half quite slow but still ok, at times I thought it was going to be a tourism brochure but it just held back from that.About half way into the book we get the sudden mention of a 'dark and mysterious' person from Cleve's past. A little bit of excitement happens and they end up travelling to a new location - so again we get the descriptions of the people/shops/accommodation/food/drink etc every time they move to a new place. By the time I got to the end I just couldn't summon up enough enthusiasm to be excited about the drama.I finished the book but I was conflicted on how to rate it. I decided to leave it for a day before I submitted my review as i could not decide if I enjoyed it or not. A day later I still can't decide but I do know that I will not be reading it again and I will be deleting it from my kindle.So, I will bring it down to ... was it worth $6.99? My answer is ... no. It wasn't a tourism brochure but for me there was just too much description of the locations so I got quite bored ... by the time the drama reached full excitment ... I couldn't have cared. The book was really well written and it almost made me fall in love with the locations.