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The Handsome Prince

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Synopsis

We all know the fairy tale. The Handsome Prince comes riding up on his white stallion and rescues the beautiful princess from her enchantment with a single kiss. Then they ride off together to live happily ever after. But what if the person longing for that handsome prince is a man himself? And, why not?

Neil Plakcy's The Handsome Prince is a mix of traditional and contemporary stories, each with its own unique fairy–tale atmosphere. Sometimes the prince is the one who needs rescuing, as in "Chauffeur Prince" and "Creosote Flats and the Big Spread". Sometimes the true prince is the other guy—like the tales told in "The Virgin Prince and the Rebel Chief" and "Reckless". There is humor and charm in these stories, with an underlay of passion and desire. The one thing these stories have in common, along with the original fairy tales, is a happy ending. These stories drip, quite literally, with romance. Whether it's a HEA—happily ever after—or a HFN—happy for now—when these guys find their princes, hot steamy sex ensues. Here's to stories (and heroes) that make us swoon!

Review

Working in the gay porn industry, I'm no stranger to "happy endings," and the short stories in The Handsome Prince are definitely familiar with money shots. Neil Plakcy, the editor, is probably best known for his Mahu Blood series about an openly gay homicide detective in Honolulu (which was recently mentioned on the Gay Daily Hot's first book club post).The Handsome Prince doesn't involve anything so grim as homicide, fortunately. It's a collection of short, modern fairy tales with a gay twist by a variety of authors. Personally, I have always thought the only thing missing from Cinderella was gay sex, but I digress.

When I'm looking for an indulgent read, I like them to be as smutty as possible or I'm just not interested. If fanfiction isn't rated NC17, I don't bother reading it. Sorry, I don't care about your PG13 fic where Harry and Ron hold hands between class.

Some of the stories in The Handsome Prince were a little on the tame side for my liking. "The Master," which is the first story in the book, was a bit of a weak starting point. The story itself wasn't bad but I was so ready to pop lady-wood and it left me pretty flaccid. As the book went on, it was like the stories ramped up from a coy hand-on-the-thigh to lube-slicked penetration. I had to grab myself between the legs and hold on during the sex scene from "In a Clearing" and the sexual torture in "The Virgin Prince and the Rebel Chief" had me squirming.

The writing in these stories isn't anything that will take your breath away, but some of it will leave you panting. Oh, and doesn't "fuck-sword" totally sound like a term Shakespeare would use to describe a dude's cock? Maybe if Hamlet had whined less and used his fuck-sword instead of --- anyway. Also, kudos to "Prince of Darkness" for some of the most creatively outrageous (and hot!) language in the book.

Read The Handsome Prince in bed with cookies, while taking a hot bath or do what I did! Read it in the park on a sunny day, drink an entire bottle of wine, get lost when you stagger home and then pass out in bed with your shoes on. You can, uh, leave off the excessive drinking and predictable consequences, if you like (but I think it helped).

3 out of 4 stars: A weak story or two, but you might ruin the book trying to take a cold shower while you read the rest of them.

Also, you can find the editor, Nail Plakcy, on Facebook and Twitter!

-- Erynn Vaehne