Exceptional GLBT authors Jordan Castillo Price and Josh Lanyon are back with a new collaboration, a set of very loosely related, very brief short stories released under the blanket title “Petit Morts”.  This five story compilation is available as a package deal, or as individual purchases.

College boy Carey Gardner is blond, cute and smarter than he looks.  Walt Stern is… not.  Smarter than average (okay, brilliant), his looks and grim disposition have earned him the nickname Skeletor, a moniker he pretends to ignore.  What Carey and Walt have in common is an interest in anthropology, and an even stronger interest in each other.  An unexpected visit from Walt and an inexplicable box of very good chocolate set events in motion that could only be predicted by Chance, the irritatingly uncooperative and annoyingly hot owner of Sweets to the Sweet. Insecurities, misunderstandings, and a secret admirer complicate matters, though leaving both men with more questions than answers.

In Slings and Arrows, the talented Josh Lanyon gives us a fresh take on the classic plot of beauty and the beast.  Anti-social and less (face it, far less) than cool Walt can’t see what a golden boy like Carey could see in him.  Likewise Carey can’t imagine someone as brilliant and accomplished as Walt would even give him the time of day.  Lanyon’s at his best when he spices up his emotional angst with a touch of mystery, and Slings and Arrows certainly delivers.  Lust takes a distant second place to infatuation, but it fits the tone of the story in a way that raging hormones just wouldn’t.  The second installment of the Petit Morts collection, Slings and Arrows is a bittersweet trip down memory lane that’s sure to make you flinch and then smile at the memories it evokes.