Title: Sotto Voce
Fandom: Glee
Pairing: Kurt/Blaine
Categories: AU, romance
Length: Epic (69,000)
Warnings: None

Author's website: girliesportsjunkie on tumblr

Summary: Wine critic Kurt Hummel can make or break careers with his column for Taste Magazine. But when his publisher orders him to spend a year profiling rising stars of California’s wine country and organizing a competition between the big name wineries of Napa and the smaller artisan wineries of Sonoma, his world gets turned upside-down by an enigmatic young winemaker who puts art before business.

Review:
Wine lovers, ahoy! This is most definitely the fic for you. If you are not a wine lover, have never tasted wine, or hate it with the passion of a million exploding stars--don't worry, you'll love this too. (Well, maybe not if you really do hate wine with the passion of a million exploding stars. But at least you don't have to drink it?)

This is a fic that really delves deep into it's topic--written by someone who knows what she's talking about, and is as passionate about it as she is about the two main characters. This really shows through in the writing, the settings and the backstories, the way we can take a written tour of the Sonoma Valley and suddenly feel very at home there. The delivery and language used is exquisite, carefully selected words and phrases, just like the grapes that go into a good bottle of Syrah.

Kurt is cool, sophisticated, and deliciously warm and gooey at heart--Blaine is confident, clever, and mostly just stuffed full of cheesy romance. They blend together perfectly.

If I had to choose one word to describe this fic, I would choose the word sensual. Because that's what this is--a story that uses not only yours eyes in the reading, but your tongue and nose and all the nerves down your back that give you shivers when you read. The countryside is sensual, the wine is sensual, Kurt and Blaine are sensual--very sensual indeed, once you start to near the climax of the story. It's a joyous ride for the senses and the emotions, and would highly recommend having your best bottle of red to hand before you sit down to read.

Sotto Voce

Title: No Place Like
Fandom: Welcome to Night Vale
Pairing: Carlos/Cecil Palmer
Categories/Genres: Established Relationship, Slice of Life, Domestic, Fluff, Romance
Length: Medium (3724 words)
Warnings: N/A

Author on LJ: xparrot
Author Website: Xparrot

Summary:

When Cecil said, "I've heard many couples find it romantic--it's a fun bonding experience!" Carlos considered the Night Vale definitions of 'romantic', 'fun' and 'bonding', then took out another life insurance policy.
~
Housewarming, Night Vale-style.

Review:

Usually, when I review a fic, I have a theme I know I want to work with, a proverbial dead horse to beat and a few favorite fic elements to beat it with. This time though, no such luck. There's just something about Xparrot's No Place Like that grabbed me and sucked me in, and then spat me out saying, “Welp, that's this week's rec.” Maybe it's the characterization, how Carlos and Cecil are simultaneously completely normal and utterly bizarre in turns. Maybe it's Cecil's boundless love and hope or Carlos' fear of the normal and mundane and unfascinating. Maybe it's the bravery that they both show in putting so much faith in their relationship. Maybe it's the house and its charming quirks. Who knows?

No Place Like