Miles and the Magic Flute
available now from Dreamspinner Press
When the forest behind a Minnesota pawn shop turns out to be the doorway into a faerie paradise, Miles Larson doesn't see any reason to complain. He's bankrupt, single, and living in a trailer in his backwoods hometown after being laid off from his big city job: yes, he could use a little downtime in a homoerotic dreamland.
But Miles soon learns that in the faerie world nothing is quite as simple as it seems. The beautiful faerie man who has captured Miles's heart might also be after Miles's soul. The frightening beast-man who chases him through the forest is actually a noble-hearted human under a terrible curse. And at the center of it all is the deathly beautiful Lord of Dreams, a faerie so powerful that if Miles so much as looks at his face, he will be lost in dreamland forever.
The only hope for Miles's escape lies in a magic silver flute, an enchanted instrument that holds the answer to the faerie lord's defeat. But even if Miles is smart and strong enough to wield it, will he dare? All dreams must stay in dreamland, and when the cold light of truth dawns, if there is no reality beneath the love he's found in the faerie realm, Miles will have to return to his own world—alone.
Reviews
Best Gay Fantasy, First Place - Elisa Rolle's Rainbow Awards 2010 (tied with Hero)
Best Cover, 8th Place to artist Anne Cain - Elisa Rolle's Rainbow Awards 2010
"Miles and the Magic Flute" is a fantastic fairy tale, but not a sweet, fluffy one: this is "drag-you-under-the-hill faerie, not sprinkle-pixie-dust fairy," as one of the characters puts it.This isn't an easy story, and right until the final pages I wasn't sure which way the ending was turning ~ all I will tell you here is that it was a good, right, satisfying ending, and the novel as a whole is one I will be recommending widely. (Ephemera at Rainbow Reviews)
"Miles's adventure will be totally involving, a bit naughty, and plenty moving, but to me has never reached the point I feared for him; I have always felt like the happily ever after was possible, and that in a way of the other, Miles would be able to understand what is really important in life." (Elisa Rolle)
"While the characters are definitely the soul of Miles and the Magic Flute, Ms. Cullinan has a wonderful knack for description. I could feel the snow and the cold of Minnesota in winter, just as I could see the forest of the Lord of Dreams and the dank dungeon where everything comes to a climax.... It is a quintessential fairy tale setting which is beautifully illustrated with strong imagery."(Kris at Dark Diva Reviews)