Author Archives: thebloggergirls

Book Review: The Marine Next Door by Terry O’Reilly

Reviewed by Morgan 

28435108Title: The Marine Next Door
Author: Terry O’Reilly
Heroes: Julian Reynolds/Tate Butler
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 79 Pages
Publisher: JMS Books
Release Date: January 3, 2016
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Schoolteacher Julian Reynolds is disillusioned with the seedier side of gay life in New York City with its self-absorption, vanity, and preoccupation with sex. When his long-time relationship with his high school sweetheart ends, he returns to his hometown and vows to live a simple life free of the extremes of the gay lifestyle and romantic entanglements. With that end in mind, he rents the carriage house next door to a large Tudor-style home.

Tate Butler, a former student of Julian’s, lives in the big house with his mother. Tate is bitter and withdrawn after losing a leg while serving in the Marine Corps during the war in Afghanistan. Fearing rejection from his mother and blaming himself for his father’s death, Tate stays firmly in the closet and punishes himself by refusing to learn how to walk again.

Can Tate and Julian help heal each other’s pasts and forge a real and lasting future together? Or will the driveway that separates their houses prove too wide a gulf to cross?
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Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Home is Where the Christmas Trees Are by CJane Elliott

Reviewed by Morgan 

28090227Title: Home is Where the Christmas Trees Are
Author: CJane Elliott
Series: Sleigh Ride – 2015 Advent Calendar
Heroes: Dex Crawford/Ed Alcott
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 47 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: December 1, 2015
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  After the tragic death of his sister, Jan, Dex Crawford leaves his life in Portland to take care of his twelve-year-old niece, Rowan. He gets a job as a physical therapist and tries to be a good guardian to Rowan, but they’re both grieving. The Christmas holidays hit Dex especially hard this year. He’d always left it to Jan to make the season merry, and now it’s up to him. Two weeks before Christmas, Dex has yet to even put up a Christmas tree.

Things go from bad to worse when Rowan’s clarinet is stolen right before the school holiday concert. Dex’s life begins to turn around when he accompanies Rowan to school to talk to her band teacher, Ed Alcott. Handsome and kind, Ed likes kids, music, and holiday decorations. Dex comes to think of him as his very own Christmas elf. Ed brings with him everything that’s been missing in Dex’s life: the possibility of love, home, and celebration… and Christmas trees.
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Categories: 2.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2015, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: Gingerbread Palace by E.M. Lynley

Reviewed by Morgan

28235595Title: Gingerbread Palace
Author: E.M. Lynley
Narrator: Nick J. Russo
Series: Delectable #4
Heroes: Alex Bancroft/Kevin Flint
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 3 Hours, 31 Minutes
Publisher: Silk Road Press
Release Date: December 5, 2015
Available at: Amazon and Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: A week before Christmas, Alex Bancroft’s bakery goes up in flames. When he runs back inside after a dog, firefighter Kevin Flint has to rescue Alex—and Quincy—from the smoldering building, endangering them and inflaming Kevin’s resentment.

Now Alex can’t create the elaborate gingerbread house he donates to a foster-kids charity each year. Fire Station 7 again comes to his rescue, offering their kitchen and their manpower.

Everyone but Kevin Flint, that is. A third-generation firefighter, he’s fearful of stepping too far out of the closet. So when his powerful physical attraction for Alex ends in a sizzling secret encounter in the firehouse, Kevin can’t push Alex far enough away, and Alex returns the cold shoulder.

After a change of heart, Kevin risks his life to prove he’s worthy of Alex’s affection, but without a Christmas miracle, their chances at sweet romance might go up in smoke.

Like all Delectable stories, Gingerbread Palace includes recipes used in the book.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Audio Review: Of Love by Sean Michael

Reviewed by Morgan

OfLoveAUDTitle: Of Love
Author: Sean Michael
Narrator: Michael Pauley
Heroes: Kent McMann/Dex Lochland
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 4 Hours, 46 Minutes
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: December 21, 2015
Available at: Amazon, Audible and iTunes
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Free-spirited computer programmer Kent McMann loves life, candy, his family, and his job designing apps. With his go-getter attitude, he succeeds at anything he tackles. So having a child with a surrogate mother is the perfect start to the family he’s always wanted, even though he still hasn’t found his longed-for Mr. Right.

Then, into Kent’s life comes triathlete Dex Lochland, who also happens to be a successful app designer, and the two of them hit it off. They soon begin a relationship full of fun, sex, laughter, and love. But when Kent learns his attempt at fatherhood with the surrogate has succeeded, Dex is shocked. Unknown to Kent until that moment, Dex has never wanted children.

Kent’s decision before he met Dex might cost him the man of his dreams.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Audio Review: Where He Ends and I Begin by Cardeno C.

Reviewed by Morgan

51ADs2DWhxL__AA300_Title: where He Ends and I Begin
Author: Cardeno C.
Narrator: Alexander Collins
Series: Home #3
Heroes: Jake Owens/Nate Richardson
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 7 Hours, 55 Minutes
Publisher: The Romance Authors
Release Date: January 5, 2016
Available at: Amazon and Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Aggressive, physical, and brave, Jake Owens is a small town football hero turned big city cop who passes his time with meaningless encounters believing he can’t have who he really wants: Nate Richardson, his best friend since before forever. Thoughtful, quiet, and kind, Nate is a brilliant doctor who has always known who he is and has never been able to shake his crush on loyal, courageous, straight Jake.

After a passionate night together, Nate realizes Jake isn’t as straight as he assumed, but he worries that what they shared was a fluke, a result of too much closeness for too long. For Jake, the question isn’t how they ended up in bed together because he has always known that Nate holds his heart, it’s how he’ll convince Nate that he wants and needs to stay there.
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Searching for Shelter by Morticia Knight

Guest Reviewed by Morgan 

27916907Title: Searching for Shelter
Author: Morticia Knight
Series: Sin City Uniforms #6
Heroes: Rich/Diego
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 168 Pages
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Release Date: January 19, 2016
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Teen shelter volunteer Rich searches for love until Diego, from LVMPD Search and Rescue, finds him.>

After declaring his love life officially dead, Rich wonders if maybe he should stick with his shifter book boyfriends instead. It’s not as if he has much free time to date anyway. Between working long hours at a coffee shop, guarding his sodas from his hygienically challenged roommates, and running the programming at the Vegas LGBTQ teen shelter he founded—how could there ever be space for love in his life?

Diego Espinoza enjoys taking his downtime from working Search and Rescue, at the Lucky Cup coffee shop. He can set up his laptop, peruse good sport climbing spots and observe the blond barista he’s been pining over for a while. He imagines that the pretty boy has more offers than he knows what to do with, so it takes Diego time to work up the nerve to approach him.

Rich isn’t so sure about the rough looking Diego—even if he’s always thought he was hot—but once he decides to gives Diego a chance, there’s an immediate heat and connection that takes him by surprise. As they learn more about each other and try to find the way to a future together, strange and scary things start to happen.

It isn’t until Rich is injured in a bizarre accident that it becomes clear that there’s someone out there who not only doesn’t want Rich to find love—they want him dead.

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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Teddy Bear Christmas by C.C. Bridges

Reviewed by Morgan 

28077421Title: Teddy Bear Christmas
Author: C.C. Bridges
Series: Sleigh Ride – 2015 Advent Calendar
Heroes: Tyler Martin/Aaron Klein
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 31 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: December 1, 2015
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Two lonely men, a lost teddy bear, and a sprinkle of holiday magic….

On a snowy night before Christmas Eve, Tyler Martin finds himself stuck in a Chicago airport, unable to get home to his family on the East Coast. After missing last year due to his jerk of an ex-boyfriend, the idea of not making it this time hurts. When he finds a lost teddy bear in the waiting area, his night changes for the better.

Aaron Klein is a bored airport worker, taking the Christmas shift because he’s Jewish. He doesn’t expect to hit it off with the hot guy who brings a lost teddy bear to his desk, but it might end up being everything he didn’t know he was looking for.
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Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Honorary Blogger Jack L. Pyke: Backlash: Behind the Scene Book Tour – Author’s Reader Corner + Giveaway!

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Authors’ Reader Corner

by Jack L. Pyke

Huge – huge thanks to the Blogger Girls for agreeing to host me on this BDSM, psych thriller book tour!!!

Over 9 days, with 10 stops, we’re going behind the scene to Backlash, (Don’t…book 4), with loads of Backlash e-books to win along the way, as well as a paperback copy up for grabs! For a full list of tour dates and prizes, please see here at Forbidden Fiction Publications. http://forbiddenfiction.com/backlash-book-tour/

Today I’m hijacking a few Don’t series readers to see what they’d like to know about the Don’t lads from a behind-the-scenes perspective. Backlash is the 4th novel in the Don’t… series, and I can tell the ride hasn’t been easy for these lovely lads and ladies who have stepped forward with a question. The first comes from Nicole Colville (author of Saving Samuel and Discovering Dalton), but also just such a lovely and bubbly person to talk too!

Jack L: What’s your question, Nicole?

Nicole: Where did the idea of Don’t… come from, and did you plan it out, take ages weaving the threads of the plot through your mind, or did it just spill out onto the page? It’s probably one of the most unique plot lines I’ve read, and the series has such a deep range of characters. I’ve always wondered how much research and details went into it.

Jack L: I have to admit that my eldest lad is OCD, and as a mom I’ve been there at two, three, and four of the morning as he finds the new antibacterial hand wash I’ve bought. I’ve also had friends from my childhood who had a father with OCD. Transferring that into an environment such as a garage always played on my mind with just how well someone would cope with OCD, so it wasn’t really hard to give Jack Harrison his career choice as a mechanic.

As for the main psychological thriller theme that handles Conduct Disorder, especially surrounding controlling how a person reacts to the word Don’t…. Oh boy, tell any kid don’t and they only grin at you and do the opposite just for kicks. Yet saying something like that to my older lad as he reached for the soap a fourth time, seeing that need to bypass the order, that conflicting ‘playful rebellion’, it showed a more serious side of being caught in a loop you can’t escape from, and it became such a powerful draw for me. My lad can have such a dual personality at times, with that aggression kicking in, and the leap from Jack to Jack’s dissociative identity disorder over the creation of Martin crept in too.

When it then comes to the main romance element, the psychological implications over someone finding that weakness and exploiting it for their own sexual gain seemed hard not to cover. Especially when it came to seeing how loved ones cope with a lover being exploited in such a way, and the damage it causes to them over the years that they cope with the fallout.

Thank you, Nicole! The next question comes from the stunning Joseph Lance Tonlet (Author of The Brothers LaFon). Hi, Joseph!

Joseph: Who IS Jack Harrison? Meaning, is Jack simply a coping mechanism (born out of necessity to deal with immense psychological trauma) and the ‘real’ person is Martin, or vise versa? Or neither? Or a combination? Or…?

Jack L: Great question! And I think this ties back into Nicole’s question on where the idea for the series comes from. For the most part, Jack exists in his bubble, but that crumbles at times, and when he can’t cope, Martin comes in. Antidote and Breakdown touch on this dual personality, but in all honesty, I think that with a life without his disorders and complications, Jack would be so much closer to how Martin is, and probably behind bars. But with those disorders, the vulnerability splits him for the better, so that by the end of Backlash, there’s only one possible outcome: there’s never really any cure, just coping mechanisms for everyone concerned.

Thanks, Joseph! The next author question comes from the gorgeous Eileen Griffin (author of Dinner For Two).

Jack L: Hi, Eileen!

Eileen: Which scenes are more difficult for you to write: the emotionally painful ones or the physically painful ones? Why?

Jack L.: Oh boy. Antidote in general had to be the most difficult novel I’ve ever written. With the physical damage, Vince and the psychological reconditioning scenes toward Jack and Jan had to be done in small chunks, with so many breaks. But in all honesty, I hated the catalyst for seeing Jack and Jan walk away from Gray, just before Vince came into play. I knew how the series would end, what they’d go through in the following novels, and it hurt to put all of that in play and see Gray pull away from Jack, for Jack to hurt and walk away, and for Jan to be taken through hell for it. So definitely the emotional turmoil is harder to write for me. It’s why I need to see these guys catch a break with each other and just be able to get through the night. But the emotional side is harder, though, because I’m a mum, and knowing what my lad goes through with OCD, thinking anyone could twist and make an already intense condition harder to live with is… well, one very sick individual. I didn’t much like a certain someone in Antidote.

I just want to say a final thanks to all three authors who took time out to ask questions. Also to the Blogger Girls for hosting me! Thanks also to everyone for stopping by for a look at some of the behind the scenes decisions to Backlash! Tomorrow’s tour takes us to KathyMac Reviews, where I’ll be interviewing my BDSM consultant, Dilo Keith, who’s helped fashion my BDSM world: want to know who helps Gray make the choices he does? Check us out tomorrow and enter the Rafflecopter there for more chances to win Backlash in paperback. There’s also still chance to enter the Rafflecoptor with yesterday’s Book Tour stop over at Prism Alliance, plus also the chance to find out just how Gray Raoul came to work for the Masters’ Circle.

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About Backlash

27418455In the aftermath of Jack Harrison’s release from the psychiatric unit, Gray Raoul’s first instinct is to take brutal revenge on the one responsible for financing Jack’s and Jan’s torturous psychological reconditioning. However, that person is a plays the game dangerously well, knows exactly how to manipulate everyone in Gray’s life. To help negotiate this delicate situation, Gray contacts Trace and his ex-Diadem Dom, Gabriel Hunter. But the more Gray seems to regain control, the clearer it becomes that there’s something not quite right about Jan Richards. Jan quickly unravels, taking Jack and Gray with him, and bringing out one particularly deadly player, Gray’s left with one last defence: break Jack down in order to partner up with his alter ego, Martin. But once freed, Martin has plans of his own, and he wants to make it personal with Gray. Complete trust between Master and sub, between Gray and Jack, will be tested to the absolute limit.

Available at: Amazonblogger_bee_trans

About Jack L. Pyke

Jack L. Pyke blames her dark writing influences on living close to one of England’s finest forests. Having grown up hearing a history of kidnappings, murders, strange sightings, and sexual exploits her neck of the woods is renowned for, Jack takes that into her writing, having also learned that human coping strategies for intense situations can sometimes make the best of people have disastrously bad moments. Redeeming those flaws is Jack’s drive, and if that drive just happens to lead to sexual tension between two or more guys, Jack’s the first to let nature take its course.

Find out more about Jack on her Website, Facebook or Goodreads.

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As part of this blog tour, Jack is giving away a paperback copy of Backlash!! To enter, just click the link below!

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the Rafflecopter link above. Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway unless otherwise stated but are still welcome anyway.

Don’t forget to check out JustJen’s review of Backlash to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!

Categories: Book Promo, Excerpts, Giveaways, Honorary Blogger Post, LGBT, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments

Book Review: Racing Hearts Anthology

Reviewed by Morgan 

27320024Title:  Racing Hearts
Authors:  Bailey Bradford, Morticia Knight, Helena Maeve, L.M. Somerton, Ethan Stone, Molly Ann Wishlade
Genre: MM Anthology
Length: 294 Pages
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Release Date: November 10, 2015
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  The Lonely Ones by Bailey Bradford

Marshall’s all city, and Rex is all cowboy, so it’s no wonder sparks fly when they meet.

Marshall Evans never wanted to inherit his grandfather’s Thoroughbred horse ranch. He doesn’t know much about raising and training racehorses, and he knows even less about the man who left him what he sees as a burden. His grandfather wasn’t a nice man at all, and he left the ranch to Marshall more as a fuck you to the one person who did want the ranch, who had tried to buy it, and had put up with years of verbal and at times, physical abuse, only to have his home yanked out from under his feet. Rex Martinez had only ever had one home, and that was the ranch. Now he was about to lose it.

Marshall arrives in the small town of Erring, NM, only to be confronted by this silently furious man, and together, they’re going to have to work out what to do. The will stipulates that Marshall can’t sell the ranch to Rex, because Allen found out Rex was gay. Rex didn’t know he knew, but the old man had no idea about Marshall since Marshall hadn’t been raised anywhere near him.

It’s not as simple as selling the ranch, either. Marshall thinks it will be, but no. He can’t put Rex out of a home so easily.

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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Dirty Talk by Joey Jameson

Reviewed by JustJen

28086218Title: Dirty Talk
Author: Joey Jameson
Heroes: Vegas
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 211 Pages
Publisher: Via Star Wings Publishing
Release Date: January 8, 2016
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Vegas is a hot phone sex operator who knows just how to make your deepest, darkest fantasies come true either with a gentle whisper in your ear or with a rough growling command. When he’s in control, you know you’re in good hands. Vegas can tickle or scratch whatever itch or fetish a caller can throw at him.

But his job at the exclusive ‘Black Vanilla’ has its dark side, which becomes all too clear when Vegas receives a call one night that hits a little too close to home.

Somewhere out there, someone’s watching him. Someone who’s taken their fantasy one step too far. It isn’t long before Vegas finds himself entangled in a web of dark and dangerous obsession. An obsession that can only end one way.

“Dirty Talk” will take you deep into the world of stimulating oral desire and blur the lines that exist between our ultimate fantasies and harsh reality.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment