Book Review

Book Review: Aftermath by Tanya Chris

Posted on July 5, 2019 by thebloggergirls

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Aftermath
Author: Tanya Chris
Series: Aftermath #3
Heroes: Brooks/Casey
Genre: MM Contemporary BDSM
Length: 332 Pages
Publisher: Tanya Chris Publishing
Release Date: June 27, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: The Ever After series concludes in Aftermath. Tragedy, redemption, love… Ever After

Once upon a time, Casey flirted with a pretty boy at a bar, and that changed everything. Recently released from jail, he’s starting to rebuild without the family who raised him to hate himself. He’s got a new job, a room at his aunt’s, and community service hours at an LGBTQIA community center. But his biggest challenge is figuring out how to live as the one thing his father and brother drilled into him he could never be: a gay man.

Once upon a time, Brooks was a confident Dom with a particular taste for bigger men. But since his run-in with a dangerous homophobe, he’s lost his touch. Big, buff guys are hot but scary, and hurting people isn’t as much fun as it used to be.

Until he meets Casey, the big guy with the problematic past. Casey’s willing to do anything, but does his submission stem from healthy kink or from an unhealthy need to be punished? And is Brooks doling out release or revenge? Two people who share a past as violent as theirs could never fall in love. Unless, somewhere in the aftermath, there’s forgiveness.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Keeping Cade by S.E. Jakes

Posted on July 3, 2019 by susan65coug Miss Behaving

Reviewed by Susan65

Title:Keeping Cade
Author: Stephanie Tyler writing as S.E. Jakes
Series: Crave Club #1
Heroes: Cade/Tegan/Vic
Genre: MMM Contemporary
Length: 321 Pages
Publisher: Stephanie Tyler, LLC
Release Date: May 24, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Protection has its price, but so do fantasies…

Fantasy Week happens twice a year at Crave, and it’s always a big hit—a way to live out your wildest fantasy in a safe, sane, and consensual manner.

But when Cade comes in with his Fantasy Week invitation, he’s not happy about it. He’s stoic as hell and his preferences don’t seem to match his fantasy at all…and yet, despite that, he enjoys himself with Tegan and Vic. At least at first.

When it becomes glaringly apparent that the fantasy isn’t something Cade’s comfortable with, it’s confusing for the men he’s been paired with, and Tegan and Vic put a stop to the scene immediately.

What Cade doesn’t know is that Tegan and Vic are not only co-owners of Crave, but they’re also owners of a mercenary group, Gray Ops, that’s run out of Crave. They’ve also been circling each other for years… but nothing sparks until their session with Cade.

What happened in Room 4 is something none of the men can forget…but it’s got nothing to do with a fantasy and everything to do with blackmail. Can Tegan and Vic help Cade keep his secrets, while keeping all of them safe at the same time? Because the threatening to spill out aren’t only Cade’s…

*This series is set in the MEN OF HONOR world, in the bar called Crave from Bound By Honor
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2019, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Surviving the Shadows by Miranda Turner

Posted on June 30, 2019 by Nikyta

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Surviving the Shadows
Author: Miranda Turner
Series: The Bearer of Truth #2
Heroes: Gabriel & Evander
Genre: M/M Urban Fantasy
Length: 293 pages
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: June 14, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Gabriel has been gone longer than predicted, and Evander is growing increasingly worried each day that passes without his return. Confounded by their leaders’ lack of answers, Evander and the team begin to fear the worst.

In the midst of fruitlessly searching Miami for clues to the Daemon Abaddon’s whereabouts, Evander begins to have disturbingly vivid dreams. With a little help from a newly returned and empty-handed Michael and Barabbas, Evander discovers Gabriel has been calling out for help across their nascent bond, and they set off to rescue Gabriel from the depths of the Underworld.

Gabriel is old friends with torture, and his captors haven’t been gentle. Despite growing weaker every day, Gabriel resolves to survive long enough for rescue, or to die fighting, until a Dark Seer begins to dredge up the terror of Gabriel’s horrific childhood, threatening to destroy his mind and soul. Nearing the end, Gabriel manages a last-ditch effort to contact help, reaching out to Evander in his dreams.

Against all odds, Evander and the team fight through the Underworld to reach Gabriel and come face to face with mortality. Sacrifices made for the bonds of brotherhood nearly break them, and Gabriel learns the hard way that embracing the darkness while fighting for the light may be the only way to survive.

From the underbelly of Reno to the glitz and glam of Vegas, Gabriel, Evander, and the men they call family will be tested, and the final confrontation with Gabriel’s maker may be the end of everything they hold dear.

Surviving the Shadows is an approximately 100,000-word LGBTQ urban fantasy with a romantic subplot. It is a direct sequel to Shadowing the Light and reading the first book in the series is essential to enjoying this one. Please see the disclaimer on the Copyright Page for content advisories.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Fresh Kill by Adam Carpenter

Posted on June 27, 2019 by thebloggergirls

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Fresh Kill
Author: Adam Carpenter
Series: The Jimmy McSwain Files #6
Hero: Jimmy McSwain
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 276 Pages
Publisher: MLR Press
Release Date: April 11, 2019
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Jimmy McSwain returns, but the question lingers, now that he has finally solved the fifteen-year-old murder of his NYPD cop-father, Joseph, who has he become?

Busy concentrating on family issues, Jimmy hasn’t taken a new case in nearly three months, and when a call comes in from Philip Connelly, who wants proof of his wife, Myra’s, cheating, Jimmy is torn. Take the case, or say no. He rejects it, only to learn a week later that Philip has been found dead in a park on Staten Island. The police believe it was suicide, but Myra—a self-admitted adulteress—is convinced he was murdered. Jimmy agrees to take the case. But it seems his decision to rejoin the world has also affected the other areas of his life: his sister is facing a health crisis, an old friend from his father’s past has resurfaced, and his lover, Captain Francis X. Frisano, is working a difficult case in Chelsea where gay men are being attacked.

If that wasn’t enough, Jimmy is on the hunt to bring down his new nemesis, the criminal mastermind Mr. Wu-Tin. A fire at one of his warehouses stirs fear in Jimmy that the man is trying to destroy evidence of his crimes. That’s when life throws him a twist, and suddenly Jimmy feels that just as he’s hoping to find answers, new mysteries emerge about whether the path he’s on leads to a fresh start, or a fresh kill.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Kingdom of Exiles by Maxym M. Martineau

Posted on June 25, 2019 by Nikyta

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Kingdom of Exiles
Author: Maxym M. Martineau
Series: The Beast Charmer #1
Hero/Heroine: Leena & Noc
Genre: M/M Fantasy
Length: 448 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date: June 25, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Assassin’s Creed meets Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in this gripping, epic fantasy romance trilogy.

My heart wasn’t part of the deal when I bargained for my life,
But assassins so rarely keep their word.

Exiled Charmer Leena Edenfrell is running out of time. Empty pockets forced her to sell her beloved magical beasts-an offense punishable by death-and now there’s a price on her head. With the realm’s most talented murderer-for-hire nipping at her heels, Leena makes Noc an offer he can’t refuse: powerful mythical creatures in exchange for her life.

Plagued by a curse that kills everyone he loves, Noc agrees to Leena’s terms in hopes of finding a cure. Never mind that the dark magic binding the assassin’s oath will eventually force him to choose between Leena’s continued survival…and his own.

****SPOILERS AHEAD****

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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, M/F, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: A Menacing Tempest by Shea Balik

Posted on June 22, 2019 by Nikyta

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: A Menacing Tempest
Author: Shea Balik
Series: Druid’s Curse #3
Heroes: Cullen & Ulf
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 181 pages
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: June 14, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: When it came to defense, or offense when needed, Cullen McIntyre thought he was prepared. It wasn’t until he watched as monsters he’d never knew existed walked out of thin air to kill members of his family, twice, that Cullen realized how wrong he’d been. By the third time he’d come face to face with those determined to kill him and the rest of his family for doing their duty, Cullen knew he needed help, and lots of it.

The moment Ulf laid eyes on Cullen, he’d been enthralled by the man’s resolve to protect what was left of his family. Being shot and left for dead by Cullen should have cooled his desire for the fiery man, but it only made him want him more. By the time he caught up to Cullen, Ulf knew, without a doubt, the druid was destined to be his. Now he just needed to convince Cullen of that.

As Cullen and Ulf join their friends to fight the monsters from the realm of the Fae, they find there is a new threat waiting to get through the Veil. A threat they might not be able to defeat. Will Ulf & Cullen get their chance at happily ever after, or will the Fae finally succeed in their quest to destroy the veil?
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Ramen Assassin by Rhys Ford

Posted on June 21, 2019 by Nikyta

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Ramen Assassin
Author: Rhys Ford
Series: Ramen Assassin #1
Heroes: Kuro & Trey
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 216 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: June 25, 2019
Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: When life gives Kuro Jenkins lemons, he wants to make ponzu to serve at his Los Angeles ramen shop.

Instead he’s dodging bullets and wondering how the hell he ended up back in the Black Ops lifestyle he left behind him. After rescuing former child star Trey Bishop from a pair of thugs in the middle of the night, he knows it’s time to pick up his gun again. But it seems trouble isn’t done with Trey, and Kuro can’t quite let go… of either the gun or Trey Bishop.

Trey Bishop never denied his life’s downward spiral was his own fault. After a few stints in rehab, he’s finally shaken off his Hollywood bad-boy lifestyle but not his reputation. The destruction of his acting career and his relationships goes deep, and no one trusts anything he says, including the LAPD. When two men dragging a dead body spot him on a late-night run and try to murder him, Trey is grateful for the tall, dark, and deadly ramen shop owner he lusts over—not just for rescuing him, but also for believing him.

Now caught in a web of murders and lies, Trey knows someone wants him dead, and the only one on his side is a man with deep, dark secrets. Trey hopes Kuro Jenkins will stick around to see what the future holds for them once the dust settles, but from the looks of things, neither of them may survive to find out. Continue reading →

Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: A Flicker of Hope by Shea Balik

Posted on June 20, 2019 by Nikyta

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: A Flicker of Hope
Author: Shea Balik
Series: Druid’s Curse #2
Heroes: Kegan & Bjorn
Genre: M/M Contemporary Fantasy
Length: 139 pages
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: May 29, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Kegan Tulach already knew that monsters were real. He’d faced them. Watched in horror as they killed those he loved. Then run from them. It was his response for the past two years. But now, on his twenty-first birthday, running wasn’t an option. He had no where to go. It was time for him to face his worst nightmare.

There weren’t many people who could do what Bjorn did. Fight monsters and live to tell the tale. It was a job thrust upon him as a kid. If he had known the true hell that would be cursed upon him, he would have preferred to die even though he’d only been fourteen at the time. Now, years later, he had hope that the curse would come to an end. The question was, would he choose the death he’d so desperately craved for more than a millennia, or would he do the one thing he swore he’d never do? Choose love.

If Kegan and Bjorn can find a way past their fears, they may discover something worth living for – each other.

This is a stand alone with an HEA, but reading the first book is recommended for full enjoyment.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment