Book Review

Book Review: Sub-Culture by Sage Marlowe

Reviewed by JustJen

25086861Title: Sub-Culture
Author: Sage Marlowe
Series: Sub-Mission #3
Heroes: Noah/Pierce
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 190 Pages
Publisher: Me and the Muse Publishing
Release Date: March 5, 2015
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  When life gets on top, delving into a sub-culture may be just what it takes to keep a sinking relationship afloat. Five years after the bumpy start to their relationship, Noah and Pierce have settled well into their lives as a happy couple. The arrival of a new child should have made their matrimonial bliss complete, but the strain of raising a baby and a teenager, combined with a lot of pressure in their jobs, is beginning to take its toll.

In the midst of what already is a potentially explosive situation, Noah’s younger brother Jonah comes to stay with them, forcing Noah to face the issues he still has regarding his homophobic parents and adding to the emotional pressure he is under.

When Noah starts behaving oddly and Pierce just can’t seem to put his jealousy to rest, the cracks in their relationship become too severe to ignore any longer. They struggle to keep their sinking love afloat but, as Noah craves the comfort a certain sub-culture can offer, Pierce finds himself wondering just how far he is willing to step out of his own comfort zone to save their love.

Continue reading

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

Book Review: Talk Turkey by Bru Baker

Reviewed by Nikyta

TalkTurkeyTitle: Talk Turkey
Author: Bru Baker
Series: Sleigh Ride – 2015 Advent Calendar
Heroes: Carson & Tom
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 58 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: December 1, 2015
Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Carson is a California transplant settling into life in the Windy City. On his first Christmas away from home, he assures his worried family he’ll be having a real Christmas dinner.

Recent culinary school graduate Tom Stockton earns some extra money giving out cooking advice at the Talk Turkey hotline. Tom’s honeyed voice and sharp sense of humor are attractive to the lonely Carson, and Carson finds reasons to call the hotline again and again. But on Christmas Eve, Carson’s call is less playful and more panicked with the big meal looming. Carson is just looking for advice, but Tom has a surprise in store that might lead to much more.
Continue reading

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

Book Review: Grateful by Kim Fielding

Reviewed by Morgan 

28039733Title: Grateful
Author: Kim Fielding
Series: Sleigh Ride – 2015 Advent Calendar
Heroes: Nate Roth/Gio DiPietro
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 40 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: December 1, 2015
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Nate Roth’s latest dumb stunt has left him with a broken arm, black eye, and stitched chin—and extra trepidation about visiting his family for Hanukkah. He fears his relatives will put him through another round of criticism for his foolish choices and his nonexistent love life. Several mishaps during his short journey to his parents’ house don’t bode well. But along the way he meets impossibly gorgeous Gio DiPietro—and maybe it’s time for Nate’s risk-taking impulses to turn out well for a change.

Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Reindeer Games by Kenzie Cade

Reviewed by Nikyta

reindeergames400Title: Reindeer Games
Author: Kenzie Cade
Heroes: Nik & Dash
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 22,000 words
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Release Date: December 9, 2015
Available at: Less Than Three Press
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Dashing von Stride has one thing on his mind: winning the window display contest for the Miracle on Main Christmas Contest. His plans are set and ready—and then he walks into his toy store, Reindeer Games, to find a sleigh that shouldn’t be there. The mystery sleigh sparks a new plan, however, and now all Dash needs is the perfect Santa to model his display after.

This year, the pranks with his reindeer have gotten out of hand. Instead of preparing for the Big Day, Niklaus Kringle is hunting for his missing sleigh. Locating it should have been easy, but games easily won are seldom worth playing…
Continue reading

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

Book Review: Sweet Ruin by Kresley Cole

Guest Reviewed by Gyn

24002318Title: Sweet Ruin
Author: Kresley Cole
Series: Immortals After Dark #16
Heroine/Hero:  Josephine/Rune
Genre: MF Paranormal Romance
Length: 384 Pages
Publisher: Gallery Books
Release Date: December 1, 2015
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  An immortal assassin is caught between desire and duty…

A foundling raised in a world of humans

Growing up, orphaned Josephine didn’t know who or what she was—just that she was “bad,” an outcast with strange powers. Her baby brother Thaddeus was as perfect as she was flawed; protecting him became her entire life. The day he was taken away began Jo’s transition from angry girl… to would-be superhero… to enchanting, ruthless villain.

A lethally sensual enforcer on a mission

A threat to the Møriør has brought archer Rune the Baneblood to the mortal realm to slay the oldest living Valkyrie. Whether by bow or in bed, he never fails to eliminate his target. Yet before he can strike, he encounters a vampiric creature whose beauty conceals a black heart. With one bite, she pierces him with aching pleasure, taking his forbidden blood – and jeopardizing the secrets of his brethren.

A boundless passion that will lead to sweet ruin…

Could this exquisite female be a spy sent by the very Valkyrie he hunts? Rune knows he must not trust Josephine, yet he’s unable to turn her away. Despite his millennia of sexual conquests, he can’t ignore the unfamiliar longing she arouses deep within him. When Jo betrays the identity of the one man she will die to protect, she and Rune become locked in a treacherous battle of wills that pits ultimate loyalty against unbridled lust.
Continue reading

Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, M/F, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Easy Evenings by Mary Calmes

Reviewed by Nikyta

EasyEveningsTitle: Easy Evenings
Author: Mary Calmes
Series: Mangrove Stories #4
Heroes: Laz & Britton
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 77 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: November 18, 2015
Available at: Dreamspinner PressAmazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Lazlo Maguire doesn’t do relationships—he does transactions. Six months of the year, he’s an expensive rent boy in Manhattan, and he moves so fast that settling down could not, would not, ever enter his mind… except for once. Britton Lassiter he meets man to man, not as hustler and mark, and it’s too good to be true when the lawyer wants to keep Lazlo even if he has to share him with the job.

But Lazlo has his reasons to walk away from the man he’s grown to love. The other six months of the year, he is laid-back Laz, a shopkeeper in the sleepy coastal town of Mangrove, Florida, where the artist he never allows himself to be in the Big Apple shines through. He lives for his time by the ocean, the place he hides his secrets and nurses his broken heart.

Then fate intervenes, and Laz gets the surprise of his life when he spies Britton in Mangrove—but it’s not meant to be… not until Britton sees the change in him and wants to be a part of Laz’s new life so that every evening can be easy… together. Hopefully the secrets that tore them apart won’t come back to haunt them.
Continue reading

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

Book Review: Say It With Ink by C.C. Dado

Reviewed by Morgan 

27419988Title: Say It With Ink
Author: C.C. Dado
Series: The Seattle Chronicles
Heroes: Levi/Jamie
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 61 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: December 2, 2015
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Levi can remember the exact moment the projection of his life changed entirely, from homeless dropout to college graduate. It was the day he found Jamie Donovan standing on his front porch—the boy Levi had secretly drooled over from afar would become the best friend he secretly drooled over up close.

When Levi gets a full ride scholarship but Jamie doesn’t, Jamie becomes an exotic dancer to help pay his tuition. Watching Jamie perform is pure torture for Levi, and hiding how he really feels starts to take its toll. And when the hot new guy from his Econ class hits on him, Levi has to decide just how long he’s going to stay devoted to his straight best friend.
Continue reading

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

Book Review: For Want of a Christmas Miracle by Olley White

Reviewed by Nikyta

27301063Title: For Want of a Christmas Miracle
Author: Olley White
Series: Holiday Hopes #1
Heroes: Toby & Rhys
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: Novella
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: December 7, 2015
Available at: NineStar Press
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: When one down-on-his-luck gardener and one garden centre owner meet, neither could predict the attraction they’d feel towards each other. Toby is just about turning round the business he’d inherited from his dad, and it’s all going well—until a risk he took looks like it might not pay off. Rhys’s employment at Toby’s garden centre is temporary, just to cover the Christmas sales, and frankly he’d much rather be outside gardening. And avoiding Christmas.

When an accident means Toby can’t be at work at a crucial time, it’s time for Rhys to step up to the mark. But can the Christmas Scrooge make the difference required for the man he’s starting to love?
Continue reading

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

Book Review: The Final Round – Jane Davitt and Alexa Snow

Reviewed by JustJen

27797254Title: The Final Round
Authors: Jane Davitt and Alexa Snow
Series: The Square Peg #4
Heroes: Shane/Ben
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 298 Pages
Publisher: Loose Id
Release Date: November 17, 2015
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Reeling from the news of his mother’s death, Shane heads back to England to face a hostile father. Benedict’s with him every step of the way, providing a shoulder to cry on and an escape from sorrow by way of their increasingly powerful and intense scenes.

Grieving and guilty, seeking a reconciliation with his father, Shane makes a hasty decision that brings him peace of mind, but at a heavy cost to his relationship with the man he loves. Is it time to call it quits or time to grow closer still? In the wake of his loss, Shane finds that question doesn’t have a simple answer — but questions of the heart never do.
Continue reading

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

Book Review: Christmas Miracles of a Recently Fallen Spruce by Brandon Witt

Reviewed by Morgan 

28041070Title: Christmas Miracles of a Recently Fallen Spruce
Author: Brandon Witt
Series: Sleigh Ride – 2015 Advent Calendar
Heroes: Paxton Peterson/Logan Charles
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 25 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: November 30, 2015
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Paxton Peterson’s favorite day of the year is his annual Gay Boy Christmas dinner. He’s checked and double-checked his to-do list, because nothing stresses him out like the unexpected. Confident everything will run smoothly, Paxton embarks on his yearly snowshoed hike through the Rocky Mountains near his home. His perfectly planned evening is cut short by Logan Charles’s careless enjoyment of his brother’s snowmobile, and Paxton is stranded in the woods. It’s the worst thing that could’ve possibly happened to him—or maybe the best.
Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment