Book Review

Book Review: Silver Thaw by Catherine Anderson

Guest Reviewed by Ami

1Title: Silver Thaw
Author: Catherine Anderson
Series: Mystic Creek #1
Heroine/Hero: Amanda Banning/Jeb Sterling
Genre: M/F Contemporary Romance
Length: 432 Pages
Publisher: Penguin/Berkley
Release Date: January 6, 2015
Available at: Berkley/Penguin, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: After years of living in fear of her husband, Amanda Banning has left him and moved to Mystic Creek, Oregon, for a fresh start. But she’s having a tough time providing for herself and her six-year-old daughter. Writing her secret yearnings on slips of paper and sending them into the wind helps her cling to the hope that things will get better…and that she can find happiness again.

Jeb Sterling has no idea that the handwritten messages he finds scattered across his land are the first hints that his life is about to change. Nor does he understand why he feels so compelled to help Amanda Banning and her daughter when a cold snap leaves them temporarily homeless. Maybe he’s inspired by Amanda’s courage or perhaps by her beautiful brown eyes. Either way, the man who once renounced love suddenly finds himself willing to do anything for the pair. Amanda seems to have given up on her dreams, but Jeb refuses to quit until he makes her every wish come true…
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Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, M/F, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Superstar by Patricia Logan

Reviewed by JustJen

1Title: The Superstar
Author: Patricia Logan
Series: Bodyguards #1
Heroes: Storm/Taz
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 226 Pages
Publisher: Westburg Publishing
Release Date: November 25, 2014
Available at: Westburg Publishing, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Storm Ellison is the sexiest man on two legs. The gorgeous young star of “Trapped on an Island”, the hottest reality show on television, is instantly recognizable the moment he leaves his palatial mansion. Paparazzi follow him everywhere, leaving him no peace or privacy, selling his pictures to the tabloids, and cementing his reputation in the press as a slutty gay playboy. As Storm prepares to sign his first major movie deal, his manager decides he needs protection. What he doesn’t expect, is to be attracted to the cold bastard who’s now running his life.
Balthazar Grant, freelance bodyguard, is a huge, handsome, rough and ready former Marine, trained by the best, and willing to step between Storm and anyone stupid enough to come at him. Always stoic and serious, Taz lends a deadly presence to Storm’s entourage whenever he ventures out in public. Storm doesn’t want a bodyguard, much less one who won’t let him live his fast and loose lifestyle with impunity and he’s certainly not one to be dictated to by an overconfident Marine who has opinions about everything including who he should hook-up with.

When a deadly threat hits Storm’s world, he’s suddenly living his own reality show, only this one has an outcome which doesn’t involve being voted off an island. Will Storm wake up before it’s too late and will Taz be able to fight his attraction to the handsome young superstar while trying to convince him he’s in very real danger? The pair will soon learn that reality is stranger than fiction.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: A Hellhound Christmas by Jackie Nacht

Reviewed by Nikyta

23489302Title: A Hellhound Christmas
Author: Jackie Nacht
Series: Moon Compound #7
Heroes: Daegal & Oren
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 7k words
Publisher: Extasy Books
Release Date: December 15, 2014
Available at: Extasy Books & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Daegal and Oren find out that they are about to embark on a dangerous rescue mission the day after the holiday. Daegal expects to spend the time training and preparing, but his mate has other ideas. The holiday they are about to experience will be a foreign one for Daegal as he learns what love, celebrating and fun is all about when you spend the day with your family and friends.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: A Case of Spirits by K.J. Charles

Reviewed by Heather C

21843050Title: A Case of Spirits
Author: K.J. Charles
Series: A Charm of Magpies #2.5
Heroes: Stephen Day and Lord Crane
Genre: MM Historical Romance
Length: 32 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: January 6, 2015
Available FREE at: Samhain Publishing and Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: None so blind…

As torrential rains wash away the stench of a London heat wave, another kind of wave is sweeping through the city streets. A rash of ghost sightings, followed quickly by madness—and horrifying, eye-melting blindness.

The outbreak hits close to home when Lord Crane’s manservant, Merrick, becomes the newest victim. Desperate to find the cause of the malady, Crane and his magician lover, Stephen Day, are in a race against time—to put an end to the magical assault and put to rest the painful memories resurrected by ghosts of the past. 

Warning: Magical horror, strong language, and strange brews disguised as strong drink.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Down and Dirty by Rhys Ford

Reviewed by Nikyta

22906910Title: Down and Dirty
Author: Rhys Ford
Series: Cole McGinnis #5
Heroes: Ichi & Bobby
Genre: M/M Contemporary/Mystery
Length: 200 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: January 2, 2015
Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: From the moment former LAPD detective Bobby Dawson spots Ichiro Tokugawa, he knows the man is trouble. And not just because the much younger Japanese inker is hot, complicated, and pushes every one of Bobby’s buttons. No, Ichi is trouble because he’s Cole McGinnis’s younger brother and off-limits in every possible way. And Bobby knows that even before Cole threatens to kill him for looking Ichi’s way. But despite his gut telling him Ichi is bad news, Bobby can’t stop looking… or wanting.

Ichi was never one to play by the rules. Growing up in Japan as his father’s heir, he’d been bound by every rule imaginable until he had enough and walked away from everything to become his own man. Los Angeles was supposed to be a brief pitstop before he moved on, but after connecting with his American half-brothers, it looks like a good city to call home for a while—if it weren’t for Bobby Dawson.

Bobby is definitely a love-them-and-leave-them type, a philosophy Ichi whole-heartedly agrees with. Family was as much of a relationship as Ichi was looking for, but something about the gruff and handsome Bobby Dawson makes Ichi want more.

Much, much more.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: Cream by Sean Michael

Reviewed by JustJen

1Title: Cream
Author: Sean Michael
Series: Hammer
Heroes: Storm/Zeb
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 204 Pages
Publisher: Torquere Press
Release Date: December 3, 2014
Available at: Torquere Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Storm owns the Beat & Cream bakery, popular with the Hammer Club members for its name, the amazing pastries Storm bakes, and his willingness to make all sorts of naughty creations. Not into the lifestyle himself, Storm loves the punny nature of the name of his establishment and everyone he’s met have been nice.

Zeb, an unattached Top and Hammer Club member hears about the bakery and knows he must check it out for himself, given he has the world’s biggest sweet tooth. He finds the pastries delicious, but he’s even more taken with the owner himself, and sets out to woo Storm.

It’s easy to fall in love with someone who makes you laugh and brings your life joy, but what happens when that happens with someone who isn’t into the same things you are? Zeb and Storm are about to find out if they can find some mutual ground, or if Zeb’s lifestyle will keep them apart.
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Categories: 2.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Restless Spirits by Jordan L. Hawk

Reviewed by Heather C

23569031Title: Restless Spirits
Author: Jordan L. Hawk
Series: Spirits #1
Heroes: Henry Strauss and Vincent Night
Genre: M/M Historical Romance
Length: 69,000 words
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: January 6, 2015
Available at: Smashwords and Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: After losing the family fortune to a fraudulent psychic, inventor Henry Strauss is determined to bring the otherworld under control through the application of science. All he needs is a genuine haunting to prove his Electro-Séance will work. A letter from wealthy industrialist Dominic Gladfield seems the answer to his prayers. Gladfield’s proposition: a contest pitting science against spiritualism, with a hefty prize for the winner.

The contest takes Henry to Reyhome Castle, the site of a series of brutal murders decades earlier. There he meets his rival for the prize, the dangerously appealing Vincent Night. Vincent is handsome, charming…and determined to get Henry into bed.

Henry can’t afford to fall for a spirit medium, let alone the competition. But nothing in the haunted mansion is quite as it seems, and soon winning the contest is the least of Henry’s concerns.

For the evil stalking the halls of Reyhome Castle wants to claim not just Henry and Vincent’s lives, but their very souls.
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Secrets and Ink by Lou Harper

Guest Reviewed by Morgan 

1Title: Secrets and Ink
Author: Lou Harper
Series: Secrets #1
Heroes: Jem Mitchell and Nick Davies
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 128 Pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: December 10, 2013
Available at:  Samhain Publishing, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  When Karma writes you a ticket, pay up or else…

If life was like the movies, Jem Mitchell’s wouldn’t be such a mess. In LA’s glittering world of dreams, he works an unglamorous job at a gourmet grocery store. His past is so deep and dark, the details are lost even to him. All he knows is he was once cursed by a meter maid, and ever since, his love life has sucked.

When Detective Nick Davies becomes a regular at the store, Jem dares to hope he’s un-hexed at last. He should have known that sex with a remarkably normal guy, devoid of weird fetishes and fatal personality flaws, was too good to be true.

During a post-encounter cuddle, Nick recognizes the tattoo on Jem’s back—and remembers him as a young hustler he arrested nine years past.

As Jem’s memories come crashing back, he flees from Nick, but fate contrives to keep pushing them back together. And when Jem’s old partner in crime is found murdered, the stakes are raised for life, for love, and a dangerous drama with no guarantee of a Hollywood ending.

Warning: Stars a mild-mannered store clerk with a shady past, a hunky cop whose passion in the bedroom is as big as his passion for justice, and celebrity sightings you won’t see on TMZ.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Safe in His Arms by Renae Kaye

Reviewed by Susan65

1Title: Safe in His Arms
Author: Renae Kaye
Heroes: Lon/Casey
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 208 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: November 28, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: In the late-night quiet of the caravan park shower room, Lon Taylor washes away the filth of the Western Australian mines. He’s not looking for anyone, but when Casey offers, Lon doesn’t turn him down.

Welcoming the young man in his big, hairy arms, Lon provides a safety to Casey that he has never known, and Casey wants to stay forever. Still reeling from the breakup of his family years ago, Lon’s not sure he’s ready for the responsibility of the comfort and security Casey craves.

But perhaps Lon can risk opening his heart again and hoping for a brighter future. Casey has some pretty big skeletons in his past to deal with. And Lon wonders what Casey will do when he finds out how badly Lon failed at protecting the ones he loved eight years ago.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Naughty and Nice by Jet Mykles

Reviewed by Nikyta

23750779Title: Naughty and Nice
Author: Jet Mykles
Series: Reindeer Games #3
Heroes: Rom & Shaw
Genre: M/M Fantasy
Length: 102 pages
Publisher: Loose Id
Release Date: December 9, 2014
Available at: Loose Id & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Rom is Dasher. As Santa’s lead reindeer, he has everything he’s ever wanted. He is everything he’d ever wanted to be. His life is perfect, filled with good friends and any pretty he wants.

Until Shaw appears in front of him. The drab little elf from Archives isn’t anything like Rom’s other partners. Oh, he’s cute, but he doesn’t knows it. Even more amazing, he seems immune to Rom’s flirting. It’s almost like he doesn’t want Rom. Wait, no. When Rom does proposition him, Shaw turns him down flat.

Amazing!

Even more amazing, Rom is hooked. He can’t get Shaw out of his mind. He even goes to the Library to pursue him. But Shaw — and Shaw’s mother — can’t figure out what Rom would want with him.

Well, Rom’s not entirely sure either but he knows he wants to find out. Can he convince Shaw?
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment