Book Review

Book Review: Normal Enough by Marie Sexton

Reviewed by Heather C

20803150Title: Normal Enough
Author: Marie Sexton
Heroes: Kasey Ralston & Brandon Kenner
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Length: 24,000 words
Publisher: Amber Allure
Release Date: March 16, 2014
Available at: Amber Allure
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: When Brandon Kenner shows up at Kasey Ralston’s garage with a 1970 Chevelle SS 454, Kasey is smitten by both the man and his car. Between what Kasey considers a shameful fetish and his long estrangement from his family, Kasey finds it easiest to be alone, even distancing himself from his coworkers. But Brandon doesn’t think Kasey’s fetish is weird. In fact, he likes it.

Kasey doesn’t know how to resist a man as charming as Brandon, and he’s more than willing to be seduced. But what are Brandon’s long-term intentions? Kasey is afraid of hoping for too much, but equally afraid that when all is said and done, Brandon will leave, and Kasey will be left alone once again. Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Faery Reel by Arielle Pierce

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: The Faery Reel
Author: Arielle Pierce
Heroes: Osian & Conall
Genre: M/M Contemporary, Fantasy
Length: 22,960 words
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: February 7, 201
Available at: Smashwords, Amazon & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Faeries don’t exist, right?

That’s what Osian tells himself. So what if the stranger in the pub, the one that glows in the darkened room, has a beauty that is otherworldly. And that the man is watching him with eyes that promise trouble. So what if the music that drifts across the moor sounds like nothing he’s ever heard. So what if it’s the night of the summer solstice, the night when the veil between the human world and the faery world is whisper thin.

Osian is not a believer. Not until he is kidnapped by Conall and taken to the world of the fey. In the Otherworld, Osian is offered something he’s never had: the love of another man. But this love comes at the cruelest price. For in order to stay with Conall, Osian must give up his home, his friends, and his family.

But there is a way out—if he chooses. It involves letting himself go, allowing himself to trust Conall, and finding the true meaning of his name.

Can Osian trust Conall enough to risk it all? It’s a dangerous game he plays, but the prize—love—may be worth the risk of losing it all. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Artist’s Touch by Kerry Adrienne

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Artist’s Touch
Author: Kerry Adrienne
Heroes: Kenon Alavi and Wally Harte
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 147 Pages
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Release Date: February 26, 2014
Available at: Ellora’s Cave, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Every starlet wants master painter Kenon Alavi to do her portrait…and more. But Kenon prefers firm to soft and sates his desires with the boyfriends of the women he paints, enjoying the diversity of many lovers but shunning any attachments.

Wallace Harte’s English degree isn’t helping him and working at a bar is the closest he’s gotten to being the Second Coming of Faulkner. Something’s gotta give soon, or he’ll be out on the street.

Kenon zeroes in on the bartender at an art exhibition, intending to add him to his long list of conquests, but Wally bolts, initiating a heated game of cat and mouse. Kenon delights in the game until he discovers what Wally is writing. Feeling betrayed, Kenon swears off all entanglements until he reads Wally’s story and discovers true love is sometimes between the pages and not the sheets.

Inside Scoop: This book contains hot, sexy scenes of M/M interaction of an artistic nature. Who knew having your portrait painted could be so hot? Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Challenge Review: Shoes & Ties by Jena Wade

Reviewed by Heather C

18709987Title: Shoes & Ties
Author: Jena Wade
Series: Shoes & Ties #1
Heroes: Ashten Brody & Trent Cole
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Length: 33,500 words
Publisher: Loose Id
Release Date: October 2013
Available at: Loose Id, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Ashten Brody is a chef fresh out of college. He lands his dream job working as a personal chef to Trent Cole, local luxury hotel owner. As it turns out, Trent is also his dream man.

After working together, the two are unable to deny their attraction. One late night they can’t hold back any longer. Too bad Ashten rushes off soon after.

In the weeks that follow, it appears to Ashten that he has landed his dream man and his dream job. He and Trent appear to be on the path to a serious relationship and life-long happiness. Life seems to be just too perfect… Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Challenge Book Week, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Challenge Week Review: Coming to Terms by A.R. Moler

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Coming to Terms
Author: A.R. Moler
Heroes: Aidan & Kris
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 17,000 words
Publisher: MLR Press
Release Date: November 2013
Available at: MLR Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: When Aidan Sterling has been to hell and back doing his duty to his country, who will help him come to terms with what happened?

Sometimes, inevitably, life hits a snag. What if love turns up at the same time? Aidan Sterling’s life has hit one of those moments-the times when things might just change whether he wants it to or not. Outside of the inherent paranoia of his active career in covert ops, he’s recovering from some serious physical and emotional trauma from a mission gone disastrously wrong. His bosses aren’t sure if he’s up to returning to active fieldwork—and neither is he. And Kris Jameson is the kind of guy who’ll take the time to understand and care about Aiden. He’s a regular guy with a large heart. Kris is a carpenter and a part-time bouncer, easy going and hardworking. But not all danger can be found overseas, and nice guys aren’t always safe even here at home. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Challenge Book Week, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Fight by Kelly Wyre

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Fight
Author: Kelly Wyre
Heroes: Nathan Hunt/Hale Fury
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 243 pages
Publisher: Loose Id
Release Date: March 4, 2014
Available at: Loose Id, Amazon & All Romance eBooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: To Nathan Hunt, honesty is anything but the best policy. Telling the truth has gotten him nothing but heartache and pain; so lying about who he is and what he wants seems to be the only path to job security and friends. Hell, it even brings him a hollow kind of happiness.

Except, that’s not much of a life for any man. Especially one with Nathan’s passions. Desperate to cure his self-made misery, Nathan agrees to go along with a con that will score cash for Nathan to start over. There’s just one problem: lying is getting harder by the day. And a con who can’t lie, is a con who gets caught.

Nathan’s attempts to distract himself from his moral quandary lead him to a mysterious, intoxicating man named Fury. The Mixed Martial Arts fighter knows a thing or two about lies and pasts better left buried. He and Nathan have something else in common – they both want to be with someone who lets them be themselves.

Together, they undertake a journey that proves honesty is more dangerous and more difficult than either of them could have imagined. And as they combat addiction, thugs, guns, and their own inner demons, Nathan and Fury can only hope that their battle to be together will be worth the bitter fight. Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: An Impossible Mate by Joy Lynn Fielding

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: An Impossible Mate
Author: Joy Lynn Fielding
Series: Strength of the Pack #1
Heroes: Matt Urban & Jesse Turner
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 37,195 words
Publisher: Siren Publishing
Release Date: October 10, 2013
Available at: Siren Publishing, Amazon & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Loner Matt Urban has somehow ended up as alpha to a pack of outcasts and misfits. When an injured shifter blunders onto their territory one night, swearing he didn’t know it was pack territory, Matt is suspicious. It doesn’t help that the stranger, Jesse Turner, is as stubborn as Matt. Wanting answers, Matt persuades Jesse to stay a while, and the intense attraction they feel for one another soon blazes into heat. That’s when Matt realizes—the stranger with the smart mouth and the attitude problem is his mate.

Matt, still mourning the lover he lost years ago, doesn’t want a mate, and Jesse doesn’t believe in mates. Yet neither of them can deny the pull they feel toward one another.

They’re still struggling with the situation when a hostile alpha claims Jesse. Matt has to fight to protect Jesse. First, though, he has to fight Jesse’s stubborn independence if he’s to win his heart. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Challenge Week Review: Gangster Country by Kade Boehme

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Gangster Country
Author: Kade Boehme
Heroes: Logan Marshall and Gianni Rodriguez
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 204 Pages
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: December 10, 2013
Available at: Amazon & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Logan Marshall moves to New York to be a social worker where he feels he’s needed most. Logan’s always had it good. His Daddy is a preacher, sure, but he preaches a laid back, tolerant congregation who accepted Logan’s sexuality gracefully. He’s from a ranch in nowhere, Texas, which makes him a hot ticket in the clubs with his tight, work strengthened body and his cute accent. He’s out of his element in New York, not looking for Mr. Right Now but Mr. Right.

Gianni Rodriguez grew up in Brooklyn. Nothing could be further from the way he was raised than innocent, good hearted Logan was. Gianni is fascinated that people like Logan even exist. And parents that not only are God-fearing, but also accepting?

As second in command of Los Cuervos, his brother’s not-so-merry band of drug runners and pimps, Gianni’s life would be in serious jeopardy if anyone ever knew the truth. That’s why his growing attachment for Logan is a bad thing.

When Logan’s work collides violently with Gianni’s life, Gianni has to decide if the man is worth risking everything, even his family– the man that may not even want him once he realizes what a monster the man he’s been sleeping with really is. Could Logan be Gianni’s reason to go straight? Or will they both go straight to an unmarked grave? Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Challenge Book Week, LGBT, Published in 2013, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Early Review: Pressure Points by Silvia Violet

Reviewed by Heather C

21400934Title: Pressure Points
Author: Silvia Violet
Series: Pisgah Mountain Wolves #2
Heroes: Carl & Justin
Genre: M/M Paranormal Romance
Length: 196 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: March 19, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: It’s hard enough being an inn manager, serving at everyone’s beck and call, making sure all the guests are happy and the employees are paid on time. Add to that being a werewolf, a recovering alcoholic, and a pack leader. Add to that a brother who is trying to tear the pack apart and a dark past he can’t escape. Needless to say, Carl is under a lot of stress. Not helping: Justin, the inn’s human massage therapist—who Carl is trying not to fall for—has offered Carl a massage to “lower his stress levels.” As his boss, Carl can’t tell Justin his hands might lower stress levels, but they would raise something else.

Despite Carl trying to put him off, Justin won’t give in. Carl’s friends won’t leave him alone, and the divisions in the pack are near exploding. And it’s tourist season. The last thing Carl needs are wolf wars in the lobby. Like it or not, Carl is going to have to rely on Justin and the wolves who love him to teach him how to let go and get through everything without falling apart. Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Beast by Allison Cassatta & Tracey Michael

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Beast
Author: Allison Cassatta & Tracey Michael
Heroes: Ara & Ilias
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 216 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: March 14, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Ara Costas has it all—riches, power, and the kind of beauty that attracts all the right people. He’s flying high and loves his life, until a serious car accident leaves him horribly scarred. Ara becomes an angry recluse, hiding away in his Chicago high-rise apartment, running his multimillion-dollar business from behind a computer screen.

Ilias Adams is a quiet farm boy who keeps his nose buried in books. A great education and stellar resume land him a job as Ara’s assistant and liaison to the board of directors. Little did he know when he signed up for this dream job that he’d end up working for the world’s moodiest, most uptight boss.

Ilias is scared of Ara at times, but he recognizes the challenge he faces when he meets Ara and sees the reason for the man’s anger. Ara is guarded and suspicious, since he can’t believe anyone can bear to look at him. Despite all this, Ilias is determined to turn the beast into a beauty again, at least on the inside, and tear down the walls Ara has so carefully constructed around him. Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments