Book Review

Book Review: Campfire Confessions by Bru Baker

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Campfire Confessions
Author: Bru Baker
Heroes: Mitchell & Case
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 50 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: February 11, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Best friends Case and Mitchell are so inseparable everyone assumes they’re dating. Case’s dad even buys them a joint gift—a camping trip. Even though Case hates the woods, he wants Mitchell to have a good time. When they discover the trip is a couples’ retreat, they have to fake a relationship. Case can’t understand why the trust and intimacy exercises the other couples struggle with come so naturally to them. After all, they’re not really boyfriends….

A part of the “A Valentine Rainbow” set of 14 holiday stories. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: King of Dublin by Lisa Henry & Heidi Belleau

Reviewed by JustJen

ARC fullcoverTitle: King of Dublin
Author: Lisa Henry, Heidi Belleau
Heroes:  Darragh/Ciaran
Genre: M/M Dystopian
Length: 382 pages
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date:  February 24, 2014
Available at: Riptide PublishingAmazonBarnes and Noble & All Romance eBooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Twenty years after a deadly pandemic ravaged the world, Darragh Fergus Anluan and the people of his village have carved out a hard but simple life in the Irish countryside. But with winter comes sickness, and Darragh must travel to Dublin in search of medicine. What he finds there is a ruined city ruled by a madman, where scavenging is punishable by death . . . or conscription.

Ciaran Daly came to Ireland with aid and optimism, but instead was enslaved by the so-called King of Dublin. After months of abuse from the king and his men, he has no reason to believe this newcomer will be any different. Except Ciaran finds himself increasingly drawn to Darragh, whose brutish looks mask how sweet and gentle he really is.

The tenderness Darragh feels for the king’s treasured pet is treason, but it’s hardly the only betrayal brewing in this rotten kingdom. Rebellions and rival gangs threaten the king’s power, but not nearly as much as Darragh and Ciaran—whose only hope for freedom is the fall of the king.

* This title contains the following sensitive themes: dubious consent, explicit violence and non-consent.* Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Beneath the Surface by Kate Sherwood

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Beneath the Surface
Author: Kate Sherwood
Heroes: Peter Carr & Caleb Sinclair
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Length: 200 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: August 20, 2012
Available at: Dreamspinner Press
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: When Peter Carr’s company sends him to Southwestern Ontario to sweet-talk the town into agreeing to a gravel quarry proposal, he welcomes the challenge. Technically he’s a lawyer, but really he’s a problemsolver. He just never expected the problem to be Caleb Sinclair, the passionate but introverted artisan carpenter who lives next to the proposed quarry site.

“Know your enemy.” That’s Caleb’s philosophy. And trying to turn fertile farmland into a gravel pit earns Peter the title of “enemy.” Caleb loves that land, and if he has to make peace with his homophobic neighbors to make war on Peter, so be it. Except knowing his enemy doesn’t turn out anything like he expected. Peter’s not the fairy-tale monster—he just might be the first step to happy ever after. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2012 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Waiting for Rain by Susan Mac Nicol

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Waiting for Rain
Author: Susan Mac Nicol
Heroes: Rain Engel and Toby Prentiss
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 280 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: February 24, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: The village of Stamford, the quintessential chocolate box English scene, seemed an impossible dream for foster kid Toby Prentiss. Now he’s found a home among the haystacks and village fairs as the general manager for the Duck and Drake Hotel. With the fears and demons from his youth hidden away in this bucolic oasis, he’s very protective of who he lets in. Until he stumbles across shirtless carpenter Rain Engel building the hotel’s new custom-designed bar.

Working in the countryside, Rain prepared to face his biggest fear: sheep. He didn’t expect to deal with his second biggest fear: commitment. Toby’s controlled, tough guy façade coupled with his “find happiness where you can” optimism calls to Rain like nothing before. While Rain may be an exhibitionist, his romantic history forces him to hold his emotions close. As their relationship develops, secrets from their pasts drive a wedge between them: the ex-boyfriend who tore apart Rain’s trust and Toby’s history with the law. But can the secrets hiding among the quirky villagers bring them together? With missing sheep, pole dancing at the winter festival, and a crippling drought, everyone is waiting for Rain. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Butterflies by KJ Charles

Reviewed by Heather C

18718973Title: Butterflies
Author: KJ Charles
Series: The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal #2
Heroes: Robert Caldwell & Simon Feximal
Genre: M/M Historical Romance, Horror
Length: 8,400 words
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: October 28, 2013
Available at: Smashwords & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Journalist Robert Caldwell is still smarting from his first encounter with ghost-hunter Simon Feximal. Their night in a haunted house was thrilling, but the aftermath leaves Robert hurt, disappointed, and resolved not to see Simon again.

But just a few days later their paths cross once more, this time investigating a pair of mysterious deaths: two corpses shrouded in butterflies.

Now Robert wants the truth – on the deaths, on where the butterflies came from, and most of all, on the attraction that still burns between him and Simon. Continue reading

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

Book Review: Ice by L.J. LaBarthe

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Ice
Author: L.J. LaBarthe
Heroes: Koby & Mircea
Genre: M/M Futuristic Fantasy
Length: 30,000 words
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Release Date: February 5, 2014
Available at: Less Than Three Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Koby is a graduate student specializing in the cohabitation of dead and living cells in a single body, a course of study that requires he spend two years working in the labs at the parium mines in Antarctica, where he will assist in experiments conducted on the vampire prisoners kept there.

Expecting little more than a tedious assignment, despite the dangers of the environment and the dangerous vampires sentenced to the mines for life, Koby instead discovers a dome of horrors, where the persons in charge cannot be trusted and the greatest victims are the prisoners—and the most incongruous place to discover a new love. If he cannot solve the problems destroying the dome from the inside, the vampires won’t be the only ones to die. Continue reading

Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Heidi Cullinan Week: Reminisce Review of Double Blind

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Double Blind
Author: Heidi Cullinan
Series: Special Delivery #2
Heroes: Randy Jensen & Ethan Ellison
Genre: M/M BDSM Contemporary
Length: 350 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Re-Release Date: March 4, 2014
Available at: Samhain, Amazon, & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Know when to show your hand…and when to hedge your bets.

Randy Jensen can’t stand to just sit by and watch as a mysterious man throws money away on the roulette wheel, especially since Randy’s got his own bet going as to the reason this guy is making every play like it’s his last day on earth. The man’s dark desperation hits Randy right in the gut. Half of him warns that getting involved is a sucker’s bet, and the other half scrambles for a reason—any reason—to save the man’s soul.

Ethan Ellison has no idea what he’s going to do with himself once his last dollar is gone—until Randy whirls into his life with a heart-stealing smile and a poker player’s gaze that sees too much.

Randy draws Ethan into a series of wagers that leads to a scorching kiss by midnight, but he isn’t the only one with an interest in Ethan’s vulnerability. Soon they’re both taking risks that not only play fast and loose with the law, but with the biggest prize of all: their hearts.

This book has been previously published and has been revised from its original release.

Product Warnings:

This story contains high-stakes poker, gangsters with a weakness for kittens, foursomes, and kinky consensual sex.

Continue reading

Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Book Review: The Caldwell Ghost by KJ Charles

Reviewed by Heather C

18656381Title: The Caldwell Ghost
Author: KJ Charles
Series: The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal #1
Heroes: Robert Caldwell & Simon Feximal
Genre: M/M Historical Romance, Horror
Length: 4,500 words
Publisher: Torquere Press
Release Date: October 19, 2013
Available at: Torquere Press, Amazon & All Romance eBooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: When Robert Caldwell inherits a haunted house, he calls on ghost-hunter Simon Feximal to rid him of the supernatural menace. But the ghost is stronger than either man realizes — strong, angry, and desperate for release. Trapped in a haunted house with a dangerously attractive ghost-hunter and a sexually frustrated spirit, can Robert survive the night intact…and will he want to? Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Heidi Cullinan Week Review: The Wounds in the Walls

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: The Wounds in the Walls
Author: Heidi Cullinan
Heroes: Pete/Mike/Aras
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 80 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: June 1, 2010
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon & All Romance eBooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Pete Eason’s been hit by the downturn in the economy just like everyone else, so when he gets the word that some guy named Mike Clarke needs a day laborer to clear our a rural Missouri house, he doesn’t ask too many questions before he takes the job. But Pete quickly learns that there’s something funny going on at this site. For one, Pete’s the only laborer Mike hired, and from what Pete can see, this place needs a bulldozer, not a Dumpster. Mike doesn’t so much as hand Pete a shovel, either-he seems to be hinting that the place is haunted. Pete doesn’t feel any goosebumps, and he sure as hell doesn’t see any ghosts. He’s dying, though, to know what all the gashes in the walls are about. Mike can’t see the gashes, and he’s frustrated that Pete can’t see the ghost standing right beside him, because the whole point of bringing Pete here was to release the trapped spirit in this place, a spirit that by rights Pete should be able to see better than anyone. Maybe, Mike thinks, he’s made a mistake. But before he can nudge Pete a little harder, the front door disappears, the walls begin to heave, and the ghost which has always been nothing more than a shade is suddenly aggressive flesh and blood-and Mike doesn’t think he’s made a mistake anymore. He knows he has. Continue reading

Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: The Engineered Throne by Megan Derr

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: The Engineered Throne
Author: Megan Derr
Heroes: Vellem and Perdith
Genre: M/M Fantasy
Length: 100,000 words
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Release Date: November 13, 2013
Available at: Less Than Three Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Lord Vellem is a man desperate for escape. His father hides from his problems in alcohol, his mother hides from her misery in drugs, and his brother fled to the relative safety of the royal palace. Vellem eventually found solace in the Royal Army Corp of Engineers, but still could not entirely escape. Then his brother provides him with an unexpected chance, and now Vellem’s marriage to the young prince of a neighboring kingdom is only months away.

The marriage promises not just a fresh start in a new land, but a challenge to his famed skills in building roads and bridges. But before he can settle into his new life, tragedy strikes, and Vellem isn’t certain he’s up to rebuilding the ruin left in its wake. Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment