Published in 2012

Book Review: Black Magic by Megan Derr

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Black Magic
Author: Megan Derr
Series: Black Magic #1
Heroes: Sorin & Koray (and a few others)
Genre: M/M Fantasy
Length: 90,000 words
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Release Date: October 31, 2012
Available at: Less Than Three Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: When High Paladin Sorin discovers the brutally dismembered body of his cousin Alfrey, a much loved priest in the royal palace, he is left baffled as to who would do so terrible a thing to so good a man. But to find the answer to that question, he must cooperate with one of the highly despised necromancers, men who practice black magic, sleep in graveyards and feed upon souls…

The necromancer Koray, however, is far from what he expected. He is beautiful, stubborn, and possessed of a tongue sharp enough to cut down even the High Paladin himself. Koray is also possessed of a strength like nothing Sorin has ever encountered, and the power of the Goddess herself.

It does not take them long to realize that solving a murder is the easiest challenge they must face, and in order to save a kingdom they must first unravel centuries of lies and misunderstandings. Continue reading

Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2012 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Purly Gates by Vastine Bondurant

Reviewed by Heather C

13618145Title: Purly Gates
Author: Vastine Bondurant
Heroes: Purly Gates & Lucky Cleary
Genre: M/M Historical Romance
Length: 52 pages
Publisher: LIG Publishing
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Available at: Amazon & All Romance eBooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: A lonely stretch of beach becomes a hiding place for two men who, when their paths cross, are determined not to be ships just passing in the night.

Purlman “Purly” Gates—dark, brooding, mysterious, hiding from his past and the hefty price on his head—is hopelessly attracted to the young man who strolls the beach every morning. At the risk of his own exposure and its deadly consequences, Purly succumbs to his desire and sets out to lure the beautiful enigma into his lair.

Lucky Cleary wants the swarthy stranger who watches him from the shadows of the cottage deck, and his morning promenades finally pay off when the man steps out onto the beach and into Lucky’s life in a move to bring their paths together.

But Lucky has a secret as well—a past mistake following close behind him, promising certain death if it catches up with him.

When each man discovers the other’s identity, the truth forms a powerful bond between them and fans the flame of their passion.

But is the meeting of these two lonely souls a beautiful destiny or merely a cruel twist of fate in which their desire is nothing more than the kiss of death for them both? Continue reading

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

Book Review: Crow and Firefly by Sam C. Leonhard

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Crow and Firefly
Author: Sam C. Leonhard
Series: Crow and Firefly #1
Heroes: Ari & Roulfe
Genre: M/M Fantasy
Length: 78 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: October 31, 2012
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: The laws of man and nature are harsh and decisive: Unwed mothers are not allowed to raise their children, and shapehifters must wed and consummate the marriage to satisfy the magic that would otherwise render them beasts forever upon the morning of their twenty-third birthday.

With the life of his sister and newborn nephew at stake, shapeshifter Ari is trapped in a castle and compelled to accept a situation he’d dreaded: he is forced to marry Lord Dagur, a man he’s never met. A man called “The Cruel.” A man he fears, and not just because he fancies someone else. Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2012 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Heidi Cullinan Week Review: A Private Gentleman

Reviewed by Heather C

13314897Title: A Private Gentleman
Author: Heidi Cullinan
Heroes: Lord George Albert Westin & Michael Vallant
Genre: M/M Historical Romance
Length: 88,823 words
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: February 14, 2012
Available at: Samhain Publishing, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: To seal their bond, they must break the ties that bind.

Painfully introverted and rendered nearly mute by a heavy stammer, Lord George Albert Westin rarely ventures any farther than the club or his beloved gardens. When he hears rumors of an exotic new orchid sighted at a local hobbyist’s house, though, he girds himself with opiates and determination to attend a house party, hoping to sneak a peek.

He finds the orchid, yes…but he finds something else even more rare and exquisite: Michael Vallant. Professional sodomite.

Michael climbed out of an adolescent hell as a courtesan’s bastard to become successful and independent-minded, seeing men on his own terms, protected by a powerful friend. He is master of his own world—until Wes. Not only because, for once, the sex is for pleasure and not for profit. They are joined by tendrils of a shameful, unspoken history. The closer his shy, poppy-addicted lover lures him to the light of love, the harder his past works to drag him back into the dark.

There’s only one way out of this tangle. Help Wes face the fears that cripple him—right after Michael finds the courage to reveal the devastating truth that binds them.

Product Warnings
Contains wounded heroes, bibliophilic tendencies, orchid obsessions, a right bastard of a marquis, and gay men who get happily-ever-afters. Continue reading

Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2012 | 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

Challenge Week Review: Beyond Complicated by Mercy Celeste

Reviewed by Heather C

17974051Title: Beyond Complicated
Author: Mercy Celeste
Heroes: Liam, Kel & Seth
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Length: 88,800 words
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: November 30, 2012
Available at: AmazonAll Romance eBooksBarnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf at: GoodreadsBooklikes

Blurb: Liam McGuire has the perfect life–his job is a nightmare, his apartment was swank back in the eighties, and he has a secret so painful it could destroy him. What can top that? Meeting his son’s new boyfriend, that’s what.

For former porn star Liam McGuire, life is pretty tame, except that his twenty-one year old son is now dating the love of Liam’s life. At the ripe old age of thirty-eight, Liam’s entire world is collapsing around him, his past catching up with him, his secrets and his lies are coming back to bite him. All because Kel had to go and fall in love with Seth.

Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Challenge Book Week, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2012 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Challenge Book Review: A Reason To Believe by Diana Copland

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: A Reason To Believe
Author: Diana Copland
Heroes: Matthew Bennett & Kiernan Fitzpatrick
Genre: M/M Contemporary/Paranormal Mystery
Length: 81,000 words
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: October 22, 2012
Available at: Carina Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Detective Matthew Bennett doesn’t believe in ghosts. So when the spirit of a murdered child leads him to her body, he’s shaken to the core–and taken off the case. Unable to explain his vision, or to let go of the investigation, Matthew turns to renowned medium Kiernan Fitzpatrick. Though he has doubts about Kiernan’s claims to communicate with the dead, Matt is nevertheless drawn to the handsome psychic, who awakens feelings he thought were long-buried.

Haunted by the lingering spirit of the little girl, Kiernan is compelled to aid in the search for her killer. The chance to get closer to the enigmatic Matt is an unexpected bonus. Although Kiernan’s been betrayed by people who turned out to be more interested in his fame than in himself, with Matt he’s willing to risk his heart. As the two men grow closer, Kiernan helps Matt rediscover that life offers no guarantees–but love offers a reason to believe… Continue reading

Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Book Review, Challenge Book Week, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2012 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Sleuth Week Review: Bartender, PI by Ethan Stone

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Bartender, PI
Author: Ethan Stone
Heroes: Linc/Brady
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 135 pages
Publisher: Silver Publishing
Release Date: April 14, 2012
Available at: Silver Publishing, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: When hockey star Linc Carpenter is banned from playing his beloved sport, he starts over in Tampa. Master of the mixed metaphor, Linc knows he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed. He’s a lousy bartender, but doesn’t know what else to do until he gets a shot at being a private investigator. If he can prove that wealthy fashion designer Quentin Faulkner is cheating on his wife, this case will earn him big money. Faulkner’s bodyguard, Brady Williams, proves to be the biggest hindrance to completing his assignment, other than his own ineptitude. Linc is shocked when Brady admits to being attracted to him. He’s even more shocked when Brady turns down immediate sex because he’s looking for so much more. Will their new relationship survive the dangers of this case? Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2012, Theme Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sleuth Week Review: Deadly Descendant by Jenna Black

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Deadly Descendant
Author: Jenna Black
Series: Nikki Glass #2
Heroine: Nikki & Jamaal
Genre: M/F Urban Fantasy
Length: 368 pages
Publisher: Pocket Books
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Available at: Pocket, Amazon & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: An ancient evil is unleashed in the modern world— unless one fearless P.I. can hunt it down. . . . Nikki Glass, Immortal Huntress, returns in this new novel in the acclaimed series by Jenna Black.

As a living descendant of Artemis the Huntress, private investigator Nikki Glass knows how to track someone down. But when an Oracle shows up, warning the Descendants about wild dog attacks in Washington, D.C., Nikki is afraid it might be a trap. The Olympians believe the “dogs” are really jackals, controlled by a blood-crazed descendant of the Egyptian death-god Anubis. Whatever. . . . If Nikki hopes to muzzle Dogboy, she’s got to catch him in the act. But when she stakes out a local cemetery, she ends up face-to-snout with a snarling pack of shadow-jackals whose bite is worse than their bark. These hellhounds are deadly—even for an immortal like Nikki. “Dog” spelled backward may be “god,” but that won’t stop Nikki from teaching these old gods some new tricks. Like playing dead. Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, M/F, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2012, Theme Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sleuth Week Review: The Psychic and the Sleuth by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon

Reviewed by Heather C

13594541Title: The Psychic and the Sleuth
Author: Bonnie Dee & Summer Devon
The Heroes: Robert Court & Oliver Marsh
Genre: M/M Historical Romance, Mystery
Length: Novel
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: January 17, 2012
Available at: Samhain PublishingAmazonAll Romance eBooks & Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf at: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Trusting a psychic flash might solve a mystery…and lead to love.

Inspector Robert Court should have felt a sense of justice when a rag-and-bones man went to the gallows for murdering his cousin. Yet something has never felt right about the investigation. Robert’s relentless quest for the truth has annoyed his superintendent, landing him lowly assignments such as foiling a false medium who’s fleecing the wives of the elite.

Oliver Marsh plays the confidence game of spiritualism, though his flashes of insight often offer his clients some comfort. Despite the presence of an attractive, if sneering, non-believer at a séance, he carries on—and experiences a horrifying psychic episode in which he experiences a murder as the victim.

There’s only one way for Court to learn if the young, dangerously attractive Marsh is his cousin’s killer or a real psychic: spend as much time with him as possible. Despite his resolve to focus on his job, Marsh somehow manages to weave a seductive spell around the inspector’s straight-laced heart.

Gradually, undeniable attraction overcomes caution. The two men are on the case, and on each other, as they race to stop a murderer before he kills again.

Product Warnings:

Graphic language and hot male/male sex with light BDSM themes. Despite “Descriptions of Murderous Acts” perpetrated by an unhinged killer, resist the temptation to cover your eyes—you’ll miss the good parts! Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2012, Theme Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment