Published in 2013

Challenge Week Review: Sex & Sourdough by A.J. Thomas

Reviewed by Nikyta

1Title: Sex & Sourdough
Author: A.J. Thomas
Heroes: Anders Blankenship/Kevin Winters
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 266 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: December 13, 2013
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble,
All Romance eBooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Anders Blankenship never intended to hike the Appalachian Trail alone, but when his boyfriend cancels, Anders steels his courage, leaving the abusive relationship to tackle the long-distance hike. Though a hiking virgin, he’s glad he made the decision when he receives threatening messages from his ex. Luckily, Kevin, an experienced backpacker, takes him under his wing.

Kevin Winters isn’t looking for a hiking partner, let alone a fling with a cute man on the rebound. After learning he has the autoimmune disorder that killed his father, Kevin left his family to wander remote trails. Convinced his future holds only pain and death, Kevin refuses to get close to anyone. The family sourdough recipes he recreates over a campfire are his only solace.

In the wilderness, Anders and Kevin discover a lot of common ground. While the future holds uncertainties they may not be ready to deal with, it might also hold the chance for happiness.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Challenge Book Week, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan

Guest Reviewed by Ami

1Title: Sleigh Bells in the Snow
Author: Sarah Morgan
Series: O’Neil Brothers #1
Heroes: Kayla Green/Jackson O’Neil
Genre: MF Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 Pages
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Release Date: October 29, 2013
Available at:  Harlequin, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance Ebooks, iBooks and Kobo
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Once upon a time, Christmas was Kayla Green’s favorite time of year. Now all the workaholic wants for Christmas is for it to be over—as fast as possible! So when duty calls her to snowy Vermont to close a deal with a new client, Kayla is grateful for an excuse to avoid the holidays for another year.

Jackson O’Neil left a thriving business behind to return home and salvage his family’s resort—it’s in his blood, and he can’t let it fail. Now that he’s got marketing whiz Kayla Green working with him to put Snow Crystal on the map, success is on the horizon. The fact they strike enough sparks off each other to power all the Christmas lights in Vermont is just an added bonus.

Kayla might be an expert at her job, but she’s out of her depth with Jackson—he makes her crave the happy-ever-after she once dreamed of, and it’s terrifying. As the snowflakes continue to swirl, will the woman who doesn’t believe in the magic of Christmas finally fall under its spell?
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, M/F, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Heart of Iron by Bec McMaster

Reviewed by Heather C

1Title:  Heart of Iron
Author: Bec McMaster
Series: London Steampunk #2
Hero  & Heroine: Will Carver & Lena Todd
Genre: MF Steampunk
Length: 437 Pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date: May 7, 2013
Available at: Sourcebooks Casablanca, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance eBooks and Kobo
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: In Victorian London, if you’re not a blue blood of the Echelon then you’re nothing at all. The Great Houses rule the city with an iron fist, imposing their strict ‘blood taxes’ on the nation, and the Queen is merely a puppet on a string…

Lena Todd makes the perfect spy. Nobody suspects the flirtatious debutante could be a sympathizer for the humanist movement haunting London’s vicious blue blood elite. Not even the ruthless Will Carver, the one man she can’t twist around her little finger, and the one man whose kiss she can’t forget…

Stricken with the loupe and considered little more than a slave-without-a-collar to the blue bloods, Will wants nothing to do with the Echelon or the dangerous beauty who drives him to the very edge of control. But when he finds a coded letter on Lena—a code that matches one he saw on a fire-bombing suspect—he realizes she’s in trouble. To protect her, he must seduce the truth from her.

With the humanists looking to start a war with the Echelon, Lena and Will must race against time—and an automaton army—to stop the humanist plot before it’s too late. But as they fight to save a city on the brink of revolution, the greatest danger might just be to their hearts…
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, M/F, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Spirit Sanguine by Lou Harper

Reviewed by Heather C

1Title: Spirit Sanguine
Author: Lou Harper
Series: Sanguine #1
Heroes: Henry/Gabe
Genre: MM Paranormal
Length: 298 Pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: April 30, 2013
Available at: Samhain Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and All Romance eBooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Is that a wooden stake in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

After five years in eastern Europe using his unique, inborn skills to slay bloodsuckers, Gabe is back in his hometown Chicago and feeling adrift. Until he’s kidnapped by a young, sexy vampire who seems more interested in getting into his pants than biting into his neck.

Harvey Feng is one-half Chinese, one-hundred-percent vampire. He warns Gabe to stay out of the Windy City, but somehow he isn’t surprised when the young slayer winds up on his doorstep. And why shouldn’t Gabe be curious? A vegetarian vampire isn’t something one sees every day.

Against their better judgment, slayer and vampire succumb to temptation. But their affair attracts unexpected attention.

When Chicago’s Vampire Boss makes Gabe an offer he can’t refuse, the unlikely lovers are thrust into peril and mystery in the dark heart of the Windy City. Together they hunt for kidnappers, a killer preying on young humans, and vicious vampire junkies.

However, dealing with murderous humans and vampires alike is easy compared to figuring out if there’s more to their relationship than hot, kinky sex.

Warning: Fangalicious man-on-man action, a troublesome twink, cross-dressing vampiress, and role-playing involving a fedora.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Challenge Week Review: The Parting Glass by Josh Lanyon

Reviewed by JustJen

1Title: The Parting Glass
Author: Josh Lanyon
Series: In a Dark Wood #2
Heroes: Tim/Luke
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 76 Pages
Publisher: Josh Lanyon
Release Date: September 30, 2013
Available at:  Josh Lanyon, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance Ebooks, Kobo, Smashwords
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Two and a half years ago, travel writer Timothy O’Shay let NYPD Detective Luke O’Brien talk him into hiking into the New Jersey Pine Barrens to face down a monster.

Now Tim and Luke meet again under very different circumstances. The old attraction is still there — but so are some of Tim’s monsters. Is it too late to find their way back to each other?
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Challenge Book Week, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Stray Hearts by Jane Graves

Guest Reviewed by Ami 

1Title: Stray Hearts
Author: Jane Graves
Heroes: Kay Ramsey/Matt Forester
Genre: M/F Romantic Comedy
Length: 161 Pages
Publisher: Jane Graves
Release Date: August 12, 2013
Available at:  Jane Graves, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks and Kobo
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  When Kay Ramsey catches her fiancé cheating on her, she takes revenge on him in a most creative way. She’s shocked when he sues her, and even more shocked when he actually wins. Then he tells her he’ll forget the money she owes him—if she’ll perform a hundred hours of community service at a local animal shelter. Battling an empty bank account and a childhood fear of animals, she can’t imagine a worse sentence—until she meets the sexy veterinarian in charge, Dr. Matt Forester.

Matt’s animal shelter is operating in the red and in danger of shutting down, and only with a grant arranged by Kay’s ex-fiancé will he be able to keep the doors open. His marching orders? Make Kay suffer. Soon, though, Matt realizes Kay isn’t the terrible person she’s supposed to be, and he finds himself attracted to her more every day. But with the fate of his shelter hanging in the balance, how can he even think of falling in love?
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, M/F, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Kayan’s Mage by Jess Buffett

Reviewed by Nikyta

The Kayan's Mage (Hunter Clan #1)Title: The Kayan’s Mage
Author: Jess Buffett
Series: Hunter Clan #1
Heroes: Sawyer & Jake
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 36,127 words
Publisher: Siren-Bookstrand
Release Date: April 3, 2013
Available at: Siren-Bookstrand, Amazon & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Sawyer McLeod lost his family and his entire Guild, except his twin, seven years ago. Now almost twenty-one, he is coming to the age to receive his abilities as a Mage. Unfortunately there are others who will stop at nothing to see the brothers don’t survive that long.

When Jake Hunter, Kayan for a Clan of Wolf Shifters living in Australia, finally finds his true-mate, he doesn’t expect it to be in the midst of a brutal attack. Through omissions of truth, misunderstandings, and fear, Jake struggles to prove to Sawyer that he can trust him.

When Sawyer is finally willing to give Jake a chance, a ghost from the past returns to destroy everything they have built together. Will they be able to overcome the foe long thought gone, or will it be the end for the Kayan’s Mage? Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Desire in Any Language by Anastasia Vitsky

Reviewed by Nikyta

Desire in Any Language by Anastasia VitskyTitle: Desire in Any Language
Author: Anastasia Vitsky
Series: Mira #1; Masters of the Castle #4.2
Heroine: Mira
Genre: F/F Contemporary/Kink
Length: 21,090 words
Publisher: Blushing Books
Release Date: January 2013
Available at: Blushing Books, Amazon & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Mira thought she wanted a spanking. What she got was love.

On her own for the first time, Mira is studying abroad for her translator’s certificate. Unfortunately, the heady excitement of dance clubs, late-night parties, and endless shopping quickly distracts her from her educational goals. Mira’s advisor offers her private tutoring, but the combined pressures of culture and language difference threaten Mira’s progress at school. She is unable to get her act together until she makes a discovery that horrifies and tantalizes her: in her new country, corporal punishment is a way of life. The secret to her academic success just might also fulfill her wildest, unspoken dreams.
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Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Kim Fielding Week Review: Buried Bones

Reviewed by Heather C

17877349Title: Buried Bones
Author: Kim Fielding
Series: Bones #2
Heroes: Dylan & Chris
Genre: M/M Paranormal Romance
Length: 74,353 words
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: May 22, 2013
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Werewolves don’t have a how-to manual—nor do men embarking on a new life together.

It’s been a few weeks since Dylan Warner wolfed out and killed Andy, the crazed werewolf who originally turned him and later tried to murder Chris Nock. Architect Dylan and handyman Chris are still refurbishing Dylan’s old house as they work out the structure of their relationship. They come from very different backgrounds, and neither has had a long-term lover before, so negotiating their connections would be challenge enough even if Dylan didn’t turn into a beast once a month.

To make matters worse, Dylan’s house is haunted, and events from both men’s pasts are catching up with them. Dylan has to cope with the aftermath of killing Andy, and Chris continues to suffer the effects of a difficult childhood.

In his quest to get rid of the ghost, Dylan rekindles old friendships and faces new dangers. At the same time, Chris’s father makes a sudden reappearance, stirring up old emotions. If Dylan and Chris want to build a lasting relationship, they’ll have to meet these challenges head-on. Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Kim Fielding Week Review: The Tin Box

Reviewed by Susan65

18377353Title: The Tin Box
Author: Kim Fielding
Heroes: William Lyon/Colby Anderson
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 210 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: September 20, 2013
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance Ebooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: William Lyon’s past forced him to become someone he isn’t. Conflicted and unable to maintain the charade, he separates from his wife and takes a job as caretaker at a former mental hospital. Jelley’s Valley State Insane Asylum was the largest mental hospital in California for well over a century, but it now stands empty. William thinks the decrepit institution is the perfect place to finish his dissertation and wait for his divorce to become final. In town, William meets Colby Anderson, who minds the local store and post office. Unlike William, Colby is cute, upbeat, and flamboyantly out. Although initially put off by Colby’s mannerisms, William comes to value their new friendship, and even accepts Colby’s offer to ease him into the world of gay sex.

William’s self-image begins to change when he discovers a tin box, hidden in an asylum wall since the 1940s. It contains letters secretly written by Bill, a patient who was sent to the asylum for being homosexual. The letters hit close to home, and William comes to care about Bill and his fate. With Colby’s help, he hopes the words written seventy years ago will give him courage to be his true self.

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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2013, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment