Published in 2016

Book Review: Jilted in January by Kate Pearce

Reviewed by Heather C

28254649Title: Jilted in January
Author: Kate Pearce
Series: A Year Without a Duke #1
Hero/Heroine: Colin Ford/Rose Leyton
Genre: MF Historical Romance
Length: 81 pages
Release Date: January 25, 2016
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: A Year Without a Duke

The duke has died. Long live the duke! The only problem is no one knows who the new Duke of Beckworth is. All of England wonders, but no one more so than the people who depend upon Beckworth for their livelihood. In 1816, a year so cold that the word “summer” is a cruel joke, that livelihood is even more uncertain. However, they are all about to find out, with the duke away, there is nothing more warming than scandal and love…

Jilted in January, book 1

Rose Leyton is stuck at the Duke of Beckworth’s country estate waiting for the return of her betrothed. If it wasn’t for the handsome assistant land agent, Mr. Colin Ford, she might believe she had ceased to exist at all. But when her intended arrives things aren’t quite how she expected.

As the youngest son of an impoverished peer, Colin is all too aware of how it feels to be ignored. His impulsive offer to save Miss Leyton from an unwanted marriage quickly becomes more serious than either of them anticipated. Can they both step out of the shadows and find a way to true independence and happiness?

When matrimonial matters don’t go quite as planned, can one jilted bride and an unlikely hero save the day?
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, M/F, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: Something in the Way He Needs by Cardeno C.

Reviewed by Morgan

28570209Title: Something in the Way He Needs
Author: Cardeno C.
Narrator: Ezekiel Robison
Series: Family #1
Heroes: Asher Penaz/Daniel Tover
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 7 Hours, 6 Minutes
Publisher: The Romance Authors
Release Date: January 14, 2016
Available at: Amazon and Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Police captain Asher Penaz’s staunch professionalism bleeds into his home life, down to his neatly pressed attire and spartan apartment. He enjoys being the man in charge, and leather bars satisfy his need for dominance—so his sudden and powerful attraction to the lighthearted, free-spirited Daniel Tover throws him for a loop. In his entire life, Daniel has never gotten what he needs, so he moves to the next place, the next job, the next attempt to find something worth staying for, always landing at the top of his game, but never feeling like he belongs.

The chemistry between Asher and Daniel sizzles, so Asher invites Daniel home. As both men struggle to learn themselves while getting to know each other, the lines of desire and control blur. With all that fire comes the risk of getting burned. But if Daniel and Asher can walk through the flames together, they might find what they desperately need.
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Unquiet by Melanie Hansen

Reviewed by JustJen

26833425Title: Unquiet
Author: Melanie Hansen
Series: Resilient Love #3
Heroes: Loren Smith/Eliot Devlin
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 296 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: January 22, 2016
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Loren Smith has been in love with Eliot Devlin almost his entire life. During their turbulent childhood and teen years, Loren didn’t always understand Eliot, and sometimes he could be a challenge, but Eliot was the only one to ever truly ease Loren’s deep loneliness and accept him. When Eliot’s increasingly erratic and self-destructive behavior culminates in a suicide attempt at seventeen, Loren is devastated.

Upon meeting again by chance nine years later, Loren is enjoying a successful career as a police officer while Eliot’s life has been a constant struggle for stability. In and out of mental hospitals, with a rap sheet a mile long, he continues to be buffeted by the twin storms of mania and depression. Loren’s love and protectiveness for Eliot are deeply ingrained in him, however, and their feelings for each other are quickly rekindled.

Loren has issues of his own he’s dealing with, and trying to understand and cope with Eliot’s bipolar disorder isn’t easy. They believe they’re meant to be, and Eliot brings a fulfillment to Loren’s life that no one else will ever match. But as they both come to realize, love by itself can’t cure all.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Red River by Cardeno C.

Reviewed by Morgan 

28561399Title: Red River
Author: Cardeno C.
Series: Pack #2
Heroes: Wesley Stone/Jobe Root
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 122 Pages
Publisher: The Romance Authors
Release Date: January 19, 2016
Available at:  Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Two Alpha shifters join together to lead their pack and build a family.

Commitment, loyalty, and strength aren’t enough to make Wesley Stone’s birth pack accept an Alpha with a physical imperfection, even if it’s a meaningless mark. Putting the safety of his pack above his own wellbeing, Wesley trades himself for another Alpha and agrees to mate with a stranger in a mysterious, insular pack.

Alphas from Jobe Root’s family have led the Red River pack from the first day shifters walked the earth. Now the time has come for Jobe to fulfill his destiny, but to do that, he needs his mate by his side. Spiritual, easygoing Jobe reveres Mother Nature and trusts in fate, yet he can’t help being nervous about how his mate will react to his new life in Red River, his new life with Jobe.

Two Alphas with contrasting personalities, different upbringings, and divergent beliefs come together for the good of their packs. But to stay together, Wesley and Jobe must see beyond the surface and embrace every facet of themselves and their union.

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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: The Marine Next Door by Terry O’Reilly

Reviewed by Morgan 

28435108Title: The Marine Next Door
Author: Terry O’Reilly
Heroes: Julian Reynolds/Tate Butler
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 79 Pages
Publisher: JMS Books
Release Date: January 3, 2016
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Schoolteacher Julian Reynolds is disillusioned with the seedier side of gay life in New York City with its self-absorption, vanity, and preoccupation with sex. When his long-time relationship with his high school sweetheart ends, he returns to his hometown and vows to live a simple life free of the extremes of the gay lifestyle and romantic entanglements. With that end in mind, he rents the carriage house next door to a large Tudor-style home.

Tate Butler, a former student of Julian’s, lives in the big house with his mother. Tate is bitter and withdrawn after losing a leg while serving in the Marine Corps during the war in Afghanistan. Fearing rejection from his mother and blaming himself for his father’s death, Tate stays firmly in the closet and punishes himself by refusing to learn how to walk again.

Can Tate and Julian help heal each other’s pasts and forge a real and lasting future together? Or will the driveway that separates their houses prove too wide a gulf to cross?
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Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Risk Everything On It by K.A. Mitchell

Reviewed by Susan65

28168696Title: Risk Everything On It
Author: K.A. Mitchell
Series: Ready or Knot #2
Heroes: Jax Conlon/Oz Parsons
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 284 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: January 8, 2016
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Former child star and deeply closeted adult actor Jax Conlon needs a boost to his flagging career. He promised his mom, just before she died. He hopes he’s found it in a guest spot with the latest directorial prodigy, but his research for the role gets derailed by an encounter with a handsome stranger with more… hands-on experience.

Oz Parsons is a devoted dad to two amazing little girls. Maybe a little too devoted—he hasn’t had anything resembling a personal life since his ex left, leaving Oz and the girls with broken hearts and abandonment issues. So a hookup with a hot guy is just what he needs to let off some pent-up steam without any complications. There’s something about Jax, though, that’s got him finding reasons to draw things out.

With their goals and families pulling them in two different directions, Oz and Jax have to figure if white-hot chemistry and desire that won’t quit is enough to roll the dice and risk now on forever.
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Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2016, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Tackling the Tight End by Tara Lain

Reviewed by Susan65

23264422Title: Tackling the Tight End
Author: Tara Lain
Series: Long Pass Chronicles #3
Heroes: Raven Nez/Dennis Hascomb
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 216 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: January 15, 2016
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Everyone wants the best for SCU student and tight end Raven Nez — and they know exactly what that is. Enter the NFL draft, become a big football hero, promote his tribe’s casino, and make a lot of money to help people on the reservation. Just one problem. Raven’s gay and he really wants to work with gay kids. Plus he figures a gay Native tight end will get flattened in the NFL. Then the casino board hires a talented student filmmaker to create ads for the tribal business and asks Raven to work with him. But the filmmaker is Dennis Hascomb, a guy with so much to hide and a life so ugly it’s beyond Raven’s understanding. Still he’s drawn to Dennis’s pain and incredible ability to survive. Captivated by Raven’s stories of the two-spirited and by the amazing joy of finally having a friend, Dennis knows he has to break free from everything he’s ever been taught was good—but that’s a struggle that could kill him and Raven too. Is there a chance for “the great red hope” and the “whitest guy on earth”? A future for the serpent and the raven?
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2016, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Audio Review: Where He Ends and I Begin by Cardeno C.

Reviewed by Morgan

51ADs2DWhxL__AA300_Title: where He Ends and I Begin
Author: Cardeno C.
Narrator: Alexander Collins
Series: Home #3
Heroes: Jake Owens/Nate Richardson
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 7 Hours, 55 Minutes
Publisher: The Romance Authors
Release Date: January 5, 2016
Available at: Amazon and Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Aggressive, physical, and brave, Jake Owens is a small town football hero turned big city cop who passes his time with meaningless encounters believing he can’t have who he really wants: Nate Richardson, his best friend since before forever. Thoughtful, quiet, and kind, Nate is a brilliant doctor who has always known who he is and has never been able to shake his crush on loyal, courageous, straight Jake.

After a passionate night together, Nate realizes Jake isn’t as straight as he assumed, but he worries that what they shared was a fluke, a result of too much closeness for too long. For Jake, the question isn’t how they ended up in bed together because he has always known that Nate holds his heart, it’s how he’ll convince Nate that he wants and needs to stay there.
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Double Indemnity by Maggie Kavanagh

Reviewed by Susan65

24465628Title: Double Indemnity
Author: Maggie Kavanagh
Series: The Stonebridge Mysteries #1
Heroes: Sam/Nathan
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 214 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: January 26, 2015
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Sam Flynn dreamed of being a journalist until a car accident killed his parents and put his brother into a long-term coma. Now Sam spends his days as a landscaper toiling in the New England sun and his nights drunk in bed with the closest warm body. In his limited spare time, he writes about Stonebridge’s local crime and politics on his blog “Under the Bridge.”

Then Sam’s favorite client is found dead in her home—shortly after telling him someone has betrayed her trust. Sam can’t believe her grief-stricken husband Nathan would be a suspect, but the investigation hones in on him. Sam has always admired handsome Nathan from afar, but now he puts his libidinous feelings aside to help clear his name. However, the closer he gets to Nathan, the more he’s told to keep away from him and the investigation—by the fatherly police chief, by an officer on the case who’s hated him since school, and by Nathan himself.

Sam’s determined to expose the real reason his friend died and clear Nathan’s name—even if it’s the last thing he does. Which, considering how fast the death toll is increasing in Stonebridge… it might be.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2016, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Honorary Blogger Jack L. Pyke: Backlash: Behind the Scene Book Tour – Author’s Reader Corner + Giveaway!

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Authors’ Reader Corner

by Jack L. Pyke

Huge – huge thanks to the Blogger Girls for agreeing to host me on this BDSM, psych thriller book tour!!!

Over 9 days, with 10 stops, we’re going behind the scene to Backlash, (Don’t…book 4), with loads of Backlash e-books to win along the way, as well as a paperback copy up for grabs! For a full list of tour dates and prizes, please see here at Forbidden Fiction Publications. http://forbiddenfiction.com/backlash-book-tour/

Today I’m hijacking a few Don’t series readers to see what they’d like to know about the Don’t lads from a behind-the-scenes perspective. Backlash is the 4th novel in the Don’t… series, and I can tell the ride hasn’t been easy for these lovely lads and ladies who have stepped forward with a question. The first comes from Nicole Colville (author of Saving Samuel and Discovering Dalton), but also just such a lovely and bubbly person to talk too!

Jack L: What’s your question, Nicole?

Nicole: Where did the idea of Don’t… come from, and did you plan it out, take ages weaving the threads of the plot through your mind, or did it just spill out onto the page? It’s probably one of the most unique plot lines I’ve read, and the series has such a deep range of characters. I’ve always wondered how much research and details went into it.

Jack L: I have to admit that my eldest lad is OCD, and as a mom I’ve been there at two, three, and four of the morning as he finds the new antibacterial hand wash I’ve bought. I’ve also had friends from my childhood who had a father with OCD. Transferring that into an environment such as a garage always played on my mind with just how well someone would cope with OCD, so it wasn’t really hard to give Jack Harrison his career choice as a mechanic.

As for the main psychological thriller theme that handles Conduct Disorder, especially surrounding controlling how a person reacts to the word Don’t…. Oh boy, tell any kid don’t and they only grin at you and do the opposite just for kicks. Yet saying something like that to my older lad as he reached for the soap a fourth time, seeing that need to bypass the order, that conflicting ‘playful rebellion’, it showed a more serious side of being caught in a loop you can’t escape from, and it became such a powerful draw for me. My lad can have such a dual personality at times, with that aggression kicking in, and the leap from Jack to Jack’s dissociative identity disorder over the creation of Martin crept in too.

When it then comes to the main romance element, the psychological implications over someone finding that weakness and exploiting it for their own sexual gain seemed hard not to cover. Especially when it came to seeing how loved ones cope with a lover being exploited in such a way, and the damage it causes to them over the years that they cope with the fallout.

Thank you, Nicole! The next question comes from the stunning Joseph Lance Tonlet (Author of The Brothers LaFon). Hi, Joseph!

Joseph: Who IS Jack Harrison? Meaning, is Jack simply a coping mechanism (born out of necessity to deal with immense psychological trauma) and the ‘real’ person is Martin, or vise versa? Or neither? Or a combination? Or…?

Jack L: Great question! And I think this ties back into Nicole’s question on where the idea for the series comes from. For the most part, Jack exists in his bubble, but that crumbles at times, and when he can’t cope, Martin comes in. Antidote and Breakdown touch on this dual personality, but in all honesty, I think that with a life without his disorders and complications, Jack would be so much closer to how Martin is, and probably behind bars. But with those disorders, the vulnerability splits him for the better, so that by the end of Backlash, there’s only one possible outcome: there’s never really any cure, just coping mechanisms for everyone concerned.

Thanks, Joseph! The next author question comes from the gorgeous Eileen Griffin (author of Dinner For Two).

Jack L: Hi, Eileen!

Eileen: Which scenes are more difficult for you to write: the emotionally painful ones or the physically painful ones? Why?

Jack L.: Oh boy. Antidote in general had to be the most difficult novel I’ve ever written. With the physical damage, Vince and the psychological reconditioning scenes toward Jack and Jan had to be done in small chunks, with so many breaks. But in all honesty, I hated the catalyst for seeing Jack and Jan walk away from Gray, just before Vince came into play. I knew how the series would end, what they’d go through in the following novels, and it hurt to put all of that in play and see Gray pull away from Jack, for Jack to hurt and walk away, and for Jan to be taken through hell for it. So definitely the emotional turmoil is harder to write for me. It’s why I need to see these guys catch a break with each other and just be able to get through the night. But the emotional side is harder, though, because I’m a mum, and knowing what my lad goes through with OCD, thinking anyone could twist and make an already intense condition harder to live with is… well, one very sick individual. I didn’t much like a certain someone in Antidote.

I just want to say a final thanks to all three authors who took time out to ask questions. Also to the Blogger Girls for hosting me! Thanks also to everyone for stopping by for a look at some of the behind the scenes decisions to Backlash! Tomorrow’s tour takes us to KathyMac Reviews, where I’ll be interviewing my BDSM consultant, Dilo Keith, who’s helped fashion my BDSM world: want to know who helps Gray make the choices he does? Check us out tomorrow and enter the Rafflecopter there for more chances to win Backlash in paperback. There’s also still chance to enter the Rafflecoptor with yesterday’s Book Tour stop over at Prism Alliance, plus also the chance to find out just how Gray Raoul came to work for the Masters’ Circle.

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About Backlash

27418455In the aftermath of Jack Harrison’s release from the psychiatric unit, Gray Raoul’s first instinct is to take brutal revenge on the one responsible for financing Jack’s and Jan’s torturous psychological reconditioning. However, that person is a plays the game dangerously well, knows exactly how to manipulate everyone in Gray’s life. To help negotiate this delicate situation, Gray contacts Trace and his ex-Diadem Dom, Gabriel Hunter. But the more Gray seems to regain control, the clearer it becomes that there’s something not quite right about Jan Richards. Jan quickly unravels, taking Jack and Gray with him, and bringing out one particularly deadly player, Gray’s left with one last defence: break Jack down in order to partner up with his alter ego, Martin. But once freed, Martin has plans of his own, and he wants to make it personal with Gray. Complete trust between Master and sub, between Gray and Jack, will be tested to the absolute limit.

Available at: Amazonblogger_bee_trans

About Jack L. Pyke

Jack L. Pyke blames her dark writing influences on living close to one of England’s finest forests. Having grown up hearing a history of kidnappings, murders, strange sightings, and sexual exploits her neck of the woods is renowned for, Jack takes that into her writing, having also learned that human coping strategies for intense situations can sometimes make the best of people have disastrously bad moments. Redeeming those flaws is Jack’s drive, and if that drive just happens to lead to sexual tension between two or more guys, Jack’s the first to let nature take its course.

Find out more about Jack on her Website, Facebook or Goodreads.

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As part of this blog tour, Jack is giving away a paperback copy of Backlash!! To enter, just click the link below!

Rafflecopter Giveaway

Please be aware that the only way to enter the giveaway is to click the Rafflecopter link above. Any comments on this post will not count towards entering the giveaway unless otherwise stated but are still welcome anyway.

Don’t forget to check out JustJen’s review of Backlash to see what she thought of it!

Good luck!

Categories: Book Promo, Excerpts, Giveaways, Honorary Blogger Post, LGBT, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , | 3 Comments