3.5 Star Ratings

Book Review: A Snowman Made of Sand by J.J. Carroll

Reviewed by Nikyta

SnowmanMadeofSand[A]LGTitle: A Snowman Made of Sand
Author: J.J. Carroll
Series: Celebrate! – 2014 Advent Calendar
Heroes: Ethan & Tristan
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 37 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: December 1, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Last year in England, Australian Ethan Harvey not only met his “perfect” man in Tristan Lewin-Jones, Ethan shared a wonderful Christmas with Tristan’s “perfect” family—an ideal British holiday full of genteel good cheer and all the traditional trimmings.

Now Tris and Ethan are living in Sydney, and Tris wants the quintessential Australian beach Christmas, with sun, sand, surf, seafood… and the Harveys. But Ethan didn’t mention the Harveys are politically incorrect, rude, crude, and loud. He worries his family will drive Tris away. Giving Tris the perfect beach Christmas with the imperfect Harveys is going to take a holiday miracle.

A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2014 Advent Calendar package “Celebrate!”.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Let the Music Say I Do by J.D. Walker

Reviewed by JustJen

1Title: Let the Music Say I Do
Author: J.D. Walker
Series: Wedding Bell Blues Book 1
Heroes: Jared Page/Joey Seever
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 32 Pages
Publisher: J.D. Walker
Release Date: October 19, 2014
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Jared Page and Joey Seever have a complicated relationship. They’re ex-lovers and former band members who still play together musically on occasion. Whenever Joey needs someone to fill in for a gig, Jared is the one he calls, despite their past history and the fact that Joey hadn’t wanted to take their relationship to the next level — marriage — and then cheated on him. Jared still has feelings for Joey even after all these years, though he’s become bitter and resentful.

The next time Jared fills in for a gig, he finds out that Joey has slept with a band member named Grady. Worse, Joey messed things up by cheating on Grady just like he had with Jared. In the fallout that follows, Jared says and does some things he instantly regrets.

He knows their friendship is worth saving, and he wants another chance at Joey’s heart, too. But there are things in Joey’s past that keep him running from commitment. Can they mend their relationship? Will Jared be able to convince Joey that love is nothing to fear, and marriage is just music to which to say, “I Do?”
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Letters at Christmas by Amber Lin

Reviewed by Heather C

22493937Title: Letters at Christmas
Author: Amber Lin
Series: Men of Fortune #1
Hero/Heroine: Hale Martin/Sidony Harbeck
Genre: MF Historical Romance
Length: 64 pages
Publisher: Macmillan
Release Date: July 7, 2014
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: London, 1815

Three London Seasons. Three Christmases come and gone. Jilted Sidony Harbeck is done waiting for the inconstant Captain Hale Martin to return. Despite their whispered adolescent promises, he never wrote her a single letter. Now the scoundrel has returned, professing his love and a thoughtless bet to woo her, but she only wants him to suffer.

After three years at sea, Hale finally has the means to marry his best friend’s sister and the love of his life. But he only has three days to convince her of his devotion because he stupidly proposes a wager – he’ll convince Sidony to marry him by Christmas or he’ll leave her alone forever.

When Hale sets out to seduce her, the stakes are raised by a passion so intense that Sidony must risk her heart no matter the odds.

Previously published in A Very Scandalous Holiday Anthology

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

Book Review: Batteries Not Included by J.L. Merrow

Reviewed by JustJen

1Title: Batteries Not Included
Author: J.L. Merrow
Heroes: Sam/Shane
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 30 Pages
Publisher: J.L. Merrow
Release Date: December 14, 2014
Available at: Amazon and Smashwords
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  How would you react if you woke up one morning to find you were in bed with your favorite rock star? More to the point: how would the rock star react?

Animal rescue worker Sam is content to dream of rock sensation Cain Shepney. Trouble is, his meddling mother Lillith thinks he deserves to have all his dreams come true — and she isn’t above performing a little magic to achieve her ends! Sam’s shocked to wake up one morning to find himself actually in bed with his celebrity crush — but that’s nothing to how Cain feels about it! Suddenly Sam’s got to deal with an irate, naked, and very distracting rock star in his bed.

Cain has it all — he’s good-looking, famous, and adored by millions. But his life takes a turn for the surreal when he wakes up in bed with Sam. Expecting everyone to be worried sick by his disappearance, Cain’s horrified to find his manager — and even his mum — insisting he’s an imposter, and the real Cain Shepney is right where he belongs.

Sam just wants to help, but with Cain convinced he’s a crazed, celebrity-kidnapping stalker, Sam’s got his work cut out for him. Can he get the object of his affections to trust him long enough to find out just what the hell’s going on?
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Crooked Tree Ranch by R.J. Scott

Reviewed by Susan65

1Title: Crooked Tree Ranch
Author: R.J. Scott
Series: Montana #1
Heroes: Nathaniel ‘Nate’ Todd/Jay Sullivan
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 176 Pages
Publisher: Totally Bound
Release Date: December 13, 2013
Available at: Totally Bound, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Nate Todd knows things have to change for Crooked Tree to survive. He just doesn’t know how much of an effect Jay Sullivan will have on his life.

On the spur of the moment, with his life collapsing around him, Jay Sullivan answers an ad for a marketing expert on a dude ranch in Montana. With his small family, he moves lock, stock and barrel from New York to Montana to start a new life.

Foreman and owner of a third of the ranch, ex rodeo star Nathaniel ‘Nate’ Todd has been running Crooked Tree Ranch. His partners in the business convince him that he needs to get an expert in to help the ranch survive. He knows things have to change, but when the new guy turns up, with a troubled family in tow, he just isn’t prepared for how much.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2013, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Marine by John Simpson and Robert Cummings

Reviewed by JustJen

1Title: The Marine
Authors: John Simpson and Robert Cummings
Heroes: David Stauffer/Matthew Kendricks
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 101 Pages
Publisher: Cool Beans Publishing & Editing
Release Date: September 20, 2014
Available at: Cool Beans P & E, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Two young men, David Stauffer and Matthew Kendricks, meet while processing into the Marine Corps for Basic Training. David is immediately attracted to the red haired, Matthew. As their training begins, David pursues Matthew to find out if the attraction is mutual. To his great pleasure, David learns that his attentions are not unwelcomed, but rather feared. Matthew, unlike David isn’t as comfortable with his fellow trainees finding out he’s gay.

As training progresses David proves himself to be superior to the other trainees. As a reward, he is given a short, on post leave and is allowed to take Matthew with him. This allows them a chance to explore each other’s bodies, rather than just glimpses in the showers.

From that moment the spark between the two burns hot and sets the stage for what is to come. When training ends, questions about their futures arise. Both men are forced to make decisions that will impact their futures, and potentially out them to the entire Marine Corps.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Teach Me by Sloan Johnson

Reviewed by JustJen

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000446_00066]Title: Teach Me
Author: Sloan Johnson
Heroes: Austin Pritchard/David Becker
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 245 Pages
Publisher: Sloan Johnson
Release Date: November 25, 2014
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Two words stripped Austin Pritchard of the privileged life he’s used to. The moment he uttered the words, “I’m gay,” he realized there is no such thing as unconditional love. Now, he’s gone from traveling the world with his family to living on the streets trying to figure out how he’s going to stay in school.

A chance opportunity changes everything. Austin impresses the foreman and lands a job, but even more, he catches the eye of David Becker, who is determined to teach him that true love doesn’t come with strings.

The only thing David had as a child was love. His family struggled to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. That has driven him to stay focused on his goals; become a tenured professor at a university and save enough money to build a home of his own. It’s not until he sees an insecure college student working on his new house that he realizes that he hasn’t planned on someone to share his life with. He’s about to learn that everything he’s already accomplished is nothing compared to the task of making Austin see that he is worthy of love.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Josh Lanyon Week Review: Fair Play

Guest Reviewed by Trish

1Title: Fair Play
Author: Josh Lanyon
Series: All’s Fair #2
Heroes: Elliot Mills/Tucker Lance
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 250 Pages
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: November 10, 2014
Available at: Carina Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Fifty years ago, Roland Mills belonged to a violent activist group. Now, someone is willing to kill to prevent him from publishing his memoirs.

When ex-FBI agent Elliot Mills is called out to examine the charred ruins of his childhood home, he quickly identifies the fire for what it is–arson. A knee injury may have forced Elliot out of the Bureau, but it’s not going to stop him from bringing the man who wants his father dead to justice.

Agent Tucker Lance is still working to find the serial killer who’s obsessed with Elliot and can’t bear the thought of his lover putting himself in additional danger. Straightlaced Tucker has never agreed with radical Roland on much–“opposing political viewpoints” is an understatement–but they’re united on this: Elliot needs to leave the case alone. Now.

Tucker would do nearly anything for the man he loves, but he won’t be used to gain Elliot access to the FBI’s resources. When the past comes back to play and everything both men had known to be true is questioned, their fragile relationship is left hanging in the balance.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Early Review: The Highland Dragon’s Lady by Isabel Cooper

Reviewed by Nikyta

21897519Title: The Highland Dragon’s Lady
Author: Isabel Cooper
Series: Highland Dragon #2
Heroine/Hero: Regina Talbot-Jones/Colin MacAlasdair
Genre: M/F Historical Fantasy
Length: 352 Pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date: December 2, 2014
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Regina Talbot-Jones has always known her rambling family home was haunted. She also knows her brother has invited one of his friends to attend an ill-conceived séance. She didn’t count on that friend being so handsome… and she certainly didn’t expect him to be a dragon.

Scottish Highlander Colin MacAlasdair has hidden his true nature for his entire life, but the moment he sets eyes on Regina, he knows he has to have her. In his hundreds of years, he’s never met a woman who could understand him so thoroughly… or touch him so deeply. Bound by their mutual loneliness, drawn by the fire awakening inside of them, Colin and Regina must work together to defeat a vengeful spirit – and discover whether their growing love is powerful enough to defy convention.

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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, M/F, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Josh Lanyon Week Review: Dangerous Ground

Reviewed by JustJen

1Title: Dangerous Ground
Author: Josh Lanyon
Series: Dangerous Ground #1
Heroes: Taylor MacAllister/Will Brandt
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 90 Pages
Publisher: Josh Lanyon
Release Date: April 12, 2012
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Special Agents for the Department of Diplomatic Security, Taylor MacAllister and Will Brandt have been partners and best friends for three years, but everything changed the night Taylor admitted the truth about his feelings for Will. And when Taylor was shot a few hours later, Will felt his reluctance to get involved was vindicated. For Will, the team and the friendship have to come first–despite the fact that he hasn’t failed to notice just how…hot Taylor is.

Taylor has been in love with his partner and best friend since they were first partnered. There isn’t much he wouldn’t do for Will–but he doesn’t know how much longer they can stay teamed feeling the way he does. Still, he agreed to a camping trip in the High Sierras–despite the fact that he hates camping–because Will wanted a chance to save their partnership.

But the trip is a disaster from the first, and things rapidly go from bad to worse when they find a crashed plane and a couple of million dollars in stolen money. With a trio of murderous robbers trailing them, Will and Taylor are on dangerous ground, fighting for their partnership, their passion…and their lives.

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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment