3.5 Star Ratings

Book Review: Bound by Desire by Tempeste O’Riley

Reviewed by Nikyta

Bound by Desire by Tempeste O'RileyTitle: Bound by Desire
Author: Tempeste O’Riley
Series: Desires Entwined #1.75
Heroes: Seth & James
Genre: M/M Contemporary BDSM
Length: 20 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: May 30, 2014
FREE at: Dreamspinner Press
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Despite his past abuse, James has come to terms with his relationship with his Dom and lover Seth. Seth treats James with all the trust and love his sub desires. There is only one thing left to do to make it all complete: Seth needs to put a collar on James.
Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: The Dog Trainer by Owen Keehnen

Reviewed by JustJen

DTTitle: The Dog Trainer
Author: Owen Keehnen
Heroes: Richard/Abe
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 70 pages
Publisher: Wilde City Press
Release Date: May 21, 2014
Available at: Wilde City
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Sometimes the last thing you expect is exactly what you need.

Richard is a typical neurotic gay urbanite, a serial monogamist with a domineering peer group and a well-paying dead end job. That is until one night, while stumbling home drunk, Richard finds a puppy named Hambone. Almost immediately Richard’s life and his relationships begin to change. At the recommendation of Evelyn, his neighbor across the hall, Richard hires a dog trainer named Abe. From the moment Richard hears Abe’s voice on the phone he feels a connection with this professional pooch-handler. When they meet face-to-face the attraction is palpable. Richard loves the way Abe treats Hambone. Abe opens Richard’s eyes to a different take on life and what really matters.

Will love conquer all in the end? It will if Hambone has any say in the matter.

Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Hold the World Together by Pepper Espinoza

Reviewed by Heather C

21964324Title: Hold the World Together
Author: Pepper Espinoza
Heroes: Alfred & Sam
Genre: M/M Historical Romance
Length: 31,000 words
Publisher: Amber Allure
Release Date: April 2014
Available at: Amber Allure, Amazon, All Romance eBooks and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Harvard graduate Alfred Chan jumps at the chance to teach languages at the new University of California, eager to leave his life behind even if it means a dangerous cross-country journey. He knows there are bandits in the western mountains, but he never expects the most infamous of those bandits to stop his wagon train and steal him away into the night.

Sam and Shane Lyons are wanted for robbing stagecoaches and wagon trains across the western territories, and they don’t just take money. Sometimes, they kidnap educated men. A mysterious Chinese scroll holds the promise of a better life for the two brothers, if only they can find somebody able to read the strange marks on the page. They whisk Alfred to their hideout high in the ragged cliffs of the Uinta Mountains, and there, during a brutal winter, they warn him that his life will end if he fails to deliver a full translation.

Alfred knows he should fear for his life, but somehow, when he’s with Sam, he’s not afraid of anything… Continue reading

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

Book Review: Stalking the Hygienist by Jackie Nacht

Reviewed by Nikyta

Stalking the Hygienist (Paranormal Dentistry for the Fanged and Friendly, #2)Title: Stalking the Hygienist
Author: Jackie Nacht
Series: Paranormal Dentistry for the Fanged and Friendly #2
Heroes: Beauregard & Sergei
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 17,000 words
Publisher: MLR Press
Release Date: April 18, 2014
Available at: MLR Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: This lion shifter will go to any length to get his deer shifting hygienist, including going to the dentist. Bring on the nitrous oxide!

Beauregard made a mistake… a horrible mistake. Now embarrassed, he focuses on what he loves most, working as a hygienist at Paranormal Dentistry for the Fanged and Friendly.

As soon as Sergei saw Beauregard coming up to his meat counter, he fell hard for the deer shifter. The only problem is Beauregard is running from him. Being the lion shifter he is, Sergei decides to take matters into his own hand and goes hunting. However, Sergei never imagined he would have to face his worst fear and choke down a salad.What’s it going to take to make Beauregard his? Continue reading

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

Book Review: Rough Attraction by Talon P.S.

Reviewed by JustJen

Rough Attraction (Dominion of Brothers, #3)Title: Rough Attraction
Author: Talon P.S.
Series: Dominion of Brothers #3
Genre: M/M BDSM
Length: 198 pages
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: May 29, 2013
Available at: Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Like brimstone and caramel. When two men come together with a Rough Attraction that burns as fast as Nitrous Oxide in their veins, its hard to find the cruise control and trust that they can make this last for the long run.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Life and relationships aren’t always neat and clean, or come in perfect little packages. Maxum St. Laurents knows this all too well. After being in a four-year relationship that does everything but bring him pleasure and fulfillment, he finds himself struggling to keep working at it. It doesn’t help matters that the man who satisfies every need and want he could have is the man he is having an affair with. And for Maxum, affairs don’t translate into long term relationships.

Darko Laszkovi just couldn’t help himself when he spotted the handsome man ranting over a flat tire on the side of the road. Moreover, he couldn’t be happier when the reward turned into an insatiable lover he hoped to keep for the long run. But, despite the rough attraction that holds them to each other like power-magnets, when Maxum struggles to let go of a relationship that doesn’t work; Darko’s patience and understanding that, we aren’t always where we want to be, gets tested to the max.

Continue reading

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

Urban Fantasy Week Review: Shamrock Green by Jackson Cordd

Reviewed by Nikyta

Shamrock Green by Jackson Cordd eBookTitle: Shamrock Green
Author: Jackson Cordd
Heroes: Darren & Hank
Genre: M/M Urban Fantasy
Length: 340 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: April 2, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Ever since hearing his granny’s old fairy tales, Hank Lear has longed to experience the ancient magic coursing through Ireland, sure that some grand adventure awaited him among the verdant hills. Now, with his vacation coming to an end, he’s about to return to Texas with nothing but memories of old castles, modern cities, and a cheap Claddagh ring he bought in an antique store. On a whim, Hank visits a bath house on his last night in Dublin, where he meets Darren Connell, a man with plenty of secrets of his own. Obscured by the dim light and thick steam, shy Hank musters the courage to flirt with Darren, and though they can barely see one another, a strong and mysterious connection forms.

Just as Hank is about to leave for the airport, Darren stops him, tells Hank he needs his help, and begs Hank to stay. Hank can’t refuse him, and soon they’re caught in a web of forces outside their control and outside reality as Hank understands it. Each step leads them to Shamrock Green and the last portal to the world of the Fae. With danger closing in, Hank and Darren must decipher their destinies before the portal is lost forever.

Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Urban Fantasy Week Review: Magic Gifts by Ilona Andrews

Reviewed by Heather C

13299211Title: Magic Gifts
Author: Ilona Andrews
Series: Kate Daniels #5.4
Heroine & Hero: Kate & Curran
Genre: M/F Urban Fantasy
Length: 100 pages
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: July 31, 2012
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble as an extra in Gunmetal Magic
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: This novella takes place at the same time as Andrea’s book, right after MAGIC SLAYS, and the two stories intersect.

A dinner date after a hard day at work sounds heavenly. Of course, when that date is between the Beast Lord and Kate Daniels, things don’t go as planned. Before you know it, undead are running amok, heads are being chopped off, lawyers are deployed and used with extreme prejudice, and drunk vikings are calling people out. Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, M/F, Published in 2012 | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Studio Orders by Morticia Knight

Reviewed by JustJen

Studio Orders (Gin & Jazz, #5)Title: Studio Orders
Author: Morticia Knight
Series: Gin & Jazz #5
Heroes: Vincent/Juan
Genre: M/M Historical BDSM
Length: 165 Pages
Publisher: Totally Bound
Release Date: March 7, 2014
Available at: Totally BoundAmazonAll Romance eBooksBarnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: The head of Global Pictures Studios, Vincent Franklin, promised Jack Stone that he would take care of Jack’s loyal driver, Juan. But for a dominant man like Vincent, Juan’s natural submissiveness causes him to long for much more from the shy young man.

Juan is devastated when his only friend, film star Jack Stone, leaves Hollywood for good. Lonely most of his life, the shy young man has dreamt of love, only to have his heart broken repeatedly. Before he left, Jack made certain that Juan would be taken care of by asking his ex-boss, studio chief Vincent Franklin, to hire him on.

Vincent Franklin is an incredibly controlled and meticulous man. Not given to emotional outbursts and unnecessary flights of fancy, his temperament is ideal for the stressful and demanding job as head of Global Pictures Studio. He leads a carefully concealed private life, his only social outlet being the S&M club to which he belongs. When Jack introduces him to his handsome chauffeur Juan, he is struck by how naturally submissive Juan is. He wonders…

Soon, Juan is falling for the elegant, older man that is his new boss. He’s also thrilled when Vincent asks him to be his personal valet. But there are things that Vincent demands of a lover that Juan knows nothing about. Things that could make him run away from the man that would do anything to protect and care for him.

Reader Advisory: This book contains strong elements of BDSM.

Publisher’s Note: This book is best read as part of a series but can be read as a standalone. Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Country Crush by Shiloh Saddler

Reviewed by Susan65

Country CrushTitle: Country Crush
Author: Shiloh Saddler
Heroes: Will Conrad and Blake Bonner
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 47 Pages
Publisher: Secret Cravings Publishing
Release Date: March 17, 2014
Available at: Secret Cravings Publishing, Amazon & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Country singer Will Conrad is afraid coming out will tank his career. Being a celebrity makes it difficult to pick up a man and keep things secret. A gay one night stand online dating site is his salvation. While he is performing in Las Vegas he agrees to meet the real cowboy with whom he has been corresponding.

A car accident left championship team roper Blake Bonner with a paralyzed leg and a wounded heart. Now fully recovered, he is ready for a relationship, but will his blind date want to be topped by a cripple and will he treat him like a whole man?

When Blake finds out his date is Will Conrad he can’t believe it. He’s been his country crush since he hit the country music scene. But when the paparazzi catch them together will their burgeoning relationship be able to brave the media storm?

Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Early Review: It’s Complicated by L.A. Witt

Reviewed by Heather C

20816383Title: It’s Complicated
Author: L.A. Witt
Series: Tucker Springs #7
Heroes: Brad Sweeney & Jeff Hayden
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Length: 52,000 words
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: April 28, 2014
Available at: Riptide Publishing
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: After their umpteenth breakup, Brad Sweeney and Jeff Hayden are living apart and starting over from scratch. The morning after a promising first date, they’re more optimistic than ever that they can make it work this time . . . until Jeff’s ex-wife and business partner calls to announce she’s pregnant with Jeff’s baby. Brad’s already competing with a demanding business for Jeff’s time. Now there’s a baby on the way, and worse, he’s afraid Jeff is still carrying a torch for the woman who’s carrying his child.

Jeff is desperately trying to keep his life together, but before he can even get his head around the news that he’s going to be a father, his ex announces that she wants to leave Tucker Springs. Now he either has to take over her role at the shop while ferrying the baby back and forth from Denver, or move the business—and himself—with her.

Brad and Jeff knew reconciliation wouldn’t be easy, but they’re rapidly running out of room for compromise. And sooner or later, something has to give. Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments