4 Star Ratings

Book Review: Half a Man by Scarlet Blackwell

Reviewed by Heather C

23172512Title:  Half a Man
Author: Scarlet Blackwell
Series: War Tales #1
Heroes: Robert Blake/Jack Anderson
Genre: MM Historical Romance
Length: 99 Pages
Publisher: Totally Bound
Release Date: September 26, 2014
Available at: Totally Bound
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Traumatised by the nightmare of trench warfare in France, Robert Blake turns to rent boy Jack Anderson for solace. Neither man expects their business relationship to go quite so far.

It is 1919, less than a year after the end of the First World War with a recovering Britain in the grip of the influenza pandemic. Crippled veteran of the Somme battle, Robert Blake, is looking for someone to ease his nightmares of France and his guilt over what happened to his commanding officer. He turns to educated rent boy Jack Anderson for physical solace, not expecting how deeply the two soon become immersed in each other’s lives.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Wood, Screws & Nails by Piper Vaughn and Kade Boehme

Guest Reviewed by Morgan

dTitle: Wood, Screws & Nails
Author: Piper Vaughn and Kade Boehme
Series: Hard Hats #1
Heroes: Aaron Costa/Malachi Pereira
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 176 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: April 23, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Aaron Costa’s summer was all planned. Despite having to remodel the family lake house, it would be a vacation of sorts, and he had every intention of enjoying it—until the friend who was supposed to help him got injured and left him in a lurch. He decides to take the opportunity to bond with his son and hires Julian and his roommate, Malachi, to assist.

As a broke college student, Malachi could use the money, and spending the summer with Aaron for eye candy sounds like a dream. “Look but don’t touch” becomes his motto. But when Julian starts flaking on his responsibilities and Malachi and Aaron are forced to spend long hours alone together, their mutual attraction is impossible to resist.

Aaron can’t fight the temptation sexy Malachi presents. But more than their age difference stands in their way, not the least of which is Aaron’s semi-closeted status and the fact that he’s never openly discussed his sexuality with his son. He has no idea how Julian will react when he learns his father is not only gay, he’s also dating his best friend.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Temptations of Desire by Tempeste O’Riley

Reviewed by Nikyta

1Title: Temptations of Desire
Author: Tempeste O’Riley
Series: Desires Entwined #3
Heroes: Alexander James Noble/Dal Sayer
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 200 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: September 22, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press and Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Alexander James Noble is a gender fluid gay man who gave up on finding Mister Right a long time ago. He’s not asking for much, though. He just wants a guy who loves all of him and appreciates his feminine form too.

At the local LGBTQ center where Alex regularly volunteers, he meets Dal Sayer, an officer of the Milwaukee PD. Because he’s been rejected one too many times, Alex doesn’t trust the huge cop and the interest he shows in him, but once Dal sets his mind on something, he goes all out. Pushing aside his preconceived notions, Alex opens up just a little and soon caves.

From their first date—while dealing with his father’s failing health and his parents’ demands for him to settle down and have children—Dal never takes his eyes off his goal of making Alex his. But proving to Alex he isn’t like all the men who couldn’t see him for who he truly was and only wanted to hide him away is harder than he thought.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: Frankie & Al by Sue Brown

Guest Reviewed by Morgan 

dTitle: Frankie & Al
Author: Sue Brown
Narrator: Max Lehnen
Heroes: Frankie/Al
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 158 Pages / 3 Hours, 33 Minutes
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: Book – March 21, 2014 / Audio – August 27, 2014
Available at:  Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Audible and iTunes
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Dumped by his boyfriend, Frankie Mason goes out with the girls, gets totally trashed, and ends his night by falling in front of a taxi. He’s rescued by a man with beautiful green eyes who takes care of him until he’s put into an ambulance. Frankie curses himself as he realizes he doesn’t have the man’s phone number. Still in pain a few days later, he is dragged out to a club only to be saved by Green Eyes once more. This time, he isn’t letting the man go.

Unfortunately Frankie has to attend a team-building exercise, nicknamed Womb Weekend, organized by his company. Al is working so he doesn’t mind, until he discovers who the team leader is. Al has a lot of explaining to do!
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Audio Review, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

J.L. Merrow Week Review: Trick of Time

Reviewed by Susan65

dTitle: Trick of Time
Author: J.L. Merrow
Heroes: Ted/Jem
Genre: MM Historical
Length: 80 Pages
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: January 28, 2013
Available at: Carina Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: A lover from another time

When Ted Ennis steps out the doors of the Criterion Theatre for a cigarette and finds himself in Victorian London, he begins to doubt his sanity. At first he thinks it’s all a film set, and is sure that the strikingly handsome young man leaning against a lamppost must be the leading man…

What starts as a sordid transaction with a beautiful rent boy quickly turns into something much deeper, drawing him back again and again as he gets to know Jem and craves meaningful encounters with him.

But Ted doesn’t understand the exact conditions necessary for his trips through time—and for Jem, time may actually be running out. Now Ted has one last shot to get back to Jem and save their relationship, before it’s too late…
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2013, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Love and Punishment by Susan Mac Nicol

Reviewed by JustJen

3Title: Love and Punishment
Author: Susan Mac Nicol
Heroes: Anthony Parglietto/Flynn Parker
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 261 Pages
Publisher: Boroughs Publishing
Release Date: August 29, 2014
Available at: Boroughs Publishing, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  FROM DARKNESS AND LIGHT

Someone is leaving a trail of bodies throughout London, and Detective Anthony Parglietto is determined to end the violence. Then he’ll return to the man he loves.

Tough, street-savvy, and used to dealing with lowlifes, Flynn Parker is the last person Anthony thinks he has to protect. Then the Bow-Tie Killer strikes close to home and the world turns upside down. Right is wrong, black is white, and a policeman might become a monster. But in the name of love, justice must be served. In the name of love, pain can be endured. In the name of love, a man can taste the very essence that defines him.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

J.L. Merrow Week Review: Poacher’s Fall

Reviewed by Heather C

1Title:  Poacher’s Fall
Author: J.L. Merrow
Series: Midwinter Manor #1
Heroes: Danny Costessey/Philip Luccombe
Genre: MM Historical Romance
Length: 65 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: January 30, 2013
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: One snowy night just before Christmas, 1922, poacher Danny Costessey rounds off a night trapping rabbits by climbing a tree to fetch some mistletoe for his mother—only to fall and break his leg. Taken to the manor house to recover from his injuries, Danny meets the reclusive owner, Philip Luccombe. Village gossip has it Luccombe went mad during the war, but Danny soon realizes he’s simply still mourning his late lover. As friendship grows between them, Danny starts to fall for handsome, shy Philip.

Danny’s lively nature, roguish good looks, and ready laughter enchant Philip, and he finds himself being drawn out of his shell whether he will it or not. But when Danny tries to move beyond friendship, Philip panics—and his rejection threatens not only their happiness, but Danny’s health.

This is a revised and expanded version of the story previously published under the title of Pleasures with Rough Strife. Everyone who has purchased a stand-alone copy of Pleasures with Rough Strife from the Dreamspinner website (ie not as part of the Mistletoe Madness set) will be able to download Poacher’s Fall free!

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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Just a Little Bad by K.A. Mitchell

Reviewed by Susan65

dTitle: Just a Little Bad
Author: K.A. Mitchell
Series: Bad in Baltimore #4.5
Heroes: Eli/Quinn
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 50 Pages
Publisher: K.A. Mitchell
Release Date: September 17, 2014
Available at: K.A. Mitchell, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Because sometimes you need a little reassurance on your happy ending.

When Eli found himself jobless and homeless a few months ago, his boyfriend Quinn invited Eli to move in. Quinn said he loved Eli and wanted him there, but when problems from Eli’s homeless days show up in the form of extra house guests, Eli starts to worry. Maybe Quinn was only motivated by pity. Because pity comes with an expiration date Eli is hoping their relationship doesn’t.

As Eli pushes for security, Quinn has to find a way to make it very clear that he is determined to be everything Eli needs.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

J.L. Merrow Week Review: Fall Hard

Guest Reviewed by Trish

11Title: Fall Hard
Author: J.L. Merrow
Heroes: Paul/Viggo
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 237 Pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: September 17, 2013
Available at:  Samhain Publishing, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Some memories are better off lost in the mist…

Eight months ago, British academic Paul Ansell lost his lover—and all the memories of their time together—in an accident at Iceland’s Gullfoss Falls. Returning to the misty island country to resume his study of the bloodthirsty Viking Egil Skallagrimsson is tough as he struggles to pull his life back together.

First, there’s his colleague, Mags, who treats him like glass, and summer student Alex, who peppers him with discomforting questions. Then there’s Icelandic jet-boat driver Viggo, a tattooed, modern-day Viking who won’t say much about how they know each other. Leaving Paul to wonder if their volcanic attraction is fuelled by a desire to make a fresh start, or desperation to forget the past.

As more fragments of his lost memories fall into place, Paul is unsure if he can trust himself, much less anyone around him. And he begins to suspect his accident was nothing of the kind.

Warning: Contains a modern-day Viking whose boat has V8 engines for oars, and a harsh land of hot springs and hotter passions that won’t forgive any false steps.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: I Can See for Miles by Lisa Worrall

Reviewed by Morgan

12Title: I Can See for Miles
Author: Lisa Worrall
Narrator: Chris Patton
Heroes: Josh Donald and Charlie Cooper
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 200 Pages / 4 Hours, 58 Minutes
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: Book – May 1, 2013 / Audio – September 5, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Audible and iTunes
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: After a kayaking accident took Josh Donald’s sight, he’s faced with learning to negotiate the world as a blind man. In short order, his boyfriend leaves him behind, making it clear he’s not inclined to deal with special needs. Reeling from the blow, Josh flounders. In an attempt to help, Josh’s friends take him to a camp for the blind, where he falls for the camp organizer, Charlie Cooper.

Charlie seems to feel the attraction too, but when a horse named Dottie pushes them into a hot first kiss, Charlie resists. He believes he’s damaged goods, not boyfriend material. Since the accident, Josh has faced tough obstacles, but the most challenging hurdle of all may be getting Charlie to open up and take a chance on love.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Audio Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment