5 Star Ratings

Heidi Cullinan Week: Reminisce Review of Double Blind

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Double Blind
Author: Heidi Cullinan
Series: Special Delivery #2
Heroes: Randy Jensen & Ethan Ellison
Genre: M/M BDSM Contemporary
Length: 350 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Re-Release Date: March 4, 2014
Available at: Samhain, Amazon, & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Know when to show your hand…and when to hedge your bets.

Randy Jensen can’t stand to just sit by and watch as a mysterious man throws money away on the roulette wheel, especially since Randy’s got his own bet going as to the reason this guy is making every play like it’s his last day on earth. The man’s dark desperation hits Randy right in the gut. Half of him warns that getting involved is a sucker’s bet, and the other half scrambles for a reason—any reason—to save the man’s soul.

Ethan Ellison has no idea what he’s going to do with himself once his last dollar is gone—until Randy whirls into his life with a heart-stealing smile and a poker player’s gaze that sees too much.

Randy draws Ethan into a series of wagers that leads to a scorching kiss by midnight, but he isn’t the only one with an interest in Ethan’s vulnerability. Soon they’re both taking risks that not only play fast and loose with the law, but with the biggest prize of all: their hearts.

This book has been previously published and has been revised from its original release.

Product Warnings:

This story contains high-stakes poker, gangsters with a weakness for kittens, foursomes, and kinky consensual sex.

Continue reading

Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Book Review: The Affair of the Porcelain Dog by Jess Faraday

Reviewed by Heather C

10116196Title: The Affair of the Porcelain Dog
Author: Jess Faraday
Hero: Ira Adler
Genre: M/M Historical Fiction; Mystery
Length: 72,897 words
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Release Date: June 14, 2011
Available at: Bold Strokes BooksAmazonAll Romance eBooksBarnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf at: GoodreadsBooklikes

Blurb: London 1889.

For Ira Adler, former rent-boy and present plaything of crime lord Cain Goddard, stealing back the statue from Goddard’s blackmailer should have been a doddle. But inside the statue is evidence that could put Goddard away for a long time under the sodomy laws, and everyone’s after it, including Ira’s bitter ex, Dr. Timothy Lazarus. No sooner does Ira have the porcelain dog in his hot little hands, than he loses it to a nimble-fingered prostitute.

As Ira’s search for the dog drags him back to the mean East End streets where he grew up, he discovers secrets about his own past, and about Goddard’s present business dealings, which make him question everything he thought he knew. An old friend turns up dead, and an old enemy proves himself a friend. Goddard is pressing Ira for a commitment, but every new discovery casts doubt on whether Ira can, in good conscience, remain with him.

In the end, Ira must choose between his hard-won life of luxury and standing against a grievous wrong. Continue reading

Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2011 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Book Review: The Grendel Affair by Lisa Shearin

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: The Grendel Affair
Author: Lisa Shearin
Series: SPI Files #1
Hero/Heroine: Makenna Fraser & Ian Byrne
Genre:  M/F Urban Fantasy
Length: 304 pages
Publisher:  Ace Books
Release Date: December 31, 2013
Available at: Penguin, Amazon & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: We’re Supernatural Protection & Investigations, known as SPI. Things that go bump in the night, the monsters you thought didn’t exist? We battle them and keep you safe. But some supernatural baddies are just too big to contain, even for us…

When I moved to New York to become a world famous journalist, I never imagined that snagging a job at a seedy tabloid would change my career path from trashy reporter to undercover agent. I’m Makenna Fraser, a Seer for SPI. I can see through any disguise, shield, or spell that a paranormal pest can come up with. I track down creatures and my partner, Ian Byrne, takes them out.

Our cases are generally pretty routine, but a sickle-wielding serial killer has been prowling the city’s subway tunnels. And the murderer’s not human. The fiend in question, a descendant of Grendel—yes, that Grendel—shares his ancestor’s hatred of parties, revelry, and drunkards. And with New Year’s Eve in Times Square only two days away, we need to bag him quickly. Because if we don’t find him—and the organization behind him—by midnight, our secret’s out and everyone’s time is up. Continue reading

Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, M/F, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Shaking the Sugar Tree by Nick Wilgus

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Shaking the Sugar Tree
Author: Nick Wilgus
Heroes: Wiley Cantrell and Jackson Ledbetter
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 304 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: January 31, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Wise-cracking Wiley Cantrell is loud and roaringly outrageous—and he needs to be to keep his deeply religious neighbors and family in the Deep South at bay. A failed writer on food stamps, Wiley works a minimum wage job and barely manages to keep himself and his deaf son, Noah, more than a stone’s throw away from Dumpster-diving.

Noah was a meth baby and has the birth defects to prove it. He sees how lonely his father is and tries to help him find a boyfriend while Wiley struggles to help Noah have a relationship with his incarcerated mother, who believes the best way to feed a child is with a slingshot. No wonder Noah becomes Wiley’s biggest supporter when Boston nurse Jackson Ledbetter walks past Wiley’s cash register and sets his sugar tree on fire.

Jackson falls like a wet mule wearing concrete boots for Wiley’s sense of humor. And while Wiley represents much of the best of the South, Jackson is hiding a secret that could threaten this new family in the making.

When North meets South, the cultural misunderstandings are many, but so are the laughs, and the tears, but, as they say down in Dixie, it’s all good. Continue reading

Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Book Review: Broken Pieces by Riley Hart

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Broken Pieces
Author: Riley Hart
Heroes: Josiah/Mateo/Tristan
Genre: M/M/M Contemporary
Length: 339 pages
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: February 4, 2014
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Can three broken pieces make a whole?

Josiah Evans is the orphan who lost both his parents. He’s sweet, shy, and all heart. He wants nothing more than to be loved.

Mateo Sanchez is the son of a gang leader. He’s seen it all, and never hesitates to do what needs to be done, no matter what it is.

Tristan Croft is the wealthy attorney who clawed his way up from the bottom to rule his own world. He’ll never depend on anyone but himself again.

Three men who couldn’t be more different…and yet, as their lives intersect they find an uncommon balance that calms the storms inside each of them, and ignites fires hotter than they ever thought imaginable.

Told uniquely in three parts and spanning over ten years, BROKEN PIECES is a journey of healing for three fragmented souls, finding love in the unlikeliest of places—with each other. Continue reading

Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Calmes Week Review: Old Loyalty, New Love

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Old Loyalty, New Love
Author: Mary Calmes
Heroes: Quade Danas & Roman Howell
Genre: M/M Paranormal Romance
Length:  246 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: December 13, 2013
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: When jackal shifter Quade Danas was banished from his pack for being gay, he spent years in the military escaping his father’s prejudice before returning to civilian life as a bodyguard for Roman Howell, the teenage son of a very rich man. After Roman is in an accident that leaves him physically scarred and emotionally distant, Quade is the only one who can get through to him. As Roman becomes a man, he realizes what he wants—his bodyguard by his side and in his bed. Unfortunately, Quade can’t seem to see past the kid Roman once was to the man he has become, certain Roman’s feelings are merely misplaced gratitude. But Roman knows a lot more than Quade realizes, and he’s used to persevering, no matter how many impediments life throws his way. He wants the chance to prove to Quade that he’s strong enough for a jackal alpha to call mate.

Despite the decades Quade has been away, and the heartache of his father’s rejection, his inborn loyalty to the pack remains, and his abrupt departure left the jackal shifters without an alpha heir. As a psychopath shifter staking claim as alpha draws Quade back home, and Quade feels compelled to heed the call, he may be forced to make a choice he never anticipated. But doing so means he must leave Roman behind… unless somehow they find a way to make loyalty and love work together. Continue reading

Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Book Review: Sense of Place by N.R. Walker

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Sense of Place
Author: N.R. Walker
Series: Thomas Elkin #3
Heroes: Tom and Cooper
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 34,701 words
Publisher: Totally Bound
Release Date: January 7, 2014
Available at: Totally Bound
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Designing homes is easy. Finding home is something else entirely.

Thomas Elkin and Cooper Jones finally have the support of their families together, and their love grows stronger every day. Now living together, they thought nothing could stand in their way.

But there are outside influences trying to pull them apart.
Cooper encounters a man, closer to his age and with connections high up the property development chain. Tom encounters discrimination and a hidden agenda from a fellow senior-partner.

No matter what the world throws at them, Tom and Cooper are the real deal. Age differences aside, Tom has finally found his sense of place. His one true center, his home. Continue reading

Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mary Calmes Week Review: Change of Heart

Guest Review by Gyn

Title: Change of Heart
Author: Mary Calmes
Series: Change of Heart #1
Heroes: Jin Rayne & Logan Church
Genre: M/M Paranormal Romance
Length: 260 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: November 8, 2009
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: As a young gay man—and a werepanther—all Jin Rayne yearns for is a normal life. Having fled his past, he wants nothing more than to start over, but Jin’s old life doesn’t want to let him go. When his travels bring him to a new city, he crosses paths with the leader of the local were-tribe. Logan Church is a shock and an enigma, and Jin fears that Logan is both the mate he fears and the love of his life. Jin doesn’t want to go back to the old ways, and mating would irrevocably tie him to them.

But Jin is the mate Logan needs at his side to help him lead his tribe, and he won’t give Jin up so easily. It will take time and trust for Jin to discover the joy in belonging to Logan and how to love without restraint. Continue reading

Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published Before 2010 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Early Review: A Case of Possession by KJ Charles

Reviewed by Heather C

A Case of PossessionTitle: A Case of Posession
Author: K.J. Charles
Series: A Charm of Magpies #2
The Heroes: Lord Crane (AKA Lucien Vaudrey) & Stephen Day
Genre: M/M Historical Romance, Paranormal
Length: Short Novel
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: January 28, 2014
Available at: Samhain PublishingAmazonBarnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf at: GoodreadsBooklikes

Blurb: Magic in the blood. Danger in the streets.

Lord Crane has never had a lover quite as elusive as Stephen Day. True, Stephen’s job as justiciar requires secrecy, but the magician’s disappearing act bothers Crane more than it should. When a blackmailer threatens to expose their illicit relationship, Crane knows a smart man would hop the first ship bound for China. But something unexpectedly stops him. His heart.

Stephen has problems of his own. As he investigates a plague of giant rats sweeping London, his sudden increase in power, boosted by his blood-and-sex bond with Crane, is rousing suspicion that he’s turned warlock. With all eyes watching him, the threat of exposure grows. Stephen could lose his friends, his job and his liberty over his relationship with Crane. He’s not sure if he can take that risk much longer. And Crane isn’t sure if he can ask him to.

The rats are closing in, and something has to give…

Product Warnings
Contains m/m sex (on desks), blackmail, dark pasts, a domineering earl, a magician on the edge, vampire ghosts (possibly), and the giant rats of Sumatra. Continue reading

Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Young Adult Week! Review: Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Throne of Glass
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #1
Heroes/Heroine: Celaena Sardothien, Chaol Westfall, & Prince Dorian (Sorta)
Genre: M/F YA Fantasy
Length: 404 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Release Date: August 7, 2012
Available at: Bloomsbury, Amazon & Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king’s champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass–and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

Continue reading

Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, M/F, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2012, Theme Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments