Nikyta’s Reviews

Book Review: Steven’s Heart by Ashavan Doyon + Giveaway!

Reviewed by Nikyta

1Title: Steven’s Heart
Author: Ashavan Doyon
Heroes: Steven Everett/Michael Rossier
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 334 Pages
Publisher: Torquere Press
Release Date: August 27, 2014
Available at: Torquere Press, Amazon and Smashwords
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: When a love triangle breaks, Steven Everett is left alone to grieve over a boyfriend lost to someone else. Surrounded by friends too tied to Aidan’s new lover to give advice, Steven turns instead to a broken and beaten man, Aidan’s other ex, Michael Rossier, who also knows the pain of having loved and lost Aidan. Steven’s and Michael’s confessions grow deeper, each confiding in the other until neither can deny an attraction. But being with Michael feels like cheating, and Steven isn’t sure what to do. The connection get stronger every day, and Steven realizes he’s facing an impossible choice.

To make a relationship with Michael work, Steven needs to make peace with Michael’s troubled past. Even more terrifying, he’ll have to tell Michael the secret he’s never told anyone, not even Aidan. With Michael recovering from yet another surgery, Steven leaves to face the ghosts of the past. He has to be certain. This time, Steven knows, the decision means revealing the secrets of his heart and hoping their fragile feelings can survive.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Giveaways, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Book Review: Intoxicated by the King Cobra by Jackie Nacht

Reviewed by Nikyta

Intoxicated by the King Cobra (Venomous Mates #1)Title: Intoxicated by the King Cobra
Author: Jackie Nacht
Series: Venomous Mates #1
Heroes: Reese/Kalder
Genre: M/M Post Apocalyptic
Length: 75 Pages
Publisher: Extasy Books
Release Date: May 15, 2014
Available at: Extasy Books, Amazon and All Romance Ebooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: When desperation has you seeking help from your worst nightmares.

It’s been seventy-five years since the toxins dropped and the world became dark. No one knows this more than Reese and his friends. On the verge of starvation, Reese will do the unthinkable—he’ll steal away into Venom City to get the food they so urgently need.

Kalder’s been infected by the cobra venom, and even as a third generation, the toxin has passed on to physically alter future generations forevermore. Known as ruthless and cruel, he’ll kill anyone that threatens those he protects. When a desperate anti-venom shows up to steal food, his world is irrevocably changed.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Reviewed by Nikyta

Divergent (Divergent, #1)Title: Divergent
Author: Veronica Roth
Series: Divergent #1
Heroine: Tris/Four
Genre: M/F Dystopian
Length: 501 Pages
Publisher: Harper Collins Publishers/Katherine Tegan Books
Release Date: May 3, 2011
Available at: Harper Collins Publishers, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue–Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is–she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are–and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, Tris also learns that her secret might help her save the ones she loves . . . or it might destroy her.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, M/F, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2011 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Riding the Whirlwind by Joy Lynn Fielding

Reviewed by Nikyta

Riding the Whirlwind (Strength of the Pack, #5)Title: Riding the Whirlwind
Author: Joy Lynn Fielding
Series: Strength of the Pack #5
Heroes: Dave Mitchell/Christian Taylor
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 141 Pages
Publisher: Siren Bookstrand
Release Date: July 15, 2014
Available at: Siren Bookstrand and Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Five years undone in just five days.

Dave Mitchell and Christian Taylor are on a mission from their alpha—to discover what happened to a pack of Argent shifters thirteen years ago. Away from their pack and out of their usual routine, they find underlying tensions in their relationship coming to the surface.

When their investigation leads them to the resident pack, Christian seeks respite from his demons by throwing himself eagerly into the cage-fighting ring the pack runs. He knows Dave hates him to fight, but he also knows Dave will understand. Dave always understands.

But when Dave meets a kindred spirit among the pack members, all Christian’s certainties come crashing down around him. It becomes clear that their relationship might not survive this. And when things between them reach crisis point and the local pack gets involved, it may prove to be the death of more than just their relationship.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Early Review: Secret Energy by Chris T. Kat

Reviewed by Nikyta

Secret Energy (Shifters, #2)Title: Secret Energy
Author: Chris T. Kat
Series: Shifters #2
Heroes: Robin/Peter
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 274 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: August 29, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon and All Romance Ebooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: When wolf shifter Robin agreed to cover for his older brother Tim and Tim’s lover Jay, he never imagined feeling so stifled. Tim’s overprotective attitude suffocates him. Pressure from within—the urge to find his own mate—mounts daily. With a little help from Jay, Robin finally convinces Tim to let him go for a run alone, but he has no inkling that his life will change forever as a result.

Unexpectedly, he finds his mate Peter Brannigan, an old and special soul, and the one shifter who can bring balance to Robin’s life. The new couple spend days together, developing their bond as mates. Yet even as they explore and cement their relationship, crisis looms just ahead when an old enemy of the pack shows up and kills someone Robin loves.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Firestorm by Rory Ni Coileain

Reviewed by Nikyta

Firestorm (SoulShares, #4)Title: Firestorm
Author: Rory Ni Coileain
Series: SoulShares #4
Heroes: Rian Sheridan/Cuinn an Dearmad
Genre: M/M Fantasy
Length: 248 Pages
Publisher: Ravenous Romance
Release Date: February 27, 2014
Available at: Ravenous Romance, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Rian Sheridan is a foundling, a Northern Irish Catholic corner boy whose world was destroyed in fire, and reborn the same way, beside an Orangemen’s bonfire last July the Twelfth. A consuming, dimly-remembered pain in his past calls to him, taunting him, daring him to find it and lose himself to it in the S&M underground of Belfast.

Cuinn an Dearmad is the last surviving Fae Loremaster, and he’s just seen the beginning of the death of the Realm, the haven of the Fae race. The only hope of stopping it starts with him finding the Prince Royal of Fire he stole from the cradle, and lost in the human world, many years ago. He has a few guesses about where that hope ends, and he doesn’t like any of them.

Rian and Cuinn are an impossible pairing, two SoulShared Fae. Any two Fae will strike sparks, but these two Fae are a conflagration. Unable to stand one another, yet drawn into an escalating series of sexual collisions, their passion will either save a world or destroy it.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Life’s a Beach by Poppy Dennison

Reviewed by Nikyta

1_CC_Lifes A BeachTitle: Life’s a Beach
Author: Poppy Dennison
Series: Coconut Cove Episode #1
Heroes: Flynn & Seth
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 24,373 words
Publisher: Wilde City Press
Release Date: August 20, 2014
Available at: Wilde City Press & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Welcome to Coconut Cove where you’ll always find oiled beach bodies, palm trees, tropical drinks, and plenty of drama!

Coconut Cove is the hottest new sensation to sweep the nation — a gay teen drama filled to the brim with hot stars and even hotter action. It’s catching the public’s attention and winning their hearts. But all the drama, heartache, and life lessons aren’t just for the characters on the screen. The fledgling actors behind the scenes have more than their fair share of love and catastrophes. They may only play teens on TV but when it comes to romance, these twenty-somethings still have lessons to learn.

From the scheming ex determined to cash in on a rising star, to the hunky high school crush resurrected from ancient history—from the nice guy with a naughty past, to the snarky diva with attitude—there’s plenty of scandalous hidden affairs and seriously sexy demons hiding in just about everyone’s closet on Coconut Cove.

You just have to be ready to drink it in. Bottoms up … or should we say off?

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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Nothing Special by Jay Northcote

Reviewed by Nikyta

1Title: Nothing Special
Author: Jay Northcote
Heroes: Noah/Sol
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Length: 184 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: August 13, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Noah thinks he’s nothing special. Average height, a bit on the skinny side, and cute but rather geeky, he’s relentlessly ordinary. He certainly doesn’t expect to be noticed by Sol, the gorgeous dark-haired stranger Noah sees on his commute home most days. But when Noah’s friend, Dom, persuades Noah to take a huge risk in a bid to get Sol’s attention, things turn out better than Noah dared to hope. Noah and Sol start dating, and much to Noah’s surprise, his feelings seem to be reciprocated.

But Noah’s insecurities make him doubt Sol. He doesn’t believe he’s interesting enough or sexy enough to hold Sol’s attention, and as Sol tries to get closer, Noah’s instinct is to pull away to protect himself. If their relationship is going to survive, Sol needs to convince Noah that he sees Noah very differently than Noah sees himself. Because to Sol, Noah is something very special indeed.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

SJD Peterson Week Review: Beyond Duty

Reviewed by Nikyta

iTitle: Beyond Duty
Author: SJD Peterson
Heroes: Gunny/Mac
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 212 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: August 12, 2013
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance eBooks and Kobo
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: The repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell didn’t come soon enough for Gunther “Gunny” Duchene and Macalister “Mac” Jones, career US Marines who met at boot camp in the 1990s. They’ve been somewhere between best friends and lovers in peacetime and wartime both, but as the clock ticks toward Mac’s and Gunny’s retirements, the guys have much more to worry about than coming out.

Whether their relationship will survive outside of the closet they’ve had to shove it into for over two decades is a big question mark. After all, Gunny questions why a hot military man like Mac–who could get any guy he wanted, including a younger, sexier one–would want him. But as Gunny and Mac navigate emotional waters as choppy as any they saw on duty, they just might learn Semper Fi applies to more than their careers.

This edition is the expanded novel of the short story Beyond Duty which has been included in this novel. However it has been edited and changed to 3rd person POV.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Early Review: Unicorn Rescue by Chris T. Kat

Reviewed by Nikyta

iTitle: Unicorn Rescue
Author: Chris T. Kat
Heroes: Jordan/Samuel
Genre: M/M Fantasy
Length: 60 Pages
Publisher: eXtasy Books
Release Date: August 15, 2014
Available at: eXtasy Books & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: A search for missing unicorns reveals a Fate that Samuel has only dreamed of before.

When they first meet, Jordan takes Samuel’s breath away—but not in a good way. Jordan knocks Samuel, a gatekeeper from a world called Eden, flat on his ass. In Jordan’s defense, Samuel did freak him out, appearing out of thin air the way he did. Luckily, the appearance of the unicorns preempts a possible fight.

Relieved to have found Eden’s unicorns, Samuel is astonished that Jordan knows about them, despite the fact that their horns have been concealed by magic. Attempting to remove the halters that bind them, Samuel is rendered unconscious.

The question now is how to get the unicorns back to Eden, as well as solve the mystery of who has stolen them to begin with. But just maybe Samuel and Jordan need to deal with this attraction between them that seems to be growing by leaps and bounds. Are their feelings tied in with the mystery of the unicorns?
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment