Posts Tagged With: Abuse

Book Review: At All Cost by Katerina Winters

Reviewed by Heather C

Title: At All Cost
Author: Katerina Winters
Hero/Heroine: Jax/Alessia
Genre: M/F Contemporary Romance
Length: 138 pages
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: December 21, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: The remote woods of Oregon.

A desperate young woman.

And a mean-tempered recluse.

Standing alone in the middle of the Oregon woods, Alessia Conners was officially out of options.

With no money, no family, and no friends to turn to Alessia has little hope of escaping the predator in her home without doing something–drastic. All she wanted was a safe place to call home. With a tent and some camping gear, she is determined to find refuge and a new start to life in the peaceful woods of Oregon.

There was something in his woods, something that didn’t belong.

Jax Beranek is a rugged, mean recluse whose powerful presence and sharp tongue hide a damaged man who has given up on the world. He is a man that doesn’t need or want anyone. He has his cabin, his peace and quiet, and above all else is solitude. So when he happens to find some young woman sorely unprepared and close to getting herself killed in his woods he gives her a hard but fair choice: leave with his aid or leave tied and gagged over his shoulder, but either way she was leaving his damn forest.

It was the pain though, that familiar soul-wrenching pain he recognized all too well inside the lonely, sad-eyed woman that struck at a cord of compassion he didn’t know he possessed.

But his help wouldn’t be free–he was going to put the little vagabond to work.

With her days filled with hard work, back and forth bickering and her nights filled with exhausted sleep in Jax’s safe, cozy cabin, Alessia could finally for the first time in months breathe easy and forget about the monster in her past.

If only the monster would forget about her.

HEA Guaranteed

Contains some violence and lots of steamy adult themes Continue reading

Categories: 2 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, M/F, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Prodigal by T.A. Moore

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Prodigal
Author: T.A. Moore
Series: Lost and Found, #1
Heroes: Morgan & Boyd
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 242 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: February 11, 2020
Available at: DSP & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Fifteen years ago Sammy Calloway disappeared on his way home from school. Now he’s back… or is he?

Boyd Maccabbee has spent his life second-guessing his actions on that fateful day. What if he’d done something differently? Maybe Sammy would have made it home safe and never become Cutters Gap’s most tragic famous son. Or would it have been Boyd who was never seen again? When the police find new evidence on the disappearance, Boyd hopes to finally get some answers.

The last thing Morgan Graves needs is to be dragged into some old case about a missing kid. He doesn’t know why police hit on his DNA, but he’s not Sammy Calloway. He thinks he’d remember being kidnapped.

He knows he’d remember firefighter Boyd.

Drawn into the complex web of suspicion, grief, and anger that has knit Cutters Gap together in the years since Sammy’s disappearance, Morgan struggles to hang on to himself when everyone already assumes they know him.

And somewhere, the truth about Sammy Calloway is waiting. Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2020 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: Mr. Frosty Pants by Leta Blake

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Mr. Frosty Pants
Author: Leta Blake
Narrator: John Solo
Series: Home for the Holidays #1
Heroes:  Casey & Joel
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
Publisher: Leta Blake Books
Release Date: November 11, 2019
Available at: Amazon & Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Frosty former friends get a steamy second chance in this Christmas gay romance!

Can true love warm his frozen heart?

When Casey Stevens went away to college four years ago, he ghosted on his straight best friend, Joel Vreeland. He hoped time and distance would lessen the unrequited affection he felt, but all it did was make him miss Joel more. Home for the holidays, Casey hopes they might find a way to be friends again. But Joel’s frosty reception reminds Casey of just how hard he had to fight to be Joel’s friend in the first place. It’s going to take a Christmas miracle to get past that cool façade again.

Joel isn’t as straight as Casey believes, and his years of pining for Casey have left him hurting and alone, caring for his abusive father and struggling to get by. Unable to trust anyone except his rescue dog – and with no reason to believe Casey is interested in him for more than a holiday fling – Joel’s icy heart might shatter before it can thaw.

Can Casey and Joel’s love overcome mistrust, parental rejection, class differences, and four long years apart? Mr. Frosty Pants is a stand-alone, Christmas gay romance by Leta Blake featuring a virgin hero, childhood friends-to-lovers, second chance romance, and steamy mm first times. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Published in 2019, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Incredible Real Life Monster Man by L.B. La Vigne

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: The Incredible Real Life Monster Man
Author: L.B. La Vigne
Series: N/A
Heroes: Mikey/Renin
Genre: MM Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: 194 Pages
Publisher: Deep Desires Press
Release Date: February 19, 2019
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Monsters are real, and everyone knows it. When Mikey, an employee at the US Department of Fish and Wildlife, is assigned to rescue an abused creature at Samuel’s Carnival Extravaganza, he feels drawn to the sympathetic thing. But, rescuing and nursing the creature back to health has some unforeseen consequences. Not only can Renin talk, but he has the same urges and needs as a human—urges and needs now set on his savior, Mikey. Ones which Mikey can’t say he doesn’t reciprocate.

As a creature used to high levels of socialization, keeping him in isolation with little stimulation could be doing him more harm than good. For the second time, Mikey must break Renin out of captivity, bringing him home for…safe keeping.

While ending up in Mikey’s home is one of the best things to happen to Renin, multiple forces threaten to tear them apart. Mikey’s boyfriend, for one, isn’t accepting of the creature making itself comfortable in Mikey’s bed. The government is desperate to get their creature back, and will stop at nothing to have him. And then, there’s what’s hidden in the woods—watching, waiting, ready to strike at Renin at the first opportunity. With everything seemingly against them, Mikey may not be able to hold on to his monster for very long.
Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2019, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Crossing the Touchline by Jay Hogan

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Crossing the Touchline
Author: Jay Hogan
Series: Auckland Med. #2
Heroes: Reuben & Cameron
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 302 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: April 23, 2019
Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: What if you’ve worked your whole life for a dream, to play rugby for the most successful sports team on the planet, the New Zealand All Blacks?

What if that dream is so close you can smell it?

What if you meet someone?

What if you fall in love?

What if your dream will cost the man who’s stolen your heart?

And what if the dream changes?

Reuben Taylor has a choice to make.

Cameron Wano is that choice. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2019, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Courting Sin by Mercy Celeste

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Courting Sin
Author: Mercy Celeste
Heroes: Sin & Riley
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 190 pages
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: June 26, 2018
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: The team of Carter Sinclair and Riley Thompson has ruled the sport of Beach Volleyball for years.

Partners on the court for six years, and friends with benefits off the court for almost as long.

Until a photo of Sin and Riley in a compromising position goes viral.

Shouldn’t be a problem, Sin and Riley have been together for years.

Except, Riley is straight. Or so he claims.

But when Sin’s estranged father dies, something as mundane as a sex scandal is the least of their worries.

Scandal not of their own making puts Riley’s dream of Olympic gold on hold. And threatens to cost him his partner… on the court and off.

He has two choices, he can pretend the photo never happened, and find a new partner. Or… admit his feelings and choose a lifetime of Courting Sin.
Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Published in 2018, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Dead Inside by Alexander Ward

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Dead Inside
Author: Alexander Ward
Series: Temporary Bliss #1
Heroes: Alex and Raymond…maybe
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 385 pages
Publisher: AW Publishing
Release Date: September 23, 2018
Available at:  Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: 

Pain and heartbreak. Tears and blood. Life’s never been easy for Alex. Pushed to become a male prostitute and also having to deal with trauma and abuse in the relationship with his boyfriend, doesn’t help a 19-year-old stay sane. In his struggle and desperation to get out of that toxic environment, he soon finds himself in the middle of something much worse.

Caught between two powerful Russian organizations, a broken man and his abusive lover, Alex has to make a decision and he must choose quickly. But when he starts spiraling out of control, the lines between life and death begin to blur and his steps seem to take him towards what might very well be his end.

Warning: The book contains triggers and approaches subjects such as abuse, self-harm, PTSD, human trafficking, murder and suicidal ideation.
Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2018, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Galaxies and Oceans by N.R. Walker

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Galaxies and Oceans
Author: N.R. Walker
Heroes: Aubrey & Patrick
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 313 pages
Publisher: BlueHeart Press
Release Date: June 23, 2018
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Seizing his one chance to escape, Ethan Hosking leaves his violent ex-boyfriend, leaves his entire life, and walks into the path of a raging bushfire. Desperate to start over, a new man named Aubrey Hobbs walks out of the fire-ravaged forest, alive and alone. With no ID and no money, nothing but his grandfather’s telescope, he goes where the Southern Cross leads him.

Patrick Carney is the resident lighthouse keeper in Hadley Cove, a small town on the remote Kangaroo Island off the coast of South Australia. After the tragic death of his lover four years ago, he lives a solitary life; just him, a tabby cat, the Indian and Southern Oceans, and a whole lot of loneliness. He’s content with his life until a stranger shows up in town and turns Patrick’s head.

Patrick never expected to be interested in anyone else.

Aubrey never expected to be happy.

Between Aubrey’s love of the stars and Patrick’s love of the ocean, these two fragile hearts must navigate new waters. If they can weather the storm of their pasts, they could very well have a love that eclipses everything.
Continue reading

Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2018, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: Safe & Sound by Lucy Lennox and Sloane Kennedy

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Safe & Sound
Author: Lucy Lennox and Sloane Kennedy
Narrator: Michael Pauley
Series: Twist of Fate #2
Heroes: Aiden & Ash
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: November 2, 2017
Available at: Amazon & Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: I’ve been drowning for a long time. I never thought I’d find someone who knows what that’s like….

Self-proclaimed playboy, Aiden Vale, has it all – good looks, successful career, plenty of cash in the bank, and an endless supply of men who know the score…that one night is just that. So the last thing he wants, or needs, is to forge a connection that might mean revealing more of himself than he’s ready to. But when fate intervenes, putting Aiden in the path of someone who threatens to knock down his carefully constructed walls, he’s quick to realize the young man he’s become infatuated with is hiding a painful secret.

I finally have a shot at freedom. I’ll never let anyone take that from me ever again….

Ash Valentine is just looking for a way out, and the last thing he wants or needs is another man controlling every aspect of his life. Desperate for the cash that will help him flee his abusive boyfriend, Ash accepts what is supposed to be a temporary job at a local coffee shop. But nothing prepares him for the gorgeous and enigmatic Aiden Vale, and the small acts of kindness the charming coffee shop regular bestows on him or the new friends he begins to make along the way.

Terrified of once again becoming too reliant on someone else to take care of him, Ash refuses Aiden’s repeated offers of help in any form. But when it becomes clear that there’s something more behind Aiden’s need to save him, Ash begins to wonder if he’s found someone who needs saving just as badly.

I know he wants to save me, but what if he’s the one who needs saving….

As their tentative friendship turns into something more, long buried secrets begin to surface. When Aiden’s need to protect Ash clashes with the younger man’s desire for independence, memories of the one he couldn’t save begin to tear at the fragile cords of Aiden’s soul, and he’s forced to face a truth he’s been hiding from for a long time. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Published in 2017, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Ash by Jack Pyke

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Ash
Author: Jack Pyke
Series: Don’t #4.5
Heroes: Ash
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 259 Pages
Publisher: Enspire Pulishing
Imprint Forbidden Fiction
Release Date: March 2, 2018
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  “You up for that, hm, Ash? A lesson from an old soul to youth? From me… to you?”

Ash Thomas and his gameplay with other men is vicious, cruel. Better to fuck someone over than be the one who’s on the floor, fucked up, right? But his latest cruelties are about to catch the eye of the Wraith, someone who’s been brought up to play professionally in the shadows. For Ash, beauty and rage aren’t the kind of sins to win him any favours anymore. Life and lessons of the heart never did come easy, especially when they’re about to walk in off the darkened streets, bringing bloodied footprints in their wake.
Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment