Posts Tagged With: Blue-collar

Book Review: Blood Kiss by J.R. Ward

Reviewed by Susan65

24903031Title: Blood Kiss
Author: J.R. Ward
Series: Black Dagger Legacy #1
Heroine/Hero: Paradise/Craeg
Genre: MF Paranormal
Length: 496 Pages
Publisher: Penguin/Signet
Release Date: December 1, 2015
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Paradise, blooded daughter of the king’s First Advisor, is ready to break free from the restrictive life of an aristocratic female. Her strategy? Join the Black Dagger Brotherhood’s training center program and learn to fight for herself, think for herself…be herself. It’s a good plan, until everything goes wrong. The schooling is unfathomably difficult, the other recruits feel more like enemies than allies, and it’s very clear that the Brother in charge, Butch O’Neal, a.k.a. the Dhestroyer, is having serious problems in his own life.

And that’s before she falls in love with a fellow classmate. Craeg, a common civilian, is nothing her father would ever want for her, but everything she could ask for in a male. As an act of violence threatens to tear apart the entire program, and the erotic pull between them grows irresistible, Paradise is tested in ways she never anticipated—and left wondering whether she’s strong enough to claim her own power…on the field, and off.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, M/F, Published in 2015, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Love Turned Blue by Evan Gilbert

Guest Reviewed by Morgan 

26155187Title: Love Turned Blue
Author: Evan Gilbert
Heroes: Slade/Bruno
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 73 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: September 16, 2015
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  After a strained and unfulfilling marriage to a woman, contractor Slade Thompson has had some very hot sex with some very hot men. But none of them have come close to giving Slade what he really wants—love and commitment. When he meets auto mechanic Bruno Ross, Slade finally finds a man who desires a dedicated relationship as much as he does. But Slade’s thirteen-year-old son Kent is spiraling out of control as he struggles through the emotional fallout from the divorce. It’s too bad Bruno doesn’t like kids, and isn’t at all sure he wants to be around a hostile boy who blames his gay dad for tearing his family apart.

Bruno has baggage of his own. He broke up with Davis, his partner of eleven years, only five months before he met Slade. It quickly becomes obvious that, despite his strong feelings for Slade, Bruno hasn’t quite broken his emotional ties to his past with Davis. Mutual desire—no matter how strong—might not be enough to hold their budding romance together.

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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Knave of Broken Hearts by Tara Lain

Reviewed by Susan65

25422386Title: Knave of Broken Hearts
Author: Tara Lain
Series: Love in Laguna #2
Heroes: Jim Carney/Ken Tanaka
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 224 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: August 3, 2015
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Jim Carney has a full time job—running from himself. Since he walked out on his wealthy family at sixteen because he’d wrecked his best friend’s life over some yaoi graphic novels, Jim has lived a macho, blue-collar existence of too much booze and too little responsibility. Then Billy Ballew, the man Jim most admires, gives Jim a chance to come through as his construction supervisor. For once, Jim is determined to make someone proud. Then Jim goes in for a physical for his new job and his yaoi dream comes to life in the form of cardiologist Ken Tanaka. Jim discovers he has two heart problems—a wonky mitral valve and a serious attraction to his doctor. But Ken is a major player, and Jim might be just a notch on the doc’s stethoscope. To Ken, Jim is unforgettable—but the living embodiment of his traditional family’s worst nightmares.

How come the minute Jim decides to be responsible, he finds himself taking care of his kid brother, getting a proposal from a wealthy woman, making a deal with the devil, and winding up in the hospital—when all he really wants is the Knave of Broken Hearts?
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2015, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Knight of Ocean Avenue by Tara Lain

Reviewed by Susan65

1Title: Knight of Ocean Avenue
Author: Tara Lain
Series: Love in Laguna #1
Heroes: Billy Ballew/Shaz-Chase Phillips
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 254 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: May 1, 2015
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: How can you be twenty-five and not know you’re gay? Billy Ballew runs from that question. A high school dropout, barely able to read until he taught himself, Billy’s life is driven by his need to help support his parents as a construction worker, put his sisters through college, coach his Little League team, and not think about being a three-time loser in the engagement department. Being terrified of taking tests keeps Billy from getting the contractor’s license he so desires, and fear of his mother’s judgement blinds Billy to what could make him truly happy.

Then, in preparation for his sister’s big wedding, Billy meets Shaz—Chase Phillips—a rising star, celebrity stylist who defines the word gay. To Shaz, Billy embodies everything he’s ever wanted—stalwart, honest, brave—but even if Billy turns out to be gay, he could never endure the censure he’d get for being with a queen like Shaz. How can two men with so little in common find a way to be together? Can the Stylist of the Year end up with the Knight of Ocean Avenue?
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2015, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Welcome to Lobster Cove by Carol Lynne

Reviewed by Susan65

1Title: Welcome to Lobster Cove
Author: Carol Lynne
Series: Lobster Cove #1
Heroes: Boone Jenson/Dante Madia
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 91 Pages
Publisher: Totally Bound
Release Date: April 3, 2015
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: When following your dream lands you in Lobster Cove, Maine, anything is possible.

After gaining custody of his younger brother, Boone Jensen moves to a unique LGBT community on the coast of Maine. There, he hopes to find work as a stonemason, heal his broken heart and give his brother a safe place to call home.

Life was good in New York City for chef Dante Madia, until his business partner betrayed him. Determined to trust only himself, Dante risks everything on a new restaurant venture in a small fishing village built on acceptance.

Neither man is looking for love, but in a town like Lobster Cove, secret dreams have the ability to become realities
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2015, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Hell on Wheels by Z.A. Maxfield

Reviewed by Susan65

1Title: Hell on Wheels
Author: Z.A. Maxfield
Series: Bluewater Bay #3
Heroes: Nash/Spencer
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 225 Pages
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: December 1, 2014
Available at: Riptide Publishing and Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Nash is the reliable one in the Holly family, the guy everyone counts on to keep things going. His genius twin brother is off at university, so Nash runs the family’s auto repair business and cares for his partially-paralyzed little sister while his crackpot father invents. His life seems mapped out for the foreseeable future, however much that might chafe.

So when Wolf’s Landing actor Spencer Kepler-Constantine lands in his life, Nash is ready for a diversion. Spencer is in the middle of a very painful, very public divorce and isn’t ready for a relationship—not that Nash wants one. But they both need a friend, especially one with benefits.

As they grow closer, Nash starts to see his family in a whole new light. Do they really need him so badly? Or does he simply need to be needed? Then Spencer’s ex reappears with a grand romantic gesture, and Nash has to figure out what he wants—and how to get it—before Spencer’s gone for good.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Third Eye by Rick R. Reed

Reviewed by Susan65

hTitle: Third Eye
Author: Rick R. Reed
Heroes: Cayce D’Amico/Dave Newton
Genre: MM Paranormal
Length: 264 Pages
Publisher: DSP Publications
Release Date: November 11, 2014
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Who knew that a summer thunderstorm and his lost little boy would conspire to change single dad Cayce D’Amico’s life in an instant? With Luke missing, Cayce ventures into the woods near their house to find his son, only to have lightning strike a tree near him, sending a branch down on his head. When he awakens the next day in the hospital, he discovers he has been blessed or cursed—he isn’t sure which—with psychic ability. Along with unfathomable glimpses into the lives of those around him, he’s getting visions of a missing teenage girl.

When a second girl disappears soon after the first, Cayce realizes his visions are leading him to their grisly fates. Cayce wants to help, but no one believes him. The police are suspicious. The press wants to exploit him. And the girls’ parents have mixed feelings about the young man with the “third eye.”

Cayce turns to local reporter Dave Newton and, while searching for clues to the string of disappearances and possible murders, a spark ignites between the two. Little do they know that nearby, another couple—dark and murderous—are plotting more crimes and wondering how to silence the man who knows too much about them.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Love Comes Around by Andrew Grey

Reviewed by Susan65

1Title: Love Comes Around
Author: Andrew Grey
Series: Senses #4
Heroes: Dan/Connor
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 200 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: September 19, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Dan was a throwaway child and learned to take care of himself in foster care. As an adult, he devotes his life to the business he started and his heart to raising children no one else wants. Dan has already adopted six-year-old Lila, who walks on crutches, and then decides to adopt eight-year-old Jerry, who suffers from MD and is confined to a wheelchair.

Also abandoned as a child, Connor ended up on his own and retreated into himself. He works as a carpenter and woodcarver and is the perfect man to ensure Dan’s home becomes wheelchair accessible.

When Dan hires Connor, neither of the men are ready to open their hearts to the possibility of love. As they learn how much they have in common, both of them must weigh the possibility of family and a future against the risks of getting hurt again.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Hero by Heidi Cullinan

Guest Reviewed by Karen

3Title: Hero
Author: Heidi Cullinan
Heroes: Hal Porter/Morgan
Genre: M/M Fantasy
Length: 220 Pages
Publisher: Wilde City Press
Release Date: May 27, 2014 (2nd Ed.)
Available at: Wilde City Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Construction worker Hal Porter knows he’s nobody special. But when strange events draw him into a magical world, he becomes the only man who can free Morgan, a lonely, long-enchanted shape-shifter. Whether he feels he’s worthy or not, Hal is the hero Morgan has been waiting for.

However, Hal’s task becomes personal as he and Morgan fall in love. Now, to save Morgan and give himself the happily ever after he’s always longed for, Hal will need to do something far more daunting than face Morgan’s captor or finally come out of the closet…

He’ll have to believe in himself.

This title has been previously published and has been revised from its original release.
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Categories: 2.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Last Thing He Needs by J.H. Knight

Reviewed by Susan65

22594999Title:  The Last Thing He Needs
Author:  J.H. Knight
Heroes: Tommy O’Shea/Bobby McAlister
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 220 Pages
Publisher:  Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: July 28, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Tommy O’Shea is raising his seven younger brothers and sisters without any help from his drug abusing father and stepmother. Since he was fifteen years old, he’s managed to keep the children fed and out of foster care. It takes up every ounce of his energy and the last thing he needs is romance complicating his life further.

Rookie cop Bobby McAlister doesn’t belong in Tommy’s harsh world, but Tommy can’t push him out. As their unlikely friendship turns into a tentative relationship, they weather the daily storm of Tommy’s life with a lot of laughs and more than a few arguments.

Tommy isn’t used to trusting outsiders, and he’s never asked for help in his life. But when a tragedy strikes the O’Shea family and threatens everything he’s fought for, he’ll have to learn to do both to recover from the brutal hit.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment