Posts Tagged With: Coming-of-Age

Audio Review: Trailer Trash by Marie Sexton

Reviewed by Morgan

trailertrash_audiobook-1Title: Trailer Trash
Author: Marie Sexton
Narrator: John Solo
Heroes: Nate Bradford/Cody Lawrence
Genre: MM Historical
Length: 9 Hours, 43 Minutes
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: October 19, 2016
Available at: Amazon, Audible and iTunes
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: It’s 1986, and what should have been the greatest summer of Nate Bradford’s life goes sour when his parents suddenly divorce. Now, instead of spending his senior year in his hometown of Austin, Texas, he’s living with his father in Warren, Wyoming, population 2,833 (and Nate thinks that might be a generous estimate). There’s no swimming pool, no tennis team, no mall—not even any MTV. The entire school’s smaller than his graduating class back home, and in a town where the top teen pastimes are sex and drugs, Nate just doesn’t fit in.

Then Nate meets Cody Lawrence. Cody’s dirt-poor, from a broken family, and definitely lives on the wrong side of the tracks. Nate’s dad says Cody’s bad news. The other kids say he’s trash. But Nate knows Cody’s a good kid who’s been dealt a lousy hand. In fact, he’s beginning to think his feelings for Cody go beyond friendship.

Admitting he might be gay is hard enough, but between small-town prejudices and the growing AIDS epidemic dominating the headlines, a town like Warren, Wyoming, is no place for two young men to fall in love.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: Lights! Camera! Cupid! Anthology

Reviewed by Morgan

lightscameracupid_audiobook-1Title: Lights! Camera! Cupid!
Authors: S.E. Jakes, Amy Lane, Z.A. Maxfield, Anne Tenino and L.A. Witt
Narrators: Nick J. Russo and Dorian Bane
Series: Bluewater Bay #6
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 6 Hours, 22 Minutes
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: September 26, 2016
Available at: Amazon and Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Cupid is visiting Bluewater Bay, and he’s leaving chaos in his wake.

Nothing’s been the same in this sleepy little logging town since Hollywood came to shoot the hit TV show Wolf’s Landing—especially Valentine’s Day.

In L.A. Witt’s Just Another Day, beloved actors Levi Pritchard and Carter Samuels have an announcement for their fans, while in Z.A. Maxfield’s I’ll Be There, actor Spencer Kepler and his boyfriend Nash Holly brave a blizzard and a fan convention to spend their first February the 14th together.

Of course, it’s not just TV stars celebrating the day. In Anne Tenino’s Helping Hand, an aspiring artist eager to escape Bluewater Bay decides he just might have a reason to stay: lust-inspiring logger Gabriel Savage. In SE Jakes’s No Easy Way, a local teacher reconnects with an old lover working security on the film set. And in Amy Lane’s Nascha, a Bluewater Bay elder recalls how his own unconventional family used to celebrate the holiday.

Real life may be nothing like TV, but when Cupid comes to town, there’s plenty of romance and drama to go around.

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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, 4.5 Star Ratings, 5 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: Sweetwater by Lisa Henry

Reviewed by Morgan


61-mAFnwWkL._SL300_Title:
 Sweetwater
Author: Lisa Henry
Narrator: Dorian Bane
Heroes: Elijah/Harlan
Genre: M/M Historical
Length:  7 hrs and 34 mins
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: August 5, 2016
Available at: AmazonAudible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Wyoming Territory, 1870.

Elijah Carter is afflicted. Most of the townsfolk of South Pass City treat him as a simpleton because he’s deaf, but that’s not his only problem. Something in Elijah runs contrary to nature and to God. Something that Elijah desperately tries to keep hidden.

Harlan Crane, owner of the Empire saloon, knows Elijah for what he is – and for all the ungodly things he wants. But Crane isn’t the only one. Grady Mullins desires Elijah too, but unlike Crane, he refuses to push the kid.

When violence shatters Elijah’s world, he is caught between two very different men and two devastating urges: revenge, and despair. In a boomtown teetering on the edge of a bust, Elijah must face what it means to be a man in control of his own destiny, and choose a course that might end his life…or truly begin it for the very first time.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: There’s Something About Ari

Reviewed by Morgan 

30165084Title: There’s Something About Ari
Author: L.B. Gregg
Narrator: Nick J. Russo
Series: Bluewater Bay #2
Heroes: Buck Ellis/Ari Valentine
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 2 Hours, 41 Minutes
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: May 9, 2016
Available at: Amazon, Audible and iTunes
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Buck Ellis’s future seems pretty damn bright. With a full college scholarship in hand, he’s going to ditch Bluewater Bay and pave the way for his kid brother Charlie to do the same. The only fly in Buck’s ointment is his ten-year addiction to his best friend since second grade, his true love, and his Achilles heel: Ari Valentine, Mr. Least Likely to Succeed.

But then Buck’s mother dies, changing everything, and five years later, his future is still on hold. It’s a struggle to keep food on the table, a roof over their heads, and Charlie on the straight and narrow. Buck can’t afford any temptation, especially in the form of the newly returned, super hot, super confident, super successful television star Ari Valentine.

ADHD poster-child Ari Valentine left for Hollywood and lost everything, including his bad reputation. Then the breakthrough role of his skyrocketing career lands him back in Bluewater Bay, to the stunned disbelief of, well, everyone. But there’s only one person Ari longs to impress—the only person who ever really mattered to him, the person he left behind: Buck Ellis.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Risk Aware by Amelia C. Gormley

Reviewed by JustJen

29231360Title: Risk Aware
Author: Amelia C. Gormley
Heroes: Geoff Gilchrest/Robin Brady
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 310 Pages
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: May 9, 2016
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Tattoo artist Geoff Gilchrest is convinced his life is some sort of cosmic joke. Why else would a hemophiliac also be a masochist? He’s given himself more than one elbow bleed since puberty just doing what guys do when alone and bored, so forget about whips and chains. How many partners would contemplate playing with someone even a mild flogging could kill?

Gallery owner Robin Brady knows he can deliver what Geoff needs: to be taken to the edge of danger but never beyond. But Robin came to Saugatuck to get away from the leather scene and heal from a betrayal by his former sub, so he’s not sure he should get involved with Geoff. His ambivalence isn’t helped by the fact that Geoff’s unwillingness to communicate about his well-being hits Robin in some very raw places.

Geoff’s hemophilia isn’t the obstacle he thinks it is. Instead, a lack of trust—on both their parts—is what could end them before they have a chance to begin.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: Names Can Never Hurt Me by Wade Kelly

Reviewed by Morgan 

29737787Title: Names Can Never Hurt Me
Author: Wade Kelly
Narrator: Jack Amber
Heroes: Nick Jones/Raffael “RC” Coppola
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 11 Hours, 18 Minutes
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: March 21, 2016
Available at: Amazon, Audible and iTunes
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: What if sexuality wasn’t a definable thing and labels merely got in the way?

Nick Jones can’t remember a time when he wasn’t part of the in crowd. Everywhere he goes, he stands out as the best looking guy in the room, and women practically fall into bed with him. Then, after kissing Corey on a dare led to much more and on many occasions, Nick’s “screw anything” reputation escalated, but he didn’t care.

When Nick meets RC at the restaurant where he works, it throws his whole life out of whack. RC lives up to his dubbed nickname “Scruffy Dude.” He seems Nick’s complete opposite, but Nick can’t get him out of his head.

Because of peer-pressure and his fears about defining his sexuality, Nick struggles with stepping out of his comfort zone and caring about someone different than himself. If he’s lucky, somewhere between arrogance and ignorance, Nick might find out what it means to be an adult, but if he’s wrong, he could lose everything.

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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Exchange of Hearts by N.R. Walker

Reviewed by Susan65

27814065Title: Exchange of Hearts
Author: N.R. Walker
Heroes: Harrison Haddon/Levi Aston
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 133 Pages
Publisher: BlueHeart Press
Release Date: November 11, 2015
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf:
Goodreads

Blurb: Eighteen-year-old Harrison Haddon has grown up alone. Surrounded by wealth, nannies, and material things, all he craves is the approval of his father. Sent away to the boarding school his father and grandfather attended, it’s assumed he will follow in their footsteps from Sydney’s prestigious Ivy League school straight into medical school.

But Harrison doesn’t want to be a doctor.

He dreams of music and classical piano. His only true happiness, his escape from the world expected of him, is dismissed by his intolerant and emotionally detached parents.

Levi Aston arrives from London for a three-month student exchange program. Free-spirited and confident in who he is and what he wants to do with his life, Levi convinces Harrison not give up on his dreams.

But convincing Harrison not to give up on his family might not be so easy.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2015, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: Lovers Leap by J.L. Merrow

Reviewed by Morgan 

29247590Title: Lovers Leap
Author: J.L. Merrow
Narrator: Mark Steadman
Heroes: Michael/Rufus
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 5 Hours, 13 Minutes
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: February 29, 2016
Available at: Amazon and Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: If they looked, would they ever leap?

Good-looking, confident, and doted on by his widowed mum, Michael is used to thinking only of himself. Getting shoved off an Isle of Wight pier by an exasperated ex ought to come as a wake-up call—but then he meets Rufus and he’s right back to letting the little head take charge. Rufus is cute, keen, and gets under Michael’s skin in a disturbing way.

Would-be chef Rufus can’t believe his luck when a dripping wet dream of a man walks out of the sea on his birthday, especially when Michael ends up staying at the family B&B. Life is perfect—at least until Michael has to go home to the mainland.

Rufus can’t leave the island for reasons he’s entirely neglected to mention. And though Michael identifies as bi, breaking his mum’s heart by coming out and having an actual relationship with a guy has never been his plan. With both men determined to keep their secrets, a leap of faith could land them in deep water.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Love Simplified by Teegan Loy

Reviewed by Morgan 

28930543Title: Love Simplified
Author: Teegan Loy
Series: Game, Set, Match #2
Heroes: Jalen Marten/Austin Suter
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 286 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: March 4, 2016
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Life is about making choices. For nineteen-year-old Jalen Marten, the choices he makes will not only affect his life, but the life and career of his superstar tennis player boyfriend, Austin Suter. Jalen spends the summer following Austin around the pro tennis circuit playing the supportive friend as Austin adjusts to life on tour.

Keeping secrets from people is hard enough, but when the media, a horde of new fans, and staff and family who all think they know what’s best for Austin are involved, it’s even worse. Coming out to the world is not an option, so Jalen is forced to hide in the shadows. It doesn’t always work, and Jalen begins to wonder if they should stay together. The next choice could make or break them as a couple, and both men wonder why love has to be so complicated.
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Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: Wild and Precious by CJane Elliott

Reviewed by Morgan 

29072752Title: Wild and Precious
Author: CJane Elliott
Narrator: K.C. Kelly
Series: Wild and Precious #1
Heroes: Brent Granger/Cody Bellstrom/Graham Stoneford
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 2 Hours, 34 Minutes
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: February 4, 2016
Available at: Amazon, Audible and iTunes
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Aspiring writer Brent Granger has good friends and a great job at an arts magazine in DC, but he’s batting zero in the arena of love. Brent begins to get a clue why things aren’t working with women from his strong attraction to his gorgeous, gay, and already attached boss, Graham Stoneford. When he sees a personal ad from a man that quotes his favorite poet, Brent decides to do something wild and answer.

Enter Cody Bellstrom, easygoing bisexual musician, who is happy to initiate Brent in the ways of gay sex. Brent now has a new problem: he realizes he’s gay and no one in his life knows it. Cody tires of hiding their relationship, but Brent finds it challenging to come out to family, friends, and especially to Graham. In the end, Brent must confront the truth of where—and with whom—his heart lies.
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Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment