Posts Tagged With: Contemporary

Book Review: When All the World Sleeps by Lisa Henry & J.A. Rock

Reviewed by JustJen

When All the World SleepsTitle: When All the World Sleeps
Author: Lisa Henry & J.A. Rock
Heroes: Daniel Whitlock/Joe Belman
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 422 pages
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: March 24, 2014
Available at: Riptide Publishing, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Daniel Whitlock is terrified of going to sleep. And rightly so: he sleepwalks, with no awareness or memory of his actions. Including burning down Kenny Cooper’s house—with Kenny inside it—after Kenny brutally beat him for being gay. Back in the tiny town of Logan after serving his prison sentence, Daniel isolates himself in a cabin in the woods and chains himself to his bed at night.

Like the rest of Logan, local cop Joe Belman doesn’t believe Daniel’s absurd defense. But when Bel saves Daniel from a retaliatory fire, he discovers that Daniel might not be what everyone thinks: killer, liar, tweaker, freak. Bel agrees to control Daniel at night—for the sake of the other townsfolk. Daniel’s fascinating, but Bel’s not going there.

Yet as he’s drawn further into Daniel’s dark world, Bel finds that he likes being in charge. And submitting to Bel gives Daniel the only peace he’s ever known. But Daniel’s demons won’t leave him alone, and he’ll need Bel’s help to slay them once and for all—assuming Bel is willing to risk everything to stand by him.

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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: The Flesh Cartel #14: Independence Day by Heidi Belleau & Rachel Haimowitz

Reviewed by JustJen

Independence DayTitle: The Flesh Cartel #14: Independence Day
Author: Heidi Belleau/Rachel Haimowitz
Series: The Flesh Cartel #1
Heroes: Mat/Doug
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 95 pages
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: February 3, 2014
Available at: Riptide Publishing, Amazon & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb:  Mat and Douglas’s time as Nikolai’s wards is finally drawing to a close. Though torn apart by Nikolai’s machinations, their fates are still inextricably entwined: they’ve been sold to the same cruel master, and are united in their desire to go home. But “home” means two different things to the brothers: for Mat, their little bungalow in Nevada, and for Douglas, a swift return to Nikolai and Roger, the only people he believes still love him.

But first they must survive their new master. Smythe Hall is a twisted island paradise where Americans affect British accents and slaveboys dress up as slave girls, all at the whims of the rich and megalomaniacal Allen Smythe-Kennedy.

Meanwhile, FBI Special Agent Nate Johnson can’t let the case of the missing brothers lie. He knows it’s a waste of resources to chase ghosts down a cold trail, but after admiring Mathias “Stonewall” Carmichael ringside and at countless afterparties where he was too shy to say hello, he’s determined to solve the mystery and bring Mat and his little brother home.

Reader discretion advised. This title contains the following sensitive themes: dubious consent, explicit violence, non-consent.

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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

L.A. Witt Week Review: Covet Thy Neighbor

Reviewed by Nikyta

Covet Thy NeighborTitle: Covet Thy Neighbor
Author: L.A. Witt
Series: Tucker Springs #4
Heroes: Seth & Darren
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 46,100 words
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: March 25, 2013
Available at: Riptide Publishing, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Opposites attract, but heaven help these two….

Tattoo artist Seth Wheeler thinks he’s struck gold when Darren Romero rents the apartment across the hall. The new guy is gorgeous, witty, and single, plus he’s just the right blend of bold and flirtatious. Perfect.

Except then Darren reveals that he moved to Tucker Springs to take a job as the youth pastor at the New Light Church. Seth is not only an atheist, but was thrown out by his ultra-religious family when he came out. He tends to avoid believers, not out of judgment but out of self-preservation.

But Darren doesn’t give up easily, and he steadily chips away at Seth’s defenses. Darren is everything Seth wants in a man . . . except for that one massive detail he just can’t overlook. Is Darren’s religion the real problem, or is it just a convenient smoke screen to keep him from facing deeper fears? It’s either see the light, or risk pushing Darren away forever.

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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

L.A. Witt Week Review: If It Drives by L.A. Witt & Aleksandr Voinov

Reviewed by JustJen

If It DrivesTitle: If It Drives
Author: L.A. Witt/Aleksandr Voinov
Series: Market Garden #7
Heroes: James/Callum
Genre: M/M Contemporary, BDSM
Length: 221 pages
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: March 31, 2014
Available at: Riptide Publishing, Amazon & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: If it flies, drives, or fornicates, it’s cheaper to rent it.

After driving James Harcourt, his wealthy banker boss, around for a year and a half, Cal isn’t surprised by much anymore. Not even James’s regular trips to Market Garden, London’s most elite gay brothel.

But when James leaves the Garden alone one night and turns to Cal instead, Cal’s floored. After crushing on his boss for ages, it’s his wet dream come true . . . until the awkward morning after. Cal still has a job to do, but he wants to offer more. Yet James doesn’t take him up on it; he keeps Cal at arm’s length and continues his chauffeured jaunts to Market Garden.

As Cal learns what James needs from the rentboys, he tries to fill that need himself. But there’s more to James’s penchant for rentboys than Cal realizes, and it may be one role that Cal can’t fill without overstepping his duty.

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

Early Review: Dirty Deeds by Rhys Ford

Reviewed by Nikyta

Dirty DeedsTitle: Dirty Deeds
Author: Rhys Ford
Series: Cole McGinnis #4
Heroes: Cole & Jae
Genre: M/M Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense
Length: 228 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: March 28, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Sheila Pinelli needed to be taken out.

Former cop turned private investigator Cole McGinnis never considered committing murder. But six months ago, when Jae-Min’s blood filled his hands and death came knocking at his lover’s door, killing Sheila Pinelli became a definite possibility.

While Sheila lurks in some hidden corner of Los Angeles, Jae and Cole share a bed, a home, and most of all, happiness. They’d survived Jae’s traditional Korean family disowning him and plan on building a new life—preferably one without the threat of Sheila’s return hanging over them.

Thanks to the Santa Monica police mistakenly releasing Sheila following a loitering arrest, Cole finally gets a lead on Sheila’s whereabouts. That is, until the trail goes crazy and he’s thrown into a tangle of drugs, exotic women, and more death. Regardless of the case going sideways, Cole is determined to find the woman he once loved as a sister and get her out of their lives once and for all.

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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Nothing Special by A.E. Via

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Nothing Special
Author: A.E. Via
Heroes: Cashel “Cash” Godfrey/Leonidis “Leo” Day
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 255 pages
Publisher: Amira Press Publishing
Release Date: March 21, 2014
Available at: Amira Press Publishing, Amazon & All Romance eBooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Detective Cashel ‘Cash’ Godfrey is big, tattooed and angry so people typically keep their distance. He’s fresh out of the police academy, however, no one is looking to partner with the six foot four beast with a huge chip on his shoulder and an inability to trust. When Cash scans the orientation room he wasn’t expecting to find sexy hazel eyes locked onto him. Eyes of the handsome Detective Leonidis ‘Leo’ Day.

Leo is charming, witty, hilariously sarcastic and the only one that can make Cash smile. He’s proud, out and one bad-ass detective.

Together Cash and Leo become the most revered and successful narcotics detectives Atlanta’s ever seen. Able to communicate and understand each other, without even having to voice it, they quickly climb up the promotional ranks.

When Cash saves Leo’s life in a raid that turns deadly, Leo begins to see something in the big man that no one else does…something special. But Leo fears he’ll never break through the impenetrable wall that protects Cash’s heart.

Nothing Special takes the reader through various emotions throughout the richly fulfilling plot that’s full of erotic gay romance, heartache, passion, trials and tribulations, police action scenes, and an intriguing twist that comes to an amazing ending that’s impossible to see coming.

Title and Synopsis created by the LaSalle Sister of Man2Mantastic. Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Challenge Week Review: Billy’s Bones by Jamie Fessenden

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Billy’s Bones
Author: Jamie Fessenden
Heroes: Kevin Derocher/Tom Langois
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 254 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: July 22, 2013
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Kevin Derocher was thirty-two when he walked into Tom’s office, newly married, a baby on the way, and the collar of his red flannel shirt pulled up to hide the bruises around his throat from when he hanged himself in his garage. After his initial consult, therapist Tom Langois believes he’ll never see Kevin again—but Kevin turns up three years later to make repairs on Tom’s new house.

Kevin and Tom become fast friends, and Tom begins to suspect Kevin may be interested in more than friendship. However, Kevin remains haunted by something from his childhood—something so terrible he blocked it from his mind. These suppressed memories make it impossible for Kevin to get close to anyone without panicking and lashing out, sometimes violently. But as his past begins to surface, it becomes apparent that Kevin may hold the key to a twenty-five-year-old mystery: what happened to Billy? Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Challenge Book Week, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: The Faery Reel by Arielle Pierce

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: The Faery Reel
Author: Arielle Pierce
Heroes: Osian & Conall
Genre: M/M Contemporary, Fantasy
Length: 22,960 words
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: February 7, 201
Available at: Smashwords, Amazon & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Faeries don’t exist, right?

That’s what Osian tells himself. So what if the stranger in the pub, the one that glows in the darkened room, has a beauty that is otherworldly. And that the man is watching him with eyes that promise trouble. So what if the music that drifts across the moor sounds like nothing he’s ever heard. So what if it’s the night of the summer solstice, the night when the veil between the human world and the faery world is whisper thin.

Osian is not a believer. Not until he is kidnapped by Conall and taken to the world of the fey. In the Otherworld, Osian is offered something he’s never had: the love of another man. But this love comes at the cruelest price. For in order to stay with Conall, Osian must give up his home, his friends, and his family.

But there is a way out—if he chooses. It involves letting himself go, allowing himself to trust Conall, and finding the true meaning of his name.

Can Osian trust Conall enough to risk it all? It’s a dangerous game he plays, but the prize—love—may be worth the risk of losing it all. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Artist’s Touch by Kerry Adrienne

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Artist’s Touch
Author: Kerry Adrienne
Heroes: Kenon Alavi and Wally Harte
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 147 Pages
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Release Date: February 26, 2014
Available at: Ellora’s Cave, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Every starlet wants master painter Kenon Alavi to do her portrait…and more. But Kenon prefers firm to soft and sates his desires with the boyfriends of the women he paints, enjoying the diversity of many lovers but shunning any attachments.

Wallace Harte’s English degree isn’t helping him and working at a bar is the closest he’s gotten to being the Second Coming of Faulkner. Something’s gotta give soon, or he’ll be out on the street.

Kenon zeroes in on the bartender at an art exhibition, intending to add him to his long list of conquests, but Wally bolts, initiating a heated game of cat and mouse. Kenon delights in the game until he discovers what Wally is writing. Feeling betrayed, Kenon swears off all entanglements until he reads Wally’s story and discovers true love is sometimes between the pages and not the sheets.

Inside Scoop: This book contains hot, sexy scenes of M/M interaction of an artistic nature. Who knew having your portrait painted could be so hot? Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Challenge Week Review: Coming to Terms by A.R. Moler

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Coming to Terms
Author: A.R. Moler
Heroes: Aidan & Kris
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 17,000 words
Publisher: MLR Press
Release Date: November 2013
Available at: MLR Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: When Aidan Sterling has been to hell and back doing his duty to his country, who will help him come to terms with what happened?

Sometimes, inevitably, life hits a snag. What if love turns up at the same time? Aidan Sterling’s life has hit one of those moments-the times when things might just change whether he wants it to or not. Outside of the inherent paranoia of his active career in covert ops, he’s recovering from some serious physical and emotional trauma from a mission gone disastrously wrong. His bosses aren’t sure if he’s up to returning to active fieldwork—and neither is he. And Kris Jameson is the kind of guy who’ll take the time to understand and care about Aiden. He’s a regular guy with a large heart. Kris is a carpenter and a part-time bouncer, easy going and hardworking. But not all danger can be found overseas, and nice guys aren’t always safe even here at home. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Challenge Book Week, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment