Posts Tagged With: Contemporary

Book Review: Teaching Ben by Shae Connor

Reviewed by Ami

Title: Teaching Ben
Author: Shae Connor
Series: Dreamspun Desires #52
Heroes: Ben/David
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 209 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: February 20, 2018
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Learning to love means a study in patience.

Fresh out of the military, Ben Cooper is ready for a new start. He’s away from his domineering father, making his own choices… and out of the closet. On his first day of college, he meets David Powell, who’s just the kind of gorgeous man Ben’s dreamed of. Too bad he’s the teaching assistant—which makes him off-limits in Ben’s eyes.

David is Ben’s age, but his life has taken a different path. He’s close with his family, who helped him deal with personal struggles after he came out. And while he’s staying away from any hint of scandal, Ben’s a kind of temptation he hasn’t faced in years. If only they’d met on more equal footing.

As the semester progresses and their lives become more entwined, keeping their relationship platonic becomes more difficult. They just have to hold out until the end of the semester….
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: Survivor by T.M. Smith

Reviewed by Morgan

Title: Survivor
Author: T.M. Smith
Narrator: Nick J. Russo
Heroes: Raylor/Frank
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 5 Hours, 33 Minutes
Publisher: T.M. Smith
Release Date: January 30, 2018
Available at: Amazon and Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Taylor Langford’s world is torn apart when he is only thirteen years old—his parents killed, leaving him alone and orphaned. With no living relatives, he’d certainly be another statistic if not for the intervention of the policeman who found Taylor in the crawl space where his mother hid him that fateful night. Despite the tragedy and resulting anguish in his life, Taylor knows how lucky he is.

Frank Moore is a rookie with the Dallas Police Department when he and his partner answer a call in Devonshire, one of the city’s more affluent neighborhoods. They think the young boy in various pictures throughout the home has been kidnapped until they find him, shaken but alive. Officer Moore recognizes the pain in the kid’s eyes, having lost his own mother to cancer when he was just a boy. He steps in, making sure Taylor is placed with a loving foster family. Over the years, Frank becomes a permanent fixture in Taylor’s life.

A decade later, the case remains unsolved and the once gangly, uncertain teenager is now a college graduate who knows exactly what he wants. He’s coming home to the man that helped mold and shape his life, the man he’s loved for as long as he can remember, Frank Moore. But Taylor isn’t the only person returning to Dallas, and while Frank is distracted by his own conflicting feelings and the new bond growing between the two, the past creeps up on them, determined to finish what was started ten years earlier.

A note from the author…

I hope you enjoy Frank and Taylor’s story. It’s been a long road to get them settled, but I’m happy with where this story has taken them. When I started this book, the intent was to write a stand-alone story, but that has changed. Characters continually evolve throughout the writing process, and there are several characters in the book that want to tell their story. I’ve grown especially fond of Rory and I can’t wait to write his book, which will take us back to when he first joined the Bureau, and continue on to his happy ever after.
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Two Man Station by Lisa Henry

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Two Man Station
Author: Lisa Henry
Series: Emergency Services #1
Heroes: Gio Valeri/Jason Quinn
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 273 Pages
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: January 22, 2018
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Gio Valeri is a big city police officer who’s been transferred to the small outback town of Richmond with his professional reputation in tatters. His transfer is a punishment, and Gio just wants to keep his head down and survive the next two years. No more mistakes. No more complications.

Except Gio isn’t counting on Jason Quinn.

Jason Quinn, officer in charge of Richmond Station, is a single dad struggling with balancing the demands of shift work with the challenges of raising his son. The last thing he needs is a new senior constable with a history of destroying other people’s careers. But like it or not, Jason has to work with Gio.

In a remote two man station hours away from the next town, Gio and Jason have to learn to trust and rely on each another. Close quarters and a growing attraction mean that the lines between professional and personal are blurring. And even in Richmond, being a copper can be dangerous enough without risking their hearts as well.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2018, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: Coach’s Challenge by Avon Gale

Reviewed bySusan65

Title: Coach’s Challenge
Author: Avon Gale
Narrator: Scott R. Smith
Series: Scoring Chances #5
Heroes: Troy Callahan/Shane North
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 6 Hours, 50 Minutes
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: December 26, 2016
Available at: Amazon, Audible and iTunes
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: It’s been decades since blackmail forced Troy Callahan to retire from playing professional hockey, and he’s built a successful career behind the bench. When he’s offered the opportunity to coach the Asheville Ravens—the most hated team in the ECHL—he’s convinced that his no-nonsense attitude is just what the team needs to put their focus back on hockey. But Troy is disheartened when he finds out the Ravens have signed Shane North, a player known for his aggression—especially when Shane’s rough good looks have Troy thinking inappropriate thoughts about a player, even if he’s set to retire at the end of the season.

Shane’s career in the majors never quite took off. Wanting to quit on his own terms, Shane agrees to a one-year contract with the Ravens and finds himself playing for a coach who thinks he’s an aging goon, and with a team that doesn’t trust him, Troy, or each other. Despite his determination not to get involved, Shane unwillingly becomes part of the team… and is just as unwillingly drawn to the gruff, out-and-proud coach. As the Ravens struggle to build a new identity, Shane and Troy succumb to the passion that might cost them everything.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Published in 2016, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Snowed In: Hunter’s Story by Adira August

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Snowed In: Hunter’s Story
Author: Adira August
Series: Hunt&Cam4Ever #3
Heroes: Hunt/Cam
Genre: MM Contemporary BDSM
Length: 148 Pages
Publisher: Adira August
Release Date: February 1, 2018
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Trapped by the blizzard outside…

HunterDane & Camden Snow contend with the storm raging inside.

In the pre-dawn darkness, Hunt moaned and thrashed under the comforter. Finally, the nightmare receded. He settled, breathed deeply several times, and opened his eyes.

“You okay?” Cam asked.

“Sure,” Hunter smiled, half-awake, not remembering. “I’m here with you. Safe inside the storm. Away from … all the crap of the last few weeks.”

Cam moved his hands over Hunt’s body, soothing and gentling. “Safe inside the storm.” Not safe from the storm, but safe inside of it. Isolated. Protected. Safe.

But Cam knew Hunter wasn’t safe; his demons came with him: a dark and twisted possession by blood and cruelty and murder. Being snowed-in for days would allow the darkness to eat away at Hunt until his very skin would seem too small. He’d beg Cam for the flogger. And hate Cam for denying him.

There was a solution, but the so-called “Full Metal Dom” was afraid. So very afraid the fragile bonds between them would not survive.

To help Hunter, he had to do the one thing he swore he would never do.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Finders Keepers by N.R. Walker

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Finders Keepers
Author: N.R. Walker
Heroes: Griffin/Dane
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 218 Pages
Publisher: N.R. Walker
Release Date: February 2, 2018
Available at:  Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Needing a change of scene, Griffin Burke moves from Brisbane to Coolum Beach to start a new job. The beautiful white sand, aqua-coloured ocean, blue skies, and summer breezes are everything he longs for. What he finds is a mud-covered dog, lost and hungry, with a nametag and a phone number.

Dane Hughes is stuck in Surfers Paradise at a week-long work conference when he gets a phone call from his distraught mother. His dog, his fur baby, Wicket, has run away. Unable to leave and feeling helpless and miserable, he gets a text from a guy. “I think I found your dog…”

Griffin and Dane start talking, and Griffin agrees to look after Wicket until Dane can collect him. With a few days left before his new job starts, Griffin takes Wicket on some coastal adventures and sends Dane photos of their fun, and so the start of something new and kind of wonderful begins.

Griffin might have moved to Coolum in search of a new life, but what he finds is so much more. What he gets to keep just might take some four-legged help.
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2018, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: The Walls of Troy by L.A. Witt

Reviewed by

Title: The Walls of Troy
Author: L.A. Witt
Narrator: Nick J. Russo
Heroes: Iskander/Troy
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 7 Hours, 58 Minutes
Publisher: L.A. Witt
Release Date: September 9, 2017
Available at: Amazon and Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Just when the pieces begin to add up, danger blows them all apart…

MA1 Iskander Ayhan’s orders are simple: stay with Admiral Dalton’s son as a plainclothes bodyguard while the kid attends university classes. So typical—a high-ranking officer abusing Navy resources for unnecessary security.

It isn’t long before Iskander realizes there’s more to his assignment than protecting the kid from benign harassment by homophobic classmates. Behind those piercings, eyeliner, and bad attitude, Troy Dalton is scared. Truly, deeply, scared.

Troy is indeed hiding something. Iskander is the only one who’s ever taken his fears seriously, which gives him hope. Yet Troy isn’t sure one lone, armed-to-the-teeth bodyguard is enough to keep him safe, especially since he can’t risk telling Iskander the truth.

As Iskander slowly gains Troy’s trust, the walls start coming down. And before they know it, the warmth between them explodes into real heat. Until suddenly Iskander realizes he’s a magnet for danger, not a shield.

Now he doesn’t know how to keep Troy safe—stay close, or get as far away from him as possible.

Warning: Contains a younger man with a thing for older men, and an older man who doesn’t usually have quite so much trouble resisting younger men. Author is not responsible for any bad academic habits that might result from watching these two “study” for their exams.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2017 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Power Play by Cara Dee

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Power Play
Author: Cara Dee
Heroes: Abel/Madigan
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 276 Pages
Publisher: Cara Dee
Release Date: January 30, 2018
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: I was my own worst enemy. For as much as I depended on order and a structured life to easier manage my bipolar disorder, fire was irresistible and indisputably my favorite toy to play with. On the ice, it turned me into a hotheaded hockey player. In the bedroom, my attitude was my last defense, a front I wanted to see tumbling down. But lately, all I got was burned.

Love sucked. Correction: it sucked when you were in love with your parents’ closest friend and he didn’t feel the same. I admitted my feelings for Madigan Monroe over a year ago, and I was still waiting for a response. Now my balance was gone. My anxiety was all over the place, my fits of rage had just earned me a suspension from the team, I questioned myself at every turn, and being home for two weeks was gonna make it impossible to avoid Madigan.

I used to be his Abel, his sweetheart, his trouble. It’d been the two of us against the world since I was a kid. I’d even discovered we had kink in common! On paper, I was seemingly perfect for him. Maybe that was why his nonverbal rejection hurt so much. Or maybe it was because, recently, he seemed hell-bent on us “being friends” again.

Whatever. I was a loser, and I couldn’t resist him for crap.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Seth & Casey by R.J. Scott

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Seth & Casey
Author: R.J. Scott
Heroes: Seth Wild/Casey McGuire
Genre: M Contemporary
Length: 100 Pages
Publisher: Love Lane Books
Release Date: February 7, 2018
Available at:  Amazon and Smashwords
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Seth Wild is a fire fighter who has lost everything. Nearly dying in a fire, he is scared and angry and chases away the only good thing in his life—school teacher Casey McGuire.

When a sudden and violent snow storm hits their town he receives a message Casey and ten kids are trapped in an education centre center with no way out. There is no one else who can help, he’s the last fire fighter in town with his bum leg and his icy heart.

He doesn’t hesitate. He always promised he would be Casey’s hero, but will he ever again be Casey’s love?

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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2018, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: An Actor’s Guide to Romance by Catherine Curzon & Eleanor Harkstead

Guest Reviewed by Emilie

Title: An Actor’s Guide to Romance
Author: Catherine Curzon and Eleanor Harkstead
Heroes: Adam Fisher & Thomas Fox
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 51 pages
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Release Date: January 23, 2018
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: When long-time theatrical enemies are cast as lovers, their late-night rehearsal brings a whole new meaning to method acting.

For twenty years, Adam Fisher and Thomas Fox have been the best of enemies. From their first meeting at drama school to shared stages, shared bills and a competition to amass the most illustrious awards, they have been the names on every theatregoers’ lips. Separately they can sell out an entire run in an hour, so when they’re cast as lovers in London’s hottest new play, the tickets are gone in minutes.

But for rakish Adam and gentlemanly Thomas, the small matter of their first on-stage kiss is causing a headache for everyone. Over a bottle of wine on one rainy night in the city, these two acting legends will do whatever it takes to banish their first-night nerves. After all, as everyone knows, the show must go on!
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Categories: 2.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment