Posts Tagged With: Contemporary

Audio Review: Written in the Stars by Alix Bekins

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Written in the Stars
Author: Alix Bekins
Narrator: Peter B. Brooke
Heroes: Bailey & John
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date:  February 23, 2015
Available at: Amazon & Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Bailey McMillan’s life is a mess. The general public blames him for his former employer’s nuclear pollution, resulting in professional disgrace. Humiliated, he takes a job as an editor at a science magazine run by his best friend, John. That part isn’t so bad; Bailey is fond of John, who seems to find Bailey’s abrasive nature amusing.

Unfortunately, working for John also leads to writing an astrology column in exchange for getting free rein in some op-ed articles—and then being sued over one. The (totally coincidental) accuracy of the column offers opportunity for further professional disgrace if anyone discovers its author—and then Bailey digs himself a little deeper.

In an attempt to prove astrology is bogus, he agrees to an experiment to date someone from each star sign. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Bailey’s got a stupid crush on John, who stubbornly insists on a detailed breakdown of every date—bad and otherwise. Bailey’s luck has to improve sometime… right?
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Art of Possession by Cari Z.

Reviewed by Ami

Title: The Art of Possession
Author: Cari Z.
Heroes: Malcolm & Alex
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 195 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: November 5, 2019
Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: When a treasure-hunting black ops soldier and a disgraced, reckless archeologist team up in search of a priceless artifact, they might get more than they bargained for.

Ever since leaving the Green Berets to work in private security, Alex Tucker has longed for some excitement—and he’s about to get his wish.

Archeologist Malcolm Armstrong needs the chance to prove he isn’t a fraud. Along with Alex, he’s hired to track down and authenticate a valuable scepter, in a hunt that turns deadlier than either of them imagined as they search dangerous locations across three continents and try to stay ahead of the factions who want the treasure for themselves—and Malcolm and Alex dead.

Just as they realize the feelings between them transcend convenience and the thrill of the chase, a rival reemerges, threatening everything. Continue reading

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

Book Review: First Impressions by Jay Hogan

Reviewed by Ami

Title: First Impressions
Author: Jay Hogan
Series: Auckland Med. #1
Heroes: Josh & Michael
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 257 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: November 1, 2019
Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Michael:

Two years ago I made a mistake—a big one. Then I added a couple more just for good measure. I screwed up my life, but I survived. Now I have the opportunity for a fresh start. Two years in NZ. Away from the LA gossip, a chance to breathe, to rebuild my life. But I’m taking my new set of rules with me.

I don’t do relationships.

I don’t do commitment.

I don’t do white picket fences.

And I especially don’t do arrogant, holier-than-thou, smoking-hot K9 officers who walk into my ER and rock my world.

Josh: 

One thing’s for certain: Dr. Michael Oliver is an arrogant, untrustworthy player, and I barely survived the last one of those. He might be gorgeous, but my daughter takes number-one priority. I won’t risk her being hurt again. I’m a solo dad, a K9 cop, and a son to pain-in-the-arse parents.

I don’t have time for games.

I don’t have time for taking chances. I don’t have time for more complications in my life.

And I sure as hell don’t have time for the infuriating Dr. Michael Oliver, however damn sexy he is.

Second Edition
First Edition published by Blackout Books, 2018.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: From Brussels, With Love by Emy Calirel

Reviewed by Ami

Title: From Brussels, With Love
Author: Emy Calirel
Series: World of Love – Belgium
Heroes: Trevor/Jerome
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 156 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: October 18, 2019
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Dispirited after a recent breakup, Irish project manager Trevor is guilted into a trip to Brussels with his best friend. A chance meeting with cute and funny tour guide Jerome turns into a weekend of sex and friendship. Forgetting his phone at Jerome’s apartment shifts their fling into a long-distance relationship held together by postcards, texts, and stolen weekends. But distance isn’t the only thing keeping them apart—Trevor is a workaholic who values his success, while artistic Jerome is carefree but insecure.

Starting a life together means facing major challenges, but the loving words they’ve shared build a bridge across the sea—one that might let them meet in the middle.
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Categories: Ami's Reviews, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Rocket Science by K.M. Neuhold

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Rocket Science
Author: K.M. Neuhold
Heroes: Pax & Elijah
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 322 pages
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: September 27, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Relationships aren’t rocket science. If they were, I might stand a chance of figuring one out.

Elijah
Saying I’ve had a crush on my best friend’s older brother, Pax, most of my life is like saying the big bang was just an explosion. It’s true, but I’m not sure that quite captures the essence of its true enormity.

I know he’s only hanging out with me because I’m new in town and getting my PhD doesn’t leave me with much time to make friends. And even if it did, my strength is mathematics, not friend-making. What I don’t understand is why he kissed me… why he seems to want to keep kissing me. I don’t think my advanced physics knowledge is going to help me figure this one out. But I think for once I’m okay with not knowing, as long as Pax and I don’t know together.

Pax
He’s still the awkward nerdlet I remember…he’s also probably the cutest, most tempting man I’ve laid eyes on. I know I should keep my hands off him, but this thing between us is like a force of nature. I want to be his first everything. He says we’re nothing more than atoms crashing into each other. I’m no scientist but I don’t think either of us are braced for the explosion.

**** Rocket Science is a stand alone MM romance featuring an inexperienced nerd, a cocky player, and a satisfying HEA****
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Raven’s Hart by Davidson King

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Davidson King
Author: Raven’s Hart
Series: Haven Hart Universe #7
Heroes: Poe & Phin
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 234 pages
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: September 13, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Haven Hart stands on the edge of good and evil. Having balance between the two is the only thing keeping the town from crumbling to the ground. For years, one man has been charged with maintaining that balance. Poe.

The air of mystery surrounding Poe is one of necessity. He’s the keeper of secrets and for good reason. He’s stood alone against the most ruthless men and women, always hiding behind the curtain to help his friends defeat what seeks to destroy them.

Now, after all this time, the city he loves, the people he has protected, and the secrets he’s kept hidden are in serious jeopardy. Poe will need the help of his friends to fight the ultimate battle; not just save Haven Hart but everything and everyone he holds dear to him.

When the dust settles, will betrayals be forgiven? Will the city still be standing? Will Poe’s beloved be at his side or will everything crumble? One thing is for certain, everything will be tested, and questions will finally be answered. Raven’s Hart is the final installment in the Haven Hart Series.
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Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Drawing the Prince by Kim Fielding

Reviewed by Ami

Title: Drawing the Prince
Author: Kim Fielding
Series: Dreamspun Desires | Stars from Peril
Heroes: Cal & Teo
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 235 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: October 1, 2019
Available at: Dreamsprinner Press & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Painting themselves a life together will be a royal ordeal.

Small-town boy Cal Walters doesn’t know whether he owes his phenomenal success as an artist to talent or to his connections to famous people. Doubt leaves him secluded—until a lost bet lands him on yet another blind date. But this one is different.

To Teofilo Vabriga-Kastav, playboy prince of the tiny nation of Porvunia and passionate art lover, Cal’s paintings are as intriguing as Cal himself. When Teo invites Cal to his country for an art competition, a whirlwind romance sweeps them up. But it can’t last—loyalties and obligations bind them to lives that are worlds apart.

Cal and Teo might’ve found their perfect complements in each other, but to hold on to their happiness, they’ll have to get creative. Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Amalgamated by Becca Seymour

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Amalgamated
Author: Becca Seymour
Series: Coming Home #2
Heroes: Leo and Zak
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 67 pages
Publisher: Rainbow Tree Publishing
Release Date: September 28, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Escape with Leo and Zak in outback Australia as they discover it sometimes takes time, distance, and interfering family to amalgamate.

After five years of living in the UK, it’s time for Leo to return home to his dad’s stud farm in outback Australia. He has no idea what to expect when he arrives. He didn’t exactly leave with balloons and banners.

Nope. His farewell involved destruction and his own heart split in two.

He knows seeing the man who’s always held his heart, Zak, is going to be awkward. The older farm manager made his feelings pretty damn clear when Leo hightailed it out of there.

Leo quickly figures out life is going to get complicated and a whole heap more exciting as his trip home becomes so much more.

Amalgamated is a fun and steamy M/M short story in Becca Seymour’s Coming Home series. Stand-alone romances complete with heat, wit, and happily ever afters.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Coming Home for Christmas by RaeAnne Thayne

Reviewed by Ami

Title: Coming Home for Christmas
Author:RaeAnne Thayne
Series: Haven Point #10
Heroine/Hero: Elizabeth and Luke Hamilton
Genre: MF Contemporary
Length: 384 Pages
Publisher: HQN
Release Date: September 24, 2019
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Hearts are lighter and wishes burn a little brighter at Christmas…

Elizabeth Hamilton has been lost. Trapped in a tangle of postpartum depression and grief after the death of her beloved parents, she couldn’t quite see the way back to her husband and their two beautiful kids…until a car accident stole away her memories and changed her life. And when she finally remembered the sound of little Cassie’s laugh, the baby powder smell of Bridger and the feel of her husband’s hand in hers, Elizabeth worried that they’d moved on without her. That she’d missed too much. That perhaps she wasn’t the right mother for her kids or wife for Luke, no matter how much she loved them.

But now, seven years later, Luke finds her in a nearby town and brings Elizabeth back home to the family she loves, just in time for Christmas. And being reunited with Luke and her children is better than anything Elizabeth could have imagined. As they all trim the tree and bake cookies, making new holiday memories, Elizabeth and Luke are drawn ever closer. Can the hurt of the past seven years be healed over the course of one Christmas season and bring the Hamiltons the gift of a new beginning?
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, M/F, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: A Heart Divided by T.L. Travis

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: A Heart Divided
Author: T.L. Travis
Series: Social Sinners #3
Heroes: Mickey/Benny/River
Genre: M/M/M Contemporary
Length: 184 pages
Publisher: Encompass Ink
Release Date: March 19, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: How can one’s heart be divided without someone feeling left out, even if it’s yourself?

That was the challenge Mickey Payne, bass player for the band Social Sinners, was tasked with when he fell in love with two men. “The heart wants what the heart wants, and you’d be a fool to deny it,” his mother told him when he brought his concerns to her over the unconventional relationship he was in.

Entering into the triad, he of course had his reservations, but all doubt gets cast aside when they need his help.

Will his heart be able to survive? Continue reading

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