Posts Tagged With: dependent family

Book Review: Scrooged Over by David Connor

Reviewed by Nikyta

scrooged-overTitle: Scrooged Over
Author: David Connor
Series: 2016 Advent Calendar – Bah Humbug
Heroes: Deke and Dudley
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 69 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: December 1, 2016
Available at: Dreamspinner PressAmazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: For dueling radio hosts Deke and Dudley, the battle over Christmas starts the day after Thanksgiving. Deke hates the whole season. Dudley is a yuletide overachiever. They put their debate to a vote, inviting audience members to weigh in. The loser must go on a blind date of the winner’s choosing. Dudley decides he wouldn’t mind taking the loss, if his blind date, picked by Deke, turns out to be Deke himself. As Christmas gets closer, not only does that fantasy seem unlikely, but everything that can go wrong for Dudley does, including malfunctioning decorations, rancid cookies, and a lost pile of hundreds of handwritten Christmas cards. Just days before Santa’s arrival, Dudley’s about to throw in the red and green towel and join all the haters. It’ll take a miracle to change his mind….
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Nikyta's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Scent of the Heart by Parker Williams

Reviewed by Nikyta

Scent-400x600 2Title: Scent of the Heart
Author: Parker Williams
Series: Shifting Needs #2
Heroes: Casey & Sev
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 214 pages
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: June 15, 2015
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Casey Scott grew up being told he’d never amount to anything, and despite the unwavering love and support from his best friend, Jake, the idea sticks in the back of Casey’s mind. When he discovers he has a unique destiny in an enclave where shifters and humans live together, he seizes the chance, wanting for once in his life to be someone special.

Tsvetok Yerokhin lost his parents to the evil ruler of the enclave when he was a boy. The responsibilities of raising his two younger brothers nearly overwhelmed him and self- doubt took over. When the new Alpha and his Protector arrive in time to save his life, Sev is grateful, but he’s even more shocked when he scents his mate with them.

Casey isn’t prepared for the feelings that sweep over him when he meets Sev, but he refuses to act on them because he’s straight. Still, there is something so alluring about Sev that Casey can’t help being drawn to him.

As the two explore the edges of their new discovery, an evil returns, determined to control the enclave or destroy it. The Alpha and Protector are powerless to stop it, but Casey holds the key to victory. If he can discover what it is, he has a chance to save them all. To be the hero.

Unfortunately, the hero has to be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, and for Casey that means losing his heart.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Shards of Hope by Nalini Singh

Reviewed by Nikyta

17159943Title: Shards of Hope
Author: Nalini Singh
Series: Psy-Changeling #14
Hero/Heroine: Aden & Zaira
Genre: M/F Paranormal/Fantasy
Length: 484 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: June 2, 2015
Available at: Penguin/Berkley & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Awakening wounded in a darkened cell, their psychic abilities blocked, Aden and Zaira know they must escape. But when the lethal soldiers break free from their mysterious prison, they find themselves in a harsh, inhospitable landscape far from civilization. Their only hope for survival is to make it to the hidden home of a predatory changeling pack that doesn’t welcome outsiders.

And they must survive. A shadowy enemy has put a target on the back of the Arrow squad, an enemy that cannot be permitted to succeed in its deadly campaign. Aden will cross any line to keep his people safe for this new future, where even an assassin might have hope of a life beyond blood and death and pain. Zaira has no such hope. She knows she’s too damaged to return from the abyss. Her driving goal is to protect Aden, protect the only person who has ever come back for her no matter what.

This time, even Aden’s passionate determination may not be enough—because the emotionless chill of Silence existed for a reason. For the violent, and the insane, and the irreparably broken…like Zaira.
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, M/F, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Family of Lies: Sebastian by Sam Argent

Reviewed by Nikyta

FamilyOfLiesSebastianLGTitle: Family of Lies: Sebastian
Author: Sam Argent
Heroes: Sebastian & Turren
Genre: M/M Fantasy
Length: 324 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: March 18, 2015
Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Sebastian Orwell did the only thing a smart wizard could do when he stumbled upon the wounded Crown Prince: he healed him and dumped him in a tavern where he could continue not being Sebastian’s problem. Unfortunately, the prince isn’t content with being alive, and he hunts Sebastian down to thank him personally. Not only is Sebastian stuck with the prince’s unwanted affections, he’s also confronted by growing evidence linking the assassination attempt to someone from his father’s past.

Lord Orwell is a lot of things: thief, liar, drunk, and all around horrible father, but Sebastian knows he’s no murderer. In order to prove it, Sebastian has to keep the prince alive long enough to discover the truth—a task made considerably harder because the idiot prince prefers wooing Sebastian over securing his own survival. On top of everything, Sebastian needs to save the day without revealing his magical powers and the real reason he hides his appearance.

Sebastian had no intention of playing the hero, but whoever is stirring up shit in his country will pay for destroying his quiet life.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Book Review: There’s Something About Ari by L.B. Gregg

Reviewed by Nikyta

1Title: There’s Something About Ari
Author: L.B. Gregg
Series: Bluewater Bay #2
Heroes: Buck Ellis/Ari Valentine
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 95 Pages
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: November 10, 2014
Available at: Riptide Publishing
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, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Shelter Me by Catherine Mann

Reviewed by Nikyta

Shelter Me (Second Chance Ranch, #1)Title: Shelter Me
Author: Catherine Mann
Series: Second Chance Ranch #1
Hero/Heroine: Mike & Sierra
Genre: M/F Contemporary
Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: August 5, 2014
Available at: Berkley, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Nestled in the sunny fields of Tennessee lies the McDaniel family’s Second Chance Ranch Animal Rescue. Two new arrivals are on their way, but only one is the four-legged kind.

Staff Sergeant Mike Kowalski wants only one thing after he gets home from Iraq: to sleep in a king-sized bed with clean sheets. But first, he has to hand off his fallen commander’s dog, Trooper, to his family without handing off his heart to Sierra…

Sierra McDaniel needs a break. Her family life is crazy, and when she’s not mucking out kennels, she’s slogging through grad school. Sierra certainly doesn’t want another dog, especially one that reminds her of her father. And she definitely doesn’t want to see Mike with that charming smile of his…

But Trooper has a mission of his own. Before too long Mike is moving to the ranch to lend a hand—and hoping for his own second chance with Sierra.

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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, M/F, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Mobster Week Review: Yakuza Courage by H.J. Brues

Reviewed by Nikyta

7Title: Yakuza Courage
Author: H.J. Brues
Series: The Way of the Yakuza #2
Heroes: Kinosuke/Brendan & Kotaro
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 336 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: August 1, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and All Romance eBooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Ex-Navy SEAL Brendan O’Farrihy enrolls in kendo classes to investigate a Honolulu dojo acting as a front for a yakuza syndicate. Or at least that’s what Brendan’s client, Senator Harris, believes. Through his kendo instructor, the cocky, short-fused, gorgeous Kinosuke Yonekawa, Brendan learns the criminals who are supposedly using the senator’s son, Kenneth, to expand their activities into the US, seem to have severed any yakuza connections. The jaded, soul-scarred former soldier is captivated by the loyalty these gangsters show each other and the way they protect Ken like a tight military unit. Brendan wonders why the senator lied to him, and what the yakuza are shielding Ken from.

When Ken disappears, Brendan suspects foul play and decides to help the man he is falling for, Kinosuke, and his friends, find Ken. But when Kinosuke discovers Brendan has been on the senator’s payroll, all bets are off.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: The Blinding Light by Renae Kaye

Reviewed by Nikyta

22464070Title: The Blinding Light
Author: Renae Kaye
Heroes: Jake/Patrick
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 212 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: July 14, 2012
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and All Romance eBooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Jake Manning’s smart mouth frequently gets him into trouble. Because of it, he can’t hold a job. Combined with some bad luck, it’s prevented him from keeping steady employment. A huge debt looms over him, and alone he shoulders the care of his alcoholic mother and three younger sisters. When a housekeeping position opens, Jake’s so desperate he leaps at the opportunity. On landing, he finds his new boss, Patrick Stanford, a fussy, arrogant, rude… and blind man.

Born without sight, Patrick is used to being accommodated, but he’s met his match with Jake, who doesn’t take any of his crap and threatens to swap all the braille labels on his groceries and run off with his guide dog unless he behaves.

Jake gets a kick out of Patrick. Things are looking up: the girls are starting their own lives and his mum’s sobriety might stick this time. He’s sacrificed everything for his family; maybe it’s time for him to live his life and start a relationship with Patrick. When his mother needs him, guilt makes his choice between family and Patrick difficult, and Jake must realize he’s not alone anymore.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: The Byte of Betrayal by Ashavan Doyon

Reviewed by Nikyta

1Title: The Byte of Betrayal
Author: Ashavan Doyon
Series: 2014 Daily Dose – Mended
Heroes: Caleb/Nicodemus
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 73 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: June 1, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Caleb McDonnell lives his life online. A thirty-year-old fast food worker, he spends his time talking in an Internet world where his job and living conditions can’t dictate his friendships. He’s found acceptance, friendship, and even romance. But when an online friend is revealed as a fake, Caleb loses all sense of trust. To stave off the emotional collapse of his betrayal, Caleb leaves his online life behind and retreats into the monotony of his job.

Nicodemus Rokos feels like his heart has been torn out. He knew Caleb would be hurt, but he’d hoped not to be shut out of his boyfriend’s life. He can only hope Caleb still feels something when he shows up in person to reclaim what he’s lost.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Undertow by S.M. Stelmack

Reviewed by Nikyta

1Title: Undertow
Author: S.M. Stelmack
Series: The UnderCity Chronicles #1
Heroes: Lindsay Sterling/Jack Cole
Genre: M/F Urban Fantasy
Length: 248 Pages
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: April 29, 2013
Available at: Amazon, Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Lindsay Sterling’s niece has gone missing in the New York underground and the cops do nothing except pass along a name. Jack Cole. Twenty years ago they were good buddies but horrors have changed them both. Lindsay lost her entire family except for her niece in a car accident, and Jack was held captive in New York’s underbelly for nearly two years by demented sub-humans. It was a soul-sucking experience that’s left him a shell of a man. He refuses to descend into that hell again, especially for a girl who’s probably dead anyway. But when Lindsay is nearly killed there after going it alone, Jack feels compelled to save her skin. Jack navigates Lindsay through a strange territory, populated with the eccentric, the insane and the desperate. Each encounter takes them closer to Lindsay’s niece but also closer into the clutches of the mad creatures that will enslave them.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, M/F, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment