Posts Tagged With: Family Drama

Book Review: Back Piece by L.A. Witt

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Back Piece
Author: L.A. Witt
Series: Skin Deep Inc. #1
Heroes: Colin Spencer/Daniel Moore
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 316 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press/Swerve
Release Date: April 25, 2017
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Colin Spencer is a tattoo artist with a past he’d prefer to keep a secret. Actually, he has a few secrets that he’d rather people didn’t know about, which is why Colin doesn’t do commitment. But when a shy sailor approaches him at the gym, Colin finds this guy pushing all his buttons.

Growing up in a conservative family, then escaping with the Navy, Daniel Moore is an unsure virgin who feels like he can’t share his true self with anyone. Seeing Colin—and his tattoos—at the gym are the sign Daniel needs to finally get those tattoos he’s always wanted, and maybe try his hand at flirting.

As Colin and Daniel spend more time together, their awkward hesitations turn into a deep passion neither expected. But with both men harboring secrets, will their relationship be able to survive their insecurities and become something beautiful?

Back Piece is a sexy, emotional journey of two people learning to love and finding acceptance for who they really are.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2017 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Fighter by Carol Lynne

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Fighter
Author: Carol Lynne
Series: The Brick Yard #1
Heroes: Lucky/Dray
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 261 Pages
Publisher: Pride Publishing
Release Date: February 9, 2017
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: For Lucky Gunn, the hardest fight of his life happens outside the cage.

On the South Side of Chicago sits an old gym called The Brick Yard.

Ten years ago, on a bitterly cold day, Lucky Gunn wandered into The Brick Yard dressed in a threadbare jacket, looking for refuge. He hadn’t expected the owner, Tony Brick, to welcome him with a job and a place to sleep when Lucky’s abusive and drug-addicted mother made it too dangerous to return home.

Dray was a gay man living in a world of straight fighters. When his secret was exposed to the media, he dropped out, giving Lucky a piece of advice-if you want to make it as a MMA fighter, bury the part of yourself that won’t be accepted.

Lucky discovered the cage was the perfect place to keep his demons at bay, but when he learns his trainer and mentor, Brick, is suffering from end-stage cancer, he begins to spiral out of control. After eight years, Dray returns to help Lucky and Brick deal with the devastating news.

With Dray so close, Lucky’s old desires return, and Dray teaches him more than how to fight. Torn between his career and the passion he feels for Dray, Lucky’s past demons resurface in full force, threatening his sanity and his budding relationship with Dray.

Despite leaving the cage years earlier, Dray finds himself in the battle of his life with the only man he’s ever loved. Will he stand and fight or walk away like he did years earlier?

Publisher’s Note: This book has previously been released with Pride Publishing under a different title. It has been considerably expanded and re-edited for re-release and now is book one in The Brick Yard series.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2017, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: In the Wreckage by Hailey Turner

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: In the Wreckage
Author: Hailey Turner
Series: Metahuman Files #1
Heroes: Jamie Callahan/Kyle Brannigan
Genre: MM Sci-Fi
Length: 341 Pages
Publisher: Hailey Turner
Release Date: February 19, 2017
Available at:  Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: A Marine with honor.

After surviving a horrific chemical attack that turned him into a metahuman, Captain Jamie Callahan got a second lease on life. For three years he’s been working for the Metahuman Defense Force and leading Alpha Team—all against the wishes of his family. The job requires his full dedication, so it’s no surprise Jamie doesn’t have time for a relationship. An enticing one-night stand with a gorgeous stranger is all it takes to show Jamie exactly what he’s been missing. When a mission to take down a terrorist cell brings that same stranger back into his world, Jamie’s life gets complicated.

A soldier with secrets.

Staff Sergeant Kyle Brannigan was only looking to relieve some stress after a long mission. He didn’t know the hot guy he picked up at a bar was the leader of the MDF’s top field team. When Kyle and his partner get seconded to Alpha Team to help fight a terrorist threat, he has to balance his desire for Jamie against his duty to keep his secrets safe. That gets harder and harder to do amidst regulations both are tempted to break.

Two men trying to survive.

Giving into passion could cost both their careers. Abiding by the rules will only result in heartache. An attack on MDF headquarters brings with it a choice Jamie and Kyle can’t escape—duty, or love?
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2017, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Returning Home by Alex Jane

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Returning Home
Author: Alex Jane
Series: Alphas’ Homestead #2
Heroes: Jacob Carpenter/Caleb Fletcher
Genre: MM Paranormal
Length: 107 Pages
Publisher: Alex Jane
Release Date: August 12, 2016
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Three years after Jacob Carpenter landed on Caleb Fletcher’s doorstep, the Alpha mates return to the city they grew up in to be married.

Aside from the sheer exhaustion of traveling across the country with three children in tow, both men step foot back in New York filled with apprehension about what kind of reception they will receive from their families after abandoning their respective packs.

At first it seems they are welcomed home with open arms and much excitement about their wedding but it soon becomes clear that not everyone is so happy to see the prodigal sons return.

Indeed, Caleb finds himself wondering if Jacob will go through with the ceremony at all, or whether it would be better to pack up his mate and their children, and head back to Nebraska before the situation does irreparable damage to them both.

Sometimes you have to leave a place to realize it’s exactly where you ought to be.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2016, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Loose Cannon by Sidney Bell

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Loose Cannon
Author: Sidney Bell
Series: The Woodbury Boys #1
Heroes: Edgar-Allen Church/Miller Quinn
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 327 Pages
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: April 3, 2017
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Released after five years in the system for assault, streetwise Edgar-Allen Church is ready to leave the past behind and finally look to his future. In need of a place to crash, he’s leaning on Miller Quinn. A patient, solidly masculine pillar of strength and support, Miller has always been there for him—except in the one way Church has wanted the most.

With his staunchly conservative upbringing, Miller has been playing it straight his whole life. Now with Church so close again, it’s getting harder to keep his denial intact. As they fumble their way back to friendship after so many years apart, Miller struggles to find the courage to accept who he really is. What he has with Church could be more than desire—it could be love. But it could also mean trouble.

Church’s criminal connections are closing in on the both of them, and more than their hearts are at risk. This time, their very lives are on the line.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2017 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Relationship Status by K.A. Mitchell

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Relationship Status
Author: K.A. Mitchell
Series: Ethan & Wyatt #3
Heroes: Ethan/Wyatt
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 106 Pages
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: April 1, 2017
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Life doesn’t come with a syllabus.

Ethan knows firsthand that long distance is hard on love. If Wyatt is spending his summer at an internship in Pittsburgh, that’s where Ethan will be. Even if it means inventing his own career goal just to find a reason to stay with his boyfriend. He didn’t expect they’d be living in a hot, crappy apartment, with work schedules that keep them apart more than together.

Wyatt’s past has taught him to keep his head down and focus on living through the day. Loving Ethan has him looking to the future for the first time; he’s just not in as big of a rush to get there. It’s hard to trust in happiness when life has been busy kicking you in the nuts.

Together they’re getting the hang of real life, when a new responsibility for Wyatt throws everything off balance. Ethan’s doing everything he can to prove he’s in this forever, while Wyatt is torn between a future with Ethan and a debt to the past. Too bad they didn’t cover this in college.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2017, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Scar by Baylin Crow

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Scar
Author: Baylin Crow
Heroes: Beard/Soccer
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 115 Pages
Publisher: Baylin Crow
Release Date: December 19, 2016
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Beard

I just wanted to be left alone. After the disastrous turn my life took four years ago, I swore that I’d never let my guard down for anyone ever again. I left everything I knew behind and started over again. Things were going just fine until nearly six feet of pure temptation walked through the doors of my bar. It’s been a year and I’ve done a pretty good job of avoiding him. Things change when his friends get him drunk and leave him stranded on his birthday. I shouldn’t have given him a place to crash because now I can’t shake him.

Soccer

He intrigued me from the moment we met, and I haven’t exactly been subtle about wanting him. The green-eyed bartender seems to want nothing to do with me, but I don’t miss the way he watches me when he thinks no one will notice. I’ve let him pretend long enough, and it’s definitely time to make my move. On the field, I face tough competitors every week, but this one will make me work harder than I ever have before. If I want to win, I’m going to have to up my game because he is a pro at pushing me away.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Debut Authors, JustJen's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: How to Deal by T.M. Smith

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: How to Deal
Author: T.M. Smith
Narrator: Joel Leslie
Series: All Cocks #3
Heroes: Jon Brennan/Kory White
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 4 Hours, 30 Minutes
Publisher: TTC Publishing
Release Date: November 4, 2016
Available at:  Amazon and Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Jon Brennan comes from a long line of men in uniform; all born and bred to both bleed and wear blue. His family and the majority of his co-workers support him every step of the way, so he doesn’t need to hide the fact that he prefers men over women. Between the job and his larger than life, loud and rowdy half Irish, half Italian family, there isn’t much time for dating, much less finding a guy who can deal with the stress and demands placed on the shoulders of an NYPD detective.

Kory White is cocky and abrasive with most people, but it is all a facade he hides behind to keep his heart safe. As a child, Kory lost his mother to an act of violence. Soon after, he and his baby sister Kassandra were separated by the system. Kassandra was immediately adopted, but Kory spent the next 10 years cycling through foster homes before moving to the Big Apple. In an effort to keep everyone at a distance, Kory has meticulously built himself an alter ego: Hayden Cox, All Cocks cockiest model.

These two strong-willed men definitely prove opposites do attract. Both are stubborn and hard headed to a fault, Kory more so than Jon. But Jon is used to being in control, the one calling the shots, and Kory fights him at every turn. Just when it seems they have found a way to navigate the unchartered territory that is love, tragedy knocks on Kory’s door yet again. Volatile and strong, even in the face of adversity, both men refuse to give up on each other – or their love.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Published in 2016, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Home is Where You Are by Alex Jane

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Home is Where You Are
Author: Alex Jane
Series: Alphas’ Homestead #1
Heroes: Caleb / Jacob
Genre: MM Paranormal
Length: 185 Pages
Publisher: Alex Jane
Release Date: June 10, 2016
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: By the winter of 1870, Caleb Fletcher has carved out a sheltered existence for himself in a simple cabin, outside a small town in the backwaters of Nebraska, resigned to living out his days as a solitary wolf. But his quiet life is interrupted when another werewolf lands on his doorstep on the eve of a snowstorm, brutalized almost beyond repair, with nowhere else to turn.

When Caleb reluctantly welcomes Jacob into his cabin, and eventually his bed, it forces him to face up to the traumas he’s been running from; the shame that made him leave his pack behind, and the horrors of war he endured.

As the weeks pass, it seems that Jacob’s arrival might not be the coincidence it first appeared. Jacob has an agenda. One that involves Caleb. And if Caleb agrees to it – if he can let go of his past and his prejudices – it will change Caleb’s whole world. Maybe even for the better.

Without a mate – a family, a pack – a wolf has no home.
But what if home finds you?
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2016, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Walking on Thin Ice

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Walking on Thin Ice
Author: Jocelynn Drake
Heroes: Spenser Roland/Evan Scott
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 134 Pages
Publisher: Jocelynn Drake
Release Date: November 22, 2016
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: It’s not easy for Spenser Roland to admit it, but he needs help. Christmas is just a few days away, and he can’t face the idea of showing up to his family’s gathering alone … again. They want to see him happily settled, but Spenser doesn’t date. He can’t risk it if he wants to protect his family. But one unexpected night with Evan Scott has him thinking that maybe he can strike a deal that will make his family happy and give him a little holiday cheer as well.

Evan never should have accepted a ride home from the sexy-as-hell corporate executive, but he’s proud that he stuck to his guns. He’s done with the one-night stand game. He wants something real. Something that lasts. But when Spenser returns, asking him to pose as his boyfriend over the weekend at a Christmas celebration, Evan is sure he’s lost his mind.

But he can’t say no.

Maybe it’s the shadow of loneliness in Spenser’s bright blue eyes that’s too much like his own. Or maybe it’s his heart-stopping smile.

Either way, Evan knows he’s on thin ice with Spenser, risking his own rules and heart, but Spenser is worth the risk.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2016, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment