Posts Tagged With: Grief

Book Review: Violence Begets… by P.T. Denys

Reviewed by JustJen

1Title: Violence Begets…
Author: P.T. Denys
Heroes: Kevin/Rick
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 284 Pages
Publisher: P.T. Denys
Release Date: December 22, 2013
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  After a tragic accident devastates his family, 16-year-old Rick St. James starts his junior year of high school alone in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah. When he meets Kevin Vincent, he’s too distracted by the promise of new friends to see that Kevin has secrets of his own.

Having created an environment where he’s feared and admired by his classmates, Kevin finds pleasure in using his good looks and violence to control and manipulate those around him. Secretly, he cruises the gay club scene, turning tricks to earn money so he can party and get high.

As Rick’s dad becomes increasingly violent and abusive at home, the two form a surprising and volatile trust. In this battle of wills, their precarious friendship will either keep their lives from blowing up around them or possibly light the fuse that will cause the explosion.
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Book Review: The Brick Yard by Carol Lynne

Reviewed by JustJen

1Title: The Brick Yard
Author: Carol Lynne
Heroes: Lucky/Dray
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 173 Pages
Publisher: Totally Bound
Release Date: October 3, 2014
Available at: Totally Bound and Amazon
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 addict 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?

Reader advisory: This book contains scenes of terminal illness and child abuse.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

J.L. Merrow Week Review: Trick of Time

Reviewed by Susan65

dTitle: Trick of Time
Author: J.L. Merrow
Heroes: Ted/Jem
Genre: MM Historical
Length: 80 Pages
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: January 28, 2013
Available at: Carina Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: A lover from another time

When Ted Ennis steps out the doors of the Criterion Theatre for a cigarette and finds himself in Victorian London, he begins to doubt his sanity. At first he thinks it’s all a film set, and is sure that the strikingly handsome young man leaning against a lamppost must be the leading man…

What starts as a sordid transaction with a beautiful rent boy quickly turns into something much deeper, drawing him back again and again as he gets to know Jem and craves meaningful encounters with him.

But Ted doesn’t understand the exact conditions necessary for his trips through time—and for Jem, time may actually be running out. Now Ted has one last shot to get back to Jem and save their relationship, before it’s too late…
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2013, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

J.L. Merrow Week Review: Fall Hard

Guest Reviewed by Trish

11Title: Fall Hard
Author: J.L. Merrow
Heroes: Paul/Viggo
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 237 Pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: September 17, 2013
Available at:  Samhain Publishing, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Some memories are better off lost in the mist…

Eight months ago, British academic Paul Ansell lost his lover—and all the memories of their time together—in an accident at Iceland’s Gullfoss Falls. Returning to the misty island country to resume his study of the bloodthirsty Viking Egil Skallagrimsson is tough as he struggles to pull his life back together.

First, there’s his colleague, Mags, who treats him like glass, and summer student Alex, who peppers him with discomforting questions. Then there’s Icelandic jet-boat driver Viggo, a tattooed, modern-day Viking who won’t say much about how they know each other. Leaving Paul to wonder if their volcanic attraction is fuelled by a desire to make a fresh start, or desperation to forget the past.

As more fragments of his lost memories fall into place, Paul is unsure if he can trust himself, much less anyone around him. And he begins to suspect his accident was nothing of the kind.

Warning: Contains a modern-day Viking whose boat has V8 engines for oars, and a harsh land of hot springs and hotter passions that won’t forgive any false steps.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

J.L. Merrow Week Review: Light the Fire

Reviewed by JustJen

3Title: Light the Fire
Author: J.L. Merrow
Heroes: Kurt/Matt
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 22 Pages
Publisher: JMS Books
Release Date: January 28, 2013
Available at: JMS Books, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Learning to live—and love—again

Two years after the death of his lover at the hands of bigots, Kurt’s still not looking for another relationship, even though the big old house he bought with Raoul seems cold and empty these days. But there’s a perky kid at his gym who just won’t take no for an answer.

Matt can tell there’s more to Kurt than just a great set of pecs. He’s drawn to the big guy’s caring, protective attitude as much as to his muscles. But when push comes to shove, can Matt show Kurt he’s not just a big mouth in a small package?

This story first appeared in the Someplace in this World anthology, now out of print.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: Into This River I Drown by T.J. Klune

Reviewed by Morgan

12Title: Into This River I Drown
Author: T.J. Klune
Narrator: Matt Baca
Heroes: Benji Green/Cal Blue
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 400 Pages / 18 Hours, 45 Minutes
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: Book – March 25, 2013 / Audio – August 19, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Audible and iTunes
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Five years ago, Benji Green lost his beloved father Big Eddie when his truck crashed into a river. Everyone called it an accident, but Benji knows it was more. Even years later, he’s buried in his grief, throwing himself into managing Big Eddie’s convenience store in the small-town of Roseland, Oregon. Surrounded by his mother and three aunts, he lives day to day, struggling to keep his head above water.

But Roseland is no ordinary place.

With ever more frequent dreams of his father’s death and waking visions of feathers on the river’s surface, Benji finds his definition of reality bending. He thinks himself haunted; by ghosts or memories, he can no longer tell. Not until a man falls from the sky, leaving the burning imprint of wings on the ground, does Benji begin to understand that the world is more mysterious than he ever imagined – and more dangerous. As uncontrollable forces descend on Roseland, they reveal long-hidden truths about friends, family, and the stranger Calliel – a man Benji can no longer live without.
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Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: From the Ashes by Marshall Thornton

Reviewed by Susan65

3Title: From the Ashes
Author: Marshall Thornton
Series: Boystown #6
Heroes: Nick Nowak
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 196 Pages
Publisher: MLR Press
Release Date: May 23, 2014
Available at: MLR Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  The most unlikely person in the world asks Private Investigator Nick Nowak to investigate the un-suspicious death of a priest. It’s winter 1984, Private Investigator Nick Nowak has allowed his life to fall to pieces: he’s stopped taking cases, lost his apartment and works as a bartender at a sleazy bar tucked under the El. All he wants to do is lick his wounds after the death of his lover, Detective Bert Harker. But, when the least likely person in the world shows up and asks him to take a new case he finds himself investigating the very un-suspicious heart attack death of a priest. Nick is convinced he’s wasting his time until the clues begin to add up to.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: You Can’t Go Home Again by Michael Murphy

Reviewed by Susan65

1Title: You Can’t Go Home Again
Author: Michael Murphy
Heroes: Jack/Kevin
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 200 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: July 18, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: In work and in love, life has taught seasoned police officer Jack that closeness only leads to pain. But Jack is wracked with guilt when his rookie partner Kevin is shot during an undercover assignment and dies in his arms. Why didn’t he take the time to get to know the rookie a little?

At the funeral, Jack takes a liking to Kevin’s brother, Devin. But Jack knows making a connection can cause more hurt, and living on opposite coasts is an added obstacle.

With his brother dead, Devin feels a responsibility to Kevin’s pregnant widow, Marie. He packs up and moves east, only to have Marie, outraged that he’s put his life on hold, slam the door in his face. Devin turns to the only other person he knows in town. As much as it goes against his philosophies on life, Jack takes him in without hesitation.

Their tentative exploration into romance is interrupted when Devin is mistaken for his dead brother and taken captive. Just as Jack opens his heart, reality slams into him. But he can’t lose anyone else. More than the need to simply save a captive drives Jack to find Devin and bring him home.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Head-On by John Inman

Reviewed by Susan65

1Title: Head-On
Author: John Inman
Heroes: Gordon/Squirt
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 220 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: July 9, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and All Romance eBooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: At twenty-six, Gordon Stafford figures his days are numbered. At least he hopes they are. Wearied by guilt and regret stemming from a horrific automobile accident two years earlier in which a man was killed, Gordon wakes up every morning with thoughts of suicide. While the law puts Gordon to work atoning for his sins, personal redemption is far harder to come by.

Then Squirt—a simple homeless man with his own crosses to bear—saves Gordon from a terrible fate. Overnight, Gordon finds not only a new light to follow, and maybe even a purpose to his life, but also the possibility of love waiting at the end of the tunnel.

Gordon never imagined he’d discover a way to forgive himself, and in doing so, open his heart enough to gain acceptance and love—from the very person he hurt the most.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Ink & Flowers by J.K. Pendragon

Reviewed by Susan65

1Title: Ink & Flowers
Author: J.K. Pendragon
Heroes: Luke/Cooper
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 144 Pages
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Release Date: June 4, 2014
Available at: Less Than Three Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and All Romance eBooks Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: About to lose his apartment, and desperate to avoid having to move in with his horrendous relatives, shy art student Luke impulsively agrees to a deal from hell: sex with a man he doesn’t know in exchange for a couch to sleep on.

His new “roommate” Cooper is everything that Luke hates: crude, uncouth and covered in tattoos, not to mention openly gay. Luke has all but resigned himself to a miserable fate when it turns out Cooper might want something a little different than he expected.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment