Posts Tagged With: historical romance

Book Review: Tournament of Shadows by S.A. Meade

Posted on March 21, 2014 by Heather C

Reviewed by Heather C

20721879Title: Tournament of Shadows
Author: S.A. Meade
Heroes: Gabriel and Valentin
Genre: M/M Historical Romance
Length: 51,406 words
Publisher: Totally Bound
Release Date: March 21, 2014
Available at: Totally Bound
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: In a shadowy game where defeat can mean death, a deal with the enemy can change things forever. 

In 1842, Captain Gabriel O’Riordan of the 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars is sent on a mission to Bukhara. His task—to try to free two of his compatriots from the clutches of a mentally unstable Emir. On his way, he encounters Valentin Yakolev, an officer in the Russian Army, who is also on a mission—to persuade the Emir that an alliance with Russia would be in his best interests. Gabriel, disguised as a holy man, is not happy to be the object of Yakolev’s intense scrutiny. After all, he’s working for the opposing team in the Great Game being played between their two nations. When Gabriel realises that his mission is little more than a forlorn hope, a game he has no chance of winning, he’s desperate enough to turn to Valentin to help and offer him anything in return. What he doesn’t expect is to have his plans to return to Calcutta scuppered by events.

Instead, he and Valentin flee north, fighting off bandits, their desire for each other and the hardship of desert travel. Their travails bring them closer together until a secret from Valentin’s past tears them apart.

Can they set the past behind them and move on together?

Reader Advisory: This book contains some violence, including beheadings. Continue reading →

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Remnant by KJ Charles & Jordan L. Hawk

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Heather C

Reviewed by Heather C

20880073Title: Remnant
Author: KJ Charles & Jordan L. Hawk
Series: Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal / Whyborne & Griffin #3
Heroes: Robert/Simon & Whyborne/Griffin
Genre: M/M Historical Romance, Paranormal
Length: 15,000 words
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: March 11, 2014
Available at: Smashwords & All Romance eBooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: London, 1899. The beautiful people are dying…

A malevolent power is attacking London’s bright young things, and the only clue to what’s happening is written in ancient Egyptian script. As ghost-hunter Simon Feximal and his companion Robert Caldwell investigate the mysterious deaths, the arrival in London of a notorious scholar-sorcerer seems to hold the answer to more than one of their problems.

A quiet break in London while en route to Egypt turns dramatic for Dr Percival Endicott Whyborne and his lover Griffin Flaherty when they encounter the hostile ghost-hunter. Feximal clearly suspects the worst of Whyborne – and his flirtatious sidekick seems to think a great deal too well of Griffin…

Jordan L Hawk’s heroes Whyborne and Griffin meet KJ Charles’ occult detectives from the Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal in a mystery that takes all four lovers through the decadent underworld of Victorian London in pursuit of an ancient and deadly evil. Continue reading →

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: Stormhaven by Jordan L. Hawk

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Heather C

Reviewed by Heather C

18633099Title: Stormhaven
Author: Jordan L. Hawk
Series: Whyborne & Griffin #3
The Heroes: Percival Endicott Whyborne & Griffin Flaherty
Genre: M/M Historical Romance, Paranormal
Length: 68, 140 words
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: December 3, 2013
Available at: Smashwords, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf at: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Mysterious happenings are nothing new to reclusive scholar Percival Endicott Whyborne, but finding one of his colleagues screaming for help in the street is rather unusual. Allan Tambling claims he can’t remember any of the last hour—but someone murdered his uncle, and Allan is covered in blood.

Whyborne’s lover, dashing ex-Pinkerton detective Griffin Flaherty, agrees to prove Allan’s innocence. But when Allan is deemed insane and locked away in the Stormhaven Lunatic Asylum, Griffin finds himself reliving the horrifying memories of his own ordeal inside a madhouse.

Along with their friend Christine, the two men become drawn deeper and deeper into a dark web of conspiracy, magic, and murder. Their only clue: a missing artifact depicting an unknown god. Who stole the artifact, and why can’t Allan remember what happened? And what is the truth behind the terrible experiments conducted on Stormhaven’s forbidden fourth floor?

It will take all of Whyborne’s sorcery and Griffin’s derring-do to stop the murderers and save Allan. But first, they must survive an even greater challenge: a visit from Griffin’s family. Continue reading →

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: Purly Gates by Vastine Bondurant

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Heather C

Reviewed by Heather C

13618145Title: Purly Gates
Author: Vastine Bondurant
Heroes: Purly Gates & Lucky Cleary
Genre: M/M Historical Romance
Length: 52 pages
Publisher: LIG Publishing
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Available at: Amazon & All Romance eBooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: A lonely stretch of beach becomes a hiding place for two men who, when their paths cross, are determined not to be ships just passing in the night.

Purlman “Purly” Gates—dark, brooding, mysterious, hiding from his past and the hefty price on his head—is hopelessly attracted to the young man who strolls the beach every morning. At the risk of his own exposure and its deadly consequences, Purly succumbs to his desire and sets out to lure the beautiful enigma into his lair.

Lucky Cleary wants the swarthy stranger who watches him from the shadows of the cottage deck, and his morning promenades finally pay off when the man steps out onto the beach and into Lucky’s life in a move to bring their paths together.

But Lucky has a secret as well—a past mistake following close behind him, promising certain death if it catches up with him.

When each man discovers the other’s identity, the truth forms a powerful bond between them and fans the flame of their passion.

But is the meeting of these two lonely souls a beautiful destiny or merely a cruel twist of fate in which their desire is nothing more than the kiss of death for them both? Continue reading →

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2012 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Heidi Cullinan Week Review: A Private Gentleman

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Heather C

Reviewed by Heather C

13314897Title: A Private Gentleman
Author: Heidi Cullinan
Heroes: Lord George Albert Westin & Michael Vallant
Genre: M/M Historical Romance
Length: 88,823 words
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: February 14, 2012
Available at: Samhain Publishing, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: To seal their bond, they must break the ties that bind.

Painfully introverted and rendered nearly mute by a heavy stammer, Lord George Albert Westin rarely ventures any farther than the club or his beloved gardens. When he hears rumors of an exotic new orchid sighted at a local hobbyist’s house, though, he girds himself with opiates and determination to attend a house party, hoping to sneak a peek.

He finds the orchid, yes…but he finds something else even more rare and exquisite: Michael Vallant. Professional sodomite.

Michael climbed out of an adolescent hell as a courtesan’s bastard to become successful and independent-minded, seeing men on his own terms, protected by a powerful friend. He is master of his own world—until Wes. Not only because, for once, the sex is for pleasure and not for profit. They are joined by tendrils of a shameful, unspoken history. The closer his shy, poppy-addicted lover lures him to the light of love, the harder his past works to drag him back into the dark.

There’s only one way out of this tangle. Help Wes face the fears that cripple him—right after Michael finds the courage to reveal the devastating truth that binds them.

Product Warnings
Contains wounded heroes, bibliophilic tendencies, orchid obsessions, a right bastard of a marquis, and gay men who get happily-ever-afters. Continue reading →

Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2012 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Awfully Glad by Charlie Cochrane

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Heather C

Reviewed by Heather C

20444101Title: Awfully Glad
Author: Charlie Cochrane
Heroes: Sam Hines & Jonny Browne
Genre: M/M Historical Romance
Length: 20,344 words
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Release Date: January 2014
Available at: Bold Strokes Books, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: WWI hero Sam Hines is used to wearing a face that isn’t his own. When he’s not in the trenches, he’s the most popular female impersonator on the front, but a mysterious note from an anonymous admirer leaves him worried. Everyone realizes—eventually—that Sam’s not a woman, but has somebody also worked out that he also prefers his lovers to be male?

When Sam meets—and falls for—fellow officer Jonny Browne after the war, he wonders whether he could be the man who wrote the note. If so, is he the answer to Sam’s dreams or just another predatory blackmailer, ready to profit from a love that dare not speak its name? Continue reading →

Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Butterflies by KJ Charles

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Heather C

Reviewed by Heather C

18718973Title: Butterflies
Author: KJ Charles
Series: The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal #2
Heroes: Robert Caldwell & Simon Feximal
Genre: M/M Historical Romance, Horror
Length: 8,400 words
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: October 28, 2013
Available at: Smashwords & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Journalist Robert Caldwell is still smarting from his first encounter with ghost-hunter Simon Feximal. Their night in a haunted house was thrilling, but the aftermath leaves Robert hurt, disappointed, and resolved not to see Simon again.

But just a few days later their paths cross once more, this time investigating a pair of mysterious deaths: two corpses shrouded in butterflies.

Now Robert wants the truth – on the deaths, on where the butterflies came from, and most of all, on the attraction that still burns between him and Simon. Continue reading →

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Wild Burn by Edie Harris

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Heather C

Reviewed by Heather C

16103311Title: Wild Burn
Author: Edie Harris
Series: Wild State #1
Hero/Heroine: Delaney Crawford & Moira Tully
Genre: M/F Historical Romance, Western
Length: 283 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: January 15, 2013
Available at: Samhain Publishing, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf at: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Shoot first. Ask her name later.

Infamy weighs heavy on Delaney Crawford’s broad shoulders, first as a supposed Confederate turncoat, then as a relentless hunter of Cheyenne dog soldiers. Summoned to the small mining community of Red Creek, the exhausted, embittered Del is doing what he does best—ridding the town of its savage scourge—when one of his bullets misses the mark.

Ex-nun Moira Tully has been working with John White Horse for months to integrate a band of peaceful Cheyenne with the local townsfolk. Now he’s hurt, and she’s been caught in the crossfire. There’s only one man to blame for her simmering anger and the inexplicable attraction that tilts her heart on its axis. Del.

When Del is forced to acknowledge the truth that the Cheyenne are no threat, his task just gets more complicated: fighting a wild attraction that catches flame at the most inconvenient times, and figuring out the treacherous motives behind his hiring.

But the most heart-wrenching challenge could be overcoming sordid pasts that won’t stay in the past—pasts that threaten to bury all hope of happily ever after.

Product Warnings
Features a trigger-happy Southern gentleman, an ex-nun gone rogue and consistently thwarted desires that frustrate them both. Continue reading →

Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, M/F, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sleuth Week Review: Eidolon by Jordan L. Hawk

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Heather C

Reviewed by Heather C

20559250Title: Eidolon
Author: Jordan L. Hawk
Series: Whyborne & Griffin #1.5
The Heroes: Whyborne & Griffin
Genre: M/M Historical Romance, Paranormal
Length: 29 pages
Release Date: February 12, 2014
Available at: Amazon, All Romance eBooks, Smashwords & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf at: Goodreads

Blurb:  A Whyborne & Griffin short story.

Griffin Flaherty wants nothing more than to create a perfect Valentine’s Day for his lover, Dr. Percival Endicott Whyborne. Dinner at a fancy restaurant, an evening at the theater, and a romantic interlude at home should do the trick.

But a new client with an urgent case puts Griffin’s plans in jeopardy. A magic talisman has been stolen, and if it isn’t returned by sundown, it may unleash disaster not only on the thief but the innocents around him.

Can Whyborne and Griffin track down the thief and return the amulet by nightfall, or will dinner reservations become the least of their worries? Continue reading →

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014, Theme Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sleuth Week Review: The Psychic and the Sleuth by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Heather C

Reviewed by Heather C

13594541Title: The Psychic and the Sleuth
Author: Bonnie Dee & Summer Devon
The Heroes: Robert Court & Oliver Marsh
Genre: M/M Historical Romance, Mystery
Length: Novel
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: January 17, 2012
Available at: Samhain Publishing, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf at: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Trusting a psychic flash might solve a mystery…and lead to love.

Inspector Robert Court should have felt a sense of justice when a rag-and-bones man went to the gallows for murdering his cousin. Yet something has never felt right about the investigation. Robert’s relentless quest for the truth has annoyed his superintendent, landing him lowly assignments such as foiling a false medium who’s fleecing the wives of the elite.

Oliver Marsh plays the confidence game of spiritualism, though his flashes of insight often offer his clients some comfort. Despite the presence of an attractive, if sneering, non-believer at a séance, he carries on—and experiences a horrifying psychic episode in which he experiences a murder as the victim.

There’s only one way for Court to learn if the young, dangerously attractive Marsh is his cousin’s killer or a real psychic: spend as much time with him as possible. Despite his resolve to focus on his job, Marsh somehow manages to weave a seductive spell around the inspector’s straight-laced heart.

Gradually, undeniable attraction overcomes caution. The two men are on the case, and on each other, as they race to stop a murderer before he kills again.

Product Warnings:

Graphic language and hot male/male sex with light BDSM themes. Despite “Descriptions of Murderous Acts” perpetrated by an unhinged killer, resist the temptation to cover your eyes—you’ll miss the good parts! Continue reading →

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2012, Theme Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment