Posts Tagged With: Hurt-Comfort

Challenge Week Review: Gangster Country by Kade Boehme

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Gangster Country
Author: Kade Boehme
Heroes: Logan Marshall and Gianni Rodriguez
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 204 Pages
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: December 10, 2013
Available at: Amazon & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Logan Marshall moves to New York to be a social worker where he feels he’s needed most. Logan’s always had it good. His Daddy is a preacher, sure, but he preaches a laid back, tolerant congregation who accepted Logan’s sexuality gracefully. He’s from a ranch in nowhere, Texas, which makes him a hot ticket in the clubs with his tight, work strengthened body and his cute accent. He’s out of his element in New York, not looking for Mr. Right Now but Mr. Right.

Gianni Rodriguez grew up in Brooklyn. Nothing could be further from the way he was raised than innocent, good hearted Logan was. Gianni is fascinated that people like Logan even exist. And parents that not only are God-fearing, but also accepting?

As second in command of Los Cuervos, his brother’s not-so-merry band of drug runners and pimps, Gianni’s life would be in serious jeopardy if anyone ever knew the truth. That’s why his growing attachment for Logan is a bad thing.

When Logan’s work collides violently with Gianni’s life, Gianni has to decide if the man is worth risking everything, even his family– the man that may not even want him once he realizes what a monster the man he’s been sleeping with really is. Could Logan be Gianni’s reason to go straight? Or will they both go straight to an unmarked grave? Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Challenge Book Week, LGBT, Published in 2013, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: Floodgates by Mary Calmes

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Floodgates
Author: Mary Calmes
Heroes: Cord Nolan and Tracy Brandt
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 234 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: March 3, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Tracy Brandt considers himself a lucky man. He has a wonderful family, good friends, and a dependable job. His love life, however, features a cheating ex who, though out of the house, is not yet out of the picture—with a past that just might get Tracy killed.

Homicide inspector Cord Nolan wants nothing more than to show his best friend’s little brother that he’s a reliable man, but to do that he’ll have to get Tracy to look past the player he used to be. It’ll be a tough sell; reputation is everything, and Cord’s is tarnished by his past indiscretions.

Tracy and Cord have spent five years trying to suffocate their fiery attraction under a blanket of grudging antagonism. When Tracy finds himself with a target on his back, Cord finally has the chance to ride to the rescue and break through the dam of Tracy’s reserve. But he’d better be careful: if Cord is breaking the floodgates to wash away the past, he’s going to have to hold tight to Tracy to make sure they’re still standing when the tumult recedes. Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Heidi Cullinan Week Review: A Private Gentleman

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: Against Reason by Scarlet Blackwell

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Against Reason
Author: Scarlet Blackwell
Heroes: Darius and Jake Morgan
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 109 Pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: February 18, 2014
Available at: Samhain Publishing & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: He lost his heart once. Is it too damaged for love to find it again?

In the five years since the love of his life abandoned him at the altar, Jake Morgan hasn’t left his house. The locals in this small, English town have dubbed him “Mr. Havisham”, but he’s too preoccupied wrestling his demons to care about Dickensian comparisons.

Forced to admit he’s losing the battle to keep up his large estate alone, he reluctantly places an advert for help. The striking young man who answers his call shakes him to the core.

When Darius answers the ad for the position at the mysterious mansion, the bitter, lonely master of the house tugs at his heartstrings. Setting aside his own run of bad luck, Darius batters at Jake’s emotional walls with kindness and determination that defy all attempts to drive him away.

Just as tendrils of new love begin to intertwine, though, a terrible voice from the past intrudes. And threatens to drive Jake back into the shadows where Darius can never reach him. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Abel – Shattered by CJ Bishop

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Abel – Shattered
Author: CJ Bishop
Series: Phoenix Club #3
Heroes: Abel Sims and Devlin Grant
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 102 Pages
Publisher: Rascal Hearts
Release Date: February 8, 2014
Available at: Smashwords
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Abel’s heart is crushed by Devlin’s vehement rejection and refusal to believe the truth about his brother. With the threat of prison hanging over him, Abel is sent away with Horatio Kaplan to Italy for safe keeping.

Certain he has lost Devlin forever, and broken by the reality that he has devastated Devlin’s life, Abel takes an unexpected comfort in Kaplan when the man begins to show sincere care and affection for him. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Abel – Hearts in Chaos by CJ Bishop

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Abel – Hearts in Chaos
Author: CJ Bishop
Series: Phoenix Club#2
Heroes: Abel Sims and Devlin Grant
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 108 Pages
Publisher: Rascal Hearts
Release Date: February 6, 2014
Available at: Smashwords
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Devastated after learning his abuser (and the man he killed in self-defense) was Dr. Devlin Grant’s much beloved brother, Abel feels he can no longer have anything to do with the man because of his secret.

Now locked into his agreement with Horatio Kaplan – and suffering heart break over Devlin – Abel finds no purpose in his life except taking care of Savannah. When Devlin refuses to be put off and insists Abel tell him the truth of why he is suddenly pushing him away, Abel must make the hard decision of whether or not to expose the hideous acts of Devlin’s brother – and shatter the man’s heart. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Last First Kiss by Diane Adams

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Last First Kiss
Author: Diane Adams
Series: Southern Comfort #1
Heroes: Trent Foster and Gage Harris
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 275 Pages
Publisher: Love Lane Books
Release Date: January 18, 2014
Available at: Love Lane Books, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Eighteen-year-old Gage Harris is not a part of twenty-five year old Trent Foster’s plans. He likes Gage but the intense attraction between them makes remaining just friends unlikely, and the young farmer with two small children is a complication Trent doesn’t need.

Despite all the reasons to stay away, Trent is pulled into the small family. Gage’s boys are delightful and the young man’s honesty and genuine affection impossible to resist. Trent is intrigued by a life so different from everything he’s known. As he struggles to reconcile his plans with his feelings Trent begins to suspect that his random offer of a ride in the rain might lead straight to his last first kiss. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Shaking the Sugar Tree by Nick Wilgus

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Shaking the Sugar Tree
Author: Nick Wilgus
Heroes: Wiley Cantrell and Jackson Ledbetter
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 304 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: January 31, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Wise-cracking Wiley Cantrell is loud and roaringly outrageous—and he needs to be to keep his deeply religious neighbors and family in the Deep South at bay. A failed writer on food stamps, Wiley works a minimum wage job and barely manages to keep himself and his deaf son, Noah, more than a stone’s throw away from Dumpster-diving.

Noah was a meth baby and has the birth defects to prove it. He sees how lonely his father is and tries to help him find a boyfriend while Wiley struggles to help Noah have a relationship with his incarcerated mother, who believes the best way to feed a child is with a slingshot. No wonder Noah becomes Wiley’s biggest supporter when Boston nurse Jackson Ledbetter walks past Wiley’s cash register and sets his sugar tree on fire.

Jackson falls like a wet mule wearing concrete boots for Wiley’s sense of humor. And while Wiley represents much of the best of the South, Jackson is hiding a secret that could threaten this new family in the making.

When North meets South, the cultural misunderstandings are many, but so are the laughs, and the tears, but, as they say down in Dixie, it’s all good. Continue reading

Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Book Review: Dumped in Oz by Andrew Grey

Reviewed by Susan65

Title:  Dumped in Oz
Author: Andrew Grey
Series: Tales from Kansas #1
Heroes: Lyle Powers and Roger Kypers
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 164 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: January 15, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Because of an opportunity he’d be a fool to turn down; Lyle Powers transfers to his company’s warehouse in central Kansas. The last thing he expects is to meet another gay man in the small town, let alone one who captures his interest.

Roger Kypers is a recovering alcoholic with a twelve-year-old daughter he only gets to see for part of the summer. Neither Lyle nor Roger is looking for a relationship, and they fumble at the start, yet emotions build as Roger shows Lyle the landmarks of Oz.

But when Roger’s wicked witch of an ex-wife threatens to take his daughter away for good if he doesn’t act “normally,” he’s faced with the challenge of letting her get away with it, or fighting to accept himself and standing up for what he knows is right. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Abel by CJ Bishop

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Abel
Author: CJ Bishop
Heroes: Devlin Grant and Abel Sims
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 134 pages
Publisher: Rascal Hearts
Release Date: January 23, 2014
Available Free at: Smashwords
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: 19-year-old Abel Sims – hot, sexy stripper – is a favorite at the gay strip club The Phoenix. Having no family but his 16-year-old sister, Savannah, and coming from the streets – The Phoenix club has become his home, the other boys his close-knit family.

Abel doesn’t trust the outside world and is content to remain within his safe haven. But when an overzealous customer sends Abel to the ER, he meets young, handsome Dr. Devlin Grant – and the instant attraction he feels for the man stirs up the nightmares of his past, causing him to resist his new feelings. Yet it becomes impossible to avoid the doctor when Savannah gets sick and ends up in his care.

And just when his heart is ready to trust this new found love – Abel is confronted with a disturbing fact about the doctor that reaches deep into his past and his nightmares. An emotionally charged, sexy, heart-wrenching love story that will break your heart, then put it back together again. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment