Posts Tagged With: Location – NYC

Book Review: Fresh Kill by Adam Carpenter

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Fresh Kill
Author: Adam Carpenter
Series: The Jimmy McSwain Files #6
Hero: Jimmy McSwain
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 276 Pages
Publisher: MLR Press
Release Date: April 11, 2019
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Jimmy McSwain returns, but the question lingers, now that he has finally solved the fifteen-year-old murder of his NYPD cop-father, Joseph, who has he become?

Busy concentrating on family issues, Jimmy hasn’t taken a new case in nearly three months, and when a call comes in from Philip Connelly, who wants proof of his wife, Myra’s, cheating, Jimmy is torn. Take the case, or say no. He rejects it, only to learn a week later that Philip has been found dead in a park on Staten Island. The police believe it was suicide, but Myra—a self-admitted adulteress—is convinced he was murdered. Jimmy agrees to take the case. But it seems his decision to rejoin the world has also affected the other areas of his life: his sister is facing a health crisis, an old friend from his father’s past has resurfaced, and his lover, Captain Francis X. Frisano, is working a difficult case in Chelsea where gay men are being attacked.

If that wasn’t enough, Jimmy is on the hunt to bring down his new nemesis, the criminal mastermind Mr. Wu-Tin. A fire at one of his warehouses stirs fear in Jimmy that the man is trying to destroy evidence of his crimes. That’s when life throws him a twist, and suddenly Jimmy feels that just as he’s hoping to find answers, new mysteries emerge about whether the path he’s on leads to a fresh start, or a fresh kill.
Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Brave & Beautiful by Elizabeth Varlet

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Brave & Beautiful
Author: Elizabeth Varlet
Series: Sassy Boyz #3
Heroes: Tameron “Tam” Kis/Driver Ellis
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 249 Pages
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: October 9, 2017
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Sexy, seductive and hiding dark secrets, the Sassy Boyz return to the stage in Brave & Beautiful

There’s only one relationship that matters to Tameron “Tam” Kis—his love affair with dance. Life’s been pretty shitty, but dance got him through it and now he’s ready to focus on what he loves. He doesn’t have the bandwidth for any distractions—especially not his sexy, not-quite-straight new neighbor.

Driver Ellis doesn’t need anything but his bike and the open road. He wouldn’t trade his drifter lifestyle for anything…until his friend calls in a favor and Driver suddenly finds himself pet-sitting. Driver isn’t thrilled being stuck in one place, though things start to look up when he sets eyes on the gorgeous girl next door.

There’s just one problem… She isn’t a girl at all.

All it takes is one spontaneous dance to turn both Driver’s and Tam’s worlds upside down. They might not have been looking for love, but as things heat up between them, it’s clear life has very different plans.
Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2017, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Dark & Dazzling by Elizabeth Varlet

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Dark & Dazzling
Author: Elizabeth Varlet
Series:Sassy Boys #2
Heroes: Azariah “Z” Hayes/Connelly Reid
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 261 Pages
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: November 7, 2016
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Z doesn’t need a hero…

Azariah “Z” Hayes is a diamond. Equal parts strength and sparkle, he’s more than capable of standing on his own stilettos. So if waiting tables and stripping at The Vibe are what it takes to keep a roof over his head, well, there are worse ways to earn a living.

Connelly is a white knight with a badge…

For NYPD detective Connelly Reid, to serve and protect is just another day at the office—even if that means protecting himself from his own true desires. He’s been curious about Z, his waiter, for months, but it’s not until he sees him in his makeup and heels that the curiosity becomes a fierce attraction. Z, despite all his over-the-top dazzle, might just be the man Connelly has been waiting for his entire life.

But when Connelly investigates underground porn and drug activity with ties to The Vibe, one thing becomes very clear—acting on what he knows is going to hurt Z, financially and emotionally. And though Connelly would love nothing more than to fix all of Z’s problems, no amount of mind-blowing sex can make Z comfortable becoming dependent on his lover. Yet if there’s one thing Connelly knows from his years on the force, it’s this: when things go bad, you need a trusted partner to have your back.
Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2016, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Forever Haunt by Adam Carpenter

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Forever Haunt
Author: Adam Carpenter
Series: The Jimmy McSwain Files #5
Heroes: Jimmy McSwain/Frank Frisano
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 265 Pages
Publisher: MLR Press
Release Date: June 15, 2017
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Fifteen years ago, NYPD officer Joseph McSwain, was gunned down while trying to stop a robbery. His murder was never solved. Until now.

For his son, Hell’s Kitchen private detective Jimmy McSwain, his father’s death has defined him, defied him, and denied him his chance at happiness. But the shooting death of a young officer named Denson Luke has re-ignited the investigation into the mysterious Blue Death conspiracy. Jimmy still must earn a living, so he cannot ignore a family in distress.

New neighbors Carmen Ramirez and her young son, Sonny are clearly running from danger. Overnight, their case becomes one involving a missing father, a Chinese crime syndicate, and an abduction which threatens to overwhelm Jimmy’s mission of solving his father’s case. His relationship status with Frank Frisano on and off again, Jimmy tries to do double duty, jeopardizing his own safety.

It’s only when another murder occurs that Jimmy finally finds the path that has eluded him. His investigation finally leads him back home, where a devastating family secret overshadows all he’s learned, and the cost to the McSwain family may never be repaid. Jimmy realizes the blood on his hands will forever haunt him.
Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2017 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Silent Night by Erin E. Keller

Reviewed by Morgan 

33150295Title: Silent Night
Author: Erin E. Keller
Heroes: Pete/Lucas
Genre: MM Holiday
Length: 39 Pages
Publisher: JMS Books
Release Date: December 3, 2016
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Pete is an improbable Santa Claus ringing his bell on the sidewalks of New York. He might need this job, but he doesn’t have to like it. Impulsive and a little rough around the edges, Pete has a big warm heart, and when he sees the homeless man reading a book on the pavement, he is intrigued.

Lucas is a deaf-mute who fled an ex-boyfriend who wanted to use him as a prostitute. He is cold and isolated, but the very not-ordinary Santa Claus ringing a bell nearby makes him smile.

When Lucas is attacked and robbed, it gives Pete the opportunity to invite him home for Christmas. But can they live together long-term? Will Lucas’s bid for independence break their hearts or bring them to deeper understanding?
Continue reading

Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2016, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: What Everyone Deserves by Dan Ackerman

Reviewed by Ami

31704041Title: What Everyone Deserves
Author: Dan Ackerman
Heroes: Junius/James
Genre: MM Historical Paranormal
Length: 222 Pages
Publisher: Supposed Crimes
Release Date: November 1, 2016
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  In this 1950s period drama, Junius is a New York City fertility demon with a crush. Ever since falling from heaven he’s been alone. Except for the mothers and children he watches over.

James Kelly Rosenburg, a black soldier with snowflakes in his hair, walks right into his life with a big problem. James Kelly, turned vampire during the war, is new to New York and its prohibition against vampire killing in city limits.

Junius offers to teach him to overcome his bloodthirsty instincts and live a proper Manhattan life. Their growing friendship leaves them both conflicted as they explore a city both welcoming and alienated by their kind.
Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: An Honorable Man by Sandrine Gasq-Dion

Reviewed by Morgan 

32295130Title: An Honorable Man
Author: Sandrine Gasq-Dion
Series: Men of Manhattan #7
Heroes: Danny Finnegan/Bobby Laughlin
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 147 Pages
Publisher: Wilde City Press
Release Date: September 21, 2016
Available at:  Amazon & Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Officer Danny Finnegan loves his job. As one of the youngest faces on the police force, he has taken on the challenge of going undercover to catch a serial killer in Manhattan. Ten rent boys have been murdered, and Danny knows it won’t be long before another one turns up dead in an alley. He and his partner, Tiernan Callahan, gear up to hit the seedy side of the city that never sleeps. There’s only one problem. They need help to make Danny’s cover convincing.

Bobby Laughlin left the back streets of Manhattan behind when he came way too close to becoming another number in the rent boy killings. He spends most of his time on Fire Island working at a bar. He is trying to get his life back on track when officer Danny Finnegan walks back into his life. Bobby was attracted to Danny the first time he saw him — when the boyish-looking cop took Bobby’s statement after a client beat him brutally. Working with the the sexy cop could be dangerous. It would put him right back on the streets he’s been trying so hard to avoid.

Bobby reluctantly takes on the task of teaching Danny how to work the streets. As things heat up on the case and in their hearts, Bobby finds himself falling for Danny, and Danny has eyes only for Bobby.

But can they catch a killer before one of them ends up as the next headline?
Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Guardian Angel by Adam Carpenter

Reviewed by JustJen

31826688Title: Guardian Angel
Author: Adam Carpenter
Series: Jimmy McSwain Files #4
Heroes: Jimmy McSwain
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 282 Pages
Publisher: MLR Press
Release Date: September 3, 2016
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  The dual forces of good and evil take center stage in this, the fourth installment in the Jimmy McSwain Files, one that finds the tortured, sexy detective battling an unforeseen enemy: happiness. Yet murder will soon rear its desperate chill, hurtling Jimmy into the highest society and the lowest of lives.

Winter is nearly upon Manhattan, the holidays right around the corner. Jimmy is hired to escort the infamous tabloid favorite Serena Carson to a charity benefit, intent on guarding her from an abusive ex. Yet the job takes a brutal turn as Henderson Carlyle, the privileged, spoiled lothario, is found sliced to death outside of Serena’s brownstone. The cops warn Jimmy away from the case, including his former lover, Captain Francis X. Frisano. Jimmy has his hands full anyway, as his visiting cousin Kellan was found beaten by one-time family friend, Mickey Dean, a Hell’s Kitchen thug with a dark past and even darker threat. As the snow falls and answers remain buried, Jimmy finds himself thrown into the midst of two conflicting cases, one of which will expose a dormant clue to the long-unsolved murder of his NYPD cop, Joseph McSwain. Complicating matters is a new man in Jimmy’s life, who promises Jimmy security and safety, neither word easy for him to accept. When fate sends Jimmy’s world into turmoil, he realizes there’s a devil at work in a season usually owned by angels.
Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Beauty, Inc. by Tara Lain

Reviewed by Morgan 

29761607Title: Beauty, Inc.
Author: Tara Lain
Series: The Pennymaker Tales #3
Heroes: Robert/Magnus
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 121 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: June 8, 2016
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Is beauty only skin deep?

Chemist Dr. Robert “Belle” Belleterre loves flowers, green trees, his best friend Judy, and “his baby”: the new face cream he developed to help put his father’s small cosmetics company on the map. Sadly he gets no help from his alcoholic, gambling-addicted father who loses Belle in a poker game to Magnus Strong, the CEO of Beauty, Inc. the largest American cosmetics company—a man infamous for his scarred ugliness.

Belle finds himself uprooted from his home, living in a wildly crazy apartment in New York owned by Mr. Pennymaker, and completely unprepared for his mad attraction to the charismatic Strong. Feeling like a traitor, Belle fights his passion only to see more and more of the goodness and humility hidden by Strong’s ugly face. But when Belle’s family starts manipulating his life again, the odds turn against happiness for beautiful Belle and his beloved beast.
Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Stage Fright by Adam Carpenter

Reviewed by JustJen

28407318Title: Stage Fright
Author: Adam Carpenter
Series: The Jimmy McSwain Files #3
Heroes: Jimmy McSwain
Genre: MM Mystery
Length: 246 Pages
Publisher: MLR Press
Release Date: January 31, 2016
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  All the world’s a stage, but in STAGE FRIGHT, Hell’s Kitchen private detective Jimmy McSwain learns that life upon it’s wicked boards can be a killer.

The Harold Calloway Theatre on West 47th Street is home to the new play Triskaidekaphobia, and its playwright has been receiving threatening messages. Theatre owner and lead producer Wellington Calloway has hired Jimmy to investigate, but it’s a case not without its complications. His mother is the head usher there, and Jimmy grew up on its aisles. His ex, Remy, is also the costume designer for the show, a man he hasn’t seen in years. Further making his life difficult is the mysterious Seetha Assan, who is connected–albeit tentatively–to the case that forever haunts Jimmy–his own father’s murder. She may just have the clue to help him finally solve the cold case.

As Opening Night for the play looms, Jimmy finds himself involved in a nest of egos and personalities, all while seeking to find the missing Seetha. Toss in his on-again, off-again relationship with Captain Francis X. Frisano, and suddenly Jimmy’s life is edging toward tragedy. That’s when a murderer strikes, and suddenly nothing is pretend anymore. Life on the stage has turned all too real, and all too deadly. Just like on the mean streets of Manhattan.

Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment