Posts Tagged With: Novella

Book Review: A Distant Drum by Amy Rae Durreson

Reviewed by Ami

Title: A Distant Drum
Author: Amy Rae Durreson
Heroes: Alex & Nik
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 89 pages
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: December 20, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Christmas is coming… but Alex is running away.

Panicked by the prospect of spending Christmas with his boyfriend’s disapproving parents, Alex flees to the old houseboat in the Norfolk Broads his uncle left him. But when a freak snowstorm traps him there, Alex soon realises he’s not the only heartbroken lover haunting the shores of Halsham Broad.

Two hundred years ago, drummer boy Jack Sadler drowned skating over thin ice to meet his lover. Now, whenever the Broad freezes over, he returns and brings a curse with him.

And every night Alex spends trapped in the icebound boat, he hears the beat of a distant drum draw closer…
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Christmas Blues by Leigh Jarrett

Reviewed by Ami

Title: Christmas Blues
Author: Leigh Jarrett
Heroes: Ryan & Michael
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 146 pages
Publisher: Steambath Press
Release Date: November 12, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: After Ryan lost his wife to cancer, leaving him with three kids to raise on his own, he never thought he’d find any kind of companionship ever again. Especially not with someone like Michael.

The last time Ryan saw his little brother’s annoying childhood friend, Michael, he’d been a geeky, pimply-faced thirteen-year-old. That was just before Michael and his family moved to New York.

There was an eight-year age difference between them, and being in college at the time, Ryan had never wanted to waste his breath talking to some immature teenage kid when he could be doing homework or making out with his girlfriend instead.

Sixteen years later, a chance meeting at a coffee shop in Denver changes both of their lives. Michael, recently divorced from his wife, has two kids of his own, and a thriving recording studio.

He’s no longer the Mikey Ryan remembers.

Getting the whole brood together for a Thanksgiving crafting extravaganza, and their mutual love of the blues cements Ryan and Michael’s friendship into something neither one of them could have ever expected. Christmas is fast approaching.

How far will their newfound friendship take them?
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Categories: 2.5 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Fairy Shop by Tara Lain

Reviewed by Ami

Title: The Fairy Shop
Author: Tara Lain
Series: 2019 Advent Calendar | Homemade for the Holidays
Heroes: Nate & Asher
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 64 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: December 1, 2019
Available at: Dreamspinner Press and Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: When Nate Hawthorne meets Asher Dane, the huge, tattooed hunk is the personification of Nate’s dreams. But Nate knows there’s no future, because Asher is also the personification of his beloved five-year-old daughter Delly’s nightmares. She’s frightened of big men. Things turn around for both of them, however, when Delly goes Christmas shopping at the Fairy Shop and begins her quest for a wand that will make her brave. Neither of them guesses that the Fairy Shop will be the source of far more than Delly’s courage. On Christmas Eve, under the influence of a very unusual fairy, Nate’s life will change forever.
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Categories: 2 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: World Turned Upside Down by Elyse Springer

Reviewed by Ami

Title: World Turned Upside Down
Author: Elyse Springer
Series: World of Love
Heroes: Simon Bancroft/Asher Delaney
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 105 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: August 9, 2019
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: After three winters in Antarctica, Simon Bancroft is an old hand on the ice. The harsh weather and extreme isolation aren’t for everyone, but he enjoys the tight-knit community at McMurdo Station… and lately he’s enjoyed watching the hot new researcher, Asher Delaney, who’s recently arrived to study the aurora. But Simon’s just a janitor. Asher doesn’t even know he exists.

When Simon’s friends propose a wager, he gets a chance to introduce himself to Asher at last. But Asher defies all of Simon’s assumptions, and suddenly he finds himself reevaluating everything he thought he knew about Asher, himself, and falling in love at the bottom of the world.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Omega Reclaimed by Tanya Chris

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Omega Reclaimed
Author: Tanya Chris
Series: Omega Re #1
Heroes: Angel/Leo
Genre: MM Paranormal
Length: 103 Pages
Publisher: Tanya Chris
Release Date: October 27, 2016
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  “Of course I smelled him—smelled him and was drawn to him. Rich, ripe, male omega—not far away and well into his heat. Unsatisfied heat. I laughed, realizing that in this moment, at least, the omega was the boss of the alpha. I needed to help him.”

Angel, an alpha who’s left the violent, strictly hierarchical rules of his pack to find success in the big city, and Leo, an omega on the run from his abusive alpha, are thrust together to satisfy Leo’s urgent heat-lust. But can a once-hurt omega ever trust an alpha to care for and protect him again? And can an alpha sensitive to social injustice learn to enjoy his naturally dominant nature?

Angel and Leo must both face the pasts they ran away from before the two can build a new future together. They may not be able to change the laws of nature, but they can change the language of love.

Omega Reclaimed is a MM alpha/omega shapeshifter novella.

Content warning: this book includes references to past physical abuse and a description of suicide
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2016, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Truth Beyond the Bitterness by Emory Schneider

Reviewed by Ami

Title: The Truth Beyond the Bitterness
Author: Emory Schneider
Series: World of Love
Heroes: Kuba & Emil
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 78 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: February 22, 2018
Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Can love erase a lifetime of fear and bitterness?

Kuba flees the oppressive influence of his strict Catholic family as soon as he graduates high school. In the big city of Pilsen, Czech Republic, he can get a fresh start. Although he is fairly content sharing a flat with his coworker and filling it with books, he knows he’s destined to be alone unless he can come out of the closet. But he just isn’t ready to bare his soul to the world.

When he meets his roommate’s friend Emil, he begins to reconsider. Is a chance at romance with the gorgeous man—and fellow bibliophile—incentive enough for Kuba to face his demons? Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Beneath These Fields by Ward Maia

Reviewed by Ami

Title: Beneath These Fields
Author: Ward Maia
Series: World of Love – Brazil
Heroes: Ellis/Rudá
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 144 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: January 25, 2019
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Sometimes true worth is well hidden.

Ellis Campos is a successful divorce lawyer with little to no time for a personal life. His predictable routine is disrupted when he inherits a coffee farm from an estranged aunt. There’s no room in his life for all the complications that come with managing a farm in another state. But his plans to quickly sell it and go back to the big city fall apart when he’s manipulated into spending a week on the estate.

Adding to the unexpected surprises, he meets Rudá, a native Brazilian who works on the farm, and while teaching him about his aunt’s home and family, also tempts Ellis like no one ever has.

He doesn’t expect his life to change in such a short time, but as he finds value and comfort in the farm’s routine, Ellis quickly realizes that, like the land itself, Rudá has secrets that could send him running back to Rio.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Sugar Fighter by Charity Parkerson

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Sugar Fighter
Author: Charity Parkerson
Series: Sugar Daddies #1
Heroes: Zeke/Korey
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 50 Pages
Publisher: Punk & Sissy Publications
Release Date: June 25, 2018
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Zeke is the older man. The richer man. The man who plans to give Korey the world.

As MMA’s Light Heavyweight champion, Zeke’s million-dollar matches and multi-million-dollar sponsorships have given him the freedom to do whatever he likes. It pleases him to spoil Korey. Before Zeke’s best friend Charlie was deployed two years ago, he made Zeke swear he’d care for his brother Korey if anything happened to him. When Charlie is killed by a roadside bomb, Zeke takes the young college student in, determined to give him everything he requires to succeed. He never expects to end up hoping he can keep Korey under more than his roof. He needs Korey beneath him.

If Korey had been in his right mind after Charlie’s death, he would’ve turned down Zeke’s offer. By the time he realizes his mistake, he’s already addicted to Zeke’s powerful presence. He never meant to end up dependent on the man’s smiles and hot glances. The money, Korey could live without. The man has him hooked. There’s only one problem—neither man wants to cross the line from friends to lovers, ruining what they have

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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2018, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Raising the Bar by Leigh Dillon

Reviewed by Ami

Title: Raising the Bar
Author: Leigh Dillon
Series: States of Love #42
Heroes: Destin Bellingham/Tonio Benedetto
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 102 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: September 7, 2018
Available at:  Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Destin Bellingham has inherited a problem. Thanks to his late playboy father, Destin faces putting a For Sale sign on his family’s historic horse farm. Getting his talented stallion, Black Sambuca, into the Grand Prix show ring would put Bellmeade back on the map—if only someone could make “Sam” behave like a show horse.

Disgraced top rider Tonio Benedetto has his own problems, but he can work magic with difficult jumpers, so Destin hires him despite his bad-boy reputation. The street-smart, openly gay loudmouth from Miami and the closeted, buttoned-down son of Old Dominion Virginia make a rocky pairing, but time is running out to save Bellmeade from bankruptcy.

Opposites attract, sparks of tension grow into flames of passion. But if Tonio fails to tame Sam, will true love become a lost cause too?
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Mystic Man by E.J. Russell

Reviewed by Ami

Title: Mystic Man
Author: E.J. Russell
Heroes: Aaron & Cody
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 100
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: June 22, 2018
Available at: Dreamspinner PressAmazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: When a series of personal crises prompt risk-averse research librarian Aaron Templeton to apply for a job on the other side of the country, nobody is more surprised than he is. He nearly runs home before the final interview except for one little problem: he has no home anymore. He put his condo on the market before he left California and it’s already sold. Only an encounter with free-spirited Connecticut native Cody Brown at the Mystic Seaport Museum staves off Aaron’s incipient panic attack.

Cody loves nothing better than introducing newcomers to the great features of his beloved home state, and when the newbie in question is a rumpled professorial type with the saddest blue eyes on the planet? Score! The attraction between the two men deepens as they explore Cody’s favorite spots, but when difficulties arise and Aaron’s insecurities threaten to overwhelm him, will Cody’s love be enough to keep him in Mystic? Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2018 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment