Posts Tagged With: Past Abuse

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

Early Review: Sin by Kol Anderson + Giveaway!

Reviewed by JustJen

1Title: Sin
Author: Kol Anderson
Heroes: Samuel “Sin” Taylor/Isaac
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 85 Pages
Publisher: Kol Anderson
Release Date: October 1, 2014
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Samuel “Sin” Taylor doesn’t know the difference between sex and intimacy, but maybe that’s not his fault. He grew up in a world where it was easier to get physical pleasure than to find love. But as a prostitute working the streets, Sin thinks he’s finally found his true calling. After all sex is the one thing he’s good at, right? But when Isaac enters his life through mere coincidence, Sin finds it a relief to be someone other than Sin.

How long can he keep up the charade?
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Giveaways, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Book Review: Threshold by Lynn Kelling

Reviewed by JustJen

3Title: Threshold
Author: Lynn Kelling
Series: A Lynn Kelling Anthology – The Society of Masters
Genre: MM BDSM
Length: 154 Pages
Publisher: Fantastic Fiction
Release Date: September 9, 2014
Available at: Fantastic Fiction and Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Seven stories from one of the master’s of M/M erotic romance, Lynn Kelling. These stories give prequels and other insights into two of her most popular series, Deliver Us and Whatever the Cost–both in the world of The Society of Masters. I have read a few books in that series, but this offering is comprised of basically prequels to those stories.

Expected Lies, Divine Surrender, Never Happened, Pleasures of Paradise, Escape, Trick and Truth, and Between Here and There

 

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

Book Review: A Tooth For A Fang by Liv Olteano

Reviewed by Nikyta

1Title: A Tooth For A Fang
Author: Liv Olteano
Series: Leader Murders #1
Heroes: Rick Barton/Travis Chandler
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 216 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: September 3, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press and Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Three days. Three dead bodies. One newly turned, broken-hearted lycan tracker to figure out the connection.

The one summer Rick Barton takes a vacation, all hell breaks loose. Running from an abusive relationship leads him into the arms of hard-nosed lycan Travis Chandler, who gives him little choice but to become a lycan too and join the Paranormal Bureau of Investigation. Out of options, Rick joins the weird organization, expecting some two weeks of training and an adjustment period. Tough luck, he doesn’t get either. On his first day, his new partner offers to promote him to field agent if they get mated – less time wasted on training, more time on the field, and considering Rick is the only tracker the Bureau has on hand when a wave of strange murders hits the community, time is of the essence.

Someone’s killing the leaders of the paranormal world and mutilating the bodies. Investigating and tracking clues is enough of a challenge, and Rick must contend with an impatient Council, Travis’s advances, and actually adjusting to being a lycan. Only one thing is certain: Rick’s new life promises plenty of interesting adventures—as long as he can survive.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Firestorm by Rory Ni Coileain

Reviewed by Nikyta

Firestorm (SoulShares, #4)Title: Firestorm
Author: Rory Ni Coileain
Series: SoulShares #4
Heroes: Rian Sheridan/Cuinn an Dearmad
Genre: M/M Fantasy
Length: 248 Pages
Publisher: Ravenous Romance
Release Date: February 27, 2014
Available at: Ravenous Romance, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Rian Sheridan is a foundling, a Northern Irish Catholic corner boy whose world was destroyed in fire, and reborn the same way, beside an Orangemen’s bonfire last July the Twelfth. A consuming, dimly-remembered pain in his past calls to him, taunting him, daring him to find it and lose himself to it in the S&M underground of Belfast.

Cuinn an Dearmad is the last surviving Fae Loremaster, and he’s just seen the beginning of the death of the Realm, the haven of the Fae race. The only hope of stopping it starts with him finding the Prince Royal of Fire he stole from the cradle, and lost in the human world, many years ago. He has a few guesses about where that hope ends, and he doesn’t like any of them.

Rian and Cuinn are an impossible pairing, two SoulShared Fae. Any two Fae will strike sparks, but these two Fae are a conflagration. Unable to stand one another, yet drawn into an escalating series of sexual collisions, their passion will either save a world or destroy it.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Takeover by Anna Zabo

Reviewed by JustJen

TakeoverTitle: Takeover
Author: Anna Zabo
Heroes: Michael Sebastian/Sam Anderson
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 198 Pages
Publisher: Intermix
Release Date: August 19, 2014
Available at: Intermix, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Michael Sebastian thought Curacao would be the perfect place to have a little fun in the sun—and between the sheets. So far, no one has struck his interest, until Sam Anderson walks into the bar. With one look at his tense body and expensive suit, Michael knows that this is a man in need of release. And Michael is more than willing to lend a hand.

Shattered by the most intense sex he’s ever had, Sam has to face the facts—one night with a handsome, dominating stranger is all he gets before returning to the closet he’s been suffocating in for years. But when Sam starts his new job as the CEO of a failing technology company, he discovers that Michael is one of his new employees.

While Michael is desperate for another night with Sam, he knows he shouldn’t get involved with his boss, let alone another man who can’t accept who he is. But as they’re forced to work together to save the company, the desire sparking between them becomes impossible to ignore…
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Categories: Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Breakdown by Jack L. Pyke

Reviewed by JustJen

eTitle: Breakdown
Author: Jack L. Pyke
Series: Don’t #3
Heroes: Jack/Jan/Gray
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 90,000 words
Publisher: Forbidden Fiction
Release Date: August 19, 2014
Available at: Forbidden Fiction, Amazon and All Romance Ebooks
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  The evidence is there in his hands: the DVD and notepad convincing Jack that Gray is responsible for his kidnapping and torture, tearing Jack and Jan brutally apart. But with Jack trapped in his own mind, lost to blackouts and self-harming, getting away from Gray must take a back seat to getting away from himself.

While locked away in a secret facility run by the Masters’ Circle, a new beast is unearthed from the depths of Jack’s tormented past. Martin only comes out to play when Jack needs to hide, a psychopath as capable of ruining Jack’s life as he is of defending him. Martin is the repository for Jack’s most horrifying memories, protecting him from the bloody tasks Jack can’t handle. Martin’s purpose is to drive everyone Jack fears – or loves – away, before they get the chance to hurt Jack again.

Now Jack hurts more than he ever has before, Martin is back, and Jack has to figure out what Martin knows that Jack forgot, before it’s too late.
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Angel Without by Rhiannon Ayers

Reviewed by JustJen

1Title: Angel Without
Author: Rhiannon Ayers
Series: For Love of Authority #2
Heroes/Heroine: Maddox Henley/Riley Jones/Amber Whitman
Genre: MMF Contemporary
Length: 106,377 Words
Publisher: Siren Bookstrand, Inc.
Release Date: August 5, 2014
Available at: Siren Bookstrand, Inc.
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  When Amber Whitman’s fiance suddenly turns violent, she flees back home—only to be told she has no choice but to marry the bastard. Refusing to live her life as an abused woman, Amber takes off in the dead of night. But now she’s out of money, out of options, and out of ideas. She has no place to turn…or does she?

All these years, Amber thought her beloved adopted brother, Allen, was dead. When she discovers he’s not only alive, but living in the same city, she runs to him for help. Fortunately, Allen and his lovers have a plan to keep Amber safe. Allen brings his little sister to stay with Maddox Henley, a Dom with a dark past, and Riley Jones, an ex-soldier with a dark secret. Together, these two strapping construction workers have the balls and ability to keep a young woman safe from all outside threats.

But can they keep her safe from the threat they pose to her heart?
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, M/F, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Takedown by Cat Grant

Reviewed by JustJen

zTitle: Takedown
Author: Cat Grant
Series: Banon’s Gym #2
Heroes: Tom/Travis
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 188 Pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: July 29, 2014
Available at: Samhain Publishing, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Home may not be what he remembered, but it might hold what he needs.

An abusive father drove Tom Delaney away from Lincoln Beach. Now that he’s back to settle his family’s affairs, he’s finding that not even the good things he left behind are the same. The old neighborhood is a dangerous slum. Eddie’s diner is on its last legs. Gloria, who looked after him like her own son, is seriously ill.

His only refuge is Bannon’s Gym, where Danny Bannon nurtured his talent for mixed martial arts. Bannon’s also harbors Travis, his ex—as in ex-sparring partner, ex one-night stand. The man who, the last time they faced off in the ring, left Tom with a broken jaw and a concussion.

The sparks are still there, in the ring and out of it. But when Travis’s own troubles quite literally explode, their only chance to build something solid on their broken past could go up in flames.

Warning: Hot guys slugging it out. Heaps of sexual tension and cursing. Fighting. Grappling. Kicking. Throwing elbows. All drenched in buckets of manly sweat.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Forty-Two Stairs by A.F. Henley

Reviewed by Nikyta

1Title: Forty-Two Stairs
Author: A.F. Henley
Heroes: Owen/Sebastian
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 44k words
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Release Date: June 25, 2014
Available at: Less Than Three Press, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Owen has been struggling with addiction since he was a teenager, but it takes a DUI involving another vehicle for him to finally face his issues. The road to recovery is a rough one, and for Owen it’s a journey made harder by bankruptcy, loneliness, and repressed memories.

His new apartment doesn’t help either. It’s small, worn, and hot as hell. The only way to reach it is a tedious stretch of stairs that seems like the final insult on top of a whole pile of misery. Thankfully, the mess comes with one bright spot: intense, pretty Sebastian, who seems to have a knack for keeping his head up and finding the beauty in everything.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment