Posts Tagged With: Samhain Publishing

Book Review: Fever Pitch by Heidi Cullinan

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Nikyta

Reviewed by Nikyta

1Title: Fever Pitch
Author: Heidi Cullinan
Series: Love Lessons #2
Heroes: Aaron Seavers/Giles Mulder
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 339 Pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: September 30, 2014
Available at: Samhain Publishing and Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Sometimes you have to play love by ear.

Aaron Seavers is a pathetic mess, and he knows it. He lives in terror of incurring his father’s wrath and disappointing his mother, and he can’t stop dithering about where to go to college—with fall term only weeks away. Ditched by a friend at a miserable summer farewell party, all he can do is get drunk in the laundry room and regret he was ever born. Until a geeky-cute classmate lifts his spirits, leaving him confident of two things: his sexual orientation, and where he’s headed to school.

Giles Mulder can’t wait to get the hell out of Oak Grove, Minnesota, and off to college, where he plans to play his violin and figure out what he wants to be when he grows up. But when Aaron appears on campus, memories of hometown hazing threaten what he’d hoped would be his haven. As the semester wears on, their attraction crescendos from double-cautious to a rich, swelling chord. But if more than one set of controlling parents have their way, the music of their love could come to a shattering end.

Warning: Contains showmances, bad parenting, Walter Lucas, and a cappella.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

J.L. Merrow Week Review: Raising the Rent

Posted on September 25, 2014 by thebloggergirls

Guest Reviewed by Morgan

1Title: Raising the Rent
Author: J.L. Merrow
Heroes: Dr. Edward “Stephen” Pearson and Nathan
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 98 Pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: October 14, 2014
Available at: Samhain Publishing
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: “Rent boy rule number one: Never fall in love with a customer.”

Life as a rent boy is not a long-term career goal for Nathan, who’s determined to get an education. But when he turns up for his first day at college he’s horrified to find his English teacher is one of his regular customers: Stephen, the one Nathan dubbed The Voice for his educated, honeyed tones.

Stephen’s just as shocked to see Nathan sitting in his class, not to mention terrified he’s about to be exposed as having paid for sex with a student which would mean public humiliation and maybe the loss of his job. Yet it’s clear Nathan is only interested in getting his A Levels, not in blackmail. And Stephen realizes there’s more to the nineteen-year-old than meets the eye.

Nathan still has to earn a living, though, and when a customer turns ugly, he finds himself homeless and unable to work. Stephen steps in to help, and Nathan starts to think they could have a future together if Stephen’s guilt and lack of trust don’t end their back-to-front romance before it starts.

This book has been previously published.

Warning: Contains unfashionable haircuts, unreasonably long words, and a May-December romance between a not-so-streetwise rent boy and an erudite English teacher.”
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

J.L. Merrow Week Review: Fall Hard

Posted on September 23, 2014 by thebloggergirls

Guest Reviewed by Trish

11Title: Fall Hard
Author: J.L. Merrow
Heroes: Paul/Viggo
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 237 Pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: September 17, 2013
Available at:  Samhain Publishing, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Some memories are better off lost in the mist…

Eight months ago, British academic Paul Ansell lost his lover—and all the memories of their time together—in an accident at Iceland’s Gullfoss Falls. Returning to the misty island country to resume his study of the bloodthirsty Viking Egil Skallagrimsson is tough as he struggles to pull his life back together.

First, there’s his colleague, Mags, who treats him like glass, and summer student Alex, who peppers him with discomforting questions. Then there’s Icelandic jet-boat driver Viggo, a tattooed, modern-day Viking who won’t say much about how they know each other. Leaving Paul to wonder if their volcanic attraction is fuelled by a desire to make a fresh start, or desperation to forget the past.

As more fragments of his lost memories fall into place, Paul is unsure if he can trust himself, much less anyone around him. And he begins to suspect his accident was nothing of the kind.

Warning: Contains a modern-day Viking whose boat has V8 engines for oars, and a harsh land of hot springs and hotter passions that won’t forgive any false steps.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

J.L. Merrow Week Review: Caught!

Posted on September 21, 2014 by thebloggergirls

Guest Reviewed by Gyn

11Title: Caught!
Author: J.L. Merrow
Series: Shamwell Tales #1
Heroes: Robert/Sean
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 276 Pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: August 19, 2014
Available at:  Samhain Publishing, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  You can run from the past…but the past runs faster.

Behind Robert’s cheerfully eccentric exterior lies a young heart battered and bruised by his past. He’s taken a job teaching in a village primary school to make a fresh start, and love isn’t part of his plans. But he’s knocked for six—literally—by a chance encounter with the uncle of two of his pupils.

Sean works in pest control, rides a motorbike, and lives on a council estate. On the face of it, he shouldn’t have anything in common with Robert’s bow-tie, classic-car style and posh family background. Yet Robert is helpless to resist Sean’s roguish grin, and a rocky, excruciatingly embarrassing start doesn’t keep the sparks between them from flaring.

Despite Robert’s increasingly ludicrous attempts to keep his past where it belongs, his past hasn’t read the memo. And soon his secrets could be the very things that drive Sean away for good…

Warning: Contains the alarming misadventures of a pest control technician, a stepsister with a truly unfortunate name, and a young man who may have more bow ties than sense.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

J.L. Merrow Week Review: Muscling Through

Posted on September 21, 2014 by thebloggergirls

Guest Reviewed by Morgan

1Title: Muscling Through
Author: J.L. Merrow
Heroes: Larry Morton and Al Fletcher
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 87 Pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: July 19, 2011
Available at: Samhain Publishing, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: The bigger they come, the harder they fall… in love.

Cambridge art professor Larry Morton takes one, alcohol-glazed look at the huge, tattooed man looming in a dark alley, and assumes he’s done for. Moments later he finds himself disarmed—literally and figuratively. And, the next morning, he can’t rest until he offers an apology to the man who turned out to be more gentle than giant.

Larry’s intrigued to find there’s more to Al Fletcher than meets the eye; he possesses a natural artistic talent that shines through untutored technique. Unfortunately, no one else seems to see the sensitive soul beneath Al’s imposing, scarred, undeniably sexy exterior. Least of all Larry’s class-conscious family, who would like nothing better than to split up this mismatched pair.

Is it physical? Oh, yes, it’s deliciously physical, and so much more—which makes Larry’s next task so daunting. Not just convincing his colleagues, friends and family that their relationship is more than skin deep. It’s convincing Al.

Contains comic misunderstandings, misuse of art materials, and unexpected poignancy.
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Author Week, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2011 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Early Review: Mending Him by Summer Devon and Bonnie Dee

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Heather C

Reviewed by Heather C

22224746Title: Mending Him
Authors: Summer Devon and Bonnie Dee
Heroes: Robbie Grayson and Charles Worthington
Genre: MM Historical Romance
Length: 200 pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: September 9, 2014
Available at: Samhain Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: As his world collapses, love opens his heart.

Robbie Grayson has always felt like a bit of an outsider in the Chester family, though he’s related by blood. An orphan taken in at a young age, he is further set apart by a limp inflicted by a childhood illness.

Nevertheless, he’s content enough with his quiet country life—until a mercurial wastrel named Charles Worthington explodes into it. And Robbie is assigned to play nursemaid to an invalid with an attitude.

Injured in a carriage accident, Charles arrives at the Chester estate drunk as a lord and with empty pockets. Despair consumes him as his broken body slowly heals, but the kindness of quiet, thoughtful Robbie saves him from drowning in self-pity.

Over chess matches and conversation, these polar opposites challenge each other to break out of old patterns, until desire burns through the thin veneer of pure friendship. Yet their passion could destroy the family bonds they value so highly. Especially when someone catches wind of their relationship—and threatens blackmail.

Product Warnings
This book contains hot man-on-man lovin’ between not-quite kissin’ cousins.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Mobster Week Review: The Pharaoh’s Concubine by Z.A. Maxfield

Posted on August 6, 2014 by thebloggergirls

Guest Reviewed by Gyn

eTitle: The Pharaoh’s Concubine
Author: Z.A. Maxfield
Heroes: Dylan Anderson/William Memo Escobar
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 374 Pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: January 11, 2011
Available at:  Samhain Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance Ebooks and Kobo
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Beauty is only skin deep until love reveals what lies beneath.

As mob boss Yvgeny Mosko’s open secret, Dylan Anderson is happy enough with a passionate, if loveless, arrangement that affords him a life of luxury. But at thirty-six, he wonders how committed Mosko will be to an aging lover.

He finds out when a rival gang kidnaps him in a turf war everyone s sure to lose. Mosko unleashes deadly force, leaving no one alive except for a young man whose dark eyes tug at Dylan s heart and the conscience he thought he d excised long ago.

Though he tried to stop the kidnapping, William Memo Escobar knows Mosko will use what s left of him to send a powerful message to his rivals. When Mosko s pampered pretty boy risks everything to help him escape, he can t believe his luck.

William figures he s better suited to life off the grid, but as the days go by he begins to realize Dylan s beauty is more than skin deep. And as Dylan coaxes more and more beguiling smiles from William, he yearns for things like family ties he d thought were best forgotten.

Yet behind their newfound happiness lurks the certain knowledge that no matter how careful they are, Mosko will come for what s his.Warning: This book contains a mob boss, a kept man, and a reluctant kidnapper who will never have to hear the words, Size doesn t matter.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2011, Theme Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Takedown by Cat Grant

Posted on August 2, 2014 by justjenbo

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: General Misconduct by L.A. Witt

Posted on July 27, 2014 by justjenbo

Reviewed by JustJen

6Title: General Misconduct
Author: L.A. Witt
Series: Conduct Unbecoming #2
Heroes: Aiden/Connor
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 219 Pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: July 22, 2014
Available at: Samhain Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance eBooks and Kobo
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  A chance encounter, a chance at love…and one heartbreaking choice.

Ensign Aiden Lange is taking a hike—and it’s not for the pleasure of seeing Okinawa’s Hiji Falls. It’s in the hope that claiming he took a fall on the rocks will cover up the fact he was beaten up in a gay bar. Not a place a Naval Academy grad wants to get caught if he’s serious about his career.

At the end of the trail, a surprise comes with the scenery. A gorgeous young guy in swim trunks.

Connor didn’t come up to the falls to find a man, but he’s instantly intrigued by the ensign with the bandaged eyebrow. A hike turns into dinner, and before he knows it, he’s up to his heart in love with the gentle, infinitely patient Aiden.

It’s a small world, though, and an even smaller island. It’s only a matter of time before they’re caught by a man who’s more than just Connor’s overprotective father. He’s also Aiden’s high-ranking boss. Someone with the power to force Aiden to choose—Connor, or his naval career.

Warning: Contains two adorable guys who don’t give a damn that the deck’s stacked against them, plenty of sex on the beach, and the hottest application of sunscreen you’ve ever read.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Revealing the Beast by Summer Devon

Posted on July 13, 2014 by Nikyta

Reviewed by Nikyta

21891327Title: Revealing the Beast
Author: Summer Devon
Series: Solitary Shifters #2
Heroes: Colt Easton/Jasper Glen
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 250 Pages
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: July 8, 2014
Available at: Samhain Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance eBooks and Kobo
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Desire that runs deeper than blood.

Colt Easton is easygoing, fun loving, good with little kids and he occasionally turns into a beast capable of ripping out a man’s throat. It’s a family secret he’d be more than happy to keep if there wasn’t a little boy’s life at stake.

A deathbed confession revealed the child could carry Easton blood. The only way Colt can monitor the boy is with a job at his day-care center. The problem? New laws decree that all shifters be tagged. No blood test, no job.

Dr. Jasper Glen is instantly drawn to the outgoing Colt and is certain any child would be safe in the handsome shifter’s care. He ought to know he’s been studying shifters for years, even invented the blood test that now, to his shame, the government is using against them.

All it takes is a quick vial switch. Except Jasper’s good deed blows the lid off a secret he didn’t even know he was keeping. And triggers a chain of events that makes them all moving targets.

Warning: Contains hot shifter seduction, government goons, and a mad scientist.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment