Posts Tagged With: second chances

Book Review: Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey

Reviewed by Heather C

Title: Love Her or Lose Her
Author: Tessa Bailey
Series: Hot & Hammered #2
Hero/Heroine: Dominic/Rosie
Genre: M/F Contemporary Romance
Length: 347 pages
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: January 14, 2020
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Rosie and Dominic Vega are the perfect couple: high school sweethearts, best friends, madly in love. Well, they used to be anyway. Now Rosie’s lucky to get a caveman grunt from the ex-soldier every time she walks in the door. Dom is faithful and a great provider, but the man she fell in love with ten years ago is nowhere to be found. When her girlfriends encourage Rosie to demand more out of life and pursue her dream of opening a restaurant, she decides to demand more out of love, too. Three words: marriage boot camp.

Never in a million years did Rosie believe her stoic, too-manly-to-emote husband would actually agree to relationship rehab with a weed-smoking hippie. Dom talking about feelings? Sitting on pillows? Communing with nature? Learning love languages? Nope. But to her surprise, he’s all in, and it forces her to admit her own role in their cracked foundation. As they complete one ridiculous—yet surprisingly helpful—assignment after another, their remodeled relationship gets stronger than ever. Except just as they’re getting back on track, Rosie discovers Dom has a secret… and it could demolish everything. Continue reading

Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, M/F, Published in 2020 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Amalgamated by Becca Seymour

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Amalgamated
Author: Becca Seymour
Series: Coming Home #2
Heroes: Leo and Zak
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 67 pages
Publisher: Rainbow Tree Publishing
Release Date: September 28, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Escape with Leo and Zak in outback Australia as they discover it sometimes takes time, distance, and interfering family to amalgamate.

After five years of living in the UK, it’s time for Leo to return home to his dad’s stud farm in outback Australia. He has no idea what to expect when he arrives. He didn’t exactly leave with balloons and banners.

Nope. His farewell involved destruction and his own heart split in two.

He knows seeing the man who’s always held his heart, Zak, is going to be awkward. The older farm manager made his feelings pretty damn clear when Leo hightailed it out of there.

Leo quickly figures out life is going to get complicated and a whole heap more exciting as his trip home becomes so much more.

Amalgamated is a fun and steamy M/M short story in Becca Seymour’s Coming Home series. Stand-alone romances complete with heat, wit, and happily ever afters.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Triple Threat by Davidson King

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Triple Threat
Author: Davidson King
Series: Haven Heart #6
Heroes: Lee, Jones & Ginger
Genre: M/M/M Contemporary
Length: 220 pages
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: June 25, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Lee, Jones, and Ginger deal with dangerous situations and mounting stress daily working for the most powerful assassin organization in the world. All of those things seem like a walk in the park compared to the friction that sparks between them. When all three are assigned to the same job, ignoring the heat from the inferno of desire becomes impossible.

Lee is a master at deciphering codes, skilled in hacking complicated systems, and never misses a target, even from over fifty miles away. His feelings for Jones and Ginger, however, may be the first code he’s unable to crack.

Jones deals in absolutes, but the road to his past is paved with bodies and regrets. Getting Lee to acknowledge the pull they both feel toward Ginger may be the hardest mission he’s ever had to face.

Ginger struggles to cope with the overwhelming guilt that accompanies this new job. Falling for these hired killers will be a risk—one that could wind up with him losing in the end or gaining everything he’s ever wanted.

As the three work together to take down a human trafficking ring—and save a desperate soul—time is of the essence. Their lives are on the line as mysteries unfold and unexpected encounters throw them off course. Will Lee, Jones, and Ginger let doubts come between them, distracting them from their mission and blocking any hope of love? Or can they face the toughest challenge of their lives and become…a triple threat?
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Aftermath by Tanya Chris

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Aftermath
Author: Tanya Chris
Series: Aftermath #3
Heroes: Brooks/Casey
Genre: MM Contemporary BDSM
Length: 332 Pages
Publisher: Tanya Chris Publishing
Release Date: June 27, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: The Ever After series concludes in Aftermath. Tragedy, redemption, love… Ever After

Once upon a time, Casey flirted with a pretty boy at a bar, and that changed everything. Recently released from jail, he’s starting to rebuild without the family who raised him to hate himself. He’s got a new job, a room at his aunt’s, and community service hours at an LGBTQIA community center. But his biggest challenge is figuring out how to live as the one thing his father and brother drilled into him he could never be: a gay man.

Once upon a time, Brooks was a confident Dom with a particular taste for bigger men. But since his run-in with a dangerous homophobe, he’s lost his touch. Big, buff guys are hot but scary, and hurting people isn’t as much fun as it used to be.

Until he meets Casey, the big guy with the problematic past. Casey’s willing to do anything, but does his submission stem from healthy kink or from an unhealthy need to be punished? And is Brooks doling out release or revenge? Two people who share a past as violent as theirs could never fall in love. Unless, somewhere in the aftermath, there’s forgiveness.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Audio Review: Falling Down by Eli Easton

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Falling Down
Author: Eli Easton
Narrator: Michael Stellman
Series: N/A
Heroes: Josh/Mark
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 7 Hours, 33 Minutes
Publisher: Pinkerton Road
Release Date: April 17, 2019
Available at: Amazon and Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Josh finds himself homeless at eighteen, but he has a plan. He’ll head north on the bus to New England and spend October there for his mother’s sake. She always talked about going to see the fall leaves someday. And when the leaves are done and the harsh winter comes, Josh plans to find a place to curl up and let go. It will be a relief to finally stop fighting.

Mark spent his life trying to live up to the tough swagger of his older brothers until he pushed himself so far against his nature that he cracked. Now a former Marine, he rents a little cabin in the White Mountains of New Hampshire where he can lick his wounds and figure out what to do with the rest of his life. One thing was clear: Mark was nobody’s hero.

Fate intervenes when Josh sets up camp under a covered bridge near Mark’s cabin. Mark recognizes the dead look in the young stranger’s eyes, and he feels compelled to do something about it. When Mark offers Josh a job, he never expects that he’ll be the one to fall.

The snow is coming soon. Can Mark convince Josh that the two of them can build a life together before the flurries begin?
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Published in 2019, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Soft Place to Fall by B.A. Tortuga

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Soft Place to Fall
Author: B.A. Tortuga
Heroes: Stetson & Curtis
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 237 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: April 9, 2019
Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Stetson Major and Curtis Traynor are about as opposite as two cowboys can get. Stetson is a rancher, tied to the land he loves in Taos, New Mexico, while Curtis is a rodeo cowboy whose wanderlust never could be tamed.

But now Stetson’s momma is dying of Alzheimer’s, and she can’t remember that Curtis hasn’t been Stetson’s boyfriend for a long time. Curtis’s absence makes her cry, so Stetson swallows his pride and calls his ex-lover.

To Curtis, Stetson is the one who got away, the love of his life. And Momma is his friend, so he’s happy to help out. Yet returning to the ranch stirs up all sorts of feelings that, while buried, never really went away. Still, the rodeo nationals are coming up, and Curtis can’t stay… even if he’s starting to want to, especially to support Stetson when he needs it most.

Stetson and Curtis want to find a place where they both fit, to be there to catch each other when they fall. But family, money problems, and the call of the rodeo circuit might end their second-chance romance before it even gets started. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Loving a Warrior by Melanie Hansen

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Loving a Warrior
Author: Melanie Hansen
Series: Loving a Warrior #1
Heroes: Matt/Shane
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 276 Pages
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: November 26, 2018
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: BUD/S: six months of the most intense training there is. It’s survival of the toughest, and Matt Knytych is determined to come out the other side a navy SEAL.

Distraction is life or death. And just the sight of former marine Shane Hovland is enough to shake Matt’s concentration.

Shane came to BUD/S training ready to prove himself—again. Semper Fi is forever, but he needs a new start. Not this dangerous heat with a man he barely knows.

Everything they’ve ever wanted is riding on a thin, punishing line. And they’ll have to fight for more than just each other if they want to make it through intact.

After all, the only easy day was yesterday.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2018, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Meik & Sebastian (Obsessed #4) by Quin Perin

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Meik & Sebastian
Authors: Quin Perin
Series: Obsessed 4
Heroes: Meik & Sebastian
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 77 ages
Publisher: Quin Perin
Release Date: December 13, 2018
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: After ruining his chances with Sebastian, Meik is plagued by the past and haunted by the present. His escape: booze and sex. But the memories of Gabe continuously well up and never ebb. They become an ever-present companion he cannot escape.

Will he hoist himself out of depression to seal the past and face the present or will he lose himself in the bottom of the bottle? Continue reading

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

Dual Book Review: Bad Habit by K.A. Mitchell

Reviewed by Nikyta and Susan65

Title: Bad Habit
Author: K.A. Mitchell
Series: Bad in Baltimore #6
Heroes: Scott & Liam
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 230 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: November 6, 2018
Available at: Dreamspinner Press & Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Life is always looking for ways to screw you over. Scott McDermott survived the foster care system and knows better than to let anyone close, but Liam Walsh is his one vulnerability.

Twice Scott let down his guard, and twice Liam vanished from Scott’s life.

So when Scott comes face-to-face with Liam for the first time in six years, he punches Liam in the nose. Only after Scott’s friend—and Baltimore County police officer—Jamie reads him the riot act does Scott discover that in the intervening years Liam has been to war and lost his leg.

Liam hasn’t had the easiest life either. He took care of his drug-addicted mom when she was unable to take care of herself. He’s fallen in love with Scott twice, but when Liam saw Scott going down the same path as his mother, he left. The lesson that he can’t save everyone has been a painful one for Liam to learn. Maybe what he and Scott had can’t ever be fixed.

Scott and Liam have never fallen out of love—which becomes obvious when they start working together—but what will make this time any different from all the others? Will the third time really be a charm? Continue reading

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

Audio Review: A Beginner’s Guide to Wooing Your Mate by R. Cooper

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: A Beginner’s Guide to Wooing Your Mate
Author: R. Cooper
Narrator: Robert Nieman
Series: Being(s) in Love #3
Heroes: Zeki & Theo
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: October 20, 2016
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon & Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Zeki Janowitz has returned to his hometown of Wolf’s Paw to start his wizarding career. Unfortunately, Wolf’s Paw, a werewolf refuge, follows centuries of tradition and shuns human magic and a very human Zeki. He knows he’s in for a struggle, but a part of him has always belonged in the mountain town, or rather belonged to Theo Greenleaf. Years away at school haven’t lessened Zeki’s crush on the quiet werewolf. When town gossip informs him Theo still suffers from his mate’s rejection and does not date, it does little to ease Zeki’s embarrassing feelings. He decides now’s the time to get the man he’s always wanted.

Werewolves usually don’t recover from losing their mates, and Theo barely pulled through by focusing on his love of baking. It’s a daily struggle, and Zeki’s return to Wolf’s Paw shatters his peace. Theo doesn’t know what to think when Zeki attempts to woo him, talking about his wizarding business and settling in town for good. It’s like Zeki doesn’t have a clue how his words years before left Theo a shell of a werewolf.

Beginners in love, Theo and Zeki must seduce each other with a bit of heavenly baking and magic. Continue reading

Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment