Posts Tagged With: Self-Harm

Book Review: Ruin by Daya Daniels

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Ruin
Author: Daya Daniels
Series: N/A
Heroes: Ryker/Griffon
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 271 Pages
Publisher: Sayad Books
Release Date: September 21, 2018
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Ryker

They all think they know me…

I’m just a kid who has no direction and a bunch of problems. I decided long ago that the world can piss off. I’m the only one I need. I keep myself safe. If you don’t rely on anyone, no one can disappoint you. Right?

Griffon

I’m not easily liked.

No, let me be honest. Most people hate me. I’m the a-hole. The boy-man who lives and breathes sarcasm. I have no friends. I barely have any family. And the new people I meet are always charmed, at first, but eventually they steer clear of me too.

Except for the guy sitting across from me.

The one who has bigger problems than you could ever imagine.

Who knew eventually he’d be a problem, for me, and…

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

Book Review: Dead Inside by Alexander Ward

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Dead Inside
Author: Alexander Ward
Series: Temporary Bliss #1
Heroes: Alex and Raymond…maybe
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 385 pages
Publisher: AW Publishing
Release Date: September 23, 2018
Available at:  Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: 

Pain and heartbreak. Tears and blood. Life’s never been easy for Alex. Pushed to become a male prostitute and also having to deal with trauma and abuse in the relationship with his boyfriend, doesn’t help a 19-year-old stay sane. In his struggle and desperation to get out of that toxic environment, he soon finds himself in the middle of something much worse.

Caught between two powerful Russian organizations, a broken man and his abusive lover, Alex has to make a decision and he must choose quickly. But when he starts spiraling out of control, the lines between life and death begin to blur and his steps seem to take him towards what might very well be his end.

Warning: The book contains triggers and approaches subjects such as abuse, self-harm, PTSD, human trafficking, murder and suicidal ideation.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2018, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Sex in C Major by Matthew J. Metzger

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Sex in C Major
Author: Matthew J. Metzger
Heroes: Stefan/Daz
Genre: MM Contemporary BDSM
Length: 426 Pages
Publisher: JMS Books
Release Date: May 27, 2017
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Stefan has … fantasies.

He knows chasing those fantasies is only going to end in disaster, but he can’t seem to stop his self-destructive spiral. He’s a transgender man struggling to come to terms with the intersection of his identity and his sexual fantasies as a submissive. He needs someone to take control before he loses it completely.

Daz can take control. He can teach Stefan everything there is to know about sex and submission, but for some reason, he can’t get inside Stefan’s head. Daz can stop Stefan’s self-destruction but not the fear that fuels it.

Stefan needs to know who he is before he can accept what he is. And it’s Yannis — Daz’s aromantic, asexual, stern, and sarcastic partner — who has the answer.

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

Audio Review: Losing Control by Riley Hart

Reviewed by Susan65

51ewk-t8al-_sl300_Title: Losing Control
Author: Riley Hart
Narrator: Jack DuPont
Series: Broken Pieces #3
Heroes: Ben/Dante
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 6 Hours, 35 Minutes
Publisher: Riley Hart
Release Date: December 20, 2016
Available at: Amazon and Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: On the surface Ben seems to have it all: money, influence, good looks. He smiles and jokes in all the right places, but it’s all a façade. Inside he’s a wreck, and it’s only getting worse. With his congressman father using Ben’s recent kidnapping for his own political agenda and Ben still struggling to get over the only guy he’s ever loved, he feels like he’s losing his grip on reality, and he’s quickly spiraling out of control.

Then he meets Dante, an enigma of a man with as much self-hatred as Ben has. In Dante Ben finds what he didn’t know he needed: Dante’s control, his power, is the only thing that clears the fog in Ben’s brain. For the first time in his life, Ben has a lover who just might need Ben as much as Ben needs him. When they’re together the demons from their pasts don’t lurk so heavily on their shoulders.

But Dante can’t fix him. Not when a memory from Ben’s past is haunting him in ways he doesn’t understand, waiting for him to put together the missing pieces in his head…and what he discovers just might have the power to break him for good.

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

Book Review: Only the Lonely by Lynn Kelling

Reviewed by Susan65

29283644Title: Only the Lonely
Author: Lynn Kelling
Series: Twin Ties #0.5
Heroes: Evan Savage
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 55 Pages
Publisher: Fantastic Fiction Publishing
Release Date: May 17, 2016
Available at:  Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Evan Savage is a young teen desperately searching for something to hold on to and a way to be noticed. Living in rural Whippoorwill, Pennsylvania, his only family is an absentee father who leaves Evan alone for days at a time while away for work. Friendless and bullied at school, with only a nearby preacher named Jimmy to look out for him; Evan gratefully accepts attention wherever and however he gets it. Sometimes it feels like part of him is missing, and every day the void consumes more of Evan’s ability to fight back against his circumstances. While looking at himself in the mirror within a recurring dream, his reflection keeps reaching out to him with happiness he doesn’t feel, from a world different than his own, though much less tangible. Anonymous sexual encounters with strange men satisfy Evan’s need for company and reassurance that he’s someone worth wanting, as well as test his boundaries. But, faced with the growing temptation to slip away for good, it’s up to Jimmy, and Evan’s dream-world counterpart, to try to keep him there.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2016, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Broken by Nicola Haken

Reviewed by JustJen

20646135Title: Broken
Author: Nikola Haken
Heroes: Theodore Davenport/James Holden
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 287 Pages
Publisher: Nicola Haken
Release Date: February 29, 2016
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  When Theodore Davenport decides to switch his mundane job for a career, he walks into Holden House Publishing with enthusiasm and determination to succeed. As he settles into his new role, makes new friends, and dreams of making it to the top, everything is going to plan.

Until he meets James Holden, CEO of Holden House.

James Holden hasn’t been able to stop thinking about his encounter with the timid man he met in a club bathroom last week, and when he discovers the one haunting his dreams is an employee, he can’t seem to stop himself from pursuing him.

Just a little fun – that’s what James tells himself. He can’t afford to care for someone who can never reciprocate, not once they find out who he really is. James believes nobody deserves the burden of being attached to him. He’s a complicated man. Damaged. Difficult. Demanding.

Broken.

Is Theodore strong enough to confront James’ demons? More importantly, is James?

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

Book Review: Unquiet by Melanie Hansen

Reviewed by JustJen

26833425Title: Unquiet
Author: Melanie Hansen
Series: Resilient Love #3
Heroes: Loren Smith/Eliot Devlin
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 296 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: January 22, 2016
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Loren Smith has been in love with Eliot Devlin almost his entire life. During their turbulent childhood and teen years, Loren didn’t always understand Eliot, and sometimes he could be a challenge, but Eliot was the only one to ever truly ease Loren’s deep loneliness and accept him. When Eliot’s increasingly erratic and self-destructive behavior culminates in a suicide attempt at seventeen, Loren is devastated.

Upon meeting again by chance nine years later, Loren is enjoying a successful career as a police officer while Eliot’s life has been a constant struggle for stability. In and out of mental hospitals, with a rap sheet a mile long, he continues to be buffeted by the twin storms of mania and depression. Loren’s love and protectiveness for Eliot are deeply ingrained in him, however, and their feelings for each other are quickly rekindled.

Loren has issues of his own he’s dealing with, and trying to understand and cope with Eliot’s bipolar disorder isn’t easy. They believe they’re meant to be, and Eliot brings a fulfillment to Loren’s life that no one else will ever match. But as they both come to realize, love by itself can’t cure all.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The One Who Saves Me by Cardeno C.

Guest Reviewed by Morgan 

1Title: The One Who Saves Me
Author: Cardeno C.
Series: Home #6
Heroes: Andrew Thompson/Caleb Lakes
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 212 Pages
Publisher: The Romance Authors
Release Date: February 7, 2015 (2nd Ed.)
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  At fourteen, Andrew Thompson and Caleb Lakes become best friends. As the years pass, they stand by each other through family trauma, school, and the start of their careers. They share their first sexual experiences, learning and experimenting, and they talk each other through countless dates and breakups.

Decades of trust and loyalty build a deep and abiding friendship, one that surpasses any relationship in their lives. But when the parameters of their unique friendship change, neither man knows how to break out of their established roles to build something new. After all, boyfriends come and go, but best friends are forever.

The One Who Saves Me is set in the Home series where the books are linked by theme or world. They are independent and can be read in any order.

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Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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