Posts Tagged With: slow burn

Book Review: Enemies of the State by Tal Bauer

Reviewed by Morgan 

28814263Title: enemies of the State
Author: Tal Bauer
Series: The Executive Office #1
Heroes: Jack Spier/Ethan Reichenbach
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 324 Pages
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: February 15, 2016
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  A rogue Black Ops unit with the president in their crosshairs.
A Secret Service agent who will break every rule.
A president falling for the one person he shouldn’t—a man.

Newly elected President Jack Spiers’s presidency is rocked from the very beginning, and he’s working furiously to keep the world from falling apart. Between terrorism attacks ripping apart Europe, Russia’s constant posturing and aggression, and the quagmire of the Middle East, Jack is struggling to keep his campaign promise—to work toward a better, safer world.

For Special Agent Ethan Reichenbach, Jack is just another president, the third in twelve years. With Jack’s election, he’s been promoted, and now he’s running the presidential detail, which puts him side by side with Jack daily. He’s expecting another stuffed suit and an arrogant DC politician, but Jack shocks him with his humor and humanity.

There are rules against a Secret Service agent and one of their protectees developing a friendship—big rules. Besides, Jack is straight as a ruler, and a widower, and Ethan has always avoided falling for straight men. Ethan keeps his distance, but Jack draws him in, like gas to a naked flame, and it’s a lure he isn’t strong enough to turn away from.

As the two men collide, rules are shattered and the world teeters on the verge of war, and a rogue Black Ops unit bent on destruction sets Jack in their deadly crosshairs. Ethan must put everything on the line in order to save the man he’s come to love, Jack’s presidency, and the world.
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Morgan's Reviews, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Legally Wed by Cecil Wilde

Reviewed by Susan65

28516063Title: Legally Wed
Author: Cecil Wilde
Heroes: Blake/Xander
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 107 Pages
Publisher: Liquid Silver Books
Release Date: January 10, 2016
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: When your best friend is gay and you are straight life can present some interesting challenges…especially if chance and circumstances conspire and you find yourself married…To each other! Legally Wed from romance author Cecil Wilde is a perfect mix of friendship, love, and humor; with a few twists and turns to keep you turning the pages of this contemporary GLBT romance.

Blake’s a thirty-something lawyer climbing the career ladder to his dream job of DA. He’s sacrificed any kind of life away from work to get to where he’s going, and he’s determined to get there.

Xander’s a contract lawyer stuck in a dead-end job and a string of unfulfilling relationships with men he can’t love. He’s been in love with his best friend almost since they first met in law school, but he’d never say anything, because he knows Blake can’t love him back.

During a desperately needed vacation for both of them, they wake up after a night on the town in Las Vegas–married. To each other. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they soon realize that the story coming out would tank Blake’s career and ruin Xander’s life, so they can’t afford to get a divorce.

Their only choice is to fake it. For Blake, that means pretending he’s not as straight as he’s always said he is, and for Xander, it means the torture of getting what he’s always wanted in the worst possible way. Add to that the trials of married life, and what starts out as an adventure quickly turns sour as life happens, confessions are made, and tragedy strikes.

With his tentatively happy marriage hanging in the balance, Blake must engage in some serious soul-searching to find out that what he’s always wanted had been right in front of him all along. But will it be too late to convince Xander of his intentions, after years of not being able to see him for what he was?

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

Audio Review: Catch a Ghost by S.E. Jakes

Reviewed by Susan65

27786090Title: Catch a Ghost
Author: S.E. Jakes
Narrator: Adam North
Series: Hell or High Water #1
Heroes: Prophet/Tommy
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 8 Hours, 3 Minutes
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: December 16, 2015
Available at: Amazon and Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Everyone knows that Prophet—former Navy SEAL, former CIA spook, full-time pain in the ass—works alone and thinks only about the trouble he can cause. But his boss, Phil Butler of Extreme Escapes, LTD., has just assigned Proph not only a new partner but also a case haunted by ghosts from Proph’s past. Suddenly, he’s got to confront them both head on.

Tom Boudreaux—failed FBI agent, failed sheriff, full time believer in bad luck—is wondering why the head of a private contracting firm has hunted him down to offer him a job. Still he’s determined to succeed this time, despite being partnered with Prophet, EE, LTD’s most successful, lethal, and annoying operative, and even though the case is also resurrecting his own painful past.

Together, Prophet and Tom must find a way to take down killers in the dangerous world of underground cage matches, while fighting their own dangerous attraction. And when they find themselves caught in the crossfire, these two loners are forced to trust each other and work together to escape their ghosts . . . or pay the price.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Published in 2015, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Early Book Review: Fixer-Upper by Meg Harding

Reviewed by Ami

28169565Title: Fixer-Upper
Author: Meg Harding
Heroes: Jake/Dakota
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 68 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: January 6, 2016
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Ex-business owner and soon to be ex-husband Jake has had some rotten luck of late. His world is tumbling down around him, but it’s time to dust himself off and move on. Buying and fixing up the most dilapidated home he can find might be just the thing to get him back on track.

But Jake gets more than he bargained for when he meets former lawyer turned landscaper Dakota. Dakota is smart and ridiculously sexy—and Jake doesn’t have a clue how to act around him. After several gardening mishaps, Jake is sure Dakota thinks he’s completely inept.

Turns out Dakota is thinking something else entirely. And as Dakota gives Jake advice, an ear to listen, and helps him work through his issues, Jake realizes flowers aren’t the only thing blooming between them.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2016 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Macarons at Midnight by M.J. O’Shea and Anna Martin

Reviewed by Morgan 

27982701Title: Macarons at Midnight
Authors: M.J. O’Shea and Anna Martin
Narrator: John-Paul Barrell
Series: Just Desserts #1
Heroes: Tristan Green/Henry Livingston
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 7 hours, 50 minutes
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: November 25, 2015
Available at:  Amazon, Audible and iTunes
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Tristan Green left his small English town for Manhattan and a job at a high profile ad agency, but can’t seem to find his bearings. He spends a lot of time working late at night, eating and sleeping alone, and even more time meandering around his neighborhood staring into the darkened windows of shops. One night when he’s feeling really low, he wanders by a beautiful little bakery with the lights still on. The baker invites him in, and some time during that night Tristan realizes it’s the first time he’s really smiled in months.

Henry Livingston has always been the odd duck, the black sheep, the baker in an old money family where pedigree is everything and quirky personalities are hidden behind dry martinis and thick upper east side townhouse facades. Henry is drawn to Tristan’s easy country charm, dry English wit, and everything that is so different from Henry’s world.

Their new romance is all buttercream frosting and sugared violets until Tristan’s need to fit in at work makes him do something he desperately wishes he could undo. Tristan has to prove to Henry that he can be trusted again before they can indulge in the sweet stuff they’re both craving.
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Categories: 2 Star Ratings, Audio Review, LGBT, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Shiver by Jocelynn Drake and Rinda Elliott

Reviewed by Susan65

26695561Title: Shiver
Authors: Jocelynn Drake and Rinda Elliott
Series: Unbreakable Bonds #1
Heroes: Lucas Vallois/Andrei Hadeon
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 301 Pages
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: October 27, 2015
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Lucas Vallois is always in control. He’s building an empire in the glittering city of Cincinnati and created his own family from his three close friends. The self-made millionaire has everything he wants within his tight grasp. But his world starts to crumble after he’s jumped by a trio of thugs late one night after leaving a club. The warning is clear—give up his new property venture or end up dead.

Caving to the demands of his friends, Lucas accepts the help of bodyguard, Andrei Hadeon, as he hunts for the source of this new threat. But as Lucas gets closer to uncovering the danger, he realizes the sexy Romanian bodyguard poses an even bigger risk to his carefully constructed world. Trapped by a need he never expected, Lucas must find a way to deny the shiver of longing he cannot control.

His brother. His warrior. His heart. Four friends. Unbreakable bonds.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2015, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Lifeline by Brynn Stein

Reviewed by Susan65

27423117Title: Lifeline
Author: Brynn Stein
Heroes: Eric Duncan/Dennis Hayden
Genre: MM Contemporary/Paranormal
Length: 65 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: November 4, 2015
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Eric Duncan rolls into a quaint Upstate New York town to sell medical supplies. He doesn’t intend to stay long, but an apparently homeless man whom he keeps running into catches his attention. While passersby ignore the man, Eric can’t leave the situation alone.

Dennis Hayden’s last memory is of hiking in the mountains. He doesn’t know how he ended up in town, nor how he keeps popping up in various places. He walks around aimlessly, trying to recall something as simple as his name. He’s not sure what to think of the stranger he sees repeatedly, and who keeps trying to talk to him.

While meeting a potential client at the hospital, Eric overhears a young lady looking for her brother who went missing several days ago, while hiking. Eric recognizes the picture of Dennis on the flyer and sets out to reunite him with his sister.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2015, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: A Gentle Kind of Strength by Kendall McKenna

Guest Reviewed by Morgan 

27507669Title: A Gentle Kind of Strength
Author: Kendall McKenna
Heroes: Ray Lerner/Damien Federov
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 57,000 words
Publisher: MLR Press
Release Date: November 5, 2015
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  A police K9 handler believes he’s lucky when a romance starts with the local veterinarian, but then his canine partner is injured in the line of duty.

Sergeant Ray Lerner is a veteran sheriff’s department K9 handler. Damien Federov is the veterinarian caring for Harley, Ray’s canine partner. When taking a man as a lover, Ray’s always been confident. Around Damien, Ray becomes uncharacteristically shy and tongue-tied. When Damien begins their romance, Ray knows he’s lucky.

His obsession with a past tragedy blinds Ray to everything he has with Damien. When Harley is injured on duty, his life is in Damien’s hands. As Ray sits vigil, he has one final chance to allow Damien in all the way, or risk losing everything important, in a single night.
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Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Split by Mel Bossa

Reviewed by Susan65

10392104Title: Split
Author: Mel Bossa
Series: Nick & Derek #1
Heroes: Nick/Derek
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 288 pages
Publisher: Bold Stroke Books
Release Date: April 19, 2011
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Quiet and imaginative, Derek O’Reilly spends a lot of time watching a movie in his head. His fiancé Nathan, aka “Mr. Alpha”, wonders why Derek hasn’t taken any interest in their wedding planning. Aunt Fran—his spiritual guru—would like to know when her guilt-tripping nephew became some kind of kept boy. One evening, she drops Derek’s childhood journal on his lap, forcing him to remember the name he’s been trying to forget since he was eleven years old. Nicolai Lund.

Nick was Derek’s neighbor—and first love.

Weeks before Derek’s engagement party, a chance meeting with Nick catapults Derek into the past. Nick could flood Derek’s stale existence like a blond tidal wave, but Nick isn’t that sixteen-year-old rebel anymore. He’s a man hardened by invisible scars.

As Derek reads through his diary, Nick and Derek’s powerful relationship sways between past and present, sweeping over their emotional landscape, revealing what they were, still are, and might yet be to each other.

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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2011, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Shape of Honey by Ki Brightly

Reviewed by Nikyta

ShapeofHoney[The]Title: The Shape of Honey
Author: Ki Brightly
Heroes: Yulian & Rolly
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 350 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: October 19, 2015
Available at: Dreamspinner PressAmazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Yulian Volkov is an entrepreneur and lone werewolf who hates the city. At a pack meeting, he learns the only member he’s attracted to is being expelled for crimes unspecified. Yulian strikes a deal with the pack leader to allow Rolly Witten to live on his farm and work in his Meadery. Although enjoying handsome Rolly’s company, Yulian must tread carefully, since Rolly doesn’t trust him and the pack doesn’t acknowledge homosexuality exists. Meanwhile, Yulian stealthily courts Rolly by teaching him the value of his wolf side.

Rolly, who’s known he was gay since he was a teen, has accepted a life of solitude—and a life of crime. He has no desire to relocate. Yet Yulian’s trust in his ability to do honest work builds his confidence. As life is settling well for them, Rolly learns a friend from his old pack had a crush on him, and he’s torn between returning his friend’s feelings or pursuing the budding relationship with Yulian. But that’s not their worst problem. Assassins are trying to take out both wolves, and they need to figure out who wants them dead or all the trust and happiness they’re building together won’t matter.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2015 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment