Posts Tagged With: YA

Book Review: Talk About Happy Endings by Kol Anderson

Reviewed by JustJen

1Title: Talk About Happy Endings
Author: Kol Anderson
Heroes: The Elves
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 102 Pages
Publisher: Kol Anderson
Release Date: December 1, 2014
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  Five couples try to find love on Christmas and in the process discover themselves.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: When Ryan Came Back by Devon McCormack

Reviewed by Nikyta

1Title: When Ryan Came Back
Author: Devon McCormack
Heroes: Steven/Ryan
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 230 Pages
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press
Release Date: October 16, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Steven’s life changes forever the day he discovers his childhood friend and lifelong crush, Ryan Walters, standing in his bedroom. The problem? Ryan Walters committed suicide just days earlier.

Ryan tells Steven that he didn’t kill himself. He believes he was murdered and that his death is linked to an article he was working on for the school paper. Steven sets out to solve the mystery, but as the story unfolds, so does Ryan’s secret life of sex with guys and depression. Steven realizes suicide is more plausible than Ryan’s conspiracy theory, but he struggles to convince Ryan of the real cause of his death. And despite revelations of his friend’s closeted life, he must face the truth that Ryan doesn’t—and never will—love him.

*This review may contain spoilers. Proceed with caution.*
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Categories: 3 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: Violence Begets… by P.T. Denys

Reviewed by JustJen

1Title: Violence Begets…
Author: P.T. Denys
Heroes: Kevin/Rick
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 284 Pages
Publisher: P.T. Denys
Release Date: December 22, 2013
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  After a tragic accident devastates his family, 16-year-old Rick St. James starts his junior year of high school alone in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah. When he meets Kevin Vincent, he’s too distracted by the promise of new friends to see that Kevin has secrets of his own.

Having created an environment where he’s feared and admired by his classmates, Kevin finds pleasure in using his good looks and violence to control and manipulate those around him. Secretly, he cruises the gay club scene, turning tricks to earn money so he can party and get high.

As Rick’s dad becomes increasingly violent and abusive at home, the two form a surprising and volatile trust. In this battle of wills, their precarious friendship will either keep their lives from blowing up around them or possibly light the fuse that will cause the explosion.
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Categories: 5 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Audio Review: Last of the Summer Tomatoes by Sherrie Henry

Guest Reviewed by Morgan

1Title: Last of the Summer Tomatoes
Author: Sherrie Henry
Narrator: Paul Morey
Series: Young Love’s Journey #1
Heroes: Kyle Jackowski/Sam Johnson
Genre: YA/NA M/M Contemporary
Length: Book – 246 Pages / Audio 7 hours, 15 minutes
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: Book – July 17, 2013 / Audio – September 24, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Audible and iTunes
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Kyle Jackowski, typical sullen emo teen, struggles to find a way to deal with his sexuality and finds himself in trouble with the law… again. But instead of being sent to a juvenile detention center like he expected, he is given a chance to commute his sentence by working on a farm for the summer.

Enter Sam, son of the farm owners, who shows Kyle what he feels is perfectly normal and that he doesn’t have to hide from his feelings. In turn, Sam’s parents show Kyle that his abusive stepfather and battered mother are not the norm. With their love and support, Kyle finds his place in the world—by Sam’s side.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Audio Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Audio Review: Intervention by Mia Kerick

Guest Reviewed by Morgan

InterventionAUDMedTitle: Intervention
Author: Mia Kerick
Narrator: Tristan Wright
Heroes: Kai Manter/Jamie Arlotta
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: Book – 231 Pages / Audio – 6 Hours, 36 Minutes
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press
Release Date: Book – October 10, 2013 / Audio – August 25, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Audible and iTunes
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: As a musician at the popular college café Coed Joe’s, high school senior Kai Manter is never lacking for male attention. Out, proud, free-spirited, and sexually aware, Kai sets his sights on his darkly Gothic and undeniably bad-tempered coworker, Jamie Arlotta, a freshman at the local arts university. Sporting long hair and alluring hippie style, Kai expects his interest will be reciprocated, with satisfying sex as the end goal. That’s what usually happens. But Jamie’s lessons in life have been harsher. Having been sexually abused by his older stepbrother for several years, Jamie has grown an impenetrable outer shell meant to keep the world at a safe distance.

Kai is angry at first when he takes the brunt of Jamie’s bad temper, but after Kai accidentally discovers the abuse Jamie has suffered, he wants to fix things. Kai’s plan is based on what he knows best—music—and he stages a “musical intervention” to let Jamie know he’s not alone and things can get better. When Jamie’s perspective changes and he emerges from his shell, Kai changes, too, gaining a whole new understanding of what sex can be when love is there too.
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Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Audio Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure by Duane Simolke

 

Reviewed by Susan65

1Title: Degranon: A Science Fiction Adventure
Author: Duane Simolke
Series: Taldra
Genre: MM Sci-Fi
Length: 184 Pages
Publisher: Duane Simolke (iUniverse)
Release Date: May 26, 2014
Available at: Duane Simolke, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance Ebooks and Kobo
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: This revised version of Duane Simolke’s science fiction adventure Degranon features more gay characters and a sharper focus on diversity themes. On the planet Valchondria, no illness exists, gay marriage is legal, and everyone is a person of color. However, a group called “the Maintainers” carefully monitors everyone’s speech, actions, and weight; the Maintainers also force so-called “colorsighted” people to hide their ability to see in color.

The brilliant scientist Taldra loves her twin gay sons and thinks of them as the hope for Valchondria’s future, but one of them becomes entangled in the cult of Degranon, while the other becomes stranded on the other side of a doorway through time. Can they find their way home and help Taldra save their world?

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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Whirlwind by Mark Del Franco

Guest Reviewed by Ami

Whirlwind

Title: Whirlwind
Author: Mark Del Franco
Heroine/Hero: Arden Lewis / Davis Digby
Genre: YA M/F Urban Fantasy
Length: 323 pages
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: April 9, 2014
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Arden Lewis has a secret.

When Arden discovers she can control the weather, she leaves her secluded family farm to live in Everglen among her own kind—Paragons who can control the elements with their minds and bodies.

Arden soon learns that being a Paragon means being a target for darker forces that want to exploit her Talent—or destroy it. As she navigates the turmoil of high school and the uncertainty of her first crush, she must do everything to hide her Talent from prying eyes.

She needs to keep secrets in order to survive.

But secrets are built on lies, and when secrecy becomes paramount, the lies become dangerous. No matter whom she trusts, no matter how hard she tries to control her Talent, Arden’s life begins to spiral out of control–with fatal consequences. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, M/F, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment