Month: November 2014

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Speechless and The Gig by Kim Fielding

Dreampsinner Presents

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3105

speechlessand

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3871

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Blurbs:

Speechless

Travis Miller has a machining job, a cat named Elwood, and a pathetic love life. The one bright spot in his existence is the handsome guitar player he sometimes passes on his way home from work. But when he finally gathers the courage to speak to the man, Travis learns that former novelist Drew Clifton suffers from aphasia: Drew can understand everything Travis says, but he is unable to speak or write.

The two lonely men form a friendship that soon blossoms into romance. But communication is only one of their challenges-there’s also Travis’s inexperience with love and his precarious financial situation. If words are the bridge between two people, what will keep them together?

The Gig

An accident in Drew Clifton’s past left the former novelist with aphasia, unable to communicate through either speech or writing. Through sheer strength of will, he built a quiet but lonely life for himself. But now he’s fallen in love with Travis Miller.

Travis has his own issues—a permanent eye injury and unemployment. But he’s determined to help Drew find ways to engage and succeed again in the wider world, and a guitar-playing gig at a local coffeehouse seems like a good start.

Dylan Warner and Chris Nock happen to be in the audience that evening, and they have a few niggling problems of their own. Perhaps a chance meeting will provide solutions that might benefit all of them.

Morgan’s Review

Wow! Just Wow!

First, Kim Fielding is an absolutely amazing writer. Both of these are short books, but they are so packed with emotion and powerful feels.

In Speechless we meet Travis, a one-eyed-gay-machinist who is scraping by, but very lonely. He walks home every day and sees a man playing guitar on his porch and becomes obsessed. He works up the nerve to finally talk to him, only to find out that Drew suffers from aphasia after a car accident. Drew can neither speak nor write but can listen and respond normally.

Despite the odds, Drew and Travis form a fast friendship. Drew listens and gestures while Travis chatters away. They soon realize they have a lot in common and in fact are quite attracted to one another.

Things are going great, they are slowly building a relationship, when disaster strikes and Travis is forced to either move to Omaha or lose his hard-won job. Travis, feeling like he can’t be a man if he isn’t working, elects to move, leaving both men broken hearted.

Fortunately, Drew’s sister intervenes and helps Travis to set his priorities straight and Travis moves back home to Drew.

In The Gig, we pick up the story where Speechless leaves off, only this time the focus is on Drew’s music. He’s performing for the first time in public and Travis is supporting him from in the audience.

As luck would have it, some nearby lovers overhear Travis’ lament at joblessness and offer him a job!

Though it took two books, we get our glorious HEA.

**

Though I have pretty much summarized the story lines for you I cannot begin to describe how amazingly touching these books are with just those phrases.

The deep, deep loneliness, the sense of hopelessness followed by the aching happiness that we see when the two are re-united is just amazing.

I found the aphasia fascinating (and so sad – Drew was a writer) and the fact that Travis just dealt with it like it was nothing was also amazing. I enjoyed learning about Drew’s coping mechanisms and the way his brain found to work out ways to communicate when others were taken.

You’ll be in tears when the lovers part and again when they reunite and it is so beautifully written you’ll want to ride that roller coaster again and again.

I can’t recommend these books high enough and give them 6 of 5 hearts!

amazing

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The Back Stairs by KC Kendricks

Amber Allure Presents: http://www.amberquill.com/store/p/1180-The-Back-Stairs.aspx

back stairs

Blurb

Fallon Roxbury has a nose for trouble, and the uncanny ability for landing in the middle of it the moment he finds it. While investigating the gruesome murder of a young male prostitute in the red-light district, Fallon gets a whiff of something strange. Forensics has unidentified hairs. Very unidentified hairs, like nothing in any of the textbooks. Following a tip from a person of interest, Fallon meets Sundown, an apparent hustler who apparently knows a lot more than he will admit.

Getting personally involved with Sundown breaks every rule in the police manual, and in Fallon’s own personal code. But Sundown is like a drug, and Fallon can’t stop at taking only one hit. Yet when Sundown is forced to reveal the truth about the murder, Fallon’s world is turned upside down, and he’s left with only two options—check himself in for psychiatric evaluation, or accept a new reality with a strange shift.

Shapeshifters, that is…

Morgan’s Review

Fallon is a cop with a partner who has some “extra abilities” so he’s a little more open to the idea of the supernatural than the average guy. One night he meets a young woman at a crime scene where a gay hooker was slaughtered. She offers him some advice about the crime but only if he’ll meet her “Up the Back Stairs”.

When he arrives, there is no young woman, instead a stunning man who calls himself “Sundown”. Fallon thinks both the woman and Sundown are hookers, but can’t help but be amazingly attracted to Sundown anyway. Sundown gives him some clues about the crime and some hot sex and the two part ways.

Later, when more bodies are found, Fallon goes back to Sundown for help and he is surprised to find that Sundown is more than he seems, and that these crimes are more than just acts of violence.

**
This is the first installment of the series and is meant to build the world and introduce us to the MCs and it does a great job of hooking you right in. Sundown is a compelling “man” with a fascinating skill set that really makes you want to keep reading.

This is a very unique (cool!) take on the idea of a “shifter”.

Fallon is the typical cop/alpha guy thrown into a situation that would make anyone crazy, but it’s clear by the end that the two have feelings for each other that just may mean something in the long run.

I highly recommend this book and look forward to the next installment.

4 of 5 hearts

4

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Trusting Love by Mari Evans

From Dreamspinner:22745446

Laurie Stallon isn’t like other high schoolers. After suffering years of abuse at his father’s hands, he now lives in a foster care facility and finds solace volunteering at the local animal shelter. Laurie’s had to grow up fast, and even though his eighteenth birthday is still weeks away, he’s more adult than most adults he knows. When he meets Dr. Sam Davies, the new shelter veterinarian, the attraction is instant. They become friends at work, but Laurie knows Sam will never go for someone like him. No matter how Laurie tries to prove his maturity to Sam, Sam continues to reject him as too young.

Needing a distraction, Laurie goes out dancing for his birthday and finds his life in danger yet again. When Sam is called to the hospital, he realizes Laurie needs someone to care for him. Sam takes him home, and they slowly build a relationship. But more than their age difference works against them. Facing the disapproval of friends and the scars from Laurie’s past, they’ll need to put all their trust in love for a chance at a future together.

Kimi’s thoughts:

This book was one of those that you had to look deeper into the thoughts and actions of the characters or miss a lot of the subtext. On the surface, Laurie is at turns annoying, whiny, and a bit of brat. Sam is 27 to Laurie’s 18, and boy, does he feel it when this idea of Laurie surfaces. he gets annoyed, angry, and confuses his role as lover and protector with that of…ooops…an almost parental figure.  These are just that though, surface impressions quickly absorbed if you simply read the text and move on. Taking the time to mull over the scenes, I actually got a different picture.

Laurie is living in a shelter of sorts. He’s not had great personal experience with parental figures and once free of his own, has more or less stood on his own two feet. He works, pays his bills, buys his own clothes, does all the things that he thinks marks a responsible adult. He’s also caring, loving his friends and the animal he helps care for with an open sincerity. What he doesn’t have is a true understanding of how life actually works. He thinks he does, and his overprotective personal cheerleader friends aren’t much help in that regard as they are also young and wearing somewhat rose tinted glasses.

Laurie is unprepared for what he finds when he does take those first steps out into the real world of adults. The dangers one can face clubbing, the give and take of a healthy adult relationship, and even facing the truth of how one’s friends unintentionally obstruct your life are all lessons he ends up learning in short order. Up until meeting Sam and becoming involved with him, he’d managed to cover his insecurities and naivety with his quick wits and a show of snark. That is a shield that can only cover so much though, and Sam can see right through it. Sadly, Laurie’s own ego and his friends’ sense of overprotectiveness can’t either and they feed into each other.

I really felt for Sam when Laurie’s friends do their mental dance of vindication and sweep Laurie back to themselves and feed Laurie’s anger with their whispers. Sam and Laurie deserved better than that; Sam is no predator and Laurie deserves better than to be coddled as a victim and hoarded as the friend they don’t want to share. Ultimately, Sam has to face the precise nature of the mental trigger he tripped in Laurie to cause the reaction that started their big fight. Laurie has to face the fact that only he himself knows what he wants and needs and that his friends are not in his and Sam’s relationship and in fact are making well intentioned paving stones for his personal road to relationship hell. He has to face the fact that being an adult is not just about reaching a magic number of years or going through the motions of paying bills and what not, but about width and breadth of life experience in the wider world. It’s about not hiding and owning up to personal mistakes and seeing things from the other side. It’s about truly understanding trust and giving it.

It makes for a sweet romance filled with snark that’s also a tell of two men coming of age. Laurie, who takes his unsheltered first steps out into the real world and Sam who steps into the world of long term romantic relationships.  It’s not a perfect read, but this is the author’s debut novel and it is quite an enjoyable one, even if I did at times want to give Laurie and his friends a good shake. The fact that it got me that engaged in the story is a win as is the HEA.

Rating: 4

kimisig

 

 

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The Festivus Miracle by Kim Fielding

Amazon Presents: http://www.amazon.com/Festivus-Miracle-Kim-Fielding-ebook/dp/B00MS89DI2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416606310&sr=8-1&keywords=Festivus+Miracle

Festivus

 

** Free for Kindle Unlimited

Blurb

It’s finals week during Tony McNeil’s second year in law school, and he’s struggling to keep up. Frankly, he’d rather be cooking. Then he meets first-year student Eddie Cohen-Fernandez, who’s heartsick over missing his family’s annual Festivus celebration. Tony can use his culinary skills to lift Eddie’s spirits, but finding long-term happiness? That just might require a Festivus miracle.

Morgan’s Review

Yay for short holiday stories!

This is another great free read on Kindle unlimited.

Tony is in law school and hating it. Eddie is in law school, too, but loves it. They meet one night in the library when Tony offers Eddie some dinner and a ride home on a cold night.

From that night forward they are inseparable and both realize what they have been missing from their lives: love.

When the end of the year rolls around, Eddie has no money to get home for “Festivus” (the made up holiday from Seinfeld) and Tony offers him some help, giving Eddie a Festivus Miracle.  While there, Eddie and his family show Tony that it’s okay to “disappoint” your parents when it means keeping your soul happy.

**

With a few short pages, Kim gives us a fully developed story about finding out who you are and living your life to its full potential.

There are some sweet smexy scenes, but most of this is about self discovery and finding that place in your soul that makes you sing.

It has a very satisfying HFN/HEA and leaves you with a huge smile on your face.

I really enjoyed this short holiday story and highly recommend it and Kim Fielding.

I give it 5 of 5 hearts

5

 

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Christmas Cole Audiobook by BG Thomas Narrated by Paul Morey

Dreamspinner presents: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?

christmas cole

Blurb

Javier Torres was a sweet, plump, and very unpopular child. But over the years, he turned himself into a gorgeous gym god. The problem is he’s also become an egotistical snob. But one day his arrogance pisses off the wrong little old lady, and he wakes up to find that, like the Prince in Beauty and the Beast, he’s been transformed into something from his personal nightmares. Javier has nowhere to go but back home, where to his surprise, he is greeted with open arms, not just by the family he remembers, but by his new brother-in-law, Cole. Cole suspects there might be a pretty heart to go with the pretty face locked inside that new body, but has Javier learned enough to earn Cole – instead of coal – for Christmas?

Morgan’s Review

Javier is a jerk. A big one. He’s mean and rude and judgmental. One day he’s rude to the wrong person and he gets paid back. Big time.

Javier grew up fat. He hated it. He did everything he could to change that and hasn’t looked back. He leads a life full of shallow hook-ups with an endless stream of faces.

One night he literally runs into an “old woman” and she tells him she’s ashamed of his behavior and that he has much to learn. When he wakes up the next day, he’s changed back to his old fat self.

His current lover essentially tells him though it isn’t “over” it’s over. So Javier goes home to lick his wounds.

There he finds himself welcomed (after a 10 year absence) by open arms. His family and his friends are all there and they all love him, as he is.

Javier still can’t love himself, though. He’s attracted to his long time friend Cole, but can’t believe that he’s lovable in his current body.

With a lot of love, trust and guidance from a mysterious woman’s voice in his head, he eventually lets Cole in and love follows.

**

This is a take on the old Christmas Story of Scrooge… sort of. In a way Javier is his own ghost from the past and the future and Marley’s ghost is played by… well that’s a surprise for the end.

It’s a lovely little holiday story about love and self-acceptance and being non-judgmental. I really appreciated that when asked if he wanted to return to his skinnier self, Javier said – No. Way to go!

The sex was fade to black, but it fit the nature and timing of the story.

The narration was nice. Paul Morey does a lot of narration for this genre and he is always a reliable bet for a good story telling.

The only thing he did that I didn’t like was make Javier sound a little more swishy and fem than I pictured him. Paul also doesn’t have the best Hispanic accent, he sounded vaguely Russian… but it didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the story.

I really enjoyed this little holiday story with it’s big is beautiful message.

I give it 4.5 of 5 hearts.

4.5

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The Wallbanger (Cock & Tails #1) and The Old Fashioned (Cock & Tails #5) by Renee George

Amazon presents: http://www.amazon.com/Wallbanger-Jay-Harvey-CockTails-Book-ebook/dp/B00JD1PL92/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&qid=1416607508&sr=8-21&keywords=cocktails+george

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And

http://www.amazon.com/Old-Fashioned-Wallbanger-Harvey-CockTails-ebook/dp/B00MV3TT4C/ref=sr_1_sc_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1416607791&sr=8-4-spell&keywords=cock+tails+george

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Blurb

When mixology meets biology, it’s pure chemistry!

To celebrate his 45th birthday, Dr. Harvey Grace agrees to go on a blind date at a popular gay sports bar, The Other Team. His date turns out to be the bar’s owner–gorgeous 32-year-old Jay Lincoln. Their attraction is immediate and hot as wildfire. Harvey begins to believe that Jay might well be “the one,” but is the younger man serious about finding Mr. Right … or is he looking for Mr. Right Now?

And

Dr. Harvey Grace has never been happier in a relationship. His younger lover, Jay Lincoln, owns The Other Team bar and grill, despite the disparity in their ages and occupations, they have an all-consuming passion for each other.

But doubts creep in easily when Jay’s handsome ex-lover resurfaces. Not to mention Harvey’s ex is still on the scene, too. Can two men hovering on the edge of a future together conquer the past’s hold on their hearts—and risk it all for a real shot at love?

Morgan’s Review

These are books one and five in the Cock & Tails series.

Harvey is a 45 year old doctor who is tired of the single life. He cautiously agrees to a date via an online ad and ends up meeting Jay, the owner of the bar “The Other Team”. They are immediately attracted to each other and begin their date with high hopes.

When Mark, Harvey’s ex, interrupts, spilling all kinds of ugly sauce around, Jay and Harvey are forced to open up and they find that their attraction is more than skin deep.

Because these are short stories, we move quickly to the super hot smexy scenes, and then we are left with a very HFN that  later bleeds into part 2.
In part 2, Jay’s ex and Mark both try to come between the two new lovers.

One because of a twelve-step program, and one out of pure jealousy.

Luckily, Jay and Harvey are old enough to take the time to talk things out and we get a further HFN that makes us think they just might make it after all.

(And of course some more super hot smexy scenes.)

**

These books are free on Kindle Unlimited, or very affordable to buy and I highly recommend them. They are sweet, yet sexy, move fast, but tell a nice full story.

I love older characters and these guys are great.  Mature, dealing with real life issues, but still super sexy.  These two are definitely my favorite of the series, their love story the most believable and the most touching of the bunch.

I have enjoyed meeting all the guys from The Other Team and look forward to book 8!

** Book One is now on Audbile!  Narrated by Thomas Hoffman

http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/The-Wallbanger-Audiobook/B00PLZGK7G/ref=a_search_c4_1_3_srTtl?qid=1416612694&sr=1-3

I give both books a 5 of 5 heart rating.

5

 

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Shifting Gears by Petra Lynn

Dreamspinner Presents: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5717

shifting

Blurb

One rainy night, bike-shop owner Kenton Palmer finds an injured dog on the road and takes him to the nearest vet clinic, only to discover he’s actually a wolf. Undeterred, he wants to nurse the injured animal following a necessary surgery. The handsome Dr. Will Barclay’s interest and his own brand of animal attraction overwhelm Kenton, who’s been doubting himself after a failed romance.

Gray Fowler is a wolf-shifter and pack alpha. After Kenton rescues him and takes him home to heal, he’s forced to remain in wolf form. But that doesn’t prevent him from falling hard for Kenton. It begins as jealousy, but Gray soon discovers Will, Kenton’s new admirer, is caught up in something sinister. However, he’s forced to wait until he’s healthy before he can shift and enter Kenton’s life as a man. Then Gray must discover how Will’s shady activities are linked to the men who ran him down and expose the scheme before Kenton gets too involved with Will.

Morgan’s Review

Kenton finds an injured “dog” (wolf) on the road one night, apparently hit by a Hummer. Though he knows it’s dangerous, he approaches the dog and takes it to a vet for emergency care. The vet, who acts a bit cold toward the animal, informs him it’s a wolf, and wants to put it down. Kenton’s gut won’t let him and he convinces the vet to do the surgery, Kenton will assume the cost.

The vet, Will, then proceeds to hit on Kenton, who is pretty lonely and therefore, receptive. As the wolf heals, Will and Kenton grow “closer”, though something isn’t quite right with Will but Kenton can’t put a finger on why he has misgivings about their relationship.

The wolf/dog Kenton names Rain (since he found him in the rain) goes home with Kenton to recuperate and the two become best friends.

Meanwhile, we learn from the wolf’s POV that “Rain” is actually a shifter named Gray and he’s also worried about Will. Something about the man is off. Gray is also slowly falling in love with Kenton, but can’t do anything about it in shifted form and is too scared to shift back to man for fear of losing Kenton.

But… one night Gray overhears Will’s plot to take so-called rescued animals and sell them for experimentation, including some wolves Gray fears might be shifters. He breaks free of his kennel and shifts back to man (has sex with Kenton while Kenton thinks he’s dreaming) and then leaves to gather his pack to save the animals.

Kenton is heart broken at having lost his wolf, and his relationship with Will isn’t going well either. He’s confused about his dreams and then he meets Gray at his bike shop.  Kenton is attracted to Gray, but he doesn’t want to give up on his relationship with Will.

So…Gray has to convince Kenton Will isn’t the guy for him, keep Will from selling the animals and then find a way to introduce Kenton to the world of shifters … it’s going to be a busy night!

**
I wanted to like this, so much, but I really didn’t.

There were several things that put me off.
• Kenton is a doormat. He doesn’t show much of a spine and the personality we do see isn’t very attractive.
• Kenton and Will have more on page relationship than anyone else in the story. Will is a total douche and Kenton lets him get away with murder – literally!
• Gray does something very creepy after seeing Kenton and Will have sex (yes – on page sex!) that skeeved me out and made me uncomfortable.
• When Kenton finally does figure out Will is the bad guy, that Gray is Rain and that Gray is  his “dream lover” he doesn’t react like you think he would and it makes things feel awkward.
• The ending is lack luster. We spent all this time with Will and Kenton and barely a scene with Gray and Kenton together. Very frustrating.

The writing was ok, I didn’t see a lot of errors, but I didn’t like the MCs or the fact that most of the sex scenes were not with our two main love interests.

Overall I give it a 2 of 5 for having an okay writing style and what could have been an interesting plot but was executed poorly IMHO.

2

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Work in Progress (Belladonna Arms #2) by John Inman

Dreamspinner Presents: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5515

work

Blurb

Dumped by his lover, Harlie Rose ducks for cover in the Belladonna Arms, a seedy apartment building perched high on a hill in downtown San Diego. What he doesn’t know is that the Belladonna Arms has a reputation for romance—and Harlie is about to become its next victim.

Finding a job at a deli up the street, Harlie meets Milan, a gorgeous but cranky baker. Unaware that Milan is suffering the effects of a broken heart just as Harlie is, the two men circle around each other, manning the barricades, both unwilling to open themselves up to love yet again.
But even the most stubborn heart can be conquered.

With his new friends to back him up—Sylvia, on the verge of her final surgery to become a woman, Arthur, the aging drag queen who is about to discover a romance of his own, and Stanley and Roger, the handsome young couple in 5C who lead by example, Harlie soon learns that at the Belladonna Arms, love is always just around the corner waiting to pounce. Whether you want it to or not.

But tragedy also drops in now and then.

 Morgan’s review

We return to the amazing Belladonna Arms. Arthur is still there, in horrible drag. Chi Chi and Ramon are there, but fighting. Stanley and Roger are there and in love. Sylvia is about to have her surgery, the kleptomaniac Charlie is still taking his meds and he and Bruce are still a couple. All in all love is in the air, specifically the Love Pollen that Arthur claims falls on the unsuspecting tenants and makes them succumb.

Harlie thinks he’ll be immune to the pollen, however, since he has just gotten back from a four month journey across the country getting “over” his ex. He’s alone and plans on staying that way. His only focus: getting a job and writing his novel.

Sylvia comes through with a job for Harlie, working as a baker’s assistant at the restaurant where she works. The owner of the restaurant is Mr. Burger, an older gentleman whose lover has recently died. We suspect Sylvia probably knew that his son, Milan, might just cure Harlie of his blues, as he, too, is a gay man recently alone.

Sure enough, Milan and Harlie set off sparks. At first, Harlie thinks Milan is straight and hates him, which only makes him that much more fascinating, but then we see them connect outside of work and Milan is really just shy and heartbroken.

Sylvia has other plans for our Belladonna Arms manager, Arthur. Harlie, mistakenly!, tries to change Arthur’s style by making him more “butch”. What a hilarious failure that was! No matter what he tries, Arthur glams it up and looks miserable without his flowing garments. But… Mr. Burger sees something in Arthur he’s been missing and it’s love at first sight!

The remainder of the book is Sylvia healing, Arthur and Mr. Burger sexing and loving, Milan and Harlie sexing and loving, and… a horrible, horrible sad story involving Chi Chi and Ramon…

Overall, it was another amazing book by John Inman and I loved (almost) every second of it as much as the first book Serenading Stanley. I’m not sure why the sad story was included… maybe to give some more depth to this very sweet story, or to open up a new line for the next story (I hope!) but it was hard to read. I hope we hear more about their story in another installment, because it’s just too good to stop now!

Harlie and Milan are a wonderful, sweet couple and I’m sure you’ll love meeting them.

I also give tons of Kudos for giving Arthur a lover, he sooooo deserves to be loved and Mr. Burger was amazing!  I loved the message too – be yourself!  What a gift!

I highly recommend this book and the series, I can’t wait for the audio version to come out as I’m sure it will be awesome as well.

5 of 5 hearts

5

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Chipmunk Drizzled in Honey by Jackie Nacht

MLR Presents http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=JN_CMDIH

chipmunk

Blurb

 

Even this grumpy bear can’t resist this chipmunks charm.

Dallas likes the life he has. He’s the proud owner of the donut shop, Honey Cakes, and now owns the home he grew up in White Pine. He thought his life was perfect until Nikko the chipmunk sashayed into his life. Now, Dallas doesn’t know if he wants to push the spunky chipmunk away or make love to him.

Nikko has known since the moment he saw Dallas that he wanted the bear. Nothing, even the grouchiness of the gorgeous bear will keep him from making Dallas his own. But how can Nikko get Dallas to see they belong together?

Morgan’s Review

This is a quick shifter romance from Jackie Nacht’s series: Paranormal Dentistry for the Fanged and Friendly

Dallas is a bear who likes his solitude. Nikko is a chipmunk and he’s the life of the party. This is a case of opposites attracting.

Nikko makes a ton of mistakes at the donut shop but Dallas can’t bear to fire him, even when he eats all the pecans!

It takes talking to his best friend for him to finally face facts, but Dallas is smitten and when he finally gives in to temptation, Nikko and he make a very sweet couple.

**

I love shifter stories where they actually shift and act like their animal halves and we get to see both the human and the fuzzy side in this little love story.

Dallas is rumbly and bear like, Nikko is high strung and chipmunk like, but Nikko doesn’t let Dallas run all over him. He stands up and cusses him out when need be – in both human and chipmunk forms! It’s really cute!

I thoroughly enjoyed this short story and look forward to reading the other books in the series.

I give it 4.5 of 5 hearts.

4.5

 

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Happiness for Beginners Audiobook by Zahra Owens Narrated by Michael Stallman

Dreamspinner Presents: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2604

 

happiness

Blurb

Jesse harbored a crush on his TV series costar, Kaye, for more than eight years, but when the show was canceled and he realized those years of playing gay hadn’t convinced Kaye to leave the straight and narrow, Jesse turned his back on acting for good. Ten years later, Kaye is back in Jesse’s life, on Christmas Eve – and the eve of his third divorce. Jesse’s not sure his heart can take another beating, but Kaye has a few tricks up his sleeve – and a few truths from his own heart – that might just convince Jesse that the gifts of love and happiness are not just for Christmas.

A novella from the Dreamspinner Press 2011 Advent Calendar package “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”.

 Morgan’s Review

 (Contains spoilers- be warned)

Jesse is an ex-TV star who now runs a travel agency. He is surprised when Kaye, his ex-costar, suddenly turns up on his doorstep after divorce number three. Jesse had a huge crush on Kaye back in the day, especially since they were on on-air gay couple, but Kaye was “straight” and therefore off limits. After the show ended the two never had ANY contact until now, ten years later.

Kaye is depressed. His marriages fail. His most current ex won’t let him see their adopted daughter and he hasn’t actually had sex in 14 years.

What?! 14 years? Yes, that’s what I said.

We find out Kaye’s mother is a psychiatrist who “cures” the gay out of a person and really did a number on Kaye’s sexual identity. Now, he wants to “experiment” to find his true sexuality. With Jesse. Jesse agrees. They embark on some hot make-out sessions and it seems pretty clear that Kaye is in fact, gay.

Then, suddenly, Kaye is packing to go back to LA. He accepted a part out there and has to leave. Does he discuss this with Jesse? Nope. Just begins packing.

Jesse is pissed and rightfully so. He throws Kaye out and cries himself to sleep.

But Kaye doesn’t actually leave. He misses his plane and returns to Jesse, heart in hand, asking to start a don’t-ask-don’t-tell relationship with him and Jesse agrees.

The End.

**

This entire story made me so frustrated!

The beginning was a slow lead up to what was looking like a GFY/OFY. I figured that Kaye was deluding himself for some reason, and when it was revealed what his mom did for a living I thought that was a nice, unique twist. I appreciated the slow build up and was excited when the couple started talking and “experimenting”.

Then, when Kaye left I was mad, but hey, he came back. But then he makes this ridiculous proposal of “we’ll be a couple but won’t tell anyone” and Jesse agrees even though he’s said over and over that he won’t go back in the closet… and they live on opposite coasts… and really? Fourteen years with no sex?? Kaye obviously has a bunch of issues he needs to work through.

I thought it was ridiculous. Jesse was way too easy on Kaye and I was left thinking there is no way this couple makes it. Kaye is far from actually accepting who he is and Jesse is not doing anything to protect himself. I never got to the point where I actually liked Kaye and as a result, I didn’t feel good about Jesse and his door-mat acceptance of Kaye’s crap.

Sure, we can interpret that this is the beginning of the story, and hope the boys figure things out. However, I was not left feeling that this was a reliable HEA or even HFN. Therefore, the name “Happiness for Beginners” feels like a misnomer because nobody seemed very happy to me, even at the end.

I give the story a 2 of 5 hearts because the writing was fine and the story had potential.

Audio:

Michael did a nice job with the narration. There wasn’t a lot of “acting” but the sound quality was good and his voice allows you to be absorbed in the story. I give the narration a 4 of 5 hearts.

Overall… well I wouldn’t recommend either the audio version or the book version but I’d give it a 3 of 5 just because it did stir up my emotions and that is saying something.

3

 

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