BLURB: Chuck isn’t sure what he needs and Master Jordan can’t wait to show him.
Stone’s shy junior investigator, Chuck, can no longer deny his interest in the BDSM lifestyle. The beautiful connections and raw emotions he’s witnessed between so many of the Doms and subs at Kiss of Leather, leave him yearning for something he’d never dared hope he could have: unconditional love and care from a man. He isn’t sure if he can take the chance of having a real relationship when he’s not out to his meddling parents yet, but the sexy Master Jordan, Gavin’s friend and the owner of Club Consequence, makes him want to take that chance.
Master Jordan has been biding his time until he can get next to the super-fine Chuck. Gavin warned him that Chuck wasn’t in the lifestyle, but there’s something special about him that Jordan can’t deny. When they’re finally alone, the chemistry is off the charts and Jordan can tell it won’t take much to bring Chuck willingly into the world of BDSM.
An unexpected development in the case of Corey’s kidnappers shocks them all, but not as much as what happens with Chuck’s family. Jordan teaches Chuck that secrets hold power over the person keeping them, and that gaining trust can only be achieved through complete honesty.
REVIEW: This is the 5th book in this series and one that I was looking forward to. This story features Stone’s assistant, Chuck, and Gavin’s friend, Jordan, the owner of another BSDM club, Club Consequence.
I was intrigued from the moment these two were mentioned and featured briefly in the previous books so I was very pleased to see that the author has decided to give them their own story.
As with all of her characters, the ones in this series are very well written. Knight’s attention to detail in her work is meticulous. She has a great talent for maintaining her characters and their storylines. The transitions from one book in her series to the next are always smooth without any breaks or holes in the plots.
Her depictions of the subs and their Doms are awesome. The subs aren’t simpering, child-like, effeminate twinks. There’s nothing wrong with a man being effeminate or a twink but I absolutely detest when simpering and child- like is thrown in. She strikes the perfect balance between these men being strong and independent but are strong and confident enough to submit to their Doms.
I loved Jordan and Chuck’s characters. Chuck’s character was shy and sweet, strong and fierce and due to his upbringing, a little ‘buttoned up’. He was introduced to the BSDM lifestyle because of the case he and Stone are investigating but he’s drawn to it because of the deep love and respect that he observes between the men he’s befriended. He meets Jordan while working undercover at Jordan’s club. I also loved how Chuck didn’t allow the stench of his family’s bigotry to touch him. He’s a loving and kind gentlemen that treats people with respect. He also had a lot of backbone. This is what fascinated me about him. He was shy and sweet but also very tough. I love how the author wrote him breaking away from his family. She did it with little fanfare and didn’t dwell on it afterwards. She understood that everything else took a back seat to Chuck and Jordan’s budding romantic relationship.
I also adore the way Jordan’s character was written. Now that I think about it, I appreciate how this author portrays her characters of color in ALL of her stories. As a reader of color, I can honestly say that Knight has done a wonderful job of this. There have been quite a few authors in the MM genre, on many occasions, who had been dragged for filth by readers in general, readers of color specifically over their ridiculous and often times insidious stereotyping of their characters of color. Some on more than one occasion. I’ve never encountered that problem with any of this author’s work. The skin color of a particular character is only used to describe physical appearances. Again, as a reader of color who likes to read LGBT themes books, I really appreciate this.
As I was saying before, Jordan’s character was also well written. He was a Dom but his style was a little different than the others. His was a gentler approach. This didn’t make him any less of a Dom but I think that he adjusted his approach a bit for Chuck because he knew that Chuck was new to the lifestyle as he didn’t want to scare him off.
The storylines, character development and plots are wonderful and engaging. The books aren’t too long but just long enough to satisfy you. There are no unnecessary cliff hangers that leave you hanging either. This book, this series is definitely well worth the time to get in to.
BLURB: It isn’t easy to cling to teenage promises when you become one of the forgotten. For Eli Barron, Jesse Clooney has always been the one. From their first day of kindergarten through their high-school graduation, the pair were inseparable. So, when a situation arises that splits the two men apart, it’s up to Eli to keep the home fires burning as Jesse sets off to follow his dreams on the rodeo circuit. But how long can a man continue to stoke the fire before the flames die out?
REVIEW: I love Carol Lyne’s books and even better, books about cowboys are a definite read for me, typically. This short read was not what I expected though. I thought this would be cowboy meets cowboy and the sparks would fly, but due to the stigma of being a “cowboy”, they found it difficult to be out and proud. No! These main characters have been friends since day one in kindergarten, inseparable besties. Eli comes from a loving and supportive family, and Jesse has an abusive father and a mother who would never go against her husband even to save her only son. That friendship turned into love during their teen years. So they make big plans to join the rodeo circuit right after they graduate. Well, as we all learn life sometimes has it’s own plans. Eli, due to a family tragedy, has to stay at the family ranch and help his mother and younger sisters, while Jesse leaves to pursue his rodeo dreams and to escape the shame of his past.
The character development was okay but I never fell in love with either main character. I usually love the damaged guy in a story, but Jesse just made me mad and want to punch him. As I read the story I was either feeling sorry for Eli, as he sacrificed his non existent personal life for his family, or annoyed with his never ending patience with Jesse. I wanted to shake some sense into him to make him see how his so called best friend/ the love of his life was taking him for granted and stringing him along.To me Jesse was selfish, he wanted to have his cake and eat it too. The good news is that Carol never fails to give you a HEA for her characters.
BLURB: Sparks ignite and tempers flare when a sexy, optimistic wedding planner, moves his business in across the hall from a jilted, divorce lawyer’s practice.
“Look smart ass. This is the last time I’m going to remind you about breaking sections of the lease. If there’s a next time, I won’t stop until you and your frilly, white wedding shit is thrown out of here. Do you got it?!”
Wylde looked in Jacob’s pained eyes and answered in his deep voice. “Yeah, counselor. I got it.”
From high school, up until he became a successful attorney Jacob Snowden was convinced that love had it out for him. “Everyone left,” were the words he lived by. His mother, his high school sweetheart, his father, and his fiancé, all left Jacob just when he felt it was safe to let down his guard. Not any longer. Jacob was a determined man, set at keeping people at a distance. If his six foot one, military-made body didn’t scare people off, his permanent scowl surely did. At almost forty, Jacob’s social life was non-existent, but he told himself his work fulfilled him. He helped people get out of their loveless marriages. Jacob Snowden was one of the best divorce lawyers on the east coast and was damn proud of it. So, imagine his disdain when a wedding planner moves into the suite directly adjacent to his… an insanely masculine, male wedding planner.
Wylde Sterling had made quite a name for himself in his hometown of Roanoke, Virginia, working for a wedding planner that catered to the elite. He was known for his charm and impeccable taste. Yep, he was incredible at giving couples the wedding of their dreams. But he wanted nothing more than to plan his own. After striking out in love more times than he cared to admit, Wylde decided to start his own business in a new city, hoping Richmond would give him a fresh start. Things started out wonderfully – until he started to piss off the angry divorce attorney next door.
Wylde could see past Jacob’s mean scowl, knowing there was a reason for it. It was the man’s defense mechanism, his means of keeping people away. Everything in Wylde told him to stay away, but he believed Jacob just needed to meet a man who had been hurt as badly as he had.
Standalone gay romance that ends in an HEA and no cliffhanger.
REVIEW: I loved everything about this book and these characters. As usual, this author manages to tell an amazing story that captures and captivates you cover to cover, from the first word written to the last.
Jacob’s character was interesting. I was fascinated to read how good his childhood and family life was up until the point where his mother abandoned the family. There is this drastic shift for the worse in his life for both him and his father. Theirs was a story that made me the saddest.
The events of his childhood shaped every decision he’s made in his adult life. It’s made him harden his shell but underneath that shell was a man who had been deeply hurt and betrayed in life. All anyone ever saw was the shell he presented; many not interested in or afraid to see past his angry shell.
Wylde’s character was quite interesting: here you have this beautifully masculine man in a career where many would expect the stereotypical flamboyant gay man to have. In this book, as in all of her others, she flips the script and made it completely the opposite. That’s what I like about this author. She has this wonderful talent for writing her gay male characters as just regular guys which is exactly what they are; her characters are relatable. I know that when I pick up her work it will be sans the troubling stereotypes that seems to be the trend in many of the books in this genre. And as always, her characters are mature men, men in their mid to late 30s and older so the reader can further relate to the characters.
This book, like her others, was extremely written. This is an author that has really mastered her craft; her work is of the highest quality.
The only holes that I found in the book was the fact that Jacob was referred at one point in the book as a soldier instead of sailor. Another small issue was the timeline. I don’t know about the timeline but I am going to assume that it was a bit before the repeal of DADT so it wasn’t really made clear how Jacob was able to propose or how he was going to pull off and get away with marrying another man. Another issue I had is the circumstances behind the mother’s abandonment of her family. The only thing that made the reasoning not feel real was the length of time. The time threw it all off for me. That situation should’ve been, I felt, resolved within five years or less. Realistically it probably would’ve been because here it is almost two decades later that she still in the picture which begs the question as to why she left in the first place if it took almost two decades to resolve itself. Either that or there could’ve been another reason as to why she left. The reason for her leaving and the time it took for the situation to progress to the stage that it did didn’t make sense. It just would’ve been more believable had things progressed much faster for her than it did and he found out on the back end.
Although noticeable, the above stated did in no way deflect from the overall enjoyment I experienced reading this story.
This heartbreak written within this book will have you on the edge of tears and just when you think you’re going to cry your eyes over how much hurt Jacob is experiencing, a scene is written in that will have you laughing yourself into stitches.
I absolutely adore this book and I highly recommend it.
BLURB: None of the matches caught his eye as much as the matchmaker himself.
Growing up poorer than poor didn’t leave Navashen Bhattathiri many options for life outside of school. All of his concentration was on keeping his scholarships. Sixteen years later, he’s fulfilled his dream and become a doctor. Now he’s returning home to Lexington and is ready to prove himself to the world. In doing so, he reconnects with Brent Carpenter—high school classmate, real estate agent, all-around great guy… and closet matchmaker.
Brent makes it his mission to help Navashen develop a social life and meet available, interesting men. Unfortunately Navashen’s schedule is unpredictable, and few of those available, interesting men value his dedication like Brent does. Brent’s unfailing friendship and support convince Navashen he’s the one, but can he capture Brent’s heart when the matchmaker is focused on finding Navashen another man?
REVIEW: This story is a very sweet friends to lovers story set in Lexington, Ky. This is the second of the Lexington Lovers books and nineteenth within the Dreamspun Desires series. This story gives us Navashen a neonatologist and Brent a real estate agent.
Nav grew up poor and decided to return home after fulfilling his dreams of becoming a doctor. Determined to settle down he looks up Brent, a childhood acquaintance of his. The two reconnect while Brent helped him find his home.
The two become reacquainted with each other and become close but as friends only. Brent opts to play matchmaker to help Nav meet new people. Neither man realized that the very thing that was being sought was already in their faces.
I absolutely loved the relationship that Nav had with his brother. Akshat was my favorite character and the love and support he received from Nav, Brent and his neighbors was heartwarming. I truly enjoy these characters; they were very well written.
With that said, the story did have a bit of a drawback. The storyline, although lovely, was quite bland in the way of passion. There was absolutely no sexual chemistry between Brent and Nav’s characters and I think that’s what made the relationship between the two men less believable. This made the one and only sex scene at the end seemed forced; like it had to be written in because it was expected instead of it being a natural progression of the relationship. I think that it should have been left out completely; I was okay with the book not having sex as I think that a sexual relationship between the two would’ve taken away from the story.it’s this reason that I feel that the sex should’ve been left completely out of the story instead of written in.
In all, I truly enjoyed this book. There a sweet Hallmark-esque vibe that I loved and it worked well..
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press RELEASE DATE: September 2 , 2016
BLURB: Forty-eight-year-old Ben Thompson is a librarian, a passionate book lover, and a man who embodies the definition of a bear. He’s also lonely after the loss of his long-term partner. Young ex-gymnast Jason Barnes piques his interest, but Ben quickly realizes there’s more to Jason than his good looks. While Jason visits the library almost every day, he never checks out a book.
With gentle persistence, Ben befriends Jason and learns the nineteen-year-old’s tragic secrets. After years of abuse at his father’s hands, Jason was kicked out of his family home for being gay. And despite his apparent love of books, Jason never learned to read. Ben offers to teach him, and the two men bond over their lessons. Ben can’t deny his attraction to Jason, but he wonders if Jason is too young and too handsome to return his interest. With the help of the close-knit library team and Jason’s growing self-confidence, they move beyond the books and into the bedroom, where their own story is just beginning.
REVIEW: I didn’t think that this book would hold my interests hen it was first presented to me but I was pleasantly surprised. Very much so.
Here you have this young man, Jason, who at nineteen doesn’t know how to read. He’s a sweet young man, bright but had learning difficulties where left him illiterate. Let’s talk about him a bit more. This young man was in no way lazy or uninterested in learning, he was quite the opposite. He was passionate about books and his thirst for knowledge was obvious. There was just never anyone who actually took the time to take a vested interest in helping him learn until he meets Ben.
Ben. Sweet, gentle, intelligent, soft spoken Ben. He’s a librarian, a gentlemen of 48, whose just decided to live his life as it is. He has his books, his colleagues that he likes in a job that he loves. You get the sense that he wasn’t not looking to fall in love that he’s just sort of put that part of himself away after the passing of his husband/long term partner.
I think initially, when he notices Jason, he’s intrigued and notices how attractive he is in passing; it wasn’t overwhelming. But once he discovers the young man’s secret, he wants to help him.
I really like this book. When many think of a May/ December or older man/younger man romance, there’s a tendency to tell the story with certain slant. I was really glad to see that it wasn’t the case with this book. Ben genuinely cares about Jason, he has a vested interest in helping this young man live up to his full potential. It’s actually sad that people in the education system failed this young man.
The romance aspect wasn’t as believable as I would’ve expectedly to be. I just couldn’t see these two as a couple not because of the age difference but because of the tone of the relationship. Oh, don’t get me wrong, Ben does in no way take advantage of Jason, I just felt that the relationship was driven by feelings other than love and attraction. I think for Jason it was more of an attraction to his mentor and for Ben it was driven by loneliness and a bit of lust. But it was in no way disgusting.
This aside, I think the book was well very written. There wasn’t any heat between the two characters in my opinion but then again, that’s quite alright because I think these two men made better friends than lovers. The chemistry between the two was a slow burn that never truly turns into a raging fire and that is okay.
All things considered, I think the story worked out rather nicely.
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing RELEASE DATE: October 18, 2016
BLURB: This time, it’s a real bunny shifter and you know the saying about doing something like bunnies…
Oliver Biggerstaffer comes to Texas from Boston, looking for a job and a new life. He’s hoping the advertising firm he interviews for will hire him, and he can put his past where it belongs—behind him. No one will know who or what he is—a snake shifter.
Except he’s interviewed by Jagger Osterman, a bear shifter, and he meets a cute bunny shifter at the hotel where he’s staying. Oliver can’t hide his shifter status from them. And he doesn’t want to, once he meets them—especially the bunny, Peter Ruiz. It’s lust at first sight, but Oliver wants to take things slow as long as he’s staying at the hotel Peter’s working at.
Peter wants to get laid, and he wants to get laid now. The sexy snake shifter he’s attracted to has morals and ethics and things most of the guys Peter’s screwed around with before lack.
Oliver treats Peter like a person, not a body to have sex with, and if they can survive a series of weird accidents that might not be accidents after all, then Oliver and Peter just might have a happy ending all their own.
Reader Advisory:This book contains scenes of violence and kidnapping. REVIEW: This is the 2nd book in the City Shifter series and picks up nicely where the first book left off. This is a different couple and the author did a lovely job of tying them into the previous book while keeping Peter and Oliver’s story completely separate. She did such a good job that this can be read as a stand alone even though it’s part of a series.
Peter is a rabbit/hare shifter ( I really don’t know the difference between a hate and a rabbit so I’ll just use both) working at a hotel that Oliver, a copperhead snake shifter is a guest in. The attraction between the two is instantaneous and strong.
I liked these characters quite a bit. Oliver’s a bit uptight but it’s to be expected but not overly so and Peter complements him. Peter’s personality is a bit freer in terms of his sexuality and spirit but he’s hardworking, ambitious and intelligent and Oliver sees that in him. Both of these gentlemen reached a point in their lives where they were looking for something more than sex. So instead of the mating heat that’s such a common theme in shifter stories ruling their heads, Oliver decided to court Peter. It was all so very human like.
There was drama in the story but the author doesn’t drag it out which is nice. These books Aretha perfect length; short but not overly so with everything wrapping up rather nicely at the end of each.
SUMMARY: It started simple: Ondrej Kovac marries Archie Katsaros so Ondrej can stay in the US, away from his judgmental family in eastern Europe. Archie marries Ondrej in exchange for the money to bail out his failing company. It’s a fraud neither man is convinced he can pull off.
But as Archie introduces Ondrej to New York society and Ondrej proves his skill in the office, they start to discover a connection between them. Can they overcome the rocky foundation their relationship was built on, meddling immigration agents, gossip columnists determined to out their deception, and an aggressive executive set on selling Archie’s company out from under him? Only if they can prove to each other their love is worth fighting for.
REVIEW: I wanted to like this story. I truly did. I know it’s a plot that’s been done to death but I was thinking that it would have that certain something if it had a LGBT twist to it.
That was not the case with this story. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t as good as it could’ve been either. You have a broke tycoon and a rich foreigner who’s about to be deported. Each man has something the other one desperately needs. So, people in Archie’s camp that they get married.
Okay, sounds okay but the execution of the story was very…bland. I think that if you’re going to do a storyline that’s been done as much as this one has, it has to be something fresh, hot and new thrown in to make it pop.
The book wasn’t poorly written. I liked the characters, the dialogue was okay, but the plot and storyline has been done to death and there wasn’t anything in the book to make it really sparkle. It just didn’t WOW me and that’s sad because I really, really wanted to like this book.
Now, I will admit that the ending was kind of okay but I had to wait until then end to get a part that was simply ‘okay’. I think that with a trope this common, there could’ve been just a tad more spice added. It’s not a bad read; it just could’ve been better.
SUMMARY: Randall Morgan, youngest son of one of Seattle’s wealthiest families, rejected his family’s money to live free of their control and pursue his career as a photographer. To make ends meet, Randall does erotic photography and massage—a secret he keeps from his family so he can remain a part of his young niece’s life. But the price of that relationship is high, and Randall is once more slipping under his family’s thumb.
Noah Carroll is the spokesperson for the Seattle Humane Society, and the city holds a special place in his heart. When fate intervenes during a pet adoption, Noah finds himself face-to-face with his first love—Randall.
While Noah and Randall are not the teenagers they once were, the flame of a first kiss long ago draws them together. Their romance is beginning to grow, but someone is out to destroy Randall and expose all he keeps hidden.
When secrets and rumors thrust Randall into the public eye, his relationship with Noah isn’t the only thing that comes under threat.
REVIEW: I got this book not really expecting to like it. Not because the author isn’t good at telling a story but because it’s a storyline that’s been done numerous times before. I’ve read quite a few of them and I actually opened this book expecting more of the same old prince pretending to be pauper type of story.
Needless to say that I was presently surprised by what I actually got! Brandon Witt did an excellent job of telling a story that’s been told countless times and making it fresh and and interesting. I was expecting Randall to be the prince in the castle who was slumming, but what I got was a guy who genuinely wanted to make it on his own; to have an identity completely separated and independent from that pretentious clan of his. His character was quite likable.
Noah is my kind of people. He’s an animal lover, kind and just an all around nice guy. He and Randall were old flames years ago and an chance meeting put then in each other’s path. It’s then they realize that the old flames were still burning with them both and they went from there, rekindling their relationship.
Of course, it’s not going to be a smooth ride to their HEA ending. Their journey to happiness is becomes a bumpy road when some own threatens to expose the secret and unravel the life Randall has worked so hard to retain and maintain. Not only that, it threatens to destroy the growing romance with Noah. It is then you truly see the strength of the bond these men share. The problems that arise that would tear a less than strong couple apart brings these two closer together.
I can say enough good things about this book. The characters, storyline, dialogue, and technical aspects of the book were wonderful. Needless to say that it exceeded my expectations.
BLURB: Is there a fated path we follow, or is it simply a series of coincidental events?
Police officer Kellan Howard is rumoured to have spent too much time in sub-zero temperatures, leaving him with a block of ice for a heart and women lining up to help thaw it. Mountain climbing is his only love, leaving no time for a relationship, and although meaningless sex satisfies his physical need, it’s empty. When he attends a fatal traffic accident, he didn’t expect his entire life to change. Along with a final message, Kellan is offered something else from the dying man: the chance to fall in love. Kellan’s never considered being with a man, but when he meets Valentino, he’s instantly drawn to him.
Suffering from crippling agoraphobia, talented Italian artist Valentino has a solitary existence, only experiencing life outside the house through his partner Stuart. When their relationship comes to an abrupt end, Kellan helps ease his suffering. A deep bond binds the two men together, and the sexual tension can’t be denied, but Valentino questions if the distance between their very different lives is too much, and if they can bridge the gap by themselves.
Ballet dancer Blue has a vibrant personality which demands attention, but his humour and courageous attitude are a shield. Blue’s good at making others believe in themselves, but what he needs is someone to believe in him. He could be the bridge both men are looking for, but Blue’s never allowed anyone to get too close, and when Kellan and Valentino enter his life, he desperately tries to protect his heart and his secrets.
When all three meet, the chemistry is undeniable, but each have fears about moving forwards. Together, they learn love comes in many forms. It can’t be restrained or labelled, and it doesn’t always appear in the way you first imagined.
EXCERPT
“Blue!” both Things screeched at the same time and Blue cringed. “You’re a bunny?”
“Yeah.” Blue sighed. He’d explained this to his sisters, like, four times over the past two days what he’d be wearing for their charity event. If he wasn’t related to them and knew both his mum and dad, then he’d so guess inbreeding was the cause of the Things. “You look awesome!”
Both twins smiled that same bright smile and turned around simultaneously. They always dressed the same, ever since they were born, well, ever since they were conceived really, so it was no surprise both Things insisted on wearing Alice’s blue dress. They looked adorable though. With their flaxen hair tied back with a black ribbon and their pale skin seemingly airbrushed over, Blue was sure they’d get tons of donations.
No one could turn down the mentally handicapped, could they?
Okay, they’d never been diagnosed with anything, but Blue was confident it would happen one day soon.
Porsche and Mercedes gave him a kiss on each cheek, then just stood there… waiting, looking right at him. Expressionless. Serene in their obliviousness.
“What?” Blue looked through narrowed eyes at them.
“So—” Porsche…
“What do we—” Mercedes…
“Do?” Both!
They were living proof aliens existed! Seriously, one day some secret government agents would turn up, Area fifty-one-ing the place and taking the twins away for special tests.
Blue turned his nose up. “You’ve worked here, like, almost every day for the past year. What do you mean, what do we do? Work! Do the things you do every day.”
Both Things cocked their heads to the left, and Blue shuddered internally seeing their Children of the Corn vacant look. One of us…
“Okay… so…” Blue stepped back and looked around at all the complicated coffee machines. “You know, do stuff. Coffee shop stuff!” Oh, yes, he was awesome at this managing thingy. “Make coffee!” Yes! He totally knew what he was doing. His one-month experience at Costa was coming back to him.
Unfortunately, he’d been fired from that job… Something about blowing up one of the machines or something — Blue wasn’t really listening because he was covered in sugary foam, and that shit was hard to get out of your hair. Luckily, most of the customers and all of the staff were covered in it too, so Blue didn’t stand out as being odd.
It could have been anyone’s fault. Just because he was the one standing next to the machine and pushing all the buttons didn’t mean it was him who caused it to explode.
It totally was his fault, but still…
That machine was like some sort of bomb just waiting to go off. BOOM! No warning or nothing. Well, there’d been some sort of flashing lights and buzzing, but Blue had ignored them and continued playing around with the knobs and switches.
He failed to mention that part to Shayne though.
For no reason at all.
None!
Considering his duties as supervisor done, he decided to set up three big bright yellow buckets and signs for people to leave donations in, then had some cheese on toast and a coffee. It was actually alright, so the twins had learned something in their year there. There was a constant stream of customers and Blue had to leave his coffee to help serve. Before he knew it, the morning rush was over and he set the twins up in the kitchen so they could start preparing the sandwich fillings for the next wave of hungry vultures.
As he quite obviously didn’t know what he was doing with the coffee machine, when it needed refilling, he called Thing One to come sort it out, and he took her place with Thing Two.
It was while Blue was stuffing his face with a chicken tikka toasted pita that he snuck a peek at Porsche to check she was okay. Left alone to her own devices she could do anything, or more likely, nothing!
He leaned against the door, peeking through the gap in the frame, watching her secretly. He found her standing still, vacantly lost in her own little world while she waited for another customer to come in. He was about to throw a slice of cucumber at her face to see if she was still with them, when the ringing of the doorbell chimed and she came back to reality, smiling pleasantly at whoever walked through the door.
Blue stuffed another huge helping of pita in his mouth, then choked on it seeing who had just come into the shop, coughing up chunks of un-chewed chicken tikka, and making Mercedes run to him, slapping his back really hard! Like too hard.
Crazy bitch was trying to kill him!
She must have some sort of hidden strength because she practically knocked Blue through the open fire door and into the yard outside with one hit. He was choking more because of her help. They ended up in the yard, taking part in some sort of teenage girl slapping fight while he struggled to get her off him, and she tried to save him. Blue was acting like some deranged wild blue bunny fighting for his life, and her like some crazed Alice who’d taken too much coke and was off her face, attacking random innocent bunnies.
He could see the headlines of tomorrow’s papers: Alice in Wonderland Charity Event Tragedy. Two dead and more injured. How did it happen!
“For the love of God, stop it. You’re making it worse.” Blue leaned against the wall, rubbing his back and breathing hard. “What the hell is wrong with you? Do you take steroids, have you been working out, what about some sort of alien powers which have appeared as you got older? I knew you were the evil twin. I just knew. Right from birth.”
Mercedes, AKA, Thing Two, stroked his back, cooing at him like some dove. “Feel better now?”
“Feel better? You crazy cow! You just nearly gave me a serious spinal injury. I’m lucky I can still walk. I may need corrective surgery later in life and it will all be your fault, Xena Warrior Princess.” She sagged her shoulders, toying with her hair and looking sheepish. Blue hugged her tightly and gave her a kiss. “Oh, get back inside and finish those fillings before our Shayne gets back. I need to snoop on Porsche.”
His only saving grace was that no one had seen him. So after grabbing a cloth to wipe his face down, he took up his secret position again, spying on his sister and the customer.
REVIEW: This is the third book in this wonderful series and gives us Blue’s story. I absolutely adored Blue’s personality. He and Kellan’s interactions with each other in the beginning had me in tears from laughing so hard.
The beginning of the book was sad; it started off with a heartbreaking tragedy. That tragedy however, is what brings these men together. The connection that these men make was fate and Ms. Colville as usual, tells this story in the most beautiful way.
Kellan is a man whose life is flowing along familiar lines. On the outside, he appears content with his life, but lately, he’s feeling unsettled and unsatisfied with the predicable paths his life is taking. An accident changes his outlook and an odd request from the man involved changes everything for him.
Blue’s character had so many layers to him. His personality takes on these interesting juxtapositions that I found fascinating. He’s flighty, yet grounded, confident and tough, yet self-conscious. He’s intelligent and funny and has a wicked tongue. He’s surrounded by friends and family who loves him yet he’s lonely.
Valentino is an artist who hasn’t been out in the world for quite some time, relying on a friend and his lover to bring the world to him. He’s content with this until his world is shattered.
Three men all on different paths in their lives. We as humans are all connected; it only takes Fate to bring us together.
This author masterfully takes her characters through every emotion: fear, longing, sorrow, grief and happiness. And she takes the reader along for the ride.
This author is absolutely brilliant. I love to read and I can honestly say that there are few masters in this genre and Nicole Colville is definitely one of them.
Take a bow, Ms. Colville. You have as usual, given the readers another masterpiece.
RATING: ??Amazing??
Author Information
NicoleColville
Welcome to the home of bittersweet M/M romances which will leave you craving more
Nicole Colville was born and currently lives in Leeds, England. She is a wife to her very understanding hubby and mother of two young girls who somehow manages to fit in being a full-time author of m/m romance and erotica into her busy home life.
She loves writing complex characters in bittersweet romances which will leave you addicted and craving more from her men
Although best known for her popular series, Hidden and Knights to Remember, she also enjoys writing with friend, and fellow author, E.M Leya. Together they have published two books in their Sinful Temptation Collection with more planned.
Her new ménage collection based in the popular city of Manchester, England is her first solo full length novel outside of The Hidden Series and has three books planned for release in 2015 & 2016.
SUMMARY: Game designer Henry Delloit loves his life, his mountain community, his isolated dream home, and the snow. He also loves that the X-treme Games blow into the area for a month every year, bringing with them hundreds of athletes.
Ecco Rasmussen loves boarding. He knows he’ll never make it to the big time, but as long as he can get on his board and go, he doesn’t care. If only his manager, Blake Dobbs, would cut Ecco a break. The man’s possessive and mean, and believes he owns Ecco.
When Henry and Ecco meet at the Branchberry Games, it’s lust at first sight. An injury on Ecco’s qualifying run offers an opportunity to spend quality time together at Henry’s home, away from the crowds and out from under Blake’s thumb.
At this rate, lust might turn into love, but not if they can’t keep their romance hidden from Blake.
First Edition published by Torquere Press, 2010.
Second Edition published by Dreamspinner Press, EDR: April 27, 2016
REVIEW: I’ve always enjoyed this author’s books, whether it be his series (Hammer is my favorite) or his stand alone books. Its this that keeps me drawn to his work. This book however, didn’t do it for me unfortunately. It wasn’t a bad stories in the sense that it was poorly written. It’s really well written: the characters are interesting and well thought out. The glitches for me was the dialogue and the execution of the storyline.
Let me give a brief summary: Ecco is a snowboarder with a manager with some major boundary issues that’s creepy and possessive, sliding towards abusive.
Henry is a well loved resident of the area who looks forward to the games that come through town one month a year. These two meet and it’s attraction at first sight. These two men get together and embark on a sexual relationship that soon turns into somethings more. But they’re not going to have their happily ever after. They have to keep the relationship a secret from Ecco’s bizarrely possible manager.
I absolutely love how the story focuses on these two men and their budding relationship. The book was saturated with sex which is par for the course with this author’s work.
The only thing that absolutely did not work for me was the dialogue. It was just too juvenile for my tastes. I just couldn’t with the constant dude, rock on, for real, dudes, and oh mans. The dialogue was more suited to teenaged skater boys than a grown man.
