Dear Author,
He stood, head bowed, body tense, waiting. No matter what happened next, his life would never be the same…
Photo Description:
A naked man stands with his back to the viewer, a plain white floor beneath his feet. Ahead of him, a pair of large black doors are ajar, revealing a glimpse of bright light. The man’s shoulders are slightly hunched and his head is bowed; he appears hesitant to face whatever fate awaits him through the doors.
This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group’s “Love is an Open Road” event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.
This story may contain sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.
Review
This is another short story from the GoodReads Love is an Open Road event.
Entian is condemned for killing his father – which he didn’t do – but feels the judge was right when she decreed him “unredeemable” because he’s been selfish, lazy and not a good contributor to his family’s wealth.
Rig is a … okay – well he’s the guy who saves Entian and it’s part of the story so I won’t tell you much about him – only that he’s a healer and amazing!
This is an earth-like place? I’m not sure how you qualify this – but it feels earth like but not the earth we know.
Entian and Rig must navigate through both their insecurities and Entian’s desire for revenge before finding their very, very HEA.
It’s a dark story – similar in flavor and feel to Brute, also by Kim Fielding, but so rewarding! Neither character is perfect, in fact you might classify Entian as an anti-hero for most of the book – but his redemption is complete and perfect by the end.
According to legend, when humankind is at its most desperate, the goddess Sirius will send three of the most powerful werewolf shifters ever created to save mankind. However, because they are so powerful, they will need a fourth to complete them, to calm them and help them reach their full potential.
Aden, a young were, has been his pack’s omega ever since, at the age of fifteen, he didn’t shift like everyone else. Caught, reviled, and tortured because of his empathic abilities, he knew on the night he was told to run as sport for the pack hunters that it would end in his death. What he didn’t know, however, was that on the same night he’d also meet the love of his life and a pathway to answers, because Aden is far more than just a pack omega.
What begins as a hunt soon becomes a new adventure as Aden discovers that he has not only one, but three destined mates, and his role as lover is far more than trivial. The fate of all humankind rests upon it.
Review
Aden is being chased by his evil Alpha when he is discovered by three wolves, Blaze, Darric and Conner. They explain (by killing him) that Aden deserves better treatment and invite Aden into their group, Orion’s Circle.
There is a legend that Sirius created werewolves to save mankind from itself and Blaze, Darric and Conner are the three werewolves set to this task. They can’t complete their task without a fourth, their Psi – Aden.
At first Aden can’t believe three gorgeous men want him for a mate and that he isn’t somehow defective like he was taught (and tortured) to believe. Then there are hurdles left in place by his old pack and the fact that they want him back. Finally, there is the fate of mankind and a war to be had to save it.
**
Oh man! Usually when I see a book with more than one partner I suspect that sex is the main focus. This is a m/m/m/m – all four men equal partners in the relationship, all mates to the other. Though Blaze is the Alpha, each man has his own important and unique skill to offer the group as well as their circle.
Aden’s journey is so heart-breaking! He was tortured for so long and his self-esteem is so low that the change is somewhat “Cinderella-like” in that he finally learns of his immense worth and is treated like a king.
There are plenty of tense moments – Aden is rescued only to be captured again and rescued again. He’s mutilated and it becomes questionable whether or not he can serve his function in the circle. Then he becomes mysteriously ill and everyone rushes to find out what can make a virtually immortal werewolf sick… you can pretty easily guess what it is but it’s exciting nonetheless.
This story grabs you right from page one and doesn’t let off til the climactic ending (which is really only the beginning) and leaves you impatient for the next in the series to come out.
I hadn’t read this author but am a huge fan after this book. I cannot wait til the next installment – I wonder what will happen when the circle is complete and the “illness” comes to fruition…. Exciting!
I highly recommend this to fans of shifters and the paranormal. The romance is sweet and the fantasy exciting.
Nicholas Cartwright has done everything in his power to forget that night six months ago in Senaka, when his true mate rejected him, leaving him shattered and disillusioned. Burying himself in his work, he pushes himself to the point of exhaustion while finding the touch of another unbearable. Suddenly his mate needs his help, and he may be asking for more than Nicholas can find it in himself to give.
Thayne Whitedove has always been a wanderer, spending his days on the road and his nights wrapped in the arms of whatever random hookup he meets, until a fateful mistake sends him rushing for the comforts of home. To his utter dismay, the only way to correct his error in judgment is to accept the one thing he’s never wanted… his mate. Thayne must decide whether to keep running or to stay and fight for Nick’s forgiveness.
Review (from previous site)
This is the sequel to Chasing Seth and it pretty much takes up right where that left off. Namely, Seth is settling in with his mate and Nick has just met Thayne (his mate) and been rejected by him.
Thayne carries lots of guilt and secrets, mostly about Created Ones and Mates. He absolutely doesn’t want a Mate, doesn’t think he deserves happiness, but isn’t in a position to stop the events that force him and Nick together.
Nick carries a bit of guilt himself over his involvement in making Taggart, a Created One, but is mostly excited about having a Mate and dumbfounded and hurt by Thayne’s continual refusal to complete the mating bond.
Danger chases Thayne and arrives at Senaka’s doorstep, forcing Thayne to reveal secrets and forcing him to complete the mating bond in order to save himself and others.
Nick, despite EVERY reason to turn his back on Thayne, agrees to help for the sake of the pack and his mate to complete the bond.
Once mated, the pair move back to California to join Nick’s pack, but Thayne continues to act like an a**hole and the two are as miserable in California as they were in Wyoming.
The danger is still present and in fact has followed them to California, forcing Thayne and Nick into close quarters which does much to bring them into a more real mating, but it takes violence and near death to make them realize how important they are to one another.
**
This is somewhat hard to rate and review because on the one hand I really liked the story. I thought the hurdles were somewhat realistic, the danger well plotted and the shifter world interesting and mulit-faceted.
On the other hand I thought the main hurdle: Thayne not wanting a Mate was way over-played. It didn’t make sense for him to continue to hang on this argument when over and over and over he was shown how a Mate is a good thing and not something to weaken you or cause you to be “enslaved”.
Nick acts like a door-mat the entire time, and this drove me bonkers. He should have booted Thayne out the door right from day one. I get that it goes against his mating instincts and his desire to help the pack, but Thayne does not make it easy to help him. Even when Nick gives up practically EVERYTHING to Thayne in order to help him, Thayne continues to act like a total prick-douche-bag and I, for one, wanted to punch him in the nuts!
The ending was very satisfying if a little rushed, and though I was happy to see the HEA for these boys I didn’t fully buy it. Sure, they have the Mating chemistry to pave the way and that covers a lot of romantic ground, but even with all those pheromones Thayne managed to be a big ole jerk to Nick, so I didn’t quite buy his immediate 180 from enemy to love.
Overall, if you enjoyed Chasing Seth you will definitely want to read this – Seth and Kasey play a big role in this book and this is more or less an extension of their story, too. If you like shifter romances this will satisfy but be patient. It’s a long book filled with a lot of (in my opinion) prolonged angst that doesn’t move the story forward but only serves to make Thayne look bad.
I liked it and give it a 3.5 of 5 hearts.
Audio
Derrick McClain did a really nice job with the narration. He tries to differentiate the voices and I really liked his version of Thayne’s voice. Overall he added to the enjoyment of this book and I’d recommend listening!
Fifteen years ago, Ben Warren was a wakeboarding champion: king of big air, ballsy tricks, and boned grabs. Until a career-ending injury left him broken in ways he still has no hope of fixing. Now he takes his thrills where he can get them, and tries not to let life hurt too much.
Then Davis Fox arrives in Ben’s sporting goods store with a plan to get in touch with his estranged brother by competing in the annual wakeboarding double-up contest. The catch? He’s never ridden before. It’s crazy, but Ben’s a sucker for the guy’s sob story—and for his dimples, too—so he agrees to coach Davis.
Davis is everything Ben isn’t: successful, confident, and in love with life. And he wants Ben to love life—and him—too. But before Ben can embrace a future with Davis, he needs to remember how to hope.
Review
(Posted on Previous Site)
Ben injured himself during a wakeboarding exhibition. He had a tremendously difficult recovery, making him reluctant to have the surgery needed to make him physically whole again. He makes do in life working for his best friend and sometimes f*ck-buddy at a boat shop where he meets Davey.
Davey is a poor-little-rich-boy who is trying to re-connect with his homophobic family through wakeboarding. Yes, that seems weird, but it works. The little brother is heavily involved in wakeboarding and by becoming involved in the sport himself, Davey can get a back-door way in to his brother’s without upsetting the really hateful step-dad.
At first glance, this looks like a light-hearted book about a slightly older guy from the wrong side of the tracks meeting and sexing a misunderstood younger guy with lots of money while participating in a unique and sexy extreme sport. And it is. But it’s also more.
There are deeper layers to this book with some surprising emotion and topical issues. The subtle way the feelings and issues are handled is really nice. There’s definitely angst but this isn’t an angsty book. Instead, it’s mostly a fun, frolicking book that is fleshed out with some angst to add weight and dimension.
Eddie is a great character full of flamboyance but with a spine of steel. He tells Davey there is a difference between being a jock and an athlete and Eddie is an athlete. Tina is another great character who divorces her wife after having a sex change (she was Timothy pre-surgery) who flirts with the bi-sexual pageant queen at the wakeboard exhibition. Ridley, Davey’s brother, is 13 going on 30 and I really liked how he helped to pull the family together.
Some books are like cotton candy: fluffy, fun, forgettable. Some are like oatmeal: heavy, thick and really stick to your ribs (and in your brain). This is like a nice heavy bread: weighty enough to give you pause and make you think a little bit, but light enough not to drown you in a sea of sodden Kleenex.
I really, really liked this book and recommend it. I will definitely be looking forward to reading more works by this author.
Blurb
Book One
James O’Brien is having a horrible day. He’s dropped his car off at a repair place in a bad part of town. While he’s there minding his own business he ends up in a bar room brawl with a mouthy homophobic thug.
Officer Scott Brown is the sexy, kind cop who arrives on the scene. He can tell immediately that while James is a geek, but he isn’t a criminal, and is most likely just a nice guy caught up in a bad situation. The two of them have an immediate attraction and when Officer Brown gives James a ride home…things heat up.
Blurb
Book Two
Geeky James O’Brien was involved in a barroom brawl a month ago where he met Officer Scott Brown. The two clicked immediately, but sometimes geeky James worries he isn’t exactly what someone like Scott would need.
When Scott talks James into going camping, James is a little worried. He’s much more of a virtual camping kind of guy. But since it means a lot to Scott, James agrees. Once out in the wilderness Scott breaks his leg and loses their only working phone. Now it’s up to James to prove there’s more to him than meets the eye.
Review
James is picked up and helped out by a police officer, Scott. James hates cops since his father was an abusive ass-hole and a cop. Scott is a single parent and very protective of people he allows in his life.
Scott is smitten with James right away and when he’s convinced James is a good guy he pretty much does the full court press to win him over. James is reluctant to get involved with anyone, much less a cop, but he can’t resist the attraction between the two.
In book two, the they’ve been together – dating – for a couple months and you can tell things are going well, but they are still miles from anything “serious”. James is still clearly reluctant to trust things working out.
Scott convinces him to go camping and ends up hurt – when they make it back to civilization their relationship has finally changed and is now on far more solid ground.
**
What I love about these two books is James. He’s such a believable character. He really doubts Scott all the time and is quite prickly. To counter that, Scott is almost super-humanly perfect and charming – but it works.
The smexy times are hot and the tender moments more so because James is so sparing in his warm-and-fuzzy moments.
Excerpt: From “Tossing It” by Rob Rosen:
He took a spoonful of stew into his mouth, green eyes sparkling in the daylight. He was cute in a lanky, pale, freckled sort of way. He sighed contentedly as he set the spoon back down. “Just like mom used to make.”
“Back in the old country?”
He laughed. “Back in New Jersey. Though Newark is sort of old.”
We continued eating together, side by side. His leg brushed mine. It stayed brushed. I didn’t move mine away; he didn’t move his either. This was an odd turn of events. Was he gay? Not a clue. Still, most guys would’ve moved their legs away. Maybe he was simply oblivious. Straight guys sometimes had a habit of that. You just never knew. Then again, you could test the theory if you were so inclined. Me, I was always so inclined.
I pointed to a throng of kilted behemoths off to the side. “What’s with the skirted mountain men?”
He chuckled. “Caber tossers.”
“That some sort of Scottish slang for rednecks?”
He turned my way, eyes locking with mine. It was like staring into a field of emeralds. Guess I’d been too busy staring at his crotch before to notice. Shame on me. “Caber tossers. They toss logs. Poles. Big ones.” Well, he’d certainly know about big poles, I figured. “They’re up to twenty feet tall and almost two hundred pounds.”
“And they toss them? Why?”
“For sport.”
I ate a couple more bites of my fish. It was perfectly cooked, greasy and flaky. My stomach settled down. “Sport? Like tiddlywinks for giants?”
He nodded as he continued eating his stew. His eyes rarely left mine. I was all too glad to return the favor. I stared at his freckles, connecting the dots, constellations hidden in the patterns. “Something like that.”
“Welcome to a new season of Burned, where we find fresh new cooking talent… and a few culinary disasters! Every season we do something a little different, and this time it’s all about the sweet things in life. Get ready in week one as twenty pastry chef hopefuls and dessert connoisseurs compete for the thirteen coveted workspaces in our Burned kitchen. With stakes this big, we ask the one question on everyone’s mind: Do these chefs have what it takes to rise to the top? Or will they get Burned?”
Burned contestants Chase and Kai are attracted from the start and can’t wait to spend more time getting to know each other… until they see the first episode treatment and realize the producers intend to portray them as bitter enemies. At first it’s fun to pretend to bicker—enemies on film, lovers when the cameras stop rolling—but soon it’s hard not to take the faux rivalry seriously. It’s only when their choice is to band together and bake their way to the final or get burned that they find where their real loyalties lie.
Review
Both Chase and Kai are contestant on a cooking show. The producers decide that the two need to be “rivals” in order to spice up the show. They even have it decided whose to win…
The two men quickly become lovers, however, instead. There are a very few hurdles for the men to traverse, especially when they get together long term as Chase lives in Wisconsin and Kai in California, but those are managed easily enough.
**
A lot of this book happens “on air” while the cooking show takes place and to me it kept me distanced from these two MCs.
I never quite felt connected or invested in their relationship. The writing of both Anna Martin and MJ O’Shea is wonderful – as always – but I wasn’t really that enthralled with the romance.
The recipes are neat and the mocking look at reality cooking shows was funny if not a little cynical.
John-Paul Barrell does the narration and he does an okay job. Nothing too spectacular in terms of voice modulation, but easy to listen to for the most part. Sometimes he ends the dialog on an up note that got repetitive, but mostly this was an enjoyable listen.
For both the audiobook and the story itself 3 of 5 hearts for a nice, light, enjoyable read/listen.
Matt filled out all the paperwork and double-checked his e-mail, making sure that he was on top of everything. The truth was that he was thinking about everything but the guests they were expecting today.
They’d had couples’ stays overlap before, and once there had been three couples all wanting to learn rope bondage. That had been fun — day after day of demonstrations and checking the Doms’ work.
This was different, though.
Today they had two couples coming in who were friends and had decided they wanted to try playing together, perhaps becoming a foursome. Without ruining their friendship. That was the trick.
They were coming for over a week to work with him and Adam.
Matt wasn’t sure what to say to them. This didn’t seem like a BDSM situation, but a marriage counseling one. Adam had been sure they could help them, though, and he trusted his sub completely. That didn’t mean it was going to be easy.
About the author:
Often referred to as “Space Cowboy” and “Gangsta of Love” while still striving for the moniker of “Maurice,” Sean Michael spends his days surfing, smutting, organizing his immense gourd collection and fantasizing about one day retiring on a small secluded island peopled entirely by horseshoe crabs. While collecting vast amounts of vintage gay pulp novels and mood rings, Sean whiles away the hours between dropping the f-bomb and pursuing the kama sutra by channeling the long lost spirit of John Wayne and singing along with the soundtrack to “Chicago.”
A long-time writer of complicated haiku, currently Sean is attempting to learn the advanced arts of plate spinning and soap carving sex toys.
He always wanted a bear to keep him warm at night…
Lane knows want he wants in a lover, but hasn’t been able to find the perfect bear of a man in his small Colorado hometown. So he turns to the Grizzly List, a regional personal ad service for bears and their lovers. He’s not sure what to expect when he meets Fin, but what he gets might be his perfect man.
Bear shifter Fin has been looking for someone with whom to spend his days, nights, and winter hibernation. He’s a happy guy, but needs someone who wants a big, burly, slightly dominant mate. When he meets Lane, Fin knows he’s found what he needs, but will he be able to convince Lane that they’re made for one another, in human form and bear?
Review
Lane writes an ad requesting a bear, cuddly, firm, kind, likes sweets and Fin answers it. They meet and instantly find a strong connection. Fin knows he’s a bear and thinks Lane might be one as well but can’t be sure…
Together they explore one another and find more than they bargained for.
**
This is a very sweet, very hot novella about a man finding his mate (not in the “destined for” sense, but very close). What I loved about it was how much “bear” was in it. So often shifter romances use the animal part for a few things here and there, mostly to speed along the “mating” and maybe some growly “mines” or some super-human senses.
Fin is very bear like and does a number of things as a human that mimic his animal and when they do shift it’s adorable! Very fun, frolicky and cute.
There is some spanking in this story – mild – but if that’s not your thing, be warned.
I really enjoyed this and look forward to more in the series.
Taren Laxley has never known anything but life as a slave. When a lusty pirate kidnaps him and holds him prisoner on his ship, Taren embraces the chance to realize his dream of a seagoing life. Not only does the pirate captain offer him freedom in exchange for three years of labor and sexual servitude, but the pleasures Taren finds when he joins the captain and first mate in bed far surpass his greatest fantasies.
Then, during a storm, Taren dives overboard to save another sailor and is lost at sea. He’s rescued by Ian Dunaidh, the enigmatic and seemingly ageless captain of a rival ship, the Phantom, and Taren feels an overwhelming attraction to Ian that Ian appears to share. Soon Taren learns a secret that will change his life forever: Ian and his people are Ea, shape-shifting merfolk… and Taren is one of them too. Bound to each other by a fierce passion neither can explain or deny, Taren and Ian are soon embroiled in a war and forced to fight for a future—not only for themselves but for all their kind.
Review
We start this with Taren being sold to a pirate captain (Rider) by the man who essentially raised him in return for gambling debts.
Taren then falls into a triad relationship with Rider and his current “cabin boy”, Bastien. Rider offers Taren his freedom if he agrees to stay on board for three years. To say Taren is grateful is putting it mildly. The relationship is consensual if you disregard that Taren is Redier’s property and can’t really say no, but Taren does enjoy it and he eventually develops feelings for the other two.
There is a skirmish and Taren is tossed out to sea (after two years with the triad) where he is rescued by Ian, another sea captain, Ian, of a rival ship.
Ian is a merman and it turns out so is Taren. Ian develops feelings for Taren and the two begin a relationship. Taren has to embrace his origins or else he might die so Ian helps him to transform into his alternate form.
When Taren and Ian return to Ian’s homeland, Taren is accused of being a spy and thrown in jail. Ian has to decide if his affection and strange connection to Taren is more important than his trust in the rulers of his land. There is a bit of a twist thrown in as well and we are left with the two essentially in a HFN scenario that leads to book 2.
**
This is an amazingly rich and dense book. I’m assuming that all the wonderful world building will carry us through the next books in the series and we will see more of the relationship and the mysterious tie between the two of them develop more fully.
I had a hard time seeing Taren with others in an on-page relationship and this keeps me from giving this book 5 of 5 hearts. I can appreciate that it’s part of creating his back story and giving us the full impression of his life up until he meets Ian, but I can’t say that I liked it.
We don’t get to see much of Taren and Ian together and happy in this book so I look forward to seeing where the two will go from here.
Shira Anthony writes beautifully and has a gorgeous imagination and I’m looking forward to seeing where she takes us in book 2.
4 of 5 hearts
Audio
I really like Michael Stellman. He is a very easy narrator to listen to. He doesn’t go over the top in differentiating the voices of all the many characters in this complex story, but you can always tell who is talking. He does a nice job with the new names and definitely adds to the overall experience.
Blurb
