Category: Era

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Lilah Suzanne’s ‘Spice’ Tour with Guest Post, Excerpt, and Giveaway

Spice 4x6x COVER-Front-1Excerpt:

“How about you? Did you always want to be a writer?”

“Yeah. I think I did.” He finally gives up on work completely and closes the laptop. “I mean. I guess what I write about is kind of pointless, but I wanted to be a poet once upon a time, so I guess it could be even more pointless,” he jokes.

Benji’s eyebrows knot. “It’s not. Why would it be pointless?”

Simon gives a humorless laugh. “I mean, I write a sex column for women. Not exactly moving prose or hard-hitting journalism.”

Benji scoots over little on the desk, sitting with his legs so close to where Simon is sitting low in his chair that he can smell Benji’s crisp laundry detergent and citrusy soap. He suddenly has to fight the urge to move a fraction to the left, press his nose to the inside seam of Benji’s jeans and breathe him in.

“You listen to people. You remind them that they’re valuable and worthy of love and respect. How is that not important?” Simon is struck speechless, chest tight and breath caught. Then Benji claps him on the shoulder and hops off the desk. “Come on. Let’s go have lunch.”
Pages or Words: 228 Pages

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Buy:

Interlude Press Web Store: http://store.interludepress.com/collections/frontpage/products/spice-by-lilah-suzanne-printed-book
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Spice-Lilah-Suzanne/dp/1941530257/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423000037&sr=8-1&keywords=spice+lilah+suzanne

Ask the author:

 

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

More than anything I want the readers of Spice to come away from the story with a sense of happiness. In a genre that sways towards heavy drama and heartache, I wanted to offer something fun and funny, and a look at a relationship that’s about two people who genuinely like and take pleasure in one another.

The overall message would probably be that a relationship itself can be a compelling story. I wanted to take the standard story beats of a Rom Com, make it a little more modern and honest, and then take it beyond that: What happens after the happily ever after? I wanted to settle into this relationship and bring the reader inside. What does this committed relationship look like? How does it feel? What are the ups and downs and joys and sorrows within it? I want readers to fall in love with Simon and fall in love with Benji right along with him. And then I want them to fall in love with their relationship.

Stories about heartache and angst are important, and interesting, and certainly something I enjoy. But with Spice I really started from a place of wanting something that was fun and joyful, and I believe that not only is there room in the romance genre for this sort of story, but that it’s important and interesting and the type of narrative I wish I’d seen more of when I was figuring out what love looks like. If a reader comes away at the end of Spice with a smile on their face, then that’s more than enough of a message for me.

Author Bio:

Lilah Suzanne has been writing actively since the sixth grade, when a literary magazine published her essay about an uncle who lost his life to AIDS. A freelance writer, she also authored a children’s book and has a devoted following in the online fan community.

Where to find the author:
http://www.lilahsuzanne.com
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/lilahsuzanne
Twitter: @lilahsuzanne
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lilahsuzanne/

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Defined by Deceit-A.E. Via

Publisher: Self Publish


Life isn’t always fair, and that’s something that Llewellyn Gardner knows about first hand. His life was on the fast track until one night of extreme passion changed everything. Now eight years later, he’s still living with the aftershocks of that night. Everywhere he turns or runs, there’s another reminder. What the hell do you do when you try to drown your demons only to find out they can swim? 


Shane Smith, Jr. owner of Smith Construction, could see the emotional turmoil within his new employee — it’s why he hired him. There was something about the gorgeous, misunderstood man with the overly expressive eyes that came to their small town with a past no one was willing to overlook. Shane could see the good in Llewellyn, and those eyes of his were a clear window to his soul. Shane wasn’t going to let the man live a future of solitude because his past had been plagued with deceit. 

Llewellyn wasn’t sure what to think about Shane. After years of protecting himself from being tricked twice, he was now faced with worry again. What would happen to him if Shane didn’t believe his truth and walked away? Llewellyn wasn’t sure he’d be able to survive being left alone. Again.

  

WoW, wow, WOW. Where do I start? This is how you measure how good a book is. When you want step into the storyline and open a box of a whoop ass on some of the characters while wanting to hug and kiss other characters. The book was appropriately named was such a great read. Llewellyn was truly defined by deceit. He was a man betrayed in probably one of the worst way possible by someone he loved and who he thought loved him in return.  Almost a decade later, he was still defined by that lie, that lie that destroyed his life all those years ago. 

I absolutely love this book. The beginning was heartbreaking. You were saddened by the life Llewellyn lost, his dreams snatched away from him. It was this rough and heartbreaking beginning that made his HEA all the more sweeter. If there was anyone who deserved a happy ending, it was Llewellyn. Along the way, I felt that angels were watching over him by placing people in his path that saved and sustained him. His brother Leslie whose love and loyalty helped keep him sane in and out of prison. Ace, whose protection and friendship also kept him sane and safe in prison.  Then there’s Ms. Pat whose kindness and sweet spirit put him on the path to trusting in people again and Shane, whose love healed him. 

I can’t come up with enough words to tell you how much I enjoyed reading this book.  This is another great read from A.E. Via. Her characters, storyline, everything about this book was amazing.  And the ending? It gave me life!  

This is a definite recommended must read. 

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️AMAZING⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Technically Dating Audiobook by Jenna Wade narrated by John-Paul Barrel

Dreamspinner presents:
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6199

TechnicallyDatingAUDMEDBlurb

Meek and mild Bruce Collins decides to set aside his life in technical support for the evening and try a wild night on the town. Self-described nerd Bruce meets suave Westley Taylor at a club, but the night doesn’t go as planned. When they run into each other the next day, Bruce is determined to get the details right and finish what they started. Westley is impressed and invites Bruce on date after date. Bruce figures they’re technically dating and might even be in a relationship, until he accidentally overhears a phone message intended for Westley. Every aspect of their time together comes into question. Now, it’s time for Westley to set the facts straight.

Review

Bruce meets Westley on the dance floor one night while on a business trip. Because he’s naturally very shy, Bruce puts on a persona that allows himself to be “free” and allows him to hook up with Westley (whom he thinks is out of his league) where normally he’d be too reticent.

Though the hook-up was fantastic, he gets called away before numbers can be exchanged and both he and Westley are saddened by this. Luckily they end up meeting again at Westley’s job.

What comes next is a rocky friends-with-benefits-relationship that morphs into something more. But – since neither guy is really great at communication, things go horribly wrong and almost end tragically.

Have no fear, they work out their differences and we get a solid HEA.
**
I loved 85% of this book.

I really enjoyed both MCs and the smexy times were hot. Westley’s ability to draw Bruce out of his shell was sweet and I thought it was going to be a pretty straight-forward type “oh, we LOVE each other” type ending. Instead, there is a terrible misunderstanding that didn’t really make a lot of sense and it kind of bummed me out.

Bruce reacts really poorly to something that should have been obvious and would have been easily cleared up with a simple conversation, but instead almost rips them apart. It didn’t fit with the rest of the story and their relationship and sort of came from left field.

If you ignore that part and just enjoy the rest of the story, it’s worth the read/listen.

Audio
This is the first narration for me by John-Paul Barrel. He did a nice job, nothing really remarkable but he let the story tell itself without distraction.

Overall 3.5 of 5 hearts

3.5

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Shaken Up by Nicole Forcine

ShakenUp

 

From Dreamspinner:

Tim Myers is the flamboyant and overly fastidious owner of the adult shop Little Earthquakes. In his spare time, he moonlights as a sub for his friend’s BDSM classes, and while he’d love to find a Dom to cater to his domestic servitude kink, he’s wary of exposing his body and his heart. When Jae Seong comes into Tim’s shop and asks him for help with a wax play demo, Tim is turned off by the idea. Jae is nothing if not persistent, though. He’s a skilled Dom and soon finds out why Tim is so protective of his body, his neck, and his heart. Over a series of play dates, the two grow close, and it dawns on Tim that he might be looking at a match made for collaring.

Marieke’s thoughts:

This story starts out very funny, with Tim helping a woman trying to convince her very straight man to take a dildo in the back door. Tim’s funny, helpful and very confident, but that’s only when it comes to his shop. In real life he’s scared and closed down––with good reason. He’s a sub but doesn’t want a Dom for himself, or so he tells himself. To get his nerves under control he sometimes helps David and Reggie––two friends who happen to be big bad Dom’s––to do demo’s for a local BDSM group.

In walks Jae, who’s a Dom but not one of the overly macho ones. Jae asks him to do a demo in wax play and somehow convinces him to not only do it but also practice a few times. David is the one to tell Tim that maybe Jae could be more than just a temporary play partner. Tim is scared but secretly a little excited.
When they do the practice scene, Tim and Jae connect and Tim finally tells Jae the story of why he’s so afraid.

The story started so funny that I was sure this was going to be one hell of a good story, but somewhere it went a bit askew. Not that it isn’t a good story, but it didn’t get to the great stage. The characters are all very likeable, the story line is great, the setting is wonderful, yet somehow it’s just not….awesome. Maybe it’s the fact that it’s pretty short and the author doesn’t go into the depths of feelings and situations. Whatever it is, I’m missing something.

I did enjoy the story. The connection between Jae and Tim is sweet and the kinky side of the book is very nice too. David and Reggie are funny Dom yenta’s and Gloria is the dirty minded best friend. The bad guy––who only gets talked about but never appears–– is a big bad Dom who scared Tim off pretty badly…but not bad enough.

All in all, this story was worth the read, but I won’t be rereading it, I think. A sweet short, with a dash of kink.

3

 

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Hunted Guardian by MD Grimm

Dreampsinner Presents:  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5535

BlurbHuntedGuardian

The Shifters: Book Seven

In eighteenth-century Egypt, falcon shifter Con’s parents died attempting to keep powerful, ancient scrolls out of the hands of a monster. Now it falls to Con to keep the scrolls hidden and lead the hunter away so their sacrifice isn’t for nothing. But he isn’t quite fast enough, and he finds himself helpless in an unfamiliar English countryside village. That is, until a beautiful man with a limp carries Con to his manor to tend to his wounds.

As an alpha wolf, Quincy’s compassion is not valued by his pack, which leads him to nurse the falcon in secret. A bond quickly forms between Quincy and the mysterious raptor, so he’s concerned at Con’s reaction to the arrival of another visitor, the Countess Blackburn.

Review

(From previous site)

Quincy is a werewolf who is the guardian for his pack. He cannot shift and hunt with the pack because he was born with a bum leg, but he stands sentry and watches for danger. He has a soft spot for injured wild life (despite the pack’s view that this is a weakness) and finds and rehabs an injured falcon one day.

The falcon is really Con, a shifter himself, who guards scrolls that hold the secret for destroying all shifters. Con is on the run, injured by hunters who work for an evil witch. The witch wishes to rid the earth of shifters. Con realizes that Quincy is more than just a helpful wolf shifter, he might be his Mate.
Instead of flying away when his wing heals, Con shifts to human and tells Quincy of the danger headed his way. The witch who hunts Con is going to try to infiltrate Quincy’s pack and destroy it from the inside.

Though Quincy’s pack is reluctant to trust a stranger, they prepare for a confrontation. When the witch shows up she shows her true colors, Con is appreciated and war is waged. By this time, Quincy and Con realize they are Mates, despite all the odds against a mixed mating, and don’t want to be apart.

Quincy’s Alpha cannot admit Con into the pack and Quincy must choose between Con and the Pack. Quincy, of course, chooses Con and the two travel across the ocean to search for other lost or packless shifters. Together, with the help of another lone shifter, they start the shifter-town Haven, which is featured in the previous books of this series.

**

This is an absolutely lovely origins story for this shifter series by MD Grimm. I have not read the earlier books, but now I’m going to. The author’s style is fluid and fanciful. She stays true to the historical aspect and theme of this story and yet doesn’t bog the storyline down with needless details just to prove she knows her history.

The love between Con and Quincy is so sweet it’s almost painful. They are both so lonely (for differing reasons) and never thought they’d find love, so they treasure their relationship that much more. The tension between the Pack and the witch, the witch and Con, Con and the Pack, etcetera, is done very well. It is both exciting and realistic and acts to sort of make a statement about forgiveness and acceptance and diversity.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the earlier parts of the series

I highly recommend this book and give it a 5 of 5 hearts.

5

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Who Knows the Storm Audiobook (The Vigilante #1) By Tere Michaels Narrated by Jonathan Young

Dreamspinner Presents: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6198

WhoKnowsTheStormAUDMed
Blurb

In a dystopian near future, New York City has become the epicenter of decadence—gambling, the flesh trade, a playground for the wealthy. And underneath? Crime, fueled by “Dead Bolt,” a destructive designer drug. This New City is where Nox Boyet leads a double life. At night, he is the Vigilante, struggling to keep the streets safe for citizens abandoned by the corrupt government and police. During the day, he works in construction and does his best to raise his adopted teenaged son, Sam.

A mysterious letter addressed to Sam brings Nox in direct contact with “model” Cade Creel, a high-end prostitute working at the Iron Butterfly Casino. Suspicion gives way to an intense attraction as dark figures from Nox’s past and the mysterious peddlers of Dead Bolt begin to descend—and put all their lives in danger. When things spin out of control, Cade is the only person Nox can trust to help him save Sam.

Review
(Book reviewed previously on this site)
Nox is a vigilante in dystopian New York after a massive flood has left the big Apple in ruins. He has a “son” that he cares about above all else and a desire for justice.

Cade is a “model”/rent boy who ends up bringing a letter to Nox’s son, Sam, and getting involved with Sam and Nox in a dangerous game where things aren’t as they seem.

The end is sort of a cliff hanger – so be warned – that hopefully leads us to the next book.
**
It took me forever to get through this book because I love Tere Michaels but I’m just not a big fan of the dystopian future storyline. So take this review with a grain of salt and here are my impressions:

1) Tere Michaels is a great writer who writes fantastic, gritty, sensual characters with a lot of depth
2) Even her secondary characters are fully developed and engaging
3) The smexy times in this story are hot – another of Michael’s skills
4) This is a little different than the previous books I’ve read by her in that it is more dark and lies more heavily on the non-romance/thriller portion of the story
5) Sometimes the story was twisty, turny and confusing to me, but it leaves a lot of potential for future segments in the series.

Audio

Jonathan Young is a new narrator for me, but he has won me over! I really, really enjoyed his narration here. He does a sweetly southern accent for Cade and a nice dark growl for Nox. He differentiates nicely the other voices as well and did a truly amazing job with the smexy scenes. Even though the story is still very dark and not exactly my cup of tea, I really enjoyed the passion in the narration and enjoyed listening to the story despite the darkness.

This narration absolutely added to my enjoyment of the story and bumps my rating up to a 4.5 of 5 hearts.

4.5

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Slaying Isidore’s Dragons by Cody Kennedy Tour with Guest Post

slaying-isidores-dragonsHow Slaying Isidore’s Dragons is Different from Omorphi 

Thank you, Kimi-chan, for the honor and privilege of sharing my new book with you! It’s great to be here!

Welcome to the book tour for Slaying Isidore’s Dragons and the countdown to release! Beginning tonight at 7 p.m. Pacific Standard Time* on my Facebook wall we’re going to party down to the release of Slaying Isidore’s Dragons at 9 p.m.! Come join us!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with my books, I write books about hope, triumph, and building life beyond abuse. While many of the tenets in my books are about learning to live after abuse, they apply to everyone in everyday life. Above all is hope. Without hope, we lose the will to live life to the fullest and Slaying Isidore’s Dragons and Omorphi are about exactly that. But the stories are vastly different in subtle ways. In fact, you may often find that the most valuable principles and adages in my books are understated.

Every story has an end but life is a new beginning2

In Omorphi, we meet Christy briefly three months after he has been rescued from abuse, but the story doesn’t begin until the following March, one year after his freedom begins.

Christy continues to endure post-traumatic stress, but is learning how to manage triggers, and building a self-image and a sense of self-worth. In Slaying Isidore’s Dragons, we meet Isidore as he endures heinous abuse and leaves his abusive environment. Though Isidore knows what upsets him, he doesn’t know what his triggers are, let alone identify and manage them. He has no sense of self or self-image, and his only sense of self-worth is based in the opinions of his abusers. Meeting Declan gives him the first whisper of what it might be like to be something other than a victim.

In Omorphi, we meet Michael, an utterly normal guy living a charmed life with two great parents. In Slaying Isidore’s Dragons, we meet Declan, also an utterly normal guy, but whose life has come to an emotional halt upon the assassination of his beloved father. Though he loves his mother dearly, a part of him is lost and meeting Isidore gives him a renewed sense of purpose.

In Omorphi, Christy’s abusers are in a faraway land. In Slaying Isidore’s Dragons, Isidore’s abusers are in his face every day at school—and want him back and are willing to go to great lengths to get him back. The terror Isidore lives with is debilitating and he loses his emotional grip when he is away from Declan.

In Omorphi, Christy and Michael deal with everyday issues at school and an abuser who wants Christy back. In Slaying Isidore’s Dragons, Isidore and Declan deal with extraordinary issues engendered by being children of diplomats including security, media presence, and very real life-threatening dangers.

In Omorphi, Christy is learning how to live independently and struggles to learn how to be “normal.” In Slaying Isidore’s Dragons, Isidore merely wants to keep the vestiges of his sanity and has no idea what it is like to live his own life. He clings to Declan in a way

that appears abnormal but, in fact, is very normal for a person first out of an abusive environment. We are all products of our environments and when removed from them, no matter how heinous they might be, we lose our basis for security and become terrified. With Declan’s help, Isidore learns to breathe in safety and courage, breathe out the past, and learn to live again.

What are the similarities between the books? Hope, triumph, and a new beginning. That’s why both books end with: ~The Beginning~

The Beginning

Enjoy reading Slaying Isidore’s Dragons and may Isidore’s newfound courage give you a breath of fresh air!

Now available in print and ebook at these retail outlets: Dreamspinner/Harmony Ink Press

Amazon   GooglePlay   Barnes & Noble   OmniLit/ARe   Beam-eBooks in Europe

Ingram Books for Libraries and Schools

* 7 p.m. PST is:
8 p.m. CST
10 p.m. EST
3 a.m. in London
4 a.m. in Paris & Milan
12 p.m. in Sydney

Hope to see you at the party!

Cody~

codyFiction for Gay Young Adults
Twitter @CodyKAuthor
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CodyKennedyAuthor?ref=hl
Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5816900.C_Kennedy
Blog http://www.CKennedyAuthor.blogspot.com

 

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Fever Pitch (Love Lessons #2) Audiobook by Heidi Cullinan narrated by Iggy Toma

Samhain Publishing Presents: http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Fever-Pitch-Audiobook/B00UTU656E/ref=a_search_c4_1_2_srTtl?qid=1427734190&sr=1-2

Fever Pitch audiobookBlurb

Book Two of the Love Lessons Series

Sometimes you have to play love by ear.

Aaron Seavers is a pathetic mess, and he knows it. He lives in terror of incurring his father’s wrath and disappointing his mother, and he can’t stop dithering about where to go to college—with fall term only weeks away. Ditched by a friend at a miserable summer farewell party, all he can do is get drunk in the laundry room and regret he was ever born. Until a geeky-cute classmate lifts his spirits, leaving him confident of two things: his sexual orientation, and where he’s headed to school.
Giles Mulder can’t wait to get the hell out of Oak Grove, Minnesota, and off to college, where he plans to play his violin and figure out what he wants to be when he grows up. But when Aaron appears on campus, memories of hometown hazing threaten what he’d hoped would be his haven. As the semester wears on, their attraction crescendos from double-cautious to a rich, swelling chord. But if more than one set of controlling parents have their way, the music of their love could come to a shattering end.

Warning: Contains showmances, bad parenting, Walter Lucas, and a cappella

Review

(Book review from previous site)

Finally!

That’s what I said when I found out Love Lesson’s was to finally have it’s sequel!

I knew it had been planned for a long time and was super excited to finally read it! Let me tell you that I was NOT disappointed!

This is another long book of the new adult variety, in keeping with the Love Lesson’s theme. Fever Pitch takes place at another university in the mid-west, small and liberal arts oriented – but no gay swans, mores the pity.

Aaron and Giles actually attended high school together their senior year. It is in their last days there that Aaron begins to give in to his cravings for male romance and Giles is happy to help him explore this side of his personality. Unfortunately, both boys are really quite scarred from past experiences and the relationship is over before it really begins, leaving Aaron tentatively in lust/love and Giles really pissed off.

Aaron follow Giles to St Timothy’s University, mostly in stalker fashion, and over the course of many months they eventually forge a friendship through their mutual love for music.

During this bonding process we get to see our friends Walter and Kelly again – woot! Walter ends up helping Aaron deal with his new feelings and helps him to “get his man”.

Once the boys get together the drama doesn’t stop. There are other crazy parents involved and other sad gay boys to be saved. We see parents who can help save lives and those who set out to ruin them. There is lots and lots of music being played, composed and sung. And finally there is a wedding. Sigh. Walter and Kelly get married in what has to be my all time favorite gay wedding to date.

I just loved these two books so much! This second book is even stronger than the first. The side issues are more serious and the tragedies more tragic. If I’m being honest… the sex is hotter too, but don’t tell that to Walter or Kelly.

I loved how the book furthers the lives of people we met in book one, but if you didn’t read the first book, no worries, this stands on its own quite nicely.

Again Heidi has given us a love story interwoven with some serious, coming of age issues and the result is a rich tale, full of well developed characters and satisfying story lines.

Audio
Iggy Toma does another amazing job with this sequel to Love Lessons. Again he gives us so much emotion and does such a nice job with the voicing that you can’t help but be captivated. I really appreciated his ability to just become fully engaged in the story and let the raw feelings ooze through his voice so that the listener feels like she is right there with Giles and Aaron, feeling their joy and pain.

5 of 5 hearts

5

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Mimsy Hale 100 Days Tour

100600x600BannerExcerpt:
Because anything really could happen, couldn’t it? What if what happened in Philadelphia wasn’t a total mistake, but simply the prelude to Jake finally listening to what his instincts have been telling him for weeks? What if, what if, what if…
“What are you doing? Come see this!” Aiden calls out.
Jake takes a deep breath and steps out of the shadows. Aiden is silhouetted against the fading sun, the light picking out the auburn in his hair, and as he stretches his arms up over his head, one finger hooked through the woven bracelet he bought earlier, he grins out at the horizon. Jake feels as if he’s watching Aiden through brand new eyes; he knows that there is rescue in those arms. Suddenly he wants to fall into them and hold on until he feels safe.
Aiden turns away from the vista, pushes his sunglasses up on top of his head and looks down at Jake, his eyes sparkling with warmth and light. He leans forward and holds out his hand, and he looks… beautiful.

Pages or Words: 346 pages

Buy from:

IP Web Store: store.interludepress.com
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/100-Days-Mimsy-Hale/dp/1941530230#

SM100Days 900px COVER-Front-1

Author Bio:
Mimsy Hale has been a contributing ghostwriter to several bestselling nonfiction books. She is also an established writer in online fan communities, where her stories have hundreds of thousands of reads. 100 Days is her first novel.  She lives in Suffolk, England, with her roommate and four cats.
Where to find the author:
http://www.mimsyhale.co.uk
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/themimsyhale
Twitter: @mimsyhale
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/mimsyhale/
Publisher: Interlude Press
Cover Artist: Front cover concept by Abbi Lawson
Cover design by Buckeyegrrl Designs

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Love Lessons Audiobook by Heidi Cullinan Narrated by Iggy Toma

Samhain Publishing Presents: http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Love-Lessons-Audiobook/B00TYQO89K/ref=a_search_c4_1_7_srTtl?qid=1427733944&sr=1-7

love lessons audioBlurb

Love doesn’t come with a syllabus.

Kelly Davidson has waited what seems like forever to graduate high school and get out of his small-minded, small town. But when he arrives at Hope University, he quickly realizes finding his Prince Charming isn’t so easy. Everyone here is already out. In fact, Kelly could be the only virgin on campus.

Worst of all, he’s landed the charming, handsome, gay campus Casanova as a roommate, whose bed might as well be equipped with a revolving door.

Walter Lucas doesn’t believe in storybook love. Everyone is better off having as much fun as possible with as many people as possible…except his shy, sad little sack of a roommate is seriously screwing up his world view.

As Walter sets out to lure Kelly out of his shell, staying just friends is harder than he anticipated. He discovers love is a crash course in determination. To make the grade, he’ll have to finally show up for class…and overcome his own private fear that love was never meant to last.

Warning: This story contains lingering glances, milder than usual sexual content for this author, and a steamy dance-floor kiss. Story has no dairy or egg content, but may contain almonds

Review
(Book Reviewed on Previous Site)

Kelly is a small town guy with Disney –HEA – visions in his head. He just KNOWS life gets better in college and he won’t let anybody tell him otherwise.
Walter is the jaded, older student and now roommate who, at first, wants to break Kelly of his romantic ideal nonsense, then feels it’s his duty to protect those dreams and finally to make them come true.

This is a long book, so we cover a lot of ground and in a lot of detail.
We get a good, hard look at what makes Walter so cynical and a good look at what makes Kelly so idealistic.

We get to watch the relationship, in its early seedling stage nearly die before finally taking root to grow into a full-fledged, Disney-level-happiness, rock solid, Red-wood of a relationship.

This is a new adult novel. Not quite YA – too much drinking, drugs, and sex for that. But the story is more closely that of a YA than some of the other, far more raunchy, Heidi Cullinan “adult” books. It is very well written and very involved, like the rest of Heidi’s books, and hits all the right buttons for me.

I just love the characters. They are all very well developed, three-dimensional, interesting and unique. There are several secondary characters that add complexity to the story and help to give this book it’s authentic flavors.

Kelly is an amazing guy. Heidi has managed to give us a freshman boy, who loves Disney movies, is a die-hard romantic, a virgin and yet he is still very much a boy. I love him! I love that he idolizes Tangled and has dreams of how his first date, first sex and wedding should all be. I loved the juxtaposition of his money poor, love rich household with Walter’s money rich, love poor life. Walter, the playboy, the cynic, the last guy to imagine Happy Ever After is the PERFECT choice for Kelly.

Their story is told slowly, organically growing and unfolding tenderly in such a way that we can easily see how the switches can be flipped and how our jaded Walter can come around to being Kelly’s Prince by the end of the book.

I could really relate to Kelly’s vision of what love “should and should not” be, I think many of us remember that time in our lives – whether it was high school, college, or later in life – and how hard it was to mesh that vision in our head with what life hands us. What I admired was how Kelly held on to his vision of Disney-Princess-Happiness without shame or wavering even in the face of disillusionment and that, in the end, his enduring faith brought everyone around and actualized his feelings rather than crushing his spirit.

The length of the book is both its strength and weakness. It takes a little dedication – there are times the story drags and it takes a little perseverance. However, the pay out is definitely worth it. Because she doesn’t compromise on length, the story feels very natural and real, and because life is more than just romance, the added side stories Heidi guides us through help us to see how our MCs are growing and changing in a way that feels authentic.
By the end I think everyone will have at least some tears in their eyes if they are not out-right bawling. It is an amazingly tender, sweet and satisfying book on many levels.

You will fall in love with Kelly and Walter and – now that I have read the sequel – I can tell you that you will be excited to know we get to see even more of them real soon and it only makes this book that much more sweet.

Audio

Iggy Toma is a new narrator to me and he did a fantastic job with this series. He adds so much real emotion that the listener is truly immersed in the story right along with the characters. He did some subtle variations on the voices, enough to differentiate the speakers, but did not go over the top with them. I really, really enjoyed listening to this and will probably find myself listening to it again and again – all 10 hours!

The listening experience contributes so much to the enjoyment to bump this to a 5 of 5 hearts! I loved it!

5

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