Cole Doren is starting over. He’s moved, started working as a food writer again, and is crushing hard on his new neighbor, Daniel Mazurek, who is a genuinely nice guy and as hot as a supernova.
Too bad for Cole, Daniel’s not what he seems.
And too bad for Daniel, the cute boy-next-door’s DNA says he’s one of America’s most wanted, and it’s Daniel’s job to confirm that and bring him down. Digging through Cole’s past, Daniel finds out about Cole’s BDSM videos and while it should set off warning bells, it only leaves Daniel damn hot for Cole. Getting closer to his subject is easy, but starting a relationship built on trust is a lot harder when everything Daniel’s ever told Cole has been a lie.
Review
Daniel is a bounty hunter trying to capture somebody named Ro. He thinks he’s found his guy in Cole. But when Cole shows up, drunk, clumsy, and cute – he has to re-think his data.
Cole reviews food for a living. But he also has a past that gives him some interesting hobbies.
The first part of the story is figuring out if Cole is guilty; the second is the couple finding their feet in a relationship; the third is them solving the mystery of “Ro”.
I loved the interactions between Cole and Daniel in the beginning and thought the mystery was a little unbelievable but gripping. I didn’t care for the BDSM part of the story or how it didn’t seem to fit the rest of the plot line. To me it seemed stuck in there for added “heat value” but didn’t necessarily fit well with the characters and how they interacted.
Overall this story has some great potential and I would look for more from this author in the future.
A relationship-challenged actor unexpectedly finds love in the arms of his childhood best friend.
“Sexiest Man Alive” and Golden Globe winning actor Ethan Baker lights up the screen but fizzles in his personal life. When his latest girlfriend breaks up with him, Ethan turns to his one “forever” person—Jude Harrison. But as Ethan makes the familiar drive to his best friend’s house, an unexpected detour and a bewildering passenger take him through places in time he’d long forgotten. Suddenly Ethan sees Jude’s actions over the years from a different perspective, but it’s his own reaction that’s the biggest surprise.
Review
This is a short story that recently got re-released.
Ethan is a self-centered actor, self-acknowledgedly so, who has been best friends with Jude most of his life.
Jude has been in love with Ethan since the moment they first met.
It takes a trip through time for Ethan to realize that Jude has feelings for him and that Ethan has feelings for Jude as well!
It’s a very short, sweet story that makes you smile and sigh and – just as all Cardeno’s stories do – feel good inside.
I loved that when Ethan finally figures things out, he and Jude just jump in, no questions asked.
After an attack by the Coalition leaves THIRDS Team Leader Sloane Brodie critically injured, agent Dexter J. Daley swears to make Beck Hogan pay for what he’s done. But Dex’s plans for retribution are short-lived. With Ash still on leave with his own injuries, Sloane in the hospital, and Destructive Delta in the Coalition’s crosshairs, Lieutenant Sparks isn’t taking any chances. Dex’s team is pulled from the case, with the investigation handed to Team Leader Sebastian Hobbs. Dex refuses to stand by while another team goes after Hogan, and decides to put his old HPF detective skills to work to find Hogan before Theta Destructive, no matter the cost.
With a lengthy and painful recovery ahead of him, the last thing Sloane needs is his partner out scouring the city, especially when the lies—however well intentioned—begin to spiral out of control. Sloane is all too familiar with the desire to retaliate, but some things are more important, like the man who’s pledged to stand beside him. As Dex starts down a dark path, it’s up to Sloane to show him what’s at stake, and finally put a name to what’s in his heart.
Review
Wow. Just wow. This book is sooooo full of good feels.
Sloane and Dex are so wonderfully gushy and sweet in this book. Their relationship is definitely cemented by the end.
We get a peek into the mystery that is Hobbs and an amazingly sexy and funny scene between him and Calvin.
Ash is looking like less and less of a hard ass and more and more like the love of Cael’s life.
All of the relationship stuff is amazing. The dialog, like always is hysterical. The spying done is both naughty and funny. The danger… well this isn’t really that “tense” of a book.
The biggest “hurdle” in this story is Dex trying to avenge Sloane’s attack. Predictably, Sloane doesn’t want him involved, and in fact, the team has been ordered to stand down. But… Dex is determined to capture the culprit himself, in Sloane’s name.
I kinda wanted to shake Dex, and totally understood Sloane’s feelings about it. I liked, however, that this was the first time we saw Dex as the guy who might screw up the relationship, and Sloane was doing everything “right” for a change.
All in all this totally appealed to my every romantic sensibility and tickled my funny bone.
I can’t wait for the next installment and I really hope Calvin and Hobbs get their own book ☺
Audio
I really enjoy Mark Westfiled’s narrations. He does a great job differentiating the different and myriad characters. He adds extra touches like altering his voice for telecom and intercom communications. I love even his female characters and his accents are wonderful!
Dumped by his lover, Harlie Rose ducks for cover in the Belladonna Arms, a seedy apartment building perched high on a hill in downtown San Diego. What he doesn’t know is that the Belladonna Arms has a reputation for romance—and Harlie is about to become its next victim.
Finding a job at a deli up the street, Harlie meets Milan, a gorgeous but cranky baker. Unaware that Milan is suffering the effects of a broken heart just as Harlie is, the two men circle around each other, manning the barricades, both unwilling to open themselves up to love yet again.
But even the most stubborn heart can be conquered.
With his new friends to back him up—Sylvia, on the verge of her final surgery to become a woman, Arthur, the aging drag queen who is about to discover a romance of his own, and Stanley and Roger, the handsome young couple in 5C who lead by example, Harlie soon learns that at the Belladonna Arms, love is always just around the corner waiting to pounce. Whether you want it to or not.
But tragedy also drops in now and then.
Review (Book reviewed on this site previously)
We return to the amazing Belladonna Arms. Arthur is still there, in horrible drag. Chi Chi and Ramon are there, but fighting. Stanley and Roger are there and in love. Sylvia is about to have her surgery, the kleptomaniac Charlie is still taking his meds and he and Bruce are still a couple. All in all love is in the air, specifically the Love Pollen that Arthur claims falls on the unsuspecting tenants and makes them succumb.
Harlie thinks he’ll be immune to the pollen, however, since he has just gotten back from a four month journey across the country getting “over” his ex. He’s alone and plans on staying that way. His only focus: getting a job and writing his novel.
Sylvia comes through with a job for Harlie, working as a baker’s assistant at the restaurant she works. The owner of the restaurant, Mr. Burger, an older gentleman whose lover has recently died. We suspect she probably knew that his son, Milan, might just cure Harlie of his blues, as he too is a gay man recently alone.
Sure enough, the two set off sparks. At first, Harlie thinks Milan is straight and hates him, which only makes him that much more fascinating, but then we see them connect outside of work and Milan is really just shy and heartbroken.
Sylvia has other plans for our Belladonna Arms tenants. Arthur. Harlie, mistakenly!, tries to change Arthur’s style by making him more “butch”. What a hilarious failure that was! No matter what he tries, Arthur glams it up and looks miserable without his flowing garments. But… Mr. Burger sees something in Arthur he’s been looking for and it is love at first sight!
The remainder of the book is Sylvia healing, Arthur and Mr. Burger sexing and loving, Milan and Harlie sexing and loving, and… a horrible, horrible sad story involving Chi Chi and Ramon…
Overall, it was another amazing book by John Inman and I loved (almost) every second of it as much as the first book Serenading Stanley. I’m not sure why the sad story was included… maybe to give some more depth to this very sweet story, but it was hard to read. I hope we hear more about their story in another installment, because it’s just too good to stop now!
I highly recommend this book and the series.
5 of 5 hearts.
Audio
Tyler Stevens narrated the first book in the series and he is a hard act to follow. For reasons of both continuity of character and the fact that I really adore Tyler I wish he’d done this. Caleb Dickinson did a nice job, he just lacks some of the “flair” Tyler put into his characters. There wasn’t as much character voice differentiation and though he does a nice job with the pacing and emotion, it lacked the panache that I admire with Tyler’s work.
Crick has been home from Iraq for five years, Jeff and Collin are finally married, and Shane and Mikhail are quietly making lives better for the dispossessed teenagers who come their way. Everything is right in Deacon’s world, but nothing ever stays the same.
When Deacon’s best friends, Jon and Amy, answer the call of an opportunity in Washington, DC, Deacon figures that’s life. You love people, and they leave you, and you survive. Even Benny, Crick’s little sister, is close to grown and ready to start her own future. But Benny loves Deacon, and she owes him—she may move beyond The Pulpit and Levee Oaks one day, but not without leaving something of herself behind. And so she offers Deacon and Crick an amazing gift… and a terrifying decision.
Benny’s offer forces Deacon and Crick to dredge up every past mistake and offer of redemption. And not just the two of them—everybody is forced to examine the chances they’ve been given and the promises they’ve made. In a real family, a child is a promise, and to the men and women of Promise Rock, keeping that promise will change their lives forever.
Review
It took FOREVER for this to come out as an Audiobook! (Did you see what I did there?) Thank you, thank you, thank you Paul Morey for doing this and to Dreamspinner for finally producing it!
This book nicely joins all three of the previous books for a last(?) look at their lives as couples.
Without giving away too much – Benny wants to give Deacon and Crick a baby to help complete their family. She knows how important children are to Deacon and she knows that with her DNA and Deacon’s she can do the next-best-thing to having Crick and Deacon actually make a baby together. Of course this is FULL of drama and hand-wringing and of course, tears – Amy always makes me cry!
Mickey and Shane are dealing with their own house full of crises. Kimmy and her fertility problems. Two of the girls in Promise house are not getting along – one is Crick’s sister and the other is a sweet girl Martin has eyes for.
Jeffy and Collin are adjusting to married life and making their own decisions about family.
Jon and Amy have their own bomb-shell to drop and it, too, shakes up the Promise-universe.
**
What I loved about this book was that it didn’t feel like an afterthought. These stories felt like they NEEDED to be told and it was the perfect way to give some of these guys closure.
Now I would absolutely ADORE another book, but barring that kind of miracle, this is a nice way to cap off the drama and leave everyone – more or less – in a really happy place.
As for the narration. Well, you know I just love Paul Morey and his Mickey just makes me so happy! There is a particular moment, when Mickey has gotten some devastating news (it’s and Amy book – of course there’s devastating news!) – and Paul’s voice is so full of emotion and it just feels so damn REAL!
I can’t say enough that the listening to these books makes the amazing stories even that much more amazing and like “being there”.
Though I read them again and again, I also listen to this series again and again because the narration is so strong.
Varro Dacien spends his life riding toward the next adventure. Brian Christie, his best friend and touchstone, the one person who’s always truly seen him, plays sidekick on these madcap adventures and subsequent trips to the hospital until he can’t take it anymore. While Brian can see Varro, Varro has never caught on that he’s breaking his best friend’s heart.
Without Varro, Brian builds himself a life that’s all about just getting by, doing his best to ignore the hole in his heart and his life. Without Brian to balance him, Varro pushes harder and takes more risks to reach that ultimate high. His job racing high-octane bikes on suicide-level courses makes it easy to get that rush… until it’s no longer enough and Varro realizes it’s not the race, but who’s waiting at the finish line that truly matters. Now he just has to convince Brian to be there.
Review
Varro and Brian have been best friends since they were thrown together as foster kids. Varro is wild, crazy, an adrenaline junky and straight. Brian is quiet, studious, a rock and gay. Of course Brian has wanted Varro forever, but not been willing to act on it for the obvious reasons.
Varro is a motorcycle racer and Brian goes out on the circuit to help him stay focused and safe for an entire year. During that year it becomes clear that Brian can’t stay around Varro without completely losing his heart so he opts to leave the circuit to pursue his own dreams.
Varro misses Brian and begins to evaluate his feelings more closely.
When the two get together it is super-nova hot and sweet at the same time.
Though I hate to “spoil” things for you – this is one quote that epitomizes their relationship for me:
“I love you, Brian.” I leaned forward to meet his dark gaze and whisper the words he needed to hear and I needed to say. “I love you, Varro, so much.” “Swear it,” he said and held out his pinky with his right hand as he fisted my cock with his left.
“What’re we?” My voice dropped off. “Ten?” “I am. You’re nine. Now swear.” I hooked his pinky with mine as he pushed up from under me. “Jesus, Varro, you feel so good.” “So do you.” His voice sounded like sandpaper as he reached up and hooked a hand behind my neck, drawing me down to him.
So, in my constant bid to bring the books I love to audiobook format, I highly recommend this amazing and wonderful book!
(Book 6 of the A Vampire In Waikiki series)
It’s Halloween in Waikiki, the holiday some call “Devil Night.” Tem and Divine Thunder, celebrating their first Halloween together, invite all their family, friends, neighbors, and former gay-porn co-stars to Trick or Treat. Tem’s gone berserk hiring caterers from every single island, and they’ve even built a spook house on their property for the festivities and planned moonlight pony rides.
Tem’s in full-scale party diva mode when things start going horribly wrong. One by one, their guests start disappearing, and even Tem’s beloved cat, Moontime, goes missing. And then from their mountaintop home on Tantalus, they see that Chinatown is on fire.
Tem and Div throw themselves into action, but are they too late to solve the mystery of what’s happening and stop the madness?
NOTE: This story was previously published with the ISBN: 978-1-55487-407-1. This reissued version of the story has been revised and reedited.
Review
A fun, scary, sexy, and funny way to end(?) the series of Tem and Div.
Tem is out in his Tiara but sad when his party ends in a fire. Ghosts from the past show up to keep things interesting (because a Halloween party thrown by real vampires isn’t enough?!). Poor Moontime goes missing and Div is left to pick up the pieces.
As always there is lots of laughs and steam and another great addition to this off-beat series.
Six years ago, Jeff Beachum comforted a frightened teenager outside an HIV treatment clinic, and Collin Waters has remembered his kindness ever since. Now, after six years of crushing on the kind, brown-eyed sweetheart of his dreams, Collin is feeling adult and together enough to make his move. Too bad fate, which has never been kind to Jeff, has something else in mind.
Jeff’s life had fallen completely apart before that long-ago day, and it isn’t much better now. Jeff has toughened up, become self-reliant, been the funny guy his friends turn to, the one who gives advice and comfort when needed. But every phantom from Jeff’s past is about to come out to haunt him, and the family Jeff has staked his future on isn’t in such great shape either. Collin is more than a starry-eyed kid, and it’s a good thing, because Jeff’s going to need all the help he can get. No one knows better than Jeff that life can be too short to turn your back on honest love, and that living happily is the best promise of all.
Review
This is book three in Amy’s Promise series and it is one of the roughest (IMHO) to read. Right from the start she pulls our heartstrings with the tale of Jeff’s ex, the man who gave Jeff HIV then essentially kills himself rather than deal with the consequences of the disease and his homophobic family.
Then there’s Collin. Young, dumb and full of … exuberance… and not wearing a condom while doing it. He, too contracts HIV and is touched by the caring he receives at the hands of Jeff at the crisis center.
Years later the two meet again and Collin is determined to have Jeff as his own.
Jeff, however, hasn’t really put himself out there and certainly not for a “boy” several years his junior.
The push/pull of attraction goes on for quite awhile but Collin is perseverant and eventually he gets his man.
Meanwhile – lots of things are happening at the Pulpit… Crick is Crick and Deacon is Deacon and Mickey and Shane are adorable and snarky and at their best…
Martin, Jeff’s ex Kevin’s brother comes to town looking for answers and meets Shane and Mickey and learns to love something he was taught to hate.
**
First let me say that I loved all the books in this series. LOVED. THEM. But, this was the weakest in my opinion. (Still awesome, amazing, wonderful, brilliant…) I loved seeing the folks at the Pulpit but sometimes wanted to see more of Jeff and Collin. I never connected with them as a couple as strongly as I did the others and I think one reason why is the lack of page time for them developing their relationship as compared to Crick, Deacon, Mickey, Shane or even Benny and Drew!
I loved the Martin/Kevin storyline though it tore me up… so much.
This was an amazing (and difficult) book and I highly recommend it. It is NOT a standalone.
Audio
Paul Morey did a great, great, great job of giving Jeff a swishy but not over the top voice. I wish he’d made Collin’s voice a little bit more differentiated, but I appreciate the challenge of giving so many “main characters” unique voices. I loved his Kevin/Martin voices and really enjoyed this narration.
Blurb (Book 5 of the A Vampire In Waikiki series)
You can steal a man’s heart or you can steal his wallet, but stealing his car?…that’s just asking for trouble. Waikiki Vampire, Divine Thunder, and his husband, Tem, thought that going to hell and back—literally—was an ordeal. Now they’re home and things are a mess. Even Div’s precious car, which he calls his “other husband,” has been stolen. Picking up the pieces of their half-demolished home, they find themselves in the middle of a new and weird mystery.
They’ve employed an art historian who’s a real weirdo, and somebody keeps pinching their good wine and leaving booby traps in their garden. So they decide to hire Francois, a big, beautiful, black security expert to get to the bottom of the twisted events. But wait…now they keep seeing Div’s car, driven by the thief, all over the island. This is gonna give a whole new meaning to “thunder in paradise.”
NOTE: This story was previously published with the ISBN: 978-1-55487-364-7. This reissued version of the story has been revised and reedited.
Review
This is the next short segment in the adventures of Tem and Div. In this “episode” Div’s car gets stolen, they invite a third to share their bed and they consult with Francois about security.
As always there is a lot of hot, steamy sex – ménage this time! – and lots of laughs.
If you’ve been enjoying this quirky series you will undoubtedly want to continue with this. This is NOT a standalone.
Tem and Div, Waikiki’s hottest vampires, are settling into domestic bliss when a tornado hits Honolulu and something sinister blows in. Mysterious forces, hell-bent on abducting Tem and Div’s baby nephew—Akua, a storm demon—whisk Tem away and hold him hostage.
Devastated, Div must fight to rescue the man he loves, which involves a descent into the past, to French Vietnam, a step back in time to undo the deal he made with the devil many, many years ago—a deal to give him a second chance at love. The catch is, Div must choose between the life of the man he loves and the baby…
Review
The blurb explains the gist of it. Jimmy has to fight for the baby against the devil with whom he bartered his soul.
This story is definitely a more action filled story than the previous 2 (which were more sentimental). There is still lots of sex and the “bad guys” and the “good guys” are pretty funny. It’s a bit longer than books 2 and 3 and the complexity of the story is evident as a result.
I like that AJ Llewellyn and the characters don’t take themselves too seriously.
The ending is a nice twist and I enjoyed having all the other characters back in the storyline.
Blurb
