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How to Catch a Cheetah by Liza Kay

GoodReads Presents
http://www.mmromancegroup.com/?p=277152

how to catch cheetahBlurb

Dear Author,
The ostrich is a shifter; the cheetah can be as well, if you desire. And this scene should appear in the story at some point. Have fun with it! I want to laugh.
Anything else you want to do with it is fine by me.

Photo Description:
In the picture we see a cheetah in full run, chasing an ostrich through a steppe-like landscape. The ostrich’s wings are spread, his feathers ruffled, as he tries to escape the faster, but physically weaker, cat. Above those two, we see the line SHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT.

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

For those of you who don’t spend a lot of time on GoodReads or in the M/M Romance Group (I recommend you do!) – these are short stories written by both well-known and new authors based on pictures that have been submitted with intriguing story ideas. The authors take off from there and then the end results are published (For Free!) on the Group’s page.

In this case, we have an Ostrich shifter out for a run suddenly being chased by a Cheetah (both are in Nebraska!). Instinctively Djimon (the ostrich) knows Kei (the cheetah) is his mate, but he can’t help but being both scared and frustrated and a bit embarrassed at being caught by the much smaller shifter. So… their first meeting doesn’t go well and everyone leaves hurt and confused.

Fortunately, the mating bond is strong enough to break the thick walls of pride down enough to allow Dji to return to Kei’s home and beg for another chance.

The rest of the story is these two, very different men, learning how to blend their lives and become mates.

**
What I liked about this story is the snarky humor and the quick wit demonstrated by the author. Dji and Kei aren’t always super nice to each other but it’s fun and funny. In the end it turns very, very loving.

The smexy times are good and the unique take on the shifter world is clever.

I think the author could have used a bit more time editing this down to an even shorter story – giving it more of a punch – rather than repeatedly showing us the two men fighting and making up.

All in all it was a great first story (at least for me) by this author and I really enjoyed it.

3.5 of 5 hearts

3.5

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Shield of Winter (Psy-Changeling #13) by Nalini Singh

Jove Presents  http://www.amazon.com/Shield-Winter-Psy-Changeling-Book-ebook/dp/B00G3L7TX6/ref=sr_1_1_ha?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1435301972&sr=1-1&keywords=shield+of+winter

shieldBlurb

Assassin. Soldier. Arrow. That is who Vasic is, who he will always be. His soul drenched in blood, his conscience heavy with the weight of all he’s done, he exists in the shadows, far from the hope his people can almost touch—if only they do not first drown in the murderous insanity of a lethal contagion. To stop the wave of death, Vasic must complete the simplest and most difficult mission of his life.

For if the Psy race is to survive, the empaths must wake…

Having rebuilt her life after medical “treatment” that violated her mind and sought to stifle her abilities, Ivy should have run from the black-clad Arrow with eyes of winter frost. But Ivy Jane has never done what she should. Now, she’ll fight for her people, and for this Arrow who stands as her living shield, yet believes he is beyond redemption. But as the world turns to screaming crimson, even Ivy’s fierce will may not be enough to save Vasic from the cold darkness…

Review

Yet again – I had a craving to re-visit some of my favorite m/f authors and Nalini Singh and her Psy-Changeling series is one of my all time favorites!

This is definitely one of those books where if you haven’t been reading along you will be totally lost. It is NOT a standalone. No matter what it might say anywhere else.

In this, the long awaited book, Vasic, the troubled and suicidal Arrow works with Kaleb as well as Judd to secure the re-introduction of the EPsy – the empaths – back into their powers. It is determined that the EPsy are what the NetMind has needed all this time to combat the illness.

What is left unknown is how these EPsy will take breaking Silence and just what is it they need to do and how can they be protected when those protecting them suffer just being in their presence.

Ivy is a strong EPsy whose Silence has been fractured for years. She assumes when Vasic comes to collect her that she is at last to be killed for her “faults”. From the moment they meet the two share a connection.

Then – for many pages – we work out who must do what and why for the NetMind to become fixed. Vasic and Ivy struggle with their feelings for one another – neither having any kind of experience in love/sex/relationships at all.

In the end thre is a race against time and more crushing blows to the NetMind, some reconnections with previous characters and a climactic finish setting us up for the grand finale – Shards of Hope – Aden’s story.

**

I have to admit I was disappointed in this book.

It took a lot of slugging through to reach the end.

I liked Vasic way more before he had his own book and Ivy was pretty MEH the entire time.

In previous books in the series the love was at least half the important part and I feel in these last few books, Kaleb, Vasic, Aden – more time is devoted to the greater story arc than the individual love stories.

As a fan I was glad to re-visit with Nalini’s Psy-Changeling Universe and I am excited to finally read the last story in this arc – but I am also kinda ready for it to be over.

Overall, the writing is good, I think it needed tighter editing, and maybe a more focused story line that equalized the love/romance part with the story progression.

3.5 of 5 hearts

3.5

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A Casual Thing by Annabelle Jacobs

Dreampsinner Presents http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6602

CasualThing[A]LGBlurb

Patrick Mason travels to Bristol to spend the summer with his brother, Ben. He’s cat sitting for the first two weeks while Ben goes on holiday. But Ben neglected to tell him he wouldn’t be doing it alone. Will Adams—Ben’s mate and Patrick’s long-time crush—is staying in Ben’s guest room while he waits to move into his new house after a breakup.

Against his better judgment, Patrick convinces Will that a little no-strings fun is just what they need. Patrick doesn’t want to get involved with a guy on the rebound, and Will isn’t interested in starting something serious with a student. But Patrick’s never been good at separating sex from feelings, and this time is no exception. As their weeks together draw to a close, they need to decide if they have something worth pursuing or if it’s really just a casual thing.

Excerpt

Patrick stopped, the words dying on his tongue as he noticed Ben wince.

“No.” He jumped off the bed, fisting his hands in his hair. “No fucking way. Ben, please tell me you’re not leaving me alone for two weeks with the guy I have a huge unrequited, and frankly, embarrassing, crush on?”

Ben shrugged. “He needed somewhere to stay. I’d sort of forgotten you had the hots for him.”

“How could you forget?” Patrick paced in front of the bed. “The last time I was here, I tried to climb into his lap and told him how hot he was. In front of his boyfriend.”

“Oh yeah.” Ben grinned, and Patrick stopped his pacing to punch him on the arm.

“It’s not funny.”

“It was hilarious.” Ben ducked out of the way when Patrick tried to punch him again. “Look, you were drunk. We all were. He doesn’t hold it against you.”

“But he won’t have forgotten.” The whole thing still made Patrick cringe every time he thought about it. He may have been drunk, but sadly not drunk enough to wipe the horrifying experience from his brain.

“Sit down. I think you might be overreacting just a tad.” Ben even used his finger and thumb to demonstrate how much he thought Patrick was overreacting before grabbing Patrick’s arm and yanking him back down onto the bed.

Patrick sighed. Fine. Maybe he was being overly dramatic, but come on. This was Will. Tall, dark, and handsome, and as easygoing as Ben. He oozed charm and made you want to curl up with him somewhere warm and never ever move. Well, that last part could just be Patrick.

Fuck.

He was going to make such an arse of himself. He flopped onto the bed and covered his face. “I hate you. You are the worst brother ever.”

Author Bio

Annabelle Jacobs lives in the South West of England with her three rowdy children, and two cats.
An avid reader of fantasy herself for many years, Annabelle now spends her days writing her own stories. They’re usually either fantasy or paranormal fiction, because she loves building worlds filled with magical creatures, and creating stories full of action and adventure. Her characters may have a tough time of it—fighting enemies and adversity—but they always find love in the end.

http://www.annabellejacobs.com

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Review

This is a very low angst love story between a slightly older and wiser Will and the still in university Patrick. Will has been burned in the past and is leery of younger men and long-distance relationships, especially with the brother of a friend, so he resists Patrick’s obvious adoration until it becomes apparent that he can’t anymore. When he gives in, it’s with the (this never works out) idea that they can somehow be fuck buddies and no strings.

Of course Patrick is already having feelings before they begin, so Will’s already set up to fail. When Patrick does ask for more – even vaguely – and is summarily rejected – everyone is heartbroken, including Patrick’s brother for having been caught in the middle.

Ultimately the story ends with a solid HFN and a happy enough ending and certainly Patrick deserves it, though Will… I’m not so sure. He was mostly a jerk throughout the entire book and he didn’t do much to redeem himself even by the end.

I really liked Patrick’s character, he was earnest and sweet and besides the obvious chemistry didn’t see how Will deserved his goodness. I wish that we got to see them a little later down the road, maybe a year or more, so that I could feel good about their HEA.

All in all this was a nicely written, relatively light hearted romance with some nicely developed characters. 3.5 of 5 hearts

3.5

 

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Imposter in Zebra-striped Briefs by CC Dado

Dreamspinner Presents
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6601

ImposterinZebraStripedBriefsLGBlurb

When recent college graduate Nathan Harris makes a life-changing move out from under his mother’s thumb and into his own place, he is determined to take some risks. He is tired of not being good enough, tired of allowing his fears to control him.

What he thought would be an exciting adventure ends up being one jaw-dropping mishap of embarrassment after another, leaving him with a life he doesn’t even recognize anymore.

His once boring, lonely existence has been replaced by a brownstone filled with colorful friends, a rough around the edges, tattooed bad boy best friend, and a stripper for a boyfriend who’s not even sure he’s gay.

Review

This turns out to be two stories in one!
From Grand Adventures, an anthology, CC Dado gave us Brandon and Josh, two seemingly disparate men who end up perfect for one another.
(Link to full review here: )

The review for that story (Chapter 12, The place across the hall) :
A really cute short story about a guy who falls in love with his neighbor.

Josh has a (typical-for-him) one-night-stand-guy in his apartment when someone (his June Cleaver-eque) neighbor bangs on his door to invite him to a party for one of the other tenants. John isn’t a joiner. He has tattoos. He sleeps around. He doesn’t do relationships.

Brandon is all about relationships and has “fancied” John since day one.

The brief meet and greet at the party leads to a complete change in John’s thinking and Brandon manages to capture the heart of the lone wolf.

We start the story with Nathan aka Nate aka Nathaniel, moving out from under his mother’s domineering thumb (she refuses to be called “mom” insists on being called by her first name, Aurora and she has refused to his “coming out speech” three times now and he claims he’s autistic when every mental professional she drags him to ends up prescribing HER the medication, not him.) He is very bright (3 points below genius level) and has just recently finished school and is working a dream job at a lab working on Alzheimer’s.

Nate sees an ad for a sublet, thinks it’s fantastic, but in his completely virginal and socially inept way, totally misinterprets Josh’s overtures of friendship as a come- on and nearly dies of embarrassment.

This merely serves to make them instant best friends.

So now, Josh, Brandon and Nate are bonding and so we get to see not only Nate’s story but a continuation of Josh and Brandon’s story.

There ends up being a party thrown again on the roof of their apartment and a stripper is ordered. The original stripper is sick, so a replacement (his brother) is called in a pinch. Neither the original nor the replacement stripper is gay, but willing to dance for men as they pay more.

Something happens when David – the stripper’s brother – sees Nate from across the room and the two end up in clench. David is shocked and runs away. Nate is horrified – again.

The rest of the story is Josh and Brandon navigating the changes in their relationship while helping Nate to come out of his shell and while helping David learn how to trust his instincts.

It’s a very sweet, touching story, low, to no steam, but sexy nonetheless. I loved that we got to see such a satisfying conclusion to the Josh/Brandon story and though we didn’t see as much of David and Nate as I’d like, I’m hopeful we’ll see them in the next? installment.

The writing is excellent and grabs you from the start.

I sincerely hope we see more from this author and this couple in the near future.

4.5 of 5 hearts

4.5

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A Casual Thing by Annabelle Jacobs Blog Tour with Excerpt and Giveaway

RC

Excerpt:
Ben raised an eyebrow. “I see living with Sean all these years has done some good after all.”
“Ugh,” Patrick groaned. He wasn’t that bad. “He’s my roommate, not my mum. He doesn’t make me do chores you know.” Sean was also his best friend, and three years of living together at university had made Patrick more self-sufficient, but he wasn’t about to admit it. “Anyway,” he said, walking down the hall as he spoke. “I’m assuming you’ve cleared out all your shit from the spare room?” Patrick looked back over his shoulder as he opened the door. Ben usually shoved anything he didn’t use in there until he either gave it to charity or took it down to the rubbish tip.
“Yeah, um… about that….” Ben let the sentence hang there as Patrick opened the door to the spare room and stopped in his tracks.
Okay, so it wasn’t full of Ben’s stuff, but it wasn’t empty either. The bed looked recently slept in, the quilt pulled up sort of straight but the pillows at odd angles, as though it had been made in a hurry. A couple of shirts hung on the wardrobe door, and the desk had a laptop on it and some toiletries that definitely belonged to a guy.

Ben appeared behind him, scratching at the back of his neck, but not looking particularly bothered. Patrick waved a hand around the room and raised his eyebrow. “I guess I’m not staying in here, then?”
“Sorry, it only happened a couple of weeks ago, and I forgot all about it. But he’s only here for another two weeks, so you can sleep in my room while I’m away.” Ben gestured to the door opposite and picked up Patrick’s bags again. “I’m off in the morning, so you only have to sleep on the sofa for one night.”
Patrick followed him, trying not to feel disappointed at not having the place to himself. He collapsed on Ben’s bed, making sure to hang his shoes over the edge. “So, who is it, then? Do I know him?” He narrowed his eyes, watching as Ben dropped both bags in front of the wardrobe and turned to face him. “It better not be someone old and boring who’s going to judge everything I do. Christ.” He threw his arm over his face and let out a put-upon sigh. “I might as well have stayed at home.”
“He’s not old. He’s a year older than me.”
“You’re old.”
“Shut the fuck up, or I will send you back home.” The bed dipped as Ben sat down. “And yes, you know him. He’s a good guy—I wouldn’t leave my little brother alone for two weeks with someone I didn’t trust completely.”
Patrick sat up and leaned on his elbows, taking in the slightly shifty expression on his brother’s face. Nothing normally fazed Ben, and he’d said that Patrick knew the guy and that Ben trusted him, so Patrick didn’t see what the problem could be. He liked to think he was pretty easy to get along with. He maybe had a lot of energy, which irritated some people, but he tried to tone it down with anyone other than close friends or family. Ben’s mates all knew him pretty well anyway—Patrick usually came down to Bristol for at least a few days every time he had a break from uni.
“Well, I’m assuming it’s one of your friends, and honestly, Ben, they’re a great bunch of lads, so I don’t get why you’re being weird.”
“I’m not being weird.”
Patrick gave him his best “yeah right” look and sat up a bit. “Seriously, I won’t have a problem sharing with any of them,” he said, nudging Ben with his shoulder. “Well, except Will maybe, but that’s only because—”
Patrick stopped, the words dying on his tongue as he noticed Ben wince.
“No.” He jumped off the bed, fisting his hands in his hair. “No fucking way. Ben, please tell me you’re not leaving me alone for two weeks with the guy I have a huge unrequited, and frankly, embarrassing, crush on?”
Ben shrugged. “He needed somewhere to stay. I’d sort of forgotten you had the hots for him.”

Sales Links: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6602

About the author:

Annabelle Jacobs lives in the South West of England with her husband, three rowdy children, and two cats.

An avid reader of fantasy herself for many years, Annabelle now spends her days writing her own stories. They’re usually either fantasy or paranormal fiction, because she loves building worlds filled with magical creatures, and creating stories full of action and adventure. Her characters may have a tough time of it—fighting enemies and adversity—but they always find love in the end.

Where to find the author:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ajacobsfiction
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Annabelle-Jacobs-Fiction/458768424158896?ref=hl
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJacobs_fiction

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25692969-a-casual-thing
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Anna Sikorska

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Alex’s Surprise by Chris McHart

GoodReads Presents
http://www.mmromancegroup.com/?p=277078

alex's surpriseBlurb

Alex wanted a night of hot passion with Gerome, but he gets more than he ever bargained for. His life will be changed forever in a world where he’ll be thrown in jail— or worse— for being pregnant.

Alex’s best friend, Sam, has been acting strange ever since he met Alex’s one-night stand, but now Alex needs help in order to hide, and Sam is his only hope.

First book in the Unexpected series.

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.

Dear Author,
When I got pregnant unexpectedly and my partner-in-babymaking up and ran off, I figured I’d be alone forever. It was a rough time and if not for best friend I don’t know how long it would have taken to drag myself out of it. I never thought I’d find myself in this position with him. He has been so supportive through the pregnancy and all these feelings I’d never noticed before started blossoming. This is our first time together and I never thought sex could be this amazing— tender and smoking hot all at the same time. I think it helps that he spent so much time wooing me and we were able to fully switch from “friend” mindset to “romance” mindset before we just jumped into bed.

Photo Description:
A blond-haired man making love to a visibly pregnant man. From the expression on the blond’s face and the kiss he presses on the black-haired man’s shoulder, it’s clear these two are a couple who are deeply in love. They are somewhere hidden, maybe a basement, since there are stairs visible in the background. It makes me wonder, is the pregnancy forbidden? Are they hiding because of that?

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

For those of you who don’t spend a lot of time on GoodReads or in the M/M Romance Group (I recommend you do!) – these are short stories written by both well-known and new authors based on pictures that have been submitted with intriguing story ideas. The authors take off from there and then the end results are published (For Free!) on the Group’s page.

As the blurb suggests, Alex is a man who has one night out with a vampire – yes he knows it’s a vampire – and the condom breaks. Neither party is aware that with infinitesimal odds, certain human/vamp combinations can result in pregnancy.

Yup. Alex is preggers!

In addition to being freaked out by that – like it isn’t enough! – there are laws against inter-species matings – and Alex faces huge penalties and the loss of his child if it is ever found out he is pregnant.

Meanwhile, Alex has a roommate, Sam, who has always had a bit of a crush on the man-whore Alex, but never broached the subject because Alex has always been so staunchly anti-relationship. When he finds out he’s pregnant, Sam is the only one he can turn to and the two realize there is more to their caring for each other than friendship.

**

This is the second piece I’ve read by this author and I am still a fan of the writing style. For the most part it is clean and clear and the story progresses in a logical and somewhat plausible fashion.

There were some difficulties with the pacing – in fits and starts Sam and Alex seem to be both hysterical then loving then manic then caring… maybe this was intentional to mimic the crazed pace of pregnancy, but it was jarring as a reader to experience.

Alex was not easy to like in this story, he seemed selfish and bitchy for most of it, and Sam put up with a lot for no seemingly good reason. I think, based on the ending, that this story will continue – and I’m glad because the coming parts are definitely going to be exciting, and hopefully Alex will get a chance to redeem himself.

3 of 5 stars

3

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Accidentally Mated (Fraser Lake Pack Book 1) by Lynn Tyler

Lynn Tyler Books Presents  http://www.amazon.com/Accidentally-Mated-Fraser-Lake-Pack-ebook/dp/B00ZJ0MF72/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1435298285&sr=1-1&keywords=accidentally+mated

accidentally MatedBlurb

Tristan Massey didn’t set out to become the alpha of Fraser Lake’s werewolf pack. All he wanted to do was borrow a car. But he couldn’t ignore the dangerous direction his beloved pack was heading in.

Jake Trenton, tiger shifter, has a secret far more important than his unrequited love for his best friend. One that he will do anything to protect, even move thousands of miles away from everything he’s ever loved.

One night of passion ends with a mistake that ties them together for life and ends in disaster. While Tristan struggles with the consequences of letting go of his rigid control, Jake must decide whether he can show, and accept, his true nature.

Review

This is the first in a new series, but as far as I can tell it is another extension of the previous “Pack Mates Series”. You can definitely read this as a standalone, but there is so much more to the story if you have read the other series.

Jake has just decided to leave his long lost unrequited love when Pierce mates Gavin. Tristan, who helped to save Pierce, sees potential in Jake (and maybe something deeper) and it calls to him to bring Jake into his fledgling pack.

Tristan, who has always identified as gay, has just become leader of the very unstable Fraser Lake Pack and thinks/knows that the idiots in his pack won’t tolerate a gay Alpha. However, he can’t help but be both attracted to and comforted from the submissive nature he sees in Jake.

The two dance around their attraction, making it fairly obvious to anyone looking that they are meant to be mates, but refusing to act on it for their own personal reasons.

Finally, in a desperate night of passion, Tristan mistakenly mates Jake and all hell breaks loose.

It will take a lot of back-peddling, some bravery, and the advice of good friends to fix things and get the pack back on solid ground, with the Alpha and his Mate as they should be.

**

I love Lynn Tyler books! She is really good at giving us fully developed characters in plots that are more plausible than some shifter books out there.

The world she has created is full of “insta-attraction” but not necessarily “insta-love”. Her couples aren’t always perfect, and it still often takes them a really long time before even mated couples feel really secure in their relationships.

I thoroughly enjoyed her “Pack Mate Series” and this is looking to be an equally engaging series as well.

4 of 5 hearts

4

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Forging the Future ( Change of Heart Book 5) by Mary Calmes

Dreamspinner Presents
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6527

ForgingtheFutureLGBlurb

Change of Heart Series Book 5

Jin Church is back where he started, alone, wandering, and uncertain of his path. It’s not by choice but by circumstance, as he remembers he’s a werepanther… but not much else. He knows one thing for sure—he needs to find the beautiful blond man who haunts his dreams.

Logan Church is trapped in a living hell. His mate is missing, his tribe is falling apart, and he’s estranged from the son he loves with all his heart. His world is unraveling without his mate by his side, and he has no one to blame but himself.

If Jin can regain his memory and Logan can overcome the threats to his leadership, then perhaps they can resume their lives. The question is: Is that what they want? Back to the same house, the same tribe, the same troubles? They can choose from various roads leading to their future… or they can forge their own path.

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(Beautiful art from Karrie Jax!)

Review

Wow oh wow! When I saw the excerpt for this I just knew Mary was gonna give us the ugly cry!

We start off with Jin separated from Logan and with no memory of him, his life, his powers, or even his SON!

(Mary – why do you separate our boys like that – it kills me!!!)

There is some weird tribal stuff that happens and apparently it is figured out that Jin belongs to someone and someone important. Finally, Crane comes around and Jin doesn’t even recognize him! (Oh, Mary, cruel, cruel Mary!)

Apparently Jin has to prove he and Logan are mated by recognizing him without being told who he is – another stinkin’ test! – but of course he does! However … he still doesn’t have his memory back – he just knows Logan is HIS!

(I love it when they go all MINE! on each other- so sexy!)

It has been rough on Logan to have Jin gone for so many months. His tribe is questioning his strength. His a-hole family is stirring trouble and it looks like there is going to be a big ol’ fight sooner rather than later to determine who is the rightful leader of the Mafdet tribe.

In addition, Domin has been trying to lure Logan to Egypt to lead a tribe there that would be both benefited by his leadership and serve to help Jin and Ilia train their own powers.

When Jin finally does regain his memory (So, so touching!) there is a huge fight and big trouble and much bloodshed. At one point I found myself yelling at Mary – NOOOOOOO! – but it all worked out in the end – as we knew it would.

**

Mary is my hero. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. She can write such amazingly diverse subject matter and do it so well. Kudos!

There is no way this story will mean much to you if you haven’t been reading the series, so I’m assuming you are all fans, like me.

I adored catching up with Jin and Logan and Crane and the gang. There are some new romances on the horizons, new babies, new deaths, more heartache – life.

I felt the end was a bit rushed for my taste. I got the abbreviated version of what’s happening with everyone in Egypt and a rough idea of what Jin and Logan will be doing there – I’m assuming (read: hoping!) that there is another book coming to take us through that experience more fully.

I highly recommend this to all the fans of the series 5 of 5 hearts

5

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Unexpected by Amelia Mann

Daily Dose Short Story

Dreampsinner Presents http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6562

UnexpectedBlurb

Fifty-one-year-old Jonathan Allen is watching his friends sign domestic partnerships left and right, and for the first time considers how lonely his future might become. His last boyfriend was a parasite, hurting him in so many ways, and he’s beginning to believe living alone with his cat is a better option than chasing shadows.

When Jonathan starts working for Tricorp, a multinational construction company dealing with conservative religious countries in the Middle East and Asia, he connects with CEO Blake Carter on all levels. But the company is antigay and forces its employees to sign a reticence clause, which puts the company on the LGBT-blacklist, and Jonathan back into the closet. He knows fantasizing about Blake is a pointless endeavor. But life throws them a curveball when Jonathan’s ex and a man from Blake’s past come together to destroy both their lives.

Review

This was a frenetic explosion of a short story! We burst in the scene when Jon’s presentation to a group of very conservative businessmen is interrupted by a display of pictures showing him having sex with his boyfriend.

His boss, Blake, is quickly corralled into the mess by a member of the board with a vendetta against Blake.

In no time at all, both Jon and Blake are being escorted by security out of the building, threatened by Jon’s ex-boyfriend, the father of one of Blake’s ex and facing unemployment to boot.

Luckily, they have each other and it turns out they’ve both been harboring feelings for one another for some time.

**

This would be a great novel – it was way too much for a short story. There was too much drama covered in too few pages with a conclusion that (though very happy) felt way too rushed to feel natural or authentic.

I also didn’t bond with either MC as well as I wanted.  Jon was an unreliable hero who never redeemed himself for having a relationship with someone as evil as his ex.  Blake seemed all over the place, flighty, insecure, then bossy and commanding.  I didn’t get a feel for him as a person very well.  Beyond the sexual, I didn’t see their attraction in the other.  The relationship, though born in crisis, moved way too fast to feel comfortable and therefore the HEA didn’t feel organic either.

I think this has potential, but it didn’t quite make it as a great short story.

2.75 of 5 hearts

3

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The Frat Brat by Nico Jaye

Short story from Don’t Read in the closet

GoodReads Presents:  http://www.mmromancegroup.com/?p=276845

frat bratBlurb
Kyle Fenton’s nickname around his fraternity house may as well be “Shameless Flirt.” Out and proud to his frat, he’s more than happy to live up to that reputation, especially when new frat brother Daisuke “Dice” Keto moves in. However, Dice’s reaction to Kyle’s antics is cryptic at best, leaving Kyle frustrated in more ways than one. Will a lost bet–and a sexy rendezvous with a “Secret Admirer”–clarify the situation?

Author’s Note: Royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to the Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights organization focusing on LGBTQ equality.

*****

Dear Author,
I am taking part of a punishment… scratch that, I’m being forced in this punishment. We, the seniors, placed a bet with the juniors of our fraternity to see who could raise the most money. Guess who lost? Now, each senior is placed in a separate room where our supposed punishment will happen. Walking into my assigned room, I notice two unusual things: a blindfold and a note that says “Sit down and put the blindfold on. —Secret Admirer”

Photo Description:
A black-and-white close-up of an attractive young man wearing a dark blindfold. His expression is stoic— not fearful, but also not excited. He isn’t wearing a shirt, and, based on the upper chest area that is visible, he’s muscular and fit.

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

For those of you who don’t spend a lot of time on GoodReads or in the M/M Romance Group (I recommend you do!) – these are short stories written by both well-known and new authors based on pictures that have been submitted with intriguing story ideas. The authors take off from there and then the end results are published (For Free!) on the Group’s page.

This story had some excellent moments: the sexual tension, the willingness to explore one’s sexuality, the brief but hot smexy times, the potential for interesting MCs.
However, there just wasn’t enough time spent with the MCs to really develop much of any connection to them beyond the sexual so I wasn’t very invested in their liason.
Kyle and Dice are fraternity brothers in a competition and when Kyle loses, Dice is placed in charge of his “punishment”. Before this, Kyle had been madly flirting with Dice, but thinking that Dice was straight. Dice, too, was thinking he was straight and not sure how to take Kyle’s shenanigans.
What didn’t make sense to me:
Why would Kyle flirt so shamelessly if he had a no-sex-with-frat-brothers policy?
Why would Dice mistake anything about Kyle’s flirting as anything other than sexual attraction?
When sent to do a “punishment” why do a blindfold then immediately tell him who you are?
Why spend precious page time going over the week’s near misses and detailing Kyle’s conquests if you are trying to build up some attachment between the two MCs?

I think, had this been given more time to become a more fleshed out piece it really could have been a really nice GFY story and maybe the author will expand this one day.

That being said – it was a fun piece to read and I did enjoy it, even if I didn’t love it.

3.75 of 5 hearts

4

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