Dreamspinner Press – The Kimi-chan Experience

April 8, 2018April 8, 2018

Touch by Remmy Duchene

?Reviewed by The KimiChan Experience ?

TITLE: Touch

SERIES: N/A

AUTHOR: Remmy Duchene

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

RELEASE DATE: March 2, 2018

BLURB: One can’t walk the path of darkness and expect to escape unscathed. At eighteen, Foster Erickson stepped out of the closet into a world of homelessness, prostitution, and drugs. Years later, he’s pulled it together and is ready to rebuild. Determined not to let the demons win, Foster starts university with a plan to keep others from making the same mistakes he did. The last thing he expects is Sylvester Roberts. After years of working with his father, Sylvester decides to step out on his own. University at his age is strange, but for him, failure isn’t an option. After flunking a few tests, Sylvester’s professor assigns him a tutor—Foster Erickson. The moment they meet, Sylvester knows Foster isn’t like other guy

As the darkness hovers and Sylvester begins falling, he will have to decide if helping Foster fight his demons will be worth it in the end

REVIEW: Foster’s character intrigued me from the first page. His past was really heartbreaking but not uncommon, which is even more heartbreaking. Here was a young man who fell into homelessness, sexual assault, drugs and forced into prostitution to survive and to feed his drug habit, which I suspect he fell into as a way to cope with his situation. Reading about his painful past will have your heart in your throat, it was just so sad to read. With the help of a cop who befriended him, Foster was able to escape his circumstances and get himself together. Understandably, there were some residual effects from his past which he is getting help for. Foster’s life is going well and he’s starting college. This is where he meets Sylvester.

Sylvester is a successful older student who is striking out on his own after years of working for his father. He needed a tutor Foster was recommended to him. Sylvester was intrigued by the beautiful man but he sensed Foster’s general uneasiness at being touched, of getting close to anyone, both emotionally and physically.

This story flows so well. At first I thought that I would’ve liked to have had more information on Foster’s past but now that I think about it, I’m glad the author chose to place more emphasis on his present and future, the happiness he finds and the relationship (first friendship, then romantic) he’s building with Sylvester. I love how she gave both MCs equal amounts of attention. I also loved how she wrote Sylvester’s character. This man was beautiful, intelligent, compassionate and passionate, loving, patient, tender and kind yet tough. He understood that he needed to proceed with a great deal of caution and patience in pursuing Foster because of his past. I adored these men individually but together as well.

Foster’s painful past made me cheer that much harder for him to find peace and happiness with Sylvester. And Foster’s friend Jason is an absolute sweetheart who was always there to with a shoulder to lean on, cry on and advise to help him along.

I enjoyed everything about this book. The characters, storyline and flow were well executed. I loved that it’s interracial and there were no ridiculous stereotypes in neither them or the storyline. Really, if it wasn’t mentioned purely for the character’s physical appearances you would never have known the race or ethnicity of the characters as the author wrote them all the same. The two MCs were simply two men who meet, fall in love and work through some issues to make their relationship work.

I also loved the cover. It was strikingly beautiful and is what initially draws your attention to the book.

I will definitely recommend this book as well as this author.

RATING: ????

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

Dreamspinner Press

https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/touch-by-remmy-duchene-9404-b

February 12, 2017February 12, 2017

Only Forever by Scotty Cade

Reviewed by Kiwi

TITLE: Only Forever

SERIES:

AUTHOR: Scotty Cade

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

RELEASE DATE: November 30, 2016

BLURB: Master Captain Theodore Gourdin has always loved the ocean. But his devotion to maritime life left little possibility for a long-term relationship. After two failed marriages, Theo gave up on finding the person who completed him and decided the sea was his soul mate. When offered the opportunity to captain the newly launched mega yacht Eternity, Theo jumped at the chance. With Eternity’s maiden voyage looming, Theo focused all his energies on hiring his crew and readying his ship. The last thing he expected was to finally lose his heart in the process.

After twelve years at sea, First Officer Heath Rawlins was restless and in need of a change. A gay seaman’s life could be a lonely one, but to Heath the positives far outweighed the negatives. With excellent recommendations and an impressive resume, he was quickly offered a position on the private mega yacht Eternity. Heath’s heart skipped several beats when he finally met the ship’s captain. He was handsome and charming. And… familiar? Had they met somewhere before? Highly unlikely. But as smitten as Heath was with the gorgeous captain, everything inside him screamed, Abandon ship! Rough seas ahead!

REVIEW: This is another well written book by Scotty Cade. The story grabbed my attention with the very beginning. The prologue was a little heartbreaking. Set in a different time (1942), the story is about two men, one who, named Edward, unfortunately, has just lost the love of his life, Steven. But at the prologue’s end, sadly, Edward also passes away. Then the story flashes forward to the present time and gives us Heath and Theo. Heath to me seems to me to be a bit of a restless spirit or at least unhappy in his current job. He makes the decision to leave his current position and is quickly offered another one on a luxury yacht. It’s here that he meets Theo.

Theo is the captain of the luxury yacht where Heath is hired to work on and from the beginning, the attraction is strong and the sparks fly between the two men. Not only that, there seems to be a bit of a sense of déjà vu between them. But there’s another catch: both men are supposedly straight but they keep having dreams about two men named Edward and Steven. This is where the story gets even more interesting. I haven’t read many stories featuring reincarnation but this is a trope that is seldom used that should be explored more. I definitely felt that the author did an amazing job of taking something that one would think would make the storyline boring but he managed to make it absolutely fantastic.

I absolutely loved the premise of this story. Everything about this book is so vivid and bright. I can’t describe it any other way. The author’s writing style is amazing. I was completely immersed in this story. His descriptions of the yacht, the crew’s lives, the weather, everything. As I’ve stated in past reviews of this author’s work, I thought that his descriptions were wordy but have since learned that his descriptions serve an important purpose. It draws you completely into the story. Thinking back on it now, I can remember feeling like I experience the same things that the characters are experiencing. You can definitely tell that the author has a vast knowledge of being on a boat or a ship. I’ve never in my life been near a boat but by the end of that book, I felt like I had taken a pleasure cruise. I definitely appreciate his descriptions as they give you the reader, the full experience of the story being told. Not only that but I felt that I got a special treat with the twist. Wow, I did not see that one coming. I loved it all.

This book was beautifully written, which is par for the course for this author. I really appreciate his work. This author’s characters are men of a particular age so you know that you’re going to get a more mature romance. This is a signature Scotty Cade book: well written characters, wonderful plots and storylines and dialogues. You can also expect the editing to be spot on perfect. Never in any of Cade’s book have I ever found one misspelled word, poor sentence or paragraph structure or plot holes. This author definitely believes in doing research before he writes the first word of any of his books. The end result is a beautifully written, polished book.

I definitely must give a nod to the super talented Reese Dante, the cover artist. Scotty has used this artist on virtually every one of his books and I must say that the beautiful cover matches the beautiful words within.

This is a story that will linger with you long after you’ve finished reading it.

RATING: ???Amazing???

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

Dreamspinner Press

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November 6, 2016November 6, 2016

A Matchless Man (Dreamspun Desires #19) Ariel Tachna

Reviewed by Kiwi

TITLE: A Matchless Man

SERIES: Dreamspun Desires #19

AUTHOR: Ariel Tachna

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

RELEASE DATE: October 1 , 2016

BLURB: None of the matches caught his eye as much as the matchmaker himself.

Growing up poorer than poor didn’t leave Navashen Bhattathiri many options for life outside of school. All of his concentration was on keeping his scholarships. Sixteen years later, he’s fulfilled his dream and become a doctor. Now he’s returning home to Lexington and is ready to prove himself to the world. In doing so, he reconnects with Brent Carpenter—high school classmate, real estate agent, all-around great guy… and closet matchmaker.

Brent makes it his mission to help Navashen develop a social life and meet available, interesting men. Unfortunately Navashen’s schedule is unpredictable, and few of those available, interesting men value his dedication like Brent does. Brent’s unfailing friendship and support convince Navashen he’s the one, but can he capture Brent’s heart when the matchmaker is focused on finding Navashen another man?

REVIEW: This story is a very sweet friends to lovers story set in Lexington, Ky. This is the second of the Lexington Lovers books and nineteenth within the Dreamspun Desires series. This story gives us Navashen a neonatologist and Brent a real estate agent.

Nav grew up poor and decided to return home after fulfilling his dreams of becoming a doctor. Determined to settle down he looks up Brent, a childhood acquaintance of his. The two reconnect while Brent helped him find his home.

The two become reacquainted with each other and become close but as friends only. Brent opts to play matchmaker to help Nav meet new people. Neither man realized that the very thing that was being sought was already in their faces.

I absolutely loved the relationship that Nav had with his brother. Akshat was my favorite character and the love and support he received from Nav, Brent and his neighbors was heartwarming. I truly enjoy these characters; they were very well written.

With that said, the story did have a bit of a drawback. The storyline, although lovely, was quite bland in the way of passion. There was absolutely no sexual chemistry between Brent and Nav’s characters and I think that’s what made the relationship between the two men less believable. This made the one and only sex scene at the end seemed forced; like it had to be written in because it was expected instead of it being a natural progression of the relationship. I think that it should have been left out completely; I was okay with the book not having sex as I think that a sexual relationship between the two would’ve taken away from the story.it’s this reason that I feel that the sex should’ve been left completely out of the story instead of written in.

In all, I truly enjoyed this book. There a sweet Hallmark-esque vibe that I loved and it worked well..

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

Dreamspinner Press

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November 4, 2016

Bear Among the Books by TJ Masters

Reviewed by Kiwi

TITLE: Bear Among The Books

SERIES:

AUTHOR: TJ Masters

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
RELEASE DATE: September 2 , 2016

BLURB: Forty-eight-year-old Ben Thompson is a librarian, a passionate book lover, and a man who embodies the definition of a bear. He’s also lonely after the loss of his long-term partner. Young ex-gymnast Jason Barnes piques his interest, but Ben quickly realizes there’s more to Jason than his good looks. While Jason visits the library almost every day, he never checks out a book.

With gentle persistence, Ben befriends Jason and learns the nineteen-year-old’s tragic secrets. After years of abuse at his father’s hands, Jason was kicked out of his family home for being gay. And despite his apparent love of books, Jason never learned to read. Ben offers to teach him, and the two men bond over their lessons. Ben can’t deny his attraction to Jason, but he wonders if Jason is too young and too handsome to return his interest. With the help of the close-knit library team and Jason’s growing self-confidence, they move beyond the books and into the bedroom, where their own story is just beginning.

REVIEW: I didn’t think that this book would hold my interests hen it was first presented to me but I was pleasantly surprised. Very much so.

Here you have this young man, Jason, who at nineteen doesn’t know how to read. He’s a sweet young man, bright but had learning difficulties where left him illiterate. Let’s talk about him a bit more. This young man was in no way lazy or uninterested in learning, he was quite the opposite. He was passionate about books and his thirst for knowledge was obvious. There was just never anyone who actually took the time to take a vested interest in helping him learn until he meets Ben.

Ben. Sweet, gentle, intelligent, soft spoken Ben. He’s a librarian, a gentlemen of 48, whose just decided to live his life as it is. He has his books, his colleagues that he likes in a job that he loves. You get the sense that he wasn’t not looking to fall in love that he’s just sort of put that part of himself away after the passing of his husband/long term partner.

I think initially, when he notices Jason, he’s intrigued and notices how attractive he is in passing; it wasn’t overwhelming. But once he discovers the young man’s secret, he wants to help him.

I really like this book. When many think of a May/ December or older man/younger man romance, there’s a tendency to tell the story with certain slant. I was really glad to see that it wasn’t the case with this book. Ben genuinely cares about Jason, he has a vested interest in helping this young man live up to his full potential. It’s actually sad that people in the education system failed this young man.

The romance aspect wasn’t as believable as I would’ve expectedly to be. I just couldn’t see these two as a couple not because of the age difference but because of the tone of the relationship. Oh, don’t get me wrong, Ben does in no way take advantage of Jason, I just felt that the relationship was driven by feelings other than love and attraction. I think for Jason it was more of an attraction to his mentor and for Ben it was driven by loneliness and a bit of lust. But it was in no way disgusting.

This aside, I think the book was well very written. There wasn’t any heat between the two characters in my opinion but then again, that’s quite alright because I think these two men made better friends than lovers. The chemistry between the two was a slow burn that never truly turns into a raging fire and that is okay.

All things considered, I think the story worked out rather nicely.

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BUY LINKS:

Amazon

Dreamspinner Press

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September 12, 2016September 18, 2016

Wild Retaliation (Seaside Shifters #1) Ethan Stone

Reviewed by Kiwi

TITLE: Wild Retaliation

SERIES: Seaside Shifters #1

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

RELEASE DATE: September 7, 2016

BLURB: Chief of Police John Dakota is in a world of trouble. His peaceful town of Seaside, Oregon, has been rocked by a wave of unsolved murders. The bloody deaths are eerily reminiscent of ones that occurred in Seaside years ago. Back then John worked hard to make sure the truth about the killer was never revealed. Now he’s afraid the past is coming back to haunt him.

Trevor English, the nosy reporter who occasionally shares John’s bed, is demanding information about the crimes. He also wants more of John’s affections. But John can’t afford to give in to either demand without risking the revelation of Seaside’s biggest secret: the town is a haven for shifters, and John is one of them.

To solve the crime—and prevent more victims—John must delve into the past. Many members of Seaside’s shifter community are involved, but it’s becoming harder and harder to tell which residents can be trusted. Even John’s family isn’t above suspicion. The body count is rising, and it looks like John is the killer’s next target.

REVIEW: I’m not a fan of mysteries in general, murder mysteries in particular but every now and then, one will pique my interest. This story just happened to have been one of them. This is due to it having one of my favorite things: shifters.

This is the second book I’ve read from this particular author and I must say that I really enjoy the way he tells his stories.

John is a bear shifter, chief of police in the peacefully little town in Oregon when a series of murders rocks the town.

Trevor is an ambitious and pushy reporter who determined to be the one to get the scoop as to who is exactly behind the murders and why. And because of this, he starts demanding answers.

I love the dynamics between the two men in this story. You have John who’s trying to balance trying to catch whoever’s behind the murders and keep the town’s secret while trying to keep his relationship with Trevor strictly casual. The relationship between John and Trevor intrigued me. Trevor clearly wanted more than just the casual set up they had and you know that John did as well but he was fighting against it so hard. After a while, John realized his feelings for Trevor ran a lot deeper than casual sex. It was just his secrets that held him back from opening himself up to Trevor completely. I actually like the fact that it wasn’t this Insta – love that you see in many shifter stories. Yes, they were mates however they had to build up to the love, the relationship had to develop between these two men. That to me, made it that much better. that to me felt a lot more realistic than the insta- love trope.

You get a bit of everything with this story: you get the paranormal, a murder mystery with a bit of romance thrown in. I liked that the author stepped outside of the box with this as it could’ve easily been a run of the mill murder mystery and I think Stone made a very wise decision adding the paranormal element to it. There were also added a wide variety of very interesting peripheral characters added. The dialogue, plot, storyline and editing were fantastic.

I really enjoyed this story. There were no plot holes and the story didn’t lag or or drag along anywhere. The pace was perfect; it grabbed and held my interest from the very beginning. The editing and dialogue was perfect. The author did a lovely job of developing these characters, plot and storyline. There were several times in the story that I thought I had it figured out who the murder was only to find out that I couldn’t have been more wrong. The culprit definitely wasn’t who I suspected! This book will keep you engaged and at the edge of your seat until the last page. This is a definite must read and I look forward to seeing what happens next.

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

BUY LINKS

Amazon

Dreamspinner Press

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April 27, 2016April 3, 2016

X-Factor by Sean Michael

Reviewed by Kiwi

TITLE: X-Factor

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

RELEASE DATE: April 27, 2016

SUMMARY: Game designer Henry Delloit loves his life, his mountain community, his isolated dream home, and the snow. He also loves that the X-treme Games blow into the area for a month every year, bringing with them hundreds of athletes.

Ecco Rasmussen loves boarding. He knows he’ll never make it to the big time, but as long as he can get on his board and go, he doesn’t care. If only his manager, Blake Dobbs, would cut Ecco a break. The man’s possessive and mean, and believes he owns Ecco.

When Henry and Ecco meet at the Branchberry Games, it’s lust at first sight. An injury on Ecco’s qualifying run offers an opportunity to spend quality time together at Henry’s home, away from the crowds and out from under Blake’s thumb.

At this rate, lust might turn into love, but not if they can’t keep their romance hidden from Blake.

First Edition published by Torquere Press, 2010.

Second Edition published by Dreamspinner Press, EDR: April 27, 2016

REVIEW: I’ve always enjoyed this author’s books, whether it be his series (Hammer is my favorite) or his stand alone books. Its this that keeps me drawn to his work. This book however, didn’t do it for me unfortunately. It wasn’t a bad stories in the sense that it was poorly written. It’s really well written: the characters are interesting and well thought out. The glitches for me was the dialogue and the execution of the storyline.

Let me give a brief summary: Ecco is a snowboarder with a manager with some major boundary issues that’s creepy and possessive, sliding towards abusive.

Henry is a well loved resident of the area who looks forward to the games that come through town one month a year. These two meet and it’s attraction at first sight. These two men get together and embark on a sexual relationship that soon turns into somethings more. But they’re not going to have their happily ever after. They have to keep the relationship a secret from Ecco’s bizarrely possible manager.

I absolutely love how the story focuses on these two men and their budding relationship. The book was saturated with sex which is par for the course with this author’s work.

The only thing that absolutely did not work for me was the dialogue. It was just too juvenile for my tastes. I just couldn’t with the constant dude, rock on, for real, dudes, and oh mans. The dialogue was more suited to teenaged skater boys than a grown man.

Dialogue aside, I rather enjoyed the book.

RATING: ❤️❤️❤️

BUY LINKS:

Dreamspinner Press

Torquere Press

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February 19, 2016February 19, 2016

Catch A Tiger By The Tail (THIRDS#6) Charlie Cochet

Reviewed by Kiwi

TITLE: Catch A Tiger By The Tail

SERIES: THIRDS (Book #6)

AUTHOR: Charlie Cochet

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 216 pages

BLURB: Calvin Summers and Ethan Hobbs have been best friends since childhood, but somewhere along the line, their friendship evolved into something more. With the Therian Youth Center bombing, Calvin realizes just how short life can be and no longer keeps his feelings for his best friend a secret. Unfortunately, change is difficult for Ethan; most days he does well to deal with his Selective Mutism and Social Anxiety. Calvin’s confession adds a new struggle for Ethan, one he fears might cost him the friendship that’s been his whole world for as long as he can remember.

As partners and Defense Agents at the THIRDS, being on Destructive Delta is tough at the best of times, but between call-outs and life-threatening situations, Calvin and Ethan not only face traversing the challenges of their job, but also working toward a future as more than friends.

REVIEW: This is book six in the THIRDS series and it’s two hundred sixteen pages of full of action, shenanigans, action, crime and mystery and gummy filled goodness. The crew is back in the long awaited installment of Destructive Delta and the rest of the THIRDS units. While the story is focused on Calvin and Hobbs, the storylines of all members of the THIRDS is expertly maintained throughout the book.

This series in one word: Amazing. There is nothing about this book or this series that is boring. There’s humor, secrets, intrigues, crime and drama, super secret crime fighting unit stuff mixed in with love and romance with just a touch of steamy sexy tossed in. Everything about this book, this series is spot on perfect. Each character is individually crafted and they are divine; the dialogues and personalities of each of these characters will keep you entertained. There are a lot of twists and turns in the plot that will keep you on your toes. These books are addicting reads. This book captured and held my attention from the very first word of the first paragraph on page one to the very last word, of the last paragraph of the last page.

In this book you can expect to see just how Calvin and Hobb’s relationship has developed through the years. How their families are close knit and the love they have for one other. You will see things revealed with the Hobb’s brothers that will warm your heart and bring them closer together. I can’t wait to read about Sebastian and Hudson, Zachary and Austen and even Nina and Rafe.

The book ended with a delicious cliffhanger and it will drive you crazy wondering what happens next. This book has so much going on that you will not get bored for one second reading this. I highly recommend this series.

RATING: ???Amazing???

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

Dreamspinner Press

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Tag: Dreamspinner Press

Touch by Remmy Duchene

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