Category: 5 star Rating

A Free Dreamer Review: Devil at the Crossroads (Deal with a Devil) by Cornelia Grey

Rating: 5 stars out of 5            ★★★★★

Devil at the CrossroadsThe devil covets more than his soul …

Six years ago, Logan Hart sold his soul to the devil to become the greatest bluesman of all time—and now the devil has come to collect.

The irony is that Logan squandered his gift. High on fame, money, and drugs, he ignored his muse and neglected his music. And despite managing to escape showbiz in a moment of clarity, it’s too late to redeem himself. All that’s left is to try to go out with some dignity. Alas, the prospect of an eternity in Hell isn’t helping much with that goal.

But Farfarello, the devil who bought Logan’s soul, isn’t ready to drag him down to Hell quite yet. He’s just spent six years working his ass off to whip a bluesman into shape, and he refuses to let that—or the opportunity for more sinful pleasures with Logan—go to waste.

A blues guitarist selling his soul to the devil. Well, been there, done that, right? That’s what I thought when I first read the summary. But “Devil at the Corssroads” is a really interesting take on that trope.

The sex scenes were sizzling hot and made me drool. But even before they got at it, there was this sexual tension that made the butterflies in my belly go crazy. Cornelia Grey definitely knows how to write sensual and erotic characters. “Devil at the Crossroads” pretty much oozes sexiness and passion from the beginning right through the end.

But what made me give this novella five stars wasn’t the hottest sex I’ve read in ages. There’s more to this than simple pornography. I often find novellas lacking something. Usually I feel like it’s incomplete or the plot is not detailed enough or a million other little things that I missed. But “Devil at the Crossroads” is different.

The characters were very well developed and unique. Farfarello really isn’t what you think of when you hear the word “devil”. I loved the way Miss Grey described his looks. Definitely a unique character.

I really liked Logan as well. The shame he felt at ruining his chance at fame was very compelling. I felt really bad for him.

The balance between plot and porn was perfect. The storytelling is utterly compelling. I felt like I was right there with the characters, living their experiences through them. It all felt very realistic. Even though we only got to see short snapshots from those six years, I felt like I knew everything there was to know. And I most definitely liked the ending.

I also loved the references to other famous blues musicians. Talking about Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and the like made me really enjoy the whole setting. I’ve always had a thing for blues, and when Logan mentioned a song title, I immediately felt the urge to look it up. Thanks to this book and a dear online reading buddy, I’ve also discovered my favourite singer: some of Hozier’s songs fit the mood perfectly.


To sum it up, “Devil at the Crossroads” is an incredibly hot novella with unique characters and a very realistic setting. A must read!


The cover by Jared Rackler is absolutely gorgeous. It’s so simple and yet it fits the mood perfectly.

Sales Links:  Riptide Publishing | ARe | Amazon

Book details:

ebook, 75 pages
Published September 23rd 2013 by Riptide Publishing (first published September 21st 2013)
ISBN139781626490581
Edition LanguageEnglish

SeriesDeal with a Devil

Note: While this is technically part one of the “Deal with a Devil” universe, each story can be read as a stand-alone.

A BJ Review: F.I.S.T.S. Handbook For Individual Survival in Hostile Environments by Bey Deckard

Rating:  5 stars out of 5        ★★★★★

Sarge (F.I.S.T.S #1) – 5 stars

FISTSSergeant Wilkes has had a long and prestigious military career. When he’s injured on the front, Murphy brings him in. Murphy is the opposite of Sarge… big, tattooed, and delightfully submissive. Can a couple space marines stationed on an alien planet where an endless war rages on find something special in each other?

Gritty, violent, somewhat gory short novella. Its kinky, smoking hot and romantic almost in spite of itself. This story made me bawl like a baby, and I loved it!

Sarge is an older, hardened officer Dom; Murphy a younger 6ft 8in quiet, muscular, tattooed, sweet enlisted sub. Murphy also has the ability to see psychic/emotional colors (auras?). The two come together when Sarge is injured   fighting on the front line, and Murphy uses his special talent to help him. Right there on the battlefield, wounded and in pain, Sarge propositions Murphy:

“You’re a good boy, Murph,” he says softly to me. “You get me home, get me patched up, and you’ll see what good boys get.” 

At first it’s just an interesting diversion for Sarge, but that changes as he comes to realize what he’s found in Murphy.

Murphy is intelligent, but he doesn’t talk much. And damn it, he doesn’t need to because the nuance of communication between him and Sarge is exquisite. When it comes to D/s, one thing that fascinates me is when the physically larger guy is the submissive/bottom. And my goodness isn’t Murphy an enticing one.  But it’s more the two together that really gets me about this story. They’re perfect together. Such devotion. I was seriously holding my breath and biting my nails at the end.

Speaking of the ending, it felt a bit abrupt at first. But the more I thought on it, the more I realized that wasn’t the case–the ending is perfect. I would love to explain that specifically, but don’t want to spoil it. Just read this little gem. I highly recommend it and cannot wait for the next in this series to come out.

Murphy (F.I.S.T.S. #2) – 4.75 stars

Sometimes when it seems like it’s too late, the right person comes along and opens your eyes…

Murphy is the continuing story of the D/s relationship between two Space Marines who found each other in the midst of hopelessness and misfortune.

Sarge and his newly minted squad travel across the galaxy on a top-secret mission that could help win the war. However, to Murphy something about the mission stinks, and it’s not just the planet they’ve landed on.

After the events of book one ends with a semi-cliffie where we aren’t sure if one of the MC survives, I was very happy when this book came out! It shows us the guys have both survived and gotten off that godforsaken planet. Yes! Not only that, they’ve been promoted and are heroes of a sort.

I enjoyed getting Sarge’s point of view here–enjoyed watching the veteran soldier trying to keep his growing feelings for Murphy in check (and sometimes failing); enjoyed the chance to view Murphy from someone else’s perspective; and enjoyed that even though it’s Murphy who can see the colors of other people’s emotions, Sarge is so keyed in to Murphy that it’s nearly the same for him even without a special sense. I just love how neither of these guys really have to vocalize much because they are just so perfectly in tune to each other.

Must admit that getting to read from his own POV how the crusty old career solider goes all gooey and vulnerable over his big moose of a soldier boy was a delightful treat. And this about sums it up in Sarge’s own words:

“My career has always come first. Always. What the hell are you supposed to do when something else becomes more important?”

This short story serves up kinky, raunchy sex, hurt/comfort, sweet love, a bigger bottom/sub and a smaller top/Dom, and a dangerous mission gone wrong that offers up a good helping of plot and action.

The Missing Reel

A short scene from Sarge (F.I.S.T.S #1) which the author left out in order to keep the nature of their relationship somewhat ambiguous.

It takes place a week after the explosion that took Sarge’s eye and shows their first encounter after Sarge’s comment about seeing what “good boys get.” Perfect little scene that I’m glad the author decided to give us the opportunity to read the first time these guys interacted in this dynamic and felt it gave an insight that set the tone for the rest of the relationship. Since this is a deleted scene from the first story, I’m not going to rate it separately.

The cover on this anthology is pretty plain, meant to emulate a must used/stained field manual.

Sales Link:  Amazon


Book Details:  

143 pages

Published July 7th, 2015 by Bey Deckard

Kindle Edition
Published June 8th 2015 (first published June 1st 2015)
ASINB00ZA9T6WE
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Stella Review: Trailer Trash by Marie Sexton

Rating:  5 out of 5 stars     ★★★★★

Trailer TrashIt’s 1986, and what should have been the greatest summer of Nate Bradford’s life goes sour when his parents suddenly divorce. Now, instead of spending his senior year in his hometown of Austin, Texas, he’s living with his father in Warren, Wyoming, population 2,833 (and Nate thinks that might be a generous estimate). There’s no swimming pool, no tennis team, no mall—not even any MTV. The entire school’s smaller than his graduating class back home, and in a town where the top teen pastimes are sex and drugs, Nate just doesn’t fit in.

Then Nate meets Cody Lawrence. Cody’s dirt-poor, from a broken family, and definitely lives on the wrong side of the tracks. Nate’s dad says Cody’s bad news. The other kids say he’s trash. But Nate knows Cody’s a good kid who’s been dealt a lousy hand. In fact, he’s beginning to think his feelings for Cody go beyond friendship.

Admitting he might be gay is hard enough, but between small-town prejudices and the growing AIDS epidemic dominating the headlines, a town like Warren, Wyoming, is no place for two young men to fall in love.

I have a weakness for Marie Sexton, she is the one who wrote one of my all time favorite characters in the mm genre (Cole from the Coda series). She’s awesome at communicating emotions and a master at writing and plotting activities. She’s left me speechless more than once.

This time around too I have no words to say how much her new release, Trailer Trash, sucked me into its world, leaving me breathless and sleepless. The characters she created were all (unsurprisingly) someone I could soon relate with and love ’till the end and more. Someone I could easily become best friends with.

The story took place in the 1986 in the middle of nowhere.

It’s August, Cody and Nate meet outside a gas station where Nate tries to buy a pack of cigarettes although not eighteen yet and then gives one to Cody. It’s the start of a new relationship. An ostensibly impossible and not recommended friendship between two young men so different from each other but with a beautiful future to share.

Nate’s parents just divorced, he would have preferred to stay in Austin with his mum but he had to follow his dad to a new town. He is planning to stay here only one year, graduate and then leave. School starts in three weeks and he’s looking for someone to hang with. He is frustrated, there is nothing to do in this town, apart from Cody.

Cody grew up in the wrong side of the town. He lives in a trailer with his mum who works as a waitress, they struggle with money a lot. He has nothing in common with the new boy and he already knows he’s going to lose Nate as soon as school starts and Nate will meet the cool guys. What he doesn’t know is that Nate doesn’t like these cool kids, they are surely similar to him than Cody but  there is too much sex, alcohol and drugs and Nate doesn’t fit in all of this.

Nate and Cody are socially the opposite. But they fit amazingly together and the strength of unknown and unexpected feelings will bring them together again after a tragedy wrecked Cody’s life.

I connected with these great MCs from the start, I felt all their emotions in my soul. It wasn’t a surprise, because I already knew the author’s qualities, but I shared a deep care and respect for some of the secondary characters too, especially with their parents and the lovely Logan. He is the only one who had never avoided Cody, on the contrary he offers him to work for his family as a dishwasher. Logan is the first to support Cody whether he is gay or not. He is the best friend anyone would want.

The story hurt a little in some moments, seeing Cody so lonely, Nate’s struggle with his newly discovered sexuality to the point of forcing himself to like girls, the name calling from the other kids, and so much more, tragedy not excluded. All of these gave me a perfect ending. I couldn’t ask for something more. Of course being greedy, I’d love to have a sequel, something set in the present, thirty years later.

I think it’s clear I loved Trailer Trash, it’s emotional, deep and well written, it felt very realistic to me and I want to highly recommend it to everyone.

The cover art by Jay Aheer is marvelous and I’m appreciating this artist style more with every cover I see.

Sales Links:   Riptide Publishing | ARe | Amazon  those links to follow

Book Details:

ebook, 340 pages
Expected publication: March 21st 2016 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN 1626493952 (ISBN13: 9781626493957)
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Free Dreamer Review: Lima Oscar Victor Echo and The Truth About Everything by Suki Fleet

Rating: 5 stars out of 5         ★★★★★

Lima Oscar Victor EchoGrowing up in a small village in Wales with a domineering homophobic father, Oscar has always believed he has to hide his real feelings.


He’s hidden his heart from everyone, but most of all from his best friend, Jamie–who also happens to be the boy he’s in love with. 
But when a film Oscar makes about love and acceptance is chosen to be in the finals of a national competition, everything he’s hidden about himself threatens to be revealed.


Now Oscar thinks he must make the choice between the life he knows and the people he loves, and the life he wishes he had. 
But life holds far more secrets and promises than Oscar expects.

I probably shouldn’t have loved this story as much as I did. There’s the gay guy falling for the straight guy trope, which I usually hate, it’s rather fluffy, when I’m a fluff-hater, and it’s a short story, when I prefer novels with 250+ pages. But this is Suki Fleet, and it’s free, so I figured I’d give it a shot. And it was so worth it.

Now, this isn’t your typical Suki Fleet story. It’s a lot less bitter and a lot sweeter than the usual things she writes and yet I still found myself in tears by the end.

This wasn’t the typical GFY trope, where the straight guy remains straight, even once he’s in a relationship with another guy. Jamie has doubted his sexuality for a while now, but with everything that’s happened over the last year or so, he just hasn’t had the emotional capacity to really worry about that. And Oscar isn’t out to the world at all and very much convinced that the love of his love will never return his feelings.

Both MCs were absolutely lovable. They were so different and yet they worked so well with each other. It was beautiful to watch them slowly become more than friends. The romance was breathtakingly beautiful and felt so incredibly real to me.

The little bit of angst that was there, was wonderfully done. Not too much to drag the whole story down, but just enough to counterbalance the otherwise very sweet tone of the rest. There was some homophobia and Oscar’s worries about coming out and I found myself just as worried as Oscar. I just couldn’t really see a satisfying solution for all the problems presented, and yet the ending was simply perfect. It was so incredibly romantic I suddenly found myself tearing up over it.

I loved how both MCs’ passions got so many on-page scenes and how they played an essential role in the whole plot. That was wonderfully done and I could easily relate to the joy they both felt when playing music and creating animations.

Overall, a beautiful little YA adult story about coming out and falling in love. It’s a lot lighter than Suki Fleet’s other works and it’s free, so this is the perfect chance to give her a try.

Cover: The wonderful cover was done by the author herself. It’s unique and works really well with the story.

Sales Links:  Free at Goodreads M/M Romance Group

Book details:

ebook, 83 pages
Published June 7th 2015 by M/M Romance Group @ Goodreads
Edition LanguageEnglish
CharactersOscar Moore, Jamie (Lima Oscar Victor Echo…)
setting Llanitheth, Wales (United Kingdom)
Newport, Wales (United Kingdom)
Llanhilleth, Wales (United Kingdom

A Lila Review: Balls Up (Blowing It #2) by Kate Aaron

Rating: 5 stars out of 5        ★★★★★
Handsome man holding a briefcase in a vintage interior
Handsome man holding a briefcase in a vintage interior

Owen Barnes’s life is finally going the way he wants. He’s making a living as an author, and his relationship with building surveyor Magnus Cassidy is going from strength to strength.

When Owen finds a lump, he buries his head in the sand. He’s too busy for doctor appointments and besides, it’s probably nothing. He pushes concern away and is soon swept up in a whirlwind of distractions. His best friend’s husband is falling apart and Owen needs to be strong for them, not burdening them with his fears.

He says he’ll deal with it when the new book is released, when Ryan and Sameer are more stable, when he’s done writing. Owen has a hundred excuses to hide one simple fact: he’s scared.

Eventually, Magnus drags him to the doctor, and the news isn’t good. Can Owen cope with the unexpected turn events have taken, or is his perfect life about to go balls up?

Eventually, Magnus drags him to the doctor, and the news isn’t good. Can Owen cope with the unexpected turn events have taken, or is his perfect life about to go balls up?

Balls Up is more than a romance, it’s the diary of a cancer patient and his caretaker. Yes, they are a couple, but as the disease progresses, we get to understand the challenges their love faced and how they managed to make it flourish during their darkest time together.

I read this story as a stand-alone but in reality, it is book #2 in the Bring It series. This is not the type of story I usually read, but I’m glad I did. Unless you want to know how Owen and Magnus got together and read more about the secondary characters, there’s no need to read the previous book to enjoy this installment.

Owen’s cancer is the central plot of the story, everything else is secondary. It is a hard book to read. It feels real, and it takes the reader, step by step, through the complete process– from diagnosis to resolution. We live the ups and downs with Owen and take part of his fears, hopes, and treatment.

There are happy moments mixed within the story. Great secondary characters, and perfect scenarios for the events to take place. The pacing flows well, getting us through the hard moments with a little hope to look forward. Owen’s and Magnus’s relationship is the perfect example of a caring love.

The author not only wrote a beautiful story about a real couple with believable problems, but she also gave us a story that everyone can relate to. Like the characters in the story, we all know someone with cancer or had experienced it. Writing about a topic many men are not comfortable to talk about, open the door for their partners to reach to them. It gives us an opening to get more information about a serious issue. And we get to see how the complete medical process works.

Another thing I enjoyed was the characterization. We get outstanding characters, settings, and events from a British perspective. What I liked the most it’s that the author didn’t feel the need to Americanized the story as other do even when they take place outside the United States. The terms, the experiences, and everything surrounding the characters and their stories was believable and perfectly crafted.

The title and the cover go hand in hand with the topics and several scenes in the story. Plus, it matches the cover of the previous book in the series.

Sale Links: Croft House | Amazon | ARe

Book Details:

ebook, 310 pages
Published: June 6, 2016, by Croft House
ISBN: 9781310202261
Edition Language: English

Series:  Blowing It
Book #1: Blowing It
Book #2: Balls Up
Book #3: Dom on the Side

Old Labels, Tagging and This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Old Labels, Tagging and The Need to Move Forward

 

Something one of our reviewers said  to me this week got me thinking about labels and tagging.  She said that there was a controversy stirring about a current release and the GFY label and bisexuality, blurring/confusion between them.  She wanted to give me a head’s up.  Now I had no idea (still don’t) because I wasn’t paying any attention but it brought to mind things that have been swimming around the brain for some time now…that there are some labels that need to be put to rest.

In the book review world there are certain three letter  or  three character abbreviations we use all the time to quick label  a book.  Among some of the most widely used are M/M, D/s, HEA, HFN, and of course, GFY.   Its the later that I’m going to be blogging about on Saturday.  I think we’ve grown past that label, and now its rolled into hurtful territory.   Why not use the term pansexual (among others) where proper?  And bisexual where the character clearly loves and desires both sexes?

Not getting into it today but look for a much longer and thoughtful post on Saturday.  Join in on the discussion and let me know how you feel about tagging and labels.  I’m really curious.  Haven’t be gone past these old perceptions?  Isn’t it time we laid them to rest?  We’ve enlarged the LGBT to include LGBTQIA, lets bring the book review world along with it.

Now we’ve got a stacked  week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words, lets get to it.

This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Sunday, March 13:

  • Old Labels, Tagging and This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Monday, March 14:

  • Chris T. Kat ‘Mending the Rift’ virtual tour and giveaway
  • ‘At Your Service’ by Ariel Tachna – Author Guest Blog/Release Day
  • Book Spotlight: Bound (Guards of Folsom, Book Five) by Author: SJD Peterson
  • A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Bound (Guards of Folsom, Book Five) by Author: SJD Peterson
  • A MelanieM Review: At Your Service by Ariel Tachna
  • A Stella review: Mending the Rift by Chris T Kat

Tuesday, March 15:

  • Between Ghosts by Garrett Leigh – Riptide Publishing Contest
  • Its Release Day for the Riverdance Anthology (excerpts and giveaway)
  • In Our Contemporary Spotlight: Trial by Fire by BA Tortuga DSP tour and guest blog
  • A MelanieM Review: Trial by Fire by BA Tortuga
  • A Lila Review: Ghosts (The Power of Zero, #2) by Jackie Keswick

Wednesday, March 16:

  • Coffee Sip and Book Break with Lioness in Blue by Shira Glassman
  • A Ali Review: Eagle’s Nest by AJ Marcus
  • A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Lay It down by Mary Calmes
  • A Jeri Review: Him (Him #1) by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy
  • A Lila Review: Balls Up by Kate Aaron

Thursday, March   17:

  • Dianne Hartsock’s ‘Stuck on Rewind’ virtual tour and giveaway
  • A Barb the Zany Old Lady Audiobook Review: Being True by Jacob Z. Flores
  • A F.D. Review: Lima Oscar Victor Echo and The Truth About Everything by Suki Fleet
  • A Jeri Review: Us By Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy
  • A Lila Review: Beyond the Sea by Keira Andrews

Friday, March 18:

  • Katey Hawthorne’s Blood and Clockwork Tour and Giveaway
  • Love Comes to Light Author: Andrew Grey’s Guest Blog
  • A Stella Review: Spencer Cohen by NR Walker
  • A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Two Pet Dicks by John Inman
  • A Paul B Review: Love Comes to Light by Andrew Grey

Saturday, March 19:

  • Melanie M Thoughts On Labeling – Isn’t It Time to Put Away GFY?