Category: 5 star Rating

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Audio Review : Will & Patrick Wake Up Married Series (Episodes 1-3) by Leta Blake & Alice Griffiths /John Solo (Narrator)

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

OMG! I was hooked within the first ten minutes of this 11 1/2 hour audiobook. John Solo did a spectacular job interpreting the humor the authors infused throughout every page. His vocalizations and sound effects were spot-on. And the voice he gave each of the MCs was perfect for their characters.

I already hit one-click to purchase the second volume: books 4-6 in e-book format because I cannot wait one moment to pick up where this one left off. Will I listen to the audio when it comes out? If John Solo narrates it, you bet I will. And I very highly recommend everyone hurry to pick up this audiobook. This will most definitely make your day.

Quick summary – Will Patterson is a sweetheart—a young man who suffers from type I diabetes and is attempting to recover from alcoholism.  He slips spectacularly at a medical conference in Las Vegas and finds himself married to neurosurgeon Dr Patrick McCloud. For financial reasons, they can’t divorce or have the marriage annulled. Will’s connected to organized crime and the funds he inherited through the mob side of the family, with which he’s doing altruistic work to help the people in his town, will disappear if he doesn’t marry for love and/or if he ever divorces or annuls his marriage.

Patrick can’t believe his luck. Bad luck, that is. Well, maybe not. Will is hot and as time goes by Patrick finds more to love than not love about Will. Patrick is full of snark and vinegar though, and God forbid anyone find out he’s really a nice guy. No way. 

The major problem they have, other than the fact they got drunk married, is that Will is not over his ex. Ryan is annoying and very passive-aggressive and quite full of himself. I am hoping he gets his comeuppance by the end of the series. In the meantime, this volume ends on a high note. The guys have decided to stay together for now, enjoying a friends-with-benefits sort of relationship, with all the sex Will wants, and that’s something the never had with Ryan. Patrick’s heart seems to be getting engaged, so I have no doubt the next volume is going to be a treat. And I’m starting that the minute I finish this review.

Most highly recommended! In audio, for sure.

Sales Links:  Amazon | Audible

Audio Book Details:

Audible Audio, 1st edition, 12 pages
Published May 24th 2019 by Leta Blake Books (first published May 2nd 2016)
ASINB07S98HFY4
Edition Language English
Series Wake Up Married #1-3

BOOK 4-6 Wake Up Married serial, Episodes 4 – 6: Fight Their Feelings, Meet the Mob, Happy Ending

An Alisa Review: Malachite (Brotherhood of Ormarr #4) by Michele Notaro & Sammi Cee

Rating:  5 stars out of 5

Malachite~

I have a wonderful life. I have no room to complain; between my brothers and their new mates, this is the most alive our home has felt since my parents died. Unfortunately, all of them being mated is making me miserable. When it was just the four of us, it was us against the world. Now they’re paired up and it’s only me and my dragon, Kesia. Until I happen to walk into the Overlord’s Lair and I see him: Quentin. Mine. Mate. As much as I want to win him over without telling him I’m a dragon rider and we’re mates—which I know he’d love—I’m not sure I can. The minute I’m around him I act like an idiot.

Quentin~

Every time the goofy guy walks into my store, he brightens my day, and I look forward to his daily visits. There’s just something about him that draws me to him, to the point he leaves me pining after him the moment he’s gone. But the thing is, I can tell he’s hiding something, and my wild imagination is coming up with the craziest explanations of the secrets he’s keeping. Maybe he’s a vampire that’s come to whisk me away—ridiculous, right? But a guy can dream. And I’ve definitely been dreaming of that big, muscular man wrapping me in his arms at night.

Malachite is the final book in The Brotherhood of Ormarr series. While each book focuses on a different couple, the overall story arc concludes in this installment. For maximum enjoyment, we suggest reading in order. Malachite is a m/m romance, and is recommended for adults 18 years and older.

This story was the perfect ending to this series and there were a few more surprises thrown in.  Malachite is so adorable for such a big guy and Quentin is just a great guy who seems to see the positive side of things.  Again Kesia is her own dragon and I love how much she wants them to keep Quentin right away.

I was glad that this family was able to get the closure they needed after all they had been through in these books.  I hurt for them when they found out how deep the wraiths touch went in the order but loved the Quentin ended up being the one to help the wraiths once again become the dragons they were meant to be.

Malachite was so adorable and clumsy when it came to courting Quentin but most of all he is the so sweet with everyone.  Quentin hadn’t had the best childhood but his connection to the dragons from the very beginning was absolutely wonderful.  Even more I loved the epilogue and seeing how these brothers have expanded their family in the years since they freed the wraiths.

I once again loved the cover art by Jay Aheer and liked getting to see Kesia in her warrior form.

Sales Link: Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 254 pages

Publication: June 10, 2019

Edition Language: English

Series: Brotherhood of Ormarr #4

Brotherhood of Ormarr Series by different authors:

Azaran (The Brotherhood of Ormarr, #1)
by Jacki James

Zale (The Brotherhood of Ormarr, #2)
by Michelle Frost

Eeli (The Brotherhood of Ormarr, #3)
by Steph Marie, Bobbie Rayne

Malachite (The Brotherhood of Ormarr, #4)
by Michele Notaro

A MelanieM Review: Nine Small Sips (A Tales Of Bryant Wedding) by V.L. Locey

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Life for Isamu Taylor is now a Cinderella story that includes a Manhattan loft, a new position in the hottest LGBT film production company in New York City, and an upcoming wedding in Bryant Park to his very own handsome prince.

He’s come a long way from that struggling film student with ratty sneakers and shaggy hair. Isamu is now living an urbanite’s fairy tale with that happily ever after just around a bustling city street corner.

But as all wedding planners know, even the best laid plans seem to go awry, and Isamu and Brian’s wedding is no exception. But love – both old and new – is in the air, so nothing can go too badly, right?

Nine Small Sips (A Tales Of Bryant Wedding) by V.L. Locey is such a wonderful joy of a story to read.  The wedding story followup to Tales of Bryant this is exactly the story we not only want to read but need to read.  It has depth where we (and the characters)need it too, banter and straight up giggles in all the right and some of the very hysterically wrong places! And two of the most beloved and quite delightful “worried chins” I’ve every read about!

Those chins would belong to Isamu’s mother and very old grandmother just in from Japan with her ancient Saki set.  Why say anything when you have the most expressive chins to do it for you?  Ok, my face is beginning to hurt again.

Add to that an over the top wedding planner with a lorgnette, an ever tightening schedule, grooms fraying over the details, while still managing sex and to reaffirm their deep love for each other.  Yes, it’s a grand romp, high romance, and family time in Manhattan all rolled into a story to remember.

And they even gave a new couple a launching pad into the  next story which I cannot wait to read.

How Im loving this couple and new series!  It’s a shiny new light in contemporary romance, not too angsty, but filled with warmth, love, and HEA.  Perfect!

And yes, I’m definitely recommending it

Cover Design: Sloan J Designs. Love this cover with the simple and elegant but all important saki set on it.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link
 

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 108 pages
Published June 10th 2019
ASINB07SYPFXZB
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesTales Of Bryant #2

Tales of Bryant – Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Nine Small Sips (A Tales Of Bryant Wedding)

A MelanieM Review :Seeing Red (Trowchester Series #4) by Alex Beecroft

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Bad boys don’t tame easy.

Victor is a bad man. Is there anything he won’t do for power and money?

Destroy a local business so he can buy it cheap? Kick out its owners and turn it into a cash cow? He relishes the chance.

Idris is a good man in possession of a renowned tea-house. He’s put his heart and soul into the place. It’s everything he has and wants…

Except for Victor.

He wants Victor too.

Can the love of a compassionate man soften a predator’s heart before it’s too late? Or is Idris doomed to lose his life’s work, and his heart with it?

A contemporary mm romance, Seeing Red is a long-awaited new installment of the critically acclaimed Trowchester Series.

Each book in the series is a standalone, and can be read in any order.

I have been an enthusiastic fan of Alex Beecroft’s Trowchester series since the release of the first story, Trowchester Blues.  There we met Finn Hulme, a retired criminal, now proud owner of a bookshop in Trowchester and Michael May, ex cop come to the village and his childhood home full of bad memories.  Everything about that story has staying power.  Vivid complicated characters, a powerful romance with a troubled and rocky path, realistic given the men, and a complex plot that included Finn’s past returning to haunt him.  All that while introducing us to the village of Trowchester.  The canals, the canal boats, the shops, the people, and overall atmosphere of ancient and waning, new and struggling.  So remarkable and vivid that the place just felt as though you could go visit and walk the streets, but stay in the lights in certain areas.

This first novel set the format for the characters and plots really for the stories that followed in the series.  Contemporary romance yes, but the main characters?  Unlike really any I’d met.  They felt raw, real, sweet and naive, solemn and severe, gritty and savvy, broken and internally twisted.Even sociopathic in some cases, their upbringing warm or a horror, or even , here where several of the characters and their culture is so far removed from the British norm.

Seeing Red is another spectacular novel and romance which further elevates this series.  It starts with Victor and his very different perspective.  It’s that of a man who is going to destroy someone we have come to love through the previous stories, Idris and his quirky tea shop.  However, Beecroft turns this into a psychological study of a man who’s entire life has been a struggle of fear and survival, stemming from abandonment and pain, and constant abuse.    Victor has used the items of wealth as barriers against all that in his life, watches, clothes, condos, and a job he hates. All a wall against the existence he had growing up and the voice that beats against his brain and heart constantly when he lets it.  It’s a fierce and scary thing.

On the other end of the spectrum is sweet, and somewhat naive Idris, running his shop with  his cousin from Bangladesh, where being gay is a crime.  But even in Trowchester, things are uncertain.  Brexit and the rise of hate crimes in England against Muslims are making Lalima  uneasy and she is thinking of returning.  But this is his home and his special place, his friends, and his sanctuary. His and others.  Something we have come to understand through the stories.  His gentle kind and loving nature shines like a welcoming beam through the pages ….to us and to Victor.

The thing is that Victor is unformed in so many ways.  He’s broken and stuck as a fearful almost child/man who has never seen the consequences of his actions or wanted something other than things.  All that will change now.

Seeing Red is shattering, heartbreaking, raw, beautiful, and incredible.  It’s about love and redemption.

And as Alex Beecroft does, enlarging one’s universe again and again.

There are things here that as an American I will never quite get.  The obsession and deep pain that gets inflicted on those with red hair in the UK or England.  Yes, people in the US get their share of getting called “carrot head” and other names, but basically its kid stuff.  Not the culturally deep seated derision and worse that seems to be reserved for “Gingers” over there.  That too comes through loud and clear though Victor .

Not familiar with this series?  Each is a standalone so start anywhere.  Including here.  Then go and get each one.  They are perfection and absorbing.  I highly recommend them all.

Cover art is gorgeous.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 298 pages
Published May 12th 2019
ASINB07RSWBMZ7

Check out the rest of the Trowchester Series here

BLOG TOUR Prescription for Love (Road to Blissville #7) by Aimee Nicole Walker (excerpt and giveaway)

Prescription for Love Tour Banner

Prescription for Love

Road to Blissville Series, Book 7

Aimee Nicole Walker

M/M Romance

Release Date: 05.18.19

Prescription for love complete

Cover Design: Jay Aheer/https://www.facebook.com/Simply-Defined-Art-1622658254619778/

Photographer: Wander Aguiar/http://wanderaguiar.com/

Prescription for love 3Dlarge

BLURB

What should’ve been an ordinary emergency call turned out to be something extraordinary.

Wanting to distance himself from his toxic parents, Trent Love moved to the quaint town of Blissville to begin a new life. What he finds is blazing chemistry with a hunky fireman who breathes new life into him.

Fearing they’re too different, Tucker attempts to extinguish the spark between them before it can ignite. How could a simple man like him compete with Trent’s life of wealth and privilege? Knowing you shouldn’t want something doesn’t make it go away, and Tucker’s desire for Trent continues to smolder.

Unwilling to accept their relationship is dead on arrival, Trent puts his resuscitation skills to good use. All he wants is a chance to prove he values Tucker’s wealth of character over meaningless material things. What do you get when you mix fire and oxygen: a five-alarm fire or a prescription for love?

Trent’s commitment to freeing himself from poisonous ties kindles a chain of events that have devastating consequences for both men. Is a relationship forged in fire strong enough to overcome these obstacles or is their love doomed to be just another bitter pill to swallow?

Prescription for love is a small-town, opposites-attract romance. It is the seventh book in the Road to Blissville series but reads like a standalone book. It contains sexually explicit material intended for adults 18 and older.

http://mybook.to/PrescriptionForLove

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EXCERPT

“There’s no way I can watch you squat in those shorts and not get a hard-on.” Trent had been nothing but honest with me, so I gave it right back to him. “We’ll work on our upper body today.”

Even with Trent looking deliciously sweaty, I was able to find my zone and work my shoulders, arms, back, and core abdominal muscles. Lifting weights was my version of yoga. I found my Zen and the endorphins pumping through my body would improve my mood and motivate me to keep moving throughout the day. Only when we returned to the locker room did I realize those mood-lifting hormones also amped up my libido.

“Did you want to shower here before we go to breakfast or wait until I drop you off at home?”

Trent looked over his shoulder at the shower room, which had both an open shower area and private stalls for those preferring privacy. We could so easily fit inside one of those stalls and—

“We better wait,” he said, wiping his body down to remove the sweat glistening on his skin. Damn, I wanted to lick him. A little bit of sweat didn’t turn me off at all, but he might think it was gross.

“Yeah, I want to lick you all over too,” Trent said, correctly reading the expression on my face. “And I will…someday.”

“Tease,” I groused.

Aimee Nicole Walker Logo

Ever since she was a little girl, Aimee Nicole Walker entertained herself with stories that popped into her head. Now she gets paid to tell those stories to other people. She wears many titles—wife, mom, and animal lover are just a few of them. Her absolute favorite title is champion of the happily ever after. Love inspires everything she does, music keeps her sane, and coffee is the magic elixir that fuels her day. I’d love to hear from you.

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