Book Reviews

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review : Heat For Sale by Blake Moreno

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Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Heat can be sold but love is earned.

In a world where omegas sell their heats for profit, Adrien is a university student in need of funding. With no family to fall back on, he reluctantly allows the university’s matcher to offer his virgin heat for auction online. Anxious, but aware this is the reality of life for all omegas, Adrien hopes whoever wins his heat will be kind.

Heath—a wealthy, older alpha—is rocked by the young man’s resemblance to his dead lover, Nathan. When Heath discovers Adrien is Nathan’s lost son from his first heat years before they met, he becomes obsessed with the idea of reclaiming a piece of Nathan.

Heath buys Adrien’s heat with only one motivation: to impregnate Adrien, claim the child, and move on. But their undeniable passion shocks him. Adrien doesn’t know what to make of the handsome, mysterious stranger he’s pledged his body to, but he’s soon swept away in the heat of the moment and surrenders to Heath entirely.

Once Adrien is pregnant, Heath secrets him away to his immense and secluded home. As the birth draws near, Heath grows to love Adrien for the man he is, not just for his connection to Nathan. Unaware of Heath’s past with his omega parent and coming to depend on him heart and soul, Adrien begins to fall as well.

But as their love blossoms, Nathan’s shadow looms. Can Heath keep his new love and the child they’ve made together once Adrien discovers his secrets?

Well, the blurb really tells most of the story but without the engaging dialogue and the characters’ personalities. This was very well-written and I really liked the omegaverse, the characters, and their story.

I thought it was going to be so erotic that the plot would be minimal, but that wasn’t the case. The author did a great job in building the characters, principally the MCs, Adrien and Heath, but also Heath’s deceased lover, Nathan, who was Adrien’s biological parent, unknown to Adrien throughout most of the book.

The plot wasn’t too complex or convoluted—everything was put out there for readers to see. Adrien being unaware of Heath’s attempt to replicate his dead lover formed the basis of the story, but the time the wealthy, powerful alpha, Heath, and the sweet, innocent, virgin omega, Adrien, spent together in the Heat Cabin brought about the beginning of change in Heath’s thinking and in his heart and then the time they spent in the “Nest” Heath created for his omega’s pregnancy needs sealed the deal.

Watching their emotional changes and the commitment Heath eventually made to Adrien was entertaining. Adrien’s emotions during his pregnancy and his hormone drop while chestfeeding their baby (I love that word!) and the slow evolution of Adrien’s knowledge about his dead omega father brought about major change and drama. I totally enjoyed everything about the story, including Heath getting his comeuppance for having been stupid enough to keep essential information from Adrien for so long.

And as I said, I knew going in that there would be a lot of sex, and it is plenty erotic, but I personally think Alpha Heat by Leta Blake—Blake Moreno’s alter ego—was much hotter, more erotic, and had a better story than this one. Just sayin’. But—and it’s a very big but—I will keep reading these stories if the author decides to do more—under either pseudonym. I enjoy both Blake’s and Leta’s writing style and though both omegaverse’s are different, they have enough in common to engage me in their world and keep me coming back.

The cover art by Dar Albert @WickedSmartDesigns depicts a young seminude man that represents Adrien posing for the photos for his heat auction and in the background, a head shot of Heath, a handsome, wealthy alpha. Very nicely done.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK – Exclusive to Amazon and on Kindle Unlimited

Book Details:

ebook
Published October 18th 2018 by Dark Ink (first published October 14th 2018)
ISBN 139781626227798
Edition Language English

Review Tour and Giveaway for Heat For Sale by Blake Moreno

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Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK – Exclusive to Amazon and on Kindle Unlimited
 
Length: 192 pages
 
Cover Design: Dar Albert @ Wicked Smart Design
 
Blurb
 

Heat can be sold but love is earned.


In a world where omegas sell their heats for profit, Adrien is a university student in need of funding. With no family to fall back on, he reluctantly allows the university’s matcher to offer his virgin heat for auction online. Anxious, but aware this is the reality of life for all omegas, Adrien hopes whoever wins his heat will be kind.


Heath—a wealthy, older alpha—is rocked by the young man’s resemblance to his dead lover, Nathan. When Heath discovers Adrien is Nathan’s lost son from his first heat years before they met, he becomes obsessed with the idea of reclaiming a piece of Nathan.


Heath buys Adrien’s heat with only one motivation: to impregnate Adrien, claim the child, and move on. But their undeniable passion shocks him. Adrien doesn’t know what to make of the handsome, mysterious stranger he’s pledged his body to, but he’s soon swept away in the heat of the moment and surrenders to Heath entirely.


Once Adrien is pregnant, Heath secrets him away to his immense and secluded home. As the birth draws near, Heath grows to love Adrien for the man he is, not just for his connection to Nathan. Unaware of Heath’s past with his omega parent and coming to depend on him heart and soul, Adrien begins to fall as well.


But as their love blossoms, Nathan’s shadow looms. Can Heath keep his new love and the child they’ve made together once Adrien discovers his secrets?


Heat for Sale is a stand-alone m/m erotic romance by Leta Blake, writing as Blake Moreno. Infused with a du Maurier Rebecca-style secret, it features a well-realized omegaverse, an age-gap, dominance and submission, heats, knotting, and scorching hot scenes.


Author Bio


Blake Moreno explores the darker side of erotic romance. Married to a hot tech nerd, educated in BDSM, and attracted to twinks and twunks alike, Moreno embraces taboo explorations. Come along on a quest for intensity and deep emotion. Don’t fear the dark.


Discover more about Blake on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blakemorenodarkink/


Blake Moreno is an alternate pen name of the author Leta Blake.

 

Read Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words review here. We definitely recommend it.

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Release Blitz and Giveaway – Comply by Lee Manarte

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Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK – Exclusive to Amazon and Available to Borrow in Kindle Unlimited
 
Length: 217 pages
 
Cover Design: Jay Aheer @ Simply Defined Art
 
Blurb
 

“The world is a cruel place…”


No one believes that more than I do. My name is Declan Forester, and I am a Zedian. Part of a different species born with miraculous gifts from the gods, only the humans don’t see it that way. They see us as something to be tamed.



After being captured by the humans and stripped of my abilities, I have little left. With my life in shambles, my thoughts are haunted by my human tormenter. Dr. Adam Davenport. A human male that is everything nightmares are made of. 


Now, his unwilling captive in a government-run facility, I am forced to obey his every demand, or be punished. Caught up in a web of lies about gods, the push to help a hot redhead, my high running desires and, oh yeah, the pending apocalypse, I find myself falling apart. And Adam may be the only one to save me…if I comply.

 
Author Bio
 

“Writing has always been my passion. I love to entertain others through the worlds I create. I encourage others to follow their passions, live their dreams, and write. I hope you all enjoy what I write and gain the courage to express yourself.”


~Lee has a bachelor’s in media and communications, is a huge nerd and loves to write about sexy men loving men. Come check her out on Facebook and chat!

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A MelanieM Review: Ripe: Letters by Alan Semrow

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Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

 

Funny, sexy, evocative, and brutally honest, Ripe is Alan Semrow’s ode to relationships with men. In this epistolary book, Semrow writes to the men who have impacted his outlook, reminded him of basic life lessons, surprised him in more ways than one, and left him reeling for days. Writing to one-night-flings, men he has never met, and men he’ll never stop running into, Semrow touches on some of the most constant human themes—love, lust, desire, and the yearning for connection. All the while, the book details a man’s journey navigating and blooming by way of the modern gay scene. Readers will find familiarity and hard truths in Semrow’s statements about the intricacy and explosiveness of the intimate moments we share.

I honestly thought that reading someone’s letters written to men that they’d met and slept with  would come with, well, more introspection, more self examination in depth and less self frippery. Instead of getting the feeling that the author has spent real time pondering these man and their impact upon the direction his life took, the reader comes away thinking Semrow was writing his hookup version of Jimmy Fallon’s Thank you notes.   These letters read just that shallow.

And about as sexy and funny.

Each with a title such as Dear Sunday, Dear Flannel, Dear Only Child, they all quickly blend together into one familiar narrative. The author meets someone or arranges to hookup with someone, they go to bed, he leaves thinks about him/them, letter over.  On and on.  If you are looking for sexual details, yo can skip that too.

Ripe: Letters just comes across more as someone keeping track of all the men he slept with or couples and then making a note next to them.  “Liked him, would do him again”.  ‘Nice sex, he made me smile.’

Something you might expect to see in a little  black book (do they even have those anymore?), or a diary.  Certainly not anything of enough heft for a book, not in this format, at any rate.  Might have been funny but again, not as the   letters posted here. Perhaps instead of posting letters, the author will reflect on the whole, wait a while, and find a new path for an narrative adventure.

Cover art is cute.

Sales Link:  Amazon

Kindle Edition, 127 pages
Published October 1st 2018
ASIN B07HY4MYR1

A MelanieM Review: Lucky Town: A Badlands Novella (Badlands #1.5) by Morgan Brice

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Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

 

Psychic medium Simon Kincaide and his boyfriend, Myrtle Beach homicide detective Vic D’Amato, find that the only thing more frightening than murder might be navigating their first holiday season as a couple.

A trip back to Pittsburgh to spend Thanksgiving with Vic’s large, exuberant family means dodging old frenemies and a bitter ex-boyfriend. A cold case comes back to haunt Vic when a murdered woman’s ghost begs Simon for justice. Then a new murder back in Myrtle Beach looks suspiciously familiar, and the dead man’s ghost isn’t playing nice. When Simon gets a vision of the next victim before the crime occurs, he realizes that all the murders are supernaturally linked. Catching the murderer will take his psychic sleuthing skills along with Vic’s street smarts to avert a tragedy. Can they do right by ghosts past, present and yet-to-come without ending up in the crosshairs of a killer for Christmas?

I very much enjoyed Lucky Town by Morgan Brice after some introductory confusion over the characters, their past history and current situation.  It wasn’t until midway through the story that I went searching at Goodreads and found that Lucky Town is  a sequel to Badlands, something I wasn’t aware of when I started this novel.  I need to go  back now and pick up all the past history I missed that’s hinted at here from that  original story.  Yes, that means I don’t consider Lucky Town a stand alone.

A somewhat confusing introduction to this already established couple opens the story.  We find Simon and  Vic have moved together into Simon’s bungalow in Myrtle Beach, they are still adjusting to that fact, and making it their “home” together.  The author feeds us details of a past case where Simon was hospitalized due to a gunshot wound, a case that was both magical in nature and not only brought these two together but was the primary factor behind Vic moving to North Carolina with Simon.  So much missed past history there.  And its referenced (the case and the aftermath) repeatedly throughout this story.

Luckily, you’re told that Simon sees dead people, ghosts to be exact.  And they tell him things.

Vic knows and believes him.  Which is all good because the paranormal and supernatural is about to land on their doorstep once again.  As in multiple bodies worth.

Now I actually thought the case, the mystery surrounding it, the secondary cast brought in because of it, and the resolution the best part of this story.  I wanted  far more of this, root magic, everything then I actually did of Vic, Pittsburgh, and his family.  They just weren’t as interesting as Simon and the supernatural goings on in Myrtle Beach.

Plus this story is only 116 pages so that’s a lot to cram into a shorter novella.

Still I thought Morgan Brice did a terrific job with the supernatural mystery and cast of characters there.  Loved that element.  In some ways the sex here in parts overwhelmed the story and  relationship development as the book was so short.  I think that could have been balanced a little better.  However, I’m so intrigued by everything that I have read here that I’m not only going to seek out that first novel but read any further stories coming  out for release in this series as well.

If romance, a bit of the scary  paranormal and supernatural is your thing, this might be the series for you.  But definitely read the first story, Badlands, before reading Lucky Town, to get the foundation I needed and clearly missed.

Cover by Natania Barron.  That’s a good representation of the characters, but sort of a typical cover these days.

Sales LInk:   http://a.co/d/8FuMNP7

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 116 pages
Published October 29th 2018 by Darkwind Press
ASINB07K1PW522
Edition Language English
Series Badlands #1.5

Badlands

Lucky Town: A Badlands Novella

Restless Nights

Looking For A New Christmas Romance? Check Out Walking In A Winter Wonderland by Claire Castle (giveaway)

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Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK – Exclusive to Amazon and Available to Borrow in Kindle Unlimited
 
Length: 34,000 words approx.
 
Cover Design: Claire Castle
 
Blurb
 

Colton Dawson is miserable this holiday season. Those he’d loved the most are no longer in his life. With one disappointment after another, how can he possibly get into the Christmas spirit? Maybe a change of scenery—a new place to put down roots—is just what he needs for a second chance to find some happiness.


Winterbourne Vale is only too happy to help his much-loved aunt and uncle run their café in Canada while on his short December break—even if it means leaving his home in the United Kingdom. After a defeated-looking Colton walks into the café, Winter is determined to lift his spirits.


Can Colton and Winter’s Christmas happiness continue long after the gifts are unwrapped and the decorations are stowed away?


Walking in a Winter Wonderland is holiday treat filled with special ornaments and glistening snow, hot tea and cold-weather kisses, along with some sexy shenanigans and plenty of holiday cheer. 

Claire Castle grew up surrounded by books. She has loved reading for her whole life. Her true love is romance and HEAs. When she’s not reading or writing, she can be found wearing comfortable leggings, drinking mocha and petting her west highland terrier. She loves collecting awesome mugs and paperbacks of her favorite stories.


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A Jeri Review: Pay It Forward (Giving Back #1) by Nic Starr

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Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

This was a sweet romance with very little angst or drama. It wasn’t exceptionally fluffy either and there was really only 1 sex scene. Just, what I like to call, a palate cleanser.
Bailey has a bit of a crush on the barista at a local coffee shop. Turns out the barista is the owner and might have a crush himself. And so they go on a date. SHOCKING! It seems that jumping into bed usually comes first and then a couple falls into a relationship. But this time they actually went in the right order.
The most drama is Tom not wanting to accept help from his friends and then later Bailey not wanting to accept help from Tom. I guess every book, no matter how sweet it is, needs some sort of discord that needs to be worked out.
There isn’t a lot for me to say about these 2 ordinary guys finding love with each other. If you need something sweet that will make you smile, this is it.
Cover art is sweet and appropriate for the story.
Sales Link:  Amazon
Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 203 pages
Published November 11th 2018 by Nic Starr
ASINB07K8QVGCL
Edition Language English
Series Giving Back #1