An Alisa Review:How Not to Break (Lovestrong #3) by Susan Hawke

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Take one former SEAL with a healthy dose of regret…

Nick St. Cloud is living with shame from the one time he let his lust override his sense of honor. He’s haunted by the memory of when he made love to his best friend’s eighteen-year-old son. The tragic accident that happened that same night has only compounded his guilt. A decade later, he’s doing his best to be there for Charlie’s son, but anything more than that just wouldn’t be right… would it?

Plus the younger guy who he’s tried to forget…

It’s been ten years. Ten long years. Does Shaw Michaelson feel bad about having seduced his dad’s best friend? Umm, maybe? Although he could’ve done things differently, Shaw can’t find it within himself to be sorry for the hottest night of his life with the one man he’s never been able to forget. The man he’s patterned every subsequent relationship after… yeah, Shaw totally has a type.

Equals a pair of men who deserve a second chance at a first time.

The two men are living in an uneasy peace within the same small town and circle of friends, being careful not to let the other get close enough to open old wounds. All their walls fall when a stalker begins terrorizing Shaw, sending him running to the one man he knows will keep him safe.

Note: Possible trigger warning for the mention of an animal being harmed off-page and the psychological trauma of being stalked.

I have been waiting for this one since the teaser book earlier knowing the one night Shaw and Nick spent together couldn’t be the end of their story. Shaw has been trying to live his life how he wants but can’t seem to get over his feelings for Nick. Nick has been beating himself up over their night together ten years ago and it take Shaw seriously being in danger and the advice of a friend for him to finally make himself get out from under that guilt and see what is right in front of him.

We get to see some classic Nick and Shaw head butting that we saw in the last book but once Nick finally gets over himself I was glad to see that they were perfect for each other.

Shaw was going through a nightmare with his stalker but was lucky to have his friends at his back to help. I loved watching Nick let go of that guilt he had been holding onto and if his dreams are anything to go by they will have a wonderful and long life together. Shaw needed someone to support him much more than take care of him and it was great that Nick was able to give him that. I really look forward to seeing Rick find the boy he is looking for now that he isn’t pining after Shaw anymore.

The cover art is nice, following the style of the series I just wish that the model for Nick would have had some gray in his hair and beard as that was a big part of his looks for Shaw.

Sales Link: Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 239 pages

Publication: March 9, 2019

Edition Language: English

Series: Lovestrong #3

Love Your Contemporary Romance with a Hunk of the Outdoors? Check out “Mucklucked” by James Brock (excerpt and giveaway)

James Brock has a new MM romance book out: Mucklucked.

When fate sends Kodiak DePaul from his home in Alaska to a new world in a big city it is a move equal to going from Manhattan to Mars.

His wild success as a model is quickly followed by tragedy and heartbreak, sending the young Alaskan running back to his home in the north to hide and heal. Intrusion in his now notable life continues in the forty-ninth state, sending Kodiak deeper into the bush to his grandfather’s homestead in one of the most remote parts of the state.

But soon even that place of solitude and refuge loses sanctuary status.

Mucklucked, an adventure with loss and love set against the beauty and danger of the Alaskan wilderness.

Giveaway

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Excerpt

“Look!” Kodiak, exclaimed, his voice suddenly trembling with excitement.

Rising Hunter looked out of the window, Kodiak brushing by him. The homesteader grabbed his outer coat, sliding his arms into it as he re crossed the room, throwing the cabin door open.

“Hey!” It took forever for me to get this place warm! Now you are trying to heat up the great outdoors!” Hunter bellowed

“Just look.” Kodiak said without looking back into the cabin.

“I don’t know what you are doing,” Hunter said, teeth clenched as he buttoned his shirt all the way up, grabbing his own coat and zipping it up while pulling his gloves on over his fingers, “but I’m freezing again.”

Stepping out of the cabin door he closed it and looked up, gasping in awe.

The sky was ablaze with color; emerald green, azure blue shot with ribbons of pale yellow moving in slow, lazy streaks like a symphony across the vast sky.

“This. This is why I’m here.” Kodiak whispered as the Aurora Borealis played lazily above them, vibrant colors stretching as far as their eyes could see, dotted from behind with glistening white stars. That far north in the crystal-clear skies the colors were deep and crisp as they moved in long, easy waves under the stars, the galaxy looking like a black velvet backdrop.

The two young men stood silently side by side, huffing plumes of the cold air out as they breathed, transfixed by the curving colors moving slowly around night sky.

“It’s like a Georgia O’Keefe painting,” Hunter whispered, his right arm raising he traced a finger to outline a ribbon of green rimmed with electric yellow. “I’ve seen a lot of night sky shows but never anything like this.”

“O’Keefe used almost these exact colors. She painted music just like Picasso painted light in the air. It’s ethereal.” Kodiak whispered in return, as if a raised voice might break the spell.

Shoulder to shoulder the pair stood quietly for some time watching the colors move languidly across the sky, the cold night air seeming to crackle around them. They likely would have remained transfixed had Hunter not suddenly shuddered violently.

Kodiak’s left arm rose, involuntarily he wrapped his fingers around Hunter’s thick bicep, pulling him in close against his body as the trespasser again shuddered in the cold.

Kodiak had made the move to pull Hunter in against him involuntarily. He was cold as well but he was not ready to go back into the cabin.

“Aquarius is there, Pegasus over there,” Kodiak said in a low voice as he pointed out the constellations visible at that time of year. “Cancer and Orion are right over there,” the homesteader used his index finger as a pointer to trace the stars with his finger.

Reaching up with his own hand Hunter pointed at the big dipper which was standing out clearly, with the North star looking big and bright as the moon.

Moving a hand over to Kodiak, Hunter reached over and traced a finger over the area of Kodiak’s jacket where the constellation was tattooed on his chest then turned his face up toward the handsome homesteader.

“I like where it is there better,” he whispered.

Kodiak turned just as Hunter was speaking to say something more about the amazing light show of the Northern Lights being displayed above them, their lips meeting accidentally, but the resulting kiss was far more than just an un planned moment.

The kiss was the result of passion held in on both of their parts since the first time they had looked into each other’s eyes on the riverbank with the great bear thankfully galloping away from them.

As their mouths met under the gently moving lights of soft yellow, green, blue and blush of pink in the sky the men turned, bodies pressing together, thickening erections pushing at their heavy winter gear as their gloved hands began to rove up and down over each other’s backs. The tentative meeting of lips became a passionate kiss. After the impromptu strip tease a short time earlier even Kodiak’s Fort Knox like defenses were down. The romance of making out under the multi colored natural lights moving lazily across the sky would have tempted the most rigid mother Superior to break her vow of chastity.

Kodiak did not want to be involved in the kiss, but it was as natural and easy as the involuntary sex had been earlier. Something he could not control and in the deepest part of his mind did not want to control.

Hunter’s lips were soft, he still tasted of the liquor, but Kodiak didn’t mind. He allowed his body to melt in against the phony game warden, his hands roving slowly up and down over the young man’s muscular back as they ground against each other with the brilliant, soft Northern lights lazily wavering back and forth above them.

The moment was the first in a long time that made Kodiak feel whole. He was in that brief time with his lips firmly pressed against Hunter’s, complete again. There was no before or after the incident. No missing Charles or Jimmy, just the delicious feel of being lost in the wonderful feeling of the moment.

The kiss ended slowly, naturally. Hunter was smiling from ear to ear, trying to get Kodiak to look him in the eye but the young homesteader only coughed and shuffled his feet, turning away and averting his eyes back to the sky before he finally spoke again.

“Show’s over, back inside,” Kodiak mumbled, suddenly feeling guilty over the un intended kiss even though he enjoyed every second of it. “Last thing we need is you getting sick.”

Deciding to accept a half-loaf accidental kiss rather than no kisses at all from the homesteader, Hunter silently followed Kodiak back into the cabin where the pair settled in front of the fireplace.

“If I promise to behave could I have another shot of that booze?” Hunter pled.

Author Bio

James Brock spent the first part of his life on a remote Alaskan homestead in a cabin lined with books and a dreaded outhouse.

An Amazon #1 best selling author with Tailor Made, James has sold comedy one line material to Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller, had essays published with the late Alyson Publications and sold erotic gay stories (Ok, porn) to every gay men’s magazine until they all folded in the 2000’s. His other novels are available at JamesBrockBooks.com.

James lives in Seattle with very appreciated indoor plumbing.

Author Website: JamesBrockBooks.com

Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/james.brock.102977

Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/Men-Overboard-100109810041126/

Check Out the New Release Blitz and Giveaway for Love Is A Walk In The Park by V.L. Locey & Stephanie Locey

Pre-Order Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Cover Design: Meredith Russell

Length: 50,000 words approx.

Blurb

Sullivan Haines knows exactly what he wants out of life. Fame as a Broadway dancer and to find the man of his dreams. Sadly, his love life is a dismal mess, his roommate is PMS personified, and working at a dingy dance studio teaching old people how to tango and foxtrot is not exactly the bright lights. Actually, life in the Big Apple is pretty rotten, until he and his dog run into tall, dark, and oh-so-handsome Duane Hart in the park. Their pooches hit it right off, but can the two men find romance along the park’s winding paths?

Duane Hart hasn’t had a lot go right in his life. His girlfriend recently broke up with him, taking everything that wasn’t nailed down or in his roommate’s name. Well, everything except the Yorkshire terrier that he didn’t want to get in the first place, and that she now refuses to take back. However, when he meets a handsome stranger and his pit bull in the dog park, will the blooming heat in his chest be able to convince him to start dating again? Or will fate prove love isn’t a walk in the park, after all?

USA Today Bestselling Author V.L. Locey – Penning LGBT hockey romance that skates into sinful pleasures.

V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, Torchwood and Dr. Who, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, a pair of geese, far too many chickens, and two steers.

When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in one hand and a steamy romance novel in the other.

Facebook | Facebook Group | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Stephanie Locey loves video games, bad jokes, and kind people. She works full-time at a low-paying job and strives to not do that anymore. When not writing or working, she can be found playing fantasy RPGs, petting cats, and planning for adventures.

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Release Blitz and Giveaway for Montana Sky (Montana #6) by RJ Scott

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Length: 43,000 words approx.

Cover Design: Meredith Russell

Montana Series

Book #5 – Second Chance Ranch – Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Blurb

When they spend time alone on a Montana mountainside will Tyler ever convince Martin that like sapphires, love is worth searching for?

Martin’s name was the very last on a kill list. The son of a murderer, he’s had no childhood; lost in a horrific holding pattern of death that turned his heart to stone. Thanks to the man who called him brave and spared his life, he no longer has to look over his shoulder, but he does have one question. Why did Justin let him live?

Tyler Colby has identified a major flaw in the seismic mapping system used to monitor earthquake activity. Sent to Crooked Tree by his employer, the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, he is tasked with adding a new remote station to the network. The installation should be his entire focus, but the lure of sapphires and his attraction to a heartbroken young man called Martin is enough to make him want more.

USA Today bestselling author RJ Scott writes stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, a happily ever after.

RJ Scott is the author of over one hundred romance books, writing emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for writing books that always end with a happy ever after. She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing.

The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.

She’s always thrilled to hear from readers, bloggers and other writers. Please contact via the links below:

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A Barb the Zany Old Lady Release Day Review:The Doctor’s Secret (Copper Point Medical #1) by Heidi Cullinan

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

When I saw that Heidi Cullinan was writing a new series I had high hopes and jumped on the chance to read the first book. And I was not disappointed at all. This story had engaging characters, substance, depth, an appreciation for K-pop music and Asian drama. In fact, I was so intrigued by the description of actor Aaron Yan I had to spend some time cruising Google. There was also a wonderfully complex cast of hospital-based characters and all the medical terms and info one would expect when one MC is a surgeon and the other a surgical nurse with two besties who are also doctors.

I have a Korean friend IRL whose personality is remarkably like that of Hong-Wei, the Taiwanese doctor who takes a position in a small hospital on Wisconsin’s northern peninsula. My friend comes across as somewhat aloof due to his upbringing—expected to overachieve from the time he was a child so he looks around in wonder when he sees others aren’t behaving the same way. Hong-Wei could have been my friend’s twin. Self-confident in his medical decisions, smart, honorable, respectful of elders, he has all the behaviors I have seen in my Asian friends.

Hong-Wei, also known as Jack, had his choice of hospitals after residency as he’s a highly sought after surgeon, however, he wanted to find peace and quiet so he could lick his wounds and recover from a traumatic hospital experience. It’s a total bonus that here at Copper Point he finds Simon, a handsome surgical nurse who’s smart and fun and totally into Asian drama and K-pop music.

It’s a match made in heaven—or at the keyboard of a highly creative author—and it worked well for me. Hong-Wei is brilliant and somewhat socially inept. Simon is intelligent and most definitely social as he’s known throughout the hospital and the town as a reliable, friendly guy. Their attraction is immediate—maybe a bit too instant, but considering I was engaged within a month, it’s certainly possible.

There’s plenty of action to keep readers interested with an underlying menace from the hospital board of directors who seem to have hogtied the hospital director and the HR director, who want to bring innovative change (and are likely future MCs). The most obvious issue that causes problems from the beginning is the rule prohibiting two staff members from dating. But there’s more and much of it involves the daily hospital operation and the reveals about Hong-Wei’s surgery specialty and reason for leaving Houston.

I totally enjoyed this story from Heidi Cullinan and I’m looking forward to more in this series. There’s a rich sense of culture and family and definitely an appreciation of Asian culture. I’m hoping secondary characters Owen and Erin take their hostility behind closed doors and that Jared and Nick quit their cold war. Tasty little teasing nuggets were dropped throughout the second half of this story. Now let’s hope we get the gourmet meal in future installments. This series promises to be yummy.

The cover by Kanaxa features a handsome Taiwanese man who bears a striking resemblance to the description of Hong-Wei in this story.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon | Barnes & Noble |

Book Details:

ebook, 250 pages
Expected publication: April 23rd 2019 by Dreamspinner Press
Original Title The Doctor’s Secret
ISBN 139781640808546
Edition Language English
Series Copper Point Medical #1
setting Wisconsin (United States)

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Release Day Review: Burden (Love, Unexpected #2) by KC Wells

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

This story features Jesse, a young hooker who formerly worked in the Black Lounge with Nikko (Debt) and Randy, the vice cop who was undercover in that brothel. Get ready for a lot of angst! Jesse sees no way forward to funding his MBA, or even to pay for housing, without continuing to prostitute himself as an escort, occasionally even hooking on the streets.

In the meantime, Vice is cracking down on prostitution and Randy is disgusted by the entrapment stings he and his fellow cops are working. It takes him a while, but he realizes he’s now sympathetic to the plight of these young men who saw no way forward other than to sell their bodies. He and Jesse run into one another every so often, and over time, he realizes two things: one that Jesse may be still working as a prostitute, and two, that he is sexually attracted to a man—to Jesse.

There’s lots of introspection in the story, and there’s help from Randy’s neighbor, Owen, an older gay man (who I hope gets his own story some day!) and eventually, after a fun day spent together, Randy and Jesse have sex. And that changes things once again for Randy. But Jesse? Well, he chooses to run away rather than face Randy and the impossibility of them being together. Or is it impossible? This is KC Wells, after all, and this author knows how to weave a series of complex threads to make a beautiful romance tapestry.

For me, the best part of this book was the chase and the catch, when the two finally ended up in the same place—both geographical and head space. The early stages of the story were tense and full of angst and sometimes I enjoy that, sometimes not. I wasn’t in a good frame of mind for it this time so the early part affected me a bit too emotionally. The good news is I knew the author would bring me out of my funk and give me some happy times. And she did, indeed. These two men deserved their HEA and worked hard to get it. I highly recommend this book to those who love stories of star-crossed lovers.

The cover by Paul Richmond features a photo by Ethan James Photography that depicts a young blond man, his torso naked and arms curled back behind his head. It’s very definitely Jesse and is most certainly attractive.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 1st edition, 209 pages
Expected publication: April 23rd 2019 by Dreamspinner Press
ASINB 07PMB4QJ3
Series Love, Unexpected #2

Love a HEA? Check Out the Release Blitz for Play Hard (A Glasgow Lads Novella) by Avery Cockburn (excerpt and giveaway)

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Links

Cover Design: Damonza

Length: 32,000 words approx.

Glasgow Lads Series

The Glasgow Lads series centers around an all-LGBTQ football/soccer team in contemporary Scotland. Though the series has an overarching storyline, each novel features a new couple and a happy ending, so they can be read in any order. The series also includes a prequel novella and two (soon to be three) “happier-ever-after” followup stories.

Book 0.5 – Play On – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book 1 – Playing For Keeps – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book 2 – Playing To Win – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book 2.5 – Play It Safe – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book 3 – Playing With Fire – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book 3.5 – Play Dead – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Throwing Stones (A Glasgow Lads On Ice Novella) – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book 4 – Playing In The Dark – Amazon US | Amazon UK

Blurb

“I’ll always want more of you.”

Robert McKenzie lives to work. He’s fresh out of university as a video-game entrepreneur, and his new app could actually save lives. But burning the candle at both ends means missing out on the best parts of his own life—including his boyfriend, Liam.

Liam Carroll works to live. His job as a bartender pays the rent—if not always the heating bill—and that’s plenty for now. But Robert’s workaholism reminds Liam his own life is going nowhere, and his own dreams are scaring the pants off him.

To jolt them out of their ruts, Robert invents a new game: He and Liam are to take turns offering each other sexy new challenges with irresistible rewards.

Of course, Robert gets more than he bargained for, as Liam takes their game in one surprising direction after another. Whether it’s in the bedroom, on the football pitch, or at the pub (or even the supermarket?), the things they learn about each other—and themselves—could change their lives forever.

Play Hard is the feel-good, staying-in-love story the world needs right now!

Note: This happier-ever-after novella features the main characters of Playing With Fire but can be read as a stand-alone story.

Excerpt

From Chapter 4:

Robert didn’t join Liam in the shower, partly because it was too small to fit a pair of men their size, but mostly because he wanted to watch.

Built into the corner of the bathroom, the shower’s glass walls were fully transparent, not smoky or marbled or made otherwise translucent for privacy’s sake. So there was nothing to obscure the sight of Liam’s naked body.

Fully dressed and standing in the opposite corner, Robert simply observed. If Liam had been craving his undivided attention, he was about to get it in spades.

They’d showered together many times, but he’d never noticed how Liam wet the bar of soap by lifting it into the water spray much farther than necessary—at nearly throat height—and turning his face aside to avoid the resulting splash. Did he think the soap got wetter faster by putting it closer to the shower nozzle? Perhaps it was a habit borne of the poor water pressure in his childhood flat. Robert remembered it well, as he’d lived with the Carrolls for ten months when he was sixteen, between the time of his father’s death and the start of university.

“You’re staring.” Liam’s voice echoed against the green tile walls. He met Robert’s eyes as he soaped his broad, well-muscled, and thoroughly freckled chest, then swept his fingers up beneath his rib cage to emphasize his abs.

“I know.”

“I like when you stare.”

“I know.” Robert licked his lips as Liam used one sudsy hand to stroke his cock and the other to reach back between his cheeks. Soon he would taste Liam everywhere, tracing his tongue over each angle and curve as if for the first time. He would erase the doubt from this man’s mind and replace it with the certainty of endless adoration.

Just as steam began to obscure the shower walls, turning the spectacle from hardcore porn to softcore, Liam switched off the water and pushed the doors aside on their track. “Towel?”

Robert stepped forward with it, stopping just out of Liam’s reach. “Come here and I’ll dry you.”

“Oh, special.”

Robert started with his head, scrubbing the red hair that had turned nearly black in its wetness, then worked his way down—quickly, because Liam was shivering.

He finished with Liam’s feet, then folded the towel and set it on the floor.

“What are you—ah,” Liam said as Robert knelt upon the damp towel. His next utterance was a gasp, in response to Robert nuzzling his balls. “Okay, this is seriously hot with me naked and you completely dressed.”

Robert drew his nose against the right side of Liam’s sack. “You smell good. I wonder how you’ll taste.”

Liam gripped the sink to his right. “Gonnae find out?”

“Aye,” Robert said with a heavy breath against this most sensitive skin. Liam’s cock jerked, begging for equal time.

Robert licked a line up the center of Liam’s sack, then flicked his tongue back and forth between his balls, as though deciding which to try first. He chose the left one, wrapping his lips carefully around the warm mass that seemed to half-melt in his mouth, suspended in a state between solid and liquid.

He lifted his chin to watch Liam, whose lips and cheeks were flushing pink, just as they’d done when he’d come in from the cold at the Tesco. Liam’s chest began to heave with his quickening breath, ribs expanding and contracting the solid planes of his torso, the planes that always made Robert’s palms warm and tingly.He reached up now with his right hand, his left steadying Liam’s trembling thigh. He slid two of his fingers round one of Liam’s scarlet nipples and squeezed.

“Och.” Liam leaned back, bracing himself against the wall. “God, look how hard you’re making me.” He touched his other nipple, mimicking Robert’s tweaking fingertips. “I could almost come like this.”

Robert shook his head slowly, maneuvering his tongue over the contents of his mouth.

“Aye, I could,” Liam replied. “Unless you do something different.”

Robert pulled away enough to say, “Turn around.”

About The Author

Hiya, I’m Avery Cockburn (rhymes with Savory Slow Churn). Under my real name (Jeri Smith-Ready) I wrote over a dozen novels for major publishers. As an indie author, my days are filled with beautiful men who play beautiful games in the most beautiful place in the world. Thanks to my pure awesome readers, it’s pretty much the best job ever.

I live in the United States with one infinitely patient man and two infinitely impatient cats. Join my quarterly-ish newsletter at www.averycockburn.com/signup to receive a free book plus loads of exclusive bonus material. Cheers!

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Love a Contemporary Romance? Check out the Release Blitz and Giveaway for Crossing The Touchline (An Auckland Med Story) by Jay Hogan

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Dreamspinner | Universal Link

Cover Design: Kanaxa

Length: 119,000 words approx.

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Blurb

An Auckland Med. Story

What if you’ve worked your whole life for a dream, to play rugby for the most successful sports team on the planet, the New Zealand All Blacks?

What if that dream is so close you can smell it?

What if you meet someone?

What if you fall in love?

What if your dream will cost the man who’s stolen your heart?

And what if the dream changes?

Reuben Taylor has a choice to make.

Cameron Wano is that choice.

Jay Hogan is a New Zealand author writing in m/m romance, romantic suspense and fantasy. She has travelled extensively and has lived in quite a few countries. She has a BA degree in Nursing and in Theology, and in another life, she was an Intensive Care Nurse, Counselor, and a Lecturer.

She is a cat aficionado especially of Maine Coons, and an avid dog lover (but don’t tell the cat). She loves to cook- pretty damn good, loves to sing – pretty damn average, and as for loving full-time writing -absolutely… depending of course on the day, the word count, the deadline, how obliging her characters are, the ambient temperature in the Western Sahara, whether Jupiter is rising, the size of the ozone hole over New Zealand and how much coffee she’s had.

She has complex boys telling stories in her head that demand attention and a considerable number of words to go with them. Their journeys are never straightforward and even surprise Jay. She does her best to plot things out ahead of time but those pesky characters seem to have a mind of their own. Go figure.

You can find Jay at:
https://www.facebook.com/JayHoganAuthor
https://twitter.com/jayhoganauthor
jayhoganauthor@gmail.com

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A Chaos Moondrawn Review: Wrong Way Home (Criminal Delights: Taken) by K.A. Merikan

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

This series has very dark themes. Each book is by a different author and can be read as standalones. Please pay attention to the trigger warnings and tags.

The first two chapters are Colin’s POV as he takes a new route home to visit his parents and ends up seeing a murder. The horror elements are well done. I understand the negotiating–believing maybe if Colin tried to offer favors it might save his life or improve his quality of life in the situation. I think for me, the attraction was too quick on Colin’s part after what he witnessed. Chapter three shows Tarin’s POV. He’s not a psychopath, but he is a survivalist and definitely follows his own rules and moral code. After the initial awkwardness in transitioning them from captor/hostage to actual lovers, the book gets very intriguing when absorbing the reader in what might be Stockholm Syndrome. The sex here is raw, wild, and brutal the first few times and then gets intense with intimacy as the book progresses. As the rest of the book alternates between them, both characters get their layers peeled away.

I liked the blurb and got drawn into the possibilities presented, but the book ends up having a very different feel than what I thought it would be. The original murder is explained and Tarin ends up being quite thoughtful, if stubborn and damaged by past trauma. Colin starts out as not terribly happy and filled with anxiety about decisions and disappointing his family. He and Tarin are strangely well suited and while he may not realise it, his true personality comes out once he feels “safe” enough to fight with Tarin. The noncon/dubcon part of the scenario would have always hung over them unless it was addressed; so while it is addressed, I think I might have liked Colin and Tarin to have more time apart and Colin to have come back on his own, on equal footing. I’ll not spoil it, but there was an opportunity to bring some of the horror elements from the beginning, back into the story and the authors chose a different path. It is also awkward in parts and the plot is a bit thin. Overall, this is a surprisingly sweet romance about two men who might have never met but for fate. They both learn what having a relationship actually means (working together towards a common goal, compromise, listening to each other, respect) and that they are stronger and happier together than apart.

The cover design is by Natasha Snow. Almost all the covers by these authors are dark and stylized with bright fonts. The covers for this series are all similar. This shows Talin and makes sense to the story on more than one level, so I thought it was well done.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link – Exclusive to Amazon and Available to Borrow with Kindle Unlimited

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 264 pages
Published April 15th 2019 by Acerbi & Villani ltd
ASINB07P9MVC31
Edition Language English

An Alisa Review : Finding Finlay (MC Securities #2) by Ruby Moone

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Aaron Baker has a problem. His online clothing company is under attack. Whilst MC Securities tackle the breaches in security, he asks for an agent to pose as his fake boyfriend. He doesn’t bargain for getting a snarky, ex-marine with sad, blue eyes and submissive tendencies.

Dumped by his boyfriend, Finlay Masters concludes that the best, and safest, place for him is to return to the closet. Kicked out by his parents as a kid for being gay, closeted in the army for fifteen years, body wrecked by an explosion that cost him his job, he isn’t the best bet for any kind of relationship. Even a fake one.

As the investigation mounts, Aaron wants more, but Finn has no faith in love, never dared need anyone. Aaron talks of how lucky he is to find him, but Finn knows if he is to have a chance at a relationship at all, he needs to find himself.

Oh man, this one pulled at my heart strings. Finlay just needs someone to love him and be there for him no matter how much he likes to think he doesn’t and is afraid of being hurt. Aaron is losing his relationship with his son and having problems at his company when Finlay comes in to help they find they can both help each other so much more.

I felt for Finlay and how he has lost everyone in his life, even his most recent ex put a wall between him and his only friend. I hurt as I watched him working through his thoughts and worries but was so glad that Aaron would be there to hold him up in the end. Aaron poured himself into his business not realizing how much his son needed him at the time but when trying to fix the problems in his company Finlay helps him to take a step back and realize what’s really important. Finlay getting back some of that which he thought he had lost probably went more towards him finally admitting his feelings towards Aaron than he would ever have been able to admit. I am loving this series and look forward to other books.

The cover art is great, I love the visual of Finlay and how it’s similar in style to the previous book but also different.

Sales Link: Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 245 pages

Published: April 9, 2019

Edition Language: English

Series: MC Securities #2

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