An Alisa Review: Paradise Lodge by Riina Y.T.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Azariah Bell is a nervous wreck. He isn’t prepared to spend the final week of the year with his best friend, Ky O’Sullivan, lead vocalist for their pop rock band, Moving Insignia—especially after the fight he caused before they parted ways two weeks ago.

Afraid of not being taken seriously by Ky, Azariah was concerned about what confessing his feelings would do to their friendship, or the band. He tried to keep his emotions in check, but instead, he exploded in anger over some petty issue, and now he’s potentially lost Ky forever.

Ky is looking forward to the band’s annual writing retreat for a week of songwriting and recording at a secluded mountain resort. Spending Christmas with his family gave Ky time to reflect on how he’d handled Azariah’s epic meltdown. It wasn’t good, and Ky is determined to uncover the true nature of Azariah’s unusual behavior. They didn’t keep secrets from each other, or so he believed.

Expecting to see the rest of the band when they arrive by helicopter, Ky and Azariah are shocked to learn they are alone at a deserted lodge. When they discover they’ve been set up by their bandmates so they can “sort it out,” their choices are few. But it’s critical for them to resolve their problems if they have any hope of enjoying the new year together, let alone make that new album happen.

A nice adorable story. Ky and Azariah have been best friends since they met and their band took off but they are both hurting after their last explosive argument. Neither want to lose the other but are afraid the truth may be worse.

After they find out about their situation, it doesn’t take much time for the truth to come out from both sides. I could see their biggest fear was losing their friendship but they found so much more together. I liked seeing them together months later much happier than at the beginning of the book.

I like the cover art by Natasha Snow is cute and one of the standard for holiday shorts this year.

Sales Links: Nine Star Press | Amazon | B&N

Book Details:

ebook, 26,100 words

Published: December 3, 2018 by Nine Star Press

ISBN: 978-1-949909-52-4

Edition Language: English

A MelanieM Audio Review: Q*Pid by Xavier Mayne and Rudy Sanda (Narrator)

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Can a computer program understand love better than the human heart?

Archer, the AI at the dating service Q*pid, realizes humans don’t always make the best choices, so it begins making some unconventional choices for them.

Fox Kincade is the last of his group of friends to be single, so he’s delighted when he discovers a new match in his Q*pid app—one that, according to the new AI wizardry, should be the love of his life. Instead of the woman he’s expecting, he’s paired with Drew Larsen, a shy, somewhat nerdy PhD student who has also grown discouraged with romance.

Drew and Fox have little in common—aside from the fact that they’re both straight. Or so they thought. But as the guys get to know each other, they realize Archer might have the right idea. Their path isn’t smooth, because both need to overcome every idea they have about themselves and what true love might look like. But with the help of Archer—and some friends who have stuck with Fox and Drew through the thick and thin of their relationship trials—they might find their way into each other’s hearts.

Q*Pid by Xavier Mayne and Rudy Sanda was one of those stories I both liked and was left feeling sort of bereft of that happy warm feeling that I get from the romances and stories that I truly love and connect with. The writing was well done, the story layered, and the narrator did an excellent job with all the characters and storytelling. Sigh.

So where exactly was the issue?

I’m not sure. I like the slow burn stories and boy, was this one. Both men identify as straight for most of the story, the only “being” certain they are a perfect match is a AI called Archer, the IA forQ*Pid, who “bends” his creator’s rules and invents an algorithm that goes beyond their client’s checklists into their actual needs and wants. And then paired them up with their actual mate, regardless of gender. A company no no and a shock to these men and their perceptions about their sexuality.

The sections where Archer and Veera, his creator, although interesting, and the rest of her team, have a tendency to bog down the flow of the story. It picks up once they stop “popping in” often, interrupting the already molasses slow flow of Drew and Fox’s steps towards a relationship. We do need to understand what when wrong or right with Archer but the dynamics within Veera’s team is messy, nasty (and however realistic) takes away from the romance.

The character of Fox is almost another problem in itself. It takes an inordinate amount of time to actually like him. And his friend or maybe it’s the voice assigned to his friend by the narrator. Turned me off totally. Fox is locked down tight by his background, history and riches. The author has written him as difficult to identify with, surface hard, and far too obnoxious. Less personality than Archer at the start. It’s not until he’s halfway into his “non dating” of Drew that he softens and his character changes enough that you can see his potential as a mate for Drew who has been a “real person” from the beginning.

Perhaps that’s it. There’s been a real imbalance throughout most of the story, with our affections resting squarely on Drew’s side, including that of his neighbor. Everything with Drew feels authentic. Role on over to Fox? Not so much. It take a while for that to even out, and that happens only towards the last part of the story.

It was Drew that had my heart and he had it from start to finish. Wish that I could say the same about Fox and their romance. I think this story came really close on many levels but it just didn’t check all my romance boxes in the end.

Rudy Sanda did a wonderful job with the voices. The only exception being Fox’s best friend. Chad. For some reason I found that one extremely irritating and hard to listen to.

Q*Pid by Xavier Mayne and Rudy Sanda (Narrator) ended up being a sweet contemporary romance with some terrific touches. I liked the narrator and thought the writing was great. If this sounds like something you would like, than I recommend it for your listening pleasure.

Cover Artist: Adrian Nicholas. Great cover and I think it’s eye catching in model and colors.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon | Audible

Audiobook Details:

Audible Audio, 12 pages
Published October 30th 2018 by Tantor Audio (first published August 28th 2018)
ASINB07JNZFMMP
Edition Language English

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Advent Calendar Review: Summer Santa by Ward Maia

Rating: 2 stars out of 5

Sam struggles with the climate, the job, and the language when he arrives in Brazil after accepting a job transfer. With the Christmas holidays coming, Sam is looking forward to being alone in his small, boring apartment and that’s about it. He wishes for more when his sexy coworker James helps him with a computer problem, but Sam’s too backward to ask him out.

A key phrase in the blurb is “significant low self-esteem” as that is the driving force of this story. His family surprises him with a holiday he won’t soon forget and he bumps into James on the beach and that leads to a night before Christmas Eve that fulfills his dreams. But Sam is not the driving force behind any of these good things, and his insecurity and inability to articulate what he wants form the crux of the story.

It’s evident the author is new as the writing style and repetitive words and phrases are quite elementary—he “found himself” once too often for me. The trope of the cute guy who’s insecure about his looks, his ability to find someone to love him, etc. is overdone and, unfortunately, not one I like at all.

A key element in the blurb is that Sam is a magazine journalist, and yet that’s not mentioned in the beginning pages of the story and when it finally is stated, it’s only in passing. Another issue is the language barrier he apparently can’t get past, and yet that, too, is only mentioned in the beginning and seems to disappear. We never learn whether James is also an American or if he’s Brazilian, and if a native, does he speak English fluently? Because Sam sure doesn’t speak anything other than English. Sam’s family members were a bit OTT as well, especially his aunt and his sister.

Though I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped, others may not be as bothered by the insecure and lonely MC theme as I am and so may enjoy the story.

The cover by Adrian Nicholas is one of this year’s holiday designs featuring two characters in a portal with the lower edges a standard red with large white snowflakes. The characters represent the two MCs, though Sam is much better-looking than one would think from reading the story, and James looks much more like a player than a nice-guy coworker.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 46 pages
Published December 1st 2018 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 139781644050576
Edition Language English

Release Blitz – Kink Aware (Kiss of Leather 9) by Morticia Knight

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: Kink Aware (Kiss of Leather 9)

Author: Morticia Knight

Publisher: Pride Publishing

Genre/s: Gay/Genderqueer BDSM Contemporary Romance

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 58 500 words/184 pages

It can be read as a standalone story, although part of a series.

If it is part of a series are the other books also available for review? Yes

Release Date: December 18, 2018

Buy Links

Blurb

Working at Rogue Ink is a dream job for Cruella, especially being around the hunky co-owner, Ray. Even though the money isn’t great, the eye candy and Ray’s caring heart make it all worthwhile. When Cruella risks rejection by inviting Ray to be their partner for a shibari class at Kiss of Leather, they’re thrilled when Ray accepts.

Cruella’s invitation both excites and terrifies Ray. He wants Cruella, but does he also want to become more kink aware? Still, he could kick himself for not making a move yet on the sweet and beautiful Cruella, so maybe this is his chance. His protective instincts have gotten him into serious trouble before, so he’ll be sure not to make the same mistake with Cruella. They’ve made it clear they can take care of themself.

Cruella fears that Ray won’t accept their genderqueer identity and Ray aches to be the strong man Cruella needs. However, when Cruella’s dark past intrudes on their blissful present—Ray’s definition of strength might turn out to be harsher than Cruella is willing to accept.

Excerpt

I don’t know why I torture myself like this.

Cruella slid each delectable garment along the new arrivals rail in the Rags & Rhinestones vintage clothing store, almost drooling over the spectacular collection of goodies that Heath had picked up at an estate sale over the weekend. Their rather limited clothing allowance of the past couple months had gone to purchase rope for the shibari class. They sighed. It would be so worth it if Ray would let them tie him up in bed.

It certainly seemed to turn him on the other night when I suggested it.

If they were being honest, the idea had them rather hot too. When they had originally signed up for the class, the eroticism of the art hadn’t been the strongest attraction to learning shibari. At least not in terms of tying up a partner for sex. Their thought process had been more along the lines of the visual appeal, not necessarily using it as a prelude to, or as part of, making love.

They stepped behind a round rack to conceal their arousal as their mind wandered to Saturday morning when Ray had kneeled before them in the shower and sucked them to completion. While they’d never viewed themselves as someone who wanted to dominate a partner, they’d begun to consider that the desire to do so had been there all along but hadn’t been allowed to flourish.

That sure as hell was the case with Tucker.

Ray on his knees, Ray tied up and at their mercy, Ray beneath them as they fucked him into the mattress—all those scenarios had been playing on a loop in their head ever since they’d last seen him. They knew one thing for sure, when they got together with Ray that night to finally work on their class project, they were going to get a little rope action in bed if nothing else.

“Hey, Cruella. See anything you like?”

Cruella glanced up at the shop owner, Heath. “Hi, hon. Trust me, I see plenty I like.” Cruella let out another mournful sigh. “But I’m broke this month.”

Heath tsked, shaking his head. “I keep telling you, come work for me. You have a better sense of style than anyone who’s ever worked here, and you’d get an employee discount.”

Cruella barked out a laugh. “And never come home with a paycheck. No, they pay me well at Rogue, at least a couple more bucks an hour then I would get for that type of job. Especially since I’m not a manager or anything.”

“I’ll match what they’re giving you right now, with an eye toward making you a manager here eventually.”

Cruella blinked repeatedly as they stared at the tall, blond-haired cutie they’d come to know over the past few years of being a regular at the shop. Heath had teased them more than once about coming to work for him, but had never made such a serious offer. Cruella hadn’t been kidding, though, about never coming home with a paycheck. The killer clothes, shoes and handbags that regularly filled the shop to the brim would suck the cash right out of their pocket. Their buyer resistance was next to non-existent.

“You can’t be serious, hon. Why would you do that? And why do you need a manager?”

Heath draped an elbow over the rail and leaned against the rack. “So fucking serious, doll, you have no idea. Look, to begin with, most of the staff who come through here are either clueless and couldn’t give two shits about fashion or chose this job by wandering down the street until they spotted it and thought, ‘gee, this looks like a great place to steal from.’ I can’t even with these losers anymore.” Heath glanced around the shop, the few other customers in the large, rectangular space seemingly lost in their own perusing. He leaned in closer. “I love this shop. I’m flippin’ proud of what I built up over the past five years. But damn, honey. I haven’t had a social life since I turned twenty-two.” Heath huffed. “And I was only out and proud for two years before that, so this girl hasn’t had nearly as much fun as she should’ve by now.”

Cruella fingered the nineteen-twenties mauve velvet coat that they could totally picture themselves in and considered Heath’s words. “Wow, I guess I never thought about how much work it must take to run this place on your own. Although, the owners of Rogue seem to work nonstop. But at least there’s three of them to handle the responsibility.”

Heath furrowed his brow. “Is that little sweetheart who was kidnapped still doing okay?”

After the dust had settled from the horrible events surrounding Liam’s kidnapping, Cruella had been able to work out that Heath’s shop was where Neal had called the police from.

“He’s doing fine. I think in his case having the responsibility of a new business has done wonders at keeping him distracted and dwelling on what happened.” Cruella chuckled. “Of course, his fiancé keeps him more than distracted enough anyway.”

Heath smiled. “That’s good to hear.” Heath glanced over his shoulder as someone approached the register. “Listen, you think about what I said.” He squeezed Cruella’s arm. “I meant every word.”

Cruella let their finger run down the beaded edging of the coat until they found the price tag. They sucked in a sharp breath as they absorbed the amount of the vintage item. Two hundred and twenty-five dollars. They whimpered. I wonder how much of a discount?

About the Author

Author Morticia Knight spends most of her nights writing about men loving men forever after. If there happens to be some friendly bondage or floggings involved, she doesn’t begrudge her characters whatever their filthy little hearts desire. Even though she’s been crafting her naughty tales for more years than she’d like to share—her adventures as a published author began in 2011. Since then, she’s been fortunate enough to have several books on bestseller lists along with titles receiving recognition in the Rainbow Book Awards, Divine Magazine and Love Romance Café.

Once upon a time she was the lead singer in an indie rock band that toured the West Coast and charted on U.S. college radio. She currently resides on the North Oregon coast and when she’s not fantasizing about hot men, she takes walks along the ocean and annoys the local Karaoke bar patrons.

Author Links

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A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Home for Christmas (Texas #9) by R.J. Scott

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

One of my all-time favorite books is The Heart of Texas, the first in the Texas series, and Jack and Riley Campbell-Hayes will likely remain my favorite couple of all time in my heart forever. Seeing them now, over ten years after our last visit with them, brought that home to me. This is the story of their son, Connor, all grown up now, and the forever love he finds with River Samson, the man of his dreams. Jack and Riley are present throughout this story, and I must include one statement about them: they are still hot, still gorgeous, and still very much in love. Thank you for including them, RJ Scott!

Now, on to this story. Connor is a really sweet guy. Built like his pappa, Jack, he’s also quiet like him and he’s learned how to sit back, take in the facts, and proceed to fix any situation that comes along. But his friend River stymies him. They had a brief encounter at a frat party and then River ran off. As the story opens, he’s standing on a rooftop in the snow, waving a bottle of booze around. He’s coatless and scares the hell out of Connor, who fears he might jump.

When Connor drags him away, he virtually kidnaps River and drags him home to Texas to the big, noisy, crazy family he loves so much. There he meets Max, Connor’s autistic brother, who’s grown in so many ways. (Another thank you to the author for showing this Max to us.) And he meets Connor’s dads, his sister, his aunts and uncles, his grandmother, and more. In fact, he’s overwhelmed by the big family and wants nothing more than to hide from them and to hide his secrets about his own family.

RJ Scott brings us a beautiful, heartwarming family holiday story, complete with romance and heartache. I really enjoyed this one, but I must say that Connor’s sex scenes with River made me feel a little weird—almost as if I were spying on my own grandchild. It was odd to be present for grownup Connor’s sex life when I was there at the beginning when Riley and Jack selected their surrogate. Needless to say, I skimmed those scenes because I just couldn’t stay there and watch. LOL. May be just me, but eww, I couldn’t do it.

In any event, I believe those who’ve followed the series will love this one. I definitely recommend this to them and to those who enjoy family drama, hurt-comfort, and of course, holiday season romance.

The cover by Meredith Russell depicts a stunning young man with dark hair, wearing jeans, shirt, and open jacket with a snow-like overlay. It’s easy to see how much Connor looks like Jack.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book Details:

ebook
Published November 28th 2018 by Love Lane Books
ISBN1 39781785641435
Edition Language English
Series Texas #9

Texas Series

Book #1 – The Heart of Texas – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #2 – Texas Winter – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #3 – Texas Heat – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #4 – Texas Family – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #5 – Texas Christmas – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #6 – Texas Fall – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #7 – Texas Wedding – Amazon US | Amazon UK
Book #8 – Texas Gift – Amazon US | Amazon UK

An Alisa Review : Trusting Jack (MC Securities #1) by Ruby Moone

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

With only a few days to go until Christmas, Michael Cross has to admit there is something amiss about his latest employee, Jack Whelan. Quiet, jumpy, thin… he never seems to eat. He is also incredibly gorgeous with dark spiky hair that Michael aches to touch. But as his boss, Jack is off limits. And when it comes to relationships, he…well, he sucks.

Jack Whelan is at the end of his tether. He’s living rough in the middle of winter, and paying off a massive debt, so getting a job with MC Securities is a lifeline. His new boss is also the hottest guy ever. Geeky, broody, and scarily clever.

When Michael stumbles upon the reality of Jack’s life, he offers to help. But as Michael’s feelings deepen, and Jack’s terrible past catches up with him, Michael has to decide between believing in the awful truth that is staring him in the face, or trusting Jack.

First off I felt this book was more of Jack needing to trust Michael as the one little blimp of Michael not trusting Jack was quickly done and gone. Michael has stayed away from relationships since his ex tried to hurt him. Jack is just trying to survive, after the death of his brother and the way his ex cheated him he doesn’t believe he can ever deserve happiness.

I felt that I got the opportunity to get to know both of these characters through their points of view. I liked how Michael selflessly helps Jack when he realizes what’s going on and he isn’t willing to take advantage of Jack. Jack has not had a great life and it takes time for him to accept Michael but also make Michael see that he is what he wants. The story was good I just felt like there could have been more to it or something but I am not sure what it would be, though we do get an idea of who the next book may be about.

The cover art by Meredith Russell is great and I love the visual of Jack.

Sales Link: Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 181 pages

Published: December 10, 2018

Edition Language: English

Series: MC Securities #1

Book Blast and Giveaway for Little Harbour by Sophia Soames (excerpt)

BOOK BLAST

Book Title: Little Harbour

Author: Sophia Soames

Publisher: Self-published

Cover Artist: Miriam Latu

Genre/s: M/M, contemporary romance

Heat Rating: 4 flames

Length: 135 377 words/468 pages

It is a standalone story and is the first book in series of stories set in Scandinavia.

Add on Goodreads

Tagline

A story of love and grief, second chances, and family life. An M/M GFY-ish romance, featuring a hoard of feral children, a stolen pram, a Midwifery blog and an ill advised stint on TV. Oh yes and a Man who has lost hope and another who never gave it up.

Blurb

This is a story about life and death. Because there has never been anyone else for Jens. He had been with Sofie almost all his life, from the day they met at school when they were fifteen, until the day she took her final breath against his chest. She was always everything to him. As he was to her. He never doubted that. Not for a minute.

This is a story of hope, where Axel Kleve keeps himself too busy to even stop and think. Work, sleep, eat, repeat. He loves his job as a Midwife at Oslo’s University Hospital, He’s good at lecturing and training, and now he has somehow been pushed into running “Ask Axel,” a midwifery blog on PNN.no, the parenting-site everyone in Norway trusts.

This is a tale of second chances. Jens, he doesn’t let himself think of Axel. He doesn’t think of Axel at all. And Axel needs to stop longing for that one crush he’s never been able to leave behind. It’s just plain ridiculous. He should have got over Jens Sommerfeldt years ago.

A song about family and love and happiness found in small doses. Of trying to parent when you don’t know how. Of finding love where you always knew it lived.

This is the story of a little harbour. The place in your heart you didn’t know was there.

Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Excerpt

“Can I have a hug? Please?” Axel asks. He can’t help it. He needs one. He needs to know that Jens is still Jens. His Jens. The one who hugged him every time they met up all those years ago. Jens always hugged him to say hello. Always hugged him goodbye. Always. He needs Jens to still be Jens.

Jens doesn’t hug him. Jens body slams him, so hard Axel thinks he might fall over. Stumbling backwards while Jens’ arms are squeezing him, so hard he can’t breathe, and there is hot breath against Axel’s neck and it is so Jens. All-consumingly Jens. All him.

“I fucking missed you so much.” Jens whispers, his voice hoarse and quiet.

I’m all yours.” Axel whispers back. “I always was.”

About the Author

Sophia Soames should be old enough to know better but has barely grown up. She has been known to fangirl over tv-shows, has fallen in and out of love with more popstars than she dares to remember, and has a ridiculously high-flying (un-) glamourous real-life job.

Her long-suffering husband just laughs at her antics. Their children are feral. The AuPair just sighs. She lives in a creaky old house in rural London, although her heart is still in Scandinavia.

Discovering that the stories in her head make sense when written down has been part of the most hilarious midlife crisis ever and she hopes it may long continue.

Author Links

Facebook: Sophia Soames

Twitter: @sophiasoames

instagram: sophiasoames

Tumblr: sophia soames

Giveaway

Enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for a chance to win a Little Harbour cover printed tea towel and fridge magnet.

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LITTLE HARBOUR

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An Ali Advent Calendar Review: Once in a Lifetime by Cassie Decker

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

All his life, astrophysicist Peter has dreamed of seeing the comet that last appeared on his birthday—and won’t be seen for another thirty-eight years. Since it could be his only chance, he travels to New Zealand. But his dream might be quashed after all when his rental car breaks down on the way to the observatory. He doesn’t even have a place to stay.

Fortunately a New Zealand native with a heart of gold offers assistance. But is kindness the only thing drawing the two men together?

Rangi can’t leave Peter stranded so close to Christmas, and his family has plenty of room—and love—to share. While Rangi is attracted to Peter, he’s seen too many of his friends get their hearts broken by tourists. Will they manage to see the comet on its decades-long journey across the sky… and take advantage of a rare opportunity that might never come again?

This was a sweet story with an interesting premise. I thought it was pretty creative. This author always comes up with unique storylines for her Christmas stories. It was fairly short but you still got a good feel for both of the MC’s. I liked them together and could feel their chemistry. It’s a bit insta-love as most holiday stories are but in this case it didn’t bother me.

Overall I found this to be an enjoyable holiday story and would recommend it.

Cover Artist: Adrian Nicholas. Cover is in the style of the Advent calendar series, attractive and eye catching, bright and like the models.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 34 pages
Published December 1st 2018 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 139781644050552
Edition Language English

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Release Day Review: Saving Hannah by JP Barnaby

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

This was a fantastic action drama, with MM romance added. Get ready for a ride on an emotional rollercoaster as JP Barnaby returns with the story of Thomas Aberthol, computer programmer, father of a little girl with leukemia, and ex-con who can’t get a job to afford the treatment she needs. And it’s the story of Aleks Sanna, Thomas’s former college roomie whose kiss one night sent Thomas running to the arms of a woman.

Now, Aleks spots a human interest story about Thomas and his little girl, Hannah, and conceives a plot to get Thomas the money he needs and to get Aleks the man he still desires after all these years.

The plot is complex and is more an action-based adventure than romance—complete with computer security breaches, money laundering, Mafia-type bad guys, kidnapping, FBI, and the threat of prison looming over Thomas’s head. All this while he fights for his little girl’s life as she struggles to barely exist day-to-day until Aleks swoops in with a proposal that Thomas can’t turn down, even if he wanted to.

Over a fairly short time, they rekindle a love that began in college, Hannah gets a new medication that promises a long-term remission, and the bad guys—at least some of them—are caught.

Ultimately, after losing 8 of my 10 fingernails as I chewed them to stubs, the men find a way to get through the crux of their problems and end up together as a couple in love. I’m not calling this an HEA, but it certainly may be. It’s certainly open enough that the author may decide to give these men at least one more adventure together, and I would certainly be in line for that.

I highly recommend this to readers who love a hair-raising action adventure with a nice MM romance added to the mix. Then add a sweet, but terminally ill little girl, some mainstream thugs with underworld connections, and a clock-ticking deadline, and we have a book that’s very difficult to put down, and very enjoyable to read.

The cover by Tiferet Design features a handsome young man on the cover with a little girl standing, back to us, in the background. Very attention-getting—both the man and the design.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 200 pages
Expected publication: December 18th 2018 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 139781640808058
Edition Language English

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: The CEO’s Christmas Manny (Beyond the Boardroom #1) by Angela McCallister

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

From the blurb: Billionaire CEO Nic Price lives for his job. With sales down and grumbling from the board of directors—including Nic’s permanently dissatisfied father—the last thing Nic needs is distraction from the new manny, whose freewheeling approach to childcare is outlandish… and who makes Nic feel things he’s never allowed himself to feel. Ex-teacher Sasha Lindsey is all about fun—that’s the reason people love him, so he has to be. After a bad break-up leaves him jobless and homeless, the live-in manny job with Mr. Price seems like a windfall. But his chemistry with Nic is off the charts, and he can’t afford another workplace romance disaster.

This is a Dreamspun Desires story. As such, it’s based on an old trope: the billionaire falls in love with the nanny, which in this case is the manny. The execution was good overall, but there were segments where it dragged for me and I just wanted it to end.

On the flip side of that, the time it took for the attraction and then the romance to evolve was a plus. I do love a slow-burn romance. There are always pluses and minuses to these trope-based stories. In many cases, it’s nice to see them applied to MM romance, but in some cases, the plot gets bogged down in repetitive detail. In this case, what bugged me most was Nic’s relationship with both parents, primarily his father. He’s the most disgustingly reprehensible businessman I’ve encountered in a while, and of course, a nasty piece of work to his hard-working son who’s dedicated to making their company succeed. Thinking that might even remotely be true in real life hurt down my heart and saddened me so much I found it hard to enjoy the story.

And Sasha was a sweetheart, but another character caught up in the “nobody loves me” trope. For a guy who has so much going for him, his self-worth was sure in the dumps, and he easily thought the worst of Nic. Granted what Nic does is reprehensible (like father like son?) but honestly, I would have loved to see Sasha pop Nic in the nose. In any case, the two fumble their way back together, and we do get a HEA. And we get a nice secondary character in Percy as well, a man who I hope we’ll see in the future.

If you love these Dreamspun Desires stories, you will likely enjoy this rich man/poor man theme.

Cover by Alexandria Corza is done in the style of other Dreamspun Desires books and shows a ferry on Puget Sound in the background and a man in a business suit in the foreground. It definitely represents the story and the bright color attracts attention.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 222 pages

Expected publication: December 18th 2018 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN13 9781644051207

Edition Language English

Series Beyond the Boardroom #1

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