Category: Contemporary fiction

A Melanie M Review: Flaunt by E. Davies

Rating:  5 stars out of 5

flaunt-by-e-davies“He’s waiting for me to ask, and I’m afraid.”

“I’m just one more gay guy here.”

Moving to the suburbs of L.A. was supposed to give Nic Montero a fresh start. After escaping his family, coming out as a gay trans man, and excelling in computer programming out of desperation to get financially stable or die, everything should be easy. But joining gay culture now, post-transition, feels impossible… until he runs into the force of nature that is Kyle. Everything Nic isn’t, Kyle embodies. Green hair, garters and cut-off shorts, sports jerseys, and all, brash Kyle is the most gorgeous man he’s ever laid eyes on, and he pulls Nic headlong into the center of his world. If only Nic felt like enough for a man like Kyle.

“One-night stands are my only option.”

Loud, loving, and too much for most men to handle, Kyle Everett catches eyes and occasionally scorn… even at his job at the local HIV charity, Plus. His days and nights are spent at work, his precious spare moments spent with his son, Kevin, when it’s his turn to co-parent, or his best friend, drag queen River. He only has money or time for cheap flings, but the lanky otter who walks into his life makes Kyle want to hold him for longer than a night. He knows what it’s like for Nic to be without a family, but he isn’t brave enough to let this man into his life… until his charity is targeted by bigots, and Nic’s there for him.

“I’ll stay with you if you’re brave enough to be you.”

Nic spent his twenties avoiding family and even his own femininity, but his yearning is impossible to ignore. Kyle’s used to flying solo, but Nic offers him safety and fills gaps in his life he never realized existed and now can’t stand. Living in close proximity, they can’t run from their attraction, but they’re each used to being rejected, with the emotional scars to prove it. Can two men who feel like they’re not enough and too much find something just right?

Flaunt is a steamy, stand-alone gay romance novel with a HEA ending and no cliffhanger.

E. Davies was brought to my attention through a tour booked on our blog.  A totally new author and new story (and series as it turns out).  What a surprise and joy that turned out to be.  I love it when that happens.

Flaunt is beautifully written.  It flows smoothly along as you meet all the characters Davies writes so believably about.  It starts with Nic Montero, a trans man who’s moved to L.A. for a fresh start. New job, new outlook on himself, which is sometimes hard for him, with his background.  But Nic has quiet courage and intelligence and something about this character just grabs you immediately.  You just fall in love with him.  He’s earnest and open, about himself and what he wants.  I became his total cheerleader.

Kyle Everett of the wonderful green hair, confident attitude and amazing style?  Yep, love him too.  These characters fell from creations right into real men as Davies has them layered with human frailties, intelligence, passion, depth and a recognizable “feel” to them as people we would want to get to know in our own lives.

Their move into romance and a relationship is fraught with barriers raised from an initial belief that each wants something different from each other despite the huge sparks of attraction flying between them. How they manage to lower those obstacles, talk about their past and how it figured into their decisions about themselves and relationships is both moving and believable.

As is all the elements about Nic and his self image as a trans man and further surgery.  Nothing stands out as a single element, it all flows together naturally as a whole.  From their hot sex life to Kyle’s best friend, River, a drag queen, who has his own story out there (I need that book), there is so much to love and admire about Flaunt.  Its put E. Davies on my list of authors whose book list I need to explore and the book itself on my 2017 Best of List.  If you love contemporary romance, here’s one you should definitely check out!

Cover art is cute but except for the addition of the green hair, it could be for any book.

Sales Links

 Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 300 pages
Published January 31st 2017
ASINB01MTA0NCA
Edition LanguageEnglish

A MelanieM Pre-Release Review: At Attention (Out of Uniform, #2) by Annabeth Albert

Rating: 4.5 stars ouf 5

at-attentionLieutenant Apollo Floros can ace tactical training missions, but being a single dad to his twin daughters is more than he can handle. He needs live-in help, and he’s lucky a friend’s younger brother needs a place to stay. He’s surprised to see Dylan all grown up with a college degree…and a college athlete’s body. Apollo’s widowed heart may still be broken, but Dylan has his blood heating up.

It’s been eight years since the teenage Dylan followed Apollo around like a lovesick puppy, and it’s time he showed Lieutenant Hard-to-Please that he’s all man now—an adult who’s fully capable of choosing responsibility over lust. He can handle Apollo’s muscular sex appeal, but Apollo the caring father? Dylan can’t afford to fall for that guy. He’s determined to hold out for someone who’s able to love him back, not someone who only sees him as a kid brother.

Apollo is shocked by the intensity of his attraction to Dylan. Maybe some no-strings summer fun will bring this former SEAL back to life. But the combination of scorching desire and warm affection is more than he’d expected, and the emotion between them scares him senseless. No fling lasts forever, and Apollo will need to decide what’s more important—his past or his future—if he wants to keep Dylan in his life.

Annabeth Albert has become a  “go to, must read” author for me quickly.  It started with her series #gaymers but Portland Heat and now Out of Uniform is also making her a comfort read as well.  If you haven’t started any of these series, walk-don’t run to your nearest computer and pull them up!  At Attention is the second in her Out of Uniform series and oh my, how I do love this one.  It has characters I met in the first, we’re talking Lt. Apollo Floros.  He’s widowed with twins and just the small amount of time he appeared in the first story, Off Base (Out of Uniform, #1), was enough to know that you needed more of him.  And that he had to have a HEA.

At Attention is his story and romance.  Sigh and swoon.  The author gives us a man who hasn’t yet dealt with his grief over losing his husband.  Apollo has just been going through the motions of adjusting to being an only parent with total responsibility of his twins, a job that’s taken him out of the field and the daily recognition of the hole in his life.  But actual mourning?  No, he hasn’t let himself do that and so he’s  stuck in a way that  not even his family   and friends know how to help him move forward.  I love how Albert makes us feel this man’s pain and loss as well as his love for his daughters and the man he married.  We see how much he needs to move ahead and yet how unable or unready he is to do so.

Then Dylan comes to town for a summer job and his brother, Apollo’s friend and teammate.  Who hasn’t had someone younger crush on them or had a crush on someone older?  We know how it goes and feels.  Albert captures those old feelings perfectly as well as what happened when the crush and crushee meet years later.  Its so hard to let go of those old impressions, especially if you’re the older person.  I love how that factors into this slow moving relationship because its so very realistic.

There are other obstacles here, not just that  past history.  Each is believable and realistic as they come.  And yet those sparks that fly between these characters are hot, hot, hot!!!  The chemistry that the author cooks up between Apollo and Dylan is combustible and I believe in that and them too.

Plus you throw in the girls and their love for Dylan as well and this story just sang for me.

So At Attention is already a favorite of the series and its just book 2.  What will the rest of the series bring?  I can’t wait to find out.  Please hurry up with the next story!

Cover art is lovely and works for the series and tale.

Sales Links

Carina Press

Other links coming soon

 

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: April 10th 2017 by Carina Press
Original Title At Attention
ISBN13 9781488022623
Edition Language English
Series Out of Uniform #2

An Ali Release Day Review: Shifting Views (The Carlisles #4) by Meg Harding

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
shifting-viewsSuccessful fashion model Denver Carlisle is finally living on his own. He’s got a new apartment, a neighbor who has a problem shutting his blinds, and a local bakery with an owner who makes his knees weak. It’s raining men, and Denver hasn’t gotten any in a long time. Going out on a limb, he asks Ethan Monahan out and resorts to a little exhibitionism for his neighbor. Only to be turned down by both. That’s a first. 

Ethan Monahan runs his own bakery and has a new neighbor who walks around naked. The latter is a little too distracting. When his naked neighbor turns out to be none other than model Denver Carlisle—and the customer who asked him out—Ethan tries to make amends. In a purely friendly way. 

Friendship leads to more, and both men find themselves in over their heads with emotions and compromises. Denver has trust issues that could span the Sahara, and Ethan is a product of the foster system with a chip on his shoulder and a serious wariness of those with money. There’s only one way to reconcile their issues: work together. 
I really liked this book.  A lot.  It ended up being my favorite book by this author.  It’s the fourth book in a series about the Carlisle brothers but it works fine as a stand alone.  If you’ve read the previous books then you’ll be happy to see the other three couples in this one a bit.  This story starts with Denver being a bit adrift after Dorian moves in with his boyfriend (from book three).  Denver is not used to being apart from his twin and while he’s happy for his brother, he’s a sad for himself.  He doesn’t want anymore meaningless flings, he wants the serious relationships that all of his brothers now have.  A variety of things happen that lead him to ask out the neighborhood bakery owner, Ethan.
Ethan has had a difficult upbringing and he doesn’t trust anyone with his feelings.  He puts 100% of his energy into his business.  When Denver asks him out Ethan figures he’s way out of his league and declines Denver’s offer of dating.  He does end up deciding they can be friends.  This part of the book made me smile more than once.  These two are horrifically awkward.  They’re like two teenagers.  I thought this was a unique and sweet path for the book to take.  So many romances are filled with alpha males who are full of confidence and have all the answers.  These two stutter through things they’re trying to say and worry about what they’re going to do next.  Their internal monologues were funny and charming, especially Denver’s.
Once they slip into dating things heat up dramatically.  While they may be awkward with talking they aren’t in the bedroom.  These two have great chemistry and they burn up the pages.  As the relationship goes on they have some challenges, both in regards to their pasts and in regards to Denver’s job.  They handle this but communicating and this was also a pleasant change from the angst and drama often seen in romances.
I thought this was unique and super good and it’s definitely a book I would recommend.
Cover Artist: Garrett Leigh, Photography: Dan Burgess.  I love the cover.  I think it looks great and it fits them them of the story also.
Sales Links
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Book Details:
ebook, 200 pages
Expected publication: February 10th 2017 by Dreamspinner Press
Original TitleShifting Views
ISBN 1635333040 (ISBN13: 9781635333046)
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Carlisles #4

Love A Romance and HEA? Check out Flaunt by E. Davies (excerpt and giveaway)

flaunt-banner

Flaunt by E. Davies

Release Date: January 31st 2017
Genre: Contemporary MM Romance

📚

Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words is happy to have E. Davies here today to talk about his story Flaunt and share foods he can’t live without. Ed, we must talk fiddleheads some day! Welcome, Ed!

📚

Canadian Desert Island Eats to Share

Hello! I’m Ed Davies, and I’m thrilled to be here. I was asked to share the foods I couldn’t live without, and nothing against you all, but there are some of these foods I won’t share… Writing requires brain food, but don’t worry, absolutely none of my favorite foods are healthy or brainy.

To add an extra twist, I’m making a list of strictly favorite foods I associate with my home country, Canada. Some of these are widely available throughout North America and the world, some not so much!

Corn Puffs

Seriously. I can eat a bag of these in one sitting. They’re also impossible to find here in the UK, which has driven me mad over the last two years. You can only squeeze two bags into a checked bag, and one into a carry-on… not that I’d know that from personal experience. They seem plain–cornmeal, veggie oil, salt, water—but from the plainest ingredients comes pure magic.

Maple Syrup

Okay, an obvious choice for a Canadian list, I grant you. But hear me out! There’s no syrup like the darkest, richest syrup straight from a Quebec forest. None of that buttery maple syrup stuff, please. When you grow up in Canada, the history module you repeat every year is about the boil-off every winter, when maple sap was boiled down to syrup. They’d pour some onto the snow, where it freezes into a crunchy, hard candy. Proof of Canadian status: when I moved out of my most recent house, I uncovered two bottles of maple syrup, just in case I ran out of it.

Fiddleheads

These are a very Atlantic Canadian food. They’re a specific type of fern that has to be carefully cooked before eating, and they have a unique taste I really can’t describe… the earthiness of mushrooms, yet lightness of fresh greens, with an extra twist. And they can be made ultra-gourmet: four years ago, I had a bowl of fiddlehead cream soup that I still haven’t forgotten.

Sweet & Sour Chick’n

Huh? This isn’t very Canadian… except for the strong tradition of Chinese-Canadian restaurants. There are fascinating articles online on the history of Chinese food in Canada. Throughout the country, but especially in BC—jumping to the other coast now—there’s a long history of Chinese-Canadian families running buffets. Although sweet’n’sour chicken is probably familiar to everyone, I associate it with honey buns, rice paper candies, and a hundred other little tastes of Vancouver’s Chinatown.

Poutine

When I cut out cheese from my diet, oh man… this was the hardest thing to go. I’d been gradually cutting back for a long time, and I could live without most other forms of dairy, but poutine was a hard one to give up. But only the stuff made with cheese curds, not fake poutine with shredded mozzarella! That stuff’s a crime against poutine. The curds should also be fresh enough that they squeak.

Kraft Dinner

It’s probably half-plastic, and I don’t even care. I stopped eating it when I cut out cheese, but I found a very suitable vegan alternative and I still eat it… er… embarrassingly often. But sometimes, that little craving sneaks in for some genuine, Canadian KD. Reminds me of my university days…

Kinder Eggs

Again, a predictable choice, but who didn’t grow up with these? I feel for the Americans who have to smuggle these across the border. The chocolate itself isn’t even the tastiest, but waiting to finish the chocolate before you open the plastic egg makes it taste better. Sometimes you’d get a disappointing toy, which is defined as one that doesn’t do anything, and that you didn’t even have to assemble. Other times, it was a cool wind-up car or paper airplane, or something you wouldn’t expect to fit into an egg!

Food famously brings people together—shared memories of it, and unique traditions. In Flaunt, my newest release, Kyle is used to late night pizza with his boss, for example, and Nic finds himself thrilled to get home to cooked meals when he starts sharing his house with Kyle. It’s one of those small, yet hugely important details that can tell you so much about a person. I’d love to hear more about your favorite foods and food memories!

33844763

BLURB

“He’s waiting for me to ask, and I’m afraid.”

“I’m just one more gay guy here.”

Moving to the suburbs of L.A. was supposed to give Nic Montero a fresh start. After escaping his family, coming out as a gay trans man, and excelling in computer programming out of desperation to get financially stable or die, everything should be easy. But joining gay culture now, post-transition, feels impossible… until he runs into the force of nature that is Kyle. Everything Nic isn’t, Kyle embodies. Green hair, garters and cut-off shorts, sports jerseys, and all, brash Kyle is the most gorgeous man he’s ever laid eyes on, and he pulls Nic headlong into the center of his world. If only Nic felt like enough for a man like Kyle.

“One-night stands are my only option.”

Loud, loving, and too much for most men to handle, Kyle Everett catches eyes and occasionally scorn… even at his job at the local HIV charity, Plus. His days and nights are spent at work, his precious spare moments spent with his son, Kevin, when it’s his turn to co-parent, or his best friend, drag queen River. He only has money or time for cheap flings, but the lanky otter who walks into his life makes Kyle want to hold him for longer than a night. He knows what it’s like for Nic to be without a family, but he isn’t brave enough to let this man into his life… until his charity is targeted by bigots, and Nic’s there for him.

“I’ll stay with you if you’re brave enough to be you.”

Nic spent his twenties avoiding family and even his own femininity, but his yearning is impossible to ignore. Kyle’s used to flying solo, but Nic offers him safety and fills gaps in his life he never realized existed and now can’t stand. Living in close proximity, they can’t run from their attraction, but they’re each used to being rejected, with the emotional scars to prove it. Can two men who feel like they’re not enough and too much find something just right?

Flaunt is a steamy, stand-alone gay romance novel with a HEA ending and no cliffhanger.

Purchase: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Goodreads

EXCERPT

“Welcome to our headquarters! Er, not that we have other locations. Not full-time, anyway. Don’t worry about being late. I’m not even ready. I’m so sorry.” This had to be Kyle— the voice on the intercom matched this peppy yet sibilant, rapid-fire speech.

“I— that’s fine,” Nic assured Kyle with a quiet laugh. He was relieved not to be in trouble for showing up late, nor for showing up in formalwear when everyone else was probably going casual. “GPS pointed me the wrong way.”

“Oh, they do that! Right this way, please.” Kyle scanned his card against a reader near the staircase door. When he twirled to hold the staircase door open, his skirt flared out a little.

Kyle was wearing a skirt, over men’s skinny jeans and boots, and a blouse, and chest hair peeked out from the top of the blouse, his biceps unmistakeable. And his suspenders reached under the skirt, presumably to his jeans waistband. It made Nic wonder if he was wearing garters, which was a wholly inappropriate thought for their first meeting.

He awkwardly stepped through the doorway and Kyle brushed past him to trot upstairs at top speed, already talking again.

GIVEAWAY: Win a $25 Amazon giftcard and 2 x Flaunt ebooks

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About the Author

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E. Davies was proficient in real estate ad shorthand (the old-fashioned newspaper kind) by the age of nine. Growing up moving constantly taught him what people have in common, the ways relationships are formed, and the dangers of “miscellaneous” boxes.
As a teen, he tore through a stack of found romance novels, wishing someone had written similar for M/M, though he could never find anything at Chapters or the library. Just after graduating university in 2013, semi-out and clutching his English B.A. for dear life, he stumbled on an Amazon M/M short story. It was a whole new… phrase he dares not repeat for fear of lawyers. It shone and shimmered splendidly, though.
After failing forty times to avoid crafting happily-ever-after endings for steamy short stories, he plunged into romance novels and hasn’t looked back. As a young gay author whose formative gay fictional role models were characters punished for their sexuality, Ed prefers his stories lightly dramatic, full of optimism and hope.
Now out and proud, he writes full-time, goes on long nature walks, tries to fill his passport, drinks piña coladas on the beach, flees from cute guys, coos over fuzzy animals (especially bees), and is liable to tilt his head and click his tongue if you don’t use your turn signal.

To find out when E. Davies has a new release, you can subscribe to his newsletter.

Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon

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Release Day Blitz: Leaning Into Love (Leaning into Stories #1) by Lane Hayes (excerpt and giveaway)

Title:  Leaning Into Love

Series: Leaning Into Stories, #1

Author: Lane Hayes

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: February 10th

Heat Level: 4 – Lots of Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: Approximately 24K words

Genre: Romance, Erotica, Friends to lovers, surfer, white collar, San Francisco, bisexual

Available for Purchase ata6e28-amazon

Add to Goodreads

Synopsis

Eric Schuster is a successful guy. He’s part owner of a highly successful tech firm, he has a supportive family and a great group of close friends. But something is missing. Or maybe he’s reacting to his business partner and ex’s wedding news. He knows his former lover is making a big mistake but he also knows it’s time to move on. And hopefully avoid falling for another friend.

Zane Richards is an avid sailor and surfer with a laid-back approach to life. He firmly believes there’s a time and place for everything if you’re willing to take a chance. Like letting his best friend know he’s interested in being much more than friends. Eric has always been half in love with Zane but going from friends to lovers isn’t an easy sell for someone protecting his heart. Eric will have to decide if he’s willing to risk it all by leaning into love.

INCLUDES BONUS CONTENT

Excerpt

Zane refilled my glass and returned it to me with a naughty smirk. “You get kinda corny when you’re tipsy, Schuster. It’s cute.”

“Cute?”

“Yeah. You get goofy. Your ears turn red and it makes the freckles on your nose stand out. Then you do that thing with your hair where you swipe your hand through it so many times that it looks like you just rolled out of bed.”

“Uh…okay. That’s embarrassing.” I searched for a reflective surface as I attempted to pat my unruly brown hair into some semblance of order. “I was going for debonair and I got bar mitzvah kid chic,” I grumbled.

Zane leaned forward and gave me an intense look I didn’t understand.

“You don’t have to be anyone but yourself with me, Eric. I like you just the way you are.” He sat back again and cocked his head. “So let’s talk about this stupid engagement party. What’s the dress code?”

“Um… it’s probably dressy casual,” I replied with a furrowed brow. I wanted to back up a sentence or two and analyze his words and dissect the meaning of “I like you just the way you are”.

“The usual oxymoron,” he snarked. “You are going with me, right?”

“Sure. If you want.”

“I want. It’ll save us both the trouble of finding some poor unsuspecting sucker to drag to a fancy shindig.”

“True. Speaking of suckers, don’t you have a date tonight?”

Zane glanced at his watch and then stretched his legs out on the bench so his shoe nudged my thigh. “I’ve got time. Talk to me. What else have you been up to lately? I noticed there’s a new exhibit at the Modern Museum. Have you gone? I think it’s a midcentury retrospective with Motherwell and de Kooning. I know you like the scribbly art and…”

His conversation was easy. The gentrified version of his former surfer dude accent had a lilting quality I could have listened to for hours. I felt myself truly begin to relax and let go of the invisible hold I’d had on my emotions, like a swimmer grasping onto a ledge who finally realizes he can reach the bottom of the pool. Being with someone who knew quirky details about me and accepted them without judgment or reservation was a gift.

I treasured all of my friends, but Zane was special. Our friendship was rooted in geography and history and now time. He wasn’t making a romantic advance when he asked me to attend Nick’s engagement party with him. That was latent wishful thinking on my part. Zane was simply being who he always was. My oldest and best friend.

Available at Amazon for only 99 cents

Meet the Author

Lane Hayes is grateful to finally be doing what she loves best. Writing full-time! It’s no secret Lane loves a good romance novel. An avid reader from an early age, she has always been drawn to well-told love story with beautifully written characters. These days she prefers the leading roles to both be men. Lane discovered the M/M genre a few years ago and was instantly hooked. Her debut novel was a 2013 Rainbow Award finalist and subsequent books have received Honorable Mentions, and were winners in the 2016 Rainbow Awards. She loves red wine, chocolate and travel (in no particular order). Lane lives in Southern California with her amazing husband in an almost empty nest.

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A Caryn Review: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling by Matthew Robbins

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

when-irish-eyes-are-smiling-by-matthew-robbinsFelix first met Ronan in a particularly embarrassing circumstance – dressed only in his underwear, passed out on the beach, and unable to remember how he got there.  Felix was on a trip through Europe with friends, and was pretty sure that those “friends” were responsible for the entire situation, but he had no idea where he was, or where his friends were, so Ronan took pity on him and tried to help him find them.  Things went from bad to worse when he inadvertently wrecked Ronan’s truck and injured him severely enough that Ronan was unable to continue to work on his grandfather’s farm.   

The setup for the entire story started when the local Doolin police, Garda Redmond, offered Felix a choice for restitution to Ronan – either pay for a farmhand until Ronan is able to work, or do the work himself.  Felix didn’t have the money to pay, so he moved into the farmhouse with Ronan and his grandfather, and started work.  Yeah, the set-up was kind of far-fetched, but I was willing to look past that for a good story.

How disappointing not to get it.

Felix was introduced as an earnest young man who was immature, but who’d fallen in with a bad crowd and made bad decisions, and working the farm with Ronan – who wasn’t much older, but was years ahead in maturity, responsibility, and kindness – should have been an opportunity to grow up.  And I guess he did, to an extent, but my overall impression of him was that he was selfish, stupid, and acted like a spoiled 12 year old pretty much through the entire book (even his two acts of sacrifice on Ronan’s behalf were pretty dumb and he would have been better off just giving directly to Ronan).  I thought Felix was a complete douche, and I barely even liked him, much less got invested in him as part of a romance.  Ronan was this great character who was kind and generous to a fault, smart, community minded, with a plan for the future to save his grandfather’s farm, and working hard to accomplish it.  I actually liked him less at the end of the book precisely because he fell in love with Felix, and even picked up some of his stupider traits.  I thought Ronan should have dumped his ass after the first of the many stupid mistakes he made that endangered the farm.

Of course, in the end, Felix saved the day – in a very Scooby Doo-ish kind of way – Ronan declared his love, and the entire town threw them a party.  Uh huh.  I was just glad the book was over.  I would have rated it lower, but I thought Ronan’s accent was well written, and the descriptions of the Irish countryside and the farm were just lovely, so I gave it an extra half star.

Cover art by Written Ink Designs was meh.

Sales Links

JMS Books LLC | Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 137 pages
Published January 7th 2017 by JMS Books LLC
ASINB01MY4NSPH
Edition LanguageEnglish

An Alisa Review: Fire Triangle by Iyana Jenna

Rating:  4 stars out of 5

 

fire-triangle-by-iyana-jennaWhile investigating a house fire, Detective Miles Tucker uncovers a similar case twenty years prior. Digging deeper, Miles learns that a survivor from the earlier fire might have some answers to his questions.

 

As a boy, Devin Treadwell survived a fire that wiped out his entire family. The trauma he suffered left him in a mental institution, but he has since made a full recovery and, though partially deaf and mute, now lives an independent life as a music teacher.

 

Devin’s life is disrupted when the handsome Miles suspects him of being a serial arsonist. But he wasn’t the only survivor. A boy named Sebastian who had been adopted by Devon’s family also survived the blaze.

 

Then an attempt is made on Devin’s life. Can Miles keep Devin safe from an arsonist who will stop at nothing to silence him? Or will the attraction between them jeopardize the investigation?

 

This was an interesting story.  Devin is quite young when his family died in the house fire and has come a long way since it happened.  Miles comes in and throws a wrench in his perfectly ordered life, not that he is too upset by the final outcome.

 

This story had quite a few twists and turns.  We saw some of Devin’s childhood when Sebastian came into their lives and some of Sebastian’s actions and thoughts during that time.  Miles is going through a tough time when he begins the arson investigation, which causes him to make a few rash assumptions that are quickly found incorrect once he meets Devin and learns what really happened when he was a kid.  Seeing things through Devin’s, Miles’ and even Sebastian’s eyes goes a long way towards understanding the story, though there is still a twist at the end that I didn’t expect and I always like some surprise in my stories.

 

The cover art is nice and eye catching giving a nice visual of Devin and Miles.

 

Sales Links: JMS Books | Amazon | B&N

 

Book Details:

ebook, 87 pages

Published: January 7, 2017 by JMS Books

ISBN: 9781634862974

Edition Language: English

A Lila Review: Tempted to Taste (Sutter’s Bay #5) by Shawn Lane

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

tempted-to-taste-by-shawn-laneRyan Callahan’s parents died in a boating accident off Sutter’s Bay when he was five years old. Now Ryan is back in the bay ready to live in the Victorian reproduction house his father built for his mother. And ready to get his dream job a chef in a restaurant. The job of head chef seems to fall into his lap when Mabry’s is short staffed, but when the sexy as sin owner, Chris Mabry, returns from vacation he fires the inexperienced Ryan on the spot.

Ryan’s dream seems to be over before he gets a chance to prove himself, but when Chris realizes how bad his restaurant’s situation is, he rehires Ryan. As Mabry becomes a success, things sizzle between Ryan and Chris and soon Ryan is cooking for Chris personally.

Tempted to Taste is more of a spinoff than part of the original series.  We do see characters from the previous books, especially Adam and Galaxy, but even so, this book exists on the outside of the others’ friends and family circles. It does have the Sutter Bay setting which helps to bring them together.

This story has a faster pace, which I enjoyed. The plot is simple and the main plot revolves around the main characters’ relationship. There’s no angst or unnecessary misunderstandings. The story has the right amount of fluff and smexy scenes to get the reader to forget about anything else but the story.

Ryan doesn’t waste any time getting settled or looking for a job. He knows what he wants and that includes Chris. From the start, both established an understanding about mixing work and pleasure and this fact never becomes an issue. They are direct and to the point even when they are falling for each other. Chris first impression isn’t a positive one, but he more than makes up for it.

If you’re looking for a quick read between stories or a distraction from the world, this is your story. Don’t expect a piece of literary fiction. This story is a simple romance with interesting characters and a beautiful setting. Plus, it can be read as a stand-alone.

As always, the cover includes the main characters and a view of Sutter’s Bay.

Sale Links: JMS Books | Amazon | Nook

Book Details:

ebook, 49 pages
Published: January 14, 2017, by JMS Books
ISBN: 9781634861489
Edition Language: English

Series:  Sutter’s Bay
Book #1: Sweet Reunion
Book #2: Twice in a Lifetime
Book #3: Galaxy’s Heart
Book #4: Finding Forever
Book #5: Tempted to Taste