Category: Contemporary fiction

A VVivacious 2 Review in 1: Dare To (Dare #1) by A.K.M. Miles +Dare’s Christmas Gift (Dare #2) by A.K.M. Miles – Bonus short story

dare-to-dare-1-by-a-k-m-milesDare To by A.K.M. Miles
Rating – 3.5 Stars out of 5
 
Dare works as a youth counsellor, a vocation he is very passionate about. He and Ryan meet at a time of loss for both of them but they are unable to deny their intense chemistry. But just as Dare is finding his footing in his life with Ryan and Ryan’s nephew JC, he ends up as front page news for a heroic act of his which also ends up outing him as gay. What follows is an upheaval in his professional life that tests the bonds between Ryan and Dare.
 
I believe this story would have been so much better if just a few details were tinkered with till they were perfect.
 
It is a slice-of-life fiction, so basically a lot of things happen but the events don’t culminate into a climax, it’s just life as usual. At a few, very few, times I was hesitant at believing that such calamities would befall one person in such a short span of time but I have made peace with that aspect of this story. Overall the plot and the story make for a fairly interesting read.
 
There are a lot of side characters in this one but having read the story in its entirety I don’t feel like I know these characters well enough like Melanie, Jackie, Brandon, Linc and JC. I particularly felt this lack of development for JC’s character because no matter how you slice it he was always going to be a big part of Ryan and Dare’s life together and I would have loved more scenes with the trio of Ryan, Dare and JC. While we are on the topic of side characters, I would like to mention Ben Tyler who had just such an amazing personality.
 
This book is entirely from Dare’s perspective which kind of made the story very one-sided almost everything that happens, happens in Dare’s life it’s about his problems, his troubles and in the bargain we miss out on a lot of backstory on Ryan and his life and his friends.
 
The single most amazing thing about this book that pretty much carried this book for me was Ryan and Dare and their chemistry. It was sizzling hot. It really has me believing that if Ryan and Dare were real people they would be perfect for each other because oh my God! It was actually unbelievable how well these two characters played off of each other.
 
Personally this book is an interesting read with an awesome couple and it holds a lot of potential to be better.
Dare’s Christmas Gift by A.K.M. Miles
Rating – 3.75 to 4 Stars out of 5
 
Dare and Ryan are ready to celebrate their first Christmas together. But things get complicated when both JC and Brandon report spotting the mean guy. Now Christmas feels like a minefield for Dare, Ryan and Jackie to traverse, keeping the boys safety and happiness in mind at all times.
 
First of all I must confess that this story would have read much better if I wasn’t reading it right at the end of “Dare To” and that is reason for my variable rating. I feel like I didn’t enjoy it as much because I had just met these characters and I already knew their story and in some ways this felt like a rehash of “Dare To” but I’m pretty sure I would have liked it much better had there been a gap.
 
Okay so the ‘mean guy’ turns out to be Mitch not Phil and don’t worry this isn’t much of a spoiler because apparently all the characters knew who ‘mean guy’ referred to. I don’t know why I was expecting Phil, maybe because Dare To was very Dare-centric and I kind of thought this story would be too but in hindsight how would the kids know about Phil, that truly doesn’t seem like information to share with kids.
 
Okay yeah so the whole Mitch – thing felt like a rehash, I kept getting the ‘been there, done that’ feeling all throughout that story-line playing out and I was kind of expecting a sweet-Christmas story not a catch-the-bad-guy story. So yeah that was a bit repetitive.
 
But there are a lot of things to like about “Dare’s Christmas Gift” with the first thing being Dare’s Christmas Gift. It was truly inspired and I loved the gift so much and it just proved to me that Dare and Ryan were going to go long-term. I mean seriously I couldn’t wait for Ryan to see it.
 
Also this story has Ryan’s and JC’s perspectives the lack of which I felt very acutely in “Dare To”, so I loved their POVs and I loved that we got to spend time in their heads. Ditto scenes between Ryan, Dare and JC, we got a nice sweet helping of those too.
 
It was a great short story, I loved how we got to meet everyone and I am positive I would have enjoyed this story a lot more had I been reading it after a little break between reading “Dare To” and reading this. So everyone who loved the book be sure to pick up this short because “Dare’s Christmas Gift” is truly inspired, literally.
 
Cover Art by Kris Jacen. I love the cover with its background of blue at the top and the snowflakes at the bottom and how they transform from one into the other. Also I loved Dare’s expression on the cover; it feels very Dare-ish and like something he would actually do.
Sales Links
Book Details:
Kindle Edition
Published December 16th 2016 by MLR Press (first published July 1st 2008)
Original TitleDare To
ASINB01N9IS02Z
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesDare #1
CharactersDare Wilson, Ryan Spencer
Bonus story included 

 

 

A Caryn Review: Silent Night by Erin E. Keller

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

silent-night-by-jms-booksEh, it was an OK holiday story.

Pete is an average guy with a crappy seasonal job dressed as Santa Clause and advertising for a book store in New York City.  While internally whining about said crappy job, he keeps noticing a homeless man with a book who is not very successful at begging in front of his store.  Although Pete thinks of himself as a jaded hardass who really doesn’t care about other people, he decided to give the man a whole dime (in present day NYC?  What good did he think that would do???), but the man’s response – or rather lack of – was unexpected.  And made him want to know more, especially when he saw how cute the homeless man was.

Lucas is deaf, mute, orphaned, friendless, and recently homeless when he refused to sell his body.  Despite circumstances, he has continued to try to find a job, and escapes into his book when life is just too hard.  He doesn’t really know how to beg, and is way too soft and naive to survive on the streets, but something about Pete just drew him in.  On Christmas eve, Pete came to find Lucas to offer him a meal.  An initial misunderstanding between them led to Lucas getting assaulted and losing what few possessions he had, so Pete, feeling responsible, took Lucas home.  Where the expected happened in a fade-to-black scene, which was actually very sweet.

This next paragraph will be a spoiler, so you may want to skip it!  After the meet-cute, there was a disconcerting jump to the next Christmas Eve, with a flashback from Pete telling how they got together and both found satisfying jobs, but Pete was over-protective, possessive, and an insensitive jackass who treated Lucas like a child, so Lucas left.  Now that it’s Christmas Eve, Pete needs to win him back.  Which he does, being a possessive and semi-violent jerk.  And though he recognizes what he did wrong, he seems helpless to do any better.  And Lucas goes back to him because he loves him despite how he acts sometimes.

Doesn’t this seem like a perfect set up for an abusive relationship?

And to cap things off, there were grammar and spelling mistakes, and I got the sense that this was written by someone who really isn’t all that familiar with American culture, and American English.

Cover art by Written Ink Designs is nice, and the photo captured the two men well.

Sales Links

JMS Books 

c60a7-waxcreative-amazon-kindle

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 39 pages
Published December 3rd 2016 by JMS Books LLC (first published November 24th 2014)
ASINB01N97IR96
Edition LanguageEnglish

In Our New Release Spotlight: When Irish Eyes Are Smiling by Matthew Robbins (excerpt)

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling – Matthew Robbins

 
Length: 44,000 words
 
Publisher: JMS Books 
 

Felix is in real trouble this time. Not only did he wake up nearly naked in a foreign country — drugged and abandoned as a prank — but soon he finds himself being interviewed by the police after crashing the truck of his handsome rescuer, Ronan Malloy. The only way for Felix to make amends is to work off his debt on the injured Ronan’s shabby, struggling farm.

Ronan Malloy and his grandad Lorcan have big plans for their ancestral farm. Their new boutique cheese will put Malloy Cheesery the map. But he hasn’t struck it rich yet. Between the bank and his scheming neighbor, he has enough troubles and doesn’t want to deal with an untrained Yankee on top of it.

Although Felix resents having to stay behind as his friends continue their backpacking adventure across Europe, he begins to see that farm life isn’t so bad. Ronan’s charming smile and sparkling eyes are an added bonus. And Ronan learns soon enough that the Yankee isn’t as helpless as he thought.

Felix isn’t sure he’s up to the task of saving the deeply indebted Malloy Farm from calamity and devious plots for its downfall, but for Ronan, he’s willing to try.

Excerpt

Felix nodded and slipped out of the truck. After seeing how passionate Ronan was about the farm and its future, the thought that he had nearly ruined everything with a stupid mistake weighed heavily on him as he picked his way toward the waves. As exciting as photographing dozens tiny details in town had been, Felix was invigorated by the wild Irish sea and her rocky coast. It seemed everywhere he looked provided an opportunity, a moment in time that needed to be documented. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but he was surprised as he made his way back to the truck that Ronan, leaned against a large briny rock, had not noticed his approach. Camera ready, Felix focused on the most interesting piece of jetsam he’d run across today—a handsome Irishman.

The slope of Ronan’s brow, his proud nose, and full lips were made to be studied. If Felix had been given a box full of facial features and a hot glue gun, he’d never have been able to make a face that pleased his eye more than the one on the man he was watching breathe in the fresh sea air with satisfaction. Felix had never been able to look at Ronan so long before. Those devilish eyes, quick with a joke or a wink, missed nothing. Felix couldn’t look at Ronan without being looked at in return. Felix’s camera traveled down Ronan’s solid arms to the bandages at his hands. They were looking damp and ratty, loose around the edges and decidedly ready to be changed. He felt guilty he hadn’t changed them recently and he lowered the camera. To his surprise, Ronan was no longer looking out to sea, but directly at him. With a chuckle, Ronan waived him over.

“Not exactly a Sports Illustrated model, am I?”

“Not quite.” Felix found a spot to lean against Ronan’s rock. The two regarded the sea together in quiet contemplation.

“Why were you in such a pissy mood back at the pub?”

With a sigh, Felix said, “Tom.” He was tired and still feeling a buzz from the Guinness. Subterfuge was beyond his abilities at the moment.

“Tom’s not a bad guy. What’s got you off on Tom all of a sudden?”

“I dunno.” Felix kicked at the sand with the toe of his shoe.

“Out with it.”

“He was just being mighty chummy with you. I felt left out.”

Ronan nodded. His eyes bore into Felix and Felix decided he might as well tell the whole truth. He felt Ronan knew it anyway.

“And he kissed you,” Felix said.

Ronan let out a surprised laugh. “We’re just mates.”

Felix nodded and looked away.

“You call that a kiss?” Ronan asked. “That’s not a kiss. This is a kiss.”

Surprised, Felix turned to Ronan and Ronan’s lips crashed against his, matching the crashing waves of the ocean at their side. Felix could not catch his breath. His entire being was consumed by lips and tongue, bandaged hands at his back and in his hair. When Ronan finally pulled away, Felix’s soul screamed out in despair, matching the gull screams all around them. More. More. More.

Author Bio


Matthew enjoys writing in the quiet hours of early morning when anything seems possible. When he’s not writing, he loves spending time with his patient and sweet husband Josh or creating anything with his hands—watercolor painting, crochet, wood working. His wacky and loyal clients fill his head with tales of places near and far, adventures mundane and insane, and secrets so scandalous that he can’t help but be inspired as he cuts and colors their hair in a lively neighborhood hair salon. He credits large amounts of caffeine and Neil Dyer’s intense music playlists for helping bring it all together on the page for his reader’s enjoyment.

An Ali Audiobook Review: Merry Christmas, Mr. Miggles by Eli Easton and Tristan Wright (Narrator)

 Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
merry-christmas-mr-miggles-audiobookToby Kincaid loves being the junior librarian in his hometown of Sandy Lake, Ohio. He spends his days surrounded by books and chatting with the library patrons. He especially adores the head librarian, Mr. Miggles, who is kind, witty, knowlegable about everything, and hopelessly addicted to Christmas. Sean Miggles is also pretty cute—especially for an older guy who wears ties and suit pants every day.

But Sean keeps himself at a distance, and there’s a sadness about him that Toby can’t figure out. When Sean is accused of a crime he didn’t commit, he gives up without a fight. Toby realizes that he alone can save the library—and their head librarian.

Toby will need to uncover the darkness in Sean’s past and prove to him that he deserves a second chance at life and at love too. And while Christmas miracles are being handed out, maybe Toby will get his own dearest wish—to love and be loved by Mr. Miggles.
This was a feel good holiday story.  The story is told from Toby’s point of view as he slowly learns his co-worker is a really great guy that does a lot for their small town.  After a crisis in which something bad happens to Sean, Toby steps up and tries to set things right.  And he enlists an assorted group of people he’s met through the library.  It’s that traditional holiday story where in the end everyone comes together to right the wrongs.  It’s one of those stories that helps you remember there are still a lot of good people in the world and it melts your heart just a bit.  I really enjoyed this part of the book.
My only complaint was the relationship between Toby and Sean.  Most of the book we’re told that Toby doesn’t know any side of Sean except his work side but then next thing you know they’re in love.  There isn’t any relationship building at all.  I think if this not been a Christmas story I would have been more bothered by this.  As it was, I just chalked it all up to the magic of Christmas and went with it.
This was narrated by Tristan Wright and I thought he did a good job.  I don’t think I’ve heard this narrator before.  He did a good job on both of the main characters and I never had a difficult time telling them apart.  He also did a good job on most of the side characters (and there were a lot of them).  There were a few women’s voices that didn’t work for me but they were not a huge part of the story so it wasn’t a problem.
I thought this was a well done and entertaining audiobook and a good addition to the holiday story genre.
Cover:  I like the cover.  It is simple but catches your eye right away.  (Probably because the model is so attractive.)
Sales Links
351e4-audible
Audiobook Details:
Length: 4 hrs and 45 mins
Audible Audio
Published December 16th 2016 by Pinkerton Road (first published November 23rd 2016)
ASINB01N0QSJD9
Edition LanguageEnglish

Release Blitz for Doll Baby by Kayleigh Sky

Doll Baby – Kayleigh Sky

Length: 330 pages
 

Blurb

Todd Rifkin has sworn off love forever—until he loses his heart to a badly scarred rent boy and stumbles into a deadly game of cat and mouse with a brutal stalker out for revenge.

Struggling to make enough money to buy a friend’s bar and grill to fulfill a promise, Todd Rifkin vows to let nothing stand in his way. Nothing, that is, until a friend’s call for help. Bailing his friend out of trouble might cost Todd his dream. Now he is scrambling to make up the loss and reluctantly takes on the job of errand boy for his boss’ spoiled ex-lover.

Bliss Busby has no memory of the attack that scarred his face. Scared and reclusive, he has no interest in Todd’s intrusion into his life. No interest, that is, until somebody starts scattering cinnamon hearts at his door. Now Todd is the only one standing between Bliss and a mysterious stalker.

Years ago, Todd lost the love of his life in a violent twist of fate. After a night with a knife-wielding maniac, Bliss lost everything. Thrown together by circumstance, Todd and Bliss must unite to battle a hidden force from the past. As Bliss struggles to remember the attack that wrecked his life, and Todd struggles to save him from an attacker that is closer than either of them realizes, their reluctant friendship becomes a passionate love that just might have the power to heal their wounded hearts.

If they live.

Author Bio

Kayleigh Sky is a m/m erotic romance writer.

Kayleigh’s stories are tales of struggle and pain, loss and despair. Love is won in the battle to rise out of the depths of darkness. Victory is in the sweet bliss of happily ever after.

Once upon a time Kayleigh hid out in a cold dark garage reading a book her parents forbid her to read. She was nine years old. The book? Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin, a story of love between two men–well, actually the story was a little more complicated than that, but hey, she was nine.

In the dark of the garage, a light, a passion, a sheer joy for love in all its manifestations awoke.

And love between two men–Hot!

Kayleigh’s men are often broken, always brave, and always memorable.

You can find Kayleigh here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

A Caryn Review: Alpha Barman (J.T.’s Bar #1) by Sue Brown

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

f1ba3-final_suebrown_alphabarman_ebookSue Brown is one of those authors who, for me, sometimes knocks it out of the park, and sometimes her books are just meh.  This book was definitely one of those meh ones.

Jake Tyler was a member of a special operations team who left after he found his brother-in-law Riley – who was also his best friend and member of his team – standing over his sister’s dead body with a bloody knife.  He worked to make sure Riley was convicted, and then abruptly quit and moved to Wyoming, leaving his long time lover Mitch behind.  He opened a bar in a tiny town in Wyoming, and started over, trying to leave everything about his past life behind.  He told no one on his team where he was going, and never even said goodbye to Mitch.

When the remainder of his old team shows up in his bar, Jake is angry and conflicted.  They came because Riley has escaped from prison, and everyone is convinced that he will head straight for Jake, to exact revenge, or to try again to make Jake believe he is innocent.  The team is there to protect Jake, but he doesn’t feel he needs protection, and most of all doesn’t want to be reminded of everything that happened before, and all he walked away from.  Especially Mitch.

At first, I believed the entire set up.  All the guys are tough as nails, intelligent and resourceful, physically imposing, and share that bond that comes from facing danger and saving each other’s lives.  Or that is what they are supposed to be.  But they kept falling short of the set up.  Or the background wasn’t supported at all by their actions.  Riley was supposedly Jake’s best friend for most of his life, married his sister, and they were as close as brothers.  But Jake never even considered listening to Riley’s version of events until Riley tracked him down in Wyoming.  Jake is supposed to be able to predict Riley’s moves because he was the one who trained him, but he never does.  The team is supposed to be the best of the best, and yet their plans to capture or neutralize Riley are pretty amateurish.  And the author spent way longer describing the two days before Riley’s arrival than was necessary, and I got tired of Jake angsting over Mitch, over Howie, over how Simon will treat Howie, over whether anyone will be able to eat Moose’s sloppy joes….  Nope, doesn’t make Jake sound all that tough, and certainly not decisive.  Then there was Riley’s progress to the bar, which actually started to get funny:  he escaped!  He must be hitchhiking!  He must be stealing a car!  He has contacts all over, and of course he’s gotten a gun!  How will he be able to get a gun?  He has a Hummer, he could just crash right into the bar!  He got rid of the Hummer, because the team would know he had it!   We’ll never see him coming!  Let’s put the retired Marines outside to reconnoiter!  Lets get those retired Marines inside before they get themselves killed!  Jake, get in the basement!  No, I won’t!  OK, I will!  I must be the one to confront Riley, I will not be in the basement!  I don’t know who edited this, but I’m not impressed.

And it didn’t even end there.  I got the impression that the Ms. Brown thought it would be great (or at least profitable) to write a story consisting entirely of stereotypical alpha males, because they are hot, and therefore six of them will be six times hotter.  Of course the most manly occupation possible is special forces, so that’s what they are.  Although I never saw exactly what organization they were part of – military?  NSA?  CIA?  Who knows, who cares, these guys are oozing testosterone through their hard bodies, and being hot will make up for their inconsistent and frankly stupid actions.  And rambling plot with huge holes.  Don’t get me wrong, I also enjoy the occasional dual alpha male story that involves them beating the shit out of each other, or the bad guys, as a form of foreplay (i.e., Ty and Zane in Abigail Roux’s Cut and Run series do that trope excellently), but the author just kind of missed the mark here.  By a mile.

Cover art by Garrett Leigh works perfectly.

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 150 pages
Published November 24th 2016 by Sue Brown’s Stories
ASINB01N99W6N4
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesJ.T.’s Bar #1

A Lila Review: Nothing Special V (Nothing Special #5) by A.E. Via

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

nothing-special-v-by-ae-viaAtlanta’s notorious narcotics task force is at it again. They are stronger, bigger, and better than ever. Especially when a city councilman sends RECON Marine, Edwin Steele – who’s been blacklisted from his Oakland department – to join the team. God and Day weren’t recruiting. They have a lot on their plates, like the fact they’re supposed to be getting married soon. They don’t have the time or the patience to integrate a decorated war hero with a slight chip on his shoulder into their well-oiled machine.

A hothead that’s uncontrollable and terrible with authority… but wasn’t that their team motto?

Steele was ready to hang up his shield. He was done fighting with bigoted bastards that couldn’t respect the job. He was good at fighting; he just needed the right team to fight with. When his uncle – City Councilman, Rasmus Steele – shows him a video of God’s team in action, he knows right away, it’s where his nephew belongs in order to restore his faith.

Steele pointed to the driver, a behemoth of a man wielding those massive firearms like a true beast… like a soldier. “And him. Who the hell is he?”

“That’s your new boss. Lieutenant Cashel Godfrey… they call him… God.”

Steele was skeptical about his new placement, but when he meets God’s technology specialist/computer genius, “Tech,” he’s willing to give it his all, and he definitely shows and proves.

Tech is stunning. His sweater vest and khakis, a stark contrast to the blue-jeaned roughnecks he works with. A beautiful sheep amongst the wolves. Steel thinks there’s no way the brilliant man would be interested in a hardhead like him, but Tech has a few badass hidden talents of his own and manages to fool him… fool all of them.

Nothing Special V is two books in one. We get Steele’s and Tech’s story. Plus, side stories from all the previous couples. It takes a moment to get used to all the POV changes, but the author did an excellent job keeping them organized and relevant. All the voices combined gives us the best look into the futures of God’s and Day’s men.

The first meeting between Tech and Steele set the pace for the story. It shows the reader how well-equipped they are to deal with each other and how good they fit in the team. Reading both of their thoughts and feelings also clue us into the path they need to follow to be together. They needed to grow stronger individually to be a couple.

The combination between meaningful smexy scenes and the action-packed plot lines create the perfect balance of enjoyment. These men are more than their batches, they’re a family that works like a well-oiled machine. But under everything else, they are strong because of the men at their side. Each couple and their love make them more than lethal.

If you are a fan of these men, you’re going to love the extra scenes with them as a group and the individual couples. The whole thing works together and sets the stage for even more couples to come.

And the bonus story at the end of the book is a perfect five. I love the little short story about the youngest couple in their bunch.

The cover by Jay Aheer is a compilation of the covers from the other books in the series, together with the new additions—Steele & Tech.

Sale Links: Amazon | Smashwords | Nook

Book Details: 

ebook, 360 pages
Published: December 19, 2016, by Via Star Wings Publishing
ASIN: B01N0G9507
Edition Language: English

Series: Nothing Special
Book #1: Nothing Special
Book #2: Embracing His Syn
Book #3: Here Comes Trouble
Book#4: Don’t Judge 
Book#5: Nothing Special V