Category: LGBTQ Book Reviews

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.

Release Tour for Amelia Faulkner’s Lord of Ravens

Lord Of Ravens (Inheritance Series #3) 

 Amelia Faulkner

 

Buy Links:

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2iLjlUM

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2iiZRWj

 
Inheritance Series
Jack of Thorns (Book #1) Amazon US | Amazon UK
Knight of Flames (Book #2) Amazon US | Amazon UK
 

Blurb

Lover. Predator. Killer.

Laurence Riley’s inheritance comes with a price – one he’s not at all sure he can pay. When his urge to hunt grows out of control, he sends a desperate prayer to his ancestor for guidance. But he never expected that Herne the Hunter would answer.

Scion. Target. Victim.

There are horrors lurking in Quentin d’Arcy’s past, but they won’t hide there forever. Something ancient is coming to take him home: a creature of nightmare who feasts on the flesh of children. When the choice is between his own life and the lives of innocents, there is no choice at all.

Honesty is the worst policy.

A legendary horror comes to San Diego, but it’s merely an emissary. Laurence has seen the real monster, and it’s a darkness which will destroy everything he loves – especially if Quentin ever finds out what it did to him as a child.

It’s down to Laurence to prepare for war against a force which far outmatches him. The enemy has the most powerful weapon of all at his disposal, and if they’re to stand a chance, Laurence must master the same power.

He must learn magic.

Lord of Ravens is the third book in the Rainbow Award winning Inheritance series and contains mature themes and events which may be distressing to some readers. It has a moderate heat rating and an HFN ending

Author Bio


Amelia Faulkner was born in Thame, Oxfordshire, and sprouted upward in short order. The ground around Thame is reasonably mucky, especially in the winter, and she can’t be blamed for wanting to get away from it.

Raised on a steady diet of Star Trek and Doctor Who, Amelia stood no chance in not becoming a grade-A geek. She has sat on the board of the British Fantasy Society, contributed fiction and fluff to various published roleplaying games, and written non-fiction for SciFiNow and SFX Magazines. For every positive there is an equal and opposite negative, and Amelia is forced to admit that she loves Wild Wild West.

In her spare time she enjoys travel, photography, walking her Corgi, and trying to convince her friends to replay the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game with all the Goblins decks.

 

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.

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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

An Alisa Review: Defrosting Jack by Susan Laine

Rating:  3 stars out of 5

 

defrosting-jackJack Frost has a problem. He’s the mythical power behind the elements of ice, snow, and frost, but his fame is being usurped by a fictional Frozen queen. So Jack’s the grumpiest man in Yuleland and is in need of a naughty distraction.

 

Rudolph Hreinn has a problem, as well. Rudy’s in high demand on Christmas, but the rest of the year he’s scorned by everyone for being different. So Rudy’s the saddest man in Yuleland and desperate for a nice diversion.

 

When the winter sprite and the reindeer shifter meet, after a rocky start, a friendship of like minds is born. Attraction soon follows. But then strange things start to happen. Odd omens warn them of dire consequences for Yuleland and for the winter holidays should they fall for each other.

 

Can love unite two lonely men and save Christmas? It’s the most wonderful time of the year—for some frosty reindeer games.

 

Jack gives off the impression he prefers to be solitary in defense to being continually pushed away.  Rudy has been ridiculed for his heredity and prefers to spend most of his time alone.  They both are tired of denying their attraction for the other and quickly realize they are the perfect counterpart to each other (hot to cold).

 

Jack and Rudy stand by each other through the whole situation, fighting for their love in spite of the consequences that have been foretold.  We see both of their emotions and feelings pretty plainly even though Jack holds his tight to his chest when with others.  I was rooting for these two to get everything worked out and continue building their connection to each other.

 

The cover art is very nice and gives a good visual for the characters.

 

Sales Links: Siren Publishing

 

Book Details:

ebook, 126 pages

Published: December 7, 2016 by Siren Publishing

Edition Language: English

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