Category: M/M Contemporary Fiction

Review: Double Play (Hit and Run Book 3) by E.M. Lindsey

Rating: 5🌈

The finale story of the Hit and Run trilogy, Double Play brings back Herve Truffaut, the ex boyfriend of Pietro and ex best friend/employer of Thierry as a main character. Herve’s been a truly villainous person and his actions have caused enormous emotional pain as well as huge harm physically to both those men. He’s been hated and his narcissistic, self destructive personality gave no indication he would be redeemed.

Usually, that’s a iffy proposition for an author after making a character so reviled in previous stories. Most of the time it honestly doesn’t work.

Even here, Herve’s prior actions and the severity of the damage he’s caused to others is brought up often, as well as the fact most believe he’s not deserving of forgiveness.

That adds a rawness to the perspective and a darker side to the story and characters.

But Lindsey is able, by creating a fully balanced and multi layered being in Herve, to make us believe in his desire to change.

Now we get the complicated background, the abusive mother, the tormented adolescence, and the deep damage that left on him that helped create the monster he became. And is now trying to redeem.

The illnesses Herve suffers from , narcolepsy and cataplexy, are woven expertly into his life and character. I had little knowledge of both diseases until they were described in detail by Herve’s actions and emotional status throughout this story. The utter vulnerability and scary nature of these Illnesses are well portrayed.

Orion Coulter’s pain and situation derives from a different type of anguish and overwhelming sense of impending loss. That of a man he considers his brother due to ALS. His brother in law is dying and his grief is overwhelming him.

This sensitive issue is beautifully handled from many aspects. From that of the man himself who’s death is swiftly coming, his wife who is Orion’s sister, and then Orion who loves them both and does what his best friend wishes. He’s leaves for a vacation planned for the couple that they will never take.

Bring on the tissues. Because this is a heartbreaking aspect of this story.

The men, Orion and Herve , meet, talk, and begin a complicated realistic relationship, one with a man who’s prone to falling down, has a tight medication schedule and health requirements. Somehow, Lindsey makes it plausible, sexy, and hopeful.

As Orion is a MLB player on the same team as the other couples in the previous books, all those characters make important appearances here.

This is a tale of life, love, and redemption. It’s beautiful and tightly crafted.

I loved the ending and I’m highly recommending it. It’s the finest story, imo, of the trilogy.

Hit and Run Trilogy:

✓ Switch-Hitter #1

✓ Line Drive #2

✓ Double Play #3

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showDouble Play (Hit and Run #3) by E.M. Lindsey

https://www.goodreads.com › seriesHit and Run Series by E.M. Lindsey

Description:

If self-destruction is an artform, then Hervé is a master artist.

After all, he’s perfected self-sabotage since he was young and full of promise.

He’s spent his life running from his past and pushing away anyone who might break down his walls, but it wasn’t until his body betrayed him that he realized just how lonely his present had become. Now he’s in the countryside, trying to figure out if anything is worth salvaging, and wondering if he’s the sort of man who will ever be worth a second chance.

Even when Orion Coulter—one of the star pitchers on the Denver Vikings—shows up in his little village like some sort of predestined knight on a white horse, Hervé doesn’t trust him. How can he when Orion is close to all the men Hervé hurt?

But Orion’s situation is more complicated than Hervé realized, full of pain and grief, looking for some kind of escape. And while Hervé knows that he hasn’t quite earned meeting the man of his dreams, Orion’s quiet voice, tender hands, and impossible promises has him wondering if maybe—just maybe—the universe is willing to give him the chance he doesn’t deserve.

Double Play is the final book of the Hit and Run MM baseball romance series. It features countryside kisses, grief, redemption, long walks, careful handling, and a painfully tender happily ever after.

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Review: The Big Fix (Torus Intercession Book 5) by Mary Calmes

Rating: 4🌈

There’s no indication that The Big Fix is a series finale although it reads like one. The fifth book in Mary Calmes’ Torus Intercession series, it’s about the head of the agency, Jared Colter, and the Torus tech member, Owen Moss, who’s been a part of Jared’s life since he saved him as a child.

Jared has always been that person who’s been a bit of an enigma. The voice on the phone, the brief meeting in his office, and cringing mention by another Alphabet agency personnel who has been told to do exactly as Jared wants. He’s been the fearful respect looming in the background.

I think , for the series, he actually operates better that way.

Getting to know him here, while that makes him a believable, more realistic human being, takes away much of the image Calmes has built up for him over four books.

The Jared Colter here is 56. When all the action is required, the heightened danger that requires the senses honed by years of stealth, battle, and espionage, he’s rusty, slow to act, and clearly been behind a desk for a long time. Field work isn’t his friend, due to age and lack of practice.

Realistic? Yes. It certainly makes him relatable, especially since he comes across as spectacularly clueless in his interpersonal relationships.

All of which makes him a businessman removed from the day to day reality of his field agents. It just doesn’t mesh with the character as he’s been portrayed over the previous stories.

This disconnect continues with his behavior towards Owen Moss. Owen, 32, has a well known crush/love for his boss that everyone sees but Jared. They even live together. But Jared treats Owen like someone under his guardianship rather than an employee or adult.

Owen’s personality and their relationship comes across as parental too . The arguments less that of a 32 year old but someone younger.

Their relationship aside, along with the odd mistakes made, given their history and professionalism, there’s a lot of action, foreign scenery, foreign governments and law enforcement to ignore, as well as familiar characters from other Mary Calmes novels that arrive to help out Jared on his rescue mission.

There’s Darius Hawthorne from Late in the Day, Dante Cerreto from Again, US Marshals Sam Kage and Ian Doyle from the Marshals series. George Hunt and other names pop in too. I did enjoy my time spent with those wonderful people and mention of their partners and home life.

But as the story belongs to Jared and Owen, that aspect dragged. Not the entertaining rush to rescue (with torture scenes fyi) but their actual time together. That felt less believable and grounded.

So from just a pure rush of adrenaline shootout/blow um up storylines that I enjoyed to the less impactful main characters and relationship, I liked The Big Fix but it’s not a favorite in the series.

If you’re a fan of Mary Calmes, the series, then this book is definitely in your wheelhouse. For others, The Big Fix with it’s multiple storylines, characters that you need to have their novels read to understand, and lack of continuity in places, might be more complicated and less fun than anticipated. You decide.

Torus Intercession series:

✓ No Quick Fix #1

✓ In a Fix #2

✓ Fix It Up #3

✓ The Fix Is In #4

✓ The Big Fix #5

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showThe Big Fix (Torus Intercession #5) by Mary Calmes

Description:

Philanthropist. Humanitarian. Soldier. Spy.

Jared Colter, the head of Torus Intercession, has a secret life he left behind, one that only his closest confidants know about. Normally, the past keeps its secrets, but not this time. Old ghosts come calling to the very doorstep of his new life, when Owen Moss, the person closest to him, goes missing. A carrot left dangling to lure Jared out and into the hands of an unknown enemy.

Owen Moss was once a scared, orphaned boy saved by Jared, but he’s no longer a child even if Jared is having trouble seeing him that way. He’s thirty-two now, in love with Jared, and as Jared’s obliviousness keeps butting up against Owen’s desire, the tension between them keeps escalating. Something has to give, and soon.

With a bounty on his head, Jared races through the brutal underworld of Southeast Asia, in search of Owen. It’s a maze of treachery and murder, where one false move means death. The answer is tied to the man Jared used to be, taking him into the heart of the lion’s den, where he’s forced to face the darkest questions about himself to save the man he loves.

Review: The Real Kaimana (A Snowed Inn Romance) by Xenia Melzer

Rating: 5 🌈

The Real Kaimana by Xenia Melzer is a must holiday read. It’s a falling movie snowflake, a much needed hug, and that sexy fireplace burning ever so brightly in the cabin of your dreams. It’s the story that leaves you smiling, full of love and warmth at the thought of this couple and their happily ever after.

It’s low on angst, right on target with the balance between serious discussions about subjects such as body positivity, acceptance of one’s sexuality, and an emotional openness to life’s choices and new beginnings.

Melzer is a new author for me and I believe this is her first LGBTGIA story. I need to seek out what else this author has written because this is an amazing story.

The characters sing of life and joy while always staying grounded in a realistic foundation where families are capable of approving a son’s choices about his sexuality or career, and positivity about self image has no age restrictions or body types.

Travelogue blogger Quirin Brukmiller and businessman Kaimana Tilo will capture your heart from the start. They are so beautifully crafted, multidimensional personalities that I was swept into their lives and developing relationship and never stopped until the end.

I laughed with joy, stumbling along with them through all their discoveries and talks . And left them , far too soon, with their HEA.

I’m absolutely recommending The Real Kaimana (A Snowed Inn Romance) by Xenia Melzer and this collection. What a fantastic way to get into your holiday spirit!

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showThe Real Kaimana by Xenia Melzer

Description:

When a travel blogger with a serious love for color and a billionaire with the most gorgeous dark eyes serendipitously meet at a hotel in the Colorado mountains, could it be the start of a true holiday romance?


Quirin Brukmiller grumbles when he is told he must go into the snow and cold to write a travel report about The Retreat, aka The Rainbow Inn, an LGBTQ-friendly hotel high up in the mountains. After some gentle persuasion in the form of free clothing from his favorite company, he packs his bags and is now ready to brave the snow for the first time. At the hotel, he has the most perfect meet-cute ever to be written for a rom-com and chooses to make the best of this golden opportunity fate has given him.


Kaimana Tilo just sold his biotech company for several billion dollars and came out to his parents. Both decisions went down like lead balloons with his conservative, money-loving family. To get some distance, a clear head, and to have his first appearance as an out gay man, he takes a trip to a charming inn deep in the mountains of Colorado. Before he has a chance to check into his room, he meets the man of his dreams. For once, life is smiling down on him, and Kai has every intention of keeping the colorful man who practically landed in his lap at his side.


When an avalanche blocks the road to the hotel forcing them to stay together longer, it is just the last sign that what they have is bound to last forever.

All the books in the Snowed Inn collection are standalone stories and can be read in any order.

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer

Snowed Inn story Collection:

All the books can be read as standalones and in any order and all are available to buy or pre-order

• RJ Scott – Stop the Wedding – https://books2read.com/StopTheWedding

• H.L Day – Five Night Stand – https://books2read.com/FiveNightStandHL

• V.L. Locey – Checking it Twice – https://books2read.com/CheckingItTwiceVL

• LC Chase – Breakfast Included – https://books2read.com/BreakfastIncludedLCC

• Xenia Melzer – The Real Kaimana – https://books2read.com/RealKaimanaXM

• Meredith Russell – Stuck With You- https://books2read.com/StuckWithYouMR

• Eli Easton – A Changeling Christmas – https://books2read.com/ChangelingChristmasE

Review: The Button Man by Davidson King

Rating: 4 .25🌈

Assassin and kid stories have turned into a favored theme of mine, whether it’s a movie or a book. There’s something about a unrepentant killer who, for whatever reason or circumstances, turns into a father/mother/parent figure to a young child.

The dynamics that develop between the pair are usually so fascinating depending upon the age and personalities that , other storylines excluded, it makes the novel on its own.

Duke Barton comes from a line of assassins known as The Button Men. He was never given a choice by either his grandfather or father, his future was always set to follow their ways.

Barton’s history is not given a huge amount of page time. Instead, the emotional components are pulled out from his past timeline when necessary and then it’s left to our imagination to fill in the rest.

For the subject matter The Button Man covers in its storylines, it’s surprisingly entertaining and low angst within the deadly plot and killer’s romance.

I sort of enjoyed it that way. Neither Barton, his father Cal, or Barton’s handler, Sparrow, are seen as sociopaths or psychopaths. But rather as people who were forced or fell into professions that involve killing people.

King is clearly having a wonderful time with dialogue, scenes that include dangerous situations and mobsters, as well as the usual high end technology.

People (not MCs) are tortured, lots of killing and bodies. But also a wonderful dynamic between an unusual father and his unsuspecting daughter.

While I could point out holes in the behavior of some of the professionals (as it seems to me) like loose security physically and electronically, the characters and storylines kept me connected and involved right to the end.

There’s no indication that King intends to carry this book further into a series but honestly? I could see it . I loved the characters and would love a revisit in the future.

Contemporary romance your thing with a element of humor, action, murder and family? The Button Man by Davidson King might just be the read you’re looking for.

I’m definitely recommending it.

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showThe Button Man by Davidson King

Description:

A visit from Button Man means only one thing: someone wants you dead.

Duke is born into the world a hired killer. It’s his birthright—all he knows, all he thinks he’ll ever be. Then one fateful night, the unthinkable occurs and in the most tragic of moments, a promise is made. That promise is kept for almost fifteen years, until he comes face-to-face with a target he never expects and a future he never sees coming.

Kelly spends his days in a classroom, while his nights couldn’t be more different. Unbeknownst to those around him, their friendly neighborhood teacher is the handler for a hit man. For over a decade he has watched Button Man’s back from behind a computer screen. He is content living his double life, believing he will never cross paths with the dangerous assassin, but fate has a different plan.

When the past collides with the present, Duke and Kelly must prevent it from destroying the future. It’s not just their lives they need to think about—the entire world of a fourteen-year-old girl is about to spin on its axis. Dodging bullets and uncovering truths bring the two closer than they could have imagined. But lust takes a back seat to survival when enemies threaten to drown them both in blood. Can they navigate these twists and turns when death is lingering at every corner, or will they die trying?

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer

Review: Charlie’s Doctor (Shadow Elite Book 1) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 4.5 🌈

Second chance at love along with lovers reunited are among my favorite tropes. I get both with a storyline that involves several long-time mysteries, stealthy mercenaries, explosions, many shootouts, and a extremely entertaining romance to boot.

It all starts with a mission in Buenos Aires , Argentina, with the former CIA, now mercenary team lead by Charlie Sands. They’re looking for leads on a missing famous artist for a friend. But soon their interests intersects with that of someone from Charlie’s past. The only man he’s ever loved and had to leave.

Drake has created two men who’s experiences in the time since they separated in Paris have seen profound changes in them personally and professionally.

Dr. Will Monroe, temporarily filling in for a friend in a poor clinic in the darker of districts in the city, hasn’t seen his former love in years. Then Charlie left him with an explanation that gutted him.

We follow the separate threads that ties Will to a past and present danger, and the group of men he’s reunited with.

Hint. It’s not a happy reunion. Realistically, it shouldn’t be with all the deep feelings and secrets still to be revealed. Plus the men are grown and changed since the initial romance. That’s real too.

I was kept throughly invested in the reignited romance, the mysteries, the investigations and the team dynamics.

It was a non-stop reading and the ending sets up the next character’s story while putting this couple’s relationship in very permanent happy status .

Charlie’s Doctor is a very entertaining, and solid story. I’m definitely recommending it to those who love action and suspense with their romance.

Shadow Elite series:

✓ Charlie’s Doctor #1

◦ Kairo’s Billionaire #2 – Dec 2, 2022

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showCharlie’s Doctor (Shadow Elite #1) by Jocelynn Drake

Description:

A second chance to say ‘don’t let me go’.

When paintings for an artist who disappeared roughly fifty years ago suddenly surface, Charlie and his friends decide it might be worth looking into what really happened. Besides, who isn’t up for adventure and fun in Buenos Aires?

But things go horribly sideways when Charlie stumbles across Dr. William freaking Monroe—the only man to claim and then destroy Charlie’s heart.

Now they’re on the run, dodging bullets and digging for the truth. Charlie wants nothing to do with Will. It’s his heart that’s screaming for a second chance.

Is it too late to get past years of anger and misunderstandings to grab the love that still burns between them?

Charlie’s Doctor is the first full-length novel in the Shadow Elite mercenary series and features stubborn men with poor communication skills, second chances, meddling brothers, explosions, and love on the run in Argentina

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer

Review: Breakfast Included (A Snowed Inn story) by L.A. Chase

Rating: 3.5🌈

Breakfast Included by L. A. Chase is another of the Snowed Inn holiday collection that shares a special weekend at a mountain resort called The Retreat and a avalanche as the dramatic event to launch 7 romances.

I enjoy seeing characters from the other stories gliding through each other’s romances, even if it’s just a mention.

Chase’s book has an unexpected reunion between friends who haven’t seen each other for 12 years. That’s when a passionate kiss , then a ghosting caused immense hurt when they were teenagers.

Now at a gay speed dating event held at The Retreat, composer Reno Pierce sees ex crush/friend Tate Boylan sitting across the table.

Like all the stories, it’s the avalanche that starts a conversation, reconciliation, and renews a shared passion for each other.

I enjoyed both characters. Oddly, I didn’t get as much depth from Tate Boylan as I did from the younger Reno Pierce as the one who was kissed and left. Reno’s still hurt by that years later, unable to move past it. Tate’s personality feels a bit less complicated but that could be contributed to the fact we have more “Reno” page time and history.

The dramatic element introduced near the end and Reno’s reaction felt less believable. As did Ricky, older brother to Reno’s, somewhat over the top response and immediate turnaround to the couple and events. Came off as contrived.

I enjoyed the story. It was sweet and romantic without leaving a long impression.

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Breakfa…Breakfast Included – Kindle edition by Chase, L.C.. Romance Kindle eBooks …

Description:

What’s worse than being stranded at a mountain resort by an avalanche three days before Christmas? Being trapped with your teenage crush—who kissed you and ran away.

Reno Pierce spends all his time creating music in his studio, quite happily alone, but at the insistence of his rom-com-loving dad, he finds himself at a Colorado mountain resort speed dating event. His dad wants Reno to bring his ‘Mr. Right’ home for Christmas, but what he finds instead is his teenage crush. Twelve years ago, he’d been head-over-heels in love with his older brother’s best friend, Tate. His straight best friend. But everything changed one magical night, when Tate kissed him like his life depended on it—and then ran away.

Six months after a bad breakup, Tate Boylan is still feeling the damage done to his confidence. Thanks to his hopeless romantic sister, who booked him a quaint cabin at a mountain resort and insisted he ‘boost his morale’ with a night of speed dating at The Retreat, he’s feeling much better. Until he sits at a table across from his best friend’s younger brother. The one he’d fallen for as a teen, kissed at a party, and never saw again.

Now that an avalanche has cut the hotel off from the rest of the world, Tate might have a chance to prove to Reno that this time he won’t kiss and run.

All the books in the Snowed Inn collection are standalone stories and can be read in any order.

Snowed Inn story Collection:

All the books can be read as standalones and in any order and all are available to buy or pre-order

• RJ Scott – Stop the Wedding – https://books2read.com/StopTheWedding

• H.L Day – Five Night Stand – https://books2read.com/FiveNightStandHL

• V.L. Locey – Checking it Twice – https://books2read.com/CheckingItTwiceVL

• LC Chase – Breakfast Included – https://books2read.com/BreakfastIncludedLCC

• Xenia Melzer – The Real Kaimana – https://books2read.com/RealKaimanaXM

• Meredith Russell – Stuck With You- https://books2read.com/StuckWithYouMR

• Eli Easton – A Changeling Christmas – https://books2read.com/ChangelingChristmasE

Review: The Christmas Leap by Keira Andrews

Rating: 4.5🌈

My holiday reading continues with the heartwarming romance by Keira Andrews, The Christmas Leap.

Containing a number of favorite themes, best friends to lovers, fake boyfriends, bisexual awakening, this sweet romance is low angst and high on good feelings.

Long time friends ,Will and Michael , reunite after a two year separation caused by Michael’s relationship and his determination to lose his unrequited love for Will. A breakup, a breakdown (a car), and a business holiday weekend ensues to reinstate their tight bond and turn it into something else, a HEA.

Andrews gives us two remarkably engaging characters, surrounds them with a supportive cast of charming personalities (especially Will’s boss and her family), two fantastic locations, and all the right elements to make real Will’s bisexual awakening as well as Michael’s bravery in finally confessing his love.

I loved ending my night on the happy feelings this story left me with. For those looking for a holiday story, I’m definitely recommending A Christmas Leap.

Happy Reading.

Festive Fakes series- 2 books to date

◦ The Christmas Deal #1

◦ The Christmas Leap #2

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showThe Christmas Leap by Keira Andrews

Fake romance shouldn’t feel this real…

Will: I’ve never been with a man.

Sure, I’ve thought about it. Wondered. Daydreamed. Imagined. But I wasn’t ready to take the leap.

I have a reputation as a “ladies’ man.” No one has any idea how curious I am about men—not even my openly bi best friend. Make that former best friend. Michael ghosted me, and I have no idea why.

Michael: The man I love is straight.

It hurt like hell when I had to distance myself from Will. I’ve tried desperately to grow up and get over him, but my carefully constructed life just fell apart—and Will rushes to my rescue.

Now we’re pretending to be a couple to impress his boss at a holiday retreat. We’re holding hands and hugging.

We’re sharing a bed.

And Will just kissed me.

Is my best friend falling in love with me after all?

The Christmas Leap by Keira Andrews is a Christmas romance featuring friends to lovers, bi awakening, first times, and of course a happy ending. This standalone novel takes place in the same universe as The Christmas Deal.

Review: Checking It Twice (A Snowed Inn story) by V.L. Locey

Rating: 4🌈

Checking It Twice is a heartwarming holiday story about two long time friends getting their second chance at love in their fifties.

One of the wonderful Snowed Inn collection featuring multiple authors, much like the rest, it includes The Retreat Inn, a Colorado mountain resort also nicknamed The Rainbow Inn, a avalanche that cuts off the Inn and it’s inhabitants for a prolonged stay, and all the couples and events from all the stories.

Sutter Thompson, his longtime friend and coworker at Red Pine U, Watley, are driving a group of young boys for a regional hockey medal presentation being held at the Inn. Among the boys up for hockey honors is their sons. Sutter’s boy Zachary with his ex wife , and Watley ‘s son, Adam with his ex husband. The boys are best friends as well.

Locey’s men have a complicated past history. A deeply closeted Sutter decided to come out after his child was born. But he’s never revealed his last hidden truth. He’s always loved Watley.

Checking It Twice gives the reader a delightful depiction of a number of types of heartfelt relationships. Those of realistic loving father/son dynamics, especially as seen between both sets of parents and sons. You get the funny, too real, close knit relationship that happens with team members and their coaches (hurting stomachs, road trips, bunk bed assignments). Then there’s the one the men themselves have waited close to thirty years for. Their own romance.

It’s a halting , stumbling path full of slow revelations, first kisses, and , passion at last fulfilled. The men with their aches, trick knees, aged playlist, and glimpses of grey , are charming and engaging. It was a real joy to read their romance.

This collection is turning out to be a great way to dive into my holiday books, and I’m definitely recommending Checking It Twice as a heartwarming HEA!

Snowed Inn story Collection:

All the books can be read as standalones and in any order and all are available to buy or pre-order

• RJ Scott – Stop the Wedding – https://books2read.com/StopTheWedding

• H.L Day – Five Night Stand – https://books2read.com/FiveNightStandHL

• V.L. Locey – Checking it Twice – https://books2read.com/CheckingItTwiceVL

• LC Chase – Breakfast Included – https://books2read.com/BreakfastIncludedLCC

• Xenia Melzer – The Real Kaimana – https://books2read.com/RealKaimanaXM

• Meredith Russell – Stuck With You- https://books2read.com/StuckWithYouMR

• Eli Easton – A Changeling Christmas – https://books2read.com/ChangelingChristmasE

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Review: Stop The Wedding (A Snowed Inn Story) by R.J. Scott

Rating: 4.5🌈

R.J.Scott’s Stop The Wedding includes many elements that makes this romance novella in the Snowed Inn collection a real success. It’s a holiday love story to embrace.

The main characters, artist Declan and cop Patrick, have a long history together. A deep friendship that grew into love just as both boys were figuring out sexuality, along with difficulties with their families. A devastating kiss, a breakup, and breakdown in communication follows.

All that painful, emotionally charged threads of their previously entwined lives that Scott writes into Stop The Wedding allows for the reader to connect and believe in this couple.

It helps that the author realistically doesn’t go for an automatic instant reconnect treatment. Instead, Declan and Patrick have to sit down, move through the built up resentment, misunderstandings, and fears that have come between them first.

That’s not only refreshing and very adult of both as communicating is key.

There’s smaller factors here that I appreciate. Lovely narrative touches.

Still the main couple is the reason to read Stop The Wedding. It’s the holidays, at least in this story. Magic is in the air and the heartwarming romance and HEA makes this a story to recommend!

Goodreadshttps://www.goodreads.com › showStop the Wedding by R.J. Scott

Description:

One drunken phone call with a desperate plea for help and an admission of love, and Patrick races to stop his best friend from marrying the wrong man.

Patrick never stopped loving Declan, even if he did shove him away at graduation when they kissed. His alpha-type brothers and father, with all their firefighter history, would never accept him being bi, or understand his need to step outside of the family firm and be a cop. So, he hides how he feels, and ends up losing the only man he’s ever really loved. The only reconciliation they tried was on the night he found out Declan was engaged, and he never imagined he’d have a chance to make things right. That is, until he receives a desperate phone call from Declan asking to be rescued.

Through travel chaos and storms, Patrick finally reaches the venue in the Colorado mountains, but with an empty wedding room and no sign of Declan or the fiancé, he knows he’s too late.

All too familiar with rejection, jilted by his fiancé on his wedding day, and lost, Declan has no idea what comes next. He never imagined he’d be entirely alone after his former fiancé and the wedding party leave, or that an avalanche would trap him in the hotel over Christmas. And worse? Patrick is in the hotel with him and won’t leave him alone. Sharing a room with his former best friend is the last thing Declan wants, but maybe nature has given him a sign that he needs to confront the past and find a way to move on with his life. If only it was easy to fall out of love with the man who holds your heart.


All the books In the Snowed Inn collection are standalone stories and can be read In any order.

Snowed Inn story Collection:

All the books can be read as standalones and in any order and all are available to buy or pre-order

• RJ Scott – Stop the Wedding – https://books2read.com/StopTheWedding

• H.L Day – Five Night Stand – https://books2read.com/FiveNightStandHL

• V.L. Locey – Checking it Twice – https://books2read.com/CheckingItTwiceVL

• LC Chase – Breakfast Included – https://books2read.com/BreakfastIncludedLCC

• Xenia Melzer – The Real Kaimana – https://books2read.com/RealKaimanaXM

• Meredith Russell – Stuck With You- https://books2read.com/StuckWithYouMR

• Eli Easton – A Changeling Christmas – https://books2read.com/ChangelingChristmasE

Review: Five Night Stand (A Snowed Inn story) by H.L. Day

Rating: 4🌈

The holiday stories have started to be released and H.L. Day’s Five Night Stand marks the beginning of my seasonal reading.

It’s a short sweet romance with all the elements and characters that make a heartwarming holiday story and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Nathan Nichols, action/suspense author, is on a break. Nathan is trying to salvage his latest book that’s been rejected by his publisher. And the rewrite, up in a snowy mountain inn, is going nowhere.

A one night stand with CJ, a wildlife photographer, that turns into more courtesy of a avalanche , sparks more than inspiration.

H.L. Day builds a really lovely holiday story around this theme. Nathan’s predicament and his frazzled, upset attitude with himself and the situation is perfect for this moment. CJ, there to capture snow filled wildlife photos, especially rings true. The location, the elements, and the men lead to a romantic, heartwarming journey as they make love and share histories.

Five Night Stand has so much promise for a larger novel about the men, their characters, romance , and relationship. It’s the one reason I find shorter stories so frustrating.

If you love holiday romances and a terrific couple, this is a great way to start your seasonal reading. I’m recommending it.

Description:

The advantage of a one-night stand is being able to walk away. Except, Nathan can’t.

Workaholic Nathan Nicholls hasn’t had the easiest time of late. Still reeling from his publisher’s rejection of his latest book, he seeks refuge in a remote hotel. When he’s propositioned by the sinfully sexy CJ, a man who knows exactly what he wants and isn’t afraid to go for it, why shouldn’t Nathan throw caution to the winds for once and have a bit of fun? After all, he’s leaving the next day.

When an avalanche puts paid to Nathan’s quick exit, he finds himself stuck there for Christmas. Stuck with CJ. What should be awkward, quickly becomes something else. The snow might be cold, but the time they spend together is far from it, and Nathan finds his heart warming. If only their passion and laughter didn’t have a shelf life, doomed to come to an end once the road is cleared.

Nathan Nicholls doesn’t do one-night-stands. But maybe, just maybe, if he makes a Christmas wish, this could be something more.

A sweet and steamy 43k forced proximity story which features a man who never was any good at one-night stands, a cheerful wildlife photographer who might not be as confident as he makes out, rustic log cabins, snow, Christmas cheer, and two men gaining a whole new perspective on life.

All the books in the Snowed Inn collection are standalone stories and can be read in any order.

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Unless it’s noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by the reviewer.

Five Night Stand

Snowed Inn story Collection:

Five Night Stand is a standalone book.. It’s a Christmas novel in the Snowed Inn Collection

All the books can be read as standalones and in any order and all are available to buy or pre-order

• RJ Scott – Stop the Wedding – https://books2read.com/StopTheWedding

• H.L Day – Five Night Stand – https://books2read.com/FiveNightStandHL

• V.L. Locey – Checking it Twice – https://books2read.com/CheckingItTwiceVL

• LC Chase – Breakfast Included – https://books2read.com/BreakfastIncludedLCC

• Xenia Melzer – The Real Kaimana – https://books2read.com/RealKaimanaXM

• Meredith Russell – Stuck With You- https://books2read.com/StuckWithYouMR

• Eli Easton – A Changeling Christmas – https://books2read.com/ChangelingChristmasE