Category: M/M Contemporary Fiction

A Lucy Review: A Christmas Wedding: A snowy London love story (Rory & Jack #3) by A.E. Ryecart

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Christmas is around the corner, and so is Rory Kincaid’s wedding to Jack De Lacy, the man of his dreams. Everything will be perfect — or it would be if Rory didn’t have to contend with Jack’s mother the indomitable, aristocratic Lady Diana.

At long last, Rory’s life is on track. Settled and happy, he’s looking forward to a bright future with the man who saved him from a life on the streets. But the strain is beginning to show. The simple Christmas wedding he and Jack dreamed of is growing… and growing… under Diana’s single-minded management.

Rory is everything Jack has ever craved. Sweet and kind, Rory’s an adorable mix of shyness and courage. All Jack wants is for their Christmas, winter wonderland wedding to be perfect for the man he loves — which means taking a stand against, tradition, family, and Diana.

This is the third installment of Jack and Rory’s story.  In book one, Jack found Rory at Christmas time, homeless and huddled on his doorstep.  They have evolved in their relationship since that time.  Met at Christmas, engaged at Christmas and now about to have a Christmas Eve wedding.  They have opened their bakery, The Bakehouse, and it is very successful.  Great, except it means they are incredibly busy, especially Rory as he does all the baking.  Add in the wedding plans and it’s starting to really pressure him. 

I have to say the blurb was a little misleading.  Yes, Diana is in charge of the wedding plans.  Yes, on a few occasions she makes decisions without consulting them.  However, I felt the decisions were not huge deals – a few extra people at the wedding, an arrangement about the cake.  There really is not “take a stand against Diana” at all. 

The book is more about the two of them, established in their relationship, taking that next step to a wedding.  I did lower my rating some because in this book Jack and Rory are extremely sappy.  I like sweetness and some sap but this went over the top for me.  They were constantly declaring how much they loved each other, forever and always. Rory sometimes questions his worth to this historic family but he really is accepted unconditionally.

The actual conflict here comes from an entirely different direction.  It is not a huge thing and the book really is angst-free, but I felt the way Rory handled it showed what a good person he is.

Side characters, Diana, Jack’s sister Caroline, Mabel and Lance from The Bakehouse, were interesting and well fleshed out. 

The cover by Meredith Russell/Tammy Clarke, showing Rory and Jack in their bespoke wedding suits, was perfect.

Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited

Universal Link

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK 

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 170 pages
Expected publication: November 19th 2019
ASINB08191NNN5
SeriesRory & Jack #3

Looking for Your Next Holiday Story? Check Out the Release Blitz for A Christmas Wedding by A E Ryecart (excerpt and giveaway)

RELEASE BLITZ

Book Title: A Christmas Wedding

Author: A E Ryecart

Publisher: Independently Published

Cover Artist: Tammy Clarke/Meredith Russell 

Release Date: November 19, 2019

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Themes: Christmas, Wedding/Marriage, Domineering family

Heat Rating: 3 flames  

Length: 49 000 words

It is part of a series but it can certainly be read as a standalone.

Add on Goodreads

 

 

Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited

Universal Link

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK 

 

Christmas. A Wedding. Family. It’s the Perfect Storm…

Blurb 

For Rory Kincaid marrying Jack, the youngest son of the aristocratic De Lacy family, on Christmas Eve, is a dream come true. Handing over the wedding planning to Jack’s mother, the strong-willed Lady Diana, is turning out to be more of a nightmare.

As their big day approaches, the pressure’s on and the strain is beginning to show. Announcements in society magazines, a guest list that’s growing and growing, and fittings for the best bespoke tailoring in London, it’s all a far cry from Rory’s humble upbringing. Piece by piece, Rory and Jack’s dream of a simple winter wedding is fading fast.

Rory is Jack’s everything. Sweet, kind, and totally adorable, Rory is all Jack has ever wanted. And what Jack wants most of all is to give the man he loves the wedding day of his dreams — and that means taking a stand against the indomitable Diana.

***Warning: this story contains two gorgeous men, a mountain of mince pies and cupcakes, a punk rocker Christmas fairy called Bunty, and a snowy Christmas Wedding.***

 

Excerpt 

“Where are we going? The Tube station’s that way.” Rory nodded in the direction they were coming from.

“We’re not going home, or not just yet.”

“Oh? I thought we were going to decorate our living room, drink lots of advocaat, and then get naked on the rug.”

Jack threw back his head and laughed. “That sounds like a plan, but there’s something I want to do first.”

“You mean something is more important than naked advocaat?”

Jack just smiled in response. There wasn’t a lot that was more important than naked advocaat, but what they were about to do next just about topped it.

The tiny street would be so easy to miss in the messy and higgledy-piggledy maze that was the City of London. 

“Jack? What—?”

Jack pressed his fingertips to Rory’s lips and gazed into Rory’s questioning, confused eyes.

“Just go with me on this, okay?”

Jack pushed the door open, and he and Rory stepped into another time.

The shop was crammed with tall and narrow display cabinets, all of them holding a treasure of watches. Behind the counter, in a corner and almost hidden, sat a small, round, bald-headed man. A pair of glasses perched on the end of his nose, and another was wedged on the top of his head as he worked on the mechanism of a pocket watch, using what looked like a set of toy tools.

“Mr. De Lacy.” The man put aside his work, stood up and extended his hand to Jack.

“Mr. Hogarth. Let me introduce Rory Kincaid, my fiancé.”

Jack moved aside to allow Rory to shake Mr. Hogarth’s hand. Jack smiled; in a moment everything would be revealed.

“Let me bring your order.” Mr. Hogarth disappeared into a back room.

“Jack, I don’t understand. What’s going on?” 

Before Jack could answer, Mr. Hogarth returned bearing a small black box, which he handed over to Jack. 

“Please.” Mr. Hogarth gestured to a small table and a couple of chairs on the other side of the shop, in the only space not taken up with display cabinets, before he returned to his place once more behind the counter and took up his work as though he were alone.

“I want you to have this,” Jack said, opening the box as soon as he and Rory were seated. 

“What?” Rory gaped at the watch, displayed on a pad of black velvet. “But we agreed a strict ten-pound budget, just something silly this year. I haven’t—”

“No, it’s not a Christmas present.”

“Then what—? I don’t understand.”

Jack took the watch out of the box. Like his own, it was plain and unadorned. The black Roman numerals were stark against the white face; the casing was gold, deep and burnished.

“When I was twenty-one, my father presented me with a watch from this shop. He did the same for George,” Jack said, referring to his elder brother. “My father also had a watch on his twenty-first birthday, as did my grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather. The De Lacy men have had watches in one form or another from Hogarth’s since the late eighteenth century. All those watches came from here, from this very shop.” Jack glanced toward the counter, but Mr. Hogarth had gone and was now nowhere to be seen. 

“This isn’t a Christmas present, Ro. This is something every De Lacy man receives. And I wanted you to have one, too, because that’s what you’re on the point of becoming: a De Lacy man.” Jack’s lips lifted in a wry smile. “I didn’t know you when you turned twenty-one, although I wish I did. I’m just making up for lost time. On Christmas Eve, you’re going to take my name. I want you to be wearing this watch when you do.”

“Jack, I–I don’t know what to say.”

“Then don’t say anything. Just accept it, along with the words I had engraved.”

Jack held the watch out. All his focus was on his fiancé, reading for the first time the words engraved not only on the watch but on Jack’s heart.

Love, always and forever.

Four simple words which said everything Jack held deep inside about the man he’d found huddled on his doorstep just two Christmases before.

 

 

About the Author 

I love all kinds of MM romance and gay fiction, but I especially like contemporary stories. Born and raised in London, the city is part of my DNA so I like to set many of my stories in and around present-day London, providing the perfect, metropolitan backdrop to the main action. I write at home, in the gym, in cafés —in fact I write any place I can find a good coffee! 

 

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Giveaway 

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A MelanieM Review : Across The Pond (Arizona Raptors #2) by RJ Scott & VL Locey

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

The greatest journey isn’t from England to the States, it’s the one that two men take on the way to find each other.

Sebastian Brown is on a mission to rescue the Arizona Raptors and a vow he made to a friend in college. Either that or he’s on vacation. He’s not entirely sure that he’s made up his mind yet. Either way, traveling from England, to the arid desert of Arizona isn’t exactly a picnic, particularly with the doubts and worries he takes with him. He’s turned even the worst of companies around, but faced with the challenge of improving the reputation of a hockey team that everyone seems to hate, he knows his work is cut out for him.

Focus is key, but that is easier said than done when Seb is sent into a tailspin by the intriguing Alejandro. Seb’s entire marketing plan hinges on making Alex a poster boy for equality and fair play. But with Alex’s utter dedication to the game, and his dark secretive eyes, the gorgeous Alex is stubborn, opinionated, doesn’t want any part of being the team focus, and worst of all, doesn’t appear to like Seb at all. It takes everything that Seb has to keep his hands off of Alex, but things get out of hand and Seb’s life might never be the same again.

Alejandro Garcia has had to work hard to get where he’s at. Born to Mexican immigrants, his siblings and himself have never had it easy in this new country their parents dreamed of calling home. A native son of Arizona, Alex has always been the odd man out on the ice but he’s not going to let a stupid thing like his heritage get in the way of his dreams. He’s now a Raptor and he plans to put all that training and collegiate hockey experience to good use. Working hard comes naturally to him. It’s something his parents have instilled in him from the time he was a toddler. Being one of a handful of Latino hockey players makes him strive for success with even more determination. His first pro season has had some ups but a lot more downs, but Alex is one stubborn young man and failure is not an option.

As the Raptors struggle to rebuild not only their team but their core values, Alex finds himself drawn to one of the owner’s friends, a tall, lanky Brit with the face of an angel and an accent and attitude that bewitches and befuddles him. Sebastian is everything he thought he would never be attracted to but he can’t push the sexy, older, fun-loving man out of his thoughts. If ever there were a man he would not be able to take home to his parents – not that he can bring a man home since he is deeply closeted – it’s Sebastian, but desire knows no socioeconomic, age, or international borders. The heart wants what the heart wants and Alejandro’s wants Sebastian.

The second novel in the Arizona Raptors series, Across the Pond is a sweet, contemporary romance that will leave you wanting the next installment and asking questions about the new story threads the authors introduce here.  I really liked the new characters.  That would be Sebastian “Seb” Brown. called in by his friend and part owner of the team to help them pull the Raptors together out of the detritus team they were.  Seb is great as the Brit walking into an unknown situation with a sport he knows little about.  I liked him instantly.  Of perhaps deeper import, here and later on, for the team and series, is Alejandro Garcia.  I say that for several reasons.  He seems to represent a building tension here within the series and team.  Or should I say regional area and the team.  One that is both racist and homophobic in nature.  References are made repeatedly to how slurs are hurled against him, not even knowing his sexuality, but because of his heritage.  It’s a theme or thread that the authors seem to be building upon and not one that is resolved here.

Same goes for how homosexuality is viewed in this area.  It’s a far cry from the world of the Harrisburg Railers and the outlook is as harsh and hard as the climate.    From the machismo in the Latin culture to the outright hostility to those who are Hispanic, I will be fascinated to see where the authors take this explosive aspect of the series and how it develops.

Within the relationship between Seb and Alex, who deal with Alex’s demons with his culture, religion, and sport, and given the length of this story, a realistic HFN approach is exactly what is called for.  This is all too complex to solve within one story.  I hope to see it carried out over the series and given the treatment it deserves.

In the meantime, enjoy meeting this couple, look for a couple of our already favorites, and know that Henry’s story is coming.

Oh yes, another addictive hockey series from this pair of authors.  How I love it.  And recommend it.

Cover Design: Meredith Russell is of course perfect for both characters.
Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 193 pages
Published November 10th 2019 by Love Lane Books Ltd
ASINB07ZY53R98
Edition Language English
Series Arizona Raptors #2

Length: 57,600 words approx.
 
 
Arizona Raptors Series
 

Book #1 – Coast to Coast – Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

A Lucy Audio Review: Finders Keepers by N.R. Walker and Joel Leslie (Narrator)

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Needing a change of scene, Griffin Burke moves from Brisbane to Coolum Beach to start a new job. The beautiful white sand, aqua-coloured ocean, blue skies, and summer breezes are everything he longs for. What he finds is a mud-covered dog, lost and hungry, with a nametag and a phone number.

Dane Hughes is stuck in Surfers Paradise at a week-long work conference when he gets a phone call from his distraught mother. His dog, his fur baby, Wicket, has run away. Unable to leave and feeling helpless and miserable, he gets a text from a guy. “I think I found your dog…”

Griffin and Dane start talking, and Griffin agrees to look after Wicket until Dane can collect him. With a few days left before his new job starts, Griffin takes Wicket on some coastal adventures and sends Dane photos of their fun, and so the start of something new and kind of wonderful begins.

Griffin might have moved to Coolum in search of a new life, but what he finds is so much more. What he gets to keep just might take some four-legged help.

This was just what I needed after a pretty angsty book and it’s going into my “read after a bad day” folder on my iPad.  Griffin has just moved to Coolum Beach and on a hiking trip ends up giving water to a cute dog.  When he returns the next day, it’s raining and miserable and the poor dog is still there, now wetter and dirtier.  Griffin is a nice person, so he takes the dog, Wicket, and contacts the owner from the phone number on the tag. 

Poor Dane. He’s Wicket’s owner, and he has been frantic.  He left Wicket with his parents while he went away on a work conference and the little escape artist managed to open the screen door and disappear.  Dane’s parents are so upset and Wicket is no where to be found. In swoops Griffin, to say, “Yes, I found a dog.  Can you tell me about him?”  And so begins the friendship turned more of Griffin and Dane. And Wicket the dog, who is far from the parent’s house.

Griffin offers to care for Wicket until Dane returns from his business trip and does so in style, taking him to restaurants and parks, hiking and out for doggie desserts, all the while sending pictures and updates to Dane.  It was adorable.  Dane and Griffin get to know each other via text message and phone calls and I loved that as well. Sometimes it was awkward and adorable.  “And if you were looking-“I cringed at how ridiculous this was.  “-and used dating aps, would you use Tinder? Or maybe Grindr?”  I buried my face in the sofa cushion and rolled my eyes and wanted to die.”

The story basically is the adventures of Wicket and Griffin and then adding in Dane.  Friendly, flirty and then on to more. They do move pretty fast but they admit it.  “He told me he recognized we were moving pretty fast but he liked it, and I told him I agreed.  Wholeheartedly.”   The story is told in alternating first person point of view and I appreciated that as well.  I like getting to hear both sides. 

There is no angst in this book, no conflict.  It’s just a gentle, soft, fluffy story with a meet-cute and a lovely dog.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Narration by Joel Leslie is perfect, as usual.  He gives different voices to Dane and Griffin, making it easy to differentiate between the two and his upbeat tone fits very well.

Cover art, showing Wicket with Griffin, is simple and I felt is conveyed the feel of the story well. 

Sales Links:  Amazon | Audible | Audiobooks

Audio Book Details:

Listening Length: 6 hours and 30 minutes

Audible Audio, 7 pages
Published July 30th 2019 by Tantor Audio (first published January 31st 2018)
Original Title Finders Keepers
ASINB07VHJHR1L
setting Australia

Review Tour and Giveaway for Across The Pond (Arizona Raptors #2) by RJ Scott & VL Locey

 

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link
 
Length: 57,600 words approx.
 
Cover Design: Meredith Russell
 
Arizona Raptors Series
 

Book #1 – Coast to Coast – Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link

 
Blurb
 

The greatest journey isn’t from England to the States, it’s the one that two men take on the way to find each other.


Sebastian Brown is on a mission to rescue the Arizona Raptors and a vow he made to a friend in college. Either that or he’s on vacation. He’s not entirely sure that he’s made up his mind yet. Either way, traveling from England, to the arid desert of Arizona isn’t exactly a picnic, particularly with the doubts and worries he takes with him. He’s turned even the worst of companies around, but faced with the challenge of improving the reputation of a hockey team that everyone seems to hate, he knows his work is cut out for him.


Focus is key, but that is easier said than done when Seb is sent into a tailspin by the intriguing Alejandro. Seb’s entire marketing plan hinges on making Alex a poster boy for equality and fair play. But with Alex’s utter dedication to the game, and his dark secretive eyes, the gorgeous Alex is stubborn, opinionated, doesn’t want any part of being the team focus, and worst of all, doesn’t appear to like Seb at all. It takes everything that Seb has to keep his hands off of Alex, but things get out of hand and Seb’s life might never be the same again.


Alejandro Garcia has had to work hard to get where he’s at. Born to Mexican immigrants, his siblings and himself have never had it easy in this new country their parents dreamed of calling home. A native son of Arizona, Alex has always been the odd man out on the ice but he’s not going to let a stupid thing like his heritage get in the way of his dreams. He’s now a Raptor and he plans to put all that training and collegiate hockey experience to good use. Working hard comes naturally to him. It’s something his parents have instilled in him from the time he was a toddler. Being one of a handful of Latino hockey players makes him strive for success with even more determination. His first pro season has had some ups but a lot more downs, but Alex is one stubborn young man and failure is not an option.


As the Raptors struggle to rebuild not only their team but their core values, Alex finds himself drawn to one of the owner’s friends, a tall, lanky Brit with the face of an angel and an accent and attitude that bewitches and befuddles him. Sebastian is everything he thought he would never be attracted to but he can’t push the sexy, older, fun-loving man out of his thoughts. If ever there were a man he would not be able to take home to his parents – not that he can bring a man home since he is deeply closeted – it’s Sebastian, but desire knows no socioeconomic, age, or international borders. The heart wants what the heart wants and Alejandro’s wants Sebastian.

 

Read Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words review here.  We highly recommend it.

USA Today bestselling author RJ Scott writes stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, a happily ever after.


RJ Scott is the author of over one hundred romance books, writing emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for writing books that always end with a happy ever after. She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing.


The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.


She’s always thrilled to hear from readers, bloggers and other writers. Please contact via the links below:

USA Today Bestselling Author V.L. Locey – Penning LGBT hockey romance that skates into sinful pleasures.


V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, Torchwood and Dr. Who, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, a pair of geese, far too many chickens, and two steers.


When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in one hand and a steamy romance novel in the other.

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A Stella Review: In This Bed of Snowflakes We Lie by Sophia Soames

RATING 3 out of 5 stars

Oskar Høiland hides from life. It just makes things easier that way, not having to face all the fears and drama of living. He especially hides from other people, because Oskar has grown up fearing the snide remarks and the quick glances that strip him of the tiny scraps of confidence he still has left. He is just going to keep existing. Work hard to complete his medical degree and perhaps watch a few more series on Netflix in peace and quiet over Christmas.

Erik Nøst Hansen should be an almost fully-fledged adult. He should be able to sort out the mess that festers in his head and stop lying. It’s just hard. And it’s bloody terrifying to even acknowledge the thoughts that swirl around in his head at night when he can’t sleep. He also needs to figure out how to talk to the boy downstairs. The one with the golden curls and the crooked smile. The boy who is completely monopolising Erik’s messed-up heart.

A story of falling in love and being brave. A Christmas tale with a difference, set in the university dorms of central Oslo, where lies are uncovered, snowflakes are falling all over the place, and beds are made to lie in. There is a slightly unconventional family. A mess of animal onesies. Too much food and a very Merry Christmas.

In This Bed of Snowflakes We Lie is the first book I read by Sophia Soames, I was very enthusiastic about it, the blurb sounded fabolous and for once I was happy to read a book set in a country different from USA or UK. The plot is simple but the story is well built with interesting characters, young but mature at the same time. I obviously fell in love with Oskar from the beginning, how could I resist his sweet and brave soul? Truly without realizing it he found in Erik not just a boyfriend, but a beautiful person, head over heels in love with Oskar and finally ready to approach him and literally take him home for Christmas.

That said I have to admit although I very much enjoyed the novel, perhaps during the second part of the story I started to realize something in the writing wasn’t working well with me. I want to premise I’m not usually so strict with the writing style, since English is not my first language, I tend to ignore the writing and just focus on the emotions I get from the book. Still here I noticed how the author used  too many short sentences, there were plenty of them, so many that I became annoyed and found hard to go on with the reading in a lovely way. I’m not saying the book isn’t well written, absolutely not, just that this particular trait of the author’s writing style bothered me a little. Otherwise this new release would have been a winner to me.

The cover art by Miriam Latu is lovely and sweet, I like it.

Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited

Universal Link  

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK

BOOK DETAILS

Kindle Edition, 1st edition, 217 pages

Published November 14th 2019

ASIN B07ZS1MDNS

Edition Language English

Scattered November Thoughts and This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Scattered November Thoughts

November is a month of many things…to many people.  Some are busy writing away as it’s still NaNoWriMo and those words and stories won’t write themselves as the deadline nears.   For those of us in the US and expats abroad its Thanksgiving next week so travel plans are being made, menus being planned, and for those well organized individuals, early holiday shopping lists coming into play for the sales that will be launched right after Thanksgiving is over and the turkey leftovers are handed out.

For us Hockey fans, we are enjoying our teams games, at home and on the road, Ditto for all you football fans.  Tis the season for our sports teams to go forth and rise and fall and for us to cheer them on regardless.  And because I wallow in my boys on the ice, I’m diving back into STRW hockey recommendations and those stories I missed the first time around.  One of those is the Hot Off The Ice series by A.E. Wasp, which I am enjoying immensely.  Look for my reviews of some of those stories starting this week.  I have also returned to one of my all time comfort series, NR Walker’s Red Dirt Heart stories, this time in audio format.  Oh my Joel Leslie has that Aussie accent down perfect!  And yes, more holiday stories are coming your way from all our reviewers here, including from Sophia Soames, a author on my must read list.

At any rate, things are hectic here, schedule are full, I have one small dog who has gotten very good at dodging her pills, and there is still so much to plan for as Thanksgiving looms large.  And yes, we saw our first glimpses of snow too.  Tis the season for so many things and it seems so little time to take it all in.

So it’s brief today…but here is our schedule for the coming week.  Lovely books ahead and great tours too.  Something for everyone.  Happy reading and listening.  Now I have some lists to make.

This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Sunday, November 17:

  • November Thoughts and This Week at Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
  • A Stella Review: In This Bed of Snowflakes We Lie by Sophia Soames

Monday, November 18:

  • Review Tour – Across The Pond (Raptors #2) – RJ Scott & VL Locey
  • Release Blitz The Mysterious and Amazing Blue Billings by Lily Morton
  • A MelanieM Review : Across The Pond (Arizona Raptors #2) by RJ Scott & VL Locey
  • A Lucy Audio Review: Finders Keepers by N.R. Walker, Joel Leslie (Narrator)
  • An Alisa Review: Slow Birth (Heat of Love #2.5) by Leta Blake

Tuesday, November 19:

  • Release Blitz – A Christmas Wedding by A E Ryecart
  • A Stella Review The Desire for Dearborne by V.B. Kildaire
  • A MelanieM Audio Review: Red Dirt Heart 1 by NR Walker and Joel Leslie Narrator
  • A Free Dreamer Review: For Sam, times infinity by Suki Fleet
  • A Lucy Review: A Christmas Wedding: A snowy London love story (Rory & Jack #3) by A.E. Ryecart

Wednesday, November 20:

  • Review Tour – Nothing Special V – AE Via
  • A MelanieM Review: 717 miles Christmas Special by Sophia Soames
  • A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Mr. Naughty List (Home for the Holidays #2) by Leta Blake
  • A MelanieM Audio Review: Red Dirt Heart 2 by NR Walker and Joel Leslie Narrator
  • An Alisa Audio Review Nothing Special V (Nothing Special #5) by A.E. Via and Aiden Snow (Narrator)

Thursday, November 21:

  • Release Blitz Roxy’s Recovery by Kim Breyon
  • Release Blitz – Against All Odds (Eternal Soulmates, Book 2) by Elle W Silver
  • BLOG TOUR Soft Limits: A Deviations Novel by Jodi Payne
  • A MelanieM Review A New Empire (Fog City #3) by Layla Reyne
  • A Lucy Review Inn Love by Lucy Lennox

Friday, November 22:

  • COVER REVEAL Ablaze by Elvira Bell
  • Release Blitz – Promise (Single Dads #3) – RJ Scott
  • Release Blitz for Garrett Leigh – Hometown Christmas
  • A MelanieM Review: Country Boy (Hot Off the Ice #2) by A.E. Wasp
  • A Stella Review:  Twice Shy (A New Milton Novel) by  Sally Malcolm

Saturday, November 23:

  • A MelanieM Review: Boy Toys (Hot Off the Ice #2.5) by A.E. Wasp

A MelanieM Review: In This Bed of Snowflakes We Lie by Sophia Soames

Rating:  5 stars plus out of 5

Oskar Høiland hides from life. It just makes things easier that way, not having to face all the fears and drama of living. He especially hides from other people, because Oskar has grown up fearing the snide remarks and the quick glances that strip him of the tiny scraps of confidence he still has left. He is just going to keep existing. Work hard to complete his medical degree and perhaps watch a few more series on Netflix in peace and quiet over Christmas.

Erik Nøst Hansen should be an almost fully-fledged adult. He should be able to sort out the mess that festers in his head and stop lying. It’s just hard. And it’s bloody terrifying to even acknowledge the thoughts that swirl around in his head at night when he can’t sleep. He also needs to figure out how to talk to the boy downstairs. The one with the golden curls and the crooked smile. The boy who is completely monopolising Erik’s messed-up heart.

A story of falling in love and being brave. A Christmas tale with a difference, set in the university dorms of central Oslo, where lies are uncovered, snowflakes are falling all over the place, and beds are made to lie in. There is a slightly unconventional family. A mess of animal onesies. Too much food and a very Merry Christmas.

Sophia Soames became one of my favorite authors based on one book alone.  That would be 717 Miles, a touching, amazing, utterly human journey of love and recovery by two young men in London.  Trust me,  i wanted more, so much more.

Here is the story (along with the 717 Christmas short) that I have been waiting on.  Sophia Soames manages to write these microcosm of humanity, in this case, two flights of dorms on a campus in Norway.  Then ushers up such incredible portraits of human fragility, unknowing strength, unbelievable kindness, bravery, and , yes, the sheer being of youth…in Norway and all that entails.  And she does so with characters and a narrative that takes your breath away.

In This Bed of Snowflakes We Lie by Sophia Soames is full of Norwegian Christmas customs and all things bakery and sweetness.  I had no idea and I absolutely wallowed in it all the while looking up those names and goodness.  She folds them into a story where two young men are finding out who they are, how they can be their best selves (whatever they are), all the while helping several  or one traumatized friend in their dorms manage the holiday.

Oskar Høiland and Erik Nøst Hansen are two such endearing young men, confused at times about themselves and how they appear to others.  Also about their sexual appeal, and who they appeal to.  It’s a lovely, natural, sexual journey for them both, without major outside angst, as this is a very accepting society, at least within this circle of people.   And what a circle of people it is.  From the warm, quirky, and oh please, please adopt me too family of Erik’s (yes, I wanted to be there, that’s how all embracing and incredible those scenes are), to the dormates on floors one and two, these are all characters that will sing to your heart.  You, the reader, will want to know them, want to be their friends, hug on them, and follow each and every one of their paths through life, to make sure its a safe and happy one.  That’s how deeply you will connect to each and everyone.

In the end, what you will also remember is the analogy that brings  you back to the title.  In This Bed of Snowflakes and the imagery it brings up.  Of the two in love young men, lying on their backs, as the snowflakes swirl down around them, and Erik, talking about how individually snowflakes are so delicate but together, formed into a whole, they are so strong.  And now I’m sniffling again.

Read this book, discover this author.  Both are amazing and unforgettable.   And yes, I highly recommend them both.

 

Cover Artist: Miriam Latu. I love this artist and this cover.  Perfection and so different than the usual covers.  Draws you in just as it should.  Yes, that’s Oskar.

Buy Links – Available on Kindle Unlimited

Universal Link  

Amazon US  |  Amazon UK

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 1st edition, 217 pages
Published November 14th 2019
ASINB07ZS1MDNS
Edition Language English

 

 

A MelanieM Review: City Boy (Hot Off the Ice #1) by A.E. Wasp

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Follow the money or follow your heart?

All Bryce Lowery knows how to do is play hockey. He’s been playing professionally since he was fifteen. Twenty years later, he’s rich, famous, tired, and alone. And possibly gay according to his ex-wife.

When a blown tire leads directly to mind-blowing sex with a motorcycle-riding white knight named Dakota, Bryce discovers he is most definitely gay. Now Bryce has a tough choice to make, follow the money to a new multimillion dollar contract, or follow his heart into the unknown?

All Dakota Ryan knows how to do is grow apples. Now at twenty-four, he faces losing both his home and his livelihood in one cruel twist of fate.

Then Bryce Lowery crashes into his life like the answer to all of Dakota’s prayers. He’s whispering promises to make all of Dakota’s wildest dreams come true. But Dakota knows better than to give his heart to someone who could leave, and if life has taught him anything, it’s that everyone leaves.

Dakota has a choice, sit back and wait for Bryce to decide his fate, or for the first time in his life, chose what he wants his future to be.

City Boy is a first time gay, fish out of water, May/December love story with a happy ending. It features snarky siblings, a dirty-talking farmer, lots of food, and big choices. (No poultry was harmed in the making of this book.)

Because I made a vow to go through STRW’s Hockey Romance list and read all the stories I missed and also because It’s now hockey season once more, I’ve started to read AE Wasp’s Hot Off the Ice series and I’ll tell you I’m loving it. City Boy (Hot Off the Ice #1) by A.E. Wasp is our introduction to the  boys of Thunder, the Seattle NHL Hockey team.  Actually, one of them who is in flux. That would be hockey all star Bryce Lowery, currently on the injured reserve list until he recuperates from his recent leg injury. But he’s fighting more than just a injury, and a  deceased relative, a will, and a road trip to Colorado might give him the change of direction he needs.

Dakota is a farmer, orchard farmer to be exact, one in danger of losing everything due to mislaid trust, naivete, and a crushing loss   .  And now he faces an uncertain future and nowhere to go.

This is one of those many trope story’s.  We have age gap, coming out, sexual discovery, as well as HEA.  And it all works because of Wasp’s wonderful charizations that allows us into the mindsets of each man as they make their journey towards each other and work their way through their individual issues.  City Boy is relatively low on angst, high on sweetness.  There are great dogs, wonderful sisters (on both sides), friends that appear, and, of course, teammates to gather round at Thanksgiving…all that start to form a “found family”.

Characters that form a foundation for the rest of the series.

This story is sweet, engaging, and really sets the stage for the rest of the series.  I love it and recommend it .

Cover art is perfect with the orchard at the bottom and Bryce at the top.  Love it.

Sales: Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 318 pages
Published June 29th 2017
Edition Language English
Series Hot Off the Ice #1

Check Out the Blog Tour and Giveaway for Rules for Santa (Davey’s Rules #3) by Susan Hawke

Rules for Santa

Susan Hawke

Davey’s Rules Series Book 3

Susan Hawke

M/M Romance, Daddy/boy

Release Date: 11.01.19

Rules for Santa Cover

Blurb

Rule #18: Daddy’s boy will always believe in his Santa Daddy.

Homeless, alone, and now jobless, Cameron Evans is lost… until he’s found after a prominent local attorney literally trips over him when the boy is passed out from dehydration.

Scott Hendrickson has two things in life: his job as an assistant district attorney, and his son Davey. Other than that, he lives alone in a house that’s too big, too empty, too… lonely.

It’s not just Cameron’s life that might change for the better when Scott takes him in. Scott can provide material things and security, but Cameron returns the favor by breathing fresh air into Scott’s stale life.

Two men who need each other… one magical holiday season. Could a little Christmas magic be all that’s needed to bring the biggest gift of all? Maybe Cameron doesn’t need a Sugar Daddy… because he already has a Santa Daddy.

This is the third book in a series about not-so-perfect Daddies, adorable “boys,” and one sassy brat with an insane list of rules. Get ready for all the squishy holiday feels you’d want from a Susan Hawke book.

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Excerpt

After a sleepless night spent tossing and turning, I was up with the sun. Cameron came down right as I was pouring the fruit compote over a Belgian waffle. I noticed the backpack on his shoulder right off the bat.

His stomach growled—loudly—but he ignored it as he met my eyes. “I’m going to get out of your hair now. I just wanted to thank you for taking me in last night. I looked out the window and it’s not raining right now, so I should be okay.”

Shaking my head, I pointed to the island. “Drop your bag and come have breakfast. I didn’t cook all this just for me, did I?” My chest fluttered when he instantly obeyed.

His cheeks were pink as he climbed onto the stool. “Sorry, I just didn’t want to assume or impose. I thought you might be sick of me by now. But I suppose it won’t hurt to stick around long enough to have breakfast, especially since you went to so much work.”

“You’re not imposing at all. It’s nice to have a little company in the house.” I figured we would discuss his leaving later. First… food.

“Wow, that’s a beautiful compote. You reduced it perfectly, I won’t even need syrup.” Cameron smiled brightly as he looked at the plate I set in front of him. There were already platters of scrambled eggs and bacon on the counter, along with a container of freshly squeezed orange juice. I might have been a little too busy.

“I just hope you like waffles.” I spoke casually, setting a carafe of coffee on the counter along with a container of cream and cups for each of us. “I wasn’t sure if you drink coffee or not. If not, that just means there’ll be more for me.”

His eyes were closed as he moaned around his first bite of waffle. I wasn’t sure whether to be pleased or turned on. Maybe a bit of both? After he swallowed, his eyes popped open and he reached for the coffee. “I’m not a huge coffee drinker, but I don’t hate it. Especially with a rich breakfast like this, I’ll definitely want coffee today.”

Susan Hawke LogoAs an avid reader and big romance fan myself, I love sharing the stories of the different people who live in my imagination. My stories are filled with humor, a few tears, and the underlying message to not give up hope, even in the darkest of times, because life can change on a dime when you least expect it. This theme comes from a lifetime of lessons learned on my own hard journey through the pains of poverty, the loss of more loved ones than I’d care to count, and the struggles of living through chronic illnesses. Life can be hard, but it can also be good! Through it all I’ve found that love, laughter, and family can make all the difference, and that’s what I try to bring to every tale I tell.

I’m a happily married mom with one snarky teenage boy, and three grown “kids of my heart.” I’m more widely known for my mpreg writings as Susi Hawke; this new name is a departure from that. Whether written by Susan or Susi, the books are filled with that all-important love, laughter, and family I mentioned; the only difference is that this name has no male pregnancy. I look forward to sharing my stories with you, and to bringing more romance and laughter into this world that needs it so very badly.

Amazon Author: https://amzn.to/2Hdgwvl

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSusanHawke/

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