A Jeri Review: Off the Ice (Hat Trick #1) by Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

I really love books with one of the main characters playing a professional sport. But what I really liked about this one is the way Tristan, a professional hockey player, was preparing for life after hockey. Taking his down time to take college courses to ready himself for a second career. Enter hot sociology professor who has no clue who Tristan is.

Another thing I really enjoyed was that instead of sneaking around, they became friends first. Because they knew they couldn’t be together if they were teacher and student. Imagine that! WAITING! Every other book I read has the main characters sneaking around to avoid being caught together. By not sneaking around, not giving in, the sexual tension was through the roof. But that slow burn was really hot.

The conflict came instead from Sebastian being out and proud and Tristan being in the closet. The whole macho sports thing. Sigh. Makes me sad that it isn’t just in a book but also in real life. No one should have to hide.

As a sociology professor, Sebastian really likes to teach about perception of people. How they are perceived just by looking at them without knowing them. It was really cool how that was turned right around on him when he assumed that Tristan was a frat boy who cheated his way through. Never in a million years did he think that the baseball hat and sweatpants wearing guy was a pro hockey player, smart, articulate and focused. Shows that no matter how enlightened we are, we all have bias.

Even though this is a co-authored book, it was seamless. I never felt the shift from one author to the author. I’ve read other collaborations of theirs and enjoyed them for some of the same reasons. It was well written, well thought out and didn’t use sex as a page filling crutch.

This is a definite read.

Cover art by Natasha Snow is perfect for the story.

Sales Links: Riptide Publishing | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 283 pages
Published October 30th 2017 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN139781626496613
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesHat Trick #1
CharactersTristan Holt, Sebastian Cruz, Ryu Mori, Trevor Morley, Daniel Bellamy

A Jeri Review: The History of Us by Nyrae Dawn

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Sometimes it’s not about coming out, it’s about settling in.

Eighteen-year-old Bradley Collins came out a year ago and hasn’t looked back since. Who cares if he doesn’t know any other gay people? Bradley has friends and basketball—that’s all he needs. Even if that means always sitting on the sidelines when the guys go out looking for girls.

When cute film-boy TJ tries to flirt with Bradley while his friends are doing their thing, he freaks. Yeah, he’s gay, but he’s never had the opportunity to go out with a boy before. He’s never had to worry about how his friends will react to seeing him with a guy.

Bradley accompanies TJ on a road trip to film TJ’s senior project documentary. In each city they visit, they meet with people from different walks of life, and Bradley learns there’s a whole lot more to being honest about himself than just coming out. He still has to figure out who he really is, and learn to be okay with what he discovers.Admittedly I read almost entirely MM romance or erotic romance. There are a couple of authors thought that I will read if they wrote a grocery list. Nyrae Dawn (aka Riley Hart) is one of them.

This is a YA MM romance. There is very little sex- and no “actual” sex- but really, this book is all about the story. Or stories.

Bradley is out but perpetually single. All of his friends are straight and he just doesn’t “know how” to be gay. Enter TJ, also out, very proud, and seemingly knowing what he is doing. Through a round about way, Bradley accompanies TJ on a 2 week trek to interview gay people for a documentary he is making. Hearing all of the different stories teaches Bradley that there is no one way to “be” gay. You just are.

This is the book that I want to hand out to people to read. READ THIS! To all of the kids struggling. To the parents and family and friends and co workers of anyone who is gay. READ THIS! To anyone who thinks being gay means the flamboyant twink with guy liner. READ THIS!

This book is beautiful in so many ways. It is both heart breaking and uplifting, innocent and sweet . The budding romance between TJ and Bradley just quietly simmers throughout the book.

Read.This.Book.

Sales Links: Harmony Ink Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 184 pages
Published June 11th 2015 by Harmony Ink
ISBN 1634761812 (ISBN13: 9781634761819)
edition languageEnglish

A Jeri Review: The Making of Matt (Souls of the Knight #3) by Nicola Haken

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Matt Carter, self-proclaimed sex-god and drummer for world renowned Souls of the Knight, didn’t have the time or inclination for planning his future, preferring to fill his days with music, women and alcohol. He didn’t want or need anything else in his life.

Until the band parted ways and he found himself no longer living the dream.

Bored and lonely, with too much time and money on his hands, Matt turns to his best friend, Alex Clark, to help devise a new direction to take his life in. Together, they embrace their newfound venture, as owner and manager of one of L.A.’s hottest gay clubs – Kaleidoscope. For the first time, Matt has a plan. He knows where life is heading.

Until a devastating phone call turns his whole world upside down, sending him straight into the comforting arms of his best friend and leading him to doubt everything he’s ever known or believed about himself.

Alex had always been content with his unrequited feelings for his rockstar friend, but as Matt starts to question if he might actually feel the same, he runs as fast as his feet will allow.

Has Matt gone too far? Has his reputation as an irresponsible womanizer who refuses to take life seriously, finally managed to push his best friend away for good?

Or is Alex hiding secrets of his own?

I discovered Ms Haken with her book Being Sawyer Knight (Souls of the Knight, #1). I could be wrong, but I believe before that her books were all M/F romances. I loved Being Sawyer Knight and the second in the seriesTaming Ryder (Souls of the Knight, #2) so I was very excited to read Matt’s story.

Matt’s story begins after the demise of their popular and famous rock band. He is aimless, living on the money he made and not knowing what to do with himself. Luckily, his best friend, Alex, is the rock he needs in his life to help keep him grounded. But Matt doesn’t realize that Alex is half in love with Matt even though Matt is straight.

Cue the typical drunken kiss, misunderstanding and broken friendship. While this is happening we get the voice of reason Sawyer, the fabulousness of Ryder and the rest of the band and their mates. I love when a series brings back former characters, not just as short mentions, but solid pieces of the story.

Matt and Alex make it back together and while Matt thinks Alex is hesitant because Matt has never been with a man before, he is shocked to learn the real reason. Honestly, I was too. But the way that the subject was treated, with respect, honesty and care really made it so much more heartfelt.

Being that I refuse to spoil anything in the book, I will have to leave that there for you.

*evil laugh*

This book made me literally laugh out loud on one page, cry on another and swoon on yet another. This book absolutely had it all and I loved it. If you haven’t read the first two- READ THEM! Then read this as well.

The cover art is a perfect depiction of Matt and the life he is moving toward after Souls of the Knight.

Sales Links: Amazon | “>Buy It Here