A Stella Review: Trailer Trash by Marie Sexton

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars ★★★★★

It’s 1986, and what should have been the greatest summer of Nate Bradford’s life goes sour when his parents suddenly divorce. Now, instead of spending his senior year in his hometown of Austin, Texas, he’s living with his father in Warren, Wyoming, population 2,833 (and Nate thinks that might be a generous estimate). There’s no swimming pool, no tennis team, no mall—not even any MTV. The entire school’s smaller than his graduating class back home, and in a town where the top teen pastimes are sex and drugs, Nate just doesn’t fit in.

Then Nate meets Cody Lawrence. Cody’s dirt-poor, from a broken family, and definitely lives on the wrong side of the tracks. Nate’s dad says Cody’s bad news. The other kids say he’s trash. But Nate knows Cody’s a good kid who’s been dealt a lousy hand. In fact, he’s beginning to think his feelings for Cody go beyond friendship.

Admitting he might be gay is hard enough, but between small-town prejudices and the growing AIDS epidemic dominating the headlines, a town like Warren, Wyoming, is no place for two young men to fall in love.

I have a weakness for Marie Sexton, she is the one who wrote one of my all time favorite characters in the mm genre (Cole from the Coda series). She’s awesome at communicating emotions and a master at writing and plotting activities. She’s left me speechless more than once.

This time around too I have no words to say how much her new release, Trailer Trash, sucked me into its world, leaving me breathless and sleepless. The characters she created were all (unsurprisingly) someone I could soon relate with and love ’till the end and more. Someone I could easily become best friends with.

The story took place in the 1986 in the middle of nowhere.

It’s August, Cody and Nate meet outside a gas station where Nate tries to buy a pack of cigarettes although not eighteen yet and then gives one to Cody. It’s the start of a new relationship. An ostensibly impossible and not recommended friendship between two young men so different from each other but with a beautiful future to share.

Nate’s parents just divorced, he would have preferred to stay in Austin with his mum but he had to follow his dad to a new town. He is planning to stay here only one year, graduate and then leave. School starts in three weeks and he’s looking for someone to hang with. He is frustrated, there is nothing to do in this town, apart from Cody.

Cody grew up in the wrong side of the town. He lives in a trailer with his mum who works as a waitress, they struggle with money a lot. He has nothing in common with the new boy and he already knows he’s going to lose Nate as soon as school starts and Nate will meet the cool guys. What he doesn’t know is that Nate doesn’t like these cool kids, they are surely similar to him than Cody but there is too much sex, alcohol and drugs and Nate doesn’t fit in all of this.

Nate and Cody are socially the opposite. But they fit amazingly together and the strength of unknown and unexpected feelings will bring them together again after a tragedy wrecked Cody’s life.

I connected with these great MCs from the start, I felt all their emotions in my soul. It wasn’t a surprise, because I already knew the author’s qualities, but I shared a deep care and respect for some of the secondary characters too, especially with their parents and the lovely Logan. He is the only one who had never avoided Cody, on the contrary he offers him to work for his family as a dishwasher. Logan is the first to support Cody whether he is gay or not. He is the best friend anyone would want.

The story hurt a little in some moments, seeing Cody so lonely, Nate’s struggle with his newly discovered sexuality to the point of forcing himself to like girls, the name calling from the other kids, and so much more, tragedy not excluded. All of these gave me a perfect ending. I couldn’t ask for something more. Of course being greedy, I’d love to have a sequel, something set in the present, thirty years later.

I think it’s clear I loved Trailer Trash, it’s emotional, deep and well written, it felt very realistic to me and I want to highly recommend it to everyone.

The cover art by Jay Aheer is marvelous and I’m appreciating this artist style more with every cover I see.

Sales Links: Riptide Publishing | ARe | Amazon those links to follow

Book Details:

ebook, 340 pages
Expected publication: March 21st 2016 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN 1626493952 (ISBN13: 9781626493957)
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Stella Review: Spencer Cohen (The Spencer Cohen Series #1) by N.R. Walker

RATING 4,5 out of 5 stars

Spencer Cohen is the guy who gets answers to relationship questions. Playing the role of the new lover, his job is to make his client’s ex realise one of two things: he doesn’t want to break up or he really does. Either way, his client gets answers.

The ex would either apologize and beg, or turn and walk. But in the end, Spencer’s client won. If he wanted his ex back and got him, it was great. If the guy walked away, then as hard it was for the client, he knew it was over. Regardless of the outcome, Spencer’s work was done.

Andrew Landon’s ex left him without so much as an explanation. But his sister can’t stand to see him miserable, so, much to Andrew’s dismay, they hire Spencer to be Andrew’s new boyfriend to get the ex back.

For Spencer, it is never personal. Merely a business transaction. No emotions, no strings, no complications.

Yeah right.

Even a blind man could see how this would end.

Spencer Cohen is the first book in a new series by N.R. Walker and it was an amazing start. It was quite some time since I’ve read this author and I’ve honestly missed her style. This book gave me a so needed rush of fresh air.

I soon connected with the characters. This is a specific trait of N.R. Walker’s style. She always does this element great. She has a unique style, very recognizable, the words flow so easily it’s a joy to read it. I soon found myself into the story. There wasn’t time (as often happens to me) to adjust to a new book. I was there with Spencer and Andrew from the start.

The characters were all enjoyable. Especially Andrew. His not knowing well himself and his abilities, not understanding the care and kindness Spencer treated him with, was cute to watch but hurtful too. A special guy like him should have been more aware of himself. The attraction between them was clear since the first meeting and it develops exponentially through the story. Plus they are funny together, smart and sweet in their dates.

Two things left me a little dubious during the reading and they are the reason why I didn’t gave Spencer Cohen the full five stars: one is the use of the single point of view (Spencer’s one) and I’m not sure it was the right choice because I am still curious about what was going on Andrew’s mind. The second was the fact that two days after their first meeting Spencer realized he had feelings for Andrew, maybe it was really too soon but at the end it worked pretty well.

I highly recommend this new book by N.R. Walker, it’s easy, beautiful and well written, I want more. Yes, it’s a light book but there is a lot going on in Spencer life that I want to know more in the next book.

The cover art by Sara York is simply fantastic! I love this style and I would love to see more of covers of this kind.

Sales Link: Amazon

BOOK DETAILS

Kindle Edition, 137 pages
Published February 18th 2016 by BlueHeart
ASIN B01BOB6L56
Edition Language English

The Spencer Cohen Series #1

A Stella Review: Mending the Rift by Chris T. Kat

Rating: 4,5 out of 5 stars

In a future where man’s ability to reproduce is severely compromised, humanity has adapted to survive. Breeders—male and female—have become precious commodities, and they are strictly guarded and subject to limitations.

Luca Walker is a breeder. Though he knows what’s expected of him as the youngest son of the Northern Confederacy’s vice president, he’s held out against the pressures of an arranged marriage because he longs to marry for love, not duty. But he’s been promised to Colonel Liam Smith and there’s little he can do about it, no matter that Luca is secretly in love with his bodyguard, Marcus Gray.

When Luca finds himself pregnant with Marcus’s baby, Smith is furious and vows to take what is his—by force, if necessary. Now Luca must fight for his life and the life of his unborn child… as well as the love of Marcus and the happily ever after he’s always dreamed of.

I am a huge fan of Chris T Kat and when I saw Mending the Rift, a male preg story, a favorite theme of mine, I soon knew I was going to love it. I read it and it was a lovely surprise. I simply adored it. I put it among my favorite ones of this year.

The author did an amazing job at describing this new society where Luca is living in, where only few women and men can become pregnant, after the Earth and its population was almost destroyed by the Third World War two centuries ago. Science was able to give men the right to be fertile and everyone who is a breeder is forced to procreate.

Luca is one of them, he is part of the official Northern Confederacy Breeding Program that searches for the best genetic match. He’s twenty three years old and needs to accept his fate like all breeders do. He has to marry colonel Liam Smith and give him offsprings. He can’t refuse and choose to marry whoever he wants. But Luca is not interested, he wants someone to love him for who he is and not what he can do, a breeder for a man he doesn’t love.

The most important problem is Luca is already in love with Marcus, his bodyguard. They fell in love with each other one year ago, it was love at first sight but there really is nothing they can do to stop the union of Luca and Liam. Breeders have no choice and Marcus is just a bodyguard.

I like the author’s style, always clear and clean, easy to read and well done. Especially with a theme and setting like the one of Mending the Rift. I needed details to understand how things worked in this new society and I easily get them. The differences between the Southern Union and the Northern Confederacy. The relationship with Luca’s fathers. And more.

I found Luca to be a bit childish and more than once I wanted to slap him after one of too many useless outburst. Still these defects gave the character a realness necessary for a kind of book set in a (sadly thinkable) not so far future.

There isn’t only one story in this book, I could know and learn to love not just Luca and Marcus, but Nicholas and Gregory too and another one I don’t want to spoil, the very surprise and unexpected couple. Things happened till the end when I was already sure I could relax and finally have a baby.

I want to highly recommend Mending the Rift to all the mpreg lovers, you can’t miss it. To me it was a winner and one more proof of the talented Chris T Kat.

The cover art by AngstyG shows a particular scene in the book, it’s tender and well done.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 214 pages
Expected publication: March 14th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781634767361
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Stella Review: Go Tell It on the Mountains (Sugar Tree #3) by Nick Wilgus

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars ★★★★★

Years have gone by since the death of Noah, his special needs son, and Wiley Cantrell realizes it’s time to move on. He and his husband, Jackson Ledbetter, try to adopt little Tony Gorzola, a deaf boy with HIV who is emotionally traumatized.

Difficulties quickly set in. Tony is a sweet boy but very damaged by abuse and neglect. And Tony’s mother, in prison, is unwilling to relinquish her parental rights. No sooner do they get the go ahead to foster Tony when another child they had considered becomes available—the daughter Jackson always wanted.

With two children on their hands, life is complicated—wonderfully so. But just as things begin to settle down, Tony, his immune system compromised, falls ill with pneumonia—and Wiley and Jackson find their little family faced with crisis once again.

A portion of the proceeds from this book are being donated to the Kentucky Youth Law Project (www.kylpinc.org), whose goal is to reduce homelessness and promote legal protections for LGBT youth in the state of Kentucky.

I fell in love with this author’s stories since I read Shaking the Sugar Tree, the first book in the Sugar Tree series by Nick Wilgus. Although all his books left me a mess, they are addictive and I always wanted more. If you haven’t read the series yet and you are planning to do it, please do not go on with my review, you don’t want to know what happens in the third book now.

That said, as you can read from the blurb, this story takes place years after Stones in the Road, years after the death of my beloved Noah. I can admit it was a huge shock, I wasn’t expecting the author to go where its forbidden to go. Before reading it, I thought I would have preferred a third book in this series was not written. Not because I don’t love the author’s works, just because I would have preferred wondering about what would have happened to Noah and not actually know. I thought for a moment I was going to skip this book cause I wouldn’t like it. But I couldn’t. I’m too much into these characters’ lives and so I had to put aside my beliefs. I appreciated the author gave me just some glimpse of the time when Noah was dying. My heart couldn’t have taken it all.

The first chapter opens with Wiley and Jackson ready to adopt a seven years old deaf boy with HIV. They already meet other children but Tony is special and Wiley knows he can be the only parent to that kid. His stubbornness and courage will lead them in a beautiful journey to a possible happiness.

And when the sweet Amelia will join their new family, the circle will be completed. The story is full of obstacles and trauma to discover and try to overcome with the only thing all these characters need, love.

I was happy to meet Wiley and Jackson again and find out Wiley is still Wiley. They are still funny together, bantering and making fun of each other, and six years after the death of Noah they are at a point in their lives where they are still recovering yes but can maybe see a family again in the future.

Let’s be honest and say I cried a lot, maybe too much; some scenes, like the ones at the cemetery, were very emotional and too hard to take. Wiley is not ready to let Noah go, he’s still hurting, grieving. I cried through all the story till the last word. And it was okay. I cried for Noah, for Wiley, for Tony, for Amelia, for all the love I breathed from the pages, for the braveness of these flawed persons.

Go Tell it on the Mountain is a beautifully written book, as always the author was able to let me feel every good and bad emotion the characters felt. That’s one of the reasons why I read his books even if they break my heart. IMO Sugar Tree is one of the best series I read so far. I have no idea if this is going to be the last book in the series or there will be more. If it is, I will of course be sad but it’s the perfect conclusion for a series like that.

Go Tell It on the Mountains is a love story, powerful and touching. I wish I could give it two thousand stars. My words are not good enough to really express my feelings about this book and I think it’s not easy to do it. I just want to highly recommended it. Just a warning: the series is not a light one. If you’re looking for romance, you’ll find it somewhere else, but if you’re looking for love, Sugar Tree is the right place, you’ll get every shade of love to fill your heart.

The COVER ART by Anne Cain follows the style of the covers of the previous books, well done.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 336 pages
Published February 22nd 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781634769075
Edition LanguageEnglish

SERIES Sugar Tree

Shaking the Sugar Tree

Stones in the Road

Go Tell It on the Mountains

A Stella Review: The Queen & the Homo Jock King (At First Sight #2) by T.J. Klune

RATING 5 out of 5 stars

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Sanford Stewart sure doesn’t. In fact, he pretty much believes in the exact opposite, thanks to the Homo Jock King. It seems Darren Mayne lives for nothing more than to create chaos in Sandy’s perfectly ordered life, just for the hell of it. Sandy despises him, and nothing will ever change his mind.

Or so he tells himself.

It’s not until the owner of Jack It—the club where Sandy performs as drag queen Helena Handbasket—comes to him with a desperate proposition that Sandy realizes he might have to put his feelings about Darren aside. Because Jack It will close unless someone can convince Andrew Taylor, the mayor of Tucson, to keep it open.

Someone like Darren, the mayor’s illegitimate son.

The foolproof plan is this: seduce Darren and push him to convince his father to renew Jack It’s contract with the city.

Simple, right?

Wrong.

What amazing book! TJ Klune is become an author to simply trust, he never disappointed my expectations. And this book had huge expectations to not break. And I can say at some point during the reading I was a little worried.

The Queen & The Homo Jock King is not for everyone, cause the author is not for everyone. TJ is too many times over the top, he doesn’t write funny books, his stories are hilarious and deep and unbelievable, each one I’ve read, no exception. If you already read TJ you know what to expect, I thought I was ready for Sandy but I was very wrong.

I was so happy to meet again all the characters of the first book, Tell me It’s Real, Vince and Paul, Charlie, Nana and the others. Paul and Vinny are going to marry and Sandy and Darren are going to be their best men. Meanwhile Sandy needs to seduce Darren to not lose the club he works at as Helena at the city council expenses. But of course Sandy being Sandy….

It’s a joy to read a new TJ book, each time I spend a couple of days laughing so much, usually my tummy will hurt at the end (and I almost peed myself this time around too!). It’s one continuous line of funny sentences, there is no pause. I have to say it was the first time I didn’t read one of his books in a one stand session. At times it overwhelmed me (in a good way), the dialogues were too much to take all together so I had to stop and read something else. I started to be concerned and ready to be let down. It took two weeks to finish it and honestly? They were the best two (reading time) weeks of the last period. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure it was better this way, I could fully enjoy the story and each moment, avoiding missing things due to my voraciousness at eat up every new book I have on my hands.

I got my dose of Sandy/Helena and it was amazing. The tension between Darren and him almost killed me. There wasn’t a thing or a word I didn’t like. Simply perfect.

Just a little note. If you have read Tell Me It’s Real and don’t like it, don’t even think about reading this second one, it is so much worse/better.

The cover art by Reese Dante is great, I can easily see Sandy/Helena in it. Just right!

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 350 pages
Published February 29th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
Original TitleThe Queen & the Homo Jock King
ISBN 1634768027 (ISBN13: 9781634768023)
Edition LanguageEnglish

SERIES At First Sight #2

Tell me It’s Real
The Queen & the Homo Jock

A Stella Review: PATCHWORK PARADISE by Indra Vaughn

RATING 5 out of 5 stars

Oliver and Samuel’s relationship is fairy-tale perfect. They share a gorgeous house in Antwerp, go out with their friends every weekend, and count down the days to their dream wedding. But their happy ending is shattered one late night, and just like that, Ollie is left bereft and alone.

The months that follow are long and dark, but slowly Ollie emerges from his grief. He even braves the waters of online dating, though deep down he doesn’t believe he can find that connection again. He doesn’t think to look for love right in front of him: his bisexual friend Thomas, the gentle giant with a kind heart and sad eyes who’s wanted him all along.

When Thomas suddenly discovers he has a son who needs him, he’s ill prepared. Ollie opens up his house—Sam’s house—and lets them in. Ollie doesn’t know what scares him more: the responsibility of caring for a baby, or the way Thomas is steadily winning his heart. It will take all the courage he has to discover whether or not fairy tales can happen for real.

Indra Vaughn continues to amaze me. After the Christmas story, The Winter Spirit , I was curious about this new one. I’ll be honest and say I chose to read Patchwork Paradise because from the blurb it reminded me of one of my all time favorite M/M books, Second Chance by TA Webb. In fact they have some elements in common, so it was really no surprise I love this one so much too. From the blurb I understood it had all the things I need to have in a story.

This book is an emotional story, so heartbroken because the author let me meet and briefly fall in love with Sam, and then she took him away from Ollie and me.

I began following Ollie in the great hurt that losing the person that shared his life for the last ten years gave him. He needed to relearn the daily habits alone and start living again, dealing with the attachment to the house he shared with his Sam and the fear of losing it by the persons he considered his family and are now acting like strangers.

He broke my heart but knowing there was going to be so much more to come, made me fully enjoy even the very bad times. At the end Patchwork Paradise is a second chance at love story and Ollie will heal with the support of amazing friends and an unexpected new love.

The words flew easily, it was a pleasure to read. I loved that the story was focused not just on the MCs, it made easy to know the secondary ones pretty well too, even the not so likable ones. Moreover to me the timing was perfect, I think the author did great at balance everything at the right time, it’s a story with no pauses, it kept me hooked from the start, still there was no rushing, the events were all very considerate of Ollie’s life and his grieving.

I really couldn’t find a reason to give Patchwork Paradise less than five stars. I liked all the characters, especially Ollie. I laughed and cried a lot with him. His was a beautiful journey among love, friendships, loss, hurt and love again.

Indra Vaughn wrote another success. Sweet, emotional, developed in time and characters, well written and simply complete in every detail. It’s one of that stories I don’t need to wonder what is going to happen at the end. It truly satisfied me and I’m sure my MCs are living their HEA beautifully.

The COVER ART by Lou Harper won me over in the lower half with the toys and the crib but there is something in the models, I don’t know, maybe the sweaters or their faces. With a story like this, the cover should have been so much better.

Sales Links: Riptide Publishing | ARe | Amazon (other are coming)

Book Details:

ebook, 275 pages
Expected publication: March 28th 2016 by Riptide Publishing
Original TitlePatchwork Paradise
ISBN 1626493804 (ISBN13: 9781626493803)
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Stella Review: Out! (The Shamwell Tales #3) by J.L. Merrow

RATING 4,5 out of 5 stars

When the costs are added up, will love land in the black?

Mark Nugent has spent his life in the closet—at least, the small part of it he hasn’t spent in the office. Divorced when he could no longer deny his sexuality, he’s sworn off his workaholic ways and moved to Shamwell with his headstrong teen daughter to give her a stable home environment.

His resolve to put his love life on hold is severely tested when he joins a local organization and meets a lively yet intense young man who tempts him closer to the closet threshold.

Patrick Owen is an out-and-proud charity worker with strong principles—and a newly discovered weakness for an older man. One snag: Mark is adamant he’s not coming out to his daughter, and Patrick will be damned if he’s going to start a relationship with a lie.

Between Mark’s old-fashioned attitudes and a camp, flirtatious ex-colleague who wants Mark for himself, Patrick wonders if they’ll ever be on the same romantic page. And when Mark’s former career as a tax advisor clashes with Patrick’s social conscience, it could be the one stumbling block they can’t get past.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have another winner from the amazing JL Merrow! She is one of my favorite authors and The Shamwell Tales series is really great. Out! was a great addition to an already well done series. It was engaging and English like all JL’s works.

Out! was a light story, there was really nothing too heavy, making it perfect for a pleasurable reading time. As always the characters were all well defined and enjoyable, but it’s probably the first time with this author, I have to admit that I liked the secondary characters, Lex and David especially, more than Mark and Patrick. In fact I’d like to beg JL to please, pretty please, write Lex’s story. They deserve it.

What I particularly appreciate in Out! is that I felt everything about the story was real and authentic, in Mark’s struggles with his teenage daughter Fen, in the development of his relationship with Patrick and in their different points of view of important things. The funny dialogues often reflected the ones I have in my RL, so it was easy to empathize with their lives and everyday issues.

I want to highly recommend this story and the whole series, it’s fun, light and easy. Don’t miss it!

Just a note: all books can be read as a standalone.

The COVER ART by Kanaxa is not my favorite of the artist and in the Merrow’s series. Most of all I can’t see my MCs in the model on the cover. But it’s clearly well done.

Sales Links: Samhain Publishing | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 322 pages
Published January 19th 2016 by Samhain Publishing
Original TitleOut!
ISBN 1619229935 (ISBN13: 9781619229938)
Edition LanguageEnglish

The Shamwell Tales series – with links to Stella’s reviews:

A Stella Review:Of Gods and Monsters: Menoetius (Of Gods and Monsters #1) by Wulf Francu Godgluck

RATING 5 out of 5 stars ★★★★★

Go ahead…hate me.
Slaughter me against the wall.
I never introduced myself as the goddamn hero. Even labeling me a pussy bad boy.

I’m an imperious villain! A tyrant cut from the bone of the worst kind of monster.

This is my story and I won’t change it for anyone in the world, but…

For him? The one who calls me Master… This is no forever fairy tale romance. This is RAW. This is ripping your heart out and trampling it till there’s nothing left but an angry bloody messRAW.
He was the one who saw through my cracks, who would suffer my pain, blood and tears, working to mend those still bleeding wounds on my soul.
He stood through my violent storm, hiding the battle raging inside him, one I was too stupid to see, that was tearing apart the only man I would ever love.
It took almost losing him to see that, to understand, to comprehend what he truly was to me.

Mine.

My precious boy.

My beautiful Beo.

Dear Author,
He calls me “Master”, but I’m the one who’s really a slave to his heart. I’m supposed to be strong, but I feel so weak every time I think about how we almost didn’t have this… how close I came to losing him… my precious boy.

Photo Description:
The photo shows a young man with thick, dark hair pinned on a bed, hands clasped above his head by the man on top of him. The other man’s circumcised cock is on offer, barely touching the young man’s nose. The young man’s tongue is placed directly against the other man’s cock. There is a power exchange but also something else. The man beneath him is daring, teasing his cock— but look closer. Their hands tell an entirely different story. Their fingers are knotted together in a connection deep, powerful and strong. There is love here, with a passion and a playfulness that can only be understood between them.
This is their story.

This story may contain sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.

I’m writing this review when I just finished re reading the story between Colt and Beo in preparation for the second book in the Of Gods and Monsters series about Hades. I read Moenetius as soon as it was released as part of the Don’t Read in the Closet event in the MM group on goodreads last years and this second time I loved it more and I couldn’t not change my rating to 5 stars. This is a very intense story, well written and engaging from the first words.

Colt is a wealthy bastard dom, involved in some important criminal activities. One day he meets and falls in love with Beo, the sweet sub who is going through so much in his life. They both are afraid to be together, especially Colt, cause he knows he doesn’t deserve someone like Beo. He isn’t very likeable at first but I loved how Colt became a weak man, as he said at the start, when he met Beo, how he became a better man during the book. I’m a romantic I know, but I love the idea that love can make us better.

I cried a little reading this book, some scenes in the hospital were very emotional to me. Don’t think for a moment this is the usual BDSM story because you will be wrong, this is a great story with different layers to discover, each of them will bring you to feel various emotions. Love, hate, friendship, loyalty and so much more. There are wrong things and the perfect ones.

There is an interesting second characters cast that I can’t wait to know more about. And if you have already read this book and loved it, just start the second one now. You won’t be disappointed.

One last thing I want to add is about the writing. I particularly like Wulf’s style because, even if its too strong (and a little vulgar sometimes), its is true, simple and immediate. Every time I found myself in beautiful worlds, realistic and unrealistic, but always amazingly done.

Thanks Wulf for writing Colt and Beo’s story, thanks for making me feel every emotion he wrote about.

The COVER ART by Wulf Fracu Godgluck is what caught my attention at first and for once I’m so happy to be a coverwhore, it made me discover a new to me author that soon became one of my favorite ones.

Sales Links: Free: M/M Romance group at Goodreads | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 214 pages
Published August 27th 2014 by M/M Romance Group @ Goodreads
Edition Language English

Series

Of Gods and Monsters #1, Love’s Landscapes, Don’t Read in the Closet Events , more

Characters

Colt Maxus, Beo Moon, Breno Hades el Oscuro, Martin Alexander, Richard Flinór

setting

New York City, New York (United States)

A Stella Review: How to Walk like a Man by Eli Easton

Rating 4.5 stars out of 5

Deputy Roman Charsguard survived Afghanistan where he lost his best friend—his K-9 handler James. Roman was a military dog until two years ago when he developed the ability to shift into a human. It’s not easy to learn how to be a man. He found a place to live in Mad Creek, a haven for the secret world of dog shifters. Finding a reason to live has been harder. That is, until a certain human walks into the Mad Creek Sheriff’s office and starts making trouble.

Matt Barclay has the worst luck. First he was shot in a SWAT drug raid, then he was sent as DEA investigator to Mad Creek, a little town in the California mountains. Matt’s job is to keep a lookout for illegal drug farms, but nobody in the town wants him there. And then there’s Roman, Matt’s erstwhile baby-sitter. He’s the hottest guy Matt’s ever seen, even if he is a bit peculiar. If the town doesn’t kill him, sexual frustration just might.

The town is counting on Roman to prevent Matt from learning about dog shifters, Matt’s counting on Roman to be his work partner and tell him the truth, and Roman’s trying to navigate love, sex, and a whole lot of messy human emotions. Who knew it was so complicated to walk like a man?

I was anxious to read Roman story since I first met him in How to Howl at the Moon , the first book in the Howl at the Moon series by Eli Easton. I was intrigued by this character cause I could feel he would be different and I wasn’t disappointed. I learnt to love him a little more with each page I read in How to Walk Like a Man.

His story was a little strange because Roman, as the title says, needs to start his human life, to learn how to walk like a man and not only as a dog. He lost his human James in Afghanistan, the one who saved a hurt Roman from a sure death.The flashbacks that showed the relationship between them, were all very emotional especially in the clear connection with James and in Roman sense of loneliness when he woke up for the first time in his doggie cage as a human and had no idea what was happening.

It was surely not the usual m/m book and Roman is not our usual character. That’s the reason why in this case I loved the slow burn story with Matt, it couldn’t have been different, since Roman has no clue about human life at all. And it didn’t bored me for a minute cause Matt and Roman were together from the first page, becoming friends little by little and starting to trust each other.

Moreover How to Walk Like a Man not just Roman and Matt’s story. There is so much more going on and I can assure you won’t have enough. It was sweet, simple and beautifully different as Roman is, with some emotional parts and some light and funny, like when Roman discovered for the first time his penis and the related sexual maneuver. I laughed so much at Lance’s embarrassment when Roman called his friend in the middle of his first erection asking for help with his problem.

How To Walk Like a Man and the whole series is highly recommended. I’d love to know if there will be more about these great characters in a near future.

Cover art by Reese Dante. There really is nothing to say about this cover, I can see Roman in the dog eyes, so it’s perfect to me.

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

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 241 pages
Published November 13th 2015 by Pinkerton Road
ASIN B0176KQPH8
Edition Language English

Howl at the Moon series

How to Howl at the Moon #1
How to Walk Like a Man #2

A Stella Review: Textual Attraction by K-lee Klein

Rating: 3,25 out of 5 stars

Lewis has spent most of his adult life looking after his aging parents, and he recently ended a relationship with a domineering guy who’d been nothing but bad for him. Despite his less-than-stellar track record with men, he’s still hopeful there’s someone out there for him, but he’s learned to be careful with his heart. So he can’t figure out why a cryptic, gruff, drunken voice mail from a stranger named Jerry doesn’t make him hit the DELETE button. It’s clear the man’s got the wrong number. But when Jerry begins to text, Lewis finally responds, saying he’s not the guy Jerry wants. Jerry, however, is nothing if not persistent, and he keeps texting and teasing Lewis, even after he knows the truth.

Lewis is surprised when something sparks between them. Jerry turns out to be charming and witty, and they develop an odd friendship through text messages. When Jerry suggests they finally meet in person, Lewis is apprehensive, yet curious. Can he take the big step to meet Jerry face-to-face? More importantly, can he maybe even trust Jerry with his heart?

I’m a fan of K-lee Klein, I’ve always found her writing endearing, emotional and romantic. Unbreak my Heart is my favorite among her works and I often come back to it. I read Textual Attraction and it was just what I needed, it is a light book, funny and quick, not very emotional (but I’m an emotional wreck and I was able to spill some tears cause it addresses a couple of things dear to me). What I appreciated the most was the author’s choice of not steering the story versus a more deep and maybe angsty themes as depression and diseases that are in the story in a large measure but not in a sad mode. The perfect way for a book like this one.

The beginning of a new possible relationship between Lewis and Jerry starts with bizarre voicemails left on Lewis phone by a man called Jerry who is looking for Tom (LOL) and it develops in a beautiful attraction among two lovely and sweet men, because the guy on the other end of the phone is funny and entertaining and maybe a little out of his mind.

I quite enjoyed the two MCs, well characterized and with important lives. I particularly liked to have seen them with their great parents, all of them positive and for once, finally, all of them supportive of their sons. A well written story, sweet but not too much.

The only “negative” note on Textual Attraction is that I think the author could have given us more, especially in the final part. I felt a little unsatisfied at the end because I wanted more pages to learn Lewis and Jerry better.

The cover designed by Trace Edward Zaber is simple and clean and that’s the reason why I like it.

Sales Links: Amber Quill | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon

BOOK DETAILS

ebook, 109 pages
Published November 19th 2015 by Amber Quill Press, LLC
ISBN139781681751214
Edition LanguageEnglish

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Sales Links: Free: M/M Romance group at Goodreads | Amazon

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