A Stella Review: Second to None (The Breakfast Club #3) by Felice Stevens

RATING 3 out of 5 stars

Nightclub owner Marcus Feldman never met a man he didn’t love, at least for the night. Although his best friends have all found love, Marcus shuns their advice to commit to one man and settle down. His past has taught him monogamy and marriage is for fools, and Marcus is anything but a fool.

Tyler Reiss’s dream of dancing professionally is unexpectedly cut short and replaced by a different kind of love. He trades in his ballet slippers for go go boots, and spends his nights dancing at the hottest gay club in the city. Flirting with the customers for tips is easy, but resisting the dark and sexy Marcus is becoming harder to do with each passing day.

Unforeseen circumstances bring Marcus and Tyler closer and though they give in to their mutual passion, both still struggle to guard their hearts. When crises threaten, Tyler and Marcus find their strength in each other rather than falling apart. Tyler must choose to either run, or stay and fight for the life he wants, while Marcus realizes that love doesn’t mean losing himself and opens his heart, making him a better man in the end.

I loved The Breakfast Club series by Felice Stevens but this third installment, Second to None, disappointed me. I’m not saying it’s a bad book because it isn’t, and in fact I gave it three stars. The plot worked well, the development of the relationship between Marcus and Tyler was good. Maybe I was so eager to read Marcus’ story, my expectations were too high, I don’t know. I simply didn’t like it as well as the other books in the series.

I read this book and even though it is ( or better, it could have been) emotional and bring tears to my eyes, I felt nothing. I surprisingly struggled a lot to connect with the characters and I was detached through the whole story.

Probably my biggest problem with Second to None was it didn’t felt real. Especially in the character of little Lily. I was disconcerted about what happened around the girl and how the MCs acted with her. I have read a lot of book with children in them because I’m a sucker for these kind of stories, but in this case in my opinion she wasn’t well defined for a child of four years. I get the feeling they weren’t very considerate of her. And at the end what I got was a shallow portrait and lacking in a lot of background about Tyler’s past (just to make an example, but I honestly was dubious about few little details during the whole book).

Yes I’m very disappointed, Second to None is not what I was hoping to read, Felice is a great author, I am used to her great stories and I am astonished she didn’t surprised me with something amazing.

The cover art by Reese Dante is the only thing that worked to me. Well done, in line with the whole series’ covers and in perfect Reese style.

Sales Links: ARe | Amazon

BOOK DETAILS

ebook, 248 pages
Published January 28th 2016 by Felice Stevens
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Breakfast Club #3

Series The Breakfast Club with links to Stella’s reviews:

Beyond the Surface #1
Betting on Forever #2
Second to None #3
What Lies between Us (a Breakfast Club novella)

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:THE NAKED PRINCE AND OTHER TALES FROM FAIRYLAND by Joe Cosentino

RATING 3,25 out of 5 stars

Cinder, a poor and beautiful young man who designs clothing, makeup, and hair for his stepmother and stepsisters, offers his clothing and slippers to a naked stranger in the woods who turns out to be none other than Prince Charming. Follow Cinder and Prince Charming in this twist on the classic “Cinderella” tale, as they discover their inner strengths and find their very own happily ever after. Enjoy “The Naked Prince” and three other reimagined Tales from Fairyland, each with a unique spin on stories we all know and love, including “The Golden Rule,” where eighteen-year-old Gideon Golden, after being thrown out of his home in Fairyland by his homophobic parents, breaks into the cottage of three burly men on Bear Mountain, “Whatever Happened To…?,” in which friction ensues between a celebrity with a growing appendage and the reporter who has a thing for giants, and “Ice Cold,” where young Gaelen must save his love Kieran after a handsome but evil prince freezes Kieran’s heart and bewitches him into being the prince’s slave.

I’ll be honest and say I picked The Naked Prince And Other Tales From Fairyland just for the cover, it was too cute to resist and being the coverwhore I am, I had to have it. Plus I was very curious because I haven’t read a lot of retelling fairytales and nothing by Joe Cosentino yet.

The premises were great and they were well delivered, the stories are all well done and smart, engaging, funny and sweet. My personal problem with them is their shortness, too few pages to really enjoy each fairytale.

The Naked Prince is probably my favourite one. It is the retelling of Cinderella with a wonderfully sweet Cinder. Great characters, the second ones too, especially Maxwell and Mortimer, the two dead dads of our hero. I would love to read their own story together. To me this was the more developed and complete, it caught my attention until the end, a very beautiful ending.

The Golden Rule follows the adventures of Gideon, when just kicked out of his home ends in the three bears’ cabin in the middle of the woods. In this retelling of Goldilocks and the three Bears I found myself a little disappointed because I was cheering on a naughty foursome and I had to settle for some fun and a couple of misunderstandings.

Whatever Happened To…? is the one that gave me more troubles. At the beginning it bored me a little but I re-evaluated at the end and read it a second time to truly appreciate it. It was really hilarious and so surprising at the end, when the author revealed his name. It’s based on the Pinocchio fairytale, but of course with a dirty MC.

Ice Cold is the most emotional, following Gaelen in the desperate searching of his Kieran at times broke my heart. It stands out from the others and I would have loved to have more. Here too there were some interesting second characters that were more important that the main ones.

The cover art by Paul Richmond is the reason why I picked this collection. How could I resist? So cute.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

Published January 27th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
Kindle Edition, 105 pages
ASIN B01AIUDWGK
Edition Language English

A Stella Review: Until September by Chris Scully

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars ★★★★★

As a teenager, Archie Noblesse clawed his way out of the poverty, heartache, and abuse of the reservation and left his family behind. Desperate to shake the shadow of his past, he reinvents himself as Archer Noble, an outspoken blogger and controversial author who lives only for himself. But when his beloved sister dies, Archer is saddled with guardianship of his niece and nephew.

Elementary school teacher Ryan Eriksson is devastated when his best friend Marguerite is killed, leaving her two young children orphaned. Helping Archer with his new responsibilities eases his grief, but when Archer offers him custody of the children, Ryan’s left with an impossible choice: get the family he’s always wanted, or respect Margie’s wishes and convince Archer to give parenting—and his heritage—a chance.

To buy time, Ryan promises to stay for the summer, hoping that Archer will change his mind and fall for the kids. But Archer’s reluctant, and the growing attraction between him and Ryan complicates matters. Legal decisions must be made, and soon, before Ryan returns to school. But with hearts involved, more than just the children’s future is on the line.

I read the Inseparable series by Chris Scully two of years ago and when I saw Until September with the great cover and the interesting blurb, with promises of a lot of emotional moments and a couple of kids, I was soon conquered. I knew I wasn’t going to be disappointed and I was right. I found it an amazing read, it simply took my heart.

The first chapter was hard to read. Abused by his uncle since he was a child, at sixteen Archie is tricking behind school to earn some money and move from the hell Manitoba Reservation has become. His only light is Margie, his baby sister, thirteen years old, the only person he truly loves. He was the one to protect and feed her when their mother left them alone. Leaving the place is his only chance at survival and staying away from all the drugs and child abusers the Cree population suffers. Now that the uncle is dead Archie needs to be strong, abandon Margie and save himself.

Then the story switched to twenty years later but that only first chapter broke my heart. Just a few pages helped me understand a lot about Archie, his deep connection with his sister and the mask he used to hide his scars from indelible things from her.

Twenty years later Archie is Archer Noble, new name, new place, new money, but the fear of losing everything still clings to him. He is now on tour, promoting his new book, when a call comes that will change his whole life.

Ryan Eriksson is a 25 years old teacher, with little social life, who has found in Marguerite, the mum of one of his student, a sister he never had, they shares secrets and hopes. He supports her after the loss of her husband and she knew about his desire to build a family and the disaster with his ex boyfriend.

When tragedy happens, Archer and Ryan need to be together and try to give a family to Dillon and Emma, Marguerite’s children. But Archer can’t take care of them, he still has a lot of work to do on himself. He can’t be a parent, he’s not ready. But he’s willing to give this family thing a try for a bit. Then he will be on his own and the children with Ryan. Ryan has until September to convince Archer that he belongs with his niece and nephew.

I have to be honest and say Until September is one of the best stories I read this new year. It has all the themes I love to read about, moreover it was delivered to my heart with an easiness and straightforwardness, I hardly had found somewhere else. I fell in love with the children and the MCs. Archer and Ryan both changed so much during the book and the development of their relationship, even if slow, it never bored me, on the contrary, it was right for a book like this.

If you want a book emotional that will put a smile on your face till the end, a tear on your cheek a couple of times, full of sweetness and the cuteness only children can give, you can’t miss Until September. I adored it. Plus, it was beautifully written, I felt every single word. 5 full stars!

The cover art by Lou Harper is perfect. It fits the story, cute and great in the colors. I love it.

Sales Links: Riptide Publishing | ARe | Amazon

BOOK DETAILS

ebook, 298 pages
Published February 8th 2016 by Riptide Publishing
ISBN 1626493553 (ISBN13: 9781626493551)
Edition Language English

A Stella Review: Out of the Past by Sean Michael

RATING 3,75 out of 5 stars

Ten years after a terrible car accident left carpenter Andy Johnson dead, Steven Billings has yet to move on. Though he’s put aside his art to run his family’s foundation—just like his parents always wanted—Steven has never been able to put Andy and the love they shared behind him.

Except Andy’s not dead. And after a long, agonizing recovery—alone—Andy has come to hate Steven, believing Steven abandoned him when things got tough. When a chance encounter at a bar throws them back together again, it’s like the dead have come back to life and the past has come back to haunt them both.

Sean Michael is one of my favourite authors, I’m not sure how I missed Out of the Past the first time it was released. So when I saw this second edition, the blurb and the cover caught my interest. I’m a sucker for second chance at love, I had to have it.

The story is very simple. Steven spent the last ten year mourning the love of his life Andy, killed by a terrible incident. He tried to move on but it was impossible, he still comes back to Andy grave each week. One night he walks in a pub and he is soon attracted to a man who then reveals to be Andy, his (supposed) dead lover. How is it possible? Steven buried his lover. Is there someone who is playing with his grief? Or maybe he was just betrayed by the most important person in his life.

What did really happen? Most of all can they overcome the hurt of the loss and be together again?

I’ll be honest, there isn’t a lot of development in the story, apart from knowing they will of course get their own HEA. They met, explanations were given, they were still in love with each other. There were a lot of sex scenes, hot and well done like only Sean can write. Nonetheless I liked this novellas because it was light and emotional too, sexy and well written, the main characters were delined just enough to let us know the important things. It was right, not overdone, not lacking. In a way I appreciated it wasn’t different and perhaps too heavy as it could have been if the author had chosen another writing path.

Out of the Past is a second chance at love story, made of hurt and loss, determination and hope to build a future who was took away from two men deeply in love after ten years of hell. I feel to recommend it.

The COVER ART by MelodyA. Pond is really great, I especially like the colors.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | ARe | Amazon

BOOK DETAILS

ebook, 2nd Edition, 60 pages
Published January 20th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press (first published May 10th 2008)
Original Title Arcana: Out of the Past
ISBN 1615813918 (ISBN13: 9781615813919)
Edition Language English

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: Farm Fresh (Naked Organics #1) by Posy Roberts

RATING 4 out of 5 stars

Jude Garrity visits the farmers market every Saturday. As an environmental engineering student, he’s curious about living off the grid and sustainable agriculture.

And one particular farmer.

Hudson Oliva has worked hard to support his commune, where queer people live without fear of harm or retribution. When Jude asks pointed questions about living there, Hudson realizes he needs to be honest about his home. Few people know what the farm is actually about, but Jude is insistent.

Jude moves to Kaleidoscope Gardens, however his sexual hang-ups make it hard to adjust. He’s an uptight virgin living among people who have sex freely and with multiple partners. When Jude finally loosens up, Hudson is flooded with emotions. Falling for Jude wasn’t part of Hudson’s life plan. But when vindictive rumors about the commune begin to spread, love might be all he has left.

I have to say I am usually not very comfortable with sex outside the relationship of my MCs and I was a little dubious when I read the blurb of Fresh Farm, but I lately discovered Posy Roberts and fell in love with her writing. So I wanted to give her new release a try.

I knew I couldn’t be so strict with this story, since the first pages where I met Hudson, one of MCs, enjoying a threesome. He lives in a commune and share his home (and his bed) with Leo and Charlie, he deeply loves both of them, but he is still looking for that one man who Hudson will fall in love with. The commune is also a farm and while selling its products at the local market, Hudson meets Jude, a (too) young engineering student.

Jude grew up with the idea of sex to be shared only between married couples as a way to procreate, he is still hunted by memories of his past and it’s really hard to let go and just live his new life. Years of verbal abuse left him shameful of sexual experiences. His moving to the commune will help Jude to finally overcome his limits and maybe fall in love.

The writing was really good, each sentence flew easily to me and I could feel every emotion the characters felt. I have to admit Farm Fresh left me craving for more. I’m not sure how the author will develop the series, if the next book will have still Jude and Hudson as MCs, or if there will be a new couple. I’m curious, because I really enjoyed the second characters too and I hope they will have their HEA too. There so much to explore!

Farm Fresh was a light and peaceful story to me, maybe purposely made like that, but each character is beautifully layered with so many details and feelings. There is a lot going in the commune and the people that live it. Kaleidoscope Gardens is yes, a commune and. a place of love, so expect a lot of sex, in the open too, but always between people who love each other, and that was probably why the book conquered me.It’s different and it could possibly have gone in another way but I think the author did an awesome job.

Highly recommended!

If you subscribe to Posy Roberts newsletter (here http://posyroberts.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=2e20821fdd21e275853ae86c3&id=f3028766bc) you get Naked Origins-Hudson for free.

Hudson Oliva didn’t expect the world to end with the new millennium, but his life did change forever on that New Year’s Eve. After his religious parents walk in on him with Zac in his bed, Hudson is sent to conversion therapy. The parents he returns home to after being cured aren’t the same people he’s known his entire life. They’re cold and withdrawn.

In order to survive, Hudson becomes an expert at lying while working hard to be the perfect son, yet his parents remain emotionally distant. He’s sure the pray-away-the-gay camp broke something inside him along with tearing his family apart. When his parents discover Hudson has continued seeing Zac for years, they demand he go back to the camp. Hudson has no choice but to run. Somehow he has to find a safe place, but he has to get out of Florida first.

GR LINK https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28759395-naked-origins-hudson?ac=1&from_search=1

I read Hudson short after Farm Fresh and it was really great to know more about him and his young years spent lying to his parents, the bad things he went through and his first meeting with Leo when, exhausted, he stumbled into Kaleidoscope Gardens, his salvation.

COVER ART by Natasha Snow. She is one of the most famous cover artist in the genre (and not only) and I like her style a lot. To me this cover reflects the story because it’s luminous and peaceful just as I pictured the commune.

Sales Links: Amazon |

BOOK DETAILS

Published January 28th 2016 by Labyrinth Bound Press
Kindle Edition, 204 pages
ASIN B01A2PHDPW
Edition Language English

Naked Organics series #1

A Stella Review: Haven’s Creed by Parker Williams

RATING 3, 5 out of 5 stars

An act of violence destroys his family and ends the life he knows. To escape his haunted past, he joins the military, where, as a sniper, he is trained to kill with precision and detachment. When a covert organization offers him a new purpose, he becomes Haven, an operative devoted to protecting the innocent when he can and avenging them when he cannot.

After ten years of battling the evil in the world, the life no longer holds the attraction or meaning it once had, and he’s ready to walk away. Then he meets Samuel, a young man forced from the age of twelve to work as a sex slave. If ever a man had a need for Haven, it is this one.

Yet nothing about this growing relationship is one-sided. Sammy gives Haven a stability he’s never known, and Haven becomes the rock upon which Sammy knows he can depend.

When Sammy reveals something about the enemy Haven has been hunting for months, Sammy fears it will destroy what they’ve built and he’ll lose his home in Haven’s heart.

After a year I finally had a chance at reading a new book by Parker Williams. I have to admit as I read the blurb of Haven’s Creed, I was soon curious about it. I understood the story would have been something different from the usual fluffy romance I so love and so I wanted to give it a try.

What surprised me was how much I felt myself into the story, I found hard to put it down and I read it quickly. I liked the premise, the writing, the secondary characters and the development of the general story. That’s why I gave it a high rating, because I liked it so much.

That said, I had a lot of issues with Haven’s Creed, the most important one was that the book wasn’t exactly what I was expecting, I was waiting for something different and when I understood I wasn’t getting it, I felt so disappointed.

First of all, be aware, this story is extremely hard and violent, and it could hurt the sensibility of people not used to these kinds of themes. I had been cautioned about them and I started this book knowing it wouldn’t be strictly a romance but I was still hoping to get some kind of love story, in any way possible. The problem for me is that Haven’s Creed IS a romance, meaning the romantic part shadowed the fiction sections greatly, turning it into a simple love story with some violent elements (and not the other way around). And when you approach a reading knowing you are going to get something and then actually got another thing, the frustration is almost certain.

Also this narrative letdown also brought about some issues with the main characters. I was confused about Sammy. I was not sure how someone who went through hell like he did, could be so strong and dominant and open with his sexuality in his relationship with Haven. Not being scared of a new man felt unrealistic and extreme. And I was confused about Haven too. From the moment he met Sammy, he became needy and emotional, he started making mistakes during his job. There was a very improbable and pointless change in his personality that almost depreciated the whole first part of the story. Really a shame.

I was ready for violence, abuses, gritty scenes and a lot of blood. I was ready for it to be emotional. I wasn’t honestly waiting for a HEA and for me there was one between Sammy and Haven. I was hoping for a love story and I’m happy I got it. But in my opinion the author should have been bolder and pushed more versus what the story promised.

Although it left me with a lot of not so good feelings, I gave Haven’s Creed 3,5 stars because it deserves them. The author was able to keep me glued to his words till the end and I can’t ignore this.

The cover art by Laura Harner could have worked but I already saw this cover around for another book, so to me it’s nothing new.

Sales Links: Smashwords | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon |

Book Details:

Published December 14th 2015
Kindle Edition, 256 pages
ASIN B0190XCAX2
Edition Language English

A Stella Review: THE UGLIEST SWEATER by Gillian St. Kevern

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

Dan’s favourite festive sweater is so ugly, it’s cost him not one but three boyfriends and sent him back to his parents’ place for the third Christmas in a row. About to give up hope of ever having a Christmas date, Dan meets Jake, a hot guy with a rock and roll edge. Jake is infatuated with Dan’s sweater but vanishes before Dan can decide if Jake is for real or really in need of an eye-check. After all, no one has ever liked the sweater.

Dan’s sweater is rocketed to national attention, when Jake’s radio colleagues launch a hunt for the mystery man in the hideous jumper. Dan jumps at the chance to meet Jake again, and they hit it off in a big way, to the accompaniment of intimate gigs, exclusive clubs, and the paparazzi. Dan falls hard, but despite obvious mutual attraction, Jake refuses to take him back to his apartment. Is the relationship real – or a ratings stunt? After all, Jake has a reputation for cool that Dan, a lowly gym instructor, could never approach. Is a fondness for tacky Christmas clothing the only thing they have in common? Or does uber-cool Jake hide a Christmas secret of his own?

“Have you lost your goddamn mind?”

“That’s a bit harsh, isn’t it?” Dan looked down at himself. “It’s only a sweater.”

Aston snorted. “That is ‘only a sweater’ the same way the Titanic was a bit of a wreck.”

Dan forced a laugh. “You can’t compare a sweater to an actual tragedy.”

“That sweater is an actual tragedy. Honestly, Dan. Have you gone blind?”

I honestly can say this story disappointed me a little, maybe my hopes were too high, because I fell in love with the gorgeous cover and then I read the blurb and thought The Ugliest Sweater could be original and sweet. What I got was a lovely reading with cute characters (main and secondary too) but nothing more. Even in stories so short, I need some characters’ background or just an epilogue to see where the relationship has gone after the first sex night together. While here I got none. As a matter of fact, the ending felt to me rushed and very unexpected, I turned page on my kindle and there was the author’s bio. It was frustating.

That said, if I try and forget about these things, I had a good holiday story, sweet and fluffy. I was looking for a light book because I was coming from a heavy reads, and The Ugliest Sweater was perfect, it took my mind away from dark places and filled it with colors and gingerbread smells.

Plus the cover art by Aria Tan caught my attention at first sight. It’s super cute and adorable.

Sales Links: NineStar Press | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 65 pages
Published December 14th 2015 by NineStar Press
isbn13 9781911153108
Edition Language English

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.