A Stella Review: To Love a Traitor by J.L. Merrow

Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

Wounds of the heart take the longest to heal.

When solicitor’s clerk George Johnson moves into a rented London room in the winter of 1920, it’s with a secret goal: to find out if his fellow lodger, Matthew Connaught, is the wartime traitor who cost George’s adored older brother his life.

Yet as he gets to know Matthew—an irrepressibly cheerful ad man whose missing arm hasn’t dimmed his smile—George begins to lose sight of his mission.

As Matthew’s advances become ever harder to resist, George tries to convince himself his brother’s death was just the luck of the draw, and to forget he’s hiding a secret of his own. His true identity—and an act of conscience that shamed his family.

But as their mutual attraction grows, so does George’s desperation to know the truth about what happened that day in Ypres. If only to prove Matthew innocent—even if it means losing the man he’s come to love.

I don’t know if To Love A Traitor is the first historical story written by JL Merrow, but it was my first by the author. I’m not a huge fan of historicals but I’m a huge JL’s fan, so I had to read it at all costs. I’m so happy I did cause this book was really good. I love the author’s style, I grew comfortable with it each new book I read and every time it’s a beautiful journey.

Contrary to expectations, one of the things I most enjoyed was just the historical part, it was detailed and really well done, in a couple of things informative to me and never boring. It made the story real and not shallow. With a plot that could be considered almost nothing special, the author was able to give it a meaningful depth, making the perfect choices in setting and development of characters. And the dialogues were so good, engaging and funny! I also liked the characters, almost all of them (not George parents, they disowned his own son cause he was a conscientious objector), especially Matthew. He was sweet, loveable and so brave.

This was a slow burn story, nothing really happens between MCs until a little before the ending, nonetheless I could feel the chemistry from the start, even in their friendship. And while I usually love my books to be hot and steamy almost from the start, I didn’t get this need in To Love a Traitor. It was light but at the same time very emotional, easy to read since it was so well written. I particularly enjoyed how the story solved at the end, it left me with a smile on the face. I needed a HEA and she gave it to me.

If you love historicals, especially the ones well researched, interesting and full of feelings, To Love a Traitor will be surely a winner. Highly recommended!

Cover Art by Kanaxa. I like it, of coure it’s beautiful and well done, but I prefer another style for historicals. To me the cover needs to fit the story and the first time I saw this one , I was sure I was going to read a contemporary book. It was misleading to me.

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

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 167 pages
Expected publication: September 15th 2015 by Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
ASIN B00YX4QGV6
Edition Language English

A Stella Review: Free Ride by J. L. Merrow

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

There’s no such thing as a free ride. Aidan may be only twenty, but he’s already learned that the hard way. Hitch-hiking up from London to Glasgow to keep a promise to a man he’ll never see again, Aidan’s fully prepared to offer payment in kind for his lifts. He’s not expecting a good-looking older bloke to pick him up in a Mercedes — nor that he’ll find John such good company. After a few short hours together Aidan’s already starting to care what John thinks of him.

When slow traffic forces them to get a room for the night, Aidan’s not sure what to do. Putting out as a thank you to a stranger is one thing, but can he really go through with it with the first person he’s come to care for since he made that promise?

And what’s going to happen when they reach their destination?

Free Ride is a short (too short) story by JL Merrow, an author whose style and writing I love very much. I was a little dubious about it, because being just 18 pages, I was really afraid it would be impossible to deliver something believable and complete. I have to stop to worrying about things when it comes to JL! These few pages show the start of a possible relationship between Aidan and John, in a sweet way and with the use of a humorous british language so typical of the author. I know, there are just brief moments between them, but even if the aim was to just let us know how they met, it was so accomplished. I’m always not satisfied by stories like Free Ride, I think it’s pretty normal to have not enough of a couple if you have loved the few (filling) crumbs you read. I can honestly say it felt right just like that. And moreover I could feel the characters and the chemistry between them. Of course then I went on the author’s website and found out there is a micro sequel to this short story, called On The Beach (you can find it here http://jlmerrow.com/free-reads/on-the-beach/) and I was super happy! I devoured it in a flash.

I want to highly recommend Free Ride. If you already have read something by JL Merrow you know how good she is so it’s a guarantee. If you’re looking for a quick story, full of hope in the future, with an emotional undertone, this one will be perfect for you.

Cover art by Written Ink Designs. I know, this model is been used a lot on covers lately, so it’s not so original. It’s a shame because it fits the story and it’s a good one.

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

Book Details:

Published July 19th 2015 by JMS Books LLC
Kindle Edition, 18 pages
ASIN B01091D51K
Edition Language English

A Stella Review: ACE by Jack Byrne

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Jake Tanner is a gay asexual man who finds peace on his small Australian farm and is content to lead a quiet life taking care of his animals. Then a random act of kindness on his part sets in motion a complex series of events that results in him playing the piano in a local pub and meeting Damien Jamieson, a sexy gay biker with a penchant for leather. Damien finds Jake instantly irresistible, but that could be the worst thing for their budding relationship, as Damien is determined to bed the reluctant Jake. However, Jake has no intention of going along with his plan. If there’s a chance for anything between them, Damien will have to figure out how to turn Jake on without scaring him off.

ACE was my first novel by Jack Byrne, non considering the story done for the A Taste of Honey anthology (still waiting for the sequel BTW!). I know he usually writes historicals and in fact his Bushrangers series is next on my reading. I picked up ACE because I was really curious about the asexual aspect, as last month I read another book on the same subject and really liked it.

I read ACE and soon loved it. It’s well written but most of all it’s real, emotional, sensitive and sexy too. I was caught up in Damien and Jake’s story from the start. The characters were well defined. Especially Damien, so sure of himself, he is sexy and wants Jake no matter the cost. He seems so strong but he hides a deep insecurity due to his young years spent on the streets taking care of himself and the person who become his daughter, Diane.

The story was unusual to me, starting just with the relationship between Diane and Damien, never met a 29 years old father of an (adopted) 24 years old. It was interesting look at their dynamics. Moreover, the relationship between Damien and Jake was strange too and I’m not talking about the asexual aspect. It was strange but absolutely believable because it felt real and possible. All the struggles, emotionally and physically, of two people so different from each other, still so needy and full of love to give. Two aspects, the physical and the emotional one, so fused together, seeing Damien so frustrated to not be able to be completely himself with Jake and use the sex as the only way to show his feelings, the only one he knows about. And it’s exactly when that way is barred that I found the realism in the story.

And where some people had some misunderstanding with the blurb, I can say that I didn’t find this strong feeling Damien has in wanting Jake as a constriction or a duty, just as something normal and real. I know, I’m saying the world real a lot, sorry.

Now about the asexual aspect, I could have a lot to say but I’ll keep it brief. I read the book when I still knew nothing about ace people, I wanted to see how the author dealt with it. The word “asexual” was at no time mentioned by the two MCs. The story is a discovery journey, one Jake is still working on. It’s a complex and well done story and later, when I went looking for more clarifications about a couple of things that seemed to be “unclear”, I discovered the author makes his stories this way.

I was pleasurably surprised by ACE and I’m going to read more by this author soon. I want to highly recommend it.

Cover art by Christy Caughie. The cover is clean and fits the story perfectly. I like it.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 210 pages
Published July 15th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN13 9781623801670
Edition Language English

A Stella Review: Vintage Pride (Lionhearts #3) by Elizabeth Coldwell

Rating: 2.75 stars out of 5

He doesn’t believe in the paranormal. Can a gorgeous shifter prove him wrong?

Ethan Wayne is a paranormal investigator for the hottest reality show on TV, Spirit Seekers, but his love life is decidedly lukewarm. Reeling from a sudden break-up, he finds himself heading for France, where his team will be exploring the Château LeBlanc, searching for the ghost of a murdered kitchen maid. When he meets the château’s reclusive owner, Jean-Luc LeBlanc, the attraction is fierce and instant—but Jean-Luc is keeping secrets the skeptical Ethan could never have imagined.

Jean-Luc’s world collapsed with the death of his beloved Benoît. He no longer cares about producing his award-winning Champagne and even his closest family members can’t rouse him from his self-imposed solitude. The last thing he wants is a team of ghost hunters intruding on his privacy and discovering the truth of his nature. The realization that one of these brash Americans is destined to be his new mate seems like a sick joke. But soon Jean-Luc has bigger things to worry about than his distrust of humans. His home and family are under threat—can he do what it takes to save all he holds dear, and let Ethan into his heart in the process?

This will be not a positive review and I’m so sorry to write it. I’m always looking for new authors and early in the year, when I saw the first book in this Lionhearted series, The Pride of Amsterdam by Elizabeth Coldwell, a new to me writer, I was really interested by the plot. I liked that one, even if there were a couple of things that kept me from loving it, but still I had great hopes. After having read Taming the Lion and this new one Vintage Pride, I realized my review for each one of the book in the series could be the same and that’s one of the reasons why I’m sorry but I have to quit reading it.

Vintage Pride was a really well written book, with good characters, main and second one, even if not so deeply developed. The plot, the mystery, the setting, were all unique and interesting. Still I couldn’t give it a full three stars rating, cause the delivery was the same of the other two books and so this time it felt really really boring. When I read different books in a series I need something that make these books different, otherwise I’m facing the same concept simply set in another place and with other characters.That’s exactly what I got from the Lionhearted series.

Things happened too quickly and the acceptance of a paranormal world from a human like us was incredibly smoothly. The mystery was interesting but evident and easily guessed. There was nothing that made Vintage Pride distinguishable from the other books.

I’m really disappointed especially cause I love this author’s writing a lot, to me it flows very easily, that’s why all my ratings were higher than what I’d have usual give. But the boredom can’t be overcome with just a good writing.

Cover art by Posh Gosh. Here I am again saying old news. I’m okay with follow a concept in design the covers of a series but they are all the same apart from little tiny details that are almost invisible. So it’s a good series but I already saw two of them.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 162 pages

Published June 9th 2015 by Pride Publishing
(a LGBTQIA Press of Totally Entwined)

ISBN139781784306182

edition languageEnglish

url https://www.totallybound.com/vintage-pride

seriesLionhearts #3

Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of violence, mild BDSM and references to multiple partners

Lionhearts:

A Stella Review: The Lightning-Struck Heart by T.J. Klune

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 ★★★★★

Once upon a time, in an alleyway in the slums of the City of Lockes, a young and somewhat lonely boy named Sam Haversford turns a group of teenage douchebags into stone completely by accident.

Of course, this catches the attention of a higher power, and Sam’s pulled from the only world he knows to become an apprentice to the King’s Wizard, Morgan of Shadows.

When Sam is fourteen, he enters the Dark Woods and returns with Gary, the hornless gay unicorn, and a half-giant named Tiggy, earning the moniker Sam of Wilds.

At fifteen, Sam learns what love truly is when a new knight arrives at the castle. Sir Ryan Foxheart, the dreamiest dream to have ever been dreamed.

Naturally, it all goes to hell through the years when Ryan dates the reprehensible Prince Justin, Sam can’t control his magic, a sexually aggressive dragon kidnaps the prince, and the King sends them on an epic quest to save Ryan’s boyfriend, all while Sam falls more in love with someone he can never have.

Or so he thinks.

“I don’t have time for all the relations and courting and wooing bullshit,” I said. “I’m a wizard. I havequests.”

“Uh, you’re an apprentice,” Gary said. “And you’re sent on errands.”

“You know how you wanted to dye a strip of your mane purple?” I said.

“Yes. Because I’d be beautiful.”

“Well, too fucking bad,” I said savagely. “I’m not going to do it. You’re just going to have keep it white. Forever.”

“You promised!”

“That was before you were a jerk!”

“Oh my gods,” Gary said. “Lartin. Get over here and untie me. I want to kick Sam in the fucking face.”

“No! He’s going to untie me so I can hex the shit out of you. Lartin. Get your ass over here and untie me.”

“Um,” Lartin said. “I don’t know if you guys understand the point of being captured. Like… I captured you? Right? And so—”

I’m really terrified right now. A review for The Lightning-struck Heart? Almost impossible to write, as a matter of fact scratch the almost, just impossible. What am I going to say about this amazing book? It was perfect, hilarious, unbelievable, I laughed so much. It was simply fantastic, I peed myself every sentence I read. There aren’t funny moments, it’s a continuous of crazy characters, crazy scenes, crazy facts that follow each other at every moment. At the end I wasn’t sure if I was more in love with Gary, the hornless unicorn, or Sam, the prudish wizard (apprentice, sorry Gary!) or TJ for creating something like that. I just knew I wanted more and more of these guys and this world. So hurry up, TJ!

The Lightning-Struck Heart has some specific qualities that made this book precious and unique. The humour is the most evident. I can honestly say I have never read something like that so far, always so much over the top, you have to read it to understand, there are really no words I could write to describe it. I just can tell you to buy it. Then, the dialogue. Just wow! Simply engaging and together with the well developed and eclectic characters cast, made impossible to put my tablet down for a minute. Luckly the book is a long one so I could get my full fix, I was so satisfied at the end. Moreover there’s the all “feeling section” to consider. Really, the emotions and the feelings that pervade the story were overwhelming, in a good way of course. Love, friendship, loyalty, and not least lust. They sprang out from every word.

“It’s you,” I said, not able to look away. “It’s how I feel when I’m with you. How I think I’ve always felt. You’re my lightning-struck heart. It doesn’t matter about the cornerstone. It doesn’t matter about who I am or who you are. Not to me. I think it would have always been this way for me. Even if we had never escaped the slums. Ever since the beginning. Ever since I’ve known you, you’ve struck my heart, and now I have to let you go because you’re not mine to keep. I need someone that I can be strong for. But I need someone who can also be strong for me.”

I want to add that this book was just the confirmation of the great talent TJ has, a terrific gift he absolutely needs to continue to share with us. Of course it’s totally different from the BOATK series or the Tell Me It’s Real one (BTW are you ready for The Queen & The Homo Jock King?), but the genius is there, just amplified at the nth degree. Freaking perfect! I just wish I could give the story more stars, five are not enough.

Cover art by Paul Richmond. It’s not what I’m used to see with this artist work and I honestly wouldn’t have recognised it as his but I like this cover, it’s fitting and powerful.

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

Book Details:

Published July 20th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
Kindle Edition, 533 pages
ASIN B011PVYANK
Edition Language English

A Stella Review: Get Your Shine On by Nick Wilgus

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 ★★★★★

When his mother goes out to party one Saturday night and doesn’t come back, seven-year-old Ishmael Hood is taken in by his estranged uncle Henry and Henry’s live-in boyfriend, Sam. As this unlikely trio begins to build a new life together, they encounter both support and hostility in the small Mississippi town where they live. Seems like just about everybody has an opinion on the matter—and they’re not shy about expressing it.

While this blossoming little family finds its feet, outside forces—and ghosts from the past—threaten to tear it apart. Henry, still trying to deal with the tragic death of his parents, finds himself hard-pressed to open his heart to this needy child.

Just as a little shine begins to come back into their lives, Ishmael’s mother returns, and their world is thrown into chaos.

Nick Wilgus is one of my favorite authors, I have a soft spot for his Sugar Tree series, so every time I know he’s releasing a new book, I start to hyperventilate. Even if his books are not the usual m/m books I read, most of all even if his writing is hard to read for me, I’ve learned to simply love them and wish for more and more of his characters.

Get Your Shine On was another winner to me. I didn’t read the blurb because I didn’t care what it was about, I just cared that it was out. I wasn’t expecting this kind of story, so much (sometimes too much) emotional for me and I wasn’t ready for it. Especially halfway through it when we get some heavy angst. I so hoped, until the end, that it wasn’t like I suspected to be and when my suspicions became reality they were hard to take; the central part was melting, I had to stop a couple of times.

The style and the language are the ones we used to find in the Sugar Tree series so if you liked that books you absolutely can’t miss this new one. I enjoy Nick Wilgus’ writing so much especially because he talks about children, the not so lucky ones, the same ones that break my heart in almost every scene I read. He writes so beautifully about imperfect characters, in fact there is no one perfect character in all of his books. For example at the start of Get Your Shine On I despised Henry, the MC, so much. I didn’t like how he approached his nephew Ishy, he didn’t get the boy at all and often he was too hard to the little one to my liking. But Wilgus is great at creating well developed characters, some of them will grow in the book and become better people, for other character there will be no hope sadly. Each one of them is well portrayed, from the details, to their background.

What I appreciate the most (cause it’s real) but at the same time I can understand it could be not easy to accept, is a specific quality of this author, so present in this book too. His books are full of crap, the MCs usually have to take it from everyone. There are a lot of homophobic people, too many times the word pedophile is said and it is just one of the nasty things that flew in the books. It’s a trait of his writing that can leave the reader puzzled the first time but later will be understood as the true way to show us a world that truly exists. Moreover the icing on the cake is that all of this is surrounded by a ton of laughter. There are so many funny scenes that balanced the angsty and heavy and sad parts.

As you can see I haven’t talked about blurb, plot or characters, it will be your pleasure to discover them, I’m sure. I just want to mention my favorite character (apart from the little Ishy that filled my heart every time he smiled), because she deserves it. She is Sister Ascension. She was the best, so fierce in her wanting to help Hen and his new family. Religion and I have a tough relationship and I can’t tell you how much I appreciated the author for giving me a nun as the most positive person in this book.

I want to recommend Get Your Shine On cause it was emotional, funny, too many times really over the top. I can’t have enough of Wilgus’ works.

Cover art by AngstyG. It’s not my favorite by this artist. Not a bad cover at all but not so eye catching. I like it but nothing more. But at the end you could have give me a blank cover for this book, I wouldn’t have cared.

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

Book Details:

ebook 350 pages
Published July 24th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN13 9781634763738
Edition Language English

A Stella Review: Breakthrough by J. H. Knight

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

The road to recovery is never easy, even when you’re just an innocent bystander to someone else’s addiction.

For Jack, it’s especially hard because he blames himself for his son Rick’s drug problems. It took Jack over half his life to admit to himself (and his wife) that he was gay, but years later, he still carries guilt over what his realization did to his son.

He never thought Rick’s treatment would help him rehabilitate too, but when Jack meets Seth, the man trying to help his son get back on his feet, it’s the breakthrough he never knew he needed.

I swoon over JH Knight‘s works every time. This week I read two of them: this new novella called Breakthrough and a free story, Just a Feeling. If you love sweet stories like I do, these two are just for you too. The author of the so emotional The Last Thing He Needs never disappointed me. She’s so talented. What I like more in her books is they all are so real, especially this new one. Breakthrough was a quick read, light and funny too. What amazed me was that in just 57 pages she could put so many emotions, I found myself often crying with Jack. We were both a wreck.

I’m pretty sure this was my first book with a Mc as a grandfather, a young one cause Jack is only 49 years old, still I found it interesting. Moreover it was also the first one I read where the focus of the story wasn’t mainly on MCs’ relationship, the spot was on Jack and the breakthrough he’s subjected to while trying to help his son recovering from a serious drug addiction. In only one meeting Seth was the key to finally break the impenetrable wall behind which Jack hides his deep guilty trip over the failure of his wedding and his son’s addiction.

I enjoyed Breakthrough a lot, I put it in my comfort shelf and I am surely going to reread it, but it could have been much better, and that’s the only reason I didn’t give it the full 5 stars. In my opinion it needed just one more little chapter, an epilogue, to know something about Jack and Seth life together, just a little snippet would have been so appreciated, because I saw them together just a couple of times and it wasn’t enough!

Well done JH! Waiting for more by this author, always. Highly recommended!

Cover art by Brooke Albrecht. Honestly this cover didn’t impress me, it’s well done and the model could fit the story but nothing more. It wasn’t eye catching.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 59 pages
Expected publication: August 5th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN13 9781634763189
Edition Language English

A Stella Review: Prickly Business (Portland Pack Chronicles #1) by Piper Vaughn and Kenzie Cade

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 ★★★★★

Some people might call Avery Babineaux a prick. He’s a hedgehog shifter from an old-money Louisiana family with a penchant for expensive shoes and a reputation for being a judgmental snob. His attitude is why he and his fated mate are estranged. Not that Avery cares. He doesn’t want to be mated to some blue-collar werewolf anyway. Or so he keeps telling himself.

No werewolf likes to be looked down upon, least of all Dylan Green. He doesn’t need a mate, especially not some snotty hedgehog who sneers at his custom motorcycle shop and calls him a grease monkey. But when Avery gets into trouble with a shady loan shark, Dylan can’t stand by and let him be hurt—whether he wants the brat or not.

Yet once Dylan steps into Avery’s world, he realizes there’s more to Avery than his prickly exterior, and that unexpected vulnerability calls to Dylan’s protective instincts. The sassy little hedgehog needs a keeper, and despite their horrible first impressions, Dylan starts to believe he might be the wolf for the job.

Piper Vaughn is one of my favorite author (and a great person too). I already knew I was going to like her work no matter what,including a “new to me” author called Kenzie Cade, whoin my opinion has married Piper’s writing perfectly. What I got to read was definitely so much more than I was expecting.

Prickly Business is not just a simple shifter story. It has everything I love to read in a m/m book: enemies to lovers, destined mates, humour, bikers. Plus an unexpected theme, the mystery. I don’t even want to tell you how much I hated the authors at the end. Here are all the premises for a fantastic and long (I hope) new entertaining series, funny and sexy, just how I like them.

The strange and unlikely couple, a hedgehog shifter and his wolf mate, was hilarious and believable at the same time. Have you ever read about a hedgehog shifter? Well I found it a fresh and original idea, well developed in the book. A book with essence, with is a true plot, with some deepness. I wasn’t bored for a minute, on the contrary it was hard to put it down.

There is a great second characters cast I can’t wait to meet them again pretty soon, please?

I gave Prickly Business five stars cause i simply loved it. But my pleasure increased at the end of the story where, even if I was a little angry at the little cliffhanger, I realized the next book in the Portland Pack Chronicles series will still be about Avery and Dylan. I like to read series in general but I love this kind of series, where I can follow the MCs of the book I fell in love with through their life together after the HEA. If I really enjoyed a couple I want more about them, always.

Highly recommended!

Cover art by Reese Dante. Well done! But it’s probably the first and only time I’m going to say I could have even done without the models due to the so cute couple on the left. The wolf keeping his little hedgehog between his legs is so sweet.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | All Romance eBook | Amazon | Buy It Here

BOOK DETAILS

ebook, 256 pages
Expected publication: July 27th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN13 9781634764537
Edition Language English
Series Portland Pack Chronicles #1

A Stella Review: Crossing Borders (Crossing Borders #1) by Z.A. Maxfield

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Two dudes walk into a bookstore…

Tristan knows he’s got issues. His latest ex-girlfriend knows it too. He can’t blame her for dumping him—even though she gets her brother to do it for her. Since he can’t stop staring at said brother’s package, he figures it’s about time to put a label on those issues. He likes guys.

He heads to a local bookstore with what he’s sure is a foolproof plan to find someone to show him what he’s been missing. But who should crash his little adventure? Officer Michael Truax, who gave him a really expensive ticket back in high school for skateboarding without a helmet.

Michael has been trying to catch Tristan for years…to give him a second ticket. Suddenly faced with “Sparky”, all grown up and looking to get laid, Michael’s protective instinct kicks in—and presents him with an opportunity that’s hard to resist. After all, the kid must know what he’s getting into, so why not?

But when a man with a plan connects with a man with a hunger, the result is nothing short of explosive.

Crossing Borders is the first book written by the talented ZA Maxfield in the 2007 and the first published work. This second edition by Samhain pub is not so different from the first one. I liked the author’s note at the start of the book, she was right, it was fun to see how things has changed in almost 10 years.

I didn’t read the first edition and I can tell you why. Honestly I didn’t like the old cover, at all. I know I’m a totally cover whore so I couldn’t pass the book anymore when I saw the amazing new one made by Kanaxa. It’s simply beautiful or better, HE is beautiful. And I’m not going to talk about freckles or red hair, my truest weaknesses.

It was a while when I didn’t read a ZAM’s book, I forgot how well she can writes and creates amazing characters. And how hot too her stories are! I loved the chemistry between Tristan and Michael, or as they call each other, Sparky and Officer Helmet. Crossing Borders went straight to my fave shelf. It has everything I want in a story. First of all well defined characters. Tristan and Michael were perfect, their story was, i don’t know how to say better, almost dissected and told us in detail, just how a real relationship would have developed. They were adorable in their bickering, in their loveable loving.

The story was sweet too and if you have read other reviews I wrote you know I need my books to be sugary (this one just a little bit). There were some really hilarious parts, that lightened it even more. Moreover I enjoyed the second characters too a lot, especially their moms, supportive, caring and loving.

The age difference, which I love in my books, wasn’t so huge as I was expecting. Considering Tristan is so young, just 19 years old, it could have been more evident but I didn’t feel it at all.

What I loved more in the story was the feeling of belonging I got from the MCs even when they weren’t full aware of it yet. It kept me from put the book down for a minute.

There was some drama but no angst in the book; the only thing that bothered me a little was the part just before the ending, it ruffled something that was too smooth to upset to me, I could have done without easily. That’s why I haven’t give Crossing Borders a full five stars rating but it’s there, I am just being a nit picker! So highly recommended.

COVER ART by Kanaxa.I already said it was this cover that pushed me to finally read Crossing Borders but I want to add that I love her art style, especially in some m/m series she’s working on, like The Plumber’s Mate or The Shamwell Tales by JL Merrow, or the Love Lessons by Heidi Cullinan but most of all the Bend or Break by Amy Jo Cousins. I find them clean but always fitting the stories in their simplicity.\

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

BOOK DETAILS

Published August 4th 2015 by Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Kindle Edition, 271 pages
ASIN B00YE202W6
Edition Language English

previously published story, 2nd edition

A Stella Review: Strange Bedfellows by Cardeno C

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Can the billionaire son of a Democratic president build a family with the congressman son of a Republican senator? Forget politics, love makes strange bedfellows.

As the sole offspring of the Democratic United States president and his political operative wife, Trevor Moga was raised in an environment driven by the election cycle. During childhood, he fantasized about living in a made-for-television family, and as an adult, he rejected all things politics and built a highly successful career as far from his parents as possible.

Newly elected congressman Ford Hollingsworth is Republican royalty. The grandson of a revered governor and son of a respected senator, he was bred to value faith, family, and the goal of seeing a Hollingsworth in the White House.

When Trevor and Ford meet, sparks fly and a strong friendship is formed. But can the billionaire son of a Democratic president build a family with the congressman son of a Republican senator? Forget politics, love makes strange bedfellows.

Cardeno C will always have a special spot in my heart. She was one of the first m/m authors I read and some of her books are in my “all time favorite” shelf. So you can imagine my enthusiasm every time she writes a new story. I enjoyed Strange Bedfellows even if I was a little hesitant. I always stay away from books about politics, most of all because I don’t live in the USA. I ‘m not so sure if what I’m going to read it will match the reality of the current politics or not. Of course I made an exception for Cardeno, I couldn’t resist. And I didn’t regret my choice. In a way the book was almost shallow (in a good sense), because it didn’t address political aspects, even if it is full of characters that breathed politics since their birth. To me it was better, definitely easier to follow a story otherwise too heavy and not very romantic. Giving the subject I wasn’t expecting something so light and easy, which I so appreciated. I read it in one stand and loved it.

The story between Ford, the 37 years old republican congressman, son of a democratic senator and Trevor, the 42 years old son of the democratic president of the USA was sweet, funny and sexy. A couple of things I particularly liked: first of all I loved how Trevor wasn’t once mad at Ford for being in the closet. He never pressed him to come out, he was always understanding and accepting of Ford’s fears and doubts. Then there was Ford. He was my favorite character, so loyal to the family and to a career even when it interfered with his love life and forced him to be in the closet. He had duties and commitments that he couldn’t forget, especially with his father’s delicate health. But there was just one tiny problem, the situation between Ford and Trevor was not just a fling, a friends with benefit thing, they were in love with each other. How to solve it?

The title fit the story very well, cause the Strange Bedfellows is made of each time Ford and Trevor met at hotels to stay together, not to just have sex, but to talk, to know each other better and to Ford to discover how to be out in his family’s world. There are some funny moments too and an amazing HEA, in a true Cardeno’s style. I gave it just four stars cause although it was sweet, it lacked of hot parts and the ending seemed to me a little rushed, I would have preferred a couple of chapters more, not cause I’m greedy, but because it would have deserved more time to develop.

Shortly, if you’re a Cardeno fan you have to read Strange Bedfellows, I’m sure you will love it. If she is a new to you author, this story could be a lovely way to become addicted to her characters.

Cover art by Jay Aheer. What can I say about the cover? Not perfect or eye catching but well done. It is okay, nothing more.

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

Book Details:

ebook, 174 pages
Published June 26th 2015 by Smashwords Edition
ISBN139781942184300

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