Tag: age gap

Review: The Bachelor and the Cherry (Campo Royale #2) by V.L. Locey

Rating: 5🌈

The Bachelor and the Cherry is one of my favorite V.L. Locey stories. It also takes place in a series and universe that’s shaping up to be up among the very top of those as well. Which is pretty amazing, considering how much I adore her hockey series and romances.

But the Campo Royale , with its strong air of being everything from a great performance hall to a sanctuary for those stumbling in from the harsh reality of a world of family rejection, disownment, religious intolerance, and abuse, becomes that place you don’t want to leave.

Presiding over it all, is the fabulous, beautiful, and sharp tongued Mother Sitka Patel. Drag Queen Superior, owner of Campo Royale, and at the moment, still in withdrawal from the last devastating relationship.

Outside of drag, he’s Jordan Stevens, 50 years of trying to escape the effects of aging and the results of some very bad relationships. Jordan/Mother Sitka is such a magnificent character. I could see her clear as crystal, from her sarcastic wit to the warmth with which she embraces her girls and club. The wealth of the years of experience that Locey layers into her makes Sitka/Jordan such a powerfully emotionally complicated individual that your belief in them never falters.

Yampier Perez is equally strong as the naive, hopeful southern boy, determined he’s got talent to make it, no matter how many times someone beats him down. Or up.

Even if it’s his Cuban family who’s fists are flying.

So many Yampier Perez out there. Runaways, throw aways… so few lucky enough to end up outside of a Campo Royale. Heartbreaking.

The extended Campo Royale cast of found family , the Queens, their friends and boyfriends, the other employees, everyone contributing such warmth, genuine layers of humor and snark, that adds such richness here.

The relationship, friendship, and then romance is such a satisfying journey to read and watch develop. I just curled up and was so invested in this story that I couldn’t put it down.

A Drag Queen is that very embodiment of fierceness, bravery, courage, and strength. Someone, at whatever level, whatever gender, is expressing their truth for all to see! It’s beautiful, and fabulous!

The Bachelor and the Cherry (Campo Royale #2) by V.L. Locey allows us a glimpse into a slice of that world.

I’m highly recommending it. And the author if you’re not familiar with her!

Campo Royale series:

🔹The Viking and the Drag Queen #1

🔹The Bachelor and the Cherry #2

https://bit.ly/3jR9RHU

Synopsis:

Is he brave enough to stop hiding behind his persona and give love one final try?

Jordan Stevens has crammed a lot of living into his fifty years. Some of those years have been good, some bad, and some he would just as soon forget. The world isn’t always kind to an aging queen. Lovers begin to scamper into forbidden fields, your padding tends to slip, and you spend more time with egg whites than most pastry chefs. Heartache is nothing new to the man who embodies the acid-tongued Sitka Patel on stage every night, which led Jordan to vow to never trust another man under eighty again. He has his club, his drag family, and his Bombay cat Heckle. Who needs the hassle? That philosophy had served him well, until a stunning young thing with dark chocolate eyes shows up at the back door of Campo Royale with a suitcase, a sad story, and a dream.

From the time he was old enough to spell the word sequin, Yampier Perez knew that someday he’d be wearing them. One of three children born to Cuban immigrants, Yampier was always a little glitzier than the other neighborhood boys. His love of fashion design and performance arts was barely tolerated at home and even less so in the hallways of his rural Georgia high school. Yet, Yampier never let his light be doused, not even the day his older brother caught him modeling his sister’s prom dress. Beaten, disowned, and on his own before graduation, he found himself having to work seedy jobs doing even seedier things, until he saved enough cash to head to the Big Apple. That money has now run out, leaving him stuck in Wilmington with no food, no place to stay, and no family. Little does he know that stumbling into the Campo Royale Club, half frozen and weak from hunger, is about to bring him everything he has yearned for.

The Bachelor and the Cherry is a gay age gap romance that features an aging drag queen, a virginal newcomer, lots of sass, wigs galore, hurt/comfort, family found, and a richly sequined happy ending.

Check Out This Fabulous Romance by VL Locey!

 

Cover Design: Meredith Russell

Length: 63,000 word approx.

Campo Royale Series

Book #1 – The Viking and the Drag Queen – All Buy Links

Is he brave enough to stop hiding behind his persona and give love one final try?

Jordan Stevens has crammed a lot of living into his fifty years. Some of those years have been good, some bad, and some he would just as soon forget. The world isn’t always kind to an aging queen. Lovers begin to scamper into forbidden fields, your padding tends to slip, and you spend more time with egg whites than most pastry chefs. Heartache is nothing new to the man who embodies the acid-tongued Sitka Patel on stage every night, which led Jordan to vow to never trust another man under eighty again. He has his club, his drag family, and his Bombay cat, Heckle. Who needs the hassle? That philosophy had served him well until a stunning young thing with dark chocolate eyes shows up at the back door of Campo Royale with a suitcase, a sad story, and a dream.

From the time he was old enough to spell the word sequin, Yampier Perez knew that someday he’d be wearing them. One of three children born to Cuban immigrants, Yampier was always a little glitzier than the other neighborhood boys. His love of fashion design and performance arts was barely tolerated at home and even less so in the hallways of his rural Georgia high school. Yet, Yampier never let his light to be doused, not even the day his older brother caught him modeling his sister’s prom dress. Beaten, disowned, and on his own before graduation, he found himself having to work seedy jobs, doing even seedier things, until he saved enough cash to head to the Big Apple. That money has now run out, leaving him stuck in Wilmington with no food, no place to stay, and no family. Little does he know that stumbling into the Campo Royale Club, half frozen and weak from hunger, is about to bring him everything he has yearned for.

The Bachelor and the Cherry is a slow burn gay age gap romance that features an aging drag queen, a virginal newcomer, lots of sass, wigs galore, hurt/comfort, family found, and a richly sequined happy ending.

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

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

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

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Review: Deal Maker (Mixed Messages #2) by Lily Morton

Rating: 5 🌈

I know I’m in for a grand time when I haven’t even gotten through the first page and I’m laughing at the verbal antics and eagerly anticipating the author’s next steps.

Morton starts off each book with pertinent and moving quotes. Here it then goes a bit further.

Each chapter begins with a hilarious letter to a fan, “reportedly “, from movie star Asa Jacobs, 44, single father to the adorable Billy, age 5.

How they come about is part of this marvelous romance between two men who have sworn off relationships because of the pain, disappointment, and history behind them.

That’s such a simplified version of Deal Maker. This is a story where you’re be laughing at the oh so real…yes I recognize that…antics of Billy the 5 year old or giggling in anticipation at the stuff Jude is no doubt planning because of, nope. Read the story.

Jude Bailey is a masterpiece of a character along with Asa Jacobs. Morton writes complicated people so beautifully.

Jude’s model gorgeous exterior hides a razor sharp wit, a kind heart, and a fierce loyalty towards those he loves. His history is revealed slowly, in texts, phone conversations, and eventually an emotional exhale of history that brought him to his career and situation.

Asa Jacobs is a older huge man. Big physically, capable of an enormous range of emotions, chillingly cold to rage, to a man who deeply loves his son. Also someone carrying immense pain from a past relationship .

His household consists of equally unique characters whose personalities will become as memorable as those of the main characters.

There’s so many downright hilarious scenes here , also characters like Dean that honestly deserve their own gloriously Dim award. He’s magnificent in his own way. And I’ll just say it. Hamster! Love it!

Also deeply moving scenes that dig deep to show our mens fear, doubt, growing love, and resolve to protect those they care about the most.

The Jude’s parents and the entire Devon section was intimate and inviting. It felt like family.

This is one of those stories where at the end you’ll find that your face hurts from smiling so hard and your heart feels so warm. You feel that great!

It’s on my comfort read list now.

I’m highly recommending Deal Maker (Mixed Messages #2) by Lily Morton. It’s plain romance magic!

Mixed Messages:

✓ Rule Breaker #1

◦ Goodbye, Fletcher #1.2

◦ Jude’s Intervention #1.3

◦ Scrambled Eggs and Lemsip #1.5

◦ The Valentine Do-Over #1.7

✓ Deal Maker #2

◦ Risk Taker #3

https://www.goodreads.com › showDeal Maker (Mixed Messages, #2) by Lily Morton – Goodreads

Available in Kindle and paperback formats

AMAZON US

AMAZON UK

Also available in Audiobook format

AMAZON

AUDIBLE US

AUDIBLE UK

AUDIBLE DE

AUDIBLE FR

Synopsis:

Sometimes your mouth makes deals that your heart can’t honour.

Jude is a highly successful model, but a very reluctant one. His life is full of casual hook-ups with pretty men in glamorous locations, but it’s still empty. However, circumstances decreed a long time ago that this was his path, so he’s resolutely stayed on it and accepted his fate with good grace. He made a deal with himself and his hook-ups. Get in, get out and no ties with anyone.

However, an accident at home one night leads to him making a new deal and accepting the offer of help from an unlikely source. It leads to an unexpected summer of falling in love with a larger than life man and his child.

But by the end of the summer his reasons for not staying are still valid. Will he turn away? Can he?

Asa is a talented actor who has spent time away from the scene to look after his son. But now he’s back, and the last thing he needs are complications from the gorgeous man who is staying with him. Scarred from too many betrayals, he has no intention of forming a lasting tie with anyone. However, he can’t resist the beautiful man with secrets, and to his horror he develops feelings.

But a deal’s a deal and they said it was just for the summer. What can Asa do with a man who has forever in his eyes and goodbye on his lips?

This is the second book in the Mixed Messages series but it can be read as a standalone.

Review: The Real Baxter (The Baxter Chronicles #1) by Lane Hayes

Rating: 4 🌈

The Real Baxter starts off so awesomely. We dive into the universe and get an immediate understanding of both men, their personalities, and backgrounds.

Sebastian Rourke, wealthy, gorgeous. A true silver fox who’s a producer and much sought after executive . Also a single gay father, and damaged adult who’s mourning the loss of his ex who is about to be remarried.

Trent Mackay. Actor, fake bodyguard, and now fake boyfriend maybe. With more then a few walls of his own he’s erected for his own protection.

Lane created some fascinating characters, gave them both realistic and painful back histories. Surrounded both by layered personalities and utterly charming people I loved, from Seb’s mini me older son Charlie to his adorable younger one, Oliver. Let’s not forget Macy as well.

Each man has had some emotional mountains of trauma to surmount. One is still trying. All rings so true and painful. All while navigating LA celebrity scene and slowly connecting.

So I couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t enjoying what was clearly a great story. Then around the 2/3 mark it hit me! There’s never been any point where the men have really been at ease , where there’s no anxiety , no tension, or possible emotional explosions waiting to happen in the next 60 seconds. It’s that way for them. It’s that way for the reader. We never relax or take a breath.

And that makes for an equally anxious, hard, stressful read.

A story, imo, needs to behave a bit like a stream or rivers. With eddies , flows, and different ranges in its movement. At times peaceful, so you can have time to appreciate the scenery and at other places, high swells, fast currents, to make your heart race and laugh or screaming, and hang on for dear life.

But if all you’re doing is clutching with white knuckles, and trying to win out over a undertow, that stress and anxiety wears you down.

The characters are amazingly well crafted. Believable with real depth. Seb, especially with his pain over the loss of his ex to his marriage and the memories of his past faults. Extremely well done. It’s so haunting that it tears at you.

His relationship with his children? Also realistically portrayed. Charlie and Oliver are both charming and perfectly realistic.

Trent too , from the moment we meet him is someone we get. From his background and family to the existence he’s scrabbling away at in LA.

But my issue is when they’re supposed to be having a semblance of normalcy, happy times. It’s a as “related by” situation. Trent tells us about them. The reader never gets that part of their relationship that developing., until we’re almost finished. We only get the fake news bits, the stress, the anxiety.

The reader needs to be “in” on what makes them work for everything else to make emotional sense.

Plus there’s this.

“He made me feel…important. Necessary. Not just for sex, although sex was amazing and got better every day.”

Made. Not makes. Past tense.

That was Trent speaking. See what I mean about tension? As a reader I’m not thinking happy thoughts about their future here…

Took me a while to realize everything was past tense. I loved, I had, he made… and the story is about 3/4 over. Shouldn’t I be feeling a bit more hopeful about them by now?

There’s so many different interesting interconnected relationships here. Grey, Seb’s ex, and his love, rocker Justin. * Charlie, Seb’s oldest son, (who also was devastated when his father’s broke up) and his husband , Ky Baldwin, bassist in the same band as Justin.*. Oliver, the youngest son, his mother and with her newest boyfriend. Everyone is interwoven into a extensive family unit of multiple households and at times, strained relations. It seems very realistic.

Lane’s story comes across, for me, at its best when Trent and Seb are dealing with Olivier. Navigating a child’s feelings about a new person entering their very complicated and crowded life, with all the ramifications, is a delicate matter. Something that’s not done with Charles, who I thought maybe needed it more, even as grown up as he was.

The pain Charlie felt was telegraphed perfectly along with his divided emotions. But as beautifully as Lane deals with Olivier, I thought that Charlie was overlooked in all the drama and it’s resolution towards the end. Except at the Epilogue.

The Real Baxter (The Baxter Chronicles #1) by Lane Hayes is a exceedingly well written story but the anxious flow of the romance, getting to have some happiness not until later, and ,for me ,leaving much of the fundamental work on relationship foundation to Trent , Oliver, and ,only lastly Seb, made this a wonderful but less fun read.

I think a lot of people will bring many different emotions to this story. It will be interesting to read all the reviews.

Gorgeous cover!

I’m recommending it. And wonder how the series is going to continue going forward. With another person or the same couple. Stay tuned.

*Both Grey and Charlie’s romances can be found in Hayes’ Starting From series. Starting From Zero is Grey and Justin’s. Starting from Scratch is Charlie’s.

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Real Baxter (The Baxter Chronicles, #1) by Lane Hayes – Goodreads

Synopsis:

The silver-fox and the faux bodyguard…

Sebastian Rourke

Who’s the true hero behind the Hollywood heartthrob, crime-fighting, adventure-seeking international man of mystery? Me. I’m the real Baxter.

Well, I wear the suit and let the action play out onscreen. You want to know the secret of my success? Sell the story you want to tell. Even if you have to bend the truth a little.

Okay…a lot.

Trust me, no one will notice. Except Trent, who seems to notice everything. And for some reason, I like that. I like him. I’m just not sure what to do about it.

Trent

Look, I’m not exactly killing it. I’m a typical struggling actor-slash-waiter, hoping for a break. And boom…in walks Sebastian Rourke. He’s a cutthroat, wickedly charming silver fox, a Hollywood legend in the making. No joke. You’ve got to sell a piece of your soul to get in this man’s orbit. Or fake a British accent, then take a job playing bodyguard to fool the press. As one does.

I know I should take advantage of the very strange situation I find myself in, but I’m not sure I’m cut out for it. However, I’m willing to take a chance, ’cause I want the real Seb.

Even though it might cost me everything.

The Real Baxter is a MM age-gap, bisexual romance featuring the man who has everything and the actor who’s willing to show him what’s real.

Review: Rule Breaker (Mixed Messages #1) by Lily Morton

Rating: 3.5🌈

Lily Morton is a go to author for me. Her stories are full of humor, believable situations, and emotional, relationships that have the ability to have you laughing and sniffing, sometimes at the same time.

There’s often one particular element I can find, not even a major one, that will have me wanting to sink down into a comfy chair somewhere close by, and become a part of this aspect of that storyline.

For Rule Breaker, it’s Dylan Mitchell’s family and farm. The kitchen especially with its ancient wooden table, full of marks from all the years of the family life it’s seen. You want to sink into their family and ask to join in, stay for a while, become part of the warmth, and believable loving family dynamics that Morton has given us, and Dylan. I could enjoy an entire story with this family! I didn’t get nearly enough time with them.

The romance between Dylan and his boss, Gabe Foster, suffered because, unlike other books, their relationship felt somewhat toxic to me. A fact that even Gabe would admit to.

Gabe Foster is an emotionally damaged man. His past and adolescence haunted by parents and an event that’s slowly revealed in the story. That childhood trauma has caused him to withdraw behind high walls, and to choose a life of noncommitment with his sex partners, guarding his privacy as well as anything truly personal from those around him. He is, by his own words, cold and selfish.

Dylan is the very antithesis of Gabe. Outgoing, funny, gregarious, he draws people to him simply by being interested in them, and everything around him. He’s open, vulnerable, and giving.

Dylan is the pov for 90 percent of the story and , for me, that’s a mistake. In order for Gabe to be likable or at least someone we can understand, we need to see beyond his unfortunate words and mean spirited actions. With the extremely relatable and adorable Dylan as our narrator, we hear the warnings from others about Gabe, and see the toxic behavior Gabe is exhibiting, and want to shout “run”.

It’s not until we start to get Gabe’s perspective, (at 90% ) , then given his damaging back history, that Gabe becomes someone who’s not a total cad, but perhaps a person in need of therapy and something more.

A note here, given the nightmares and his severe trauma, I’m not sure why his friend Henry never tried getting Gabe into some sort of therapy. That’s a question for me here for Morton.

The last ten percent of the story is captivating. They make a wonderful, charming couple. I needed more of this. Less of what came before or more of Gabe’s viewpoint.

I liked this ending. Loved the family and actually looking forward to Jude’s story. There’s some terrific stuff here. But there’s also some things that left me puzzled.

Lily Morton characters are realistic and the situations believable. Otherwise, why would I be picking at them? But it’s the romance I’m thinking about. It’s not my favorite of hers. She has some that are my absolute must rereads!

If you’re a Lily Morton fan, pick it up and tell me what you think!

Rule Breaker (Mixed Messages, #1) by Lily Morton – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Is it really wrong to want to murder your boss?

Dylan has worked for Gabe for two years. Two long years of sarcastic comments. Two long years of insults, and having to redo the coffee pot four times in the mornings to meet his exacting standards.

Not surprisingly he has devoted a lot of time to increasingly inventive ways to murder Gabe. From stabbing him with a cake fork, to garrotting him with his expensive tie, Dylan has thought of everything.

However, a chance encounter opens his eyes to the attraction that has always lain between them, concealed by the layers of antipathy. There are only two problems – Gabe is still a bastard, and he makes wedding planners look like hardened pessimists.

But what happens when Dylan starts to see the real Gabe? What happens when he starts to fall in love with the warm, wary man that he sees glimpses of as the days pass?

Because Gabe is still the same commitment shy, cold man that he’s always been, or is he? Has Dylan had the same effect on Gabe, and has his solid gold rule of no commitment finally been broken? With his heart taken Dylan desperately needs to know, but will he get hurt trying to find the answers?

From the author of ‘The Summer of Us’ comes another scorchingly hot romantic comedy, showing what happens between two men when rules get broken.

This is the first book in the Mixed Messages series but it can be read as a standalone.

Review: Invisible Strings by Aimee Nicole Walker

Rating: 4.5 🌈

At the end of the fabulous Sinister in Savannah trilogy Walker let us know that she planned to write further stories in this universe. Specifically, one’s for some of our favorite secondary characters that deserved a HEA and full out storyline.

Mentioned were Kendall Blakemore, aka Sugar, who was Jonah’s ex and renter. Kendall got his HEA in a marvelous novel, Bad at Love! Now a favorite of mine.

Next on Walker’s list was Jimmy Alsop. We met Jimmy as an aspiring, but insecure journalist just starting at the newspaper where grumpy investigative reporter Felix Franklin (Mr. Perfect #2) lives to write, report and occasionally terrorize those around him. Felix took him on as a intern, then put him into a sort of Felix boot camp to build up his self image and ability to become a better reporter. Yes, we fell into love with the sweet, blushing Jimmy there. And it carries over into his story here.

Invisible Strings is Jimmy’s romance. By now, Jimmy has become a stronger reporter, bit more able to stand up for himself and his ideas then the younger Jimmy we originally were introduced to. Although it still helps to have Felix mentoring him as well as his backup.

Although older here, Jimmy’s innocence and exuberance is so adorable yet never overdone. Walker feeds us the type of adolescence and family history that led into Jimmy becoming the type of sheltered person he is without being someone who’s totally withdrawn and shy.

The stories Jimmy is seeking to do for his newspaper is the perfect format for the author to show the character’s interactions with others. Whether it’s someone who’s personality is fascinating or a person who’s situation seems troubling, it’s Jimmy’s humanity that the author gets to shine out in every occasion.

Nova, the astronomer, who’s mother is part of Jimmy’s series of stories, is equally fascinating. He’s divorced, single dad, with issues he’s dealing with, and a overwhelming attraction to a innocent journalist that is the last thing he expects or thinks he needs.

The invisible strings of the title are those that connect people whether we see them or feel them at first. It’s those strings that just keep pulling people back together, time after time.

Fate, stars… whatever you might call it.

Or a list that someone makes up to get done over a two week time frame.

This is a wonderful love story, made better by those characters that surround the two men and support them with their love. It’s family, or co- workers, and friends. We get to know them all.

My only slight issue is with the drama at the end that’s a “crisis “ element. That felt a tad forced given the two men, how well they communicated, and how easily it was resolved.

Overall, I adore Jimmy and Nova’s romance. Such a winner!

I believe we have another story/ romance to come. A bartender? Following the pattern it should come or be tied to Pretty Poison #3, from the Sinister in Savannah series. Hmm maybe I’ll just have to reread those. Sigh!

I’m highly recommending this, Bad at Love and the original series. The author, obviously, as well. Enjoy!

Note: love that cover and the watercolor lighthouse at the top of every chapter! Beautiful.

Connected Secondary Character Romance Series:

✓ Bad at Love, foundation Ride the Lightning

✓ Invisible Strings, foundation Mr. Perfect

◦ ? To come

Connected series:

Sinister in Savannah series:

✓ Ride the Lightning #1

✓ Mr. Perfect #2

✓ Pretty Poison #3

https://www.goodreads.com › showInvisible Strings by Aimee Nicole Walker – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Magnetic as the Sun

Jimmy Alsop, a vivacious journalist, longs to trade his sheltered life for a summer of adventure but lacks the confidence to launch his stellar plan.

Lonely as the Moon

Nova Skye, an aloof scientist, wants to resuscitate his dead love life but hasn’t found the right man to kickstart his guarded heart. Eclipse of the HeartSparks fly when a chance encounter drops Jimmy and Nova into the same orbit. Though their approach to life and love couldn’t be more different, they’re inexplicably drawn together as if connected by an invisible string.

With nothing to lose but their inhibitions, Jimmy and Nova embark on an epic adventure of discovery. Passions soar with the sultry Savannah temperatures, and soon, their carefree summer becomes something more profound and beautiful than either man bargained for. But are the ties that bind sturdy enough to withstand a lifetime, or will they fray after a season?

Invisible Strings is a standalone novel within the Sinister in Savannah universe. Jimmy was introduced in Mr. Perfect, but it is not necessary to read that book first. Invisible Strings is a contemporary romance, where the other Savannah books are romantic suspense. We have heat, humor, and heart, but there are no homicides in this book, y’all. Invisible Strings contains mature content and is intended for adults eighteen and older.

Review: Code: Blue (Atrous #2) by N. R. Walker

Rating: 3.5🌈

Code: Blue is the sequel to N.R. Walker’s first book about a band in its last stages of its life. Code: Red was it’s last tour and the romance between its singer Maddox and his manager Roscoe.

Code:Blue , the last album, signals the turmoil that’s ongoing between the band’s label, the band members and the unhealthy physical and mental health conditions they now find themselves in after years of constant touring and stress.

Jeremy, the other band member that’s been a well defined character in Code: Red, gets his story and romance now. Jeremy is physically breaking down under a decade’s worth of abusing his body and not listening to doctors instructions. He’s a diabetic and his lack or inability to stay on target to the nutritional structure he needs to stay healthy has finally taken its toll. He’s a mess.

And no one knows the full extent of how bad it’s gotten.

Jeremy is a wonderful character. He’s well developed, and his personality as well as his diabetes is worked into this story extremely well. We get to know him, his trust issues, and his confusion over his sexuality.

We “see” him through the loving eyes of his security manager/guard, Steve Frost. The story is told from Steve’s perspective. A issue I talk about below.

Steve is another terrific character. Older , with a painful history, that tbh, didn’t seem realistic to need to be hidden given its the music industry. He’s protection/security. That element seemed a bit contrived. I liked many aspects of Steve’s personality but there’s also others that fell short given how long he’s been in the business.

When the danger to Jeremy becomes clear, Steve does up Jeremy’s security system. But then the couple , together and separately, proceeded to take chances , that I can’t see any professional security manager or team doing. Even with the emotional involvement.

You know the cameras, drones, media are looking at you everywhere… yet they do things that make you smack your head.

So yes, I liked perhaps loved and got behind this couple’s romance. But it took an occasional suspension of belief in the professionalism here.

I had to wonder why I was having issues with both stories. I honestly like Code: Blue better then the first book.

And I think there’s several answers.

Sexual Identity: Let me tackle the sexuality aspect first. Why was the only choice Jeremy has when he’s so confused about why he’s now suddenly attracted to Steve is you are either straight or now you’re bisexual. What happened to being pansexual or omnisexual? Both made more sense here, but it’s as though they didn’t exist on the sexual spectrum. That bothers me.

The Rock/Band/Theme:

This element needs several sections to deal with. First because both novels could be standalone stories, without any attempt to attach them to a band theme.

It’s that whole band theme is a one dimensional layer that’s just a element in name only, except for the songs written at the end of each story.

Why?

First, the books are about the band and it’s musicians/rockstars. But both are told ,not from the perspective of any of them but from someone who, however close, is not a musician and not a band member. For me, that’s a odd choice to begin with. That loss of an intimate viewpoint from a heart of a story is never made up for.

These voices stay missing in other ways too.

You have five members. The author makes much of the band’s symbol and the fact that they are brothers that can’t be broken apart.

The two books? Atrous the band? Nonexistent except that we see their label, managers, fans, and talking about the tours, the promotional lineups. Them actually on stage? Nopes.

Where’s the band? Where’s the on stage synergy ? That electric, everything is jamming, loud, louder, the crowds out of its mind, sweating, rocking, mind blowing synergistic feeling that rock bands truly exhibit only out on the stage? I know writers who know how to pull that into their narrative when writing about musicians and bands.

The band members. Except for occasional appearances, the only defined members are Maddox and Jeremy. The other three? One dimensional characters, basically character sketches.

We get the band as it’s ending. The last tour…we don’t actually get the tour. Just some written songs at the end. Plus they tell us it’s the last tour.

Code: Blue, the definition and reason for that name comes much like the first novel’s did, at the end of the story. It signaled the last album.

Ok . But we don’t get the guys putting together the album, the emotions, or anything at all of what it felt like to put a last album together. So why a band theme at all? It’s really missing in both books if you think about it.

These guys could be any celebrities and their manager/ security guard. Doesn’t change a thing.

Just seems like a half hearted effort.

Romances are fine. The main characters are nice, sweet, I especially liked the dog, but there’s not much foundation.

That’s not like Walker .

Read it for the romance and if you’re a fan of this author.

Atrous series:

✓ Code: Red #1

✓ Code: Blue #2

https://www.goodreads.com › showCode Blue (Atrous, #2) by N.R. Walker – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Steve Frost had dreams of wearing the national championship belt in mixed martial arts, maybe even going pro, but instead, finds himself working as a security guard for the rich and famous in LA.

Quickly earning a reputation for his blunt and precise people management skills, he lands a position on the security team for an up-and-coming boyband, Atrous. Years later, he’s head of security. He knows these boys, and with countless tours, flights, car trips, public events, concerts, he’s closer to one band member in particular.

Jeremy’s been a pillar for Atrous since day one, but even more so these last few months. Now the face of the band more than ever, he’s also got himself the attention of a delusional stalker-fan.

When the fame and stress become too much, when Jeremy’s health takes a hit, Steve becomes Jeremy’s lifeline. But as Jeremy knows already, and as Steve is about to learn, not even the brightest star can shine forever.

Review: Code: Red (Atrous #1) by N.R. Walker

Rating: 3.25🌈

I missed this book when it first came out and am now playing catch-up prior to the release of Code: Blue, the second in the Atrous series about a rock band.

The story is told only from the perspective of Roscoe Hall, the personal manager of rockstar Maddox Kershaw. Maddox is one of five boy band members of the super group Atrous who have played together since they were teenagers.

We miss all the history of both men and drop into the band and the men’s relationship at a point when the band has reached superstardom and it’s taken a substantial toll on themselves, and those around them.

But mostly it’s impacting Maddox who’s hiding something important from everyone.

Walker does a realistic job in portraying (as much as you can without living it) what that intense, controlling, isolating lifestyle might do to a person, especially if they’ve been living it for closer to a decade. It’s sounds not only exhausting but frankly unlivable no matter how much they pay.

The story concentrates, naturally on Maddox, who’s breaking down, and his relationship with Roscoe, who’s loved him for years but kept it professional. There’s a age gap (not that it makes a difference) but I have to admit something about the manager/client aspect and Maddox’s fragility bothered me. He kept saying Roscoe was the only one he trusted as he was coming apart, there were clear lines, contractual ones, between them, that got ignored by both. That bothers me too. Too many things just didn’t ring right here.

So that relationship just didn’t gel for me.

Great characters, just not the romance.

With Maddox finally admitting to his anxiety / panic disorders , and acknowledging he needed professional help, having someone who was both your boyfriend and manager seems like additional stress as well.

The depiction of Maddox undergoing a panic attack, displaying characteristics of someone with an anxiety disorder is very believable. You feel for him and the strain he’s under.

This is where it would have been wonderful to have had Maddox’s pov, actually we needed it throughout the story. It felt lacking without his voice filling in his viewpoint on their history, relationships (personal and professional), and his illnesses.

And that wasn’t the only area I felt we needed more. There’s five band members. Supposedly all so close they are like brothers. But as I read the book the only other band member I felt I had even a smidge of knowledge of his personality was Jeremy. The others? Nothing.

They are a blank, totally odd for a band, even a close one, that lives 24/7 together. Where’s the every day ups and downs of enforced togetherness? Missing.

I got no sense of there even being a band. And this is a series about a band.

Could have been about any famous group of people..

I missed that about this story. A sense of foundation. Of being centered in something. Atrous itself isn’t there.

Perhaps it will come along in books to come.

I’m going onto Code: Blue because N.R. Walker is a auto buy for me and I want to see what happens with Jeremy who’s up next. And Steve, because other than Jeremy, he’s the other name I can remember here.

If you’re a Walker fan, you’ve read this and have your hands on the second story. If you’re new to the series and author, I tell you ( lots others will to ) go find Red Dirt series which remains one of my all time fav series and reads!

Atrous series:

✓ Code: Red #1

◦ Code: Blue #2

https://www.goodreads.com › showCode Red (Atrous, #1) by N.R. Walker | Goodreads

Synopsis:

Maddox Kershaw is the main vocalist of the world’s biggest boy band. He’s at the top of every music chart, every award show, every social media platform, and every sexiest-man-alive list. He’s the bad boy, the enigma, the man everyone on the planet wants a piece of.

He’s also burned out and exhausted, isolated and lonely. Not in a good headspace at the start of a tour.

Roscoe Hall is Maddox’s personal manager. His job is high-flying, high-demand, high-profile, and he loves it. Maddox has consumed his entire life for the past four years. Roscoe knows him. He sees the real Maddox no one else gets to see.
He’s also in love with him.

When the tour and stress become too much, when the world begins to close in, Roscoe becomes Maddox’s lifeline. But as Maddox knows already, and as Roscoe is about to learn, the brighter the spotlight, the darker the shadow.

Review: After Felix (Close Proximity #3) by Lily Morton

Rating: 5 🌈

After Felix is the third book in Lily Morton’s Close Proximity series. I skipped over Charlie’s story because the characters of Felix and Max so spoke to me in Best Man that I needed their own story and to see how their romance played out.

I’m so happy I did because this is an amazing story. I have just continued to think over all its many storylines and elements, including the trips the characters make to various locations, and it all comes together in such an amazing romance.

We are with Felix Jackson Max Travers from the beginning of their journey when they meet at the bookstore, through their tumultuous romantic history and finally through the process of working their way back towards each other. Every scene , whether it’s funny or heartbreaking, shows such dimension to their personalities. We fall in love with them and their relationship. We’re invested in their happiness.

Then we get more. As the years pass, through excellent descriptions, we watch the characters undergoing change and growth as they figure out who matters to them, or especially if they can trust again.

Morton builds a heartwarming, believable, at times so painful story of two men who find each other, lose, then need to find a path back to each other again.

It’s truly a remarkable romance with incredible characters and a journey that’s staying with me.

I feel like I’ve found a story I’ll reread when I want a romance to curl up with. It’s in that pile of stories.

I’m highly recommending it. Enjoy!

Close Proximity series:

✓ Best Man #1

◦ Charlie Sunshine #2

✓ After Felix #3

After Felix (Close Proximity, #3) by Lily Morton – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Sometimes the best love stories come in two parts.

When Felix met handsome journalist Max Travers, it was lust at first sight. It was just his luck that he then had to develop a terrible case of feelings and got his heart broken.

However, two and a half years later, he’s over all of that. His job is going well, he has good friends, and he doesn’t lack for male company. Which, of course, is when Max has to come bursting back into his life.

Felix Jackson will always be the one who got away to Max. He’s spent their time apart regretting his actions and hoping for a second chance. When an accident lands him in Felix’s less than tender care, Max is determined to grab this opportunity. The only problem is that Felix is equally determined that he doesn’t.

From bestselling author, Lily Morton comes a story of missed opportunities, second chances, and two very stubborn men.

This is the third book in the Close Proximity series, but it can be read as a standalone.

Review: Best Man (Close Proximity #1) by Lily Morton

Rating: 4 🌈

Fake boyfriend trope is a favorite of mine so when I saw a story written by a must read author, Lily Morton, with that as a factor, I was in.

It also was a age gap, no surprise, with humor, again, a usual hallmark of this author, and a curmudgeon of a fellow in need a of a bit of a change in perspective about himself and his path in life. So yes, I settled in for a Morton romance.

Best Man didn’t let me down. Indeed our first meeting with the irrepressible Jesse Reed walks into the offices of Zeb Evans’ employment agency for an unforgettable interview. It’s funny, full of the sparkling dialogue and warm chemistry that draws me over and over into Morton’s stories.

We then snap forward several years as Jesse ‘s become a mainstay employee at Zeb’s agency, if a bit of a occasionally over exuberant when carrying out his clients wishes. We fall right into a guffaw moment with Jesse and it’s instant love!

We see the type of relationship Zeb and Jesse have grown into, as well as the potential one that waits if Zeb could allow himself a lessening of the restraints that so tightly bind him.

A wedding and a promise to be the best man necessitate the need for a fake boyfriend for Zeb. Who better then Jesse?

Especially when it’s something both men want truthfully anyway.

Their romance starts remarkably full of exploration and joy but Morton shows that the past history that’s been ignored has a way of interfering until it’s dealt with.

I would have thought Zeb a tad more intelligent about his ex given his past experiences with him in this story so it made events here seem less believable.

But Jessie’s father was a wonderful element and the entire last section of the book warm, inviting, and wholly satisfying.

They made a great couple and I look forward to Charlie and Felix’s books. Especially Felix. I adore that man.

I’m recommending Best Man to all lovers of contemporary romance and Lily Morton. Have a wonderful read!

Close Proximity series:

Best Man #1

Charlie Sunshine #2

After Felix #3

https://www.goodreads.com › showBest Man (Close Proximity, #1) by Lily Morton – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Zeb Evans doesn’t do messy.


The product of a disorganised and chaotic childhood, Zeb likes order and control, and as the boss of his own employment agency he can give that to himself. Life runs along strict lines and he never mixes business with pleasure. Everything in his life lives in neat, alphabetized boxes. Until Jesse.



Jesse Reed is Zeb’s complete opposite. He’s chaos personified. A whirling cyclone of disorder. He’s also charming and funny and a very unwanted distraction.



Which is why it comes as a complete surprise to Zeb to find himself asking Jesse to pose as his boyfriend for a few days in the country at a wedding.



Zeb doesn’t do impulsive, but as the time away progresses, he finds himself increasingly drawn to the merry and irreverent Jesse. But can he bring himself to break the hard-won lessons he’s learnt in life? And even if he can, how could Jesse be attracted to him anyway? He’s so much older than Jesse, not to mention being his boss.



From the bestselling author of the Mixed Messages and Finding Home series comes a warm and funny romance about one man’s fight for control and another man’s determination to circumvent it.



This is the first book in the Close Proximity series, but it can be read as a standalone.