Review: Renovating the Model (Forestville Silver Foxes Book 1) by Nora Phoenix

Rating: 4.75 🌈

Nora Phoenix has released the first book in her new series about older men finding their HEA and it’s a sweet , smartly crafted romantic read.

I found myself liking every aspect of the world building she’s putting in place for her series and the small engaging group of long term friends I’m sure she will pull from to get her stories.

The location is Forestville, Washington. A small town with a river dissecting its Main Street from its outlying edge with some houses, park edge , and auto shop. The author has supplied a charming hand drawn map that helps place all the houses, and really shows how small Forestville is. I love that detail.

Then comes the foundation group of school friends. Boys that have been essentially family to each other since childhood. The story begins in the past, at their senior prom. We see the group dynamics, who they are hooking up with, and plans for their future. Tiago and Tomas , the gorgeous Banner twins are already headed for model fame and fortune. Two other friends,Essex and Auden, are headed into different branches of the military. Marnin’s future was unsettled.

Flash forward 30 years to a class reunion that brings those left together again and we see what the years have changed those teenagers into.

Tiago, along with his twin, are still internationally recognized and sought after super models. But for Tiago, the lifestyle has become increasingly difficult and one he’s tired of.

Renovating the Model Is a smart contemporary romance that contains elements of personal struggles with a learning disability and power inequality within a brotherly dynamic. It’s done with a realistic portrayal of a loving but insecure person who’s been made to feel inferior his entire life because of his severe dyslexia.

There’s other strong aspects to consider here in the narrative, each with varying levels of complexity. Cas’ scars, an inner circle character’s bullying, and even a minor character’s domestic abuse. Each one woven into the story with a gentleness and attention to detail that makes it seem as though they have the emotional impact that they should.

This story is sweet, sexy, convincing, and engaging. I loved the characters, the age gap , here Tiago is 47 or 48 with Cas , the contractor being 18 years younger. But as written, the deep connection and great chemistry between them makes any age gap seem insignificant.

Two final notes. Authors often say books like these are or can be read as standalone stories within the series. But I disagree. There’s a personal connection, emotional history that’s being built into the narrative here. Lines of dialogue and friendship that dates years of change between people who will have important relationships with each person even if it’s not the romantic ones. So read them in order, it just makes sense.

A word choice that bothered me. The author used unpractical. That word by any dictionary’s definition should be impractical.

“Trust me, most of the stuff I model is unpractical, and I’d never wear it in private.”

That’s it. Otherwise, I really enjoyed this book and absolutely recommend it for all lovers of contemporary romance. I can’t wait for the next story to be released.

Forestville Silver Foxes:

✓ Renovating the Model #1

◦ Awakening the Sheriff #2 – July 29, 2023

Buy Link:

Renovating the Model (Forestville Silver Foxes Book 1)

Description:

Everyone knows my face. No one knows the real me.

All people see when they look at me is a beautiful man, a supermodel, half of the world’s most famous twins. No one sees the man underneath.

When I return to Forestville, the small town I grew up in, for my high school reunion, I impulsively decide to stay.

I’m now the proud owner of a house, an absolute fixer-upper. Never mind that I have two left hands.

Thank god for Cas, the local contractor, who agrees to help me out. We come from completely different worlds and are almost twenty years apart, yet we somehow connect.

Cas sees me, the real me.

We hook up…

Then become friends…

With benefits (courtesy of a snowstorm)…

And a fake relationship (long story)…

But when fake becomes real and pretending turns into feelings I can’t deny, I’m left wondering if what we have stands a chance.

Renovating the Model is the first book in the new Forestville Silver Foxes series, a contemporary small-town MM romance series featuring hot silver foxes and the men who fall in love with them. Each book can be read as a standalone.

Review: Charles: Learning to Love #1 by Con Riley

Rating: 5🌈

I backed into Charles by way of several of Con Riley’s free holiday stories. Each offered glimpses into this now established couple’s lives and most intimate moments.

The first revolves around a foster child that had been returned to them numerous times. It’s a beautiful story about a imperfectly perfect baby and a couple who loves deeply. Yes I was sniffing. It was the most current one in their lives.

The next backtracked and again it spoke with great emotion and quiet depth to their strengths , endurance, and love with an eye towards their beginnings to know they would never be separated from each other. Such a remarkable journey for a short tale.

By then, I was enthralled. And absolutely shocked at myself. Because I had to go back to find out how Charles and Hugo had found one another but also how Riley was able, in two such memorable stories, create a couple that included a vicar (and by extension a religious aspect) that would make me feel like reading the book.

That’s normally not something I would do.

Charles exceeded all my expectations, and overcame all my doubts that it wouldn’t live up to those glimpses of the future Charles and Hugo yet to come. I’m so thrilled that I have found this.

It’s not often I come across a book that contains both characters and a storyline that settles deep within your heart and mind. One that thought provoking but also makes you laugh . One who’s multilayered storylines continues with its complexity to pull all sorts of thoughts and emotions out of you as the story moves forward and the couple reveals more of themselves twining into the relationship.

Each location, especially the boarding school of Glynn Harber, a brilliantly described and created foundation for most of this story, jumps off the page with its own history and energy. We get to know and love the staff and especially the children who are so real it hurts when their personalities and issues are at the forefront for Charles and Hugo to navigate.

The element of religion was the one I was most skeptical of. I’m not a religious person. But here the author with her two person perspective gives voice to those of us who aren’t believers. That would be Charles. Wonderful, dyslexic Charles. And yea, dyslexia plays a huge part in Charles’ history. The person who is the most religious is Hugo. Hugo aka His Holy Hotness, is not quite a vicar, although if you’ve read those stories, you know he does achieve it in the future. The journey for Hugo , and Charles (no, Charles stays a non believer in the most charitable and charming way) is written in a moving and thoughtful manner. I understood it and I was overjoyed for Hugo. His faith is fundamental to his character and you believe in him for it.

The two of them together have to be one of the most beautiful and unique couples I read about in contemporary romance. As well as one of my favorite.

I’m highly recommending this. The following stories. And yes, track down those free holiday shorts. One was on Riley’s newsletter. It’s a must read.

Learning to Love series:

✓ Charles #1

◦ Sol #2

◦ Luke #3

◦ Austin #4

✓ Heppel Ever After #5

Charles: Learning to Love

Description:

Opposites attract in this low-angst romance filled with British snark and humour.

Life should be a breeze for a playboy like Charles Heppel. As the third son of an earl, he lives for the moment, partying and playing. Settling down isn’t for him. Not when London is full of beautiful men who he hasn’t one-and-done yet.

To escape his family’s nagging, Charles applies for a temp job that matches his playful skill set. A role in a Cornish classroom could be his until the summer, if Charles meets two conditions: he must move in with the headmaster’s best friend, and teach him to be happy.

Living with Hugo should be awkward. Charles is a free spirit, but Hugo’s a man of faith, with morals. A man who almost took holy orders before disaster changed his direction. Only far from being a chore, Charles finds that making Hugo happy soon becomes his passion.

Together, they share physical and emotional first times. Ones that change Charles, touching his soul. He wants Hugo for longer than they have left, but learning to love with his heart, not just his body, will take a leap of faith from Charles — in himself as well as Hugo.

New from Con Riley, Charles: Learning to Love is the first novel in a series based at Glynn Harber, a very special boarding school set in England’s glorious Cornwall.

♥ This shared-world series starts with Charles and Hugo, but each book follows a different couple in their own standalone novel, with a fulfilling happily ever after. Want to hear more from Charles? He stole the show in His Haven. ♥

Charles plays a huge part in Keir’s romantic journey in His Haven: A His Contemporary MM Romance Novelby Con Riley.

Review: The Sunny Side (The Model Agency #1) by Lily Morton

Rating: 4.75 🌈

I’m such a fan of this author and The Sunny Side is a fantastic example of why her contemporary romances continue to resonate with so many readers, book after book, series after series.

Supermodel Dean Jacobs has appeared in the author’s newsletter serial and pops up in other stories (Deal Maker for one). That cover is a perfect match for the character it’s portraying, a rare occurrence!

However, it’s the internal Dean, the one that’s kind, fighting a life long insecurity issue bourn of bad parenting, later in life diagnosed with dyslexia, now newly sober,coming off years of being stoned, he’s stressed and struggling.

Jonas Durand is a highly successful, focused owner of the modeling agency that handles some of the most famous models in the world. After wresting control of the company from his mother and restructuring it into the respected firm it is today, he’s had just one known passion, the business.

But a lesser known one is Dean Jacobs. Just as Jonas has been Dean’s.

Morton weaves a tale of love and romance so skillfully as Dean’s struggles catches Jonas’ attention, and it’s to Jonas that Dean instinctively turns to for safety and sanctuary.

Their personalities matching and adjusting each to the other, through warm hearted dialogue, scenes filled full of laughter and raw emotion, whether it’s just them or with Jonas’ daughter, Ruby Tuesday, and Henry, the dog.

Morton shows us the slow building of a couple, then a family, every skittish step each man takes forward.

There’s a moment of crisis of course. And as bad as it feels, it’s also very believable and real. Painful, hurtful, and real.

Morton makes us believe in these men, stumbling with them towards love and happiness. And when it comes to a close, we aren’t ready to end.

Which brings me to a note. I originally gave this a 5. Then, Morton herself said there was a addendum short showing what happens to Dean and Jonas afterwards.

So I read it.

I laughed so hard I cried. Then I cried because it was perfect!

That short was THE perfect ending!

It needs to be in the book.

Lily Morton, if you’re listening, books get edited all the time. Just sayin.

I’m definitely recommending The Sunny Side by Lily Morton. It’s fantastic, and probably a reread for many!

The Model Agency:

◦ The Sunny Side #1

Available in Kindle Format

AMAZON US

AMAZON UK

AMAZON FR

Synopsis:

Jonas Durand is successful, rich, and controlled. He owns a prestigious modelling agency and has the world at his fingertips, but a turbulent childhood has taught him to be focused and never deviate from a plan.

Dean Jacobs threatens that stance. He’s one of the world’s most sought-after supermodels, but he’s also laidback and lighthearted and free in a way that Jonas has never quite managed.

Dean has always been interested in Jonas and has never made any secret of his admiration, but from the beginning, Jonas put him in a neat little box labelled, “Don’t touch,” turned the key, and never looked back.

However, the universe seems determined to thwart Jonas’s plans. Over the course of one hot summer, the two men come together, and Jonas’s well-ordered life becomes something a whole lot wilder.

Moving from the glamorous worlds of London and Paris Fashion Weeks to the sleepy South of France, Jonas finds himself liberating partridges, chasing his supermodel, and falling in love.

From bestselling author Lily Morton, comes a romantic comedy set in the fast-paced and snarky world of modelling. This is the first book in the Model Agency series.

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Audiobook Review: Learning to Love by Felice Stevens and Derrick McClain (Narrator)

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

A very definite love story, this is the story of chef and caterer, Gideon Marks, owner of Garden of Eatin’. Gideon lands the job he’s been looking forward to when he secures the catering of the function sponsored by the synagogue where he grew up. He’s been away ten years and is back to prove he’s much more than anyone ever gave him credit for.

Growing up poor and being called stupid by teachers and classmates did nothing to help his self-esteem, but now that he’s a business owner with his best friend, Rico, and has secured this job, he’ll prove he’s more than anyone ever thought. The thing he doesn’t realize is that the dyslexia that earned him the “stupid” label as a kid is something that can be treated now and his hurt and resentment, in large part, was more about what he thought people thought of him than what they actually did think.

Case in point, Rabbi Jonah Fine, former classmate and gorgeous man who now seems to be pursuing Gideon for more than just his food. Apparently Jonah harbored a secret crush on Gideon and never acted on it since he wasn’t out in high school. But he pursues him strongly now, and together with Jonah, Gideon learns how to love—not just Jonah, but himself, with a dawning self-esteem and a pursuit of therapy for his learning disorder and with communication with his father who had abandoned him in childhood and has come back now to beg forgiveness. Gideon is the only one on the receiving end of help though. Not even realizing it, he helps Jonah overcome his own personal hurdles as his father retires and he takes over the role of rabbi at their synagogue.

A very well narrated audiobook, Derrick McClain brings these characters to life with fantastic vocalizations and a well-paced narrative. The story is sweet and sexy and just what I needed to bring a smile to my face on a gloomy day.

~~~~~

Cover art by Reese Dante. The attractive cover features a very handsome man, no doubt representing Gideon.

Sales Links:

AMAZON US: http://amzn.to/2weRJAQ

AMAZON UK: http://amzn.to/2wevxad

Audiobook Details:

Audiobook
Published July 14th 2017 by Felice Stevens (first published April 30th 2016)
ASINB073VV9ZBK
Edition Language English

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