A Lila Release Day Review: Safe House (Buchanan House #4) by Charley Descoteaux

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

safe-house-by-charley-descoteaux Kyle Shimoda is an asshole magnet, has been for as long as he can remember. At forty-seven, he doesn’t see much chance for improving his luck in love. His friends who run Buchanan House, a gay retreat on the central Oregon coast, know he wants to find “someone nice” to settle down with, and they set him up with Officer Brandon Smith. Kyle has a turbulent history with law enforcement, but he can’t deny his attraction to the buff cop.

Brandon has been a police officer in Lincoln City almost since the day he graduated from high school over thirty years ago. He’s cultivated the facade of a serious, disciplined law enforcement officer, but beneath his overdeveloped chest beats the soft heart of a drama queen. A cancer scare shifts Bran’s focus from finding a serious relationship to having as much sex as he can—putting his goals squarely at odds with Kyle’s. If he can’t find the courage to be honest about his feelings for Kyle, the happiness they’ve both been searching for could slip through their fingers.

Safe House goes beyond a simple love story and into each main character as individuals. I like how we were able to see them with their friends and families before they were together and how well it worked when both their worlds met. We see how their past framed their future and relationship approach. Kyle and Brandon didn’t need each other to be great characters, but they complemented the other; giving the reader the opportunity to enjoy mature men falling in love.

I enjoyed Kyle’s and Brandon’s story. They were perfect for each other and had the life experience to value the small details that made them a lovely couple. There’s a bit of miscommunication between them, but not enough to take over the entire story. Their times together in bed were hot and their interactions sweet.

The cancer scare and Kyle history with police were the only two aspects that kept me from giving this story a higher rating. Not because they were part of the book, but because they became secondary and almost were solved too quickly. In the beginning, the author did an excellent job bringing them to the forefront, but after the MCs’ relationship starts, their backgrounds get pushed aside.

As in the previous books, every character taking part in the series has a reason to be there and are as important in this particular installment. It’s also nice to get updates from those we met previously.

Overall, this book has a well-balanced amount of flirt, smexy times, and low angst making it a perfect read for a fall afternoon.

Another beautiful cover by L.C. Chase. It matches the rest of the series and shows important aspects of the story.

Sale Links

Book Details:

ebook, 200 pages
Published: September 19, 2016, by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN: 9781634776073
Edition Language: English

Series: Buchanan House
Book #1: Buchanan House
Book #2: Pride Weekend
Book #3: Tiny House
Book #4: Safe House

An Alisa Release Day Review: Power Bottom? by Rowan McAllister

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Can a pickup line from a stranger completely change the way an ordinary man sees himself?

Adrian wouldn’t have thought so, but after an ugly breakup where his self-esteem took a serious beating, he’s willing to try just about anything to repair the damage… even return to a secluded bar in rural Maryland and the intriguing stranger whose words have been on his mind since they met.

Biker, bouncer, bartender, and tattoo artist, Wyatt is a rolling stone. After fifteen years, he is tired of a life on the run, but he isn’t sure he knows how to do anything else or if he has anything besides a physical relationship to offer.

What’s supposed to be a one-off turns into another and another, and the relationship looks promising until the mob and the FBI come knocking on Adrian’s door.

I really enjoyed this story. Adrian first meets Wyatt when he is in a relationship, but can’t help but think of what Wyatt said to him. After his relationship blows up he decides to take a chance.

Adrian’s life is pretty predicable and when he decides to go out of his comfort zone, he couldn’t have picked a better person than Wyatt. A few “no feelings” hook-ups seem like the perfect answer to getting out of his funk, but he doesn’t expect to get any real feelings or for Wyatt to feel anything for him. His innocence is adorable and you can’t help but love him.

This story is told from both character’s points of view, but mostly Adrian’s. I could feel how destroyed Adrian felt when his relationship fell apart, but how hopeful he is that Wyatt could make things better. He has a lot of self confidence to build up, but Wyatt has no problem being there and telling him how he feels and sees Adrian while Adrian would like nothing more than being Wyatt’s reason for staying.

Cover art by AngstyG is very nice and eye catching.

Sales Links

Book Details:

ebook, 236 pages
Published: September 19, 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN-13: 9781634776868
Edition Language: English

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Release Day Review: Tied Up in Knots (Marshals #3) by Mary Calmes

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Miro Jones is living the life: he’s got his exciting, fulfilling job as a US deputy marshal, his gorgeous Greystone in suburban Chicago, his beloved adopted family, and most importantly, the man who captured his heart, Ian Doyle. Problem is, Ian isn’t just his partner at work—Ian’s a soldier through and through. That commitment takes him away from Miro, unexpectedly and often, and it’s casting a shadow over what could be everything Miro could ever dream of.

Work isn’t the same without Ian. Home isn’t the same, either, and Miro’s having to face his fears alone… how to keep it together at the office, how to survive looming threats from the past, and worst of all, how to keep living without Ian’s rock-solid presence at his side. His life is tied up in knots, but what if unknotting them requires something more permanent? What would that mean for him and Ian? Miro’s stuck between two bad choices, and sometimes the only way to get out of the knot is to hold tight to your lifeline and pull.

Days after finishing, my head is still spinning. There was just so much detail to this story!

First of all, thank you, Rhys Ford, for allowing Kane and Connor Morgan to interact with Miro on a takedown in San Francisco. Wonderful vignette! And thank you, Mary Calmes, not only for arranging that interaction, but also for mingling in mentions of some of my other favorite characters, including Andreo Fiore and Duncan Stiel.

So, on to the story. Oh boy, this one is packed full of adventure, almost as much as it’s packed full of heartbreak—for both Miro and Ian—his frequent deployments are causing havoc with the stability of their relationship.

There are numerous trips away from his Chicago home base for Miro, as he first has to assist the DEA in San Francisco for a takedown, and then finds himself picking up a young man in Vegas who’s going into Witsec, a young man who wants to get in Miro’s pants in the worst way. Thankfully, Drake and Cabot, the young former witnesses who treat him and Ian like parents, are getting out of the program as their safety is no longer in question, and they befriend Josue, the new witness, and help him acclimate. Add to that, Miro’s former partner, Cochran, has a blowout with him and ends up slugging him in the eye, resulting in even more chaos and animosity between the cops and the marshal’s office.

And then there’s the prison escape by Dr. Craig Hartley, Miro’s archenemy. Thank God, Ian arrives home from deployment when he does. First of all, because their new neighbor is hitting on Miro, thinking Ian is never coming back, and secondly, because the Army brass show up to investigate a hitman who is knocking off members of Ian’s former unit. Unfortunately, they haul Ian back out of the picture to an undisclosed location. And if that’s not enough turmoil in Miro’s life, let’s add in even more chaos at the end of the story, just when I thought it was safe to close the book for a few minutes.

This part contains dead FBI agents assigned to cover Miro from Hartley’s reach and the truth about who is really trying to kill Ian and his fellow soldiers. Miro, of course, is caught in the crossfire again, facing down not just one, but two villains. Did I mention this all happens around Thanksgiving, and Miro’s “family” of female friends and their partners are having issues of their own, and everyone seems to come to Miro for their solution, bringing their cray-cray with them?

Oh yes, this story is not boring. Not boring at all. In fact, I’m amazed that I can remember even this much detail, but that’s just a hallmark of Mary Calmes’s stories for me—unforgettable, for sure. This one is packed so full of action, it’s like buying a ticket to an emotional roller coaster ride. Don’t miss out. You won’t want to put it down for a minute once you starting reading.

Cover art by Reese Dante is done in the same gray tones as others in this series and depicts a US Marshal’s badge, service revolvers, and army boots. All are key pieces in this story as the guns and badge are used frequently by Miro while, in the meantime, Ian has to face some serious choices about his Army Reserve status.

Sales Links

Book Details:

ebook, 260 pages
Expected publication: September 16th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 1634777557 (ISBN13: 9781634777551)
Edition LanguageEnglish

SeriesMarshals – add to your Goodreads shelf here:

A MelanieM Review: Open Road by M.J. O’Shea

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

open-road-by-m-j-oshea Angus has been with the same guy for ten years. When his boyfriend breaks up with him the night of his thirtieth birthday party and announces his engagement to a twenty-two-year-old less than ten hours later, Angus is… a mess. To put it lightly. He spends days in bed, drinks himself into a stupor every night, and ends up losing his job and his apartment. His best and oldest friend, Reece, decides it’s time for an intervention. And a change of scenery.

Reece and Angus take off on a buddy trip across the US. They don’t have much of a plan; they just start driving. It takes Angus a couple of days to do much more than grunt when Reece talks to him, but slowly he opens up. They drive, talk, heal, shout, drink a bit too much sometimes, dance, meet new friends… and somewhere between Portland, Oregon, and Portland, Maine, they fall in love.

Which was the last thing in the world Angus expected.

Open Road by M.J. O’Shea just hit all my buttons in a contemporary romance. It had the right amount of realistic angst, terrific changes in location, a deep friendship that felt as real as an old school picture you keep on your wall, and a romance that slowly unfolds over the course of a journey. One both geographical and emotional.

Of course it starts off with a romance that ends horribly with one half of the couple shattered and humiliated. Our MC had already been feeling inadequate in almost every way in his relationship but Angus becomes depressed and unable to cope when his long term boyfriend leaves him for a younger version of himself. I felt myself falling completely into understanding and love with Angus here. He is so believable as he reels from the humiliation he feels, the shame that he didn’t realize he had been cheated on, all the thoughts going through his head that leave him unable to function. O’Shea puts us aside him, whether its laying next to him on the bed or crumpled on the floor, and makes us believe in this shattered man.

Our hopes (and his) will lie in his best friend. That would be Reese, someone his old boyfriend despised and tried to cut out of his life to no avail. These two have loved each other for most of their lives, have known each others families, they fit together like puzzle pieces, except that Reese is straight of course. Reese is another wonderful character here. Layered, warm. I could see Reese clearly in my mind just within a few pages of O’Shea’s descriptions. I knew exactly who Reese was. and what he meant to Angus.

But the real adventure for them and us starts on the road. Circumstances which I won’t reveal compel Angus and Reese to head out on the road. From city to city, where slowly Angus recovers and they discover that the love they have always felt for each other is something not just deep friendship but something more. Its tenderhearted, authentic and moving. And Angus’ recovery is not a smooth or easy one. It can’t be with all he has emotionally gone through. I appreciated that especially and it made where this couple ended up all the more meaningful.

Highlights of the road trip? It has to be New Orleans. I almost wanted them to stay there. It was magical, sexy and hot. The ambiance that is New Orleans oozed off the page as did the love the author clearly has for the city and its people. It left its spell on the couple and on me with this story. I remember other locations, true, but none like I do their time in New Orleans.

The only thing that kept me from giving this a 5 star review was the last couple of pages. I don’t know…something about the ending felt a little too abrupt for a book and romance that took its time realistically getting to its final destination. Perhaps I felt I didn’t need it, I was so happy with the story that came before. Even now I’m not sure why the epilogue doesn’t sit quite right with me. I know others won’t feel that way, just my opinion. But all the rest of the story? Glorious. From rock bottom to recovery to love, this is a couple and novel I absolutely recommend. Open Road by M.J. O’Shea is a terrific contemporary romance. Grab it up and get started today.

Cover art by L.C. Chase is nice and has elements from the story.

Sales Links

Book Details:

ebook, 200 pages

Published July 25th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press

Original Title Open Road

ISBN 1634773160 (ISBN13: 9781634773164)

Edition Language English

URL

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Kyle (Legacy Ranch #1) by R.J. Scott

Rating: 5 stars out of 5

Two men destroyed by the past learn to live—and love—again.

Kyle Braden has nowhere else to go. With no money and no prospects, he turns to the only man who promises him help. Jack Campbell-Hayes wants to show Kyle that he can be more than he ever thought.

Kyle begins to see how far he’s come from being the scarred man who shut everyone out, when the first person through the doors of Legacy Ranch is Jason; a young man with nightmares that follow him when he’s awake.

Lost in the system and with three years on the streets marking every inch of his body, Jason Smith is scared. His life is an evil mess of hate and despair, and even the offer of a fresh start and a clean bed isn’t enough for him feel safe. Until Kyle comes into his life and shows him that it’s okay not to be in control.

For these broken men, Legacy Ranch offers more than a place to live and work.

It offers hope.

A new story set in the world of Jack and Riley Campbell-Hayes and the Double D Ranch, Texas.

Kyle is so broken from the time he spent in a sexually and physically abusive situation with rancher Hank Castille that he finds it hard to accept that all Jack and Riley Campbell-Hayes want is to see him get a fresh start. They don’t want to have sex with him or abuse him in any way, and yet Kyle’s behavior is somewhat like the dog that bites its master when it’s cornered. And it takes Kyle quite a lengthy time in this story to finally realize that he might be able to help himself and accept that these men, along with their brother-in-law, Steve Murray, only want to see him succeed.

But the story isn’t all about Kyle. It’s also about Jason, a young man caught in a downward spiral when his depression gets out of control at the same time as he’s lost all other control in his life. Fortunately, Steve, who runs a teen shelter, sees something positive in Jason and recommends him to Jack as the first resident for their new venture: Legacy Farm.

Legacy Farm is where they’ve assigned Kyle as manager of the small ranch that will provide a home for eligible troubled young men and women. They learn to be responsible for their own horse—one rescued from an abusive situation. It’s actually ideal for Kyle, who has found that touching or talking to his horse is equally as satisfying as riding out on the range with it, so he is one of the most capable persons for passing on that passion to others. When Jason joins him to work on the construction of the new building, Kyle makes it his mission to introduce him to the joys of working with horses as well.

At first, Jason isn’t so sure about that. After all, he has a huge fear of the beasts with the large teeth, but I totally enjoyed all the interactions between Jason, Kyle, and Jason’s assigned horse, Mistry. There was humor and hope in equal measures, and when Jason finally tapped into the pleasure of working with the great beasts, he understood the joy of horse therapy and the peace and solitude he could achieve through riding—with or without Kyle at his side.

This is a beautiful love story, as these two very emotionally damaged young men recover from both the physical and psychological abuse they’ve suffered. Their recovery is not always at the same pace, but it happens. And the fact that the author allowed them to start to heal before they jumped into bed with each other added to my reading pleasure. I love a slow burn buildup in a romance novel!

And, I absolutely loved the way RJ Scott wove the whole Campbell-Hayes clan into this starter story, engaging me with the full cast of characters and where they are in their lives today. Going to a cookout and taking me for a walk down memory lane so I could see people I haven’t seen in years was an unexpected surprise. The love between Jack and Riley, so clearly in evidence by the way they look at each other, speak to each other, and touch tenderly even while doing everyday tasks is still alive and strong. This book and its cast of characters was a fantastic bridge from the Texas series to this new one!

I can’t wait to read more, and I highly recommend it to all who’ve loved the Texas series as well as to those who simply love a hurt-comfort romance. Make no mistake—this is not a sex-filled romp on the range—it’s a beautiful, emotionally compelling love story. Kudos, Ms. Scott!

Cover art by Meredith Russell is as wonderful as the story.

Sales Links

Book Details:

ebook, 193 pages
Published August 31st 2016 by Love Lane Books Limited
ISBN139781785640520
Edition LanguageEnglish
URL http://rjscottauthor.blogspot.com/2016/03/the-legacy-series.html
SeriesLegacy Ranch #1

Series Spotlight: Crooked Tree Ranch Recap by RJ Scott (excerpt and giveaway)

Series Recap Tour

Crooked Tree Ranch (Montana #1)

RJ Scott

Author: RJ Scott

Cover Design: Meredith Russell

Length: 67,000 words

Buy Links: Amazon US Amazon UK AllRomance KOBO

Series

Crooked Tree Ranch

The Rancher’s Son

A Cowboy’s Home

Blurb

When a cowboy, meets the guy from the city, he can’t know how much things will change.

On the spur of the moment, with his life collapsing around him, Jay Sullivan answers an ad for a business manager with an expertise in marketing, on a dude ranch in Montana.

With his sister, Ashley, niece, Kirsten and nephew, Josh, in tow, he moves lock stock and barrel from New York to Montana to start a new life on Crooked Tree Ranch.

Foreman and part owner of the ranch, ex rodeo star Nathaniel ‘Nate’ Todd has been running the dude ranch, for five years ever since his mentor Marcus Allen became ill.

His brothers convince him that he needs to get an expert in to help the business grow. He knows things have to change and but when the new guy turns up, with a troubled family in tow – he just isn’t prepared for how much.

NB: This is a previously released title. It includes a new chapter and is re-edited with new cover art.

Author Bio:

RJ Scott is the bestselling gay romance author of over ninety MM romance books. She writes emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for writing books that always end with a happy ever after. She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing.

RJ also writes MF romance under the name Rozenn Scott.

The last time she had a weekís break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldnít defeat.

mailto:rj@rjscott.co.uk

www.rjscott.co.uk/

www.facebook.com/author.rjscott?ref=ts&amp;fref=ts

www.goodreads.com/author/show/3432558.R_J_Scott

twitter.com/Rjscott_author

www.librarything.com/author/scottrj

Giveaway

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Its Release Date for Bread, Salt & Wine by Dev Bentham (excerpt and giveaway)

bswbanner

Title: Bread, Salt and Wine
Author: Dev Bentham
Series: Tarnished Souls #4
This can be read as a standalone
Release Date: September 13th 2016
Genre: MM Contemporary Romance

18005863

BLURB

Some wounds never heal. George Zajac grew up in a religious family with a father who beat “the swish” out of him. At thirty-eight he’s a troubled man. Escaping his miserable life as a banker in New York, he moves across the country to start again in Los Angeles as the catering chef for a prestigious French Restaurant. Kenny Marks, a writer who’s currently waiting tables, is everything George cannot be—flamboyant, proud and sexually confident. Enthralled by Kenny, and against his own better judgment, George agrees to a date. Sparks fly. The sex is amazing. But even after the two get close, George is crippled by humiliating sexual hang-ups. Still haunted by his childhood, he lingers in the closet and can’t commit to a relationship with Kenny.

Love is the great healer, but is it enough? George’s emotional scars could drive Kenny away, and with him, George’s last chance at happiness.

**Bread, Salt and Wine was previously published by Loose ID in June 2013, but is being re-released with a fabulous new cover, designed by Jordan Castillo Price.**

Goodreads

Buy Links: Amazon

Find the rest of the Tarnished Souls series here: Goodreads

EXCERPT

It was after midnight by the time we got everything cleaned up and stowed away back at the restaurant. I got change for the five one-hundred-dollar bills the financial manager had pressed into my palm as we left, and doled out fifty dollars to each of the four waiters, the busboy/dishwasher, and the bartender. I stuffed one into my pocket and the others into an envelope to give the kitchen crew.

The group started toward the staff locker room, and the kitchen emptied out. Except the cute one, Kenny.

He waved his money at me. “And the momma? Was she pleased?”

I shrugged. “She says she’ll call if she needs catering. We’ll see.” He watched me expectantly until I added, “Thanks for pointing her out.”

“No problem. Glad to be of service.” He shifted his weight onto one hip and looked at me from under his eyelashes. “Chef sometimes forgets to schedule me. Maybe you could put in a good word.”

I nodded. He smiled and turned to leave, throwing a “good night” over his shoulder as he sauntered out the door. I stayed behind to check on the preparations for the next event, Sunday brunch for a hundred. I reviewed the work schedule and was surprised by the pang of disappointment I felt when Kenny Marks’s name wasn’t on the list.

Giveaway: 5 lucky winners will receive an ebook copy of Bread, Salt and Wine!!

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About the Author

dev-author-pic

I write contemporary gay romance. My characters are flawed and damaged adult men who may not even know they’re looking for true love, but when they meet their bershert, their true love, their lives are transformed. My stories are set in the real world where gay men have gay friends, families who do or don’t accept them, personal histories they’re not necessarily proud of and a myriad of experiences that have made them who they are.

I live in Northern Wisconsin with my Boston Terrier and Chicago spouse. I’ve published short stories, poetry, newspaper articles and academic papers and have worked in nearly every profession from restaurants to retail to open-water diving and now write m/m romance out of my fascination with love, courage and gender.

Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon | Goodreads

A MelanieM Release Day Review: Obsidian Moons (Obsidian #2) by Jon Keys

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Sequel to Obsidian Sun

After achieving the impossible and releasing their people from the Varas slavers, Anan and Terja, a spellweaver and spellspinner, start the arduous journey back to their homeland. A winter trek across the grasslands is dangerous enough, but the traitor, Xain, is tasked with recapturing the slaves, and failure will mean his death. As added insurance, the Varas High Regent hires a Triad of legendary Ubica assassins and assigns a full regiment of his personal guards, along with their captain, to the task. Their mission is clear: recapture the escaped Talac slaves destined for the Varas pleasure houses—and the bed of the High Regent—at any cost.

The newly freed Talac travel toward their homelands with the full knowledge they are likely being pursued. The flight westward is fraught with new and unexpected dangers as Anan and Terja struggle to save their tribe. The battle for shelter, food, and a way to defend themselves becomes an all-consuming task, but they are reminded by the avatars of their gods that all is not as it appears.

The sequel to the amazing fantasy epic Obsidian Sun (Obsidian #1), Obsidian Moons, enlarges on the peoples, cultures and religions of the world that Jon Keys started in his first story. In Obsidian Sun, we met Anan, a spellweaver and Terja a spellspinner of the Talac people and followed them on a tale of blood revenge and rescue while learning about their culture, their religion, their part of the world and yes, their enemy, the Varas, a frightening people.

Keys forgot nothing in building up his universe from the grasses and insects to the climates. It was an jaw-dropping bit of artistry and the story laid on top of it was just as incredible. Even more amazing for being his first published novel.

Now comes Obsidian Moons. How does it stand up?

Very well.

While I jumped into the first story immediately, this novel took a bit to get into. Keys re-accounts some of the past history for readers unfamiliar with his tale (by no means should you skip the first story, this is not a standalone). It felt denser, less forward moving in the narrative than the first. Of course the first started with a massacre, so that’s hard to top.

But while I was getting reacquainted with all the familiar characters, the wonderfully magical and fascinating like Anan, Terja and the Talac (even Xain, that traitor), Keys starts introducing his new elements here. Again all marvelous additions to his world building. Keys brings in other cultures, religions, magic even. Keys gives us a triad of contract assassins from Ubica to hunt the escaped Talac (a vocabulary is supplied in the front which is maybe not necessary but definitely worth checking out), and a wild mountain tribe Meke, a separated tribe that…well, that part of the story is better left to the saga, and more. Each addition comes fully established, down to the clothes they wear, the weapons they carry, and the deities they worship. All blended so smoothly into the narrative that its seamless.

While the enemy is hunting for the escaped Talac, we see the growth in both Anan and Terja, individually and in their relationship that was born out of a blood revenge oath. Yes, there is multiple points of view here but it works and never feels too jumbled or too much to keep track of. In fact, sometimes I wished for less because this is a scary, daunting, and pain-filled journey. Not without cost of life. Some of those voices will be lost.

It won’t take long to get back into this saga and these people as they are hunted across some of the harshest terrain this world has to offer. Jon Keys brings it all vividly to life. Every snow bound step, all the predators after them. The loss of hope, and the hope found once more. Its an incredible story. And it ends just as another journey is about to begin. I can’t wait for that novel and that story too.

Jon Keys has an incredible saga here. One you should put on your TBR list if you are a lover of fantasy. Or of love and hope. Its an amazing tale. Start with Obsidian Sun and then come here to Obsidian Moons. I highly recommend them both.

Cover Artist: Paul Richmond. I loved the first cover. Found that one amazing. This one doesn’t live up to that one’s standards imo.

Sales Links

Book Details:

ebook, 220 pages
Expected publication: September 12th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN 1634777182 (ISBN13: 9781634777186)
Edition LanguageEnglish

Series Obsidian – add to your Goodreads shelf here:

A VVivacious Review: The Buckland in the Vale and Sandstone Tor Gay Book Club (Inaugural Meeting) by John Wiltshire

Rating: 3 Stars out of 5

Rory McGrath and Adam Sandstone both figure that a book club for gays would be a great place to meet gay men, what they don’t know is that The Buckland-in-the-Vale and Sandstone Tor Gay Book Club is a gay-book club not a gay book club.

While Rory and Adam’s first meeting couldn’t have been worse, the other nine members of the club have different ideas about Rory and Adam’s future. Well the old dears have decided that Rory and Adam will be perfect for each other and they will do everything to make sure that the only thing in Rory and Adam’s future is each other.

I have really mixed opinions about this book and I guess, with this book it’s definitely me and not the book.

I have read quite a few books by John Wiltshire and I love his books, but this book was very different from anything of his I had read this far. This book is funny and light-hearted; it doesn’t have very intense characters or situations. Overall this book should have been a fun, light, enjoyable read but it didn’t quite turn out that way.

This book starts out really funny and that’s what kept me reading but then Rory and Adam go for an away trip and things get really sad. I mean I don’t know if anyone else felt that way but for me the story went from funny, happy, light-hearted to sad really fast, that it made what would probably have not been so sad even more depressing.

I think the reason this book was a miss for me was because I couldn’t get behind Rory and Adam which is weird because Rory and Adam are great characters. Rory is the guy who wants to find his true love and Adam is all intense and finds Rory kind of hilarious for his ideals, but Adam’s thoughts on gay relationships happen to be tragically influenced by his past.

My biggest problem with this book was that it fails to give a conclusive ending. The ending leaves you hanging and unfulfilled.

But what I loved about this book was the Old Dears – Gertrude, Ivy, Myrtle, Hetty, Mary, Jane, Thea, Hilary and Constance. While writing this review when I was trying to think about the good scenes in this book, all those scenes had these wonderful women in them. I loved these meddling women and how even despite their advanced age they were ready to take on new ideas and try new things. When these nine decide to do something they go all the way and well any tale with them in it is a guaranteed fun ride.

So in not so many words I am trying to say that this book has a lot of good points but none of them have anything to do with the Adam and Rory’s relationship. Their relationship is still kind of up in the air and while it is heading in the right direction, I would have liked to have seen their relationship a bit more consolidated by the end of the book, which is not the case with this one.

Cover Art by Molly Wright. I loved the cover for this book with the big loopy handwriting and the turquoise background it kind of fits with the image I have of the book club in this book.

Sales Links:

MLR Press

Book Details:

ebook
Published August 2016 by MLR Press
Original TitleThe Buckland-in-the-Vale and Sandstone Tor Gay Book Club (Inaugural Meeting)
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Release Day Review: Into You by Jay Northcote

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

What do you do when the body you wake up in isn’t yours?

Olly and Scott promised to be best friends forever. They grew up on the same street, went to the same school, and did everything together. But one hot summer night, teenage experimentation caused hurt feelings and confusion, and their friendship was destroyed.

Four years later they’re both eighteen years old and in their final term at school. Scott is a football star and Olly’s preparing for a main role in the school play. After a heated argument in the street—witnessed by their mysterious, elderly neighbor—they wake up the next morning stuck in each other’s bodies.

With no idea how to get back to normal, they have to co-operate in order to hide their secret. Spending time together rekindles their friendship, yet feelings run deeper for both of them. With the end of school fast approaching, the clock is ticking. Unless they discover how to change back, they could be stuck in the wrong bodies forever.

Olly and Scott haven’t spoken in years and when Scott speeds around a corner on his way home in his shiny new car, he scares Olly so much he falls from his bike, hurting him in the process. Instead of making up, however, the two have a heated argument, and Olly limps home, heartbroken that the guy he once thought he loved could be so mean.

What he doesn’t know is that Scott is equally sad about losing his friend and about the way they parted soon after an experimental kiss when they were fourteen. Scott doesn’t quite know why Olly turned away from him, not realizing that he broke Olly’s heart, but he accepts that it’s just the way it is, and it’s unlikely to change. Unfortunately for both boys, their elderly neighbor, Miss Wychwood, doesn’t see it as unchangeable, and she and her magic are about to turn the boys’ world upside down.

When they wake up the next morning, they discover just how upside down they are as Olly looks at Scott’s body in Scott’s mirror and Scott looks at Olly’s in his. Somehow, they’ve switched and both are in a panic to switch back. But this is the start of what, at first, is a forced closeness and later grows to renewed friendship and then ultimately to admitting their love for each other.

The story is lighthearted, sweet, humorous, and entertaining. I enjoyed the author’s writing style as much as I enjoyed the way the story unfolded. The characters were three dimensional, their parents realistic, and their schoolmates typical. What a great way to spend my reading time! I recommend this to all who enjoy a lighthearted young adult/new adult MM romance.

The cover by Garrett Leigh features a close-up of a cute young man against a bright blue background. It doesn’t tell the story, but it is attention-getting.

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Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 170 pages
Expected publication: September 9th 2016 by Jaybird Press
ASINB01LK3XK66
Edition LanguageEnglish

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Series Recap Tour

Crooked Tree Ranch (Montana #1)

RJ Scott

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