Tag: gay fiction

A Barb the Zany Old Lady Review: Rhythm & Blues by Shae Connor

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Rhythm and BluesPate Hawkins wanted to be a dancer from the moment he stepped into a dance studio at age ten, and he’s among the few who achieved his dream of being well-known to Broadway audiences. But he’s returned to Atlanta, his hometown, pursuing his backup dream—to open a dance studio where he can inspire young talents to go for their dreams. A severe knee injury ended his career on Broadway, but with a few more months left in his therapy, he knows he’s going to dance again—just not in a Broadway show.

Finding a fifteen thousand square foot space ideal to suit his needs, and getting the financing through his trust fund, the only thing left is to interview a few contractors and move forward with his plans. When six-foot tall, blue-eyed, muscular Ace Samson shows up to get the specs for his company’s bid, Pate is hit in the gut with desire, and if the look Ace gives him is any indication, the feeling may be mutual. Ace also informs him that they went to school together, and after being stunned into silence, Pate learns Ace is none other than nerdy little Horace Samson who was a few years behind Pate in high school.

Holding off on acting on his desire for Ace is a test of Pate’s resolve, but he doesn’t want a fling to cause a rift between them while the building is still under renovation. Unfortunately, or fortunately, that becomes impossible one steamy afternoon, and the two embark on what turns out to be so much more than a one-night stand. Pate’s agent won’t stop bugging him about keeping his name at the forefront of director’s minds so he can come back once he’s got the studio established, so when she arranges an interview for a new show, he takes off to appease her. And that’s when the ax falls on his relationship, and Pate realizes just how much he doesn’t want to lose Ace. How will Ace react to Pate’s audition? Will the two find happiness in their hometown, or will the lure of Broadway be too much for Pate to resist?

I enjoyed this story by an author I haven’t read enough from. This story is engaging, with great secondary characters and three-dimensional main characters that made me want to like them the moment we met. I always enjoy a slow burn/UST, and we get that with this story. And the artist who lies within the heart of the big handsome contractor is just as nice as the surprise he gives Pate when the studio is ready.

If you like sweet MM romances with a slow burn that ultimately leads to some smoking hot times, this one is for you.

~~~~~~

Cover Art by AngstyG depicts a male dancer leaping high in the air in a dance move reminiscent of a Broadway show and set on a light blue background. This represents both the story about this retired dancer and the mural painted by the artist who also happens to be a contractor. Very nicely done.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 70 pages
Expected publication: June 20th 2016 by Self
ASINB01F0X40Y8
Edition LanguageEnglish

A Lila Review: Enemies of the State by Tal Bauer

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Enemies of the StateThe prologue sets the suspense arc in the story and brings the reader into the heart of Washington DC.

We first meet Special Agent Ethan Reichenbach on Christmas Eve as he guards President-Elect Jack Spiers. They’re at the President’s Austin, TX apartment getting ready to travel for the presidential inauguration. This night marks the starts of a friendship frown upon the Secret Service, but that would change their lives.

Life as President of the United States isn’t what Jack expected. He had not problems dealing with his political counterparts or advisors, but the lack of a personal life is keeping him off balance. As a widower with no children, he has no family living with him at the White House residence, and he spends most of his spare time with Secret Service agents that wouldn’t engage him in a simple conversation. It’s up to Ethan, his detail supervisor, to find a way to help the president adjust to his new reality.

This new friendship would keep them sane as they deal with the realities of their jobs. As time passes, they found themselves at the mercy of external forces trying to change the world’s political balance. Their relationship turns into an exploration of something more, and simple decisions would affect, not only their partnership but world peace.

Enemies of the State is a political thriller that happens to have two male main characters. There are three sets of narrators in this book. One brings the chaos into the MCs’ lives, as well as, into the world of politics. The second tries to stop the plans from the first group before they can accomplish their goals. And lastly, we have Ethan and Jack dealing with world threats as their friendship morphs into a loving relationship.

There’s no easy way to review this story without spoiling the outcome. Each chapter starts with a briefing of the political events taking place between chapters. Some of them are short and to the points, but others introduce too much political information for a leisure reader. In order to truly enjoy this story, you need a basic knowledge of global politics and current threats. That’s the only reason I took away from the stories rating.

The amount of characters involved can be overwhelming, and sometimes you have to read a passage twice to keep them all straight, but the further you read, the easier it’s to follow all the events developing concurrently. There’s never an idle moment. Something is happening at all times even when the main characters are relaxing and spending a comfortable afternoon together.

The location descriptions are accurate, and even simple things like weather patterns and smells play an important part in the story. The amount of detail is impressive and well distributed. We get to see exactly what the characters saw and what they experienced. The reader is always on the narrator’s side, being part of the events.

Yes, this story has a good dose of romance and sexual exploration, but it’s more than that. The political events are as important as the main characters’ relationship and without them, it would be another bodyguard/protectee cliché. The author did an excellent job creating a world, realistic enough, to set the love story. Their relationship goes beyond lust, and it’s based on everyday interaction and complete trust– a slow build with a fulfilling HEA ending.

The images in the cover matched the main characters descriptions very well, and the rest of the composition shows the main ideas of the story perfectly.

Sale Links: NineStar | Amazon | ARe

Book Details: 

ebook, 324 pages
Published: February 15, 2016, by NineStar Press
ISBN: 9781911153337
Edition Language: English

Series: The Executive Office
Book #1: Enemies of the State

 

A MelanieM Review: Brandywine Investigations: Open for Business (Brandywine Investigations #1-3) by Angel Martinez

Rating:  5 stars out of 5    ★★★★★

Brandywine InvestigationsWhen humans forsake the temples, the gods need to find other employment. Hades opens Brandywine Investigations after his divorce and his subsequent move to the modern world. If he was hoping for boring infidelity cases and lost dogs, he’s sorely mistaken as murder and mayhem find his agency and his extended family at an astonishing rate.

Includes:
Canines, Crosshairs & Corpses: Brandywine Investigations #1
No Enemy But Time: Brandywine Investigations #2
Dragons, Diamonds & Discord: Brandywine Investigations #3

Please note: The stories in this omnibus have been reedited, and expanded by about 18K (total.)

Its no secret, if you’ve been reading this blog, that I’m a huge fan of three things: fantasy, mythology, and the author that always manages to combine them in her imaginative and often addictive novels,  Angel Martinez.  So, I was thrilled to see a omnibus of tales that I had not encountered before, Brandywine Investigations: Open for Business (Brandywine Investigations #1-3) by Angel Martinez.  What I found was pure Angel Martinez heaven.

While the main focus is the Pantheon of Greek gods, others like the Egyptian god Set for example make appearances, along with the Gilgamesh mythic figures, and norse legends, all set elements of a Martinez narrative.  The author takes the whole of world’s theology and mythology and weaves it together in a wonderful literary tapestry, connected by larger than life characters as well as human.  Then she makes them so real, so heartstopping believable that you fall deeply in love with them and boom,  the connection between you and the characters and their world snaps into place.

The stories are stacked logically and chronologically.  I would rate them all equally, really I had no favorites here.  I loved them all.

Canines, Crosshairs & Corpses: Brandywine Investigations #1:  This one introduces all the characters and sets up a mystery that will thread itself through all the stories.  Here we meet Hades and Charon shortly after Persepherone has asked for a divorce.  It was, as we all know, never really a love match but Hades is bereft and has left the Underworld.  Martinez makes us believe in his emotional devastation, his climb to understanding and rebuilding his “new God life” and the street boy Ti he rescues.  The emotions here are killer, in so many ways.  There is humor, pain, angst, and yes, love.

No Enemy But Time: Brandywine Investigations #2: This involves all of the characters from the first story, but the focus is on Hades’ son, Zack (short for Zagreus, God of the Hunt or Resurrection) and his fallen Angel lover, Michael). This is one for breaking your heart several times over.  Turns out that Michael was Zack’s guardian angel but fell in love with his charge.  That cost his his wings.  Not in a nice way but in a come down from heaven and cut them off your body in front of your lover while you are screaming sort of way.  Still they have been happy.  But there are other fallen angels in the city and someone has been killing them and now they are coming for Michael.  The mystery is a wonderful one, the entire family comes together for Zack as its a race to help figure out who’s behind the plot against the fallen angels and how to stop it.  Just a 5 star story all around.

Dragons, Diamonds & Discord: Brandywine Investigations #3:  The collection ends with this story that pulls all 3 together, tying up the plot lines, the family stories, several relationships and ending with an altogether wonderful storyline about a dragon childrens author and Hermes, (yes that Hermes) nephew to Hades, corporate CEO and member in a band.  Really there is no end to Angel Martinez’ imagination, or depths to her stories.

Each line here sparkles with humor, a touch or more of pathos, swathed over  with layers of mythology and appreciation for the finer points of storytelling and relationship dynamics.  All that and a great tale too.  Plus dragons. I get dragons!

I don’t know if there are other Brandywine Investigations stories out there.  I certainly hope so, Angel Martinez has barely broken the surface of gods she can pull into Hade’s and Charon’s circle.  I know I need to know more.  And check in to see how Hades and Ti are getting on, along with Zack and Michael and the rest of the gang.

Do I recommend Brandywine Investigations: Open for Business (Brandywine Investigations #1-3) by Angel Martinez?  I absolutely do.  Its plain out terrific in every way.

Cover Artist: Mila May.  I am only so so on the cover.  I really don’t believe it does the stories justice, It was the title and author who grabbed my attention, not the cover which I would have passed on.

Sales Links:  Mischief Corner Books | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, First
Published April 27th 2016 by Mischief Corner Books, LLC
Original TitleBrandywine Investigations: Open for Business
ISBN139781310044854
Edition LanguageEnglish

SeriesBrandywine Investigations #1-3

An Ali Review: Bored, Stroked and Blueprinted by K.C. Kendricks

Rating:  3 stars out of 5

Bored Stoked and BlueprintedAs a boy, Mick Ambrose fell in love with cars. Now he owns and operates an auto restoration shop specializing in all things American Muscle. When the black 1969 Camaro Z/28 he years ago dubbed Onyx pulls into his garage, Mick forgets his first love in favor of her driver, Logan Gregg. Mick’s interested and cruises Logan at a speed worthy of the car he drives.

Logan Gregg’s plan to avoid entanglements in his life drives away when he stops at American Muscle to ask a few questions about restoring the Z/28 he inherited from his uncle. The owner of the shop is smooth as a well-tuned V-8 engine and twice as hot. Logan is quick to shift gears and take a closer look at Mick Ambrose and the road ahead.

But when Mick wants to get too close, too fast, Logan backs off. His past holds painful memories he can’t escape and the tattoos on his arms aren’t just for decoration. Working on the Z/28 brings the men closer, but Mick makes a mistake when he confesses his knowledge of the past Logan wants to keep buried. Mick knows a man has to settle his past to step into his future, but can he convince Logan?

KC Kendricks did a good job with this story, it’s a nice and sweet shorter story.  Mick is sure from his first meeting with Logan that he wants more with him and not just something casual.  Logan has trouble trusting others and has a bit of a push and pull relationship with Mick at the beginning.  The more time they spend together working on the car the closer they become.

Mick has been tired of hook ups for a long time, but never met anyone who he was interested in more with and Logan drives up in his dream car.  He can tell that Logan has some demons from his past to deal with but wants to help him move forward.  They both have to grow up a bit and accept that everything can’t be perfect all the time no matter how much you want it to be.

I quickly understood Mick’s feelings in the story, but it took a little longer to know Logan’s.  Neither want to do anything to hurt the other, but aren’t able to prevent it as much as they would like.  It takes time and patience for them to move forward.  I just wish we would have been able to know what Logan was thinking in some parts of the story.

Cover art by April Martinez is very nice and made me interested in the book.

Sales Links: Loose Id | Amazon | ARe

Book Details:

ebook, 97 pages
Published: 2nd Edition April 26, 2016 by Loose Id
ISBN: 9781682521274
Edition Language: English

A Stella Review: Black Dust by Lynn Charles

RATING 4,25  out of 5 stars

Black DustNo matter how busy he keeps himself, successful Broadway musician Tobias Spence can’t outrun the memory of a tragic car crash from his past that claimed a friend’s life and permanently injured his former boyfriend, Emmett.

Even after losing Tobias, Emmett Henderson made peace with that awful night, living in his Indiana hometown where he has become a revered choral director. When his students are asked to perform in New York City, he decides to chance reconnecting with his former love, if for no other reason than to get a proper goodbye.

When Emmett and Tobias finally meet 15 years after parting ways, it is clear to both of them that their feelings for each other have not changed. As they explore their renewed relationship, the two men face old hurts and the new challenges of a long-distance romance. Will Tobias lose his second chance at love to the ghosts he can’t seem to put to rest?

“If the past comes back to visit you, maybe you should invite it to tea.”

Black Dust is my frst book by Lynn Charles, I was curious and excited to read it. Now I can say I’m surely going to read her debut novel, Chef’s Table, in the coming weeks.

What I soon appreciated was the prologue. I adore authors who give me the basical facts at the start and don’t let me beg for crumbs of past events. In the prologue set in the 2000 Emmett and Toby are a young but solid couple, they met two years ago during the auditions at the local theater when they were just 16 and 18 years old. It’s the night before Emmett prom and they are going out with their best friend, Scott when they have a terrible car accident and Scott dies.

Fifteen years later Tobias is a Broadway musician, he plays piano all over the world. He left Indiana and Emmett behind. He came back to his life, but the struggle to forget what happened and the dreams shared with his lover forgotten, is still strong and the youthful, broken promises hard to forget. Now his home base is NY and his best friend Malik, a sculptor.

Emmett is living in Indiana, working now as a choral director. As soon as the chance of  a couple of days in NY come out, he hopeful and calls Toby, asking for a reconnection.

Among the two, Emmett was my favorite character, he’s strong, real, loyal and beautiful in his heart. I soon felt a connection with his attitude, in his everyday life, his relationships with his parents or with his students. Yes I fell for him.

Point is I haven’t fallen for Toby, at all. And this is the only reason I’m not giving the story five stars. I couldn’t feel his emotions, I found him to be cold-hearted and stiff in everything he does. To me he didn’t stand out as a good person and was almost impossible to me to see him with Emmett. I said almost because at the end, thanks to the author abilities, I was finally able to understand his loss, his guilt and the tragedy he is still trying to overcome. Hats off to Lynn for this and for giving Scott an importance and lovable portrait, I missed him like Emmett and Toby did.

The author put in the story her whole musical knowledge and beyond. The MCs’ passion and work had a huge role in the book, but it never overwhelmed my reading, on the contrary, with the help of a well developed and interesting secondary characters cast, gave the plot a foundation and realism needed. I liked the style and the writing a lot, I think she did really great. The “second chance at love” stories are one of my favorite trope in the mm genre and Black Dust greatly delivered. The book was definitely worth my time and I recommend it.

The book and cover design by CB Messer is a winner. I like it a lot, an amazing style. It’s one of the reason why I picked the novel.

Sales Links:  Interlude Press |  ARe | Amazon

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 312 pages
Published April 7th 2016 by Interlude Press
ASIN B01DR4USSO
Edition Language English

A MelanieM Review: Kellen’s Awakening (AURA Series #3) by Bellora Quinn and Angel Martinez

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

Kellen's AwakeningThe staff at AURA has had a busy summer. Between chronic understaffing, dealing with warring goblin factions and an unusual number of hazardous Events, everyone is overworked. Sinistrus the incubus, newly hired as an AURA medic, actually enjoys his busy new life of responsible employee and faithful lover to his gorgeous police sergeant, Ness the centaur. Life would be perfect, except for a niggling suspicion about a colleague. Everyone else seems to disagree, but Sin’s certain something’s not right with that pixie.

Kellen, a pixie crossover, loves his job working in AURA medical, even if he is something of an outsider. His job and the friends he manages to make are happy spots in an otherwise dark and secretive life. As the rest of AURA tries to discover the root of the inexplicable rise in violence and large scale Events, Kellen fights to preserve his own life and what dignity he has left.

These two unlikely heroes must put their differences aside and navigate tragedy and ever-escalating disaster together in order to stop the sinister forces that hold Kellen in thrall.

The AURA series from Bellora Quinn and Angel Martinez just keeps getting better and this book is perhaps my favorite in the series.  It did it by breaking my heart and then slowly, finally putting it back together again.  But oh how the tears flowed before that happened.

In this world (what an amazing world it is) a magical, human engineered explosion has created a rift in world dimensions, causing beings to fall out of their worlds into ours, with often tragic consequences to both.  AURA was set up to handle moving these ‘otherworldly’ and often magical beings into our society with as smooth a transition as could be handled, which is saying a lot with trolls, mermaids, elf warriors  and such.  And always there is the  threat of darkness and madness looming on the edge from those seeking power or a return or an inability to deal with loss.

Its an amazing universe they built and they’ve created a cast of characters and couples/triads who are just as complicated and addicting as their stories.  Lucky for us, most of them make appearances in each succeeding book, so we get to keep up with their relationships as well.  Here we get back to Sin and Ness, happily enjoying their new love and jobs.  Sin is such a great character, a succubus who has fallen for a centaur, a great love story we followed in a previous tale.  We also meet up again with Kellen, again a secondary character brought forward to get his due.

Kellen has so many secrets but his character is one that you can’t help but love and root for immediately.  He’s wounded, complicated, and leaking pain from every pore if only they would notice.  Trouble is the whole city is full of magical pain and problems at the moment, so other things like Kellen’s are easy to bury.

The author’s writing is deeply emotional, their descriptions will tug at your heart, their scenes pulling you into the story and the conflicts arising everywhere.  And before you know it, you’ve emptied a box of tissues and reached for a second.

One note, these are not standalone novels, they build on each other like building blocks.  So go back to books one and two before picking this one up.  After finishing this one, you just might want to do that anyway because the characters will call out to you to make your reacquaintance.  How I love them all.  Now I can’t wait to see where the authors will take us  next…..

Cover art by Posh Gosh is so so.  Needs more of magic, I wish there was more of a hint of wings there as well.

Sales Links:  Pride Publishing | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, First
Published April 5th 2016 by Pride Publishing
Original TitleKellen’s Awakening (AURA, #3)
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesAURA Series #3

A Paul B Review: Signed with a Heart (Signed, Sealed, Delivered #2) by Caitlin Ricci and A.J. Marcus

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Signed with a HeartLeo the cheetah shifter has recently witnessed his friend Cam get mated.  Despite the widely held beliefs that arranged matings are miserable, Cam honestly loves his mate Jenner.  Now he is waiting for his own arranged mating.  In Spain with his father, Leo finds out that he is to be mated to Antonio, a wealthy businessman.  Leo is disheartened when he finds out that he will be basically cut off from society, including his best friend Cam, after the mating takes place.  When he hears this, Leo decides to flee Spain and visit his friend in the United States.

Taruk is best friends with Jenner.  His friend’s mating makes Taruk realize that he will probably never be mated.  Taruk is not from a prominent nor rich family to pay the fee needed to arrange a mating.  However, he is glad to see Leo again when he comes to visit Cam.  Taruk is then disappointed to learn that the sweet young shifter is now arranged to be mated in a month’s time.  His is alarmed to find out that Leo believes that the mating will not be a love match like their friends’ pairing.  When Leo’s intended mate Antonio shows up to claim him, Taruk can do nothing but watch him leave.

The mating goes about as poorly for Leo as he expected.  Locked in his room and chained to his bed, Leo must watch as his mate uses a call boy service and flaunt it in front of him.  The only time he sees his mate is when Antonio wants to use him sexually.  The only thing Leo is allowed to do is read the collection of classic books that Antonio has provided for him so that Leo does not make a fool of himself in front of company.  Leo is resigned to his life as an unhappy mate.   When Leo is taken to a birthday party, life takes a turn for the worse soon after.  Leo must live with the consequences of his actions which will affect not only him and his mate, but also that of Taruk and their friends.

This second book in Ricci and Marcus’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered series takes place shortly after the end of the first.  While the first book showed that arranged matings can sometimes turn out well, this second book shows what happens when then they do not.  It is mentioned that Antonio had two previous mates that had died under mysterious circumstances.  Was this not a red flag for Leo’s father or was the dowry he received more important than his son?  It seems that nobody in authority has had any power to investigate their deaths.  It would have been smart of one of the characters to suggest that Antonio might be doing something to Leo.

And these matings seem more like 18th or 19th century marriages where the “lesser” of the partners becomes property of the legally superior partner.  The other thing is that (SPOILER) Leo should not be beating himself up for the actions that he took.

The cover art by Latrisha Waters is nicely done.  It shows both Leo’s cheetah and human forms.

Sales Links:  eXtasy Books | Amazon

Book Details

Kindle Edition, 91 pages
Published April 22nd 2016 by eXtasy Books
ASINB01EDH47GI
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesSigned, Sealed, Delivered #2

Series:  Signed Sealed Delivered

Sealed With Honor (Signed Sealed Delivered #1)

Signed With a Heart (Signed Sealed Delivered #2)