Tag: Grumpy/sunshine

Review: Fairy Cakes in Winter by Lane Hayes

Rating: 5šŸŒˆ

ā€œIn the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.ā€ā€”Albert Camus Scottā€

With that quote, Lane Hayes leads us into a heartwarming, absolutely engaging tale about two men who meet on a turbulent life changing airplane ride to London.

I fell so in love with this story from the moment I met them as they tried to get settled into their seats next to each other and prepared for their journey to London. Hayes effortlessly captures the essence of the intimacy of the closeness of the seats, the emotional experience it becomes as they get deeper in conversation and farther along into the flight.

Thereā€™s 39 year old Scott Oā€™Brien, a baker originally from Seattle who now lives and works full time in the UK. Bearded, bearish, and quiet , Scott is a portrait of a man who has withdrawn into himself and intends to stay there. Too bad his seat companion is 29 year old Theodore Belden, an accountant from San Francisco on his way to visit his mother.

Theo is vibrant, a gift of verbiage and positivity. Heā€™s also absolutely adorable in a Theo way. Heā€™s also afraid of flying.

From this point the story flows visibly gathering layers and bits of each manā€™s past as theyā€™re being pushed and pulled together into a incredible romantic journey that includes fairy cakes and side trips to Bathā€™s historic sites.

This was funny, sexy, romantic, and had me researching fairy cakes! Itā€™s also now one of my favorite Lane Hayes story. Theo and Scott are such a fabulous couple.

If you are a fan of romance, grab this up! Itā€™s a joy to read! Iā€™m highly recommending it.

Buy link:

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com ā€ŗ Fairy-C…Fairy Cakes in Winter: An M/M Age-Gap, Grumpy/Sunshine Romance

Description:

A grumpy baker, a quirky ad man, and a recipe for foreverā€¦

Scott

So this cute guy sits next to me on the plane and proceeds to talk my ear off for hours. Not good. I donā€™t like talking and I donā€™t like strangers. But Theoā€™s sweet, smart, and sexyā€”the perfect distraction from business woes and personal worries.

Okay, things get overly friendly, but weā€™re adults who know the score. Iā€™m too old, heā€™s too nice, and we live on different continents.

Then, out of the blue, he shows up at my bakery with that pretty smile and a list of wacky marketing ideasā€”like how to make fairy cakes a thing.

I donā€™t like fairy cakes.


But I do like Theo, soā€¦maybe?

Theo

The new me takes risks. The new me is brave and confident. The new me flirts with hunky, imposing bears on planes while traveling to a foreign country.

Itā€™s going well, thank you.

However, my plans to sight-see, drink tea, and eat my weight in biscuits every day are derailed when I realize there might be a way to help Scott and prove a few things to myself.

Donā€™t worry. I wonā€™t fall for the grumpy baker. No way. Heā€™s complicated and broody andā€”

Uh ohā€¦it might be too late. Help!

Fairy Cakes in Winter is a bisexual, age-gap, grumpy/sunshine MM romance featuring a sexy baker, a sunny tourist, and a few dozen fairy cakes.

Review: Role Model (Game Changers #5) by Rachel Reid

Rating: 5šŸŒˆ

I was getting ready for the release of The Long Game, the 6th in Rachel Reidā€™s fabulous hockey romance series, when I figured out I hadnā€™t read the 5th story yet!

Somehow Iā€™d missed Role Model. Now was the time to fix that oversight! Iā€™m so happy I did because Role Model is such a fantastic story.

Itā€™s a standout in a truly great series of books as Rachel Reid gives a two remarkable men on a slow path to love and happiness. But the journey is about redemption for one, courage to recognize and acknowledge your true self, and the heart and passion another will give to understand and support him.

Troy Barrett is an incredible character. Heā€™s so conflicted, full of pain, and we meet at at perhaps a time when everything he thought he had in his life that was solid and positive has been lost. His closeted boyfriend has dumped him, his best friend has turned out to be a monster who Troy has now reviled in public, and a team who he thought would support him has traded him to the lowest winning team in the league.

We feel everything this man is thinking, heā€™s numb, and stumbling.

Weā€™re with him, certain heā€™s going to grow, just not sure how.

Then we meet the utterly engaging, Harris Drover, team media expert, and we see where Troyā€™s journey will begin. Harris is open, smart, people oriented, and openly gay. Heā€™s also compassionate and sees in Troy an underlying pain that not immediately apparent to others. He also realizes Troy needs a friend. Itā€™s the start of something beautiful.

They build their relationship over a puppy, a family, cider, so many elementsā€¦ itā€™s amazing to be a part of this sexy, thoughtful romance. Itā€™s added by a certain Russian player who also helps Troy see that living as a closeted gay man is denying himself a true life.

I have so much praise for Reidā€™s writing and characters here. They are relatable. The conflicts they face , within and without, are ones so many other members of the LGBTQIA community face , from themselves, their families, and their own societies.

Itā€™s within the sports world or just a person trying to figure out their sexuality. Reidā€™s emotional turmoil and thoughtful communication has the ring of truthfulness to them.

I believe in Troy and Harris. I was emotionally connected to them throughout their story and I wanted to stay past the ending, a typical feeling for me on a Rachel Reid book , especially this series.

If you havenā€™t read Role Model yet Iā€™m highly recommending it as well as the entire series. Iā€™ve listed it below. The 6th is almost out.

Until then, check out and see if youā€™re caught up before The Long Game arrives!

Happy Reading!

Game Changers
Book 1: Game Changer
Book 2: Heated Rivalry
Book 3: Tough Guy
Book 4: Common Goal
Book 5: Role Model
Book 6: The Long Game

https://www.goodreads.com ā€ŗ showGame Changers #5 – Role Model – Goodreads

Synopsis:

The highly anticipated fifth novel in Rachel Reidā€™s Game Changers series sees a grumpy professional hockey player meet his match in an out-and-proud social media managerā€¦

The hits just keep coming for Troy Barrett. Traded to the worst team in the league would be bad enough, but coming on the heels of a messy breakup and a recent scandalā€¦ Troy just wants to play hockey and be left alone. He doesnā€™t want to be in the news anymore, and he definitely doesnā€™t want to ā€œwork on his online presenceā€ with the teamā€™s peppy social media manager.

Harris Drover can tell standoffish Troy isnā€™t happy about the tradeā€”anyone could tell, frankly, as he doesnā€™t exactly hide it wellā€”but Harris doesnā€™t give up on people easily. Even when heā€™s developing a crush heā€™s sure is one-sided. And when he sees Troyā€™s smile finally crack through his grumpy exterior, wellā€¦ Thatā€™s a man Harris couldnā€™t turn his back on if he wanted to.

Suddenly, Troyā€™s move to the new team feels like an opportunityā€”for Troy to embrace his true self, and for both men to surrender to their growing attraction. But indulging in each other behind closed doors is one thing, and for Troy, being in a public relationship with Harris will mean facing off with his fears, once and for all.