Tag: LGBTGIA contemporary romance

Review: The Fairy Shop by Tara Lain

Rating: 3 🌈

I debated over the rating on this one. A lot. Liked the storyline. The main and one secondary character were charming. Overall holiday message was lovely.

But.

This is a short story that also deals as major elements childhood trauma stemming from domestic violence, where a small child is witness to her drunken mother being beaten (off page) by a large abusive boyfriend. More than once. To the point the father removed her ,got custody, and now the child has nightmares and serious issues with large men in her vicinity.

This child needs therapy. But beyond that. The story develops nicely. Father meets huge stranger. Immediately attracted for both. No intro to daughter for obvious reason. But daughter and father find just the most incredible tiny shop selling handcrafted wands, unicorns etc. This part of the story is excellent. Even the person running the shop , amazing.

The story runs it’s course, including a traumatic event. That’s where I have a issue. Big issue.

Because, spoiler alert. The abusive boyfriend is involved in what is clearly a crime. He’s been involved in domestic violence in the past. So the solution here is :

A. Let him walk free out the door with a drunk/drugged out mother , call him a Uber too , don’t worry about that poor driver.

B. Call the cops, charge him with assault, let him get a criminal record so when it happens again the victim has a support.

What should a responsible author do? Yes, it’s fiction but shouldn’t we start showing that actions have consequences in the stories?

What do you think happened?

One guess, it wasn’t B. Because, hey, it’s Christmas, and even drunks and domestic abusers need to just be sent off. Uh no. Wrong message sent.

One last thing. You leave your child with a caregiver to go out for the evening. The door is busted in by an drunken perhaps drugged out ex of the person you are sitting for, and their abusive boyfriend. You know she doesn’t have custody and are aware of the violence in the past. What do you do? Child is screaming.

A. Call the police.

B. Call the father.

Yup. B. That story just made every wrong choice, not for the child safety but father’s consideration. SMH.

Spoiled this story.

Maybe this hit me wrong. Maybe I’m tired of violence and it not being reported or responsibly handled. But this? Could have been better. Given that the child’s trauma was a major element here.

Read it and decide for yourself. Or not if any of this is a trigger for you.

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Fairy Shop by Tara Lain – Goodreads

A single dad who needs love. A child who needs courage.
Sounds like a job for a fairy.

When Nate Hawthorne meets Asher Dane, the huge, tattooed hunk embodies Nate’s dreams – and his daughter’s nightmares. Delly’s terrified of big men.

Then Nate and Delly find The Fairy Shop, a mysterious store where a unique proprietress sends Delly in search of the wand that will make her brave.

On a snowy Christmas Eve, love and courage meet under the influence of a most unusual fairy and Nate and Delly’s lives change forever.

THE FAIRY SHOP is a single dad, opposites attract, small town, MM holiday romance—wrapped in the magic of love.

Review: Nothing Ordinary (A Hit and Run story) by E.M. Lindsey

Rating: 3.5🌈

I’m not sure exactly where the author intends Nothing Ordinary to fall in their series, except as a prequel perhaps.

It was originally written as a series, then re-edited, new material added, and now re-released just as the first book in the series was arriving. So it acts as a informative lead-in for Pietro’s story. Much of Pietro’s history and his relationship with his brother is relayed here. So if you loved that book like I did, it’s worth it for that alone.

But this is Gabe and Ezra’s story. So the events run almost concurrently to those in Switch – Hitter (Hit and Run #1) . Many scenes will seem familiar if you’ve read the other book.

Gabe, the older brother who, due to a car accident, lost his career in the Major Leagues, his marriage, his self esteem. He’s now a private school high school volleyball coach, angry, and alone. Not a happy man.

Ezra Mandel , the new culinary teacher is many things:

A culinary genius.
A first-time teacher.
An anxious mess.

He looks the same age as his students and has a deep case of social anxiety, made worse by an

abusive ex. None of those elements make him think his experience as a teacher in high school is going to go well.

It doesn’t. He runs into Gabe in the teachers lounge on his first day who yells at him to get out, thinking Ezra’s a student. It goes downhill quickly from there.

This story of opposites attract, enemies to lovers has a lot of promise. Each man has problematic areas to their character. Gabe is dealing with issues of self esteem, anger, loss of career, and even sibling jealousy/envy. He feels he’s never good enough. Anger is his fall back emotion.

Ezra is full of anxiety, a people pleaser who can’t tolerate loud voices, especially those raised in rage. His low self esteem pounded into him by an abusive ex who enjoyed hurting him. A culinary genius who can’t stand the pressure of the kitchen.

These are all complicated elements and needs it’s equal in storytelling. While Lindsey did a good job dealing with Ezra’s anxiety (therapy, communication, meds) and Gabe’s issues of career loss, low esteem, and envy, I not sure Gabe’s elements got addressed enough. Of all three characters who had emotional issues, (Ezra, Pietro, Gabriel) , Gabe is the only person not seeing a therapist. I kept thinking anger management classes were the least he needed. If you have to continually excuse a teacher’s behavior because he’s “complicated’?

Flags , people, flags.

Which brings me to a couple of major concerns or issues I have here. And spoilers territory ! I like these characters. I do. I find them sympathetic, mostly.

Continuity.

Lindsey has both Pietro and Gabe use their celebrity influence as MLB players, past and present, to make important local changes. Include a trans player on a team against the Administration’s wishes, push rulings, whatever. They use what they’re are , rich and well known, to make changes. Over and over. They are local boys made great. Point made.

Even if Gabe feels like a has been, he’s not.

If Lindsey had just explored all the ramifications of these two polar opposites getting together, it would have made for a fascinating story.

But there’s another ugly element thrown in. One of an attempted sexual assault. It happens, it’s over. And other then a very minimal amount of mentions to the aftermath. Done. Yes, Therapy. Yes. Fired. Yada. Yada. But basically , that’s it for such a serious topic.

To my mind, if you’re going to introduce such a sensitive and horrific situation, (it happens on the page, but is swiftly dealt with), then I think there’s an obligation to make this section as relevant and responsible as possible. Gabe and Pietro have the influence to have this person arrested, he’s a sexual predator, who’s been in a high school.

But there’s no follow through here. On any aspect really of this situation.

It’s pretty much glosses over considering the gravity and scope of the scene.

I just didn’t get it. The story flies quickly to the end, and Gabe and Ezra’s HEA.

I didn’t read the serial so I have no idea which sections were added and what’s original. But if the assault scenes were added afterwards, it makes sense, because they don’t feel as thoughtfully written as Ezra’s anxiety or Gabe’s relationship with Pietro.

So it’s worth reading if you want to read the entire Hit and Run series and want all the background. This is great for that.

Read it for Ezra, and yes Gabe. I’m sure we will be seeing them again later on in the series, not just in Pietro’s story, which I highly recommend.

Hit and Run series:

✓ Nothing Ordinary #0

✓ Switch-Hitter #1

◦ Line Drive #2 – out July 2022

https://www.goodreads.com › showNothing Ordinary (Hit and Run #0) by E.M. Lindsey | Goodreads

Synopsis:

Ezra Mandel is many things:

A culinary genius.
A first-time teacher.
An anxious mess.

And helplessly attracted to the rudest, most grumpy man he has ever had the misfortune of meeting.

Ezra knows his first semester ever teaching at a private school is going to be a disaster. What he doesn’t expect is to get into a rivalry with the volleyball coach who can’t stand him. But the more he gets to know Gabriel Bassani, the more he starts to realize his pain is a lot deeper than the surface of his skin.

And Gabriel is a complicated man. He’s lived in the shadow of his MLB star brother for most of his life, his past marriage was a disaster, and he’s long-since stopped believing in love. But Ezra—persistent, beautiful, irritating Ezra—is the kind of man who refuses to give up, and Gabriel isn’t sure if he wants to beg him to stop, or beg him to keep going.

Whatever they have isn’t ordinary, but then again, ordinary isn’t something either of them has ever wanted.

This book features a low-angst, slow burn, enemies to lovers romance with a nervous sunshine culinary professor in his first year of teaching, a grumpy ex MLB player with a chip on his shoulder the size of Wrigley Field, a gaggle of students who enjoy making bets on the teacher’s lives, and a happily ever after that just might feel like a world record breaking home run.

Nothing Ordinary is a previously released serial novel in the Hit and Run series, now with 15,000 words of revised and additional content.

Review: Hot Wings (The Hot Cannolis #2) by Eli Easton and Tara Lain

Rating: 5 🌈

Hot is right. I’ve been anxiously waiting for this story since the author’s announced it was Donny’s story with a newly transferred gay fire pilot.

Donato “Donny” Cannoli is a mess of a man, something of a norm actually for the men of the enormous Italian family where the ideals of manhood run adjacent to those of toxic masculinity. Where they , actually everyone, are expected to go into careers of service, dangerous service. Firefighters, law enforcement…nothing less. Marry, produce another generation to do the exact same, and carry on the Cannoli name and reputation.

No matter the personal cost.

Hot Seat, Mike’s story was a dramatic representation of exactly how high that cost could be when the stress and denial became too great.

And it caused an emotional, heartbreaking,sea change in attitude in Donny. Prior to the shattering event towards the end of that story, Donny , like his older brother, Gabe, was a homophobic machismo sneering bully. But afterwards?

A changed man who had his brother’s back and started standing up for Mike and against those uttering homophobic slurs.

That’s where we find him now. A man who’s foundation has been shaken, the cracks appearing… when out and proud Dell Murphy arrives , to further the job of disassembling the man Donny always thought himself to be.

Lain and Easton do an absolutely superlative job here with Donny’s emotionally profound and painful journey, with himself and Dell, to his truth. He’s bisexual, he’s never going to fit within his father’s ideals, and he’s got a new better future if he’s brave enough to accept it and himself.

It’s a path you’re on with Donny that’s at times raw, sexually hot, and heartwarming, and also so deeply complicated that you just hurt for him as he unravels all those familial issues that have him trussed up so tightly in old ideals that have never fit him.

Dell Murphy has his complications. All just as well executed and emotional. And like Donny’s, they stem from family. His issues with his father has driven home certain areas of behavior and trust that Donny’s triggering. He’s also the one who’s the security for his Mam and sister , Gala. Those characters too are just amazing.

There’s so many great elements here. Dell is a realistic pilot and the research into the plane, flying, fire intensity…. It’s all here. And it makes for some incredibly high suspense action. Awesome co- pilot too.

The truth is this book is so fantastic I could babble on about all the great things the authors have put into this story that enrich the storylines and support the characters growing relationship, but why not just pick it up and read it? It’s fabulous!

I will say you should read Hot Seat first to get an indication of the events that happened previously and how far Donny’s characters has changed.

I’m highly recommending this and the series to date.

Now an interesting note on the next two stories. Due to unexpected complications (author Tara Alain’s surgery and recovery), Lain and Easton aren’t co-writing the next books. Instead each will write a single novel.

I’m wondering how that will effect the sort of edgy balance they’ve achieved here in the series to date between raw , deeply emotional issues each character has had to process and overcome and the romantic relationship element. It’s been a delicate maneuver. In Mike’s novel, it was really more about his journey towards self acceptance, and then it was his romance.

Here in Hot Wings, I thought it was equally important. Beautifully crafted.

Now to see how and who is next.

The Hot Cannolis series:

◦ Fireman’s Carry (The Hot Cannolis #0.5) by Eli Easton

✓ Hot Seat #1

✓ Hot Wings #2

◦ Hot Pursuit #3 by Eli Easton date TBD

◦ Hot Lips #4 by Tara Lain, date TBD

https://www.goodreads.com › showHot Wings (The Hot Cannolis #2) by Eli Easton – Goodreads

Synopsis:

The alpha meets his match.

Most macho of all the super-alpha Canali brothers and proud of it, Donny’s famous for his gorgeous face, his firefighter prowess, and for going through girls his family doesn’t approve of as fast as he changes jeans.

Donny’s biggest hero is his fire captain dad, until his life gets saved from the skies by fire pilot Dell Murphy.

Dell’s certain about most things. He’s been proud to be gay since he was ten, handled a helicopter in Afghanistan like it was part of his body, and can fly a fire bomber in the worst conflagration. And he’s absolutely certain that Donny Canali belongs to him.
Dell also knows how to show a lover he’s in charge.

Donny’s shocked to discover how much he’s turned on by dominant Dell, but Donny’s not gay. He’s not. He can’t be. It would break his father’s heart.

Leaving Dell will break Donny’s.

HOT WINGS is a battle of the alphas, hot firefighters, two crazy families, dominant lover, HEA romance with a helping of laughter and even more feels.

Review: Tough Luck (A-List Security #1) by Annabeth Albert

Rating: 4.5🌈

Tough Luck, the latest from author Annabeth Albert, is the first in her new A-List Security series. The series has at its center a newly established company formed from a group of men who served together on a SEAL team. As they’ve retired, the men are brought together by their Lieutenant, the owner of the firm.

It’s a terrific concept as it allows us to meet a range of complicated men, with different personalities and backgrounds who regard each other as brothers.

First up is Cash “Money “ Erwin, recently retired. Not by choice, exactly, more because of a “reduction in numbers “ move he got caught up in. Now he’s out, crashing on his Lt’s couch and trying to figure out where to go next.

That’s when Duncan Love, his former Lieutenant and close friend, asks for a favor. Duncan has been trying to get Cash to join his new company, A-List Security without success, now he needs help with security for his younger brother, a former Hollywood Star with a stalker.

Albert’s two person perspective works smoothly to help the reader get into the mindset and immediate emotional issues of each man.

We are aware of Cash’s inability to move forward. He’s stuck because he just doesn’t know what to do next, so ingrained has been his military service and lifestyle. That includes always being part of a team, and having your directions and goals already planned out. A future alone and goalless is confusing and unclear.

We get this man immediately. And the more he reveals of his adolescence and background, the greater the clarity of the character. Cash is a amazing gift of a man.

When Albert introduces us to the former actor Danny Love, it’s in a remarkable scene. For both men. It sets the tone for establishing a relationship of trust , respect, and eventually friendship. That’s a lot for a man who’s a addict, and has come to expect the worst reactions from those he meets because of his past behavior and status. Including people his older brother might have sent to “take care” of his issues. Danny has successfully completed rehab and has now been clean for a while. However, he understands that his former friends and lifestyle definitely contributed to that addiction. And avoids both.

Danny is a well thought out character, not just defined by his addictions but by a upbringing with toxic parents who contributed to his damaging adolescence and negatively impacted his outlook in adulthood.

Their romance is one of sexual exploration, communication, and personal growth. It’s sweet, tender, and very sexy.

The stalker element is a big mystery that I thought got resolved a tad too quickly , which is why the story didn’t get a full 5 🌈. For all the buildup, there was no history or explanation into the perpetrator or their actions. Or what happens to that person. It just finished. It felt incomplete to me.

The relationship and romance? Stellar. Love both men and how the author leaves them. Excellent ending.

Tough Luck is a fantastic contemporary romance and a great start to a new series. Can’t wait for the next one, Hard Job, to be released. I’m highly recommending this!

Happy reading!

A-List Security series:

✓ Tough Luck #1

◦ Hard Job #2 – July 7, 2022

Amazon.com: Annabeth Albert: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks …amazon.com

https://www.goodreads.com › showTough Luck (A-List Security, #1) by Annabeth Albert – Goodreads

Synopsis:

My best friend’s little brother needs a bodyguard. Now I’m the one in danger…

I’m a SEAL. Or rather, I was. Retired at the grand old age of thirty-eight, I’m at loose ends. My best friend wants me to join his security team. I’m not sure I’m bodyguard material, but he needs someone to protect his kid brother. How hard can spoiled brat duty be?

Somehow, I missed the part where former child star Danny Love went from dorky TV darling to all grown up and disturbingly attractive. All the gossip about his wild ways fails to mention that he’s trying hard to clean up his act. But now he’s got a stalker.

Hiding out together in a remote mountain cabin, alone, the temptation keeps building. I’m feeling things I never have before. Secrets I’ve kept even from myself bubble to the surface every time Danny looks my way with those puppy dog eyes.

I’m a SEAL. We leap into danger. So why is it so terrifying when that danger comes with the softest pair of lips I’ve ever known? At some point we’re going to have to return to Hollywood and our vastly different lives. Will Danny still want me around when he doesn’t need me for protection? Can I be brave enough to give him a reason to?

TOUGH LUCK is book one in a brand-new SEAL bodyguard series. It features an age gap, steamy first times, and all the high heat, big emotions, and found family feels readers expect from this fan-favorite military romance author. Join A-List security for this lower-angst series featuring former SEALs and the celebrity clients who win their hearts. Happy endings and no cliffhangers guaranteed!

Review: Sailor Proof (Shore Leave #1) by Annabeth Albert

Rating: 4 🌈

Sailor Proof , the first book in Annabeth Albert’s series about a submariners group of men, is a wonderful contemporary romance. Low on the angst, it’s sweet, fake boyfriend trope that quickly turns real over the course of a massive group family annual camp outing.

It all starts with dumped Naval Chief Derrick Fox who’s ex is now paired up with another mate on board his submarine. That person has been making a point of rubbing that new relationship in Derrick’s face as well as the fact they got the all important “first kiss” off the ship.

To stop the hazing and remarks, and make the ex a little jealous, Derrick’s best friend hatches a plan for Derrick’s own kiss. With his little brother, now grown into a hot 25 year old musician.

Arthur Euler remembers the man he crushed so hard on growing up . And decides to take on his brother’s mission of the fake boyfriend meeting at the dock and whipping up their own great kiss!

What follows is a memorable, lively scene full of chemistry, unpredictable moments, and a romantic situation that both men sort of fall into, after one of the best kisses of their lives.

Albert’s characters are believable and layered. Both Derrick’s past lonely history and Arthur’s perhaps too full one mesh beautifully. And where it doesn’t? Communication, from different sources, and reflection helps move the men through the obstacles they’ve raised to the point they can see a life and HEA together.

There’s many wonderful elements in Sailor Proof. The camp and the show the two men put on with the kids. That’s amazing.

The only aspect that’s a bit missing is the lack of connection with the brother that initially started the process. It’s a bit broken, and it never feels fixed here. Perhaps that happens in the next story.

Sailor Proof (Shore Leave #1) by Annabeth Albert is a terrific contemporary romance and one I’m highly recommending.

Enjoy!

Shore Leave
Book 1: Sailor Proof
Book 2: Sink or Swim

https://www.goodreads.com › showSailor Proof (Shore Leave #1) by Annabeth Albert – Goodreads

Synopsis:


The sexy Navy chief and his best friend’s adorkable little brother…

It’s petty, but Naval Chief Derrick Fox wishes he could exact a little revenge on his ex by showing off a rebound fling. His submarine is due to return to its Bremerton, Washington, home base soon and Derrick knows all too well there won’t be anyone waiting with a big, showy welcome.

Enter one ill-advised plan…

Arthur Euler is the guy you go to in a pinch—he’s excellent at out-of-the-box solutions. It’s what the genius music-slash-computer nerd is known for. So when he finds out Derrick needs a favor, he’s happy to help. He can muster the sort of welcome a Naval Chief deserves, no problem at all.

Except it is a problem. A very big problem.

When Arthur’s homecoming welcome is a little too convincing, when a video of their gangplank smooch goes enormously viral, they’re caught between a dock and a hard place. Neither of them ever expected a temporary fake relationship to look—or feel—so real. And Arthur certainly never considered he’d be fighting for a very much not-fake forever with a military man.

Carina Adores is home to romantic love stories where LGBTQ+ characters find their happily-ever-afters.

Review: Switch – Hitter (Hit and Run #1) by E.M. Lindsey

Rating: 4.5 🌈

Switch-Hitter is the first book in a new sports series by E.M. Lindsey. It exists , per the author’s forward, within a universe where in MLB out athletes are accepted as are those with various disabilities .

Wouldn’t that be a lovely place? And indeed it is, for the characters in Switch-Hitter and readers who will enjoy as I did.

Lindsey incorporates a number of elements that definitely make their characters more multidimensional.

Pietro Bassani, baseball player for the Denver Vikings, is also a man with his own personal issues. He’s ADHD, late in life diagnosed, and he’s hiding it from his team and teammates. He feels guilty that his beloved barely older brother , Gabe, who was just as talented a ball player as Pietro, was injured by a car crash and lost the one thing they thought they’d be doing together. At times he’s just a mess. That doesn’t begin to cover his ex, Herve’ and that damage.

Pietro is one mess of a kind man. Someone the reader relates and roots for , no matter what else is happening. He’s one well crafted character.

Thierry Bourget is his equal. He’s also someone who started off as his enemy. Which makes this enemies to lovers romance even more fascinating. The author takes the path of both men , once they start communicating which is immediately, as people who recognize the toxicity of the person who connected them. It gives the author and the men moments to reflect on what elements made those relationships toxic, and the positive ways they’ve both changed. Just terrific.

The story and the romance, the men, all come across as adult. Each also has to deal with the ongoing issues that stem from Thierry’s physical semi paralysis.

That’s a lot to unpack in one story but it’s done so beautifully here . From exactly how Thierry’s recovery is going, through rehabilitation, and every bit of painful injury both men undergo, it’s believable, well written, and emotional.

Herve’ was the only aspect that felt a tad unresolved. He was too much a tenacious creature to just disappear. I wonder if he’s going to make a reappearance somewhere in another book.

I absolutely enjoyed Switch-Hitter and look forward to more in this series.

If you love contemporary romances and sport’s love stories, put this on your must have list!

I’m highly recommending it.

Hit and Run series:

Switch-Hitter #1

Line Drive #2 – out July 2022

https://www.goodreads.com › showSwitch-Hitter (Hit and Run, #1) by E.M. Lindsey | Goodreads

Synopsis:

Get a personal chef, they said. It’ll be fun, they said.

And then Thierry shows up and Pietro realizes his mistake. Because he knows Thierry. A little too well.

Thierry is the man who told his ex to leave him.
Thierry is the man who punched Pietro and ran.
Thierry… is his ex-boyfriend’s best friend.

But Pietro also knows the man needs a job. An injury destroyed his former career and Pietro is nothing if not a bleeding heart. Besides, he doesn’t have time to search for a new chef, not with the World Series looming and his team ready to go all the way.

Life gets more complicated, though, when he and Thierry cross a line one night after a lot of wine and several bad jokes. And while hooking up is one thing, Pietro knows the last thing in the world he needs is for his heart to get involved.

Too bad it tends to make decisions without him.

Switch-Hitter is the first book in a fictional MLB series featuring a lonely baseball player with a chip on his shoulder and hope in his heart, a team ready to win no matter what it takes, a grumpy French chef who will defend escargot to the death, and a few bottles of dry red wine leading to the sweetest happily ever after. Each book in the Hit and Run Series stands alone, contains no cheating, and has a happily ever after.

Review: Listen (Single Dads #5) by R.J. Scott

Rating: 5 🌈

R.J. Scott has written an beautiful, emotionally moving story, one that happens to include a romance, with her latest installment in the Single Dads series .

Listen revolves around the potential adoption of a 3 yr deaf child by investigative journalist Nick Horner. Nick, a widower and single parent to three children, is someone we meet earlier when he’s still deeply grieving the loss of his husband to cancer, and depression has his spiraling.

At that time he meets Elliot Curtis, teacher at St. Joseph’s. Nick’s actions at the time and their interactions have repercussions later on. Nick’s background , his thoughts give us a thorough perspective of the man himself. Especially when we see him together with his children. We grieve with him and connect with him.

Elliot is an amazing character. Scott has poured a huge amount of research of Deaf culture into Elliot and his family. It shows as Elliot comes across so realistically as a CODA or child of deaf adults. Many aspects of the ramifications of this are reflected in Elliott’s memories as a child, as ASL as his first language, to his feelings as being the only hearing person in his family.

This is such a remarkable element. It’s not just Elliott. It’s also Elliott’s family but most importantly it’s Teegan, the 3 year old. It’s concerning her needs , how and what a deaf child needs, develops, and what decisions she might make for herself in the future. In addition, she’s been in foster care and a victim of FASD. Teegan is a child as winning and real on the page as they come.

And none of it feels like a info dump . Indeed , it’s all folded into a fantastic book of deep love, concern for a child , and the family who wants to adopt her. It’s a joyous romance that will slowly become about two men forming a new family.

I heart this book and it’s wonderful characters so much.

Scott has a outstanding, warm-hearted story of second chances, family and love in Listen. It’s one I’ll be rereading and one I’m highly recommending!

Happy Reading!

Single Dads series:

◦ Single #1

◦ Today#2

◦ Promise #3

◦ Single Dad Christmas

◦ Always #4

◦ Listen #5

◦ Pride#6

https://www.goodreads.com › showListen (Single Dads, #5) by R.J. Scott – Goodreads

Synopsis:

He only wanted to make the best home for his new daughter; he never meant to fall in love with the man who might steal her away.

Nick and his husband had always wanted a big family, but when cancer took Danny six years ago, Nick was left a single dad of three. He never considered his broken heart would heal enough to add to his family, but as soon as he meets Teegan he knows he wants to adopt the little girl. Born profoundly deaf, Teegan has been rejected twice already in the adoption process and hasn’t found her forever home. Nick wants to be her hero—her dad—and create a world that is safe and happy for her. He knows he wants to make her life perfect—he doesn’t know how to go about it or understand the best thing to do for his family, and he needs help. Enter Elliot, and Nick finds himself falling for the frustrating, sexy, inspiring, and caring teacher who can make things right.

Elliot is wary of helping the man who appears more interested in public opinion than the needs of his own family. But, learning that Nick, wealthy and entitled, is now adopting a deaf child, Elliot knows this is a step too far and strides into battle. As the child of deaf adults, Elliot knows he is the best person to advocate for little Teegan and, if needed, he is determined to intervene and halt the adoption. Nothing and no one will get in Elliot’s way when it falls on him to protect Teegan. Not even love.

This single dad story features a widower struggling to make things right, a teacher battling for a child’s wellbeing, an adorable toddler, three loving siblings, and a home with a view of the ocean.

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

Rating: 5🌈

I was getting ready for the release of The Long Game, the 6th in Rachel Reid’s fabulous hockey romance series, when I figured out I hadn’t read the 5th story yet!

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

It’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. He’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, he’s numb, and stumbling.

We’re with him, certain he’s going to grow, just not sure how.

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

They build their relationship over a puppy, a family, cider, so many elements… it’s amazing to be a part of this sexy, thoughtful romance. It’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 Reid’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.

It’s within the sports world or just a person trying to figure out their sexuality. Reid’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 haven’t read Role Model yet I’m highly recommending it as well as the entire series. I’ve listed it below. The 6th is almost out.

Until then, check out and see if you’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 › showGame Changers #5 – Role Model – Goodreads

Synopsis:

The highly anticipated fifth novel in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series sees a grumpy professional hockey player meet his match in an out-and-proud social media manager…

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 scandal… Troy just wants to play hockey and be left alone. He doesn’t want to be in the news anymore, and he definitely doesn’t want to “work on his online presence” with the team’s peppy social media manager.

Harris Drover can tell standoffish Troy isn’t happy about the trade—anyone could tell, frankly, as he doesn’t exactly hide it well—but Harris doesn’t give up on people easily. Even when he’s developing a crush he’s sure is one-sided. And when he sees Troy’s smile finally crack through his grumpy exterior, well… That’s a man Harris couldn’t turn his back on if he wanted to.

Suddenly, Troy’s move to the new team feels like an opportunity—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.

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: Style for Love (Gay 4 Renovations #1) by A.J. Sherwood

Rating: 4.5 🌈

Style for Love is A.J. Sherwood’s terrific first book in her new series, Gay 4 Renovations. Located in small town (real place) Plymouth, Michigan, with its Victorians, Tudors, Craftsmen, and other equally charming houses in need of renovating by their owners, the queer business owners , all friends, have their business lives full while seeking their HEA.

There’s Gage, architect and structural engineer. Cohen, their contractor. Riggs, the ultimate in CEO office manager’s and Asher.

First up is Asher, Interior designer of Gay 4 Renovations. Asher, has a toxic family that’s not accepting of his sexuality and a found family that includes everyone at his business as well as Zar, the childhood best friend, a police officer, who’s always been his biggest supporter and protector.

Both Asher and Zar have never had relationships that have worked out, each other’s friendship is their only long commitment they’ve been able to have.

Sherwood’s Style for Love is a wonderful best friends to lovers, contemporary romance. One where the entire town knows what they’ve been oblivious to for years…they were made for each other.

It’s also a sexual awakening story for Zar who, because of unexpected circumstances, becomes aware of his best friend in a way that’s surprising. This is handled in a great and touching manner. I mean Zar, his sister Adah, and Gage, talking through his thoughts and feelings on the revelations that had come about.

Sherwood doesn’t forget about the impact on Asher that this change would bring. The communication and support from his circle of friends that allows Asher to work through his issues is just one more lovely aspect of this story.

I happen to adore Thai and Korean BL stories and happily so do the characters here! Whether it’s Asher and Riggs, or Ami and Shaunice ( two more people who work at Gay 4 Renovations) fan girling over certain actors or storylines in well known BL series, I was there with them! And wanting to add my suggestions as well!

I also lost my heart to BFG , the mastiff mix. I adore him so much. You had me at giant dog! Yes, you did!

There’s a toxic family element. They are frustrating because they seem so realistic in their own phobic behavior and attitudes. It’s painful and sad.

The town itself is real. Yes, I looked it up. It’s seems as cute and lovely as Sherwood makes it out to be. Then I remember Michigan. Cold , and oh no. My desire to move is gone. I’m just going to visit in these stories.

But ,I do have a smidge of a issue here. While this has been labeled a GFY (a term I always have issues with) , Zar is open to all aspects of sexuality. He examines their relationship and realizes they’ve never been in a friendship that’s conforms to the norm for just best friends, and he’s never been exactly straight. What label isn’t clear nor should it matter. He’s never been straight. Whether it’s Pansexual or something else.

That’s not a gay for you. Sry , small peevish moment over.

Style for Love is a romance I absolutely adore. It’s the characters, the setting, the storylines, and the wonderful ending. I really sank into this universe. I expect you will do the same.

Now I need the next in the series. That’s Structure for Love. Hmmm, who could that be?

I’m highly recommending this ! Happy reading!

Gay 4 Renovations series to date:

✓ Style for Love #1

◦ Structure for Love #2 – coming soon

https://www.goodreads.com › showStyle of Love (Gay 4 Renovations, #1) by A.J. Sherwood – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Asher’s dream job: Interior design – check.

His dream boyfriend: Park Bo Gum – not check. Sadly.

Straight as a board, childhood bff Zar: check

Zar becoming his boyfriend: che–wait, what?!

Tags:

Oh look a contemporary romance, GFY, Best friends to lovers, Dumbasses to lovers, not so much slowburn as two idiots standing around on fire, emotional baggage check, HGTV meets BL, family of choice, Asher needs a better family, Zar’s will adopt him, healthy choice making (and some impulsive ones), no angst here only cuddles, best friends giving The Talk, yes that one, Gage hates -coughlovescough- them, tropey tropes a lot, yaoi fangirls as co-workers leads to interesting situations, and sexy photoshoots, best supporting character goes to the dog, small town, Asher and Zar are so obvious there is a bet riding on them, Zar uses handcuffs for not sexy reasons, at least the first time, only one sledgehammer was sacrificed in the making of this book

Trigger warning:

Toxic family members