Tag Archives: arc: grr

Suddenly Beck by Vawn Cassidy (Belong to Me #1)

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Title: ⟫ Suddenly Beck (Belong to Me Book 1) 

Author: ⟫ Vawn Cassidy 
Blurb: ⟫ A surprisingly sweet, sinfully sexy, and deliciously hilarious romp along the Cornish coast. 
Nathan Elliott has run away from home at the age of twenty-six. His teenage rebellion may have come ten years late, but better late than never. Leaving behind a world of wealth and privilege, and a strict patriarchal family that would never except a gay son, he’s ready to embrace life and make up for lost time, but nothing’s ever that simple. 
A coin toss, a delayed train, and a wrong bus later, and Nat finds himself in a small bay in Cornwall being hauled out of the ocean by a gorgeous stranger and wondering how the hell his life got so off track. 
Beck Ainsley lives life by a very simple ethos, don’t get attached, don’t get involved and don’t fall in love. He’s been there, done that and got the t-shirt that reads I’m a gullible idiot. Now, he keeps his life simple; all he needs is his dog, his art, his rambling sea cottage overlooking the bay and a few choice waves to surf. 
He’s not looking for love or commitment, but when he ends up plucking a posh boy from London with incredible blue eyes from the ocean, Cupid doesn’t just shoot him with an arrow, he decides to club him senseless with the bow too. 
One simple agreement. A summer fling, a chance to act on the insane attraction between them with no strings attached, and at the end of the summer they walk away. 
There’s just one problem, fate is a fickle and capricious creature, and she has no intention of letting them walk away unscathed. They’re about to discover that sometimes the heart wants, what the heart wants… 
From author Wendy Saunders writing as Vawn Cassidy, comes this hot and sweet, first time, MM romance that will leave you laughing out loud and fanning yourself from the heat… 

Review: ⟫ This story was completely delightful! 

I adored Nat – the way he was determined to be free and experience everything; and Beck sounded completely delicious. There is a certain amount of suspending disbelief required, but this book is so well worth that. Full of love, laughter (Molly cracked me up so much), a family dealing with grief and a young man finding himself and true love – who could ask for more? 
The descriptions made me want to visit Cornwall again (I went about 25 years ago and there was nothing but wind and rain), and the whole story was just so sweet and enjoyable. The cast of characters were really cool – I come from a big family so it was fun watching the dynamics of the Ainsley clan and it brought back so many memories. I loved the surfing aspect, especially the family tradition – the description was so vivid and evocative, I almost felt like I was there. And the sex scenes were steamy as all hell – I wasn’t expecting the level of dirty talk but I LIKED IT a lot! 
Happily rounding up from 4.5/5, I received an ARC from GRR.

The Red Collar by M. Kato

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Title:
⟫ The Red Collar
Author:
⟫ M. Kato
Rating:
⟫ 4/5
Blurb:
⟫ Chief Inspector Hayashi Teruo is short-tempered,
impatient and a perfectionist. When another one of his partners
resigns, Teruo is assigned a new one transferred from Hiroshima. But
this comes with a condition: if his partner bails on Teruo before the
end of the month, he risks demotion.


Miyazaki
Shinji wants to forget the problems of his past, focus on
his new position at Tōkyō MPD and work with the department’s best
homicide detective. As a supernatural, Shinji speaks with ghosts of
murder victims, gaining insight into the cases and solving them
faster.

Before
they get a chance to become acquainted, Teruo and Shinji are thrown
into a new murder case. The body of a young man is found, killed with
a weapon bearing a strange resemblance to a dog’s collar. As more
victims are discovered, they need to dig deeper and find the
connection between them.

While
working on the case, Teruo and Shinji are caught into an irresistible
attraction. But being partners on duty and lovers in bed isn’t easy.
As Teruo slowly unravels Shinji’s secrets, he questions his
partner’s integrity, while Shinji is caught in endless lies
threatening his relationship with Teruo as lovers and co-workers.

Review:
⟫ This book got more and more interesting the more I read, but I
definitely had some issues with it. The main characters were not very
defined in my opinion and their relationship got hot and heavy
extremely fast with no real explanation as to why they were feeling
such an intense attraction to each other.

The
Supernatural aspects were really interesting, although I sometimes
got confused with the terminology that was used. I was also
fascinated by Teruo’s reactions – on the one hand, he was more
than a little blasé, but on the other hand he was asking the
questions I would want answers to.

The
procedural aspects of things were good but a bit basic, but with all
of the supernatural stuff to explain that is understandable. I will
be looking for the second book in the series to read and would
recommend this to people interested in a little supernatural touch to
their police romance.

4/5
from me – I received an ARC from GRR.

Pretty Toxic by J.R. Gray (Pretty Broken #2)

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Title: ⟫ Pretty Toxic (Pretty Broken #2) 

Author: ⟫ J.R. Gray 
Blurb: ⟫ Saint Vincent 
 I might be the best-selling solo artist in the world, but my personal life is a disaster. For every number one album, there’s a sea of my worsts, all documented in photos. 
Bad break-ups. Destroyed hotel rooms. Fights. Drugs. 
And just as many rumors. 
Every headline reaffirms the walls I’ve built around myself. Fame destroys everything it touches and I can’t let anyone close.

The only exception is my best friend— Lowe Wilder.

But I’ve fucked that one up too. 

It’s all about him. Every song, every lyric. Every piece of music I’ve ever written. I planned to carry that secret to my grave. He’s straight.

Another break-up, another call to Lowe. I can’t bear to have another scandal splashed across the tabloids. 

At my absolute worst he’s here to pick up the pieces, and I ruined it all with a kiss. 
Lowe Wilder 

I’m the least famous member of the most famous band in the world. 

I’ve sat in the background while we toured the world and tore each other apart.

I wouldn’t have made it through any of this without Saint. He came into my life like a nuclear bomb. Unapologetic and with about as much destruction, but he’s kept me sane from across the world. 

Nothing could come between us. 
Until he kissed me and shattered my world. 
Pretty Toxic can be read on its own or enjoyed part of the Pretty Broken Series. 
Review: ⟫ Ooh, this one was a doozy! 
Lowe and Saint are practically joined at the hip. Platonically. Or at least from Lowe’s side. 
And then Saint finally gives in to his feelings and opens a whole can of worms. 
This book is a mess of emotions and trauma, from the main couple, to the band Pretty Broken, and it was a roller-coaster of a ride from start to finish. Lowe and Saint are a couple in every way apart from sexually, if only Lowe would open his eyes and admit it. 
And Pretty Broken is living up to it’s name. 
I was immersed from the beginning, along for the ride, and suffering alongside both Lowe and Saint. It was a pretty intense look into what life is like for the rich and famous – whether it be living without consequences or in a fish-bowl. 
Lowe and Saint are two peas in a pod – possessive, nearly obsessive, and almost on a crash course to destroying each other unless they can get their act together and figure out how to be together despite how much time they have to spend apart. 
I really enjoyed this one – not as much as I liked Pretty Obsessed, but in a different way. And I am desperate to find out what is going on between Cas and Iris. This was an intense book and very real, and I think this entire series could well become one of my favourites for when I want to ‘suffer’ alongside the main characters. 
4.5 rounded up to 5 – I received an ARC from GRR.

Lord Garrington's Vessel by S. Rodman

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Title: ⟫ Lord Garrington’s Vessel 

Author: ⟫ S. Rodman 
Blurb: ⟫ It’s 2022. 

Magic isn’t supposed to be real. 

Arranged marriages aren’t supposed to exist. 

How are gay arranged marriages for the purpose of magic a thing? 
Fen has grown up all alone in boarding schools. Never meeting any of his family. At his graduation, his older brother turns up to take him home. 
Except Fen discovers he is the result of a shameful affair and not actually related to Lord Garrington at all. Yet, for appearance’s sake, everyone must continue to believe they are brothers. 
To make matters worse, an indiscretion reveals that Fen is a vessel. Someone who grows magic but cannot wield it. Magic can only escape his body and not kill him by regularly submitting his body to a mage. 
Hence the crazy arranged marriage idea. 
It’s a shame the only mage he wants is his arrogant and obnoxious fake brother. 
 
Lord Xander Garrington, like all British nobility, is secretly a mage. 
He was only supposed to pay the boy off, but Fen turned out to be outrageously pretty. Then he turns out to be a vessel. The opportunity is too great to miss. 
He needs to pretend Fen is his brother and sell his stepmother’s bastard to the highest bidder. Securing the best possible match to advance the family’s fortunes. 
If only Xander’s emotions would obey.

He is supposed to sell his fake brother, not fall for him. 

Please note. Xander is a controlling, obsessive bad boy who likes to take control.

This book touches on dark themes, including a side character subjected to the worst that can happen. Off page and not from either main character. 

This book is high heat. No Mpreg. HEA guaranteed. 
Review: ⟫ Suspend belief and strap in for a bonkers ride! Fen made me lmao off and I enjoyed his inner thoughts. Xander was a complete AH, even if he was a sexy one. The story was a fun, quick read that delivered exactly what it said it was. I wish we’d seen more of the magic side of things, but basically, this was hot and steamy with a plot that was pretty much Mills & Boon, but gay and with some magical elements! I read it for what it was and enjoyed it – solid 3.75 happily rounded up!

I received an ARC from GRR.

Last Man Standing by Augustus Roth

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Title: ⟫ Last Man Standing 

Author: ⟫ Augustus Roth 
Blurb: ⟫ “You know, if anybody was going to give death the middle finger, I would have thought it would be him.” 
Ezekiel ‘Kel’ Warbis is the last of them – the only one left after his two best friends (and childhood sweethearts) died tragically and gruesomely young. 
Over a decade later, their loss is still a fresh wound. Kel works alone as a private investigator, wandering through the world functional but aimless, trying to live up to what his friends would have wanted for him. 
He has one friend, a handful of dogs, and a well-organized spice cabinet. He tries. 
His numb reverie is broken by a phone call: noisy teenagers, begging his help finding their missing friend. Guilt compels Kel to take the case – guilt, and an eerie sense of familiarity. 
As he searches for the missing teen, it becomes increasingly clear that this tragedy rhymes with his own. By the time things become dangerous, it’s too late for Kel to turn back. He can only move forward, confronted with answers to questions he was always too ashamed and too terrified to ask. 
He comes to realize that his loved ones might not be gone forever… and that the truth may be more horrible than the bloody memories which echo in his dreams every night. 
Last Man Standing was originally published as Spoiling the Machine by Daniel May. It is a supernatural thriller with a tragic MMM romance at its core and contains a HEA ending. 
Review: ⟫ I’m not sure ‘enjoy’ is the correct word to use to describe reading this book. I was fascinated, repelled, confused and impressed, sometimes all at the same time. And I wanted to know what was going on – although, having finished it, I’m still not sure I fully understand – so I kept reading, hoping that the ending would be satisfying and make sense of it all. 
The ending was satisfying but I am still confused. I think I’m going to be avoiding anything resembling eyes for a very long time, and some of the imagery I would really like to be purged from my mind. I would recommend this book because it was an interesting read – extremely well-written, thoughtful and thought-provoking. 
Just don’t expect to find it a comfortable read! 
4/5 from me – I received an ARC from GRR.

Break Me Daddy by Skyler Snow

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Title: ⟫ Break Me Daddy 

Author: ⟫ Skyler Snow 
Blurb: ⟫ I did something stupid. 

Something needlessly, hopelessly, stupid and now my past is catching up with me. 

I knew when I saw that cash I should have left it alone, but I needed it. And doesn’t the world owe me a little bit of luck? A little reprieve from the constant BS? 
 
Sorry. I can’t help but to rant about my situation because the truth is that I am royally screwed. You see, I stole money from the mob. 
One stupid decision made in the heat of the moment and now I’m running for my life. A friend gave me enough money to hide… 
But he’s coming for me. 

Amadeo wants to possess everything that I am and punish me for what I’ve done. Maybe I could take that if he wasn’t so intent on making me call him ‘Daddy’. 

And maybe I wouldn’t care about that title, if it didn’t make me tingly all over. But I despise him and I always will. No matter what my stupid body…and heart…has to say. 
Break me Daddy is a full-length MM Daddy romance with morally gray characters, a possessive and demanding Daddy, a willful and bratty boy, a load of bloody violence and a well deserved HEA. 

Review: ⟫ I seem to have come across a lot of stories lately that are Mafia based, but I was very interested in the whole Mafia Daddy thing so I went with it. 

For a start, this story does include some bloody violence, unlike other ‘dark’ books that I’ve read recently. And it was interesting how Six reacted to the violence – he didn’t look at Amadeo through rose-tinted glasses, he knew that he was a gangster. 
And Amadeo did a few things throughout the book that made me wince more than once – I mean, his reaction to Angelo upsetting Six made my jaw drop! 
 The sex was pretty hot, and the storyline was relatively engaging. I think the main issue I had was that I found I didn’t really care for either of the main characters – they didn’t grab me in any way, and I kinda lost motivation for reading when I realised that I didn’t like them. 
I actually found Six to be really irritating a lot of the time, and although he admits that he often does things without thinking them through, I wanted to smack him a couple of times for his unthinking actions. 
The story was well written and had an interesting plot-line apart from the relationship between the two leads. I really enjoyed reading the interactions of Amadeo and his siblings, and thought that was very realistically conveyed. It was all in all an enjoyable read. 
I received an arc from GRR.

Bad Wrong Things by C.P Harris

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Title: ⟫ Bad Wrong Things 

Author: ⟫ C.P Harris 
Blurb: ⟫ One promise. 

One summer to see it through. 

One explosive love fuelled by mutual obsession. 
The day Clint sees his son, Joey, off to basic training, the young man he’s devoted his life to extracts one promise from him: spend the summer doing something selfish for a change. The request seems harmless enough until Joey puts his best friend, Raven, in charge of seeing it through. 
Raven would do anything for the people who took him in as a teen, and, when it comes to Clint, anything comes without limits. When encouraging Clint to explore his selfish side reveals Raven’s love for the older man, Raven is shocked to discover his feelings may not be unrequited. Not only are they returned, but all his darkest, most hidden desires have finally found their match. 
Clint’s possession feeds every craving Raven’s ever known. Raven’s openness provides Clint the freedom he’s longed for to take whatever he wants, and soon boundaries are abandoned at the bedroom door. 
As summer’s promise bleeds into winter, and the threat of Joey’s impending return looms over their heads, Clint and Raven love faster and harder.

When Joey’s disapproval ends up being the least of their concerns, Raven and Clint go to desperate extremes to stay close because something is better than nothing. 

Facing an uncertain future, both men are left wondering if you can ever go too far or risk too much and still come out on the other side whole. 
Bad Wrong Things is an age-gap, best friend’s dad romance with two possessive MCs and themes of hurt/comfort and second chances. Both MCs are consenting adults and eventually get their hard-earned HEA.  

Review: ⟫ Oh my days, you had better buckle up for this one because it is a seriously hot and wild ride! 
From the first chapter, I was absolutely gobsmacked and enthralled by this romance. This was not the typical Best Friend’s Dad romance that I was used to reading – this went straight into hurt/comfort and man, did it hurt! 
I loved how flawed all of the characters were, but most importantly, I was fully in with Raven and Clint as they explored something that quickly became possessive, obsessive and all the way bad and wrong. This book never ceased to amaze me and was a real page-turner, if only because you knew something BIG had happened, but you were waiting for the explanation. 
My heart bled for Joey – far away from home and unaware of the bombshell that he had not only dropped, but also the one that awaited him. And what a homecoming! 
Raven and Clint! Well, I don’t think I have proper words for how Raven and Clint made me feel. They were so deeply into each other, it was hard to see how they could have a happy ever after – their relationship might have been exactly what they both needed, but it wasn’t healthy. 
As shown by some of the depths that they fell to. 
The sex scenes were hot (and numerous), but it was actually the moments of quiet, the times when they talked, encouraged each other to follow their dreams, peeled themselves raw for each other that really spoke of how deep their relationship was. 
I was gutted with how things went, but also incredibly hopeful – it didn’t seem right that two men who were so obviously meant to be together should be kept apart. 
I devoured this in one go and then just sat thinking about it and how I felt after reading it. They both had growing to do, and it was necessary that they did it the way they did, but it hurt. And I couldn’t imagine having to make the choices that they did. 
All in all, I really did love this book. I need a breather but I think I’ll probably re-read it because however much pain there was, there was also a lot of love in there, and so much hope. It spoke of families that are chosen, the scars that people can leave on our hearts and minds, and how far you can come if you are prepared to fight but also know when to walk away. 
I received and ARC from the author, but all views are my own.

To Not Date My Best Friend by Gianni Holmes (The Simple Rules #2)

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Title: ⟫ To Not Date My Best Friend (The Simple Rules #2) 

Author: ⟫ Gianni Holmes 
Blurb: ⟫ What do you do when you meet the man of your dreams, but you’re already engaged? You become best friends and hope for the best. 
BAZ 
It was a meet-cute that should have come with a happy ending. I was hardly at my best when I caught Andy snapping photos of me topless in the name of street photography. I fired angry words at him. In exchange, he gave me his jacket to keep me warm. 
Thus began our friendship and an unrequited crush on a man who was about to get married. 
ANDY 

After a photography assignment in the Middle East left me scarred, I have no choice but to face the many issues in my life—my marriage is over, my wife has moved on, and I may never hold another camera between my hands. 

But there’s no hurdle I can’t get over once I have my best friend, Baz, in my life. When he tries to transition from a stylist to a journalist at the magazine where he works, he enlists my help in writing a column. 
How can I prove to him that moving from best friends to lovers makes sense when he’s determined to prove the opposite? 
To Not Date My Best Friend is a bi-awakening romance between a plus-sized stylist who’s claimed his place in the fashion world and a bi-curious photographer who happens to be his best friend. 
This book can be read as a stand-alone and has mild angst in some parts. 

Review: ⟫ I should preface this to say that I think this is more about me than the book. 
I wanted to like this story, I really did. I thought the premise was excellent and I loved the idea of the two of them dating whilst Baz was trying to confirm that it couldn’t work whilst Andy wanted to prove that it could. 
But that wasn’t what the story was. 
I wanted to learn more about what Andy went through that made him decide he needed to face his issues; the whole friends-to-lovers thing happened in a flash with what seemed like very little thought about the consequences if things didn’t work out; and I can’t fully explain it, but it felt like it held little substance. 
I didn’t like the cheating thing with the wife and thought it was unnecessary to the story, and perhaps that affected my perception? I don’t know, this just didn’t work for me. 
It was very well written, descriptive and interesting in parts, but somehow didn’t strike a chord for me. 
3.5/5.

I received an ARC from GRR.

If You Want Me Close by Skye Kilaen

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Title: ⟫ If You Want Me Close 

Author: ⟫ Skye Kilaen 
Blurb: ⟫ Falling in love with your best friend is wonderful… until tragedy means fighting for the romance and the friendship. 
 Bisexual event coordinator Simon Novotny thrives on connection. He cherishes his large, queer-friendly family and his friends—especially his cute, brilliant work bestie, gay IT geek Ziah Holdaway.

It’s taken forever for Simon to to coax Ziah out of his shell. 

Time and again people have let him down, especially those who should have loved him unconditionally. But Simon would do anything for Ziah: text him jokes when he’s down, bring him home-made lunches, change his tire in the rain. Heck, if Ziah needs a kidney, Simon’s got two. 
Minor crush? Maybe, but Simon’s not a make-the-first-move kind of guy. 
So when an unplanned hookup with Ziah proves their chemistry is off the charts, it also shakes Simon to his core. Because for Ziah, it’s not casual, it’s love.

Before Simon can fully process his feelings, a life-altering tragedy upends Ziah’s world. Simon throws himself into helping and also rallies his family. 

But for Ziah, family means rejection, and Simon’s uber-helpful clan sets off major alarm bells.

Can they find a middle path through the storm, or will this crisis cost them both their romance and their friendship? 

A high-heat contemporary M/M romance novel with a guaranteed HEA. 
Tropes: friends to lovers, hurt-comfort, grief, nerds in love, bisexual disaster, single parenting. 
Detailed content warnings will be available in the book’s front matter and on the author’s website. 
Review: ⟫ This was a well-written story, with careful and considerate descriptions of anxiety and depression, as well as one of the main characters dealing with feelings of rejection from family due to their sexual orientation. 
The characters were well defined, clearly distinguishable, with very human reactions to the situations they found themselves. The background characters were also well written, with issues of their own that didn’t overwhelm the main story but made them defined as more than just ciphers for the main characters to play off of. 
Which is why I’m really confused as to why I just didn’t like the story. I didn’t like Ziah at all – I sympathised with his plight but didn’t like the way he handled things at all. 
I found Simon annoying and slightly wishy-washy, and some of the background characters struck me as far more interesting.

I didn’t feel the connection between Ziah and Simon and found their sex scenes to be perfunctory and lacking in real heat. 

Perhaps it was just the frame of mind I was in when I was reading the story? I felt a distant sympathy for both men, but apart from that I didn’t really engage at all, which is a shame as the subject matter, the struggles they were both experiencing and their story was a very good one. 
3.5/5 from me. I received an ARC from GRR.

The Final Stroke by Daniel May (Taste of Ink #3)

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Title: ⟫ The Final Stroke (The Taste of Ink Part 3)
Author: ⟫ Daniel May
Blurb: ⟫ “I’m not a people person, but I’m also not an idiot. I know what it looks like when someone is trying their best to sabotage a good thing.”


Trinket’s
affair is coming to a close. After living with boyfriend Zee and side
piece Mini under one roof for weeks, his ability to play the game has
finally hit a wall. It isn’t just guilt, and it isn’t just the
impracticality of cheating on Zee right under his nose. It’s the
fact that Zee and Mini actually seem to like</i>
each other.



Zee’s patience seems like it can hold out
forever, his care for Trinket expanding to cover the abrasive tattoo
artist. As Mini settles in as house-guest, he gets cozy with more
than Zee’s credit card. The two of them talk art, kink, and
baggage. Opening up comes alongside new opportunities in the bedroom,
and the inevitable question of ‘What’s
next?’

When the time comes, Trinket
isn’t the only one finally forced to make a choice.

Review: ⟫ I
didn’t think this series could get any hotter but I was so, so
wrong! How Trinket didn’t explode with having Mini and Zee under
the same roof, I really don’t know! The relationship between Zee
and Mini is incredible – it was like two lions circling each other
and I was on the edge of my seat, wondering when/if they were going
to attack each other!

I
really didn’t know how this whole situation was going to be
resolved – I couldn’t see how there could be a happy ever after
with how things had started and I was fascinated to see just where it
was going to go.

Daniel
May handled this whole thing masterfully – Trinket, Mini and Zee
felt real; their reactions, emotions, actions – it all felt real
and I was immersed from the first page to the last. I wasn’t sure
if there was any way in which I could be satisfied with how this
trilogy ended but I completely am. There are too many ways in which I
could spoil things and I am trying to be as vague as possible. All I
can say is if you can get past the cheating angle, this series is a
hot, intense read and I cannot recommend it enough.

5/5
from me and I may re-read once I’ve managed to get my brain cells
together after reading all three of these books in one weekend.

I
received an ARC from GRR.