Tag Archives: mm arc review

The Office Bet by Eden Finley (King Sports #2)

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TITLE: ⟫ The Office Bet
AUTHOR: ⟫ Eden Finley

SERIES: ⟫ King Sports #2
RATING: ⟫ 4.5/5

BLURB: ⟫ Fox

There are only three things in life I’m passionate about: my family, sports, and hating Archer Holloway.

He’s the most prolific associate at the firm and out earns everyone at our level. Plus, he’s annoyingly good-looking and is somehow able to charm everyone. Everyone except me.

His athlete roster might be impressive, but his tactics for signing clients can be questionable at best.

So, when the chance arises to stealthily pitch to someone he’s gunning for, I don’t hesitate.

Two can play at this game.

Archer

I don’t understand why Lincoln Fox hates me. Okay, so maybe I signed a few athletes he was pursuing, but that’s not personal. It’s business.

I really do think he’d come to like me if he got to know me. He won’t give me the time of day though. He never has. Which is a shame because Fox is the most attractive man I’ve ever met.

The more he argues with me, the more everyone around us thinks there’s a spark between us. The office pool is over two thousand dollars now, but they’re backing the wrong horse. No one will win this bet because the chance of us hooking up are less than zero. Fox will never see me as anything more than an over-competitive jerk. What a waste of money. Archer and Fox fall in love in this rival sports agents to lovers in this low-angst MM romance.

REVIEW: ⟫

These two were funny as all heck! I loved the dual point of view and how much they thought about the other person, even when they were pretending that they didn’t like each other. I as fascinated by this insight into how the agents work and what they can achieve, and was seriously impressed with how they handled the entire Dalton situation.

The romance between the two of them was well written and believeable – this wasn’t instalove, this was getting to know someone and discovering the things about them that make you appreciate who they are and how they became the person they are. Both Fox and Archer put the effort and work in to make things work out and I loved that this was shown with their actions. The sex was hot but hotter than that was the honesty and communication between the two of them!

It was great catching up with characters from other series (Damon sounds like he has absolutely turned into a silver fox and I am here for it), as well as football royalty still kicking butt in the background. A very enjoyable read and I can think of at least three people I would like to be the lead in the next book which can only be a good thing!

I received a copy from Foreword PR.

Stubborn Puckboy by Eden Finley & Saxon James

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TITLE: ⟫ Stubborn Puckboy
AUTHOR: ⟫ Eden Finley & Saxon James

SERIES: ⟫ Puckboys #9
RATING: ⟫ 4.5/5

BLURB: ⟫ Colby

Once upon a time, playing for the NHL was my dream. Then Radimir Novicov skated circles around me and made it clear I’d never be good enough. He was smart, talented, and worst of all–sexy. Every closeted guy knows that you don’t hit on your teammate, even if his gaze lingers longer than it should.

All it took was one drunken close call before our friendship was in tatters, he was called up to the NHL, and I was sent for further conditioning.

Playing in the NHL was off the table, so coaching became my new dream.

And seventeen years later, I’m finally heading to the big time.

Video coach. Pro level. The only downside?

It’s for Novi’s team.

Novi

Radimir Novicov is not scared of anything. I am one of the best. Future Hall of Famer. There are two years left on my contract and I will end my career on the highest high anyone did see.

Then I will slink into the shadows where no one will hear of me again.

Because while I’m playing professionally, I cannot come out and be myself. Not with my family still in Russia.

The plan has been set since I first moved to America, and I only have two years left to wait. It should be easy to focus on hockey.

Then Colby Kessinger walks back into my life. The teammate with the lopsided smiles and cocky attitude–the one who made my heart want things it can’t have.

Now two years feels like a lifetime.

REVIEW: ⟫ I went into this one a little blind as Novi didn’t really make a huge impact on me in the previous books. Big mistake – huge! Novi is a fabulous character, full of humour, strength of character and love and reading about him and Colby fighting for their happily ever after was a fantastic experience, for which I gave up a night’s sleep as I only meant to read one chapter and then hours later, I finished reading!

The secrecy of the relationship – for both of the main leads – was handled extremely well. None of their reasons for the way they acted were frivolous, and acknowledging all of the dangers inherent in workplace relationship, along with the political aspects and potential for ruining lives and careers were all made clear. Which made it all the more beautiful when both Colby and Novi didn’t play games – their communication was open, honest and really good to read . I loved the background cast of characters (Novi’s sister is a definite favourite) and being together with entire Queer Collective was a joy. I almost died laughing when Colby and Novi attended one of the Collective’s parties, and it’s a really good thing that they have the fire department on speed dial – IYKYK!

Eden and Saxon have managed to keep this long running series on a tight leash, with no repetition of tropes, and up to date understanding of what is going on in the real world whilst also allowing us to escape into their hockey world. I am so pleased I grabbed the opportunity to read this and recommend it wholeheartedly – the world needs more puckboys!

I received an ARC from Foreword PR.

Sweat by Jonah Yorke

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Sweat – Jonah Yorke

TITLE: ⟫ Sweat
AUTHOR: ⟫ Jonah Yorke
RATING: ⟫ 4.5/5

BLURB: ⟫ Tommy

I should hate Rowan Hughes. He was a bully when we were kids, and now I find out he’s messed around with my girlfriend. But how can I hate the campus soccer star when he’s everything I’ve always wanted to be?

With my reputation on the line, I can’t let Rowan get away with humiliating me in front of people I know—people we both go to school with.

When he swears he didn’t know Annalese was my girlfriend, I actually believe him. When he says I’m good enough to play beside him, I want to believe that too. But when he insists he’s not gay, all I want is to prove him wrong.

Rowan

I made one dumb decision at a party, and now Tommy Mathison thinks I’m into his girl. He couldn’t be more wrong, but it’s not because I’m gay. It’s because I’m weak. Now I’ve got a beefed-up babyface’s knuckle prints bruising the side of my face, and I can’t get him out of my head.

Tommy isn’t weak, and he may just be the missing piece my team needs to win a championship before I go pro. I don’t know why he quit soccer after high school, but getting him back on the field is easy. Keeping him close without losing control? That’s the real challenge.

SWEAT is a high-spice hurt/comfort sports romance that deals with heavy themes related to identity, mental health, grief, and coping with past trauma. This book is intended for readers age 18 and up.

REVIEW: ⟫ There is very little about this story that makes it seem like a debut novel – I am extremely impressed with this.

Tommy doesn’t have the best life – his sister is struggling from cancer, his Mother is stoic and blunt, and college isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. And don’t even get him started on his long-term girlfriend who has cheated on him – again! But this time she’s cheated with someone Tommy knows – and hates.

Rowan honestly broke my heart. I thought all of my sympathies would be with Tommy, but the more into the book I got, the more I just wanted to give Rowan a huge hug and tell him that he wasn’t alone. He felt his only worth was in how he played soccer – finding love wasn’t on the cards for him.

Until Tommy barrels back into his life with a punch, somehow pushing all of Rowan’s buttons and making him face things about himself that he had managed to keep relatively pushed down. Perhaps the story could have been edited to be a bit shorter – we get a lot of training and football, and for a little while I wondered where the story was going. The relationship between Tommy and Rowan was actually really beautiful – the way that their broken edges fit together so well, how they grew to understand each other – was masterfully handled. There was a scene after a soccer match where I literally gasped out loud and clutched my pearls, terrified for what it meant for our boys.

The angst was handled so well – Erica deserves a special mention for making the decision to handle things on her own terms – and the characters were all ‘real’ people. There were no caricatures, obvious ‘bad’ guys or anything like that. The team mates were funny, entertaining and ultimately supportive and I enjoyed the banter and felt it was realistic. I will definitely keep an eye out for the next book in the series and am so pleased that I picked this up.

I received an ARC from BookSirens.

Himbo Hitman by Saxon James

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TITLE: ⟫ Himbo Hitman
AUTHOR: ⟫ Saxon James
RATING: ⟫ DNF

BLURB: ⟫ What do you do when you’re a hitman … who’s terrible at his job?

At first, I thought it would be an easy payday. A few pew pews for bad people, a couple of suitcases of cash for me. People have done worse for an honest living. Probably.

The problem is that after a couple jobs, I’ve never actually managed to unalive someone, and not for lack of trying. Apparently, a basic requirement of a hitman is being a good shot.

Despite my constant duck-ups–that my boss knows nothing about–I’m given another name, and I very nearly follow through. Only after obliterating this guy’s ear, and his fervent pleading to spare him, I’ve sent him into hiding and collected the cash anyway.

But wanted people are hard to hide, and bad guys don’t like paying big money for loose ends.

Now that Van Gogh has shown his face again—sans ear—I’ve scammed my way into his security team, which is sort of ideal since I’m now highly wanted as well.

Unfortunately, we have some “trust issues” to “work through” from our meet-shoot, and with the gorgeous bastard’s brother missing, he refuses to lay low until they’re reunited.

I’m not sold on the plan honestly, but this guy has me questioning my sexuality along with my career path, and I’m at the point where I’m determined to see a job through to the end.

Or die trying.

But hey, at least then I’d finally deliver a body.


REVIEW: ⟫ I don’t think I’ve ever not finished a book by Saxon James, and for it to be an ARC as well makes it even more unlikely. I don’t know if it’s because of recent ill health, a lack of connection with the characters or just a need for something different, but no matter how much I have tried to finish this one, I have failed. I don’t take it lightly that I was given an ARC and can only hope that I will be back on form sooner rather than later. My thanks to Foreword PR for the ARC I received and hopefully, better luck next time!

Blitz’d by Lee McCormick & RS McKenzie (Evergreen University #1)

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Blitz’d – Lee McCormick & RS McKensie

TITLE: ⟫ Blitz’d
AUTHOR: ⟫ Lee McCormick & RS McKenzie

SERIES: ⟫ Evergreen University #1
RATING: ⟫ DNF

BLURB: ⟫ Zander

Kissing my rival shouldn’t have felt so good.

Finding out my girlfriend has been cheating on me for months makes me do something crazy: kiss my rival to make her jealous. I wasn’t supposed to like kissing Kerian Slade. He’s a psycho who demands things of me…things I shouldn’t want. But there’s something about Kerian that draws me in, and now that I’m caught in his web, he won’t let me go.

Kerian

The number one rule: don’t care about people.

Caring is a distraction, and emotions are messy… and messy is something I hate. Which is why I’m confused when the messiest player I’ve ever met—my rival—kisses me and turns my world on its head. Zander Braithe is sweet, emotional, and straight. That doesn’t stop him from coming back for more, and that doesn’t stop me from realizing I’ll burn the world down to make him mine.

Blitz’d is a dark themed MM romance between two rival football quarterbacks and a kiss that changes everything. It contains high heat, unexpected sweetness and a possessive quarterback that thinks stalking is a love language and a NFL hopeful that wants to love him despite his initial misgivings.


REVIEW: ⟫ I love a dark MM romance and thought this sounded like just my kind of book. Unfortunately, I found myself disliking both of the MMCs and the way the premise came about was just too much for me. I hate not finishing books which is why this has carried over for about three months but I think it’s time for me to admit that I’m not going to finish it. YMMV.

The Price of Ice by N.J. Lysk

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TITLE: ⟫ The Price of Ice
AUTHOR: ⟫ N.J.Lysk
RATING: ⟫ 4.5/5

BLURB: ⟫ Hockey is all Kallen has ever wanted, but as an omega, his role is to keep his hockey team together. His body is his team’s both on and off the ice. It’s a price he is willing to pay to play, but when he is finally accepted into a professional team, all his expectations of team as family are shattered.

He still wants the ice badly enough to stay, even knowing one day he will be asked to breed with his team to produce a new generation of players. But no matter how hard he tries; he cannot help but wish for something more… Something an omega in his position can’t ever have.

An alpha of his own.

He knows that if he opens his heart, he won’t be able to do what needs doing, but when offered kindness amidst the chaos and the cruelty, he might not be able to deny himself anymore.

This novel has dark themes and a happy ending.

REVIEW: ⟫ The warnings about the dark themes were no joke – from page one, a sense of unease and disquiet is very obvious and it grows as each chapter passes. What was fascinating was how Kallen justified and accepted things simply because he was expected to – he blamed himself for so many things that were most definitely not his fault, it was heartbreaking.

Quite a bit of the story was relatively slow-moving and in that time, the author explored themes of discrimination and prejudice, omegas discovering their power and found family with a deft hand and an interesting slant. It was a very interesting read and to some extent, the romance aspect of things took a backseat to the politics and aftermath of what Kallen suffered through. It’s given me quite a lot to think about and I very much enjoyed the way that things ‘ended’, with Levy and Kallen having what could be considered a relationship that was out of the ordinary but which worked for them.

A very thoughtful, affecting read with some good characterisations, some lovely relationships and a new slant on the whole alpha/omega/beta dynamics but I would say take heed of the trigger warnings.

I received an ARC from GRR.