Pictures of You by Leta Blake ('90s Coming of Age #1)
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Romance Language by A.J. Truman
Title: ⟫ Romance Languages
Author: ⟫ A.J. Truman Rating: ⟫ 2.5/5 Blurb: ⟫ Can my straight friend help me cash in my v-card by my birthday?In one month, I turn thirty-five with my virginity still intact. Is there anything more embarrassing than knowing most of my French students have gotten more action than me? Je suis triste
When I accidentally reveal this secret to my close friend and co-worker Seamus, South Rock’s baseball coach, he offers to help me round the bases. It has to be a joke, because Seamus is one million percent straight. There’s no way he’d want to fool around with a chubby language nerd like me, even though I’ve harbored a secret crush on him since the day he first walked into the teachers’ lounge. But then I realize he’s not joking. I’m either entering thirty-five with a bang…or a friendship going up in flames. Romance Languages is a virgin, nerd/jock, friends-to-lovers romance filled with humor and heart. It’s the third book in the South Rock High but can be read as a standalone. Review: ⟫ Based on the other reviews I’ve seen for this book, I have to assume that this is most definitely a case of it just not being the right book at the right time. I applaud how the idea of being plus-size in a judgemental world was handled – realistic yet sensitive, and not going for the ‘easy’ answer of having the protagonist lose weight. So where did this book lose me? Seamus. This completely and utterly straight man not only volunteers to ‘help’ his gay best friend work his way around the bases but leads the way and knows pretty much exactly what he’s doing with nary a qualm about where he sits on the Kinsey scale. Add to that the surface level Seamus’s addiction was handled (we never saw him attend a single meeting despite this being one of the main facets of his character and who he is) and the fact that, despite his lack of funds, there was only one occasion where money was an issue for him – for example, he buys a new suit for a wedding when only recently he’s been unable to buy a bottle of wine. It sometimes felt like an almost incestuous set of friendships and ‘couples’ from previous stories which were a little offputting, especially as the book states that it can be read as a standalone (which it can if you don’t mind feeling like you’re missing out on a lot of in-jokes) and this book simply didn’t work for me. However, I would very much say YMMV – the writing style is engaging, the dialogue witty and fun, and the storyline good. As I said, just not the right book for me.Asking for a Friend by JJ Harper
Title: ⟫ Asking for a Friend
Author: ⟫ JJ Harper Rating: ⟫ 2.5/5 Blurb: ⟫ Lando writes about romance for a living yet shuns it in his life.After too many failed relationships, Lando Hardwick has enough. No more dates for him. His taste in men is abysmal. He always falls for the ones who are only looking for fun.
Hesketh Trent has stopped searching for a boyfriend. They only see him as a walking cash machine, only care what he can buy them. What has happened to romance, love?
Getting soaked by scolding coffee is the worst way to start the day, but hell’s bells, the man is divine. Even though the man ticks all his boxes, no way is Lando giving him his phone number. He’ll be like all the rest: one hot night and he kicks him out the door.
But Hesketh doesn’t give up so easily. The cute redhead with no brain-to-mouth filter intrigues him as no man has ever done.
A cat and mouse chase is on, with Lando as the mouse. Once Lando is caught, they can’t stay away from one another.
Until Hesketh makes a mistake.
Thank god for mutual friends who won’t give up on them and push them together when they’re both too stubborn to take the next step. Asking For a Friend is a stand-alone MM novel with a group of sassy men, a larger-than-life ginger cat called Flanaghan, a stubborn writer, and a man who can plan events but not his own life. Review: ⟫ You know a book hasn’t worked for you when you find yourself wishing that there had been more written about the cat. Hesketh and Lando had pretty much zero chemistry as far as I was concerned and even when they got together, I couldn’t figure out what they saw in each other. Then came the ‘big misunderstanding/mistake’ and I rolled my eyes so hard it hurt. Hesketh made a big mistake – huge – and to be completely honest, I didn’t understand how he did it. Like, I get being distracted but what Hesketh did was so downright disrespectful and pretty much unbelievable that I found myself hoping that Lando would end up with someone else – like someone who would remember his existence maybe? This book was an easy but not memorable read and I simply didn’t enjoy it and didn’t care about the HEA. I definitely would have liked to see/hear more about the cat though.The Sheltering Tree by J.R. Lawrie
Title: ⟫ The Sheltering Tree
Author: ⟫ J.R. Lawrie Rating: ⟫ 4.5/5 Blurb: ⟫ The heart of Alastair Harding’s life is his duty. Becoming the first gay chief of the Metropolitan police has required certain sacrifices, but Alastair made them willingly. If his life now lacks human connections, he can’t exactly complain—and it’s a little too late for regrets.Jay Fieldhouse knows all about sacrifice, too. Brought to London for his own safety by witness protection, Jay’s grassroots charity works day and night to save vulnerable kids from a life of crime. But getting close to other people is tough when no one really knows who you are.
When he meets Alastair one night at a charity event, Jay is intrigued by his glimpse of a gentle soul beneath the commissioner’s uniform. The two men decide to run their lonely paths side by side for a while—after all, life is short and good sex is hard to come by.
Then the shadows of the past begin to stir, and the words which go unsaid might be Jay and Alastair’s undoing.
The Sheltering Tree is J.R. Lawrie’s first full length novel, following her debut anthology, Let Your Heart Be Light.
Review: ⟫ I loved this book. I cannot believe it is the author’s first full length novel – it was freaking amazing!Alastair and Jay meet at a charity event and two more different men don’t come to mind. Alastair is at the peak of his career as the Police Commissioner and Jay has pulled himself up from nothing and built up a worthwhile charity. But the sparks fly, and a one-nighter turns into a FWB relationship that neither man is prepared to admit has deepened considerably.
That in itself would be a brilliant story, but J.R. Lawrie goes much further and this is where the tale reminds me strongly of some of Garrett Leigh’s work. There is a red herring that truly sucked me in, a reveal that is heartbreaking and then things hot up even more. I truly loved this book – it struck so many chords with me. Both Jay and Alastair were so lonely, despite their achievements, and the way they were together was incredibly touching. I have followed the author on Amazon/Goodreads and look forward to reading more.STR8 B8 by K.C. Wells
Title: ⟫ STR8 B8
Author: ⟫ K.C. Wells Rating: ⟫ 4/5 Blurb: ⟫ Work has been a little hard to come by recently for builder Tom Ryder. When a friend tells him about the wad of cash he got for starring in an adult video, Tom seizes the opportunity. Besides, his friend said his co-star was really hot, so Tom is definitely not seeing a downside. Until he arrives for the shoot and finds out his friend glossed over one important detail—Tom’s co-star is a guy. Denny Bailey is only a few months away from finishing the dissertation for his master’s, but that doesn’t mean he can’t find time for his ‘other’ career, especially when it helps him pay off his student loans and keep body and soul together. Life as an adult performer is fun, there are no strings… What could be more perfect? And this latest arrival is definitely ticking most of Denny’s boxes, even if he is a skittish straight guy. That’s fine. Denny can handle that. Until the next day when Tom Ryder walks into Denny’s favourite coffee shop—and he isn’t smiling. All it takes is one afternoon to change both their lives, in ways neither of them could ever have imagined… Review: ⟫ I grabbed this book because I read two chapters of a new KC Wells book that is due out at the end of April and I wanted to get an idea of how they wrote. The story is set in the UK – Tom is a builder and suffering from big businesses coming in and taking all of the work. He wants to help support his ex-wife and her new wife in their attempts to do IVF but money is proving to be a sticking point until his friend, Andy, makes a suggestion. Porn. Denny is a student finishing his Masters degree, who does Porn and OF for the money and because he likes/enjoys it. He turns out to be Tom’s partner in his first attempts to do porn – he and the owner of the business have a habit of ‘tricking’ straight guys by saying that it’s going to be a threesome before telling them that the woman has dropped out and offering them money to do a gay scene. Obviously, the straight guy can say no and there’s no pressure, but still it seems like a pretty icky practice. Tom accidentally runs into Denny at a later point in time and they talk things through, whereby Tom admits that he could have said no, and somehow from this a kind of friendship builds. The relationship between Tom and Denny moved at an interesting pace – Tom is coming to terms with the fact that not only did he enjoy his scene with Denny, but that he might just be interested in something more. Denny is determined not to fall into the trap of falling for a straight friend – he’s been there before and got hurt, and he’s not going to do it again. But in the meantime, the attraction/chemistry between the two of them is hard to resist. This was a nice, easy read with the miscommunication between the two men being completely understandable. The sex scenes were good, the writing style was relaxing, and I did enjoy reading the story. I found the ending a bit rushed: we went from declarations of love to graduation to babies very quickly. However, I couldn’t seem to get past the whole trick that Ari and Denny played on Tom at the beginning. It just felt – wrong, and stuck with me as I read the rest of the book. I can imagine that someone who is desperate for money might end up doing something that they wouldn’t normally do and it causing them some stress/anxiety afterwards and that seemed cruel. It was slightly addressed in the book – Denny told Tom that there had been at least one occasion where someone realised that they had been tricked and retaliated, but other than that it wasn’t really talked about. For that reason, I gave the book a 3.5/5. I will be looking for more books by the author but I think there should, perhaps, have been a bit more warning about this before people go into reading the book.College Bros: Scott and Caden's Story by Brett Chimes (Book #1)
Title: ⟫ College Bros: Scott and Caden’s Story Book 1
Author: ⟫ Brett Chimes Rating: ⟫ 3/5 Blurb: ⟫ I love my best friend and roommate, Caden. But it isn’t exactly your typical platonic love. Regardless of how much I wanted him, I always kept myself in check just fine until we became college roommates. Things have gotten a little complicated since Caden came on to me. We’ve started sleeping together every chance we get and Caden doesn’t really seem to care where we are either. We’re going home to meet my dad’s new wife this weekend. Something tells me Caden isn’t going to respect the fact that it’s my childhood home. From the look in his eyes I have a feeling he’s going to be all over me this weekend. I’m nervous. But I can’t wait. These books are smokin’ hot but emotional too. Every story features a new couple and can be read as a standalone. Review: ⟫ I’m going to be honest, I didn’t pick up much in the way of emotion in this book despite the blurb describing it as emotional. Smokin’ hot – kinda? There were a lot of sex scenes but I found myself more than a little annoyed at Cayden for how he treated Scott, and Scott for the fact that he constantly let Cayden get away with it. It definitely came across to me that Cayden was using Scott for sex, and the fact that he kept seeing girls on the side and often flaunted them in front of Scott got me angry. It also seemed as if Cayden didn’t care if Scott was enjoying himself sexually a lot of the time, with little to no prep or foreplay. It just didn’t sit right with me. All in all, I found this a lot more shallow than I was expecting from the blurb and I didn’t enjoy it as much as I hoped, although obviously YMMV. I received an ARC from GRR.Molly Boys by Vawn Cassidy (London Underside #1)
Title: ⟫ Molly Boys (London Underside Book #1)
Author: ⟫ Vawn Cassidy Rating: ⟫ 4.5/5 Blurb: ⟫ London 1883:For Lord Everett Stanley, escaping his fate seemed impossible. As the second son, he’s destined for ordination and the life of a priest, but he’s hiding a dangerous secret. The laws punishing homosexuality by hanging may have been repealed but he and others of his kind are far from safe. Given no other choice, they take solace in the underground molly houses of London. Now that fragile world is threatened when the East End is rocked by a series of gruesome murders.
Inspector Archibald Franklin worked hard to overcome his working-class roots, making a name for himself as a respected inspector of Whitechapel’s H Division, but when he begins to investigate the deaths of several beautiful young men, fate throws him into the path of the handsome and enigmatic Lord Stanley. His gut instinct tells him the young lord knows more about the murders than he lets on, but the closer he gets, the more Everett calls to him in a way he’s tried to deny his whole life.
As a reign of terror grips London, they are drawn together in order to stop a monster, but for Archie, the growing feelings he has for Everett are a betrayal of the very laws he has sworn to uphold. And as the killer closes in, the two men find themselves bound together by a passion that may be their ultimate salvation or their utter destruction…
Review: ⟫ As soon as I read the blurb for this book, I was very much looking forward to reading it. I seriously wanted to know just how Archie and Everett were going to get their happily ever after, especially in the period they lived in and the circumstances under which they met.
The story was rich in detail and you could feel the Victorian atmosphere: it felt very similar to “Oliver”, with children being pickpockets and having to give their ill-gotten gains to their overlord; the molly houses we saw were fascinating, and the plight suffered by Everett as the ‘spare’ to the heir was suffocating in the extreme. The manner in which the men had to hide their true selves for fear of retribution was palpable and that added to the drama.
The background characters were fully fleshed out and interesting, and I imagine we will see more of them in future books. Francis was an absolute diamond, especially with his regard for Everett, offering him a much-needed escape. There was talk of drugs, orgies and the like, much in line with the era – I don’t think it needed a trigger warning, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention it.
The serial killer plot was fascinating and I was not expecting the conclusion of that the way it occurred. The twist took me by surprise, along with the resolution. So why the 4/4.5 rating? Quite possibly my fault, but although I knew it was a series, I expected more resolution in certain areas that I didn’t receive and that frustrated me. I was also frustrated by the amount of time our two leads spent together. I completely understand that this was setting up the series, but I felt that quite possibly we spent too much time in the Molly houses and therefore missed out on the relationship build-up.
I enjoyed Jack Lightfoot and am looking forward to reading more about him, and I will pick up the next in the series because I have a feeling it’s going to be a doozy, but I was a little disappointed in some areas and that is reflected in my rating.
I received an ARC from the author.
For The Fans by Nyla. K
Title: ⟫ For The Fans
Author: ⟫ Nyla. K Rating: ⟫ 5/5 Blurb: ⟫ Kyran Harbor is everything I’m not.Rich. Popular. A superstar football player who’s awfully broody for someone who has it all. Basically, he’s a preppy jock who hates me. Oh, and he’s also my stepbrother.
That’s right. We’re stuck together, sharing a school, a house… A bathroom. Honestly, I wouldn’t care… If he wasn’t such an uptight control-freak who messes with me just because we’re different.
I had every intention of avoiding him when we got to college… Until abrupt misfortune forces us both into a compromising position.
Now the grouchy jerk I was hoping to evade might be the only person who can help me out of it.
Avi Vega is everything I despise.
A dreamer. A flake. An artist who smokes too much weed and thinks aliens exist. And by some sick cosmic joke, he’s now my stepbrother, following me on what should’ve been my escape plan.
It was already a disaster. Add a sudden financial disruption to the mix, and let’s just say my options are heavily limited. If I want to stay an all-star quarterback on the way to the NFL, I’ll need to do something drastic. Unfortunately for me, and my desperate desire for control, the perpetually smiling stoner has a plan. Maybe we can stop hating each other just enough to pull this off. As long as we remember we’re only doing it… for the fans. **For The Fans is a full-length standalone MM forbidden romance with an HEA. This book contains sensitive subject matter that could make some readers uncomfortable. Please heed foreword warnings and proceed with caution. Review: ⟫ I wasn’t expecting this story – not in any way, shape or form. I certainly wasn’t expecting to feel so much for both Avi and Kyran. The premise was interesting enough to grab my attention, and initially, the story (although good) followed a well-worn path. Stepbrothers are forced into proximity to each other, then forced to rely on each other and get physical. I was also a teeny bit squeamish about the whole thing with Kyran being paid to do things with Avi. But very quickly, the story became so much more than that. It was obvious something was going on with Kyran – the way he bolted from what he was doing with Avi, the confusion and anger he displayed – it was intriguing and mysterious and kept me reading. The sex scenes were hot, and the banter between the two of them was even hotter – Not_His_Baby has got to be one of the best handles I’ve ever seen. But what kept me reading and interested throughout was what was beneath all of the sex and chemistry between the two men – Avi’s insecurities, and Kyran’s need to be perfect. And that is where this book hits you with both barrels. I appreciated the fact that the author provided warnings on her website although I chose to go in blind. I would definitely recommend reading the trigger warnings if you have any concerns about reading this story because although I think the entire situation/reveal was handled very well, I don’t have the same experiences in my background and YMMV. I really enjoyed reading this story – much more than other books I have read by the author – and I especially liked the fact that Kyran took some time to figure things out for himself. Avi wasn’t his saviour even though he called him his Angel. The way he confronted the people who had hurt him in the past was also handled very well – he got to speak his truth and it made me feel so happy and almost triumphant for him. Totally unexpected, hot, steamy but also thoughtful, this was a very good read.Waiting for You by Cora Rose
Title: ⟫ Waiting For You
Author: ⟫ Cora Rose Rating: ⟫ 4.5/5 Blurb: ⟫ As a divorced man in my thirties with a throwaway job and very few friends, I admit that I’ve made a lot of bad decisions over the years. Rounding out the top of that epic list was allowing my son’s best friend, Quinn, to talk me into taking him on a two-week summer road trip…alone. What was supposed to be quality father-son bonding time before Joshua goes off to college has somehow transpired into a battle of wills between me and his nineteen-year-old best friend. Quinn may be young but he genuinely seems to enjoy spending time with me, something I’ve never experienced before, and it feels nice to finally have someone care. I mean, being friends with the kid wouldn’t be so bad, right? But Quinn suddenly seems hellbent on flirting with me, and the way he looks at me is anything but friendly. My will to stay away from this sweet, attractive, and persistent young man is waning. With the two of us alone in a camper, in the wilds of Michigan…Christ, this is bad…very, very bad.Waiting For You is a low-angst and spicy MM age-gap, son’s best friend romance.
Review: ⟫ In a way, this is a very different book from Cora Rose. All of the other books by this author I have read have been college age men, just beginning life and not as beaten down. Grey has been beaten down – by life, his ex-wife, by the lack of relationship with his son.
This trip is his last chance to spend some quality time with his son before Joshua goes off to college and he has put so much hope into the trip, it actually hurts when Josh lets him down.
Then we meet Quinn – Josh’s best friend – who volunteers to go on the trip with Grey and everything changes. Suddenly, Grey isn’t travelling as someone’s Dad, playing catch up with a bitter ex-wife, or just trying to be someone he’s not. Quinn sees Grey – more clearly than even Grey realises.
As a character, I had the utmost respect for Quinn. He was willing to put his feelings out there, let Grey know what he wants and just go for it, even knowing he’s risking rejection. And as their relationship builds – and from the very beginning, it IS a relationship, not a hook-up – my respect for Quinn grew. He’s had to be so self-reliant, with his parents erring too far on the side of ‘letting him be his own person’ from too young an age, and as such, even though he’s 13 years younger than Grey, he’s more than capable of holding his own and taking control.
The physical connection between the two of them is undeniable – hot, steamy, dirty in all the best ways – but it’s when they’re hiking, eating or just talking to each other that everything becomes so much sweeter. I loved the possessiveness that Quinn displayed, his willingness to be a sulky teenager if it suited the circumstances, but the way he took control of Grey was absolutely epic.
My feelings towards Grey were more mixed. I could see just how/why he was beaten down – he married young, stuck by his wife and child until he couldn’t any more, and instead of the amicable relationship they agreed on, he was quickly made out to be the enemy. It was easy to see how he fell into the role of silent provider, never taking anything for himself.
Until Quinn. I wanted Grey to stand up to his ex-wife, to tell his son the truth, to reach out for Quinn instead of letting Quinn make so many of the moves. It was fascinating to see his character grow and begin to realise that he wasn’t a bad person – that, yes, some people might have an issue with the age gap but as long as he and Quinn knew nothing inappropriate had ever happened, that was what counted.
There was some drama – to be expected with a best-friend’s-dad scenario – and it was heartbreaking to see it from both angles. However, I really appreciated the way that it wasn’t drawn out artificially, and I really loved the way that Grey finally stood up for himself. I was practically cheering when that happened.
All of the hallmarks of a Cora Rose romance are here – possessiveness, hot sex, deep, abiding love – but there feels like there was a maturity in this story that I found missing in a couple of the recent titles. I literally read this story in a matter of hours – I was completely engrossed and needed to see how things played out, and I think there’s no greater compliment that I can pay than that.
I received an ARC from Indie Author Creative on Booksprout.
Tales of the Harker Pack Collection by Tara Lain
Title: ⟫ Tales of the Harker Pack Collection
Author: ⟫ Tara Lain Rating: ⟫ 3.5/5 Blurb: ⟫ A werewolf versus a panther shifter, a billionaire, socialite flamboyant, half-human wolf, and a shifter so charismatic he captivates with a stroll across the room—meet the males of the Harker Pack in Tara Lain’s bestselling paranormal collection. You’ll fall in love – just like they do.Book 1 – The Pack or the Panther
Cole Harker, son of an alpha werewolf, is bigger and more powerful than most wolves, tongue-tied in groups, and gay. For twenty-four years, he’s lived to please his family and pack—even letting them promise him in marriage to female werewolf Analiese to secure a pack alliance and help save them from a powerful gangster who wants their land. Then Cole meets Analiese’s half-brother, panther shifter Paris Marketo, and for the first time, Cole wants something for himself. But this is the battle between cats and dogs!Book 2 – Wolf in Gucci Loafers
The billionaire, socialite, playboy — werewolf. Socialite Lindsey Vanessen wants someone to love who will love him back — an impossibility for a gay, half-human, half-werewolf. Then Lindsey meets tough cop Seth Zakowsy—the hunky embodiment of everything Lindsey wants but can’t have. Seth has never been attracted to flamboyant men. But intrigue turns to lust when he discovers Lindsey’s biting, snarling passion more than matches his dominant side.Book 3 – Winter’s Wolf
Winter Thane was raised on the two cardinal rules of werewolf existence: don’t reveal yourself to humans under penalty of death, and there’s no such thing as a gay werewolf. Ha! Winter takes one look at human FBI agent, Matt Partridge, and decides bird is his favorite food, but trying to convince Matt of that ends them both up in chains and facing imminent death. Winter quickly learns the pack alphas are a bunch of wusses, and humans aren’t quite what they seem.Review: ⟫ The ability to read all three of these books in one was what initially attracted me to this book, and I’m pleased I did read all three of them. I’m not sure when they were originally written, but I found some of the attitudes described to be more than a little out of date – the idea that werewolves can’t be gay being so wildly accepted didn’t sit right, especially as this appeared to be within a contemporary setting.
The romances themselves were nice enough. In book one, I found Paris to be rather aggravating. I understood his need/desire for distance, but I didn’t like the push me-pull me attitude towards Cole and this definitely affected my enjoyment of the book. In book two, I seriously wasn’t sure what to think. The way in which Lindsey was described was a bit over the top, and I found myself offended more than once by the things that his love-interest, Seth, said to him. Add to that the sounds that Lindsey made during the sex scenes (literally making arroooo noises) pulled me out of the story more than once. I think I would have preferred a different method of describing things but obviously YMMV. In book three, I found Damon’s attitude really confusing. I didn’t understand why he chose to bring Winter up so far away from the pack, and why he chose to come back when he did. I did love the resolution to all of the politics and fighting, and the way that the characters from book one and two came back. The ‘twist’ with Matt and his father was signposted a little too much for me, but it didn’t take away too much from the story. I think, for me, this felt a little out of date and this definitely affected my enjoyment to some extent. They were a nice, easy read and enjoyable, but I’m not sure if I will be looking for Jazz’s story which I understand is available. I received an ARC from GRR.
Book-Endz 