Tag: LGBT

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#BookReview: Flight by K’Anne Meinel

Take Flight. This was a very interesting character driven book centered on Jessica Penn. We follow Jess over the course of nearly a decade as she is awoken to the news that her wife has died in some form of plane crash and we follow her through all that is revealed in the aftermath. The story has a major swerve about 50% in, as the narrative of the first half changes and a new villain emerges – with direct ties to the original. Great story excellently written.

This review of Flight by K’Anne Meinel was originally published on April 5, 2019.

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#BookReview: Forever Home by Blake Roland

Fur-ever Home. This was an excellent story that also served as a potential launching pad for a new series, and it executed both brilliantly. Samir and Luis come from opposite ends of the economic spectrum, but are both highly damaged in their own ways. Roland does a superb job of showing these two come together to heal the other via the power of love, and dog lovers in particular will love the idea of a rescue shelter being central to this series. Very much looking forward to more from this author and in this series.

This review of Forever Home by Blake Roland was originally published on March 7, 2019.

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#BookReview: Ghost Story by Pandora Pine

Beware Hitchhiking Ghosts! In this sequel to Ghost of Himself, we come back to Jude and Cope’s slow-burn romance as it continues to slowly burn, but with some pretty significant developments here for Jude in particular. All of this happens against the story of a mysterious Woman in White who is haunting and even outright harming a 15 yo boy. And yes, there are hitchhiking ghosts involved as well – including ghost HTML in my read through! Excellent story yet again, and I’m very much looking forward to coming back to Jude and Cope in their next adventure!

This review of Ghost Story by Pandora Pine was originally published on March 5, 2019.

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#BookReview: Coming Home by Carly Marie

Sophomore Effort Arguably Stronger Than Debut. This is number 2 in the series and blatantly labeled as such, but it *can* be read independently of the first book, if you don’t mind major spoilers of what happens in the first book. I was fortunate enough to read that first book as an ARC as well, and Marie is absolutely beginning a pattern – but a pattern which I’ve never seen from any other author. The books are strong, relatable romances featuring a large extended family on at least one side (the connective tissue in the series) that could work no matter the genders of the pairing. But where Marie truly shines is picking up on “less than normal” kinks and sexualities and building strong characters that happen to have them. Very nice to catch up with the couple from the first book and the entire extended family originally introduced there, and devastating to have some secrets hinted at in the first book revealed here. Absolutely looking forward to the next tale in this series and future work from this author.

This review of Coming Home by Carly Marie was originally published on February 27, 2018.

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#BookReview: At War with a Broken Heart by Dahlia Donovan

Simply Excellent. This is a gay polyamorous romance wherein each of the three men in the relationship have different reasons to be broken, and the author does an excellent job of showing all the warts yet also showing how they heal each other. Truly an excellent romance, even without my next points.

One of the three men in question is Autistic, as is this reader. And this is one of the better representations of Autism I’ve ever seen in a novel. The author understands Autistics in such depth that she either is Autistic herself or has a very close relationship with an Autistic – I’ve never known anyone else to understand us this deeply. Her discussions of meltdowns and personhood in particular sound identical to what many Autistics describe, including myself.

Overall a truly remarkable work, and I look forward to reading more from this author.

This review of At War with a Broken Heart by Dahlia Donovan was originally published on February 26, 2019.

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#BookReview: Kissed In Paradise by Crystal Lacy

Sexy Paradise. In this latest Valentine’s Inc installment, we have a short and volcano-worthy second romance where two boys from North Carolina reconnect on Hawaii a decade after the incident (that opens the book) where one of them stumbled into seeing the other giving a third guy a blowjob in the locker room. The overall story is truly a condensed MM contemporary romance, with all that this entails – questioning, coming together, lots and lots of sex – much of it described in detail – and a HFN. Overall solid work, and I’m really hoping to see these two appear in future books from this author.

This review of Kissed In Paradise by Crystal Lacy was originally published on February 11, 2019.

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#BookReview: Made In Manhattan by Ana Newfolk

Made In Endurance. With the ending of Made In New York, this reader was hoping for a quick turnaround in story timeline – I wanted to see Max’s plans play out!

Unfortunately we learn early in this book that it didn’t, and that both Isaac and Max had life intervene in their desires for a relationship. Combine this with some miscommunications on both directions and the sheer physical distance of your lover being on another continent literally on the other side of the ocean, and, well… they needed help. Fortunately, friends step in to do just that, and between all the characters both Max and Isaac wind up being able to overcome everything to ultimately get the HEA that you know is coming since this is a romance book.

Excellent story that draws you in and won’t let you go. Very much recommended.

This review of Made in Manhattan by Ana Newfolk was originally published on January 21, 2019.

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#BookReview: Made in New York by Ana Newfolk

Solid Introduction. Isaac and Max meet by accident and emergency at a conference. Over the next 36 hours or so, they manage to connect and fall in love. But what happens next? Well, we’re going to have to find out in the next (full length) book, as this short story was just meant to serve as our introduction to them and to allow them to rapidly fall in love at first sight. Which it did superbly. This book has a little bit of everything in its short length. Action (trapped in a fire!), drama (who is this other guy he is mentioning?), fun and flirting, hot sex, deep emotions. Newfolk truly manages to capture a bit of everything, and do it very well. By the end of this book you’ll be hoping you have the next one handy, and fortunately I do. So here I go!

This review of Made in New York by Ana Newfolk was originally published on January 17, 2019.

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#BookReview: The Christmas Lights Battle by Skylar M. Cates

The Battle That Never Was. This is a M/M romance that works well. Both men have their own unique histories that make getting together complicated, but it seems that these complications are resolved way too quickly. As is the “battle” that is so central to the premise that it is the title of the book. But the romance itself flows well, and the sex is absolutely NC-17 and fairly plentiful. Solid book, and looking forward to more from this new-to-me author.

This review of The Christmas Lights Battle by Skylar M. Cates was originally published on December 8, 2018.

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#BookReview: To Be Honest by S.M. James

… This Is An Awesome Story. If you enjoyed a certain other coming of age gay romance that was in theater earlier this year, you’ll enjoy this book as well. Even if you haven’t been exposed to that other story, give this one a try if you like romance and/ or coming of age and/ or road trip stories – this is a solid entry into all of the above categories, that happens to involve two guys at a prep school falling for each other. Very much enjoyed this book, excellent vacation/ beach read (which is when I read it, on a cruise). Very much looking forward to the rest of this series.

This review of To Be Honest by S.M. James was originally published on November 15, 2018.