One Good Book Deserves Another

Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Series: N/A
Rating: 4 Stars
Length: 265 Pages
Formats: Paperback, Kindle
Disclosure: A copy of this book was provided to me by the author for review. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.




It started with a girl.

Grad student Savannah Meyers seems exactly the sort of complex and beautiful young woman that most reliably catches the eye and holds the interest of contractor Robby Dalton, and Robby is thrilled when she agrees to meet him for coffee.

It turns out to be a really good date. Sort of. At least, he thinks so. Honestly, Savannah's a little hard to read, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Besides, she agrees to see him again, so Robby's very optimistic. And interested. Of course he's very interested.

He just wasn't expecting their next date to include another guy - one who obviously has a history...and a present...with the pretty Savannah. After that curve ball, a little confusion is perfectly understandable, right? Or a lot...given Robby's utterly stunned, mostly uncomfortable, yet undeniable physical reaction to the gorgeous and haunted Tristan.

After all, Robby's not gay. It's all about the girl. Really. Even if they're a package deal.


My feelings are so conflicted about this book. It's definitely like nothing I've ever read before, and I liked both the uniqueness of story and the wealth of emotion Kerick stirs with the personal journeys of main characters Robby and Tristan, with Savi's unconventional assist. It was gripping in places, heart-rending and painful. Other parts were soothingly, gently hopeful or sweetly, charmingly romantic. A good part of it was tense and a little confusing - in that totally good way of reading a story that's drawn you so deeply into a character's life that his or her perplexed discomfort becomes your own.

Then there were the parts that infuriated and frustrated me, both on behalf of the trials Robby and Tristan face (a testament to how affected I was by them), and in a less positive way at the story itself, which had a few elements that didn't appeal.

For the first three quarters of the book I was totally hooked. I absolutely loved this unusual, touching, emotional story. I loved Robby, with his befuddlement and earnest social awkwardness in the face of his complex and confusing reactions to both Savannah and Tristan. His journey locked me into this book and refused to let me go. And Tristan, the sweet man-child with a gentle soul and horrific past, made my heart ache.

He is such a broken young man, our Tristan, so fragile in so many ways, and yet there's such a guileless innocence and decency in him that I just wanted everything to work out for him, because he desperately deserved happiness, peace, and unlimited love.

It didn't matter to me in the slightest that the unconventional relationship between Tristan, Robby, and Savannah wasn't to my taste for romance. Frankly, the dynamic between Robby and Tristan didn't work for me in that regard, anyway, so I just stopped expecting any sexy M/M romance from the story early in. That helped tremendously.

In fact, this read much more to me like a coming of age story than anything else...except that all parties are already of age (despite the kid's card games and boyish nicknames). It was just far more effective for me as an emotional journey of self-discovery, acceptance, and healing than any sort of romance.

That's generally not something I like to read, but for the first three quarters of this book I was utterly and totally captivated by the characters and their lives. I loved everything about it. Well, okay, I loathed Robby's friend Mikey. From his introduction he did nothing but disgust me. That wouldn't have been too big a problem, though, if it didn't also draw Robby's strength of character into question for putting up with him for so long.

Still, I was dealing with that well enough right up until the incident between Mikey and Tristan. That's where the story started to stumble for me. The aftermath of that scene did more than draw Robby's strength of character into question. It obliterated it, as well as any respect I had for him as a human being for his response - or astounding lack thereof - to what Mikey had done. But it got worse, because there was also Robby's father.

Again, the problem wasn't that Robby's father wouldn't be winning any Father (or Husband) of the Year awards. He's a controlling, close-minded homophobe, but I expect to encounter at least one in stories of this type, so while I detested him, he was not the issue. No, it was Robby's choices and actions after the inevitable face-to-face with the man that derailed the story for me and put another series of large dents into Robby's knight-in-tarnished armor.

By that point in the story, I was hating on Robby almost as much as I was on his dad and Mikey. Fortunately, it was relatively near to the end of the book. Unfortunately, the too-abrupt resolution to everything didn't quite redeem Robby to me before the story ends, so in general the book ended in a less positive place for me than it was throughout the first three quarters of the story.

It also begs mentioning that the book's cover art, which practically oozes an implication of hot, sexy, mature content, utterly fails to reflect the New Adult tone of the story and the extremely tame (mostly glossed over) sexuality in the two brief scenes in which sex occurs. The cover is sexy and beautiful, no argument there, but that art shouldn't be on a book with a story that refers to a man's dangly bits as his "privates" during the only moderately descriptive sex scene in the whole book. Fortunately, it didn't affect my opinions of the story, but that's only because I didn't see it before I finished the book.

Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance; LGBT
Series: Men of Smithfield, Book 2
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Length: 101 Pages
Formats: Kindle
Disclosure: An ARC of this book was provided to me by Carina Press via NetGalley. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.




It was supposed to be a simple weekly massage, routine and uneventful, albeit relaxing and the only thing that has provided Seth Weston any relief from the tension in his life. His twin sister, dead. Her six-year-old daughter, Molly, now his to raise. His former boyfriend, gone...along with most of his money. All of that is constantly grinding together into a mountain of stress that buries him deep on a daily basis.

So he needs that massage.

He got a lot more than he bargained for when his normal masseuse was unavailable and the young, fey-looking David Cooke took her place. Gorgeous the young man may be, but too out there, too wild in clothing, style, and temperament to be taken even remotely seriously. And Seth is all about taking things seriously.

At least he always has been, until the massage David provides ends in a much more...relaxing (for Seth) manner than either men had been anticipating. David, on the other hand, was less than amused. And if it had been any less explosive for Seth, he would probably be mortified. Maybe. Then again, maybe not. Honestly, all Seth truly cared about was making sure David became his new weekly masseur, regardless.

He didn't expect to keep running into the young man every time he turns around, though, and he sure didn't expect to feel such an irresistible attraction to someone so obviously ill-suited for him. But expectations aside, the more time he spends with David, the more Seth starts to wonder if the a man so obviously Mr. Wrong in every way that's ever mattered to him before may just be the one and only man he truly needs.


There were so many very good things about this second installment of Gregg's Men of Smithfield series. I think, overall, it's a smoother, more defined story with the sort of depth and attention to detail that I felt was lacking in the first. There was also another small suspense thread that had marginally more impact on the overall story than the one in the first book.

And of course the sex in this one was just as hot, if not hotter.

David was a total doll from start to finish, and Molly was a cutie-pie. Gregg did a great job with her character, incorporating some of the long-term effects of childhood loss and balancing them nicely with the natural resiliency of children. It made Molly seem very authentic, and she was a delightful presence in the narrative. I just wish I was able to warm up to Seth.

I can appreciate that he was intended to be a flawed character. His being a sanctimonious, judgmental, elitist, standoffish prick was intentional. I get that. The problem for me was both the first impression he made in the massage parlor and the persistence and frequency with which he made such a flagrant ass out of himself. By the time I factored in his unrelenting self-absorption, his character held little appeal, and I grew more and more annoyed with him as the story progressed.

Don't get me wrong, I felt for his losses and wanted to sympathize with the guy, but his character didn't exactly leave a lot of room for sympathy. And where flawed characters tend to be redeemed by the end of a story, especially in romance, I think in Seth's case it was too little too late for my taste. Frankly, I kept wishing David would just put his foot down and really let Seth have it for all the criticism and offense Seth gave the poor guy.

Because Seth was such a jerk for so long in the story, the romance suffered and ultimately failed to touch me the way that Mark and Tony's did in the first book. For all that this story was, in my opinion, a more well-rounded and fully developed tale than its predecessor, my issues with Seth kept it from being as entertaining as I was hoping.

There's no disappointment with the amount of sizzle, though. Smithfield, too, maintained its charm as the perfect quirky backdrop for this very quirky series. With the stronger storytelling this book provides, I have high hopes for the next in the series and look forward to my next stop through town.

Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance; LGBT
Series: Men of Smithfield, Book 1
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Length: 114
Formats: Kindle
Disclosure: An ARC of this book was provided to me by Carina Press via NetGalley. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.




If Mark Meehan had known that finding his boyfriend banging their landlord in their bed would end up being just one of the many, many transgressions Jamie's made against him, Mark would have used something far more substantial than a bible to bash him over his cheating head during that Ash Wednesday mass he thoroughly disrupted. On the bright side, finding out Jamie had also stolen him blind definitely helped push Mark through that annoying grief process.

Normally even-tempered, an utterly betrayed Mark goes off the deep end and keeps right on going. So much so that his actions are a little...extreme. But again he underestimates Jamie, and suddenly Mark is very glad he has a friend in Smithfield Police Officer Tony Gervase.

Though, to be honest, Mark has always wanted Tony as more than a friend.

As Jamie's actions become more and more threatening and Tony comes to his rescue more than once, the sparks between Mark and Tony start flying hot and hard. Maybe after all these years of pining for the cop he's loved since high school, Mark will finally have a chance...and Jamie's betrayal will turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to them both.


I think it was 2009 when I first read and enjoyed this book in its Gobsmacked incarnation. Now it's got a hot new cover, a more appealing title (subjectively speaking, anyway - I've always loved the word 'gobsmacked' and thought it fit nicely as the title), and the story has been gussied up a bit (honestly, I didn't really notice a difference, but it's been several years) to spearhead the re-release of the previously released titles and the continuation of the series. That was very happy news for me as a reader, as I have fond memories of Smithfield and enjoy Gregg's fun, sexy, humor-rich writing style.

Of course, the off-the-charts, sizzling hot sex doesn't hurt, either.

The story still has some of the technical issues that I remember from the first read and the narrative is still extremely fast-paced. The story lacks the sort of detailed description, world-building, and plot complexity that slows a read down even as it fleshes it out and adds depth. Scenes tend to shift quickly and story elements pop up, then pass in a blink as the bare-bones plot races towards the end with a singular focus.

Even with that, though, I enjoyed the story. I absolutely adored Mark and liked Tony quite a lot. There's something about the combination of their personalities that had tons of appeal, and a sort of friends-to-lovers/unrequited-to-requited hybrid theme that worked well for them. Mark's wacky, high-strung antics were a nice compliment to Tony's more steady, solid nature and made me a big fan of them together. So much so that I didn't even mind the first-person point of view in the narrative, something that usually doesn't work for me in romance.

Men of Smithfield: Mark and Tony is simply a fun, sexy read with fun, sexy characters. Shorter than I would've liked, definitely, with a story that progresses too fast for my taste, but still entertaining. It isn't dripping angst or splattering deep interpersonal issues everywhere, but it made me smile, chuckle out loud in places, and even fan myself here and there.

I'm so glad I got this chance to revisit Smithfield, and I'm very much looking forward to renewing my familiarity with the stories I've read as I bide my time for the stories I haven't. I hope they come soon, as Smithfield is just one of those places that begs for frequent visits and I can't wait to spend more time there.

Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance; LGBT
Series: Tucker Springs, Book 2
Rating: 4 Stars
Length: 194 Pages
Formats: Paperback, Kindle
Disclosure: An ARC of this book was provided to me by Riptide Publishing via NetGalley. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.




Life for Paul Hannon hasn't exactly turned out like he thought it would when he first moved to Tucker Springs. First he flunked out of veterinarian school, then his girlfriend dumped him and moved out, and now he's stuck, nearly flat-broke, locked into a lease for the firetrap of a home he can barely afford to pay for with his job as a secretary for a vet clinic.

Not exactly a lot to smile about in all that, but mostly he just wants his ex-girlfriend Stacey back so much he aches. Her birthday is coming up, and Paul sees that as a perfect opportunity to try to get her to come back to him. He just needs the perfect present.

Jaded loner El Rozal is minding his business, literally, when the cute guy with the reddish hair and quirky smile walks into the pawn shop he owns looking for a gift for his ex-girlfriend. It doesn't take fifteen minutes for El to realize how adorably cute but truly clueless and heartbroken Paul is.

El is hardly a perfect angel, though, and when the opportunity to spend time with Paul drops in his lap...for all its less-than-ethical reasons...he shamelessly takes it. And the more time he spends with Paul, the more El crushes on the man. So much, in fact, that he can't help but wish Paul isn't as straight as he thinks he is.

Trying to find out if Paul could ever be receptive to him romantically in a risk-free, subtle way, though, is a far more difficult task than El could have ever imagined. For all that Paul is sweet, funny, kind, and adorable, he's also absolutely and completely oblivious. To just about everything.


Cute and quirky, with one very likable main character and one eminently lovable main character, Paul and El's story made me smile. Cullinan and Sexton kept the plot conflicts from delving into angst-heavy complexity. Problems were mostly taken at face-value, quick to flair up and just as quick to be resolved. I enjoy light, uncomplicated romance now and then so that worked wonderfully for me here. Sometimes, a girl's just gotta have some brain candy.

I loved El. He made the book for me. The things he did to keep Paul coming back to his shop, the way he maneuvered him into spending time with him, both very sneaky and very endearing. He was just so good to Paul, so patient, and when he gets his chance with him, so perfectly in...over his head. I spent most of the tale either amused and/or delighted with him.

And I can't remember any laundry night I've ever had even remotely as entertaining.

El's issues with his sister and mother added a layer or two of depth to both his character and the story, and from the moment he took the dog I was an absolute sucker for them both. I do think that some of the souces of conflict, notably his mother's hoarding, were a bit glossed over, but it did add a twist to his backstory and current family conflicts.

Paul's obliviousness about everything from his sexuality to his job prospects was endearing for most of the book, but there were a few times he seemed more dense than oblivious. He was just a little too gullible for me on more than one occasion. When combined with his self esteem issues, his personality quirks started to wear on me in the latter half of the book, and I couldn't quite embrace his character as thoroughly as I did El's.

I was a little confused by their relationship conflict in the climax of the book. After El's seemingly endless patience and understanding nature when it came to Paul, that struck me as feeling a little out contrived, coming of nowhere. Like everything else, though, it didn't languish unresolved for long. I prefer a bit more work put into the resolutions leading to the end of a book. This one seemed as abrupt as the initial conflict. I have to say, though, I wouldn't have missed Paul's mother explaining her understanding of her son's life for anything. I loved that.

Though Paul and El's romance falls on the lighter and shorter side of a full sized novel, I thoroughly enjoyed their story and my first visit to Tucker Springs. It was just the feel-good, cute, sexy read I needed for a little light entertainment.

Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Series: Theta Alpha Gamma, Book 2
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Length: 100 Pages
Formats: Kindle
Disclosure: An ARC of this book was provided to me by Riptide Publishing via NetGalley. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.




Calapooya College grad student and tutor Paul is an intellectual elitist and a cynical bastard who loathes jocks on principle and is no more fond of frat boys. It's a wonder the guy ever gets laid.

Booted from his old apartment for treating his former roommate's new boyfriend like the jock boy toy he is, Paul is stuck tutoring lunkheads all summer long. He needs the money to get out of the dorms and into his own place before fall session starts. Then he gets a specific request for his tutoring services from the new head coach of the Calapooya woman's softball team.

No. Absolutely not. Paul has a strict "no athletes" policy, and he has no qualms about meeting with the coach and explaining that to the man. At least he doesn't until he actually gets into the guy's office. Then there's all sorts of qualms. And maybe an emotional meltdown or ten.

Calapooya's new softball coach is former Major League Baseball player Trevor Gardiner, the man who betrayed and humiliated Paul back in high school, back when they were boys...and earnest boyfriends...until he and Trevor were caught in an incriminating position and Trevor threw Paul under the bus and out of the closet to save himself.

Everything, absolutely everything Paul had hoped and dreamed about Trevor died a horrifically disillusioned, brutal death that afternoon. And now he's at Paul's school. Retired from baseball and out of the closet, Trevor claims to want nothing more than to make up for the mistake he made nine years ago. He claims to want to try for something real between them again. And he claims to be so very, very sorry.

Yeah, well, there's no way that Paul is going to fall for that line, no matter the hoops Trevor is willing to jump through. It would be emotional suicide. The only way he would be insane enough to even consider risking it would be for love...hypothetically.


This followup to Tenino's charming Frat Boy and Toppy isn't a perfect read. Beyond some pretty extensive editing issues that I hope are polished out in the final version, it's also got some story issues that caused some problems for me. The story is short, even for a novella, and there were a few scenes that I felt could have better served the tale had they been focused elsewhere. Like on character development.

Paul's character is pretty limited in nature to the prick he's always been, but at least he felt familiar to me from his introduction in the first book. Trevor isn't even that lucky. There is almost no page time given to fleshing out or defining his character at all. Readers who prefer depth in character should be warned. There is little to be found here.

It was impossible for me to even consider Trevor a main character, actually. He wasn't in as many of the scenes as I was expecting. Unfortunately, that limited the relationship development between him and Paul quite a lot. I also thought the end of the story was a little rough and too abrupt, and felt the frat house tie-in seemed a bit awkward and forced.

Thing is, though, this story still worked for me. I was not a fan of Paul in the first book, and I don't particularly care about the reason given in this one to explain his prickish behavior and attitude. I don't think just knowing his caustic, bitter personality is born from pain and betrayal redeemed his character. It explained it, yes, and I certainly felt for the boy he used to be. It didn't redeemed the man he is now, though. Not for me.

Something else did that. And that's when I started to notice how much I was enjoying this read. Tenino has this gift for capturing awkwardness in her characters and making it endearing. She did it with Brad throughout the first book, Sebastian towards the end of it, and when Paul's not being an utter ass (which is, admittedly, often), she manages to flush out his tender little underbelly here, too.

Paul's scene with Toby in the bar, that whole hypothetical situation they discussed as Paul battles ice cubes and citrus garnish, was flat-out cute. The scene that really put it away for me, though, was the one in Sebastian and Brad's apartment. It wasn't just the conversation between the three men that appealed, though that was stellar, but also the internal goings on in Paul's head, the thoughts and feelings he's having while they're conversing. I absolutely adored that whole scene to the point that it elevated my overall appreciation for the entire read.

Keeping in mind the length of the tale and accepting the story for what it is helped me enjoy this one. I am really starting to dig Tenino's writing style and her sharp, sardonic wit. Her characters aren't quite the most individual I've ever read (Sebastian and Paul seem pretty interchangeable in a lot of ways), but there is something very appealing about them. And their stories. It helps that Tenino is absolutely no slouch in the yummy sex department, too. So...any chance we'll see Collin's story? I'm still waiting on that one.

Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance

Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Series: N/A
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Length: 200 Pages
Formats: Paperback, Kindle
Disclosure: An ARC of this book was provided to me by Dreamspinner Press via NetGalley. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.




After three years, Detective Kurt O'Donnell knew that he and his partner wouldn't be starring in any buddy cop movies any time soon, but he thought he knew the man, trusted that Ben was a good cop and had his back. Then a tip Ben gets goes as bad as a tip can go and the building they are entering explodes, killing Ben instantly and sending Kurt to the hospital. He's lucky to survive.

It isn't until Ben's funeral that Kurt starts to realize just how little he knew about his stoic partner, including the fact that Ben may have been gay. When Kurt reaches out to Ben's family and goes to his house to speak to the person he suspects he'll find, he comes face to face with the broken and grief-stricken Davy Broussard. Ben's other partner.

Upset not only because his partner of three years had kept so very many secrets from him, but because of how wrecked the poor young man is over his loss, Kurt reaches out to Davy and slowly befriends him as he pulls him back from the ragged edges of despair. In so doing, Kurt doesn't just learn more about his partner, a man he is no longer sure he would have liked had he known who Ben really was, but he learns so much more about himself than he had ever bargained for.

As time passes and Davy slowly heals, a strong friendship forms between the two men. A friendship that starts to unsettle Kurt when thoughts of Davy start to invade his dreams and his fantasies. And when Kurt realizes his body isn't responding to a very blatant sexual invitation by a very gorgeous woman, but the thought of Davy stirs him in all sorts of carnal ways, he gets very nervous.

Kurt has lived his whole life believing he's straight. But what if he's wrong?


This was a very sweet, if relatively uncomplicated romance. Kurt is the focus of the story, and the journey he takes from beginning to end is fraught with life changes and personal angst. A lovely depth of character adds solid definition to Kurt as he goes from feeling content with his life and job and secure in his partnership with Ben at work to having the ground yanked out from under him and everything he thought he knew about himself brought into question.

It wasn't a sudden transformation, and kudos to Burn for taking it one step at a time throughout the story. Kurt has to deal not only with his own injury on the job, but the death of his partner, then the realization of every piece of information that Ben had kept from him. The hits just seem to keep piling up and knocking Kurt down, drawing his own judgement into question.

More than any of the romance elements in the story, Kurt's evolution into the man he truly is was a plot-driving tour de force. I found his calm caring for Davy, the solid, steady presence he becomes in his life, and the deft concern he showed for Davy's grief was very appealing to me. It seemed organic to the character and the situations Kurt gets into and the life he'd led to date. Being the baby of a large family has had an effect on Kurt, and the comfort he gets from assuming a caretaker role for Davy had psychological implications that were nicely addressed.

I wasn't nearly as fond of Davy as a character or a romantic interest, though that's no fault of Burn's. When we first meet Davy in more than a passing fashion, it's over three weeks since Ben was killed and Davy is still so devastated he's barely functioning, not eating, and looks dangerously close to potential suicide. He hasn't shopped for food, hasn't paid bills, hasn't looked through Ben's paperwork or answered any of the letters or phone calls from Ben's lawyers. He just unplugged and caved to his desperation.

It's a long time before Davy really starts to get his feet under him and be his own person. Kurt takes care of him for a while. That level of weakness, spread over weeks, then months, was a problem for me on a very intrinsic level. It's not only that Davy is less masculine than I prefer in my M/M romance, though that's an issue. It's his abject helplessness, however, that bothered me the most.

Damsels in distress and other weak personalities, be they male or female, are a personal bugaboo of mine and always cause me trouble when I'm reading, even when they're well written or the characters have some cause. That is especially true when they are a main character or one half of a romance relationship whole. Davy's initial helplessness could be forgiven for the grief, but after almost a month he should at least be able to shower and get himself to work or feed himself. Maybe help his struggling sister, who has health problems because of her pregnancy. There were just too many things about his character that bothered me too much to be able to really like this story, even with as happy as I was with Kurt.

The story as a whole was well written, though, with enough emotional complexity to appeal to me. I'm certainly interested in other books by Burn. Personally, I'd love to see Kurt's brother Ian given a turn to star in his own book and find his HEA. I liked him, and his revelation at the end needed further discourse. Here's hoping Burn gives it to us.

Genre: LGBT - M/M Contemporary Romance
Series: N/A
Rating: 3 Stars
Length: 250 Pages
Formats: Paperback, Kindle
Disclosure: An ARC of this book was provided to me by Dreamspinner Press via NetGalley. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.



Sweet, But Too Simple

Widower John McConnell still grieves the love of his life, the woman he was lucky enough to marry but lost during the birth of their daughter. Five years has given him some perspective, though, and he's just as likely to wake up smiling from memories as he is to wake up aching with loss - which is a major improvement - and there's no doubt their daughter is a source of joy to him. After the first year, a dark time John would prefer to forget, he hasn't given thought to any sort of social life, his focus on raising his daughter and surviving his loss.

Life goes on, though, and grief eases eventually. One day John looks over at the uncle of his daughter's best friend, a handsome young man named Bryan Simmons, and feels a mix of desire and tenderness stir for the first time since he buried his wife. John has always known he wasn't totally straight - he'd dated a man before he met his wife - so it wasn't an issue of gender, but there was a sadness behind Bryan's eyes that John didn't understand. One he would be willing to help ease if Byran would take a chance on an older widower who may or may not have it in him to love again.

Genre: LGBT - M/M Contemporary Romance
Series: N/A
Rating: 4 Stars
Length: 350 Pages
Formats: Paperback, Kindle
Disclosure: An ARC of this book was provided to me by Dreamspinner Press via NetGalley. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.





Packs a Hell of an Emotional Punch

The day before Derrick "Bear" McKenna's eighteenth birthday, his mother gave him the sort of birthday present from which Bear may never recover. A letter. Saying goodbye.

When he wakes up on his birthday he is sick with fear and anger and loss. He's just a kid himself, really, but suddenly he is the sole parental figure for his exceptional six-year-old brother, Tyson, aka the Kid. His college fund is gone right along with his plans for the future, and he is left to figure out how to take care of the Kid with the exactly $137.50 (of his own money) his mother was...kind enough...to leave for them.

Desperate and near crazed with the horror of it all, Bear reaches out to the one person he trusts more than anyone, the one who means more to him than anyone, even more than his best friend Creed and his girlfriend Anna, though he never, ever examines those feelings. And when Bear, mired in depression and desperation and soaked to the gills in booze, reaches out to Creed's older brother Otter and Otter comes to his aid, Bear steps over a line he isn't capable of even recognizing, let alone being comfortable with.

And he loses everything that matters...again...because of it. Everything except the Kid.

For three years Bear and the Kid are on their own. While the time passes, Creed goes off to college, Bear gets a promotion at the grocery store where he and Anna work, the Kid becomes truly terrifying with his intelligence, and things settle into a routine. Some days are good. Some days aren't. Life moves on. Then suddenly, on the same day Creed flies home for his summer break, another friend long gone returns. After three long, painful, bitter years, Otter is home.

And life for Bear will never be the same again. Whether it'll be better...or far, far worse...only time will tell.


There's a ton of things to like about Klune's debut, Bear, Otter, & the Kid, not the least of which is it's a hell of an emotional roller coaster that slammed into my heart with the force of a major detonation. With main characters named Bear, Otter, and the Kid, along with some rather unique stylistic choices in the narrative, there's almost a fairy tale quality about the book - but it's definitely more towards the Grimm side of fairy tales. Not that there isn't humor, in fact, there were parts that made me chuckle out loud, but there is quite a lot of less-than-pleasant reality, too, as Bear struggles to raise both himself and his little brother as his life and his identity are put through the wringer.

As far as the characters go, I. Loved. The Kid. Loved him. He was my favorite character of the book by far. In fact, for all the thousands of books I've read in my life, for all the millions of characters that have flitted through my consciousness, only to pass out of my mind to make room for the next crowd, the Kid made a place for himself right near the top of the heap. And I was also very fond of Otter, who I appreciated both for his decisions - even when they were impossible and painful - and for his open, generous, loving heart.

But Bear... God, Bear... There were times I just wanted to drown him in that ocean of his and move on. He was just a little too...stuck in his head...all the time, over everything, and it made for some frustrating reading. So much of the melodramatic angst of the book could have been avoided if he'd just manned up and spoken up or spoken out. Would it have been as powerfully emotional a read? No, but I would've felt better about his mental state and his emotional maturity.

In all honesty, I had difficulty viewing Bear as a strong lead character in a successful romance because of his age and his personality and it's pretty much the sole reason I couldn't rate the book with a full complement of stars. Even very close to the end of the book Bear still struck me as needy and judgmental, prickly and defensive, terrified and hostile. And I am not a fan of hypocrisy in any form, so Bear's reaction to Creed and Anna really bothered me. It was totally realistic and believable, don't get me wrong, but I'm no larger a fan of hypocrisy in my fiction than I am of it in my life, and it tends to bother me whenever I encounter it.

I very much enjoyed the loose format, fluid timeline, and more stream-of-consciousness narrative, but I wasn't a fan of the first person, present tense POV. It had the unfortunate result of highlighting all my issues with getting stuck in Bear's head. That being said, the plot was well conceived and executed and the pacing of the emotional ups and downs was consistent throughout the book

A few plot threads confused me a little, there were a couple of times I wasn't sure exactly what the significance or impact a scene was really suppose to have, or was unable to glean the meaning in the subtext while the characters seemed to be doing so. A few balls were dropped, a few scenes didn't make sense, or lacked some believability. Nothing too major, really.

One thing that bothered me was the ease in which the characters blatantly mentioned some fairly crass and graphic things in Mrs. Paquinn's presence. I was hard pressed to believe a bunch of barely-adults would freely talk that way in the presence of the senior citizen who watched Ty. She was portrayed as a pretty wily old broad, but even still, including an elderly lady and a nine-year-old boy in a frank sexual discussion in which both fisting and spanking was mentioned was - and still is - more than vaguely horrifying.

There were also several plot threads that were left unresolved or those which could have been better developed to add a bit of depth and dimension to the plot. The whole mother thing, while providing several gut-wrenching scenes that were successfully horrific and emotionally traumatizing, didn't make a lot of sense in the big picture of the story. Without readers being given a reason for her to show up, an explanation of how she knew what she knew, or having anything relating to her presence tied into the rest of the story, it ended up seeming more like a plot contrivance than an organic evolution to the events of the story.

As an epic emotional journey that rips out your guts and leaves your shattered heart pattering weakly in your chest, Bear, Otter, & the Kid was wildly, crazily successful. I felt like my emotions had been through a natural disaster when this book was done. I'm pretty sure my soul would've looked like a tornado-ravaged town if I could've taken its picture. It may not have been a perfect book, but it was so powerful on an emotional level that despite the issues I mentioned, I ended up feeling both deeply moved and glad I had read it. Heck, even if the book had nothing more going for it than the Kid (which isn't the case by any means), it still would've been a right good time.

And I have to say it again. Loved. The Kid.

Genre: LGBT - M/M Contemporary Romance
Series: N/A
Rating: 4 Stars
Length: 228 Page, 3989 Location Novel
Formats: Paperback, Kindle


Jared Thomas is an openly gay man living in his small hometown of Coda, Colorado. There's only one other gay man in town, but he's years older and a former teacher, so Jared doesn't have much of a social life. He doesn't actually have much of a professional life, either. Despite being highly educated and having his teaching degree, Jared helps his brother and sister-in-law at the family store. He's certain any attempt to teach in Coda would end badly because of his sexuality, and he's unwilling to leave the town and the mountains he loves. Doesn't make him any less lonely, however, so when Matt Richards walks into the store while Jared is manning the counter and asks about the Jeep for sale sitting outside, Jared is instantly attracted and quick to jump up and offer a test drive - of the Jeep. Not himself. Though...

Matt's the new police officer in town and Jared finds out that they have a lot in common...and if it wasn't for the fact that Matt's a Chiefs fan and Jared's a die hard of their division rivals, the Broncos, Matt would be utterly perfect. Despite the obvious error in football judgment, however, Jared and Matt bond fast and hard over sports, activities, movies, food...everything. For the first time in his life, Jared has a best friend and if it weren't for the fact that Matt steadfastly asserts he's straight, he could very well have a soul mate.

Jared realizes he's in love with Matt. Matt is determined to be straight. Their friendship is one of legend for the fun months of summer, but the longer they hang out together, the closer and closer Matt gets to him and the more and more Jared starts to wonder if hope isn't lost after all. Conflicted emotions and torturous expectations threaten to kill any hope of a romance and break the friendship apart totally when one night Matt acts on urges that he doesn't understand and definitely doesn't want.

This is such a great story, made wonderful by the characters of Jared and Matt. Told in first person POV from Jared's perspective, we get a lot of insight into him as a character, and I loved how Sexton balanced Matt's fiercely determined heterosexuality with Jared's less obvious but just as crippling fears. Both men have issues that they can only overcome with each other and I loved that about Promises. I also loved the friendship these men had and the way that this book starts with them really being soul mates without anything sexual between them at all. They erase each others' loneliness and it was a fantastic thing to see.

There were a few things that prevented me from loving the overall book. I think Sexton has quite a lot of technical skill, the narrative is fluid and characters well developed, and other than a couple of editing misses (i.e. Cherie's name being used when Lizzy was being referred to), the story has a very polished, contemporary feel to it. My issues are mostly of the personal preference variety, actually, not criticisms of the story as is.

Despite the months of friendship before anything romantic developed between Jared and Matt, Sexton tossed a lot of issues at the couple in a relatively short span of the book as Matt crashes out of the closet and Jared's life starts to be forcibly widened beyond family. Most of those issues are quite obvious and expected, but not all of them were strictly necessary. I wish that one or two had been pared down to allow for meatier, more significant development of the other very valid issues in a more realistic and less glossed over fashion. I'm not a fan of angsty drama, so I'm not saying I would have preferred that, but I have to admit, this book read a little too lightly for my personal tastes. Every problem was addressed head on, dealt with, and was moved on from without a backwards glance and that's just not the most realistic or, for my personal tastes, satisfying fiction fodder.

I kept getting this mental image of Sexton standing at the edge of a still body of water, a flat stone in her hand. The water is the dark and sometimes desperate issues that any new relationship faces, with an oily top layer of added muck that are the difficulties that two openly gay men can face in society in general and in a small town in particular. The rock in her hand is Jared and Matt's relationship. I kept seeing her sling that rock across the lake and it skipped across the surface, even dipped deeper once or twice before continuing along the top...all the way to the other side, not once really sinking deep enough long enough to truly expound on serious issues in a serious manner.

Again, I'm not complaining or criticizing. I liked Promises quite a bit and loved Matt and Jared. I just wish it had focused on one or two issues that could have been developed with more depth. I didn't like the plot thread revolving around the murder and didn't think it added to the story. I get that Matt is a cop, so maybe that was to tie into that fact, but I didn't feel it necessary to have that element in the book. It smacked of needless melodrama that was covered by Jared's bike accident. I didn't fully understand what Matt's issues were with anal sex, even after he 'explained' it. Jared didn't understand it either, so I didn't feel too stupid, but I wish that issue had been clarified, because I was really scratching my head over it and the fact that it wasn't really understood left it feeling unresolved.

Still, Promises is a good, solid, and sweetly romantic read that I enjoyed very much. I've noticed that Sexton has written several other books with some character overlap, so I'm looking forward to expanding into the loosely connected series. I would definitely recommend this book, especially to neophytes to the M/M romance genre, because the sex scenes were realistic and organic to the development of the relationship and neither overly graphic nor overtly described. It's would be a solid starting point to the wonders and delights of M/M fiction.

Genre: LGBT - M/M Contemporary Romance
Series: N/A
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Formats: Paperback, Kindle


Seattle Homicide Detective Jim Shea did everything he could to put an accused murderer behind bars, but he sat in a courtroom and watched Ed Kelly, a good man, a devoted father and loving husband, suffer the injustice of a not guilty verdict moments before Ed's wife succumbed to a heart attack. The murderer stripped him of his daughter, his freedom cost him his wife. Failure and frustration burned hot and deep in Jim. After the trial, he started working all the time. He didn't sleep much and he retreated from life in a way that concerned all his friends. Then one day, Ed, who since the trial has become a sort of surrogate father for Jim, calls the detective to tell him that Hollywood has contacted him and for the first time, he's agreed to a meeting with them. He called to ask Jim to be there.

Griffin Drake is a screen writer. For years he's been tied to the coattails of famous movie actress Daisy Mae, both as her childhood friend and lifetime protector. Yearning to get away from a studio that favors box office bonanzas over substance, Griffin seizes on the tragic circumstances of Ed Kelly's loss and with Daisy Mae, goes to Ed's house to pitch an idea for a tasteful and respectful ode to the strength of a man who lost everything but survived with dignity. When he first meets Jim Shea, he finds the tall, dark, and stoic detective extremely handsome, but doesn't have any intention of allowing it to go any further. Back in LA, however, his thoughts keep turning to the man and a spur of the moment trip from L.A. to Seattle to see him - to discuss the case...really - turns into a romantic dinner and the best night Griffin has had in a very, very long time.

I loved this story of the stalwart detective and earnest screen writer, and commend Tere Michaels on writing a tender romance with likable characters, each dealing with their own issues yet far stronger together than they ever were apart. Jim is the serious and reserved one, Griffin a bit more emotionally available, but they evolve into strong partners. I particularly appreciated a story line that had them dealing with serious issues and challenges beyond the bounds of their relationship. That's rare in romances and I really liked seeing them support each other. The physical relationship did occur relatively quickly, but the emotional commitment was at a far more leisurely pace and Michaels did a great job of developing the characters, then showing a realistic evolution in their individual growth through the strength of their relationship.

Love & Loyalty was a true feel-good read, and I only had one or two things that I wish had been slightly different. I wish I could have seen some justice for Ed Kelly and his family. His tragedy was poignant and his enduring integrity was impressive. I liked him and wish we'd had a bit of a happier resolution there. I didn't, however, like Daisy Mae and the Hollywood dramatics with her husband, nor the way the relationship between her and Griffin played out. I started out liking her, but the bloom was quickly off the rose and by the end, despite everything, I found her slightly reprehensible. That being said, I credit Michaels for making these characters so believable and sympathetic, or if not sympathetic (as in Daisy Mae's case) at least flawed in a recognizable way.

As for the technical writing, the narrative of Love & Loyalty is smooth, the plot unfurls at a swift but pleasing pace, and Michaels has shown skill with the organic plot development and dialogue, including some cute banter between Griffin and Jim that didn't come off corny or cliched, but really highlighted the way they fit together. I sincerely wish Faith & Fidelity, a precursor to Love & Loyalty, was on Kindle. I have every intention of reading Duty & Devotion, a sequel to Faith & Fidelity and featuring Jim and Griffin from Love & Loyalty as secondary characters, but I'd prefer to start with Matt and Evan's origins. I may just have to buy the book in print.

Genre: LGBT - M/M Contemporary Romance
Series: N/A
Rating: 3 Stars
Formats: Paperback, Kindle


And Call Me In the Morning is the story of Eli and Zane, best friends, doctors at the same hospital, and joined at the hip to such a degree that their best friends tease them unmercifully about their "real" relationship. But Eli is straight. And so is Zach. Or they always have been, until the relentless pressure from friends with their best interests at heart push Zane into doing something rash...something crazy...and something he's dreamt of doing for a year - kissing his best friend. And that one kiss sparks something in Eli that he can't quench. Soon quenching it is the last thing on his mind. Eli and Zane learn that no matter how far along in life they are (43 and 41 respectively), or how defined they've been by sexual rolls, it's never too late to find love and live life as it was meant to be lead. With love, hope, and fun.

I loved the story of Eli and Zane. It was a sweet, tender journey towards discovering love in a most unlikely place and while it may not have been the most original story, nor broke any new m/m romance-genre grounds, it was a definite feel-good story that made me smile. The plot was well paced and steady, with just enough conflict to keep it interesting (though a bit predictable) without being melodramatic...and I love gay-for-you themed stories. They don't always work, but with these two characters, it really did.

All that being said, I had some problems with a couple of things in And Call Me in the Morning. I don't know if it's Willa Okati's writing style or if I'm just out of the loop, but the narrative - told in a loose third person from Eli's perspective - was sometimes a struggle to understand. As too the dialogue between the characters. I'm not sure why, exactly, but it was almost like there were times when things weren't said in complete sentences (particularly the dialogue), or described with a complete concept, and the narrative was difficult to follow because of it. Plus there was a lot of very internal-type communication between Eli and Zane. More said with looks and action than dialogue. That can be an effective tool, but it was sometimes a little too vague to sufficiently describe what was happening in the scene. Character development was also a problem for me. I thought Zane was probably the most fleshed out of the characters, the most three-dimensional, but as the story was slanted from Eli's perspective, I felt his development should have been more fully realized. Secondary characters were two dimensional - with maybe the exception of Taye, but they didn't have much of an impact on the story so I was pretty forgiving of that.

Overall, I liked And Call Me in the Morning, but the difficulties I had discerning what was going on or what Eli and Zane were talking about interrupted the flow of the story for me, and combined with the sweet but unoriginal plot and predictable conflict, I can't rate it higher than three stars. I've read other books by Willa Okati and while I think this one was by far the most romantic and sweet of them, I don't necessarily think it was the best written. Still, I liked it. And I loved Eli and Zane.

Genre: LGBT - M/M Contemporary Romance
Series: N/A
Rating: 4 Stars
Length: Novella
Formats: Kindle


Here I am again, reviewing another of Lanyon's novella-length stories and once again, I can't express strongly enough my appreciation for his technical skill, his intelligence and wit with a plot and characters, and his ability to draw me into the world with strong, believable happenstance. And in The Dickens With Love, Lanyon shines especially bright for adding a surprising amount of depth and backstory to the lead character, James Winter. Novella's are often hampered by their very nature, but in this, Lanyon rose above those limitations to provide an exceptionally well rounded character. His romantic lead, a Mr. Sedgwick Crisparkle, was perhaps not quite so fully defined and fleshed out, but was still superior to many two dimensional characters in novella-length stories.

Add in a sweet holiday melancholy and yearnings for respectability once had and now lost and a measure of growth for James' character, and this lovely tale just shines like one of those starburst or starlight drinks Sedge favors so much. Which sounded delicious by the way...if a bit monstrously strong. The "excerpts" from the "Christmas Cake" were charming little surprises that lent an air of reality to the story as well. As I've said in a previous review of a novella-length Lanyon story, the only critique I truly have is that the romantic aspects of this m/m holiday romance don't quite touch me on as deep an emotional level as I'd hoped, but I still believe that's more due to the limiting nature of the length of the story than any failure on Lanyon's part. I admit...I'm cynical and don't believe in love developing within days or hours, so when the story spans such a time, it's hard for me to buy into a love-at-first-Dickens whirlwind romance.

But top-notch storytelling, as always, for Lanyon.

Genre: LGBT - M/M Contemporary Romance
Series: N/A
Rating: 4 Stars
Formats: Unrequited


As a huge fan of the writing duo of Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux, I thought I'd give Roux's single authorship a try, and I'm quite glad I did. Unrequited is the story of prosecutor Vic Bronsen, a man in love with a guy who treats him more like a pleasure pit stop than a partner, and for five years Vic's been putting up with it. Every time his lover Owen leaves his bed (rarely more than thirty minutes after sex), he also seems to leave Vic's life, until the next time Owen has an itch to scratch. Then the phone rings, and Vic's right back to where he was. It's enough to make a man feel cheap and used.

Growing more and more depressed by the situation, and starting to think less and less of himself for his inability to leave Owen alone, when his best friend Shane takes a month's vacation from his job as a seated judge, and offers the opportunity for some sun and sand on the outer banks of North Carolina, Vic takes him up on it. When Vic starts to realize that all the things he yearns for from a relationship with Owen are all the things he enjoys most about his friendship with Shane, he begins to question if he was looking in the right place for love. But Vic doesn't even know if Shane is gay, and that may be a problem. Will Vic be destined for a lifetime of unrequited feelings, or is Shane the one for him?

Well written, Unrequited is a decent story, but it's quite short, and the length hampers the development of the relationship between Shane and Vic and limits the characterizations of all three men. Ultimately, the resolution at the end seemed far more forced than organic to the story, and from the point that Owen shows up at the vacation spot to the end, the story didn't really work for me, but I really enjoyed what there was story-wise between Shane and Vic on their trip. I truly would've liked to have seen where this story could go if it was about 100 pages longer.

For the fantastic writing of Urban & Roux together, I highly recommend these: