Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Best Mistake by Kate Watterson

When Lacey Billings gives her boyfriend, Ran, an erotic wake-up call in the middle of the night, she's shocked to discover that the gorgeous man she's kissing isn't Ran...it's his cousin, Rick.

Although Ran laughs off the mix-up, Lacey and Rick can't stop thinking about the unexpected encounter, and they can't escape the scorching flashbacks it's aroused.

Ran doesn't want an innocent mistake to ruin his relationship with his girlfriend or his cousin, so he proposes a solution. He wants the three of them to solve this problem the old-fashioned way, by sleeping on it...together.

This little ebook was one HOT number.  Lacey, Rick and Ran were smoking together and separately.  I definitely wished for a bit more time to develop the characters though.

Cop Out by KC Burn


Detective Kurt O’Donnell is used to digging up other people’s secrets, but when he discovers his slain partner was married to another man, it shakes him. Determined to do the right thing, Kurt offers the mourning Davy his assistance. Helping Davy through his grief helps Kurt deal with the guilt that his partner didn’t trust him enough to tell him the truth, and somewhere along the way Davy stops being an obligation and becomes a friend, the closest friend Kurt has ever had.

His growing attraction to Davy complicates matters, leaving Kurt struggling to reevaluate his sexuality. Then a sensual encounter neither man is ready for confuses them further. To be with Davy, Kurt must face the prospect of coming out, but his job and his relationship with his Catholic family are on the line. Can he risk destroying his life for the uncertain possibility of a relationship with a newly widowed man?

Did you ever just get totally blindsided by a book.  I went into this expecting a syrupy sweet romance with some angst, some navel gazing and then a great denoument.  NOT what I got here.  I got a tenderly wrought emotional book about love, loss, compassion and family.

Run to your ebook outlet of choice and pick this one up.  It was well worth every moment.

Pulled Long by Christine D'Abo

For months, coffee shop owner Ian Long has fantasized about a customer he knows only as "Blue Eyes." Until he learns Blue Eyes is in the midst of a divorce—the last thing Ian wants is to be the rebound experiment of a straight guy. Giving in to lust, he invites the man into the cafĂ© after hours and they indulge in a little exhibitionist play, but Ian is unwilling to get involved.

When he's forced to see Jeff again to return his briefcase, Ian finally agrees to go out on a date. Dinner quickly becomes an erotic encounter in a special room at the sex club Mavericks, and Ian realizes Jeff satisfies desires he didn't know he had. The more he gets to know Jeff as a person, the harder it is to resist falling for him.

Jeff makes it clear he's interested in more than just sex. He wants to go public with their relationship in more ways than one. But can Ian open his heart, when he fears it will be broken?

I had no idea this was the third book in a series, it totally stood on its own.  Loved Jeff and Ian, loved the smexiness of it all.  LOVED!

Striker by KyAnn Waters

Sports writer Max Myers just discovered he lives next door to the hottest soccer player to hit the field. If he scores a coveted interview with the reclusive striker for the Denver Blaze, he could take himself from sports blogger to mainstream sports authority.

Riley Grayson has no interest in interviews or in outing his private life to the public. He wants to be known for the scoring he does on the field and not in the sack. But Max is a temptation he can't resist. Taking a chance, Riley and Max discover they have more in common than passion for soccer and hot sex between the sheets.

Just as they begin to trust each other outside the bedroom, Max is put in a no-win situation: write an article about Riley exposing accusations of drug use, or risk destroying his own credibility. If he does, he'll lose Riley. If he doesn't, he'll lose everything he's worked hard to achieve.

You could totally relate to Max and Riley, their motivations, desires and plans.  Smexy scenes were nicely wrought and the conflict was believable.  I would definitely pick up another KyAnn Waters book soon!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Just What the Truth Is by Cardeno C.

Summary courtesy of Goodreads:

Ben Forman has been in the closet so long he’s convinced himself he’s actually straight. But his denial train gets derailed when hotshot lawyer Micah Trains walks into his life. Micah is brilliant, funny, and determined... and he just assumes Ben’s gay and starts dating him. Finding himself truly happy for the first time he can remember, Ben doesn’t have the willpower to resist.

Still, life isn’t all rainbows and happily-ever-afters. Ben loves his family, but his parents have been estranged from his brother, Noah, since he came out of the closet. Ben doesn’t want to lose them, but Micah won’t be his dirty little secret forever. Suddenly Ben’s hold on his happiness and his sense of self seems to be slipping. If he’s going to survive with his heart intact, he’ll have to own up to the truth of what he wants and who he is. The trouble is figuring out just what that truth is.


Ben could easily have fallen into the type of characterization that is so caught up in navel gazing that they don't actually DO anything or even worse takes himself too seriously.  Ben is funny, crazy, stupid, and so in denial that he could have been a parody of himself.  The fact that he doesn't even in a book written in first person POV is almost a miracle.  Watching Ben fight through all his conflicted feelings could have been an exercise in extreme frustration, but somehow isn't.  That's the mark of a great story.  When it could have been and maybe should have been crazy making but totally wasn't.

Definitely an author that I will be looking for in the future.

ARC provided by Dreamspinner Press via NetGalley

Men Under the Mistletoe a Carina Press Anthology

Summary courtesy of Goodreads:

Baby it's Cold Outside
A man receives the gift of pleasure at the hands of two expert lovers. Boyhood sweethearts get a second chance at romance. Two very proper gentlemen indulge their forbidden desires. And a Christmas tree farmer has an epiphany. It may be cold outside but these four holiday novellas will warm you up.
 
Anthology includes:
My True Love Gave to Me by Ava March
Winter Knights by Harper Fox
Lone Star by Josh Lanyon
The Christmas Proposition by K.A. Mitchell
 
Stories also available for purchase separately.

This anthology of M/M romances started out with a bang with My True Love Gave to Me by Ava March.  I will admit to being a bit of an Ava March fangirl.  In My True Love Gave to Me set in London in 1817, Alexander is still dealing with the fallout of the breakup of his friendship and affair with Thomas Bennett five years later.  When Alexander wanted to take their physicial relationship further, Thomas freaked out and moved to New York with no word to Alexander.  Now, Thomas is back and wants to make up his precipitous flight to Alexander.  This novella has a nice build up of the story between Thomas' betrayal and his return and subsequent attempts to make up to Alexander. 

The second entry is Winter Knights by Harper Fox.  This is my first story by Harper Fox and even though I found this retelling of the Arthurian legend a bit muddy and unclear in places, I will definitely be picking up other books by this author.  The main character Gavin leapt off the page for me.  Unfortuntely Gavin was the only character that I had any real attachment to.  I could have taken or left Piers, Lance and Artie.

Next up is Lone Star by Josh Lanyon another new author to me.  I felt the sensitive portrayal of the motivations of both Web and Mitchell could easily have been too gentle, but the romance and tension were so compelling that this story worked in every way imaginable.  The back story of Web and Mitchell's friendship and romance is concisely parsed out through the story and heightens the anticipation througout and the ending is perfect.  The characters really resonated with me.  I will definitely be seeking out some of Josh's backlist.

The final entry is The Christmas Proposition by K.A. Mitchell.  I have already read several of this author's works and enjoyed all of them to some degree.  This novella is the weakest of the four in my opinion.  The characters weren't clearly portrayed.  The backstory was really muddy which killed any understanding of the motivations of the main characters.  The main character Mel just came off as a whiny little boy.

ARC provided by Carina Press for review through NetGalley

Forever and a Day by Delilah Marvelle

Summary courtesy of Goodreads:

1830 London and New York City

Roderick Gideon Tremayne, the recently appointed Duke of Wentworth, never expected to find himself in New York City, tracking down a mysterious map important to his late mother. And he certainly never expected to be injured, only to wake up with no memory of who he is. But when he sees the fiery-haired beauty who's taken it upon herself to rescue him, suddenly his memory is the last thing on his mind.
Georgia Milton, the young head of New York's notorious Forty Thieves, feels responsible for the man who was trying to save her reticule from a thief. But she's not prepared for the fierce passion he ignites within her. When his memory begins to return, her whole world is threatened, and Roderick must choose between the life he forgot and the life he never knew existed....

This regency romance by Delilah Marvelle begins a new series of "crossing class" barriers type of romances.  This is a solid entry into the series.  The world is clearly regency London and New York.  The main characters are exactly what you expect.  It is easy to identify with their thoughts and feelings.  The author did a good job of "showing" not just telling.  Smexy scenes were nice and steamy but not plentiful.  Good buildup of sensual tension before the commencement of the physical relationship.

Altogether a solidly good romance with likeable characters who have clear reasons for the way they are.  I will be looking for the follow up to this book in August 2012, called "Forever Lady."

ARC provided by HQN for an honest review via Netgalley.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Dawn in the Orchard by Cooper West

Description courtesy of Goodreads:

Gary Winston is a professional musician with a debilitating problem: stage fright. Between his failing career and his failing relationship, Chicago has little left to offer him, so when he inherits his great-aunt's pecan farm in North Carolina, it's the perfect excuse to escape. 

Nervous about being back in the deep South again, surrounded by small-town homophobia, Gary's certainly not ready to fall in love. Then he meets local farmer, businessman, and fiddle player Chuck Everett, whose family has been contracted to harvest the crop of pecans. Chuck’s the perfect man for Gary... except for being deep in the Southern closet. 


Life heats up quickly when they start making music together, and though both men have more than their fair share of baggage, neither can walk away from the relationship. If Gary rediscovers his muse and realizes being true to himself means moving past his comfort zone, will going forward mean leaving Chuck behind? 


Hmm, I have very mixed feelings about this book.  I should have LOVED the story.  I generally devour anything about musicians, but this was just ehhh.  The world building at the begining was very slow, which is fine until the end comes and it's all a rush and really there's no true resolution.  I would have enjoyed this book more if it hadn't ended where it did.  I would have loved to see some more details about how everything was resolved.  To me Tally stole the show, he was so much more clearly fleshed out a character than Chuck.  The love scenes were nicely romantic and you could see why Gary and Chuck acted the way they did.  I just wish there were about 30 more pages to this one.

Don't get me wrong this is a very enjoyable read, it just was not the quality I expect from Cooper West.  I will still be picking up plenty more books by Cooper West.

ARC provided by Dreamspinner Press via NetGalley. 

Exclusively Yours by Shannon Stacey

Description courtesy of Goodreads:
When Keri Daniels' editor finds out she has previous carnal knowledge of reclusive bestselling author Joe Kowalski, she gives Keri a choice: get an interview or get a new job.
Joe's never forgotten the first girl to break his heart, so he's intrigued to hear Keri's back in town--and looking for him. Despite his intense need for privacy, he'll grant Keri an interview if it means a chance to finish what they started in high school.
He proposes an outrageous plan--for every day she survives with his family on their annual camping and four-wheeling trip, Keri can ask one question. Keri agrees; she's worked too hard to walk away from her career.
But the chemistry between them is still as potent as the bug spray, Joe's sister is out to avenge his broken heart and Keri hasn't ridden an ATV since she was ten. Who knew a little blackmail, a whole lot of family and some sizzling romantic interludes could make Keri reconsider the old dream of Keri & Joe 2gether 4ever. 


Wow, what a story.  I love the Kowalski family.  The romance is actually three fold in this story Joe and Keri reconnecting from their breakup 20 years earlier, Evan and Terri and Mike and Lisa need to reconnect now that their children are a bit more independent.  Instead of being bogged down with all these storylines, this book totally works.  The secondary romances are not belabored, but they are there and they are touched on.  The author's writing is deft with strong pacing and the characters are well written and very very likeable.  Even the older kids are given personalities and real face time.  The romance is steamy, the sexual tension is off the charts and the characters just make you fall in love with them.  I can't wait to pick up the next in the series.

 This ARC ebook was provided free of charge by netgalley.com in behalf of Carina Press. This had no influence on my rating or my review. 

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Seal of My Dreams

Description courtesy of Goodreads

Honor, duty, courage, passion . . . the men of the Navy SEALs are a special breed of hero, and in these novellas by eighteen top romance authors the SEALs are celebrated not only as symbols of devoted service to their country but as the kind of men every woman wants to love. They’ll rescue a damsel in distress and her lap dog, too. They’ll battle hometown dramas and international bad guys. When it comes to giving away their hearts, they’ll risk everything.

All proceeds from sales of SEAL of My Dreams go to the Veterans Research Corporation, a non-profit fundraiser for veterans’ medical research.

Between them, the authors of SEAL of My Dreams have won dozens of writing awards including multiple RITAs from Romance Writers of America. Their nearly 600 published novels have sold at least 35 million copies worldwide. The SEAL of My Dreams roster includes many of the best-known authors in modern romance fiction. In addition, many have strong family connections to the servicemen and women of our nation’s military, and many specialize in novels featuring heroes and heroines from all branches of service

I love a good anthology, stories that I can read in between errands on an incredibly busy weekend?  SCORE!  Then you add in Navy Seals?  Double SCORE!  Don’t even get me started on Seaman Yummy on the cover (a real SEAL getting ready for a mission).

This is a great group of eighteen authors who got together to do a great thing to benefit Veterans Research Corporation.  Even better for me is the fact that I’ve only read 3 of these authors previously so now I have a number of backlists to check out.

It’s got to be hard to write a story including enough history to grab the reader’s attention, develop characters that will jump off the page and include a plot of some sort in 25 pages or less.  Some of these stories not only met that expectation, they blew all the way past it into “I can’t stop thinking about…” territory.  Some of the stories may have worked better in a novel or novella length, but all of the stories were enjoyable for one reason or another.  I find that rare in an anthology.

The stories are sweet, poignant, sad, downright heartbreaking and laugh out loud funny.  Come on, you know you want to pick this up and help out a great cause, right?

ARC courtesy of Bell Bridge Books via NetGalley

Caregiver by Rick R. Reed

Description courtesy of Goodreads

It’s 1991, and Dan Calzolaio has just moved to Florida with his lover, Mark, having fled Chicago and Mark’s addictions to begin a new life on the Gulf Coast. Volunteering for the Tampa AIDS Alliance is just one part of that new beginning, and that’s how Dan meets his new buddy, Adam.

Adam Schmidt is not at all what Dan expected. The guy is an original—witty, wry, and sarcastic with a fondness for a smart black dress, Barbra Streisand, and a good mai tai. Adam doesn’t let his imminent death get him down, even through a downward spiral that sees him thrown in jail.

Each step of Adam’s journey teaches Dan new lessons about strength and resilience, but it’s Adam’s lover, Sullivan, to whom Dan feels an almost irresistible pull. Dan knows the attraction isn’t right, even after he dumps his cheating, drug-abusing boyfriend. But then Adam passes away, and it leaves Sullivan and Dan both alone to see if they can turn their love for Adam into something whole and real for each other.

Ok, public service announcement before I write this review.  I ordered this book from NetGalley because I lived in a community heavily populated with gay men in the 80’s and 90’s so this book could have been written by or about people I knew, worked with and lived with when I was in my teens and 20’s.

That said this book was beautiful, lyrical and incredibly personal.  While I don’t know much about the author, it stands to reason that this book may be somewhat autobiographical.  It deals with several difficult issues of the time with sensitivity and hope.  It’s about subjects that could be incredibly dark and depressing but it manages to be full of light and life.  The characters flew off the page and the story was so poignant I found myself tearing up and laughing out loud at different times. 

It’s after reading books like this that I think about the public perception of the Romance genre.  I defy anyone who thinks that romances don’t deal with difficult issues to read this book because it is a love story and it deals with promiscuity, drug abuse, and AIDS. 

Mr. Reed has written a story that is still resonating with me days later, and that is the true test of a good book in my mind. 

ARC courtesy of Dreamspinner Press via NetGalley

Chasing Seth by J.R. Loveless

Book description courtesy of Goodreads:

Veterinarian Seth Davies comes to Senaka, Wyoming, looking for peace and anonymity, trying to escape his past. He’s always been a target for trouble and pain, and Seth has had more than his share of both. Kasey Whitedove takes one look at Seth and assumes the worst. No white man could love animals the way the mostly Cheyenne population expects, and Kasey makes Seth’s first days in Senaka more than unpleasant.

Then an accident puts Kasey in the uncomfortable position of eating crow—and helplessly desiring Seth—despite the danger of Kasey’s life as a werewolf and Seth’s stressful secrets. Chasing Seth down and keeping him safe from his past has just become Kasey's most important job.

J.R. Loveless has penned a great addition to the Shifter genre with some new ground established in this book.  The romance between Kasey and Seth is really nice.  I was glad to see Seth make Kasey work a little bit for his HEA.  The secrets are not as simple as seemed at first and the conclusion was well brought about.  I liked the main characters and enjoyed the smexy scenes.  The story was well paced and the characters were well thought out.

I will look for Nick and Thayne’s book.  I hope there will be one…

ARC courtesy of Dreamspinner Press via NetGalley

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Me

My name is Chris and I'm a book addict.  I've read 500 books so far this year and I have 750 more on my TBR pile.  My reading tastes are all in romance/erotic romance genres.  Yes, I read a ton of smut and I'm an equal opportunity smutter, male/male, menage, BDSM, historic... you name it, I probably have at least one representative in Calibre.  I'm going to be working on my writing skills while I'm doing this blog thing.

What should I read next?  I am suffering from massive book ADD.  I just finished Chasing Seth by JR Loveless I liked it so much I'm almost afraid for a letdown in what I pick next. 

Reviews Reviews Reviews

Since I challenged myself to read 550 books in 2011 and it seems like I'll make it.  I decided that it's time to put together somewhere I can talk about all the crazy romance and smut that I read.  Hopefully someone will like it.