His by Daniel May

Title: ⟫ His

Author: ⟫ Daniel May

Rating: ⟫ 4/5

Blurb: ⟫ Lucas Russo was never a child. He was raised like a soldier, trained like a dog to hunt down his master’s enemies.

Shane Case was barely a man. Unraveled by grief, he kidnapped two children to follow in his footsteps, to shape in his image and continue his mission of vengeance.

Lucas never forgave Shane, because forgiveness is something reserved for the living. So is hate. With Shane gone, all Lucas has left are hot, guilty memories he denies to himself as he continues the hunt alongside his brother. Many things in Lucas died with Shane, but desire was not one of them.

But Shane is not dead.

Now Lucas hunts his old warden, seeking Shane’s ghost in both dreams and waking world, haunted by memories of his fists, his mouth, his cruelty. And more than haunted, Lucas is hungry — hungry for answers. For a reckoning. Hungry for the love of the man who stole his childhood.

His is part one of a dark, age gap MM romance.

Review: ⟫ It would be disingenuous of me not to mention that I had some thoughts about the potential plot bunnies for this half of a tale. Two brothers, hunting monsters in an American muscle car much beloved by the older one; a missing father – if your mind goes in a certain direction, I am with you. Add to that, the missing father figure who had a complicated and entangled relationship with the older son, and it sounds a lot like a few stories I’ve read.

This is difficult to review simply because it is only half of the story. Lucas – and the inner writhings of his mind – were fascinating, as was his relationship with his brother, Nicky. Lucas is completely and utterly obsessed with Shane, their pseudo father figure, who died three years ago – his mind creates memories and he self-medicates with weed to handle the chaos in his head. This is very much the back story – how Lucas came to be the man that he is, why he is obsessed with Shane and how much the need and desire for that man rules his life.

I would say it isn’t so much of a romance because Shane doesn’t come back on the scene until very late into the book. How Lucas finds him is fascinating, and their first real time spent together in three years is hot and terrifying in equal measure. But the story is most definitely only half-told and as such, it’s really difficult to rate this story. I don’t think there is any way to read this as a standalone and I await the publication of part two in September to complete the picture.

As always, May writes with assured confidence, pulling you easily into the story and the calibre of the writing isn’t in question – I think that I personally would have preferred it if the two halves had been published together.

I received an ARC from GRR.

Becoming Bennet by Cora Rose & Nicole Dykes (Behind the Camera #2)

Title: ⟫ Becoming Bennet (Behind the Camera Book #2)

Author: ⟫ Cora Rose and Nicole Dykes

Rating: ⟫ 4/5

Blurb: ⟫ I cannot stand Bennet Montgomery.

His rugged hotness knows no bounds and his unwavering cheery disposition is maddening. How can someone be that happy all the time? His smile infuriates me.

I need to keep my distance from this man and all his Midwest charm. I have my camboy career to focus on and I can't afford to get attached or bogged down with his nonsense.

But when Bennet receives devastating news about his mother, his grief consumes him.

I don't know what to make of this new sad side of Bennet. All I know is that his teary eyes infuriate me even more than his smile. I need to get his stupid smile back.

So that's how I wind up accompanying him home to his tiny town in rural Kansas.

And let me tell you, this California boy is not cut out for a land where fruit salad has marshmallows and where you're just as likely to be eaten by a feral cow as you are to be chased down by an angry rooster. *Shudder*

The worst part is, Bennet and I are forced to share one bed in a cramped trailer. And as I try my hardest to comfort this man who I can barely call a friend, I wonder if maybe that flutter in my chest isn't just heartburn. Maybe I can allow myself to get swept up in him...just for a bit.

That is if a rogue tornado doesn't sweep me away first.

Becoming Bennet is a funny and sweet MM romance with forced proximity and only one bed.

Review: ⟫ Jasper finds himself thrown into a completely unexpected situation when he is with his co-worker Bennet when he finds out that his mother has had a stroke. Somehow, this complete city boy finds himself travelling to a farm in Kansas, helping to take care of Bennet’s family who never met a vegetable they liked, all whilst sleeping in a decrepit old trailer with Bennet and trying to figure out just when feelings had crept into things.

Bennet is an absolute sweetheart who falls apart during times of stress. He can’t quite believe that Jasper has not only accompanied him to Kansas but is sticking around, taking care of Bennet and his family, and showing signs of interest that Bennet has been searching for ever since their scorching hot scene in front of the cameras.

The relationship builds as the two men work together to keep things together for Bennet’s mother, film what are meant to be teasers for Carter’s fledging cam-boy business and fall in love – all at the same time. This story is full of jokes, snark and banter, as well as a healthy dose of sexual innuendo and steamy sex.

The writers work well together – I didn’t find it obvious which of them wrote which section and there didn’t seem to be hiccups or plot holes which I would imagine can be difficult in a collaboration. I’ve read more Cora Rose than I have Nicole Dykes, so I would describe this as appearing to be very much in Cora’s style – slightly off the wall, very sexy, and quite swiftly paced. An enjoyable romp with a sweet centre and plenty of laughs.

I received an ARC from Indie Author Creative.

Under Cover by Amy Lane (Covert Book #1)

Title: ⟫ Under Cover (Covert Book #1)

Author: ⟫ Amy Lane

Rating: ⟫ 4.5/5

Blurb: ⟫ For Judson Crosby, the transfer to the elite law enforcement branch of the SCTF is a great escape from the death sentence he earned as a whistle-blowing patrol officer. Calix Garcia, the fierce new guy, makes a perfect partner, catching bad guys while minimizing collateral damage. Crosby loves working with him.

Of course, he’d also love to work him over in a totally different way.

Garcia has waited his whole career for a solid, dependable partner like Crosby. But after six months fighting crime together, he’s done fighting their attraction.

Their coming together promises to be everything they need… until a threat from Crosby’s past comes back to haunt not just him, but their entire team.

When Crosby goes undercover to keep them safe, Garcia is frantic with worry. One false move could get Crosby killed and Garcia exposed. But they have to fight their way clear, because hiding your lover under the cover of darkness is no way to live. Crosby and Garcia will risk everything for the chance to live their lives in the light.

Review: ⟫ This one hit the floor running and pretty much went full tilt from there!

The beginning of a new series finds us meeting Judson Crosby, a good cop put in a bad situation who finds a transfer to a new city and new unit makes his life immeasurably better. And that’s before he gets a new partner.

Calix Garcia starts on a new team, with a new partner, wanting this to be the best thing in his life. And rapidly finds that not only has he found the perfect workplace, but quite possibly the perfect partner – in more than one way. And that all happens in the first few chapters!

What happens after that is vintage Amy Lane – we have bad guys, even worse guys, an intricate plot that you have to pay close attention to, and a set of characters that you very swiftly come to care very much about. It’s kinda obvious by now that I absolutely freakin’ loved this book! I started reading and found myself absorbed immediately, trying to remember who was who, and figure out what was happening, all whilst rooting for our guys to get something resembling a happily ever after. Calix and Judson were good people and the way they were with each other, both caring, a little possessive, loving and downright hot for each other was perfect.

The plot was intricate and deeply involved, with The Sons of Blood who were similar to the KKK but working within the police force and other agencies. It also involved drugs, crooked lawyers and politicians and a set of people who were determined that justice was deserved for all – regardless of their race, creed, sex or colour. It reminded me very much of the Marshals in Mary Calmes’ series which means I am already jonesing for the next story.

An easy 4.5/5 from me and I heartily recommend it to anyone who likes a lot of action amidst their steaming hot sex.

I received an ARC from the Author.

Only You by Leta Blake ('90s Coming of Age #3)

Title: ⟫ Only You (‘90s Coming of Age #3)

Author: ⟫ Leta Blake

Rating: ⟫ 5/5

Blurb: ⟫ Join Peter Mandel on his final steps to love in Only You, the highly-anticipated final book of Leta Blake's ’90s Coming of Age series.

Despite the lingering wounds of his past relationship, Peter is ready to take a chance on finding a faithful love and embracing his true self.

Peter and Daniel explore their connection despite Daniel's complicated home life. But when Adam resurfaces, desperate to win Peter back, Peter must confront his complicated feelings and the painful ghosts of their shared past.

Only You is a powerful and emotional conclusion to the series and a must-read for fans of New Adult Romance and Coming-of-Age fiction.

Review: ⟫ Book hangover ahoy! I stayed up all night reading the final part of Peter’s story and I don’t regret it in the slightest.

It begins immediately after the end of ‘You Are Not Me’ and we find Peter facing a life where he has made (hopefully) his final decision regarding Adam and facing his future. He’s unsure if he has lost his opportunity with Daniel AND lost the new friends he made over the summer, yet he is determined that he wants to move forward as his honest, authentic self and I found myself feeling incredibly proud of him.

There were so many moments in this book where I feared for him, was proud of him, wanted to shake him and cried for him. This ending to his story – or where we leave him – was absolutely brilliant.

He’s in college and figuring out who is he as a photographer, a young gay man, a friend and potentially a lover of someone who can wholly belong to him, and he takes you along on this journey. Leta Blake manages to portray the fears, confusion, highs and lows incredibly well and I was swept away by the idea that they managed to do this throughout Peter’s story without losing his voice in all of it. I can only applaud them for it.

This was a rollercoaster of a read, with some moments making me fear for Peter’s safety, for secrets being exposed, and for chances being taken. The reality of AIDS/HIV was brought to the forefront in painful and realistic ways without fearmongering and I appreciated the sensitivity displayed towards the subject throughout the series. The consequences of actions finally came out into the open, and I appreciated how the two sides were shown – Peter faced his head-on, with as much dignity as possible whilst showing humility and understanding for the part he played; others did not act the same way. I would go so far as to say that we see one character completely unravel beneath the weight of his actions and I know many readers will be glad to see it happen. It’s only due to the writing that you feel any sympathy for this character at all – he’s not a cardboard villain, he’s just a young man who doesn’t know how to be who he is and that was heartbreaking.

It’s difficult to review this without inadvertently spoiling aspects of the story so I will simply say that I put the book down and picked up my laptop to write my review immediately because I wanted to at least try to get down how I was feeling. This was quite possibly the best book by Leta Blake that I have read and I can’t recommend it enough.

I received an ARC from GRR.

The Loathed Omega by K. Worthy (The Omegas of Windsly Book One)

Title: ⟫ The Loathed Omega (The Omegas of Windsly Book #1)

Author: ⟫ K Worthy

Rating: ⟫ 3.5/5

Blurb: ⟫ Jackson Rockford is a walking cliché. He’s handsome and rich, with dark, brooding eyes and a jawline carved by the gods. As the beloved captain of Windsly Academy’s football team, every alpha wants to be him, and every omega wants to be with him.

Well, every omega except for me.

Since our first encounter, Jackson has haunted my days and stalked my nightmares. He says I repulse him and makes sure I pay for it. Every. Single. Day.

It’s too bad that our fathers don’t get the memo…

During our last spring break, I’m faced with an impossible choice. Marry Jackson or spend the rest of my life rotting away in a golden prison.

My fate is the same either way, so I hold my head high as I walk down the aisle as the loathed omega.

I brace myself for his revulsion. But when his hand touches mine, a fire ignites in our hearts, changing us forever.

I may belong to Jackson, but now he’s mine too.

And not everyone is happy about it.

The Loathed Omega is a non-shifter omegaverse romance and the first book in The Omegas of Windsly series. Each book can stand alone, but the stories and characters are connected and will be best enjoyed when read in order.

Buckle up for a high school bully romance featuring first times, hurt/comfort, true mates, found family, off-the-charts heat, and a HEA.

This book contains very strong language and explicit sexual content. Please see the author’s note for information on trigger warnings.

Review: ⟫ This sounded like a really interesting take on the idea of soul-mates – I’ve never read about soul-mates being repulsed by each other and I was interested in the dynamic and how it would work out.

The beginning of the book definitely went with that idea – Jackson was completely awful to Eli, bullying him and encouraging his friends in a physical attack. However, once the marriage takes place and the discovery of them being soulmates comes to light, everything changes. And for me, this change happened too quickly in the book. It would have been more interesting in my opinion if the discovery had taken place later.

I did enjoy the practical aspects of things being explored – just how do two people who feel like they are halves of the same whole cope with being separated all day, every day? And just how does Eli get over how Jackson treated him before they discovered the truth?

I think, from my perspective, although aspects of this were explored well, the whole bullying aspect was glossed over too soon and too easily by everyone involved (apart from maybe Jackson). The side plot involving a young alpha felt a bit fake and extraneous and I would have preferred if the focus had been elsewhere.

The book has many sex scenes, is generally well written and moves along at a decent pace. I haven’t read any other works by K Worthy but will look out for them. This was a nice enough read but missed the mark on a few things for me.

I received an ARC from GRR.

You Are Not Me by Leta Blake ('90s Coming of Age #2)

Title: ⟫ You Are Not Me (‘90s Coming of Age #2)

Author: ⟫ Leta Blake

Rating: ⟫ 4.5/5

Blurb: ⟫ Follow Peter into the summer following his senior year to face new beginnings, new friends, and old baggage. After a tumultuous final year of high school, Peter Mandel needs a break. It’s the summer of 1991, and his secret relationship with his ‘best friend’ Adam Algedi is put on hold as Adam goes away to Italy for the summer. On the cusp of adulthood, Peter has a couple of months to explore who he is without Adam at his side. Enter Daniel McPeak, a slightly older, out, responsible college guy with a posse of gay friends and an attraction for Peter. Drawn into the brave new world of the local gay club, Peter embarks on a whirlwind of experiences—good and bad—which culminate in a hotel room where he has to make the ultimate choice. But Adam will come back eventually, and there are promises that have to be kept. As autumn draws near and college awaits, can Peter break free of the binds of twisted first love? And what exactly is Daniel’s role in his life – a brief temptation, or something more?

Review: ⟫This part of the trilogy (I thought there were four books but there are actually three) follows Peter over the summer – Adam is away, Peter is avoiding all of the friends he has made in his final year at school and entering a whole new world. Things are changing at home as well – he learns more about his uncle, his mother becomes more than a distant shadow in the background, and Peter discovers that his feelings for Adam don’t mean that he can’t find someone else attractive. In fact, his attraction to Daniel and the person that he is, as well as finding what could well be ‘his’ people makes him look at his relationship with Adam through different eyes.

I wasn’t sure where this one was going – it was only part two so I knew that there wasn’t going to be a happy ever after. It was fascinating watching Peter begin to turn into the person he was meant to be, without all of the complications of his relationship with Adam coloring everything, even if it was still a huge influence.

I loved meeting new characters and once again, everything is through Peter’s eyes – new, precious, strange and terrifying in almost equal measure.

I felt quite a lot of frustration with the situation with Adam, especially with the idea that once he returned Peter would return to what I quickly began to see as the ‘cage’ of Adam’s love and insistence on how their relationship had to be. I wanted Peter to fight his way through but I also remember the strength of that first love and how hard you cling to it because who knows if you will ever feel anything that strongly again? If you will find someone else who makes you feel the way your first love does?

I found it extremely difficult to make myself stop and write this review before moving to the final novel – I wanted quite desperately to see what was going to happen next, if Peter had made the right choices, if things were going to work out the way I hoped that they would – but I forced myself because it only seemed fair to people who won’t have access to the third book straight away.

I would say that book two is most definitely not ‘filler’ before the main event – every chapter shows Peter's growth, or sometimes even his regressions, and the honest, awkward, painful changes he is going through. Once again, I can recommend reading this even knowing that you might have to wait for the third book – it is satisfying in and of itself, even if it’s not the end of Peter’s story.

I received an ARC from GRR.

Pictures of You by Leta Blake ('90s Coming of Age #1)

Title: ⟫ Pictures of You (‘90s Coming of Age #1)

Author: ⟫ Leta Blake

Rating: ⟫ 4.5/5

Blurb: ⟫ Growing up gay isn’t easy. Growing up gay in Knoxville, Tennessee is even harder.

Eighteen-year-old Peter Mandel, a private school senior—class of 1991—is passionate about photography. Peter doesn’t have many friends, preferring to shoot pictures from behind the scenes to keep his homosexuality secret.

Enter Adam Algedi, a charming, worldly new guy who doesn't do labels, but does want to do Peter. Hardly able to believe gorgeous Adam would want geeky, skinny him of all people, Peter's swept away on a journey of first love and sexual discovery. But as their mutual web of lies spins tighter and tighter, can Peter find the confidence he needs to make the right choices? And will his crush on Daniel, a college acquaintance, open a new path?

Join Peter in the first of this four-part coming of age series as he struggles to love and be loved, and grow into a gay man worthy of his own respect.

This new series by Leta Blake is gay fiction with romantic elements.

Book 1 of 4.

Warning! These books contain: New Adult fiction, ‘90s gay life, small city homosexual experiences, Southern biases, sexual exploration, romance, homophobia, bisexuality, and twisted-up young love. Oh, and a guaranteed happy ending for the main character by the end of Book 4.

Review: ⟫ I saw the first three books offered for review at GRR and I hesitated – could I cope with a cliffhanger like that? Was it worth it?

Having read book 1, then I can categorically say that to me, the wait will be worth it. I decided to review each book that I have (books #1 – 3) after I had read them as that seemed the most fair. So this review only covers book 1 and I have waited to read book 2 so that it doesn’t influence things.

Peter Mandel is gay. It’s the 90s, AIDS has struck down many in the gay community, and in the small Southern town in which he has grown up, being gay is something that gets you beaten up – or worse.

I really enjoyed this story. Told entirely from Peter’s perspective, it’s an extremely insightful slice of life. Peter isn’t the popular kid, the jock or anything like that – he’s a loner who takes photographs, tries to avoid being noticed, and has changed schools due to bullying. He meets Adam at orientation and there begins a transformative experience that forces Peter to learn a lot about himself, about rights and wrongs, how it feels to be on both sides of the equation and life in general. Amidst all of that, he’s trying to pass his senior year and hide a huge aspect of his personality from practically everyone.

There were elements of this book I hated, some that made me cry (growing up in the 80s/90s, I kinda know some of the experiences that Peter had but from the race perspective and the writing brought some of that back), but many elements that made me think and feel happy. And that is perhaps the best way of describing this book – it makes you live in Peter’s shoes and feel what he’s feeling. The confusion, the frustration, the hurt and the joy – it all comes through from the page.

Although it’s a ‘cliffhanger’ the ending felt appropriate as it represented the end of a period in Peter’s life and being on the cusp of something new and different. I closed the book and sat and ruminated on many aspects of it, allowing myself to soak in what I had learned about and from Peter before considering opening book 2. I think it’s going to be a difficult thing to wait for book 4, but in the meantime, I have books 2 and 3 to keep me going.

A solid 4.5 from me. I received an ARC from GRR.