British Romance

Two Bodies, BREAKING, and Healing–A Review

Hi there! I’m happy to share a review for a contemporary M/M romantic suspense from Barbara Elsborg. BREAKING is a romance between two men that may soon not exist. That’s right, somebody, or somebodies more like, want the main characters…dead.

Breaking (Fall or Break, #2)About the book:

Archer Hart is on the move before the man he’s just killed is found. When a bullet whizzes past his ear, he realizes hunter is now hunted. So much for his retirement plans. Someone wants him dead and all he can do is keep running.

Downed by a hit and run driver, barrister Conrad Black is certain the ‘accident’ was deliberate but he has no proof or support. In recovery, struggling to work out of partial paralysis, he has plenty of time to wonder who regrets not striking him harder. At this point, running anywhere is a distant dream.

The confidence, determination and stamina of two alphas males will mean little if neither is willing to bend—seize the love offered—and work together to understand why they’re suddenly both marked men. Not easy for either when Archer has broken the law in the worst possible way and Conrad is the law.

My Review:

4.5 Stars for this exhilarating M/M romantic thriller. This is the second book in a series, but fully enjoyable as a standalone.

Conrad Black is a barrister who’s recovering from a traumatic injury. He was run down by a vehicle and thought to be paralyzed, but may recover given time and therapy. He’s also convinced that his accident was no accident, and he’s got an investigator working leads from his previous cases.  He moves into a secluded beach house in northern England to recuperate.

“Archer Holt” is a freelance assassin, formerly of the SAS (British CIA), a fringe element that handles the dirty business of eliminating those criminals who put themselves in untouchable places. His last hit went sideways–he got the mark, but was nearly taken out by a second sniper. Going deep underground on the mainland, he attempts for find a life for himself. Not so easy for a man with no history or ties. He’s surfing when his tether snaps and he’s knocked unconscious in the ocean.

Sullen and paranoid, Conrad’s frustrated with his lack of walking two months out from his recovery. To prove to himself that he CAN get better he makes an ill-advised sojourn onto the beach, and notices a surfer go down, and not come back up. The surfer’s dog is going wild on the beach and Conrad is compelled to try to help. He crutches out to the water, and into the water, and manages to pull Archer from the surf. And this begins the most unlikely of romances: an assassin and a barrister.

I really loved the alpha dynamic here. Usually I’m put off by bluster, but each man is so cagey, they barely argue. Posturing is at a minimum, and almost always with a thread of ironic humor. Conrad and Archer are both broken, survivors of molestation and rape as young men/boys. They have an ingrained sense of control, and a deep need to maintain it. Archer knows he should leave, but is completely drawn to Conrad. Conrad knows that Archer’s bad news, but he’s also inflamed by the idea of Archer’s dark history. Plus, each man knows that there are killers in the ranks, but they have no idea who has made them targets. While Conrad saves Archer, Archer saves him right back. It’s an intense read with double and triple crosses, and several high-stakes chases.

In the midst of that is a love story that starts rough and ends tenderly. The fears are ever-present. Will Conrad survive? Will Archer? Can they really make it together? It was M/M Jason Bourne–in the best way.

I think, though, that there was a bit of the story that languished for me, and I wanted that bit to get faster. I kept waiting for the All Clear, and I feared it might never come as the political machinations played out. Conrad is a trouper, and an  unfailing light in Archer’s darkness. He’s also preoccupied with his position in their relationship: Bottom. He hates the idea of submitting, at first, and even when he enjoys it he knows it will be a deal breaker if that is all he’s allowed to do. Archer takes a long time to open up–in terms of actual pages, that is. The story’s time frame is compressed. Archer and Conrad have only known each other for a few days before they are both in mortal peril. Again. That said, they strike a tight bond in those hours and days, and Archer’s biggest secret is more vulnerable than horrifying. I really enjoyed how Conrad accepted it and gave Archer what he needed, even if it wasn’t what he wanted. The sexytimes are as intense as the thriller plot, and D-Lish.

Interested? You can find BREAKING on Goodreads, Samhain Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and AllRomance. I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley.

Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!

Daddy’s OUT! What Next?

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review for a just-released M/M romance form JL Merrow. OUT! is a contemporary romance that features a mature divorced man getting his new life started, with a hot young boyfriend. Oh, and his daughter’s there to take him down a peg, or three.

Out! (Shamwell Tales, #3)About the book:

When the costs are added up, will love land in the black?

Mark Nugent has spent his life in the closet—at least, the small part of it he hasn’t spent in the office. Divorced when he could no longer deny his sexuality, he’s sworn off his workaholic ways and moved to Shamwell with his headstrong teen daughter to give her a stable home environment.

His resolve to put his love life on hold is severely tested when he joins a local organization and meets a lively yet intense young man who tempts him closer to the closet threshold.

Patrick Owen is an out-and-proud charity worker with strong principles—and a newly discovered weakness for an older man. One snag: Mark is adamant he’s not coming out to his daughter, and Patrick will be damned if he’s going to start a relationship with a lie.

Between Mark’s old-fashioned attitudes and a camp, flirtatious ex-colleague who wants Mark for himself, Patrick wonders if they’ll ever be on the same romantic page. And when Mark’s former career as a tax advisor clashes with Patrick’s social conscience, it could be the one stumbling block they can’t get past.

Product Warnings: Contains historically inaccurate Spartan costumes, mangled movie quotes, dubious mathematical logic and a three-legged pub crawl.

My Review:

This is the third book in a series but can be fully enjoyed as a standalone.

4.5 Stars.
Mark is a 39 y/o closeted gay man, who is recently divorced from his wife and assumed custody of their 14 y/o daughter Fen. His ex-wife is the only one he’s told of his sexuality, and he thinks he’s been canny enough that no one will suspect. He’s given up his lucrative career as a tax advisor (one of those blokes who tells the uberwealthy where to hide their money from the taxman) and moved out of London into Shamwell, a countryside village that is the location of all books in this series.

Mark hasn’t had regular contact with Fen in a long time. Even when he lived with her, he was basically a workaholic and hardly saw her. He has fond memories of her being a doting child and immediately thinks he can quell her spate of rebelliousness–that which got her expelled from her school–by installing her in a private school in Shamwell. Oh, poor deluded father. Fen has no trouble giving dear old absentee dad the raw side of her tongue. Or, well, the silent-but-haughty treatment. Don’t get the wrong idea about Fen, she’s aces.

Patrick is a 25 y/o aid worker who is well-out as bisexual, and still gets along mighty well with the locals in a men’s social group, the Spartans Society. He meets Mark when Mark shows up for the club, and begins going out with the group. Patrick’s drawn to Mark, but Mark puts him off. He doesn’t want to tip Fen off about his sexuality. (Oh, poor deluded father!!) Funny thing, Fen KNOWS all about Daddy Dearest, even if he doesn’t wish it so.

I adored how addled Mark was regarding being a parent. I guess I thought he had it coming to him, on account of being a bit pompous and overconfident and still endearingly oblivious. He felt like he was so slick, and so savvy and this 14 y/o girl thwarted him, and befuddled him, and figured him out and played him, by turns. In truth, Patrick owes that girl a life-debt, as she was the one who not only addressed her father’s closet full of skeletons, she pushed her father to find a new partner. Fen, for herself, wants a stable family. And she doesn’t care if she has two dads in her home. At all. Turns out two of the people she most bonds to in the book are Mark’s flamboyant gay former-assistant, and Lex the genderfluid assistant to Patrick.

There’s some issue issues between Patrick and Mark regarding Mark’s former job as a tax (cheat’s) advisor. This has to do with social services in England, and the lack of them when people don’t pay their taxes. It was a very minor part of the story. I liked it for my own self, mostly because I’m rather sanctimonious about people paying their “fair share”, but I doubt that’s the case for every reader. That said, its a SMALL part of the narrative and the one part that Patrick’s mother–a bit of “tarty” lady who disapproves of her son’s choice in partner–actually tries to smooth over.

There isn’t too much heat here. There were a few frustrating interrupted trysts and false-starts (for the characters and myself) Every time Mark and Patrick seem to get things rolling there’s an interruption–for the first two-thirds of the book. That said, I liked the book a lot. It’s funny and smart and I loved that Fen was so great a kid. That girl has a right head on her shoulders. I did really like Patrick, and I liked how Mark had to really grow up, and become the adult he’d rather been playing at his whole life.

Interested? You can find OUT! on Goodreads, Samhain Pblishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble and AllRomance. I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.

About the Author:

JL Merrow is that rare beast, an English person who refuses to drink tea. She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again. Her one regret is that she never mastered the ability of punting one-handed whilst holding a glass of champagne.

She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporary gay romance and the paranormal, and is frequently accused of humour. Her novella Muscling Through was a 2013 EPIC Award finalist, and her novel Slam! won the 2013 Rainbow Award for Best LGBT Romantic Comedy. Her novel Relief Valve is a finalist in the 2015 EPIC Awards.

JL Merrow is a member of the UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet organising team.

Find JL Merrow online on her website, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!

Buried Feelings in DARK ECONOMY–A Review

Hi there! Toady I’m sharing a review for an historical M/M mystery with a dash of romance tossed in. DARK ECONOMY by M. Keedwell is a full on 19th century sleuthing expedition, and it was rather interesting.

Dark EconomyAbout the book:

Love can’t stay buried.

Medical student Cadell Meredith has been known to acquire “volunteers” from the occasional pauper’s grave in order to improve his surgical skills. While the legality of this practice is a bit murky, he wouldn’t go so far as to call it out and out robbery.

His latest acquisition, however, is different. The body on his table was obviously healthy, wealthy—and murdered. Cadell feels compelled to seek justice for the dead man, but while dissection comes naturally to him, crime investigation is unfamiliar territory.

Furthermore, he’s caught the attention of one of those new police officers, Blaine Breton. A handsome, sentimental fool who insists Cadell is a criminal. A criminal! Cadell is the first to admit he’s no saint, but he’s no killer.

A marvelous game of cat and mouse ensues as Cadell seeks to expose the truth while hiding his own secrets. A task that grows ever more difficult as his desire for Breton grows…and the danger deepens.

Warning: This story contains mystery, mayhem, and a male romance that starts off in the most delicious way possible—mutual hostility. Enjoy!

My Review:

This is a LONG, but interesting, historical mystery with a DASH of M/M romance.

Cadell Meredith is a medical student in 19th century London. Driven to supplement his income by drawing true-to-life medical diagrams for some of his professors, he stoops to stealing fresh bodies from graves, which is how he comes across the recently murdered Robert Treswick, son of an earl and buried unnamed in a pauper’s grave. It’s also how he falls onto the radar of Constable Blaine Breton–of his majesty’s service. Seems Breton has a particular dislike of graverobbing louts, and lumps Cadell in with this criminal sort.

Cadell is drawn into discovering who murdered Treswick and that puts him into contact with Breton more than feels comfortable. The unnatural urges he’s squelched since he and a childhood friend were caught experimenting and Cadell’s father disowned him eight years ago are all inflamed in the presence of the cold and calculating Breton. In order to turn the tables in his favor, and work toward the mystery’s end, Cadell devises a plan to steal one of Breton’s constable suits and masquerade as an officer. This does move the plot along, and forces Breton to follow his quarry, Cadell, more closely.

I’m not going to belabor the talk of the plot. It’s long, and circuitous. I felt as if I was reading Alistair McLean again, at times, with all the misdirection and partial clues. I will say that I wanted there to be more of a spark between Cadell and Breton. They have a very tentative dance–how does a man approach an officer of the law with his unlawful desires, anyway! That’s one stumbling block. The other is the graverobbing. Both crimes would get Cadell swung from the gallows. That said, there are moments of quiet intimacy where a rapport and grudging regard are built. When Breton needs assistance, be it medical or menial, he calls upon Cadell. There are others involved in the morass, a friend of the late Treswick who becomes an intimate confidante, and a reconnection of Cadell with his teen love.

Throughout, however, there is this excellent discipline of Cadell’s to remain obsessively focused on deciphering the guilty party. By the end he’s uncovered three bastards, foiled a theft ring, and solved three murders–while nearly becoming a fourth. If you’re looking for a spicy romance, this is not your book. If you are looking for a complicated mystery with some M/M elements and excellent historical accuracy, this is your read. I did enjoy it, but would have loved a bunch more lovin’.

Interested? You can find DARK ECONOMY on Goodreads, Samhain Publishing, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley.

Thanks for popping in and keep reading my friends!

Adult Life is NOT THAT EASY–A Review

Hi there! Today I’m sharing my review for a contemporary New Adult novel NOT THAT EASY, by Radhika Sanghani. This is the sequel to VIRGIN and there are a lot of references to what happened in the previous book…so I’d recommend reading them in sequence. Besides, VIRGIN made me laugh out loud, in that “Thank Good it’s YOU and not ME!” way. Poor Ellie!

Well, she’s back and determined to live life on her own terms—which gets her into some strange and wild problems.

Not That Easy (Virgin, #2)About the book:
Ellie used to be a virgin, but now she’s a woman with sexual experience. Well, some sexual experience. She also has debt, an unpaid magazine internship, and three flatmates who left her with the single room to match her single status.

That’s okay. She doesn’t want a boyfriend anyway—she wants several. And if the sex is exciting enough, her ruthless magazine editor boss can exploit her dating life for a column.

After countless hook-ups, a disastrously fiery encounter with some heat lube, and one orgasm class, Ellie is faced with the sad reality of her sexual ineptitude. But when she starts to witness the emotional wreckage she’s leaving in her wake, Ellie realizes that sex can be hard, and there’s a down side to giving it up too easy.

My Review:
This book is a sequel to VIRGIN, and is best enjoyed if read in sequence, though it CAN be read as a standalone.

Ellie is a 22 y/o new uni grad living in a flatshare with her good friend Emma, and two men, Ollie (on whom Ellie has a total crush) and Will. The thing is Ellie’s the only single one, and she’s not happy to be stuck in the only single room of the flat.

She wants to find men to have sex with, many men, preferably. She recently lost her virginity to a douche, and she is dying to get more experience. She feels as if she’s crap at sex, and doesn’t get that everyone is, at first. As she’s hardly had a chance to experiment, Ellie agrees to sign up for online dating. This is intriguing and disastrous.

Her first date is a bit of a train wreck, with Ellie bolting via a fire escape just to get away from this guy. The second guy was really a good guy, I thought, but Ellie has weird idiosyncrasies that drive her to push him away. Their sex scene did give me a laughter cramp. Ye gads, Ellie’s so very uptight.

This is a problem every time she meets a man, actually. She desperately wants to have an orgasm with a guy, yet when she’s in the act she’s so trapped in her head that she can’t enjoy the experience at all. It was honestly painful being in her brain–and the lack of arousal she experiences *almost* put me off sex for more than 24 hours… (It was a near thing!)

She does meet a great guy, Nick, who’s been quite hung up on his ex for too long. Ellie sees the opportunity to get her first One Night Stand out of the way, and does so–only to be stymied the following morning when he wants her number. And further confused when he calls her! And takes her on nice dates! Ellie is really a neurotic mess. She has roughly 3 ounces of self-esteem and cannot fathom how to behave as Nick’s “rebound” girl–but her boss sees Ellie’s dating nightmares to be fodder for a tell-all column in the online mag that she interns for–on an unpaid basis. The horrors that are Ellie’s bad dates and bad pubic hair and further are now out on the ‘net for all to read. It’s mortifying, and she isn’t even getting paid!

While Ellie is a mess, she does get things together by the end. She makes bad, bad, bad decisions that upset her friends, family and flatmates, but she perseveres. She atones the best she can, and she takes control of her future in a way she had not considered before. Some of this is funny–uproariously so–but other points are raw. Ellie doesn’t feel good about herself and this makes it easy for people to take advantage of her. She’s trying to claim her life, but she really has no sense of being an adult, only a few vague ideas which make her feeble attempts at “adulting” poor. Her naivete is simultaneously humorous and sad, because it continually leads Ellie into poor choices.

I liked how she worked through her issues in the end, becoming a far stronger character. I liked how she asserted her sexual independence throughout the book. She and her feminist friends attempt to redefine “slut” into a positive term, which was an interesting concept, even if it didn’t quite turn out.

Interested? You can find NOT THAT EASY on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

Radhika SanghaniAbout the author:
Radhika Sanghani is an award-winning journalist for the Daily Telegraph, where she reports on women’s issues and has a regular column on everything from feminism to sexist air conditioning.

She spends unhealthy amounts of time thinking about gender equality, or the lack thereof, and has written two novels based around exactly that.

Her debut millennial comedy Virgin came out in 2014 (Joan Rivers said it was the funniest debut she’d ever read) and the much-awaited sequel Not That Easy just came out in October 2015.

You can connect with Radhika on her website, Goodreads, and twitter.

Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!

Dangerous Love Between THE SHEPHERD AND THE SOLICITOR-A Review

Hi there! Today I’m sharing my review for a new historical M/M romance from the writing team of Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon. THE SHEPHERD AND THE SOLICITOR is a slow-burning romance that develops between two people of completely different worlds. One is a cheeky London lawyer, and the other is a reclusive sheep farmer–who is likely the missing heir the lawyer was sent to find….

The Shepherd and the SolicitorAbout the book:
When a storm is brewing, taking shelter could be the most dangerous move of all.

One careless, public sign of affection cost Daniel Pierce’s lover his life at the hands of a hate-filled mob. Grief-stricken, Daniel retreated from society to a sheep farm in the wilds of the north. Years later, Gregory Tobin erupts into his solitary life.

Sent to confirm the existence—or the death—of the Pierce family’s lost heir, Tobin isn’t sure he’s found the right man. The gruff, shaggy hermit calling himself Jacob Bennet bears little resemblance to photographs of the younger Pierce. Tobin needs more time to study his quarry.

With lambing season in full swing, Daniel grudgingly admits he could use an extra hand. Through a long, exhausting night, they parry back and forth as Tobin probes closer and closer to the truth. And something beyond casual attraction simmers between them.

They come together in a crash of desire, but ultimately Daniel must overcome the terrors of the past to reconcile the man he was with the man he’s becoming—a man capable of loving again.

Warning: Many sexy encounters on a sheep farm—NO, not like THAT!—between two adult males with temperaments as different as night and day.

My Review:
This is a historical M/M romance about a reclusive sheep farmer, who may be a missing heir, and the solicitor who’s tasked with the job of finding him. It is set in 1880’s England.

Daniel Pierce saw his lover, Jacob, murdered by a mob when Jacob made one slight romantic overture in public. That was three years ago. Since then he fled London and changed his name. Jacob Bennet is a sheep farmer, and a recluse. He’s worked hard to hide himself away, but he’s not put his past away–only buried it under grueling hours of work.

Gregory Tobin knows exactly who he is: a conscientious solicitor with a moderate income and a lackluster life. He enjoys being sent to track down missing persons, and is good at cajoling them to come home. His most recent regular lover has caved to his family’s pressure to marry–and wants to keep Tobin as his “bit on the side” which is unappealing and appalling to Tobin. He’s glad for the opportunity to hunt the Pierce heir far away from London.

The adventure begins in Kentshire, with dubious leads and a spooked nag–who drops Tobin unceremoniously at the remote grazing field of Mr. Bennet. Being dusty and mucky and unwilling to walk the 8 mile return trip to the village, Tobin begs to stay one night; Bennet grudgingly agrees. It’s lambing season and he’s up to his elbows, quite literally, in sheep. Tobin’s enchanted with the vagaries of farm-life, and looking to ingratiate himself with Bennet, so he pitches in where he can. Tobin’s quite caught unawares regarding his interest–it’s such a different life from his own well-ordered, clean, natty-dressed existence. Under the wide night sky he feels able to breathe, in a way he hasn’t in a long time.

Over the course of a couple days, Bennet and Tobin exchange confidences–Tobin could see the changes in the young man he’d sought, buried beneath the ragged clothes and unkempt beard. Still, there’s an attraction brewing in the lambing shed. It’s an awakening for Bennet, who hasn’t had a man since Jacob was murdered–and never expected to want one again.

Dealing with his secret being out is not so easy, Daniel Pierce is a different man, now–one afraid of crowds and loud voices. Try as he might, Tobin coaxes and cajoles, with little budging on Pierce/Bennet’s part.

I liked how these two lonely souls found solace. That’s what Tobin offered Bennet, and that was what Bennet needed most. The end went a different direction than I expected, which was all to the good. Daniel Pierce restarted his life twice, and the second time was far better than the first. There’s a bit of heat, here. Not too much, but enough to build a bond and drive their growing affection forward. Tobin is a cheeky man–and this is both scary and fantastic to Pierce. The idea of openly loving a man is too dangerous, but their remote locale provides enough cover for their illicit acts. I love historical books which have a realistic depiction of clandestine love affairs. The resolution was excellent, for me. It’s the best kind of HEA in an environment where cohabitation is not feasible, but affection and love still thrive.

Interested? You can find THE SHEPHERD AND THE SOLICITOR on Goodreads, Samhain Publishing, Amazon, AllRomance and Barnes & Noble. I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley.

About the Authors:

Summer Devon is the pen name writer Kate Rothwell often uses. Whether the characters are male or female, human or dragon, her books are always romance.

You can visit her on twitter or her facebook page, where there’s a sign up form for a newsletter (she’ll only send out newsletters when there’s a new Summer Devon or Kate Rothwell release and she will never ever sell your name to anyone).

Her blog is available here.

She also has a blog with Bonnie Dee, a frequent co-author. It’s mostly just announcements, but we might do good give-aways on occasion.

Bonnie Dee began telling stories as a child. Whenever there was a sleepover, she was the designated ghost tale teller. She still has a story printed on yellow legal paper in second grade about a ghost, a witch and a talking cat.

Writing childish stories for her own pleasure led to majoring in English at college. Like most English majors, she dreamed of writing a novel, but at that time in her life didn’t have the necessary focus and follow through. Then life happened. A husband and children occupied the next twenty years and it was only in 2000 that she began writing again.

Bonnie enjoys dabbling in many genres. You can find her online on her website, twitter and Facebook.

Thanks for popping in and keep reading my friends!

DISCOVERING DALTON–Excerpt & Giveaway

DD-Banner
Hi there! Just spreading the word about a new M/M/M ménage romance from Nicole Colville. DISCOVERING DALTON is a contemporary erotic story of three men finding love and acceptance. For two the road has been hard, for the third the road was not one he planned to take.

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway below.

1Discovering Dalton E-Book CoverAbout the book:
At fifteen, Troy and Liam were fostered by the same family, and although they hated each other at first, they gradually became solid friends. As adults, the two foster brothers live together. Both experience tough times, each being a rock for the other, but their love had never been anything other than brotherly.

Until they both fall for the same guy, and things get… complicated.

Dalton is fresh out of a ten year marriage. Feeling lost, he concentrates on the only thing he can control—his body. Developing from a chubby, unfit police officer into a lean, mean inked one, Dalton has never looked better, but inside, he’s never felt worse. A relationship is far from his thoughts, and one with another man makes Dalton even more confused. He takes time to get to know Troy and Liam separately, but Manchester isn’t that big, and sparks fly when fate throws the three together.

Together, these three fight it out between them. Both Troy and Liam demand Dalton choose between them, but what if he didn’t have to choose? What if it could work between three?

The things in life we fight for are never the easiest, but they’re the ones worth holding onto forever.

how about a little taste?

Liam chatted with Milo, but Dalton was too busy trying to stop hyperventilating and not staring at Liam’s body, seeing it as he last saw it—wet and tense, excited and looking sinful in that shower cubicle. Those types of thoughts weren’t going to help him calm down. Why oh why did that have to happen?
Blue leaned in, calming strokes running up and down Dalton’s back, sweetly spoken words whispered against his neck, and Dalton’s tension eased a little. “Is he an ex or something?”
“No,” Dalton choked out.
“Oh, I just thought there was some history there.” Blue’s glossy red lips curled into a smile.
“There’s no history of that kind.”
“But there is some to speak about?” Blue opened his green eyes wider and nodded. “It’s obvious. Maybe it’s time you resolved this tension between the two of you somehow.”
“What?” Dalton stiffened.
“Well, there’s obviously something happening between you two.”
“Yeah, but not what you think.”
Blue bit his lip while he thought. “Hmm, there’s a few different things going on from where I’m sitting.” He nudged his thigh against Dalton’s dick, and for the first time, he realised he was excited. “Or is this for me?”
Dalton truly had no idea. He was confused by his own body, not understanding why he was reacting at all. But it had happened in the showers while he watched Liam. Maybe it was those moments replaying in his mind which caused his cock to stiffen in his jeans.
Maybe it was the fact he had someone sitting on him, caring about him, someone with long legs and big heels, who was wearing make-up and who was confusing Dalton’s body by being more feminine than he was used to in a man. But then, Dalton was close to Samuel. He was beautiful and more feminine than Blue and this had never happened, and hadn’t Samuel been sitting on his knee earlier? Maybe he was losing his mind. Maybe he’d already lost it.
“I don’t… I really don’t know,” he whispered into Blue’s hair. “I just… I have to go.”
“Wait, sexy.” Blue pressed his body more into his, meeting his eyes, those black lashes coated thickly in mascara. “Don’t run off just yet. There’s no need.”
“I’m not gay,” Dalton rushed out as low as he could make his voice, darting his gaze to Liam, his tight V-necked vest showing off those big muscles, jeans encasing his firm arse, that bottle hanging in between his lips.
This time, when Blue rubbed his thigh over his cock, Dalton grabbed Blue’s slender calf running up his leg and just held it, not moving him away but not pulling him closer—just frozen, not knowing what to do.
“You don’t have to label yourself with anything, Dalton.” Blue took hold of his chin, fingertips gently caressing his skin and making Dalton shift his gaze from Liam back to him. “I think…” He eased closer still, his thigh now pressed against the rigid length encased in Dalton’s jeans. “If your body needs something, it lets you know. If your eyes find something pleasing, they look more. If your heart beats faster for someone, then you follow it. I’m not gay. I’m a person. A human being. That’s the label I want to be tagged with. Hashtag Human.” He clicked his fingers with a bright smile.
Dalton smiled through his fear and understood what Blue was saying. He just wasn’t ready to think the same way. “That’s nice.”
“It’s the truth. The truth is always a good thing. I always think our brains confuse us. They have all this bullshit ‘learned’ behaviour which they pick up over the years and it tells you to think one way, your body saying another. It takes time for those two to work together and come to some sort of an agreement, but we all get there eventually. Just don’t pressure yourself, hon.” Blue leaned in, kissing the corner of his mouth, Dalton’s cock now crushed against his thigh. “Of course, I would like to think this is for me, but I know better.” Blue pulled back with a heavy sigh. “If you change your mind though…” He winked with a chuckle.
“Blue.” Samuel was beside them, looking between them both. “Dalton’s a bit…” He drifted off, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth, obviously not wanting to spill too much personal info about Dalton’s bad day and emotional state.
“Confused, sweetie?” Blue offered brightly.
“Yeah.” Samuel looked to the sky, then took hold of Blue’s hand. “You go get some air, Dalton.”

dalton promo

Interested? You can find DISCOVERING DALTON on Goodreads, and Amazon (US & UK) and Kindle Unlimited.

****GIVEAWAY****

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About the author:
Nicole Colville was born and currently lives in Leeds, England. She is a wife and mother of two young girls who somehow manages to fit in being a full time author of m/m romance and erotica. She loves writing complex characters in bittersweet romances which will leave you addicted and craving more from her men.

Although best known for her popular series, Hidden and Knights to Remember, she also enjoys writing with friend, and fellow author, E.M Leya. Together they have published two books in their Sinful Temptation Collection with more planned.

Her new menage collection based in the popular city of Manchester, England is her first solo full length novel outside of The Hidden Series and has three books planned for release in 2015 & 2016.

Where to find Nicole online on Goodreads, and Facebook.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nicole.colville.the.hidden.series
Facebook Author Page:
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Learning How TO LOVE A TRAITOR–A Review

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a new historical M/M Romance from JL Merrow. TO LOVE A TRAITOR is a quiet intrigue set in the immediate aftermath of what was once called “The Great War,” but we now call WWI. I really enjoyed this slow burn, between a man who mourns his brother, and the person who may have been responsible for his brother’s death. I read PLAYED! by this author, and enjoyed her work enough to seek out another book.

To Love a TraitorAbout the book:
Wounds of the heart take the longest to heal.

When solicitor’s clerk George Johnson moves into a rented London room in the winter of 1920, it’s with a secret goal: to find out if his fellow lodger, Matthew Connaught, is the wartime traitor who cost George’s adored older brother his life.

Yet as he gets to know Matthew—an irrepressibly cheerful ad man whose missing arm hasn’t dimmed his smile—George begins to lose sight of his mission.

As Matthew’s advances become ever harder to resist, George tries to convince himself his brother’s death was just the luck of the draw, and to forget he’s hiding a secret of his own. His true identity—and an act of conscience that shamed his family.

But as their mutual attraction grows, so does George’s desperation to know the truth about what happened that day in Ypres. If only to prove Matthew innocent—even if it means losing the man he’s come to love.

Warning: Contains larks in the snow, stiff upper lips, shadows of the Great War, and one man working undercover while another tries to lure him under the covers.

My Review:
Roger George Cottingham is a scourge to his noble family. The younger son, a bookish sort, continually passed over for affection by his parents in favor of his gregarious elder brother, Hugh, Roger knows he’s second best. When it was time to enlist in the war against the Hessians, he balked. No, he didn’t just balk, this Cambridge-educated man who speaks several languages refused to join up–knowing he was unable to kill a man. He was jailed for a miserable year as a Conscientious Objector before he was sprung and worked as a cryptographer for the Navy.

Hugh was killed in a mission that seems quite dodgy on its surface. Roger’s been tasked by Hugh’s bereaved fiance (and Roger’s close childhood friend) to find out if there’s truth to the rumor that Hugh’s espionage mission was leaked to the enemy beforehand. Inquiries have led Roger to a boardinghouse, home to Matthew Connaught, an amputee veteran of the war–and the man who Hugh replaced in the covert mission. Roger takes a room at the house under the pseudonym, George Johnson, in order to befriend Matthew, and glean information regarding Hugh’s death–information which might implicate Matthew as a spy.

Trouble is, Matthew is a fantastic man. He’s upbeat, and lovely, and he and George immediately hit it off. Not only that, George is attracted to Matthew–and it seems that Matthew may return his interest. For George this is a revelation that is fraught with pain. Could he possibly be falling for the man who had a part in Hugh’s death?

All of his instincts say no, that Matthew is too kind and honest a man to have been a spy, but the deeper he gets involved, the more he recognizes that Matthew has some deep secrets–and he knows more about Hugh’s death than George could have predicted.

I absolutely enjoyed this book. Do not expect a lot of steam–though there is some, for sure. George has a day of reckoning in his future, and his inquiries result in peace for more than one family–though it causes a significant amount of distress for Matthew, and himself. For his part, Matthew finds himself in more than one uncomfortable position, and his confessions are a balm to George, as well as Hugh’s fiance. I ached for George throughout. He’s been abandoned and cast off his whole life, and Matthew provides the compassionate friend and partner that George has been too afraid to admit needing. This is a true hurt/comfort story, with an HEA for men who’ve suffered much, and carry on in the face of grief and loss. Plus, the historical details were a delight. I truly felt as if transported to that era, and was glad for it.

Interested? You can find TO LOVE A TRAITOR on Goodreads, Samhain Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and AllRomance. I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley.

About the Author:
JL Merrow is that rare beast, an English person who refuses to drink tea. She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again. Her one regret is that she never mastered the ability of punting one-handed whilst holding a glass of champagne.

She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporary gay romance and the paranormal, and is frequently accused of humour. Her novella Muscling Through was a 2013 EPIC Award finalist, and her novel Slam! won the 2013 Rainbow Award for Best LGBT Romantic Comedy. Her novel Relief Valve is a finalist in the 2015 EPIC Awards.

Find JL Merrow online on her website, Twitter,  and on Facebook.

Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!

Getting Real in A CASUAL THING–My Review for Joyfully Jay

Hi there! Today I’m back with a book I recently reviewed for Joyfully Jay. It’s a New Adult M/M romance that’s a lot sweet and a bit spicy. This is the first book I’ve read from Annabelle Jacobs, but it won’t be my last.

A Casual ThingAbout the book:
Patrick Mason travels to Bristol to spend the summer with his brother, Ben. He’s cat sitting for the first two weeks while Ben goes on holiday. But Ben neglected to tell him he wouldn’t be doing it alone. Will Adams—Ben’s mate and Patrick’s long-time crush—is staying in Ben’s guest room while he waits to move into his new house after a breakup.

Against his better judgment, Patrick convinces Will that a little no-strings fun is just what they need. Patrick doesn’t want to get involved with a guy on the rebound, and Will isn’t interested in starting something serious with a student. But Patrick’s never been good at separating sex from feelings, and this time is no exception. As their weeks together draw to a close, they need to decide if they have something worth pursuing or if it’s really just a casual thing.

I really enjoyed this novel. It’s short and sweet, perfect for an empty afternoon. And that cover is really perfect, as the entire romance kicks off with a simple dropped towel… 😉

Expect some steam, some regret, and some break up to make up–HEA style.

You can check out my complete review over on Joyfully Jay. Pick up the book on Amazon, All Romance or Amazon UK.

About the Author:

Annabelle Jacobs lives in the South West of England with her husband, three rowdy children, and two cats.

An avid reader of fantasy herself for many years, Annabelle now spends her days writing her own stories. They’re usually either fantasy or paranormal fiction, because she loves building worlds filled with magical creatures, and creating stories full of action and adventure. Her characters may have a tough time of it—fighting enemies and adversity—but they always find love in the end.

You can find Annabelle online on her website, Goodreads, twitter and Facebook.

Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!

Tales of Dating and Marriage from Jay Northcote

Hi there! Today I’m chatting about a two-book contemporary M/M series from Jay Northcote. THE DATING GAME and THE MARRYING KIND are two sweet romances featuring Owen and Nathan, young men who find love when they didn’t expect to.

The Dating Game (Owen & Nathan, #1)My Review of THE DATING GAME:
4.5 stars for this quickie, British, New Adult M/M romance.

Owen and Nathan went to Uni together and had mutual friends but were never close. Owen, out and loving it, had a crush on (supposedly) straight Nathan, but never toyed with Nathan because why bother? Plenty of gay mates were available. That was then.

Now, Nathan has returned to Bristol and is out with Owen and his good friends, Simon and Jack, who are a committed couple. Owen decides to risk hitting on Nathan, having just learned Nathan is gay. Well, Nathan may find Owen sexy, but he’s not up for a one night stand.

No, if Owen wants to be with Nathan, he needs to work for it. Owen’s thrown off by Nathan’s insistence on not one, but FIVE sex-free dates. Try as he might, Owen can’t remember ever going on a single date with a bloke. (He is, admittedly, a tart.) But there’s something in this challenge that strikes a chord with Owen and he agrees.

They set up their dates for Saturdays, and over the course of the first few weeks develop a rapport. Calls, texts, and of course their shared time on the dates pull both Nathan and Owen in closer than either had imagined. Their make-outs resulting in aborted physicality ups the stakes, too. Funny how quickly they take to phone sex!

This is really a sweet read with two men who find a connection they didn’t anticipate. Nathan didn’t want to be a conquest, and Owen couldn’t imagine finding a boyfriend. It was a rewarding short read with plenty of titillating moments and a couple hot scenes. The two POV narrative worked for me because I was able to find both men charmingly vulnerable and hoped that they’d decide that five dates just wasn’t enough…

Spoiler: It wasn’t. HEA all the way.

Interested? THE DATING GAME is currently on sale for $.99 at Amazon, regularly-priced on AllRomance, and Barnes & Noble.

The sequel, THE MARRYING KIND is really just delicious. Owen and Nathan have stuck together for two years, and despite Owen’s great misgivings over marriage, he proposes. Then, he learns he’s on the downsizing list for his job. His lukewarm feet start feeling colder by the minute… Let the drama begin!

The Marrying Kind (Owen & Nathan, #2)About THE MARRYING KIND:

Nathan wants to put a ring on it, but is Owen the marrying kind?

Two years on from their first date, Owen and Nathan are living together and life is good—except they’re not on the same page about marriage.

A traditionalist at heart, Nathan wants it all: the wedding, the vows, and a pair of matching rings. Owen, on the other hand, believes marriage is old-fashioned and unnecessary. They don’t need a wedding to prove their commitment to each other. Love should be enough on its own.

All it takes is one moment of weakness on a night out to force the issue. Owen finds himself engaged after a half-drunk proposal, and Nathan’s enthusiasm sweeps him along. But as the big day approaches, the mounting tension finally combusts.

If he’s going to save their relationship, Owen will need to decide once and for all if he’s truly the marrying kind.

Feel free to check out my full review for THE MARRYING KIND over on Joyfully Jay.

Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!

Can’t SCRAP Love–My Review on Joyfully Jay!

Hi there folks! Well, I’ve been blogging a bit, and as it stands I think I’m doing it right. I read books, I write about books, people actually read what I write about books, and I’m feeling good about that.

I recently snatched up the opportunity to “branch out” a bit as an ad hoc reviewer for Joyfully Jay. That’s a lady with a kick-ass book blog, let me tell you.

Anywho, from time to time, I’ll be reviewing books on her blog, and I’m going to post a short bit here to let you know you can find me there.

Make sense? Of course it does!

You folks are awesome, that way.

Today’s my first appearance on Jay’s blog, so I hope you’ll tune in and check out my review of SCRAP by Josephine Myles. It’s a heartwarming story about two unlikely British men–one a toff and the other a working-class bloke–finding love in a junkyard. Here’s the cover and info…

Scrap (The Bristol Collection, #3)

About the book:

When things come to a head, there’s nowhere to go but down…

On the surface, Derek “Call Me Dare” Nelson’s life is simple, doing up custom campervans while living in a slightly illegal caravan in his riverfront yard. When a handsome, smooth-talking developer offers to buy the land out from under his feet, Dare realizes it’s the same man he had to escort home from a party months ago for causing a drunken scene.

Grant Matravers lives a double life, attempting to adjust to weekends as a single, divorced gay man while staying closeted at work. The strain of keeping up the part-time pretense, missing his kids, and now a problematic attraction to the shave-headed, tattooed Dare, has worn his emotional barriers dangerously thin.

Dare blasts through those barriers in a way Grant isn’t prepared for, challenging everything he thought he knew about himself as a gay man. But as their chemistry heats up and the intimacy between them grows, Grant edges toward a decision that could blow up in his face. Exposing a hornet’s nest of complications that could destroy any chance for happily ever after.

It was ever so luscious… Click here for my full review.

Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!