Sully and Hayes' one-night encounter quickly becomes more complicated when they discover that not only will they be working together, but that Hayes iSully and Hayes' one-night encounter quickly becomes more complicated when they discover that not only will they be working together, but that Hayes is the best friend of Sully's nephew. This was a refreshingly low angst age-gap romance that went down smooth as I was running around doing last-minute preparations for my vacation. I loved the complete and total lack of homophobia in this town (the last few books I've read have had that as a theme and with the recent election, it's just more than I want to think about. I just want to believe a perfect utopia is possible right now!) I have not read any of the other Collier's Creek Christmas titles and even though this one does work as a standalone, there was quite a few intriguing hints that there were previous entries in this world.
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I was provided with an ARC from Gay Romance Reviews and this is my honest review....more
Ack, so...full disclosure, I read this about 2 weeks ago and I've read 9 books since then, so I'm not super fresh on the details of this one (I would Ack, so...full disclosure, I read this about 2 weeks ago and I've read 9 books since then, so I'm not super fresh on the details of this one (I would have reviewed it right away, but I couldn't find it on Goodreads...I think it was only created yesterday.) From what I remember, this was a grumpy/sunshine featuring two almost-but-not-quite stepsiblings, so it's got some juicy tropes for people that dig those! And I definitely don't remember anything notable that I disliked about it, so I am confident that I had fun reading it. Alas, if only GR let us manually add books...
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I was provided with an ARC from Gay Romance Reviews and this is my honest review....more
I haven't read any of the series this is interconnected with (Rebel Kings?) but it holds up well as a standalone novel. I didn't feel like I was missiI haven't read any of the series this is interconnected with (Rebel Kings?) but it holds up well as a standalone novel. I didn't feel like I was missing any context or backstory of these two characters and there wasn't any super obvious references to prior works (which can sometimes be frustrating with these types of books). This book wasn't really Christmas-y, so much as it was during the winter, but that was fine with me. Tam and Bhodi's chemistry was really electric and their relationship progression, as well as their own character developments (Tam in overcoming his fear of hospitals and depending on someone, and Bhodi in healing his wounded sense of self-worth) felt organic and not rushed. Overall, this was a fun little read!
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I was provided with an ARC from Gay Romance Reviews and this is my honest review....more
The start is a bit awkward and clunky, but the writing eventually smoothed out and I became invested in the story. I like that Maddox was a bit blunt The start is a bit awkward and clunky, but the writing eventually smoothed out and I became invested in the story. I like that Maddox was a bit blunt and slightly standoffish, but without being a "bad boy" and Ren was totally sweet and adorable. I think the homophobia of the swim team was handled very realistically (i.e. they didn't all immediately repent and become bestest friends), but it still gave a satisfactory conclusion to that part of the story. There was definitely the introduction to a cast of characters that I can see being featured in upcoming books, but I found they blended together a bit and I didn't really get a super distinct impression of each of those side characters yet, but I would definitely continue to read the series.
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I was provided with an ARC from Gay Romance Reviews and this is my honest review....more
I was a little leery at first because the early chapters had some pretty dubious behaviour, but fortunately the story pivoted and Elliot matured quiteI was a little leery at first because the early chapters had some pretty dubious behaviour, but fortunately the story pivoted and Elliot matured quite a bit and stopped with the bordering-on dubcon behaviours. The story has multiple time leaps, so it feels a bit disjointed at times, but on the other hand, it was nice to see how committed they become to each other. The timing of the story felt off though, like it seemed very weird that they would already be living together without Elliot's family even knowing they were together. I understand why a professional country musician and a professional football player wouldn't be rushing to come out publically, but to their own family? Especially when Elliot's family seem relatively close-knit. Some of the plot decisions like that didn't seem to align with the timeline chosen for the story (spanning multiple years) for me.
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I was provided with an ARC from Gay Romance Reviews and this is my honest review....more
A fun reimagining of Beauty & the Beast, this instalment of the series focuses on Zain and Dominic. Even though Zain desperately wants to come out of A fun reimagining of Beauty & the Beast, this instalment of the series focuses on Zain and Dominic. Even though Zain desperately wants to come out of the closet to his parents, he lives in fear that they will reject him because of their traditional Muslim and Mexican backgrounds. He's finding it increasingly stifling to hide who he is though, and he yearns to branch out and experience more of the world. Enter Dominic, a harsh and domineering businessman who has come to call in the loan that Zain's father took out to pay for Zain's College tuition. Zain can't stand back and let his family lose it all, but he'd be lying if he wasn't intrigued by the freedom that entering Dominic's employ could offer him.
It was fun seeing the story twisted a bit, with Dominic providing freedom to Zain that living with his parents didn't provide him, unlike the original where the Beast takes Bell captive. It made it even more exciting to see the sexual tension between them build as the story progresses, knowing that there wasn't that same level of coercion there. I just realized that I forgot to go back and read the 1st book and have only read books 2 and 3, so I am off to check that out of KU!
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I was provided with an ARC from Gay Romance Reviews and this is my honest review....more
This book was way more captivating than I thought it was going to be! It was fascinating to see Max become instantly enamoured with Beau, without evenThis book was way more captivating than I thought it was going to be! It was fascinating to see Max become instantly enamoured with Beau, without even realizing he was falling. Beau is such a sweetheart and I loved seeing their serendipitous friendship blossom into love. I especially loved how sure Max was that Beau was his future, even before Beau did! So freaking cute!...more
This one didn't really hit the mark for me, which is sad because I was really looking forward to it. I think there just wasn't really enough meat on tThis one didn't really hit the mark for me, which is sad because I was really looking forward to it. I think there just wasn't really enough meat on the bones of the story, so it felt like there wasn't really enough of a conflict to keep the story going....more
My only regret in reading this is that I didn't first reread the first instalment in Ink Slingers because I would have liked a little refresher on theMy only regret in reading this is that I didn't first reread the first instalment in Ink Slingers because I would have liked a little refresher on the characters. Neuhold is so good at creating interconnected worlds and environments filled with found families of wonderful characters. Fortunately, it only took me a couple of chapters before I felt refreshed enough and some of the quirks of the other characters started to come back from the depths of my memories (side note: oh man! I cannot wait until Jag's story!!)
Milo appears in town on a quest to track down the father he's never met and meets Piston, the sexual chemistry between them immediately sizzling. But imagine both of their surprise when Milo walks into Ink Slingers the next day to announce that Hero, one of Piston's lifelong friends, is his father. Piston tries to resist the attraction between them, but it's a lost cause. Milo was such a fun character to read with his ADHD making him easily distractible and excitable about the most random topics and Piston provided a complementary calmness to Milo's frenetic energy. I also really liked Hero's handling of the two of them together and that it wasn't milked for extra drama; it made a lot of sense to me since Hero was only just getting to know Milo and didn't have years of thinking of him as his son to fuel discomfort with the coupling.
Remind me to reread the first two before the 3rd one comes out! ;)
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I was provided with an ARC from Gay Romance Reviews and this is my honest review....more
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