Two Chicks Obsessed with Books & Eye Candy

Sharing our love of M/M Romance

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When Love Surprises by Christi Snow: Exclusive Excerpt and New Release Review

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Raised in a religious household, being gay was never an option for Steven, but when an injury left him incapacitated, he was forced to face those urges that he’s been able to ignore for the last thirty-eight years of his life…

Lost…

Three months ago, Major Steven Hardesty’s life sat on the precipice of perfection. Now he’s trying to come back from a life-threatening injury and a devastating romantic loss all while trying to figure out what he’s going to do after separating from the Air Force.

Alone…

Billy Starr never planned on running his family ranch by himself. He was supposed to be doing it with his sister, Whitney. But when she died in a freak accident, it sent his life in a tailspin of despair and alcohol.

Healing…

Steven and Billy were friends. Billy offered the ranch as a good, private place where Steven could recover, but as their friendship deepened, so did other feelings. Is it possible that a love affair between the two of them could heal them both? Or break them even more?

Amazon

Exclusive Excerpt from When Love Surprises:

After a long walk late that afternoon, Steven rounded the corner of the back porch to find Billy working out in the home gym, shirtless, and gloriously sweaty.

Steven’s mouth dried up, and is breathing grew labored, which had absolutely nothing to do with the very slow walk he’d just taken.

No, the buzzing awareness under his skin could only be attributed to the beautiful, sexy man on the other side of the window. Steven need to look away, but he just couldn’t. With the windows between them, it seemed safe to look his fill.

Billy lay on an include bench, pushing up a bar filled with weights. His entire torso flexed with each repetition, his muscles rolling under the effort to push up the weight. A bead of sweat dripped down his breastbone, traversing the dark hairs that lined his pecs and narrowed to a trail that disappeared down into the waistband of his shorts.

Steven watched the one little drop of moisture travel the length of Billy’s torso, and Steven ached to follow it with his tongue, his fingertips. Then it disappeared behind the low-riding waistband of Billy’s thin workout shorts. Steven could suddenly imagine its invisible path from there. It would continue to slide southward, directly to Billy’s cock and balls in a trail that Steven desperately wanted to follow.

Steven’s groin grew heavy. He swallowed, trying to get some moisture back into his mouth, his throat. He needed to look away but just couldn’t. He searched Billy’s rippling body for another drop of sweat to focus on.

Instead he found himself gripped in Billy’s intense gaze. He’d been caught.

This is book 6 in a series, but I believe the only MM. Which is why this is the only one of the series I have read. There is definitely some back story I missed, but the author fills it in quite well so that you don’t really miss anything.

Steven was shot in the previous book by an apparent stalker. So this book picks up with him in the hospital. Because of where the gunshot is, he needs someone to help him as he recovers.

Billy, owner of the ranch where Steven was shot, steps up and offers. I’m not going to get into how this all came about, but like I said, the author did a good job of filling in the blanks.

Although there were issues to be dealt with- alcoholism, crazy religious family, first time with a man, repercussions of being shot by a stalker, etc… the story line itself I didn’t feel was very angsty.

After fighting his attraction to men his whole life, Steven just jumped right in without hesitation after the first taste. So, good for him, but really? No introspection of “oh god, what have I done”?? This happens with his family as well. I am all for him owning his truth and making himself happy, but a little anxiety would have been nice.

There were a few twists and a lot of different plot points which kept the book moving, but it was a little cluttered. Not cluttered enough to annoy me, but just a little too much.

It was a nice little book. I did enjoy that the characters weren’t 25 years old and were mature. I think that age group is way under represented. Billy broke my heart with everything he has been through in his life, so I was happy that he found Steven.

3.5 Pieces of Candy

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Sadistic Sherlock (Ward Security #4) by Jocelynn Drake and Rinda Elliott: EXCLUSIVE Excerpt, RDB, Release Day Review and Giveaway

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Ten years ago, Dominic Walsh faked his own death. With no true identity, it wasn’t hard. But if he’d stayed, he would have been drawn further into a life he’d never chosen. He has friends and family at Ward Security now and has managed to escape his dark past. There is only one thing he truly wants.

Abraham Stephens.

When Dom was first tasked with watching over his friend’s father, he didn’t expect to fall so hard for the gorgeous silver fox. But Abe is interested in friendship only. He’s at a point in his life where he wants something permanent, not a romp with the sexy redhead who happens to be the same age as his son.

But Abe finds himself drawn deeper into Dom’s life when cryptic messages start appearing—ones that frighten the skilled security specialist. The more Dom tries to hide what’s happening, the more Abe wants to help him.

And maybe, just maybe, he’ll find a way to trust the strength of the bond Dom understood from the start.

Title:  Sadistic Sherlock

Series: Ward Security Series #4

Author: Jocelynn Drake & Rinda Elliott

Publisher: Drake and Elliott Publishing, LLC

Release Date: September 28, 2018

Heat Level: 4 – Lots of Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 64k

Genre: Romance, Thriller/Suspense

Goodreads

Amazon

 

Abe Stephens set down his phone and pressed his forehead against the wall. He groaned long and loud. Flirting with danger seemed to be his M.O. more and more these days. It was getting too damn hard to resist Dominic Walsh. He was hands down one of the sexiest men he’d ever met. One chime from his phone and he was hurriedly pulling up the app, hoping it was Dom with his funny texts. Some of which left him feeling faintly sweaty and tempted to go back on his vow to start looking for someone who’d be interested in a more permanent arrangement rather than the wild, string-free fling he was sure Dom was looking for.

It was worse when they actually spoke.

Fuck, he loved Dom’s voice. Warm, scratchy, and always tinged with humor. The kind of voice that made him think of sweat pants Sundays, curled up on the couch in front of an action movie. Or low, gritty murmurs and moans of pleasure in a dark room.

As usual lately, whenever he let his mind go there, he lost track of anything else he was doing. He had a feeling that voice would sound so good in the dark, it would make him lose his mind. He blinked at the wall, desperate to swing his imagination away from that.

Why the hell had he agreed to go to Dom’s house? His home!

Abe snatched the towel off his shoulder and wiped at the sweat over his brow. The late-June heat was making the humid air thick. He began unplugging tools in his garage. If he was going to continue to work here, he should probably think about putting in air conditioning. He’d taken up creating hand-carved chairs as a hobby, then moved into whimsical window frames after a neighbor had commissioned one for his daughter’s eighth birthday. Nearly every parent who’d attended the little girl’s party had called to order more, and several had gone on to order chairs as well. Word had spread.

At this rate, he could quit the accounting he did part-time altogether.

Though that was his profession, he hadn’t truly enjoyed it since the financial world had gone to shit in 2008.

With his workshop put to rights, he walked through his house for a shower, telling himself with every step that he was just getting clean to be polite after sweating his ass off in his garage most of the day. He wasn’t hoping that Dom would put his hands on his clean skin. Or press his face into his clean neck. Or nibble his way along his jaw to his lips while sliding his hands down his chest to his…fuck, he was going to need to take care of something else while he was in the shower.

Still calling himself a liar forty minutes later, his headlights lit up the cute white brick house he’d been to only once before. The place had surprised him. He’d expected to find Dom in an apartment or an in-town rental. Instead, Dom had invested in an older fixer-upper with lots of personality. Just like the man himself.

Set back in the trees, the house offered privacy on the quaint, heavily wooded street in Mount Airy, not far from the Mount Airy Forest. Dom had told him he bought the place for the old brick-arched doorway leading to the deck and for the backyard full of trees.

Dom surprised him every time he saw him. He came off as a jokester, but there were layers to the man Abe ached to explore.

He parked in the driveway and sat another moment to mentally put up thick walls around his heart. Tonight, it would be more difficult than usual because Abe had a big birthday coming up. The dreaded five-oh. He’d been dealing with a lot of deep thoughts about his life and where it was going. With his son happily settled down, he felt like he was drifting, and he wasn’t sure why. He had everything he could possibly want. Happy son. A home. A fulfilling hobby. Steady income. What more could he possibly need?

His restlessness was at an all-time high, and Dom’s determination to move beyond friendship was starting to wear him down. Not that he was that resistant—he wasn’t—it was just…he couldn’t get why someone as insanely hot as Dominic Walsh wanted him so badly.

A lot of those deep thoughts lately had been the “What would naked with Dom be like?” kind…

It’s always so fun when a couple who are obviously attracted to each other in one book finally get their own book. Sadistic Sherlock is for Dom and Abe.

Abe is nearing 50 and although he always felt that he was bisexual he never got a chance to act on it. I don’t know if this is “officially” a trope, but I really like it. Because you still see the insecurities that the character feels, but you also get the excitement without him wondering why he is all of a sudden attracted to men.

Dom wants Abe bad but sees his hesitation, so he goes about it slowly. Becoming his friend. Texting, hanging out, until, FINALLY. Yes, finally.

The storyline also involves Dom’s twin brother finding him 10 years after he faked his own death. I don’t think we ever really found out how his brother found out that he hadn’t really died. It kind of sounds like he knew all along, but then why did he wait 10 years?

Anyway. This is a very fast paced book. There always seems to be a lot going on. And I really enjoy that. I like not having lulls in the book where I want to skip paragraphs or even pages.

Fixing the problem, as it were, seemed a bit far fetched- especially because it was Abe’s plan. The accountant. But, hey, whatever. It was still fun and exciting and I loved Abe and Dom together.

We do, of course get some Rowe and even some Noah. I miss the other guys though. But I also like that the authors don’t fall back on those characters to keep us interested.

4 pieces of eye candy

This one seemed so different than the others, but no less intense, and no less amazing. This one centers around Dom and Shane’s (who’s with Quinn) dad, Abe. Dom isn’t the broody, ill-tempered, confused BAMF that the rest of the guys at Ward seemed to be in their books, and I liked that. He’s funny, he laughs, and like the rest of them, he’s just an all around good guy.

He’s also had a crush on Shane’s dad for as long as he’d known the man. A little advice from the movie star he was working to protect had him realizing that he’d never get what he wanted unless he went after it…. So, he did… unfortunately, working for that same movie star is what had Dom in the limelight and called attention to a past that he went to great lengths to get away from. So, when that past comes back in the form of an identical twin psychopathic brother, Dom isn’t sure what to do, to keep Abe safe.

Here’s where my problems come in. Dude…you work for a BA, bodyguarding company. You ARE one of them… and yet, you don’t tell them when your psycho brother comes around threatening you and you hot daddy?? Why not??!! It’s literally ALL of your jobs… that didn’t make sense to me. I mean, I guess, I get it.. you didn’t want these people to know where you came from or whatever, but… not even Rowe, who knew the whole story? He just kind of ignored it, hoping it would go away or something, when he knew that it wouldn’t. I didn’t understand that part. It took well over half of the book for anyone to find out, and it was because of Abe, not Dom. It was already too late for him. Thank goodness Abe done something first!

Now, Abe… I loved Abe…having a son the same age as the guy he’d been crushing on, he thought maybe it was a mid-life crisis… That and the fact that Dom liked to play the field, he didn’t want to jump into his bisexuality with a guy who didn’t want the same thing he wanted…which was a relationship. Had he been paying attention, though, he’d have known that all Dom wanted was him…

Unfortunately, before all the cards were on the table, Dom’s brother showed up…

Y’all…this guy was a legit psycho…talkin’ about wolf packs and a crazy life of crime lol, he just didn’t seem all there for me. He spent the last decade doing whatever he wanted, not caring about the consequences…and honestly, I’m surprised he hadn’t gotten caught until the end, because he didn’t seem very smart to me. How he didn’t realize that he was being played at the end, was beyond me…but, meh, whatever worked. It all just seemed like a badly acted B rated movie, if I’m honest.

I of course, loved all the guys from Ward security… I’m so obsessed with this series, and all the guys in it; and I’m so glad we get another HEA…and aww, the expanding family with Lucas and Andrei… hope there’s more to that… I’d love it!

But, this one just wasn’t my favorite of them all so far, but I’ll definitely be waiting for more! Maybe even from Trent, or the awkward numbers guy, Daniel was his name?? I don’t remember… but, yeah… I’m all in for more!

4 pieces of eye candy from me

Who are Drake & Elliott?

Jocelynn Drake and Rinda Elliott have teamed up to combine their evil genius to create intense gay romantic suspense stories that have car chases, shoot outs, explosions, scorching hot love scenes, and tender, tear-jerking moments. Their first joint books are in the Unbreakable Bonds series.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | eMail Tumblr |Unbreakable Readers

http://drakeandelliott.com/

https://www.facebook.com/drakeandelliott/

https://twitter.com/DrakeandElliott

drakeandelliott@gmail.com

http://drakeandelliott.tumblr.com/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1711647052392377/

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Point of No Return by N.R. Walker: Audio Book Review

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Book one in the Turning Point series.

Matthew Elliot is one of LA’s best detectives. He’s been labeled the golden boy of the Fab Four: a team of four detectives who’ve closed down drug-rings all over the city. He’s smart, tough and exceptionally good at his job. He’s also a closeted gay man.

Enter Kira Takeo Franco, the new boxing coach at the gym. Matthew can’t deny his immediate attraction to the man his fellow cops know as Frankie. But in allowing himself to fall in love with a man known to his colleagues, Matthew risks outing them both.

Matt and Kira work to keep their relationship and private lives hidden from Matt’s very public life, fearing it would be detrimental to their careers. But it’s not the other cops who Matthew should be worried about finding out his deepest, darkest secret…. It’s the bad guys.

Third edition – has new cover and has been re-edited, though no new content has been added.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Audible

I always love NR Walker. This series is no different. It follows Matthew Elliot, a closeted LA detective and Kira Franco, the new boxing trainer at the police gym. Insta-lust ensues and it doesn’t take long for these two to hook up. So, sexy times are taken care of pretty quickly, but why then are there 3 books? Well. Naturally there are issues. Let’s start with Matt being closeted, and Kira sort of is too. Matt also has some abandonment issues from his youth, which hurts my heart because he’s rather sweet. Then of course there’s also the bad guys we’re dealing with as part of Matt’s job. Matt is mostly happy keeping his private and work lives separate for now and he’s in no rush to come out with Kira, who is also mostly okay with that. But his Enemy #1 uncovers his weak spot and puts Matt in that position he wasn’t yet ready to be in. I can always get into the skin of Walker’s characters and I’m gutted and torn and confused like they are when they have to consider what their issues are and determine if this new person in their life is worth them trying to overcome these issues, whether it’s coming out to others, trusting your heart with another person, the logistics of creating a new life with someone — and their family. Matt and Kira are sweet together and they make me happy.

In book 2, Matt has quit his job as a detective and has joined an underground MMA fighting club. See, Matt has slowly developed a liking for the physical pain because he feels guilt for putting Kira in danger at his old job. But while he’s taking his penance in the ring, he’s not being entirely honest with Kira. As the months go by Kira sees Matt changing into a kind of rage-aholic and he doesn’t know why. Guys, my heart *hurt*. I even cried a little. Poor Kira doesn’t know what’s wrong and Matt isn’t shedding any light on the situation, even though it’s tearing him apart.

Starting Point is also heartbreaking in its own way, as Matt seems to have finally shaken his demons and begins working with kids in self-defense training and drug counseling. Matt feels a bit helpless when it comes to the underserved kids he works with daily, but as time goes on, he learns to better distance himself while still providing guidance and opportunities for the kids. This book is really about Matt learning to find a new passion for work, with Kira by his side rooting him on.

The audio for the series was read by Sean Crisden, and I’m always torn by Crisden’s work. He reads well and has distinctive voices, most of which are really good. But one of his “voices” just sounds so … unenthusiastic about everything. It makes me feel like the character is just a mopey Debbie Downer. But the story is good and I liked the characters, and I soon got past it. Don’t let that stop you from listening.

4 pieces of eye candy

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Honeymoon For One by Keira Andrews: RDB, Excerpt, Release Day Review and Giveaway

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The wedding is off, but the love story is just beginning.

Betrayed the night before his wedding by the supposed boy of his dreams, Ethan Robinson escapes the devastating fallout by going on his honeymoon alone to the other side of the world. Hard of hearing and still struggling with the repercussions of being late-deafened, traveling by himself leaves him feeling painfully isolated with his raw, broken heart.

Clay Kelly never expected to be starting life over in his forties. He got hitched young, but now his wife has divorced him and remarried, his kids are grown, and he’s left his rural Outback town. In a new career driving a tour bus on Australia’s East Coast, Clay reckons he’s happy enough. He enjoys his cricket, a few beers, and a quiet life. If he’s a bit lonely, it’s not the end of the world.

Clay befriends Ethan, hoping he can cheer up the sad-eyed young man, and a crush on an unattainable straight guy is exactly the safe distraction Ethan needs. Yet as the days pass and their connection grows, long-repressed desires surface in Clay, and they are shocked to discover romance sparking. Clay is the sexy, rugged man of Ethan’s dreams, and as the clock counts down on their time together, neither wants this honeymoon to end.

Honeymoon for One is a gay romance by Keira Andrews featuring a May-December age difference, a slow burn of newfound friends to lovers, first-time m/m sex, and of course a happy ending.

Length: 80,000 words approx.

Cover Design: Dar Albert @ Wicked Smart Design

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

As Ethan walked through the resort on Fraser Island the next afternoon after a tour to gorgeous Lake McKenzie, he finally admitted to himself that he was looking for Clay.

Because he’s nice! He’s fun to talk to. Besides, my harmless crush is just that. Harmless. Why shouldn’t I enjoy it? Nothing’s going to happen. He’s apparently straight and I’m on the rebound. But we can be friendly. I like his accent, and he’s a nice guy.

Of course, Clay wasn’t just nice. He was sexy. His accent? Sexy. The Australian slang he used that made him sound like Crocodile Dundee sometimes? Sexy. His broad shoulders and solid build? Sexy. That he didn’t have chiseled abs and was a little soft around the middle? Sexy. Those blue eyes, and how the auburn in his hair gleamed in the sun, especially in his beard and the hair on his arms, and how he had freckles…

Sexy, sexy, sexy.

But the sexiest thing of all was how thoughtful he was. How he made such an effort to make sure Ethan could hear him when he spoke. How he’d told him the secret of the Mission Bay sunrise. How he’d copied the tour guide notes for him. Even back in Cairns, how he’d held Ethan’s backpack while Ethan was snorkeling and watched over him, then later took him to buy a hat.

Ethan was wearing the hat now, and it gave him a giddy little thrill.

Is he straight though?

The question had been niggling at him. Clay had been married to a woman for years and had kids, but of course that didn’t mean he was straight. He could be bi or pan. Although he’d mentioned the right woman coming along.

Still, when Ethan had touched his arm that morning on Mission Beach and looked into Clay’s eyes, he swore there had been a flicker between them. That unnamed frisson of knowing.

Wishful thinking. Don’t be an idiot.

There were four pools at the resort, and Ethan strolled around the first two. It was sunny, and through his polarized sunglasses, the water, surrounding palm trees, and forest beyond were vibrant. He waved hello to Shiv—who was reading on a lounger since there was nothing planned for the day after that morning’s trip to the lake in four-by-four jeeps—and continued on to a smaller, kidney-shaped pool that was more tucked away, and—

Fuck. Clay.

There he was, stretched out on a chaise lounge under the shade of an umbrella and surrounding trees on the deck at the far end of the pool. There were a few adults in the water paddling lazily, others on the more exposed side of the concrete deck sunbathing. Kids seemed to be in the bigger pools, their splashing and shrieks distant noises now.

Oh so casually, Ethan ambled around the pool, stealing glances at Clay from the corner of his eye. The chaises on either side of him were vacant. In fact, that whole shady side of the pool was empty and quiet. There was no music piped in, just the rustle of leaves in the breeze. It was perfect.

Clay wore his sexy-AF aviator sunglasses, navy bathing trunks, and nothing else but his gold-colored watch. It was kind of old-fashioned to wear a watch, and it was sexy. He’d apparently taken a dip, since his hair was wet and darker, and drops of water dried on his skin.

His long, muscular legs were crossed at the ankles. There was a newspaper folded over his stomach, his fingers laced on top of it. His nipples were pink amid the reddish hair on his chest, and as Ethan got closer, he imagined licking those nipples.

Heat roaring through him, he swallowed thickly. This was a bad idea, and he should turn back the way he came. But now he was close enough that if Clay saw him, it might seem rude, like Ethan had turned around and left because he was avoiding Clay. So he kept walking slowly around the curve of the shaded deep end, where one woman in a bikini swam a slow side stroke.

Clay’s chaise was partly reclined, and it was entirely possible he was napping and didn’t have any idea Ethan was even there. Ethan slowed even more so his flip-flops didn’t flap on the concrete.

Okay, if I walk by and he doesn’t notice me, that’s a sign. I’ll keep going and stop being ridiculous.

He was still at least ten feet away when Clay called, “Ethan!” and lifted a hand in a wave.

“Oh, hey!” Ethan replied too loudly. Calm the fuck down. He smiled as he approached. “You found a good shady spot.”

“Yep. Got skin cancer once when I was younger, so I reckoned me and the sun aren’t mates.”

Ethan gaped. “Oh my God. I’m sorry. You said before that you had to be careful, but I didn’t realize.”

“Nah, nah. Don’t be sorry.” He casually motioned to the chaise on his left in invitation. Ethan spread out his striped resort towel and settled in, his heart beating too fast as he took off his hat since they were in the shade. Clay added, “I shouldn’t be so dramatic—it wasn’t melanoma. Basal cell carcinoma. Quite common in Australia. It can’t spread, so it’s not dangerous like other cancers. Still, I had to have surgery to remove it, so it’s not nothing.”

“Wow. I’m glad it wasn’t melanoma. Obviously. Where was it?” he asked before realizing how intrusive that was. Even though Clay really felt like a friend now, Ethan had to remember it was probably mostly in his head. “I’m sorry, I’m being totally nosy! You don’t have to tell me.”

See? This was a bad idea. I’m going to make a fool of myself with this crush. Maybe it’s not so harmless after all.

“No worries. It was on the back of my left shoulder.” Clay leaned forward, angling so Ethan could see. He reached over that shoulder with his right hand, his fingers finding a pale circle of a scar. Just below it was a tattoo, a green sort of shield with a yellow sun rising over a green horizon and five stars dotting the shield. It was a few inches wide and several inches long.

“Cool tattoo.” Ethan had never been compelled to get one, but he enjoyed looking at other people’s. Before he could stop himself, he traced it with his fingertip. Clay’s back was freckled as well, and goddamn, why was that so sexy? The seconds ticked by as he touched Clay, neither of them saying anything.

Finally, Ethan asked, “Does it mean something?” He was still touching, and Clay shivered. Ethan dropped his hand, his mouth dry.

Clay cleared his throat as he sat back. “It’s part of the Cricket Australia logo. On their uniforms there’s a roo on the left and an emu on the right, and ‘Australia’ written underneath.” He laughed and muttered something Ethan missed.

“What was the last part? Sorry.”

“I thought having the full logo was overkill for a tattoo. Didn’t want it too big, but I like having a little something.”

“You really love cricket, huh?”

Clay laughed. “What gave me away?”

Ethan chuckled. “Oh, you were going to tell me about that thing. The…” He racked his brain for the right word. “Ashes?”

“Ah, yes.” Clay tipped his head forward and peered at Ethan over the rims of his aviators with his intensely blue eyes. A thrill of desire shot through Ethan’s veins. Clay asked, “Are you sure you really want to know? No need to humor me, mate.”

“No, I really do!” He laughed, and it came out shaky, so he faked a cough. “I always loved sports when I was younger, and I want to get back into them. Although the Mets were epically bad last season, so I wasn’t very inspired to hop back on the bandwagon.”

Sigh…. What would you do if you walked in on your fiancé sleeping with your very best friend the night before your wedding? Cheating is never fun to read about, especially if you’ve been in Ethan’s shoes… which, most everyone has been at one point or another, I reckon. Maybe not the night before your wedding, but, cheated on all the same.

So, when Ethan walked in on his fiancé and best friend, he felt like his world had ended. They were the only family he had really… They’d been there for him so much over the years, especially when Ethan started losing his hearing. He’d become depressed and was having a hard go of things, but things had been looking up the last year or so… he’d never imagined it was because his soon-to-be-husband and best friend had gotten together. Although the authors tried to make them not seem like such terrible people….it didn’t work for me. There is no forgiving cheating, and I’m glad that Ethan didn’t. I actually wish we’d have gotten a closer look at years later when they were both miserably alone or worse… but alas…not everyone is as psycho as me LOL

So, deciding last minute to go on his honeymoon alone seemed like a great idea… It was hard at first, especially since he didn’t have anyone there to repeat things to him that he couldn’t hear, or to help him when things got a little overwhelming. But, that’s when he met Clay… a very patient, good looking tour bus driver that became a friendly face and big help to Ethan. He was patient and understanding, and didn’t treat Ethan any differently than he would anyone, he also seemed to like spending time with him. It was innocent at first, he could look, fantasize, Clay was a straight, and it was his holiday… what harm could come from that.

So, Clay is there when Ethan goes snorkeling and site seeing, and over the next few days, they become somewhat friends…. It’s a slow going first half, just Ethan enjoying his honeymoon and getting to know Clay. Clay has always thought he was straight, having repressed a childhood traumatic experience that he never looked closely at as an adult. Having been divorced with two grown kids, he was content with the way things were. Content but lonely….And there was just something about Ethan that he couldn’t forget.

It was a bit bumpy, watching him try to figure it out, and I hated that Ethan suffered a small bit because of it. I know how insecure one can get after being betrayed, so I hated that he was left doubting himself and wondering what he’d done wrong. Clay doesn’t waste time fixing it though, and then things get really interesting.

I don’t wanna spell the whole book out, but if you like adorable guys, Australian slang, newly discovered love, first timers, and hurt/comfort with HEA… you’ll love this one. I know I did. And what a sweet ending. <3

4 pieces of eye candy from me!

Being a straight woman, there isn’t always a ton of things in MM romance that I can relate to. Sure, a feeling here or there, that kind of thing. But this one deals with hearing loss and the aftermath. And while my hearing loss is quite different that the character Ethan’s, dealing with it in the real world is very similar to what I deal with. Oh the validation I felt!

“It can be so isolating. It’s like… I’m no deaf enough to use ASL, but I’m not a hearing person anymore either. Still, I live in the hearing world- the only world I’ve ever known. I’m not part of the Deaf culture. I don’t know where I fit. Who I am.”

ALL of this.  So to say I felt a connection to Ethan is putting it mildly. And now that I have potentially bored you, my review.

This book had a lot of tropes in one. So I am sure one of them will fit what you are looking for. Vacation romance, May-December romance, first time gay, demisexual, rebound relationship, etc.  And this is a very cute romance that really doesn’t start until at least the halfway part of the book. Before that is the big break up and subsequent “honeymoon for one” in Australia.

To me, this was a fluffy beach read. Sure Ethan was dealing with some stuff, but mostly he felt sorry for himself until he didn’t.  And Clay had nearly a perfect life.  He drove his wife to meet the guy she wanted a relationship with WHILE THEY WERE STILL MARRIED.

Anyway. It could have been super angsty. Ethan dealing with his break up. Not only with his fiancé, but his best friend. Clay dealing with being not straight after a lifetime of believing being anything but straight was wrong.  But nope. Like I said, fluffy beach read. And there is nothing wrong with that at all. Who doesn’t need a happy no tears book?

So it was very neat and tidy and cute and romantic. If you’re on vacation or want to go on vacation, this is a book for you.

3.5 pieces of eye candy

After writing for years yet never really finding the right inspiration, Keira discovered her voice in gay romance, which has become a passion. She writes contemporary, historical, fantasy, and paranormal fiction and — although she loves delicious angst along the way — Keira firmly believes in happy endings. For as Oscar Wilde once said:

“The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means.”

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The Hunt by J.M. Dabney & Davidson King: Blog Tour, Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

by

Disgraced detective turned private investigator, Ray Clancy, left the force with a case unsolved. Finding the killer was no longer his problem, but it still haunted him. How long would he survive the frustration of not knowing before he gave into the compulsion of his nature to solve the crime?

Server, Andrew Shay, existed where he didn’t feel he belonged, living behind the guise of a costume. Yet it paid the bills, and he refused to complain about the little things in life. One night he returned home from work to find his roommate dead and the killer still there. Afraid and alone, his life spiraled and he didn’t know what to do. Could a detective at his core and a scared young man join forces to bring down the killer in their midst?

The Hunt

J.M. Dabney & Davidson King

Gay Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Romance

Release Date: 09.15.18

Cover Design: Morningstar Ashley @ Designs by Morningstar

 

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Goodreads

Rudy had given me a strange look when I’d walked in a few minutes earlier and didn’t take my usual spot at the counter. I was still mentally processing the call I’d received from one Andy Shay. I’d done a quick search for him and found several social media profiles from different Mr. Shays, but didn’t take the time to do a more thorough investigation.

When he’d stated he’d witnessed a murder, I’d resigned myself to dealing with another crazy person, but then after Andy had explained, my tired brain had quickly put the pieces together.

Andy sounded young and justifiably scared. His voice was soft with slightly husky notes. I didn’t know why out of everything the kid’s voice is what I remembered most.

I raised my mug to my mouth and downed half of it, hoping the caffeine would wake me up. I should’ve slept. I’d spent most of the morning researching and hadn’t come up with one mention of similar crimes. Even if there was only one detail the same, I’d grasped at hope, only to be disappointed when the suspect was dead or imprisoned. I don’t know how I felt about that, but I didn’t have time to think too much about it.

I curved my hands around the mug and stared into the dark liquid. The bell going off over the door had me lifting my head. A thin man walked in with clothes that hung on his frame. As soon as I’d looked up our eyes met. There was no doubt in my mind that he was the one I was waiting for, and I slid out of the booth. I sensed the young man’s fear, so I patiently stayed still as he prepared to approach me.

Andy’s first few steps were cautious, as if he hadn’t made up his mind on whether I was an ally or foe. I knew that expression, I’d lost count of how many times I’d seen it over the years. Two decades of dealing with terrified and reluctant witnesses prepared me for anything.

“Mr. Clancy?”

I was slightly taken aback by the sound of that voice in person and blamed it on my lack of sleep. The kid was young, maybe mid-twenties.

“Call me, Ray. Please, take a seat.” I motioned at the bench and waited for him to slide into it. “Coffee?”

“Yes, please.”

“Rudy, refill for me and another for my friend here.” Rudy smirked at me from behind the counter, and I knew what he was thinking. That was the farthest thing from the truth. I was impatient to find out what happened the other night, but I waited for Rudy to approach with the coffeepot and an extra mug.

“Does your date need a menu, or are you planning on being cheap, Clancy?”

“Rudy, don’t fuck with me today.”

The words must have come out harsher than I’d thought because I caught the kid flinching in my peripheral. Skittish. I was going to have to temper my normally gruff nature.

“Cranky,” Rudy muttered, and I waited for him to drop off the menu, then return to the opposite side of the counter.

I watched in horror at the amount of sugar the kid doctored his coffee with and tried to hide my disgust behind my own mug of straight, black coffee. The way coffee was meant to be drank. Andy’s hands shook, and if I hadn’t paid closer attention, I would’ve missed that. I warred with the decision to let Andy take the lead and start the conversation or broach the subject myself.

My curiosity won. “Why did you contact me?”

“I researched the case. A crime reporter, I can’t remember his name right now, well, he did some stories and your name was mentioned. Your name came up in several articles.”

“But why are you here? I’m not a cop.”

Those four simple words still stung my pride. I should be on the case. Who’s to say that I wouldn’t have caught the guy sometime in the last six months.

Holy thriller, batman…. this one was a doozy!

Ok, now I’m a huge Dabney fan, so I knew this one was going to be a good one, but it’s so different from her other reads, I didn’t know what to expect when she collabed with someone I’d never read before. So, we started out with Ray, who was a good detective in a cesspool of shady people. Being framed for a crime that he didn’t commit, I’ve gotta say, wasn’t a good start for me…. If you read any of my reviews, you’ve gotta know my biggest pet peeve is terrible people getting away with being terrible people, and it seemed like this happened ….. keep reading!

After taking a deal and losing his spot on the force, he starts a PI practice…. It allowed him to stay in the type of work he was in before, I reckon. He got to keep his gun, and it kept him out of jail at least… but I kept my eye on Captain Green, I didn’t trust him from the very beginning and had you asked me if he had a hand in the business what was going on in the book, I’d have said definitely. I was really kept in suspense with the who-dun-it and the why.

See, Ray was smack in the middle of a serial case where young men were getting mutilated and murdered when he got fired. As one could imagine, it was hard to let go, but he didn’t have much choice. He did have a friend or two that let him in on some details, but enough to keep track of what the serial killer was up to…. Other than the killing of course. That’s when he meets Andy…..

Andy came home from work to witness his roommate, and best friend murdered and being mutilated. The police (Captain Green), wasn’t doing much about it, not even informing the public that a serial killer was in their hood. Why they kept denying it, I still have no idea… but, Andy was scared, and nobody seemed to care that he was on the killer’s radar….I mean, he did see the guy…. That irked me, another black mark against Green… seriously, how did he still have a job at the end?

Anyway, he called Ray, having gotten his name by doing a little digging himself, and Ray, attracted to Andy, but also needing to solve this case, agreed to help…. It’s a confusing runaround, trying to gather evidence and motive and any link at all that would give them a clue who was terrorizing the young men of New West City… Ray used some of his old contacts that he knew growing up, and I had to admit, even though they were criminals….well-known criminals, I kinda loved them anyway… Especially Bradford and Richie. I wouldn’t mind a book about either one of them!

And like I said, by the end of it, when everything came together, I was surprised and no longer confused, and I felt like my heart was going to jump right out of my chest. It’s a real page turner for sure and if you enjoy murder mysteries with some man on man love thrown in…. don’t pass this one up. There are some typical Dabney errors, like, no question marks when one is obviously needed, but if you’ve read any of her books at all, you’ll know she’s allergic to the question mark. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest… but I know it’ll be a common complaint. So heads up…Overall…I really, really enjoyed it! Sweet ending….would most definitely recommend.

5 stars from me!

J.M. Dabney is a multi-genre author who writes mainly LGBT romance and fiction. She lives with a constant diverse cast of characters in her head. No matter their size, shape, race, etc. she lives for one purpose alone, and that’s to make sure she does them justice and give them the happily ever after they deserve. J.M. is dysfunction at its finest and she makes sure her characters are a beautiful kaleidoscope of crazy. There is nothing more she wants from telling her stories than to show that no matter the package the characters come in or the damage their pasts have done, that love is love. That normal is never normal and sometimes the so-called broken can still be amazing.

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Davidson King, always had a hope that someday her daydreams would become real-life stories. As a child, you would often find her in her own world, thinking up the most insane situations. It may have taken her awhile, but she made her dream come true with her first published work, Snow Falling.

When she’s not writing you can find her blogging away on Diverse Reader, her review and promotional site. She managed to wrangle herself a husband who matched her crazy and they hatched three wonderful children.

If you were to ask her what gave her the courage to finally publish, she’d tell you it was her amazing family and friends. Support is vital in all things and when you’re afraid of your dreams, it will be your cheering section that will lift you up.

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