Two Chicks Obsessed with Books & Eye Candy

Sharing our love of M/M Romance

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His Instant Family by Rheland Richmond: RDB, Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

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Shy and awkward Teo Wright, a brilliant young author, has met the man of his dreams in much older Michael, a widower and father of three. The man has fired up his fantasies and refuses to let go. Discovering they are both single sets them on the road to forever.

“I want to wake up to this every morning.”

Dr Michael Ashworth has been focussed on his work for too many years and although now he is one of the best doctors in his field, it has been to the detriment of his family. But when Teo comes into his life, Michael knows the young man is his future. Teo has made him feel alive and whole again. However, Michael’s in-laws are not thrilled to find the ‘straight’ son-in-law they have known and loved for many years, is in fact bisexual.

Dating a man is not the only issue threatening the life he and Teo are building together. Michael’s teenage son is also not a fan of his father having a boyfriend that is so much younger.

A rebellious teenager and bigoted relatives are hurdles Michael and Teo must overcome before they can find their forever, but nothing good ever comes easy… especially when there are kids to consider.

His Instant Family

Rheland Richmond

M/M Romance

Release Date: 10.04.18

Cover Design: Jay Aheer

 

Amazon

 

Michael wasn’t sure what just happened, but thankfully years of galas and fundraisers had given him a world-class poker face. Unless he was losing his mind… he was apparently attracted to the husband of one of his patients. He knew that was exactly what it was. He knew that feeling. That spark of attraction and that sense of potential. He had only ever really felt that once before, with Sierra. His late wife.

That flash, and those tingles of fierce attraction that made goose bumps pop out all over your skin. But that wasn’t… couldn’t be possible? He wasn’t gay. Not that he had any problem with being gay, far from it, but he just had never been attracted to a man before. Sure, in college, he’d noticed some guys were attractive, but he’d been married to his wife, Sierra, for eleven years before she passed away. Damn it, here came the crushing guilt. He couldn’t even think of her without the guilt and regret overshadowing everything.

He hadn’t thought about anyone in that way since he’d met her. He did not want to think of anybody in that way, either. He’d not had that feeling since forever ago. And, truthfully, he was shaken to the core. He’d been seeing Mrs. Preston since she transferred into his practice. But, this was the first time he was meeting Mr. Preston. Michael put on his most blank look to conceal what he was feeling. He couldn’t very well tell the expectant parents they were having a daughter while imagining what the father looked like under his clothes.

Matteo was a beautiful man, and those were the only words to describe him. With the slightly too long dark locks, and the stormy gray eyes that made him even more striking to look at. With his coloring, they just stood out in contrast. He was shorter than Michael. All-around leaner too, with a body he would describe as fit without being overly muscled. Maybe he just needed to get laid. It had been almost a year, maybe longer, since he had ended his liaison with Addison. She was a lovely woman. Stunning in fact, but she’d started making comments like, “Where is this going?” and, “Why haven’t I met your children?” Immediately he had known that it was time to end things.

He just knew that she could never compete with Sierra. It was unfair, and he shouldn’t even be comparing them. He knew this, but he couldn’t stop. Once she’d mentioned meeting his kids, he’d known their time together was up. He ended things so fast he may have left blazing skid marks while leaving her apartment, like the DeLorean in Back to the Future. It was unfortunate, honestly, because she would have made a lovely wife, just not for him.

Focus, Michael. Finish this appointment and leave this room as quickly as possible without being impolite or unprofessional.

So… I had a hard time getting into this one. Anyone who reads my reviews at all, knows that I have a thing for hot dads, so I jumped at the chance at this one… plus, I really enjoyed Tristan and Nathaniel’s story before this one…

However, I just couldn’t get into this one. The dialogue between Teo (tho he’s referred to as Tristan a time or two, Julien and Benjamin… sooo, just pick one) and anyone had me rolling my eyes so hard. It was like he was trying to be cliché, and he was so extra that I just couldn’t find myself warming up to him. But, anyway, in the beginning, he joins his sister at her doctor’s appointment to find out the sex of her baby, where he meets the handsome, but of course, straight as an arrow doctor, Michael.

Michael has three kids, was married to a woman until she passed away and cannot believe he’s lusting after his patient’s “husband” when he’s never had a gay thought in his life. Walking through his life, straight as can be and then see’s one man, this one time and BAM… I’m bi? Since when?! And he’s perfectly okay with that, didn’t give it a second thought, other than ya know… thinking he was married to one of his patients… it was just so…. Unoriginal.

So, while he can’t stop thinking about him all week, his youngest daughter gets him up on one of his rare days off and they go meet her favorite author, who is… I’ll give you one guess of who… that’s right! It’s Teo! Because Teo writes children’s books…

So, once they ascertain that neither guy is married, by hints of the kids and Teo’s friends… they start seeing “forever” with each other….which, I’m all for insta-love, I get it… but it’s only the second time they’ve ever laid eyes on each other… and then Teo’s like… hey, listen, if you can’t hold my hand and kiss me public… this isn’t going to work out.
What isn’t going to work out? You’ve spent a grand total of 20 minutes with him, and have only met him twice… and some people don’t like PDA, though it clearly wasn’t a problem, I just thought it was ridiculous to throw that out there like that ….

So, they date.. well, they have one date, and Michael’s daughters seem okay with it, though his teenage son is just downright rude. They say they’re not boyfriends several times, but Teo’s spending the night, being introduced to the kids and coming to family dinners… so I understood his frustration. If I woke up to a gay dad and a much younger man in his bed, surprise, I’d be upset too! However, he is really bratty, and although the teenage kids are 14 and 15, they’re treated like 17-18 year old…Also… Michael’s youngest daughter is seven… she seems like a genius sometimes, and then four at other times. I don’t know how to process…

Michael’s sister in law, is the most disgusting person ever… of course, there’s someone thrown in that talks about Michael disgusting, immoral behavior and threatening to take the kids away because he might spread the gay…. I’m going to be honest, I completely skimmed any page time she got.. not worth the drama.

I feel like all I’m doing is ranting, so I’m going to just stop here. I liked Michael and Teo together as a couple, but everything else just seemed so unnecessary… I don’t think this one was for me.

3 pieces of eye candy

 

Since she was a little girl, Rheland Richmond entertained herself with any book she could get her hands on. She has written as long as she can remember, and now she finally gets to share some of those stories with other people.

She loves a good happily ever after. Because she believes love and light should touch everything. She is an obsessive reader and would never have considered writing if it wasn’t for all the authors that inspired her and the thousands of books she has devoured along the way.

When she’s not reading she’s caught up in all her guilty pleasure TV Shows. Or catching up with her sibs wherever they are in the world, which usually involves long distance calling. She’s an introvert that will take a night in before anything else.

Made in Nigeria and Raised in the UK she’s an interesting mix of both cultures and appreciates both equally.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RhelandRichmond/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRhelandRichmond/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rhelandrichmond/

FB GROUP: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RichmondsRiders/

 

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Hard Truths by Alex Whitehall: Blog Tour, Post, and Giveaway

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He can’t have the family he wants, but he may get the love he deserves.

Isaac didn’t expect to find love at his family’s Christmas dinner, but that was before he met his sister’s new fake boyfriend. Tall, muscular, and tattooed, Logan is what Isaac would love in a partner—and also everything his parents would hate in one. Not that they know Isaac’s gay.

That doesn’t stop him from dating Logan—unbeknownst to his parents, and with his sister’s approval after she fake dumps him. The pair dive into a whirlwind romance of motorcycle rides, cheesy puns, and hot sex. They meet each other’s friends and fill their time with happiness and laughter. It’s all perfect.

Until Isaac suggests they move in together, and Logan asks Isaac to come out to his parents. Isaac wants to, but he’s scared; he doesn’t want to lose his family. Unfortunately, he can’t see that his real family has been right beside him all along.

Amazon

Riptide Publishing

Hello, everybody! I’m Alex Whitehall, and I’m here today touring for my contemporary m/m romance, Hard Truths, which is about Isaac and Logan’s whirlwind romance, as well as coming out and what family means. But it’s not all angst and drama. In fact, I hope you’ll have as much fun watching these guys fool around as I had making them be goofs.

 

If there are two types of people in the world, Alex Whitehall probably isn’t one of them, despite being a person. Their favorite pastimes include reading, horseback riding, sleeping, watching geek-tastic television, knitting, eating, and running. And wasting time on the internet. And spending glorious evenings laughing with friends.

While Alex prefers sleeping over doing anything else (except maybe eating), sometimes they emerge from the cave to be social and to hunt for food at the local market. They can be found blogging, reading, and tending after their aloe plants.

Connect with Alex:

 

Commenting below will give you a chance to win this mug:

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/573454042/oh-for-fox-sake-coffee-mug-custom-fox

This mug appears in Hard Truths as one of the first presents that Isaac buys Logan. It’s similar to a mug I have myself (that my friend bought me and that might have inspired the gift)! The order will be shipped directly from the buyer, so you have to be willing to share your physical address with the buyer and myself. You can choose either size and any of the fox images.

Due to prohibitive shipping costs, this prize is only open to within the US. For international readers, indicate as such and you’ll have a chance to win a digital copy of your choice from my backlist.

Contest closes October 6. Thanks for following the tour, and don’t forget to leave a means of contact!

 

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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

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

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