Release Day Review

Falling for Santa Claus by C.J. Anthony: Release Day Review DSP

July 24, 2016 by Denise

synopsis When Jack Frost’s aunt dies and leaves him her house in the tiny town of Great Falls, Jack seizes the opportunity to escape the rat race of Chicago for the quaint village he loved as a child. On his first night he’s welcomed by a baseball bat and a trespassing warning from Nick St. James—longtime Great Falls resident and infamous curmudgeon.

Jack wants to give Nick the benefit of the doubt—he can’t deny his attraction to the big man—but after several run-ins with Nick’s grumpiness and closed-off heart, he’s ready to give up. Only after discovering the secret Nick’s been covering up for years does he vow to break through Nick’s walls to find the loving man hiding behind them.

Title: Falling for Santa Claus
Author: C. J. Anthony
Release Date: July 24, 2016
Category: Chritmas in July, Contemporary
Pages: 52

denise review

This short story was adorable, and sweet, and of course had an HEA to bring it all together.

I’m usually not a huge fan of short stories, because I often feel like they are missing so much characterization. This one, I definitely would have liked to get to know Nick a bit better. We did learn a lot about Jack, what brought him to Great Falls, even how the town got its name. However, we are left wanting to know a bit more about Nick, other than he was Santa for the holiday parade and his last lover left him because the town was boring.

The secondary characters were awesome! Mabel and Flo. The Jack Frost costume was hilarious! There were definitely laugh out loud moments which really made the story so much better.

A fun, enjoyable read that I would definitely pick up and read again come December.

3.75 pieces of eye candy.

3.75-pieces of eye candy

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Dreamspinner Press

The Boy Next Door by Kate McMurray: Release Day Review

July 22, 2016 by Denise

synopsis

Life is full of surprises and, with luck, second chances.

After his father’s death, Lowell leaves the big city to help his sick mother in the conservative small town where he grew up. He’s shocked to find himself living next to none other than his childhood friend Jase. Lowell always had a crush on Jase, and the man has only gotten more attractive with age. Unfortunately Jase is straight, now divorced, and raising his six-year-old daughter. It’s nice to reconnect, but Lowell doesn’t see a chance for anything beyond friendship.

Until a night out together changes everything.

Jase can’t fight his growing feelings for Lowell, and he doesn’t want to give up the happy future they could have. But his ex-wife issues an ultimatum: he must keep his homosexuality secret or she’ll revoke his custody of their daughter, Layla. Now Jase faces an impossible choice: Lowell and the love he’s always wanted, or his daughter.

First Edition published by Loose Id LLC, 2011.

Title: The Boy Next Door
Author: Kate McMurray
Release Date: July 22, 2016
Category: Contemporary
Pages: 200

deanna review

This is only the second book I’ve read by Kate McMurray. I was really hoping to enjoy this one as much as I did Put in the Field, I wasn’t disappointed. This is a great story.

Lowell return to town after the death of his abusive father so he can help take care of his aging mother. He buys a house right next door to his elementary school friend Jase.

Jase is recently divorced, raising his daughter on his own because his ex-wife is a flake. Their marriage ended because Jase couldn’t hide the fact he was gay any longer. Now he’s drowning in guilt over a failed marriage wondering if he even deserves happiness.

As soon as Jase and Lowell reconnect the sparks fly. The two embark on something they haven’t defined, whether it’s friends with benefits or a full fledged relationship.

Jase’s ex-wife puts serious pressure on him to stop seeing Lowell stating she doesn’t want it to corrupt her impressionable daughter. Jase is torn between doing what his ex wants and doing what he wants.

As a last ditch effort to hurt Jase, his ex kidnaps their daughter. Emotions are running high and Jase gets into an argument with Lowell and says some things he doesn’t mean.

Jase needs to get his daughter back and fix his relationship with Lowell, only then will he be truly happy.

The storyline was great! It loved at a fast pace and I couldn’t put it down. Once Jase’s daughter was kidnapped nothing else matter, we ordered take out. I couldn’t put the kindle down long enough to cook dinner.

I love that Kate didn’t gloss over the glamorous life of a single parent. The scheduling conflicts, last minute sitters, and stolen moments between Lowell and Jase were true to form.

There were a lot of great characters in this book. I hope this is the start of a new series because I need to see what is going on with Neal and Russ. Also, a story about Detective Brown and his firefighter would be interesting.

4 pieces of eye candy

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Dreamspinner Press

Match Point by Leigh Carman: Release Day Review

July 20, 2016 by Denise

synopsis Two stubborn men.

One is a rude jerk. The other, the life of the party.

It was hate at first sight.

Pro beach volleyball players Finn Callahan and Dexter Savage have been rivals since college. While Finn always comes out on top on the court, Dexter’s carefree and fun-loving personality earns him scores of adoring men and women. And as much as Finn fights to deny it, there’s another reason for the tension he feels when Dex is around. Hate wasn’t the only thing he felt when he first laid eyes on his opponent.

When they’re forced to team up, the two men must bury their differences—on and off the court—if either of them is going to succeed professionally.

Title: Match Point
Author: Leigh Carman
Release Date: July 20, 2016
Category: Contemporary
Pages: 200

deanna review

I really enjoyed this book. I have read a lot of sports books that were just ok, a lot of sports action and sex but little to no story. This book is a perfect mix of sports and storyline.

Finn and Dex hate each other both on and off the volleyball court. When Dex ends up needing a partner his coach suggests Finn. The two will need to put their differences aside and play together to keep winning.

I was blown away at the amount of emotion I felt for Finn after just two chapters. The writing really conveyed his loss with believable emotion.

The two MC’s were both likeable characters with great backstory. The plot moved along at a steady pace and kept me on my toes. Both Dex and Finn have pasts to overcome and by working together they do just that.

This was a great start to a new book series. I can’t wait to get my hands on book two.

4 pieces of eye candy

4-pieces-of-eye-candy

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Dreamspinner Press

Lock and Key by Z. Allora: Release Day Review

July 15, 2016 by Denise

synopsis

Rejected. Heartbroken. Devastated.

Zack Davis wanted to serve only one man, Andrew Nikeman. He was denied because Andrew thought he was too young and because their brothers were together. So Zack crushed his submissive tendencies and focused on being the perfect Dom, giving every sub he played with something he couldn’t have.

After years of denying his submissive side, Entwined’s charity auction “Are you Dom Enough to be a sub?” gives Zack an excuse to get a little of what he’s always craved.

Andrew doesn’t know when his infatuation turned into more, but it kills him to see Zack with a constant parade of submissives. He’d refused to jeopardize his brother’s relationship or become Zack’s regret; however, Zack isn’t a kid anymore, and his brother’s relationship is unbreakable. Now Zack’s popularity and success as a Dom might ruin Andrew’s dreams of collaring him, but he can’t wait any longer to confess his feelings or he risks losing the man he loves forever.

Title: Lock and Key
Author: Z. Allora
Release Date: July 15, 2016
Category: BDSM, Contemporary
Pages: 300

deanna review

I really got into this book. I love a story told over a long period of time and this one spans years.

Zack has been in love with Drew since the moment he saw him. Drew brings out Zack’s submissive side and he longs to give himself to the older man. Drew thinks Zack is too young and since their brothers are dating he doesn’t want to rock the boat.

Zack finally gets up the courage to tell Drew what he wants and he is rejected instantly. Zack and Drew both belong to the BDSM club Entwined and Zack decides if he can’t be Drew’s sub than he will be the best Dom anyone has ever seen and help subs find what he never can.

For two years Drew watches Zack grow and mature in Entwined. The easy friendship the two had is now awkward and uncomfortable. Entwined is hosting a charity event “Are you Dom enough to Sub for a night?” Zack decides the cause is worthy and he is willing to see if anyone can offer him what he was hoping for with Drew.

When nerves get the best of him Zack decides to wear a blindfold during the charity auction. Drew decides he will win Zack no matter the cost, the two spend an explosive weekend together. Both of them try to withhold their feelings and expectations which leads to each of them misunderstanding what the weekend means to them.

Once they collectively pull their heads out of their asses they realize they were meant for each other. But just because the are now together doesn’t mean the communication needs to stop. Zack is terrified to put himself out there again after Drew’s initial rejection and Drew incorrectly assumed that Zack needs to take it slow. It will take their brothers to help keep them on the right path to happiness.

I really enjoyed this story. The BDSM books I have read recently have been all sex and very little plot, but this was the exact opposite. Don’t get me wrong, there was sex. Really hot sex, but the story was well thought out and moved along at a steady pace.

There were a ton of supporting characters and sometimes my feeble brain confused them. This book wasn’t listed as part of a series or the first in a spin of series but all the supporting characters already have their own books. You don’t have to read those stories to enjoy this one. I’m off to read about some of those other books.

4 pieces of eye candy

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Dreamspinner Press

Dinner for One by Meg Harding: Release Day Review

July 13, 2016 by Denise

synopsis

Bastien isn’t used to bad reviews. His French restaurant is the toast of the town, and when a well-known critic insults it, he’s left off-kilter. Luckily for him he’s found a distraction. He’s just met an attractive writer at his niece’s school bake sale. He’s into food, into Bastien and the touch of kink they share, and there’s a chemistry between them that might make the perfect recipe.

James isn’t expecting to meet a good-looking French chef at a bake sale, but he’s not going to let the chance slide. It comes as a surprise when the chef turns out to be the owner of a place he knows—and has reviewed—and it puts James in a sticky situation. So he might have to omit some pertinent information to make it work… at least for now.

Title: Dinner for One
Author: Meg Harding
Release Date: July 13, 2016
Category: Contemporary
Pages: 200

deanna review

For me this was the perfect story! I loved everything about it. It was so refreshing to read a book where their is no angst or uncertainty about being gay. In fact, being gay isn’t even mentioned in the whole book. The main characters embraced themselves, their friends and families accepted them for who they were and it made for a wonderful story. I would love to see this dynamic become more mainstream, it would be awesome.

James is a well known food critic who gave a pretty harsh review to a local French restaurant. Bastien is the owner of said French restaurant and is really upset about his only negative review. The two meet at a bake sale for their nieces and nephew and hit it off immediately. The only catch, Bastien doesn’t know who James is.

James’s family talks him into keeping the secret and seeing where things go, because if they don’t work out their is no reason to come clean. The problem is, things are working out. Bastien and James are spending more and more time together and James’s secret is hanging over their heads like a lead balloon.

Just when James is about to come clean Bastien finds out on his own. Both are heartbroken and lean on their families to help them. Both will have to decide if one lie can spoil all of the wonderful time they had together.

Where do I begin. As much as I love James and Bastien I loved their quirky families as well. James’s siblings are crazy and funny. I was cracking up at their antics.

This was a slow burn kind of story. The build up was perfection. Their feeling steadily grew stronger without the insta-love feel. Even when things fell apart it was low on angst and drama. This was a great story about two mature grown men, even with James’s brothers antics nothing about it felt juvenile.

The dates that Bastien planned for them were so romantic, even when they didn’t go as he planned.

The way James wooed (is that even a word) Bastien after the fallout was so romantic and lovely and Bastien’s reaction was perfect.

This is my first read by Meg Harding and it won’t be my last. This book is definitely on my Best of 2016 list.

I can’t say enough good things about this book, just go read it!

5 pieces of eye candy

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Dreamspinner Press

Ace in the Hole by Ava Drake: Release Day Review DSP

July 1, 2016 by Denise

synopsis

Surveillance, seduction, and extra-dirty politics.

Christian Chatsworth-Brandeis has a problem. A huge one. The US senator he works for has run away with his latest mistress on the eve of a make-or-break fund-raising event, and it’s up to him to cover his boss’s irresponsible tracks.

Stone Jackson, the senator’s new bodyguard, looks enough like the senator that, with some extensive grooming, he might pass for Senator Lacey. Christian and Stone hatch a plan to fool everyone by substituting Stone for the senator, but Miami madness and the incendiary heat between them are throwing obstacles in their way. It’s a race to find the senator and pull off the con of the century before the attraction between them spins completely out of control.

Title: Ace in the Hole
Series: Wild Cards
Author: Ava Drake
Release Date: July 1, 2016
Category: Dreamspun Desires, Contemporary
Pages: 216

denise review

This was my first book by Ava Drake, although if you look on Amazon, you might find it is her only book (at least there). 🙂 But I would not have known that it was her first book. Everyone knows I love the Dreamspun Desires series. Always reminds me of taking two hours to finish the dinner dishes as a teenager, because I was reading with rubber bands around the paperback, then having to move it page to page. Yep, I did it. Don’t judge.

Nevertheless, great job by the author, and Dreampspinner Press to get this book out so well. The plot was fun, sexy and high drama. These two alpha males, Stone and Christian easily melded together to find the right go-ahead for themselves. Both wanting control, yet, willing to give up control to the other. There was a need on the part of the reader to suspend disbelief a bit that Stone was able to pass himself off as a famous senator, but everyone has a doppelganger, don’t they?

The secondary characters were well done as well. The illustrious politican’s wife was great, and I loved how she moved herself forward despite the challenges brought on by her husband. And Christian’s grandmother! If I had one wish, it would be to have had more of his grandmother, at least one more scene (Ava, would you like to write a bonus scene to post on Two Chicks? Hey, I can ask, right?)

The climax was well done, and fairly unexpected, at least the who-done-it part. And I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. Read it practically in one sitting.

It sounds like this might be a series, and if so, I will put my hand up and be willing to suffer and beta read book 2. 🙂

Great job by the author, and I can’t wait to read more of what’s ahead.

4.5 pieces of eye candy

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