Two Chicks Obsessed with Books & Eye Candy

Sharing our love of M/M Romance

TCO Reviewer: Erin

Loved: An Omegaverse Story (Breaking Free Book 8) by A.M. Arthur: New Release Review

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Kell Iverson Cross never imagined he’d find so much joy in his life, and he doesn’t take a single moment for granted. His tireless work championing omega rights have made him a bit of a celebrity across the territory, so when his brother Braun suggests Kell be the first omega to run for public office, Kell doesn’t say no right away. It’s a huge risk to their family, though, and Kell isn’t sure the political statement is worth it. It may be more change than the traditionalist citizens of Sansbury are ready for—especially the ones who’ve already painted a target on Kell’s back.

Demir Higgs is barely staying afloat with both university exams and the upcoming medical school entrance test. Add in spending time with his younger brothers, cultivating his relationship with his two boyfriends, and winning over a grieving ten-year-old? He’s exhausted in the best way, because Demir is happy, healthy and in love with two amazing men—men he isn’t always sure truly need him in their lives.

Brandt Lars’s greatest wish came true when his missing bondmate Oliver and their son Eriq came back into his life. Eriq is still grieving the death of his beloved uncle, and he’s standoffish with Demir. But their family is trying to come together—as well as come out to more of their friends as an alpha/omega/beta triad. But when Oliver’s traditionalist parents refuse to accept Demir and threaten to take Eriq away, Demir can’t help wondering if it’s time for him to back out of their relationship for good…

Settle in for the final full-length installment of the BREAKING FREE series, where an accidental secret, a possible surprise pregnancy, a blast from the past, and an unexpected kidnapping combine to shake up the lives of everyone Kell and Demir know and love. But they’ll survive these challenges and changes the same way they always do: as a united and loving family.

NOTE: This is a non-shifter Omegaverse story with alpha/omega/beta dynamics, heats, knotting, mpreg, and MMM pairings. In this world, omegas are second-class citizens, but they are working toward gaining more civil rights and protections under the law. Series warnings for mentions of past physical, emotional, and sexual abuse. This series is best read in numerical order.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

I’m really kind of sad that this series is ending. I had never read an “omegaverse” book before, but since I will read anything AM Arthur writes, I was all in from book 1. The huge arc finishes up here with book 8. And while this book didn’t technically give us a new romance, it did help solidify the romance between Demir, Brandt and Oliver as well as tie up a few loose ends.

Book 7 brought the three men together. But book 8 follows them as they navigate this relationship. Not only between themselves, but also their friends, family, jobs and conservative society they live in.

There is also a side story of Kell running for mayor as the last one was ousted due to a scandal. What is noteworthy is that Kell is a beta with very few rights- running for mayor will cause an uproar.

The first half of the book was a little slow, but it also wrapped up a bunch of story lines. We got to see the different men and where they were in their lives, knowing that they all got their happily ever afters. After that the focus is really on the “throuple”.

There is a bit of drama that comes about- which also helps bring them together AND wrap up the last little loose end in the whole arc.

The story was really satisfying without being to drawn out. I feel so invested in these guys that I am happy to know that they are all happy.

And apparently we will get to see them again- once their children start dating! Gah! I was there when they were all born! hahahahahaha

4 Pieces of Eye Candy

Gideon (Finding Home Book 3) by Lily Morton: Release Day Review * 2

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Gideon Ramsay is so far in the closet he should be a talking faun.

A talented, mercurial, and often selfish man, Gideon has everything he should want in life. Fame, money, acting awards – he has it all. Everything but honesty. At the advice of his agent, Gideon has concealed his sexuality for years. But it’s starting to get harder to hide, and his increasingly wild behaviour is threatening to destroy his career.

Then he’s laid low by a serious illness and into his life comes Eli Jones. Eli is everything that Gideon can’t understand. He’s sunny tempered, friendly, and optimistic. Even worse, he’s unaffected by grumpiness and sarcasm, which forms ninety percent of Gideon’s body weight. And now Gideon is trapped with him without any recourse to the drugs and alcohol that have previously eased his way through awkward situations.

However, as Gideon gets to know the other man, he finds himself wildly attracted to his lazy smiles and warm, scruffy charm that seem to fill a hole inside Gideon that’s been empty for a long time. Will he give in to this incomprehensible attraction when it could mean the end of everything that he’s worked for?

From the bestselling author of the Mixed Messages series comes a story about a man who needs to realise that being true to yourself is really just a form of finding home.

This is the third book in the Finding Home series but it can be read as a standalone.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

These books are just so fun. All of her books are. This one wraps up this series, with the final friend/brother getting his happily ever after.

Gideon is Milo’s brother. He is also an asshole. An actor since he was 17, he is used to demanding and getting his way, treating people like crap and never forming relationships. Part of that issue is that he is gay and his manager hasn’t let him come out in the over 20 years he has been in the public eye.

And then he meets his match with the nurse hired to help him as he takes a cruise ship back home after being in the hospital with pneumonia.

Eli and Gideon together are amazing. At first Eli is kind of hesitant of Gideon because of his razor sharp tongue. Until he started giving it right back. I adore banter like that in a book. But they also didn’t rely on JUST that witty banter. Being stuck on a cruise ship for seniors, they really got to know each other and honestly became friends.

But it isn’t just his relationship with Eli that grows- but also with his brother Milo and his childhood best friends, Silas and Niall. Watching Gideon realize that people really do love him no matter how acerbic he is is just so awwww…

Gideon went from being a man child to a man confident in himself and the relationships he has with people. But he never loses that wicked tongue.

4 Pieces of Eye Candy

Ahhh, Gideon…

The one that was hardest to love. I can say that I hadn’t liked him at all. Selfish, self-absorbed, self-important, self-indulgent, all the selves… He was entitled and bratty and didn’t really care what he did or who he hurt, as long as it benefited him. He was disgusting and I really didn’t think I’d care to read about him.

But, I haven’t read a Lily Morton story and not loved it, so I wanted to give him a chance. Especially because I could see that he was somewhat remorseful when it came to Niall and Milo. So… I dove in. I was NOT disappointed.

As you should know by now, that Gideon is one of movies biggest actors. Like so many of them, with unlimited money and power that brings, he was spiraling down a dangerous road, not taking care of himself. Drugs, alcohol, random guys… as long as they stayed quiet about his sexuality, he didn’t care about much else but himself. So, when a night of too much of all of that, topped with a nice bout of pneumonia, he nearly dies and ends up in the hospital.

Milo isn’t having it, and takes charge of his wellbeing, especially since Gideon nor his manager seem all that concerned. And let me take a second to warn you about this manager, Frankie. You will hate him. It made me sick to my stomach to think that anyone would let ANYONE treat him the way that Frankie treated him. Gideon was so stuck up to so many people, but Gideon, he let use him, talk down to him, treats him like absolute garbage, and for what?? I didn’t understand. I literally stopped reading so many times, because I hated this Frankie business and the way it was played out. He was outwardly homophobic, outwardly abusive towards Gideon, and nobody did anything about it??? WHY???

So, with a collapsed lung, Gideon can’t fly, so Frankie hires who he thinks is a female nurse to take care of Gideon, but he turns out to be a male nurse. A gay, good-looking male nurse, and since he can’t fly back home, Milo sends them on an oldies cruise to get him back to his place. Days with Gideon and his nurse Eli…. What could go wrong?…. or what could go right?

Eli is a nurse to the stars, mainly old folks, or addicts like Gideon, but he’s often jetting around with them, taking care of them for months until their better and then he’s off to the next location and celebrity. He’s never had a problem not falling for his clients, but the surly, bratty Gideon is different. They challenge each other and it’s fun for Eli to rile Gideon up… and Gideon finds himself someone that doesn’t cater to him and become his Yes Man. He cares about his wellbeing and doesn’t let him get away with things. It’s quite entertaining. Their banter is cute.

When their time is up, they’ve both realized that they’ve got something together, though other than a few kisses, they don’t act on, because Eli is worried about Gideon’s health and wellbeing, and it wouldn’t be right as he was just his employer.

So, they take the time they need to figure things out while keeping in touch, and I liked that Eli wanted Gideon to make sure that he was sure he wanted something with him and it wasn’t out of gratitude or some sort of obligation.

I fell in love with Gideon when he fell in love with Eli. I loved that he let his walls break down and let Eli take care of him in all the ways he was used to taking care of everyone else. I loved the way he worked things out with Milo and Niall, and I loved that he finally booted the hateful manager, though I’d have treated him much worse for all the things he put him through over the years.

Overall though, I just love this series, (and the mention of Asa, from Deal Breaker)…. I loved seeing Oz and Silas, and Milo and Niall… it was such a sweet story and I felt that Gideon turned such a big corner that it was so satisfying to see him by the end.

Loved it!

4 pieces of eye candy from me!

Blood & Bitcoin: Organized Crime (Criminal Delights Book 4 by L.A Witt: New Release Review

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Chris Emmett has a talent for screwing up and landing on his feet. As a SEAL, he managed to evade bullets and court-martials alike. As an FBI agent, he dodged danger and disciplinary action—right up until he didn’t.

With his career and freedom hanging in the balance, he’ll do whatever it takes to clean the slate… including an off-the-books deep cover solo mission.

The objective: infiltrate the Hive, a complex crime syndicate operating on the dark web, and find out who’s trying to kill Piker, the organization’s enigmatic and strangely alluring modern day Mob boss.

The moment he’s pulled into the Hive, Chris enters a world where no one is what they seem, including the man he’s there to protect. Lines blur between moral and wrong, legal and criminal, ally and foe, and—as Piker’s seductive magnetism draws Chris in—straight and queer.

Chris is running out of time to stop a killer. He has dangerous feelings for a dangerous man, and the deeper he moves into the realms of organized crime, the less he knows and the fewer people he can trust.

And that’s before he learns the truth about Piker’s assassin.

This 104,000 word book is part of CRIMINAL DELIGHTS. Each novel can be read as a standalone and contains a dark M/M romance.

Warning: These books are for adult readers who enjoy stories where lines between right and wrong get blurry. High heat, twisted and tantalizing, these are not for the fainthearted.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Me: Oh look! An LA Witt book that will help me understand bitcoin

Reads entire book. Twice. Still doesn’t understand bitcoin. In fact, understands it even less.

Listen, I love LA Witt books. I read all of them that I come across. And I know I haven’t read them all. And utmost respect for this style- intrigue, blurred lines between right and wrong, etc. Maybe I am just not smart enough for this type of book. I literally read it twice to try to understand more of the dark web stuff. But nope.

So, let’s go plot. It is very very plot heavy. There are a lot of characters. Hard to say who is a good guy and who is a bad guy, what they are doing, why, end goals, etc. So if you love jumping into a plot heavy book filled with intrigue- this is absolutely it for you. But I felt like I should be taking notes.

There was no romance. There was flirting and sex (and one scene of M/F sex, fyi) and hot but romance? Not at all.

It kind of reminded me of a James Bond or Mission Impossible. Which I like on screen. And admittedly I don’t always 100% grasp the complicated story lines.

Wow, I really am smarter than I am making myself out to be! I promise!

So here’s this- if this type of book is your jam- you are going to love it. If you are looking for a sexy romance, maybe look elsewhere. Or give it a shot. It is certainly well written and detail heavy. Although the one detail from the beginning is rarely brought up again which I thought odd.

Now I’m rambling. Enjoy.

3.5 Pieces of Eye Candy

Forever Moore: A Gay Fairy Tale (Forbidden Love book 2) by Christina Lee & Riley Hart: New Release Review

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With his raven hair and snow-white skin, Lord Ansil Eirwin draws unwanted attention wherever he goes. After his father’s untimely death, Ansil is set to become Duke of Ravenswood on his next birthday. The gallant and timid lord would never dream of shirking responsibility, so he subverts his desires in order to please his mother and new stepfather, Reginald.

Orien Moore, known as the Huntsman, lives on the fringes and has forsaken close bonds with anyone, even the misfits he has taken in. When Orien is called upon by his brother, Reginald, to kill the pampered future duke, it is the perfect opportunity to seek revenge against his power-hungry brother. Orien formulates a plan to use Reginald’s vicious request to his advantage by kidnapping Ansil and holding him hostage until he can fulfill his birthright.

Soon Orien realizes that Ansil is nothing like he’d expected. Kind and joyful, Ansil enchants Orien and his ragtag group. And Ansil, in turn, cannot help but be curious about the gruff huntsman as Orien’s vulnerabilities are exposed. Their mutual interest transforms into affection, followed by overwhelming desire. But they are living on borrowed time.

With Reginald seeking power in Ravenswood, they have no way of knowing what will transpire once Orien returns Ansil to his proper place in society. The only certainty is that the odds are stacked against them. Will the young lord and his huntsman ever have the chance to experience the happily ever after they’ve found in each other’s arms?

***PLEASE NOTE: FOREVER MOORE is a romantic fairy tale—minus the magic—that features one reluctant lord, one brooding huntsman, and plenty of angsty, forbidden love. It’s loosely based on a treasured fairy tale in a make-believe setting that isn’t part of any specific time period and doesn’t play by any traditional rules.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

These two authors are generally automatic one click buys for me. But to be honest, when the first “gay fairy tale” by them came out, I wasn’t so sure. I mean, it just looked so…cute. Too cute. So I put it on the back burner of ‘if I have nothing to read’. Then I won an audio copy of it and listened to it in my car. And loved it so much I went and one clicked the book and read it. And loved it. So ya, I was all in for this book.

This installment is a play on Snow White and the Huntsman. Although there are also seven other characters. A couple of them were obvious- Grumpy, Sneezy, Doc…but the others not so much. But it was still fun. I’ve never seen or read Snow White and the Huntsman, but I assume that the general story line is similar. But maybe not. Doesn’t matter.

Orien, the Huntsman, is an innate caregiver. But it doesn’t outwardly seem that way. But if you are his enemy, watch out. So when the chance comes to knock his brother off of his pedestal AND save a young Duke to be, he jumps at the chance.

Ansil is scared out of his mind to have been kidnapped, but when he finds out that he isn’t to be killed and no ransom to be paid, he relaxes a bit. He befriends Doc, and then when Doc passes out, he yells for help instead of running away. That earns Orien’s trust some.

This is a slow, slow burn book. But it was totally worth it and meant to be that way. Neither man had been with another man- although Ansil fantasized about it. So once they finally kiss, they take their time learning about each other and how to please another man. Orien is so sweet with Ansil you can’t help but smile. This big, scary, gruff man turns into a pile of mush when Ansil is around.

I just love how this story unfolded- not only Ansil and Orien coming together, but also Ansil bringing the whole household of people together as a family.

And because of that, the authors made me cry. GAH! I am totally down for the super angsty cry. I was not expecting the sweet, emotional cry.

No spoilers, but the ending was very satisfying. One more nod to the original Snow White and a happily ever after. Because what is a fairy tale without a happily ever after?

4 Pieces of Eye Candy