Two Chicks Obsessed with Books & Eye Candy

Sharing our love of M/M Romance

3.5 stars

The Lucky Cat (Treasure Trove Antiques Book 1) by L.M. Somerton: RB, Excerpt and Release Day Review

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Book one in the Treasure Trove Antiques series

Antiques and ammunition do not mix well.

The antique trade is not known for its life or death excitement and Landry Carran is happy that he has to contend only with furniture polish, woodworm and his irascible boss. He gets all the thrills he needs at his favorite BDSM club, Scorch.

Detective Gage Roskam is hunting stolen jewels taken from a Tokyo exhibition then shipped to Seattle. Mired in a deadly race involving the Yakuza, an enigmatic Englishman and too many indecipherable clues, he doesn’t have time to indulge in Dominant fantasies.

When their worlds collide, neither Landry nor Gage expects things to get quite as complicated—or dangerous—as they do. When Landry steps into the path of some powerful, ruthless people, it’s up to Gage to protect him. Along the way they might just discover what they both need.

Book Title: The Lucky Cat

Author: L M Somerton

Publisher: Pride Publishing

Cover Artist: Louisa Maggio

Release Date:  September 1, 2020

Genre/s: Contemporary M/M Romance, thriller/suspense, light BDSM

Heat Rating:  4 flames

Length: 60 343 words/ 241 pages

It is the first book in a new series.

Goodreads

Amazon

Pride Publishing

Sometimes there were advantages to being vertically challenged. Landry, his ass sticking out from under a seventeenth-century folding card table, paused to contemplate other occasions when his five-feet-six-inch stature had been of benefit. Not when attempting to get served at his favorite leather bar, though getting squished between all those black-clad hunks was always bearable. He snorted. Not when reaching for his preferred brand of chips at the market, which were always on the top shelf. Put there, he was sure, by the snotty assistant manager as revenge for Landry turning down his offer of a quick blow job in the staff restroom. As if. Never at family meals when he got to sit between his older twin brothers like a blond munchkin between two extras from Vikings. He reversed, wiggling his back end to avoid a willow-patterned platter balancing on a brass coal scuttle. His knees ached and he’d banged his elbow on a cast-iron fireguard, but he had rescued the battered cannonball making an escape attempt beneath teetering piles of stock.

“Well, there’s a pretty sight.”

“Hey!” Landry went for indignant rather than flattered. He tried to get up too soon and banged his head on solid, woodworm-free oak. “Fuck me!” He finally made it to open air and scrambled to his feet, rubbing his already messy hair into further disarray.

“Is that a request?”

Landry looked up…and up…into a pair of twinkling pale-blue eyes. The customer, because that was who Landry guessed the newcomer must be, was drop-dead, my-ass-is-yours gorgeous and he was grinning. Well, smirking.

“Funny man. What can I help you with, sir?” Landry gritted his teeth and remembered that Mr. Lao, his boss, would swat him like a bug if he snarked at a potential patron. Though, on this occasion, it might be worth it to mess with the man.

“Another leading question.”

Landry rolled his eyes. Black hair, blue eyes and a stubbled, chiseled chin did not equate to a free pass. “The massage parlor is three doors down, just before St. Peter’s. You can get a full-body whatever then confess all in the space of an hour.” He made an ineffective attempt to brush dust from the knees of his ripped black jeans. Blue Eyes reached into his jacket and produced a wallet, which he opened to display a Seattle PD badge and ID card.

“Gage Roskam. Is your boss around?”

Landry was more turned on than intimidated by the badge. Cop plus handcuffs equaled sexy time. Every cop he’d ever met had had a ‘don’t fuck with me’ attitude and a natural bent for control—just the type of man Landry liked to mess with. He batted his lashes. “And what makes you think I’m not the boss?”

“You’re not a sixty-eight-year-old Chinese guy by the name of Jian Lao?”

“Very observant, Officer. All that training paid off.” Landry put an extra bit of swing into his hips as he walked toward the cash desk at the rear of the shop.

“Putting your tax dollars to work, brat.”

“Hey! Aren’t you supposed to call me sir, what with you being a public servant and all?”

“In your dreams, and you should show more respect for law enforcement.”

“Gonna make me?”

“You’re lucky I’m on duty or I’d bend you over the nearest flat surface and give you the spanking you’re begging for.”

I actually really loved the story…in fact, I would love to see these two have their own ongoing series (I don’t know what book 2 looks like, other than who might be the MC’s), as they are great fun together, and I loved their personalities. Landry is a HUGE brat, and Gage can handle him in most areas, but Landry’s bratiness shines right through. I thought they were very good together, and enjoyed their snarky discussions.

Poor Landry had way more than he could handle having to take care of an antique store he knew little about, and it kept being drawn into the fray of an international ring. There is a “surprise” character who continually turns up, and I’m curious to see how he is or is not redeemed, very intriguing.

I really enjoyed this story a lot, and am looking forward to more in this series, as I really like this author’s writing style.

3.5 pieces of eye candy

Lucinda lives in a small village in the English countryside, surrounded by rolling hills, cows and sheep. She started writing to fill time between jobs and is now firmly and unashamedly addicted.

She loves the English weather, especially the rain, and adores a thunderstorm. She loves good food, warm company and a crackling fire. She’s fascinated by the psychology of relationships, especially between men, and her stories contain some subtle (and some not so subtle) leanings towards BDSM.

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Molten (Rules of Summer) by Pelaam: Quick Review

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The Rules of Summer

When it comes to fun in the sun, Steve and Jeff are burning hot.

Steve Anderson is a sommelier and the owner of a successful restaurant, although he prefers to keep that titbit to himself and a select circle of close friends. His orthopaedic surgeon husband Jeff is equally successful in his chosen profession. However, they play as hard as they work, and not only is Jeff a beloved husband, but he’s also a precious sub.

When they’re invited to a summer barbeque aboard a friend’s yacht, they don’t hesitate to accept. The theme is ‘a life on the ocean wave’, but Steve has very particular ideas about costumes…and the kind of fun they’ll have. For the couple, a pirate captain and his naïve captive will take on a whole new dimension for playing out a scene.

However, when someone tries to come between the Dom and his sub, they quickly learn their mistake, leaving Steve to show Jeff just who he belongs to.

General Release Date: 21st July 2020

Genre:

BONDAGE AND BDSM
CONTEMPORARY
EROTIC ROMANCE
GAY
GLBTQI

Amazon

This is a short novella, with an established couple who are definitely lifestyle Dom/sub.

Steve takes great care to ensure his sub (and husband) is loved and cherished. I like how inventive he is with the scenes that they have for their home life, and the fun ones they weren’t afraid to show (some people!) in their fun evening away.

I didn’t quite understand the need to introduce the issue with Jeff. It seemed out of place, and really didn’t carry the story along, in my opinion.

However, with the rest of the story, I really enjoyed it.

3.5 pieces of eye candy

Send Lawyers, Guns, and Roses by Heloise West: RDB, Excerpt, Release Day Review and Giveaway

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When Hunter and Alex are given the vacation of a lifetime, it’s a chance for them to pay attention to romance and get out of danger’s path. The tiny Caribbean island of Saba is gorgeous, the first to have marriage equality, and the Sabans are the nicest people on earth. There’s lots of rum poolside for relaxing and a room with a mirror on the ceiling for passion. Hot Karaoke nights, cold beer, and new friends.

Orfeo and Max, and Max’s sister Talisha, confide a troubling secret. Alex and Hunter want to help. As a hurricane bears down on them, a dead body surfaces and a purple backpack loaded with stolen jewels brings Derek Boyd, a jewel thief, into their lives. He wants his ex-boyfriend Max and the stolen jewels returned before the Russian mobster, who wants his wife’s jewels back, can catch up with him and exact his revenge.

Title:  Send Lawyers, Guns, and Roses

Author: Heloise West

Publisher:  NineStar Press

Release Date: August 31, 2020

Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 76700{

Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, Action/adventure, Established couple, Law enforcement, revenge, crime, vacation

Goodreads

Amazon

Nine Star Press

Alex

The door closed behind the last customer, and the noisy bar returned to silence, a booze-fumed, tacky-underfoot silence where the small noises Alex made seemed twice as loud. His ears rang as he picked up the broom to sweep out the crap on the floor behind the bar.

The front door opened again, and his shoulders tensed. He cursed himself for not locking it when he’d shoved out the last drunk patron, distracted by the e-mail he’d received. A rookie mistake. He groped under the bar for the bat the owner had urged him to use if he suspected he needed to.

“Excuse me,” the man in the doorway said. He’d been in the bar earlier, an Asian man along with a rather bland, nondescript white guy.

Alex looked closer, not letting go of the bat. “We’re closed. Need me to call a cab for you?”

The man appeared innocuous, but innocuous-looking people could still be trouble. The instincts Alex had honed all those months on the run had stayed with him. Director Flint’s warnings about retaliation flashed through his mind.

The guy opened his mouth to answer Alex’s question, but someone shoved him from behind before he could speak, and he stumbled. Alex grabbed the neck of the bat.

“Didja ask him? Is it him?” The pushy friend pressed himself forward a few steps, far drunker than his buddy.

“We’re. Closed.” Alex threw some menace behind the authority in his voice and revealed the bat. The Asian man flinched and grabbed at his friend, who fished in his pocket for something.

“It’s him. You. Boy Blue,” the drunk man burbled.

Alex froze, shifting gears. He tightened his grip on the bat. Anger fueled his ass up and over the bar to land a few feet in front of the drunk who pulled out a phone, aimed it in his direction, and blinded him with the flash.

“You fucker!” Alex reached out to slap the phone away—too late, because the man had thrust it back into his pocket. Alex smacked the bat against the tiles on the floor. It made a sharp, solid noise, and they both looked at him with drunken, slow-motion surprise. “Get out before I call the cops!”

“Asshole!” The first guy grabbed his friend again, shoved him out the door, and slammed it shut behind him.

Alex locked it this time and leaned against it, heart racing. When it began to slow, he took a deep breath and another, and his temper faded. He had a date tonight, and if he didn’t move his ass, he’d be late. Cranking up Dropkick Murphys to exorcise the intruders, Alex cleaned the place out in record time. Once done, he grabbed his phone and clicked on the video text. Happy Birthday! The handmade sign filled the screen. Alex smiled.

Bare feet on their unmade bed. Hunter wiggled his toes, and Alex laughed. The phone camera traveled along Hunter’s shins to his knees, all dusted with brown and copper-tinged hair, and as he bent his left knee, the sheet fell from his muscular thigh. Hey, the pointed birthday hat covered his… Hunter stretched like a big cat, and the tip of the hat rocked as he adjusted his hips. Alex swallowed hard, mesmerized as the camera swept across Hunter’s hips and flat belly, up the opposite side of his body, past an erect pink nipple, the tattoo, and the hairy armpit, along his biceps, which he flexed, then forearm to wrist and the silver bracelet around it. Alex’s heart gave a little lurch, beating faster. His boyfriend had handcuffed himself naked to the bed for his birthday.

Oh, honey. Alex groaned, grabbed his wallet and keys from the cash register, and ran for the door.

He jogged out into the warm June night, the sky clear and sparkling over Delingham as he jumped into the car. He hoped to get home without wrecking the care while Hunter’s video replayed in his head. His blood boiled for Hunter.

He drove through the quiet streets. Alex hadn’t wanted to come back to Delingham at all, but Hunter’s family had made sure the rent got paid on his apartment. At least they had a safe place to go to when Hunter recovered from Dale Markham’s accidental gunshot wound. Dale Markham, former FBI agent, rotting in jail—someplace hot, Alex hoped, good practice for when he got to hell. Nick Truman, too, but a big black hole existed where he’d once been. Maybe they had put him in Witness Protection like Nick had hoped. The case against the two men who had murdered Alex’s uncle had become a nonissue, since before they could be taken into custody, someone had killed them.

Nothing like thinking about those things to defeat his raging hard-on, so he blasted out Dropkick Murphys again to fuel up the testosterone.

“Here I come, baby,” he murmured.

Not finding a parking spot near the apartment building set him seething and grinding his teeth. His lot in life had improved, but not his temper. He dropped the keys twice on the front stairs and made it through the door before he considered alerting Hunter. Alex texted—coming up now—and smiled to think again of Hunter there, waiting, naked, and handcuffed to the bed. They’d talked about playing like this but hadn’t got around to it yet. In the video, Hunter had kept the wounded leg covered; he hated the scar, the asymmetry where they’d taken part of the muscle during surgery. Doing better after a pretty deep depression before his physical therapist motivated him on the road to getting back in shape.

Yeah, we’re doing good.

This is book 2 in the series, and finds the guys heading for some fun in the sun. This doesn’t happen until about 40% into the book, which seemed a bit odd to me. The book is almost split into two parts. The part in Delingham, MA, and then the part on the Carribean Island. And what happens in one doesn’t seem to carry over to the other in this book. It almost felt as if it could have been a novella for the first part, and a book for the second part.

Anyway, the guys are pretty much broke, but trying to make it, while learning to live together, and live with themselves. There’s some stuff that happens in Delingham that felt out of place for me, but it definitely helped to advance Alex’s continued desire to be an FBI agent. I did find myself skimming a few areas that seemed either redundant or unnecessary.

Once they get to Saba, the book slows down some. There is a lot of getting to know, and a lot of back and forth with the people on the island, trying to get to know them (in Alex’s case, again, as he had been to the island before), and the others being afraid to tell them what their issues were. Both Alex and Hunter were trying to be friends, and to help those that needed it.

Hunter’s panic attacks begin to get worse (get that boy some help!) but all in all they are trying hard to just enjoy themselves. Things happen. Thieves are revealed, a hurricane pops up and killers are found and dealt with. Mayhem is had by all. 🙂

All in all a bit of fun. I’d call it a beach read, but as you find out in this book, Saba isn’t an island with a beach.

3.5 pieces of eye candy

Heloise West, when not hunched over the keyboard plotting love and mayhem, dreams about moving to a villa in Tuscany. She loves history, mysteries, and romance. She travels and gardens with her partner of fifteen years, and their home overflows with books, cats, art, and red wine.

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Bitten By Mistake (Regent’s Park Pack Book 1) by Annabelle Jacobs: Audiobook Review

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From animosity to searing passion in a lunar cycle…but can their bond survive?

Wolf shifter Nathan Kohl’s pack is his whole life. Arrogant and handsome, he avoids commitment to anything or anyone outside of his pack. He works hard, plays hard, and pursues humans as lovers because there’s little to no chance of him forming a permanent bond. However, when Jared Taylor comes into Nathan’s life, every rule is broken.

After a bad experience, Jared vowed to never get involved with another shifter, no matter how much they got under his skin. Despite being physically attracted to Nathan, who’s all kinds of hot, Jared only sees an arrogant, domineering bastard.

A disastrous case of mistaken identity throws Nathan and Jared together until the next full moon. Forced to spend the next twenty-eight days in close proximity, they can no longer ignore the powerful attraction between them. Passion ignites, and their relationship takes a turn neither of them wanted.

But when the full moon comes, everything might change again.

Audible

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

The story – The premise of the shifter world started really well. I love any story that has a new twist on a favorite genre of mine. Basically biting humans to change them is illegal and can be a sentence of death, and this happening is the whole focus of the plot. The forced proximity plot on the whole was well handled with a few gross moments I would have been happier to gloss over, and some inconsistencies that weren’t resolved.

I loved that the author didn’t try and force all the backstory on us in one go, but at the same time some of the info was a little too convenient and sometimes lacking.

Having said that this is the start of a series so I’m expecting those questions will be explained in later books.

I liked the action sequences and the hot sex scenes, but I found myself waiting for the emotional attachment that never quite seemed to happen.

The narration – Antony Ferguson is a new to me narrator with a very smooth voice. I would have liked to see some more regional accents in the story. Taking place in London which is a hotbed for different nationalities, I expected a little more than I got. I also sometimes wanted to speed things up a little to get around his careful and sometimes very precise narration.

Story: 3.5 pieces of eye candy

Narration: 3.5 pieces of eye candy

His Perfect Companion by Alexa Milne: New Release Review

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Two men, one with a past and one determined to give them a future.

Mick Flanagan has kept himself hidden since his only lover died three years ago. He works at night, keeps to his routine, has impressive facial hair and avoids contact with other people as much as possible. Enter Ceri Llewellyn, with his constantly changing rainbow-colored hair, who, for reasons Mick doesn’t understand, seems determined to talk to him. Gradually, Mick reveals his traumatic past as he begins to trust Ceri enough to shake himself out of his entrenched routines.

Ceri Llewellyn has no idea why Mick intrigues him, but he determines to bring this shy man out of his protective shell, especially when he discovers they share a mutual love of all things Doctor Who. Ceri faces his own turning point, a moment when he must decide on his future. The more time he spends with Mick, the more he realises he wants Mick to be a part of this new life. Can Ceri show Mick he’s his perfect companion, give him the new beginning he needs and, above all else, help him find his true self?

Reader advisory: This book contains scenes of homophobia and the misgendering of a child.

Publisher’s Note: This book was previously released elsewhere. It has been expanded, revised and reedited for release with Pride Publishing.

General Release Date: 23rd June 2020

Genre:

CONTEMPORARY
EROTIC ROMANCE
GAY
GLBTQI

Amazon

Pride Publishing

I’ll start this review by saying that there were areas of this book that surprised me…honestly shocked the h*ll out of me. Which isn’t easy to do. However, clearly I didn’t read the warnings well, I just dove in, but I am glad I did. I’m not sure I would have wanted to be too aware of it from the beginning.

Mick was such a sweetheart, and had his heart not only broken, but shattered twice. Who could blame him for hiding away from the world as much as possible? It was awesome that his first (and only) lover took care of him after his death, but during his life, he was a “wee” bit controlling, so Mick had no idea how to live his life. None of that was especially surprising considering how controlling his mother had been.

Meanwhile, Ceri was patient, and sweet, and willing to just slowly begin to show Mick what living his own life would be like. Their Doctor Who obsession was a door to that path. FYI, there were a lot of Doctor Who references, that someone who has not watched the show at all would not get, but it managed to not be a distraction to the story. For those that know Doctor Who, it would be an enhancement, I’d imagine. However, I was still able to understand most of the references in some fashion.

What I loved most, though, was that Mick really began to know and understand his true self as he fell in love with Ceri. He discovered things about himself he would have never suspected before. Reading as Mick began to know more about his past, and his personality was as much a joy to read as the romance between the two men.

There were a few things that I felt needed to be fleshed out more at the end, whether in the epilogue, or the end of the book that I felt were missed. Maybe something for a future edition, a follow up story, or maybe never to be worried about. 🙂

3.5 pieces of eye candy

The Thomas Flair: A M/M Summer Games Romance by E.J. Russell: New Release Review

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It’ll take more than medals to mend their relationship.

Diabetic gymnast and team alternate Sol Ashvili had one thing on his agenda when the 2016 Rio Olympics wrapped up—confess to his teammate and best friend Tony Thomas that he’d been in love with him for years. But Tony took a major deduction in Sol’s heart when he jetted out of Rio and turned his back on an almost-finished college degree, international gymnastics meets… and Sol. The first two Sol could forgive—barely. The last? Not a chance.

Tony’s crowd-pleasing, no-holds-barred, high-octane gymnastics style stole its nickname from a legendary gymnastics move—the Thomas Flair. After the 2016 Games, he vaulted into a career as an internet celebrity, specializing in extreme sports and risky stunts. When Tony decides to battle his way into competition shape to earn a spot on the 2020 Olympic team, he has to survive the most extreme risk of all: facing Sol again.

For the sake of the team and the reputation of US men’s gymnastics, Sol and Tony must leave the past behind and get a grip on working together. And as the Games draw closer, they realize that being more than teammates might be the only way they can truly fly high and stick the landing.

The Thomas Flair is a 64,000-word friends to enemies to lovers second-chance rom-com set around the Tokyo Olympics that might have been, featuring a thrill-seeker who needs reining in, a perfectionist who needs to let go, redemption, rowdy teammates, and a few risky moves that will never make it into the Code of Points.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

It’s a shame that the Olympics are postponed as I am sure this book would get a lot more traction as I am sure it was designed to do. Still worth a read.

Friends to enemies to friends to lovers. Sol and Tony have been best friends since meeting at the gymnastics gym for the first time as kids. They were practically inseparable. Until right after the 2016 Olympic games when Tony was chosen to take over for a hurt gymnast and Sol was still an alternate. Tony had some guilt with that and walked away before the Olympics were even over. Without a backward glance or a goodbye.

Four years later and Sol is getting ready for the Olympic trials. And wanting good PR for the team, Tony is invited to try out, even though he has mostly been off the circuit, instead hosting an extreme sports Youtube channel.

For one thing, the author really knows her stuff- or did awesome research- about gymnastics. Floor exercise wasn’t mentioned much- but the “exciting” events of high bar, etc were central. She even brought up the uniforms and maybe that is one of the reasons that men’s gymnastics isn’t nearly as popular as women’s.

Sol is also a diabetic. It was the reason he got into gymnastics in the first place. And while it plays a significant role in the story, it doesn’t over power the story either.

It doesn’t take that long for Sol and Tony to make up and take their relationship up a notch. They were cute together, even if they both used FAR too many gymnastics terms during and about sex. Little bit cringy and eye rolling.

Overall, it was a fun book to read and would be great to read if the Olympics were actually going on. I hope it gets a boost next year when (hopefully) the Games are played.

3.5 Pieces of Eye Candy