Two Chicks Obsessed with Books & Eye Candy

Sharing our love of M/M Romance

4 stars

Never Say Never by Felice Stevens: Blog Tour, New Release Review and Giveaway

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One taste leaves them wanting more…

INGREDIENTS:

Francisco “Frisco” Martinelli. Hot and spicy. Beautiful on the outside, dark and damaged on the inside. Handle with extreme caution.

Salvatore “Torre” Rossi. Sweet with a kick of spice. Gentle at first, can become swiftly and irrevocably addictive to the heart.

A RECIPE FOR ROMANCE

One snobby food critic who doesn’t believe in love

One down-to-earth food blogger who does

Add a touch of suspicious brother

A heaping serving of best friend who’s been waiting for this to happen

Blend with secret identities, past hurts, and judgments.

Stir in equal portions of desperate longing, desire, fear, and snarky humor.

Set over open flame, step back, and wait for sparks to fly.

Serve as is for an explosive love story that will leave you with a full heart and a ridiculously happy smile at the end.

Title: Never Say Never

Series: Lost in New York

Author: Felice Stevens

Release: May 21, 2020

Genre: M/M Romance

Goodreads

Amazon US

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Amazon AU

Fool For Love

The Promise

Amazon US

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Amazon UK

Amazon AU

Guess who has a new favorite book by Felice Stevens? This girl! I love a broken, snarky guy. Especially when we, the readers, see how soft he really is before his love interest does.

We met Frisco back in book 1 as the best friend to Presley. You don’t have to read book 1, Fool for Love, but I think it really gets you to really want to know his story. He is snarky, arrogant, a total playboy and totally damaged. And by his full name he is a famous restaurant critic. One that has drawn the ire of Torre- a local blogger who devotes his blog to “real” New Yorkers. Not the ones who drop a grand on dinner for two at the trendiest spot in Manhattan. But the guy who knows where to get the best tacos or pizza or pasta in the outer boroughs. So he has a deep dislike for Francisco Martinelli. And Francisco Martinelli doesn’t understand why Salvatore Grant has it in for him. Lucky they know each other as Frisco and Torre, huh?

Ms. Stevens can write New York. And I mean that. New York as a character. Because it isn’t just Manhattan. It is Brooklyn and Queens and middle class working people as well. She loves New York and it shows.

Watching Frisco begin to be a “normal” person and not just the stuck up food critic is a treat. Rediscovering his first love of cooking. And perhaps discovering something like love with Torre? He sure drags himself to Brooklyn often enough to raise eyebrows. His own.

Torre is a total family guy. He lives in the basement apartment below his mother still. He drops everything to help out his brother at the restaurant by picking up a server shift. He got burned before by a guy who wanted connections. But Frisco is just a guy, right? HA!

The entire book- until the REVEAL of who they each are- had me turning the pages and holding my breath. It was amazing that they didn’t figure it out sooner, but it also made complete sense.

Of course we get Presley and a few cameo appearances by Nate. Presley wants nothing more than his best friend to find love and let someone love him. So many things with Frisco broke my heart.

So good, it was just so good. We quickly learn to love a man who we should hate. But he owns that arrogance, so just go with it.

4 pieces of eye candy

Felice Stevens has always been a romantic at heart. She believes that while life is tough, there is always a happy ending just around the corner. Her characters have to work for it, however. Like life in NYC, nothing comes easy, and that includes love.

She lives in New York City and has way too much black in her wardrobe yet can’t stop buying “just one more pair” of black pants. Felice is a happily addicted Bravo and Say Yes to the Dress addict and proud of it. And let’s not get started on House Hunters. Her dream day starts out with iced coffee and ends with Prosecco, because…why shouldn’t it? You can find her procrastinating on FB in her reader group, Felice’s Breakfast Club.

You can find all my books, grouped by series in proper reading order on my website located here:

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His Accidental Daddy by Luna David: New Release Review

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With the deck stacked against him from birth, Asher Simmons lives a quiet, simple life. He talks to plants more than he does humans and prefers it that way. Though he’s always felt like something is missing, understanding what that is and how to get it feels like an insurmountable task.

Making a living out of helping others achieve their professional dreams serves to help Thornton Hayes realize his own. He’s also a Daddy, through and through, and Thornton’s one dream of finding a boy who needs a man to take care of his every need is one he’s had no luck of fulfilling.

When a terrible accident brings the two men together, neither of them expect their intense connection. Has Daddy found a little he can pamper, protect, and provide for, or will Asher deny every instinct he has to regress?

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Goodreads

Thorton and Asher… very sweet couple.
When we first meet Asher, my heart kind of broke for him. I think because I saw so much of myself in him, what with his anxiety disorder and constant fear of…well, just about everything. Traumatized by his childhood and his negligent parents, I could understand why he had the obstacles that he did. Getting into a car accident when he was so terrified to drive was the last thing he needed, right? Maybe not…

Thorton is a very sweet Daddy, though I wasn’t so sure of him in the beginning. He had another boy, though only casually and you don’t see any time between them on page, other than a quick conversation, but I dunno… he struck me the wrong way in the very beginning. I loved him though, he was so good to Asher, having been the one to accidentally run into his car after running a red light through a downpour, it was evident from the very moment he saw asher, the kind of person he was. The kind of Daddy.

Though used to being on his own, Asher hesitated when Thorton wanted to do whatever he could to take care of him, he didn’t put up a fight for too long. Trusting the man after he’d spent three days in the hospital at his bedside, he really didn’t have any other option anyway. He needed the help and Thorton was so sweetly offering. He just didn’t know quite yet what all it entailed.

Now, I loved seeing Asher come into his own. I loved seeing him testing out life as a little and I loved the way he let his guards down and could be himself with Thorton. I could understand his hesitance, letting Thorton do everything for him and take care of him a way that they both needed, but it was foreign to Asher, as he’d never had anyone take care of him like that before…. Not even his parents. Watching them together was sweet, and I loved all the side characters. I was so happy to see the Trenton and Mandi angle, and of course, cute little Gigi, I wouldn’t mind reading about that little family some more.

The only part I had a small problem with, and it’s just my own little hangup I guess, was at the end when Thorton and Asher together, they go from Daddys good boy, to Asher being a dirty slut, and like I said, I’m all for kink, I’m all for all of it, honestly, but it felt so out of place with how their relationship was, it confused me and turned me off of it a little. But, it’s probably just me being too extra about it.

Overall, I just loved the pair and I thought they were super sweet together. Zero angst, kinda fluffy and all the sweetness you need. Also, a very sweet ending, I wouldn’t mind reading more of these two either.

4 pieces of eye candy

Luna David is a true romantic at heart who was fortunate enough to find and marry her soul mate. Most of the time she considers herself lucky to have been blessed with having g/b twins, but they’re giving her a run for her money. She’s a stay at home mom and an author, so when she’s not begging her little monsters to behave, you’ll most likely find her writing.

She loves anything book, coffee or dark chocolate related and can’t think of a better way to pass the time than to combine all three. She reads romance novels voraciously and while she prefers contemporary romance with strong Alpha males finding their soul mates, she’s a sucker for any well written, romantic story regardless of genre.

She created the Custos Securities Series because she loves to write what she loves to read. Her books feature strong dominant males and the men they would die protecting. Toss in some BDSM and kink and you’ve got her Catharsis Novel Series, The Boys Club Series, and Kink Chronicles Series. She loves nothing more than making her readers feel a wide range of emotions with her words. And she hopes you enjoy reading her books as much as she loved writing them. Happy Reading!

Connect with Luna:
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Long Shadow (Hamarsson and Dempsey Book 2) by Elle Keaton: New Release Review

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Niall’s never known anything but betrayal. All Mat wants is Niall’s heart. What will it take for him to coax Niall in from the cold?

Mat’s connection with Niall is tenuous; one step forward, two steps back. Since that night on the beach Niall’s been avoiding Mat like a bad case of the flu–which, ironically, most of his deputies have come down with. What will it take for Niall to truly believe Mat wants him for who he is?

Mat’s overworked, Niall’s unnerved, and then things really go sideways.

Will a killer destroy everything before Niall realizes they are stronger together than apart?

Long Shadow is a dual POV about a broody introvert and a somewhat patient Sheriff. Mat’s going to have to prove to Niall he’s the man for him. The Hamarsson and Dempsey series follows the same couple as they find their way to their happily ever after.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Okay, this one took me a little bit to get into because I needed a refresher on book one and I honestly didn’t feel like I could handle the back and forth. I understand the one step forward, two steps back, especially after you get to know Niall, but it did take me a minute to get into because Matt was so endlessly patient and Niall was just prickly. I had forgotten that from last book so I had to go back and do a reread. Reading them together, I kind of fell in love with both of them.

They’re complete opposites in every way, the only thing they seem to have in common is law enforcement. Matt has a wonderful family and will do anything for his and Niall is very anti-family with none left. While Nial’s trying to work out what to do with his life now that he’s retired and tie up a few loose ends, he can’t keep his mind off of Matt. But seeing if he’s got what it takes to make something work with him is put on hold when an arsonist is busy at work on the island and most of Matt’s precinct is sick with the flu. It keeps him busy and distracted enough to give Nial the space he’s trying to give him as to not push him for anything he may not be able to give. With the history between them, he isn’t sure.

So the romance part takes a sideline to the mystery, but it’s always there, kinda smoldering in the background. While the guys’ are trying to find the source of all the chaos on the island, Niall opens himself up little bit by little bit, unable to keep Matt and his family at a distance because they’re all so open and accepting of him, even in his prickliness. I kinda loved them all.

With a lot of real-life situations, especially when you’re confused like Niall was, the thought of losing what you’re unsure about has a way of making up your mind. Once Niall thought he lost Mike, he realized how much he cared about him and how silly his doubts seemed. And that epilogue… I swooned!

I dunno what could possibly happen in book three but I’m bummed we have to wait until next year to see. I’m invested. I’d definitely recommend reading book one before jumping into this one, but if you like a broody hot cop and a sensitive family-oriented hot cop with some murder and mystery thrown in for good measure… you’ll love this one.

4 pieces of eye candy

Caulky (Four Bears Construction Book 1) by K.M. Neuhold: Quick Review

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Ren is in desperate need of a rebound fling. Lucky for him, the smoking hot contractor he hired has just the tool for the job.

The last thing I want is another relationship or another broken heart.

All I need are my bees and the occasional hookup to scratch the itch.

Okay, maybe meeting up with my hot contractor weekly is a little more than occasional. And maybe the way I’m starting to feel about the guy I’ve been anonymously chatting with online should concern me.

But CaulkyAF doesn’t want to meet, and Cole doesn’t want anything serious, so what’s the worst that could happen?

**** Caulky is book 1 in the Four Bears Construction Series and can be read as a stand-alone. This is a funny, steamy MM story guaranteed to make you laugh and swoon. Absolutely NO cheating and NO love triangle. This series does NOT contain shifters, it’s the OTHER kind of bears

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

Okay, so I started off a little on the fence with this one. Premise is good, right? But oooooomg, do I hate when the guy is all, I don’t do relationships, I’m a one night guy, no repeats, I don’t do that….. that’s literally the first half of this story. I just wanna fast forward to the middle when all that is over with, because of course, it will be. Those are the ones that fall the fastest and the hardest.

Secondly, I didn’t find either of the characters likable in the beginning. I mean, I felt for Ren, being left the way he did when his boyfriend of five years just up and moves out, and I would’ve liked his personality if it didn’t feel like he was trying too hard to be funny that it just felt a little stilted. Cole, I just got annoyed at how often he played up this big whorey persona. Yes, we get it, you have your pick of any guy you set your eyes on, you don’t do repeat hookups, we geeeeeet it. Also, you kiss this guy, spend SIX MONTHS thinking about him, then sleep with him and a month later you remember him but not the house he took you too and you’re not foaming at the mouth over him anymore? ….. mmmkay.

So, Ren is looking for a rebound and who better than the hot guy he kissed once at the bar who turns out to be his construction worker he’s hired to do his bathroom. After a few hookups that are purely spontaneous, they each also get on this M4M app and talk to each other, only they don’t know it’s each other and it takes them waaaaay too long to figure it out, in the meantime, Cole is still saying he doesn’t do repeats, except, he is, and he’s so anti-relationship but when his buddy asks him about his ‘boyfriend’, he doesn’t deny that he could be in love with him….or at least have the potential… but not just with this guy he hardly knows and has hooked up with more than his usual once, but also this guy he’s chatted with a few times on this app. What a complete turn around, huh?

However, this is where things get cute for me. After Cole realizes that he has real feelings for Ren, he’s just actually really sweet. While Ren is still a little gunshy, having been in crappy seemingly one-sided relationships, he isn’t sure he can trust Cole not to leave him. He wants to, but it’s hard. Hashtag, relatable, right? In saying that, it isn’t angsty and back and forth the way I expected. It’s a grown up relationship, where they communicate and care about each other enough to be honest with one another. I really liked that.

I also adored their banter once it stopped feeling so forced. Maybe the awkwardness was just because it was new and they were trying to figure it all out, I dunno… but the second half of this book more than made up for the first half. I’m glad I stuck it out and I can’t wait to see what’s up with all the guys.
I loved all the side characters, from the best friends to the brothers to the amazingly supportive parents on both sides. I honestly cannot wait to see more of these guys.

FAVORITE LINE: “He’s a contractor; if porn has taught me anything, it’s that if you ask him to check your pipes, you’ll end up getting gang banged by him and like three other hot dudes.”

4 Pieces of Eye Candy

Charlie Sunshine (Close Proximity Book 2) by Lily Morton: Blog Tour, Exclusive Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

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Sometimes love is a lot closer to home than you think.

Charlie Burroughs can’t keep a man. All he wants is a good relationship like the ones he sees his friends having, but none of the men he picks ever work out. Despite him trying to be the perfect boyfriend, the men are either threatened by his looks or his epilepsy or a combination of the two. It’s lucky that he has his best friend Misha to turn to. The two of them are closer than peas in a pod and fiercely loyal to each other. He can’t imagine his life without Misha in it.

Misha Lebedinsky is the complete opposite of his best friend. Being the support system for his mum and twin sisters leaves Misha with neither the time nor the inclination for a relationship. Quick and frequent hook-ups are his favourite means of communication and any other pesky emotional needs he has are met by Charlie, who he’s devoted to. He lives a life of happy compartmentalization with no intention of ever changing.

All of this changes when the two best friends move in together. Being in close proximity means that they suddenly start to see each other in a very different light. But Charlie struggles when his drive to be the perfect partner clashes with the fact that he’s in love with a man who knows every little thing about him. And even if he can get past that, can a relationship ever work with a man who’d need a dictionary to tell him what love means?

From bestselling author Lily Morton comes a love story about a sunny librarian who has relationship written all over him and a cynical banker who doesn’t even have it in his blurb.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

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Misha comes to stand next to me and looks at his own family home, which is a mirror image of mine. He sighs, and there’s something weary in the sound. He’s always like this when a family meeting is called. Probably because he feels a lot of responsibility for his mum and the girls since his dad died. I rub his arm, feeling how tight the muscles are.

“You okay?” I ask, concerned.

He scrubs his hand down his face. “Just mentally preparing myself for what’s coming.”

“They’re teenage girls,” I say consolingly. “How bad could it be?”

He looks at me incredulously. “I’m sorry, have you met them? The trouble could be anything on a scale between staging a sit-in outside the council buildings or robbing a mail train.”

“When did they become cowboys? Surely I should have been told about these developments?”

He snorts and shakes his head. Then he bounces on his toes for a few seconds, shaking out his arms like a boxer readying himself for a fight. It looks rather odd in a man wearing a three-piece suit. He finishes and nods. “Okay, I’m ready.” I go to walk towards his front door and he grabs my arm. “Wait,” he says. I look at him enquiringly. “Have you got any alcohol on you?”

I start to laugh. “No, of course I haven’t. Because I’m a librarian and not Colin Farrell.”

“More’s the pity.”

From the moment that I discovered my first Lily Morton book, she has never let me down. Quirky, fun characters who can laugh at themselves and are just fun. Even the grumpy ones end up being fun.

Charlie is the perennially happy guy. Even after a freak accident that left him with epilepsy, he still won’t be anything but happy. In front of people. He is always that “I’m fine!” guy. But his best friend since he was 6 years old can see through it.

Misha is the opposite of Charlie. Hedge fund manager, snappy suits, fancy car, the right address. But together, they are perfect. How could they not be after 20 something years of friendship?

Charlie loses his last roommate and instead of looking for another, Misha invites him to be HIS roommate. No big deal, right? HA! HA I say! Since they each have crushes on each other but won’t do anything about it because 1. best friends and 2. they want different things. Charlie is the settle down, white picket fence with a chocolate lab kind of guy. But Misha is only about the one night stand.

Plus Charlie has a boyfriend, who works with Misha and they hate each other. And he really doesn’t treat Charlie well. The last straw was when Charlie started having a seizure and the evil boyfriend didn’t catch him before he fell. In fact, he moved away. Bastard.

Now everyone is single and tip toeing around each other’s hot selves and ignoring the giant condom shaped elephant in the room.

Of course they end up together! It is a romance with a happily ever after. But watching them discover the love they have that is beyond best friend love is wonderful. And it isn’t just Charlie who changes Misha from a one off guy to a happily in love buy. But Misha also changes Charlie. From always having a happy face on to finally asking for help when he needs it and letting people know that sometimes he isn’t great.

They were just super adorable and I LOVED Charlie’s parents- mom, step dad, father and step father. Do the math.

If you are a Lily Morton fan, don’t miss this one.

4 Pieces of Candy

Lily writes contemporary romance novels, and specialises in hot love stories with a good dose of humour.

Lily lives in sunny England with her husband and two children, all of whom claim that they haven’t had a proper conversation with her since she bought her first Kindle.

She has spent her life with her head full of daydreams and decided one day to just sit down and start writing about them. In the process she discovered that she actually loved writing, because how else could she get to spend her time with hot, funny men!

She loves chocolate and Baileys and the best of all creations – chocolate Baileys! Her lifetime’s ambition is to have a bath in peace without being shouted by one of her family.

Connect with Lily:
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The Parable of the Mustard Seed by Lisa Henry: New Release Review

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The past never stays buried forever.

John Faimu is an Australian-Samoan police officer who deals with hurt kids every day. He loves what he does, but he’s tired of the grind of shift work, and of trying to find a balance between his job, his family, and the young man who straddles the increasingly blurry line between both.

Caleb Fletcher was the teenager John saved from a cult eight long years ago, and he’s now the young man John wants in ways that neither of them should risk.

Eight years after his rescue, Caleb is still struggling with PTSD and self-harm. John has always been his rock, but now Caleb wants more. Can he convince John to cross a line and love him the way they both crave? And when the monsters from Caleb’s past come back seeking to silence him for good, will John’s love be enough to save him?

The Parable of the Mustard Seed is an mm gay romance featuring hurt/comfort, first times, found family, and angst with a happy ending.

Publisher: self published

Cover Artist: Natasha Snow

Release Date: 3 April 2020

Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex

Romance Pairings: Male/Male

Book Length (eBook): 79,000 words

Genre: Romance

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited

I had to mull over my review for this book for a few days. I generally do not do books with angst. I leave those to one of the other reviewers, but loving all things Aussie, I wanted to give this one a go. It was hard at some points…really hard. But considering the situation Caleb came out of, to expect anything less would have been doing the story a huge disservice.

John was so sweet, cared about everyone around him, not just Caleb, but his family, and even the kids on the street that he watched over during his shifts. He didn’t do a very good job of taking care of himself, but he seemed to love everything he did. And with Caleb, it was never a job. He loved him from day one.

As John and Caleb finally took their relationship to the next level, and Caleb asked to keep it from his father, it made sense. Caleb wanted something his own, that his father didn’t have to help him to deal with. However, it also put John in a very difficult position. And once Caleb’s father found out, under unpleasant circumstances, it made for awkward moments. However, they handled it like adults, knowing that Caleb’s health was of the uppermost importance.

All of this was on par with what I expected of the book. Toward the end of the book, I felt like there was something missing. It wasn’t that everything was necessarily tied up in a neat bow, but in some ways it was. Too neat. Which I think I could have understood better if it was a year, or three years later. However, just a few months later left me wondering how the next episode would be dealt with.

Overall, very well written, and touched on the depths of mental health, PTSD, and the fact that years later just the smallest things can be the biggest factors in a relapse. If you need some angst in your stories, this one is for you! Not a ton, but it isn’t for the lighthearted. I loved though that these men loved each other no matter what, without fail, and always there for one another.

4 pieces of eye candy