More Minis: Summer Lovin' Anthology, Roux & Urban, Chris Owen

I am hoping to catch up with some full-length reviews, but in the meantime, here are more minis:

Summer Lovin' with JL Merrow, Chrissy Munder, Clare London, Josephine Myles, and Lou Harper

"Summer Hire" by Chrissy Munder - Grade: B+
Chrissy Munder's Summer Hire is sweet, summery, and I really enjoyed how she uses sexual tension and subtle flirting to build up the anticipation. This is a meaty, hot, short story with a great HEA and a highly likable couple.

"Lost and Found" by JL Merrow - Grade: B+
An absolutely wonderful story with a unique setting and great atmosphere. JL Merrow brings a fantastic twist to this summer yarn by incorporating a sexy Viking and a single father as the main characters. I ended this one with a smile on my face. Lovely!

"Salt 'n Vinegar" by Clare London - Grade: D+
Salt 'n Vinegar began with a great premise. Unfortunately, this story took a rather dark turn that just did not fit with this light, summery anthology. The rather serious subject matter of domestic abuse may be better suited to a longer story. In this case, neither the page count nor the subject matter work for me.

"Werewolves of Venice Beach" by Lou Harper - Grade: C+
Lou Harper came up with a rather quirky story about a nerdy college kid and his temporary, but unusual neighbors while he house sits at Venice Beach. I enjoyed this hot little piece with all its memorable characters, adorable dogs, and particularly some of the wrong assumptions that take place along the way.

"By Quarry Lake" by Josephine Myles - Grade: B
The anthology ends on a high! By Quarry Lake is an adorable story of two old friends who finally come to terms with their attraction for each other. Not gay for you by the way, but a story of two young men living in a small village where being gay may be a problem. I loved both adorable characters, the father, and the gorgeous summer atmosphere.

Overall, I definitely recommend the Summer Lovin' anthology. It's a good, solid M/M romance read and for the most part, it lives up its lovely title! (Pink Squirrel Press, August 14, 2013) Grade: B

Cut & Run (Cut & Run #1) by Abigail Roux and Madeline Urban


Cut & Run is a very popular M/M Romance Suspense series by a popular writing duo, and this first book seems to be adored by fans, I believe that is because it is so high on the emo scale. I've had the first two books in my TBR for a long time now and decided to give it a try, particularly since I enjoyed their book Caught Running, a book a reread prior to reading this one. Because Roux and Urban each develop a character, there tends to be quite a bit of head hopping in their stories. I didn't mind that aspect of their writing in Caught Running. For some reason, it really affected my enjoyment of Cut & Run, perhaps because of the length of this book and the dialog scenes. The following are my first impressions as posted on Goodreads:

Likable characters with a good buildup to romance. I enjoyed the banter and bonding that takes place between Zane and Ty. Although frankly I was surprised how much we don't learn about the characters after all those long conversations. This story is overly long, unnecessarily so, with lots of frustrating head hopping. There is action and flash to the crime suspense but as investigators the main characters are not really impressive, so this book is best read for the romantic elements. Obviously a romance in progress. Grade C-

Cut & Run is one of those books where I'm sure I'm in the minority, as I said above the book is very popular. I'm a crime suspense fan and in the case of Cut & Run, I feel that for me, my passion for good crime investigations worked against this book -- I was thoroughly disappointed in that respect, particularly since both main characters are characterized as ace and/or brilliant FBI agents. Anyway, I have Sticks & Stones, the second book of the Cut & Run series by Roux & Urban and I will read it. Will I read the rest of this series? It all depends on how the second book turns out. :)

By the Numbers by Chris Owen

By the Numbers is an M/M Romance that I think is perfect as a summer read. I thoroughly enjoyed this almost conflict free romance with a hot fireman as one of the main characters, some gorgeous puppies, and a cute kid to round up this warm story. There is a mean ex-wife in the picture to give the romance some conflict, but it is minimal. Good as an angst-free reread. Grade: C+

"Quotes" of the Month

Did everyone have a great weekend? I just got back to work today after the holiday. It was a hot, hot day! It actually felt like summer. Nice.

I didn't read half of the books that I planned to read during my three day weekend, but had a very nice time. Today instead of a review, I gathered a few quotes that stood out from some of the books read this month -- a few of them will be added to my collection.

She had never believed in fate. She still did not. It would make nonsense of freedom of will and choice, and it was through such freedom that we worked our way through life and learned what we needed to learn. -- Gwen, The Proposal by Mary Balogh

Better to be a neutered wizard than a woman. -- Samarkar-la, Range of Ghosts by Elizabeth Bear

To really get to know someone, get them out of their comfort zones -- out of their usual context. Then watch and learn. -- Lauren, A Promise of Safekeeping by Lisa Dale

She needn't have worried. Becca Thornton at fifty might as well have been invisible. Carts went around her, younger women picked up the romance novels, men old and young picked up the sports and car magazines, and not one of them noticed anything different about her.  -- Becca, Silver Moon by Catherine Lundoff

Sweetheart. . . You think I'm going to let you go now that I have you in my clutches? You think I want to go back to living in black and white now that I know what Technicolor looks like? - Martin, Her Best Worst Mistake by Sarah Mayberry

"It's inappropriate to shoot the bad art," I said. Odin squinted. "We're criminals, baby. Everything we do is inappropriate." Melinda/Isis and Odin, The Hostage Bargain by Annika Martin

"Or if you're nervous about pain, you could consider getting your intimate hair dyed. It'd cover up the grey beautifully. It was nice seeing you, Tim." She swept up again, leaving me standing there, mortified. I had grey pubes? She'd seen my grey pubes? I mentally added tweezers to the shopping list. Tim and Olivia, Hard Tail by J.L. Merrow

Minis: J.L. Merrow, Annika Martin

Happy Friday! In the States we have a three day weekend coming up for Memorial Day. I'm ready!

I'm leaving you all with mini-impressions for two novellas I read this past week: one gay romance and one erotic romance. They both turned out to be solid enjoyable reads for me. Enjoy the minis and your weekend!

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Hard Tail by J.L. Merrow (Click on title to read book summary)

I really enjoyed this gay romance between a 28 year old man who has been so deep in the closet his whole life (married and now separating from his wife) that friends and family think he's homophobic, until daily contact with a klutzy, lovely young man changes his mind and he decides to that maybe being "out" might be worth the risk.

So far I've enjoyed J.L. Merrow's characters, and Tim and Matt are no exception. The secondary characters, Jay, Tim's brother, and Adam, Matt's best friend stand out in this story. The main plot points are well rendered as Merrow tackles the subjects of closeted gay men, the different ways in which closeted gay men deal with their choice and situations, and on a related thread also features an abusive relationship.

However, don't be fooled, although those are serious subjects Merrow mixes them up with plenty of light and amusing moments: Tim's family takes the cake, the cat is hoot, the "grey pubes" moment is priceless, and I love Tim's internal dialog throughout the whole story, plus there's plenty of sexual tension and heat to go around. This is a solid and enjoyable read. Grade: B

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The Hostage Bargain by Annika Martin (Click on title to read book summary)

I also enjoyed this erotic roller coaster about thrill seeker Melinda Prescott and the three bank robbers who kidnap her and at her request make her part of their gang. This story works well as an erotic contemporary with plenty of hot D/s threesome and one-on-one scenes, thrilling adventure moments, plenty of snappy, humorous dialog, and some voyeurism to top it all off.

The three bank robbers are only known by their "god" names: Thor, Odin and Zeus, and although Melinda takes the name Isis as her "god" name, there's a sense of mystery that comes with the men's anonymity that enhances the sexy edge in this story . This gang is all about trust, sex, and well... taking and enjoying the moment. This is the first of an erotic series by Annika Martin, also known as Carolyn Crane. A great start to a hot series! Grade: B

November 2011 Reads + Minis: Joanna Bourne, Xavier Axelson and more...

November is over! The month just flew by, didn't it? I don't think I accomplished half of what I wanted to do. There were stressful and frightning moments along the way, but also some really wonderful times with family and friends.

Reading-wise the month was definitely a good one. I read a mixture of contemporary, historical, and gay romances, plus some gay fiction -- must of them really enjoyable reads! So it's a tough month to choose favorite reads because for different reasons in one way or another most of them had so much to offer. You'll see mostly Bs below, and that's because for the most part I chose to read what turned out to be solid books in November. I was lucky that most of the new releases and TBR reads suited me just fine!

In addition to the books I'm listing, I also read a few of the novellas included in the Christmas anthologies my friend sent me last month with the Mary Balogh books. However, I'm not including them with my November reads because I want to finish the whole anthologies first. :)

November reads:

Total books read: 14
  Contemporary: 4
  Historical Romance: 4
  LGBT: 6 (Romance: 4 YA/Mystery: 1 Fiction/Romance: 1)

Top Reads

• The Comforts of Home by Jodi Thomas: A-
• The Black Hawk by Joanna Bourne: B+
• The Lady's Secret by Joanna Chambers: B+
• The Forbidden Rose by Joanna Bourne: B+

I read this book in preparation for The Black Hawk (because that book looked so good!), and I wanted to get some background on the main characters, Justine and Hawker. Well, surprise, surprise The Forbidden Rose turned out to be quite a read! I was immediately caught up in the romance, the adventure and most of all with Joanna Bourne's prose.

I loved how Bourne weaved romance and adventure with some history. Loved, loved how she fictionalized Robespierre's downfall and all the twists and turns that took place in the spy plot. Very well done! The characters are outstanding as are the circumstances that surround them. Doyle and Marguerite's romance turned into an exciting sensual adventure that I couldn't stop reading. Why not an A then? For me there are a few instances where circumstances become quite convoluted (the jailbreak for example), but where the danger factor turns out to be minimal, so that those scenes end on a flat note after all the build up. Of course I couldn't help but fall in love with young Hawk and Justine -- I mean talk about excellent, intriguing, secondary characters. I finished this book and rushed to read The Black Hawk.

All those wonderful Bs! 

• Chulito by Charles Rice-González: B

Although I already reviewed this book, I have to mention (again) that this story really grabbed me. And this is where choosing favorites this month was quite tough for me. Why? Well, although a B grade to me means that it's a solid read with few issues, this book is also the one that stayed with me the longest. So don't let the grade or whatever minor personal issues I found mislead you, this is a great, great read! And for those of you who emailed me and want to know (I left this out of my impressions/review), there is a "happy ending" to this story. *g* 

• The Love Charm by Pamela Morsi: B 
• Mystery of the Tempest: A Fisher Key Adventure by Sam Cameron: B 
• All They Need by Sarah Mayberry: B 
• The Incident by Xavier Axelson: B

The Incident by Xavier Axelson is one of those books that is tough to qualify and I thought I would begin by just giving you a quick idea of what it's all about. Officer Michael Carmac made a split-second decision while in the line of duty that haunts him. He drinks and the one person who kept him together throughout the whole mess was his partner, Officer Bertram Angel. As time goes by, Michael discovers that his needs for more than support and friendship from Bertram are tougher to hide. But losing a friendship that means so much to him because of his desire is not an option.

This is not a long story, yet I found that it has the qualities of both romance and fiction. Both characters are quite compelling, particularly Carmac whose situation is heartbreaking. Axelson delves deep into this man's painful and guilt-ridden, lonely life. The relationship between Bertram and Carmac is complex and beautifully realistic in the way that it is related. They have been friends as well as partners for years, and Bertram is the one person who has always been there for Michael -- the one he leans on maybe too much. This is a romance with a happy ending, but it's not a typical gay romance, and that is due mainly to Axelson's approach and execution. This is another solid and enjoyable B read for me. (Seventh Window Publications/August 13, 2011)

• Muscling Through by JL Merrow: B 

This is a quicky. I enjoyed this gay romance for its point of view! Al's simplicity of thought and uneducated background expose the truth behind people's cruelties and flaws. There's more to him that what's obvious at first glance. There's a great lesson here -- treat people for who they are, not "what" they are or appear to be. I love that Larry truly sees and loves Al. (Samhain Publishing/July 19, 2011)

• A Spirit of Vengeance by Angela Benedetti: B

This is a Single Shots Classic I've had in my TBR for a long time and it's a very short story. I've enjoyed Angela Benedetti's writing in the past and I know I will continue to do so in the future. I don't know if I mentioned it here before, but the pacing and momentum experienced when reading her stories, always make them fast paced reads -- I love the tempo in her writing. In A Spirit of Vengeance I did find that, however the emotions, the grief and love were also a huge part of what kept me reading. Do I have a complaint? I always want more! I wanted it to be longer... *g* (Torquere Press, September 29, 2009)

• By The Book Nancy Warren: B- 

And some really good Cs! 

• The Next Always: Book One of the Inn BoonsBoro Trilogy by Nora Roberts: C+ 
• Christmas Eve at The Powers That Be Café by Xavier Axelson: C 

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NOTE: The holidays are almost here and I can tell because my UPS guy showed up with the package containing my books for review (for the month of November) on November 29th! That's unfortunate because some of the books in that bundle really caught my eye. I will be reading and reviewing them in December since they look good.

So in November, what book made it to the top of your list? I had a tough time choosing, and as you can tell by my notes above, I enjoyed most of them. Any great, unforgettable reads?