2017 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Addict (The Cassie Tam Files #1) Matt Doyle

1) I really enjoyed this one and will definitely keep my eye open for further books in the series.

Addict (The Cassie Tam Files #1) Matt Doyle
Lesbian - Sci-Fi / Futuristic
File Size: 3725 KB
Print Length: 191 pages
Publisher: NineStar Press (May 8, 2017)
Publication Date: May 8, 2017
Amazon: Addict (The Cassie Tam Files #1) Matt Doyle

New Hopeland was built to be the centre of the technological age, but like everywhere else, it has its dark side. Assassins, drug dealers and crooked businessmen form a vital part of the city’s make-up, and sometimes, the police are in too deep themselves to be effective. But hey, there are always other options …

For P.I. Cassie Tam, business has been slow. So, when she’s hired to investigate the death of a local VR addict named Eddie Redwood, she thinks it’ll be easy money. All she has to do is prove to the deceased’s sister Lori that the local P.D. were right to call it an accidental overdose. The more she digs though, the more things don’t seem to sit right, and soon, Cassie finds herself knee deep in a murder investigation. But that’s just the start of her problems.

When the case forces Cassie to make contact with her drug dealing ex-girlfriend, Charlie Goldman, she’s left with a whole lot of long buried personal issues to deal with. Then there’s her client. Lori Redwood is a Tech Shifter, someone who uses a metal exoskeleton to roleplay as an animal. Cassie isn’t one to judge, but the Tech Shifting community has always left her a bit nervous. That wouldn’t be a problem if Lori wasn’t fast becoming the first person that she’s been genuinely attracted to since splitting with Charlie. Oh, and then there’s the small matter of the police wanting her to back off the case.

Easy money, huh? Yeah, right.

2017 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Summer Lessons (Winter Ball #2) Amy Lane

1) I truly loved this story! It’s a gay romantic comedy that stays away from all expected clichés. Mason and Terry are gorgeous characters in how unique, quirky, and well rounded they are, and the supporting cast is just as impressive. The romance feels very natural and believable, the humor is subtle but powerful, and although there is character growth, the protagonists manage to stay true to who they are. Summer Lessons made me laugh and then ripped my heart out and made me cry, only to return to light-hearted humor. It offered a lot more than I would have expected from a romantic comedy and I loved every second of it.

Summer Lessons (Winter Ball #2) Amy Lane
Gay - Romantic Comedy
Series: Winter Ball
Paperback: 260 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (November 25, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1634778936
ISBN-13: 978-1634778930
Amazon: Summer Lessons (Winter Ball #2) Amy Lane

a Winter Ball novel

Mason Hayes’s love life has a long history of losers who don’t see that Mason’s heart is as deep and tender as his mouth is awkward. He wants kindness, he wants love—and he wants someone who thinks sex is as fantastic as he does. When Terry Jefferson first asks him out, Mason thinks it’s a fluke: Mason is too old, too boring, and too blurty to interest someone as young and hot as his friend’s soccer teammate.

The truth is much more painful: Mason and Terry are perfectly compatible, and they totally get each other. But Terry is still living with his toxic, suffocating parent and Mason doesn’t want to be a sugar daddy. Watching Terry struggle to find himself is a long lesson in patience, but Mason needs to trust that the end result will be worth it, because finally, he’s found a man worth sharing his heart with.