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Manhandled by S.A. Reid & Rosemary O'Malley
Good sexy story, maybe I was a little sad to see it end so soon, it’s a novella length and it’s basically all developed around 3 encounters between short-tempered Irish-American cop Brendan, and naïve and inexperienced doctor Stephen.Brendan is hot, but not exactly a dream-date and indeed his current boyfriend dumps him; doesn’t matter Brendan was thinking to do the same, when that happens he needs to prove a point and he decides to kidnap Kent in a closet and teach him a lesson. But the one kidnapped is not Kent, but Stephen. This is an erotic romance bordering in erotica, and so the focus is the sex; it will not be a one night stands for Brendan and Stephen, but the authors didn’t indulge in the details of how they plan to date or the anticipation of their meetings, and instead focus on what they do when they are alone, i.e., sex!
For me it’s a first time of both authors, and there is definitely a lot I like in their styles, Brendan is a faulted hero, the one I preferred. There is no drama in this story, but you understand that Brendan has the potential to be a beautiful troubled romance hero. If I have to find a fault in him, and in the story, is the hint of threesome (m/m/m) at the end of the novel: I didn’t know enough the characters, and the evolution of their story, to be able to understand if they were ready for that.
Amazon Kindle: Manhandled
Publisher: Lyonnesse (April 26, 2012)
Updates: http://www.goodreads.com/user/updates_rs
I really enjoyed the third, and for now, last installment in this series, Xavi comes out like this hedonistic, but so cute, top from the bottom character that is able to conquer Andreas’s heart completely and unavoidably.
Once you understand this is not a realistic cop/thriller novel but a comedy, then you are ready to read it, and as comedy goes, it’s pretty good.
In perfect harmony with all the series that is now a classic among the gay romance fans, The Red Zone plays again the card of the hot cop falling in love for the younger college student who needs to be reined (a little like the story of Preston and Wyatt). Actually Sebastian Price is Wyatt’s former boyfriend, the one that in Wyatt’s story doesn’t make a really good impression on the readers: he is abusive, prone to shifts in moods that make him unreliable. Only that now Sebastian is trying to make amend, and he is involved in various supporting groups for LGBT youths, plus he is the quarterback of his college football team. Being him on the spotlight as poster gay boy is also making him an easy target for homophobic pranks that escalate in danger, until the time police is involved and Nicholas Stevens enters the scene. A werewolf, he soon recognizes Sebastian as his mate.
At first I wasn’t sure about the novel, usually cop novels are more gritty, almost dry; this one was light and funny, more like a college frat boys story. Indeed State trooper Ethan Brandt has to go undercover as a college student, and he was picked for the job basically cause he is 24 years old and looking younger, and fit and hot, that is another must if you have to bust a pay-per-view website.
Hill Valley is like a town without time, like one of those Christmas villages insider a crystal bowl, perfect and beautiful, but tiny and fragile. This was my feeling reading this story, that Zach ended in a fairy tale place, but the story is not a fantasy and maybe these small towns still exist. Place where people care for each other, where the town cop really works for the community.
If I’m not wrong, More is the first book I read by Sloan Parker, long back ago, and so, sincerely, when I started this one, How to Save a Life, I didn’t remember of Walter Simon. It didn’t ring something, but admittedly, I avoid to read reviews and co, and in the blurb there was no connection; I was well into the story when we meet Matthew and Luke and suddenly everything was clear. Also was clear why I was enjoying this so much, indeed I liked a lot More, one of the first ménages a trois that rang true to my ears.
What I admired most of this story is how the author managed to mix mystery/thriller with erotic romance, having both side strong in equal measure. When we are not reading about the relationship between Gavin and Ben, the tone is dry and clean, and the plot developed in a smooth way; when the story starts, Gavin is married, and sincerely I wasn’t able to see how the author could make his interest for Ben legit without falling in a cheating husband situation. I will not give out the story, but enough to say that my worries were not only completely dispelled, she also managed to have Gavin out as a winner with flaming colors.
A very nice reverse cinderfella theme, meaning that, the Prince Charming here is the one needing to be rescue by the “peasant”. Gavin Montgomery is the middle son of a very wealthy family; his older brother is already presenting the good boy façade for the society, and his younger sisters are one the rebel and the second the social/political climber… no stereotype remains for Gavin who is basically living in the shadow. Sure he is gay, but in today modern “good” society, that is no more a scandal, above all when his father decided that could be a good promo and became a supporter of Marriage Equality.
Nice and easy romance, went down smoothly like a drink of fresh water in summer; yes, that was the feeling, something good, not exotic, but nevertheless satisfying; Justin is a cop, but just an ordinary one, not an hero, even if, most of the things he does are hero stuff, like saving a school bus full of children, or assisting people injured in a car accident: those acts can make the first page of the local paper, but they are soon forgotten to the bigger audience, but not to whom those acts saved the life.
This is the second book centering on the same characters, Roan McKichan and Dylan, in a series that is at its fourth chapter, so yes, I paused before deciding to directly read this one skipping the others. Sincerely I don’t have the feeling I missed anything in the story, maybe I would have liked to read how Roan and Dylan met, I suppose that is in the previous book, but nevertheless the story plot in this one is complete.
Romance in full swing. That is probably the entire review in 4 words, but I will add more, don’t worry. Christie (that despite the name and the looks is a man) is the unexpectedly single father of Frankie, unexpected since a) Christie is completely gay and b) he was supposed to be only the biological father, a favour he was doing to his best friend Caro and her partner Liss. But then Caro and Liss died in a car accident and Christie is the father of Frankie, and of course he has to take care of her, doesn’t matter Christie is a career soldier soon to be deployed. He strikes the lottery when he meets State Trooper Robert Lindstrom, that not only is the Norwegian god the name suggests, he is also ready to be part of an already made family and has a lot of relatives ready to give an hand if necessary.
This novel is dark and gritty, very hard to digest, and it’s more a cop novel than a romance, and that is probably an advice I’m passing to many readers: if you want something real, something that, even if it’s giving you a romance, it’s not forgetting this is real life you are reading about, than Latin Boyz is the novel. It’s not making no discount, and it’s targeting you heart, for good and bad.
A light historical romp on a Gentleman Thief, the 1930s prototype of a twink and an handsome detective… and no, don’t worry, this is not a ménages a trois.
Very short and sexy story about yet another Rawlings man, an English family whose men seem to have two characteristic in common: being constable and gay with a penchant for BDSM kinky sex. But this time there is a difference, this Rawlings man, Dane, is petite and almost feminine; only that you have not to mistaken him for weak, he is also a boxing champion. This time the constable is Ross, one of Dane’s cousins colleague and to return the favour to the family he babysits Dane one night when the man is involved in an arson accident. From babysit to dinner to hot sex the time is short and the passion burning brighter and brighter. But with Dane is not possible to have a casual fling, first of all since Ross needs to gain Dane’s trust, and it’s not simple, and second since, once he goes beyond Dane’s barrier, he meets the strong wall that is Dane’s family, with them it’s full commitment or nothing.
It’s not the first time Dorien Grey manages to have me worry for a character who we readers haven’t really met. I think last time was for the missing man of His Name is John, and this time is Victor, the man Dick Hardesty is hired to find. From pieces of info here and there, it comes out the character of a man I wouldn’t have minded to know, and I bet you will be moved almost to tear when you will reach to toy truck point and its sad story. As often in a Dorien Grey’s mystery, the pace is quiet more than hurried, and it’s mostly a thing of Dick meetings and having lunch with a variety of different men, from former lovers, friends, suspects and so on. The net of people around Dick Hardesty is tight and filled like a metro at hit time, and he has an ace for every occasion.
It’s strange since I didn’t usually like too much thriller, especially not when there are a lot of killings and blood, but I have to say that I quite enjoyed Dirty Kiss. Maybe since the love story was oddly sweet, oddly since you don’t expect sweetness among all that blood, but Cole and Jae managed to maintain their love story, in a way, innocent. Now the innocent is not about the lack of sex, on the contrary the sex is there, and it’s good, but it was more about their feelings, and their expectations, they were mostly behaving like teenager with their first love, tentative and sometime even stupid, but nevertheless in love.
The second in the Fool’s Odyssey trilogy if for me the better for now; I liked the previous book, but if I remember well the romance was not as much developed as it’s in this one. Andreas and Xavi are now a couple, Xavi went under the transition that made him a vampire, but he has not yet learned the boundaries of this new situation, and of course, as soon as Andreas has to leave him for a few days, he got himself into trouble.
When I started Tomorrow’s Headline, I had the feeling I opened the wrong book. Sure the names were mostly the same, but the story was completely different from the once I imagined reading the blurb. The blurb implied a mystery/thriller/adventure novel, implied, more or less, a romance between suspected murderer Mike Andrews and police detective Alex Barone, and that was good, I was all for this plot, but that was not where the novel seemed to lead. Sure Mike is the main suspect in the murder of Allison, but we also know, since the author is clear on that, that Mike is innocent since he was with his lover Ryan the night of the murder. Sure, one of my thesis was that Ryan was lying to protect Mike, but in any case, Mike’s love interest was all for Ryan, no space for Alex whatsoever. Plus also Ryan seemed a really nice man, very much in love with Mike, so I would have been pissed if in the end, Mike dumped him for someone else.
I usually prefer to start a series from the beginning, but in this case my feelings are mixed: I really liked the main character Tim Snow and I’d love to read about him in the previous 3 books, but I have also learned some info on his past that make me reluctant to revisit it. I will not going into specifics since it would spoil who is willing to go back to that 3 books, enough to say that at the beginning of this book, Tim is in a long-term relationship with Nick (they are talking of getting married) and I suppose they met in Russian River Rat (Nick is from up there) and Tim is recovering from an accident that, again, I think was part of the previous book plot.