BIB 5+ Review: Coming 9/10- Verspertine by Leta Blake and Indra Vaughn

Title: Vespertine

Author: Leta Blake and Indra Vaughn

Publisher/GR Link: GR, Ledra

Genre: MM Contemporary

Vice: Rock stars, priests, reconciliation

Rating: 5* out of 5 Banned in Boston

Lock this book up: 3 keys.  The sex is SO hot and so worth the slow burn.

Length: Novel

Satisfaction: HEA

Cover Impressions: Gorgeous!

Best Line: “I always loved you.  I can’t even pretend that I loved God more.”

Synopsis: Can a priest and a rock star obey love's call?

Seventeen years ago, Jasper Hendricks and Nicholas Blumfeld's childhood friendship turned into a secret, blissful love affair. They spent several idyllic months together until Jasper's calling to the Catholic priesthood became impossible to ignore. Left floundering, Nicky followed his own trajectory into rock stardom, but he never stopped looking back.

Today, Jasper pushes boundaries as an out, gay priest, working hard to help vulnerable LGBTQ youth. He's determined to bring change to the church and the world. Respected, admired, and settled in his skin, Jasper has long ignored his loneliness.

As Nico Blue, guitarist and songwriter for the band Vespertine, Nicky owns the hearts of millions. He and his bandmates have toured the world, lighting their fans on fire with their music. Numbed by drugs and fueled by simmering anger, Nicky feels completely alone. When Vespertine is forced to get sober, Nicky returns home to where it all started.

Jasper and Nicky's careers have ruled their lives since they parted as teens. When they come face to face again, they must choose between the past's lingering ghosts or the promise of a new future.

Impressions:  There was so much in this book to recommend it, and I know it will be on my short Banned in Boston list of books that I will reread over and over again.  It is just a very special story with two very special MCs.

I went to a Jesuit university, and as a young LGBT leader on campus, I expected to have an adversarial relationship with the members of the clergy.  What surprised me was not only how supportive they were, but that several of them were gay- and openly so.  Like Jasper, they made a commitment to their beliefs, and they had no problems balancing their own identities with their calling.  As I got to know some of these men, and even befriended one of them, I found this complexity of identity to be so interesting.  I had left the Catholic church shortly after arriving on campus, but I have the utmost respect for people who balanced two important pieces of themselves without compromising others.

That being said, Jasper is a great character in this complexity that he embodies.  I thought I would find any religion challenging to see beyond in this novel, but that was not at all the case.  Jasper is sincere in his commitment to God and in his love for Nicky, and I admired that there were no easy answers in this novel that required him to ignore who he was and what he believed.

Nicky is such a broken young man, and he so desperately wants to be healed.  He carries the marks of Jasper in his heart and on his skin, and sometimes he broke my heart.  He is a raw character, and his hurt is right at the surface, and I found him to be utterly captivating.

Beyond the fascinating look at religion and attachment issues, this was, at its heart, an amazing and raw love story.  As is only fitting given the characters, there is a slow build to the sex, but when it hits the page, it was remarkable.  This book kept me up into the night and it lingers in my mind days after it was done.  I feel like Nicky and Jasper are there on their island, and I can’t help but wait to see the amazing journey their love is taking.

There is an excellent collection of secondary characters, and the plot is engaging and well paced.

Don’t miss this excellent read.  Carve out some time on 9/10 because Nicky and Jasper have a lot to share with you. 

Banned in Boston Review: 5+ Stars for Him, by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

Title: Him

Author: Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

Publisher/GR Link: GR- Release Date 7/28

Genre: MM Contemporary

Vice: Hockey, OFY, Friends to lovers

Rating: 5+- A Banned in Boston 5 Star book!

Lock this book up: 4 out of 5 keys.  This book is HOT, but the sex supports a wonderful romance

Length: Novel

Satisfaction: HEA

Cover Impressions: Very hot.

Best Line: "Loved you every summer since I was thirteen years old.  Love you even more now."

Synopsis: Jamie Canning has never been able to figure out how he lost his closest friend. Four years ago, his tattooed, wise-cracking, rule-breaking roommate cut him off without an explanation. So what if things got a little weird on the last night of hockey camp the summer they were eighteen? It was just a little drunken foolishness. Nobody died.

Ryan Wesley’s biggest regret is coaxing his very straight friend into a bet that pushed the boundaries of their relationship. Now, with their college teams set to face off at the national championship, he’ll finally get a chance to apologize. But all it takes is one look at his longtime crush, and the ache is stronger than ever.

Jamie has waited a long time for answers, but walks away with only more questions—can one night of sex ruin a friendship? If not, how about six more weeks of it? When Wesley turns up to coach alongside Jamie for one more hot summer at camp, Jamie has a few things to discover about his old friend...and a big one to learn about himself.

Impressions:  Though I am not a fan of athletics, I am definitely a fan of a good MM sports story...and this one was Ah-Maz-Ing!

Wes and Jamie have spent their formative summers together at hockey camp.  Wes, a prankster and the life of the party, comes from a cold, detached family.  Jamie is the youngest of a large brood of siblings, and follows Wes' high jinx summer after summer, until the night Wes fears that he pushed too far.

Years later, they reunite on the cusp of their professional hockey carriers....Jamie is looking for answers, and Wes cannot get his past, or his hopes for the future, out of his mind.  

This is a story that is filled with love, humanity and hope.   Wes, who is a tattooed bad-boy on the outside, really craves a love that he secretly worries he can never have.  Between the pull of his family, and his burgeoning NHL career, love seems like something he has to set aside, and until he is able to love and be loved by Jamie, that loss seemed like something he could live with.

Jamie pulled me into his heart as he struggled to realize that his love for Wes went beyond the pull of friendship and brotherhood.  Once Jamie opens his body and heart to Wes, he knows things will never be the same.

This is a sweet, engaging and captivating novel.  I literally could not put it down, and I was glued to each page as I got to watch two men realize that there are things in their lives that are more important than hockey, dreams, or the NHL, and that maybe they can figure out a way to keep the things they need...including each other.  

This novel was smoking hot and so romantic that it was the perfect combination of a well paced plot, strong, developed characters, and a romance that gives you goose bumps and hot flashes!

I am proud to give Him, by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy, a 5+ star rating and a Banned in Boston award for superior books!

Do not miss this book when it releases on 7/28. Clear your calendar and be ready to settle in with a great summer read!

Falling, by Barbara Elsborg- A BiB 5 Star Read!

Title: Falling, Fall or Break book #1

Author: Barbara Elsborg

Publisher/GR Link: Samhain Press, GR

Genre: MM Contemporary

Vice: prison, abuse, rebuilding, trauma

Rating: 5 out of 5- a Best of the Banned in Boston!

Lock this book up: 4 out of 5 keys- The sex is hot and supports the romance perfectly.

Length: Novel

Satisfaction: HEA

Cover Impressions: Perfection

Best Line: "If I'd have known you before I went inside, I 'd have gone mad with longing."

Synopsis: Harper is no longer behind bars, but it doesn’t feel like it. Ten years serving time for a crime he didn’t commit have left him shut down, numb, and a frozen wreck over the simplest of choices.

He’s acutely aware of the dark-haired young man checking him out in the supermarket, but he’s too deep in panic mode to even meet the guy’s gaze. Afraid the slightest move will trigger a fall that will never stop.

Fresh off a long-term relationship with a controlling man, Malachi is stuck living with relatives who think he’s a waste of oxygen. The tall guy in the long, gray coat is the first bright spot he’s glimpsed in a long time…though the man’s unblinking stare at a bottle of shower gel is a touch alarming.

Hard experience tells both of them to turn away before lust turns to hopeless attraction, and inevitably to disaster. But once their sparks connect, the arc of electricity is too strong to deny. Even if the cost is too much to bear.

Warning: Contains an ex-con with disaster written all over him, a boy toy who’s trouble with a capital T, a damp old British house, compulsive meddling, and enough hot sex to cure the severe case of nervous babbling.

Impressions:  This was a book that I could not put down, but at the same time, I wanted to savor each moment.  I rearranged my plans so I could have chunks of time to return to Malachi and Harper.  These men are so broken, and so isolated in their own traumas, that I could not look away from my kindle in hopes that I would see another sliver of happiness for each of them.  Elsborg crafts this story with expertise.  She draws each man with such care and love, that it is impossible for the reader not to experience their own falling...for both of these MCs.

Harper is the man whose trauma is the most eye catching, and he broke my heart with each page turn.  Each small smile, or escaped laugh felt like a ray of sunshine in a dark room.  Harper literally starts off in the cold and dark, and when he meets Malachi, much to his shock, that begins to change.

Malachi, with his laughter and jokes, is no less damaged than Harper is, although in a prison that many others could not see.  I ached as I watched him try to piece a life back together for Harper.

Elfsborg does not shy away from difficult storylines and characters, and her writing is all the better for it.  There is enough angst in here to tug at anyone's heart strings, but the love and romance will warm you right back up.

This is one of the best books that I have read in recent memory.  Elsborg is a master story teller, and it is clear on each page of this book.  You do not want to miss this one at all, so go preorder it tonight and wake up to a gift tomorrow on your ereader.  But be warned, carve out a good chunk of time, or call in to work sick.  You won't be able to take a step too far away from these guys.

I am excited that this is a part of a series, and the next story looks just as compelling.  Let the countdown begin!

5 Banned in Boston stars!