Book Review: Borrowing Trouble

Title: Borrowing Trouble  

Author: Kade Boehme

Publisher/GR Link: GR

Genre: MM Contemporary

Vice:  Coming Out, Kids

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Lock this book up: 3 Stars.  The sex is hot and totally supports the story line

Length:  Novel

Satisfaction: HEA- with a big, warm smile

Cover Impressions: I love it!

Best Line:  “He’d definitely never been so in love as he was today.”

Synopsis: After an amicable divorce, Jay Hill decided to move back to his rural hometown with his teenage kids. Being on good terms with his ex-wife and in laws has made the transition into single life pretty smooth. Things were good and uncomplicated. Then Landon Petty walked into his life.

Landon didn’t expect to still be stuck in his hometown working at his dad’s sawmill at this point in his life. Being an openly gay truck driver was as awkward in practice as in description. When Jay came to take over managerial duties at his dad’s business, Landon was surprised to find a friend. When Jay turns out not to be as straight as he thought, things get complicated.

When feelings for Landon shine a light on how much Jay’s life has been actually half lived, he’s forced to decide if he’ll jump in with both feet or if he’ll let Landon slip through his fingers.

Impressions:  I love Boehme’s work, and I was looking forward to this one very much.  I am happy to say that it was as amazing as I could have hoped for!

Jay is a very sympathetic character, and I found myself understanding and caring for him from the moment I “met” him.  He loves his children, and he appreciates the easy relationship he has with his ex, but as he starts to learn something new about himself, he never slipped into Victorian histrionics or denied what he was experiencing.  He has some very real challenges he needs to face, but I respected and admired that he was true to himself and all of those that he loved.

Landon is also a very relatable character.  He is at the cusp of a big change in his life, and he is ready to put his wishes and needs at the forefront of his priorities.  I liked that he was patient with Jay, but that he was honest with himself and his friends when he needed support.

What really struck me about this story, was not only was it Boehme’s inimitable romantic story with great MCs, it was alos a story that explores the complexities of being out, coming out, and falling love.  There are no saints or demons in this novel.  There are men and women who are struggling to understand something they don’t “get” while balancing their care and affection for those same people.  We see this in both Landon’s father and Jay’s exwife.  Neither Jay or Landon are perfect, but they are strong and dynamic.  In reality, these are the relationships that we often see and experience around us, and Boehme did a beautiful job of portraying these dynamics in the midst of a sweet, sexy, romance.

Highly Recommended.

5 Star Review: In the Middle of Somewhere

Title: In the Middle of Somewhere

Author: Roan Parrish

Publisher/GR Link: Dreamspinner, GR

Genre: MM Contemporary

Vice: Tattoos, Shy Guys, LD, Gentle giants

Rating: 5 out of 5

Lock this book up: 4 keys...this one will keep you hot and warm your heart.

Length: Novel

Satisfaction: HEA

Cover Impressions: Do we need to say?  Its gorgeous and totally suits the novel.  

Best Line: "I came here because I didn't have anywhere else to go.  Didn't have anyone.  And now...As long as I'm with you, I'll be home."

Synopsis: DANIEL MULLIGAN is tough, snarky, and tattooed, hiding his self-consciousness behind sarcasm. Daniel has never fit in—not at home with his auto mechanic father and brothers, and not at school where his Ivy League classmates look down on him. Now, Daniel’s relieved to have a job at a small college in Northern Michigan, but, a city boy through and through, when Daniel arrives in Holiday, Michigan, it’s clear that this small town is one more place he just won’t fit in.

REX VALE clings to routine to keep loneliness at bay: honing his large, muscular body until it can handle anything, perfecting his recipes, and making custom furniture. Rex has lived in Holiday for years, but his shyness and imposing size have kept him from connecting with people. Though he loves the quiet and solitude of his little cabin in the woods, Rex can’t help but want someone to share it with.

When Daniel arrives in Holiday, they are smitten with each other, but though the sex is intense and explosive, Rex fears that Daniel will be one more in a long line of people to leave him, and Daniel has learned that letting anyone in could be a fatal weakness. Just as they begin to break down the walls that have been keeping them apart, Daniel is called home to Philadelphia where a secret is revealed that changes the way he understands everything. 

Impressions: This book swept me off of my feet!  I fell in love with Daniel and Rex, and I was hoping this would somehow turn into the Neverending Story and sweep me into the neighboring cabin.  I had this one on my TBR pile, and I am so glad I bumped it up because it was a great read.  

The strength of this novel is in the character development.  There is certainly a plot, and it moves along nicely, but this is not a story about scary exes popping out of the bushes, or hitmen shooting from the roof.  This is a story about two men who haven't believed that they can get the happiness that we know they deserve.  Rex is a gentle giant of a man.  When he rescues Daniel, the sparks are instant for him.  He is such a kind and care taking man, and I just loved him.  Parrish did a great job in creating a man who has his own struggles with self image and circumstance, and who was sweet without being sappy or unreal.  Rex clearly cares for Daniel, but he has a hard time believing that anyone, let alone Daniel, could choose him.

Daniel is crafted just as expertly.  He is sometimes grumpy and abrasive, sometimes prickly and snappy, but always hoping for a love and acceptance that has been denied him.  As with Rex, he is three dimensional, and Parrish is transparent about his motivation without hitting us over the head with it. 

This story carries us along in a gentle hug, and I never wanted it to let me go.  The secondary characters are great, and good or bad, they enhanced the story.  The story is told from the perspective of Daniel, but we get great insight into Rex as well.  Though at the beginning I really wanted more of Rex’s thoughts, the story worked well and it actually really helped to build my interest in Rex.  It suited the story to hear it from Daniel’s perspective. 

The best part about this novel was discovering that there was more to come.  This is definitely an HEA, but there are other characters that I want updates on, and of course I want more of Rex and Daniel.

This was such an amazing read, and these guys gave me a warm, tingly book hangover.  I read around the clock because I couldn’t put it down, but I cringed to see the pages slip by because I never wanted it to end.

Don’t miss this one.  Highly Recommended. 

5* review: Lonely Hearts, by Heidi Cullinan (Love Lessons #3)

Title: Lonely Hearts

Author: Heidi Cullinan

Publisher/GR Link: Samhain, GR

Genre: MM Contemporary

Vice: Abuse, Disability, New Adult

Rating: 5 Stars

Lock this book up: 4 keys.  The sex is smoking hot in here!

Length: Novel

Satisfaction: HEA

Cover Impressions: Really great, and fits in so nicely with the others.

Best Line: "I...love you.  I'm scared and I don't want to, not anybody, but I do.  Love you.  And I don't think I can stop."

Synopsis: With the quiet help of his wealthy family, Sebastian “Baz” Acker has successfully kept his painful past at bay. But as the end of college draws near, his friends—his buffer zone—are preparing to move on, while his own life is at a crippling standstill.With loneliness bearing down on him, Baz hooks up—then opens up—with Elijah Prince, the guy Baz took a bullet for last year. The aftershocks of their one-night stand leave giant cracks in Baz’s carefully constructed armor. For the first time, the prospect isn’t terrifying.

Accustomed to escaping his demons by withdrawing into his imagination, Elijah isn’t used to having a happy herd of friends. He’s even less comfortable as the object of a notorious playboy’s affections. Yet all signs seem to indicate this time happiness might be within his grasp. When Baz’s mother runs for a highly sought-after public office, the media hounds drag Baz’s and Elijah’s pasts into the light. In the blinding glare, Baz and Elijah face the ultimate test: discovering if they’re stronger together…or apart.

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Impressions: I have been a huge fan of Cullinan's for years, and I read and enjoyed book one when it first came out.  For some reason, I still had book 2 on my TBR pile when I had the opportunity to read her newest release.  I settled in and read book 2 back to back with book 3, and thanked the gods for summer vacation!

Though these books can be read as standalones, I definitely think you will get the most out of them by reading them in order, and with a good memory of the main events and characters in each. And really, reading these books is a joy, and far from a burden!

After finishing book 2, I was very eager for Elijah and Baz's story.  Baz is bigger than life in book 2, and it was wonderful to get a glimpse into his life and his struggles.  Elijah is so caustic and prickly in book 2, and I could not wait to see him fight himself, and the world, and ultimately get his well earned HEA.

This book moves along at a great pace, and all of our beloved characters from books 1 and 2 are back again.  This time there is the addition of a wonderful character and I loved seeing Elijah find something like a nurturing soul inside of him.  

One of the things that I really admired in this book was the brief visits we got into Elijah and Baz's past, but the focus of the book was on their present and future.  This could have been a book that spent half of its time in flashback, but it really worked that instead we got to see these two men finding themselves and each other.

This book is warm, romantic and very sexy.  Don't miss out on books 1 and 2, and then jump right into 3.  If you've already read books 1 and 2, then I am sure nothing is keeping you from one-clicking this one ASAP!

Highly recommended.