Title: What Remains

Author: Garrett Leight

Publisher/GR Link: Riptide, GR

Genre: MM Contemporary

Vice: Amnesia, Angst

Rating: 5 Stars

Lock this book up: 3 Keys. The focus of this book is romance, but the sex is hot and supports their love.

Length: Novel

Satisfaction: HEA/HFN

Cover Impressions: Love it!

Best Line: “The old Jodi was gone, and Rupert would mourn him forever, but this Jodi…Rupert loved him more than he would have ever believed possible…”

Synopsis: Web designer Jodi Peters is a solitary creature. Lunch twice a week with his ex-girlfriend-turned-BFF and the occasional messy venture to a dodgy gay bar is all the company he needs, right?

Then one night he stumbles across newly divorced firefighter Rupert O’Neil. Rupert is lost and lonely, but just about the sweetest bloke Jodi has ever known. Add in the heady current between them, and Jodi can’t help falling hard in love. He offers Rupert a home within the walls of his cosy Tottenham flat—a sanctuary to nurture their own brand of family—and for four blissful years, life is never sweeter.

Until a cruel twist of fate snatches it all away. A moment of distraction leaves Jodi fighting for a life he can’t remember and shatters Rupert’s heart. Jodi doesn’t know him—or want to. With little left of the man he adores, Rupert must cling to what remains of his shaky faith and pray that Jodi can learn to love him again.

Impressions:  Garrett Leigh is becoming one of my go-to authors, and it is books like this that make me love her work.  This book was amazing, and gave me the ability to get lost with her characters and their lives.

This was a great book.  It was hard to read about the loss that Rupert and Jodi experienced.  I really connected with both of them, and I loved the way that their backstory was woven into their modern tale. 

When their relationship took such a turn, it was heartbreaking.  Though it was difficult at times, I really appreciate how Leigh wrote about the ups and downs in a realistic and moving way.  There was no magical cure or Prince Charming kiss, but rather a love that connected and drew two men back to each other and to the love that supported them since the first time they met.

I strongly recommend this read.  I started it and finished it in one day because I couldn’t put it down.

Book Review: Knit Tight by Annabeth Albert

Title: Knit Tight

Author: Annabeth Albert

Publisher/GR Link: Lyrical Shine, GR

Genre: MM Contemporary

Vice: Bisexuality, Knitting, Care taking

Rating: 5 Stars

Lock this book up: 3 keys.  The sex is hot and supported by the story line

Length: Short Novel

Satisfaction: HEA

Cover Impressions: Adorable!

Synopsis: One of Portland’s hottest young baristas, Brady is famous for his java-topping flair, turning a regular cup of joe into a work of art. Every Wednesday—aka “Knit Night”—hordes of women and their needles descend on the coffeehouse, and Brady’s feeling the heat. Into the fray walks a tall, dark, and distractingly handsome stranger from New York. His name is Evren, and he’s the sexy nephew of Brady’s sweetest customer, the owner of the yarn shop down the street. He’s also got a killer smile, confident air, and masculine charm that’s tying Brady’s stomach in knots. The smitten barista can’t wait to see him at the next week’s gathering. But when he tries to ask Evren out, his plans unravel faster than an unfinished edge. If Brady hopes to warm up more than Evren’s coffee, he’ll have to find a way to untangle their feelings, get out of the friend zone, and form a close-knit bond that’s bound to last a lifetime…

Impressions:  I have loved this series from book 1, and this was no exception.  Ev and Brady were a perfect match.  As a full time single mom/teacher who sometimes doesn’t know how she will ever fit a relationship into her life, I totally identified with Brady, and I loved watching him balance real life responsibilities with the draw he feels towards Ev.  I also really loved Ev’s dedication to his aunt, and I was so intrigued by him that I wanted even more of his backstory.

This was a great book that wrapped me up and knitted a warm blanket of love and family around me as I read it.  Don’t miss this, or any of the others in the series!

Highly Recommended

New Release: Unquiet, by Melanie Hansen

Title: Unquiet (Resilient Love, book 3)

Author: Melanie Hansen

Publisher/GR Link: Dreamspinner, GR

Genre: MM Contemporary

Vice: Cops, Recovery, Mental Health

Rating: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Lock this book up: 3 keys, this book is hot and very sexy

Length: Novel

Satisfaction: HEA, but well earned!

Cover Impressions: Very fitting

Synopsis: Loren Smith has been in love with Eliot Devlin almost his entire life. During their turbulent childhood and teen years, Loren didn’t always understand Eliot, and sometimes he could be a challenge, but Eliot was the only one to ever truly ease Loren’s deep loneliness and accept him. When Eliot’s increasingly erratic and self-destructive behavior culminates in a suicide attempt at seventeen, Loren is devastated.

Upon meeting again by chance nine years later, Loren is enjoying a successful career as a police officer while Eliot’s life has been a constant struggle for stability. In and out of mental hospitals, with a rap sheet a mile long, he continues to be buffeted by the twin storms of mania and depression. Loren’s love and protectiveness for Eliot are deeply ingrained in him, however, and their feelings for each other are quickly rekindled.

Loren has issues of his own he’s dealing with, and trying to understand and cope with Eliot’s bipolar disorder isn’t easy. They believe they’re meant to be, and Eliot brings a fulfillment to Loren’s life that no one else will ever match. But as they both come to realize, love by itself can’t cure all.

Impressions:  This was a wonderful book that made me work for the well earned HEA at the end.  This book was hard to read at times, but Eliot was such a wounded and raw character, and Loren was such a loving, but also struggling, counterpart, that I couldn’t put the story down until I went through their challenges with them.

I really appreciate that Hansen didn’t gloss over mental health issues, and she didn’t simplify the very real struggles that people with mental health issues, and those who love them, go through.  Loren has his own journey to go in this process, and I really loved that he was not a perfect cardboard cut out of an MC that “rescued” Eliot from his disorders.  Hansen didn’t shy away from the raw parts of this love story, and it really set this novel apart from others who have touched on these struggles. 

This was a wonderful story, and even during the challenges, I was so invested in these guys that I wanted them to get their HEA and Hansen kept the story moving at a great pace.  The epilogue us heartbreaking and uplifting, and I think that must be how Loren’s life and Eliot’s life will be.