New Release: Out of Nowhere (Middle of Somewhere #2)

Title: Out of Nowhere (Middle of Somewhere #2)

Author: Roan Parish

Publisher/GR Link: Dreamspinner

Genre: MM Contemporary

Vice: OFY, traumatic past, homophobia

Rating: 5 Stars

Lock this book up: 3.5 Stars.  The sex is very hot and helps to move along the story line.

Length: Novel

Satisfaction: HEA

Cover Impressions: Gorgeous.

Best Line: “I love you too,” he says.. And I don’t have to see his face to know that he is smiling.”

Synopsis: The only thing in Colin Mulligan’s life that makes sense is taking cars apart and putting them back together. In the auto shop where he works with his father and brothers, he tries to get through the day without having a panic attack or flying into a rage. Drinking helps. So do running and lifting weights until he can hardly stand. But none of it can change the fact that he’s gay, a secret he has kept from everyone.

Rafael Guerrera has found ways to live with the past he’s ashamed of. He’s dedicated his life to social justice work and to helping youth who, like him, had very little growing up. He has no time for love. Hell, he barely has time for himself. Somehow, everything about miserable, self-destructive Colin cries out to him. But down that path lie the troubles Rafe has worked so hard to leave behind. And as their relationship intensifies, Rafe and Colin are forced to dredge up secrets that both men would prefer stay buried.

Impressions: This book was not always easy to read, but it was always worth it.  I could not tear myself away from Colin, who narrates his own difficult tale, until I was sure that Rafe and he could make it to a brighter part of their dark journeys.

Colin was such a hated and hateful character in book 1, it was hard for me to imagine that I would ever feel badly for him.  I loved book 1, and I was ready to read anything created by this author.

In book 2, Colin doesn’t start off any more likable than he was in book 1, but there is a certain vulnerability that builds off the last time we had seen him in book 1.  I reread book 1 right before this one, and I am glad I did.  Parrish expertly overlaps the chronology of these two stories and provides an insight into Colin’s terrible self image and family past.  With each word I began to realize Colin’s struggle until my heart hurt along with him.

Rafe was a great counterpart for Colin.  He is tough and strong, yet compassionate and patient.  He never seemed to lose his own identity and self worth in the face of Colin’s hurt and pain, and I respected him for that.  He was a wonderful man for Colin, but he brought his own strength and past to the equation.

The secondary characters (including some awesome queer kids!), and revisits from Dan and Rex made this book and even bigger gift.  I know it is only February, but this might be a best of 2016 already.

New Release Review: The Shepherd and the Solici

Title: The Shepherd and the Solicitor

Author: Summer Devon and Bonnie Dee

Publisher/GR Link: Samhain, GR

Genre: MM Historical

Vice: Historical, trauma

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Lock this book up: 3 keys.  The sex is hot, steamy, and totally supports the story

Length:  161 pages

Satisfaction:  HEA

Cover Impressions: I love this whole collection, and the covers are classic.

Best Line: “Now all I think of is you.”

Synopsis: When a storm is brewing, taking shelter could be the most dangerous move of all.

One careless, public sign of affection cost Daniel Pierce’s lover his life at the hands of a hate-filled mob. Grief-stricken, Daniel retreated from society to a sheep farm in the wilds of the north. Years later, Gregory Tobin erupts into his solitary life.

Sent to confirm the existence—or the death—of the Pierce family’s lost heir, Tobin isn’t sure he’s found the right man. The gruff, shaggy hermit calling himself Jacob Bennet bears little resemblance to photographs of the younger Pierce. Tobin needs more time to study his quarry.

With lambing season in full swing, Daniel grudgingly admits he could use an extra hand. Through a long, exhausting night, they parry back and forth as Tobin probes closer and closer to the truth. And something beyond casual attraction simmers between them.

They come together in a crash of desire, but ultimately Daniel must overcome the terrors of the past to reconcile the man he was with the man he’s becoming—a man capable of loving again.

Impressions: These authors are on my auto-buy list, and this book is a perfect example of why.  In no time at all, I was swept into the world of Yorkshire, in the 1880’s, as I watched one man learn to love again, and another realize that he has just settled for too long. 

Daniel/Bennet has had a terrible trauma and in his past, and I can’t help but be impressed by his ability to reinvent his life.  I found it very believable that he would try to distance himself from all love and intimacy. 

Gregory is a ray of light in Daniel’s cold world.  It was impossible not to fall a little in love with Gregory!  He is so earnest, enthusiastic, and optimistic.  He is also intelligent and loyal, and though he may not totally realize his own worth, he knows that he can give Daniel something that they both need.

Both men grow and evolve, and I felt engaged and connected through out the whole story.  This is a great collection of books which can be read in any order, and you won’t want to miss this addition!

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!