Tag: mm romance (Page 9 of 14)

July Round Up

August 2, 2013 / Kaetrin

On Paper/eBook

Mad About the Boys by JL Merrow and Jo Myles – B This anthology is a collection of 1 new and 4 previously published short stories featuring m/m/f romance (which is my favourite kind of menage story). Dinner for Three (Merrow) is a wonderful start to the anthology, a contemporary about two happily coupled guys who are interested in expanding their relationship to include their oblivious housemate Claire – I could happily have read a full length novel about this trio. Because of the very short word count, the characterisations are necessarily very thin and the story doesn’t take us beyond one day of encounters. What there was however was so very engaging, I was sad when the story ended – I really wanted more.

In the Greenwood (Myles) is a paranormal fairy tale of a wood sprite who brings two men together and then manages to become real – again, this story suffered a bit from the short length but it’s fairy tale quality meant that a certain air of unreality was to be expected and made the story work better than it would have otherwise.The Antithesis of Magic (Merrow) is about a man with no magic in a world full of magic users, who finds he is the perfect third for a fairy and a werewolf who need him. I wasn’t clear exactly on why Gus was needed and there wasn’t really any relationship between the three so it was the least satisfying in terms of romance. If it had been expanded to a longer story so I could see a courtship/developing relationship, I would have enjoyed this much more because the set up and the tone of the story was great. Continue reading

I have a new gig…

June 18, 2013 / Kaetrin

Hey everyone, I have some news. I’ll be reviewing at Dear Author a couple of times a month. My first DA review is up today. The Au Pair Affair wasn’t a huge success for me unfortunately. Go here to see why.

I’ll still be reviewing here and for AudioGals and Speaking of Audiobooks as well as the occasional ARRA review (hence why there will only be a couple of DA reviews a month). I’m a busy girl!

Never a Hero by Marie Sexton

May 16, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I received an ARC from NetGalley.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Everyone deserves a hero.Owen Meade is desperately in need of a hero. Raised by a mother who made him ashamed of his stutter, his sexual orientation, and his congenitally amputated arm, Owen lives like a hermit in his Tucker Springs apartment. But then hunky veterinarian Nick Reynolds moves in downstairs. Nick is sexy and confident, and makes Owen comfortable with himself in a way nobody ever has. He also introduces Owen to his firecracker of a little sister, who was born with a similar congenital amputation but never let it stand in her way. When she signs the two of them up for piano lessons—and insists that they play together in a recital—Owen can’t find a way to say no. Especially since it gives him a good excuse to spend more time with Nick.Owen knows he’s falling hard for his neighbor, but every time he gets close, Nick inexplicably pulls away. Battling his mother’s scorn and Nick’s secrets, Owen soon realizes that instead of waiting for a hero, it’s time to be one—for himself and for Nick.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Let’s start with what I liked. I thought (with the exception of Owen’s mother) that issues of disability were well handled in the novel. Owen has a congenital amputation of his left arm below the elbow. Because of how he was raised (more on that later) he is very sensitive about it and is basically a shut in. After he meets Nick and also Nick’s sister June (who has a congenital amputation of her right arm), he is shown a new-to-him way of dealing with his disability and Nick’s direct speech opens Owen’s eyes as to why many people seem uncomfortable – not that they think he’s a freak but they’re not sure what to do and default to ignoring it rather than risk offence. Through his relationship with Nick, Owen finds his world has opened up and his focus changes. I’m no expert, but it seemed to me to that disability was handled pretty well in the book.

Bad Attitude by KA Mitchell

May 8, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I’m a fan of KA Mitchell’s work and I bought this soonest after release.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads): When did save a life become change a life?As the openly gay middle son of the most powerful family between Manhattan and Miami, Gavin Montgomery knows his role—look good in a tuxedo and don’t make waves.Waves are the least of his worries when he tries and fails to keep a friend from jumping off a high bridge. His last thought as he falls in too is that someone else will have to take over as family disappointment…until he’s pulled from the water by a man with an iron grip, a sexy mouth and a chip on his shoulder the size of the national deficit.

Police rescue diver Jamie Donnigan finally has life the way he wants it. Okay, he could have done without losing his father, quitting smoking and watching his friends drift into couplehood. At least he’s managed to escape that particular trap.

When Gavin’s father turns Jamie’s routine rescue into a media circus, he figures if he’s going to suffer for his good deed, he might as well enjoy a roll in the sack. But Jamie’s not immune to Gavin’s cultivated charm…and all the risks that come along with giving in to it.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I’m sorry to say I was disappointed in this book. Gavin and Jamie mainly converse in snark and I didn’t see enough of not-snark and general relationship development to believe completely in the romance. I felt like the story was just getting started when, rather abruptly, the story ended. Told in alternating third person POV, the reader is able to get in the heads of both men. So I felt like I knew what they were thinking. But they didn’t seem to really talk about those things with each other, so I didn’t feel like they knew each other that well.

Country Mouse & City Mouse by Amy Lane and Aleksandr Voinov

May 5, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I received a review copy from the publisher so I’d understand the second book (which I got via NetGalley).

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Owen may be a bit of a country mouse, but he’s loving his vacation in London. After a long day playing tourist, he’s on the hunt for some cheap beer and a good burger. Instead he finds a man hunting him, an arrogant prick with only one thing on the brain: the kind of meat that doesn’t come on a bun.Eighty-hour weeks at a trading desk don’t leave Malcolm Kavanagh much time for meaningful relationships. Besides, in his world, everything’s a competition-even sex. When his newest one-night-sub fails to show, Malcolm sets his sights on the pretty young Yank on the bar stool beside him.Owen’s all for an adventure with a native, but he’s not the pushover Malcolm thinks he is, and Malcolm’s not as shallow as he tries to be. They both soon learn that nothing’s too intimate to share with a stranger, and the strangest things happen when two people share the most important pieces of their hearts.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I write this having finished Country Mouse and not having started City Mouse. This novella, clocking in at just under 80 pages, tells the story of the initial meeting and first weekend together of Owen and Malcolm. It ends in a hopeful HFN because, as can be expected, they really don’t know each other well enough for a believable HEA. I think in some ways the blurb and the title worked against me. I didn’t see Owen as particularly ‘country’. He was an American new to London but he didn’t react with fear to the big city. It’s not like he’d never seen traffic or high rise buildings. His own self reference as ‘a bit of a country mouse’ didn’t sit right to the way I saw him. And Malcolm isn’t the Dom the blurb led me to expect. Taking out those two items which did throw me off the scent a bit, I did enjoy this story. Once Malcolm and Owen had made it back to Malcolm’s penthouse, the characters started to shine and I began to get a handle on who these men are and why they could be so good together.

Slam! by JL Merrow

April 22, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I pre-ordered this one from Samhain – JL Merrow is an autobuy for me. I’m glad I didn’t even read the blurb actually because Jude’s last name made me laugh out loud when I got to it in the story.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Limericks, lies, and puppy-dog eyes…Jude Biggerstaff is all the way out and loving it – mostly. The Anglo-Japanese university graduate is a carnivore working in a vegan cafe, an amateur poet with only one man in his life. His dog, Bubbles. Then there’s “Karate Crumpet”, a man who regularly runs past the cafe with a martial arts class. Jude can only yearn from afar, until the object of his affection rescues him from muggers. And he learns that not only does this calm, competent hunk of muscle have a name – David – but that he s gay.

Jude should have known the universe wouldn’t simply let love fall into place. First, David has only one foot out of the closet. Then there’s Jude’s mother, who lies about her age to the point Jude could be mistaken for jailbait.

With a maze of stories to keep straight, a potential stepfather in the picture, ex-boyfriends who keep spoiling his dates with David, and a friend with a dangerous secret, Jude is beginning to wonder if his and David’s lives will ever start to rhyme.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): This book is so funny. I was laughing out loud throughout a lot of it and my husband got treated to highlights because some humour just has to be shared. Told from Jude’s first person POV, he is hilarious, taking himself not very seriously at all (nor most other things in fact). He works in a vegan cafe (he’s not a vegan and refers to it as “rabbit food”) and every Saturday, watches the jim-jam parade as the local karate club does their run right past the cafe’s front window. His friend Keisha (who is a vegan) visits the cafe regularly and has all but been adopted by the owners, Vince and Lesley. Which is just as well, because Keisha is unemployed, desperate to find work and has a father who just got out of prison and is very bad news. Lesley has MS and there are glimpses of the the effect it has on both Jude and Keisha because they love her, as well as on Vince and Lesley themselves. It isn’t overdone, but these touches make Jude a more well rounded character – and give the book depth. Jude and Keisha don’t only talk about their love lives with each other – they met at a poetry slam and since then have made a close bond. Their banter, which is mostly snark and insults, reveals a deep affection.