Tag: queer (Page 19 of 36)

April Round Up

May 3, 2016 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

Love Me Like a Rock by Amy Jo Cousins – B Austin and Vinnie are suite-mates with Rafi (from Level Hands) at Carlisle college and is the cox for the Junior Varsity boat in the rowing team. He’s short (5’4″) and compact (but fit and strong) and has a mop of curly red hair. He and Vinnie have been BFFs since they met in high school and shortly after, they also became semi-regular fuck buddies. Austin has been waiting for Vinnie to want an actual relationship. Vinnie is only interested in Vinnie in any romantic kind of way when he’s turned in a paper and wants to de-stress, get drunk and screw. Austin figures he’ll wise up eventually. But in the meantime, he’s free to have a fling with the hot model from the latest life drawing class. Sean is a geology senior, taller than Austin but not by a lot and he’s also a redhead – his style is lumbersexual, complete with beard. While Austin makes things clear to Sean, it’s equally obvious that Sean is really, willing and able to go all in. He’s had his eye on Austin for over a year.

Over the course of the story, Austin realises that his fuck buddy relationship with Vinnie is unhealthy and going nowhere. And, as he spends time with Sean, he realises that there are reasons for that, some of which come down to Austin himself. He finds himself a different person with Sean – more relaxed and open about his feelings. By different I don’t mean that Sean changes Austin. It’s not like that. It’s more that with Sean, Austin relaxes and opens up in a different way and learns a new way to be – he’s always himself and Sean doesn’t want or ask for him to change his personality or anything. Continue reading

Lovers Leap by JL Merrow, narrated by Mark Steadman.

April 28, 2016 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I received a review copy via the publisher.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) If they looked, would they ever leap?

Good-looking, confident, and doted on by his widowed mum, Michael is used to thinking only of himself. Getting shoved off an Isle of Wight pier by an exasperated ex ought to come as a wake-up call—but then he meets Rufus and he’s right back to letting the little head take charge. Rufus is cute, keen, and gets under Michael’s skin in a disturbing way.

Would-be chef Rufus can’t believe his luck when a dripping wet dream of a man walks out of the sea on his birthday, especially when Michael ends up staying at the family B&B. Life is perfect—at least until Michael has to go home to the mainland.

Rufus can’t leave the island for reasons he’s entirely neglected to mention. And though Michael identifies as bi, breaking his mum’s heart by coming out and having an actual relationship with a guy has never been his plan. With both men determined to keep their secrets, a leap of faith could land them in deep water.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): This book was an audio delight. The narration was, with only small exceptions, excellent and the story entirely suited the audio medium. One of my favourite things about JL Merrow books is her sense of humour and here I was actually laughing out loud in places.

A word of warning however: Michael says things, most especially at the start of the story which are biphobic, homophobic and transphobic. While he does gain something of an education in the book, the time frame is very short and it is not clear that at the end of it, he has resolved all of his issues. He, at least, acknowledges that he has them and he’s working on them but he’s incredibly lacking in self-awareness (awareness in general, really) at the start of the story and his journey doesn’t go into the kind of detail which fixes all of his… rough edges. Continue reading

Review at Dear Author

April 20, 2016 / Kaetrin

I’m over at Dear Author with a review of Naughty Wishes: Soul by Joey W. Hill. The three friends, having sorted their individual issues, are now ready to get it on together.

Joint Review at Dear Author

April 16, 2016 / Kaetrin

Sirius and I are over at Dear Author with a joint review of Inversion Point by Kelly Jensen and Jenn Burke. Solid entry into the series. I enjoyed it better than the previous installment.

Review at Dear Author

April 12, 2016 / Kaetrin

I’m over at Dear Author with a review of Naughty Wishes: Mind by Joey W. Hill. The guys get down to bizness in part 3.

Beyond Ruin by Kit Rocha

April 5, 2016 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I received a review copy via the author.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Adrian Maddox fled his royal life—and tragic past—in Sector One, choosing instead to join up with the O’Kanes. For years, he’s lived by one rule: love fast, love hard, and always be willing to walk away. He’s managed to guard his heart, keep it whole and untouched—until now.

They couldn’t be more different—Dylan, the brilliant, burned-out doctor from Eden who drowns his pain with drugs and self-destruction. Scarlet, the sensuous, sexy rocker from Three, a woman unafraid to embrace the world. And Jade, the whore turned spy from Sector Two, who battled addiction and came out stronger than anyone he’s ever met.

Separately, they make Mad long to open his heart, to tumble head-first into a sea of possibilities and wild love. Together, they make him burn, inside and out, with lust and unbearable, unimaginable pleasure.

Then one fateful moment shakes their world to its foundations—and leaves the sectors on the verge of all-out war with Eden. It’s the biggest fight the O’Kanes have ever faced, and Mad and his lovers are at the dead center of it. They could end up with everything they never knew they wanted—or lose it all. Including their lives.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I was behind on the series so I’ve just binge-read Beyond Addiction, Beyond Innocence and Beyond Ruin all in a row. So I’m all caught up on who’s who and what’s happening in the Sectors. Things are changing fast and the advice I got from other readers was correct: read the series in order. You can skip over the novellas but the full length novels have too much world-building stuff to read out of order.
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