Reviews

Review: Our December

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Our December (The Making of a Man, #1)Our December by Diane Adams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the second book I’ve read by Diane Adams and her writing style satisfies that itch for light and romantic stories with solid happy endings. Some of the writing is jumbled and the POV jumps around a bit but the backbone of the story and characters are enough for anyone looking for an easy popcorn read. These may not be the most memorable stories but a quick, interesting read is enough sometimes and I’m curious to see where the author goes with this series.

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Review: Totally Captivated: Volume 1

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Totally Captivated: Volume 1 (Totally Captivated)Totally Captivated: Volume 1 by Hajin Yoo
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I got this one because of the gorgeous cover art and I have a weakness for mob related yaoi. Since this is pretty popular, there are a ton of stories to choose from. Totally Captivated deals with Ewon, a young twink that gets hijacked into the mob by his ex-boyfriend. Ewon then deals with the daily struggles of being the low man on the mob totem pole while his ex-bf is sleeping with the mob boss; a boss who of course wants Ewon’s ass.

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Review: Beyond Reckless

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Beyond RecklessBeyond Reckless by Ava March
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As most have said this is a short, but smoking hot story. Ava March writes absolutely delicious regency romances and this short offering is no different. We’re introduced to Rhys, a young man on this 25th birthday about to come into a large inheritance. He has a thirst for adrenaline and risk, thus his sexual appetite. He meets his lover Martin for a quick, BDSM flavored tryst at a ball.

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Review: One Real Thing

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One Real ThingOne Real Thing by Anah Crow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

One Real Thing is an easy story to read and engaging for the most part. There is a friends turned lovers theme with repressed angst and longing that will play on those lovely romance heart strings of readers. The writing skillfully keeps the characters moving towards each other but once the couple gets together, the story could have ended there. The next 50 pages or so just reiterate how in love the two men are with no real appreciable changes. Nothing much is added to the relationship or the couple, though I was happy to finally get some sexual tension and sex happening. An interesting story but the ending lets it down.

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Review: Rinse and Repeat

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Rinse and RepeatRinse and Repeat by Amberly Smith
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Rinse and Repeat is a fairly interesting book with a clever hook. The idea of repeating a day over and over is not necessarily new, Groundhog Day made it famous, but the story has good pacing, decent writing, and two engaging leads that make it work. There are a lot of details left unexplained and the ending is one that could be cheesy but ends up slightly creepy instead. A mostly interesting read that moves quickly and has you rooting for the men to get their happy ending.

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Review: Nowhere Ranch

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Nowhere RanchNowhere Ranch by Heidi Cullinan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sometimes I believe the perfect combination is kinky sex and angsty men. Add in a cowboy theme and an intense, yet easy to read story and gay erotic romance fans are likely to devour this. Nowhere Ranch offers all these highlights and more, yet offsets this with a somewhat preachy anti-homophobic message and a very sweet, overly idealistic ending. The first half of the book is near pitch perfect with incredibly hot sex scenes and truly fascinating men. This tapers off towards the end with family drama, an overly manipulative female presence and a wrapped up ending but the attempt at such a complex story is still pretty successful. This is an easy story to recommend even considering the flaws.

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Review: I Once Had a Master

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I Once Had a MasterI Once Had a Master by John Preston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I reviewed the uber popular Mr. Benson, I was struck by the author’s writing and voice more than anything. So my next foray is into I Once Had a Master, a collection of short stories set in the same bald BDSM world. This collection is a stunning glimpse into the author’s mind and personal life. The writing is unembellished and in some ways clinical yet there is a wealth of subtle emotion available to the right reader. The focus is graphic sex, the beginning of gay erotica genre and incredibly successful at that. However there is infinitely more to the stories as well. If nothing else, this collection is incredibly compelling and fascinating as it depicts a lifestyle that is still relevant decades later.

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