The Christmas Visit by Marshall Thornton

The Christmas VisitThe Christmas Visit by Marshall Thornton

Blurb:
After his mother’s death, a Chicago advertising executive in his early thirties returns to his tiny upstate New York hometown to spend the Christmas holiday with his recently widowed father. While struggling to get along with his prickly father, he finds himself becoming involved with the teenage crush he’s never forgotten, now a closeted sheriff’s deputy. The relationship still has the same old fire, but it complicated by the old crush being married. Suddenly, everything takes a backseat solving the mystery at the center of the deputy’s marriage. Will a Christmas visit bring happiness to anyone, or will it end in misery?

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

what is with no name characters?

The Letter Z by Marie Sexton

The Letter ZThe Letter Z by Marie Sexton

Blurb:
Sequel to A to Z
Spin-off of Promises

Zach and Angelo have settled into their new lives in Coda, Colorado, finding their place in the community with the help of their good friends Matt and Jared. Zach and Angelo are also working out the particulars of their relationship, but when they make a decision Jared disagrees with, Angelo finds himself at odds with his partner’s best friend. And his best friend’s partner.

When the four decide on a quick trip to Vegas, Angelo thinks he and Jared may be back on the right track. But a chance encounter with Zach’s ex-boyfriend will make Angelo question everything about himself and his relationship with Zach. Matt and Jared have always been there when Zach and Angelo needed help. But when it comes to sorting out their relationship, their friends may do more harm than good.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

sequel to a spin off of a sequel?

After the Storm by Chrissy Munder


After the StormAfter the Storm by Chrissy Munder

Blurb:
Angry and frustrated with his chronic illness, Vincent Poulsen moves into an old lighthouse to live out the few days he has left. After a dangerous collapse, he meets the ghostly Captain Cason, who shares stories of his distant past. In the process, Vincent stumbles over the tragedy that binds the captain to the lighthouse and his haunted memories. Then fate offers them in death a chance to make right what they couldn’t in life….

Reprint: This short story was originally published in the Dreamspinner Press anthology Desire Beyond Death

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

really good ghost story..

Urban Shaman by Lyn Gala


Urban Shaman by Lyn Gala

Blurb:
New York City cop Miguel Rassin’s life is going downhill fast. He’s got a spotty record from the Army, a one-night stand who won’t go away, and a flock of reporters trying to crucify him for shooting a civilian waving a toy pistol. Now kids are turning up missing in the Bronx, and he’s partnered with by-the-book Detective Rob Jackson, a man with problems of his own. Their first suspect is a local shaman, Nikolai Adleman, who is either the strangest holy man ever or a con working his own angle.

Miguel’s trying to navigate a baffling case that has more questions than answers, caught between a surprising physical desire for Nikolai and his new partner’s suspicions about a shaman who claims supernatural forces are at work. Miguel has always tried to avoid relationships out of guilt and fear, but Nikolai sees the darkness in Miguel’s heart—and the fortitude Miguel has hidden deep inside, a strength that will help him solve the case and reclaim his life.

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

for something totally different….

Survival Instinct by Roxy Harte


Survival InstinctSurvival Instinct by Roxy Harte

Blurb:
Days after discovering his husband was sleeping with his twin brother, museum curator Brian Van Zant’s faced with another shocking loss. Both men are killed in a car accident, leaving him no answers, no closure. No chance to say, "I hate you," or "I love you," and not sure which he’d have said if given the chance. Now, Brian’s running away from home. Just running, without a plan or a destination.

Tobias Red Hawk is a Park Ranger in Montana, where being out of the closet still seems like a dream. After saving the life of blatantly gay and thoroughly attractive Brian, he begins to question his conviction of staying secretly gay. But before he can face his own identity crisis, there is a mystery to be solved at the top of the Bitterroot mountain range and the answers may lie in the myths of his childhood. And when Hawk’s past returns to kill him, both men discover there’s nothing like facing death up close to make a man find his survival instinct.

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

if you love Last of the Mohicans, you could have a fetish!

Curious?: A Woman’s Introduction to Gay Romance Anthology


Curious?: A Woman's Introduction to Gay RomanceCurious?: A Woman’s Introduction to Gay Romance Anthology

Blurb:
Aren’t you just a little curious? What is it about gay male romance that turns female readers on? The truth is that women love romance and sexy men. When it’s a story about two men falling in love, there’s twice the attraction. We’ve chosen stories that run the gamut of M/M romantic fiction: from initial curiosity to the first blush of love, from awkward first times to finding fulfillment, and from heart-warming forever devotion to hot and sweaty sex. Think of it as a romance buffet: take a little bit, try a little dab, and find the flavor of M/M romance that satisfies you.


better than most DSP anthologies..

Rogue Wolf by Violet Hilton

Rogue Wolf by Violet Hilton

Blurb:
Captain Trent Rolston knows his space pirate crew isn’t the biggest or the best, but that doesn’t keep him from diligently finding new targets to pillage. He also has a more personal mission: to discover what’s been haunting his mechanic, Vince, and convince him they could be more than friends.

But Vince is harboring deep secrets. He’s living his life on the run as a human, hiding his alien heritage, hunted by his own tribe for daring to love an enemy. Despite his fidelity to his deceased partner, Vince realizes he’s still affected by the mating cycle, and the drive to claim Trent is too powerful to avoid for long… and Trent isn’t helping, despite the danger as Vince’s tribe tracks him down and marks the lovers for death.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
space werewolves… yea

Helpless by MJ Pearson


Helpless Helpless by M.J. Pearson

Blurb:
In London during the gross indecency trial of Oscar Wilde, Douglas Shrove finds himself still haunted by memories of his dead lover while skirting violence, blackmail and the affections of two men.

There are two who seek you out

That is what the gypsy told Douglas Shrove a few months after the death of his lover. And the gypsy was right. Two men were vying for his affections.

Mark Goldcrest: an aristocrat like himself; a golden Adonis, cool and discreet.

Warren Scott: a shabbily-dressed denizen of a Bohemian world that Douglas can’t begin to understand.

One is what he seems, and one is not, and one is dangerous.

But which is which? Both men are attractive and attracted to him…but one has a dangerous secret.

One is what he seems, and one is not, and one is dangerous.

One of Douglas Shrove’s admirers could be his salvation—if the other doesn’t destroy him first.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

really entertaining and omg… no sex!

No Fear by SJ Frost

No Fear by SJ Frost

Blurb:

After touring for more than a year with his band, Conquest, singer Jesse Alexander is ready to head home for a long rest with his partner, superstar vocalist, Evan Arden. When it’s time to hit the studio again, there’s competition from two new bands and tensions reach a breaking point that threaten not only Conquest’s future, but Jesse’s relationship with Evan. As he faces challenges unlike any he’s ever known, Jesse must somehow keep it together to duplicate Conquest’s success and reach his ultimate goal: showing NO FEAR and announcing his love of Evan publicly.

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

when sequels fail…

A to Z by Marie Sexton

A to Z by Marie Sexton

Blurb:
Zach Mitchell is stuck in a rut. His college boyfriend left him ten years ago, but Zach still lives in the same apartment, drives the same car, and feeds his ex-boyfriend’s ungrateful cat. His Denver business, A to Z Video Rental, is struggling. He has annoying customers, eccentric neighbors, and an unfulfilling romance with his landlord, Tom.

A combat boot-wearing punk with an attitude, Angelo Green was raised in foster homes and has been on his own since he was sixteen; he has never learned to trust or to love. He doesn’t do relationships, so when Angelo takes a job at A to Z Video, he decides Zach is strictly off-limits.

Despite their differences, Zach and Angelo quickly become friends, and when Zach’s break-up with Tom puts his business on the line, it’s Angelo who comes up with a solution. Together with Jared and Matt, their friends from Coda, Colorado, Zach and Angelo will find a way to save A to Z, but will they be able to save each other too?

not as good as the first but ok…