Genre: Stand-alone M/M Contemporary Romance
Release Date: June 9, 2015
DESCRIPTION: Tristan Wilder, self-made millionaire and devastatingly handsome CEO of Wilder-Nation is on the verge of a very lucrative buyout. With tough negotiations ahead, he's armed with his acquisition pitch, ready to launch the deal of a lifetime. There’s just one glitch. The last thing he expects is to fall for the hot business owner he's trying to sway.
Dylan Reeves, computer science engineer and founder of the very successful social media site, Secret, is faced with a life-altering decision. A devoted family man with three kids and a wife, Dylan has been living a secret for years. Fiercely loyal to his convictions, his boundaries blur after meeting the striking owner of the corporation interested in acquiring his company. For the first time in his life, reckless desire consumes him when the gorgeous computer mogul makes an offer he can't refuse.
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1eCh4YZ
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1I8ApMw
OUR REVIEW: Kindle Alexander has hit it out of the park with Secret!
I’ve read several Kindle Alexander books and liked them well enough, but Secret is on a whole other level. I loved it from the first page to the last.
Tristan Wilder, the CEO of the company that wants to buy Dylan Reeves’ breakthrough social media site, Secret, is everything you’d imagine a head-in-the-clouds inventor to be, and Dylan is the ideal businessman and father with his perfect wife and family. But all is not as it seems, which Tristan discovers when Dylan and his team go to visit Wilder Inc. headquarters in California. Neither is a twenty-something billionaire—refreshing, I know!
Secret is in no way about cheating, or ménage, or anything even remotely like that. It’s about people who are committed to each other’s happiness and how new partners fit into this complicated and unusual situation. Nothing that happens is without the other’s consent.
Teri, Dylan’s wife, is a thoroughly developed secondary character. Her kindness and understanding of Dylan’s predicament endeared her to me immediately. I’ve seen some reviews that doubt a wife like her could exist. I don’t doubt it at all, especially in a world and time where many gay men still choose to hide who they are for family and business reasons. Teri and Dylan take their marriage seriously and are doing the best they can for their children, despite the anguish their sacrifice is causing both of them.
Never in his thirty-seven years of life had anyone said those words to him. he played the stereotypical hetero husband so well that every person he knew would have sworn the Reeves family stepped out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
[...]
Tristan's smooth voice caught his attention as he ducked his head through the open door. "I promise it's discreet. Your secret's safe in here."
I loved seeing the apparently straight Dylan emerge from his self-imposed celibacy under Tristan’s creative tutelage. Likewise, Dylan’s involvement with Wilder helps Tristan to see where he’s gone wrong, and ways to correct his mistakes, both professionally and personally. At first, it’s all fun and games—Tristan sees Dylan as a challenge. Someone he can have, enjoy, then leave once the companies are merged. But life has other plans, and these plans blow both these men, and the readers along with them, way off their chosen course.
But what about the sex, you ask?
This book is chock-full of all the good stuff—smoldering romance, burn-up-the-sheets sex, and plenty of panty-melting moments!
"Baby, are you asleep?"
"Close," Dylan murmured. His voice gravelly and thick, proving he'd been sleeping.
"I need to tell you something. I haven't ever said anything like this before, but you need to know so I can sleep." Tristan lifted his head a little, talking quietly into Dylan's ear, trying to keep his heart from racing out of his chest.
"Okay." A solid yawn formed on the word.
"I'll wait for you, however long it takes. I don't care. I'll wait. I'm in love with you."
If you love books about family, love, and acceptance, then this is the book for you.
OUR RATING: ❇❇❇❇❇ stars!
Real estate mogul Roman Janiko believes weakness is something to be exploited. He made his millions doing just that, but now he's beginning to wonder if there is any good left in him.
Chris Williams is on the run from an abusive boyfriend who will do whatever it takes to get back what he believes is his. Looking for a place to hide, Chris stumbles straight into Roman’s arms.
Something about his sassy attitude stirs feelings in Roman that he had thought lost, but it's going to take more than words to show Chris that he has found his hero...
OUR REVIEW: Roman is a rich real estate mogul with suspected mafia ties. He does what—or who—he wants, when he wants. Until he happens upon a poor, beaten man on the beach. Chris has just escaped from a very long and abusive relationship.
In a move, very much out of character, Roman takes Tony into his home, nurses him back to health, and gives him a new lease on life. But there is trouble in paradise…
The setup was interesting, and there were aspects of this story that I thought were very well done. Chris is a character you will feel for, whom you will root for. He has been through so much, and you will desperately want him to find his happily ever after. The abuse scenes are particularly poignant and might be a trigger for some people.
“Please stop,” Chris pleased. He pulled at the ropes that held his wrists once again.
He had jerked on them enough that his wrists were rubbed raw. “Mitch, please don’t let them do this.”
Mitch glanced at John but said nothing.
“Don’t want to play, pretty boy?” John ran his finger down the center of Chris’ chest.
When Roman is with Chris, he’s the perfect mix of protective and loving.
Chris looked at his salad a slight blush touching his cheeks. “Maybe I’ll check it out to see if it is anything worth looking at.”
“Oh believe me,” Roman said and waggled his eyebrows “not only is it worth looking at, it is worthy of all the attention it receives. Not to say I have bragging rights, but, you know, I think I’m worth writing home about.”
But when they are apart, Roman is ruthless. He does things behind Chris’s back, things Chris never finds out about, at least in this story.
As a reader, I was left perplexed. Despite the fact that there is no sex in the story, there is a definite loving relationship between these two men. One I can’t help but feel is flawed, since Chris doesn’t know who his knight in shining armor really is.
Perhaps this is the first in a series? It’s the only way I can understand why this story would end without sex and with so many open threads.
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1e4tf09
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1KXIPow
OUR RATING: ❇❇❇ ½ stars
Genre: Series M/M Contemporary Romance (can be read as a standalone)
Living a lie, Matthew ‘Mattie’ Alexander is exhausted. It’s not easy to keep up the pretence, the deceit, but it’s safer. Coming out to a world that so easily hates takes a courage he’s yet to find, so he pretends – pretends to be into women – pretends to love being a part of the university’s football team. It keeps him safe, hidden.
Until he meets Julian.
From the moment they first meet, Mattie knows life is about to change. He’s yet to determine if it is for the better or worse. Living life through laughter, Julian is lonely. Without the jokes, the humour, he would be living on the edge of depression. Succumbing to his controlling father’s demands, Julian finds no joy in the path laid out before him.
Until he meets Mattie.
As soon as they cross paths, Mattie has the power to drive Julian’s man parts crazy with lust. But can lust be enough to help Mattie out of the closet, and guide Julian into a happier place?
Limits will be pushed. Rules will be broken. But it’s only together, that they will have the strength to overpower fear, fear of themselves and fear of others. Just how far are they willing to go in the aim of coming out?
OUR REVIEW: This is the coming out story of a young college boy and the older man he meets when he’s hired as a masseuse for the football team.
These men are polar opposites: Mattie is a serious nineteen-year old closeted athlete who has a very supportive family. Julian is an out and proud thirty-six-year old masseuse with a tremendous sense of humor and a penchant for pet names, who is trying to rid himself of his albatross of a family. They hate him, who he is, and make no secret of it.
It’s fun to see how these two characters meet and start up a relationship given the eighteen-year age gap and the vast difference in their life situations. When trouble kicks up with Julian’s family, Mattie shows that he’s much more of a man and protective lover than expected for his age. He’s Julian’s equal in every way.
Some of the best scenes in this book are with Mattie’s parents, straight-forward folk, who say whatever is on their mind.
“Okay, well, when the time comes, we’ll want to meet him. Need to make sure he’ll be good enough for our boy.”
Jeesh. That was something I wasn’t looking forward to. Mum would no doubt embarrass me by asking inappropriate things.
For example, the next words out of her mouth, “Do you take or give?”
“Nancy,” Dad barked. “Jesus Christ, woman.”
Mum rolled her eyes. “I’m just curious.”
“Mum, it’s not something to discuss at dinner… or ever.”
She sighed. “Fine.”
The sex is hot and frequent. I loved the massage scenes, even the ones that don’t involve a happy ending. J
He hummed to himself. I would have loved to know what he was thinking. “What’s your name?” he asked.
“Matthew,” I said as he worked my back. Was he going to go low or not?
My question was answered moments later when his hands suddenly left me and landed on my upper thighs. He squeezed them. I closed my eyes and mouth, Fuck.
“Do you like my hands on you, Mattie?” he drawled, running his hands slowly up and down the back of my legs, just inches shy of my lower arse cheeks.
Please keep going, my dick sang.
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1RQ5qHS
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1eTAS9W
OUR RATING: 4 stars
Genre: Series M/M Contemporary Romance (can be read as a standalone)
Release Date: May 21, 2015
Scarred both physically and emotionally after a motorcycle accident, twenty-five year old ex fashion model and porn star Oliver Brown is about to be stripped bare by flamboyant twink Leslie Scott—and they’ll rebuild love from the bottom up.
BARING THE BEAST
Twenty-five year old Oliver Brown is addicted. Two years ago, he was at the height of his career as “Nicky Starr,” fashion model, porn actor, partier without peer. Then came the accident. Hiding his scars, both emotional and physical, he’s gone into hiding. But fine clothing is some solace. A new suit by Debussy? Better even than a ride on his motorcycle Hulk or all the things he used to give and take on camera.
Enter Leslie Scott, the flamboyant, dark-haired, heel-and-tiny-short-wearing twink sent to deliver Oliver’s newest fix. A firecracker, Leslie is dapper, generous, in touch with his feminine side but all man, and as gorgeous as any garment ever made. He makes Oliver dream of ending his reclusion, of recapturing a future forever denied him. But for that to happen, Leslie would have to strip him to the bone. Only then will they rebuild life from the bottom up.
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1c8nGMv
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1KnQ7VF
OUR REVIEW: What do you get when a fabric buyer for a high-end suit design house meets up with a damaged ex-porn star with a suit obsession? You get SUIT YOURSELF!
Leslie Scott is exactly as advertised: witty, flamboyant, and forthright. He’s ready for a real relationship and his eyes are open for a contender. Life in the porn industry has left Oliver Brown damaged, both physically and emotionally. Living like a hermit in his luxury hide away, he’s lonely, and after two years, maybe it’s time to give life a try.
When the two meet, it’s a clash of opposites. But, Leslie is just the man to bring about Oliver’s metamorphosis and drag the man, screaming and kicking, back into the world.
I enjoyed many aspects of this book: the characters are strong and well developed; the writing is well above average; the fashion aspects detailed and clearly researched. However, the book lacked intensity. I was not dragged along by the story to rapidly turn the pages to find out what happened next.
It's warm. It's comfortable. It's a great read for a lazy Sunday, whether on the beach or in front of a fire.
OUR RATING: 3.5 stars
Genre: Standalone M/M Contemporary Romance
Release Date: May 11, 2015
Dreams.
I used to have them—before the nightmares started.
I dreamed of nice guys, love…normalcy.
Things like reading the Sunday paper in bed with my lover.
But who needs dreams when your reality is filled with a string of faceless dominating men in uniform? Men that pack a thick bulge and are only too happy to satisfy my deviant sexual cravings.
Me. That's who.
And then HE walked through the door and shared with me, a total stranger, his intimate dream of love. Damn him for verbalizing every single detail of the dream I buried long ago.
And now I don’t know how I'm going to live without that dream.
Or him.
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1IxIE4a
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1KYDbTG
Henry’s End Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/p95fRusmaVo
OUR REVIEW: Henry's End is a fascinating journey through one man's adult life. In this saga, spanning several decades, we meet the men who enter Henry's life and leave him changed, sometimes for the worst, sometimes for the better. In the end, he becomes the man he needs to be to find true happiness with the man who shares his dreams.
In Henry's End, the author touches upon, realistically and convincingly, some very current issues affecting the gay community: abuse, violence, discrimination, HIV/Aids, but also the true and lasting friendships that develop both inside and outside the community. For me, Henry's relationship with with his straight male friend Schooner is one of the high points of the book.
The writing in many of the scenes was very powerful. One scene in particular nearly killed me. You'll know which one when you read it.
Although Henry's End is listed as gay romance, and it definitely contains romance, it does not follow the typical path of one. We do not meet the man who will ultimately share Henry's future until the final quarter of the book. This did not take away from my enjoyment of the story, but those who like a gay romance that concentrates on only the two heroes, should take caution.
OUR RATING: We give this book 4 stars!
Banished to the mortal realm for a crime he didn't commit all Nico wants to do is return home. Legion feels love is weakness, it's an emotion only felt by fools. Answering a bundled summoning attempt Legion's world is turned upside down by the exotic Nico. Intrigued by the mortal, Legion finds himself unable to stay away. Refusing to believe he might actually be falling in love he sets out to discover who has cast such a wicked spell on him. Nico has a secret though, one that could end his relationship and destroy his chance to return home.
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1KuN6iJ
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1FVZJ7o
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/1FbYy4R
OUR REVIEW: LEGION is an ambitious story, involving multiple realms and their inhabitants. After a fateful altercation, Legion becomes ruler of the banished, damned, and seven other realms, while his brother, Adoni, is king of twenty-nine realms (twenty realms, according to Legion). Legion is a truly powerful, but also very lonely being as can be attested to by this funny conversation with Legion's best friend and second in command, Balthazar.
"F*ck you." The warrior snorted and gestured meaningfully.
"Thanks but you're not really my type." Legion said.
"Really? You have a type? I thought all it took was for them to fall on their back. Oh wait, that's me, you haven't had sex in the last millennium. Are you sure you know how it's done still?"
Rest assured, Legion does remember, as can be attested to when he meets Nico, slave to a wizard.
The story moves along quickly, with plenty of hot sex scenes, toward that moment when Nico's secret is revealed. There is a lot of humor mixed in with the more dramatic and poignant moments.
Earlier, we said that the story was ambitious. There is a huge world with a lot of characters being built here, one mostly based on existing mythology, but one that has its own rules as well. In some cases, the story moves a little too quickly, leaving the reader a bit confused. The characters are larger than life, very colorful and unique, which is great. At the same time, it makes their decisions and rationale difficult to comprehend. I would have like to see the author delve a little deeper into Legion's psyche so we could understand him better. This is also true of Nico. Although we spend a fair amount of time in his head, we aren't any closer to understanding his secret and why he did what he did.
Over all, we found the story to be an entertaining and fast-paced ride into a world far removed from our own. We look forward to more from this author.
OUR RATING: 3.5 stars
