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50 Shades of Gay by Jeffery Self (4 Stars)

Oct1

50 comments to make you smile? The author’s sense of humor and view on life made for an engaging and entertaining story!

Alex Kirby is a 24 year old virgin who seems to be drifting through life without making much of an effort to accomplish anything serious. Taylor Grayson is a huge movie star who refuses to have emotional connections in his life. They meet by chance and begin a relationship initially based on lust, but slowly based on more than that.

The entire story is told in first person by Alex. He can make a quip about almost anything in life and relate it to a movie, actor, or television show. Needless to say, his storytelling was captivating and made for a very fast read. He lives with his best friend, Matty, who is an interesting character that has the potential for a future story. They had a very strong friendship reflected in some great dialogue.

Alex and Taylor begin to spend time together, but their relationship is quirky due to Taylor’s restricted emotional offering. The interactions with Alex and Taylor lacked any heavy dialogue and mostly revolved around a few sex scenes. Alex was willing to play the submissive sex games, but he was also capable of standing up for himself and demanding a more emotional connection than what Taylor was willing to offer.

It was a bit challenging to understand what Alex actually saw in Taylor to make Alex love Taylor so much. The final resolution felt a bit contrived, since we never really understood Taylor’s psyche nor were we made to understand what drove his final transformation.

There were elements of BDSM including bondage, whipping, spanking, and hard biting. Taylor presented Alex with a written contract to sign which also outlined soft and hard limits, and he encouraged Alex to do some research before signing it. Unfortunately, Alex never signed it and, more importantly, they never discussed a safe word before engaging in their scenes.

The editing was excellent especially as it related to spelling and grammar. However, it’s a bit pricey at almost $10. Overall, it was an enjoyable story told by a charming young man.

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Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
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Breaking Point (Turning Point #2) by N.R. Walker (3 Stars)

Sep30

One man faces down his personal demons of guilt, but will it be in time to save the relationship with the love of his life?

Matthew Elliott and Kira Takeo Franco have been together for over a year now. Things seem to be going well with their relationship, but everything is about to change. Matt is going undercover to fight a narcotics ring, but he can’t tell Kira. As Matt struggles with living a lie, his relationship with Kira slowly starts to disintegrate.

This is the second book in the series, and it picks up with the same characters. The entire story is told from Matt’s point of view, and he still feels horribly guilty about Kira’s kidnapping. Matt has decided to accept an undercover assignment to discover how a large narcotics ring is working. This requires him to act as if he is leaving the police force to join the underground world of cage-fighting.

Unfortunately, I didn’t understand why Matt couldn’t tell Kira what was going on. Since Matt wasn’t hiding his identity, Kira wasn’t any safer not knowing what was going on. Instead, it created a huge trust issue in their relationship that lasted the entire story. This was not a romantic story, although there were a few sex scenes, nor was it focused on their relationship. The main plot of the story was educating the reader on the training that goes into preparing for cage-fighting, and the turmoil that Matt was going through internally. It also dealt with the aftermath of violence and guilt. Although it was interesting being inside Matt’s head while he deals with these different issues, it wasn’t the romance I was hoping for.

This story is for fans of Matt and Kira, who also enjoy reading about letting go of guilt and the dangerous world of cage-fighting.

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Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb

A Forbidden Rumspringa (Gay Amish Romance #1) by Keira Andrews (5 Stars)

Sep29

Isaac was an extremely engaging character, and listening to him tell the story kept me hooked from the beginning until the end. This was the first book I’ve read about a gay Amish couple. Although there were enough details to give me a better idea of how they lived on a daily basis, I didn’t think it overwhelmed the story. Instead, it helped to give a real sense of the challenge for Isaac and David to have a relationship. Needless to say, there was a lot of angst in this story leading to quite a few tears on my part. Although there was a definite happy ending for the couple, there were enough open issues to make me excited about reading the next story in their saga.

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Burnished by Fire (By Fire #3) by Andrew Grey (4 Stars)

Sep28

The last story for this couple in this series takes place during Dirk and Lee’s much needed vacation together. Unfortunately, Dirk’s father ends up vacationing at the same place leading to some interesting interactions. The best part of the story was watching Dirk and Lee continue to show how much they loved each other through their actions.

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Book Blurb