Archives

Whipped Cream by Andrew Grey (4 Stars)

Feb15

Our true love can see past the surface of our physical and psychological scars to find our soul.

Brent Phillips is a photographer who spends most of his time taking student portraits while trying to build up his art portfolio. A former model, he now has scars, both physical and psychological, after being brutally attacked. He’s looking for something unique to become the center of his upcoming exhibit, and he finds it when he meets Tristan Greer. Tristan is a very sexy college student who was kicked out of his home when his parents found out he was gay. Brent needs to get past his own personal demons to believe that Tristan is capable of loving him.

Told from Brent’s point of view, it’s obvious the attack he suffered from has caused a lot of damage on both the inside and outside. Fortunately, he’s surrounded by several people who care about him very much. I really enjoyed meeting Brent’s friends and watching them take care of him. Brent was a nice guy with a quirky personality. Tristan was a sweetheart and very mature and supportive, but I would have liked to have gotten to know him better. Most of the story is focused on Brent’s photography studio and his upcoming art exhibition. His plan is to have Tristan pose covered only in whipped cream. Fortunately, this picture can be seen on the lovely book cover. It was fun to watch the two of them spend time together and grow their relationship.

If you enjoy art and photography, this was a really interesting and enjoyable look into that arena with a sweet and loving romance to flow around it.

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

Tiger Boys by Linda Gayle (4.5 Stars)

Feb13

Can Sergei and Jules save the tiger clans from coming under the rule of an evil leader?

Sergei Sidorenko is the powerful prince of the Sidorenko tiger clan. He is sent on a mission to retrieve Jules Kasimov, the prince of the rival Kasimov clan. Jules isn’t aware of his status or of his magical capabilities. Sergei must train him, and then hope that Jules will take his rightful spot as leader of the clan. This will hopefully allow peace to be maintained between the two clans.

Although the beginning was a bit slow, once the relationship was established and the world-building laid out, the story really hit its stride. The somewhat jaded Sergei and the naive yet strong Jules were an interesting pair, and I adored watching their love grow. The training sessions, where Jules learned to control his powers, were fun.

I loved the action-packed ending and could easily see everything play out in my mind with the author’s excellent descriptions. There was just enough development of the history of their clans to make it very unique and interesting without getting overwhelming or boring. The love scenes were sensuous and steamy.

Jules’ brother, Anton, was determined to become the clan leader and didn’t mind killing anybody in his way. We were brought into Anton’s mind several times throughout the story, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. He murdered several people and listening to his sickening thoughts was disturbing and realistic.

Extremely entertaining romance brought to vivid life by the lovely writing style of the author.

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

It’s All Geek to Me by J. L. Merrow (4 Stars)

Feb13

Enjoyable, sweet romance with the focus on how long a person can carry on in a relationship that started based on a false premise.  I’m not a fan of stories with trust issues, but this was such a light-hearted one, with Jez lying about his love of comics, that it didn’t feel like a big deal to me. It was hard listening to Jez put himself down so often, but Rhys did a great job trying to build up his self-esteem.

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Paradox Lost by Libby Drew (5 Stars)

Feb11

I loved this time travel romance with just the right mix of character development, world building, and action.  The instant love worked for me, since the characters were both strong, sexy, and lonely but also very particular about what they wanted. There were just enough details about the future to make it interesting and realistic without turning it into a manual. The author did a great job of taking examples from today and extrapolating on them. The action scenes were also exciting and easy to follow.

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Book Blurb!