Controlling the Burn by Tonya Ramagos (5 Stars)

Oct4

Controlling the burn of a fire makes sense, but controlling your heart’s burning desire is never a good idea.

Drew Ward is the newest member of an elite group of smoke jumpers. Wesley Payton is a senior member of the same team and 20 years older than Drew. Drew has wanted Wesley since he first met him over a decade ago and has just been biding his time. Now that Drew met his professional goal, he is focused on his personal goal of making Wesley a permanent part of his life.

The life of a smoke jumper is explored in detail in this story. In addition to learning about their daily training, we are also exposed to what takes place during a real forest fire. The fire scenes were exciting and nerve-wracking since you could really feel what was happening but weren’t sure of the outcome. Although it made it more authentic, the constant use of fire jargon also hurt the flow of the story just a little bit.

The romance between Drew and Wesley was very sweet. Although Wesley was anxious about starting a relationship, he didn’t stand a chance against Drew! Drew knew what he wanted, and had the patience to work through Wesley’s concerns. There were a few steamy scenes, a lot of good conversations, and some interesting interactions with the other jumpers. Overall, it was a touching romantic story with some great suspenseful scenes!

Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
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The Crush Revisited (Lincoln Hill #1) by Shawn Lane (3 Stars)

Oct3

High school reunions can bring both happy and sad memories, but the future is all that really matters when it comes to love.

Brandon Collins has lived his entire life in Lincoln Hill. Although lonely in school, Brandon now has a job he loves and lots of good friends. His high school reunion has just been scheduled at the resort he manages. He can’t attend since he’s working, but that doesn’t really concern him. His biggest issue is that the person he had a major crush on in high school will be at the reunion.

Tim Olfander was the popular guy in school that everybody liked, but he was desperate to leave town and hit the big city. He dreamed of being a top lawyer working at a large law firm. Although he’s getting that dream to come true, he’s starting to realize that it’s not really making him happy. He’s working too many hours to enjoy life, and he has no time for a real relationship. As the two connect at the reunion, they slowly begin to realize that there is a chance for something more between the two of them, but only if some significant changes take place.

The majority of the first part of the book was spent with Tim and Brandon having a “no strings attached” sex affair. The two characters really didn’t have a lot of conversations, which made it difficult to emotionally connect to the almost constant sex. We did get to know the characters through their interactions with other friends. I really liked both of them, but I was really fond of Brandon, who was just a sweetheart. The friends were also fun, and I could certainly see future stories with them as the focal point.

Fortunately, the last portion of the story was significantly better. We finally got to see some real conversations between the men as they tried to make a long distance relationship work. The ending was very realistic and gave me hope that they could truly find happiness together.

An enjoyable story about high school reunions, and making changes in our lives for love.

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