Tag Archive | 3 Stars

Bolt-Hole by Amy Lane (3 Stars)

Sep22

A friends-to-lovers romance between two young men trying to break into their careers.

Terrell Washington is black, gay, and unable to find a job with his college degree in journalism. He is also very bitter because of his lack of employment and events from his childhood. His best friend, coworker, and idol, Colby Meyers, is kind, fun, and seems to have the world on a plate, but he’s white. Terrell must determine if he can accept Colby’s apparent love for him.

This was a sweet, low-angst romance between two friends. The relationship develops while they are working together at a local restaurant. The loving sentiments that Colby expressed repeatedly were heart-warming. Watching Terrell finally believe that somebody could love him was beautiful. The time they spent together having fun and hanging out was also enjoyable.

Unfortunately, most of the humor didn’t make any sense to me. There were also so many exclamation points that it made it feel like the characters were forever yelling excitedly. Terrell’s constant reference to the fact that he was black and Colby was white became downright annoying. This story really needed Colby’s POV to even out the negative mood created by Terrell and his insecurities. Understanding where Terrell came from and how he was raised, was critical to understanding the story, but it was repeated so often that it became the focal point of the story. The murder mystery was interesting as a backdrop to the story until the ending which went over the top and didn’t quite make sense.

Overall, the romance was sweet and the mystery was acceptable as a backdrop to the plot, but the spirit of the story was just a bit too negative.

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Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
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Cataclysmic Shift (The Aloysius Tales #3) by Tara Lain (3 Stars)

Sep19

Shifters and witches and humans all fight together for love.

Aloysius is a cat who also happens to magnify the strength of one of the most powerful witches in the world. Unfortunately, after being attacked, he becomes a human with no memory of who or what he is except his name–Alain. Luke Elliott is a veterinarian with a secret past, who prefers animals to humans until he discovers Alain. They quickly fall in love, but must determine if they can live with each other’s pasts and futures.

Aloysius/Alain is endearing as both a cat and a man. Luke is a pretty lonely person who thinks he can spend the rest of his life just taking care of the animals and avoiding his past. As soon as these two meet, they both seem to agree that they were meant for each other. It was a little awkward listening to Alain make cat noises and watching him clean himself while he was in human form. The sex wasn’t really kinky, but some of their discussions around it were a bit strange to a certain extent. The story moved quickly while alternating between the action, sex, and friendship scenes. I liked how the author managed to weave Luke’s interesting background into the activities taking place surrounding the witches and their struggle for power.

I didn’t read the first two stories in this series, and I think it would have made it more enjoyable if I had. Characters from the earlier story played a pivotal role in this book, and since I really enjoyed seeing them, I’m sure I would have loved them even more if I knew their history. Overall, I enjoyed this fast-paced story with a sweet romance and plenty of suspenseful action scenes.

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Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
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Pilgrimage by Kim Fielding (3 Stars)

Sep11

He was swept away to another world where he met his soul mate. But how will he survive if he has to return home without him?

Mike Carlson becomes a pawn in the war between gods. He is sent to another world to complete a pilgrimage to help save a village of people from a fate worse than death. Goran offers to be his bodyguard and tour guide. As they slowly become both friends and lovers, they must eventually deal with Mike’s departure from Goran’s world.

Mike Carlson was an extremely self-centered individual. Although he wasn’t a bad guy, he really never went out of his way to help anybody else. Goran was just the opposite and made a point to always return the favors of the villagers that helped them. If somebody fed Goran a meal, he caught them enough meat to feed them for a week. As Goran slowly shares the details of his life, it’s even easier to adore him.

Unfortunately, Mike and Goran don’t spend much time talking to each other until halfway through the story. The beginning is focused on Mike’s thoughts, which weren’t very interesting, in part because he was such an unemotional person. Once these two started to really connect and share with each other, the story became much more intriguing. I was definitely hoping that they would find some way to be together and find happiness.

An enjoyable story for those who enjoy rich, historical details and authentic worldbuilding.

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

Puzzle Me This by Eli Easton (3 Stars)

Sep8

Playing games can be fun as long as it isn’t with somebody’s heart.

Luke Schumaker is a video game designer who is fortunate enough to work at home. One day, he discovers a crossword puzzle with an extra clue and realizes somebody is interested in him. Wheelchair-bound since birth, Alex Shaw writes crossword puzzles for a living. He’s been watching Luke through his window and decides it’s time for them to meet.

Told from Luke’s point of view, the story focused on whether or not he could spend his life with somebody unable to walk. Luke was a nice guy who was constantly throwing out one-liners, but he was a bit immature in his behavior, especially as he became move involved with Alex. Unfortunately, Alex was also a bit immature. For example, he had a rating scale which he used to determine if two people were good enough for each other. It would have been fine to do that if the focus was on personality traits, like compassion, instead of physical attributes.

There is a lot of sex in this story starting from almost their first meeting. I would have liked to have seen that time spent developing the relationship and characters more. I really enjoyed the puzzle angle.

Sex-packed story with a unique use of puzzles, this nice little short was an easy read.

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