Tag Archive | 3 Stars

Ghost of a Chance by T.A. Chase (3 Stars)

May24

Second chance at love but with a ghostly twist!

Padraig Monaghan was killed in a brawl 10 years ago and has been wandering the world as a ghost ever since. One night, after witnessing a mugging resulting in death, he unexpectedly assumes the body of the dead man. Stepping into a bar for a drink, he runs into Gareth Reilly, the man he had developed a crush on 10 years ago.

Gareth is celebrating his birthday alone, yet again, when he is approached by a man he doesn’t recognize except for his wonderful eyes. Feeling adventurous, he takes Padraig home, thus beginning the second chance for their romance.

I really enjoyed the characters and liked that we heard from both of their perspectives. Although Padraig was a bit of a rebel in his youth, he was always a good person in his heart. Gareth was a sweet but shy person who developed a crush on Padraig while they worked together on the docks 10 years earlier. After reconnecting with each other, there were several steamy scenes while they got to know each other. The romance would have worked much better if the two had formed some sort of friendship during their first infatuation with each other 10 years earlier.

If you enjoy second chance sweet romances with a few paranormal twists, this is a very enjoyable story.

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Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
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By Design by Lisa Worrall (3 Stars)

May21

Making your dream come true might not mean as much if you lose your lover in the process.

Robbie Cooper recently opened up his own tattoo parlor. It’s great that the business is extremely busy, but it’s causing serious problems with his boyfriend. He needs to figure out how to keep his dream alive while also keeping the love of his life close by his side.

This is such a challenging storyline to write. During the entire story, you have to either believe that Robbie is cheating on his boyfriend, or that there is something else going on. Unfortunately, if it doesn’t work, then the steamy sex scene is upsetting instead of exciting. The story needed something more to make it really work. Rob spends quite a bit of time giving Shane a tattoo, but they didn’t have any deep and meaningful conversations during that time. A nice discussion might have helped the believability factor. I really liked Rob, and I could feel his frustration with wanting to take care of every customer while also wanting to have a life again. We didn’t learn very much about his boyfriend except that the person was tired of Rob working late. Shane was sexy and sweet, and their sex scene was pretty steamy.

A cute sexy short with a little bit of mystery surrounding the anonymous sex partner.

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Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
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Falling by D.W. Marchwell (3 Stars)

May20

Light romance with some very sweet emotional moments.

There were several parts of the book I really enjoyed, and several that just didn’t work for me. I thought the excessive descriptions of every single thing that was happening got to be too much at the beginning. Fortunately, that problem disappeared, and the writing started to flow more naturally.

I enjoyed watching Scott and Hank get to know each other better, and I really connected with the characters at this point. Hank was a lonely, unhappy person who was spiraling downward in his actions. Scott wasn’t thrilled with how everything was working in his own life, but he was working toward a solution that became solidified when he met Hank. Unfortunately, once they finally decided to move forward with the relationship, the story dissolved into an almost non-stop sex scene. The ending felt a little abrupt, and I wish a few sex scenes would have been swapped out to add detail to the ending.

I did like learning a little bit about logging, and I thought Scott’s brother, Brian, added nicely to the story as Hank’s boss. In the end, I enjoyed the romance between the two and liked seeing them get their happy ending.

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Originally reviewed for Swept Away By Romance. Complimentary copy provided by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review.
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At Piper’s Point by Ethan Day (3 Stars)

May17

Coming to terms with the death of a loved one is traumatic, but celebrating their life through your memories can ease the suffering.

Cassidy Winters returns to the home his Grandmother, Sadie Hart, left him upon her death. After fighting with his parents for years to claim the estate, he is finally able to restore the home to its original glory. Before that can happen, he needs to deal with his past, which includes Nate Sommers, his old best friend and first lover while growing up.

The story, which is told entirely from Cassidy’s point of view, takes place over the summer on a beautiful island. Several of Cassidy’s former lovers manage to find themselves staying with him at the home for an extended time. Nate Sommers actually grew up in the house and Cassidy invites him to live there once again since Cassidy is only planning on being there during the summers. There is a lot of time spent reflecting on the amazing Sadie and the wonderful life that she lived. There is also quite a bit of time spent with the group of men interacting with each other. Since Cassidy slept with most of them, that created some interesting moments.

Unfortunately, very little time is spent with Cassidy and Nate actually talking to each other. Considering that they haven’t maintained any contact over the past decade, it made it very difficult to understand the reason that they felt a relationship with each other would or wouldn’t work. It was also hard to understand what they had in common outside of the fact that they grew up together. The story felt more like a tribute to Sadie as opposed to a romance. As a warning, the story includes a descriptive teenage sex scene and teenage drug use.

Overall, an interesting story about a man finding his true place in life.

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