Tag Archive | 3 Stars

See the Light by Cassandra Carr (3 Stars)

May15

The hardest part of playing hockey in the Olympics should be the game, not hiding your sexuality.

Jason Monroe is a young, sexy hockey player who was chosen to play in the Olympics. Patrick Parker, a former hockey player, is now an advisor to the team. Neither of them is openly gay for fear that they won’t be accepted in the sports world. Their instant attraction to each other surprises them both. Although they know it’s risky to start any kind of relationship, their attraction is too hard to ignore, and so begins their affair.

Jason and Patrick are both nice but somewhat lonely guys. They are also a little insecure and not sure where they stand with each other or how far they want to take the relationship. Because of their hectic schedules, they really don’t spend a lot of time together. However, the time that they do spend together is usually spent engaging in sex. The other main focus of the story is on whether they should come out to the public or not, and what impact it will have on their careers.

The dialogue, while witty, was very limited. It would have been great to have the characters more developed and see more depth to their relationship. Although the plot revolves around hockey, there was actually very little discussion about the game. The story was a little bit preachy about the unfair treatment of people who are gay. This can be accomplished better with actions than sermons. The ending didn’t attempt to solve this problem, but gave us a ray of hope and a nice ending for Jason and Patrick. Overall, it was an enjoyable, sweet and sexy read!

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

Of Dreams and Ceremonies (Butterfly Hunter #2) by Julie Bozza (3 Stars)

May14

The honeymoon phase of the relationship between Dave and Nicholas from The Butterfly Hunter.

OF DREAMS AND CEREMONIES is the sequel to The Butterfly Hunter, and it really should be read in order as part of that series.

Dave and Nicholas have decided to spend the rest of their lives together, and now they must deal with the realities of their lives. No longer on an excursion, they must now deal with the ugly realities of leaving one’s family behind, obtaining citizenship in another country, and enjoying the beginning of their new lives together.

Having just read the first story, I was hoping to see more of this sweet couple get to know one another better. Unfortunately, there was too much going on in this story, and very little of it developed the characters any further.

Dave and Nicholas are both very kind people and most definitely in love with each other. As Dave gets to know a little bit about Nicholas’ family, they begin to plan out how they will celebrate their civil ceremony along with their honeymoon. They also must deal with trying to get Nicholas to be a permanent citizen in Australia, and in order to convince the government of their love for each other, Nicholas starts to blog about their lives together. It was nice to get a little glimpse into Nicholas’ mind from his musings.

The honeymoon included a bit of kink in the bedroom, and a mystery surrounding some lights and stones outside their cabin. The mystery was odd and I’m still not sure how it fit into this story. After heading back to Australia, they participated in the ritual that was started in the first story surrounding the mysterious location of the butterflies. It’s unfortunate more time wasn’t devoted to this wonderful couple and their relationship. There were so many times where it would have been nice for them to have a full conversation to explain exactly what was happening and how they felt about it.

If you enjoyed the first story in this series, then this is a must read to see the continuation of their happy ending.

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

Luscious Beginnings (Love in Luscious, Kansas #1) by Mia Ashlinn (3 Stars)

May9

Three sexy men, best friends and sometimes more, must decide if they can take their relationship to the highest level.

Sam Carrington, Brett Monroe and Ethan Bartlett have been best friends forever. One day, for no apparent reason, Sam disappears without trace. Ethan and Brett would do anything to find Sam, fix the problem, and get their friendship back on track. If that friendship turns into something more, well then life will be even that much better. However, after finding Sam, the guys realize that the issues they need to address before getting their happy ending are much deeper than they realized. Fortunately, they are surrounded by a lot of friends and nosy neighbors that want to see the three of them get together.

The author did a nice job making sure each of the characters gave us his perspective. All of the characters were unique and felt different. I really liked that they had some lengthy scenes at the beginning of the story from their viewpoints. I thought it really helped as the story moved forward, and the changes took place more quickly. Ethan is the bad boy who appears to in control of everything, but he’s really just a sweet and sensitive guy. Sam is a nice guy who is very confused about what he wants in life. Brett is the strongest of the three and isn’t afraid to go for what he really wants. Their friend Brooklyn is a physic who continues to encourage them to move forward with their relationship based on her visions. Other friends and family make appearances to also encourage the three men to admit to their feelings. Watching them work through their emotional issues while living their lives in towns like Serenity and Luscious was nice, and the banter between the characters was fun. I also liked that the few sex scenes were very instrumental to the plot.

My only issue was that I found the writing style to be somewhat confusing. Since all of the characters were keeping their real feelings hidden for most of the book and not really explaining themselves even during their inner monologues, I wasn’t exactly sure what was happening. It was almost written as a mystery novel with the motives behind their behavior hidden until later in the story.

Readers of Mia Ashlinn’s earlier works will recognize some of the characters making enjoyable guest appearances, but those new to her writing can read this as a stand-alone. There is a lovely happy ending along with a nice epilogue, and the promise of the next book in the series, “Their Luscious Dream”, taking this relationship one step further. This was a sexy love story with some real angst where I found myself rooting for these friends to find true happiness.

LoveInLuscious

 

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

Giving an Inch (The Professor’s Rule #1) by Heidi Belleau and Amelia C. Gormly (3 Stars)

May8

How much trouble can one mistaken text get you in? James is about to find out!

James Sheridan will graduate with his Ph.D. if he passes the final candidacy exam. The only problem is that he has nothing appropriate to wear. While trying on some new clothes and flirting with the salesman, he accidentally sends a picture of himself to his old professor. Professor Carson, his former Dom/lover, is more than excited to get the text and is hoping this is a sign that they can pick up their relationship again.

The entire story takes place in the clothing store, and more specifically the changing room, where James alternately flirts with the sexy young salesman, Satish, and exchanges very interesting texts with Professor Carson. James left the relationship with Carson because he was afraid he was losing himself to this domineering and extremely kinky man. The texts are pretty steamy and give the reader a good idea of a lot of things that happened during their relationship. There is one really sexy scene between James and Satish, but everything else is just flashbacks. Since everything is told from James’ POV, we got to know him pretty well for a short story. I loved the author’s writing style which kept me hooked throughout.

Unfortunately, the story has a very ambiguous ending. Based on some blog comments on the authors’ websites, it appears this is the first chapter in a serial story. If there had been a solid ending, this would have easily been a 5 star read for me. As it is, without reading the rest of the “chapters”, and not even getting a HFN in this one, my rating has dropped significantly.

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Originally reviewed for Swept Away By Romance. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.
Book Blurb