Tag Archive | Gay Romance

From This Window by Diana Jean (2 Stars)

Aug18

How do you find love when you’ve locked yourself away from the world?

Lucas Davison rarely leaves his home except to sit in the Da Vinci Café. His days are spent watching people and writing about it in his journal. Jeremy Roberts works in the cafe and develops a crush on Lucas. Jeremy’s determined to get Lucas to open up and take a chance with him.

Lucas doesn’t work and rarely interacts with anybody. The few times he speaks with others, he’s generally rude. Jeremy is an extremely nice guy with plenty of friends. He is very exuberant and seems to truly enjoy every day. Unfortunately, Lucas appears to have some very serious psychological issues. The story is told from his point of view, and he’s a very hateful and angry person. His family wasn’t able to help him with his issues, but they continue to take care of him as evidenced by his brother bringing over groceries. It wasn’t clear how he even supports himself. He received a college degree and yet couldn’t figure out some job to do at home to earn a living. Unfortunately, he came across as lazy and mean-spirited, making it really hard to believe that Jeremy would ever be truly interested in him. It was also hard to believe that Lucas would change because of Jeremy.

The story was simply much too short to deal with such a heavy subject matter. I did, however, like the author’s writing and would definitely read a different story by her.

A holiday story dealing with struggle and hope.

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

Back-Up by Various Authors (2 Stars)

Aug17

There was a too much going on for such a short story. The plot was a bit confusing, and I’m still not sure exactly what happened. There were so many characters, and none of them were really well-developed. By the end, I wasn’t at all convinced that John and Zack were going to stay together.

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Free on Amazon.

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The One Who Saves Me (Home #6) by Cardeno C. (5 Stars)

Aug16

Positively phenomenal! A unique spin on the friends to lover theme with an amazing relationship-based story.

Andrew Thompson and Caleb Lakes meet and become the best of friends while young teenagers. The story takes us through the next 20 years of their lives as they maintain their status as best friends with benefits. The question is whether or not they can ever move past this point.

I loved both of these very well developed characters. Caleb was sweet, charming, an amazing friend, and a very strong person. It was adorable how he always had to be dressed to perfection. Andrew is brilliant, graduating from school early and ultimately becoming a top neurosurgeon. He’s extremely kind but also very lonely due to his brilliance. He longs for a permanent relationship, but repeatedly chooses men who cheat on him.

However, when he and Caleb don’t have current boyfriends, they take advantage of their amazing sexual chemistry. All of the amazing sex scenes took place with Andrew and Caleb. Even though they both had other boyfriends throughout the story, it was mostly told to us through discussions between Andrew and Caleb. There was a lot of dialogue in this story, which is something I enjoy, and a good portion of it was told while these two were engaged in sexual activity.

It was hard to imagine enjoying a story where the two lovers aren’t truly romantically involved — at least in their eyes. To the reader and their friends, it was obvious these two were meant for each other. However, the author managed to make me believe that their relationship worked for them, and thankfully there wasn’t a lot of angst in the story. I almost wanted things to happen faster, but in all honesty, they weren’t ready for it. By the time they figured it out, I was crying happy tears!

If you enjoy an amazing friends to lovers with benefits theme with great dialogue, strong characters, and an interesting life journey, this more than fits the bill.

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

A Wild Ride (The Bullriders #1) by Andrew Grey (4 Stars)

Aug15

Losing control while riding the bull can be deadly, but losing control in a relationship can lead to a wonderful prize.

Dante Rivers is one of the top bull riders in the rodeo circuit. He hooks up with Ryan Abbott for a single night of steamy passion with a touch of submission. Ryan is an investment advisor who is ironically called by Dante’s grandfather to help with some estate issues. Dante and Ryan begin a relationship but it was not without its challenges.

I really liked Dante and Ryan. They were strong and well-developed characters. Both of them were extremely caring people, which was shown repeatedly with their actions. For instance, their compassionate treatment of Dante’s grandfather was very endearing. They had some issues with accepting help from each other, but it just gave the relationship a more realistic edge.

The time spent at the rodeo and at the clothing store signing autographs were really interesting. It gave the reader a pretty good idea of what’s involved with the sport. The bull riding, including the mechanical version, was described almost too realistically, making it feel as if you were flying in the air at times.

Dante’s grandfather also played a major role in the story, and he was a sweet guy. Dante and Ryan had some amazing sex, but there wasn’t really any heavy D/s in this story. There was an excellent epilogue which took place one year later.

Overall, this story was a very sweet and sexy romance without a lot of angst.

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