Tag Archive | Medium Sexual Content

A Better Man (The Men of Halfway House #1) by Jaime Reese (4 Stars)

Oct20

A great beginning to a new series about people moving on with their lives and romances after leaving prison.

After just getting out of prison himself, Matthew Doner wants to provide a safe place for other new releases. He can provide the funds, but he really needs somebody with a lot of construction experience to make the necessary repairs to the building he purchased. Julian Capeletti desperately needs to work again before he gets kicked out of his apartment. Fortunately, he also happens to be extremely talented at all of the things related to building a home. These two discover that working together is only the start of their relationship.

Matt and Julian are both kindhearted souls. Unfortunately for Matt, he has a pathetic father and a horrible mother who attacks him every chance she gets. Luckily, his aunt spent a lot of time with him and loved him unconditionally. Julian is adorably sexy and loves to tease Matt. Julian also suffered at the hands of his family, but was fortunate that his mother was amazing until she died too soon. Since neither of these guys are very communicative, it makes it really hard for them to move their friendship forward. This was the biggest challenge for me with this story. The majority of the time was spent in their heads or in conversations with others. I really wanted to see more in-depth and emotional discussions between Matt and Julian. There were so many missed opportunities where we could have been watching them get to know each other better.

Nevertheless, it was still a smooth flowing story that was interesting to read with some touching, emotional scenes. I was surprised and thrilled at how fascinating I found the discussions about the construction work on the house. I’m looking forward to the next book in this series.

A sexy romance between two lonely guys trying to make the most of their lives by giving back to others.

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

A Courageous Ride (The Bullriders #3) by Andrew Grey (4 Stars)

Oct15

The third story in this enjoyable series brings us the tale of Indigo, a bull-rider who was seriously injured and forced to quit the rodeo circuit. He converts his family ranch into a dude ranch to keep it afloat. Marshall comes to the ranch for a break from his stressful life. The two are instantly attracted to each other, and began to spend quite a bit of time together which I really enjoyed. These two definitely had careers that didn’t mesh well together, but it was also realistic to believe that they could find a way to make it work. Their interactions were realistic and enjoyable, and I was rooting for them to find a way to be together. I loved the way the author pulled it all together at the end. I adored Indigo. His injury altered his life, and although he wasn’t thrilled that it happened, he didn’t focus on the negative repercussions. Instead, he decided to make the most of the opportunity he was given with the ranch. I loved Marshall. His dedication to his craft, even in the face of constant rejection, was admirable. I enjoyed learning a little bit about what happens behind the scenes with the conductor of an orchestra. Tighter editing would have made this story stronger. Drifting off into too many unnecessary details hurt the flow of the story just a bit.

Overall, another great addition to this series, and I’m looking forward to the next one. Although it can be read as a stand-alone, I recommend the entire series.

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

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.
Book Blurb

A Forbidden Rumspringa (Gay Amish Romance #1) by Keira Andrews (5 Stars)

Sep29

Isaac was an extremely engaging character, and listening to him tell the story kept me hooked from the beginning until the end. This was the first book I’ve read about a gay Amish couple. Although there were enough details to give me a better idea of how they lived on a daily basis, I didn’t think it overwhelmed the story. Instead, it helped to give a real sense of the challenge for Isaac and David to have a relationship. Needless to say, there was a lot of angst in this story leading to quite a few tears on my part. Although there was a definite happy ending for the couple, there were enough open issues to make me excited about reading the next story in their saga.

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Book Blurb