Review of Game On by Olley White

 by Olley White

3.5 Stars

Dear Author,
We met in the strangest way.

I was convinced he was a girl because of his choice of character, and he thought the same thing about me. You can imagine how surprised we were when we first met in person. How confused I was about my feeling for him. I was already in love with the person behind the character, but I had never been attracted to a man before.

Can you tell the story of how we became that happy couple in the picture?

Game On by Olley White is such a great premise to build a story.  Max and Stefan fall in love over a shared passion, gaming but when they agree to meet they realize they aren’t who each other thought they were.  Instead of finding a girl, they each find a man.    

We really enjoyed the first half of Game On, it is basically a gay-for-you story in a small package.  Where we really lost our attention was the side stories or roller-skating, the dog-adoption center etc.  The joys of a short story are that it is a glimpse into 2 people’s lives while they fall in love.  But Game On added lots of friends, new-father best friend (or was he a brother), drama at their jobs and on and on.  We wish it had focused a bit more on their growing love for each other.

One thing that Game On excelled in was the gay-for-you storyline, and their slow-burn relationship.  The building sexual tension between Max and Stefan was palpable, and so believable.  And their agreement to go ‘slow’ even though they were both barreling towards going fast was so hot.  This is a story about 2 friends slowly finding more than friendship, and it so works.

As short stories go, this one meandered a bit too much for us, but the sweet building relationship between Max and Stefan is on reason to pick up Game On!

Review of Why Love Matters with Jay Northcote

by Jay Northcote

4.5 Stars

Alastair needs help overcoming issues with touch and physical intimacy in order to clinch a business deal with some demonstrative Italians who prefer hugging to handshakes.

Martin, his assistant, has the perfect solution. His mother runs cuddle workshops, which could help Alastair overcome his fears--if he's brave enough to try. Alastair is nervous not only about the workshop, but also because he will be sharing a room with Martin, who's starred in his fantasies more often than an assistant should.

Alastair reluctantly decides to give it a try, so they head to a commune in Wales where Martin grew up. The weekend at the commune with Martin proves to be transformative in more ways than one.

Jay Northcote’s Why Love Matters delivers everything a short story should be.  Cute, sweet and too the point!  We love reading short stories as it give a little glimpse into how people fall in love, and this book give us that. 

Alastair has a phobia or physical touch and his assistant Martin’s mother runs a cuddle workshop, this session not only helps Alastair with his physical reaction to being touched, but give him the confidence to go after what he really wants – Martin. 

If you have read anything by Jay Northcote you know that to look forward to, a sexy, romantic read with a great ending and this little story gives it to the reader big-time – we couldn’t put it down!  Alastair and Martin have this romantic chemistry that sizzles under the surface, until they do something about it.  The sizzle comes at the end of the story, but we really like the slow-burn of these 2 characters, and made it feel authentic even in 55 pages.

Jay Northcote has a gem here with Why Love Matters and we are so glad that we picked it up to read this Sunday!

Review of Hard Tail by J.L. Merrow

by J.L. Merrow

3 Stars

His job: downsized out of existence. His marriage: on the rocks. It doesn t take a lot of arm twisting for Tim Knight to agree to get out of London and take over his injured brother s mountain bike shop for a while. A few weeks in Southampton is a welcome break from the wreck his life has become, even though he feels like a fish out of water in this brave new world of outdoor sports and unfamiliar technical jargon.

The young man who falls literally through the door of the shop brings everything into sharp, unexpected focus. Tim barely accepts he s even "in" the closet until his attraction to Matt Berridge pulls him close enough to touch the doorknob.

There s only one problem with the loveable klutz: his bullying boyfriend. Tim is convinced Steve is the cause of the bruises that Matt blows off as part of his risky sport. But rising to the defense of the man he s beginning to love means coming to terms with who he is in public in a battle not even his black belt prepared him to fight. Until now.

Hard Tail is a slow-burn, coming-to-terms-with-your-sexuality, m/m romance, that is an easy sweet read.  This is our first J.L. Merrow book and we really enjoyed it.  The story is set from Tim’s point of view – a newly separated late 20’s out-of-work accountant that temporary moves back to his hometown to look after his brother’s bike shop when he breaks his leg.  And one of the employees at the shop in Matt.  Sweet Matt.  We don’t really get to know a lot about Matt, but being from Tim’s POV that isn’t surprising.   Matt is a out-gay man, a klutz that has a live-in boyfriend named Steve.

What did we like about Hard Tail?  Tim’s voice is perfect; he is sarcastic, humorous and self-effacing.  We also really like the British writing, the slang, the places, so fun, and paints the picture of the idyllic countryside in which the book is set.  But the real gem of the story is the other character, Tim’s brother Jay and a friend named Adam.  Seriously J.L. Merrow should write a book about Adam!  And we can’t forget about the scene-stealer Wolverine! We do have to mention that there is some between-the-sheets action, although enjoyable, it doesn’t have the steam we hoped Matt and Tim could generate. 

There were a few things that did make Hard Tail a bumpy ride for us.  The homophobia in the book, even from Tim himself, gets a bit much.  And how Tim comes to accept his sexuality, there doesn’t seem to be much thought about jumping into his first gay experience.  Speaking about jumping, we go from some fooling around between Tim and Matt to love-you-forever’s and moving in together, wished J.L Merrow had flushed this out a bit. 

All in all this is a sweet romance, with a funny POV, and generally an easy read. We will be picking up more J.L. Merrow books soon.