Review of The Marriage Proposal by Felix Brooks and Andrea Dalling

by Felix Brooks and Andrea Dalling

3 Stars

Can a fake marriage turn to true love?

CEO Noah runs a tight ship when it comes to business, but he made the ultimate workplace mistake: he dated his assistant. When the guy dumped him and quit his job, he left some important paperwork unresolved—namely, Noah’s visa extension. Now Noah’s got a week to get things in order, or he’ll have to leave the country.

Enter IT expert Dylan. Noah’s had a secret crush on him for months. Bone-meltingly handsome and wickedly smart, Dylan’s the only guy in the company who doesn’t kiss up to the boss. Marrying him will solve two problems at once: Noah will be able to stay in the country, and he’ll get to play house with the one guy he can’t get out of his system.

Dylan’s life is complicated enough without a marriage of convenience to the CEO. That can’t possibly end well, right? But the guy sure knows how to fill out a suit, and Dylan’s had more than one fantasy about what’s underneath it. Plus, Noah’s offering to throw a stack of money Dylan’s way. With his mom on the brink of losing her house due to medical bills, it’s an offer Dylan can’t refuse.

The two clash from the moment Dylan moves into the blond-haired, blue-eyed CEO’s mansion. Noah acts confident, but Dylan can see through his façade and isn’t about to back down. Will their differences lead to resentment and mistrust, or can these two opposites find their way to lasting love?

A one of our favorite tropes – marriage of convenience, sigh.  But a few story issues kept us from really loving this marriage for hire story.

Noah is a Canadian working as CEO of an American company, and soon finds out that his ex-hook-up assistant ‘forgot’ to file his visa extension.  So, he needs to find himself a willing husband, and why not ask they guy you’ve been crushing on – IT specialist and of your employees, Dylan.  Dylan needs money, his mother is struggling under medical bills and thinks selling her house and moving in with Dylan is a perfect idea.  So when Noah asks Dylan to marry him, it seems like a win for both; Noah gets his Visa and Dylan gets the money he needs. 

Let’s start with things we liked.  Dylan and Noah seem to work well together.  Dylan is a bit more of a strong personality, and with Noah’s CEO position he seems to need someone to take charge at home and in the bedroom.  And their bedroom time was hot, there was some serious chemistry between the two main characters. 

Now, what didn’t really work for us.  The story was predictable, other than an ex coming back to stir up trouble we missed the slow-burn of a marriage of convenience story.  Talking about slow-burn there wasn’t much it feels a bit like insta-love.  Yes, they had hooked up already at a Christmas Party and had a little office flirty happening, but once they were married; it seemed they slipped into this sweet, sickly love.  We get if it was lust, but they moved in and then were all lovely dovey, didn’t feel very believable to us. 

The Marriage Proposal starts off on a great foot, but think could have benefitted from a few more pages, a bit more development.  It is an average story, with average characters, but with a great twist on a fun marriage-of-convenience trope, I think it could have a great story.

Review of Bullet (Blue Boy #1) by Garrett Leigh

  by Garrett Leigh

4 stars

Levi Ramone entered the gay porn market for one reason, and one reason only–he needed the cash to pay his momma's spiraling gambling debts.

Seven years later, he's a veteran with a reputation as one of Blue Boy Studio's most ruthless tops, and when his boss suggests it's time for a change, he finds himself staring down the barrel of a gun. Figuratively speaking, at least.

Enter Sonny Valentine, a go-go dancer at Blue's sister club, Silver's. Levi has secretly admired Sonny from afar for years, but there's one problem–he can't stand Sonny and the feeling is entirely mutual. When Levi learns Sonny is to play the third part in a scene he considers his worst nightmare, he figures things can't get any worse.

But when preparations for the scene from hell collide with tragic events in his personal life, he finds his fast growing, red hot attraction to Sonny the one thing left between him and a bullet.

We love short stories and Bullet by Garrett Leigh is a great example of why.  It is short, to the point, and gives us just enough to make the story move along.  We don’t get bogged down is back-stories, and the everyday mundane, it is a snapshot of how people fall in lust and hopefully eventually love.

This is a story about porn stars, and after seven years performing on screen Levi Ramone is a well-known, ruthless top that takes what he wants regardless of his partner.  Like the reason he go into porn, he is approached to do his first bottom scene for money, and reluctantly agrees, only to find out that Sonny Valentine has been hired to be in the shoot as well. Sonny Valentine is a go-go dancer at a sister club and is just starting his porn career.  There is no love lost between these two men, but their lust is sure to consume them.

Sonny and Levi’s relationship is the quintessential love-hate turn-around.  They can’t stand each other, but are inexplicably drawn to each other.  It makes for an interesting push-pull story.  Levi is struggling in his life; his mother is a homophobic, alcoholic woman with huge gambling debts.  Levi is trying to do the best by her as he lost his father to suicide years ago, but how much can he take of her abuse? 

Sonny offers him a place that he can be himself, someone who knows nothing about his family life.  But Sonny is one of those people who gets under your skin and just irritates you, but that’s kind of what Levi needs.  Someone to push him out of his comfort zone.  It is a hard story, Levi has a hard life and cut himself off from feeling.

At 106 pages, Bullet is a great short story, and honestly we love Garrett Leigh!  It is easy to read, to sink into and to fall in love with Sorry and Levi.

Review of A Forbidden Rumspringa by Keira Andrews

 by Keira Andrews

4.5 Stars

When two young Amish men find love, will they risk losing everything?

In a world where every detail of life—down to the width of a hat brim—is dictated by God and the all-powerful rules of the community, two men dare to imagine a different way. At 18, Isaac Byler knows little outside the strict Amish settlement of Zebulon, Minnesota, where there is no rumspringa for exploration beyond the boundaries of their insular world. Isaac knows he’ll have to officially join the church and find a wife before too long, but he yearns for something else—something he can’t name.

Dark tragedy has left carpenter David Lantz alone to support his mother and sisters, and he can’t put off joining the church any longer. But when he takes on Isaac as an apprentice, their attraction grows amid the sweat and sawdust. David shares his sinful secrets, and he and Isaac struggle to reconcile their shocking desires with their commitment to faith, family and community.

Now that they’ve found each other, are they willing to lose it all?

We are completely fascinated by this interesting forbidden love-story and couldn’t get enough!   Keira Andrews has a remarkable way of creating a story that grabs us, captivates us and keeps us wanting more, and A Forbidden Rumspringa is a heart achingly lovely story that enchanted us form the first words.  But forbidden love is always so steamy….

We start by being introduced to a closed Amish settlement in Zebulon, introducing us to this secret group of people who shun almost everything for the outside world.  Isaac Byler has know he is different and struggles that he will soon have to join the church and get married, but he knows that his feelings for other men keep him from making the leap.  He finds himself drawn to David Lantz, but through the church’s teachings knows that that kind of love is forbidden.  Through tragedy David has been left for support his mother and sisters, and now is resigned to accept the life that he doesn’t want.  But when Isaac starts as David’s apprentice, they find that their connection is mutual and sparks fly.

Keira Andrews brings us into this secret Amish world, where the leaders make the rules and people just follow because that is the way.  It is completely fascinating.  Although this is a love story it is set in this closed-off settlement and religion plays a big part in this story.  The story isn’t preachy, instead it is just a layer to add to the forbidden love between Isaac and David. 

Sign, Isaac and David are swoon worthy.  They are sweet, sexy and oh so lovely together.  And hot, hot hot - the chemistry between the 2 is off the charts sizzling.  But there is so much more than just their physical reaction to each other.  They have both been raised to find a wife as a helpmate, and they are desperate to create that life together for themselves.   There is some serious angst in this story, but really essentially a forbidden love, how could there not be?  They so want to be together but the rules they are taught to follow tell them it is wrong.  And if they do choose to leave the settlement to the ‘english’ world and be together they are essentially cut off from their families.  What a choice to make.

We so enjoyed A Forbidden Rumspringa, but shouldn’t be surprised as we adore everything by Keira Andrews, there are 2 other books in the series and SPOILER – we gobbled them up already!  So So SO SO Good!

Review of Bred for Love by Revella Hawthorne

by Revella Hawthorne, pen-name for SJ Himes

4 stars

In a world where humans are genetically designed, altered and sold for sexual pleasure and breeding, a young prince of the powerful Cassian Dynasty decides to take a mate and sire heirs. Not wishing to saddle himself with royal and meddlesome in-laws, and a wife he would have no desire to bed, Prince Edward goes to Heritage Breeders, and finds far more than just a warm body to sate his lust and carry on his lineage.

Percy is the result of a master DNA architect designing himself his own personal sex slave and breeder. Yet when his creator and Master dies, leaving Percy alone at the mercy of the callous stable masters and the new owner of Heritage, he fears his future. Afraid he'll be bought by a wretched old man or a deviant monster, Percy is terrified when he is dragged from his cell and presented to the most prestigious client Heritage has ever welcomed...a Cassian Royal.

Prince Edward is immediately infatuated with the shy, nervous and enchantingly beautiful Percy, and claims him for his own. Yet not everyone is pleased by a royal purchasing a breeder, especially one like Percy, and tensions rise both in Heritage and in the palace.

Torn between desire, duty, a king's command and the innermost desires of their hearts, Edward and Percy are set on path that is anything but easy. Can Percy trust Edward with his heart as he does his body? Can Edward keep an angry king and unseen enemies away from the young slave who is steadily stealing his heart?

And what happens when Nature takes its course, and sex leads to more than just pleasure?

At 160 pages, Bred for Love could be a short story, but there is so much going on that it really feels like a full length novel.  We liked this story, but were really fascinated with the world, the fantasy.

Prince Edward is a Cassian Blood Prince, but since he has older brothers who have provided heirs to the throne he find himself not willing to get married to produce an heir, and instead turns to Heritage and procuring a breeder to carry on his line.  While perusing the merchandise at Heritage, Edward meets Percy, unlike other breeders, has been built to have conscience thought and be a companion for his mate, not just to produce a child and be stabled afterward. 

See, sounds like a pretty easy story, but throw in self-lubrication,  breeders just to produce heirs, male pregnancies, sex-slaves and poof, our mind was blown, and actually kept us reading because darn, we were just fascinated. It felt like every page turn brought us to another weird revelation, or another head-scratching tid bit of this fantasy world.

 But, let’s talk the relationship between Edward and Percy.  The idea of a breeder is simple; buy a breeder, mount, repeat until they produce and offspring, they are stabled and then repeat  process when you want another child.  Edward goes to Heritage with this intention, but finds Percy; shy, sweet, beautiful, and Edward wants to take care of him, and they soon find themselves falling in love – ahh, insta-love.  It feels a bit like a shifter story, with the alpha/mate connection. 

We didn’t particularly like Percy, he was meek, subservient, and docile, never meeting anyone’s eyes, but he is essentially a slave, and acts as one should.  And if he cried one more time we might have just hit him! We wish sometimes he would stand up for himself a bit more, or grow a backbone, but again being a breeder put him as a certain level in this society, and we felt that looking through our perspective , we just didn’t understand where he was coming from some times.  The breeder thing made us a bit itchy as well.  Percy self-lubricates (umm, yes) and the sex is very vigorous, descriptive, explicit, and HOT.  But, fair warning, there is a lot lot lot of sex.  So much for such a short read. 

Honestly we couldn’t put this book down, and read the other 2 in the continuing story the next day, there is a flow to the writing, it grabs you and keeps you, folding you in this weird world.  It is easy to read and ends on a satisfactory note that you want to pick up the next books. 

Review of Catching Light by Meg Harding

  by Meg Harding

4 stars

Oliver's been stuck in the hell that is writer's block for what feels like ages. He's out of ideas, neglecting his life, and all around losing his mind. His partner has had enough. Adam's tired of watching Oliver stare blankly at the screen. It's time to bring back his spark, and he knows just what to do. A vacation is in order. A beautiful beach, a sparkling waterfall, and lots of love should put everything to right.

Another sweet, sexy short story!  Unlike many other short stories Catching Light doesn’t shove a whole lotta story into a tiny package, Meg Harding concentrates on a week vacation, and it fit perfectly into this charming novella.  

Oliver is a writer and experiencing some hellish writers block, his husband Adam thinks a change of scene will help him get the ideas moving and a story on paper.  Oliver reluctantly agrees and they take off for a week of vacation, hopefully a relaxing time but Adam has other plans.  He schedules, hikes, cliff diving, surfing, snorkeling, and a myriad of other action adventure activities.

This is a sweet story, and although we were slightly confused if Adam and Oliver are living together or married, it is a fun little snippet into an already established relationship.  There is no drama, no angst, and whether in a relationship or not we can all put ourselves in this couple.  They sneak kisses, get some loving under a waterfall, and just re-connect in their relationship which makes Oliver’s writings block crumble. 

If you have an hour and want to read a light, fun, sweet story Catching Light by Meg Harding is not to be missed!