Review: Plaid Nights Anthology

In Plaid Nights, men in kilts are as varied as they are hot. Whether they're caber tossers, rugby players, Highland warriors, country dancers, or time-traveling vampires, they're up for surprises and sexy good times. 

Rob Rosen starts us off with humor in "Tossing It." Contemporary men discover love in unexpected places in "Whiskey and Want" by Megan McFerren, "Some Like It Scot" by Julia Talbot, "Perfect Working Order" by Elizabeth Coldwell, and "Off-Kilter" by Racheline Maltese & Erin McRae. We get a taste of the paranormal in "Sir WW" by Angelique Voisen, "Feumaidh Mi Ruith (I Have to Run)" by Missouri Dalton, and "Kilt in the Closet" by Logan Zachary. And we're treated to forbidden love in historicals "Hunting for a Highlander" by Lila Mathews, "A Time to Heal" by Anna Mansel, and "As Fair Art Thou, My Bonny Lad" by McKay. 

In these stories, some tartan-clad men wear their kilts in the "traditional manner," while others are less daring. But all find love, and of course, a happy ending—especially at night, when the plaid comes off.

Ordinarily, anthologies are not my gig but KILTS!!!!! Kilts are my gig. Who can resist the lure of a man in plaid? Not me. And guess what? There were lots of men in plaid-historical men, contemporary men, paranormal men, supernatural men... My plaid cup runneth over!

It's a Kilt-A-Palooza!!!!! Plaid, plaid everywhere!

I know Baby favors the gingers and I have nothing but love for a ginger myself, but black Irish is my jimjimminyjam. It's about a 80/20 split betwixt the two in favor of the ginger kilt wearer, so Baby will be twirling about like a top! Some stories were really good and introduced new to me authors that I'll be on the lookout for. Others were duds, but at least they had kilts. Everything gets a boost when there's a kilt involved.

A moment of silence for all the kilts we're about to receive.

"Tossing It" by Rob Rosen
3 Cheeky Fun PWP Hearts

GINGER!!!! GINGER WITH A BIG SCHLONG!!!!!!!! AND A CABER TOSSING GINGER!!! DOUBLE GINGER FTW!
*SWOON*

Caber tosser and two horny twinks, Tom and Greg, who attend college together run into each other at a Scottish festival and find out what's really going on beneath those kilts.

All told from Greg's perspective in a sort of...sing song nursery rhyme way? I like the idea of pairing a nursery rhyme writing style with porn. Something so wrong and yet... bucking the establishment holds a certain appeal.

"Whiskey and Want" by Megan Ferrin
2.5 Hearts

Texas/Scottish bachelor party. That's right a whole bushel of kilts ripe for the plucking. Andrew is a local boy who moved off the NYC, and has come home for his friend's wedding. Jake is in attendance, sans kilt, unfortunately. He and Andrew strike up a conversation and while the stripper makes the rest of the guys pant Jake makes Andrew pant and writhe in the parking lot.

I'm not sure I liked the repeating "you can't always get what you want" bit. I'll have that song in my head forever now.

"Hunting for a Highlander" by Lila Mathews
1.5 Hearts

Historical set in the highlands circa 1593. Aleck is an isolated man within the clan. He believes himself to be the only gay, but a hunting trip proves how wrong he is. Kendrick's... attentions play a role in convincing him he's not the only one in the clan who prefers the D. 

A glossed over virgin deflowering is a major 'no no' in my book. Overall, I found it kind of tedious with all the mundane details, lack of any authentic Scottish language and odd word choices.

"Sir WW" by Angelique Voisen
4.5 Hearts

KINKY SUBMISSIVE TIME TRAVELING VAMP!!!!!!!! Are you kidding me?

This short was wildly creative, well written, gripping and bittersweet. And not just because it was kinky, though I loved the subversion of prototypical vampire roles.

I don't want to give too much away, but Magnus is a centuries old vampire capable of time travel. He's able to interact with those he meets on his travels, but cannot alter history. He has been Sir WW's secret submissive meeting nightly for some indeterminate amount of time and soaking up as much of each other as possible with the finite time they have together. I wish Sir WW would've talked with a brogue, though. Would've made it that much better.

Loved it. I'll have to remember this author.

"Feumaidh Mi Ruith" by Missouri Dalton
5 Hearts

My favorite of the anthology! Cary is a wily ginger thief who tries to steal from a 'big un' Scot with one hell of a brogue who may have some... connections. Marcas winds up finding Cary fairly easily and enlisting... ok, strong-arming him into tracking down a family heirloom that Cary lifted previously. Marcas is toppy and bossy and that brogue... UNF! 

Cary is a loner, never settling anywhere or with anyone, so he puts Marcas to the test. I'm certain he'll keep putting him to the test, but Marcas seems more than capable of keeping Cary in line. This story was fun and I loved the characters. I loved the snark. I loved the adventure aspects that added to the story and enriched their relationship rather than overtaking the story. I didn't love the fade to black sexy times, though.

MOAR SEXY TIMES ON PAGE, PLEASE!

"Some Like it Scot" by Julia Talbot
3 Hearts

HOT GINGER, RUBGY PLAYING SCOT IN TEXAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love stories that take place in places I know and this one happens basically in my backyard! Jeremy and Riley are co-workers who've been flirting and dancing around each other for a while now. One of them has to make the first move, so Jeremy takes the plunge and agrees to join Riley for his regular rugby match. Yeah, that... doesn't go well, but it does bring them together. Nothing like a trip to the hospital to bring a couple closer.

This story was cutesy and feel good, but too short to really sink my teeth into.

"A Time to Heal" by Anna Mansel
4 Hearts

Ginger witch in a kilt in this classic trope of love conquers evil especially when you fall in love with your clan's enemy. Conall is wounded in battle and the head of his clan leaves him in the care of a healer, Eoghann. 

Connall and Eoghann are connected seemingly by some sort of higher power. Fated lovers *sigh* that slow burn too because... virgin. WEEEE!!!! Conall has to interpret his dreams and decipher who the tortured man in the loch is and how can he save him. Eoghann is the tortured man, of course, and only love can save him. 

Lovely story that's well written in a ancient setting. Did my heart good. ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

"As Fair Art Thou, My Bonny Lad" by McKay
2.5 Hearts

Colonial Ginger Kilting!

Said ginger kilt wearer, Niall, has a penchant for the dirty talk too! He and Adie hook up in an alley after circling each other for awhile at the local pub. It's smutty and I enjoyed that. There is some sweetness, but there was a time jump that jumped over all the relationship development, so when the HEA occurred I was left bereft.

It needed to be longer for me to buy into these two living and working together forever and always.

"Kilt in the Closet" by Logan Zachary
2 Hearts

I'm having a hard time rating this one. I'm going with 2 Hearts because of the smut factor even though it contained some unfortunate word choices. Stop judging me. 

This story... doesn't come together. It doesn't really make sense either. There are ill-advised word choices like tube, bud, chute, you get the idea. Jeff has a ginger Scot ghost who used to live in the house. He suddenly starts appearing 5 years after Jeff's moved in? Reportedly, the ghost committed suicide, but Jeff wants to "know more" so he goes to visit his realtor and meets her assistant, Nathan. Lo and behold, Nathan is the ghost's son! Somehow this translates into Nathan coming over, some mystical fated relationship thing (read instalove) that Nathan's father orchestrated and somehow translates into an HEA/HFN with an out of left field confession/more weirdness for the ghost's "suicide".

If you can get past the unfortunate word choices, it's pretty hot. I'd just skim the talking bits, though.

"Perfect Working Order" by Elizabeth Coldwell
1 Heart

Another big un who plays rugby. *woof* Miles is his name and he and Gary have been friends since university but haven't seen one another in 5 years. During that time Miles got hot then he turned up the heat by swaggering into Gary's bar in a kilt. One thing leads to another and it turns out Miles is thinking he's bi and ready for some mansex. 

Lucky cherry popping Gary is lucky! 

Everything was going swimmingly then... it fizzled. It was so rushed! I kept wishing Gary would draw it out, drive Miles wild, maybe oral, some rimming, dirty talk, some begging would ensue... It's his first time! Make it last! Make it mind-blowing! Geez. But it was a couple of fingers, push in and pounding away. I can't get behind that. Pun intended.

Disappointed is the word I most feel about this story. A waste of a big un, black Irish virgin in a kilt.

"Off-Kilter" by Racheline Maltese & Erin McRae
3 Hearts

A nice beginning to a story with an age gap and a kilt wearing dance teacher.

Eric gets dragged to a Scottish dance class by his bestie, Amara, to wingman for her. Eric crashes and burns as a wingman but does catch the eye of the older dance instructor, Rob. Eric's not ready to give up his crush so he Facebook stalks him and winds up turning the tables on Amara and having her wingman for him at a Highland Games festival where he hopes to get his man. 

He does catch his eye. They fog up the windows of Eric's hatchback. Then it was over. Right when it was getting good. Story tease.

I enjoyed the dialogue, the age difference and I'd happily read the rest of Eric and Rob's story.

Who's favorite color is plaid?

Say it with me, PLAID, PLAID, PLAID, PLAID!!!

An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Find out more on Goodreads.

Review: Rubble and the Wreckage (A Gabriel Church Tale #1) by Rodd Clark

Gabriel Church knows you can’t take a life without first understanding just how feeble life is, how tentative and weak it stands alone. If you desire murder, you hold a life in your hand. Whether you release it to grant life or grip tighter to end it, it is at your command and discretion.

Gabriel is a serial killer with a story he wants told.

Christian Maxwell studied abnormal psychology in college but chose instead to focus on a career in writing. His background comes in handy when he thinks of writing about a serial killer. He can’t think of anyone more qualified to write the story of Gabriel Lee Church, and do so in the murderer’s own words. It’s been done before, but never with a killer who has yet to be captured or convicted.

There was never anything more than a gentleman’s understanding between the two men that Christian would record Gabriel’s life story. The killer did not ask for his complicity in any crimes, nor did he ever ask for his silence. Christian’s interest in the man, though, is fast becoming something more than academic. When the writer and his subject become unexpected friends and then lovers, the question remains: What is Gabriel’s endgame . . . and why does he want his story told?

Intriguing. So intriguing.

Christian has decided he wants to write Gabriel Church's story. He's been following a string of murders and knows they're linked, and where to find the killer.

Once he and Gabriel meet up, they delve right into the meat of Gabriel's story. His past, his murders and his 'divine reason for killing'. Right about now Christian should be high tailing it in the opposite direction, praying there's isn't this 'white light' surrounding him, the same light that surrounded all of Gabriel's victims. But there wasn't and Christian stayed. He was intrigued by Gabriel. Too intrigued and probably couldn't have stayed away, even if he wanted to.

Now Christian... Christian intrigued me.

"Christian had made himself inaccessible to others; he forged the walls he intended as protection, which sadly only held him captive and distant from those who could've loved him. But the real tragedy wasn't the compilation of brick by brick construction, but the fact that Christian never even saw the wall."

He closed people off, but he had no idea he was even doing it. But the one person he let in was a serial killer. Why? Because Gabriel was unreachable to everyone else and off limits? Perhaps. Although, they certainly had a connection.

Gabriel is a complicated, complicated man. He truly believes he is doing divine work. And when suggested otherwise, like maybe he's psycho, he gets super offended. I admit, that made me chuckle.

"You make is sound like I'm some sick psycho... that I needed to kill to feel good about myself."

Oh, he's so delusional. Ummm... you are a sick psycho, dude. But I really felt his affection for Christian. Despite his hangups, I think he really cared for Christian.

I'm so conflicted with my feelings for Gabriel. There were quite a few graphic detailings of his murders. These really bothered me. Not just the violence, but the complete apathy Gabriel felt toward his victims. It was disturbing, to say the least. So disturbing in fact, it took me a few days to read this simply because I wouldn't read it right before I went to bed. I didn't want Gabriel in my head right before sleep. As much as I disliked the flashbacks, it kept who Gabriel really was in the forefront of my mind. Right when I was starting to like him again, I'd be reminded of who he really was. So, I saw their purpose, even if I didn't like them.

There was a bit of a lull in the middle, but things certainly picked up towards the end. Some reviewers didn't like the last part, due to the M/F sex and the cliffhanger, but for me, that's what I liked the most. It brought some drama and action to the present day story line. So much of the action was from Gabriel's past, it was nice for some stuff to happen right now. It added some excitement to what was otherwise becoming somewhat dull.

I'm really curious to see what's next for Gabriel, and if Christian is involved or not. I'm also curious to see how my attitude changes towards our neighborhood serial killer as I read more about him.

A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Ink and Shadows (Ink and Shadows #1) by Rhys Ford

Kismet Andreas lives in fear of the shadows.

For the young tattoo artist, the shadows hold more than darkness. He is certain of his insanity because the dark holds creatures and crawling things only he can see—monsters who hunt out the weak to eat their minds and souls, leaving behind only empty husks and despair.

And if there’s one thing Kismet fears more than being hunted—it’s the madness left in its wake.

The shadowy Veil is Mal’s home. As Pestilence, he is the youngest—and most inexperienced—of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, immortal manifestations resurrected to serve—and cull—mankind. Invisible to all but the dead and insane, the Four exist between the Veil and the mortal world, bound to their nearly eternal fate. Feared by other immortals, the Horsemen live in near solitude but Mal longs to know more than Death, War and Famine.

Mal longs to be… more human. To interact with someone other than lunatics or the deceased.

When Kismet rescues Mal from a shadowy attack, Pestilence is suddenly thrust into a vicious war—where mankind is the prize, and the only one who has faith in Mal is the human the other Horsemen believe is destined to die.

More. More. More. I need the next book now. STAT.

This took me a chapter to get into. Though I loved it once I got going, it was when we first met Kismet that I really fell hard for this book. The opening chapter is with the four horsemen of the apocalypse (well three of the four, Famine is out and about, starving people), War, Pestilence and of course Death. Mal (pestilence), is the newest, least experienced horseman and his thinking doesn't quite follow the traditional way (much to War's disgust!!)

Something is tearing the veil between the mortal world and beyond, meaning 'things' are able to cross between the two - things that shouldn't be able to cross over. When War and Pestilence venture into the mortal world (a place they can travel unseen to do their jobs) in order to stop a wraith, Mal ends up saving Kismet and taking him back to their home...

I love this world Rhys has brought to life. The dark and light world of fates and faith and death and destruction. Here in the mortal world, we see the reason and the effect, but not the cause. The cause are beings from behind the veil. The ones without the gift of free choice, something mortals have in abundance. It's not quite as simple as good and evil though. Necessity. Intentions. Need. Desire. They all have their part to play.

The author's writing style lends itself superbly to this genre of story. She captures characters beautifully, leaving the reader just wanting that bit more information. I loved all the characters, Mal and Kismet, as the focus of this story, were the two I was most invested in...but War and Death, I have a feeling their story is even more intriguing. What is Death so afraid of? Why doesn't War give up?

The dynamics of all four horsemen are really interesting. The interwoven fabric of the two worlds, the thinning of the veil. I have no idea where this series is going to go. There are so many possible directions, unanswered questions (though this story wraps up well)...intriguing. Addictive. Must-have-more. It's going to be that kind of series. Though not a romance in the traditional sense, the romance and love is there. It's kind of the heart of the story and the bit that leaves me wanting more the most!

A highly recommended book!

For more information, check out Goodreads.

A copy of this book was given in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Falling by Suki Fleet

Josh's idea of a romance is curling up alone and reading a novel with a happily ever after. He’s made his flat a safe haven where the wall are covered with beautiful words, and his living room ceiling is a map of the universe.

Angus may be shy and inexperienced, but he's incapable of hiding anything, especially his attraction to his older neighbor.

When Josh admits to Angus that he’s gay, he doesn't expect Angus’s reaction. Angus’s obvious interest terrifies Josh. For years he’s managed to keep the world at arm’s length and avoid getting too close to anyone. Well, anyone except Elenor, Angus’s mother, who helped Josh rebuild his life after he was hospitalized for depression. But Josh still thinks he’s broken. His past has left scars he thinks are too deep to heal. Despite Josh’s defenses, Angus begins to mean more to him than just the cute boy next door. If Josh can take a risk and let someone into his isolated world, he might have a chance for a real life happy ending. 

I have loved all of Suki Fleet's stories, but as soon as I read Falling it went straight behind This Is Not a Love Story as my next favourite. As ever, Suki catches the essence of of those struggling through life, without making them desperately needy victims. Circumstance and situation do not kill her characters, they just make them stronger. Yet she allows them time to struggle, time to come to terms with their needs and wants. She allows them help, but does not forcefully manipulate them. I absolutely admire this about her writing - it is what keeps me going back time and again.

In Falling, Josh has built himself a sanctuary. His home is his safe haven, books his escape. To say I understood Josh is an understatement; I could be Josh in this respect. His depression is manageable now, though it is fair to say he stays within his comfort zone. That doesn't mean he is a shadow of a person. He really isn't, he holds down a job, he helps his neighbours, but he does have his boundaries. The level of socialisation he is comfortable with. It takes more than a small amount of courage to step out of his comfort zone.

Angus. Angus is younger, shyer and, when his mum needs help, he becomes reliant on Josh. This is complicated by the fact that her his hopelessly attracted to Josh. And Josh to him, despite the fact he tries to deny it/ignore it.

This story is definitely not a  black and white, colour neatly in the lines, story. It is grey and it is messy and it is real. Thought and deed, mix with intent and ever changing boundaries. For a story that is about characters dealing with depression this made it so spot on. Depression is messy. It isn't neat. What a sufferer can deal with one day is completely out of bounds the next and this is reflected in the writing. No pigeon holing here. 

This makes the romance all the better for me. Friendship grows, trust develops. Lust and friendship and growing love, mix to make a heady, heart-thumpingly good, romantic story line. The essence of the story is the ability to trust outside carefully constructed walls. For me trust is an essential part of any relationship. Any. Friends, lovers, family, professional. Trust has to be at the forefront, so watching Josh (and Angus) develop that trust made my heart beat just a bit faster. 

Suki Fleet fans will love this story and I urge anyone who has not tried this author to give her books a go. Every one is amazing - and Falling would be a great place to start.  Oh and I should mention - I love the cover. I love all the covers, they are what attracted me to her writing in the first place! I know it doesn't make a difference to the story, but covers do make a difference to the books I choose.

Blog Tour: Plaid Nights Anthology!!!!!!!! KILTS PEOPLE!!!!!!!

A KILTAPALOOZA WITH KILTS!!!!!!

Release Date: July 15, 2015

Publisher: Torquere Press

Cover Artist: BSClay

Blurb: 

In Plaid Nights, men in kilts are as varied as they are hot. Whether they're caber tossers, rugby players, Highland warriors, country dancers, or time-traveling vampires, they're up for surprises and sexy good times. 

Rob Rosen starts us off with humor in "Tossing It." Contemporary men discover love in unexpected places in "Whiskey and Want" by Megan McFerren, "Some Like It Scot" by Julia Talbot, "Perfect Working Order" by Elizabeth Coldwell, and "Off-Kilter" by Racheline Maltese & Erin McRae. We get a taste of the paranormal in "Sir WW" by Angelique Voisen, "Feumaidh Mi Ruith (I Have to Run)" by Missouri Dalton, and "Kilt in the Closet" by Logan Zachary. And we're treated to forbidden love in historicals "Hunting for a Highlander" by Lila Mathews, "A Time to Heal" by Anna Mansel, and "As Fair Art Thou, My Bonny Lad" by McKay. 

In these stories, some tartan-clad men wear their kilts in the "traditional manner," while others are less daring. But all find love, and of course, a happy ending—especially at night, when the plaid comes off.

<~~~~~~~~WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT COVER!!

Christmas in July is what it says to me.

Who am I to look a gift (kilt wearing) horse in the mouth?

Pages or Words: 65,000 words

Categories: Contemporary, Erotica, Gay Fiction, Historical, M/M Romance, Paranormal (Please note: As an anthology, not all categories may relate to all stories.)

Excerpt: 

From "Tossing It" by Rob Rosen: 

He took a spoonful of stew into his mouth, green eyes sparkling in the daylight. He was cute in a lanky, pale, freckled sort of way. He sighed contentedly as he set the spoon back down. “Just like mom used to make.”

“Back in the old country?”

He laughed. “Back in New Jersey. Though Newark is sort of old.” 

We continued eating together, side by side. His leg brushed mine. It stayed brushed. I didn’t move mine away; he didn’t move his either. This was an odd turn of events. Was he gay? Not a clue. Still, most guys would’ve moved their legs away. Maybe he was simply oblivious. Straight guys sometimes had a habit of that. You just never knew. Then again, you could test the theory if you were so inclined. Me, I was always so inclined.

I pointed to a throng of kilted behemoths off to the side. “What’s with the skirted mountain men?”

He chuckled. “Caber tossers.”

“That some sort of Scottish slang for rednecks?”

He turned my way, eyes locking with mine. It was like staring into a field of emeralds. Guess I’d been too busy staring at his crotch before to notice. Shame on me. “Caber tossers. They toss logs. Poles. Big ones.” Well, he’d certainly know about big poles, I figured. “They’re up to twenty feet tall and almost two hundred pounds.”

“And they toss them? Why?”

“For sport.”

I ate a couple more bites of my fish. It was perfectly cooked, greasy and flaky. My stomach settled down. “Sport? Like tiddlywinks for giants?”

He nodded as he continued eating his stew. His eyes rarely left mine. I was all too glad to return the favor. I stared at his freckles, connecting the dots, constellations hidden in the patterns. “Something like that.”

Sales Links: 

Torquere

Goodreads

Rafflecopter Prize: E-copy of ‘Plaid Nights’

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Dates & Stops: July 14, 2015

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Unicorn Favourites: Love in an Open Road Stories: Week Five.

The M/M Romance Group on Goodreads hosts a Don't Read in the Closet event each year where they invite members to submit a photo with a story prompt. Interested authors then volunteer to write the requested stories, which are published for free for everyone to read. It's a fun/exciting/stressful process, and a great opportunity to read stories from favourite authors. And chances are, you'll also discover some new authors, who hopefully have a back-list of goodies to check out :)

This year's event was named Love is an Open Road and they started releasing the completed stories on June first. Here at BMBR, we've been following along on comment threads, anticipating the stories from our favourite prompts, and now greedily reading the stories as they become available.

As an aside, there are SO many amazing stories being released and while we haven't read all of them yet, we will get there. There will be a few however, that won’t be reviewed here. You see, unicorns are not only badass, they are also mysterious and magically rare. We can't expect their presence to show up in our reviews, the interwebz couldn't handle it. But, just know this, this week, we LOVED The Quiet Within by Olley White. That is all.

*****

SheReadsALot: Bluewood by Elin Austen

Dragon Shifters FTW!!

Another dragon shifter winner from this event! Who knew the author could get all of this from that weirdly erotic dragon mpreg pic and prompt?

"Bluewood" might start off erotic (dragon shifted sex BTW!) but it's different. Elin Austen's dragons have penises like ducks (Um, I'm not a stranger to the duck dick...are you surprised? No? Moving on. Look it up on your own time) and males can carry eggs/dragon hatchlings. It's so cool learning about this dragon society.

Amad and Og are earth dragon shifters and mates expecting their first clutch of six eggs. The first time parents try to do everything right in a human controlled shifter world. Shifters have been regulated to living on approved lands for certain shifter breeds only.

The humans have teamed up with the werewolves. They attacked the dragons, kidnapping their queen and trying to take Amad. Og manages to save Amad and they escape to a forbidden land where they learn things aren't always as they seem.

I like the themes of modern vs. ancient, respecting your history, nature vs. machine. This had an urban fantasy feel in the beginning but it got back to basics towards the end. Like that.

And you know what was my favorite (even more than dragon sex)?

The egg babies!

Yes, this is mpreg. But if your worried that this was thinly veiled MF preggo MM, it isn't. And Og isn't pregnant for more than a third of this story. He births his eggs. It still takes months for them to hatch. And when they do? It's so special. I fell for each one of those hatchlings.

The story could have went further. At least let me us see Zulla and Zilla changed in human form. And Bubble! I can't believe I got attached to the baby dragons but I did. I actually pouted when something happened to one of the eggs.

Loved, LOVED, LOVED the dragon folklore and the history of Bluewood. Oh wow...I would definitely read more of this world and revisit the rest of the dragon society! 

OptimistKing'sWench: Secondary Break by Megan Linden

Cuteness Squee!

I am partial to stories that take place in the great state of Texas, so I may be a teensy bit biased. No, for reals, this story is KA-UTE!

Zack is a former NYPD homocide detective who's come to Pomerane for an "extended vacation". Why he chose to relocate to a small Texas town I have no idea. I assume drastic change was needed? At any rate, he meets hot neighbor, Evan, almost immediately and then the rest of the town.

The welcome brigade wagon of casseroles and pies and any associated gossip that can be garnered from the new guy in town is how Zack gets introduced to Pomerane. Word travels fast in small towns. Trust me, I know. 

Soon Mrs. Simmons, principal of Pomerane High School and Evan's mother, comes calling with a mission and apple pie, of course. She's not taking 'no' for an answer. I loved her. She's a force of nature, no nonsense and she's set her sights on getting Zack to be her girls basketball coach come hell or high water. 

She always gets what she wants and Zack soon finds himself coaching a bunch of teenage girls. Teenage girls who think he hung the moon because (a) he's their coach and (b) in Texas football is king and until now they've never been able to participate in an organized team sport. Plus, he's straightforward with them and trustworthy.

Evan also works at the high school, so they are pretty much in each other's back pockets all the time. They can't keep their hands off each other and Evan's even got a bit of bossy streak in him. 

*eyebrow waggle*

Ain't mad at him. Just sayin'.

“I want to do so many things to you.” Evan leaned over him and rested his weight on the elbows on both sides of Zack’s head. There was no way he would stop because of some scars.

Zack shifted under him and they both inhaled sharply as their cocks brushed against each other.
“Like what?” Zack asked, hooking one of his legs over Evan’s.
Evan grinned down at him and nipped at his chin. “Fuck you, for one.” He kissed Zack’s jawline. “Ride you.” Another kiss. “Suck you down.” And another. “Make you lose your mind.”

Linden did a great job with the dialogue. The conflict was believable, though it did get resolved rather quickly. There were some things that I would've liked more of an explanation on like Zack's choice of Pomerane, but the sex was pretty hot and the relationship wasn't exactly instalove. It was close, but I liked the story as a whole so much I didn't really care.

All the feels and the touches of poignancy have me somewhere between 3 and 4 stars so I'll just round up.

Lorix: Tears for the Sand by S. van Rooyen

As many of you know, us unicorns have no rules in the clubhouse. We are rule-less rebels, our only agenda to spread the love of good books and to have fun on the way. We're lovers not fighters (well...for the most part >insert imaginary winking emoticon here<). With this in mind, when it came to choosing a book for this weeks LOR favourite spot, I have actually chosen one I haven't finished yet. I know right, the rebelliousness, they'll be turning up to arrest me any day now....

Why did I choose one I haven't read all of? Well, simply, because the bit of it I have read, I love. I'm a fairly fast reader, and the first to admit that I may put reading ahead of many  most other activities, yet however hard I try, I can't always read all the DRitC's releases as I want to. I only started Tears for the Sand when I got up this morning, and was the rudely interrupted by the fact I needed to go to work, however, I can tell you that I am thoroughly enjoying the writing style, the characters and the South African setting. 

In all honesty, this is one I wanted to read as soon as I read the prompt. Then I saw the cover and I was captivated. It's a fairly simple cover, yet it gives me a vibe of exactly how I'm expecting this book to be. It is a picture that tells many tales, and I am TOTALLY judging this book by it's cover. Well, okay, not entirely, because, yeah the words kinda count for something. But see, for me, the words I have read so far just reflect the cover. The essence of the book is there on the front page for all to see. Unless it's just me. Whatever, I like that cover!!

And, the words I've read so far, I like them too. Van Rooyen has a unique voice, and I like that. I like it a lot. Sentences are woven like threads making fabric. Each one is own bright colour, weaving a story bright in content and in feels. It's not the kind of book you can skim read super quickly and still know what's going on. For all its beauty it needs a little more attention than some - but I completely appreciate that. 

I have a feeling this is going to be a marmite book (a love it or hate it kind) and I'm pretty much loving it - I'm about halfway through. I hope it continues in this vein and I'm not making too quick a judgement. Whether I still love it at the end is maybe by-the-by, because I feel at the moment it is beautiful and I can't wait to read it all.

Review: Toy With Me by Annabelle Jacobs

Aaron is hiding something in his drawers—but that’s not his only secret.

When he moves in with his new housemates, Aaron intends to tell them about his sexuality from the outset. But a large pink item of a personal nature, given as a joke, scuppers his plans and he misses his chance.

Fellow housemate Rob is out and proud. He guesses Aaron is gay, and when he finds Aaron’s other secret concealed in his sock drawer, he takes it upon himself to help Aaron out with a little sexual experimentation.

What do you need to know about this book? Let's summarise:

1. University guys
2. Huge pink dildo
3. Fun times (including first time toy play...)
4. .....actually, nope that's all you really need to know. I suppose I could tell you that it's a thoroughly enjoyable read, written in Annabelle Jacobs wittily romantic way. Or that, even though it's <10k it is still a proper story and not just PWP. Or that it's one of the sexy secrets quartet. But, truly, you don't need to know that stuff. Points 1-3 cover it quite enough.

A copy of this story was given in exchange for an honest review

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