Review: 2016 Top Ten Gay Romance by Various Authors, Edited by J.M. Snyder

2016 Top Ten Gay Romance brings together the best-selling short stories published by JMS Books that year.

From first love to true love, from submission to sensual, from heat to sweet and everything in between, the couples in these stories are sure to keep you turning the pages as you fall in love with them.

With stories by Becky Black, T.A. Creech, Rebecca James, Shawn Lane, J.L. Merrow, A.R. Moler, Terry O'Reilly, Michael P. Thomas, Tinnean, and J.D. Walker, this head-over-heels collection goes beyond bedtime reading. Whether happily ever after or happy for now, there’s an ending for everyone in here!

Contains the stories: Me and My Big Mouth by Becky Black, Captive by T.A. Creech, Love Lost, Love Found by Rebecca James, Accidentally His by Shawn Lane, A Pint of Beer, a Bag of Chips, and Thou by J.L. Merrow, For the Last Time by A.R. Moler, First and Goal by Terry O'Reilly, It's Not Yule, It's Me by Michael P. Thomas, In His Line of Work by Tinnean, and And This is Ed by J.D. Walker.

Whoa. The broken hearted rating has been brought out.
I promise I didn't just use it because I felt it needed dusting off instead I've used it because I don't know how to rate this anthology. I has myself a dilemma.

The risk with reading anthologies is in the likelihood of every story being a 4 or 5 heart read. Sometimes a reader can get really lucky and find anthology gold, I know for the most part I expect there is going to be a couple of stories that don't work for me. The problem with this anthology is there was only one story that really did work for me, and that is the JL Merrow one, A Pint of Beer, a Bag of Chips and Thou. It was a five heart read as far as I was concerned, and that alone made me glad that I'd had the chance to read this anthology. Unfortunately all the other stories rated between a 1 and 3 heart rating for me. Do you see my dilemma? If I average out the ratings it would come up at about 2 hearts.

But...
But... A Pint of Beer, a Bag of Chips and Thou is not to be tarred with that rating brush. It was a read most excellent, written with the subtle humour and wit that JL Merrow always brings to her writing.

For me the other stories have blurred into one. No characters stood out, no storyline captured my attention. Is it worth buying an anthology just for one story? I don't know - that is your choice to make. For me though, I'm glad I read it. It's also worth noting that, whilst I am a JL Merrow fan, I'm not always the biggest lover of her shorter stories, they don't always click with me. This one, though, really did.

A copy of this anthology was given in exchange for an honest review.
For more information see Goodreads.

Release Blitz + Giveaway: 2016 Top Ten Gay Romance - Various Authors from JMS Books

JMS Books releases the 2016 Top Ten Gay Romance Anthology today! Read below for more information and enter the giveaway to win an eBook copy of JMS Books' 2015 Top Ten Gay Romance Anthology!

2016 Top Ten Gay Romance - Various Authors

Release: December 31 2016

Publisher: JMS Books

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | JMS Books

Blurb

2016 Top Ten Gay Romance brings together the best-selling short stories published by JMS Books that year.

From first love to true love, from submission to sensual, from heat to sweet and everything in between, the couples in these stories are sure to keep you turning the pages as you fall in love with them.The 10 stories in this head-over-heels collection go beyond bedtime reading. Whether happily ever after or happy for now, there’s an ending for everyone in here!

Contains the stories:

· Me and My Big Mouth by Becky Black
· Captive by T.A. Creech
· Love Lost, Love Found by Rebecca James
· Accidentally His by Shawn Lane
· A Pint of Beer, a Bag of Chips, and Thou by J.L. Merrow
· For the Last Time by A.R. Moler
· First and Goal by Terry O'Reilly
· It's Not Yule, It's Me by Michael P. Thomas
· In His Line of Work by Tinnean
· And This is Ed by J.D. Walker

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Review: Assumed Dead by Becky Black

The zombie apocalypse left twelve people trapped, but safe, at a scientific research base on an Arctic island. Three years later, with supplies critically low, they know they can’t survive another harsh winter. But all of them fear what awaits them on the mainland.

Former grad student, Matt Warner, has retrained as a nurse under the group’s doctor, Peter Lane. Training is not the only thing Matt wants to be under Peter for, but Peter has always resisted responding to Matt’s interest in him. Before all this started Peter had a husband, Harrison, back home. A husband he desperately hopes is still alive.

Despair finally weakens Peter’s resolve and he and Matt begin sharing a bed. It’s Matt’s dream come true, even if he knows Peter’s feelings for him aren’t as strong as his for Peter. But everything changes, when the group learns of the existence of a vaccine against the zombie virus and they escape the island to search for the people distributing the vaccine. Matt fears their relationship won’t survive, because Peter wants to search for his husband—even if only to confirm his death. And Peter knows if he goes looking for Harrison, he’ll lose Matt forever.

I really can't resist a zombie apocalypse.

After the zombie virus came about, twelve people were left stranded in the arctic. They were there doing research and ended up stuck there for three years. Supplies are low, there's a new baby to take care of, and there's news of a cure. They decide to leave their safe haven to find more survivors and more about this vaccine.

Of these survivors there's Matt. He's a nurse and works with the group's doctor, Peter. He's had feelings for Peter for some time, but was never able to act on them. Peter has a husband. Well, he had a husband back home before the zombie apocalypse. Peter isn't sure what happened to Harrison, but he's not giving up hope that he's out there somewhere, waiting for him.

Peter can't resist Matt once he let's his feelings be known to Peter. They end up starting a tentative relationship that slowly turns into more. But once they decide to leave, Peter is set on searching for his husband.

I just didn't really like the set up of their relationship. I didn't like that Matt pushed Peter into being his boyfriend and I didn't like how he guilted Peter about his husband. Yes... it had been three years, but they were married, FFS! I don't know... the whole thing just left a bad taste for me. If I had felt a stronger connection between Matt and Peter maybe it wouldn't have bothered me as much, but I think Matt put too much pressure on Peter. I didn't feel any true chemistry between them. This is a romance, so everything worked out for all parties involved. A little too perfectly, considering all that happened.

Apparently, this is the second book in a series, but it reads fine as a stand alone. I did feel like I was missing something, but not enough to throw me off. But I do wish there was more zombie action. This story was mostly focused on the relationship, which is what I, unfortunately, didn't really enjoy.

I may pick up the first book since it looks to have more action than Assumed Dead. I am intrigued by this zombie apocalypse and I think book 1 is more what I'm looking for in this genre.

A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Find out more info on Goodreads.