Review: Reawaken (Under My Skin #2) by Christina Lee

Losing his adoring husband shattered Tristan Rogers's world. For the past few years, he’s been going through the motions, running their dog grooming business while hiding the loneliness he feels down to his bones. When he witnesses an ugly breakup between a pretentious customer and his boyfriend, Tristan can’t help but intervene. Something about the unassuming younger man calls to him, and he can’t help wondering if he’s experienced some heartache of his own.

Life took a tragic turn for Jonas “West” Hollis as a teen, and he’s felt indebted to his overbearing lover ever since. Tristan’s kindness draws him from the start, but with his dreams finally in reach, West can’t risk getting close to someone else. Not now that he can live his life and stand on his own merit.

From innocent texts to companionable rides on Tristan’s boat, what starts as an unexpected friendship between the men sparks into undeniable attraction. Neither are ready for anything deeper than a couple of passionate nights wrapped in each other’s arms but their connection becomes too intense for either to ignore. If Tristan and West want to heal their broken hearts, they’ll need a considerable amount of trust and courage—not only in themselves but also each other.

No sophomore slump here!

From the blurb I expected this to be super heavy and was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't. Both men have suffered losses in their lives and are at varying stages of coming back from that. Tristan has had three years to deal with the loss of his beloved husband whereas West has just broken free of his controlling sorta boyfriend and is trying to stretch his wings. So... heavy adjacent?

Tristan and West have kind of been eyeballing each other for quite some time. We were introduced to West and his overbearing "boyfriend" in Regret. There is some underlying attraction from both parties but West is skittish. He wants to make a life for himself that's all his own thus is relationship averse but he also craves a connection. He begins calling and checking in with Tristan at Doggie Styles after Tristan helped him get away from Michael (the sorta ex); there is some flirtation and they meet up occasionally but he always always takes off before any bonding can happen. They slow burn from friends to friends with bennies to definite strings attached.

The dynamic these two have was delightfully unexpected! I heart me a big guy bottoming and these two even have a little D/s thing happening! Tristan likes to let West run the show and West likes to run it which makes them really compatible as well as smokin' hot! But what got me in the feels was they're both cuddle bunnies with West preferring to be wrapped up by Tristan, who's got some size on him. I thought this evened the power dynamics. Age difference, size difference, big buy bottoming = #WINNING!

I also really liked that West likes to cook and wants to pursue a career in the culinary arts. I thought the way Lee handled all of the restaurant stuff was on point. No matter what happens or what choices West makes, Tristan always supports him and is very perceptive about his boundaries. Both are well constructed characters who are relatable and their decisions and thought processes made sense given their individual histories which is something I appreciate.

Since we got the benefit of both of their perspectives it's clear they are falling for each other and I liked that they sort of energize the other. Tristan starts boating again and West asks to be taught to swim and things just click between them. They have fun together and the trust builds gradually. I'm not really certain what things they have in common for the long-term but I still bought into them as a couple.

And I liked the realism that Lee brought with Tristan's connection to his husband's family and how they will always be important to him as well as some of the interactions with the other guys from Doggie Styles. I'm assuming Elijah's book is next and I'd be interested in reading it if only to see Elijah kick Stewart and his controlling ass to the curb.

Recommend to slow burn, hurt/comfort lite and/or contemporary romance fans.

A review copy was provided.

Audiobook Review: Signs of Life (Resilient Love #2) by Melanie Hansen

Successful lawyer Jeremy Speer has it all—a loving husband, a beautiful home, and a cherished dream that’s about to become reality. He’s learned not to take happiness for granted, meeting the challenges of life and love head-on with unwavering commitment and fierce devotion. A series of tragic events leave Jeremy shattered, adrift on a sea of unimaginable pain. He’s able to piece his life back together, but instead of embracing it, he merely exists, using isolation and punishing physical exertion to keep the world at bay.

High school teacher Kai Daniels has a heart for at-risk kids—he was one himself, and a teenage brush with the law and some troubled years behind bars left him scarred inside and out. With courage, hard work, and the support of friends, he’s built a fulfilling life that leaves no time for a relationship.

An intense encounter with Kai at a gay club ignites a spark in Jeremy that he thought was extinguished forever, but he’s unwilling to destroy the fragile peace he’s managed to create, and he leaves Kai humiliated and disappointed. Things should have ended there, but a bizarre occurrence brings the two together in a way neither of them expected.

Listening Length: 8 hours and 13 minutes
Narrator: Robert Nieman

Signs of Life is a hurt/comfort romance that features two damaged men that came from different walks of life that find love by chance set in Oregon.

Jeremy Speer is a lawyer whose world was turned upside down for the worst and he reacts even more worse. It took him some time but he turned it around some and functioned by shutting everything out. Kai Daniels is an alternative high school teacher who was formerly at risk himself. He's streetwise due to being raised there. He is used to to life giving you shit instead of lemons. These two happen to live in the same town and meet one fateful and very hawt night at a club.

But before we take a magical trip onto the fire that is the chemistry between Jeremy and Kai., let's discuss that beginning shall we?

The beginning! WTF? It was two of the worst things that could happen to person, consecutively. Not even 3% and it felt like the world was ready to crash in. I actually stared at my Kindle for a minute or two wondering WTF more could happen. I read/listened to the entire thing from that point with trepidation and shield over my chest cavity just waiting for the next angst attack to happen.

(No tears because...

...Book! The eyes were dry. So hah!)

Let me get what I didn't care for as much out the way, so I can get to the good stuff. The good obviously outweighed the...not as good for me.

- the students - I know there are a lot of at risk teens out in the world. I've known a few in passing, know some now. Something about the lingo the kids spoke read a little off to me. Not all the time, but sometimes. I might be overthinking it but the West Coast vibe would vary from region to region right? Why was I getting Cali vibes from these kids for a setting in Oregon. It's a niggle of mine. I can't help but mention it as I would sometimes cringe at the narrator and text (and not for he words you might think) it read less authentic. Which brings me to the next thing...

- the teenager whisperer/ walking textbook - Kai was a former juvenile delinquent who is now reformed and teaches current delinquents. Uh-huh. He was borderline perfect. But overall I like Kai just sometimes the ease ruined the realistic vibe the story had going. And the clinical terms while speaking such as dysthymia, that read more like a educate the reader moment rather than have Kai speak regularly to a lover. It's a pet peeve of mine when the dialogue gets research-y rather than having people have normal conversation. It's a info dump moment. Kai was a mix of things former street tough, teacher, informal psychologist/counselor. I feel the mix of those different facets could have been smoother.

- Leticia - I wanted just a sentence of some sort of acknowledgement from Jeremy. He was healing, letting go of his anger at life. What happened to what he did in the beginning? If he's turning a new leaf, what about that one?

My niggles didn't ruin the story. It just made me pause or wonder if this would really happen. The angst got heavy handed in the beginning but it mellowed out for the rest of the book. In fact other than mostly internal and a few communication issues, the angst was pretty low.

This is my second Robert Nieman audio book. I actually listened to his narration of book #1 and  feel the same about both books. He doesn't do a variation of voices, sometimes he might act out some action, sometimes he might pronounce words funny but he was steady. Do I think another narrator could have done a better job? Yep. He paused at odd points a few times, rushed though text where as I read didn't call for it. But it wasn't bad. His narration is more of 3.75 Hearts rounded up.

The good though? Hansen can twist a tale. Nieman didn't enhance the writing. However, I enjoyed having him read her words. Because the words were good, really good.

Smutsters, this is a book you want to eye. The sex is a-plentiful!

Listen to me... You listening? *stares* Melanie Hansen can write a fuck scene. She didn't reinvent the wheel but she sure made that motherfucker spin. Wow! It was a checklist of my faves: SNOWBALLING, RIMMING, ROUGH SEX...PUBLIC SEX!

Those two couldn't get of each other. Both had unlimited rides to PoundTown and they acted like they only had one ride left on their ticket.

I love hook up to romance stories. And at first these men didn't seem like they could get anything meaningful since the sexual tension played a major factor and (a certain someone did a major DICK MOVE--twice!) But once the fella interacted outside of the sheets, I was on board.

While this can be read as standalone, the epilogue features followup to book #1's main characters and I squeed! It also covered this book's HEA pretty nicely.

For the most part, I bought it. Kai and Jeremy are very good for each other. They will continue to help each other heal. They will fuck it up from time to time but there is a shared bond and willingness to try.

Sometimes that's all you need.

Recommended for hurt/comfort fans, for sure-- audio or eBook works just fine (though I loved reading it slightly more)!

NSFW-ish Review: From Top to Bottom by Kevin Klehr

Can a dedicated top really learn to bottom? Tony wants to find out but he’s scared another die-hard top will just plow through him, instead of taking it nice and slow on a newbie.

Enter Butch, a bear who’ll try anything, and Ford, a guy whose curiosity is tempting him to cheat on his boyfriend. Like Tony, both are dedicated tops wanting to try something new, and on this journey of physical self discovery, all will find that being open means more than taking it doggie-style.

Before Reading:

1 room, 3 tops and someone will be ENTERED


After Reading: It's all about the C's. Cum , Cocks and...Cakes?!

"You brought cake," I said. I tried not to let the look of horror show on my face.
"For afterward," Butch replied. "I baked it myself. Is there room in the fridge?"
Hadn't this guy heard of the definition of "eternity"? The time between you cum and they leave. Who ever heard of cake after sex?

Actual cakes.

Not an ass euphemism. Don't look at me like that, we both know you went there. ;) It's an erotica short, it's to be expected.

"But you're not thinking of topping him--you want him in your secret chamber."
"Secret chamber?"
"Man cave. Boy pussy. Man-gina. Lurve canal."

From Top to Bottom by Kevin Klehr was not what I expected it to be based on the blurb. I thought it was just going to be 3 cherries served on a platter. However it happened in this PWP, it was just going to happen.

Not so, totally not so.

Told from 1st POV in a British setting possibly(?), Tony is thirty, very close to his father (like they discuss their sex lives--his dad was actually my fave character--get to that later). Tony loves sex and isn't very discriminate. Plus, he's a bonafide top.

He gets told by a bottom, "it's just another way to feel cock". And Tony has a revelation. Why not try bottoming? So he places an ad online, "top curious about being a bottom, wants to meet likeminded tops." Two like-minded blokes respond: Butch, cake baking bear with a philosophical look on life and Ford, a top who has a boyfriend and just wants to get down to fucking.

I was in accord with Ford. Butch and Tony were very poetic, and the prose had a tendency to get purple-y.

I won't say who first pops their road to "nirvana", but the story gets straight down to sex.

*growls*

While erotic, it also was quirky. There were so many slang for ass. Soooooooooo many. Some good, some weird as fuck like "chew my gremlin". I have to save that in my all time quotes. Some I haven't even heard before. And this is coming from a Dallas Sketchman fangirl (RIP).

Who wouldn't laugh at:

"My gremlin feels satisfied"

or

"My gremlin is hungry. My gremlin's been watching soap opera and wants to feel the leading man."

The leading man, of course being:

While chewing over the gremlin ass talk, the author ups the ante with a spoken word session on the joys of gay sex. And it's hosted at an honest to goodness orgy.

Here I am thinking it's just going to be quick one and done type of deal. But no ma'am, Tony and Butch pound their way through the flesh "playground". The sex was described in a joyous, ritualistic tone, where it was an ode more than erotic.

For the smutsters: rimming, felching, snowballing, double penetration was had. (pssst...someone fibbed about being a backdoor virgin)

The story was different. And while weird euphemisms get thrown in the mix, Tony's dad added more hilariousness. He's very upfront. Tony explores the pleasures of being topped.

As does his dad.

His dad goes into detail how much he shot after discovering his G-spot. Truthfully, my favorite scenes included Tony's dad from getting a colonic, to his pegging joy. I was fully there for Dad, despite the weirdness.

There was a message with this erotica. I think I know what the author was going for and I enjoyed that. The story was memorable more to me for the odd words and descriptions, not so much for the erotic bit. Which is the point of PWP for me.

The story ends at an odd place. Two of the original three tops form a friendship. A crush isn't returned. I wouldn't say it was faptastic. Weird and poetic mainly.

But hey at least there was cake?

Am I right?