Review: Lonely Hearts, a Novella Bundle by Posy Roberts

Stoic men, who believe they’re happy alone, find the world turned upside down when their perfect someone stumbles across their path. 

Marc joins the Lonely Hearts chat room where men support men on their way to finding true love. He wants to believe that kind of love is possible for him, but his once-burned heart stops him from going all-in with anyone.

The chat group’s philosophy is, “Figure out how you keep screwing up your happily ever after. Once you know, you’re more likely to find the true thing.”

Skeptical as he is, Marc logs in and meets men in various degrees of getting there. At least he’s not alone. Luther truly loves his single life on the Bakken oil fields. William’s not sure he’ll ever measure up, let alone find someone he can be himself around. And Andrew still pines for a guy he hooked up with on a reenactment battlefield before he got blown up on a real one.

One by one they start dropping like flies. Flies drunk on love. And sooner than he expects, Marc’s luck starts changing thanks to these new friends.

Walk alongside these men as they find the men of their dreams and discover their happily ever afters. 

Lonely Hearts: a novella bundle includes: Bent Arrow, Stroke of Luck, Momo, My Everything, and Love on a Battlefield.

blue-collar, reluctant lovers, rural, bisexual, gay, fated lovers, Halloween, white-collar, opposites attract, multicultural, coming out, second chance, first time, disability, recovery romance, meant to be, military, artist, world traveler, coming of age, long distance, pen pals, gay romance, contemporary, MM romance, lone wolf, alpha male.

Welllll, 3.75 Hearts averaged out, but definitely rounded up for the way the author tied it all together.

The author uses a clever technique to tie four novellas together along with a connection to The North Star Series. It works well and bundles all four stories cohesively via chat room conversations between Hugo (from North Star) and one half of each of the couples in the novellas. I liked it, it allowed me to get to know each of the guys organically and get a taste of their personalities going into their new relationships.

Bent Arrow (Luther and Eric) - 4 Hearts 
I just love Luther. Then I met Eric, and I just love Eric. While Luther comes across, at first, as a man who has convinced himself he never wants to attach himself to another person, it’s easy to see that a connection with another person is exactly what he needs most. Luther uses the excuse of work environment and that he’s not out to his family to stay in his one night stand lifestyle. Eric is a bit of an introvert, mostly out of necessity and concern for his safety in the oilfields. The two of them have chemistry from the very beginning and while the physical is a no brainer between them, the relationship they begin to develop is the real treat to read. The very best part of this story is the communication and honesty. It wasn’t like the relationship was angst free, the two of them had to go through some level of nonsense considering where they were coming from. But, they knew they wanted one another and I loved that they both owned it.

Stroke of Luck (Marc and Cas) - 3 Hearts 
Marc is too pure for this world and I had trouble believing anyone could deserve him. It took me a while to warm up to Cas. I liked him, but there was a lot of “work” that had to go into being with Cas. By the end I did like the two of them together but it was a little too unnecessarily difficult to get there. Cas wasn’t even the real issue, the problem was Maisie. Ugh, that woman. I get that the relationship between Cas and Maisie was the main conflict that fed the story, she really detracted from my Marc and I love Marc. By the end, everything conveniently worked out and Marc and Cas were happy, so, yay! But I could have done with less Maisie and more Marc and Cas together.

Momo, My Everything (William and Nate) - 3.5 Hearts
This story was more than just a romance it was a real character study of William. He was a tough guy to get to know, but the author did a great job of showing who he was and how much we wanted to love and be loved in his own voice. Nate was William’s complete opposite and reading William fall in love was absolutely lovely. I don’t feel like I got to know Nate as deeply as William, which is why this is definitely a William story for me and I very much liked it. William evolved a lot for the novella length of this story. Nate was such a breath of fresh air and life for William and William appreciated everything about Nate. What they gave each other and how thankful they were for one another was the highlight for me, so while the bulk of the story is about William and his evolution, there was plenty of true romance to be had.

Love on a Battlefield (Andrew and Shep) - 4.5 Hearts 
Oh, my heart. The bittersweet arc in Love on a Battlefield broke my heart and put it back together in the best possible way. I absolutely loved how this story was told. The flashbacks, the letters, the current life struggles, all of that combined to make Andrew and Shep fully fleshed out characters that I embraced from page 1. My only complaint was that the story was a novella and not a full novel. You know how the romance world gives us stories with couples who are “meant to be” and we love it and eat it up with a spoon? But then, once in a while a story comes along where two people weren’t just “meant to be” but they “had to be”? Like, they are so meant to be together there is no other option for them, they are “next-level meant to be”. That’s Andrew and Shep. Life and time were in the way for awhile as they worked there way back to one another. They may have had just a few teenage fumblings (happy ending fumblings) back in the day, but they basically ruined each other for anyone else. I do believe they had to grow up though and the distance probably made their appreciation for each other even stronger once they did meet up again as adults. It was like their first time all over again and I loved it. I’ll be rereading this one for sure.

**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**

Review: Blood Relations by Zev de Valera

Six years into a 'together but separate' relationship, Simon Melville is engaged to be married. Almost. While Simon's lover is making wedding plans, Simon has yet to say 'yes'.

Following the death of his father -- a man who cut himself off from his family at the age of seventeen -- Simon is stunned when he receives a letter informing him that he is now heir to the Melville fortune and the historic southern estate known as Melville Hall.

Intent on liquidating his assets and returning to civilization as soon as the ink is dry on the paper; Simon finds his plans altered when he discovers clues to his family's past and his own secrets -- long buried -- begin to haunt him.

Can Simon resign himself to marriage? Or will he rise to the challenge of a new relationship with his handsome cousin and risk the consequences of the Melville family curse?

I couldn’t put Blood Relations down once I started and it’s what happens every time I read something by this author. His writing just flows beautifully and his characters are so perfectly flawed and appealing at the same time I can’t help but get caught up in their lives. I do love me a nice fluffy feel good romance as much as the next person, but reading a story with “real” characters who aren’t perfect and don’t fit into any stereotypes is so refreshing and I can’t recommend it enough.

I’m not going to ramble about the story specifics because this is the kind of tale you need to discover on your own as you read. The fewer preconceived notions you have the better. I’m just going to talk about all the love I felt for the smartly written words and the people the author introduced me to. 

Blood Relations is a southern lightly-gothic story about family, love and trust. The really appealing aspect of the story is the multi-dimensional treatment of each theme. It’s about family both by blood and chosen, love in all forms and trust on every level. It’s not a ghost story, but the historical home and the artifacts left behind by Simon’s ancestors are characters themselves. Simon changed and grew as he discovered his family’s secrets (and who doesn’t love to uncover someone else’s drama?). As the secrets came to light both in the present and the past I was glued to my Kindle waiting for every new little nugget. I wanted to know everything and the author doles out the knowledge in a deliciously paced way.

Simon is a great character. Did I love everything he did? Nope. But you know what? Neither did he. So I could sympathize with him even when I didn’t agree with his actions. I loved Simon’s journey very much though. I felt like I was there with a good friend going through some big changes in his life. Simon is a grown ass man chronologically, but he’s not a man in control of his own destiny and until he gets the summons to “come home” he’s good with floating along, not making waves, letting life happen to him. The change is a real butt kicker though and he gets a taste of what life and love can be when you learn to trust yourself and others fully. It’s not easy for him, but the changes that come with going to the estate are cathartic for him.

Blood Relations has romance, most definitely, but it’s not a one note love story and the romance is not necessarily center stage throughout. It’s more realistic than that. Simon has a lot going on in his life and to think he’d just be concerned with his love interest wouldn’t ring true for the characters or the pace of the story. The romance is also not easily resolved or overly dramatic, the author truly kept the pace perfectly balanced for every aspect.

The overall atmosphere of the story is very romantic and I felt it as soon as Simon pulled up to the estate for the first time. Simon is the main character but the tale would be for naught without the supporting cast. They were just as memorable and had just as much depth as Simon did. Every conversation enlightened the reader to a little more information and I wanted to know everyone’s history and how they all tied together from generation to generation. It was honestly just so interesting and the kind of thing I eat up with a spoon.

Simon’s journey was a truly lovely ride and the only thing I want is an epilogue. Not because it needs one, the way it ends fits with the rest of the book. I just want one because I want to read it.

**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**

Review: Raven's Rest by Stephen Osborne

Michael Cook has left his abusive lover and settled in the small town of Banning, Illinois. Having nowhere else to go, he checks into the Raven’s Rest Inn and soon learns that the haunted reputation of the hotel is well deserved. Michael gets a job at a local café, where he meets Trey Ramsey. Though Michael has misgivings about starting up a new relationship, Trey seems to be the complete opposite of Michael’s controlling ex, so he decides to give Trey a chance.

Life at the Raven’s Rest becomes increasingly frightening when the ghost of Coleman Hollis appears in Michael’s room. Coleman seems to want something from Michael, and the mystery deepens when Michael discovers he’s the spitting image of Coleman’s lover from years ago. Together, Michael and Trey must discover why Coleman’s spirit is drawn to the Raven’s Rest—and to Michael.

I so love a good ghost story and Stephen Osborne delivered in Raven’s Rest. The MC’s were charming and unique, the supporting characters added a lot to the story and the ghosties were perfectly heartbreaking.

Michael has broken away from his emotionally abusive boyfriend and has settled in the small town of Banning, Illinois. Michael has no real plan, he’s not sure how long he’s going to be in town and ends up staying at a beautiful and allegedly haunted B&B temporarily, The Raven’s Rest. Don’t let the title mislead you, the story is not Poe focused as one might assume, but the Inn’s names’ connotation does add to the creep factor very well.

Michael becomes friends with the townsfolk as he settles in and manages to find himself some work at the little towns’ diner. He also develops himself a bit of a crush on one of the other employees, Trey Ramsey. I loved Trey. He’s cocky with a self-deprecating sense of humor that makes him utterly charming. I loved the conviction Trey showed with his interest in Michael. It was the perfect level of flirty sincerity and as they got to know one another it lent Michael strength. Trey had respect for Michael and his damaged self-confidence and Michael knew it. Michael was able to begin to get his feet back under him with support from Trey and I really enjoyed reading about Michael evolving into his own man again.

Now, on to the ghost story . . . .

If you’re easily oogie boogied out, you’ll still be able to handle Raven’s Rest. The ghost is more heartbreaking than scary and the fact that Michael isn’t freaked out keeps the creep factor to a minimum. Honestly, there are a few earthly corporeal bodies that are way scarier than Coleman Hollis. I LOVE to be scared and that’s the only thing I wanted a little more of from Raven’s Rest, but at the same time, the balance of ghost to story worked to the overall arc and tone of the story really well so that’s really on me.

Coleman disappeared in the 80’s and according to his father, he’s allegedly married with kids somewhere far away. The story is just vaguely truthful enough to fly. It was a little odd that no one tried to find Coleman it was as if he was a friendless island in the town and I didn’t get that impression, so that seemed slightly unfinished to me. The big clue is however, Coleman is the ghost who becomes attached to Michael.

As the story progresses we learn why and that brings on the heartbreaking tale of Coleman’s disappearance. Coleman was not the only victim and Michael and Trey are on a mission to right some very old wrongs. This is where the completely awesome secondary characters come in and Stephen Osborne does a supporting cast like few can. If you’ve read his Duncan Andrews books (and if you haven’t you definitely should) you know what I’m saying.

Also note, the cover dudes are spot on to the descriptions of the characters. That happens so rarely, I had to give props where they were due. This is a fun read that’s heavy on the characters and their sincerity and light on the scares. It’s the perfect book to get you in the mood for Halloween and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing.

For more info on Raven's Rest head over to Dreamspinner Press.

**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**