Group Review: Desperately Seeking Santa by Eli Easton

Journalism student Gabe Martin gets his first professional assignment—to write about a Christmas charity dinner that benefits a children’s home. It sounds like a total snooze-fest until Gabe learns that the event’s Santa is a mystery man. He shows up in costume and no one has a clue who he is. Uncovering Santa’s identity sounds like the perfect angle to turn a fluff piece into serious journalism.

Mack “The Mountain” McDonall, at 6’10”, is University of Wisconsin-Madison’s enormous star wrestler. When Gabe first claps eyes on him at a wrestling match, it’s lust at first sight. Gabe’s friend, Jordan, sets up the pair on a date. But when Gabe chatters on about his plans for outing Santa, Mack goes cold, and their first meeting becomes an epic fail.

As Gabe researches the children’s home, he learns that Mack has secrets a guy famous for being a brute wouldn’t want the world to know. Can Gabe find his holiday spirit, write a killer article, win the heart of a surly giant, and give everyone a very merry Christmas?

NOTE: This 50,000 word short novel features a new couple but includes Jordan and Owen, from the author’s book “Superhero”. It can be read as a stand-alone.

Averaged

Lost in a Book - 3.5 Hearts

Want a feel good, low drama holiday read? This fits the bill with its fluffy, low angst, and likable characters. I liked it, but it didn’t blow my elf socks off like Easton typically does. While many readers may want a feel good, easy peasy holiday romance, I’m all gimme my angst, kindle combusting steam and then seal it with sweetness. *shrug*

Gabe Martin, college senior and aspiring journalist has been assigned to cover the annual Elks Christmas Charity dinner that benefits St. Mark’s Children’s Home. After some research, Gabe decides to turn his story from puff piece to an investigative article on revealing the Santa that has a hidden identity yet brings much joy to the children at this dinner.

Now, I sure do hope you have read Superhero by Easton because it’s awesome and we're treated to Owen and Jordan being secondary characters in this story. Jordan invites Gabe to Owen’s wrestling match and he begrudgingly accepts. Apparently the idea of skin tight singlets on fit wrestlers wasn’t that appealing... until he sees Mack “The Mountain” McDonall.

Mack is a 285lb wrestler that’s straight muscle and stirs up an urgent need to learn all about “mountain climbing.” Gotta watch out for that high altitude and proper hand holds/placement. Maybe throw a carabiner in, too. *bites fist*

“That’s not a man, that’s a zip code.”

Yassssss… tell me more.

I was giddy with anticipation for Mack and his ability to pick up huge men off the ground. I was already dreaming about the *ahem* possibilities of someone that big and strong connecting with another man. Except, Mack wasn’t his wrestling persona. Don’t worry, I dig gentle giants too. He was shy, quiet, reserved, smart, and kept his head down to get through school and move on to the next stage. He wasn’t dealt the best hand at life but he is doing his part to make a difference.

Gabe and Mack are officially introduced when Jordan attempts to set them up. It’s all going swell until Mack retreats at Gabe’s mention of investigating Santa’s identity and using it for his article. The night ends quickly but it doesn’t stop Gabe from tracking Mack down. They form a tentative friendship and it slowwwwwly progresses. It grows as much as it can when both men are still tentative and hesitant to take it further. Much of the story shows their developing friendship with some real UST thrown in. An actual relationship doesn’t happen until the last 20% of the book which brought out my *disappointed face*. Gabe and Mack were opposites but likable characters and while I appreciated the foundation they built leading up to that moment when it all changes, I wanted more. More relational connection. More assertive in their wants. More of them together as they transitioned to boyfriends. And yes, I’ll say it, more heat.

One little oddity for me was the integration of Spanish. I’ll warn you that I took Spanish in high school for a few years and only came away with saying “No, I don’t have gum in my mouth” and “can I go to the bathroom.” Clearly, I’m not the expert on it and definitely wasn’t a model student either. However, Gabe embraced his Spanish side but stated that he wasn’t a proficient speaker due to his father not allowing it. Yet, there were many times throughout where Spanish words were thrown in. I have seen this in a few other books but it didn’t seem as forced as it did in this one. Mi Mama, dios, joder, etc., were all thrown in randomly and pulled me out each time. Again, not an expert on language integration and I look forward to some of my fellow reader's thoughts on the authentic-ness of the placements.

All in all, this was a sugary sweet, low angst, holiday read with a HEA. If that’s what you’re looking for, I’d recommend it.

Adam - 4.25 Hearts

It’s Jizmass season!

And as always, Eli Easton delivers on the holiday cheer and romance.

Journalism student Gabe Martin decides to liven up his first assignment by exposing the secret Santa of a local Christmas charity dinner. He thinks it’s a great idea, but it puts him directly at odds with his crush.

Mack “The Mountain” McDonall is the university’s star wrestler. He keeps his sexuality under wraps, but he’s definitely interested in Gabe.

I thoroughly enjoyed Eli Easton’s young adult novella Superhero, so I was instantly excited when I learned that Jordan and Owen would be making a guest appearance. I loved seeing the two happy and still head over heels for each other!

When Gabe first spots Mack in his wrestling singlet, it’s lust at first sight. Jordan decides to play cupid and set the two up on a blind date.

It goes downhill pretty quickly.

I got where Gabe was coming from, wanting to make a mark as an up-and-coming journalist. But his plan to reveal the secret identity of a charity Santa would probably earn him coal for Christmas. So yeah, it wasn’t the best idea.

I could have done with less of Mack’s hot and cold routine, but I understood why he reacted the way he did. It’s obvious to readers from the get-go who the secret Santa actually is.

What isn’t obvious is exactly why Mack was keeping things so hidden. As Mack’s story is revealed bit by bit, my heart hurt for him. It didn’t take me long to fall for this gentle giant!

Plus, I loved Gabe and Mack’s dynamic. While Mack might not be happy with Gabe’s plan, he can’t deny how much he likes Gabe. And Gabe, on the other hand, only wants to make things work between them.

Gabe gradually wins Mack over with a number of cute gestures. And very slowly, Mack opens up and let’s Gabe in under his walls.

The romance was very cute and sweet. Their relationship builds bit by bit, and I really enjoyed the mellow feel to the story. There’s little angst here, but lots of laughs and cutesy feels.

The epilogue had me grinning with every sentence!

Overall, I really enjoyed ‘Desperately Seeking Santa.’ If you’re looking for a low-angst and easy-to-read holiday romance, I’d definitely recommend this book!

Chelsea - 4.5 Hearts

That was a big pile of Christmas fluff right there! Eli Easton's Christmas stories are always such a delight. This one was particularly sweet, I mean it had orphans…. and wrestlers!!!!

Gabe is an outgoing senior journalism student and is working on his first story for the local paper and is dying to make it something spectacular. Then he sees Mack, the 285 pound wrestler and develops something of a huge crush. Mack is completely opposite to Gabe, he keeps to himself and is slow to trust people.

These two are completely adorable and they have wonderful chemistry. They have a fairly shaky start but I felt both Gabe and Mack worked it out maturely and quickly then become so freakin cute.

The sex scene was hot for a YA novel although relatively unrealistic with Gabe taking Mack's 'proportionate’ dick so easily the first time. But what is Christmas all about if not a easy hard fuck with a massive dick and not much prep? Merry Jizzmas everybody!

In all seriousness this book was packed with the feels. I loved Mack's gentle nature and Gabe's understanding and loyalty. We get to see these two develop who they are to each other and individually. Totally adorable!

Like always Eli Easton just made me want more of her characters and more of their story. This will definitely be a Christmas reread next year.

A wonderful Christmas story.

Anniversary Shenanigans: Author Visit + Giveaway - J.K. Hogan

Welcome J.K. Hogan! She's brought a fic and a giveaway to our shenanigans month long funfest!

Synchronicity

by J.K. Hogan

(Edited and titled by Labyrinth Bound Edits)

Nothing more than a touch. A shared breath. A kiss. Crawling inside each other’s skin and lingering there for the span of a mere moment. His hands on me, rough and smooth, a delicious synchrony of sensation that lights a fire within me that seems to be inextinguishable.

His long leg slides between mine, increasing the pressure, both in my body and my mind. It’s too soon, I think even as I melt into him and mold my limbs around him so there’s not even a micron of space between us. His heat seeps into my skin and I revel in it, because I’ve been so cold for so long.

It’s too soon. We only met days ago, barely a week. It was just a shared smile across a subway car. When we saw each other on the same train two days later, by some unspoken agreement, we left together. Every day since, we’ve been in each other’s beds.

My skin prickles as Liam’s tongue traces my throat, and I shiver when he grazes my jaw with his teeth. His beard rubbing against my face is an enticing contrast to the smoothness of his skin.

It isn’t just sex between us. There have been times over the last week when we talked till dawn and never lacked for topics of conversation.

It’s too soon. He can’t mean something to me. He can’t mean everything.

But when he grips my hips and slips inside, my doubts dissolve and I forget about what is supposed to be and what shouldn’t be. All I want, all I can think about, is him. His scent fills my lungs, our heartbeats sync, his rhythm grounds me until my body takes over, and I match him surge for surge.

“Cole,” he whispers, his voice as wrecked and breathless as I’m sure mine would be if I could speak.

Even as he owns my body, reducing me to a shuddering mess, I realize he’s already wound his way around my heart just as tightly. I should be scared. But I’m not.

Oh the feels! Ammmiright? Be sure to let J.K. know what you think in the comments!

Author Bio:

J.K. Hogan has been telling stories for as long as she can remember, beginning with writing cast lists and storylines for her toys growing up. When she finally decided to put pen to paper, magic happened. She is greatly inspired by all kinds of music and often creates a “soundtrack” for her stories as she writes them. J.K. is hoping to one day have a little something for everyone, so she’s branched out from m/f paranormal romance and added m/m contemporary romance. Who knows what’s next?

J.K. resides in North Carolina, where she was born and raised. A true southern girl at heart, she lives in the country with her husband and two sons, a cat, and two champion agility dogs. If she isn’t on the agility field, J.K. can often be found chasing waterfalls in the mountains with her husband, or down in front at a blues concert. In addition to writing, she enjoys training and competing in dog sports, spending time with her large southern family, camping, boating and, of course, reading!

*Check out J.K. Hogan’s new online m/m paranormal romance on Patreon*

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Enter to win an ecopy of Boys Don't Cry or a backlist ebook, if the winner has already read it. Giveaway ends November 19th @ Midnight EST. Good luck!

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The Unicorns would like to thank J.K. for helping us celebrate our fourth anniversary!

Don't miss entering in our month long unicorn giveaway HERE! It ends 12/1/17!

Trivia Question: What toy does Gabe use in Rule Breaker to edge Dylan like a boss (pun intended)? 15 pts

Anniversary Shenanigans: Author Visit + Giveaway - Joanna Chambers

Joanna Chambers is bringing her historical Dreamweaver magic to the clubhouse today as well as a special giveaway. 

Strawberries

The world, which is now grey, used to be full of colour.

That was before the war.

When I look back, it’s as though it was always summer then. The years have somehow merged, in my memory, into one endlessly long summer day. A day spent lazing by the river with Oliver, the sky innocently cloudless above us, the water summer-still, its glassy surface only disturbed by the occasional plop of a frog hopping into the water. Insects droning contentedly.

In my memory, the wine stays magically cold, no matter how long it’s been sitting open and the strawberries are always perfectly ripe. And when I kiss Oliver, that is what I taste—strawberries.

In my memory, I make love to Oliver in the open, under the sun. There is no fear of discovery. We are the only two people in the world.

I have carried this memory with me through the war. I have carried it like a dried flower, carefully pressed, somewhat preserved. Liable to turn to powder if handled too much.

I worry about how much I’ve built on that memory. The impossible weight of all my hopes and expectations. Because I know the sun did not, in fact, always shine, and sometimes the strawberries were green in places.

And we did not make love in the open. Not at all.

We wrote to one another, when we could. We even managed to meet once, for a whole afternoon. We went to the cinema. Saw Mrs Miniver, hands clutched under my coat. That was nearly three years ago.

And now the war is over. And miraculously, we are both alive. Only, I am not that innocent, carefree boy by the river anymore. The reality of the man I now am weighs heavy on me. I can’t imagine Oliver could possibly want the man I have become.

I walk the two miles from the train station to the river. It’s not sunny. It’s grey and looks set to rain.

When I wrote to Oliver to say I was coming, I said I’d meet him at our favourite picnic spot, and sure enough, when I climb over stile and turn down the path, there he is, leaning against the old tree, his shoulder propped against the great, gnarled trunk as he watches the river glide smoothly past.

I take a step forward and a branch snaps under my boot.

Oliver turns. There is hope—and fear—in his eyes.

“Peter—”

And then he’s running towards me.

I throw my pack to the ground an instant before he reaches me and then his lean, solid weight is slamming into me and he’s crushing his mouth against mine. The memories scatter—everything is made new.

There’s not so much as a strawberry in sight, and I don’t give a damn.

Author info

Joanna Chambers always wanted to write. In between studying, finding a proper grown up job, getting married and having kids, she spent many hours staring at blank sheets of paper and chewing pens. That changed when she rediscovered her love of romance and found her muse. Joanna's muse likes red wine, coffee and won't let Joanna clean the house or watch television

Website: http://joannachambers.com/
Twitter: chambersjoanna

Enter to win and ecopy of Children of the Night an anthology with ALL the proceeds going to Rainbow Railroad! Giveaway ends November 11th @ Midnight EST. Good luck!

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We thank Ms. Chambers for helping us celebrate turning the big 4!

Don't miss entering in our month long unicorn giveaway HERE! It ends 12/1/17!

Trivia Question: Name the series set in a large northwestern city in the US that heavily features coffee, baked goods & romance. 10 pts

Anniversary Shenanigans: Author Visit + Giveaway - Cordelia Kingsbridge

We're tickled pink to have Cordelia Kingsbridge join in the shenanigans again this year with a fic that's sure to make you AWWWWWW!

Noah brightened at the familiar sound of heavy boots thumping along the linoleum. He looked up from his computer at the nurses’ station to see Rusty McMillan tromping down the hallway, dressed as usual in a battered leather jacket and distressed jeans laden with clinking silver chains. His motorcycle helmet hung from one hand, along with a small shopping bag.

When Rusty noticed Noah, he changed course and came to lean against the counter. Noah shot to his feet, eyes traveling helplessly from the scarred knuckles of Rusty’s massive hands, over his burly chest and the tattoos snaking up his neck, to his weather-beaten face and thick beard.

“How is she?” Rusty asked, his voice deep and gruff.

“It’s been a pretty good day,” said Noah. “I’ll be right in.”

Rusty nodded and walked away, disappearing into a room down the hall.

Liz, one of the newer nurses on staff, cast a contemptuous glance after him and popped her gum. “What kind of trashy asshole comes into a nursing facility dressed like that?”

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Noah snapped. “Rusty visits his mother almost every day. How many other patients’ kids do you see doing that?”

He left the nurses’ station before she could reply, and stopped outside the open door to Mrs. McMillan’s room. Inside, a frail elderly woman sat in a wheelchair by the large window, gazing out with blue eyes gone filmy with cataracts.

Rusty, who had set his helmet aside, knelt in front of her chair. “Hey, Ma. How you feeling?”

She turned her head towards him and frowned. “Who’re you?”

“I’m your son. Russell.”

She blinked, her expression one of utter incomprehension.

Rusty smiled. “I brought you something. See?” He reached into the shopping bag and produced a small stuffed Winnie-the-Pooh doll.

Mrs. McMillan’s face lit up. She reached for the doll with an excited gasp, then broke into happy chatter. Rusty grinned as he listened, still crouched by her chair.

Noah gave them a moment before he stepped into the room – the room that was plastered from wall to wall with Winnie-the-Pooh dolls, pictures, books, and other memorabilia, because Mrs. McMillan’s childhood love of the stories was the one memory she’d held onto throughout her struggles with dementia.

After giving Rusty a brief update, Noah left them in peace and rounded on his other patients. He was entering notes on a mobile computer in the hall an hour later when he heard Rusty’s boots approaching.

“Hey,” Rusty said. “Dr. Palmer told me you’re leaving in a couple of weeks?”

Noah bit his lip. “I’m moving into hospice nursing at a facility nearby. But don’t worry, we’re getting your mom used to the other nurses. The change shouldn’t be too jarring for her.”

“I trust you to do what’s best. I was actually asking because, uh…” Rusty cleared his throat, shifting from foot to foot. “I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner sometime?”

“I’m sorry?”

“I always figured it was against the rules for you to date a patient’s relative, so I never asked. But if you’re getting a new job, maybe we could…” Rusty shrugged and shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, a slight flush on his rugged face.

Noah’s stomach fluttered like a thousand butterflies had been released at once. “Yes,” he said. “I’d love that.”

Right in the feels, ammiright? Be sure to let Cordelia know what you thought of her fic in the comments below!

ICYMI: Kill Game released 10/23 from Riptide Publishing and is the start of what promises to be a rollercoaster ride of a thriller series.

Homicide detective Levi Abrams is barely holding his life together. He’s reeling from the fallout of a fatal shooting, and his relationship with his boyfriend is crumbling. The last thing he’s prepared for is a serial killer stalking the streets of Las Vegas. Or how he keeps getting thrown into the path of annoyingly charming bounty hunter Dominic Russo.

Dominic likes his life free of complications. That means no tangling with cops—especially prickly, uptight detectives. But when he stumbles across one of the Seven of Spades’s horrifying crime scenes, he can’t let go, despite Levi’s warnings to stay away.

The Seven of Spades is ruthless and always two moves ahead. Worst of all, they’ve taken a dangerously personal interest in Levi and Dominic. Forced to trust each other, the two men race to discover the killer’s identity, revealing hidden truths along the way and sparking a bond neither man expected. But that may not be enough to protect them.

This killer likes to play games, and the deck is not stacked in Levi and Dominic’s favor.

Trust me, you don't want to miss out on this one. See our squee filled review HERE

We Unicorns thank Cordelia for helping us celebrate our 4th anniversary!

Thanks to Dreamspinner Press, enter to win any DSP audiobook! Giveaway ends 11/10 @ Midnight EST. Good luck!

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Don't miss entering in our month long unicorn giveaway HERE! It ends 12/1/17!

Trivia Question: Which shifter of a popular law enforcement series has a mate who loves all things all sugar? 5 pts 

Anniversary Shenanigans: Author Visit + Giveaway - Sidney Bell

Brace yourselves for the feels Sidney Bell is about to serve up for your reading pleasure. 

The Mermaid Game by Sidney Bell

“I’m not staying,” Jim insisted, although he didn’t seem to be leaving. The tile was cold beneath his bare feet, the hems of his jeans damp because Marco was an uncultured swine who couldn’t bathe without splashing water all over hell and back. Marco knew exactly what he was thinking, too, because his crooked grin was blindingly white against his deeply olive skin, his dark eyes sly. He was sleek as an otter in the big claw-footed bathtub. Jim could see the steam from across the room. He’d only stepped inside to say that he’d be in the garage, and he’d really meant to leave, but now he was just standing here staring.

Marco flicked a few drops of water in Jim’s direction with lazy fingers and said, “Come swimming with me, Jimmy. You can be my mermaid that I’ve rescued from the depths of the ocean.”

“It’s a tub,” Jim replied, unimpressed. “And I’m a better swimmer than you. And wouldn’t a mermaid be saving you?”

“Details,” Marco said dismissively. “Get in.”

“I can’t stay up here with you. My mother is downstairs. I told her I was coming right back down, and if I take too long, she’ll know we’re—”

“Yes, life as we know it will end. Elaine McGuire is forced to acknowledge that The Sex exists. And yet, I suspect she will survive. She does have children, after all.” Marco paused mid-eyeroll. “Are you sure you weren’t adopted? That would explain so much.”

Jim ignored that. “I have to get the shelves installed in the garage. And I said I’d help rake the leaves, since Dad’s back is hurting again. I promised. I can’t…I can’t just ignore all of that to stay up here with you.” He could hear the longing he couldn’t quite conceal, and Marco’s expression lost that ironic edge.

“It’s a bath, Jimmy, not an orgy,” Marco said gently. “Please get in. The mermaid game is really simple, I swear. It’s basically me calling you a mermaid. We’re already playing, actually. But it’s better if you’re in here with me. Verisimilitude, pal.”

Jim studied all that damp, flushed-red skin, the tendril of black hair dripping against Marco’s creased forehead. “I can’t.”

Marco folded his arms on the lip of the tub and dropped his chin to rest on his hands, the porcelain squeaking under his wet fingertips as he got comfortable. Matter-of-factly, he said, “I hate what this does to you. I hate what they do to you.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re like someone else whenever we come here.”

Jim stiffened, but the implication of the words—I don’t like who you are when we’re here—didn’t match the concern in Marco’s face, and Jim knew better, he did, and even if he hadn’t, Marco knew him, well enough to read the impending hurt and fear.

 “No.” Marco sat up so fast he sent more water sloshing onto the floor. “God, no. That’s not what I meant.”

Jim grabbed towels from the closet and draped them over the floor while Marco watched, mouth pursed unhappily. “It’s okay,” Jim said.

“No, it isn’t.” Marco caught Jim’s wrist, staring up at him with eyes gone tense at the corners. “I love you. All the versions of you. Even the uptight little ass you become when you’re around your family. I just want to make it better. You’re so…locked in. And it’s not…fuck. I’m saying it wrong.”

“No, it’s not wrong.” Jim twisted his wrist, breaking loose of Marco’s restraining grip so he could  interlace their fingers more comfortably. He didn’t know how to say that he was always braced in this house. It was another lifelong habit, this tension, as familiar as the magnets on the fridge or the spots on the dining room table where the finish was peeling or the pile of his father’s fishing gear that was permanently grafted to the armoire by the back door.

They weren’t bad people, Jim reminded himself frequently. They loved him. He loved them. They were all just profoundly, effortfully different. Every space between them was a minefield that none of them knew how to traverse without words that inevitably turned barbed. At some point, Jim had put up walls, walls that’d migrated to other areas of his life, until one day he looked up and found himself trapped.

Until seventeen months ago, when Marco appeared. Marco was a bulldozer, a warm, loving, argumentative bulldozer who’d blithely intruded where everyone else quailed. They’d had three awkward dates that’d left Jim wondering what the hell Marco kept coming back for, and then a fourth date that had ended with Marco fucking Jim senseless deep into the quiet, early-morning hours. Jim had woken at dawn, disoriented and overheated, surrounded by Marco’s heavy, snoring bulk. Marco’s forearm, slack with sleep, was draped around him, and Jim’s hands had somehow clamped down on it in the night, holding it in place.

When Marco finally blinked his eyes open, he’d demanded breakfast and entertainment, only to be curiously satisfied by the sleeve of Ritz crackers and the ancient issue of The Atlantic Jim had produced, and he’d lain there in Jim’s bed talking with his mouth full about some outdated article he’d barely gotten three paragraphs into before he started picking it apart, oblivious to the fact that Jim had tuned him out in order to quietly panic about how badly he’d wanted to say I’m not going to mention the crumbs in my sheets, because that’s how much I want you, I love the crumbs you’re leaving behind, that’s how much I already need you.

Jim, it later turned out, was the kind of man who could know he was in love for six months before he managed to say it. For a long time, he’d wondered when Marco would get tired of always being the one who had to reach across the distance Jim couldn’t help creating. He wasn’t sure when he’d simply decided to be grateful.

Now, Marco said, “You’re allowed to speak up for what you need. They should let you. Hell, they should want you to. I know that you know how. You do it with me.”

That’s different, Jim wanted to say. I trust you not to leave.

“You do it everywhere else,” Marco continued. “You’re so much happier everywhere else.”

“It’s easier everywhere else.” Jim’s throat was so tight he wasn’t sure how the words got out. “But here…I don’t know how to stop.”

“You just do what I say. I won’t get you into trouble, I promise.” Marco raised three fingers in the Boy Scout salute, then smiled, that impish, sweet, determined smile that belied everything he’d said. “We’ll put in the stupid shelves and rake the stupid leaves together later. But for now, just do what I say.”

“Oh, just do what you say,” Jim repeated dryly. “Is that all?”

“I mean, we both know you want to play mermaid, Jim.”

Jim couldn’t quite stop himself from snorting.

Marco grinned back. “Get in the tub, baby. I’ll wash your hair and tell you how pretty you are.”

“You’re fucking ridiculous,” Jim muttered. But his hands were unbuttoning his shirt without his permission, and it hurt, it actually physically hurt, to take that first step forward, but Marco was right. Marco was always right when it came to things like this, when it came to what it would take to make the noise in Jim’s head settle. The heat of the water left him gasping, but didn’t warm him half as much as the way Marco’s arms opened wide for him, the way their bodies fit and made room for each other.

“If you call me pretty, I’m getting out,” Jim whispered.

Marco laughed softly. “Yeah, right. You’re not going anywhere.”

Jim pushed his face into the curve of Marco’s throat and breathed in the familiar, well-loved scent of his skin. No, he wasn’t going anywhere at all.

Wasn't that Grrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaatttt? Be sure to let Sidney know what you thought of her fic in the comments section!

About the Author

Sidney Bell lives in the drizzly Pacific Northwest with her amazingly supportive husband. She received her MFA degree in Creative Writing in 2010, considered aiming for the Great American Novel, and then promptly started writing fanfiction instead. Eventually more realistic grown-ups convinced her to try writing something more fiscally responsible, which is how we ended up here.

When she’s not writing, she’s playing violent video games, yelling at the television during hockey games, or supporting her local library by turning books in late.

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Enter to win a paperback copy of Loose Cannon. 2 winners will be chosen! Open internationally. Giveaway ends 11/8/17 @ Midnight. Good luck!

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Trivia Question: What is the title of the fourth book in this series with a PI, hooker & an artist? 5 pts

Review: Rule Breaker by Lily Morton

Is it really wrong to want to murder your boss?

Dylan has worked for Gabe for two years. Two long years of sarcastic comments. Two long years of insults, and having to redo the coffee pot four times in the mornings to meet his exacting standards.

Not surprisingly he has devoted a lot of time to increasingly inventive ways to murder Gabe. From stabbing him with a cake fork, to garrotting him with his expensive tie, Dylan has thought of everything.

However, a chance encounter opens his eyes to the attraction that has always lain between them, concealed by the layers of antipathy. There are only two problems - Gabe is still a bastard, and he makes wedding planners look like hardened pessimists.

But what happens when Dylan starts to see the real Gabe? What happens when he starts to fall in love with the warm, wary man that he sees glimpses of as the days pass?

Because Gabe is still the same commitment shy, cold man that he’s always been, or is he? Has Dylan had the same effect on Gabe, and has his solid gold rule of no commitment finally been broken? With his heart taken Dylan desperately needs to know, but will he get hurt trying to find the answers?

From the author of ‘The Summer of Us’ comes another scorchingly hot romantic comedy, showing what happens between two men when rules get broken.

I realized whilst reading this book that this, whatever trope this lone wolf/perennially traveling light/finds their other half is called with a dash of hurt/comfort, is my kryptonite. Every single time it gets me. Nowhere Ranch, First and First, Controlled Burn, the Enlightenment series, Bad Judgment, Rattlesnake and now Rule Breaker. If you can throw in a made family I'm likely to be putty in your hands. I laughed. I got choked up a couple times. I found myself grinning and, most importantly, I didn't want it to end.

Gabe and Dylan are boss and employee. They've worked together for two years and maybe at one point Dylan actually thought he hated Gabe, but all the "hating" was more lip-service to me, so if you're looking for an enemies who become lovers via hate sex this is not that book. What you can count on is witty banter, tension so thick you can cut it with a knife, sexy times and feels.

Now, the sex. It's topnotch with a little orgasm denial, Fleshlight usage, some come play, a touch of begging, rimming, big guy bottoming 🙌🏼 and these two, once they break the push/pull cycle, set the sheets on fire. Often. I was not mad at it, but sex is just one component of their relationship. The romance and the erotica were well balanced, IMO.

Dylan narrates the story of he and Gabe and he is sassy, snarky, witty and generally hilarious. He also has the biggest heart, a heart big enough to make up for the dearth of love in Gabe's past. What impressed me was how well developed Gabe was even though we don't get his perspective until the epilogue. Morton did an incredible job of doling out pieces of the Gabe puzzle so that by the time the Christmas sequence happened, I knew. I do wish I understood that club scene better, though. I'd dance a jig for a short from Gabe's perspective.

Gabe is a grump and an alpha, but it was so hard for me not to like him. It's obvious that most of his curmudgeonly ways are a defense mechanism, because everybody leaves. He just can't handle losing anyone else so he's closed himself off and told himself he's happy inside his beautiful and sterile shell.

The trajectory of their story was predictable in a broad sense but I found it no less compelling for it; it had to happen that way to balance their relationship otherwise Dylan would always question it. So, yes, expect a glorious HEA. At one point I was convinced Morton was trying to kill me, because BIG GUNS. I have a weakness for the possessive and growly ones and Gabe gets about eleventy kabrillion different kinds of possessive and growly once he's committed to Dylan. 😍 It was a sight to behold.

Maybe it did get a little sappy and maybe I thought Gabe's turnabout was quick, but the flip side of that coin is he's in love for the first time in his life. Weren't we all a little punch drunk and heart eyed the first time? So the sap in me threw the cynic in me some shade and told her to STFU and stop interrupting The Feelsfest! But then he played "In Your Eyes" for Dylan and even the cynic was slow clapping while surreptitiously grabbing a tissue for acute onset allergies.

*sniffles*

All the secondary characters play their roles well, even the asstacular Fletcher. *gag* I would welcome a follow up on Jude or Henry. Or both! #greedy

Recommend to hurt/comfort and whatever the hell this devoted singleton to committed boyfriend trope is called and those who like to wallow in the squishy feels.

Also, for all two of you who haven't read it already, here's the link to Gabe's proposal that we sort of got dangled with in the epilogue.

A review copy was provided.

Tag Team Review: Five Dares by Eli Easton

Andy Tyler has been the class daredevil since middle school. Over the years, he’s convinced his best friend, Jake Masterson, to perform some dangerous-looking stunts with him. But the dare they attempt on the night of their college graduation goes sideways. The firecrackers explode too soon and both of them end up with badly burned palms.

But hey, nothing gets the “terrible two-o” down for long, and they recuperate in style at Andy’s family cottage in Cape Cod . As the weeks go by, both Andy and Jake grow frustrated over the inability to use their hands for all sorts of daily activities—including getting off. So Andy begins a new series of dares that don’t just cross the friendship line, they obliterate it.

But what might be mere sexual relief to Andy is serious business to Jake, who only recently got over years of secret pining for his straight best friend. Inevitably, the burns heal, summer ends, and hearts are broken. To fix things, Andy will have to face the greatest dare of all.

Averaged!

Adam - 4 Hearts

When it comes to gay NA/college romances, Eli Easton always delivers!

‘Five Dares’ starts off with the MCs, Andy Tyler and Jake Masterson, performing an incredibly stupid stunt and ending up with serious burns on their hands. I was shaking my head at the immaturity.

But it didn’t take me long to warm up to Jake and Andy. They both realized that they’d made a terrible mistake, so I was willing to give them a chance.

Friends-to-lovers is one of my favourite tropes. In this book, the friendship between the MCs is front and center. Before Jake and Andy take things further, readers get to see how close they’ve been since their childhood, and how the two dread going their separate ways after graduation.

I was grinning like a fool at all of their jokes and cute moments, and their previous stunts. I couldn’t wait to see the two fall in love, especially since Jake was already halfway there.

The shift from friends to lovers happens gradually. Andy, who’s the more daring of the two, decides that the best way to deal with blue balls and a lack of hands is mutual blowjobs. Jake doesn’t agree at first, but he’s certainly tempted.

Once Jake gives in to his desires, he and Andy are hot, hot, hot. I really liked that Andy had few hang ups, even though he’d never been with a guy before.

Their relationship in the bedroom is an extension of their existing friendship, and so the two just click physically the same way they do emotionally.

It was interesting to see the relationship from both sides, and how it builds differently for the two. Jake’s had feelings for Andy for years, while Andy slowly realizes how much more Jake really means to him.

When the two weren’t getting down and dirty, they were being sweet, but cautious, lovebirds outside of the bedroom. They have conflicting emotions and don’t know what the future holds, but being together just feels right.

However, the big stumbling block in the relationship is that Andy struggles to reconcile his feelings for Jake with what he and his dad had planned for Andy’s life. I don’t want to give anything away, but the resolution was so perfectly romantic!

Overall, I really enjoyed ‘Five Dares.’ It’s full of love, laughs, some hot sexin’, and a few feels to top it off. Recommended!

Optimist ♰King's Wench♰ - 4.5 Hearts

They call themselves the Andy and Jake Show.

I called them stupid boys.

Andy and Jake have been best friends since seventh grade. Through high school and their undergrad studies at NYU they've been doing these crazy dares. It's usually Andy leading Jake by the nose hairs into these hijinks, because Jake is a sheep. This last one, though... lands them both in the hospital and without the use of their hands for 6-8 wks! So they wend up at Andy's parents Nantucket cottage for one last summer before Andy enters Harvard Law and Jake moves to Silicon Valley.

The dares take on a decidedly sexual tone at the cottage. They start off practical but Jake's got a secret: he's been in love with his best friend for years and he's bisexual. Five Dares really digs into the complexities of bisexuality in a multitude of ways. The only niggle I had was this concept (which I've seen often) that in choosing to be with a man there will be more sex. The implication being that women have a lower sex drive than men. I wish someone would kill that perception in a fire. But in all other ways I thought the bi representation was strong. And I LOVED how gung-ho Andy was.

"I hate you," I said. "With the power of a thousand Foo Fighters concert amps." 

Andy blew me a sarcastic air-kiss. "Liar. You love me to pieces. Come and get it, baby."

Andy and Jake tell this story and both are strong and well developed characters. Jake's fears of backsliding and never being able to get over Andy after this summer endeared him to me. Andy's struggles with redefining himself as bisexual were heartfelt and sometimes heartbreaking. As the summer unfolds they become increasingly intimate and it was hooooooooooootttttttttttttt. Their sexual chemistry might have caused smoke signals to come out of my kindle. Especially the Andy bottoming scene. UNF!

If you have trouble with characters not communicating, this could be a miss for you. Neither are good at expressing themselves which is why I liked being inside each of their heads. It's a simple as breathing for them to springboard from best friends to lovers, but I honestly began to think that Andy's epiphany would never happen. Once it does, he gives it 100% effort. I might have read the big grand gesture scene a couple of times. Oh my feels!

I wanted to crawl inside him. I wanted to sink to the floor and die because it would never be enough.

Five Dares for me was one of Easton's better reads. She does characters with depth that are real and accessible so well. Both of them read like twenty somethings on the cusp of adulthood and struggling with that transition. They both like to have fun, have their dorky moments and worry about their futures.

Andy's father is the strongest secondary character. He's hardworking, pragmatic and serious. There will probably be controversy about his likability but there are two things that I think Easton did exceptionally well with his character: (1) you can really see how much Andy takes after him; (2) he brought many relevant contemporary sociopolitical concerns to the narrative without resorting to hyperbole. In a Trump America bigotry and racism are en vogue again so his concerns are not only valid but they resonated.

Recommended to college/coming of age and friends to lovers romance fans!

ARCs were provided by NetGalley.

Fangirl Review: Axios: A Spartan Tale by Jaclyn Osborn

I am Axios of Sparta, and I was born to kill. At age seven, I left home to train with other boys where we were taught obedience, solidarity, military strategy, and how to withstand pain. My harsh upbringing stripped me of my weaknesses and forced me to become strong. Ruthless.

But, I craved something greater—a life I could never have. Against all odds, and the toughest training a warrior could endure, I found an unexpected love in the arms of a fellow Spartan. He was the very air I breathed and the water that sustained me. Fighting side by side with him, we were invincible. Where he went, I followed.

However, there was no place for love in Sparta. Feelings were for the weak. The only life for a Spartan was one of battle and brutality with no guarantee of tomorrow. In times of war, all men were put to the test, but the greatest challenge for us was not one of swords and spears, but of the heart.

"Loyalty. Brotherhood. And love."

There's been buzz over on GR about this book with good reason, so I wanted to share my feels to the non-GRers among you, because this book is stunning, unforgettable and deserving of hype. What I want people to know if you read nothing else of this review is that this is not a sad book! The ending is bittersweet but the book as a whole is gripping, wonderfully entertaining, masterfully written, poignantly insightful and above all else a resplendent love story.

Jaclyn Osborn is a new to me author but she has my attention now. As a history buff I appreciate the research and attention to detail that is evident on every page, in every nuance and her usage of these historical events to weave a timeless love story is what made Axios special to me.

Axios and Eryx forge a bond through trials and tribulations that stands the test of time. But this story is more than the telling of their romance. It's about forming a brotherhood, finding a family and a home amongst them and fighting for each other. They may not believe in the war but they believe in each other and that is why they fight. Trust me when I say the secondary characters are just as well crafted as Axios and Eryx and just as crucial to their story, even the ones that flash through their lives like shooting stars.

Axios is the narrator of this story and we meet him at the tender age of seven after he's been sent to the agoge. Eryx is in his group and they become best friends. I admit I was skeptical when I realized how young they were at the onset but by starting the story while they were but babes Osborn was able to build these characters and their relationship from the ground up. She brings us along to witness their evolution from boys to warriors to men firsthand. It was exhilarating to read.

Both are complex characters that I could go on and on about but what I found most touching was the way they compliment one another. In a different time, in a different place I think Eryx would've been a teacher with his inherent leadership skills and gift for storytelling and Axios an artist of some sort. Axios is a beautiful person, so tenderhearted and kind. Watching him become the warrior he has to be, through no choice of his own, and lose some of his dreamer essence made me doleful. It's not fair but it's his reality, a reality that he must face in order to survive.

However, were circumstances different perhaps he would never have met Eryx and that would've been the real tragedy, because he and Eryx are two sides of the same coin. Jaclyn Osborn made me believe their love defies time and space. If reincarnation exists they will find each other again and again.

If you know nothing of Sparta, know that they were a warrior nation. Their entire society subsisted upon building warriors, a process that begins with conscription at age seven. There is blood and violence. War and all that that entails. It's brutal and heinous and changes them. Friends are lost. Bonds are strengthened. Enemies are felled. But there is always another war looming thus their reprieves are short-lived.

Both are aware every battle they survive could be their last. They know every moment is precious and make the most of them. They live and love to the fullest. They are playful with each other and their friends. Never is there any doubt where their loyalties lie, though. They may fight for Sparta but their first priority is each other.

Osborn was very conscientious of using foreshadowing if you are not a history buff. The tension builds. The handwriting is on the proverbial wall. If you subscribe to the notion that a romance isn't a romance without a traditional HEA, this may not be the book for you. I find myself most affected by these romances. They are the ones that stay with me-The Age of Innocence, The Wings of the Dove, Romeo and Juliet and more recently Amberlough. They speak to me and Axios spoke to me so I'm recommending it to you through this fangirl review.

My thanks to Jaclyn Osborn for writing this sophisticated and memorable story that became, for me, an instant classic. It's the best $4 I've spent in quite some time.

My warrior. My lover. My heart.