Review: Out in Winter (Out in College #8) by Lane Hayes

The grad student, the jock, and some winter fun…

Drew

My new job at the bistro is fun. The owners are good guys, and the staff is made up primarily of boisterous water polo players. I know nothing about the sport except there’s a Speedo involved, and Liam likes to wear his everywhere. Yes…Liam—the chatty, handsome, utterly charming waiter I can’t seem to stop thinking about. Ugh. Note to self—do not fall for another younger man.

Liam

Getting Drew to notice me hasn’t been easy. He’s a little intense, and he knows how to keep his distance. Something tells me he’s not immune—he’s just stubborn. Maybe a weekend of bonding on the ski slopes will win him over. And if I can get him to come out in winter, I might be able to convince him that we have a chance at something special.

Short, sweet, and sexy.

I was looking for a good opposites-attract romance, and ‘Out in Winter’ delivered! Liam and Drew couldn’t be more different.

Drew is serious, reserved, and very careful in everything he does. Liam is loud, outgoing, and goes with the flow.

Despite those differences, the two are very attracted to each other, which makes working together at the bistro a bit tricky at times. Not that either of them admits it or lets on to the other.

That is until an offer of a lift ends in a deep conversation and a hot makeout session. After that, there’s no turning back!

I really liked that along with the undeniable physical attraction, Drew and Liam’s relationship also had the emotional connection from the get-go. That the two were so comfortable sharing their secrets with each other, and made time and space for one another.

That easy connection carries their budding relationship from the restaurant to the ski slopes. Their dates during the quick getaway were adorable.

And not to mention very sexy! These two really brought the heat, and were so in-tune with each other’s needs.

Something that I wasn’t a fan of - that age was ever part of the discussion, at least on Drew’s end. Five years is nothing, and both men were still in their twenties.

It should have been a non-issue. And it seemed to feed Drew’s general cautious approach about relationships, which is the main stumbling block.

Luckily, that didn’t last too long! It takes them a bit of time to voice it, but both Liam and Drew are on the same page and want the same thing.

Though I think the time after their return from the ski trip could have been more fleshed out to show rather than just tell how the two had fallen for each other, it was obvious that they were head over heels in love.

The epilogue really sealed the deal, and didn’t leave any doubt that Drew and Liam are forever for each other.

If you’re looking for a low-angst and easy to read MM romance, I’d recommend Out in Winter!

A copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Release Blitz + Giveaway: Out in Winter (Out in College #8) by Lane Hayes

Join author Lane Hayes and IndiGo Marketing as they celebrate the release of winter romance, Out in Winter (Out in College #8)! Read more about the latest in the popular series and enter in the $25 Amazon gift card giveaway!

Title: Out in Winter

Series: Out in College, Book 8

Author: Lane Hayes

Publisher: Lane Hayes

Release Date: January 11, 2021

Heat Level: 4 - Lots of Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 32k

Genre: Romance, Bisexual, Friends to Lovers, College romance, Humor, Jock, Age Gap

Add to Goodreads

Synopsis

The grad student, the jock, and some winter fun…

Drew

My new job at the bistro is fun. The owners are good guys, and the staff is made up primarily of boisterous water polo players. I know nothing about the sport except there’s a Speedo involved, and Liam likes to wear his everywhere. Yes…Liam—the chatty, handsome, utterly charming waiter I can’t seem to stop thinking about. Ugh. Note to self—do not fall for another younger man.

Liam

Getting Drew to notice me hasn’t been easy. He’s a little intense, and he knows how to keep his distance. Something tells me he’s not immune—he’s just stubborn. Maybe a weekend of bonding on the ski slopes will win him over. And if I can get him to come out in winter, I might be able to convince him that we have a chance at something special.

Out in Winter is a low-angst MM, bisexual romance starring an oh so serious grad student, a goofball water polo player, and a little winter magic. This story is part of the Out in College series, but each book can be read as a stand-alone.

Excerpt

The stunning winter wonderland panorama was dotted with impossibly tall evergreens flocked with snow and the pristine hills glistening in the morning sun. It was so quiet, I could almost imagine we were alone in the world. That was precisely the kind of thought that freaked me out sometimes. But not today. Today the idea seemed…promising. Maybe even cleansing, like a new start.

“It’s beautiful,” I said reverently.

“This is one of the reasons I like coming out here early. The light is so brilliant. It looks like a postcard or the photo in the dictionary next to the word ‘hope.’ ”

“That’s a nice thought.”

We shared a smile; then he adjusted his goggles and inclined his head meaningfully. “Ready?”

“Yeah, but…you go first.”

“C’mere.” Liam crooked his finger.

I shuffled forward until I stood beside him with our skis pointing in the opposite direction, expecting him to impart some advice about the terrain or maybe remind me how to stop. Both might have been helpful, actually.

“What is it?”

“Hold on to my sleeve. Stay still. That’s perfect.” He stroked my chin before leaning in to press his lips to mine. “You taste like cherry ChapStick. I like.”

I grinned. “Thanks. So do you.”

He kissed me again, twisting his tongue with mine and leaving me breathless. “Mmm. I’m making it my personal quest to make sure you get down this mountain safely and that you have fun doing it.”

“Good luck with that,” I sighed, aware that my voice had taken on a dreamy quality.

“I don’t need luck. I’m an expert,” he bragged playfully. “I’m going to give you a couple of tips. Listen up.”

“I’m listening.”

“Bend your knees and stay loose.”

“Like this?” I bent my knees and wiggled my arms like a rubber band.

Liam chuckled. “Something like that. We’re gonna take it slow, moving from side to side, making wide turns. I’ll go first. Follow me and remember to keep your gaze forward.”

“As opposed to?”

“Looking at your skis. You don’t look at your feet when you’re walking, so don’t look at your skis when you’re skiing. It’ll fuck with your balance. Ready?”

“Yeah.” I licked my lips and nodded.

Liam glided smoothly down the incline, veering sharply to the right. He stopped with a flourish, sending a plume of powdery snow skyward before raising his poles triumphantly. I snickered at the silly display. He made it seem fun and relatively easy. All right, then. I could do this.

I grasped my poles in a vise grip and dug into the snow, propelling myself forward. I aimed my skis in Liam’s general direction and honestly, it felt pretty damn good. I was in control, a cool breeze on my face, and a light wind at my back. Best of all, I appeared to be closing in on my correct destination. A hot guy was waiting for me in front of a huge pine tree with—

Oh, fuck.

I couldn’t stop. I picked up speed and barreled forward, trying to remember his advice. Knees bent. Check. Don’t look at your skis. Check. Stay loose…

Nope. Not possible.

I was wound so tight my head felt like it might pop off. Every muscle in my body was rigid as I zoomed closer to Liam…and the tree. It occurred to me as my life began to flash in front of my eyes that if I turned downhill, I could avoid the tree and move in the right direction. I might not have control of my skis, but Liam seemed to know what he was doing. No doubt he’d catch up easily and offer tips on how not to kill myself along the way. A comical vision of him doing circles around me while I tumbled into a giant snowball flashed in my head.

And that might have been when things went sideways.

Purchase at Amazon

Meet the Author

Lane Hayes loves a good romance! An avid reader from an early age, she has always been drawn to well-told love story with beautifully written characters. Her debut novel was a 2013 Rainbow Award finalist and subsequent books have received Honorable Mentions, and were winners in the 2016, 2017, and 2018-2019 Rainbow Awards. She loves red wine, chocolate and travel (in no particular order). Lane lives in Southern California with her amazing husband in a not quite empty nest.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram | Bookbub

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Review: Winter Magic Anthology by Various Authors

Winter Magic – where warmth and cheer and all good things associated with the festivities of this magical season are set to make your hearts glow. The Winter Magic anthology features six shifter stories from some of your favorite eXtasy Book authors. Let romance work its magic for you this winter.

average rating

Alpha Challenge by Liz Kay 
4.5 Hearts 
I’m not a huge enemies-to-lovers-trope fan, but this one I could totally get with. Probably because only one of the MC’s saw an enemy, while the other was just plain fascinated. It made for a fun dynamic between Juri and Phoenix. Plus, bears. Juri believes he’s destined to take over the clan his father has been alpha of for years and I had to respect his belief because he wasn’t just some overbearing alpha dickhead, it was obvious he loved his clan and his family so he wanted to honor them by leading. Buuuut, he didn’t expect Phoenix to come along and challenge him. The author did a great job of making two alphas work especially given the outcome of the challenge. I’ll be down for reading more of this author’s shifter stories after meeting Yuri and Phoenix.

Challenge the Sun by Deja Black 
3.5 Hearts 
Dimitri and Eric are an interesting couple. Dimitri is a goblin and a bit of a prick. Eric is ex-military who’s moving on with his life after recovering from an injury received while serving. Dimitri has some misconceptions about what strength and courage are and we’re given enough backstory about him to understand his thinking organically. So, while he’s incredibly frustrating, he has an undeniable appeal. Eric is frankly too good for Dimitri for much of the story, but he’s seriously attracted to the dumbass so figures a one time thing will be fine and then he can move on. Thing is, neither of them can move on and it takes some external action for the two of them to come together again and for Dimitri to finally get some awareness. It’s too bad he had to figure it out by seeing Eric be a badass rather than just getting to know him and recognizing his strength, but I’m guessing that’s not a goblin thing. The sparks between these two were awesome and when two kinks align you know you’re going to get a good story.

Liam by Suede Delray 
3.5 Hearts 
While I loved the unique premise of Liam, I did kind of feel like I missed a good chunk of story. I wasn’t lost in what was happening at all, but it did read like I was dropped in well after the story started. I inferred a lot of things, but it wasn’t too tough to figure out, but I would have liked a more well rounded beginning. All that being said, the meat of the story was great and I would love to read this as a novella at least. We scratched the surface of some great characters and I would love to just get a whole lot more of everything.

Melting His Fiery Heart by Charlie Richards 
3 Hearts 
I haven’t read any of the Wolves of Stone Ridge stories and so I went into Melting His Fiery Heart blind. It’s a fated mate stories that hits all the nails that make those stories fly. Instant attraction, instant boners, instant boning; it’s all there. I liked that I got a little bit of Riley’s personality before he met Dagskon because after that it was all mating all the time. They did have some activities with the rest of Dagskon’s family and their friends and an obligatory villian to keep things moving, but I could have done without the action and would have preferred to spend time getting to know Riley and Dagskon separately and together. I think I would have really liked both of them and they would have been fun to watch as they got to know one another.

Red Run Rescue by Lynn Michaels 
3 Hearts 
Again, I loved the setup of this one, but felt like I was missing out on a chunk of the story. Rory and Donner have two new fawns and it’s apparent they are a relatively new couple, so there should be a lot for me to learn as not too far into the story Donner is leaving to rescue another deer shifter (and it’s obviously a trap set by wolves) and Rory stays behind to watch their two little ones and prepare for the Yule celebration. I was told enough about the council and wolves in passing, so I get that the former is clueless and the latter is evil, but that’s pretty much it. Which was fine for a short story, but I would have liked more dynamics between Rory and Donner when they were not in stress mode. I liked them both very much and it was obvious they loved each other deerly (See what I did there? That started out as a typo). Anywho, I loved the little snippets of the Yule tradition and how loving Rory and Donner were towards one another, a full story of that would be lovely.

The Vacation From Hell by Catherine Lievens 
2.5 Hearts 
Much like Melting His Fiery Heart, The Vacation From Hell is part of a much larger universe so I didn’t have a lot to go on when I started. There are six MCs and frankly, that’s a lot to wrap my brain around for a short story. I stopped trying to keep it all together and just let the banter and action flow. One half of each mated pair has some sort of paranormal ability and works for some sort of assassin agency or something or other. My apologies for butchering the setup and dynamics, but honestly, going in blind, this is all I had to work with. Basically the three couples decide to take a much needed vacation to a luxury cabin that turns out to be anything but and they get an unwelcome visitor who causes shenanigans and gives the assassin dudes a chance to do covert things. I may not have known what was really going on most of the time, but I do know the story had a happy ending, so, yay happy ending!

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

Review: Winter Kill by Josh Lanyon

Clever and ambitious, Special Agent Adam Darling (yeah, he's heard all the jokes before) was on the fast track to promotion and success until his mishandling of a high profile operation left one person dead and Adam "On the Beach." Now he's got a new partner, a new case, and a new chance to resurrect his career, hunting a legendary serial killer known as The Crow in a remote mountain resort in Oregon.

Deputy Sheriff Robert Haskell may seem laid-back, but he's a tough and efficient cop -- and he's none too thrilled to see feebs on his turf -- even when one of the agents is smart, handsome, and probably gay. But a butchered body in a Native American museum is out of his small town department's league. For that matter, icy, uptight Adam Darling is out of Rob's league, but that doesn't mean Rob won't take his best shot.

I'm a newly converted Josh Lanyon fan, or fanyon as we are affectionately known. So, while I'm still discovering this author's backlog of work, I still managed to to get caught up in the hype and excitement of waiting for his new release, Winter Kill. And I wasn't disappointed. Not even a little bit - though some fanyons were.

Before I get to that though, I want to take a moment to admire the front cover. Don't judge a book and all that, except I totally would and, even if I'd never read a Lanyon in my life, this cover would have persuaded me to pick up this book. I have a bit of a thing about wintry scenes anyway, but that with the gun pointing straight out - it promises a good read inside the pages. To me anyway.

The mystery of this story, the crimes that were starting to pile up, were really well executed, in my opinion. I didn't work out 'who dunit' until the author wanted me to know, even though all the clues were there. It's been a while since I found a crime author I enjoy as much. Lanyon manages the set up, the clues, the sleight of hand really well though. It makes an enjoyable read. The kind where you are guessing and second guessing all the time who the perp is and why!

Okay, so the crime bit was good. What about the romance?? Well this is, I think, where some fanyons were disappointed. For me though, I liked the relationship between Rob and Adam. Firstly, I have to say the Darling jokes reminded me of Blackadder, and I could only hear the word Darling in Stephen Fry's dulcet tones.

(I have no idea if you get Blackadder across the pond, but if you do get a chance to see it, I would recommend it.) That's a bit by-the-by though! Back to Winter Kill.

Rob and Adam. I liked these guys I really did. I liked how their relationship developed, the quick fuck, the regret, the yearning. It worked for me. HOWEVER - I do agree the epilogue was too rushed. Lanyon is the king of series and I could absolutely see these two as the next Adrien & Jake. Scrap the epilogue, give them another book, move the romance along in that, the same way it was in the rest of this book, one step forward and two back. I'm not going to deduct hearts though, because, at the end of the day, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Read around the reviews...maybe try it for yourself. IS it a yay or nay for you? I'm very firmly in the YAY camp.

Review: Just Jack by Meredith Russell

When the line between fairy tales, magic, and the real world become blurred, can love really conquer anything?

Leo Marsh is having a bad day. He just caught his boyfriend cheating on him, and not for the first time, then he falls, quite literally, for a man who has to be too good to be true....
When Leo slips and falls on some ice in front of Jack, Jack sees something all too familiar in Leo's eyes. For over fifty years, Jack has existed in a solitary life of ice and bitterness. Just like Leo, he was betrayed by a man he loved, and swore no one would ever break his heart again: he gave up on love, and it seemed love had given up on him.

But if by fate or magic, Jack and Leo find their paths crossing for a second time, and with a little guidance from friends, dare to take a chance on each other. The problem is, Jack isn't the charming and uncomplicated guy Leo thinks he is. When Jack gave away his ability to love, he became something else, someone cold and unloving. He became Jack Frost.

As Jack and Leo get closer, Jack is left torn and confused. Jack yearns for anything that reminds him of his humanity, but the truth is, he feels nothing, not warmth, not love, and he knows he might never be able to love Leo the way he deserves to be loved.

Books that blur the lines between fantasy and reality are a favourite of mine. Reading is my number one for of escapism and I like the fact that worlds created are not restricted by what we know about this world but only by an author's imagination.

In Just Jack, Meredith Russell creates just such a world. Jack - a real life Jack Frost - had his heart broken years ago and he vowed to never love again.The supernatural took that vow and turned him into one of many Jack Frosts, cold hearted mischief makers. For Leo Frost the day he wants to vow to never love again is the day that he meets Jack and for both of these men life is about to change.

Though this book is on the light-hearted side of writing it explores the love we share with fellow humans, as friends, as lovers and how it is an integral part of being human. A heart is easily broken but is it really better to close ones self of from all hope of love? In a world where Jack has wondrous abilities with ice but a cold heart we share his venture into trusting again.

Is it possible for him to trust again? And how much of a hand does fate have in Jack and Leo's interactions? I enjoyed this story, it was just different enough to catch my interest with the age old debate of love and love lost at its heart.