REVIEW: One Step Too Close: Coffin Nails MC Louisiana (Sex & Mayhem #6) by K.A. Merikan

Genre: MM Romance/ Contemporary / Crime
Buy The Book:  AMAZON
Connect With The Author:

Goodreads / Twitter / Website

Synopsis On GR:

--- One love. One motorcycle club. Two stepbrothers. ---

Ryder. Controlling. Ambitious. Protective.
Jed. Self-destructive. Trapped. Lonely.
Their love? Forbidden. Taboo. All-consuming.

For Jed, the Coffin Nails Motorcycle Club is family. With them, he learned how to think, what to enjoy, and how to fight, but there is one thing he knows his friends can’t find out about. They would never accept him as gay, and so his life is a constant struggle with desires that fill him with despair. Only there is a much darker secret lurking in Jed’s heart. His feelings for his stepbrother, Ryder, go far beyond brotherly. Trapped with a yearning that can never be fulfilled, Jed spirals out of control and unwillingly puts the love of his life in danger.

Ryder is climbing up the ranks. Recently promoted to sergeant-at-arms, he has it all: drive, respect, and the love of his biker family. When his stepbrother gets into trouble with the law, Ryder decides to take the blame and save him from a long sentence. Deep inside, he knows there is nothing he wouldn’t do for Jed, but through a desperate attempt to suppress his own hidden desires, he might irreversibly break the man he secretly loves.

But finding out what they feel for each other will test their loyalty to the Coffin Nails MC and change their lives forever.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS:
Themes: Outlaw motorcycle club, criminal activity, forbidden love, stepbrothers, blackmail, homophobia
Genre: M/M dark romance, suspense, drama
Length: 135,000 words STANDALONE novel
WARNING: Adult content that might be considered taboo. Explicit sexual content, strong language, violence. Reader discretion advised.

REVIEW

Ueber-hot bikers with bodies covered in muscles and tattoos and piercings on the most interesting (read: sexy) parts involved in the criminal and dark side of the gangsta world, in the middle of which is one turbulent, all-consuming and forbidden love- love between two stepbrothers.

Oh boy...I know that stepbrother-stepsister romances are currently one of the hit romances in the readers' world, but somehow they never appealed that much to me, but after reading One Step Too Close by K. A. Merikan I guess stepbrother-stepbrother romance most certainly does. Yup, I'm a perv that way and I have no shame. :P Btw. I don't get why people consider this type of romances taboo. It's not as if the persons involved are blood related. Okay, it does sounds creepy if they are raised together since they were babies which wasn't the case when it comes to this book, so while I run the other way from incestual romances, I had no problems with this one. In fact, I really , really liked it.

Action-packed, gripping, suspenseful, deeply emotional and smoking hot with a little dose of forbidden. The best part of this book for me was definitely the romance and the two bikers it revolved around- the strong, responsible and controlling Ryder and the fun, broken and self-destructive troublemaker Jed, while I wasn't that much interested in the occasional biker crime world drama. Probably, because I haven't read the previous books of the series yet, but I definitely plan to.

Therefore- 3.5 stars! I definitely need more stepbrother-stepbrother romances in my life, so feel free to recommend. Recommended to fans of dark romances!

 

RATING: 3.5 stars/5 stars 

xoxo,

Purple

Mini REVIEW: Loser Takes It All (Up-Ending Tad: A Journey of Erotic Discovery, #1) By Kora Knight

Genre: Contemporary Romance/ Erotic/ MM Romance
Buy The Book: KOBO (free) B&N 
 AMAZON (free)

Connect With The Author: 
GR / Website / Twitter

Synopsis On GR:

Tad’s weekend started out like any other: hitting a college frat party with a handful of buddies. But just as the evening hits its peak, things get up-ended fast. Ditched by his drunken, trolling friends, Tad winds up getting hustled by three jocks playing poker. Now he’s forced to pay his dues in the most outlandish of ways: accepting a couple broken bones or spending an hour with his victors’ favorite flogger, Scott. But the tantalizing torture quickly proves to be the least of Tad’s worries… and the kickoff to a night of raw, shocking lust.

Experience the graphic, minute-by-minute account of that hour spent at the hands of Tad’s insatiable tormentor. Addicting chemistry lights the stage as Scott ignites Tad’s reluctant desires into a frenzy of forbidden need.

REVIEW

  

After more than 400 pages of pure urban fantasy my inner mm romance fangirl was in need of some dirty mm loving so I fed her this short story- Loser Takes It All by K. Knight and the story turned out to be just like that and more- short, fast-paced, kinky & fun (add to that- freebie) involving two super-hot college boys and one terribly wrong or better say deliciously good gone lost poker game.

There was some light bdsm involved (spanking, whipping etc.), the characters were fun, especially Scott The Dom and I'm intrigued enough to read the rest of the installments of the series to see if there'll grow something more out of their passionate one night stand. Plus, it's a gay-for-you mm romance, so the resistance is futile. 3 stars, because I rarely rate more this type of "bookporns", but if you're in need of something short, dirty & fun- I definitely recommend it!

 

RATING: 3/5 stars

xoxo,

Purple

REVIEW: Him By Sarina Bowen, Elle Kennedy

Genre:

MM Contemporary Romance/ Sports

Buy The Book:

AMAZON / KOBO / B & N

Connect With The Authors:

Sarina Bowen on GR / Website / Twitter

Elle Kennedy on GR / Website / Twitter

Synopsis On Goodreads:

They don’t play for the same team. Or do they?

Jamie Canning has never been able to figure out how he lost his closest friend. Four years ago, his tattooed, wise-cracking, rule-breaking roommate cut him off without an explanation. So what if things got a little weird on the last night of hockey camp the summer they were eighteen? It was just a little drunken foolishness. Nobody died.

Ryan Wesley’s biggest regret is coaxing his very straight friend into a bet that pushed the boundaries of their relationship. Now, with their college teams set to face off at the national championship, he’ll finally get a chance to apologize. But all it takes is one look at his longtime crush, and the ache is stronger than ever.

Jamie has waited a long time for answers, but walks away with only more questions—can one night of sex ruin a friendship? If not, how about six more weeks of it? When Wesley turns up to coach alongside Jamie for one more hot summer at camp, Jamie has a few things to discover about his old friend...and a big one to learn about himself.

Warning: contains sexual situations, skinnydipping, shenanigans in an SUV and proof that coming out to your family on social media is a dicey proposition.

RATING: 
Purple: 4/5 stars
Glass: 5/5 stars

*** REVIEW***

After my previous disappointing adult contemporary romances I was dead serious about taking some "rehab time" from this genre. Seriously, I did, but then S. Bowen and and E. Kennedy go and publish my incurable weakness- a friends-to-lovers/ GFY mm romance between two smoking hot hockey players. *Q* Tell me, how could an addict like me resist? The temptation was just too high.

I tried to stay strong, I promise, but the book and all these raving reviews kept appearing on my GR feed every once awhile and driving me crazy with curiosity. Next thing you know- rehab attempt: FAILED in 2 days.  I must emphasize also that before this book I had read the 3d installment in The Others by Anne Bishop (urban fantasy/pnr series around 400 pages long), what must count for something, right? Right? Right. *awkwardly nodding to myself*

Either way- I have NO REGRETS, because this book was like a compilation of my almost all wet friends-to-lovers/GFY fantasies in one place, LOL. The minute I met the goofy and adorable trouble-maker Ryan Wesly "Wes"- I was a goner. A popular jock and out of the closet hockey player irrevocably in love with his team-mate and straight best friend Jamie Canning. We meet them in their early twenties, before an important hockey game. The boys are estranged and haven't been in contact for 4 years. What had happened? Is there any chance for their friendship or even something more? Buy the book and find out! And just for your information there are tattoos, a pierced tongue, uber-sexy kiss in rain, skinny-dipping involved and more. ;)

Fun, very emotional and way too hot plot with even more amazing characters. Un-put-downable. I read it in one sitting. I admit, there were a few a bit cheesy situations towards the end I could have gone without and plot-wise it's not the most original book I've ever read, but nonetheless- it made the crazy mm fangirl inside me extremely happy. 

Highly recommended to every mm romance fan- the hype is real, people! 

xoxo,

Purple, The Friends-to-Lovers/GFY romance Addict

REVIEW: Superhero by Eli Easton

Genre:
MM Contemporary Romance

Buy The Book:
Amazon/ Dreanspinnerpress / B & N / Kobo

Connect With The Author:
Goodreads / Website / Twitter

Synopsis On Goodreads:

It’s not easy for a young gay artist like Jordan Carson to grow up in Jefferson, Wisconsin, where all anyone seems to care about in middle school and high school are the sports teams. But Jordan was lucky. He met Owen Nelson in the second grade, and they’ve been BFFs ever since. Owen is a big, beautiful blond and their school’s champion wrestler. No one messes with Owen, or with anyone close to him, and he bucks popular opinion by keeping Jordan as his wingman even after Jordan comes out at school.

Their friendship survives, but Jordan’s worst enemy may be himself: he can’t seem to help the fact that he is head-over-heels in love with a hopeless case—his straight friend, Owen. Owen won’t let anything take Jordan’s friendship away, but he never counted on Jordan running off to find a life of his own. Owen will have to face the nature of their relationship if he’s to win Jordan back.

RATING: 4/5 stars

***REVIEW***

Who said I can't read a super-cute, fun, romantic and butterfly-inducing story and enjoy it? I admit, I prefer a bit darker, raw and emotional stories, but basically if the story and the writing style is good I can read anything. I've always wanted to read smth by E. Easton and considering my mm friends-to-lovers/GFY plot-line addiction Superhero seemed as the perfect choice. And it was.

"Without a doubt, the luckiest thing that ever happened to me was that I became best friends with Owen Nelson."

I fell in love with Jordan's and Owen's story right in the first chapter. They became inseparable best friends in the second grade of elementary school, their love for comics and action figures being the thing that brought them together. The main voice of this story was Jordan a.k.a Jordy who re-tells us their story from the very first day they met, but later on we get Owen's pov too. The sweet, brave, selfless, fun and charming geek Jordy as the MC was so easy to love. It was crush at first sight for him when he met Owen and with every next day that love and longing only became stronger and stronger. Too bad Owen was straight and didn't want Jordy that way or is he really?

Owen, the untypical jock, was also a likable character. I loved how protective, supportive and accepting he was of Jordan. His insecurities over his sexual identity and his relationship with Emily tended to be a bit frustrating for a hardcore mm lover like myself, but overall the story was simply beautiful, touching and swoon-worthy. Other than mm romance, this book also deals with themes such as coming out and bullying.

Btw. Excuse me for my bluntness, but I still don't get why did people on GR marked this as YA fiction just because there was no penetration. Well, they did everything else, so I definitely wouldn't say this is your typical YA read, more of a coming of age/new adult story, but hey, that's just me. 

“Say yes, Jordan,” he said, shifting closer.

“No,” I said.

Owen smiled. “Close enough.” And then he kissed me.”

Highly recommend this novella (around 90 pages) to every mm reader with a "fetish" for friends-to-lover romances and anyone who is interested in this genre and doesn't know where to start. This was another winner!

xoxo, 

Purple

Mini REVIEW: Helping Hand By Jay Northcote

Genre:

MM Contemporary Romance

Buy The Book:

AMAZON / AllRomance / SMASHWORDS

Connect With The Author:

Goodreads / Website / Twitter

Synopsis On Goodreads:

Wanking with a mate isn’t gay—as long as you keep your hands to yourself.

Jez Fielding and James MacKenzie—Big Mac to his mates—are in their second year at uni. After partying too hard last year, they make a pact to rein themselves in. While their housemates are out drinking every weekend, Jez and Mac stay in to save cash and focus on their studies.

When Jez suggests watching some porn together, he isn’t expecting Mac to agree to it. One thing leads to another, and soon their arrangement becomes hands-on rather than hands-off. But falling for your straight friend can only end badly, unless there’s a chance he might feel the same.

length: 33,000 words approx

PURPLE'S RATING: 4/5 stars

GLASS' RATING: 5/5 stars

*** REVIEW ***

Collage boys, roommates, friends-to-lovers romance, GFY romance, first timers...The Resistance. Was. Futile. And I'm really glad I couldn't resist this short novella (around 90 pages), because, let's be honest- it made my dirty mind really happy, lol. As my friend Danija said- I won't call it a guilty pleasure because I don't feel guilty at all.

Jez & James are roommates and best friends in their 2nd year at uni. They partied so hard last year that one of them is now stuck with financial problems and the other will fail his studies if he doesn't get back on track. What to do??? Well, why not make a pact to avoid parties and stay at home this time for a change and hey, during breaks we can watch porn together and whatever else happens behind closed bedroom doors stays there? *Purple approves*

Fun, fast-paced, emotional and steamy. The only "flaw", as usual when it comes to short novellas, was its shortness.  Other than that I liked it a lot. The mm reading world can never have enough of these "straight" collage boys stories. Don't you agree? ;)

xoxo,

Purple

REVIEW: Curious (The Finn Factor, #1) by R.G. Alexander

Buy The Book:

AMAZON / B & N / SMASHWORDS

Author's Page:

Goodreads / Website / Twitter

Genre:

MM Contemporary Romance/ Erotic

Synopsis:

Are you Curious?

Jeremy Porter is. Though the bisexual comic book artist has known Owen Finn for most of his life—long enough to know that he is terminally straight—he can’t help but imagine what things would be like if he weren’t.

Owen is far from vanilla—as a dominant in the local fetish community, he sees as much action as Jeremy does. Lately even more.

Since Jeremy isn’t into collars and Owen isn’t into men, it seems like his fantasies will remain just that forever…until one night when Owen gets curious.

Warning: Contains explicit m/m nookie. A lot of it. Very detailed. Two men getting kinky, talking dirty and doing the horizontal mambo. Are you reading this? Do you see them on the cover? Guy parts will touch. You have been warned.

RATING:

3.5/5 muy caliente stars

*** REVIEW*** 

Six pack covers don't work for me anymore (seriously, people, no offense- but, it's high time to be more imaginative), but friend-to-lovers/ GFY mm romances sure do, just like this one. I've been in a reading slump lately. Nothing seemed to work for me, not even the latest installment of one of my fav series, so what better way to get my "reading mojo" back than with a fun, drama-free and steamy mm romance book.

Jeremy & Owen have been best friends for years now. Actually, they've been more than friends, more like a family. Jeremy is a wealthy comic book artist who has been half in love with Owen all his life, but he never acted on it, because Owen was straight and he cherished too much their friendship and Owen's family, who helped him a lot during the most difficult time in his life, to lose him as a friend. And the 2nd reason was because Owen liked to be called Master Finn in the bedroom, if you know what I mean, and Jeremy was never attracted to that kind of play, but as the saying goes: never say never.

Owen, on the other hand, knew that Jeremy is bisexual, but he never had problems with it, until recently when he caught him in the act, but the turn of his thoughts surprised even himself. Both of them pursued only no strings attached relationships and never had or wanted anything more serious. We meet them at the beginning of the story on the day of Owen's 35th birthday which he unlike the years before wanted to spend home with Jeremy, drinking tequila and playing X-box, or that's at least what Jeremy thought, until one birthday wish changes everything...

Oh, boy...The chemistry between these two was off the charts. I don't know if it's because of my weakness for this particular theme, but seriously, if I were to  rate this solely based on those steamy scenes I would have rated it 4+ stars. They seemed perfect for each other and I loved them together, especially because they didn't act like immature drama queens when things got complicated, but they talked it through and worked their issues out together.

Girl crush alert- I just loved their best friend Tasha. She was just the type of character (even secondary) I prefer- fierce, witty and a great friend.

My only "complain" is that I felt at the beginning as we were thrown in the middle of the story. To be exact, the story lacked for me that special build-up. I wanted to know more about Owen and Jeremy before they decided to take their relationship to the next level and felt as we were given only little snippets about their past.

Recommended to mm romance readers who have a weakness for friends-to-lovers/ GFY romances like I do. The 2nd, not yet published book in series is called Scandalous (The Finn Factor, #2). Can't wait to see what else this author has in store for us!

xoxo,

Purple

(Watch Me) Body You (Run This Town, #2) by Avril Ashton

Genre:

MM Contemporary Romance/ Crime

Buy The Book:

AMAZON /  B & N / BOOK DEPOSITORY

Connect With The Author:

Goodreads / Blog / Twitter

Summary On Goodreads:

Denial only lasts so long…eventually the heart wins out.

What if loving him…

After recent events that had his life flashing before his eyes, Israel Storm is re-evaluating everything. His friends. His priorities. What’s not going to change is the deep connection he’s developed with Reggie Turner. They’re comfortable with each other, partners in crime with no qualms about sharing women. Whatever Is needs, Reggie is the one he calls. Their bond can survive anything. But maybe not the kiss Reggie plants on him out of nowhere.

…Means losing him?

Despite what Is thinks, that kiss came from somewhere. An un-named current has been flowing between them for months. Reggie doesn’t bat for his own team, but the more time he spends with Is, seeing past the rough façade of the man leading The Rude Boys, the more Reggie loses sight of labels and where he fits. All he knows is there’s something there, something Is will never acknowledge. One kiss leads to a punch that lands Reggie in the ER, and sends Is digging through his darkest memories in search of himself.

Friendship is all that’s left if they bury the truth. If they ignore the pull that makes it impossible to do anything other than fight each other. But denials can be exhausting and hiding isn’t working, not when everyone can clearly see your heart’s desire. An enemy is out to make an example of Is, and his weapon of choice will leave this Rude Boy bloodied…and bodied.

RATING:

*** REVIEW ***

I don't know if it's because of my weakness for friends-to-lovers/gay-for-you mm romances, but I enjoyed this 2nd installment in the Run This Town series by A. Ashton much more than the first one. The leading couple of this book are Israel Storm a.k.a Is, X' best friend and the leader of the gang called the Rude Boys, and Reggie Turner, Is' best friend and one of the gang members. The story continues right after the ending of the first one, with Reggie taking Israel into hiding to his old childhood cabin near the lake where the recent tension between them starts to escalate.

"Maybe he knew. Maybe Is knew. Reggie couldn't take the chance so he took what he was given like a good little soldier would,

he took the scraps of emotion he caught every once in a while in Is' eyes,

he took the fleeting touches that weren't quite fleeting and the promise of maybe, possibly, that came with each puff of breath Is expelled.

He took it all and tried to tell himself it would be enough."

Is and Reggie have only met recently, but they bonded right away. It was sort of a bromance at first sight and soon enough they became inseparable. Neither of them ever thought that their growing friendship could turn into something more. Right in the first book of the series - (Watch Me) Break You (RTT, #1) we witnessed the beginning of a change between two of them followed by palpable tension and Reggie admitting his feelings for Is to X. Both of them were straight their whole life and now they find themselves confused and terrified to lose one of the good, light things in their dark, criminal life- their friendship, especially when they end up stuck in Reggie's cabin with no place to run from their new-found feelings. Add to that growing family problems and possible gang war and you have a perfect recipe for disaster.

4 dark, action-packed, deeply emotional & way too hot stars.

The main focus of this installment is on the slow-building romance between Is and Reggie and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way, because they totally won me over right in the 1st book. You have two gangsters who have gone through heaven and hell and found each other on that path and unexpectedly fell in love for the first time in their life, but in the dark world of gangsters, where you have a constant target on your head and where homosexuality isn't exactly welcomed, the price for that love might be too high. Is and Reggie were just like X and Dima- strong, bad-ass characters, but there's also a softer, endearing side to them, visible only to their inner circle and that's one of the things I like the best about this series. It took time for them to finally let go of their fears and doubts and take that next step, but the waiting was so worth it. Two words: hotness overload!

"I want what people who feel like we feel,

who burn like we fucking burn, have. Because I burn, Is.

I want what we should have. Nothing less.

We've changed too much to ever go back."

Fans of X & Dima will also be pleased to hear that both of them make appearance in this installment too and guess what- they have some big news for you, but I'm saying nothing. Read the book and find out. I must admit that my feelings about this series were kind of conflicted after reading the first book, but now I'm totally hooked. Bring on the third one!

Highly recommended to every fan of dark contemporary/friends-to-lovers/gfy romances!

xoxo,

Purple