REVIEW: Lush In Lace By A. J. Ridges

Genre: MM Contemporary Romance

Pages: 123
Buy The Book:

http://www.mmromancegroup.com/?p=277949

(Free for MM Romance Group memebers! All you need is to sign up!) 

 

Connect With The Author:
Goodreads / Website / Twitter

Synopsis On Goodreads:
My brother, Jamie, finally got to marry his lifelong best friend, BJ, this weekend. I was Jamie’s best man, and Scott was BJ’s best man. Not an ideal situation for either of us, since Scott and I have been enemies since high school. Somehow we managed to get through the weeks before the wedding without killing each other (barely), but then the bachelor party incident occurred and added fuel to the fire.

Now we argue even more, and the sexual tension between us is unbearable, at least for me. Unfortunately, I have things I like— kinky things— that Scott would never be able to handle, probably because he’s not even gay. Or at least that’s what I always thought, but now I’m not so sure and apparently neither is he…

Lush in Lace is a complete contemporary story written as part of the Goodreads MM Romance Group's Don't Read in the Closet - Love is an Open Road event.

Tags: enemies to lovers, gay for you, out for you, funny/humorous, snarky, bickering best men, lingerie (maties/stockings), fetish/toys, nerd/jock, panty-scorcher, porngasmic fluff, family

 

RATING: 3.5 stars/ 5 stars

 

*** REVIEW ***

 

Having read 3-4 f/m reads in a row my inner mm fangirl was demanding that she had it enough and was in need of some mm love, so I decided that it was high time to give her her special treat in a form of this mm enemies-to-lovers novella.

 

Rylan & Scott, the gay nerd and the popular jock and ladiesman, have been arch enemies all their life despite their brothers being in a relationship and their families close friends. There was just something about Rylan and the other way around that provoke the other to mess with him on a regular basis. Their snarky "fights", emotional moments and steamy scenes were the best parts of the story.

 

I must admit that I was a bit skeptic at first after I had read that one of the guy is into lingeries (manties/stockings), but now, after I had read it, all I can say that the manties only added to the hotness department and I wouldn't mind reading more mm romances with heroes with this type of fetish.

 

Recommended to mm fans with preferance for fast-paced, sweet, fun and a little kinky mm enemies-lovers contemporary romances!

 

Make mm fangirl happy: Misson Completed!

 

xoxo,

 

Purple

REVIEW: Just A Bit Unhealthy (Straight Guys, #3) By Alessandra Hazard

Genre:

MM Contemporary Romance

Buy The Book:

AMAZON

Connect With The Author:

Goodreads / Blog

Synopsis:

When the line between “need” and “want” gets blurred...

Gabriel DuVal, rising soccer star.

Jared Sheldon, team physician.

To the outside world, they’re just good friends. But the truth is, Gabriel isn’t entirely sure what they are to each other.

Some call their relationship unhealthy. Some call it codependency. Gabriel calls it confusing. He knows Jared wants him – as more than a friend. He doesn’t want Jared. He’s straight, he has a girlfriend, and he loves her. But Jared is… Jared is more. Jared is his. He needs him – his touch and his strength.

But is it enough for Jared?

Publisher's warning: This is not a light-hearted story; this is a rather twisted gay-for-you story. It contains some steamy MM scenes, explicit language, and two people so wrapped up in each other that the nature of their relationship goes beyond friendship--and beyond normal.

RATING: 2.5/5 stars

*** REVIEW ***

I loved the first two books of this series, so there was no question whether I was going to read this one, even though Gabriel & Jared didn't exactly win my affection so easily as the other characters after we first met them in the previous book.

Unfortunately, my first impression of them didn't change even after I've read their story. Frankly, they ended up being my least favorite couple of this series. Why is that? Well, the main reason for that is one of the main characters- Gabriel. His immature, childish, manipulative and needy, but above all selfish behavior got on my nerves since the first page, together with a few un-fu*king-believable choices of other characters (Jared, Claire etc.) He was a true drama queen in my opinion making everything and everyone about himself. I didn't appreciate how he behaved towards Gabriel or his girlfriend Claire. Whereas I was glad for the way things turned out for the girl in the previous book, because she totally had it coming, I didn't like like the way things were handled for Claire in this one, even though she wasn't exactly innocent herself. I actually felt sorry for her.

In comparison to Gabriel, I liked Jared for the most part. He seemed sweet and sincere, but too kind for his own good. What I didn't like is how easily he gave into Gabriel's every wish, even after everything he had put him through. I prefer characters with more attitude and self-respect than that. To sum it up- the author failed to make me connect with the characters or care about them. In the end, I became totally indifferent whether they'll have a HEA or not.

Don't get me wrong, there were some very good moments too, but sadly, they ended up overshadowed by the melodrama for me and if there's one thing I don't appreciate in the books I read that's melodrama. That is why 2.5 stars. This won't prevent me from reading the next book though. What can I say- I'm too weak when it comes to these friends-to-lovers/ gay-for-you mm romance books. Hopefully, my impression of the next installment will be more positive than this one.

xoxo,

Purple

REVIEW: Gambling Men by Amy Lane

Genre:

MM Contemporary Romance/ GFY

Buy The Book:

AMAZON / B & N / !NDIGO

Connect With The Author:

Goodreads / Twitter / Website

Synopsis:

Quent Jackson has followed Jason Spade's every move in business and in poker since their first day as college freshmen. Eight years later, when Jace finally decides Quent is the one man he can't live without, he sees no reason for that to change.

But as much as Jace believes that poker is life, no one gave Quent the same playbook. After their first passionate night, the real game of love and trust begins, and Jace has been playing alone too long to make teaching the rules easy. Jace only speaks two languages: one of them is sex, and the other one is poker. Between the two, he needs to find a way to convince himself to take a chance on love—and Quent to take a chance on him. It's a lucky thing they’re good at reading the odds, because they’re playing for keeps, and this is one high-stakes relationship that's definitely worth the gamble.

RATING:

4 cuteness overload stars

***  REVIEW  ***

"Sometimes, you can't win unless you lay your cards on the table. " 

It's official- I'm a friends-to-lovers/ GFY romance addict and I'm not ashamed at all, lol. On the contrary, I plan to indulge in my addiction for many years to come. I have read only one book by A. Lane before this one- The Locker Room and it was a 3 stars read for me -meaning it was an okay read, I liked it, but there were some "issues" which prevented me from rating it higher, f.e. some frustrating melodrama and cheesy content. 

That's why I was a little worried before starting this book, because books with cheesy content are usually a miss for me, but I was too curious and as you know- weak when it comes to this particular theme, so I picked it up. Besides, I haven't had much luck with f/m romances lately and considering my "addiction" I thought that this should be a safe bet. And the answer is- yes, it was!

Sweet, fun, deeply emotional & way too hot.

The beginning could have been a bit better, it felt a bit rushed, but the more the story progressed the more I was falling in love with it and its main characters. Quent & Jason have been inseparable since the first day they met on collage. Jace was the typical jock- popular, fun and hot, the light of every party. Everybody wanted to be his friend, but the person with whom he connected the most was Quent. From best friends to roommates and soon enough business partners, they've been through a lot together and knew almost everything about each other except that one little secret which is about to come to light and change everything.

I loved both of the main characters. They were so fun and charming together and I was rooting for them since the very beginning. Jace, who seems closed off, short-tempered and distant at first glance and who rarely lets anyone get close to him and see him vulnerable, was perfectly balanced with the adorable, outgoing and a bit shy Quent. They simply completed each other and thank you Ms. Lane for not turning them into immature drama queens and commitment phobes when they faced some problems.

Their story was pretty light and drama-free. It wasn't anything unique or unpredictable, but for me the story made up for that with endearing character and their emotional journey. The ending was indeed a bit cheesy, at least for my taste, but it was the last few pages, so I could handle it. 

Because of the shaky beginning and cheesy ending I was somewhat torn between rating it 3.5 or 4 stars, because to be honest I have read better books when it comes to this theme, books like Taboo For You by A. Sunday, but even if it wasn't perfect, I settled for 4 stars, because in-between A. Lane pulled out every possible card to make me love it.

Recommended to my fellow mm romance fans with friends-to-lovers/GFY addiction! 

xoxo,

Purple

PRE-RELEASE ARC REVIEW: Bliss by Lisa Henry, Heidi Belleau

Expected publication: August 18th 2014 by Riptide Publishing

Buy The Book:

AMAZON / BARNES & NOBLE / RIPTIDE PUBLISHING

Author's Page:

L. Henry on GR / Blog / Twitter

H. Belleau on GR / Blog / Twitter

Genre:

Science-Fiction- Dystopia/ MM Romance

Summary on Goodreads:

They're always happy.

Rory James has worked hard all his life to become a citizen of the idyllic city-state of Beulah. Like every other kid born in the neighboring country of Tophet, he’s heard the stories: No crime or pollution. A house and food for everyone. It’s perfect, and Rory is finally getting a piece of it.

So is Tate Patterson. He’s from Tophet, too, but he’s not a legal immigrant; he snuck in as a thief. A city without crime seems like an easy score, until he crashes into Rory during a getaway and is arrested for assaulting a citizen. Instead of jail, Tate is enrolled in Beulah’s Rehabilitation through Restitution program. By living with and serving his victim for seven years, Tate will learn the human face of his crimes.

If it seems too good to be true, that’s because it is. Tate is fitted with a behavior-modifying chip that leaves him unable to disobey orders—any orders, no matter how dehumanizing. Worse, the chip prevents him from telling Rory, the one man in all of Beulah who might care about him, the truth: in a country without prisons, Tate is locked inside his own mind.

RATING:

***MY REVIEW***

Arc provided via Netgalley in exchange for honest review

"They are always happy."

Psst, psst, where can I get me some of those chips, huh??? Kidding ;). 

This was again one of those reads I picked because of the pretty & "innocent" cover and because it is a mm read and I was in need of one of those after a couple of truly disappointing m/f reads in a row. So, imagine my surprise when I started reading and discovered that the story is faaar from innocent.

As one of my friends pointed out :)- I should have been more focused on that part from the blurb which clearly states "any orders, no matter how dehumanizing", to get some idea what the story will be like, but she should know by now that my brain usually doesn't think so deep when it comes to books, lol. Sad, but true. Either way, even if I had some idea about the plot of the story it probably wouldn't have stopped me from reading it, because it's well known that I do enjoy a good dark read, and this turned out to be pretty good & pretty dark too.

Imagine a world where criminals don't get sentenced to prison or other regular punishments, but they get a behavior-modifying chip installed in their neck and become servants to the people they offended. The chip makes them obey any type of order and their sole goal is to serve and please their "masters". Only then can they be truly happy and the side-effect  in case they fail to do that is that they endure severe pain. That type of society is the society of Beulah where the MCs Rory & Tate meet for the first time.

Beulah  seems as an idyllic place for them both to start their life, better from the one they had before, but...What if that type of chip ever came to the wrong hands? Considering the corruption of laws and its society, is it really possible to create a perfect society with no criminal?  Lies, secrets, corruption, a big fraud. Nothing and no one is as it seems, but they are always happy, or are they really? Think something in style of that creepy movie Stepford Wives (2004), that type of behavior, only much, much worse. That's all I'm going to say.

Interesting, dark, twisted, gripping & way-too-hot. 

I was hooked from the very beginning, but you should have in mind that this book is not for everyone, only for my fellow fans of dark reads who like mm romance too. I liked the story and its characters very much. It was refreshing and unpredictable. The only thing I would preferred is as far as the romance is concerned that we saw Rory &  Tate spending more quality time together and the ending also left me wanting for more. Another big plus, at least for me was that it is a GFY type of mm romance.

This is my first read by these two authors, but it won't be the last. Good job!

"Is it really this easy to be happy?"

XOXO