Here are my favorite reads from January.
M/M:
Title: Galley Proof by Eric Arvin
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: M/M, Contemporary, Erotic, Romance
Length: 200 pages
Book Rating: B+
Summary:
Fiction writer Logan Brandish is perfectly happy in his peaceful small-town routine with his best friend, his cat, and his boyfriend—until he meets the editor of his next book, the handsome Brock Kimble, and the lazy quiet of everyday living goes flying out the window. Faced with real passion for the first time, Logan becomes restless and agitated, and soon his life and his new manuscript—a work in progress he’d always thought would be completed—are in a shambles.
But as Logan is learning, you can’t always get what you want… at least not right away. To take his mind off the mess, he takes a trip, but even the beautiful Italian, um, scenery can’t keep his thoughts from his erstwhile editor for long. Logan just might have to admit there are some things you can’t run from.
Read my review HERE
Mainstream
Title: The Bro-Magnet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
Publisher: TKA Distribution
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Length: 213 pdf pages
Book Rating: B+
Review Copy Obtained from Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
Women have been known to lament, “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.” For Johnny Smith, the problem is, “Always a Best Man, never a groom.”
At age 33, housepainter Johnny has been Best Man eight times. The ultimate man’s man, Johnny loves the Mets, the Jets, his weekly poker game, and the hula girl lamp that hangs over his basement pool table. Johnny has the instant affection of nearly every man he meets, but one thing he doesn’t have is a woman to share his life with, and he wants that desperately.
When Johnny meets District Attorney Helen Troy, he decides to renounce his bro-magnet ways in order to impress her. With the aid and advice of his friends and family, soon he’s transforming his wardrobe, buying throw pillows, ditching the hula girl lamp, getting a cat and even changing his name to the more mature-sounding John. And through it all, he’s pretending to have no interest in sports, which Helen claims to abhor.
As things heat up with Helen, the questions arise: Will Johnny finally get the girl? And, if he’s successful in that pursuit, who will he be now that he’s no longer really himself? THE BRO-MAGNET is a rollicking comedic novel about what one man is willing to give up for the sake of love.
Read my review HERE
Erotic
Title: One Hit Wonderful by Hannah Murray
Publisher: Ellora’s Cave
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic, Romance
Length: Novel
Book Rating: B
Summary:
Being a bridesmaid is a dull job. But when the groom gets caught with his cummerbund around his ankles, dull isn’t in the cards.
Lily Michaels is happy to help her best friend cancel her wedding. But since the groom with the broken nose is also her landlord, it means she’s looking for a new apartment. Enter Nate MacIntyre—former boy-band member and current composer—his mostly St. Bernard dog Beau and the apartment over their garage. Nate is sexy, Beau is adorably charming and the apartment is gorgeous. Things are looking up!
But things get complicated when Max, the former groom, starts hassling Lily for the location of his jilted bride. Nate thinks Max is dangerous, Lily thinks Nate is silly, and while she’s enjoying where her attraction to him is going, her independent streak simply won’t let her lean on him too much. What do you get when you mix an overprotective man, an independent woman and the confusion that comes with falling in love? Whatever it is, it’s not dull.
A Romantica® erotic romance from Ellora’s Cave
Read my review HERE
Mystery
Title: Shatter by Michael Robotham
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Imprint: Mulholland Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery
Length: 496 pages
Book Rating: B
Review Copy Obtained from Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
Joe O’Loughlin is in familiar territory-standing on a bridge high above a flooded gorge, trying to stop a distraught woman from jumping. “You don’t understand,” she whispers, and lets go. Joe is haunted by his failure to save the woman, until her teenage daughter finds him and reveals that her mother would never have committed suicide-not like that. She was terrified of heights.
What could have driven her to commit such a desperate act? Whose voice? What evil?
Having devoted his career to repairing damaged minds, Joe must now confront an adversary who tears them apart. With pitch-perfect dialogue, believable characters, and astonishingly unpredictable plot twists, Shatter is guaranteed to keep even the most avid thriller readers riveted long into the night.
Read my review HERE
Favorite Non-Reviewed Book
Title: Papi by J.P. Barnaby
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: M/M, Erotic, Contemporary, Bittersweet Dreams
Length: 27 pages
Summary:
Kyle Lang just got out of a marriage that lasted too goddamned long. He knew when he married her that he shouldn’t have. For the last few years, he’s been haunted by daydreams of the perfect feel of another man’s skin. The problem is, the bar scene isn’t working so well for him. When Kyle picks up Jesse, an eighteen-year-old illegal who turns tricks for cash, he finally finds something to scratch that desperate itch. For Jesse, who is only gay-for-pay to support his sister, it’s the first time he’s ever been aroused by another man’s touch. The consequences will change his whole world.
A Bittersweet Dreams title: It’s an unfortunate truth: love doesn’t always conquer all. Regardless of its strength, sometimes fate intervenes, tragedy strikes, or forces conspire against it. These stories of romance do not offer a traditional happy ending, but the strong and enduring love will still touch your heart and maybe move you to tears.
I don’t usually read books without a HEA. Because no matter how good the book is, it always get me down.
I’m one of the few readers who don’t require a HEA. As long as the story is well written, I’m a happy reader. Papi was just WOW! I absolutely loved it.