Category: Short

REVIEW: In Another Life and Eight Days by Cardeno C

1/15/2020

Title: In Another Life and Eight Days

Author: Cardeno C.

Genre: Short Story, Romance, Gay, Contemporary,

TBR Reviewer: Bella

Rating: 4/5 - Highly Recommended Read

Heat: 4/5 - Smoking Hot

In Another Life is about suicide and learning to live again. Shiloh is one of the many who have dealt with bullies and fear with suicide. It’s a dark subject matter that I think the author handled really well. He wakes up in the hospital and meets the EMT that saved him, Travis.

This is a short story that really pulled at my heartstrings. I love Shiloh and feel terrible that he didn’t have the support he needed when life pushed him down. Travis is his breath of fresh air, his light in the dark, and it’s a beautiful romance. I really love how they survive life by leaning on each other. This is definitely a five star read for me. I would highly recommend this story but warn you there are some very emotional subjects.

Eight Days is about Maccabe, a professional baseball player and his lover, Josh. The problem is they keep their relationship a secret and Josh wants to tell the world that he loves Maccabe.

Add a hidden relationship to a long-distance relationship and you’ve got some issues to work on. Lots of issues. I understood Josh completely. He didn’t want to hide their love and I don’t think they should have. Maccabe is a jerk by refusing to go public. Their love is still strong but because of this, their relationship is over. I really like the growth of the characters. The story is a bit slow moving for a short story but overall, I enjoyed this romance. Eight Days is a solid four star read that I highly recommend!

Purchase Here

REVIEW: His Kind of Beautiful by Maia Dylan

4/2/2019

Title: His Kind of Beautiful

Author: Maia Dylan

Genre: Romance, Erotic, Short, contemporary, dark romance

TBR Reviewer: Bella

Rating: 5 stars - A Must Read!

Heat: 4/5 - Smoking Hot!

Leona had a rough childhood that’s led to a rough adulthood. She now being taken care of by a crime family but when they need help, she does unthinkable things. Now missing, only one man will stop at nothing to find her, Tony. The man that nearly broke through her tough exterior but also in a rival crime family. He has to find her before he can even attempt to have a happy ever after.

This is a phenomenal story! It starts with Tony getting word that Leona is missing. I can really feel his panic and the urge to find her. It gave them a good connection before the reader actually got to meet Leona. Poor Leona, the stuff she’s been through in life has broken her down. This is an edge of your seat read and being that’s it short I devoured the story! Sexy, entertaining, heartbreaking, sweet, His Kind of Beautiful is a must read!

Purchase Here

REVIEW: My Ex-Partner's Ex-Wife by LM Spangler

5/1/2018

Title: My Ex-Partner's Ex-Wife

Author: LM Spangler

Genre: Romance, Erotic, Contemporary, Short

Length: 41 pages

TBR Reviewer: Bella Star

Rating: 4 Stars - Recommended Read!

Heat: 4/5 - Smoking Hot!

Ridley is finally done with her cheating ex-husband. Of course, then she gets laid off. Her only job offer is with her ex-husbands, ex-business partner and the attraction between them sizzled long before she took the offer. Now, she’s working for Jack and dodging her ex-husband.

This book has so much potential! Great characters, hot hero (Jack) and likeable heroine. The problem is the ‘bad guy’, Dean. He is Ridley’s ex. He’s also Jack’s former business partner. The romance is really quick between Jack and Ridley but super hot. I wish the author had taken her time with them. Anyway, back to Dean. He’s the ex-husband, a total jerk that cheated on her. He marries a young woman and then comes back to tell Ridley he doesn’t want her working with Jack. Why? What’s his motive? He had a hot, younger, new wife so why hang onto Ridley? Then he’s beyond angry when he finds out Ridley and Jack are sleeping together. Again, why? Angry enough to pull a gun on them? Really. WHY?! He sounds like he moved on and then does a complete u-turn on them. I wish his motives would have been clearer.

So, lots of potential with this book. I look forward to see what else this author comes up with.

Purchase Here

REVIEW: Second Time Love by Laura M. Baird

1/9/2018

Title: Second Time Love

Author: Laura M. Baird

Length: Novella, 39 pages

Genres: Contemporary, Short, Mainstream, Older Hero/Heroine

TBR Reviewer: Jean

Rating: 4 stars – A Recommended Read

Heat: 3 - Blush-worthy

When your second time's lucky, who needs a third?

With the help of her best friend, fifty-something widow Grace (no last name!!) begins to overcome her grief at losing her husband of thirty years. Going through with a pre-planned vacation to Fiji is just what friend Laurell insists she needs, but even Laurell didn't know how right she was. Finding love again so soon after her loss is the last thing on Grace's mind, until handsome fellow vacationer and widower Cole Spencer strides into her life on Fiji's golden beaches. 'Click' is a mild word for the connection these two second-chancers immediately feel for each other; just when you think the sun is setting, fate offers a new horizon.

This is a short story that delivers exactly what the title promises - love a second time around. Readers should thoroughly relate to Grace; the tragic and sudden loss of a life partner is a difficult thing, often leaving a person not only grieving but also rudderless and confused. So it is with Grace, believing that she could never feel that kind of love again and not even wanting to look for it; ironically, that' s exactly when she finds it. A breath of fresh air, Second Time Love presents a no-nonsense, tried and true storyline, with just enough detail, exactly the right amount of characters and a straight-ahead path to the HEA we all crave. What could be luckier than that?

Purchase Here

GIVEAWAY: Alpha's Alpha by Elyzabeth M. Valey

1/3/2018

7 Comments

Title: Alpha's Alpha

Series: Moon Point #2 - stand alone

Author: Elyzabeth M. Valey

Genre: Gay, Romance, Shifters, Paranormal, Erotic, short

Length: 66 pages

TBR Reviewer: Bella Star

Rating: 4 Stars - Highly Recommended Read!

Heat: 4/5 - Blush Worthy!

What happens when two alphas discover they’re mates? That’s exactly what happens to Lee and Alkaline. Despite the battle for dominance brewing, Lee will hunt his mate down and make him his…

Let me just start by saying, if you love Alpha’s that clash this is going to be a must read for you. I love the fight going on between Lee and Alkaline. Each man is a dominant, each one refusing to give in. That makes for an intense story. But as relationships go, it’s give and take. Reading how Lee and Alkaline had to compromise pulled my heart strings. When they do get together it’s like fireworks and flames. It’s fabulous, sexy and has that toe curling quality.

Love shifters? You should not pass up Alpha’s Alpha!

Purchase Here

Giveaway:

Ms. Valey is giving away a book from her back list.

The TBR Pile is giving away a $5.00 Evernight gift card and 2 books from our prize list (1 each).

To ENTER: Comment below on why you love shifters! For extra entries share this post using the Facebook and Twitter buttons below.

Winners:

Back List book: Linda
$5 Evernight gift card: Lee
Prize list book: Kim and Sassy

7 Comments

REVIEW: One to Grow on by Caitlyn Willows

1/2/2018

Title: One to Grow On

Author: Caitlyn Willows

Length: Novella

Genres: Romance, Contemporary,

TBR Reviewer: Amy

Rating: 5 Stars - A Must Read!

Heat: 4/5 - Smoking Hot!

If you're looking for something short but packed with sexy, this is the book for you.

Reese planned something special and sexy for his wife’s 30th birthday. He decided to fulfill some of her deepest fantasies. Pushing her limits! Punishing and rewarding her when she is a bad and good girl. Enacting public and private surprises with more than just himself. Judi is in for one wild birthday!

This story is fantastic. Reese wants to make Judi’s 30th birthday, a birthday she soon won’t forget. He plans to bring her to the edge and back, again and again, until they are home so they can unleash their passion. Even though their relationship has already been established, I found the story just as fulfilling as if they were starting out. Their emotions play off each other and their past is easy to follow! The love and devotion that Reese and Judi have for one another is clearly shown with their actions throughout the story. Reese plans out every detail and fantasy she has very carefully. Each page was most definitely a surprise and so thrilling with what awaited Judi.

Short. Sexy. Smoking hot!

Purchase Here

REVIEW: Playmate by Celine Chatillon

12/6/2017

Title: Playmate

Author: Celine Chatillon

Genre: Scifi Romance, Romance, Erotic, Short

Length: 39 pages

TBR Reviewer: Bella Star

Rating: 3 stars - A Good Read!

Heat: 4/5 - Smoking Hot!

Leila is lonely working and living on an asteroid. To make it a little more bearable she creates the perfect holographic lover based on the man she’s attracted too. What happens when that man finds out about her secret?

Del works hard and has little time for play. Once Leila is committed to the playmate holographic lover I really fell in love with her. She has funny moments and quirks that pull me in. This plot did bring up interesting questions. To get a bit technical, a holograph wouldn’t be able to touch her, would it? Aren’t holographs visual? Would holographs be better than the real thing? Instead of any annoying issues or personality clashes with the real Del wouldn’t she just keep the holographic Del? The three of them do get together. Erotic definitely fits this story description! The ending also isn’t really an ending. They all have sex, Leila says goodbye and is excited about the next time they meet. There wasn’t really a storyline. I think if it would have been longer with maybe another plot thread in there it would have come together more. Overall, this is an interesting story and I’ll definitely check out other books by this author.

Purchase Here

REVIEW: Alpha's Pride by Deidre Huesmann

8/17/2017

Title: Alpha's Pride

Author: Deidre Huesmann

Length: Novella, 30 pages

Genres: MF Romance, Erotic, Contemporary, Short Story, Paranormal, Shifters

TBR Reviewer: Jean

Rating: 3 stars - A Good Read!

Heat: 3/5 -– Blush-worthy!

"Don't go out in the woods today..."

More than Teddy Bears play in the woods of Muir Forest. But that won't stop 20-yr-old Val (no last name) from traipsing through well-known shifter territory unarmed, no sir. Challenged to a duel by lion-shifter Riker, Val bolts and hides in a tree, catching him by surprise in more ways than one when she lands on him from above. Her scent awakens the blood bond between the Alpha named Riker and his fated mate. But since Val is human, a shifter-human mating bond is unprecedented, and the Alpha's Pride refuses to accept her. Val must prove herself and become worthy of being the Alpha's mate and usher in a new era in human-shifter relations.

Since this is book 2 in a series, perhaps some backstory from book 1 is missing; this might explain the lack of a surname for Val and why she decides to enter Muir Forest knowing what lurks there. (Gorilla shifters??? Eek.) I did like the concept of shifter society and human society co-existing as accepted fact, and the possibilities that the interbreeding of the two might bring about. But that's where the fascination ends. Again we have a feisty, smart-mouthed and not overly bright or attractive heroine being manifestly desired by a half-animal mate, and neither seem to have a choice in the matter. Indeed, Val has no intention of going quietly along with Riker, until biology predictably intervenes.

But when a formula works, it works. Time-strapped romance readers that enjoy a familiar shifter-human-fated-mate trope can 'devour' this lusty tale of Riker and Val's pairing in barely the time it takes to ride the bus to work. A daily commute delight!

Purchase Here

REVIEW: Damaged Hearts by Andi Bremner

8/10/2017

Title: Damaged Hearts

Author: Andi Bremner

Length: Novella, 38 pages

Genres: Romance, Erotic, Contemporary, Short Story

TBR Reviewer: Jean

Rating: 4 stars -– A Good Read

Heat: 3/5 -– Blush-worthy

SECOND CHANCE SURPRISE...

Fine artist turned ink master Gillian (we never get to hear her last name) has spent a long time trying to forget the man who got under her skin every bit as permanently as the tattoos he taught her how to execute. A tragic loss for both her and Alex sent him overseas to serve his country and she into a dark tunnel of depression and denial. Both of them betrayed by a person who should have been closest to them. His reappearance at her place of employment, Ink Addicted, under a false name re-opens old wounds. But can she let him under her skin just one more time and take the first steps toward a second chance?

This short story covers all the bases of a good girl / bad boy, love-lost / love-found trope, but in record time. At 38 pages we enter the story several years after Alex and Gillian have met and fallen in love. He is from the wrong side of the tracks, and she is the mayor's arrow-straight daughter. Can anyone say 'West Side Story'? She's just beginning to repair her life and family relationships when Alex serendipitously appears in her strip-mall tattoo parlor as the boss's new hire. As ridiculously coincidental as that is, their reuniting is bittersweet and heart-wrenching and the sex scene scorching hot. The one thing holding it back from 5 stars is the editor's failure to catch several missing words such as "the, and, to" which made some sentences jarring and clumsy.

Overall a good read that's as quick to enjoy as a temporary tattoo.

Purchase Here

REVIEW: Holidays in Hell by Erzabet Bishop

5/23/2017

Title: Holidays in Hell

Author: Erzabet Bishop

Length: 27 pages

Genre: Romance, paranormal, short

TBR Reviewer: Bella Star

Rating: 3 Stars - A Good Read

Heat: 4/5 - Smoking Hot

Yes, it’s almost June and yes, I’m reading a Christmas book. *shrugs* Don’t judge me. This book is really good!

Jonas is an incubus who has one soul to collect to fulfill his contract. The problem is He’s falling for Holly, the soul he’s supposed to take. This is a short story that does a great job with interesting characters and a touch of kinky sex. I really liked Jonas and his predicament. His Christmas fetish is unique and quirky! The romance is too quick though and the story is rushed. Although short, this is still a fun story and I look forward to the next one!

Holiday romance lovers will definitely enjoy Holidays in Hell!

Purchase Here

<<Previous

REVIEW: In Another Life and Eight Days by Cardeno C

REVIEW: His Kind of Beautiful by Maia Dylan

REVIEW: My Ex-Partner's Ex-Wife by LM Spangler

REVIEW: Second Time Love by Laura M. Baird

GIVEAWAY: Alpha's Alpha by Elyzabeth M. Valey

Giveaway:

Winners:

REVIEW: One to Grow on by Caitlyn Willows

REVIEW: Playmate by Celine Chatillon

REVIEW: Alpha's Pride by Deidre Huesmann

REVIEW: Damaged Hearts by Andi Bremner

REVIEW: Holidays in Hell by Erzabet Bishop

Categories

Archives