6/26/2023 0 Comments Game Changer by Amy AislinAmy Aislin has done it again! Game Changer is another cute and heartwarming MM romance in the Vancouver Orcas series! The books in this series can be read as standalones, as each book focuses on one of the Shore cousins at a time, but I enjoy seeing the characters from the previous book as an extra bonus. This time, the main character is hockey player Blair Brawsiski, who has a scheduling problem with all his extra duties helping his various family members out. To facilitate his life, his coach, Matt Shore (from the first book in the series), arranges for his cousin Charlie Shore to help Blair as a PA. But the immediate attraction takes them both by surprise. Especially since Charlie has trust issues and dating his boss is a big no no…
This was such a sweet story! Blair and Charlie were both such wonderful, kind and adorable characters and they were the absolute perfect match for each other. I also loved all the lovely side characters with the family members and the teammates in the Orcas. There could perhaps have been a little more drama or suspense to make the story a bit more intense, but sometimes it’s alright with a book just being sweet and heartwarming! All in all, this was a great second book set in the intriguing Orcas universe, and I can’t wait to continue the series with Dorian’s story next! Thank you to Gay Book Promotions for the free review copy and blog tour invitation! All opinions are my own and I’m leaving my honest review voluntarily. Rating: 4 stars Get your own copy: Author links Author info: Amy Aislin
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This was such an adorable and cute gay romance story about startups, friendship and love! And pranks! It was a fast-paced, fun and sweet feelgood story that’s a perfect vacation read or cure to get you out of a reading slump. This story follows Ivy League college students Max and Aaron who cross path when Max gets hired to prank basketball star Aaron, but also ends up kind of destroying Aaron’s future career… Max is a hacker trying to launch a startup together with two of his best friends. To finance it he takes on prankster assignments. Aaron is an openly gay basketball star with a big heart who should hate the person who got him into the big mess but can’t help being intrigued by the ‘Underwear Thief’.
I really enjoyed this book and all its wonderful characters! I loved the startup squad with the mix of computer nerds, an environmental law student, and a badass female telling the obvious truths. I also loved cinnamon roll Aaron. I loved how sweet he was and how smart, yet clueless. I didn’t particularly like the way Max felt spoilt and selfish at times. It was like he became another person when he was with Aaron, so I loved their interaction, but not Max on his own as much. There were also some parts that were perhaps a bit too unrealistic, and quite a lot of plot holes. But these are just minor complaints. Overall, this was such an adorable and sweet romcom that made me smile and warmed my heart. Highly recommended if you’re looking for a light, easy and fun read with adorkable characters to root for! Thank you to Pride Book Tours for the ARC of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed. Rating: 4 stars Get your own copy: Amazon Add to Goodreads Author info: Abby Kaitz This was a cute friends-to-lovers gay romance with wonderful characters to root for. I really loved to learn more of the life as a teacher, and the part about overcoming trauma and dealing with anxiety, but the romance part didn’t fully meet my expectations. The story follows kindergarten teacher Marvin, who is single, trying to overcome a childhood trauma and struggling with anxiety. When he gets nominated for the Teacher of the Year Award, he has more than enough stress and more on his plate than he has time for. But when new student Illona walks in with her cute-as-hell single dad beside her, Marvin’s focus starts to slide. Olan is a newly divorced dad who has moved across the country for a fresh start with his daughter. Being a recovering alcoholic, he’s not in any position to start a new relationship. Not to mention the fact that he’s straight, so Marvin shouldn’t even give him butterflies in the first place. Right?
Teacher of the Year was such a cute romance story, which also dealt with heavier topics such as alcoholism, childhood trauma and anxiety. I really adored the way both characters bonded and interacted with Olan’s daughter, and I truly enjoyed all representation with Marvin being Jewish, queer and struggling with an anxiety disorder, as well as Olan’s bisexual awakening. There were also a lot of funny banter and moments that almost made me laugh out loud. I also adored the side characters with Marvin’s best friend Jill. Jill and her husband were such a delight and their support for Marvin was heartwarming. I didn’t fully root for the romance though. Since the story was told solely from Marvin’s POV, it was difficult to get a sense for Olan’s feelings. It would have been wonderful to hear his voice about the conflicting feelings he must have felt, falling for a man for the first time. Now Olan’s romantic feelings for Marvin almost came out of the blue and the romance felt somewhat rushed, even though it was a slow burn one. I also never understood the rationale behind the decision for Ilona to be uprooted and move with her dad who’s struggling with alcoholism instead of staying with her mother. I expected some explanation to that, like her mother had issues or other reasons, but she turned out to be a great person. So I feel that there was a part of the story missing there. But all in all, this was a funny, cute, fast-paced and heartwarming story with great representation which I highly enjoyed, even though the romance wasn’t a perfect match for me. Thank you to Pride Book Tours for the ARC of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed. Rating: 3.5 stars rounding up to 4 Get your own copy: Author links Add to Goodreads Author info: M.A. Wardell 5/25/2023 0 Comments The Art of Husbandry by Jay HoganI’m a huge fan of Jay Hogan’s character driven mm romances set in New Zealand, and The Art of Husbandry certainly didn’t’ disappoint. It was such a wonderful and swoon worthy gay romance with two amazing main characters to root for, and some added layers of grief and PTDS after the loss of a child. This is the first book in Jay Hogan’s new Mackenzie country series, and follows two main characters, in alternating POVs; the sheep farm boss Holden with commitment issues and the grieving Gil who lost is daughter in a car accident one and a half year ago, and his marriage soon thereafter.
In an attempt to get a new start and find a way forward from the anger, the grief, the nightmares and the sheer hopelessness of it all that has been his life for the past eighteen months, Gil accepts a temporary offer to be a chef for three months at a high country sheep station in the middle of nowhere. Leaving his psychologist practice and his old life behind, he hoped for a way to move forward. But he got so much more when he unexpectedly connected with the young station boss and suddenly started to feel again… I truly rooted for both Holden and Gil, and I really appreciated the way in which they slowly began to open up to each other, and for Gil to possibly see a new beginning and hope for happiness and love again, and for Holden to deal with his relationship and commitment problems. Jay Hogan did a wonderful job with Gil, truly making us see and feel his loss and grief and his inner turmoil, his vulnerability and fear for opening up again and risking more pain. And Hogan was such a cocky and sexy, fun guy with a heart of gold and his own battles. The way the two of them lifted each other was so amazing! There were also some great side characters and some interesting insights to the hard sheep farming life in southern New Zeeland that I truly appreciated. Sometimes there were perhaps a bit too many details about the farm and its surroundings and the description of the muster and all other farm work that slowed the story down. I also wasn’t a big fan of the way the characters not only told us about their feelings, but also analyzed them for us readers. Especially Gil, which of course in a way makes perfect sense with him being a psychologist, but I still think the story could have benefited from leaving a little more up to the readers. But those minor complaints set aside, this was a beautiful and wholesome story. I especially appreciated that there weren’t any truly bad guys. (Apart from Zach’s homophobic dad.) Gil’s ex Luke was also grieving and just dealt with his grief in another way than Gil, and Zach was jealous at first of course when founding out this best friend/long time crush had moved on, but quickly became supportive. All in all, this was a heartwarming, poignant and addictive reading experience and a great way to start a new series! I can’t wait to read Zach and Luke’s story in the next installment! I received a free ARC of this book, which I have voluntarily reviewed. Rating: 4 stars Get your own copy: Amazon Bookbub Add to Goodreads Author info: Jay Hogan 4/8/2023 0 Comments Game Plan by Amy AislinThis was such a cute and heart-warming second-chance MM romance with adorable characters that immediately stole my heart! I also really appreciated the added depth with a main character suffering from depression. Game Plan is the first book in the new Vancouver Orcas hockey series, which is a spin-off of Amy Aislin’s Stick Side series (but with new characters so there is now need to have read the Stick Side books to understand the characters and plots in this new series).
The story follows Matt Shore, the new head coach of the Vancouver Orcas, who is openly gay but struggling with his dating life. Somehow, he ends up only dating guys who are not relationship material, probably because he’s still too heartbroken from being left by the love of his life two years ago, Pierce Langley-Brown. Pierce on his hand, still regrets leaving Matt, when his increasing depression and his son’s car accident made it impossible to focus on anything but being there for his son. But when his son joins Matt’s hockey team, there’s no avoiding the man who once owned his heart… I truly rooted for both Matt and Pierce, and I really appreciated the way in which they slowly began to open up to each other, and for Matt to possibly forgive Pierce, and for Pierce to deal with his runaway problems. There was also some great representation with binary, bisexual and gay characters. I would have appreciated some more background to the characters though. I’d loved to know more about things like when Pierce realized he was bisexual and if he’d ever been with a man before Matt, or when Matt decided not to stay in the closet anymore and be an openly gay hockey player and the reactions he’d received after that. Without this, the story felt a bit thin at times. But all in all, this was a heartwarming, sweet and addictive reading experience and a great way to start a new series! I can’t wait to read Charlie’s story in the next installment! Thank you to Gay Book Promotions for the free review copy and blog tour invitation! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily. Rating: 4 stars Get your own copy: Author links Author info: Amy Aislin This second book in the Guides for Dating Vampires series was just as witty, adorable and heart warming as the first one, if not more! I adore D.N. Bryn’s unique, queer and hilarious romances with characters who are such precious disasters that you cannot help fall completely in love with them. The Guides for Dating Vampires is a loosely connected MM paranormal romance series with stories that can be read as standalones, but I’d still recommend you to read all of the books in the series, simply because they’re absolutely worth it! The stories are very different from the usual vampire tales, with a strong, lethal, masculine vampire seducing its victim, which honestly can be quite cheesy. Here, it’s the absolute opposite.
The vampire in How to Sell your Blood – Clementine – is a shy, a-spec, nerdy, Ivy League scientist who has been turned without him knowing how or by whom. The human he falls in love with – Justin – is an inner-city badass guy with super strength who protects the vampires in his neighborhood to make amends for a devastating mistake he did in his youth. The story also includes amazing side characters, such as Clementine’s trans sister Sissy and Justin’s vampire friends, and a very thrilling plot with Clementine needing to hide his vampirism at the lab he’s working at and being blackmailed for it. I really loved the slow burn and watching Clementine and Justin slowly grew closer as well as their respective character development throughout the story. It was so real the way Clementine struggled with his blossoming feelings for Justin and trying to figure out his demisexuality. I also absolutely adored their dorky banter and the humor, and the fact that Clementine wrote erotic fanfic! The characters from the first book, Vincent and Wes, were mentioned a few times in the book, but I would have loved to see a bit more of them. I also would have liked to get some more background to Antony Hilker and the reasons behind his actions, as well as some more explanation to Justin’s superstrength and his family history. There was a fallen angel-plot there that had amazing potential that I would have loved for D.N. Bryn to explore further. But maybe (hopefully) that will be part of a future book in the series! All in all, this was a unique, sweet, poignant and addictive story about two adorkable disasters falling in love that I binged in one sitting. Highly recommended! Thank you so much to the author D.N. Bryn for the opportunity to read this adorable book for free! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily. Rating: 4 stars Get your own copy: Author links Add on Goodreads Author info: D.N. Bryn 3/27/2023 0 Comments Ophelia After All by Racquel MarieThis was such a wonderfully messy coming of age story about questioning your sexuality and taking the journey of finding out who you truly are. I loved the amazing representation and the relatable, flawed and fleshed-out characters. “Maybe I’m bisexual or pansexual. Maybe I’m queer. All I know,” I start, taking a deep breath, “is that I’m probably – no, definitely – not straight.”
Ophelia After All is a sweet YA story following Ophelia, a Cuban-American High School senior, who’s been known as a boy-crazy romantic, but who starts to questioning her sexuality when all of the sudden she starts crushing on a girl named Talia. Throughout the novel we also get to know Ophelia’s group of friends as they prepare for the big event of the year – the prom – and to follow all their struggle and drama. I really loved how the representation with the vast spectrum of identities, and how Ophelia’s group of friends all found each other before realizing that they were all queer. I also really appreciated the way ‘coming-out’ wasn’t made into a major one-time thing, nor a definitive one, but how they were all allowed to question their identities and settle for what felt right at the moment. It took me a while to get into the story though. The beginning was quite slow and all the high school drama, including love triangles, promposals and prom queen nominations, felt a bit over the top. But once I started to fully root for the characters, and we got to see the struggles behind the drama, it was such an addictive and heartwarming story. I especially enjoyed how flawed and messy Ophelia was allowed to be, and how she fell apart throughout the book without being miraculously mended by a sudden romance. All in all, I highly recommend this story to anyone, but especially if you are a high schooler and/or enjoy messy, complicated coming of age stories about figuring yourself and your sexuality out. Rating: 4 stars Get your own copy: Author links Author info: Racquel Marie This was such a heartwarming and charming story about a middle-aged lesbian librarian wanting to change her life. I loved the library setting, the witty humor, the queer representation and all wonderful side characters! Nan Nethercott is a queer middle-aged librarian, who finds herself stuck at entry level in the Philadelphia public library system and as well as in tiresome affairs with women who are not looking for that forever after that Nan is. Realizing she might not have that many chances left to make a drastic change, she accepts a pay cut for the job as a head librarian at a small-town library in southern New Jersey. Soon she finds herself way over her head dealing with staff problems, marauding middle-schoolers, a bossy town council principal, and a hot deli owner who is, of course, not looking for the kind of relationship that Nan is.
I loved the library setting and to read about all literary tasks, book club discussions and programs that Nan organized and to get new insights of the life of a librarian (the task of weeding books was definitely a novelty to me)! I also absolutely adored Nan’s wit and sarcasm, and the fact that she was a bit older and very relatable in the way she felt that life hasn’t turned out the way she dreamed of. And the side characters were such charming, kind and fun originals! I loved the way Nan opened up to people in a way she hadn’t before and made some wonderfully sweet new friends that way. The story was perhaps a bit uneventful at times and it wouldn’t have hurt with a little more romance and passion. Even though Nan is having affairs and dating, I wouldn’t call this a sapphic romance. It’s more a story about changing your life than finding love. But all in all, The New Town Librarian is a truly sweet, fun and enjoyable feel-good read that doesn’t shy away from the sadder parts of life, with an adorable small-town bookish setting. A perfect book for my fellow bookworms! Thank you to Pride Book Tours, NetGalley and Ninestar Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. Rating: 4 stars Get your own copy: Author links Add to Goodreads Author info: Kathy Anderson Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda meets a darker version of High School Musical in this fastpaced and addictive story about finding your true self, facing your wrongs and making amends. And maybe finding some new friends and love on the way. Donick (Nick) Walsh has been the stereotype high school jock for years, harassing anyone being nerdy, different or just in his way. But it wasn’t always like this. Up until Nick was eleven, he had a best friend, Michael Penrose, and was into “dorky things” like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and wondering what it would be like to kiss a boy. Or, more specifically, what it would be like to kiss Michael. When he finally tried it, his father walked in on them, and the horror and anger from his dad put Nick on the toxic, masculine football playing, homophobic track he’s been on ever since.
Michael on his hand never really understood what happened. One day, Nick was his best friend, the next day, Nick punched him in the face and looked at him with resentment, either calling him names or avoiding him entirely. The hurt and bitterness kept growing over the years, and got even worse with Nick suddenly coming back into his life again when getting injured and joining the school revue instead of playing football. I really loved all the musical theatre references and the wonderful representation, but most of all the complex, fleshed out characters, as well as how the story shows how hard it can be to truly change and grow. Not only for the person trying to grow and make amends, but also for the persons around him. Forgiveness isn’t granted just because you ask for it. The hurt you have caused might just be too much to get over, and you have to find a way to live with yourself for the damage you have caused. It was really great that the story was told in dual POVs, so that both aspects were shown so clearly, and we could see how toxic it can be for the victim as well to refuse to confront the past and let the bitterness control your life. I did find the “Secret Admirer”-thing a little cheesy and over the top though, and I would have liked to get to see more of Nick’s struggle with his conscience before wanting to hit the reset button. Now we entered the story when he already knew that he wanted to change, with glimpses back to his former mean bully self, but we never really got to be part of the internal character transformation as such. But those are just minor complaints. All in all, this was an emotional, poignant and addictive story about breaking free from toxic expectations to be your true self, making amends and finding new friends and love. I read this book in one sitting, it was such an easy and fast read, full of wonderful music and theatre references and relatable characters. (Just be aware of the trigger warning for homophobia.) Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book, which I have voluntarily reviewed. Rating: 4 stars Get your own copy: Add to Goodreads (This book will be published on August 15th, 2023.) Author info: Nathaniel Shea This fourth book in the Big Bad Wolf series was a bit slower to begin with and I wasn’t completely sold on the undercover couple counseling plot. But about halfway the action picked up again and Park and Cooper were so adorable together. I love the alpha twist and the development of their relationship, especially how vulnerable they dare to be with one another.
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September 2023
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