Book Review: Rainbow Sprinkles by Anna Martin

Cooper Reed has a fairly relaxed life for someone who lives in LA. He’s no celebrity—just the guy who makes sundaes at the Dreamy Creamery, and that’s the way he likes it. The highlight of every week is the beautiful guy who turns up and orders a sundae with rainbow sprinkles. Cooper still isn’t sure if that’s a code, because he has a huge crush and the hot guy is terrible at flirting.

Drew Tanner, it turns out, is an original California dreamer. He’s as wholesome as apple pie and twice as sweet, a real-life Disney Prince at Disneyland. But while Drew’s head is in the clouds, Cooper’s feet are firmly on the ground, and their different outlooks might be more than their new relationship can take.

This is an absolutely adorable story that I enjoyed from beginning to end! The characters are extremely likable and will warm your heart. They aren't terribly complex, but I liked that they are just regular guys who do not lead overly extraordinary lives, but love what they do. There is a very small amount of angst, so the rest of nothing but fluffy romance. I did think Cooper and Drew's relationship progressed kind of fast, but that happens with books of this length. If you're in the mood for a relatively uncomplicated, sweet romance, this is the book for you!

3.5 stars 

I received a copy of this book from the author and voluntarily provided my honest review.

Buy Links

Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

~ M

Connecting the Dots by RamenKitsune

Connecting the Dots by RamenKitsune

While spending a quiet winter evening indoors, Haru realizes his true feelings for Makoto.

You know that warm feeling you get when you read a really sweet book or fanfic? Well, Connecting the Dots will definitely give you the warm and fuzzies as you delve into Haru's inner thoughts. It's a quick read, but very fluffy and cute.

~ M


picture credit: Kyoto Animation

I ❤️ Yaoi: Darenimo Naisho de by Sakura Rico

Good morning, yaoi lovers! This week's feature is Darenimo Naisho de by Sakura Rico.

Maki is a popular and good-looking dude, but he's a virgin. Despite his playboy looks, he believes that sex should be done with someone you like; a pure-hearted teenage boy that you rarely see nowadays. By some accident, his classmate, Miyashita, discovers his secret. In exchange for his silence, Maki is threatened into going out with him. He reluctantly accepts, but later discovers that Miyashita is a huge sadist.

I thought this was an okay manga. The artwork is appealing, but the story fell flat for me. There are some really sweet moments, and I enjoyed seeing the various layers of Miyashita's personality revealed, but I just wanted more: more passion, more sweetness and more heat.

Read Darenimo Naisho de here.

~ M

Book Review & Blog Tour: Falling for Him by C.L. Mustafic

Doctor Gavin Addison’s marriage didn’t end on the friendliest of terms, and his estranged wife’s continual harassment has the local police visiting his home so often they’ve started calling him “the doc.” One of those cops, Officer Lex Turner, has a crush on the handsome doc, even though he knows there’s no chance the doc would ever consider dating a man.

A chance encounter on a crowded dance floor ends with both men in the same bed with the same woman—but with questionable results. When the doc wants to try that again, Lex becomes more involved than he’d dreamed possible as he helps his new friend navigate the kinkier side of sex. Knowing it’s just sex for Gavin, Lex finds it hard to keep his feelings hidden. But when Gavin finally figures out he has feelings for Lex that go beyond what a guy should feel for his buddy, will he let Lex convince him to take a chance with him—even if it turns both their lives upside down?

This book was hit and miss for me. I liked the slow progression of the relationship between Gavin and Lex, but I also felt like I was being inundated with angst and drama from all directions. Gavin's ex-wife was absolutely ridiculous and deserved to be in jail. I will admit that as soon as I realized we were heading down the "unnecessarily crazy female character" trope, I kind of checked out...at least when it came to that plot point. Poor Gavin was just so helpless and it seemed like there was absolutely no recourse. All in all, this was an okay book. It could have been trimmed down by at least 50 pages in my opinion, but it was a good effort by the author.

2.5 stars

I received a copy of this book from the author and voluntarily provided my honest review.

Buy Links
NineStar Press | Amazon

~ M

One Equal Temper by hairgel

One Equal Temper by hairgel

Connor and Oliver work for a secret spy agency: Connor handles field work while Oliver deals with all of the behind-the-scenes technology. Their jobs are dangerous, but they soon discover that there is mole within the group, and that person is putting everyone in serious danger. Will Connor and Oliver be able to expose the mole without losing their lives in the process?

This is a great AU! If you thought Connor and Oliver were hot in their canon roles, wait until you read about them as super secret spies. This story has some really intense moments as well as sweet moments. Be prepared to see Rebecca again since this was written during the first season of the show. Highly recommended!

~ M
 

picture credit: ABC

Book Review: Imagines (Imago #2) by N.R. Walker

Jack Brighton and Lawson Gale have been together for six months and are very much in love. Lawson’s work ensuring the survival of the Tillman Copper is as demanding as ever, and Jack’s work with the regeneration of the bushfire-ravaged national park is just as hectic. 

When Jack suggests they take a short trip, Lawson agrees. But then he is offered a two-week research position in tropical Queensland to help determine why the Ulysses butterfly is on the decline. Figuring they could combine work and pleasure, Jack and Lawson go on their first vacation together. 

Working alongside renowned professor Piers Bonfils isn’t easy. But personal and professional differences aside, Lawson is offered a more permanent role in Queensland. Torn between his new life in Tasmania with Jack and a dying species of butterfly he feels compelled to save, Lawson has to decide where his fate lies. 

But fate changes the rules. On a research expedition into the depths of the rainforest, suddenly it's not only the butterflies’ existence that hangs in the balance. 

A butterfly’s life cycle never changes. From larvae to imago, their course is plotted by design. Jack and Lawson need to determine where they stand, if they live through it. Because the only thing more incredible than one imago is two. 

In the sequel to Imago, we find Lawson and Jack six months into their relationship. They are happy and in love, and are both thriving in their respective careers. I really enjoyed learning more about Jack and Lawson and the strength of their bond. All of the characters were delightful, the writing is fantastic and the ending will warm your heart! Highly recommended!

4.5 stars

Buy links

Amazon US | Amazon UK

~ M

I ❤️ Yaoi: Nigatsu no Eden by Kiyuhiko

Greetings, yaoi lovers! This week's feature is Nigatsu no Eden (Eden in February) by Kiyuhiko!

When Haruna Keiichi finds Shiki injured and unconscious in the snow, he feels compelled to take him in and tend to his wounds. After a somewhat rough start, Haruna & Shiki forge a friendship that goes much deeper for Haruna. He admits that he often gets attached to people, pets and anything he really cares about it. Because of this, he becomes worried that Shiki will someday leave him, so he tries everything in his power to keep him close.

This is a lovely manga! The two main characters are really sweet and I look forward to reading more about them as more chapters are released. The artwork is beautiful and pay close attention to Shiki's tattoo. I loved the detail!

~ M

Book Review: Take a Chance by Megs Pritchard

Kicked out at fifteen for being gay, Tom Carter survived by selling his body on the streets. Four years later, Tom, now nineteen, doesn’t know how long he can continue living this life.

One night while out working, Tom sees a face from his past, one he had long forgotten. One he had used to fantasize about. Sebastian Banks. Afraid of the reaction he will receive, Tom runs away hoping never to see him again. But Seb had other ideas.

At twenty-five, Seb’s life is going exactly the way he had wanted. Having worked hard at University, Seb has been offered a permanent contract at a local solicitor.

While driving to a friend’s house to celebrate, Seb is shocked to find Tom, someone he hasn’t seen in years, on the streets, selling himself. Feeling an overwhelming need to help Tom, Seb tracks him down and offers him a way out.

Is Tom willing to take a chance on Seb and accept his offer, or will his distrust of everyone from his past cause him to push Seb away?

This was a somewhat difficult book for me to get through, not because of the writing or the heavy subject matter, but because I really only liked a few of the characters. Seb and a couple of Tom's friends were the only tolerable people in the entire book in my opinion. Everyone else was selfish, cruel, manipulative and just plain unlikable. I completely understood that Tom's life on the streets, and the manner with which he found himself there, hardened him and made him distrustful, but the way he treated Seb for most of the book made my blood boil. No matter what Seb did, he blamed for just about every bad that had happened in Tom's life for the past four years.

Unfortunately, I didn't feel any chemistry between the main characters. Seb was almost saint-like with his patience, funds and feelings, and I felt he deserved much better than Tom - not because he's a rent boy, but because he is a miserable person. Granted, he did have a conscience occasionally, but Tom's behavior was just too mean for my liking. Characters were either saints or despicable. There really wasn't much in between.

All in all, this is an okay book. It's not bad, but it didn't wow me because the characters were not my cup of tea.

 I received a copy of this book from the author and voluntarily provided my honest review.

~ M

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Back to Time by samyazaz

Back to Time by samyazaz

Connor receives news that Oliver has been in a an accident and is serious condition. Even though their relationship is pretty much nonexistent after the revelation of Connor's cheating with Pax, he can't help but run to the aid of the man he's too afraid to admit he cares about. When Oliver finally awakes and has amnesia, Connor can either walk away or pretend to be his loving boyfriend.

It's nice to go back and read fanfic from the early years when HTGAWM had just started and Coliver was just beginning to gain steam. This is a great example of story that pulls you into the lives of the characters and makes you feel every emotion that rips through them. Check it out!

~ M

Book Review: Clickbait by E.J. Russell

After the disastrous ending of his first serious relationship, Gideon Wallace cultivated a protective—but fabulously shiny—outer shell to shield himself from Heartbreak 2.0. Besides, romance is so not a priority for him right now. All his web design prospects have inexplicably evaporated, and to save his fledgling business, he’s been compelled to take a hands-on hardware project—as in, his hands on screwdrivers, soldering irons, and needle-nosed pliers. God. Failure could actually be an option.

Journeyman electrician Alex Henning is ready to leave Gideon twisting in the wind after their run-ins both on and off the construction site. Except, like a fool, he takes pity on the guy and offers to help. Never mind that between coping with his dad’s dementia and clocking all the overtime he can finagle, he has zero room in his life for more complications.
Apparently, an office build-out can lay the foundation for a new relationship. Who knew? But before Alex can trust Gideon with the truth about his fragile family, he has to believe that Gideon’s capable of caring about more than appearances. And Gideon must learn that when it comes to the heart, it’s content—not presentation—that matters.

This book was a bit all over the place for me. I never really felt a connection between the MCs and didn't really believe in their romance/relationship. First, I have to say that in terms of writing, this book is perfectly fine. I had absolutely no problems with that. Secondly, Alex is a lovely character. He is an upstanding man who does whatever necessary to take care of the people he loves, even if it means sacrificing certain things in his own life. Beyond those two things, the book lost me.

Gideon is a character that is superficial, arrogant, judgemental and generally unlikable. I couldn't quite understand what Alex saw in him and it made kind of sad that he thought Gideon was the best he could do. Alex's sister, Lindsey, wasn't as bad as Gideon, but came off quite selfish and vapid at times. She expected people to read her mind and then got upset when they couldn't. I also felt that the two MCs talked to everyone else under the sun more than they talked to each other. All of these side conversations made me skim through chapters because it occasionally seemed like unnecessary filler.

All in all, this was an okay read for me. It wasn't great in my opinion, but certainly wasn't bad. I just wish I could have liked the characters a little more.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, and voluntarily provided my honest review.

Buy Links
Riptide Publishing | Amazon

~ M

I ❤️ Yaoi: 18-nen me no Saki ni by Hisato (Free! Doujinshi)

Good morning, yaoi lovers! This week's selection is the Free! doujinshi, 18-nen me no Saki ni (Before the 18th Year) by Hisato.

With graduation and the future coming up, Makoto wonders how much longer he has until he has to part ways with Haru. But then, some surprising news arrives…

This is a lovely, heartwarming story about how Makoto and Haru handle preparing to being separated and attending different colleges after high school. The emotion is so strong that it may even bring a tear to your eye. Definitely give this beautiful story a try! You won't be disappointed!

Read 18-nen me no Saki ni here.

~ M

Meant to Be by Solrojo

Meant to Be by Solrojo

Nasir lives a modest life running a business with his brother. He's frequently plagued by dreams of a man from another time, whom he was madly in love. Agron lives a life of wealth and privilege, but when he happens to lock eyes with the beautiful man from his own dreams, he's determined to know him. Much to his dismay, Nasir is not so easily swayed by the glitz, glamor and conceit, so he doesn't want to give him the time of day. Will Agron be able to convince Nasir that what they have is real?

Although in the very beginning stages, I really like the premise of this story so far. I have a soft spot for Nagron modern AUs, so I look forward to seeing this incarnation of Agron and Nasir clash...and eventually make up. ;) Duro, who is always a joy to see, and his side story sparked my interest and will hopefully be explored as well. The author could do with a good beta to help clean up typos and grammatical errors, but hopefully that doesn't distract you too much from the potentially great foundation this story has. Check it out!

~ M