As Natural As Breathing by Thianna D. My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I enjoyed the story, which is why I gave it 3 stars. However, it was not without its flaws. I definitely felt the 'Stepford family' vibes. The contrast between the perfect couples to the supposedly broken Christian bothered me. The parental/child knowledge of their sex lives really bugged me. Just... ew, but I guess in a true DD relationship having kids would create a wrinkle. Either it becomes bedroom related only and extremely w
No Flag by Liz Borino My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I tried to read this, stopped in a few pages, tried to read this, stopped in a few pages... The early hook with the dramatic scene into the past plot line drives me bonkers. It colored the story for me and let some of the initial romance down.
That being said, I'm so glad I read the story. Once I got to a certain point the character's bond and the pain/drama they went through reached me and kept me reading. I've had a bit of a thing for mili
Catch a Ghost by S.E. Jakes My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I hesitated to read this book based on the cover title. I adore contemporary paranormal, but I have a... bias, we'll call it, about ghosts. I'm glad I gave Catch a Ghost a chance, however, because it's nothing like what you might expect.
I adore military fiction lately, especially anything that throws in otherworldly info for effect. The spit and polish is missing from the story for the military vibe... but that's because these guys ar
Bad Idea by Damon Suede My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was my first Damon Suede eBook. I'm a tad torn on the review and hopefully this won't come off as a bad review. I have to say I enjoyed the story. Trip and Silas were well fleshed out characters and their motivations were easy to see and understand. The plot was arced well and fit together seamlessly. The supporting characters, especially the women, blended together a bit for me and I'd have liked to see more character definition and quirk
Finding Home by Diana DeRicci My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Sometimes, I like a feel good story. Diana DeRicci's story, Finding Home, starts out rough for our main character, Parker. He's gotten the crap kicked out of him by life. Sometimes, pride is all a person has left but Parker takes the ride and the $20 offered to him by a well-meaning older man. Even more amazingly... just a short time later, he takes the help offered by a local gay couple, one of which is a local cop, to stick around for a
Illumination by Rowan Speedwell My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Illumination was a fascinating eBook. I was worried the subject matter would revolve around the day in and day out of a rock star. While it did matter, quite a bit, Adam wasn't really the focus of this eBook.
Miles is, by far, the driving character behind the story, though we don't meet him first. He is complex, and has a personality behind the personality. I don't want to give away any of the lovely complexities in this story via s
Light by Nathan Burgoine My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Light surprised me. I was expecting something a bit more intellectual, technical, I guess you might say. The cover was very 80s-esque, but the plot is very much within the current trend toward superhero fiction. The blurb really plays up the story's overall plot, and the style, so I wasn't disappointed, just a little surprised at the contrast between the cover and actual story.
I'm not going to go over the plot. It's covered really well i
After the Fall by L.A. Witt
After the Fall was an interesting book. I enjoyed the horse facts, though I grew up around western riders, so eastern riding was a refreshing change. The average reader shouldn't have any trouble understanding the lingo used, especially since Nathan ends up teaching Ryan how to ride since he's the one who landed him in a world of pain.
L.A. Witt is an accomplished rider, and I was looking forward to this installment in the Tucker Spring's series. Her stories
Orbital Decay by Allen Steele
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I wanted to read this book because the description is so relevant to today. Set in 2016, we aren’t stuck with things like stone washed jeans and bulky cell phones that could double as exercise weights. Of course there are a lot of things that haven’t become as advanced as we are currently, but then again, authors don’t own crystal balls. Yet, this is a classic genre feeling book that drew me back to my first love of science-fiction with
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m a fan of Heidi Belleau. Her writing feels ‘real’. That, to me, is what contemporary fiction is all about. Most people aren’t perfect with ideal lives or living in squalor and on the brink of complete meltdown. Yet those extremes are very well represented in MM fiction. Heidi takes stories about the average man, or woman, and makes them interesting.
Which leads me to Rob and Bobby. Okay, I’m not an online MMORPG fan. I’m not a game fan at all, but I love fantas
Scorpion by Aleksandr Voinov
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm not a big fan of historical work, but sometimes I can't help but pick up one that sounds sooo good. Scorpion lived up to my expectations too! There were many elements of this story that made it read more like a fantasy than a historical book, likely because the time was set so far into the past.
The contrast of the gritty soldier's POV to the far reaching and political landscape that made up the plot was refreshing. A simple perso
Second Hand by Heidi Cullinan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Okay, I picked up Second Hand simply because I love this series from Tucker Springs. Of course I’d read several of the later books so I know the pairing would work out, but I enjoyed the story nonetheless. It was nice to get the backstory I’d missed since I started off with Dirty Laundry, book 3 in the Tucker Springs world.
I’m a big fan of Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton. I like both of their work singly, and they mesh together quit
Sweet Young Thang by Anne Tenino My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Things go wrong ... again, and again. Beware, this review has a whole bunch of spoilers. Overall, I liked the story but felt that it was rather mediocre in my reading experience. That has nothing to do with the drama in the book, but more of my own perceptions.
If you like college fiction, or stories with fireman paramedics, romance and a lot of drama... this story could be for you. I might be a bit picky about preferrin
We've been talking a lot about writing reviews, and not saying anything negative, but I think that honesty is still best when sharing thoughts on a story. I recently read an eBook I'd received in exchange for a review, so I didn't hold back on the truth as I saw it from my reader viewpoint.
In His Command by Rie Warren
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
In His Command is a hard book for me to review. Post-apocalyptic fiction is on the rise and anti-homosexual views aren't exactly new in that sc
Every once in a while it can be fun to go outside the box, away from the usual style, and go a bit wild with your words. Louis did an excellent article recently about weak writing and avoiding overused words and phrases. That stuck with me, as it is something I strive for as well. However, I just entered a contest on Kim Fielding's blog where the goal was to write a paragraph that her kids would find boring. I decided to do something ... different.
Stepping outside the box from my normal sty
Apple Polisher by Heidi Belleau
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Apple Polisher surprised me. It was an interesting name for an interesting book. I thought it would be full of cliches, and in a way it was. We had the classic character tropes, but many of them had hidden qualities that made them more human than their basic first impressions. Christian was anal retentive and uptight ... but he had so many reasons for being that way and he didn't like being that way--though from the synopsis I really t
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15843233-the-plain-of-bitter-honey" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Plain of Bitter Honey" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1365862414m/15843233.jpg" /></a>
This story was full; full of danger and peace, hatred and love, bravery and fear. I want to go on and on about the story, but I absolutely refuse to post any type of a spoiler at all. To be honest, this book sat on my to read shelf for a while
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17450349-prince-claimed" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Prince Claimed (Thresl Chronicles #2)" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1362032155m/17450349.jpg" /></a>
This story really is a 3.5 star rating for me. I liked Soldier Mine quite a bit ... but was really anxious for the overall story to be further in the sequel. When it finally came out as Prince Claimed, I was very excited. <br /><br /&
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13397771-built-4-it" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Built 4 It" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328332391m/13397771.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13397771-built-4-it">Built 4 It</a> by Daisy Harris<br/>
My rating: 4 of 5 stars<br /><br />
Made 4 It was an interesting story. I hadn’t read any other story in The Love-Bot series, but this still m
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17304538-never-a-hero" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Never a Hero (Tucker Springs, #5)" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1359485180m/17304538.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17304538-never-a-hero">Never a Hero</a>
Never a Hero is yet another installment set in the small town of Tucker Springs. This eBook, written by Marie Sexton, was full of a lot of angst regarding
Covet Thy Neighbor by L.A. Witt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this eBook and delved right into it. I adored Tucker Springs #3 and couldn't wait for books #4 and #5 in this series. Each book focuses on a different couple, so they can be read alone, but couples show up from each in the community in this series.
In Covet Thy Neighbor, Seth's conflict was quite well done and clear. He was obviously the main character and had a lot to deal with. I agree with
<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17201647-fragile-bond" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Fragile Bond" border="0" src="http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1357056386m/17201647.jpg" /></a><a I read Fragile Bond last night and wanted to write the review while it was fresh in my mind. I read, A LOT, but this book caught my eye and went on to my wishlist when it came out. I finally got a chance to read it, uninterrupted, and it kept me interested start to f
Yes, *gasps* I read off GA. Honestly, most of my time here is taken up with staff duties-which sort of stinks for my love of reading-but one of the things eBooks can do is give us an idea of what to aspire toward. Most of the authors I know online won't be traditionally published but the advent of eReaders and the exploding eBook market can be an invaluable tool to spread your stories, and make a bit of cash. I love to read, but I do the mod queue here on GA, so I get a lot of serial works I a
Hello members! So, many of you know I'm off visiting family. My grandma has terminal cancer, which prompted my visit with my kids so they could make some memories of her they will always remember before she gets too sick. Fortunately, she's still pretty good. As a bonus, I have several siblings and their kids, parent and an ex-parent, who are here to see too. We managed to have some fun for the kids sight-seeing, going on a wild dolphin harbor cruise and taking them to swim in a spring I got to
