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COVER REVEAL: Love Directions by A.F. Zoelle (Giveaway)
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REVIEW: Caulky by K.M. Neuhold
Four Bears Construction: Caulky – K.M. Neuhold
Ren is in desperate need of a rebound fling. Lucky for him, the smoking hot contractor he hired has just the tool for the job.
The last thing I want is another relationship or another broken heart.
All I need are my bees and the occasional hookup to scratch the itch.
Okay, maybe meeting up with my hot contractor weekly is a little more than occasional. And maybe the way I’m starting to feel about the guy I’ve been anonymously chatting with online should concern me.
But CaulkyAF doesn’t want to meet, and Cole doesn’t want anything serious, so what’s the worst that could happen?
****Caulky is book 1 in the Four Bears Construction series and can be read as a stand-alone. This is a funny, steamy MM story guaranteed to make you laugh and swoon. Absolutely NO cheating and NO love triangle. This series does NOT contain shifters, it’s the OTHER kind of bears.
My first K.M. Neuhold book was a flop so I went into this merely out of curiosity. I have no interest in bears or construction workers but I was wondering why this series has such rave reviews.
First, it takes serious skills to make me like contemporary romance. Caulky drew me in from the start and kept me engaged until the end. I don’t even have a favorite character yet but I’m already rooting for all the guys and I’m looking forward to their stories
Ren just had an awful breakup in which his ex dumped him by leaving an invoice of the moving company in his kitchen table. After which, he decided to have the bathroom remodeled to his liking. The gay equivalent of getting bangs, according to his mother.
In an effort to get his ex out of his system, Ren’s bestfriend, Daniel took him to a bar to find a hook-up. The same hook-up who later turned out to be the contractor he hired for his remodeling.
Cole is one of the owners of Four Bears Construction. The other owners are his brother, Ollie, and their friends, Everett and Stone. Cole is confident and bossy. Always the player. Never been in a relationship, never will be. But there’s something about Ren that he couldn’t get enough off.
And so the two moved from one-time hookup to regular fuck buddies. They couldn’t believe how explosive the chemistry between them. Along the way they each met an online friend that truly gets them like nobody else. They connected so well, soon they were sharing everything with their respective chatmates. Inevitably, inconvenient feelings started to develop…for both hookup and that online friend they never met.
So who would it be: your awesome fuck buddy who blows your mind or your online friend whom you bare your heart? But then again, didn’t they just swear off relationships for good?
I see some GR readers shelving the book as erotica. This was what made me hesitant to read this at first. While Caulky is steamy, it has a solid plot. It has the typical amount of MM sex scenes that are well-placed and totally skippable without losing any important information. I also appreciate that the humor did not devolve into unnecessary raunchiness.
The story is low-angst and seriously fun. It took well-loved tropes and added some nice twist. Even if I know what to expect, I enjoyed the build up until the big reveal. It had a nice, easy pace and succeeded in keeping anticipation and excitement going.
Caulky certainly showcased the author’s talents in this highly entertaining tale of rebound flings, online dating and bees. It opens a new series I could binge on. It introduced a group of friends I’d love to get to know more. At it’s core, it’s a story of two people falling in love despite themselves. Sometimes, it’s not even a choice.
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Come Get Me
Artist: Jenny O.
Album: Automechanic
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REVIEW: Match Grade by G.B. Gordon
Criminal Delights: Assassin: Match Grade – G.B. Gordon
SOME MATCHES SPARK AN INFERNO
Eirik Haldurson is a hitman. Kidnapped at age five and cruelly trained by his captor, he is today one of the most sought-after contract killers alive. Emotional distance from his targets, brutally beaten into him until it became second nature, is now the only way he can function. Lately though, that distance has started to elude him. And when a Colombian drug cartel contracts Eirik to take out ex-soldier-turned-vigilante, Matt Moreno, distance is suddenly as close as heat to fire. And all hell breaks loose.
This book is part of CRIMINAL DELIGHTS. Each novel can be read as a standalone and contains a dark M/M romance.
Warning: These books are for adult readers who enjoy stories where lines between right and wrong get blurry. High heat, twisted and tantalizing, these are not for the fainthearted.
When the series was first released 2019, I swore to read all the Criminal Delights books. There are a couple of misses and so-so stories. But most have been wins.
I finally got my hands on Match Grade and I’m so happy it’s a definite win!
In most of my reviews of the books in the series, my usual comment is that the books are not dark enough. If you give us a warning such as one above, I expect disturbing, morally grey to pitch black material.
If you put a sick, half-starved kitten in the hands of an assassin who couldn’t resist naming it after the Persian emperor in the hopes said kitty would life up to the name AND stop in the middle of an intense fuck+fight scene just to feed it, any claims to darkness are officially cancelled.
Eirik Haldurson is very good at his job. Unfortunately, his mind has other agendas. He experienced blackouts while in the middle of a hit, his brain flashing back to dark memories of him as a child being trained by a sinister individual. He’s tired of this kind of life and wanted out. Until he got a call to take out one, Matteo Moreno for a whopping $5,000,000. His retirement money right there.
Not much is known of Matteo Moreno. He’s ex-military, a member of a hunters group, owns a cabin in the woods. He also has an easy going charm that lights up the room. Eirik tried to maintain a safe distance but is fast finding it hard to follow his number one rule: Do Not Get Close.
The chemistry between the two MCs was fire and gasoline. It’s as insta as you can get but it actually worked well with the plot.
Matt saw the humanity behind the cold-blooded assassin and taught Eirik to see that the cracks in his soul are not weaknesses.
“The cracks are how the light gets in. “
My favorite part was when Eirik was trying to disappear and left his cat, Cyrus, at the shelter earlier. Then Matt popped up and brought the kitten to him.
He held his hands out, and Matt placed Cyrus into his palms. Every sensation was ramped up to max: the soft fur, the rapid heartbeat, the sleepy purr.
When Eirik looked up, Matt was watching him. “You should see your face right now, my beautiful friend. I can see your soul.”
Bless Matt for recognizing a genuine kintsugi treasure and not letting it go.
The assassin and the ex-military then teamed up to take down the Colombian drug cartel. The two had opposite working styles. Eirik was a planner and Matt was a wing it kind of guy. Happily, their styles synced perfectly together.
Everything in this story happened fast from the romance to the fights scenes but makes sense given the kind of lifestyle they have. I also liked how the pacing kept things exciting without sacrificing crucial plot points.
And speaking of excitement, there’s plenty of chaos and mayhem to be had. One complaint was that any suspense the story tried to generate was nullified by the fact that the big takedown was too easy. There was hardly any resistance and I didn’t feel any actual sense of danger. The other fight scenes leading up to the takedown were much more exciting.
I also would have liked Eirik’s and Matt’s past explored further. Enough Information was given to answer some burning questions but I felt they only touched the surface. The ending wrapped up everything nicely but left openings in case the author decided to continue their adventures. If so, I’m definitely here for more Eirik and Matt!
Match Grade might not be the kind of dark I expected but it certainly has a high body count. It’s a fast-paced, action-packed, suspense thriller with a sweet romantic sideplot. Recommended if you like charming vigilantes falling in love with cat-loving assassins who read like a scholar, kiss like a poet and fuck like a god.
P.S.
Wondering if Criminal Delights is your kind of thrill? Check out reviews of other books in the series here.
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Beautiful Crime
Artist: Tamer
Album: Pusher -
AUDIO REVIEW: Today by R.J. Scott
Single Dads: Today – R.J. Scott
When the world labels a man and judges them blindly, is it possible to ever find love?
Firefighter Eric is on the front line, battling the threat of nature’s destruction in the California grasslands alongside his CalFire team. Focused and calm, even in the direst of situations, he has a strong affection for his fire truck, loves his career, and has best friends he can rely on. All he needs now is love, but that seems to be impossible to find. At his friend’s wedding. Eric falls in lust at first sight with the shy, slim and sexy Brady, even if Brady isn’t the type of guy he usually goes for. What Eric longs for is an equal in his bed, not a smaller guy who might want Eric to role-play big strong firefighter every time they have sex. He wants to find someone he can be vulnerable with, someone who will love him for his soft heart and quiet ways.
Brady’s life plans grind to a halt when his niece and nephew lose their parents in a tragic accident, and he becomes a dad overnight. His Developmental Coordination Disorder rules his life, but he fights both DCD and the fears that chase him every day, to give Maddie and Lucas a home. Agreeing to go to a friend’s wedding is a decision he regrets long before he even gets there. But, he refuses to give in to his fear, even if he might do something that makes him a target for people’s comments and laughter. Meeting Eric, a huge man with a gentle voice and a flair for chivalry, he falls hard. Now, if only he can let himself get past his panic that Eric would never want someone like him, then maybe he could fall in love for real.
Today started with a wedding and ended with a proposal. In between were kiddie tantrums, forest fires and daytime shenanigans.
Eric is a first responder. He is an only child from a prominent family. He has a calm, steady presence which is a huge advantage in his line of work (a.k.a. he’s a teddy bear). Brady is an artist who adopted his niece and nephew after his late sister passed away. He has Developmental Coordination Disorder and social anxiety which made him come across as awkward and standoffish at first glance. Which is what happened when he first met Eric. He was kinda rude to the firefighter. Then, he threw himself at him and kissed him hard. Eric, far from being offended, was immediately smitten.
Even if both men fell hard and fast, everything clicked into place almost naturally. Contrary to what people expected of him being this huge, hulking firefighter, Eric loved it when somebody took charge and Brady was a take-charge kind guy. Theirs was a sweet, low-angst romance. I loved how they took time to talk things through and made it work.
I am normally not that enthused with books about parenting but Today was able to showcase the kids without them taking too much of the story. It did a good job portraying Brady’s struggles and triumphs as a single dad. It was also able to talk about DCD in a way that made it easier to understand and empathize with Brady.
There were some backstories provided but I felt like they could have been developed more. I wouldn’t mind if the book had a couple more chapters to give more depth to the characters and their relationships.
This is the second book of the Single Dads series. I have not read the first book but it was nice getting to know Ash and Sean, as well as Eric’s other friend, Leo and Leo’s potential LI who was introduced later on.
Sean Crisden did an awesome job with his voice acting. He was able to create varied and convincing voices for the characters. Like with his other audiobook that I reviewed before, Home for Christmas, also by R.J. Scott, I still find his pacing a little too fast but it’s not really something that significantly affected my experience of the book.
Overall, Today is a highly enjoyable, feel-good romance with characters you can root for. If you are looking for something light and easy, where people fall in an instant and stay forever, you might want to check this out.
P.S.
Thank you to Signal Boost Promotions and Audible for providing a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
R.J. Scott books here
Rating:
3.5 Stars – that place between like and loveSoundtrack: Forever Came Today
Artist: The Supremes
Album: Reflections
