Friday, August 30, 2019

Shipping the Captain (Valentine's Inc. Cruises #6) by Nora Phoenix







Blurb


Brantley Phipps doesn’t need a boyfriend. In his line of work, relationships are impossible. All he wants is one night of fun before he starts his three-month rotation as Assistant Hotel Director on a cruise ship.

He scores the jackpot with a hot older guy who hits all his yes, please buttons and who wants the same thing as him. Talk about a night to remember. That should last him a while…

Until he discovers that his one-night stand is none other than the legendary Captain Silver Fox aka his boss for the next three months. Oops.

Still, it shouldn’t be an issue because Brantley doesn’t do coworkers and Fox is known for being strict as hell about not dating employees. That should make things easy, if not for that pesky attraction that keeps flaring up whenever they're in the same room.

It's gonna be a long three months...

Shipping the Captain has an age gap, yummy steamy scenes, a Caribbean setting, and a summer fling that turns into an embarrassing case of falling for the boss. It’s the sixth book in the Valentine’s Inc. Cruises series but can be read as a complete standalone. The only connection in the series is the shared premise of the Valentine’s Inc. cruise.

Review 
My Rating - 4.5 Stars!

Nora Phoenix's contribution to the multi-author series Valentine's Inc. Cruises is Shipping the Captain.

Damn, this one starts off with an eye-opening scene, as Fox has to try to save a life. Following that is a hot hook-up. Fox and Brantley are definitely hot together. With one hook-up, both men want more. 

One of my favorite scenes is the rimming scene during their hook up. I love the way the author develops this scene, and the emotion involved.

Fox has been burnt in the past, and now doesn't want to do repeats. He also doesn't get involved with anyone on his ship. Little does he know that Brantley is now working on his ship.

What follows is a fantastic forbidden romance. The two men can't resist one another. They are truly wonderful together, yet they know they can't be together. If you enjoy men who have to fight their feelings and hide their chemistry, you'll love this book.

Shipping the Captain is a sweet, feel-good romance. It's perfectly charming and a whole lot of fun. Definitely check this one out when you're in the mood for a fluffy, sexy read. 




Fixer-Upper (Vale Valley, Season 3 #15) by E.E. Silver








Blurb

King is not your typical sweet omega merman. He’s infamous for his explosive temper and his ability to let it ruin his life – which is why he’s in Vale Valley, jobless, homeless, and staying with his cousin and her husband, the sheriff of Vale Valley. He isn’t planning on take a job helping the new single dad in town remodel a house, and he really isn’t counting on the alpha being the one person he’s been waiting his whole life for.

When baby Anya came into his life, Jonah sold everything he owned in order to move to Vale Valley and open a daycare so he can build a life for the two of them. Anya and a run-down house on the lake are all he has, and wants, in this world. That is, until he meets a prickly omega with more than his fair share of baggage and kisses that melt Jonah’s brain every damn time.

But both men are hiding secrets that could destroy the fragile trust they’ve been building, and King’s determined not to let fate tell him who his mate should be. Even if Jonah is everything King’s ever wanted.

Fixer-Upper is the 16th book in season three of the popular Vale Valley series, where summer romance is in the air all year round, families are well-meaning even when you want them to go away, and surprise babies can be just what’s needed to help a couple of lonely souls build a home together.

A Summer Romance. 


Review 
My Rating - 4.5 Stars!


EE Silver's Fixer-Upper is everything I usually avoid in a book; shifters and multiple types of shifters to be exact. But damn, it's really good. And I certainly am in love with the cover!

King and Jonah are an interesting pair who meet in Vale Valley. Both men have their share of secrets, but they can't resist one another. King's an omega merman with a large family history, and Jonah's an alpha who's raising baby Anya by himself.

As Jonah is working to open a daycare, King is around to help him. The men face their share of family issues, in addition to recovering from bad relationships in the past. The two are definitely great together, as well as hot, with some steamy scenes. Their tale is full of secrets and lies, which cause some decent angst throughout.

One of the great surprised is that King and Jonah don't stick to their usual stereotypes. I really enjoyed this surprise. As well, these two truly want to be together based on their time together, not just because of their fate.

My first EE Silver read, I was impressed with the writing. The pace is good, with a great flow. The characters are well developed, and the storyline is definitely entertaining. 

Overall, Fixer-Upper is a super cute book. I don't seek out books like this, but I really enjoyed it. It really focuses on the couple and their growing relationship, rather than the fantasy side of their worlds, which is a plus to me. Now I'm excited for the winter novella staring King and Jonah.



Thursday, August 29, 2019

RELEASE BLITZ & REVIEW - Safe by Jess Bryant



Title: Safe
Series: A Fate, Texas Novella
Author: Jess Bryant
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: August 26, 2019
Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 17600
Genre: Contemporary, LGBT, friends to lovers, coming out, baseball, gay, bisexual

Add to Goodreads


Synopsis


Trevor Thorne has always played it safe.

He’s a ballplayer. The game has had his heart and soul since he was just a kid. He learned early on that living in the testosterone-fueled world of baseball meant living a lie. He couldn’t afford to
be openly gay, not when he had his whole career ahead of him. But his days behind the plate are numbered and he’s tired, so damn tired of hiding who he is, and it’s becoming more and more difficult to deny himself what, and who, he wants.

Rodrigo Cruz is the opposite of safe.

He’s young, ballsy, and bold. Out and proud, Cruz has never shied away from going after what he wants. He wants a career as a big-league ballplayer, and he wants it on his own terms. No hiding
his sexuality or his past but also no throwing himself at his beautiful, blue-eyed bunkmate. Not even if he suspects Trevor isn’t quite as straight as he claims.

Crossing that line, testing that theory, it could put his entire career at risk. If he swings for the fences and strikes out, he’ll always be that guy in the locker room who can’t keep it in his pants. But what if he’s right and they’re more than just teammates?

What if they’re soulmates?



Review 
My Rating - 4 Stars!


Safe is a fun short friends to lovers romance by Jess Bryant.

Cruz has long lusted after his teammate Trevor. As Trevor's always been straight, Cruz never made a move. Turns out however, that Trevor isn't straight. He's always been closeted, knowing he couldn't play baseball while being an out gay man. So instead of being honest about his sexuality, he's been lying for years.

This is the story of two teammates, one bi, and one closeted trying to figure out their new reality. It centers around the struggle with being gay in the world of sports. It's a short read, but well done. The two men are so damn good together.

My favorite line is "I want to be the one that makes you smile."

Overall, Safe is a short, hot, and sweet sports romance. It's an enjoyable tale about deciding what one wants out of life. The only thing that would improve it would be a longer, more in depth version, so we get to know the men more. If you love athletes, if you love them closeted and hot, you'll enjoy this quick read.

Excerpt

Safe
Jess Bryant © 2019
All Rights Reserved

Rodrigo Cruz was wavering. He was fucking wavering. If he was honest with himself, he’d been wavering for a while. It wasn’t the first time he’d considered abandoning his self-imposed rules about not pursuing teammates. But tonight, in the dimly lit bar after a long day in the sun and a couple of drinks, he was wavering way too close to crossing the line he’d drawn in the sand before he’d ever even met Trevor Thorne.

How could he not?

The man was gorgeous. Hot as hell. A Greek god encased in all-American good looks. Full lips. Dimpled chin. Spiky golden-blond hair and those eyes. Fuck, those eyes. They were blue, only blue
wasn’t the right word. It wasn’t descriptive enough. They were jewels, diamonds in the rough of his handsome face.

Trevor had a nickname in the league. The Ice King. He was cold. Unemotional. Detached on the field and off. And those eyes of his were glaciers, impossible to delve past the surface without feeling
the chill.

Only, Cruz had seen past the icy veneer. Trevor had let him past it. After months of shared hotel rooms, tiny bus seats, and 24/7 forced proximity, Trevor had slowly begun to let him in. He’d started
to lower the walls he kept so high around him, and Cruz was proud to call him a friend instead of just a teammate.

The Ice King had thawed for him. Cruz had seen those blue eyes twinkle with laughter. He’d seen them warm with amusement and pleasure. And more and more, he thought about what it would be
like to see them full of heat, full of passion and fire.

Cruz stared across the crowded bar, caught himself drowning in those blue pools like they were the goddamn Bermuda Triangle and there wasn’t a life preserver in sight.

Cruz lowered his gaze when Trevor looked away, returning to his phone call. He squinted at the tumbler of liquid sitting in front of him on the table, trying to remember how many he’d had. Too many.

He was drunk. So. Damn. Drunk. He knew he was drunk which meant he was way past the point of no return. He shouldn’t have had that last drink. Or, rather, considering he was in the presence of the
one man who made him want to throw his rulebook out the window, he really shouldn’t have been drinking at all.

Alcohol impaired judgment. It made him stupid. Made him do stupid things. Things that would undoubtedly get him in trouble. Things that would most likely lead to his pretty face being punched,
repeatedly. Because when he was drunk he forgot he wasn’t supposed to stare at his teammate’s lips like he wanted them wrapped around his cock.

But Trevor had insisted on grabbing a drink when they got back to the hotel, and despite the little voice in the back of Cruz’s head that had said he should just go to bed, he was shit at denying
Trevor anything. So he’d gone. He’d bought the first round and then Trevor had bought the second, and by the time the tequila hit him, Cruz had forgotten why drinking with the man who haunted his dreams and was his every walking fantasy was a bad idea.

It wasn’t as if he was just risking his rules when it came to Trevor. If it meant getting the gorgeous god of a man in his bed, Cruz would happily abandon his stance on steering clear of sexual
relationships with teammates. He wanted Trevor, and he’d let himself have him if his friend had given him so much as a hint he was into the idea. But he hadn’t, and that meant continuing to fantasize about him, continuing to tread this line and risk their friendship.

Hitting on a friend, on a teammate, on a supposedly straight man who wasn’t interested in him that way wasn’t just against his rules; it was downright self-destructive.

He’d been down this road before. Thinking there was more in every glance, every touch, than there really was. It hadn’t turned out well. Not for him. He’d been young then, naïve, just learning what it meant to be bisexual. He was older and wiser now, and he knew better. He knew it was a dead end.

When he was sober, he knew that. He knew not to stare at Trevor like he wanted to lick him up one side and down the other. He knew the smiles Trevor gave him, the ones that curled around his
heart and made him feel all warm and tingly, meant nothing but friendship to Trevor. When he was sober, he knew he needed to stop fantasizing about his best friend.

Even if he wasn’t completely convinced Trevor was as straight as he always claimed. The looks he shot Cruz across the bar were veiled and sexy. The way Trevor bumped their shoulders together and
found little ways to touch him was intimate and flirtatious. Cruz honestly believed Trevor was gay or bi or at the very least questioning and curious. But until Trevor made a move, some sort of move, he couldn’t cross that line. He wouldn’t force Trevor to admit to things he’d clearly been hiding for a very long time. He couldn’t and wouldn’t touch Trevor the way he ached to touch him.

But in his alcohol-fueled brain, he couldn’t help but wonder what his best friend would do if he slid up behind him, pressed their bodies together, and whispered in his ear exactly what he wanted to do to him. The idea alone made his cock hard, which at his level of drunkenness was a tribute to how damn much he wanted Trevor. Hell, he never got hard anymore. Not for anyone but the man he couldn’t have.

Trevor slid back into the booth opposite him with a heavy sigh. Without a word, he picked up his drink and knocked it back. Cruz watched his throat work, watched his Adam’s apple bob as he
swallowed, and had to swallow a groan of his own.

“Everything okay?” he managed when Trevor dropped the empty glass to the table.

“Fucking fantastic.” Trevor winced and then wiped a hand over his face, “Sorry. I’m in a shit mood, and talking to my happy, madly-in-love brother didn’t exactly help. Didn’t mean to take it out on
you.”

Cruz shrugged, accustomed to the same excuse he’d been hearing for weeks now, the one he didn’t quite buy but always let slide. “What’d Trent want this time?”

“You mean other than to tell me my life choices are shit?”

Cruz raised an eyebrow, but Trevor waved him off before he could ask what he meant. Instead, he let it go, just like he always did, and he let Trevor wave the waitress over to bring them another
round of drinks.


Purchase

NineStar Press | Amazon | Smashwords | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

Meet the Author

Jess Bryant is an avid indoorswoman. A city girl trapped in a country girl’s life, her heart resides in Dallas but her soul and roots are in small town Oklahoma. She enjoys manicures, the color pink, and her completely impractical for country life stilettos. She believes that hair color is a legitimate form of therapy, as is reading and writing romance. She started writing as a little girl but her life changed forever when she stole a book from her aunt’s Harlequin collection and she’s been creating love stories with happily ever afters ever since.

Jess holds a degree in Public Relations from the University of Oklahoma and is a lifetime supporter of her school and athletic teams. And why not? They have a ton of National Championships! She may be a girlie girl but she knows her sports stats and isn’t afraid to tell you that your school isn’t as cool as hers… or that your sports romance got it all wrong.

For more information on Jess and upcoming releases, contact her at JessBryantBooks@gmail.com or follow her on her many social media accounts for news and shenanigans.


Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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Ending in You (In You #3) by Sammi Cee







Blurb

What happens when one man finally sees what’s right in front of him, but the other thinks it’s safer for him to stay away?

Gerald ~ All I’ve ever wanted is a love of my own. I thought I’d found someone special, but he’s confused and not ready to give us a try. After one magical night and morning, I return home to find my cousin dead in my living room, and I’m the primary suspect. I promised Duncan I wouldn’t out him, and I’ll stand by my word, even though it means I have no alibi.

Duncan ~ When I find out Gerald’s been arrested, but saying he has no alibi, I realize how wrong I was. He may not be what I was expecting in my life, but he’s exactly what I was looking for.

But why was there a dead man in his house?

Ending In You is an approx 50,000 word standalone novel with too many suspects, teachers misbehaving, construction workers keeping secrets, friends who have become family pulling together, and two men getting the HEA they deserve. Intended for 18+


Review 
My Rating - 3.5 Stars!


Sammi Cee's Ending In You is the third book in the In You series. It's a sweet romance mixed in with a little danger and mystery.

The romance is well done, with Duncan finally free to explore his sexuality. His instant attraction to Gerald changes everything for him, as he finally finds someone worth coming out for. Both men are lovable survivors who deserve a happy ending. 

The writing's good, with two great main characters, and a good pace. There's some sweet humor, and a great group of supporting characters. 

As a follow up to Mixed Up In You and Trusting In You, it will make much more sense if read them in order. Having not read them recently, some things got lost on me, or just didn't seem as important. I found the second half not as interesting, which I probably would have if I had remembered the previous books.

Overall, Sammi Cee's Ending In You is a good read. I loved the romance, but didn't care as much for the mystery. 




Make Me Trust You (Omega Celibacy Club #3) by Angel Knots








Blurb


Omega Celibacy Club, Book Three

Biology is easy for Emmett Christianson, and it’s not because of his off-the-charts IQ, it’s simply because biological reactions make sense. At least, they do in the lab. His own biological reactions when he’s asked to tutor Preston College’s star quarterback, though? Those ones are a little more confusing.

It turns out there’s more to Bryce than just football. He’s also funny, and nice, and so hot that Emmett can’t seem to make it through a single tutoring session without embarrassing himself. So sure, it makes sense why Emmett would fall for him… the confusing part is when Bryce starts acting like he might like Emmett, too.

Emmett is smart enough to know that an alpha like Bryce would never actually be interested in him. What he can’t seem to figure out is what Bryce really wants.

MAKE ME TRUST YOU is the third book in the Omega Celibacy Club series, a contemporary omegaverse world where the only thing stronger than an alpha’s will is his desire to keep his omega happy, and where even smart omegas can sometimes act stupid, especially when they don’t trust that what’s right in front of them is real.

Review 
My Rating - 4.5 Stars!


Make Me Trust You is a hard earned, jock/nerd romance by Angel Knots.

Emmett's smart but can't wrap his head around the fact that the school quarterback, Bryce, wants him. It's definitely a tough thing for Emmett to trust him. Full of self-doubt, he just doesn't understand why Bryce wants him or will stay with him. 

Bryce is the popular college jock, who's father is overinvolved in his career. Bryce is crushing on Emmett and has to make a move. There's never a doubt for Bryce that Emmett is his omega. The depth of his love and devotion to Emmett is unparalleled.


Their story is cute, sweet and fun. It's full of awkward moments, embarrassing moments, and hot moments. It involves some danger and important life decisions. Bryce's father made me angry, but the ending is wonderful. And if you like humor, you will love Tristan, who is absolutely hysterical. 

This story is definitely full of emotion. And in a not so common element, Emmett and Bryce take extra precaution to not get pregnant. But, damn, their bonding is just beautiful. Some might not think so, but I absolutely loved it.

Two quotes that stand out to be are:
"I always want to be where you are."
"We're better together, right?"

Make Me Trust You is an intense love story. Do not miss it if you enjoy a good jock/nerd relationship. Angel Knots' Omega Celibacy Club is a wonderful college series. It's just an enjoyable, feel-good series. 





Season's Change (Trade Season #1) by Cait Nary

  Amazon Link    Goodreads Link A veteran hockey player and a rookie can't get away from each other—or their own desires—in this sexy, h...