Honesty: Ben & Eric (Six Degrees #2) by Sandy Smith

Amazon Link - Available in KU
Goodreads Link



Blurb

How do you build a relationship without honesty?

To care for his teenage sister and her newborn baby, Ben Sinclair gave up his carefree university student life, playing gigs with a band, and his boyfriend Wyatt, who he thought was the love of his life. Handling a breakup, bills, and a baby is bad enough. Then Ben discovers Wyatt was cheating on him their whole relationship, and everyone knew but Ben.

Finding out his ex wasn’t quite as honest as he thought shatters Ben’s confidence, but it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t have time to do anything other than work, babysit, and stress over bills anyway.

When Ben starts a new job at a hotel and meets Eric, he begins to dream of a better life. Eric is hot, charming and funny. He’s also straight… or so Ben believes. Eric is everything Ben ever wanted but couldn’t possibly have.
Eric helps Ben find his footing and rediscover his passions. But when Ben discovers Eric has been lying to him all along about who he really is, can Ben ever forgive him? Or were they doomed from the start?

No matter what else happens, Ben vows never to make the mistake of falling for someone who lies again. There is no way he’d make that mistake a second time, right?

Honesty is a contemporary MM romance novel with some adult scenes and is not suitable for young readers


Review 
My Rating - 5 Stars!

Sandy Smith's Honesty: Ben & Eric is super sweet from the start. The second book in the Six Degrees series it's easily read as a standalone. 

Ben and Eric are two men who meet at work and a friendship is born. These two are complete opposites, upping the fun factor. 

Ben is tasked with raising his younger sister and her infant. He has major trust issues, after his lying ex cheated on him, and this is a main theme throughout. 

Their story is one that includes issues with one's own pride and work problems, It's a story of learning that love and support is what is most important in life.  

Making things even better, it's set in Australia. I love, love, love the Sydney mentions and how often the characters traverse the city. 

My favorite scene is actually the review scene. So damn funny. And then there are amazingly tender moments like the way Eric cares for baby Rory. 

Told in first person pov, the writing is fantastic. The writer's voice, tone, and story line kept me intrigued throughout. Written with heart, humor, and passion, the author had me experiencing everything first hand. There are some great twists and turns thrown in, which keeps the reader intrigued as well.

Honesty: Ben & Eric is completely charming. This Sandy Smith tale is a beautiful read full of inspiring character growth. I wish I could just live in this world. 

REVIEW - Powder & Pavlova (Southern Lights #1) by Jay Hogan

Title: Powder & Pavlova

Series: Southern Lights, Book 1

Author: Jay Hogan

Genre: MM Romance

Goodreads Link

Amazon Universal

Synopsis:

ETHAN SHARPE is living every young Kiwi’s dream—seeing the world for a couple of years while deciding what to do with his life. Then he gets a call.
Two days later he’s back in New Zealand. Six months later his mother is dead, his fifteen-year-old brother is going off the rails and the café he’s inherited is failing. His life is a hot mess and the last thing he needs is another complication—like the man who just walked into his café,
a much older…
sinfully hot…
EPIC complication.

TANNER CARPENTER’s time in Queenstown has an expiration date. He has a new branch of his business to get up and running, exorcise a few personal demons while he’s at it, and then head back to Auckland to get on with his life. He isn’t looking for a relationship especially with someone fifteen years his junior, but Ethan is gorgeous, troubled and in need of a friend. Tanner could be that for Ethan, right? He could brighten Ethan’s day for a while, help him out, maybe even offer some… stress relief, no strings attached.

It was a good plan, until it wasn’t.

Review 

My Rating - 5 Stars!

Jay Hogan's Powder and Pavlova, the first book in the Southern Lights series, is wonderful.

Tanner and Ethan, two men who belong together, have bad timing and conflicting circumstances. Hooked immediately, I love and adore these two men who must choose between love and responsibilities. The emotions left me gutted at times. Both men have realistic and dynamic. 

What starts as a temporary arrangement, soon turns into more for these two men who are great together. What follows is a riveting tale full of heat, humor, conflict, and romance. I absolutely love these men as a couple. Their connection is undeniable and their chemistry is sizzling.

Tanner oozes success as he's trying to move forward with his life. His future is elsewhere, yet he can't resist spending as much time as possible with the gorgeous Ethan. Ethan, a café owner, is much younger than the handsome Tanner, but he looks even younger than he is. His responsibilities are his main focus, as he is raising his younger brother.

And then we have the secondary characters. Ethan and his group of friends are fantastic, adding a whole lot of warmth to this story.

The writing is amazing, with compelling and intriguing characters who are well developed and fully come alive. There's superb dialogue, and the storyline is impressive and thoughtful.

Powder & Pavlova is a long and wonderful romance. Jay Hogan impresses in this emotions and steamy romance between two men trying to find their place in this world after some life changing set-backs.

Excerpt I:

Safe from those heather grey eyes, Ethan collapsed against the door and tried to calm his thundering heart. What. The. Ever-loving. Fuck. He checked his forehead for the tell-tale loser sign he was sure he’d find carved there. Nope, just a shit-ton of nervous perspiration.
“Mister hot and heavy is in again, I take it?” Lucy smiled from the other side of the stainless prep bench, her hands white with flour.
“I have no idea who you’re talking about.” Ethan wiped his hands on his jeans and rearranged the order forms stacked on the desk.
She snorted in disgust. “You can’t lie for shit Ethan, I don’t know why you bother.”
“You’re being ridiculous,” Ethan scoffed. “The guy’s gotta be close to forty.” Just how I like them… apparently.
She looked up from measuring the dry goods. “Well, he’s damn hot.”
“I hadn’t noticed.” He collated the pencils according to colour.
“Liar.”
He threw the last of the pencils in the caddy and fell back against the door. “That obvious, huh?”
Lucy’s grin split her face. “Like a whore in a convent.”
He snorted. “There’s an image I didn’t need.”
Lucy reached for the huge sieve and worked her way through a second mound of flour. “So, what are you doing in here?”
“Hiding?”
“Well, get back out there, mister. He’ll be gone in a minute. You wouldn’t want to miss a final perv.”
Ethan pushed off the wall. “I wasn’t perving. I merely took his order.”
Lucy’s gaze dipped south of Ethan’s belt. “Yeah, right. Tell it to your friend.” 
Ethan blushed furiously and crossed his legs.
“And I’ll bet coffee’s not the only order you’d like to take from him,” she added with a wink.
A host of delightfully filthy images raced through Ethan’s head and he groaned.
“And there it is.” Lucy smiled knowingly.
“Oh. My. God. What is it with you lot?” Ethan grumbled, mortified at how badly he’d been caught out. He tugged his shirt a mite lower and flipped her off. “You’re lucky I love you, bitch.”
“You’re lucky I let you, arsehole.”
He pushed open the door and ambled back into the café. Nothing to see here folks. The effort at nonchalance was ruined the second he laid eyes on mister tall, dark and fucking combustible, when he caught his foot in the stool he’d vacated earlier and tripped. Arms wind milling, he stumbled almost to his knees at the man’s feet. Really Ethan? Really? Yeah, not one of his better Kodak moments.
He glanced up in time to see the guy bite back a laugh, but refused to linger on that whole teeth on lip action. If there was a prize for most humiliating crush on an ‘almost’ silver fox, he’d win it hands down.

About Jay:

I am a New Zealand author writing in m/m romance, and romantic suspense. I have traveled extensively and lived in the US, Canada, France, Australia and South Korea. In a past life I have been an Intensive Care Nurse, Counselor, and a Nursing Lecturer.
I'm a cat aficionado especially of Maine Coons, and an avid dog lover (but don’t tell the cat). I love to cook, pretty damn good, love to sing, pretty damn average, and as for loving full-time writing, absolutely… depending of course on the day, the word count, the deadline, how obliging my characters are, the ambient temperature in the Western Sahara, whether Jupiter is rising, the size of the ozone hole over New Zealand and how much coffee I've had.
Welcome to my world.

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Sidearms and Spareribs (Hearts of Snow Lake #2) by Ashton Cade

Amazon Link

Goodreads Link

BookBub Link

Blurb

Sean:

I'm a cop on leave. I fled to Snow Lake for some R&R after what I like to call a 'workplace injury.' Since getting shot, I'm jumpy—I can't help but be spooked, imagining danger around every corner. There’s only one man who makes me feel like my old self—Porter Gaines, the town butcher. He makes me laugh, makes me forget my pain, my fear. But there’s something more. Deep in those dark eyes, I see more than a glimmer of desire. Porter might be the medicine I need—igniting the fire inside me again and making me appreciate the warmth and beauty of home.

When I came out of the operating room, I was looking for something—someone—that didn’t exist. Or I thought he didn’t. I stayed up nights, wanting and wishing. I thought I was going crazy, but meeting Porter makes me feel sane.

I’ve been married to my job for so long, and my relationship with Porter is just temporary. But when Porter’s little brother is implicated in a crime he didn’t commit, I know I’m needed back in Snow Lake. Maybe I’ll find the truth—and my reason for living. 

Porter:

I don’t get many dates in a sleepy little town like Snow Lake. With my full cargo hold of emotional baggage, guys aren’t exactly banging on my door. Sure, I’ve got my dreams. I saw what my father had with his wife before they died, and I always wanted that kind of happiness. It’s just not in the cards for me. 

When I meet Sean, the s*xy cop with dark hair and midnight eyes, I’m tempted far more than I want to admit. I keep my cool whenever I see him, hoping he can’t read my dirty mind or hear my jaw drop to the floor. I should tell him how I feel, but going for it has never been my thing.

I like my small, comfortable life. I made a new normal after the accident that took everything away from me, and I work hard to keep my sh!t together. Throwing a monkey wrench into the whole thing is... terrifying. 

He’s only here for a little while, a tempting voice says. How much harm can a week-long wrench do?
A lot, another, less-tempting voice answers.

After what I've been through, I'm not sure I can resist the kind of love that Sean's offering. I just hope it doesn't destroy me.

Sean:

I'm a cop on leave. I fled to Snow Lake for some R&R after getting what I euphemistically call a 'workplace injury.' Since getting shot, I'm a little jumpy-- I can't help but be spooked, expecting something, or someone, around every corner. But there's one person that's making me feel like my old, bold self again--Porter Gaines, the guy who runs the butcher shop in my temporary digs. But deep in those dark eyes of his, the glimmer of desire I think I see not only makes me wild, but makes me feel like I've come home.  

I’ve always heard that a near-death experience can change your mind about life, but if I'm honest, I didn’t come anywhere close to dying. I did come out of the operating room looking for something though--someone that wasn’t there--that didn’t exist. Or I thought he didn’t.

My job's been my life for so long and whatever Porter and I have is just supposed to be a temporary thing. But when the phone rings and a mysterious man implicates Porter's little brother in a crime, I know I have to return and investigate. And maybe I'll not only find the truth, but also, find my reason to really live.


Porter:  

In a town like Snow Lake, potential partners are few and far between, and with my full cargo hold of emotional baggage, I don’t know who would ever be interested in me. I saw what my dad had with Bette before they passed, and I want a little piece of that for myself. And when I meet Sean, the s*xy cop with the dark hair and darker eyes, I'm tempted more than I want to admit. He's completely unaware of the mass of butterflies swarming my guts whenever he's around.    

But 'going for it' has never been my thing. I’m not thrilled about failure or rejection--it’s big change that makes me nervous. I like what’s comfortable and familiar. I like Snow Lake, I like my neighbors and our weekly rituals. As screwed up as my life has become since the accident, I still have made a new normal, and throwing a monkey wrench into the whole thing is... terrifying. 

He’s only here for a little while, a tempting voice says.

How much harm can a week-long wrench do?

A lot, another, less-tempting voice answers.

But after what I've been through, I'm not sure I can resist the kind of love that Sean's offering. I just hope it doesn't destroy me.

Review 

My Rating - 5 Stars!

Sidearms and Spareribs is a super sweet small town romance by Ashton Cade. 

This second book in the Hearts of Snow Lake series is the story of two men. One is grieving the loss of his parents while having to raise his younger brother. The other is in town for a short time while recovering from a work place injury.

As Sean is only in town temporarily, his new found feelings for this small town boy cause a lot off confusion. What follows is a slightly angsty read that includes some homophobia, including a scene which left me gutted.

Both Sean and Porter are interesting and likeable characters. Each have some unigue issues to deal with individually, as well as to make a relationship between them work. The issues with Porter's brother are realistically developed and explored. I love his brother and all he brings to their tale.

This is the story of finding someone who calms you, anchors you, and helps you laugh at yourself. It's a story of finding a purpose in life and grabbing onto that purpose. 

As with Motorcycles and Macarons, the first book of the series, the writing is good, with a nice flow and some intriguing characters. The small town is well written, with many characters adding to the story, and a whole lot of people who know everyone and everyone's business.

I highly recommend Sidearms and Spareribs to anyone in the mood for a sweet, fluffy, and tender small town romance. This Ashton Cade standalone read will not disappoint. 

Beauregard and the Beast by Evie Drae

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Goodreads Link

Blurb

A Once Upon a Vegas Night Tale His greatest prize can’t be won in the octagon. Champion MMA fighter Adam Littrell needs no distractions as he prepares for the fight that will determine whether he retires. But when he opens the door of his swanky Las Vegas home to his new personal assistant, Bo Wilkins, staying focused becomes a struggle. Aware of Adam’s surly reputation, Bo doesn't expect to like his new employer, let alone fall for him. But Bo is pleasantly surprised when a shared love of books leads them to study for their GEDs together and plan for a life after their current careers. Adam won't be able to fight forever, and Bo wants a relationship on equal footing. But just as their relationship is getting off the ground, the sister Bo raised needs his help, and he drops everything. With Adam’s final match looming and Bo in a different city, reuniting will be the real challenge.

Review 

My Rating - 5 Stars!

Beauregard and the Beast is a thought-provoking romance by Evie Drae.

Beau, a PA, falls for his new boss, Adam, aka "The Beast. Beau's a selfless man, whose every move is driven by the need to help his sister. Lonely and miserable, together these two are able to overcome their problems.

The dichotomy of the Beast's personality, versus the real man behind the persona, Adam, is wonderfully done. Beauregard's an ass to the world, but he's actually a gentle giant. The reader is fully able to see the difference, as well as understand why this persona exists.

Their relationship involves not just allowing themselves to love someone, but also making room for one another in their lives. Beau and Adam are so damn perfect together. It's amazing the way Adam immediately opens up to Beau, and the way their friendship develops so naturally.

Their story is also about making compromises and understanding each other's needs. With a strong attraction from the starts, their relationship's full of sexual tension and physical boundaries.

The writing is fantastic, full of great characters, and a whole lot of love. Evie Drae excels in the telling of this amazing tale of finding love and grasping onto it. It's fast and short without a ton of depth. But this boss/employee, conflict of interest romance is an excellent read about finding a way to create a family and allowing themselves to be a family. 

Beauregard and the Beast is a sweet and touching romance. My first read by Evie Drae, I am thoroughly impressed and am excited for more. 

Made for You (Love and Family #2) by Anyta Sunday

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Blurb

Ben wants to find a new home.

Twenty-four-year-old Ben McCormick is the primary caregiver for his brother Milo after their parents’ death. A year into the job, he’s totally got the hang of it. Mostly. Sort of. Not at all?

Defeated and thoroughly chastised for his lack in parenting skills at teacher-parent night, Ben slumps away with the resolve to finally get his life sorted: be a better role model, and sell their parents’ house for a fresh start.

But first, he needs to spruce up his house to hit the market. He’s no DIY king, but Milo’s hot-as-hell woodwork teacher is…

Jack wants an old home to fix.
Thirty-nine-year-old Jack Pecker is waiting for the home of his dreams to come on the market in the summer. What better way to wait the interim months than working on a small renovation gig?

Only trouble is, the gig is for the McCormick brothers. And working in close quarters to red-haired Ben McCormick won’t be easy. Not with the attraction that simmers between them. Attraction Ben makes no effort to hide.

But Jack’s professional. Dating a parent is highly discouraged at Kresley Intermediate, and he’d never cross the lines…

Ben and Jack. Two guys searching for a home –
– a home that might just be where their hearts lead them.

~ - ~ - ~

Set in New Zealand, Made For You (Love & Family #2) is an MM gay romance featuring two guys at very different places in their lives – but both finding out they are looking for the same thing.
Can be read as a standalone.

Tropes: friends-to-lovers, slow burn, age gap, found family
Genre: New Adult, light-hearted contemporary gay romance

Review 

My Rating - 5 Stars!

Anyta Sunday's Made For you, the second book in the Love and Family series is an amazing forbidden romance story.

It's no surprise to me that I love this book. The tropes involved are fantastic; forbidden romance, May to September romance, teacher/parent relationship, raising a sibling story, and slow burn romance. All are entwined to make a wonderful story.

Ben's raising his brother Milo, who just so happens to be the best kid ever! I love every single scene of his. He's an absolute delight and will have you smiling throughout with his humor and spunkiness.

As for Jack, he just happens to be Milo's teacher. The relationship Jack has with Milo is terrific and meeting his brother Ben changes Jack's world completely. The two get to know each other as Jack's hired to renovate Ben's home in his spare time. In other words, let the slow burn fun begin as the tension is high.

There are lots of bird watching scenes and talk about birds, which is quite interesting. Knowing nothing on this subject, I learned a lot while also being entertained, as the brothers bond over this.

Anyta Sunday's Made For You is a marvelous, complicated romance. It wonderfully tells of overcoming obstacles and choosing to have love. It's beautiful and tender and the ending is perfect! I highly recommend this one.