Everyone remembers the night the boy band Eleven broke up. Hearts shattered around the world, including my own.
I made a mistake, and I’ve been avoiding bandmate Mason Nash ever since.
At first it was hard, but eighteen months ago, he made it easier by leaving Hollywood and disappearing.
When Eleven reunion talks start, I’m against it completely. I could really do with the publicity, but I don’t want to face Mason again. I’m sure he won’t want to see me either.
MASON
I don’t miss LA or anyone in it. Not even the guys from Eleven.
So, when they turn up on my doorstep talking about reunions, the last thing I want to do is hear them out.
I hold strong too. Until my eyes land on Denver Smith.
My ex-best friend.
Two and a half years ago, he ghosted me, and I still don’t know why.
I want answers—I miss him—but I don’t want to let him back into my life if there’s a chance he’ll walk away again.
Fandom is the third book in Eden Finley's Famous series. And, oh, how I adore this book.
Denver and Mason's tale is a second chance romance with plenty of regret and longing.
These two men have a long history and there's so much to repair just to be friends again, let alone more.
The fat shaming aspect is a large part of Mason's issues. Being out of the spotlight, he gained forty pounds and certainly isn't going to be accepted in the limelight again. We all know that celebrities are "supposed" be fit and good looking. This is a key part of Mason's journey.
This is an emotional read. And with it written in alternating first person pov, every feeling jumps off the pages.
Oh, the longing. The want. The pain of missed opportunities and the regret of wasted time.
It's a story of friendship and the need for support. It's a tale with apologies and forgiveness. It's a story with alcohol issues.
There are definitely some twists and turns I didn't see coming.
I adore the GFY aspect, as Mason's confused by his feelings for Denver. Add in Denver's staggering fear of losing his friend again, and the obstacles are plenty.
The whole series is amazing. It follows a former boy band, who all went their own ways. With a desire to get them back together, there are plenty of obstacles in the way.
This time around we get all the angst. Oh, this book grabbed me immediately and I couldn't put it down. Every moment is riveting and the overall storyline is mesmerizing.
Fandom is a stellar addition to the superb Famous series by Eden Finley. If you haven't yet started reading this series, you are really missing out.
Eden Finley is an Amazon bestselling author who writes steamy contemporary romances that are full of snark and light-hearted fluff.
She doesn't take anything too seriously and lives to create an escape from real life for her readers. The ideas always begin with a wackadoodle premise, and she does her best to turn them into romances with heart.
With a short attention span that rivals her son's, she writes multiple different pairings: MM, MMF, and MF.
She's also an Australian girl and apologises for her Australianisms that sometimes don't make sense to anyone else.
For years, I’ve been bound by sleeplessness and sorrow. His voice threatens to set me free.
Insomnia. It’s part of the penance I pay for my greatest mistake. But when an ill-timed doze behind the wheel of my car nearly introduces me to a pole, I know something has to change.
Sleep with Me, a locally-made meditation app, promises a cure. I don’t expect it to work. Nor do I expect to become enthralled by the voice of its creator, Sam Stephenson. His ability to coax forth my nightly surrender is unnerving. I have to meet this man and learn the secret behind his techniques, so I can evict him from my head—and still get a good night’s sleep.
In person, the quiet and reclusive Sam is his own kind of complicated. He needs my business skills as much as I need his meditation skills and we forge an unlikely partnership. But the attraction between us soon flares into passion and, as we grow closer, I start to long for more than my guilty conscience will allow.
I have no right to love, not after the damage I’ve done. How can I give Sam all he deserves, when our chance at a happy ending was ruined before we even met?
“So, we are,” I say with a false show of surprise. “It’s my fault, of course.” I pause, trying to figure out how to word the next part without making it obvious this was part of my plan all along. “I could always email you the questions. Then you can take as long as you like to answer them. After you send them back, I’ll write up a plan and we can meet again to discuss it.”
He looks aghast at the idea. “That’s a lot of work. I don’t want to take up too much of your time.”
“Actually, Sam, I’m the one asking for more of your time.” I brandish my most charming smile. It’s worked on men in the past, though I’m not usually trying this hard for the win. Desperation may have knocked the polish off.
Sam’s mouth drops open and somehow he manages to look panicked and thrilled at the same time. “You want to see me again?” he asks. “For the quid pro quo, I mean.”
“If you don’t mind.” I try to look calm, but my pulse is roaring like an express train. If he says no, I’m screwed. “I know this is all a bit odd, me coming to you the way I have. I suppose I hoped, once we met, you might be willing to give this whole process some more time.”
He shifts in his chair again, his gaze dropping. There’s no sign of his earlier trepidation, though, only a subtle wariness. “This was never going to be one hour, was it?”
“Not really, no,” I say, surprised at my honesty. “Not if we’re both going to get what we want from this.”
I can feel his attention all over me, even with his gaze glued to the table. “What exactly do you want from me, Tristan?”
It’s the voice. Right there in front of me. Coming from his mouth. Holy fuck.
Hearing that voice say my name, after all the ways I’ve used and abused his—in curses and moans and whispered pleas—is a goddamned fantasy come to life. Lust surges through my veins and I want to growl in frustration. This infatuation has to end. “I need to stop sleeping with you.”
His head snaps upright and we both gasp.
My right hand slaps over my mouth. “Fuck, I didn’t mean it like that.”
Looking away again, he releases a shaky breath. “It’s all right.” He runs absent hands along his arms, soothing a severe case of goosebumps. Sam is responding to my voice, my words, the same way I inevitably respond to his.
How would we respond to each other’s touch? Stifling a groan, I shift clenched fists into my lap. That’s not what this is about. I’m obsessed enough without learning the texture of his skin and the taste of his—
Sam starts to laugh, really laugh. “That stupid name,” he manages to say between breaths. “Sleep with Me. It wasn’t even my idea, but it certainly does get a reaction.” There’s another peel of laughter, as if he’s releasing all the tension from his body, and I find myself joining in. Every time we look at each other it gets worse and before I know it my stomach is sore from laughing. It feels good to laugh at myself. Weird, but good.
“Let me rephrase,” I say as we start to regain our composure. “What I mean is, now you’ve succeeded in getting me to sleep, I want to figure out how to do it on my own.”
“Should be easy enough. It’s probably something in the phrasing.”
Reality seeps back in, killing off the last of my amusement. “No, it’s something else.” Sam isn’t the first person to tell me to let go of my guilt. My mother used to say it constantly. It wasn’t your fault, Tristan. You shouldn’t blame yourself.She didn’t believe her words any more than I did, but she tried. “I don’t know what it is about you that’s different. I don’t think it’s necessarily something you can teach me, but whatever it is, I need to figure it out.”
“So, what’s the plan?” he asks with a baffled expression. “Are you going to hang around me until you get your answer through osmosis or something?”
“Maybe? I don’t know.” I drop my head into my hands. “Honestly, I’m making this up as I go along.”
“You and me both,” he says with a snort. “I don’t know if I can give you the answer you’re looking for, Tristan. But I’ll try.”
Slumping back in my chair, I release a sigh. “Thank you, Sam.”
He smiles that tiny smile and I try not to drool when his cheeks turn pink. “It’s my pleasure.”
Rebecca is a long-time lover of all things romance. Whether it’s a book, movie, or real life, she will always have more fun if there’s a love interest thrown into the mix. She lives in Queensland, Australia with her very own hero husband, two quirky kids and one big, black dog. Other than reading and writing books, her favourite things include loud music, enjoying a glass of wine on the patio, organising everything in existence, and spending too much time on the Internet.
(Story Ballads Book #2) by: Mia Kerick Genre: YA Coming of Age Gay Romance Release Date: March 3
Kyle is a swaggering bully; Lenny strives to be invisible.
Kyle has been left alone in the world; Lenny is the world’s biggest loner.
When Kyle saves Lenny from drowning, their lives will never be the same.
After a brutal encounter with school bullies, Lenny swims out into the ocean, determined to let the current whisk him away. Next thing he knows the meanest kid in town is pulling him from the waves, promising to be his Dead Sea, and to never let him sink.
All Kyle wants is to get out of beach cleanup, is that too much to ask? So he goes for a swim, only to come upon the most epic “nobody” in the senior class drowning in a riptide. Lenny’s haunted gaze grips him, and Kyle makes the impulsive decision to save his life or die trying. And through this ordeal, Kyle and Lenny are transformed.
Kyle’s heroic act sets him on the straight and narrow, and he opens his heart to the young man he dragged from the ocean. Lenny changes too but is still unable to reveal the truth of his pain. While drowning in a sea of secrets, the reformed bully and wary victim fall in love. But staying afloat in the Dead Sea is not as simple as it seems.
Dead Sea is a stunning read by Mia Kerick. The second book in the Story Ballads series, it's easily read as a standalone.
This is a deep and heavy young adult story.
Kyle and Lenny are two teens. Total opposites. And both barely holding on; both struggling with who they are.
Their lives collide and dramatically change forever one day at the beach when Kyle saves Lenny from a riptide.
The two have nothing in common. Kyle's the popular boy at school, one of the crowd who bullies Lenny. And Lenny's the recluse who never talks at school. Ever. They are two boys who hide, one behind his clothes, the other behind his attitude.
But damn, there are so many layers behind what they show the world. Kyle's mother is toxic and abusive, never appreciating or praising him. Dear lord, the way she talks to him is horrific.
And poor Lenny. He hides behind his silence at school. He knows he's different and he's completely confused by who he really is. Lenny just doesn't fit in. He struggles to figure out where his desires fit in. His love of wearing costumes and dressing up leaves him confused and embarrassed. So to the world he chooses to try to be invisible. His family issues are complicated as well.
They are two broken young men whose worlds collide. Two broken young men who end up saving each other. And it's beautiful.
Despite not knowing one another, Kyle chooses to save Lenny and feels compelled to keep protecting him.
What follows is a tale of two boys who help each other embrace who they are, encouraging and inspiring each other. Two boys who give each other a reason to live.
This is a story with family and mother issues galore. There's homophobia, bullying, attempted suicide, and depression.
As far as favorite quotes, there are way too many to list. The author seriously had me stunned with some of the impressive quotes. Basically, she reminds us to find the people who nurture and support us. She reminds us that life will always throw us obstacles and complications but encourages us to survive our current obstacle and face the future. It's wonderfully poignant. Especially in our current environment.
Dead Sea is a heavy and powerful coming of age story. Mia Kerick once again gifts her readers with a stellar young adult romance that is complex and multi-layered. I am thrilled to have read about these two young men and their journey.
Award-winning gay romance author, wife, and mother of four, Mia Kerick, knows that a satisfying romance novel is riddled with challenges. For true love to prevail, the leading men are going to have to put in some effort. But the HEA is oh, so rewarding.
From Jane Eyre’s Mr. Rochester to Brokeback Mountain’s Ennis and Jack to Twilight’s Edward, Mia has a great affinity for the tortured hero in literature. Her contemporary gay romance focuses on such tropes as coming of age, hurt/comfort, and forbidden love. She firmly believes that sometimes you have to break his heart to save him. In Kerick’s books, the course of true love truly never does run smooth.
Mia’s books have been featured in Kirkus Reviews magazine. They have won a 2019 IPPY GOLD award for Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction, GOLD award for Juvenile/Young Adult Fiction, a 2018 YA GOLD MOONBEAM Children’s Book Award, a YA Readers’ Favorite Award, several Gold Rainbow Awards in YA and adult categories, a Reader Views’ Book by Book Publicity Literary Award, the Jack Eadon Award for Best Book in Contemporary Drama, a YA Indie Fab Award, a First Place Royal Dragonfly Award for Cultural Diversity, a First Place Story Monsters Purple Dragonfly Award, and more.
Mia cheers for each and every victory made in the name of human rights. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.
He left home to find acceptance. When he falls for a supposedly straight bouncer, can he awaken the man who's everything he needs?
Living in the shadows has always been easier for Maverick. One trip to Annandale was all it took for him to see what life could be like if he let both sides of his personality shine. After all, what good was a closet filled with pretty clothes and killer makeup skills if he couldn’t show them off?
His best friend thought he was crazy for moving cross-country, but it was exactly the move he needed to finally live in the light.
John’s known as the token straight guy at work. But can he claim that when one encounter with a pretty boy has haunted him for months? His attraction to men isn’t the only thing that’s fully awake after they meet again. Yes, he wants to see if he’s more than just bi-curious, but he also wants to be the one to take care of Maverick and show him how special he is.
When a chance encounter leads to a love John never expected, can he accept who he is and be the Daddy his boy deserves?
Dressed in Desire is the first book in the Club DeSires series, set in the kinky town of Annandale. While there are cameo appearances from characters in the other series, you can jump in wherever you are without a problem! This book features a bi-awakening for an older man, and the genderfluid boy who sometimes wants to be Daddy's princess. Together, they'll explore kinks that might be better left as fantasies...
My Rating - 5 Stars!
Dressed in Desire is the first book in Quinn Ward's Club DeSires series. And, damn, it's one hot tale.
Maverick and John's story is riveting and all consuming. Both men are struggling with being who they really are. Maverick's struggling to start over, moving to a new place where he can be himself. John, meanwhile, works at the club but is struggling with his sexuality.
There's a lot going on in this tale and I love the way it all unfolds. The men are wonderfully complex and make for an amazing couple. They definitely belong together and help one another, but their journey has some obstacles in it's way.
I love Mav. He's a genderfluid man who has long struggled to find acceptance. Moving and joining the club definitely helps him to be himself. I adore the way John connects with him and completely supports his needs.
John's struggles are a huge issue, as his brother has expectations and issues that make it hard for John to be himself. It's all well explored and an important part of his character, as well as adding a lot of tension to the storyline at parts.
Their story is one with first times and some hot kink, including some super hot role play. And, wow, I am still thinking about that scene. It's beautifully done and extremely memorable. Just wow!
This is a wonderful tale of finding a place and a person who accepts and supports you as you are. It's about finding someone who understands you and can give you what you need.
Once again, I am in love with Quinn Ward's writing style and the world building. This series is a spin-off of The Lodge series and it's just perfectly done.
Dressed in Desire is a beautiful story with some extremely emotional and beautiful scenes. I love everything about this Quinn Ward story and can't wait to see what comes next in this series.
Could swearing off men lead Chelsea to the perfect woman?
After being rejected one too many times, Chelsea makes a bold vow: No more men. Her friends doubt a boy-crazy party girl can handle not dating for a year, but that only makes Chelsea more determined.
Tara has made a vow, too. After growing up in foster care and suppressing herself to please others, she's going to live her truth. When she sees a beautiful woman, she'll make her attraction known.
Chelsea appreciates Tara's flirtatious compliments, not to mention her androgynous beauty. There's a loophole in Chelsea's vow, and it's more tempting every day...
My Rating - 3 Stars!
Kim Hartfield's Flipcup is a small town lesbian romance. Part of the multi-author Vino & Veritas series, it's a standalone, as the series can be read in any order.
This book is a mix of good and only okay for me.
I enjoy the romance between Chelsea and Tara. They're an interesting mix of personalities. I like the sexual awakening for Chelsea, although I find her ability to go all in so quickly a little weird. Most of the time, her vibe is that of just looking for a way around her no sex with men vow.
I definitely struggled with getting the feel of both characters. And it takes a long time to find Chelsea relatable. And damn, I really hated her at the start. She's so pathetically immature, which just doesn't work for me.
I also don't care about Chelsea's business endeavor. I love that Tara encourages and supports her, but I just don't care about it. Basically, I end up enjoying how she changes, but it takes a long time to get the feeling that she will change.
Their story is full of flirting, first times and plenty of sexual exploration. As time goes on, I enjoy the characters once the author starts to reveal more than the surface stuff.
Flipcup is a decent romance overall. This Kim Hartfield read is a mix of fluff and steam. But the best is the epilogue!
I put the barrel under the bar and went back for the second one.
“I’m impressed by the fact that you do that all day, every day,” Tara said.
I shrugged, standing up straight. “It was hard at first, but you get used to it.”
“You don’t even break a sweat.” She gazed at the neckline of my shirt, then back at my face. “You’re amazing.”
Heat rose to my cheeks. “Flattery gets you nowhere.”
“Is that right?”
My heart hammered, and I lowered my voice. “Not if you’re already where you want to be.”
We had a date on Friday. It was pretty much guaranteed that we were going to rip each other’s clothes off and have our fill of each other. That was only two days from now. Fifty-three, maybe fifty-four hours. There was no reason for us to be standing here staring at each other with unrestrained lust, the air between us thick with sexual tension.
But Tara stepped toward me, close enough that I could feel her body heat. “Where do you think I want to be, exactly?”
I gulped. Men weren’t this straightforward with me unless we were both wasted. Even then, we quickly established that we were both on the same page, and then we went and did it. There were none of this complexity, this need to pursue as well as be pursued. Tara claimed she was a relationship person, and that she was going outside of her norm to do this with me. If I said the wrong thing, I might spook her and make her lose interest altogether. And that was the last thing I wanted to do.
I decided to be direct—but not too direct. “I think you want me,” I told her.
“You know what?” She leaned in, and the heat of her breath tickled my ear. “You’re right.”
“Friday?” I breathed.
She stepped back, leaving me gasping. The moment was over—or was it? She was still giving me that lustful look, her eyes dark and heavy-lidded. “Meet me in the restroom.”
Was she serious? My pulse was skyrocketing. I stared at her, looking for some sign that she was joking.
She gave me a tiny smile, then the smallest, subtlest nod toward the restrooms. Then she was gone, and I found myself unable to breathe.
Were we really doing this? I’d been dreaming of it for weeks, and now it was actually happening. I practically ran into the restroom, where Tara was waiting. “So here we are. The benefit of same-sex relationships.” She locked the door with a key from her pocket. “Works extra well when you’re dating an employee.”
Dating. Oh my God. My knees were ready to buckle, and my mind was barely functioning.
Before I could think of words to respond, she’d pushed me up against the sink. Her lips were on mine, hard and aggressive, and I responded with equal fervor. My body had been longing for hers ever since the last time we’d kissed. It’d only been a few days, but it was far, far, too long.
The space between my legs tingled in a whole different way. My panties were drenched, and my nipples cried for attention. Tara swept back my hair so she could go for my neck, her teeth digging in painfully. This was going to leave a mark, but it felt so—damn—good. I couldn’t have stopped her even if I’d wanted to.
“What have you done to me?” she murmured under her breath.
