Tag: Mari’s Reviews

Release Blitz ~ HEA: Happily Ever After by Lucy Lennox & Molly Maddox (Reviews)

05/02/2024
Title: HEA: Happily Ever After
Series: After Oscar #5
Authors: Lucy Lennox & Molly Maddox
Genre: MM Romance
Tropes: One Night Stand/Lovers to Friends to Lovers
Always the Groomsman, Never the Groom
Billionaire, Fake Dating
Release Date: May 2, 2024
BLURB

 

Have you heard the expression “twelve times a groomsman, never a groom”? Neither had I… until it suddenly became clear that every man I dated found their One True Love in the person they dated after me. 
Now I’m writing Best Man speeches for my former boyfriends twice a month, the “After Oscar” thing has become a legend, and I have finally accepted that Oscar Overton is nobody’s Happily Ever After.
Which is fine.
Between running my investment company, providing for Frank, my emotional support hedgehog, and keeping my enthusiastic family from getting in my business, my life is plenty busy. The last thing on my mind is a relationship.
Until Hugh Linzee.
One hot night with the gorgeous wedding photographer somehow turns into a text conversation I just can’t quit, but I’m determined to keep my distance. Hugh has ideas… ideas about romance and fireworks and capital-L love… and I care about him too much to let him get those ideas about me.
Fate keeps throwing us together, though. After an accidental all-night phone call and a convenient wedding run-in, suddenly I find myself agreeing to be his fake boyfriend, and distance quickly becomes a thing of the past.
But how long until Hugh figures out he’ll only get his HEA… After Oscar?

Blog Tour ~ The Househusband’s Guide to Domestic Bliss by Lance Lansdale (Review + Giveaway)

04/24/2024

Househusband's Guide BT Banner

Blog Tour, Excerpt & Giveaway:
The Househusband’s Guide to Domestic Bliss
By Lance Lansdale

HOUSEHUSBAND ebook1600x2560

There is a home in New Orleans where—for a price—even the unlovable can find a love story for the ages. Ms. Broussard’s Home for Bountiful Beaus offers custom-made automatons, fully versed in the art of homemaking.

Arthur Price is not looking for love. The lonely librarian clings to work and routine to keep himself functioning. When his brother, Jared, arrives in the middle of the night with an i-Series automaton meant to lift his spirits, he realizes his routine life is about to be upended. Cheerful to a fault, Periwinkle is not someone Arthur would normally choose to befriend, much less enter into a romantic entanglement with, but he somehow programs himself perfectly into his life.

Miraculously, Arthur finds himself growing almost… fond of the robot.

Periwinkle may not possess much experience outside cleaning, but he can’t help noticing the loneliness in his librarian’s eyes. If it means giving Arthur Price a fresh start, Periwinkle is more than happy to stitch together all of Arthur’s broken pieces.

The Househusband’s Guide to Domestic Bliss is a cozy, dual POV, slow-burn romance about a lonely librarian and his made-to-order boyfriend.

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New Release Review ~ Summer Kitchen by E.J. Russell

04/22/2024

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗹𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗳 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲…

SUMMER KITCHEN, by E.J. Russell, is available now in ebook and audio!

https://getbook.at/SummerKitchen

Find it at your favorite ebook and audio retailer, narrated by Greg Boudreaux.

💜🧑🏽‍🍳💜🧑🏽‍🍳

Take:

· One former rock musician

· One almost-MBA turned cooking school student

Add two heaping spoonfuls (each) of:

· responsibility

· familial obligation

· regret

And a dash of:

· misunderstanding (optional)

Stir together in:

· one small Vermont town

Season with:

· friends

· family

· foes

· and one large ginger cat

Garnish with:

· validation

· laughter

· just deserts (also desserts)

Simmer for one entire summer before serving up a delicious (well-deserved) HEA. Bon Appetit!

💜🧑🏽‍🍳💜🧑🏽‍🍳

CONNECT → FB @EJ Russell | IG/TT @ej_russell_author

#GayRomanceReviews #GRR #EJRussell #SummerKitchen #NewSeries #SmallTown #OppositesAttract #LowAngst #RomCom #MMromance #ReadWithPride

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Audiobook Tour ~ Broken Ice, Mended Ice by Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood (Review)

04/22/2024

Broken Ice, Mended Hearts

By Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood

Narrated by Nick J. Russo

Publisher: Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood

Release Date: April 3, 2024

Version: Unabridged Audio

Length: 10 hours and 10 minutes

Heat Level: 3.5 – Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance

Tropes: Hockey, Rivals to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Bi Awakening, Found Family, High Heat, HEA

PIERRE (“GAGS”)

My life is complicated.

Hell, I’m complicated.

I don’t know a life beyond how I’m perceived. After a devastating divorce, it looked like I never would.

Can a hockey fight change your life?

I may not understand my attraction to Sven Holmer, but I can tell you my obsession with kissing him started in the middle of a fight. When we met again, the conversation was easy, the banter effortless. Once stolen glances gave way to secret touches, I was more confused than ever. How the hell am I supposed to handle it when everything I’ve always believed about myself no longer fits?

Things are great… until they aren’t.

Our connection deepens with every minute we spend together, but like me, Sven is no stranger to betrayal and heartache. Between my stubbornness, his reservations, and the start of a new season, how can we survive months apart?

When tragedy strikes, all bets are off. I just hope it’s not too late.

Broken Ice, Mended Hearts features two thirty-something hockey players hardened by heartbreak. This compelling, angsty book includes a bisexual awakening, hurt/comfort, found family, first times, high heat, and a hard-earned HEA. Though it is part of the Bethesda Barracudas Hockey series, it can be read as a standalone.

Audible US: https://adbl.co/3xupLSo

Audible UK: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B0CZSHQJHF

Amazon BOOK Universal: https://mybook.to/BIMH

Amazon BOOK US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CVVCF3M7

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/208085046-broken-ice-mended-hearts

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/broken-ice-mended-hearts-an-mm-hurt-comfort-bi-awakening-hockey-romance-bethesda-barracudas-hockey-book-6-by-ryan-taylor-and-joshua-harwood

Continue reading “Audiobook Tour ~ Broken Ice, Mended Ice by Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood (Review)”

Release Blitz ~ Whisper by Cambria Hebert (Review)

04/19/2024
Title: Whisper
Series: Westbrook Elite #7
Author: Cambria Hebert
Genre: MM College Sports Romance
Tropes: Opposites Attract, Hurt/Comfort
Star-Crossed Lovers, Found Family
Release Date: April 19, 2024
BLURB
Can you whisper?

 

Something I never thought I’d ask the guy who is exactly my type
but completely wrong for me.
Someone I sneak secret glances at from a distance while vowing to never get too close.
And then I get tossed in jail. With him.
Know how forced proximity and extreme panic go together?
They don’t. And the walls I spent a lifetime erecting around me crack,
giving him an intimate view of all the secrets I work so hard to protect.
Color me surprised when the pierced, tattooed DJ doesn’t recoil or call me a freak.
Arsen gets me through the night, his attention like a match to my insides,
lighting me on fire and making me burn.
Keeping my distance is impossible.
My body begs to be near him, but we just don’t mix.
He’s fire. I’m water.
Sound is his superpower but my kryptonite.
For once in my life, my heart is louder than my head, and I can’t stay away.
But it seems following my heart leads me straight into trouble.
Turns out I’m not the only one who thinks maybe Arsen and I don’t belong together,
and the people who agree will go to extremes to make sure we stay apart.
Whisper is a Westbrook Elite standalone novel, a college sports romance featuring:
Opposites attract
A single jail cot
Star-crossed lovers
Auditory disability rep (misophonia & tinnitus)
Hurt/Comfort
Bromance/Found family
OTT possessive MC

Release Blitz~ Higher Demon by Louisa Masters (Reviews)

04/11/2024
Title: Higher Demon
Series: The Collective #1
Author: Louisa Masters
Genre: MM Paranormal Romance
Tropes: Enemies to Lovers/Forced Proximity
Secret Relationship
Release Date: April 11, 2024
BLURB
No matter the demon, the hunter’s role is clear…
A thousand years ago, my great-something uncle founded the Collective, a secret organization dedicated to protecting humanity from demons. The hunter tradition has been passed down over the generations, from parent to child, secure in the knowledge that the Collective is a community of safety and knowledge.
But betrayal sucks, and six years ago, it turned my world—and the Collective—upside down. After generations of deception, the hunters left behind are picking up the pieces and trying something we’ve never done before—working side by side with our enemy.
Demons, just to be clear. They’re apparently “misunderstood,” but the jury is still out on that. And I—a twentysomething archivist with an addiction to hoodies—somehow ended up as liaison to the demon ambassador.
If it sounds like a nightmare, that’s because it is. The demon ambassador is a stuck-up, pretentious twat… not to mention he could kill me with a thought. Worst of all, he’s getting under my skin in ways I never expected. But I’m the only hunter who doesn’t actively want to kill him, so… tag, I’m it.
I’ve already been betrayed by those I should have been able to trust the most. How hard can hanging out with a higher demon be?

 

PURCHASE LINKS
AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU
UNIVERSAL
Free in Kindle Unlimited
ALSO AVAILABLE IN AUDIO

Continue reading “Release Blitz~ Higher Demon by Louisa Masters (Reviews)”

Review Tour ~ Lights, Camera, Passion by Isabel Lucero

04/10/2024

LIGHTS, CAMERA, PASSION

Isabel Lucero

Release Date: April 8

 

Blurb:

Playing a lead role in a book-to-movie adaptation with a wild fan base? Sign me up! The only downside is that I’m cast alongside Jacoby “Heartthrob” Hart—Hollywood’s golden boy. If only they knew he was an uppity, pompous snob. 

We don’t get along, and if you’re reading the tabloids, you’d assume it was because I “stole” his girlfriend, but they have it all wrong. Jacoby and his cold shoulder started this, and now we’re set to play lovers. The only thing I’d love to do is strangle him, but I’m a professional. 

Behind the scenes, we’re either bickering or avoiding each other, but when the cameras start rolling, I can’t believe how much chemistry we have. 

One night, during a passionate argument, something happens that I never anticipated. The chemistry that started out as an act turns into much more behind closed doors, but we both have secrets, and Hollywood is a hard place to keep those.

 

Buy Link:

https://mybook.to/Lightscamerapassion

Available in KU

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Audio Tour ~ Falling For Raine by Lane Hayes (Review + Excerpt + Giveaway)

04/03/2024

Falling For Raine AT Banner

Audio Tour, Excerpt & Giveaway:
Falling For Raine
By Lane Hayes

Narrated by Joel Leslie

Falling For Raine Audio

The gentleman, the hot mess, and a little British adventure…

Raine

Moving to London is scary and daunting, but I desperately need this job–and a redo. Okay, so I may have oversold my qualifications. That shouldn’t be a big deal, though. I mean, being an assistant’s assistant seems easy enough, and I’m a fast learner.

Hold up!

I’m already in over my head with spreadsheets, new pronunciations, and temperamental appliances. And just as I’m mentally preparing to face going home early, the big boss offers me an opportunity I can’t refuse. And I definitely should because Graham Horsham is an infuriating, complicated grumpy bear with a razor-sharp tongue, a wickedly dry sense of humor, and…I like him far too much.

Graham

I’ve been bamboozled. I’m not quite sure how I ended up with an assistant who spills coffee daily, wears wrinkled shirts, and chatters nonstop. He can’t stay, but I don’t want him to go and that’s madness. The Horsham Group is closing one of our biggest deals ever and I won’t jeopardize it. This one is personal.

Yet so is Raine.

He’s a breath of fresh air—silly, impetuous, lighthearted, good-natured, and…quite lovely. I like him more than I want to admit. For some reason, I can let my guard down with him. It’s unnerving and probably unprofessional.

But not to worry…I will not, under any circumstances, fall for Raine.

Falling for Raine is an MM, age-gap romance featuring a British gentleman, a desperate but adorable American, and a UK adventure!

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Review Tour ~ The Caretaker by C.P. Harris

03/30/2024

THE CARETAKER

C.P. Harris

Release Date: March 28

Blurb:

The only thing Noon Waters is sure of is his undying love for his wife. But when a devastating accident ripped both her and a good deal of his memories away from him, he’s left to navigate a new life weighed down by grief, anger, and confusion. 

After stumbling upon an old receipt dated one day prior to the tragic event, Noon’s curiosity leads him to Haley Cove, a place he can’t remember but is somehow certain holds the key to regaining his forgotten years. 

So focused on the memories he hopes to recapture, Noon is wholly unprepared for the oddly familiar stranger he finds there instead. As a tentative friendship blooms, Noon’s reasons for being in the quaint town become less clear. What starts as a quest for answers ends with a revelation that’s too painful to bear. 

What happens when the beautiful life you thought you had lived was a lie, but that lie is all you can remember?

Buy Link:

https://mybook.to/tcpr222

Available in KU

Continue reading “Review Tour ~ The Caretaker by C.P. Harris”

Release Blitz ~ Boss of Attraction by Kimberly Knight & Rachel Lyn Adams (Review)

03/29/2024
Title: Boss of Attraction
Series: Forbidden #3
Authors: Kimberly Knight & Rachel Lyn Adams
Genre: MM Romance
Tropes: Boss/Employee, Age Gap, Opposites Attract
Release Date: March 29, 2024
BLURB
Declan can’t resist the temptation of his much older boss, but a stolen kiss while trapped in an elevator becomes a ticking time bomb ready to blow up their careers and personal life.
Sean Ashford, a senior partner at a prestigious law firm, became a widower five years ago when his wife of twenty years passed away. Since then, he’s put all of his time and energy into his career and hasn’t wanted to date, nor does he believe his heart is ready to move on. Little does he know that the young, eager, male attorney he hired will change his mind.
Declan Rivers’ dreams of creating a better life for himself and providing for his mom are finally within his grasp when he gets hired at one of the best criminal law firms in Boston. The only problem is he can’t stop lusting after his new boss. As someone who is used to random hook-ups, he soon learns it’s not only his job at stake but also his heart when he wants more with the one man he can’t have.
Long hours in the office, the occasional flirtatious banter, and a fainting spell leaves Sean questioning his sexuality, and Declan hopeful that his crush will turn into more.
When Sean’s children learn about his workplace romance, Declan is accused of being a gold digger, leaving him and Sean to decide if they want to keep their relationship strictly professional or continue to give into their forbidden desires.
Don’t miss out on this boss/employee romance filled with all the GFY, age gap, opposites attract goodness.

 

Audio Tour ~ Tooth and Nail by Patricia Logan (Reviews + Excerpt + Giveaway)

03/26/2024

Tooth and Nail AT Banner

Audio Tour, Excerpt & Giveaway:
Tooth and Nail
By Patricia Logan

Narrated by Kevin Earlywine & Declan Winters

Tooth And Nail Audio Cover

U.S. Marshals I.S.R. (Interspecies Response), Book 1

The very last thing U.S. Marshal Eoghan Sapphire wants is a new partnership. Worse yet, the transfer from Lexington, Kentucky is a civilian. That means it’ll be Eoghan’s responsibility to break him into the I.S.R. and the unique way their particular U.S. Marshals Service unit operates. He decides being a jerk to him and keeping him at arm’s length just might be the way to handle things…until he meets him.

Aristotle Brown isn’t like anyone Eoghan’s ever known before. He’s polite, willing to learn, and most of all, devastatingly handsome. Eoghan’s actually happy they’re thrown into a dangerous situation with a WITSEC protectee the first day his brand-new partner is on the job. Dealing with this particular man will let Eoghan know what Ari Brown’s made of. Will he break under pressure?

Dealing with humans is standard everyday stuff in the U.S. Marshals Service but other non-human species like shifters, other paranormals, and aliens from distant star systems…well, that’s where things promise to get downright interesting. Their second day on the job is no different. And he’s not prepared for Ari’s cool-headed composure when he comes face to face with an example of everything the I.S.R. deals with every day.

To top it all off, the marshal sent to back the two men up when things get dicey in Griffith Park isn’t as reliable as Eoghan had hoped. The impulses of the guy nearly get them all killed but fortunately, Ari performs like a dream, helping extract everyone when things go from bad to worse. Eoghan is sure of a couple of things…acting as this man’s training officer isn’t going to be such a struggle after all, and keeping his hands off him is going to be the hardest part about this assignment.

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Release Blitz ~ Co-Star by Ava Olsen (Review)

03/22/2024

NEW RELEASE

Book Title: Co-Star

Author and Publisher: Ava Olsen

Cover Artist: Furiousfotog

Release Date: March 20, 2024

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Tropes: Friends to enemies to lovers, hurt/comfort, second chances

Themes: Coming out, mental health, addiction, healing trauma (not SA)

Length: 75 252 words/300 pages

Heat Rating: 4 flames

It is a standalone story and does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

 

Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited

Universal Link | Amazon US | Amazon UK

 

Love in the spotlight is not made to survive. Will we?

 

Blurb

Reed: Tate Aduma is a Hollywood actor that everyone wants and no one really knows. Our first meeting as young dreamers sparks a decade of incredible highs and lows.

I’ve loved him, I’ve hated him, and I can’t live without him.

But I know that love in the spotlight is not made to survive.

Will we?

Tate: Reed Larkin is the only constant in my chaotic life of movie sets, parties, and nameless lovers. But while being on stage is second nature, being myself in real life is a role I struggle to play.

Then I’m offered the biggest part of my career, working alongside Reed as my co-star, and my love interest.

This time, however, neither one of us is acting.

 

Co-Star is a best friends to enemies to lovers, MM romance filled with combustible chemistry, indelible love, and a HEA a decade in the making.

Continue reading “Release Blitz ~ Co-Star by Ava Olsen (Review)”

Blog Tour ~ The Weight Within by Gwen Martin (Review + Giveaway)

03/20/2024

THE WEIGHT WITHIN

The Collective Series – Book Two

by Gwen Martin

Blog Tour

Release Date: March 13, 2024

Cover Design:

We Got You Covered Book Design
Photographer:

Xram Ragde


Genre: M/M Romance Standalone

Tropes: Enemies to lovers, opposites attract, bisexual romance, workplace romance, hurt/comfort, slow burn

Synopsis

Tristan Edwards is clean cut, determined, and organized on the outside, but on the inside he’s falling apart. After years of nonstop travel for work, he’s assigned to open a new branch that could keep him close to home with more job security. But if he doesn’t show how well he can transition to an executive position, his dream job may fall into the hands of his dream man.

Kurt Holden is newly divorced, without a home and in need of a change. When a new position springs up, Kurt jumps at the chance to start over in a new city, as a new person. What he isn’t interested in is falling into another relationship, but the more time he spends with Tristan, it becomes impossible to ignore his attraction.

As Tristan struggles reconciling his mental health, and Kurt attempts to reconcile the weight of his past, new desires have the men questioning if their rivalry to win will ruin their future together.

Add to your TBR List!

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Release Boost ~ Mr. Important by Lucy Lennox & May Archer (Review)

03/14/2024
Title: Mr. Important
Series: Honeybridge #2
Authors: Lucy Lennox & May Archer
Genre: Contemporary MM Romance
Tropes: Age Gap/Father’s Best Friend
Enemies to Lovers/Boss-Employee
Release Date: March 14, 2024
BLURB
One New Year’s masquerade. One anonymous hookup. One billionaire-sized mistake.
Once upon a time, someone looked at my scrawny, quiet eight-year-old self and nicknamed me Mr. Important… and I believed them.
That was my first mistake.
Two decades, a dozen failed careers, and a thousand meaningless hookups later, I’ve made more mistakes than I can count. My parents have decided I’m purely decorative, my brother thinks I need pep talks, and the gorgeous billionaire who hired me as a favor to my dad? He’s forgotten I exist.
So I’m done with mistakes.
Call it my New Year’s resolution. From now on, I’m going after what I want… starting with the mysterious silver fox in the Roman warrior mask who approached me at the charity gala and offered me a scorching, anonymous one-night-stand.
Unfortunately, when our masks come off I realize mistakes are not done with me.
Because the bossy guy who blew my mind? He’d thought I was someone else. Worse than that, he’s my father’s friend. A supposedly-straight workaholic. The person I’m stuck on a road trip with for the next two weeks. And, oh yeah, my actual boss.
The farther we get from New York, the closer we become, and the harder it is to pretend I’m not falling for him. But I can’t see how someone as brilliant, controlled, and successful as Thatcher Pennington would risk everything to be with someone like me… even if he makes me feel like I’m finally Mr. Important.

 

Review Blitz ~ Ignited by Becca Steele

03/14/2024

 💛 Review Blitz 💛

𝐈G𝐍I𝐓E𝐃 (𝐿𝒮𝒰 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀 3) by Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author Becca Steele is LIVE! Don’t miss this M/M, new adult, student/professor, college romance!!! 


#ONECLICK TODAY! FREE IN KU! 

https://mybook.to/LSUignited

 

BLURB

My life was perfect. A dream degree course, amazing friends, a different guy every weekend.

Until him.

One night.

No names.

We thought we’d never see each other again.

But the man that blew my mind turns out to be Dr. Wilder, a lecturer at my university with a reputation of being cold and unapproachable.

Completely wrong for me. 

He’s a teacher. I’m a student. 

Did I mention my housemates loathe him?

It was only supposed to be a one-night stand…until it wasn’t.

Now, we can’t seem to stay away from each other.

He’s turning my world upside down.

We’re in too deep.

There’s only one way this can end, and neither of us are prepared to face the consequences…

Ignited is an M/M new adult student/professor college romance, and is the third book in the LSU series. Each book can be read as a standalone.

 Add to your TBR: 

https://bit.ly/GR-Ignited

Start the series today: https://mybook.to/LSUcollide


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