Simmer, a Dreamspinner Press Anthology & Breakfast at Timothy's

Simmer, a Dreamspinner Press Anthology

Pages: 310

Release date: February 24, 2016

Details: Anthology

             Story received from author

The blurb:

There’s no denying preparing and eating food can be a sensuous experience and an experiment in pleasure. The men in these stories are about to find out just how satisfying it can be. From spicy to sweet and everything in between, things are heating up in the kitchen… and in the diner, on the food court, over the Internet, and even at a breakfast booth beyond the stars. Join them as they touch, taste, sample, and savor their way to steamy romance and maybe even a happy ever after that will last long after the dishes have been cleared.

The Cake by Ann Marie James

Former Marine and hard-working mechanic Kirk Smith can barely boil water, but that won’t stop him from baking the cake his orphaned niece wants for her birthday. When things go awry, it’s fellow single dad Eric Hallahan to the rescue. Eric’s been waiting for an opportunity to get closer to Kirk, so he’s happy to offer his help and see what they might mix up together—in and out of the kitchen.

All Is Well by Dale Cameron Lowry

When Kyle Pratt cooks a feast for his fellow Mormon missionaries near Lake Migisiwauk in the Upper Midwest, nineteen-year-old Tanner Jensen falls in love at first taste. But the church teaches romantic love between men is wrong, and Tanner knows the only way to get to the highest level of heaven is by marrying a faithful woman in a Mormon temple. Tanner is forced to reconsider his beliefs as he gets to know Kyle better and the two develop a deep connection based on their shared spirituality. The two missionaries must navigate uncharted territory, figuring out how to be true to both their faith and their love for one another.

Another Saturn Monday by R.A. Thorn

Cabbage forms the basis of the Hirculian cuisine, so when Interstellar Parking Authority employee Theo is forced to have breakfast at a Hirculian stall in the Saturn space station food court, he knows he’ll be having cabbage. But after one look at the stall’s shy but sexy proprietor, Ekain, Theo thinks he should have started eating cabbage for breakfast a long time ago.

Man of Steel by Rob Rosen

Adventurous foodie Scott is intrigued by the new Jewish diner that’s opened up in his neighborhood, and even more so by its chef and proprietor, Morty. It turns out the food is uniquely delicious, but it’s after hours in the kitchen when the heat really gets turned up.

Breakfast at Timothy’s by T.J. Masters

Twenty-four-year old post-graduate geology student Connor Wilson hopes to persuade his professor, the eminent geologist Timothy Shaw, to become his academic advisor. Forty-six-year-old Dr. Shaw is a legend in the field, although his personal life remains a mystery. Over a week of early morning breakfast meetings at Timothy’s home in the village of Grantchester, outside Cambridge, England, attraction simmers between the two men and eventually boils over into steamy passion. Connor is seduced by the food and charm of the very fit older man, and it looks like his dream could come true—in better ways than he ever expected.

A Second Season by Tali Segel

Back in high school, Chris knew Drew as the gorgeous jock with a passion for food that matched his own. Years later, after career changes and failed relationships, they reunite at Maple Creek B&B in the snowy Berkshires, and the chemistry between them is stronger than ever.

Chris isn’t sure which is sexier: Drew’s hiking-toned body or his love of authentic food made from fresh, local ingredients. He’s ready to steam up the kitchen with a spicy fling, but Drew’s past has left him questioning his love life and career. But an apple cider-scented night might signal a new season for the two locavores.

Kneading You by C.S. Poe

Christopher Hughes is new to a small town in New Hampshire. He’s been hired to save a historical library from closing, but his obstacles include not only fighting for state funding, but a Selectman who wants to tear the building down. Christopher meets Miles Sakasai, a shy, tattooed repairman who divides his time between fixing the library and baking bread. Miles’s skills in the kitchen may end up being the key to saving the library—if his bread can rise to the occasion.

If You Give An Incubus a Cookie by Ki Brightly

Incubus Hal Scand leads a hard life, and the only bright spot is the few minutes he steals at the Cookie Cart each day, where he’s able to forget his problems before it’s back to banging for a buck. Cookie stand owner Porter enjoys flirting with his mysterious regular, but he’s ready for more. And with Valentine’s Day approaching, he has the perfect opportunity to take his chance.

Moon Cakes by T. Neilson

Connor started his YouTube nearly-naked cooking show, Peas, Bitch as a joke. He never expected it to get so popular, and now he’s quit his job and is low-level celebrity cheffing for a living.

The problem is, he doesn’t have time for a relationships or a life, people aren't so keen on his show any more, and he's worried about how he's going to get back into professional cooking after having spent the last few years nearly naked in front of the whole Internet.

When he decides to meet a stranger for dinner at the end of a long day, Connor doesn't expect much more than awkward conversation and another failed date, but instead he comes face to face with his single biggest problem and gets exactly what he needs to put the fun back into the kitchen.

Tortilla Pie by Rick R. Reed

When Anderson, homeless on the streets of Seattle, first spies Josh, a volunteer kitchen worker at TeenCare, he falls for him, despite TeenCare’s policy against interaction between staff and clients. Josh doesn’t miss the way Anderson looks at him, and he can’t deny his interest. Anderson and Josh bond over food, and especially the center's awesome tortilla pie, but will they be able to find a way around the restrictions to see if they’re hungry for more?

Taste of the Forest, Dark and Sweet by Charles Payseur

Bastian's kitchen, normally his sanctuary, has become anything but since Colin began working with him. There's just something… distracting about the line chef that Bastian is drawn to but won't let himself act on because he needs to concentrate on work. Then a series of disasters draw Bastian into a magical world he never knew existed—a world Colin is part of. If they can overcome the barriers between them, they might find the sweet taste of success… and set the kitchen on fire in the process.

Operation Wild Thumb by Tray Ellis

Zucchini and squash have sprouted at the home Heath shares with his divorced sister, Sara, and are growing in abundance. Never one to pass up the opportunity for a prank, Heath decides to leave the vegetables on his neighbors’ doorsteps. One neighbor catches him in the act, but luckily Alex seems as into the humor as he is into Heath. When the night comes to an end, there might be more on the burner than zucchini pancakes.

And Everything Nice by Ada Marie Soto

Computer programmer Angelo is as good at baking as he is bad at talking to people—especially guys he finds attractive, like Simon, the new tech writer at work. Falling back on his habit of using his culinary creations as a distraction, Angelo whips up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. But Simon refuses to touch them. Frustrated but not ready to give up, Angelo searches for the perfect recipe to tempt both Simon and his taste buds.

My thoughts on Breakfast at Timothy’s by T.J. Masters

Breakfast at Timothy’s is an adorable story; there really is no other way to put it. It was such fun watching Connor (never Con) trying to make sense of Timothy (not Tim) and his breakfast invitations.

The first day Connor arrives at Professor Timothy Shaw’s house for breakfast, all he wants to do is convince the man to be his academic advisor. By the time he leaves again he can’t deny he is deeply attracted to the man. Mixed messages and cryptic answers have Connor second guessing both the professor and himself until suddenly there is no room for doubt anymore. 

Except that even when it seems that all the pieces have slotted into place, there’s still room for a surprise for Connor and the reader. And of course I have a weak spot for stories in which what you (think you) see isn’t always what you end up getting.

I literally smiled my way through reading this story. The banter between Connor and Timothy was both intelligent and fun, the various breakfasts the professor prepared and served made my mouth water, the chemistry between the two men was almost palatable not to mention hot, and Connor was a charming and captivating narrator.

I would have loved to spend more time with these two men. Not because I felt there was anything missing in this story, but because I enjoyed my time with them and wouldn’t have minded a longer visit. I can’t help feeling these two men have an interesting journey ahead of them.

On a side-note, I’ve decided that one day I will be brave and prepare ‘Timothy’s French Toast Americaine’ because if it tastes only half as good as it reads, it will be an amazing eating experience. J

Now that I’ve read one of the stories in Simmer I’m rather curious about the rest of them. Curious and also a little bit worried. They say you should never go shopping while hungry; I think the same may well apply here: Don’t read Simmer while hungry.

Buy links:

Amazon       Amazon UK            Dreamspinner Press            ARe

All the Light We Cannot See

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Pages: 530

Date: February 21, 2016

Grade: 5-

Details: Book Club Read

Own / Paperback

The blurb:

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE
From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the beautiful, stunningly ambitious instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.

My thoughts:

If I had to give a short and personal description of this story I’d say it is a beautiful description of the horror and futility of war. All the Light We Cannot See describes events during the Second World War as experienced by two youngsters, on opposite sides of the conflict, who are victims of the times they live in. Neither of them is in a place or position to influence the events shaping their lives and future and both are forced to endure horrors not of their own making. Which is of course exactly what war does to most people who have to try and live through one.

And yet, nothing in this book is presented as shocking. The language used is understated and descriptive, as if the events we are shown are only objective truths about a situation outside of ourselves. Emotions seem to live just underneath the surface of this story. Of course it was exactly this perceived distance between the story and the reader which drew me in, which forced me to think long and hard, and which ensured that the story reverberated inside me long after I had put the book down. On numerous occasions the feelings didn’t hit me immediately upon reading certain scenes but rather after I’d lived with the development for a while, as if they had to stew inside me first before they erupted into their full power.

Communication was for me (one of) the major motive(s) in this story. Because Marie-Laure is blind she depends on communication more than a sighted person would. Werner’s knack for radios means he can learn about the world and science in an environment which otherwise doesn’t provide him with many opportunities to broaden his horizons. Radio broadcasts establish a connection between these two long before they are aware of the other’s existence and are also what bring them together eventually. It is the power of words and the need to both hear and be  heard, which resonated strongest with me while reading this book.

This book did remind me of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, which happens to be one of my favourite books ever. The similarities are more in the nuances than in the actual story though. The feeling the story left me with was reminiscent of the emotions I felt after finishing The Book Thief. I guess what it boils down to is that the cruelty of war is even more blatant when you see the conflict through the eyes of children who are ill equipped to understand the situation they find themselves in and even less prepared to deal with it.

Overall this was a highly imaginative, intriguing, and thought-provoking read. The story is told in such a way that it feels gentle even while what actually happens on the page slowly breaks your heart. Beauty and horror are depicted side by side in such a way that they occasionally bleed into each other. This is a book that will stay with me for a long time to come.

Lucky in Loveland by K-lee Klein: Interview, Excerpt and Give-away

I’m delighted to welcome K-lee Klein and her new release, Lucky in Loveland, to my blog today. We have a fun-packed post planned for you. Below you’ll find a give-away and excerpt as well as everything you want to know about the book. But we start with the questions K-lee was kind enough to answer for me.

Thanks so much for having me on your blog. Lucky in Loveland is my first self-published book and comes out on February 13.

1.    Tell us something about your writing routine.

My writing routine is sporadic at best. I tend to write more in the morning and late at night (early morning, I guess). I can also write 34,000 words in two weeks then nothing for another two. And in the realm of TMI, my muse's favourite writing spot is in the tub on my iPad. Lol.

2.    Do you have a favourite trope / subject to write about?

I have quite a few. I love friends to lovers, cowboys, rockstars, May-December, and paranormal, but hurt/comfort is probably my favourite of the lot, even better when I can mix it with some of the others.

3.    Is there any subject you refuse to write about?

I'll probably never write BDSM because I know nothing about it and I don't really read it either. Rape or non-con isn't my thing either.

4.    What are your favourite books / authors?

Oh tough one. I think I'm a little old school in my faves. My first m/m books were by TA Chase, JL Langley, and ZA Maxfield, and they factor into comfort reads—the Home series, With or Without series, and Drawn Together, respectively in order of author. I also love Chris Owen's Bareback, Amy Lane's Keeping Promise Rock, and man, there are just so many. J

5.    What would people be most surprised to find out about you?

Damn, if anyone follows me on Facebook I'm pretty much an open book. But okay…I spent a lot of 2010 following Jared Leto and his band Thirty Seconds to Mars around the U.S. and Canada. I believe I went to 14 or 15 gigs that year. Rock on, dude.

6.    Do you listen to music while writing? If yes, what sort of music do you prefer or does that depend on the story you’re writing?

I definitely do. I like background noise whether in the form of music or my fave movies (Captain American: The Winter Soldier is on a lot, lol). What I listen to usually depends on what I'm writing. If it's my cowboys, then I listen exclusively to Christian Kane. For romantic scenes (ha – no judgment) it's Back Street Boys or One Direction. But it can also vary from Seether and Thirty Seconds to Mars to boy bands and hard rock.

7.    Lucky in Loveland is the first book in a series. Can you tell us something about your plans for future books in this series?

Sure. The next book—Lost in Loveland—will centre more on Jack who is Lucky's love interest in the first book. Jack is still new to Loveland and he comes from a different world than Lucky, but not in a supernatural way. He has some skeletons in his closet to deal with, namely the loss of his parents and his sisters who aren't exactly kind or decent people. He'll have to return to California to deal with some things, and maybe Lucky will come along for the ride. It will definitely be more angsty than Lucky in Loveland, but the boys will still find time for romance.

The third book will be back in Loveland and give some more details on Lucky and Jack's new life together. I think it will return to the more romantic side of the boys and give them more time to get to know each other and move forward with their relationship.

8.    Given that the story is set during ‘the most romantic season, what would your ideal Valentine’s Day look like?

I've been married a really long time so that's a tough question. My birthday is also February 12 (big 5-0 this year) so it's usually celebrated with Valentines' Day. I'd love something romantic like NYC or a cruise, but in real life, just going out for dinner—sushi or Tai or lobster—then a movie, preferably action with superheroes. Sounds boring, right. I think after 28 years of marriage, it's more the little romantic moments that count. J

To thank everyone for stopping by I'd like to offer a giveaway of an ebook copy of Lucky in Loveland for one commenter. Leave your name, email address, and tell me what you like about Valentine's Day and I'll pick a winner on Saturday February 20th.

Thanks again and Happy Valentine's Day.

Lucky in Loveland (Welcome to Loveland, book 1)

Available February 13, 2016

Blurb

Loveland, Colorado is a special place all year around, a community of creativity and art, with scenic views and majestic mountains. But the town really shines once a year, on Valentine's Day.

Lucky Roberts has lived in Loveland his whole life. He has good friends, strong family support, and is all about keeping his community fun and alive. The only thing Lucky has been "unlucky" with is love. But rather than avoiding February fourteenth in his hometown, he throws himself into helping others deliver their messages of love.

Enter Jack Canon. Jack moved to Loveland for a fresh start, in both his personal and professional lives. After a tough year, he's finally hoping to just blend in, maybe carve a little niche for himself that his parents would have been proud of. What he didn't expect was a pseudo-lumberjack with a killer body and shy smile to turn his world upside down – and he sure didn't expect to like it so much.

When Lucky meets Jack, he feels like a thirteen year-old with his first crush. He's clumsy, stammering, and the first greeting out of his mouth is a less than articulate, "Wow!" Words like adorable and manbun suddenly become part of his vocabulary as he discovers a deep, hidden need to romance the hell out of Jack.

And what better way to do that than during the most romantic season in the City of Love?

Available February 13

Buy links:           Amazon         ARe         Smashwords  

***

Excerpt

Lucky hadn't known what to expect.

And that was a bold-faced lie.

Okay, so he might've asked around about the new teacher in their community, specifically the hot new kindergarten teacher he'd been hearing about, and also might have caught partial glimpses of the guy here and there. But after he'd stomped the excessive snow from his boots, he still hadn't expected an angel with an adorable ponytail to open the door to room one-O-five at Loveland Elementary.

Maybe he hadn't been lying after all.

Wide brown eyes greeted him and Lucky was immediately smitten. "Wow. Um, hey. I'm…yeah, hi. I'm Lucky…Roberts. I'm here for the…uh…" He stammered across consonants and vowels that felt garbled and heavy against his tongue. Then, because he was who he was, he followed the nonsense with a single syllable of amazingly stupid. "Wow."

Embarrassment rocketed through him as he slid his hand over his head, tugging off his knit hat. He rubbed nervously at his short hair while heat tingled from his neck to his cheeks.

"Jack Canon."

The guy came across as cool as a cucumber. His only tell was an almost-contained smirk as he held out his arm.

Lucky shifted all his ridiculous plastic bags to his left hand and shook Jack's right with a little too much force. He was aware that his palm was slick and clammy despite the chill of an early January morning.

Jack didn't appear to notice that either. He really was a goddamn angel in black jeans and a wine-colored dress shirt that brought a shining brilliance to his pale skin and dark hair. Jesus, man. Say something!

"Lucky," he finally managed. A billowing laugh he couldn't stifle in time slipped past his lips.

He quickly shushed himself because, Jesus Murphy, he was in a school during damn school hours. This wasn't his first rodeo. He'd been here before, volunteered all the time, even at this same school. He'd also seen pretty faces before. He could do this.

He cleared his throat, shoving his sweaty hand deep into the front pocket of his jeans, then ducked his chin to his chest. Once he'd also pulled his head out of his ass, he settled his gaze back on the most beautiful man he'd ever seen. "I mean that's my name, not that I'm lucky or whatever…I already told you that, right? Jesus, I'm sorry."

"Hey, no worries—" Full lips curved into an affectionate smile. At least Jack didn't seem inclined to kick Lucky off the premises for breaking the rules of stupid, even the ones mastered by five-year-olds.

"Shit, I swore—and I just did it again. In school. Maybe I should go out and come back in again?"

Jack chuckled, one side of his smile tipping higher than the other. It was adorable.

"It's all good. The kids have been excited all morning."

"I'm not late, am I? I'm usually quite punctual. Or at least, that's what my mom says. She's obviously a little biased on the subject, of course, but…I don't usually talk so much." Keep babbling, Lucky, because that will make everything so much better. :)

"Why don't you just come in instead?"

"That's a lie. I actually never shut up. My mom says that, too."

Once he'd ultimately managed to zip his lips, Lucky let Jack shuffle him inside the cloakroom of the classroom. It smelled like warm cookies and white glue, though he wasn't entirely sure that wasn't just Jack, or even Lucky's own imagination. They were two of his favorite smells, after all, or had been at one time. He was suddenly aware of high-pitched voices drifting from the main part of the classroom.

"Mr. Jack! Mr. Jack! Is Lucky here yet?"

"His mom told my mom he was coming today."

"Your mom doesn't know everything, Daniel."

"Yeah, she does. Your mom doesn't know nothing, Allison."

"Well, your mom is a poopy-head."

"Your mom eats poopies—"

***

Bio

K-lee Klein has lived in one part of Western Canada or another for her entire life. She’s a doting mother of three now-grown kids, and has had characters and plots running around her head for as long as she can remember. In an attempt to avoid major writer's block, she keeps the image of muse on her leg so he can't run off too far, unfortunately it doesn't work all the time. K-lee's days consist of planning her next tattoo design for her growing collection, having a lot of baths since her muse loves the water, and fighting off an abundance of fabulous gay men, large and small who continually bounce off the walls of her skull, competing for their turns to tell their stories.

Among her favourite sub-genres to read and write are rock stars, cowboys, shifters, friends-to-lovers, and opposites-attract relationships. But to be honest, she’s open to almost anything if it involves messing around in the heads of her characters. She’s also big on series—because she has a hard time letting her characters go—and is usually working on a handful of stories in various stages of completion all at the same time.

Places to find K-lee.

Website – kleeklein.com

Blog - http://chaosinthemoonlight.blogspot.ca

Twitter - https://twitter.com/Klee_Klein

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/kleemoon

Facebook author/reader group https://www.facebook.com/groups/812548795471921/

The Law of Attraction by Jay Northcote: Release Day Promo and Review

The Law of Attraction

Title: The Law of Attraction

Author: Jay Northcote

Publisher: Jaybird Press (self published)

Length: 62,000 words

Genre: Contemporary gay romance

Cover Artist: Garrett Leigh

Release Date: Friday 5th of February 2016

Series info: This book is a standalone

Blurb

When a professional relationship turns personal, it’s impossible to resist the law of attraction.

Alec Rowland is a high-flying lawyer in a London firm whose career is his life. He doesn’t have time for relationships and his sexuality is a closely guarded secret. After picking up a cute guy on a Friday night, Alec’s world is rocked to its foundations when his one night stand shows up in the office on Monday morning—as the new temp on his team.

Ed Piper is desperate to prove himself in his new job. The last thing he needs is to be distracted by a crush on his boss. It’s hard to ignore the attraction he feels, even though Alec’s a difficult bastard to work for.

Both men strive to maintain a professional relationship, but tempers fray, passions ignite, and soon they’re both falling hard and fast. If they’re ever going to find a way to be together, Alec needs to be honest about who he really is because Ed won’t go back in the closet for anyone.

Excerpt

His companion was still watching him, seemingly waiting for him to make his move. Alec felt irrationally irritated. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Even though he only did it occasionally, picking up men was easy for Alec. Buying a drink was more than he usually bothered to do for the twinks he hooked up with when he was in the mood for a warm body to fuck. Alec was well aware of his own attractiveness and used it to his advantage. A crook of a finger, a tilt of his head, or even just a look was usually enough to make them come running.

But this guy didn’t seem to know the rules of the game.

“Strong, silent type, huh?” He suddenly grinned at Alec, all neat white teeth and dimples. “You could start by telling me your name. Mine’s Ed.”

“Alec.” He handed a note to the barman as he came back with their drinks. “Keep the change.”

“Cheers, mate.” The barman winked as he pocketed the tip.

Ed’s eyebrows lifted. “Change from a twenty? You must have money to burn.”

“Something like that.” Alec let his gaze rake deliberately down Ed, examining him from the front this time. His arms were still folded over his chest and his T-shirt had ridden up enough to expose a feathered line of hair on his belly, leading down to a nice-looking package in obscenely tight skinny jeans. “I hope you bottom?”

Ed blinked and choked on his mouthful of rum and Coke. Alec suppressed the urge to grin, enjoying the fact that Ed had momentarily lost his cool.

“I’ve been known to,” Ed replied, rallying. He licked his lips.

“Good.” Alec held his gaze, noting with satisfaction that Ed’s pupils had blown wide and his lips parted as Alec looked at them. God, he had a pretty mouth. Alec lifted his glass and downed his drink. The burn of the whisky tore through him and made his nerves tingle with anticipation. He needed a good fuck; it had been too long. “Drink up, then.”

My thoughts:

What can I say? This is another winner for Jay Northcote. I haven’t read a book by this author that I haven’t loved and The Law of Attraction was no exception to that rule. There is so much to enjoy in this book. The story kicks off with a very hot one-night-stand except that what should have been a once-off encounter between two men, Alec and Ed, who never meet again turns into a complicated situation when Ed turns up at Alec’s office two days later to start work as part of Alec’s team.

Ed is easy going and completely comfortable with who and what he is. Alec on the other hand is deep in the closet with no intention of ever coming out, which makes his undeniable attraction to Ed extremely frustrating.

Ed is just as attracted to Alec but not prepared to conduct a secret affair, no matter how much he wants to be with Alec. Alec will have to man up, come to terms with who he really is, and out himself to his family and colleagues if he wants to have a chance at a future with the man he’s falling for…hard.

The Law of Attraction is a long book, compared to Jay Northcote’s other stories but I found it just as difficult to put down once I started reading as I did the novellas. Alec and Ed sucked me in to their world and it wasn’t long before I was rooting for them and urging Alec to get his act together. I have to admit that there were moments, especially early on in the story, when I had a hard time liking Alec. His frustration makes him treat Ed in less than honorable ways and for a while it was only the fact that Ed wasn’t prepared to condemn Alec which stopped me from doing so.

Ed on the other hand is easy to like and love. And once Alec does let his guard down and allows Ed to see who he really is, I forgot all my issues with him and rooted for both of them.

For a story in which one of the main characters has major issues, The Law of Attraction was remarkably angst-free, which suited me just perfectly. As I’ve come to expect from this author, the book was also very well written, the characters well developed and the sex scenes hot as well as tender. The Law of Attraction was a joy to read and yet another confirmation—if I needed one—of Jay Northcote’s prowess when it comes to telling a gripping and memorable story.

Buy Links:

Amazon       Amazon UK           

Goodreads

Author Bio:

Jay lives just outside Bristol in the West of England, with her husband, two children, and two cats.

She comes from a family of writers, but she always used to believe that the gene for fiction writing had passed her by. She spent years only ever writing emails, articles, or website content. One day, she decided to try and write a short story–just to see if she could–and found it rather addictive. She hasn’t stopped writing since.

www.jaynorthcote.com   Twitter         Facebook profile

Facebook Author Page     Newsletter    Jay’s books

Trust Me by K.C. Wells

Trust Me by K.C. Wells

 

Pages: 89

Date: February 2, 2016

Details: #2 Lightning Tales

E-book / Own

The blurb:

“Ric Costanza and Connor Ferguson grew up together, friends all the way through high school – until Ric pushed Connor away when they were both sixteen. Self-preservation is a very strong force indeed. 
Connor had his own theory as to why it happened…

When they meet up eight years later, a lot of water has passed under the bridge. Ric is about to enter the priesthood and Connor is engaged to Keira. Except all is not as it seems. Ric is a mess, and Connor wants to help.

What starts out as a simple offer to provide a shoulder for a former best friend becomes more than both men bargained for.”

My thoughts:

How many of us have made big, sweeping statements about what we would like to be when we grow up at the tender age of eleven? Most if not all of us, I’d say. How many of us ended up doing what we thought we wanted to do? Hardly anybody I’d guess. And how many of us were held to that statement by our parents? Hopefully none of us. But that’s exactly what happens to Ric when he announces he wants to be a priest aged only eleven. His mother is ecstatic about his ‘calling’ and never allows him to forget it. Ric goes through the motions of preparing for priesthood all the while doubting not only his vocation but also his sexuality. By the time he’s twenty-four Ric has run out of time; he either has to commit to priesthood and celibacy or come clean to his family.

Connor tells himself he’s bisexual and is engaged to Keira for reasons that have nothing to do with love. He was attracted to Ric when they were both in high school and when Ric suddenly became distant, effectively ending a years-long close friendship, Connor is convinced it is because of those feelings, although he has never expressed them. Little does he know Ric created the distance because he felt a similar attraction to Connor and didn’t know how to deal with it.

When Connor and Ric are twenty-four they meet after years of separation. The attraction is still there but so is Ric’s reluctance to give in to it. Ric has a huge decision to make.

Okay. So I probably should have read this book before reading See Me, but I have to say it didn’t lessen my enjoyment of either book that I read them out of order.

Just like Teach me and See me, Trust Me is a charming, sweet and sexy story. All three books deal with big issues in a gentle manner. The problems are addressed but not milked for effect or drawn out. For me this way of telling a story works very well. I don’t always need detailed descriptions of pain, angst and fear in order to recognise and feel them. I also like that these books come with wonderful happy-ever-afters but don’t give unrealistic resolutions.

Of course since this is a K.C. Wells book it is very well written; a book that almost reads itself. The characters are far from perfect and all the more recognisable for it. And of course the sex scenes are descriptive and very hot. Trust Me was ninety pages of pure reading delight and I can only hope that there are more Lightning Tales in the making.