Showing posts with label London Lads Story. Show all posts
Showing posts with label London Lads Story. Show all posts

Monday, 4 September 2017

Between a Rock and a Hard PLace (A London Lads Story) by Clare London



Buy Links: Dreamspinner | Amazon US | Amazon UK

Length: 19,598 words

Cover Design: Tibbs Design

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

London Lads Series

Chase The Ace (Book #1) Amazon US | Amazon UK | Dreamspinner
How The Other Half Lives (Book #2) Amazon US | Amazon UK | Dreamspinner
A Good Neighbour (Book #3)  Amazon US | Amazon UK  Dreamspinner 
Peepshow (Book #4)  Amazon US | Amazon UK | Dreamspinner

Blurb

Garry’s at the end of his tether. He’s waiting at Glasgow Airport to meet his friend Will, on their way to a holiday in a Scottish Highlands hotel. Now there’s a ten-hour delay to incoming flights, the seat in the lounge is more like an instrument of torture, and he’s beyond tired of airport food.

 He’s also dreading having to apologise for the pass he recently made at Will, his colleague at a London bank, under the influence of too many beers and a long-held crush. Now Will’s been offered a new job offer on a continent thousands of miles away, Garry realises it may be the end of their close friendship—let alone anything more.

 To add to Garry’s stress, he’s treated to the company of Emily and Max, two young people who think he needs educating in the ways of the world. Struggling with their well-meaning help and the startling mess from spilled ketchup and noxious-smelling sweets, he’s encouraged to re-examine how he feels about Will and to decide what kind of journey he’d really like them to take together.

 Review
“Gary suspected he knew what tipped psychotics over the edge”

What a fabulous way to start a story. And how very fitting that it should start fabulously, because that’s pretty much how Between a Rock and a Hard Place reads all the way through.

When the story starts we find Gary in Glasgow airport in the foulest of moods. He’s waiting for his friend and colleague Will to return from America before the two of them will join other friends for an annual get-together and holiday, but Will’s flight has been delayed by ten hours.

That set of circumstances would be enough to put dampers on anybody’s good humour, but for Gary it’s really only the first of many issues. While the wait might be frustrating and the environment he finds himself in stress inducing, neither is as bad as the nerves he experiences about his upcoming reunion with Will. And he isn’t sure whether he’s more worried about that the fact that this will be the first time he will be face to face with Will since he spontaneously kissed him before running away or because Will may soon disappear from his life. Self doubt, self recrimination, and nerves keep the poor man pretty much on edge.

Enter Max and Emily, two young kids who more or less take charge of Gary, distracting him, infuriating him, making him smile despite himself and making him eat the lousy airport food. The conversations between the kids and Gary and especially the words and phrases Emily came up with had me reading page after page with a huge grin on my face while trying to snigger quietly since I was in work at the time.

Friends to lovers, forced by an impending separation. There’s nothing like the risk of losing someone to make you realise how important they are to you.

And then, just when you think the story has reached its happy ever after and has ended, there’s a wonderful little surprise (can’t really call it a twist) to make you smile even wider.

There are no two ways about it, Between a Rock and a Hard Place is a charming, uplifting and at times laugh out loud funny story, or, in other words, a full hour of pure reading bliss.

Mum says men like you are happy. 

Related Reviews: Chase the Ace | \ How the Other Half Lives | A Good Neighbour



Author Bio

 Clare took the pen name London from the city where she lives, loves, and writes. A lone, brave female in a frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home, she juggles her writing with the weekly wash, waiting for the far distant day when she can afford to give up her day job as an accountant. Sheís written in many genres and across many settings, with novels and short stories published both online and in print. She says she likes variety in her writing while friends say sheís just fickle, but as long as both theories spawn good fiction, sheís happy. Most of her work features male/male romance and drama with a healthy serving of physical passion, as she enjoys both reading and writing about strong, sympathetic and sexy characters.

Clare currently has several novels sulking at that tricky chapter 3 stage and plenty of other projects in mind . . . she just has to find out where she left them in that frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home.

 All the details and free fiction are available at her website. Visit her today and say hello!


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Wednesday, 19 April 2017

A Good Neighbour - London Lads #3 by Clare London



Buy Links: Dreamspinner | Amazon US | Amazon UK 

Length: 18,825 

Cover: Tibbs Design


Blurb


A London Lads Story

A secret affair can’t go on forever.

Dylan Philips admits it himself: he’s a relentlessly single man in a small suburban town, both proud of and resigned to being a good teacher and a devoted nephew to his mischievous great-aunts.

When the aunts take a hand in matchmaking him with Josie Whitman, the girl who lives along the street, Dylan doesn’t tell them what kind of soul mate he’s really looking for—and the fact that he’s already found the man in question. It’s not Josie who’s travelling from London every month to her town property, but her journalist brother Neal. And Dylan meets up with Neal whenever he can.

But decisions must be made for their future. Dylan is risk-averse to everything from overseas travel to coming out, whereas Neal embraces adventure—and now he wants to take Dylan with him.

Horrified that his chance at love will move even further out of his reach, Dylan realises it’s time for him to own up to what kind of man he really is. He needs to find courage and compromise. And who knows whether the great-aunts will be a help or a hindrance with that?

First Edition published as A Good Neighbor by Amber Quill Press/Amber Allure, 2009.

April 19 - Urban Smoothie Read, Books Laid Bare Boys, The Way She Reads
April 21 - Molly Lolly
April 24 - Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
April 26 - Dog-Eared Daydreams
April 28 - Making It Happen
May 1 - M/M Book Addicts, MM Good Book Reviews
May 3 - Diverse Reader, Sarandipity
May 8 - Jim's Blog
May 10 - Book Lovers 4Ever, Bayou Book Junkie, Love To Read Romance Books

Review
A Good Neighbour was a good, sweet, hot, and often funny delight of a story, in which the secondary characters, aka the great-aunts, shone as brightly as Dylan and Neal did. Having said that, as much as the two ladies made me smile and laugh out loud, I couldn’t help but be impressed by Dylan’s patience in the face of them interfering in his life.

Dylan himself triggered a variety of reactions in me too. I went from finding him adoring, to commiserating with him, to wanting to slap him, and back to adoring him again. I loved the care he took of his two aunts, and how he took their eccentricities in his stride. I was however less charmed with his reluctance to be true to who he was, and what’s more, to the man he obviously loves.

While we don’t get to know Neal as well as we do Dylan, I did love what I saw and wanted to give him a standing ovation when he made a surprise announcement towards the end of the story (sorry, that’s all you’re going to get out of me on that front).

These two men are hot together. Given that their circumstances mean that they spend a lot of time apart, the heat they generate when they do get together is off the scale. Witnessing Neal and Dylan taking care of their pent-up desires was a delight and a very special treat.

While I thoroughly enjoyed this story, I can’t deny that I wouldn’t have minded if it had either been longer or had given me a better insight into what exactly was going on in the heads of Neal, and especially Mitzi and Bess.

Just like Chase the Ace and How the Other Half Lives, the first two London Lads novellas, A good neighbour was a well written, thoroughly entertaining and captivating story that kept me flicking through the pages while smiling and left me satisfied when I reached the end. Clare London never fails to make her men come to life for me and I'm delighted we haven't reached the end of the series yet. I can't wait to read the next story.

“’Bloody hell’, he said. He looked over at the aunts. ‘You see why I call him my home?’
‘And you,’ I said, refusing to look away, my voice starting to waver. ‘And you are my adventure.’”


Related reviews: Chase the Ace | How the Other Half Lives
Author Bio

Clare took the pen name London from the city where she lives, loves, and writes. A lone, brave female in a frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home, she juggles her writing with the weekly wash, waiting for the far distant day when she can afford to give up her day job as an accountant. She’s written in many genres and across many settings, with novels and short stories published both online and in print. She says she likes variety in her writing while friends say she’s just fickle, but as long as both theories spawn good fiction, she’s happy. Most of her work features male/male romance and drama with a healthy serving of physical passion, as she enjoys both reading and writing about strong, sympathetic and sexy characters.
Clare currently has several novels sulking at that tricky chapter 3 stage and plenty of other projects in mind . . . she just has to find out where she left them in that frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home.
All the details and free fiction are available at her website. Visit her today and say hello! 

 Website | Blog | Facebook | Facebook chat | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon



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Wednesday, 15 February 2017

How The Other Half Lives by Clare London - Review Tour






Length: 20,000 words



Blurb

Compulsively neat freak meets chaotic slob: can their living space survive the conflict?

Martin Harrison keeps himself to himself and his Central London flat as neat as a new pin. Maybe he should loosen up and enjoy more of a social life, but in his mind, that’s tantamount to opening the floodgates to emotional chaos. He agrees, however, to join the flat-sitting scheme in his building and look after another tenant’s flat in exchange for a similar watch over his when he’s travelling for his work.

A floor away in the same building, Russ McNeely is happy with his life as a freelance cook and a self-confessed domestic slob. He also joins the flat-sitting scheme, both to be neighbourly and to help keep his flat in order, as Russ also travels for his work.

For a while, the very dissimilar men never meet. Martin is horrified at the mess at Russ’s flat, while Russ finds Martin’s minimalist style creepy. But in a spirit of generosity, each of them starts to help the other out by rearranging things in their own inimitable way.

Until the day a hiccup in the schedule brings them face-to-face at last.


My Review
First and foremost How the Other Half Lives is a sweet, endearing ‘opposites attract’ story. And when I say ‘opposites’ I do actually mean OPPOSITES.

There’s poor Martin; the neat-freak to end all neat-freaks. This is not a case of disliking clutter, or liking things organised. No, Martin is so obsessed about order in his life he’s all but stopped living.

Russ McNeely on the other hand, wouldn’t recognise order if it jumped up and bit him in the face. He doesn’t organise his life any better than he does his apartment or his clothes, but has no problems with the turmoil in his life, even if it drives his friends insane.

These two men should have driven each up the wall once they start looking after each other’s houses, what with Russ leaving Martin’s apartment less organised than he’s found it and Martin trying to straighten some of the chaos in Russ’s house out. Except that both men find themselves adapting to the other even before they accidentally meet.

That’s one thing about this book; the two protagonists don’t actually meet until well into the story. They get to know and used to each other through their living spaces and almost without noticing it they start to affect how the other treats his environment and his life.

When they meet by accident it’s a shock to both their systems but it doesn’t take them very long to figure out that they are very drawn to each other despite, or maybe it is because of, the differences between them.
This is an adorable story. Both Martin and Russ are most endearing; fully aware that their attitude towards their living space is not quite the norm but so stuck in their way that it takes an outsider’s eyes and touch to change how they act.

I have to admit that for me the story could have been somewhat longer. I would have loved to see more of the two men figuring each other out through their house sitting experiences before they actually meet. And I wouldn’t have minded a few moments of utter disbelieve at each other’s approach after they meet either. Having said that, considering that I read the whole story with a smile on my face, it’s safe to say I thoroughly enjoyed this novella and the story works perfectly well as it is. I guess me wishing there had been more to this story only serves to prove how much I did enjoy it.


Long story short; How the Other Half Lives is thoroughly enjoyable, cute, and great fun.

Author Bio

Clare took the pen name London from the city where she lives, loves, and writes. A lone, brave female in a frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home, she juggles her writing with the weekly wash, waiting for the far distant day when she can afford to give up her day job as an accountant. She’s written in many genres and across many settings, with novels and short stories published both online and in print. She says she likes variety in her writing while friends say she’s just fickle, but as long as both theories spawn good fiction, she’s happy. Most of her work features male/male romance and drama with a healthy serving of physical passion, as she enjoys both reading and writing about strong, sympathetic and sexy characters.
Clare currently has several novels sulking at that tricky chapter 3 stage and plenty of other projects in mind . . . she just has to find out where she left them in that frenetic, testosterone-fuelled family home.
All the details and free fiction are available at her website. Visit her today and say hello!





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