Title: Waiting for the Flood

Author: Alexis Hall

Genre/Themes: Contemproary romance, m/m, novella

Release Date: 23 February 2015

Synopsis

People come as well as go.

Twelve years ago, Edwin Tully came to Oxford and fell in love with a boy named Marius. He was brilliant. An artist. It was going to be forever.

Two years ago, it ended.

Now Edwin lives alone in the house they used to share. He tends to damaged books and faded memories, trying to a build a future from the fragments of the past.

Then the weather turns, and the river spills into Edwin’s quiet world, bringing with it Adam Dacre from the Environment Agency. An unlikely knight, this stranger with roughened hands and worn wellingtons, but he offers Edwin the hope of something he thought he would never have again.

As the two men grow closer in their struggle against the rising waters, Edwin learns he can’t protect himself from everything—and sometimes he doesn't need to try.

Review

This is a sweet, truly romantic love story written in the amazingly intimate, touching style of Mr. Hall. I loved every word of this rather short book and very much felt like highlighting all of it on my Kindle.

It's a quiet, understated attraction (which might grown into love or not) that happens to two ordinary people. The story is told from the POV of Edwin and I liked his journey to finding his voice, accepting it as it was and finally moving on with his life/love. 

In short, I loved everything in this book, the story is itself is rather simple and straightforward but the way it was told makes it unforgettable for me. There is so much warmth and sincerity in the writing. 

There are not grand gestures or drama in this book, it’s just two people meeting by chance and taking tentative steps toward each other, getting to know each other, sharing their dreams and hopes, their fears and insecurities. It felt so real, often I thought of Edwin’s messy emotions "Oh, I've felt this way. I still feel this way sometimes." 

For me, this ordinary contemporary love story carried the same magic and passion in it, as Mr Hall's paranormal stories (Sand and Gold and Ruin, in particular). Perhaps it’s his way of rendering human emotions into words on the page that makes the everyday life magical, turning it into a story of life, love and the human soul.

Edwin is my kind of guy in everything. I loved his personal quirks, weaknesses and strengths and I felt the happy, optimistic ending holding a promise for the future was perfect for him (and Adam, of course). 

This is a recommended read for me. If you haven’t read Alexis before, this novella is a great opportunity to get familiar with his style (and to fall in love with his writing).

Pre-order: Riptide 

My reviews of other books by Alexis Hall:

Glitterland - 5 Stars

Prosperity - 5 Stars

Liberty and Other Stories - 5 Stars

There will be Phlogiston - 5 Stars

Sand and Ruin and Gold - 5 Stars

This review is of Evenfall: Vol. 1 and 2 Director's Cut  in the LGBT series In the Company of Shadows by Santino Hassell and Ais. It's a dystopian thriller involving secret organizations, assassins and a tender love story. The whole series is self-edited and self-published and it's available for free at http://www.inthecompanyofshadows.com/

I had a friend recommend this book to me more than a year ago but I was intimidated by the size - 4 books with more than 1000 pages each and I felt I jusct couldn't make that committment at the time. As th year went on more and more of my friends read and loved this series. At the end of 2014 I made a promise to myself to start the new year with it and  here I am in the middle of January already done with book 1.

This is more of suspense and action-packed thriller than a romance. There is great world building, enganing story, memorable characters, what more can a reader want.

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My rating: Vol.1 - 4 Stars and Vol.2 - 5 Stars
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Starting the New Year wtih a bang! I finished Liberty and Other Stories in the end of last year but all the celebrations I'm just now coming around to write my review. As usual, I'm having the hardest time writing my thoughts on books that I loved the most but I'm still trying my best. 

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My rating: 5 Stars
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Here are the titles that made reading such a pleasure during the second half of the year. They are mostly by new-to-me authors who are now an auto-buy for me. It's romance in all its diversity - contemporary, steampunk, paranormal, new adult, comedy, m/m, bikers!

The Year We Fell Down (The Ivy Years #1) by Sarina Bowen. I've been sceptic of New Adult lately and this college story involving a girl with disability and a hot hockey player was a wonderful surprise. So much, that I completed the whole series and other two novel and the novella very much. 

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I can safely say that Alexis Hall was my biggest and best discovery of the year. I love his style of writing and the stories he tells are so just so powerful and intensely emotional. The true power and beauty of love. This book is bit difficult to read because it's written in heavy slang but once you get the hang of it, it's just mesemerizing! 

An accompanying book, Liberty and Other stories, releases on 5 Jan 2015.

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Glitterland was published before Prosperity but I| read it after it and I already loved Mr. Hall's style was, this comtemproary m/m romance was a real treat. The characters are so vivid and real and their romance feels authentic and natural. Furthermore, it explores issues of depression and artistic creation and I have a serious soft spot for this. Next book in the series, Waiting for the Flood, comes out in February

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 This was my first romance by an Indian romance and it was an absolutely lovely read. It was cute and fluffy and serious and dramatic like a real Bollywood movie. It takes right  into the heart of Indian culture with its complextity and ambiguity in the modern wolrd.

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I've been hesitant of New Adult lately, but this m/m college romance was a nice surprise. Togther with Sarina Bowen's The Ivy Years, these are the best NA romance I read recently. Woderfully compelx characters involved in a true-to-life story of love and life and the choices we make anf growing up to be the best you can be. 

Next book in the series, Nothing Like Paris, comes out in March 2015.

I've started sharing my #BestReads2014 one by one on Twitter and Facebook and will continue to do so all through December. This was a fantastic year for me in terms of reading and I found some little jems, discovered some amazing author and their stories which brought so much emotion, both joy and tears in my life.

I've divided my best reads of the year in twoposts since they are too many for a single one. The books are listed in chronological order of reading them. I read a lot of romance, some m/m, some New Adult, a little bit of fantasy and it's all reflected here. I hope you will find something you like and give it a try in the New Year.

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The Chocolate Temptation (Amour et Chocolat #6) by Laura Florand. I find this series just delicious and Patrick and Sarah's story was no exception. Emotioanlly intense and beautifully written.

Synopsis

What happened in high school stayed in high school. Until now.

Five years ago, Michael Graham betrayed the only person who ever really knew him. Since then, he’s made an art of hiding his sexuality from everyone. Including himself.

So it’s a shock when his past strolls right into the Harkness College locker room, sporting a bag of hockey gear and the same slow smile that had always rendered Graham defenseless. For Graham, there is only one possible reaction: total, debilitating panic. With one loose word, the team’s new left wing could destroy Graham’s life as he knows it.

John Rikker is stuck being the new guy. Again. And it’s worse than usual, because the media has latched onto the story of the only “out” player in Division One hockey. As the satellite trucks line the sidewalk outside the rink, his new teammates are not amused.

And one player in particular looks sick every time he enters the room.

Rikker didn’t exactly expect a warm welcome from Graham. But the guy won’t even meet his eyes. From the looks of it, his former… best friend / boyfriend / whatever isn’t doing so well. He drinks too much and can’t focus during practice.

Either the two loneliest guys on the team will self destruct from all the new pressures in their lives, or they can navigate the pain to find a way back to one another. To say that it won’t be easy is the Understatement of the Year.

This is the third book in the New Adult series, The Ivy Years, by Sarina Bowen. I've read the two previous novels (my review of book 2) and the novella, Blonde Date, and I really enjoyed them all a lot. My personal favourite remains, book 1, The Year We Fell Down (my review). This installment features a m/m romance between two hockey players in college and I found it just as good as the previous books.  was also very good. emotional, intense, a bit ansgty. 

It's an emotional friends-to-lovers sort of story starting back when the characters were teenagers and they meet again 6 years later as team mates in the college hockey team. They story is told in a dual POV and we get both sides to an event that pretty much shaped their lives up to the moment.

I liked both Rikker and Graham a lot, though i may have a tiny bit more love for Rikker. He was outed against his will and was forced in the role of a symbol, flagbearer for gay athletes. Despite being comfortable in the knowledge who he was, he didn't want the publicity and the attention. he just wanted to be a regular gay guy in college, playing hockey. In a way he was doing his own hiding, trying to blend it, avoiding by all means any more drama for himself and his teammates.

Graham was his polar opposite. He was so deep in the closet that he denied even to himself who he was. His hatred for himself and his desires were completely suffocating. His whole life is a form of evasion and he is so focused on playing the role of a straight guy all the time, that he is failing to form his won personality.

I found the inner struggles of the two main characters were deftly presented and I got deeply engaged in their story.

The girl in the story, Bella, was a great supporting character. I like how she was presented as a true friend and generally a nice human being, instead of the evil bitch woman we often see in m/m romance. I felt bad for her and Graham's obliviousness was no excuse for the pain he cause her and all the other people who loved him.

On the negative side, I felt that Graham self-loathing was too much at times. He seemed stuck in the past and couldn't really move forward for a big portion of the story. This also made Rikker seem far too patient with him. He forgave past and present mistakes far too easily. While I sympathize with them both for what they had to go through and very much enjoyed the dynamics of their relationship, how complicated, yet easy it was, I would have loved if they talked more often and more openly with each other.

The ending felt rushed. I would have loved to see more of Rikker and Graham as a couple, how the others saw and accepted them being together. The tentative reconciliation between Rikker and his family we see in the end felt a bit out of place and forced. I didn't really need it and don't think it added anything to the story itself.

The next book in the series will be about Bella and for all her love of hockey playes, I hope she ends up with a cute nerdy guy who knows nothing about sports :)

Author: Alexi Lawless
Date of publication: 24 Oct 2014
Genre: Romantic suspense

Author's links:Website / Twitter / Facebook / Goodreads

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My rating: 4.5 Stars

Synopsis

"Isn't it terrible when love is not enough?" 

In the action-packed sequel to Complicated Creatures: Part One…

Jack Roman was perfectly happy living the life of a high-powered and charismatic philistine. He had time, money, women and a penchant for the fast life. Until he met his match in Samantha Wyatt and his obsession with her would take him to hell and back… 

Wes Elliott’s been dreaming of the muse he let go of as a young man—the woman he never forgot throughout his travels and the successes he’d left her to find. He always thought he’d see Sammy again—he just never expected her to be fighting for her life when he did… 

Samantha Wyatt is being challenged by her past, tested by her decisions, and hunted by her nemesis. As her dangerous present and enigmatic past collides, Samantha conducts the riskiest operation of her life, and the men who love her will be forced to decide: Do they trust her enough to let her protect them? And do they love her enough to let her go?

Review

This was an emotional and action-packed sequel to Complicated Creatures: Part I (my review) which I thoroughly enjoyed. Its'w ritten in the same engaging style - detailed and well-researched with a lot of depth of feeling. We see even more character development and plot twists kept me on the edge and turning the pages impatiently. 

While this books continues Sam and Jack's many additional characters also take center stage. Wes tries to find his way back to Sam and even though he is a good guy by all means and I was not happy about the love triangle that he fromed with Sam and Jack. There was a particular episode in the story which some might consider cheating, thought I personally don't thing so, yet it made me feel a bit uneasy and really bad for Jack.

Sam's personal and professional life goes compeltely off in this installment. Everything around her is in motion and changing but this also leads her to re-examine a lot of her personal issues. For the first time we see this warrior-like woman who appears so strong and in total control, in a state of inner turmoil and completely lost.

Things get even more difficult for Jack and I felt bad for him. His love for Sam is so strong, all-encompassing, yet it scares and confuses him. He is led by the best of intentions but he also makes some costly mistakes that affect everyone around him. 

The story is told in multiple POVs and it's working really well, giving the readers different perspectives. This creates a lush background to all that is happening with the characters, main and supporting. 

The book ends with a kind of cliffhanger, not the worst possible, yet there are lot of things left to be cleared in the final installment in the series. Things could go either way for all the characters and there are still secrets from Sam's past to be revealed.

It's a recommended read for anyine who have read and enjoyed the first book. If you like romantic suspense with strong and intriguing characters and a lot of military action, you should give this series a try. There is also a novella told from Rush's POV coming in between books 1 and 2 and you can get it for 0.99 on Amazon and for FREE if you sign-up for Ms Alexi Lawless newsletter.

She’s hiding something big. He’s hiding someone small.

Scarlet Crowley’s life was torn apart the day father was arrested for unspeakable crimes. Now the shock has worn off, but not the horror. 

It’s a safe bet that Scarlet is the only first year at Harkness College who had to sneak past TV news trucks parked on her front lawn just to leave town. But college will be Scarlet’s fresh start. Clutching a shiny new student ID — with a newly minted name on it — she leaves it all behind. Even if it means lying to the boy she’s falling for.

Bridger McCaulley is a varsity hockey star known for being a player both on and off the ice. But a sobering family crisis takes that all away. Protecting his sister means a precarious living arrangement and constant deception. The only bright spot in his week is the few stolen hours he spends with Scarlet.

I feel that the author tried too hard to separate Scarlet from her father and his crimes in order to keep her character being all nice and proper. She is her own person and she was not aware of the crimes he committed, so nobody should judge her for them.

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Synopsis

An idealistic suffragette...

Miss Frederica "Free" Marshall has put her heart and soul into her newspaper, known for its outspoken support of women's rights. Naturally, her enemies are intent on destroying her business and silencing her for good. Free refuses to be at the end of her rope...but she needs more rope, and she needs it now.

...a jaded scoundrel...

Edward Clark's aristocratic family abandoned him to die in a war-torn land, so he survived the only way he could: by becoming a rogue and a first-class forger. When the same family that left him for dead vows to ruin Miss Marshall, he offers his help. So what if he has to lie to her? She's only a pawn to use in his revenge.

...and a scandal seven years in the making.

But the irrepressible Miss Marshall soon enchants Edward. By the time he realizes that his cynical heart is hers, it's too late. The only way to thwart her enemies is to reveal his scandalous past...and once the woman he loves realizes how much he's lied to her, he'll lose her forever.

Review

I've been meaning to try historical romance as a genre for a while now and decided to finally try with an ARC from NetGalley of The Suffragette Scandal by Courtney Milan. My first historical. I'm glad a took the plunge and now I have to admit it was a very entertaining read. 

This is book 4 in the Brother Sinister series and while I really enjoyed it, I think it would have been even better if I had read the previous books. I'd recommend to start from the beginning since there is a multitude of characters with their own background stories appearing across this series.

Ms Milan has created a whole set of great characters, both the main and the supporting ones. They all stand out and are very memorable.

It was the heroine, Free, whom I came to like the most in this story. She is everything I love in a romance novel heroine - witty, strong, independent, smart. She had strong political opinion on the place and role of women in 19th century England and she was not afraid to voice it loud and clear. But she was more than a suffragette, she was a  woman, a loyal friend and sister, a passionate and gentle lover. 

The hero, Edward, was a more typical character - a rogue, a scoundrel, but good and honest at heart. He was the typical hero bearing scars from his past, who saw himself unworthy of love and happiness, and he craved them. His self pity was too much at times but his journey to become a better man was very real and engaging. 

Ms Milan explores a number of social and political issues acute in 19th sentury Britain but still at the heart of the story is the romance between Free and Edward. And it was remarkable in its compelxity even for a contemporary setting. They were equal in their relationship and each of them accepted the other for who she/he was. She loved the scoundrel with all his baggage and danger and he loved the suffragette and everything that goes with being one. The had to overcome major issues in order to be together but eventually both let the other be the best person they can be.

I liked how Ms Milan blended social issues and family dynamics in a seamless mix. Neither the romance, nor politics overcame the story, they just blended perfectly together. 

I very much enjoyed the writing style of Ms Milan. The witty banter, the subtle sense of humour and hidden sexual innuendos. She manages the create the historical setting without being overly descriptive. 

It's was a very enjoyable read for me and I can see many more historical romances joining my TBR list. First come the rest of the Brothers Sinister series, of course. A highly recommended read!

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My rating: 4.5 stars

It's book 2 in the Secret and Shadows romantic suspense series Secrets and Shadows and it can be read as a standalone though since there quite a few characters involved, it would be better to start from the beginning with book 1, Deeper Than Need.

This books was not what I expected initially - it was an intense, complicated, painful, heart-breaking story with focus is more on the suspense/crime aspect than on the romance. It's a very character driven story which explores the aftermath of some terrible crimes and their effect on everybody in the small town when abominable things have been happening for far too many years now. (A note of warning: the story involved the worst possible child abuse and though there are no graphic scenes, the violence and pain are tangibly present in the story and they do make one heavy reading at times).

I liked how Ms Walker didn't shy away from discussing the consequences of all this violence on everybody involved directly or indirectly. The main characters, Adam and Lana, are both rich and well-developed characters, and their romance is very passionate and turbulent. They come together after she had been missing for 20 years and there are a lot of issues to be cleared between them. They have to deal with the pain from their past and it involves a lot of guilt and regret. At the same time the story is action packed, all of the characters are trying to move forward with their lives

There is depth to the story which I especially liked. Nothing is simple, the reality is not sugarcoated and that makes it all the more thrilling to read. There a numbers of twists and turns in the story that kept me feverishly turning the pages. Even though Lana and Adam are at the center of the plot, we also see a lot of Noah (the hero in book 1), the hero in the next book (I'll keep his identity a secret to avoid a major spoiler) is also prominent here, as well as a number of secondary characters. They move the suspense forward but I felt that their plot lines were sometimes distracting me from the main couple. 

The ending is the Happy For Now type and the main mystery plot remains unresolved. The healing the characters need to get has started but there is a long way to go before a true HEA is achieved.

I liked the writing and the story is very engaging, yet I had one major issue with this book and it's that the plot is too messy. There are too many POV introduced and it's difficult to keep track of who is speaking.

Despite its rather dark subject, this story is also about justice, hope and redemption and I can recommend it to all fans of great romantic suspense intriguing mystery and flawed, yet strong and complex characters.

Now, I'll be going back to read book 1 as soon as possible while waiting for David's story in book 3, Darker Than Desire, which is to be released in March 2015.

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