Blurb

Review

I want to start my review with the preface that book 1 ends in a terrible cliffhanger and since the next book came very soon after it, I have decided to review together.

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Title: Where I Belong (The Debt #2)

Author: Molly O'Keefe

Genre/Themes: Contemporary romance, Abuse

Release Date: 26 June 2017

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

My rating: 3.5 stars

The story was very raw and emotional, tugging at the heart strings. There were plotholes, though, that took me away from the story, the business with Bates, the missing reasons behind the behaviour of Beth's mom at the past and in the present.

The situation with Tommy granddad was difficult and conflicting and not easy to process and I like that it was not sugarcoated but it was presented as something exceptionally painful for everyone involved, something that needs time and a lot of effort to accept.

Overall, I see Beth and Tommy's story as an emotional and raw tale of an almost fatal attraction, exploration of how loving and hurting the person you love often go hand in hand. I have my doubts regarding the representation of trauma survivors but I'm not an expert, so I can't really say if was wring or right. The pacing was uneven at times, there were some plotholes, which did take away from my enjoyment of this series. The prologue worked rather well on its own but I  can easily see book 1 and 2 being just one tighter, more cohesive story.

Having said all that, I still love Molly's writing and think she can spin a story of exceptional depth and intensity but this is not one of my favourties of hers. I expect that we will be getting more stories in the series (Simon, Carissa) and I'm just intrigued enough to continue reading them.

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I had already some ideas for the plot when I sat down to create portraits of the two main characters. It was while I was working on those portraits that the characters fully came into existence and their story fell into place. 

While I was working on Con's portrait, it also became clearer and clearer that "winter" would be one of the major themes of the novella: He's got grey hair (just like Victor in Yuri on Ice!) (gosh, I ADORE that series!!!), which, together with his blue eyes and the somewhat haughty expression, creates the impression of a rather frosty man. His emotions are frozen, and when he returns home in the middle of winter, the whole landscape is frozen as well (I started writing The Return of the Earl right after Christmas, when here in Germany we had a period of rather… eh… frosty weather). Moreover, to him, the house he returns to seems to be frozen in time (cue some subtle references to "Sleeping Beauty"). Of course, as the story evolves, Con starts to "defrost" — his emotions unravel , as his evil author puts him through the wringer… 

ER: Your previous mm romance (and some of your other books are set in the times of Ancient Rome). Which time period is your favorite and why? 

SS: I love all three time periods my books are set in. They help me to avoid a creative burnout, and they fulfill different functions: 

· My Regency romances are mostly set among the upper classes, thus allowing me to write about country estates and garden follies. (I LOVE garden follies!!!) They also tend to be more whimsical. *thinks of her first published novel* Well, in a manner of speaking…. 

· My Victorian series has been inspired by my academic research on Victorian magazines and newspapers, and I love digging into the everyday life and day-to-day politics of the time. Being able to include cameo appearances of the writers and artists of PUNCH, my favorite Victorian magazine, is an added bonus. (So in other words, my Victorian series allows me to shamelessly fangirl over my favorite Victorian artists & writers.) 

· Each book in my Roman series, by contrast, presents me with unique challenges of research. While I've been interested in the Romans since I was little and fell in love with the works of Rosemary Sutcliff, I'm still not as familiar with the period as I am with, say, the Victorian Age, which I have studied for years. When Twitter talked me into writing a Roman romance, I really had to knuckle down and bring myself up to scratch in regard to the historical background. Moreover, the series has also allowed me to explore some local history, as I live in Roman borderland, near where the Germanic limes once marked the edge of the Roman Empire. Since 2014, I've been a regular visitor to the reconstructed Roman fort in Bad Homburg, where I also took a Roman cookery class! 

ER: Are you planning to turn The Return of the Earl into a series? Maybe a book about the Earl’s secretary? Or a down-stairs romance between his staff (I love this type of historicals and would love to read one like that written by you)? 

SS: Yes. I think there might be a story about Ross, Con's secretary, in the future. And glimpses of an older Con in my Victorian series. I already have some ideas for that! 😊 

ER: Your book shows great detail of the times which you seem to have researched meticulously. What was most fun/difficult thing to research for this story? 

SS: Thank you! To be honest, though, I didn't have to do all that much research for The Return of the Earl – that was the beauty of writing this story! My early published novels were all set in the Regency period or the early 19th century, thus, I when I started to write historicals some 15 years ago, I read a lot about the period, which forms the foundation I can fall back on today. 

In addition, when I was still a lecturer at university, much of my work focused on the 19th century. Indeed, a few things I researched for my Ph.D. thesis (on the history of dragonslaying) found their way into The Return of the Earl, specifically, the gothic garden follies and the mummers' play, which is a specific kind of English folk drama. For the play in my story, I used different 19th-century versions of a so-called hero-combat play, where a hero – in this case, St. George – fights against one or more villains (a soldier, a knight, a foreign king, or a dragon figure). One of the combatants is slain, but luckily the Doctor is at hand with some miracle medicine to affect a nice resurrection. At the end there is often a song, and then the mummers are rewarded with alcohol or money (or both), and everybody is happy. 

  

In the last few years, I was also lucky enough to visit a few stately homes in Britain. The grounds of my grumpy earl's country estate are modelled on those of Harewood near Leeds, while the house itself, with its layout around a main courtyard and a service courtyard, was inspired by Dunham Massey. In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in the lives of servants, which is why a lot of stately homes have opened up the service areas to the public. When I was at Dunham Massey, I took part in a tour of the service courtyard, and it's this kind of hands on research that is really helpful to understand how country houses worked in the past. 

And of course, walking from such a stately home back to the train station in the nearest town or village really makes you aware how vast these country estates are (especially if you have to hurry to catch your train). 

[picture 4: terrace at Harewood] 

ER: Finally, what can we expect from you in the near future? 

SS: I think I'm going to stick with the Regency period for the time being, and I hope to finally finish that Victorian novella later in the year.

Sandra lives in Frankfurt am Main in Germany with a sketchbook, a sewing machine, and an ever-expanding library.

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Blurb

Review

This was a lovely, sweet, slow-burn mm Regency romance. Sandra Schwab tells a tender and very moving story with some air of melancholy which is further strengthened by the stunning winter scenery she created. The nature as reflection of the characters' emotions was just so well incorporated in this story, the vivid way the scenery and the Christmas season was presented made it fell almost like a character of its own on the story. 

I loved both the grumpy Earl (no surprise there as grumpy heroes are my catnip) and his quiet and loyal Stablemaster. Their second-chance friends-to-lovers romance, very understated and quiet at times and all the more powerful and memorable for that, was a joy to read. 

The story is told from the point of view of Con, the young Earl of Stanbury and we see very little of the inner world of his stablemaster, Bryn. I liked getting to know all Con's emotions - his anger and fear and desperation and later on, hope and overwhelming love.  I really wanted more insight into Bryn's inner world as well. I have to admit that he remained a bit of mystery for me. At the same time Con's attraction and deep affection for him was rather catching and I couldn't help but like him, and like him a lot, myself. 

The writing is beautiful, elaborate and rich. It's full of details of the historical period (a bit too much at times in my opinion) and it transports the reader right there and then at the times and place of the story.

I like the supporting characters, we see more of Con's secretary and his butler and less of the staff of Harrowcot manor but I'd love to read more stories about all of them. 

This quiet but moving love story is a recommended reading for fans of historical romance

Title: Ashwin (Gideon's Riders #1)

Author: Kit Rocha

Genre/Themes: Dystopia, Romance

Release Date: 7 March 2017

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

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My rating: 4 Stars

Blurb

Review

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Blurb

Unless a Christmas shop owner who hates the season can show an orphan what it means to have family for the holidays. 

Pre-order link: Riptide

Purchase links: Amazon / B&N / Kobo / iBooks 

If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the orchard.

The last person Griffin Shipley expects to find stuck in a ditch on his Vermont country road is his ex-hookup. Five years ago they’d shared a couple of steamy nights together. But that was a lifetime ago. 

At twenty-seven, Griff is now the accidental patriarch of his family farm. Even his enormous shoulders feel the strain of supporting his mother, three siblings and a dotty grandfather. He doesn’t have time for the sorority girl who’s shown up expecting to buy his harvest at half price.

Vermont was never in Audrey Kidder’s travel plans. Neither was Griff Shipley. But she needs a second chance with the restaurant conglomerate employing her. Okay—a fifth chance. And no self-righteous lumbersexual farmer will stand in her way.

They’re adversaries. They want entirely different things from life. Too bad their sexual chemistry is as hot as Audrey’s top secret enchilada sauce, and then some.

Review

I will start with saying that I absolutely love Sarina Bowen's writing. Her Ivy Years series is my favourite NA series and her M/M hockey romances Him and Us, co-written with Elle Kennedy are just as amazing. I was really excited when I heard she will be writing a new series, sort of small town romances and I jumped at the chance to read the first book, Bittersweet.

On paper I should have loved this, a sexy hunk ex-sports star in college turned into a farmer and cider maker and the super sexy, somewhat flighty college hook-up who is trying to make it in the restaurant business.

I enjoyed a lot in this story, yet it ended as an OK read for me. Whole food business and Audrey's struggles and adventures in it were quite fun to read. And what I liked the most in this book is Griff's life on the farm - the interactions within his family and friends, the small-town feel - shone through the story and warmed my heart.

The romance is where I struggled a bit. It's a second-chance love story, with Griff being more involved even back in their college days. Their present-day chemistry was off-the-charts, but for the relationship lacked depth. It read like your usual, cliched and stereotypical NA college affair - it was all about lust and sexual pleasure and felt like feelings and real intimacy were lacking, at least initially.

I expected more maturity in the relationship, both Griff and Adrey acted like adults in the other aspects of their lives, or were at least trying to live up to their responsibilities and the expectations the others had of them.

In general I think there are one too many stereotypes (the evil ex-girlfriend who turned out to be a nice person after all, the super evil mother who also had a change of heart by the end, and more) which make the story just average and in many ways predictable.

I still enjoy Ms Bowen's style and have high hopes for the next books in the series, which I definitely plan to read. If you don't mind some instalust and NA angst in your romance, you should give this one a try. It wasn't a big hit with me but it might work better for you.


PS: The second book, Steadfast, which tells Jude's story is out already and I enjoyed it much more and will be reviewing it soon.

When it comes to love, there’s no such thing as smooth sailing.

Rafael Castro is so far out of his element he can’t even see it anymore. Carlisle College in Massachusetts is a long way from his Chicago home, even farther from his Dominican Republic roots. 

The only thing keeping him attached to his last nerve is the prospect of seeing Denny Winslow again. The first time they met, Denny taught Rafi to fly across the water, rowing hard in a knife-like boat. Now, two years later, on the wings of a rowing scholarship, Rafi is attending Denny’s elite college. 

Even before the excitement wears off, Rafi is struggling with classes and fending off rumors that Denny’s family, not Rafi’s talent, won him his spot. To quash the gossip, Rafi tries to steer clear of the man he wants. A plan that evaporates in the fire of renewed attraction.

But Carlisle’s academic pressure cooker has Rafi barely treading water. And when a family crisis hits, both Rafi and Denny must pull hard to keep their relationship from capsizing in rough waters.

This is book 4 in the Off Campus series and while I loved them all, I think this is my favourite story. I rarely do more personal reviews but this book touched on so many personal levels that I can't help it.

It's a tender and sexy interracial mm college sports romance and Amy Jo Cousins covers brilliantly, I'd say, so many aspects of college life and the struggles to fit in, to belong in a place and with a person (you love).

It's Rafi's book through and through, not just because the story is told from his POV. Don't get me wrong, I loved Denny quite a lot and he has a strong presence in the story but Rafi got me teary eyed a time or two in this book.

It is uncanny hom much I could relate to some of his college experience given how differen him and I are. I'm a 36 yo white het woman from a small country in Europe. I went to the best University in my country and who lived with her parents at the time and didn't suffer from racial or sexual abuse but none of my parents have university degrees and pressure to fit was real. My first year was so intense and scary and wonderful without having to navigate a love relationship at the time. 

In short, for long stretches of of the story I felt like Rafi's thoughts were mine. His struggle to make sense of this new, unfamiliar  place, to be good enough/to deserve his place there (since he got there on a scholarship). His experience was powerfully presented and his anxiety felt real and true to life, especially to me as someone who is pretty anxious about a lot of things in life.

And I absolutely loved that the story made me look back on my own experiences in university with just a touch of melancholy and no real sense of regret. 

The story covers Rafi's life in its complexity - the romance, the college, the family stuff, the rowing. There is even a brief and rather sweet appearance of Steph and Cash (with some Tom and Reese on the side). Rafi struggled with so many new things in his life and it all was interconnected and affected deeply his relationship with Denny.

The chemistry was really strong but they had to deal with a lot of issues on practical level, basically they had to find a way to be together. I liked how Ms Cousins didn't gloss over their difficulties and made their romance a perfect one. The love to each other and both felt they belong together but that didn't save them from making mistakes along the way. They are too different in terms of social, ethnic background, financial situation, family situation and their love didn't just magically erase those difference. They had to learn how to be together while still being different. There was no sacrifice on oneself just to make the other happy. Rather what we got were two young people making compromises for each other.

There is an element of coming-of-age to this story. Both Rafi and Denny had to figure out what they wanted in life and how to go about getting it. The ending came as a bit of surprise but I think it fits the characters and I see it as promise, something that helps them to be happy together. 

It's a very moving, touching story and at the same time it felt real. This series keeps getting better and better and is quickly becoming one of my all-time favourites.

I want to end this embarrassingly personal review with my favourite quote from the book which is about Denny but I think it fits Rafi as well and pretty much sums up my way of loving - "Denny needed to take care of him because that was how Denny loved."

Purchase links: Amazon / B&N / Kobo / iBooks / ARebooks / Samhain

Synopsis

Knowing he’s loved can make any man fly.

Fifteen years ago, Ben Warren was a wakeboarding champion: king of big air, ballsy tricks, and boned grabs. Until a career-ending injury left him broken in ways he still has no hope of fixing. Now he takes his thrills where he can get them, and tries not to let life hurt too much.

Then Davis Fox arrives in Ben’s sporting goods store with a plan to get in touch with his estranged brother by competing in the annual wakeboarding double-up contest. The catch? He’s never ridden before. It’s crazy, but Ben’s a sucker for the guy’s sob story—and for his dimples, too—so he agrees to coach Davis.

Davis is everything Ben isn’t: successful, confident, and in love with life. And he wants Ben to love life—and him—too. But before Ben can embrace a future with Davis, he needs to remember how to hope.

Review

I read mostly traditional M/F romance but I like to try different stories once in a while, so sometimes I pick up M/M romances as well. I'm no expert on the genre but this novella was a sweet, feel-good read which I enjoyed a lot.

Vanessa North is a new to me author and I found her writing simple, yet engaging and real, The story flows naturally and despite its short length, it gets the reader invested in the fate of the characters. This is a sweet love story between two guys, low on the angst and drama, and high on real issues and feelings. 

Neither Ben, nor Dave were  big alpha badass heroes, they were just ordinary guys dealing with life and trying to have a relationship.

The story is told from Ben's POV, who is a pretty jaded and disillusioned, ex-sports legend. On the surface is life is OK but in reality he is completely lost. It's Dave who literally saves him and brings him back to a fulfilling life full of love and hope and ultimately happiness. 

Dave is just irresistible with his blushes and take-charge attitude, blushing and commanding at he same time. There was certain vulnerability about him, yet a sense of strength, He knew who he was and what he wanted from life. 

The relationship between Ben and Dave was  based on compromise, exchange of control and initiative which made it so real and the issues they had to overcome were easy to understand and relate to. 

Ms North creates a set of great supporting characters, Ben's friends Eddie and Tina, Dave's kid brother, Ridley. They all add more substance to Ben and Dave's romance and provided some funny and some sweet times. 

Overall, it's a fell-good summer romance, a tender love story which feels both real and cute. A recommended read!

Purchase links: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / Kobo

Synopsis

There are three things you need to know about Ashley Winston: 1) She has six brothers and they all have beards, 2) She is a reader, and 3) She knows how to knit.

Former beauty queen, Ashley Winston’s preferred coping strategy is escapism. She escaped her Tennessee small town, loathsome father, and six brothers eight years ago. Now she escapes life daily via her Amazon kindle one-click addiction. However, when a family tragedy forces her to return home, Ashley can’t escape the notice of Drew Runous— local Game Warden, bear wrestler, philosopher, and everyone’s favorite guy. Drew’s irksome philosophizing in particular makes Ashley want to run for the skyscrapers, especially since he can’t seem to keep his exasperating opinions— or his soulful poetry, steadfast support, and delightful hands— to himself. Pretty soon the girl who wanted nothing more than the escape of the big city finds she’s lost her heart in small town Tennessee.

This is a full-length novel, can be read as a standalone, and is the fourth book in the 'Knitting in the City' series.

About Penny Reid

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This is book 4 in the Knitting in the City series and while the previous books are more of contemporary romantic comedies, this is definitely not a comedy though it has its funny moments. It much more serious, sadder and more melancholic than the previous ones. This is not a bad thing, on the contrary, I enjoyed reading every word of it, even in the moments when it made me cry.

The heroine here is Ashley and she meets the love of her life in the worst possible moment for her. She is a reader, a knitter and has six brothers and I liked her from the start. The story, as in the other books in the series, is told mostly from her POV (except the Epilogue, where we hear Drew's voice). She was real and easy to relate. There was some vulnerability and delicateness about her which I really liked and they didn't come just from the fact that she was facing a very painful moment in her life. At the same time, she showed strength and resilience which just made me like her even more and ultimately all these qualities mixed together made it impossible for Dr. Drew Runous to resist falling for her. 

Now, Drew was unlike any romance hero I've read - he was both apha male, possessive and protective and the same time he was a poet and a philosopher (and a game warden). He was just amazing. I might even love him more than Alex (Love Hacked) who is my favourite male characters in this series.  At the least, he shares the first place of my affections with him. There is something irresistible about a big, rough-looking guy who writes poems, plays music and loves you with all his heart. He was a man of few words but when he spoke, everybody listened. 

The romance between Ashley and Drew was slow, interlaced with Ashley's suffering and pain and Drew's desire to offer comfort and consolation. In the end, it was an epic kind of love that brought them together despite the circumstances. 

I wish there were more funny moments, but the plot doesn't really allow it. The knitting club ladies and their husbands were great, amusing and supportive as we have come to expect of them. 

One of the best things in the story were Ashley's brothers. Ms Reid has created six unique character, so different and unusual, yet perfectly fitting in the story. I can't pick a favourite of them and I'm excited that each one will be getting his story told in upcoming books (the first one is expected to be released next summer).

Overall, despite having a different feel than the other books in the series, this story is definitely one of my favourite. It's a deeply emotional tale  of love and loss, of family and friendship and it's told in a witty and engaging manner. A recommended read to anyone (it can be read as a standalone, though reading the previous books will only make your enjoyment of this one even better).

I will leave you with three teaser pictures made by Penny herself. Enjoy!