Title: Eight Inches to Make Johnny Smile

Author: Claire Davis & Al Stewart

Published by: Beaten Track Publishing

Date published: Feb. 1, 2015

Genres: Contemporary, LGBT

Book Length: 40 pages

Steam Rating: Steamy

Main Characters: Mat & Johnny

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“Claire and Al’s writing style definitely leaves a deep impact on the reader. Their words drag the reader into a world that is so real that it’s difficult to remember that you are reading about a make-believe world.” ~Becca

New job, new flat, new man?

Shy Mat finally gets a chance to break free from his parents and strike out on his own. But joining the local diet club, Weight Fighters, and hopping on the scales takes everything he has; does he have enough left in him to stick to his diet and act on his feelings for gorgeous Johnny who runs the group?

Flirty Johnny has staying power as far as diets are concerned, and all he wants is to win the Valentine’s Challenge. But meeting Mat changes everything. Can Johnny find the staying power to battle his own demons and get what he realises he really wants – to win Mat’s heart?

Eight Inches to Make Johnny Smile was quite a wake up call for me. I realized how tired I am of reading those ‘perfect’ characters that just don’t represent the reality of who or what people are. Books often show these women that think they are fat…but are a damn size 6…sorry honey that’s not fat! That’s normal! Since when does a woman have to be a size 2 to be pretty?

Ugh! Okay sorry so I’m rambling!

This book quickly sent me back to my childhood issues that effect me to this day. I grew up with a small built mom and a sister that never weighed more than 100lbs. I wasn’t big…I was normal. But a few people that were important to my emotional growth (Not going to name them sorry.) screwed me up something awful. They would force me to eat until my plate was clean (always more food than I needed) and then shove diet pills down my throat and tell me how I should work out more..or watch what I ate. To make things fun…I was only about 12 when this crap started…and I wonder why I still can’t look in a mirror and see myself as beautiful. To this day I see only my imperfections…I see someone that is majorly over weight…when I’m not!

I have never wanted to GUT PUNCH a character as badly as I did Mat’s parents! Oh my gosh…can you say jerks! I mean really…who in the hell treats their kid that way! I don’t care how old they are…it will never be okay!

Okay…so lets see if I can get off of my crap and back onto the review huh?

Moving past the impact the book had on me, which was a good thing in case you were curious, I want to touch on the characters themselves.

Mat is a really sweet computer geek with weight issues that no one lets him live down. When he gets his own flat and a new job (where his coworkers are jerks) he decides to try something new to lose the weight. Joining a group was the last thing he expected to work…but he’s willing to give it a try.

Johnny is the groups leader and motivator. He has lost a ton of weight and is looking awesome…even if he does still wear the baggy clothes from his past. (I could say more but don’t want to spoil it.)

When Mat and Johnny meet lets just say that things get seriously interesting! I adore these two and their romance panned out beautifully. Everything was well planned, well worded and expertly developed.

Claire and Al’s writing style definitely leaves a deep impact on the reader. Their words drag the reader into a world that is so real that it’s difficult to remember that you are reading about a make-believe world. The message within this story is an important one for everyone in my opinion. To get an insight into the life of someone that is doing everything that they can to lose weight….and the people around him just laughing and throwing around painful words and actions…if you can read this and not be moved in some way…well I’d be surprised!

Want to know the only negative thing that I can say about this book? 

It ended too soon!! I wanted to know so much more about the characters…

Not just Mat and Johnny…but there is a lot I want to know about them and their relationship as well. For instance I want to know if they reach their goals, where does their relationship go…oh so many things! I also want to know about Mary and Shelley and that jerk Simon!

Each and every character is so well developed that I quickly became attached and wanted to know what made them tick. Yep…for a 40 page book…this one packs a punch that leaves the reader wanting more!

So, if you haven’t already figured it out…I highly recommend this book and think you should head on over and one-click that bad boy!

Claire Davis and Al Stewart are best friends and writing partners. They like to challenge themselves by exploring the darker side of humans, and by finding compassion and beauty even in the most desolate of places. 

Al sometimes describes himself as a mixture of Darth Vadar and the tooth fairy, while Claire is less grounded. Al has led an unconventional life, and experienced all of the events he writes about.  Above all, they believe in the power of magic and good manners.

Do you prefer the ‘perfect’ characters or the ones that represent real life?

Title: Checking Him Out For the Holidays

Author: Debbie McGowan

Series: Checking Him Out

Published by: Beaten Track Pub.

Date published: Dec. 21, 2014

Genres: Contemporary, LGBT

Book Length: 75 pages

Steam Rating: Steamy

Main Characters: Sol & Adam

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“I enjoyed the easy going plot line (which had a few small and quickly resolved twists thrown in), the steamy and sweet romance and the holiday fun that mixed together in this story. Thanks for giving me a chance to fall in love with Sol and Adam Debbie!!” ~Becca

Freelance engineer Sol Brooks doesn’t do the festive season. He thinks it’s boring and overly sentimental. With the rest of the household laid up with ‘the flu’, Sol’s planned on using the time to crack on with some work.

His mother, however, has other ideas.

And so does Sol’s husband, Adam.

A stand-alone holiday special featuring Sol and Adam from Checking Him Out.

Woohoo…Sol and Adam are back…and like I said in my last review, I’m willing to give them a fighting chance to win me over!

I’m excited to say that I didn’t have to cringe and bite my tongue in this one….there is NO CHEATING! Yay for that!

Another really awesome thing is that Elise is finally not being a massive bitch! From the looks of things she is actually being a pretty decent human being and a relatively good friend. I was very happy to see this. I loved that she got a small part in this book and we got to see that maybe she isn’t as bad as we originally thought her to be. Fingers crossed she gets her own book soon and we can find out just what makes her tick and hopefully I will fully adore her instead of standing on the edge.

So on to the main characters…our sexy alpha men: Sol and Adam!

Again, you wouldn’t think that this would work. Two alpha guys together? Umm…that’s a recipe for disaster! But somehow these two make it work. Yep, the butt heads and have issues…but overall they have a solid relationship.

Both guys really stepped it up a notch in Checking Him Out For the Holidays. Neither is overly whiny or needy, even when they are sick! There is a decent amount going on in this relatively short novella, however, at the same time…nothing really happens. lol

This isn’t exactly a bad thing…just a relatively non-eventful book. I read it in about an hour or so and actually enjoyed it quite a bit. I liked that the book wasn’t over flowing with action and suspense. I got to focus on the characters and who they are. It really helped me to understand more about book one in the series and get a better handle on why they behave the way that they do. I liked that the story focused solely on their romance and not on so many different struggles. The only real ‘issue’ that pops up is that Sol doesn’t ‘do’ celebrations and his and Adam’s families are coming down for Christmas/Hanukkah.

The sex in this book is pretty steamy! There were a few scenes that left me with my jaw on the floor with my Kindle in my hand wondering what in the world I just read (I guess it’s just me but there is one part that honestly I just couldn’t ever imagine doing or having done to me…but everyone has their thing right?) and then there were scenes that were so sweet and perfect that I couldn’t put it down! Trust me…no matter what your preference sex wise…there is something in here that you will enjoy reading! Sol and Adam pretty much cover it ALL in this one!

I thought it was a really sweet story and thoroughly enjoyed learning more about Matty. I honestly have my fingers crossed for a book that focuses on him as well. I think he could make for an extremely intense and interesting story if written properly.

Overall, this book is a solid 4 deep breaths for me. I enjoyed the easy going plot line (which had a few small and quickly resolved twists thrown in), the steamy and sweet romance and the holiday fun that mixed together in this story. Thanks for giving me a chance to fall in love with Sol and Adam Debbie!!

So there you have it…head on over to Amazon and check it out!

Author, publisher, social scientist. Debbie’s academic specialism is gender and sexual politics and identity, so you can expect this to crop up now and then in her writing too! Not in an “in your face” kind of way – subtlety wins hearts and minds.

She lives in Lancashire, UK, with family and rescued dogs. It’s green and pleasant, and they get long, long, lovely perfumed days in late spring / early summer. Her favourite place in the world is Watergate Bay, Cornwall, but she hasn’t traveled much. The most amazing thing she has ever experienced is the call to prayer at 11 p.m. on a terrace in Istanbul. Goosebumps+ and she’s an atheist!

She writes character-based/driven fiction – mostly general/contemporary, some (M/M & F/M) romance and a bit of sci-fi fantasy (light). Basically, she writes about life. She’s written a few stand alone novels and short stories, but her main work is the Hiding Behind The Couch series, which these days she referring to as a literary soap opera. Each novel/novella concludes, but there are always a few loose ends to be picked up and threaded on to the next instalment. There are longer threads and shorter threads.

Connect with Debbie McGowan

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

How do you feel about holiday books? Love them or hate them…or just plain addicted?

Title: Checking Him Out

Author: Debbie McGowan

Series: Checking Him Out #1

Published by: Beaten Track Pub.

Date published: Nov. 16, 2014

Genres: Contemporary, LGBT

Book Length: 193 pages

Steam Rating: Steamy

Main Characters: Sol & Adam

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“Over all, the book was decent. I’m not in love…I’m not disgusted…I’m willing to give the next book in the series a try. I do recommend it, especially as a free read (Price subject to change)! So head over and grab your copy while you can!” ~Becca

In Checking Him Out, Engineer Sol Brooks is a happily married man, so people keep telling him. He and Elise have been in Boston for eight years, he loves her, and she loves him. They’ve got a great apartment that’s kept its value, they’re both up for promotion, and he can hook up with any guy he likes – all the sex he wants, so long as it’s of the “no strings” variety. And that’s all fine and dandy…until a chance meeting at the checkout.

***

First published as part of the Love’s Landscapes Anthology
(DRiTC 2014, MMRomanceGroup.com), based on the prompt:

Dear Author,

When I met the love of my new life (his words not mine…ass), I was simply waiting in the checkout line. I might have been caught up in a conversation with my best friend/wife of X amount of years about something, I can’t remember at the moment. So anyway, we were distracted and didn’t notice that the line had moved. So after maybe 30 seconds, or a minute at the most (I’m pretty sure it wasn’t that long), Mr. Impatient, with an accent like that character on The Originals (not that I watch that show at my age), got our attention in the rudest way in my opinion, or in my wife’s heart-of-a-ho opinion, the kindest way possible for our insensitive asses. I’m pretty sure his accent, mixed with his damn charm, got him out of more trouble than it should. We had a rough start, but we had quiet moments when we weren’t all over each other or fighting, in and out of bed. Anyway, I would love a story about our first year.

P.S. I want a story with interesting secondary characters interacting with the main characters. I want it to be known that the marriage is a *lavender marriage—no one is being fooled here. I want humor mixed in with hot-damn, slightly overwhelming sex. Alpha males with a bad case of the giggles at inappropriate moments. No BDSM please. One other request is that I wish the main characters to be in the age range of late twenties to early thirties.

*A lavender marriage is a “beard” marriage of convenience.

Sincerely,
T

Alright…so I knew what I was getting into when I picked up this free read.

I knew that there was cheating (not my fave thing…even if it is a “lavender” marriage)…I knew that it was M/M (which I am totally okay with)….I understood that the relationship between the “wife” and the hubs wasn’t going to be one of happiness…

What I didn’t expect was for the relationships to jump around quite so much so quickly.

I get that Elise and Sol got married for convenience…but they also got married because they loved one another as friends. They respected one another…they well damn it in my opinion from the flash backs and the parts we get early on…they were friends! Friends don’t treat one another the way that these guys did…I don’t care what lead to it…

Elise went from being a good friend in his flash backs to a t-total bitch, a hypocrite and just plain out mean. Every time that she popped up in the story I just got frustrated and wanted to hit something…I mean who treats someone that way???

Then we have Sol…

Can you say avoidance issues?? Come on man! Make up your damn mind and stick with it! I will say that his issues sort of make sense once you make it to the end of the story…I’m not even sure that he realized what those messages had done to him. I honestly feel that he pushed it to the back of his mind and forgot all about it..but it didn’t forget about him.

Sol, while sexy as all get out…is really whiny! I mean seriously….anyways!

Okay…so that leaves us with Captain Impatient himself….Adam!

Adam is sexy, sweet, and has anger issues at times….yeah total contradiction huh? Sol likes to say that Adam is very patient…in the bedroom! Umm….doesn’t a relationship have to work outside of sex in order to be a good one? Don’t get me wrong…good sex is important but you sort of have to at least LIKE the other person outside of the bedroom!

This story line is frustrating and crazy….yet somehow it works. While I did think that the author did a great job sticking with the blurb that was given to her…I sort of wish she had veered off a bit and made the characters a bit more…well…like-able! The book is well written, except for the tendency to over explain mannerisms or sayings instead of just letting them explain themselves. I felt that this slowed it down and took away from the story a bit. If that hadn’t been there I probably could have gotten into it a bit more. 

Over all, the book was decent. I’m not in love…I’m not disgusted…I’m willing to give the next book in the series a try. I do recommend it, especially as a free read (Price subject to change)! So head over and grab your copy while you can!

Author, publisher, social scientist. Debbie’s academic specialism is gender and sexual politics and identity, so you can expect this to crop up now and then in her writing too! Not in an “in your face” kind of way – subtlety wins hearts and minds.

She lives in Lancashire, UK, with family and rescued dogs. It’s green and pleasant, and they get long, long, lovely perfumed days in late spring / early summer. Her favourite place in the world is Watergate Bay, Cornwall, but she hasn’t traveled much. The most amazing thing she has ever experienced is the call to prayer at 11 p.m. on a terrace in Istanbul. Goosebumps+ and she’s an atheist!

She writes character-based/driven fiction – mostly general/contemporary, some (M/M & F/M) romance and a bit of sci-fi fantasy (light). Basically, she writes about life. She’s written a few stand alone novels and short stories, but her main work is the Hiding Behind The Couch series, which these days she referring to as a literary soap opera. Each novel/novella concludes, but there are always a few loose ends to be picked up and threaded on to the next instalment. There are longer threads and shorter threads.

Connect with Debbie McGowan

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Have you ever read a book that you loved and hated all at the same time?

Title: The Understatement of the Year

Author: Sarina Bowen

Series: Ivy Years

Published by: Rennie Road Books

Date published: Sept. 29, 2014

Genres: LGBT, Contemporary, Sports

Book Length: 281 pages

Steam Rating: Steamy

Main Characters: Graham & Rikker

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“I cannot get over how well written this story was. It was so realistic, so raw and so emotional that once I got started reading it I just couldn’t stop.” ~Becca

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 BOOK IS A STANDALONE. NO CLIFFHANGERS. NO PRIOR EXPERIENCE NECESSARY.

Warning: unlike the other books in this series, this heartbreaking love story is about two guys. Contains sexual situations, dance music, snarky t-shirts and a poker-playing grandmother.

This was only my second gay romance novel and I have to say that I adored it! I totally read this series all wrong and absolutely out of order…however, it really didn’t matter

In the Understatement of the Year we meet Graham and Rikker who were best friends during their childhood and adolescent years. They fell in love as teenagers. Unfortunately, something horrible and sadly realistic happens that causes Rikker to be sent away and Graham to second guess everything about himself. Because of this, Graham hides who he is. He forces himself to date girls and lives a very exhausting and carefully planned life. He honestly thinks that he has everything under control. When Rikker, his first, and if he’s honest only, love joins his hockey team he fears that his carefully laid plans and perfectly choreographed lies are about to be thrown out of the window.

I LOVE that this story is told in a dual POV. Getting to see things from both Graham and Rikker’s perspective really adds a whole new level to the story that other wise would have been lacking. Getting to see the team and college life through Graham, who is terrified of even saying the word gay, and Rikker, who was unwillingly outed at his last college, is absolutely epic.

I cannot get over how well written this story was. It was so realistic, so raw and so emotional that once I got started reading it I just couldn’t stop.

The sex….just damn!

These sex scenes are HOT, HOT, HOT with a side of steamy!

The flow of the romance is realistic and believable. It isn’t easy for them and there are some pretty big hurdles that they have to jump over. I have to say that I wanted to beat the shit out of Graham on several occasions! I mean seriously…poor Rikker just kept putting himself out there and Graham just…well yeah I’m not saying more than that because well…spoilers!

Anyways…where was I? Oh yeah…

These two guys are far from perfect and their relationship has it’s flaws and hiccups. However, when they finally do get over their obstacles and give in to the sexual tension that is so strong you can taste it…trust me…it’s something you won’t want to miss out on!

The love that Graham and Rikker have for one another is so amazingly sweet. For two big bad hockey players they definitely have a sweet side that keeps you begging for more.

The way this book ends is just OOOO EEMMM GGGEEE sweet! You will seriously need a box of tissues to stop the tears and snot from taking over your face…yep…gross I know! But trust me, this book is just that damn good! It absolutely rocked my world and made me want more! I was super sad to know that I was done with their story and would like to say that I am totally up for a follow up story for these two!

Sarina Bowen makes her home in the Green Mountains of Vermont, where she lives with her family, eight chickens and a large pile of skis and hockey equipment. She is a graduate of Yale University.  

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What would you do if an old flame, that could ruin the world you created for yourself, waltzed back into your life?

 D

Today, we have an interview with Sarina about the series, as well as a great giveaway! Be sure to check it out!  

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 sexual orientation 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.

Warning: unlike the other books in this series, this heartbreaking love story is about two guys. Containssexual situations, dance music, snarky t-shirts and a poker-playing grandmother.

AMAZON | B&N | KOBO | iBOOKS

Previous books in the series:

#1 The Year We Fell Down (March 2014)

#2 The Year We Hid Away (June 2014)

#2.5 Blonde Date (July 2014)

COMING SOON!

Q: Is Harkness College from the Ivy Years series based on Yale?

A: Heck yes! But it’s based on a Yale which has gone soft and fuzzy in my mind, in all the best ways. So I’ve fictionalized it to avoid the errors and inaccuracies that I’d be likely to make if I tried to get everything just right.  

Q: So what parts of Harkness are the Yaliest?

A: The architecture! The turrets and gargoyles, the Harry Potteresque dining halls, the slate footpaths and the creaky oak doors. The iron gates. The courtyards. The window seats, where you perch while you wonder if you’ll find true love. (Or just do your homework.)  

Q: Why did you decide to write a book about two guys this time?

A: In the first place, I didn’t really decide, so much as the idea for Graham’s struggle surgically implanted itself in my brain and would not let go. And when I pictured the two of them meeting up again in a locker room after five years of silence, I just got the chills. This became the book that I cheated on all my other books to write. (If my editors of other projects are reading this… sorry! I’ll get back to work now. Probably.)  

Q. Why college hockey?

A. Because… duh! Hockey players are hot. And hockey is a fast-paced game where whining is categorically disallowed. Interestingly, fighting is not legal in college hockey, either. At the college level, it’s all about the game. I love that!  

Q: How many Ivy Years books do you have planned?

A: Five, if you’re counting the novella. After Rikker and Graham’s book, Bella is going to need her own book. What, you haven’t met Bella yet? Just wait. She steals quite a few scenes in The Understatement of the Year. She is a kick-ass chick in much the same way as Corey, Scarlet and Katie. You’ll love her. You can read a bit more about all the titles on The Ivy Years page on my website.  

Q: How did you come to write romance?

A: I’ve always loved novels—all kinds of novels. And my goal is to make the reader do three things when she’s reading my book: cry, laugh, and sigh. Romance is the best vehicle for that goal, and I’ve really enjoyed the ride.  

Sarina Bowen makes her home in the Green Mountains of Vermont, where she lives with her family, eight chickens and a large pile of skis and hockey equipment. She is a graduate of Yale University.  

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COMING SOON!

Daniel scanned them, looking for anything interesting to lift the dreary Monday, and his eyes went wide when they landed on the face of the man whose bed he had been in last night. “Oh shit,” he said too loudly, drawing the attention of the bailiff. He waved her off, muttering, “Nothing.”