Waiting So Long by Kaenar Langford

  

Title: Waiting So Long
Author: Kaenar Langford
Age Groups: Mature Adults
Rating: 7.5
Couple: M/M

Synopsis: Growing up, Vayle’s best friend’s younger brother Daniel was a pain in the ass. When Daniel shows up on Vayle’s doorstep, expecting to stay with him for a few days, Vayle discovers the last twelve years have transformed Daniel from a gangly, awkward pain in the ass into a confident, smoking-hot stud.
Daniel’s only too happy to see Vayle again, but the prospect of being roommates with his first love has his stomach in knots…and his cock throbbing. This time around, Daniel’s determined to win Vayle over—even if it means getting down on his knees to beg properly.

Review: The book was cute. It starts out a little slow but the attraction is there immediately. You get a real sense of who the two characters are in this book. Yes, it is an erotica so there is A LOT of sex. TONS. At 111 pages, it borders on almost too much. But there is a difference with every scene that makes it really easy to not get bored with it. The characters are likable. I have no problem with them but they felt a little... flat.The younger one you know almost nothing about except that he is the younger brother and had a very serious infatuation with the other character at a young age. The older character has a little bit more depth with his ex that left him and he was just trying to stay busy while his broken heart healed. That was really sweet. I got it. I connected. But that didn't come until the last few pages. And all in about 5 pages. It was just a lot to take in with such a little amount of page numbers.
There was also no outside plot. This was an entirely character driven story and one that was well done. The main conflict is figuring out how this relationship will work. There was an epilogue. It showed that they were still together and were still very much in love. It was sweet. Not really an insight on how they were making it work, but with it being so touching that almost didn't matter.
In summation, it was cute. It made a tug at your heart strings. That's about it.

Cautions: Very graphic sex.  And a lot of it.  A ton.

HEA: Yea, I guess.  Things are still a little sad for them at the ending but they seem like they are getting through it.

Perfect Score by Susan Roebuck

 

Title: Perfect Score
Author: Susan Roebuck
Age Group: Mature Teens to Adults
Rating: 7
Couple: M/M

Synopsis: Alex and Sam are opposites. Alex has money while Sam barely understands the concept. Alex meets Sam while trying to reconcile two sides of his life, his music and what his family wants for him. Once he meets Sam, all he can think about is spending more and more time with him. While getting to know Sam, you figure out Sam has not had the easiest life: abuse and homelessness are just part of the baggage that Sam carries. After meeting, they attempt to try and take a little time for themselves but things keep getting in the way.

Review: Through most of this book I was just chugging along. The type of writing style was stream of thought. Which definitely fit well for this book, but I had a hard time following sometimes. There was a weird little back plot of an uncle taking advantage of the small town and trying to get Sam to take the fall. It was weird. Now, with that being said- the ending was so worth it. When they finally got together and had their little heart to heart I turned to mush. It was heartbreaking too- you'll see why- but I was super excited about the ending. Then the epilogue came. While the epilogue was told by a completely different character that I did NOT like, it was nice to be on the outside, looking in. It was adorable. The things they had gone through to be together and the things they had to keep hidden (this was the sixties after all) they managed to make a life and to have hopes on improving that life. I may not have been a fan of the writing style, the back plot was nothing to note, and some of the characters made me want to scream, but the way the heartbreak and resolution was written was amazing. I am glad I read the book just for that.

Cautions: None really.  Though it deals with a homosexual relationship there is no sex int he book and very little contact.

HEA: Yes, there is.  It is not until the epilogue and you see how their life was together and how they are fixing it because they are tired of being something they are not. It is adorable and by far my favorite part of the book.

Cheating Chance by James Buchanan

Title: Cheating Chance
Author: James Buchanan
Series: Taking the Odds #1

Age Group:  Mature adults
Rating: 8
Couple: M/M

Synopsis: Nick meets Brandon at a goth convention and sparks fly.  After keeping in contact, Brandon heads out to stay a weekend with Nick so they can have a few more days together.  When someone is murdered at the club they were at, things may become too complicated for this little relationship to make it.  They will need to learn to trust that the other person will be there when everything is said and done.

Review: The story was really adorable.  Nick was a great character to get to know and Brandon was so mixed up on something that it made you want to hug him to make it better.  The couple's interaction with each other made for enough tension to keep the story interesting but there was very little doubt about how they felt about each other. For the most part, throughout the story Brandon is a little standoffish and seems to not have as much invested into this relationship with Nick.  But at the end, when Brandon needs to get Nick out of trouble, there is no amount of pleading or negotiating that is too much.  This type of character development is SO nice to see.  Even if some other things are a little over the top.  Nick driving a hearse and Brandon giving in so easily in the ropes scene.  Overall though, it makes for a nice getaway from every day life.  It was serious, funny, hot and heartwarming all at the same time.  Well done.

Cautions: There is graphic sex.  Quite a bit of it.  Don't read it if this is not your thing or if two men make you uncomfortable.

Series: The first in a series of three.  I have not read the others but I am anxious to.

HEA: There is more of a happy for now.  They are only able to have a long distance relationship and Brandon is still not out by the end of the book.  I am hoping this stuff is resolved in the continuing books.

Time to Do by Kim Dare

  

Title: Time to Do
Author: Kim Dare
Series: Book #3 Perfect Timing (Each book is a stand alone)
Age Group: Mature Adults
Rating: 8
Couple: M/M



WHOLE ENTRY RIDDLED WITH SPOILERS.  BEWARE.

Synopsis: Best friends are attempting to clean their dorm room when Brennan stumbles across a list of things To Do Rigby has made.  Something on the list To Do is have sex with the man.  While Brennan is secretly in love with Rigby, he is shocked that Rigby has never mentioned this to him.  After confronting Rigby on the list, the friends decide that they must cross the things off the list in order to get things back to the way they were.  Things go haywire.  People get hurt.  True feelings are revealed. 

Review: I enjoyed the concept of the book in all honesty.  That's what got me to read it.  However, making it come to life was a little bit of a stretch for me. Yes, I got that Brennan always loved Rigby.  I get that Rigby has always wanted to make sure Brennan is ok.  But going to far as to have sex with him to make sure your friendship stays alive was something I don't think the author was able to accurately portray. 

All in all, this book is made up of great moments.  Finding the list.  Their first legit sexual encounter.  Brennan getting mad and telling Rigby exactly what he was thinking.  Their mutual confessions of love at the end.  These were all great moments with quite a few others in it that made it particularly enjoyable. 

Cautions: There is manlove in this book.  A lot of it.  If this is your thing, great! If not, stay away.

Series: As I mentioned above this is part of the Perfect Timing series.  Kim Dare has said that there will be 12 in all.  Each of the books seem to be a stand alone.  There is no reason to read them all in order or even all of them as each can be purchased separately.  Not all are M/M either.  There is a few M/F if that is more your thing.  I definitely reccommend this author if you love sexual encounters in your stories, be is heterosexual or homosexual.

HEA: I am almost satisfied with the way the author ended the book.  Mutual declarations of love were announced and there was talk of staying together forever.  But the list was never put away.  Rigby starts making a new list and says that if they ever run out of things to do on the list they would re evaluate their relationship.  After Brennan wants to know how long Rigby thinks that will take, Rigby says forever as he intends to keep adding to that list iondefinitely.  Ok.  Kinda cute.  But I just would have been happy for forever and left it at that.  Somehow.  The characters made it difficult to have that ending, so I am sure the author was only able to coax this out of them.  But I dunno.

Maybe the author was aware of this.  Recently she published a newsletter on her site that had an update on these characters.  After graduating they are still together and very much in love.  though Brennan still has the same doubts he had.  Rigby seems to know this and tells him reassuring things that seem to make Brennan happy and confident in their relationship. Which in turn makes Rigby happy.  I think something like this was what I was hoping for at the end of the book.