LGBT Romance

Review of Liam Davis and The Raven by Anyta Sunday

September 7, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Anyta Sunday is one of those authors that I get all gushy over. In fact, in the M/M genre, she’s an insta-buy author for me.

Liam Davis and The Raven is a New Adult M/M Romance that follows Liam Davis, a serious student journalist writing a political column for the campus magazine called The Scribe. His goal is to eventually to gain apprenticeship at his father’s firm, so his life is almost totally focused on his career in journalism. Much to his horror, the editor of The Scribe forces him to relinquish his politics page and reassigns him to The Party Page. Now, this is problematic because not only does it jeopardize his chance of getting into his father’s prestigious newspaper company, but being an extremely serious non-nonsense and no drama type of guy with no friends to speak of, he basically has no idea how to party much less write about it.

But one night when leaving the party, a person dressed as Freddy Krueger comes stalking out of the shadows and attacks him. Luckily the Raven, who is the campus vigilante comes to save the day. Now what’s interesting, is that this vigilante has been getting hate mail sent to Scribe’s opinions page and now Liam takes it upon himself to find out who the Raven is so that he can warn him of the potential danger.

Along the way, due to his Raven research and his new party-going agenda, he ends up making some friends – and someone who may turn into much more than a mere friend. So in this way, this book is a sexual self-discovery tale in which Liam begins to question his own sexuality though he hasn’t given it too much thought.

What I find interesting about Liam, is that he is blunt, honest to a fault, insensitive, standoffish, a tad detached and clinical even – with absolutely no social skills whatsoever but with a keen, critical eye for observation. Though it took me a bit to warm up to Liam — and I really did — he ended up being quite an endearing characters, and I loved his deadpan humor. It was also lovely to watch his sexual awakening as he began to have deep feelings for a someone — in this case a boy — for the first time ever. The entire book is told from Liam’s POV which made the story all the more fun.

Along the way, he amasses several delightful and lovable characters as friends: there’s the dreamy Quinn who takes Liam under his wing and even agrees to become his roommate, the sexy and hysterically funny Hunter who is disabled and in a wheelchair following a brutal gay bashing though that certainly doesn’t stop him from actively pursuing his latest crush, and then there’s Shannon, Hunter’s overprotective sister.

So in this book, Liam not only discovers love for the first time but also true friendship and devotion within friendship.

True to Ms. Sunday’s form, there is a romance in this story, but of course, it is an extremely slow burn one, my favorite trope, to be truthful. I loved watching Liam’s evolution from a clinical social misfit to a passionate lover though he before declaring that he was gay felt that he needed to “gather data before drawing a conclusion.”.

But the romance isn’t the only theme to the story: there is a mystery to be solved. Who is the Raven and why is someone out to get him? And who is the hideous being behind all of the recent attacks on campus?

All in all, I loved this humorous, uplifting and entertaining book with its quirky, adorable characters and a compelling plot. And the romance was super-sweet. So in my opinion, Anyta Sunday hit another home run for me. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

You can purchase/check out Liam Davis and the Raven HERE

Review of Spokes by P.D. Singer

August 30, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Spokes by P.D. Singer cover image Spokes follows Christopher Nye, a part-time writer for Cyclo World who works in a bike shop and in his spare time loves to ride his bike throughout the hills of Colorado with his best friend, Stu.

His pro cycling idol is Luca Biondi who has, along with his team, recently started training in Colorado. Meeting briefly at the bike shop and later riding out on the road, Luca and Chris form a friendship that quickly grows into a relationship but one that must be kept secret. Luca can’t afford for anyone either on his team or in the cycling world to know he is gay, mainly due to concerns about negative reactions from the cycling world as well as his sponsors. He is also still in the closet from his parents. I liked the fact that Christopher knew all of this going into the relationship and never made demands. I also found it interested how Christopher’s writing became one of the major plot points throughout the novel.

This was quite an emotionally hard-hitting book as, given that cycling is a dangerous sport, there are a couple of tragedies in the story that wrench at your heart.

I was definitely on the edge of my seat during several scenes, especially when watching the two of them navigate some challenging and intense events without being able to be emotionally open with each other in public.

Now given that this is a gay romance book, there was this aspect to it as well, which I felt was really well done. Luca and Chris were sweet together, and the romance between them developed at a nice pace and in an entirely plausible way. And though there were a couple of rather steamy scenes, they did not overpower the plot or distract from the story.

There are a lot of biking details throughout the book that I appreciated as I used to be quite an avid cyclist in my younger days and used to follow the Tour de France quite closely.

Now, this wasn’t a story about two fellows who happened to be cyclists; rather, they both lived and breathed cycling, and the story was as much about cycling as it was about the love life of these two individuals.

I swear every scene in the book had something to do with cycling. That being said, I found the well-researched depth of details in regards to the cycling world details refreshing and people who aren’t familiar with the sport will no doubt learn quite a bit from this story.

All in all, a compelling story from the world of professional cycling with compelling, complicated characters, vivid scenes of Colorado and Italy all peppered with a super sweet romance. It was quite a journey that Chris and Luca took, and I’m glad I went on it with them. I give this book 4 stars.

Click here to check out Spokes at Amazon.

The Sumage Solution by G.L. Carriger

August 15, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

I won this book in a Goodreads Drawing so first off, a big thank you to Ms. Carriger for providing me a copy of this book. Of course, the reason I entered into the drawing was that the blurb intrigued me and I’m glad I got a chance to read it.

Introducing Max

The Sumage Solution is an urban fantasy/LGBT romance that follows two characters: Max and Bryan AKA Biff and takes place in the San Francisco Bay Area. Max is a gay and hysterically snarky, foul-mouthed, somewhat grumpy sumage, which is a mage who can’t actually do any magic and is stuck in a crappy government job as a bureaucrat – basically doing paper-pushing drudge work pushing papers.

Max works at DURPS which is the supernatural equivalent of the DMV. I can’t remember what the acronym stands for but any supernatural being who comes into town has to register at and be approved by the DURPS. One of Max’s paper-pushing duties there is to process incoming supernaturals.

Enter the Werewolf

So enter Bryan — called Biff by his pack – who is an extraordinarily well-muscled and gruff beta werewolf with a heart of gold. But he’s also in the closet and is not even out to his pack.

So it’s worth mentioning that typically, werewolves can’t stand being around mages because mages smell horrible to them – they have kind of a chemical stench to them. What’s interesting is that Max actually smells good to Bryan. Bryan also finds the mage to be exceptionally good-looking and there’s a good chance that the hunky werewolf might be willing to leave the closet if he can only get the mage to go on a date.

Bryan/Biff is really a sweetheart of a character, and you can’t help but love him as the story progresses, especially once we figure out that he has somewhat of a White Knight complex – extremely protective of everyone in his life and willing to swoop into the rescue at a moment’s notice.

He basically fits as the caretaker archetype. Max, on the other hand, takes snark to a whole new level but he is laugh out loud funny. He becomes all the more endearing when we learn that a lot of his grumpy and snarky exteriors is basically a façade to hide the fact that he’s been very hurt in the past and as such, has deep relationship issues. Oh, and Daddy issues as well.

But There’s Trouble

Needless to say, Max and Bryan end up getting together, but it’s not smooth sailing for them. Max has many hangups that he has to get past and then there’s the whole reaction of Max’s pack who didn’t even know he was gay, much less dating a mage.

There’s also a mystery to solve surrounding Max’s dead father, his childhood homestead which is protected by strong magic and a powerful and dangerous codex — and ancient manuscript in book form that resides is Max’s father’s house.

Which is probably why there’s a steady stream of mages trying to get past the house’s magical barriers.

Impressive World-building

I really loved the world that the author has created here, giving us a modern day San Francisco but populated by all manner of shifters, magicians, and the enigmatic Kitsune, which are foxes who appear in Japanese folklore. There’s also the riveting history of the mages and magicians and the one event that lead to a whole new world and the death of thousands.

Heat Warning!

Now this being a gay romance, there is sex in this book — a lot of it actually. But the majority of the sex scenes were relevant to the plot, and we learned a lot more about the characters from these scenes.

But it is quite steamy. So if you prefer your novels squeaky clean, then you might want to pass on this one.

My Verdict

Overall, the Sumage Solution was a fun, humorous madcap romp that was charming and intriguing, with lovable, quirky characters. This light-hearted character-driven story was a joy to read, especially with all of the witty banter between our two main characters. The author does snark and sass exceptionally well, and this book had me laughing out loud on several occasions.

This book also has quite a diverse, entertaining and lovable cast of secondary characters, many of them leaning towards the “sassy” side as well. I adored Bryan’s pack and loved how protective and loyal they are to each other. They were definitely a huge, messy and complicated family.

I do believe this is going to be a series and if so I’ll for sure be reading the next one. I loved this little gem of a novel, and I give it: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

You can check out The Sumage Solution here at Amazon or at The Book Depository

Review of The Ghost of Buxton Manor by Jonathan Ferrara

August 8, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

100 Years of Boredom

The Ghost of Buxton Manor follows the ghost of 17-year-old Rupert Buxton who, for close to a century, has been tethered to his childhood home and living more or less a perpetual fog. He pretty much lingers in limbo, passing his time reading and desperately — and unsuccessfully — trying to remember his former life. You see, he has no idea how he died or why he’s stuck at Buxton Manor. Hell, he doesn’t even remember his family. At the beginning of the novel, you really got a feeling for the specter’s crippling loneliness.

Strange Visitors Arrive

But Rupert’s life — or should I say afterlife — is drastically about to change.

First, there is the unexpected visit by Dr. Wyman, a ghostly therapist who offers his services to Rupert, promising to help Rupert to remember his past. But Wyman isn’t Rupert’s only visitor. There is also the strange ghostly trio of Bloody Mary, the Weeping Bride, and the Headless Horseboy who show up on Rupert’s doorstep also claiming to want to help Rupert.

Buxton Manor Gets Sold…and There’s a Boy

The most significant change and challenge facing Rupert, however, is that Buxton Manor has been sold, marking the arrival of a new family moving into Rupert’s home: Caroline, George and their son, Aaron who I believe is around the same age as Rupert. Now Rupert feels an immediate and unexplainable connection to Aaron, and it seems that on some level, Aaron can sense Rupert as well.

Despite Dr. Wyman’s warnings to stay away, he’s unable to resist. Of course, Rupert eventually is able to reveal himself to Aaron, and the door to both of their worlds is blown wide open. Lots of angst, intrigue, and drama follow as Rupert begins to put together the pieces of his past and once they both discover Aaron’s essential role in that process. There’s a lot of talk of Rupert’s unfinished business, and it becomes clear pretty quickly that Aaron may be the key to that unfinished business

An Interesting Peter Pan Tie-In

What I found especially interesting about this story is that the characters are loosely based on actual historical figures, Rupert Buxton and Michael Davies (who is also a character in the book), and they were lovers, and both drowned together in 1921. Michael Davies, along with his brothers, he was the inspiration for J. M. Barrie’s characters Peter Pan, the Darling brothers, and the Lost Boys and the story of Peter Pan, in fact, plays a huge role in this book.

Verdict

This was a beautiful book that I absolutely loved, and I say this in all seriousness — I hated for it to end, I got so invested in these characters and cared about what happened to them. This book had ghosts, a necromancer, mystery, intrigue, lots of twists and turns, big surprises, murder and most of all, love.

You know, I read quite a few LGBT romances, but this was the best one that I’ve read in a long time. Though I found this a tender love story, it was a lot more, and it dealt with some very loaded issues such as grief, betrayal, regret and loss and the paralyzing emotional suffering that follows.

But without giving anything away, it’s also a story of hope and second chances. So though this novel does have a romantic lean to it, that is not the main point of the story. There was so much more to it than that. It was a fantastic story with endearing, carefully crafted characters and I loved Rupert and Aaron. They are both lovable, wholesome characters with strong, unique personalities and wonderful, tender chemistry between them.

It’s funny – I read this a couple of weeks ago, and it is still on my mind. I was totally mesmerized by The Ghost of Buxton Manor and continued to ruminate over the characters and story long after completing the story. Truly unforgettable. This book is just so, so, so….magical and it’s just the kind of story I adore — funny, heartfelt, ghostly and seriously freaking romantic. Plus there’s that whole soulmate thing going on.

Unfortunately, I don’t believe the author has written any other books. I do hope he does because he has a lovely talent from bringing a story and a story’s characters to life. Yeah, I gave this one 5 stars.

You can check out the book here on Amazon or at The Book Depository.

Review of Social Intercourse by Greg Howard

June 13, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

“If I would have known losing my virginity would be so nerve-racking, I would’ve stayed home and watched the Golden Girls marathon with my dad.” ~ Beckett Gaines

THE STORY

Social Intercourse is a romantic comedy that follows Beckett Gains, an out and proud gay teen living in a conservative town in South Carolina with his father. When his father begins dating the recently single (and supposedly lesbian) mom of former bully, Jaxon Parker, Beck is not amused. His father is emotionally fragile after Beckett’s mother left them and Beckett doesn’t want to see his father get hurt again. Jaxon (Jax) isn’t happy about the situation either and is willing to do whatever it takes to bring his two moms back together again.

Putting aside their past differences (and there is one serious one), the two boys form an unlikely alliance and concoct a plan to break up their parents. During their scheming, however, the boys begin to grow closer and the situation becomes even more complicated and confusing. And of course, nothing goes according to plan, leading to much drama and comic hijinks.

WHAT I LIKED

First off, this story was hilarious! This was a wild and fun romp whose witty and sarcastic lines had me laughing out loud nearly to the point of tears on more than one occasion. Beckett’s inner running commentary was especially humorous, and I liked him more and more with each page. The Golden Girls references were also a lot of fun. In the story, Beckett called his father “Rose,” the naive character on the Golden Girls whereas Beckett’s father called Beck “Dorothy,” the tough, more cynical character. The nicknames actually fit the characters quite nicely.

The story is told from the dual first-person point of view of Beckett and Jaxon, and it was fun seeing the world from each of their perspectives. I especially loved Beckett’s character – he was witty, sassy, irreverent, sarcastic, self-confident and absolutely lovable, and his snappy one-liners kept me laughing. I liked how he looked out for his dad and did whatever was necessary to ensure that his dad didn’t end up getting hurt. Speaking of relationships, I thought the positive portrayal of each boy’s relationship with his parents was sweet and refreshing.

I also enjoy Jax’s character. Though everybody thought of him as “The Great Jaxon Parker,” he was as insecure and unsure of himself as any of us, as he tried to find his place in the world. Not only that, he’s begun to question his sexuality and whether he is genuinely the hard-core heterosexual jock that everyone believes him to be.

So underneath his womanizing jock exterior, he was actually quite a likable character, and we see how one cannot tell what a person is really like from outward appearances.

What’s interesting, is that Jax and Beck’s rocky past brings up an important issue of how one should react when someone is being bullied. As we learned from this story, sometimes doing nothing when there’s abuse or bullying going on can cause even more harm than those who are actually doing the bullying. In this way, the story causes us to take a good hard look at our actions — or inactions — and how they can affect those around us.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

For me, there wasn’t too much to dislike about the story. My only real niggle was the familiar and often clichéd trope of the characters. For example, Beck was a choir-singing geeky gay kid, Jax was the super-hot star quarterback, JoJo was the extremely masculine lesbian, Tiffany, the “mean girl” cheerleader who is dating the football jock, and Shelby, the fat best friend. I would have preferred to see characters without the standard clichéd over-exaggerations.

I also didn’t care for the way that Beckett referred to Jax’s mother as “Big Titties” throughout the story, which really bothered me. From Beck’s inner monologue, it’s easy to see that he has a low opinion of her solely because of the fact she’s dating his dad. It would have been nice for Beckett to soften his view of her as the story progressed — perhaps give him the opportunity to get to know her a bit, which, unfortunately, never happened.

FINAL VERDICT

The couple niggles aside, I ended up loving this book! This was a fun, lighthearted and somewhat messy romance that brought a wonderful grin to my face during the final pages. Though this book was quite funny, it also dealt with some serious issues such as parental abandonment, bullying, bigotry, and divorce.

This was a quirky and poignant romance with plenty of humor and complex, well-developed characters. Nothing feels rushed in this story, so I enjoyed everything this enemies-to-lovers book had to offer. It was a truly captivating read that I didn’t want to end. I hope the author gifts us with a sequel to this story in the future because I’d love to see more of Jax, Beck, Shelby and all the other lovable secondary characters. Recommended!

You can check out Social Intercourse here at Amazon or at The Book Depository

Review of Fourteen Summers by Quinn Anderson

May 15, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

The Story

This story follows identical twins Aiden and Max, but they couldn’t be more different. Max is straight, and Aiden is gay. Max is the more outgoing of the two whereas Aiden is shyer and more introverted twin, often referred to as “Max’s brother.” But in spite of their differences, the Kingsman twins are pretty much inseparable. They even chose to not only go to the same university but also to room together while there.

One day while home for summer, they run into their childhood best friend Oliver, with whom they had lost touch and hadn’t seen in 10 years and who happened to be Aiden’s childhood crush. Imagine Aiden’s surprise when he not only learns that Oliver (who is now quite hot, by the way) is gay, but that he also had a childhood crush on Oliver. Needless to say, once these two reunite, sparks begin to fly, though it did take a bit for them to get together initially, given that they’re both introverts with neither of them daring to make the first move.

While all three of them were young, Oliver and the Kingsman twins were almost inseparable with a lot of precious memories shared between them. Max assumed now that the three of them were reunited, they’d inevitably pick up where they’d left off — as three good friends enjoying a summer together. But as Aiden and Oliver’s relationship moves from friendship to something deeper, Max feels hurt and excluded, not understanding how his brother could choose Oliver over him. And drama ensues.

What I liked

First thing I have to say was that I loved the cover! It was this that initially caught my attention and made me read the blurb so kudos to the cover designer.

The story itself was a sweet and tender romance, and I enjoyed the build between Aiden and Oliver. Though things did progress rather quickly, it’s not unbelievable given the history between them. It was an endearing story of two boys given a second chance at love, and I loved both Oliver and Aiden, in all their stumbles, blunders and flounders. Their awkwardness with each other made them all the more lovable.

What especially worked for me, was that this book stressed the importance of relationships between family and not only those of the romantic kind. That being said, this wasn’t only a story of two childhood friends falling in love, but it was also about the need to give ALL the relationships in our life equal importance, not just the romantic one. What’s interesting about this book is that it delved into several different types of relationships: friendship, romance, siblings and family units and it did so masterfully, in my opinion.

The situation in this book reminded me of how friendships often become tested when one of those involved begins dating outside of the friendship. The situation in this book is magnified given that the friendship that’s being tested is that of identical twin brothers who’ve spent their entire life with each other and each of whose world revolved around the other. I enjoyed seeing the both of them adjust as they began to figure out who are they apart from their twin.

Another thing that really worked for me was that the novel was told from each of the boy’s perspective. Though Aiden and Oliver, we experienced the exhilaration and excitement of the developing of a new romance whereas though Max’s point of view, we get the fear, uncertainty, and confusion he goes through when he feels as though he’s losing his brother. Via this device, the author did an excellent job of fleshing out each of these three characters and we as the reader could empathize equally with each of them.

I thought this was going to be a light and fluffy beach type of read but was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the story. And the ending was just perfect.

What I didn’t like

There were a few times during the story when the characters felt more like young high school students rather than college students. There were some parts in the book where I wanted to ask the Max and Aiden, “what, are you like 13?” So in this way, the maturity level at times didn’t seem to match the age of the characters.

To be honest, I felt that the co-dependent nature Max and Aiden’s relationship may have been a teeny-tiny bit over the top. I mean, I’m sure they dated other people…wouldn’t they have? I might have liked to have read a little more backstory on the boys’ dating life or learn whether they had friendships outside of their relationship with each other.

Final Verdict

I ended up loving this book! I found it humorous, light-hearted and an overall enjoyable read. And for the record, the book ends with a happily-ever-after, and there was one point near the end of the book where my eyes definitely became a bit moist.

I was totally drawn into Aiden, Max and Oliver’s story and couldn’t put it down once I started. It was funny and heartwarming with a tiny bit of angst and drama along the way. Fourteen Summers left me feeling happy for all of the main characters with a case of the warm fuzzys once I reached the end.

In Fourteen Summers, Quinn delivers a sweet romance filled with rich well-devloped characters, friends, fun, and family that will induce ear-to-ear grins (at least it did for me).

I received this book as an Advanced Reader Copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review so as of this writing, the book is not yet available. It is expected to be released on May 21, 2018, so be sure to check out Riptide Publishing or your favorite retailer at that time. A big thank you to Netgalley and Riptide for this opportunity.

You can check out Fourteen Summers here at Amazon or at The Book Depository.