LGBT Romance

Review of Detour by Reesa Herberth and Michelle Moore

May 14, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Detour follows 18-year-old Ethan who embarks on a road trip shortly after his graduation. We learn that this was a trip Ethan had originally planned on taking with his boyfriend and love of his life Scott, who was murdered at school by a shooter. Ethan’s not really sure why he’s taking the trip though we do know that he’s still reeling from the loss of Scott so perhaps he’s hoping the trip will help him to figure out who he is without his boyfriend. It’s also worth mentioning that Ethan is suffering from a severe case of survivor’s guilt.

So it’s dark, the weather is bad, and Ethan almost runs over a hitchhiker. Despite his family’s repeated warnings of never picking up hitchhikers, Ethan offers the hitchhiker a ride. We learn that his name is Nick and that he also has his own demons he’s running away from. He has just left one of those “pray away the gay” type of camps called Camp Cornerstone and is basically homeless and broke. Funny, this is the second book right in a row that I’ve read which revolved around these types of compounds, a trope that I typically avoid.

Not only that, we learn that prior to Nick’s “enrollment” at Camp Cornerstone, he was in an abusive relationship with a controlling, stalkerish, and a rather creepy man named Kyle. That being said, Nick is the much more mistrusting and bitter of the two, given that he’s been betrayed by every important person in his life. It’s additionally worth mentioning that Nick has also experienced the death of someone close to him, which adds to the emotional turmoil he’s experiencing

So after having faith that neither of them is going to kill the other in their sleep (the topic of “stranger danger” comes up several times during the story), they decide to embark on Ethan’s road trip together. So basically, we have two characters who have gone through horrific events and who are basically broken — they’re both confused, hurt and trying to find themselves in a world that up to this point, has not proven to be overly kind.

WHAT I LIKED

I really enjoyed the dynamics between these two vivid and lovable characters. Though they were both hurting and perhaps a bit mistrustful, they both opened up to each other and throughout the trip, treated each other with kindness and respect — though it did take Nick somewhat longer to open up which isn’t surprising given that he’d been let down by everyone in his life up to this point.

But it was lovely to see the healing that took place with the both of them as they each helped the other work through the terrible events of their past and explored their grief together. I also really loved Ethan’s tender kindheartedness towards Nick, which I felt showed a lot of strength as a character.

There was a lot of enjoyable banter between the two of them, and both Ethan and Nick had a wonderful sense of humor which made me chuckle out loud on more than one occasion.

I also loved the slow burn romance aspect of this story, which I have to admit is one of my favorite tropes. I loved how the relationship between these two broken characters slowly developed over the trip, resulting not only in the blossoming of a new love but also in much-needed healing for the both of them. In fact, I felt that the entire story wasn’t at all rushed and unfolded at just the right pace. The author did a nice job at showing the relationship progress between Ethan and Nick.

I’m also a huge fan of road trip stories, and this one was no exception. It was fun experiencing through our characters all the zany and kitschy places they visited (Titanic museum and hotel, anyone?) and the adventures they had along the way.

But what especially worked for me in the story was the healing and growth these two characters experienced as we moved throughout the book. As their backstory unfolded and they confided more and more in each other, they both underwent several realizations and revelations that helped them grow as characters. Thus, they were able to overcome the adversity that had them both nearly paralyzed before they met.

In this way, Detour is about two lost souls finding themselves and not allowing their circumstances to prevent them from evolving into the people they’re meant to be.

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE

Though I enjoyed the snappy banter between the two characters, there were a few times when I felt that it went on and on a bit too long. I did catch myself thinking on a few occasions that the non-stop snark was getting a bit tiring — maybe even grating on my nerves a bit – and felt that the story could have done with a little less of it.

FINAL VERDICT

I ended up loving this book. In the midst of darkness and turmoil, there is fun and humor, and I found myself laughing out loud several times throughout the story at the witty dialog that Detour throws at the reader. Though it will break your heart in places, it is also sweet and playful in others.

The writing is solid and clear, and the touching backstory helped us to know and understand each character’s motivation. I also felt that the characters themselves are meticulously developed, and as such, the reader truly feels the depth of their hurt and guilt and their past unfolds.

Detour is a powerful and revelatory coming-of-age novel of two boys trying to overcome their pasts, so in this way, it’s heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. The main charm of this book is in it’s plain and simple relatability. Though we may not all have gone through the exact things as Ethan and Nick, the majority of us have at some point experienced heartbreak, grief or difficult circumstances that have kept us stuck.

All in all, Detour is a lovely sweet romance between two boys who, in working through their past demons, come out stronger on the other side and I loved it. I’d give this book 4 1/2 stars.

You can check out the book here on Amazon

Review of Out of Bounds by A.R. Barley

February 3, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

I just finished a very sweet gay romance entitled Out of Bounds by A.R. Barley, a completely new author to me. The was a feel-good story with likable main characters. The blurb is as follows:

Beaten and heartbroken, Jesse Cole is placed in a new dorm room after his last roommate attacked him. Just wanting to be left alone to heal in peace, he’s shocked when tall, dark and dangerous-looking Nick Moretti walks in.

Nick doesn’t have time to tiptoe around his new roommate—he’s too busy working in order to pay for school. But something about Jesse brings out his protective instincts. As their cautious friendship grows and becomes loaded with sexual tension, he wants to make Jesse comfortable.

Enter the perfect plan: a line of tape down the center of the room. Boundaries established.

But as innocent movie nights become hours-long temptation marathons, and whispered chats from across the room delve into straight-up dirty territory, crossing the line has never been so satisfying.

Jesse is Broken

It’s the middle of the semester, and Jesse is reassigned in a new college dorm room in the senior dorm even though he’s only a sophomore. He’s what one would call “broken” after having gone through a vicious homophobic attack at the hands of his roommate — someone he trusted — which resulted in a visit to the ER. As the story progresses, we learn that Jesse had misread the signals his former roommate was giving him (or did he?) and when Jesse leaned in to kiss him, the roommate turned on Jesse with his fists, beating him pretty badly. Luckily, we don’t see the violence first hand – we only hear it from Jesse’s mouth as the story progresses. Oh, and by the way, Jesse is a virgin; that disastrous kiss is the closest he’s come to sex with anyone.

Enter Nick

It’s pretty apparent that Jesse is suffering from PTSD, and it doesn’t help matters that his new roommate, Nick, is built, handsome and well over 6 feet tall – the kind of person who could break Jess in half if he so chose. Nick also works as a bouncer at a local pub and because of unfortunate events in his past, thinks of himself as a “thug”. But once we move past his dangerous-looking exterior, we see that Nick is actually a very sweet man who goes out of his way to make Jesse feel safe.

In the beginning, practically any movement Nick makes causes Jesse to flinch. So in order to make Jesse feel safe in the room and less skittish around him, Nick puts a line of tape down the middle of the room which neither of them can cross. Nick promises he’ll never go into Jesse’s space nor is Jesse to go into Nick’s. In other words, no going “out of bounds”, hence the title of the book.

But there’s something about Jesse…

Not only does Jesse bring out Nick’s protective instincts, but soon Nick finds himself thinking about Jesse in ways that surprise him, given that he claims he not into “twinks”. Soon he finds himself daydreaming about kissing Jesse – and more. But Nick doesn’t act on his feelings, fearful of doing anything that could jeopardize the progress Jesse’s made. Finally, they both figure out that there’s a mutual attraction between them, but even then, Nick still respects the boundary, fearful of doing anything that could end in disaster

And they take things slow

Nick is the perfect gentleman and moves slowly — perhaps a bit too slowly, once Jesse’s realizes his own feelings for Nick. The romance between the two of them is slow and tender, starting out with pizza and movie nights (but no touching!), working their way to holding hands when they’re out in public. It’s lovely to watch these two as their friendship slowly evolves into love. This is definitely a slow-burner, as they build up trust between them and slowly get to know one another.

The boundary gets pushed

Of course, the boundary is eventually going to get pushed; otherwise, we wouldn’t have much of a tale, now would we? Without giving too much away, I will say that this book has a HEA – an excellent friends- to-lovers ending as they both learn to let go of the past.

The Verdict

Out of Bounds is a heartfelt yet sexy friends-to-lovers story about two guys with a troubled past finding one another. Both characters were charming and sweet, and I loved watching Nick and Jesse interact as their feelings for each other deepened. I found both characters realistic and extremely likable. What especially worked for me was the slow build-up between Nick and Jesse as their evolving friendship moved toward a deeper connection. I also liked that the angst in the novel was kept to a minimum (I’m not much for overly angsty stories and tend to shy away from them as a rule).

Though this story dealt with some heavy issues such as assault, homophobia, lack of self-confidence and fear of rejection, the story didn’t feel overly heavy or depressing. What the author did end up giving us was a lovely feel-good story about friendship, loyalty, love, pride, and happiness — a story about falling in love and discovering who you are really are during the process. I definitely plan on reading more by this author. Recommended!

You can check out Out of Bounds HERE

Review of Spell Bound by Jacob Flores

January 26, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

A while ago, I purchased a series of books entitled “The Warlock Brothers of Havenbridge” by Jacob Z. Flores and I ended up forgetting all about them until recently when I was browsing through my “To Read” list on my Kindle. For some reason, I’d purchased the entire four-book series at once, something I typically don’t do unless I’ve read at least one of the books in the series. But I must have been encouraged by positive reviews to get them all at once.

The Blackmoors

Anyway, I finally started the series with the first book, “Spell Bound”, a young adult (rated R) paranormal story. The main character is Mason Blackmore, a high school tough guy and one of three warlock brothers (their dad is a warlock as well). While Mason’s father and brothers are powerful warlocks, Mason’s active power has yet to surface, so his spells never turn out quite the way he intended, leading him to feel that he is a disappointment to his family.

The Blackmoors along with two other families: a family of witches who use white magic and a family of wizards who use gray magic are charged with protecting the source of all magic in the world call “The Gate”. Mason’s family uses black magic, though it’s not the type of “evil” magic we see with Voldemort on Harry Potter; instead, a warlock’s black magic is dark, powerful and sometimes selfish.

The Murder and The Stranger

The story kicks off with a dead body showing up on the football field at Mason’s high school. At the same time, Mason encounters a new kid at school: cocky, self-confident Drake Carpenter, who immediately rubs Mason the wrong way.

Drake appears to dislike Mason as well, and Mason can’t help but wonder whether Drake’s appearance has anything to do with the dead girl found at school. He suspects that Drake may be a magical being of some kind and sure enough, Mason later encounters Drake out in the woods running and jumping in a somewhat non-human manner. Mason assumes the new kid is a shifter.

Mason & Drake

Thus far, Mason and Drake appear to have an intense dislike for each other, but that seems to change after Mason saves Drake’s life in the town square. Though our young warlock tells himself that he dislikes the cocky Drake, he also can’t deny his attraction to him.

The two eventually get together, finally acknowledging their mutual attraction and overcome their initial misunderstanding of one another. It also appears to be no coincidence that right after Drake showed up on Mason’s life, Mason was able to tap into his active power.

But it’s not going to be an easy road for either of them.

Danger, Danger!

Another murder leads to the appearance of The Conclave — a council of mysterious, hooded and extremely powerful warlocks, witches, and wizards who typically only show up in dire circumstances. Their strange behavior concerns the magical families, and instead of helping with the danger, the Conclave seems to be ignoring it.

Things become more dangerous for the Mason and Drake in the coming days, leading to a nearly lethal battle with a powerful foe, which threatens the existence of all three magical families. At the end of the book, the battle may be won, but not the war. We distinctly get the feeling that there’s more danger ahead. But for now, there is a rest from strife and a “happy for now” ending.

Verdict

Though Mason initially comes across as a surly teen, his overly tough exterior melts once Drake comes into the picture and he transforms into a likable, complex character. This well-told gripping story contained elements of mystery, romance, danger, suspense, young love, grief and magic with excellent plot and character development. I loved the chemistry and innocence between Mason and Drake and enjoyed seeing both of their characters grow. The romance in the story wasn’t rushed but proceeded slowly and cautiously.

I look forward to reading more about the warlock brothers and look forward to the next book in the series. Recommended!

You can check out Spell Bound HERE

Review of A Boy and His Dragon

January 25, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

“Within this story, it’s clear that the dragon is the weak one. He is completely at the mercy of the boy, even when the boy is depicted in the story as his servant.” ~ Dr. Philbert Jones

The World

I’ve read many shifter books over the years. I’ve also read many books about dragons. But this is the first dragon shifter book that I’ve read and found it to be not only original but also very well done. In the world where this book takes place, all of the magical creatures (called “Beings” in the book) have recently come out of the closet: Fairies, Elves, Werewolves, Trolls, and Dragons.

The Interview

The book starts out with a job interview – young research assistant Arthur MacArthur is interviewing for a job working for a Dragon-shifter, Dr. Philbert Jones (“but please, call me Bertie”). Dr. Jones greets Alex while in his dragon form and Alex, who’s more than a little freaked out by the enormous dragon in front of him, fears that Dr. Jones is going to eat him. But of course, the dragon doesn’t eat him (which would have made for a very short story).

A Sexy Dragon?

Once back in his human form, we learn that Bertie, our dragon-shifter, is a brilliant (and sexy!) historian in the process of writing a book about the now extinct Red Dragon and he’s in need of someone to assist him in organizing his research and his books. He hires Arthur on the spot and Arthur can’t deny the strong attraction he feels for his new boss.

As the days progress, Arthur tries to make sense out of his feelings for his boss. It sometimes seems that Bertie is flirting with him – or is it just Arthur’s imagination? Arthur can’t be sure. But he vows to deny his feelings/attraction for Bertie and keep his relationship with his boss strictly professional, which turns out to be not at easy thing to do.

Burning for the Dragon

This is definitely a sensual, slow burn romance as the two characters slowly get to know each other and grow closer as the book progresses No insta-love here! The interaction and the slow build between the two of them is sweet and romantic and left me feeling as though I really knew them by the end of the book. I really loved the dynamic and the chemistry between the two characters.

One thing I especially liked about this book was that there wasn’t a sex scene every ten pages like you see in so many romance novels. In fact, we have to wait until nearly the end of the book until these two finally get together in a lovely, sensual scene — but it’s definitely worth the wait.

The Verdict

This sweet and playful story is not only about love, but also about the true meaning of treasure. It’s a story with plenty of heart, humor, and self-discovery. I was pleased to learn that this book is part of a series entitled “Beings in Love” and I definitely plan on reading more books in this series. Recommended!

Review of The Ghost and Mr. Moore

January 8, 2018 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

When I was a kid, I fell in love with an old television movie (and the subsequent television series) entitled “The Ghost and Mrs. Muir” about a woman who purchases an old house that is haunted by the ghost of a Sea Captain. So I was delighted when I recently stumbled across the book entitled “The Ghost and Mr. Moore” by Ryan Field — a modern tongue-in-cheek gay retelling of the original movie. Mr. Field has written several other books in a similar vein (parodies of popular films), and I’ve enjoyed several of them so I thought I’d check this one out.

Famous child actor Dexter Moore moves into an old house in Provincetown along with his daughter and housekeeper. The house was once owned by a handsome sea captain (Captain Lang, who according to Dexter, resembles Hugh Jackman) and according to local rumor, the house is haunted. Sure enough, strange things begin happening shortly after they move in: cupboard doors open by themselves, strange breezes pop up out of nowhere in the house and the sound of laughter echoes through the rooms when there’s nobody around.

The ghost eventually makes an appearance and in no time at all, the ghostly Captain Lang and Mr. Moore have sex – lots of sex. Some might say, too much sex. But still, there is an interesting storyline, especially once a camera crew begins following Mr. Moore and his family around the house for a reality show. To make things even more interesting, Mr. Moore’s ex shows up and tries to win him back — which doesn’t sit too well with the jealous captain.

Like the original movie, Mr. Moore and Captain Lang sit down and write several books together about Captain Lang’s wild adventures at sea. But at the end of the day, the two need to think about the reality of their relationship and the feasibility of a human with a ghost lover.

I definitely enjoyed this light-hearted, low-angst story with fun characters and a storyline (with several subplots) that held my interest. The Ghost and Mr. Moore is a story with lots of heart and may even bring a tear to your eye from time to time. If you’re a fan of the original Ghost and Mrs. Muir (or ghost stories in general) and don’t mind more than a generous sprinkling of sex in your stories, then you may want to check out The Ghost and Mr. Moore. Mr. Field did an excellent job of this retelling of an old favorite and as usual, did not disappoint.

You can check out the Ghost and Mr. Moore HERE

Review of One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva

November 18, 2014 by Roger Hyttinen 2 Comments

This month, my Goodread’s book club featured book of the month was a delightful story entitled One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva and I found it to be not only a refreshing tale of young romance, but so much more.

The blurb is as follows:

Alek Khederian should have guessed something was wrong when his parents took him to a restaurant. Everyone knows that Armenians never eat out. Why bother, when their home cooking is far superior to anything “these Americans” could come up with? Between bouts of interrogating the waitress and criticizing the menu, Alek’s parents announce that he’ll be attending summer school in order to bring up his grades. Alek is sure this experience will be the perfect hellish end to his hellish freshmen year of high school. He never could’ve predicted that he’d meet someone like Ethan.

Ethan is everything Alek wishes he were: confident, free-spirited, and irreverent. When Ethan gets Alek to cut school and go to a Rufus Wainwright concert in New York City’s Central Park, Alek embarks on his first adventure outside the confines of his suburban New Jersey existence. He can’t believe a guy this cool wants to be his friend. And before long, it seems like Ethan wants to be more than friends. Alek has never thought about having a boyfriend—he’s barely ever had a girlfriend—but maybe it’s time to think again. Michael Barakiva’s One Man Guy is a romantic, moving, laugh-out-loud-funny story about what happens when one person cracks open your world and helps you see everything—and, most of all, yourself–like you never have before.

Thinking on how I would classify this beautiful story, I’d probably say it was along the lines of a young adult gay romanic comedy, for there are more than one scenes that made me laugh out loud. Each page of this novel made me want more and beckoned me to keep reading. I was in fact surprised at how quickly I tore through this book, anxiously awaiting to see how the tender new relationship between Alec and Ethan would develop.

Speaking of develop, the author gives us extremely well-developed main characters and by the end of the novel, I felt as though I were saying goodbye to old friends. These vivid, well-drawn characters come to life on the pages of this book and stay with you well after the book is finished. The supporting cast of colorful characters are also memorable and entertaining: Becky – Alek’s rollerblading, old-movie obsessed, say-it-the-way-it-is BFF is a welcome addition to the story, as was Alek’s fussy, nitpicking mother and his older brother Nik, the “dutiful son” who embarks on voyage of self-discovery himself.

I love a slow romance (rather than a “love and first sight, marry me now kind of romance) and One Man Guy didn’t disappoint. It was a delight to watch Alec’s journey of self-discovery, especially the witty manner in which he managed to overcome the roadblocks to his and Ethan’s relationship and I was relieved to see that the author kept the heavy angst to a bare minimum. I tend not to be a fan of angsty novels. It was also fun to see the orderly, by-the-book world of Alec turned upside down by this enigmatic new boy who came into his life.

Now that is not to say that this novel is simply a sweet little romance. While it is that, it is also more. It’s a study of two cultures coming together and the clashes that can sometimes result of that coming together. It’s about the hurdles of family drama, of embracing your heritage and accepting who you are while maintaining your connection to your roots. Moreover, it’s about the need to understand that sometimes, it’s okay to break the rules – just as long as you know when it’s NOT okay to break them.

While the book is geared toward young adults (high school age) I feel it’s a book that all ages can enjoy and I find this romantic and humorous coming of age tale to be a remarkable addition to the YA/LGBT genre. It’s a charming, captivating and entertaining tale with likable and memorable characters, with just the right amount of romance peppered throughout. What more could you ask of book?

Recommended!!

You can check out One Man Guy HERE