Cover Me (Men of Smithfield, #3)

Oct 16, 2012 Guilty Pleasures rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: guiltypleasures-slick

Slick's review posted on Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews

4 Stars

I recently read and reviewed the first book in the Men of Smithfield series and knew that I’d continue to visit Smithfield as long as the books kept coming. This book especially intrigued me because Finn (Michael Finnegan) is a high school teacher at a prep school and he also happens to be gay. I’m always curious about books of this nature since one of my favorite high school teachers was gay at a time when it wasn’t accepted by societ...more Slick's review posted on Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews

4 Stars

I recently read and reviewed the first book in the Men of Smithfield series and knew that I’d continue to visit Smithfield as long as the books kept coming. This book especially intrigued me because Finn (Michael Finnegan) is a high school teacher at a prep school and he also happens to be gay. I’m always curious about books of this nature since one of my favorite high school teachers was gay at a time when it wasn’t accepted by society and as we found not at all by the school’s administration and school board. I’d like to think we’ve come a long way since the 70′s and in some respects we have, but books like this make me reminisce about those days and wish things would have been different for him and also for one of my best high school friends who was also gay.
I loved this book from the first chapter, Finn is a great character and the love he has for his job and the dedication to his students is more than admirable. He is a little impulsive but I think that comes from working with teenagers. He is without a doubt to trusting and way too forgiving.

Max Douglas is a former Marine and now runs a security company. He is tough, dominate, and emotionally wounded. From the way he treats Finn in the first chapter I wanted to hate him, I truly did, but we begin to see a different side of Max as the story progresses. We learn some about his past which explains why he reacts the way he does, and most of all we see his tough shell begin to crumble.

Following their first encounter, they don’t see each other for awhile but then a threat to a student in Finn’s school puts Max squarely back in Finn’s life and he’s unable to resist him. I won’t lie to you, these two have some very hot and steamy sex and it’s a while before it becomes evident it’s any more than that.

For a very short book, the plot was pretty well developed and honestly I was surprised by the ending. I’m usually pretty good and figuring out who the “bad guy” is but for once I had no clue which was kind of nice. Being set at a prep school, it was amusing to watch the interactions of the kids with each other and with Finn and Max. I also loved the email messages that were prevalent throughout the book. I think it really shows how email, texting, Twitter, and Facebook have become the new “norm” for communication. Men of Smithville: Max & Finn is a well rounded story with a great cast, an exciting plot, and a happily ever after we can all enjoy.

(less)

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Aug 14, 2012 Tiya Rosa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: m-m, asshole-mc

2.5 stars

I didn't want to rate an L.B. Gregg book a 2.5, but this just didn't work for me. It was still undeniably well written and there were no eye rolling or Kindle cursing involved, but a lot of how shit went down just didn't sit well with me.

First the mystery. There wasn't any. You get to figure out who was going to be the culprit even before you reach Chapter 3. He was practically wearing a 'disturbed and has a future in serial killing' sign around his neck.

The romance. It wasn't convinci...more

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May 30, 2010 Jimmy Hanson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, m-m

Finally! A "Men of Smithfield" novel with real emotion between the characters!! *dances happily*

Now, that that's out of the way ... Michael/Mikey/Finn [everyone has their own name for him - it's kind of funny:] is a charming character with just enough kick and snap to balance out his more subdued tendencies. Max comes off detached, separated, and yet there are hints here and there of who he really is. So by the time he [as HE stated:] was "not working" the startling change in personality isn't s...more

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Oct 20, 2009 Katie(babs) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Cover Me is the third book in LB Gregg’s Men of Smithfield series. I found the past two books by this author, Gobsmacked and Happy Endings, to be fun and light reads. Cover Me still has some light moments but LB has also written a great suspense mystery in between the pages. If you were a fan of LB’s other books, you will feel the same with Cover Me.

Michael Finnegan is a teacher at the Dalton Boarding School. Over the summer he tutors to make some extra money. He’s having a hard time with Kyle D...more Cover Me is the third book in LB Gregg’s Men of Smithfield series. I found the past two books by this author, Gobsmacked and Happy Endings, to be fun and light reads. Cover Me still has some light moments but LB has also written a great suspense mystery in between the pages. If you were a fan of LB’s other books, you will feel the same with Cover Me.

Michael Finnegan is a teacher at the Dalton Boarding School. Over the summer he tutors to make some extra money. He’s having a hard time with Kyle Douglas who needs to improve his SAT scores in order to get into college. Michael can handle a kid like Kyle, it’s just Kyle’s older brother he’s having issues with. Michael has it bad for Max Douglas, the handsome older security expert who comes across as all work and no play. He rubs Michael the wrong way, but on the other end he wouldn’t mine rubbing himself all over Max. These two men just don’t get along but that still doesn’t stop them from having hot mind blowing sex on the top of Max’s desk in his office.

Michael gets off on the whole “Master and Commander” vibe from Max and when Max bends him over his desk and pounds into him, it is the best sex he ever has. Unfortunately the afterglow ends when Max fires Michael because he thinks Michael has no discipline and is too unorthodox in his teaching. Michael essentially has been kicked to the curb and screwed over literately and figuratively. He also feels ashamed and hurt by the way Max reacted, as well as losing his head in such a way. At this point I did not have a high opinion of Max.

Months later when the school term has begun Michael and Max meet again. This time Max will be watching over a student at the school who needs protection because his father is a big time actor. Michael is less than thrilled because Max seems to insult Michael every chance he gets. But for the benefit of the students, they will act professional. Michael thinks it’s ridiculous that Max is so stiff and always plays by the rules. But then a few frightening situations occur where the student body and teachers may not be as safe as they think they are.

Cover Me is LB’s most daring book to date. She combines humor, unbridled passion and lust between the two main characters and a mystery with a stalker that will have you guessing until the last page. I had no clue who was responsible for some of the deranged acts (flying arrows are used as a weapon) and why. I give kudos for LB for keeping me, as a reader, on my toes.

The sex scenes are pretty spicy, especially the first sex act between Max and Michael. My reaction over the line, “he smelled of everything I loved best about men- that intoxicating mix of earth and musk and soap and piss and heat”, was laid on a bit too thick because I don’t find it a turn on as a Michael is giving Max a blow job where he finds the smell of piss to be an aphrodisiac. But, the later sex scenes between these two hit all the high points, especially because Max likes to snuggle. The talk of musty piss is no longer mentioned.

I really liked Michael’s point of view. His opinions and ideas really made me smile. Max comes across as a jerk. I felt Max was just using Michael for sex, where he could ignore Michael or put him down in the light of day, but at night come to him and all would be forgiven. It took me a long time to warm up to Max, but by the end, the way things evolved between these two men who are total opposites in every way, did make sense and it all worked out.

If you are looking for a different type of reading experience with your MM fiction, give Cover Me, as well as the rest of L.B. Gregg’s Men of Smithfield books, a try. (less)

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Oct 14, 2009 Desert Rose rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: m-m-read

This is the 3rd book in the Men Of Smithfield series.

I bought this book from Aspen Mountain Press as a ebook but be warned it's a Male/Male erotic thing :)

Michael Finnegan is hired to tutor Kyle Douglas in some of his studies during the summer.. But then he has and encounter with Kyle's brother, Maxwell that ended up with him firing Michael 'Finn'.

Devastated and hurt he goes back to his school job trying to forget what happened during the summer..

But fate insists on having their paths cross yet...more

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Oct 07, 2009 Erotic Horizon rated it 4 of 5 stars

4.25 Stars

When Michael “Finn” Finnegan is fired by security specialist Max Douglas under less than ideal circumstance, he had no idea that a few months later they would be sharing rooms in the same boys dorm.

Finn a drama teacher in a private prep school takes his job as seriously as any teacher would who happen to be responsibly for a bunch of boys. With little to break up their days Finn and the boys gets on like a house and fire, so when he finds out one evening that his nemesis Max Douglas w...more

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Feb 25, 2013 ttg rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: challenge-read, m-m, reviews

3.5 stars – This is part of Gregg’s Men of Smithfield series, but like the others, is a stand-alone story. This time focusing on Michael “Finn” Finnegan who teaches at a posh prep school in Smithfield and whose routine is upended when security expert Max comes to campus to guard a student from a stalker. Unfortunately for Finn’s case, Max was also a one-time fling from the summer before that had ended badly. So now he’s juggling his mixed feelings for seeing hot Max again along with the needs fo...more 3.5 stars – This is part of Gregg’s Men of Smithfield series, but like the others, is a stand-alone story. This time focusing on Michael “Finn” Finnegan who teaches at a posh prep school in Smithfield and whose routine is upended when security expert Max comes to campus to guard a student from a stalker. Unfortunately for Finn’s case, Max was also a one-time fling from the summer before that had ended badly. So now he’s juggling his mixed feelings for seeing hot Max again along with the needs for a dorm full of moody teenagers, a very cumbersome Halloween costume, the upcoming opening of the school’s musical, and the very real threat that someone dangerous is lurking about.

I’m a big fan of Gregg’s Romano and Albright mystery series, so was looking forward to checking out more from her. I thought this was a pretty good mystery, and she did a nice job of wrapping things up in a little over 100 pages. (I wasn’t left wanting for more.) The relationship vibe between the MCs is very similar to Romano and Albright, with one being a little more high-strung, and the other being a little more orderly and “take charge” so if you liked Caesar and Dan’s dynamic, you may dig this one as well.

The downside for me was that it took me awhile to get into the groove of the story, as we move along with Michael/Finn (who goes by different names, depending on who’s talking with him) from his hot yet ultimately humiliating tryst with Max to his work at the school months later. The mystery portion finally kicks in at around 20-25% of the story, which I felt was too long to bring in the meat of the story, especially for a novella when space is more limited.

It also took me time to get warmed up to both Finn and Max, the former coming off whiny and “why me” at first for being told there is a security threat to one of his students, and the latter coming off needlessly as an asshole. Max was also only going to be on campus for four days total, so I didn’t know why the characters, including the student being threatened, were so affronted by the intrusion. I started to sink in about half-way through and warmed up to everything, but personally, I thought it took too long for a shorter work.

(I had the same “slow to warm” feeling with Romano and Albright, since I felt both books took too long to start, but maybe because those are longer novels, I had more time to warm up and get fully invested in the characters since by the end, I was a happy reader.)

On the plus side, it’s a nice mystery that’s stretched out to near the end, and it wasn’t easy to pinpoint who the culprit was. You also don’t need to read the Smithfield books in order. This is the first one I read, and didn’t feel punished for missing Gobsmacked (or “Men of Smithfield: Mark and Tony” as the re-release is called.)

So, if you like mysteries, and especially if you like Gregg’s writing, this novella may be up your alley. I read the re-released version which you can find under the title "Men of Smithfield: Max and Finn."(less)

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Nov 28, 2012 DaisyGirl rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: other-steamy, m-m, genre-romance, i-own, romance-contemp, romance-suspense

3.0 Stars

Max Douglas is an ex-Marine security specialist and all-around burly a$$hole. Michael Finn is a teacher and dorm adviser at Dalton Prep High School. Finn has the hots for Max and is tutoring his much younger brother. One night, he throws caution to the wind and seduces Max. They have wild, hot, crazy sex in Max’s office but afterward, Max fires Finn as his brother’s tutor. Mortified, Finn runs out and avoids Max for months.

When a high-profile parent hires Max as a bodyguard for his teen...more

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Sep 05, 2012 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-romance, glbt, m-m-romance, mystery, comedy

4.5 Stars

“At the first kiss I felt something melt inside me that hurt in an exquisite way.” – Hermann Hesse

Michael Finnegan has been called a lot of things in his life: unorthodox, lax, a slutty nonconformist, which, when you’re standing in a man’s office with your fly unzipped and your naughty bits exposed after you’ve just thrown yourself at him and he’s just taken you over his desk…then fired you… Yeah, those are difficult character definitions to overcome. But Maxwell Douglas does something...more 4.5 Stars

“At the first kiss I felt something melt inside me that hurt in an exquisite way.” – Hermann Hesse

Michael Finnegan has been called a lot of things in his life: unorthodox, lax, a slutty nonconformist, which, when you’re standing in a man’s office with your fly unzipped and your naughty bits exposed after you’ve just thrown yourself at him and he’s just taken you over his desk…then fired you… Yeah, those are difficult character definitions to overcome. But Maxwell Douglas does something to Finn, makes him feel things he’s never felt before—namely, Max makes Finn feel humiliation and regret, more than anything at times, for his attraction to the cold and imposing Marine-turned-security-specialist. But Max also makes Finn feel alive in a way he’s never felt before, and Finn will stay alive if Max has anything to say about it.

Hemmi Sparks is one of Finn’s privileged students at a tony prep school in Smithfield, who, it appears, might be in some danger from a fan who’s been creeping on Hemmi’s celebrity father. Enter Max, who has been hired to make like Hemmi’s shadow at school, and what you get is a fair amount of friction between two men that seem determined to be little more than the thorns in each other’s sides. That is, if they could keep their hands and lips to themselves long enough to discover there’s something more going on between them than just sex and conflict.

There’s also much more going on at Dalton Prep High School than a celebrity stalker, and it soon becomes evident that the threat to Hemmingway Sparks may be a home-grown kind of danger that’s targeted at someone other than just Hemmi. It’s a danger that will drive the typically unshakable Max Douglas to distraction, and is a danger that’s so impossible for Finn to imagine that he makes the near-fatal error of underestimating the power of crazy. But, as they say, that’s show biz.

Men of Smithfield: Max and Finn is dependably good entertainment from L.B. Gregg. 99% of the fun of this author’s books is the witty banter, the comedic internal dialogue of her first person narrators, the frequently hysterical situations her characters find themselves in (everyone knows the toaster is the kitchen’s bravest appliance, after all), not to mention the sizzling sexual chemistry between her heroes. The other 1% is just everything else a great read can and should be, and those are the things that make me burn through her books, while, at the same time, wishing they’d never end.

TNA (less)

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Jan 28, 2010 Smokinhotbooks K.C. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: m-m, 5-star-books

Favorite Scene:

Max to Finn (Mike)

Can I F*ck You? {Max says to Mike}

Mike: And like the good teacher I was I said in a sexy whisper "I don't know can you?"

This was recommend to me by EroticRomanceReader and boy am I glad I picked this one up. This is easily one of my favorite books of all time. If you really enjoyed Gobsmack, this is right up there with witty dialouge and interesting characters.

Finn is a teacher that is tutoring Max's step brother. Attracted to Max, he initiates *cough* the man lo...more

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Mar 17, 2010 Tiffany Danner rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-reads

I must say that I really love L.B. Gregg’s writing style. I enjoyed this installment of the series (tho I use the term loosely, the stories are mostly stand alone) but I have to admit I liked Gobsmacked better.

Cover Me is told from the perspective of Michael “Finn” Finnegan, a college english and drama teacher. While tutoring one summer he meets Max, a sexy security specialist, and they have a crazy hot scene on an office desk. Yet something goes awry and Michael storms out of there angry and fe...more

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Jul 04, 2011 Molli B. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: m-m, read-in-2011

Maybe a third of the way into this book, I was pretty sure I'd be leaving a negative review for it. I really didn't care for one of the main characters (Max) and I wasn't sure how the author would bring him around or make him palatable. But I just finished, and I have to say that I maybe liked this better than either Gobsmacked or Happy Ending, at least as far as the story itself goes. It was tense and exciting, and when it ended, I was disappointed that there wasn't more. I was also pretty surp...more

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Oct 17, 2009 Jenre rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, m-m, romance

Cover Me is the third novella in LB Gregg’s ‘Men of Smithfield’ series. It takes place, not in the town of Smithfield itself, but in an exclusive preparatory school for the children of the rich and famous, situated on the outskirts of the town. This lent itself to rather an insular setting which was perfect for this story of stalkers and scary goings on in the small community of the school.

The story begins with a scene set a few months before the start of the main story with an all action scene...more Cover Me is the third novella in LB Gregg’s ‘Men of Smithfield’ series. It takes place, not in the town of Smithfield itself, but in an exclusive preparatory school for the children of the rich and famous, situated on the outskirts of the town. This lent itself to rather an insular setting which was perfect for this story of stalkers and scary goings on in the small community of the school.

The story begins with a scene set a few months before the start of the main story with an all action scene between Michael ‘Finn’ and Max, a security firm owner and brother of a lazy teen Finn is tutoring to get some extra holiday pay. Finn is attracted to Max and so throws caution to the wind and seduces him in his office only to be rejected afterwards. Fast forward to the start of the new term and one of Finn’s students, Hemmi, who is the teenage son of a famous Hollywood actor, is under threat by a man stalking his father. To Finn’s complete horror, the man drafted in as security for Hemmi is none other than Max. There is immediate tension between the two men as they fight their attraction to one another whilst trying to keep Hemmi safe.

There were quite a few things I liked about this novella. Firstly the characters of the two heroes were not quite as you would expect. Max is an ex-marine who keeps an impassive face for most of the time. You would think that he would also be quite lacking in emotion as well, but no, Max’s gruff exterior hides the heart of a romantic. We are never told explicitly, just given hints, but it seems that Max has been in love and suffered loss in the past. When Finn comes along he breaks through that loss and it isn’t long before the tough ex-marine is confessing his feelings and showing a tenderness that belies his tough outer image. Finn on the other hand is an artistic English/Drama teacher so you would expect him to be all fine at sharing emotions. Well you would be wrong because Finn has a fear of commitment and a fear of opening up his feelings to others in case he is hurt. He hides any emotions behind a prickly sarcastic front and it takes a long time before Max can get past that to discover what Finn really feels. I liked this inversion of stereotype. It made the characters more realistic and human. Another area of Finn and Max’s relationship which worked well was in the progression of the sex scenes from the first hot scene through to the last loving scene. I really feel that LB Gregg has improved on her writing of sex scenes a great deal since her first novella. The final sex scene of this book was one of the most beautiful, tender sex scenes that I’ve read in a while. It was packed with emotional intensity and said more in a few actions than pages of dialogue could have done.

Another part of the book that I liked was the unusual setting of the school. The author spends a lot of time describing the atmosphere of teens around the campus. There isn’t much focus on lessons and the day to day running of the school, but there is a lot about how Finn fits into the school in his responsibility as dorm supervisor and general friend to the young men in his dorm. The descriptions of sweaty bodies, general chaos and mess in the dorm house was realistic and rather amusing. This description is also necessary when the book moves into the stalker theme. Finn is unable to see how anyone he knows and likes within his dorm would threaten or harm Hemmi. In fact, it is Finn’s inability to see what is happening under his nose which leads to trouble at the end of the book. The descriptions of the grounds around the school, especially in connection with the autumn season were lovingly done and gave the impression (as was with the previous books) of the great love the author has for New England and Connecticut.

A final part of the book which worked well was the way that each student was individual. It would have been so easy to make the student body just a huge teenage hybrid, but LB Gregg ensures that each student who features in the book has a definite ‘voice’ be it that of Eric who constantly questions everything; or Laura, the girlfriend of Hemmi, shooting dagger eyes at a girl who gets close to Hemmi; or Hemmi himself, a mix of mischievousness and seriousness in his feelings about being guarded by Max. I really got the feeling that the characters of the teenagers were just as important as those of the adults, more so because they affect Finn’s life to a great extent.

There were some parts that didn’t work so well. I guessed the mystery almost from the beginning and felt that it could have been done in a more subtle way. Although the end was tense and rather alarming, it seemed like too much of a great step and I wished there had been a bit more groundlaying done on that particular character ( I’m being vague because I don’t want to give away spoilers). Also there was one sex scene in the middle of the book which just started in a rather jarring manner and again, I wished there had been more subtlety in the lead up to that scene.

Overall, I’ve been impressed with the progression of LB Gregg’s writing. I’ve been following her career with interest ever since the release of her first novella, Gobsmacked. Cover Me contains all the sparkling wit and humour I’ve come to expect from this author but there is also a depth of maturity in her writing which is more evident in this story. Overall, I’d recommend Cover Me as a great, entertaining short read with interesting characters.(less)

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Sep 07, 2012 Arthur rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: cliche-is-overused-idea-lets-use-it, love-u-pls-use-me-as-doormat, book-everybody-loves-but-i-dont, chick-with-a-dick

1.5 star

The main character's name should be changed into Fionna, instead of Finn. In fact, that's what I'm going to do with this chick with a dick story.

(view spoiler)...more

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Oct 01, 2012 Kaetrin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, ebook, m-m-romance

3.5 stars

B- Slightly less humourous than the first book in the series, this book is about Finn, a prep school teacher who first meets Max, an ex-marine security expert when he's tutoring Max's much younger brother. After a hot sweaty encounter over Max's desk, Finn is fired and they don't see each other again for some months. When Hemmi (short for Hemmingway), the son of a movie star is a potential target of a stalker, Max is hired to provide security. Hemmi lives in Finn's dorm and has the lead...more

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Sep 04, 2012 Nik rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: scooby-gang, enemies-to-lovers, cops-military-abc-agencies, m-m, series

Well color me disappointed. I really thought the first one was funny and cute. I liked Finn/Mikey well enough but Max I wanted to junk punch for being such a prick one second and then a playful guy the next. Dude. WTF?! I didn't buy the authors rationale of the whole "I'm working" sorry...there's a difference between professional and grade A asswipe. The mystery was sorta...mystery-ish, better than book 1 (Mark and Tony) I thought but the romance seemed a little secondary to all the other going...more

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Nov 06, 2012 Shirley Frances rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, mm-series, mm-read

This was a surprisingly great book filled with banter, mystery, great dialog and sizzling chemistry. What more could I ask for?

Michael "Finn" Finnegan is a drama teacher at a prep school who has been hurt by love in the past and is skeptical of ever find it again. Then he meets Max Douglas and he finds himself having lustful thoughts and throwing himself at him. He is attracted to Max on the spot but after they had their first encounter he questions his impulsiveness, but goes on with his life n...more This was a surprisingly great book filled with banter, mystery, great dialog and sizzling chemistry. What more could I ask for?

Michael "Finn" Finnegan is a drama teacher at a prep school who has been hurt by love in the past and is skeptical of ever find it again. Then he meets Max Douglas and he finds himself having lustful thoughts and throwing himself at him. He is attracted to Max on the spot but after they had their first encounter he questions his impulsiveness, but goes on with his life nonetheless. However, when they find themselves in close quarters again, Finn finds himself confronting feelings of need, lust and fear. His attraction to Max is still active, even when Max acts like a total jerk, and he fears that his need to feed that lust is going to drive him straight into a broken heart.

Max is an ex-Marine security specialist. From Finn's point of view I could gather that he was a straight-arrow kind of guy. He liked order and he liked control. And it is that control which leads to Finn's downfall. And Man! how I enjoyed those moments when Max unleashed his dominating side on Finn. It made for some great scenes. But just as those where amazing, so were the moments where he showed some vulnerability or tenderness. With those he just melted me right into a puddle of goo.

I liked the way the author, L.B. Gregg, went about their relationship. Their getting together was fun, insightful and totally hot. I loved their banter and dialog. It really showcased their personality to the max and I truly appreciated that. Max so serious and Finn so laid back, but when they worked together it was magic. His yin to his yang. The mystery and the romance were brought together well. I liked that they were nicely balanced. It kept me in a state of anticipation on both counts. I wanted to know who was behind what was happening and I needed to know how these two were going to get together.

Once again, L.B. Gregg drew into the town of Smithfield and I can't wait to go back. My only complain is that I wanted to see more of Finn and Max's relationship and I think an epilogue would have solved that little problem for me. But other than that, this was another great addition to the series and a great read.(less)

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Mar 13, 2013 Paisley rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: own-bob, author-gregg-lb, mm-stories, do-me-bodyguard, do-me-teacher

Otherwise known as The Men of Smithfield: Max and Finn...

Okay so basically this review is exactly like book #2
Is it just me or is the whole renaming of this series confusing? I cannot keep which book is which straight.

I enjoyed the first book in this series more than this one but this one is short enough so that it really didn't matter in the end. I didn't really love either main character and the whole plot was a bit too drama-forced push my buttons. Mildly entertaining and quick to read but a...more

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Feb 05, 2011 Yvonne rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: m-m, kindle-lendable-mm

I never warmed up to Max, mainly because there wasn't much to warm up to. He was just too cold a character. I just kept picturing (very, very old reference here) Sergeant Carter from Gomer Pyle, and this is not an image that makes you think romantic hero. The super macho, non communicative man with the emotional, impulsive capricious woman is a cliche in hetero romance fiction & one of the reasons I stopped reading so many of them. I don't really need to see this cliche repeated in the m/m r...more

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Sep 08, 2012 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012

I gave this one a shot because I really enjoyed LB Gregg's voice, and I was intrigued by the town of Smithfield. I'm glad I did, because I much preferred this book to the previous volume. Finn was stronger, his voice less whiny. And the mystery on campus kept me reading, curious to see just what was going on and why. And Max? Oh I liked him. He totally screwed up his first attempt at Finn, which made a stumbling block for the couple's eventual happiness.

Definitely looking forward to the next Men...more

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Apr 14, 2011 Wendy (wluvsbooks) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: app-kindle, series, sex-partner-mm, genre-mystery-thriller

Second time was a charm for me! I started this book last year and for some reason, it just didn’t grab me at the time and I ended up abandoning it. Well, thanks to a reading challenge that I’m participating in, I decided to give this one another go and I’m glad I did.

Michael/Mike/Mikey/Finn/Mr. Finn was a great character and I laughed at both his spoken and unspoken thoughts. Max was a much harder character to like. He got better towards the end of the book, but it seemed like such a drastic ch...more

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Oct 30, 2010 Elisa Ramblings added it

Living in a small town has its advantages, like knowing who is gay and who is not, or better who could be. Michael “Finn” Finnegan is an English teacher and he is tutoring Max Douglas’s younger brother; Max is Finn’s forbidden fantasy and one afternoon, when Max asks him to remain overtime to talk, Finn thinks it’s time to act upon his attaction… only to being fired soon after he managed to seduce Max in his office.

That is not really a good starting point for a relationship, and when Max comes...more Living in a small town has its advantages, like knowing who is gay and who is not, or better who could be. Michael “Finn” Finnegan is an English teacher and he is tutoring Max Douglas’s younger brother; Max is Finn’s forbidden fantasy and one afternoon, when Max asks him to remain overtime to talk, Finn thinks it’s time to act upon his attaction… only to being fired soon after he managed to seduce Max in his office.

That is not really a good starting point for a relationship, and when Max comes to Finn’s prep school to bodyguard one of Finn’s students, the English teacher is not exactly thrilled. Sincerely I think that, outside of a working relationship, Max and Finn are perfect together: it’s not that Max doesn’t like Finn, it’s only that he thinks he is… lax. Of course Max’s judgement is limited to the working field, on a personal level Max really likes Finn and in more than one occasion he will prove it.

Max is a former marine, and he has also lost his long term companion, so he is not exactly the happiest of man; he is also very committed to his work and he doesn’t like distraction and Finn is a big distraction. But the working man Max and the loving man Max are not the same person, and I think that, if he had the chance to meet Finn outside a work relationship, they would have started things in a different way. Moreover I think Max really needs a man like Finn in his life, to lighten the mood and giving him the chance to let it go, at least when he is not working.

On the other side, Finn was burnt in the past and he thinks he wants only no strings attached relationships, but when he is faced with the chance to have one, he complains that Max is too aloof; I don’t think Finn really wants that, it’s only that he is weary to gamble with his heart again. Finn is a very spontaneous man, he likes sex but he also likes ordinary things like a relationship and a family: if he manages to find all those things in the same package he would be an happy man.

I liked the ligh and funny bitchering between the two men, it was clear that both of them cared for each other, but they were like children, not wanting to be the first one to call quit the game. Both men are adult and experienced, and so sex is good and healthy, with the right dose of details, but, at least from my perspective, realistic and ordinary, with ordinary not having a bad connation at all, for once I thought those men were having sex both since they wanted it and also since they had a feeling that was devoloping between them and sex was a way to cement it definetely.

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Oct 10, 2009 Tam rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: m-m, police-crime-mysteries

Michael (aka Finn or Mr. Finn) teaches at a private boarding school but has a summer job tutoring one of his students at the behest of his older brother Max a security expert. Michael goes for it one day and comes onto Max after which he is fired (not because of sex). Ooops. Later at the school Max shows up again to protect one of the students from threats and Michael and Max clash over how to deal with teenagers and what Max considers Michael’s lax attitude. There is the whole threat of a stalk...more

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Apr 09, 2013 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed Cover Me. The book started on a high note with Finn hooking up with Max on impulse and then getting his feelings hurt afterward. I liked the way Finn and Max behaved with each other. Finn, the sensitive teacher who's always worrying if he said or did the wrong thing and Max, the burly military man who often gives no clues to indicate how he's feeling. Their unlikely relationship was cute, funny, sometimes tense, but always engaging. LB Gregg is great at combining sex and humor in a nea...more

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Apr 30, 2013 Deeze rated it 3 of 5 stars

Another easy read in this series.

The mystery story worked well for me. I had an idea of who it was, but was never certain until the end. (I’m sure others wont be as unsure lol).

As for Michael and Max, I’m afraid I just didn’t feel any emotional connection between them, just a mutual sexual attraction.

I seem to be following a pattern in these books of liking one MC but disliking the other. Maybe its just the whole D/s feel to them.

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Jan 28, 2013 Tina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: m-m, romance-contemporary

Warning: Written in 1st person.

This is book 3 of a 4 book series but they only connect by the fact that they are all in the same town.

I am starting to feel very repetitive about this series. I enjoy the start of this book and the middle but the ending (or lack of) felt like it was missing. Like the first two books in this series it feels like there is a chapter or two missing.

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Sep 06, 2012 Julia rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: gay-romance, own-kindle-copy, reviewed

For some reason this book just didn't click with me. I never really liked Max, and I didn't think we got to know him well enough to see what Finn saw in him. I also got annoyed by how everyone called Finn something different - Finn, Michael, Mike, etc. There were also a few typos in the Kindle edition (trial instead of trail for example) which were enough to pull me out of the story.

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Nov 23, 2012 Cindi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: series, 2012, m-m, on-blog

This is my favorite in the Men in Smithfield series so far. Granted, I was not a big fan of either of the main characters but the story more than made up for it. There is mystery, danger and violence... with a bit of sex thrown in. Good story.

A great addition to the series.

Full review can be found at On Top Down Under Book Reviews:
http://bookreviewsandtherapy.blogspot...

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Aug 17, 2011 Barb rated it 5 of 5 stars

I don't want to spoil this for anyone, so I'll just say this is a first rate book. Not only is a great little romance, it's funny enough to have you laughing all the way through it! The banter between the two main characters is hilarious, set up because of their completely different personality types. I would absolutely reccommed this as a "must read" book!

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Sep 08, 2012 Pjm12 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, fast-paced, funny, lgbt, romantic, sexy, whodunnit

It's way too short for my liking. Finn is a terrific narrator, with his snarky comments and insecurities, impulsive flirting stirring Max back to life.

And stoic Max, always working Max - a protector, a rock. A keeper.

The mystery aspect was well done - dangerous and suspenseful, I was fully immersed in the drama, and was shocked by the climax.

I just wish these books were longer. Will have to go reread my Caesar and Dan books by the same author to get a longer fix.

Bring on #3.

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Cover Me (Men of Smithfield #3)

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