Alex Mar's Blog, page 2

Review: Wolf in Gucci Loafers by Tara Lain

Let me begin by saying…


That kind of embodies this entire book for me.

Lindsey Vanessen. Hi. Hello there. You're fabulous.

His character was a breath of fresh air in a shifter book. Beautiful, and flamboyant, and everything…including well hung and toppy as hell. Man. What is there not to like? Nothing, I tell you, NOTHING!

Seth, bless you. You never stood a chance. Lindsey is a force to be reckoned with.

Their romance was so enjoyable and sweet. I was so glad Lindsey found his man and even happier when Seth came to terms with his attraction to someone who just did not fit his mould of what his ideal partner should be. The two of them were explosive together and that first scene. Yes. There was sizzling. I heard it. I could be very crude and tell you where that sizzling was coming from, but let's save that for a day when I've had a few too many glasses of wine and can blame it on that.

I have a soft spot for this book. Because it was fun, because it was sweet, because Lindsey is this amazing and out of this world man.

It'll be hard for the rest of the series to beat this one for me, it really will. My favourite Tara Lain so far. ♥

Review: Turbulence by Lyn Gala

Interesting. I loved Jacqs. I liked the simplicity of him, the way he is upfront and really does tell it like it is from his POV. He is very straightforward with how and why he does things, he doesn't complicate things. He cuts through the bullshit when they do and just finds whatever the simplest way exists for him to deal with it which stuns others around them. They don't understand his way of thinking, always looking for other explanations. That doesn't happen with him.

So of course this made it very interesting to read about his shift in how he classed himself and his sexuality. That aspect of the book was really great by the way, the idea that it's not all about just one type of sexuality – it has many faces, people are so different and what appeals to them is too varied to count, and I enjoyed the way each character was made to know what appealed to them, and how it could so easily be mistaken for something else. Like I said, interesting.

Definitely enjoyed this. Give it a read : )

Review: Steamed Up by various

Authors: Amy Rae Durreson, Eli Easton, Bell Ellis, Kim Fielding, Anka Grace, R.D. Hero, Mark Lesney, Augusta Li, Mary Pletsch, Angelia Sparrow, Layla M. Wier

Anthologies are always a mixed bag for me. Box of chocolates kind of thing, where you pick one, unwrap it and find out whether it's to your taste or not. This one was no different but it had some gorgeous shorts that really tugged at the heart strings. I loved this Steampunk collection.

Favourites:

Caress by Eli Easton – Oh man this made my hurt ache. It was just so sad, their existence, what they'd both been put through. Heart ache. So touching and their coming together was just perfect, so, so perfect. Loved this. But aside from that I loved more than just that, the creation both of bad and good, it was a marvel to see what could be done in this world, the steampunk shone through with the war as a background. Well put together. I just—yeah. This one had me.

Clockwork Heart by Kim Fielding – Disturbing in a way for me, mainly because of the whole 'do they/don't they' feel. Kind of haunting actually, but sweet, soft and poignant.

Spindle and Bell by Augusta Li – Broke my heart. Sombre and bitter-bittersweet. Lovely read all the same.

Review: The Scientist and the Supermodel by Tara Lain

Oh Roan. Roan comes off the, page sexy as sin. Seriously, lick-your-lips kind of hot.

The sex scenes were hot and didn't have not one complaint about them, not even the MMF. Buuuut I have to put it out there. I love MMF and MMM, but that's normally when the focus of the book focus on that relationship, of them as a trio. In a book that's about either MM / MF / FF etc. I want it to be about them. I get that it's not infidelity but, at the end there, even the suggestion of more, of needing more than what they had made me feel dissatisfied. But that's my own wants and needs being projected onto the story I supposed. I wanted them to be more than enough for each other, but didn't leave the story feeling as if they were.

But I think they made a wonderful couple and enjoyed seeing them come together, and even though at times I found if painful, the mention of other lovers and having to accept that because of how both Roan and Jake were, it was still touching and made me feel very protective of them both.

Enjoyed it : )

Review: Bump in the Night by various

Authors: Laylah Hunter, Kari Gregg, Ally Blue, Brien Michaels, Peter Hansen, Heidi Belleau and Sam Schooler

So.

This was fabulous. I LOVED this anthology. So up my alley I can't even tell you – like. WAY up my alley. Full of weird and dirty-bad-wrong and creepy and more wrong…so wrong it was so right (I'm sorry, you had to have seen that coming, it was a compulsion, seriously).

I mean. I don't even know what I mean. I don't think there was even one story I didn't like here. I do have a favourite. Of course I do, it won out. JUST. Because they were all so good and oh my god just, slices of gorgeous well done horror that ranged from in your face what-the-fuckery, to stories that spilled chills down your spine. YES. YES. More YES. Can I have more?

Favourite story was actually:

Sleeping with Ghosts by Peter Hansen – the world building, the atmosphere, the way the story moved just ugh. And the chemistry between the two characters, the way their interactions played out was just so delicious. And it was subtle story telling in a way, no fanciness just, so right in tone and everything.

My only complaint about this anthology was that there weren't enough stories to satisfy me. I wanted them to keep on coming.

Read this. You really, really, should.

Review: Nothing Serious by Jay Northcote

This is one of those stories where any angst is kept low key, there's the misunderstanding but even that is kept low key, more an emphasis on their insecurities and the vulnerability everyone feels in a new relationship than anything else.

It's lovely actually. Read it with a nice cup of tea tucked into the corner of my sofa and just enjoyed it. Mark and Jamie make the cutest couple and I particularly like it when it's the younger man taking charge, being the one to show the other the ropes, so to speak. It's hot. And this was hot.

Cast of characters worked well for it too, I really appreciated the portrayal of Mark and Rachel, it was a little sad, but Rachel was not painted as the big bad bitch, as can often happen in M/M novels with this premise. If anything there was a comfort in her and their relationship with each other. Just nice and mature. Same with Jamie and his family, loved his brother and his mum! It just rounded the story out well, building a good circle around the two main characters.

Anyway, this makes a nice lazy read on a chilled out Sunday :)

Review: College Boys by Daisy Harris

I've actually just realised that I haven't read many M/M novels where the protagonists are in college. Have no clue why, it makes for a very hot read when one of the main characters is an athlete and toned in all the right places…especially when that previously heterosexual athlete starts eyeing up his next door neighbour, who happens to be male, and thinking about all the possibilities…

'Gay for you' is one of my favourite tropes so it's no wonder I enjoyed this. It's a light read and you care about the characters. The sex is hot, that last scene was yum. I also liked the secondary characters, there weren't many of them, but the two that were important enough were good additions that gave us a good outside point of view of Peter and Chris' relationship.

If you're looking for a quick, nice read with sweetness and not too much angst, this one should do you well.

Review: The Rebuilding Year by Kaje Harper

Kaje Harper is fast becoming one of my favourite writers. I love how she takes her time with bringing the characters together, it makes everything feel fleshed out and real. This one had an added element of mystery to it. It didn't take over the story but it added a nice dimension of tension to go along with the chemistry between John and Ryan.

Something I also really liked about the story were the problems facing these two, separately, and together. Both had a rough journey to get to where they are at the start of the novel. Ryan has scars, both inside and out, and John has this feeling of loneliness and sadness at not being able to see his kids. Both of them move you from the start.

The sex scenes were solid and their first kiss made me gasp. I loved it. And I loved Torey and Mark, Mark especially, he was a wonderful child and his problems felt real too.

Read this one, will leave you feeling satisfied long after you've read it.

Almost Nano time!

Almost time to start going at the word counts like crazy and am pretty excited.



Have been working on some WIP's (I think I should put a cap on how many WIP's I can work on at a time…). Managed to write 1,800 words of the promised come-back to Captain Inna and Jack. Scared to ruin what I've got so far but braving it 

Now my Nano… MWAHAHAHAHAHA *_* excited because it'll contain some of my favourite supernatural creatures. WEREWOLVES! Dystopian werewolf story going on there, with other magical beings, and porn! But obviously when it comes to writing the porn I probably won't be as enthusiastic. I think porn is always what takes me the longest to write. Whyyyy. Anyway, feeling good about that one anyway.

To help me along, I thought something pretty might help so I visited Svenja Liv's website to download the Nano spread sheets for this year. She even has some Supernatural ones! So, I've decided to use Dean Winchester (am using Sam for another story, I have to use both Winchesters or I feel guilty, they come as a pair – in my head anyway).

Have also started listening to the weird and crazy world of Welcome to Nigh Vale and I'm enjoying it – only on the first podcast though, so hoping I continue to like it. Makes for an interesting journey into work lol.

Anyway, that's it for my update. Currently reading Grime and Punishment by Z.A. Maxfield, it looks like it'll be an intense ride. Cold is setting in now, had the most amazing fog this morning, like something out of a novel. Gorgeous.

And now I'm going to chill with my book and my dog. It'll probably look something similar to this:



p.s. How do we feel about teasers? Yay or nay?

Review: Winter Wolf by S.P. Wayne

So I was at the point where I was getting frustrated because I started this book three days ago and things just kept getting in the way of me reading it. But yesterday, I finally caught a break. I finished reading it at 2.45am.

I love it. Simple as.

It's not perfect. In fact, it has one of my pet peeves—head hopping. I usually don't tolerate it well when reading but, this is one of those rare stories, with these characters that are both just so touching. I just fell in love with them and with their friendship and the growth of their relationship. So I don't feel like I'm lying at all when I give this five stars.

There is one particular scene towards the end of the story, god the intensity of it was amazing, the way that briefly, the werewolf and the human seem to swap roles and just. Yes. Yeah. Even if the entire book had been crap I think it would've been worth it just for that scene alone.

This will go down as one of my favourite werewolf stories. Axton. Oh Axton

I'm still sighing over this. This is one of those winter reads. You know, when you pick your favourite books out, pile them up and take them with you to the sofa on a really cold day where you have nothing to do, snuggle up with a duvet, your hot drink and just let it take you away.