Eli Easton Reads

I enjoyed this book more than "Grey's Awakening", which was rather overwrought sexually for me. "A Younger Man" is more of a romance and I liked the May/Dec aspect and the virginal younger MC. The characters were both admirable, and there was lots of sexual tension leading up to the first kiss. After that I still was eager to finish the book to find out what happened on the various subplots and to see the couple establish themselves among family and friends.

This book is a bit of an odd beast in that it starts out VERY VERY kinky. As in rough stranger sex with lots of ass play, talk of fisting etc. And through the first maybe 40% of this story, the sex is hard core like that (even a 'pony play' scene, which I have never read in a book ever before in my life). But then the story becomes very relationship-y and sweet and more like a traditional romance. I'm not sure the transition 100% worked for me in that it felt a little like the author did a 45 degree turn at some point and one story became a different story, from hard core kinky to a very sweet, family-oriented, fade-to-black-at-the-sex-bits one.

That being said, I adored Heidi's writing and I really enjoyed reading the entire book, though the relationship stuff, the last 60%, was by far my favorite. So yummy and good was that part, indeed, that I wholeheartedly give this book a 5. Am I out of Heidi Cullinan books to read now? Write faster, please! ;-)

I really like Andrew Grey books. I read all of his 'farm' series and liked them a lot. This is my second book in the 'ranch' series. I didn't like it as much as book nbr one (Dakota and Wally). I had a hard time connecting with Philip, who is sort of a player, or understanding exactly why he fell for Haven, a virginal and pretty naive character. So not my favorite Andrew Grey book, but I will definitely continue reading the series.

I read this straight through, though it's longish for me (300+ pages). I enjoyed it a lot. There was a great deal of information about hoarding and the book certainly carried that theme very strongly and not just in a surface fashion. Great research on the part of the author. I love a good nerd character and Jasper was all that. I felt for him and his hoarding was believable. The nudist parents were priceless.

I understood why Lewis felt a ethical dilemna about getting involved with a client, and that the plot couldn't have really gone a different way, but it did end up keeping the two MCs at arms-length for much of the book. Overall there was less romance and more of a secondary plot (hoarding recovery in this case) than I prefer in my romances. Still, a very lovely 4 star read for me and a job well-done by Ms. Myles.

A fun, sweet/sexy romance with a little mystery thrown into the first half. I really liked the 'I saw tomato, you say tom AH to' Brit vs US dialogue strewn throughout. The Owens family is priceless. I haven't read the first book yet, but was drawn to read this one. I works fine as a stand-alone.

Olaf sounds so big and beautiful. Can I have one of those, please?

This is definitely a 5+ star read for me and I'm surprised to see so many 4 star reviews! The writing in this is just beautiful and the characterizations so rich and true and I actually found myself slowing down to savor every word.

Some of the things I loved:
* the soap opera that ensued when a gorgeous young cowboy was dropped into an isolated bunk house with 3 supposedly straight ranch hands -- ay carumba!
* the first person voice of Speed. His internal thoughts as he realized he had feelings for a man and was likely gay despite years of who-knew were so spot on and rich with with honesty. So often in stories where one MC is undergoing a change like this it's glossed over or unrealistic -- not here
* the Crandall character
* loads of great dialogue/banter -- no "we talked for hours and he was so clever" here. Z.A. delivers the goods and then piles more goods on top of that.
* the ranch, the animals.
* threep

There isn't much I didn't like about this book other than the plotline got pretty sad when a major character is lost and the future is uncertain. It was all well-done and, well, was the plot of the book, but I really found all that very secondary to the actual language of the book and the characters.

Thank you, Z.A. for a wonderful read. I look forward to the next book in the series.

This story is now out! Here's some 'supporting material' for readers or those considering reading:

The Trouble with Tony Desktop:
The images I used for inspiration while writing, for your reading-enhancing pleasure:
http://elieaston.com/desktop-the-trouble-with-tony/

Excerpt #1 (first chapter):
http://elieaston.com/books-by-eli-easton/the-trouble-with-tony/

Excerpt #2:
http://elieaston.com/countdown-to-tony-new-excerpt-and-giveaway/

Excerpt #3:
http://elieaston.com/countdown-to-tony-second-excerpt-and-giveaway/

I hope you guys like the book! Next in this series:

Sex in Seattle #2, ”The Enlightenment of Daniel,” has been written and contracted to Dreamspinner and is due out in the Dec/Jan timeframe. This story is about a patient of Jack Halloran’s, Daniel Derenzo. Daniel is a high-powered type A business man who has a midlife crisis when he learns his father is dying of cancer. Daniel comes to several life-altering realizations: first, that he’s gay and, secondly, that he’s in love with his male business partner, Nick, who is in a marriage-in-name-only relationship for the sake of his kids. But Daniel's an expert at hostile take-overs. This is the same thing, right?

Sex in Seattle #3, “The Mating of Michael” (working title), is my next writing project. Tentative pub date is April 2014. This is, of course, the story of Michael Lamont, sex surrogate for Expanded Horizons. I’m very excited to bite into this one!

Eli

After reading Macky's review, I thought I'd grab this since I love J.L. Merrow. Great value price on ARE($2.99)! I'll rate the stories as I read them.

Summer Hire by Chrissy Munder - 3.5 stars -- Jim is a new computer/software college grad who takes a job for the summer in a mechanics garage and is crushing on his muscular, tatted, hunky boss. This story promised a lot of UST and delivered for the bulk of the story. The romance was good if not especially unique. I really liked the setting-- a lake town in Michigan with heavy summer tourist traffic. The author did a nice job creating that summer vibe.

Lost and Found on Lindisfarne by J.L. Merrow. 5 stars -- ah! It's nice to read a new J.L. Merrow story. Chris and his 12 year old daughter are visiting an island where there's a Viking reenactment. Chris falls for a dreadlocked berserker. This is a sweet little romance given 5 stars primarily for some magical language and the many highlighted lines on my iPad, plus all the cute Viking stuff. Ur!

Werewolves of Venice Beach by Lou Harper -- 4 stars Lou Harper always has a lyrical and interesting prose style. This summer romance story, set on Venice Beach, is a fun, quick read. I've read a ton of nerd/jock or bad boy stories recently and this one didn't particularly stand out, but the writing is quite good and I loved the little Sparky twist. (And I liked that it didn't actually get into anything paranormal.)

By Quarry Lake by Josephine Myles -- 4.5 stars Loved the small town/farmer's son theme of this story in which two childhood friends are reunited when one moves back to town. Sexy with a nice homey feel. I really enjoyed the father's reaction. ;-)

Salt and Vinegar by Clare London -- 3 stars This was my least favorite story in the anthology because of the theme. It was set mainly around a fish and chip shop in Brighton. I loved the ever-changing names of the shop (Eel Be Seeing You, Between a Rock and a Hard Plaice). The characters of Joe and his sister Mandy, who work in the shop, were cute. I didn't get a super strong sense of Joe since it was written from his POV except that he was a student. He has a crush on a regular customer, Steven. All of the set up was fun, but once the story got rolling it turned out Steven had a secret and the story got angsty and dark and it just wasn't what I was expecting from this 'hot summer loving' anthology. Steven was being physically abused by his boyfriend and was in denial/escapism about it. I have a hard time with characters who put up with bad abuse like this because they seem weak and not very bright. Steven wasn't even trying to get out of that situation until Joe pushed him to. And then at the end the abusive ex just watches from afar and quietly goes away--not a realistic reaction from someone who's been that controlling and violent. The writing was good though. This kind of story just isn't my cup of tea in romance.

Overall, I give the anthology 4 stars. It reads quickly and all the writers are strong. Recommended.

This is a nice, solid romance. Danny is a gorgeous out-and-proud man and Matt is a law student who might be bi, but he's always dated women. They meet in a gay club and it's instant chemistry for Matt.

I liked how strong Danny was--he wasn't willing to be Matt's dirty little secret. Most of the plot comes from Matt trying to come to terms with being in a relationship with a man. The romance is good, but I would have liked to have seen more of the 'hard stuff' at the end -- like Matt acknowledging Danny in front of the ex-girlfriend, how he tells his family, etc. As in a number of these types of books, it seems to end just when the closeted MC makes the decision to come out, but doesn't tackle the more challenging territory of actually portraying that. We do see Matt tell his roommates, but not with Danny present and the roommates just accepted it without much drama.. By that point, I really wanted to see a scene where Matt stood up and acknowledged Danny (with Danny by his side) in front of the people that mattered!

Still,this is a good gfy romance with lots of romantic and sexy stuff. Recommended.

I was in the mood for a gfy story and so I surfed the listopia list looking for a likely-looking candidate I hadn't already read. (here's the list, FYI: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2546.Best_Gay_For_You_Romance)

I settled on Plan B. It's my first read by SJD Peterson, and I was impressed. This book rates 5 stars from me for a few reasons.

First, the writing was very good, which I always appreciate in a solid, sexy m/m book.

Second, I loved the character of Danny. Though he likes to wear make-up and sometimes a piece or two of girl's fashion, he has no desire to be a woman and is just as comfortable in sweats and stubble. He just has his own sense of style. I loved that he had no angst or trauma with his parents or his school and was just positive and out and happy to be himself.

Third, there was a nice amount of sexual tension in the story and the sex scenes were realistic and therefore, sexier than usual. For example, closeted, curious Lance starts out fairly slow in the sexual exploration department. The level of their activity ramps up slowly. I always find it so annoying when a virgin or first-time-with-a-guy character ends up bottoming in the first sex scene. No problem with that here.

The main angst/plot in the story comes from sort-of-curious, closeted jock Lance coming to terms with his attraction to Danny at all (firstly) and then the decision whether or not to be public with it. Though this is not a new theme, nor was the progression it took especially unique, it was a solid take on the theme and the writing and characters made it an enjoyable read.

A few things -- the entire story is 1st person from Danny's POV. So we never get to see Lance's friends, his football side, or anything about his family other than his sister. So it made the problems he was facing and the fact that he was stuck in the closet feel rather remote. I also felt like the epilogue, though cute, left a lot unanswered about what had happened to Lance and what he was going to do now that he was ex-NFL and living in NYC

I definitely recommend Plan B and look forward to reading more from this author.

4 stars for a really sweet, solid sports romance. An extra star for an author who does their homework. I enjoyed learning about rugby in this story and the way the terms were carried through to the very end. Sweet and sexy!

Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon always write admirable m/m historicals, but I particularly loved this one. The writing is top of the genre and the story was fun. There's always a surprise or two in each scene, an unexpected turn, a shocking line of dialogue. Very fun to read.

This vaguely regency-era story stays true to the times while allowing these two men to form a relationship that works. I'm always fond of kids in romances and Ipsail was a hoot.

Excellent work, my dear authors. Look forward to more!

I read this in about a day and really enjoyed it. It's a slower-paced romance in some ways. The two MCs meet in the first scene, move in together immediately, and start having sex the first night. So the progression of the story is really more character driven, dealing with how the closeted fireman, Tomas, comes to accept himself as gay and how his family, a conservative clan from El Salvador who lives right next door, deals with it. I enjoy romances that involve family drama so I didn't mind the more gentle pace of this. The relationship between Jesse and Tomas was perhaps a little 'insta-love' on Tomas's part, but I'm an incurable romantic so yeah, I'll buy it.

Looking forward to more in this series.

I read N.R. Walker's "Blind Faith" some time ago and loved it. This book was out of print for a while and then was sitting on my TBR list. Based on some reviews, I didn't anticipate that I would love it as much as I'd hoped when I bought it.

I was wrong. I really did love this book. The last 30% especially was very exciting and dramatic. But yes--love the prose voice, the characters, the story, and I particularly like N.R.'s way of writing sex scenes. They aren't very long or explicit, more poetic and emotional and high-level on the '...and then he took me' sort of side (vs detailing each moment of that act). Having read so much explicit sex in m/m romances lately all tends to sound the same, this was refreshing and still 'enough' to feel like a payoff.

N.R. Walker is definitely staying high on my must buy list.

A cute short read. I liked the characters and the pick-up lines. And oh, the kilt! It ended just as it was getting good. ;-)

I enjoyed reading this. It almost felt like 2 different books--the first part where Alex is a shy waiter and Leo courts him in a more or less standard fashion, and the second part which is fairly hard-core BDSM.

I liked the characters--I'm always a sucker for a pretty, young, shy MC. And I was really looking forward to the payoff on the minor family angst. I was looking forward to Leo finally kicking Alex's family's ass because they were such douchebags. That didn't play out quite as satisfyingly as it might of, since Alex's brother never got his comeuppance, but it was still good.

I thought I wouldn't enjoy the BDSM stuff as much as the romance, because I'm not much of a BDSM reader, but I did like it. If there's going to be BDSM, please, dear writer, make it something that isn't about one character being dominated and treated like a child 24/7 and please convince me that the submissive really loves it. K.C. did that. It was pretty hot stuff.

A good 4 star read for me.