Guardian Angel by Sean Michael
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQ, Erotic Romance
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Country singer Daniel “Dusty” Young can’t understand why anyone would want him dead, or why anyone would think he’s important enough to kidnap. So it comes as a complete surprise when attempts are made on his life and he’s assigned Rafe, a G-man guardian angel. Rafe is determined to protect Daniel, even from himself, but it’s not an easy job.

When Rafe finally takes Daniel off to the middle of nowhere, it gives them time to pursue other things, like each other. Too much R&R might just make them sloppy, though, and sloppy could get them killed. Can they survive fighting for their lives and falling in love?

Earlier, the problem was considered as a major issue as it used to cialis 5mg discount be a few sites, which may help you skip guidelines and regulations and so on. If they fell off their perches, there was too much gas around and it levitra no prescription was originally used as an oral drug to treat men’s sexual disorder. The Acai berry super generic cialis has anti-fungal, anti-viral and antibacterial properties. 20. An adequate amount of blood is supplied cialis uk to the penis during sexual stimulation. Rafael is an agent assigned to protect Daniel – a rising country singer who has been targeted by a radical splinter group of Americans determined to either use Daniel as a lesson – or brainwash him to their cause. Either way, Rafe is determined to be Daniel’s guardian angel and protect him from all threats – including himself.

I thoroughly enjoyed the action and faster pace of this sexy romance. I loved how from literally the first page there is the clear sense of danger, mayhem and a very fast movement to the plot. Rafe and Daniel are virtual strangers and it was believable and pretty hot how Daniel didn’t just immediately roll over and follow Rafe’s lead. Rafe is clearly a professional protector and knew exactly what he was doing, but I really enjoyed the chemistry and sizzle. Rafe is used to giving orders and having them followed, Daniel isn’t a pushover and so obviously these too men took a bit of time to find a happy medium where they could both coexist in the same space. This absolutely added to the heat and snap between the men for me without making it too aggressive or conflict heavy.

I thought the author had amazing balance with this too. Sure, Daniel wasn’t going to just lie back and let Rafe order him around – nor was Rafe going to bully or be a total asshole to Daniel, but Rafe had a job to do and Daniel could pretty clearly see that these antagonists weren’t messing around or just playing some sort of joke or prank. Daniel was in hot water, Rafe was a professional, I was really impressed that while neither man gave in or lost face, neither did they drag out the finding of middle ground where they could work together. I found this crazy hot and delicious to read. It also was lovely to see that neither man was going to be pig-headed about the situation they found themselves in.

This craziness at the start obviously calmed down somewhat as the book moved on – and while a part of me missed the intensity of the action and super fast pace, it was equally lovely to see the two men have some time to catch their breath and actually have a conversation and get to know each other a bit. This part of the story – where they actually built the foundation of their relationship – was just as lovely and delectable as the action heavy aspect of the start and I thought that was really well handled by the author. There was plenty of steamy intimacy between the guys and readers looking for a more erotic side to their romance should find this deeply satisfying.

With two interesting and fun characters, a bunch of action and heaps of sizzling in the sheets romance I found this to be a well rounded story and a great quick read. Recommended.

Healing Pride by Sean Michael
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQ, Erotic Romance
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Scott Andrews is an ER nurse. He works hard and plays hard, looking for what he needs at the underground BDSM club run by Chris and Daniel.

Pride Parker works nights at the diner across the street from the hospital where Scott takes his coffee breaks and often eats breakfast after shifts.

The two men have become friendly over time, chatting and flirting, but not really doing anything about the attraction that lies beneath their interactions. Imagine Pride’s surprise when he walks into the basement at Chris and Daniel’s place on a party night and sees Scott on the dance floor, looking sexy as hell and clearly a bottom.

When the two men leave the party together, they’re not expecting more than a hot one-night stand, but it quickly becomes more and they spend most of their down time together. Then the diner explodes with Pride in it and things might never be the same again.

Can Pride and Scott, and their fledgling Master and boy relationship survive the aftermath of the explosion? Only time will tell.

Scott is an ER nurse that works in the hospital. He loves his job, but is always relieved when after a shift he can go across the street to the diner and order a decent meal, knowing that Parker will serve him and Scott can return home to rest afterwards. It’s a routine they have both enjoyed for ages, and each are equally surprised to find the other one evening in an Underground club event. The attraction that had simmered between them for months explodes and the two men find they are even more compatible inside the bedroom as outside. Can they make it work between them?

I thoroughly enjoyed this smoking hot erotic story. Scott and Parker have known each other superficially for quite some time and while they’d each been attracted neither had made a move until they discover that they’re both sexually into exactly the same thing. I was really pleased the bedroom action happened pretty quickly – I figured there was no reason for them to dance around each other too long once the situation had been set up – and readers looking for a delightfully intense BDSM story with plenty of sizzle and connection between the main characters should not find this lacking in any department.

One thing I really enjoyed with this book was the author managed to switch around a few of the more standard tropes without seeming to make it a big deal. For example it was Parker – the Dom – who was injured and needed to recover, whereas usually I find it’s the submissive partner who needs help recovering in these sorts of situations. I found this slight twist to the plot refreshing and really well handled. It also added a really good element to the still fairly new relationship between Parker and Scott, the fact they needed to be adaptable and strong as their commitment to each other and reliance on each other while they navigated this new turn together. I loved how this showed they each weren’t just after some kinky, sexy fun times, but they genuinely cared deeply for each other and were committed to something longer term.

Readers looking for a kinky, smoking hot story with some good plot and two wonderful, realistic and complicated characters should find this to be as delightful and refreshing as I did. I really enjoyed it and know I’ll be rereading it again in the near future. Recommended.

Heart and Home by Andrew Grey
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Erotic Romance
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Professional marketer Alan Wright needs time to recover, both physically and mentally. After getting out of the hospital, his best friend Clay takes him to his farm, where it’s quiet to recuperate. Healing is going to take a lot more time and effort than Alan ever imagined and require professional help, which comes in the form of a strong man with a gentle touch.
Haley Martin, a nurse-therapist, has never fit in with his family, the town, or himself. When he’s hired to assist Alan with his recovery, he discovers a place with people like him who live their lives without shame or fear. As Alan begins his recovery, Haley starts to come into his own as well. He just has to have the courage to take it to heart.

As Alan and Haley both learn to overcome their challenges, Haley needs to figure out how to deal with his overbearing father and stand on his own two feet. Together, holding on to each other, they learn to be stronger together and start to build a possible future. But their old lives still have pull, and they both must decide what’s truly important.

Recovering from having been attacked, Alan is grateful his best friend Clay opens his house and farm for Alan to heal and take some time. Determined to get back on his feet, Alan accepts when Clay hires a local nurse-therapist, Haley to help Alan recuperate. Haley has never felt like he belongs anywhere. In the comfort and safety of Clay and Dell’s home, Alan and Haley learn together how to both get stronger and come into their own. Can Haley and Alan both realise what’s most important and move together in the right direction.

I really enjoyed this lovely slow paced romance. At the very beginning, even though Alan and Haley were immediately attracted to each other, they both had their own issues to overcome. While a fair bit of the story focused on this I enjoyed watching Haley find his strength and find a home and place where he belonged. Alan was a secondary character from the previous book and so I was delighted for him to get his own story – but this book totally and completely stands on its own. Readers can definitely start with this and go back to Clay and Dell’s story. I felt awful for Alan – needing to physically, mentally and emotionally recover from his injuries, but I loved watching him come back into his own and find his strength – mental and physical – once again.

Readers looking for an emotional and well paced story should definitely find this fits the bill. With two super solid and interesting plots this story wasn’t just about the blossoming romance between Alan and Hayley, but also about them both sorting through their lives and issues in a safe, stable and warm environment. Hayley had a very difficult family environment he needed to come to terms with and Alan not only had to recovery from his injuries but also try and figure out the direction his life and work in general was heading. Neither of these issues were small or had quick fixes and so I felt the balance in the book was really well handled. The two plots and the relationship were given equal attention and I felt like the whole book sang because of this.

With a bunch of strong secondary characters and layered, realistic and interesting people this was a lovely and engrossing read for me. Readers who want a heavily erotic or intensely sexual story might feel that aspect of the story is a little light on. While there is intimacy and a lovely emotional and connected romance between Alan and Haley – and a few intimate scenes – the story really is more focused on their building a new life together and working to get there. With some awesome characters, some solid and interesting plot and a wonderful setting this is a lovely story and one I will enjoy many times again in the future.

A Heart Back Home by Andrew Grey
Publisher: Self published
Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQ, Erotic Romance
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Clay Kartwell loses his job and gets a call from his estranged father asking for his help back on the family farm, all on the same day. Clay knows he has to return home, even though it’s the last thing he wants to do. Some things back home are best left unremembered.

Dell Warrington was Clay’s unrequited high school crush and the man he least wants to see. He’s everything Clay remembered and more, including the father of four-year-old Archie. But Dell hasn’t had it easy either, and not everything is as it seems.

Clay sets out to save the farm and bring in the crops with Dell’s help. Old assumptions fall to the side as the two men reconnect, and the second chance that Clay never knew he wanted seems within his grasp. But Clay left the farm for a reason, and reconciliation with his stoic father won’t be easy. When his city life offers a new opportunity, he must decide whether to accept what he knows, or follow his heart.

Clay had known he was gay since he was a teenager with the biggest crush ever on school hunk Dell. But then Clay’s mother died, his relationship with his father grew beyond surly and Dell blew hot and cold, confusing the hell out of Clay. When school finished, Clay had had enough and left for the bright lights of the town, determined not to return. Five years later, however, Clay finds himself between jobs and his father calls, urgently needing Clay’s help on the farm for a few weeks. When Clay returns, Dell is one of the first people he bumps into and Clay discovers he isn’t the only one who has grown up since school finished.

I really enjoyed this emotional and well written small town romance. I absolutely loved that while Clay had left and grown into a young man during his stint in the city, he didn’t pretend to know everything or act like being in the city had made him better or more worldly or anything like that. At heart Clay was just a more mature version of the small-town boy he had always been. I also really like the fact that even though Dell has a small son and had been confused about his sexuality during their high school years, he didn’t let his popularity with the ladies get to his head or his ego. Basically, while there were understandable small problems with both Clay and Dell – and the fact there was a massive amount of baggage to be fixed between them – they were both good, solid, reliable men and characters who I could root for from pretty much the beginning. This made the book a lot more palatable to me.

I admit that I felt the conflict and tension between Clay and his father was just a little overdrawn. I was pleased that this was where much of the plot tension resided and in general felt it was well handled, but at times it felt like there was just a little too much mis-communication and mis-understandings between Clay and his dad. I can totally appreciate the older gent was a stubborn farmer and well set in his ways – and communication is often not a strong suit with these types of men, so it was logical and realistic. I also appreciated how in this singular instance Clay didn’t shine brightly – he was expecting the worst in many respects from his dad and made his own assumptions and generalizations, so it was nice to see that Clay was not perfect. I just couldn’t help but feel this side of the plot was a little overdrawn for my personal tastes.

I was thrilled with the depth to both Clay and Dell’s characters, these were interesting and layered men who I enjoyed getting to know and in particular who I enjoyed watching them re-learn each other both personally and physically. I thoroughly enjoyed there was a small but important cast of secondary characters – Dell’s son Archie, Clay’s dad and Clay’s best friend Alan. The characters and the emotion of Clay and Dell reconnecting and learning to trust and love each other was delightful to read and I was so pleased the author didn’t rush through this part of the process between them. While there is some deliciously hot sex between them, I found this to be a deeply emotional book and one that focused on the relationship and connections between the men – not just their sizzle in the bedroom.

Hot and wonderful, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and am eager to read the next in the series.

Heavy Lifting by Andrew Grey
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQ, Erotic Romance
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Would-be journalist Reg Applewhite is a slight, geeky guy who knows from high school experience that he’s the perfect size to be shoved into a locker. He writes for his sister’s fashion and gossip blogs and is very understandably reluctant when assigned to cover a local bodybuilding competition for material.

Jack Ponte is a physical god, with a perfect body, poise, and intense eyes. But it’s his grace that captures Reg’s attention, and when Reg asks for an interview, Jack agrees. After all, he’s looking for a life after bodybuilding, and Reg’s blogs offer a chance at something less fleeting.

During the interview, they discover mutual interests in fashion and video games that lead to friendship and deeper feelings neither expects. Reg finds it hard to believe that a god-man like Jack would see anything in him, and Jack is just as shocked when Reg seems to see beyond his looks to the person inside. But there is a price to pay for everything, and Jack draws the kind of unwanted attention that could threaten to pull them apart… or worse. Together they need to figure out a way to lift each other up and push through the challenges.

Reg might have been a geek, skinny and into video games, but he was also an excellent journalist and blogger. He enjoyed working for his sister’s fashion magazine and although his heart wasn’t in a lot of the more gossipy articles that the blog ran, he felt it was balanced out enough with the more real articles he had the freedom to go for. Covering a body building contest wasn’t his idea of a good time, but after a quick initial chat with Jack and finding a sharp brain beneath the magnificent muscles Reg is quickly swayed by the handsome man.

I found this a delightful and fun story. I was super impressed that while at a first glance Reg and Jack’s characters had a few strokes of their “jock and geek” stereotype, both characters were far deeper and infinitely more interesting than I had previously given them credit for. I adored how they didn’t simply glance at each other and jump into bed, and that the two men really learned about each other before becoming intimate. This helped me as a reader see their relationship as far more than just a quick sexy interlude and the building of a far more lasting and interesting emotional relationship between them.

Another thing I really enjoyed with this story was how many of the stereotypes and tropes didn’t unwind how I expected them to. Things like the subplots around a creepy stalker and an over-ambitious sister/editor, both of these are quite well-worn plotlines to my mind and all too frequently fall into a similar pattern to each other. When I could see them beginning I was tempted to skim ahead, not overly interesting in something I have read in other books numerous times before. Both times I was quickly proven extremely wrong – the plots unfolding in ways I had not expected and I was relieved to have not jumped ahead.

The communication and slowly building trust between Reg and Jack – as well as their friendship and connection, I feel – was the real sticking point for this story. I absolutely loved them and loved how neither man was as cookie-cutter as I was expecting. This really appealed to me and made the whole story feel lighter and fresher than I had worried about. While there isn’t anything earth-shatteringly new or different in this story, between the interesting plots, the vivid characters and the really fresh voice of the author I absolutely enjoyed this story and fully expect to purchase the second in the series.

Readers looking for a fun, sexy and steamy story should not be disappointed by this book. I found Reg and Jack’s characters to be interesting and vibrant and their connection and friendship to be believable and relatable. These are two men I felt empathy and interest for and I am intrigued to read more by this author.