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

Mark has worked on Clay and Dell’s farm for a year, and he’s now in charge of the care and feeding of their growing herd of goats. He’s worked hard to provide for himself and build a life of his own. But with the operation continuing to expand, additional help is needed.

Isaac lives in a self-sustaining, simple-life community a few miles up the road. He’s spent his life working and wondering what the outside world might be like. When his father requires him to earn outside money, he asks for a job at Clay and Dell’s farm.

What neither Mark nor Isaac expects is a friendship that quickly grows into something more. But their feelings for each other go against everything that Isaac has been taught, and acting on those feelings will mean leaving the only way of life he’s ever known.

Together, Isaac and Mark are going to need a great deal of strength to weather the storm that’s sure to head their way.

Mark has been working on Clay and Dell’s farm for a year now, helping with their growing herd of goats. With the business and herd expanding Clay and Dell know they need more help and so they hire Isaac, who lives a few miles up the road in a self-sustaining, simple-life community. Mark and Isaac quickly form a deep friendship and soon those feelings could lead to something more, but Isaac struggles as his feelings go against everything he’s been taught and Isaac isn’t sure he wants to leave behind everything he’s ever known.

I’ve really enjoyed the two previous stories in this series and I was really impressed that this third book (same as the first and second) easily stands alone and can be read independently to the other two. The farm, characters and setting are all quickly and simply explained so these three books can be read in any order and missing one doesn’t detract at all from the others. That said, I was really happy to catch up with Clay and Dell, and Alan and Haley – the farm and setting is such a lovely, comforting and wonderful place it makes me happy to read about it. And at no point did I feel that “catching up” on previous characters infringed at all on Mark and Isaac’s spotlight. The author has an awesome way of balancing the various characters, plots and subplots so each gets enough time and I thought this book had that in spades.

While I thought Isaac’s home life – and the narrow mindedness and controlling aspects of Isaac’s father in particular – were tastefully and carefully handled it really took Isaac quite some time to solidify is own thoughts and desires for the future. Such a monumental change – effectively turning away from the entirety of life as he knew it – couldn’t have realistically happened in just one or two days, but I think that some readers may feel this aspect of the plot and story moves just a little slowly. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Isaac settle into the farm’s routine and the strength and confidence he gained as he became more comfortable in those surroundings. It also really made sense to me how the constant contrasts between life on Clay and Dell’s farm, and the life being lived by the community in Isaac’s hometown showed Isaac just how strict and overbearing – and unreasonable – Isaac’s father was as the community leader.

The friendship that slowly grew between Mark and Isaac was really lovely. I thought this was so well written and really tasteful in that Isaac was learning and slowly coming out of his shell. This is not some hot and heavy, intensely erotic blossoming of a romance and readers expecting something that sizzling and intense probably won’t find themselves satisfied here. Instead I really appreciated the slow burn, the deepening and growing trust, friendship and attraction that turned into love. I thought this was really special and although the pace is slow, I really felt it needed to be considering Mark and particularly Isaac’s circumstances.

With wonderful characters, a great plot and plenty of emotional conflict this is a lovely story and I feel it’s a great addition to this series.

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?

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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.