Fated Love by Sean Michael
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, LGBTQ
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

Love doesn’t always get a second chance.

Ten years ago, Sunny Morgen waved goodbye to his boyfriend Jack at the airport, never expecting to see him again. Since then, he’s focused on learning a trade and raising his daughter as best he can. He never would have guessed that fate would bring Jack back into his life.

Jack Johnston hated leaving Sunny for a job on the west coast, but he couldn’t afford to turn it down. Ten years later finds him back in Ottawa, retired, with a three-year-old daughter in tow, and a new lease on life. The last thing he expects when he opens the door to meet his potential new baby-sitter and her father is Sunny.

Now that fate has brought them back together again, will Jack and Sunny reclaim the love they gave up?

Ten years ago, Sunny said farewell to his boyfriend Jack at the airport. While sad, neither man ever expected to see the other again and they’ve both focused on their lives, careers, and later each raising their own daughter. Only now Jack finds himself back in Ottawa and utterly shocked when he opens the door expecting to find a potential babysitter only to find himself once again in Sunny’s orbit. Now that fate has brought the two men back together can they make it work?

This is a fun and short story that would be great as a quick and sexy read. With the two characters knowing each other well – albeit from a decade ago – there wasn’t the usual feel of insta-love that can sometimes ring untrue. Jack and Sunny had left each other on good terms, their lives just moving in different directions, and so the fact they reconnected so quickly and became intimate almost immediately didn’t strike me as unrealistic.

I must admit I would have preferred a little more length to this story – seeing how Jack and Sunny managed to work together and build their relationship, but this is still a lovely snippet showing the two men getting back together and it leaves off on a very positive and hopeful note with the two men clearly interested in rebuilding the relationship they had each let go of.

For a quick, sexy and enjoyable read this is a good story and one I will likely reread.

Hero In Waiting by Andrew Grey
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, LGBTQ
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

Wells Barnaby is in danger and he doesn’t even know it. After leaving the Marines, he came to live with his sister and is helping to care for his niece. When a threat from his past rears up, it puts them all in danger… and brings the one who got away back into his life.

Miller Washington served with Wells, and the two men shared an attraction that neither of them acknowledged. When Miller learns that an old enemy is on the loose and that he may come after Wells, he makes a beeline to help. But he doesn’t expect repressed desire to blaze back to life.

Between renewed attraction and an enemy who will stop at nothing to get even, Wells and Miller must navigate the heat of passion too strong for either of them to contain while not letting their guard down, in order to protect Wells’s family and their second chance.

Wells and Miller served together for many years together in the Marines. Now they’re both out and have gone their separate ways – Wells eventually back to his sister to help take care of his five-year-old niece, Giselle, and after travelling around aimlessly Miller ended up working in security. When an old enemy negotiates for his release, Miller tracks Wells down to warn him – they’re both on the same hit list now and Wells family in particular are in great danger. Can these two men finally find their way to acting on their mutual attraction?

I’m always a sucker for the returned veteran style of story and this book ticked every box for me. The chemistry between Wells and Miller sizzles right from the first page and I was really pleased that they didn’t just fall into insta-lust or jump right into bed there and then. There was plenty of friendship and trust between them from their years serving together and Miller in particular didn’t want to change that. I could also appreciate that while Wells clearly was attracted to and wanted more with Miller, with a killer lunatic hunting them down Wells’ focus was very much on his sister and niece’s protection.

I thought the author did a really good job to balance the steamy romance between the men and the main plotline. Both had a strong focus in the book, but I was pleased in particular the the plot didn’t feel shoved in there or just tacked on to make the book appear more rounded. A good amount of time and effort had gone into writing these sections of the book and that showed. This helped me really feel invested in the story as a whole and not just the sexy scenes between the two men. I cared about their relationship as a whole and the mini-family they were growing and building between them. The action and conflict with their mutual enemy added a good amount of tension and helped the story not feel too soppy or rose-tinted.

With interesting and realistic characters that I felt quite invested in and a solid plot that I felt was very well handled this was a good book. I am eagerly waiting for the next to come along.