Reviewed by Danielle

 

SERIES: Heat Series 

AUTHOR: Alex Carreras

PUBLISHER: Siren Publishing

 

Heat 1 – Summer Heat

 

Blurb:

What happens when two men find themselves working together on the same farm in the heat of the summer for two very different reasons?

Hunter Cross receives a call that his mother needs his help. Returning to the farm where he once lived, Hunter hides his homosexuality behind hard work and quiet country nights with no temptation in sight…or so he thought.

Travis Mitchell is stuck on the family farm after almost flunking his freshman year of college and wrecking his parents’ car while receiving head from the captain of his high school soccer team. Tired of his irresponsible ways, they give him an ultimatum: either pay for the repairs on the car by working off the debt on the farm or he pays his own way sophomore year.

Between fistfights and hot summer nights, they find the unexpected in each other, but at what cost.

Review:

This story is hot, sex , fast and a whole set up of different aspects in a relatively short amount of time.

We meet Hunter coming home to live on the farm where he grew up. He wants to be close to his mother who lives there and who is fighting cancer.

Then we have Travis who is sent to the same farm (it belongs to his uncle Bill) by his dad after messing up in school.

The blurb is pretty accurate and gives you a good impression of what the story is about.

It is for the reader to connect to the characters, be it Hunter the broodingly, closeted manly man or the flamboyant, sexdriven Travis. It’s even very easy to come to care for Hunters sweet mother Andrea and strong character Bill.

The sexual tension is dripping off the pages from the moment they meet and the drama is nicely filled throughout the story, with a solid built up.

I have to admit that there was a part that really made me cringe. The moment when Travis faces Hunter and searches for the reason for Hunter’s closeted behaviour, leading to the death of his father at a very young age.That is really wrong and it shouldn’t have been in this story. This talk is followed by a fight that turns physical which I just don’t condone ever.

That being said I have to say this overall this story is an attractive read and has a high sexual level. It makes me curious for the rest of the series

Rating:

 

Heat 2 – Spanish Heat

 

Blurb:

After receiving a breakup text from his partner, Jaxson Mitchell was devastated. While waiting to board a plane for Spain with his boss, Dr. Chase Cameron, Jaxson finally receives a phone call explaining that his ex is moving out…and moving in with their personal trainer, Sergei. It seems that everything he thought he knew, he didn’t.

Under normal circumstances, a trip to Barcelona, Spain, would be exciting even if it was for work, but why with his boss? And why does he have to look so good in his scrubs?

With no resolution, Jaxson boards the plane wishing for the best. But in the land of sangria, sandy beaches, and hot, sultry men, be careful what you wish for because it might just come true.

From departure to arrival, Jaxson Mitchell is torn between two different men in two countries, and he must decide which man he wants…or which wants him

Review:

I really liked this second part  Love the connection between the two main characters, the arrogance of Chase and the kindness Jaxson.

You can read a slow build up and you keep wanting more and more to happen yet don’t get bored reading this story. There are some nice set ups in this story that are far different from the first. The sexual tension is also a very present a thing I found myself really liking so far.

You see Jaxson struggling with his past and his former lover but still feeling the attraction to Chase. Even when there is finally some connection, the past and his thoughts keep Jaxson for going for it. But Chase has his own ways to making Jaxson see some other different points of view and in different kinds of ways 😉

Rating:

 

Heat 3 – Summer heat – Back to the Farm

 

Blurb:

Returning to the farm where they first met, Hunter Cross and Travis Mitchell prepare for a weekend of family fun celebrating the upcoming wedding of Andrea and Bill, Hunter’s mother and Travis’s uncle, while also reuniting with Jaxson Mitchell, Travis’s cousin, and his new boyfriend, Dr. Chase Cameron. What they get instead is a less-than-friendly welcome from Jared and Derek Johnson, brothers working on the farm that have secrets about the past, especially Hunter’s.

Fighting for their love and their lives, Hunter and Travis once again prove their love is as strong as the day they first met a year ago while working in the oppressive summer’s heat of Virginia. Introducing two new characters to the Heat series and reuniting the characters of the first and second, the normally sleepy, Southern farm transforms into a place where dreams are made but could be just as easily broken.

Review:

This story I have to say I found hard to review. I loved seeing the guys back at the farm and I really liked the fact that we see both couples from the first stories there. But this story contains so much sex – and it’s no secret that I like sex – that even I was missing more of a complete story.

Yes, there’s a story there with the wedding and a kind of drama that is put in but it didn’t feel to real me. I didn’t question the love of both couples so I didn’t feel threatened by the added new characters. Again the sex is hot, what we’ve come expect from the first two stories. I liked the closeness between both couples, the elder family members and I have to say I took a liking to Jared (one of the two newly introduced characters).

Overall I would say 2.5 stars

Rating:

 

Heat 4 – Siesta Heat

 

Blurb:

Wanting a new start, Derek Johnson moves to Siesta Key, Florida, in search of a new life among the endless stretches of sandy white beaches and lush tropical landscape.

Born into a super rich and affluent family, Cody Connors returns to Siesta Key and his parents’ home with his tail between his legs, jobless and penniless with no future in sight…at least a future he wants.

Meeting on the dunes one afternoon and instantly attracted to each other, their fateful hookup turns into something more. But are they willing to accept each other’s differences and fall in love? Or will they deny their true feelings and walk away?

Between the hot, sunny days and warm tropical nights, Derek and Cody do everything but take a siesta, causing plenty of heat all of their own.

Review:

Didn’t expect too much from this part of the series as I didn’t feel any connection with Derek upfront.

but wow I can say I was totally surprised!

What a great part of the series. The build up is really great and refreshing compared the former parts of the series.

The characters are genuine and real and there is a great story behind them both. You follow their story as they try to figure out both their backgrounds, their problems and their issues.

Even the small part that centres on Cody and his mum is very well worked out and needs some special mention.

I have to say it could have stretched out a bit more toward the end. This was really a story that could have done well with that. There was more to explore and to see around both Derek and Cody and the ending is quite abruptly I have to say.

Also I think a mentioning that you shouldn’t be opposed to a bit of rough manhandling sex so to speak. But… in the end you can only cheer for the way they seem to go for it completely.

I hope to see some more of them and how they are doing in a next story .

Rating:

 

Heat 5 – Arrested Heat

Blurb:

Jared Johnson moves to Siesta Key, Florida, for a chance at a new beginning among the sandy beaches, lush, swaying palms, and warm, turquoise water Siesta Key is known for.

Upon arrival, he meets Officer Grant Wilcox, one hot cop with an ex-wife and a ten-year-old daughter with attitude. Their attraction is instantaneous and combustible, but can their carnal passion last longer than the weekend, or will it wash away with the outgoing tide?

If it’s up to Jared, he’d stay wrapped in Grant’s muscular arms forever, but Grant needs a little more convincing since he still has one foot in the closet and fears he has too much to lose if their relationship is discovered.

Between late-night dinners, sunsets on the surf, and dodging a few bullets, two men from very different backgrounds attempt to make a future against all odds. But is love enough to keep them together?

Review: 

Very nice story. I really have a liking for Jared and I have to say the whole cop things felt nice too. I really liked Grant despite his closeted behaviour.

What I do really feel and that had been settling in more and more that these stories in general are too short and too quickly written out. There is so much more to explore; so much more story to tell. I honestly feel that it is such a shame that it is cut so short.

The endings are abrupt and that makes you feel a bit like “Oh, was that all?” Really a shame in my opinion.

This is the same here. I love the building connection between Grant and Jared it is really written out nicely and there is some real story there. The sexual attraction is obvious and is sizzling from the pages.

But the moment they really get together it seems the story is very nicely done.

I would honestly advise the author to spend some time finishing the stories after they are together. It would make some good stories even greater stories.

Danielle rates it:

Overall rating for the series:

 

HEAT 6  (Released: Nov. 13th, 2013)

Blurb:

While out on what was supposed to be a run-of-the-mill drug sting operation, Officer Dirk Goodfellow runs into Gage Michaels, a hunky high school acquaintance who once dated his sister. Both now out to their friends and family and both recently single, Dirk takes the plunge and asks Gage for a night out at Siesta Key’s popular nightclub, Pulse.

After a turn on the dance floor and a few cocktails later, they fall into bed, making music of their very own. But unfortunately things quickly start to go south after Dirk accuses Gage’s stepmother of being a prostitute who has been recently arrested…and that’s only the beginning.

And just when both men believe there is the potential of a future together, bullets begin to fly and handcuffs are locked tight, dashing all hopes. But when it comes to the seemingly endless glare of the Sunshine State, one can get easily blinded, especially by love

REVIEW:

This 6th part is just recently out so I decided to add it to the review I had already waiting to be posted on the other parts in this series.

I have to say I was wondering where the author would take this part as the last two had been centred in another country part, so it was nice to see Author Alex Carreras going back to where it started.

But that was also the thing I missed most.

There is a reference to Grant as Dirk’s (one of the main characters) partner as an officer of the law but that is it. You get a little comment on Grant being happy with partner Jared but nothing else.

There is no friendship things, no meeting up with characters, nothing of that kind. This story is about Dirk meeting Gage, a guy he knew from high school who used to date his sister. There was attraction before and now it seems to be the time to act on it. That about covers the whole story.

There is a sense of drama being touched when Gage’s brother deals with marital problems in an extreme manner but that is also brushed aside quickly and not explored.

I hate to say that I’m kind of dissapointed in this part. Yes,the sex is hot as usual, the author is perfectly skilled in that department but with all the possibilities and opportunities being offered in earlier parts I really had high hopes for more.

Rating: 

BUY LINKS: http://www.bookstrand.com/summer-heat ( link to the first part)