Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: ManLove
AUTHOR: Laura Baumbach
PUBLISHER: MLR Books
LENGTH: 238 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 2016
BLURB:
Manlove is a single author collection of some of my short stories pulled together from other out-of-print anthologies. There are no new stories in this collection, just time-worn, in some cases award-winning, shorts. The most recent title is Jackson & Nick from the Storming Love: Wild Fire Series in 2015.
These stories range from military men to computer nerd, tackling DADT to private fantasies, a kidnapping and an attempt to survive a natural disaster. It also includes two short stories that are part of the worlds in my existing series, the Rough Series and Mexican Heat Series. Rough Ride is a brief holiday piece and South of the Border is scene that was originally part of the first draft of the novel Mexican Heat was deleted before publication.
Jackson & Nick – Fireman Jackson Kain and ER physician Dr. Nick Kirby would both like nothing better than to leave behind their high-pressure NY City lives for a just a few days in the peaceful wilds of Northern Ca. Two ordinary men exploring their growing relationship in glorious, undisturbed beauty of nature. Before this trip is over, both men will need all their specialized abilities and training to survive their romantic interlude turned WILD FIRE.
Slippery When Wet – Sauna’s will never be the same after reading this teasing, erotic interlude.
Designated Target – A soldier returns to his fallen commander’s hometown to tell his brother the truth about what happened in the field looking for forgiveness and finds love instead.
Burn Card – A cop struggles to save himself before his lover kills his kidnapper.
Rough Ride – James Justin’s family distanced themselves from him when they learned he was gay. Since then, he’s buried himself in his career so ‘friends’ are really just acquaintances. This holiday season would have been just another lonely time of the year. Except his new lover, Bram Lord, has no intention of letting that happen.
South of the Border – This short story, first published in 2007, was the inspiration for the CRIMES & COCKTAILS Series. Portions of the story as you read here don’t fit the eventual storyline that evolved, but it’s still a hot tale of wet fun.
ANTHOLOGY REVIEW:
This was a great collection of stories featuring men with fantastic chemistry and lots of fun between the sheets…and on the floor and in the shower… 😀 All of the stories save for one were new to me and I enjoyed every single one; if you like your men dominant, some with an added edge of danger, and lots of steamy scenes guaranteed to keep you warm when its cold out, I’d definitely recommend you check this book out!
Burn Card 4.5*
This was a fantastic way to start this collection; the characters were well developed and I enjoyed seeing the strong and sweet sides of both main characters. While there was a bit of a CSI vibe to this, especially with the Vegas locale, the story itself stood on its own and was enjoyable from start to finish. Figuring out the antagonist and reasoning was fairly easy but in no way detracted from the overall story and how much I liked it.
Designated Target 4*
Continuing on from the previous story, this was another really good one. Less about sex and heat, the interactions between the main characters were on the sweeter side of things despite the overwhelming attraction between them. I especially liked how, besides finding themselves in an unexpected relationship, both China and Carson were also finding a way towards healing by the end. My only regret is that I didn’t get even a little glimpse of these two men together after China’s enlistment was up.
Rough Ride 3.5*
I’ve read this one a few times before though its been a while since I last checked it out. I’ve always loved the dynamic Bram and James have going on between them and it was great getting to see them again after so long. While the story can be enjoyed on its own, I really do think you need to read the books that come before this one shot in order to get the most enjoyment out of it. There was a lot that happened between these two to get to this point and it seems a shame to not have that information going into reading this last look at them.
Slippery When Wet 3.5*
If all saunas were this hot, I might be tempted to check one out! There wasn’t a lot of character development in this one, which was a shame, but there was lots of smut to soothe my hurt feelings over it. Both Dallas and Parker were men of few words but their actions were more important anyway. I did find Parker’s inability to string to words together in the face of Dallas’ hotness a little irritating but watching him get over it was half of the fun anyway. My only real regret is not getting to see their relationship progress past the scene given here.
South of the Border 4*
The author states that this story was the inspiration for another one of her series and after reading this, I find myself needing to go check it out! While just a small snapshot in the lives of Gabriel and Antonio, there was enough for me to see, not only the chemistry between them, but the love as well. Hot sex and enough about the characters to make me happy, this was a great introduction to these characters even if this particular story didn’t quite make it into their books.
Jackson & Nick 4*
This was a really good story to end the book on; plenty of character development to make me happy and enough action, both in and out of the sheets, to keep me interested. The pacing was great and gave me plenty of time to know and come to like both Jackson and Nick while I cheered Jackson on in his endeavors. The best part for me, however, was the ending and the mutual confession; I’m a sucker for the feels, I can’t help it! Great story overall.
RATING: 
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