Reviewed by Anna Lynn

TITLE:  Blue Moon II: This is Reality

SERIES:  Blue Moon Series #2

AUTHOR:  A.E. Via

NARRATOR:  Tim Paige

PUBLISHER:  Tantor Audio

RELEASE DATE:  October 06, 2020

LENGTH:  5 hours 34 minutes

BLURB:

Pierce aka Strategic Intelligence Specialist, Backhander is back to flush out some of the DEA’s most notorious criminals, and he has one helluva’ team backing him up. The country’s most decorated Navy Seals…the Beastmasters.

Pierce is more than capable of doing his job, but he has one insanely hot distraction that continuously causes him to second guess his hidden orientation. Dane Aramis, call-sign, Hawk. Hawk can see what most people can’t, and whether his sexy Pierce wants to admit it or not, he can see the brilliant man’s desire runs deep for him.

However, when Pierce and the Beastmasters are on their final assignment, the last person they expect to encounter with the opposition is rogue assassin…Omega. The man is unstoppable, and when he comes too close to what Hawk holds dear, the Beastmasters call on the only man that can control the lethal assassin. Omega’s faster, deadlier brother, Alpha.

Bringing Alpha back into society may be disastrous for everyone involved. But, Hawk is willing to take that risk to keep Pierce safe.

Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  His Horizon

SERIES:  His MM Romance Book 1

AUTHOR:  Con Riley

NARRATOR:  Cornell Collins

PUBLISHER:  Tantor Audio

LENGTH:  8 hours and 29 mins

RELEASE DATE:  January 12, 2021

BLURB:

Temperatures rise when there are two cooks in Jude’s kitchen….

Jude’s drowning when he can’t save his family business single-handed. The last person he expects to throw a lifeline is Rob, a rival chef who once beat him to first place in a cooking contest.

Two chefs working together won’t be easy. Not when Rob is everything Jude isn’t – popular, extroverted, and a one-time hookup. What’s worse is that Rob wears his heart on his sleeve while Jude’s still in the closet.

Jude’s dilemma doesn’t end there. Rob’s rescue package comes with conditions that mean sharing everything from the profits to Jude’s sleeping quarters. Sleeping with the enemy will either be a disaster or signal a much brighter future, but only if Jude can meet Rob’s final condition and love him in the open.

Featuring opposites who attract, rivals to lovers, and an out-for-you storyline dripping with hurt-comfort feelings, His Horizon is the first in a shared-world series of stand-alone MM romance novels from Con Riley.

Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  Right as Raine

SERIES:  Aster Valley Book 1

AUTHOR:  Lucy Lennox

NARRATOR:  Michael Dean

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  8 hours and 45 mins

RELEASE DATE: February 2, 2021

BLURB:

Tiller:

As the first openly gay professional football player, I can’t afford to make any mistakes, on or off the field. And the absolute biggest mistake I could make right now would be to fall for Mikey Vining, my best friend, employee and, more importantly, Coach’s baby boy. I might fantasize about Mikey at night — every night — but actually touching him would be a serious personal foul.

And falling for him? That’s completely out of bounds.

Mikey:

I’ve learned my lesson about falling for one of my dad’s players. They’re a bunch of spoiled jocks with more muscles than brains. I’ve spent years learning to keep my eyes, and my hands, to myself. But resisting the temptation becomes nearly impossible when Tiller Raine and I end up together in a small cabin in a remote Colorado town.

Suddenly, there’s not much to do but look at each other. And talk. And hopefully, hopefully touch.

But what happens when our stay in Aster Valley is over and it’s time to return to the real world? Will Coach blow the whistle on our relationship? Or will Tiller admit there might actually be something he loves more than football after all?   

Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  Winter Waites

SERIES:  Aster Valley Prequel Novella

AUTHOR:  Lucy Lennox

NARRATOR:  Michael Dean

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  2 hours and 25 mins

RELEASE DATE:  January 26, 2021

BLURB:

Gentry Kane is a rock star I’ve been half in love with my whole life. And now he’s my patient.

When Winter Waites knocks on the door to the snowy cabin where his next physical therapy patient awaits him, he has no idea his dream celebrity is on the other side. Gentry Kane is everything Winter has always fantasized about.

But it was only a fantasy. What happens when Winter is faced with the flesh and blood man who wants more than physical therapy? Can one night in a cozy cabin lead to more? And how will that affect Winter’s growing career in the tiny, charming town of Aster Valley?

Winter Waites is a 25,000-word stand-alone novella.

Reviewed by Anna Lynn

TITLE:  Watch Me

AUTHOR:  Sloane Kennedy

NARRATOR:  Michael Dean

PUBLISHER:  SK Publishing, LLC

LENGTH: 9 hours and 52 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  December 22, 2020

BLURB:

Nikolai

My rules when it comes to my job in personal protection are pretty simple:

1. Protect the client’s life, not their feelings.
2. Don’t put hands on a client unless you’re getting them out of harm’s way.
3. For God’s sake, don’t do something stupid like fall in love.

Twenty-four hours after meeting Jude Archer, rules one and two are already out the window.

Thankfully, there’s no chance of falling for the callous businessman who cares more about his next deal than he does his own safety.

Jude may have managed to make fools of all the guys his wealthy boss and rumored lover has hired to watch him, but he’s playing in the big leagues now. The son of a bitch might not value his life, but I’m pretty fond of mine.

Time to teach the clueless Jude Archer a few hard lessons….

Jude

My rules for success aren’t for everyone, but they should be.

1. Work hard.
2. When you’re on the verge of giving up, work harder. Life owes you nothing. You have to take what you want.
3. For God’s sake, don’t do something stupid like get distracted by feelings.

With just weeks between me and the closing of the deal that will give me everything I want, I don’t have time to worry about a supposed stalker who hasn’t had the balls to do anything more than send a few threatening letters to my wealthy boss.

Sure, I sent a few so-called bodyguards packing. Even if I thought I was in serious danger, I can’t have someone watching me 24/7. My life works the way it does for a reason and no one, not even the gorgeous Russian ex-soldier who thinks he can scare me into submission, is going to change that.

Nikolai Falkov thinks he has something to teach me? Yeah, good luck with that.

Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Reunion

SERIES:  The Oleander Chronicle #1

AUTHOR:  Lynn Van Dorn

NARRATOR:  Michael Ferraiuolo

PUBLISHER:  self-published

LENGTH:  11 hours and 42 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  February 14, 2021

BLURB:

A man betrayed

The day Brett Payne turned 18, he attended a party that left him disillusioned, his trust shattered, and feeling betrayed by Tony Russo, his first love.

Nearly 15 years later, Brett returns to his hometown of Oleander, Florida, to help his mother, who’s in the hospital. When chance brings Brett and Tony back together, it turns out that while sex isn’t off the table (or the floor, or the shower, or the countertops), Brett isn’t sure he can truly trust the man who broke his heart.

A man rejected

Fifteen years after he was abandoned by Brett, Tony’s dreams for the future were smashed, one by one, until he’s forced to return to Oleander. Barely scraping by as a handyman, he’s hired, reluctantly, by Brett to make improvements at his mother’s house. Being near his first love awakens old feelings that Tony thought were buried forever, and he is irresistibly drawn to the stranger the years have turned Brett into.

A second chance at love 

Together, Tony and Brett’s passion sets fire to both their lives and plans for the future. Past hurts are unburied, secrets are uncovered, and their lives will never be the same. For the first time in years, Tony feels he might have a future worth looking forward to, but only if Brett is willing to once again risk his heart.

Reunion is an extremely steamy stand-alone romance with HEA featuring two grown men who desperately need to find their way home, geographically misplaced waterfowl, and a town where just about anything might happen and often does.

Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  The Venetian and the Rum Runner

AUTHOR:  L.A. Witt

NARRATOR:  Michael Ferraiuolo

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  15 hours and 16 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  January 19, 2021

BLURB:  

New York City, 1924

Once their paths cross, their worlds will never be the same.

Danny Moore and his crew only meant to rob the hotel suites of rich guests. He wasn’t supposed to find himself in gangster Ricky il Sacchi’s room. And il Sacchi wasn’t supposed to wind up dead. Now, Danny has the attention of another notorious gangster.

Carmine Battaglia is intrigued by the Irish thieves who would have made off with a huge score if not for il Sacchi’s death. They’re cunning, careful, and exactly what he needs for his rum-running operation. But Danny’s already lost two brothers to the violence between New York’s Irish and Sicilian gangs, and he’s not about to sell his soul to Carmine.

With a gangster’s blood on his hands, Danny needs protection, whether he likes it or not. And that’s to say nothing of the generous pay, which promises to pull him and his crew – not to mention their families – out of destitution.

Working together brings Danny and Carmine to a détente and then to something so intense, neither can ignore it. Something nearly enough to make them both forget the brutal tensions between their countrymen.

But the death of Ricky il Sacchi hasn’t been forgotten. And someone is determined to make Danny bleed for it.

The Venetian and the Rum Runner is a 144,000-word gay historical romantic suspense novel set during Prohibition and the Roaring Twenties.

Content warning: graphic violence, PTSD.

Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Tic-Tac-Mistletoe

AUTHOR:  N.R. Walker

NARRATOR:  Glen Lloyd

PUBLISHER:  Bluehart Press

LENGTH:  5 hours and 18 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  December 17, 2020

BLURB:

Hamish Kenneally is moving from Australia to the US for a fresh start, beginning with Christmas at his sister’s place in Idaho. When a snowstorm diverts his plane to Montana and leaves him stranded two days before Christmas, he hires a car and drives right into a blizzard.

Ren Brooks has always called Hartbridge, Montana, and his family hardware store, home. After a few failed attempts at love, he’s resigned to being single forever—after all, no guy wants to stay in his sleepy little town for long. And after his dad’s passing earlier in the year, Ren’s Christmas is looking bleak. But when a car runs off the road in front of his property, Ren pulls the driver out and takes him home to get out of the cold.

With the storm and the holidays leaving Hamish with nowhere else to go, Ren kindly offers a place to stay. Hamish is certain he’s crashed right into a Hallmark Christmas movie, despite more car delays and road closures and the prospect of not seeing his sister for Christmas. And with help from Hamish, Ren is beginning to feel a little Christmas cheer.

These two unlikely strangers have more in common than they first realise, and after two days of Christmas decorations, cookies, and non-stop conversation, it looks like Christmas might be saved after all.