Review: Icecapade

Icecapade by Josh Lanyon and ~
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

(Part of His For The Holidays Anthology)

On the eve of the new millennium, diamond thief Noel Snow seduced FBI special agent Robert Cuffe, then fled into the dawn. Now a successful novelist, Noel uses his capers as fodder for his books, and has modeled his hero's nemesis (and potential love interest) on Cuffe. Though he leaves Robert a drunken phone message every New Year's Eve, Noel hasn't seen or heard from him in a decade.

So he's thrilled when his former lover shows up at his upstate farm one Christmas Eve. Elation quickly turns to alarm when Robert accuses Noel of being responsible for a recent rash of diamond heists.

I had a hard time following the story in the beginning, when novel, past and present were mixed together. Icecapade was the best of the Anthology. Maybe even 4 stars, because I loved the hurt and longing. 

Narration was marvelous.

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Review: Nine Lights over Edinburgh

Nine Lights over Edinburgh by Harper Fox and ~
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

(Part of His For The Holidays Anthology)

Detective Inspector James McBride is riding high on the belief that he's about to bust a human-trafficking ring. But just five days before Christmas, his unorthodox methods catch up with him and his world comes crashing down.

McBride tries to concentrate on his new day job as security for the visiting Israeli ambassador. He even starts to feel a renewed sense of self-worth when the leader of the Israeli team, the aristocratic Tobias Leitner, takes a bullet for him in the line of duty.

This was a police action story with two gay protagonists. The mentioning of Christmas was reduced to informing the reader how time passed. Narration was good. It had a strong vibe like 'Life After Joe', by the same author.

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Review: Christmas Kitsch

Christmas Kitsch by Amy Lane and Nick J. Russo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rusty Baker is a blond, rich, entitled football player in a high school full of them—just the type of oblivious jock all the bullied kids hate. And he might have stayed that way, except he develops a friendship with out-and-proud Oliver Campbell from the wrong side of the tracks. Rusty thinks the friendship is just pity—Oliver is very bright, and Rusty is very not.
Oliver Campbell is the best thing that’s ever happened to him. Rusty’s parents disagree, and Rusty finds himself homeless for the holidays. Oliver may not have much money, but he’s got something Rusty has never known: true family.

 

Because of the title I always thought this was a holiday story, but I would disagree. It spans 6 months and ends with Christmas. The focus is on starting to live on yourself.

Rusty has to be perfect for his parents and because he is not bookish enough for college, he tends to call himself stupid all the time. He is the only point of view.
Oliver is in love with Rusty and is patiently waiting until Rusty is ready to come out and have sex and move in together. It is Oliver who makes me love this novel.

The narration was very good.

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Review: Mistletoe at Midnight

Mistletoe at Midnight by L.B. Gregg and ~
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

 

(Part of His For The Holidays Anthology)

Owen McKenzie has traveled to Vermont to spend an old-fashioned Christmas with his family when he finds himself staying at the same inn as his first love.
Caleb is ready for a second chance with Owen and gets it when fate and the matchmaking McKenzies conspire to strand the two men in a rustic cabin during a snowstorm on Christmas Eve.

Mistletoe at Midnight was a run-of-the-mill, straightforward gay romance with a big family presence. The mother, unrealistic to me but a stereotype in American dime novels, often made me want to skip the rest of the story. The narrator was good but tended to lick his lips during pauses in the text. I noticed it every single time.

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Review: Men Under the Mistletoe

Men Under the Mistletoe by Josh Lanyon, Ava March Harper Fox K.A. Mitchell and ~
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It may be cold outside, but these four holiday novellas will warm you up.

• A man receives the gift of pleasure at the hands of two expert lovers. 

• Boyhood sweethearts get a second chance at romance.

• Two very proper gentlemen indulge their forbidden desires.

• And a Christmas-tree farmer has an epiphany. 

My True Love Gave To Me, by Ava March:
It might be too late for readers of this audiobook review, but you should avoid reading the blurb. It covers 50% of the novella and the following 50% of groveling got tedious fast.
I disliked the booming sound of this novella. Also, after every editorial cut, the volume changed. The narrator goes on my 'avoid' list, with his random pauses after every few words and lack of voices.

Winter Knights, by Harper Fox:
Beautiful story, marvelous narrator.

Lone Star, by Josh Lanyon:
Forgetable. Narration was all right but the edited sentences added at a later point, sounded different.

The Christmas Proposition by K.A. Mitchel was a nice gay romance although in the end I missed some emotion. I did not like the ending. Good narration.



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Review: The Christmas Leap

The Christmas Leap by Keira Andrews and ~
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Will: I've never been with a man. Sure, I've thought about it. No one has any idea how curious I am about men—not even my openly bi best friend. Make that former best friend. Michael ghosted me, and I have no idea why.

Michael: It hurt like hell when I had to distance myself from Will. I’ve tried desperately to grow up and get over him, but my carefully constructed life just fell apart—and Will rushes to my rescue. Now we’re pretending to be a couple to impress his boss at a holiday retreat. 

       

I finished this audiobook and need compliments for that, I think. 

I do not get my friends gushing over this gay holiday romance. It just went on and on while neither the plot or the characters developed. Narration was good.

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Review: Lone Star

Lone Star by Josh Lanyon and ~
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Growing up in rural Texas, Mitchell Evans' ambition to be a dancer made him a target. Though he found success in New York City, Mitch is at a crossroads, and heads home for the first time in twelve years to figure things out. When what appears to be a reindeer jumps out in front of his car, he drives off the road and into the path of the one man he hoped to avoid.

The last person Texas Ranger Web Eisley expects to see four days before Christmas is his first love. He hasn't seen Mitch since they quarreled over coming out to their friends and family years ago. Though he's not in the closet now.

This audiobook was forgetable but nothing was wrong. Just an LGBTQ holiday romance as many others.

The narration was all right but the edited sentences added at a later point, sounded different.

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Review: Winter Knights

Winter Knights by Harper Fox and ~
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Historian Gavin Lowden is in Northumberland on Christmas Eve for two reasons: to find evidence of a romantic bond between Arthur and Lancelot, and to finally tell his partner Piers that he loves him. Piers has promised to come clean with his conservative family and join Gavin for their first holiday as a couple, but at the last minute, he bails. Devastated, Gavin heads out onto the moors alone, just as snow begins to fall…

Gavin stumbles into an underground chamber, where strange happenings cause him to question what is real and what is fantasy. 

Beautiful gay holiday story and marvelous narration. I mostly avoid paranormal stories as well as Christmas stories but in this case, both are only a tiny element of the story. So listen to this audiobook any time you want: you are in for a nice, immersive novella.

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Review: Simon and the Christmas Spirit

Simon and the Christmas Spirit by Summer Devon and Cornell Collins
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

The holiday spirit has forsaken Simon Harris. A recent reminder of the man who used and then left him sends lonely Simon on a glum visit to his club to while away a few hours. A breath of fresh air in the form of Christopher Andrews is about to enter his stale life. Performer of many talents and faces, Christopher gained entrée into the club to win money at cards.

 

I did not finish a 2 hour audiobook. Narration was fine.

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