Review: A Thief in the Night

A Thief in the Night by K.J. Charles and James Joseph, Ryan Laughton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Toby never meant to be a highway robber, but needs must. He didn’t plan to impersonate a top London valet either, but when the chance comes to present himself as the earl of Arvon’s new gentleman's gentleman, he grabs it. Unfortunately, the earl is the man he seduced and robbed on the road to get here. Oops.

Miles, Lord Arvon, is not impressed. But he’s faced with a tumbledown home and lost family fortune, and desperate times call for desperate measures. Toby—shameless, practical, and definitely desperate—may be just the man he needs.

To steal back a priceless bracelet, that is. What else were you thinking?

 
I always feel guilty after reading a KJ Charles novel. Or listening. Today, again. It is well written with good characters but just not my cuppa, and so I end up publishing an average rating. I miss longing, tension, hope, and choosing a path in life.
Often I buy KJC because I long for quality, which is not easy to find in MM romance.

One of the narrators was better than his colleague. I wished it was specified who narrates which character. 

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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: 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: 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: Crashing Box Set

Crashing Box Set by Samantha Wayland and Michael Ferraiuolo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the boxed set of the first three books in Samantha Wayland’s Crashing Series. 

Crashing the Net

Dumping gallons of lube on the new kid is just another day at the office for Alexei. He knows exactly who he is: a goalie on the ice, a prankster in the locker room, and a man who knows better than to share his private life with anyone. 

Mike is broke, bruised, and covered from head to toe in cheap lube. All he wants is to keep to himself and play for the Ice Cats. What he needs, though, is another matter entirely.

Checking It Twice 

After four years with Alexei, there are things Mike knows with absolute certainty: he loves Alexei, Alexei loves him, and Alexei gives the very best Christmas gifts. 

Alexei knows his gift this year is going to blow Mike’s mind, but in the meantime, it’s pretty hilarious watching Mike try to figure out what it is. Granted, 

Changing the Rules

Alexei and Mike have been together for a long time. They’re getting married. They can go a few nights not sleeping next to each other, right? For the sake of the team, Alexei is going to try.

Mike can’t stand not sleeping next to Alexei, and it turns out sleep deprivation makes him overthink things.

First of all: the narration was great.
I liked the first novella. The second was a weird hybrid. It was partly a Christmas special of Home And Away, and partly a sex scene of Crashing the Net. By the time I reached novella #3, I got bored of all the sex and hoped to finish the audiobook soon.

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Review: A Case for Christmas

A Case for Christmas by J.A. Rock and Cornell Collins
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lord Christmas Gale is a genius and a misanthrope, and, quite to his disgust, adored by all of Society for his capacity to solve mysteries. When a man approaches him seeking help in locating a lost dog, Gale rebuffs him. But what begins with a missing dog ends in murder and intrigue-two of Gale's favorite things, if it weren't for the orphan that comes attached to them. Oh, and Benjamin Chant.

The Honourable Mr. Benjamin Chant isn't sure how he got swept up in Gale's mad investigation, but something is intriguing about the man-a vulnerability that most of the world doesn't notice, but which captures Chant's interest, and his sympathy, from their first meeting. After a disastrous love affair in the past, Chant has sworn to never give his heart away again. Especially to a man who does not want it.

The most memorable thing about this audiobook was the amateurish way the corrections were pasted into the track. I think even with 5-dollar earpods and in traffic, you can hear the big volume change. With hifi headphones, you also hear the change in ambiance.

It was s nice story with a bit of romance in a pleasant, alternate Regency setting.

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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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Review: Mike and the Spring Awakening

Mike and the Spring Awakening by Summer Devon and Cornell Collins
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Young Micah "Mike" Cordett's privileged life explodes when he is caught naked with a schoolmate. Running away from disgrace, he blunders into a trap in a seamy part of London and endures months of abuse before escaping.

Lucas Spring pined for Mike from afar when they were in school. This shadow of the confident boy he once knew shocks him, and Lucas vows to do anything he can to help restore the person he'd so admired. With patience and determination, he hopes to ease Mike's fears and perhaps even win his love.

 
A quick and easy gay romance. The story went from A to B without any tension or drama. Well read, but I wil never relisten this audiobook.

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Review: Crimes of Passion

Crimes of Passion by Jack Harbon and Kevin Free, Ron Butler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Emery Thompson hates Calvin Chamberlain. From the way he acts like he’s better than everyone to the way he moves through the world thinking his podcast is the cream of the crop, every little thing about the man gets to him. 

Calvin Chamberlain hates admitting defeat. It’s hard enough losing sponsors for his historical crime podcast while obnoxious pop culture ones like Emery’s only gain more, so it’s a particularly cruel twist of fate when a late fan’s request for a collaboration with Emery lands in his lap. He’s in no position to turn down the plea, and with no way out, Calvin reluctantly agrees.

When reading LGBTQ romance, you always come across the same characters and plotline. This one was different. I liked it, although I felt distanced from the well-developed characters. Add to that a scene of mental health issues that made me wonder why it was not mentioned in the rest of the story, and I decide on a 3-star rating.

This audiobook is a radio play, with a big cast and sound effects. It was well done except for one issue. The story includes tracks from the podcast they record in a studio. So why do I hear so much surrounding noise? A creaking chair will be removed from the sound studio. And, I kid you not, someone is typing in the studio during a recording.

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