Most Wanted May 14-May 21

Well it's Monday folks! This week we don't have too many books on our list. But our first is a BIGGIE Ty and Zane are back and I CANNOT WAIT to read their book...It's a sickness, I cannot help myself. Also from Dreamspinner Press is the third book in the Wolf's Own series by Carole Cummings.

Jan Irving has a new book featuring a Navy SEAL and Laddie is trying very hard not to be overwhelmed by temptation and read it the SECOND it comes out!

There is also a short coming out from Riptide Publishing by Heidi Belleau and Violetta
Vane that looks quite interesting.

So here they are this week's most wanted.

1. Armed & Dangerous (Cut & Run #5) by Abigail Roux
Release Date: May 18th
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Category: Contemporary/Law Enforcement
Proiority Reading: To read ASAP!

2. Koan (Wolf's Own #3) by Carole Cummings
Release Date: May 21st
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Category: Fantasy
Priority Rating: Read ASAP

3. The SEAL in my Attic by Jan Irving
Release Date: May 21st
Publisher: Total E Bound
Category: Contemporary
Priority Rating: Come on Lad baby...You know you wanna...

4. Cruce de Caminos by Heidi Balleau and Violetta Vane
Release Date: May 21st
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Category: Contemporary
Priority Rating: Curious

Laddie's List of SUPER Rereads!!

I have so many books that I love but there are some books that transcend all others and become SUPER rereads. Books where I just have to revisit the characters again and again. Here's a list my lovelies of those books that have me coming back to them again and again. I'll link to the books' Goodreads pages and my reviews.

Gambling Men by Amy Lane

Lad's review 

I just read this book about five days ago and I have already read it twice. Quent and Jace are a captivating and intense couple that damn near had me gasping for breath with the heat blazing off of my Kindle. Sexy and sweet doesn't even cover it.

Frog by Mary Calmes

Lad's review

This is another one that I read about a week or two ago for the first time. I've already read it three times. Web and Cy stole my heart and made me smile. Web is an especially heart warming character and I swear that I want a Web of my own.

Written In The Stars by Alix Bekins

Lad's review

Bailey and John's story is one of the best friends-to-lovers stories that I've read. It's so very, very funny and I really believed in the connection that these guys had. Also, who can resist a cranky genius?

Soldier by AKM Miles

Lad's review

I actually bought the print version of this book because I love it SO MUCH and want AKM Miles to sign it at this year's GRL. The story of Soldier, Dillon and the seven foster kids they love is so sweet. It melts my heart every time I read it.

It's Not Shakespeare by Amy Lane

Lad's review

James and Rafi are an multicultural romance done right. I adore these guys and when I want an interracial romance these guys are my go to. Actually, it's them and the couple below who were also created by Amy Lane.

If I Must by Amy Lane

Yes, Amy Lane is on my list three times. This book is the first M/M romance to ever make it on my reread list. Ian, Joel and their crazy cat (Manky Bastard) are my FAVORITE interracial couple. Ian stole my heart with his absent minded genius and to this day I just want to hug the stuffing out of the man.

Acrobat by Mary Calmes

Lad's review

Mary Calmes makes another appearance on my list with a book that was released just this month. It's also another one that I've already read twice. Dreo, oh, Dreo how I adore thee. A sexy man who's trying to make good and create a family. I just had to love him.

Daddy, Daddy and Me by Sean Michael

Lad's review

When I think of a family story this is the book that comes to mind. These guys and the two little sweethearts that are their kids star in a story that just begs to be read over and over again.

The One That Broke Free by T.C. Blue

Lad's review

This book has two of the most atypical characters that I've come across and I love them for it. The author could have gone with stereotypes but did something a little more original. These guys are definitely two of my favorites.

The Wedding Planner by G.A. Hauser

Lad's review

This is probably the only G.A. Hauser book that I really, really, REALLY love. Hell, it might be the only one that I like. Jordon and Tyler were so cute and I rooted for them to get together. This is another one that i love so much that I bought it in paperback.

So, that's my list. Which books are on your reread list?

Gambling Men by Amy Lane

Poker is Life...You gotta to go all in sometimes to WIN BIG...Jace Spade was a man that liked to take a gamble and when it came to Quent Jackson he had been waiting to play his cards just right. Because Quent he was the BIG WIN...The one that once you had it, you could walk away without looking back.

Eight years they had been friends. College roomates, business partners and Quent was always happy to let Jace take the lead. Quent trusted Jace with his life, and would have happily followed him wherever he took him. He loved him too. Always, from the first day, but Jace was straight and a ladies man, so Quent kept it to himself. He'd rather have him close, like his best friend, his business partner, the guy who he did everything with, than not to have him at all...He took what he could get.

Until the day that Jace raised the stakes and made his move...All of a sudden Jace and Quent were in bed together and it was all that they both wanted, because apparently Jace had been pining for Quent for just as long, and well once they both showed their hands it was a fucking NUCLEAR thing. They were so hot for each other, it was like their entire lives had been leading up to THEM, them TOGETHER. So MUCH LOVE and they couldn't get enough of each other. So MUCH TIME wanting and waiting, and once it was their time to be together they did everything like they always had. Jace went at it like he was going to set the world on fire, and Quent just let him walk him right into the flames. These two men were a thing of fucking beauty, the gestures, the love, the passion, and the HOTNESS. SWEET SWEET MERCY, have some ice packs ready people...Because DAMN.


Here's the thing with Amy Lane. I love her books. Every one I've read, I've loved. She writes beautiful couples, that always affect me, and they are always hot and sexy and just amazing. She upped her game with Jace and Quent though, this was DAMN fine erotica. Just like Marie Sexton with Song of Oestend, or KA Mitchell with Bad Boyfriend it was like I went from some lovely Ben and Jerry's chocolate ice cream to that awesome stuff from Godiva, and yes they're both good but there is a difference. 

This was purely indulgent, spicy, sweet, hot, good and just very very tasty.

They were SO IN LOVE, I just smiled the whole time, the friends were fantastic, the office manager Elsie was a hoot, and I LOVED all the poker metaphors. I was not bored for a single second.

One more awesome book, with awesome men, with a beautiful love story (angst free this time).

I wish every day was New Amy Lane Book Day. RECOMMEND!!!!


Gambling Men is available at Dreamspinnerpress.com

Acrobat by Mary Calmes

DREO DREO DREO DREO DREO!!!! OMG DREO I FUCKING LOVE YOU!!!
I don't even know where to start about how fine Dreo's character was. I loved the whole book, but Dreo YIKES! Made me BLUSH!! Swoon, shiver, shudder (maybe pant a few times)!

Nate Quells is a professor of Literature at the University of Chicago. He's 45 and had a 28 year old kid with his best friend.

His life is a good life, he loves his son, his family, his son's mom is his best friend. He loves his job and is very good at it.

Love life is a bit stuck right now, mostly because he wants a bit more than casual and he just has not found anyone that like him wants forever. His last relationship with a deeply closeted man let him feeling like he could not compromise anymore.

One really good thing in his life is his neighbors. Michael and his uncle Dreo. Michael is 16 and four years ago lost his mom, who gave guardianship to Dreo. Dreo does his best to raise him, but it's hard doing it alone. Somehow through the years Nate became the other parent for Michael, he loves the kid and cares for him when Dreo is working.

Dreo's job as a bodyguard for a local mafia boss is a distant thing for Nate. He never thinks about it. Until a night where things go wrong and Dreo comes home in shock and full of blood. Suddenly Nate is caring not just for Michael anymore but for Dreo as well, and very quickly it becomes clear that Dreo this last for years has thought about Nate as a LOT more than just a neighbor and when he turns all of that on Nate...Well Nates falls HARD like flat on his ass in love and it's so awesome!

Dreo is so intense and so passionate, with the possesive, dominating thing and Nate just wants to submit to him and GOOD LAWD the ITALIAN!!! OMG It's so hot. Dreo I love him forever. Nate is such a great guy you want him to be happy...Michael is amazing. All the characters are, but Dreo...He's just so present and willing to be open, he loves Nate and he's going to do all that is right to show him to show the whole frigging world that he's Nate's man. End of Story. 

There was a little twisty at the end, that was ummm a bit crazyish, but at that point she could have brought out aliens and I would have been on board as long as Dreo was around. Nate felt the same way I'm sure.

Mary Calmes has been AMAZING with her last two books, you better believe that whatever she's writing next is getting pre-ordered baby!!

LOVE THIS BOOK!!!

One Small Thing by Piper Vaughn and M.J. O'Shea

The Recipe For Cotton Candy And Fluffy Clouds

 One sarcastic, happy, flamboyant and toppy twink named Rue
One adorable geek with a stutter, some OCD and a problem with crowds named Erik
One sweet, charming best friend named Dusty aka Uncle Dustpan
One little newborn girl named Alice, unexpected but completely loved

Rue is a bartender who goes to cosmetology school during the day and has dreams of being a hairdresser in California. One night he gets a visit from the one woman he slept with and finds out that he's going to be a papa and he decides to keep the baby. With his best friend, Dusty, Rue decides to raise the little bundle of joy who'll be making her appearance in 6 months.

One problem...the week Rue brings Alice home he finds that he has no one to watch her during the times he and Dusty can't be with her. The daycares either suck or have waiting lists three miles long. In a fit of desperation he asks his neighbor across the hall, Erik, to watch the baby during the day.

Erik, oh Erik, you are one adorable mass of geekiness and neuroses. Erik's a guy who's really bad with change, has a stutter, panic attacks, an aversion to healthy food, a LOVE of Star Wars and a HATRED for crowds. He's not too sure about watching a newborn but when he hears that a homophobic neighbor is planning to take advantage of Rue's desperation, Erik comes to the rescue...and it won't be the last time he does.

So begins the formation of Erik, Rue, Dusty and Alice's little family.

One thing I loved about this book was that it was that it was about the making of a family. It was about how these three men make each other stronger and how they're there for each other through thick and thin. Dusty and Rue slowly pull Erik out of his shell and become the first friends he's ever had. Dusty and Erik help Rue raise the little girl who ends up stealing all of their hearts. Erik and Rue help Dusty break away from his abusive asshole of a boyfriend and it was beautiful to read about Erik giving Dusty comfort when the man needed it.

And then we have the small and big changes that happen in Erik. He finds a confidence and strength in himself that had me grinning like a damn fool. He surprises Rue, Dusty and himself in the best ways.

Yes, there's a romance in this book between Rue and Erik but that, for me, really took a back seat to the family aspect of the story. I didn't mind that so much though because I like these family stories and this, more than anything, is a family story.

Now, baby books are my kryptonite, so will this make it onto my reread list. I'm not going to say no but while I was in love with the story the writing style was good but didn't completely grab me. BUT...BUT BUT BUT I will definitely be reading Dusty's story if these two authors decide to tell it. His character really plucked at my heart strings so his story, if there is one, will be an auto-buy for me.

All in all, this was GOOD. Yet, another baby book that left me with a smile on my face and there ain't nothing wrong with that.

Most Wanted (April 30-May 7)

What UP peepsies?! It's May! This year is going QUICKLY and this week we have a lot of goodies. Last week was pretty impressive with all good books, like Out in the Field by Kate McMurray (which I've read three times already), False Start by Janey Chapel, and Frog by Mary Calmes among others...So this week we have the from Dreamspinner Press the sequel to Morning Report by Sue Brown a new book by MJ O'Shea and Piper Vaughn with a Manny theme which is our KRYPTONITE, last but not least is Mary Calmes' new book, which we are highly interested in after we fell in love with Frog. Also Amber Allure there is a new book from Dianne Fox and Anah Crow which looks great.

So here are the most wanted for this week!

Complete Faith (Sequel to Morning Report) by Sue Brown
Release Date: April 30
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Category: Contemporary, Cowboys, Interracial
Link to LA's review on Goodreads

One Small Thing by MJ O'Shea and Piper Vaughn
Release Date: May 4th
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Category: Contemporary, Kids, Flamboyan Character
Priority Rating: I get googly eyed just thinking of this book!

Dirty Little Secret by Anah Crow and Dianne Fox
Release Date: May 6th
Publisher: Amber Allure
Category: Contemporary, Bad Exes
Proirity Rating: Read ASAP

Acrobat by Mary Calmes
Release Date: May 7th
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Category: Mafia Boys (need I say more?)
Priority Rating: Reading the minute it hits my kindle, pre-ordered














That is all for this week's list guys. Lad and I plan to post our list of our top books for this first quarter of 2012, so check in for that!

Laddie's Journey To The Special Forces Series

Since I started reading M/M romance there's been one series that has been talked about more than any other I can think of: Special Forces by Aleksandr Voinov and Marquesate.

There are very few books in the genre whose reputations preceed them. The Special Forces series is the father of them all. Seriously, the debates these books have inspired, and the strong emotions they've pulled out of readers, are damn near legendary. I've seen people organize massive buddy reads for the series and passionately declare their love for the writing and the complexity of the characters.

All of this and I have never read these books. I've wanted to but I always find a way to talk myself out of it. Why? Because they scare the ever loving crap out of me. Gut wrenching is a phrase that a lot of people use to describe Special Forces and up until yesterday I wasn't sure that I wanted to feel like someone was twisting up my insides. Still, I've always been really curious about these books.

So, what changed yesterday? Honestly, I'm tired of feeling like I'm missing out on something that some readers have said is life-changing. No, I'm not exaggerating. People have said that and, dammit, that makes me feel like I've bypassed some rite of passage.

Once I decided to take the leap and read this series I had to decide what format I wanted to read it in. The first book, Soldiers, is long; around 560 pages if I'm not mistaken. I asked myself if I really wanted to read that many pages on my Kindle or, even worse, on my phone. The answer was no. Plus, if this book turns out to be as brilliant as everyone says it is then I want to have a physical copy. Last night I ordered Soldiers part I and II. I'm glad that I bought the print copies because this feels like an occasion that calls for a book to be held in my hands.

I've gotten some surprising responses since I've told people that I'm planning to read Soldiers I & II as soon as they arrive. A lot of other people are scared to read it too. People who LOVE the series have asked me if I'm sure that I want to read it. It's that hard of a book to read. That makes me a little more antsy about taking on this series but I'm pretty determined.

This, my friends, is the beginning of my journey through this series. I'm excited about this because I think it will change the way I view other books in this genre, maybe in all genres for that matter. I'll be posting my reviews and thoughts on the blog as I go along because I have the feeling that this will be one hell of a ride.