Tag: m/m romance

Item: Wildfire
Rating: 4.5
Author: Arielle

BOOK REVIEW: Wildfire (In Vino Veritas #1) by Garrett Leigh

September 7, 2022 / Arielle / 0 Comments

Wildfire (In Vino Veritas #1)
by Garrett Leigh
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
A gorgeous new sexual awakening romance with sizzling first times, snarky British banter, and off-the-charts chemistry.

Life doesn’t always pan out as you expect. When it explodes in my face, literally, an old friend offers me a place to heal and a job renovating the kitchen of Burlington’s coolest wine bar.

V&V is a chill fest. Living above it should be a blast. But I’m not built to be a social butterfly. Not anymore. I’m a damaged man.

And I’m not its target clientele.

At least, I think I’m not until I come face to face with the most beautiful human I’ve ever seen. Joss is the new chef and my roommate. He has hair like spun gold and it’s as pretty as the rest of him. Crystal blue eyes. Megawatt smile.

I can’t stop staring. Or thinking about him. He chases my nightmares away. And when he spots my crush a mile off, his solution to our chemical attraction blows my mind.

An experiment of sorts. Science. Is this sexual exploration or sex education?

Either way, Joss is only here for the summer. He’s leaving.

I can’t fall in love with him.

I can’t.

Shame my foolish heart never got the memo.

WILDFIRE is a heartfelt MM friends-to-lovers, hurt/comfort romance in the True North world, with a brooding lumbersexual, a wild-hearted chef, sweet angst and all the Vermont food. Content warning: contains mentions of depression, ADHD, suicidal ideation, and PTSD recovery.

Review

When I saw that the first book to kick this series off was by Garrett Leigh, I was SO excited. Her book, Heartscape, which was in the Vino & Veritas series, was one of my very favorites! Like Heartscape, this one was definitely more emotional and dealt with Kai’s personal trauma after a work incident and the PTSD and insomnia that ensued, and in Joss’s case, ADHD with a case of non-verbal Tourette’s, too.

Right from the get go we get a small teaser that one of our MCs went through something very harrowing before jumping into the main story line of Kai getting a kitchen ready in V & V so that they can start serving food to their very hungry patrons. Joss comes in as the chef and an old friend of Jax’s who doesn’t typically stay in one place very long before moving on to greener pastures.

Joss moves into the apartment above the bar with Kai (gotta love that forced proximity) and immediately the two, who usually are up at all hours of the night not being able to sleep (Kai) or have excess amounts of energy to be burned and have trouble staying on track for more than 5 seconds (Joss), find a calm around each other. The two work perfectly together and form a very fast attachment. Kai, who has never officially been interested in men can’t help but notice Joss’s every move. And vice versa, honestly. The chemistry these two have was off the charts and I enjoyed seeing the evolution of their relationship throughout the book.

I can’t lie, I HAD been worried about the point in which Joss did decide to up and leave Kai/V & V/Burlington like he had in the past. Especially because like the rest of Kai’s friends, I was worried about the bb and wanted to protect him at all costs. Seeing as I don’t want to spoil what actually happens, all I will say is that I was satisfied with how things pan out for the two of them. The way that these two filled each others cups and fit so perfectly made my heart happy. This was the perfect start to this newest series in The World of True North!

Huge thanks to Heart Eyes Press for allowing me to read an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! ♥

BOOK REVIEW: Roommate by Sarina Bowen

January 7, 2021 / Arielle / 6 Comments

Roommate by Sarina Bowen
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Wanted: One roommate to share a 3-bedroom house, split the rent, and ideally not be the guy I can’t stop thinking about.
I’m a man with too many secrets, so the last thing I need is a new roommate with a sexy smile and blue eyes that see right through me. Eight years ago, Roderick left town after high school. We’re not friends. I owe him nothing. But back then, I let one of my secrets slip, and he’s the only one who noticed.
Part of me knows I should run far, far away. But the other part wants him to come upstairs and spend the night. But if I let him in, I could lose everything.

Seeking: A room to rent in town. I’m tidy, have no pets, and I will feed you homemade bread.
I should probably add: Gay AF, and has no filter. It’s no wonder my new landlord is so wary of me.
A smarter man would ignore those hot glances from Kieran Shipley. The broody lumberjack wants more from me than another homemade pretzel, but if I push my luck, I’ll end up back on the street.
Too bad I’ve never been smart with my heart ...

Review

Woooo my first book of 2021!

I had been in a bit of a rut after re-reading the ACOTAR books in preparation for ACOSF and when this eARC showed up on my Kindle, I knew this was going to be exactly what I needed. Sarina Bowen comfort reading. I will start by saying that it had been a while since I read some of the True North books (this book is a standalone so you don’t have to read them to read this) so I had been thinking that Kieran had the personality of Kyle (LOL OOPS). Don’t worry, got that straight in my head right away.

This book was definitely an emotional one. Kieran doesn’t expressly know the exact terms of his sexuality but he DOES know that when he saw Roderick Waites under the bleachers in high school performing a super steamy act of sexiness to another guy he was super turned on, and it’s something he STILL thinks about today, eight years later. Imagine his mortification when Roderick shows up around town, asking for a job at the very coffee shop he works at. Already a quiet, and VERY private guy, he’s worried Roderick is going to out him immediately.

Enter Roderick, a guy who is very secure in his sexuality but who also has just exited an extremely toxic relationship with barely his car and the clothes on his back. When he’s offered a trial run at Zara’s coffee shop, you better he’s going to be on his best behavior in order to keep that job. Especially because he’s been sleeping in his car and it’s starting to get real cold at night. He needs every last paycheck he can get.

As we all know from the synopsis and even the title of the book, the two end up becoming roommates and Kieran eventually warms up to Roderick after he realizes he’s not going to say anything about their past. Roderick teaches Kieran to cook (which is so freaking cute) and their relationship keep on progressing from there.

I think the best part of this book was seeing Kieran gain confidence in himself. He sticks it to his boss’s son at work, he becomes enrolled in school in order to take more design classes, he gives in to his attraction to Roderick, and through a series of crazy and yes unfortunate events, FINALLY sorts out some crazy family stuff that he’s been sitting on for years and years. I loved Kieran’s solid and steady presence and how he never was truly worried about anyone finding out abut his relationship with Roderick even though this was his first relationship with another man. No, his insecurities always lay in keeping things private, especially when it came to family matters based on a secret he learned when he was very young. Roderick stole the show with his bright and sunny personality and of course, since this is a Sarina Bowen novel, his FOOD. I swear I always wind up hungry after finishing her books and want to try making all these new things, lol.

P.S. The second best part of this book was learning that Grandpa Shipley now has a girlfriend named Lydia LOLLL

Huge thanks to Tuxbury Publishing LLC for allowing me to read an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!♥

BOOK REVIEW – Glitterland (Glitterland, #1) by Alexis Hall

April 14, 2016 / Anna

BOOK REVIEW – Glitterland (Glitterland, #1) by Alexis Hall Glitterland (Glitterland #1)
by Alexis Hall
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Once the golden boy of the English literary scene, now a clinically depressed writer of pulp crime fiction, Ash Winters has given up on love, hope, happiness, and—most of all—himself. He lives his life between the cycles of his illness, haunted by the ghosts of other people’s expectations.

Then a chance encounter at a stag party throws him into the arms of Essex boy Darian Taylor, an aspiring model who lives in a world of hair gel, fake tans, and fashion shows. By his own admission, Darian isn’t the crispest lettuce in the fridge, but he cooks a mean cottage pie and makes Ash laugh, reminding him of what it’s like to step beyond the boundaries of anxiety.

But Ash has been living in his own shadow for so long that he can’t see past the glitter to the light. Can a man who doesn’t trust himself ever trust in happiness? And how can a man who doesn’t believe in happiness ever fight for his own?

WARNING : This is a very personal review. Please don’t bother if you can’t stand those. Thank you.

I’ve been in Niall’s place. It’s not pretty. The kind of ugly that would make hate yourself if you weren’t that goddamn pissed. I’ve read so many beautiful and heartbreaking reviews of Glitterland that I started writing something along the lines of, no matter how hard I’ve been trying to find the words, they escape me.

Liar. I’m a freaking LIAR.

The words are there, they’re cutting through me, such ugly, ugly things. I’ve read my fair share of books about depression, whether they were idiotic romanticizing of it or heartbreaking journeys, but there’s something so important that nobody ever tells you. Nobody tells you how fucking angry you’d be if you had to witness someone you care about slowly burying himself. No. You read about how to be supportive, how to help, and everything sounds so fucking easy.

You don’t read about how worthless it makes you feel when your love is not enough.

You don’t read about the rage you can’t avoid when other people show understanding and you realize that you can’t, you can’t, you can’t anymore.

You’re a loveless, selfish shell.

You’re so ashamed because really, why can’t you do more, stand more, bear more puddles of blood, plaster on a smile and say that everything’s gonna be okay?

Are you so stripped of hope that you cannot see past this very moment, this 3am phone call that you know – you know – you have to answer no matter what?

Oh, yes. Yes you are. You’re just a fucking human being whose guilt is eating at every pore of itself, whose words are meaningless and worthless. Nobody wants to hear you, and you don’t want to hear you, because you don’t have a problem you don’t have a problem you don’t have a problem. That fucking guilt, though. Can’t you be any more selfish? You don’t own the right to cry, just to be strong.

Even now, years after, knowing she’s okay, writing this makes me want to curl up in a corner and shedding angry tears. Even now, I’m still afraid that my words will be misunderstood, a comforting, understanding smile ready to erase them. I’m still afraid of being judged.

But it took me years to realize that I was just human and that I didn’t deserve to be yelled at for that. It took me years to realize that she didn’t blame me for it and that no, I didn’t blame her, of course, but was just so fucking tired and scared. She knows I love her, and always will.

Fear will do that to you.

I refuse to hide behind my fears anymore.

If I cannot, and will never really understand what depression is, not because of a lack of empathy, but because witnessing it doesn’t mean understanding it, even if you want to, rare are the times when I read a book that captures the core of it and manages to make me approach understanding.

Glitterland is one of these books. That heartbreaking, beautiful book.