Audio book Review: Plaid Versus Paisley by K.C. Burn

From The Blurb:

Listening Time: 7 hrs, 57 min 

Two years after his life fell apart, Will Dawson moved to Florida to start over. His job in the tech department of Idyll Fling, a gay porn studio, is ideal for him. When his boss forces him to take on a new hire, the last person he expects is Dallas Greene—the man who cost him his job and his boyfriend back in Connecticut. He doesn’t know what’s on Dallas’s agenda, but he won’t be blindsided by a wolf masquerading as a runway model. Not again. 

Dallas might have thrown himself on his brother’s mercy, but his skills are needed at Idyll Fling. Working with Will is a bonus, since Dallas has never forgotten the man. A good working relationship is only the beginning of what Dallas wants with Will. 

But Dallas doesn’t realize how deep Will’s distrust runs, and Will doesn’t know that the man he’s torn between loving and hating is the boss’s brother. When all truths are revealed, how can a relationship built on lies still stand?

Karen's rating:

Ok, I admit it...I'mma paisley kinda' girl myself...

"Plaid Versus Paisley' is the second book in K.C. Burn's series 'Fabric Hearts' and while book #1 'Tartan Hearts' and I didn't do overly well 'Plaid Versus Paisley' turned out to be a far more enjoyable experience for me.

Two years ago Will Dawson lost his job forcing him to relocate from Conneticut to Florida where he landed a job working at Idyll Fling...yes, this is the same gay porn studio that gave us Raven (one of the MCs from 'Tartan Candy' and coincidentally Will's best friend) Will's happy working in the tech department of Idyll Fling. Unfortunately because of the circumstances surrounding why he left his last job Will's got a few issues when it comes to delegating job duties and it's starting to show things are piling up in his department and he's starting to show signs of stress and burnout so while it's not surprising that his boss would bring on some help for Will since the business is growing. The last thing Will expects is for said help to come in the form of Dallas Green...the man who as far as Will's concerned cost him both his job and his boyfriend.

Will's not sure what's up but he keeps quiet about knowing Dallas and exactly what their relationship was from his perspective, but he's not the only one keeping quiet about things. Dallas isn't telling his brother that he's got a history with Will but he's also not telling Will that his brother is the owner of Idyll Fling.

'Plaid Versus Paisley' was from start to finish a story about miscommunication. There was so much that Will and Dallas didn't know about each other from back in Connecticut. It really was a case of only having half the story and for both of them that half story didn't look good to the other person. One of the things that neither man realizes was how much they were attracted to each other.

Book Review: Of Dreams and Ceremonies (Butterfly Hunter, #2) by Julie Bozza

Blurb:

It seemed like a great idea at the time… Aussie Dave Taylor has followed Nicholas Goring to England, and the lovers have become engaged. But now Dave has to cope with living in a mansion full of family and servants, making wedding plans, getting his head around visa applications, and wondering why on earth he’d ever want to wear a ‘mourning suit’. He’s not sure if it will prove any easier, but right now Dave would love to just skip ahead to the honeymoon…

Jewel's rating:



Of Dreams and Ceremonies starts up right where Butterfly Hunter left off. There is a wedding to plan and visa concerns for David, because they want to live in Australia. I thought it was a good follow up to Butterfly Hunter, but it didn't wow me.

Dave and Nicholas have only been a couple for a few short weeks, but they seem like they have been together for forever and a day. They seem to almost be able to read each others minds and finish each others sentences. That kind of ties in to the mysticism a bit from book 1 with the two of them almost seeming to have been 'fated'.

ARC Review: All Wheel Drive by Z. A. Maxfield

From The Blurb:

Healey Holly is battered, depressed, and looking to go to ground in his childhood home. He wants to rent the garage apartment, but it’s Diego Luz’s place now, and the last thing Diego wants is to share it. 

Diego is recovering too—from the accident that put him in a wheelchair and the death of his mother shortly after. The garage apartment is where he’s keeping his mother’s things, and as long as they’re up those stairs and he’s down on the ground, there’s no way he can deal with his loss. And that’s just how he likes it. 

Healey believes in science. Diego believes in luck. It will take a blend of both, and some prayer thrown in besides, for these two to learn that it’s the journey and the destination that matters.

Karen's rating:

This one's not 'Hell on Wheels' but...

it did take a toll on my heart...

'All Wheel Drive' is book number 18 in the 'Bluewater Bay' series and like the third book, 'Hell on Wheels' it's written by Z. A. Maxfield, an author that I'm kind of  partial to. So of course I was all grabby hands for this one because 'Hell on Wheels' is one of my favorite books in this series so far.

If this is a series that you're reading than you'll remember that 'Hell on Wheels' was about Nash Holly and in this book, we get a closer look at Healey Holly, Nash's twin brother and seriously can we talk about that name? Healey, really? I have to admit it just wasn't working for me, but, aside from the name, I really liked Healey. While Nash and Healey may look alike on the outside it's inside where the differences really begin, although both of these men are good and decent people who love their family and are loyal to the extreme with those they care about. Healey is crazy smart and has spent most of his adult life in the world of academia unlike his brother Nash.

The last thing that Healey expects when he knocks on the door of his childhood home broken, battered and bruised on the outside and just wanting to rent the apartment over the garage so that he can let his shattered heart and body heal is to be greeted by a man in a wheelchair who recognizes the look of helpless anxiety that he sees in Healey's eyes after all Diego's seen that same look often enough in the mirror in the days following the accident that put him in a wheelchair and again after losing his mother it's become a familiar sight as he tries to piece his own life back together.

For me 'All Wheel Drive' was as much a book about learning to live with a new reality and forgiving yourself as it was about finding someone to love. Both Healey and Diego have issues…lots and lots of issues.

Healey’s come back to his childhood home in Bluewater Bay more as an emotional reflex reaction to his recent experiences than any kind of practical or even logical decision. He’s hurting physically and emotionally following a car accident and the end of his long-time relationship with ‘Ford’ the man he loved and the man who nearly cost Healey his life.

Blogtour: Get A Grip by L.A. Witt

Please welcome L.A. Witt with 

Get A Grip 

Bluewater Bay #19 

Welcome to the Riptide Publishing/L. A. Witt blog tour for Get a Grip, the latest Bluewater Bay story!

Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing for a choice of two eBooks off my backlist (excluding Get a Grip) and a $10 Riptide Publishing store credit. Entries close at midnight, Eastern time, on July 29th, and winners will be announced on July 30th.  Contest is NOT restricted to U.S. entries.

Blurb:

If a tree falls in Bluewater Bay . . . could it be fate?

A year after his divorce, Shane Andrews isn’t interested in dating—not that he has time, between three kids and a demanding job as a grip. When a windstorm knocks a tree onto one of the Wolf’s Landing soundstages, Shane’s there to help with the mess . . . and so is firefighter Aaron Tucker.

A former smoke jumper, Aaron’s an adrenaline junkie and way too restless and reckless to be relationship material. As far as he’s concerned, monogamy is for penguins, and he’d rather be alone than tied down. Signing up to be a stepparent? No, thank you.

But after a scorching-hot night together, they’re hooked. Aaron is a taste of the excitement Shane’s been lacking, and Shane’s pushing buttons Aaron didn’t know he had. The more they’re together, the less Aaron craves wild nights with other men . . . but the more Shane wants to play the field like he never got to in his twenties.

This could be the love neither man knew he needed, but only if Shane gets his feet back on the ground before Aaron walks away.

Get the book:

About Bluewater Bay

Welcome to Bluewater Bay! This quiet little logging town on Washington state’s Olympic Peninsula has been stagnating for decades, on the verge of ghost town status. Until a television crew moves in to film Wolf’s Landing, a soon-to-be cult hit based on the wildly successful shifter novels penned by local author Hunter Easton.

Wolf’s Landing’s success spawns everything from merchandise to movie talks, and Bluewater Bay explodes into a mecca for fans and tourists alike. The locals still aren’t quite sure what to make of all this—the town is rejuvenated, but at what cost? And the Hollywood-based production crew is out of their element in this small, mossy seaside locale. Needless to say, sparks fly.

This collaborative story world is brought to you by eleven award-winning, best-selling LGBTQ romance authors: L.A. Witt, L.B. Gregg, Z.A. Maxfield,  Heidi Belleau, Rachel Haimowitz, Anne Tenino, Amy Lane, SE Jakes, G.B. Gordon, Jaime Samms and Ally Blue. Each contemporary novel stands alone, but all are built around the town and the people of Bluewater Bay and the Wolf’s Landing media empire.

Check out Bluewater Bay!

About the author: