TITLE: TOP SECRET AUTHOR: Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy RELEASE DATE: May 7th 2019 GENRE: MM Romance TROPES: Enemies-to-lovers RATING: 5 STARS CLIFFHANGER: No
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A story by either Sarina Bowen or Elle Kennedy is a guaranteed win. Together they are on fire. In TOP SECRET they show us yet again how harmoniously and with ease their writing styles mesh together. So my excitement went through the roof when I learned about this book. But since it was, indeed, top secret, we weren't allowed to talk about it. Keeping a secret has rarely been so hard.
Now on to my thoughts about this story.
I have so much love for Luke and Keaton, our two main protagonists. Luke is the silent brooder, not giving away much about himself to pretty much everyone. Nobody knows about the unhealthy relationship with his family, or that he works his butt off just to survive day by day. As soon as someone tries to pry information out of him he clams up. On the other hand he has zero hangups or insecurities about his sexuality, is ambitious and determined to leave his poor upbringing behind. My heart ached a little for him, because it was so hard to shed his distrust of pretty much everyone.
He said I was stingy with love, and he was right. I am really not sure that will ever change. But if there’s anyone in the world I could change for, it’s certainly him.
Keaton is the outgoing, popular guy, the jock with the beautiful girlfriend, the money and the suitable friends. His dad is the meddling kind, one who expects his son to follow in his footsteps which Keaton has no intention to do. He's a biology buff and didn't that make my little scientist heart sing? All those references about the mating behavior of different species were hilarious (and true).
Keaton's sexual progression felt natural to me - he struggles with it at first but, being the open-minded guy he is, he accepts it and moves on. I loved how loyal and sweet, patient and understanding he was with Luke.
I’m just a guy, standing on a beach in nothing but his favorite pair of lobster shorts, waiting for the right man to love me.
In TOP SECRET Keaton goes on a research expedition in Chile that has the goal to find an unidentified ecotype of orcas. That's actually a fact and happened in March 2019. A friend of mine is one of the scientists who were on the research vessel and took many pics which were published in National Geographic. I thought this was such a cool coincidence I had to mention it.
M/M romance is one of my favorite genres. I love the dynamic between men and the imagery that comes with it. I loved Luke and Keaton together. They couldn't be more different but because of that they filled needs in one another no other person could have. Their evolution from competitors to friends and lovers was beautiful to watch.
Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen joining forces again is a dream come true. With TOP SECRET they give us a stinkin' cute, light-hearted, humorous, flirty enemy-to-lovers story that made my heart pitter-patter. Can we have more of this? PLEEAAASE? I can't wait to listen to the audiobook of this one!
LobsterShorts: I’m fresh out of lobster sex facts atm. BUT…lemme tell you about sea slugs. SinnerThree: Omg yes. I can’t wait for this. Hold on. Let me undo my pants. This time I snort out loud. I know he’s kidding, and I play along. Actually, I’ll do that, too. Having both our dicks out for this fun fact is so fitting. SinnerThree: Dick’s out. All right. Slug sex. Now, baby. LobsterShorts: OK—you ready for this? SinnerThree: Hit me. Blow my mind. LobsterShorts: Sea slugs have penis fights. Dead air follows my revelation. I see the three dots appear to indicate he’s typing. Then they disappear. Reappear. Disappear. Finally, a message pops up. SinnerThree: I don’t even know what to say to that. I guess… Why?? How?? Why???
ROBBIE left us with a mild cliffhanger and JULIEN continues right where the first installment of the Confessions series stopped -[image]
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ROBBIE left us with a mild cliffhanger and JULIEN continues right where the first installment of the Confessions series stopped - I was excited to continue Robbie, Julien's and Joel's journey and see where this new situation would take them.
Robbie has moved into Julien and Priest's apartment. It takes a special man to be able to not feel like the third wheel in an established relationship when you are the last to join but Robbie has no problem at all to grow into their new three-ways relationship. Neither do Joel or Julien for that matter. There is no jealousy, no hidden aggression, each of them enjoys their connection to the other two, which is surprising and admirable, especially because there is so much history between Joel and Julien that there is a lot of potential for somebody to feel left out.
But not Robbie.
“I know I’m a little loud. Bright colors—” “Suit you. You’re one of the brightest, happiest people I’ve ever met, princesse. And whether you are in a black suit or a bright pink one, you will be the shiniest, loveliest person in attendance.”
He is pure light and love. Rarely have I read about a character with a pure heart like his. He stole my heart in the first book but damn, in JULIEN he is EVERYTHING. While this installment primarily deals with Julien's past it is the flamboyant, beautiful man who almost steals the show. He is sweet, patient and so, so perceptive. He has the gift of waiting people out, listening to them and offering solutions nobody has considered. The gentleness that is inherent in Robbie is only surpassed by his mischief which makes for quite some funny situations despite the heavy subject.
“What’s not to love? Julien cooks, you worry about the important stuff, and I make everything sparkle.”
That elusive smile of Priest’s lit his face, and Robbie added,
“I also love that I can do that.”
“What?”
“Make you smile. It’s so rare that it feels like a major accomplishment when it happens.”
It was hinted in ROBBIE that Julien carried a lot of guilt about his sister's death but how much it weighs him down becomes obvious in this book. Around the anniversary of his sister's death he just falls apart and while Priest has always been his crutch through these days Julien never managed to move past his guilt. It was harrowing and gut-wrenching to see this strong, endearing character go through his guilt and grief when it seemed nothing would help him to move on. The betrayal of those who should have been there for him was infuriating and made me feel for Julien even more. I hope that Ella writes some spiders into their beds in the next book.
"A broken heart of gold, that’s what our Julien has.”
Joel Priestley has been an enigma from the first moment I met him in the #PresLocke series. Now we get to see the real Priest, the one who cares deeply, and even has a flirtatious side. He is sexy in an over-powering way and the most intense and controlled of the three. While other people squirm under his gaze Robbie and Julien revel in his attention. He doesn't open up easily but I loved seeing him being sweet and open with our princess. Robbie just has this gift to make people feel comfortable around him and it was so apparent that Joel started to fall for him. Robbie's sparkling yet gentle personality puts deep cracks in his armor. Joel is the caretaker, the person who still functions when things go to hell and seeing his love for Julien was touching.
"But you’re never stupid, Julien. You were just a little less perfect than you usually are.”
Ella gives us a little bit of Tate and Logan in this book - it's always something I get a kick out of when I'm united with favorite characters from another series.
I have come to love these three men so much and I love them equally and wouldn't be able to choose a favorite. They all are so incredibly different yet so perfect for each other. All of them have a goodness in them that is palpable and while Priest's is the least obvious it's the most rewarding because of it.
This was a fast and satisfying read. We are being left again with a cliffy that hurts a little more than the last one but fear not, soon we'll have Joel's book in our hands. JULIEN is alot angstier than ROBBIE and while the first half is mostly light and fun the second half digs deep in the anxiety department. Now the wait for #3 begins. Can it be September already?
Axel loves basketball, is young, single and out-of-the-closet gay and has been offered his dream job at Barmuth University. He watches an online stream of one of their Basketball games to decide whether the job, being responsible for the sports teams' marketing, would be a good fit. The camera zooms in, his eyes fall on a familiar face, a face from his past. And just like that his decision has been made.
If it weren't for his brothers Cax would never have returned into his hometown after graduation but watching over them, while they have to live with their abusive father has taken up precedence. He works as a teaching assistant at Barmuth and loves watching the basketball games. When he realizes that the one guy he ever kissed, the one he had to cut out of his life because of his father, works and lives in the same town, he has an inkling that his life is about to become way more complicated.
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Axeldental & Caxtastrophe...
Axel is out of the closet and determined to stay there when he moves to a small university town in Massachusetts. There isn't a homophobic insult he hasn't heard. He is quite comfortable in his own skin, sweet and easygoing...and terrified of meeting his first love again. Their first meeting is awkward but thankfully they quickly fall back into a grown up version of the easy friendship they had when they were kids. Axel is exceedingly patient with Cax, and it becomes even more prominent when he sees with his own eyes that Cax didn't exaggerate when he told him about his problems.
Axeldental to Caxtastrophe: I’m sorry. I’m sorry that’s how it is, and I’m sorry I made you talk about it. And I’m really sorry that there isn’t some way we can spend time together. But at least I understand now why we can’t.
Cax' fear is so tangible in this story and it is so understandable! His father terrorizes him and has been since that day all those years ago, when he kissed Axel. Cax' brothers mean everything to him, he wants them to feel comfortable to contact him when they are in trouble so he needs to make sure that he stays in their lives. Which means staying firmly in the closet because his homophobic father threatens that he will never see his family again if he ever finds out that Cax is in a gay relationship. Which also means denying himself a life and love. It is unfair and infuriating, especially when you feel the yearning they feel for each other.
Before Axel came to Henning, I’d only suspected that my life sucked. Now I knew that it truly did.
It was lovely to see how Cax gained self confidence with Axel's backup, how he leaned more and more on his childhood friend and lover. I fist-pumped when Cax took charge and went out of his comfort zone to right the wrongs. I adored him for being such an amazing brother.
The trust we had for each other was like a cocoon surrounding the bed.
If you take a closer look at the two families you see a glaring difference in both of the heroes' upbringing. Axel's mom is accepting of his sexual orientation On the other hand you have Cax' father who has already started to affect his other kids with his homophobia. The story shows nicely how tolerance and intolerance is being infused by your upbringing. Parents have power and it's up to them to use it wisely.
Sarina Bowen's books are always special. They are touching, poignant and usually come with a truckload of emotions. These two men share a tenderness and love for one another that radiates off the pages. I loved that we got to see Josh and Caleb. They hold a special place in my heart. I also love the world this author has built for us. It feels familiar the moment you open the book - it's a bit like coming home. While this installment didn't quite reach the level of Goodbye Paradise it was still a heartwarming, sweet and important story packed in a very quick read with 200+ pages. Now I am wondering if Sarina will write Jason's book which I will definitely read.
Hello Forever is the second part in the Hello Goodbye series and can be read as a standalone.
The Boys are back!!! God. GOD. I have no idea where to start, I'm a mess. *takes a deep breath*
It's always so hard to do a book justice with your review if you love the characters and their journey like I adore these two. From the first book on Ella Frank's spellbinding, charismatic heroes of her Temptation series took my heart away and have refused to give it up again ever since. When I heard that this author would continue her amazing MM Romance I squealed. And did the Carlton dance.
Of course, there is always a bit of apprehension when an author decides to continue with the story of a couple he or she left in a happy place. So you might wonder if these books are necessary. Well, if you remember, there were a couple loose ends in the last three books I definitely think that there is enough material there to continue writing more Logan & Tate.
The story starts around four years after we left them. I am not going into plot details because I think the experience will be even better if you go in blind. Just trust Ella that she will do right by them. What I can say, however, is that Logan and Tate are in a good place. They love each other unconditionally, are devoted and as committed as commitment-phobe Logan allows. And Tate is more than OK with that - he has Logan's utter devotion and it's going both ways.
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Logan is his usual arrogant and filterless self but there is a new layer of, let's call it maturity, to him that makes him so absolutely irresistible. For all his cockiness he always looks out for Tate. He gives his best friend and lover room to work out his problems. Logan is the most endearing when he shows his sweet side, which mostly his bartender is on the receiving end of. And he has a ginormous heart. Logan is also so utterly adorable when he shows his insecurities and worries. But all this together makes this complicated man so human and wonderful. And it doesn't hurt that he is hot AF. In clothes and in bed.
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Tate is still the easy-going, considerate and level headed and wonderful man. He calms the storm in Logan and always knows the right things to say when the love of his life needs reassurance. Tate isn't any less captivating. He stands his ground with the intense Logan. The curly gorgeous man knows how much his lawyer loves to be teased and makes use of this knowledge often. Which more often than not lands them both in bed. And holy moly, when Tate gets authoritative and commanding it's like my Kindle catches fire. This guy's heart is just as big as Logan's.
Together they are like a well oiled machine. They just work. Their sexual attraction is strong as ever and so primal, raw and hot. They play rough but they play, what comes out of their mouths is positively filthy. It will leave you panting but coming back for more. But they can also be sweet and tender with each other and I have yet to decide which side of Logan and Tate I love more. They are just perfect and I'd totally be the turkey in their sandwich if they asked me.
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We get to catch up with Cole and Rachel. I loved to see them again with their kids and how close they have become with Logan and Tate. We also see a familiar name return in this story and a new one and I have strong suspicion that we will see a new series or book about them in the future. Yes, we do get some reminders of events from the first three books but I found those necessary to ultimately move this story forward. The banter is, as always, hilarious.
Ella Frank can throw any book at me and I'll gladly read it. I can completely immerse myself in her stories and don't want to come up for air. Now the waiting begins for the next part in Tate's and Logan's journey. Until then...
Jackson Davenport had burrowed his way into my soul a long time ago, and damn if he hadn’t ever let go.
On a business trip for his dad's company he overhears a conversation in a diner between two men that has Jackson's heart in his throat. Lucas Sullivan, the one that got away, can be found at a night club, that evening. As a combination of terror and hope fills him he contemplates seeing the love he left behind again. For eight years he has been squashing his lingering feelings him. Right there, in this diner in a place so close to where he last saw Lucas, they all come rushing back to the surface.
Argos is Lucas' hunting ground. He is on the prowl to get a faceless body underneath him. It's a temporary fix for the emptiness, the deep seated loneliness that has taken root in his heart and mind. Every time a different body. No repeats. No exceptions. When he catches a glimpse of a familiar face, a face he hasn't seen in a long time yet is still etched vividly in his mind, he needs to know if it's really Jackson. The man who broke his heart so thoroughly.
Jackson wants nothing more than apologize for the way he left him all those years ago but Lucas doesn't give him the time of day until a tropical storm forces them together for a night. Lucas isn't just holding a grudge, around the wall built around his heart there is also a barbed wire fence and he lashes out at Jackson. Things come to light, however, things that will change everything they thought happened eight years ago when Jackson left school just before graduation.
Even after all this time. I thought I’d gotten over it. Accepted it, moved past it. But seeing him again brought back every ounce of hurt and shame I’d felt back then, which pissed me off because it meant I was still broken. And it was all his fucking fault.
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Jackson is everybody's darling. He is friendly, kind and sweet, comes from old money and has stunning good looks and boyish charm. Lucas' character is the polar opposite, except in the looks department. He is the local sex god and man-ho and he makes good use of his reputation. Guys flock him and he can choose from an array of tourists that visit South Haven. Having Jackson back in his life means having to face and work through the past and that's not what he wants. Lucas fights Jackson with tooth and nails and settles firmly in jerk territory.
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“I lost my parents. I lost you. Then Gram passed. Putting up walls is the only way I know how to cope at this point.”
He doesn't realize that he hurts himself the most when he lashes out at Jackson. He only knows that he can't get hurt again like he did eight years ago. Him being a grade A asshole towards Jackson doesn't make him sound very likable but despite it all I still did. Lucas' loneliness and hurt is coming off the pages so vividly that you just can't help and feel for him. And when he starts to open up you see the sweet, funny, mischievous guy from Jackson's memory coming back.
Lucas groaned and pushed me away as I laughed. “Fucking tease,” he muttered. “What was that?” He plastered a fake smile on his face. “I said do you like any of these?”
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If Jackson was anything less but as patient and understanding as he was, Lucas train wreck of a life would end like that - lonely and bitter. Jackson is a good man, the better man really, and the way Lucas treated him sometimes would have chased every other guy away but he can see right through Lucas' facade. It couldn't have been anyone else saving this abrasive, acrimonious man. Jackson was incredibly lovable and endearing and everything Lucas needed to let go of his fear.
A thousand words were said in those moments of silence, and most of them began with, “I’m sorry.” All of the anger and hurt and resentment washed away as we sat there making up for our offenses without saying a word.
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This story had everything that ticks my boxes, angst, lighthearted humor, a gripping plot and fascinating characters. Anxiety tightened my chest not just once and when Lucas fired off his barbs my eyes stung with tears a couple times. He could be such an asshole. The set of secondary characters is amazing and while I'm looking forward to both Shaw's and Bash's stories, the scales tipped slightly in Bash's favor towards the end. He is such a scintillating, colorful character! Having said that though, I LOVED Shaw.
This is the first MM romance Brooke Blaine wrote alone and didn't co-author. I am tremendously impressed how riveting, hot and intense this story was. Ms. Blaine wanted to give her readers her very best and let me tell you, it is one of the best MM books I've read this year. Whenever I wasn't studying my eyes were glued to my Kindle. If you read MM do yourself a favor and pick this up. Now the waiting for Shaw's story begins.
A Little Bit Like Love is the first installment of the South Haven series.
“I think love is a big wisdom made up of small understandings."
So. This is it. I daresay that this will be my favorite book of 2017 because I can't see how you can top this story. Big words, I know and I'm already taking away the conclusion of my review but what the hell. Bear with me.
Apart from losing his mother at fifteen, Geno was a normal teenager. He has a deep connection with his brother Carlos that only twins have.
They had a name for their shared space, and within it, they had secret identities. Carlos was Los. Geronimo was Mos. Los and Mos lived in the starry world of Nos, Spanish for we. Nos rhymed with dos, Spanish for two.
In one night Geno's world comes to a screeching halt - forty-four hours of horror make him hand over his life to an imaginary alter-ego.
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My heart burned for this beautiful, sweet boy who'd had nothing but kindness in him and felt so deeply, his loneliness devastated me. He was betrayed in the vilest of ways by somebody he couldn't expect to turn on him, unspeakable things were done to him.
Carlos took his broken heart where he wasn’t supposed to be. He walked out of the henhouse and left the door wide open, letting the Fox in.
Restoring a measure of sanity and trust is a Herculean task and takes a strong, resilient heart. Geno was broken nearly beyond repair and what he endured would have killed a lesser person. His way back to the surface after disassociating himself from his broken self is paved with spikes but he braves every obstacle and one by one loyal champions join his battles to see him through the worst time of his life.
"They didn't get the best of you." - Stef
One of those is Steffen Finch, an art therapist working the cases nobody else wants to touch because they know he is the best and if somebody can crack a case like this one it would be Stef. He is bisexual, divorced and we met him first at the end of An Exaltation of Larks, when he was being introduced to Javier Landes. The attraction is instant and it was sweet to see how they danced around each other until they felt safe enough to open up to each other. What then ensued was sheer beauty and bliss.
“Jesus, I can’t believe the shit I tell you sometimes,” Stef said. “My ears are the round holes for your square thoughts,” Jav said. “Dude, don’t make me like you.” “Sorry.”
Stef is a wonderful character, uniting wisdom, kindness and strength. He finds Geno's cracks in his armor and slowly, slowly starts to fill them with light. Although he should keep a professional distance Stef's admiration for Geno turns into a brotherly love and soon the lines start to blur. I adored Stef and his love for his job. He is intuitive and an inexhaustible well of ideas how to make life for his patients a little more bearable. And even in the most heartbreaking therapy session Stef finds a way to Geno.
“Your heart is bigger than hate,” Stef said. “You tell the story. Words or pictures, nothing’s going to push me away, all right? If you can live it, I can listen to it. If your heart can survive it, mine can too.
When Geno's ordeal becomes to much for Stef, Jav anchors him and gives him peace.
Jav just ended his career as an escort and has a little bit of a midlife crisis. His life consisted of catering to his clients needs, socially and sexually. He identifies as bisexual but has never had a serious relationship and the two men he was in love with were never a possibility. So here he is, trying to figure out what to do next, yearning for a real connection when he meets Stef. I have no words for my love for Jav and Stef. Their chemistry was explosive!
Tonight their bedroom overflowed with magnificent sex. Death by sex. Grandiose, over-the-top sex. They were making love like architects of the universe. Fucking like mathematicians. Multiplying, dividing, canceling each other out and starting from zero.
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They were yin and yang, two puzzle pieces who fit perfectly. Both of them good men from the tips of their hair to the tips of their toes, with a huge capability to love. We read about Jav's backstory in An Exaltation of Larks - he faced his struggles with courage and dignity and it's a miracle that he became such a kind-hearted soul. I also adored his brotherly bond with Geno.
Suanne's description of Geno's horrific ordeal may not be overly graphic but reading about it is a deeply visceral, unsettling and upsetting experience nonetheless. It left me hopeless at first - because how do you come back from this? How do you find the will to go on after you lose everything and most of all your innocence and youth? I have nothing but admiration and love for all the characters but Geno in particular. The way he clawed his way back into life was inspiring.
The most harrowing and disturbing parts will destroy you but those blows are cushioned by a cast with the ability to give unconditional love to a boy who has had his world turned up-side-down. I adored every single character in this story. And then there is the humor that is sprinkled throughout the story that helps you get past the hard parts. Despite the devastation and atrocity this is a story full of hope, love and beauty.
“Gee, Stef,” Geno said loudly. “Max sure looks mad at you.” “Because Max is mad at me, Geno,” Stef said in the same tone. “Why, Stef?” “I’m afraid that’s confidential, Geno, but you could ask him.” Geno leaned out of his chair to look under the table. “Max, why are you mad at Stef?” “He won’t marry my mother.” Geno straightened up and raised his eyebrows at Stef. “Now I’m mad at you too.” “I know, I suck.”
The author did her research on art therapy and the historical facts. I also loved her figurative analogy of a hen house for Geno's home before and after this horrific event.
Suanne Laqueur has found her niche in this so competitive profession. She writes intelligent stories about unconventional characters who have depth and profound stories to tell. Even the side characters are multi-dimensional and equipped with a backstory. She has been gifted with buckets of talent and really makes the most of it. If you follow Ms Laqueur's posts on social media you see a strong, smart, outspoken woman who is funny as hell and her personality shines through in her storytelling.
While this book can be read as a standalone I urge you to read An Exaltation of Larks - the beauty of A Charm of Finches will be enhanced. If you haven't been introduced to her writing yet please prioritize her - Suanne Laqueur is one of a kind.
Astrid - The Bookish Sweet Tooth
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