February Top Reads #Giveaway

March is upon us and my top reads is here. What books did I read in February that I HAVE to give major props to? Well, you're about to find out. It's always a hard choice to make. I read A LOT of books. I limit my selection to 5 or 6 because there are too many books out there.

How my Top Reads works, in case you don't know, I choose 5 books I read in this month (No matter of publication date) and I tell you about them and where you can buy them. At the end of this post is a giveaway. Winner will get to pick one of these recommended reads to be gifted to them. AWESOME RIGHT? So let's see what my February Top Reads are:

Homo Action Love Story A Tall Tale by Ben Monopoli:

Boots McHenry and his boyfriend Ryan are young superstars in the North American Paintball League, a high-stakes sport where losers face exile -- five full years of it, on an island so secret no one can be sure it even exists. After Ryan has a tragic collision with an opposing team's paintball, the rules of the game force the boyfriends apart.

Boots is shattered without Ryan, so when his best friend Clemente Santiago suggests a daring, high-seas mission to find the island and reunite the pair, Boots jumps at the chance. They assemble a crack team to join them, including fashion model and mixed-martial-arts champ Colby Kroft, hunky-but-shy sea-captain Marcus Tumble, and Piper Pernfors, the ex who's aching to make Boots forget Ryan ever existed.

HOMO ACTION LOVE STORY! is a lighthearted, sex-filled adventure from the author of THE CRANBERRY HUSH and THE PAINTING OF PORCUPINE CITY. It's a perfect storm of beautiful fishermen, murderous pirates, blossoming romances, and secrets that call almost everyone's motives into question. Land, ho! This page-turner is sure to float your boat.

My Review:
ALL THE LOVE. Every part! What a ride this was. Intense beyond measure, romantic, gripping, and MASSIVELY creative! This is the first Ben Monopoli book I've read and O-M-G does he have a new fan! Professional Paintballers? Mystery? Pirates? SHARKS? Yeah, I know. I needed to stop and breathe a few hundred times. You must read this book! 

Buy Links:
Amazon 
B&N 
Kobo 

Blowing It by Kate Aaron

Owen Barnes never expected writing to make him rich, much less with a YA novel written for a bet. Being nominated for the Carnegie Medal, the most prestigious award a children’s author can win, is a dream come true. But Owen’s newfound fame comes at a price, and not just changing his surname to Black.

Gruff, gentle building surveyor Magnus Cassidy is the first man to catch Owen’s interest in almost two years. Owen’s agent, Max, might be trying to control his image, but Magnus sees the real Owen: the eyeliner, drainpipe jeans, and sexy underwear, not the Young Conservative in a tweed jacket Max is turning him into.

When a photo of Owen and Magnus appears online, just weeks before the Carnegie ceremony, Max starts damage limitation. Out and proud since he was fourteen, Owen isn’t going back into the closet without a fight, and he refuses to let his agent erase Magnus from his life. Encouraged by his friends, Owen lashes out, not realising his behaviour could hurt the man he’s doing it all for. Can Owen find a way to reconcile his public and private lives, or has he already blown it?

Contents: passive tops and slutty bottoms, bitchy best friends, bad jokes, sexy underwear, an excess of beards, and a smattering of angst. May contain nuts.

My Review:

I am a huge fan of Kate Aaron and of course when I heard about this book I HAD to get in on it! I had the great honor of prereading this story and was blown away. It's hugely entertaining, wildly fun, and wickedly hot! What more can you ask for in a book? Kate's versatility as a writer makes all her books feel like a reward for the reader. Owen and Magnus are such fabulous characters on their own, when Kate brings them together it's just perfection. This is, without a doubt, one of the most enjoyable books I've read so far in 2015! You want to grab it!

Buy Links:
AMAZON 
ARe 
B&N 

Payback by John Inman

When Tyler Powell's life is torn apart by an unspeakable crime, the need for vengeance takes over. Every moment of every day, as he tries to pull his shattered existence together again, it's all he can think about—revenge.

Will he give in to his rage and become the very thing he hates most? A killer?

Only with the help of Homicide Detective Christian Martin, the cop in charge of his case, does Tyler see the possibility of another life beginning—the astounding revelation of another love reaching out to him. A love he thought he would never know again.

Will he let that love into his life, or is he lost already? Is payback more important to Tyler than his own happiness? And the happiness of the man who loves him? Tyler is determined to find a way to exact his revenge without sacrificing all hope for a future with Christian, but it will be difficult—if not impossible—and in the end he might be forced to make an unbearable choice.
My Review:

I was SUPER excited for this book and I was right to be! WOW! John wrote a heartbreaking story that I wasn't sure I'd come out of. What happens when the love of your life dies so horribly, in front of you? What happens when those responsible for tearing apart your life roam free? UHG! Right? Can a person love again? Would YOU seek revenge? DAMN I was all over the place with this book. Just crying and screaming (I screamed in my head I'm not THAT much of a loon) Tyler oh sweet Tyler. You come to love, sympathize, empathize, and grieve with him. Seeing this whole thing in his POV you literally feel like you ARE him and in that aspect it's a much more emotional read.

Buy Links:
DSP 
AMAZON 
ARe 

Fight by Kelly Wyre

To Nathan Hunt, honesty is anything but the best policy. Telling the truth has gotten him nothing but heartache and pain; so lying about who he is and what he wants seems to be the only path to job security and friends. Hell, it even brings him a hollow kind of happiness.

Except, that's not much of a life for any man. Especially one with Nathan's passions. Desperate to cure his self-made misery, Nathan agrees to go along with a con that will score cash for Nathan to start over. There's just one problem: lying is getting harder by the day. And a con who can't lie, is a con who gets caught.

Nathan's attempts to distract himself from his moral quandary lead him to a mysterious, intoxicating man named Fury. The Mixed Martial Arts fighter knows a thing or two about lies and pasts better left buried. He and Nathan have something else in common - they both want to be with someone who lets them be themselves.

Together, they undertake a journey that proves honesty is more dangerous and more difficult than either of them could have imagined. And as they combat addiction, thugs, guns, and their own inner demons, Nathan and Fury can only hope that their battle to be together will be worth the bitter fight.
My Review:
Terrific book! Gritty, Hot, suspenseful, and emotional. All things I look for in a book. Nathan and Fury start as broken men. Men with a haunting past and a dismal looking future. If they only knew they needed each other sooner they could have fixed their life sooner. But alas, that's not how the world works. Kelly wrote 2 amazing MC's on different yet similar paths. I loved how is all came together and how everything tied up nicely. Brilliant story.

Buy Links:
LooseID 
AMAZON 
B&N 

The Painting of Porcupine City by Ben Monopoli

Brazilian graffiti artist Mateo Amaral is looking for his heaven spot, the one perfect place to paint. His coworker Fletcher Bradford is looking for a heaven spot of his own, and his is even more elusive. Out since age 12, Fletcher's been around more blocks than Mateo has ever painted. He's dated all the jerks, all the creeps, all the losers in between. At 26 he's decided the only way to meet a nice guy is just never to give him a chance to prove otherwise. When he's introduced to Mateo, Fletcher expects to add another notch to his bedpost. But Mateo is different--and from him Fletcher will rediscover a long-lost feeling: surprise. What Fletcher finds in the trunk of Mateo's car will change his life in ways he never imagined--and may help him find what he's always wanted.

From the author of THE CRANBERRY HUSH comes an epic story spanning years and hemispheres and miles of painted walls. At times sexy and sweet, gritty and gut-wrenching, THE PAINTING OF PORCUPINE CITY takes readers along with Mateo and Fletcher on an adventure through the subways of Boston to the towers of São Paulo. Are you in?
My Review:
REMARKABLE! I am not even sure that's a sparkly enough word to be honest. Ben Monopoli is NOT your typical HEA writer. He does bring it but he does it in a way that when the book ends you are emotionally drained, you are hungover. This story swept me away. Perhaps this is my "Heaven Spot" No matter, it's a read for everyone. For those who are searching for something and never found it, those who DID find it and want to remember that feeling. It's a book about hope, loss, love, and acceptance. This story has so many facets to it. It's like shattered glass meeting a ray if sunshine. When you look down you see a sharp, dangerous mess. But if you look up, you see the rainbows it makes. I just love this story. Stunning.

Buy Links:
AMAZON 
B&N 
Kobo 

There you have my top 5 reads of February! These stood out to me and were mind blowingly good! If you don't win the giveaway I really hope you'll check out these books! This contest will run until March 13th! Winner will be notified via email so make sure you check your spam. The ebook can be gifted to you via Amazon or link of your choosing that allows it to be gifted to you. The choice is yours.
So good luck and remember REVIEW what you read, it matters!

 

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