Random Review: The Heights by Amy Aislin #Review #Giveaway

Author: Amy Aislin
Title: The Heights
Series: Lakeshore #1
Publication date: September 20, 2018
Length: 235 pages

Reviewed by Truus


Synopsis

Twenty-one years ago, a four-year old child was kidnapped from his front yard. He was never found. Until now.

All Nat Walker wants is to make his late father’s dream of running a father/son woodworking shop come true. And he had the perfect building in mind—until the new guy in town came in and bought the place right out from under him. The fact that the new guy is adorable means nothing. For all Nat cares, he can take his new dance studio and waltz back to New York City.

Professional dancer Quinn Carroll couldn’t be happier that he made the move to the small town of Lakeshore, Oregon. Sure, it’s not New York, but now he’ll be living closer to his adoptive brother. And since his studio will be the only one in the area, he should get enough business to keep him busy. Besides, there’s something about this place that seems familiar...

He doesn’t expect to fall hard for the local, grumpy woodworker who won’t even smile at him.

Or find out that his entire life is a lie.

Buy Links

Amazon

Kobo

Review

The story starts (just like the blurb) where a four year old twin boy is kidnapped.

Some reads are so comfortable and warm. With people who want to do good in life and not make each other sad or bad on purpose. This read is not only a romance, it’s more a story about life and with a lot of family matters. 

The progress was natural, no overdone drama. Even their fights and make ups were lovely and kind. I hiccuped more than once and let some tears flow.

Quinn is new in town following his adoptive brother Shay around who lives already in Lakeshore, Oregon. Quinn is a professional dancer and just opened a dance school. In front he meets the big grumpy Nat. Nat thinks Quinn is lovable but doesn’t want anything to do with him.

Quinn is shockingly surprised when he finds out he has a twin and also an older brother.

Evan and Court never gave up looking for their missing brother.

Three families get involved with each other, all with their own baggage.

While Nat is suffering with the fact he couldn’t save his father, Quinn is going down under feelings of guilt... towards old and new family.

We meet Nat’s family, including children and a dog, with all lovable personalities, who played a big part in Nat’s healing process. We meet Quinn and Shay, their family and last but not least Evan and Court’s. The big tragedy brings them all together.

The story was vast, and had a depth to it. It was written in a captivating and lovely way.

All personalities were honest and all their emotions felt real.

The romance is not the main point, for me; no problem at all.

A kind, emotional journey with a good time- and story line.

Giveaway

Enter the monthly review giveaway

Contest ends September 30th

Thanks

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Review Tour: Lucky by Garrett Leigh #review #Giveaway

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Length: 70,000 words approx.

Cover Design: Garrett Leigh @ Black Jazz Design

Blurb

Dominic Ramos is a Premiership football player with a secret. There are no trophies for being gay in his game. Locked into his rep as the meanest defender on the pitch, keeping his secret is soul-crushing, but love has no place in his sport, even if his soft heart craves it.

Lucky Coleman is on his knees when he meets a man with more money than sense. It’s a Grindr hook-up for cash, not a love match, but dreaming of his desperate, kind eyes earns a place amongst his numerous bad habits.

Meeting once was risky, twice pushes Dom’s courage to the limit. Losing Lucky seems inevitable, but his tight grip on his image counts for nothing when Lucky starts to fall.

Catching him could cost Dom everything, but if he can set his heart free, getting Lucky long term might be a risk worth taking.

Review

So it should come as a shock to absolutely NO ONE that I am a huge Garrett Leigh fangirl. I've read everything she's written to date (some books multiple times- hello Pete and Ash <3) and while I've loved some books more than others, I've enjoyed every single one of them. I'm also a huge fan of sports romances-hockey and soccer especially- so when I saw that she was going to be writing her first sports romance, I couldn't wait to see what she would do. I expected the compelling characters, the angst, the chemistry between the main characters, but what I didn't expect was just how invested I would be in the love story between Dom and Lucky. From the very first page of Lucky I was thoroughly sucked into their lives and couldn't put the book down. 

Dominic "Dom" Ramos is a professional football (soccer to us here in the US) player and has been deep in the closet for so long he doesn't see a way out. He's miserable, has lost his love for the beautiful game, and above all else, extremely lonely. His only relief, if you can even call it that, comes from anonymous Grindr hookups. There are no connections, no intimacy, just an outlet for pent up sexual frustration. It's a hard life, one that has beaten Dom down, made him angry and apathetic to everything around him until he meets Lucky. From the very first moment they meet, Dom knows that nothing will ever be the same again. He tries to resist, he tries to keep his life the way it is, no matter how unbearably unhappy it makes him, to the point there are physical manifestations as well as making it extremely difficult for Dom to allow himself to be close to anyone. He has no friends to speak of, no family he's close to, and his teammates are more like a means to an end than anything else. I ached for Dom. Truly. I felt his fear of coming out, his anger at himself and the world around him, felt his shame for being afraid to be himself, his desperate need to feel anything. 

Lucky Coleman is exactly who Dom needs to jump start his heart and bring color into his life. Oh, Lucky isn't easy by any stretch of the imagination. He's practically homeless, has erratic behavior, uses drugs when the world closes in on him, but this man who is so opposite of Dom in every way--from attitude to looks and stature--is exactly who Dom needs. I adored Lucky. His personality, though not exactly bubbly and effervescent, is full of hope. Even when things looked their darkest, Lucky still clung to the hope that things could get better. One of the things Garrett does better than almost any other author I read, is her ability to show how gritty and raw life can be sometimes. And how when faced with the realities of life, you don't always make the best decisions. Her characters are flawed, they make mistakes, they get angry and say things that hurt or are cruel ... but man, this IS life, right? Garrett's books are definitely romances, but the HEA's her characters achieve are hard fought and never easy. I appreciate the battles her characters fight, with themselves, with each other and with the outside forces around them and it makes her characters so real and so easy to relate to. 

While Lucky isn't an easy book to read, it's one that you won't be able to put down. Dom and Lucky, together and apart, are fascinating characters full of heart and emotion and yeah, there's some (or a lot depending on your viewpoint) of angst, but it's so good and really just so HOPEFUL that you'll be rooting for these two right from the get go. I loved everything about this book. The pacing was perfect, the dual point's of view (another thing Garrett excels at!) was handled with just the right touch, the characters, the emotions, the sex scenes. All of it was done in the brilliant way only an author with Garrett Leigh's immense talent can pull off. Don't let Lucky pass you by people, its a gem and you'll fall so in love with Dom and Lucky just like I did. I'm SO super excited this is a series and I can't wait to see what the next book brings!

 

September 18 - Mikku-chan, Urban Smoothie Read, Lelyana's Reviews, Gay Book Reviews, Cdawgz Reads, Gay Media Reviews, My Mind's Landscape, Dilyana's World, September 20 - Katie's Book Corner, Open Mind For A Different View, Cupcakes & Bookshelves, Megan's Media Melange, Rainbow Gold Reviews, The Blogger Girls, Bookaholic & Kindle, September 22 - Love Unchained Book Review, The Librarian's Corner, Sanaa's Book Blog, September 26 - Bonkers About Books, Making It Happen, Amy's MM Romance Reviews, Wicked Faerie's Tales & Reviews, Wicked Reads, September 28 - The Way She Reads, Reading In Sarah's Corner, My Fiction Nook, We Three Queens, Diverse Reader, MM Good Book Reviews, October 1 - Book Lovers 4Ever, Sexy Erotic Xciting, October 3 - Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Kimmers' Erotic Book Banter, Jim's Reading Room, October 5 - Mirrigold, Lillian Francis, Bayou Book Junkie, Nerdy Dirty & Flirty, Mainely Stories, SLLY 

Garrett Leigh is an award-winning British writer and book designer, currently working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id, Riptide Publishing, and Fox Love Press.

Garrett's debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards, and her polyamorous novel, Misfits was a finalist in the 2016 LAMBDA awards.

When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible, all the while shouting at her menagerie of children and animals and attempting to tame her unruly and wonderful FOX.

Garrett is also an award winning cover artist, taking the silver medal at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com, and co-owns the specialist stock site moonstockphotography.com with renowned LGBTQA+ photographer Dan Burgess.

Website: http://www.garrettleigh.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/garrettleighauthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Garrett_Leigh

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hosted By Signal Boost Promotions

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Out In The End Zone by Lane Hayes #Giveaway

Out In The End Zone

By Lane Hayes

Release Date: October 10, 2018

Cover Artist: Reese Dante

Blurb

Evan di Angelo is an upbeat, good-natured goofball who loves his friends and family… and football. A traumatic accident may have ended his hopes of playing professionally, but he’s has made the most of his four years on the field at a small Southern California college. He’s learned the hard way to embrace change, take chances and try things outside of his comfort zone...like agreeing to play fake boyfriends for someone else’s senior project.

Mitch Peterson knows that being his authentic self is the path to true happiness. He’s grown from a shy, quiet kid from a broken home to an out and proud budding internet sensation bound for grad school. An awesome senior project is the key. It’s unlikely anyone will believe the hunky, straight athlete is Mitch’s new lover, but it’s worth a shot. However, as their tentative friendship blossoms into unexpected attraction, the lines between reality and fiction blur for both men. Evan is forced to face old demons and decide if he has the courage to take the next step and come out in the end zone.

Lane Hayes is grateful to finally be doing what she loves best. Writing full-time! It’s no secret Lane loves a good romance novel. An avid reader from an early age, she has always been drawn to well-told love story with beautifully written characters. These days she prefers the leading roles to both be men. Lane discovered the M/M genre a few years ago and was instantly hooked. Her debut novel was a 2013 Rainbow Award finalist and subsequent books have received Honorable Mentions, and won First Prize in the 2016 and 2017 Rainbow Awards. She loves red wine, chocolate and travel (in no particular order). Lane lives in Southern California with her amazing husband in a newly empty nest.

Books by Lane Hayes:

Better Than Good, Better Than Chance, Better Than Friends, Better Than Safe, The Right Words, The Wrong Man & The Right Time, A Kind Of Truth, A Kind of Romance, A Kind of Honesty, A Kind of Home, A Way with Words, A Way with You , Leaning Into Love , Leaning Into the Fall, Leaning Into Always , Leaning Into Touch , Leaning Into a Wish and Leaning Into the Look and Leaning Into Forever. Out in the Deep and COMING SOON: Out in Offense.

Contact Information:

Website: http://lanehayes.wordpress.com

Twitter:   @LaneHayes3

Facebook: LaneHayesauthor

Email:   lanehayes@ymail.com

Giveaway

Enter the rafflecopter to win a $10.00

Amazon giftcard from Lane!

Contest will end September 29th

Thanks

a Rafflecopter giveaway