New Release Review: Pretty Sweet by Riley Hart & Christina Lee #Review #Giveaway

Title: Pretty Sweet
Series: Boys in Makeup #2
Authors: Riley Hart & Christina Lee 
Self Published
Publication Date: June 17, 2020
Length: 295 pages

Reviewed by Nikki


Synopsis

Seth
Portland was supposed to be my fresh start, my chance to live for myself. Unfortunately, it’s not working out that way. I stay in the apartment Mom chose and major in finance like she wants. I let bad memories keep me from hooking up. I wouldn’t know the first thing about finding a guy who gets me, who’s okay with my need to be held and feel safe.

When I befriend a worker at the assisted living facility where I volunteer, I don’t expect to get invited to dinner, only to realize her son is Jake, a guy I met through friends last fall. Jake’s not only hot, he’s also sweet, a caretaker, and attracted to me too. Since he’s never been with a guy, and I’m a virgin, we’re setting the pace together, learning what we like, one bone-melting touch at a time.

Jake
My childhood was rocky, with an abusive father and a mother I needed to protect. The first thing I did after high school graduation was get us out of there so we could finally breathe. And start living. For me that means managing the garage I own with my best friend and enjoying the modest house I call my own.

Then Seth enters my life. Our connection is palpable. He’s shy, innocent, and sets my blood on fire. He makes it impossible to ignore my attraction to men. The trust he puts in me is more potent than any desire. I get as much from talking to or holding him as when we let our inhibitions go.

Seth and I fulfill each other’s needs—in and out of the bedroom. But our struggles aren’t easy to shake. With my urge to protect and Seth’s desire to fly, we’ll have to strike the right balance, but when we do, the results will be pretty sweet.

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Review

If you’ve never read a Riley Hart or Christina Lee book, you’re really missing out. And the two of them together? Pure. Magic.

This is the second book in the Boys in Makeup series, but you absolutely can read it as a standalone. Seth was the roommate of one of the MCs in book one, but this one stands completely on its own.

The sweetness and innocence of Seth really sucked me in immediately. I loved how he just wanted someone to cuddle with and to make other people feel good. I just wanted to protect and love him!

Then there was Jake. He’s this big, muscular mechanic who’s only ever been with women—so you’d think he’d be a typical alpha male character. He’s the furthest from it and it was awesome. It was so sweet how he was always worried about his mom and how he was protective of those he cared about.

The way the two of them tentatively feel each other out and then slowly begin to build a relationship of trust and love was so nice to watch. They learned from and took care of each other in a way only they could.

Plus, I adored Seth’s relationship with Jake’s mom! Heart-meltingly sweet! I one hundred percent recommend Pretty Sweet. You’ll love it.

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Random Review: Pretty Perfect by Christina Lee & Riley Hart #Review #Giveaway

Title: Pretty Perfect 
Authors: Christina Lee & Riley Hart 
Self Published
Publication Date: January 16, 2020
Length: 261 pages

Reviewed by Jenn

Synopsis

Jesse
After spending the first part of my life trapped in a small town where it wasn’t okay to be a makeup-wearing boy who liked boys, I swore I’d leave and never be anything but loud, proud, and unapologetically me. I’ve kept that promise. I’m following my dreams, have an apartment with my bestie, and get to dance my nights away at one of the hottest gay bars in Portland.

The only downfall is Dane, the sexy bartender with a perma-scowl always aimed my way. The tension between us is so strong that even the clubgoers notice, and they eat that stuff up. Our boss makes us dance on the bar together every Friday night. I might shake my booty a little more with Dane just because I love getting under his skin. It’s not my fault he doesn’t know how to have any fun…but I kind of want to teach him.

Dane
I got burned bad by my last boyfriend. Thankfully, my sister, Bree, and my niece, Hailey, make my days a whole lot brighter. I’m getting back on my feet, including a decent job as a bartender. But working in a gay club makes it harder to keep to myself. No way do I want to get reeled in by another charming, pretty face and get hurt again, and definitely not by someone like Jesse, whose audacity frustrates me to no end.

So why do I want to shove him against the wall and screw that boldness right out of him?

Only…sometimes he’s pretty sweet, especially with Hailey. As we go from enemies to angry hookups to friends, our feelings are changing and moving into uncharted territory. This can’t go anywhere. Jesse and I are like oil and water; we just don’t mix…right?

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Review

Pretty Perfect by Christina Lee and Riley Hart is aptly titled because the book is pretty darn perfect. Enemies to lovers with so much more than attraction between them. These two men, Jesse and Dane are made for each other…they just don’t know it yet.

Jesse is a student by day and a dancer by night. Jesse grew up in a small farming town where being gay is difficult but being gay and loving make up and a more feminine look is almost impossible. While Jesse loves his parents and they love him, he can’t picture a middle ground for them and leaves. He ends up in Portland where he makes an awesome best friend and they share an apartment together. Jesse is living out loud…he’s proud of who he is and he’s happy. So what if he’s broke most of the time and the hot bartender at work is grumpy…he sure is nice to look at.

Dane is the grumpy bartender in the hottest gay club in Portland. The same club Jesse dances in. These two bicker so much and it’s filled with so much tension that the boss makes them dance together twice every Friday night. Jesse shakes his booty a little extra each time to annoy Dane and the customers eat it up! Both men deny enjoying dancing together, but if the steam coming off of them is an indication…they love it as much as the customers do.

Dane is grumpy, but he’s not in any way mean. He’s a great guy who happened to be burned in an awful way by his ex. Tending bar and living in his sister’s basement is what he wanted for his life, but he can’t deny that he loves being able to help his sister with his niece, Hailey. Seeing Dane and Hailey together is the sweetest thing, this little girl knows how to wrap her uncle around her finger. When an accidental meeting between Jesse, Dane, and Hailey outside of work starts a friendship between the two men, it’s hard to tell who is more shocked. Dancing on the bar quickly goes from annoying to something neither man can deny looking forward to. For Dane, Jesse has always been a pretty boy who gets whatever he wants. After seeing him with Hailey though…there’s so much more than a pretty face and that scares the grumpy man…even if it would never admit it.

I love this book, I love the message of acceptance and the strength in the characters. Jesse is unapologetically who he is even when that causes him pain. His relationship with his parents is one of my favorite parts of the book. While there are problems, we see the love this family has for each other. It almost makes their struggle with each other more painful. Each scene between them both, gives me hope and breaks my heart. Dane’s relationship with his family adds a layer of love to this story that warms your heart. Hailey and her mom, Bree, see Dane as the best kind of man. They love him unconditionally as when Jesse enters the picture, they’re welcoming of him into their lives is so incredibly moving. This book is about two people falling into friendship and into love, but it’s also really about family. The family you’re born into, the family you choose, and the family you make when you put those altogether. It’s a book that makes your heart happy. Jesse and Dane are super-hot together and their chemistry is off the charts. But all the other things they are to and for each other, those are the reasons I love this book so much.

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New Release Review: Forever Moore by Riley Hart & Christina Lee #Review #Giveaway

Title: Forever Moore
Series: Forbidden Love #2
Authors: Riley Hart & Christina Lee 
Self-Published
Cover Artist: Sarah Jo Chreene
Publication Date: April 22, 2019
Length: 288 pages 

Reviewed by Michael

Synopsis

With his raven hair and snow-white skin, Lord Ansil Eirwin draws unwanted attention wherever he goes. After his father’s untimely death, Ansil is set to become Duke of Ravenswood on his next birthday. The gallant and timid lord would never dream of shirking responsibility, so he subverts his desires in order to please his mother and new stepfather, Reginald.

Orien Moore, known as the Huntsman, lives on the fringes and has forsaken close bonds with anyone, even the misfits he has taken in. When Orien is called upon by his brother, Reginald, to kill the pampered future duke, it is the perfect opportunity to seek revenge against his power-hungry brother. Orien formulates a plan to use Reginald’s vicious request to his advantage by kidnapping Ansil and holding him hostage until he can fulfill his birthright.

Soon Orien realizes that Ansil is nothing like he’d expected. Kind and joyful, Ansil enchants Orien and his ragtag group. And Ansil, in turn, cannot help but be curious about the gruff huntsman as Orien’s vulnerabilities are exposed. Their mutual interest transforms into affection, followed by overwhelming desire. But they are living on borrowed time.

With Reginald seeking power in Ravenswood, they have no way of knowing what will transpire once Orien returns Ansil to his proper place in society. The only certainty is that the odds are stacked against them. Will the young lord and his huntsman ever have the chance to experience the happily ever after they’ve found in each other’s arms?

***PLEASE NOTE: FOREVER MOORE is a romantic fairy tale—minus the magic—that features one reluctant lord, one brooding huntsman, and plenty of angsty, forbidden love. It’s loosely based on a treasured fairy tale in a make-believe setting that isn’t part of any specific time period and doesn’t play by any traditional rules. It also completely stands alone from EVER AFTER.

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Review

As a kid growing up, I didn’t pay much attention to fairytales.  They were geared toward people like me.  Most of them featured a damsel in distress in need of rescuing by a knight in shining armor.  Once the rescue was complete, the new couple (who had instantly fallen in love, by the way) rose off into the sunset together to live their Happily Ever After.  In fact, unless I’m mistaken, the term “Happily Ever After” comes from these fairytales.  None of these stories had anything to do with little gay boys like me.  So instead, I would create situations in which Luke Skywalker would need rescuing from the dashing Han Solo. Or, Apollo and Starbuck (from the original Battlestar Galactica) would connect and raise Apollo’s son Boxey together.  I was shipping long before shipping was actually a thing.

So, I was super excited when Christina Lee and Riley Hart decided to take these fairy tales and rework them in ways that would be more relatable to little gay boys like me.  Much like the fairytales these books are based on, Christina and Riley’s stories are almost completely independent from one another.

Forever Moore is their second fairytale retelling.  It’s a riff on Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, complete with big Huntsman, the wicked step-parent, and the poison apple. 

Orien is the Huntsman.  He’s noble and reserved, with a well-earned hatred for his brother Reginald (who is also the step-father to the other MC, Ansil).  He maintains an estate far removed from the rest of society, and “collects” people in need of saving, seven of whom have ended up living on his estate.  (Now, it’s here that I will freely admit that I didn’t clue in to the fact that these seven were Riley and Christina’s version of the dwarves because…well… they aren’t dwarves.  But I had a giant moment of duh as I neared the end of the book)

Ansil is every bit the Snow White character:  pale skin, raven black hair, and bright red lips.  He’s about to turn twenty-one, at which time he will inherit his late-father’s title and the wealth and notoriety the title comes with.  Reginald, the snake that he is, comes up with a scheme to get rid of his step-son and take the inheritance for himself.  Which is where Orien comes into play.

Riley and Christina write seamlessly together.  Some authors have a “tell”, certain phrases that they use in their own books that also get used in the collaborations.  There’s none of that here.  The entire book has one, singular voice.

I loved this fairytale!!!  It’s kind of a slow burn.  Despite the circumstances in which they originally meet, the MC’s learn about each other at their own individual paces.  The “Black Moment” was a natural outgrowth of the characters different roles in Society, and the resolution was completely believable. 

So if you believe in the power of the Happily Ever After, do yourself a favor and pick this one up.

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