New Release Review: The Ball Boy by Lucas Guard #Review #Giveaway

Title: The Ball Boy
Author: Lucas Guard
Publisher: NineStar Press
Publication Date: March 2, 2020
Length: 90 pages

Reviewed by Michael

Synopsis

Devastated by the death of his father, Gage, an artist with a secret life, struggles to find his way back to “normal”. When rising baseball star Caleb arrives at his door, an unlikely romance simmers between them, but a cowboy coach, with major league ambitions of his own, will stop at nothing to keep them apart. Tempers flare as their deepest secrets are unearthed and the two must choose between chasing their dreams or embracing their newfound love.

Purchase Links 

NineStar Press

Amazon

Review

This is one of those reviews that’s incredibly difficult to write.  Not because the book is poorly written.  Far from it, in fact.  For a novella that doesn’t have a lot of page space to really flesh out the characters, there’s a lot of characterization for the MC, Gage.

The survivor of a car accident that claimed the life of his father and, currently, the use of his arm, Gage spends his days in a guilt-ridden Percocet and alcohol haze.  His job at the local drag bar has been reduced to doorman due to his injuries.  Packages keep arriving at his doorstep, addressed to his father, of things the latter ordered prior to his passing.  One of those “packages” comes in the form of Caleb, a baseball player for the local Minor League team.  Before his death, Gage’s father had apparently signed them up to be the host family for one of the players.

Despite the Percocet haze, or maybe because of it, the reader truly gets a sense for the depths of Gage’s pain and guilt.  Your heart truly aches for him.

No, the issues I had were two-fold.

First, everything happens fast.  I understand that, as a novella, there isn’t always a lot of “real estate” to truly flesh out everything.  With that said, this is one of those books that could use a longer page length.  The writing is really good, but the characters and story suffer because there isn’t enough time to build them up, especially Caleb.

The second issue is the decisions made by the characters.  I understand the concept of going where the characters lead when writing.  I also get that you don’t make the most rational decisions when your high on drugs and drunk on wine.  That said, there are a couple of scenes that really had me scratching my head.  (Or crossing my knees because the museum scene was painful to read.  Not because it was poorly written, but because of content)

In the end, I think that if this book were a full-length novel as opposed to a novella, the author would have had more room to tell a really great story.  And, leave out the museum scene.

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Random Review: Tight End by Devon McCormack #Review #Giveaway

Author: Devon McCormack
Book: Tight End
Self Published
Publication date: October 9, 2016
Length: 301 pages




Reviewed by Meredith



Synopsis

“I don’t need a fucking babysitter.”

Out and proud NFL star tight end Tad Roarke has success, money, and fame. Just about everything. Except a good reputation. After being outed by the media as a promiscuous cheat, sponsors are dropping him left and right. To make matters worse, he’s been targeted as the next victim of an anti-gay celebrity serial killer. The FBI works with his team to protect him, assigning Agent Bryce Finnegan as his undercover bodyguard. But Tad doesn’t like Bryce from the get-go. The fed thinks he’s a spoiled brat. Maybe he’s right. Regardless, Tad doesn’t plan on proving him wrong, and he’ll do anything to make Bryce’s job even more difficult. Still, as much as he hates him, he can’t deny the guy’s hot as hell…and he wouldn’t mind passing a few balls around with him in the sheets.

“I don’t get paid enough for this.”

Agent Bryce Finnegan is no stranger to undercover work. With a background in busting drug cartels, he’s used to his life being on the line. He’s not used to putting up with spoiled rich kids who don’t realize how good they have it. When he meets Tad Roarke, he expects him to be a jerk. And he’s right. But the more time he spends with him, the more he realizes that all Tad’s attitude is little more than bravado. He’s not an asshole, and the media has twisted more than a few facts to tarnish Tad’s reputation. Now Bryce isn’t just worried about protecting this guy from a serial killer, but about falling in love in the process.

Tight End is a stand-alone gay romance with a HEA and no cliffhanger.

Purchase on Amazon

Review

The first line of the blurb for Tight End is, “I don’t need a fucking babysitter.” And in the end this actually became like a slogan for the entire book. Not only does Tad (one of the MC’s and NFL player for the Dallas Cowboys) need a sitter but so does the FBI Agent, Bryce. These two… oh dear.

I realized at about 20% in that I was going to have to suspend reality for this book. Bryce, the FBI guy who is assigned to protect Tad from bigoted serial killers, is absolutely unethical lol. He drinks while on duty, has sex with Tad, he isn’t on point most of the time. All in all I will say I wouldn’t want him protecting me. I think Tad got hurt more because of Bryce actually. 

Tad, he’s, well he’s not terrible. I get why he’s so messed up in the head. What I don’t get was why he did half the things he did. They maybe made sense but the depth of his psychological thinking wasn’t really answered in this book.

So I suspended reality because this whole Bryce/ Tad thing… It doesn’t happen... it wouldn’t stand.

Tad’s a football player but there’s not a whole lot of sports talk going on. I was sort of concerned it would read like a football game but it didn’t. This was about the characters and the terrifying situation.

I would have loved more suspense on the killer’s front and maybe that’s just the fact that I’ve read too many dark books in my life. I expect the most horrifying from the bad guys.

Bryce and Tad are very hot in this book when they’re together and there’s no doubt that physically they have the chemistry. 

I had character issues from Tad’s dad to Tad’s assistant. The closure on all fronts was swift. It was go, go, go and then it just stopped. So in that respect the pacing was a little off. Everything does get tied up and I’m not left wondering anything which made me very happy.

This is an action love story. Hot characters, no mystery. But I don’t think it’s supposed to be a whodunit. I found it very entertaining and wasn’t bored at any part of this story, which is another plus.

I do recommend this book to anyone able to suspend reality and focus on the characters and unbelievable plot. You’ll enjoy it.

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Random Review: First Down by Max Walker #Review #Giveaway

Author: Max Walker
Book: First Down
Series: The Guardian (book 2)
Self Published
Publication date: June 21, 2016
Length: 190 pages



Reviewed by Meredith



Synopsis

Sean Drake is a closeted college football player coming up on the most important year of his life. He’s been the star quarterback at the University of Florida for three years in a row and now he was facing bright NFL prospects. All he needed to do was stay focused on the game and come out a winner. Things get harder when Sean starts being stalked by a crazy fan and finds their advances only getting bolder and more threatening.

Connor Hawk works as a bodyguard for an exclusive agency in Los Angeles. He lives life day to day, protecting celebrities and politicians for a paycheck and then finding a random guy to ease the pressure over a night. He resigned himself to living a lonely life caring only about his work. That all changes when he gets flown to Gainesville for an assignment that alters his future in the blink of an eye.

When Connor and Sean meet, their chemistry is undeniable. Both of the men must come to terms with feelings they thought they were never destined to have. Meanwhile, the stalker becomes more persistent and ends up doing something unimaginable. Now, Sean is faced with a choice that could potentially push him out of the closest in the worst way possible or he could sacrifice the one person that ever made him feel complete.
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FIRST DOWN is a hot and steamy, gay romance novel with no cliffhangers. It is the second book in The Guardian series but can be read as a standalone.

Buy on Amazon

Review

This is a sort of mystery, little bit thriller, a lot erotic story. Sean plays college football, he’s closeted, and he has a stalker vying for his affections. Conner is a bodyguard hired to keep him safe while they try and figure out who this loon is.

This is absolutely an insta lust, super quickly turned to insta love between Sean and Conner. At times, before they actually do get together, I thought one of them would actually walk into a wall. Why? Because sex was literally all Conner and Sean thought about. It was a wee worrisome. I questioned Connor’s ability to do his job, and wondered how these two functioned. Now, I get it in a lot of ways. When you feel it you feel it and it can be consuming. I don’t believe in love at first sight, or even really animal attraction lust at first sight. So I’m skeptical about it. Not to say it isn’t written perfectly for that type of book. Because it is.

 Throughout the book we are met with a barrage of characters. You KNOW as you’re reading that one of these people is the stalker you just don’t know who. Thing is it was sort of hard to figure out because there weren’t many if any identifying characteristics in figuring it out. But when the person was revealed it seemed most obvious. Of course their backstory was never given until the very end so I had no way of knowing what their life had been like. Slight mystery there. Interesting.

I did enjoy this book for the sweet creative parts, the research that went into it geographically, and such. Either the author went to this University or he’s aware of it. I have never been but he did make me feel like I was a part of the life there. I loved that.

So, a lot of sex, some mooshy talk, stalker person, mystery. It was entertaining that’s for sure!

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