Posts labeled Contemporary
Review - Sin Against the Race by Gar McVey-Russell
My rating: 
Kindly note: The author generously provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Alfonso starts a new year a college in a deep funk. Carleton, his cousin, best friend and mentor, died of complications from AIDS over the summer, Carleton’s close friend Eddie is gay-bashed in the local park, and the clinic Carleton helped found is destroyed by fire just before classes start. On top of all that, Alfonso is struggling to reconcile his own identity as a gay man of color with his father’s expectations of him.
Tags: Contemporary
Review - The Layover by Roe Horvat
My rating:
Slovakian Ondro is on his way back to the home he left several years ago to escape bad memories and homophobia. There’s just one hitch in his plan: a delayed flight means he missed his connection in Basel, and has to stay the night. It may not be a total loss, though, since another passenger in the same predicament, Jamie, catches Ondro’s eye. “The Layover” puts a refreshing spin on what could be a rather clich&eqcute; story of two ships that pass in the night.
Tags: Contemporary
Review - Permanent Ink by Avon Gale & Piper Vaughn
My rating:
Twenty-something Poe is a young man without any direction. He’s not a bad person, but since about the only thing he has any passion for is graffiti, Poe is headed for trouble sooner or later. He still lives in his father Landon’s basement, and the man is near the end of his rope about what to do about his son. Hearing about Poe’s problems, Landon’s friend Jericho offers to take Poe on as his apprentice.
Tags: Contemporary
Review - Exposed by Bey Deckard
My rating:
Greg is talented amateur photographer with a dominant streak, although he keeps it carefully under wraps after a rather painful experience in his past. Quite by accident on a trip to London from his home in Canada, he meets Emyr, an up and coming Welsh singer about half Greg’s age. He is inexplicably drawn to the young man, yet the age difference and his own demons keep him from letting things go anywhere.
Tags: Contemporary
Review - Wrapped Together by Annabeth Albert
My rating:
Hollis and Sawyer have known each other since high school, and it would be hard to imagine two more different people. Hollis is a typical introvert: quiet and serious, he carefully considers each decision, avoids frivolity as well as crowds, and constantly over-thinks everything, especially when it comes to Sawyer. By comparison, Sawyer is outgoing and cheerful, quick to develop new passions, whether it’s a hobby or a new boyfriend, but, at least in Hollis’ eyes, just as quick to lose interest.
Tags: Contemporary
Review - Snakes Among Sweet Flowers by Jason Huffman-Black
My rating:
Ex-con Cam decides to escape the bad crowd that lead him into trouble, and two prison terms. He doesn’t go far from his Atlanta home, settling down in Hog Mountain, a small town in rural Georgia. But he doesn’t leave a life of crime completely behind. Cam can’t resist scamming the people who stop by his little garage, over-charging them for minor repairs by making them out to be more than they are.
Tags: Contemporary
Review - Fire and Rain by Andrew Grey
My rating:
Policeman Kip is on patrol one night when he encounters Jos and his little brother Isaac on the streets. The orphans became homeless when he lost his job and an unscrupulous landlord kicked him out of their apartment. After a second encounter with Jos, Kip takes pity on the young man and invites Isaac and Jos to stay with him. It isn’t long before the two men both feel a powerful attraction to each other.
Tags: Contemporary
Review - ePistols at Dawn by Z.A. Maxfield
My rating:
Jae-sun Fields is a reporter for a gay tabloid with a reputation for outing public figures. When we first meet him, Jae is hot on the trail of the author of a book that practically lampoons a coming-out book that Jae and many other gay men hold almost sacred. The author, whom Jae is sure is really a woman, seems particularly skilled at keeping their true identity a secret, but Jae won’t stop until he tracks the person down and exposes them as a fraud.
Tags: Contemporary novel
Review - Lost in the Outcome
My rating:
Tech wizard Nate wakes up in a strange hotel room, next to a cute stranger who turns out to be named Tim. With no recollection of how he got there, or what the two got up to in bed, Nate is a bit confused to say the least. He and Tim part company assuming they will never see each other. For Tim, who remembers every detail of their night together vividly, the realization that Nate remembers none of it, and doesn’t want to see him again, is crushing.
Tags: Contemporary
Review - Not Just Friends
My rating:
This review originally appeared in slightly different form at New Adult Book Reviews. As Lewis moves into his university housing to start his first year of college, he meets his new roommates. There’s the loud jock Dean, Andreas, Rob, and then there’s Max. Openly gay Max confuses Lewis, awakening feelings that he has never acknowledged before. He and Max become good friends, and Lewis is prepared to come out, as well as tell Max how he feels, but then Max gets into a relationship of his own, so Lewis resolves not to interfere.
Tags: Contemporary
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