Please help me today in welcoming author J.S. Frankel to RGR’s Trans Aware Event. He is here today to talk about writing trans and other diverse characters. His book ‘Picture (Im)Perfect’ is reviewed by Melissa. Thank you J.S. for stopping by today!!! Writing transgender and other diverse characters: How NOT to screw up! I should…
Melissa reviews Antisocial by Heidi Cullinan Published August 8th 2017 by Heidi Cullinan, 341 pages. A single stroke can change your world. Xander Fairchild can’t stand people in general and frat boys in particular, so when he’s forced to spend his summer working on his senior project with Skylar Stone, a silver-tongued Delta Sig with a…
Melissa reviews Illegal Contact (The Barons #1) by Santino Hassell Expected publication: August 15th 2017 by Berkley Publishing Group (InterMix), 251 pages. The rules of the game don’t apply off the field in this first Barons novel. New York Barons tight end Gavin Brawley is suspended from the team and on house arrest after a video…
Melissa reviews Controlled Burn by Erin McLellan Expected publication: August 14th 2017 by Riptide Publishing, 309 pages. At eighteen, Joel Smith’s life fell to pieces. His boyfriend died in a car crash while reading a sext from him, the local newspaper outed them both in the aftermath, and his parents got a divorce. Joel did everything…
Melissa reviews On Point (Out of Uniform #3) by Annabeth Albert Published June 5th 2017 by Carina Press, 320 pages. Never fall for your best friend… Pushing thirty, with his reenlistment looming, decorated navy sniper Maddox Horvat is taking a long look at what he really wants in life. And what he wants is Ben Tovey. It…
Melissa reviews The Master Will Appear by L.A. Witt Published May 16th 2017 by Self-Published, 364 pages. Dr. Mikhail “Misha” Budnikov takes one look at fellow fencer Ryan O’Connor and instantly knows his type. The undisciplined hothead is all ego with no finesse and even less control. In short, Misha’s pet peeves personified. To put…
Melissa reviews Ice Hockey Heat: Part 1 (Ice Hockey Heat #1) by Gin LaSalle Published October 1st 2014, 37 pages. Matt Perriseau, rising star forward of the Flat Top Rattlers, has it all going for him. His pro hockey career is taking off, but sometimes he can’t stop thinking about what he left behind. Now he…
Melissa reviews Dare to Hope (All Cocks Stories #4) by T.M. Smith, narrated by Joel Leslie. Published March 23rd 2017 by TTC Publishing; 6 hours and 13 minutes. Tristan is the second oldest of the Brennan brothers and the odd man out. Most of the Brennan men have careers in law enforcement, but as a…
Melissa reviews Strays (Urban Soul #2) by Garrett Leigh Published March 25th 2017 by Riptide Publishing, 249 pages. Work, sleep, work, repeat. Nero’s lonely life suits him just fine until his best friend, Cass, asks him to take on a new apprentice—a beautiful young man who’s never set foot in a professional kitchen. Despite his irritation…
Melissa reviews Downing Tools (More Than Mates #1) by Edison Hart Published September 18th 2014 by Amazon, 52 pages. Apprentice painter Trent Hall is a total klutz when it comes to boys. In fact, he’s pretty bad at social interactions generally. So when a fit, super-confident, blue-eyed tradie called Macca turns up on the building site,…
Melissa reviews At Attention (Out of Uniform #2) by Annabeth Albert Expected publication: April 10th 2017 by Carina Press, 209 pages. Lieutenant Apollo Floros can ace tactical training missions, but being a single dad to his twin daughters is more than he can handle. He needs live-in help, and he’s lucky a friend’s younger brother needs…
Melissa reviews Insight (The Community #1) by Santino Hassell. Published March 13th 2017 by Riptide Publishing, 264 pages. Growing up the outcast in an infamous family of psychics, Nate Black never learned how to control his empath abilities. Then after five years without contact, his estranged twin turns up dead in New York City. The…
Melissa reviews Crossroads by Riley Hart (Sean Crisden as Narrator) Published November 17th 2015 by Tantor Audio; 7 hrs 23 mins. After divorcing the woman he’d been with since he was seventeen, Nick Fuller is starting over. He owns the restaurant of his dreams and he’s determined to meet new people, find new passions, and experience…
Melissa reviews Loose Cannon (The Woodbury Boys #1) by Sidney Bell Expected publication: April 3rd 2017 by Carina Press, 327 pages. Don’t miss this brand-new male/male romance series from Sidney Bell, author of Bad Judgment Released after five years in the system for assault, streetwise Edgar-Allen Church is ready to leave the past behind and finally…
Melissa reviews Rogue Magic by Kit Brisby Expected publication: January 30th 2017 by Riptide Publishing, 310 pages. A copy of the book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley. While trapped in a stalled subway train on his morning commute, PR rep Byron Cole flirts with Levi, a young waiter with adorable curls. But Byron’s…
Melissa reviews Crime Wave (Jimmy McSwain Files #2) by Adam Carpenter with Joel Leslie (Narrator) Published December 7th 2016 by Linden Corners Press, Length: 7 hrs Jimmy McSwain returns to help his sister’s boyfriend fight a murder charge–and finds he may just have a lead on a cold case. Hell’s Kitchen private investigator Jimmy McSwain returns…
Melissa reviews Off Base (Out of Uniform #1) by Annabeth Albert Published January 9th 2017 by Carina Press, 304 pages. After trading the barracks for a fixer-upper rental, navy SEAL Zack Nelson wants peace, not a roommate—especially not Pike, who sees things about Zack he most wants to hide. Pike’s flirting puts virgin Zack on edge.…
Melissa reviews Leo Loves Aries (Signs of Love #1) by Anyta Sunday Published December 4th 2016 by Anyta Sunday, 268 pages. A new person will enter your life in the early year, Leo. Look past any moments of frustration they might bring and laugh—this could be the start of a thriving friendship. Theo Wallace usually laughs…
Melissa reviews Spy Stuff by Matthew J. Metzger Published April 30th 2016 by Queerteen Press, 226 pages. Anton never thought anyone would ever want to date him. Everyone knows nobody wants a transgender boyfriend, right? So he’s as shocked as anyone when seemingly-straight Jude Kalinowski asks him out, and doesn’t appear to be joking. The…
Melissa reviews Flankman (Crow Creek #5) by Nya Rawlyns Published April 12th 2014 by PubRight, 206 pages. The bronc in the arena can kill, but it takes a man to destroy… Daniel Blake and Tristan Wells are committed to their two-year relationship, and to keeping it a well-hidden secret. When a competitor lets them know their…
Rainbow Gold Reviews 