Rosie’s #Bookreview of #Ya / #Na #Romance This Is Not A Horror Movie by @saradobie @gaybookpromo #TuesdayBookBlog

This is Not a Horror Movie by Sara Dobie Bauer

4 stars

This is Not a Horror Movie crosses the genres of upper end young adult and new adult horror with a same sex romance. The main characters are young men aged eighteen and twenty, while the story is set in a Florida holiday town.

Every year Emory’s family from Ohio spend two June weeks in Florida living next to Connor’s family. Emory has been openly gay all of his life, but while in Florida he’s kept this under wraps, especially when he is around Connor; he’s had a crush on Connor for years.

Single child Connor is good friends with Emory and his twin sister Liz, and shares his holidays with them as friends. Connor wants to be a film producer, while Emory loves writing and reading horror stories or watching horror films. The town has a derelict beach hotel which is a draw for lots of teenagers as a place to party in the evenings, drinking, smoking and having sex in the empty bedrooms. This year the place feels sinister rather than a place to relax, and Emory and his friends are just about to find out how menacing the place really is.

Emory is a passionate character in all that he does and says; in the last year he’s grown taller, put on some muscle and grown gorgeous curly hair which all make him attractive. But Emory still thinks of himself as gangly and uncoordinated. The romance which blossoms between Emory and Connor is sweet and caring with a hint of sexual pleasures which take place off page.

Emory’s love of horror is scattered throughout the story as the author entwines snippets from horror books and films. This culminates in a creepy denouement to the story to send a few chills down the spine.

I really liked Emory, he was a fun and unpredictable character. The horror theme suits this book and will hopefully draw in readers who are happy to read a story which also involves relationships. I read this book because I have enjoyed other books written by this author, but I rarely read horror, so this wasn’t a comfortable read for me. However, I hope to be able to share my review so that this book can reach its intended audience.

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Emory Jones loves two things: horror movies and Connor Nichols.

For the past four years, Emory, Connor, and their families have vacationed side by side on Longboat Key, Florida. Eighteen-year-old Emory has pined for his neighbor from behind the covers of Stephen King books, but college boy Connor has never noticed him. Probably because Emory looks like Jack Skellington with good hair.

Emory anticipates another predictable summer of sunburn and disappointment. Instead, he ends up with a mystery on his hands when a beloved beach bum goes missing, and Connor volunteers to help with the search. Turns out it’s not just scary movie cops who are worthless, so the boys start an investigation of their own—leading them straight to an abandoned beach resort.

Despite the danger, Emory and Connor grow closer, but as Emory’s gay dreams start coming true, so do the horror movie tropes he so loves. Even though he knows that sex equals death in slasher flicks, Emory can’t keep his hands off the guy of his teenage dreams.

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Rosie’s #BookReview of #Contemporary #Romance SWEET TEMPERAMENTS by Tonwand North

Sweet Temperaments by Tonwand North

3.5 stars

Sweet Temperaments is a contemporary romance set in Scotland. Lewis and Christopher are work colleagues and they share an office. Lewis finds himself regularly dreaming about Christopher, but his attempts at friendship are rebuffed. Christopher doesn’t socialise and goes through the same work routine daily; he barely acknowledges Lewis.

When Lewis eventually gets Christopher to agree to go out, Christopher insists that it is only as friends. He makes it clear that he doesn’t date, but when pushed on the matter he tells Lewis this is for medical reasons, which leaves Lewis confused and turning to the internet for answers.

This story is told solely from Lewis’s point of view. It has plenty of relationship drama and into this the author throws in a serious medical condition. The details and treatment are openly discussed as are the couple’s anxieties about it.

The novel has two definite parts, the first of which is filled with the build-up to the couple’s relationship, while the second half quickly covers a twenty year period after their marriage. Once they became a couple, I thought that there was rather a sudden change in how Christopher showed his feelings, which didn’t fit with the earlier part of the story. I may have been able to accept the change easier if some of the previous chapters had been written from Christopher’s point of view. I would have enjoyed hearing Christopher’s views because his lack of emotion made me intrigued about him.

An interesting story, with a medical thread that was woven in well.

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Lewis Fraser is in trouble. He’s fallen hopelessly for eccentric recluse Christopher Wright. But the man won’t even say good morning to him! Yet no matter how many times he tries to break his one-sided attraction, one look from Christopher and his heart is racing all over again.

Struggling to hold the threads of a friendship together, Lewis highly doubts there’s any parallel universe in which Christopher and him are in a relationship! But he’s still determined to melt the ice and get to know him better. What Lewis doesn’t realise is that Christopher Wright intentionally avoids others for a reason. How will he handle Christopher’s secret?

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My #Bookreview of MM #Romance The Captain And The Cricketer by @MadameGilflurt & @e_harkstead

The Captain and the Cricketer by Catherine Curzon

3.5 stars

The Captain And The Cricketer is a contemporary MM romance (fiction with an intimate relationship between two men) set in Sussex. Local vet Henry Fitzwalter, and TV star Captain George Standish-Brookes, come face-to-face once more at the village fete. The pair had a disagreement fifteen years ago over a cricket match trophy, which robbed them of their friendship. Now Captain George wants to solve the mystery of the missing cricket cup, whilst using his TV fame to help raise much needed money for repairs to the local village hall.

Still harbouring a grudge, Henry despises George and the fans which surround his every move. His temper is made worse when he receives a letter from a neighbour who is claiming true ownership of Henry’s home. But a beguiling George keeps popping up in Henry’s life. Can Henry put aside his anger and be friends with George once more?

This is book two of the Captivating Captains series of romances and can easily be read alone. I enjoyed the first book with its World War One background. Book two has a historical feel in a more modern era.

The romance is expected and swift as Henry and George bond over a deformed foal. Georgie’s disregard for normality adds humour, especially when he invites the foal into his home. But the trio find a deeper connection when they delve into forgotten family history.

The village of Longley Parva is extremely rural and quaint with all the boxes ticked for an idyllic English hamlet, with: a manor, roses around cottage doors, a thatched roof, a game of cricket and cucumber sandwiches. For me, this clichéd, overly idyllic image suits a bygone era, and I found it a bit at odds with other storyline aspects, like social media and mobile phones.

I think this book would appeal to those who enjoy this romance genre, or readers who love all things they believe are traditionally ‘English’.

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When an uptight countryside vet and a sexy TV star meet on the cricket pitch, they’re both knocked for six!

Henry Fitzwalter is a solid sort of chap. A respectable rural vet and no stranger to tweed, he is the lonely inhabitant of crumbling Longley Parva Manor.

George Standish-Brookes is everyone’s favourite shirtless TV historian. Heroic, handsome and well-travelled, he is coming home to the village where he grew up.

Henry and George’s teenage friendship was shattered by the theft of a cup, the prize in a hard-fought, very British game of cricket. When they resolve their differences thanks to an abandoned foal, it’s only a matter of time before idyllic Longley Parva witnesses one of its wildest romances, between a most unlikely couple of fellows.

Yet with a golf-loving American billionaire and a money-hungry banker threatening this terribly traditional little corner of Sussex, there’s more than love at stake. A comedy of cricket, coupling and criminality, with a splash of scandal!

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#Romance The Captain And The Cavalry Trooper by @MadameGilflurt And @e_harkstead

The Captain and the Cavalry Trooper by Catherine Curzon

4 stars

The Captain And The Cavalry Trooper is book #1 in the Captivating Captains series. It is a romance set in the latter years of World War 1.

Trooper Jack Woodvine is sent to Chateau de Desgravier where he will be Captain Thorne’s latest groom. Both the Captain and his horse Apollo share fierce reputations; several previous grooms have been kicked by the horse and yelled at by the Captain. But Jack grew up on a farm and with gypsy blood running through him; he has a talent for calming horses with just a whisper

The Chateau is home to an eclectic mix of soldiers, all awaiting orders from the front, with some praying they never see the fighting. Trooper ‘Queenie’ Charles prefers silk robes to his khaki attire and makes sure everyone knows how dangerous he can be. He’ll do anything to keep himself away from the warfare.

When Jack meets Captain Thorne, he’s instantly attracted to both the man and his steed. He believes he sees something behind the icy façade. With the threat of war all around, the chateau offers an enchanting place to escape the horrors of combat and to live, for a while, in just the moment. The men fall in love and begin a clandestine affair, but dangerous prying eyes miss nothing.

As the call to the frontline becomes imminent, Thorne attempts to keep Jack safe, but his plans backfire. They both find themselves on the battle line and the war is hungry for more soldiers to chew on and spit out.

This book is primarily an MM romance, but the unusual Chateau setting in wartime France worked well. I could easily picture the stables and yard features, while I understood the hopes and fears of the soldiers. The romance was daring in a time when the men would have been corporally punished if caught, but the author has blurred lines of social acceptance that might have been stricter elsewhere. An enjoyable story which fits the genre well.

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As the Great War tears Europe apart, two men from different worlds find sanctuary in each other’s arms.

Captain Robert Thorne is the fiercest officer in the regiment. Awaiting the command to go to the front, he has no time for simpering, comely lads. That’s until one summer day in 1917 when his dark, flashing eye falls upon the newest recruit at Chateau de Desgravier, a fresh-faced farmer’s boy with little experience of life and a wealth of poetry in his heart.

Trooper Jack Woodvine has a way with strong, difficult stallions, and whispers them to his gentle will. Yet even he has never tamed a creature like Captain Thorne.

With the shadow of the Great War and the scheming of enemies closer to home threatening their fleeting chance at happiness, can the Captain and the Cavalry Trooper make it home safely? More importantly, will they see peacetime together?

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