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Seth Walker was my first love and I always swore he’d be my last. Even after he moved away our senior year in high school, we vowed to reunite after graduation. But when he suddenly broke things off without explanation and crushed my heart, it was my turn to run. After a decade in the navy, I’ve finally come home ready to move on with my life as Hobie’s newest firefighter. Unfortunately, the minute I set eyes on the new sheriff in town, I know I’m screwed. Hobie’s top cop is none other than Seth Walker.
I never thought a night out could change everything. All I wanted was to dance, drink, maybe take a cute guy home for a night of fun. I met the guy, but the night ended as a nightmare. Screams and blood and tragedy haunt my dreams. I'm alive and I owe it all to the gorgeous marine who refused to leave me for dead. But how can I start a new relationship when I'm not even sure who I am anymore?
Blue: When my ex walks into the resort bar with his new husband on his arm, I want nothing more than to prove to him that I've moved on. Thankfully, the sexy stranger sitting next to me is more than willing to share a few kisses in the name of revenge. It gets even better when those scorching kisses turn into a night of fiery passion. The only problem? Turns out the stranger's brother is marrying my sister later this week.
A "pumped up" version of the Volley Balls story, twice as long as the original. A double dose of alpha male might be better than one. Despite just getting out of an abusive relationship with an asshole alpha, David Underwood’s wandering glance lands on two hot members of the Australian volleyball team on Laguna Beach and gets him harassed again. Still, when the delicious Gareth Marshall proves his interest by coming out to his team, David succumbs to his attraction. But Gareth’s volleyball partner, Edge, who’s equally hot, makes the lovers’ lives miserable.
With four girls, single dad Ryan Withers has his hands too full to look for romance. He’s not complaining - he loves his daughter and the three nieces he adopted when their parents died, and he would do anything for them. He's caught off guard when his mother and daughter decide to play matchmaker. Alex Bernot works in disaster relief, his job taking him all over the world, helping others, for extended periods of time. He’s staying with his aunt while he’s home, and she sets him up on a blind date.
Jake Moore's world fits too tightly around him. Every penny he makes as a welder goes to care for his dying father, an abusive, controlling man who's the only family Jake has left. Because of a promise to his dead mother, Jake resists his desire for other men, but it leaves him consumed by darkness. It takes all of Dallas Yates's imagination to see the possibilities in the fatigued art deco building on WeHo's outskirts, but what seals the deal is a shy smile from the handsome metal worker across the street.
Seth Walker was my first love and I always swore he’d be my last. Even after he moved away our senior year in high school, we vowed to reunite after graduation. But when he suddenly broke things off without explanation and crushed my heart, it was my turn to run. After a decade in the navy, I’ve finally come home ready to move on with my life as Hobie’s newest firefighter. Unfortunately, the minute I set eyes on the new sheriff in town, I know I’m screwed. Hobie’s top cop is none other than Seth Walker.
I never thought a night out could change everything. All I wanted was to dance, drink, maybe take a cute guy home for a night of fun. I met the guy, but the night ended as a nightmare. Screams and blood and tragedy haunt my dreams. I'm alive and I owe it all to the gorgeous marine who refused to leave me for dead. But how can I start a new relationship when I'm not even sure who I am anymore?
Blue: When my ex walks into the resort bar with his new husband on his arm, I want nothing more than to prove to him that I've moved on. Thankfully, the sexy stranger sitting next to me is more than willing to share a few kisses in the name of revenge. It gets even better when those scorching kisses turn into a night of fiery passion. The only problem? Turns out the stranger's brother is marrying my sister later this week.
A "pumped up" version of the Volley Balls story, twice as long as the original. A double dose of alpha male might be better than one. Despite just getting out of an abusive relationship with an asshole alpha, David Underwood’s wandering glance lands on two hot members of the Australian volleyball team on Laguna Beach and gets him harassed again. Still, when the delicious Gareth Marshall proves his interest by coming out to his team, David succumbs to his attraction. But Gareth’s volleyball partner, Edge, who’s equally hot, makes the lovers’ lives miserable.
With four girls, single dad Ryan Withers has his hands too full to look for romance. He’s not complaining - he loves his daughter and the three nieces he adopted when their parents died, and he would do anything for them. He's caught off guard when his mother and daughter decide to play matchmaker. Alex Bernot works in disaster relief, his job taking him all over the world, helping others, for extended periods of time. He’s staying with his aunt while he’s home, and she sets him up on a blind date.
Jake Moore's world fits too tightly around him. Every penny he makes as a welder goes to care for his dying father, an abusive, controlling man who's the only family Jake has left. Because of a promise to his dead mother, Jake resists his desire for other men, but it leaves him consumed by darkness. It takes all of Dallas Yates's imagination to see the possibilities in the fatigued art deco building on WeHo's outskirts, but what seals the deal is a shy smile from the handsome metal worker across the street.
Omegas were hard to come by worldwide. While I would have preferred to mate for love, it didn't seem that it was in the cards for me. I had taken over as pack Alpha five years earlier, and it was high time that I started adding to the pack population. Less even than a marriage of convenience, purchasing an Omega at the auction was more of a long-term service contract, a means to an end, so what was an Alpha to do when he found his soul mate on the auction block?
I left my family and tiny Texas hometown 15 years ago to escape small-town gossips and to give my mom and sister the chance at a better life. But when a phone call from an attorney back home informs me that my sister passed away, leaving me custody of her newborn baby, I'm shocked out of the steady life I've built for myself running a tattoo shop in San Francisco. The thing is: I don't do babies. And I don't do small towns. Or commitment. And I especially don't do family.
When a cowboy meets the guy from the city, he can't know how much things will change. On the spur of the moment, with his life collapsing around him, Jay Sullivan answers an ad for a business manager with an expertise in marketing, on a dude ranch in Montana.
Hagen Wylie has it all figured out. He's going to live in his hometown, be everybody's friend, explore new relationships, and rebuild his life after the horrors of war. No muss, no fuss is the plan. He's well on his way - until he finds out his first love has come home too. Hagen says it's no big deal, but a chance encounter with Mitch Thayer's two cute sons puts him directly in the path of the only guy he's never gotten out of his head.
On his way home from a meeting of the North American werewolf council, Armand La Marche is stopped in his limousine by a boy who is hurt by an unknown assailant who murdered his friend. After decades of searching, Armand has found his mate. There is one problem, someone is trying to kill Sean.
Deacon Reid was born bad to the bone with no intention of changing. A lifetime of law-bending and living on the edge suits him just fine, until his baby sister dies and he finds himself raising her little girl. Staring down a family history of bad decisions and reaped consequences, Deacon cashes in everything he owns, purchases an auto shop in Half Moon Bay, and takes his niece, Zig, far away from the drug dens and murderous streets they grew up on.
Thornwell Shipton is wealthy, uptight, closeted, and an incurable workaholic. A tragic love affair left him terrified of relationships, so he tells himself sex is better scheduled and paid for. Riley Dashwood is young, easy-going, and comfortable in his own skin. He's a passionate baker and an aspiring chef, working as an escort to save up for culinary school. When Thorne hires Dash, it's lust at first sight. After a few scorching nights together, both men start to wonder if what's between them is more than physical.
Deputy US Marshal Miro Jones has a reputation for being calm and collected under fire. These traits serve him well with his hotshot partner, Ian Doyle, the kind of guy who can start a fight in an empty room. In the past three years of their life-and-death job, they've gone from strangers to professional coworkers to devoted teammates and best friends. Miro’s cultivated blind faith in the man who has his back… faith and something more.
When interior designer David Snyder buys a beautiful century-old house in eastern Washington, he is reeling with heartbreak and looking for somewhere to put down roots. Unfortunately his new home comes with a laundry list of problems: electrical, plumbing, heating...things David knows nothing about. When his mother offers him the business card of a local handyman, David pictures an overweight, balding man in his fifties. But Jackson Henry couldn't be further from that stereotype.
Six years ago, Noah Wheeler went to meet his boyfriend, Dante Cerreto, at the airport, and his world ended. Dante was kissing someone else and claimed to be in love. So Noah took his heartbreak and closed the door on the big picture of what he thought his life would be, focusing instead on the piece of the dream he got to keep, being a father. Six years later, Dante wants to make up for lost time, but he's going to have to take a crash course in communication and seduction. Noah's not going to fall in love just to be broken again.
When jackal shifter Quade Danas was banished from his pack for being gay, he spent years in the military escaping his father's prejudice before returning to civilian life as a bodyguard for Roman Howell, the teenage son of a very rich man. After Roman is in an accident that leaves him physically scarred and emotionally distant, Quade is the only one who can get through to him. As Roman becomes a man, he realizes what he wants - his bodyguard by his side and in his bed.
The Christmas Eve wedding Evan Cleary pulled together in four weeks is crashing down around him and taking his fledgling event planning business with it. With an empty altar and over a hundred guests arriving soon, he turns to the resistant, gorgeous brother of the runaway groom for help. When Richard Patterson's flamboyant brother storms out hours before he's scheduled to marry his equally dramatic partner, Richard is left dealing with the fallout.
Barista Jimmy Patterson thinks it's a good idea to get rip-roaring drunk on his birthday after he's dumped by his boyfriend. When the burly owner of Stonewall's Bar rescues Jimmy, the night starts to look up.
Now Jimmy just wants to know the bartender's first name since he's worn a different name tag every time Jimmy's seen him. "Guy" Stone gives Jimmy seven guesses, one for each night he takes Jimmy out on a date.
While Jimmy's trying to come up with his name, he's distracted by the destruction of his coffee shop and what looks more and more like a hate crime.
There is quite a lot of story in this short, sweet romance; although no sex, which I didn't mind. The name is kind of deceiving as the "can he guess my name" game the MCs play is a very minor plot point. I guessed his name halfway through, although I was hoping I was wrong, I wasn't. The gist of the story is the budding romance between Jimmy and Guy. They get together in the beginning of the book. What starts up as a random hook up when Jimmy's jerk of a boyfriend dumps him on his birthday, ends up a sweet "love affair." There is a little drama, but the town they live in plays as big a part in the story as the romance. The narrator is new to me and, although he has a nice voice, it did seem appropriate for a big "bear" of man, that Guy is suppose to be. Guy sounded more like an accountant than a bear biker guy. He just didn't bring the baritone or bass I would have pictured for that character. Overall, a nice, sweet listen.
Any additional comments?
Independent reviewer for Divine Magazine, I was gifted the AUDIO file of this book.
Jimmy decides its a bloody good idea to get dead drunk on his birthday after his boyfriend dumps. The bar tender picks him up and takes him home, just to make sure Jimmy is safe. But Jimmy doesn't know his name, he wears a different badge every day. When it becomes clear that Jimmy and the Guy have a huge connection, Guy gives Jimmy 7 guesses to get his name. Can't be that hard, can it??
Oh, I loved this!! Its so bloody cute!
We do only get Jimmy, and ya'll know how I feel about READING single person books. However, I've come to the conclusion I love LISTENING to single person point of view, especially if they are first person. Why its different, I've no idea, but there you go, just needed to say it.
I like Henshaw's writing, the way their mind works. I liked that I didn't get who was doing the damage to the coffee shop, that was a great misdirection!
It's mostly clean, but not a bad thing, not here. I LOVED that it was that way here.
Its not very long, hence the hang over tag, just under 3 hours, 80 odd pages but I don't think it needed any more.
And I DID get Guy's name before Jimmy did, honestly, I did!
David Ross narrates.
This is the first of his work, and indeed Henshaw's, that I've listened to. I hope it won't be the last. I enjoyed his voices for Jimmy and Guy, and everyone else too. They all came across clear and I had no trouble getting what I needed to know, from Jimmy, via Ross.
Ross' reading voice is clear and even, and very easy on the ears. I'd love to be able to continue with this series in audio, but this is the only one out yet. I'll wait though. I've found starting a series in audio, then switching to reading has a.....negative....impact on my enjoyment.
So, for a short book, it gets a surprising...
5 stars
5 star narration
5 overall.
**same worded review will appear on Goodreads, Booklikes, Audible.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Kobo, Dreamspinner Press and Barnes and Noble**
Jimmy is having a terrible birthday! His boyfriend was supposed to take him on a romantic date in San Francisco and instead picks up a stranger and ditches Jimmy at the bar, alone. Jimmy drowns his sorrow in beer but luckily the bartender, Alex2/Guy/Stone is there to help when it gets messy.
“Stone” aka Guy, aka Alex2 has been keeping an eye on Jimmy for awhile and swoops in to help when Jimmy’s worthless boyfriend ditches him at the bar. Stone won’t tell Jimmy (or anyone) his real name because it’s so awful. Instead he makes Jimmy a deal that if Jimmy can guess his real name he’ll buy him the motorcycle he’s been after for his birthday.
Jimmy and Stone get along right from the start. Stone helps Jimmy to get free from the ex-boyfriend, gives Jimmy a place to crash when needed, helps Jimmy with his new coffee-shop plans and is generally an amazing boyfriend – right from the start.
Jimmy can’t believe his good fortune and realizes that in all the months he’s been going to the one gay bar in town, he’s actually spent more time talking with the bartender than his (now ex) boyfriend.
**
This is a fast story with very little angst and no on page sex. Some people are going to find fault with it for those reasons. But… it’s a tremendously sweet story with a lot of heart and lots of ooey gooey feels that just made me smile. Sure, the ex boyfriend was a bit too psycho. Sure, I’d have liked to see the relationship take more than a week but as is pointed out in the story – they’ve known each other for months already. Sure, I wish there was some "action" in the story, but the chemistry is there and the two clearly love each other.
Overall, I really enjoyed this short story and recommend it to anyone willing to suspend their disbelief and smile at a sweet tale of love.
Audio
David Ross is a relatively new-to-me narrator, I enjoyed his narration of Tartan Candy well enough. While he does a nice job, he didn't do much to really make any character stand out. I was hoping to hear a really deep, dark, growly voice for "Stone" but his voice is pretty close to Jimmy's. He doesn't fall for making the female voices screechy as some narrators do, but again he doesn't do a lot to differentiate any of the voices. I like the tone of his voice and I enjoy the emotion and pacing he puts in his storytelling. While he didn't "wow" me, he didn't bother me either.