A – Z | The Night Porter

July 30, 2020July 21, 2020 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ 4 Comments

The Night Porter (Night Porter #1) by Sue Brown

I picked this up at the library, and I didn’t have a clue what it was about, but I needed an N for my A-Z Title Challenge and I usually click the like button on Sue Brown’s Facebook posts so I know her name LOL. I’ve read other stories by her too, so it felt like a safe bet.

I didn’t know this story didn’t have a HEA, my fault, I could’ve investigated instead of just starting to read. Now, I don’t need a HEA to like a story, but I was a bit stunned when the end came LOL.

There is a sequel, and I assume the HEA will come in that one.

Max is a night porter in a hotel where Robert comes to live the last days before his wedding. They instantly connect and the attraction is mutual. One late night leads to another, they end up far closer than they should, but then the wedding day comes.

I was left with a ‘but… No!’

Both Max and Robert are likeable characters and I was rooting for them, but, alas…

I couldn’t find this book in any of the online retailers but check your library if you want to read it or wait for a bit. It was originally published by Dreamspinner so my guess Ms Brown has pulled it. She might publish it again, maybe.

The first time Max lays eyes on Robert Armitage, he knows exactly what he wants to happen. Tall, broad, and gorgeous, Robert pushes all his buttons. When Robert asks Max to show him around town, the attraction between them only intensifies. But Max is just a night porter and Robert a guest at his hotel before his wedding, and Max knows even as they sleep together that in the morning he’ll have to send the groom on his way.

A-Z Title Challenge 2020

A – All I See

B – Bearly Dating

C – Champagne Kisses

D – The Dark Horse

E – Everybody in the Place

F – Food for Thought

G – A Gentle Shove of Human Kindness

H – Howl

I – I Will Meet You at Asphodel’s Pit

K – Killer Cassava!

L – Landslide

M –Misunderstanding His Mate

N – The Night Porter

O – Out For Delivery

P – Purrfect Harmony

Q – Quill Me Now

S – Set Up

T – Tentacles with Benefits

W – Words

X – Xavier

Z – Zippadacious

I started a Pinterest board for M/M books sorted by title, if you need help finding a title on a certain letter.

Up North | Banger Challenge

July 24, 2020 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ Leave a comment

Let me introduce Zeppelin Cave and Fred Munson. If you’re lucky you get to tag along on a road trip in an Opel Ascona from 1988 without air condition during a heatwave in July – I know it’s a dream come true LOL.

When the pandemic hit back in March, I had a hard time focusing. I’m sure most of you can relate, but after weeks of not writing nor reading, I felt I needed to do something get my mind in gear again. So I asked for requests in my Facebook group. I figured if I just could write something short for someone other than myself, I could get going again.

It worked, sort of. I didn’t write one short story, I wrote When Skies Are Gray that’s 16k since the lovely Sheryl Boo wanted an age-gap story. But then the equally lovely Gabi Cervenka (who has a blog you should check out ) wanted a story about a shy guy.

Fred is that shy guy, and he’d been forced to take three weeks off from work. He doesn’t have anything on his schedule other than laying jigsaw puzzles, but that’s before his driveway got blocked by Zen Zeppelin Cave. Zen is everything Fred is not, and before long he’s convinced Fred to come with him on a road trip.

I loved writing this story, and it was supposed to be a shorty, but it’s 31k, so while not novel length, it’s went on for a bit longer than I’d planned…but it’s a long way to the south when you’re starting you trip Up North.

Banger Challenge will be published on August 5th and is up for pre-order in the JMS-shop (20% off).

A -Z | Food for Thought

July 21, 2020June 21, 2020 ~ Ofelia Gränd ~ 6 Comments

Food for Thought (Tales of the Curious Cookbook #2) by Amy Lane

I needed an F for my A-Z Title Challenge, and while Fs aren’t that hard to come by, I’ve been in a reading slump lately so I went searching for a familiar name. Usually, Mary Calmes is my go-to author when I’ve been in a reading slump simply because I know what I get, but then I saw Food for Thought by Amy Lane, and Ms Lane is often a safe bet.

This is cute. If you’ve read Amy Lane you know she’s a master of torturing her characters, and while this isn’t angsty like many of her other stories, it’s an emotional rollercoaster.

Emmett grew up with his father – his very quiet father. He knew he was loved, and he thinks his dad would’ve been okay with him liking boys instead of girls, but he died before Emmett could tell him.

All alone in the world, Emmett looks at his best friend Vinnie who has a big family, a family where he’s always felt at home and decides he needs to get himself a big family. So, he starts dating an amazing girl, a girl he loves even if he isn’t in love with her, a girl he maybe one day could consider sleeping with if it gave him children. And it would all have worked out fine if it hadn’t been for Keegan.

Keegan is his super hot, super-nice, most-awesome-person-in-the-whole-wide-world neighbour who never judges Emmett for anything. But Emmett needs that big family, and how can he ever come out when he didn’t come out to his dad?

Food for Thought is from the Tales of the Curious Cookbook series, and I’ve read two other stories in that series – Lost Along the Way by Marie Sexton, and Just Dessert by Mary Calmes – so I knew there would be some magic recipes.

books2read.com/Food-for-Thought

Food For Thought Emmett Gant was planning to tell his father something really important one Sunday morning—but his father passed away first. Now, nearly three years later, Emmett can’t seem to clear up who he should be with—the girl with the apple cheeks and the awesome family, or his snarky neighbor, Keegan, who never sees his family but who makes Emmett really happy just by coming over to chat.

Emmett needs clarity.

Fortunately for Emmett, his best friend’s mom has a cookbook that promises to give Emmett insight and good food, and Emmett is intrigued. After the cookbook follows him home, Emmett and Keegan decide to make the recipe “For Clarity,” and what ensues is both very clear—and a little surprising, especially to Emmett’s girlfriend. Emmett is going to have to think hard about his past and the really important thing he forgot to tell his father if he wants to get the recipe for love just right.