Best of 2014

The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

20896313
Grade: A
Hotness Level: Ember
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, New Adult
Series: The Ivy Years #1
Published: 3/24/14
Reviewed by Anne
193 pages

Corey should have been starting college on the hockey team.  Instead she’s starting in a wheelchair, hoping she might walk again some day, knowing the hockey is not in her future.  Her wheelchair means she’s been placed in the sparsely populated “gimp dorm” instead of one of the many large and not-handicapped-friendly dorms most freshman stay in.  Luckily for her, she got assigned an awesome random roommate, and the guy across the hall is Adam Hartley.

Hartley is a hockey player whose having a year off from the sport after breaking his leg in two places.  He and Corey become good friends as they limp and roll around campus.  They help each other work through issues big and small and start to wonder if their friendship might turn into something more.  Hartley doesn’t feel ready to leave his high class girl friend, yet, though, and Corey feels like Hartley is way out of her league.

Let me start by saying, in general, I don’t read New Adult books, and this is one.  I heard some good buzz, and specifically read a review by Jane at DearAuthor.com and decided to give this story a try.  I’m so glad I did!

My main complaints against New Adult romance in general are 1.) too much angst  2.) my inability to relate to characters.  I found Corey and Hartley to be relatable, and for all their issues, they were surprisingly low angst characters.  It certainly takes place in college, and in a college atmosphere.  It’s socially nothing like my geek experience was, but I know a lot of people who had experiences like those in the story, so that’s believable to me.

Corey is such a strong character.  She’s not perfect, and she makes some poor choices, but her attitude toward life is one of soldiering on.  She doesn’t just hope that better days are coming, but she makes the most of where she is right now.  Hartley is pretty messed up emotionally, and his friendship with Corey helps him to see things more clearly.

Without ruining things, I want to say that when Corey hits a major sad point in her life, I was impressed with how she handled things.  She made choices to improve her life.  She mourned her losses, and with the help of her friends, she moved on.  That kind of maturity was very relatable.

I also felt like the author did a great job explaining why Hartley was making the choices he was.  You could feel his confusion that his choices weren’t leading him toward happiness, and see him struggle to make changes that would.

I highly recommend this book.  It’s got great characters and a wonderful story.  It’s going on my best of 2014 list!  In fact, it might be the best book I’ve read this year so far.  How about you?  What’s your best book so far?

Caught! by J.L Merrow

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

22030684
Grade: B+
Hotness Level: Blaze
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, m/m
Series: The Shamwood Tales #1
Published: 8/19/14
Reviewed by Anne
257 pages

Robert Emeny (Mr. Enemy to his students) is the new teacher in a small town English primary school.  He’s happy to have left his past behind him and settle into this new, less fancy life.  He’s upper crust, wears a bow tie every day, is a bit of a nerd, and is the kind of man that people just seem to figure out is gay.  Sean is the local pest control guy, and uncle to two of Robert’s students.  They each find the other attractive, but there’s some misunderstandings and baggage to work through before they can settle into a relationship.

First off, let me warn you that this book is told from the first person point of view, and that Robert, our narrator has an ADHD style of thought that almost made me dizzy as I read.  That said, it’s hilarious.  So, just go into it knowing what you’re in for.  It works for me, but I don’t think I could read a bunch of J.L. Merrow stories back to back.  Here’s a quick example as Robert looks around, marching his class into an assembly:

 

“Thirty pairs of eyes (actually, twenty-nine and a half; Jodie was wearing a patch for her lazy eye) searched eagerly for the sight of parents and grannies.  I gazed out on the sea of female and/or wrinkly faces in the pews and wondered idly if there was any job in the world, anywhere, that was worse for meeting men than the average primary-school teaching post.  Father confessor in a nunnery, maybe?  Avon cosmetics rep?  Or one of those poor sods who went round emptying the sanitary bins they put in ladies’ loos?” p. 5

Robert is a bit of a geek; math jokes and Doctor Who references abound, and that made the story even more enjoyable for me.  Robert has a couple friends who round out the story and add to the hilarity.  Rosie is a fellow teacher working her way through a recent break up with her boyfriend.  She takes Robert on as a friend and project and works to hook him up with Sean.  Hanne is Robert’s grandmotherly neighbor who enjoys popping into his house and baking him things.  The exploits of Robert’s class round out the hilarity.

In a sweet twist, there’s a side story with one of Robert’s students and his father.  It made for one of those moments where you just sigh and think maybe the world is an ok place.

There are some more serious threads weaving through all the comedy.  Robert is dealing with some baggage from his previous job.  He also worries about coming out to Hanne and being gay in the small town he’s living in now.  I thought it was all really well handled.

The only thing that frustrated me in the story was that Robert sometimes seemed too oblivious or stupid.  I think that’s a risk you face when you have this kind of narrator.  The biggest obstacles to Robert and Sean’s relationship were all in Robert’s head.  Still, it worked for me overall.

If you enjoy m/m, or are wondering if you might, I’d recommend this book.  It’s hilarious and sweet – a story that will keep you laughing and smiling as you read!

November Rain by Daisy Harris

Posted on by Dirty Girl Anne

22066351

Grade: A
Hotness Level: Inferno
Kink Level: No Kink
Genre: Contemporary, m/m
Series: Fire & Rain #4
Published: 9/2/14
Reviewed by Anne
117  ebook pages

You like m/m?  Then you should read this story.  Right now.  Please, stop reading this review, go buy this book, read it and come back.

What?  Not convinced yet?  OK, fine, let me explain to you why you should read November Rain.

First, there’s the characters.  Gruff and tough Joe is a Seattle cop.  He’s shopping for a new sweater (to wear to his ex’s wedding – ugh!) when he meets the young sales clerk, Elias.  Elias’ parents immigrated from Africa just before Elias was born.  Their bias against homosexuality has kept Elias not only in the closet, but very, very innocent.  Elias pushes Joe’s buttons in all the right ways, but before he can ask for Elias’ number, he ends up getting shot in the leg by a customer who is harassing Elias.  Elias is so drawn to Joe, and so concerned for his health that he shows up at the hospital to check on Joe.   This starts an interesting relationship between Joe and Elias.

Joe is stubborn and having a hard time dealing with his injury.  He’s not sure what to make of Elias’ eagerness and withdrawl, but he’s trying to figure it out.  Elias has more backbone than he appears to.  He knows what he is and isn’t willing to do and put up with, and he stands up for himself when needed, and wow is that a joy to read!  The sex between these two is dirty and hot, and sometimes messy and emotionally painful.

The secondary storyline is interesting, too.  It’s about Elias’s slightly older brother and his wife.  Since Elias’ parents moved back to Africa, they are the only family Elias has left.  He’s scared of their reaction if they find out he’s gay, and he’s also worried about the two of them.

Really the only complaint I can come up with is that things work out a bit too well for everyone.  And, honestly, that’s not really a complaint.  I’m fine with some sunshine and rainbows in my reading!

So, if you’re up for some really great characters who stand up for themselves and admit it when they’re wrong, along with some wonderfully smutty m/m sex, I highly recommend this book by Daisy Harris!  It’s going on my Best of 2014 list!

Even better news, it turns out this is the fourth book in the series!  What?  It stood alone just fine, but I can’t wait to go back and read the others!  Daisy Harris’ blog says that the first book, Fire and Ashes will be free until September 5!