Bombshell's Books

*** 4.5 Stars ***

*** 2.5 ***

*** 4.5 Stars ***

I loved EVERYTHING about this book. The only thing that would have made it better is if it had made me cry (I know, I'm a giant weirdo, but there was so much angst in this book that a few tears woulda been cathartic).

This one's going on my VERY exclusive "favourites" shelf. Read it. Read it now.

*** 3.5 Stars ***

An utterly adorable story with a whole cast of likable main and secondary characters. Solid fluff read for a Saturday afternoon.

This story reads like a giant love letter to John Hughes (and I don't necessarily mean that in a good way).

It was a serviceable coming-of-age / accept-thyself story, but I found the characters to be too perfectly flawed to be believable. It also didn't help that the narrator's voice didn't sound like any teenager I've ever met (too hyper self-aware). That said, it had undeniably sweet moments and a handful of difficult/awkward moments that made for a good emotional balance in the story.

So... It was okay. Okay enough that I'd continue reading the next book in the series.

Sweet, sexy, sensual, and at times playful. I dug it.

I'd call the author an ignorant homophobe, but that'd just be redundant.

Excuse me while I go read 100 more books about men loving men to scrub this title outta my brain...

*** 2.5 Stars ***

After slogging through the first half of the book, I was happy to see things pick up a little and get more emotional in the last 40% or so. Still, I feel like the MCs had the same 2 or 3 conversations on repeat the entire time and it was pretty tedious after a while.

More a series of vignettes than a short story, but both characters were likable and the ending was sweet.

*** 4.5 John Hughes-Worthy Stars***

Lovely short story. Probably would have been a full 5-star read for me if not for the fucking FADE TO BLACK after making these men wait 10 years for their shot at happiness together.

*** 4.5 Perfectly Imperfect Stars ***

I adored this story. But, since I'm not up to writing a full-length review at the moment (duty calls!), I just wanted to make sure that I highlighted the dialogue. If you've read [b:Unbreak My Heart|18308403|Unbreak My Heart (Unbreak My Heart, #1)|K-lee Klein|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1376260167s/18308403.jpg|25803782], you know that K-Lee never fails to write characters whose voices bounce around your conscious like you've known them for years. Never the Perfect Moment was no exception - the dialogue between Chrys and Bryan was never perfect, but their every word somehow felt natural and inevitable; she absolutely nailed that casual ease and the teasing that comes with a longstanding friendship between two guys.

And, though this story ends at exactly the perfect moment to provide its readers with a sweet, completely satisfying fade-into-the-sunset-while-tangled-in-sweaty-sheets happily ever after, I have to admit that I wasn't quite ready for it to be over. In fact, I wish this story were twice as long just so that I could savor it a little more.

(You hear that K-Lee? I'm waiting for a part two, woman!) :D

*** 1.5 Stars ***

For every reason everyone else has already posted - I don't need to rub salt in the wound.

*** 1.5 Unfinished Stars ***

This short story had some major potential.

It's about a sexy, self-sacrificing kindergarten teacher who, in the face of mounting bills and pending eviction, decides to moonlight as a masseur who believes that all fairy tales massages should have happy endings. Cue unfortunate timing worthy of a Rom Com when Peter meets the smokin' hot father of one of his students just as he takes on his first few clients. Chip (awful, awful name for a character) is single, charming, a devoted father, and a detective (and boy, can this man wear the hell outta a pair of navy polyester pants!).

Sounds good, right?

Well, if the story had stuck to just these elements, I bet it would have been pretty good. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

The story starts in the present, where you are introduced to Peter and one of his massage clients. The way Peter is going on about what a nice guy he is and how he'd like to climb the silver fox like a jungle gym, I thought the man was going to turn into the second MC. (Here's where I admit to reading only the first paragraph of the book blurb and, being the slut that I am for the word "teacher" in a character description, jumped on the story without reading further). But no dice - all those warm, fuzzy, sexy feelings were just a red herring. A page or two later we flashback 3 months and silver fox man is never mentioned again. (Shame, he was hot.)

Next, we are introduced to Tony. Personally, I found him instantly skeezy, but Peter?! He's waxing poetic about the man, and drilling him into the mattress. I'm left confused; is this skeezeball really going to become the love of Peter's life? I'm at nearly 45% and there's not another eligible bachelor in sight, so it has to be him, right? Right?! (Please say no! Please say no!)

With fingers crossed, I search GR to bring up the book blurb. It mentions a guy named Chip. "Phewf!" I think to myself and continue reading. A few pages later we actually get to meet Chip and I am smiling because he seems adorable. I want more Chip! More specifically, I want more interaction between Chip and Peter. I want the witty repartee and longing glances and sweet blushes and sweaty, athletic sex that leaves both men gasping for breath and the good kinda sore. That's not too much to ask, right?! I thought not.

But apparently it is. In the second half of the story all I get is a handful of pages here and there that feature both Chip and Peter and during those pages there's almost ZERO sizzle between the two men. They don't even KISS on page!

Disappointed Catherine is disappointed.

And then the story ends with an indecent proposal and an awkward yet ho-hum 'confrontation'. I mean, it just... ends at a point where the conflict and tension isn't high enough (in my opinion, at least) to classify as a true "cliffhanger". Instead, it makes the story feel unfinished - like a person who trails off mid... ;)

I should be clear that the book isn't poorly written, per say, it's just not to my personal tastes. I was looking for an arc with a clear beginning and middle and a satisfying ending, more interaction and affection between the main characters, something (a love scene, an argument, anything!) that evoked an emotional reaction from me, and some freakin' ROMANCE in my M/M romance novel, and I don't feel that this book delivered those things. Because of these reasons (and more), I likely won't read the rest of the series.

That said, I'm sure that this book will still find an audience. The author's writing style, the story's structure, and the unfinished feeling of Bad Boy all reminded me a LOT of J.J. Scott's [b:Being Chase|20782784|Being Chase (Chase #1)|J.J. Scotts|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1392133852s/20782784.jpg|40121623] - which I gave 2.5 stars (mostly because the kitchen sex was smokin' hot). However, Scott's book has an overall rating of 3.5 stars, so clearly LOTS of people enjoyed that one more than I did. I have a feeling the same might be true of this one, too.

Rawr! *grabby hands*

This story was all kinds of socially awkward cute.

As always, my thanks to the author for participating in the Love's Landscapes event and for all of the behind-the-scenes work that editors, beta readers, and the MM Group Mods put into making this FREE event a massive success!