Review: Wheels and Heels by Jaime Samms

Wheels And Heels (Stories from the Hen & Hog #1) by Jaime Samms
Riptide Publishing, Amazon, Goodreads
Novel: 265pgs

3.25 Pants Off

Blurb: As a teenager, Ira Bedford fled a troubled home life and people who didn’t understand his penchant for feminine things. In the city, he fell in with Cedric, who found him work as an underage stripper. It took him years to escape Cedric’s influence and try to build a life of his own.

Now, he just wants to be left alone to create his art. But Cedric’s on-going harassment means Ira had to drop out of art school, is squatting in a friend’s apartment, and is still relying on his allure as a sexy, skirt-wearing exotic dancer to pay his bills.

Then he meets Jed. Part-time bartender and the apartment building’s superintendent, Jed is just the right mix of strong, kind, and protective to pull Ira out of hiding. He also welcomes Ira into his chosen family at the Hen and Hog Pub. But Ira yearns for more. Still, he doesn’t dare to hope that Jed will want him and his questionable past, his skirts and high heels, his hang-ups, and the profession he seems unable to escape. But Jed will do anything to prove him wrong.

Review

HEELS AND FEELS

A part of me likes this story and another part of me is in my “meh-ish” feels. While it was cute and all that, for me it’s also easily forgettable. 

Ira, struggling art student and exotic dancer. He loves the prettier things in life, and while he remains true to himself by wearing his heels and skirts it gets him a lot of flack. Throwing the dancing for money in the mix and people generally just stereotype him for a tweaked out whore. Ira has his quirks and he’s also got his demons that he’s trying to get away from. Then there’s Jed who came to his rescue on his bike. Jed who is the epitome of a nice guy, and what Jed needs to understand is that Ira doesn’t need saving (or so he keeps insisting). 

What I really was hoping for, was to enjoy this story a lot more but alas that wasn’t the case. I didn’t not like it but it’s a sort of  “meh” like. It wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t very good either. Ira’s contradictory personality made it sometimes irritating to read, and some of the fool choices both men made could have been easily avoided. The villain in the story could have easily been handled and way too much time was spent on his unnecessary story-line. I found that part to be hella weak and everything could have been handled quickly. Between Ira and the over exaggerated mean guy, I didn’t want any more. 

I did enjoy the setting of the story, the very own streets I’ve walked here in Toronto. So kudos for a strong sense of place. Also, the supporting characters were quite interesting and there are a few people that I’m very interested in and would love to read their story. 

Overall, I liked it but still felt a tad bit disappointed. Which is darn shape because it had the makings of a really good book but the delivery was off and I found the book to be contradicting itself sometimes. Ira wanted to be seen as strong and that he didn’t need a protector but would feel happy about being protected and got mad when Jed failed one time to come to his rescue. The fact that Ira likes to dress up was a great part of the book but sadly it didn’t help my enjoyment.

Review: The Foster Family by Jaime Samms

Reviewed by Whuppsy
The Foster Family by Jaime Samms
Dreamspinner Press
Novel: 330pgs
3.5 Pants Off

Blurb:
Growing up in foster care has left Kerry Grey with little self-esteem or hope for his future. A college dropout, Kerry scrapes by on a part-time job at a garden nursery. His friendship with his boss and working with the plants are the only high points in Kerry’s life. He’s been dating the man who bullied him at school, but when his boyfriend abandons him at a party, Kerry wanders down the beach to drown his sorrows in a bottle of scotch. 

Malcolm Holmes and Charlie Stone have been together for fifteen years. Despite Charlie's willingness to accept Malcolm's unspoken domination in bed,something is missing from their relationship. Early one morning, they rescue a passed out Kerry from being washed away by the tide and Charlie immediately senses a kindred spirit in the lost younger man. When Kerry’s roommate kicks him out, Malcolm and Charlie invite him into their home. As Charlie and Kerry bond over Charlie’s garden, Malcolm sees Kerry may be just who they have been looking for to complete their lives. All they have to do is show Kerry, and each other, that Kerry's submissive tendencies will fit their dynamic. 

But someone is sabotaging Kerry at every turn. As he struggles to discover the culprit, he fears for the safety of his new friends. If Malcolm and Charlie cannot help, their lifelong search for their perfect third may not end with the happily ever after they imagined.

Review
This story had so much going on that I was confounded just a bit. These three men were so I don’t like saying broken, but they were broken for lack of a better word.

Kerry is this young guy who has been in foster care since he was a wee lad of three. He’s been bounced from home to home. He’s found a way to protect himself by pushing most people away. Keeping them at an arm’s length away. That way, it won’t hurt if they have to part ways. He’s allowed his high school nemesis to have sex with him without any real boundaries or care about himself. He’s this lost boy that doesn’t know his worth. That he matters and during this story, he’ll have to learn his worth.

Malcolm Holmes is one half of the two men that Kerry falls in love with. He’s in his mid-30’s and he’s also been brought up in the foster system. His experience was a bad one. He’s use to cut himself when he felt out of control. Now, for Mal, control is a very big thing. He prides himself on keeping control at all times. However, Mal still has some issues that need to be worked out. Not just with himself, but in his long-term relationship with Charlie.

Charlie Stone is the other half of the couple that Kerry finds himself in love with. Charlie works as a personal assistant in an art gallery. Charlie used to be a photographer, but he no longer does that. Charlie also was brought up for a brief time in the foster system, but he was adopted out. His life isn’t all that he thought it would be.

Charlie and Mal have been in a relationship for 15 years and they keep adding guys who could be their third. Someone who can give each of them what they need. For Mal, it’s someone to spoil and take care of, like he wasn’t as a child. For Charlie, it’s someone to give him the submission that he requires. Mal and Charlie have been in this relationship that has worked but that there is something missing. Something isn’t quite right. Kerry comes in and it shatters the illusion that their relationship is fine.

I like that all of these characters weren’t perfect. I liked that each of them had issues that they really needed to work out in order for them to actually have a true relationship. I liked that that they really had to work on themselves. That no one else could fix them. That they had to do the work. They had support, but they had to do the work.

The secondary characters were really good in this story. I liked how they really pushed the characters to see themselves. They made them take accountability for their actions. That showed that they cared. They were honest and loving to the MC’s. Gave them what they needed, but also allowed them to have the room to make mistakes and also to grow.

I will say that this book did have some confusing parts to me. I didn’t understand why Kerry went back to Seattle for months on end to his last Foster Father’s house. I mean, I got it but I wasn’t ok with the length of time that he was there. I get that he needed to work on himself, but really? I also get that he needed to leave for Mal and Charlie to get their relationship back on track for them to grow as a couple and as individuals.

I will say that I had a hard time getting into these characters. I didn’t really care one way or the other about them. I find that the story wasn’t as enjoyable to me as I’d hope. The premise of the story was so amazing to me that I think I had such higher expectations than what I got.

I would say, it’s an ok book. It wasn’t bad just different. There was so much going on that I couldn’t really connect with any of the characters. I liked that each of the MC’s weren’t perfect. That Mal and Charlie weren’t perfect. That Kerry wasn’t perfect. I liked that all three of these men had issues that they needed to work on and that they did. That they wanted to have a relationship that included all 3 of them, but they knew that they each had to fix the issues that were holding them back.

Overall, it was an ok book. It didn’t live up to my expectations, but it was a pretty good book, nonetheless. Good character growth, which I really liked.

3.5 Pants Off

Review: Better by Jaime Samms

Better by Jaime Samms
Dreamspinner Press

Novel: 240pgs

3.75 (Almost a 4) Pants Off

Blurb:
After filing charges that put his abusive ex-Dom behind bars, Jesse Turbul relocates halfway across the country, hoping to escape his past—but, of course, it's never that easy. When Jesse meets third-year law student Aadon at the library where he works, their mutual attraction is instant and obvious.

Despite the sparks, they just can't seem to make it work. Aadon is mired in guilt over his inability to help his older brother, damaged by events far too similar to Jesse’s past. Jesse is stuck in his own desperate wish to forget the painful shadow that continues to threaten him and any hope of a happy future.

The only way to move forward is for Jesse to acknowledge he’s broken and for Aadon to accept he can’t make him better.

Review:
Better is about two men both with a similar past, and trying to make this thing called love work. Jesse a submissive who got the shitty end of the stick with an abusive Dom. Aadon a man who has witnessed the toll rape and abuse can have on a person, his older brother is the victim of that.

Jesse is still mentally/physically suffering from the abuse even years later, and is questioning if he will ever feel for another again. When Aadon appears in his life Jesse finds himself very attracted to the man but fears he is too broken to be anything good for Aadon. They both work to try and find a common ground, but it’s not always easy to meet in the middle.

I really liked Jesse he was a solid character and very believable in his pain. The author really did a wonderful thing in making him accept that he does have a problem and doesn’t pretend as if all is right. Aadon also realizes that he’s not exactly perfect when handling Jesse, and he might be putting his issue with his brother unto him. They’re all very angst, but believable angst.

I did have a few problems with the book, which kept it from being a complete 4 Pants off. I am telling you these boys were hitting the books hard, but unless I missed something *hmm* did they ever attend class? I heard about the classes but never read about them being in class. I don’t know about you, but that really adds to the college atmosphere. I also couldn’t handle the ranting these went on when they got in the mood. I get it you have problems and I appreciate that you realize it but… simmer down on explaining it.

Although Aadon’s brother Ricky was a minor character he really left an impact on me. I think I will remember his character a lot longer than I will Aadon/Jesse. I would love him to have a book of his own book and find some healing. With the level of abuse he suffered, and his mental state. I’m thinking the book would be all kinds of epic, because sex has the power to hurt but it also has the power to heal *real talk*.

Overall, I liked this one. This was my first book by Jaime Samms and will not be my last. I really enjoyed the writing, the pacing was good and I gobbled it all up in a day or so. You should check this one out if you are looking for an emotionally rich story with solid characters. The mother in me really cried for a young Ricky, and that was the hardest part in reading Better. Otherwise, I enjoyed it but not as much as I had hoped.

3 1/2 Pants Off with .25 More

Better was provided by NetGalley