Review: Truth or Lie by Lynn Lorenz

Reviewed by Whuppsy
Truth or Lie by Lynn Lorenz
Amber Allure
Novella: 133pgs
4 Pants Off

Blurb:
Travis Conners is a firefighter who barely made it through high school. Why would Anthony Pappas, an adorable second grade teacher, be interested in him? Travis is willing to find out, if Anthony will give him a chance.

Being descended from a goddess, Anthony Pappas possesses a unique gift—he can tell when people are lying. Sounds good, until your boyfriends all end up lying to you. Anthony's tired of it. It's easier not to get involved than to have your heart broken time and time again.

When a little redheaded boy brings the men together, these two heroes will have to find the courage to take a leap of faith and follow their hearts...

Review
This tender story is about Travis Conners-a firefighter and Anthony Pappas-a schoolteacher. Both of these men came to each other with pasts that haunt them still.

Travis, as a child had problems learning in school. Therefore, he thinks that he’s not smart enough. Definitely not smart enough for Anthony. Anthony grew up being a descendant of goddess and his power of knowing when people lie to him has made him feel trapped. He’s had so many guys that he’s dated lie to him that he’s given up even looking for Mr. Right.

They meet when Travis shows up to Anthony’s class for Take You Dad To School Day. Travis is there for his nephew, whose father died in Afghanistan. As you can imagine, they have such an instant attraction to each other. They both need to just take a leap of faith in each other and work it out.

Now, this short story just gave me such a feeling of light heartedness. I smiled my way through this book. It was sweet and tender and I couldn’t get enough. These two guys were just so perfect for each other. Sweet as can be. I loved how they came together and then fought to stay together. I loved watching them work on their issues. Yes, it was a bit of insta-love, but being a descendant of a goddess, what do you expect?

I would recommend this book if you just wanted a sweet, gentle story that didn’t have any real angst or drama. With an HEA that you can’t wait to see these two guys get. You’ll enjoy watching these two fall in love.

4 Pants Off

Review: Coliseum Square by Lynn Lorenz

Reviewed by Whuppsy
Coliseum Square by Lynn Lorenz
Amber Allure
Short Story
3 Pants Off

Blurb:
When Mark Madison accepts a position as tutor in New Orleans, he does so to run away from his past. Yet he never once believed the house on Coliseum Square would actually hold the key to his future.

Royal DuCote, the wealthy owner of the house and father to a son named Luc, is dark, sexy, and haunted. Ever since the death of his wife and Luc's mother, nothing has been the same. Luc refuses to speak or let Royal near him, and putting Luc in school is out of the question, so he hires a tutor for his son. But when he meets Mark Madison, he's instantly attracted to the younger man.

As tensions build between the Mark and Royal, Luc's affliction becomes a mystery Mark wants to solve. But will what Mark discovers destroy all that is left of the DuCote family?

Short Review
Mark Madison whom we meet as he’s travelling to New Orleans to start his life over with a new name and a new job as a tutor to young Luc DuCote. Royal DuCote is his new, handsome employer. When they meet, Mark is instantly smitten with the dark-haired man. What Mark doesn’t know is that Royal is just as smitten with him!!

As the story progresses, you find out what made Mark leave his home and change his name. Here at Coliseum Square, he can start anew. Luc, his young charge hasn’t spoken a word since his mother died two years prior. Herein lies the mystery…how did she die? Who killed her? Despite Mark’s many suspicions that Royal may have killed his wife. They still fall in love.

This sweet, tender novella was really just a nice, easy read. The mystery was handled well. The insta-love was there, but it didn’t really bother me. It was more sweet than anything. A nice, fun read.

3 Pants Off

Saturday Shout-Out: Tor by Lynn Lorenz

 

 Tor (Werewolf Fight League #1) by Lynn Lorenz

 

Shouting-Out Lynn Lorenz,

I gotta honestly say that I really enjoyed and I am surprised you wrote this.  Unlike the previous books I have read and loved by you, Tor was like reading werewolf porn meets UFC fighting *fist pimp*.

The beginning was so angst and broke my heart a wee bit, and I thought it was the set-up for heartache and pain for the entire book. Yet you surprised me, and gave me sweet and sexy with a twist at the end.  I am a fan of the Master/Slave trope if it is written properly and I think you did a good job ‘psst, have you been reading my journals?’ I mean yeh I really liked it!

The characters are… alright. I can’t hate Tor, he’s a werewolf and he’s alpha and sexy but with a heart of gold, how can I not enjoy him? Sky is a simple sexy boy, with the heart of a wolf and he lights up the pages and bedroom in his burka.


I am annoyed by this word ‘were’ in the book because it looks like freaking WERE.

“The were was big and muscled” =_=  lets just stick with the ‘wolf’ was big and muscled or the ‘werewolf’ was big and muscled. Yes, this works for me.

“Ahem”

"I love you." Sky laughed. He cuffed Tor on the back of the
head. "Now lick me, wolf!"
Tor shifted. Sky buried his hands in Tor's ruff.
Sky threw back his hand and howled as his wolf obeyed.

Wolf licking *literally*… ain’t nothing wrong with that.

So Lynn this shout-out is for you. I can’t wait to read more about your fighting porn werewolf UFC fighters.

Warning: There is no actual porn making in this book, but what a surprising reading it would have been if they actually filmed UFC Werewolf fighing porn. Something to ponder...

4 Pants Off

IRL Week Guest Post: Variety is the Spice of Life by Lynn Lorenz

I am so happy, to have the wonderful Lynn Lorenz today on the blog. I asked her to share some thoughts on interracial love, and she graciously accpeted.

So help me welcome Lynn Lorenz to Pants Off!

Variety is the spice of life!

I remember when I was a young teen growing up in New Orleans in the late 60’s and early 70’s, my entire life seemed filled with boys of all sorts, but few of them were Caucasian, or “white” as we used to say. I attended a primarily “black” high school and my neighborhood, like most in New Orleans, had people of all races, religions, and economics. 

I never let any of that narrow my fishing grounds. How could it? All those youths, running the streets, playing touch football on our beaten up lawn, or roller skating in the cemetery, only gave fuel to my youthful hormone-driven imagination.

At the time, my father would probably have killed me if he’d known, but I dated hot Hispanic guys (we had a kick-ass soccer team when no one knew what soccer was). I dated dark and dangerous African American guys. I dated mixed boys with lovely green eyes and skin like caramel. What I never dated was “white guys.” That came much later in my life. 

In college, my tasted turned to foreign men – Arabs, Greeks, Turks, Asians – if he had dark skin and dark eyes – I was there! My friends called my apartment the U.N. and I was the goodwill ambassador.

So writing about interracial romance, well, that’s a sure thing for me. Natural. Been there. Done that. Got the hat and the T-shirt.

To date, I’ve written several IR romances and will probably do more. I love them. I see these couples everywhere – on TV, at the store, at restaurants, and at parties. Love, it seems, knows no bounds, no color, and no religion. The heart wants what the heart wants.

And that’s true in my books. My first IR was It Takes a Hero, about an Iraq vet – one leg amputated below the knee – who falls for his African American physical therapist. Then I wrote No Good Deed, about a bisexual 5th generation Chinese American police officer in a small town in Texas who falls for a gay Caucasian guy who’s been emotionally damaged by a previous lover. 

My love of Asian men once again came through in My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys, when Simon, a young Korean man meets Charles, a Caucasian wine seller with dreams of being a cowboy. Cute Asian guys in eyeliner? Yummy! 

In Breakfast At Tiffany’s, I wrote about Hurricane Katrina survivors, Scott, a Caucasian red neck kid, and Tony, an inner city African American, who find each other amid the damaged city and try to make a new life together. 

I know these books won’t be my last IR romances. I still have characters I’d like to mix it up with and untold combinations of men!! The mind boggles at the possibilities, just like the myriad possibilities in real life and love. 

And although I happily settled down with what I like to call “the whitest guy I know”, I still find men, with all their differences, basically the same. All of them are sexy and interesting. And fodder for my fevered imagination as I channel my youth in my writings. 

I can’t wait to mix it up again. I hope you can’t either. And if you’ve never ventured into IR romance, try it. You might find that you’re looking at men in a whole new light, whether you’re Caucasian, Asian, African American, Hispanic, Arabic, or Polynesian. 

Cross the street with me and other writers. We’ll take you there. 

You can also find Lynn

website... http://lynnlorenz.com
twitter … http://twitter.com/LynnLorenz
facebook …. Lynn Lorenz

* Remember you can win 2 books by Lynn Lorenz in the IRL Week Giveaway*

IRL Week: Breakfast at Tiffany's by Lynn Lorenz

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Lynn Lorenz
Amber Allure

Novella: 101pages

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Blurb:
Scott came to New Orleans the summer he fled the bigotry of a rural Louisiana town. Tony was born and raised in the City that Care Forgot and lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. Now, Scott lives in a homeless shelter and has a job at Tiffany’s Waffles ’n’ Wings, a 24-hour restaurant on the edge of the French Quarter, while Tony is squatting in an abandoned house.

When Tony, desperate for cash, decides to rob someone, along comes Scott. But in the dark alleyway, the younger man stirs something long dormant in Tony. He rescues Scott from being beaten by another thief, then grabs the money for himself and runs. Ashamed of his actions, however, Tony decides to return the money. He follows Scott to work, and the two fragile souls begin a tenuous relationship.

The men fill in what each is missing and what each desires in the other. Scott leaves the shelter to try living with Tony, finding a place to belong and someone who cares for him, and Tony, who has something to prove to himself, longs to be a better man for Scott.

Together, the two kindred spirits try to create a life together in a city on the edge of a comeback...

 
Review:
I am deeply in love with story. From what I have read of Lynn Lorenz, her characters are always so realistic. Its situations that any person could be going through. The struggle, the desperation, and the guilt that comes with feeling like you didn’t do enough. All that and more was apart of this story, and the romance just pushed it to a completely awesome kinda level.

Scott lives on the streets, and he’s had his fair share of tough times, experiences that no young person should have. Scott is strong though, and he tries to make it in a city destroyed but not ruined. The streets of New Orleans are dangerous, but there is a fierce pride in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Scott is living in a shelter he has a job, and he’s saving his money. So you see life isn’t keeping him down.

Tony lost everything in Katrina, his family and all the things he loved. He carries strong guilt, because he survived and his family did not. So why should he have anything. He’s done many things to make some money, and now he’s about to resort to robbery.

Scott and Tony meet for the first time, when a man jumps Scott to take his money. It is the very thing Tony was about to do, but changes his mind at the last minute. He comes to Scotts rescue, but hunger and surviving has him taking Scott’s money anyways. During the little crime gone badly, Scott and Tony are very aware of each other.

The chemistry between Scott and Tony is explosive, the contrast of their description electrifies. They pull you in, even though the relationship moves quickly, but ‘why the hell not’ they deserve all the happiness because they have been through so much.

The writing is amazing! Its like I was transported to streets of New Orleans, I could taste the food in my mouth and feel the chill on the deserted streets that Scott walked. I want to pack my bags and take a trip, it’s a place I’ve always been in love with, and Lynn makes me love it even more.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a love story, and it will make your heart feel super happy. I fell in love with Scott and Tony and you can too. I wish it were longer so I could have had more time basking in the awesomeness.

4 1/2 Pants Off

*Remember you can win this title from the IRL Week Giveaway*

No Good Deed

No Good Deed by Lynn Lorenz
Amber Quill Press

Novel: 265 pages

4.5 out of 5

Blurb:
They say no good deed goes unpunished. Two men are about to find out if that old saying is true...

Captain Daniel Chan works for the Riceland Police Department. It’s a small town in Texas and he’s the only Chinese American on the force. He considers himself bisexual, but when he meets Mark Montgomery, a gay man, he falls hard. But being with Mark means he’ll have to commit to being gay. Mark won’t have it any other way.

Mark’s a man with a terrible past and he’s in hiding from it and the man who tried to kill him so long ago. When he meets Dan, it’s a chance at healing old wounds and finding a new life. But it also means exposure, and that’s something Mark’s avoided for years. When he’s thrust onto center stage after a shooting, he turns to Dan for protection.

But even in a small town, things can get complicated. Political maneuvering, shady real estate deals, and men’s ambitions all collide, catching Dan and Mark in the middle. Will the forces they encounter destroy them and their newfound love, or will it bind them together?

Review:
I am in all kinds of love with this book. If Daniel Chan wasn't a gay man I would want him for my own, but hahahah he is bi-sexual, yeh I know...but this man is all kinds of awesome. I am now a huge fan of Lynn Lorenz she is a definate buy when purchasing my m/m loving. This book was surprisingly funny, angsty and just a sweet sexy fest. LOVED IT!!
 
Daniel Chan is the captain of a police force in a small town, he is also chinese and if that don't blow all out the water. He loves his job, he has great friends and only a few years until his retirement. One problem, no one in town knows about his sexual preferences, sometimes he likes the ladies other times he wants a man. No reason to go spreading this around until there was Mark and all his homosexual tendencies are coming out in full force and everyone seems to be noticing.

The meeting between Mark and Chan is no gumballs and lollipops, you see Mark was just caught in some serious business involving a dead man, a wounded police officer and Mark being arrested. To save the police force ass Chan has to some smooth talking and that comes easy because he wants Mark naked. The instant attraction has some road blocks, because both our heroes have wounded souls and a whole lot of healing is required.

I loved Chan's humour he makes being an asshole a true talent, but man is he sweet. His internal dialogue is hilarious, his dialogue with other characters is a laugh out loud kinda thing, and I did. He is a complex character with true worries and it proves the darkside that most cops without a doubt carry. Mark is a beautiful character, all the shit that man has been through he deserves his happy ending.

It was great to see a interrracial couple, I love when the people of the world come together and just love, and it makes for just hot good times. Though the sex did not come till later it was worth it, so sweet and beautiful. These men aren't perfect and they make mistakes. There are scenes involving a woman, but it works in this story line. An enjoyable story with well written characters. 

4 1/2 Pants Off

 Go Ahead Take Those Pants Off