Audio Review & Giveaway: Changing Lines by R.J Scott and V.L Locey

Buy Links: Audible US | Audible UK

Length: 5hrs 10mins

Narrated By: Sean Crisden

Cover Design: Meredith Russell

Blurb

Can Tennant show Jared that age is just a number and that love is all that matters?

The Rowe brothers are famous hockey hotshots, but as the youngest of the trio, Tennant has always had to play against his brothers’ reputations. To get out of their shadows, and against their advice, he accepts a trade to the Harrisburg Railers, where he runs into Jared Madsen. Mads is an old family friend and his brother’s one-time teammate. Mads is Tennant’s new coach. And Mads is the sexiest thing on which he’s ever laid eyes.

Jared Madsen’s hockey career was cut short by a fault in his heart, but coaching keeps him close to the game. When Ten is traded to the team, his carefully organized world is thrown into chaos. Nine years his junior and his best friend’s brother, he knows Ten is strictly off-limits, but as soon as he sees Ten’s moves, on and off the ice, he knows his heart could get him into trouble again.

Review

First I’m gonna start off by saying I care nothing for Hockey in RL, and this book didn’t change that. My first time reading R.J Scott with writing partner V.L Locey. 

The Story: 3.5 Pants Off 

Tennant Rowe is a superstar in the making and when he decides on an up and coming team a few eyebrows were raised. Of course he could have gone with superstar teams most likely to win the Stanley Cup but Ten decides on the Railers with big disapproval from his family, but Ten is a big boy and he’s making his own decisions. While the Raiders aren’t cloaked in history it’s the team he wants to join and the upside is that the team has Jared Madsen. An old family friend and someone Ten is looking to get up close and personal with. Yeh, they have history and Mads is a bit older but age ain’t nothing but a number after-all.  

Downside, you can’t be gay in hockey. So when Ten finds himself telling his coaches that he’s gay he’s expecting the worst but what it gets him is a secret relationship with Mads and things are almost perfect. All that’s left is coming out to his family and maybe one day even publicly. Ten’s got hockey, love, and Mads, what more could he even want?!

First, things moved pretty fast from the get go. Ten is the new to the team and next things he’s sharing he’s gay, and professing his attraction to Mads. Their relationship moves pretty fast, and most of their loving happens off page so I sort of felt like I was filling things in. The hockey was too much of the story, and the romance felt like a backdrop but again I have no particular feelings for hockey. Ten spent most of his time dwelling on his brothers, and everyone else on the fact that he plays for a unknown team. 

Throw in some conflict involving Mads and that pretty much made the entirety of the story. I was a bit more interested in a few side characters actually, so the rest of the series is peaking my interest. 

Overall, an alright read. I can’t call it sexy or amazing but I can say I found it sweet. I enjoyed Ten a lot more than I did Mads. There’s still so much of the story that I feel needs to be explored, and I wasn’t a fan of how it ended. Changing Lines wasn’t horrible but I fear that it’s quite easily forgettable for me. 

The Narration: 4 Pants Off 

Sean Crisden did an amazing job bringing the characters to life. I’m in love with his take on Tennant, listening to his voice was far more enjoyable than the story and because of his narration I enjoyed it more. I’m positive if I’d read Changing Lines instead of listening I wouldn’t have liked it at all. 

Sean was dramatic where he needed to be and sweet in others, definitely enjoyed that. Also brought a new voice to each character which strongly made them individuals. Sean Criden does an amazing job with whatever story you give him.  

Overall Rating: 3.5 Pants Off

RJ’s goal is to write stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, that hint of a happily ever after.

RJ is the author of the over one hundred novels and discovered romance in books at a very young age. She realized that if there wasn’t romance on the page, she could create it in her head, and is a lifelong writer.

She lives and works out of her home in the beautiful English countryside, spends her spare time reading, watching films, and enjoying time with her family.

The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit and has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.

She’s always thrilled to hear from readers, bloggers and other writers. Please contact via the following links below:

Email RJ (rj@rjscott.co.uk)

Goodreads Page | RJ’s Blog | RJ on Twitter | Facebook | Library Thing Page | Tumblr |Pinterest

V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, Dr. Who, Torchwood, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, two Jersey steers and a flock of assorted domestic fowl.

When not writing lusty tales, she can be found enjoying her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in hand.

Website | Goodreads | Amazon | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Blog

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Review: Alpha Heat by Leta Blake

Alpha Heat (Heat of Love #2) by Leta Blake
Amazon, Goodreads
Novel: 424pgs

4 Pants Off

Blurb: A desperate young alpha. An older alpha with a hero complex. A forbidden love that can’t be denied.

Young Xan Heelies knows he can never have what he truly wants: a passionate romance and happy-ever-after with another alpha. It’s not only forbidden by the prevailing faith of the land, but such acts are illegal.

Urho Chase is a middle-aged alpha with a heartbreaking past. Careful, controlled, and steadfast, his friends dub him old-fashioned and staid. When Urho discovers a dangerous side to Xan’s life that he never imagined, his world is rocked and he’s consumed by desire. The carefully sewn seams that held him together after the loss of his omega and son come apart—and so does he.

But to love each other and make a life together, Xan and Urho risk utter ruin. With the acceptance and support of Caleb, Xan’s asexual and aromantic omega and dear friend, they must find the strength to embrace danger and build the family they deserve.

This gay romance novel by Leta Blake is the second in the Slow Heat universe. It’s 130,000 words, with a strong happy ending and a well-crafted, non-shifter Omegaverse. It features alphas, betas, omegas, male pregnancy, heat, and knotting. No cheating. Content warning for brief sexual violence.

Review

ALPHA SIZED OMEGA

All the ways I was excited to read this after falling truly, madly, deeply in love with the first book Slow Heat. Alpha Heat was very much on my radar featuring two characters that really pissed me off but who I eventually grew to like. Alpha Heat brought the sexy but it also brought heart. 

Xan Heelies is a young Alpha who doesn’t feel like an alpha. For his entire life Xan has known that he doesn’t fit the make and model of what an alpha should be. His desires are forbidden and will never be looked at favourably because you see Xan knows with every fibre of his being that he’s an Omega and though the world sees Alpha it’s the one thing he can never be truly. Xan slates his desire in the worst way possible and it often leaves him bloody and bruised. He once felt loved when he was with his best-friend but his friend found his own omega, his one true mate. Yet, Xan has to live an Alpha life and that means having his own omega and producing children regardless of what he feels inside. Then there is Urho, all that is Alpha and man  Xan yearns for but what Alpha would want a man that’s broken and is only an Omega in feeling. 

“I don’t think what’s wrong with me is something that can ever heal.” 

Urho lost his true mate (erosgape) a long time ago and his long time lover not too long ago. His life is pretty much picturesque and he’s fulfilled by his job and friends. He’s old fashioned and set in his ways and that does cause some strife between him and his friends but no one gets to him like Xan, Xan the mouthy Alpha who invokes feelings in him that he has no business feeling. And mostly it makes him angry because the things he wants is not allowed. 

A chance meeting between the men lead to some awful truths and also some inevitable ones. If Urho can give Xan what he needs then he can also keep him safe and besides he’s realizing that it’s also something he craves and one things for sure his alpha sized omega will be his undoing.  

Together they navigate a forbidden attraction and pair that with Xans contracted but asexual omega and you have a unique story filled with many delights. For me the first 50% was hot as hell and so incredibly sexy. The push pull dance between Urho and Xan was done so well I think I almost passed out from holding my breath for a few minutes. That part was done amazingly and yet it really started to fizzle out for me, not so much where it wasn’t enjoyable but enough for it to lose what made it exciting. 

As I mentioned I didn’t much like Xan when first introduced but he turned out to be a multilayered character, and Urho was just Urho (which is surprising because I couldn’t stand him in book 1. He was a obnoxious, condescending prick) a great fit for Xan and an even better alpha for him. Throw in characters that I’ve come to love and new ones that I’m starting to appreciate and you have a solid second story in the ABO verse.  

I did have a few things I didn’t like. First, I caught Xan in many lies and then he sorta just brushed it over. Second, how you gon feel it’s ok to be beaten to an inch of your life and think that’s ok because you “need” sex, I’m sure there’s many avenues he could have gone and I’m trying to understand why it had to be him 🤔. Third, how Mr abuser was conveniently handled but also how it felt like what he did was no big deal (The he was a problem, we made him more of a problem and then snipered him out). Fourth, and this really bothered me. The description of Urho being dark skinned but I’ve been trying to figure exactly what that means. Dark skinned as in black man, dark skinned as being south Asian or just dark skinned as being tanner than the other characters? Representation is an important thing and I found that with not saying exactly what he was just felt like avoidance, but that’s just my opinion. Last but not least the crazy ending there. It followed the same pattern of the first book where all the crazy just happen at once and I wasn’t checking for that.. 

Overall, I still very much liked this story and while I didn’t fall in love like I did the first book, I still really liked it. It missed it mark by trying to follow the same steps or setup and what worked for a Slow Heat didn’t work for this one but it’s still an enjoyable story. If you’re like me and love Mpreg and Alpha/Beta/Omega dynamics then this series is definitely something to check out. 

SideNote: I need this on Audio asap. Michael F. I’m looking at you baby 😁

Review: Book #1 Slow Heat

Review: Point of Contact by Melanie Hansen

Point of Contact by Melanie Hansen
Carina Press, Goodreads, Amazon
Novel: 451pgs

4.5 Pants Off

Blurb:  Only love can heal an impossibly broken heart

There’d forever been a thread running through Trevor Estes’s life—his son, Riley, strong and constant like a heartbeat. But when Riley is killed in combat, everything in Trevor’s life unravels into a mess he doesn’t know how to mourn.

Then Jesse Byrne, Riley’s friend and platoon mate, arrives on Trevor’s doorstep with a box of Riley’s things. Jesse’s all-too-familiar grief provides an unlikely source of comfort for Trevor: knowing he’s not alone is exactly what he needs.

Trevor never imagined he’d find someone who fills his heart with hope again. As the pair celebrate Riley’s memory, their unique bond deepens into something irreplaceable—and something neither man can live without.

But diving into a relationship can’t be so simple. Being together means Trevor risking the last link he has to his son…leaving Jesse to wonder if he’ll ever be enough, or if Trevor will always be haunted by the past.

 Review

Note to Self: The next time you see your GR friends saying how a book made them bawl and breakdown please effing take it at face value and realize that they were actually bawling their eyes out and not playing around.  

This book broke my heart, broke it again, and then broke it one more time while putting it a tiny bit together. Melanie Hansen didn’t come to play with us when it comes to Point of Contact, she really didn’t come to play. 

Trevor Estes is scared, he’s very scared. He’s dealing with the fear of a parent whose only child is in the army and he’s about to do his first deployment. His fear is bone deep and he wants to stop Riley from leaving but when your children grow up they make their own decisions, and sometimes you can’t protect them. So, Trevor will support his baby and send him of with a smile and wave but with a prayer in his heart for his boy to comeback to him, for his boy to comeback to him safe. 

A going away party for Riley and his young friends is the last thing Trevor can give these boys because they are going to fight a war that will make them men far sooner than need be. A hostile run in with Jesse one of Riley’s friends almost brings the party mood to a standstill but there is far bigger things to worry about. Trevor will have to say goodbye to his little boy, the baby he had way too young and a time when it was them against the world. 

The story then gives you glimpses of father and son time apart. Riley’s time in the army and also counting down to D-day (death day). The fact that its coming is there from the beginning. It the author does a thing where you get to know Riley, you get to see him as a son and as a friend and he’s not just the man you’ll know will die. This is also his story and when the moment happens you realize you were never prepared and it will wreck you. I can’t remember the last time I cried for a book like this (well not since Protection by S.A Reid).  

We then move into the after where his dad Trevor and his best-friend Jesse have to learn to live without him. Trevor’s grief is crippling and every word of every chapter made me super weepy. As a mother (or as someone who just loves a person) I can only imagine and also as a mother your mind goes to places that is sobering and running amuck with fear. It was sometimes too much. 

The love story is a slow progress and it never implies that it’s a way to heal. Yes, two men suffering from grief come together to get through it but feelings went and snuck in. They celebrate the life of a loved one and embraces a love so fresh and new. 

Trevor through out the entire book made me sad his love for his son was very real, their connection was beautiful and I just enjoyed reading about their relationship. Jesse, while his first impression was a bad one, you get to know him and eventually fall in love with the man he is and the man that war has shaped. While falling in love with your deceased friends father might not be what he had expected but it was everything he needed. Together they walk the steps to healing and yet Riley remains an intricate part of their relationship.

Seriously, this book had me wrecked and at the time I was upset with myself for reading it because it made me so sad but I’m happy I did read it because it was a beautiful well written story. Point of Contact has filled my quota for emotional reads for the rest of the year, I can’t be out here in the streets with red eyes and runny nose.  

I am irrecoverably wrecked and I will be thinking about this one for a long time.