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Book 972: His Last Christmas in London (Christmas Collection #1) – Con Riley

Con Riley is one of those authors who has a really great sense of place. When I read their “His” series, I legit wanted to buy a bed and breakfast or a pub and hotel and move to the southern coast of England. So, when I saw this MM Holiday Romance pop up from Gay Romance Reviews I jumped at it.*

This is the story of Ian, a struggling photographer whose gotten out of an abusive professional/personal relationship and has realized he can’t make it in London no matter how much he’s tried and his roommates have helped out. He agrees to one last job at 3x his rate with his old boss/lover and meets Guy, a restaurant critic with a huge overshadowing persona. And even though it’s not love at first sight, it’s definitely confusion and lust.

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Book 970: Heartthrob (Honeywood #1) – Noah Steele

OMG, ya’ll this is an author to keep an eye on. That’s not something I usually say when it comes to a self-published author I come across via Gay Romance Reviews.*

More often than not I’m complaining about the quality of either the story, the writing, or the editing (or all three or some combination), and don’t get me wrong there were a few issues with this one but Steele can definitely write and I’m already looking at his back catalog to see what I want to read next.

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Book 962: Art Therapy (Rooms for Romance #1) – Tag Gregory

When this one landed in my inbox I wasn’t 100% sold on it but when I realized Gregory took a hotel I’d stayed at (Kennedy School in Portland, OR) and turned it into a romance novel I decided I had to read it.*

This is the story of Jayce and Ryan. Jayce suffered a stroke and some brain injuries that haven’t affected his mental capacity but have affected his speech and ability to do certain things including slowing down the art he does for the hotel as part of a rehabilitation/work program, and Ryan is a hot shot sex machine that’s been brought in to help with PR for the launch of the new hotel.

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Book 956: The Book of Elis – Lou Skelton

Who doesn’t love a childhood friendship that turns into a second-chance romance after one has moved countries away and they reconnect later in life? I know I do, so that’s why when this one landed in my inbox I requested a copy.*

The Book of Elis is the story of Ieuan and Elis who were inseparable as kids, but Elis and his family move from a small village in Wales to bustling Brisbane, Australia. When Elis and Ieuan are in university their families decide to take a joint vacation to Tenerife in Spain and the story goes from there.

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Book 953: Stronger Than Passion (Chesapeake Days #2) – Katherine McIntyre

Coming off Stronger Than Hope, I wasn’t 100% sure I was going to read the next one in the series. There were just enough little annoyances in it that I wasn’t convinced. However, when this landed in my inbox I thought why not give McIntyre another chance, see if the same issues showed up again.*

I called Nico being one of the protagonists of this book but had no clue who the second would be. We find ourselves with a classic enemies-to-lovers trope. Nico Shah, the owner and proprietor of the local town bar who is a one-night-stand only kind of guy, is forced to work with Hudson West, the pretty boy with a presumed-trust fund who runs the high-end classy restaurant of the town. They don’t get on because of numerous misunderstandings, but they slowly fall for each other as they work together.

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