Title: Burnt Toast B&B
Series: Bluewater Bay 05
Author: Heidi Belleau, Rachel Haimowitz
Narrator: Dorian Bane, Tobias Silversmith
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 6 hrs, 22 mins
Publisher: Riptide Publishing (2nd August 2016)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts
Blurb: After breaking his arm on set, Wolf’s Landing stuntman Ginsberg Sloan finds himself temporarily out of work. Luckily, Bluewater Bay’s worst B&B has cheap long-term rates, and Ginsberg’s not too proud to take advantage of them.
Derrick Richards, a grizzled laid-off logger, inherited the B&B after his parents’ untimely deaths. Making beds and cooking sunny-side-up eggs is hardly Derrick’s idea of a man’s way to make a living, but just as he’s decided to shut the place down, Ginsberg shows up on his doorstep, pitiful and soaking wet, and Derrick can hardly send him packing.
Not outright, at least.
The plan? Carry on the B&B’s tradition of terrible customer service and even worse food until the pampered city boy leaves voluntarily. What Derrick doesn’t count on, though, is that the lousier he gets at hosting, the more he convinces bored busybody Ginsberg to try to get the B&B back on track. And he definitely doesn’t count on the growing attraction between them, or how much more he learns from Ginsberg than how to put out kitchen fires.
Bluewater Bay stories can be read or listened to in any order – jump in wherever you’d like!
Product Link: Audible US | Audible UK
Reviewer: Prime
Review: There is so much to love about The Burnt Toast B&B.
This is the fifth installment of the Bluewater Bay series, based around the premise that a popular Hollywood TV show (something like Castle crossed with Supernatural) begins to shoot exclusively on location in Bluewater Bay, Washington. With the production brings a whole lot of different personalities in a small town which. The series can be read or heard as standalone or in any order you want – I personally have only heard the audio for this one and have read book 1, Starstruck.
Firstly, I love the fact that there are 2 narrators: Dorian Bane – who I have loved from Stormy Glenn audios, is really good at the big, powerful guys – and Tobias Silversmith – first time I’ve heard her work, but I found it wonderful that a trans-person was selected for the role of Ginsberg. And that leads into the second thing that I love about this story. I have read only a few stories (and heard the audio for none) that feature a transgender MC. And for what it’s worth coming from a cis-female, I really think that the authors achieved a very classy story. I love that fact that the Burn Toast B&B doesn’t make Ginsberg’s gender a massive part of the story. I also love how Derrick doesn’t make a big deal out of Ginsberg being transgender. Instead, this story is primarily about the worst B&B in Bluewater Bay, run by Derrick, and what happens to Derrick when Ginsberg crashes into his life.
Ginsberg and Derrick are well balanced and I love that we are treated to the POV of both guys. It’s so good that we are able to get into the head of the two MCs because they have very contrasting mindsets. While Ginsberg is presently settled in who he is, he is not so settled when it comes to letting someone to love him into his life. Obviously, he’s been burnt bad by gay men who objected to his being trans. On the other hand, Derrick, is busy trying to be the perfect son his dead parents wanted, running their business and being out as gay all at the same time. Yet, he has a number of hang ups that stem from bullying in his past. Both guys have a lot to get over if they are even going to make it.