Title: Mano’s Story
Series: Little Squirrels Can Climb Tall Trees, #2
Author: Michael Murphy
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (199 Pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (January 23, 2014)
Heat Level: Moderate to Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5Hearts
Blurb: Mano and Jake, friends since childhood, are each the brother that the other never had, hermanos. It doesn’t matter that Mano is gay and Jake is straight. They have each other’s backs. When he grows weary of being used as a pawn by his parents as their marriage collapses, Mano moves in with Jake’s family.
Jake and Mano both need a chance to start over, so they move to Hawaii and work for Jake’s uncle, Mano working as a lifeguard. In his free time, Mano explores his sexuality and finds he has no shortage of men in his bed. But after watching his parents’ relationship disintegrate, Mano guards his heart and keeps it strictly sexual.
Determined to become self-sufficient, Mano returns to college while still working full-time. When he meets the man of his dreams, he’s too scared and unsure of himself to pursue him. For years he went out of his way to avoid getting close to a man, so now when he wants to, he doesn’t know how.
With the encouragement of Jake and others, Mano searches for the courage to go after what he’s always really wanted.
ISBN: 978-1-62798-520-8
Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5977
Reviewer: Lisa
Review: This is book two in this amazing and cute story. Each book in Little Squirrel’s Can Climb Tall Tree’s collection features a different romantic couple. To enjoy the overall story arc and crossover characters, I would recommend reading the series in sequential order.
I have got to tell you that book one was funny as hell, but this book just had you feeling everything they were feeling. I felt bad for Mano in many ways but was amazed at his best friend also. Mano was gay but his best friend Jake was not. They had each other’s back through it all.
Mano had moved to Hawaii to work and live with Jake. He even did his first gay bar scene. First full on actual sexual desires fulfilled, till the idiot he was with told him to get out before his boyfriend got home. He wanted what his best friends Joseph and Kyle had. A relationship that could stand the times. It wasn’t till some time when he met Jordan and found himself doing things that he had not expected. After
Mano had spent most of his time exploring his sexuality and having sex with different men, he found himself not having sex with Jordan. He was getting to know the man in his life.
Jordan was just as shy as Mano if not more. In fact his own friend had to get them together, otherwise they would have just stood there staring at each other. It is a really hot story that I had a blast reading.
These two make for a hot couple and even Jake found his woman. The story is told mainly in first person and usually that would drive me nuts, not knowing what the other one is thinking but for some reason it actually worked for this story.
The only problem I found is that Mano was actually a virgin and with the way the sex scene, it was like he just jumped into it. Other than that, it was perfect to me. It gave me almost everything I could possibly ask for in a story and I was captivated by it. I loved the humor in this story. it seemed to mix with the seriousness and pain in it. I hated that Mano had gotten his heart hurt from the first man he had sex with and loved that he found his true hearts desires in Jordan.
I would recommend reading this story. It will give you gorgeous men, sexy situations, a gorgeous man in a tiny bathing suit, excitement, true love, sexual heat, happily ever after, a little angst and pain, some very hot sex and a story that comes off so real. It is like you are right there with them. It caught my attention from the moment I started reading and kept it all the way to the end. I had a blast reading this story and look forward to reading more by this amazing author.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *