Tag: Ari McKay

Holiday Hootenanny by Ari McKay

81j1UvP+wdL._SL1500_Title: Holiday Hootenanny

Author: Ari McKay

Genre: Contemporary / Holiday

Length: Novelette (66 pages)

Publisher: Torquere Press (December 10th, 2013)

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥3 Hearts

Reviewer: Thommie

Blurb: Clint Barker wants to take his relationship with boyfriend Joshua Cash to the next level, and that means meeting Josh’s family at Christmas. Clint is sure he can deal with anything, even though Josh has expressed reservations that his big, loud hillbilly family might be too overwhelming for an introvert like Clint to handle.

Josh loves his family, but the only other time he brought a boyfriend home to meet them, the guy didn’t last through dinner. Clint means everything to him, and though he knows his family means well, Josh is worried their nosiness and sheer overwhelming presence will drive Clint away.

Between having to fix an illegal still, getting treed by a wild hog, and barely avoiding a bar fight between rednecks and bikers, the holiday doesn’t get off to an auspicious start. Then at the traditional Christmas Eve Hootenanny, Josh and Clint argue, and Clint later turns up missing. Will this spell the end of their relationship, or will a newborn in a stable work a little Christmas miracle for them both?

Product Link: http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4090

Review: Meet the family? Ouch! That is very overwhelming for nearly all people, but when a family is consisted by 500 people (yes, you heard right) then overwhelming takes a whole new meaning. So how do you take your relationship with the man you love to the next level if you can’t survive a couple of days with his family? Not easy to do that either, what with bikers itching for a fights and wild boars running you up trees, illegal stills needing fixing and a huge family running after you with the oddest questions ever. Add to that the only child fact and Josh fears his lover Clint will start screaming and running away from him without looking back.

Funny enough this story is light-hearted and brings the element of fun on the mountains. Though I do come from a medium/large family myself, I could not imagine of having one hundred plus cousins. Those numbers were huge, colossal, freaking vast. Thus, the entire read became a bit ludicrous for me. In addition the characters were a bit flat and way too sweet for me, everything flowing effortlessly, their personality shinny and sparkly. By the time Clint needed that time out and breath of fresh air I thought he was a freaking Saint. The intense moment when he vanishes somehow didn’t quite make it, as it should, a bit of the tension being lost there in the lines. And as for their lovemaking, yup, sweet like honey.

But then again, one might think that’s exactly what you’d want to read for holidays. Yes, this is a fast, funny, and enjoyable Christmas story with a very romantic ending, and if you love this type then I’d definitely recommend this one to you.

p.s.
It’s so weird reading about stills being illegal when I’ve grown up around them making “moonshine” every year and having parties at the still as a tradition. We call it raki here and we make it from grapes, in Creta, almost every house has one for themselves. *sigh*

Ginger and Gentlemen by Ari McKay

18219964Title: Ginger and Gentlemen

Series: Recipe for Romance 03

Author: Ari McKay 

Genre: Contemporary 

Length: Novella (113pgs) 

Publisher: Torquere Press (24th July 2013) 

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4 Hearts

Reviewer: Pixie

Blurb: Ian Pierce has always resented growing up in the shadow of his older brother, executive chef Stephen Pierce. But when Stephen asks Ian appear on his television special, “Mouth of the South”; Ian has no choice but to accept in order to save his diner from bankruptcy. However, not even the encouragement of his best friend and business manager, Matt Davis, can make Ian happy about it.

Matt has been in love with Ian for years, and he would do anything to help Ian save his diner. Ian won’t accept Matt’s money, so Matt secretly puts up the cash for a bonus in Ian’s contract with the Gourmet Network. With Ian and Stephen crossing verbal swords and a series of mishaps plaguing the filming, the success of the entire project is thrown into doubt. When Ian learns about the bonus and accuses Stephen of manipulating him, Matt is faced with a choice: does he let Ian’s rift with his only sibling stand, or does he come clean and risk destroying all hope that their friendship might ever become something more?

Purchase Link: http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=96&products_id=3950 

Review: Ian has worked hard to prove that he can go it alone without his family. He always resented growing up in the shadow of his older brother Stephen and never being able to please his father, but when Stephen asks Ian to appear on his television special Ian begrudgingly accepts because he has to save his diner. Matt is Ian’s best friend and business manager but he is also the man who secretly loves Ian, Matt knows that Ian would never accept his help to save the diner so he works out a way to secretly help. With a verbal war ongoing between Stephen and Ian and a series of near disasters plaguing the filming, the reconciliation between Stephen and Ian is rocky and Matt will have to come clean to Ian and risk rejection if he is to save the tenuous relationship between the brothers.

This is a great story set in the culinary world where two brothers have always been treated differently by their father. Ian and Matt have been best friends for years but have both loved each other secretly, neither man wanting to ruin their friendship so they both kept quite. When Ian has some difficulty with the diner it is Matt he turns to and Matt will do anything to help Ian, but things become difficult when Ian’s brother Stephen shows up and Ian’s resentment is barely held in check. Matt finally comes clean and to his surprise he gets the one thing he has always dreamed of. Ian has always had Matt to lean on but has always been scared to take the final step but, finally, during a confrontation, Matt admits his feelings, and Ian has to accept that maybe his brother isn’t all as bad as he always thought.

I thought this story was great, I loved how Ian and Stephen clashed with both of them seeing things only from their own point of view and Matt and Robert (Stephen’s PA) acting as buffers and trying to point the in the right direction. The friendship between Matt and Ian is deeply rooted but what they both really feel for the other has always been kept hidden, but when things go wrong and the truth finally comes out, they are explosive together. This was a very nicely written story that has the angst of family drama mixed in with friends trying to do the right thing, with a good dose of longing love and some wonderful hot sex and then finally a reconciliation of brothers, which gives us a wonderful story that is enjoyable to read.

I recommend this to those who love difficult family relations, admitting your feelings, accepting you don’t need to stand alone and getting your happily ever after. 

 

Blood Bathory: Like The Night by Ari McKay

Ari McKay bloodbathory185Title: Blood Bathory: Like The Night
 
Series: Blood Bathory 01
 
Author: Ari McKay
 
Genre: Paranormal
 
Length: Novel Plus (390pgs)
 
Publisher: Torquere Press (3rd July 2013)
 
Heat: Moderate – Explicit
 
Heart: Black heart (cards)Black heart (cards)Black heart (cards)Black heart (cards) 3 ½ – 4 Hearts
 
Reviewer: Pixie
 
Blurb: Evan St. John, a young fashion photographer running from the pain caused by the death of his younger sister, is thrilled when he is offered a job with House of Nadasdy, a leading fashion house in Paris. What he doesn’t know is that Elizabeth Nadasdy, the elegant and powerful owner, is a centuries-old vampire with a penchant for collecting beautiful people. To Evan’s horror, he is turned into one of her “children”.
 
Unable to bear what he has become, Evan flees to New York and to his best friend, police officer Will Trask. For years, Evan has nursed an unrequited love for Will, but he also knows Will is the one person who might be able to help him. As Evan and Will try to deal with Evan’s condition, they are drawn into the world of the theriomorphs: shape-shifters who are guardians of life and the sworn enemies of vampires. Caught in an ancient war between two powerful supernatural forces, Evan and Will find they must choose sides — because if they are to have any chance of a future together, they must destroy Elizabeth Nadasdy before she destroys them.
 
 
Review: After the death of his sister Evan distanced himself from all that he loved by moving to Paris to pursue a career as a fashion photographer. Evan is thrilled when he is noticed by Elizabeth Nadasdy, a leading designer in Paris, but his joy is turned to horror when he discovers just what she is and she turns him into a monster. Now Evan has fled to New York to the only person he can turn to, Will his best friend, with the hope that Will will be able to help him destroy Elizabeth. Will has hopes that he will be able to help his best friend Evan, but some parts of Evan’s story are just too hard to believe until he is attacked by a ghoul. Together they discover theriomorphs (shape shifters) who are the vampires sworn enemy and they ask for their help in taking Elizabeth down. Caught in the middle of an ancient war both Will and Evan admit their feelings for each other, but they have to survive the coming confrontation to have a hope of happiness.
 
Blood Bathory takes us back to evil vampires who care for nothing but their own needs and nature protecting shifters who are mortal enemies. Evan though he was getting his dream when he was offered a job as an in-house photographer for a Paris fashion house, but he was getting a nightmare when the designer set her sights on him. Now Evan is on the run hoping to get help before she sinks her claws in him again, and he turns to the only person he thinks can help: Will. Will is a police office in the Computer Crime Squad and has missed his best friend Evan, when Evan turns up on his doorstep asking for help he won’t turn him down and he is pulled into a world he never imagined.

 
This story has a lot of detail that brings it to life, we discover a paranormal world that is constantly at war, two sides that are good and evil, each wanting to wipe the other out. Then we have Evan who is determined to make the one who changed him pay, he doesn’t want to be a vampire and sees himself as a monster. Will is a great character who is there for Evan every step of the way, trying to make him see that he isn’t a monster and is as different from his creator as night is from day. The storyline is really good, with the evil Elizabeth taking what she wants when she wants it and revelling in her power over others, the fact that Evan has escaped her and not embraced the great gift she gave him is a smack in the face she refuses to live with.
 
There are many characters that we are introduced to and who you can see with be linchpins not just to this story but future ones as well, they are what keep you reading as the story comes together and the pieces fall into place. Evan’s and Will’s relationship doesn’t come together until about half way through, when they both acknowledge that their brief fling in college meant more to both of them than the other thought. They are excellent together and Will is the most supportive man you could ever meet, shoring Evan up while he struggles with his new nature.
 
I recommend this to those who want a more original type vampire, nature loving shifters, two men reconnecting as they race through danger, a great storyline and an ending that has you hoping for the next instalment.