Campfire Confessions by Bru Baker

CampfireConfessionsLGTitle: Campfire Confessions

Series: A Valentine Rainbow

Author: Bru Baker

Genre:  Contemporary

Length: Novella (50 Pages)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (February 11th, 2014)

Heat Level: Low

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4 Hearts

Reviewer: Lisa

Blurb: Best friends Case and Mitchell are so inseparable everyone assumes they’re dating. Case’s dad even buys them a joint gift—a camping trip. Even though Case hates the woods, he wants Mitchell to have a good time. When they discover the trip is a couples’ retreat, they have to fake a relationship. Case can’t understand why the trust and intimacy exercises the other couples struggle with come so naturally to them. After all, they’re not really boyfriends….

 

A part of the “A Valentine Rainbow” set of 14 holiday stories. Get all 14 stories on Feb. 1 when you purchase the set.

Product Link:  http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4680

Review: This was a cute story. Lots of humor in it. I loved it.

Case and Mitchell had been friends for a very long time, but Mitchell had always wanted more. Because Case wouldn’t know anything unless someone hit him upside the head, it would seem. Camping trip was actually a couple’s retreat. Fake relationship turns to love. It had such a cute story line and I can actually see myself reading this every Valentine’s Day. The characters are funny, sexy, compassionate, and not a couple till Mitchell tells him what he wants.

I loved it.

Island House by Bru Baker

IslandHouseLGTitle: Island House

Series:  N/A

Author: Bru Baker

Genre: Contemporary

Length:  Novel (179 pages)

Publisher:  Dreamspinner Press (November 11th, 2013)

Heat:  Moderate

Heart:  ♥♥♥♥3.5Hearts

Reviewer: Eli/Mandingo

BlurbUnable to move on after the death of his lover, British expat Niall Ahern clings to Nolan’s dream of living in the Caribbean by moving to Tortola. Once there, he finds that not even the beauty of the island can fill the hole in his heart. Broke and spent in nearly every way imaginable, Niall wants out of the lonely, miserable, guilt-ridden life he’s carved out for himself. 

When Ethan Bettencourt, a wealthy tech guru, shows up in British Virgin Islands looking to purchase a second home, he gives Niall hope that he can move on. Both men fall hard and fast, but Niall finds piloting his yacht in the midst of a hurricane is nothing compared to weathering life’s simple misunderstandings. As their troubles come between them, Niall is left to wonder if he and Ethan are over before they’ve begun.

Purchase Link:   http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4364

Review: What do you do when you have suffered a life altering loss?  How do you make the decision to move on? What will prompt you to move on? And do you have the courage to step away from the prison you have put yourself in to begin living again? These are the central themes in this novel.  While this is essentially a love story between Niall and Ethan, there are a myriad of other love stories floating in the background – The love story between Niall and Nolan, the man whom Niall mourns, and the love story that Niall must create for himself in order for his HEA with Ethan to occur. Ethan as presented is an enigmatic character that the reader will need to follow carefully and get to know.  At first blush, he’s not loveable, but as the story goes on, the reader will learn to like this stoic man. 

Niall is broken and Ethan has the opportunity to rescue and help Niall to save himself.  The story really focuses on Niall’s journey and how he moves from stagnation to life when he meets Ethan and decides to finally move on and re-start the life he stopped when Nolan died.  In the story, the reader is introduced to a host of excellently cast secondary characters in the forms of neighbours, friends and in-laws.  The reader may get frustrated with the interaction with all these secondary characters, but they serve the important role of giving unique insight into Niall and allow the reader to fully understand Niall’s pain and guilt and why he feels unable to move on.

The story has a series of conflicts, which the characters must navigate; but the final crisis in the story when it occurs is surprising and provides a huge stumbling block for Niall and Ethan to navigate. The way that Ethan handles the crisis is evidence of just how decent a man he is (and the reader is now fully in love with his character) and foretells how Niall and Ethan will be able to have their HEA.  The reader may not love both characters at all times, because sometimes they do annoying things, BUT the reader will want them to find their happiness and is more than willing to hang on while they find their way.