Category Archives: Reviews

Review: Prosperity by Alexis Hall

I want to eat Alexis Hall’s brain with a nice Chianti. Admittedly, some of this sentiment is born of jealousy, possibly alcoholism. But mostly it’s respect. Total respect.

For starters, I’m going to boldly state that I rate Alexis Hall’s work on a different scale than other books. In fact, he makes me want to go back to my Goodreads lists and start handing out demerits to other stuff I’ve rated because he sets the bar so fucking high. He makes me want to reread books I thought I enjoyed just so I can throw my Kindle across the room this time around. So, where I rated his follow-up work to ProsperityThere Will Be Phlogiston, a four, that does not mean it is on par with other four-star books. It is hell and gone from other four-star books. Other five-star books, even. Basically, I couldn’t give it the same 5 stars I gave Glitterland, or Sand and Ruin and Gold. Or this. Goddamn, this book right here.

Alexis Hall is a genius and has thoroughly screwed my book-rating system.

Anyway, the book:

Hall pits heaven (Ruben, the ex-preacher) against hell (Milord, the uber-slimy-underground-mob-boss-type-guy), only they’re rather perversely sexually enslaved to each other (wait, could that be love?). And then he gives us the classic hooker with a heart of gold (mebbe) in our narrator, Piccadilly (who Piccadillied his own name–how damn cute is he?). He’s a conniving sewer rat who needs saving, but ends up doing a fair amount of rescuing of others as he risks life and fin on more than one occasion for the crew of the good ship Shadowless. They become the closest thing he’s had to family, and, surprisingly, something worth dying for if need be. Said crew includes the star-crossed lovers mentioned, the addle-brained-yet-cool-as-a-cucumber crackhead navigator, Miss Grey, and then there’s the captain. Oh captain, my captain. For me, Byron Kae was the show-stealer. God, did I want them and Dil to get together for a bit of the whatnot.

Who am I kidding? The world building, Hall’s exquisite voice, every damn character, the delish voyeuristic sex scene, the creeptastic clockwork parts, the space kraken—the whole damn thing was the show-stealer.

And with this, Alexis Hall moves into my top MM author slot. The honor includes such perks as being subjected to cyberstalking and embarrassing fangirling, and having your characters accents bastardized as I read your books aloud to my cat, possibly while he humps his favorite fuzzy pink blanket because he does that a lot. Check and mate. I’m sorry, KJ, but we’ll always have England.

5 Shooters

5 shooters

 

-Kimber


Review: Glitterland by Alexis Hall

Fist of all, screw you for judging me for not reading this sooner.

For one thing, I don’t get a ton of reading time what with [insert list of bullshit here, long enough to make your eyes cross], my e-reader is bowing under the strain of mega-book-bytes, and I…don’t really have a good excuse. I read Sand and Ruin and Gold a few months back and knew afterward I’d stashed a bit of treasure (pirate treasure, in hindsight) on my Kindle with Glitterland. Call me a dork, but I was saving it for something special.

Well, the other night I got a hankering for a chick flick. That’s like my love affair with liverwurst. Once a year I want it. After that, it repulses me for a good long while. I told my hubs we should find a movie, we joked about how he likes certain RomComs (Notting Hill and The Holiday, to be precise) more than is attractive and how he watches the same ones an embarrassing amount of times–basically whenever they happen to be on. We went scrolling through the HBO On Demand offerings, were disappointed, as usual, and settled on Seeking A Friend for the End of the World. It was ho-hum, and I’m afraid even my slight girl crush on Keira Knightly and my affinity for apocalyptic tales wasn’t enough to scratch that itch.

So, one night later (BTW, the blips of chapters sprinkled throughout this book to show time lapses and the waning mental status of Ash were exceptionally done) I was still looking for love in all the wrong places. Actually, I’d started Glitterland that morning and was reading it like the end of the world was, in fact, upon us, and no, I didn’t want to spend my last few hours playing a family game of Monopoly or sitting around the Festivus pole and airing the grievances (although that would be next on my list), but I was going to read this fucking book before the meteor hit.

Now, my hubs had asked me earlier what the hell I was reading all day (as I balanced my book on one knee while threading new elastic through a Christmas pageant skirt so the Virgin Mary won’t flash the congregation next week). I said Glitterland without further explanation, and continued to read for the entire day. It’s hard to get away with that crap when you have, you know, stuff and kids and a house that would be better served by burning than cleaning, so I was wondering how I would manage to continue reading while sitting next to my old man in front of the TV later for our nightly “date.”

Cue Notting Hill and The Holiday on simultaneously for the guy who loves flipping channels during commercials. They are, probably, my oddball husband’s two favorite chick flicks, and the irony of our conversation the night before, paired with the Notting Hill references in Glitterland made for the perfect reading storm. For the record, both are totally acceptable films. In fact, I do enjoy Notting Hill with its quirky supporting cast (I just don’t want to watch it every time it happens to be on. Now, The Departed or The Usual Suspects, yes. Notting Hill and The Holiday? No. Actually, I’m not sure why he likes The Holiday. Even my heavy duty girl crush on Kate Winslet doesn’t make me want to watch that repeatedly. I’d say twice and I’m good until I’m dead. Contagion? Hell, yes. Bad Teacher? You know it.)

So, my guy got to watch his blubber mush movies, and I got to finish Glitterland. I did a valiant job of discretely swiping away my tears, and then when the ending got to be too much, I took my Kindle to the bathroom so I could cry louder and still maintain my tougher-than-thou facade.

It was beautifully written, needless to say. Heart wrenching, and though the conflict was predictable, it didn’t matter in the slightest. It’s an odd combination to feel physically aroused and poignantly sad at the same time. It’s also addictive, and my favorite sort of book.

Yes, Glitterland. I’d read you like I watch The Departed: again and again, and love you every time.


Hard Act to Follow is Out!

Hey, all! It’s official–Hard Act to Follow is available just about everywhere. Woo hoo!

Not only thardacttofollowhat, but it’s already racked up some wonderful reviews. 🙂
 
Here’s a recap:HATFbanner2
 
 
“Hard Act to Follow has several things I like
 
1 x Sassy, flamboyant MC – yep
 
1 x Sexy, solid-as-a-rock MC who knows but doesn’t know his sexual orientation, so OFY – yep
 
Well drawn interracial gay couple (so darn hard to find) – yep
 
A little bit of drama (not much) to drive some parts – yep
 
Decent female secondary characters who are not screaming, scheming shrews – yep
 
Sexy manlove, with a bit of dirty talk – yep”
 
Read her 4 1/2 Star Review here.
 
——————-
 
 
 
 
“With a full complement of characters that I could easily imagine being my next door neighbors, this could be the story of any average family. Having good days and bad days, making mistakes and then suddenly getting everything 100% right, only to blow it all over again. With laughter and tears, tragedy and triumph, love and loss written on every page, Hard Act to Follow makes my list of top ten romances of 2014!”
 
 
 
 
Read her 5 Star Review here.
 
 
 
 
See more reviews over on Goodreads.
 
 
 
Buy links:
 
 
 
 

 

Oh, and don’t forget to enter my $25 gift card giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

-Kimber


Double Takes Review Round-Up

Wow, I’ve been spreading my love on a bunch of other blogs lately, but ignoring my own little baby over here. 😥

Well, as my Double Takes blog tour rolls along, I figured I’d accumulate links to DT’s reviews. Since they don’t all necessarily end up in one spot, I figured I’d make it easy for anyone wondering.

Here are the highlights from Amazon reviewers:

“While Gio finds himself falling for Lance behind the scenes, he has to pretend to be falling for Kyrie, a cute twenty something college student, in front of the scenes. Kyrie is studying acting, so he puts his skills to good use in front of the camera. The rest is a great story, well played out. The editing is spot on, no typos anywhere. Oh and did I mention there is a dog? If you are a fan of MM stories, please do yourself a favor and get this one. You won’t be disappointed.” 5 Stars from Tamela Gibson

“With near-flawless prose that sparkles with wit and heat, the author leads us hand in hand with Gio as he tries to keep his world from completely crashing down around his ears. The author never makes it easy for Gio, and his soul searching to find the real person under all the rock and roll glitter makes him all too human. As Gio sheds his old self for the new, he finds a new love, Lance, but Gio is not the only one who has past mistakes to account for. The author pulls out all the stops as their hearts and worlds collide.” 5 Stars from J.A. Matthews

“It was well written and actually edited so typo’s were non-existent. Not your typical cookie cutter rocker romance. I liked it as a sequel. Read the first book too!” 4 Stars from Mary

And on Amazon.co.uk:

“Since reading Forever is now I feel like I had been waiting forever for the second book in Ms Vale’s series to come out and this does not disappoint. It was a book that was filled with laughter, tears, misunderstandings (Kyrie and Greg), hot scenes between both MCs and a lovely twist that I did not expect.

As described Gio is in the middle of a divorce when the producers of the show wants him to get a boyfriend for the camera – enter Kyrie (gorgeous, funny and sexy to boot that he did grabs some of the scenes from Gio). Gio them meets Lance who knew who and what he wanted, the scene where he first kisses Gio made him open his eye really wide as to what he wanted – Lance.

The two MCs bounced off of each other really well with how they communicated together until the end when I had tears in my eyes (no spoiler included but you need to read) when Lance told Gio who he really was and what he had done (keeping you intrigued now).

Now it is a waiting game for number three to see just how Ms Vale brings together Kyrie and Greg and how funny I can see it will be with hopefully some of the Drama that is Kyrie.” 5 Stars from Bobbie Walker

Meanwhile, on On Top Down Under:

“Double Takes is a really enjoyable book. I really did liked Gio and Lance, individually and as a couple. The sex was hot without saturating every Double Takes Quote 2second page and the plot was very good. I also REALLY liked the occasional dirty talking from both guys –  the sex in the gym shower was mmm, mmm, mmm. I also thought Kyrie was a hoot. I would have loved more of him to be honest. If Kimber Vale writes another in the series, and I hope she does, I would love to see the flamboyant Kyrie and the uptight Greg get a book. Oh yes, there is a very interesting relationship right there.” 4.5 Stars from Kazza K.

From Susan of The Blogger Girls:

“So all in all, if you love rocker stories with a twist than I would highly recommend K Vales “Double Takes”. It’s sexy, funny, a little sad, a little surprising, a lot sexy, and a unique story. Loved the fake boyfriend, he was divine and fabulous; loved the twist at the end with Lance; and loved that the ex-wife and Gio were able to settle without destroying their son.” 4 Stars

From Jackie of The Novel Approach:

“The last fifteen percent of this book is totally shocking and fast moving. Very rarely does an author completely blindside me with a plot twist, but Kimber Vale totally got me this time. This book had me laughing out loud in parts, gasping in shock and crying my eyes out.

I loved Forever is Now, but I believe that Gio’s story eclipsed that book completely. I cannot wait to see what is next for these rockers. I would highly recommend y’all joining me on the ride.” 4.5 Stars

———

Double Takes is on sale over on Amazon (for whatever reason) so pick it up while the gettin’ is good (a savings of $1.17 good, that is).

Double Takes-600x800

 

 

And don’t forget to enter my $25 gift card giveaway! RIGHT HERE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Kimber

 


Book Review: Double Takes by K. Vale

Book Review: Double Takes by K. Vale.


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