K-lee Klein

Very cute, light-hearted story. I enjoyed it much.



I enjoyed the two mc's Cody and Jayden and pretty much figured out that Jayden was the brother of Cody's future brother in law right off the bat. The awkward breakfast the morning after was hilarious :D

Jayden was a sweetheart that Cody underestimated. For some reason as soon as I started reading the story, I got this impression that Cody was a bit effeminate, but that feeling grew less as the story progressed.

Loved the HEA. Good job :)

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I was given Lucky in Loveland through the ‘Don’t Buy My Love’ program for an honest and unbiased review. The story is told in third person through the eyes of Lucky and Jack. The title is a good fit for the story behind Loveland, Colorado, which is connected to Valentine’s Day.

2.5 Stars



When I read the blurb, I thought this would be the perfect story for me as I like sweet stories. Unfortunately, it left me disappointed. I couldn’t connect to Lucky or Jack as characters or as a couple.

Lucky is an ex-hockey player who now teaches hockey and sports to kids in Loveland. Jack is a kindergarten teacher and artist who’s just moved to town. He left California after his parents died because of unpleasantness with his sisters. The story opens with Lucky coming to visit Jack’s class. The first chapter is completely about Jack and Lucky in the class with the kids monopolizing all the scenes. It was a slow and boring chapter and I don’t think the best way to open a book. I immediately lost interest and found myself wanting to put the book aside, which I did frequently while reading this. I also wanted to skim read but didn’t, since I signed up to review.

The author told the story mostly through monologue with little dialogue. Each character told how they felt, told what they thought and described their environment and told their feelings. I wanted to feel what the MCs felt, to get into their lives. Instead, I never could. The writing kept me floating on the surface, never pulling me in. I couldn’t identify with the MCs and couldn’t feel the connection between them. Because of this distance, the book had a hard time keeping my interest. We are told about Lucky’s character through other townspeople, but we don’t experience his emotions or history through him except by being ‘told’. We also don’t really find out much about Jack.

I often found it difficult keeping the characters straight. They didn’t have the same first letter in the name so that couldn’t have been it. After a few chapters I realized why I was confusing them. Both characters have the “ck” in their names. Close enough to make the names confusing, also they didn’t seem that much different in personality other than Lucky was more open than Jack.

There are quite a few grammar errors, extra words and missing words in this book. I could see where it looked like the author had one idea in mind how to write a sentence, then changed her mind but didn’t correct the sentence by removing the previous words. At times the added words made it confusing enough I couldn’t figure out what the sentence actually meant. It would probably be a good idea for one or two more people to go over the book to find these mistakes since there are quite a few of them. Removing them would lead to a more pleasurable and smoother reading experience.

The story became a bit more interesting with Jack getting a phone call from one of his sisters towards the end. That subplot wasn’t finished, so we’re left with a cliffhanger. It looks like there will be another book after this one so hopefully that dangling storyline with be completed. The MC’s relationship ended on what I would call a HFN rather than a HEA.

Unfortunately, this book didn’t work for me for the reasons I mentioned. But I think from the other reviews listed, that many readers have enjoyed it. If you’re the kind of reader that doesn’t notice grammar mistakes, or don’t mind only observing the MC’s emotions and lives, then you’ll probably enjoy this book. There really isn’t any angst to this. In fact, that’s what I liked about the book, the author didn’t create an over dramatic story. It’s just the everyday life of two guys getting to know each other, which I think works. Not all stories need to contain angst or make a reader cry, life isn’t always like that. But at the same time without the issues causing the angst, we need to be able to even more clearly experience a person’s emotions and sensory input, which I don't think were conveyed well with any depth.

If you’re looking for a fast, sweet, no angst read focused around Valentine’s Day, you will probably like this. I couldn’t identify with Jack and Lucky, and the story didn’t pull me in with the author’s style of writing, but I was able to finish the book. I give Lucky in Loveland, 2 Stars.

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I only read about half the stories in this anthology. It's mostly a mixed bag. There were a couple I really like (one particular stand-out story is Clare London's "Say a Little Prayer"), most were just ok. With such short stories, I felt a lot of the sex scenes were totally unnecessary, and some stories seemed to be set up around the sex scene, with character/plot background just to pad it out so it wouldn't be totally about gratuitous porn. Meh, most of these were not really my taste, I suppose.

J.P. Barnaby, "End of the World As We Know It". Did not finish. The age gap involving a minor really puts me off.

J.C. Chase, "Open Tackle". 2 stars. The relationship between best friends and football teammates Owen and Rory change when Owen confesses his feelings for Rory, then runs off after taking Rory's stunned silence for a rejection. A basic misunderstanding plot, really common in yaoi manga, which I find rather unrealistic and gets resolved fairly quickly.

Jaya Christopher, "Cody and the Hermit". 2 stars. Cowboy Cody pines after a former childhood friend and longtime crush when said crush returns to his hometown after several years away. I didn't really find this one believable at all. The sex scene was also clearly tacked on and didn't really add anything to the story.

Poppy Dennison, "Blindsided". 3 stars. Boxer/fighter Noah is nervous about his upcoming fight, his fellow boxer comforts him. This is a plot that I like a lot and wish I could read as a full novel. As a short story, the ending is too easy and unsatisfying and would be better if it was more developed.

Rachel Haimowitz, "Jungle Heat". 2 stars. American Ranger Pete gets captured by a drug cartel, is given cocaine and raped. The story completely falls apart at the end when the love interest (a fellow Ranger) comes to save him, confesses and suddenly everything's ok???

Jambrea Jo Jones, "Wild Blue Yonder". 2 stars. Bruce leaves his lover and fellow soldier Rick when it seems like Rick can't offer him the commitment he wants.

Marguerite Labbe, "Tears of the Sea". 2 stars. David is tied up by Liam, his crush and the husband of his husband's twin brother, in an attempt to make him remember memories he lost. An interesting enough idea but terribly executed. It dragged on way too long and wasn't particularly well-written.

Clare London, "Say A Little Prayer". 5 stars. While working a summer job, Jonathan finds a winged and naked man on the beach waiting just for him. This was a real gem of a short story and absolutely compelling from beginning to end. I like how the "mystery" unravels itself slowly and allowed for the development of some really delicious tension and heat. This was also one story where the sex scene felt like it was important and fit into the story rather than being a gratuitous scene added in. (Ironically, this is one story where I wouldn't have minded more sex-- I guess because I was very invested in the two characters.) Lovely writing and wonderful story overall. I will definitely check out more of this author's work.

M.J. O'Shea, "Bridges". 2 stars. I've read this one before, my review is here. Sweet but ultimately forgettable tale of two enemies turned lovers.

Devon Rhodes, "His Last Resort". 3 stars. A college freshman comes out to his roomate.

Andrea Speed, "My Bloody Valentine". 4 stars. Cody takes Drew to an abandoned house for some spooky fun. Super short but packs a real punch.

V.J. Summers, "Liar, Liar". DNF. Didn't like the writing.

Bryl R. Tyne, "Alipio". 3 stars. A very poetic and dream-like short story about an artist who becomes infatuated with the slave who is his model.… (más)