2.5 stars ( )

3.5 stars ( )

Ms. Thompson has created very engaging characters in this book. They’re not necessarily likable at first but they are real. Both men face challenges and obstacles in their lives. Neither can go forward because of their pasts. Their strengths and weaknesses show themselves in their actions and reactions. Nolan and Mark connect on a visceral level. I love their honesty and their determination. This is no fairy tale romance, it’s a love story filled with private fears, big mistakes and a steep learning curve. When the men come together, Ms. Thompson paints a sensual picture with her perfect balance of raunchiness and eroticism. The wording is hot and explicit. The story flows seamlessly to its end. This is a thoroughly enjoyable story and exactly what an erotic romance should be. The sex is steamy, the characters are true and the romance is beautifully written. I can highly recommend this one to any who enjoys m/m love stories.

~ TRS for AReCafe ( )

There is a serial romance genre called Medical Romance; it was very popular in the ’70 & ’80, usually the story of an handsome doctor falling in love for his collaborator, a young nurse of well-breed but more or less poor like Cinderella. Alternative Treatment takes a spin on this plot, but it doesn’t go so far away: Mark is indeed an handsome doctor, wealthy and young, the perfect bachelor; but on the contrary of the Medical Romance rules, he is not a playboy, he is practically a virgin, scared to come out to his family given the bad experience he witnessed with his own uncle, who killed himself from a broken heart after being rejected from his family upon coming out. And Nolan is indeed a poor, young nurse, but he is not naïve as the rules would suggest; he is basically a “love them and leave them”. Nolan is intrigued by Mark, at first as a challenge, but when Mark doesn’t bite the first bait, Nolan doesn’t insist, letting Mark comes back to him when he is ready.

The author could have played the bad boy falls in love for next door boy card, but instead the novel is more a comfort romance, with some bumps in the road for the two lovebirds, but nothing huge. Basically, after they meet and decide to give it a try, everything that opposes to their happiness is soon overcome with just a little commitment and desire to succeed.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1463656696/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

Ms. Thompson did not disappoint! While it took awhile to get these, this was a sweet story of a two men lost in their own misery, not really knowing what they were searching for. I actually gave it 5 stars right after reading it and then slept before this review, and then dropped it down to 4 stars in the morning because there was MC cheating that kinda ticked me off and spoiled the HEA a bit for me. *shrugs* Not the author's fault, it was a very valid plot point, but it made my stomach hurt and I can't get it out of my head right now, so there you go.

Recommended if you like the straight-laced "good boy" letting his hair down and going for the leather wearing "bad boy" and turning the tables in the bedroom, making the sex hotter than Hades. Lots of angst and a fabulous HEA and year-later epilogue that will have you skipping through fields of poppies. ( )