Tag Archives: Free Reads

Free Book Rec: New In Town by Annabeth Albert!

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With these Wednesday budget fiction features I’ve had two goals: to highlight some great free fiction and to read outside of my comfort zone. So far, so good on both counts!

I don’t usually read military Romances, or stories that feature kids, but couldn’t pass up the chance to read New In Town by Annabeth Albert. I’ve read some of her work so I knew the writing would be excellent, and I wasn’t disappointed. As an added bonus, we get some kids at Halloween!

“I love princesses,” Ethan volunteered. “They’re not just for girls.”

 

I loved New In Town, the writing was tight, the characters very real, and the story pulled me in so that I almost felt like I was getting a warm welcome to a new home and town along with Alex & Marco & the kids. The blurb warns that the side characters are from her Out of Uniform series, so they weren’t as fleshed out as the main couple. I didn’t mind not knowing their backstory but I’m sure it would make this sweet story even more enjoyable if you have.

 

“Mattress on the floor. No sheets. I’m flashing back to college right now.” Alex laughed, but Marco growled.

 

New In Town isn’t Albert’s only Prolific Works Exclusive story, but it was the farthest from my comfort zone so I chose it. I’m glad I did. If you’ve read it & liked it too, let me know in the comments (please remember this is a rec blog, not a review blog 😊).

Annabeth Albert has more books on Prolific Works, including series tie-ins and holiday shorts & you can find them all here.

 

If you’re a fan of MM Romances that are part of a larger story world, you might also like my books. Subscribe to my newsletter and get a free ebook so you can decide for yourself! Click here to subscribe.

For more of my budget book recs click here.

New In Town

A sexy stand-alone short featuring married couple Alex and Marco, who are facing a cross-country move and all the challenges that poses for their little family. But with a little help from some fan-favorite Out of Uniform heroes, the couple will learn that good things can sprout from fresh starts. (New in Town is a steamy addition to the Out of Uniform universe, but stands-alone with a new couple for fans to meet and cameos from some existing favorites too! 10k words!)

 

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Free Book Rec: Synchronicity by Keira Andrews

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Cover ArtI haven’t read many sports Romances and after reading Keira Andrews’s Synchronicity, set at the Olympic games in Canada, I’m not sure why that is! Romances with more going on than the romance itself are my favorites and Synchronicity has an exciting plot to go along with the love story. For only 46 pages both plots—the Olympic competition and the M/M Romance—are nicely fleshed out and don’t feel rushed at all. By the end, I felt like I knew both men and could guess what would happen later in their lives and relationship.

The story begins with both main characters performing a dive and that pace propels the reader along from one chapter to the next. More than once I consciously tried to slow down and savor the story, but found myself getting caught up and reading fast again anyway.

“When it was time, Aiden gave the command to walk and they turned to hang their heels  over the edge of the platform.”

This story is structured perfectly for maintaining the tension in both the personal and the public portions of the plot. Each chapter begins with one dive the pair make in the competition and also includes a scene off the Olympic stage, on their way to becoming a couple. Some of the personal scenes are funny and some are sweet and they all give insight into who each of the men are, and what they truly want.

“God how he wanted to wrap his arms around him and feel his powerful body from head to toe, press their lips together and…”

If you like the Olympics, stories with a lot of sexual tension but low angst, hot swimmers, and stories set in Canada, you might enjoy this sweet (and hot) short.

Keira Andrews also has historical and paranormal free reads in her catalog and I’m sure I’ll be checking those out too! You can find her Amazon Author Page here.

 

If you’re a fan of MM Romances with more going on than the love story, you might also like my books. Subscribe to my newsletter and get a free ebook so you can decide for yourself! Click here to subscribe.

For more of my budget book recs click here.

 

Cover ArtSynchronicity by Keira Andrews

Perfect unison in the pool. Scorching desire in the locker room.

It’s the opportunity of a lifetime for young Tyler Bourne to compete in Olympic synchronized diving with veteran Aiden Oxford. The last thing Tyler expects is to fall head over heels for his gorgeous partner, and he struggles to keep his attraction under control.

Polite but undeniably distant, Aiden keeps him at arm’s length, and Tyler feels like a disappointment to Aiden, who’d been favored to win gold with his disgraced former partner. Tyler knows his feelings are hopelessly one-sided and that the podium is likely out of reach. Yet as the Games begin, he learns nothing is certain until the final dive…

This gay sports romance from Keira Andrews features Jane Austen levels of pining, an age difference, hot guys in Speedos, shower sex, and of course a happy ending.

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Free Book Rec: Like & Subscribe by Jay Bell

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Book Cover

Like & Subscribe by Jay Bell has been around since 2013 and if you haven’t already read it (or even if you have :)) it’s worth your time to check it out. Maybe you weren’t reading MM Romance back then, or maybe (like me) you just didn’t hear about it when it was released. Many good books are released every week—every day—so it’s nearly impossible to keep up with them all.

 

“…Evan’s obsession had started the way it did for the other half-million subscribers. He’d discovered one of Tony’s videos on YouTube, lured in by the little thumbnail image of a searing hot guy without his shirt on.”

 

This free story is 54 pages of fun escapist Romance. I don’t know about you, but I’ve watched YouTube videos and wondered what the person behind the persona was really like. In Jay Bell’s book, his main character gets to find out—and doesn’t exactly get what he was expecting!

Of course, it’s more fun when things and people aren’t what they seem. If they were, there wouldn’t be any mystery, and very little conflict, in stories. I like to keep guessing how the characters are going to get their HEA until the very end—I know they’ll get it, but the journey is the fun part, the reason I read any kind of Romance, and M/M Romance in particular. I don’t read a lot of comedies, but this one had me chuckling (and groaning 😊) out loud a few times.

“I was fat, had no sense of style, and probably smelled like Doritos.”

 

If you like awkward main characters, brutally honest gal pals, great pacing and snappy but realistic dialogue, you might enjoy Like & Subscribe by Jay Bell.

 

Check out Jay Bell’s author page here.

If you’re a fan of MM Romances with real characters who don’t always get what they expect, you might also like my books. Subscribe to my newsletter and get a free ebook so you can decide for yourself! Click here to subscribe.

For more of my budget book recs click here.

 

Book CoverRemember that hunky guy on YouTube who caught your eye? The one with the awesome pecs and killer smile? I bet you couldn’t stop watching his videos. Just imagine if you had a chance to meet him and all your fantasies started coming true. There’s only one catch: Between you and your dream guy is his less-than-pleased boyfriend. They say that love conquers all, but can love conquer love?

Like and Subscribe is a new short story by Jay Bell, the author of Something Like Summer.

 

This book is free as of the publication date of this article.

 

Free Book Rec: Best of Both Worlds by N.R. Walker

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Best of Both Worlds cover

Most MM Romance books are similar—in focus, in plot, in theme—but this little gem is different. I’m always happy to find a book that breaks the mold, that challenges the way a good story can be told. Best of Both Worlds is that kind of story.

The bulk of Best of Both Worlds is told in a single first-person point of view. We do hear from the love interest late in the book, and he has his own fully-realized character arc, but the story belongs to Sebastian. Boy meets boy in a club, they cross paths in their workday life, become friendly, and go on from there. The difference is the minimal style—each chapter is only 100 words long. The prose isn’t bogged down with descriptions or long passages about how Sebastian is feeling or the details of his everyday life. Only the most important bits make it onto the page. The best possible news is that Walker manages to convey what Sebastian is feeling with a few choice words, so the reader can follow along easily.

“I see him and he looks at me with those blue eyes that have owned me every Friday night for the last four weeks.”

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy reading well-written descriptions and the sense of place they evoke. This book inspires the reader to fill in the blanks, to create the appearances of people and locations in their imagination. And you might not even realize you’re doing it because the story will pull you along from one short chapter to the next.

“I lead the way to my bedroom and he has a lazy smirk—a post-orgasm smirk—and he’s beautiful.”

A lot of Romance readers like it that books are similar, and I get that. When I pick up a book I only want to be surprised in a good way. If you’re in the mood for something different, maybe outside your comfort zone, that still delivers a lovely Romance, you might like Walker’s book Best of Both Worlds. This was my first N.R. Walker read, but definitely won’t be my last!

 

Check out N.R. Walker’s author page here.

If you’re a fan of MM Romances that are a little different, you might also like my books. Subscribe to my newsletter and get a free ebook so you can decide for yourself! Click here to subscribe.

For more of my budget book recs click here.

 

Best of Both Worlds cover**This 20,000-word story is told in drabbles: each chapter consisting of only 100 words.**

Sebastian Gilman meets a guy on a dance floor every Friday night. He knows nothing about him, not even his name, only to find one day this familiar stranger turns up on his building site and they need to work together.

Ryland Keller knows better than to get involved. Alone and half a country away from home, he revels in isolation until a handsome man in a gay bar turns his world upside down.

Sebastian wants to help Ryland recover from a horrible past, but only if Ryland can let his guard down long enough to see that he can have the best of both worlds.

This book is free as of the publication date of this article.

 

A sweet little snippet…

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Hello & thanks for visiting my snippet! I spent last weekend working so this is my long weekend—four days of, well, so far mostly of doing errands and trying to get my vehicle diagnosed. But I’m done with that for now & am going to do my best to relax a little bit over the next couple of days.

I decided to snip from my MM Romance Directing Traffic today mainly because I got some good news from my bloodwork—quitting diet soda & cutting WAY back on red meat has resulted in a significant reduction in all of my cholesterol levels! I’m super stoked, because after six months I still really miss Diet Dew. But it’s working, so I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing. If I’m really lucky I won’t have any more injuries for a while & will be able to start exercising again too!

The point is that hopefully I won’t be having a heart attack anytime soon—like one of the characters in the story.

But, none of that is what you came here for. This snippet takes place right outside the main character’s hotel room. Neil is visiting the coast to complete a ritual that he and his deceased lover used to do on their yearly vacations. Ben is Neil’s best friend, and maybe it’s obvious but Ty is the love interest. The first line is Ben’s.

 

“I know what you’re doing out here, you’re wallowing and—”

Ty poked his head out the door, gave Ben an appraising look, and then disappeared back inside. The door didn’t close.

“It’s not what it looks like.”

“I hope for your sake that it’s exactly what it looks like.” Ben grabbed Neil’s shoulders in his hands and squeezed gently; his dark eyes, that had been full of alarm moments ago, showed only encouragement and love. Ben sighed and then clapped Neil’s shoulders and wiggled his eyebrows. “You enjoy that sweet little cupcake and call me tomorrow.”

 

Thanks for reading!

If you’d like to read the whole story, it’s free for subscribing to my newsletter.

Follow this link to sign up now!

 

To find links to more snippets, visit the Rainbow Snippets FB Group. It’s a public group and everyone is welcome to join.

 

Directing Traffic CoverA new love was the last thing on his mind . . .

Neil Sedwick expects to spend his vacation in a sleepy tourist trap mourning his late partner’s death. Instead, he puts his recently acquired CPR certificate to use and saves an elderly resident’s life. But it’s the survivor’s nephew, sexy middle-school teacher Ty Bigelow, who causes Neil to reevaluate his routine and consider reopening his heart.

Though the electricity between them is undeniable, Ty is struggling with his own feelings of inadequacy, and Neil is moored to the past. Even the healing peace of an old man’s garden and the ever-changing waters of the Oregon coast may not be enough to prepare Neil to overcome a crisis of the heart.

 

Have a lovely weekend!

onlytherose

Better than nothing…

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22401361I spent far too long trying to figure out a snippet for this week. Before I let myself be reduced to actual tears, I decided to go for another free read.

This snippet is from “Better Than New,” my contribution to the Goodreads MM Romance Group’s Don’t Read in the Closet event of 2014, Love’s Landscapes.

Theo is the “I.”

 

 

“Say, Red. What’s up with your leg?” The guy was in my math class. Bone-head geometry. If I was any good an angles and trajectories, a lot more than my class schedule would be different.

“Surfing accident. A shark bit off my foot.”

He looked me up and down, no doubt noting my pale and bony qualities, none of which screamed surfer dude.

“Seriously?”

“No. Someone pushed me off a MAX platform and the train rolled over my leg.”

He shot me a strange look and then ducked into the building faster than I could’ve kept up. Not that I wanted to.

Thanks for reading!

If you’d like to read all of Theo’s story, links to the three major formats are on this page. If you’re interested in the other 200 or so free stories, check out the MM Romance Group at Goodreads. It’s free to join, and some amazing authors donated their time and talent for our collective reading pleasure.

Check out more flashes of fiction at Snippet Sunday!

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