Lenni Reviews: "Wounded Pride" by Remmy Duchene and B.L. Morticia

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Brian Daystar is celebrating the opening of his youth center for at-risk kids but notices a considerable lack of support from his country music star boyfriend, Corey. When Corey finally bothers to call Brian, he's drunk and not alone. Deciding to end it, Brian takes a vacation to New York to face Corey while staying with Renford Kline; a retired attorney considering becoming a law professor. Brian is attracted to Renford but Ren's experience with men has never gone beyond college experimenting. Both are attracted but Brian's past traumas and Ren's reluctance to get feelings involved may keep them from the happily ever after they have been wishing for.

First off? Ren, 39 isn't 'old man' territory. I could see if he was pushing 55 (seeing as he's retiring) but, no.

This is one of those romances where you think there would be more time spent on building the relationship between the main pair before they hop into bed but nope. Not really a criticism on my part; just saying the writing and tone made me expect that. As is, the flaw in this standard romance cycle is I feel some of the character elements could have been explored more; like Brian's pretty dark past and Redford's previous attraction to women. It doesn't make the book bad at all. In fact, I find it sweet and the smutty bits are written well. But those deep personal issues could have used more attention. A fun romp even if I was left a bit wanting; 3.7 out of 5.

A True Gamer's Keyboard - HyperX Alloy FPS Review

Produced by: Young Jeohn

The HyperX Alloy FPS is an excellent gaming keyboard with:

- 8 extra gaming keys
- Cherry MX keys (choice of Brown, Red or Blue)
- Full N-Key Roll Over
- 6 Lighting presets
- No key jamming
- Anti-ghosting
- 1000Hz polling

Watch the video for the full review!

More info: HyperXgaming.com

Lenni Reviews: "More Things in Heaven and Earth" by Paul Comeau

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Danny Crawford's religious father decided to stop him from being gay by dumping the boy into conversion therapy. Desperate to escape the abuse in his home at the hands of his homophobic father, Danny is willing to die. While in the hospital recovering from his botched suicide attempt, his plight moves Damien; a vampire pretending to be a priest in order to feed on terminal patients. Damien decides to take the boy in but Danny's father is determined to fix the 'embarrassment' that is his son.

I had such high hopes for this given the premise but my overall impression is that of reading a textbook. The POV will switch, the prose seems to talk AT you, and the whole thing comes off as a methodical checklist of what a gay paranormal romance is supposed to contain without the heart other stories have. Damien switches back and forth between contemporary vampire and old world vampire in his language and that knocked me right out of the book. I couldn't get fully immersed.

This book feels like a missed opportunity. It could have been a really touching, beautiful story that brought up the very real horrors of conversion therapy but I feel like I got a particularly detailed wiki entry. It isn't even very smutty as the sex scenes are all fade to black. I have to give this a 2 out of 5.

Lenni Reviews: "MAD About Trump: A Brilliant Look at Our Brainless President" by Various

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*This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review.

This is a collection of satirical cartoons about the election of 2016 and the president himself. In true MAD Magazine style, some are one page and some are several page long comics. Some jokes land, some jokes miss, and some are kinda gross - also MAD Magazine's style - but humor can be very subjective. I personally wasn't too keen on some of the art styles but that's cause I didn't find them pleasant to look at; not because they were poorly done.

If you're an overly sensitive person and will trash this just because it's making fun of Trump, feel free to skip this. MAD Magazine is not a publication for people who can't take a joke and they to NOT hold back. I found that absolutely refreshing but others may not.

All the parodies are here; Beauty and the Beast, La La Land, Suicide Squad, Civil War, and while I may not have laughed out loud, I did chuckle at the cleverness of a lot of them and the publication as a whole is a welcome bit of levity among the absolute mess American politics has become. I'll have to give it 2 or 3 more reads to catch all the little jokes (seriously, some of them are like those Highlights Magazine hidden picture pages but for adults) but I had fun reading this. 4 out of 5 for it's unabashed and scathing honesty.

211:CK Review

After a failed bank robbery, you are stuck in a jam. Can you survive by touching and shaking your phone to the end? The action shooter sees players taking the role of a bank robber Charles Kemp making his escape from law enforcement. The game consists of three stages each with a certain difficulty level ranging from Easy, Medium and Hard. The game offers weapon upgrades, item pick ups and much more. Y

Android users can purchase the game here

Apple users can purchase the game here

Lenni Reviews: "Crossing in Time" by D.L. Orton and Micah McDonald

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This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated for 18+

Geneticist Isabel is given a once in a lifetime chance; to go back in time and get a second chance with her lover, Diego. But this is for much more than just love as their relationship may hold the key to saving humanity from mass extinction.

Now, I know one would think that knowing me and my other reviews; a "time travel, dystopian romance" would not only have my eyes rolling out of my head but send me into Serena's Plight levels of anger. Neither of these happened. I LOVED this book.

Isabel and Diego are both whip-smart, strong brave characters and there were precious few moments in the plot where I doubted they were anything else. And while their relationship takes center stage, supporting characters like Matt are quick witted, kind, and funny. All of them have such chemistry I didn't want to leave them (and I will be getting the next books in the series).

The time travel bits can get confusing and part of me doesn't want to believe anyone could accidentally set off a nuke (but with how things are with a president who tweets unintelligible typos, it seems sadly likely) but overall, this story had even a cynic like me believing that one relationship could mean saving the world. 4.7 out of 5.

Lenni Reviews: "Leo Loves Aries" by Anyta Sunday

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is rated 18+

Twins Theo and Leone have both lost their significant others to each other. Theo's girlfriend and Leone's boyfriend paired off and the twins decide to lick their wounds with school work and junk food; until their wedding invitation arrives in the mail. They both agree to show they've moved on by not only attending the wedding but choosing dates for each other. When Jamie Cooper applies to be their roommate, Theo thinks he's perfect for his sister but finds Jamie so infuriatingly amusing that their friendship deepens to something more.

As far as "gay for you" romances go, this one does it right. I've read too many of these where the straight guy has all these icky feelings about another man's naughty bits and has to get over that because he's attracted to a specific man. Here, Theo had dated only women in the past and considered himself hetero but Jamie as a person, sparks his interest. Theo doesn't stress about his orientation or how he can't understand being sexually attracted to another male; all he knows is he adores Jamie. This makes their pairing all the more genuine and it was easy to get invested in what's happening to them.

As for the rest of our cast of characters, they are all written very well so they feel real; flaws and all. The steamier scenes are placed perfectly within the narrative, despite the short courtship. You don't get the sense Theo and Jamie tumble around randomly just because there hasn't been a sex scene in a while. They make an adorable couple to follow on their journey and the ending is sweet and satisfying.

If I had a gripe, it would be some unexplored bits like Theo's fear of water and you don't get to know the ex's very well. I thought the water would come into play in the climax of the story and other than Theo's ex - Sam - being thoughtless, they don't get much back story. Those are VERY minor criticisms and didn't take away from my enjoyment of this book.

If "gay for you" is your thing and you want a fairly lighthearted M/M romance, I recommend this. Theo and Jamie are just all around fun to read. 4 out of 5.