Family Man by Devyn Morgan

Title: Family Man
Author: Devyn Morgan
Cover artist: not mentioned
Genre: contemporary
Buy or borrow (KU) at Amazon
Formats: Mobi, print, audio
Length: 38k est  146 pages


Back in the heartland town he escaped years ago, Van Farley finds the occasional beer and eye candy at the one and only local gay bar, catering to the Stetson set. Everyone’s got eyes for the new man, but Van must keep his head down and not risk his job as a teacher. That’s fine, until hot-and-doesn’t-know-it Jacob Strickland walks in.

Jacob grew up fast, settling down to give his pregnant, teenaged sister some stability. He doesn’t date, dedicating himself to being a suitable father figure for both his sister and his nephew, now old enough to start school.

When Jacob gets dragged out to a local club, a sex-on-legs stranger gives him a night to remember.

One night only. No repeats. They’ll never see each other again.

Until the first day of school.

Family Man is a standalone novella with hot guys, a cute kid, and an HEA.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Devyn Morgan gets it right, he gets it really, really right. Like here.

Part of the fun of Family Man is readers know something the characters don’t know, and we get lots of opportunities to groan and smile and groan again for the near misses and could have beens. Mistaken identity on one side and a whole lot of assumptions on the other make for a couple that can hop in bed once and then have a lot to figure out before they can do it again.


Each man has to question his values too, and then figure out where those values are going to take them. Both Jacob and Van have to put their money where their mouths are, so to speak, and that takes then where they didn’t think they’d go. And yay, is it a spoiler to say that it takes them together? There’s an HEA and what a good thing it is!

The secondary characters here are a lot of fun: Jacob’s small nephew gets the “out of the mouths of babes” lines. Cody the meddling cousin is an adorable, popular, and wise young man, who looked like he needed a story when I read this book. Checking the book list makes it look like I got my wish, so Roping the Wind is in my Kindle now too.

Watching these two guys fumble their way into good places is a great time. 5 marbles

Shaft Season by Devyn Morgan

Title: Shaft Season
Author: Devyn Morgan
Purchase at Amazon
Cover Artist: UK
Genre: contemporary
Length: 146 pages
Formats MOBI, print

Dumped by his movie star boyfriend, writer Trevor Cunningham trades the glitz, glamour and pricey house in Hollywood for a quaint turn-of-the-century bungalow in Copper Bluff, Montana. This infuriated author’s going to write a gruesome death for his ex, a big change from his best-selling gay romances. Now, instead of fighting traffic on Melrose Avenue, Trevor's trying to chop firewood with his puggle Sabrina by his side.

Don Harper’s lived his whole life in this faded boom town. Need a house weatherproofed? Need a fence built? Have an old mine shaft open up? Call Don Harper! Don’s never been sure there are other men who want what he wants, but he spies books on Trevor’s shelves, books with men loving men.

The mutual attraction is there from the get-go, but how is a mountain man supposed to fit into a Hollywood kind of life? And how can Trevor realize he’s worth Don’s masculine attentions?
They’ll both find out when winter turns to spring. Because spring is shaft season.

A standalone novella with a first time relationship, a lovable designer dog, and an HEA.

OMG, I loved this. Definitely opposites attract, and they don’t want to attract. And doggies. I didn’t know I was a sucker for dogs in romances but I am. (Also for cats, but that was an established fact.)

Trevor’s downsized his expenses so he can spend the time to write his awful ex into a story and KILL HIM. Maybe that will get him out of Trevor’s head, where he’s built a whole nest of bad boyfriend lies about Trevor being old and undesirable and generally not cool enough for a movie star. All for being late thirties and liking to cook at home instead of going out to eat and being responsible enough to feed and walk the dog. We get to see Antony being the nasty man we’re all glad isn’t Trevor’s lover any more. What a piece of work he is, but you can see how he could use just enough truth to weave into a lie and make Trevor believe it. Which is sad. Even if Trevor makes a really good point about an actor getting along with the screenwriter.


And there’s Don. Sweet and hardworking, and gay in a place where he’s never knowingly met another man who likes men. I wanted to scream at Don’s father, but when it’s small town Montana, of 20 years ago, it would be screaming at him for being like everyone else, only freer to be mean to his son. So when Don meets up with Trevor for doing odd jobs on a hundred year old house in this faded mining town, which, hah, I think I recognize, that’s a pretty distinctive lake. Don meets up with Trevor’s bookshelf first. Which was supercute, running back and forth to raid the books.

And then he has questions, and one things leads to another, and here’s a bit of truth for Antony to twist—there aren’t a lot of other choices for partners. And Trevor’s not a very secure guy. Add in small town vs Hollywood glitz, and they've got a lot to contend with.

And the hell of it is, they’re really good for each other. And they’ll figure it out, eventually. Not before making us readers sniffle and yell and worry, and then be happy. And there’s doggies. Sabrina the puggle and Bandit the mutt (Don says something about the dogs that made me snort Coke out my nose!)

So, charming story and all is happy, I would have liked to read more about Don’s first encounters with a few more aspects of gay sex, but I think for him that’s not the important thing, he just needs to be able to touch Trevor. With or without a dog bouncing on the bed.

Devyn Morgan's stuff can be hit or miss for me but this one hits it out of the park. 4.75 marbles

Oh, remember Devyn did an excerpt to go with a picture that was perfect to be Don? It's here.

Favorites from 2016

I've been fortunate to read some great books this year. Each of these books had a something special to make it stay on my mind. Thank you, authors.

A Thousand Word Thursday story from Devyn Morgan

Oh wow, looks like Devyn Morgan has an excerpt from a story to go with our handsome mountain man!  This comes from Shaft Season, which just shot up to the top of Mount TBR.

**************************
Trevor started slicing vegetables with one eye out the back window. Don, dressed in a jacket light enough to accommodate the exertion and still keep the wind out, was swinging his ax at an upright log. Trevor still wasn’t a reliable shot with the ax, so Don preferred to split the kindling rather than watch potential death and dismemberment in the back yard. Bandit and Sabrina snoozed in the corner, not caring if their humans did the work they did best.

Not that Don hadn’t taught Trevor all sorts of things, including his special elk roast method, but Trevor knew spices and dishes Don did not. If the turmeric had to be special ordered, Don ate it and marveled aloud that Trevor had been to Thailand.

Don came in with an armload of wood, pausing in the kitchen to shed his boots and kiss the cook. “What are we having?”

“Moussaka.” Don ate vegetables more to please Trevor than because he liked them, so the best bet was to slather them with meat. “It’s Greek.”

“Moose-saka? Montana Greek.” He headed into the living room to build the fire.

“Stick with me, fella, and you’ll eat the world.” He and Don had been around the world, a couple dozen times, and might do some more traveling tonight. Don would still sleep at home, because this town was full of Mrs. Grundies. Once, just once, Don had stayed overnight in town. Trevor had inquiries about it later from neighbors. Yes, Don was fine, no, he hadn’t plowed that long driveway, and yes, he was too tired to do it after a full day so I gave him a bed was true, but an excuse that worked better when synchronized with the winter storms. Not that there was any shortage of snow. But it was none of their business. Yes, he fucked me into the mattress—why do you ask?” in his deadliest polite voice had been on the tip of Trevor’s tongue.

“So, what happened good today?” Don asked once the fire was built, with his chin hooked over Trevor’s shoulder and arms around his waist.


“Got an e-mail from my agent. At least, I think it’s good. Haven’t read it yet.” A grocery run for moose-saka ingredients was much more important at that moment.

They did the kitchen quickstep, Don following along and never once touching a spoon. Trevor loved it, and had yet to wash a pot or pan he’d dirtied cooking for his new—lover? Was this what a proper lover did? Participate, and ask questions, and be interested in the answers? Antony had worked out or watched movies, or demanded to go out whenever Trevor offered to cook. What had he seen in the guy?

Antony hadn’t even managed to get killed off properly. Trevor hadn’t been able to concentrate on staking the bastard—hey, there was an idea, Antony the vampire, done in by— By—

The agent of doom had to be something Antony would loathe. A busty young woman in sparkling clothing? Note to self, work on plot.

No, his last two books had been romances: Lumberjacks in Love demanded to be written and had poured out of his keyboard. Same with Dog Trainers in Denial. Hey, the readers asked for more, and nobody but Trevor had ever yearned to see Antony bleed on the page. Even Don, who’d called Antony an idiot and a jerk, hadn’t asked for literary vengeance.

Shoveling everything into the baking dish, Trevor had to ask, “I want to kill off a character. What’s a good way to dispose of the body?”

“Don’t know where your character is, but around here I’d drop him down an old mine shaft.” Don helped Trevor bend over to shove the dish in the oven. “Killing him first is optional if it’s deep enough.”

Trevor stood up fast enough to clack Don’s teeth. “Good Lord, does this town have a really high murder rate?”

Don rubbed his jaw. “Not really. Everyone knows everyone, they keep track. That’s the upside of your neighbors knowing what’s cooking in your pot. Might need to write the cop as a federal agent and the victim as someone everyone wants gone.”

“I see.” Trevor could write the dedication page now. “Thanks to Don, the kindest man with the most bloodthirsty imagination”. Note to self, remember this: it would sell. “We have forty-five minutes to food. Sex first or e-mail first?”

Don grinned. “You’re dying to read that e-mail.”

Trevor snorted. “Sez you. Off with the clothes, cowboy.”

****************

Dumped by his movie star boyfriend, writer Trevor Cunningham trades the glitz, glamour and pricey house in Hollywood for a quaint turn-of-the-century bungalow in Copper Bluff, Montana. This infuriated author’s going to write a gruesome death for his ex, a big change from his best-selling gay romances. Now, instead of fighting traffic on Melrose Avenue, Trevor's trying to chop firewood with his puggle Sabrina by his side.

Don Harper’s lived his whole life in this faded boom town. Need a house weatherproofed? Need a fence built? Have an old mine shaft open up? Call Don Harper! Don’s never been sure there are other men who want what he wants, but he spies books on Trevor’s shelves, books with men loving men.

The mutual attraction is there from the get-go, but how is a mountain man supposed to fit into a Hollywood kind of life? And how can Trevor realize he’s worth Don’s masculine attentions?

They’ll both find out when winter turns to spring. Because spring is shaft season.

Shaft Season by Devyn Morgan is a standalone novella with a first time relationship, a lovable designer dog, and an HEA.

Ace of Hearts by Devyn Morgan

Title: Ace of Hearts
Author: Devyn Morgan
Purchase or read in KU at Amazon
Cover Artist: Resplendent Media
Genre: contemporary
Length: 22k EST
Formats Mobi

Sometimes your best match is the person you'd least expect

Brendan Cole’s quiet nature makes it hard to connect with people, but when he meets Lucas Amsden, everything changes. From the moment Lucas sweeps up to offer Brendan a plate of freshly baked cookies, his sunny disposition and generous nature give Brendan a new outlook on life. So when his new friend is pushed out onto the street by a bullying ex-boyfriend, Brendan is more than happy to offer Lucas a place to crash.

Lucas soon finds himself relying on Brendan’s steady practicality, even as he enjoys prodding Brendan to relax and have more fun. The only problem? Living with such a gorgeous yet untouchable guy just might drive him crazy. He understands why Brendan can't offer a traditional romantic relationship, but he also can’t imagine spending the rest of their lives as just-friends.

They may not be the typical couple, but Brendan cares too much to let Lucas drift out of his life. He's determined to find a way to make things work. Can the puzzle pieces of these two very different lives be made to fit together? With a little ingenuity, and a lot of luck, maybe they can create their own happily-ever-after.

Ace of Hearts is a standalone m/m romance with a HEA ending.

This was the second of a new kind of story for me, because one of the main characters identifies as asexual. Which presents some challenges for a romance, particularly a romance in a genre and from an author where we’ve learned to expect some sex.

And Devyn Morgan delivers. This author is wildly uneven for me, some stories I love, some leave me shaking my head, but this one is great. Still with the not-too-angsty treatment of some serious issues, and with a character the likes of which I’ve read very little. Brendan, the ace character, is endearing, and eye-opening.

He’s an education, really, to all of us who’ve made assumptions about people. He understands himself and what he’s ready for, and figures out how to cope with other people’s reactions. That doesn’t mean he’s happy with prying questions and dumb assumptions like “he just hasn’t met the right man yet.”

Well, the right man for what? When he runs into Lucas, he’s met a dear person who’s willing to accept him on his own terms, and not push.

Lucas is adorable, cheerful and interested and kind of like a big, thoughtful puppy, and how he stuck himself with a pompous prick like Chad is a sadness. Chad has bad boyfriend written all over him, controlling and snooty, and kicking Lucas to the curb is very likely the only good thing he ever did.

These guys have the opportunity to be friends first. And even if it looks like that’s all they ever could be, they are good as friends, and that’s a sweet part of the story. As friends, they complement each other well, helping and advising. When Brendan feels ready to explore what he and Lucas could do together, Lucas doesn’t go pushy and demanding. While Lucas has the raging hots for Brendan, he stays sweet, and they can find something that works for them. There’s a lot of colors in the rainbow, and these guys find out what color their happiness is. It doesn’t have to be the same as everyone else’s.

There's kind of a big jump to get to the super happy ever after, but it made me smile, and I liked what came before that.

Cute story for a charming couple. And also, karma. Go karma.   4.5 marbles

Lifeguard Love by Devyn Morgan

Title: Lifeguard Love
Author: Devyn Morgan
Purchase at Amazon
Cover Artist: U/K
Genre: contemporary
Length: 117 pages
Formats MOBI

When up-and-coming social media star Kip Weiss lands a summer lifeguard job at an exclusive resort, there are strings attached. The sweet bonus privileges require a roommate, and after a year in the random dorms, Kip wants to pick who shares the tight quarters. He invites his best friend, the only kid at school who didn’t look down on him for being poor. When Thad arrives, he can’t stop looking at his friend’s new beefy physique. But Kip can’t be into guys, that would ruin his hard-built social media brand, wouldn’t it?

Thad Rowland needs a break. After an academically stressful year at school, his father lines up a boring internship to fill his summer. His true passion is art, not accounting. When his best friend Kip invites him to apply at the resort he jumps at the chance to get away from it all and wear his lifeguard whistle again. But can he live in such close proximity to his celebrity-gorgeous best friend, and keep his true feelings to himself?

Far away from everything else, the hunky college guys are in an oasis of suntan lotion, their own private apartment, and an entire summer stretching before them. Will their new feelings tear them apart as well as ruin their careers and family ties? Or is the summer heat just the beginning of a scorching hot future?

After getting a little taste of this story to go with that Thousand Word Thursday story, I wanted to read the rest.

Both young men are working on discovering who they are and what they want from life, not just each other. Thad more to work on, between being open about his sexuality and needing to go against his father, who has his life mapped out in a direction Thad doesn’t want to go. His sexuality is almost the smallest problem. He’s been taking his frustrations out in the gym, getting all buff and attractive. Kip’s surprised at the intensity of his attraction to Thad and his new muscles. Kip seems shallow at first, but he’s quite driven, and he’s really there for Thad by the end of the story.

For all that this had some important themes going, the treatment is lighthearted, and the challenges met with medium-low angst. The guys are too busy discovering the joys of each other and worrying about how they look on Instagram. Well, they look great.

The resort setting is mostly background for social media: we see the guys being buff in swim trunks but not actually rescuing anyone. Seemed like a lost opportunity: they exist in a vacuum at the resort, and only when family gets involved do they interact beyond each other and an internet audience. They do have a lot to explore with each other, given how little experience they have.

Still, it was fun, and sweet, and left me with a smile. Kind of like eating the icing off the top of the cupcake. 3.5 marbles

A Thousand Word Thursday Story from Devyn Morgan

This vacationing fellow prompted Devyn Morgan to send along a little piece of his latest novella,  Lifeguard Love. Since I just bought this story, I think I might have to kick it up the TBR pile and read the rest. 

***

The sunscreen cap snapped, the sound popping through the air. He heard the thick lotion squeeze out of the bottle and Thad rubbing his hands together. It sounded wet and sticky and thick. Oh god. Breathe.

“I’ll start on your shoulders and work my way down. You can tell me if there are any spots you think I missed.” Thad’s hands slipped onto his shoulders and started a slow massage.

Kip breathed a long slow inhalation, trying to keep his breath normal. He crossed his forearm over his crotch in a futile attempt to hold himself under control. Thad’s hands on his shoulders were electric. Thad couldn’t see his face, so Kip closed his eyes and relaxed into his friend’s touch. Thad massaged his shoulders, using his thumbs to actually knead the muscles. “You look a little tense so I’m going to give you a quick back rub while I’m at it.”

“Okay.” Kip barely breathed.

Thad continued his ministrations, working his way down, kneading Kip’s stiff muscles. His touch was expert. He used his fingertips together, then his knuckles, and sometimes the palm of his hand.

“This feels…so good. Where did you learn to do this?”

“My roommate’s girlfriend was going to school to be a massage therapist. She used to practice on me. My condition was that she taught me what she was doing as she went. Obviously I’m no pro, but I learned some things.”

Something thudded inside Kip. He didn’t like the idea of some girl running her hands all over Thad. He had no right to feel this way, which made him feel even worse. What was wrong with him? He tried to keep his voice light. “Your roommate’s girlfriend?”

Thad laughed as he kneaded Kip’s muscles. “Yeah, funny, right?”

“Yeah. Ha, ha.” Kip forced a laugh. Did it sound as fake as it felt? “He didn’t mind his girlfriend putting her hands all over you?”

“Nah, he was too busy with sports and he knew I wouldn’t make a move on his girl.”

“Why is that?”

Thad chuckled softly and stopped moving his hands. “Have you ever known me to make a move on a girl?”

Kip thought. He hadn’t. Why didn’t he notice this before. He just figured Thad wasn’t a womanizer. “Not really, but…”

“I guess it’s just not my style, and he could tell. She said she liked practicing on me specifically because I didn’t try to make a move on her. I guess most guys think a massage is something sexual.”

Kip thought about his current state and felt guilty for feeling exactly that way about the back rub Thad was giving him. He willed himself to stop swelling and to just take it for what it was. “Yeah, ha ha! Some guys…” He swallowed hard.

****

LIfeguard Love by Devyn Morgan is available now on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited!

When up-and-coming social media star Kip Weiss lands a summer lifeguard job at an exclusive resort, there are strings attached. The sweet bonus privileges require a roommate, and after a year in the random dorms, Kip wants to pick who shares the tight quarters. He invites his best friend, the only kid at school who didn’t look down on him for being poor. When Thad arrives, Kip can’t stop looking at his friend’s new beefy physique. But Kip can’t be into guys, that would ruin his hard-built social media brand, wouldn’t it?

Thad Rowland needs a break. After an academically stressful year at school, his father lines up a boring internship to fill his summer. His true passion is art, not accounting. When his best friend Kip invites him to apply at the resort he jumps at the chance to get away from it all and wear his lifeguard whistle again. But can he live in such close proximity to his celebrity-gorgeous best friend, and keep his true feelings to himself?

Far away from everything else, the hunky college guys are in an oasis of suntan lotion, their own private apartment, and an entire summer stretching before them. Will their new feelings tear them apart as well as ruin their careers and family ties? Or is the summer heat just the beginning of a scorching hot future?

Lifeguard Love is a short and hot standalone gay romance with explicit scenes and a guaranteed happily ever after!

Bonaventure and Clyde by Devyn Morgan

Title: Bonaventure and Clyde
Author: Devyn Morgan
Purchase or read in KU at Amazon 
Cover Artist: N/A
Genre: contemporary
Length: 20K estimated, novella
Formats MOBI

Handsome cowboy, meet ravishing ballet dancer.

Hunky cowboy Clyde Walker grew up on a horse ranch working side by side with the rough and tough men that ran the place. When Clyde moved east for grad school, he didn't expect to find romance with the type of guy more comfortable in tights and ballet slippers than in jeans and workboots.

Bonaventure “Bonnie” Rinaldi is jaded to pretty boys. However, as a favor to his best friend during an event at a snotty country club, the stunning Bonaventure becomes Clyde’s guide and dinner companion. Bonaventure discovers that chaperoning the smoldering stranger through the event is a nicer duty than most – Clyde is genuine, magnetic, refreshing.

Sparks fly, passions ignite. Except Clyde is Boston bound, and Bonnie’s the premier danseur with the Manhattan Contemporary Ballet Company. Twenty-four amazing hours together and endless weeks of a long-distance relationship can’t form a basis for life-changing decisions. Or can they? To make this work, they'd have to be Bonnie and Clyde...

Bonaventure and Clyde is a gay romance with happy ending, no cliff hangers, and explicit material.

I approach Devyn stories expecting a light interlude, and here, I got lightness and happiness.
Clyde (poor guy, that name!) is a cowboy with wonderful manners, his sense of social nuance is actually amazing. And so are his buns in black leather.

Bonnie’s the son of a socialite family, who probably thinks he’s slumming to be a professional dancer. They don’t have much problem with his orientation or what he does with whom, and this very sense of blasé makes for some humor.

The men were on very different paths when they met, but they’re willing to make major changes to be together. This comes across more as logistics than conflict. Given the activities of the original Bonnie and Clyde duo, I was expecting something with crime, which doesn’t have anything to do with this story. I’m not sure if this was a wasted opportunity or a lesson to the reader about making assumptions, but the story doesn’t involve desperadoes, only desperation to be together again.

This one’s definitely on the fluffier end of the romance spectrum, but I sure did enjoy imagining them dancing the tango.  3 marbles

Body Heat by Devyn Morgan

Title: Body Heat
Author: Devyn Morgan
Purchase or read through Kindle Unlimited at Amazon,
Cover Artist: unknown
Genre: contemporary
Length: 28k estimated
Formats:  MOBI


With ingenuity and luck, a wilderness mishap turns into a romantic adventure where love has room to bloom! A short novel.

Though he lives as an openly gay man in DC, Nick decides to revert to his closeted alter ego when he returns home to Colorado. Someday he’d come out to his family – in six months, maybe. Or six years. Now he steels himself to survive a back-country camping and hunting trip with his brother and friends. But Nick forgets he isn’t out East anymore when he kisses his hot skiing instructor just as his brother arrives! If the awkward silence on the drive up is bad, the constant stream of gay jokes by his brother’s friends is even worse.

Clay likes his skiing student a lot – enough to exchange phone numbers despite his sulking brother and the pile of hunting gear in the back of their truck. Nick is smart and funny and incredibly cute. Clay texts to invite him to dinner, only to find Nick is still out on the mountain and at the mercy of the elements. When a winter storm threatens, Clay resolves to rescue Nick personally. He thinks Nick is “the one” – but only if their new relationship survives the close quarters of a cozy snow cave.

BODY HEAT is a contemporary gay romance with a happy ending.

Oh my goodness I love to find stories set in Colorado, especially if they feel like the author knows the area. Devyn Morgan does. I felt like this story could have been in the news this last winter, except how many of those stories have happy endings? This one does.

Poor Nick, not only has he accidentally outed himself to his brother and his companions, he’s gone and fallen into a tree well. The snow falls around the evergreens but not under, it makes a pit that’s easy to get into and hard to get out of. If no one knows you’re there, you might be there until next summer when the hikers find your bones. This unfortunately is a feature of our local news.

This story doesn’t make light of a really dangerous situation, but does use it to bring the two potential lovers together. Nick manages to summon help and has enough gear with him to survive for a bit. Clay races to the rescue, but due to conditions, has to stay with Nick in their My Side of the Mountain accommodations. Things are serious, but the author promises us a happy ending and gives it to us, but not without making us suffer a little with the characters.

I’ve read a lot of this author’s stories, most of them a lot shorter than this, some but not all of them as well crafted. Even so, I read them all because they make me happy. Here, I think the author found an extra gear for his writing, with style and content. I really felt the cold of the mountain night and the heat between the men, and the happy fumbling of sex in a sleeping bag. There’s danger, there’s humor, and smile smile smile for a happy ending. 4.5 marbles

Taking Shelter by Devyn Morgan

Title: Taking Shelter
Author: Devyn Morgan
Kindle Unlimited or Purchase at Amazon
Cover Artist: unknown
Genre: contemporary
Length: 62 pages
Formats:  Mobi

Something was missing: he drove home every weeknight to a quiet, empty house.

Jonathon West is a mailman afraid of dogs: he's an office mailroom supervisor, but a childhood attack left him nervous of man's best friend. The office charity committee nominates him to drop off a donation at the animal shelter, an act that takes all his courage. For his pains, openly-gay Jonathon is rewarded by meeting Dylan Pond, the most gorgeous man he's ever laid eyes on. The connection is instant, and Jonathon finds himself drawn back to the animal shelter volunteer's eyes and arms.

Since promising himself he wouldn't date bratty young men, Jonathon's been lonely for too long. As Dylan and Jonathon fall for each other, the shelter gets an urgent call. Chemistry isn't enough without commitment. It's time for Jonathon to decide if he can put aside his fears and loneliness to embrace all he's offered.

Taking Shelter is a standalone gay romance with a HEA ending.

I’ve been entertaining myself with my new Kindle unlimited subscription, nibbling here, sampling there, feeling pretty free to check out whatever I want without bankrupting myself when I found an author that I’ve been gobbling like potato chips. First one, then another, then one that was a little weird, but… try again. I had to keep reading! Devyn Morgan is addictive.


Okay, some of the stories are better than others, but all are definitely on the fun side, short, happy, the sort of thing that makes you feel better about waiting at the dentist’s, where I admit to reading two of them. I haven’t finished the catalog yet, and this author seems pretty prolific, so I bet I have more goodies in store.

These are romance of the not angsty sort, where the obstacles aren’t insurmountable, and happiness is just around the corner. This one seems pretty representative, with a not quite mailman who’s frightened of dogs but attracted to the handsome shelter volunteer who had lots of dogs who need homes. Each of them has to bend a little, and with the other’s help, can get what they each want plus each other.

Sometimes you just need something to make you happy, with a story showing men with kind hearts and good intentions bumble around a little (and smex up a bit too!) and find each other and love. This story is definitely running light on conflict and heavy on the feels, and ends in a great big happy sigh.

Okay, it has some flaws, which I would usually be all over (calling the editor) but since doggies and loves, I’m just gonna say Hmmph, read and be happy. 3.5 marbles