Location: United States
Member Since:
Feb. 26, 2012
Marge C.
Marge C.'s favorite authors on Smashwords
Smashwords book reviews by Marge C.
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Latakia
on May 04, 2012
I really enjoyed this book. The story is as much about friendship, brotherhood, and team as it is a m/m romance--and that is just fine by me! After a couple of opening chapters which show Matt at home in Richmond with his self-centered boyfriend, the story moves to Syria where Matt is working with Doctors without Borders. Matt is kidnapped, interrogated, and feels he will be killed at any minute. Matt's rescue by Navy SEALs sets off a great adventure tale for about half the book. The setup of Matt working with the SEAL team is somewhat unrealistic, but the author pulled me into the action and I happily went along for the ride. The strength of this novel was how all the characters interacted with and learned from each other. I enjoyed getting to know them all and seeing what shennanigans Petey could get up to next in his (in the end) friendly verbal battles with Matt. The last part of the story shows Matt arriving back in Richmond and how he had changed, mostly for the better. I thought his feelings here were realistic--not overly traumatic and over the top, but serious and considered. The love story was great, with the main characters getting to know each other as friends first. But best of all, the last part of the book wasn't just about the two of them, but we get to see the relationships between all the SEAL team members at home, too. I felt as if I was getting an inside look at these honorable men who work hard to protect each other in all types of dangerous situations. Perhaps the ending was a bit overdramatic, but it was like the end of a great movie, where the music crescendos and you get a lump in your throat and tears in your eyes. And I loved it.
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Shattered Glass
on Jan. 18, 2013
A totally crazy book, with humor, snark, over-the-top plot, action, hawt sex, and bunny slippers. Right from the beginning, I felt like I was on a runaway train that had jumped the track. I did have to take a break from all the craziness and left this book to read saner ones once or twice. But in the end I kept coming back because I liked Austin in all his wise-cracking honesty, and I wanted to see if he and Peter could make a go of it. Well worth the read.
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The Ghost Wore Yellow Socks
on April 14, 2013
I really enjoyed the relationship between Perry and Nick. A great old "haunted" house, good mystery, and a lot of potential suspects. Another great Josh Lanyon book.
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Last Chance
on April 14, 2013
An excellent ending to the story which started with First Impressions and continued with Fuzzy. A bit more serious than the first two books, but this highlights the love between Jez and Steve even more.
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Heart Trouble
on April 14, 2013
A nice litle story, expanded upon with a lovely, free Christmas coda here: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/3382141-christmas-coda-4
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FlashWired
on April 30, 2013
A well-written novella about space explorers set in the far future. Good worldbuilding and an interesting exploration of an alien city. More of a science fiction story than a romance, though feelings are discussed and some hot sex is involved. I look forward to reading a longer story by this author.
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The Ugliest Sweater
on March 22, 2017
A fun and hot story for the holiday.
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The Parting Glass
on March 22, 2017
An excellent sequel to In a Dark Wood. My emotions were all over the place as the two men tried to get back a bit of the magic they'd had, and to overcome the hurt and distance between them. But in the end, totally satisfying.
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Powered by Ghosts
on Dec. 18, 2020
Great characters, including secondary characters and familiars. Great relationships all around.
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Tracefinder: Choices
on Dec. 18, 2020
This is the best of the series, mostly because we see the guys getting settled, becoming more comfortable with each other, and communicating as they should. This book makes a very satisfying end to the trilogy, but there were just a few small dangling threads to make a sequel or spinoff if the author wishes. I would be right there to read it if she does!
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One Man's Junk
on Dec. 18, 2020
I really liked this story of two men reconnecting after their families' disagreements separated them when they were young. Mackenzie's young daughter was sweet and was an integral part of the story, but there was plenty of time showing the two guys working their way back to each other. I also liked how Mr. Junk the elder was shown with his gruff exterior and marshmallow heart.
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Fire and Ink
on Dec. 18, 2020
I liked the previous book Port in a Storm, but this book was even better and showed us David and Colin three months into their relationship. We see them getting closer, but cautious to open themselves up too much. As the author shows them working together to save others in a fire, we see their caring nature and their love.
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Port in a Storm
on Dec. 18, 2020
A sweet little story. I highly recommend its sequel, Fire and Ink!
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Ginger Bread
on Dec. 18, 2020
The POV of this story is from Ginger, A Very Important Cat, who shows us scenes from both of the Main Characters. I like cats, but I am not a huge cat person, yet I found this book and Ginger's POV amusing and very well done. Ginger's POV let us see the actions of the two guys, while still leaving a bit of a mystery as to just what Del's motives really were. Overall I enjoyed the book, with just a bit of melancholy for how people can get angry and cut themselves off from those who love them, then let pride and hurt keep them away. There is redemption and Christmas healing here with a satisfying ending for Bailey and Del--and for Ginger, too, of course.
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Ghosts of Honor
on Dec. 18, 2020
Sequel to Nine Minutes in Heaven. A satisfying and happy ending to the series, but it would be great to see the guys again sometime. Since the series really should be read in order and is not linked in some places, here is the order: Ghost Writer Snowed In: Goose and Patrick Nine Minutes in Heaven Ghosts of Honor
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Nine Minutes in Heaven
on Dec. 18, 2020
Sequel to Snowed In: Goose and Patrick. This one isn't nearly as fun as the last one, with both Goose and Patrick in life-threatening situations. But we get to see Jefferson and Calvin (now Daniel) again, and there are some lovely scenes with them. That being said, I found it a bit difficult to keep track of the flashbacks and time-and-place jumps in this one. Extra spacing between paragraphs would have helped this tremendously. Not sure if that was editing, or formatting for my EPUB copy. Also, there was a lot of stream-of-consciousness writing that was fairly distracting. I do understand the authors were showing the narrator was confused about what was happening, but it was a bit too much for me. In the end though, the last third of the book was nicely done, with great family interactions, loving relationships, and Goose and Patrick's relationship progressing satisfactorily. Also, a little bit of setup for the next book Ghosts of Honor.
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Ben's Bakery and the Hanukkah Miracle
on Dec. 18, 2020
The banter between the MC's, with two great secondary characters, and with the kids in the hockey team made this story a lot of fun. And I was jealous of all the kids on the hockey team--I wanted some of those delicious baked goods, too! Adam's disparagement of Ben's Jewishness made him an idiot more times than I liked, especially considering that Adam's father seemed to be an accepting rabbi. Everything seems to have worked out okay by the end, though I would have liked to enjoy that happiness a bit longer.
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Unjustified Claims
on July 27, 2021
I really love this series and the characters created by the author. The slowly developing romance worked especially well in this one, and the danger of bringing another human into the pack was an excellent plot line which was resolved well. I was surprised to see a major series arc begin a resolution here as well. Looking forward to reading the next one!
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Twelve Letters
on Sep. 15, 2022
I liked the main characters and enjoyed this lovely little story. A new-to-me author. I'll have to try more of her stories.
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Strike a Pose
on Sep. 15, 2022
Rather fun. Longer than her recent stories, with good characters and an unusual premise.
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12 Blind Dates
on Sep. 15, 2022
I really enjoyed this story of 12 blind dates for Luke, instigated by his three female friends. There was a wonderful variety to all the different dates, and I really liked that Luke met some nice guys right up front that he became friends with. In fact there were many more good dates than bad, showing that Luke's friends do have some taste. A couple dates were bad, a couple dates were funny, and there was no insta-love or insta-lust, which made a great change of pace from so many m/m stories out there. Does Luke meet his match? Well, this IS romance after all. *wink*
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Three Thousand Miles: A Space Coast Mystery
on July 24, 2023
A good mystery, a good relationship, nothing over the top. This book reminded me why I'm getting tired of reading contemporary m/m, and that I like a mystery plot to go with a relationship story. Glad I have book #3 on my e-reader already.
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Hoarded to Death: A Jamie Brodie Mystery
on July 24, 2023
I thought this was really a very good mystery, no heavy sex scenes (yay), with guys who find it difficult to talk about painful stuff but do it anyway. I'm planning to read the entire series.