Tag: Shayla Kersten

Guest Review: Icing on the Cake by Shayla Kersten

Posted May 1, 2010 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 3 Comments

Tracy’s review of Icing on the Cake by Shayla Kersten

Jeff Morgan’s life is all about career. Relationships aren’t on his radar. His friendships are limited to a very few and his sex life consists of wham-bam-thank-you-man sexual encounters. He doesn’t do long term. He doesn’t even do breakfast.

Then the fate of a cake brings Ollie Cranford into his life. Shaved head, tats and piercings, the baker is far from Jeff’s type, but Ollie is as luscious as the treats he whips up in his bakery.

Now if only Jeff can relax long enough to enjoy the icing on the beefcake.


Jeff’s best friend, Clarissa, is getting married and Jeff’s agreed to be the maid of honor. It’s been a pretty big whirlwind to get the wedding planned in 2 weeks but it’s getting done. Unfortunately Clarissa has to go out of town just 3 days before her wedding and Jeff has been put in charge of getting the wedding cake. Clarissa sends him to Cranford Designs and hits the road.

When Jeff gets to Cranford’s he’s more than a bit shocked at the drool worthy baker he’s staring at, uh, talking to. Ollie is a big beefcake, bald, pierced, tattooed and hotter than hell. Jeff sends off some signals and they are definitely reciprocated. What starts off for Jeff as quick hit and run sex ends up being a wonderful half a day with Ollie. But while Ollie is all about de-stressing and looking for something substantial in a relationship. Jeff is all about control and not giving it up..and he’s definitely not looking for anything more than a one night stand – and he’s not planning on spending the night. Jeff and Ollie are opposites but they do say opposites attract.

Ollie is such a great guy who’s doing what he loves and is at the point in his life and career that he doesn’t have to stress about stuff. He’s pretty much a go with the flow kind of guy and when he meets Jeff he’s happy to share some of his relaxation techniques. He’s been hurt in the past but he realizes he’s ready to try another relationship. Jeff has never let someone else have control. His mother was an alcoholic and if he wasn’t in control when he was younger things went all to hell.

This was such a fun novella to read. It’s not really a romance – just more of a “start of something that may be good if we give it a chance” type story. But it had some great sex scenes and some cute moments between the two men. I would have loved to have read more about Ollie and Jeff and maybe the author will give us more in the future – I’d love to see how Jeff is faring with Ollie.

Rating: 4 out of 5

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.

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What I Read Last Week

Posted April 19, 2010 by Tracy in Reviews | 12 Comments

Another week has gone by.  Is it me or is time flying by faster than ever?  I know people say as you get older that time does that but I have to tell ya, I don’t like it!  Not that I want my work week to be longer but having a longer weekend would be nice! lol
So what up my lovelies?  Did everyone have a good week?  My week was pretty normal but my weekend was uber relaxing.  I went with some ladies from the church to a women’s retreat in Oxnard.  I say retreat and people think seminars and meditation and reflection.  I’m sure some people did that but this is more walks on the beach, playing games, laughing, some drinking…just a good time with nice people.  And it was great to get away from reality for a while.  We stayed at a condo that was incredibly close to the beach and it was so nice!  Here are some pictures from the balcony of the condo:

So on to what I read:
My first read for the week was Hell Fire by Ann Aguirre.  This is book 2 in the Corine Solomon series and it was a good one.  In this book Corine and Chance have headed back to the town that Corine grew up in, Kilmer, so they can figure out what truly happened when Corine’s mom died.  But there are strange happenings afoot and Corine and Chance, as well as Jesse and a Kilmer resident, Shannon, all try to figure out the puzzle that is Kilmer.  I read this one for The Book Binge so I’ll let you know when my review posts.

Next up was The Prayer Waltz by KZ Snow.  This is a fabulous m/m book that I just loved.  You can read my review here. 5 out of 5

Next up was Mr. Right-Now by Paige Tyler.  This was a cute novella that involved Kate who is a very controlled, list-making kind of woman.  She’s always looking for Mr. Right but so far no one has lived up to her expectations.  When Kate joins her best friend for her wedding weekend she’s talked into just having a fun time with the best man and not worrying about whether he’s “the one” or not.  The problem after a time is that she thinks Dawson is fabulous and she wants something more but they’ve already said “no strings attached”.  I read this one for The Book Binge as well and let you know when my review posts.  (I liked the book, definitely not a fan of the cover)
My Tracy’s TBR Challenge read for the week was Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas.  This is the story of Aline Marsden who is the younger sister of Marcus who eventually becomes the Earl of Westcliff and is part of the Wallflower series.  Anyway, Aline and the stable boy, McKenna, fall madly in love but they know they can’t be together.  Unfortunately Aline’s evil father finds out about the pair and sends McKenna away.  McKenna comes back to the estate after he’s made his fortune wanting to seek revenge on Aline for breaking his heart.  But things aren’t always what they seem and McKenna realizes that Aline isn’t the horrible person he thinks she is.  There’s also a lovely side story of Aline’s sister, Olivia, in the book which I loved as well.  Great book. 4.5 out of 5
Another novella I read for The Book Binge was a cute m/m story called Icing on the Cake by Shayla Kersten.  An uptight, workaholic and a relaxed baker discover each other while the workaholic is buying his best friend’s wedding cake – he is the maid of honor, after all. I’ll let you know when the review posts. (Adore the cover!)

Last for the week was The Cat in the Cradle by Jay Bell.  This was a book that I was asked to read by the author.  Mr. Bell’s first published book is a fantasy YA novel that I’ll be reviewing this week so keep your eyes peeled. 🙂

My Book Binge reviews that were posted this past week:
Happy Reading!

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