Review: Barrett & Ivan by A.D. Ellis

13 November of 2016 by ButtonsMom2003

Reviewer's Rating: 5

5.0Overall score

A great addition to the series.

Barrett & Ivan By A.D. Ellis

Genre: Contemporary GLBTQ MM

Released: August 25, 2016

Publisher: A.D. Ellis Publishing

Series: Something About Him, Book 3

Synopsis

Despite the curve balls thrown at him throughout his childhood, Barrett Kenner is now a successful musician. The only thing missing is romance.

Ivan Romanov killed a man to save his sister’s life. Although he has served his time, Ivan’s past left him with baggage far heavier than the meager belongings he carries out of prison.

Barrett clings to the memory of a fervent kiss, a kiss that Ivan tries to pretend meant nothing. When the two men finally accept their feelings for each other, life should be smooth sailing, but the past still lurks in the shadows.

Can Barrett and Ivan protect their love and their lives, or will dangers from long ago be more than they can withstand?

**This is a male/male romance meant for ages 18+ due to adult language and adult situations.**

Review

Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003

A great addition to the series.

Barrett is an orphan living with his homophobic grandfather. He meets Alexis (Lexi) when they attend the same homeschool group and they become best friends. Ivan is Lexi’s sister and he killed a man to protect her. As Ivan is being taken away by the police he kisses Barrett – much to Barrett’s surprise. During the ten years that Ivan is in prison all Barrett can think about is that kiss; what he doesn’t know is why Ivan kissed him and how much it affected him, too.Although this book is #3 in the Something About Him series it is a complete story with no cliffhanger. The books in the Something About Him series are connected by theme, not characters or location.

I fell in love with A.D. Ellis’ M/M romance stories after reading Brody & Nick and I jumped at the chance to do a beta read of Barrett & Ivan. While this story is quite different from Brody & Nick the underlying theme is the same: two men who love each other but may not be quite ready to admit it.

Ivan is so protective of Lexi and he is worried about her when he is sent to prison. Using his connections to the mob, he sets things up so that Barrett can live with her and help watch over her. Barrett and Lexi build a good life as friends while they wait for Ivan’s release.

This book was full of the same depth of emotions that Brody & Nick contained and I loved reading it. Ivan has many challenges he must overcome as a convicted felon. I liked that Ivan didn’t make any excuses for what he’d done; he was protecting his sister and would do it all over again if circumstances warranted.

Barrett is anxious to find out what Ivan meant by that kiss 10 years ago when he was only 16 and Ivan was 20. He has made a successful career out of his music while Ivan was away. Ms. Ellis treatment of Barrett’s insecurities and his new and tentative relationship with Ivan is wonderful.

The Something About Him books are a hit for me and I very much look forward to reading more in this series.

♥♥♥♥♥

O Factor: Scorcher

Something About Him Series

Bryan & Jase, Book 1

♥ All Romance eBooks ♥ Amazon US ♥ Amazon AU ♥ Amazon CA ♥ Amazon DE ♥ Amazon ES ♥ Amazon FR ♥ Amazon IT ♥ Amazon UK ♥ Barnes & Noble ♥ Kobo US ♥ Kobo CA ♥ Kobo UK ♥

Brody & Nick, Book 2

♥ All Romance eBooks ♥ Amazon US ♥ Amazon AU ♥ Amazon CA ♥ Amazon DE ♥ Amazon ES ♥ Amazon FR ♥ Amazon IT ♥ Amazon UK ♥ Barnes & Noble ♥ Kobo US ♥ Kobo CA ♥ Kobo UK ♥

About Author

A.D. Ellis

Ms. Ellis is the award-winning author of A Torey Hope Novel Series (four books) and her spin-off series is Torey Hope: The Later Years.

Ellis’ debut novel For Nicky was voted #3 on the Top 50 Indie Books of 2014 by readers on ReadFree.ly. Loving Josie, which is the fourth book in A Torey Hope Novel Series, was awarded the bronze medal for contemporary romance in the prestigious Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards.

A.D.’s newest series is titled Something About Him. This is a male/male romance series, and will consist of four standalone titles. Bryan & Jase released in late April 2016. Nick & Brody is slated to release in June of 2016 and Barrett & Ivan is currently in progress. Braeton & Drew will round out the series.

A.D. Ellis is an independent author. She is also a wife, a mother of two, and an inner city alternative education teacher.
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