S E CulpepperCritiques

I really liked all three books in this series, even though there were some cliche moments scattered about and the storyline was a bit predictable at times.

This book started out fine, but by the end it had too much unnecessary drama. You could see how the balance between the romance and the mystery parts of the story started tipping to romance the farther you got (and I'm not sure why cause the balance at the beginning was perfect imho), and I guess it kind of... not exactly pissed me off, but it certainly made me wish it didn't. It turned what had the potential to be a four-star read into a 3 star read, is all. :/

It was really hard for me to start reading this book because I didn't care much for Mark in Private Eye, but turns out he's not bad at all and in the end I enjoyed this book more. I liked the Christopher (and Kevin) interludes too even though Christopher's a douche.

I'll be perfectly honest: it's been a while since I've read the first one in this series and I didn't truly remember the characters that well. I don't know if that was a bad thing or not. But I loved this one. Mark with all his insecurities and bad habits, Zane, sexy, famous, yet underneath it all still a fairly geeky, awkward normal guy. It was really good to read a book that didn't need to rely on sex between any of the characters to still convey romance. The ups and downs, things that work against them, all was nicely addressed.

I now definitely want to reread book one of this series, probably before rereading this one and then finally moving on to book three. If it just takes me away and lets me spend time with all these guys again in the same way, I might even increase the rating...

I really enjoyed this story - Rafe and Jeremy were warm and funny and lovely together. Highly recommened

I really enjoyed this series. I would definitely recommend to anyone who loves a good love story.

To be honest: the detective story is rather shallow but I loved the description of the developing and evolving love story of those two men. There were no real surprises but still, the book turned to be a real page-turner. May I go on with the next one?

4 stars. Really enjoyed this one! My only issue keeping it from a 5 star rating is the 'easy fix' to Jeremy and Rafe's problems. No, the psycho runaway situation wasn't 'easy', but I would of much rather read about Rafe wooing his way back to Jeremy.

Looking forward to reading more from this author. :)

2.5-3 ish. I didn't really find the relationship or mystery particularly strong, some odd syntax at times, but there were parts I liked. I told Lenore the other day that I'm figuring out GFY stories are really not my thing, so that could be also a huge part of why I wasn't a huge fan of this.

This author has become one of my favorite authors.

Her dialogue is both charming and funny, I can not tell you how many times that I laughed out loud while reading this book. What I like about this series is that it is not just the same story over and over, but the characters have different backgrounds and personalities.

What I like specifically about this book is how the drama unfolds. I love the idea of this shy but famous, Zane trying to get to know Mark. I was a little concerned when I began the book, because Mark seemed a bit needy and assholian in the first book.


But in this book, we get to understand a bit more of their background and we come to understand him. I adore Zane and really could understand why Mark fell in love with him.

This is a must buy read.

I started reading male/male romances only recently, having been nervous that I would not be able to identify with the characters because I am a heterosexual female. But I found myself loving this book!


It is well written, and there were points where I was highlighting brilliant, funny quotes. The love story seemed very realistic and the guys were just so lovely together. This book was certainly relationship focused, but there was a decent mystery in it as well.

I just got the book a few days ago and have already read it twice. I am about to read the next book in the series tonight!


Great, great book.

This is book three in a series, while you do not have to read them in order to enjoy this book, I think you will understand Christian better if you read book two.

I will just say that I love this author's voice. Her writing style is very similar to how I think and compose stories, so it is very easy for me to get pulled into her world. I love the humor and the descriptions, there is just enough angst to make me go "yeah" and relate.


I am a bit of a masochist, so when Christian would react to Kevin or have a choice to make, I could completely understand his mindset.

What I think was so good was how realistic the homosexuality in the military seemed. I have no reference, but the angst, fear, hatred, and pride seemed actuate. I always hate m/m books that make gays in the military seem completely acceptable within ranks. I especially loved how the author dealt with Kevin's need to remain in-charge of his "outness" with his men.

I think that there was more emotional substance in this one compared to the other, which might be due to a sophistication of writing style. The first two books, while excellent, had a bit of built in conflict that the storyline could simply be written out. This one to me, dealt a bit deeper into the male psychology and how to make this type of relationship work. There is plenty of angst, don't get me wrong, but this seemed to be more of a character sketch of two emtionally immature imperfect men finally finding their way in their own skin.

That being said, I also want to say that there is not a whole lot of explicit sex like you see in m/m books. There is still hot sexy time, but it seems more like their passion and love igniting because it can not be contained than as a replacement for plot.

Very beautiful story and Christian will just break your heart. You might need a hanky.

Sweet, a bit predictable, not too angsty gay for you story.

Oh, this was good!
I liked both MCs - there was some great development in their relationship and also for Christian's character.
A very, very good read - I am waiting for the next installment (my money's on, well, Money :-))

Fuck yeah 5 stars! Highly Recommended to all M/M romance fans!



Kevin and Christian (AKA Blondie). Another outrageously wonderful couple to add to my list of favorite M/M romantic heroes. I could not have loved either one of them more. Coming together six year after spending one unforgettable night exploring and learning each other, this story is about how they learn to trust and fall in love again. The angst was off the charts and Christian was just as damaged as he could possibly be. Kevin was struggling with family issues and not in the best of places either. The blurb does a nice job summing up the story, so enough of that.

There were times when I was reading this book that I was so moved that I had to re-read a passage two or more times. I felt so passionately about these two characters. I'm usually one to shy away from long novels, and half way through this book and I wishing it was twice as long because I never wanted it to end!

If you like honest emotions between adult men who are struggling with their identity and how the world and family/friends see them, beautiful romance that will make you weep and touching but intense sex between two men deeply in love, this book is for you.

It just fucking ROCKED! [a:S.E. Culpepper|5041314|S.E. Culpepper|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1349827935p2/5041314.jpg] just raised the bar as far as I'm concerned.

I'm doing a quick review of this book after a re-read. I originally read it over a year ago. I didn't remember a whole lot about it, other than I had added it to my favorites list, there was an incredibly intense fight between the MCs that involved a screen door (? The things my brain chooses to remember...), and one of the MCs was a sexy motorcycle cop. Yep, MC Jeremy is a drop-dead-sexy motorcycle cop, and I could hear the CHiPs theme song from my pre-pubescent years in my head as I read. It is quite possible that CHiPs was the beginning of my cops/firefighters/men-in-uniform obsession. (I married one for Christ's sake!) Anyway, I fucking loved this book.

Rafe and Jeremy were absolutely beautiful together, their personal stories riddled with pain and loneliness, their finding each other a wonderful awakening and their loss of each other gut wrenching. I cried about 10 times during [b:Private Eye|12036861|Private Eye (Liaisons #1)|S.E. Culpepper|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328187255s/12036861.jpg|17003434], but the good kind of cry. Love that! There is also a mystery disappearance is the story, but it honestly didn't interest me all that much. Maybe it did the first read, but I don't remember.

The only reason this isn't on my "fuck yeah 5 stars shelf" is because I need to keep that shelf open for the books that throw me off my axis like [a:S.E. Culpepper|5041314|S.E. Culpepper|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1349827935p2/5041314.jpg]'s newest release [b:Lost Won|17185356|Lost Won (Liaisons #3)|S.E. Culpepper|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1356641589s/17185356.jpg|23634318] did to me last week. Holy shit, is that a doozy.

Recommended for fans of GFY M/M romance with heavy doses of angst, light on the smut but loaded with passion.

Fuck yeah 5 stars! Highly Recommended to all M/M romance fans!



Kevin and Christian (AKA Blondie). Another outrageously wonderful couple to add to my list of favorite M/M romantic heroes. I could not have loved either one of them more. Coming together six year after spending one unforgettable night exploring and learning each other, this story is about how they learn to trust and fall in love again. The angst was off the charts and Christian was just as damaged as he could possibly be. Kevin was struggling with family issues and not in the best of places either. The blurb does a nice job summing up the story, so enough of that.

There were times when I was reading this book that I was so moved that I had to re-read a passage two or more times. I felt so passionately about these two characters. I'm usually one to shy away from long novels, and half way through this book and I wishing it was twice as long because I never wanted it to end!

If you like honest emotions between adult men who are struggling with their identity and how the world and family/friends see them, beautiful romance that will make you weep and touching but intense sex between two men deeply in love, this book is for you.

It just fucking ROCKED! [a:S.E. Culpepper|5041314|S.E. Culpepper|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1349827935p2/5041314.jpg] just raised the bar as far as I'm concerned.

I'm doing a quick review of this book after a re-read. I originally read it over a year ago. I didn't remember a whole lot about it, other than I had added it to my favorites list, there was an incredibly intense fight between the MCs that involved a screen door (? The things my brain chooses to remember...), and one of the MCs was a sexy motorcycle cop. Yep, MC Jeremy is a drop-dead-sexy motorcycle cop, and I could hear the CHiPs theme song from my pre-pubescent years in my head as I read. It is quite possible that CHiPs was the beginning of my cops/firefighters/men-in-uniform obsession. (I married one for Christ's sake!) Anyway, I fucking loved this book.

Rafe and Jeremy were absolutely beautiful together, their personal stories riddled with pain and loneliness, their finding each other a wonderful awakening and their loss of each other gut wrenching. I cried about 10 times during [b:Private Eye|12036861|Private Eye (Liaisons #1)|S.E. Culpepper|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328187255s/12036861.jpg|17003434], but the good kind of cry. Love that! There is also a mystery disappearance is the story, but it honestly didn't interest me all that much. Maybe it did the first read, but I don't remember.

The only reason this isn't on my "fuck yeah 5 stars shelf" is because I need to keep that shelf open for the books that throw me off my axis like [a:S.E. Culpepper|5041314|S.E. Culpepper|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1349827935p2/5041314.jpg]'s newest release [b:Lost Won|17185356|Lost Won (Liaisons #3)|S.E. Culpepper|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1356641589s/17185356.jpg|23634318] did to me last week. Holy shit, is that a doozy.

Recommended for fans of GFY M/M romance with heavy doses of angst, light on the smut but loaded with passion.

Wow. This was just amazing. It was perfect. The things I didn’t like were minor except for one, and it wasn’t enough to mar the story at all. I LOVED this book.

Here are some of the reasons why:

Author mentioned that domestic abuse happens with all classes and that saying it is a poor thing is stereotypical.

The detectives are Not To Stupid To Live. When clues came in that pointed to something in particular, they figured it out right away, as I figured it out. This happened several times. There was none of that, “Come on folks, can’t you see it’s blah blah?”

There were several women in the story, almost as many as men.

His ex was a complex character, not always a bad guy, just kind of a jerk, but we know Rafe had a hand in making him that way. He's got good qualities, too. I'd like to see him get his own story.

The emotions that the “straight” guy, Jeremy, go through are really well done. In most books it’s superficial, but in this one, the things he says and the way he deals with them are very realistic. He also doesn’t hang onto them forever, lying to everyone. The first time it is appropriate and someone gives him the opportunity, he talks it out.

The best friend. He was just awesome.

The sister was amazing.

Rafe was not 100% perfect. He was sometimes an asshole and he knew it and he was called on it.

I like the fact that the cover is not the typical two men overlaying some vista, although it doesn’t totally fit the story.

The cop was a regular cop, not some hot shot detective at 27. He's just now no longer a rookie as he describes himself. This is realistic for a change. I get so irritated when stories have a 25 year old detective.

Although Jeremy has considered himself straight, as has everyone else, the narrative makes it clear that he probably has been gay all along. I hate when a really het guy suddenly becomes gay.

The tenderness between the two of them is beautiful.

The plot could definitely stand on its own. It’s not really a thriller, not exactly a mystery, but a mixture of different genres and you don’t know everything until the end.

The climax is just the right length, just the right amount of danger and casualty, just the right amount of intense emotion. It was perfect for me.
When thinking about getting Jeremy to come out, Rafe actually thought about himself coming out, what it was like, how long it took him, etc. Most GFY books have the gay guy intolerant of the straight guy coming to terms with it and it pisses me off. It’s really hard to come out and it isn’t one time or a few in the beginning. Gay people have to come out over and over again throughout their lives. Everyone assumes they’re straight, and so many people have a problem with it that it’s always a scary thing.

The pacing, the word usage, the writing, the characters, everything was done really well. I was riveted and didn’t pay attention to the length of the book like I usually do. I didn’t want it to end and desperately want more of their story. I’m disappointed to find out that the next in the series is about different men.


Things that weren’t great:

There was instalove, but the book felt like the timeline was a lot longer than just a week. I really didn’t notice until the end how short a time it was.

The sex scenes were good but when they got to intercourse, it faded to black! No fair!

This is the big one for me and it’s a really big spoiler: The mother really has known all along that the father has been raping the daughter, she just didn’t want to see. The daughter accuses her of this and she doesn’t deny it. The daughter said she tried to talk to her mom about it but the mom just walked away or changed the subject. This is akin to doing the deed herself. If you witness a murder and do nothing but watch, in court you are considered a co-conspirator and can go to jail for a very long time. Women like this have their children taken away because they are unfit parents. Yet everyone feels sorry for her, including Rafe. Although, I have to say, if she were really a victim, Rafe was amazing and 100% redeemed himself for anything he ever did wrong.

4.5 stars because of the spoiler I just mentioned but rounded up to five because that’s what I want to give the book.

Wow. This was just amazing. It was perfect. The things I didn’t like were minor except for one, and it wasn’t enough to mar the story at all. I LOVED this book.

Here are some of the reasons why:

Author mentioned that domestic abuse happens with all classes and that saying it is a poor thing is stereotypical.

The detectives are Not To Stupid To Live. When clues came in that pointed to something in particular, they figured it out right away, as I figured it out. This happened several times. There was none of that, “Come on folks, can’t you see it’s blah blah?”

There were several women in the story, almost as many as men.

His ex was a complex character, not always a bad guy, just kind of a jerk, but we know Rafe had a hand in making him that way. He's got good qualities, too. I'd like to see him get his own story.

The emotions that the “straight” guy, Jeremy, go through are really well done. In most books it’s superficial, but in this one, the things he says and the way he deals with them are very realistic. He also doesn’t hang onto them forever, lying to everyone. The first time it is appropriate and someone gives him the opportunity, he talks it out.

The best friend. He was just awesome.

The sister was amazing.

Rafe was not 100% perfect. He was sometimes an asshole and he knew it and he was called on it.

I like the fact that the cover is not the typical two men overlaying some vista, although it doesn’t totally fit the story.

The cop was a regular cop, not some hot shot detective at 27. He's just now no longer a rookie as he describes himself. This is realistic for a change. I get so irritated when stories have a 25 year old detective.

Although Jeremy has considered himself straight, as has everyone else, the narrative makes it clear that he probably has been gay all along. I hate when a really het guy suddenly becomes gay.

The tenderness between the two of them is beautiful.

The plot could definitely stand on its own. It’s not really a thriller, not exactly a mystery, but a mixture of different genres and you don’t know everything until the end.

The climax is just the right length, just the right amount of danger and casualty, just the right amount of intense emotion. It was perfect for me.
When thinking about getting Jeremy to come out, Rafe actually thought about himself coming out, what it was like, how long it took him, etc. Most GFY books have the gay guy intolerant of the straight guy coming to terms with it and it pisses me off. It’s really hard to come out and it isn’t one time or a few in the beginning. Gay people have to come out over and over again throughout their lives. Everyone assumes they’re straight, and so many people have a problem with it that it’s always a scary thing.

The pacing, the word usage, the writing, the characters, everything was done really well. I was riveted and didn’t pay attention to the length of the book like I usually do. I didn’t want it to end and desperately want more of their story. I’m disappointed to find out that the next in the series is about different men.


Things that weren’t great:

There was instalove, but the book felt like the timeline was a lot longer than just a week. I really didn’t notice until the end how short a time it was.

The sex scenes were good but when they got to intercourse, it faded to black! No fair!

This is the big one for me and it’s a really big spoiler: The mother really has known all along that the father has been raping the daughter, she just didn’t want to see. The daughter accuses her of this and she doesn’t deny it. The daughter said she tried to talk to her mom about it but the mom just walked away or changed the subject. This is akin to doing the deed herself. If you witness a murder and do nothing but watch, in court you are considered a co-conspirator and can go to jail for a very long time. Women like this have their children taken away because they are unfit parents. Yet everyone feels sorry for her, including Rafe. Although, I have to say, if she were really a victim, Rafe was amazing and 100% redeemed himself for anything he ever did wrong.

4.5 stars because of the spoiler I just mentioned but rounded up to five because that’s what I want to give the book.

Wow. This was just amazing. It was perfect. The things I didn’t like were minor except for one, and it wasn’t enough to mar the story at all. I LOVED this book.

Here are some of the reasons why:

Author mentioned that domestic abuse happens with all classes and that saying it is a poor thing is stereotypical.

The detectives are Not To Stupid To Live. When clues came in that pointed to something in particular, they figured it out right away, as I figured it out. This happened several times. There was none of that, “Come on folks, can’t you see it’s blah blah?”

There were several women in the story, almost as many as men.

His ex was a complex character, not always a bad guy, just kind of a jerk, but we know Rafe had a hand in making him that way. He's got good qualities, too. I'd like to see him get his own story.

The emotions that the “straight” guy, Jeremy, go through are really well done. In most books it’s superficial, but in this one, the things he says and the way he deals with them are very realistic. He also doesn’t hang onto them forever, lying to everyone. The first time it is appropriate and someone gives him the opportunity, he talks it out.

The best friend. He was just awesome.

The sister was amazing.

Rafe was not 100% perfect. He was sometimes an asshole and he knew it and he was called on it.

I like the fact that the cover is not the typical two men overlaying some vista, although it doesn’t totally fit the story.

The cop was a regular cop, not some hot shot detective at 27. He's just now no longer a rookie as he describes himself. This is realistic for a change. I get so irritated when stories have a 25 year old detective.

Although Jeremy has considered himself straight, as has everyone else, the narrative makes it clear that he probably has been gay all along. I hate when a really het guy suddenly becomes gay.

The tenderness between the two of them is beautiful.

The plot could definitely stand on its own. It’s not really a thriller, not exactly a mystery, but a mixture of different genres and you don’t know everything until the end.

The climax is just the right length, just the right amount of danger and casualty, just the right amount of intense emotion. It was perfect for me.
When thinking about getting Jeremy to come out, Rafe actually thought about himself coming out, what it was like, how long it took him, etc. Most GFY books have the gay guy intolerant of the straight guy coming to terms with it and it pisses me off. It’s really hard to come out and it isn’t one time or a few in the beginning. Gay people have to come out over and over again throughout their lives. Everyone assumes they’re straight, and so many people have a problem with it that it’s always a scary thing.

The pacing, the word usage, the writing, the characters, everything was done really well. I was riveted and didn’t pay attention to the length of the book like I usually do. I didn’t want it to end and desperately want more of their story. I’m disappointed to find out that the next in the series is about different men.


Things that weren’t great:

There was instalove, but the book felt like the timeline was a lot longer than just a week. I really didn’t notice until the end how short a time it was.

The sex scenes were good but when they got to intercourse, it faded to black! No fair!

This is the big one for me and it’s a really big spoiler: The mother really has known all along that the father has been raping the daughter, she just didn’t want to see. The daughter accuses her of this and she doesn’t deny it. The daughter said she tried to talk to her mom about it but the mom just walked away or changed the subject. This is akin to doing the deed herself. If you witness a murder and do nothing but watch, in court you are considered a co-conspirator and can go to jail for a very long time. Women like this have their children taken away because they are unfit parents. Yet everyone feels sorry for her, including Rafe. Although, I have to say, if she were really a victim, Rafe was amazing and 100% redeemed himself for anything he ever did wrong.

4.5 stars because of the spoiler I just mentioned but rounded up to five because that’s what I want to give the book.

A new author to me but I have the feeling we will hear about her soon. Lost Won is almost a sweet romance, despite the sexy beginning: Kevin and Christian met one night, Kevin out prowling the pubs for a no strings attached adventure and Christian at his first gay experience; both of them found what they were not searching, and for Christian was so shocking that he ran the morning after almost without words.

The first surprise is that the author doesn’t linger on the sexual aspect of that night, actually we will not be part of that; we know Kevin and Christian shared a bed, and that was very good for both of them, but we don’t read about it. Six years later, Christian is outed at his work place, but I saw that almost as a liberation for Christian; forced out of the closet, now Christian has the freedom to pursue his only true love, Kevin. Six year later Christian is still thinking at Kevin, carrying around a memento of that night like it is the only thing linking him to his sanity.

A chance encounter with Kevin pushes Christian to almost force Kevin to a meeting, and Kevin will have the possibility to see that Christian is not the same man he met before; Christian is now ready to a relationship, and even if Kevin wasn’t thinking that, it’s exactly what Kevin also wants.

Even if Kevin didn’t forget that night with Christian, I have the feeling he wasn’t so hung up to it like Christian; Kevin went along with his life, also forced by a tragic event, and had other not important affairs. While Christian was thinking to Kevin like his only true chance at love, I have the feeling Kevin remembered Christian like a lost chance, but not something he was to pursue. Realizing that he was such an important piece in Christian’s life, makes him reconsider their relationship.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AYOOHTC/?tag=elimyrevandra-20