Review: Heat Stroke by Tessa Bailey

Heat Stroke is a m/m story and the the second book in the Beach Kingdom Series (Jamie and Marcus’s story) but it can be read as a standalone. The first book in the series is Mouth to Mouth, which will be on sale for 99 cents during the week of March 11th-March 17th leading up to the release of Heat Stroke. Heat Stroke on Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2NDsjCY Blurb Marcus “Diesel” O’Shaughnessy is a brash, oversized CrossFit enthusiast with a naked lady tattooed on his rippling forearm. Jamie Prince is a private school teacher with an extremely low tolerance for bullshit. The two men have zero in common. Well, except for three things. They’re both moonlighting as lifeguards for the summer. No matter how hard they try, they cannot stay away from each other. And both of them have secrets they’re determined to keep. But what happens in the shadows of the Long Beach boardwalk can only remain hidden for so long, before the July sunshine reveals the hot, unrelenting connection they never expected, forcing Marcus and Jamie to decide if they’re simply caught up in a temporary heat stroke or if they’ve found something worth rescuing... 

Links:

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2Hn6TcV Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2UKZHul Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2T6VLSZ Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2HpTMYe

Review: 

Tessa Bailey is a must read author of mine. I've read all her books, and I love everything about her writing. My favorite parts of her stories are, without question, her heroes. Heat Stroke has a double dose of that!! Two swoon worthy heroes, both with their own quirks and on fire when together.

Mouth to Mouth was a great introduction to the world of Beach Kingdom, and ever since reading that book I've been intrigued by Jamie Prince. Especially when he interacted with Marcus “Diesel” O’Shaughnessy. There was something between the two of them, and I couldn't wait to see how Tessa would bring their relationship to life. I really like the way she writes m/m and although it's something I don't usually read, if Tessa writes it I will.

And she did not disappoint.

I expected hot sex, and a good story that would keep me entertained from start to finish, but what I wasn't expecting was the soft underbelly of the characters that Tessa so beautifully wrote. Each man had their own demons, and she wrote these wonderfully three dimensional characters that made me cry and laugh with their antics. Especially Marcus.

Marcus was a strange conundrum. He was tough, but he was also soft, which is hard for a "tough" man to be. He had his struggles which made him so relatable, and watching him accept himself was a joy. I loved how he loved Jamie. And I loved how Jamie loved him back. I can't wait for Tessa to take us back to this world with her next book in this series.

5 stars.