These stories aren't as well-developed as I expect for romance. Also, the joking use of the word “rape” is not cool. DNF.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

A book of an established relationship and the questioning of one partner if the relationship will still be a good one, but still have love for the other. Really nice pieces.

A mediocre read for me I’m afraid.
Others may disagree but found this a stretch to read. I’ll wait and see what this author brings out next.

Thank you to the author, NineStar Press and Netgalley for the e-copy.

The e-copy i received have all the 5 books/parts in it so i thought it was just 1 book. When i check on here, it says that this is a series with 5 books/parts.

I rated this a 2.25⭐
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For this specific part(Shelton in Love), i would say that this book progress quite fast and i think it i would like it if this part just a little longer because some stuff or informations just happens suddenly. This story is quite short so i actually finish it quite fast and did enjoy it.

(I'll write short reviews for the other book/part on their own page)

Overall, i did enjoy reading Shelton and Nivel's story and seeing them grow. First part until the third was quite fast paced and for the fourth and last part have gotten a little bit slow. I think the love making scene could've been reduce a bit and i find it quite bizare that our MCs are 24/7 horny, like even from a glimpse from eachother their horniness suddenly rose. So yeah that part made me wanna stop reading at some point but their story itself, their conflicts and their growth was an enjoyable read. I actually would love to know them better as an individuals.

Shelton in Love is the story of Shelton that has fallen for his best friend, Nevil. Shelton's desire for Nevil grows but as Nevil spends time with other individuals. Shelton wonders if he can ever change Nevel's mind. Their relationship is filled with many ups and downs. Their story is told in 5 individual stories over a period of several years. I recommend this story.

Aghhhhh

Well, this one is a fluzy ; there's no two way about it. From the very first page, I knew it was going to be a struggle to finish.

Why? dialogue was forced, weird and fake. Don't know who talks and act like the characters do.
Heroes aren't likeable or even remotely real people. Also, even though I like to read stories with lots of sex in it; I also like those stories to have a plot , Alas, Shelton in Love have an overwhelming abundance of sex and a barely there plot.

I would have DNF but I really wanted to give this - new to me -author it a chance. We can't like them all. C'est la vie!

Rating falls between a 1 and 1:30 stars.

I just reviewed Shelton in Love by Dianne Hartsock. #SheltoninLove #NetGalley

This book wasn’t for me.

First and foremost, I felt like the connection between Shelton and Nevil was extremely shallow. The only time they seem to enjoy each other’s company is when they’re having sex.

Do they have any other shared interests? How do they spend their time between each horizontal tango? Do they even exist outside of their bedroom?

What’s more, their relationship verges on abusive.

Early in the text, Nevil frequently manipulates Shelton to act the way that he wants him to either by withholding sex or being overly aggressive when they’re intimate.

It’s highly problematic.

And the picture of gay men that Dianne Hartsock insists by constantly referring to the widespread shame and rejection Shelton experiences simply because of some genital scarring after a botched circumcision?

I for one found it to be offensive. We aren’t all that shallow.

I would definitely not recommend this book.

2 stars

Reading this gave me a bit of a headache because the dialogue made no sense 80% of the times.
Some lines were so odd I wondered if this was a bad translation of the book.
I somehow understood the plot and still I couldn't care about the characters because everything was so superficial I couldn't understand the connection between the main characters.
In the end was left frustrated with the story and that's never s good thing.
Sadly this wasn't for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review

I just couldn't get into this one, unfortunately. The whole thing is shown through a series of shorter snippets. I think that they may have worked better like that, just reading one occasionally, rather than collected together as a book. The other problem with such short stories is that you only have a small amount of space to cover everything it can be a struggle to really connect with the characters. I struggled to really feel one way or another about either Shelton or Nevil. There's also a lot of sex and to be honest, I just found it a bit boring. Sorry, this one just wasn't for me.

This book was lame and dumb. The stakes were zero, there was no actual conflict, and, dare I say it, too much sex! I'd much rather have a story that supports the sex. ZERO STARS, even though they made me give it one star.

there's actually 5 short stories in here, with the same main characters.

honestly, this felt so incomplete. even after reading this, i feel like i don't know anything about Shelton and Nevil. no built up, no backstory, no background story, no chemistry. just two men lusting over each other and other men lusting over them.

and there's too much sex, i couldn't be bothered with.

here's their individual rating:
Shelton in love 2/5
Shelton's promise 2/5
Shelton's choice 3/5
Shelton's homecoming 3/5
merry christmas, Shelton 3/5
overall rating 2.6/5 (rounding up to 3/5)

I feel like this is a book of fragments. Fragments of a life. Fragments of a relationship. Fragments of these characters. Nothing feels complete. Nothing feels developed. I need to feel like I know and understand the characters in the books I read and I don't think these characters are developed enough for me to feel anything. There are a few scenes and interactions that I enjoyed but in the end it just feels like pieces of a story.

There's an inevitability to Hartstock's romantic drama. Shelton clearly cares for Nevil, but the reader is brought into the process of realizing there maybe something more. The story is broken up into five sections, each playing out like their own novella as we follow this progression from roommates to lovers. Each story is solid and has a clear place in the collection thematically. I wish there had been some more character development from section to section. If it weren't for the names staying the same, this could have been five separate stories with different names attached.

I realized that this book is made up of several novellas so I tried to treat it as such. I enjoy the characters and the fact that this book is wholly made up of smaller stories so it is very quick paced as a result. Overall it moves very quickly through the main character's lives and decisions are made at a speedy time. It doesn't feel like a general book rather than smaller stories which it literally is.

Thank you to NetGalley and NineStar Press for the earc in return for an honest review.

I originally thought this book was about college friends that become more than friends over the years. I was sort of correct in that they were friends and roommates but they were in their mid twenties. The book had 5 vignettes about their relationship but I didn’t like that. The flow of the story was disrupted by that which was confusing for me. The sex was hot and steamy, but the relationship between them was flat and boring. Overall, this was meh for me.
I received this ARC from the publisher and Netgalley for my honest review and opinion.

2 "wishing all the best for Shelton" stars !!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and NineStar Press for an e-copy of this collection of erotic gay romance shorts. These were originally published individually in 2011 and are now being re-released as a collection in June 2021. I am providing my honest review of the first story only.

This collection includes Shelton in Love - Shelton's Promise - Shelton's Choice - Shelton's Homecoming and Merry Christmas Shelton.

Shelton in Love

Shelton has a hidden physical shame that keeps him back from physical intimacy and romance although he is in love with room-mate and good friend Nevil (who is promiscuous bloke and spreads his seed widely). This little erotic short is about how they consummate their lust and start a relationship.

The writing is pleasant but middling. The characters are superficial sketches with some poor to ok dialogue and fairly uninspiring erotic content.

I am going to send Shelton on his way, wish him the best and leave him to readers that will better appreciate him. I will not read the remaining erotic shorts.

The book cover is adorable though !

DNF at 50%

It's REALLY bad that I made it through 50% of this book and still could not identify a single personality trait of either of our two main characters. I genuinely couldn't tell you a single thing about them except they're... hot? And every man they cross paths with is also gay and hot? I can't even tell you why they like each other. Theres literally nothing compelling about their romance because we don't know a single thing about them, or why they click. So instead we're just reading about two stagnant people get into a relationship, have drama with the people around them, and have sex a lot. Theres absolutely nothing here.