Love in Xxhange, By Bailey Bradford

**This book contains M/M romance**

I have decided to do this review a little different than my others.  In this review, I am going to just give a brief overview of the books in Bailey’s “Love in Xxchange” Series and at the end I will give an overall review for the whole series.  This way you can get a glimpse into the whole series at one time, and hopefully fall in love with the characters like I did!

(The same “rule” applies as before, if you click on the picture by the description of the book that will take you straight to the Amazon page to purchase your own copy!)

          It all starts in a bar called Xxchange, a chance encounter between two men which started the chain reaction between their friends and family.  The relationships of these men, and women, grow with each book in the series.  It shows that strength of friendship, love and companionship can help you get past the issues you have kept buried down deep inside, and grow into a healthy relationship.  It also shows that just family isn’t always blood, sometimes it’s the people who will stand by your side no matter what.

          This series shows not only the love between two people, but the lengths that people will go to help others.  Helping the men come to terms with their sexuality, showing them they are worth love even if their family claims that they are not.  Learning that they do not have to face the tortures of their past by themselves, but that they have shoulders to lean on.   Showing acceptance for the relationships that some of the people have.  And yes, even learning how to love the color Pink (and the artist), and let’s not forget the penguin’s. 

 

Rory's Last Chance

Rory’s Last Chance is the start to the series, where you meet some of the characters that will star in their own books later on.  Chance takes a chance at going to Xxchange, hoping to find a quick fling, but what he finds there is more than that.  He finds something more there, even though the mystery man walks away.

After being disowned by his father, all Rory wants is a fresh start.  Not sure what to expect when he went for a job interview, hoping that Chance didn’t recognize him, and hoping even more that he would get the job.  Despite the fact that he isn’t Chance’s “normal” type, Rory realizes that he does want Chance, and he won’t stop trying until he shows Chance as well. 

Chance shows Rory that even though his father had his beliefs; Rory is an amazing person who shouldn’t be afraid to be happy.  By helping Rory deal with things that happened to him, it also gives Chance the ability to heal from his past as well.

This book currently $5.09 US Dollars on Amazon.

Miles to Go

Max was able to get past his parent’s rigid upbringing and accept that there are different kinds of love, and that love overall isn’t a bad thing.  Being confused because he has never been attracted to anyone in his life, when Bo calls him up for dinner, Max can’t seem to come up with a reason to say no.

Bo was used to being a rodeo queen, always ready for a party and the attention that came from it.  After watching his friend Chance settle down, Bo realizes that there is something missing from his life.  Unsure of his feelings, Bo can’t seem to get Max off of his mind.

After being brutally beaten after visiting a club in a different city and with nowhere to go he ends up at the ranch with Chance, Rory, Annabelle and Max.  During his recovery, Bo realizes something serious about Max, that Max is gay.  But Bo is unsure if Max even realizes that fact.  With both men realizing they have feelings for each other, they work through their both of their fears and doubts and try to see if they can have the relationship they both want.

This book currently $5.09 US Dollars on Amazon.

Bend

Even with relationships springing up around Annabelle, she still hopes that she will be able to live the life she is use too.  By having fun whenever she wants, and not have to answer to anyone about her actions.  While waiting for her best friend Josh to get ready for their night out, Annabelle is in for a shock when she meets Justin and Evan.  Despite the fact they appear to be a gay couple, Annabelle cannot get past her attraction for the men.

Justin and Evan have been together for years, but they have known for a while that they are missing a third, a woman.  After meeting Annabelle for the first time, they decide that she should be their third.  Although they have decided to try for Annabelle, both of them still remember the last time they tried for a third in their life, and it didn’t work out.

          All Annabelle wants is a good time, but Justin and Evan want something more with her.  With the men trying to show her they can be happy together, Annabelle tries to work through her feelings about the men.  When her own brother has an issue with the relationship she is in, Annabelle must decide if she wants to risk everything to be with the men, or let this opportunity pass.

This book currently $5.09 US Dollars on Amazon.

What Matters Most

Meeting a stranger at the Xxchange, Josh starts to believe in lust and maybe love.  After finding out that the only thing Nick wanted was to be able to get close to Rory and Annabelle, Josh informs Nick to never come near him again.  Josh will be sure to find someone who will love him, and his penguins.

After finding out that his father left him the ranch in his will, with the stipulation that he never have any contact with his half siblings, Annabelle and Rory, that peeked Nick’s interest and made him want to find out more.  Knowing that Rory was disowned because he was gay, Nick becomes worried after meeting Josh and realizing that he has feelings for him.

          Not being able to give up on Josh, Nick stalks him, hoping that Josh will give him another chance.  But when it becomes obvious that won’t happen, Nick gives up and heads back to his home.  When Nick is away, Josh starts to realize the feelings that he had for him and wishes he could change things.  Trying to change who he is, no more Pink for him, he heads up to surprise Nick in hopes to have his second chance. But when he gets there, he is the one who is surprised.

This book currently $5.89 US Dollars on Amazon.

Ex's & O's

Afraid to allow anyone to get close to him, Les has led his life in the way he knows best, by himself.  Everything changes after he has a routine traffic stop and Adam, and Adam’s mom, burst into his life and change it.  Unsure of what to do but realizing that Adam needs medical help, Les takes him to the hospital to get him the help he needs.

Adam was scared, but he wouldn’t let anyone see it.  When he ended up beaten because he was trying to stop a rapist, he called his friend Nick to see if he could help him.  He didn’t expect to be pulled over and meet Les, but things aren’t always what you expect.  He certainly didn’t expect his mother to cuss out Les either for pulling him over.  But then again, his mom never could seem to keep her opinions to herself.

          Les and Adam’s relationship seems to be off to a great start, yet there is something that was holding Les back.  Unsure of what to do, Adam just bides his time, and hopes that it isn’t him that is upsetting Les.  Sometimes all it takes is a mother’s touch to help someone get past something that has gone wrong.  But in this case, a mother’s touch is what caused the problems.

This book currently $5.89 US Dollars on Amazon.

A Bit of Me

What happens when two men meet, want each other but they are both tops?  That is what happens between Chase and Xavier, who met by total chance, but since their meeting, they can’t stop thinking about the other.  With each of them dealing with their own sets of issues, and trying to fight their attraction, they realize that they can help each other. 

Chase had been searching for his best friend James when he was attacked.  Staying in a town where everyone seems to make everything their business, Chase is just biding his time until he can leave and continue his search.  After meeting Xavier, feelings start to rise in Chase that confuses him.  Unsure of what to do, he decides to distance himself, in hopes that the feelings will pass.  Unfortunately they don’t. 

          Meeting Chase in the hallway of the hospital changed Xavier’s life.  He sure wasn’t looking for someone, but after the meeting, all that he can think about was Chase.  Realizing that he would have to take things slow, in hopes of not scaring Chase away, he works hard to show him that he doesn’t have to constantly be in charge.  While Xavier is teaching Chase to be open to new relationships, Chase is teaching Xavier how to break into hospitals and steal patients from them.

This book currently $5.89 US Dollars on Amazon.

A Bit of You

Already being deemed a “ditzy bouncing twink”, Billy starts to realize that he wants to be different.  Yet he is afraid to do so.  Afraid that people won’t like him and afraid that he doesn’t have the ability to change himself, but all of that changes after meeting Liam.  Billy was use to taking care of himself, of letting men do what they wanted to him because he didn’t want to be hurt.

Liam can’t believe that after seeing Billy, the feelings that he has for him are already starting to grow, even before they officially meet.  But he knows that he will do anything for Billy, anything to make him happy and bring a smile to his face.  After finding Billy after he was attacked in the alley, Liam will stop at nothing to keep him safe.

          Not able to believe that someone besides Xavier can love him, Billy tries to push Liam away.  Liam won’t let him do that though because he sees the real Billy, and is willing to do whatever it takes to give Billy the strength to move on with his life and lead the type of life he wants to live.

This book currently $5.09 US Dollars on Amazon.

In My Arms Tonight

The horrific accident that has left James scarred and scared has been running his life ever since his best friend Chase and Xavier manage to rescue him from the hospital where he was being held against his will.  Unable to even walk outside of his apartment, James wonders what his life has come to and if it is even worth dealing with the anxiety.

With the scar as a constant reminder of the day Glenn first saw James, he can’t stop himself from constantly thinking about James.  All it took was one look at James, and he knew he was lost, his life before didn’t seem to matter anymore.  Giving up his life and job as a FBI Agent, Glenn makes the choice to follow James, in hopes that he can help him move forward with his life.

          James can’t understand why Glenn is so interested in him, he saw him chained up, beaten and abused.  Yet Glenn has moved into town and has made it clear to everyone that he has feelings for James.  With the help of his friends and therapist, James is able to take that first step and to help him along the way is Glenn.

This book currently $5.89 US Dollars on Amazon.

Where There's A Will

With his life already screwed up at his home, Carlos comes into town to share the news of Nick, Rory and Annabelle’s fathers’ ranch.  Getting lost on the way to the ranch, he stops at the Xxchange in hopes for directions, but instead finds Will and Troy.  What started as a whirlwind ends up becoming more as the three men come to terms with their feelings.
 

All 3 men are fighting their desires because of different things in their lives.  Troy is afraid to completely let go because he doesn’t want to be humiliated.  Will already has plenty of men who don’t like him because of his job as a PI who is keeping an eye on James.  But Carlos is the one with the no nonsense attitude. 

          Dealing with the factors in their own lives, and trying to be there to support each other, the men form a tight bond where nothing can come in the way.  All of that could change after 1 meeting, where the future of them is up in the air, and nobody is sure what will happen next.

This book currently $6.08 US Dollars on Amazon.

And now for my review:

          Overall I completely loved this series, at first I was hesitant because it takes a certain kind of writer to be able to write gay male romances, and still make them great.  In the case of Bailey, she was able to write this whole series in such a way that you couldn’t help but get lost in the stories.  I couldn’t wait to read the next one in the series because I wanted to know what happened to characters next. 
     You can read these books as a series, which is what I would recommend, or you can read them as standalones.  If you read them as standalones, there is a chance you might be confused at first because each book plays into the next.

      With Bailey’s ability to get into the mind of the characters, you can tell how much she cared about each one, and wanted their happiness.  She was able to show that looks can be deceiving (Rory’s Last Chance), that getting older isn’t always such a bad thing (Miles to Go), the heart wants what the heart wants, no matter what anyone else thinks (Bend).  Just because pink and penguins can go together (What Matters Most), sometimes all it takes are cookies to help mend a bad past (Ex’s and O’s), it is alright to break into a hospital and kidnap your friend if they are being held against their will (A Bit of Me).  Just because you are ditzy, doesn’t mean you can’t be loved (A Bit of You), that the people who love you can and will look past the scars (In My Arms Tonight).  And of course, that you should always be happy with who you are with, even if others aren’t (Where There’s A Will).

To purchase your own copies of the books above, just click on the picture of the novel and it will take you directly to the Amazon page to buy!