Review: The Queen of Darkness: An Epic Dragon Fantasy Saga (The Crystalline Dragons Saga Book 4) by Eoghan R. Cunningham

Rating: 4🌈

The Queen of Darkness is the penultimate story in Eoghan R. Cunningham’s epic YA epic fantasy adventure series about a young escaped slave, his two friends/companions on their journey through various kingdoms. It’s got evil villains, dragons, monsters, mythical beasts and legends for the heroes to follow.

The Queen of Darkness picks up right after the cliffhanger of Rise of the False King. It helps immensely that both books were already released so the reader could continue onto the next to pickup on the action.

Dusk is sometimes a very frustrating character here. Hes coming across as very inconsistent as far as the growth the author has given him from book to book, major trauma to trauma. Here he’s showing restraint and maturity in dealing with multiple situations and issues. Lex’s revelations and the impact it’s had on him, the separations, the immediate danger to himself and his friends, and any thoughts of power for himself. This is a person capable of intuitive thinking and trusting his instincts.

However, this more thoughtful “Dusk” is abandoned in favor of the first more untried “Dusk” that we encountered in the beginning of this journey. That Dusk has listened to the lessons he’s been taught, the wisdom that he has learned, doesn’t communicate to his friends , doesn’t think rationally, put together clues, and isn’t sure of what he wants. Even after telling someone he’s thought about the quest and knows he’s going through with it and his role.

This inconsistency is frustrating especially as there are so many wonderful people and moments here. The author has a terrific story and ability to build excitement for this adventure and a real emotional connection to these characters.

There’s one more book to go. That novel has a lot to accomplish because there’s still so much to learn about the characters as well as multiple storylines to explore and pull together.

One thing I keep forgetting to mention is the great maps of the world the author has created and includes for the reader to follow along with the characters as they travel. Fabulous.

While this series has some issues, it’s an entertaining, lively, and imaginative saga. It’s a YA fantasy adventure I’m happy to recommend. One more book to go.

The Crystalline Dragons Saga-5 books:

✓ Curse of the Dragon’s Eye #1

✓ Mist, Shadow, and Deep #2

✓ Rise of the False King #3

✓ The Queen of Darkness #4

◦ Fall of the Crystal Moon #5-June 6,2024

Buy Link:

The Queen of Darkness: An Epic Dragon Fantasy Saga (The Crystalline Dragons Saga Book 4)

Blurb

The moment Dusk steps foot in the free lands of Inahan, he is arrested and imprisoned. However, it seems the Queen has heard of his power and she wants a private audience with him.

When they dive into the dark depths below the castle to retrieve an artifact, Dusk wonders if he’ll ever see the light of day again.

I could hardly believe we’d finally made it to Inahan. After pirates, monsters, and a surprise visit from Tiernan, the capital city was a wonderful sight to behold.

But even in this safe harbor there are secrets that can tear the three of us apart.

Queen Lobelia has us arrested and before I know it, I’m summoned to her throne to complete a task for her. One I can’t refuse if I ever want to see my friends alive again.

There’s something hidden below the castle… something the Queen doesn’t want the world to see.

Much like Mist, Shadow, and Deep, this contains a diverse cast of characters and queer themes. It was previously published under another title by Blake R. Wolfe. Although the title and cover are different, the content remains the same.

Review: SOS HOTEL: Sleep With Us #3 by Adam Vex , Ariana Nash

Rating: 5🌈

So, so satisfying. No really. Loved it. Parts also really hurt. But Sleep With Us explored so many new areas of this world and these fabulous characters!

Adam in his desperate need to get demon Zee away from the club and out of his contract with Sebastian, is forced to accept help. Whether it’s sketchy advice from his AI bartender or something more personal and likely physical from the resident vampire, Lord Reynard, some new information is acquired about all of them.

There’s some gross action packed sequences, a few sexy scenes, and ones that make us feel so much more connected and involved with all three characters and whatever craziness is right around the corner.

I’m so in love with this series and characters. They’re so vividly drawn and widely thought out that they are just bigger than the page. Read even the credits, Zee can’t help himself.

How am I going to make it through until June 28th?

Highly recommending SOS Hotel but read them in the order they are written.

SOS Hotel:

✓ For a Supernaturally Safe Stay #1

✓ Friendly Sanctuary for the Fiendishly Fabulous #2

✓ Sleep with Us #3

◦ Great Service from Top to Bottom #4 – June 28,2024

Buy link

SOS HOTEL: Sleep With Us

Blurb

Three weeks in, and the SOS Hotel is still standing. I know, crazy right? Despite the gremlins, lethal electrics, vampire threats, a shadowbeast in the attic, and a psycho sorcerer, our doors remain open to all Lost Ones. Also, nobody has died . . . in a few days.

All I have to do is, hold it all together, keep every guest safe, not mention the body in the flowerbeds—and maybe we’ll last another week?

But Sebastien has demanded Zee return to the club, or he’ll hurt more demons. Sebastien has become a big problem. And problems, like gremlins, have a habit of multiplying at the SOS Hotel.

I promised Zee I’d stay out of his other life. But I can’t—won’t—watch Sebastien mistreat him.

I might be a boring, average, harmless human, but even I have my limits.

Plus, I’ve got a vampire on my side. Lord Reynard has a knack for getting answers out of people, and together, we’re going to find a way to break Sebastien’s hold over Zee, even if part of our plan involves an evening of la mort d’amour at Razorsedge. Reynard says we’re not going to do anything risky. But I kind of, maybe, just a little bit . . . want to?

Trust me. I’m Adam Vex. Totally normal human. It’s all going to turn out just fine.

I’m absolutely certain I have everything under control.

Probably.

Welcome to the SOS Hotel.

***

SOS Hotel is a whacky adventure about a vampire lord, an ex-porn-star demon, and a boring human who absolutely does not have any secrets. You’ll find dark humor, explicit language and sex throughout the books.

If you don’t like the f-word, sex, some minor murders, or a few questionable pies thrown in, do not read these books.

There will be triggering content for some, including sexual coercion and pets in peril.

Proceed with caution.

Have a GREAT stay!

• Publisher: Crazy Ace Publishing (May 10, 2024)

• Publication date: May 10, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 176 pages

Review: Rise of the False King: An Epic Dragon Fantasy Saga (The Crystalline Dragons Saga Book 3) by Eoghan R. Cunningham

Rating: 4🌈

The Rise of the False King is the third book in Eoghan R. Cunningham’s YA epic fantasy adventure and it’s one I highly enjoyed. I was happy to have the fourth novel released so I could go quickly onto the next section, as this flows smoothly through one novel into the next.

It’s also definitely geared towards a younger reader. While there’s a romance brewing and romantic elements among other characters, there is still no rawly sexual scenes but kissing and anything else is “off page” or left to the imagination. And that main romance is most definitely a slow burn type of relationship, frankly due to the naïveté of the one character and the hidden secrets of the other.

The characters are very relatable and well defined, if not a certain type of epic character. Dusk, the escaped slave, has undergone the biggest challenges and changes in his life. Magic has come to him in the form of a crystal and a White Dragon. Now he’s hunted by several villainous factions, one lead by an evil man so deadly it might threaten the entire world. Also with him is Tara, a warrior formerly of the King’s Guards, and Lex, a young man of hidden background but clearly wealthy and not used to being on his own.

The author has a real knack for writing exciting action sequences, which is great because Dusk and his friends, but mostly Dusk, fall into trouble frequently.

The many storylines weave together a growing mythology of dragons, humanity, and magic undone that’s tragic for many and is still being played out. I’m throughly invested in this rich tale and the how the author is going to bring the stories that have been “told” in the narrative alive through the adventures of his characters.

One aspect that pops out, at least for me, is that certain actions or events are “telegraphed” in the story much like you’d see it in a movie like Scary Story. Where you yell at the screen, the villain is in the closet because, obviously that’s what’s going to happen. Here, if the dragon says don’t go in the bog. Or wherever. You just know the gang is heading to the bog.

Did narrative stuff like this ruin my enjoyment? No. I just wish I had “narrative” popcorn to throw and I merrily read right along.

Each book ends on a cliffhanger so having all but the last book released is great. One more to go.

This series was previously published under the title “The Crystalline Dragon saga” by Blake R. Wolfe. Although the title and cover are different, the content remains the same.

The Crystalline Dragons Saga-5 books:

✓ Curse of the Dragon’s Eye #1

✓ Mist, Shadow, and Deep #2

✓ Rise of the False King #3

✓ The Queen of Darkness #4

◦ Fall of the Crystal Moon #5-June 6,2024

Buy Link:

Rise of the False King: An Epic Dragon Fantasy Saga (The Crystalline Dragons Saga Book 3)

Blurb

Trapped and alone, Dusk must watch as his greatest enemy ascends the throne, using the stolen magic of the dragons to claim it. Suddenly, the world is thrust into an all-out war.

Will Dusk be able to stop the new king before he lays waste to the world?

I never thought my friends would betray me. After weeks of traveling together and bonds formed in the heat of battle, I thought I knew them. But the moment I arrive at Emerald Deep, everything begins to unravel.

And danger is coming.

Then, just when we’re close to our goal, my friends hesitate. Tired of them stopping me from reaching my goal, I send them away. However, no sooner had I sent them away than I found myself captured and imprisoned.

The False King stands before me and I can see the world burning to ash in his eyes. If he takes over Alamond, the world will fall.

• Publication date: April 11, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 247 pages

young adult fantasy/ epic fantasy adventure

Review: Encountered to Death: A Jamie Brodie Mystery (Jamie Brodie Mysteries Book 5) by Meg Perry

Rating: 4🌈

Encountered to Death is a good, in a way emotionally lighter story than the one that preceded it. Jamie and Pete are going to celebrate Pete’s older brother’s 40th birthday in Alamogordo, New Mexico and is taking Jamie’s highly intelligent, science minded nephew with them.

Steve, the brother, is a plasma physicist, and they intend to tour all the sites around the area, from caves to Roswell. Shades of Mulder and Scully! What could go wrong? Plenty it seems.

There’s aliens abduction tv show hosts, a dead body, so many investigations, as well as great characters in both Steve and the 11-year old nephew, Colin. Colin especially was well crafted. He’s realistically young in heart(emotionally the investigation caused an such a impact on him as it should) , but his imagination and personality also felt in line with someone who has high intelligence to understand a variety of science topics.

The discussions and issues between Jamie and Pete weren’t really dropped but moved slightly to the background to be a part of a larger conversation when they returned home. One car or two meaning a more solid frame for going forward together.

I was throughly entertained by this story and expanded family. Perry continues to keep the reader engaged in this realistic romantic relationship and their literary world where a murder or body can bring about a wealth of knowledge and enjoyment. Love Clinton’s word of the day!

Onto the next!

The Jamie Brodie Mysteries – 23 books

✓ Cited to Death

✓ Hoarded to Death

✓ Burdened to Death

✓ Researched to Death

✓ Encountered to Death

◦ Psyched to Death

◦ Stacked to Death

◦ Stoned to Death

◦ Talked to Death

◦ Avenged to Death

◦ Played to Death

◦ Filmed to Death

◦ Trapped to Death

◦ Promoted to Death

◦ Published to Death

◦ Cloistered to Death

◦ Haunted to Death

◦ Obsessed to Death

◦ Deserted to Death

◦ Drugged to Death

◦ Resigned to Death

◦ Snowed to Death

◦ Enchanted to Death

Dirty Laundry: The Jamie Brodie Short Stories (Jamie Brodie Mysteries)

Sequel series:

An Angeles Investigations Mystery

◦ Cheated to Death: Book 1

◦ Hunted to Death Book 2

Buy links:

Encountered to Death (Jamie Brodie Mysteries Book 5)

Blurb:

It seems Jamie Brodie can’t go anywhere any more without a body turning up. Jamie and his boyfriend Pete Ferguson are taking a week of vacation to visit Pete’s brother Steve in Alamogordo, New Mexico. They arrive to find that Alamogordo has been invaded – by fans of a TV show called Alien Visitors. The host of the show, Dixon Gill, was found dead in the lobby of Steve’s building. Gill’s fans believe he was killed by the FBI because he was about to reveal the truth about the government’s cover-up of alien visitations. Jamie and Pete know that’s not true. But who did kill Gill? The director of his show? A competitor on the same network? An angry commenter on Gill’s blog? A shadowy anti-government group? Or one of his ex-wives? The deeper Jamie probes into Gill’s past, the more potential suspects he finds.

The truth is out there – but can Jamie uncover it?

• Publication date: March 6, 2014

• Language: English

• Print length: 96 pages

Review: The Potion Gardener (Flos Magicae) by Arden Powell

Rating: 4🌈

Whenever Arden Powell decides to dive back into the Flos Magicae universe they created, the results are always going to be narratively interesting, full of unexpected surprises, magical elements, and incredible moments of emotional growth. Whether the person’s thoughts are turned inward towards self examination, or outside towards their new surroundings and the possibilities that may arise from their new situation, we see clearly what they are thinking and feeling. And then it’s reality intruding, in a magical world, and hard choices to make.

The story and its elements has a natural flow to it, however fantastical the nature of the world and wild some of the aspects to the details.

In this case, Arden Powell’s magical world follows the story of the idle, wealthy young person, Flora Mulberry. Flora, who’d announced to the family at a very young age that they were a boy (it had been ignored), was fleeing London and a two romantic involvements.

This is the story of how Flora found he was or always had been Florian Mulberry on his magical journey to fulfillment and a new future. That Florian finds it stranded on a farm owned by an Irish potion witch in Hertfordshire is a fantastic element. Kells and her grumpy little dog, Grim,are my favorite characters of the story. Kells is beautifully straight forward, a great character who can be so easily visualized, with Grim by her side, working in her lab and potions or in her sheds in the gardens. She’s real and grounded in her natural world.

It’s Florian I often find myself having issues with. One of the reasons, many reasons, Florian is fleeing their old life is because Florian has become romantically involved their two best friends. One a woman and the other a man. The three of them are longtime friends and Florian has been, sort of, having romantic relations with both to the point that their families are expecting engagements. So Florian was supposed to choose and it would have hurt the other, not that that person would know. So, knowing that they’ve disappeared before for a time and no one, meaning family, has had cause to raise alarm, Florian flees.

Powell does a sensitive, and layered job of letting the reader understand the jumbled inner thoughts and emotions that the person who becomes Florian has before they embark upon their journey that sees them end up in a shed.

We absolutely get their state of mind, and the impetuous decisions that see them asking Kell to let them stay and learn about farming and hard manual labor. Something they’ve never done before. This physical and mental (and emotional) adjustment to their state of mind as well as the magical one to their body, is a terrific aspect of the book. Love it and the slowly growing relationship between Florian and Kells.

But what of those other friends? While all this is going on, those were abandoned to their fears and absolutely not knowing what happened to the person who, at the very least, was supposed to be their best friend . This is addressed in a few inadequate sentences towards the end and then they are dismissed.

It makes me think less of the character and the plot overall. Why have them there if this is how they are going to be treated? The friends and that history isn’t explained or fully understood. It’s a few sentences at the beginning. And the same at the end. And only serves to make Florian look a tad selfish.

So The Potion Gardener (Flos Magicae) by Arden Powell isn’t my favorite of the intriguing Flos Magicae series but it’s always an interesting and thoughtful read.

Include this on your TBR list.

Flos Magicae series and related universe books:

◦ The Bachelor’s Valet

◦ A Novel Arrangement

◦ A Thief and a Gentleman

◦ Of Socialites and Prizefights

✓ The Potion Gardener

✓ The Botanist’s Apprentice

✓ Winter’s Dawn

✓ The Solstice Cabin

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Potion…The Potion Gardener (Flos Magicae) – Kindle

Blurb

Desperate to escape a messy romance, Florian Mulberry flees London: tipsy, panicked, and without a plan. It’s while hiding in a rural garden shed that he meets Kells, a potion witch, who agrees to shelter him in exchange for manual labor until he gets his life together. Leaving his pampered London existence to work on a secluded cottage farm is a shock, but Florian throws himself into it with passionate determination.

And it’s not just gardening he’s passionate about. In no time, Florian falls head over heels for his skillful, hardworking mentor.

There’s just one problem. Florian is only disguised as a boy, and the enchantment hiding his real body is going to wear off. Florian’s main concern is how to explain himself when it happens. He’s definitely not a girl, but he’s not entirely a boy, either. With all the magic in Kells’ garden, there must be a way to achieve his ideal androgyny.

However he looks, Florian will have to face his past if he wants a future with Kells. Even if he avoids London forever, eventually his past is going to come looking for the girl he used to be.

The Potion Gardener is a low-stakes, low-angst cozy fantasy novella in the Flos Magicae series, a collection of queer romances set in an alternate 1920s world with magic. Featuring a trans, nonbinary lead, a butch cis lesbian love interest, a scruffy terrier with anxiety, and a great deal of gardening. All the Flos Magicae stories are standalones, and can be read in any order.

Review: Mates, Arranged by Michelle Frost

Rating: 3.5🌈

Mates, Arranged by Michelle Frost is a short, nicely crafted paranormal romance. At 65 pages, it’s the barest beginnings of mated couple, August and Torin. In fact, it ends as they actually physically mate. And it begins on the ritual mating of the two. In between, Frost gives us glimpses of two different people getting to know each other in a number of lovely connected scenes.

We don’t get much in the way of world building or background, just some hints and history tossed in here and there. Just enough to make it interesting and pull us closer into the story.

This could be a much larger book and the couple framed out within a better crafted narrative. It has so much potential.

As it is, it’s a good short story and romance. Very enjoyable.

Buy link

Mates, Arrangedby Michelle FrostBook 1 of 1: Mates, Arranged

Blurb

Will fate smile on a wolf and mage joined together?

Forced into an arranged mating, August and Torin must try to build a relationship from nothing if they hope to usher in peace between their peoples.

With willing hearts, they put aside their differences, but their commitment won’t get the chance to blossom if one of their own destroys it before it can grow.

Mates, Arranged is an MM romance novella and was first published as part of a novella promotion.

• Publication date: March 25, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 65 pages

Review: The Barony Bet: An Imperial Space Regency Novel by Kai Butler

Rating: 4.5🌈

The Barony Bet, the second book in Kai Butler’s Imperial Space Regency series, actually takes its characters from their respective homes and current lives out into space and onto another planet where they face adversity, such as it is, in a number of aspects. Obstacles to overcome that challenge them include facing their own feelings about each other and their future together, to the mission they’ve been assigned to accomplish in a short time period.

Butler has really created a winning tale in The Barony Bet. The characters are childhood friends but so different in personality and status that their dynamic is instantly intriguing. And each man is so subtly crafted that you don’t recognize how deeply rounded each is until they reveal more of themselves through their actions and conversations as the story develops.

Butlers’ remarkable ability to create believable characters and complex situations outside of a contemporary world, pulling the reader into their relationship and universe is extraordinary.

Deva is so compelling a character. I really wanted more of this book to see how the dynamics between his father and the new couple played out afterwards. It’s so quietly laid out for the reader exactly how important and responsible Deva is even if he and his family (father) aren’t acknowledging it. Deva grows in depth and maturity as a person throughout the book and it’s an amazing journey.

Step by step, shoulder to shoulder, is Asta, the childhood friend who has always loved him. And supported him. The change in their relationship and romantic understanding is another beautiful element and feels exactly right.

This is wrapped around a plot that involves a mission from Deva’s father that Deva must complete in a short time period. Butler’s narrative shows Deva,with Asta’s help, using ingenuity, his respect for others , and determination to solve the difficult mission and finally succeed.

We get a terrific cast of characters in every storyline, many of which we’d love to follow along on their adventures, and a couple we’re absolutely invested in.

The ending gets a little unfocused as a new character wanders into the story, preparing us for his book. I’d prefer he’d have been folded in another way and left the entire ending to Deva and Asta who certainly earned it.

I’m loving the series and this is by far my favorite. Check them out if you’re a fan of the author and the trope. A definite winner.

It’s a definite yes as a recommendation!

Imperial Space Regency series:

✓ The Earl and the Executive #1

✓ The Barony Bet #2

◦ The Inconvenient Count #3

Buy link

The Barony Bet: An Imperial Space Regency Novel

Blurb

A wager he can’t lose…

Lord Deva lives a charmed life. As the son and heir of one of the Empire’s wealthiest lords, Deva’s biggest problem is protecting his younger siblings from their father’s wrath. But when Deva’s actions place him on the verge of disinheritance, his only hope is an insurmountable task.

Dragging his best friend, Asta, into the fray, Deva agrees to revitalize his father’s newest acquisition – a barony on the verge of ruin. Little does he know that undertaking this task will put more than his inheritance on the line, but his heart as well.

A gamble he can’t win…

Asta is about to depart on a two year deep space trading expedition with one purpose: to fall out of love with his closest friend. Deva has no knowledge of the depths of Asta’s feelings and Asta hopes the distance will allow him to move on from the desire for more than friendship.

Agreeing to one last adventure to help Deva win his impossible task, Asta finds himself thrown into the role of protector and fake fiancé of his best friend. With an estate in ruin at the hands of a corrupt mistress, Asta and Deva must become even closer to win their bet and place their friendship at risk in the process.

The Barony Bet is a 90,000 word mm regency romance set in space. It is a fake relationship, friends to lovers romance with a HEA.

• Publication date: October 5, 2020

• Language: English

• Print length: 326 pages

Review: The Barony Bet: An Imperial Space Regency Novel by Kai Butler

Rating: 4.5🌈

The Barony Bet, the second book in Kai Butler’s Imperial Space Regency series, actually takes its characters from their respective homes and current lives out into space and onto another planet where they face adversity, such as it is, in a number of aspects. Obstacles to overcome that challenge them include facing their own feelings about each other and their future together, to the mission they’ve been assigned to accomplish in a short time period.

Butler has really created a winning tale in The Barony Bet. The characters are childhood friends but so different in personality and status that their dynamic is instantly intriguing. And each man is so subtly crafted that you don’t recognize how deeply rounded each is until they reveal more of themselves through their actions and conversations as the story develops.

Butlers’ remarkable ability to create believable characters and complex situations outside of a contemporary world, pulling the reader into their relationship and universe is extraordinary.

Deva is so compelling a character. I really wanted more of this book to see how the dynamics between his father and the new couple played out afterwards. It’s so quietly laid out for the reader exactly how important and responsible Deva is even if he and his family (father) aren’t acknowledging it. Deva grows in depth and maturity as a person throughout the book and it’s an amazing journey.

Step by step, shoulder to shoulder, is Asta, the childhood friend who has always loved him. And supported him. The change in their relationship and romantic understanding is another beautiful element and feels exactly right.

This is wrapped around a plot that involves a mission from Deva’s father that Deva must complete in a short time period. Butler’s narrative shows Deva,with Asta’s help, using ingenuity, his respect for others , and determination to solve the difficult mission and finally succeed.

We get a terrific cast of characters in every storyline, many of which we’d love to follow along on their adventures, and a couple we’re absolutely invested in.

The ending gets a little unfocused as a new character wanders into the story, preparing us for his book. I’d prefer he’d have been folded in another way and left the entire ending to Deva and Asta who certainly earned it.

I’m loving the series and this is by far my favorite. Check them out if you’re a fan of the author and the trope. A definite winner.

It’s a definite yes as a recommendation!

Imperial Space Regency series:

✓ The Earl and the Executive #1

✓ The Barony Bet #2

◦ The Inconvenient Count #3

Buy link

The Barony Bet: An Imperial Space Regency Novel

Blurb

A wager he can’t lose…

Lord Deva lives a charmed life. As the son and heir of one of the Empire’s wealthiest lords, Deva’s biggest problem is protecting his younger siblings from their father’s wrath. But when Deva’s actions place him on the verge of disinheritance, his only hope is an insurmountable task.

Dragging his best friend, Asta, into the fray, Deva agrees to revitalize his father’s newest acquisition – a barony on the verge of ruin. Little does he know that undertaking this task will put more than his inheritance on the line, but his heart as well.

A gamble he can’t win…

Asta is about to depart on a two year deep space trading expedition with one purpose: to fall out of love with his closest friend. Deva has no knowledge of the depths of Asta’s feelings and Asta hopes the distance will allow him to move on from the desire for more than friendship.

Agreeing to one last adventure to help Deva win his impossible task, Asta finds himself thrown into the role of protector and fake fiancé of his best friend. With an estate in ruin at the hands of a corrupt mistress, Asta and Deva must become even closer to win their bet and place their friendship at risk in the process.

The Barony Bet is a 90,000 word mm regency romance set in space. It is a fake relationship, friends to lovers romance with a HEA.

• Publication date: October 5, 2020

• Language: English

• Print length: 326 pages

Review: Inferno (Drake Security Book 4) by Mika Nix

Rating: 3.75🌈

Drake Security, the fated mates series about a family of dragons finding their bonded mates, is now on the fourth brother.

Co-written by K.M. Neuhold and Mia Monroe as Mika Nix, book four follows Valentino Drake, the one brother we know as busy being in touch with his love life instead of the brothers’ business. It takes a younger brother’s wrong doing and throughly bad decision making to bring Valentino back into the fold and help find his own unique mate.

First off, I loved the storyline of Valentino and Montrose, the demon. Montrose is a fantastic character, probably my favorite next to Lake . He’s intriguing, powerful enough to hold his own with his dragon, and dramatic enough to make any scene that involves him a little richer. Put them together and they are a great combination of riches. Dragon and demon.

Unfortunately there is an element that I found almost as irritating as I loved the romance part of the book. I feel that the authors probably have future plans for him but honestly there’s so much to character of Mac, the younger brother, that just gives me a narrative headache. As the authors created him, and as his part plays out in the book, Mac came perilously close to making me stop reading. Yes, his actions and that they spring from a certain problematic aspect of his personality are the ignition point of the story. I feel if it had only been that one factor, that one theft, it would’ve been, maybe, woven into his youthful status better. However, it’s his continued forbidden thievery that causes so much pain and danger to him and those around him. Without the Drake brothers, even at the end, having Mac feel any deeper remorse for his actions and crimes. Maybe the last one because he was so far in trouble. But all the rest? Not really.

It’s send him back home, and a new threat is here. What happened to ending this one? Because parts of Mac’s story felt unfinished.

So yes to the romance of Valentino and Montrose. They were great and could have used some of the narrative space assigned to the more irritating Mac. No, to the younger brother and his storyline who actually wanted to make me put down the book because of his personality, behavior, and lack of finality to his story.

I’m wondering if the next is the series finale for Drake Security. Sounds like Lord’s story. I’ll definitely be there for it. This was a fifty/fifty book for me.

Drake Security:

Hot Head #1

Smoulder #2

Wild Fire #3

Inferno #4

Buy link

Inferno (Drake Security Book 4)

Blurb:

I know I should keep my hands off of Montrose. But the one thing dragons and demons have in common is how much we love to play with fire.

My youngest brother has always had a knack for getting himself into trouble, but this time he’s stolen from the wrong demon and it might just be the last mistake he ever makes.

I have no reason to trust Montrose, but my dragon does anyway. There’s something about the vibrant, sassy incubus that calls to me, no matter how hard I try to resist.

Saving my brother’s scales should be top priority, but this inferno between Montrose and I just keeps heating up.

If fate put him in my path, can I trust that we’ll make it to the other side of this disaster together? There’s only one way to find out…

• Publication date: May 3, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 253 pages

Review: Burdened to Death: A Jamie Brodie Mystery (Jamie Brodie Mysteries Book 3) by Meg Perry

Rating: 4.5🌈

Burdened to Death, the third in the Jamie Brodie Mysteries by Meg Perry, is a complex and compelling story. And it’s one not everyone is going to agree with on how this story ends.

For a novel that’s 128 pages in length, Perry’s woven a tale of incredible complexity, one that includes highly dangerous and damaging subjects such as suicide, the SA scandals within the Catholic Church’s priesthood, and the emotional/traumatic aftermath of those who survived that abuse.

One of those people is the current boyfriend of James Brodie. Pete Ferguson’s confession of his childhood SA trauma in the last novel is continuing to destabilize his relationship with Jamie.

This is one more sensitively handled element of the story and their relationship. The issues are directly connected to Pete’s childhood SA. Both men are in individual therapy (another interesting aspect of the story).

They’re at an emotional impasse when they get a phone call from Kevin, Jamie’s police detective brother, about a dead man who needs identification from Pete.

This dead man will ignite several investigations. Both of them seemingly done by Jamie for Pete, to get closure. But it’s never that simple.

Perry manages to wring out deep, wrenching emotions from current events while revealing new perspectives and past histories about the main characters here . While these events happened decades ago, they feel as fresh as they do now because so much of this is still unresolved and the investigations and lawsuits are still ongoing.

And that will bring us back to the ending. Some will absolutely not be happy or satisfied by this. I can see why. Real life works this way. And it would have worked that way back then.

And somehow I don’t feel as though we’re done with this yet.

Perry showed us that James and Pete made some progress in their relationship. Small steps. After enormous trauma. That’s life.

Thats realistic and a beautiful raw , well written story. And why I keep coming back. On to Researched To Death.

The Jamie Brodie Mysteries – 23 books

✓ Cited to Death

✓ Hoarded to Death

✓ Burdened to Death

◦ Researched to Death

◦ Encountered to Death

◦ Psyched to Death

◦ Stacked to Death

◦ Stoned to Death

◦ Talked to Death

◦ Avenged to Death

◦ Played to Death

◦ Filmed to Death

◦ Trapped to Death

◦ Promoted to Death

◦ Published to Death

◦ Cloistered to Death

◦ Haunted to Death

◦ Obsessed to Death

◦ Deserted to Death

◦ Drugged to Death

◦ Resigned to Death

◦ Snowed to Death

◦ Enchanted to Death

Dirty Laundry: The Jamie Brodie Short Stories (Jamie Brodie Mysteries)

Sequel series:

An Angeles Investigations Mystery

◦ Cheated to Death: Book 1

◦ Hunted to Death Book 2

Buy links:

Burdened to Death (Jamie Brodie Mysteries Book 3)

Blurb:

A phone call in the middle of the night is never good news. When Pete Ferguson’s phone rings, he learns that one of his childhood friends, Mark Jones, has committed suicide. Mark’s family is shocked, and wonders if Mark was abused by the same priest at whose hands Pete suffered. Pete and Mark’s family want answers, and they ask Jamie to find them. Pete is convinced the priest is connected to his friend’s suicide. Jamie isn’t so sure. When the evidence starts pulling them in different directions, will it tear them apart?

• Publication date: October 9, 2013

• Language: English

• Print length: 128 pages