Review: The Star (Charleston Condors Book 1) by Beth Bolden

Rating: 4.5🌈

Bolden extends her connected football series with the addition of the Charleston Condors, that reviled team that targeted the Miami Piranhas the last season to such an extent the NFL demanded their sale to a new owner who’s done a complete overhaul. That’s the point where we dive into this new team and series.

I love Bolden’s sport’s romances for any number of reasons. She has a in-depth, passionate knowledge of the sport she’s writing about that makes her players, the team, and the team dynamics she makes a huge part of her stories so realistic and compelling.

In The Star, we see a number of familiar characters or faces that are associated with characters in other series. Tight end Landry Banks comes from the legendary football Banks family that includes his brother, Logan (center for the Miami Piranhas). We have seen him before when the entire family came together for Logan in Miami. A huge, impressive figure, a Thor-like physicality combined with a strong, centered personality. He’s immediately likable and a person who the reader can relate to, odd as that sounds.

Bolden’s ability to get such a distinct looking person and make him relatable through his actions and innermost emotions is one of the greatest qualities of her stories. The other being able to get the reader into the locker room, or onto the field, in the middle of the action and plays, letting us feel the pressure, the excitement and adrenaline! During those scenes, it’s as though it’s actually happening and we’re caught up in it all!

Which brings us to the other main character and his complex relationship with his older brother who also happens to be Landry’s best friend. Rookie quarterback Riley Flynn also has major football connections, in this case it’s his bigger, older, more famous and still playing NFL quarterback brother, Aiden Riley. The golden boy who’s raised him and is now trying to control his life.

This entire situation and element is unexpected and well done. It’s tricky because, as stated Landry and Aiden went to college together, remaining best friends still. Now through a series of surprising events, Riley ends up as the quarterback of the Charleston Condors, something his brother is unhappy about.

In addition to the torturous brotherly relationship he lands in the middle of, Landry is undergoing an epiphany about his sexuality. The only “straight” brother of the Banks family isn’t actually so straight after all when faced with a grownup Riley .

Bolden’s storylines are beautifully woven together as personal attraction grows into something more along with a team that’s learning that it’s possible to overcome the past and for the Condors as a team and organization to come together and move forward as a new unified family.

The Star was a wonderful story and romance as well as a great start to a new series. I can’t wait for The Game to be released! I’m highly recommending this !

The Charleston Condors:

✓ The Star #1

◦ The Game #2 – Aug 31, 2023

Buy Link:

THE STAR

Description:

Tight end Landry Banks knows the score when he signs with the Charleston Condors in a rebuilding year.

New owner. New coach. New players. New rules.

But one rule hasn’t changed: Don’t hook up with your best friend’s little brother.

Rookie quarterback Riley Flynn knows what it takes to make it in the NFL. He’s in Charleston to prove himself—to the world and to his teammates, but mostly to his older brother, who’s never believed he could be a star.

The last thing he expects is for his brother’s best friend Landry to welcome him with open arms and an offer to become roommates.

Riley’s always believed Landry was straight—but the way Landry keeps checking him out leaves him suddenly unsure. And Landry’s hot looks certainly don’t help squash the crush he’s always had on his brother’s best friend.

Revisiting his teenage crush isn’t part of the plan. But as he and Landry fall into a rhythm of thrilling plays on the field and sizzling tension off it, there’s no denying their connection.

Riley isn’t willing to trade becoming the next big NFL superstar for love. But with a man like Landry Banks waiting to catch anything he throws at him, maybe he can have both.

Bolden’s connected Football series in order they are written:

✓ The Riptide

✓ Miami Piranhas

◦ Charleston Condors

Review: Pole Position (A Lights Out Novel) by Charlie Novak

Rating : 4🌈

“We win and lose together. “

-Sir Lewis Hamilton”

In this series about Formula 1 racing, each author takes one racing team, a driver or two on that team , the international races in the series , and the dramatic events that occur during that season. Major events, even conversations crossover between novels.

Like the other books, this story begins with a quote from a race driver that hints at theme the tale and romance will carry.

A long time couple is the focus and heart of Charlie Novak’s contribution to the Lights Out series about a Formula 1 racing season .

Dean Williams and Mateo Llorente are established Formula 1 drivers and a long time couple, although only their families and a few friends are aware of the later. This season a new element is being introduced to their relationship. For the first time, both men will be racing for the same team- Cadigan Racing. It’s the team where Mateo has been the established driver for several years, where he’s the son of a legendary driver and the hopes for a championship win.

Novak’s chosen a different format for her storyline that provides a intimate window into the next stage into this couple’s journey, both in terms of their careers and their relationship, as heavily intertwined as they now are. It’s divided by races, almost every race in each country on the way to the grand finale , then a space of nine years as they prepare their retirement announcement.

This narrative formula has positive and negative aspects to it when I look at the way overall book made me feel about the themes and the characters.

I liked it in terms of seeing how each race and the dynamics of that particular race started to change the way in which Dean and Mateo’s were thinking about their own races (each has a team for their own car), their personal dynamics , and the team’s leadership. Where they originally thought they could handle the challenges, each race, each new event piled into an ongoing highly publicized , intense team effort, is starting to get to them.

We’re in as the stress, the constant press, the media attention and wrongful coverage puts such pressure on them that’s it effecting their team as well as them personally.

This feels very realistic.

Another great twist? The team owner, the leadership and support staff? They are aware of the fact that their top drivers are in a long term relationship with each other. And they are supportive. I love that. Terrific characters here in these roles.

On the other side of this format, I found that having the book “chopped “ into so many little sections or narration stages in this journey of Dean and Mateo’s meant less time for us in getting some of the more interesting details in more depth. Elements like Dean’s toxic relationship with his father who we never get to meet and his mother who seems to have been an equally complex person, not quite protecting her son from his father. But we hear about them. They call , he’s nearby.

Another similar aspect is Mateo’s parents who we also know about, a legendary Spanish driver and a French supermodel who adore him and Dean. We hear all about their parties, their passion and personalities. But where are they here? They even visit a race but are “absent “ in the story. It’s people and elements like this that add warmth and a great deal of value to a story and help ground a couple in a realness. That’s sort of missing from this.

Charlie Novak’s style of writing, the choice of story format gives us a sense of how a season of racing for one team impacted the relationship of two drivers racing for the win for the same team. The ambition, the fears, the stress , the excitement and yes the anger and the passion.

What is missing is the depth of actual racing action and the thrill of each man as they crossed the line to win the podium. There’s no smell of oil, exhaust, or burning rubber. And there should be in a novel about men racing at the highest speeds at the top of their game.

The relationship and the challenges Dean and Mateo face and overcome in Pole Position is well worth the read. I just didn’t get as emotionally invested as I was prepared to even as I found myself enjoying the ride. On that note, I’m recommending it.

Buy Link:

Pole Position

Lights Out:

✓ Team Orders by RJ Scott

✓ Full Throttle by Lisa Henry

✓ Pole Position by Charlie Novak

◦ Scoring Points by HL Day 6/13

◦ Black Flagged by Emma Jaye 6/20

◦ Rookie Mistakes by Beth Laycock 6/27/2023

Description:

Pole position gives a driver the best chance at winning, but can there be a winner when a long-term relationship is on the line?

Mateo Llorente was born to be Formula 1 World Champion.

Charming, handsome, and incredibly talented, Mateo is everything a champion should be. Dean Williams has fought for his position in Formula 1 with everything he has, and dreams of podium finishes and championship trophies.

For the past three years, Mateo and Dean have kept their long-term relationship under wraps, but when they both find themselves driving for Cadigan Racing, they know things won’t stay simple for long.

Keeping their relationship a secret is one thing, but dealing with the demands of the season is another.

As both drivers rack up points and the media scrutiny puts them under pressure, cracks start to appear in Mateo and Dean’s relationship.

Can their love survive the intensity of Formula 1? Or will winning cost Dean and Mateo everything?

This M/M romance from Charlie Novak features a steamy long-term secret relationship between teammates, and is set in the high octane world of Formula 1 featuring fast cars, driving at the limit, spectacular crashes, heated rivalries, and of course, a HEA.

Each book in the Lights Out collection is a standalone story, and the books can be read in any order

Check Out the latest Release from M. D. Grimm! A Priest, A Plague, and A Prophecy!

M.D. Grimm has a new MM fantasy romance out (ace, bi, demi): A Priest, a Plague, and a Prophecy. And there’s a giveaway.

“Orcs are the answer but what is the question?”

Elias is a priest at the Temple of the Divine Sibyl. When he becomes lost in the woods after his brother’s hunting party abandons him, it’s just his luck that he’d stumble upon an angry orc caught in a trap. Unable to stomach the suffering of others, Elias throws self-preservation to the wind and frees the orc. Then Gurrkk—that’s a name?—ends up leading him to safety.

Gurrkk finds himself rather smitten by the sweet, awkward human. He’s always been fascinated with his people’s sworn enemy, and now he has a life debt to fulfill to maintain his honor.

Hiding an orc among the temple’s crypts wouldn’t have been Elias’s first choice but Gurrkk is stubborn about leaving. As they learn each other’s languages and spend more time together, Elias realizes they’ve become friends… and maybe more. And when the dying sibyl gives her last prophecy, Elias knows it wasn’t chance that brought them together, it was the gods.

But why?

This is a sweet, ace romance, so no sexy times, but plenty of snuggles and cuddles!

Universal Buy Links | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Smashwords

Giveaway

M.D. is giving away a $10 Amazon gift card with this tour:

a Rafflecopter giveaway https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b60e8d47285/?

Excerpt

Elias closed his eyes and clasped his hands under his chin, sending a fervent prayer to the gods, asking for a sign. Any sign that would lead him home. Seconds passed. Minutes. He cracked open one eye to look around. Seeing nothing, he glared and set his fists on his hips.

So much for divine intervention.

“I’m one of your priests, and you don’t give me the time of day,” he mumbled as he set off down the left-hand path.

He was hungry again.

Even as he was contemplating the pros and cons of eating one of his last apples, he stumbled around a thick tree before halting in shock.

An orc sat on the ground, his greenish-gold skin glistening with sweat and his coal-black eyes glaring with menace. He was almost bald, except for a spiky strip of green hair running from his forehead to the back of his skull. The lack of hair accentuated his large ears that moved independently of each other. Two pronounced fangs jutted up from his lower jaw, which was square and blunt, and more sharp teeth showed when he growled.

Elias stayed frozen, taking in the long black tunic cinched at the waist by a gold cord. The short sleeves were trimmed with gold thread, baring muscled arms. The stately garb struck Elias, making him wonder as to the status of the orc. Did they have hierarchy as humans did? The tunic ended around his knees, leaving the rest of his muscled legs bare. Also, this orc wasn’t of monstrous size, so he couldn’t be of the mountain variety. He was certainly taller and broader than Elias, but also leaner, corded with muscle, like that big cat Elias had spotted earlier. And his face was… not horrible. Brutish and sharp but not hideous or even ugly. Those illustrators of tomes really set out to depict orcs as the most horrific creatures ever to grace the earth.

The urge to run made his palms grow damp and his breath to quicken. Not that he could run for more than a few steps before wheezing because he was so damn out of shape, and why the hell didn’t he train with his brother? I’m going to die, I’m going to die….

Then his gaze traveled down to the reason the orc was sitting on the ground and not eating his face. Vicious steel jaws had the orc by the ankle, piercing deeply into his flesh. The jaws were attached to a chain that was buried into to the earth. The fact the orc hadn’t freed himself meant this was one of the trick jaws. One specifically made for capturing orcs. The scoured earth around the chain proved that the orc had tried to dig himself free but clearly hadn’t succeeded. His ankle was a mess of torn flesh and caked blood, and only then did Elias notice the buzz of flies.

How long had he been sitting there, in pain? In fear?

Sympathy rose with anger not far behind. Elias and the orc stared at each other, and Elias found himself stepping closer without consciously deciding his actions. The orc growled deeper, eyes narrowed in warning. Elias stopped again, wondering what he was doing. This was an orc! The enemy! The beasts that kept trying to take their lands. Attius’s tirades whirled through his mind even as the battle songs about marauding orcs jangled in his memory.

He’d never joined in. He’d never had anything personal against orcs. He never thought one way or another about them. Fighting them wasn’t a part of his world. Most of his life had been spent ensconced in the Temple of the Divine Sibyl, which was safely behind fortified stone walls and separated from the general populace of the city.

He was sheltered and he knew it. To see such ugly pain in another living creature struck him to the core. That was one of the reasons he didn’t eat meat. He couldn’t reconcile killing just to feed himself when there were plenty of other things to consume if he simply looked.

At that moment, this orc was no different than any other wild animal caught in a trap. And would he let such a creature die so horribly? No, he would not.

Taking a deep breath, and with more courage than he would profess to have, Elias crouched before slowly pushing off his pack. He kept his eyes on the orc and opened the top flap before tilting it to show the orc that it only held medicines, plant samples, parchment, and ink.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said gently. “Can you understand me?”

The orc made no indication either way. He continued to growl and glare.

“I want to help you.” Elias took the one weapon he had, a long dagger, and showed the orc the blade before tossing it away. The orc stopped growling and blinked in apparent surprise. Elias shuffled closer on his knees, keeping his demeanor as non-threatening as possible. He almost snorted—as if a soft priest like him could be threatening. He kept speaking in low tones as he would to a frightened animal. He kept his pack held out in front of him, hoping the harmless items would convince the orc he wasn’t a hunter.

The orc’s large nostrils flared, and he squinted into the bag. He must have smelled the remaining apples, the plant samples, and the few healing ointments Elias carried with him everywhere. Elias set the bag within easy reach of the orc just in case he wanted to investigate. Then he took a good look at the steel jaws and winced.

The orc didn’t wear shoes, his sturdy, rough feet tough enough not to need them. His nails were more like claws, almost identical to those on his fingers. The trap would have been covered, and he’d stepped directly onto the triggering mechanism. The blades had barely missed his foot to cut into his ankle, probably scraping against the bones and tendons.

Elias took a moment to fight nausea.

“Damn. Once I free your leg it’s going to bleed profusely. I have to wrap it fast and tight.” He glanced up and met the orc’s eyes. Grim determination stared back at him and Elias blinked. “You do understand me.”

Author Bio

M.D. Grimm has wanted to write stories since second grade (kind of young to make life decisions, but whatever) and nothing has changed since then (well, plenty of things actually, but not that!).

Thankfully, she has indulgent parents who let her dream, but also made sure she understood she’d need a steady job to pay the bills (they never let her forget it!). After graduating from the University of Oregon and majoring in English, (let’s be honest: useless degree, what else was she going to do with it?) she started on her writing career and couldn’t be happier.

Working by day and writing by night (or any spare time she can carve out), she enjoys embarking on romantic quests and daring adventures (living vicariously, you could say) and creating characters that always triumph against the villain, (or else what’s the point?) finding their soul mate in the process.

Author Website: https://www.mdgrimmwrites.com

Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001710645622

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4574220.M_D_Grimm

Author Liminal Fiction (LimFic.com): https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/m-d-grimm/

Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/m-d-grimm/

Author Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/M.D.-Grimm/e/B00I0KZMY6/

Review: Outrun the Rain (The Storm Boys Series Book 1) by N.R. Walker

Rating: 5🌈

How I love Outrun the Rain by N.R. Walker, the first in her new series, The Storm Boys. It’s about two men we met in the prequel (Second Chance at First Love), one a storm chaser, and the other a scientist who studies lightning and storms, who’ve arrived at Kakadu National Park to do just that.

This book reminds me so much of the experience I had the first time reading Walker’s amazing Red Dirt Heart series! It’s in discovering the true layers to the characters, and exploring a richly detailed and diverse terrain that’s unique to Australia and foreign to me. The more I read, the deeper I was emotionally invested in the men, and this journey they were on together.

Walker is able to bring us inside the hearts and minds of each of these startling different individuals with such clarity and love.

To Jeremiah Overton, a fulminologist, lightning is not just a scientific subject matter but a powerful natural phenomenon that’s effectively changed the course of his life. This character is so complicated, so tightly packed up that his layers and history are only revealed through hard won bits of conversation that rewards both Tully Larsen and the reader.

Tully Larsen, the storm chaser , so at home here at Kakadu where he spent long days with his father, and now by himself, chasing storms, watching the wildness happen, is also a bit of an enigma. Until he lets himself open up equally to Jeremiah, each man fully being themselves with another person for the first time.

And the reader feels their emotions, the joy, hesitation, wildness, and love of the experiences they share on this amazing journey to capture data of major storms up close.

Of those storms and the natural dangers inherent within the territory they are located, like swift flooding and crocodiles , Walker has us believing in those too with realistic descriptions and a wealth of knowledge that translates so well into an emotional narrative.

Was I ready for them to head home? No more than they were.

Luckily, there’s two more books in this series. If they are like this one, then I can see The Storm Boys sliding next to Walker’s Red Dirt Heart series as must reads for me. It’s that great.

Where one is dry red desert, this has sheets of endless green, rain and lightning strikes that never seem to end. What amazing bookends!

Ones I’m highly recommending.

The Storm Boys:

✓ Outrun The Rain

◦ Into The Tempest – June 27, 2023

◦ Touch The Lightning-July 18, 2023

Second Chance at First Love: Prequel to The Storm Boys

Buy Link:

Outrun the Rain (The Storm Boys Series Book 1)

Description:

Tully Larson has loved tropical storms since he was a kid and spent his summers with his dad in the wilds of Kakadu National Park. He’s happiest outdoors, a rough and ready kind of guy who loves the power of Mother Nature and chasing the thrill of electrical storms every chance he gets.

Jeremiah Overton, a fulminologist from Melbourne, chases storms for a whole different reason. Lightning has shaped his entire life and he’s driven to study it, to understand it, so heading to Kakadu in the middle of the storm season is a logical thing to do. After all, the Top End is the lightning capital of Australia.

Tully wasn’t sure how a week at his remote bunker with an academic type would pan out. And Jeremiah didn’t expect much from the storm-chasing cowboy who volunteered to take him.

But both men know all too well that when opposites attract, lightning strikes.

Review: Guarding Axel (Dark Forest Pack #3) by Annabelle Jacobs

Rating: 3.5🌈

Guarding Axel is the penultimate book in Jacobs’ Dark Forest Park series, so the series arc themes, which are plentiful, need to start coming together.

Axel Molhieth, a tormented Fae with full of secrets and a dark past has been a great source of mystery and interest for me and I think most people. Especially when it comes to the complicated relationship he has with the wolf shifter Talis.

Best friends until the enemy captures Axel , Talis, and others with a toxic Fae plant . The fallout from that traumatic event, destroys their close relationship, and sets the pack to guarding Axel against an old betrayer from his past.

I was looking forward to this story because of the hot chemistry between the were Talis and the Fae Axel but something happened and along the way, it dissipated under the weight of Axel’s overly complicated “secret “ and inability to trust within the storyline.

While Talis remains the tormented soul, denied his bond by Axel, by circumstances, hurt by the close proximity of Axel, Talis is the strongest character in the story. The most compelling.

That’s partly the reason why the story doesn’t work out as well. Both main characters need to balance out each other and, for me at least, they don’t.

Jacobs builds up this enormous amount of narrative suspense and anticipatory anguish around a secret that Axel’s been holding onto. It’s the one keeping him from having a relationship with Talis, why he’s causing so much drama and damage within the pack structure, so it should be something so earth shattering, so emotionally and physically traumatizing to makeup for all the harm the reader sees him causing for us to make sense of it all.

It’s one his cousin knows about. Btw.

But when it’s revealed, I kept waiting for the rest of the reveal. Thinking surely there’s more. There wasn’t.

And when his own cousin and the mate of the Alpha both tell Axel , the equivalent of “snap out of it” because you know better, this has been going on for too long, then either the secret wasn’t written well enough or this element was executed in a way that made Axel a character I just couldn’t connect with.

There’s far too many loose ends. I’m sure Jacobs will pick them up in the next book. But this just didn’t have the same feeling as the previous stories, at least as far as the main couple. I didn’t feel like Axel had a great relationship with either the pack or Talis, given his actions and inability to understand how they impacted those around him.

Usually Annabelle Jacobs does a great job explaining the dynamics behind those decisions and how the character comes back into balance. Here I never thought that happened.

I’m looking forward to Loving Jake, the series finale. And to seeing how everything plays out.

Dark Forest Pack series:

🔷Claiming Rys #1

🔷Redeeming Nick #2

🔷Guarding Axel #3

🔷Loving Jake #4 – Sept 28, 2023

Buy Link:

Guarding Axel (Dark Forest Pack Book 3)

Description:

A silver-haired fae with a shattered heart—a green-eyed shifter with enough love to heal him.

Axel

Burnt by a past betrayal, I’ve learnt the hard way to keep my heart locked up tight. As tempting as Talis is, all I can offer is friendship, because trusting someone again is a risk I can’t take. Love means sharing the true nature of my magic, and the last time I did that it almost cost me my life.

Talis

I want what every shifter wants.

A mate, a partner. Someone I can call mine.

Axel Molhieth, beautiful and free-spirited, makes it crystal clear that isn’t him. Will never be him.

I know it’ll end badly for me, but I want him anyway.

One night is all it takes to ruin their friendship, and avoidance is the easy way out. But when Axel’s past catches up with him, putting his life in danger, they’re forced to finally face the consequences of their night together.

Guarding Axel is an MM paranormal romance featuring a protective shifter desperate for love, and a beautiful fae afraid to trust. Full of magic, suspense, and sizzling UST, with a guaranteed HEA.

Review: A Priest, A Plague, and A Prophecy by MD Grimm

Rating: 4.5🌈

A Priest, A Plague, and A Prophecy is a new sweet, fantasy romance from M D Grimm. I admit I was overdue in revisiting this author and this short tale of two enemies, a inter species, happy ending of a Romeo and Jules sort of situation, was a perfect intro back into her writing.

Grimm has built a world of humans and orcs, living close enough that their encounters with each other haven’t gone for the better. Over the years their clashes have grown worse,their basic fears about each other’s races fed by completely different appearances, as well as an inability to communicate due to separate languages and cultures. Their skirmishes grew larger each time, offensively more bloody , due to the size , physicality and style of their fighting , until all each knows is hatred.

It’s not until a fumbling young priest called Eli meets a young orc called Gurrkk in trouble that everything starts to change.

It’s in the rich details as well as the emotional landscape that this story does so well. The author’s ability to convey two people of separate races, determined to understand each other, under enormous stress, then through friendship and finally love. We get all the different cultural elements, language, mating, bonding, children, religion,and leadership.

Grimm has deeply settled her characters within their respective communities and families, and that allows her readers to explore them on a really personal level.

This is a romance between two characters that look at sexuality in a different way. How they handle that difference is another plus for me in the narrative. While it may have an initial aspect of hesitation to discuss the subject, that doesn’t stop the characters from being adults and talking about their sexual preferences and orientation. Especially important where two species are involved.

The ending ( and the bit with the villain) came about a tad too fast. I wished for more action and explanation to compete with all the grand exposition that went before. And time with the two groups together.

Ah well!

A Priest, A Plague, and A Prophecy by MD Grimm is a richly told, happily ended , well written fantasy story! One I’m absolutely recommending.

Buy Link:

Barnes & Nobler

Smashwords

Amazon

Description:

Orcs are the answer but what is the question?”

Gurrkk finds himself rather smitten by the sweet, awkward human. He’s always been fascinated with his people’s sworn enemy, and now he has a life debt to fulfill to maintain his honor.

Review: Rear Ended (Big Bull Mechanics Book 4) by K.M. Neuhold

Rating: 4🌈

Tattooed, sweet Auggie finally gets his HEA in Rear Ended after a failed crush on Dimitri, and a series of unfortunate dates. All it takes is for a new resident of their hometown to arrive to live with his younger brother when his life explodes on him in Chicago.

So in other words, a man with a lot going on, tons to figure out, and an uneasy future ahead.

That’s Henry, whose IT business has failed along with his expensive lifestyle. And, unfortunately , his perception of who he was equated with that outward projection of a successful businessman. Now Henry is lost. And staying at his younger brother’s house, fearful he’s a failure that will never recover.

Neuhold has written a low angst, sweet romance, between two older men, that includes an adorable pot bellied pig, Hamlet.

It contains mature conversations, complete with apologies for some idiotic, fearful behaviors, some lusty sex, and a lot of smooshy contented men getting into a new relationship.

It also brings in some new exciting people and introduces a new ink shop , Ink Slingers, who are also part of a motorcycle club, Skins Motorcycle Club, into this universe that includes an ever expanding group of connected series.

For me, I wanted to know more about Jay and his friends (Jaguar, Tex, Hero, Felix, Piston) than I did about the settled , sweet world of Auggie, Henry, and Hammie. Although the race episode was very funny.

Also can we please get Riggs and Shep together? I can’t wait for their relationship to start!

I enjoyed Rear Ended even if I think it didn’t have the chemistry or character development of the previous stories. It’s a lovely, sexy low angst romance. A perfect read for the early summer days!

And I think this town will be heating up soon enough with more hot inked men and motorcycles.

I’m recommending the book and the series!

Big Bull Mechanics:

✓ Crankshaft #1

✓ Stroker #2

✓ Stick Stift #3

✓ Rear Ended #4

Description:

Love is a highway, and Henry just got Rear Ended

I’ve spent my entire adult life working eighty hours a week, chasing money, security… success. When my recent start-up went under, leaving me with nothing to show for years of grinding myself down to the bone, I’m not sure who I am anymore. I never thought I’d be forty-eight with no money, living with my brother, trying to figure everything out from scratch. But, here we are…

All that chasing didn’t leave a lot of time for romance or relationships either. Unless you count the occasional hook-up to let off a little steam. Now I have all the free time in the world… but who would want a middle-aged failure anyway?

When one of my most recent hook-ups turns out to be my new coworker, I’m starting to think the universe is having a good laugh at my expense.

As if Auggie wasn’t tempting enough with all of the tattoos and his surprisingly sweet smile, now I’m spending all day watching him work. He’s covered in grease, with his overalls half zipped… is it getting hot in here, or is it just me?

He’s impossible to resist, but that doesn’t make the timing any better. Body work is one thing, but I’m determined to keep my heart out of it. If only Auggie would stop baking me cookies and touching me in ways that keep my engine running all night long. I think we’re going to need some coolant in here, because things are definitely heating up…

*** Rear Ended is book 4 in the Big Bull Mechanics series but can be read as a stand alone. It’s full of mechanic puns, hilarious and swoony banter, tons of heat, and two men falling in love in spite of their best efforts to keep things casual.

Buy Link:

Rear Ended (Big Bull Mechanics Book 4)

Review: A Mage’s Guide to Wicky (R’iyah Family Archives: Volume #3) by A.J. Sherwood

Rating: 4.75🌈

Scattered, wacky, Wicky, adorable perfection!

What happens when a magical seeking spell won’t leave Wicky alone? Well, as much as his curiosity is killing him, Wicky knows this time , he needs to call in his team and found family to find answers.

With Bel, Nico, and Garan involved, Wicky’s team are going to find out who is magically stalking their wonderful, flighty friend. And the reason why.

This is such a fabulous story. It flies by on wings of combined cultural magic and values, soars with the joy of discovery, of finding one’s true purpose and path, with characters infused with humor, intelligence, love, and sheer outrageousness.

Sun , Wicky’s soulmate, is amazing, and I look forward to seeing how a wind elemental will fit into the team. Plus the journey into parts of Thailand, along with the food made my mouth water.

Each aspect of the story contained some great elements that made you want to linger a bit longer. And still hurry forward towards the next stop . Incredible.

You giggle, you smack your head, laugh, and keep on appreciating the world that Sherwood has created that has such fantastic characters within it.

My only quibble? I wanted more.

Who wouldn’t?

And now Mobius decides to speak?

Pls we need more. More adventures of the team as they adjust to the new status quo.

I’m highly excited for that story to arrive. And recommend this until it does!

R’iyah Family Archives:

✓ A Mage’s Guide to Human Familiars #1

✓ A Mage’s Guide to Aussie Terrors #2

✓ A Mage’s Guide to Wicky #3

Buy Link:

A Mage’s Guide to Wicky (R’iyah Family Archives: Volume Book 3)

Description:

Wicky’s never been magically stalked before.

He kinda likes it, to be honest.

For some reason, it’s upsetting everyone else though. Maybe he should figure out who it is?

Ooooo, maybe his fated one is on the other end! In…Thailand?

Tags:

Wicky use your brain challenge: Failed, author has lost discretion in this, Wicky is in Thailand, pray for Thailand, the trio is along for the ride, fated mates, Thai magic, don’t mind the author I’m just over here building a ship, Sun is the younger of the two but he’s also resigned to being the responsible one, chosen family, Mobius talks, in Thai, Wicky feels so betrayed, look this is pure romantic crack, Sun is cute that’s all you need to know

Review: Love for the Reaper (The Elite) by Charlie Cochet

Rating: 3🌈

Love for the Reaper is Charlie Cochet’s much anticipated entry in the multi-author series The Elite, based around a sublimely complex and supremely criminal club called The Anonymous, in a dark, sinister city of Old Defiance.

The series setting and location is darkly fascinating, rich in the noir atmosphere and dangerous elements that allow all these authors to let their imaginations go wild where their characters and storylines are concerned.

Cochet’s take on this seamy underworld has plenty of interesting elements, one’s that early on showed so much depth and detail that’s been elevating the best of these stories.

Take her character Devlin “Dev” Espinosa. He’s not a Reaper , where did that come from ( not in his job description to kill anyone)?

Instead he’s a Ferryman. So much cooler. With his one of a kind, special “guaranteed to blend into the shadows “ black matte finish, 1969 Chevy Camaro, black grille and door handles, even the 18 inch wheels and rims were black. A chariot fit for the Ferryman.

Dev delivers the “dead” bodies he’s given to dump into his specially made trunk into a new life. Whether that a permanent death or new identity at a location, it’s not his to question. Just dump and leave. The Ferryman’s delivery is over.

He’s death on wheels, a black chariot wheeling through a city of Hell, enjoying the life he’s got, on smooth pavement paid for by murder and sin.

That’s a great character. So too is his partner. A woman who we don’t get nearly enough of, but who is his equal partner in wry wit and deadly experience.

Had Charlie made even the partner the other mc, things would have been better.

But things start to derail with the addition of what’s starting to be defined as the “cinnamon bun” character. Overly used too., including the phrase. The almost too sweet, innocent that ends up in a relationship, here because Remy Corbin has the survival instincts of a kumquat and works for a mobster boss without realizing it.

I think I could like Remy more if he was in another story, without the mob aspect, but here so much, imo, works against him as a character, and their relationship believability. “ oh look, I’m living in a Good Fellas set” Smh. Way too predictable.

These are short stories. Cochet doesn’t lay out, enough in her narrative, to accomplish the needed changes in character realignment, instant love, and development for us to believe that Dev is going to throw out the life he enjoys for Remy , who he’s instantly fallen in love with, who now instantly loves him back. Even though Remy has just come out of a bad situation. No, Dev threw out his history, indeed almost gotten himself killed in a maneuver guaranteed not to work.

It makes no sense, especially given that strong opening.

More sense narratively, if there’s no relationship, just a man, doing another job, and “ferrying “ an innocent out of town. That’s believable.

And then at the end Cochet throws in a whole new couple, including dub con, a conspiracy, a betrayal, and it all devolves into a whole lot of drama that has nothing to do with the original plot.

What was Cochet doing here?

The only reason this even maintains a 3 rating was that strong intro and some interesting elements. Otherwise, the manner in which the story explodes into new territory without any context or direction from the original narrative would have me issuing warning flags. Such as DNF.

Do i recommend? Not really. Read if you’re a Cochet fan or want to complete the series.

Buy Link:

Love for the Reaper (The Elite Book 1)

The Elite Multi-Author series (9 Books):

✓ Reckless Roulette by Alice Winters

✓ Leave No Trace by Michelle Frost and Sammi Cee

✓ Ace of Maids by K.L. Hiers (DNF)

✓ Poison Hearts by Jennifer Cody❤️

✓ Liar’s Gambit by Kelly Fox❤️

✓ Dealer of Secrets by Davidson King ❤️

✓ Bullets & Butterflies by Maz Maddox❤️

✓ Love for the Reaper by Charlie Cochet

◦ Chance Encounter by Luna David

Description:

Devlin “Dev” Espinosa lives in the shadows of the criminal underworld. As a Ferryman, his job is to safely transport “the dead” to their new lives, no questions asked. With no one to answer to, lots of cash, and access to The Anonymous–an exclusive club for the elite–Dev is loving life.

Until Remy Corbin gets into his car.

Remy is just a regular guy working a regular bartending job. At least, that’s what he thought before walking in on his boss taking someone out. Witnessing the assassination paints a target on Remy’s back, and when the bullets fly, he jumps into a stranger’s car.

Dev has no intention of getting involved in Remy’s problems, but something about the guy brings out protective instincts Dev didn’t know he had. Going against his better judgment, Dev vows to keep Remy alive.

Can wild nights fueled by danger and explosive passion lead to more? Or will the hitman on their tail cut their romance–and lives–short?

Love for the Reaper is a part of the multi-author series The Elite. Each book can be read as a standalone and in any order. What links these books together is The Anonymous, a club beneath the gritty city where only the elite are

Review: Molly Boys (London Underground Book One) by Vaun Cassidy

Rating: 5🌈

London 1885. Someone is killing molly boys. Horribly.

And in a terrifying window into this horror mystery story, we get to know just enough of each victim to empathize with them, then be with them as they walk to their deaths.

I had no idea.

Victorian England is such a harsh country to reside for certain individuals. It’s most livable if you’re lucky enough to be born into the aristocracy, especially the first born sons with expectations of inheritance. Less lucky, the spares of the landed gentry. Not necessary for the inheritance, you are pushed into the strict religious world, or married off, generally dealt with. Unless you are blessed with money of your own.

For those who have (well hidden) feelings for the same sex or what’s considered perversions, it’s a time for social charades , for subtlety and masks of every kind to hide your sexual persuasions behind. Because to reveal your truths is to risk not only scandal, but prison , potentially death. It’s to lose everything.

Vaun Cassidy captures this era and marginalized society in every raw , detailed aspect of its aristocratic lifestyle. As well as the poorer people who are hanging on about its edges. There’s the sex parties, the hazy drugs, and flowing alcohol. The entitlement, the fear of discovery, and constant knowledge of being trapped in a lifetime of denial.

The aristocracy has its ways. All of which are done in secrecy. Hidden apartments and rented houses in certain neighborhoods, where passwords and marked passages are in use.

It’s glittery, sordid, over flowing with young boys and older men, richly decorated, dimly lit, and eerie with an atmosphere that makes you feel unsettled. Especially , eventually knowing a murderer is hunting.

Lord Everett Stanley is a spare. He’s bound for the clergy by his father’s instructions and agreements. And he’s dying inside. A beautiful man, he’s been extending the inevitable by endless partying with his closest friend, a wealthy sybarite who’s lucky enough to have control of his estate, the drugs and alcohol are plentiful as is the forbidden sex.

Until the deaths start. Of young men they know and recently partying with.

Inspector Archibald Franklin is in charge of the investigation, and it’s hitting him close with his own hidden secrets.

Vaun Cassidy’s does exemplary work here , from the rich, sordid atmosphere of the secretive “perverse” world of Victorian England to the emotionally powerful characters Cassidy whose lives we get involved in. The narrative builds in evoking both the horror of the victims in their innocence , moments before they die , the thoughts of the murderer as he stalks his victims, the complexities of the investigation , as the lives of Inspector Franklin and that of the desperate Stanley collide , along with that of the terrifying killer.

Truly, the storylines are mesmerizing in how the layers of voices combine to build a narrative that so enthralls the reader, even as it becomes horrifying, that you can’t pull away.

The slow relationship that becomes so meaningful and so fragile between Stanley and Franklin, given each man’s status and the circumstances of their lives. Fraught with uncertainty and hopelessness, and yet still so desperate to go forward.

It didn’t end as I hoped but probably as it had to. Which is a realistic embodiment of the era and a logical, thoughtful response to the author’s characterizations and storylines.

Our hopes fall in the anticipation for the next installment in the London Underground series and the hard scrabble endurance and creativity these characters have shown themselves capable of. I don’t know what the author has planned but it will certainly be something compelling and complex, possibly traumatic, and maybe with a glimmer of hope. Maybe not.

I’ll be there to see what happens next.

Highly recommend but not for those of a queasy stomach or too kind a heart. Beautifully written historical horror romance.

Buy Link:

Molly Boys: An MM/Gay Victorian Mystery Suspense/Slow Burn Romance with a Supernatural Twist (London Underside Book 1)

London 1885:

For Lord Everett Stanley, escaping his fate seemed impossible. As the second son, he’s destined for ordination and the life of a Reverend, but he’s hiding a dangerous secret. The laws punishing homosexuality by hanging may have been repealed but he and others of his kind are far from safe. Given no other choice, they take solace in the underground molly houses of London. Now that fragile world is threatened when the East End is rocked by a series of gruesome murders.

Inspector Archibald Franklin worked hard to overcome his working-class roots, making a name for himself as a respected inspector of Whitechapel’s H Division, but when he begins to investigate the deaths of several beautiful young men, fate throws him into the path of the handsome and enigmatic Lord Stanley. His gut instinct tells him the young lord knows more about the murders than he lets on, but the closer he gets, the more Everett calls to him in a way he’s tried to deny his whole life.

As a reign of terror grips London, they are drawn together in order to stop a monster, but for Archie, the growing feelings he has for Everett are a betrayal of the very laws he has sworn to uphold. And as the killer closes in, the two men find themselves bound together by a passion that may be their ultimate salvation or their utter destruction…

Buy Link:

Molly Boys (London Underside Book 1)

Description:

London 1885:

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