Category: Book Reviews

Need a New Contemporary Romance? Check Out Dine with Me by Layla Reyne!

 

 

 

 

Layla Reyne’s DINE WITH ME is a contemporary m/m romance following a dying chef on a last tour of his favorite meals, and the travel companion who must convince him he’s more than his taste buds and that the cost of love is worth living for.

Title: Dine With Me

Release Date (e-book and audio): September 16, 2019

Blurb:

Life never tasted so good.

Miller Sykes’s meteoric rise to award-winning chef is the stuff of culinary dreams, but it’s all crashing down around him. He’s been given a diagnosis that could cost him something even more precious than his life: his sense of taste. Rather than risk the very thing that defines him, Miller embarks on a last tour of his favorite meals while he still can.

But there’s a catch: he needs a financial backer to make it happen, and he doesn’t want anyone to know he’s sick.

Dr. Clancy Rhodes has two weeks to come to terms with putting aside oncology to work at his father’s thriving plastic surgery practice. When the opportunity to travel with a Michelin-starred chef presents itself, the foodie in him can’t believe it. It doesn’t hurt that Miller’s rugged good looks are exactly Clancy’s cuppa joe.

As Clancy and Miller travel from coast to coast and indulge in everything from dive bars to the most decadent of culinary experiences, they’re suddenly sharing a lot more than delicious meals. Sparks fly as they bond over their love of flavors and the pressures of great expectations. But when Miller’s health takes a turn for the worse, Clancy must convince him he’s more—so much more—than just his taste buds. And that together, they can win a battle that once seemed hopeless.

One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

Links:

AMZ: https://amzn.to/2CNDzbA

Universal: https://books2read.com/DineWithMe

September  Teaser:

“Any other rules?” he asked.

There was one other, though not a rule so much as dispelling a myth that Miller, as a chef, fucking loathed. “If someone has ever told you to leave a tiny bit of food on your plate as a gesture of respect to the kitchen, don’t listen to them. And don’t do it. It’s a load of horse shit. If you’re full, then fine, don’t force yourself. But if you want to eat it all, by all means, eat it all. Nothing I liked better than seeing empty plates come back to the kitchen.”

“If someone ever told me that, I didn’t listen. It’s fucking idiotic.”

“Good,” Miller said with a sharp, satisfied nod. “I’m glad we have an understanding there.”

“I understand that every bit of food I can get in my belly is going in there.”

Miller had no idea where it was all going to go in that trim body, but he looked forward to seeing Clancy try. “Then we’re all set.” He shrugged into his overcoat and opened the door for Clancy. “Shall we get the belly stuffing underway?”

“Two and a half hours of it.” Clancy patted said belly as he stepped into the hallway. “I can’t wait.”

“Revise that.” Miller pulled the door closed behind them. “Four hours.”

“Four? All the reviews I read said to plan for two and a half.”

“Those people received menus. We won’t. Think you can handle it?”

“I’m game.” The eagerness in Clancy’s eyes was a good sign. Miller’s experience with people who said they “eat it all” was that their no-no list was in fact a mile long. He didn’t sense that was the case with his companion, which boded well for tonight. And the trip as a whole. If it was true.

He gave Clancy a wink. “You’re in for a treat.”

About Layla Reyne:

RITA Finalist Layla Reyne is the author of the Agents Irish and Whiskey, Fog City, and Changing Lanes series. A Carolina Tar Heel who now calls the San Francisco Bay Area home, Layla enjoys weaving her bi-coastal experiences into her stories, along with adrenaline-fueled suspense and heart-pounding romance. She is a member of Romance Writers of America and its Kiss of Death and Rainbow Romance Writers chapters. Layla is a 2019 RWA® RITA® Finalist in Contemporary Romance (Mid-Length) and 2016 RWA® Golden Heart® Finalist in Romantic Suspense.

Connect with Layla:

FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/laylaslushes/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/laylareyne

IG: https://www.instagram.com/laylareyne/

Newsletter: https://www.laylareyne.com/signup

AMZ: https://www.amazon.com/author/LaylaReyne

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/layla-reyne

A MelanieM Review: Coach’s Challenge (Scoring Chances #5) by Avon Gale

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

It’s been decades since blackmail forced Troy Callahan to retire from playing professional hockey, and he’s built a successful career behind the bench. When he’s offered the opportunity to coach the Asheville Ravens—the most hated team in the ECHL—he’s convinced that his no-nonsense attitude is just what the team needs to put their focus back on hockey. But Troy is disheartened when he finds out the Ravens have signed Shane North, a player known for his aggression—especially when Shane’s rough good looks have Troy thinking inappropriate thoughts about a player, even if he’s set to retire at the end of the season.

Shane’s career in the majors never quite took off. Wanting to quit on his own terms, Shane agrees to a one-year contract with the Ravens and finds himself playing for a coach who thinks he’s an aging goon, and with a team that doesn’t trust him, Troy, or each other. Despite his determination not to get involved, Shane unwillingly becomes part of the team… and is just as unwillingly drawn to the gruff, out-and-proud coach. As the Ravens struggle to build a new identity, Shane and Troy succumb to the passion that might cost them everything.

I hate coming to the last of the released books in a series I love, especially this one.  Scoring Chances has really grabbed at my heart with the stories of competing teams in the ECHL, whether it’s been the  Jacksonville Sea Storm, Spartanburg Spitfires, and here finally the reviled Asheville Ravens, and the hockey players within those teams that love and fought hard on and off the ice.

What a group its been.  Closeted players, tormented coaches, goalies tossed away by their families and rich kids coming into their own and finding love and themselves on and off the ice.  Avon Gale has captured the essence of this game at its most basic while giving the readers great romance and yes, sexy men.

ECHL is a special place.  Easy Come Hard to Leave as the author has mentioned the East Coast Hockey League is called.  The players come into it not solely by draft, although those lucky enough to be drafted by the NHL are sent there first to learn the ropes and get seasoning.  No, hockey players can just show up and try out, no draft needed.    It lends itself to a special type of player and mentality.  And a camaraderie between the players off the ice after the games are over.  It’s an atmosphere where the pay is miniscule, the hours long, and the passion for the game hot.

We get that in these stories and from these men and couples.  Certainly so here from the man trying to rebuild one of the most hated teams in the ECHL.  That would be the Ashville Ravens. In Coach’s Challenge (Scoring Chances #5) by Avon Gale we finally get an inside look at the team we’ve only seen on the other side of the rink.  Usually its after they’ve tossed slurs at some of our favorite men or even committed crimes against them.   Now we get the flip side as Troy Callahan takes on the unenviable job of coach and rebuilding this team completely after the events of the last story.

Troy has given up the chance to coach in the NHL to rebuild the Ravens and all the reasons why fall out quickly.  Troy’s character is hockey tough, his personal pain still  driving him, and he’s easy to connect to.  So is the man arriving late to training, Shane North, a hockey player in the last year before retirement and looking to go out the right way.

Shane North, older, looking for one last year of hockey, played honorably, is a perfect person to represent a ECHL player.  Someone with years of playing behind them who still wants to play, that one more year.  Who continues to love the game.  He’s human, layered, and so personable that I just fell in love with him.   And his rickety car that barely made it to Ashville.

Between Shane and Troy, the chemistry is immediately hot, the dynamics perfect, and I love the way their relationship plays out  professionally and out of uniform.

There is still fallout from the scandal and NHL proceedings that entwine throughout the story.  The intrigue and suspense just adds to the overall depth and enjoyment.  But the real stars here remain the game and the romance.  The action on the ice, the plays, the excitement! You can almost imagine these teams and players are real.  That goes for the love and romance too.

I just adore this series and hope eventually to see another story release.  There are other players here that need their HEA and story told.   I’ll be waiting for it and them.

Until that happens, I’ll be content to reread this series as is.  Are you new to it?  I highly recommend each and every story but read them in the order they were written to understand the history of the teams, the players, and the Kelley Cup.  It’s a journey you won’t want to miss out on.

Cover art: Aaron Anderson.  Again, another great cover that brands the series and the story.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 200 pages
Published June 26th 2017 by Dreamspinner Press
Original Title Coach’s Challenge
ISBN139781635337662
Edition Language English
Series Scoring Chances #5

Reviewer note: arcs purchased directly from Amazon for the entire series.

Scoring Chances Series – add to Goodreads here

Breakaway

Save of the Game

Power Play

Overtime

Empty Net

Coach’s Challenge

A Stella Review: Stained Hearts (Links In the Chain #3) by Parker Williams

RATING 4,5 out of 5 stars

Can two hearts stained by past pain find healing together?

Tom Kotke held his husband of twenty-five years on the day he died and spent nearly a year adrift. Determined to force Tom back into the world, his family takes him to the Park View Diner, where he meets young stained-glass artist Aiden Dawson. For a brief moment, Tom doesn’t think about his deceased husband—a terrifying prospect.

Slowly, Aiden draws Tom out of his shell and helps him feel alive once more. But Tom isn’t the only one who has suffered. Aiden fears no one sees beyond his wheelchair. Even if Tom can convince him he’s different, they’ll still have to overcome their age difference and a secret that could destroy their future together.

When I had this new release by Parker Williams on my hands, it was probably the first time I was at the same time enthusiastic and scared, I dread Tom’s story, I knew it was going to break me down and it did it till the last chapter. The author is a fave of mine and I am familiar with how good he is at writing lovely book, but I want to say I truly appreciated how real and dedicated he was at the beginning in writing about Brian and his last weeks. And then he did it again later with Aiden and his illness. Although I can’t really choose, Stained Hearts was the best in the series; yes I cried a lot, but these characters were all, each one for a different reason, so very close to my heart and real life, it was inevitable to me to fall for them and cherish their happiness. Plus it was a novel full of surprises and twists, till the end, so unexpected. I think what I like more in this new installment was how so not perfect both characters were, on the contrary it almost seemed to me the author put a focus on their faults and turned them into their strength. It was clear how much Tom and Aiden grew through the book, especially Aiden who was too many time treat as a baby.  The link between these two men became stronger with every new page I read and the love they shared so deep.

Stained Hearts was not an easy story to me, but it was surely a beautiful journey with some amazing characters I hope to meet again if the author will write more in the Links in the Chain series.

The cover art by Reese Dante  is well done and fitting with all that glass in the background, but I can’t see Tom on the model.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon

BOOK DETAILS

ebook
Expected publication: September 10th 2019 by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN139781644053300
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesLinks In the Chain #3

A VVivacious Review :The Divorce (Starting Over #1) by Matthew J. Metzger

Rating: 3 Stars Out of 5*
Aled is wallowing at the end of his marriage while his best friend, Suze and her husband, Tom try to get him out of it, be getting him rip-roaring drunk and getting him laid via a Grindr profile. When his one-night stand with angel23 turns out to be something more, it might just be the thing that forces Aled to let go and move on.

Buckle in guys, this is a long one…

This book just won’t stop. I can’t, I tried, I really tried but I couldn’t switch my brain off. When I read I mostly dissociate from who I am as a person and I almost always read a character’s perspective which is bad because I borrow the character’s perceptions and therefore are very susceptible to the author’s manipulation, sometimes I can’t pick up harmful stereotyping and words when the character doesn’t pick up on it. I have come to realise that that is why my POV get very limited and I might not be the best person to tell you if a book might have harmful themes but you know what I do. I know what it is like to read a book which has a theme I can’t behind, it is horrible. It feels like a bad threesome starring me, the book and my brain and can I just say, it’s horrible.

This book has multiple instances of unsafe sex, like don’t even ask how many. By the 57% mark, I was still having a breakdown every time I come across this aspect of the book. Romance traditionally has a habit of romanticizing unsafe sex but unsafe sex is against every fibre of my being like the first thing I told myself when I got into romance was that I would not ever overlook this and I don’t.

But, when a book keeps on doing it without at least a veneer of excuse, I just can’t. Like, I will happily take the werewolves don’t get ill excuse as long as you actually give it to me. Anything will do, just give me something to blindfold my eyes. Anything. At this point, I have to say that they have unsafe sex multiple times in this book which becomes increasingly problematic considering that both Aled and Gabriel have sex with multiple partners. Like, that’s just putting salt on my wounds. This is my infidelity, guys, I know some people can’t read a book with cheating in it, apparently I have a hard time getting through books with unsafe sex. And it’s bad, every time they have a sex scene I have to stop reading so I can brace myself for what will in all eventuality follow and because bracing for it doesn’t work I then have to rant to my walls. I keep trying to see those scenes as fantasy and I KEEP reminding myself its just a book but then my brain comes back with the counter-argument that if the book doesn’t challenge it how is anyone reading the book going to know it’s wrong. Also, what is Gabriel’s problems with condoms? I really, really don’t understand how these two to plan to avoid STDs if they continue to have multiple sexual partners. It is so so stupid, I have no words.

This book was a literal experience, I literally can’t say where it goes on the rating scale. There were so many things happening in RL while I was reading this book and also while reading I learned that this book is planned as the first in a series and the author has a series blurb up on Goodreads which is different than this book’s blurb and actually the direction that the series blurb offers isn’t even hinted at in the first book, so I felt like I was being cheated into reading something that might later turn into something else and I’m not sure if I actually have been cheated but it does feel that way.

Aled and Gabriel are rational characters aside from that complete asinine need to contract STDs, they are amazing characters. They are both very gritty and Gabriel did start off on my wrong side but later I really came to appreciate his character though I continue to disagree with his choices during sex. I kind of get him, I totally don’t get his aversion to condoms and I can’t believe Aled gave in without a word? Aled is a good guy though there is a literal asterisk next to the word good which implies just what you though it does.

How am I going to write this review? I liked Aled and Gabriel as characters and the author had me invested in the storyline and I liked where the story is going and I liked how this story starts with Melissa and Aled’s impending divorce and how it comes full circle with that point but I don’t condone unsafe sex. I want to read the next in this series but believe me, I am already dreading the review for that one as well.

How can I say that I liked this book while not agreeing with something that is shoved in your face every few minutes? There is a lot of sex in this book which would have been amazing because I love Gabriel’s kinks but instead it was torture and not at all in a good way.

I wanted to talk themes that were approached in this book but yeah the fact is that I can’t isolate the story from the sex because it is pretty intermingled and I don’t want someone to twist my words because I don’t know how I can get my feelings across in the right measure.

So Melissa and Aled’s divorce was a refreshing topic something that you don’t see much in romance and I liked how it was done and how it was ultimately resolved. It was certainly a very unique take on an occurrence that I have never actually read being discussed in a romance. But, while the book’s title might make you think that this would be the biggest plot point it isn’t. The Divorce is in all actuality meant to be a romance and while the divorce plays a part in it, it remains just that – a part of the story.

I liked Aled’s friends Suze and Tom who are the only vanilla anything in this book. Though I was personally offended by the way they took Gabriel’s transgender status and yeah when it blows up, I was actually glad that it got addressed but I didn’t like the fact that that had to happen at the expense of Gabriel’s feelings.

I like Gabriel and Aled but I have a major problem with the way they are leading their life. How can people have a discussion about polyamory and not talk about ways to keep themselves safe. Gabriel never wanted to use condoms from the very first time he met Aled on Grindr like literally give me something to keep me disillusioned and Aled was even more pathetic in a way because he tries to use condoms and then forgets about them so easily like I was left reeling.

I want a disclaimer for unsafe sex because it is really putting off especially because after a while it starts resembling a train wreck to me.

It was actually also interesting to see an open relationship because Aled and Gabriel have a very unconventional relationship because Gabriel has sex with other individuals independent of Aled and that is definitely something I have never seen discussed in MM and frankly if the discussion on safe sex is going to be bloody non-existent I actually don’t want to read it again.

I find myself in a big dilemma because while I am invested in these characters and their story I don’t know how I can get over this roadblock.

It was a very big obstacle for me. It might not be for others, so in a way, this might be a book you might have to judge for yourself. This is a pretty unique book a lot of what I read about in this book I have never seen discussed anywhere else and it is written in a very engaging manner which was probably the only reason I got through it so well. Overall, I’m going to give it three stars but that comes with a serious disclaimer because I feel this book would have been pretty good if it had some semblance of safe sex. I can’t say that with surety because the whole safe sex thing was such a big deal to me that I might have missed subtler problems that I might have picked up on otherwise, if not for the very distracting reading experience I had.

Cover Art by Erin Dameron-Hill is very aesthetically pleasing and does a good job of illustrating the title.

Sales Links:  Pride Publishing | Amazon

Book Details:
ebook, 245 pages
Expected publication: September 10th 2019 by Pride Publishing
ISBN139781786518330
Edition Language English
SeriesStarting Over #1

Release Blitz and Giveaway for Puzzle Me This by Eli Easton

 

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link – Exclusive to Amazon and Available to Borrow with Kindle Unlimited
 
Cover Design: Reese Dante
 
Blurb
 

Luke Schumaker designs computer games, working from his home. Every day he walks his dog in the woods nearby, never suspecting that someone who is completely smitten is watching.


The watcher is Alex Shaw, and he too works from home, designing logic and crossword puzzles. Alex’s options are limited: he’s too shy to approach Luke and his wheelchair won’t let him follow into the woods. His solution? Secret messages for Luke in the crosswords he writes for the local paper.


When Luke decodes them, romance begins, but then they face greater puzzles, like Alex’s interfering sister and what commitment to a man in a wheelchair really takes. And, most puzzling of all, how do you know if love is real?

 

About Eli


Having been, at various times and under different names, a minister’s daughter, a computer programmer, a game designer, the author of paranormal mysteries, a fan fiction writer, and organic farmer, Eli has been a m/m romance author since 2013. She has over 30 books published.


Eli has loved romance since her teens and she particular admires writers who can combine literary merit, genuine humor, melting hotness, and eye-dabbing sweetness into one story. She promises to strive to achieve most of that most of the time. She currently lives on a farm in Pennsylvania with her husband, bulldogs, cows, a cat, and lots of groundhogs.


In romance, Eli is best known for her Christmas stories because she’s a total Christmas sap. These include “Blame it on the Mistletoe”, “Unwrapping Hank” and “Merry Christmas, Mr. Miggles”. Her “Howl at the Moon” series of paranormal romances featuring the town of Mad Creek and its dog shifters has been popular with readers. And her series of Amish-themed romances, Men of Lancaster County, has won genre awards.


Her website is www.elieaston.com
You can email her at eli@elieaston.com

 

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In the Mood for a New Love Story? Check Out the Blog Tour for Resonance (A Rhythm of Love #2) by Neve Wilder (excerpt)

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Resonance

A Rhythm of Love Series, Book 2

Neve Wilder

M/M Romance

Release Date: 08.21.19

Resonance - eBook

Blurb

I gave the rumor mill fodder for a lifetime the day I walked away from a lucrative music career without explanation.

People can talk all they like; my record stores are my lifeblood now, and I’m devoted solely to keeping them afloat in the digital age. There’s just one little thing distracting me: an earth-dwelling sunbeam named Owen Harper. I don’t know what I was thinking when I hired him. In fact, maybe I wasn’t thinking at all.

Quirky and excitable, he’s a walking, talking danger to fragile objects. His energy alone could power a small country. That’s never been my style. Hell, I was probably cutting my first album while he was cutting teeth. He wants a music career, and I’m done with all that. We couldn’t be on more opposite paths.

He’s other things, too, though. Things that keep me up late at night. Things that make me forget I’m supposed to be simplifying.

And damn does he love to push my buttons.

Now I’m struggling to resist his pull, drowning in the memory of his skin under my hands, his mouth on mine. His laugh.

When a long shadow from my past comes calling with an offer I’d be stupid to refuse, there’s more on the line than the survival of the shops I’ve dedicated the last fifteen years of my life to.

Because those fragile objects I mentioned earlier? One of them might well be my heart.

Resonance is the second book in the Rhythm of Love series but can be read on its own. It’s a steamy slow burn bisexual age-gap, boss/employee romance with lots of banter and two obstinate heroes who really, really don’t want to want the very thing they both need.

getbook.at/resonance

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Excerpt

Spewing that tirade at his bewildered expression felt good for all of a handful of seconds, long enough for me to leave the room, head down the hall, and straight out the back exit.

My stomach lurched as I scurried across the parking lot to my car, and I cast one last glance over my shoulder at the neon sign before tossing my case in the back seat and then sinking into the front and resting my forehead on the steering wheel. I blinked rapidly against the gathering sting in my eyes. Brush it off, inner cheerleader suggested cheerfully.

I groaned and the voice went silent. About damn time. I’d liked the Sparrow. Too bad I couldn’t show my face there again anytime soon. Probably ever.

I thumped my head against the wheel a couple of times and waited until the burn in the back of my throat faded before digging out my phone and opening my messages.

Owen: Done

Ru: How’d it go

Owen: I tripped running off the stage

Ru: Shit

Owen: But I didn’t wet my pants because 97% of the water in my body had already come out of my palms and forehead by then

Ru called me at that point, and I answered with what I thought might be a Guinness World Record–worthy sustained “fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.”

Ru chuckled good-naturedly, the jerk.

“I’m not really in the mood for vocal interaction right now,” I told him.
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Neve Wilder lives in the southern US, where the summers are hot and the winters are…sometimes cold. She is a mom to three rambunctious weebeasts who have joined forces in a mission to carpet the family home with toys and small items that really suck to step on at six in the morning.

She reads promiscuously across multiple genres, but her favorite stories always contain an element of romance. Incidentally, this is also what she likes to write. Slow-burners with delicious tension? Yes. Whiplash-inducing page-turners, also yes. Down and dirty scorchers? Yes. And every flavor in between.

She believes David Bowie was the sexiest musician to ever live, and she’s always game to nerd out on anything from music to writing.

And finally, she believes that love conquers all. Except the heat index in July. Nothing can conquer that bastard.

Web site: www.nevewilder.com

FB author page: www.facebook.com/nevewilderwrites

FB Reader Group: www.facebook.com/groups/WildersWildOnes

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Neve-Wilder/e/B07HY29JMG

Bookbub Author page: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/neve-wilder

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18429115.Neve_Wilder

Instagram: www.instagram.com/nevewilder

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A MelanieM Review:Drama Dance (Nicky and Noah Mystery #8) by Joe Cosentino

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

Theatre professor Nicky Abbondanza is back at Treemeadow College directing their Nutcracker Ballet co-starring his spouse, theatre professor Noah Oliver, their son Taavi, and their best friend and department head, Martin Anderson. With muscular dance students and faculty in the cast, the Christmas tree on stage isn’t the only thing rising. When cast members drop faster than their loaded dance belts, Nicky and Noah will once again need to use their drama skills to figure out who is cracking the Nutcracker’s nuts, trapping the Mouse King, and being cavalier with the Cavalier, before Nicky and Noah end up stuck in the Land of the Sweets. You will be applauding and shouting Bravo for Joe Cosentino’s fast-paced, side-splittingly funny, edge-of-your-seat entertaining eighth novel in this delightful series.

Take your seats. The curtain is going up on the Fairy—Sugar Plum that is, clumsy mice, malfunctioning toys, and murder!

With Drama Dance (Nicky and Noah Mystery #8) by Joe Cosentino  we’re into the eighth book of the series and the high camp edge this author rides between drama and comedy doesn’t seem as sharp here as it has in previous novels. And I’m so sorry to say that as big a fan as I am of this series. Having all the characters back on familiar ground such as Treemeadow College should work to ground them further in family and friends.  And it does to a point.

Yet, what is familiar can also become route.   I understand that the author uses some of the same descriptions because of new readers to the series and therefore, to this story.  But to those of us that have followed it faithfully, some elements within the series and story just aren’t working, for me at any rate.

I guess first and foremost is the fact that even now at book eight, their son Taavi is still referred to as their adopted son Taavi.  Maybe it’s just me, but you’d think that would have been dropped by now, or that the adoption reference come up less frequently.   Or, the fact that,if the author wanted to clue new readers into Taavi’s history, brought up in a  fresh way. But no. And since I’m on a roll here, the less than flattering name of the poor adopted  grandchild from friends of the MC’s parents often used as a “humor element”.  Not funny.   Again, just my opinion.  But unintentionally or not (and Im sure in this author’s case it’s not), it smacks of racism.

Two of my favorite characters within this series has always been the bickering  older  professor/husband duo of Martin and Ruben.  I am deeply fond of these two and their relationship.  They bicker sharply, lovingly, and their dialog is some of my favorites in the past stories and series.  And like everyone else in the novels, they have aged, getting older to the point that now it’s getting poignant.  And in the case of one secondary character who wants one out of his position, quite mean.  Probably realistic  Again there’s that line.

Are you as an author going tor realistic drama or high camp?  I’m not sure you can have both in this case or in this story.

I liked the idea of The Nutcracker as a vehicle for the players. It should have worked as a perfect foil  for high camp and delicious lines. But again somehow…even the nutcracker jokes were just a little off.  The dynamics between Nicky and the local detective seemed flat whereas they always had a certain tension between them before.  The villain and his capture?  It all seemed a bit familiar, as though it came from a killer and plot a few stories earlier.

Maybe a trip to America’s farmland is needed for them all.  Cheese, grandparents,  and all that. Or New Jersey.

I don’t know what the author has planned next for this series but if you are new to the characters and setting, start at the beginning.  You’ll find there the sheer joie de vivre that made me a fan to begin with.

Cover art is wonderful.  Vibrant, alive, a sure eye catcher!

Sales Links: Amazon 

Book Details:

ebook, 206 pages
Published August 1st 2019 by Joe Cosentino
ISBN13 9780463809051
Edition Language English
Series Nicky and Noah Mystery #8