Category: Contemporary fiction

Review: Truth or Dare (Dare To Try #3) by Ella Frank and Brooke Blaine

Rating: 4.5🌈

Truth or Dare finishes the Dare To Try trilogy and it’s a wonderful book. Ella Frank and Brooke Blaine have our couple, Kieran and Bash, take a realistic look at their jobs, evaluate what’s truly important to each of them, take into consideration the opportunities for each of them to make the move to each other’s state, and then make a decision that’s right for them both.

How I love an adult story with adult perspectives! No huge drama, just real life issues (even though one here is fabulously wealthy), and typical ways (pro and cons list) to help solve them.

It’s beautifully written, great characters, has a road trip I wish we’d gotten more of and a sexy red hot costume party … fans self.

I love these men and this trilogy will have me seeking out the series from each author that some of the other characters came from. I’m now a big fan of both.

Yes to recommending this trilogy, and yes to the authors!

Check them all out!

Dare To Try Trilogy:

✓ Dare You #1

✓ Dare Me #2

✓ Truth or Dare #3

https://www.goodreads.com › showTruth or Dare (Dare to Try, #3) by Ella Frank – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Truth or Dare is the final book in the Dare to Try trilogy and should only be read after Dare You and Dare Me.

Lieutenant Kieran Bailey never saw his life anywhere but the bustling streets of Chicago—but then again, he never saw his life with a boyfriend, either. That all changed when he fell in love with bombshell CEO Sebastian “Bash” Vogel.

But it’s one thing to fall in love. It’s another to try to build a life together when you live hundreds of miles apart.

How do you choose between everything you’ve ever known and everything you’ve ever dreamed of?

This series must be read in the following order:
Dare You (book one)
Dare Me (book two)
Truth or Dare (book three)

Review: Dare Me (Dare To Try #2) by Ella Frank and Brooke Blaine

Rating: 4.5🌈

Dare Me , the second book in the Dare To Try trilogy by

Ella Frank and Brooke Blaine picks up a few weeks after the tumultuous events in the first story, Dare To.

That ended with a miscommunication or perhaps a misunderstanding between Kieran and Bash that sent Bash flying back to his home on South Haven Island, a bridge away from Savannah, Georgia.

Dare Me picks up with Kieran alone in Chicago, devastated by Bash’s departure and unsure of his next step. And with Bash miserable in Georgia, doubting his decisions to leave and missing Kieran like crazy.

Kieran takes the necessary time here to unpack his complicated emotions over everything that’s happened recently. His awakening sexuality in his feelings in all ways for Bash, the misconceptions over a scene in the firehouse, and the fears each is facing over the future.

Then he’s off to confront his man in a wonderful scene in South Haven.

This story is high on love, communication, searing hot sexy scenes, and reconciliation!

There’s not much angst or drama. Instead you get a couple working through very relatable issues in a new relationship, trying to see how how they can mesh their work and romance when they live in two different places.

It all feels real and while they come to a conclusion at the end of the book, the how of it all will spill over to the last novel in the trilogy for a great HEA.

Kieran and Bash are a fantastic engaging couple, sexy and romantic. And the people around them are just as strong as their support.

Love this story. And recommending it!

Dare To Try Trilogy:

✓ Dare You #1

✓ Dare Me #2

✓ Truth or Dare #3

https://www.goodreads.com › showDare Me (Dare to Try, #2) by Brooke Blaine – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Dare Me is part two of the Dare to Try trilogy and should only be read after Dare You.

The moment Bash “Miss Razzle Dazzle” Vogel sashayed into Lieutenant Kieran Bailey’s life, both their worlds were turned upside down.


What started as an easy friendship quickly morphed into sizzling chemistry that neither one could deny.


But what Kieran knows better than anyone is that when a fire burns this hot and heavy, someone’s bound to get burned.


Do they dare to risk being together? Or will the flame of this hot match consume them both?

Review: Charlie Sunshine (Close Proximity #2) by Lily Morton

Rating: 3.5🌈

Charlie Sunshine is the second in the Close Proximity trilogy and I probably didn’t do it any favors by skipping it and reading the infinitely better story After Felix next. It just plain suffers by comparison.

Several things worked against this I think. The author immediately linked books one and three together by the characters and couples themselves. Felix works in Zeb Evans’ employment agency and turns into a great friend of Jesse Reed, Zeb’s boyfriend. The quartet of men was a natural flow of wit, drama, and romance.

But Misha and Charlie? They are associated with the others but mentioned only briefly prior so where the reader felt a real connection to the couples in books one and three, Charlie Sunshine is already flat on the ground, or a bit behind.

Why that last? Unfortunately I think it has to do with the characters themselves. Charlie is almost too perfect. He’s an adorable , highly intelligent librarian who’s runway gorgeous. People walk into poles because they’re looking at him. That’s not exactly relatable. The author needed do something to make him fallible. The answer? Charlie has epilepsy.

This element is well done and well researched. Morton folded this aspect of the story into Charlie’s character realistically. How it effects Charlie and his life is believable. I think it did make me feel that I understood Charlie more. But I felt that I wish I had more of Charlie’s life pre accident so the fact that he had epilepsy now wasn’t just something to make him and the disease, idk , a way of inserting a vulnerability instead of letting readers see a character function beautifully within his diagnosis.

Let me know how you all feel about this. I’m curious.

Misha , the hedge fund banker, is the best friend who suddenly realizes the man he loves is right beside him. It’s a great trope and I’m not sure why again I didn’t get 100 percent into this romance and couple.

There’s the usual lack of understanding, lack of communication until there isn’t.

The characters around them are superb. Charlie’s family especially are tremendous, both dads and mother. So too are Misha’s family of a terrific mom and twin sisters. Plus his cousin Felix.

Morton’s ability to write characters that grab at your heart are scattered throughout this story, I’m just not sure the biggest is Charlie for me. Or Misha. They are good but I’m not sure they are great.

The end is very satisfying, you’ll be happy for the couple. It’s a great place to end for them.

I’m highly recommending the Close Proximity trilogy. Charlie Sunshine is a good way to fill in your knowledge of this group between the first and fantastic last novels.

Close Proximity series:

✓ Best Man #1

✓ Charlie Sunshine #2

✓ After Felix #3

https://www.goodreads.com › showCharlie Sunshine (Close Proximity, #2) by Lily Morton – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Sometimes love is a lot closer to home than you think.

Charlie Burroughs can’t keep a man. All he wants is a good relationship like the ones he sees his friends having, but none of the men he picks ever work out. Despite him trying to be the perfect boyfriend, the men are either threatened by his looks or his epilepsy or a combination of the two. It’s lucky that he has his best friend Misha to turn to. The two of them are closer than peas in a pod and fiercely loyal to each other. He can’t imagine his life without Misha in it.

Misha Lebedinsky is the complete opposite of his best friend. Being the support system for his mum and twin sisters leaves Misha with neither the time nor the inclination for a relationship. Quick and frequent hook-ups are his favourite means of communication and any other pesky emotional needs he has are met by Charlie, who he’s devoted to. He lives a life of happy compartmentalization with no intention of ever changing.

All of this changes when the two best friends move in together. Being in close proximity means that they suddenly start to see each other in a very different light. But Charlie struggles when his drive to be the perfect partner clashes with the fact that he’s in love with a man who knows every little thing about him. And even if he can get past that, can a relationship ever work with a man who’d need a dictionary to tell him what love means?

From bestselling author Lily Morton comes a love story about a sunny librarian who has relationship written all over him and a cynical banker who doesn’t even have it in his blurb.

Review: After Felix (Close Proximity #3) by Lily Morton

Rating: 5 🌈

After Felix is the third book in Lily Morton’s Close Proximity series. I skipped over Charlie’s story because the characters of Felix and Max so spoke to me in Best Man that I needed their own story and to see how their romance played out.

I’m so happy I did because this is an amazing story. I have just continued to think over all its many storylines and elements, including the trips the characters make to various locations, and it all comes together in such an amazing romance.

We are with Felix Jackson Max Travers from the beginning of their journey when they meet at the bookstore, through their tumultuous romantic history and finally through the process of working their way back towards each other. Every scene , whether it’s funny or heartbreaking, shows such dimension to their personalities. We fall in love with them and their relationship. We’re invested in their happiness.

Then we get more. As the years pass, through excellent descriptions, we watch the characters undergoing change and growth as they figure out who matters to them, or especially if they can trust again.

Morton builds a heartwarming, believable, at times so painful story of two men who find each other, lose, then need to find a path back to each other again.

It’s truly a remarkable romance with incredible characters and a journey that’s staying with me.

I feel like I’ve found a story I’ll reread when I want a romance to curl up with. It’s in that pile of stories.

I’m highly recommending it. Enjoy!

Close Proximity series:

✓ Best Man #1

◦ Charlie Sunshine #2

✓ After Felix #3

After Felix (Close Proximity, #3) by Lily Morton – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Sometimes the best love stories come in two parts.

When Felix met handsome journalist Max Travers, it was lust at first sight. It was just his luck that he then had to develop a terrible case of feelings and got his heart broken.

However, two and a half years later, he’s over all of that. His job is going well, he has good friends, and he doesn’t lack for male company. Which, of course, is when Max has to come bursting back into his life.

Felix Jackson will always be the one who got away to Max. He’s spent their time apart regretting his actions and hoping for a second chance. When an accident lands him in Felix’s less than tender care, Max is determined to grab this opportunity. The only problem is that Felix is equally determined that he doesn’t.

From bestselling author, Lily Morton comes a story of missed opportunities, second chances, and two very stubborn men.

This is the third book in the Close Proximity series, but it can be read as a standalone.

Review: Security Detail By B. A. Tortuga

Rating: 3 🌈

Security Detail is one of Tortuga’s Cozy Romances and a side story to her last book, Trial By Fire.

That was a romance between a Texas rodeo cowboy and an Australian one, both from rich families with a stake in a child left a orphan when the parents, siblings of the main characters, died.

This book involves two men from the security team from the now married couple, who divide their time between the two countries and their two large holdings. Again one’s a Texan and one’s an Aussie.

The romance isn’t bad, in fact it’s sweet and hot. However, there’s other issues here that carry over from that first novel.

If you’re writing about characters from another country, especially one like Australian, then those characters need to behave and sound like they come from Australia. Even the certain part of Australia.

However, here there’s absolutely nothing to distinguish Ryan (Texan) from Dez (Aussie). Not Dez’s dialog, nothing in his casual chatter, or even the way a Aussie shortens certain words. There’s pages and pages, then a “Oi” gets thrown in the beginning of a sentence. And that’s it .

From a author who’s unbelievable talent lies in establishing the very heart and soul of a character as well as the culture of the land they walk on by just a regional throw away line, the lack of any color to the people here via the verbiage is disappointing.

Nothing especially says Texas either.

Could be anywhere West.

Then there’s the drama which is just , if I’m being kind, uncomplicated. It’s almost exactly the same as before. These are supposed to be extremely smart security professionals. Nothing here says that. So it’s very hard for a reader to engage in the storylines and main characters. Plus there’s no real resolution to the mystery behind the kidnapping. That’s left forgotten, and the reader unsatisfied with this aspect of the story. At least this reader.

Still, people like the intriguing Chrissie the tech guy make the book. You want more of him. And his background.

The conclusion is just odd. They basically decide to start a side office in Costa Rica because Ryan likes a beach and they needed a vacation. While that’s understandable, given past events, they hit their bosses and best friends with this out of the blue with no notice and with everything new , such as untried security just starting.

So again, no. A big SMH for this ending and really the entire story.

I like the cover .

To understand this book, you might want to read Trial By Fire beforehand.

https://www.goodreads.com › showSecurity Detail (AusTex, #2) by B.A. Tortuga – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Security experts Dez and Ryan teamed up to form a business after they worked together on the kidnapping of a friend’s daughter. Australian Dez and former Marine Ryan have amazing chemistry together, and for one amazing night they acted on it. But then Des got cold feet, and the two of them have never connected again in that way.

Ryan thinks Dez just isn’t that into him. Dez doesn’t want to mess up his friendship with Ryan over something that may or may not ever come to pass. In the midst of all this frustration, they also have to deal with a security crisis with their respective best friends, Holden and Lachlan. When they have to band together to get their friends back, Ryan and Dez are reminded why they work so well together. But can they solve their own problems, and find their way back to each other, as well as save the day?

Review: Bad at Love by Aimee Nicole Walker

Rating: 5 🌈

I was so sry when I finished the absolutely marvelous Sinister in Savannah series by Aimee Nicole Walker. That stunner of a trio of storylines pulled together complicated, well defined characters, with equally complex romances, a murder mystery or three, a magnificent Drag Queen to center everyone as well as to bring greater emotional realness. The location of Savannah, Georgia adds a richness of culture and history unlike anything outside of New Orlean’s.

Yes, indeed. This author does dwell most emphatically so well down south in Savannah.

The only reason I didn’t completely lose it after the last story was the author’s promise to visit this universe again. With certain secondary characters everyone adored getting their story.

And here we go! First up with my favorite too!

Bad at Love is Kendall Blakemore’s story. He’s Jonah’s roommate, often seen tossing some gorgeous man out the door in the morning , often his stepbrother, Trevor, after a late late night at The Cockpit, a club he works at. Kendall is beautiful, sassy, and in so many ways you can’t even name, heartbreaking. And this was before he even got his own book. But he was definitely memorable.

Walker brings Kendall even more into focus here as he decides that it’s more than time for him to give the new loving couple, Jonah and Avery, their space and home, and move out on his own.

That’s when it becomes apparent just how scary such a move might be and how dark Kendall’s history has contributed to making this a fragile step. There’s a discussion of Kendall’s eating disorder. It’s well done but should be noted if that’s a trigger for anyone.

As we meet and are diving into the emotional maze that’s Kendall, the author gives us US Deputy Marshal Kurt Dandridge. We’ve tentatively met him before, when he was trying to deny his need for Asher’s chili. Here we see the consequences of that battle and the rest of the Marshals from that night.

It’s a great time for a new group of criminals, a regrouping of some terrific secondary characters, and a wonderful romance between two men who aren’t even looking for love.

Walker is amazing at writing people who feel so believable. Their vulnerabilities, their walls they raise to shield themselves, and even the lies they tell themselves. The author layers them all into the characters personalities and actions as they work their way through the barriers that separates them from each other.

Let us not forget the high action sequences, and humor! That’s all here too! It makes the story. I’m sure the different law enforcement agencies all have their favorites to tell.

But in the end, this is a love story and a outstanding one. I adore this couple, and i needed to see them happy. I absolutely got that. Sigh.

I’m highly recommending this and the connecting series listed below. Read them all.

Note. Not sure of that cover though. Looks a bit like a demented Siamese kittie…hmmmm.

https://www.goodreads.com › showBad at Love by Aimee Nicole Walker – Goodreads

https://www.amazon.com › Bad-Lov…Bad at Love – Kindle edition by Walker, Aimee Nicole. Literature … – Amazon.com

Synopsis:

Bad at making decisions or bad at love? Either way, Kendall Blakemore doesn’t trust his judgment. He falls too hard, too fast, and always for the wrong guy. Needing a major shakeup, Kendall moves into his own place for the first time and seizes a new career opportunity. But everything he thought he wanted turns out to be the last thing he needs. When loneliness threatens to derail Kendall’s good behavior, he decides to rent out his spare bedroom. What could go wrong? Try a tenant who’s temptation incarnate.

Bad at commitment or born to roam? Either way, US Deputy Marshal Kurt Dandridge feels trapped. Maybe staying in one place for too long is the source of his unhappiness, or maybe it’s because he’s engaged to the wrong person. Finding his fiancé in bed with another man takes care of one problem but creates another. Ridge needs a place to live. He’d leave Savannah altogether if not for his vow to apprehend an elusive fugitive. Renting a room from Kendall Blakemore seems like the perfect solution until Ridge finds himself falling for the alluring man. Would one kiss derail his course? And could he stop at just one?

Hurts so good. Chemistry burns between them—hot, consuming, and impossible to ignore. And why should they? Kendall and Ridge are consenting adults who know the score. Being bad has never felt so good, but it’s a slippery slope to navigate. One misstep could have disastrous consequences for both men.

Bad at Love is a standalone novel within the Sinister in Savannah universe where both characters first appeared. It is not necessary to read that series first. Bad at Love is a romantic suspense that’s heavier on the romance than the suspense.

Connected series:

Sinister in Savannah series:

✓ Ride the Lightning #1

✓ Mr. Perfect #2

✓ Pretty Poison #3

Review: Best Man (Close Proximity #1) by Lily Morton

Rating: 4 🌈

Fake boyfriend trope is a favorite of mine so when I saw a story written by a must read author, Lily Morton, with that as a factor, I was in.

It also was a age gap, no surprise, with humor, again, a usual hallmark of this author, and a curmudgeon of a fellow in need a of a bit of a change in perspective about himself and his path in life. So yes, I settled in for a Morton romance.

Best Man didn’t let me down. Indeed our first meeting with the irrepressible Jesse Reed walks into the offices of Zeb Evans’ employment agency for an unforgettable interview. It’s funny, full of the sparkling dialogue and warm chemistry that draws me over and over into Morton’s stories.

We then snap forward several years as Jesse ‘s become a mainstay employee at Zeb’s agency, if a bit of a occasionally over exuberant when carrying out his clients wishes. We fall right into a guffaw moment with Jesse and it’s instant love!

We see the type of relationship Zeb and Jesse have grown into, as well as the potential one that waits if Zeb could allow himself a lessening of the restraints that so tightly bind him.

A wedding and a promise to be the best man necessitate the need for a fake boyfriend for Zeb. Who better then Jesse?

Especially when it’s something both men want truthfully anyway.

Their romance starts remarkably full of exploration and joy but Morton shows that the past history that’s been ignored has a way of interfering until it’s dealt with.

I would have thought Zeb a tad more intelligent about his ex given his past experiences with him in this story so it made events here seem less believable.

But Jessie’s father was a wonderful element and the entire last section of the book warm, inviting, and wholly satisfying.

They made a great couple and I look forward to Charlie and Felix’s books. Especially Felix. I adore that man.

I’m recommending Best Man to all lovers of contemporary romance and Lily Morton. Have a wonderful read!

Close Proximity series:

Best Man #1

Charlie Sunshine #2

After Felix #3

https://www.goodreads.com › showBest Man (Close Proximity, #1) by Lily Morton – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Zeb Evans doesn’t do messy.


The product of a disorganised and chaotic childhood, Zeb likes order and control, and as the boss of his own employment agency he can give that to himself. Life runs along strict lines and he never mixes business with pleasure. Everything in his life lives in neat, alphabetized boxes. Until Jesse.



Jesse Reed is Zeb’s complete opposite. He’s chaos personified. A whirling cyclone of disorder. He’s also charming and funny and a very unwanted distraction.



Which is why it comes as a complete surprise to Zeb to find himself asking Jesse to pose as his boyfriend for a few days in the country at a wedding.



Zeb doesn’t do impulsive, but as the time away progresses, he finds himself increasingly drawn to the merry and irreverent Jesse. But can he bring himself to break the hard-won lessons he’s learnt in life? And even if he can, how could Jesse be attracted to him anyway? He’s so much older than Jesse, not to mention being his boss.



From the bestselling author of the Mixed Messages and Finding Home series comes a warm and funny romance about one man’s fight for control and another man’s determination to circumvent it.



This is the first book in the Close Proximity series, but it can be read as a standalone.

Review: Long Winter (Wild One’s #1) by Rachel Ember

Rating: 3.25🌈

I heard about this book and thought it sounded interesting so I picked it up. Plus I’m always looking for new authors and I love a western romance.

What I found was a novel that held a lot of promise. The story was interesting and the author’s writing was well done. Her descriptions, especially when it came to certain character.dynamics, was realistic and relatable.

But I feel the author undermines her story and her characters relationship development by the consistent yet uneven flashbacks inserted into the current storyline. Just as a reader starts getting invested in Robbie and Lance’s reunion and developing relationship, we are pulled immediately away from them into a flashback. Could be anytime frame, from when they were in grade school to teenagers, the flashbacks themselves are all over the place.

While it serves to fill in gaps in their background and tumultuous childhoods, basically all it does is disconnect us from the present and everything that’s starting to evolve there.

A simple “ remember when….” would have sufficed and not broken the narrative flow half as much as the herky jerky format the author proceeds with throughout this book.

There’s some very charming moments here. Those with the calf are adorable and realistic. Also the character of Robbie’s ex wife is lovely. Well defined and compassionate.

Had this book stayed in the present most of the time, I believe we would feel better and more importantly more deeply connected to everyone involved.

The other “half “ of this series or two parter for this couple is Signs of Spring. Hopefully the flashbacks are over and we can stay in the present. Then the other stories focus on the other Chase brothers.

I’m curious to see how much the format continues so I’m onto the next.

I do like the story but found the format took me out of the narrative too often to stay connected. The author has still done a lovely job with her characters and descriptions.

Check it out for yourself!

https://www.goodreads.com › showLong Winter (Wild Ones #1) by Rachel Ember – Goodreads

Wild Ones Duet:

✓ Long Winter #1

◦ Signs of Spring #2

◦ Burning Season #3

◦ As the Tallgrass Grows #4

Synopsis:

A complicated history divides them, but when they find themselves in close quarters while the snow falls, the heat between them builds slowly, and burns hot.

It’s been a long, cold winter at Riverside Ranch, where Robbie has lived alone since his brothers moved away. Alone, that is, except for his three devious cats, four saddle horses, and the forty-eight mustangs that roam the ranch.

Robbie is preparing for yet another snowfall when he gets the last call he expected—a plea to pick up Lance Taylor from the county jail.

Lance wasn’t just his little brother’s best friend, he was a part of the family. Then, one night, after Lance asked Robbie for something Robbie couldn’t give, he ran away and never came back.

Lance was sixteen and heartbroken when he left his middle-of-nowhere hometown. Six years later, he’s at rock bottom with nowhere else to go, and no one to turn to but Robbie, the man Lance has been inconveniently in love with for most of his life.

When Robbie offers Lance a place to stay, Lance expects a guest bedroom and awkward silences. Instead, he finds himself sharing Robbie’s one-room hayloft apartment and its single bed, while realizing that the old flame he carries for Robbie might not be so hopeless, after all.

Long Winter is the first book in the Wild Ones series and has a happy-for-now ending. Robbie and Lance’s story continues in Signs of Spring, to be released March 12, 2021.

Review: Dare You (Dare To Try #1) by Ella Frank and Brooke Blaine

Rating: 4.75🌈

I’ll confess, I’ve never read either author’s series before or even either author before this book. That’s going to be quickly fixed once this trilogy is done because I’m sold on both this universe and characters the authors have created together and separately.

But first Dare You, the beginning of the Dare To Try trilogy by Ella Frank and Brooke Blaine. It’s a fantastic story. From the moment we’re dropped into plot, which is a fire in progress and a Engine group racing to the call, it’s all in! The authors have our complete attention, making us totally invested in the events unfolding before us.

The fireman is Kieran Bailey, hardworking lieutenant at Station 73, who’s just rescued a gorgeous woman dressed in red from a penthouse suite in Chicago. Or so he thinks.

Until the ambulance arrives and the she is Sebastian “Bash” Vogel, the extremely wealthy, and magnetic, cross-dressing CEO of AnaVoge, a tech company.

Those aren’t spoilers but facts found in the descriptions. Oh but what follows is beyond words fabulous and downright wonderful.

Because the authors take these men on an emotional journey. For Kieran, he’s always thought of himself as straight. He’s from a family with two gay brothers in committed relationships but for himself? Not really. Until Bash comes into his life and makes him question everything.

Kieran’s emotional and sexual journey is realistic, complete with his doubts about his feelings, flashes of guilt and anger, everything he’s unable to communicate or understand when faced with his attraction for Bash.

It’s not just Kieran, however, who is feeling vulnerable. Bash is also having issues with being attracted to a man who’s always identified as being “straight “. Also the fact that they live in separate states . So many potential barriers.

Dare To sees the men beginning to acknowledge not only the attraction but the fact that there’s something else behind the physical attraction. Something that’s emotionally connecting them.

The writing here is so well done, the characters layered and relatable ( even the bazillionaire) because we see them at their most vulnerable.

The end of the novel finds our men at a crossroads of sorts. A crisis that continues into Dare Me, the second story in the trilogy.

All three books are complete so do what I did. Get them all. Set aside a night. Get yourself settled and enjoy a fabulous time.

I’m highly recommending all three, starting with Dare You (Dare To Try #1) by Ella Frank and Brooke Blaine .

I adore these men.

Authors too!

Dare To Try Trilogy:

✓ Dare You #1

✓ Dare Me #2

✓ Truth or Dare #3

Dare You (Dare to Try, #1) by Ella Frank – Goodreads

Synopsis;

From Ella Frank’s Prime Time series and Brooke Blaine’s South Haven series comes an explosive spin-off of both worlds.

Sebastian “Bash” Vogel, the magnetic, cross-dressing CEO of AnaVoge, has long been a lone island when it comes to his personal life. Self-assured and playful, he’s never left wanting for suitors—but Bash isn’t looking for something permanent. He’s more than fulfilled with his company and his closest friends, and no one is going to shake up the status quo.


That is, until he’s thrown over the shoulder of one of Chicago’s finest and hauled out of a burning building.
Kieran Bailey, a sexy, hardworking lieutenant at Station 73, has been reaping the rewards of being crowned the city’s hottest fireman, which his crew never lets him forget. So many ladies, so little time. So when he rescues the latest damsel in distress, no one is more shocked than him to realize he’s played prince charming to another…prince.

But Bash isn’t like anyone Kieran has ever met, and soon his world is turned upside down as he becomes more intrigued by the enigmatic man that he can’t stay away from.

They’re from two different worlds. This could never work. But what if…they dared to try?

Dare You is book one of the Dare to Try trilogy, which must be read in order. Prior reading is not required, but is always a fantastic idea for maximum enjoyment.

Spin off from the Authors South Haven series.

Review: How to Hack a Hacker (Unholy Trifecta #3) by A.J. Sherwood

Rating: 4.5🌈

How to Hack a Hacker , the story where K, aka Kyou, is finally forced into getting his happily ever after.

It’s also the series finale and an excellent one.

Kyou has been somewhat of an enigmatic character. Now his background is exposed, the reasons for his cyber stalking of Brannigan revealed here. The story behind the cyber stalking is as complicated as Kyou. And it takes time to unfold.

Brannigan Genovese, aka the one Kyou has cyber stalked for 12 years, although his friends only know about 6 of them. Bran’s a real estate developer with an uncanny ability to fall into deep trouble at the drop of a hat. And it’s Kyou who’s gotten him out of it, whether Bran’s known it or not.

Brannigan has also been trying to find the person who’s been watching and assisting him online all these years but has always failed.

Only his current crisis brings everyone together.

Yes, the family is all here. Ari, Carter, and Remi. Ivan and Aiden. Even Trixie. All are center stage to support Kyou as he jumps into Bran’s crisis with the Irish Mob. It takes all of them as a family to pull Bran in and pull him out of danger. It’s an exciting and fun filled ride.

This is actually a two part story. Just when one wraps up, a second begins. The last stage brings around an unfinished element that I was very happy to see here. The author was tying up all the loose storylines and making sure that when everyone got their HEA, it’s going to stay that way.

There’s a marriage, a proposal, and a very solid found family thinking about more additions. Such a warm and happy feeling to end the series on.

Sherwood has another marvelous story here and terrific series for me to recommend.

I adore everyone and each couple and family. That includes Remi, naturally.

Unholy Trifecta series:

✓ How to Shield an Assassin #1

✓ How To Steal a Thief #2

✓ How to Hack a Hacker #3

Synopsis:

Staying away is Kyou’s number one rule when it comes to protecting the sexy real-estate developer.

Kyou has a routine. A system. He guards Brannigan Genovese, hacks for his family of choice, and drinks far too much caffeine for any living being. Only a few things can completely disrupt his routine to cause him trouble:

• Brannigan buying up real estate from the Irish Mob

• Kyou’s band of brothers figuring out who Brannigan actually is

• Ivan

• Feelings for one Brannigan Genovese

Oddly enough, it’s the feelings that get Kyou in the most trouble. Because when Brannigan is in danger, Kyou ignores all his brain’s protestations and breaks every rule he has to save the man, including his number one.  

And damn the consequences.

Tags:

It’s not stalking (totally stalking), sleep is for the weak, coffee IS food, running-from-the-mob meet cute, Brannigan does stupid stuff to make Kyou call him, Kyou is utterly done, pansexual character, band of brothers, anxiety, family of choice, emotional growth, so simple a ten-year-old can do it, no really it’s not that hard, Kyou peopled last week, meddling, so much meddling, Irish Mobsters were hurt in the making of this book, Ivan’s actually serious for once, yes the world almost ended

Now Available on Amazon!