Review: The Alpha and The Baker by Roxie Ray

Rating:4

Roxie Ray is a relatively new group of writers for me but I’m really enjoying the books that they write.  The Alpha and The Baker by Roxie Ray is an excellent example.  It’s a paranormal romance about a small town that has two very different pack of shifters with an interesting deep entwined heritage. 

Who will be caught up between them, in a gentle and entertaining manner is a human Asian American baker, Felicia, who is struggling to keep her bakery going after the loss of her mother. 

The authors give us the big exuberant Irish pack of Castiel who runs to Felicia’s bakery in need of cakes for a pack get together. And then an equally lovely and tradition based Mexican pack that lives adjacent to them in town. 

So it’s meet cute, a growing relationship with Castiel and his pack, all of the recipes, Felicia’s culture and background of loss and love, and a divide between the packs that needs to be resolved. 

It’s well written, full of terrific food, great characters, multiculturalism, spicy sex scenes and body positivity. 

Highly enjoyable and recommended. 

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.comThe Alpha And The Baker eBook : Ray, Roxie

Blurb 

A grumpy-sweet alpha. A broke but brilliant baker. One emergency cake order that might just be fate.

When Castiel’s pack reunion turns into a frosting-fueled disaster, the last thing he expects is to find salvation in the form of a tiny bakery—and the fiery, flour-dusted woman who runs it.

Felicia’s barely keeping her business alive, her heart is still healing, and she has zero time for distractions—especially not the ridiculously hot country guy begging for last-minute cakes. But with a hundred people waiting for dessert and a cash offer she can’t refuse, she says yes.

One rushed bake. Three ruined ovens. A van full of dreams.

And a connection that neither of them saw coming.

She’s a human with a whisk.

He’s an Alpha with responsibilities.

But when their worlds collide, it’s anything but half-baked.

Fans of small-town shifter romance, soft alpha energy, and banter that melts frosting will devour this slow-burn standalone with found family, first shifts, and the sweetest damn love story this side of the forest.

Special Fiction Books

Publication date

July 25, 2025

Edition

1st

Language

‎English

Print length

466 pages

Review:  Kill the Beast by Serra Swift

Rating: 4.5⭐️

This is an excellent first book by this author. Kill the Beast by Serra Swift, a fantasy adventure novel, is a remarkable tale of revenge, found family and redemption. 

Situated In lands where humanity has  expanded into lands once shared with Fae, the forward movement of humans and their developments have disastrous consequences when they encounter the otherworldly creatures and the monsters that the fae have created and left behind. 

The fae, fleeing from the iron technology of humanity and losses of their forests or just insults to their superior species, ensured their revenge against humans is often deep and brutal. 

For one woman, Lyssa Cadogan, now Lyssa Carnifax, the Fae’s brutality has been incredibly devastating, the loss of her beloved brother who was murdered by a faerie-made monster known as the Beast. She made an oath on his grave to revenge him and kill the Beast.  And that’s been her life’s goal and work since then. 

A warrior/hunter consumed by her hatred for the Fae and need for revenge. She is hired by a wealthy, sort of dandy Alderic Casimir de Laurent, who has knowledge of the Monster and hires her to kill it. 

And it’s not just as simple as that.

So many interesting and tragic layers to the story and of these people. Multiple losses, deep emotional scars, slowly bonding with each other and with the scary found family that Lyssa has gained over the years. This includes an enormous bullmastiff called Brandy. 

There’s no romance. A past relationship is mentioned and there is a possibility of a future romance. But this is about dealing with trauma, the tragedy of your past, revenge and forgiveness. And finally being able to move forward. 

An absolutely fantastic book by a first time author. I can’t wait to see what they write next. 

Highly recommended. 

Love the cover.

Cover design by Shreya Gupta 

Cover illustration by Kelly Chong

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.comKill the Beast: Swift, Serra: 9781250373786

Blurb 

The Witcher meets Howl’s Moving Castle in this debut original faerie tale of revenge, redemption, and friendship—for fans of T. Kingfisher, Naomi Novik, and cozy fantasy with a dash of gritty adventure.

The night Lyssa Cadogan’s brother was murdered by a faerie-made monster known as the Beast, she made him a promise: she would find a way to destroy the immortal creature and avenge his death. For thirteen years, she has been hunting faeries and the abominations they created. But in all that time, the one Beast she is most desperate to find has never resurfaced.

Until she meets Alderic Casimir de Laurent, a melodramatic dandy with a coin purse bigger than his brain. Somehow, he has found the monster’s lair, and—even more surprising—retrieved one of its claws. A claw Lyssa needs in order to forge a sword that can kill the Beast.

Alderic is ill-equipped for a hunt and almost guaranteed to get himself killed. But as the two of them search for the rest of the materials that will be the Beast’s undoing, Alderic reveals hidden depths: dark secrets that he guards as carefully as Lyssa guards hers. Before long, and against Lyssa’s better judgment, an unlikely friendship begins to bloom—one that will either lead to the culmination of Lyssa’s quest for vengeance, or spell doom for them both.

Tor Books

Publication date

October 14, 2025

Language

‎English

Print length

309 pages

Review: Soul of Fire (Chaosborn Book 2) by Madeleine Eliot

Rating: 4.75⭐️

“The Chaosborn romantasy series unfolds in a Norse-inspired world where dragon-bonded warriors known as the Drage protect kingdoms from an awakening threat called the Darkness.”

An incredible book that ends with a heart-stopping cliffhanger. What a shocker!

That should be my entire review. 

Because that ending? Absolutely threw me. Didn’t see it coming. 

Everything else leading up? Excellent work, great plotting, wonderful suspense and storytelling. 

I mean I love the characters and how the author has developed both the mythology and the interplay between dragons and their bonded people. Then overlapped that with the political drama that’s impacting their lives. 

But still . Boom! With those twists and unexpected surprises. 

Nope. No, spoilers about what happens to Eise and Arik. 

Madeleine Eliot has crafted an amazing book and series, complete with Norse mythology, language and history as well as Celtic lore and language included. Don’t miss out on her notes for the characters and storylines at the beginning. 

And need that third book right now. Pretty please? 

If you have an issue with cliffhangers (and this is a doozy), maybe wait until the next book comes out and read right through. Otherwise, hang in there with me, and read it right now. 

Highly recommended. 

Cover clipart by Viktoriia Ihnatovets ArtCreationsDesign 

Map design by Lindsey Staton

Chaosborn:

Heart of Chaos #1

Soul of Fire #2

Buy link

 Book 2 of 2: Chaosborn 

Blurb 

Only a soul of fire can stand against what comes next…

The Rift is stirring, and the Darkness beyond it is no longer content to wait.

As the human king prepares for a war driven by greed rather than survival, newly mated Arik and Eisa are pulled into a dangerous web of politics—one that threatens not only their fragile alliances, but the mate bond that ties their souls together.

When the Darkness breaks free, only a soul of fire born once in a generation can stand against what comes next. And awakening that power may cost more than either of them is willing to lose.

Soul of Fire is the second book in the Chaosborn trilogy, an adult romantasy featuring dragon shifters, Norse-inspired lore, and spicy romance.

August 1, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

425 pages

Book 2 of 2

Chaosborn

Review:  Sweet Blood (At First Bite #1) by Lola Glass 

Rating: 3.75⭐️

Sweet Blood (At First Bite #1) by Lola Glass is the first book by this author I’ve read and it’s got several interesting elements about it. 

The first story in a paranormal fated mate’s romance murder mystery series, it has a different take on vampire and shifters than I’ve seen before. 

Here in this universe, vampires are a much weaker species. There was a paranormal war and werewolves came out on top. They now are the ones that have the political power over everyone, including humans who have the same feelings about the few remaining vampires as they do. 

Those vampires who survived, remain hidden among them by using contacts and other forms of camouflage to prevent them from being “outed” as vampires. 

All very opposite to the norm of the genre. 

The lack of strength, ability to walk in sunlight. That’s not exactly explored here. 

The main female character is a vampire who is, of course, hiding her species identity, while working in a high level job in an important werewolf company. 

Bloom, the vampire assistant to a non paranormal director, is the immediate suspect, when one of the other employees is found dead, a victim of a vampire attack. The king of werewolves, Maverick, has her arrested and held after biting her, determining she is a vampire.

This aspect of the story was something I thought needed more attention. No police, just held and moved by the wolves to a cell and “convicted” until proven innocent. 

Any foundation for this isn’t given until much later. And then there’s still no information about any separation between police and the werewolves themselves. And a real legal legitimate framework. I found that missing totally. 

The base is a tenuous fated mate relationship being established between vampire Bloom and King Maverick. He’s insistent upon it. She’s not so sure. Her family? Absolutely not. His own species? Mixed bag. 

Meanwhile, bodies are falling. There’s a heinous plot to be investigated and Bloom’s best childhood friend is in serious trouble. 

Many storylines. And actually one of the best relationships here is that of Bloom and Harper, her best friend who is featured in the second book and mystery.

It’s not a lack of interesting characters and storylines or elements here but maybe follow through. I found myself flipping through pages of spicy sex trying to figure out plots and story arcs that were under explored and required further development. Only to discover that there wasn’t really any other information. 

Another person mentioned that there’s other books and series about vampire/shifter fated mates from this author that exist in the same universe. Maybe some further world building exists there.

I’m at least going to read the second book.  See how the mystery unfolds there. 

If you enjoy paranormal fated mates romance, here is a different take on the trope. 

At First Bite:

Sweet Blood #1

Wolf Blood #2

Same universe:

Wildwood (3 book series)

Buy link

 Book 1 of 2: At First Bite 

Blurb 

A werewolf showed up to investigate a murder in my office building—then bit me, and accused me of being the killer.

When I’m proven innocent, he admits the truth:

We’re soulmates.

Unfortunately for both of us, I’m a vampire. Our people are mortal enemies, so we have no choice but to ignore the connection we share until it eventually fades.

The only problem?

His instincts won’t let him walk away, and he isn’t trying to fight them.

When I’m nearly offed by the murderer myself, all bets are off.

My werewolf will take out the killer and make me his… or we’ll both die trying.

*This is a spicy enemies to lovers romance with a happily ever after

June 24, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

522 pages

Book 1 of 2

At First Bite

Review: Cold Tea by Dart l Wooden

Rating: 4.5⭐️

I know little about this author but Cold Tea is an amazing story. Written in spare, often quiet language, it’s a tale of a Quaker young woman who flees from her farm life and set future in her religious Quaker settlement in Pennsylvania for freedom and a new life in a mining town in Colorado. 

Hearing of an offer of marriage from her mother that’s coming as she’s watching the women around her Quaker community, Ruth Ellison decides that obedience and silence aren’t enough for her and the train going west is her only choice. 

Ruth’s journey, in her drab well worn garb, her courage and determination as well as absolute naïveté about what she encounters is realistically laid out in the narrative. We’re drawn in by her highly detailed observations of those around her, the movements of the townspeople and the dynamics that make it work. On multiple levels and sometimes duplicitous fronts. 

She chooses her direction and destiny. And a new name. 

And every person and each possible path open to Ruth feels both raw, deep and powerfully alive in future opportunities. Wooden’s storytelling has the reader fully emerged in Ruth’s life and journey along with the rest of the characters of Mercy House and the survival of this cold, hard mining town. 

 

I was so invested that even after it ended, I was still pondering their future and what came next. 

Incredible work. Highly recommended. 

Buy link

Cold Tea: A Novel of the Colorado Frontier

Blurb 

She came west with forty-three dollars and a different name.

Pennsylvania nearly buried Ruth Ellison alive — in silence, in obedience, in a future already decided for her. So she ran. She stepped off the train in a Colorado boom town with a stranger’s name lifted off a whiskey crate, and walked through the red-lantern door of the only house that would take her.

They serve cold tea in whiskey glasses at Mercy House. The men tip better when they think a woman is drinking along with them. Eleanor Vale learns that first. Then she learns the ledgers — who owes, who pays, who disappears when the numbers stop adding up.

She is good with numbers. 

Dangerously good. And in a town built on loneliness, coal smoke, and money that moves quietly beneath every handshake, the woman who keeps the books ends up holding the whole town’s secrets.

Then a man dies on the parlor floor, and Eleanor discovers exactly what she is capable of.

A luminous, spare novel about survival, complicity, and the terrible arithmetic of becoming someone new — for readers of News of the World, The Whistling Season, and Paulette Jiles.

Who pays? Someone always does.

July 16, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

204 pages

Check out the latest release “P.S. I Love You“ by Meg Macy (Tour and excerpt)

Review: P.S. I Love You - Meg Macy

Meg Macy has a new MM contemporary book out, Love is Love book three: P.S. I Love You.

Jackson Riley and Juliette (aka Jules) Baxter are enmeshed in new situations. Jack fled his latest trauma to act in a rom-com film, taking a break from his relationship with Reese, but now regrets his impulsiveness. His ex-lover Kyle is the least of his problems when odd things happen on set and off.

Jules and Chris are committed to their new love affair and in charge of the breakfast café and a new bakery, but keeping on top of employees and finances is not yet a “piece of cake.” Family problems also plague Jules and Reese, while Jack discovers that acting in a film is totally different than acting on the stage.

Will he ever answer Reese’s barrage of texts and voicemails? Will Reese solve the mystery of Jack’s mysterious past?

Warnings: Past trauma.

About the Series:

In the Love Is Love series, these LGBTQA+ contemporary romance novels explore past hurts, healing, and the vulnerability of gay love and acceptance. Friendship, trust, courage, and resilience unite to combat fear and homophobia in reshaping lives and communities.

Amazon


Excerpt

Life sometimes throws you a curveball out of nowhere. You either react fast and catch it, or you’re blindsided when it smacks you in the head. The latter applies to Jack Riley’s man, for sure. Reese Baxter missed the worst signs of trouble in their relationship.

Jack knows all about those curveballs, too, after surviving on the streets. He shivers after stepping out of the shower and checks the new tattoo on his upper arm. It’s healed, for the most part, but his skin has raised goosebumps. Michigan ain’t that far from Ontario, but damn. It’s fucking cold in Canada. When he first woke, he caught a glimpse of fat snowflakes outside the window against the darkness. Back in Ann Arbor, he wore shorts and a tee in a string of days with upper sixties temperatures. No need for a coat or a hoodie.

“Jesus. I’m gettin’ to be an old man bitchin’ about the damned weather.”

The patio installation at the café must be almost finished for the one year celebration. Jack wouldn’t blame his bestie and co-owner, Jules Baxter, for going ahead without him. Not that he knows what’s happening, since he ain’t answered any anyone’s texts. After packing a suitcase, donning a sweatshirt he stole from Reese, Jack rode with Kyle Kingston to this town in Canada to share an old house with his ex-lover’s friends. At least until they find out where they’re gonna be sent for the film production.

After toweling dry, Jack dons boxer briefs, jeans, a tee shirt, plus a wool and cashmere ice blue hoodie sweater he bought in Vegas. Takes out his makeup kit, adds moisturizer and bronzer. When his phone on the counter buzzes with a text, his hand slips. Cursing under his breath, he ignores the phone and wipes off his ruined eyeliner. Decides to go femboy with shimmery lavender shadow on his eyelids, contour and blush, then uses setting spray. He brushes and styles his hair, applies lip oil. At a loud crash, Jack rushes out of the bathroom.

“What the hell, King! You okay?”

Muffled mumbling reaches his ears. Kyle rises from the floor, hands blindly groping, and slides back under the covers. “Do I look okay? Goddammit,” he grumbles. “You didn’t have to insist on twin beds, Tink.”

“Fuck off. You’re gonna be late if you ain’t got an alarm set.”

He throws a pillow at Jack. “Go fuck yourself. I need more sleep.”

“’Cause you got drunk last night.”

Kyle pulls the covers over his head. Jack chose to ignore everyone last night, since the table read today is stressful enough. Jack kept waking up, the party keeping him from much needed sleep. Deep snores from the other bedrooms reach his ears now. He failed to memorize his dialogue due to the noise. Hope he don’t bomb today. Reese always helped him relax, rubbing his back, huggin’ or kissin’ him. Jack misses seeing his man’s deep blue eyes, dark hair, scruffy jaw, that broad smile. He inserts his earbuds and chooses a playlist.

After tossing his kit on the flimsy bed, Jack heads to the kitchen. Good thing he set the machine up last night to brew at five a.m. Yawning, he fills two paper cups with black coffee. Adds lids to each… Until their production assistant can find a better place, he’s stuck here with actor friends of Kyle’s. Decent guys but total slobs.

Having to share a room is another bone of contention. No way is Jack gonna film all day for two or three months with his ex-lover and deal with him all night, too. He wants privacy to chill on his own. That better happen, or he’s gonna pitch a fuckin’ fit.

But Jack smiles to hear Conan Gray’s song, “Maniac.” Perfect choice, given how he ended up here with Kyle. His ex abandoned him, then turned up again outta the blue. Wantin’ him back, despite Jack bein’ with Reese now. He shoulda never let him get under his skin.

Donning his boots, heavy parka, and gloves, Jack slings his backpack on one shoulder and carries the coffee cups into the cold. His breath steams in the air. He curses when a sip of coffee burns his tongue. It’s a ten minute walk to the table read location, but he ain’t in the mood to wait for Kyle. Too restless, Jack figures the fresh air will help clear his head. And bein’ early might make a good impression on the director.

Whatever that’s worth.

His homesickness keeps getting worse, his misery deep. Jack tramps on. Every step fails to ease his jumpy nerves. Why did he agree to do this film? For the money, of course, helping the café survive. They got so far in the red, Jack worried they’d lose everything. Until Reese stepped up and took over without telling him, renovating a building on the other side of the café’s parking lot into the Sunshine Bakery. That was a smart move. Less than a month after it opened, profits are paying off some of the debt.

But his man stepped over the line, not telling him he paid half the new patio’s cost with Jules. “Too fuckin’ late to quit this rom-com,” Jack says aloud. “I’m an asshole, lettin’ Kyle talk me into it. I should be at the café, not a stupid table read.”

Jack wished he listened to Stevie’s advice before running off. Regret hits him now. He misses Reese, bad. Seeing his man, sharing meals, cuddling after sex and playing with his chest hair, waking early to see him, his cheeks flushed, hair mussed, naked under a sheet. Or without anything covering his muscular shoulders, arms, and ass. Jack loved to watch Reese sleep or wake up, grumpy and silent, until he drinks coffee.

“Dammit. Stop being so fucking stubborn and text him…”


Author Bio

National bestselling author Meg Macy first dreamed of seeing a book with her name on it in the school library. She’s always found comfort, adventure, and connection in books—which might explain why she now writes stories that offer all three.

Meg writes LGBTQIA+ romance with a touch of spice, intrigue, and plenty of emotional payoff in the LOVE IS LOVE series. M/M romance and M/F polyamory, her stories are comfort reads with a twist. She’s also written cozy mysteries for Kensington, the Shamelessly Adorable Teddy Bear series, and is one half of the D.E. Ireland team for the Agatha-Award nominated historical mysteries featuring Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins.

She lives with her writing companion, Mr. Whiskers the cat, and prefers pages to parties.

Author Website: http://www.megmacy.com

Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/authormegmacy/

Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/MegMacyAuthor

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meg.macy.author/

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15751255.Meg_Macy

Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/meg-macy/

Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Meg-Macy/author/B01N3KTK1N

Other Worlds Ink logo

Review: Bonds of the Forsaken (Forbidden Flight Book 3) by H.G. Chambers

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Bonds of the Forsaken brings the Forbidden Flight fantasy series to a satisfying conclusion. 

H. G. Chambers takes Kiva, and Noor, her bonded kiraeen , and Kahalil, a sage, on a thrilling adventure to save her people and Medina Basin from the Red God. 

Already so many from Medina Basin have perished. Kiva taking for herself the burden of their loss, rightly or wrongly,  because of the last battle. Layered on top of which is the devastating death of Noor’s mate and her fiancé’s kiraeen bondmate. With deeply cutting emotional consequences. 

To find the necessary power and magic to defeat the Red God, Kiva must fly through lands to find people she’s never seen before to accomplish her goals and return home safely in time. 

It’s an emotionally charged and satisfying journey. Kiva’s full of anger and grief and realistic fears about herself and her own personal struggles here and abilities to achieve her goals. Chambers crafts new and exciting landscapes and cultures for Kiva and Noor to experience, in every way possible. Ones that will challenge them and their bond in surprising ways and their own will to survive. 

The final result and battles are epic. The resolution for Kiva and Noor and Medina Basin one that’s feels realistic for all sides, grounded in the events, the growth and development of the individuals. 

And Chambers leaves it open ended enough so that he can revisit it and see where Kiva and Noor’s journey’s takes them. 

As I said, highly satisfactory. And a series I definitely recommend reading for all ages. 

Cover Design: vividcovers

Windwalker Series: 

Forbidden Flight #1

Order of the Red Sons #2

Bonds of the Forsaken #3

Buy link

        Windwalker: Bonds of the Forsaken

    

Blurb 

A city under siege. A god’s wrath. One woman’s fight to save everything she loves.

Madina Basin is under relentless attack from the sharun sand-warrior demons. Determined to stop them once and for all, Kiva leads a daring offensive—only to discover the true power behind the sharun is far more dangerous than she ever imagined.

Now, her only hope to save her people is an ancient artifact with the power to challenge a god. To claim it, she must embark on an epic journey across shifting deserts, perilous forests, and towering mountains. But the weight of her past threatens to destroy her from within, and if she can’t overcome her anger, guilt, and grief, it may consume her first.

Can Kiva conquer her inner demons and secure the artifact in time, or will she return home to find everyone she loves lost forever?

Grab your copy now and join the adventure!

August 18, 2020

Language

‎English

Print length

358 pages

Book 3 of 3

Windwalker

Check out the Cover Reveal Info for “In Love and War” by Beryll & Osiris Brackhaus (post and tour)

In Love and War - The First Lotus Knights, by Beryll & Osiris Brackhaus

Beryll & Osiris Brackhaus have a new queer sci-fantasy romance out (gay, bi, poly): In Love and War – The First Lotus Knights.

It is the year 1985 ET. House Virasana has fallen, the Lotus Throne stands empty, and a bitter succession war has every noble House at arms. To make things worse, House Tô-Genji and House Medina are locked in a vicious feud over a flood of cheap illicit drugs tearing their worlds apart.

Prince Li Lan Tô-Genji is as far from the fighting as one can be. Third son of the Duke of Qufu, Li Lan is the family scholar – kept behind palace walls to preserve tradition, etiquette, and history. Brilliant, restless, and quietly furious at a life chosen for him, he steals what little freedom he can.

Sir Wilhelm Grebenstein arrives with a delegation seeking the Duke’s support for the Grebenstein claimant to the Lotus Throne. An expert swordfighter and genuine hero, he is not much taken with the dirty business of politics, but rather with the brilliant and resourceful third son of the Duke…

Then, Sir Saïd, a dashing Medina knight, is taken prisoner and exhibited in the castle of Li Lan’s father, awaiting an uncertain fate. Yet Li Lan finds him to be an honourable, passionate warrior and both of them are deeply intrigued by each other.

Saving Saïd would be treason. Leaving him would be complicity. Forced into an impossible choice, Li Lan and Wilhelm help Saïd escape – the three flee together, lighting a fuse that will reshape the Virasana Empire. Hunted across a realm in upheaval, they’ll have to fight for their lives, for their love and the reckless hope of an Empire actually worth fighting for.

A swashbuckling queer throuple romance set in the beloved Virasana Empire universe, this standalone space-opera adventure by award-winning authors Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus blends passion, peril, hope, and humour with just the right amount of heat.

Universal Buy Link


Author Bio

Beryll and Osiris Brackhaus are a couple currently living their happily ever after in the very heart of Germany, under the stern but loving surveillance of their three black cats. Both of them are voracious but picky readers, love telling stories and drinking tea, good food and the occasional violent movie. Together, they write novels of adventure and romance, hoping to share a little of their happiness with their readers.

An artist at heart, Beryll was writing stories even before she knew what letters were. As easily inspired as she is frustrated, her own work is never good enough (in her eyes). A perfectionist both in the best and worst sense of the word and the driving creative force of their duo.

An entertainer and craftsman in his approach to writing, Osiris is the down-to-earth, practical part of the duo. Broadly interested in almost every subject and skill, with a sunny mood and caring personality, he strives to bring the human nature into focus of each of their stories.

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

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Review: ABBY, SKYLAR, AND GWYN’S AWESOME APPRENTICESHIP ADVENTURES (Jon’s Mysteries and Mack’s Marvelous Manifestations Short Stories ) by AJ Sherwood 

Rating: 3🌈

This group of 3 short stories is a bit of a mixed bag to be honest. Centered around the teenage characters from AJ Sherwood’s Jon’s Mysteries and Mack’s Marvelous Manifestations series they range from problematic to interesting.

Spoilers:

I didn’t expect this, especially considering such cool characters to work with. 

AITA for Telling My Friend She’s Being Cheated On? This is the story I have major concerns about. Abby, and Skylar are both high school students with powerful magical abilities. One being able to read people. See relationships, health issues. In this case it’s that a friend is being cheated on. Fine. But it’s not the issue. 

The boy is not well liked. Nor is the girl who he’s having the other relationship with. Again not the problem. Although not handled well. 

The issue? Abby reads that the other girl is pregnant, a fact she doesn’t realize herself. Nor does he. 

All extremely serious, private sensitive information. Want to guess how it’s going to be handled? Yep announced to those involved by Abby at school. With no adults present until much later. 

Nowhere is there any discussion on ethics or ramifications of this matter.  We all know how deadly high school is.  None of this matters.  Abby has outed the cheaters. 

This was almost a DNF moment. 

The rest was just ok. Honestly after that. I was done.

The second story saw Gwyn settling in and the third was about ghostly call that went sideways. 

But that first? Nope. Poorly executed and not well executed. 

Where’s the ethics here? 

No recommendations.

Cover by Katie Griffin

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.comAbby, Skylar, and Gwyn’s Awesome Apprenticeship Adventures …

Blurb 

Have a Mack’s Horribly Hellacious Ghost Town hangover and need more? Here are three new short stories featuring the apprentices from Jon’s Mysteries and Mack’s Marvelous Manifestations! Each story is about a first of some kind, learning moments for the girls.

Note: Gwyn was introduced in Mack’s Horribly Hellacious Ghost Town. It is recommended you read that book first, but it’s not necessary.

AITA for Telling My Friend She’s Being Cheated On?

One of Jon’s first lessons to me had been to mind my own business. He’d stressed to me that life would be better for me all around if I kept everything to myself unless someone asked for information. Or unless the situation called for me to reveal that secret.

I, uh, had no idea which heading this fell under.

All in the Family

I think anyone in my shoes would be nervous. I was meeting people who would be in my life for years to come. People who didn’t have to like me. Brandon and Mack assured me it’d be fine, that everyone in their family was easygoing and I’d become part of the family, but still. My own parents didn’t like me. How could I expect anyone else to?

First Time for Everything

Lazy Saturday morning with nothing to do? Check.

Unexpected ghosts needing passing? Check.

Being attacked by a ghost without Mack around to help? Uh…help?!

Tags:
apprentices, short stories, side stories, BAMF girls, milestones, ghosts, energy reading, AITA, found family, chosen family, F/F romance, psychics, bonds, Gwyn does her first exorcism, Eli

Review: My Emergency Contact Is A Wolf Shifter by Roxie Ray

Rating: 4.5 ⭐️

The authors writing under the name Roxie Ray have another really well crafted, emotional and surprisingly layered paranormal tale about two people, a potty-mouthed parrot, who find themselves in a relationship, and moving forward with their lives and fixing their issues along the way. 

That one is a wolf shifter who’s been estranged from his shifter community is an even better element. 

Therapy and therapists play a key role here for three characters, the first being a young girl who is a new neighbor of Zoey Yates. 

Zoey, who just moved to the new apartment and town in the Adirondacks for boundaries with her mother and their toxic relationship, is immediately “adopted” by Bobbi, her young neurodivergent neighbor. Bobbi appears often unannounced , backpack in hand, to interact with Zoey and Markie, Zoey, rescue African Grey parrot. Love that parrot btw. Hilarious. 

The characters and their dynamics are incredibly well executed and beautifully written. It’s a layered and believable relationship that develops as they, especially Zoey who wants to remain emotionally independent, starts to accept Bobbi and others as part of her circle. 

That includes Liam, the wolf shifter who ends up as her emergency contact. How that happens is hilarious and honestly, something that you can see happening. 

Liam too is someone who is in need of help, which he acknowledges. The need for protection stemming from his background. 

This is a thoughtfully written, well plotted book, funny, yes,I was absolutely laughing at parts, as well as having small moments of poignant realism, as with  Mr. Hardan.   

It was over far too soon. I found such joy in the company of these characters, the journey that Zoey had to take felt almost familiar in places, and so many truths were uttered here. 

Again, it’s that cover. Threw me totally. What’s that saying? Can’t trust a book by its cover? This book is so much better than the cute cover. 

Pick it up and read it for yourself. 

Highly recommended. 

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.comMy Emergency Contact is a Wolf Shifter – Ray, Roxie

Blurb 

Zoey Yates doesn’t ask for help. She fixes things, handles things, and keeps a carefully maintained emotional perimeter around everything that matters. She has a plan, a parrot with a helpdesk vocabulary, and absolutely zero feelings about the wolf shifter she listed as her emergency contact after knowing him for approximately six hours.

Zero feelings. Completely fine.

The hospital called him anyway. He drove forty minutes in thirty-two. Now he’s in her apartment, cooking eggs she didn’t ask for, and her parrot—who has never liked anyone—has accepted a head scratch. Liam sits across the room, not beside her, because she hasn’t invited anything closer. He waits. He doesn’t push.

Zoey has spent her whole life being the person who shows up. She doesn’t have a protocol for someone who shows up for her.

She’s building one. Against her will. Slightly faster than planned.

My Emergency Contact is a Wolf Shifter is a steamy standalone paranormal romance about a woman who guards everything and the wolf who waited at the door

Special Fiction Books

Publication date

June 16, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

355 pages