Category: LGBTQ Book Reviews

Review: Dryad on Fire (Carnival of Mysteries novel) by Nicole Dennis

Rating: 4.75🌈

Dryad on Fire by Nicole Dennis is a terrific, densely layered piece of storytelling. One of the novels that makes the most of the series central theme of the Carnival of Mysteries, that immortal circus is a major element. So it’s a delightful experience that Dennis delivers many of the main Carnival attractions we’ve already visited and performers featured in books previously released.

However, the Carnival arrives at a place and location where Dennis has created in depth a world of unique magic. It’s a university that encompasses a wealth of magically detailed elements that will be used throughout the story, including the investigation into what’s sickening the Male dryad, Professor Julian Scarlett and his majestic Scarlett Oak, the protector of the Grove, and more. All on the eve of the most important event in the university’s and community’s history, an event it turns out the world’s survival depends on.

With a great deal of emphasis on the importance of the magical science needed for the investigation, and building a ever widening foundation for this world and network of beings, the author has done a fantastic job of bringing this story vividly to life.

Each character, the university, the forest and the grove (separate entities) jump to life under the great characterizations here.

In a way, so many spectacular elements and beings , the density of the investigation, hampered the romance between male dryad Julian and Druid Emrys Cadogan, newly appointed Professor of Botany, who’s fighting his own horrendous battles.

As the events play out, by necessity Julian is sidelined, and with that , so is the relationship, to concentrate on others matters that do impact him and everything else.

But it makes this less a romance and more a fantasy thriller with a side romance. Which is fine. It’s grand at that.

When Julian does reappear, it’s to a real high emotional level and dramatic effect. It works.

In fact, this entire book contains enough elements, characters, and themes to jumpstart a fabulous series. Including new couples.

Dryad on Fire (Carnival of Mysteries novel) by Nicole Dennis is a densely packed, highly entertaining, fantasy thriller, with a small side order of HFN. It can get a bit slow at times but then the intense horror and investigation scenes grab at you and you are committed.

Fabulous plotting, vivid imagery and great characters. Love it. And highly recommending it.

Carnival of Mysteries series:

✓ Crow’s Fate by Kim Fielding❤️

✓ Step Right Up by L.A. Witt

✓ Magic Burning by Kaje Harper ❤️

✓ Night-blooming Hearts by Megan Derr

✓ Go For The Company by Ander C. Lark❤️

✓ Roustabout by Morgan Brice❤️

✓ Assassin by Accident by E.J. Russell❤️

✓ Dryad on Fire by Nicole Dennis ❤️

✓ The Extraordinary Locket of Elijah Gray by Kayleigh Sky

◦ Smoke and Mirrors by Elizabeth Silver – September 20

◦ You Can Do Magic by R.L. Merrill – September 27

◦ Sting in the Tail by TA Moore – October 4

◦ Gods and Monsters by Rachel Langella – October 25

Buy Link :

Dryad on Fire: Carnival of Mysteries

Blurb:

Welcome, Traveler, to Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries!

What you see before you is no mere vagabond circus. Indeed, our show is full of wonders and delights that will leave you breathless, but whether that is with amazement or dread depends entirely upon you. We are unlike any other band of creatures you have ever encountered — and you few brave souls who choose to step beyond your mundane expectations and join us may witness sights beyond your wildest imaginings.

So sit back, relax, and let us entertain you. For time and worlds are fleeting, but each soul has a tale to tell.

Male dryad, Professor Julian Scarlett lands a protected position at the Lunore Academy of the Arcane. Caretaker of his grove, he senses trouble brewing underneath his oak and grove.

A mysterious traveling carnival offers distraction and fun. For Julian, a tarot card reading sparks off fears and heightens hopes.

Brought in mid-semester to replace an ailing Professor of Botany, Emrys Cadogan tries to prevent a potential disaster. A druid, he gets lost in the overwhelming work. Until the carnival offers him a brief distraction and pause.

Sparks strike away from the midway lights. Dark magic flickers and threatens. From games and shows, to life and survival, a druid and a dryad need to survive and fight together to save more than trees.

Dryad on Fire is part of the multi-author Carnival of Mysteries Series. Each book stands alone, but each one includes at least one visit to Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries, a magical, multiverse traveling show full of unusual acts, games, and rides. The Carnival changes to suit the world it’s on, so each visit is unique and special. This book contains a mysterious hero, a lonely wanderer, a vengeful god, and a guaranteed HEA.

Review: Resurrection Reprise: A Soulbound Universe Novel by Hailey Turner

Rating: 5🌈

I love Turner’s Soulbound series and so wanted to see the author revisit this universe. I am thrilled it’s the complicated Spencer Bailey, a favorite in that series, who’s been chosen to get a new story.

The complexity that is mage Spencer Bailey and his relationship with his companion, Psychopomp ocelot , Fatima is a difficult task to describe in one story because readers of the series have gotten to know him over seven books. That goes for Fatima, the Psychopomp too, another layered character.

Not quite a necromancer that raises the dead but a soul breaker, that magical difference being the thing keeping Spencer from the death penalty in the world’s government’s opinions. His type of magic is considered so powerful and rare, so little understood, that most agencies would rather lock him away or kill him than take the chance on his magic working against them.

As with the other government agencies who don’t come off well in Turner’s series, filled with bureaucratic cliques, people’s willingness to take things at face value, it’s no surprise we immediately fall into Spencer’s side of things here as he starts his investigation into a missing artifact. He’s gone from one agency, the PIA (Paranormal Investigations Agency) who handles international investigations and doesn’t want him after that last big battle, to Supernatural Operations Agency, which is the agency that handles the investigations within the country’s boundaries. In other words, don’t leave the country after helping save the world.

Does it help to have read the Soulbound series. Yes. I really don’t consider this a standalone. You need to understand the relationships, events, and even the smallest of references to have a deep appreciation of this story and what happens to Spencer here. That includes the people that show up from the Soulbound series.

Even Spencer’s relationship with Takoma, the Master Vampire of Seattle, has a prior basis in his prior experiences with Lucian, a Master Vampire from Soulbound, unlike any other , and referred to here.

Hailey Turner took her foundational elements from Soulbound and used them as a launching point for an intriguing new story about a mysterious artifact that has gone missing from the federal vault with potential catastrophic consequences . Spencer is the one of the few people who’s had experience with this type of object and operation. The reasons why soon become clear.

The investigation, the events are suspenseful , dangerous, and vastly complicated. Takoma and Spencer have a great chemistry and a hot sexual relationship that makes them a fantastic couple. I would love to see one more story about them with Takoma,working with the New York God pack , removing Spencer altogether from all the federal agencies rosters completely and getting his new life outside of that one. What a tale that would be!

Until then, I’m ready to dive happily back into the Soulbound series, and start over again. Remembering the first time I met everyone, was astonished at the mythology, the labyrinthine storytelling, and the characters I still can’t get enough of.

Soulbound is fabulous stuff, absolutely always on my to be recommended list. Adding this to it.

Love the cover.

Buy Link:

Resurrection Reprise: A Soulbound Universe Novel76Kindle Edition$0.00or $6.99 to buy

Blurb:

Possession is nine-tenths of the law.

Spencer Bailey has spent his entire life under government oversight for something he can’t change: his magic’s affinity for breaking souls. After surviving the end of the world, Spencer joins the Supernatural Operations Agency with the intention of keeping his head down and his hands clean.

Tasked with tracking down a stolen artifact, Spencer wants to run his first case with the SOA by the book. The master vampire of the Seattle Night Court won’t make that easy. Takoma is demanding and possessive, used to getting what he wants, and he lures Spencer into his Night Court with the seductive promise of freedom.

In the Pacific Northwest, ghosts are crawling out of the woodwork, demons are on the rise, and Spencer can’t afford to make a mistake. Torn between the life he should lead and the one Takoma is offering, Spencer has to make a choice that won’t break his soul, but it might just shatter his heart.

Resurrection Reprise is an exciting new standalone novel set in Hailey Turner’s best-selling Soulbound Universe.

Soulbound Universe -Soulbound series:

✓ A Ferry of Bones & Gold #1

✓ All Souls Near & Nigh #2

✓ A Crown of Iron & Silver #3

✓ A Vigil in the Mourning #4

✓ On the Wings of War #5

✓ An Echo in the Sorrow #6

✓ A Veiled & Hallowed Eve #7

Review: Perfectly Perfect Pixie: Peaches’s Story (Perfect Pixie #2) by M. J. May

Rating: 5🌈

I fell in love with this universe and characters when I read M. J. May’s Perfectly Imperfect Pixie, which was the first book in this series. It was a richly detailed, vibrant tale, full of beautifully crafted with fantastic characters a reader could easily imagine and commit to. Vampires, pixies, werewolves, elves, sprites, zombies, witches and more in a lively landscape with a unique foundation and framework that was so solid it just felt right.

Now we’re back for Peaches story. We pick up shortly after the events at the end of Perfectly Imperfect Pixie, so yes, read this series in the order that it’s written.

Peaches, a nature pixie, has found his home in an orchard owned by a human couple. This is a complicated process, as pixies are actually a part of the life of the land itself that they call home. It was a big element in the last story and it remains one here. So well portrayed by May emotionally and descriptively. As is Peaches.

Peaches is golden. Golden pixie dust, gold like the sun. He shines so brightly in the narrative both physically and by his personality that he is almost warm when he appears on the page. That’s amazing writing.

So the reader can understand why a vampire would be so drawn to Peaches, a bit of sunlight they haven’t been able to see in hundreds of years or more. No matter what the mythology says.

The vampire being Lucroy Moony, King of the Southeastern nest in the United States, and owner of the bar, Dusk where Peaches’ friend, Phil, used to work. He’s also the being who saved Peaches life at the trial in book one. They have a starting point of a strange relationship. Lucroy is as dark as Peaches is bright. And just as well defined by his vampire powers , intellect, and age as Peaches is by his charm , bravery, and loving nature. In other words, they oddly match.

May builds a fantastic story here full of mystery, with our characters from the first story (and fast friends with Peaches), elements that have carried over that look to be a arc storyline, and new characters that will be revealed later on to have their own romances and roles within this arc expansion .

I was so enthralled that it was a 3am ending for me. Couldn’t put it down. May gave us sprites, a new ancient vampire I need to see more of, and a new take on social pixies that will make me stay up late again, I’m sure, in the upcoming book three.

And villains. Crazy, awful, and sometimes pathetic villains. I really love these books.

I’m highly recommending them but read them in them in the order that they are written.

Absolutely gorgeous covers!

Perfect Pixie:

✓ Perfectly Imperfect Pixie #1

✓ Perfectly Perfect Pixie #2

◦ Perfectly Charmed Pixie #3 – October 6, 2023

Buy Link :

Perfectly Perfect Pixie: Peaches’s Story (Perfect Pixie Series Book 2)

Blurb:

Peaches is a nature pixie. Fully bonded to his orchard, he can only leave his land for a finite time. Plants, soil, daylight, and every living thing Mother Nature has on tap flows like liquid sunshine through Peaches’s lively veins.

Lucroy Moony was born into his vampiric second life over six hundred years ago. King of the Southeastern nest in the United States, Lucroy is responsible for more than his bar, Dusk. Lucroy only comes alive when the sun goes down. The moon and stars are his backdrop—the sun the quickest path to a pile of ash. Death and darkness fill Lucroy’s body with borrowed blood.

Pixies and vampires couldn’t be more different, and yet, Lucroy and Peaches find themselves drawn together time and again. But vampire myth cautions that pixie blood is deadly, and Lucroy’s willing to put that tale to the test. Nothing that smells as temptingly delicious as Peaches’s blood can be toxic. Right?

Lucroy wants nothing more than to court fate with his pixie, but someone’s been whispering in the vampire council’s ears, and they aren’t pleased to learn Lucroy killed a werewolf to save a pixie. If the council decides Lucroy was in the wrong, his life is forfeit, and the nest he’s tried so hard to protect could be left in sadistic hands.

Lucroy needs to convince the council pixies aren’t toxic but precious creatures. And, more importantly, one pixie, in particular, is his beloved—his Perfectly Perfect Pixie, Peaches.

Perfectly Perfect Pixie has a HEA ending and contains a willful nature pixie, a smitten vampire bar owner, pixie dust eating sprites, and a smattering of dwarf, werewolf, and fairy intrigue. Other species come along for the ride, popping up here and there. Be warned, there is vampire violence and a few heads will roll. If that is offensive or triggering, this may not be your cup of tea.

Review: The Extraordinary Locket of Elijah Gray: Carnival of Mysteries by Kayleigh Sky

Rating: 3🌈

Here’s a book I wanted to like and rate much higher than I eventually did. And it came after much thought, dissecting the book until I realized what exactly kept bothering me about the narrative and the characters.

The plot, some of the issues:

🔹Some major elements treated like minor aspects: Jay, the locket, spirit appearances, different townspeople.

🔹Some sections made no sense except that it was part of the series. Why was the Carnival of Mysteries involved? The boy made an appearance but it wasn’t explained. The main characters went there but it didn’t make much of an impact on the story except for a fight scene that could have happened outside anyway.

🔹That Carnival is supposed to have a protective effect. Didn’t have much of one . Carnival isn’t a well layered in element.

Characters:

🔹The main characters have no chemistry imo. Immediately jump into sex with no relationship.

🔹One mc is actively plotting to steal money from the other if he can find it. 🔹This continues until almost 47%. Even knowing that the other person is in financial trouble.

🔹This same MC has anger management issues, and a “self first”approach that Sky thinks the reader should find connectable. Not for this reader.

Even with supplying a sad back history of rejection for Wade, his shady behavior and intentions just make him cringe worthy rather than a good character to invest our emotional energy in.

Eli on the other hand is a well conceived character. Haunted, his memory jumbled, in financial stress, with a beloved cat in tow, he’s so beautifully written that he almost makes the story. Eli and his ghost.

The ghost too is poignancy itself. A ghost named Jay. And this entire thread is both a great one and an excellent example of how Sky’s story went wrong.

We get bits of Jay. But he’s so much of the heart of the story, why not more. Jay’s the past and it’s present. Sky starts and stops with Jay’s voice, and his history, making it a muddle instead of a clearly defined bridge between Eli and his own troubles. Even the locket of the title is a element that’s not used to fullest. The author trots out a tiny bit at the end of the book, and then it becomes a item that made me ask more questions about the ending than it answers.

Really, where’s Rob been all this time? How’d that spirit get vanquished? Spoiler alert 🚨 A group of men, not just one, trespass and commit arson, and one gets off with a tap on the wrist? That’s satisfying?

Another thing that really made me think about the choices made here. Over and over.

When I thought it through, one character I liked, one character , Jay, whose potential I thought was wasted, and a feline character I liked, wasn’t enough to raise the rating higher than a 3. Too many issues,too muddy a plot, too unbalanced a relationship.

Too bad there is some things that are horrifically interesting. But the way in which the story is written dims the lights on the best this book has to offer.

Carnival of Mysteries series:

✓ Crow’s Fate by Kim Fielding❤️

✓ Step Right Up by L.A. Witt

✓ Magic Burning by Kaje Harper ❤️

✓ Night-blooming Hearts by Megan Derr

✓ Go For The Company by Ander C. Lark❤️

✓ Roustabout by Morgan Brice❤️

✓ Assassin by Accident by E.J. Russell❤️

◦ Dryad on Fire by Nicole Dennis – Sept 13

✓ The Extraordinary Locket of Elijah Gray by Kayleigh Sky

◦ Smoke and Mirrors by Elizabeth Silver – September 20

◦ You Can Do Magic by R.L. Merrill – September 27

◦ Sting in the Tail by TA Moore – October 4

◦ Gods and Monsters by Rachel Langella – October 25

Buy Link :

The Extraordinary Locket of Elijah Gray: Carnival of Mysteries

Blurb:

Don’t look. It isn’t there.

On the day Eli almost drowned in Coup d’Oeil Lake, a boy pulled him to shore and took him to a carnival. Nobody saw the boy or the carnival—not the lights, not the crowds, not the rides. So Eli kept quiet and ignored what he’d seen. He’s good at ignoring things now…

Except for the shadows.

Those he can’t ignore.

One step from homelessness and flirting with assault and battery every time somebody pisses him off makes the caretaker gig on out-of-the-way Greenwood Glen a safe place for Wade to cool his jets for a while. All he has to do is take care of a ramshackle house nobody lives in. Easy peasy.

At first.

The house was quiet until the prickly Elijah Gray returned home with his fluffy cat and woke something up.

Something dark and mysterious… and deadly.

The Extraordinary Locket of Elijah Gray is part of the multi-author Carnival of Mysteries Series. Each book stands alone, but each one includes at least one visit to Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries, a magical, multiverse traveling show full of unusual acts, games, and rides. The Carnival changes to suit the world it’s on, so each visit is unique and special. This book contains a lonely artist who sees ghosts, a fuzzy black cat, a disgruntled caretaker, and a guaranteed HEA.

NOTE: Expect some dark “horror” scenes, but Gus the cat will be living a very long and very happy life.

Review: Dealing Him In (The Kings: Royal Flush Book 1) by Charlie Cochet

Rating: 4.5🌈

Dealing Him In is the start of a new Kings universe series by Charlie Cochet and it’s a terrific one. So easy to dive into the high action and sexy romance between retiring Fire Chief Valentino “Val” Serrano and Kings bodyguard Santos “Saint” Cavallero that my time with the book just slid merrily by.

There’s age gap, bi-sexual awakening ,a mystery, bombs, adrenaline rush, and real chemistry between two men so this romance really ignites and makes me feel as though this relationship has a firm grounding to it.

While you don’t have to be familiar with the other series and characters, it certainly makes it easier when they appear to support Val and Saint in their tentative romance and baby steps toward a HEA, and through the entire events that will occur during the storyline.

There’s plenty of drama to be found here, and various types of support needed.

Each man has realistic doubts about the relationship, the age gap and barriers raised due to personal issues and their own struggles. Cochet did a balanced job in creating a healthy relationship with the men, and advice from friends that carefully helped them understand the stumbling blocks they had raised between each other.

Have to admit I loved the use of the Malinois, but that’s on me. I’m such a sucker for dogs , especially when they’re used appropriately as the author does here with Chip.

Wonderful work all the way up to and through that adrenaline rush of an ending! Fabulous first book of a new series and addition to the Kings Security universe.

Now to wait on the release of book two next year!

Until then I’m highly recommending Dealing Him In (The Kings: Royal Flush Book 1) by Charlie Cochet !

The Kings: Royal Flush:

Dealing Him In #1

Calling His Bluff #2 – Aug 6, 2024

Buy Link :

Dealing Him In (The Kings: Royal Flush Book 1)

Blurb:

Play with fire, and you’ll get burned.

Santos “Saint” Cavallero had his life all figured out when he married his high school sweetheart, joined the Navy, and became a SEAL. After years of being deployed, Saint comes home for good, only to discover his wife has fallen for another man. Now divorced and a bodyguard for Four Kings Security, Saint loves his job and his found family. His dating life? A hot mess, until the spark of an unexpected attraction strikes him like lightning, leaving Saint confused. Why is he feeling hot and bothered over the ruggedly handsome Fire Chief?

After twenty years of service, Valentino “Val” Serrano is passing his fire ax on to the next Fire Chief. His retirement starts off with a bang, literally. Val is saved by the young, hot bodyguard he’s been dreaming of for longer than he cares to admit, but Saint is straight, isn’t he?

Val and Saint get roped into working on Val’s tavern, but Val is determined not to let Saint get under his skin. He’s been here before, and he’s not about to risk his heart, no matter how hot and flirty Saint is. When a killer sets his sights on Val and puts everyone he cares about in harm’s way, there’s suddenly more at risk than their hearts. If Val and Saint don’t stop the killer, their whole world could burn to the ground, and the possibility of a future together will go up in smoke.

FOUR KINGS SECURITY UNIVERSE

STANDALONES

Beware of Geeks Bearing Gifts-Standalone (Spencer and Quinn. Quinn is Ace and Lucky’s cousin.) Can be read any time before In the Cards.

FOUR KINGS SECURITY

🔹Love in Spades-Book 1 (Ace and Colton)

🔹Ante Up-Book 1.5 (Seth and Kit)

Free short story

🔹Be Still My Heart-Book 2 (Red and Laz)

🔹Join the Club-Book 3 (Lucky and Mason)

🔹Diamond in the Rough-Book 4 (King and Leo)

🔹In the Cards-Book 4.5 (Spencer and Quinn’s wedding.)

FOUR KINGS SECURITY BOXED SET

Boxed Set includes all 4 main Four Kings Security novels: Love in Spades, Be Still My Heart, Join the Club, and Diamond in the Rough.

BLACK OPS: OPERATION ORION’S BELT

🔹Kept in the Dark-Book 1 (Standalone series can be read anytime)

THE KINGS: WILD CARDS

🔹Stacking the Deck-Book 1 (Jack and Fitz).

🔹Raising the Ante-Book 2 (Frank and Joshua)

🔹Sleight of Hand-Book 3 (Joker and Gio)

THE KINGS: WILD CARDS BOXED SET Boxed Set includes all 3 main The Kings: Wild Cards books: Stacking the Deck, Raising the Ante, Sleight of Hand, and bonus story In the Cards.

RUNAWAY GROOMS SERIES

🔹Aisle Be There

🔹To Have and Witthold

THE KINGS: ROYAL FLUSH

🔹Dealing Him In

🔹Calling His Bluff”

Review: Patience (Damned Connections #1) by Lark Taylor

Rating: 4.5🌈

I was excited about this story and follow up series to The Reckless Damned . Ferry, aka Ferryman, The Grim Reaper, Charon, the being who ferried the dead souls across the River Styx was last seen leaving Hell on his way topside to the human realm.

Patience goes into Ferry’s tortured backstory, how he ended up as the Grim Reaper, and what he is doing back on Earth. Patience is a wonderful title for him and his ill- fated romance.

The other voice and half of this couple belongs to Leo, a human firefighter. Leo is a very good, very confused man. He’s aware that something has been missing from all his relationships but can’t pinpoint what it is exactly. He believes he’s straight but he struggles with feelings he doesn’t understand.

All with good reason. Leo has a history he’s not allowed to remember until he dies. And then only for one hour.

Lark has done a wonderful job with these characters and their poignant love story. One who remembers everything and one who remembers nothing. It’s a setup guaranteed to usher in huge emotions and a flood of memories and tears.

And it does, scenes upon scenes.

This series follows The Reckless Damned, which is its foundation. So those characters are important here as supporting players and suppliers of knowledge to Leo, as he navigates his way back to Ferry.

Plus there’s always a dramatic element above that of the personal challenges to the mate bond relationship. A outside force that needs to be overcome.

Here that aspect was a little bit easily figured out. But the rest of the story, which was ,in turn, humorous, poignant, sexy, heartbreaking, horrifying , and finally, incredibly beautiful, well, that was fantastic.

It made Ferenc (Ferry) and Leof (Leo’s) longtime love story one of my favorites. And the setup for the next with Leo’s younger brother and a certain enigmatic vampire has me really hooked for more. Need Justice now! But I’ll have to wait until next year.

In the meantime, I’m definitely recommending Patience. And The Reckless Damned if you haven’t already read those as well.

Damned Connections:

✓ Patience #1

◦ Justice #2 – Feb 1, 2024

Prior series:

The Reckless Damned

The Reckless Damned4 booksLark Taylor

Buy Link:

Patience (Damned Connections Book 1)

Blurb:

I paid the ultimate price when I took the gamble to save my mate’s soul.

Ferry

Ferryman. The Grim Reaper. La Muerte. La Pelona. Shinigami. Charon.

I’ve been called many names over the millennia, all thanks to my role in Hell.

Ferrying dead souls over the river Styx.

But few know the demon behind the legend, how I came to be here, or the freedom I sacrificed to save the man I love.

Now I’m free to find him again. The problem? He doesn’t remember me.

And he’s straight.

Leo fell madly in love with me once before. Will he fall again before it’s too late?

Leo

All my life, I’ve felt like something is missing. Neither my job as a firefighter, my brother Matty, nor my ex-girlfriends have been able to fill that hole.

When a mysterious stranger approaches me in a bar, I find myself captivated.

I’ve never been attracted to men before, but I can’t seem to resist him.

Why is it that spending time with Ferry feels so…right? So familiar?

Patience is a fated-mates, second-chance PNR romance. The first in the Damned Connections series, each book will follow a different couple as they find their HEA. Although better read in order, these books can stand alone.

Review: Ghostly Claus (Ghostly Book 4) by E. M. Leya

Rating: 4.5🌈

I really enjoy the Ghostly series by E.M. Leya, it’s got a number of interesting established ghostly characters, a slow burn romance, and at least one mystery per story that has a paranormal aspect to it that brings all the main cast together to find a solution, add to the series otherworldly information, and push the romance a bit further along.

In Ghostly Claus our victim is Santa. It’s the holiday season and someone is about to kill the fat jolly elf himself. But is it due to a lack of Christmas spirit or does the killer just not like the man under the costume? That’s what our coroner, Lance, who can see and converse with ghosts, and his detective boyfriend, Angus, are about to investigate, along with his partner, Frank.

Now on the fourth book, Leya has been accumulating a foundation of characters, alive and ghostly, to act as a found family to our core couple and important side adjacent people like Frank, Angus’ partner. Ghostly Claus continues that path as two more characters arrive in town that look to add to the knowledge of the other realm and expand on the found family for Lance, Angus, and the ghosts who live with Lance.

That’s the soldier brother of Lance returns home after a prolonged absence in missions overseas, and he’s got an unannounced surprise with him.

Once again, Leya gives the reader so much to sink into here. There’s the fact of the dead Santa’s family dynamics which are awkward and difficult for all, especially since his ghost is there, angry at everything he’s hearing and seeing. The mystery of who wanted to murder Santa, and catching him. Plus there the entire brother aspect of this storyline where Lance has decided to inform his brother of his new gift and hope it doesn’t change their relationship. Their brotherly friendship and dynamic feels real, especially as it deepens over the course of the book, each letting memories guide them back to each other. Finally, Angus and Lance continue to grow stronger with each other, not rushing things, communicating, confidently speaking about their lives and the things important to each other. Quietly adult and emotionally mature. So lovely, even with ghosts all around.

I adore the characters, the relationship dynamics, the mysterious nature of the cases, and the slow growth of the love story. Fabulous.

I’m highly recommending this but it needs to be read as part of the series, so really read them in the order they are written in order to understand the events and relationship growth.

Ghostly series:

✓ Ghostly Awakening #1

✓ Ghostly Findings #2

✓ Ghostly Envy #3

✓ Ghostly Claus #4

◦ Ghostly Target #5 – tbd

Buy Link :

Book 4 of 4: Ghostly

Blurb:

When Santa Claus appears on Lance’s autopsy table, he can’t believe his eyes or ears as the not-so-jolly ghost accompanying the body tells Lance he’s been murdered. Solving this murder will take time as the list of suspects is growing. For some, Christmas isn’t the most wonderful time of the year, but it is the most profitable.

To top it off, Lance’s brother is in town visiting and he’s not alone. He’s got a ghost attached to him. Telling his brother that he sees ghosts just became even more important as this ghost insists Lance help him make things right before he moves on.

While the rest of the world prepares for Christmas, Lance and Angus try to salvage what they can of the holiday as they work to solve Santa’s murder and keep someone from stealing everyone’s holiday spirit away

Review: Not Dating Material (Accidental Love, #2) by Saxon James

Rating: 4🌈

I struggled with the rating for many reasons. I had been looking forward to a story that was about the strange dynamic between Seven and Xander, two of my favorite characters. And I wondered how James would create a perfect person to fold into the existing tight relationship. And what that personality would be like.

Honestly, Molly wouldn’t be my choice of person or character to fit into the tight family. But that’s just me. I found Molly swung between irritating or grating while still appreciative of some of the aspects of his personality that James’ wrote into his character.

I thought her portrait of Seven’s as someone afraid of being hurt, again was so well done. Of being open to the exact same emotions that ended up being the thing that damaged him was so beautifully written. It goes perfectly with the well established abuse suffered by Xander. The reader can understand how their dynamic developed and why they are so codependent upon each other still, deeply emotional as family/brothers.

It’s such a strong element here that Molly , is a lesser player just by being himself. I liked that James wrote in the way he was able to examine his own actions and past experiences. And then try to understand how to use people’s help to move on. But he equally at times just feels too superficial in comparison.

I don’t know. I just felt that his character, the“I’m so cute “ personality came across as too much so often of the time. Couldn’t invest in his character or his romantic life.

Which was a shame because I adore Seven and Xander. So two thirds of this story I was anticipating a different kind of partnership. Oh well.

Many will feel differently.

I’m enjoying the series and look forward to the next book.

Accidental Love:

✓ The Husband Hoax #1

✓ Not Dating Material #2

◦ The Revenge Agenda #3 -Feb 28, 2024

Buy Link:

Not Dating Material (Accidental Love Book 2)

Blurb:

MOLLY

Moving to Seattle is supposed to be all about getting a fresh start and leaving the bitter man I was becoming behind.

I have new roommates–quirky, sometimes strange, roommates–a nosy, next door neighbor and a grumpy kitty for company, but even surrounded by people, I still don’t feel like I belong. Plus, it turns out the men in Seattle are exactly the same as the ones I left behind, and my string of romantic disconnections continues.

It’s not until one of my roommates, Seven, hits me with some hard truths that I realize where I was going wrong.

Maybe the men aren’t the problem.

I am.

And there’s only one way to fix that.

SEVEN

Being found tied up naked to my bed by my cute new roommate isn’t an ideal way for us to start a friendship.

But apparently a quid-pro-quo is.

He keeps his pretty lips zipped about the compromising position, and I step in as his dating coach. We go out, I note where he’s going wrong, and he magically becomes dating material.

The problem is, between my codependent brother Xander and a new best friend I can’t get rid of, Molly and I are the target of a matchmaking scheme. My life is way too busy to add another person to it, and Molly is the kinda guy who needs to be made a priority, which I just can’t do. Xander’s medical anxiety takes up too much of my time, and I’ve never found a partner who doesn’t resent it.

I’m determined to help Molly find his ever after.

But that guy will never be me.

Review: I Went on an Adventure and All I Got Was This Barbarian Orc: Book 1 by Jennifer Cody

Rating: 5🌈

Jennifer Cody has started a serialized fantasy story that’s an absolutely fantastic read and entertaining adventure. The drawback? It’s in a serialized format so each story is short and ends far sooner than the reader wants.

I was totally immersed in the characters, the storylines, and the journey they were about to embark on when this tale ended. Argh ! But that’s absolutely in keeping with the spirit and tradition of a serialized story.

So if that’s an issue, then waiting until all the stories are published, then reading them together is probably the best option for you.

But otherwise, dive into a lively tale of a half orc and a necromancer who meet and go on a journey to find the enemy who’s destroying their Kingdom. Each character is intriguing, well fleshed out, and full of great elements. There’s plenty of interesting side characters and an established world that’s further explored as they get closer to their next stage in their relationship.

The sorcerer is a popular character, especially in this form but I really like where Cody is taking Lawton in terms of family dynamics and powers. And of course, his new role and relationship with Berklak, the half-orc. Berklak is another being that’s got plenty of depth and room for growth. Equipped with what we already know about Berklak, he’s already a great main character.

I believe Cody intends to have the installments released pretty quickly. I can’t wait.

Need a new fantasy read? Hear a new addiction for you!

Love the cover.

Buy Link:

Book 1 of 1: I Went On an Adventure and All I Got Was This Barbarian Orc

Blurb:

Berklak:

Being a half-orc is fun most of the time. Most people think I’m all orc, and that usually slicks things up so I can glide in and out of town without much fuss. Most of the time things go really smoothly for me. Sometimes, young watchmen from small towns with too much time on their hands pick a fight with half-orcs just trying to get some mead, and sometimes that ends up with me taking a kid all the way to the capital to become a bard, and sometimes that means I discover along the way a new questline that I need to follow. Sometimes. Well, this time, at least, and my companion for this quest is the cutest little necromancer I’ve ever seen (he’s the only one I’ve ever seen, but he’s adorable).

Now, where did I leave my barrel of mead again?

Lawton:

Being the most feared human in Fasgard is annoying and inconvenient. It’s not like I went out of my way to be born a necromancer, but since my options are death or working for the king, I gladly accept my role as high sorcerer. It doesn’t matter that I’m a prince of the realm, at least not to anyone in the palace. When one of my father’s concubines loses her temper a little too hard, the things I discover lead me to the most wonderful half-orc I’ve ever met (I’ve only met the one, but he’s amazing), and my very first real adventure.

I can’t believe I’m finally going to leave the palace!

I Went on an Adventure and All I Got Was This Barbarian Orc is a five chapter serial fantasy adventure with zen a light-hearted, fun TTRPG vibe. Expect big magic, lots of cuddles, plenty of steam, and a team of characters that might not get a natural 20 on every roll, but they make up for it with creative solutions to both magical and mundane problems.

Review: Bluz (a Culinary Creatures novel) by L Eveland

Rating: 5🌈

Well, Bluz is by far my favorite in an extraordinary paranormal series of magical depths. In Bluz , L Eveland has given this story so many riches in terms of narrative structure and character development that its almost tactile atmosphere could be overlooked for its sublime world building.

It’s inherit within its location, its beings, the culture in this story in a way that is so unique and deeply personal to both characters but especially one. That’s Greyson Boggs,human ,guitarist, a blues musician with an old border collie, Simon. Turns out Simon is also his guide dog as Greyson been going blind since early adolescence from retinitis pigmentosa, another perfectly implemented element.

But that’s just the beginning to the layers of this man. Here’s his voice.

“Footsteps crisscrossed in front of me, busy folk shuffling to places they didn’t want to be. I used the steady beat as my percussion, counting out a one, a two, a five-six-seven-eight while the guitar cried into the humid morning, conveying all the words I couldn’t.

I sang about the places I’d been from the deep dark hollers in rural Georgia to that summer I rode the rails all the way down to New Orleans. I sang about the south, about crawdads and creeks, collard greens and running from the law. The words came with no effort, shaken free from where they rattled around in my head with no pre-planned pattern. “

There’s a particular melodic progression to that voice, one that the author is also born with. And one that’s unfortunately disappearing from the world. It’s the sound and vernacular of spoken Appalachian English language, one of the oldest nonnative spoken languages here in the US. Specifically, the Appalachian dialect or as it’s also known, Smokey Mountains Holler dialect, with its colorful imagery, slow linguistic patterns, and changing tones /spoken words. It’s a language that might even feel a titch familiar, such as where I might say “I took the dog out”

it becomes :

“One night that dog was a-beggin’ and a-cryin’ to go out.”

*In The Language and Life Project that set about documenting the dialects, one man said of his talk “…it’s more like singing than talking…”

That’s pure Appalachian. A dialect so beautifully suited for an Appalachian blind blues singer named Greyson Boggs and his old dog, Simon, that it makes me question that this man is really fictional.

Except, of course, for the werewolves, demons, incubus, and such.

But they get the same layered treatment. A pack in financial straits and leadership issues. A storm coming, a real mixed community to meet, which includes a homeless shelter,imminent storms, and the raw reality of those who live life on the margins. That’s very much an important part of this story and Greyson’s as well.

Gaston, the chef who returned home to help out his recovering father and the pack’s restaurant, Bluz, is a marvelous character. Eveland did a wonderful job in giving him his own issues to work through and challenges to overcome. Gaston is lovely. But he’s next to the powerful Greyson. And he is one of those sharp shining personalities whose life becomes important to the narrative and the reader because of who he is personally. We care so much for him that it’s hard for anyone else to measure up. It’s that voice.

Gaston has a pansexual coming out, not that he wasn’t already, but out to his parents and pack. Another nice aspect of the story because there so many equally strong emotional things that are going on in the story. That includes homelessness. A camp where people/beings live , homeless shelters and what it must feel like to have no where to go when a major disaster is occurring. And it’s done in a matter of fact way that drives home the facts about this aspect of society even more.

There’s a happy romantic journey with communication, some very sexy mate bonding, and very familiar faces from previous books that show up at the end for a satisfying conclusion. Love it.

And through it all, runs songs, and southern cooking. BBQ and the Blues. Do not miss out on all the recipes at the end of each book, this time for pork butt. So yummy. Put on some Etta James or Bill Whithers and grill you some BBQ.

I’m highly recommending Bluz (a Culinary Creatures novel) by L Eveland. This series just continues to get better and expand on the topics within a paranormal realm. Fantastic.

• YouTube: The Language and Life Project : see video

Culinary Creatures:

✓ Brimstone #1

✓ Beefcake #2

✓ Bluz #3

◦ Brewtiful’s #4 – April 30, 2024

Buy Link :

Bluz: A High Heat, Low Stakes MM Monster Romance Novella (Culinary Creatures Book 3)

Blurb:

No one cooks like Gaston, and I’m hungry like a wolf.

Eight years ago, I missed my chance to be with the love of my life. Now, Gaston is back in town to rescue his pack’s troubled bar and grill, Bluz. He’s keen to rekindle things between us, but I’ve still got the blues over how it all went down before.

Gaston’s got a whole life out west full of fast cars, fancy dinners, and famous friends. He claims he’s ready to settle down, and that his wolf has chosen me, but I’m just a country boy, a drifter. Gaston is refined and cultured. I don’t fit into his elegant lifestyle, even if our nights together have been sizzling hot.

His wolf wants me, and I want him, but I’m running out of time to decide. Can I put our troubled past behind me before I lose him forever? Or will our relationship finally go up in smoke?

Bluz is a smoking hot and sticky sweet second chance MM romance between an anthropomorphic werewolf and a visually impaired blues singer. This third installment of the Culinary Creatures series can be read as a standalone, and features a delicious BBQ recipe for you to try at home!

*Appalachian language: The Language and Life Project