Category: LGBTQ Book Reviews

Review: Second Chance at First Love: Prequel to The Storm Boys Series by N. R. Walker

Rating: 4.5 🌈

Second Chance at First Love is N. R. Walker’s prequel to her upcoming series, The Storm Boys. This is a romantic lover’s reunited, second chance at love novella that gives us an enthralling natural experience through the eyes of the characters on their camping/hiking tour across sections of Kakadu National Park. Their guide and tour owner is Paul Morgan, who for the past five years has run a luxury glamping tour business in this park he now calls home.

But it came at a price. The loss of a man he left behind and never stopped loving.

That tormented man, Derek Grimes, appears suddenly , with telescope in hand, as part of his latest small group of campers heading into the bush for the next five days.

Walker’s men are always so real, so quiet, and vulnerable. None as much as Derek Grimes, a man so quiet as to be incommunicative. All his fears, his hopes, Derek keeps buried inside of himself, something that contributed to their failure 5 years ago. His struggles are both valiant and painful to watch.

Around the men are three women we only know just enough about to enjoy their experiences along the trail. But not much else. They are minor supporting roles. Sweet but not very layered.

The major players here are Paul, Derek, and the indescribable beauty of the Park around them. The richness of the landscape and Walker’s ability to make us feel what her characters are feeling is key here.

Absolute wonder.

Towards the end, the epilogue, two more characters are introduced. They are the men of the next series, The Storm Boys. They make quite the entrance!

I can’t wait for that story to be released.

For now, enjoy the remarkable journey home for Paul and Derek, and the beauty that is their section of Kakadu National Park. Tell me if doesn’t make you want to do a little traveling on your own.

I’m highly recommending this book!

Second Chance at First Love: Prequel to The Storm Boys

The Storm Boys:

◦ Outrun The Rain – June 6, 2023

◦ Into The Tempest – June 27, 2023

◦ Touch The Lightning-July 18, 2023

Buy Link:

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Second-…Second Chance at First Love: Prequel to The Storm Boys Series eBook : Walker, N.R.

Description:

PREQUEL TO THE STORM BOYS SERIES

Paul Morgan has been running his luxury camping tour business in Kakadu National Park for the last five years. Taking small groups glamping, hiking, climbing, and swimming. It’s been a busy five years, a hard five years, as he tried to forget the man he left behind.

Derek Grimes pushes people away—a self-preservation reflex. Because they can’t break his heart if he breaks theirs first, right? Five years on, lost and lonely, he tracks down the one and only love of his life. Maybe seeing how Paul had moved on will help Derek move on too . . .

Paul can’t believe it when a familiar name pops up on his client list, and Derek can’t believe how good Paul looks, or just how happy living his dream job has made him. The spark between them never waned, but five years on, they’ve learned a few things about themselves and what they want.

They could have everything they ever dreamed of—if they’re prepared to trust each other. Because a second chance at first love comes but once in a lifetime.

Review: Alliance: The Triad Series: Book One by Cari Z

Rating: 4. 25🌈

Alliance is a new polyamorous M/M/M fantasy from author Cari Z, the first in a series.

I enjoyed the book and my introduction to all three main characters, Symon Parador (mage and reluctant groom), queen’s brother, Prince Petur (shifter with multiple shapes, also reluctant groom ), and Deyvid, a warrior/bodyguard who’s been made null to all magic (and who happens to be Petur’s not so hidden love for years).

Cari Z weaves the three person POV between these characters, starting with my favorite, Symon. It’s he who gets the shocking news he’s immediately to be married to Petur, then the equally unpleasant element that Petur’s got a long time love . Nothing says Symon will be happy or welcome in his new life.

Symon becomes, through his deep, passionate and empathetic spirit that the author has created for him, a person we connect to. His journey to his new life with the Prince’s guards lets the reader and guards form a foundation of knowledge of him that makes Symon a great favorite here.

I only wish that I had more of a glimpse of how Symon looks as a whole, beyond his eyes, jewelry, piercings and great magical abilities. We get individual snapshots but never a whole picture. That’s frustrating. Clothes? Hair? Everything that would help flesh out the man and culture he came from.

Oddly, it’s Deyvid, the warrior who’s also the long time love of Petur that’s next in powerful character embodiment. Deyvid’s a character who is second in coming across as being the most fully formed. We see him. From his figure to his face which always carries a faint aroma of a stain , we can see him. His background and personality feels the most layered next to Symon’s, his personality the more complex, and his personal back story is certainly full of angst, deception, betrayal, and damage.

I have the weirdest feeling that the author just loves writing him because the chemistry Cari Z creates for him , starts with Symon, and then Petur. But it’s Deyvid who’s the glue here of the triad.

Finally there’s Prince Petur. He’s not a character who has a great appeal to begin with. There’s little interaction with others, what we see is quick, sexy moments with Deyvid, and solo moments of intense concentration on his own inner plans and suspicions. When we do see him meet up with Symon, someone we’ve come to love, it reflects poorly on Petur.

Of the three, he’s the weakest link. The one with the least amount of information offered to the reader, the lack of background on the shifter species he belongs to is frustrating, as is the world building here as a whole.

I hope that the next story, Endurance, will build out on the universe so lightly framed out here.

Also on the monarchy and kingdoms that have their political roots at the heart of the arc espionage’s threats. That too was not fully established.

Alliance: The Triad Series: Book One by Cari Z is an entertaining fantasy novel. I felt the triad romance was unbalanced towards two of the men who had most of the narrative time , most of the chemistry, and frankly, were my favorites. Prince Petur wasn’t given the same page time as the others so when he espoused that he now loved Symon, it wasn’t believable. It didn’t have the necessary time to become real.

If you want a fantasy with enemies to lovers romance with a triad of three interesting characters, and ongoing mysteries, this is a good place to start.

A recommended read!

The Triad Series:

Alliance #1

Endurance #2

Buy Link:

Alliance: The Triad Series: Book One

Description:

One wedding. Two grooms. Three lovers, preparing to fight for themselves, and their kingdoms.

Symon Parador is a prince in name only until the day he’s bartered away to the neighboring kingdom, to marry their queen’s brother, Petur. A mage in a nation full of shifters who distrust his magic is bad enough, but even worse is the fact that Petur is already as good as married—to an assassin from the north named Deyvid, who’s immune to all magic.

He doesn’t expect to love either of them, but Deyvid’s surprising kindness is too addictive to run from, and even Petur’s ferocity is lightened by his sly sense of humor. Sy could see himself falling for them…if any of them survive the sudden onslaught of attacks against the royal family.

Entwined in a dangerous game of survival, love, and loyalty, the cost of saving his lovers may be Sy’s own life.

Alliance is a polyamorous M/M/M fantasy with enemies to lovers, graphic violence, snarky humor, and explicit sexual content.

Review: Brackish Water (Angus Green, #4) by Neil S. Plakcy

Rating: 3🌈

Brackish Water is the fourth of the Angus Green novels I’ve read by Neil S. Plakcy, and it’s the one where the series flaws are becoming more apparent.

The strongest aspect of every book has been the mystery and FBI agent Angus Green’s ability to connect with the people involved in the crimes, usually on the hazy end of the spectrum of right and wrong, probably the criminal side, those that may be gay, and need someone to speak for them. That and the crimes are the best part, along with the location of southern Florida in all its messy ways.

That continues here. The art world, the Cuban connection, the plight of the people fleeing Cuba only to find out that they are turning back. It’s dishearteningly sad and believable in this well written storyline.

But what removes the reader from the terrific mystery and its layered narrative is Angus himself and his increasingly wooden relationship with his lover Lester. It started out in the previous stories as just a few lines, then filler paragraphs so a reader could ignore the lack of written chemistry or anything other than a one-dimensional storyline that existed for Lester and Angus.

Only now Plakcy seems resolved to make this a new solid element and it’s feels like an interminable boring couple has entered the building.

Nothing is believable about them. There’s absolutely zero emotion involved. That includes the reader.

Least of all from Angus who is out to save many people and do right by others. Yet when it come to Lester? It’s a flattened version of Angus we hear from.

Oddly mechanical, dispassionate in his approach towards his boyfriend, Lester, viewing him in emotionally distant terms often more suitable for a catalog swimsuit model or hookup rather than someone you’re supposed to love. This element of the Angus Green series has become increasingly problematic as the relationship between Angus and Lester has become more serious, at least on the page.

We hear about Lester’s body, his bedroom skills, his body parts, on and on. Then here, turns out he knows about art. Then Angus doesn’t agree with how Lester handle’s money. But he sure likes his body. I’m very tired of them whenever they get together, honestly. It’s a one-sided perspective and it’s always the same. A one-dimensional relationship with zero dynamics.

And it removes the reader from the mystery.

You start to wish someone would kill off Lester and reinvigorate the series and poor old Angus.

Something needs to. It’s looking pretty dreary.

Plakcy is capable of writing excellent dialogue, seating his characters and storylines deep within his chosen locales. When it all connects, it’s magical. See his Mahu series.

It hasn’t happened here. Not sure it will. But I do see flashes of it in Angus Green and Southern Florida. Just not enough.

Angus Green series:

✓ The Next One Will Kill You #1

✓ Nobody Rides For Free #2

✓ Survival Is A Dying Art #3

✓ Brackish Water #4

Buy Link

Brackish Water: An Angus Green Novel

Description:

FBI Special Agent Angus Green returns to the world of stolen art when a Cuban refugee uses the location of an old master painting to negotiate for his freedom. The perilous waters along Florida’s coastline get easily breached by those smuggling drugs, stolen goods, and human refugees. Angus wades in eagerly, as always, only to discover hidden currents and dangerous obstacles.

At the same time, Angus’s romantic life is heating up as it presents new challenges, and his stepfather’s death gives his mother the opportunity to tell Angus the truth about his parentage in a way that completely rocks his boat.

From gnarled mangrove roots to deadly villains, people and places stand in Angus’s way to keeping his head above water.

Can Angus navigate the brackish waters of the Florida Keys– and political privilege– while staying within the law?

Angus Green [is] the affable hero of this brisk series launch set in South Florida … readers will look forward to seeing a lot more of Angus. Publishers Weekly on The Next One Will Kill You

Review: The Handy Nanny (Nannies of New York Book 3) by K. Sterling

Rating: 4.5🌈

I love K. Sterling’s contemporary romance series, Nannies of New York. Each story is a moving tale of love found and new families formed among Manhattan’s single parents/guardians of young children.

Sterling’s romances are gently choreographed tales of love and found families, with its characters often being people of different backgrounds with hidden emotional struggles and fears as well as strengths.

No where is all of this showcased so well as in the latest book The Handy Manny. The themes of this book are hard emotionally. Sterling goes right into the heart of some of people’s worst fears and those moments of despair and loss. The death of those we love the most. Whether it’s a twin sister, or beloved father or mother. Whether they have died in the past, recently died, or because of their illnesses, know that they won’t live much longer.

The characters here are in various stages of loss, and grief. For a recent death of a sister who was half of him, and who can’t find his way out of his grief. The one called on to help him and his daughter? Penn has dealt with this in the past but has known it’s coming as his father’s fighting cancer.

Yet for all the darkness of the themes and subject matter, the characters and their journey towards a relationship is one of food, laughter, tears, and compassion. It’s not perfect. Each man has a history and their own personal experiences that makes them struggle with this relationship.

But because of the group we’ve gotten to know from the previous novels, another found family of nannies, and families of the men who share a special connection, the doubts, the challenges each face and deal with, feel believable and satisfying at the end.

For people dealing with loss, especially that of a loved family member, this book might be too raw to read at the moment. Morris Mosby’s deep grief and black hole of loss is so well done that as a reader it’s as though you feel his pain and his rage and his inability to comprehend life without her. And his resentment of Pennsylvania Tucker when he arrives to take over until Morris can finally begin to recover. He doesn’t want to recover.

As I said. A tough book .

Pennsylvania Tucker is a complicated man for someone who seems like a happy hippie who care for everyone, a fixer. He’s also someone haunted by his own losses and a loss yet to come.

How they start to heal each other while forming a family over one adorable baby is a gentle, complicated story about recovery, grief, loss, and love.

Just wonderful. And that the next in the series The Enchanting Nanny features Penn’s sister? I can’t wait. Because it’s also got the corporate older scary sister from the second book as a main character as well. One wild ride.

I highly recommend the entire series and this book too.

Nannies of New York :

✓ The Last Nanny In Manhattan #1

✓ Giles Ashby Needs A Nanny #2

✓ The Handy Nanny #3

◦ The Enchanting Nanny #4 – Aug 17, 2023 (f/f)

Buy Link:

The Handy Nanny: Nannies of New York Book 3

Description:

They call Pennsylvania Tucker the human Band-Aid because he can fix just about anything and make anyone feel better, but can Penn mend a broken heart? Reid Marshall thinks so and sends his master nanny on a very important and sensitive mission. A close friend is grieving and caring for his newborn niece after losing his twin sister.

Shy and quiet outside of the studio, Morris Mosby has been a myth in the music industry since he was sixteen. But his sister was the brains behind the “Mosby Machine” and Morris is tempted to walk away from his career and focus on his family. He’s got to put his life back together and raise a baby without his best friend and half of his heart.

Not if Morris’s parents and Penn have anything to say about it. The three of them team up to help Morris heal and rediscover his passion for music. Things heat up between Penn and Morris, but our handy nanny has some old wounds that need mending as well. Can two broken hearts heal each other or has Penn finally found a problem he can’t fix?


*Paperback includes additional illustrations, playlist, bonus epilogue, recipes, and more!

Review: Renovating the Model (Forestville Silver Foxes Book 1) by Nora Phoenix

Rating: 4.75 🌈

Nora Phoenix has released the first book in her new series about older men finding their HEA and it’s a sweet , smartly crafted romantic read.

I found myself liking every aspect of the world building she’s putting in place for her series and the small engaging group of long term friends I’m sure she will pull from to get her stories.

The location is Forestville, Washington. A small town with a river dissecting its Main Street from its outlying edge with some houses, park edge , and auto shop. The author has supplied a charming hand drawn map that helps place all the houses, and really shows how small Forestville is. I love that detail.

Then comes the foundation group of school friends. Boys that have been essentially family to each other since childhood. The story begins in the past, at their senior prom. We see the group dynamics, who they are hooking up with, and plans for their future. Tiago and Tomas , the gorgeous Banner twins are already headed for model fame and fortune. Two other friends,Essex and Auden, are headed into different branches of the military. Marnin’s future was unsettled.

Flash forward 30 years to a class reunion that brings those left together again and we see what the years have changed those teenagers into.

Tiago, along with his twin, are still internationally recognized and sought after super models. But for Tiago, the lifestyle has become increasingly difficult and one he’s tired of.

Renovating the Model Is a smart contemporary romance that contains elements of personal struggles with a learning disability and power inequality within a brotherly dynamic. It’s done with a realistic portrayal of a loving but insecure person who’s been made to feel inferior his entire life because of his severe dyslexia.

There’s other strong aspects to consider here in the narrative, each with varying levels of complexity. Cas’ scars, an inner circle character’s bullying, and even a minor character’s domestic abuse. Each one woven into the story with a gentleness and attention to detail that makes it seem as though they have the emotional impact that they should.

This story is sweet, sexy, convincing, and engaging. I loved the characters, the age gap , here Tiago is 47 or 48 with Cas , the contractor being 18 years younger. But as written, the deep connection and great chemistry between them makes any age gap seem insignificant.

Two final notes. Authors often say books like these are or can be read as standalone stories within the series. But I disagree. There’s a personal connection, emotional history that’s being built into the narrative here. Lines of dialogue and friendship that dates years of change between people who will have important relationships with each person even if it’s not the romantic ones. So read them in order, it just makes sense.

A word choice that bothered me. The author used unpractical. That word by any dictionary’s definition should be impractical.

“Trust me, most of the stuff I model is unpractical, and I’d never wear it in private.”

That’s it. Otherwise, I really enjoyed this book and absolutely recommend it for all lovers of contemporary romance. I can’t wait for the next story to be released.

Forestville Silver Foxes:

✓ Renovating the Model #1

◦ Awakening the Sheriff #2 – July 29, 2023

Buy Link:

Renovating the Model (Forestville Silver Foxes Book 1)

Description:

Everyone knows my face. No one knows the real me.

All people see when they look at me is a beautiful man, a supermodel, half of the world’s most famous twins. No one sees the man underneath.

When I return to Forestville, the small town I grew up in, for my high school reunion, I impulsively decide to stay.

I’m now the proud owner of a house, an absolute fixer-upper. Never mind that I have two left hands.

Thank god for Cas, the local contractor, who agrees to help me out. We come from completely different worlds and are almost twenty years apart, yet we somehow connect.

Cas sees me, the real me.

We hook up…

Then become friends…

With benefits (courtesy of a snowstorm)…

And a fake relationship (long story)…

But when fake becomes real and pretending turns into feelings I can’t deny, I’m left wondering if what we have stands a chance.

Renovating the Model is the first book in the new Forestville Silver Foxes series, a contemporary small-town MM romance series featuring hot silver foxes and the men who fall in love with them. Each book can be read as a standalone.

Review: In-Laws Vs Outlaws ( Hitman Vs Hitman Book 5) by Cari Z and L.A. Witt

Rating: 4.75🌈

Say it isn’t so! The final story In authors Cari Z and L.A. WItt series, Hitman Vs Hitman is here. Those two irascible, delicious, utterly murderous, incredibly wealthy couple, August Morrison and Ricardo Torralba, are getting married.

Of course, it’s utter mayhem and madness when you have the large, warm hearted Torralba family hosting the wedding and meeting August’s parents, the patrician and decidedly less enthusiastic billionaire business billionaires for the first time.

Add in a ex wife, ex detective, ex Mafia boss, all friends now, and what could go wrong?

The authors lay in the humorous aspects of this story but also, not surprisingly, give us the doubts, the family dynamics issues, and all the deeply human elements that erupt during such a momentous time. Areas where the men need to examine their own lives and relationships in order to move forward.

I adored this. It showcased exactly why we’ve come to love this couple and continue with their journey book after book.

So, do I believe the authors are really done with them? Hmmm. Let’s just say if the men start speaking loudly after retirement, I won’t be surprised to see another story eventually emerge.

They are truly hard to say goodbye to.

I’m recommending you read the series and then this story. It’s got the best of both men, the heart and the soul. Great way to see them out.

Hitman Vs Hitman series:

✓ Hitman Vs Hitman #1

✓ Sniper vs Spotter #2

✓ Killer vs Kingpin #3

✓ Cop vs Capo #4

✓ In-Laws vs Outlaws #5 – finale. That’s what they said.

Buy Link:

In-Laws vs. Outlaws (Hitman vs Hitman Book 5)

Description:

Really, guys? Seriously?

A fifth book after we said you were getting a standalone?

Oh, and now you want a wedding. Because you’ve made it through four books and—

You know what? Fine. But we’re not going easy on you.

Bet you wish you’d just gone to Vegas don’t you, August and Ricardo?

In-laws vs. Outlaws is the final—so help us, it really is the final—book in the Hitman vs. Hitman series.

Review: Murder Without Magic (Tudor and Stewart Cosy Mystery Book 3) by Ripley Hayes

Rating: 4.75🌈

Murder Without Magic is a stellar story. Third in Ripley Hayes’ Tuder and Stewart Cosy Mystery series, it’s one that is so much more than its 169 pages numerically would have you believe.

Within a plot to find out who murdered the person in the garden next door to their new home, Hayes’ story encompasses a newly established relationship that deepens through adversity, personal differences over things held basic to Lorne like magic and ghosts, emotional doubts , and abiding love.

Yes , there’s a ghost. Our favorite horse from Abergwyn makes a hugely important contribution, as does Uncle Wint.

The mysteries, multiple, are poignant, terrifying , and fascinating. Hayes’ narrative lays out this element so well that it’s easy to get involved in the process of discovery. Ade, our detective from Abergwyn, is also part of the supporting cast.

But the heart is our couple, Peter and Lorne. Having a new home, establishing themselves in place where they don’t know anyone, a new dream job for Peter with all its stresses, a dream kitchen for Lorne. Only to have everything start to come apart.

That personal struggle to grow together as a couple while solving the mysteries is what makes me love this story, this series and author so.

The people have flaws, they don’t always react well, but because they do love each other, they eventually find a way to make it work and get the culprits.

I think this might be the final book in the series. Hope not. But if it is, I’m happy to see them off in their new kitchen and place by the sea.

Highly recommend this entire series. Read them in the order they are written.

Also don’t miss the recipe for Lorne’s Emergency Refrigerator Cake at the end! It’s a winner!

Tudor and Stewart Cosy Mystery series:

✓ No Accident at Abergwyn #1

✓ No Friends at Abergwyn #2

✓ Murder Without Magic #3

Buy Link:

Murder Without Magic: Tudor and Stewart Cosy Mystery 3 (Tudor and Stewart Abergwyn Mysteries)

Description:

Peter and Lorne have taken the plunge: moved in together in a little house by the sea.

Peter has his dream job, and Lorne has his dream kitchen, and so what if things go bump in the night next door? they can ignore it. The ghost with a violent streak isn’t so easy to ignore. Nor is the dead body in next door’s garden.

Much against their better judgement, and the advice of their friends, Peter and Lorne are dragged kicking and screaming into another investigation.

Only two questions remain: do the bad guys have any idea how hard it will be to to defeat Peter and Lorne, and second, has Peter finally started to believe in magic?

Review: A Hellhound Called Derek (Mated to a Human Book 1) by Michelle Frost

Rating: 3.75🌈

I’ve recently stumbled into several new short paranormal romance series, each by a different author. The authors are new discoveries as well. So a novella works so well to get a feel for their writing style and love for the subject matter.

A Hellhound Called Derek (Mated to a Human Book 1) by Michelle Frost is about 87 pages. Frost gives us a barebones framework for the universe, humans and paranormal beings are, for reasons political and social, given mates from each other’s species. Names plucked from folders, mated, and hopefully, a HEA.

We meet the three paranormal beings getting their mates sitting in a bureaucrat’s office, waiting for their names. Each will have books in the series. First up is Derek, Alpha Hellhound. The way in which he chooses his mate from the folder pile makes sense.

His human mate is adorable. Hollis runs along the lines of the cute, human in need of a protector character but he’s still engaging and earns our sympathy.

The storyline does a good job of building a relationship given it’s a short story. Same goes for the dramatic elements.

There’s a subplot with a human hate group that needs more foundation, more details to come in future books I’m sure.

But in 87 pages, we get a quick romance, terrific characters, and an ongoing dramatic arc. I enjoyed it. Very entertaining and looking forward to the other stories.

Pick them all up and read them in one fell swoop!

A definite recommend!

Mated To A Human series:

✓ A Hellhound Called Derek #1

◦ A Warlock Called Jacob #2

◦ A Vampire Called Leander #3

Buy Link:

A Hellhound Called Derek (Mated To The Human Book 1)

Touch his mate and you’ll wish for the fires of hell.

Alpha of the Hellhound enforcers, Derek doesn’t think he has time for a mate until the Paranormal Council of the city gives him one.

Hollis is smart, funny, vulnerable…human, and his police commissioner uncle has designs to use Hollis’s new mating for his own ends.

He’ll learn quickly not to mess with a hellhound’s mate.

A Hellhound Called Derek is the first in this fast-paced novella series where the paranormals are all deliciously protective of their humans…no matter what type of trouble they get into.

Review: Asher (Demons-In-Law Book 1) by Louisa Masters

Rating: 4.5🌈

Asher, the first in Masters’ new Demons-In-Law series about the fabulously wealthy Bailey clan of demons, see Gideon now mates to Lucifer Sam in the connected Hidden Species/Here Be Dragons series.

It all happens in the very isolated picturesque village of Hortplatz, high in the snowy, very snow mountains of Switzerland, where it has housed an entire settlement of demons.

After a visit by a verified surprises Lucifer Sam , there to meet his bf’s family, it becomes a mission to help them understand the world they live in, it’s diverse paranormal activity and species.

Enter Garrett Smythe! Masters excels at the instant connection, the chemistry that also brings a personal bond. The sex and the emotional touches that come from that first night between Garrett and Asher set the tone for what follows.

They are magic together. Absolutely believable as a couple bonding and in love.

The formidable Bailey family is led by Damaris, the family matriarch. Warrior, politician, all around scary person who adores her family, I love this character! The many Baileys , all the cousins to grandchildren are beings you want to spend time with. I enjoy the species history and physical biology that Masters has written that makes this and them so fascinating.

The other half is, of course, Hellhound. That’s Garrett. And his cousin Alastair. His cousin is a well known character, part of several books. As much as I love him exuberance and way out there actions, here Alastair was actually too much. He had lost some of his charm and veered into being a bit of an irritant. He’s just getting used too much without the necessary underlying depths that made him a better person.

Garrett has those qualities and it makes him a fully dimensional Hellhound. And teacher, anthropologist, and loving new husband.

The relationships between the many characters, teachers to students, children to their large families, families to their community, it’s real protective, and loving. I smiled through the entire read.

This story is funny, surprising, sexy, and has a great twist at the end to bring in familiar faces and a bridge to the next book.

I’m only sorry I can’t go directly onto the next book. But I’ll wait and perhaps reread some of the stories from the two previous series. It’s a great universe!

This is one I’m highly recommending!

Demons-In-Law series:

✓ Asher #1

◦ Micah #2 – September 2023

◦ Zac #3 – TBD early 2024

Buy Link:

Asher (Demons-In-Law Book 1)

Description:

When your imaginary boyfriend turns up in your hometown, marriage is the only option.

I’m not anti-relationship, but my life is good right now, and love is not a priority. Too bad my grandmother disagrees. People say she’s scary, and sure, some of her enemies went missing under mysterious circumstances, but she loves me and wants the best for me… which, right now, is marriage. The matchmaking is a lot, and she’s not letting up. What’s a demon to do except invent a long-distance boyfriend?

That backfires hard when the one-night stand I based my fake boyfriend on arrives in our tiny village. Garrett’s here to help our cut-off town assimilate with the rest of the Community of Species. He’s not expecting to find he has a boyfriend he knew nothing about.

It doesn’t take me long to convince him to agree to my new plan. I need the matchmaking to stop; he needs our insular little community to accept and trust him. The perfect solution: marriage. A business agreement with a time limit.

Just business.

Until he demands more. A sexy, nerdy hellhound in my bed isn’t a deal breaker.

But as we get closer to our end date, it gets harder for me to imagine life without him. And when my little cousin goes missing, it’s Garrett who saves the day… and reveals secrets the village didn’t know we had.

In this hilarious spin-off from the Hidden Species series, Gideon’s cousins get their time to shine… beginning with Asher and his brand-new hellhound husband.

Review: The Magic That Binds (Haelan Book 1) by A.J. Sherwood

Rating: 4.75🌈

The Magic That Binds is the first in a new series by A.J. Sherwood and it’s an excellent story. By the author’s own admission, it’s been a long time coming. A fact made clear by the detailed nature of the book’s world building and the way in which Sherwood slowly creates this incredible, intimate bond between three unusual, and extremely distinct individuals.

This bond, a threefold relationship that forms from wary friendships and tenuous business/political connections then strengthens through mutual attraction, deepening connections, mysterious events, and ultimately love.

Sherwood’s beautifully plotted tale of a poly romantic journey is founded upon a backdrop of intricate magical intrigue and political power struggles. We are given a prologue as a base for our world knowledge before we jump into the high drama and mysteries that will bring the three men together in a fascinating, satisfying romantic tale.

It’s starts with Dag Gates, rogue healer, on the run in Nova Scotia, a country only recently having found peace and stability under new rule. Dag, an orphaned boy, a powerful healer, and a bit of an enigma, might start off as a favorite character. He’s all damaged soul, PTSD, and yet so bright and caring. A great character. Yet the two men coming into his life shortly after are different, in looks, backgrounds, and power. And will slide into the reader’s heart as well. Maegan Stefan Bjorne, powerful mage, of a large loving theatrical family and possessing a heart wary of affection and commitment. Dark, strong and instantly drawn to Dag.

I felt their chemistry immediately.

Then came the bad boy or man. Businessman Mikkel Vinters, with two families, of which one is his chosen found family of a less lustrous reputation. Vinters so layered , his found family so fascinating , his mind so open to the possibilities both men represent to him and the future, that you are all in where he’s concerned.

With each perspective, we get to know intimately the way each man thinks and feels, about the others and the increasingly precarious situations they find themselves in .

I just couldn’t put this book down.

They grow together, Dag ‘s new stable life lets him start to settle down emotionally, and that impacts the others. I really don’t see how Sherwood missed out on the natural progression here with the men and their poly relationship. Even the sexual scenes, which have the added element of one man being a virgin, feel believable , sexy, and loving.

I’m thrilled that Sherwood isn’t done with these men and this universe. I honestly need more . The author teases us with fabulous glimpses of family life, personal history, and castle home life. But we know that there’s so much more happening.

And we want to be a part of it. And them. Whenever we may get it.

The Magic That Binds (Haelan Book 1) by A.J. Sherwood is a fabulous book and one I’m highly recommending!

Buy Link:

The Magic That Binds (Haelan Book 1)

Description:

All Dag Gates wants is a place to call home. (And to practice magic freely.)

All Stefan Bjorne wants is peace in his adoptive country. (And less paperwork.)

All Mikkel Vinters wants is both of them. (No, really, he could do wedding bells.)

So why, pray tell, is half the magical community set on denying them all their wishes?

Tags:

Urban fantasy anyone?, slow burn, Mikkel is dying its so slow, pray for him, age gap, millionaire CEO is loose with no limits, cinnamon roll protection squad assemble!, polyamory at its best, Dag wants to eat all the things, all, magic, healing, childhood trauma, who’s chasing who is the question, Dag’s shy, Stefan’s a little insecure, thankfully Mikkel is neither, there is far too much food in this book, short but mighty, rules are established, Mikkel’s type in men is sexy and dangerous, it hasn’t killed him yet, accidental husband acquisition, magical bindings, shenanigans shall now commence