Review: The Chanteuse and the Bodyguard (Campo Royale #5) by V.L. Locey

Rating: 5🌈

“That is totally spacy! Oh my God, Duri, that is super spacy! Like beam me up, Socrates!” Eli huffed and glared at me. “What now?!”

Excerpt From

The Chanteuse and the Bodyguard

Yes, as Gigi/Eli says “what now?” What am I going to do without this absolutely magnificent, beautiful, and heartfelt series about drag queens getting their happily ever afters In Mother Sitka’s Campo Royale’s drag club in Wilmington, Delaware.

I love so many of Locey’s other hockey players and series but this? It’s special. And that narrative magic has grown book by book, couple by couple. It started out strong and it’s ending just as endearing and more deeply satisfying than when we first all met backstage at the club, amidst drag queen chaos.

Locey gives us a mystery, a new perspective on a drag queen who’s been a part of the series from the beginning, that’s Jo Jo Jewels! Aka Duri Yoo, a Queen whose makeup and drag appearance is inspired by the Asian BL characters and anime series he’s so crazy about . Jo Jo and Gigi are also the only queens who actually sing their own songs instead of lip-syncing.

Duri is such a beautiful character, whose personality and demeanor are due as much to his family and cultural background and support as it is to his own sweet nature. Concerned about his body , due to harmful bullying, and past relationships, Duri is a darling we can immediately relate to.

As his bodyguard does. Keaton Black Bird, owner of his own security firm, has had his firm hired to guard Gigi when fan letters and gifts turn violent. As Duri is Gigi’s best friend, the duty extends to both.

Locey weaves a wonderful story , one that draws the reader in on many levels. There’s the funny, snarky friendship between Gigi and Jojo, two queens sharing wigs and tea backstage, the family Duri has at home, and then the marvelous developing romance between Duri and Keaton .

It’s almost impossible to choose which aspects of this book I enjoyed most. Gigi is a favorite of mine, able to deal out the bast shade while being all up in everyone’s business. What a Queen! And to pair her up with Duri, who’s drag is so different and who’s personality is just as mesmerizing but in a totally unique way, it’s just works to highlight each of them to the best extent.

The romantic relationship side between Keaton and Duri let’s us into each person’s world, their backstories, their fears, their “realness “, and the foundation where they connect and relate on a emotional level. Outwardly different, inwardly touching and connecting. Locey makes it so easy for the reader to see into this dynamic and get it!

We love these two characters together immediately and jump right on their journey together.

It’s a wild one, complete with stalking fan, nasty gifts, and some very scary moments. If the stalking is a trigger for you, please take note.

It all ends on a positive and lovely note back at Campo Royale with all the Queens and their significant others.

Is this the end? Likely. But perhaps, if we’re good, Locey might deliver up a Christmas reunion story or two to help us through our withdrawal.

I’m so sorry for the series to end, but thrilled I got to know them all. I’m absolutely recommending all the books, this included.

Read them in order for a fabulous journey through the love lives of the Queens of the Campo Royale!

Campo Royale series:

✓ The Viking and the Drag Queen #1

✓ The Batchelor and The Cherry #2

✓ The Barkeep and The Bookseller #3

✓ The Financier and the Sweetheart #4

✓ The Chanteuse and the Bodyguard #5

Buy Link:

https://www.amazon.com › Chanteu…The Chanteuse and the Bodyguard (Campo Royale #5) by V.L. Locey – Amazon.com

Description:

It’s going to take all his skills to keep an innocent songbird safe.

Duri Yoo is struggling with life. Maybe the funk that’s hanging on his shoulders like a soggy sweater has to do with his thirtieth birthday, which is just around the corner. Maybe that blah feeling is due to everyone at the Campo having found their true heart’s desire except for him. Over the past few months, Duri has started questioning everything right down to if he needs to change his stage name from Jo-Jo Jewels to…well, he hasn’t a clue. All he knows is that he’s feeling down in the dumps. Heck, even his fellow queen has picked up a new secret admirer/super fan. He’d stamp a high heel in vexation, but the way things are going the darn heel would snap right off. When he’s sure life couldn’t get any worse, he’s proven wrong. And yet horribly right…

Keaton Black Bird’s job is straightforward. He’s hired to protect people. Generally, ridiculously rich business tycoons or heads of state. Being hired to keep a drag queen out of harm’s way is a new one for the former Secret Service agent. However, he’s being paid incredibly well to ensure that one of the Campo Royale’s performers isn’t harassed off-stage while the tiny queen’s hockey playing boyfriend is on the road. It’s while he’s protecting one drag queen he meets another, and the connection to Jo-Jo Jewels is undeniable. Keaton’s never been in such a unique situation before. All the men in his past were more or less like him: austere, professional, athletic. Jo-Jo is none of those things, but the owner of Black Bird Executive Protection is falling hard and fast for the delightful and quirky songbird. Unfortunately, emotions tend to cloud the mind, and Keaton and Duri soon find themselves in a situation that’s far more dangerous than either of them could have imagined.

The Chanteuse and the Bodyguard is a bodyguard romance with an anime-loving songstress, a rugged guardian, lots of BL adoration, a huge loving family, rainbow-toned wigs, unexpected danger, and a techno-colored happily-ever-after. (This book contains scenes of stalking/violence that some may find upsetting.)

Review: Light Up the Lamp by Kit Oliver

Rating: 3.75/🌈

“Light Up the Lamp: To score a goal in hockey, and thereby set off the goal lamp behind the net”

— Light Up the Lamp by Kit Oliver

I love hockey romances so to see this story by Kit Oliver was a welcome surprise. It’s a terrific contemporary sports romance and addition to this genre. Oliver clearly knows the sport of hockey and team dynamics, which are displayed throughout the game and novel by the locker room behavior and behind the scenes maneuvering of management and players.

I was uncertain at first by the choice of Gil Roussin, NHL center, of the hockey family of a famed NHL player, as the only narrator. Primarily because Gil is so focused on his career that his perspective and his personality comes through as both narrow and oblivious that it makes him hard to connect with at first.

The man we start to see reflected back at the readers from his family doesn’t match up with the one in Gil’s head. Not the image of the one brother who doesn’t follow the family occupation, or the mother who is reticent about the overbearing idolized hockey father’s role in his son’s life. There’s a disconnect between the way Gil is looking at the way he’s behaving and treating people and the reality of the situation.

And that matters because most readers won’t be down on the side of Gil Roussin. Even when his career seems to be tanking, and he’s sent to the worst team in the NHL.

I have to admit, the descriptions of the Sea Lion’s training facility is everything! From the rust to the puddles and dripping water, I mean , I’d run. It’s a fabulous bit of work by Oliver here, emotionally laying out a team so in financial shambles that its training facilities is an absolute believable nightmare.

And for the first time, maybe the reader starts to feel something for Gil, even with his awful attitude.

Sebastian Martin who we met earlier In Baltimore has his issues as well. Although both men were close friends and more, now there’s a huge gap between them that needs sorting out.

Sebastian isn’t exactly a stellar character, although Oliver tries hard enough to make it work. Communication isn’t great for either man. Not in the past , and apparently not in the present.

Sebastian makes several poor choices when it comes to dealing with Gil as a new player both as his new manager and as his former friend/lover. His refusal to communicate with Gil is as frustrating to read as Gil’s inability to widen his outlook on his team and life.

So Oliver had to work to make this story happen and it does, eventually. Primarily because it starts with Gil finding a new attitude and place with the Sea Lions. Then with Sebastian deciding to invite Gil into his private life and the history of his life after they separated.

Light Up the Lamp by Kit Oliver is a realistic HFN ending, a sweet story that would serve well as the first book in a new series about an upcoming NHL team, the Sea Lions.

As a standalone I feel that the ending is missing another chapter. But as a fan of this genre and hockey, I think Oliver did a good job with giving us a realistic team and characters we come to appreciate. Well worth the read!

Buy Link:

https://www.amazon.com › Light-U…Light Up the Lamp – Oliver, Kit: Books – Amazon.com

Description:

Gil missed his first chance with Sebastian. Now, he has one shot to try again.

Gil Roussin’s goals for his hockey career don’t involve playing for the worst team in the league, so when he’s sent to the San Francisco Sea Lions, Gil will do whatever it takes to get traded.

But the Sea Lion’s coaching staff has other ideas for him, and among them is the last person Gil expected to see again: Sebastian Martin. Once Gil’s childhood best friend, and his first flame, it’s been a decade since Sebastian drifted out of his life. Now, Gil needs to convince his ex-boyfriend and current coach to help him on—and off—the ice.

Can Gil and Sebastian work together to get Gil traded? Or will so much time together rekindle the very relationship Gil has spent years trying to forget?

Light up the Lamp is a steamy, m/m romance novel. If you like the hope of second chances and the joy returned passion, then you’ll love this exciting hockey romance as Gil and Sebastian banter, bicker, and flirt their way back to each other.

Review: Black Flagged (A Lights Out Novel) by Emma Jaye

Rating: 3.75🌈

Black Flagged (A Lights Out Novel) by Emma Jaye is a book that had me waffling over the rating because Black Flagged is actually two different novels, one that’s a tad more successful than the other.

Unfortunately, the better one doesn’t really have much of anything to do with racing but rather with past murders, current murder attempts, and the mercenary brotherhood, the orta, which are the featured elements and characters of Emma Jaye’s other series, Lies.

While that series is severely darker than this (and comes from a different perspective), much of this story is about Dren’s character, his code , and utter allegiance to the orta, and his brothers in the organization. Who we meet, and interact with, enough to make us understand a tiny bit about what that must entail. Dark, dark, dark.

I was intrigued by Dren Elezi the orta janissary, the orta (mercenary brotherhood ) and the whole fact that the Neumann family had this criminal history to them. That Walter Neumann, CEO of Neumann Industries , owner of Neumann F1 is also one of Europe’s top illegal arms dealers. Really, that needed expounding on.

And that Karl Neumann, the nephew, aka Karo, was a thief, homeless, and has a murky history . There’s so much here and yes, it all went into the plot, making for a lively and often chaotic storyline. I really enjoyed it.

As far as Karl Neumann, the one the readers have come to know. The arrogant, bully of a driver everyone has grown to hate in every book, race by race, through the same repeated “episodes “, this is where Jaye does a great job at incorporating her story back into the Lights Out universe.

We get , each scene , word by word, as they have played out , over each other book the same way but now flipped, and with a startling twist.

There’s a new backstory , a perspective we’re now seeing to Neumann’s action’s , often repugnant interactions with the other drivers. And it puts Neumann in a whole new light. Not only his actions, but how they are seen and appreciated by his owner/family. It’s all about the strategy, maneuvering for publicity, and positioning for success. For himself, primarily, and the team.

It’s especially true when revisiting the scenes that had Lennox in them. That dynamic was so incredibly tilted towards Lennox as the one being victimized. Having it flipped around and visualized through the lens of Kurt puts an astonishing spin on things. Where it realistically comes down outside of both is probably somewhere in the middle.

Jaye has some strong racing elements here. The racing is well researched. I was fascinated by the information about how the race bays were set up according to team finishes. That the worst place team had a “walk of shame “ past all the other teams to get to their section of the building on the track. That has to rub it in constantly that fact you and your team suck that year.

And there was that infamous race where one driver goes up in flames. Kurt gets the blame. But this time we see that race from inside the car. Big difference.

However, just as we’ve gotten settled in a racing mentality with Kurt, the team, and the strategy, Jaye whisks her storyline around and into the direction of murder and sabotage.

That’s a great tale in itself. But it becomes a whole different story. Their romance, the orta, the mystery, the sexual nature of their relationship, and even Kurt’s background is more tightly coupled together here than it is with the racing aspect.

Eventually, all the threads roll back, not to racing itself but we do get back to business, but not without a few more surprises with Lennox.

With all these many plot lines, well researched facts, and great elements, I’m not sure why it doesn’t work together more smoothly than it does. Black Flagged, as entertaining and as wild a ride as it was, still feels like two separate journeys. A race and then another for the emotional connections and romance factor.

That ending doesn’t quite work either. There’s a two – year contract to deal with, then a new contract. It’s feels very rushed and inconsistent with the way the rest of the book and series has been handled.

I liked Black Flagged. I would have loved it if the author could have decided what story that wanted to tell exactly, a race story or a new orta themed book. What’s occurred is a combo of the two, neither successful completely.

I’m still recommending it. It’s entertaining.

Lights Out:

✓ Team Orders by RJ Scott

✓ Full Throttle by Lisa Henry

✓ Pole Position by Charlie Novak

✓ Scoring Points by HL Day

✓ Black Flagged by Emma Jaye

◦ Rookie Mistakes by Beth Laycock 6/27/2023

Buy Link:

Black Flagged

Description:

Will a Black Flag end love before it leaves the starting line?

Dren is a mercenary, not a babysitter, yet protecting an F1 “bad boy” from his own recklessness is his next contract. The media darling everyone loves to hate is annoying as hell and a target both on and off the track.
Staying close is the only way to protect Karl from himself and others, but the forced proximity reveals the man behind the uncaring, flippant mask. In public and private, Karl craves attention, but it’s not Dren’s job to provide it. But Dren can’t help falling for Karl’s provocative passion, and he shouldn’t because when the contract ends, he’ll return to the organization that holds his soul.

Karl avoids people he can’t trick, charm, or buy, and his new bodyguard falls into that irritating category. But before he knows it, Dren’s imposing presence becomes his seatbelt in the rocky, perilous world of F1 because there’s genuine concern and interest behind the gruff exterior.

When a fiery crash gets Karl suspended for dangerous driving, can the pair find his mysterious enemy before Karl loses his career and Dren?

This M/M romance from Emma Jaye features an arrogant F1 driver with a hidden past and a bodyguard who is in way too deep. Set in the high-octane world of Formula 1, it features fast cars, spectacular crashes, heated rivalries, and of course, a HEA.

Each book in the Lights Out collection is a standalone story, and the books can be read in any order.

Review: Prince and Bodyguard (Perilous Courts Book 4) by Tavia Lark

Rating: 5🌈

In one sweet, moving, and foreboding scene from the Prologue, Lark manages to set her characters and simultaneously break our hearts even before the present day story begins.

It’s a succinct , heartbreaking sentence and we’re pulled in and completely crushed emotionally.

I’ve been a huge fan of Lark’s Perilous Courts series since I read the amazing Prince and Assassin book with it’s haunting, damaged character of Whisper, one of the famed Kennel hound assassins who ends up with a Prince of the intriguing Silaise Kingdom, Julien. It was my favorite book, until now. Mostly because of the Kennel Hounds aspect and the character of Whisper who has managed to remain such a strong, complicated character throughout the series.

Stories one through three centered around the three Princes, their magical abilities, and the power structure of their matriarchal Kingdom of Silaise.

Now Lark switches focus to a new realm but one that’s had a huge impact on the other stories and kingdoms. That’s Draskora, an island Kingdom that’s incredibly powerful, incredibly wealthy and with a magical ability for weather. But more importantly, it’s has two things no one else has and everyone else wants. Scalestone, a purple stone that is mined and dragons that need Scalestone. The kingdom that has one, controls the other.

Its people are also known for their purple colored eyes (see Whisper), an effect that comes from the Scalestone. A harsh, cruel place that is mirrored by its rulers, King Imrik, his bloodmage wife, and his three sons, two of whom are adopted through coercion treaties with neighboring kingdoms forced to give up their sons. The other a natural son considered spoiled if a bit unstable.

Prince and Bodyguard starts the Draskoran three son arc.

This is the story of how Vana Kaiskara Tellik of the Kingdom of Kaiskara became Vana Dire, adopted son of Imrik, wielder of storm powers, along with his bloodguard Daromir Azri.

It’s got everything. Magic, dragons, political schisms within the ruling family, layers of pain and damage to the characters and unbelievable chemistry to the dynamics between Vana and Daromir.

The author continues to weave her world arc threads into the ongoing drama, here bringing back characters from prior novels as well as elements such as the Kennel Hounds, and Fellrin fellcats, which will help set up the next novel.

It’s a series that is playing out like a huge board game but we can’t yet see all the pieces. I’m sure Fellrin or Kaiskara is coming,knowledge of each of those places have been very interesting but limited.

And the prize or prizes at stake are Scalestone and dragons which will see that whoever has them has the power or potential to control what the other kingdoms are able to do logistically, monetarily and influentially.

But as rich as this is in details, as layered in cultural fabrication and depth of imagination, it beats at its center a heart that’s guaranteed to make you weep more than once , and then want to shout for joy.

It’s that fabulous a story and a journey for two men over time.

Yes, definitely my favorite. And one I’m highly recommending, along with this incredible series. But it has to be read in order to understand the complex character relationships, the situations and story development.

Perilous Courts:

🔷Prince and Assassin #1❤️

🔷Prince in Disguise #2

🔷Prince and Pawn #3

🔷Prince and Bodyguard #4 ❤️

🔷Prince and Betrothed #5 – Oct 31,2023

🔷Prince of Agony #6 – Feb 29,2024

Buy Link:

Prince and Bodyguard (Perilous Courts Book 4)

Description:

Vana Dire can’t show weakness if he wants to survive the Draskoran court. The only man he can be vulnerable with is Daromir—Vana’s magic-bound bodyguard. The binding lets them share each other’s pain, and Vana depends on Daromir’s comfort as much as his services as a guard. Vana could never risk their friendship.

Even if he craves far more than Daromir’s loyalty.

Daromir Azri sees a side of Vana nobody else sees. Behind closed doors, the cold, elegant prince is kindhearted. Vulnerable. He needs Daromir. If Daromir’s devotion sometimes feels like something else? Daromir must be mistaken. His duty comes first, and he’ll do anything to protect Vana—including one thing he’s never done before:

He’s keeping a secret.

Then their magic bond changes, and suddenly Vana and Daromir don’t just share pain anymore. Each shared sensation pushes their friendship to the breaking point, just when Vana and Daromir need each other most. They’re facing a mysterious ambassador, a chaos-stirring prince, the consequences of past schemes—

And an assassin seeking Vana’s life.

Prince and Bodyguard is a gay fantasy romance with pining, hurt/comfort, and codependent cuddling. The Perilous Courts series is best read in order, and Prince and Bodyguard begins a new three-book arc about the princes of Draskora.

Review: Atlas (Mike Bravo Ops, #3) by Eden Finley

Rating: 4🌈

Kudos to Finley for including her trigger warnings at the beginning of the story instead of making her readers hunt for them or discarding them altogether. I always appreciate a author who does this for their readers.

In Atlas, the third of the Mike Bravo Ops series, the warnings apply to a secondary character who’s a victim of domestic assault and abuse.

There’s an author’s note also on a main character’s pov on sex workers but, honestly, I don’t see that a perspective that changes over time due to character development was necessary, or triggering.

Could be wrong though.

Atlas is a member of the Mike Bravo Ops team sent under cover to discover who’s stealing from an owner of a strip club, said owner being a bit of a criminal himself. The job has a murkiness about it from the beginning that not all the team is happy with. Especially Atlas who’s been assigned the job of bartender, wearing the barest of bottoms, and getting groped by the clientele as well. Accused by the team of being judgmental, this isn’t a job he’s comfortable with.

Finley’s characterization conveys all this information well on Atlas but at the same time doesn’t make him feel like he’s being condescending. Instead, he’s stuck trying to figure out why the people are there , their lives and motivations. You might want to shake him but he’s a good person. A really ginormous person. Who quickly becomes fixated on the stripper on the pole dazzling everyone in front of him.

That’s Lemon, who loves the power he possesses when he’s on stage or dancing for clients privately backstage. But there’s more to Lemon, and the life he’s living. Secrets he’s keeping.

I liked the dynamic between Atlas, who seems powerful in so many ways but unsure in others, and Lemon who has a inner strength and power not easily seen but a outer vulnerability and beauty that draws people to him.

The story has some nice details and twists to it, especially in regards to the main characters and their relationship.

A aspect of the story that didn’t do much for me was that element that this job was supposed to be Atlas’s chance to prove himself able to fill a leadership position, second in command to Travis, their boss. Domino, the team member in that role is “retiring “ from their unit to have a family and Atlas is the one being considered to replace him.

Thing is nothing about Atlas’s actions here point towards him acting like he is ready for such a role. Not that Domino acted in the best interests of the team in accepting this job, but Atlas’s had no choice in anything here except go along with the decisions made by others. With the exception of vouching for Lemon when the situation called for it.

So I’m perplexed as to how this element of the story works or doesn’t work, in my opinion. It feels like it was just written in to justify the fact that the author had Domino leaving and needed some additional “framework” for him. Just an afterthought sort of aspect of the story.

The rest is strong, but not without its flaws. There’s two characters left without being accounted for, including one who had a major role here.

Atlas is being referenced as the third book of three but it in no way feels like a finale, especially with those loose ends left dangling at the end of this story.

Also there’s still so many men of Bravo Ops without partners. Like Zeus, Decaf, or Romeo , I think. Even though Domino was written off due to matrimony happiness and a transfer to a linked agency, chances are he will pop up again. So I’ve no idea if this is a finale or not. As a series it doesn’t come across as complete.

I’ve enjoyed all three books with Iris still my strong favorite. I’m recommending this series to date for fans of Eden Finley, those who love conflicted main characters, with a bit of suspense and action thrown in.

Buy Link:

Mike Bravo Ops: Atlas

Mike Bravo Ops:

✓ Iris #1

✓ Rogue #2

✓ Atlas #3

Description:

ATLAS

Working undercover at a strip club is not my usual kind of job. If it weren’t a great opportunity to show the Mike Bravo team I can run my own op, I wouldn’t have agreed to it.

When my boss asks me to befriend the biggest gossip in the establishment, the person who knows everything, I’m even more reluctant. Because that happens to be one of the dancers. The only dancer to catch my attention in all the wrong ways.

I need to be professional or I will never prove I’m leadership material.

Only problem is, the guy with the stage name Lemon makes me want to be anything but professional.

LEMON

I’m sick of the new bartender throwing dirty looks my way. He’s as judgmental as he is hot, and let’s just say he’s really judgmental.

I don’t know why he’s working here if he looks down on us dancers so much. He could bartend at a regular club.

But when he saves me from a drunken customer getting too handsy, his attitude suddenly flips, and we find ourselves becoming … friends?

Underneath the judgment, it turns out Atlas is a total sweetheart.

Maybe more caring than anyone I’ve ever met.

I’ve never had a relationship before, but something tells me it could be way too easy to fall for the gentle giant.

Review: Pole Position (A Lights Out Novel) by Charlie Novak

Rating : 4🌈

“We win and lose together. “

-Sir Lewis Hamilton”

In this series about Formula 1 racing, each author takes one racing team, a driver or two on that team , the international races in the series , and the dramatic events that occur during that season. Major events, even conversations crossover between novels.

Like the other books, this story begins with a quote from a race driver that hints at theme the tale and romance will carry.

A long time couple is the focus and heart of Charlie Novak’s contribution to the Lights Out series about a Formula 1 racing season .

Dean Williams and Mateo Llorente are established Formula 1 drivers and a long time couple, although only their families and a few friends are aware of the later. This season a new element is being introduced to their relationship. For the first time, both men will be racing for the same team- Cadigan Racing. It’s the team where Mateo has been the established driver for several years, where he’s the son of a legendary driver and the hopes for a championship win.

Novak’s chosen a different format for her storyline that provides a intimate window into the next stage into this couple’s journey, both in terms of their careers and their relationship, as heavily intertwined as they now are. It’s divided by races, almost every race in each country on the way to the grand finale , then a space of nine years as they prepare their retirement announcement.

This narrative formula has positive and negative aspects to it when I look at the way overall book made me feel about the themes and the characters.

I liked it in terms of seeing how each race and the dynamics of that particular race started to change the way in which Dean and Mateo’s were thinking about their own races (each has a team for their own car), their personal dynamics , and the team’s leadership. Where they originally thought they could handle the challenges, each race, each new event piled into an ongoing highly publicized , intense team effort, is starting to get to them.

We’re in as the stress, the constant press, the media attention and wrongful coverage puts such pressure on them that’s it effecting their team as well as them personally.

This feels very realistic.

Another great twist? The team owner, the leadership and support staff? They are aware of the fact that their top drivers are in a long term relationship with each other. And they are supportive. I love that. Terrific characters here in these roles.

On the other side of this format, I found that having the book “chopped “ into so many little sections or narration stages in this journey of Dean and Mateo’s meant less time for us in getting some of the more interesting details in more depth. Elements like Dean’s toxic relationship with his father who we never get to meet and his mother who seems to have been an equally complex person, not quite protecting her son from his father. But we hear about them. They call , he’s nearby.

Another similar aspect is Mateo’s parents who we also know about, a legendary Spanish driver and a French supermodel who adore him and Dean. We hear all about their parties, their passion and personalities. But where are they here? They even visit a race but are “absent “ in the story. It’s people and elements like this that add warmth and a great deal of value to a story and help ground a couple in a realness. That’s sort of missing from this.

Charlie Novak’s style of writing, the choice of story format gives us a sense of how a season of racing for one team impacted the relationship of two drivers racing for the win for the same team. The ambition, the fears, the stress , the excitement and yes the anger and the passion.

What is missing is the depth of actual racing action and the thrill of each man as they crossed the line to win the podium. There’s no smell of oil, exhaust, or burning rubber. And there should be in a novel about men racing at the highest speeds at the top of their game.

The relationship and the challenges Dean and Mateo face and overcome in Pole Position is well worth the read. I just didn’t get as emotionally invested as I was prepared to even as I found myself enjoying the ride. On that note, I’m recommending it.

Buy Link:

Pole Position

Lights Out:

✓ Team Orders by RJ Scott

✓ Full Throttle by Lisa Henry

✓ Pole Position by Charlie Novak

◦ Scoring Points by HL Day 6/13

◦ Black Flagged by Emma Jaye 6/20

◦ Rookie Mistakes by Beth Laycock 6/27/2023

Description:

Pole position gives a driver the best chance at winning, but can there be a winner when a long-term relationship is on the line?

Mateo Llorente was born to be Formula 1 World Champion.

Charming, handsome, and incredibly talented, Mateo is everything a champion should be. Dean Williams has fought for his position in Formula 1 with everything he has, and dreams of podium finishes and championship trophies.

For the past three years, Mateo and Dean have kept their long-term relationship under wraps, but when they both find themselves driving for Cadigan Racing, they know things won’t stay simple for long.

Keeping their relationship a secret is one thing, but dealing with the demands of the season is another.

As both drivers rack up points and the media scrutiny puts them under pressure, cracks start to appear in Mateo and Dean’s relationship.

Can their love survive the intensity of Formula 1? Or will winning cost Dean and Mateo everything?

This M/M romance from Charlie Novak features a steamy long-term secret relationship between teammates, and is set in the high octane world of Formula 1 featuring fast cars, driving at the limit, spectacular crashes, heated rivalries, and of course, a HEA.

Each book in the Lights Out collection is a standalone story, and the books can be read in any order

Check Out the latest Release from M. D. Grimm! A Priest, A Plague, and A Prophecy!

M.D. Grimm has a new MM fantasy romance out (ace, bi, demi): A Priest, a Plague, and a Prophecy. And there’s a giveaway.

“Orcs are the answer but what is the question?”

Elias is a priest at the Temple of the Divine Sibyl. When he becomes lost in the woods after his brother’s hunting party abandons him, it’s just his luck that he’d stumble upon an angry orc caught in a trap. Unable to stomach the suffering of others, Elias throws self-preservation to the wind and frees the orc. Then Gurrkk—that’s a name?—ends up leading him to safety.

Gurrkk finds himself rather smitten by the sweet, awkward human. He’s always been fascinated with his people’s sworn enemy, and now he has a life debt to fulfill to maintain his honor.

Hiding an orc among the temple’s crypts wouldn’t have been Elias’s first choice but Gurrkk is stubborn about leaving. As they learn each other’s languages and spend more time together, Elias realizes they’ve become friends… and maybe more. And when the dying sibyl gives her last prophecy, Elias knows it wasn’t chance that brought them together, it was the gods.

But why?

This is a sweet, ace romance, so no sexy times, but plenty of snuggles and cuddles!

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Excerpt

Elias closed his eyes and clasped his hands under his chin, sending a fervent prayer to the gods, asking for a sign. Any sign that would lead him home. Seconds passed. Minutes. He cracked open one eye to look around. Seeing nothing, he glared and set his fists on his hips.

So much for divine intervention.

“I’m one of your priests, and you don’t give me the time of day,” he mumbled as he set off down the left-hand path.

He was hungry again.

Even as he was contemplating the pros and cons of eating one of his last apples, he stumbled around a thick tree before halting in shock.

An orc sat on the ground, his greenish-gold skin glistening with sweat and his coal-black eyes glaring with menace. He was almost bald, except for a spiky strip of green hair running from his forehead to the back of his skull. The lack of hair accentuated his large ears that moved independently of each other. Two pronounced fangs jutted up from his lower jaw, which was square and blunt, and more sharp teeth showed when he growled.

Elias stayed frozen, taking in the long black tunic cinched at the waist by a gold cord. The short sleeves were trimmed with gold thread, baring muscled arms. The stately garb struck Elias, making him wonder as to the status of the orc. Did they have hierarchy as humans did? The tunic ended around his knees, leaving the rest of his muscled legs bare. Also, this orc wasn’t of monstrous size, so he couldn’t be of the mountain variety. He was certainly taller and broader than Elias, but also leaner, corded with muscle, like that big cat Elias had spotted earlier. And his face was… not horrible. Brutish and sharp but not hideous or even ugly. Those illustrators of tomes really set out to depict orcs as the most horrific creatures ever to grace the earth.

The urge to run made his palms grow damp and his breath to quicken. Not that he could run for more than a few steps before wheezing because he was so damn out of shape, and why the hell didn’t he train with his brother? I’m going to die, I’m going to die….

Then his gaze traveled down to the reason the orc was sitting on the ground and not eating his face. Vicious steel jaws had the orc by the ankle, piercing deeply into his flesh. The jaws were attached to a chain that was buried into to the earth. The fact the orc hadn’t freed himself meant this was one of the trick jaws. One specifically made for capturing orcs. The scoured earth around the chain proved that the orc had tried to dig himself free but clearly hadn’t succeeded. His ankle was a mess of torn flesh and caked blood, and only then did Elias notice the buzz of flies.

How long had he been sitting there, in pain? In fear?

Sympathy rose with anger not far behind. Elias and the orc stared at each other, and Elias found himself stepping closer without consciously deciding his actions. The orc growled deeper, eyes narrowed in warning. Elias stopped again, wondering what he was doing. This was an orc! The enemy! The beasts that kept trying to take their lands. Attius’s tirades whirled through his mind even as the battle songs about marauding orcs jangled in his memory.

He’d never joined in. He’d never had anything personal against orcs. He never thought one way or another about them. Fighting them wasn’t a part of his world. Most of his life had been spent ensconced in the Temple of the Divine Sibyl, which was safely behind fortified stone walls and separated from the general populace of the city.

He was sheltered and he knew it. To see such ugly pain in another living creature struck him to the core. That was one of the reasons he didn’t eat meat. He couldn’t reconcile killing just to feed himself when there were plenty of other things to consume if he simply looked.

At that moment, this orc was no different than any other wild animal caught in a trap. And would he let such a creature die so horribly? No, he would not.

Taking a deep breath, and with more courage than he would profess to have, Elias crouched before slowly pushing off his pack. He kept his eyes on the orc and opened the top flap before tilting it to show the orc that it only held medicines, plant samples, parchment, and ink.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said gently. “Can you understand me?”

The orc made no indication either way. He continued to growl and glare.

“I want to help you.” Elias took the one weapon he had, a long dagger, and showed the orc the blade before tossing it away. The orc stopped growling and blinked in apparent surprise. Elias shuffled closer on his knees, keeping his demeanor as non-threatening as possible. He almost snorted—as if a soft priest like him could be threatening. He kept speaking in low tones as he would to a frightened animal. He kept his pack held out in front of him, hoping the harmless items would convince the orc he wasn’t a hunter.

The orc’s large nostrils flared, and he squinted into the bag. He must have smelled the remaining apples, the plant samples, and the few healing ointments Elias carried with him everywhere. Elias set the bag within easy reach of the orc just in case he wanted to investigate. Then he took a good look at the steel jaws and winced.

The orc didn’t wear shoes, his sturdy, rough feet tough enough not to need them. His nails were more like claws, almost identical to those on his fingers. The trap would have been covered, and he’d stepped directly onto the triggering mechanism. The blades had barely missed his foot to cut into his ankle, probably scraping against the bones and tendons.

Elias took a moment to fight nausea.

“Damn. Once I free your leg it’s going to bleed profusely. I have to wrap it fast and tight.” He glanced up and met the orc’s eyes. Grim determination stared back at him and Elias blinked. “You do understand me.”

Author Bio

M.D. Grimm has wanted to write stories since second grade (kind of young to make life decisions, but whatever) and nothing has changed since then (well, plenty of things actually, but not that!).

Thankfully, she has indulgent parents who let her dream, but also made sure she understood she’d need a steady job to pay the bills (they never let her forget it!). After graduating from the University of Oregon and majoring in English, (let’s be honest: useless degree, what else was she going to do with it?) she started on her writing career and couldn’t be happier.

Working by day and writing by night (or any spare time she can carve out), she enjoys embarking on romantic quests and daring adventures (living vicariously, you could say) and creating characters that always triumph against the villain, (or else what’s the point?) finding their soul mate in the process.

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

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Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4574220.M_D_Grimm

Author Liminal Fiction (LimFic.com): https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/m-d-grimm/

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Author Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/M.D.-Grimm/e/B00I0KZMY6/

Review: Outrun the Rain (The Storm Boys Series Book 1) by N.R. Walker

Rating: 5🌈

How I love Outrun the Rain by N.R. Walker, the first in her new series, The Storm Boys. It’s about two men we met in the prequel (Second Chance at First Love), one a storm chaser, and the other a scientist who studies lightning and storms, who’ve arrived at Kakadu National Park to do just that.

This book reminds me so much of the experience I had the first time reading Walker’s amazing Red Dirt Heart series! It’s in discovering the true layers to the characters, and exploring a richly detailed and diverse terrain that’s unique to Australia and foreign to me. The more I read, the deeper I was emotionally invested in the men, and this journey they were on together.

Walker is able to bring us inside the hearts and minds of each of these startling different individuals with such clarity and love.

To Jeremiah Overton, a fulminologist, lightning is not just a scientific subject matter but a powerful natural phenomenon that’s effectively changed the course of his life. This character is so complicated, so tightly packed up that his layers and history are only revealed through hard won bits of conversation that rewards both Tully Larsen and the reader.

Tully Larsen, the storm chaser , so at home here at Kakadu where he spent long days with his father, and now by himself, chasing storms, watching the wildness happen, is also a bit of an enigma. Until he lets himself open up equally to Jeremiah, each man fully being themselves with another person for the first time.

And the reader feels their emotions, the joy, hesitation, wildness, and love of the experiences they share on this amazing journey to capture data of major storms up close.

Of those storms and the natural dangers inherent within the territory they are located, like swift flooding and crocodiles , Walker has us believing in those too with realistic descriptions and a wealth of knowledge that translates so well into an emotional narrative.

Was I ready for them to head home? No more than they were.

Luckily, there’s two more books in this series. If they are like this one, then I can see The Storm Boys sliding next to Walker’s Red Dirt Heart series as must reads for me. It’s that great.

Where one is dry red desert, this has sheets of endless green, rain and lightning strikes that never seem to end. What amazing bookends!

Ones I’m highly recommending.

The Storm Boys:

✓ Outrun The Rain

◦ Into The Tempest – June 27, 2023

◦ Touch The Lightning-July 18, 2023

Second Chance at First Love: Prequel to The Storm Boys

Buy Link:

Outrun the Rain (The Storm Boys Series Book 1)

Description:

Tully Larson has loved tropical storms since he was a kid and spent his summers with his dad in the wilds of Kakadu National Park. He’s happiest outdoors, a rough and ready kind of guy who loves the power of Mother Nature and chasing the thrill of electrical storms every chance he gets.

Jeremiah Overton, a fulminologist from Melbourne, chases storms for a whole different reason. Lightning has shaped his entire life and he’s driven to study it, to understand it, so heading to Kakadu in the middle of the storm season is a logical thing to do. After all, the Top End is the lightning capital of Australia.

Tully wasn’t sure how a week at his remote bunker with an academic type would pan out. And Jeremiah didn’t expect much from the storm-chasing cowboy who volunteered to take him.

But both men know all too well that when opposites attract, lightning strikes.

Review: A Priest, A Plague, and A Prophecy by MD Grimm

Rating: 4.5🌈

A Priest, A Plague, and A Prophecy is a new sweet, fantasy romance from M D Grimm. I admit I was overdue in revisiting this author and this short tale of two enemies, a inter species, happy ending of a Romeo and Jules sort of situation, was a perfect intro back into her writing.

Grimm has built a world of humans and orcs, living close enough that their encounters with each other haven’t gone for the better. Over the years their clashes have grown worse,their basic fears about each other’s races fed by completely different appearances, as well as an inability to communicate due to separate languages and cultures. Their skirmishes grew larger each time, offensively more bloody , due to the size , physicality and style of their fighting , until all each knows is hatred.

It’s not until a fumbling young priest called Eli meets a young orc called Gurrkk in trouble that everything starts to change.

It’s in the rich details as well as the emotional landscape that this story does so well. The author’s ability to convey two people of separate races, determined to understand each other, under enormous stress, then through friendship and finally love. We get all the different cultural elements, language, mating, bonding, children, religion,and leadership.

Grimm has deeply settled her characters within their respective communities and families, and that allows her readers to explore them on a really personal level.

This is a romance between two characters that look at sexuality in a different way. How they handle that difference is another plus for me in the narrative. While it may have an initial aspect of hesitation to discuss the subject, that doesn’t stop the characters from being adults and talking about their sexual preferences and orientation. Especially important where two species are involved.

The ending ( and the bit with the villain) came about a tad too fast. I wished for more action and explanation to compete with all the grand exposition that went before. And time with the two groups together.

Ah well!

A Priest, A Plague, and A Prophecy by MD Grimm is a richly told, happily ended , well written fantasy story! One I’m absolutely recommending.

Buy Link:

Barnes & Nobler

Smashwords

Amazon

Description:

Orcs are the answer but what is the question?”

Gurrkk finds himself rather smitten by the sweet, awkward human. He’s always been fascinated with his people’s sworn enemy, and now he has a life debt to fulfill to maintain his honor.

Review: Rear Ended (Big Bull Mechanics Book 4) by K.M. Neuhold

Rating: 4🌈

Tattooed, sweet Auggie finally gets his HEA in Rear Ended after a failed crush on Dimitri, and a series of unfortunate dates. All it takes is for a new resident of their hometown to arrive to live with his younger brother when his life explodes on him in Chicago.

So in other words, a man with a lot going on, tons to figure out, and an uneasy future ahead.

That’s Henry, whose IT business has failed along with his expensive lifestyle. And, unfortunately , his perception of who he was equated with that outward projection of a successful businessman. Now Henry is lost. And staying at his younger brother’s house, fearful he’s a failure that will never recover.

Neuhold has written a low angst, sweet romance, between two older men, that includes an adorable pot bellied pig, Hamlet.

It contains mature conversations, complete with apologies for some idiotic, fearful behaviors, some lusty sex, and a lot of smooshy contented men getting into a new relationship.

It also brings in some new exciting people and introduces a new ink shop , Ink Slingers, who are also part of a motorcycle club, Skins Motorcycle Club, into this universe that includes an ever expanding group of connected series.

For me, I wanted to know more about Jay and his friends (Jaguar, Tex, Hero, Felix, Piston) than I did about the settled , sweet world of Auggie, Henry, and Hammie. Although the race episode was very funny.

Also can we please get Riggs and Shep together? I can’t wait for their relationship to start!

I enjoyed Rear Ended even if I think it didn’t have the chemistry or character development of the previous stories. It’s a lovely, sexy low angst romance. A perfect read for the early summer days!

And I think this town will be heating up soon enough with more hot inked men and motorcycles.

I’m recommending the book and the series!

Big Bull Mechanics:

✓ Crankshaft #1

✓ Stroker #2

✓ Stick Stift #3

✓ Rear Ended #4

Description:

Love is a highway, and Henry just got Rear Ended

I’ve spent my entire adult life working eighty hours a week, chasing money, security… success. When my recent start-up went under, leaving me with nothing to show for years of grinding myself down to the bone, I’m not sure who I am anymore. I never thought I’d be forty-eight with no money, living with my brother, trying to figure everything out from scratch. But, here we are…

All that chasing didn’t leave a lot of time for romance or relationships either. Unless you count the occasional hook-up to let off a little steam. Now I have all the free time in the world… but who would want a middle-aged failure anyway?

When one of my most recent hook-ups turns out to be my new coworker, I’m starting to think the universe is having a good laugh at my expense.

As if Auggie wasn’t tempting enough with all of the tattoos and his surprisingly sweet smile, now I’m spending all day watching him work. He’s covered in grease, with his overalls half zipped… is it getting hot in here, or is it just me?

He’s impossible to resist, but that doesn’t make the timing any better. Body work is one thing, but I’m determined to keep my heart out of it. If only Auggie would stop baking me cookies and touching me in ways that keep my engine running all night long. I think we’re going to need some coolant in here, because things are definitely heating up…

*** Rear Ended is book 4 in the Big Bull Mechanics series but can be read as a stand alone. It’s full of mechanic puns, hilarious and swoony banter, tons of heat, and two men falling in love in spite of their best efforts to keep things casual.

Buy Link:

Rear Ended (Big Bull Mechanics Book 4)

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