Category: M/M Book Reviews

Review: French Fancy (The Model Agency Book 2) by Lily Morton

Rating: 5🌈

“Choose love not in the shallows but in the deep.” – Christina Rossetti”

— French Fancy (The Model Agency Book 2) by Lily Morton

French Fancy rose right into a tie for the top spot for favorite Lily Morton romances and, happily, into my small comfort read list of books I must have by my bedside to grab as needed for emergency occasions.

I picked it up when I got the notification it was out and, finished at 4 am in the morning, as a grumpy canine companion can attest to. I probably would have finished sooner but I kept going backwards over certain areas, laughing until I had tears in my eyes, or giggling in sheer appreciation of some of the sharpest dialogue and snappy interchanges in recent memory between characters.

Help me, some of those phrases are setting me off still! I don’t want to bring them up here for several reasons. One, I doubt Amazon would let most of the quotes get through with their racy content but more importantly, it’s because I want the readers to have the spontaneous delight in coming across them in context and having their own reactions! Whatever they may be.

This book and characters just does it for me! Ticks all my boxes in terms of excellent storytelling, fabulous writing, and memorable characters.

I could talk about character development and depth of personality but, honestly, the best thing I can say about French Fancy is that it’s not as if I’m reading a story about characters , but seeing people living their best lives, finding their true paths with help from their friends and families, whether they be through blood or through a foundation built by connections. I absolutely feel I know and genuinely love these people, would recognize them if I met them.

If someone asked me about them, I think I might actually reply as I would if you’d asked about a friend “yes, they’re doing fabulous last I heard , finally!”.

Pip Simmonds, Olivier Durand, the gorgeous villa Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, they have found a permanent place in my heart. It didn’t take long. My TBR pile will suffer as I’m heading back for a reread.

I really need more of them and look forward of getting that in future books to come just as saw delightful , moving scenes with Dean and Jonas and Ruby, their daughter.

I wish I could go higher than 5. Oh well.

Lily Morton goes deep into the fears of loss, the endurance people are capable of, the strength of the support of families and friends, and, finally, how, the power of love can overcome even the most painful of barriers.

French Fancy (The Model Agency Book 2) by Lily Morton is a fantastic book and one I’ll have one reread. I’m highly recommending it!

The Model Agency:

✓ The Sunny Side #1

✓ French Fancy #2

Buy Link:

French Fancy (The Model Agency Book 2)

Blurb:

Pip Simmonds is the twinkiest twink in London. He’s loud, proud, and packed to the brim with sass. But when he’s laid low by illness, even his hotpants lose their sparkle and his worried boss sends him to the South of France to recuperate in his holiday home.

Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat is beautiful, and the periwinkle-blue villa is luxurious, but the real draw for Pip is the villa’s other resident—his boss’s younger brother, Olivier Durand.

Olivier owns a perfume empire and has spent his whole life running from any other form of commitment. He’s worldly, carefree, wild, and the perfect choice for a holiday fling.

Drawn together by proximity, the two men become lovers and friends and then something more. Something special. But will their special bond hold true after summer’s end, when they both must return to their real lives?

This is the second book in the bestselling Model Agency series, but it can be read as a standalone.

Review: Bad Boys (Hot Off The Ice Book 7) by A. E. Wasp

Rating: 4🌈

I’ve enjoyed A. E. Wasp’s hockey romance series, Hot Off The Ice, since the first book debuted back on June 29, 2017. That was the lovely City Boy, about farmer Dakota and closeted NHL player Bryce Lowery.

Now at book 7, with 2 more novels planned, the series continues with the Seattle Thunder going strong and a new troubled arrival from Las Vegas coming for a second and perhaps only last chance to make it in the NHL.

Bad Boys is a hurt/comfort, age gap redemption love story. And when it works great when it stays on the main couple’s relationship, and Noah’s journey to a more well adjusted, healthy adult who can then carry that new understanding over into his career. Those things make Bad Boys a terrific read.

There’s many aspects to Bad Boys that A.E. Wasp does so well narratively speaking. Her characters are so well done, layered with their own unique personalities and combined with elements that speak to their passions and strengths. If they’re hockey players, we see the difference in physicality between them and other people. We get great team dynamics and a depth of understanding about the game. For characteristics, if they’re cooks, business peoples or whatever, Wasp has given each the right amount of detail that they can standout and still be able to be believable and alive. This will add to the richness of the story and hurt it when certain people drop out of sight.

The relationship between Adam and Noah is engaging and wonderful to be a part of. It’s funny, serious, sexy , and real. While there is an age gap, it’s not mentioned or discussed much here, in the relationship or elsewhere. I only found that odd when it was brought up that Adam had played with Noah’s father, however, no mention of either man’s age at the time (Adam or Noah’s dad), although it was said Noah was very young at the time.

Wasp brings therapy into the storyline as a means to get healthy and understand what is driving certain aspects of a person’s behaviors. And how to counteract these behaviors through therapy. It’s a great tool for both men and the league. It was wonderful seeing it here.

Team dynamics, Noah’s redemption within the team and himself is real and fully worth the book. You can see him struggling with his toxic relationship with his father, it’s ramifications, and his mental awareness that allows him to move forward. All amazing elements here.

Same goes for Adam’s grief over his failed marriage and hidden secrets about his dead husband. That actually needed more page time for Adam to finish that chapter of his life. But the author is speeding towards the finish line.

Which brings me to what is still bothering me about this story.

Usually it’s a case of the disappearing animal character that has me so irritated. But here it’s a father, island, and a married couple. Read on but there’s spoilers ahead.

Elements that weren’t allowed to come to fruition or were dropped completely. ⛔️ Spoiler Alert ⛔️

1. Noah Braterman’s toxic father and his relationship with him. The last mention of this man was that the coach was fielding his insistent nasty phone calls, informing Noah the man was coming across as unhinged. Not a single word or sentence afterwards was given over to this man or large section of Noah’s redemptive storyline where he dealing with the toxicity of an adolescence and adulthood under this man. It’s an emotional matter not dealt with, and I can’t understand that. It’s not logical not to include at least some semblance of closure.

2. Then in a connected storyline thread, there’s the unexpected, startling way that the island and mansion were made to disappear from Adam’s life. Towards the end, Dev , the BIL, arranges for a Japanese firm to buy both the island and mansion. Deal done, and a major narrative element is dealt with and vanishes. Just a few sentences and buhbye. Goodbye to all the important scenes, places, whales, the boat, everything. Which brings us to big number 3.

3. Guess who else disappeared with the mansion and island not to be mentioned again. The all important, ever heartwarming fabulous strong women characters who live on the island too. The ones who have been Adam’s support system for years and who the readers get to know and love almost as completely as everyone else in this book. That’s Annie or Ms Potts and her ceramic artist wife, Tracy. They live on the caretaker’s cottage on the island and are a big part of not only Adam’s life, past and present, but become part of Noah’s as well. After parting with Adam in an emotional scene to tell him to, basically, go get his man, they disappear. Not a word about these important people is written again in this book. No goodbye’s, nothing. Not even a vague statement of missing them.

“You’re moving off the island?” Paul asked.

“Yep. It’s sold. House and island together.””

— Bad Boys (Hot Off the Ice Book 7) by A. E. Wasp

A.E. Wasp writes in her author’s notes that it took her years to finish this book. If that’s the case, then I would have expected that the issues that popped up and have stayed with me to the detriment of the overall polished product and satisfaction I derived from Bad Boys to have been resolved.

I wonder about these issues. In the epilogue, the happy couple talk about inviting people over to their new place. Guess who’s not included in that list? Yup, the women who held Adam together.

If I was Wasp’s editor, that would have been on my list for things easily inserted that would have been expected and made readers happy.

So it turned out that Bad Boys is a good book but not a great one. I’m interested in seeing what the next two books will be about. And if some of the things that are a bit flawed here can get corrected in books to come.

I’m recommending this as a good hockey romance, part of a terrific series, and one that fans of this author won’t want to miss.

Off The Ice Series:

✓ City Boy #1

✓ Country Boy #2

✓ Skater Boy #3

✓ Boy Toys #4

✓ Boy Next Door #5

✓ Boys of Summer #6

✓ Bad Boys #7

Buy link:

Bad Boys (Hot Off the Ice Book 7)

Blurb:

Behave or be benched.

Noah Braterman’s hotheaded attitude may cost him his NHL career before it truly begins. After alienating his current teammates, coaches, fans, and the press, Noah gets a second chance to prove his worth when he’s traded to the Seattle Thunder with one ultimatum—lose the attitude or lose his spot on the team.

Enter Adam Labatt, former NHL player, and Noah’s last, best Vegas fling.

After his own rocky past in the show, Adam turned himself around and is now being asked by his old mentor to help Noah learn to play well with others. Living in isolation on his private island and still guilt-ridden over the way his marriage ended, how can Adam possibly mentor anyone? But the man he shared an unexpectedly intimate passionate night with is worth fighting for, even if he has to fight Noah himself.

Forced into close quarters, the walls they’ve erected to protect themselves crumble as they share their hopes, dreams, and fears.

Fate brought them together. Now it’s up to them to find the courage to face the world unafraid. If they do, they just might create a future better than they could have imagined that night in Vegas under the desert stars.

Review: Like I Pictured (Heather Bay, #0.5) by Charlie Novak

Rating: 3.5🌈

Like I Pictured is the prequel to Novak’s Heather Bay series. It introduces the reader to the series setting, a richly detailed and glorious scenic Yorkshire coastal landscape, complete with horseshoe bay, quaint village and hilltop castle.

We meet several of the series regulars including the two main characters here in this romance. That’s the fantasy author Anders Flynn, who’s from Heather Bay and photographer Bastian Roche, whose home it will become because of Anders.

I liked this story because of the introduction Novak gives us to Heather Bay. We see it in far greater depth and detail than we do in the later stories. From the moment Bastian views it from his car to his walks through the streets exploring shops and looking at the residences, it’s an closeup portrait of this village we won’t see again. And it’s one that will resonate with the reader, making Heather Bay come alive in every way.

Like I Pictured also does an amazing job in defining both main characters. Each totally different in from their age and outlook, Novak is able to create fully dimensional personalities with realistic backgrounds and depth of character. It’s easy to believe in them , their professions, and the manner in which they interact with each other.

Alas, it’s the last the suffers from the shortness of length here. While Novak has written a splendid location, given the story two fully realized, well defined characters, it’s in their relationship development where the romance faltered.

It starts off promising. I love the texts between them as they get closer to each other. But for the majority of the exploratory conversations and important part of the relationship, it happens “off page “. So the other aspect is one of a “meet, one night, move in” sequence. It just doesn’t do justice to the rest of the story and foundation work.

Rushed? Uh yes.

Like I Pictured (Heather Bay, #0.5) by Charlie Novak lays the groundwork for the series and the group of people that will be the found family of friends to find their HEA in this magical world Novak has created.

In truth, it’s a lovely romance and I enjoyed it. It’s just I had read the other books and backtracked to this one so I knew the voices and had them as an established couple already.

For me this is Heather Bay light compared to the other stories. But I wouldn’t have readers who are fans of the series or author miss out on it. It’s very lovely and a recommendation for you.

Heather Bay series :

✓ Like I Pictured #0.5

✓ Like I Promised #1

✓ Like I Wished #2

✓ Like I Needed #3

✓ Like I Pretended #4

◦ Like I Wanted #5 – Sept 28,2023

Buy Link:

Like I Pictured

Related to: Heather Bay

Blurb:

What if taking a chance photo led to love?

Bastian Roche is lonely and drifting. While he adores his photography job, he still hasn’t found a place to call home. Until he takes a chance photo of the elusive fantasy author Anders Flynn and makes a life changing connection.

Anders is grumpy, reclusive, and convinced he’s better off alone. But that doesn’t stop him from replying to Bastian’s emails. When Anders suggests Bastian scouts out his hometown of Heather Bay as a shoot location, Anders realises he’s falling fast for the man who brings sunshine into his life.

As Heather Bay pulls them together, both men must make a choice. Can a chance meeting give them the life they’ve always pictured?

Like I Pictured is a contemporary MM novella and is a prequel to the Heather Bay series but can be read as a standalone. It’s got a sweetness, steam, a small, British seaside town, and some grumpy cats.

Review: It Spells Trouble (Mages and Mates #2) by Andy Gallo

Rating: 4.5🌈

The second in Andy Gallo’s Mages and Mates series, It Spells Trouble picks up after the events of the first book. There we met the renowned Hollen family, one of the world’s most powerful group of mages. That book set the series theme of a Great Group of Guardians made up of a certain kind of mage/fated mate pairing, one that’s in need of replacing the current ancient pair with a new one.

Mage Jannick Pederson is half brother to Mage Bartholomew Hollen of book one. We met Jan there and got to know him, along with his troubled background and impetus personality.

Here we see the growth and maturity those events have brought on and get a new understanding of the man we barely knew. Gallo also provides a deeper perspective into the Hollen family dynamics and Jan’s relationship within their inner circle.

The framework of the story is a frightening one. Human children are being kidnapped and the reasons are unknown. Magic is at work here. So mages are needed to track down the missing.

Gallo introduces a new faction of paranormal beings, Gryphons and a conservative pack that has become a nightmare for those who live under it. It’s a relevant aspect of a fantasy world.

Gryphon shifter Conall Arwan is assigned by the Alpha, his father, to help Jan investigate the kidnappings. Conall is another layered, fantastic character as is Jan and each forms a strong bond with this investigation.

Gallo dives into the juxtaposition of families, issues of loyalty and obedience, and heritage and identity here with these two beings. All that laid next to an investigation into missing children and the dangers they may represent.

I was absolutely into this story and their relationship. Several times I was reaching for a couple of tissues.

This series and theme has me hooked. Plus love those covers!

If you’re a fan of fantasy, fated mates, and great world building, Andy Gallo has a series for you.

One I’m definitely recommending.

Mages and Mates:

✓ Break The Spell #1

✓ It Spells Trouble #2

◦ Under A Spell #3 – March 26,2024

Buy Link :

It Spells Trouble: An MM Paranormal Romance (Mages and Mates Book 2)

Blurb:

Mage Jannick Pederson thought it was a simple assignment: help the gryphon leader find some missing human children and then go home. A noble cause, even if he didn’t much like the abrasive jerk. So why didn’t someone tell him he’d be working closely with the leader’s son instead? That hot piece of perfection could make even happily-single Jannick give up his no-strings-attached ways.

Gryphon shifter Conall Arwan has simple goals for his life: get his PhD in pediatric shifter social work and stay off the radar of his disapproving father. When his father orders him to work with a hot but arrogant mage to find missing human kids, all Conall sees is how it pushes back his graduation date. Again. And even if the mage unexpectedly turns out to be not so bad—and maybe even a little sweet—there’s still no future for them. Conall’s dad has plans for him and they don’t include getting involved with a sexy, infuriating mage.

But fate has other ideas.

It Spells Trouble is a 75K word fated mates romance with a hearty dose of steam and a guaranteed happily-ever-after. This book is part of the Mages and Mates series and includes a plot to destroy the world, a desperate decision with far-reaching consequences, and one pissed off gryphon father.

Each book in the series can be read alone, but they are better read in order.

Review: Deven and the Dragon (Beautiful Beasts, #1) by Eliot Grayson

Rating: 4.5🌈

Eliot Grayson has written a fairy tale about a curse, a castle, a dragon, a Prince, a innocent ,a thief, a mission to steal a unique treasure for the sake of the village, you know all the elements that make up a typical fairy tale. Except in Grayson’s story, things are a bit twisted.

Those twists, Grayson’s winning characters, and an engaging narrative make Deven and the Dragon a fabulous story for all lovers of this genre and romances in general.

Fiora is such a sympathetic character, especially as we slowly get to know him as Deven, the handsome rapscallion from the village, does. None of the usual fairy tale traits or traditions quite fall true here unless it’s that of true love saving the day and breaking the curse.

In between, we have a wonderful relationship that develops, some heartbreaking moments, and a romance for adults that’s heartwarming and emotional.

Plus dragons and drama! Yes, please.

Highly recommended and onto the next one in this series.

Layered characters, twists in a standard format, and heartfelt ending. Yes!

Plus gorgeous covers that pull the reader in. Exquisite.

Beautiful Beasts:

✓ Deven and the Dragon #1

◦ Corin and the Courtier #2

Buy Link :

Deven and the Dragon (Beautiful Beasts Book 1)

Blurb:

The beast doesn’t ever really get a fairytale ending…does he?

Deven’s mission is clear. All he has to do is convince the dragon to give up one of his magical scales. Lies, deception, seduction—nothing is off-limits. It should be easy. But it isn’t. Especially not when said dragon is so alluring in human form. It’s not long before Deven starts to want something way more valuable than a scale from his beautiful beast. But how do you convince a dragon to give you his heart when your entire relationship was built on deceit?

Fiora is cursed. Love can kill him. Literally kill him. So keeping his mind (and hands) off the devilishly handsome Deven shouldn’t be a challenge. But it is. Deven’s entirely too warm, too attractive, too…everything to resist. And spending time with the lovable human makes Fiora question what’s more frightening—the curse, or the possibility of a life without Deven by his side.

If they want a shot at happily ever after, Deven and Fiora will need to break the potentially deadly curse and overcome all the secrets that stand between them. Easy, right?

They wish…

This book is an explicit M/M romance with an absurd cloak worn during the summer, a dragon who hoards—well, it isn’t gold, and some extremely angry parents who can breathe fire.

Review: Break the Spell (Mages and Mates #1) by Andy Gallo

Rating: 4.5🌈

Andy Gallo’s Break The Spell is such a great introduction to this author’s writing if you’re not familiar with his work already. The first in a new fantasy series, Mages and Mates, it’s full of fully realized characters, an amazing world who’s foundation of magical powers and knowledge appears to be expanding with each new story, and a dark exciting mystery that’s an overall arc for the series.

Did I say sexy as well? Yes, it’s that too.

I really appreciated that it seems to start with a shocking scene that introduces us to Bartholomew Hollen, one of THE mage family Hollens, powerful, wealthy, and at the center of all things magical. At least in Philadelphia.

Gallo will expand on who Bart is, his role in the Hollen family, the famous Utrecht University, and as a mage worldwide. We get slowly lead into it as events allow. That lets the author reveal more of Bart’s character, personality, and history. It’s a fantastic way to develop the story and character together.

And it works not only for Bart but for the elf Caelinus Reinhold, who’s arrived in Philadelphia from Chicago to become the professor of creative magic at Utrecht University. His character becomes entwined with that of Bart’s almost immediately.

Gallo builds the suspense and mystery through various scenes and storylines. It’s in past histories and seen through current events. And while that arc’s mystery thread is being explored, Gallo is also building the relationship between a fearful Bart and Cael, whose feelings have him trying to figure out how to make Bart take a chance on them both.

The university, the Hollen family members, and magical powers are included in the fabric of this storyline that are fantastically creative elements.

Is there a resolution? Only to the couple’s scenario here. The overall arc mystery rolls forward. The ending came about a tad suddenly for me and was the only reason this didn’t earn the full five stars.

I’m heading to the next book and highly recommending you start here if you’re a lover of fantasy novels and magical romance. This has tons of both and won’t disappoint!

Mages and Mates:

✓ Break The Spell #1

◦ It Spells Trouble #2

◦ Under A Spell #3 – March 26,2024

Buy Link :

Break the Spell: An MM Paranormal Romance (Mages and Mates Book 1)

Blurb:

Bartholomew Hollen, professor of defensive magic at Utrecht University, just wanted a no strings, no feelings, no attachment hook up. Nothing messy like when his ex-boyfriend tried to feed him to a demon. Bart’s heart, however, has other ideas. But when he has a vision of the future and sees his hookup dying at his feet from yet another demon, Bart does the only sensible thing – he sneaks out like a thief in the night.

Not like he’ll see the guy again.

Caelinus Reinhold has done something no elf has done before – become the professor of creative magic at Utrecht University. His first day should be magical, except Cael can’t stop thinking about the hot mage he hooked up with the night before who then snuck out while he slept. Whatever. His loss.

He’ll never see the jerk again, anyway.

Things get awkward fast when the department assigns Bart to be Cael’s mentor. Despite their rocky start, neither can deny that Fate wants them together. But Bart’s premonitions all end in tragedy for the pair. No matter how he tries to change the future, Cael is always a casualty. How can Bart follow his heart when Cael’s death is sure to break it?

Review: The Human’s Incubus: A Brinnswick Story 1 by Michele Notaro

Rating: 4🌈

I really enjoy Michele Notaro’s work so I immediately picked up her release, The Human’s Incubus: A Brinnswick Story 1 . It’s the first in a new series but one that’s connected with two of her other larger series, and shared universe . Those would be the Ellwood Chronicles and Brinnswick Chronicles world.

Honestly, I don’t think I’ve read any of those books, but I will be after meeting some of the characters who crossed over from there into this story to help out our main characters.

That would be Hugo, a human with an angst-filled history and Zaos, an incubus with an emotional backstory who’s determined that Hugo is his viramore, his soulmate.

Unlike Michele Notaro’s The Magi Accounts series which I’m reading and throughly in love with, this isn’t the dark fiction that is. While it does contain hints about Zay’s horrific childhood, that’s all it’s got. See the author’s trigger warning. It does seem it’s more from the narrative in another series.

And that’s a bit of an issue as far as the world building goes. That the knowledge of the world is assumed because of the other series. There’s enough of a framework to fill in some necessary details but the overall structure isn’t quite there.

Does it spoil a terrific story? No. I loved getting to know Hugo and Zay, watching them navigate their way through Hugo’s problems, the idea of their bond, Zaos’ large family, and their (much needed) interference in their lives here.

I can’t wait for the next story and chapter in their relationship to be released. That will be The Human’s Heart (A Brinnswick Story Book 2). No date as yet.

Until then I’ll be heading back to pull up on the connected series and the universe I missed out on.

I’m definitely recommending this to all fans of the author and fantasy fiction.

A Brinnswick Story series:

✓ The Human’s Incubus #1

◦ The Human’s Heart #2 – TBD

Trigger warnings:

“Mentions of past child abuse/ sexual abuse (nothing on page).”

— The Human’s Incubus: A Brinnswick Story 1 by Michele Notaro

Buy Link:

The Human’s Incubus: A Brinnswick Story 1

Blurb:

When an incubus tells you he’s your soulmate, do you stay and listen or run and never look back?

I’ve spent most of my life knowing that supernatural creatures exist but never really interacting with any, so my knowledge of them is limited. Still, who would’ve thought a demisexual incubus was a thing?

Well apparently, not only is it a thing, but I have one who claims to be my soulmate—or viramore, as he calls it. And now he has it in his head that he’s going to save me from my past.

I think he might have a few screws loose, but something about him intrigues me, and I find myself drawn into his orbit. Could he be telling the truth? Could he really be my soulmate? Or should I be running from him the way I’m running from my enemies?

The Human’s Incubus is the first book in A Brinnswick Story series and is a MM paranormal romance. This series takes place in the Ellwood Chronicles and Brinnswick Chronicles world, but it’s not necessary to read those series first in order to enjoy this one.

Review: Like I Pretended (Heather Bay, #4) by Charlie Novak

Rating: 4🌈

After the high bar set by Like I Needed, any following book has a good chance of not meeting the expectations that story laid out. Like I Pretended doesn’t but it’s not because it doesn’t try hard.

It’s got Alex, tattooed, grumbly younger brother to Spencer and co-owner of the marvelous shop Novel Tea (say that fast), a cozy place to drink coffee, tea, and read books.

As with all the romances, hints about this one have been embedded in the other books. The tv show being filmed up at the castle, famous film stars in the village, Alex’s strange behavior lately. Everything gets revealed here.

Alex has been a notoriously prickly personality throughout the series, with only some background explanations. He and his brother were basically abandoned by their parents and he’s got high walls around him. I have enjoyed watching him and his interactions with the found family of friends over the series.

No , it’s Henry Lu that’s problematic. I’m not sure what my expectations were with a famous film star in this scenario but Novak’s Henry Lu stuck pretty much to the selfish, handsome, and pandered to famous actor personality that’s very hard to connect with.

This is familiar territory. The stuck up actor who gets shot down by the grumpy hot storefront owner or whoever the local person is. So an author needs to work on writing this story and relationship between them out with new depths and elements. Novak only partially does this.

The best part is letting her created location of Heather Bay and its sublime locals do their part in carrying their narrative heft here. They charm the book pants of the reader and Henry Lu every chance they get. Whether it’s the book club or the members of that fabulous found family that’s been finding their own HEA, or just the breathtaking scenery of the Yorkshire countryside and coast, that’s where you’ll find the heart here.

It’s where Henry himself eventually becomes someone they and the reader can accept as well.

But before then, it’s the elements in the story that just don’t get a follow through or are treated like a less than meaningful aspect of the story when it’s indicated they are meant to be much more.

Examples.

◦ Fake boyfriend aspect that disappeared immediately. There’s all this angst over this scenario but it disappears without almost a trace and further discussion.

◦ The deep, dark secret that Alex has been hiding and his been the source of his pain and bitterness at the other couples. Boom! Gone , revealed, dealt with in a couple of sentences.

◦ Ditto for Henry.

If an author writes about a subject as a major topic, then don’t then dismiss it as being something that can be done with minimal page time.

What does work is the awareness that one doesn’t throw away a career and home to run away with a person who’s concentrating his job. There’s a need for communication for any relationship to work here. That’s the adult part that makes me love this book , Alex, and the series.

Henry and Alex also have wonderful intimate moments of joy, laughter, and of course, they get their own special gift from Theo at the end.

If you’re reading this and the series, make sure to get your free stories about each couple from the author. Definitely a “Cherry on the top” offering!

Are they my favorite couple? No. But did I enjoy the story? Absolutely. It’s Heather Bay after all.

Adore the series and this found family of grand characters! Join in the experience and journey. I’m recommending them all, read them in the order they are written.

Heather Bay series :

✓ Like I Promised #1

✓ Like I Wished #2

✓ Like I Needed #3

✓ Like I Pretended #4

◦ Like I Wanted #5 – Sept 28,2023

Buy Link:

Like I Pretended (Heather Bay Book 4)

Blurb:

Pretending to be in love never felt so real.

Henry Lu hates being a superstar. Action movies have left a sour taste in his mouth and filming a queer period drama on the Yorkshire coast sounds like the perfect antidote. Meeting grumpy coffee shop owner, Alex, is the cherry on top.

Alex isn’t impressed with the appearance of Hollywood royalty in his life, especially because Henry refuses to accept that Alex doesn’t like him. But when rumours about the production draw the attention of stuffy streaming service bigwigs and the ire of Henry’s superhero franchise, Henry and Alex must put on a show and fake a relationship to smooth things over.

Alex doesn’t want a relationship, and Henry isn’t good at them, but their arrangement is only supposed to be for a few months, then they’ll both be free to go back to their lives. The only problem is that pretending to be in love never felt so real.

Like I Pretended is a slow burn contemporary MM romance featuring a sunshine Hollywood superstar whose never been told no, a grumpy coffee shop owner who wants to be left alone, bad attempts at flirting, terrible catering, and finding home.

It is book four in the Heather Bay series and while it can be read as a standalone, it’s best enjoyed as part of the series

Review: Like I Needed (Heather Bay, #3) by Charlie Novak

Rating: 5🌈

Like I Needed is one man’s deeply revelatory and redefining journey from a purposeless wealthy party boy living in London to the committed, grounded and incredibly happy partner of a farmer in Heather Bay.

Novak really outdid herself with this story. It’s my favorite not just of the series but of any recent contemporary romance I’ve read.

It’s with the beautifully written characters , the incredible landscape and storylines that that pulls a narrative that often feels poetic from Novak. And it’s the truth you get from the lives that they are leading as farmers that engages the reader so completely that you forget you’re reading a book as you lose yourself in lambing season or whatever is happening on that farm.

“The first lamb of the season was born just after midnight on the seventeenth of March, a date I knew I’d never forget for as long as I lived.”

That’s Jamie Stone, who fled to Heather Bay in search of new direction for himself and answers for why he was so dissatisfied with himself and life in London.

It’s always amazed me when an author can take a certain “type” of main character and turn him into someone we find we empathize with and deeply care about. That certainly happens with Jamie. A man who’s decision to flee the city for something completely different lands him in Heather Bay where every step he takes leads he further down the path towards the man and life he’s always wanted and never knew he could live.

That’s with Will Foster, the last of the Fosters on a farm that’s been in his family for hundreds of years. The weight of that responsibility and the pressure on him to insure the farm’s future is heavy. The reader feels every bit of the love he has for his heritage, the land and farming as well as the toll it’s taken on him.

Novak’s picture of the reality of a farming life, right in the middle of winter, the cold, early hours, constant cold , snow, and bitter winds, is raw and believable. But so is the wood fired stove that heats the old farmhouse, Mog the cat the moved in and never leaves, and farm dogs, the pain and joys that needs to be shared.

It’s lambing season.

“We’d gone out to do one last check before bed because Will had been pacing up and down the kitchen with a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. So we’d wrapped up warm, loaded Nell up onto the back of the quad bike, and headed out to the fields. The sky was cloudless and studded with a million stars, the moon so close to full it looked like someone had tried to draw an approximation of a circle and flattened it on one side. It was crisp and cold, our breath fogging in the air, and the world felt almost empty.”

— Like I Needed (Heather Bay Book 3) by Charlie Novak

The beauty in the descriptions, the warmth of two men finding each other. Truly a favorite story for me.

And of course, all the wonderful meddling friends, the Friday nights at The Sleeping Goose, it’s enough for me to want to head there right now and pull up a chair.

I love this so much. Right to the end, it’s pretty perfect.

The series is great. Low angst, loving, full of people finding a home and HEA in the most beautiful places and inspiring ways. Read them in order for the events and couples. Then arrive here at one of my favorites!

Heather Bay series :

✓ Like I Promised #1

✓ Like I Wished #2

✓ Like I Needed #3

◦ Like I Pretended #4

◦ Like I Wanted #5 – Sept 28,2023

Buy Link:

Like I Needed (Heather Bay Book 3)

Blurb:

One night isn’t supposed to lead to love.

Jamie Stone is rich, beautiful, and bored out of his skull. The past few years have been an endless round of parties, and the decadence has lost its lustre. When a late night decision to get away lands him in the small seaside town of Heather Bay, Jamie’s convinced he’s made a mistake.

Heather Bay is no Ibiza, but it does have Will.

Will is stressed, stretched, and doesn’t have time for anything but work. He’s too busy trying to keep his head above water to focus on the London party boy who keeps ending up in his bed. Jamie is nothing but a distraction, but Will can’t resist coming back for more, especially with the harsh realities of farming nipping at his heels.

With the clock ticking on Jamie’s stay and the chaos of lambing season fast approaching, both men will have to look beyond themselves and let go of their fears. If they can, they might find the one thing they’ve always needed.

Like I Needed is a steamy and sweet hook-ups to lovers contemporary MM romance featuring a city boy with a hedonistic reputation, a gruff farmer in need of a break, endless amounts of snow, friends with no boundaries, terrible scrambled eggs, and the breathtaking beauty of the Yorkshire moors.

It is book three in the Heather Bay series and while it can be read as a standalone, it’s best enjoyed as part of the series.

Review: How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life: Date Night Disaster #3 (Princes of Mayhem) by Jocelynn Drake

Rating: 5🌈

Here we are at the penultimate story and it ends with, gasp, a cliffhanger! Ok , no surprise as this is a serialized story and that’s in keeping with the format. So it’s very much to be expected.

But before that happens, author Jocelynn Drake gives our main characters, adorable , powerful necromancer Skylar Wallace and his human equally adorable author and neighbor Nolan Banks a first date to remember.

Does it go off the rails immediately? Absolutely! Spectacularly wrong in all the right and humorous ways? You bet!

Where the previous story went dark, dark, deeply serious into the worst that Sky’s paranormal life and world offer to Nolan, a human newly discovering that humanity wasn’t alone. Date Night flips the narrative showing Nolan that magic and magical beings have a lighter side.

It’s a wild ride, literally, of a date night.

Even a suspected element that’s anticipated to be one of anguish and horror has an unlikely twist.

There’s plenty of side characters, including the vampire Varik brothers and mates. And Sky’s witchy best friends.

Honestly my hardest thing right now is the fact that there’s only one more book to come.

How can Drake deliver such fantastic characters, give us the potential for more revelations about them and their lives and leave us at four books? Short ones at that?

I believe the author needs to conjure us up a sequel.

Anyway, the finale is coming. It’s called Disaster, Who Woke the Dead?Naturally.

I can’t wait.

Absolutely recommending this and that. And the series.

How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life:

✓ Disaster #1: Fun With Family

✓ Disaster #2: Pet Problems

✓ Disaster #3: Date Night

◦ Disaster #4: Who Woke the Dead?-Aug 28

Buy Link:

How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life: Disaster #3 (Princes of Mayhem)

Blurb:

Disaster #3: Date Night

Date night! Date night!

It’s date night!

Life has settled down and Nolan has agreed to go on a date with Sky. There’s just one catch: Sky has to promise that it’s a totally normal, non-magical date.

I bet you can already see where this is going…

It would have been a totally normal, non-magical date if it weren’t for the purple fungus, a completely minor nonlethal mostly harmless but useful poisoning, and the pig.

Sigh…Will Nolan give him a second chance after this mess?

How the Necromancer in the Gold Vest Saved My Life is a serial comprising four novellas that follow the insane adventures of necromancer Skylar Wallace and his next-door neighbor Nolan Banks. This is book three of four and contains vampires, werewolves, witches, spells gone bad, good friends who should never call during a date, and a pig. Really. This will make your worst date look amazing. And did I mention it’s a full moon?