Category: M/M Contemporary Fiction

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: Gateway Catastrophe (Ghostly Guardians, #4) by Louisa Masters

Rating: 3.5🌈

Gateway Catastrophe is the almost finale for Louisa Masters Ghostly Guardians series and it had a lot of ground to cover for a book about the end of the world.

At the end of Conduit Crisis, a higher demon, Marc has arrived from the Otherworld, as they are calling the realm trying to break through to Earth through the portals. He’s here to save his realm’s species and world from the mad leader, Cato, that’s coming for Earth.

Marc has a complicated and messy relationship with quite a few of the people at the estate as he’s been back and forth between his world and theirs often trying to figure out how to stop the planned invasion.

Masters has brought in all the couples, including the young brothers of Connor and Gabe, Ian and Matt, who’re studying at Franklin U (Mr Romance). We have the great ghosts, now including Tom’s Italian grandmother added into the mix, a few new disposable hunter characters, the odd townspeople, and the cast is about at overflow levels.

Sometimes that’s great here but occasionally it’s a bit too much for the storylines to handle for clarity sake. The main pov’s here are Gabe the demon hunter, and Tom, the part-time cab driver with the ghostly Italian grandmother who rides with him . Tom (a childhood friend of Skye) has been unaware until recently of the existence of the paranormal world that now threatens theirs. Tom had a terrific backstory that we don’t get enough of, a homophobic Italian family, a childhood deep friendship with Skye that includes Skye’s father’s basically “adopting” him into their family. A closeted adolescence for Tom that almost destroyed him. That’s a lot of emotional baggage to unpack.

That it’s a end of the world quickly dealt with conversation is understandable but, hmmmm, it’s an example of the types of narrative choices Masters had to make here when looking at the huge amounts of information, storylines she’d created (sabotage, mysteries, betrayal, paranormal universes, chemistry problems, wars, good vs bad vs grey, portals etc) , the need to complete college degrees if the world might be ending, and romance!

Sometimes it’s successful and other times it’s too many people, too many voices , and situations that are overpowering the very huge theme . The baddies are coming, the world is ending. What are we doing?

The suspense and anxiety should be over the top here towards the end, the reader on the edge of their proverbial seats. But, for me , at least, it starts to head the other direction.

By the time Cato, the high demon who’s the bigger bad, it’s almost anticlimactic. When the battle is engaged, we see what’s happening from Gabe’s perspective , which deals with the portals. The actual battle and fighting? The stuff that makes the adrenaline rush and the heart rate spike? Nope, that a “as told to” afterwards.

That’s my biggest issue with this story. It’s the popped balloon we were hoping to do ourselves only for someone else to get to it before us. The element of anticipation that is never going to happen.

When we get back to the scene it’s over. And the characters fill other characters (and the readers) in on what happened.

From an author’s standpoint, I can see where writing about this part of the story might have meant that the book went on for several more chapters. But wouldn’t that have been worth the payoff? Emotionally?

Or less portal, more the actual physical fighting?

I don’t know. The climatic scenario and the revelations felt unbalanced. And unsatisfactory. After all that hefty exposition, all that tons of information and huge cast of characters, that’s the way it ends? With a battle off the page? A narrative whimper?

There is a sweet payoff for everyone involved but it’s still not grounded enough in the narrative to be an emotional element. To have that kind of reaction you need to have the reader be involved in the actual situations that require a resolution. We weren’t.

A plus here is the romantic relationship between Gabe and Tom, with the “end of the world “ supplying the necessary energy for them to get themselves together and go for the chance of a life together. And Tom, he was a great surprise and success as a character. I wish we could have seen more of him. Supplying Tom with being a Tendo master and then not utilizing this fully in the climax seems like a waste.

That’s this story. Sometimes too much, and sometimes not enough. Often at the wrong times.

And there’s another book coming because Masters isn’t finished yet with these characters and universe. It’s with Ian and Marc.

So does that make this an almost finale? Or the new book a side story.

Not sure but it’s seems about right for the series and Gateway Catastrophe, a story that doesn’t really seem to have an core ending in itself.

So overall, it’s a jammed packed paranormal end of the world story, with a lovely romance. Tons of interesting elements, some great characters (as always adore the ghosts and the insufferable higher demon Marc), but I felt that some of the immense complexity of that theme (nothing bigger than ending the world) got lost in the shuffle.

Perhaps it was who got chosen as the final narrator (Gabe versus Tom) or which field of action the author chose to concentrate on, either way, it’s my personal opinion it was the less interesting path to go down.

I’m still recommending it for those fans of this series and the author. If you haven’t read the series, then this book will probably not make any sense to you. This series must be read in the order that they were written for the events, relationships, and situations to make sense.

Ghostly Guardians:

✓ Spirited Situation #1 (Josh and Ewan)

✓ Vortex Conundrum #2 (Kieran and Conner)

✓ Conduit Crisis #3 (Skye and Daniel)

✓ Gateway Catastrophe #4 (Gabe and Tom)

Buy Link:

Gateway Catastrophe (Ghostly Guardians Book 4)

Description:

It only took seconds for my world to change…

I live a simple, small-town life. Helping with the family restaurant, my side gig as a ride-share driver, hanging with my best friend, making the most of the extra time with my ghost grandma. The only exciting thing to happen to me in the past year was when Gabe moved to town—too bad Nonna scared him off. It’s hard to impress a guy when your dead grandmother calls him the devil.

The last thing I expect when I pick up a ride-share client and take him to Mannix Estate is that he’s a demon. An actual, breathing, can-kill-me-with-a-thought demon. That night blows my simple life apart and changes everything. Turns out, ghosts aren’t the weirdest things out there, my best friend and Gabe are both part of this alternate world, and there’s a big bad demon who wants to end us all. What’s a small-town boy to do but roll up his sleeves and join the fight to save the world?

Working side by side with Gabe reminds me just how much I liked him when we first met… and the feeling’s mutual. As the clock counts down and we both struggle with personal issues, it’s good to know there’s someone to lean on. But I don’t know if our tenuous connection can survive the hell that’s coming and see us through to the other side.

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: Baxter’s Right-Hand Man (The Baxter Chronicles #2) by Lane Hayes

Rating : 4.5🌈

Lane Hayes’ The Baxter Chronicles, the adventures of the fictional international adventurer/hero Baxter, (and current box office success) as the framework for the romance first for its creator/author, Sebastian in The Real Baxter, and now for the person who’s the one bringing the character to life on the big screen, movie star, Pierce Allen. He gets his HEA, eventually in Baxter’s Right – Hand Man.

For me this was a bit of a challenge because it wasn’t Pierce Allen I fell in love with here. In his words, he was a bit of “a dick”. Careless with his words, other people, and , now it seems, his career, because he’s convinced, as Lane has written him, he’s invaluable as a asset because of his longevity as this popular character.

As a character, Pierce Allen’s personality and actions kept me from being able to emotionally engage with him while mentally still looking logically at the reasons for his decisions and trust issues. Did I like him? No. Not until the book was almost over.

No who I immediately connected with was Lorenzo Ramos, stylist, and his deep friendship with Mr G, that’s Mr. Gowen, a critically ill older gay man who’s both a dear friend and client. The one who will bring Pierce Allen into their lives, or actually his nurse will.

This entire element of Baxter’s Right-Hand Man (The Baxter Chronicles #2) by Lane Hayes is responsible for the rating here . It’s in the warm intimacy of two flamboyant men, so apart in age but so close in their approaches to their lives. They exude an elegance, each comfortable with who they are, their own personal and painful journey to self acceptance underscores the difference between them and Pierce to a remarkable degree.

And we get to sit nearby as old histories of love and life are revealed in heartbreaking stories and moments. That’s what made this book for me.

Lane Hayes created layers of time and inserted her readers into them here. Pockets of love and loss, both of familial and that of deep love of romantic relationships. And at the end, Pierce has become more human, less a portrait of a self obsessed man or one so used to thinking only of himself that anyone else wasn’t actually noteworthy. When he finally started to care about MrGowen, then I thought I could connect with him as well.

It just took me too long for that to happen.

But for the fabulousness that’s Lo Ramos and Mr G? For their friends at the store? For all the memories, for David, the universe Hayes created here, that’s what the heartwarming story is about.

That’s a great read and why I’m recommending it!

The Baxter Chronicles:

✓ The Real Baxter #1

✓ Baxter’s Right-Hand Man #2

Buy Link:

Baxter’s Right-Hand Man: MM Romance/Secret Boyfriends (The Baxter Chronicles Book 2)

Description:

The movie star meets his match…

Pierce

Welcome to Hollywood, baby! Perhaps you’ve heard of me. I play Baxter, the adventure-seeking, crime-fighting hero, adored by fans around the world. Nice gig, right? My job has its perks for sure—private jets, a chauffeur, and the best tables at the fanciest restaurants in town. It’s nuts!

Downside—it’s hard to know who you can trust.

But I trust Lorenzo. He’s funny, sweet, and very real.

Look, I’m not in the market for anything serious. Between my greedy brother and the old man who claims we’re related, I’m a little wary, but I could use a friend.

And a sexy distraction.

Lorenzo

What is happening here? Major movie star, Pierce Allen wants me.

Me!

I don’t get it. I’m too fabulous and he’s too famous.

No, wait. He wants something from me, like my help and maybe my body. This should be a no-brainer. However, closing the last chapter on a long-term relationship has left me feeling a little fragile, and the last thing I need is to risk another broken heart.

But I’m too intrigued to walk away. I can play the part of Pierce’s “right-hand man” and keep things light and friendly. No problem.

I’m way too smart to fall for a movie star.

I hope.

Baxter’s Right-Hand Man is a MM, bisexual romance featuring a sexy, slightly egotistical movie star and the adorable diva who brings him back to reality.

Review: Scoring Points (A Lights Out story ) by H.L Day

Rating: 2🌈

“You can’t change what happened. But you can still change what will happen.

⁃ Sebastian Vettel.”

After reading Scoring Points by H.L. Day, my first thoughts were you had one job in this series , that was to write a book about Formula 1 racing and you’ve tossed the memo.

How did one author go so wrong in a multi author series about specific teams with specific drivers racing on certain circuit’s during a specified season and not write about racing?

First by not writing about the drivers themselves or anyone within the pit who’s directly in contact with the drivers and the actual action on the racetrack. By now, we’ve gotten a good idea of the various teams and their drivers, even on a superficial level, from the other books who mention the same races and events, albeit from different perspectives.

That’s been a great aspect of the series and an anticipatory factor in every new release to come.

But H.L. Day, whose works are often in my must rec list, has made some seriously ill conceived choices when it came time to plan out and write their book for this series.

Day chose to write about the team’s principals. What is a team principal?

“In Formula One, the team principal is the person who is in charge of a constructor team [team who builds the cars] and its personnel. They are usually responsible for issuing team orders and making day-to-day decisions. “

And they are extremely well paid for the job. Millions a year in fact. It’s a job that’s incredibly hard to get and harder to keep.

So Day chose to work the story around two competitive principals. That’s fine , except instead of it being a normal or. it’s all on a personal level. It’s nothing to do with racing but hurt feelings stemming from episodes when they raced karts as teenagers.

Not racing but sexuality. This really could be any other kind of book. Day just had to throw in racing stuff. And it shows.

Keep that in mind. After slogging through approximately 45%, I kept wondering why Day had made the barest of efforts at incorporating any racing into the story. Only Kurt Whitford’s character , at least, gets some semblance of showing he’s got a team that’s interested in racing.

Giovanni Rossi, whose team is mentioned extensively in all the other books, can hardly remember he’s got a team because he’s so obsessed with his sex life, past as well as present, and his revenge on Kurt. Believable he’s not, petulant he is, as Yoda would say.

By 50 % , I’m denying myself the pleasure of DNF, and page flipping , hoping for some racing somewhere in this story or anything that would ground it in this series. But no.

It’s a hopeless mess of two grown men in constant emotional turmoil over each other. Men, primarily Gio who is not a likable character, playing petty head games as payback, who in this actual situation would never be risking their teams, their drivers, or the millions and their careers this way.

Maybe another author could make a believable case for this scenario but Day never does.

Day uses tweets with events from other stories to make sure the reader knows this story is still “all about racing” . Such a format can’t replace actual depths of plotting and real characters.

So in the end do I recommend this ? No. Skip it, and read the others. You won’t be missing anything here.

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 6/20

◦ Rookie Mistakes by Beth Laycock 6/27/2023

Buy Link:

Scoring Points

Description:

Can two warring team principals in the cutthroat world of F1 ever admit that there’s more to life than scoring points?

On the surface, Kurt Whitford has everything. A successful business. Good looks. Money. A famous popstar girlfriend hanging off his arm. And as the icing on the cake, he’s just been announced as Nebula’s new team principal. The downside? The opposition. It’s seventeen years since Kurt has seen the infuriating and irresistible Gio Rossi, but the man hasn’t changed a bit.

Whatever Kurt Whitford has, Giovanni Rossi can surpass. Well, except for the girlfriend. Despite needing to keep his sexuality on the down low, he’s not that far in the closet. And if Kurt thinks that Gio’s ready to let bygones be bygones, he couldn’t be more wrong. Gio hasn’t forgiven. Or forgotten.

As a long-rooted rivalry kicks off once more and sparks fly both on and off the track, can Gio and Kurt go head-to-head without the media getting wind of their true feelings? Or is their undeniable sexual chemistry about to prove their downfall?

This MM romance from H.L Day features enemies to lovers, opposing teams, secrets that go way back, and suppressed feelings. 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: 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: Chance Encounter (The Elite ) by Luna David

Rating: 4.5🌈

Chance Encounter (The Elite ) by Luna David finishes out the multi-author series, The Elite, and does so smartly with a storyline that leans towards the dark side and characters that fit in nicely with a hellish city built on crime, sin, and murder.

We’re talking about that dark, sinister city of Old Defiance, where even the alleyways are paved smooth for ease of use for cars and trucks picking up or dumping trash, er bodies. And that most elegant of hotels, The Menagerie, home to unsavory club, The Anonymous, where the criminal members get a safe card even if they’re mortal enemies as well as a on call doctor.

It’s a fabulous theme and David dives right in with an ex-SEAL sniper turned assassin for hire, Tate McKenna, out on his latest assignment when a complication arises in the tiny form of Chance Forester.

I’ll stop here for a trigger warning. Chance Encounter has explicit scenes of domestic violence, father on son vicious beatings. It also contains scenes where memories of past childhood violence is revealed. If this is something that triggers you, then perhaps this isn’t a book for you.

That said, David has created in Chance a person who has crafted their own coping mechanisms over the years, a character so believable in his personality that he’s instantly beloved and connectable.

Another note is about the kink aspect. There’s a Daddy kink at play here, mild bdsm as both sides are new to this and neither one seems to want it to extend past the need to take control of the care of the other. Even if Daddy kink isn’t your thing, I believe you can still enjoy this romance. Very sexy and key to this couple’s relationship and romantic journey.

There’s several interesting elements that include family dynamics, family relationships , and characters which I wish the author (and book size) would have been able to explore further.

If this series had a combined plus and minus it would be that the greatest stories were both too short and left the reader wanting more of this fabulous theme and characters it inspired.

The series is done. My recommendations are marked below with a ❤️. It includes Chance Encounter. Happy Reading!

✅The Elite Multi-Author series (9 Books):

✓ Reckless Roulette by Alice Winters

✓ Leave No Trace by Michelle Frost and Sammi Cee

✓ Ace of Maids by K.L. Hiers (DNF)

✓ Poison Hearts by Jennifer Cody❤️

✓ Liar’s Gambit by Kelly Fox❤️

✓ Dealer of Secrets by Davidson King ❤️

✓ Bullets & Butterflies by Maz Maddox❤️

✓ Love for the Reaper by Charlie Cochet

✓ Chance Encounter by Luna David❤️

Buy link:

Chance Encounter (The Elite Book 1)

Description:

Tate isn’t a savior. And Chance doesn’t need to be saved. Turns out they’re both wrong.

For Tate McKenna, Navy SEAL sniper turned assassin, rescue missions are part of a past he prefers to forget. But the target in his scope isn’t supposed to be choking someone to death right before his eyes. Saving some kid isn’t part of the job and derails his meticulous plans. Disruptions to his schedule make Tate a grumpy bastard and unforeseen complications just piss him off.

To Chance Forester, being forced into a blacked out SUV isn’t much of a surprise. He figures this trip to see his father is just like all the others until the usual beatdown becomes attempted murder. Turns out, the secrets he thought he’d been keeping from his father, weren’t secrets at all and might end up getting him killed.

When the heat of Tate’s anger morphs into a desire to protect and care for Chance, will Chance allow himself to let his guard down? And will Tate be able to keep his boy safe like a good Daddy should while they’re on the run from those who may want them both permanently silenced?

Chance Encounter is a part of the multi-author series The Elite. Each book can be read as a standalone and in any order. What links these books together is The Anonymous, a club beneath the gritty city where only the elite are welcome.

The complete series is:

•

• Reckless Roulette by Alice Winters

• Leave No Trace by Sammi Cee and Michelle Frost

• Ace of Maids by K.L. Hiers

• Poison Hearts by Jennifer Cody

• Liar’s Gambit by Kelly Fox

• Dealer of Secrets by Davidson King

• Love for the Reaper by Charlie Cochet

• Chance Encounter by Luna David

Review: The Star (Charleston Condors Book 1) by Beth Bolden

Rating: 4.5🌈

Bolden extends her connected football series with the addition of the Charleston Condors, that reviled team that targeted the Miami Piranhas the last season to such an extent the NFL demanded their sale to a new owner who’s done a complete overhaul. That’s the point where we dive into this new team and series.

I love Bolden’s sport’s romances for any number of reasons. She has a in-depth, passionate knowledge of the sport she’s writing about that makes her players, the team, and the team dynamics she makes a huge part of her stories so realistic and compelling.

In The Star, we see a number of familiar characters or faces that are associated with characters in other series. Tight end Landry Banks comes from the legendary football Banks family that includes his brother, Logan (center for the Miami Piranhas). We have seen him before when the entire family came together for Logan in Miami. A huge, impressive figure, a Thor-like physicality combined with a strong, centered personality. He’s immediately likable and a person who the reader can relate to, odd as that sounds.

Bolden’s ability to get such a distinct looking person and make him relatable through his actions and innermost emotions is one of the greatest qualities of her stories. The other being able to get the reader into the locker room, or onto the field, in the middle of the action and plays, letting us feel the pressure, the excitement and adrenaline! During those scenes, it’s as though it’s actually happening and we’re caught up in it all!

Which brings us to the other main character and his complex relationship with his older brother who also happens to be Landry’s best friend. Rookie quarterback Riley Flynn also has major football connections, in this case it’s his bigger, older, more famous and still playing NFL quarterback brother, Aiden Riley. The golden boy who’s raised him and is now trying to control his life.

This entire situation and element is unexpected and well done. It’s tricky because, as stated Landry and Aiden went to college together, remaining best friends still. Now through a series of surprising events, Riley ends up as the quarterback of the Charleston Condors, something his brother is unhappy about.

In addition to the torturous brotherly relationship he lands in the middle of, Landry is undergoing an epiphany about his sexuality. The only “straight” brother of the Banks family isn’t actually so straight after all when faced with a grownup Riley .

Bolden’s storylines are beautifully woven together as personal attraction grows into something more along with a team that’s learning that it’s possible to overcome the past and for the Condors as a team and organization to come together and move forward as a new unified family.

The Star was a wonderful story and romance as well as a great start to a new series. I can’t wait for The Game to be released! I’m highly recommending this !

The Charleston Condors:

✓ The Star #1

◦ The Game #2 – Aug 31, 2023

Buy Link:

THE STAR

Description:

Tight end Landry Banks knows the score when he signs with the Charleston Condors in a rebuilding year.

New owner. New coach. New players. New rules.

But one rule hasn’t changed: Don’t hook up with your best friend’s little brother.

Rookie quarterback Riley Flynn knows what it takes to make it in the NFL. He’s in Charleston to prove himself—to the world and to his teammates, but mostly to his older brother, who’s never believed he could be a star.

The last thing he expects is for his brother’s best friend Landry to welcome him with open arms and an offer to become roommates.

Riley’s always believed Landry was straight—but the way Landry keeps checking him out leaves him suddenly unsure. And Landry’s hot looks certainly don’t help squash the crush he’s always had on his brother’s best friend.

Revisiting his teenage crush isn’t part of the plan. But as he and Landry fall into a rhythm of thrilling plays on the field and sizzling tension off it, there’s no denying their connection.

Riley isn’t willing to trade becoming the next big NFL superstar for love. But with a man like Landry Banks waiting to catch anything he throws at him, maybe he can have both.

Bolden’s connected Football series in order they are written:

✓ The Riptide

✓ Miami Piranhas

◦ Charleston Condors

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

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.