Demon Dating Service by Jocelynn Drake is a really cute paranormal romance. A graduate student in need of housing and romantic relationship advice gets both in the form of a “haunted” mansion that’s home to a found family of demons.
Luke is in desperate need of a cheap place to rent when the crows he feeds drop a flyer advertising a room near campus that’s the right price. Except he’s not aware that the landlords are demons playing a game of scare the human because they are bored.
This is an engaging out story with well defined characters, especially the demons which I really enjoyed. The joint journey they all take to acceptance, friendship and found family is marvelous.
The romantic relationship is less interesting as we don’t get as much background on the other character or their time together.
For me, Luke and his demon found family made the story. Along with his best friend who deserves more time here.
Luke is a poor grad student, desperate for a cheap place to live.
Desperate enough even to live in a house full of demons.
(Anything is better than his last roommate.)
When the demons find it’s nearly impossible to scare Luke away, they decide on a new plan to amuse themselves.
They’re going to help Luke with his love life.
Can they really aid Luke’s efforts to catch his college crush? Or are they headed for a disaster that neither heaven nor hell can fix?
Demon Dating Service is a fluffy, chaotic stand-alone novel about a sweet guy making friends with the misfits of the demon world, trying to survive grad school, and snagging the hottest guy on campus.
The second book in Masters’ Elf Magic series, Enticing the Elf was a romantic joyride, a comedic urban fantasy journey of love. That’s a phrase I’m sure those bros would appreciate!
This is Dáithí and Eoin’s story, characters we’ve grown to love and appreciate throughout this series and stories from the Hidden Species universe. It’s a couple that have been seeing each other, so no insta-love but realistic obstacles and struggles that they face that are keeping them from a committed relationship.
Immediately I like the story better than the first. The groundwork is there, the characters are well defined, and Masters’ plot hilariously allows for many of our favorite characters to shine in supporting roles to bring Dáithí and Eoin to their HEA.
It’s got comedy, romance, realistic relationship discussions and heartwarming moments. And bunnies!
Plus we get a setup for the next book and couple to watch for.
Dáithí and Eoin turn out to be #relationshipgoals. What a happy ending and fabulous story.
There’s nothing I want more than a life with him… but my past is the world’s worst wingman.
For a big chunk of my life, I expected to die along with the rest of my species. Nobody thought we’d make it, and I did my best to live in the now and enjoy every second of precious life.
Now that’s coming back to bite me in the ass.
Because the impossible happened, and we got our second chance. A safe home. A tomorrow worth planning for. And a future I want to spend with Dáithí.
He’s amazing—sassy, clever, the kind of guy who can cut you down with one eyebrow and still make you laugh. We’ve known each other a long time, and convincing him to date me was one of the best wins of my long life. Convincing him to be my boyfriend? That’s a fight I might not win.
Because the reputation I earned when I was living life to the fullest has stuck, and Dáithí’s convinced I’m only in this for a good time, not a long time. He’s protecting his heart from future damage by keeping things casual between us… even though they’re not.
Shadow Throne King is the third novel in Kai Butler’s Emperor’s Assassin series and I thought this is where the series would be wrapped up.
But there’s more to come and I’ll be honest, I’m struggling a bit here.
Butler has written about a complex political situation, with an equally strong layered world upon which the author made its foundation. Kingdoms at war, subtly and magically. Ice and fire, ancient blood magicians, and monstrosities abound.
And dragons as well as things that lurk in the dark.
That’s all pretty exciting. Love the ravens. And the characters are, individually, intriguing and given strong backgrounds.
Based on its elements alone, it’s a 4.5, as a series and story. Solidly crafted and executed so well that I really enjoyed it.
Especially that last section of dramatic fights and flight from the mountain. So excellent and moving. I was with those mountain badgers and their families every single step. And that song at that moment? Heartbreaking.
What I’m struggling with? And shouldn’t be is the relationship between the two main characters. I feel absolutely no connection with them. Individually yes. Together no.
I just don’t find them credible as a pair. No real chemistry between them. And Kai Butler can write chemistry like crazy. Just read Butler’s The Empty Throne Trilogy. But, at least for me, I’m not feeling it here.
I enjoy Airon, the northern assassin/Prince Consort, although at times I feel that he’s not consistent enough in his character for me here. He’s a trained assassin. Yet he doesn’t know to trust his instincts here in the story? Particularly regarding a certain character whose actions are screaming don’t trust me?
Things like that in a character and storyline just will take a reader right out of a narrative quickly. As it did me several times here.
For me, it just highlights that you can have all the “pretty things “ like great world building and details but you need to get the actual substance, the core , the relationship right for a story to feel complete. And at book three it’s not happening.
But could be that’s it’s just me. So for all the great execution of the plot and characters, 4 stars.
As the Imperium crumbles beneath our feet, will I be able to keep hold of Tallu?
The imperial generals who so loyally served Tallu’s monstrous father have declared war on us and fled the capital. The enemy nation of Krustau claims to have Empress Koque and Prince Hallu, the second son of Emperor Millu. If that is true, Krustau would have claim to the Imperium’s throne.
Unable to risk the possibility that Tallu’s brother could fall into the wrong hands, Tallu and I must confront a greater threat than either of us could dream of. Will Tallu’s secrets lead to our loss or will he finally trust me with the truth he can barely whisper in the dark?
Out Of A Fix brings an end to Mary Calmes wonderful Torus Intercession series with the last of the original fixers, 52 year old Nash Miller takes a job in a small town in Washington state where the family she left behind of a woman who is now in WITSEC program resides. Her brother is concerned their safety isn’t a priority for the FBI and wants Torus to insure they are protected during this trial.
Seems simple enough. However, that’s not the case that Nash finds out when he enters the town. The ex-husband is absent on a job site. The kids are in trouble and he’s desperately needed there as a fixer. On many levels.
Calmes quickly turns this last story into a heartbreaking then finally heartwarming tale of a family rescued . Which turns into an engaging emotional story about a family that has finds their hearts and home rebuilt into a new beginning, including their own fixer.
The children are so well written. They grab at the readers hearts just as they do Nash’s. Whether’s Tatum, the youngest child or the oldest son, whose behavior has brought him into the worst possible situation, these are kids who are fragile and need help immediately. And get it.
The issues are slow to be revealed and are addressed as needed. This includes issues of the dad’s too. Luke Duchesne doesn’t get an immediate pass on his behavior but there’s also an effort made to understand and address it. And to do better.
Therapists have a prominent role here and that’s a positive element of the story. For each of these characters have issues to overcome.
The plot moves forward swiftly, the romance is not always the center of the story but the forming of the family which folds in the newly created dynamic of Nash and Luke. That feels very realistic and seated in the story.
It’s fantastic to see all the characters from the Agency and the couples reunite here at the end. We see where each of them are in their own lives and relationships as well.
This is just an outstanding sendoff to one of my favorite series.
I’m highly recommending it and have starred my favorite stories below. I’m sure we each have our own.
If you put a family back together, how can you ever leave them?
Through the years, Nash Miller has watched all his buddies fall in love and get married. It was romantic, and he’d wondered when he himself would find the one. Now, older, wiser, he realizes that what he’s always wanted—a husband and a family—just isn’t in the cards for him. And that’s all right. He has wonderful friends, a good life, and he gets to help people, which has always been his true calling. So when the time comes to protect a family in a tiny town in Washington State, he’s more than willing to get on his white horse and ride.
The family needs a bodyguard, but it goes beyond that. The mother abandoned them for a new life, and the father is absent, stuck on a work project he took on to keep his family afloat. What Nash finds are three kids in need of a fixer, and lucky for them, that’s exactly what he does. Providing support and structure is second nature to him, and he’s on solid ground, confident…until their father, Luke Duchesne, gets home. He’s nothing like Nash assumed he’d be, and with each passing day, the lure of the man, and his great kids, gets harder to resist. But he can’t stay there. He’s a fixer, after all, and what they’re all feeling is simply gratitude. Isn’t it…? Though when Luke kisses him, it starts to feel like so much more. Nash hopes he’ll be able to explore a life with Luke—he just needs to make sure his own isn’t cut short.
The Sinner’s Son is the second in the Sawyer and Royce: Felonies and Fatherhood series by Aimee Nicole Walker. It’s a ongoing dramatic story about a couple who have traveled from their first encounter and police cases as police officers through the obstacles of a complicated process of their relationship and respective careers through the process of marriage and now fatherhood.
With any long history and multiple series like this, there is going to be books that will hit on every level and some that will fall short.
For me, The Sinner’s Son fell a bit short. Too much of repetition in terms of certain aspects of the storyline. I felt like I anticipated the plot and villain. Especially since the overall mystery going through to the next book seems clear.
For me the best elements are those surrounding the impending birth, their emotional state about fatherhood, their friends and support.
The mystery feels less well developed than usual. Or maybe I just read too many mystery novels. And listen to too many crime podcasts.
Either way, I enjoyed the first novel more. And will look forward to reading Brokered Betrayals later this year.
Can a sinner’s son outrun his father’s shadow, or will darkness follow him everywhere and taint everything?
No one’s life should be reduced to random items in an evidence box, only to collect dust for decades. Seeking justice for the forgotten will bring a temporary partner into Sawyer’s life who threatens his carefully curated peace. Alec Bishop, the son of a serial killer, arrives in Savannah with an audacious ego, an unwillingness to accept boundaries, and an overzealous fan club. Calling it quits isn’t part of Sawyer’s character, but he might not have a choice when the circumstances surrounding the sinner’s son take a dark twist.
Nature versus nurture? The age-old question forces Sawyer and Royce to reevaluate the relationships with their fathers, and it influences the parents they aspire to be now that the countdown to Baby Locke has begun.
The Sinner’s Son is book two in the Felonies and Fatherhood trilogy, the third installment in the Royce Locke and Sawyer Key story arc. ** New readers should start with the Zero Hour and Matrimony and Mayhem trilogies before reading Felonies and Fatherhood. **The Sinner’s Son continues Royce and Sawyer’s happily ever after as they move into the most anticipated phase of their lives. Though some storylines span the trilogy, this book does not end in a cliffhanger. Heat, humor, heart, and homicide abound. You have been warned.
Stories from the small town of Fall Crosse and Four Bears Construction include:
Happy Birthday Honey (Cole and Ren)
Baby Goats (Stone and Dare)
Stone and Dare’s Wedding – ditto
Christmas Butt Plug. (Everett and Watson)
Tequila Wedding (Ollie and Daniel)
GOATS LIKE CAKE TOO – Four Bears Epilogue
Each one is exactly what the author says, a short scene from the couple’s life. Cute or sexy or both. The stories are a terrific way to close out the series and say goodbye to these characters and their HEA’s.
If you love them and want to see more of their lives, this is just the thing for you.
Side characters are often everything. And they, when fantastically crafted as they are in this series, make such an impact that you can’t help but wonder what happens to them afterwards. How did their characters go forward?
Author May supplies us with 5 short stories that focus on some of our favorites from this series and gives them their own HEA or something similar.
Did I have a favorite? No. I just adore each one. So totally satisfying and a wonderful reminder why I love and highly recommend this series so much.
Cover design by cheriefox.
Perfect Pixie Series
Perfectly Imperfect Pixie
Perfectly Perfect Pixie: Peaches’s Story
Perfectly Charmed Pixie: Parsnip’s Story
Perfectly Perplexing Zombie: Wendall’s Story
Purrfectly Peculiar Pixie: Phlox’s Story—finale
Perfectly Petite Shorts: Short Stories from the Perfect Pixie Series M/M
Necromancer Tales Series: Spin-Off from the Perfect Pixie Series
Ever wonder if our favorite ancient vampire, Nirgal, found his happily ever after? What about our morally ambiguous fairy, Hamish McIntyre? How exactly did Warlock Vander Kines meet Georgiana and why did she leave her daughter, Byx, in his questionable care? What Scuttlebutts think and how Trinket views her tribe? What about the perfect gift for a pixie who already believes he has it all? Hopefully the following short stories answer those burning questions.
Lighting the Darkness
Older than memory, vampire Nirgal is often simply referred to as ancient one. Help from his new friends across the pond, along with a desperate home-and-hearth pixie, might finally give Nirgal his own HEA, Lighting the Darkness invading his soul.
Magic’s Sight
Vander is near his breaking point. Thankfully, Magic has a plan and sends aid in the form of a precocious brownie child named Byx and her mother, Georgianna. Will Magic’s Sight be the answer that saves Vander’s life?
Phil’s Gift
Dillon and Ruthie set out on a quest to find the best present ever. Deciding Phil’s friends know him best, the children embark on their mission. Turns out dwarves, pixie best friends, fauns, and fairies have some interesting ideas regarding Phil’s Gift.
A Scuttlebutt’s Loyalty
Trinket will do whatever it takes to keep her tribe safe, even if that means tearing Dusk apart to do so. Too bad it just so happens to be during Wendall and Ray’s bonding celebration. Party be damned, a Scuttlebutt’s Loyalty is too important.
Cherry Blossom’s and Fairy Blushes
Why is Hamish so distracted by the dryad who walked through his office door? Why can’t Hamish seem to dismiss his new client, and why is he so concerned for his safety? More importantly, why is this dryad’s Cherry Blossoms causing his Fairy Blushes?
Perfectly Petite Shorts is a collection of five stories revolving around side characters from the Perfect Pixie Series. For optimum enjoyment, the previous books in the series should be read prior. Perfectly Petite Shorts contains questionable gifting ideas, protective scuttlebutt violence, magenta colored pixie dust, mischievously motivated sprites, trolls with questionable fashion sense, randomly sprouting cherry blossoms, and so much more.
While I’m really enjoying this subset of paranormal fantasy novels in the Nelson & MacIlwraith Mystery universe, this book doesn’t have the same level of complexity and depth for all the main characters as previous stories. And that lack hurts my connection to the narrative.
K Sterling is a fantastic author. Her ability to weave together a coherent and compelling narrative is a huge factor in her success. She uses her unique background of investigations, murders then adds more layers of natural history, geography, multicultural history, and mythology to create a unique world and experiences.
This is where I recommend readers not to forget to include reading all Sterling’s author’s notes at the beginning of this book. On this being a love note to our parks and its Rangers, but also to their own complex, oppressive history with our indigenous people and communities over lands that were confiscated by the government.
And, there’s a dictionary for those who want to know how to pronounce some of these Irish Gaelic words seen throughout the novel and series. Honestly, I loved this.
Now to the pluses and minuses of the book.
The plot is excellent but almost too removed from actual action and its deep roots in a nefarious bargain. We should have seen more of that. And perhaps less sex, more detailed work on a real relationship.
It’s framed in that the Oracle has seen that an innocent, a Park Ranger in the Shenandoah’s, will be in danger from a demon.
That’s more than enough for the crew of Demi Sun god MacIlwraith, Nelson, Merlin, the two hellhounds and their mates to make the trip to investigate and save him. This group is always a great source for the story and dialogue. And we see Nox MacIlwraith’s powers growing.
However, thing is , the main story revolves around the Ranger, Niall, and the demon, Cenn, aka Lord Smoak. Of the two, we get one fascinating character and one bland one dimensional character. Guess who is the one note person? Niall the human.
He’s got a great background story, but that not well represented in his actual personality. The dark damage he fled from wouldn’t be the same as someone who really just comes across as an introvert from a conservative background. It’s not believable as written.
Who is on point is Cenn, the demon Lord Smoak. First of all demons, arguably murderous, arrogant, dark and complex. And flexible in his ways and character to show the ability to make choices and changes as he sees fit.
Silas, a Sheriff and new character has the next book in the series and it’s already an interesting one from the small excerpt included here.
This left one aspect of Cenn and Niall’s relationship open as well as what happened to the first villain, an ongoing conflict.
So my take on Dead Air: A Nelson & MacIlwraith Mystery (Moon Murder Mysteries) by K. Sterling is that it’s interesting but doesn’t hold up well next to the preceding stories.
Read it as a bridge between the books, for the new characters and to see how the group is evolving. Nox especially.
Exquisite covers.
Cover art by @KillerLaurent
Moon Mysteries 1 – 3 (first series)
Nelson & MacIlwraith Mystery (Moon Murder Mysteries sequel series)
He hid in the woods to escape a monster but found a demon in his bed.
Six years ago, rising political star Niall Gilpatrick was living a lie. A fearless and vocal activist, he hid that he was himself a victim. After a brush with death, Niall ran, starting over as a park ranger in the Shenandoah Mountains.
But now, strange dreams and an impossibly dashing biologist have upended his tranquil existence.
And that was the point.
An ancient Irish demon, Chance Curn was sent to tempt this surprisingly wholesome mortal into selling his soul.
He’s haunting Niall’s dreams and playing with his heart, but it is Chance who finds himself in a dangerous trap.
Since when did demons have feelings?
Now, Chance has to decide if he’s willing to risk it all for a mortal and Niall must face his fears to trust a demon with his heart and his life. Can they save each other or will they become dead air?
Dead Air is a paranormal MM romance set in the mountains of rural Virginia. There’s Celtic mythology, an evil plot to foil, and an isolated cabin where no one can hear you scream. Dead Air is set in the world of Nelson & MacIlwraith, but can be read as a standalone.
V.L. Locey writes such amazing books. It’s actually hard to name a favorite among her many different books and series, considering the variety of themes and locations. And characters, of course!
Mornings by the Linden Tree , the third book in V.L. Locey ‘s Love’s Journeys series, is a marvelous example of how diverse her books are and how well she writes them.
If there is one aspect of the story that’s made it slow to connect with, it’s with the beautifully crafted character of Wesley Barlowe. He’s rich, rigid, so tightly controlled and self restrained that he’s emotionally unavailable, even to the reader. He’s absolutely believable, understandable, and not terribly likable. He’s a single gay divorce lawyer, in Boston, who doesn’t particularly like children, and loves a perfectly scheduled world.
Then his younger drug addict sister dies in another state, leaving him the guardian of a young child he wasn’t aware existed.
Cue the upheavals on every level.
Locey addresses many difficult topics here. Both in Aida’s case, the sister who had suffered from substance abuse for years and died of its effects to Wesley, who had abandonment issues that have plagued him, and now his niece who has, as a toddler who has suffered from the effects of her mother’s drug addiction and death, now has her own fears and nightmares. The author slowly explores each of these characters pain and damage, with sensitivity and realism, and using a wonderful humorous and compelling therapist to help them navigate through their own journey together. With funny socks.
And the romantic relationship, with a singer/performer , Lennon Cole , who helps them through their own initial experience and the upheaval of becoming a family. That too, is remarkable and real.
I mean, all the various side characters are pretty much great personalities and make indelible impressions on the reader and in their interactions with the characters in the story.
This includes Boston itself, it all it’s glorious magic. The buildings, the parks, people,and the legendary Red Sox!
The story ends as it should. A work in progress for the family. We see them happy together and going forward together with new plans, friends and family.
Mornings by the Linden Tree (Love’s Journeys #3) by V.L. Locey is another fantastic book in a great series. One I’m highly recommending.
When you think you have everything you need, fate will show you all you never knew you were missing.
Wesley Barlowe has it all. He’s a highly successful divorce attorney at one of Boston’s most prestigious law firms. His name is on the rosters of many elite clubs, his clothes are from famed designers, and his historic duplex overlooks Boston Common. His lovers are few and far between by choice, his car is a sporty hybrid, and his bourbon is always aged in white oak barrels. There are no surprises in Wesley’s tightly structured life. Until his estranged sister dies, leaving her three-year-old daughter in his custody. With no other family to pass the child off to, Wesley has no other option but to take his niece into his home.
Instead of spending his days in court and his nights at home studying briefs while sipping on triple mash twenty-year-old whiskey, he now finds himself joining single-parent online groups, waffling about how to handle temper tantrums, and how to entertain a rambunctious preschooler. During a particularly rough morning, she spies a musician on the Common singing to a small group of children. At his wit’s end, he carries his niece across the street and discovers that not only do the children seated on rainbow blankets adore the handsome, funny, and charming performer, but Wesley does too. There is something incredibly calming and warm about Lennon Cole and his silly songs. Something that will show the workaholic that there is more to life than litigations, courtroom wins, and million-dollar settlements.
Mornings by the Linden Tree is a slow burn, age gap, rich man/poor man, single father, biracial MM romance with two incredibly different men, a city along a famous harbor, a precocious child, a housekeeper with plenty of sage advice, songs about frogs in baseball caps, an indecent amount of clam chowder, evenings spent slow dancing with the baby monitor on, and a wicked awesome happy ending.
*Content Warning: This story has references to loss of a family member and substance abuse*
Short, adorable and great way to mesh these three series and zany group of characters.
Will you be lost if you don’t know the characters or their respective relationships? Pretty much. It’s still an entertaining read but having all the background information on who’s who and what series they came from makes those scenes and characters more enjoyable.
Definitely a gift to the authors fans. And I love every sentence.
Cover by Katie Griffin
Series and Characters Involved:
The Tribulations of Ross Young, Supernat PA (multiple shorts/crossovers)
Turns out bath bombs are actually magical portals. Or at least, in the hands of Master Mage Declan, they became portals. Even he’s not sure why.
Said magical portal connects to Ross’s bath tub.
Which means this is also now the Unholy Trifecta’s problem because Ross absolutely refuses to deal with portal magic by himself. Thanks muchly.
Tags:
Crossover time!, Unholy Trifecta, Supernat PA, Insanity of Reincarnated Mages, bath bombs gone wild, lots of bath tub hopping, I treat Canon like a Buffet but in a Gentle Way, Canon-Typical Poor Decision-Making, brain cells assemble, it’s just mindless fluff and shenanigans, Declan use your brain challenge: failed, crack treated like crack, neither author is sorry.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 