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Review: Jon’s Boom Shaka Laka Problem (Jon’s Mysteries #4) by A.J. Sherwood

Rating: 5🌈

Jon’s Boom Shaka Laka Problem is the series finale and Sherwood really shakes things up in every way imaginable before seeing Jon and Donovan settling into domestic happiness.

As indicated by the title, it starts with bombs and explosions. Real ones and ones within their relationship. One major decision by Jon that threatens to derail everything they’ve built to date, and Jon’s completely, emotionally unprepared and equipped to handle the fallout.

In the final story, all the damage that Jon’s parents and stepfather, all the deeply felt pain his childhood has instilled over the years returns and in one instant,making him cut Donovan out of a life threatening decision. For them both.

Sherwood is able to bring us into the frightening turmoil of the situation, the fear and nausea inducing arguments that occur between the men. It’s so painful and intimate.

The fact that we’ve come to care so much about these men and their relationship makes this moment of angst, despair, anger, and desperation all the worse. That there’s a bomb and bomber waiting for them too while they haven’t resolved anything between them? Heartbreaking.

The tension, suspense, and life threatening situations here are so well written as are the emotional ones between Jon and Donovan.

There are explosions to diffuse everywhere and just when you think it’s over, another complication pops up.

This is such an excellent story and Sherwood wraps up the series and Jon’s emotional issues realistically and in an unexpected and gratifying way.

It’s not the last of Jon and Donovan as they appear in Brandon’s series.

But for now they’re happy and very very ever after!

Did I love this series? Why yes I did! I’m highly recommending it !

Read them in the order they are written.

Jon’s Mysteries series:

✓ Jon’s Downright Ridiculous Shooting Case #1

✓ Jon’s Crazy Head-Boppon’ Mystery #2

✓ Jon’s Spooky Corpse Conundrum #3

✓ Jon’s Boom Shaka Laka Problem #4

Proposing vs defusing a bomb?

Defusing a bomb is much easier than proposing.

Defusing Donovan’s anger over getting on a plane to defuse said bomb? Harder than the bomb.

Jon is not liking these odds.

Is proposing supposed to be this difficult? 

 Tags:

Synopsis:

Jon and Donovan have a fight, as expected they’re very bad at it, things go BOOM, my kink is healthy processing and expressing of emotions, relationship lessons, life lessons, love is not based on worth, the dads are awesome, I put Jon on a plane, because I’m evil that way, personal space? What’s that?, cats, Jon has a new toy, no I’m not talking about Donovan, the bomb squad is ready to just keep Jon, roadtrip!, grandparents also rock, absolutely nothing goes according to plan

Now Available on Amazon

Review: Best Man (Close Proximity #1) by Lily Morton

Rating: 4 🌈

Fake boyfriend trope is a favorite of mine so when I saw a story written by a must read author, Lily Morton, with that as a factor, I was in.

It also was a age gap, no surprise, with humor, again, a usual hallmark of this author, and a curmudgeon of a fellow in need a of a bit of a change in perspective about himself and his path in life. So yes, I settled in for a Morton romance.

Best Man didn’t let me down. Indeed our first meeting with the irrepressible Jesse Reed walks into the offices of Zeb Evans’ employment agency for an unforgettable interview. It’s funny, full of the sparkling dialogue and warm chemistry that draws me over and over into Morton’s stories.

We then snap forward several years as Jesse ‘s become a mainstay employee at Zeb’s agency, if a bit of a occasionally over exuberant when carrying out his clients wishes. We fall right into a guffaw moment with Jesse and it’s instant love!

We see the type of relationship Zeb and Jesse have grown into, as well as the potential one that waits if Zeb could allow himself a lessening of the restraints that so tightly bind him.

A wedding and a promise to be the best man necessitate the need for a fake boyfriend for Zeb. Who better then Jesse?

Especially when it’s something both men want truthfully anyway.

Their romance starts remarkably full of exploration and joy but Morton shows that the past history that’s been ignored has a way of interfering until it’s dealt with.

I would have thought Zeb a tad more intelligent about his ex given his past experiences with him in this story so it made events here seem less believable.

But Jessie’s father was a wonderful element and the entire last section of the book warm, inviting, and wholly satisfying.

They made a great couple and I look forward to Charlie and Felix’s books. Especially Felix. I adore that man.

I’m recommending Best Man to all lovers of contemporary romance and Lily Morton. Have a wonderful read!

Close Proximity series:

Best Man #1

Charlie Sunshine #2

After Felix #3

https://www.goodreads.com › showBest Man (Close Proximity, #1) by Lily Morton – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Zeb Evans doesn’t do messy.


The product of a disorganised and chaotic childhood, Zeb likes order and control, and as the boss of his own employment agency he can give that to himself. Life runs along strict lines and he never mixes business with pleasure. Everything in his life lives in neat, alphabetized boxes. Until Jesse.



Jesse Reed is Zeb’s complete opposite. He’s chaos personified. A whirling cyclone of disorder. He’s also charming and funny and a very unwanted distraction.



Which is why it comes as a complete surprise to Zeb to find himself asking Jesse to pose as his boyfriend for a few days in the country at a wedding.



Zeb doesn’t do impulsive, but as the time away progresses, he finds himself increasingly drawn to the merry and irreverent Jesse. But can he bring himself to break the hard-won lessons he’s learnt in life? And even if he can, how could Jesse be attracted to him anyway? He’s so much older than Jesse, not to mention being his boss.



From the bestselling author of the Mixed Messages and Finding Home series comes a warm and funny romance about one man’s fight for control and another man’s determination to circumvent it.



This is the first book in the Close Proximity series, but it can be read as a standalone.

Review: Long Winter (Wild One’s #1) by Rachel Ember

Rating: 3.25🌈

I heard about this book and thought it sounded interesting so I picked it up. Plus I’m always looking for new authors and I love a western romance.

What I found was a novel that held a lot of promise. The story was interesting and the author’s writing was well done. Her descriptions, especially when it came to certain character.dynamics, was realistic and relatable.

But I feel the author undermines her story and her characters relationship development by the consistent yet uneven flashbacks inserted into the current storyline. Just as a reader starts getting invested in Robbie and Lance’s reunion and developing relationship, we are pulled immediately away from them into a flashback. Could be anytime frame, from when they were in grade school to teenagers, the flashbacks themselves are all over the place.

While it serves to fill in gaps in their background and tumultuous childhoods, basically all it does is disconnect us from the present and everything that’s starting to evolve there.

A simple “ remember when….” would have sufficed and not broken the narrative flow half as much as the herky jerky format the author proceeds with throughout this book.

There’s some very charming moments here. Those with the calf are adorable and realistic. Also the character of Robbie’s ex wife is lovely. Well defined and compassionate.

Had this book stayed in the present most of the time, I believe we would feel better and more importantly more deeply connected to everyone involved.

The other “half “ of this series or two parter for this couple is Signs of Spring. Hopefully the flashbacks are over and we can stay in the present. Then the other stories focus on the other Chase brothers.

I’m curious to see how much the format continues so I’m onto the next.

I do like the story but found the format took me out of the narrative too often to stay connected. The author has still done a lovely job with her characters and descriptions.

Check it out for yourself!

https://www.goodreads.com › showLong Winter (Wild Ones #1) by Rachel Ember – Goodreads

Wild Ones Duet:

✓ Long Winter #1

◦ Signs of Spring #2

◦ Burning Season #3

◦ As the Tallgrass Grows #4

Synopsis:

A complicated history divides them, but when they find themselves in close quarters while the snow falls, the heat between them builds slowly, and burns hot.

It’s been a long, cold winter at Riverside Ranch, where Robbie has lived alone since his brothers moved away. Alone, that is, except for his three devious cats, four saddle horses, and the forty-eight mustangs that roam the ranch.

Robbie is preparing for yet another snowfall when he gets the last call he expected—a plea to pick up Lance Taylor from the county jail.

Lance wasn’t just his little brother’s best friend, he was a part of the family. Then, one night, after Lance asked Robbie for something Robbie couldn’t give, he ran away and never came back.

Lance was sixteen and heartbroken when he left his middle-of-nowhere hometown. Six years later, he’s at rock bottom with nowhere else to go, and no one to turn to but Robbie, the man Lance has been inconveniently in love with for most of his life.

When Robbie offers Lance a place to stay, Lance expects a guest bedroom and awkward silences. Instead, he finds himself sharing Robbie’s one-room hayloft apartment and its single bed, while realizing that the old flame he carries for Robbie might not be so hopeless, after all.

Long Winter is the first book in the Wild Ones series and has a happy-for-now ending. Robbie and Lance’s story continues in Signs of Spring, to be released March 12, 2021.

Review: How to Hack a Hacker (Unholy Trifecta #3) by A.J. Sherwood

Rating: 4.5🌈

How to Hack a Hacker , the story where K, aka Kyou, is finally forced into getting his happily ever after.

It’s also the series finale and an excellent one.

Kyou has been somewhat of an enigmatic character. Now his background is exposed, the reasons for his cyber stalking of Brannigan revealed here. The story behind the cyber stalking is as complicated as Kyou. And it takes time to unfold.

Brannigan Genovese, aka the one Kyou has cyber stalked for 12 years, although his friends only know about 6 of them. Bran’s a real estate developer with an uncanny ability to fall into deep trouble at the drop of a hat. And it’s Kyou who’s gotten him out of it, whether Bran’s known it or not.

Brannigan has also been trying to find the person who’s been watching and assisting him online all these years but has always failed.

Only his current crisis brings everyone together.

Yes, the family is all here. Ari, Carter, and Remi. Ivan and Aiden. Even Trixie. All are center stage to support Kyou as he jumps into Bran’s crisis with the Irish Mob. It takes all of them as a family to pull Bran in and pull him out of danger. It’s an exciting and fun filled ride.

This is actually a two part story. Just when one wraps up, a second begins. The last stage brings around an unfinished element that I was very happy to see here. The author was tying up all the loose storylines and making sure that when everyone got their HEA, it’s going to stay that way.

There’s a marriage, a proposal, and a very solid found family thinking about more additions. Such a warm and happy feeling to end the series on.

Sherwood has another marvelous story here and terrific series for me to recommend.

I adore everyone and each couple and family. That includes Remi, naturally.

Unholy Trifecta series:

✓ How to Shield an Assassin #1

✓ How To Steal a Thief #2

✓ How to Hack a Hacker #3

Synopsis:

Staying away is Kyou’s number one rule when it comes to protecting the sexy real-estate developer.

Kyou has a routine. A system. He guards Brannigan Genovese, hacks for his family of choice, and drinks far too much caffeine for any living being. Only a few things can completely disrupt his routine to cause him trouble:

• Brannigan buying up real estate from the Irish Mob

• Kyou’s band of brothers figuring out who Brannigan actually is

• Ivan

• Feelings for one Brannigan Genovese

Oddly enough, it’s the feelings that get Kyou in the most trouble. Because when Brannigan is in danger, Kyou ignores all his brain’s protestations and breaks every rule he has to save the man, including his number one.  

And damn the consequences.

Tags:

It’s not stalking (totally stalking), sleep is for the weak, coffee IS food, running-from-the-mob meet cute, Brannigan does stupid stuff to make Kyou call him, Kyou is utterly done, pansexual character, band of brothers, anxiety, family of choice, emotional growth, so simple a ten-year-old can do it, no really it’s not that hard, Kyou peopled last week, meddling, so much meddling, Irish Mobsters were hurt in the making of this book, Ivan’s actually serious for once, yes the world almost ended

Now Available on Amazon!

Review: How to Steal a Thief (Unholy Trifecta #2) by A.J. Sherwood

Rating: 4.5 🌈

How to Steal a Thief switches the spotlight to the thief of our found family, now that our assassin has his HEA, that’s Carter aka Smiley the merc, and daughter Remi happily in hand.

It’s now time for Ivan Azarov, aka Eidolon which means specter or phantom, a perfect code name for a expert thief. He’s on the hunt for a one of the rarest items known, the yellow 1855 Swedish Stamp, The Treskilling Yellow. Worth approximately $3 million.

Ivan’s a big exuberant man. Easily bored, highly intelligent, bisexual, though he tends more towards men, and he’s one to rush first, plan later. Although it’s does seem to work out for him. His background? That’s been missing until now.

Unlike Ari and Carter who were both within the same “working community “, here Sherwood pairs the Russian thief with someone on the outside, a physician trying to complete his residency. In other words, a naive soul.

That’s Aiden Stalworth. He’s actually a victim here. And that infuriates Ivan, especially as Aiden’s awful abusive family is so reminiscent of his own.

While their romance comes together relatively fast, they feel so compatible on the page that as a reader I got it and was invested in their relationship.

I wish Sherwood had explored a little more of Aiden’s relationship with his Grandmother, especially the fact that he kept from her that he was gay. Only afterwards, and until he’s in a relationship with Ivan, does he feel comfortable saying those words.

So Aiden’s coming out, here emotionally, growing… in so many ways. A fact he mentions as well.

He’s also being folded into the found family too.

Other aspects of the story include Ivan’s doubts about pulling Aiden into his world, a critical element which will come up again and again. These people are, after all, criminals.

Plus there’s the terrific mystery of where that Treskilling Yellow stamp is hidden! Plus you get more of Trixie, a secondary character I adore.

Not being a stamp collector, I had to look up the Swedish Treskilling. Yes it actually exists and yes, it’s one of the world’s rarest of items. I love that Sherwood uses it here.

At the end, Eidolon has his HEA and new love. What’s Aiden’s code name?

Find out in the next story.

It’s a great time and all things are tied up , and happily Evers are made for everyone!

This is another wonderfully written, fast paced, humorous romance. Love it and recommend it.

Unholy Trifecta series:

✓ How to Shield an Assassin #1

✓ How To Steal a Thief #2

✓ How to Hack a Hacker #3

Now live on Amazon

Synopsis:

Since when is playing Robin Hood part of the plan?

Pop into the unguarded apartment, find the multi-million dollar Treskilling stamp, pop back out. That’s it, that’s the entirety of Ivan’s plan.

What’s not part of the plan?

• Meeting the cute Aiden Stalworth

• Feeling guilty about trying to steal from the cute Aiden Stalworth

• Becoming Aiden’s “Robin Hood” and buying him all the things

• Playing bodyguard while searching for the stamp

• Being trusted completely by Aiden

Ivan very quickly realizes he needs a new plan:

• Seduce Aiden

• Protect him

• Find the stamp

Oh, and lick him. Licking Aiden needs to be part of the plan too. However, Ivan’s not sure how having his heart get stolen made it onto his list.

Tags:

Aiden does not appreciate being in peril, but Ivan likes protecting him, band of brothers, bisexual character, family of choice, experienced/inexperienced couple, strangest meetcute you’ve ever seen, don’t try and apply logic to this okay, just enjoy it, heist, Kyou is so done, Ivan is a walking disaster, crush at first sight, Ivan is one scary MoFo, be glad he’s on our side, assassinations as romantic gestures, stealing therapy, emotional growth, combat ballet, Carter and Ari are good wingmen, Ivan continues licking everything, including things he really shouldn’t, Remi’s the only sane one to be honest, no bedsheets were harmed in the making of this book, degrees of morality, healer acquired—quests can now be taken

Review: A Gilded Iron Blade ( San Amara Investigations #3) by Kai Butler

Rating: 4.75🌈

A Gilded Iron Blade is a gripping story where you absolutely must have read all the preceding books in the series. There’s just no way Kai Butler can bring a new reader up to date within this ever expanding, utterly complicated universe and series arc in a story and still carry out their vision for the book.

I’m a total fan of this series and sometimes it’s a task, albeit a very happy one, for me to remember all the various characters, the politics (on Earth and in the other Realms), the amazingly labyrinthine character histories and relationship dynamics. Plus , thanks to a author with a flexible and imaginative mind, each story is a dramatic and emotionally exciting journey to a higher new stage of development for everyone involved.

It’s normally a more frightening one as well.

In A Gilded Iron Blade, Parker Ferro, has assumed , unwillingly, the all important title and role of the Windrose, high judge and arbitrator for the Other Realms, one’s that now include the Dark one. As well as the one tasked with making sure nothing happens to new The World Tree which is still reestablishing itself with its portals and enemies.

Parker Ferro is one of the most intriguing characters I’ve read. His history is tortured and still much as mystery to himself and others. His dysfunctional childhood impacts all his relationships and decisions, often for the worst. And yet just when you may want to throttle him (Butler’s characters feel totally alive that you believe in them), then he sees in something or someone a greater pain , or makes a step forward in his growth that shows such utter emotional depth you’ve confounded and committed even greater to his journey. Wherever that’s taking him, you, and those around him.

And it’s quite a group of found family he’s gathering up there as well. Not just his conflicted Detective boyfriend, Nick, an alchemist who’s family has a way of negatively impacting their lives as well as Nick’s career.

A Gilded Iron Blade follows the events from the battle for the World Tree , new and old enemies, new storylines and characters.

Layers upon layers. No things aren’t getting any easier for anyone. In fact, there’s a character death here. It’s logical but it’s not any less devastating.

Kai Butler is ramping up the excitement, the suspense, and the heart stopping events as new mysteries are just about to appear.

This was an awesome, wildly entertaining, imaginative, and gripping story. It was emotional and I was invested in Parker’s growth, as well as his many relationships with Nick, and his family.

I can’t wait for the next book to be released.

Until then, I’m highly recommending this series and story. Read them in the order they are written to understand the events and characters histories and relationships.

San Amara Investigations Series:

◦ A Haunting at Midnight #0.5

◦ A Debt Unpaid #0.75

✓ Wormwood Summer #1

✓ A Belated Burial #1.5

✓ The Oak Wood Throne #2

✓ A Gilded Iron Blade #3

◦ A Shattered Silver Crown #4

https://www.goodreads.com › showA Gilded Iron Blade (San Amaro Investigations #3) by Kai Butler – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Saving the city was supposed to be the hard part…

Parker Ferro can’t catch a break. After saving San Amaro from destruction for the second time and reconciling with his boyfriend, his current plans are to relax on his couch until his ears stop ringing.

Unfortunately, the thousand realms he just saved have a way of yanking him back into service and the dead have come back to haunt him. When he’s called in by the SAPD to consult on the murder of an anti-paranormals protestor killed with fae magic, Parker is caught up in an intricate political web that was spun long before he was ever born.

Now Parker has to unravel the mystery behind the murder and untangle old family secrets before irreversible damage is done to his new friends and alliances. At least this time, he’ll hopefully have some help…

A Gilded Iron Blade is a 100k MM urban fantasy with a HFN and an ongoing storyline.

Review: How to Shield an Assassin (Unholy Trifecta #1) by A.J. Sherwood

Rating: 4.5🌈

When I find a author I love , I’m like someone who’s been given a wonderful gift! So it’s with an unbridled enthusiasm that I attack everything in their catalog!

That’s the manner in which I came upon A.J. Sherwood’s Unholy Trifecta series! Honestly I wish I had more control because I binge read them all in one night.

Sigh.

But what a great night that was!

Each book gives a very memorable team member their happy ever after.

It sort of reads like a off bar joke..

There was an assassin, a thief, and a hacker…..

But in this case they form a found family….of criminals.

First up is Malvagio . Italian for Wicked. Also known as Ari Benelli, expert assassin.

When we meet him, he’s completing a job in Memphis and being followed. But the surprise is who is following him. It’s a 8-year old girl. One who’s been badly beaten.

The child abuse in the story has already occurred. We see the results scattered across the child’s face and body. Our imaginations fill in the rest.

This is also our first meeting with the girl who will become the glue to pull together the found family that’s to come. She’s Remi. Or will become Remi.

Events escalate quickly as Ari acquires a daughter and Remi a dad. I’ll let the reader find out how.

One aspect of this story is that the emotional damage Remi has experienced is never made light of. Throughout the story, her actions and words , which indicate to others that she’s still deeply traumatized , are taken notice of. And it’s mentioned that she’s in need of more help then they are giving her. I think that such a responsibility to show that the damage inflicted by child abuse doesn’t just vanish because they’ve been given a better living situation.

Kudos to the author here for that aspect of the story and her character.

The other members of the found family are folded in, Eidolon or Ivan the thief, and K or Kyou the Hacker. We get a great feeling and read on all of them through their interactions with the new family of Ari and Remi.

As all that is happening, so is the overall story arc of of art theft and new character intro of mercenary, Carter Harrison. That’s Ari’s love interest and he’s a wonderful one.

Carter’s a grand character who’s chemistry with the walled up Ari is perfect. This couple is so able to pull you into their world it’s hard to remember, one’s a mercenary and the other an assassin, with a daughter.

The crime is complicated, well thought out, and intelligent. I loved reading it and could see it acted out on screen. It’s a white knuckle hold your breath deal!

The ending was a little soft as I kept thinking something else was going to happen. But it’s just as well. Because the author has plans for it later on.

Suspense, humor, pathos, relationship dynamics that resonates…Sherwood put it all out there… in a criminal found family.

What a great suspenseful story and fantastic romance! Love the couple and found family, especially Remi.

Add this book and series to your TBR list. I’m highly recommending them.

Oh, make sure to read the short after the ending. It’s Remi’s POV on that night. Stunning.

Unholy Trifecta series:

✓ How to Shield an Assassin #1

✓ How To Steal a Thief #2

✓ How to Hack a Hacker #3

Now live on Amazon!

Synopsis;

It’s not stealing if you’re stealing it back….

Ari had a game plan for life. Shoot people. Get money. Hang out with fellow criminal friends. He saw absolutely no reason to change that plan until one dark night in Memphis, when a little girl reached out to him with pocket change and a desperate plea for him to help her.

Adopting an abused little girl off the streets was, needless to say, not part of the plan.

Ari has no idea what to do with an eight year old. Things get more complicated when a mercenary, Carter Harrison, approaches him with a job. He needs Ari’s expertise to get into the very high-security museum and steal back Monet’s “Water Lily Pond.”

The job isn’t an easy one. It will take more than the two of them to make it happen. The situation is further complicated because Ari’s not sure what to do with his new daughter while working this job. And for that matter, how’s he supposed to handle the sexy mercenary?

Tags:

Not child safe but child approved, children know best, Remi approves this book, idiots in love, but Remi loves them anyway, criminals make the best uncles, family of choice, Ari acknowledges Remi as the smarter one, Carter admits his own insanity, nothing blows up, Ivan is very disappointed by this, Kyou has PLANS for Remi, licking solves all problems, bedsheets, lifeskills, children should come with warning labels, it’s not stealing if you’re stealing it BACK, right?, the author once again regrets nothing

Review: Poisonwood (Poisonwood & Lyric #1) by Sam Burns and W.M. Fawkes

Rating: 3.25🌈

While waiting for the next Sam Burns release in a series, I thought I’d start up another fantasy series she co-wrote that sounds interesting.

Poisonwood has many neat factors that’s grabbed me. The authors, a great description in the blurb and a wow of a cover. All that sold me enough to dive into the first story.

I liked it, mostly. Jasper Jones is a sympathetic character with his hesitation about consensual feeding versus the norm for his species, which might be anything but. Although it does seem more that his family could be a rather abysmal lot, other than his sister.

Caleb, the bear shifter, is also a lovely if undefined character. We get someone with a big heart , who falls immediately for a sick incubus.

What feels lacking around a neat romance is foundation and back history. We don’t know to what lengths Jasper’s gone to see how to feed consensually. He has a cellphone. What about others of his species outside of Lyric? We just don’t have any information. He just runs off. More than once.

And Caleb? His actions? While I get he’s attracted to the man he’s found who just moved in on him and stayed.. and stayed… I’d ask a few questions. He’s still a sweetheart of a bear shifter!

And why did no one help that poor thing in the woods?

So yes… their romance should have had a foundation to stand on. Sometimes love or lust isn’t everything.

But perhaps it’s a start. The characters are enough to make me wonder about what’s coming next , so are the writers.

I’m headed to Wyrmwood.

Follow me there!

Poisonwood & Lyric series:

✓ Poisonwood #1

◦ Wyrmwood #2

◦ Hardwood #3

https://www.goodreads.com › showPoisonwood (Poisonwood & Lyric #1) by Sam Burns – Goodreads

Synopsis:

A starving incubus.

A bear alone.

Jasper Jones is Lyric’s most pitiful incubus. He can’t feed and doesn’t want to if it means hurting people. When a witch gives him a chance at breaking the cycle of hunger, he rushes half cocked into the woods in search of a cure.

Caleb moved into Poisonwood Forest to escape the crowded city of Lyric, but it’s lonely by himself. He doesn’t expect to find his mate when he trips over an unconscious young man in the middle of the woods, but there he is, perfect—except for a peculiar fondness for processed cookies.

Their only problem is that Jasper’s sick, and when he doesn’t get better, his one shot at survival is in the hands of a bear shifter who’ll do anything to save him.

Review: The Viking and the Drag Queen (Campo Royale #1) by V. L. Locey

Rating: 4.5 🌈

The first in a series about a the people who are a found family in a drag club , The Viking and the Drag Queen by V. L. Locey is a wonderful read.

It has several things I look forward to seeing in a romance from this author. Starting with a hockey player with issues. In this case a huge Danish hockey player named after a god, Tyr Hemmingsen.

His issues stem from dark childhood, parental expectations that leave deep emotional damage, and their early deaths. Now he’s left with the childhood vows his father made him make about a future that’s here, and his own wants that’s he’s buried his entire life. Yes, this is a deeply conflicted, wounded man in need of a change.

Love those!

Next is a character I adore. Drag queens. This one is perfection.

It’s the change Tyr needs that comes in the tiny form of one Gigi Patel LeBay, a Drag Queen who performs to packed crowds at the Campo Royale. Singing songs from the 40’s, sassy and glorious, she lights up the stage and overturns Tyr’s life.

She’s also Elijah McBride, a young man who’s parents all but disowned him for being not just gay but a man who dresses up. He’s had a lot of pain in a short period of time.

Naturally, Locey has great secondary characters who act as support for both men. It’s wonderful to see and having such a enjoyable family around each man when they struggle with the relationship and Tyr’s fears.

I wish we’d been more a part of Tyr’s thoughts and processes as he determined what finally became priority for him. Still that scene was heartwarming and so adorable.

I also wonder if this is the last we’ve seen of Ben…hmmmm. I even want more Morty! Surely we can find someone for Morty? Go, Warthogs!

Anyway, I adore Tyr and Eli, love the house of Patel, need more which is coming in The Batchelor and The Cherry. For the list of novels planned, see below. I’ll be there for each and every one!

I’m highly recommending this!

Campo Royale series:

✓ The Viking and the Drag Queen #1

◦ The Batchelor and the Cherry #2 – coming April 20, 2022

◦ The Barkeep and the Bookseller #3 – coming August 5, 2022

◦ The Financier and the Sweetheart #4 – coming 2023

◦ The Chanteuse and the Soldier #5 – coming 2023

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Viking and the Drag Queen (Campo Royale, #1) by V.L. Locey – Goodreads

Tyr Hemmingsen had his life mapped out at a young age. The only son of the late Danish hockey great, Elias Hemmingsen, Tyr has always done his best to follow the plans his father had laid out for him. Finish school, make it into the pros, become team captain, find a biddable young lady to marry, and win a championship so the Hemmingsen name lived on eternally on the side of a massive silver cup. Like the good son he is, Tyr has done as his father wished, no matter how it peeled away layers of his true self. Then, all the neatly placed supports that hold up his so-called life come crashing down during a night on the town. Tyr might be known as the “War God of Wilmington” on the ice, but there’s no battling the effect Gigi Patel LeBay has on him.

Elijah McBride lives for the spotlight. As Gigi, he bewitches and bedazzles the crowds at the Campo Royale Club. His vibrant stage persona is the face he presents to the world. Underneath the rouge, eyeliner, and lipstick is a young man who still feels the sting of his parents’ disapproval and rejection of the son who wears wigs and dates other men. With his drag family and older brother in his corner, he’s finally found peace in his life. Until the fateful night a massive hockey player shows up at the club. There’s a world of hurt in Tyr’s soft brown eyes, and Eli finds himself falling for the big man, despite all the barriers he’s built around his tender heart.


The Viking and the Drag Queen is an opposites attract gay romance with heavy checking, lipstick worship, an out and proud queen, a closeted athlete, family lost and found, twink/jock, a new beginning, and a well-cinched happy ending.

Review: The Stopping Place by Lily Morton

Rating: 4.5🌈

The Stopping Place by Lily Morton is such a lovely short story. Originally written for Heart2Heart charity anthology, the author edited it and enlarged it to incorporate a epilogue here.

Many of my favorite Lily Morton elements are at play here. There’s age gap, past trauma to overcome, and men who will find themselves in the midst of a sea change, unknowingly so.

And it starts , as do all her chapters and books, with a memorable quote.

“I am no traveler; you are my world.”

Daphne du Maurier

My Cousin Rachel

Yes, I’m sunk immediately.

So opens the tale of Simeon Frith and Ziggy Tuesday.

We see that’s Simeon had an injury and his friend has placed an ad for a companion to help with things and walk his dog.

Yes dogs or a cat are another element with Morton.

We see that. Then Simeon and Ziggy having sex. From there , time folds in and around as we see what brought Ziggy into Simeon’s life, their life together…. And the decisions when it gets closer to the cast coming off and time for Ziggy’s departure.

These are layered, real people. The scenes emotional if quiet. And the air filled with the sounds of the sea .

Such a beautiful journey, such lovely men…. And dogs.

Even a brief story like The Stopping Place by Lily Morton will fill you with a quiet joy.

I’m highly recommending it.

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Stopping Place by Lily Morton – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Simeon Frith is recovering from a car accident at his house in Cornwall. He’s a successful man and usually very self-sufficient, but after attempting to open a can of baked beans with a brick, he realises that he needs help. However, he never imagined that putting an advert in the paper for an assistant would result in the gorgeous Ziggy Tuesday sauntering into his life.



The much younger Ziggy is fun and free-spirited, and an attraction quickly grows between them. When they finally sleep together and Ziggy insists that it be completely strings-free, Simeon can’t believe his luck. However, to his horror, he develops unforeseen feelings for the laidback surfer, and he can’t stop them, despite knowing that Ziggy will always leave. It’s what he’s done all his life.



From bestselling author Lily Morton comes a short story about a summer fling that is going to change two men’s lives forever.

This story originally appeared in the third Heart2Heart charity anthology. It has had a new scene and an epilogue added to it.