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Review: Merry Elf-ing Christmas by Beth Bolden

Rating: 4.5 🌈⛄️

With the holidays almost upon us for those that celebrate at this time of the year, there’s always a number of holiday books that arrive with it.

Merry Elf-ing Christmas by Beth Bolden is a wonderful and sweet addition to anyone’s holiday reading stack this year!

I was wracking my memories if I had read any similar plots because a Tir na Nog Fae being hauled off to the North Pole because of a prophecy was all sorts of imaginative. And in terms of character development, downright awesome.

If I was from Ireland and dragged away to the ice and freezing cold, away from the pubs and rainbows, would I be happy? Without any say in the matter? Uh, no. And neither is Aiden.

Bolden is able to get the reader a real connection with Aiden’s emotional state over this huge permanent upheaval of his life. The loss of friends, home, a job he felt he was good at and is now looked down upon by certain North Pole elves as nothing important. As is Auden’s favorite holiday, St. Patrick’s Day. His entire old life is made to feel.. well less in the face of being a Christmas elf, which he doesn’t want to be.

While the North Pole May glitter , it’s often cold, freezing, and unfriendly. Except for Sam aka Santa (a title) who’s assistant Aiden is supposed to be.

Bolden builds quite the pictures of a role foisted on Aiden by a prophecy he doesn’t understand in a place he doesn’t want to be. And it’s a role that doesn’t seem to fit him. At all.

The reader, listening and watching through Aiden’s pained eyes, will tend to agree.

Then on Christmas Eve, outside of Chicago, in a small convenience store, Aiden runs into college student/store clerk Dex and a friendship as well as instant attraction is struck up.

Dexter is another layered marvelous character. Dysfunctional childhood, poor family dynamics means he’s not a fan of the holidays. Until an unhappy elf stumbles into the store looking for milk and cookies for Santa.

What follows is such a heartwarming, funny, sometimes poignant love story…via a long series of texts, and then of course there’s that prophecy.

I may have actually sniffled once or twice here.

I really felt for that given no choice here’s your new future elf Aiden and his engineer graduate boyfriend… to be…they fully grabbed at my heart .

I believe they will at yours too. That’s why I’m highly recommending this.

Synopsis:

Aidan might be a bad elf, but he’s never been naughty.

Aidan has always landed on Santa’s nice list, thank you very much. But that doesn’t mean he’s cut out to be a North Pole elf; instead of worrying about the dwindling magic of Christmas, he’d much rather be back in Tir na Nog, calculating where the next end of the rainbow is going to land.

Instead he’s freezing his butt off in Santa’s sleigh.

His situation seems grim despite all the decking the halls, until on Christmas Eve, during a milk and cookies run, he meets Dexter, an engineering student.

They couldn’t be more different, and Dexter couldn’t be more forbidden, but Aidan is drawn to the handsome human anyway. Over the next year, their emails start out as a entertaining way to pass the time in all his interminable elf meetings, but soon, hearing from Dex becomes the very best part of his day.

And when they meet up on the next Christmas Eve? Aidan and Dex discover that their infatuation is so much more than just attraction. If they believe in each other and in the love they share, together their magic might be powerful enough to save Christmas.

https://www.goodreads.com › showMerry Elf-ing Christmas by Beth Bolden – Goodreads

Review: The Professor’s Dragon (Here Be Dragons #2) by Louisa Masters

Rating: 4 🌈

The Professor’s Dragon is a sweet, often funny, low angst fantasy romance. A part of the Hidden Species series universe, this novel’s events picks up from the end of Dragon Ever After.

That’s the book that launched this series and frankly was my introduction to this universe and Louisa Masters. Make sure you start there, if unfamiliar with this series. It’s a winner and you’ll need the background established there to help with all aspects of the characters and romance here.

The Prologue gives us Dustin’s first look at his soon-to-be all consuming crush/love Professor Rob Sarris on Dustin’s first day of class at a human college.

Fast forward two years and things are only more intense for Dustin. He’s still deeply emotionally attached, but still from afar and it’s all one sided.

Dustin has grown from overly exuberant youth we met in the stories of the Great Migration to a more responsible, yet totally adorable one here. The character growth continues while maintaining all aspects of his personality that makes Dustin such an engaging and endearing being.

Rob is the new and wonderful element here. Before he was just the object of adoration. Now he’s an actual person, with a family and history. He’s become fascinating in his own right and I wanted more, actually of him as I got to know him and his family dynamics and history. Charming, heartwarming, funny… Rob’s family has its own story to tell.

Together, along with the madcap denizens of Here Be Dragons, Dustin and Rob’s courtship plays out, with all its wide ramifications, to great and romantic fun.

I will admit I keep waiting for some type of element of suspense or mystery to enter, much like that of Hidden Species. But maybe this series is the author’s gift to the characters for all they went through there so it’s going to be low angst all the way. Except for bit of a craziness from Steff now or then.

Next up? That’s the slightly weird, always entertaining Fabian’s story, The Dragon Experiment coming in 2022. Can’t wait to see what hilarity that brings!

Until then, I’m recommending this series and novels. And all the Hidden Soecies stories too if you haven’t read them as well.

Read them all in the order they were written and enjoy a grand journey through a fantasy series and a multitude of marvelous characters.

Here Be Dragons series:

◦ Dragon Ever After #

◦ The Professor’s Dragon #2

◦ The Dragon Experiment #3-coming 2022

The Professor’s Dragon

Synopsis:

It was love at first sight… with my professor. What’s a dragon to do?

For two years, I’ve been pining over Professor Sarris. I knew the moment I saw him that we were meant for each other, but it’s not to be. For one thing, I was his student, and he’s the most ethical man I know. For another, he has no idea I’m actually a four-thousand-year-old dragon from another dimension.

When my people fled to Earth to avoid extinction, I vowed to clean up my life and stop acting like a fledgling. It’s bad enough that nobody takes me seriously… sure, maybe I used to be flighty and irresponsible and caused a few interspecies incidents, but that’s all in the past. I have big plans for the future, and this college gig is the first step in proving myself. I’m not endangering this fresh start for anyone.

But then my professor and I wind up at the same party, and suddenly it seems he’s not completely out of reach. Except I’m still the adorable flirt nobody wants to rely on, and convincing him we should be together while proving I’m a changed dragon is a monumental task.

Good thing I’m up for the challenge.

Review: The Cat Returns to Adderly by Sam Burns

Rating: 4🌈

Urban fantasy binge reading continues, this time with a author well established as a terrific writer of fantastical, magical tales and series.

I must have missed Sam Burns’ fantasy fairytale story first time around. So I was happy to make its acquaintance by chance now, lured in by its great cover and evocative title. Why did du Maurier’s Rebecca spring to mind? Nevertheless, it pulled me right in.

Told from the pov of Wainwright, a cat and companion to Luke, youngest of three Miller brothers. Parents recently deceased and the older brothers have decided to deprive Luke of his rightful inheritance and chase him from his home, with only the cat and his grandfather’s book in his possession.

Luke’s shaky, uncertain perspective comes in later as the young man struggles to survive on the streets without resources, unwilling to part from Wainwright.

Unaware that Wainwright is trying to provide for them both and just might be more than either of them suspect.

The Cat Returns To Adderly turns into one of those stories that engages your imagination as well as your heart. Sam Burns builds such fascinating characters here! And not just the main characters of Luke and Alastair. But that circle of witches that attend to the Market just cries out for an expanded version or more stories. How powerful a presence were they!

Plus I needed more knowledge of Luke’s grandfather and that book! And poor Elz. And and and……

It’s a parade of intriguing characters here. And all I wanted to know was more more more. Of what came next. Of what happened in the past… just everything.

Because there’s more elements here that needed a wider universe and plain bigger novel (s).

This? It’s great. But the promise for over the top magnificent? It’s everywhere.

Read it and see if you agree.

Yes I’m definitely c recommending this.

Synopsis:

Orphaned, Luke Miller is left alone and homeless with only his cat for company. But Wentworth is more than an average feline, and when Luke makes a set of leather boots to keep his paws safe, it might help them both find the path to where they belong.

Previously published in Fables Retold under the same title

Buy Links:

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Cat Returns to Adderly by Sam Burns – Goodreads

Review: The Necromancer’s Light (Radiance #1) by Tavia Lark

Rating: 4.25🌈

I’ve been pretty fortunate in my fantasy reading binge of late. I’ve found no less than six new series, four new authors (to date) and the some terrific series and stories from long-standing writers on my auto read list.

Like I said… great times.

Tavia Lark and The Necromancer’s Light, are new. New author, new novel and the first in this writer’s new series. And it’s a marvelous start!

Using a two person perspective, the author opens the tale with the person of the title. The Necromancer.

But far from the normally powerful, and darkly mystical mage we would expect to encounter, we instead meet a bone-thin, shivering, thread poor specimen, reviled and shunned by all he passes. Shae Nightven, our first narrator, is the very essence of last chance desperation. In need of the very thing he’s being denied, and with a great evil pressing upon him, Shae is almost lost and the voice and character given to him by Lark screams of his pain, of the crisis, and fear of failure. He’s the opposite of powerful.

And that fragility combined with a prickly essence he hides behind makes Shae someone we immediately care about and need to understand.

The person he’s drawn to and needs as a bodyguard to complete his mission? That would be Arthur Davorin of the Radient Order.

He’s our other pov, and one at the other end of the spectrum from Shae. That’s in personality, in outlook, in physicality (he’s huge, Shae is thin and small). Arthur’s even has an aura that glows, well suited for the Radiance Order. Unlike the dark, spelled silver jeweled necromancer.

But Arthur is on a penance, temporarily removed from his order and missing it. He’s a man conflicted, over his path in life and why his Goddess is no longer speaking to him with guidance.

When the two men decide to go forward on Shae’s mission, the alternating pov works beautifully, especially to see certain battles, creatures or dire situations from each perspective.

Lark comes up with some fascinating creatures, a great quest with some haunting, traumatic memories for both men to pick apart and recover from if not triumph over.

My wishes for this story and from the author is for more foundation. We get some idea of the framework for the Order, and local municipalities. But other religions? Governments? Mages? Are the Necromancers not an order themselves? I just don’t have enough information.

Also the great evil. We’re told how he/it came into the human realm but the potential for this character didn’t reach its full potential. The power indicated that it had would have easily extended over the series arc but maybe the author is playing a longer game here.

Which I would applaud.

Shae and Arthur’s story does wrap up ( I’m assuming) at the end of this book because the next in this series deals with two secondary characters mentioned here.

The Necromancer’s Light

(Radiance #1) by Tavia Lark is a marvelous fantasy epic, full of action, romance, and adventure.

I look forward to the next book and the one after that! I’m definitely recommending this!

Radiance series:

The Necromancer’s Light

The Paladin’s Shadow #2

The Sword-Witch’s Heart #3

Synopsis:

He’ll die without touch.

As a necromancer, Shae loses a little more of himself every time he uses his magic. Always cold, always touch-starved, the only thing that helps is human contact. But that’s hard to come by when those same dark powers scare everyone away from him. Nobody likes a necromancer.

Especially a paladin of the Radiant Order.

Arthur’s still bitter and broken after his last lover stabbed him in the back, and the last thing he needs is another brush with evil. When he agrees to escort the wandering necromancer north, he’s just doing a public service.

But he never expected Shae to be so clingy. Or distractingly attractive.

Shae has never felt an aura as warm and safe as Arthur’s. He craves the man’s touch—and more. But everyone he’s ever known has left him, and it’s just a matter of time before Arthur leaves him too.

Assuming the soul-stealing monsters don’t kill them first.

The Necromancer’s Light is a gay fantasy romance, with magic, hurt/comfort, and bed sharing for Reasons. First in a series but can be read alone. 56,000 words, HEA guaranteed

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Necromancer’s Light (Radiance #1) by Tavia Lark – Goodreads

Review: The Hound of the Burgervilles (Quest Investigations #2 ) by E.J. Russell

Rating: 4.75🌈

The Hound of the Burgervilles was such excellent fun! A total non-stop madcap romp fest of a urban fantasy murder mystery.

How’s that for throwing in the narrative trope sink! There’s a hint of romance but it’s really a backseat story line to all the other plots running about hither and yon here in and out of Fae lands.

The Hound of the Burgervilles picks up closely after the events of Five Dead Herrings, the novel that launched this series.

Now Quest Investigations has two new employees added to the payroll since the deeds of book one. That would be Eleri, the dryad who’s now an investigator and Matt Steinitz, aka Hugh Mann’s BFF. Jordan, the ever lovable, overly energetic and accident prone young werewolf.

Jordan, a fav character of mine, has become Quest’s new, well only, intern. Probably just to save the coffee shop they like where he recently worked from anymore acts of accidental destruction. Here Jordan’s character starts to show real emotional growth. And tbh, I’m not sure I’m ready for him to outgrow his “golden retriever’ stage . Ah well.

Matt’s love life is still on hold primarily because Brody’s husband has disappeared and is needed to sever their Fae marital bond.

But more dire happenings intrude … a murder or more to investigate. Loose doggies, and a hellish quest! All described through this author’s uniquely vibrant and imaginative writing.

Russell keeps the remarkable characters hopping to a labyrinthine plot that’s cements our interest to every page and scene as it occurs.

I mean glued!

Even if we have good clues as to who dunnit HOW they did it is still a even bigger problem. And a rabbit hole we and all the characters end up following or is it falling into?

Either way… it’s a quick paced, high action, plot full of complexity and great characters and multiple storylines.

And while this story perfectly ends this mystery, it sets the stage for the next in the series The Lady Under The Lake.

This should be rated 5 🌈 but it’s so interwoven with the Mythmatched series and characters that for those readers who haven’t read those stories, you’re missing a richness of layers here that makes this story and series so much more multi dimensional.

These books must be read in the order they were written. And for, imo, complete understanding and enjoyment, read in conjunction with the other series referenced above.

Plus they’re great novels too.

So yep, recommending this, that, and all of those!

Quest Investigations Series:

◦ Five Dead Herrings #1

◦ The Hound of the Burgervilles #2

◦ The Lady Under The Lake #3 – not yet released

The Hound of the Burgervilles

Synopsis:

This case is really going to the dogs…

After I try a little off-the-books interrogation to locate my selkie almost-boyfriend’s nearly-ex-husband (don’t ask, it’s complicated), I’m in the doghouse again with my bosses, who bust me back to surveillance. Ugh. So when another human inexplicably storms into Quest Investigations—something our security spells ought to prevent since I’m supposed to be the only human admitted to our offices—I’m reduced to staking out local fast food restaurants to check out the guy’s alleged sighting of a giant, glowing-eyed, dumpster-diving spectral hound.

Ridiculous, right? Humiliating, too, not to mention boring. But at least they didn’t fire me.

Imagine my surprise when there actually is a giant, glowing-eyed, dumpster-diving spectral hound—one of the Cwn Annwn, Herne the Hunter’s traitor-tracking dog pack, to be exact. Jeez, who let this dog out? It’s my case, though, so it’s up to me—Matt Steinitz, aka Hugh Mann—to return him to Faerie. But while Herne’s normally hopping kennels are inexplicably unpopulated by pups, they’re playing host to one extremely dead body.

Uh oh. Looks like someone’s bite was a lot worse than their bark.

Guess my love life will have to take a back seat again while we nose out the truth.

Dammit.

The Hound of the Burgervilles is the second in the Quest Investigations M/M mystery series, a spinoff of E.J. Russell’s Mythmatched paranormal rom-com story world. It contains no on-page sex or violence, and although there is a romantic subplot, it is not a romance. The series is best read in order

Review: Dearest Malachi Keogh (Dearest Milton James #1.5) by N.R. Walker

Rating: 4.75 🌈

Dearest Malachi Keogh is a wonderful, romantic Christmas sequel to that incredible heartwarming novel Dearest Milton James. That story is easily in my top ten contemporary romances this year, maybe top five as it ticks so many of my emotional narrative boxes.

Dearest Malachi Keogh picks up four years later with Julian Pollard and Malachi Keogh a happily established couple, living together with a rescue cat, and with families content with their relationship.

Also back and intact is our quirky, deeply endearing ,or in Paul’s case weirdly fascinating, small family like staff at the Dead Letters Department at the Mail Office. What a great lot they are! The more I see of them the more of them I want to see! Love each and every one!

Once more the use of a letter mystery is employed here, this time by Julian himself. What we get is a beautiful blend of emotions, poetry, mystery, and joint efforts by everyone! All towards one romantic goal for Malachi and Julian.

My only thoughts here are that I wish the author had somehow utilized the whole Dearest Malachi to even greater effect.

I remember all those Dearest Milton James, as will anyone who read that story and the effect they had on me as well as the characters who read them. And I feel we had just gotten started before it was over. I wanted more, something longer, but it certainly was deeply heartfelt .

“Merry Christmas, my love” is sigh worthy.

This was a lovely, happy, wonderful and, yes, sexy, Christmas sequel to a amazing contemporary romance.

It’s really not a standalone story but needs to be read in tandem with the first I’ve referenced throughout this review.

Haven’t read that one? You’re in for a huge treat! Grab up both stories and read one right after the other.

Read the first? Then you’ll love this! It’s the HEA you’ve been waiting for. Although NR Walker shouldn’t be surprised if people start crying out for Malachi and Julian’s wedding. There’s got to be some missing invitations tie in.

And yes to the author for that rescue cat. Leaving that neighbors cat behind bothered me and this was a great solution. I know I know. You can’t go about swiping other peoples cats but still….

Ty. Extra point for that cat.

Yes, I’m highly recommending this.

Dearest Milton James series:

Dearest Milton James #1

Dearest Malachi Keogh #1.5

Synopsis:

Julian Pollard never believed in love at first sight. That was until he met Malachi Keogh. Well, maybe it wasn’t love at first sight, but it sure was something.

Julian had forgotten how to live, how to be happy, and Malachi changed all that. Now together for four years, Julian wants to give Malachi a Christmas he’ll never forget.

The only problem is, Christmas at a mail distribution centre is the busiest time of the year. It just might take the whole team to make it happen.

Dearest Malachi Keogh is a 13,000-word short story.

Dearest Malachi Keogh

Review: Wyn (Monstrous #3.5 by Lily Mayne

Rating: 4🌈

I just happened upon this book not realizing it was part of a series until the author’s note at the end. Then many of my issues with this story made sense.

If like me you just stumbled upon it because either the cover or description grabs your attention, then by itself it’s a interesting and promising tale.

We get a oh so brief introduction to basically the destruction of the human race as hordes of “monsters “ invade the earth through a tear between worlds.

Flash forward to 20 years and the near annihilation of the human species, an established love affair between a alien hunter, a Soul Eater and one human former soldier.

How they became to be together unfolds slowly over the course of the novel as does bits and pieces of the dystopian nightmare that the earth has become. It’s current status is all too vague but as it seems mostly empty of people, except at military bases, things aren’t looking good.

This strange air of human abandonment sets the foundation for the new reader ignorant about the situation. And it actually makes the manner in which the author who, via the characters dialogue, communicates details about the past in a spare manner very neat.

We eagerly anticipate each new detail so we can further gather together our puzzle pieces of a history and past for our couple.

A couple that’s on quite the mythic journey to join their disparate ages to equal out the amount of time they age.

That’s fascinating. But what I found more intriguing was the human’s attitude towards what was basically the death of modern human civilization and the extirpation if not almost extinction of the human race. He seems pretty ok with it, despite mentions of nightmares (although those seem to do more with torture by the military and less by the current overall climate).

So yes, finding out this was part of a series made some of my questions about the story disappear. Clearly the other books should hold the answers.

But this novel and settings has so much promise and offers such a great premise that I clearly need to seek out the beginnings and get my background references.

As well as other characters.

What fun.

If dystopian stories, odd couple romances, and a mythic god or three are your jam, this might be the book and series for you.

I’m recommending this!

Monstrous series;

Soul Eater #1

Erin #2

The Ryche #3

Wyn #3.5

M/M Fantasy Romance.

Twenty years ago, monsters rose on earth and began a new age of civilization.

One where humans live in military-controlled, cramped and dirty cities along the coasts, and the majority of the United States is known as the Wastes. A lawless, desolate and dangerous place, teeming with monsters that have claimed the land for their own.

Including Wyn the Soul Eater.

He appears every three years, making his way across the country and slaughtering humans randomly, sucking them dry until they’re nothing but husks.

I’ve only been in the military for six months, but now I’m part of a unit tasked with trying to stop and capture him. And when I’m the only soldier out of hundreds that the Soul Eater leaves alive, I realise that… something about me has intrigued him.

But what is it? What could a twenty-three year old guy from the south, with no one and nothing in the world, have possibly done to capture the attention of a death monster with horns, blackened fingertips and a face hidden in the dark depths of his hood?

Soul Eater is the debut novel of Lily Mayne. It is the first in a planned post-apocalyptic fantasy series featuring monsters and human men falling in love. This m/m love story contains explicit content and is not suitable for young readers. It also contains scenes of violence, but don’t worry—they get their happy ending.

https://www.goodreads.com › showWeb resultsWyn (Monstrous #3.5) by Lily Mayne – Goodreads

Review: Five Dead Herrings (Quest Investigations #1) by E.J. Russell

Rating: 4🌈

Five Dead Herrings is the first in a new paranormal series by E. J. Russell. And like many of this author’s other series, it’s part of a connection of characters and storylines that runs or rubs up against each other constantly as they share the same foundation and universe.

Matt Steinitz, human PI and employee at Quest Investigations has turned up as a secondary character in other books, briefly referenced here. Russell now takes the time to build out Matt’s personality and let him show a depth of character not seen previously. We get the flashes of insecurities, the humor, the joy of learning, and the terror and newness of his situation.

And the start of a new romance…

There’s a mystery involving dead fish, a grumpy gorgeous Selkie, a new adorable werewolf secondary character of boundless energy , and a ton of supernatural beings from books and series we loved to get reacquainted with.

In short, it’s a whole lot of fun. And ends with one mystery solved but some major loose ends needing to be dealt with. Which will lead us straight into the second book in this series.

Quest Investigations Series:

Five Dead Herrings #1

The Hound of the Burgervilles #2

Synopsis:

Something’s definitely fishy about this case…

On my last stakeout for Quest Investigations, I nearly got clotheslined by a grove of angry dryads. I expected my bosses to reprimand me, but instead they handed me my first solo assignment. Me! Matt Steinitz, the only human on the Quest roster!

Okay, so the mission isn’t exactly demanding. Obviously, the bosses wanted to give me something they think I can’t screw up. I’m determined to show them what I can do, however, so I dive right in with no complaints.

At first glance, it looks as simple as baiting a hook: A selkie’s almost-ex-husband is vandalizing his boat with unwanted deliveries of deceased sea life. All I have to do is document the scene, tell the ex to cease and desist, and present the bill for property damages. Boom. Mission accomplished, another Quest success, and as a bonus, I get to keep my job.

But then things get…complicated. Suspicious undercurrents muddy up my oh-so-easy case. Nothing is as clear as it should be. And the biggest complication? My inappropriate attraction to the client, who may not be as blameless as he claims.

Turns out those dead herrings aren’t the only things that stink about this situation.

Dammit.

Five Dead Herrings is the first in the Quest Investigations M/M paranormal mystery series, a spinoff of E.J. Russell’s Mythmatched paranormal rom-com story world. It contains no on-page sex or violence, and although there is a romantic subplot, it is not a romance.

https://www.goodreads.com › showFive Dead Herrings (Quest Investigations, #1) by E.J. Russell – Goodreads

Review: The Oak Wood Throne (San Amaro Investigations #2) by Kai Butler

Rating: 5 🌈

For me, the second story, the bridge book, is always the key to every series. It gives me a sense as to how the author intends to move their characters forward, what strategies and angles they might employ to enlarge the series arc and universe, and just a general idea of what sort of future might lay ahead… great, scary, whatever, for those we’ve come to care about.

If done successfully, we then are clamoring for book 3. If it’s a clodhopper? Some readers valiantly plow on. While other readers quickly put the series down. Give it a pat and walk away.

I’m thrilled to report that Kai Butler’s The Oak Wood Throne

Is a great bridge story. It absolutely checks all the needed elements and then raises the narrative bar higher, continuing the well-written arc and complex relationship dynamics laid out in the previous story, Butler now proceeds to build an ever enlarging intricate structure comprised of well defined characters capable of unlimited growth and a universe that shows no boundaries.

The main (and outstanding) focal character is Parker Ferro. It’s Parker who’s character, painful dysfunctional childhood, and equally chaotic, bruised adulthood is developing into one of astonishing growth, albeit somewhat of a mulish nature, and accompanied by an equal number of revelations. About his past, his found family. Even his new boyfriend and their ever tenuous romance.

He’s certainly the heart.. almost the heart of the story. That would be The Tree of Life who’s also a fascinating, ongoing main character. Butler’s beings as met have a complex set character but that’s merely a starting point for the author to build on. For as the story threads wind through all the devious and convoluted plot points, heading towards various pathways, these characters gain more layers, more depths to their personalities and histories.

And as we learn more about each of the people and beings involved here, nothing simplifies . Not them , not the plot. Indeed as expected, we get many mysteries as the revelations only deepen the overall arc storyline.

To our delight.

Characters are added that swell this already addictive and amazing found family. I can’t even go into who and what they are without entering spoilers city so I won’t but it’s both humorous and endearing. And unexpected.

So much in this story is.

From the way in which Parker is trying to work through his many issues of trust, feeling unworthy, inability to make a commitment, and his position of being the Windrose. Along with dealing with his obligations to that which lives deep under the City.

And being a boyfriend.

I often have issues with the manner in which a second book ends. A cliffhanger? Abruptly? Just this novel’s story with a hint going forward?

Well The Oak Wood Throne ends on a surprise! One I didn’t see coming at all! Not a cliffhanger but an actual surprise.

One I can’t wait to see the ramifications of in novel 3 out in February. Honestly, it’s not that far away. And there’s so much great stuff to unpack here I’m probably just going to reread it again immediately because I’m already sure I missed something now.

Kai Butler was a new author for me but I’m absolutely hooked now. I love this series, the universe and all the amazing characters.

If you haven’t found this yet, head immediately back to the first story and begin your journey there. Then head here.

Then I’ll see you all in February.

I’m highly recommending this and the series. It’s not to be missed.

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 – not yet released, publication date in February 2022.

Synopsis:

A new case won’t solve Parker’s old problems…

Parker Ferro needs a vacation. His boyfriend is MIA on a high profile murder investigation, the fae courts have him on call at all hours, and he’s still cleaning up the mess from his last big case. Of course that’s nothing compared to the demands of the debt he owes the spirit of San Amaro.

So when a wealthy new client contacts him to locate a stolen a fae artifact, Parker’s hoping for a simple job. That the artifact in question looks eerily similar to the one that got him involved with a notorious criminal and almost ruined his life last year has no bearing on the decision, right? Not to mention the thief’s ability to enter high security areas without a trace and a few very suspicious deaths.

As his life continues to spiral out of control, Parker has to juggle what’s most important to him: his relationship, his need for revenge or his life. Then again, no one said becoming the new Windrose would be easy.

Review: Trial By Fire by B.A. Tortuga

Rating: 2.75 🌈

Trial By Fire is another cowboy n’ kids story similar to that group of books I recently talked about when I reviewed another similar novel by this author.

Two cowboys, this time one is from a large cattle station in Australia. Kid element is a baby who’s parents were the siblings of both cowboys, also a frequent pairing. And the siblings have just died in some accident, in this case a plane crash.

Here the story deviates as the men squabble over rights to the children (versus pulling together), warring parents, and almost immediate action and angst brought on by plot threads that seemed to arise out of nowhere. This on top of a surplus of storylines that just didn’t feel smooth and relatable.

That includes the romance between Holden Sheffield and Aussie Lachlan McCoughney. While both characters, indeed all the characters here are finely crafted, the author never really developed any real chemistry between the men. I never believed in an immediate attraction, let alone a “love at first sight’ dynamic.

I’m not sure if the issue was that Lachlan was a Aussie and missing that bone deep knowledge Tortuga has of her Texas/New Mexico/western cowboys .That entire Australian section,, from people to tiny things meant to be “Aussie “ fell flat against a Texas sky.

Especially since some of the other secondary characters were fully realized, including one who’s death and funeral elevated this story for its sheer poignancy and depth of feeling.

That romance? It felt rushed and unrealistic, while there were so many other elements piled on top almost as distractions.

Another real issue for me was the nonchalant way the author treated the characters future plans. The 6 months in Australia or in US, with a baby who’s a US citizen with one openly gay parent who is the legal guardian. Then casually mentioning marriage and adoption for the Aussie boyfriend/partner. All without taking into consideration Australian visas, LGBTQIA marriage laws with regard (and consideration for) the LGBTQIA community there. Were there any then considering this is a re-release?

LGBTQIA marriage, adoption, and Australian laws has been written about more widely and in depth by Australian authors. Usually accompanied by pain, frustration, waiting, and angst. Same about visas. So this lack of research was puzzling and seemingly showed a lack of care towards this serious topic imo. Realistically not going to be the “smooth sailing “ it’s made out to be here, even for the wealthy.

This story has some solid elements, some wonderful characters but together it’s never solidified. Just felt forced.

I love this author and have other books of hers to recommend. I’m just not sure this is one of them.

Great cowboy funeral though.

Synopsis:

One Aussie. One Texan. One baby. One hell of a fight.

When his sister and her husband are killed in an accident, Aussie cattle station owner Lachlan McCoughney rushes to Texas to rescue their infant daughter, Chloe. He expects to find his niece living in squalor with the Sheffields, a rodeo family.

Instead, Lachlan finds Holden Sheffield, a salt-of-the-earth cowboy running a huge business operation. They want to explore their mutual attraction despite the many problems thrown their way, and together, they must find a way to give Chloe a new family and find a love that spans thousands of acres and two continents

https://www.goodreads.com › showWeb resultsTrial by Fire by B.A. Tortuga – Goodreads