Review: Full Color (ORCA #3) by Vinni George

Rating: 3.5🌈

Full Color is the penultimate book in George’s ORCA series. It’s a paranormal fated mates shifter romance series that involves a family of Orca whale brothers and a mysterious family painting, The Evolution of Man, that’s being heavily sought after the the world art community, thieves and billionaires collectors as well as their own family.

Along the way, the brothers have come together to pool their talents to form the Organization for the Return of Criminals and Assets (ORCA). And book by book and mission by mission, find their fated mate.

In the last book, twin Cal Hunter found his fated mate in great white shark shifter, Jack, leaving his twin brother Quinn shaken by a sudden change in their twin bond and brotherly dynamic.

Quinn, an art dealer and forger, gets a call about the lost painting they have been searching for and the team is on a mission for recovery and investigation.

Quinn finds his fated mate during the search and mission to retrieve the painting, a chameleon shifter, Dimitri Crysanthos.

The romance is the quick instant recognition fated mates one with little time for a relationship or connection to be made. Dimitri has a sister in danger that isn’t a factor other than we know she’s somewhere at the city where the action scenes are taking place. She’s a non entity otherwise.

George creates some nice elements around Dimitri’s shifting character that involves art and painting but leaves too many holes in the characters backstory and abilities to really make him and his sister believable. Dimitri is sweet and one dimensional.

It wraps up quickly with enough information to move the series arc forward towards the series finale and the final couple and brother to get his fated mate.

The story and romance was just fine but the other plots were better imo. This feels rushed and incomplete in many aspects.

I’m looking forward to the finale and seeing how everything gets pulled together.

ORCA series:

Black & White #1

Grayscale #2

Full Color #3

Monochrome #4 – series finale- Sept 30,2025

Buy link

Full Color: An MM Shifter Romantic Suspense Novel (ORCA Book 3)

Blurb

Quin Hunter likes the quiet life. He runs his gallery, forges famous art, and operates a fence where black market buyers get fakes and the real pieces get returned to their rightful owners. Nice and simple. He doesn’t do field work. But a call from his twin thrusts him into the action, and now he and his brothers are racing the clock to steal a painting from someone who never should have had it in the first place.

Dimitri Crysanthos is no stranger to mistakes. All he wanted to do was make life easier for his sister. Instead, he ended up making everything harder for both of them. With his life and his sister’s hanging in the balance, he has no choice but to do whatever one of the most ruthless men in Amsterdam tells him to do. All Dimitri wants is to stay alive…until a stranger changes everything. Now Dimitri craves something terrifying, something that will put him and his sister in even more danger—his freedom.

The stakes of the heist have changed, and Quin refuses to quit until Dimitri is safe for good. Can the ORCA team get the art and Quin’s fated mate out of Amsterdam, or are the odds too stacked against them?

Full Color is book three in the Organization for the Return of Criminals and Assets (ORCA) series, featuring an orca shifter art forger who isn’t keen on field work, a chameleon shifter with a lucrative secret talent, and a heist where the target is far more valuable than a stolen painting!

Review: Assistant to the Villain (Assistant and the Villain Book 1) by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Fantastic! Laughed, cried a bit, and loved these characters and their stories so so much.

It’s ridiculous how much I adore Eve Sage. And her Villain.

Hannah Nicole Maehrer has written a comedic fantasy series with surprisingly deep emotional layers, all due to the absolutely incredible characters and the weirdly complex dynamics that the author had created between them.

This applies not only to the main characters of Evie Sage, the Assistant and The Villain, but all the many intriguing characters that inhabit the Mansion and story.

How Evie, a young woman struggling with running a poor household with a sick father and younger sister, gets her job as the Assistant to The Villain, is just the opening of this fabulous story. There’s so much heart and scope to Evie , the Villain, his staff and the strangeness that’s the Kingdom. Maeher is constantly building out upon the world she’s steadily creating.

There’s magical systems to learn about, otherworldly creatures, a Kingdom wide incurable disease, twists and plots turns a plenty.

And Evie to absolutely fall in love with, along with a mysterious staff who are weird, curmudgeonly, including a crowned frog, who start to grow into a surprisingly beautiful found family of evil. Sort of.

It ends on a cliffhanger. But one I like. Another great element.

Onto Apprentice to the Villain!

I have a feeling I may be buying the paper version of these books.

Highly recommended.

Right now it’s action, hint of romance, lots of magic, murder, and mayhem. And great characters and dialogue.

Cover art and design by Elizabeth Turner Stokes

Interior map art by Elizabeth Turner Stokes

Assistant and the Villain :

Assistant to the Villain #1

Apprentice to the Villain #2

Accomplice to the Villain #3 – Aug, 5,2025

Buy link:

Assistant to the Villain (Assistant and the Villain Book 1)

Blurb

Once Upon a Time meets The Office in Hannah Maehrer’s laugh-out-loud viral TikTok series turned novel, about the sunshine assistant to an Evil Villain…and their unexpected romance.

ASSISTANT WANTED: Notorious, high-ranking villain seeks loyal, levelheaded assistant for unspecified office duties, supporting staff for random mayhem and terror, and other Dark Things In General. Discretion a must. Excellent benefits.

With ailing family to support, Evie Sage’s employment status isn’t just important, it’s vital. So when a mishap with Rennedawn’s most infamous Villain results in a job offer—naturally, she says yes. No job is perfect, of course, but even less so when you develop a teeny crush on your terrifying, temperamental, and undeniably hot boss. Don’t find evil so attractive, Evie.

But just when she’s getting used to severed heads suspended from the ceiling and the odd squish of an errant eyeball beneath her heel, Evie suspects this dungeon has a huge rat…and not just the literal kind. Because something rotten is growing in the kingdom of Rennedawn, and someone wants to take the Villain—and his entire nefarious empire—out.

Now Evie must not only resist drooling over her boss but also figure out exactly who is sabotaging his work…and ensure he makes them pay.

After all, a good job is hard to find.

The Assistant and the Villain series is best enjoyed in order.

Reading Order:

Book #1 Assistant to the Villain

Book #2 Apprentice to the Villain

Book #3 Accomplice to the Villain

Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books (August 29, 2023)
Publication date: August 29, 2023
Language: English
Print length: 425 pages

Review: The Wren in the Holly Library (Oak & Holly Cycle Book 1) by K.A. Linde

Rating: 3⭐️🌈

🌈 for Bisexual main character

I really wanted to like this story but issues just kept creeping into the narrative that stopped me from being fully invested in the characters, their relationships and motivations as well as the mythology that Linde insists on using as a framework for her storyline.

It’s not the dark fantasy, because I’m a true fan of the genre, it’s in the manner that the author is constructing the characters and storylines.

Kierse, the damaged thief with the abusive background from her criminal mentor is the Belle substitute here. She’s the thief who’s caught in the Holly Library the “Monster” (it’s in the description) , also known as Grave .

Their relationship is part of the issue. Or maybe her treatment is. There isn’t much chemistry between them and the romance just seems to appear, albeit with Kierse making the obligatory resistance response.

She’s got a bisexual background with a missing ex girlfriend that is part of an underdeveloped storyline. As well as a well described traumatic history that gives her the realistic, raw foundation her character would require.

But how the dynamic plays into the physical abuse and the future degradation that is inflicted upon her as part of her “roles” with Grace starts a strange division and changes her past/current personality and the new narrative path of the author’s without the needed context.

Grave, the mage “Monster “ , is a person who has an otherworldly framework around him that’s easily recognizable ,as is the other main enemy MC. This aspect of his character and storyline is primarily due to the many hints and story Easter eggs the author has scattered throughout the book. Grave just isn’t someone who is an engaging personality. Again, Linde works against the story romance by having every single character (Kierse’s friends and frenemies) repeatedly telling Kierse exactly how untrustworthy Grave.

After a while we have to figure this is a major plot point.

Then for me it’s the mythology and underdeveloped magic which didn’t really make sense. Linde chose to use certain snippets or aspects of certain myths of Irish or Celtic culture but it’s not clear or successful. Especially with her usages of wrens. She’s partly using St. Stephen’s , a tale of unfortunate timing, as well as some Druids mythology that includes wrens, none of which translates well to a North American continent where our numerous species of wrens do just fine in winter and this aspect of the book would have not context. So without going beyond the surface or substance or making the material adjust accordingly ( as other authors have in great detail and depth), this just doesn’t work.

This came very close to a DNF but I wanted to see where Linde was going with the characters and story. Disappointing and not sure I’m going forward with the series. Too bad because it had such potential.

Cover art and design by Bree Archer Deluxe Limited endpaper illustration by Melanie Korte Deluxe Limited case design by Elizabeth Turner Stokes

The Oak & Holly Cycle series is best read in order.

Reading Order:

Book #1 The Wren in the Holly Library

Book #2 The Robin on the Oak Throne

Buy link

The Wren in the Holly Library (Oak & Holly Cycle Book 1)

Blurb

Can you love the dark when you know what it hides?

Some things aren’t supposed to exist outside of our imagination.

Thirteen years ago, monsters emerged from the shadows and plunged Kierse’s world into a cataclysmic war of near-total destruction. The New York City she knew so well collapsed practically overnight.

In the wake of that carnage, the Monster Treaty was created. A truce…of sorts.

But tonight, Kierse—a gifted and fearless thief—will break that treaty. She’ll enter the Holly Library…not knowing it’s the home of a monster.

He’s charming. Quietly alluring. Terrifying. But he knows talent when he sees it; it’s just a matter of finding her price.

Now she’s locked into a dangerous bargain with a creature unlike any other. She’ll sacrifice her freedom. She’ll offer her skills. Together, they’ll put their own futures at risk.

But he’s been playing a game across centuries—and once she joins in, there will be

no escape…

The Oak & Holly Cycle series is best read in order.

Reading Order:

Book #1 The Wren in the Holly Library

Book #2 The Robin on the Oak Throne – June 17,2025

Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books (June 4, 2024)
Publication date: June 4, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 495 pages

Review: Alphas Never Hide (Willow Lake Supernaturals Book 5) by Lori Ames

Rating: 4.5🌈

Alphas Never Hide brings Lori Ames’ wonderful Willow Lake Supernaturals series to a end by featuring the reluctant Alpha Hayden finally accepting his mantle as the Alpha of the Willow Lake Supernaturals and finding his fated mate in a newly discovered hostage, Ryley, a faun.

I’ll be the first to admit I was finding Hayden tedious. His constant denial about his Alpha status and the continuing pity party about how everything was his fault was off putting. And Ames starts off with Hayden in the same pattern here. Lone wolf, whining about the past and his criminal brother. Got it.

Thankfully, a new character offers a change in direction and growth for Hayden. That’s Ryley, a faun who’s been abducted as part of Robbie’s supernatural trafficking operation and freed himself.

Ryley has some speciesism issues due to his dreadful herd’s behavior and the author works through these issues skillfully to highlight what’s special about Willow Lake and to recap the inhabitants of the community. Really good work!

I absolutely loved Ryley and thought this character redeemed Hayden’s, allowing some long overdue personality growth and character development.

One of my highlights is the scene where we see the magic of the moment when Hayden accepts his Alpha status flowing through the air and the community. That’s was remarkable.

I’m not sure if this is the end of the trafficking storyline or not. It’s the end of Robbie’s part in it. But there is a sequel series coming out soon. The Willow Lake Pack series and the fated mate romance of Parker and Levi launches that one.

Stay tuned!

I’m sure the characters will cross over and be in everyone’s business and storylines. I’m definitely looking forward to this.

I enjoyed seeing Hayden accomplish his goal and become the Alpha and get such a fantastic fated mate in Ryley.

A definite winner.

Willow Lake Supernaturals Series

Note: Books in this series are best enjoyed when read in order.

Hellhounds Never Lie #1 (Ash and Dillon)

Wolves Always Bite #2 (Jeremy and Adrian)

Oracles Always Win #3 (Jake and Gage)

Cats Never Fly #4 (Simon and Ogden)

Alphas Never Hide #5 (Hayden and Ryley) – series finale

Buy link

Alphas Never Hide (Willow Lake Supernaturals Book 5)

Blurb

The wolf who refuses to be Alpha.

Hayden Walker might be trapped in Willow Lake by guilt and duty, but he’s no one’s alpha. It doesn’t matter how many times people call him Alpha, with a capital A like it’s his name, he just isn’t—just ask his last pack. They had no problem rejecting him to follow his traitorous brother, Robbie, twelve years ago.

Hayden thought he’d come to terms with what happened back then, but it turns out some things don’t get easier to accept with time. After discovering his brother’s latest sinister activities, Hayden can’t hide from the truth anymore. He has to stop him, particularly when Ryley Bell, his fated mate, is his brother’s latest victim.

Hayden can’t let his brother harm anyone else. Robbie won’t take anyone else from him. Not again. Never again.

Tags: MM Fated Mates Paranormal Romance, a wolf who refuses to be Alpha, a faun who doesn’t put up with his mate’s nonsense, let’s pretend a kick in the face is a sign of love at first sight, the Eternal Magic is a persistent diva, the confrontation between brothers we’ve all been waiting for, Hayden has a pack whether he wants one or not, he will also get his happily-ever-after whether he wants one or not, wolves should listen to their clever mates, and, most importantly, not all fauns play flutes.

Willow Lake Supernaturals Series

Note: Books in this series are best enjoyed when read in order.

Book 1 – Hellhounds Never Lie (Ash and Dillon)

Book 2 – Wolves Always Bite (Jeremy and Adrian)

Book 3 – Oracles Always Win (Jake and Gage)

Book 4 – Cats Never Fly (Simon and Ogden)

Book 5 – Alphas Never Hide (Hayden and Ryley)

Alphas Never Hide is the fifth and final book in the Willow Lake Supernaturals series, but DON’T WORRY! We aren’t leaving Willow Lake, not when there are still so many characters waiting for their happily-ever-afters! Levi and Parker’s book will be the first release the new

Willow Lake Pack series! It is coming soon!

Review: Phantasma: A dark fantasy romance (Wicked Games Book 1) by Kaylie Smith

Rating: 4⭐️

Phantasma by Kaylie Smith is the first book in her dark fantasy romance duology, Wicked Games. It’s interesting in that each book is a contained story about a paranormal sister of the Grimm family of New Orleans. Definitely helps to read them together though as I will.

It’s a completed duology, which is fantastic, so a reader can explore both stories, one right after the other.

I really enjoyed reading Phantasma, from the characters to the setting of the Devil’s Mansion itself and the trials of the Phantasma. The storyline pulled me along with the characters, and Smith crafted an interesting complex personality with the oldest sister, Ophelia and one of surprising depth with the younger sister, Genevieve. The developing relationship and dialogue between Ophelia and ghost Blackwell is all hot chemistry and dry wit. And that, for its time, Ophelia and her sister have a “modern “ view on sexuality in a time of corsets, albeit one that accepts magic as a reality.

The other details and characters are ones that I would have liked to have seen more closely in the story because of their own relationship with Blackwell, and what appeared to be knowledge of the sisters. Jasper, for one. And most definitely “Sin” for another.

And this is where I feel the book falls short. The author has created the framework for the supernatural foundation of the characters, the tragic histories, even the fact that there’s a multitude, generations, of Grimm women who pass their magic through death and become Necromancers and we never see any real indication of that particular element outside of the mansion. Yes, she can see Blackwell and there’s other things of note. But this felt aspect felt less defined. As did much about her life and family.

Her sister, Genevieve, is the best thing here. But the family backstory is used as needed for the book, effectively as a really good plot twist, but leaves too many questions, especially at the end, to be effective as a whole.

Same goes for the main owner and mystery behind the mansion. It’s easily guessed at although the reason behind it needs the explanation the author provided. That’s muddled too.

So there were aspects of the narrative that I feel needed more clarification or exploration in order for the story and characters to have real depth and all the storylines feel grounded.

Did it keep me from engaging in the story and characters relationship? No. I really enjoyed it and will go onto Genevieve’s story. Her adventures complete the duology.

Great covers.

Cover design Alexandra Purtan/ Fenix Cover Designs”

Wicked Games:

Phantasma #1

Enchantra #2

Buy link

Phantasma: A dark fantasy romance (Wicked Games Book 1)

Blurb

Welcome to Phantasma.

There are only two rules to the game. Stay alive. And don’t fall in love.

When Ophelia’s sister disappears, there is only one way to save her. Ophelia must enter Phantasma, a deadly contest inside a haunted mansion, and claim its prize—a single wish.

Phantasma is a maze of twisting corridors and lavish ballrooms, of demons and temptations. Ophelia will face nine challenges, each more dangerous than the last. There can only be one winner, and the other contestants will stop at nothing to eliminate their rivals.

Every day the house creates new monsters. But just as Ophelia’s fears threaten to overwhelm her, a mysterious stranger offers her a bargain.

Charming, arrogant and infuriatingly attractive, Blackwell claims he can guide her through the lethal trials ahead. All he asks in return is ten years of her life.

Ophelia knows she shouldn’t trust him. Blackwell doesn’t seem dangerous, but appearances can be deceptive. Worse still, she feels a dark and irresistible attraction drawing them closer and closer.

Her life is on the line. But in Phantasma, the only thing deadlier than losing the game is losing your heart…

The instant top ten bestseller and TikTok sensation!

A Court of Thorns and Roses meets Caraval in this seductive fantasy adventure. With steamy romance, a sexy morally gray love interest, OCD rep and jaw-dropping twists, Phantasma is perfect for fans of Rebecca Yarros, Nisha J. Tuli and Carissa Broadbent.

Publisher: Second Sky (September 3, 2024)
Publication date: September 3, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 428 pages

Review: Shadow & Storms (The Legends of Thezmarr Book 4) by Helen Scheuerer

Rating: 4.75⭐️

The Legends of Thezmarr made Helen Scheurer a new author I put on my auto read list based on the three books that I read in this series. The strong female protagonist with a powerful sense of her destiny and the poignant nature of her storyline combined with a sensational complex magical elements and the kingdoms on the verge of war made this a perfect series to lose myself in.

Now comes the finale, Shadow & Storms, and the culmination of all the great adventures, powerful moments and character developments in one epic story. Does it deliver? Yes it does.

There’s so many things that make this book stand out for me. Absolutely standout glory scenes that, when they occur in the narrative, they make the already heavily invested reader stop and yell out!

Scheuerer remembers that it’s the heartrending intimate moments of war and loss as well as those of legend in the making, the heart stirring calls to battle that make a story lasting and memorable. And writes both into her narrative of epic conflict and dark fantasy.

Scenes in which the congress and deep friendships of women are made and build the vast network of relationships to keep their rebellion alive. That’s incredible work. It’s Thea, Wren, Anya, also Adrienne and Dru as well as Audra, pulling together the establishment of women empowering each other.

And as this will tie up the relationship of Thea and Warsword Wilder Hawthorne, it’s a great aspect of their growth as a couple to see their roles switch as Wilder becomes the one who needs to recover and reconnect with those around him. The maturity and development in them both makes the story and their characters even better as the author was able to show a greater evolution as the storylines progressed.

The ending, which, yes, left me, satisfied, sad, but also very much totally feeling that certain aspects went the way they were supposed to go. And happily, sister Wren is set up for her own magical epic adventure in a sequel series.

For now, Warsword Thea and Warsword Wilder are left together, off to make their own adventures.

A absolutely stunning story and one I’m definitely recommending. Love the series.

Covers. Love the simplicity.

The Legends of Thezmarr – 4 books completed:

Blood & Steel #1

Vows & Ruins #2

Fate & Furies #3

Shadow & Storms #4

Sequel series (Wren and Torj) :

The Ashes of Thezmarr (2 book series to date)

Iron & Embers #1

Thorns & Fire #2 – July 31,2025

Buy link

Shadow & Storms: An epic romantic fantasy (The Legends of Thezmarr Book 4)

Blurb

“She was ready to shed blood, ready to take back what was hers.”

The time has come to make one last stand against the forces of cursed men and monsters. But Thea’s enemies are only getting stronger. With allies divided and an outnumbered army, she must race against her own fate to secure the future of the midrealms – or die trying.

A prophecy is looming, and Thea’s life is in the balance. Does she have the power to cheat death itself?

Love and loyalty will be tested. Bonds will fracture forever. But all must fight for a better world.

In the final war for survival, will Thea and Wilder emerge victorious? Or will the shadows consume them at last?

Fans of Fourth Wing, The Witcher and The Bridge Kingdom, brace yourselves for sizzling romance, found family and heart-pounding battles in Shadow & Storms, the epic finale to The Legends of Thezmarr.

Publisher: Alchemy (June 20, 2024)
Publication date: June 20, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 427 pages

Review: Of Flames and Fallacies (The Arterian series Book 1) by Courtney Whims

Rating: 2⭐️

DNF

🚨 Spoilers 🚨

I rarely rate books I don’t finish but I’m making an exception here .

This book had a lot of potential and at the very least, a strong storyline and woman character.

Right up to the SMH moment of the narrative.

The MFC has an extremely ill mother who needs constant care, an absent father, and no money to feed them . They are starving. In a fit a rage over their circumstances, she knocks over the cross on her father’s grave and finds a forbidden dragon’s egg.

We’ve been given a loose history of dragons and the current Kingdom, but dragons are outlawed. And it’s a death sentence to have the egg.

Anyway, her mother eventually says something like find your ex boyfriend and take the egg/baby dragon back to Dragon Lands. Then dies in as the house goes up in flames.

Baby dragon is cute and Katerina Blackwind, is resourceful. So far so good. Unfortunately they find her ex boyfriend and things go downhill fast. Cole is one of those types that is always wanting to save the woman while constantly putting them in danger. And she lets him. And then puts the dragon in danger too while continuing to do things contrary to instructions laid out by her deceased father and , honestly, common sense.

But everything in the narrative comes to a screeching halt for me at 35% when this occurs:

Daeja, now a pretty big dragon and Katerina are in the woods outside an iffy camp and having this conversation . Mind you, they should have been on their way to Dragon Lands but Cole keeps delaying them because it’s too “dangerous “.

Katerina is speaking on page 154 of 427:

“Why did you want me to ride you?” She shifts her body, somehow managing to edge even closer to me. “I thought we could get to the Dragon Lands faster if we could fly there.”

I gaze up at her. “

“We can’t go without Cole.”

“And why not?”

“Because—” I pause, wracking my brain for my own reasoning.

Because my mother said so.” It sounded pathetic.

— Of Flames and Fallacies by Courtney Whims

Yes, they can just zip-a-dee-doo-dah right there by directly flying. Boom done. No problem. Have new adventures in Dragon Lands and, oh yes, your dragon would be safe.

But nope, with more than 300 pages to go, that doesn’t happen. SMH

So what do you expect from the reader , especially me every time Cole or someone betrays them or does something that is unbelievably stupid? Welp, they should have just flown outta there to begin with.

Yes, if you are an author don’t write an out at the beginning of the book.

So here’s a buy link. It’s a DFN and a 2 for that SMH element.

The Arterian series:

Of Flames and Fallacies #1

Of Blood and Banes #2 – Dec 2, 2025

Buy link

Of Flames and Fallacies (The Arterian series Book 1)

Blurb

Possession of dragon contraband in the Arterian kingdom is a guaranteed brutal execution.

When twenty-two-year-old Katerina Blackwind finds a dragon egg buried in her father’s grave, she begins to question everything she thought she knew. She must return the forbidden dragon hatchling—Daeja—north to the secretive Dragon Lands: where dragons roam free and a rebellion group resides.

But she can’t do it on her own – smuggling a dragon hatchling across the realm during a war between Arterians and rebels means she can be killed by either side. She knows there’s only one person she can truly trust, her old flame, Cole Ashbourne.

Yet, Cole is much different than the last time Kat saw him: deliciously chiseled in all the right places with a raw power lingering beneath the surface. Cole is torn between his responsibilities as a newly-promoted Captain in the King’s military, and his heart.

Kat works on a plan to get Daeja to the Dragon Lands while keeping a low profile at the military outpost. Though, having a room next to the sinisterly provocative Darian Raventhorn proves to be anything but easy.

Danger lurks at every turn, and as more secrets are unearthed, Kat is left to question everything she thought she knew about dragons, her family, love, and the kingdom.

ASIN: B0DQHPJS8D
Publication date: January 2, 2025
Language: English
Print length: 427 pages

Review: Cramming at Randy’s (Diner Days Book 3) by Alex Silver

Rating: 4.5🌈

I forget how much I love this series until I read another book about that fabulous all inclusive diner in Boston and the people who live near it and have found their authentic selves and love there.

Cramming at Randy’s is one of my favorites. Alex Silver’s characters and their stories are so beautifully written and believable, funny, raw, young and compelling.

Ray, coming from the large loving Quebec home, to go to college in Boston, is everything. He’s a fully fleshed out person, multilingual, fearfully setting out to find his true identity and the ability to live as he knows he is, a man, not the girl his family thinks of him as.

He encounters Jordan, a student, who’s secure in their own right, but has struggled with their past romantic relationship. Together, they find themselves first friends helping each other out in classes and with Ray’s new transition.

Then it turns into romance.

Everything about them and their storyline is beautifully written. It sensitive and funny, moments where they become awkwardly young adults yet it’s sexy and loving. And it has one of the funniest scenes of coming out to a family I can remember.

And these families? Totally supportive and just as respectful and wonderful as the main characters.

Honestly, I could have done with a longer version because I enjoyed it so much.

This is a series not to be missed and this is a must read among them!

Highly recommended!

Great cover!

Cover design by Cormar Covers

Diner Days series -11 books:

🔷Written at Randy’s by Katherine McIntyre

🔷Final Boy at Randy’s by Loren Leigh

🔷Cramming at Randy’s by Alex Silver 🩷💚🌈

🔷Temptation at Randy’s by Emily Alter

🔷Hitched at Randy’s by A. E. Madsen

🔷Gaming at Randy’s by Duckie Mack

🔷Striking a Chord at Randy’s by K. C. Carmine

🔷Composed at Randy’s by Zile Elliven❤️

🔷Roleplay at Randy’s by Rikki Leighton

🔷Finding Home at Randy’s by Abrianna Denae

🔷Aftercare at Randy’s by R.A. Frick

Buy link

Cramming at Randy’s

Blurb

These study buddies are getting randy.

When Ray transfers to university in Boston, he has every intention of using his new start in a new city to step out of the closet. His family knows he’s bi, but he hasn’t quite figured out how to tell them he isn’t the daughter they always thought of him as. His first new friend, Jordie, is the one who gives him the courage to follow through on living as himself. Ray has Jordie pegged as the one he wants to take from study buddy to steady date—he just needs to figure out how to get Jordie to see him as partner material.

With graduation in their sights, Jordie isn’t looking to mentor another baby queer. Let alone get tangled up in a messy crush after he imprints on them. But there’s something intoxicating about helping Ray embrace his gender euphoria. Is it really such a wild idea to turn their study dates at Randy’s into a love connection?

Love beyond the binary: serving up low angst trans romance at Randy’s Diner.

Cramming at Randy’s is an X/X friends to lovers standalone romance between a newly out demiboy transfer student and an openly genderqueer older student who helps him find the confidence to be himself.

Publisher: (September 5, 2024)
Publication date: September 5, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 285 pages

Review: The Grip of Death (Arcane Hearts Book 8) by Nazri Noor

Rating: 4.5🌈

The Grip of Death does it job! It pulls together all the many fabulous characters, various universes, and multiple storylines to give the long term romance of Jackson Pryde and his fiancée, Xander Wright, the wedding of Jackson ‘s wildest dreams and end the series longest running mystery.

That’s a lot of elements and stuff to jam into one book. Because at eight books, this couple has had a lot of fun, many adventures, and the Black Market itself is full of the most memorable Masters of the most interesting fields of magic one could imagine.

Every one, including the Goddess Hecate and the adorable sentient AI family members, Lore and Whitby, are present at the goings on, new mystery, and a relocation of the wedding to, where else, the Summer Palace, courtesy of King Oberon.

The author balances the storyline of the many characters and elements involved in the couple’s wedding with the ongoing process of completing the arcane engine his parents had started as well as launching the guild of artificers. This arcane engine process brings the story back to the original mystery of the original destruction of guild of artificers and the deaths of Jackson’s parents.

The story is highly entertaining, extremely suspenseful, and action packed. But Noor never forgets about the emotional impact of family and relationships , writing moments of genuine poignancy and deep love.

I’m thrilled with the ending and this book and series are a definite recommendation for me.

Arcane Hearts:

A Touch of Fever #1

A Stroke of Brilliance #2

An Iron Fist #3

A Velvet Glove #4

Hand of Glory #5

A Clap of Thunder #6

The Claws of Winter #7

The Grip of Death #8 – finale

Cover art by Christian Bentulan coversbychristian.com

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The Grip of Death (Arcane Hearts Book 8)

Blurb

Wedding bells. Death knells.

Jackson Pryde and Xander Wright are hard at work preparing for their upcoming wedding. Good thing they have everything they need right in the Black Market, whether it’s an enormous cake or the perfect wedding rings.

Jack is working on an incredible project, too: an arcane engine inspired by his parents’ schematics. If it works, artificers and mages alike will unlock untold stores of energy, making it the guild’s greatest discovery to date.

But it’s not all wine and roses. Echoes from the past point to dark secrets still lurking within the Black Market. Jackson and Xander must unearth these mysteries before they wreak havoc and ruin the wedding… or put their very lives in danger.

Publication date: February 28, 2025
Language: English
Print length: 204 pages

Review: Bespelled (Bewitched, #2 by Laura Thalassa

Rating: 4.25⭐️:

Bespelled is a strong sequel to Bewitched by Laura Thalassa about a young witch coming to terms with duel memories, a ancient morally ambiguous soul mate and a terrifying mystery that threatens her friends and future on the very campus she fought so hard to attend.

In Bewitched, Selene’s memories of her previous life as Roxilana are back so she’s able to use magic without the curse of memory loss. And the truth of her own death and role in Memnon’s entombment is revealed as well changing their dynamics.

Thalassa balances the conflicts and emotional tension between Selene and Memnon with the complex storyline of the investigation into the events of the witches murders and those beings at behind the plots.

It has great action sequences and a strange cliffhanger that’s not exactly one that’s logical when you consider the elements of the events that just happened.

Next book is a prequel so it might be a while before we see the cliffhanger resolved.

I enjoyed Bespelled, anticipated some of the elements here and remained invested in the story and the relationship.

Recommended!

Bewitched series:

Bewitched #1

Bespelled #2

The Curse that Binds – a prequel story/ July 1,2025

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Bespelled (Bewitched Book 2)

Blurb

“Neither magic, nor time, can keep us apart. We are like the stars. Eternal.”

No one told witch Selene Bowers having a soul mate would be so difficult. Nor did they warn her that he might be a vengeful, ancient sorcerer who would frame her for murder, force her to remember a past life he swears she lived, and then coerce her into an unbreakable marriage pact. But that’s exactly what happens the night of the Samhain Ball, when Selene finds herself in a jail cell.

After waking from enchanted sleep, Memnon swore to discover why Selene betrayed him long ago. But when his soul mate’s memories return, the truth reveals something else entirely. Horrified by his own actions and desperate to make amends, Memnon offers Selene the unthinkable: a magic bond that will give her full control over his will. And Selene is desperate enough to accept it.

But other enemies still haunt Henbane Coven, Selene’s magical academy, and they’ve taken a keen interest in her. If she wants to stop them, she’ll need Memnon’s help. But partnering with the sorcerer is a tricky business, especially when he’s dead set on winning her heart. And that can’t happen…because the bond controlling him will break the moment she falls in love with him.

Publisher: (May 17, 2024)
Publication date: May 17, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 506 pages

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