Review:  Don’t Come For My Operator: MM Military Suspense (Tags Of Honor: Black Squadron Book 1) by Annabella Stone

Rating:4.75🌈

I came into this book absolutely not having read any of the many connected series and books in this complicated black ops universe but I still found myself throughly invested in the gripping story and the complex characters.

Don’t Come For My Operator: MM Military Suspense (Tags Of Honor: Black Squadron Book 1) by Annabella Stone is part of a black op universe of multiple stories, series and characters that cross over into each others lives and missions as they often work together and for the umbrella agency. 

While not having a deep understanding about how the foundation of the universe works or all the various aspects of the characters dynamics, Stone lays down the basic concepts and gives the reader a clear explanation of how they interact and work in the field so it’s believable and meaningful.

Whether as a lone operative or as part of a team, these men come across as exactly what Stone is trying to accomplish. 

Throwing the reader right into a tense undercover black ops mission seen first hand from both perspectives of Black Ops Reconnaissance Operative, Black Squadron, Elijah *Rogue* Dunmore, in Afghanistan because of a caravan on its way to a fragile peace mission. Inside one of the trucks is CIA Ground Branch Operative Travis *South* Zimmer, escorting tribal leaders to a peace meeting he helped broker. 

The tension starts building immediately, then everything goes explosive. The scenes are realistic without being raw , gritty and suspenseful.  From then on out these men are on the move, danger is literally everywhere, and nothing is safe. 

There’s a mystery, escape, battles, and a red hot romance between Travis and Elijah that develops as they travel through Afghanistan , back to the US, and as the plot gets more complicated, beyond the US boundaries.

Stone brings in characters and teams from all parts of the agency which helps solidify the relationship and world that’s being created around Travis and Elijah.

If I had a quibble, it would have been to have drawn out the dramatic scenes at the end so it felt as though the villain(s) were fully aware of the situation as well as taken down.

I definitely can’t wait for the next book in this series to be released. 

I’m definitely recommending this and will be running back to catch up on it other series.

Cover Design: Golden Czermak

Tags Of Honor: Black Squadron:

🔹Don’t Come For My Operator #1

🔹Don’t Come For My Night Stalker #2 – Feb 28,2025

See all connected series below.

Buy link

        Don’t Come For My Operator: MM Military Suspense (Tags Of Honor: Black Squadron Book 1)

    

Blurb

If you come for him, you deal with me!

Former Navy SEAL, and current Black Ops Reconnaissance Operative for the elite agency, Black Squadron, Elijah *Rogue* Dunmore has spent most of his adult life running ops and working solo missions in some of the worst places on earth. Working alone adds the edge of danger he craves to keep his life interesting. He has one last mission to complete, overwatch for a peace talks convoy at a border crossing on the notorious AfPak border, then its crunch time. He must decide if he takes the offer to rotate into a desk role, or if he hangs up his weapons and walks away from the world of Special Operations which defines who he is. This mission on a border which has cost him so much over his career, may take that decision out of his hands, by sneaking temptation right into his world.

Former SEAL and CIA Ground Branch Operative Travis *South* Zimmer, has one final task to complete before he’s up for promotion. Escorting tribal leaders from Afghanistan to peace talks in Pakistan sounds doable. But peace talks have the potential to stop wars and stopping wars costs arms dealers’ money. When Travis’s mission goes to hell in a handbasket because someone is determined his convoy will not make it through the Hindu Kush, rescue comes from an Overwatch Operative who calls to the one thing Travis has always guarded—his heart.

Blindsided by an attraction neither can resist; Elijah and Travis need to make it to safety, and they need to do it without compromising, their jobs, their teams, and most of all their hearts.

Can these Tier One Operators find it within themselves to say, ‘when the battle stops, let me love you.’

  • Publisher: Embers Romance LLC (October 16, 2024)
  • Publication date: October 16, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 372 pages

Full list of Crossover Series of Connected characters/couples and Agencies in the same universe in order:

🔹DELTA FORCE: TEAM PANTHER Jonah’s Compass 

Tied Up In Steele 

Malik’s Redemption 

Micah’s Promise 

Christmas-Panther Style 

Grif’s Salvation 

Jason’s Justice 

🔹TAGS OF HONOR: RED SQUADRON 

Zenko 

Noble 

Don’t Let Go 

Drax 

Roman  

Saxon 

Rees

🔹DELTA FORCE TEAM LYNX Salvation’s Sinner 

Redemption’s Rebel 

Temptation’s Tango 

🔹THE GHOST PROTECTORS 

To Love A Ghost 

To Claim A Ghost 

To Tame A Ghost 

🔹Tags Of Honor: Black Squadron:

Don’t Come For My Operator #1

Don’t Come For My Night Stalker #2

🔹SHORT STORIES 

They Won’t Ask If We Don’t Tell (Delta Force Team Panther)

Review:  Trust in the Moon (Tales from the Tarot story) by Delaney Rain

Rating: 4.5🌈

Major arcana card The Moon

Trust in the Moon (Tales from the Tarot story) by Delaney Rain was just adorable.  It had just the right amount of charm, engaging characters, and a great story that had a cute little twist or two in it that made me laugh and want more.

Honestly? Miami drag queen wedding in a Colorado mountain resort setting? Yes! Add in fated mates, spicy best friends, shifters and a mystery and I just enjoyed every minute of this.

Rain did a lovely job adding in the series theme and carryover element of The Magic Shop, The Owner, and the tarot cards. In fact, here there are some things i wished had further exploration, like those volumes of family history that are passed on at the end of the book. 

The author has included so many other things I really enjoyed. Other characters that caught my eye because of their personality or story (Fabian and Matt-the wedding couple, Charlie, one of the “bridesmaids”), unusual elements written into the shifts and recovery, all contributed to making me love the story and wishing that the book was longer.  Or that Rain would consider making this a series in its own. 

Gavril, Sacha’s little brother, needs more attention. And members of both sides of the aisle of the wedding. Just a prequel too because  Fabian’s drag queen name is a thing of beauty! 

So I really enjoyed Trust in the Moon (Tales from the Tarot story) by Delaney Rain.  Another highly recommended book in this fantastic series. 

Cover art: Fae Quin . Fabulous as always 

Cover design: Amanda Meuwissen

Tales from the Tarot- 22 books 

🔷 Where Fools Have Tread by Jennifer Cody❤️

🔷The Magician’s Heart by J.P. Jackson

🔷Cleric of Desire by Amanda Meuwissen❤️

🔷The Nephilim’s Touch by Morgan Lysand

🔷King of Hollywood by Fae Quin

🔷My Minotaur Daddy: An MM Romantasy by Laura Lascarso

🔷Across Space and Time by Kit Barrie

🔷Chariot of Souls by Morgan Mason

🔷By Rude Strength ❤️by K.L. Hiers

🔷Found in Obscurity by A. M. Rose

🔷Twisted Fates by Adam J. Ridley

🔷No Justice for the Damned by Hellie Heat

🔷The Angel’s Kiss by Nicholas Bella

🔷Death Song by B. Ripley 

🔷Arcanum ❤️by Ashlyn Drewek

🔷The Devil’s Dilemma by Alex J. Adams

🔷Camelot’s Tower by Brooke Matthews

🔷A Highland Gargoyle’s Lucky Star

❤️by Chloe Archer

🔷Trust in the Moon ❤️by Delaney Rain

🔷Raising the Sun by Eryn Hawk

🔷Zero Judgment by Kota Quinn

🔷The End of the World by Drake LaMarque

Buy link

        Trust in the Moon

    

Blurb 

Fresh off of a bad breakup, Zeke Castro is done with men and love even though he’s in a resort town in Colorado for his cousin’s big gay wedding. After a ruggedly handsome man kisses him in the hotel lobby, though, Zeke realizes his heart might not be so frozen after all.

Sacha Lupescu knows he’s found his fated mate and though he’s thrilled, he already knows that his mother won’t be. He needs to find a way to change her mind while also revealing his truth to Zeke without losing him.

Secrets ruined Zeke’s last relationship, and he’s started to notice that Sacha has a lot of secrets. But when the truth finally comes out, Zeke will need to decide if he can accept that fate is real and that he has a place in a world more magical than he ever could’ve dreamed.

Trust in the Moon is a standalone MM romance novel as part of the multi-author collaboration Tales from the Tarot. This book is based on the major arcana card The Moon with elements of trust issues, instalust/instalove, a bisexual awakening, pack politics, knotting and biting, shifted shenanigans, and a happily ever after.

  • Publication date: October 21, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 148 pages

Review: Dewitched (Blackhaven Manor Book 12) by Arden Steele

Rating: 3.5🌈

The fated mates romance of Owen Zhas, an Accipere (an out of control syphon witch) and Felix Hohlt, Guardian, begun in the previous book What the Hex?  There Owen ends up being at the center of all the magical issues and leads to the fated mate  relationship of the main couple.

Owen’s a sympathetic character with a real problem that potentially makes him a danger to other magical beings around him. 

It’s one of my issues with the storyline actually.  Steele’s Blackhaven Manor series foundation element is that dragon magic is drawing the fated mates there at the right time to get the HEA under the right circumstances.  But in this case that meant sending Owen off for a year by himself , after the dramatic events that could have seen him jailed, with his magic still out of his control. And his mindset in a worsening situation.

Yes he’s back at Halloween because of an invitation. But now he’s fearful and subdued. Steele’s written a character that realistic in his depression and isolation. But Dewitched isn’t got the length of a storyline to make that transition and fated mates work in relation to the character presented.

It’s good, got terrific elements and the potential for more is there. So it’s close. I loved the couple and the Princess.  But for all his pain, we needed more.

The series continues to intrigue with people/couples like this and that’s why I read it.

Check out the full list below.

Blackhaven Manor:

  • Purrfect Harmony #1
  • Night and Fae #2
  • Dragon It Out #3
  • Grin and Bear It #4
  • Pixie Little Liar #5
  • Dead Over Heals #6
  • Silent Knight #7
  • Pain in the Ice #8
  • Walking a Tight Rope #9
  • Royally Flocked #10
  • What The Hex? #11
  • Dewitched #12

Sequel/adjacent  series:

Hunter’s Hollow:

  • Angels and Anarchy #1
  • Beauty and Bad Blood #2

Buy link

        Dewitched (Blackhaven Manor Book 12)

    

Blurb 

Ever since an unfortunate incident at Blackhaven Manor, Owen Zhas has closed himself off from the rest of the world. It’s not that he has anything against Otherlings, but he never asked to be one, and honestly, he’s barely even a witch. With no magic of his own, he’s stuck stealing it from others, whether he wants to or not. Unable to control it, he finds it easier to just avoid people altogether.

But when a certain female dragon shifter invites him to one of the hotel’s famous festivals, he can’t exactly say no.

As a Guardian, Fenix Hohlt has spent more than two decades watching over the youngest Nightstar, and when the precocious princess wants something, she usually gets it. Which is how he ends up in Colorado for the spookiest event of the year. He just never expected the journey to change the course of his future. One look at Owen, however, and he knows there is no going back.

While their first meeting went about as smooth as sandpaper, he’s determined to do whatever it takes to help Owen fight his demons. Even if that means banishing them to the deepest corners of the Underworld. He does have connections, after all.

With a hotel full of unsuspecting Otherlings, time is running out to find a solution, and he has a bad feeling things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better.

  • Publisher: PECCAVI PRESS (October 20, 2024)
  • Publication date: October 20, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 119 pages

Check out The Cover Reveal for “Chaos Kin” by Sheryl Hayes (OWL World Tour and Reveal)

New Release: Chaos Kin - Sheryl R. Hayes

Sheryl R. Hayes has a new FF paranormal romance book coming out (bi, poly), Jordan Abbey book 3, and we have the cover reveal: Chaos Kin.

In the town of Rancho Robles, can one werewolf protect the Children of the Wolf and the Bat? Chaos Wolf Jordan Abbey has made friends among the Black Oak Pack even though she refuses to join it. The same can’t be said of the vampires, but her life has taken a turn for the better.

That is until Enya Blevins, sister to the werewolf who turned Jordan, arrives in Rancho Robles. She wants to know who killed her baby brother and is less than impressed by the Chaos Wolf. Enya wants revenge, starting with Jordan and ending with the vampires infesting the area.

Jordan is prepared to flee, but a technicality makes her an Alpha Werewolf. Now she must stand her ground to protect her nascent Pack and those she loves.

The past has come back to bite her. Does she have the fangs to bite back?

About the Series:

In the Northern California town of Rancho Robles where the Children of the Wolf and the Bat share an uneasy coexistence. One werewolf woman threatens to upset that balance.

Universal Buy Link | Liminal Fiction | Goodreads


Author Bio

Sheryl R. Hayes can be found untangling plot threads or the yarn her three cats have been playing with. She is equally likely to be shooing one of them off the keyboard as she is working on her novels and short stories. In addition to writing, she is a cosplayer focusing on knit and crochet costumes.

Author Website: https://www.sherylrhayes.com

Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/sherylreneehayes

Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/sherylrhayes

Author Mastodon: https://mastodon.online/@sherylrhayes

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sherylrhayes/

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16468770.Sheryl_R_Hayes

Author Liminal Fiction (LimFic.com): https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/sheryl-r-hayes/

Author Amazon: http://amazon.com/author/sherylrhayes

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Join Us for the new release “Golden Hills Haunting” by M.D. Neu (Other Worlds Ink Tour and Giveaway)

Golden Hills Haunting - M.D. Neu

M.D. Neu has a new gay horror book out: Golden Hills Haunting.

After their daughter was bullied at school, Kyle and Alejandro decided to make a fresh start and move into a beautiful new cul-de-sac development. As they take up residence, the family enjoys seeing the community come to life. But when lights flicker, shadows lurk, and small objects disappear, they begin to doubt their sanity.

When Alejandro and many of their neighbors are struck down by a strange sickness that defies explanation, the family starts to question their recent life change. Feeling trapped they speak with their new neighbors, learning they aren’t alone in the haunted neighborhood.

Who do you turn to when the authorities can’t offer any assistance or protection? How do you fight against a sinister force that is older than time? Can Kyle, Alejandro and the rest of the occupants of Golden Hills Court survive or will this nightmarish ordeal destroy them?

Universal Buy Link


Excerpt

Golden Hills Haunting meme

(from Chapter One)

When I decided to sit down and write our story, I wasn’t sure where to open, and I’m still not. Since things didn’t begin all bad, they kicked off slowly. Which makes finding the starting point difficult. I guess when we questioned what was happening in our neighborhood was the day Alejandro came home not feeling well. We’d been in our house for about four months, everything had been unpacked, and our new place felt like a home. Even Chloe, our daughter, had managed to make friends in the neighborhood. We’d had family and friends over and even managed to pull off a big party: our housewarming, which thinking back now should have been our first warning given what happened that day. I digress. Alejandro rarely came home from the office sick, but on that day, I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him so ill.

We were lucky, of course. He was unwell, but he wasn’t as bad as some of our neighbors. By the time we got Alejandro settled in bed to rest, three different ambulances had shown up on our cul-de-sac dealing with numerous medical emergencies at various houses. By that evening, almost every home in our circle had been visited by emergency services. The media didn’t catch wind of the story for a few more days, not until the EPA showed up. Hell, everyone arrived, PG&E, San Jose Water, representatives from the housing development, the County, basically every government organization you might throw a rock at. The weeks that followed were only the beginning of our nightmare.

This new house had been our dream, one we had been working toward for years and we needed the change desperately. Our home was the second finished on our street and we were the second family to move in. Yes, we were going to be living around construction for a couple more weeks, but for this house, the daily construction would be worth it, especially at the price we paid. In this valley, these homes were an outright steal. Chloe, in theory, would be at school during the day or off with friends or at therapy. Alejandro and I both worked so we wouldn’t be around during the day when a majority of the construction commenced. Well, except for me. I still worked from home three days a week, but I could manage the noise; I had my music. The only real problem: the traffic as people were moving in and construction teams came and went. We imagined we’d be able to deal with the building and the neighborhood, but we were wrong.

The cause of the mystery illnesses. What a joke. It wasn’t a gas leak or anything in the water or the dirt. We were all looking for the wrong things. At the time, no one ever contemplated we were under attack from the supernatural or paranormal or whatever you want to call a bunch of pissed off spirits and a horde of Demons thrown in for good measure.

But is that when everything commenced?

I don’t think so.

We should have known something was off when we went to the sales center, about three months prior to our moving in. Let me start from before we moved in and go from there. Knowing how things began will help paint a full picture.

Our new neighborhood, our new home, was an infill neighborhood, one of those small groupings of houses that are built on a subdivided parcel of land. They do that a lot in San Jose, with housing being an issue. It’s funny, there wasn’t even a model home to look at. There was a portable sales office with floor plans and finishes to pick from. How we got the house didn’t matter to us; getting the house was what mattered. Chloe needed the change, especially with all she had been dealing with. So, when I found out they were building this infill community, I told Alejandro and we understood we would have to move promptly. After seeing the information, the next day we called out from work and drove to Evergreen to check the location.

The area had everything we were looking for. Chloe could walk to the school, Chaboya Middle School, and she would have to make new friends, but we understood she’d manage. Chloe was social despite the trouble she had when we first got her. There were parks and a creek, plus several trails for hiking and biking. Down Fowler Road at Ruby Avenue a quaint Evergreen Village had been established with shops, restaurants, and larger stores. We couldn’t have asked for a better neighborhood.

If we only knew.


Author Bio

M.D. Neu

M.D. Neu is an international award-winning inclusive queer Fiction Writer with a love for writing and travel. Living in the heart of Silicon Valley (San Jose, California) and growing up around technology, he’s always been fascinated with what could be. Specifically drawn to Science Fiction and Paranormal television and novels, M.D. Neu was inspired by the great Gene Roddenberry, George Lucas, Stephen King, Alice Walker, Alfred Hitchcock, Harvey Fierstein, Anne Rice, and Kim Stanley Robinson. An odd combination, but one that has influenced his writing.

Growing up in an accepting family as a gay man he always wondered why there were never stories reflecting who he was. Constantly surrounded by characters that only reflected heterosexual society, M.D. Neu decided he wanted to change that. So, he took to writing, wanting to tell good stories that reflected our diverse world.

When M.D. Neu isn’t writing, he works for a non-profit and travels with his biggest supporter and his harshest critic, Eric his husband of twenty plus years.

Website: http://www.mdneu.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Writer_MDNeu

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mdneuauthor

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormdneu/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/m-d-neu

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/66488958-md

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AuthorMDNeu

QueerRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/m-d-neu/

Liminal Fiction: https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/m-d-neu/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/M-D-Neu/e/B076FK1S14

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Review:  A Highland Gargoyle’s Lucky Star (Tales from the Tarot story) by Chloe Archer

Rating: 4🌈

A Highland Gargoyle’s Lucky Star, while definitely in the Tales from the Tarot multi-author series, is firmly rooted in Chloe Archer’s Monster Hollow universe and her latest novel from that, The Gargoyle and the Romance Writer.  

The main gargoyle characters here (and an unfortunate member under going punishment here), are met for the first time in that book. And in a delightful fashion, several characters get mentioned here too in terms of written passages from their own books or novels. It will make the reader seek out those novels to see what happens with them and their romantic adventures.

But there’s plenty to keep a reader entertained and invested in the shenanigans and adventures of one outgoing, positive human, Noah Price , and his gargoyle fated mate, Elryk DarkWing.

From the moment he connects with The Magic Shop and its mysterious Owner who, with the gift of a tarot reading, Noah gets a renewed happy energy and direction in his life that sees him flying off to Scotland and his fate.

Archer’s character of Noah is instantly likable. Positive and outgoing without being naive, able to take care of himself, he’s so easy to connect with.  Easily that American abroad in Scotland  or human amidst a bunch of otherworldly beings, he’s that person who can make it work either way. 

This is a fated mate instant bonding relationship but it does work here because of Noah and Elryk.  Archer has them in an isolated place and precarious situation, and then creates other characters we can equally enjoy and relate to as a support group for them.

As this is the first is a new sequel series set in Scotland, I can’t wait to see the others get their partners/fated mates too.  Should be entertaining as this one.

If you’re a fan of Archer’s Monster Hollow series or the author, definitely grab this up. The characters are charming, the story entertaining, and the ending satisfying. I look forward to the next one in this series.

Tales from the Tarot- 22 books 

🔷 Where Fools Have Tread by Jennifer Cody❤️

🔷The Magician’s Heart by J.P. Jackson

🔷Cleric of Desire by Amanda Meuwissen❤️

🔷The Nephilim’s Touch by Morgan Lysand

🔷King of Hollywood by Fae Quin

🔷My Minotaur Daddy: An MM Romantasy by Laura Lascarso

🔷Across Space and Time by Kit Barrie

🔷Chariot of Souls by Morgan Mason

🔷By Rude Strength ❤️by K.L. Hiers

🔷Found in Obscurity by A. M. Rose

🔷Twisted Fates by Adam J. Ridley

🔷No Justice for the Damned by Hellie Heat

🔷The Angel’s Kiss by Nicholas Bella

🔷Death Song by B. Ripley 

🔷Arcanum by Ashlyn Drewek

🔷The Devil’s Dilemma by Alex J. Adams

🔷Camelot’s Tower by Brooke Matthews

🔷A Highland Gargoyle’s Lucky Star

by Chloe Archer

🔷Trust in the Moon by Delaney Rain

🔷Raising the Sun by Eryn Hawk

🔷Zero Judgment by Kota Quinn

🔷The End of the World by Drake LaMarque

Buy link

        A Highland Gargoyle’s Lucky Star

    

Blurb 

A gargoyle hotter than Goliath (IYKYK) meets a human bad luck magnet with a coveted power that attracts trouble like catnip does cats. Is it destiny or disaster?

Noah Price

When a mysterious magic shop owner draws the lucky tarot Star card for me, I drop everything and hop on a plane to Scotland for the bucket-list trip of my dreams. Outlander (and Highlander, for my fellow nerds), eat your heart out!

Chaos ensues from the moment I arrive and before I know it, the danger turns deadly. Then a smoking hot gargoyle-slash-Highland warrior swoops (literally) in to rescue me—and in a super sexy kilt, no less. Swoon!

My bad luck must be turning good because I’ve finally met the man–I mean, gargoyle–of my dreams. But Elryk DarkWing doesn’t share my optimistic outlook on life and our budding relationship soon has to take a back seat to a threat to our world. I believe in destiny, though–and I’ll make sure we get our HEA!

Elryk DarkWing

Guarding a powerful magic ley line in the heart of the Highlands has been the responsibility of the DarkWing clan for centuries. This wasn’t the path I’d wanted for my life, but here I am.

That is, until my fated mate shows up, an attractive wee human with a surprising ability and all kinds of trouble hot on his heels.

Can such a delicate being survive among battle-hardened gargoyles that risk life and limb every time there’s a threat to the ley line we protect? Can he adapt to this isolated life, removed from most of human society? Answer—not bloody likely.

Noah’s unique power has drawn the unwanted attention of friend and foe alike, and I soon realize keeping Noah safe is a Herculean task. I won’t back down though, because maybe…just maybe…Noah’s right, and our destiny’s is written in the stars.

A Highland Gargoyle’s Lucky Star is the first book (72k) in a spinoff series set in the Monsters Hollow universe and featuring the DarkWing gargoyle clan in Scotland.

  • Publication date: October 17, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 278 pages

Review:  Guardian (On the Wind Book 2) by Sam Burns and W.M. Fawkes

Rating: 4.5🌈

Guardian is not the book I expected it to be.  Knowing that Hector was going to The Wall, with the Crane Clan, to defend the borders of Nemeda against the southerners in their never ending war, I expected non-stop battles, bloodshed, and angst. 

Especially from Hector, a man who has lost everything and has arrived in a new land where he has no status, no martial skills.  And the youngest, most gentle sibling he’s always protected, due to love and responsibility, is the one who has ended up rescuing not only himself but Hector and their sister (Sanctuary). He’s a very tragic, wounded figure in many ways.

But Burns and Fawkes delivers a great story and fantastic characters in a narrative that will go into a more intimate, emotionally powerful world, rather than a larger, action packed adventure. 

Hector, in a story that sees himself redefining his thinking about his life and future, is paired with a man who, once the layered are revealed, is similar in his own mind and history. That’s Killian, war Chief of the Crane Clan, whose interesting internal family and child raising structure has produced a person who understands the burdens of responsibility that Hector has borne since adolescence.  

Having Hector and Killian work together and struggle with their own issues as well as Hector’s need to redefine who he is as a man in a new world, needing new ideas and skills, is a brilliant way to bring them closer together and to make them relatable to the reader.  Hector’s insights into why he’s so torn, unhappy, and confused are thoughts that anyone can understand.  So too are those of Killian’s as he seeks to help Hector while still struggling to stay apart emotionally.  It all makes sense and their relationship is one I couldn’t get enough of. The authors writing is so skilled in detailing their emotions and dynamics.

I was thrilled to see both siblings again in important roles and emotional moments together.  That sister has found her home in Nemeda as the fierce consort to the Chief of the Raven Clan, is no surprise as we saw the women together at the end of the first novel.  Men and women rule Clans in Nemeda, something that’s not true to the north and south, so I wonder if it will play into future plans.

The authors have created such a great background and culture for the Crane Clan (along with the many other clans) that it’s easy to get sidetracked imagining more than just the cultural tidbits that are being given out. There’s a wealth of riches here throughout the whole story and series, and it’s goes into making this a beautiful, compelling book.

The ending was as astonishing and satisfying as the storylines that led up to it.  And it made me anticipate the next in this fabulous series even more.

Guardian (On the Wind Book 2) by Sam Burns and W.M. Fawkes is an excellent read as is the series. Absolutely recommend!

Cover art Š 2023 by Natasha Snow Designs

On The Wind series:

Sanctuary #1

Guardian #2

Harbor #3 – November 14,2024

Buy link

        Guardian (On the Wind Book 2)

    

Blurb 

Only months ago, Hector was in his deathbed. Now, he’s fled his home, abandoning everything he’s ever known to protect his family. But in Nemeda, Paris and Helena don’t need their older brother to provide for them. Unmoored, Hector struggles to find his purpose, until a conniving Nemedan chief questions their legitimacy in the clans. The three refugee siblings must each serve a year on the wall, fighting in the unending war with Nemeda’s southern enemies, but Paris and Helena have carved a place for themselves in their new home. Hector alone is unanchored, and to keep his family safe, determines to serve all three years himself.

The chance to get close to formidable silver-haired chief of the Crane Clan—a man who looked at Hector at his weakest and saw value still—is only a faraway dream.

Killian has led the Nemedan war effort for twenty years. Duty and fairness surpass every other concern, but with Hector of Urial stationed in his lands, he finds himself bending rules that have kept Nemeda secure for generations. While Hector tests his boundaries, he also makes Killian question his assumption that love has no place in war, or in his life.

Killian will move armies to see Hector safe, but with a war looming and the threat of an illness that might steal Hector’s life as easily as any enemy blade, they’re on a collision course with fate that will change the whole land.

  • Publication date: October 24, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 299 pages

Review: Immortal Sentry by Eden Winters

Rating: 3.25🌈

While I’m a huge fan of this author, unfortunately Immortal Sentry doesn’t seem to have the same energy or narrative features as this author’s many other books.

The story of a lone survivor, Prince Eron, of his royal family’s betrayal and demise and subsequent struggles to regain the throne, are densely worded and dull “as told to” scenarios instead of being lively, vividly illustrated with memorable scenes, and emotional moments. 

It was indeed a struggle to connect with the characters and storylines. The language and dialogue was stiff and uninteresting. It lacked emotional overtones and saps any semblance of life from the characters and storylines.

It’s a huge difference from the author’s other novels I adore and rec.  Those have a highly satisfying narrative, vastly better dynamics between characters that are relevant and believable on paper.  Everyone here is dry and one dimensional. The plot is well written, as it’s definitely had many characters and storylines woven together to create a wider story.  But the couple and its main action sequences didn’t really work well.  That’s my main issue.

I enjoyed Winters previous novels, contemporary or fantasy driven, but this turned out to be not my cup of coffee. 

Check it out if you’re a fan of the author, maybe it will be yours.

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Immor…Immortal Sentry – Kindle edition by Winters, Eden. Romance …

Blurb

Honor, redemption, destiny, and magic.

As captain of the king’s guard, Kerric should have laid down his life for the royal family. Now, the king and his heirs lie dead. Kerric deserves death, too, yet the court mage has another punishment in mind. For their failure on the fateful day an enemy invasion killed the king, Captain Kerric and his men will forever guard the castle as gargoyles, both as a curse and as a warning. His one chance for redemption is to put a rightful heir on the throne. How can that happen when there are no living heirs, and he’s encased in stone?

Eron doesn’t remember much about his time before being rescued by notorious highwayman Lord Night and taught to live the life of a noble by day and brigand by night. There’s much more to Lord Night than meets the eye and much more to Eron’s destiny than purses of gold and nightly conquests.

A mysterious mage appears, saying it’s time for Eron to return home, overthrow an evil usurper, and take his rightful place.

As king.

  • Publication date: October 19, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 259 pages

Review:  The Nøkk and the Jock (Creepin U Book 1)  by Leslie McAdam

Rating: 4.5🌈

I love it when I learn about different cultures or areas of mythology through stories.  Here it’s about the Nøkk, a Scandinavian or Norse being that shapeshifts into a water dwelling human form that lures people by violin playing and/or drowning by screaming. That’s a simplified version of a complex,  widely accepted concept of a being used in gaming , storytelling derived from mythology. 

Even better when I get to know them through a series that will introduce a cast of characters, inhuman and otherwise, as they study for various degrees and live together in the dorms of Creelin University, aka Creepin U. 

The characters, human and otherworldly, are well defined and their personalities are absolutely engaging, especially as they grow and develop the more they interact with each other and the other beings/community around them.  

The Nøkk, Steve Job as he’s originally called at the beginning because he had to choose a human name , is a wonderful creation.  A thoughtful unhappy young person who has chosen to separate himself from his country and species because he doesn’t want to be like them or follow traditional Nøkk ways. It’s guitar and songwriting over the violin, and he definitely doesn’t want to gather up any souls.  

Steve is a great character. Leslie McAdam has made his true name as well as his natural form a important part of the narrative, a definitive element of not only Steve and Brandon’s relationship but of Steve’ growth personally throughout the story. 

Brandon, the human roommate and water polo player is another character that has hidden depths to his character.  Too easily framed out as a “golden retriever “ personality, that glosses over the many layers the author has created for him here.  He is, in fact, a complex person, and that’s a factor in making not only the relationship work but this story as well.

There’s so much to him, Steve, and the framework that McAdams has laid down in the book that makes me want further exploration and tales from this universe and couple.  They are now surrounded by friends, a supportive family and a great journey ahead of them. I would love to see more of them in another story.

This series is turning out to be splendid and The Nøkk and the Jock (Creepin U Book 1)  by Leslie McAdam is a definite recommendation. Check them out!

Cover Art & Formatting by Whimsical Reverie Design LLC.  Fabulous work. Love the cover.

Creepin U series:

  • The Nøkk and the Jock by Leslie McAdam #1
  • Dryad, Try Again by C.D. Rachels #2
  • Vexing the Viper by Ashley Rayne #3
  • Penn and Incubus by Essie Sloane #4
  • Surviving His Gaze by Rorie Kage #5

Buy link:

        The Nøkk and the Jock

    

Blurb

You’re formally admitted to Creelin University—known locally as “Creepin U.” The only things wilder than the monster shifters prowling around campus are the spicy male-male love stories unfolding between classes. The Nøkk and the Jock is book one, starring an emo shapeshifter and a sunshine human. Each book is a stand-alone M/M spooky romance, but we hope you enroll in them all.

Brandon:

I’m pumped to be one of the first humans to attend a monster university, but a minor, negligible, insignificant issue arises almost immediately: My new roommate wants to drag me to his underground realm and take my soul.

He’s a nøkk who could almost pass for human, except his webbed fingers and entirely black eyes give him away. In my attempt to befriend him, I give him three drops of my blood, a black animal, and a bottle of vodka (I hear it’s a nøkk thing). Which apparently triggers some ancient bonding ritual. My bad.

I must admit I’m into him. Maybe those online tests that say I’m only mostly straight are right. But there are a few hiccups: I can’t know his real name. He won’t show me his true form. And he’s both an omen and a cause of drowning … which is troubling, since he’s on the water polo team with me.

Still, something about him calls to me, even if it shouldn’t.

The Nøkk:

This human is mine.

Stay away from him.

The Nøkk and the Jock is a monster-human bi-awakening M/M romance starring Brandon Fernandez, a golden retriever of a human being, and the prickly, melancholy nøkk. It features puzzling emoji text conversations, a monster who can stop waterfalls in midair, and drunken scareoke (monster karaoke). HEA guaranteed.

  • Publication date: October 1, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 264 pages

Review:  Arcanum (Tales from the Tarot story) by Ashlyn Drewek

Rating: 4.5🌈

Tarot card: Temperance 

I’m familiar with Ashlyn Drewek’s other dark paranormal novels so I was thrilled to see her work here in this series.  Arcanum is exactly what I hoped for and a story I enjoyed immensely. 

Drewek’s novel is gripping and so well written.  From start to finish, it pulls the reader into a suspenseful plot that’s grows into a larger anxiety ridden, terrifying, complicated element, as we get to know the characters and their histories. 

The author has also created a town that becomes as much of a living entity as the characters are. We get to explore the streets and atmosphere of small town Mapleton, with its hair salons, tight knit community, and townspeople.  All of which we have taken to heart as much as we have the main couple. 

Drewek’s characters include a haunted witch of the fabulous name, Greyson Darkholme.  Now there’s a name to remember.  He’s fled to town hoping for a new start in life, for reasons I’ll leave to the storylines.  His next door neighbor is a K-9 police officer, Chris Brandt and partner Nitro. Extremely relatable and believable characters, man and dog .  Love them both.  In fact, Chris’ character and his role as a police officer is beautifully executed.  His suspicions, fact checking, everything about his behavior screams cop. Especially when it pertains to family and town. Which makes Greyson’s later statements and observation about the importance to Chris of the badge and uniform even more interesting and on point. 

There’s so many elements and different storylines that Drewek’s woven into a complex novel that makes it all work.  A bisexual awakening, a magical revelation, a way of writing a ex girlfriend in a manner that makes us understand and appreciate her . Monica is a treasure! All the details here that just keep adding up, the characters, the baking, the warmth and reality of community.

Is it perfect? No. I absolutely disagreed over the choice of having Greyson withhold so much information from Chris. That was frustrating.   

But the rest ? Loved it and I really wish that Drewek will revisit the characters and location in a future story.  It’s too fantastic to remain one book.

Last note: Excellent use of the tarot cards, deck , and chosen card as well as The Magic Shop and The Owner. One of the best yet. 

Highly recommended!

Cover art: Fae Quin . Fabulous as always 

Cover design: Amanda Meuwissen

Tales from the Tarot- 22 books 

🔷 Where Fools Have Tread by Jennifer Cody❤️

🔷The Magician’s Heart by J.P. Jackson

🔷Cleric of Desire by Amanda Meuwissen❤️

🔷The Nephilim’s Touch by Morgan Lysand

🔷King of Hollywood by Fae Quin

🔷My Minotaur Daddy: An MM Romantasy by Laura Lascarso

🔷Across Space and Time by Kit Barrie

🔷Chariot of Souls by Morgan Mason

🔷By Rude Strength ❤️by K.L. Hiers

🔷Found in Obscurity by A. M. Rose

🔷Twisted Fates by Adam J. Ridley

🔷No Justice for the Damned by Hellie Heat

🔷The Angel’s Kiss by Nicholas Bella

🔷Death Song by B. Ripley 

🔷Arcanum ❤️by Ashlyn Drewek

🔷The Devil’s Dilemma by Alex J. Adams

🔷Camelot’s Tower by Brooke Matthews

🔷A Highland Gargoyle’s Lucky Star

by Chloe Archer

🔷Trust in the Moon by Delaney Rain

🔷Raising the Sun by Eryn Hawk

🔷Zero Judgment by Kota Quinn

🔷The End of the World by Drake LaMarque

Buy link

        Arcanum

    

Blurb 

From the moment his new neighbor moves in, K9 officer Chris Brandt senses there’s something not quite right about the guy. His instincts are confirmed when he discovers the mysterious Greyson Darkholme is the prime suspect in a murder investigation—a murder that wiped out his entire family.

Despite his best efforts to keep his distance, Chris is captivated by Greyson’s eccentric charm, awakening desires he never knew he had. As they grow closer, it becomes evident that Greyson is hiding something. Determined to uncover the truth, Chris faces a shocking dilemma when Greyson’s secrets come to light.

To protect the man of his dreams, the dedicated officer must confront the ultimate question: how far will he go for love?

ARCANUM is a standalone paranormal MM romance novel and part of the multi-author collaboration Tales from the Tarot. This book is based on the major arcana card Temperance.

This book contains themes intended for a mature audience and reader discretion is advised. A full list can be found in the front matter of the book and on my website under Tropes & Triggers.

  • Publisher: Fox Hollow Books (October 7, 2024)
  • Publication date: October 7, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 450 pages