Review: Cheap Heat (Goliaths of Wrestling book 3) by Lily Mayne

Rating:4.5🌈

Cheap Heat continues Lily Mayne’s unique paranormal romance series set in an otherworldly underground wrestling world, Goliaths of Wrestling.

It’s a real departure from the author’s other dark fiction. Those still has a romantic theme, but are often raw, futuristic, and dystopian. Here, we get a bit of paranormal romcom, wild otherworldly sexual imagery and practices (especially in this case), and a company of found family wrestlers that’s evolving alongside each other’s romantic journeys.

Cheap Heat is notable in that’s its couple is markedly different from the other two relationships Mayne has created for this series. In the previous books, the types of beings involved with each other were, probably, recognizable to the reader. Human, werewolf, Fae, and a type of paranormal, a Empyn, that reads as a type of succubus, even as each had a great, layered personality and background. That vague sense of connection extends to most (although not all) the rest of the Goliaths. Some truly bizarre and unique beings are part of this wrestling world.

Rafe Hare, a ghoul, is the new IT guy hired to bring the company and the Goliaths online and streaming worldwide. He’s a prickly, socially awkward introvert, who has no idea of the world he’s about to enter.

Dan Ewen is one of the most popular of the wrestlers at the Goliaths of Wrestling. What specifically makes Dan so popular also makes him unique. He’s a dullahan. His head comes off, and his body operates separately from his head. A wildly different situation no matter how you slice it. Or view it.

These two are “opposite attracts” in every sense. And while the other books were downright giggle fests as well as wonderful love stories, this has a different, albeit well written, feel to it. The characters have been through some very different obstacles, including their own struggles towards understanding each other , and their reliance on their assumptions about each other has to be addressed as well.

All of which is done while some pretty imaginative sex is occurring, alone and together. And with a pumpkin. Ok, that last is snort funny.

I absolutely enjoyed Cheap Heat, loved the journey Rafe and Dan had to take to arrive at their own HEA. Rafe’s friends are amazing and I hope they figure into future books.

What a fantastic series and story. The author has such an incredible voice and imagination that I never know what will happen or which way a narrative will go.

Read the warnings. Sexy, kinky, otherworldly, hilariously spew worthy, and a definite recommendation.

Cover illustration: Vic Gray/Bloodwrit

Goliaths of Wrestling:

🔷Impromptu Match #1

🔷Clean Finish #2

🔷Cheap Heat #3

🔷False Comeback #4-tbd

Buy link

Cheap Heat (Goliaths of Wrestling Book 3)

Blurb

Rafe

I really, really don’t like my neighbour.

We’ve lived next door to each other for three years, and we couldn’t be more opposite. I’m a quiet, introverted ghoul with a small friend group and a love of true crime podcasts and tabletop role-playing games. Dan Ewen a party boy with an endless string of ‘guests’ who likes to blare country music all night. He’s loud, inconsiderate, messy, loud, a total dudebro… did I mention loud?

And when I start my new job as IT manager at Goliaths of Wrestling, an underground supernatural wrestling organisation, I quickly discover that my terrible dullahan neighbour is now my new colleague. Great.

I still don’t like him. It doesn’t change anything. I can avoid him at work. But when I spot him one night through his living room window doing something that is utterly shocking, obscene, really weird… I find myself thinking about my annoying neighbour. A lot.

All the time, actually.

Oh no.

Dan

That neighbour of mine is a cute, surly ghoul whose pretty green eyes and angry scowl just make me want to rile him up even more.

We’ve never really been buddies, despite living side by side for three years. But when he starts working at Goliaths as our IT manager, helping to bring us into a new digital age, our lives begin to become a bit more entangled.

Mainly because he starts watching me each night while I… relax. So I make sure to give him a good show through my living room window.

I’ve always assumed Rafe Hare is straight, but it quickly becomes clear that I might be wrong. And when I propose a fantastic new way for us to get… ahem… friendlier, he’s as all-in as I am.

Which means I get to show him just how weird it can get with a dullahan. And I can’t wait.

Publication date: September 27, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 505 pages

Review: The Witch’s Grumpy Dragon (Brinnswick: Tales From Gauhala Book 1) by Michele Notaro

Rating: 4.5🌈

The Witch’s Grumpy Dragon is the sequel we’ve been waiting for since Notaro introduced the new location and it’s characters to us in the wonderful book, The Wolf’s (Un) Lucky Fae from the Fortune Favors The Fae series.

There those side characters cried out for their own stories and romances amidst a magical world that was in a societal crisis of class and speciesism.

That lead in book showed us the perspective of those, the Fae, who are a distinct lower class and Remi who is among those who try to help them.

Here the view of society is flipped, we’re seeing it from the top of the government and society. Or rather as it’s been viewed by its ruler, Dragon king shifter Garrick Von Stein, his friend/right hand Roman, and then by the one they hire to help them.

That’s Remi Ellwood’s best friend, Tanyl “Tan” Helegolor, a powerful witch with death magic. Along with his fabulous familiar, Orangelica, his bonded one, Notaro sets the reader up for a fantastic mated relationship and high new fantasy adventure.

There’s a heartbreaking story behind the King, a fated mate romance, some real magical battles that are just amazing, and a great cast of characters, past, present, and new to keep the reader totally engaged with the many storylines and relationships as they develop.

There’s a critical, very emotional divide within the society here, and the turnaround that needs to happen, by the King and in the current administration to effect change, that’s addressed in the book. Notaro is realistic in acknowledging that believable change is slow moving however forward everything else is occurring. I love it when an author keeps all the threads complete and throughly explored in the narrative. So well written.

I can’t wait for the next book to come out. That’s an intriguing pair , Anton the vampire and Keryth, a fae related to Bel, that was actually set up in Bel and Remi’s book and has a mystery about them that’s been following them throughout the series. Need it now.

I highly recommend reading this and the books I have listed below as leads to the universe. And the author, who is an auto read for me.

Happy reading!

Brinnswick: Tales From Gauhala:

The Witch’s Grumpy Dragon #1
The Vampire’s Delicious Fae #2 – Sept 9,2025

Connected series and stories:

🔷The Wolf’s (Un) Lucky Fae (Fortune Favors The Fae) – Remi and Bel’s story ❤️

🔷The Enchanter’s Flame (The Ellwood Chronicles I) – Ailin and Seb’s story❤️

Buy Link

The Witch’s Grumpy Dragon (Brinnswick: Tales From Gauhala Book 1)

Blurb

I have never in my life met anyone as infuriating as that dragon. So then why do I keep wanting to spend time with him?

Step One: Find a gorgeous guy. Check.

Step Two: Talk to said gorgeous guy. Check.

Step Three: Try not to strangle him. Uh… do I really have to check this one? Because I really want to wrap my fingers around his—ugh.

Garrick Von Stein is the most frustrating person I’ve ever met, and yet, as soon as he calls me for help, I jump right in. Every single time. Why? I have no idea. I mean, I really do like to look at the dragon shifter king, but that doesn’t explain this strange pull, this need, I feel to be near him.

He doesn’t even like me—believe me, I’d know—but for some reason he trusts me. And the weirdest thing of all? I trust him too.

Now if only we could find a way to work together to keep him and everyone else safe.

The Witch’s Grumpy Dragon is Book 1 of the new MM urban fantasy series, Brinnswick: Tales From Gauhala. It follows a new couple in each book with a guaranteed HEA. It takes place in the Brinnswick world in the far away country of Gauhala and brings a whole new cast of characters. But don’t worry, there will be some cameos along the way.

Publisher: (September 26, 2024)
Publication date: September 26, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 386 pages

Review: SOS HOTEL: Luxury To Die For #6 by Adam Vex (& Zodiac) ( Ariana Nash)

Rating: 5🌈

As expected from the penultimate book in this wildly imaginative series,

SOS HOTEL: Luxury To Die is an extraordinary paranormal Mr Toad’s Wild Ride of emotions and events from beginning to end.

As Adam’s identity has finally been revealed to his inner circle, and he’s slowly readjusting the way he views himself and the Prophecy, the authors, Adam Vex (& Zodiac) via Ariana Nash, proceeds to start bombarding him and us with a ton of events and elements that sends us off on a giant narrative roller coaster that’s a white knuckle ride.

It’s a continuous beautifully crafted journey of “that’s fabulous, that’s horrifying, I’m so happy, I’m terrified, I’m thrilled, I’m petrified” and put that on repeat.

And no one is villaining like this villain, I’m telling you. He so needs a comeuppance.

It ends in a sort of cliffhanger and we are getting set up for the finale, the ultimate showdown. I can’t wait.

One more note. None of these are standalone novels. Read them in order and pay attention to the author’s notes about the trigger warnings.

And don’t miss out on the funny texts after the story ends.

Cover design by Ariana Nash

SOS Hotel:

For a Supernaturally Safe Stay #1
Friendly Sanctuary for the Fiendishly Fabulous #2
Sleep with Us #3
Great Service from Top to Bottom #4
No Rest for the Wicked #5
Luxury To Die For #6
Your Final Resting Place #7 – tbd

Buy link

SOS HOTEL: Luxury to Die For

Blurb

My big secret is out. Adam Vex may be a tiny bit nothuman. But it’s not so bad. Just so long as Gideon Cain doesn’t find out.

It’s probably best if I keep my head down and stay out of trouble, especially after our ‘accident’ at the vampire chapel.

But one little date won’t hurt. We deserve some time off. And what can go wrong at a fancy dinner? It’s not as though we’ll become tangled in a corporate plot to exploit Lost Ones in brutal fights to the death for entertainment, during which we attempt to free the fighters, only for the evening to end with me riding an enraged werewolf through the restaurant, and have the entire escapade viewed millions of times online resulting in all of San Francisco asking:

“What is Adam Vex?”

Why would any of that happen?!

My name is Adam Vex and I’m your host at the SOS HOTEL, where we offer luxury to die for (Luxury not guaranteed).

Warning: SOS Hotel contains explicit language, situations, and content that some readers may find kinda unsettling. The books also contain the BEST F*CKING DEMON there ever was, the worlds most useless vampire who has a weird-ass thing for Swedish furniture, and a 100% human (not sus) who is super nice and deserves to have nice things.

Publisher: Crazy Ace Publishing (September 27, 2024)
Publication date: September 27, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 220 pages

Review: Why Did The Alien Cross The Galaxy? To Find a Fake Boyfriend and Befriend a Vacuum Cleaner by A. M. Rose

Rating: 4.75🌈

When you are wheezing at a book so hard that your dog is looking at you with concern you know you have a fabulous story in your hands!

So it is with A. M. Rose’s amazing holiday science fiction novel “Why Did The Alien Cross The Galaxy? To Find a Fake Boyfriend and Befriend a Vacuum Cleaner.” If I hadn’t already found it by the great recommendations, that bright, goofy, and absolutely glorious cover would have done its job and pulled me immediately in. Which it also did.

The authors delivered on every single detail and element they put together for the story, and then topped it off with tons more glitter, then backed a semi full of glowy holiday hearts and bows , dumping it too into this fabulous, hilariously heartwarming novel.

Vix, a large eyed, white haired alien Observer from Lumia, has been fixated on Earth since adolescence. Vix has learned much about Earth’s culture , languages, educational institutions from such shows as the revered “Saved By the Bell” as Vix had done by ancient historical texts.

You can imagine , snorts and ugly crying incoming, exactly what this might mean for the dialogue and you’d be right. Combine that with Vix’s own culture that uses its hair braids to communicate and boom, narrative heartwarming romantic alien madcap comedy ensues.

We get to hear/watch Travis, newly made partner, navigate the wildly different, always wonderful quirky relationship he starts to develop with Vix when Travis needs a plus one to a company holiday retreat.

Travis is the fantastic Earth yin to Vix’s Lumia Yang and everything is magical. That includes character Henry and a vacuum cleaner as Vix’s bestie.

That’s PH-1L , Travis’s vacuum cleaner, whose most important job to clean vacuums make it the best vacuum cleaner friend any alien could ever have. Still laughing about this, the authors absolutely sell it.

Then there’s the Observation Logs, carefully constructed with both printed and hand drawn illustrations from Vix about some important things from his trip. Just as perfectly crafted and as much a part of Vix’s personality as anything else in the story. Also equally giggle producing.

Could I have done with less Lex, the ex? And more Henry? You bet. And I’m hoping that maybe Henry will get his own HEA this coming holiday season.

Why Did The Alien Cross The Galaxy? To Find a Fake Boyfriend and Befriend a Vacuum Cleaner. by A. M. Rose will be on holiday repeat reading or just reading because it’s a heartwarming, hilarious , must have experience.

I’m always so excited to recommend those. And this.

Really, look at this cover!

Cover designed by BCJ Art & Design © “This work by BCJ Art & Design is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Galaxy…Why Did The Alien Cross The Galaxy? To Find a Fake Boyfriend and Befriend a Vacuum …

Blurb

Observer log 1: what I learned on my first day on Earth

1. A coffee shop is a hub of human social interaction.

2. Cookies and hot chocolate can end interplanetary disputes.

3. High fives solidify relations between humans.

4. Vacuum cleaners make incredible companions.

5. You can help humans keep their former mates away by agreeing to pretend to be their fake new mate.

6. If there is only one bed at a hotel, it is customary to share it with your human fake mate.

Publisher: (December 20, 2023)
Publication date: December 20, 2023
Language: English
Print length: 280 pages

Review: Orphan X (Orphan X, #1) by Greg Hurwitz

Rating: 4.5

Contemporary Assassin Thriller

In reading dark action thriller series, this series popped up. While not LGBTGIA (and with no sex scenes at least here) , I decided to see what the comments were about.

It’s a terrific read. High quality action, great execution of characters, well written plot lines with a thoughtful flashback history. That last is interwoven between current events and past important moments in a manner that will keep the reader engaged and add the necessary depth to the characters and arc to keep everything gripping and suspenseful.

While I have seen the element or plot of orphans being trained as assassins in other books and series, Greg Hurwitz’s character of Evan or the Nowhere Man, is a excellent example of the kind of character that makes this trope so compelling. With his presence, believable backstory, and the strength of personality that Hurwitz is able to provide him with, he’s someone who moves the narrative forward powerfully with his singular voice and outlook.

I enjoyed the suspense, several of the characters felt more memorable than others, perhaps because of their situations, but the secondary characters cast are fleshed out nicely too.

I’m looking forward to seeing more of this series and characters in the following story.

Orphan X:

Orphan X #1

The Nowhere Man #2

Hellbent #3

Out of the Dark #4

Into the Fire #5

Prodigal Son #6

Dark Horse #7

The Last orphan #8

Lone Wolf #9

Nemesis #10

Buy link

Orphan X: A Novel (Orphan X, 1)

Blurb

“Brilliantly conceived and plotted … Read this book. You’ll thank me later.” — David Baldacci

Who is Orphan X?

The Nowhere Man is a legendary figure spoken about only in whispers. It’s said that when he’s reached by the truly desperate and deserving, the Nowhere Man can and will do anything to protect and save them. But he’s not merely a legend.

“Excellent…A smart, stylish, state-of-the-art thriller…might give Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books a run for their money.”―The Washington Post

Evan Smoak is a man with skills, resources, and a personal mission to help those with nowhere else to turn. He’s also a man with a dangerous past. Chosen as a child, he was raised and trained as an Orphan, an off-the-books black box program designed to create the perfect deniable intelligence asset: An assassin. Evan was Orphan X―until he broke with the program and used everything he learned to disappear. But now someone is on his tail. Someone with similar skills and training who will exploit Evan’s secret new identity as the Nowhere Man to eliminate him.

Publisher: Minotaur Books (January 19, 2016)
Publication date: January 19, 2016
Language: English
Print length: 386 pages

Review: Beautifully Savage Butterfly (Mafia Bound #2) by K. M. Neuhold

Rating: 4.5🌈

I had no idea that K. M. Neuhold’s dark crime romance series, Mafia Bound, would climb to the top of my list of favorites from this author. But it certainly has just based on the two fantastic books Neuhold has released in this addictive series.

Violent, dangerously sexual, full of men ready for kinky sex and dark unmistakable attraction amidst Mafia family drama and power struggles within the criminal territories of their city. Yes, please!

Mafia Bound has its center in the powerful crime family, the Morettis, run by big brother, Lorenzo Moretti. The first story, which I loved, featured his enforcer, the Ice Man, Xaviaro Saviano, and his romance with Sparrow, an assassin with an agenda. They are seen again here in all their loving psychotic glory. Perfection.

The hints of this relationship we saw in that novel come out swinging here, literally as Elio’s obsession with MMA/ underground boxing champion Orion is on full display during a courtside match. It’s a match where anything goes, and the fury, the sheer intensity and physicality just powers off the page.

Neuhold sets the tone and themes here for the characters, the settings, and their dynamic, all right there at the beginning. It’s violent, bloody, powerful, intense, gripping, and magnetic. Each character is so well executed and beautifully defined that we understand them even though they have more layers to be revealed as the story progresses.

Each man is set both within their own family and history, and then within their developing world where their universe will eventually overlap. It’s fascinating to watch/read about because we feel a part of this couple’s journey. That Orion makes a credible reversal in his view of the Moretti family is due to how Neuhold handled this aspect of his journey in the storyline. Well done.

This is how the reader makes such an intimate connection with them , the understanding we reach with each of them, one that’s potentially very dark as well given the violent nature of the situations.

This is a BDSM D/s relationship, with someone who craves certain elements within their sexual play. Read the notes. This will go for the series as well, per the characters.

The plot lines, the characters and their interactions were so great. I loved the elements with Jack. That’s Orion’s brother whose disability plays a huge part of the story. And as the two novels have hinted at, Dante,the intriguing dancer, has a relationship of his own with Sal coming.

I can’t wait for this one.

So, more please. I’m so hooked. The Moretti family has me in their clutches. I’m highly recommending Beautifully Savage Butterfly but start with Deadly Little Sparrow, then head here.

Great covers.

Mafia Bound:

Deadly Little Sparrow #1
Beautifully Savage Butterfly #2

Buy link

Beautifully Savage Butterfly (Mafia Bound Book 2)

Blurb

Being savage in the ring is one thing. The way Elio Moretti craves my violence outside the ring is another.

I feel like I’ve been fighting my whole life, and tapping out has never been an option.

I can live with owing money to the Morettis. I can even live with the constant guilt that my brother is the one paralyzed in a hospital bed while I live his dream. What I can’t live with is Elio Moretti, second in command to the infamous crime family, showing up to all my fights, sitting in the front row, watching me like he can’t look away, and barging into the locker room to patch up my wounds and invade my space.

The Morettis are monsters. Vicious, brutal sociopaths. So, why is Elio so eager to get on his knees for me?

He’s as desperate to give up control as I am to take it, but is giving in to these primal urges enough of a reason to sell my soul?

He claims there are worse people in this city than his family, and the deeper I get dragged into his world, the more true that’s starting to seem. Can I really fall in love with a Mafia underboss? Is it even possible to walk away?

Publication date: September 6, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 280 pages

Review: Found in Obscurity (Tales from the Tarot story) by A. M. Rose

Rating: 4.5🌈

Tales from the Tarot is an amazing paranormal series, serving up such a wide selection of 22 stories and authors that’s it’s impossible not to find a great book to read, and share.

I’m including in that tally the quite marvelous Found in Obscurity by A. M. Rose, a tale about a young man, a witch, who has to make a decision to embrace his true nature before he can find his roots, his destiny, and his future happiness.

Rose has done an excellent job in creating multiple elements of this story, ones guaranteed to fully pull the reader into the universe and narrative.

It begins with the young man,Lorin, who’s spent 12 years evading his destiny, his history, his town, and the powerful grandmother who had raised him. But as the story opens, the marks of his heritage have appeared on clawed hands, and Rose details, with incredible emotion and intensity, the changes that are coming to him.

It’s a two person point of view storyline, so we alternate between Lorin as he reluctantly returns to home to Oak’s Hollow and his waiting grandmother. The other voice belongs to Kit, Kit, a artic fox familiar and shifter, who’s arrived because of the impending town wide bonding ritual.

The author weaves a haunting magical mystery through a growing renewal of his relationship between Lorin, his grandmother and the magical nature that is his birthright, that of being a witch. But Lorin must also face his past, accept Kit , and the town where he was born. It’s a town that Rose has vividly imagined and feels every bit as real as the beautifully imagined characters we grow so close to.

I couldn’t put the book down, and when the story was over, all I could think about was how many more stories of the universe Rose had created I wanted told.

What a pleasure to read. Highly recommended.

A final note. Rose took the central theme of the tarot, in this case The Hermit, upright position, as well as The Owner and The Magic Shop as part of the narrative in an extremely effective manner. Just excellent!

Another fantastic cover, art: Fae Quin

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

Found in Obscurity

Blurb

Being a born witch doesn’t mean you actually want to be a witch. At least not in Lorin’s case. He made the decision to run from it over a decade ago, sequestering himself away from his coven and the idea of magic.

Magic isn’t so easy to hide away from, however.

Drawn back to his hometown, Lorin finds himself tangled up with the one thing he was trying to avoid above all else. A familiar. And this familiar proves to be so much more than he could ever expect.

Kit’s humanity had been taken from him. Locked away and kept out of reach. Trapped in his fox form, he’s spent years wandering around from one bonding ceremony to the next, looking for a witch to break the spell. Not just any witch. His mate.

It was never going to be as simple as that, however.

Not only does his mate not seem to want him around, there’s a far more sinister plot to grapple with as Kit tries desperately to woo his mate and make him understand he’s more than he appears.

Found in Obscurity 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 Hermit.

Publication date: September 19, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 441 pages

Review: Werewolves Hate Clogs (La Famiglia Mostro Book 1) by K.L. Hiers

Rating: 4.5🌈

Well, that was just hilarious. And sexy. And a fabulous way to jump into a brand new paranormal series and group of amazing characters written by K.L. Hiers.

Werewolves Hate Clogs is such an entertaining and engaging read. Hiers creates in Othniel “Neil” Ricci , a relatable, appealing character. Neil’s a bit at loose ends, so he’s come for the summer to help his traveling Uncle run his flower shop, Uranian Flora in Somerton. It’s a city known for its azalea festivals and past criminal history.

It also has some very unique qualities that its hiding along with its citizenry.

Hier slowly builds a strong, fascinating and, well, the strangest paranormal found family I’ve read recently. And I adore it. All centered around a growing kinky romance between Neil and Lou Morenas-Mostro, werewolf , as well as an involved mystery that affects the entire paranormal community itself.

Neil, Lou, Lou’s very scary family that I’m certain will be explored in coming books, and ,my favorites, the entire found family of The Reliquary, a magical bracelet , as well as that shop, I just didn’t want the book to end.

Honestly any story that contains the phrase

“ Wang wizardry equals roasty toasty” is a book I certainly needed to have on my must read list! Love , love, this!

Crocs, battles, fabulous dialogue, sexy scenes, and found crazy family ! Definitely a book and series I’m taking to heart.

You should too. Highly recommended. Plus what a great cover.

Need that next book soon.

Pls note it’s a mate romance with bdsm D/s elements in it.

Cover Art by Christina Record of Itsy Bitsy Scissors

Cover Design and Typography by Amanda Meuwissen

Buy link

Werewolves Hate Clogs (La Famiglia Mostro)

Blurb

Othniel “Neil” Ricci has a sweet new gig working at his uncle’s flower shop—good hourly pay, free room and board, and he has absolutely no idea that the city is apparently infested with monsters.

That is, until he does.

Louis Morénas-Mostro is a werewolf and an underboss in the monstrous crime family who rule over everything that goes bump in the night. When a prized magical artifact becomes inadvertently attached to Neil, Lou is determined to get it back at any cost.

…Even pretending to date him.

Neil finds himself at odds with an entire monster family, their rebellious enemies, and his own growing attraction to Lou. He hopes he lives long enough to find out if their explosive chemistry can lead to something real, but first he has to make sure he doesn’t end up as monster kibble.

Publication date: June 23, 2023
Language: English
Print length: 432 pages

Review: Playing the Man (Watkins Glen Gladiators Book 6) by V. L. Locey

Rating: 4.5🌈

V. L. Locey’s Watkins Glen Gladiators series is such a special warmhearted group of stories and characters. Locey’s gift of being able to bring a fully immersive universe such as the Watkins Glen Gladiators AHL team to life, then fill it up with characters that a reader will find endlessly fascinating, entertaining (looking at you,Greck),amazingly diverse, and always endearing,that’s what makes it so lovely.

Her stories are humorous, realistic, and filled with people stumbling through life as best they can, a HFN on their way to a HEA. Filled with cats, and as here, a pack of rescue dogs as real as their owner, and locations we’ve come to know as well.

The slow paced romantic relationship between 38 year old Tanner “Fossie” LaBrie of the Watkins Glen Gladiators and Keyshaun Williams, successful gym owner, is low angst, supported by both their families in a way we get to really enjoy the family dynamics and interactions, and understand the true nature of the men themselves.

There’s no real drama. Between them that is. It’s on the ice as the Gladiator’s go for the Cup in exciting scenes and memorable plays. Without the recuperating Fossie who has to watch from the sidelines. That’s the reality too.

Locey doesn’t make a mistake here. Not on or off the ice. It’s a relationship that’s still very much in play but going forward in the right direction. I love this. Realistic expectations and grounded.

Plus we get a very special wedding and vows. That’s the ice on the Cup!

A highly anticipated story in a lovely series hit the goals and more.

Watkins Glen Gladiators:

Between The Pipes #1
Defending The House #2
Dump and Chase #3
Taking The Body #4
Reading The Play #5
Playing The Man #6

Buy

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Playin…Playing the Man (Watkins Glen Gladiators #6)

Blurb

If only getting back into playing shape were as easy as falling in love…

Tanner LaBrie—aka Fossie to his teammates—is feeling every bit of his thirty-eight years. His shoulder aches when it’s cold, his arms need to be longer to see the crossword puzzle app on his phone, and his knees are incredibly unhappy about the abuse they’ve taken. During one of the final games of the regular season, one of his weary joints decides to give way. The need for surgery is not a surprising one for Tanner. He’s been putting it off for years, but escaping the knife is not an option now. Post-surgery rehab is a son-of-a-gun, but if Tanner is anything, it’s stubborn. Just ask any of his ex-boyfriends. So when his therapist suggests finding a local yoga group, he scoffs at first. Unsure of how he would fit in with the gals in leotards, he nonetheless signs up for a class at his local gym where the teacher is not at all the person listed on the signup form. Not that Fossie is complaining when Keyshaun Williams, the enigmatic and sexy gym owner, shows up with a floral exercise mat, some whale song CDs, and a smile that nearly erases how out of place the defenseman feels.

Keyshaun Williams is living the life he has always dreamed of…for the most part. His new business is a huge success, his family is happy and healthy, and his sister—the only somewhat straight triplet—is a few weeks away from giving birth to twins while his brother is about to open a franchise of Williams Wellness in Buffalo. Yep, life is looking pretty darn great for the former Army dietician/Golden Gloves boxer. Great aside from the quiet house he goes home to every night. Being a few years on the other side of thirty has him seeking someone to settle down with, raise a family, maybe adopt some dogs or raise some goats. Heck, maybe dogs and goats. A man could dream, right? And yes, dreamy would describe the towering, mature, stunningly attractive D-man for the local hockey team who has, it seems, signed up for a senior yoga class that Keyshaun is leading as his sister nests and eats far too many chocolate-covered jalapenos. Tanner LaBrie ticks all his boxes as well as a few he didn’t even know he had. Maybe those long looks the hockey player has been shooting his way for months means Tanner is interested in more than achieving the perfect camel pose?

Playing the Man is a low-angst, small-town, queer hockey romance starring a rehabbing hockey player, a personable gym owner, a fitness center filled with snoopy seniors, meddling but well-meaning siblings, rescue dogs, tons of namaste, and one barktastic happy ever after.

Publication date: September 21, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 192 pages

Review: Ghostridden (Ghost Townies Book 1) by E. J. Russell

Rating: 4.5🌈

E.J. Russell begins a new series, Ghost Townies, with Ghostridden, a wonderful paranormal mystery that introduces the delightful denizens, mysteriously quirky history of this remote small town that’s Ghost, Oregon.

It begins when ghostwriter Maz Amani, accompanied by his ginger cat Gilgamesh, arrives at the house he inherited from an Uncle Oren he barely knew.

That house, a gorgeous Queen Anne, is its own character and promptly becomes a magnet as it pulls in neighbors and townsfolk to meet the new owner.

Russell does such a splendid job building a sense of community by way a of a great cast of characters. Each one has a special role and warmth to them, whether it’s Tia Sophia, Saul Pasternak and Jerry McHale and their daughter, Taryn, to the other shop owners, these are folk we want to know and spend time with.

The main characters too. Maz Amani who so desperately wants a home, finds himself in the middle of a mystery. The story of the house he inherited is more than it appears. I love that we discover along with Maz as he learns about the house, the couple (his Uncle included), and the town through research and revelations. Some bittersweet and heartfelt.

There’s a few elements that caught me off guard. In one point in a conversation, Maz says

“Are you taking the piss?”

This is a distinctly UK/English phrase, definitely not one you’d hear an American say. So its appearance in a dialogue, from an American to another, in this context is very jarring and took me out of the moment.

Another is that I felt the “villain” of this book was easily tagged. While the motivation behind the villainy isn’t clear until the end (great dramatic scenes), I feel I knew the “who” straight away.

Not a bad element because we get that wonderful storytelling about Avi and Oren in between, and it’s amazing.

I hope for much more of this going forward. Of the main couple and characters too. I think this will be a great series.

Cover design: L C Chase

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Ghostr…Ghostridden – Russell, E.J.: Kindle Store

Blurb

When ghostwriter Maz Amani inherits a house from an uncle he’s never heard of, he offers heartfelt thanks to the universe, packs up his car, his cat, and his skepticism about mysterious uncles leaving all their worldly goods to unknown nephews, and high-tails it to a small town halfway to the Oregon coast.

Anything would be better than week after week of couch surfing his way around Portland. Even if the alleged house is a rundown shack ridden with termites, spiders, and—shudder—rats, he’ll deal. Because hey, he owns a house!

And when his legacy turns out to be a pristine Queen Anne beauty with nary a termite, spider, or rat in sight, he’s ready to stand the universe unlimited vodka shots.

Except not so fast.

Because instead, his house is ridden with something a little more on-brand for a place called Ghost…

Publisher: Reality Optional Press (September 20, 2024)
Publication date: September 20, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 227 pages

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