A Ali Recommended Story – Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

True love’s kiss can break the curse. But then what?

Cole Alpin runs a small-town candy store. He visits his grandmother twice a week. And sometimes he breaks curses.

Leo Ericson’s curse is obvious right away, spiderwebbing across his very nice body. Though something about it worries Cole, he agrees to help—with little idea of what he’s getting into.

Leo is a serial monogamist, but his vampire ex has taken dating off the table with his nasty spell, and Leo needs Cole’s companionship as much as his help. When the hex proves to be only the beginning of his problems, Leo seeks refuge at Cole’s place. Too bad magic prevents him from finding refuge in Cole’s arms.

Cole’s never had a boyfriend, so how can he recognize true love? And there’s still the matter of the one responsible for their troubles in the first place….

I really enjoyed this story. Cole wants to help Leo but at the same time is sure that he can’t be the one to do it. Leo doesn’t realize how hollow his life and relationships have been until he doesn’t have them anymore.

Cole has given up on finding love and even though he doesn’t want to fight this pull to Leo he is afraid to give in and get hurt. Leo is struggling with his new reality but it is also giving him a chance to reflect on his life and how he may want it to change.

I really liked both of these characters. I could understand how Cole kept the way to break the kiss from Leo but once they gave in and the curse seemed to go away there never really a talk about how that happened. We can see Leo struggle to understand everything about this new paranormal world he is living in but he does pretty well for the most part and really doesn’t want to walk away from it either. I look forward to more stories in this universe and hope it will follow someone we met in this book.

The cover art by Aaron Anderson is great and I love all the visuals that it gives for the story.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon | B&N

Book Details:

ebook, 214 pages

Published: August 21, 2018 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN-13: 978-1-64080-739-6

Edition Language: English

Series: Dreamspun Beyond, Strange Bedfellows #1

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Living together is bliss for Sam Flynn and Nathan Walker, but things never stay quiet for long in Stonebridge. On the night of Sam’s twenty-ninth birthday, the much-hated mayor of Stonebridge is found dead at his home. Sam suspects foul play, but just as he starts investigating the list of possible culprits, Nathan gets word of a new undercover assignment—one that includes a mysterious, sexy new partner. Though Sam struggles to trust Nathan and control his jealousy during Nathan’s absence, the stress makes a return to the bottle seem not only tempting, but inevitable—especially when Nathan starts avoiding his calls.

Yet Nathan’s fidelity isn’t the only thing on Sam’s mind. A visit from the mayor’s ex-assistant puts Sam in the line of fire, and he’s drawn into a complex web of duplicity spanning back to the night of his parents’ accident. Sam’s journey to uncover the truth about what really happened threatens to unravel long-held beliefs about his parents and puts his relationship with Nathan to the ultimate test.

This was a fast paced and sexy conclusion to Sam and Nathan’s story. The book starts off with them in a good place. That is quickly uprooted when Nathan is sent back to undercover work. Sam can’t find peace with it and his sobriety is put to the test. These two go through a rough patch but I liked how it was handled and I thought it felt realistic. Part of the story is a mystery but it doesn’t overshadow the romance. We see all the side characters in parts of the story and everything ends in a good place for everyone. There are two new characters who are introduced and I have to say I would love to see them have their own spinoff series. All in all I really enjoyed this trilogy and I definitely recommend it.

Cover art by Maria Fanning. I thought this was a lovely cover and probably the nicest of the three. The only draw back is the model looks a little young for Sam in my opinion. Still, really nice.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 206 pages
Published January 4th 2016 by Dreamspinner Press
Original TitleBlind Spot
ISBN 1634767462 (ISBN13: 9781634767460)
Edition LanguageEnglish

SeriesThe Stonebridge Mysteries #3

Tag: A Ali Recommended Story

An Ali Release Day Review: Hex and Candy (Strange Bedfellows #1) by Ashlyn Kane

An Ali Review: Blind Spot (The Stonebridge Mysteries #3) by Maggie Kavanagh

Share this:

Share this: