A Lila Review: Ravenhearth by Lotus Oakes‏

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Every ten years, a letter arrives at Ravenhearth’s Abby requesting a companion for the town’s Keeper– a powerful mage that keeps the town safe from a deadly miasma. His only request is that the person comes willingly into the castle.

Ten years before, Ash touched the last letter and felt the need to learn more about it. Over the years, he did nothing more than to survive in hopes to have a chance to be the next companion. When the next letter arrives, he’s the first one to volunteer to be sent to Ravenhearth’s Keeper.

He’s a twenty-one-year-old orphan, interested in learning magic, and volunteering is his only chance to achieve his dream. He loved the town he moved in with his mother sixteen years ago, but he doesn’t have anything left holding him back. After convincing the Council about his desire to be the Keeper’s companion, they agreed, and a week later, Giles, the castle’s butler comes for him.

The rest of the story takes place at the castle and expands about a year. During this time, Ash meets several characters that would play an important role in his life. He learns more about himself and the real reasons he is drawn towards magic. And he does all this under Giles’s guidance. In the end, Ash’s dreams come true, and he gets his HEA.

Ravehearth is a novel that has the potential to be considered high fantasy if push further than its romance element. The world the author created is flexible enough to house multiple stories in its different cities. The diversity of the cast, their gifts, and their personality give this story the possibilities to being remarkable.

We get little background information about the miasma, the magic, the mimics, the clockwork, and the world itself. Enough to feel comfortable with the things happening around the MCs, but not enough to be invested in anything else than the possibilities of a relationship between Ash and Giles or Ash and the Keeper.

Ash life hasn’t been easy since the passing of his mother, but from an early age, he felt the calling to become the Keeper’s companion. We see him struggle with his decision and what he found when he arrives at the castle. He is a loving character that will steal a piece of your heart.

The limitations of Ash’s POV made connecting with the other characters difficult. The readers want him to get happiness, but we don’t have a way to know if what’s happening in the castle would be enough to fulfill Ash’s expectations. I’d had like to read Giles’s POV or perhaps to have the Keeper as an omniscient narrator.

The beginning and the end of the story moves at a steady pace, but the middle drags with nothing more than Ash’s musings and dreams. Very sexy dreams, but not enough to take the plot forward. The story line is predictable, but even so, it was engaging enough to keep reading. And the magic studies are nothing more than a footnote to the story. We get more details about plants and food that the magic lessons.

This story has great potential, but it felt short in its current incarnation.

The cover, by Kirby Crow, shows Ash looking towards the Ravenhearth castle– the miasma visible between them– matching one of the scenes in the story.

Sale Links: Less Than Three Press | Amazon | ARe

Book Details:

ebook, 204 pages
Published: February 17, 2016, by Less Than Three Press
ISBN: 9781620047149
Edition Language: English

A Lila Review: Out of Nowhere (Middle of Somewhere #2) by Roan Parrish

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 ★★★★★

The only thing in Colin Mulligan’s life that makes sense is taking cars apart and putting them back together. In the auto shop where he works with his father and brothers, he tries to get through the day without having a panic attack or flying into a rage. Drinking helps. So do running and lifting weights until he can hardly stand. But none of it can change the fact that he’s gay, a secret he has kept from everyone.

Rafael Guerrera has found ways to live with the past he’s ashamed of. He’s dedicated his life to social justice work and to helping youth who, like him, had very little growing up. He has no time for love. Hell, he barely has time for himself. Somehow, everything about miserable, self-destructive Colin cries out to him. But down that path lie the troubles Rafe has worked so hard to leave behind. And as their relationship intensifies, Rafe and Colin are forced to dredge up secrets that both men would prefer stay buried.

Colin Mulligan’s story runs concurrently with book one in the series. As we know, he’s an ace when cars are involved, but everything else in his life is a puzzle. When the story starts, we get immediately immersed into Colin’s rage and self-hate. We get to experience, first hand, how he deals with it and the extremes he gets into in order to find some peace. In that first scene, we get exactly who Colin is and what he things about himself.

After spending some time with his best friend, Colin finds himself in a local club looking for a hook-up. He first crossed paths with Rafe at the club, but goes with a different man instead. Even so, Rafe is there when Colin needed him even if he didn’t appreciate the help. The following day, Rafe founds a way to see Colin again and from that moment on, the road to their future starts.

From this point on, the reader gets to experience the ups and downs of Colin’s and Rafe’s relationship, the daily troubles, and how they deal with everything changing around them. They get to interact with a multitude of characters that would shape their path and change how they see their life worth.

This is a complicated story with complex characters, but in the end, we get a resolution that fits their growth. The MCs have a lovely relationship with a strong HFN and a positive outlook for their future. Yes, it’s filled with angst, hurt, pain, and many other dark aspects, but the MCs’ journey compensate for all their suffering.

Out of Nowhere has everything I like about a book. Dark and damaged characters, trials and tribulations, amazing chemistry and sex scenes, and the opportunity to see how hard the MCs work for their happiness. Plus, mentorship and charity programs. What else is to ask for? Older characters! Colin is thirty-six.

Disclaimer thought, I may, or may not have cried a little reading this book.

Well? Okay, going back to the beginning. I’m glad I survived book #1, In the Middle of Somewhere, which I rated 3.5 stars after considering a DNF. In that book, we met Colin through his younger brother’s eyes. And we get a little peek at Rafe. Neither is to say that Colin’s and Daniel’s relationship was not an easy one, but we learned from both books, that Colin was Daniel’s hero when they were younger.

The majority of Colin’s darkness comes from hating his brother, not for being gay, as Daniel see it, but of envy at Daniel’s courage. Colin’s self-hate absorbs all his time and thoughts, and it only gets worse when he acts on his desires. He pushes his physical boundaries with demanding exercise sessions, lack of sleep, and alcohol to numb his feelings.

His hopelessness makes him vulnerable to others, and he hates himself even more because of it. He welcomes pain as a relief from life, no matter where it comes from. Until Rafe, literally, saves him. From their first encounter, we get to see Rafe’s need to help and Colin’s uneasiness. They recognized each other’s potential and want to do better for the other. Slowly, they started a relationship that tested them many times and only the tentative strings of their relationship kept them from falling apart.

I loved how Colin integrated himself into Rafe’s life and social work, even when his constant panic attacks threaten him at every turn. We see the internal and physical changes in Colin as the story progresses and have a chance to understand the man he had become over the years. The events told by Daniel during the first book, make a difference when told by Colin and we get to experience how this affected them and their family.

With love and understanding, Rafe gives Colin the strength he needs to come back to life. He’s forceful when he needs to, but he is the reason Colin take the first steps to recovery. He has his own problems, and we get to see them almost destroy him, but having Colin on his side and depending on him allowed Rafe to let go and be rescued in return.

Between all this pain, hurt, and angst, there’s a group of great supporting characters that would steal your heart if you let them. They are the perfect antidote to all the moodiness in this story. And for those who loved book #1, there’s a lot more Daniel and Rex to fill your greedy hearts.

Great cover by AngstyG. It shows an important moment in the story. Plus, the darkness represents Colin’s inner troubles and Rafe’s past perfectly.

Sale Links: Dreamspinner | Amazon | ARe

Book Details:

ebook, 274 pages
Published: February 29, 2016, by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN: 9781634769037
Edition Language: English

Series: Middle of Somewhere
Book #1: In the Middle of Somewhere
Book #2: Out of Nowhere

A Lila Review: In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Grad student, Daniel Mulligan is the youngest of four brothers. They were raised by their father after their mother’s death. The oldest three followed their dad’s path, working with him in the family’s car repair shop. Daniel knew at an early age that he wanted to do something different in order to escape everyone’s shadow. He’s working on his dissertation by the time the story starts.

After applying to multiple jobs across the country, including in his home state of Pennsylvania, he gets an interview in Holiday– a small college town in Michigan. After the interview, faith intervened and he meets Rex Vale. They have great chemistry from the moment they met and a second chance encounter gave them the opening to reconnect and explore a possible relationship.

Their time together allowed them to learn more about themselves and how they work together. We get to see how real life interferes with the relationship they are trying to build and how events out of their control morphed their perceptions of what they had achieved until that point.

Even so, we get a strong HFN that can be considered the start of a HEA.

In the Middle of Somewhere is a book that showed on my friends’ newsfeeds almost every day when it was first published. Most reviews were grouped into two camps, like it or hate it. I’m in the middle, no pun intended. It was a hard book to read and rate. I didn’t no connect with Daniel or Rex until the seventy percent mark. If I had to rate the book up to that point, I’d had given it two stars– a DNF was a very real possibility early on. For me, the last part of the book redeemed the characters and their love story. Perhaps, a solid four for that part.

Getting used to the book’s POV, first person present tense, didn’t take much. After a couple of paragraphs, I had no trouble with it. Unfortunately, the POV created a distance between the narrator and the reader. As a narrator, Daniel felt younger than his thirty years. His internal dialogues were repetitive and all over the place. It was easy to get annoyed by him and miss important parts of the story.

It took me longer than normal to finish reading it because the middle part is longer than necessary. The day-to-day events became monotonous and the time lapses too wide. One thing I enjoyed about this story were the secondary characters. They saved this part of the story giving us a welcome distraction.

The first rays of love between Rex and Daniel are what make this book worth it. The MCs come from different backgrounds and have different ideas of what they wanted from life, but when they are together, nothing else matters. Their slow built and quiet companionship let the reader see how two damage boys became smart and loving men against all odds.

As the first book in the series, we didn’t get all the answers we would want about particular events or the MCs’ future, but there’s enough information to entice the reader into reading the next book.

The cover by AngstyG works well with the story setting and the characters. I just wish the model representing Rex was a little closer to the book description, though.

Sale Links: Dreamspinner | Amazon | ARe

Book Details:

ebook, 350 pages
Published: July 10, 2015, by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN: 9781634768702
Edition Language: English

Series: Middle of Somewhere
Book #1: In the Middle of Somewhere
Book #2: Out of Nowhere

A Lila Review: Fantasy for a Gentleman (A Planet Called Wish #2) by Caitlin Ricci

Rate: 4.25 out of 5 stars

Corbin Leroux has been a high-priced companion for the last twenty year. We first meet him in To the Highest Bidder when he introduces his younger brother to Monroe, his boss. We get to know more about them in the opening scene as Corbin gets ready to receive a regular customer. Everything seems routine until Emmanuel is the one to show for the appointment instead.

After a confrontation, a subsequent visit, and a bargain, Corbin convinces Emmanuel to call off the hit and to become his protector. The relationship is convenient for them, but they knew it was simply a financial transaction, even when an initial lust runs through them. Corbin knew Emmanuel could change his mind at any minute and kill him

We get several events in which Corbin needs Emmanuel’s protection and with every visit they get, they learned more about each other. With time, they developed deeper feelings for each other but continued to struggle with their professions and the distance it puts between them. Emmanuel, especially, is confused by his feeling for Corbin and tries to break their budding relationship.

They have several ups and downs, but by the time the story ends, Corbin and Emmanuel had learned to deal with the other’s profession and are doing their best to share their love without leaving behind who they are.

Fantasy for a Gentleman is a lovely story with an unusual resolution to the normal rentboy/hitman troupe. I typically prefer stories with dual POVs, but Corbin’s narration let the reader, not only in his thoughts but also on Emmanuel’s.

I like that both characters were over forty and had a real reason for doing their jobs. For them, there was no shame on what they did for a living. They saw it as a service for a greater purpose. And most of the story develops around this and their understanding of each other.

The banter and the deep conversations between the MCs are brilliant. We get to see a different side of them when they are together, but alone. Those moments are what makes their relationship unique. They have to work hard to stay together, and they accepted the challenge even when it was hurting them.

The world build continues in this installment, but we don’t get any more information about the different races and their differences other than their skins. We get to see Monroe as he waits for Thierry since this book happens between the ending of book#1 and the epilogue. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go beyond that, so we don’t get to see more of the original couple. I hope there’s a third book because I want to know more about a character introduced in this story.

Another great cover designed by the author, Caitlin Ricci. It captures Emmanuel’s silver features with a purple background that represents Corbin’s skin tone.

Sale Links: Dreamspinner | Amazon | ARe

Book Details:

ebook, 200 pages
Published: February 19, 2016, by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN: 9781634768702
Edition Language: English

Series: A Planet Called Wish
Book #1: To the Highest Bidder
Book #2: Fantasy for a Gentleman

A Lila Review: Pretty Human by Kayleigh Skye

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Seeking absolution for his past in a fiery death, a young space force pilot crashes his ship on a desert planet.

When Ellis Ligoria, King of Xol, witnesses a space ship hurtling to the planet’s surface, he rushes to the scene of the crash and joins the search party for survivors. As night descends, a strange compulsion leads him to the site of an underground city. Here he rescues a badly injured Jem. During his recovery, it is discovered that Jem is part Xolan. Not only that, but he’s a genetically submissive variation called a Xolani. Ellis has no desire to care for a Xolani but cannot resist his desire for Jem. Taking him under his protection, he brings him home to his family.

Desperately wanting this new life, Jem claims to be a solitary Vagabond, a loner without family or home. A man nobody wants or is looking for. Safe for the first time in his memory, Jem has hopes for a happy future. He is falling in love with Ellis and adores his new family. All he wants is to live a quiet life as Ellis’ consort, but as his secrets sink him deeper and deeper into a prison of lies, he knows that he cannot hide his true identity forever. Marrying Ellis is a dream come true, but he’ll never escape the brutal man he is running from.

Soon called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice, Jem must fight to stop a powerful monster bent on revenge

Pretty Human is a hard book to read. It’s agonizing from the very beginning. All the events are wrap-up in darkness and only little rays of light show through the story. It’s not until the end that the characters find some redemption. The story does have a HEA, but it cost them a lot to get there, and we don’t get too much time to enjoy their happiness.

The main plot is described well in the blurb, and it stays on point throughout the story. The secondary events, however, are all over the place. The story is somehow linear, but we get events from Jem’s past weaved in the dialogues and as flashbacks that take complete chapters. They aren’t hard to follow, but they bring the reader out of the story. There are many twists and turns, mostly wrongdoings against Jem, taking place during the book.

The first twenty-five percent of the story was confusing. I had to re-read some passages to get back on track because of the amount of information provided and the cruelty of some of the events. After this, the book had a better pacing.

The author did an excellent job creating a world for her characters to live and other planets in the galaxy to interact with the book events. We get to see a difference between humans and the many other alien species, as well as their technological capabilities and everyday activities. There’s enough information, sometimes too much, about the surroundings to be able to feel like part of the story’s setting. We get to see what they do and enjoy their awe about it.

The story has great characters with great qualities and real relationships. There’s only one character, who played an important part of the story, that only gets mentioned quickly and we don’t get to see the complete implications of his relation with Jem, but the reader can infer. Ellis family took a central part in their relationship and helped Jem find himself and the love he longed for. Their support is an important component without being invasive.

The antagonist in the story is a true villain and even when a softer side of him is shown, it’s not enough to hope for him to have a happy outcome. As the blurb mentions, the man Jem is running from is brutal and the scenes are very graphic and accurate. The reader feels for Jem as if they were experiencing the pain with him. And the inaction displayed by one of Jem’s relatives is heartbreaking.

Now, to Jem and Ellis. I loved Ellis, most of the time. I like how much of a dreamer he was and how much of a connection he got with Jem from the get-go. And I especially enjoyed how he learned to love Jem. I really like that Jem was thirty-three-years-old by the start of the story. His life story is the main reason for this book, and we get to see more than one side to him. There’s more to him than a Vagabond or a Xolani. Jem is a complicated being, whose growth we get to be part of. He’s indeed an interesting character, stronger than any other I had read about before.

Don’t get me wrong, the story is well-written, and it’s worth reading. You just need to take the time to read it. It’s not a quick and easy to read all at ones. This story needs to be pay attention to, it has details that would be significant as the events develop. I think, it’d be a great story to get as an audiobook.

The cover goes perfectly with the story– from the handsome human to the world build and the colors & elements described in the story.

Sale Links: Pride | Amazon | ARe (not available)

Book Details:

ebook, 255 pages
Published: Early download – January 26, 2016; General release – February 23, 2016, by Pride Publishing
ISBN: 9781786513762
Edition Language: English

A Lila Review: Forced Impressions by Piper Doone

Rating: 2.75 out of 5 stars

Jonah Landers’s promotion to detective isn’t going so well. His first undercover operation is a disaster thanks to Rafael Santos, a Cuban-American detective so far undercover, no one on Rafael’s Miami-based squad even had a clue he’d already infiltrated the prostitution ring Jonah was targeting. Two years and an insane twist of fate later, Jonah finds himself transferred from Orlando and partnered up with Rafael in Miami—and their rocky beginning doesn’t get any better.

For the sake of their careers and because he realizes he’s falling for Rafael, Jonah makes every attempt to smooth things over and move on with his love life. He turns his attention to A.J. Choya, a Seminole Indian who runs the tech department. But there’s no spark between them, and Jonah has to admit his feelings for Rafael aren’t going away.

When a new case falls into Rafael’s and Jonah’s laps, they must go undercover again and become intimate in a way that forces them to confront their feelings for each other—no matter the consequences

The story starts directly into the action. Jonah is on his way to his first undercover assignment as a detective with the Orlando Police Department. We get the basics about the area, Jonah’s relationship with his partner, and his doubts about the operation. Everything goes almost to plan until Rafael makes it to the scene. From there on, everything goes down the hill– for them and the investigation.

The ruined operation brings Jonah’s career to a halt, and no matter what he does, he’s not going anywhere. After two years, he’s able to transfer to Miami with the hopes to start over. Jonah doesn’t have much of a private or professional life when he leaves, but he hopes to, at least, have a chance to forward his career.

On his first day in Miami, everything changes when he gets to partner with Rafael. Their relationship is typical of newbies with experienced partners, but Jonah took it further, personal. We get a series of cases and how they worked them and interacted with the rest of the squad.

The last case in the book is the one referred on the blurb. It doesn’t last long, but it changes their relationship. In the end, they get their HEA with a quick epilogue, filled with future events.

Forced Impressions didn’t work for me. The first undercover case, in Orlando, was interesting, and we had a chance to meet the MCs and see them at work. After Jonah moved to Miami, the plot slows down and there’s not much action, not even during the cases they worked.

I think the monotony of their day job and their relationship is what brought my rating down. Perhaps if the cases were related or less, it would had kept my interest. But, they were standard police procedure with little trouble to be solved. By the time the main investigation happened, I was ready for the book to end. Not even Jonah’s relationship with A.J. was interesting enough.

The last part of the book moved faster, maybe too fast for Rafael’s and Jonah’s relationship to be meaningful. Their undercover job was smexy but didn’t compensate for everything the story lacked until that point. Their love affair was fast paced and their future together, on the epilogue, even faster.

And the cover? The overall idea of the cover by Aaron Anderson works, until you get into the details. The art deco font gives it the Miami feel and the model matched Rafael’s description. But, the skyline and tie effect makes it look more like New York City than Miami. Plus, the silhouette doesn’t represent Jonah.

Sale Links: Dreamspinner | Amazon | ARe

Book Details:

ebook, 200 pages
Published: January 25, 2016, by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN: 1634767640 (ISBN13: 9781634767644)
Edition Language: English

A Lila Review: Romanus by Mary Calmes

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The story starts right into the action described in the blurb. We get Mason finding the old man–Fabron–and giving him a ride home when the man refuses to get to the hospital. For some reason, Mason doesn’t consider the man’s hands curled into claws, growls, and the change in his eyes strange.

By the time they made it to the man’s house, Mason is fighting with sleep since he just finished a double shift as a firefighter. Everyone at the house seems to recognized Mason as a Romanus, but the reader, just like Mason had no idea what that means or the implications.

Mason leaves his information with the man’s granddaughter and tries to leave, but ends returning after a couple of minutes because he’s too tired to drive back home. He accepts the invitation to stay the night made by Raoul, the one in-charge of the group, but as soon as he meets Luc, he goes with him instead.

From here, we get a condensed version of insta-lust with several smexy scenes between two house parties, and a visit from the bad guy. The story was interesting; unfortunately, it didn’t have enough of a plot to hold into.

Romanus is a novella with a Napoleon complex. The amount of twists and turns taking place are enough to be handled in a full-length novel, perhaps a series. As always, the author took a different approach to shifters and mating; giving the reader a taste of all the possibilities. The amount of characters, their purpose, and relationship are overwhelming. At least, the action moves quickly, making the story short enough to be read all at once.

I liked what I read, but this story is not a romance. It’s simply an erotica short with the potential to be something more. It lacks coherence between the scenes and the characters behave oddly, almost like a parody of what gay men in their late twenties would act.

Luc speaks in riddles most of the story, and we get the story’s resolution by means of the villain giving his evil speech. And at the same time, giving Mason enough time to planned and executed his escape. Then, Luc saves him, and they live happily ever after. Probably not, but that was the goal.

And a pet-peeve of mine, the story ends at 92% with the rest being filled with the covers and blurbs for other stories by Mary Calmes.

And the cover? Easy to identify as a Reese Dante cover with the author’s signature’s font. It encompassed the central theme of the story, depicting a view of Luc’s back and wings.

Sale Links: Dreamspinner | Amazon | ARe

Book Details:

ebook, 60 pages

Published: January 27, 2016 (first published June 1, 2010), by Dreamspinner Press
ISBN: 1634768574 (ISBN13: 9781634768573)
Edition Language: English

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