Review: No Business Like Snow Business (Christmas Falls, Season 2) by J.A. Rock & Lisa Henry

Rating: 5🌈

There are some authors and stories I just savor. I read them slowly, joyfully anticipating the next chapters and narrative twists that the writers have planned for the characters and storylines. I’m so engaged in this world and the lives unfolding here that I’m often lost , scene by scene, moment by moment. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a heartrending scene or as in the fabulous novel, No Business Like Snow Business (Christmas Falls, Season 2) by J.A. Rock & Lisa Henry, a romantic holiday journey of self discovery and family. All in that amazing small town of Christmas Falls.

Yes, I’m an absolute fan of J.A. Rock & Lisa Henry, they are auto reads of mine. And this contemporary romance just is one more example why.

We’ve met Harvey Novak, head of the Christmas Falls Historical Museum, before in previous novels. But here, Harvey shines and becomes one of the most beloved characters in the town. A lover of the town, of Christmas and history, and of mysteries, Harvey is the perfect person to turn to when Sterling van Ruyven comes to town, old photograph in hand, with a family mystery to solve. And maybe to find himself as well.

Sterling, wealthy, out of his element, determined, is a character who undergoes such tremendous growth. It’s a journey the reader takes with him, as Christmas Falls and Harvey, take him in hand, show him the kindness and warmth and love he’s been missing. Just thinking about it makes me want to go read the story all over again.

It’s the various residents we’ve already met, the places so familiar, the streets decked out for the Festival, and the spirit with which the people there look after Sterling, and Harvey.

There will always be favorites in the Christmas Falls series, both of them. But this is in my very top.

Highly recommended. A must holiday read.

Christmas Falls, Season 2:

The Snuggle is Real by DJ Jamison Flake It til You Make It by Beth Bolden ❤️

12 Dates of Christmas by Brigham Vaughn

Here Comes Santa Paws by Lee Blair

Under the Mistle-Foe by Rye Cox Christmas Beau by Amy Aislin

❤️No Business Like Snow Business by J.A. Rock & Lisa Henry

Frost Impressions by Kelly Fox

Promise Yule Be Mine by Rhys Everly Mingle All The Way by Hayden Hall

Christmas Falls, Season 1:

Grinch Kisses by DJ Jamison Snowbody Loves You by Jacki James Get Frosted by Amy Aislin

Silent Knight by Beth Bolden

Under the Mistle-Tome by Sammi Cee

Clausing a Scene by Casey Cox

No Elf-ing Way by Hayden Hall

Ready, Set, Glow! by Rye Cox

Scrooge You! By Brigham Vaughn

Buy link

No Business Like Snow Business

Blurb

Harvey Novak loves living in Christmas Falls. He loves his job running the Festival Museum too, except when it means he has to deal with his ex, who’s putting together the town’s newest tourist brochures. There are a lot of things Harvey is willing to do for Christmas Falls, but playing nice with the guy who cheated on him isn’t one of them.

When a real-life Christmas mystery falls into Harvey’s lap, it offers the perfect distraction. And the guy with the mystery is pretty distracting too.

Sterling van Ruyven has come to Christmas Falls to look for his long-lost uncle, and enlists Harvey’s help to track him down. It’s all business—if there’s an extra van Ruyven heir out there somewhere, Sterling needs to know about it. He isn’t expecting to actually enjoy spending time in this ridiculous Christmas-themed town with the cute guy from the museum.

Their fun flirtation turns into a holiday fling, but that’s all it can ever be. Harvey’s heart belongs in Christmas Falls, and Sterling hasn’t found his yet. But maybe Christmas is the time for miracles after all.

Christmas Falls is a multi-author M/M romance series set in a small town that thrives on enough holiday charm to rival any Hallmark movie.

Publication date: December 3, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 202 pages

Review: Once Upon A Christmas Song (Once Upon a Holiday story) by Mary Calmes

Rating: 3.5🌈

I was looking forward to Once Upon A Christmas Song by Mary Calmes, a novel in the multi-author Once Upon a Holiday series. And after reading it, I’m finding it hard to rate.

The story has many of the best elements of Calmes writing and some of her aspects of her work that just don’t seem as well thought out.

First the best of this book. That’s the setting, New Orleans, which is beautifully rendered in atmosphere and realistic locations. Then it’s the wonderful found family of La Belle Vie, the bar/restaurant that’s the home and heart for an entire group of people. Calmes makes this key setting a hearthstone by folding into the workplace the multidimensional people who work there and are considered family of its owner, Chris Gardner.

Chris, his bar/restaurant and found family? Fantastic! The issue arrives with the holiday romance aspect.

That’s a rockstar who left Chris (and the friends there) behind to find fame and fortune. Which he found along with drugs, alcohol, and addiction. Now 2yrs later, without any communication, Dawson West has arrived expecting open arms and to pick up the relationship where they left off. A ending that, reasonably, devastated Chris and took him a while to recover from.

What works here is (spoilers) Chris’s initial reaction and responses to Dawson’s nonstop entreaties to pick up immediately on the romance between them as if nothing happened because Dawson went to rehab. Now’s he’s out and a “new person “. It’s he’s back! And his band mates are just as strangely written as enablers or clueless with regard to relationships and specifically to their own personal relationships with Chris.

If Calmes had decided that the story was about forgiveness and recovery, a friend relationship, and rewritten the ending, this might have worked. But Dawson is a problematic character, albeit one we’ve seen before in certain Calmes stories. The flip side to the golden boys every one loves.

Dawson, an ambitious singer in a rock band, rises to the top of the charts, then , along with his fellow musicians, becomes addicted to drugs and alcohol, burning himself and them out. The story goes into a little more detail but the catch is that Dawson went to rehab, along with a band mate/friend twice, to return to Chris and home. Got clean because of Chris. Two years after break up , and recently release from rehab. No mention of getting clean strictly for himself. Because what happens to addicts when plans fail if they went through rehab for the wrong reasons?

And now he’s constantly pressuring Chris to get immediately together, like there’s no past, because they “love” each other. Etc. Chris asks for space and time to think and talk. Immediately no, keep the pressure on, don’t respect Chris’s decision or wishes to make decisions based on his own personal feelings. So many flags. And the author seems to realize that but it’s temporary stop in rational plotting.

While having Chris explain why the space is necessary or even why talking about the differences (he’d lived a full satisfying life in the singer’s absence) is required , a relevant part of the conversation here, Calmes then negates everything that is solid about this aspect of the story and has Dawson rolling right over Chris, abetted by the “friends”, and a child manipulated by the singer. That left a sour impression on me.

So for every well written piece of this story there’s an equally less thought out aspect that works against it. It’s a love this character, no, this really isn’t working for me type of story.

The series connecting element, The Hook’s Book Nook Traveling Library, has a larger role here. But unlike other series of this kind, while the married couple (adorable) and that bus are amazing, they never seem to fit well into any story. They are either too big an element themselves or too quirky to fit into the plot that’s already in place. The connection either needs to be a more simplified one or more suited to the specific series , like a seasonal object. Just mo. Give them their own story.

Cover design by Kelly York

Once Upon a Holiday series – 8 books:

Once Upon a Second Chance by Davidson King

Once Upon A Mistletoe Kiss by Sammi Cee

Once Upon a Holiday Vacation by Annabella Michaels

Once Upon a Lullaby Lane by K York

Once Upon a Christmas Con by Skylar M Cates

Once Upon A Christmas Song by Mary Calmes

Once Upon a Yuletide Romance by RJ Peterson

Once Upon A Goth Dog Solstice by R L Merrill

Buy link

Once Upon A Christmas Song

Blurb

Chris Gardner has a good life in New Orleans. He owns a club in the French Quarter, has a wonderful crew of people who call it home, loyal, caring friends, and even gets his kid fix by helping to take care of his chef’s daughter. What he doesn’t have is that special someone to share his days and nights with. He thought he did, once upon a time, but that man left to find fame and fortune, became a rockstar, and never returned. And that’s fine. Life isn’t a fairy tale. Now if only he could find a band to play music in his club at night, that would be a Christmas miracle.

Dawson West had to leave to see if his dreams could become reality, but what he didn’t count on was that once he had the world at his feet, he’d miss the man who’d held him tight. Between the endless climb toward greatness and the pitfalls of addiction, Dawson lost himself for a while, but that doesn’t mean he stopped loving Chris. Not wanting his love to see him broken, he makes certain he’s clean and sober when he finally comes home. Going radio silent while becoming the man Chris deserves seemed like a good idea at the time, but now…

Now, Chris has a problem. Dawson is back, out of the blue, and if Chris lets him return to rocking his club, is that an invitation for his heart as well? How can Chris ever trust again, even if it is the season?

Once Upon A Christmas Song is a part of the multi-author series Once Upon A Holiday Story. Each book can be read as a standalone and in any order. What links these books together is The Hook’s Book Nook Traveling Library, a library on wheels owned by two old ladies in love.

Publication date: December 3, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 151 pages

Review: Inviting Bedlam (Demon Bound Book 2) by Grae Bryan

Rating: 4.75🌈

Well, this was the best yet. Crazy, sinfully sexy, twisted and beautiful. Yup, a definite winner.

Grae Bryan’s Demon Bound series is carefully working its way through not only a damaged Russian American mafia family but a small group of hell bound demons. Each story ends up with a bound mated pair from each group/family and each story has been so incredibly emotional and different from each other.

The Koslov crime family, three brothers , is a severely damaged group of people. Each a massively damaged product of their late conservative Russian mob boss father and his powerful patriarchal legacy. The younger brothers, now having removed themselves emotionally and physically, have left the running of the family business to Ivan , the oldest and the one who has most resembled their father.

In Ivan, the author has created such a complex, flawed dynamic character. Unlike the other brothers, he enjoys his status while still being angry and bitter about his brothers’ ability to leave him behind in the family business. It’s a charged, charismatic personality, flawed, powerful, and undeniably appealing. And it needs an equally powerful personality in a demon. And it gets it.

But not the one either the reader or Ivan expects. Which is one of the greatest pleasures of the book.

Ivan has found himself at odds with various criminal elements, mostly due to his brother’s actions. He has had several unpleasant encounters and emotional jolts. Which leads to a summoning of Nix, one of the group of demons bound together. Nix is everything.

In Nix, the author cuts loose narratively, letting the vibrancy of the character, the sheer force of Nix’s personality and presence almost steal the show. And if it weren’t for the equally strong presence of Ivan to crash up against, Nix would. But together? This book flames hotter than anything else I’ve read lately. Ivan never wanted a male lover before but can’t keep his hands off Nix? Absolutely believable. Nix decides Ivan is his? Yes, absolutely.

Not a wrong choice here. Nix’s advice and the manner in which Bryan gives Nix a personality that’s lacking the human moral compass so that the demon is able to be that perfect fit for Ivan, a crime boss who matches him so well.

I delighted in their relationship, that dark journey that’s sexual, bloody, and violent but very compelling and satisfying. It’s one that develops in astonishing depth and ways that makes it hard to imagine that this couple is confined to just one book.

I absolutely wanted more. And while the next couple is intriguing, this one is hard to beat.

Inviting Bedlam (Demon Bound Book 2) by Grae Bryan is a must read for lovers of dark paranormal romance and the series as well. I’m highly recommending both.

Cover designed by MiblArt.

Demon Bound:

🔹Wrecking Havoc #1 (Kai and Sascha)

🔹Inviting Bedlam #2 (Nix and Ivan)

🔹Calling Chaos #3 – May 1,2025

Buy link

Inviting Bedlam (Demon Bound Book 2)

Blurb

Ivan Kozlov doesn’t make mistakes, no matter what his brothers might say. Mistakes in his world mean death. So while he may have summoned the wrong sort of demon to aid him in cementing his empire, binding himself to the creature with an irreversible contract, that doesn’t mean he can’t make use of him. Except the seductive incubus he’s summoned seems to want more from Ivan than just a piece of his soul. Nix wants Ivan’s body, his desire, his faults and his regrets. But giving those things to him would be a mistake. And one Ivan might never recover from.

Nix has been waiting to be summoned again for ages. And while he might have had to trick his handsome mob boss to make it happen, he’s not going to waste the opportunity while he has it. Only now that he’s here, he doesn’t just want to stay in the human realm. He wants Ivan—his greed and his rage and his lust. And if Nix has to fix Ivan’s life to make that happen—if he needs to handle the dangers in his business, mend the broken bits left by Ivan’s father—then that’s what he’ll do. Even an incubus can be useful to a mobster, if given the right incentive.

INVITING BEDLAM IS A HEATED, MM PARANORMAL ROMANCE WITH A HEA AND NO CLIFFHANGER. IT CONTAINS A REPRESSED, CONTROLLING MOB BOSS AND THE NAUGHTY INCUBUS DETERMINED TO MAKE HIM CRACK, BROTHERS WHO WON’T COMMUNICATE, MORE DEMONS THAN IVAN ASKED FOR, AND A PAIR OF PANTIES IVAN WOULD LIKE TO SET ON FIRE. WHILE EACH BOOK FOCUSES ON A DIFFERENT COUPLE, THE SERIES IS BEST ENJOYED IN ORDER.

Publication date: October 25, 2024
Language: English
File size: 3936 KB
Print length: 268 pages

Review: The Christmas Keeper (Laurel Holidays Book 6) by V.L. Locey

Rating: 5🌈

V. L. Locey’s Laurel Holidays novels are a must read for me , and this season’s release has to be my absolute favorite of all. The Christmas Keeper, Laurel Holidays Book 6, just resonates with me on multiple levels.

All the heartwarming Locey elements are here and elevated. From the realistic, beautifully crafted small Pennsylvania town and community, as well as the wonderfully layered characters and holiday traditions. Locey weaves all these elements together to create a truly heartfelt romance that makes you feel so much a part of the season and the lives of a town and couple that you forget all are fictional.

Brann Argraves, a man whose previous relationship has soured him on romance and the holidays, is returning home from his sister’s wedding, when he helps a man in need at the small airport near home.

Brann is a perfectly realized character, from his wounded personality with raised shields to the well drawn family who are concerned about him. Every detail of his life fits, his great realistic rescue geese, his small sparse cabin , bare of most usual personal touches expected from someone that’s well settled and happy. It all speaks to the character Locey has built and who will evolve over the course of the story. The excellent attention to character building continues with Kenan Gardet, a busker singer in a small airport , with a history of substance abuse, who’s trying to chart a new path for his life. Kenan is a moving character, but his equal is Brann in surprisingly strong depths of personality traits and support in terms of narrative foundation . In short, they work as believably wounded people finding their way towards recovery and each other. During the holidays, Kenan’s Jewish traditions and those of of Breann’s he’s rediscovering, which will bring them closer together.

Honestly, The Christmas Keeper (Laurel Holidays Book 6) by V.L. Locey will be on re-read, and not only for the holidays, it’s just that comfort story that you embrace.

And one I’m highly recommending, no matter what or if any holiday you celebrate.

Laurel Holidays series:

The Easter Redemption

The Christmas Extra

The Christmas Oaks #1

The Christmas Pundit #2

The Christmas Tenor #3

The Christmas Rescue #4

The Christmas Keeper #6

Buy link

vllocey.comhttp://vllocey.com › the-christmas-…The Christmas Keeper (Laurel Holidays #6)

Blurb

A grumpy pub owner is about to have his chilly heart warmed by a down-on-his-luck country singer.

Brann Argraves has never left the charming village of Whiteham before nor does he wish to. As the owner of the Whiteham Taphouse, he is content to spend his life serving drafts of beer to the locals, shooting darts with his buddies, and shutting himself away in his cabin for the duration of the holidays. Who needs all that ho-ho-ho, any who? His sister, on the other hand, not only yanked him out of his happy yet somewhat solitary bubble, but she’s also reveling in it. Planning a winter wedding was plain foolish, Brann feels, as is making people fly to some frozen wasteland in Canada to tie the knot. Now, he’s never been happier to return home after the wedding and get back to his bar, his darts, and his little home on the outskirts of town.

Landing at a wintry airport smack dab in the middle of a nasty snow squall, Brann and his weary fellow flyers are entertained by a handsome, rumpled man busking outside the airport. There’s something almost magical about the man’s dark, sad gaze as well as his angelic vocals. Perhaps it’s the residual merry-merry of his sister’s nuptials, or maybe he recognizes a lonely kindred soul, but Brann steps way out of his comfort zone when he offers the man a warm place to sleep above his bar. Kenan Gardet settles into the pub with ease and Southern grace. The down-and-out singer quickly proves himself an asset to Brann’s business as a good barkeep and as a nightly draw on stage. What he didn’t expect was Kenan capturing his heart one plaintive song and gentle kiss at a time.

The Christmas Keeper is a standalone grumpy/sunshine, hurt/comfort, insta-love, gay Christmas romance with a bah-humbug bar owner, a recovering country crooner, a small town tavern chock full of unique townsfolk, two geese who are not feeling the Christmas spirit, a gingerbread house bake-off, and a sweet as plum pudding happy ending.

Content warning: This story has references to past substance abuse.

Publication date: November 30, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 186 pages

Review: Under the Mistle-Foe (Christmas Falls Season 2) by Rye Cox

Rating: 4🌈

Under the Mistle-Foe by Rye Cox is another adorable holiday romance in the multi-author series, Christmas Falls, now in its second season. A frenemies to lovers story, it’s more a tale of a misunderstanding from school than an actual enemy relationship. But the real theme is one of grief, mourning, and finally recognition of its impact , on families and homecoming at the holidays

Remy returns home after learning of his father’s injury and need for him at the family diner. The loss of his mother and his grief caused him to leave his home for a job elsewhere. Jett, a man who had never left, has always had a huge crush on Remy since school, something that factored into his actions towards Remy being awkwardly inappropriate and unsolicited then.

The story follows the men as they reconnect, as well as Remy struggles with the town and memories he left behind, including the father who loves him.

There’s much about the story that’s beautifully heartwarming and moving. When it dwells on loss, and Remy’s realization that he was still mourning her loss, then he uses her love for the season to move forward, those moments are special and believable.

The romance is cute, the men adorable, and if it’s a bit quickly pulled together, well, it’s the Christmas season and a small town story. Many of the elements are lovely and the town sparks with joy and familiar characters.

It’s another terrific tale in a heartwarming series.

Christmas Falls, Season 2:

The Snuggle is Real by DJ Jamison Flake It til You Make It by Beth Bolden ❤️

12 Dates of Christmas by Brigham Vaughn

Here Comes Santa Paws by Lee Blair

Under the Mistle-Foe by Rye Cox Christmas Beau by Amy Aislin

No Business Like Snow Business by J.A. Rock & Lisa Henry

Frost Impressions by Kelly Fox

Promise Yule Be Mine by Rhys Everly Mingle All The Way by Hayden Hall

Christmas Falls, Season 1:

Grinch Kisses by DJ Jamison Snowbody Loves You by Jacki James Get Frosted by Amy Aislin

Silent Knight by Beth Bolden

Under the Mistle-Tome by Sammi Cee

Clausing a Scene by Casey Cox

No Elf-ing Way by Hayden Hall

Ready, Set, Glow! by Rye Cox

Scrooge You! By Brigham Vaughn

Buy link

Under the Mistle-Foe

Blurb

Under the mistletoe with my enemy? What else can we do but kiss?

A family emergency brings me back to Christmas Falls after running away from the loss of my mother six years ago. Not much has changed, and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or bad, especially when it seems my high school enemy hasn’t gotten over his habit of circling around me.

Jett is everything I’m not, so full of confidence like he’s never done a single thing wrong in his life. He vibrates life, and I have to admit his presence distracts me from being back in Christmas Falls. What I didn’t expect is for him to take all my attention.

He’d gotten under my skin back then and he’s only dug in deeper since, and I can’t let anyone find out how much I love that fact. Now if only he’d stop stealing my heart with his crookedly perfect smiles…

Christmas Falls is a multi-author M/M romance series set in a small town that thrives on enough holiday charm to rival any Hallmark movie.

Publication date: November 26, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 210 pages

Review: Atticus: Paranormal Council Enforcers Book Two by Taylor Rylan

Rating: 4🌈

This is my first dive into author Taylor Rylan’s Universe of Destined Paranormals. A universe of connected paranormal series, five at the moment, in which there’s fated mates and mpreg/omegaverse stories. I listed all the series in the suggested order of reading below, however, did come into Atticus with no prior series knowledge or universe foundation.

The reason I chose Atticus to explore this multi series world was the lack of mpreg here, one that’s a factor in many of the other novels. This story has two alpha males at its center, and that’s why they are incapable of having any offspring.

The characters are carryovers from prior stories and the events mentioned in the book, some hugely impactful to the characters, may have happened during previous novels. Rylan’s story does bring those threads and backgrounds forward, but it can’t be with the same depth given the length of the book and the current plots that have to be explored.

I did enjoy this story. I found the characters engaging and the plots interesting. The themes, an ongoing series arc of an investigation into paranormal trafficking, especially the young, is handled here without specific details while maintaining an emotional connection.

I really like both Atticus and Brice, and they look to figure into the future storylines as Atticus’s alpha status emerges with regard to the hellhounds. I found that I could get involved in the characters and the many dramatic moments even though I hadn’t read the other series and wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about many aspects of the universe and characters that appeared here.

The writing and plotting was well done and I was engaged in the storyline from the beginning. There’s fifteen books in the Paranormal Council Enforcers and I’ll probably do what I did here, deciding which story interests me most going forward.

If fated mates and a paranormal universe interests you, take a look at the many series and books here. Be aware that most include a mpreg/omegaverse element. But not all.

It’s a definite recommendation.

Cover by Jay Aheer of Simply Defined Art

Paranormal Council Enforcers series:

Ambrosius #1

Atticus #2

Reinhold #3

Garic #4 – Dec 7, 2024

Everett #5

Benjamin #6

Raiden #7

Parker #8

Ramsey #9

Castiel #10

Damien #11

Sebastian #12

Warwick #13

Dimitri #14

Frederick #15

Buy link

Atticus: Paranormal Council Enforcers Book Two

Blurb

Hellhounds don’t have mates. But after a decade of denying his attraction to Brice, Atticus realizes the lion shifter is just that: his fated mate.

Atticus was banished from the demon realm well over a century ago when he could no longer do his master’s bidding. He had been many places but truly felt at home when he found Honey Creek. His attraction to Brice was unexpected, and when it became too much for him to control his beast, he left, leaving the lion alpha behind.

Brice wasn’t sure what the fates were doing when they gave him a human male for his mate, but he didn’t care. He just wanted Atticus and the life he knew they could have together. When Atticus left, never acknowledging their connection, Brice tried to make the best of what fate had gifted him.

When trouble threatens Brice’s sister and family, he rushes to New Orleans to help. While there, he makes a life-changing discovery about his missing mate. Atticus isn’t a human, and he’s never truly been gone. He’s now a council enforcer, and the hellhound is hell-bent on claiming his mate. But will Brice give in easily?

Atticus is Book Two in the Paranormal Council Enforcers series. Each book in this series will focus on a different couple, but these books are not standalones and should be read in order as there is an ongoing backstory that won’t be resolved quickly. This is a fated mate story in an MPreg world, but this is an alpha/alpha pairing and there is no pregnancy in this story. You should expect all the normal shenanigans, and remember that sometimes fated mates don’t necessarily understand what is going on.

Publisher: Mortimer Press, LLC (July 15, 2022)
Publication date: July 15, 2022
Language: English
Print length: 304 pages

Welcome to the Universe of Destined Paranormals

The Universe of Destined Paranormals is a world of interconnected series set in one universe. Because of this, it is recommended that you read the books in chronological order.

Honey Creek Den Series-When the child of the created warlock goes searching for his mate, a domino effect occurs and the den is blessed by the Fates.

Timber Valley Wolf Pack Series-Magic is changing and the wolf pack is next to be blessed by the Fates. Does Edison have something to do with it?

Warlocks of Amherst Series-Edison’s warlocks have finally been blessed by the Fates and it’s their turn to find their fated Ones.

Vampires of the Beloved Gem Series-Master Nikolai’s vampires aboard the Beloved Gem realized that their time has come to find their beloved ones.

Paranormal Council Enforcers Series-the magic has shifted and the Paranormal Council has been formed. Will the chosen enforcers be next to find their forever mates?

Review: Fourth Wing (The Empyrean Book 1) by Rebecca Yarros

Rating: 5🌈

“A dragon without its rider is a tragedy.

A rider without their dragon is dead.”

—Article One, Section One The Dragon Rider’s Codex”

Ages ,decades ago, when I first read and fell deeply in love with Anne McCaffrey and her Dragonriders of Pern , there hasn’t been a book written about dragonriders and dragons that I’ve been able to pass on. They call to me, with their dragon’s roar of a siren’s song. And read them I must.

Completely by accident I came across this author and series, Fourth Wing (The Empyrean Book 1) by Rebecca Yarros, about another young woman who becomes a dragon rider.

The world building and characters are incredible, and the writing passionately fraught with mystery and drama. Especially the circumstances under which a somewhat frail 22 year old Violet Sorrengail finds herself thrown into, not into her desired path of becoming a Scribe, but into the brutal world and journey towards the possibility of becoming a dragon rider.

Yarros has surprises and twists around every narrative bend. This is at its heart a gripping tale, a young woman who has to fight for her life, under conditions she never imagined she’d be in, learning about herself, and who she really is at her core. Plus there’s these amazing sentient dragons with a governing power and outlook that’s framing part of the same world, a perspective that’s only revealed a bit at a time.

This story is framed around Violet’s struggles to overcome her physical limitations while surviving everything, mentally, emotionally, and physically that the school and her fellow students are throwing at her. This includes attempts on her life, as the less candidates there are than those standing have the better chance of being successful in becoming a rider.

The experiences and school itself are brutal in every sense of the word. And it makes for such compelling moments that I couldn’t put the book down.

The Basgiath War College is so well written, each aspect of it developed so that as the storylines expand and become more complex, so too do the different elements to the College, including the history.

This attention to detail and the way it’s so beautifully woven into the story continues with the students and their teachers, the families, and right to the dragons, who are breathtaking in scope.

This isn’t a LGBT story. While sexuality is part of the story, in terms of what gender riders are attracted to plays no importance. Some have lovers of the same gender, here the main character has a hetero relationship.

Yarrow is also developing political themes and conflicts, current and historical one that figure heavily into relationships and status struggles. While densely packed with plots and characters, Fourth Wing never feels weighed down by the elements its characters have to endure and carry forward into the second book.

This is an extraordinary story and the characters grab on to the reader’s heart immediately. As do these events that are shaping up to become an exciting, emotional epic series.

If you love dragons, adventure, and epic fantasy, put this on your list of books to read.

The Empyrean series is best enjoyed in order.

Reading Order:

Book #1 Fourth Wing

Book #2 Iron Flame

Book #3 Onyx Storm releasing Jan 21,2025

Buy link

Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, 1)

Blurb

Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from #1 New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general―also known as her tough-as-talons mother―has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter―like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda―because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

The Empyrean series is best enjoyed in order.

Reading Order:

Book #1 Fourth Wing

Book #2 Iron Flame

— Fourth Wing (The Empyrean Book 1) by Rebecca Yarros

Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books (May 2, 2023)
Publication date: May 2, 2023
Language: English
Print length: 643 pages

Review: Phase Shift (Chaos Station Book 5) by Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen

Rating: 5🌈

Phase Shift brings the epic saga of the crew of the Chaos, specifically that of the damaged super soldier Zander Anatolius and his partner, Felix Ingesson. Felix, former prisoner of war, engineer and co-owner of the Chaos, carries his own trauma from the war inside, mentally and emotionally, and on his body.

After all Felix and Zander have been through, along with the rest of the crew of the Chaos, it’s far from over as Project Dreamweaver, the failed AEF super soldier experiment that continues to haunt Zan, rises up to threaten them all again.

Characters Qek, Elias and Ness who are such a fantastic, integral part of this series and as Felix’s found family, are here in their own emotional roles. The Guardians, an enigmatic race that’s a guiding force for the known species introduced here, seem more relatable by the dramatic impact brought on by the circumstances as created by the authors and wrought by the human race’s need for more.

As we know, the emotional, damaged and highly complex nature of the men involved and the very nature of the themes involved in the series makes finalizing all the threads and storylines a complicated process.

But in this action packed, grab your tissues, heart pounding finale, Burke and Jensen bring their couple and series to a resounding satisfying conclusion. And then gives the reader a fabulous honeymoon short story to go along with it at the end.

There’s a few things that I wanted a tiny bit more exploration but this universe is so vast, the potential for more stories so full that it’s never really going to be enough. At least for this reader.

But for now, I’m happy. Especially after that gift of a short story where I even got to see my favorite aliens, the Resonance, one more.

So satisfying and this one is a series and book that’s definitely on my recommendation list. Happy reading!

Series – read them in the order below:

Chaos Station 1
Lonely Shore 2
Skip Trace 3
Inversion Point 4
Phase Shift 5 – series finale

Buy link:

Phase Shift (Chaos Station Book 5)

Blurb

Zander and Felix’s relationship has always pushed boundaries—personal and professional alike—but their love and commitment is stronger than ever. So strong that Zander’s ready to ask commitment-shy Felix the question of a lifetime when he’s interrupted. The Chaos is being hacked, and crucial, top secret information about the project that created Zander—and his fellow super soldiers—has been leaked.

Neither man could have expected the enormity of what’s discovered at the end of the data trail: an entire colony of super soldiers run by the very doctor who changed Zander’s life forever. And now she needs them both—Zander to train her new crop of soldiers, and Felix’s new crystalline arm to stabilize their body chemistry.

With help from the unlikeliest of allies, Zander, Felix and the Chaos crew must destroy the project and all its ill-gotten information. But when the team is split up and Felix is MIA after a dangerous run, galactic disaster is a very real possibility…and Zander may have missed his chance to ask for forever.

Publisher: Ghost Ship Books; 2nd edition (August 27, 2024)
Publication date: August 27, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 352 pages

Review: Cast A Spell (Mages and Mates Book 4) by Andy Gallo

Rating: 4.75🌈

Andy Gallo writes about family love, family dynamics and relationships so beautifully, no matter what the theme or situations his characters are facing. Whether it’s a fantasy story, paranormal romance or something completely different, it’s in the realistic relationships between the characters he’s creating and the firm, strong foundations on which their lives have been set that we believe in, magical or not.

And that’s never more apparent than in his Mages and Mates series and this novel in particular.

Throughout this series, book by book, we’ve gotten to know the politically powerful , magical Hollen family as the brothers discover their mates and the fact that they’re part of a larger plan to save their world.

Each novel, by design, has slowly been revealing more of a sinister plot to destroy the Great Ward along with the other thread of the ancient guardians, four magical fated mate couple in a designated place, who are being replaced by the newly mated Hollen brothers. But there’s also more to this still evolving series arc and we get more of those elements here.

In Cast A Spell, Gallo delivers several great new twists and it really makes this series even better in terms of character development and the depths of the storylines. It also derives from the family, on two sides at its core.

The Hollen family, the mages , with Otto now being the brother in line to make his own match and potentially be another chosen new guardian along with whoever is his mate. But there’s a secret or maybe a danger he’s hiding.

The other side is a family or herd of unicorns, one known more for its isolation out in Montana. Its oldest son and heir, Thalion Eisenwald, knows he might be the one the Hollens are looking to as a possible match for Otto, or one of his other brothers.

I don’t want to get into the specifics of this wonderfully fascinating and complex story but it’s got brotherly dynamics that feel very familiar and real even when based in a fantasy setting, as well as realistic emotional moments and inner turmoil that comes from the same places that we can relate to. Fear for those we love.

Gallo has given us a strong narrative, full of excitement, great action, and believable character development that happens between brothers and lovers and multiple characters. All that while bringing together the major elements and characters that’s required to move everything forward to a higher, even darker and more complex storyline for the series.

I believe there’s only one book left. And it comes out next year. That’s Spellbound. I can’t wait for that story. But this amazing universe deserves far more attention than this series. And these characters and magical creatures need more attention and stories. I hope that happens.

I highly recommend this series and the book but none are standalones. All must be read in the order they are written in order to understand the characters and the arc development.

Cover Art by Alex Forza

Mages and Mates series:

Break the Spell #1

It Spells Trouble #2

Under a Spell #3

Cast A Spell #4

Spellbound #5 – June 26,2025

Buy link:

Cast A Spell: An MM Paranormal Romance (Mages and Mates Book 4)

Blurb

Otto Hollen has always protected his younger brothers. Three of them have been chosen to be guardians for the next Great Ward, and Otto’s determined to avoid the final position. Yes, being chosen is a great honor, but Otto’s convinced it will force Owen, his youngest brother, to sacrifice himself for the greater good. Otto would rather die himself than let that happen – even if he has to fight the Earth itself.

Thalion Eisenwald should be celebrating. His father, the unicorn alpha, named Thalion to be his heir. It’s what he’s wanted his entire life. So why does the arrival of two Hollen brothers make him uneasy? He’s heard rumors of new guardians being chosen, but those are stories. Besides, Thalion plans to be the next alpha of the herd, not a guardian for the world.

When the Earth chooses Otto as Thalion’s mate, Otto shockingly rejects the bond. Thalion is furious, hurt, and grudgingly impressed. But their brothers’ capture changes everything. To save them, Otto will need to accept the bond with Thalion. Faced with an impossible choice, they desperately search for search for a third option. One that doesn’t result in those they love ending up dead.

Cast a Spell is a 75K word fated mates romance with high-stakes magical battles and a guaranteed happily-ever-after. This fourth and penultimate book in the Mages and Mates series. It can be read as a stand alone, but it’s best to read the series in order. Cast a Spell includes talking swords, ancient curses, and a no nonsense unicorn grandmother who dishes out life lessons with a large scoop of tough love.

Publisher: ; 1st edition (November 21, 2024)
Publication date: November 21, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 290 pages

Review: Once Upon a Holiday Vacation (Once Upon a Holiday story) by Annabella Michaels

Rating: 3.25🌈

Once Upon a Holiday Vacation by Annabella Michaels is a sweet best friends to lovers holiday romance that’s got a strong start but predictable ending that’s not as satisfying.

The boyhood friends, complete opposites , dark bookish Easton Beckett, a librarian, to his outgoing , firefighter blond best friend, Weston Holt, have been so attached to each other that their nicknames are East and West.

A nice narrative touch.

The main characters, Easton’s fellow librarian, and his family, who are all introduced into the storyline as important to Easton and also to West, as he’s been a integral member of their family as well. It’s all lovely, sweet and real.

The middle section of the story where Easton and West re-evaluate their relationship from friends to lovers while on a cruise is also a very sweet, sexy element. Michaels uses established couples around them to show our main characters exactly what their bond and relationship is like or could be. Really the cruise is just a relatable experience until the end. Then it falls completely flat for me.

The last fourth of the story just doesn’t work for me on multiple levels , and while the author delivers the anticipated happy holiday finish in terms of the romance relationship, how that was achieved felt contrived and juvenile. It went against what the author had created in terms of a long term history between the two characters and the type of unspoken communication that existed between them.

So a sweet story that was relatable most of the book only to be undone by the dramatic thread towards the end.

Nice holiday story if this doesn’t bother you.

Cover design by Kelly York

Once Upon a Holiday series – 8 books:

Once Upon a Second Chance by Davidson King

Once Upon A Mistletoe Kiss by Sammi Cee

Once Upon a Holiday Vacation by Annabella Michaels

Once Upon a Lullaby Lane by K York

Once Upon a Christmas Con by Skylar M Cates

Once Upon A Christmas Song by Mary Calmes

Once Upon a Yuletide Romance by RJ Peterson

Once Upon A Goth Dog Solstice by R L Merrill

Buy link

Once Upon a Holiday Vacation

Blurb

One Bed, Two Best Friends.

Easton Beckett has always cherished the Christmas season, but this year, his parents are off to help his aunt in Wyoming, leaving him to celebrate alone. But his best friend, Weston Holt—his outgoing and popular opposite—has a surprise: tickets to an all-expense-paid Holiday Cruise he won through a local radio station.

Excitement builds as they leave for a week in the Caribbean, celebrating Christmas at sea and stopping in the Bahamas. Their adventure takes a turn, however, when they discover they’ve been assigned to the honeymoon suite. Easton is about to correct the misunderstanding when Weston convinces him to pretend they’re a couple.

As they navigate their week together, the tension between them grows palpable—each stolen glance and playful touch igniting a longing that neither dares to acknowledge. With only one bed and mounting emotions, both grapple with their feelings. As New Year’s Eve approaches, will they find the courage to admit their true feelings, or will fear keep them apart?

Once Upon A Holiday Vacation is part of a multi-author series, Once Upon A Holiday Story. Each book can be read as a standalone and in any order. What links these books together is The Hook’s Book Nook Traveling Library, a library on wheels owned by two old ladies in love.

Publication date: November 22, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 151 pages

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