Tag: A MelanieM Review

Review:  Riddles & Rivals (The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club Book 5) by K. Sterling

Rating: 5🌈

Riddles & Rivals, an enemies to lovers story, was everything I anticipated it to be and more.  Involving two of the most compelling and layered individuals in this series, Sterling delves deeply into the men’s heavily woven lives that includes their families connected thru their often dark histories. As the last of the original mine owning founding families of Bisbee, Mercer and Baxter’s animosity started in their adolescence.  Fueled by the difference in their backgrounds, the deep religious beliefs, and the disparity climate of the household in which each man was raised.  

Riddles & Rivals sees Mayor Mercer Hathaway asking his longtime enemy Baxter Dawson for help. Mercer is tearing down the ominous Hathaway House and wants an answer to the famous old unsolved crime of what really happened to Julia Lowell.  A crime that has long been thought to have been committed by a Hathaway.  The answers might be in Hathaway House and they have a weekend to find out before it’s torn down.

That’s the bare minimum of this complex, character driven, beautifully crafted mystery. It’s got ghosts determined by their own agendas, ancient passions and two men who find themselves in a strange place where they unravel long held secrets and their own destiny.

Sterling’s forward asks reviewers not to divulge the spoilers of the story and I won’t. They are far too fantastic. 

I thought the men, their strengths and struggles with their pasts, especially Mercer’s inner voice as he wrestles with the events and his emotions, are so vivid and powerful.

Riddles & Rivals (The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club Book 5) by K. Sterling is a highlight of the series and a fabulous read.  A must in itself and in the series.

Loving the covers.

The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club :

  • Haunted Hearts #1
  • Moonlight & Madness #2
  • Unhappy Medium #3
  • Grave Expectations #4
  • Riddles & Rivals #5
  • Shadows & Reservations #6
  • Heart & Soulless #7
  • Specters & Sparks # 8

Buy link

        Riddles & Rivals (The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club Book 5)

    

Blurb

One haunted mansion. Two lifelong enemies. Three days to solve one of Bisbee’s most notorious mysteries.It’s nearly Valentine’s Day but it might as well be Christmas for Baxter Dawson when Bisbee’s mayor, Mercer Hathaway, knocks on his door with an irresistible proposition for the town’s favorite crime solver. Mercer’s planning to tear down The Hathaway House and burn everything inside it to free himself of his family’s dark legacy. But first, Mercer wants to find the answer to a riddle that’s plagued him for decades: who killed Julia Lowell and why does she haunt him every time he’s a guest at The Copper Queen Hotel? The answer is somewhere inside The Hathaway House but the real mystery is: can these two bitter rivals survive a weekend together in a mansion full of ghosts and Hathaway Family skeletons without killing each other?

  • Publisher: Bawdy Books (June 30, 2021)
  • Publication date: June 30, 2021
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 178 pages

Review:  Fated Mates and When to Keep Them by AJ Sherwood

Rating: 4🌈

Fated Mates and When to Keep Them by AJ Sherwood is both the third book in the series and the first one that should be read.  It’s a topsy-turvey world in this series in which Sherwood wrote the series in backwards order.  

It’s a blame the characters who shuffled for the loudest voices writing moment.

I read them backwards, of course, and absolutely enjoyed Fated Mates and When to Keep Them, where I got the vampire origin story, at least from Fernando’s family’s perspective centuries ago.  We also get the adorable romance between Fernando and Noel, a couple we’ve seen only as an established mate powerful duo in the other books. 

I really enjoyed reading their journey. If a mafia boss and an orphan can have a violence filled relationship, that’s equally filled with smooching, cookies , music, and flying bodies, this was it! A highly entertaining romantic adventure!

I’d love to see a continuation of this, with some of the other, equally interesting and exciting characters get their own romances.  

A definite rec! 

Correct Reading Order (per the author and characters)

  • Fated Mates and When to Keep Them #3
  • Fated Mates and How to Woo Them #2
  • Fated Mates and Where to Find Them #1

Buy Link:

        Fated Mates and When to Keep Them

    

Blurb

Noel is desperate for cash. So PA for the mafia boss it is, or he risks losing his childhood home. Too bad the job also comes with a grumpy vampire boss. 

Family has been Fernando’s priority for centuries, so why does his adorable PA suddenly stir long-forgotten feelings?

Killing anyone that endangers Noel counts as a romantic gesture, right? Asking for a vampire. 

Tags: 

I am apparently writing this series backwards, so have book zero everyone, mafia, vampires, cute boys in trouble, this story is pure crack, I’m not even sorry, blood and sex, dino nuggies, hurt and comfort, bad guys get karma, stubborn to lovers, music is their love language, mindless violence and fluff, cinnamon roll protection squad assemble!, boss-employee trope

  • Publisher: Raconteur House LLC (August 16, 2024)
  • Publication date: August 16, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 205 pages

Review:  Lighting The Darkness (Carnival of Mysteries 2) by Eden Winters

Rating: 4.5🌈

Lighting The Darkness , a novel in the second Carnival of Mysteries collection, is a sequel to Eden Winters’ marvelous supernatural science fiction thriller, Darkness.

That book wasn’t a part of this series, and that’s very complex universe is the basis for this story and that cast of characters is central to the journey of Lio and Bel here.

Lio and Bel mirror the roles somewhat of the first couple in Darkness, that of Atlanta PD Det. Morrisey James and Farren Austin, all from the dying realm Domus who came to Earth by way of inhabiting the human bodies of those in the process of dying. 

Unlike the first couple, for Bel and Lio, this is a separate and highly tragic/traumatic experience.  FYI for readers because it happens with Lio on the page. 

Winters does an excellent job of weaving in the background information for those who haven’t read the preceding novel.  But the characters from that book and the agency they work for is such a substantial part of Lighting the Darkness, I highly suggest you read it.

The author throws in some interesting twists and a great turn with respect to the origin of the world and mystery. Wonderful work.

One of my favorite aspects of the story is how Winters used the Carnival of Mysteries to not only be a central element of the story but to continue to be an emotional component that moves the story forward.  Truly one of the best uses of the theme in this collection.  

Lighting the Darkness is a terrific story, situated within a complex universe, beautifully plotted, full of fascinating characters and layered storylines. Don’t miss out on it or it’s connected novel, Darkness.

Beautiful covers.

Carnival of Mysteries 2 -2024

🔹Rook’s Time by Kim Fielding (sequel to Crow’s Fate-2023)

🔹The Wrong Familiar by Megan Derr✅

🔹The Villain Who Wasn’t by Liv Rancourt 

🔹Blue Lightning by BL Maxwell 

🔹Magic Escaping by Kaje Harper (sequel to Magic Burning 2023)

🔹Lighting the Darkness by Eden Winters – sequel to Darkness 

🔹You Can Save Me by R L Merrill-Aug 21,2024

🔹Airs Above the Ground by Rachel Langella-Sept 10,2024

🔹Go for the Climate by Ander C. Lark

🔹 Flames of the Arcane by Nicole Dennis 

🔹Midnight on the Midway by Morgan Brice 

🔹Dust Bowl Magic by Zam Maxfield 🔹Dragonspark by Elizabeth Silver

Buy link 

        Lighting the Darkness: Carnival of Mysteries

    

Blurb

Only Light can balance Darkness.

Lio wakes in someone else’s battered body with plenty of questions but no answers. Who is he? Who are the strangers who rescued him? Why do they call him Tenebris and Darkness? And why does everyone treat him like a feral dog about to attack?

Bel Am’I’s home world of Domus died moments after his escape, trapping him in the human realm with a clear mission. As Light, he must prevent Darkness from destroying Terra and the Domusians who’ve escaped there. Failure will doom billions to certain death, but how can he locate and balance a single, hidden being who doesn’t want to be found?

A mysterious carnival unites Lio and Bel, who must work together to uncover Lio’s true identity and stop him from accidentally annihilating the world. Yet someone doesn’t want them to succeed, someone who will stop at nothing to achieve the total destruction of both realms—even pitting Light against Darkness.

The battle for the end begins…

Lighting the Darkness is part of the multi-author Carnival of Mysteries Series and a side story to Eden Winters’ Darkness. Each book includes at least one visit to Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries, a magical, multiverse traveling show full of unusual acts, games, and rides. The Carnival changes to suit the world it’s on, so each visit is unique and special. This book contains characters from Darkness as well as new ones, alternate realms, a twist on soul mates, and bad guys. I mean, evil, horrible, terrible guys. Definitely the type you wouldn’t bring home to Mother. And one cookie-baking demon.

  • Publication date: August 14, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 295 pages

Carnival of Mysteries series. 2023 and 2024:

  • Crow’s Fate by Kim Fielding❤️
  • Step Right Up by L.A. Witt 
  • Magic Burning by Kaje Harper ❤️
  • Night-blooming Hearts by Megan Derr
  • Go For The Company by Ander C. Lark❤️
  • Roustabout by Morgan Brice❤️
  • Assassin by Accident by E.J. Russell❤️
  • Dryad on Fire by Nicole Dennis ❤️
  • The Extraordinary Locket of Elijah Gray by Kayleigh Sky 
  • Smoke and Mirrors by Elizabeth Silver 
  • You Can Do Magic by R.L. Merrill
  • Sting in the Tail by TA Moore 
  • Gods and Monsters by Rachel Langella 
  • The Black Robes of Flanders by Sara Ellis 

Carnival of Mysteries 2 -2024

🔹Rook’s Time by Kim Fielding (sequel to Crow’s Fate-2023)

🔹The Wrong Familiar by Megan Derr

🔹The Villain Who Wasn’t by Liv Rancourt 

🔹Blue Lightning by BL Maxwell 

🔹Magic Escaping by Kaje Harper (sequel to Magic Burning 2023)

🔹Lighting the Darkness by Eden Winters – Aug 14,2024

🔹You Can Save Me by R L Merrill-Aug 21,2024

🔹Airs Above the Ground by Rachel Langella-Sept 10,2024

🔹Go for the Climate by Ander C.Lark 

🔹Flames of the Arcane by Nicole Dennis 

🔹Midnight on the Midway by Morgan Brice 

🔹Dust Bowl Magic by Zam Maxfield 🔹Dragonspark by Elizabeth Silver

Review:  Grave Expectations (The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club Book 4) by K. Sterling

Rating: 3.5🌈

I really am invested in K Sterling’s universe she’s creating for The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club series but the characters relationship, or specifically the character of Dr. Flip Satis really didn’t work well for me.  Or his storyline.

It’s unfortunate because the character paired with him, Dr Wallace Brinkley, Bisbee’s ME, is one I’ve become very fond of.  He’s quirky, older, knowledgeable, and his way of thinking and understanding his patients in the morgue is fascinating.

So having Sterling him in an age gap developing relationship with someone who’s been, it turns out, stalking him because of a crush, is problematic for starters.  The issues with Dr. Flip Satis continues because every time there’s an instance where he might be a little bit more appealing, it turns out that he’s still full of secrets. Ones he’s keeping hidden, even from the “man he loves “.   

This we learn from Flip’s inner monologue, a conversation that is full of hints about how he should be spilling secrets but doesn’t.  That gets old fast, in the narrative and with the character. 

This also impacts on how I perceive the relationship and the investigation proceedings.  

All in all, this wasn’t one of the strongest stories and I didn’t find Flip a character I liked.  Maybe if more of his history and background had been written in, but instead as is, Flip was a person I didn’t connect with.

But it does explore the personality of another ambiguous character and sets him up nicely for a book to come.  Can’t wait for that story.  

The town and support cast are always interesting in these roles and investigations.  Read it for that.

The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club :

  • Haunted Hearts #1
  • Moonlight & Madness #2
  • Unhappy Medium #3
  • Grave Expectations #4
  • Riddles & Rivals #5
  • Shadows & Reservations #6
  • Heart & Soulless #7
  • Specters & Sparks # 8

Buy link

        Grave Expectations (The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club Book 4)

    

Blurb

Dr. Flip Satis is in Bisbee for all the wrong reasons, but he’s chasing the right man. He’s wanted Dr. Wallace Brinkley since Flip sat in Dr. Brinkley’s anatomy class but the chivalrous older medical examiner never acted on the chemistry between them. After making a deal with the devil to be closer to his mentor and eternal crush, a summer monsoon and a dead body throw Flip’s plans into disarray.

Wallace came to Bisbee looking for a slower pace, but now his one temptation has arrived in the eccentric former mining town. When Flip needs his help, Wallace can’t turn his back on the beguiling young doctor with the haunting blue eyes. 

As Flip becomes the primary suspect in the murder of a notorious businessman, Wallace turns to the Bachelors’ club for assistance. Can he solve the crime without giving into temptation, or will falling for Flip lead to grave expectations…

  • Publisher: Bawdy Books (April 29, 2021)
  • Publication date: April 29, 2021
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 140 pages

Review:  Unhappy Medium (The Bisbee Batchelors’ Club Book 3) by K Sterling 

Rating: 4.75🌈

I’m a big fan of author K Sterling and that includes this fascinating paranormal series, The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club.  It takes place in a real, absolutely intriguing historical mining town of Bisbee, Arizona.  

Definitely take the time to check into Bisbee, look at the history and pictures, as it’s a great place to go for a trip for its art,  ghosts, and history.   Don’t miss out on reading the author’s notes as well.

The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club, that group of well known, single men in Bisbee that meet at The Bisbee Bean Company for coffee have slowly each been getting their own stories and romances. Their lives are interwoven with each other’s as well as their stories. 

It’s common for ghosts, witches, mediums, and the paranormal to play big roles in the storylines as the town is steeped with haunted houses and historical events that resonate.

This book turned out to be a favorite. The characters, Noah Kennedy, younger brother to Hal, and Kieran, a firefighter, are two souls who are bound together and meeting each other again. This is a great element but a tough one to get right and the author does. We see it happen, the spontaneous, spiritual sparking connection and how that affects both men.  If you are thinking instant acceptance, you’re wrong. 

So it’s an intense, revelatory dance around this soul connection that’s pulling them together, while a murder case that involves Noah is being investigated.  Both threads are beautifully written and executed to pull the reader into the story and make them fully invested in every aspect of this book and these characters journey.

Old familiar characters are here to help them and support the investigation.  There are new characters that are also involved that will be established further as towns citizens.

I can’t wait to get further into this series and explore more of the ghostly history and paranormal romance to come.

Highly recommend!

Great cover!

The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club :

  • Haunted Hearts #1
  • Moonlight & Madness #2
  • Unhappy Medium #3
  • Grave Expectations #4
  • Riddles & Rivals #5
  • Shadows & Reservations #6
  • Heart & Soulless #7
  • Specters & Sparks # 8

Buy link

        Unhappy Medium (The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club)

    

Blurb

The cards don’t lie… He drew the Two of Cups and the Hierophant. Noah Kennedy might be an unwilling empath but he knows better than to doubt the deck or turn his will against fate. He’s spent his whole life running from his gift and believed he was cursed. Anyone would, after a childhood overshadowed by the afterlife. Knowing too much about the living and the dead can make life nearly impossible. Seeing his brother happily engaged leaves Noah emotionally adrift and tired of being a burden. Noah wonders if he has a purpose, other than holding his brother back and making his eye twitch. The Two of Cups. Kieran Watts is the one. He’s Noah’s soulmate and his future but the otherwise fearless firefighter runs after a meet cute in a hot dog joint reveals a shockingly intense and sensual psychic bond. Kieran has deep emotional scars and does his best to avoid Noah but can’t deny the pull he feels whenever they cross paths. And he certainly can’t resist the heat and the sparks when they touch. The Hierophant. A not-so-chance encounter with a local witch sets Noah on a path our young medium hadn’t foreseen. Or refused to see until a murderer attempts to frame Noah’s new guardian angel and teacher. Noah begrudgingly accepts that he could be a powerful witch and turns to The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club for help finding a killer and learns he’s not as much of a lost cause as he thought he was.

  • Publisher: Bawdy Books (March 29, 2021)
  • Publication date: March 29, 2021
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 143 pages

Review:  Chaos Station (Chaos Station Book 1) by Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen

Rating: 4.5🌈

I’m absolutely hooked by this universe.  A science fiction epic romance adventure, originally published in 2013, authors Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen have released this marvelous series again, starting with their first novel written together, Chaos. 

I missed this first time around so I’m so excited to read this series and book now.  The tale of the journey of the crew of the space ship Chaos, specifically two men who have a long way ahead of them before they can find their happy ending, gets a remarkable launch here.

Told from several perspectives of the crew and found family involved in this  epic science fiction adventure, it begins with a mission.  

The universe the authors introduce us to is an intergalactic postwar one, which is still slowly rebuilding from the devastating impact of a war that saw millions of lives and stations lost.  That cost is seen on a smaller darker scale through the wounded, damaged characters that are Felix Ingession, the ship’s engineer, and Major Zander Anatolius, a covert operative during the war against the alien stin. But they aren’t the only ones who have been affected.  And the ship’s crew reflects the fascinating multi species universe of this series and found family.

Zander and Felix were long time friends, both growing up and at the Academy. But the war separates them just as romantic feelings became known.  It’s nine years when they dramatically meet again as the story begins. 

Burke and Jensen’s story is compelling and action packed.  Terrific characters and dialogue, with vividly detailed scenes and astonishing wonderful world building. It’s full of criminal organizations filling the void that the war created, malfunctioning experimental super soldiers, POW torture ( both sides), and a war that might start again.   All threaded through with the relationships , romantic and otherwise, of the crew of the Chaos. 

That of Zander and Felix aka Flick will be long and torturous.  This is the beginning of their reunion and they’ve each been through so much personally that just a hug is a tremendous thing. 

The books are all available so I’m thrilled to read them together without any waiting for a release date.

I’m happy to recommend Chaos Station (Chaos Station Book 1) by Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen and I’m on to Lonely Shore next!

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:

        Chaos Station

    

Blurb

“You’re not real. Felix Ingesson is dead.”

The war with the alien stin is over, but Felix Ingesson has given up on seeing his lover, Zander Anatolius, ever again. Zander’s military file is sealed tighter than an airlock. A former prisoner of war, Felix is attempting a much quieter life keeping his ship, the Chaos, aloft. He almost succeeds, until Zander walks on board and insists that Felix isn’t real.

A retired, broken super soldier, Zander is reeling from the aftereffects of his experimental training and wants nothing more than to disappear and wait for insanity to claim him. Then he sees footage of a friend and ally—a super soldier like him—murdering an entire security squad with her bare hands and a cold, dead look in her eyes. He never expected to find Felix, the man he’d thought dead for years, on the ship he hired to track her down.

Working with Felix to rescue his teammate is a dream come true…and a nightmare. Zander has no exit strategy that will leave Felix unscathed—or his own heart unbroken.

  • Publisher: Ghost Ship Books; 2nd edition (July 23, 2024)
  • Publication date: July 23, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 351 pages

Review:  Flash (Ink Slingers Book 1) by KM Neuhold 

Rating: 3.25🌈

Ink Slingers is a new series that follows and contains the characters from both the Four Bear Construction Series and Big Bull Mechanics. 

As Flash, the first book to focus on the group of tattoo artists we have met, it will introduce new people as well, brought in to provide additional romantic partners and cast to this enlarged universe. 

The newest couple is Arrow, the  older motorcycle riding owner of the tattoo shop, and Lewis, the young “twink” who recently arrived in town to open his new flower shop.  The location of this new floral shop just happens to be next door to the Ink Slingers.  This element in the story leads to a series of increasingly juvenile pranks between the shops as well as a plot thread that makes little sense where neither man knows what the other does for a job. 

Flash, meaning a standard 

piece of ink artwork available to anyone, is a sexy contemporary romance that is light, a quick read and has some interesting characters.

However, unlike the other novels from preceding series, I just couldn’t connect with it.  It starts with the pranks plot threads. I don’t find pranks funny.  Instead they are often actions that border more along the lines of harassment and bullying.

Here?  Neuhold clearly meant it to be funny and cute, and each business used it to create a positive effect.  But honestly, these are grown businessmen, one trying to establish a new business and identity in the community, and this is what they do? The author doesn’t have Arrow the owner at least investigate what his shop and employees are doing against a new business next door? 

The one that he is having a relationship with but isn’t aware that Lewis owns that very store? SMH

And Lewis isn’t even aware that the motorcycle riding hottie he’s in bed with often is the tattoo shop owner next door? No one Googles anyone anymore? Especially Lewis with his trust issues?

And Jag’s character is just turning mean.  I’m not sure why Neuhold thinks Jag’s behavior and words are funny or even things to overlook, but his fellow artists seemingly give his character a free pass.  Another no here.

A cute dog , who I do like, just doesn’t help to connect me to a story and characters that just pop with issues.  

Others will find they like Flash more than I did.  I’ll be interested in seeing if the next story has a similar or different slant to it. 

Ink Slingers:

Flash #1

Virgin Skin #2 – November 1,2024

Buy link

        Flash (Ink Slingers Book 1)

    

Blurb 

A tattooed silver fox, a dramatic florist, and the epic prank war standing in the way of their happily ever after. Let the fun begin… 

A chance encounter during a flash rainstorm isn’t supposed to be anything serious, just a little fun to pass the time. So why can’t I stop thinking about Lewis weeks later? 

Running into him a second time feels like fate, but it’s obvious he isn’t interested in anything more than casual. 

I’ve never managed to leave a fling where it belongs before, but there’s a first time for everything, right? 

Besides, who has time for anything but a quick fling when we’re in the middle of a prank war With the twink who owns the flower shop next door. I haven’t met the poor guy yet, but if I ever do, I’ll have to tell him that a store full of rubber duckies is just the price you pay for messing with the Ink Slingers. 

There are goats in my tattoo shop and drag queens delivering crude singing telegrams. Will I ever get untangled from this mess? And, more importantly, will Lewis ever be interested in more than a good time or is this thing between us nothing more than a Flash tattoo that will fade with time?

Flash is a “they don’t know they’re enemies”, lust at first sight, “we can totally keep this thing casual” mm romance featuring a silver fox tattoo artist and a snarky florist twink. First in the Ink Slingers series set in the world of Four Bears Construction.

  • Publication date: August 2, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 206 pages

Review: SOS HOTEL: No Rest for the Wicked # 5 by Adam Vex ( Ariana Nash)

Rating: 5🌈

Secrets Are Out! Adam, Vee, and Victor are all finally on the same page! They’re all together romantically and in battle! Bad beings beware!

This maniacally wonderful world gets even crazier in a sexy, action packed, “let all the secrets fly “ story.  It’s jammed full with our fav bunch of fantastic paranormal characters from the SOS hotel, a mission to save a family that ends up becoming so much more! 

In the meantime, there’s explosions, debris, lots of cleaning, Adam’s secrets are out and our favorite triad comes together, finally! With a lot of snark and sexy stuff. Love this narrative so much.

No Rest for the Wicked’s absolutely 

yeets the prophecy into forward motion with astonishing speed here, also with some of my favorite scenes and conversations. 

The ending is so satisfying and sets up the next installment in the series, Luxury To Die For. I’m hooked so I hope this dramatic finale gets dragged out a bit longer. 

If you haven’t been reading the notes that come before and after the novel itself, you’re missing out.  Check out the messages and ramblings from Adam and Vee where all the credits are listed at the beginning and the texts at the end. Priceless!

Yes, this is a must read and definitely recommended series and story. But do read the trigger warnings!

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 – September 30,2024

Buy link

        SOS HOTEL: No Rest for the Wicked

    

Blurb:

The fifth book in the whacky SOS HOTEL series… 

Closed for gremlin extermination…

*

Warning: SOS Hotel contains explicit language, situations, and content that some readers may find uncomfortable. And gremlins.

  • Publisher: Crazy Ace Publishing (August 9, 2024)
  • Publication date: August 9, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 214 pages

Review:  Smoke and Mirrors (Fortune Favors the Fae novel) by Kai Butler 

Rating: 5🌈

In Smoke and Mirrors, a novel in the Fortune Favors the Fae fantasy multi-author fantasy series, Kai Butler creates a group of characters and a place called Flower that just begs for a series of its own.

In what starts out as a magical undercover mission that goes sideways, Butler then takes the characters on a journey of healing, homecoming, and revelations.  That it’s incredibly action-packed, romantic, and full of layered character growth and development is also what drives this story and its numbers of threads forward. We connect with them and the place. We become so invested in their journey.

Damian Reyes is our narrator.  A undercover special agent for SPA, Strange Phenomenon Agency. When a barefooted Cassander,dethroned Shadow Prince of Moonlight and Whispers, runs into him ,it’s his mission that badly comprised.

The effects of which will lead Damian, Cassander in tow, back to the one place he never expected to return to, his home and family.  The Reyes family, from mother Rosario, sister Candy, and the children, are realistic, well defined in their emotions, and reactions to Damian’s reappearance. The old history between them all, the perspectives on the past, and the manner in which Butler has Damian slowly start to question his own memories and ideas about his mother and his adolescence feels so raw and deep.

While it’s Damian’s growth and revelations we have the biggest window into, it’s also the reflections of Cassander’s changing as he interacts with the family and Damian that’s so important as well.

Butler’s story gives out so much more than just the insight and depth that goes into the family dynamics.  The urban fantasy elements are fabulous.  The coin is a major factor here and I love how the author has woven it into the storytelling.  

Plus all the other characters that come together, whether they are from the bar, or the family, they have been created with care and given life as they are memorable.

So is the desert when seen through magical eyes.

More please.  Much more.

A fantastic book and one universe I hope the author decides to write in again.

Cover art by Natasha Snow. I love the covers. Fabulous.

Fortune Favors the Fae – 15 books:

  • A Fae Coin Transported Me Into Another World and Now I’m the Gay Holy Maiden by AJ Sherwood #1❤️
  • The Wolf’s (Un)Lucky Fae by Michele Notaro #2 ❤️
  • Bound to the Wild Fae by Tavia Lark #3 June 13❤️
  • The Sorcerer’s Thief by Lee Colgin #4 ❤️🔷
  • The Fae Menagerie by Edie Montreaux #5 
  • Never Darling by Sam Burns #6 
  • Prince of Poison by Alice Winters  #7  ❤️
  • Grave Misfortune by Nazri Noor #8 ❤️
  • Fae for Pay by Meaghan Maslow #9 – July 23,2024
  • Kisses at the Crossroad by Morgan Lysand #10 
  • Smoke and Mirrors by Kai Butler #11 ❤️
  • Siren in the Rain by Chloe Archer #12 – Aug 15,2024
  • I Destroyed the Elf Prince’s Harem  by Jocelynn Drake #13 – Aug 22,2024
  • A Fae Called Wylder by Michelle Frost #14 – Aug 29,2024
  • Lucky or Knot by Eliot Grayson #15 – September 5,2024

Buy link

        Smoke and Mirrors

    

Blurb

Secret Agent Damian Reyes has two problems: he just lost his job and now he’s babysitting a deposed prince.

When Damian ran straight into a firefight to save an attractive civilian, he didn’t realize he was also sacrificing the career he’d spent twelve years building for a man whose flirting is only slightly less lethal than his blades. Now they’re stuck in Damian’s childhood bedroom as he tries to salvage his job, avoid his mother, and keep Cassander from getting murdered.

Oh, and a phenomenally powerful magical coin has decided it wants a ride in Damian’s pocket. At some point, his luck has to change, right?

Smoke and Mirrors is a part of the multi-author series, Fortune Favors the Fae. From spicy to sweet, zany romps to epic adventures, there’s something for everyone in this mystical series. Discover destiny and true love and follow the coin on its fickle journey to the next world and a new magical adventure.

  • Publisher: (August 8, 2024)
  • Publication date: August 8, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 338 pages

Review:  What Could Go Wrong? (A Subpar Superhero story) By Toshi Drake

Rating: 3.25🌈

What Could Go Wrong? By Toshi Drake is another in the multi-author series about a group of people labeled subpar superheroes who work for the secret agency SPAM. 

Most of them have abilities that are considered less essential or powerful to society or the agency, hence the label.  

In Drake’s book, What Could Go Wrong?, the best elements of this story are the two main characters and their new developing relationship.   It starts with Ezra, an awkward records clerk for SPAM. Enthusiastic about his unseen employer, April, naive about exactly SPAM does, and sort of unaware about his own weird powers, Ezra’s attempts to prove himself to himself and his boss powers the events. 

And it’s how he accidentally but not really meets Chauncey “Chaz” Adams, retired subpar agent with a weird power of his own. 

It’s a case of goofy, enthusiastic , out of his depth employee meets grumpy, bitter retired agent, they have a instant attraction, get ensnared in a  muddled investigation involving Big Foot, that further develops into just a narrative plot line quagmire.

What does work here is the dynamic between Ezra and Chaz. It’s built slowly as they get to know each other under adverse conditions, further adjusting to each other’s expectations and differences in sexualities.  It’s developed around respect and mutual understanding. They treat each other as responsible adults and with support for each other’s issues, whatever they feel they might be. 

It’s a lovely romance and Ezra and Chaz make the story entertaining and sweet.

But the investigation and case they fall into is a narrative bungle.  It makes little sense, it’s choppy in execution, and its overall plot is muddled. Even their powers aren’t clearly defined.

So read this if you’re a fan of the author, the series, and for the relationship, which is lovely.

Subpar Heroes series- 15 books:

🔷The Accidental Necromancer by Liv Rancourt 

🔷Behind the 8-Ball by A. E. Wasp

🔷Transparent Is a Color by Kaje Harper❤️

🔷Impossible Things by Alexa Land 

🔷My Not-So-Super Blind Date by Allison Temple ❤️❤️

🔷An Ex-Hero’s Guide to Axe Handling by Jenn Burke ❤️❤️

🔷In The Nick of Time by Elle Keaton 

🔷Static/Cling by Jaimie Samms

🔷Spiritual Guidance Not Required by Jacy Braegan   8/1/2024

🔷What Could Go Wrong? By Toshi Drake

🔷License to Chill by Chantal Mer 8/8/2024

🔷Code Name Dolittle by Lynn Michaels. 8/22/2024

🔷Signed, I’m Yours! By Rhys Lawless 8/29/2024

🔷A Taste of Danger by Morgan Brice. 9/5/2024

Buy link:

        What Could Go Wrong?

    

Blurb

All Ezra has to do is deliver a message to retired clean-up agent, Chauncey Adams, and he’ll become the go-to person for SPAM’s Canadian office. Drive to Chauncey’s, hand off the papers. That’s the mission.

What could go wrong?

Everything. Everything could go wrong. A random phone call, unexpected magic words and a grumpy retired agent are just the beginning. The end? Finding Bigfoot on the Bruce Peninsula.

Between dead bodies popping up and being kidnapped by incompetent bad guys, Ezra and Chaz have to solve the mystery of what happened before they get stomped out for good. These secret agents are more laughable than lethal, but they’ll have to rely on each other–and the growing spark between them–if they want to survive.

What Could Go Wrong? is a part of the multi-author Subparheroes MM romance series.

  • Publication date: August 6, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 194 pages