Tag: author Michele Notaro

Review:  The Pushy Pixies Are Going Down (Hopefully) (Carry A Faerie #2) by Michele Notaro

Rating: 4🌈

The second novel in Michele Notaro’s Carry A Faerie series, The Pushy Pixies Are Going Down (Hopefully) is an entertaining tale , one jammed packed with emotional drama of the group of characters as well as their multiple personal storylines.

There’s sub plots which have a series mystery element associated with abducted fantasy creatures. A big storyline that’s building is one that features the younger characters of mages Aeson and Chaos, now working at a local museum. Their story is prominent here in, not just because they require the help of Miles (Empath) and Winter (Null) to take care of another pixie infestation but as we can see, they aren’t doing as well personally since we saw them last. 

Miles and Win’s relationship moves forward in several ways, including the reveal of their own histories. 

 But most interesting, a third POV is added to the mix at the end of the story. 

The characters of the young mages and the fantasy animals/familiars are fantastic. Detailed, engaging and engaging. Their circumstances are such that the reader is immediately empathetic to their story. 

Which is why another aspect of this book is bothering me. Hard to go into details without spoilers but for the author to go down this route so early in the series (and having set up the situation to go bad considering the characters involved), makes me wonder why and what Notaro’s thoughts were.  Especially given the sensitivity of the storyline. 

This series seems to veer from comedic scenarios to extremely complex emotional dark scenes and histories. And I’m not sure it’s giving enough context and depth to the latter.   And this talented author is more than capable of doing so. See her series, The Magi Accounts. 

I’m recommending this story. It’s cute, shows lots of potential and has great characters. 

It will be a year before the next book is released.  I’ll be looking forward to it. 

Carry A Faerie (3 book series):

Did It Have To Be Gnomes?! #1

The Pushy Pixies Are Going Down (Hopefully) #2

Gremlins, Goblins, And… What Is THAT? #3 – November 5,2026

Buy link 

 Book 2 of 3: Carry A Faerie 

Blurb 

Am I afraid of gnomes? Maaaaaaaybe.

Did I take on a huge gnome job anyway? I sure did.

Am I about to ask my crush for help? 

Well, I have to ask someone, right?

I get called out to a huge mansion with the biggest number of invading gnomes I’ve ever seen, and I’m not sure who to call to help. And I definitely need some help. 

So when Winter Montgomery just so happens to stop by, I know I have to ask him. I’ve been crushing on the handsome guy from afar for years, so now’s my chance to get close—and get some much needed support. 

As long as I don’t let him see just how much I hate gnomes—okay, I’m actually terrified of them, but he doesn’t need to know that… right?

Did It Really Have To Be Gnomes?! (Carry A Faerie Book 1) is a MM urban fantasy and the first book in Miles and Winter’s love story. Each book will have its own supernatural problem with a HFN ending for the couple, but there will be overarching plot themes throughout the series

Publication date

July 31, 2025

Language

‎English

Print length

296 pages

Book 1 of 3

Carry A Faerie

Review:  Did It Have To Be Gnomes?! (Carry A Faerie #1) by Michele Notaro

Rating: 4 🌈

The first in a new series by Michele Notaro, Did It Have To Be Gnomes?! (Carry A Faerie #1) was a terrific story, a little slow in the beginning but quickly picked up the pace for a dramatic ending. 

The author is just starting to build the setting and form the group of characters that will eventually become a found family so we don’t have much of a history or background on them.  Just the vague sketch of an idea for each. 

Individually, the characters are good, as a relationship, the two main characters don’t have a real believable connection. It’s either too quickly pulled together or something. But the storyline just doesn’t give them the right chemistry even when supplying them with a back history together. 

I think it’s a lack of overall world building and foundation versus the evil gnomes mystery that makes the story feel highly paced but without a feeling of depth. 

I look forward to seeing what the second book brings. 

Carry A Faerie:

  • Did It Have To Be Gnomes? #1
  • The Pushy Pixies Are Going Down (Hopefully) #2 – July 15,2025

Buy link

        Did It Have To Be Gnomes?! (Carry A Faerie Book 1)

    

Blurb 

Am I afraid of gnomes? 

Maaaaaaaybe.

Did I take on a huge gnome job anyway? I sure did.

Am I about to ask my crush for help? 

Well, I have to ask someone, right?

I get called out to a huge mansion with the biggest number of invading gnomes I’ve ever seen, and I’m not sure who to call to help. And I definitely need some help. 

So when Winter Montgomery just so happens to stop by, I know I have to ask him. I’ve been crushing on the handsome guy from afar for years, so now’s my chance to get close—and get some much needed support. 

As long as I don’t let him see just how much I hate gnomes—okay, I’m actually terrified of them, but he doesn’t need to know that… right?

Did It Really Have To Be Gnomes?! (Carry A Faerie Book 1) is a MM urban fantasy and the first book in Miles and Winter’s love story. Each book will have its own supernatural problem with a HFN ending for the couple, but there will be overarching plot themes throughout the series.

  • Publication date: July 31, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 296 pages
  • Book 1 of 2: Carry A Faerie

Review:  The Vampire’s Delicious Fae (Brinnswick: Tales From Gauhala Book 2) by Michele Notaro

Rating: 4🌈

I absolutely enjoyed this fantasy romance of miscommunication resolved between an ancient vampire and a green fae, both of which have their own families to share.  

It’s a sort of fantasy With Eight You Get Eggrolls, but with drama, plants, and mate bonds. 

Anton and Keryth were both very great characters and wonderful together, quickly figuring out why they were so drawn together (fated mates).  It wasn’t the normal fast paced relationship I expected in a fated mate story. I loved the way Notaro let them go down a slower path than an immediate step into a full blown love match. Each has a family to consider and those kids (young and old) were part of the bigger picture (and discussions) as they grew together.

Ker’s children are a more well known group (from previous stories) than Anton’s with the exception of Jed, Anton’s youngest. 

The full found family Ker and  Keryth’s young sisters Alsira, Gemma, Saranor, and Zellya, and Anton has his fledglings Phaeron, Beshiro, Katja, Jedediah. Then there’s one more youngster who becomes a major character and storyline here. 

All played out while a series or universe drama /mysteries is going on around them, including them in its horror. 

There is one book left in this trilogy and I can’t see how the huge overall plot is tied together within that book.  It’s just that big. 

But the author already has another series coming to follow this one, about the vampires. Which makes sense because vampires are the focus of the ongoing mystery and arc plot. 

So I expect a switch in locations and characters. What fun! And more crossovers as well. 

Looking forward to the final book in this series and the next series.

A definite winner. 

Brinnswick: Tales From Gauhala (3 book series):

The Witch’s Grumpy Dragon #1

The Vampire’s Delicious Fae #2

The Dragon’s Devoted Defender #3 – March 17,2026

Buy link 

        The Vampire’s Delicious Fae (Brinnswick: Tales From Gauhala Book 2)

    

Blurb 

I hate vampires. Well, just one in particular. But I do kinda love how his eyes follow me whenever he’s around… Sigh.

Step One: Find a hot vampire. Check.

Step Two: Get the hot vamp to drink from me. Check. 

Step Three: Try to forget his stupid face. Ugh. This one’s impossible to check. F my life. Sigh. 

Anton is beyond frustrating. He was so sweet when we first met, and I’d thought we had a real connection. But then he had to ruin everything with his big mouth and jerky face. Ugh.

I can’t get him out of my head. Even when I’m beyond angry at him, I still feel a pull to be near him. A pull I can’t seem to ignore.

And when my entire world gets turned upside-down, I can’t help but reach for the ancient vampire and hope that together, we can conquer anything that’s thrown at us… anything that’s coming for us.

The Vampire’s Delicious Fae is Book 2 of the MM urban fantasy series, Brinnswick: Tales From Gauhala. It follows a new couple in each book with a guaranteed HEA. It takes place in the Brinnswick world in the far away country of Gauhala and brings a whole new cast of characters, so you don’t need to read the other series first. But don’t worry, there will absolutely be some cameos along the way.

  • Publication date: March 27, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 360 pages

Review:  Seb & Ailin: Case of the Murderous Mistletoe  By Michele Notaro

Rating: 4.5🌈

Seb & Ailin: Case of the Murderous Mistletoe  By Michele Notaro is a wonderfully entertaining, well written holiday story in the author’s Ellwood/Brinnswick universe.  

Full of characters and couples from Notaro’s multi-series world, it is helpful if the reader is familiar with the universe and its inhabitants so that the story isn’t overwhelming with its numerous elements and characters that just have small roles or mentions but are very important in the series/world.  With a well-packed magical storyline of 194 pages , there’s only so much background for the author to provide while also fully laying out the mysteries behind the murderous toys and Holiday trimmings that’s at the center of the story. 

Notaro does a great job of folding in the amusing aspects of the story, along with the absurdity and the horror of the toys going terrifyingly bad.  As the narrative ramps up each element of the storyline, pulling the reader effortlessly into the drama and the mystery, it centers on this one couple and their relationship so perfectly that it makes this reader want to revisit their story all over again.

Seb & Ailin: Case of the Murderous Mistletoe  By Michele Notaro is a great addition to the Ellwood/Brinnswick universe stories and my holiday reading list.

Add it to yours! 

From the author’s website:

The Ellwood/Brinnswick Chronicles Reading Order:

You can read them in the order they were published, which is in chronological order:

The Enchanter’s Flame

The Witch’s Seal

The Enchanter’s Soul

The Witch’s Blood

The Enchanter’s Heart

Thayer

Nikolai

The Enchanter’s New Kids

Basil

Jorah

Talon

The Ellwood Chronicles Bonus Scenes

The Human’s Incubus

There’s A Bat In My Room!

The Wolf’s (Un)Lucky Fae

The Witch’s Grumpy Dragon

Seb & Ailin: Case of the Murderous Mistletoe

The Vampire’s Delicious Fae

OR

Follow each series in their order.

THE ELLWOOD CHRONICLES SERIES

THE BRINNSWICK CHRONICLES SERIES

A BRINNSWICK STORY SERIES

FORTUNE FAVORS THE FAE SERIES

BRINNSWICK: TALES FROM GAUHALA SERIES

A SEB & AILIN STORY

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Seb-Ai…Seb & Ailin: Case of the Murderous Mistletoe eBook : Notaro, Michele: Kindle Store

Blurb

What in the world has my soulmate gotten us into this time?

All I want to do is get ready to have our family over for Winter Solstice, but like all things involving Ailin Ellwood, we get pulled into another wild BCA case. The Brinnswick Central Agency tends to pull us in for the really… let’s say difficult—and weird, let’s not forget weird—magical cases, so I have no doubt this one will be a doozy. 

Even knowing that, I never really expected to be attacked by kids’ toys and Christmas decorations. But when my viramore—soulmate—is involved, well, things get all kinds of whacky. 

Join Seb and Ailin as they try to figure out who’s behind the murderous mistletoe while they get ready for the Ellwood family holiday celebrations. 

*This story takes place in the Ellwood/Brinnswick world. Reading the other books might enhance your reading experience, but it’s not necessary to read them first. If you want to, you can find the Brinnswick/Ellwood reading order on the author’s website.

  • Publication date: December 5, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 194 pages

From the author’s website:

The Ellwood/Brinnswick Chronicles Reading Order:

You can read them in the order they were published, which is in chronological order:

The Enchanter’s Flame

The Witch’s Seal

The Enchanter’s Soul

The Witch’s Blood

The Enchanter’s Heart

Thayer

Nikolai

The Enchanter’s New Kids

Basil

Jorah

Talon

The Ellwood Chronicles Bonus Scenes

The Human’s Incubus

There’s A Bat In My Room!

The Wolf’s (Un)Lucky Fae

The Witch’s Grumpy Dragon

Seb & Ailin: Case of the Murderous Mistletoe

The Vampire’s Delicious Fae

OR

Follow each series in their order.

THE ELLWOOD CHRONICLES SERIES

THE BRINNSWICK CHRONICLES SERIES

A BRINNSWICK STORY SERIES

FORTUNE FAVORS THE FAE SERIES

BRINNSWICK: TALES FROM GAUHALA SERIES

A SEB & AILIN STORY

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

Rating: 4.5🌈

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happy reading!

Brinnswick: Tales From Gauhala:

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

Connected series and stories:

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

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

Buy Link

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

    

Blurb

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

Step One: Find a gorgeous guy. Check.

Step Two: Talk to said gorgeous guy. Check. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Review: The Wolf’s (Un)Lucky Fae (a Fortune Favors the Fae story) by Michele Notaro

Rating: 4.5 🌈

Well this is an absolutely splendid addition to the Fortune Favors the Fae series. I loved how Michele Notaro adapted her Brinnswick universe into this series, by means of that mischievous wayward fae coin.

While its personality doesn’t really come into play as it has in a prior tale, that coin is still the means through which unlucky fae Belryn Bizidor meets wolf shifter Remington “ Remi” Ellwood, newly arrived with some of the members of his family to start a family security company on Gauhala.

Its meet cute, and mate recognition, sort of . Mostly both feel a very special unusual attraction, which I find interesting because it takes time for this relationship to develop. For Bel, his situation is fragile. His city views Fae as the lowest form of life, discrimination is common, he’s homeless, and trying to protect what’s left of his family.

The more the reader learns about his character and how perilous the situation he’s in, the more we connect with him. Bel is the type of character Notaro crafts so well. Layered, emotional, and warmhearted. And desperate. In this case, to save his family.

Remi the wolf shifter who finds his viramore and is determined to hold him, no matter what, is kind and loving. Just by his own history he’s not as vividly drawn as a wounded Bel. It’s just the nature of the difference in the drama between them. They do have a gentle charm and connection that works well here.

Notaro has created a number of fascinating characters that support the main couple, ones that almost prove more compelling. Whether it’s Tan, Remi’s friend and business partner who’s in a frenemies attraction thing with the Dragon King, or Bel’s cousin Ker and the vampire bookstore owner, Anton Orsova, those are stories that beg to be told and look to come in a new sequel series soon to be released.

I hope we see these characters as well.

The Wolf’s (Un)Lucky Fae (a Fortune Favors the Fae story) by Michele Notaro is a highly entertaining read and one I’m happy to recommend!

Be on the lookout for the new series below.

New connected series that continues a couple’s developing romance:

The Witch’s Grumpy Dragon (Brinnswick: Tales From Gauhala Book 1) – Oct 25,2024

Look at what’s coming up next!

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 – June 20, 2024

◦ The Fae Menagerie by Edie Montreaux #5 – June 27,2024

◦ Never Darling by Sam Burns #6 – July 4,2024

◦ Prince of Poison by Alice Winters #7 – July 11,2024

◦ Grave Misfortune by Nazri Noor #8 – July 18,2024

◦ Fae for Pay by Meaghan Maslow #9 – July 23,2024

◦ Kisses at the Crossroad by Morgan Lysand #10 – August 1,2024

◦ Smoke and Mirrors by Kai Butler #11 – August 8, 2024

◦ 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

The Wolf’s (Un)Lucky Fae

Blurb:

Call it fate, call it luck, but when a powerful wolf shifter walks into my life, everything changes.

Bel

I’ve made some stupid decisions in my life, and one in particular keeps coming back to haunt me. When I keep running into a handsome stranger, I know I should push him away, if only to keep him safe from my mess, keep him safe from me. But something inside of me—my heart, my magic, or my soul—keeps pushing me toward him, offering to make all my secret dreams come true. And I don’t know how to stay away.

Remi

When I travel across the world to open a new business—and get away from my overbearing family—the last thing I ever expect is to find the most beautiful and alluring fae I’ve ever met. I’m drawn to him, and I’m pretty sure if he lets his guard down, he’ll admit he’s drawn to me too. All I want to do is pull Bel into my arms and protect him from whatever he’s hiding. But he’s skittish and suspicious, and I just want to prove to him that he can trust me.

Fate, and a bit of luck, brought us together, and I’m not going to let it or anything else tear us apart.

The Wolf’s (Un)Lucky Fae 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.

• Publication date: June 6, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 340 pages

Review: Only Unity Will Spare Us: The Magi Accounts Book 5 by Michele Notaro

Rating : 5🌈

There’s always so many thoughts and emotions one has when approaching a finale novel in a beloved series. When that series is a dark urban fantasy about a particularly extremely violent, torturous dystopian world, the range of emotions will be deeply varied as the storylines. Especially here where in a world where a different US is at war. A almost recognizable one we’ve seen before where the humans in charge have used other species (or races) shifters and mages, as weapons and tools, things. Those in charge inhumanly categorizing them as objects to be abused, used and discarded as the humans wanted.

Make no mistake, as gorgeously written and powerfully conceived as The Magi Accounts series is, these books are often equally wrenching and disturbing to read. The compounds the magi are bred and raised in like stock animals, as well as the abusive, torturous, often deadly nature of the treatment they were subjected to there, is harrowing reading. And the subject of more than one trigger warning. The same is said about that of the narrative treatment of shifters, although not necessarily in the gore-ridden way.

Through four books, we’ve found all the members of the now combined Ono-Nai tribe, watched them grow, in some cases learning to deal with the pain and abuse that brought them into the tribe, and for others form mate bonds with each other, until this enlarged family has become a greater whole that means something deeply special to us as readers. It’s not just the mage dyads Madeo aka Mads and Jude. Or the main bonded pair of mage Mads and alpha lion shifter Cosmo Ono-Nai. It’s Jude, and his bond mates. And the rest of the tribe, shifters, mages, humans, even pets. All have made an indelible impression and contribution to the heartfelt rightness that has developed into the Ono-Nai diverse family/tribe. One of the unity of the title and one that Mads and his family is striving for their future.

It’s a truly agonizing epic showdown, one that’s been long awaited between Mads and his tribe and the horrific, terrifying Anderson, the Red Cloak witches, with their plan to destroy all the mages and shifters for a human only universe.

Did I end up sobbing buckets of tears? Yes, yes I did. As I expected to. There’s so much going on in the narrative. From beautiful scenes of family life and laughter, to sheer terror and heartbreak, memories of darkness and pain, blood and death, all that has to come , realistically in this world, before even large battles can be won.

Is everything solved at the end? No. But the majority of the problems are resolved in a manner that leaves the characters and readers in a better place . One that makes sense and leaves us with a sense of completion and satisfaction .

Only Unity Will Spare Us: The Magi Accounts Book 5 by Michele Notaro is a fantastic finale and a perfect way to end a magnificent dark urban fantasy.

I highly recommend this series. Read it in the order it’s written and with regard for its trigger warnings.

Just a side note. I wished for more for the Taragorians. Logan had it right. That the rift or a magical aspect of it seemed sentient was fascinating. I wish for more of this place please.

The Magi Accounts:

✓ The Scars That Bind Us #1

✓ The Shackles That Hold Us #2

✓ A Purpose That Restores Us #3

✓ A Ruse To Unchain Us #4

✓ Only Unity Will Spare Us #5 -Series Finale

The Magi Accounts Companion stories:

✓ Our Hearts That Tie Us: The Magi Accounts Prequel

✓ A Kiss To Revive Me: The Magi Accounts 1.5

✓ A Date to Impress Him: The Magi Accounts 2.5

✓ A Holiday to Sustain Us: A Magi Accounts Holiday

✓ An Embrace To Hearten Me: The Magi Accounts 3.5

✓ A Heart To Revitalize Me: The Magi Accounts 4.5

Buy Link:

Only Unity Will Spare Us: The Magi Accounts 5

Blurb:

I made a promise to the enemy… and I intended to keep it.

Thank the goddess I have my pride and my wonderful, amazing mate—whose patience matches no other—because the world is in chaos, and Cosmo is my rock, my safe place inside the storm. If only I could find the time between witches, work, politics, and family to prove it to him.

The Shifter and Magi Equality Act is in full effect, supposedly making us equals, but the people themselves—the humans—are still treating us as lesser. Every time I turn around, we’re running into trouble between humans and non-humans.

To make matters worse, witches are everywhere in Fairview City, and the Red Cloth is encouraging humans to join their forces and challenge the equality my people have fought so hard to get.

And now, Anderson is back. Back and gunning for me.

But he doesn’t realize I’m gunning for him, too.

Only Unity Will Spare Us is the fifth and FINAL book in the MM urban fantasy series, The Magi Accounts. It’s recommended to read the series in order because the romance and plot progress throughout the series.

*Intended for adults only. Please read the trigger warnings at the beginning of this novel.

• Publication date: April 19, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 417 pages

Review: All I Want for Christmas is Tentacles: A Winter Holiday MM Tentacle Romance by Chloe Archer

Rating: 5🌈

Chloe Archer had me at every single aspect of this story, from the disillusioned Grinch of a human who’s lost his job as an “elf” to the small ship full of found family tentacled aliens, complete with a runaway groom, arriving at Earth with visions of Hallmark Christmases and rom-com movies abounding in their heads!

I laughed, smiled, and just delighted in all the many imaginative elements and great scenarios that Archer incorporates into this imaginative sci fy holiday romance. It’s got adorable aliens escaping a totalitarian world where only warriors are celebrated and those with other personalities and other types of skills and abilities are deemed lesser or weaker in nature.

One is, in fact, a wealthy IT alien, Khephren, who’s a definite fan of the Earth rom-coms and Hallmark movies. Yep , these will survive into the future , was there ever any doubt? This is such a hilarious and perfect idea and it’s used beautifully throughout this storyline.

Holodeck anyone?

Anyway, Khep goes all runaway groom, as one does, after seeing those movies and heads for Earth with his small found family of friends with similar problems. Which I love. Archer has a great way with characters, alien and human.

There Kheph kidnaps/encounters a depressed human , Sasha. Recently fired, and with a very sad past. Cue the restoration of Christmas spirit to the Scrooge human by aliens!

Honestly, this is such a joyful, hilarious, and heartwarming story. The characters have been given such depth that, human or alien, the reader connects with them easily and comes to care about them greatly.

Even that “Christmas tree” that arrives on board. More pls.

I would love to see where this merry crew is next Christmas. What’s happening with the show and what worlds they’ve visited.

I’m hooked. My favorite of the series and one I’m highly recommending any time of the year.

Tinsel and Tentacles (11 books)

◦ Jingle Bells and Elder Gods by Kiernan Kelly

✓ All I Want for Christmas is Tentacles by Chloe Archer ❤️🫶

◦ Tentacles and Other Stocking Stuffers by Delaney Rain

◦ Tentacles Rock by K.C. Carmine

✓ A Sucker for Christmas by J.P. Sayle

✓ Kraken Klaus by Charlotte Brice

◦ Twelve Days of Squidmas by H.L. Hiers

◦ It’s a Tenta-ful Life by Amanda Muewissen

✓ Rebel without a Claus by L Eveland

✓ Cthulhu for Christmas by Meghan Maslow ❤️🫶

◦ Tentacle Wonderland by Reese Morrison – Jan 1,2024

Buy Link:

All I Want for Christmas is Tentacles: A Winter Holiday MM Tentacle Romance

Blurb:

Seasons greetings and alien abductions! Can two misfits find love together? It might just take a Christmas miracle! Let’s hope Santa doesn’t mind that tentacles can be both naughty and nice…

Khephren

There’s no way in Helgar’s Nebula I’m marrying the candidate my parents have chosen for me. I don’t want to be the house-husband of some stoic warrior who only cares about training all day. Boring! Thankfully, I’ve learned a thing or two from all those rom-com human movies I’ve illegally downloaded off the intergalactic web. No one will see it coming when I pull a runaway groom maneuver on them!

Once I make my escape, I can go on the solo honeymoon of my dreams—to planet Earth. It’s almost that wondrous time of year when they celebrate their holiday known as “Christmas.” Human Hallmark movies make it seem so magical. I want to experience it for myself! Now, I just need to find a human who can make my wish come true and help me have an authentic holly jolly time…

Sasha

Scrooge was right when he said “bah humbug” to Christmas. This time of year sucks balls, and not the fun kind. I’ve just lost my crappy part-time job and I’m slowly sinking under a sea of student loan debt and crushed dreams.

Just when I think my life couldn’t possibly get any worse, my cat and I are abducted by an alien who wants me to help him experience a “real human Christmas” on his ship. WTF? Clearly he’s chosen the worst possible candidate for the job.

But there’s something about Khephren’s enthusiasm and eternal optimism that starts to melt even my grumpy, cynical heart. Heck, I even agree to be his fake fiancé to get his parents off his back! I don’t know what’s happening to me, but Khephren’s charm is making me feel things I never have before. And those bright pink tentacles of his are strangely fascinating. I can’t help but wonder what all they can do…

As we spend more time together, I start to realize I might not want to go home and that maybe, just maybe, I’ve found what I’ve always been looking for. Could Khephren feel the same? If so, it would be a Christmas miracle and I don’t believe in those…right?

All I Want for Christmas is Tentacles is a standalone novel (74k words) in the Tinsel and Tentacles multi-author winter holiday MM tentacle romance series. It features a runaway tentacled-alien groom obsessed with Hallmark movies and Christmas, a grumpy human who’s down on his luck and says “bah, humbug” to the holidays, an alien abduction, fake fiancé fun, a cat named Jonesey, a droid named Rambo, a ship called the Sleigh Belle, found family, sweet and cozy vibes for the season, and a guaranteed HEA!

• Publisher: Rainbow Dreams Press LLC (November 24, 2023)

• Publication date: November 24, 2023

• Print length: 277 pages

Linked series:

Tentacular Tales

Review: A Heart To Revitalize Me: The Magic Accounts 4.5 (The Magi Accounts Companion Stories) by Michele Notaro

Rating: 4.75🌈

A Heart To Revitalize Me is the penultimate book in Michele Notaro’s fantastic dark fantasy series, The Magi Accounts. In between the main novels, Notaro has been writing companion stories, narrative side journeys through different characters lives or scenarios from the series . Each companion piece has been so distinct. One looks back on previous happenings, but seen from another important character’s perspective, giving the reader insights into those horrifying moments from his POV. Others take ongoing events of the current timeline and revolve around developing certain characters relationships further.

That happens here in A Heart To Revitalize Me, where mage Logan and tiger shifter, Haiden, finally get their story and the romance the readers have been waiting for.

In this dark, torturous dystopian world that Notaro has been creating, not even a long awaited journey to first love is going to happen without the harsh realities of that world crashing into the sweetness and light of love discovered.

And that’s both the horror and the beauty of this series (and story). The author has crafted characters we have grown to love, watched them develop and change, moving through the trauma and grief of their lives as they age and became family, some bonded mates.

Logan and Haiden have been two of the younger members of the Ono-Nai tribe, each has been through unbelievably torturous, traumatic and tragic experiences. Especially Logan, as a compound-raised mage.

Notaro frames out their path to a new romantic relationship , giving it all the gestures and scenes that make it utterly sweet, realistically halting and funny, perfect for their age and yet taking into account, their horrifying backgrounds.

However, we can never forget that there’s something larger looming ahead. All around the , Ono-Nai tribe home, and everywhere in the country, the violence against non-humans is escalating. New attacks from the Rift are rising as well. Everyone is under siege, from humans and aliens alike.

Horrors lie just outside the gate or even doorway.

A Heart To Revitalize Me: The Magic Accounts 4.5 (The Magi Accounts Companion Stories) by Michele Notaro reminds the reader that there is darkness next to the light. For every high, there is a deep lower point awaiting. This is a roller coaster of emotions and a great read.

But the hints the author has left behind are very clear that perhaps the darkest elements are yet to come in the finale.

See you all there.

All the stories, see the lists below, are highly recommended. But they must be read in the order they were written.

The Magi Accounts:

✓ The Scars That Bind Us #1

✓ The Shackles That Hold Us #2

✓ A Purpose That Restores Us #3

✓ A Ruse To Unchain Us #4

◦ Only Unity Will Spare Us #5 – Series Finale on Sept. 20, 2024

The Magi Accounts Companion stories:

✓ Our Hearts That Tie Us: The Magi Accounts Prequel

✓ A Kiss To Revive Me: The Magi Accounts 1.5

✓ A Date to Impress Him: The Magi Accounts 2.5

✓ A Holiday to Sustain Us: A Magi Accounts Holiday

✓ An Embrace To Hearten Me: The Magi Accounts 3.5

✓ A Heart To Revitalize Me: The Magi Accounts 4.5

Buy Link:

A Heart To Revitalize Me: The Magic Accounts 4.5 (The Magi Accounts Companion Stories)

Blurb:

Lately my straight best friend has been very… handsy, which is killing me because I’ve been in love with the idiot for years.

I love my best friend, I always have, but I never wanted him to realize just how much. He’s never seemed to notice before, but since he broke up with his girlfriend, he’s been really clingy. Like way more than I’ve ever seen.

I love it. And it’s killing me.

What I really want is all those cuddles and sweet touches to mean more than they do. I have to keep reminding my heart that everything Haiden is doing is platonic, even if it feels like it isn’t. Unfortunately for me, my stupid heart doesn’t stop hoping for more.

A Heart To Revitalize Me is a MM urban fantasy romance companion novel meant to be read AFTER A Ruse To Unchain Us (The Magi Accounts 4). This is Logan and Haiden’s story and takes place between books 4 and 5 of the main series. It’s the last Magi Accounts Companion Stories novel and is meant to be read as part of the series, not by itself, although the love story is resolved in this book.

The Magi Accounts Companion stories:

✓ Our Hearts That Tie Us: The Magi Accounts Prequel

✓ A Kiss To Revive Me: The Magi Accounts 1.5

✓ A Date to Impress Him: The Magi Accounts 2.5

✓ A Holiday to Sustain Us: A Magi Accounts Holiday

✓ An Embrace To Hearten Me: The Magi Accounts 3.5

✓ A Heart To Revitalize Me: The Magi Accounts 4.5

The Magi Accounts:

✓ The Scars That Bind Us #1

✓ The Shackles That Hold Us #2

✓ A Purpose That Restores Us #3

✓ A Ruse To Unchain Us #4

◦ Only Unity Will Spare Us #5 – Series Finale on Sept. 20, 2024

• Publisher: (December 27, 2023)

• Publication date: December 27, 2023

• Print length: 308 pages

Trigger Warning:

Violence, gore, mentions of past abuse, mentions of past sexual assault (nothing on-page).

— A Heart To Revitalize Me: The Magi Accounts 4.5 (The Magi Accounts Companion Stories) by Michele Notaro

Review: A Ruse to Unchain Us (The Magi Accounts #4) by Michele Notaro

Rating: 5🌈

A Ruse To Unchain Us brings The Magi Accounts near the end of this incredible dark saga. Two more stories to follow and we’ll see what happens to all the characters who have suffered and survived through this perilous, harrowing journey.

A Ruse To Unchain Us is emotionally draining and powerful in the wrenching scenes that Notaro delivers, one after the other, as the Ono-Nai tribe fights against government and witches alike to survive the battles against both and the tear in the universe. There are moments of such brutality and violence, common in this series, that hit you hard in the heart. As they should. Tissues should be issued along with the story.

Repeatedly, the author reminds the reader exactly what’s at stake, often graphic detail , what type of treatment the non humans have had to endure for decades. Along with the past traumatic history, there’s the current horrors they continue to endure, suffer under, as they battle to get their rights and freedoms.

As Notaro notes, read the trigger warnings because they definitely apply, as they have for the series. Torture, sexual assault and abuse (some off page) as children and adults , brutality , beatings, and horrific death is a common occurrence too. These beings have been and are continued to be subjected to the entire spectrum of the worst humankind is capable of simply because they aren’t human and are regarded as tools for the humans to use as they see fit.

To counter such agonizing moments and scenes, it’s balanced with those of pride, found family, bonds of deep affection, friendship, and abiding love. All of which have had to endure the pain and horror of the world they live in and survive to come together as the strong forces we see now.

Cosmo Ono-Nai, Mads, Jude, and the rest of the Ono-Nai pack must deal with the toughest challenges yet their pride has faced when The Red Cloth ups it’s attacks against the government and its citizens.

I won’t spoil the high stakes and action that occurs here. It’s intense, fast paced, incredibly emotional, and very suspenseful. And yes, filled with love and pain too , because this is a battlefield and people/beings are hurt and sometimes they die.

Notaro’s vision and realistic writing makes sure we don’t forget about the pain as well as the love, the loss that goes with the wins, such as they are. It’s raw, dark fiction and it rings so true.

Two more novels to go. One’s a companion story, Logan and Haiden get a book of their own. And then onto the finale. I can’t imagine how the author will tie up all the characters and storylines still moving forward but I’m sure it will be amazing. I’ll be so sorry to see this series end.

What a fantastic journey it’s been.

Until then, I highly recommend you read this series in the order it’s written if you haven’t already done so. Then read the intensely powerful A Ruse to Unchain Us (The Magi Accounts #4) by Michele Notaro. Just a great example why this author is an auto read.

The Magi Accounts:

🔹The Scars That Bind Us #1

🔹The Shackles That Hold Us #2

🔹A Date To Impress Him #2.5

🔹A Purpose That Restores Us #3

🔹A Holiday to Sustain Us: A Magi Accounts Holiday

🔹An Embrace To Hearten Me: The Magic Accounts 3.5

🔹A Ruse To Unchain Us: The Magi Accounts # 4

🔹A Heart To Revitalize Me #4.5 – September 20, 2024 (Logan and Haiden companion story)

🔹Only Unity Will Spare Us #5 – Sept 20, 2024

Buy Link:

A Ruse To Unchain Us: The Magi Accounts 4

Blurb:

It’s time to fight back, and by the goddess, I will help free my people.

The Cloaked Freeway is finally in a position to effect real change, and I want so badly to be a part of it. Since I was a little kid, it’s been my dream to free my people from under the human’s rule. And now I have the chance to make that dream a reality.

But helping them means giving up so much. I have a family now—a pride—and I don’t want to put them at risk. Luckily for me, my mate wants to be a part of the revolution, too, but that still leaves everyone else.

The world is turning into chaos around us and our family is being pulled in different directions, but I know one thing for sure. The Ono-Nais are fighters, and we’ll do everything in our power to keep each other safe and help those around us.

A Ruse To Unchain Us is the fourth book in the MM urban fantasy series, The Magi Accounts. It’s recommended to read the series in order because the romance progresses through the series and it has an ongoing storyline, but there is NO cliffhanger.

*Intended for adults only. Please read the trigger warnings at the beginning of this novel.