Review: Reading the Play (Watkins Glen Gladiators Book 5) by V. L. Locey

Rating: 4.5🌈

I’ve loved getting to know the latest of author V. L. Locey’s hockey team , the Watkins Glen Gladiators, and their various journeys into HEA.

Reading the Play actually involves two teams and players from each team, an old misunderstanding, and a white hot chemistry. On the ice, on skates with mad skills.

All of which, Locey does so beautifully.

The characters of competing ice hockey players, Watkins Glen Gladiators goalie Baskoro Huda and Comets goalie Marcus Newley are so good. Fleshed out, with personalities that have depth that makes them feel believable and interesting, these men make it easy to connect with each of their lives and situations.

The enemies to lovers trope and element here is one that is nicely resolved so that the storyline can move forward with the major thread, that of two men from opposing teams who are finding themselves in love with each other .

Each has complications that they bring into play with this dynamic. A daughter, a as yet to be announced sexuality, and much more. How everything is pulled together, and, along with introducing new characters, and giving the readers glimpses inside a troubled mind of another teammate, Locey carefully balances all the narrative needs of her characters and book to come up with another winner!

Baskoro Huda and Marcus Newley prove that goalies are indeed special, never more so than on their own path to love and family. I loved them.

More please.

I’m highly recommending this and the entire series

Watkins Glen Gladiators:

✓ Between The Pipes #1

✓ Defending The House #2

✓ Dump and Chase #3

✓ Taking The Body #4

✓ Reading The Play #5

Buy Link:

Reading the Play (Watkins Glen Gladiators 5)

Blurb:

Will there be kissing and making up or will Baskoro and Marcus be dropping the gloves?

A new season is about to kick off and Baskoro Huda is ready to win it all. As one half of the Watkins Glen Gladiators two-man tandem goalkeeping duo, Basky, as his teammates call him, is on track to deliver a winning season and everything is going his way. His summer training is paying off, his family and friends are warm and supportive, and his new nephew is the cutest thing ever. He’s even had a few casual dates. The only downside to this upcoming amazing season is the fact that he has to face goalie Marcus Newley and the Comets several times. To say there is no love lost between the two men would be an understatement. Granted, Marcus is incredibly handsome and skilled, but those qualities are overshadowed by the man’s ego. The tension between the two goalies has been percolating since senior year of college and one more pithy comment from Basky’s rival might just be all it takes for a reckoning that’s been a long time coming.

Marcus Newley has come a long way in a short time. He’s clawed his way to the top of the Comets roster and is now within reach of his dream: winning that championship cup and securing his chances for a call-up to the pros. The brass ring is within reach, and he is not about to let someone like Baskoro Huda and his team stand in his way. He’s got one very important person counting on him to make those dreams a reality. Unsure of what he ever did to twist the pretty but irritable Gladiators goalie’s shorts into such a tight knot, all he can do is fire back when the verbal barbs are launched from the other end of the ice. The time to focus on hockey is now, and he refuses to let Baskoro take up any more time in his head. It’s an all-out war as far as Marcus is concerned and nothing but complete surrender from Baskoro will satisfy those—and perhaps not so hidden—passions.

Reading the Play is a low angst, enemies-to-lovers, doting uncle and single dad queer hockey romance with two goalies who snipe at each other endlessly, one old misunderstanding, far too many sci-fi/fantasy TV show and movie references, several teammates trying to keep the peace, one goaltending coach who sees what all the others seem to be missing, and a hard won but oh-so gratifying happy ending.

• Publication date: April 18, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 189 pages

Review: The Misfit Mage and His Dashing Devil: Diabolic Romance Book One by MN Bennet

Rating: 4.5🌈

I love it when I hit a literary trifecta. A new author, new book, and a new series in one swoop. That’s what I’ve done with the wonderfully devilish romance, The Misfit Mage and His Dashing Devil: Diabolic Romance Book One by MN Bennet.

MN Bennet, an author new to me, weaves an imaginative story about an awkward young mage whose magnificent mind works much better than his ability to actually master any magical spells . Wally is instantly someone who a reader can relate to and invest in emotionally. He’s spends his days categorizing, cataloging, analyzing, and in some cases, working on the magical artifacts of an enormous collection of a University’s archives. A collection that happens to include an orb containing the Devil Beelzebub or Bez, who was captured by the mage who owns the archive.

Wally and Bez have an interesting history and the storyline that follows is a fast-paced, high action mystery that includes several plot twist and turns. What an absolute treasure!

It’s all enemies, then frenemies, and then as circumstances and personal revelations pull them closer, Wally and Bez become, realistically by this time, something much more.

The author does a great job in building the story and the characters relationship, giving them and us slow reveals about each other’s own journey to their current situations. Both get to show growth and continued depth of development in their respective personalities and their relationship.

It ends , as it should, in a HFN. There’s another story coming and I can’t wait.

I’m putting this out there as a definitive recommendation! It is a great ride!

Diabolic Romance:

✓ The Misfit Mage and His Dashing Devil #1

◦ The Misfit Mage and His Darling Demon #2 – June 10,2024

Buy link

The Misfit Mage and His Dashing Devil: Diabolic Romance Book One

Blurb

Apprentice mage Wally spends his days cataloging rare artifacts and dreaming about finally mastering his magics and living the adventures he’s always desired. Bez, a once mighty devil who craves the freedom of the outside world again, despises his confinement inside a powerful object. His only company now comes from the mages working within the archives he’s stored. Among them, the most annoying of them all, an anxious and considerate Walter.

When the archive is attacked, Wally and Bez each seize the opportunity to achieve their dreams—and inadvertently create a magical link between them. With so many lives lost in this assault on the mage headquarters, Wally’s connection to a dangerous devil makes him a threat and a target, forcing the pair on the run. Wally sees Bez as a sadistic devil, and Bez finds every word out of the mage’s mouth grating. Even so, they’ll have to work together to unravel the true threat in the city or they won’t live long enough to enjoy the lives they’ve both desperately wanted.

• Publisher: (October 9, 2023)

• Publication date: October 9, 2023

• Language: English

• Print length: 348 pages

Review: A Thousand Second Chances (A Dash of Modern Magic Book 1) by Elric Shaw

Rating: 3.5🌈

I found it hard to rate A Thousand Second Chances (A Dash of Modern Magic Book 1) by Elric Shaw because, while it’s got so much to offer in terms of some of the characters and storylines, it’s also got a main character that presents a challenge to the reader in terms of how much we can expect to like or connect with him.

I don’t think Shaw sees this character in the way he comes across, at least not in the manner he does to this reader.

The story is a LGBTQIA contemporary Ground Hog day tale, one situated in an historic location that’s been the subject of many popular stories, lending itself to a magical atmosphere just by its very tone and history. That’s the famous Mackinac Island on Lake Huron in Michigan. No cars, bikes and carriages pulled by horses only, and the gorgeous Grand Hotel, along with all the many other shops and attractions, this is the perfect place to set a story that needs a magical twist to it.

It starts with a college trip, funded by the parent of one of the students, for a small group to go sightseeing, with an historic view, for the weekend, Professor in charge.

Chris, and his best friend, Quinn, are part of the group. Quinn has been the one who has been the instigator in getting Chris to come along. Chris has issues. He has a mother with boundaries problems, it’s her way or no way. Chris came out to family, friends and teammates at college and it didn’t go well. It’s turned him into a loner with self esteem issues. A former runner without a team. His past is also a part of his current issues, and it’s followed him on this journey.

Also on the trip, Percy, whose father set up the trip as a way for Percy to mourn the loss of his mother for both of them. Percy’s character is intertwined with that of Chris’, they have a long history, first as best friends, then as estranged secret lovers. It’s this last part that’s the main storyline of the book and most of the dramatic moments of the narrative.

Shaw’s two person POV gives the reader each character’s side of their journey to this point in their lives. Chris, who is bitter, out as gay, and fighting with his school, classmates (except for Quinn), with his parents, to be a writer. And the one person who he feels betrayed him is there on the trip, Percy.

Percy, whose story is complicated by the fact that he lost his mother to cancer, is a character I was frustrated by and unable to connect to. Yes, it was sad/heartbreaking his mother had died. That journey to a place where they had been happy as a family was a lovely touch but it was marred by a father, who much like his son, was unable to face his loss, so he pushed his “agenda of mourning “ onto his son. A legacy of cowardice that becomes a theme that the author never really thoroughly explores.

For 98 percent of this book, Perce is unable to deal with his own life fears/others expectations/inner voices, and truly face the devastating effect his actions have had on others. I’m not sure if the author is cognizant that they have written a character and a storyline that is so underwhelming weak in this way.

Perce is so unbelievably reliant upon other people’s perception of him that he has taken his own wants and even promises and dreams and tosses them away. Even if those included people who were counting on him. He did it without communication, without thoughtful process, even afterwards when he knew he must have inflicted great harm. It’s a role he set for himself and a path he continues on for almost the entirety of the book.

He says he knows he’s a coward. Chris waits for some word or actions to show that any of the multiple times or moments have changed the way things are. But while Chris is changing, there nothing but stasis for Perce.

And that’s almost certainly a killer when it comes to caring about a character going forward.

They repeat a day over and over, trying to figure out what they need to do to break the cycle. When the “aha” moment comes, it will surprise no one who the character is who makes the connection and saves the day.

Even at the end, Perce has made no concerted effort to talk in detail to anyone who he’s hurt about the choices or lack thereof that’s he’s made. Or really apologized to those people that he’s damaged. It’s left dangling.

So when it came back to the rating, it based solely on the character of Chris, the growth he underwent, the magic of Mackinac Island, and how well Shaw utilized the Ground Hog day format here that gave it that rating. Read it if you’re a fan of the author , the trope, and the storytelling elements above.

Dash of Modern Magic:

A Thousand Second Chances #1

See You In My Dreams #2

Buy Link:

A Thousand Second Chances (A Dash of Modern Magic Book 1)

Blurb:

The only thing worse than waking up stuck in a time loop is realizing your ex is trapped there with you.

When Chris begrudgingly agrees to accompany his best friend Quinn on a university trip to Michigan’s picturesque Mackinac Island, he expects to suffer through a weekend of sightseeing, school-mandated activities, and entirely too much souvenir shopping. What he doesn’t anticipate is also having to avoid the boy who broke his heart.

Percy used to love his family’s annual excursions to Mackinac Island, but that all changed with the loss of his mother. This school trip is his chance to revisit some of their favorite haunts and honor her memory. However, what’s already guaranteed to be an emotionally charged weekend grows even more fraught when he discovers that he’s not only caught in a time loop, but that the boy he’d walked away from two years ago is his sole companion.

Forced together by the fickle whims of the universe, Chris and Percy must reopen old wounds and confront their painful pasts if they ever hope to escape their infinite Saturday. But even as they grow closer across myriad iterations of the same unending day, they grapple with one terrifying question.

Can the fragile connection they’re rebuilding survive their inevitable return to the real world?

A slow burn, fade-to-black M/M contemporary romance featuring second chance, enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, and a hard-won HEA. Every book in the A Dash of Modern Magic series is standalone and can be read in any order. Perfect for fans of Roan Parrish, Eli Easton, and Emma Scott.

A Thousand Second Chances (A Dash of Modern Magic Book 1)

https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.mackinacisland.org/blog/mackinac-island-places-to-stay-off-the-beaten-path/&sa=U&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwi6pcbP06GEAxVnEVkFHfxQDQgQFnoECCwQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2l0gIq-xPH3AOKfZ3L_Ndq

Review: Rise of the Ruthless (Lucifer’s Landing #2) by Davidson King

Rating: 3.5🌈

In the sequel to War of the Wicked, I both found a lively entertainment experience but also a much less realistic story, one that’s has quite a few issues . The first novel, with its more complex violent crime plot, didn’t contain these elements .

The first issue starts with the main character of Ren Ikeda, the Japanese crime boss. Where the Italian mob family of Dante Scavo felt grounded in their culture and deep rooted belief systems, including language, the Ikeda’s Japanese culture and community here is barely existent or explored. The language appears in a couple of phrases that get dropped in a couple of times, instead of as a language that the characters use them freely and without thought. Japan’s culture or the yakuza (if that’s what King is aiming for) criminal tradition, any observance of honor is fleeting and not put into context. We are “told” Ren Ikeda’s family and business is that of an insulated Japanese society, right down to his houses. But there’s never any reason to believe this is true. Other than koi pond and some decoration.

This entire element is poorly written, which is a shame as Ren is an interesting character.

Ren can, at times , come across as a crime boss, but he doesn’t have the same strength as Dante Scavo. That’s on purpose, of course. His is supposed to be a subtle sort of “scary power” but it’s not as translatable here.

That’s left to ex military security guy, Mykel Finlay, and his scary guard dog, the cane corso, Zeus. Those two are the most dangerous creatures in this narrative. Not the mob boss. Which is part of the problem here,and causes some of the best and most unrealistic elements within the book.

Best of Mykel. His developing relationship with Ren. King gives them really great chemistry and a compelling dynamic as Mykel has to wrestle with his honor system as his loyalties start to transfer to a mobster, with all that entails. I really enjoyed watching their relationship grow. Best of this book.

Most problematic. Other than the Japanese culture aspect is how erratic King’s implementation of Mykel’s security/military company support system is. It’s so irregular as to come across as slapdash.

Mykel is part of a security company made up of ex military personnel, with access to extraordinary weapons (even helicopters) and their personal are equipped with special equipment. Mykel’s cane corso, Zeus, a special guardian breed dog used for military/ security measures , is a huge character here. He factors into many action scenes. However , he never wears special identification, not the halter nor vests which in battle/fights id him as part of a team, nor is there any mention of a special permit for him or anyone needing extra paperwork for any activities Zeus has done. That seems unlikely.

Again with Mykel , there’s a hugely significant scenario with a planned raid. What’s missing? Bulletproof vests. From both a organized crime and black ops standpoint, that’s unacceptable.

King’s story has her characters portrayed as significantly competent, highly skilled ex military or assassins yet over and over in the narrative, odd or arbitrary storytelling choices are made that counteract that.

Then there’s things like a brother who is the cause of Mykel’s involvement initially and who appears to be a perpetual screwup. He disappeared except for a brief mention towards the end of the book.

So Rise of the Ruthless (Lucifer’s Landing #2) by Davidson King has a terrific romance that’s surrounded by a problematic plot.

Read it to complete the series and for fans of the author.

Lucifer’s Landing

✓ War of the Wicked #1)

✓ Rise of the Ruthless #2

Buy Link

Rise of the Ruthless (Lucifer’s Landing Book 2)

Blurb:

Ren Ikeda’s world is falling apart. War has broken out in the streets of Lucifer’s Landing, and his entire empire is being dismantled one explosion at a time. Unsure of his men’s allegiance, but desperately needing protection, he snatches up an opportunity when it lands in his lap. Hiring Mykel Finlay, his complete opposite in every way, has the markings of being disastrous. Realizing Mykel may be the only person he can trust, he clings to the man despite the danger to his heart.

Mykel Finlay doesn’t like bad guys. As ex-police and military, he prides himself on walking the line of good, not evil. When his brother gets in a bind with Ren Ikeda, the Japanese mob boss, he must put aside his moral compass and dive into the murky waters of the mafia. The only thing Mykel isn’t prepared for is falling in love and willingly drowning for Ren, a man he should hate.

With the help of some very unlikely allies, Ren and Mykel try staying alive long enough to take down their enemies and grab a happily ever after neither man thought they wanted. Will their salvation end up leading them down a path of destruction, or will they actually prevail?

This is book two in my Lucifer’s Landing series and is not a standalone. It is highly recommended you read book one: War of the Wicked first.

• Publisher: (January 5, 2024)

• Publication date: January 5, 2024

• Print length: 190 pages

Review: Dario: Wicked Legacies by Victoria Sue

Rating: 3.75🌈

Victoria Sue’s mafia boss romance was a good read. It was exciting, had many fast paced moments, thrilling scenes, and good characters.

And had the book been longer or tweaked so that the time frame let the main characters have more time to develop their relationship, this would have been a much better story.

Everything that surrounds the romantic aspect of the story is interesting and could easily be even more fully explored in additional stories. The multiple storylines that Sue has created are really intriguing, as are the five Mafia factions that go along with them. They are factor into the main narrative as well as the subplots that make the book so compelling.

But the romantic story itself between mob boss Dario and reluctant husband, Alessandro, feels as contrived as the marriage. Too instant love for me. Especially given the short timeline here. It doesn’t work. Dario is all killing Alessandro one minute and loving him the next. For Alessandro, it’s all I love him but won’t communicate with him.

I understand that last. For me, the relationship needs more time to grow before these feelings feel realistic.

So while the story is still very exciting, a terrific mob takeover tale of revenge and retribution, the romantic aspect leaves something that could have been better developed.

I enjoyed it and if this is your jam, you might too.

Buy link:

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Dario-…Dario – Wicked Legacies – Kindle edition by Sue, Victoria. Literature & Fiction …

Blurb:

Dangerous secrets will get you killed. Sometimes it might even be me that’s pulling the trigger.

Dario

I’m hours away from finally inheriting my father’s legacy. All I need to do is dodge the Russians and the Irish, and put a wedding band on my fiancée. Until the moment I find out my father’s best-friend and fiancée’s papa ordered the hit that had taken out my parents eighteen years ago.

And my fiancée will step over my dead body as she walks back down the aisle and marry into the Irish Mob. The ones that have promised my future father-in-law he will have everything that is rightfully mine.

Not happening.

Even if I have to light the night sky with the fires of revenge and retribution.

I just need to get married first.

Then miracle of miracles, I find out my traitorous fiancée has a half-brother. An illegitimate one, but one that still fulfills the terms of my father’s will, so the territory rightfull becomes mine.

I just have to convince the brother of that.

A twenty-year-old innocent that has been a near slave all his life? Piece of cake.

Or is it?

• Publication date: January 11, 2024

• Print length: 235 pages

Review: The Necromancer’s Prisoner (Hearts of Allaria Book 1) by Elric Shaw

Rating: 4🌈

Elric Shaw is a new author for me and I found Shaw’s new fantasy novel a wonderful story and enjoyable start to a new series.

Several elements drew me immediately to this story. A misunderstood necromancer, a Paladin with a mission, and a magical mystery. Yes, please.

It’s actually more complicated than that, the two men, Alistair, Knight of the Church, and Ignatius, necromancer, both has painful, emotionally traumatic wounds from their respective childhoods. Each tragic event that ended up causing the deaths of the other’s parents, while the men not being actually responsible, the Church and magic was.

Shaws made Alistair and Iggie so relatable with their own doubts about the lives they are living, building such depths into their characters. For Alistair, it’s living the life his father and the Church wanted for him without any real introspection. Until the mission, Iggie, and a snowstorm intervened.

The same for Necromancer Iggie, alone, almost starving in his temporary home with his animated skeletons as companions, hating the Church, its Knights for his tragic past and what they represent. Until Alistair charges into his life bringing light and a huge change.

There’s a mystery that needs investigating. A village known for its magical crystals at its heart and a relationship between two men that’s uncertain to resolve until the end.

Just a couple of elements I wish were fully explored. The magic itself here. I loved the crystal elements, and there’s one amazing scene where Iggie sings to a dull solitary crystal bringing it to unbelievable splendor. There was poignancy and wonder. Why? What happened? I wanted more of that.

Alistair was someone whose actions as an indoctrinated Knight of the Church made sense but also frustrating from a narrative standpoint. Poor Iggie.

Shaw just pulls it all together in a smashing (literally) battle and has a satisfying ending, with a touch of the sadness. As it should.

I’m looking forward to the next book and more from this author. It’s a definite recommendation.

Hearts of Allaria:

◦ The Immortal Covenant #0.5

✓ The Necromancer’s Prisoner #1

◦ The Prince’s Curse #2 – May 2024

Buy Link:

The Necromancer’s Prisoner (Hearts of Allaria Book 1)

Blurb:

Sometimes the real villain isn’t who it seems…

Alistair’s first solo mission as a paladin sounded simple enough: purge the undead terrorizing a remote mountain village and bring the wicked necromancer controlling them to justice. But when he’s captured, he begins to suspect that the village faces a far greater threat than a few skeletons…and that his strange captor might need protecting just as badly.

Paladins have hunted Ignatius his entire life. His crime—daring to be born with the wrong kind of magic. The mountains seemed like the perfect place to seek refuge for the winter…until an obnoxiously handsome paladin arrives on his doorstep. Ignatius expects to loathe Alistair like the rest of his arrogant kin; however, when a harsh winter storm forces them together, he finds himself opening up to the paladin in ways he’d never dreamed possible.

Alistair and Ignatius both have every reason not to trust the other. Yet, as mysterious magic threatens to eradicate the nearby village, they have little choice except to combine forces if they hope to survive.

Can a paladin and a necromancer set aside their differences for the greater good…or will the rift between them prove impossible to ever bridge?

A slow burn, fade-to-black M/M fantasy romance featuring forced proximity, hurt/comfort, enemies-to-lovers, and a hard-won HEA. Every book in Hearts of Allaria is standalone and can be read in any order. Perfect for fans of K. D. Edwards, Tavia Lark, and Ben Alderson.

• Publication date: November 27, 2023

• Print length: 309 pages

Review: Taking the Body (Watkins Glen Gladiators #4) by V.L. Locey

Rating: 4.75🌈

Taking The Body just became my favorite of this series . I laughed so hard so much of the time when reading it, mostly due to the outrageous family tales related to various people by the main character, hockey player, Phil Greco. He’s such an entertaining and highly engaging person. Irish/Italian from Queens, New York, once he appears on the page, he’s got the reader’s total attention.

Locey must have had such an incredible time writing this man and his unique voice. He had me in stitches but he was also such a believable person, grounded in family and a recognizable location such as Flushing.

Frenchman Henri Gaudion, of Gaudion Winery, and his wonderful found family of staff, that includes his butler, Barnaby, is a well defined character and great match for gregarious Phil. His character is also a very poignant person. Locey has created in Henri such a relatable person and backstory. Henri’s background is one of loss, constant inter-family fighting over the winery and his sexuality, and finally, the ways in which Henri has isolated himself due to the fears caused by his illness and approaching blindness. His emotional walls are those of fear and experience.

Watching Phil moving through that previously ordered and quiet existence as seen and heard through both men’s perspectives is such a joy and utter blissful experience.

And that Locey wove The Nanny and Fran Drescher into this? Priceless!

The only thing that keeps the story from a total 5 rating is that the ending came about rather quickly. It feels too abrupt. Had that been extended to go into a little longer explanation of the situation, and not leaving that other renter hanging, then this would have been a 5+ story.

As it is, Taking the Body (Watkins Glen Gladiators #4) by V.L. Locey is my favorite of a lovely series. I hope to see more of this couple in the stories to come.

Watkins Glen Gladiators:

✓ Between The Pipes #1

✓ Defending The House #2

✓ Dump and Chase #3

✓ Taking The Body #4

Buy Link:

One’s from Flushing, New York, the other from Ambroise, France. Worlds, wit, and passions are about to collide!

Phil Greco is that player that every opponent and their fanbase hates but secretly wishes played for their team. Greck is a mouthy guy, high-spirited, and able to tweak nerves with relative ease. Having grown up with a large family he’d learned early that you had to fight for what you wanted. This is how a short, undrafted guy from Flushing made it as far as he had. It had taken no small amount of bull&*#*, grit, and plenty of wit. Generally that wit and grit was enough to get him on the top of the pileup but that’s not the case with Henri Gaudion, owner of Gaudion Winery. Ever since they’d met sparks have flown, and for the life of him, Phil cannot understand what it is about the suave, well-dressed, handsome French vintner that makes him so edgy. They have nothing in common aside from a love of Watkins Glen, so why does he keep finding himself so drawn to the lean man with the rapier wit? Sure, he was pretty, and did keep him on his toes, but Phil’s not the kind of fella to be drawn to such a fancy pants rich boy. How stupid would it be to think that a hoodlum like him could ever catch a man like Henri? Not that he wanted to catch the stuck-up winemaker…

Henri Gaudion has no time for shenanigans or those who engage in them, especially boorish braggarts on skates. Yes, he enjoys the game of hockey and having the Gladiators hockey team and the local gentry at his chalet overlooking Seneca Lake every Sunday for brunch, but that’s solely for keeping up appearances. Since the death of his father, he has devoted his life to ensuring the lands bequeathed to him produce the finest wines and champagne in the Finger Lakes district. Henri is a lonely, heartbroken man when the blinds are drawn and the erudite mask is dropped. He also has no room in his life for rowdy little men with bright smiles, cheeky winks, and heavily accented, fanciful tales about his large Italian family back in, of all places, Flushing. The pull that he’s feeling for Phil Greco must be some sort of glitch, or perhaps he’s been spending too much time in the tasting rooms. Whatever the reason, he is not about to let his attraction to Phil grow. It would be impossible for two such incompatible men to fall in love. Wouldn’t it?

Taking the Body is a low-angst, opposites attract queer hockey romance with a mouthy hockey player, a refined vintner, a whole lot of forced proximity, on-ice action, evenings spent sipping wine, a nosy butler, even nosier teammates, a large loving family, and a perfectly aged happy ending.

• Publication date: January 5, 2024

• Print length: 193 pages

Review: Rebel without a Claus: A Winter Holiday MM Tentacle Romance by L Eveland

Rating: 3.5🌈

Rebel without a Claus takes place within a favorite universe of mine, that of L Eveland’s Culinary Creatures. It’s a rare world where all species exist together, with humans being on the lower level just because of their lesser physical abilities. Moth people? Shifters and vampires? Tentacles? It hasn’t mattered because whatever the individual character’s physiology, it’s just the norm here. The author’s writing is just so outstanding at making it believable.

The four books that make up the main series excel on multiple levels, plots, characters, locations, and surrounding those incredible beings with a culture to match them.

I enjoyed the rocky romance of the winter athletes , human Rebel Rhail and tentacled being Vic Amares, as they work their way through misunderstandings and resentments in a snowed in cabin near a Canadian airport. As always Eveland makes the seemingly impossible seem real and commonplace, their stories and frustrations become relatable as does their pentup sexual feelings towards each other.

But what I am missing here is how the author would have given the reader an idea of what the community and culture that Vic Amares comes from. We get bits and pieces but nothing like the rich depiction that I have seen before. I would have been delighted if more of that, and any type of cultural connection to have been pulled in the relationship.

It leaves this story with some of the best examples of that universe (like the characters) but missing the richness of the whole.

L Eveland is an auto read and this is a good read. Add it to your list this season.

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:

Rebel without a Claus: A Winter Holiday MM Tentacle Romance

Blurb:

I’m stranded in the middle of nowhere with my rival on Christmas eve. There may only be one bed, but he’s got six frustratingly attractive tentacles…

Rebel

Getting snowed in with Vic Amares is a nightmare come true. He’s been nothing but a pain in my ass ever since he appeared in the league with his ridiculously talented tentacles, that handsome smile, and those dimples…

I hate everything about him. It’d take a Christmas miracle for us to find common ground. Unfortunately for me, all we’ve got is this cabin we’ve been forced to share out in the middle of nowhere.

Yet there’s something about him I find undeniably sexy, despite his obsession with a holiday I detest. I can’t let him find out I’m attracted to him. If I can survive his constant attempts to cheer me up, his singing, and his cooking, I might just be able to live this down.

Vic

Snowed in with the Rebel Rhail? I can’t believe my luck! He’s been my inspiration, my hero, and my crush for years. I’ve even been working on a new snowboarding move just to impress him.

No matter how many times I’ve tried to strike up a conversation with Rebel, he’s remained distant, but I’ll do anything to win.

This holiday snowstorm is my chance to win his heart once and for all. I have a plan to show him how much he means to me.

If he thought my tentacles were hard to beat on a snowboard, just wait until I show him what I can do with them in the bedroom…

Rebel without a Claus: A Holiday MM Tentacle Romance is part of the Tinsel and Tentacles multi-author collaboration and a complete standalone but set in the same universe as L Eveland’s Culinary Creatures series. You should expect a tale of sports rivals forced to share a cabin with only one bed, an unexpected holiday snowstorm, and more talented tentacles than you can shake a snowboard at!

Want more tantalizingly tentacular winter holiday romances? Grab the whole series!

an MM sports rivals to lovers romance between a sweet, Christmas loving tentacle monster and a human grinch. While the story is relatively low angst, Rebel is somewhat mean to Vic at the beginning. I promise, he comes around.”

— Rebel without a Claus: A Winter Holiday MM Tentacle Romance by L Eveland

Culinary Creatures universe story

Review: Exiled Heir (Empty Throne Trilogy Book 1) by Kai Butler

Rating: 4.75🌈

After finishing the absolutely stunning San Amara Investigations series by Butler, I was almost hesitant to start with this because that other series set the bar so high in every aspect. There’s other factors too. San Amaro, a complex, almost labyrinthine tapestry of fantasy storytelling ended up involving ten books total, including prequels and a few adjacent/side stories. That depth of storytelling in terms of themes explored, and overall development (characters, plots, elements) that the larger story narrative gives an author versus a three book trilogy can’t be overlooked.

So while I was excited to read Exiled Heir, I was apprehensive about approaching a narrative that wasn’t going to have the time and length for the exploration and expansion I was used to from a Butler experience.

This is a first person perspective, told from the POV of werewolf Miles Castillo, who is a great emotional pathway into the deadly situation the story opens up with . Miles is a believable, damaged character who becomes even stronger as the story develops.

I’m a definite fan of a two person pov because having both characters thoughts on the events that occur and foundation of the narrative often supplies the reader with a greater sense of the world building of the story/series. But this format is certainly a familiar one to readers of Butler’s novels.

It a dire situation for Miles that opens up the story. The reader only gets a partial picture and explanation for Miles situation, how he arrived in such a state. It’s instant high drama, magical suspense, other main character introduced , and the game is on!

In a way , the reader, along with Miles, is being given the Cliff Notes version of why he is wanted, what’s happening, by Cade Bartlett, the

mage prince. The fuller details slowly emerge as they tentatively set parameters within the contract , and the strained dynamics when they enter the Bartlett Estate.

Cade is a lot to unpack. He’s a morass of emotions and magic. A tattooed mage swamped by feelings of survivor guilt, PTSD, grief, fear, trauma, anger, and dealing with a host of damaging family issues, it would have been interesting to have heard his voice but it’s also intriguing to compile a portrait of this mage from Miles’ observations alone.

I’m a bit fuzzy on the world building here, especially the mage/werewolves dynamics. That’s probably intentional. There’s an “old school “ version that’s been outlawed and a new shiny one that’s got some flaws. The entire werewolf community/werewolf aspect of this story feels like a driving force of the narrative. It’s where many of the most powerful and the mysterious plot twists emerge from.

There’s quite a lot of characters to explore as shifting pack and family loyalties set off the swiftly changing dramatic events of this novel. I love how Butler keeps the suspense high and the emotional tension between the all the characters stretched tight because of the many different storylines, hidden and known.

The mysteries continue to change in complexity , evolving with the narrative and relationships, for good and bad.

I throughly entertained and absolutely invested in these characters and this world they are fighting for. I only wish I didn’t have to wait as long for the next book to be released.

I’m highly recommending Exiled Heir (Empty Throne Trilogy Book 1) by Kai Butler . It’s going to be a fabulous trilogy as this is an amazing read. It’s up to you whether you want to read it now or wait and binge all three together. They are listed below with release dates.

The Empty Throne Trilogy:

✓ Exiled Heir #1

◦ Contested Crown #2 – Feb 26,2024

◦ Ascendant King #3 – June 17,2024

Buy Link:

Exiled Heir (The Empty Throne Trilogy)

Blurb:

Without him, I’m a dead man, but if he knew who I was, he would kill me himself.

Miles Castillo has spent his entire life running from the crime his parents committed. He’s an alpha without a pack, and a son whose very name is poisoned. When two werewolf hunters catch him, he has to choose between a man who wants his head mounted on a wall and Cade Bartlett, the mage prince who doesn’t realize who Miles is.

The icy prince has a job for Miles, one that will keep Miles’s head on his shoulders: become Prince Cade’s consort and find out who is trying to kill him.

As Miles delves deeper into Cade’s court, he begins seeing the truth beneath Cade’s chilly exterior. The more the prince trusts him, the closer he gets to seeing under Miles’s mask as well.

What will happen when Cade realizes the secret Miles holds puts both of their lives at risk?

• Publisher: (October 23, 2023)

• Publication date: October 23, 2023

• Print length: 473 pages

Review: Scoring Points (A Lights Out story ) by H.L Day

Rating: 2🌈

“You can’t change what happened. But you can still change what will happen.

⁃ Sebastian Vettel.”

After reading Scoring Points by H.L. Day, my first thoughts were you had one job in this series , that was to write a book about Formula 1 racing and you’ve tossed the memo.

How did one author go so wrong in a multi author series about specific teams with specific drivers racing on certain circuit’s during a specified season and not write about racing?

First by not writing about the drivers themselves or anyone within the pit who’s directly in contact with the drivers and the actual action on the racetrack. By now, we’ve gotten a good idea of the various teams and their drivers, even on a superficial level, from the other books who mention the same races and events, albeit from different perspectives.

That’s been a great aspect of the series and an anticipatory factor in every new release to come.

But H.L. Day, whose works are often in my must rec list, has made some seriously ill conceived choices when it came time to plan out and write their book for this series.

Day chose to write about the team’s principals. What is a team principal?

“In Formula One, the team principal is the person who is in charge of a constructor team [team who builds the cars] and its personnel. They are usually responsible for issuing team orders and making day-to-day decisions. “

And they are extremely well paid for the job. Millions a year in fact. It’s a job that’s incredibly hard to get and harder to keep.

So Day chose to work the story around two competitive principals. That’s fine , except instead of it being a normal or. it’s all on a personal level. It’s nothing to do with racing but hurt feelings stemming from episodes when they raced karts as teenagers.

Not racing but sexuality. This really could be any other kind of book. Day just had to throw in racing stuff. And it shows.

Keep that in mind. After slogging through approximately 45%, I kept wondering why Day had made the barest of efforts at incorporating any racing into the story. Only Kurt Whitford’s character , at least, gets some semblance of showing he’s got a team that’s interested in racing.

Giovanni Rossi, whose team is mentioned extensively in all the other books, can hardly remember he’s got a team because he’s so obsessed with his sex life, past as well as present, and his revenge on Kurt. Believable he’s not, petulant he is, as Yoda would say.

By 50 % , I’m denying myself the pleasure of DNF, and page flipping , hoping for some racing somewhere in this story or anything that would ground it in this series. But no.

It’s a hopeless mess of two grown men in constant emotional turmoil over each other. Men, primarily Gio who is not a likable character, playing petty head games as payback, who in this actual situation would never be risking their teams, their drivers, or the millions and their careers this way.

Maybe another author could make a believable case for this scenario but Day never does.

Day uses tweets with events from other stories to make sure the reader knows this story is still “all about racing” . Such a format can’t replace actual depths of plotting and real characters.

So in the end do I recommend this ? No. Skip it, and read the others. You won’t be missing anything here.

Lights Out:

✓ Team Orders by RJ Scott

✓ Full Throttle by Lisa Henry

✓ Pole Position by Charlie Novak

✓ Scoring Points by HL Day

◦ Black Flagged by Emma Jaye 6/20

◦ Rookie Mistakes by Beth Laycock 6/27/2023

Buy Link:

Scoring Points

Description:

Can two warring team principals in the cutthroat world of F1 ever admit that there’s more to life than scoring points?

On the surface, Kurt Whitford has everything. A successful business. Good looks. Money. A famous popstar girlfriend hanging off his arm. And as the icing on the cake, he’s just been announced as Nebula’s new team principal. The downside? The opposition. It’s seventeen years since Kurt has seen the infuriating and irresistible Gio Rossi, but the man hasn’t changed a bit.

Whatever Kurt Whitford has, Giovanni Rossi can surpass. Well, except for the girlfriend. Despite needing to keep his sexuality on the down low, he’s not that far in the closet. And if Kurt thinks that Gio’s ready to let bygones be bygones, he couldn’t be more wrong. Gio hasn’t forgiven. Or forgotten.

As a long-rooted rivalry kicks off once more and sparks fly both on and off the track, can Gio and Kurt go head-to-head without the media getting wind of their true feelings? Or is their undeniable sexual chemistry about to prove their downfall?

This MM romance from H.L Day features enemies to lovers, opposing teams, secrets that go way back, and suppressed feelings. Set in the high-octane world of Formula 1, it features fast cars, spectacular crashes, heated rivalries, and of course, a HEA.

Each book in the Lights Out collection is a standalone story, and the books can be read in any order.

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