Tag: first in a series

Review: Bad Habits (Wages of Sin #1) by Onley James and Neve Wilder

Rating: 4🌈

I am reading Onley James’ Necessary Evils series and thought I’d see what else the author had written.

Bad Habits, co-written with Neve Wilder, seemed like it was in a similar vein with assassins, suspense, computer hackers, and characters with a connection between them.

I enjoyed it but found that while the storyline and action was fast paced, letting me finish it pretty quickly, some of the main characters needed something more to make them adhere to the descriptions or personalities the authors intended.

Jonah is supposedly a cold blooded contract killer. He kills a person easily at the beginning of the novel, in keeping with his profile.

But shortly after, his actions are anything but . He’s appearing to be a man forced to kill because circumstances made him a killer, not because he’s a psychopath. Years of professionalism are tossed away.

Same goes for Caspian. He’s , according to the storyline and his description, a genius hacker. The only evidence we have of that being believable is the opening scenes in the book. Those dirty, exhausted, raw scenes felt real.

But everything that occurred afterwards from a hacker standpoint needed more attention to detail.

As someone returning home , yes. As a criminal hacker on the run? No. Too many chances taken , over and over.

The characters that felt absolutely perfect? Sadie, Madigan. Ruthless, brutal, perfectly flawed to the point they might be psychotic. Those characters I got behind. They had everything our main characters were lacking.

The plot towards the end was extremely suspenseful and incredibly entertaining. Great ending and wrap up.

Sending those two off made sense because to me they just didn’t seem very believable in their stated job choices to begin with.

The rest was terrific.

Wages of Sin:

🔹Bad Habits #1

🔹Play Dirty #2

🔹Head Games #3

https://www.goodreads.com › showBad Habits (Wages of Sin, #1) by Onley James – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Jonah taught Cas a million ways to protect his body but not one to protect his heart.

Smart-mouthed hacker Caspian escaped an abusive home at sixteen. Now he’s one of the most sought-after black hatters in the world.

Jonah is a ruthless contract killer with only one weakness, the vibrant runaway he took in years ago: Caspian.

But Cas bailed when he turned eighteen, and Jonah has maintained a steady diet of eat, kill, sleep since then.

Jonah had always been the fatal flaw in Cas’s code, the bug that froze the part of his brain separating logic from emotion.

A threat to Cas’s life brings him back years later—not as the boy Jonah remembers, but as a hardened computer hacker with a price on his head and a list of names everybody wants.

The chemistry between them is as undeniable as it is dangerous.

In a world of secrets and murder, trust is a liability and feelings can get you killed. But Jonah let Cas go once, and he’s not willing to do it again. Even if it means confronting his past, solving a twisted puzzle, and taking out half of New York City’s seedy underbelly to keep Cas safe.

Bad Habits is a steamy, action-packed thrill ride of a romance with a HEA and no cliffhangers. It features morally ambiguous men, pancakes drizzled with snark, chosen family, drive-in movies, and the kind of love that drives a guy to murder in order to protect. In short: all the emo, heat, and sarcasm you’d probably expect from an Onley/Neve collaboration. This is book 1 in the Wages of Sin series. Each book will follow a new couple.

Review: Egotistical Puckboy (Puckboy #1) by Eden Finley and Saxon James

Rating: 4.75🌈

As the hockey teams are making their run for the Stanley Cup in real life, I had just finished one hockey series and was in need of another when this got my attention.

Egotistical Puckboy, the first in Eden Finley and Saxon James’ Puckboy series about hockey players getting their HEA. Needless to say, I’m in.

I so enjoyed this enemies to lovers romance about two egotistical fantastic NHL hockey players. The long time feud, fueled by misconceptions about each other, including one’s sexuality, is so well written.

The bigger than life personalities of both D-man Ezra Palaszczuk and winger Anton Hayes, huge egos to match their vast athletic talents on the ice, it’s all there on the page for the reader to love, cackle at, and ,yes, swoon over, as they warily stumble their way into a relationship and romance.

Authors Finley and James are careful that, when crafting this novel , all the important elements are brought in so it feels believable and a world we should want to invest ourselves into.

The games! The way the men fly across the ice, bodies moving, puck flashing, it’s pure awesomeness. It’s hockey! You can see these games and ,when or lose (they do both), you feel the emotional impact with them.

The men themselves are layered, their pasts, their passions, their pain.

Ezra Palaszczuk is someone who appears one dimensional, on purpose, but only as a barrier to hide the damage done by negligent , borderline abusive parents and the toll it continues to take on him.

Anton Hayes has his own personal issues to work through and it’s his relationship with Ez that allows him the different perspective to start on a new path and journey.

This story has so many great aspects to it. It’s a dynamic hockey book. It’s a sexy romance. It’s a thoughtful conversation about gay athletes in a major sport (see fabulous The Queer Collective element), what it means for queer youth to have representation. It’s also about knowing yourself well enough that you’re finally comfortable and feel safe to come out .

Like I said. There’s so much to Egotistical Puckboy (Puckboy #1) by Eden Finley and Saxon James. I love this. And I’m highly recommending it.

There’s a second story out. I’m onto that next.

It’s hockey season. Enjoy!

Puckboy series:

Egotistical Puckboy #1

Irresponsible Puckboy #2

https://www.goodreads.com › showEgotistical Puckboy – Goodreads

Synopsis:

EZRA

Partying, dudes, and hockey. What more could a gay NHL player want?

If it weren’t for Anton Hayes, my life would be perfect.

Not that he affects my life in any way. At all. That would imply I care what the winger from Philly thinks of me.

Which I don’t.

Not even a one-night stand with him can thaw his misplaced animosity toward me.

He says I’m the one with the ego, but he can talk. He rivals me for most egotistical puck boy in the league.

I hate him as much as he hates me. Even if I crave a repeat.

ANTON

When it comes to hockey, I’m all about the game.

I’ve worked for years to be one of the best in the league, and l’ve done it without splashing my orientation all over the tabloids.

My hockey image is one I’ve carefully cultivated, and after one night with Ezra Palaszczuk, I risk it all.

He’s cocky, obnoxious, and has an ego bigger than Massachusetts. And okay, maybe he’s the sexiest man I’ve ever known.

We’ll never get along. Not when we sleep together. Not even when my possessive streak awakens.

That doesn’t stop us from falling into bed together over and over again.

Review: Flare (Style #1) by Jay Hogan

Rating: 4.5🌈

Flare is a very intense contemporary romance set in Auckland’s high fashion world. The first of a new series that will incorporate , at least from looking at the description of Strut, the second novel, high fashion, models, a certain circle of friends that starts with this fashion line, and, unfortunately, a element of assault.

That’s certainly a center theme here and if it’s a trigger for some readers, please take note.

Here it occurs in the Prologue to the main character, Rhys Hellier, when he was 16, sneaking out to a gay club with a friend.

The ramifications from that night’s assault are a haunting, realistic thread of one man’s continuing to deal with living with the aftermath of rape. Rhys has PTSD, and has only told a few trusted people about his trauma.

It, naturally, has effected his relationships, and his need for constant control. I think Hogan does an excellent job with the character of Rhys. He’s believable in his vulnerability as he is in his fierceness to protect what he’s built.

It takes the addition of Beckett Northcott, Professor of English literature and uncle to troubled teenager Jack. When Beck arrives to heat up things, so will the need to start the conversations going between them when they begin their relationship as to the full extent of the damage the assault has done to Rhys emotionally and mentally.

Without turning the book into something clinical, Hogan works a great therapist, open communication, necessary breakdowns, and , more into this engaging and wonderful relationship. It makes them easy to root for and love as a couple.

And it’s not just them alone. There’s an entire group of found family around them. For Beck, it’s his nephew, Jack, for whom he’s becoming a father figure. And his sister, Serena, in prison. And fellow professor, Rafe. For Rhys? It’s his mother, the irrepressible Kip ( his assistant), BFF photographer Hunter, Alec ( newly discovered model), Leon (shop owner), Greg, and Drew, a trans teenager for which Flare represents a safe haven from home , an abusive situation.

This is a wonderful story full of amazing characters. Most of which inhabit the world of fashion. Which is Flare, Rhys’s fashion line and store.

There’s another plot thread concerning the store, which is emotionally fraught with threats and action. It’s a great balance for the other elements here.

I would have wished for more of a foundation or history behind all the villainy. But it was still resolved in a manner as to satisfy the characters and readers.

The next installment will center on Alec , the model discovered here, and Hunter, the photographer best friend of Rhys. That’s Strut. Out later this year.

From the description, it too has an element of assault. I’ll be waiting for the release date to check it out.

In the meantime, I’m highly recommending Flare. It’s a terrific contemporary romance. Wonderful characters. But please take note of the triggers.

Style series:

🔹Flare #1

🔹Strut #2 TBR July 14, 2022

https://www.goodreads.com › showFlare (Style, #1) by Jay Hogan – Goodreads

FLARE
My own fashion label. The shiny new sign above the door means everything. My dream. My life. Worth every gruelling hour I’ve spent making it happen. Nothing can stop me now. Not the fear. Not the nightmares. Not my sad excuse for a love life. And certainly not Beckett Northcott, the sexy English professor who wouldn’t know a fitted shirt if it slapped him in the face and who has flannel down to an art form.

I don’t date for a very good reason, and yet Beck makes me want to break every damn one of my rules. But with my debut at Fashion Week looming, my business in trouble, and Beckett Northcott peeling open my terrified heart to a future I’ve never imagined, the threads of my carefully woven life are unravelling at the seams.

I could walk away. Or I could take a chance that Beck and I might just have what it takes to fashion a new life, together. A fresh design from a new cloth.

This book contains references to past sexual assault.

Review: Unhinged (Necessary Evil #1) by Onley James

Rating: 5🌈

Lately, I felt I wanted another sort of story to read, and possibly, another author to hoard.

Found it in the dark, contemporary fiction, Unhinged (Necessary Evil #1) by Onley James .

Exactly the changeup I was looking for. Gritty, dark, this series and stories revolve around a group of children traumatized so deeply by their past existence ,that they are , at exceedingly young ages at the start, a threat to society. They have begun to exhibit a range of disorders that frighten a group of doctors assembled to assess them after they’ve been rescued from the very people and places that turned them into the psychopaths they are now as adults.

This series and story is disturbing, funny, murderous, sexy, kinky, and packed full of triggers for people with dealing with abuse, particularly child abuse. It’s not on the page but the writing is so excellent that the descriptive images presented of rooms and toys , and other things are emotionally powerful, even devastating. You will feel as enraged as the characters.

It’s a two person POV which is extremely effective and necessary to connect to readers to these people, who are in fact murderous psychopaths and the men they come to crave.

Crave, obsess , want, but love? Not really. Not on their part. They don’t understand love. Their relationships, not that they get those as well , are new for them, and for the other person, it’s a bit like entering a different universe. With a species that’s not going to be able to understand all that you want from them.

Onley James does an incredible job not only crafting these men, from traumatic childhood beginnings to current wealthy killer scion status, as well as the chameleon like changes in behavior and facial expressions when they “flip “ from the superficial social constructs necessary to the true predators they are. Chilling.

And for all this to work, the other outlier man they decide they want, and who’s come into their world for whatever reason, must exhibit some reasonable, and necessary mental and emotional growth/changes along the same spectrum that would allow him to accept being a intrinsic part of his killer’s hidden work and world.

How that happens is as powerful a element, as believable a part of their relationship that it powers this story, and in fact the series I’ve read so far, just outstanding.

This series features a different couple a story. Each a separate adopted sibling from that group of children that frightened those doctors so.

They are now a killing band of brothers adopted by a scientist with a plan. Given those special children a home, safe upbringing, training, education, and goals. Going after those society can’t or won’t take out on its own. Rapists, pedophiles, more.

It’s wild. Dark, funny, heartbreaking, murderous, gritty, gripping, sexy, and full of triggers. Do heed the warnings.

It’s also got multidimensional characters, incredible storylines, and relationships that feel believable in both their complexity and honesty.

It’s also has its own horror moments .Those shouldn’t be discounted. It’s beautifully written.

Adam, the former model/ killer and Noah, who’s background is so much a part of the revelations here and therefore won’t be recounted, is a story I lost myself in. I was 100 invested in Adam’s immediately bonding with Noah, and then Noah, the huge journey ahead of him is beyond words. Epic. Heartbreaking.

It’s the perfect book to lead into this series. It gives the reader a good understanding of the triggers that will await you further on ( not just child abuse, but rape and torture) and how they are handled.

And that if you’re looking for a very romantic, sweet romance, this certainly isn’t the one or series for you.

I’m already reading ahead and every book just enriches the series.

I’m highly recommending Unhinged (Necessary Evil #1) by Onley James but please do read the trigger warnings and realize this is not a light sweet contemporary romance.

It’s outstanding and a series I’m thinking I’m going to be sry I’m finishing way too quickly at the rate I’m going. It’s so great it’s impossible to put down.

I’ve listed them below. One per sibling.

Necessary Evils series:

Unhinged #1

Psycho #2

Moonstruck #3

Headcase #4

Mad Man #5

Lunatic #6

Unhinged (Necessary Evils, #1) by Onley James – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Adam Mulvaney lives a double life. By day, he’s the spoiled youngest son of an eccentric billionaire. By night, he’s an unrepentant killer, one of seven psychopaths raised to right the wrongs of a justice system that keeps failing.

Noah Holt has spent years dreaming of vengeance for the death of his father, but when faced with his killer, he learns a daunting truth he can’t escape. His father was a monster.

Unable to ignore his own surfacing memories, Noah embarks on a quest to find the truth about his childhood with the help of an unlikely ally: the very person who murdered his father. Since their confrontation, Adam is obsessed with Noah, and he wants to help him uncover the answers he seeks, however dark they may be.

The two share a mutual attraction, but, deep down, Noah knows Adam’s not like other boys. Adam can’t love. He wasn’t born that way. But he refuses to let Noah go, and Noah’s not sure he wants him to.

Can Adam prove to Noah that passion, power, and protection are just as good as love?

Unhinged is a fast-paced, roller coaster ride of a romance with an HEA and no cliffhangers. It features a dirty-talking, possessive psychopath and a sweet cinnamon roll of a boy with Daddy issues and a core of steel. There’s gratuitous violence, very dark humor, enough steam to fog up a hundred car windows, and something a lot like love. This is book one in the Necessary Evils series. Each book follows a different couple.

Review: Never Trust A Guy With Fangs (Covens of Eaton Falls #1) by Mia Monroe

Rating: 3🌈

Mia Monroe is a fairly new author for me, having discovered her in a charity anthology. The cover and title humor of Never Trust A Guy With Fangs had me grabbing this book to see what the author was plotting for her series, Covens of Eatons Falls.

This is a paranormal romance between a vampire and a witch, with the start of a overall series thread about a larger multi-species storyline. There’s suspense, action, murder, and more romances to come.

Stretching over 5 books total I believe. See list and note at bottom.

The characters are nice at the beginning and luckily get stronger as the story goes on. There’s a two person pov, but we start out with the blank slate of one. To my mind it have been more interesting to have gotten the perspective of the one being ,at least ,who had a semblance of a foundation, so the readers had a grounding.

No, we and Leo’s “uh , where are we? Oh, the bed of my enemy…” narrative just doesn’t seem to pull us really into the story. The dialogue runs along the edge of head smackingly idiotic and pearl clutching.

It keeps on in the same way. Hi you going to kill me. No. You going to kill me. No. You smell good. I think I love you. Me too. But we’re Romeo and Julian of the paranormal world. Np. Love is it!

This story and author has some terrific ideas and promise to it. There’s a lot here that , once you get to it , is interesting enough that you want to see how it plays out.

But there’s also enough plot holes (Leo: I can hide what’s happened, oh wait my eyes changed color! Never mind , the bad guys will never notice),silly florid language, and just plain nonsensical elements like the example above. It just interrupts whatever connection you might have had with the characters and storylines. And makes it that much harder to get it back.

The second book features another couple, another witch and vampire bonding that I think has far more chemistry then this pair. It seems to be one with a slight D/s aspect although how’s that going to play out when the witch is a scattered thinking healer (D) and the (s) is a huge vampire guard. Huh.

I love a great paranormal story and series. While this has potential, there’s so much that will put a lot of readers off . So this really isn’t it for me.

But if you adore instant love romances, almost campy dialogue, mustache swirling villains along the line of “you can’t keep him from us”, combined with some interesting elements, then I have a book for you.

Covens of Eaton Falls:

🔹Never Trust a Guy With Fangs #1

🔹The Witch’s Power Play #2 -May 6,2022

🔹Vampire’s Make Bad Roommates #3 -July 14,2022

🔹Cosmic Spells and Vampire Lairs #4 – January 11, 2023

🔹A Traitor Shows His Hand #5 – March 9, 2023

Note: shouldn’t the author have said A Traitor Shows THEIR Hand? So ok now we know the traitor is a guy?🤦🏼‍♀️

https://www.goodreads.com › showNever Trust a Guy With Fangs by Mia Monroe – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Waking up in my enemy’s bed is just the start of my problems.

The first rule of being a witch: don’t trust the vampires. My entire life has been filled with stories of our warring covens. We tenuously coexist in the New England city of Eaton Falls, where the locals think we’re merely the stuff of fairy tales and horror movies.

We live life as the mortals do, keeping our magic behind the scenes. Everything is fine until the day I wake up inside notorious Eaton Manor, in the bed of none other than the sexy and terrifying head vampire, Augustus Rainier, with no memory of how I got there.

His presence makes my skin tingle and my heart beat just a little faster. I know the inherent danger of associating with violent, often unpredictable vampires. I’ve got bigger problems, though, when I discover my coven is in hiding, leaving me on my own.

When danger shows up at Eaton Manor, it becomes clear it’s not only the witches in trouble. Both covens need to decide: do we fight separate battles against the same enemy or break every rule in our history and join forces to defeat a common foe? The other major question—will possessive and domineering Augustus let me go when this is over?

Never Trust A Guy With Fangs is an MM paranormal romance. It is book one in the Covens of Eaton Falls series featuring a rebellious twink of a witch with eternal optimism, an edgy vampire with a strong mistrust of witches, two stubborn and quirky covens, a threat from an unknown enemy, and a dangerous desire that could tear apart tradition, all in a beautiful New England backdrop. It is not a standalone.

Review: The Prince’s Poisoned Vow (Infernal Wars #1) by Hailey Turner

Rating: 3.5🌈

I’ve been eagerly anticipating this story as this author’s previous series have been enormous hits with me. But almost immediately I was struggling to finish this book which was written in a different format from the author’s books.

In a nutshell, it’s wordy, dry, very dense, narratively overwhelming with too many characters. And, while imaginative, it’s format of a huge amount of POVs makes it almost impossible to connect with or even follow all the many plot lines.

Turner is clearly striving for that epic cast of hundreds type of fantasy steampunk adventure. Where masses of characters come streaming over the horizon, raiding trains, pour out over airships, massive explosive battles., capturing castles. Thousands die by magical blasts , bodies flying through the air. Add in poison, in every form, and revenants. Aka The walking dead.

This book has wonderful ideas about world building. Massive amounts of information about the kingdoms, countries, and even the planet Maricol. All as told to.

The rating is for all the imaginative details and world building.

What I’m missing is what I love about her other novels. That’s her characters , the depth of personality, their relationship and growing dynamics with other characters. Main characters. People who counted. I miss caring about anyone. I miss the great dialogue. .

Here , the Gods who pulls all the narrative strings, so to speak, have no emotions, their eternal lifespan having removed that pesky thing.

So people start dying immediately. Children, adults. I’d say don’t get attached but the reader doesn’t spend enough time with anyone to generate enough emotion to become invested in the lives here.

More like, huh, poisoned. Oh, revenant got him. Yes, zombies .

There’s a staggering amount of POVs, over 14 I believe. That’s not counting all the tons of characters that get mentioned or have dialogue. The size of the cast here is mind boggling. And you get them all immediately, well, a lot of them.

With an ever increasingly dense and expanding universe that the author adds layer upon layer of complicated mythology and political world building as the story moves forward, it’s a wonder that any reader can maintain a idea of what’s happening within the storylines let alone have any meaningful connection to it.

You basically need a Epic Steampunk Fantasy version of a murder board to keep track of everything and everyone’s relationships. That includes the “Star Gods” , who have their own warped dynamics going on. Then all the various kingdoms, their politics, all the wars, the history such as it is. The planet’s history, which is minimal, and needs more detail.

The story swings from POV to POV, changing drama to a different perspective and potential disaster , that you’ve barely settled on one then you’ve sailed onto the next.

If you’re looking for romance, there’s little of that here. At least for now. But you can have fantastic characters with remarkable personalities, and deep emotional connections without a romantic factor. None of that is really present here. It’s more about all the things, the themes, plotting, world building, details. Something had to give.

And at the end. There’s a cliffhanger.

I honestly didn’t care . But for those that have a issue with cliffhangers, be warned.

I’m trying to weigh if the great universe makes it worth proceeding for me. I don’t think so because for me it’s about the characters and relationships, as well as giving them a great foundation.

You need a heart to power the story, not just a reality fabulous structure.

And I think Hailey Turner has lost the heart here no matter what that opening sentence says.

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Prince’s Poisoned Vow by Hailey Turner – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Every country is built on revolution.

THE WARDEN. Soren is a nameless, stateless man, tasked with keeping watch over Maricol’s borders. He isn’t meant for politics, only dealing with the dead. His past was buried in the poison fields, but after a fateful encounter with a prince, Soren comes to realize he can’t keep what magic burns inside him hidden forever.

THE PRINCE. Vanya Sa’Liandel was the spare who survived the Houses’ murderous games to become the Imperial crown prince of Solaria. He has a duty to his country, but he’ll owe his life to the wardens. Payment of any kind is costly, especially when he’s at risk of losing his heart to the man who saved his life.

THE COG. Caris Dhemlan hears the siren song of clarion crystals better than anyone in Ashion. That skill for inventing has enriched her bloodline, but it’s who she can become that will ultimately entangle her with the Clockwork Brigade.

THE PRINCESS. Eimarille Rourke should have been raised to be queen of one country; instead, she is prisoner of another. Guided by a star god, Eimarille bides her time in a gilded cage, spinning a political web to gain a throne and start a war the world isn’t ready for.

From the author who brought you the Soulbound series comes a queer steampunk-inspired epic fantasy.

Review: Until His Last Goodbye (Scythe #1) by Kiki Clark and E.M. Lindsey

Rating: 4🌈

The Grim Reaper ,that personification of Death, has always been a popular character for so many authors. Doesn’t matter the media, format, culture, or even era, the popularity and mythology even mysticism, makes the Reaper a being of power and fantasy.

For many, even romance. How many have posited what could happen if Death fell in love? It’s a fascinating theory.

Kiki Clark and E.M. Lindsey have a new series that focuses on that question. Their world building gives us a multitude of Reapers, each with their back history of becoming a Reaper, a Afterdeath universe complete with its set of rules and structure, and, an ability to soul bond with a human.

The authors do a terrific job with Tristan, the eldest son and heir of a ne’er-do-well Victorian landowner. Tristan, who realizes early he prefers the company of men, can’t bring himself to wed. In a short time, the authors paint him to be a tortured, kind, empathetic man, in a era that would certainly see him imprisoned. But fate and his family’s poor genetics have other ideas. In a raw scene, we are present as he’s transformed into a Reaper.

If death is a element that makes you uncomfortable, then this is not the story or series for you. Because people die here. Some are angry, some bewildered, others full of pain at those they are forced to leave behind. With no guarantees they will ever see them again.

No Aunt Minnie is waiting for you on the other side. It’s not that universe. At least not in this book. FYI.

Which brings us to Elias, a medium. He sees ghosts and tries to help the living make peace , along with their departed, of whatever issues remain between them. Elias has many troubles of his own, including a family that despises him due to his sexuality, as well as his “oddness”.

Elias is engaging and believable, moving about his little shop, a kitchen witch , with a kind, albeit unstable heart.

Their romance is remarkable. Especially considering one is a virginal Victorian non corporeal Reaper and the other a weak, delightful, human, who teeters constantly between the living and those who refuse to move on.

There’s several obstacles between their HEA, and it feels a bit rushed towards the end.

There’s also already several Reaper/human soul bonds that have happened prior to this story. Some of those couples make appearances here.

I believe they are Free Stories out there. See the list below.

At any rate. Until His Last Goodbye (Scythe #1) by Kiki Clark and E.M. Lindsey is a terrific story that needs just a tad more world building and length to be outstanding. Tris and Elias have such promise to their future and their relationship growth.

I really look forward to seeing what more these authors and this series has to offer.

Scythe series:

Until His Soul Awakens #0.5

Until His Beginning Ends #0.6

Until His Last Goodbye #1

https://www.goodreads.com › showUntil His Last Goodbye (Scythe #1) by Kiki Clark – Goodreads

Cover note. Am I the only one getting tired of seeing this same color variation. style, layout format everywhere? If it’s fantasy, it’s purplely, green, swirly, cover, it’s too too much. Rant over.

Synopsis:

When Death is your soulmate, finding love has never been so heart-stopping.

Having been a powerful medium for as long as he can remember, Elias knows his fair share about the afterlife.

Spirits are pushy.

Spirits are needy.

And they don’t respect personal boundaries.

Being a conduit between the living and the dead is exhausting but ignoring his gift isn’t an option. Even though embracing his calling has ruined nearly every relationship he’s ever had, Elias has learned to offer what comfort he can to those left behind, knowing his own time is limited.

So the day Death comes knocking,

Elias is resigned.

Then intrigued.

And then enchanted.

He has no business falling for an immortal collector of souls. No matter how kind and surprisingly innocent he is. Or how the Reaper’s gentle nature soothes the hollow ache inside his chest.

There can be no way forward when you fall for Death…

…unless you join him.

Until His Last Goodbye is the first installment in the epic Scythe trilogy by E.M. Lindsey and Kiki Clark. It features an uptight Victorian reaper, a medium eager to corrupt him, witchy best friends willing to hex anyone who hurts the people they love, and a former Spanish pirate who doesn’t have time for other people’s nonsense.

Review: Guarding Garrett (Hockey Allies Batchelor Bid Romance #1) by R.J. Scott

Rating: 3.5🌈

I’ve sort of been skipping around this wonderful contemporary collection of LGBTGIA+ hockey romances by various authors, reading one, and then forgetting to come back to it until I see a title that jars my sieve-like memory.

Guarding Garrett (Hockey Allies Batchelor Bid Romance #1) by R.J. Scott is actually the first in this collection by five authors.

The series hits so many of the elements I love, hockey romances, various tropes from mystery (here) to second chances at love, and much more. An absolutely terrific smorgasbord of hot men on ice and true love.

Guarding Garrett , is as the title indicates, about a top level, highly skilled and popular hockey player on the fictional NHL Burlington Dragons hockey team. Garrett “Hooley” Howell has been getting threatening texts, packages and more, until the team decides to get a bodyguard to protect him until they can investigate who’s behind the threats to their highly valuable player.

That’s a believable plot given the extent of the media most players engage in with the public and their fans. Stalkers are reported on daily.

Garrett and Jason develop great chemistry over the course of their time together. I enjoyed watching their relationship move from an antagonistic stage to one of attraction and friendship. The instant love was perhaps less realistic for me as I felt the story didn’t give us or them enough layers or time from stage one tension/rejection through to the “I Iove you” statements.

These aren’t long books so the author has crammed a lot into a shorter length. In addition to a full romance, there’s the mystery of the stalker and a full blown suspense-filled event at the end to contend with.

Plus the auction that all the novels have as a center feature.

My other quibble? I lost patience with Garrett’s behavior after Jason Dearing, co-owner of Seamax Security, had been hired. I can understand a certain amount of exasperation at the loss of personal freedom. But, It’s was explained to Garrett his life was in danger. This was a corporate decision. He had said repeatedly, he himself didn’t want to put his job with the team in jeopardy. Yet here he was making his bodyguard’s job incredibly difficult. Acting like a immature juvenile over a decision made by your team, your team owner, that impacts your career.

Which Garrett acknowledged. While not stopping.

It made me less invested in this character because I couldn’t relate to this element. Garrett Howell is a top NHL hockey player, one who’s owners have built a team around him. He’s respected. He’s supposed to be a highly talented, disciplined athlete. Someone used to a highly restricted diet, a long training schedule, with the ability to adhere to that tight regimen for years to achieve a goal. Yet here he’s whining like a toddler over supervision for several days to save his life.

A case needed to be made for that mentality by the author and I don’t think it was. A few mentions of a broken family until he was sent to Kyle Pressgroves’ family to live as a young hockey player. But that’s not enough history to excuse pages of frankly poor behavior.

Luckily, the behavior stopped and I could start appreciating Garrett from another perspective.

Despite some aspects of the story I found issues with, it’s fast moving, the main characters have excellent chemistry, and it’s has a satisfactory HEA.

No hockey however really. I do missed my “on the ice” scenes.

Kyle is part of this story as he’s Garrett’s best friend. His story is Keeping Kyle #3 by Jeff Adams. I’ve listed them all below.

They make for wonderful hockey romance reading. I’m recommending this and them.

Hockey Allies Batchelor Bid Romances series:

🔹Guarding Garrett #1 by RJ Scott

🔹Loving Layne #2 by VL Locey

🔹Keeping Kyle #3 by Jeff Adams

🔹Scoring Slater #4 by Susan Scott Shelley

🔹Absolving Ash #5 by Chantal Mer

https://www.goodreads.com › showGuarding Garrett by R.J. Scott – Goodreads

Synopsis:

A hardworking, competitive, and skilled hockey player, Garrett is the cornerstone of the Burlington Dragons hockey team and one of the league’s most popular playmakers. Blessed with a face that delivers millions in endorsements, he has a legion of fans, and a future so bright that he is the envy of many.

When his internet fame puts him in danger, and a stalker threatens his life, the team hires Jason, a quiet but deadly former marine, to protect him. Danger is always close, but forced proximity means sparks fly, attraction burns, and somehow, resentment turns to love.

When Garrett’s stalker ups their game at a charity bachelor auction, there is a real chance it could mean the end for Garrett, but Jason refuses to leave his side whatever the risk.

These two stubborn men will have to fight to walk away from this alive, but their newfound love is worth every sacrifice.

Review: The Scars That Bind Us ( The Magi Accounts #1) by Michele Notaro

Rating: 4.5 🌈

The Scars That Bind Us, the first book in Michele Notaro’s urban fantasy series, The Magi Accounts, takes in a scary, horrific universe, especially if you’re not human.

Here , the revelation that mages and shifters existed along side humanity did not go over well. WWIII happened, countries, governments, peoples and environments were devastated and divided. So too were species. With shifters and the magi at the bottom of the species pile.

I won’t recount it here. You can read it. People so fearful of those that make them feel less powerful ,the prejudice. So they relegated to a status as “others “ ,as less than equal. Easy to control, confinement to compounds. Tagged. Registered.

Notaro ‘s has the ability to bring the ability to transfer these devastating elements to this universe and the lives and conditions the shifters and magi now live under.

It’s very emotional reading when the narrator is magi Madeo Driscoll, compound born, paired to another mage Jude Driscoll, almost since birth. A dyad. Paired magi which increases their magical strength . Which for the government meant sending them out to fight in wars when they could barely walk. More tools than people, or children in this case.

The anger, trauma, and damage Mads (for Madman) carries within him and in the enormous amount of scars on his body is there in his words and actions throughout the story and events.

Jude, his soulmate and brother, whose presence has seen everything Mads has and been there to help heal him, is as quiet and powerful a man as Mads is verbally and emotionally angry. Yin and Yang. So great a couple and yet there’s no romantic attachment. It’s a brotherly love and bonding.

The other love is coming in the form of Cosmo Ono-Nai , alpha of a pride of Lion shifters and the new team Mads and Jude are supposed to work with.

The story has a wonderful found family element with another young magi, Logan Torres, that was rescued from a brutal attack by Mads and Jude. As well as the overall arc and storylines that stem from the tears in the universe that a mysterious group on Earth keep opening up and the monsters that pour through.

Notaro manages to build a continuous atmosphere of anxiety and suspense due to the unstable nature of the status of our characters. They basically have no rights, no say over their future so when we or Mads start to get invested in a relationship, any of their relationships, it comes with a equal amount of trepidation and fear.

It ends with a uneasy HFN.

Which makes me want to grab for the next one immediately.

There’s a trigger warning at the beginning of the story. It’s about assaults that happened in the past, off page. But even without them happening in current time, there’s enough emotional content that it’s intense , and might make some people feel very uncomfortable. Please read the warnings so you can make the best decision for yourself.

Tremendous storylines, great characters and amazing world building, as awful and believable as it feels.

I’m highly recommending it.

The Magi Accounts:

🔹Our Hearts That Tie Us #0.5

🔹The Scars That Bind Us #1

🔹A Kiss To Revive Me #1.5-4/19/2022

🔹The Shackles That Hold Us #2 – release date TBD

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Scars That Bind Us (The Magi Accounts #1) by Michele Notaro – Goodreads

What kind of mage would be crazy enough to crush on a shifter? Me. Apparently me.

The world is a messed-up place. Especially for those of us who have magic, and I know just how terrible it can be firsthand. Which is one of the reasons I try to stay away from people… humans and shifters especially.

Unfortunately, the NHSO forces magi to work alongside shifters to help protect the humans from taragorians—scary beasts from another realm. Which means I’m thrown onto a new team and forced to work with Cosmo Ono-Nai, a lion shifter.

And for some reason, I can’t keep my eyes off him.

The Scars That Bind Us is a 115K word novel and the first book in the MM urban fantasy series, The Magi Accounts.

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

Review: Purrfect Harmony (Blackhaven Manor #1) by Arden Steele

Rating: 4🌈

Somehow I missed both this author and her supernatural romance series , Blackhaven Manor. I’m rectifying that now.

Each story is a quick satisfying read if the first is any indication.

Blackhaven Manor is an enormous castle-like structure settled on an equally humongous wooded estate . Think ginormous 5 star hotel that’s comprised of Otherly niches , each suitable for a certain supernatural species, be it Vampire, Fae, type of were shifter, or anything else in the Other spectrum. And run by a meddling Dragon family.

It’s human concierge is Kol Livingston. Kol is one of the few humans on staff and the first to get his romance. He’s fresh from a bad breakup and currently swearing off any new relationships.

That’s when famous singer and infamous bad boy cheetah shifter, Remington Raines, arrives at Blackhaven Manor . He’s set to perform at the fabulous annual Festival held at the manor, a event so exclusive that it’s sold out far in advance.

Steele’s story is a fated mates romance with a hint of suspense to it. The author crafts her characters with an eye towards detail. Then, with a narrative smack, quickly nails the powerful impact a mate call has on a shifter and the couple.

It makes the fated mate a very believable element. Which I think was made more impressive given the shorter length of the book.

There’s a mystery and suspense aspect to the story that is something I both like and yet wish was given more time to develop. What we have is terrific but could have been so outstanding with a bit more “seasoning buildup“.

There are more characters I hope will will get to know better in the future novels. This universe has the potential for some very dramatic storylines and romances. I look forward to books.

I’m definitely recommending you start your journey here.

Blackhaven Manor Series:

✓ Purrfect Harmony #1

◦ Night and Fae #2

◦ Dragon It Out #3

◦ Grin and Bear it #4

◦ Pixie Little Liar #5

◦ Dead Over Heals #6

◦ Silent Knight #7

https://www.goodreads.com › showPurrfect Harmony (Blackhaven Manor #1) by Arden Steele – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Kol Livingston believes in the so-called fairy tales, the clichés—love at first sight, soul mates, and happily-ever-afters. He wants it all, but after a series of failed relationships, he’s beginning to think he’ll never meet Prince Charming. He loves his job at Blackhaven Manor, but with all the gorgeous paranormals strutting around the hotel, why would anyone choose him?

When cheetah shifter and infamous bad boy, Remington Raines, is asked to perform for the Heritage Festival at Blackhaven Manor, he can’t say no. Literally. Still, an all-expenses-paid vacation from tour buses and screaming fans might be just what he needs. Falling for the quirky concierge with big, brown eyes and a smile that melts him, however, wasn’t part of the plan. He’s used to people—men, women, supernatural and human—throwing themselves at him, but Kol doesn’t care about his fame or his money. He’s been hurt, and he’s not about to give his heart to just anyone.Image is everything, but if Remington wants to win over this jaded human, he’ll have to dig deep and show Kol the man behind the reputation.