Tag: first in a series

Review:  Bound To His Oath (Mafia Mayhem – The Italian Connection, #1) by Aja Foxx

Rating: 3.5🌈

I was looking for something quick and different from the fantasy/paranormal fiction I’d been reading, so I grabbed up Bound To His Oath (Mafia Mayhem – The Italian Connection, #1) by Aja Foxx.  

It was enjoyable, definitely a quick read, and tons of characters as well as various other elements as Foxx is setting up the universe for the series.

After reading the story, it seems we will be following the romances of several mafia bosses and their respective partners, ones we meet already “coupled up” here at the end.

 But it’s Nico and Luca’s story that comes first.  It’s a young love, established from childhood, that’s been crushed by one man’s ambitiously cruel parents. The background is revealed by the characters as events play out. 

I’m not sure how logical or even plausible some of these events are given the publication date is August 24 , 2024.  A big deal is made of gay marriage being legal in Canada (with the couple fleeing to the border) at a time it’s perfectly legal in the USA. Also, Luca,as a juvenile, was falsely imprisoned and his criminally connected family were not informed/involved or retaliated.  That element is not explained enough here.

The couple and their relationship is very romantic.  The beginning, the rescue, sweeping Nico literally off his feet into a plane and away to a new home.  That they’re reunited after years apart but seemingly just fine felt too “Cinderfella” , but in line with the rest of the book. 

Of course, there’s much more to it. A villainous family, a loving Italian mafia  family and fabulous villa, a veritable chest of superficially crafted characters and plots lines lay within.

It’s enjoyable without having to be invested in the plot or characters.  There’s just not enough depth or discernible growth written into the relationship or events to make the characters actions feel realistic.  Entertaining? Certainly. And that’s how I took it.

One of the couple’s met here and who played important roles towards the end are the focus of the next book. It tells the tale of they got together.  I expect that’s the format for each couple seen as an established pair here.

Foxx also has an arc mystery plot and that’s interesting enough for me to continue reading the series.

Buy link

        Bound To His Oath (Mafia Mayhem – The Italian Connection)

    

Blurb

“Do you honestly think I’d let you marry someone else? You’ve been mine since I took your first kiss. I was just giving you time to grow up.”

~ Nico ~

I was five years old the day we met, twelve when I figured out that I was going to love him for the rest of my life. When I turned sixteen, he gave me my first kiss…and then my world ended. I never believed the things people had said about him. He was not the bad boy everyone seemed to think he was. I’d seen his heart and it was pure gold. I just wish I’d had a chance to keep it before they took him away from me.

~ Luca ~

I was ten years old the day we met. By the time I was twelve I knew that I was going to love him for the rest of my life. When he turned sixteen, I gave him his first kiss…and then my world was ripped apart. I wasn’t the bad boy everyone seemed to think I was, but I refused to show anyone my heart except him, and they had taken him away from me.

Warning: Gay erotic romance. The material in this book contains explicit sexual content that is intended for mature audiences only. All characters involved are adults capable of consent, are over the age of eighteen, and are willing participants.

  • Publication date: August 24, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 170 pages

Review:  Frost or The Bite (Elementally Yours Book 1)  by FN Manning 

Review:  4.5🌈

F N Manning has quickly become a must read author for me, so I was interested in seeing what this paranormal romance story would hold.  It’s the first book in a new series, and it’s got so many of the great qualities that make this author’s work a must for me.

Manning’s characters are relatable, whether they be mages or werewolf, they have depth in the inner struggles they must face and overcome. Personal issues of self determination and self doubt translate well here with both of the main characters. 

Manning works within the framework of the story to build a sympathetic narrative so we can make that clear emotional connection with both wizard Jack Blanchard and werewolf Ewan Oakley.  They meet, make recognizable frustrating errors of judgment and inner turmoil, then slowly work their way through their own battles to be able to win out together in the end.

There’s some really lovely stuff here.  Jack’s parents (no spoilers), a magical thread about choosing a brand and element that I so love, including the idea that the elements are pushing their own agenda.

I did wish we’d gotten more of the Oakley pack and I feel that ending is only loosely resolved because we will see more of that character.

I found I was very enthusiastic about Frost or The Bite (Elementally Yours Book 1)  by FN Manning and am looking forward to the next in the series.

Elementally Yours:

Frost or The Bite #1

Strikes Twice #2

Bold As Brass #3 – October 13,2024

Buy link

        The Frost or The Bite: M/M Paranormal Romance (Elementally Yours Book 1)

    

Blurb

Fate brought them together but will frost tear them apart?

Jack Blanchard is almost a real wizard. First, he needs to choose between the potential of earth magic and centuries of icy family tradition. The decision seems impossible until wolf shifter Ewan Oakley stumbles into his garden and starts awakening all his innermost desires.

Ewan Oakley’s pack is on the brink of ruin after a series of frosty magical attacks. Spending one night relaxing with an adorably uptight wizard is the most fun he’s had in ages, but the shifter can’t ask for more, not while his pack struggles to survive.

Ewan opens Jack’s eyes to new possibilities and they create beautiful magic together. But following his heart may put a target on Jack’s back. Will Ewan and Jack’s love have a chance to blossom, or will the frost freeze them first?

The Frost or The Bite is a thrilling gay paranormal romance featuring forbidden romance, a supernatural feud, action, and steam. This is the first novel in the Elementally Yours series, and all novels in this series can be read as standalones.

  • Publication date: May 19, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 257 pages

Review: The Haunted Hotel (Crawshanks Guide to Mischievous Spectres & Spirits Book 1) by Vawn Cassidy 

Rating: 4.5🌈

We first met all these people (alive and ghostly ) at the very haunted Ashton-Drake Manor House  in  the Dead Serious Case #4 Professor Prometheus Plume (Crawshanks Guide to the Recently Departed). 

That was a fabulous supernatural murder mystery romp that was absolutely entertaining, romantic, and gave us an entirely new cast of characters to love.

The Haunted Hotel picks up in the aftermath of those events, the unwanted publicity and the trouble it’s brought to the Manor. And the unexpected surprises too. 

One is a leftover guest, the horror book author Mr Pennington, whose writer’s block has vanished since the last events and his creative sparks are flowing!  He’s decided to stay and write. The most important new element is the new arrival at the Manor. 

Morgan Ashton-Drake has returned home after his mother took him to America when he was a young boy. Now he’s come home, only he can’t remember the ancient manor that holds both his history and memories and perhaps his future.

While Morgan is dealing with renewed relations with his grandfather, and his past, Ellis Sparks, and the rest of the found family of staff and ghosts of Ashton-Drake Manor House Hotel have their own challenges to face.  

Vawn Cassidy weaves in intimate relationships of family dynamics, romance, friendship, and ghostly goings on to come up with a warm-hearted, layered story of families, history, and love in believable terms. Even when there’s ghosts involved.

By the end, a new resolve has set in, an additional chapter begins, and someone else has come home.  I love this book so much.

The Dead Serious Case #4 Professor Prometheus Plume (Crawshanks Guide to the Recently Departed) gives a wonderful foundation for this book as well as being a terrific story in a fantastic series. Don’t miss out on any of those stories.

I highly recommend reading them and this, the gorgeously crafted The Haunted Hotel (Crawshanks Guide to Mischievous Spectres & Spirits Book 1) by Vawn Cassidy .  Now I can’t wait to see where the next novel takes everyone.

Crawshanks Guide to Mischievous Spectres & Spirits:

  • The Haunted Hotel #1

Buy link

        The Haunted Hotel (Crawshanks Guide to Mischievous Spectres & Spirits Book 1)

    

Blurb 

Have a frightfully good stay…

Morgan Ashton-Drake hasn’t given his ancestral home in Yorkshire a second thought in decades. He has a great life in the States, running his stepfathers hotel empire with his brother. So what if he’s all work and no play. He’s not missing out on anything important.

But when a suspicious death and rather public scandal at his childhood home forces Morgan to return to England for the first time in years, he’s not keen to confront his past. What he didn’t count on was the seriously cute little blonde disaster who seems to be single-handedly running his eccentric grandfather’s hotel.

Ellis Sparks has worked at the Ashton-Drake Manor House Hotel since he was sixteen and he loves it from the bottom of his soul. Always the eternal optimist, he’s never met a frown he can’t turn upside down; that is, until he meets Morgan Ashton-Drake, the grumpy grandson of his employer.

With the hotel in danger of closing, and convinced Morgan is the only one who can help to save it, the resident ghosts decide to try their ghostly hand at a little matchmaking as an incentive to get him to stay. After all, how hard can it be to get a grumpy workaholic to fall in love with a twinky ray of sunshine?

From the creator of Dead Serious comes this hilarious grumpy/sunshine spin off which will leave you wanting to book your own room at The Ashton-Drake Manor House Hotel.

  • Publisher: Underside Press (August 24, 2024)
  • Publication date: August 24, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 277 pages

Review: Cosmic Husband (Cosmic Romances Book 1) by Mars Quinn

Rating: 4.25🌈

The “I was abducted by aliens “ trope isn’t one I normally read but the reviews for this were good and the author is new to me.

Science fiction can be a tricky subject, especially where the world building and species is concerned. I read other books where the aliens just resemble funny colored humans living in their own humanistic world instead of actually describing what a truly alien world or species might be like.

It does depend upon a specific author’s take on scify but it comes down to the theme. I’ll admit I really enjoyed Mars Quinn’s quirky perspective on this element.

It’s a fated mates science fiction romance, the first book in a new series. So Quinn’s story has to lay out not just the characters, and their respective histories, but establish the series foundation with various worlds, different species, and the entire Crystal religion that sparks young Kalvoxrencol “Kal” on his journey through space to find his fated mate.

That would be Seth, nigh to starved, recently dumped, with his emotional rescue cat, Lucy. The background the author has created for Seth’s adolescence has continued emotional ramifications for his adult life. He has had anxiety or panic attacks since he was young, and a controlling ex left him with further issues and emotional damage. All of this is slowly revealed through the process of his being abducted, then having to deal with this event and communicating with his new companion and those on the ship.

Kal, the alien who was determined to take his fated mate away from Earth and back home, also undergoes his own transformation. Turns out he’s young, prone to mistakes, the younger of all his siblings, and the more the reader and Seth learns about Kal, the more we like and connect with him. Alien, scaled, winged even but with behaviors that make him relatable. Are some of his early misadventures a tad too “human” in this regard? Sure but by this point as a reader, you’ve already made a decision about whether you are invested in this book and characters’ journey or not.

I was and enjoyed how the author was drawing comparisons with the stages of rebelling adolescence, no matter what the species.

This was absolutely true with respect to the character of Ensign Wyn (who I’m sure belongs on Below Decks) who became a good friend of Seth’s. His ongoing experiences, especially with drinking constantly made me laugh out loud. I need his book. Please.

So many special characters that Quinn crafted and made memorable, including NAID, the AI program that gained intelligence and became a being. I really hope that we see more of her. Quinn made sure there’s different species and different worlds that are seen and visited, as well as languages and religions. I appreciate that.

That romance was a very interesting one, built of respect, communication, commitment, and consent. That was upmost importance here so any intimacy didn’t really come until around 75 percent of the book was finished. They had literally covered a lot of space by then and Seth had the choice of returning to Earth.

Of the many siblings, only one other is mated so we get a scene that certainly leads us into the next book and sibling to get their story. It sounds fascinating and I can’t wait. Totally different.

I’m recommending this , it’s quirky, the characters are well done, easy to understand, and invest in their lives. I really enjoyed their journey to HEA. I’m still laughing about Wyn.

Buy link

Cosmic Husband: A Spicy MM Sci-Fi Romance (Cosmic Romances Book 1)

Blurb:

My cat and I have been abducted by aliens…

Seth

One second I’m walking to work, and the next I’m on a spaceship. I have no idea what’s going on, but this scaled alien claims I’m his mate. That’s not going to happen. I have until we reach his planet to accept or reject him. If I don’t want him, I can go back to Earth. But six months is a long time when the alien Kal is determined to woo me.

Kalvoxrencol

The Crystal sent me to the far reaches of the universe for my soulmate, and now that I have him, I will not surrender him. I will do whatever I can to win his love and keep him by my side, where he belongs. I will not let anything from my past or his keep us apart.

This is a standalone sci-fi romance with a socially anxious human, his protective winged alien mate, a black cat companion, a slow burn with a spicy payoff, and a guaranteed HEA. This is an MM romance with explicit content intended for adult readers only. Some of the trigger warnings include: panic attacks, anxiety, swearing, and adult content (Full list inside).

• Publication date: June 3, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 435 pages

Review: Sanctuary (On The Wind Book 1) by Sam Burns and W. M. Fawkes

Rating: 4.5🌈

It took a short time for me to find my way to really connecting with both of these characters in Sanctuary, Sam Burns and W.M. Fawkes’ new book and series.

At first, Paris comes across as a cosseted, naive young nobleman who’s just lost his father, a man who is the hidden lover of the heir to the throne. But quickly, through the means of a political mission, the authors start him towards a journey of astonishing personal growth.

Paris travels to the land of Nemeda, where he’s to make a peace treaty with the unknown southern tribes, who are said to be bird worshippers. This is absolutely where the narrative pulls the reader into this amazing universe, giving us a window into his development as he opens up himself to new cultures, uses his ingenuity and knowledge to create opportunities for himself and to help others.

We get to watch him grow and fall in love with the person he’s becoming.

The same goes for head of the Hawk clan, Brett. Brett was a harder character for me to invest in to start. Part of this is the disconnect between the clan bird/Avatar and what this clan is known for. It also ties into Brett’s personality. They are the Hawk clan. However, instead of being known for their warrior spirit or their fierce nature, this clan is one of farmers and land oriented talents. It absolutely doesn’t match up with the Hawk as a species.

Other clans do match better with their namesake. Cranes, Ducks, Eagles and especially the Crows, all beautifully suited to their clan’s needs and abilities. So why stray so far off from the Hawk’s? As a someone in the field (wildlife biologist) this is an irritating factor, but not the only one. More on this at the end.

Anyway, Brett comes off as clueless or hapless as a clan leader when he first starts making his appearance in the novel. The worst of it involves how he’s handled the wife he was dealt with. This is a important storyline that will thread throughout the novel, especially how it’s handled by him at the beginning of the story. Does Brett improve in character development as the novel continues? Yes, but for me, this is a very weak beginning point.

Burns and Fawkes have just begun with their world building, as the various clans are introduced, along with their histories and the territorial/clan wars reveal themselves. So to the geographical and climate changes that are typical of each region that impacts each clan and kingdom. It’s fascinating, detailed, and gives depth to the characters in ways that makes them relatable.

I enjoyed and was very engaged with many of the other characters here, definitely wanting more of the Crow Clan and their fierce leader. There is so much more of the magical side to be explored. And that’s the spoilers side too that I won’t be going into. Fantastic if not wholly unexpected.

The relationship, slowly growing, the respect for each other’s privacy and culture is something I enjoyed watching unfold and look forward to seeing more of in future stories.

Finally, my last words to the authors (other writers too), please rethink wise owl usage. I can tell you that is absolutely not the case. A alpha predator? Positively. Fierce? Beyond measure. But wise? Nope, I blame Disney and that face! SMH. Let’s try to keep the owl more in tune with its natural behaviors, same as you do with the other birds here. With the exception of that pesky Hawk.

Otherwise, a terrific read and wonderful adventure.

On The Wind:

✓ Sanctuary #1

◦ Guardian #2 – TBD

Buy link

Sanctuary (On the Wind Book 1)

Blurb:

Paris’s path is clear, his future settled. He’s trained his whole life in politics and the running of a kingdom. He’s going to be an adviser to the future king, his beloved prince. But when his father dies unexpectedly, the current king takes the opportunity to get rid of him, sending him to the barbaric southern tribe lands of Nemeda as a diplomat.

No one has ever returned from the tribes alive.

But he won’t give up on true love. If it costs him everything, he’ll bargain his way back to the arms of Prince Tybalt. Only what he finds when he arrives in Nemeda is not what he expected. The tribes aren’t barbaric at all, and their chief is . . . well, Paris can’t be distracted by the man’s rugged beauty that easily. Can he?

• Publication date: June 13, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 340 pages

Review: Tempest (The Silver Oak Pack Book 1) by Kiki Clark

Rating: 3🌈

“Based within the Kincaid Pack series’s universe, the Silver Oak Pack features a pack first introduced in The Enforcer and His Mate. Led by Alpha Liam Amato, the Silver Oak Pack is small but fierce as they work to rebuild under Liam’s newfound leadership.”

Clark is starting a new series that expands on the events that have happened within the Kincaid pack universe, a paranormal world’s organizational structure, The Council, was recently brought down by the Alpha of the Kincaid Pack. Rebuilding has been slow, leaving chaos and damaging ramifications behind.

That’s the situation Tempest finds the Silver Oak pack, dealing with the fallout, full of suspicion of change, outsiders, and the result is a pack that’s in stasis.

The portrait of a community frozen by its fears, history, and prejudice is clearly defined by the author. We understand the ramifications and the ugly consequences of this continuing pack identity will have on its members.

But that makes it hard to connect with others in this story. Or any sudden reversals in behavior or decision making.

The main character of Ore, the golden eagle shifter, who shows up wounded and unable to remember what happened, is an engaging one. His background is probably one of the issues here. While i like him, his storyline is also both interesting and not so well developed. It has potential but is wrapped up so quickly, for all the buildup, that you as a reader wonder what the problem was. It’s over in minutes. And it leaves another aspect of his story unresolved.

Cash, a felidae shifter, comes from a terrible background of parental abandonment. That’s contributed to his current situation as Enforcer and attitude of Pack first mindset. So his inability to accept his mate that literally falls into his arms because he’s not a feline, is both frustrating and understandable . To a point.

The author misses the mark here because, there’s a real lack of communication between almost everyone. Mates, friends, family, and importantly, the Alpha and those that are supposed to advocate for the pack or themselves.

So for most of the book no one talks to anyone. About important things. Yes, they do talk about if Ore’s getting his memory back. But other things? Nope.

There’s something else. The Mobster’s Mate, which is listed as a standalone really isn’t. It leads into this series as sort of a prequel, and should be read as such. Characters from that appear here and events there are important references here.

In fact it’s a better developed story and its characters have more chemistry and relationship than those here

Read The Mobster’s Mate, then read this. Tempest has potential, especially with its main couple but it’s got quite a few issues with its narrative that highlights the flawed development in plot and shortcuts.

Read it because you enjoy this universe and want to see where the ongoing mystery flows and how it develops.

Silver Oak Pack:

✓ Tempest #1

Kincaid Pack-6 books

✓ The Alpha and His King #1

✓ The Second and His Bonded #2

✓ The Deputy and His Enforcer #3

✓ The Hunter and His Mates #4

✓ The Enforcer and His Heart #5

✓ The Witch and His Doctor #6

✓ The Mobster’s Mate -standalone within the Kincaid universe, so not really

✓ A New Pack for New Year (Kincaid Pack) prequel

Buy link

Tempest (Silver Oak Pack Book 1)

Blurb

When duty and desire clash, fated mates are caught in the middle.

Cash’s loyalty to his pack is unwavering. He’d sacrifice anything to protect his packmates. Do anything to keep them safe. Put their needs above his own—always.

It is the life he was born for, and the one he’s worked years to achieve. As an Enforcer, he swore an oath to his alpha: pack before self.

Not once has he regretted his choices.

Until an injured eagle shifter lands in his lap, and his protective instincts get torn in two.

He knows he can’t risk the safety of his pack—no matter what his panther demands. Once the little bird is all healed up, Cash will have to send him on his way.

For the good of his pack.

But dark, frightened eyes and a sweet smile call to his cat in a hungry, possessive way and challenge everything he’s ever thought he knew.

For the first time in his life, he might just have to put himself first.

Tempest is the first book in the Silver Oak Pack series, set within the Kincaid Pack Universe but able to be read and enjoyed completely on its own. It features an overly protective panther trapped by his own responsibility-driven morals, an eagle who can’t remember much but knows the surly cat makes him feel spine-tingling safe, magical tattoos, skinny dipping, a delicious age-gap, gobs of scenting, and a swoon-worthy happily ever after.

• Publisher: Rainbow Publishing LLC (April 23, 2024)

• Publication date: April 23, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 261 pages

Review: Shadow & Ghosts: City of Shadows Book 1 by Lex Veia

Rating: 5🌈

I’m not sure how I stumbled across this amazing book and author but Shadow & Ghosts, the first novel in the City of Shadows series by Lex Veia is the urban fantasy universe that I was most in need of.

The world building here is astonishing. I’m so intrigued by the many different ways Veia has combined recognizable elements, such as authentic US geographical features and locations with the author’s own unique narrative storylines. That Veia incorporates fantastic twisted historical creations of warfare and demonic rifts, along with a dark capital city run and divided by gangs makes this a tale you cannot put down.

“The city of monsters, mobsters, and dark magic. Oh, I know all about the witch-gangs of Las O.”

That’s the voice of Kit Winter, thief extraordinaire, aka The Shadow, and a captivating figure at the heart of this story and series. Once we make the connection with him, we can’t pull away from his vibrant character, that energetic, magnetic force that is so full of emotional/personal layers, that the author is still peeling them away even at the end of the story. Kit is someone who has hidden so much of himself for so long that , even the act of remembering is a complex act . One that never comes to fruition.

His opposite is Zach Riley, The Ghost, leader of the Renegades, the Elite Team gathered by Captain Emilie Brodie to fight demons and witches.

Zach’s background and legendary status as The Ghost is another rock solid element of this story. Zach is a constantly evolving and changing character, in part due to the revelations that are a part of his growing relationship with Kit. The two men, both different and yet so similar in emotional makeup and personality.

This is a very slow burn romance. And it works beautifully as it’s built around the team’s chemistry and the heavy lifting that comes from the missions they are sent on and the mysteries that they find.

The action sequences and the entire suspense that’s being built around the missions and the evils that the team faces is indescribably powerful. I started to go back to look at a few things in the book and before I knew it, I was sucked in , rereading it as though it was my first time.

And loving it as much if not more.

This is a story where the reader will feel the grimy surfaces, the dark magic, and poisoning of the light of the dangerous city, Las Oscura. And the author makes us take an emotional journey with all the characters through this city and all the events that occur.

What a wild, dark, intense journey it is.

I can’t wait for the next book to come.

City of Shadows:

✓ Shadow & Ghost #1

◦ Shadow & Ghost 2: City of Ghosts-coming July 2024

Buy Link:

Shadow & Ghost: City of Shadows: A Slow-Burn MM Urban Fantasy

Blurb:

Kit Winter does not get caught.

As the most infamous thief in America, Kit enjoys a carefree, transient lifestyle—or, he did, until someone slapped a pair of handcuffs around his wrists and offered him an impossible choice: Rot in prison or join the most dangerous division of the Darkmagic Investigation Agency, the Renegades.

Kit’s pretty sure he chose wrong. The Renegades are the most elite fighters in the world—none more so than their legendary dark-witch-killing lieutenant, Zach Riley. Kit is utterly outmatched and unprepared for hunting witches and demons through the dangerous, magic-riddled city of Las Oscura.

But when a routine hellhound hunt turns fatal, Kit’s criminal skillset might be the Renegades’ best shot at tracking a deadly new killer through the shadowy underground—and Kit’s chance to earn his place on the team. However, hunting witches is worlds away from Kit’s old life, and if he wants to survive, he’ll need to learn to trust his team—and balance his burgeoning feelings for a certain lieutenant.

This is an action-packed urban fantasy with slow-burn romance culminating in spicy scenes. Each book in the series will be increasingly spicy as the romance builds.

• Publisher: (February 29, 2024)

• Publication date: February 29, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 391 pages

Review: Up All Night (Mount Hope Book 1) by Annabeth Albert

Rating: 3.5🌈

Up All Night begins a new series called Mount Hope by Annabeth Albert about a small town near Portland, Oregon and a close knit group of longtime friends who have recently come back together.

Up All Night is described as a low-angst, small town romance, and it does work on that level. The small town community is nicely represented, especially through the diner’s various clientele and hospital staff.

I like the newly divorced older former fire captain, Sean Murphy, that Albert has created as a main character. He’s a very familiar figure, the sort of guy who’s recognizable around in a community. The divorced dad of now adult offspring, who is trying to make his way into a future he didn’t expect and isn’t ready for. He’s returning home to help out a recently widowed friend and father deal with the aftermath of his husband’s death. That’s a wonderfully sweet, compelling storyline.

Everything about Sean feels very real. Except for the fact that his wife, a scientist, late in their marriage, both discovers she’s asexual, and, also has a shot at a dream job in Antartica. So she ends the marriage, making Sean give up his dream of his job, sell his beloved Craftsman home, and leave the area. That’s a lot. All that fallout from the divorce and he’s not mad or even mildly irritated. He’s sad and confused. That feels like a problem.

That’s just one of the issues I’m having with the story and characters here. It’s that Albert can’t stop with the complications and drama but the story itself is supposed to be low angst and sort of low drama, sweet small town romance. The author’s words.

It’s pulls in separate directions narratively because of the consistent heavy loads the author writes onto her characters and plots. This makes several of the storylines feel under explored and understandably cut short in important elements. Not just in certain aspects of Sean’s personality.

There’s considerably more along these exact same lines.

Denver Rucker, the ex foster kid with huge abandonment issues, who is now one of the short order cooks at Honey’s Hotcake Hut. He’s the other main character and his problems with commitment run deep. There’s a small Dom/sub element here within the developing relationship between Denver and Sean’s as Sean enjoys exploring his sexuality as a gay man for the first time.

Yes, it’s also a sexual coming out, first times, sexual experience storyline. So much is packed into this book.

Foster care, foster children, giving children up for adoption, all those delicate topics are major themes here. The well defined family of their widower friend,Eric, all his four children (each one with their own well defined personality from jock to “neurospicy”) came from the foster care system. But that’s not gone into detail here.

Then there is Denver himself, whose background is painful and left him emotionally vulnerable. And there is another , lesser established thread of substance abuse, that flows through several characters as too. Sometimes it’s just a sentence about no longer using/drinking something.

But again, in a low angst story, to introduce such emotional, and potentially triggering topics in a way that’s underwhelming or not thoroughly explored, doesn’t make sense. For me as a reader, either commit fully to a more complex story and well developed narrative. Or realize that, for a contemporary low angst, low drama romance, a little less complexity/issues in the characters history and relationships journey is just fine.

I like many aspects of the story, like the characters and relationships , whether it’s romantic or the friendship between the group of men. But for each of the pluses, I get a scene that will raise a question about the character or a relationship. Such as a feeling of homophobia that comes from Sean’s son but left unanswered.

Or, smh, that Albert has the younger offspring Wren, in the story, find and put a turtle in a small tank for observation purposes, possibly adding another. That’s my button being pushed.

If you can’t write animals in a manner that is satisfying (continuity in letting main animal characters exist right up to the end of the story) or in a way that’s realistic and respectful, please don’t. It might be a small thing, but reptiles ,especially native turtles, are increasingly endangered and it’s discouraged to take them for pets or any reason. PSA over

Up All Night (Mount Hope Book 1) by Annabeth Albert was on some levels, a nice romantic story, a good start on a new series . In the other hand, it was overpacked with too many sensitive issues, potentially triggering themes and emotionally charged scenes that were, imo, not fully explored or developed for this book and it’s overall low angst storyline.

Read it because you are a fan of the author, love a new series by, or any of the many themes here.

Mount Hope:

✓ Up All Night #1

◦ Off The Clock #2

Buy link:

Up All Night (Mount Hope Book 1)

Blurb:

What happened to my predictable life?

I had a stable life as a fire captain in Seattle, married to one of my best friends and raising two awesome kids. Now, my kids are grown, and my marriage is toast. I’m solidly past forty and back in my tiny hometown of Mount Hope, Oregon, filling in as a firefighter. My future is one big question mark keeping me up at night.

Also keeping me up? The short-order cook at Honey’s Hotcake Hut.

Denver might be close to my age, but we’re total opposites. The former rock roadie runs from stability, never puts down roots, and lives for the moment. Point in case, we barely speak before he invites me into his shower.

I’ve never been with a man, but my fresh start has me trying all sorts of new things—including Denver’s shower.

Our future? Hopeless.

Denver doesn’t do repeats, but I convince him to have a fling since we’re both in Mount Hope short-term. The more time we spend together, the deeper our friendship and bond grows. Our time together outside of the bedroom, reveals a caring side to the grumpy cook. Even better, my sunshine-y optimism softens him like butter.

Should a fling give me these deep feelings? Nope.

Worse, the feelings are mutual. Big decisions loom for both our futures, and our time together grows short. I might have Denver’s heart, but his trust is far harder to win. He’s the answer to all my question marks, and I need him to believe in us. Can I convince him to give our love a chance?

UP ALL NIGHT features a grumpy/sunshine pairing for a forty-something firefighter on a path of self-discovery with an UP ALL NIGHT short-order cook. It contains loads of first-time feels with sexual awakening and exploration with a heaping helping of personal growth and deep connection for this opposites-attract couple.

• Publisher: (March 28, 2024)

• Publication date: March 28, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 282 pages

Review: Shades of Sepia (The Sleepless City #1 ) by Anne Barwell

Rating: 3.5🌈

I’ve read this series out of order and this probably has hurt the way in which I have viewed the first story, Shades of Sepia.

I’m already familiar with the couple and characters here. Also how the events of this story unfolded and were resolved. I read it basically to complete the series and grab up any new information or missing details before heading into the series finale.

I liked getting to know Ben Leyton, a New Zealand human drawn to Boggslake, Ohio because of an old photograph from his grandfather. He’s a wonderful, relatable character. Simon Hawthorne, vampire with a terrifying past, is a quiet presence here against the vibrancy that’s Ben.

I liked them but my main quibble here is the rushed relationship. There’s no foundation, no chemistry at the beginning. Yes a feel for a realistic dynamic comes later in the book, but at the beginning, it’s all soulmate, insta-love ‘oh, I love you’ type of relationship and I just think it comes across as flawed and flat.

Especially when viewed against the funny, partly antagonistic tone of the one that emerges from Electric Candle with Blair and Forge. That is one that’s slowly grown and, even with a soulmate bond, definitely not an instant love connection. As I said, series should be read in order.

I thought the second half of the story and plot was better constructed. But again, I had the advantage of reading books 2 and 3 . For me, I enjoyed it but got frustrated that the investigation into the murders was simply too slow to see what was going on around the main characters. And major plot points weren’t followed through on, another issue which bothered me.

For me , there’s a large amount of sex to the exclusion of character and relationship development. Instead of giving the reader information about what exactly happened to certain characters, what did the investigation reveal, and some more vampire bonding details, we get sex.

It’s not as satisfying as it sounds.

So while there are some good things about this book. The characters themselves are lovely, some really nice moments individually, the whole story doesn’t come across as strongly as the book that follow.

It’s still a rec for me. It a good lead in to a terrific series. Read them in the order they are written.

The Sleepless City:

✓ Shades of Sepia #1 by Elizabeth Noble

✓ Electric Candle #2 by Elizabeth Noble

✓ Family and Reflection #3 by Anne Barwell

◦ Shifting Chaos #4 by Anne Barwell

Sequel Series:

The Vampire Guard by Elizabeth Noble:

◦ Code Name: Jack Rabbit #1

◦ Quarry #2

◦ Endosymbiont #3

Buy Link:

Shades of Sepia (The Sleepless City Book 1)

Blurb:

To be soulmates they first have to survive.

A serial killer stalks the streets of Boggslake, Ohio. The victims are always found in pairs, one human and one vampire.

Simon Hawthorne has been a vampire for nearly a hundred years, and he has never seen anything like it. Neither have the other supernaturals he works with to keep the streets safe for both their kind and the humans.

One meeting with Simon finds Ben Leyton falling for a man he knows is keeping secrets, but he can’t ignore the growing attraction between them. A recent arrival in Boggslake, Ben finds it very different from his native New Zealand, but something about Simon makes Ben feel as though he’s found a new home.

After a close friend falls victim to the killer, Simon is torn between revealing his true nature to Ben, and walking away to avoid the reaction he fears. But with the body count rising and the murders becoming more frequent, either, or both of them, could be the killer’s next target.

Author’s note: This story was originally released in 2014 by another publisher. This edition has been revised and re-edited with the end result being a better, stronger story.

• Publisher: LaceDragon Publishing; 2nd edition (July 11, 2020)

• Publication date: July 11, 2020

• Print length: 240 pages

Review: One (Angels of Wrath Book 1) by Paulina Ian-Kane

Rating:2.75🌈

I’ve been reading several newly discovered (to me) authors recently, one of which is Paulina Ian-Kane. Kane’s books, from the descriptions, fall under the trope of “psychopathic killers for good” dark romance fiction.

One, the first novel in the author’s Angels of Wrath series, follows one of a group of men rescued as children from a horrific, abusive secret government experimental program. All, either sold or kidnapped into the program, were initially diagnosed as young psychopaths. Then scientists, using torture techniques, tried turning them into assassins/soldiers for the military. They were “rescued” by a pair of doctors and adopted/fostered into a family arrangement that now hides their secret business of being assassins for justice, killing those that the law allows to go free.

There are other authors that have written this as a foundation for a series. Child psychopaths/ assassins formed families that now kill those that deserve it. One writer especially is associated with it.

After completing the story, I just feel that this book was just too derivative for my tastes and degree of comfort, starting with the format at the beginning, to multiple similarities with another well known series, imo.

That’s Onley James’ Necessary Evils , a series about an adopted/rescued group of child psychopaths who are assassins (popular among many as this trope is a favorite of mine and others). And I’m not alone in thinking One has many similar elements to that older, and imo, better written, series by James.

Some of these similarities between these two series include , later books with James:

1. Starting a chapter with the word Subject: and a name. Then treating it as a scientific document on the character.

2. The characters are children diagnosed as psychopaths, although it turns out not all are.

3. They are adopted by doctors. In James series’ a man, a woman in One.

4. Both families are extremely wealthy using their businesses to fund their secret projects

5. The manner in which each finds their “mate “ , especially the cinnamon roll character, feels so familiar.

There’s others things that come up, pros and cons narratively that had me struggling with this story , but there’s just enough of a difference in things and a nice twist that the book does eventually turn interesting.

However, not enough for me to consider continuing with this series. Each book will, naturally, contain the story for a different “brother “ as they find themselves a mate amongst the murder.

There’s two book out now with more planned.

I prefer Onley James’ Necessary Evils series. In comparison , it’s tighter in its plotting, its foundation and series arc is more fully realized, and its characters are more complex .

You decide which one to read.

Trigger warnings:

Heavy issues are also present. Talk of self-harming, killing and experimentation on children.”

— One (Angels of Wrath Book 1) by Paulina Ian-Kane

Angels of Wrath:

One #1

Six #2

Buy link

One (Angels of Wrath Book 1)

Blurb:

Michael Caldwell—medical examiner, odd, blood obsessed. His new life in Chicago consists of performing autopsies and eating chips while watching old detective series.

Until…

“He’s suddenly standing in front of me. Leather jacket, washed-out jeans, jet black hair.

His deep, green eyes are so intense on me I can barely breathe.

It’s in his crooked smile, bold flirting and confident—borderline conceited—behavior that I get lost.

The fact that he protects me five minutes later during an attempted robbery only reinforces my crazy-instant attraction toward him, though.

But there are shadows hiding in his gaze. And his apathetic yet possessive attitude confuses me.

Makes me care.

Makes me crave.

But then secrets come out and my life turns into a thriller movie.

Now I’m left wondering how this all started. And when the answer comes, I know I can never go back to my uneventful life. Would I even want to?

Would I be able to leave him?

‘Never again’, he whispers.”

WARNING-This is not a sci-fi angel story, unless you see eager vigilantes with a dark side as angels.

This is an action packed romance with an HEA and no cliffhangers. It features an over the top possessive psychopath, and a peculiar medical examiner with a stomach made of steel. There’s violence, torture (only of very bad people), dark humor, amazing side characters and very spicy scenes with blood play. Morality’s grey area is quite stretched in this story.

This is book one in the Angels of Wrath Series. Each book follows a different couple.

• Publisher: (August 23, 2023)

• Publication date: August 23, 2023

• Print length: 274 pages