Tag: friends to lovers

Review: Code: Red (Atrous #1) by N.R. Walker

Rating: 3.25🌈

I missed this book when it first came out and am now playing catch-up prior to the release of Code: Blue, the second in the Atrous series about a rock band.

The story is told only from the perspective of Roscoe Hall, the personal manager of rockstar Maddox Kershaw. Maddox is one of five boy band members of the super group Atrous who have played together since they were teenagers.

We miss all the history of both men and drop into the band and the men’s relationship at a point when the band has reached superstardom and it’s taken a substantial toll on themselves, and those around them.

But mostly it’s impacting Maddox who’s hiding something important from everyone.

Walker does a realistic job in portraying (as much as you can without living it) what that intense, controlling, isolating lifestyle might do to a person, especially if they’ve been living it for closer to a decade. It’s sounds not only exhausting but frankly unlivable no matter how much they pay.

The story concentrates, naturally on Maddox, who’s breaking down, and his relationship with Roscoe, who’s loved him for years but kept it professional. There’s a age gap (not that it makes a difference) but I have to admit something about the manager/client aspect and Maddox’s fragility bothered me. He kept saying Roscoe was the only one he trusted as he was coming apart, there were clear lines, contractual ones, between them, that got ignored by both. That bothers me too. Too many things just didn’t ring right here.

So that relationship just didn’t gel for me.

Great characters, just not the romance.

With Maddox finally admitting to his anxiety / panic disorders , and acknowledging he needed professional help, having someone who was both your boyfriend and manager seems like additional stress as well.

The depiction of Maddox undergoing a panic attack, displaying characteristics of someone with an anxiety disorder is very believable. You feel for him and the strain he’s under.

This is where it would have been wonderful to have had Maddox’s pov, actually we needed it throughout the story. It felt lacking without his voice filling in his viewpoint on their history, relationships (personal and professional), and his illnesses.

And that wasn’t the only area I felt we needed more. There’s five band members. Supposedly all so close they are like brothers. But as I read the book the only other band member I felt I had even a smidge of knowledge of his personality was Jeremy. The others? Nothing.

They are a blank, totally odd for a band, even a close one, that lives 24/7 together. Where’s the every day ups and downs of enforced togetherness? Missing.

I got no sense of there even being a band. And this is a series about a band.

Could have been about any famous group of people..

I missed that about this story. A sense of foundation. Of being centered in something. Atrous itself isn’t there.

Perhaps it will come along in books to come.

I’m going onto Code: Blue because N.R. Walker is a auto buy for me and I want to see what happens with Jeremy who’s up next. And Steve, because other than Jeremy, he’s the other name I can remember here.

If you’re a Walker fan, you’ve read this and have your hands on the second story. If you’re new to the series and author, I tell you ( lots others will to ) go find Red Dirt series which remains one of my all time fav series and reads!

Atrous series:

✓ Code: Red #1

◦ Code: Blue #2

https://www.goodreads.com › showCode Red (Atrous, #1) by N.R. Walker | Goodreads

Synopsis:

Maddox Kershaw is the main vocalist of the world’s biggest boy band. He’s at the top of every music chart, every award show, every social media platform, and every sexiest-man-alive list. He’s the bad boy, the enigma, the man everyone on the planet wants a piece of.

He’s also burned out and exhausted, isolated and lonely. Not in a good headspace at the start of a tour.

Roscoe Hall is Maddox’s personal manager. His job is high-flying, high-demand, high-profile, and he loves it. Maddox has consumed his entire life for the past four years. Roscoe knows him. He sees the real Maddox no one else gets to see.
He’s also in love with him.

When the tour and stress become too much, when the world begins to close in, Roscoe becomes Maddox’s lifeline. But as Maddox knows already, and as Roscoe is about to learn, the brighter the spotlight, the darker the shadow.

Review: Hot Seat (The Hot Cannolis #1) by Eli Easton and Tara Lain

Rating: 4.5 🌈

I hadn’t read Fireman’s Carry (The Hot Cannolis #0.5) by Eli Easton that was the source and inspiration for this series by Easton and Lain. I will certainly go ahead and do that now that I’ve read this book and the romance of those characters.

What is started there , a major fire and rescue of over 60 people by firefighter Mike Canali and civilian Shane Bower is where this novel’s storylines begins. With the aftermath of those events,weeks later, in everyone’s lives.

The events in that story are recounted somewhat so it’s not necessary to have read it to step into the people and their situations here.

One important detail, however, that’s not mentioned anywhere, either in the descriptions or authors note. There is a on page attempt at suicide, although it’s never actually termed that out loud. Also character depression. If any of this is a trigger for a reader, please know this in advance so you be the best judge about whether to read the story or not.

There are so many terrific elements here. The characters are very well done. Shane Bower and his Pops are amazing. From the moment Shane makes his appearance on the page with his book club (who I also adored hugely) I was immediately engaged. He was believable, likable, vulnerable, just everything you knew would end up pulling at your heart strings. Then I met his grandfather, Pops. And I was all in. Pops is another great character. Throughly realistic and wonderful.

I think most readers will have mixed feelings about the Cannolis, the enormous Italian firefighter clan that Mike Cannoli belongs to. I feel they are pretty realistic myself in the way they are portrayed. I’ve know a family very similar to them and while some may argue they may seem too black and white in their characteristics, I can argue that those personality traits are also very believable and true .

The men , father and brothers, were very homophobic and followed that old hard core machismo that impacted every part of their lives from childhood up. For Mike, having to live up to their ideals and endure their rigid idea of masculinity made the stress upon his daily life an ever increasing pressure he wasn’t even aware of. Until he was. When the very out Shane Bower enters his and his family’s life.

The authors accurately portrayed what happens when the status quo is upset within a traditional Italian family, with the women on one side and the men on the other.

The majority of the story deals with Mike and his coming to grips first with his sexuality, then with the idea of a relationship, then the overwhelming fear of being known as gay to his family. This is really his story and it’s a realistic, painful one.

Shane is just as much a part of it as a out and proud gay man in love with someone who can’t accept himself. That’s another element and equally hurtful. To Shane and Mike.

The support characters, from the wonderful women of the Cannoli family to Shane’s friends to a surprise in the form of Donny, give this story extra depth. I love them all.

Mike’s depression and the events that follow feel accurate but deserve a trigger warning. FYI.

I am recommending this story. I wouldn’t call this a romantic comedy however. There’s humor but the focus is serious and dramatic while still including the romance.

I liked that the authors recognizes that not everyone would be able to come around and accept Mike’s new sexuality completely. That’s just not realistic given his family. Thanks for keeping it real!

I’m really looking forward to the next in the series. It’s Donny’s story, Hot Winds. Can’t wait.

Until then pick this up and enjoy!

The Hot Cannolis series:

◦ Fireman’s Carry (The Hot Cannolis #0.5) by Eli Easton

✓ Hot Seat #1

◦ Hot Wings #2 – March 29, 2022

https://www.goodreads.com › showHot Seat (The Hot Cannolis #1) by Eli Easton – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Wait. Can a Canali be gay?

Hero firefighter, youngest of six macho Italian brothers and—in love with Shane Bower, who never met a unicorn T-shirt he didn’t love? How does that even work?

When Mike Canali meets Shane Bower, his attraction to the guy is off the charts. But then his huge family and intense job full of rules and expectations intrude and he never calls.

Until they both get a medal—
and his mom falls in love with Shane at the ceremony—
and all of a sudden Shane’s all over his life, whether Mike likes it or not.

The butch Canali family face-to-face with sparkly Shane Bower? This is a wildfire of its own.

Shane worked damned hard to be who he is—fantastic, femme and in-your-face. He won’t compromise that, even to have the super-hot man of his dreams. But can he really ask Mike to give up his family and future just to have his fabulous self? Especially when he’s falling in love with the Canali family too?

HOT SEAT is a hot firefighter, big crazy family, coming out, opposites attract, forced proximity, romantic comedy—with all the feels.

Review: Oceans that Swim (Kings of Airlie #1) by Casey Cox

Rating: 4.5 🌈

I love Casey Cox so I picked up her new release immediately. Oceans that Swim is the first book in the Kings of Airlie trilogy, a sports romance series.

First off I had to go YouTube the sport of Kitesurfing. Didn’t have a clue what it was. For those of you like me, I put a link at the bottom of my review to a wonderful “King of Airlie “ run. Check it out. Pretty wild stuff.

Secondly, the author includes a warning at the beginning of the story. It states that the trilogy deals with issues of violence, murder, self-harm, physical and sexual abuse, most but not all of which happens off page.

I appreciate the author’s letting the reader be able to make an informed decision prior to starting the series by letting them know the trilogy deals with those elements.

Oceans that Swim ‘s character Ritchie has c-PTSD. It comes from the trauma from seeing his parents murder/suicide. I suspect this storyline will carry throughout the next books. It’s very much a murder mystery.

Terry, the youngest of the King brothers, is the other main character. He’s the upcoming latest sensation on the kitesurfing season and scoreboard. But his father, THE King of Airlie, is the one who’s abusive and cold, when not out in the public eye. Most the the abuse is past memories, but not all. And I except it to get worse in the next story.

Travis and Tory , the older brothers all play big parts here and we get to know them intimately.

This is one mess of a family.

Cox expertly weaves the current World Kitesurfing Championships and all that means to our main characters and family as well as builds a fascinating stage for a ongoing journey of three brothers and the men who love them.

I expect it’s going to be hugely tragic at some point. And explosive. It’s building that way.

On the romance level, the one between Terry and Ritchie was sweet, the right sort of hesitant given the amount of baggage each man is carrying, and drawn out slowly so it takes communication to get together finally.

The author says each novel is focused on an individual couple but as their lives and drama are so tangled together I can’t help but see this as a HFN , especially given that ending.

This is well done, the characters engaging and beautifully written. The multiple storylines definitely have me hooked. I can’t wait for the next one to be released.

I’m highly recommending Oceans that Swim (Kings of Airlie #1) by Casey Cox. And check out that link below if you want to see what kitesurfing is all about.

Casey Cox on Amazon

Kings of Airlie Trilogy:

✓ Oceans that Swim #1

◦ Mountains that Move #2 -May23, 2022

Synopsis:

This season, I’ve got a lot to prove…

Terry King may have been born into kitesurfing royalty, but he’s been overlooked and overshadowed his entire life. Unlike his fame-starved father, Trenton ‘King of the Air’ King, or his two attention-grabbing older brothers, Terry doesn’t compete for fame, money, or power. He’s got much more ambitious goals than that.

Terry has his sights set on reuniting his dysfunctional family and finally landing his forever crush: Richie Brown. A six-foot-four, anxiety-riddled, ginger teddy bear who writes heart-melting poetry. Also, the one and only person who’s ever truly seen Terry.

Richie grew up next door to the King brothers in the sleepy coastal town of Airlie Beach, Australia. His childhood was marred by a tragedy that continues to invade every corner of his life twenty years later. Richie gave up on love a long time ago…until something unexpected happened the night of Terry’s victory last season.

Richie knows better than anyone why Terry King is strictly off-limits. They grew up together. They’re practically family. Richie’s seven years older. Terry is his best mate’s younger brother… But then there’s the biggest reason of all. A closely guarded secret Richie’s never revealed to a single soul.

Terry is determined to defend his world title and turn his dreams into reality. But when life throws a spanner into his season, and with the King family remaining as stubbornly dysfunctional as ever––will Terry be able to get Richie to see him as more than just the kid he grew up with?

Kings of Airlie is an exhilarating, action-packed MM sports romance trilogy about love, brotherhood, and resilience––with a powerful message that dreams don’t die, they just sometimes change.

Each book in the series features a new couple and a happily ever after. With continuing family and competition plots, the books do need to be read in order.

Review: Truth or Dare (Dare To Try #3) by Ella Frank and Brooke Blaine

Rating: 4.5🌈

Truth or Dare finishes the Dare To Try trilogy and it’s a wonderful book. Ella Frank and Brooke Blaine have our couple, Kieran and Bash, take a realistic look at their jobs, evaluate what’s truly important to each of them, take into consideration the opportunities for each of them to make the move to each other’s state, and then make a decision that’s right for them both.

How I love an adult story with adult perspectives! No huge drama, just real life issues (even though one here is fabulously wealthy), and typical ways (pro and cons list) to help solve them.

It’s beautifully written, great characters, has a road trip I wish we’d gotten more of and a sexy red hot costume party … fans self.

I love these men and this trilogy will have me seeking out the series from each author that some of the other characters came from. I’m now a big fan of both.

Yes to recommending this trilogy, and yes to the authors!

Check them all out!

Dare To Try Trilogy:

✓ Dare You #1

✓ Dare Me #2

✓ Truth or Dare #3

https://www.goodreads.com › showTruth or Dare (Dare to Try, #3) by Ella Frank – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Truth or Dare is the final book in the Dare to Try trilogy and should only be read after Dare You and Dare Me.

Lieutenant Kieran Bailey never saw his life anywhere but the bustling streets of Chicago—but then again, he never saw his life with a boyfriend, either. That all changed when he fell in love with bombshell CEO Sebastian “Bash” Vogel.

But it’s one thing to fall in love. It’s another to try to build a life together when you live hundreds of miles apart.

How do you choose between everything you’ve ever known and everything you’ve ever dreamed of?

This series must be read in the following order:
Dare You (book one)
Dare Me (book two)
Truth or Dare (book three)

Review: Dare Me (Dare To Try #2) by Ella Frank and Brooke Blaine

Rating: 4.5🌈

Dare Me , the second book in the Dare To Try trilogy by

Ella Frank and Brooke Blaine picks up a few weeks after the tumultuous events in the first story, Dare To.

That ended with a miscommunication or perhaps a misunderstanding between Kieran and Bash that sent Bash flying back to his home on South Haven Island, a bridge away from Savannah, Georgia.

Dare Me picks up with Kieran alone in Chicago, devastated by Bash’s departure and unsure of his next step. And with Bash miserable in Georgia, doubting his decisions to leave and missing Kieran like crazy.

Kieran takes the necessary time here to unpack his complicated emotions over everything that’s happened recently. His awakening sexuality in his feelings in all ways for Bash, the misconceptions over a scene in the firehouse, and the fears each is facing over the future.

Then he’s off to confront his man in a wonderful scene in South Haven.

This story is high on love, communication, searing hot sexy scenes, and reconciliation!

There’s not much angst or drama. Instead you get a couple working through very relatable issues in a new relationship, trying to see how how they can mesh their work and romance when they live in two different places.

It all feels real and while they come to a conclusion at the end of the book, the how of it all will spill over to the last novel in the trilogy for a great HEA.

Kieran and Bash are a fantastic engaging couple, sexy and romantic. And the people around them are just as strong as their support.

Love this story. And recommending it!

Dare To Try Trilogy:

✓ Dare You #1

✓ Dare Me #2

✓ Truth or Dare #3

https://www.goodreads.com › showDare Me (Dare to Try, #2) by Brooke Blaine – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Dare Me is part two of the Dare to Try trilogy and should only be read after Dare You.

The moment Bash “Miss Razzle Dazzle” Vogel sashayed into Lieutenant Kieran Bailey’s life, both their worlds were turned upside down.


What started as an easy friendship quickly morphed into sizzling chemistry that neither one could deny.


But what Kieran knows better than anyone is that when a fire burns this hot and heavy, someone’s bound to get burned.


Do they dare to risk being together? Or will the flame of this hot match consume them both?

Review: Nixing the End of the World by Alice Winters

Rating: 3 🌈

I love Alice Winters. I love urban fantasy. I usually love Alice Winters urban fantasy romances. So why was Nixing the End of the World by Alice Winters, while entertaining, not wholly enjoyable?

That’s a question that has really been bothering me.

The story has Winters usual elements. A interesting plot, a likable main, albeit clueless character in Nix, some fascinating other beings the circle around him. But for me I believe the issue started immediately, and it’s built within the story. It’s that old problem of honor, trust, friendship, and betrayal.

Here it becomes my issue with the book. Why? Because fundamental to this story is breaking the trust of someone who is supposed to be so close to you, they’re almost a sibling. It’s is done here often, with all the processes at times of a person crumpling a bag of chips, and with the expectations that that person will immediately forgive you. Every single time.

Knows a person for most their lives, lies to them about the things that are essential to saving them, puts them in danger. Says basically oops. Over and over.

A number of characters. To Nix.

So what’s the message here a reader is to take away? While absorbing all the stuff about the new fantasy world, the characters, travel and Nix’s mission… we get that everyone close to Nix essentially lies to him all the time, betrays him, has since he can remember. And the reader is supposed to connect with any or all of them?

Um no.

I don’t find anyone of them, outside of the cat and so called horse with antlers halfway personable.

His best friend since early childhood is probably the worst of them all. She consistently betrays his trust, has actually been a fraud in all their lives, and then no matter what she’s done, expects their relationship to continue on the same and instant forgiveness.

Which she gets.

The author apparently discarding the impact all the revelations would actually make on a person. Instead treating these issues as trivial notions, or something to be given mention but emotionally impactful? Narratively not.

There’s exciting battles, mages and magic. A touch of romance. And the journey continues on with the note that Nix will still need to save the world.

All very well.

But first, there’s a foundation that needs to be fixed and more then a few characters in need of a make over in order for me to find this a place to be comfortable in.

I left this story, as I entered it. Unconnected and uninvolved in anyone’s lives and how the journey will out in the end.

If they don’t care that they can’t depend on those closest to them, why should I? Therein lies the crux.

If this seems like a story for you, continue forward. For me? I’m stopping here.

https://www.goodreads.com › showNixing the End of the World by Alice Winters – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Nix
“You are the savior of mankind” are the last words I ever expected to hear while nibbling on fries. The thing is, I’m not mankind saving material. I don’t even have magic (and just found out it exists). I’m the most boring, normal(ish) human ever.

Suddenly, I’m being tossed right into the middle of a fight that started years before I was even born, and then I get partnered up with Alastair, a quirky magical Guardian. He is rather attractive and sweet when he’s not into the whole “woe is me, I can’t let myself fall in love with you” nonsense. I mean, the moment he took my annoyingly judgmental grandma hostage, it was all over for me. I was hooked.

Now the only problem is… what exactly are we saving the world from?

Alastair
The moment I laid eyes on Nix, the naive yet easygoing human captivated my attention, and now I’m determined to protect him. But despite my amazing and majestic abilities, we might not make it out of this mess. Still, there must be a reason Nix was chosen. No, he doesn’t have pizazz and maybe he really doesn’t have magic, but he’s also one of the strongest and kindest men I’ve ever met.

Now if I can just get him to stop throwing blankets at enemies, we might have a shot at this.

Nixing the End of the World contains a flaming “horse” with antlers who inexplicably appears when needed (or not), an interfering BFF who didn’t really mean to light the trunk on fire, a six-toed cat that looks like he put a claw in a socket, and an incubus who just wants a smoothie without anyone losing their clothes.

Review: Charlie Sunshine (Close Proximity #2) by Lily Morton

Rating: 3.5🌈

Charlie Sunshine is the second in the Close Proximity trilogy and I probably didn’t do it any favors by skipping it and reading the infinitely better story After Felix next. It just plain suffers by comparison.

Several things worked against this I think. The author immediately linked books one and three together by the characters and couples themselves. Felix works in Zeb Evans’ employment agency and turns into a great friend of Jesse Reed, Zeb’s boyfriend. The quartet of men was a natural flow of wit, drama, and romance.

But Misha and Charlie? They are associated with the others but mentioned only briefly prior so where the reader felt a real connection to the couples in books one and three, Charlie Sunshine is already flat on the ground, or a bit behind.

Why that last? Unfortunately I think it has to do with the characters themselves. Charlie is almost too perfect. He’s an adorable , highly intelligent librarian who’s runway gorgeous. People walk into poles because they’re looking at him. That’s not exactly relatable. The author needed do something to make him fallible. The answer? Charlie has epilepsy.

This element is well done and well researched. Morton folded this aspect of the story into Charlie’s character realistically. How it effects Charlie and his life is believable. I think it did make me feel that I understood Charlie more. But I felt that I wish I had more of Charlie’s life pre accident so the fact that he had epilepsy now wasn’t just something to make him and the disease, idk , a way of inserting a vulnerability instead of letting readers see a character function beautifully within his diagnosis.

Let me know how you all feel about this. I’m curious.

Misha , the hedge fund banker, is the best friend who suddenly realizes the man he loves is right beside him. It’s a great trope and I’m not sure why again I didn’t get 100 percent into this romance and couple.

There’s the usual lack of understanding, lack of communication until there isn’t.

The characters around them are superb. Charlie’s family especially are tremendous, both dads and mother. So too are Misha’s family of a terrific mom and twin sisters. Plus his cousin Felix.

Morton’s ability to write characters that grab at your heart are scattered throughout this story, I’m just not sure the biggest is Charlie for me. Or Misha. They are good but I’m not sure they are great.

The end is very satisfying, you’ll be happy for the couple. It’s a great place to end for them.

I’m highly recommending the Close Proximity trilogy. Charlie Sunshine is a good way to fill in your knowledge of this group between the first and fantastic last novels.

Close Proximity series:

✓ Best Man #1

✓ Charlie Sunshine #2

✓ After Felix #3

https://www.goodreads.com › showCharlie Sunshine (Close Proximity, #2) by Lily Morton – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Sometimes love is a lot closer to home than you think.

Charlie Burroughs can’t keep a man. All he wants is a good relationship like the ones he sees his friends having, but none of the men he picks ever work out. Despite him trying to be the perfect boyfriend, the men are either threatened by his looks or his epilepsy or a combination of the two. It’s lucky that he has his best friend Misha to turn to. The two of them are closer than peas in a pod and fiercely loyal to each other. He can’t imagine his life without Misha in it.

Misha Lebedinsky is the complete opposite of his best friend. Being the support system for his mum and twin sisters leaves Misha with neither the time nor the inclination for a relationship. Quick and frequent hook-ups are his favourite means of communication and any other pesky emotional needs he has are met by Charlie, who he’s devoted to. He lives a life of happy compartmentalization with no intention of ever changing.

All of this changes when the two best friends move in together. Being in close proximity means that they suddenly start to see each other in a very different light. But Charlie struggles when his drive to be the perfect partner clashes with the fact that he’s in love with a man who knows every little thing about him. And even if he can get past that, can a relationship ever work with a man who’d need a dictionary to tell him what love means?

From bestselling author Lily Morton comes a love story about a sunny librarian who has relationship written all over him and a cynical banker who doesn’t even have it in his blurb.

Review: Security Detail By B. A. Tortuga

Rating: 3 🌈

Security Detail is one of Tortuga’s Cozy Romances and a side story to her last book, Trial By Fire.

That was a romance between a Texas rodeo cowboy and an Australian one, both from rich families with a stake in a child left a orphan when the parents, siblings of the main characters, died.

This book involves two men from the security team from the now married couple, who divide their time between the two countries and their two large holdings. Again one’s a Texan and one’s an Aussie.

The romance isn’t bad, in fact it’s sweet and hot. However, there’s other issues here that carry over from that first novel.

If you’re writing about characters from another country, especially one like Australian, then those characters need to behave and sound like they come from Australia. Even the certain part of Australia.

However, here there’s absolutely nothing to distinguish Ryan (Texan) from Dez (Aussie). Not Dez’s dialog, nothing in his casual chatter, or even the way a Aussie shortens certain words. There’s pages and pages, then a “Oi” gets thrown in the beginning of a sentence. And that’s it .

From a author who’s unbelievable talent lies in establishing the very heart and soul of a character as well as the culture of the land they walk on by just a regional throw away line, the lack of any color to the people here via the verbiage is disappointing.

Nothing especially says Texas either.

Could be anywhere West.

Then there’s the drama which is just , if I’m being kind, uncomplicated. It’s almost exactly the same as before. These are supposed to be extremely smart security professionals. Nothing here says that. So it’s very hard for a reader to engage in the storylines and main characters. Plus there’s no real resolution to the mystery behind the kidnapping. That’s left forgotten, and the reader unsatisfied with this aspect of the story. At least this reader.

Still, people like the intriguing Chrissie the tech guy make the book. You want more of him. And his background.

The conclusion is just odd. They basically decide to start a side office in Costa Rica because Ryan likes a beach and they needed a vacation. While that’s understandable, given past events, they hit their bosses and best friends with this out of the blue with no notice and with everything new , such as untried security just starting.

So again, no. A big SMH for this ending and really the entire story.

I like the cover .

To understand this book, you might want to read Trial By Fire beforehand.

https://www.goodreads.com › showSecurity Detail (AusTex, #2) by B.A. Tortuga – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Security experts Dez and Ryan teamed up to form a business after they worked together on the kidnapping of a friend’s daughter. Australian Dez and former Marine Ryan have amazing chemistry together, and for one amazing night they acted on it. But then Des got cold feet, and the two of them have never connected again in that way.

Ryan thinks Dez just isn’t that into him. Dez doesn’t want to mess up his friendship with Ryan over something that may or may not ever come to pass. In the midst of all this frustration, they also have to deal with a security crisis with their respective best friends, Holden and Lachlan. When they have to band together to get their friends back, Ryan and Dez are reminded why they work so well together. But can they solve their own problems, and find their way back to each other, as well as save the day?

Review : A Touch of Fever (Arcane Hearts #1) by Nazri Noor

Rating: 4🌈

A Touch of Fever is the first story in the Arcane Hearts series by Nazri Noor. He’s a new author for me and I’m definitely going to look forward to more from him in the future.

I enjoyed my time with these characters and this universe. Noor does an excellent job creating a world we want to know more about, especially the Black Market. It’s a place that moves itself, it’s new destination known only to itself. What a exciting concept.

Our main characters, which I think will grow over the next couple of books to include a sort of found family, is especially fascinating. We have a mage with a haunting future, Xander Wright. Our main hero, the artificer Jackson Pryde, who just might be something more. We have a witch Beatrice and a Guardian who I’ll let you read about. That’s part of the story.

There’s a small quest, a bigger mystery, some murders, and finally a larger adventure looming on the horizon.

If there wasn’t some on the page sex, very hot btw, I’d say this was the perfect YA series.

Noor has written terrific relatable characters, one’s dealing with issues of self worth, family responsibilities, the burden of duty, the pain of loss, and inadequacy. It’s tough being young sometimes. And Noor captures that.

Which is why I think that it’s a YA novel is everything but that it has sex scenes . It’s a terrific story either way.

I’m definitely on my way to the next in the series. And recommending this book now.

Arcane Hearts series:

✓ A Touch of Fever #1

◦ A Stroke of Brilliance #2

◦ An Iron Fist #3

◦ A Velvet Glove #4

https://www.goodreads.com › showA Touch of Fever (Arcane Hearts, #1) by Nazri Noor – Goodreads

Synopsis:

What do you do when you can’t cast spells? You make your own magic.

Jackson Pryde was never great at wielding magic. Instead, he works as an artificer, crafting enchanted devices in the Black Market, a shadowy bazaar of wonders. But Xander Wright, the mouthy, pretentious mage next door, hates all the hammering in Jackson’s workshop.

When a chance assignment forces them to team up, they discover a terrifying predicament. Something is driving members of the magical community into murderous rages. Jackson and Xander must combine might and magic to find the source of the Fever and stop it. Can they put aside their differences long enough to end the Fever, or will they succumb to its bloodthirsty curse?

A Touch of Fever is a 70,000-word M/M urban fantasy romance with a HFN ending. Join a fast-talking artificer and a snarky sorcerer, best friends turned bitter enemies, as they navigate an adventure filled with strange flora, mythical fauna, and magical murders. If you like your urban fantasy with humor, horror, and a whole lot of heart, you’ve come to the right place. Experience A Touch of Fever today.

Review: Best Man (Close Proximity #1) by Lily Morton

Rating: 4 🌈

Fake boyfriend trope is a favorite of mine so when I saw a story written by a must read author, Lily Morton, with that as a factor, I was in.

It also was a age gap, no surprise, with humor, again, a usual hallmark of this author, and a curmudgeon of a fellow in need a of a bit of a change in perspective about himself and his path in life. So yes, I settled in for a Morton romance.

Best Man didn’t let me down. Indeed our first meeting with the irrepressible Jesse Reed walks into the offices of Zeb Evans’ employment agency for an unforgettable interview. It’s funny, full of the sparkling dialogue and warm chemistry that draws me over and over into Morton’s stories.

We then snap forward several years as Jesse ‘s become a mainstay employee at Zeb’s agency, if a bit of a occasionally over exuberant when carrying out his clients wishes. We fall right into a guffaw moment with Jesse and it’s instant love!

We see the type of relationship Zeb and Jesse have grown into, as well as the potential one that waits if Zeb could allow himself a lessening of the restraints that so tightly bind him.

A wedding and a promise to be the best man necessitate the need for a fake boyfriend for Zeb. Who better then Jesse?

Especially when it’s something both men want truthfully anyway.

Their romance starts remarkably full of exploration and joy but Morton shows that the past history that’s been ignored has a way of interfering until it’s dealt with.

I would have thought Zeb a tad more intelligent about his ex given his past experiences with him in this story so it made events here seem less believable.

But Jessie’s father was a wonderful element and the entire last section of the book warm, inviting, and wholly satisfying.

They made a great couple and I look forward to Charlie and Felix’s books. Especially Felix. I adore that man.

I’m recommending Best Man to all lovers of contemporary romance and Lily Morton. Have a wonderful read!

Close Proximity series:

Best Man #1

Charlie Sunshine #2

After Felix #3

https://www.goodreads.com › showBest Man (Close Proximity, #1) by Lily Morton – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Zeb Evans doesn’t do messy.


The product of a disorganised and chaotic childhood, Zeb likes order and control, and as the boss of his own employment agency he can give that to himself. Life runs along strict lines and he never mixes business with pleasure. Everything in his life lives in neat, alphabetized boxes. Until Jesse.



Jesse Reed is Zeb’s complete opposite. He’s chaos personified. A whirling cyclone of disorder. He’s also charming and funny and a very unwanted distraction.



Which is why it comes as a complete surprise to Zeb to find himself asking Jesse to pose as his boyfriend for a few days in the country at a wedding.



Zeb doesn’t do impulsive, but as the time away progresses, he finds himself increasingly drawn to the merry and irreverent Jesse. But can he bring himself to break the hard-won lessons he’s learnt in life? And even if he can, how could Jesse be attracted to him anyway? He’s so much older than Jesse, not to mention being his boss.



From the bestselling author of the Mixed Messages and Finding Home series comes a warm and funny romance about one man’s fight for control and another man’s determination to circumvent it.



This is the first book in the Close Proximity series, but it can be read as a standalone.