Check out the latest tour for “Beside the Darker Shore by Patricia J. Esposito (Other Worlds Tour OWL)g

Patricia J. Esposito has a new MM paranormal romance out: Beside the Darker Shore. And there’s a giveaway.

What might the ethical Governor David Gedden give up for one man’s exquisite beauty? It’s terrifying to consider when the man is a destructive blood prostitute and David is responsible for the state’s peaceful vampire community. Blood sales in Boston are up, blood taxes support a thriving new nightlife, neighborhoods have been refurbished, and deaths by vampires have plummeted. David is assured reelection.

However, the blood addict Stephen Salando has returned from exile with one unalterable plan: to turn the good governor into a vampire. Stephen is an immortal dhampir, whose beauty obliterates reason, who rouses in David a fierce desire he’s ignored his whole life. But for David to have Stephen, he must ally with an ancient vampire, the community’s seductive archnemesis. To have him, he must become a killer himself.

Will David hold on to his ethical public life? Or will he follow what he most desires, a kiss with a killer to become a vampire himself?

Universal Buy Link

Giveaway

Patricia is giving away a $20 Amazon gift card with this tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

Direct Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b60e8d47307/?

Excerpt

Non-Exclusive Excerpt:

Wetness enveloped him. It was exhilarating, this deep lake submersion. David hadn’t been told about the effects of water. Here, in this water, he wasn’t sure he even needed blood. He wasn’t sure he needed anything. He dove under and swam toward Stephen.

His body cleanly cut the surface, and he emerged before the bound liveblood. Blood streamed from a gash in Stephen’s chest. The vampires dipped white fingers in his blood, licking them. No one had bitten him, and his eyes held none of the ecstasy of bloodletting. They stared darkly at David.

“You’re an irresistible pleasure,” David said.

The black rock shone glassy, Stephen’s skin a warm contrast. David placed his hand flat on the bloody chest. He sniffed Stephen’s neck, up his cheek. His hair was cold satin. Water lapped at Stephen’s chest, drinking him. One of the two vampires bit into Stephen’s arm, making him gasp. But still he didn’t drink. They were waiting.

Cupping water, David raised it to Stephen’s face.

“You’re moonlight caught in darkness, but see how it slips away.” The water slid over his palm. “What are you sacrificing on these rocks?”

Placing both palms on Stephen’s chest again, David felt the hard cavern of chest bone, smoothed his hands over the satin skin to the round nipples shocked at the touch. He could take this body he desired, take it and leave it. This blood was promised to him. He heard Stephen’s heart beating warmly even in this cold water.

“David,” he whispered.

With that, David froze. His heart that had calmed in the water became erratic again. Stephen’s skin blurred like a warm brown sheath over David’s eyes. His throat closed, and the vampire laughter around him grew muffled, like he was underwater.

One word, one plea from Stephen and David couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t look at those eyes, couldn’t say what he needed to say. Fear clenched his stomach. Stephen’s breath burned David’s cheek.

Cold water slid between them.

And then Stephen lunged forward, and David felt the pain of blunt teeth on his neck. Stephen grabbed hold of him, biting hard, ripping David’s skin.

“No!” He shoved Stephen off. He didn’t have to do this. He wouldn’t be slave to this kind of need. The water had been healing; he’d felt at peace until seeing Stephen. David slammed Stephen back against the rock.

His legs quivered in the water. He backed away, letting water rush between them, and then Elena broke through, turning the water electric.

“Are you with me then?” she asked. “Can you see there is but one point to him?”

David scraped his leg against sharp rock as he backed away; seaweed twisted around his feet.

“No,” Stephen said. David couldn’t look at those eyes that pleaded with him. Stephen had propelled him to this point, whether deliberately or not. How much more could he make David do? He had to leave. He had to stay far from Stephen.

“David,” Stephen called, but his voice faltered. Pushing tendrils of wet hair from Stephen’s neck, Elena sunk her teeth into him. Then David did look up, as Stephen closed his eyes, as he succumbed to what he couldn’t resist.

David’s chest hurt, as if his ribs and chest bone had turned to iron mail. Clouds drifted across the moon, and Stephen’s face fell into shadows. He heard Stephen’s voice in his head, words he’d said three years ago, “Exile,” he’d said back then. “When did you go into this exile?”

Long ago.

David turned away, but Arturo was there, blocking his way. “You leave so soon?” Hate bruised his usually welcoming eyes. “When the festival has just begun?”

“Whatever you do to me, Arturo, I won’t let you live through me or love through me. I’ve found where my joy and peace are.”

“In water, like Alexandros?”

“Not like Alex. I need to kill, and the only way I can find peace with that is in solitary existence. I can’t be both mortal human and vampire. Maybe Alex can’t stand to be anything but what he was, a human. I think I can only be a vampire. I don’t want human connections. Consider your fledgling a success as a vampire. That’s all that’s left for you.”

Arturo’s hand slapped David’s chest in an icy brand. “No, that isn’t all. You think you need the kill, but you know nothing of need if you can’t love.”

Pain seared David’s chest, a raw burn that shuddered through him. Arturo had cut him. His hand slapped again, and another slice tore through to David’s ribs. The pain was silent in his throat, blocked by the rush of blood, his legs buckling. Blood poured.

“You bleed,” Arturo whispered. “You bleed into your healing water. Water loves blood. It will drain you.”

Around his waist, the water warmed and thickened. For a moment he thought how short-lived his vampire life had been, and then his body swayed with the pain.

Author Bio

Patricia Esposito lives by the notion Luis Alberto Urrea once expressed: When the world is so dark and bloody, be brave enough to broadcast innocent joy. Dare to be naive. She has written edgy paranormal fiction for most of her life, but always finds beneath it a romantic heart. Her most recent fiction and poetry reflect that enduring quest for love and joy beneath the human struggle.

Patricia has received honorable mentions in Ellen Datlow’sYear’s Best Fantasy and Horror collections, is a two-time winner of Rhino’s Reader=Writer award, and is a Pushcart Prize nominee. With a Master’s degree in English, she edits law books and textbooks for income and tries to keep up with a retired husband and enjoy time with her two adult daughters—when she’s not off exploring the intoxicating realms of the imagination and chasing muses.

Beside the Darker Shore is her first full-length work of fiction. She welcomes the chance to meet other writers and readers through her website or Facebook page.

Author Website: https://patriciaesposito.com

Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100016701095244

Author Facebook (Author page): https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553640405983

Author Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@PatriciaEsposito

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/november_drift/

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5033647.Patricia_J_Esposito

Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/patricia-j-esposito/

Liminal Fiction: https://www.limfic.com/book/beside-the-darker-shore/

Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Patricia-J.-Esposito/author/B005Y54YHQ

Review: Dario: Wicked Legacies by Victoria Sue

Rating: 3.75🌈

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Buy link:

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

Blurb:

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

Dario

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

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

Not happening.

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

I just need to get married first.

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

I just have to convince the brother of that.

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

Or is it?

• Publication date: January 11, 2024

• Print length: 235 pages

Check Out the latest Tour for The Wasteland Kings by Jaimie N. Schock

Jaimie N. Schock has a new queer sci-fi book (MM romance subplots) book out: The Wasteland Kings. And there’s a giveaway.

Hacker Bast has it all: a cushy condo, a sexy boyfriend, and a place among the wealthy elite. When his past catches up with him, he flees into the dreary and dangerous wastelands between domed cities. There, he meets Delphi, who saves him, and Galeron, who runs a small town. He is anything but safe, however, as robotic “dogs” roam the countryside, looking for people to kill, and humans can be just as deadly.

As Bast settles in to life in the town, he develops a controversial relationship with Galeron. They fall in love, but all is not well in their world. Can the two of them survive and reach the happy ending they long for, or will the wastelands take everything they hold dear?

Warnings: Guns, death, child death, violence, animal death, suicide, drug use, nazis.

Universal Buy Link

Giveaway

Jaimie is giving away a $20 Amazon gift card with this tour:

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Excerpt

Breakfast was water. Lunch was water. Dinner was water. By the end of the next day, he had very little left.

He looked for anything that might help him survive. He found paper to start a fire; large decorative stones that he could throw at an animal; an ancient first aid kit featuring gauze, medical glue, tape, and rubbing alcohol; and a shaker filled with salt.

Bast couldn’t believe he’d found so much. He still needed food, however, and his hunger pangs were getting more severe as time went on.

He took an unopened bag of potato chips—not to eat, but to hopefully bring out animals that might be interested in consuming its contents. That night, he dumped the degraded snack into three piles and waited with a rock in hand.

The only thing that showed any interest was a large rat. It looked less than appetizing.

Bast didn’t hesitate. He threw a stone and then jumped on the dazed animal. He smashed its head with a larger rock. Breathing quickly, he sat back and stared at the dead creature.

He wondered if it was safe to eat, even cooked. After all, this animal lived in a polluted world.

First things first, he had to gut it. He’d seen people do it in old survival videos. Taking his small knife, he made an incision along the abdomen and began carefully digging out the digestive system, so as not to break it open. He imagined the bacteria in the stomach and intestines would ruin the meat if it got out. He gagged more than once and tasted bile.

Bast cut off the crushed head and placed the animal in a cigar box. It would last a day or so, he thought. The air was cold, to the point of making him shiver, so it should help preserve the rat.

Now, he really needed to find a way to make fire.

After sleeping for a few hours, he started out as soon as the sun poked through the trees. He wasn’t an expert on survival—not even close. But he knew from movies that there were ways to produce a spark without the use of a lighter or matches.

Near mid-day, he found what he needed:

An old pair of glasses, tucked into the pocket of a person’s naturally mummified corpse.

It was one of several bodies he encountered so far. Bast didn’t want to touch it. The thought of being around a long-dead body made him queasy. The only other times he’d seen a dead body were at funerals and when he killed that police officer. This was different. The body thankfully didn’t smell anymore, but it looked horrific. Drawn lips over skeletal teeth. Missing eyes. Gnarled hands clutching at nothing. If he didn’t need the glasses to survive, he would have stayed far away from the corpse.

He planned to utilize the sun by focusing light onto the paper and hopefully burning it. Bast took the glasses and the rat and found a clearing. He placed the paper and some small sticks on a pile and tried to aim sunlight at it.

At first, it didn’t work. Then, the paper began to smolder. Small amounts of smoke rose up, and he could smell ashes. Bast joyfully added bigger sticks and blew on the fire to encourage it. When the fire grew, he stuck his dead rat on a metal rod and held it over the flames. He couldn’t be happier to eat a day-old polluted rat.

He cooked the animal until it was nearly too tough to eat. Bast pulled off the greasy meat with his fingers and ate it all in little more than a minute. He was still very hungry when he discarded the bones and fur.

Regardless, he felt energized by the small amount of food. And now he knew he could cook something if and when he caught another critter. For the first time, he felt hopeful—and then he ran out of water.

For the next twenty-four hours or so, Bast spent nearly every waking moment looking for more liquids. He would have tried old beverages of almost any kind if it meant he could have his thirst satisfied.

He found nothing. With the empty water jug in hand, he stooped over a stream, wondering if it was worth tempting fate. He could certainly find a pot and boil the water, which would take care of germs, but if it was filled with chemicals, plastics, and man-made contaminants, no amount of boiling would fix that. He knew he was still pretty close to the cities. He knew it could kill him. Sighing, he filled the jug and put it in his bag.

Bast went another full day without drinking anything. It was agony. He found an empty metal bottle and put that in a fire with some of the creek water. By the time it cooled enough to drink, a black slime covered the top of the liquid. He threw it out, preferring to die over drinking something that disgusting.

His limbs stopped working properly. He tripped while walking along uneven asphalt. When he looked down at his bleeding knee, his vision tunneled, and he passed out.

Author Bio

Jaimie N. Schock is an author, editor, and journalist with nearly two decades of professional experience. She has been published in newspapers and magazines and has released nine fiction novels.

She is married and living in Northern Virginia. Though she have an extensive career, she is disabled with PTSD and chronic illness. Schock tries to incorporate her life experiences into the fictional pieces she writes while delivering complex and diverse characters. Her pronouns are she/her, and she is proudly a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Author Website: https://www.jaimieschock.com/

Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/jai.schock

Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/JaimieNSchock/

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heroesgetmade/

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18982110.Jaimie_N_Schock

Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jaimie-N.-Schock/author/B07THB22QK

Review: Just Friends (Never Just Friends Book 1) by Saxon James

Rating: 3.75🌈

This book has so many interesting elements to offer plus an author I’m a fan of. Just Friends (Never Just Friends Book 1) by Saxon James has a best friends to lovers trope, a bi-sexual awakening low angst romance with characters that have several different aspects to their lives that makes this a tad different from the usual contemporary fiction.

One of the main characters, Roo, is an epileptic who has families in both the US and Australia, where he’s from originally, hence the nickname. His disability progresses to the point, that , he decides to have surgery to reduce the amount and extent of the episodes he’s having. And that necessitates a return to Australia after high school graduation in the US.

His best friend all through school and adolescence is Tanner. A great friend, both as a boy and man, and someone who’s dealing with his lifelong learning disability, dyslexia. It’s keeping him from a permanent position as a firefighter as he can’t pass the written exams. Tanner was Roo’s support through school when the bullying got to him, when the epileptic seizures had Roo crashing to the ground in hallways and classrooms, with the expected ramifications from classmates who didn’t care or understand.

James has written two well defined men, a realistic small town near Portland with all the flaws , challenges, and pluses that come with living in that environment. Then James gives the reader a window into the minds and hearts of Tanner and Roo as they explore the adults they’ve become in the time they were apart. And what they might have now they are together again.

Based on the reviews I read, I expected to connect with them and their story more than I did. I appreciate the work James put in here creating the location, their backgrounds, and the attention to detail where Roo’s epilepsy is concerned.

The rating is for the overall quality and storytelling.

Personally, I found myself just too detached from the men themselves to be engaged in their relationship, let alone their life choices. James never pulled me into either of these men’s situations emotionally. It could have been the way they handled their issues, a drawn out , now we do , now we don’t, ok we do meandering mess. Or side elements within the narrative that bothered me. Those get to me a lot, picking away at any connectivity I might have.

With Tanner it’s his trait of just being so dense or oblivious, even after the entire town it seems has pointed out how his actions and emotions have been pointed towards a deep bond between him and Roo. I just can’t do dense as a brick anymore. Pls stop.

Then there’s the way his sexual awakening is explained and is drawn out here. It feels repetitive, not in a way that makes the reader think Tanner’s always getting the context, see dense above.

Then there’s the fact that he’s refusing help for his dyslexia, a reading disorder, that’s keeping him from his dream job and stability. None of the objections as stated make sense, but appear to be that author’s tool needed for a scenario where something else happens down the storylines.

Roo’s epilepsy is part of him, defining his school years by his seizures and bullying. I feel he’s the more layered character here. However, there’s hints of a bitter family divide between the parents, and a mother whose behavior seems very controlling and actually mean spirited here. Was it James’ intention to write a mother whose words indicate how very opposed she is to Tanner in every way, clearly thinking that Tanner isn’t good enough for her son. Then, years ago when she “whisks” Roo back home to Australia and now as she tries to get Roo to leave again. And basically, the author and Roo give the woman a pass, writing it as just part of her “character “.

Well, I’d call it toxic but I’m not writing the script, obviously.

No, I couldn’t get emotionally invested here. Enjoyed the location, the side characters and small town citizenry, and aspects of the storytelling. Read it because I liked Saxon James.

If you like contemporary romance, this author, and any of the elements I mentioned above, then give this a try. It’s the first of a four novels series to date.

Never Just Friends series:

✓ Just Friends #1

◦ Fake Friends #2

◦ Getting Friendly #3

◦ Friendly Fire #4

Buy Link:

Just Friends (Never Just Friends Book 1)

Blurb:

Roo

Five years ago, I walked away from Sunbury, Oregon, and left my best friend behind.

The move was supposed to get my life on track. I even had a list.

Life changing epilepsy surgery. Check.

See the world. Check.

Get over my straight best friend … Not exactly.

No matter where I go or who I meet, I can’t let Tanner go.

I’m back to tell him how I feel. To get the closure I need once and for all.

Only now I’m here and falling for him all over again, it’s getting harder to say the words.

Because once I have my closure, I’ll be gone.

And this time it will be for good.

Tanner

When my best friend, Roo, left for Australia, it was the worst day of my life.

I thought we’d have each other always.

But Roo needed the surgery so I let him go, thinking he’d come straight back.

Five years is a long time.

Now he’s here, all I want is to hold on tight.

I need to show him what he means to me.

The problem is, I’m not exactly sure what that is.

My draw to him has always been confusing and different—everyone in town says so. But I struggle to understand it.

All I know is I won’t survive him leaving again.

And I’ll do anything to make him stay.

Just Friends is a best friends-to-lovers romance with an oblivious MC, only one bed, and terrible kangaroo jokes.

Review: Corin and the Courtier (Beautiful Beasts, #2) by Eliot Grayson

Rating: 2🌈

A DNF at 44%

I read the books out of order which was a very good idea because otherwise I’d never have read the far superior Deven and the Dragon. This isn’t that lovely adult fairy tale.

Instead of finding someone as sympathetic and honest as Fioric, his cousin apparently, the reader finds this dragon knight bully, Corin. He’s so unpleasant to read, that even at 30%, the reader is wondering when he’s going to stop wallowing in his pitiful self imposed martyrdom and get over himself.

Why has he hidden himself away? Because his sworn bride cheated on him. In public. Granted that’s humiliating. But does he go on about how he loves or loved her? No. It’s all about her beauty and his ruined status. So immediately, the reader isn’t exactly falling down on his side. It gets immeasurably worse when the bride’s wonderful, wounded younger brother arrives and, you guessed it, gets bullied,, and in scenes close to sexual assault, mistreated incredibly badly.

I’m caught wondering where the fairy tale charm and lovely characterizations that were the hallmarks of the first book went. Not here.

The one nice aspect of the story (and any rating) is Aster, the younger brother of the bride who has cheated on Corin publicly before their wedding. He’s run away from a horrible arranged marriage, hoping that the one being he’s crushed on for years will take him in and understand his situation.

That’s a lovely element. Too bad it’s paired up with a thug in dragon form. One who swings between meanly berating someone so desperately in need of saving so much so that even as a reader I’m absolutely appalled, then wanting to have revenge sex with him (consensual or not) then thinking maybe Aster’s not so bad, when the poor guy is weeping in despair.

All in the storyline space of 24 hours. They then actually have drunken sex with no attempt at a relationship.

I checked how far I’d continued into the book. 44 percent.

I tried. Honestly. But there’s nothing to like about Corin for me. And I find these days that I’m not going to continue on reading storylines that have little to engage me or characters that I can’t connect with. Like this one.

I’m so happy I skipped to the second book because if I’d started here I’d have never picked it up. There’s a lesson there somewhere.

What is fabulous? That cover. Both covers. Rich and eye catching.

No recommendations.

Beautiful Beasts:

✓ Corin and the Courtier #1

✓ Deven and the Dragon #2

Buy Link :

Book 1 of 2: Beautiful Beasts

Blurb:

Most people run from beasts, not to them…

Aster didn’t put much thought into his escape. All he knew when he ran up that mountain—straight into the lair of a grumpy dragon knight with a huge grudge against his family—was that he couldn’t submit to an arranged marriage. It never occurred to him that a snowstorm would strand him there. Or that he’d give in to years of longing and beg for the monster’s forbidden touch. But it happened. All of it…

Corin wasn’t trying to be a hero—especially not Aster’s hero. He couldn’t very well let him die, though. So he protected him. Which might have been considered noble…if he hadn’t also fallen into bed with him. Over and over again. But the cost of keeping Aster is far more than Corin’s willing to pay. Corin will eventually be forced to let him go—even if it destroys him.

When Aster’s problems follow him up the mountain—literally—he realizes running is no longer an option. The only question now is whether Corin will fight for him, or burn their potential happily ever after to the ground…

This spicy, steamy, M/M paranormal fantasy romance features a pair of star-crossed opposites, a little forced proximity (with only one bed), some silliness involving a lack of pants at unexpected moments, and plenty of dirty talk.

This series does not contain mpreg. There’s a brief occurrence of self-destructive ideation in this book, but no action is taken. HEA guaranteed!

Review: Like I Needed (Heather Bay, #3) by Charlie Novak

Rating: 5🌈

Like I Needed is one man’s deeply revelatory and redefining journey from a purposeless wealthy party boy living in London to the committed, grounded and incredibly happy partner of a farmer in Heather Bay.

Novak really outdid herself with this story. It’s my favorite not just of the series but of any recent contemporary romance I’ve read.

It’s with the beautifully written characters , the incredible landscape and storylines that that pulls a narrative that often feels poetic from Novak. And it’s the truth you get from the lives that they are leading as farmers that engages the reader so completely that you forget you’re reading a book as you lose yourself in lambing season or whatever is happening on that farm.

“The first lamb of the season was born just after midnight on the seventeenth of March, a date I knew I’d never forget for as long as I lived.”

That’s Jamie Stone, who fled to Heather Bay in search of new direction for himself and answers for why he was so dissatisfied with himself and life in London.

It’s always amazed me when an author can take a certain “type” of main character and turn him into someone we find we empathize with and deeply care about. That certainly happens with Jamie. A man who’s decision to flee the city for something completely different lands him in Heather Bay where every step he takes leads he further down the path towards the man and life he’s always wanted and never knew he could live.

That’s with Will Foster, the last of the Fosters on a farm that’s been in his family for hundreds of years. The weight of that responsibility and the pressure on him to insure the farm’s future is heavy. The reader feels every bit of the love he has for his heritage, the land and farming as well as the toll it’s taken on him.

Novak’s picture of the reality of a farming life, right in the middle of winter, the cold, early hours, constant cold , snow, and bitter winds, is raw and believable. But so is the wood fired stove that heats the old farmhouse, Mog the cat the moved in and never leaves, and farm dogs, the pain and joys that needs to be shared.

It’s lambing season.

“We’d gone out to do one last check before bed because Will had been pacing up and down the kitchen with a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. So we’d wrapped up warm, loaded Nell up onto the back of the quad bike, and headed out to the fields. The sky was cloudless and studded with a million stars, the moon so close to full it looked like someone had tried to draw an approximation of a circle and flattened it on one side. It was crisp and cold, our breath fogging in the air, and the world felt almost empty.”

— Like I Needed (Heather Bay Book 3) by Charlie Novak

The beauty in the descriptions, the warmth of two men finding each other. Truly a favorite story for me.

And of course, all the wonderful meddling friends, the Friday nights at The Sleeping Goose, it’s enough for me to want to head there right now and pull up a chair.

I love this so much. Right to the end, it’s pretty perfect.

The series is great. Low angst, loving, full of people finding a home and HEA in the most beautiful places and inspiring ways. Read them in order for the events and couples. Then arrive here at one of my favorites!

Heather Bay series :

✓ Like I Promised #1

✓ Like I Wished #2

✓ Like I Needed #3

◦ Like I Pretended #4

◦ Like I Wanted #5 – Sept 28,2023

Buy Link:

Like I Needed (Heather Bay Book 3)

Blurb:

One night isn’t supposed to lead to love.

Jamie Stone is rich, beautiful, and bored out of his skull. The past few years have been an endless round of parties, and the decadence has lost its lustre. When a late night decision to get away lands him in the small seaside town of Heather Bay, Jamie’s convinced he’s made a mistake.

Heather Bay is no Ibiza, but it does have Will.

Will is stressed, stretched, and doesn’t have time for anything but work. He’s too busy trying to keep his head above water to focus on the London party boy who keeps ending up in his bed. Jamie is nothing but a distraction, but Will can’t resist coming back for more, especially with the harsh realities of farming nipping at his heels.

With the clock ticking on Jamie’s stay and the chaos of lambing season fast approaching, both men will have to look beyond themselves and let go of their fears. If they can, they might find the one thing they’ve always needed.

Like I Needed is a steamy and sweet hook-ups to lovers contemporary MM romance featuring a city boy with a hedonistic reputation, a gruff farmer in need of a break, endless amounts of snow, friends with no boundaries, terrible scrambled eggs, and the breathtaking beauty of the Yorkshire moors.

It is book three in the Heather Bay series and while it can be read as a standalone, it’s best enjoyed as part of the series.

Review: Elixir of Strife (Stolen Hearts Book 2) by Nazri Noor

Rating: 3.25🌈

Elixir of Strife is the second in the Stolen Hearts series by Nazri Noor and I’m not sure it passes the all important second book test.

That’s the one that’s supposed to deepen the arc plot while further engaging the reader in the main characters storylines and relationships. While it does tick some of those boxes, it actually makes the reader take a harder look at the main characters personalities, relationships, and elements thereof.

Those don’t come off as good as they did in the first book unfortunately.

Elixir of Strife (Stolen Hearts Book 2) by Nazri Noor is a strange mix of terrifically intriguing ideas, great secondary beings, increasingly irritating main characters, and a flawed plot. It’s so hard to find a good way to find a way through the entire story without having to stop at the bits that just don’t work.

It’s starts off with the best and worst of the elements. It’s a 2-person narrative, Leon Alcantara or Witch Boy and Maximilian Drake, who’s also a member of the Brilliant family. They are practicing their thievery skills but it’s their individual voices that’s becoming problematic.

For Max, the rich son whose rejected his wealthy arcane family for a semi independence, it’s a borderline self-indulgent, sexed up rich bad boy , “look at me” attitude that’s becoming sort of off putting. Especially when combined with his feelings towards Leon (confused) and his family (waffling).

Then there’s Leon. He’s still my favorite but now he’s leaning towards that deadly character tendency called TSTL. Combined with utter magical greediness, it makes sense he’s marching towards this aspect of the arc storyline without any real thought, but it’s enough to make a reader want to smack him.

“Consider this. How does it benefit us to weaken and kill a human who has willingly presented themself as a conduit for our power? Early man could not have traversed the oceans without a seaworthy vessel. Why would we break the best vessel we’ve found in a long while, knowing that the rest of our kind may still want a turn on the raft?”

My gut was so prepared to send me running away from all sea dragons, blaring warning sirens throughout my body. But yet again the lure of power left me standing with feet firmly planted”

That’s Leon taking on yet another dragon inside him, after questioning what’s the cost for the experience/power exchange. A bit of his soul? Yeah, let’s do it! Cause I’m not thinking through this. SMH. A classic TSTL.

But it’s right in the middle of a truly interesting aspect of this series storyline, that of sea dragons that approach Leon with a deal to inhabit his body in exchange for water magic/powers. So far we’ve met the god Tiamat and now we get Bakunawa, Filipino sea serpent, command of storms, fury of the seas.

I love the cultural aspect of the dragons and my only wish is that this is explored further.

Also great. New character Edel Wise (say that fast) , a hagiculturalist who’s a Demon gardener. They/she worked in the prime hells but was ready for something new! Loved her.

The new mission involves Daniel D Lyon from a large arcane family and his new business.

That’s Succulence and it’s forbidden evil olive. It needs an elixir. One wanted by many.

The mission is involved with lots of layers. Including the fabulous Jade spider herself , another fabulous woman and aspect of the series.

Noor keeps mixing bits that absolutely work with ones that make the reader question whether they should continue with the series. Wonderful details and character development with Leon meshing together the dragon of the moment. The way it goes wrong. The way is supposed to be a “hidden Entity “ but Leon basically tells everyone. Then at the end , after Leon has even let Bakunawa talk through him to a group of people, the Jade Spider says she forgives him his secrets. What secrets? He’s basically shouted it to the universe! Another SMH moment..

We go back and forth like this. Small betrayals, secrets that aren’t, and villains that always get away.

I’ll continue with the series but my frustration is increasing with the books.

Do i recommend reading this ? Read over my review and decide for yourself.

Stolen Hearts:

✓ Hex and the City #1

✓ Elixir of Strife #2

◦ All Out of Flux #3 -Sept 29,2023

Buy Link:

Elixir of Strife (Stolen Hearts Book 2)

Blurb:

Water, water, everywhere.

Leon Alcantara and Maximilian Drake have barely caught their breath after saving the city from an untimely fate. Now the Jade Spider has a new assignment. A local magical plant shop has requested a strange elixir, the liquid essence of purest water.

In pursuit of the ocean potion, Max stumbles upon a tormentor from his past. Leon faces the challenge of hosting a second dragon, a legend much closer to home. And the mysterious Masques are more watchful than ever, shadowing the boys at every turn.

But strangest of all is a fresh spate of elemental anomalies in Dos Lunas. Life or death, sink or swim, Leon and Max must rise to the challenge — or drown under a tide of wicked magic.

Review: The Chanteuse and the Bodyguard (Campo Royale #5) by V.L. Locey

Rating: 5🌈

“That is totally spacy! Oh my God, Duri, that is super spacy! Like beam me up, Socrates!” Eli huffed and glared at me. “What now?!”

Excerpt From

The Chanteuse and the Bodyguard

Yes, as Gigi/Eli says “what now?” What am I going to do without this absolutely magnificent, beautiful, and heartfelt series about drag queens getting their happily ever afters In Mother Sitka’s Campo Royale’s drag club in Wilmington, Delaware.

I love so many of Locey’s other hockey players and series but this? It’s special. And that narrative magic has grown book by book, couple by couple. It started out strong and it’s ending just as endearing and more deeply satisfying than when we first all met backstage at the club, amidst drag queen chaos.

Locey gives us a mystery, a new perspective on a drag queen who’s been a part of the series from the beginning, that’s Jo Jo Jewels! Aka Duri Yoo, a Queen whose makeup and drag appearance is inspired by the Asian BL characters and anime series he’s so crazy about . Jo Jo and Gigi are also the only queens who actually sing their own songs instead of lip-syncing.

Duri is such a beautiful character, whose personality and demeanor are due as much to his family and cultural background and support as it is to his own sweet nature. Concerned about his body , due to harmful bullying, and past relationships, Duri is a darling we can immediately relate to.

As his bodyguard does. Keaton Black Bird, owner of his own security firm, has had his firm hired to guard Gigi when fan letters and gifts turn violent. As Duri is Gigi’s best friend, the duty extends to both.

Locey weaves a wonderful story , one that draws the reader in on many levels. There’s the funny, snarky friendship between Gigi and Jojo, two queens sharing wigs and tea backstage, the family Duri has at home, and then the marvelous developing romance between Duri and Keaton .

It’s almost impossible to choose which aspects of this book I enjoyed most. Gigi is a favorite of mine, able to deal out the bast shade while being all up in everyone’s business. What a Queen! And to pair her up with Duri, who’s drag is so different and who’s personality is just as mesmerizing but in a totally unique way, it’s just works to highlight each of them to the best extent.

The romantic relationship side between Keaton and Duri let’s us into each person’s world, their backstories, their fears, their “realness “, and the foundation where they connect and relate on a emotional level. Outwardly different, inwardly touching and connecting. Locey makes it so easy for the reader to see into this dynamic and get it!

We love these two characters together immediately and jump right on their journey together.

It’s a wild one, complete with stalking fan, nasty gifts, and some very scary moments. If the stalking is a trigger for you, please take note.

It all ends on a positive and lovely note back at Campo Royale with all the Queens and their significant others.

Is this the end? Likely. But perhaps, if we’re good, Locey might deliver up a Christmas reunion story or two to help us through our withdrawal.

I’m so sorry for the series to end, but thrilled I got to know them all. I’m absolutely recommending all the books, this included.

Read them in order for a fabulous journey through the love lives of the Queens of the Campo Royale!

Campo Royale series:

✓ The Viking and the Drag Queen #1

✓ The Batchelor and The Cherry #2

✓ The Barkeep and The Bookseller #3

✓ The Financier and the Sweetheart #4

✓ The Chanteuse and the Bodyguard #5

Buy Link:

https://www.amazon.com › Chanteu…The Chanteuse and the Bodyguard (Campo Royale #5) by V.L. Locey – Amazon.com

Description:

It’s going to take all his skills to keep an innocent songbird safe.

Duri Yoo is struggling with life. Maybe the funk that’s hanging on his shoulders like a soggy sweater has to do with his thirtieth birthday, which is just around the corner. Maybe that blah feeling is due to everyone at the Campo having found their true heart’s desire except for him. Over the past few months, Duri has started questioning everything right down to if he needs to change his stage name from Jo-Jo Jewels to…well, he hasn’t a clue. All he knows is that he’s feeling down in the dumps. Heck, even his fellow queen has picked up a new secret admirer/super fan. He’d stamp a high heel in vexation, but the way things are going the darn heel would snap right off. When he’s sure life couldn’t get any worse, he’s proven wrong. And yet horribly right…

Keaton Black Bird’s job is straightforward. He’s hired to protect people. Generally, ridiculously rich business tycoons or heads of state. Being hired to keep a drag queen out of harm’s way is a new one for the former Secret Service agent. However, he’s being paid incredibly well to ensure that one of the Campo Royale’s performers isn’t harassed off-stage while the tiny queen’s hockey playing boyfriend is on the road. It’s while he’s protecting one drag queen he meets another, and the connection to Jo-Jo Jewels is undeniable. Keaton’s never been in such a unique situation before. All the men in his past were more or less like him: austere, professional, athletic. Jo-Jo is none of those things, but the owner of Black Bird Executive Protection is falling hard and fast for the delightful and quirky songbird. Unfortunately, emotions tend to cloud the mind, and Keaton and Duri soon find themselves in a situation that’s far more dangerous than either of them could have imagined.

The Chanteuse and the Bodyguard is a bodyguard romance with an anime-loving songstress, a rugged guardian, lots of BL adoration, a huge loving family, rainbow-toned wigs, unexpected danger, and a techno-colored happily-ever-after. (This book contains scenes of stalking/violence that some may find upsetting.)

Review: Full Throttle (Lights Out, #2) by Lisa Henry

Rating: 4.25 🌈

“Being an F1 driver is a crazy job but not what everyone expects. My year consists of 20% driving and 80% media, marketing, and travel.

-Daniel Ricciardo”

Full Throttle by Lisa Henry is our second fast paced, passionate romance in the multi author series, Lights Out.

In this series about Formula 1 racing, each author takes one racing team, a driver or two on that team , the international races in the series , and the dramatic events that occur during that season. We see it impacting on the various races , season team standings, the emotional reverberations on each driver, as well as the relationships that arise between men on the circuit.

In Full Throttle, Henry’s focus is on Bradley Racing. Sir Andrew Bradley a former F1 champion, his sons , the oldest, Malcolm, the current F1 team champion, and Lennox, the introverted son whose been racing in F2, but now has been called up by his father to be the team’s F1 reserve driver. This is a huge honor as well as an earned achievement for young drivers, a spot that Lennox is well aware he’s not exactly achieved but being given as the son of the wealthy owner. It’s a place that should have gone to his F2 teammate, Renzo.

It’s a sore spot that other drivers, as the infamous Karl Nuemann keeps reminding him, and others, loudly and often. In scenes to be repeated throughout the series.

Henry has given us a very relatable character in Lennox. Lennox is a soft spoken, insecure man, one with a father whose disappointment and indifference to his hopes for his future plans make him withdraw into himself further. There’s no outlet for Lennox, no one to confide with, even on his own truths about his sexuality.

Until a fist fight with Karl and a dropped koala bring him to the attention of Team PR mastermind, Connor Blake.

Henry’s cast of well rounded characters expands with the addition of Connor Blake, a man from Melbourne, with a ex boss and family who want him back in Australia where he’s beginning to feel like he needs to be. Connor ‘s circle comes with the ever so delicious Arlo Paddington, CEO of Hipe, his ex boss who wants him back. Every conversation, every get together is a delight! Same goes for Alexis, the acerbic , perfectly put together director of communications of Bradley Racing, a master of the wry look . Connor is in control of each situation, changing the direction of the narrative to fit the team’s needs, and goals. But not without a heart and informative mind guiding him.

Henry has multiple themes in play here. The troubled Blake family dynamics , team hierarchy dynamics where resentment is building over Andrew’s eagerness to push Lennox forward over other better qualified drivers, and finally, Lennox’ s closeted status.

Because being gay isn’t acceptable if you’re a F1 driver, and, from Lennox’s perspective, that’s one more strike against him in his own family where he’s kept his sexuality a secret.

The slowly building relationship between Lennox and Connor is full of hurdles, and while there’s racing elements, they don’t feel as massive an element as they did in Scott’s novel, Team Orders.

This feels more relationship and personality driven, and while we focus on the team building aspects of Team Bradley, and all the communication/PR that goes into a successful business, I wish we had more track time too.

The quotes from actual drivers at the beginning of each story give us insight into how the author is angling the focus. Here it’s the stresses and frustration of the of 80 percent of the sport as it’s seen through the life of Lennox and Connor, the PR man who’s a magician at handling this aspect of F1 racing.

A bonus was the epilogue, it didn’t extend too far beyond the end of the season, all the characters were comfortably included here.

I really enjoyed Full Throttle by Lisa Henry. The characters, relationships, family dynamics, were all well defined and realistically balanced against the frustrations and challenges that comes with racing at the F1 level right now.

I’m definitely recommending this story and the one that came before. This is turning into a very exciting series!

Lights Out:

✓ Team Orders by RJ Scott

✓ Full Throttle by Lisa Henry

◦ Pole Position by Charlie Novak 6/6

◦ Scoring Points by HL Day 6/13

◦ Black Flagged by Emma Jaye 6/20

◦ Rookie Mistakes by Beth Laycock 6/27/2023

Buy link:

Full Throttle

Description:

When Lennox and Connor race full throttle into a secret relationship, can they navigate the track, or will they crash and burn?

Lennox Bradley is Formula 1 royalty. His father was an F1 champion, and so is his brother, so expectations are high for Lennox’s debut season. But when he suffers a koala-related PR disaster at the Australian Grand Prix, he’s thrust into the media spotlight. For an introvert like Lennox, it’s a nightmare.

Connor Blake doesn’t know the first thing about Formula 1, but as communications manager for Bradley Racing, it’s his job to manage the fallout for Lennox. Except Lennox isn’t anything like the arrogant, shallow guy he’s expecting, and it gets harder and harder to deny the magnetism between them. When Connor and Lennox both have to choose what it is they really want for themselves, is there any room for a future together?

This M/M romance from Lisa Henry features a secret relationship, two guys who are bad at admitting their feelings, pining, and is set in the high octane world of Formula 1 featuring fast cars, driving at the limit, spectacular crashes, heated rivalries, and of course, a HEA.

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

From R.J. Scott’s Team Orders:

Racing Pride🌈

“Racing Pride The F1 calendar takes place in some countries hostile to those identifying as queer, and teams have sponsors who might not support a queer driver. As of April 2023, there is no openly out F1 driver.”

“Racing Pride is a new initiative embracing all elements within motorsport, and actively promoting, and supporting LGBTQ + participants in order to create some desperately needed role models for aspiring LGBTQ + participants in motorsport.

Find out more here: racingpride.com.”

— Team Orders (Lights Out Book 1) by RJ Scott

Review: They Call Him Levity (Welcome Boulevard, #1) by Davidson King

Rating: 4🌈

I enjoyed They Call Him Levity (Welcome Boulevard, #1) by Davidson King. I thought King’s characters were all very well defined, given fully fleshed out personalities and lives.

It didn’t matter whether the character was crime boss Salvatore Grillo, or the professional beggars Levity, Clove and Muse with their poverty level lives and realistic low expectations for their future, or the endearing Jaquelyn, Sal’s on the spectrum younger step sister. Each one felt real, and grounded in a real life vision of the world.

The romance as it develops between Levity and Sal is sweet and feels genuine, despite the imbalance in their status and age. Somehow the author lessens that impact in their dynamic enough that it’s not the thing that matters.

Another positive is Sal’s relationship with his step sister, Jaquelyn. King wrote her as being a functioning on the spectrum individual but treated within her family as someone to be ashamed of because of her disability. We see Jaquelyn with her hobbies, her friends, as any 17 year old girl would have, even with a crush. The mistreatment here comes from a parent, which makes it also seem realistic, unfortunately.

My cons are with the aspect of Levity that deal with Sal’s father, Sal’s stepmother, their characters and that entire storyline.

While the others plot threads felt more full developed, the whole bit with the step mother came across as forced . She was already “hissing “ from the moment we met her. Everything else was perfectly transparent as to where the plot was headed next. It just needed more work.

The ending was lovely. And we get set up for Clove’s book to come.

If you like a sweet romance with a hint of gangster and suspense, Levity might be a good choice for you.

Welcome Boulevard:

✓ Levity #1

◦ Breathe My Name #2 – Clove’s story

Buy Link:

They Call Him Levity (Welcome Boulevard Book 1)

Description:

Levity works the streets of Welcome Boulevard, begging people for money. It keeps food in his belly, a leaky roof over his head, and he gets to do it with his best friend, Clove. No, it’s not the ideal life, but he does what he must to survive.

Salvatore Grillo is a man who is used to getting what he wants. He’s a loyal brother to his autistic sister, runs numerous business empires, and knows how to make people to bend to his will. It’s not often someone comes along and shakes things up. And then Levity smiles at him.

Levity’s idea to pull in more money draws Salvatore’s attention, and while being the focus of a crime boss should be terrifying, Levity is intrigued by the man. Not to mention, Sal is as gorgeous as he is powerful. The two gravitate toward one another and soon are wrapped up tightly in each other’s worlds. When enemies try to break through their doors and their lives, Salvatore has to do everything in his power to save not just himself but Levity too.

Not knowing who is behind all the chaos or when they will strike makes their happily ever after almost impossible. Time’s running out for Sal and Levity. Will they survive, or will their story end before it’s even begun?

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