Tag: LGBTGIA paranormal romance

Review: Cair (Veiled City #1) by Eryn Hawk

Rating: 4.25🌈

Eryn Hawk is a new author for me so I was really curious to see what her Veiled City series was going to be like.

From the description, the LGBTQIA paranormal romance has many familiar themes that readers of this trope will recognize. The human raised by a single mother told to stay away from the Otherworldly side. He’s recently been dumped and is jobless and needs a new home as well.

The other main character is royalty, has made a promise he’ll regret, and will find his soulmate in the human.

That’s familiar in this genre. But Hawk has done some really interesting things with it in the book and series, enough that it makes the story and characters feel fresh and a narrative I could get connected to.

That cover gives the reader hints as to where Hawk is taking her Fae physically. I like a different approach to the Fae and this is certainly that. Cair is all about his physicality and approach he takes to the fact that his soulmate has shown up unexpectedly. I wish Hawk had spent as much time on deepening Cair’s history and how he has spent his time on this side as the author has building up Cair’s half brother Teighan.

I felt I actually had a better understanding of that brother than I did of Cair and his status within the family. The coloration, the sister, that all needed to be enlarged.

Luca was a great character from the beginning. Endearing, intelligent, curious, and written with a snarky dialogue with captures the attention of the reader, he’s quickly the most interesting character of the story.

Then, surprisingly, it’s Teighan, the half brother of the broken horn, sarcastic manner, and one way ticket out of the Fae family, that’s next in line for my favorite and invested emotional connection. Cair , the royal soulmate, and Alex, the human bff, fall in afterwards.

The story has a few formulaic elements , some wonderfully sexy and funny ones, and just a great romantic atmosphere overall.

Hawk plans for a lot more books so it’s hard to tell if some of the elements I found missing are ones the author intends to write into the novels in the future. The hints of danger towards the couple and the mystery about Luca’s past are all left hanging here.

I really enjoyed Cair and am looking forward to seeing what the next in Eryn Hawk’s Veiled City series brings. This is a definite recommendation for people who read fantasy or paranormal fiction and romance.

Veiled City:

✓ Cair #1

◦ Teighan #2

◦ Luca #3

Buy Link:

Cair: MM Paranormal Romance (Veiled City Book 1)

Blurb:

Twenty-five-year-old Luca Elliot lives in a city divided. The humans and the supernaturals mostly keep to their own kind, but Luca—curious and desperate for work—crosses the border and finds himself employed by a tall, stupidly handsome Fae with killer horns. He should be intimidated, but instead, Luca is utterly captivated. Falling for the boss is a bad idea though, right?

Cair Haryk is only a visitor to the human world and, between his position in the Fae kingdom and a bargain he made years ago, he can never remain. He’s content with that until he meets Luca—his soulmate—and hires him to work in his high-end lounge. Cair tries to guard his heart, but fate has other plans and, despite his best intentions, he falls for the pretty little human. Hard.

Luca can’t enter the Fae realm, and Cair’s time in the mortal lands is drawing to an end, so while the attraction between them is irresistible, their situation is impossible. They can’t be together. It’s tragedy and heartbreak just waiting to happen.

Isn’t it?

CAIR is a MM paranormal romance with spice, size difference, and soulmates. It features a lovable human trying to find his place in the supernatural world, and a secretive Fae who’s not as detached as he pretends to be. CAIR is first in the VEILED CITY series, which is best read in order due to the overarching plot. Each book focuses on its own pair and their HEA.

If you want to know more about this story’s tropes, kinks and warnings, visit my Instagram (authorerynhawk) for a full content list—or check the content warning at the beginning of the book.

No mpreg.

Review: Ghost Dater by Ofelia Gränd

Rating: 4🌈

Ghost Dater has the feel of an addendum short story to the wonderful Soul Eater. It reads like a cute afterthought to that tale. Turns out I’m not far off.

The author’s publisher put out a call for Halloween shorts and Ofelia Gränd thought her readers would like to see what the couple was up to.

Having problems, apparently.

At Halloween, the anniversary of Sandy’s untimely death.

A reader needs to have read Soul Eater before this to understand the characters, their history, and what they are going through to have their relationship. Sandy’s feelings at his new status are understandable but the lack of communication about those thoughts between the partners is not.

As the ghostly aspects of his new life are still in a learning phase, the frustrations Sandy is experiencing are emotions that the reader can relate to. The author is so very good at expressing these emotions and thoughts through scenes and dialogue.

The story is very short, only 38 pages long. I felt that the balance of voices between Sandy and his sorcerer mate, Thad , was a bit off, with Sandy the dominant POV. Perhaps that’s on purpose so when we get into the story and see Thad’s part of the plot, it’s a bit of a surprise.

For me, I missed the surrounding characters and more of these characters’ current lives as they just didn’t seem to fit as well into a short story format given their complexity in terms of relationship and developing mate bond. It ends with them called off to a new case. I’d love to see that happen.

Here’s to another case and another novel. This is a wonderful bridge between the two. Happy Halloween 🎃.

Buy Link:

Ghost Daterby Ofelia Gränd

Blurb:

Thaddeus Esax has a grumpy werewolf problem. For a year, he’s been mated to Sandulf Hunter, a ghost werewolf he brought back from the dead without meaning to. It’s been great. Thad’s been happy, and he believed Sandy was too. But Sandy has been sulking for more than a week, and Thad fears their relationship isn’t going as well as he believed.

The problem with being mated to a ghost is that said ghost never can leave your side, and therefore it’s extremely hard to keep secrets. Thaddeus wants to surprise Sandy, to cheer him up, but to do that, he has to trick him into believing they’re doing something they’re not.

Telling Sandy they’re having a Halloween party doesn’t go over well, but how do you trick a ghost? By making him believe he’ll be dressed up as a pirate for an evening, of course.

• Publisher: JMS Books LLC (October 13, 2021)

• Publication date: October 13, 2021

• Print length: 38 pages

Review: Soul Eater by Ofelia Gränd

Rating: 4.75🌈

Swedish author, Ofelia Gränd’s latest novel reminds me that I really need to put her on my auto buy list.

Soul Eater’s wonderful universe drew me in completely and the storylines kept me invested in the characters and the potential for more tales to come.

She begins the story with a Paranormal Investigations Department that employs a number of different beings, from a psychic to a witch with detectives of various shifter species, including a jaguar Captain.

We get a glimpse into a squad out of sorts with each other and the cases several missing women to solve.

The individuals within the squad are divided into two groups, the magical humans and the shifters, as personalities and deep feelings have contributed to conflict between the members. Gränd’s believable well defined characters help the reader understand the differences that now exist between them as the case investigation gets underway.

I’m not sure exactly what it is about this author’s work that adds that extra dimension to it. That touch of subtle horror or oddity that overlies the most mundane of actions.

Not that there’s much of those here in a paranormal mystery murder thriller where shifters, sorcery, a ghost, and Halloween overlap .

Especially a wereghost. I found that aspect of the story so satisfying as it develops on multiple levels.

The author’s world building expands as the story goes along, our knowledge of the magical universe coming to include a division of human witchcraft into wizards, mages, sorcerers and warlocks, an distinction that’s been hidden from the human population and paranormal one alike. This has implications for a major part of the storyline and not one I would spoil. It’s just one more thing I found entertaining and added more to the characters.

It’s elements like this that will keep me returning to Gränd’s books and hopefully more in this universe.

I found the narrative fascinating, the elements marvelous, the characters well developed, and all of it thrilling and suspenseful.

A definite recommendation for this author and book! Love it!

Buy Link:

Blurb:

Detective Thaddeus Ezax is in over his head. He’s the only wizard in Rockshade’s Paranormal Investigations Department, and it was his name that got him the job. The Ezaxs are known as some of the most powerful wizards in the world, but Thaddeus isn’t your average Ezaxs. Is it any wonder his family shuns him?

When a kidnapping case is dropped into his lap, Thaddeus must act fast. While most five-year-olds can cast a location spell, Thaddeus can’t and is forced to get creative. When he finds himself in possession of a black market werewolf skull with a ghost trapped inside, accidentally releases the spirit, and somehow forms a connection with it, things get even crazier.

Sandulf Hunter doesn’t remember dying, but he remembers the last thing he saw before everything went black — a wizard. All wizards must die! The only problem is, the wizard standing next to him smells too damned good, so good Sandy thinks he might have to keep him.

And since wherever Thaddeus goes, Sandulf finds himself yanked along, he might not have a choice in the matter anyway.

• Publisher: JMS Books LLC (October 31, 2020)

• Publication date: October 31, 2020

• Print length: 186 pages

Review: Angels and Anarchy (Hunters Hollow, #1) by Arden Steele

Rating: 4.25🌈

If you’re a fan of this author and the series, Blackhaven Manor, or if you just enjoy an entertaining paranormal mystery, then this is the book for you.

It’s a terrific otherworldly thriller with a fated mates romance that has characters from that connected universe and references dramatic events that saw the creation of Hunters Hollow.

Now that one of the three Maddock dragon siblings has established a town and new hotel called Hunters Hollow as a sanctuary for the otherworldly community, the author is set to place a new set of fated mates romances inside the warded township and hotel.

It starts with Angels and Anarchy and a serial killer on the loose. A dead vampire Councilman brings together human waiter/bartender Braeden Burke and nephilim Detective Zarrik Cox . One as a witness , the other as an investigator.

Steele does an excellent job in defining the characters, their personalities, the magical bond that makes them gravitate towards each other, and the messy investigation that follows the murder.

I normally have a issue with couples that don’t communicate but, as friends and family point out, on top of an immediate bond, there’s a serial killer racking up the body count that’s taking up most of Zarrik’s time.

I wish that Braeden had been more open to the idea of therapy than he was, considering that as written, he comes across as severely traumatized by his experience. That was dropped as an element and not addressed again, a weak point here in an individual who has a number of great qualities.

In fact, Steele has potentially so many wonderful storylines threaded in here that not all could be fully realized or explored in the length given. I can only hope that the author will pick them up in the books to come.

The relationship ,once the communication ,begins is wonderful, the chemistry is warm and believable. They make a terrific couple.

The mystery, the dramatic finale, is exactly what you want to see and what the author delivers. With a bit of an unexpected twist.

I can’t wait for the next one in the series. Im definitely recommending Angels and Anarchy (Hunters Hollow, #1) by Arden Steele, it’s a winner.

Hunter’s Hollow:

✓ Angels and Anarchy #1

◦ Beauty and Bad Blood #2

Connected To:

Blackhaven Manor series-9 books

Blackhaven Manor9 booksArden Steele

Buy Link:

Angels and Anarchy (Hunters Hollow Book 1)

Blurb:

Slinging drinks in New Orleans’ French Quarter isn’t the most glamorous job, but Braeden Burke loves the lights, the music, and the excitement. As a long-time believer—even before Otherlings had waltzed out of the paranormal closet—spending his nights flirting with gorgeous werewolves and smooth-talking vampires isn’t exactly a chore. His life is easy, colorful, and for the most part, free of drama.

Until fate throws him a curveball.

It was supposed to be his day off. Instead, Zarrik Cox is called in to investigate the murder of a high-ranking member of the Ministry of Otherling Affairs. Tracking down the only witness to the crime is easy. Discovering the vulnerable human is his mate is a complication he wasn’t expecting.

He might be a nephilim, but he’s no angel, and he’s damn sure no one’s savior. But with a killer on the loose, and Braeden caught in the crosshairs, there’s no limit to how far he’ll go to keep his new mate safe.

Review: Exercising a Demon (Possessive Love) by H. L. Day

Rating: 4.25🌈

Possessive Love is a 15 multi-author book series about demons in love. I love to explore a collection like this because of the opportunities to revisit authors I already enjoy to finding new ones to discover.

In the case of Exercising a Demon (Possessive Love) by H. L. Day it’s an author I’m happily familiar with. Day is on my auto read list and Exercising a Demon is a terrific sample for those readers not familiar with the author to get a feel for Day’s work.

Our main characters in this paranormal love story are a human named Jacob and a demon named Valvach. Jacob is sort of a human magpie when we meet him. He loves things sparkly and shiny, without looking like them too closely. Like the man he formed an immediate crush on and has decided he wants to become his boyfriend. All based on just seeing him.

Then there’s Valvach, a demon who doesn’t exactly fit in with the rest of his demonic family and their love for the family work in Hell. Valvach prefers reading, being helpful, and, adores animals. Not great characteristics for the lower realms.

The two meet cute and then everything becomes immediately more adorable as clueless bumps up against almost blind determination until reality and a family from hell wants to set things right.

The relationship is slow to develop but so cute. The characters are clueless but engaging, and their goals are so very important and rewarding that it’s easy to cheer them on.

Exercising a Demon (Possessive Love) by H. L. Day is the second book I’ve read in this collection and it’s another winner. Funny, with lovely characters. A definite recommendation.

Now to see what the next one has to offer!

Check out the rest of the Possessive Love series! 15 books by 15 authors

◦ A Slice For My Demon by K.L. Hiers & Mozzarus Scout

◦ Cuddly Demon by Aster Rae

✓ My Demon Husband by Jax Stuart ♥️

✓ Exercising A Demon by H.L Day ♥️

◦ Drop Dead Demon by B. Ripley

◦ The Demon’s Dealbreaker by Delaney Rain

◦ My Demon Rebound by Ashlynn Mills

◦ Curiosity Caught the Demon by Travis Beaudoin

◦ My Saintly Demon by RM Neill

◦ Terrible Lovely Demon by Odessa Hywell

◦ Son of the Arch Demon by Amanda Meuwissen

◦ Recalling My Demon by Colette Davison

◦ The Demon Undertaker by Alex J. Adams

◦ Gift for a Demon by Emily Alter

Buy Link:

Exercising a Demon: An MM paranormal romance

Blurb:

Love comes in all shapes and sizes. And sometimes it has horns and a tail.

Jacob’s in love. Again. Only, his future husband likes muscular men, and Jacob, well… isn’t. A few sessions at the gym, and he’ll have the leather-clad motorcycle courier eating out of his hand, though. And no, he won’t switch his attentions to his hot new personal trainer. Honestly, he won’t.

Valvach’s not your typical demon, preferring books over torture. Which goes down about as well as you’d expect in Hell. A move to the surface gives him the opportunity to start anew. To stay, he’s going to need to make a friend, someone to help him blend in. And sweet, curly-haired Jacob is the perfect candidate. If he can’t lick him, he can at least spend time with him.

When friendship blossoms into a passion that knows no bounds, Jacob and Val believe they’ve found the perfect match in each other. However, Hell isn’t so accommodating, and they find themselves with a fight on their hands to prevent being torn apart and relegated to different planes of existence.

Exercising a Demon is a MM paranormal romantic comedy featuring a demon who’s more of a lover than a fighter, a human who might finally have found the man/demon of his dreams, steamy sexual liaisons involving a tail, and a sweet demon/human pairing who accept each other for who they are and embrace each other’s quirks.

Review: Nelson & MacIlwraith (Moon Murder Mysteries #1) by K Sterling

Rating: 5🌈

K Sterling has become a go to author for me and this book is an excellent example why. Nelson & MacIlwraith, the first in the Moon Murder Mysteries, is steeped in mythologies and cultural traditions. These myths and lores that enrich and at times horrify the characters and readers have been pulled from literary sources and the author’s incredible imagination.

To say the Celtic mythological tapestry Sterling has woven here works to enhance the themes, mysteries, and unique relationships is an understatement. It goes beyond that.

It starts with the unusual characters. FBI Agent Grady Nelson has been assigned the case of a missing girl, but told to “bury” the investigation by his superiors. Nelson, the son and grandson of famous agents, is a man out of favor with the FBI, a person they are looking to bury.

We’ve seen this type of character before but not Grady Nelson. Sterling has created in Nelson someone of unusual depths and qualities, submissive, unyielding in a hunt for the truth. Nelson is a dichotomy of traits and desires. And his growth here is unexpected and astonishing.

Nelson is paired with his complete opposite. That’s the renowned and well connected Professor Lennox “Nox” MacIlwraith. Looking like a combination of goth musician, he’s an archaeologist professor who’s consults in cases that have an occult or otherworldly nature. Which is what he has been working on. One exactly like the one Nelson isn’t supposed to investigate.

From a truly macabre starting point, Sterling launches a spectacular new series and couple. One missing girl becomes more, and the fact that each one is linked to local pagan communities and witchcraft just adds to the mystery.

Sterling builds on the men’s hugely different lives and unusual interior mentalities to craft a relationship unlike any other. This overlays an increasingly horrifying investigation with a narrow timeline.

This story is amazing, terrifying, haunting, and extremely suspenseful. It’s no surprise that it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger.

I can’t wait to see how the next episode in the men’s relationship and journey will go.

If you love a fantasy story with highly developed and compelling characters and a world that’s equally layered, this is for you.

Moon Murder Mysteries:

◦ Nelson & MacIlwraith #1

Buy Link :

Blurb:

No one wants a witch for a partner.

Time is running out, and the deck is stacked against Professor Lennox “Nox” MacIlwraith. Six girls have been abducted, but the FBI doesn’t realize they’re connected. There’s also the matter of the dead girl in New Castle. She was found tied to a tree and Nox suspects one serial kidnapper and killer is responsible. An unorthodox expert on the occult, Nox is rumored to be a psychic and a witch. And a crackpot. The wily young professor has to prove he’s not batty—or possibly a vampire—and that the cases are linked before the next full moon. If not, he fears the remaining girls will be sacrificed to a mythical god-king.

Everyone in the FBI hates Agent Grady Nelson. He’s failed to live up to his legendary father’s reputation within the bureau and is almost universally despised for being an uptight do-gooder. Nelson’s ready to kiss what’s left of his career goodbye when he’s ordered to work with the “sketchy professor” on what should be a nuisance case. The investigation turns into a professional minefield when Nox claims it’s connected to an ancient Celtic cult. Rules are broken and lines are crossed as Nelson falls under Nox’s spell and begins to suspect his partner might be a real witch.

Nox is a little bit witchcraft. Nelson is a little bit Federal Bureau. Together, they’re a wickedly good team, but can they find the missing girls before it’s too late? Nox is prepared to sacrifice his own career and his life to save them. He’d also like to save Nelson, but is Nox ready to sacrifice his heart too?

Review: — My Demon Husband: An MM Paranormal Romance by Jax Stuart

Rating: 4🌈

Possessive Love is a 15 multi-author book series about demons in love. I love to explore a collection like this because of the opportunities to find a new author like Jax Stuart who wrote the wonderful My Demon Husband in this group.

Stuart begins by drawing us into the life of witch Toby and the small magical town he’s growing up in. It’s not a happy life. Year after year, Toby is unable to summon a familiar on his birthday, his magic not working properly.

The manner in which Stuart cuts away from year to year, allowing the reader a window into the pain and frustration that’s been felt throughout Toby’s adolescence is remarkable. He’s become a real person to us and his suffering is now something we can connect with.

For Prince Zephyrin, the same can be said. The glimpses the author gives the reader into his life offers up much more insight into his own personal issues as well as his own family’s sufferings.

Two beings are about to be connected in the most unexpected way. This element of Stuart’s narrative is such a powerful and compelling one. It’s a part of the overall mystery. How both are connected becomes a strength of the relationship and, imo, one of the book. Because it prompts one necessary discussion about consent, status, sexuality, equality , and dominance. All of these things could have been ignored or avoided in a lesser story.

The romance between Toby and Zeph really comes together as they fight for their bond and right to stay as a magical couple as they define it. It just feels so believable and engaging to read as they grow into their dynamic. I just love them.

The mystery behind Toby’s failures is not as well developed as most of the other storylines, and it has just as many questions left unanswered at the end of the novel.

The author fills up this book with so much detail and depth in the world building that it calls out for additional novels. The covens that appeared later on with their own fascinating characters, Zephyrin’s Mother’s “queendom” and his family, and even the questions left behind as to what will happen to that village of Toby’s, it all seems to cry out for more storylines!

My Demon Husband: An MM Paranormal Romance by Jax Stuart is highly entertaining and well written. I throughly enjoyed the characters and the world built around them. I hope Stuart will revisit them someday to catch up on the loose ends and how this couple is faring.

This is a definite recommendation and for the rest in the collection, check out the list below.

Check out the rest of the Possessive Love series! 15 books by 15 authors

◦ A Slice For My Demon by K.L. Hiers & Mozzarus Scout

◦ Cuddly Demon by Aster Rae

✓ My Demon Husband by Jax Stuart

◦ Exercising A Demon by H.L Day

◦ Drop Dead Demon by B. Ripley

◦ The Demon’s Dealbreaker by Delaney Rain

◦ My Demon Rebound by Ashlynn Mills

◦ Curiosity Caught the Demon by Travis Beaudoin

◦ My Saintly Demon by RM Neill

◦ Terrible Lovely Demon by Odessa Hywell

◦ Son of the Arch Demon by Amanda Meuwissen

◦ Recalling My Demon by Colette Davison

◦ The Demon Undertaker by Alex J. Adams

◦ Gift for a Demon by Emily Alter

Buy Link:

My Demon Husband: An MM Paranormal Romance

Blurb:

He was supposed to summon a familiar, not a husband!

After numerous failed attempts to summon a familiar necessary to guide his considerable magic, Toby was down to his very last try. They would never accept him as a full-fledged member of his birth coven without a familiar. He didn’t know which punishment was worse; exile or binding his powers forever. Everything was against him, including his abnormally powerful magic and an enemy hiding in plain sight. When the spell takes a dramatic turn, poor Toby is unprepared for the consequences.

Zephyrin is desperate to no longer be the screw up of the family. His parents have had enough on their plate dealing with a family curse. Even knowing that he could be lost to them forever, Zephyrin answers the surprising call for his summoning. After meeting his summoner, Toby, he’s positive that he is destined to be by his side as his husband. Maybe having a witch in his corner could break the curse, that is, if Toby lets him visit home.

Unfortunately, Toby has troubles of his own. Can they work together to find a solution to both their problems before the Witch Council tears them apart?

My Demon Husband is a standalone paranormal romance between an overpowered witch and a demon with control issues in the multi-author Possessive Love series.

Review: Loving Jake (Dark Forest Pack Book 4) by Annabelle Jacobs

Rating: 3🌈

I’ve been following Annabelle Jacobs wolf shifter packs from the beginning and got really invested in the world the author created and cross series she created.

But now at the end of the Dark Forest Pack, I feel that the stories and multiple characters, as evidenced by the index at the book’s beginning, has gotten so stretched out that the depth of plots and personalities that once grabbed my attention is now less apparent. Or missing altogether.

For me, Loving Jake falls into the latter category. Which is too bad.

The entire concept can be summed up as “my Alpha says so , so even though it’s evil and I hate it , I’m gonna do it”. What’s worse is that the author sets up the drama with the main couple and secondary characters knowing the Alpha is “doing WRONG “ but hey let’s ignore it. Then everything plays out based on the fact they Can’t Do anything because the BAD Alpha says so.

Now the author warns the reader the book, a total lesson in readability/frustration imo, this is the way she’s plotting it, so there’s that. It’s pack rule, do whatever the Alpha says. Even though it doesn’t happen in her other novels.

But there no point, no dimension to this plot. Just a sledgehammer of dramatic narrative up to almost the end. No real details of a love affair between the main characters or verbal declarations of their own either. Just deep feelings to counteract the plotting against them.

Everyone knows who the villain is. The last battle is a mess, and the resolution doesn’t fully answer all the questions the mystery and murder raised.

I want to give this a two star but went ahead with a 3 out of fondness for its origins which are squandered here.

So for me, at the end of the series which had so much potential, Loving Jake gave us one dimensional characters, a forced sledgehammer of a frustrating plot, and a messy ending that doesn’t really resolve anything. Really, it’s like the series lost its energies here.

If that’s a story you want to read, or if you’re a reader who needs to complete a series, Loving Jake awaits you.

Dark Forest Pack:

✓ Claiming Rhys #1

✓ Redeeming Nick #2

✓ Guarding Axel #3

✓ Loving Jake #4 – series finale

Buy Link :

Loving Jake (Dark Forest Pack Book 4)

Blurb:

Pack is family, family is everything…until it isn’t.

Max

I worried we’d ruin it all by crossing the line from friends to lovers, but kissing Jake feels as natural as breathing.

I thought we’d have forever.

I thought we could take our time.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

In this last instalment of the Dark Forest Pack series, Max and Jake need all the help they can get to break free from their alpha’s command. But there’s just one problem with that—they’re forbidden to talk about it. When breaking that rule could mean tearing their pack apart, is it a risk worth taking?

Loving Jake is an MM paranormal romance featuring best friends turned lovers with the odds stacked against them. Full of pining, suspense, and sizzling UST, with a guaranteed HEA.

For maximum enjoyment, books should be read in order.

Review: You Can Do Magic (Carnival of Mysteries) by R. J. Merrill

Rating: 4.5🌈

I wasn’t aware that You Can Do Magic was a part of author Merrill’s Summer of Hush series when I began reading but it’s not required knowledge for enjoying the story. Much of the background information is offered up throughout the book on the characters and relationships between the series couples that I wasn’t even familiar with the fact this was tied to another universe until the end notes.

You Can Do Magic has so much to offer on own as a standalone book. That starts with how fabulously Merrill uses the central theme of the Carnival of Mysteries. With its cast of circus characters and sideshows as a major part of the narrative here, time and again, it’s woven into the narrative pulling all the plot threads together. Starting with the power of the Carnival to protect and provide shelter to those in need, until the mysterious Ames feels it’s time for them to move on.

Kallos Alexandrou, the Carnival’s magical calliope player, is being told he’s healed and his time with the Carnival is over. What a beginning! It’s haunting, shrouded in secrecy and pain, with a young man who can’t remember, being told he’s got a new life ahead of him. How incredibly scary.

Music is the key for Kallos. To his past and his new journey forward as well. Merrill does a fantastic job in creating in Kal a person who feels like an innocent out of time , yet someone we can still emotionally connect with.

Dumped with a wallet and the ability to have within what he needs (read the book), it’s a music festival that starts his journey. And a couple of bands.

One Ryan Wells, lead singer in the metal band Backdrop Silhouette. He’s also released from prison and in recovery from substance abuse, facts that are well documented and a source of contention within the band. Especially since the cause is a serious accident which tragically changed their lives.

Merrill gets us into the head and emotions of Ryan in the tough moments back when it’s obvious he’s not going to be able to retrieve the friendships and relationships he had with the band before the accident and prison time occurred.

We get a mixture of emotional distress, connections, a sense of wonder at new things from Kal and puzzlement from Ryan and deeply moving shared experiences that build their relationship.

All while keeping an otherworldly sense that something or someone is helping to guide these events.

The closure for Kal on his past history was emotional as far as his family but a tad lacking when it came down to that which caused his pain and suffering. I thought that could have been more a more fully resolved or explained element. I was left with more questions than answers.

As for Ryan, the Carnival left him with some very serious thoughts about his future life. As the story ends on a HFN, I wonder if the author intends to do something further with this couple in mind. I’d be interested in reading more about them.

You Can Do Magic (Carnival of Mysteries) by R. J. Merrill is one of the highlights of this series. Merrill does an excellent job in incorporating the series theme into the storyline all the way through to the end. The characters are extremely well executed and the relationships are easy to connect with. Just marvelous!

And one more great cover in a group of beautiful images.

Don’t forget to check out the music link for the author’s playlist for the book. Absolutely amazing.

If you haven’t already guessed, it’s a yes recommendation.

Carnival of Mysteries series:

✓ Crow’s Fate by Kim Fielding❤️

✓ Step Right Up by L.A. Witt

✓ Magic Burning by Kaje Harper ❤️

✓ Night-blooming Hearts by Megan Derr

✓ Go For The Company by Ander C. Lark❤️

✓ Roustabout by Morgan Brice❤️

✓ Assassin by Accident by E.J. Russell❤️

✓ Dryad on Fire by Nicole Dennis ❤️

✓ The Extraordinary Locket of Elijah Gray by Kayleigh Sky

✓ Smoke and Mirrors by Elizabeth Silver

✓ You Can Do Magic by R.L. Merrill♥️

◦ Sting in the Tail by TA Moore – October 4

◦ Gods and Monsters by Rachel Langella – October 25

Buy link:

You Can Do Magic: Carnival of Mysteries

Blurb:

From the author of Foreword Indies Finalist Summer of Hush and BookLife Prize Quarterfinalist Brains and Brawn comes a new installment in the series, a contemporary gay romance with a side of time travel and magic.

Musical prodigy Kallos Alexandrou has played his calliope for countless visitors at Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries, but his one-year residency has come to an end. Scars from a terrible tragedy in his past are the only explanation he has for his loss of speech and memory, but it’s time to move on, so when a music festival sets up next to the carnival, Mr. Ame sends him off with identification, a bottomless billfold, and a set of new clothes. Outside the carnival’s perimeter, Kal finds himself in an unfamiliar world surrounded by strange instruments and vibrant people like nothing he’s ever seen.

Ryan Wells is the troubled and celebrated lead singer of the metal band Backdrop Silhouette. He’s brought more than his share of baggage on the last cross-country Warped Tour, including harsh restrictions placed on him by his parole officer and the band’s label, but it’s the treatment from his bandmates that have him feeling unsettled. After a tough morning, he spots a strange young man playing carnival music on a keyboard backstage, and the sound takes him back to a particularly vulnerable time in his youth. Intrigued, Ryan asks the young man’s name, but he flees only to appear later as a replacement stagehand for the tour.

An invitation from the band Hush to ride on their bus gives Ryan and Kal a welcome distraction. They find the camaraderie and support they’ve both been craving…as well as a little magic and a fresh new romance. But personal secrets and the music business make relationships difficult to maintain, and when the tour ends, Ryan and Kal will have to make a choice: move forward together on an uncertain path, or let fear keep them from trusting that sometimes you really can have everything you desire.

You Can Do Magic is part of the multi-author Carnival of Mysteries Series. Each book stands alone, but each one includes at least one visit to Errante Ame’s Carnival of Mysteries, a magical, multiverse traveling show full of unusual acts, games, and rides. The Carnival changes to suit the world it’s on, so each visit is unique and special. This book contains a Depression-era calliaphone, a Ouija board with a purpose, and tour bus hijinks that will warm your heart and make you gigglesnort. Reading Summer of Hush and Brains and Brawn before this book will give you the full Warped Tour experience, but You Can Do Magic can be read as a standalone as well as the other books in the shared universe. Recommended 18+

Review: A Star So Dark and Peculiar (Tears from the Sky Book 1) by Cyan Crowe

Rating: 4.5🌈

A Star So Dark and Peculiar , the first in the Tears from the Sky series by Cyan Crowe, is also a first novel by the author for me. I’m all about storytelling that involves multiple types of shifters, mating bonds, paranormal species , and exploring the mythology that will build on their past in the series arc.

Crowe is giving the reader all that and more here. The series is dark fiction and characters that feel engaging and real are often treated as expendable, meeting their True Death unexpectedly. One at least I wasn’t prepared for. But it’s in keeping with the characterizations and relationship dynamics Crowe is developing.

Cyan Crowe does several things that are notable, most fantastic and one not so great.

First is the fact that our introduction into the world is a confusing one. That window into the past with the Crown Lords and Oracle didn’t work, at least for me. I felt that any information gleaned from those scenes could have been imparted in other ways throughout the storyline. In fact the entire book only really came together one we got into the present day.

That’s where everything starts to gel. The characters are strong, exceedingly well written, and while the reader doesn’t yet have a solid understanding of the world building, it’s parts are added as the characters interact and the narrative becomes more complex to give a larger perspective on the mystery and universe surrounding them.

It’s a brutal world overlaid with an air of civility, animalistic with a skin of humanity. Cell phone technology with fang and claw death in tandem. The author realistically portrays a divided paranormal society, literally separated by fortified walls and gates, each ruled by a different species with a similar structure and name. The immortal Crown Lion, Crown Wolf, and Crown Gryfalcon, each at the head of their respective species, then they have their Blades of the Crown. A unknown person who is close to the Crown, carries out their orders/duties as they see fit, an assassin if need be. The Blades are old and said to have some of the immortal blood in them.

This is just part of the intriguing mystery and information that the reader gathers from the narrative as we meet Gage Declan, Alpha Wolf of the City (wolf territory although other species live there). He’s considered young for the job position he’s holding but powerful in his role to easily manage his team. Gage’s character and history is a complex one, and becomes even stronger and fascinating as the book progresses. He starts off strong but the author builds on layer after layer, giving Gage remarkable depth and high intelligence while not diminishing his raw brutality .

To balance such a compelling being the author had to craft an equally complicated, magnetic personality. Crowe gives us Alpha Ethan Odin Vinci, new Alpha Lion of the Fort (Lion shifter section with other species residing). But Ethan is ancient, mysterious, and perhaps more. So they begin at a combative level to sort out a mystery plaguing both their sections and separate species.

Additionally, same sex relationships or activities are illegal and considered unnatural by law and the cultures. So events that occur are fundamentally shocking to both.

This is a great element and the way it’s handled on both sides makes sense for the two men involved from both personal and political perspectives. This is a core sea change that can, given both Alphas status and power, fundamentally change society.

Given this fact and the type of being each person is, Crowe stays true to the heart of the narrative and world the author is still rolling out in showing the reader the complex, often contradictory, intense, sometimes feral or savage behavior that resides within them, often after seemingly being pleasantly civil.

This is exciting stuff. We have a whole vampire element here that’s probably not what it appears to be. Right now they are the very big bad though.

Plus there’s things like the TEARs, a fatal illness no one knows how or why it occurs but that there’s no cure or antidote. The scenes involving people in the final stages are moving and heartbreaking.

Crowe has also assembled an excellent cast of characters surrounding the main personalities, and that seems to be expanding as well to meet the needs of the revelations of the storylines. The plot lines, many that they are, flow so fluidly through the story, picking up speed as it arrives at the main climatic battle and the jumping off point towards the next book.

Which honestly can’t come soon enough.

Except for that stumbled start, A Star So Dark and Peculiar (Tears from the Sky Book 1) by Cyan Crowe is a fantastic read. It’s exciting, full of new multidimensional characters, and imaginative storytelling. I can’t wait for it to continue.

I’m highly recommending it for all lovers of paranormal fiction and dark romance.

Tears from the Sky:

◦ A Star So Dark and Peculiar #1

Buy Link:

A Star So Dark and Peculiar (Tears from the Sky Book 1)by Cyan CroweBook 1 of 1: Tears from the Sky

Blurb:

It’s time to embrace the night and show the true might of the stars so bright…

My name is Gage Odysseus Declan.

You could say I’m a complicated man with uncomplicated needs. I’m Alpha Wolf for the City, charged with protecting my kind. I enjoy law and order, sexy times at Circus, and being left alone.

Step too close, and I’ll cut you down.

But I’ve stumbled upon a kitty cat that smells like a raging storm, a dark and peculiar chaos that I want to dominate and cuddle.

His name is Ethan Odin Vinci.

I suspect he’s the Blade to Crown Lion. The cat lives in the Castle, is crazier than anyone I’ve ever met, and is way too devious for that vain head of his.

And he’s just as alpha as me.

That’s…a problem.

The Lady Moons connected two men together, an utter blindsiding Bond. This has never happened before—it’s not our way.

Yet here I am. Here he is.

Here we are under the sky and the stars and the night, circling each other like we’re moonslit prey…

While bloodthirsty vampires take root in the City, and our people continue to die from TEARS.

But I’ve got this under control.

I am that good.

Get ready to twinkle twinkle, bitches.

The night is going to shine.

*This novel is approx. 150,000 words. This world does not contain MPreg.

*TW: Violence.