Review: The Pairing by Casey McQuiston

Rating: 5🌈

The Pairing is one of my top two books of the year. A absolute masterpiece of a book, a gastronomical tale and a oenophile’s dream journey that’s a bisexual and nonbinary romance of rediscovery and enduring love set upon the landscape of some of Europe’s most beautiful and ancient cultural heritage sites and tiny restaurants.

There really aren’t enough pages or words to describe how much I love this.

Just be prepared to be hungry, and thirsty and , frankly feeling like you need something, want something, because you’re not eating, drinking, being there smelling the aromas, luxuriating in the heat or atmosphere of any of the scenes or moments the characters have pulled you into. It’s a sensory experience, an overload of energy and emotional experience on so many levels. That’s how vivid the writing, how gloriously beautiful the characters and how deeply their story envelopes you into the journey.

At its most basic, it’s a story of two childhood friends who loved each other. Became lovers for two years, parted angrily on an airplane ride to London, on their way to a special food and wine vacation. It was supposed to be a start of many things together but it was an end.

Four years later, the two people unexpectedly use the vouchers for that same vacation and see each other once again.

It sounds simple but it’s anything but.

Author Casey McQuiston brings the reader into the lives of longtime friends and now exes, Theo Flowerday, assistant sommelier and

Kit Fairfield , pastry chef, in an imaginative format. Half the book belongs to the perspective of Theo, a California native and assistant sommelier who has finally decided to move on from the past, take the vacation they had planned to go on, and put an end to a failed relationship they have never fully recovered from. We see the beginning, the end. And then the entire new journey four years later from Theo’s perspective.

At midpoint, at a certain time in the vacation and this couple’s renewed relationship, McQuiston switches the narrative over to Kit, appropriately, where we follow the same path. First their beginning. The end . And then his perspective on how they reconnected and what the years have done to them, the changes, as well as the misunderstandings and mistakes made. By both.

Theo is at first described as bisexual but it’s no surprise to the reader that part of the conversation and story is Theo’s acceptance , or more embracing their identity as a nonbinary person. Kit , throughout the book, is a clearly bisexual man who has a deep sense of self and the enjoyment of sex.

Sex, along with wine, food, art and the landscapes, is as much a part of the story as the characters. Theo and Kit have sex, and not just with each other. For those uncomfortable with this aspect of the story or the characters, remember they aren’t in a romance at the time and Europe looks at relationships differently in some ways. Plus vacation romances are, as they say, a thing. It all plays out sensually and believably true to heart.

I fell into the story, the lives of the characters, and the incredible journey the author takes us on, a map having been provided at the beginning of the book should the reader want to follow along.

I saw places where I’d visited through a new standpoint, had fresh views on artists and history tossed around that had me thinking and reaching for my own old references and notes. And then submerging myself in this cornucopia of narrative sensual characters, fully developed elements and places that can’t be appreciated in one reading.

I might need to book myself a vacation.

I’m highly recommending this as one of my top two books of the year. A narrative masterpiece of the senses.

Enjoy.

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Pairing…The Pairing: Special 1st Edition: McQuiston, Casey: 9781250862747

Blurb

LIMITED FIRST PRINT RUN–featuring sprayed edges with a stenciled script design. Only available for a limited time and while supplies last.

In #1 New York Times bestselling author Casey McQuiston’s latest romantic comedy, two bisexual exes accidentally book the same European food and wine tour and challenge each other to a hookup competition to prove they’re over each other―except they’re definitely not.

Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, in love, and now estranged exes. After a brutal breakup on the transatlantic flight to their dream European food and wine tour, they exited each other’s lives once and for all.

Time apart has done them good. Theo has found confidence as a hustling bartender by night and aspiring sommelier by day, with a long roster of casual lovers. Kit, who never returned to America, graduated as the reigning sex god of his pastry school class and now bakes at one of the finest restaurants in Paris. Sure, nothing really compares to what they had, and life stretches out long and lonely ahead of them, but―yeah. It’s in the past.

All that remains is the unused voucher for the European tour that never happened, good for 48 months after its original date and about to expire. Four years later, it seems like a great idea to finally take the trip. Solo. Separately.

It’s not until they board the tour bus that they discover they’ve both accidentally had the exact same idea, and now they’re trapped with each other for three weeks of stunning views, luscious flavors, and the most romantic cities of France, Spain, and Italy. It’s fine. There’s nothing left between them. So much nothing that, when Theo suggests a friendly wager to see who can sleep with their hot Italian tour guide first, Kit is totally game. And why stop there? Why not a full-on European hookup competition?

But sometimes a taste of everything only makes you crave what you can’t have.

“The summer’s best romance novel.” – Rolling Stone

“Spicy, sexy and absolutely delicious.” – People

“Move over ‘hot girl summer’ – ‘hot bisexual summer’ is ready for its moment and Casey McQuiston’s new novel The Pairing is here to usher it in.” – USA Today

Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin (August 6, 2024)
Publication date: August 6, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 395 pages

Review: Once Upon A Christmas Song (Once Upon a Holiday story) by Mary Calmes

Rating: 3.5🌈

I was looking forward to Once Upon A Christmas Song by Mary Calmes, a novel in the multi-author Once Upon a Holiday series. And after reading it, I’m finding it hard to rate.

The story has many of the best elements of Calmes writing and some of her aspects of her work that just don’t seem as well thought out.

First the best of this book. That’s the setting, New Orleans, which is beautifully rendered in atmosphere and realistic locations. Then it’s the wonderful found family of La Belle Vie, the bar/restaurant that’s the home and heart for an entire group of people. Calmes makes this key setting a hearthstone by folding into the workplace the multidimensional people who work there and are considered family of its owner, Chris Gardner.

Chris, his bar/restaurant and found family? Fantastic! The issue arrives with the holiday romance aspect.

That’s a rockstar who left Chris (and the friends there) behind to find fame and fortune. Which he found along with drugs, alcohol, and addiction. Now 2yrs later, without any communication, Dawson West has arrived expecting open arms and to pick up the relationship where they left off. A ending that, reasonably, devastated Chris and took him a while to recover from.

What works here is (spoilers) Chris’s initial reaction and responses to Dawson’s nonstop entreaties to pick up immediately on the romance between them as if nothing happened because Dawson went to rehab. Now’s he’s out and a “new person “. It’s he’s back! And his band mates are just as strangely written as enablers or clueless with regard to relationships and specifically to their own personal relationships with Chris.

If Calmes had decided that the story was about forgiveness and recovery, a friend relationship, and rewritten the ending, this might have worked. But Dawson is a problematic character, albeit one we’ve seen before in certain Calmes stories. The flip side to the golden boys every one loves.

Dawson, an ambitious singer in a rock band, rises to the top of the charts, then , along with his fellow musicians, becomes addicted to drugs and alcohol, burning himself and them out. The story goes into a little more detail but the catch is that Dawson went to rehab, along with a band mate/friend twice, to return to Chris and home. Got clean because of Chris. Two years after break up , and recently release from rehab. No mention of getting clean strictly for himself. Because what happens to addicts when plans fail if they went through rehab for the wrong reasons?

And now he’s constantly pressuring Chris to get immediately together, like there’s no past, because they “love” each other. Etc. Chris asks for space and time to think and talk. Immediately no, keep the pressure on, don’t respect Chris’s decision or wishes to make decisions based on his own personal feelings. So many flags. And the author seems to realize that but it’s temporary stop in rational plotting.

While having Chris explain why the space is necessary or even why talking about the differences (he’d lived a full satisfying life in the singer’s absence) is required , a relevant part of the conversation here, Calmes then negates everything that is solid about this aspect of the story and has Dawson rolling right over Chris, abetted by the “friends”, and a child manipulated by the singer. That left a sour impression on me.

So for every well written piece of this story there’s an equally less thought out aspect that works against it. It’s a love this character, no, this really isn’t working for me type of story.

The series connecting element, The Hook’s Book Nook Traveling Library, has a larger role here. But unlike other series of this kind, while the married couple (adorable) and that bus are amazing, they never seem to fit well into any story. They are either too big an element themselves or too quirky to fit into the plot that’s already in place. The connection either needs to be a more simplified one or more suited to the specific series , like a seasonal object. Just mo. Give them their own story.

Cover design by Kelly York

Once Upon a Holiday series – 8 books:

Once Upon a Second Chance by Davidson King

Once Upon A Mistletoe Kiss by Sammi Cee

Once Upon a Holiday Vacation by Annabella Michaels

Once Upon a Lullaby Lane by K York

Once Upon a Christmas Con by Skylar M Cates

Once Upon A Christmas Song by Mary Calmes

Once Upon a Yuletide Romance by RJ Peterson

Once Upon A Goth Dog Solstice by R L Merrill

Buy link

Once Upon A Christmas Song

Blurb

Chris Gardner has a good life in New Orleans. He owns a club in the French Quarter, has a wonderful crew of people who call it home, loyal, caring friends, and even gets his kid fix by helping to take care of his chef’s daughter. What he doesn’t have is that special someone to share his days and nights with. He thought he did, once upon a time, but that man left to find fame and fortune, became a rockstar, and never returned. And that’s fine. Life isn’t a fairy tale. Now if only he could find a band to play music in his club at night, that would be a Christmas miracle.

Dawson West had to leave to see if his dreams could become reality, but what he didn’t count on was that once he had the world at his feet, he’d miss the man who’d held him tight. Between the endless climb toward greatness and the pitfalls of addiction, Dawson lost himself for a while, but that doesn’t mean he stopped loving Chris. Not wanting his love to see him broken, he makes certain he’s clean and sober when he finally comes home. Going radio silent while becoming the man Chris deserves seemed like a good idea at the time, but now…

Now, Chris has a problem. Dawson is back, out of the blue, and if Chris lets him return to rocking his club, is that an invitation for his heart as well? How can Chris ever trust again, even if it is the season?

Once Upon A Christmas Song is a part of the multi-author series Once Upon A Holiday Story. Each book can be read as a standalone and in any order. What links these books together is The Hook’s Book Nook Traveling Library, a library on wheels owned by two old ladies in love.

Publication date: December 3, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 151 pages

Review: Ice Around the Edges by Mary Calmes

Rating: 3🌈

Ice Around the Edges by Mary Calmes is a perfect example of how a story written years ago (December 2010) and re-released just doesn’t hold up in present times. At least not without making some major changes and narrative length.

I’m a fan of Calmes and her characters but this storyline is full of elements that demonstrate how certain aspects of a relationship has changed over time. Things now that raise flags and are considered warning signs for a person weren’t really well known fourteen years ago. Or elements that would have factored into contemporary romances.

The basic story is that this couple broke up because one of them, the one who had the most money and wealthiest family heard his father and grandfather arguing over his “friend” saying he wasn’t good enough. So without further information or arguments on their behalf, the rich son , Dixon Bain, immediately broke up with the other man Evan Kano, and never saw him again. Years pass.

Evan goes on to live a full and eventful life. Gets shot, ends up hospitalized. He’s handling it well and responsibly. But out of nowhere comes Dixon, steamrolling Evan with plans for Evan to immediately leave Chicago, his apartment, go to NYC, etc. After no contact with Dixon in years. What follows is a prime example of what’s now termed “love bombing “.

Doesn’t leave when asked. Hides in a room. Brings his mother with him to make excuses while the person is fragile in a hospital bed. Honestly, more flags.

There’s some honesty here but very little. The story itself is only 62 pages.

Had Calmes rewritten it, extended the narrative to include time for these men to explore who they had become after all this time? Give the men and readers a chance to see and relate with the story and men as they reconnect as adults with new experiences and maturity. That would have given this the missing depth and relevance that it’s lacking.

Instead the story we or they got here is the one from 2010. There was a lot of potential to update this but it didn’t happen.

Read it because it’s by Calmes and you just read everything of hers.

Buy Link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › …Ice Around the Edges – Kindle edition by Calmes, Mary. Romance …

Blurb

Evan Kano’s life is on an even keel until the night he’s shot at the homeless shelter where he works. The resulting turmoil is not caused by a bullet but by a blast from the past: Evan’s first lover has returned to visit him in the hospital and deliver some big news.

Ten years ago, Dixon Bain walked out of Evan’s life because he thought his family didn’t approve of him having a male lover. But Dixon has discovered that what he thought he knew could not be further from the truth, and now he’s returned to claim the only man he’s ever loved… if he can melt the ice around the edges of Evan’s still-wounded heart.

2nd edition, previously published December 2010.

Publication date: October 25, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 62 pages

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

Rating: 3.5🌈

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Buy link

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

Blurb

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

~ Nico ~

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

~ Luca ~

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

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

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

Review: Jonathon, After All: Princes Take New York Book 1 by K. Sterling

Rating: 4.25🌈

From K Sterling’s forward:

“All the books in this series are meant to be modern adaptations of classic fairy tales with the primary focus on the king of all tropes: Prince Charming. He’s the king for me, at least. And if there is one thing that is consistent with Charming, it’s insta love. He believes in love at first sight and he is often blindly noble. Occasionally, to his and his true love’s detriment.”

Other classical elements of the Prince Charming fairy tale story are included. A in-distress character who’s been wronged, knights,wicked stepmothers, etc, but all given a contemporary twist with the characters and storyline elements to make Jonathon, After All: Princes Take New York Book 1 a entertaining start to a new series.

The aspects of this story I absolutely loved were seeing the real relationship between Jonathon and his formidable aunt Muriel. In the preceding series and stories, both Jonathon and his intimidating Aunt Muriel, and her apricot poodle, had by their own accounts here, given a very different, oftentimes off putting impression. But here we see and understand the truth of the matter. That they love each other and Aunt Muriel has always been Jonathon’s most loyal supporter, even when she hasn’t understood his actions.

Sterling presents an older, mischievous, highly intelligent woman, one determined to make sure that her beloved nephew is taken care of and safe. If you can’t tell, I’d be throughly thrilled with a novel about Muriel , Tilly (her devoted staff), and that poodle as the go invest things!

And add in Jonathon, who has a great, wounded backstory, but a loving history with Muriel and that building that they live in Manhattan, well, I’m totally invested in this family. It gets better when Jonathon meets and is “acquired” as part of the Nanny found family by Riley and Giles. Again, another superb pairing and part of the story. Beautiful work with in this narrative, and so great to see this family again.

Only the romance was a little less developed for me. I think this has to do with how the flashbacks were worked into the present day storyline. For me, the transitions weren’t particularly smooth between the decade they met and the time now when Leo is trying to figure out what happened and get Jonathon back.

It’s too jumbled and it takes away from the story as it’s happening now between them. The best part is all about Jonathon. Then separately about Leo. It’s not until later that any real new relationship can begin again. And reasonably, a decade and a lot of misdeeds have happened.

More development would have been nice for them both afterwards and a better cohesive format for the flashbacks to really make this relationship stronger than it comes across. Especially with the kink and their background.

I’m looking forward to reading the new books in the series and hopefully Aunt Muriel pops up again to save the day in some way. What an amazing character and turnaround! I adore her so much!

A definite recommendation.

Nannies of New York (6 book series) and must read.

Princes Take New York (connected and sequel series):

Jonathon, After All #1

Buy link

PREORDER NOW

Blurb

What do you say to the man who took your virginity, broke your heart, and ruined your life?

For ten years, Jonathon hid his pain, acting out in ridiculous ways in hopes that one day, his prince would rescue him. But when the day finally came, it was too little, too late after being pushed at and rejected by every eligible bachelor in Manhattan.

Leopold, the new Margrave of Hessen, was the gala’s guest of honor but he didn’t give a damn until he spotted the love of his life at the bar. After nearly a decade apart, Leo’s delight quickly turns into confusion when he’s doused by a cocktail and Jonathon flees the gala.

What happened, all those years ago in Austria? And what went wrong? Both men must confront the truth about their secret, month-long affair and break the spell that’s kept them apart. Is it too late for them to turn back the clock, or will Jonathon get his happily ever after, after all?

A spin-off of K. Sterling’s Nannies of New York series, Jonathan, After All is a contemporary fairytale romance about a young artist hiding a broken heart behind an influencer persona, and a valiant, misguided prince trying to save the world from climate change. There’s meddling family and staff, a metaphorical tower, a wicked aunt, and two lovers separated by an evil spell.

Publisher: Bawdy Books (August 20, 2024)
Publication date: August 20, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 303 pages

Review: Under The Gun (Accidentally Undercover Novel) by Cari Z

Rating:3.75🌈

Part of a LGBTQIA espionage/spy thriller romance series, Under the Gun by Cari Z delivers the exciting action packed scenes and storylines we’d expect from this genre.

The romantic suspense plot line arrives in the form of museum art archivist, Joey Cole. He’s taken a side job for a Russian oligarch to catalog his private art collection for insurance purposes. However, everything about this job has Joey on edge and regretting taking it. From being on an isolated island to the man himself, who is making Joey uncomfortable.

Cari Z has an excellent setup and creates an empathetic character in Joey. He’s in trouble and everyone knows it.

The explosive energy and element that makes its way into the situation is the character of Adam, long ago ex-boyfriend and current spy with a complicated history of association with Joey’s family.

The author ramps up the explosive action and the emotional reunion as the story builds to a suspenseful finale.

It’s very entertaining and the characters are both engaging if not exactly grounded in their various careers. The grandmother, however, was exactly what she was supposed to be. Steely determination, cold intelligence, perfect.

While I had a few questions about the story, my real issue was the matter in which Joey’s hard won reputation and career was discarded. Or what happened with his career was better explained at the end, especially as it was such a big deal to Joey and the author made it a large part of the narrative. But we never find out if things were fixed with his friend, Melanie, the Museum, and the loss of the expensive equipment. Or what he’s even doing a year later. This is feels unfinished and unsatisfactory. Especially as we are told what happened to Adam’s career. And the grandmother.

Under the Gun by Cari Z is an enjoyable romantic suspense story that suffers from a ending that’s not exactly satisfying. Read it for the fun characters and action scenes.

Accidentally Undercover-6 books of a LGBTQ+ romantic suspense series.

✓ Under the Gun by Cari Z (m/m)

◦ Under Her Roof by Allison Temple (f/f)

◦ Under His Sheets by R.L. Merrill (m/m)

◦ Under the Table by Layla Rayne (f/f)

◦ Under His Name by MA Grant (m/m)

◦ Under the Radar by Linden Bell (m/m)

Buy Link

Under the Gun

Blurb:

Life is plenty exciting for Joey Cole. Everything that isn’t his day job revolves around having fun, but “fun” becomes complicated when Joey’s latest side gig turns into a gunfight between the handsy billionaire he’s working for and the ex-boyfriend who broke his heart and who’s now…smuggling drugs?

Turns out that Adam, Joey’s ex, is a spy for His Majesty’s government, and that Joey has fallen into a sting operation meant to take his shady employer down. Joey and Adam are hounded by assassins as they escape to a safe house in England, home to the woman who introduced Joey to Adam in the first place—his grandmother.

Who, it turns out, is also a spy. Huh, no wonder she made him get so good at untying knots with his hands tied behind his back.

Joey and Adam rekindle the romance that burned between them, but Adam is still a spy—he’s not his own man, and he’ll certainly never belong to Joey. The safest thing would be to break it off before Adam breaks his heart again…but the way they’re being hunted, safe is out of the question, and love may mean the difference between life and death.

Under the Gun is part of the Accidentally Undercover shared romantic suspense series.

• Publication date: April 2, 2024

• Language: English

• Print length: 166 pages

Review: Haunted Hearts (The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club Book 1) by K Sterling

Rating: 4.5🌈

K Sterling’s series The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club is a wonderful strange world to tumble into. For starters, it exists. Bisbee, Arizona is a real place. That knowledge alone sent me running to google as much as I could about a place that is as descriptively beautiful, narratively haunting, and just outright fascinating as you might imagine. The photographs made me want to take the next plane out to see it for myself.

With that rich, historic haunted town as both a backdrop and foundation, Sterling populates it with some great characters, of equal degrees of emotional depth and haunted backstories. The Bisbee Batchelor s Club. Stories written about the single men of the queer friendly, hippy artsy former copper mining town.

And it starts with one of the most emotionally haunted man of them all,

Cace Talbot. Surrounded by his son and close friends, it’s still not enough to keep the pain away from losing his soul mate, the man who left him and the town to pursue his art. Cace is still struggling and Sterling make him easy to understand and relate to.

Especially when the man he’s been trying to forget returns to town. That’s Laurence “Lorrie” Nixon, who’s come back after 25 years away.

There’s a realistic look at the years these men have lost. It’s a true bittersweet element that runs through their reunion and reconnecting relationship. Discussions over what might have been, the children they should have had, the moments lost they will never get, it’s so sad in those moments when they are sharing memories , painful, and heartbreaking. It’s twenty-five years of love and loss and longing that they know could have been theirs but wasn’t. This aspect is there even as they decide to go forward because it’s ingrained into who they’ve become.

I love that Sterling is able to build this not only into the storyline but into their characters too. It makes the depth of their bond even more believable.

The murder mystery that runs along side the romance rebuilding is good but strangely just a secondary storyline. It never feels like a main theme. I liked how it plays out, but wanted a little bit more details and depth to the investigation until the reveal. It was all a bit pat for me.

But the relationship between Lorrie and Cace? That was emotional and heartfelt. And adding in all the found family members around them was perfect.

I’m onto the next. I’m absolutely sold on the town and these characters. And I’m a fan of the author, so I’m thrilled to gave a new series to binge.

I’m happily recommending Haunted Hearts (The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club Book 1) by K Sterling. Enjoy!

The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club:

✓ Haunted Hearts #1

◦ Moonlight & Madness #2

◦ Unhappy Medium #3

◦ Grave Expectations #4

◦ Riddles & Rivals #5

◦ Shadows & Reservations #6

◦ Heart & Soulless #7

◦ Specters & Sparks #8

Buy Link

Haunted Hearts (The Bisbee Bachelors’ Club Book 1)

Blurb:

There are worse things haunting Cace Talbot than the ghosts inhabiting his beloved hometown. Hidden in Arizona’s Mule Mountains, Bisbee was small in a cozy way and just casually haunted with specters from its wild and sometimes dark past. Then, Laurence “Lorrie” Nixon returns after breaking Cace’s heart twenty-five years earlier and the town becomes too small and the memories a lot scarier.

Lorrie’s waited long enough and is determined to win Cace back no matter how hard he has to grovel. He’s already got his work cut out for him when a pair of copycat killings with echoes from Bisbee’s past cast suspicion Lorrie’s way. Lorrie turns to Cace and their band of childhood friends for help solving the brutal murders.

Cace doesn’t want to see his first love accused of a gruesome crime he didn’t commit but that doesn’t mean he’s letting Lorrie Nixon back into his life. At least, that’s what Cace says. His body on the other hand… Can Cace help find a killer without getting caught up in the memories and the pull of Lorrie’s lips?

Review: The Christmas Extra (Laurel Holidays #5) by V.L. Locey

Rating: 5🌈

If you look forward to reading warmhearted Christmas stories, then V. L. Locey’s Laurel Holidays series is a fabulous place to start. Full of small town charm and great characters, each tale is full of the holiday spirit and special moments that this season brings to mind.

The Christmas Extra, the latest in the series, is a great example of why I love the series and this author’s work.

It starts with Stillman King. Rockmount, Pennsylvania’s small-town sheriff whose life has settled into a quiet, small town pace. Whether he’s helping round up pigs, deliver babies, or just keep the locals stay within the law, Stillman and his old cat, Ellery, are content with their lives.

Locey makes us feel like we know him, how the years have aged him, and how much the town’s people count on him as one of them. He’s real and grounded within Rockmount.

The second chance at love and lovers reunited has to be two of my favorite tropes and they are combined here as the Mayor has managed to make their small town a cable show location for a popular tv soap series. It’s the holidays and the town is decorated with the beautiful trappings of the holiday season drawing in the locals and the tourists alike. Perfect for the show. Which is also bringing in a ex boyfriend of Stillman’s.

Tony Gugliotti, popular tv actor, has come to Rockmount with the series crew to film his new movie. And maybe see his ex boyfriend from college, the man he loved and left behind.

Both men, now older, both living very different lives at different coasts. But even with all the years and anger, the scenes between them and the intimacy that Locey is able to bring about through her images makes the reader understand the chemistry and feelings that the men still share.

I was absolutely invested in this romance and relationship. Watching the men reconnect, through memories and experiences was heartwarming and wonderful. Especially as the author wove the town and its inhabitants into their growing relationship as well. We got a feel of community pulling together as well as the love rebuilding.

The ending was perfect. There was a dramatic , suspenseful moment and then a lovely epilogue that tied up the storyline. What made this perfect was an element I’ve found missing in other books recently , and that’s the author has paid attention to the important animal character . At the end, Ellery, the cat, was not forgotten but followed his beloved owners to their HEA, as it should be. So happy about this.

I was left with a happy ending, feeling totally satisfied, and a great book to rec for the holidays.

And don’t forget to check out the others in this series if you haven’t found them already.

The Laurel Holidays Series:

✓ The Christmas Oaks—Laurel Holidays #1

✓ The Christmas Pundit—Laurel Holidays #2

✓ The Christmas Tenor—Laurel Holidays #3

✓ The Christmas Rescue—Laurel Holidays #4

✓ The Christmas Extra—Laurel Holidays #5

◦ The Easter Redemption—A Laurel Holidays Spring Romance Novella

Buy Link:

The Christmas Extra (Laurel Holidays #5)4Kindle Edition$4.99

Blurb:

’Tis the season for a second chance at love.

Stillman King likes his life in the small rural farming community of Rockmount, Pennsylvania. It’s a different pace of life than Philly, but Philadelphia was where his heart was broken, and he was happy to leave. He might be lonely, but he’s settled and has even managed to win over his snooping neighbors. Overall, his days as a small-town sheriff are peaceful with only the occasional traffic accident, drunk and disorderly conduct, or a random meandering cow to deal with. That was until the day the mayor announced that Rockmount was going to be the filming location for a Christmas romance movie starring the popular soap opera star, Tony Gugliotti. The same Tony who’d left him right after college graduation and headed west to the bright lights of Los Angeles without even a goodbye.

Hearing his former lover’s name shatters all the merry bucolic vibes that usually fill Rockmount, at least for Stillman. He’d not seen or spoken to Tony for over twenty years and had no wish to ever again. But, suddenly, here Tony was, looking just as good as he did way back when with his killer smile and movie star jawline. Hollywood descended on Rockmount and Stillman did his best to balance keeping the peace while maintaining a polite distance from his ex. Pity it’s such a small town packed with incredibly meddlesome people. All it takes is one stake out, a night stuck in the courthouse’s basement, and one kiss wound in a lighted pine tree to reignite the passion both men thought they’d left far behind.

The Christmas Extra is a standalone small town, forced proximity, gay second chance Christmas romance with all the glitter of Hollywood, two mature men who never really got over each other, a village packed with holiday cheer as well as inquisitive neighbors, a well-meaning cast and crew, and a tinselly happy-ever-after.

The Game (Charleston Condors Book 2) by Beth Bolden

Rating: 5🌈

I absolutely loved this story! Micah Rose was a character whose complicated journey started with the Miami Piranhas team and series .

A damaged, angry man, Micah’s transformation was a side storyline that was so compelling that the reader just wanted to know why he was so hurt and broken that it almost cost him his career in Miami.

In The Game, Bolden gives her readers the answers. We finally understand the hardships and pain that drove Micah to make the decisions he made to arrive at the man he was in the Piranhas. As well as the new man he’s become that asked for a trade at the end of that series.

That’s our starting point. After the events at the end of The Star which saw a teammate caught betting on game play, a trade was made and it brought Micah Rose to the Charleston Condors.

It also brought him back into the life of the man he loved and left. Beckett West. The other half of himself. The other half of the famed Northwestern “Wall” when they played together in college. And the events that drove them apart.

Bolden’s exemplary narrative charts the awkward moments between the tentative first reunion between them through the all the detailed history and emotional scenes that will bring forgiveness and redemption to them both as well as love and HEA.

This is a story about forgiveness, families in whatever form that may take, love and redemption. Bolden dogs deep into both lives to find the reason for their own suffering and eventual forgiveness. It’s a remarkable story.

And if I had thoughts that Micah was to easy to forgive his mother’s actions perhaps that’s on me and not the character. Within the narrative, it was believable and grounded within the people and families.

The next book has a tough bar to fly over. I look forward to seeing what the author has to offer.

Meanwhile, I’m absolutely thrilled to recommend this series by Beth Bolden. Start at the beginning and work , book by book, through the series. Just outstanding writing, fabulous action sequences, football commentary, characters and relationships, etc. 15/10 recommend.

Charleston Condors:

✓ The Star #1

✓ The Game #2

◦ The Score #3 – Oct 31,2023

Bolden’s connected Football series (characters appear/are mentioned

in all the series) in order they are written:

✓ The Riptide

✓ Miami Piranhas

◦ Charleston Condors

Buy Link:

The Game (Charleston Condors Book 2)

Blurb:

Micah Rose is ready for a clean slate. He might’ve messed up his rookie year with the Miami Piranhas, but being traded to the Condors is the best way to put all that behind him.

The Condors are rebuilding, too. New owner. New coach. New players. New rules.

But one rule hasn’t changed: don’t marry your ex-best friend in Vegas.

Beckett West isn’t looking forward to seeing Micah again. Back in college, they shared not only a ride-or-die friendship, but a ton of sexual tension they never acted on.

That was before Micah pushed him away.

Still, Beck’s never forgotten their last drunken night together. Not only did they finally confess their feelings, they both promised if the day ever came when they played on the same team again, they wouldn’t waste the chance to be together.

But Beck didn’t expect that day to ever be this day.

He certainly didn’t expect to wake up in bed with Micah’s ring on his finger.

Or that he’d never want to take it off.

But it turns out the only man for him is the one man he could never forget. The one man he’s always wanted to make his.

Review: Most Wanted (Wrecked: Guardians, #3) by Kelly Fox

Rating: 4🌈

Most Wanted picks up from the events of the last book, Full Contact. There we met US Marshals Ronan as he quietly aided the Guardians on a mission to rescue sex trafficked kids and take down the federally protected pedophiles.

Now cut loose, Ronan is reunited with his past boyfriend, Guardian Thane Ashford in the aftermath of those events.

Fox’s characters are emotionally attached to each other even as they are separated by their feelings and past trauma. The story, which helps us see their relationship over the years from both sides, goes into Thane’s damaging relationship with his father, his insecurities about his body image which date back to his childhood, and why he was so against any idea of a commitment.

The characters are still working through their past differences and what that means to the current group dynamics. It makes for interesting interactions and sexy encounters.

I like that the entire team is involved here, new teammates are added, and Fox smoothly moves the story forward while also introducing the thread for the book to come. Which involves their boss, DeShawn, who’s emotionally weary and in need of retiring from the daily operations.

Fox writes characters that seem simple yet have layers. It may take a while to reveal but they do surface. Same with each couple’s relationship, there’s always that extra backstory that adds an element you might not expect but appreciate once you’ve got it.

I found Most Wanted highly enjoyable. I really like the strong women characters that continue to appear. The themes , especially of

sexually trafficked children and women are ones some will find disturbing so be aware of the nature of their investigations.

I’m recommending this and looking forward to the next.

That’s for Odd , Anders’ twin, and DB’s relationship.

Wrecked: Guardians

✓ Hard Target #1

✓ Full Contact #2

✓ Most Wanted #3

◦ Deep Impact #4

Buy Link:

Most Wanted: An M/M Friends-To-Lovers Romance (Wrecked: Guardians Book 3)

Description:

Letting Ronan go was the biggest mistake of my life. Giving me a second chance might be the biggest mistake of his.

I’d spent a year as Ronan’s friend-with-benefits, convincing myself that he could never feel the way I felt. I was floored when those three little words flew out of his mouth.

So, I ran. And have regretted that decision every day for the last five years.

Now fate has led him back to me and to the Guardians, the merry band of mercenaries who have become my family. Our last several missions have gone sideways, and Ronan is convinced that he needs to go back into the field to understand what our team is dealing with.

He’s putting himself in harm’s way and we can’t keep our hands off each other. God help me if anything happens to him.

I can’t think of anything more dangerous than giving my heart to a man who’s already destroyed it.

Then again, I might not have much say in the matter. My life’s been upended, and the only place that’s safe is with Thane and the Guardians.

It doesn’t take us long to figure out that our passion burns just as hot as it always did. Undeniable. Unstoppable.

I can’t keep my hands off him, but I can’t go back to being his friend with benefits. And I have no clue how to trust him.

Thing is…if we could learn to trust each other, I might actually have something to offer this team of morally flexible do-gooders.

Most Wanted is a mercenary MM romance set in Austin, Texas. It features a gentle (if slightly murderous), muscle-bound giant, a beautiful, wickedly flexible man, and more chemistry than a high school science lab.

This is the third book in the Wrecked: Guardians Series. Several characters from Wrecked, my series about a gym for combat vets, crossover into these books. While you can enjoy the slightly more nefarious Guardians without reading Wrecked, lots of people end up wanting all the juicy backstories.

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