The Prince’s Frog by Eden Winter is such a great take on the old fairytale of the princess who kisses a frog who then turns back into a Prince.
No princess here but a randy Prince being forced, against his very gay wishes, to marry the nasty princess next door.
Who better to advise him how to navigate these tricky matrimonial waters then the frog from the Royal Bog?
In a smutty, fun filled, bibbity bobbity, boozey, gay twist on this fairytale, Prince Bob, finds his frog, (actually his frog finds him) , saves a bunch of kingdoms, and gets a very, oh so satisfying HEA! All in 82 great pages!
There’s magic wands too!
Eden Winters must have had a splendid time laughing as she wrote this. It’s so much fun to read. I could easily visualize the antics as they occur on the page.
Need a quick read and some terrific giggles? Pick up The Prince’s Frog by Eden Winter for a new twist on a old standard!
His Royal Highness Prince Rocky Jude Maxwell Bill Robert Chuck—let’s just call him Bob, shall we?—has a problem. Namely, royal parents set on marrying him off to a princess from the neighboring kingdom. Only, Bob doesn’t want to get married, would rather ogle Sir Blacksmith than fair maidens, and has a sneaking suspicion that his intended bride is not what she seems. So, where is a desperate prince with commitment issues supposed to turn?
Speaking of “not what they seem,” Sir Ribbit has been cooling his heels, literally, in the local bog with his disgraced fairy godmother and thousands of other frogs, waiting for the opportunity to break a three-year-old curse and return to his human form of Prince Evan Chuck Leo—Oh, heck, let’s call him Dave—hopefully, before maxing out a frog’s limited lifetime.
When a royal snit lands Bob in the muck of Dave’s front yard, plans are made to help each other. Inept plans, but still. Oh, and someone has to kiss a frog because everyone knows you have to kiss a few frogs before you land a handsome prince.
This story delightfully features talking frogs, inebriated fairies, awkward heroes, two princes in love, a deceptively innocent cover, and a solid HEA.
Flare is a very intense contemporary romance set in Auckland’s high fashion world. The first of a new series that will incorporate , at least from looking at the description of Strut, the second novel, high fashion, models, a certain circle of friends that starts with this fashion line, and, unfortunately, a element of assault.
That’s certainly a center theme here and if it’s a trigger for some readers, please take note.
Here it occurs in the Prologue to the main character, Rhys Hellier, when he was 16, sneaking out to a gay club with a friend.
The ramifications from that night’s assault are a haunting, realistic thread of one man’s continuing to deal with living with the aftermath of rape. Rhys has PTSD, and has only told a few trusted people about his trauma.
It, naturally, has effected his relationships, and his need for constant control. I think Hogan does an excellent job with the character of Rhys. He’s believable in his vulnerability as he is in his fierceness to protect what he’s built.
It takes the addition of Beckett Northcott, Professor of English literature and uncle to troubled teenager Jack. When Beck arrives to heat up things, so will the need to start the conversations going between them when they begin their relationship as to the full extent of the damage the assault has done to Rhys emotionally and mentally.
Without turning the book into something clinical, Hogan works a great therapist, open communication, necessary breakdowns, and , more into this engaging and wonderful relationship. It makes them easy to root for and love as a couple.
And it’s not just them alone. There’s an entire group of found family around them. For Beck, it’s his nephew, Jack, for whom he’s becoming a father figure. And his sister, Serena, in prison. And fellow professor, Rafe. For Rhys? It’s his mother, the irrepressible Kip ( his assistant), BFF photographer Hunter, Alec ( newly discovered model), Leon (shop owner), Greg, and Drew, a trans teenager for which Flare represents a safe haven from home , an abusive situation.
This is a wonderful story full of amazing characters. Most of which inhabit the world of fashion. Which is Flare, Rhys’s fashion line and store.
There’s another plot thread concerning the store, which is emotionally fraught with threats and action. It’s a great balance for the other elements here.
I would have wished for more of a foundation or history behind all the villainy. But it was still resolved in a manner as to satisfy the characters and readers.
The next installment will center on Alec , the model discovered here, and Hunter, the photographer best friend of Rhys. That’s Strut. Out later this year.
From the description, it too has an element of assault. I’ll be waiting for the release date to check it out.
In the meantime, I’m highly recommending Flare. It’s a terrific contemporary romance. Wonderful characters. But please take note of the triggers.
FLARE My own fashion label. The shiny new sign above the door means everything. My dream. My life. Worth every gruelling hour I’ve spent making it happen. Nothing can stop me now. Not the fear. Not the nightmares. Not my sad excuse for a love life. And certainly not Beckett Northcott, the sexy English professor who wouldn’t know a fitted shirt if it slapped him in the face and who has flannel down to an art form.
I don’t date for a very good reason, and yet Beck makes me want to break every damn one of my rules. But with my debut at Fashion Week looming, my business in trouble, and Beckett Northcott peeling open my terrified heart to a future I’ve never imagined, the threads of my carefully woven life are unravelling at the seams.
I could walk away. Or I could take a chance that Beck and I might just have what it takes to fashion a new life, together. A fresh design from a new cloth.
This book contains references to past sexual assault.
Mia Monroe is a fairly new author for me, having discovered her in a charity anthology. The cover and title humor of Never Trust A Guy With Fangs had me grabbing this book to see what the author was plotting for her series, Covens of Eatons Falls.
This is a paranormal romance between a vampire and a witch, with the start of a overall series thread about a larger multi-species storyline. There’s suspense, action, murder, and more romances to come.
Stretching over 5 books total I believe. See list and note at bottom.
The characters are nice at the beginning and luckily get stronger as the story goes on. There’s a two person pov, but we start out with the blank slate of one. To my mind it have been more interesting to have gotten the perspective of the one being ,at least ,who had a semblance of a foundation, so the readers had a grounding.
No, we and Leo’s “uh , where are we? Oh, the bed of my enemy…” narrative just doesn’t seem to pull us really into the story. The dialogue runs along the edge of head smackingly idiotic and pearl clutching.
It keeps on in the same way. Hi you going to kill me. No. You going to kill me. No. You smell good. I think I love you. Me too. But we’re Romeo and Julian of the paranormal world. Np. Love is it!
This story and author has some terrific ideas and promise to it. There’s a lot here that , once you get to it , is interesting enough that you want to see how it plays out.
But there’s also enough plot holes (Leo: I can hide what’s happened, oh wait my eyes changed color! Never mind , the bad guys will never notice),silly florid language, and just plain nonsensical elements like the example above. It just interrupts whatever connection you might have had with the characters and storylines. And makes it that much harder to get it back.
The second book features another couple, another witch and vampire bonding that I think has far more chemistry then this pair. It seems to be one with a slight D/s aspect although how’s that going to play out when the witch is a scattered thinking healer (D) and the (s) is a huge vampire guard. Huh.
I love a great paranormal story and series. While this has potential, there’s so much that will put a lot of readers off . So this really isn’t it for me.
But if you adore instant love romances, almost campy dialogue, mustache swirling villains along the line of “you can’t keep him from us”, combined with some interesting elements, then I have a book for you.
Covens of Eaton Falls:
🔹Never Trust a Guy With Fangs #1
🔹The Witch’s Power Play #2 -May 6,2022
🔹Vampire’s Make Bad Roommates #3 -July 14,2022
🔹Cosmic Spells and Vampire Lairs #4 – January 11, 2023
🔹A Traitor Shows His Hand #5 – March 9, 2023
Note: shouldn’t the author have said A Traitor Shows THEIR Hand? So ok now we know the traitor is a guy?🤦🏼♀️
Waking up in my enemy’s bed is just the start of my problems.
The first rule of being a witch: don’t trust the vampires. My entire life has been filled with stories of our warring covens. We tenuously coexist in the New England city of Eaton Falls, where the locals think we’re merely the stuff of fairy tales and horror movies.
We live life as the mortals do, keeping our magic behind the scenes. Everything is fine until the day I wake up inside notorious Eaton Manor, in the bed of none other than the sexy and terrifying head vampire, Augustus Rainier, with no memory of how I got there.
His presence makes my skin tingle and my heart beat just a little faster. I know the inherent danger of associating with violent, often unpredictable vampires. I’ve got bigger problems, though, when I discover my coven is in hiding, leaving me on my own.
When danger shows up at Eaton Manor, it becomes clear it’s not only the witches in trouble. Both covens need to decide: do we fight separate battles against the same enemy or break every rule in our history and join forces to defeat a common foe? The other major question—will possessive and domineering Augustus let me go when this is over?
Never Trust A Guy With Fangs is an MM paranormal romance. It is book one in the Covens of Eaton Falls series featuring a rebellious twink of a witch with eternal optimism, an edgy vampire with a strong mistrust of witches, two stubborn and quirky covens, a threat from an unknown enemy, and a dangerous desire that could tear apart tradition, all in a beautiful New England backdrop. It is not a standalone.
I’ve been eagerly anticipating this story as this author’s previous series have been enormous hits with me. But almost immediately I was struggling to finish this book which was written in a different format from the author’s books.
In a nutshell, it’s wordy, dry, very dense, narratively overwhelming with too many characters. And, while imaginative, it’s format of a huge amount of POVs makes it almost impossible to connect with or even follow all the many plot lines.
Turner is clearly striving for that epic cast of hundreds type of fantasy steampunk adventure. Where masses of characters come streaming over the horizon, raiding trains, pour out over airships, massive explosive battles., capturing castles. Thousands die by magical blasts , bodies flying through the air. Add in poison, in every form, and revenants. Aka The walking dead.
This book has wonderful ideas about world building. Massive amounts of information about the kingdoms, countries, and even the planet Maricol. All as told to.
The rating is for all the imaginative details and world building.
What I’m missing is what I love about her other novels. That’s her characters , the depth of personality, their relationship and growing dynamics with other characters. Main characters. People who counted. I miss caring about anyone. I miss the great dialogue. .
Here , the Gods who pulls all the narrative strings, so to speak, have no emotions, their eternal lifespan having removed that pesky thing.
So people start dying immediately. Children, adults. I’d say don’t get attached but the reader doesn’t spend enough time with anyone to generate enough emotion to become invested in the lives here.
There’s a staggering amount of POVs, over 14 I believe. That’s not counting all the tons of characters that get mentioned or have dialogue. The size of the cast here is mind boggling. And you get them all immediately, well, a lot of them.
With an ever increasingly dense and expanding universe that the author adds layer upon layer of complicated mythology and political world building as the story moves forward, it’s a wonder that any reader can maintain a idea of what’s happening within the storylines let alone have any meaningful connection to it.
You basically need a Epic Steampunk Fantasy version of a murder board to keep track of everything and everyone’s relationships. That includes the “Star Gods” , who have their own warped dynamics going on. Then all the various kingdoms, their politics, all the wars, the history such as it is. The planet’s history, which is minimal, and needs more detail.
The story swings from POV to POV, changing drama to a different perspective and potential disaster , that you’ve barely settled on one then you’ve sailed onto the next.
If you’re looking for romance, there’s little of that here. At least for now. But you can have fantastic characters with remarkable personalities, and deep emotional connections without a romantic factor. None of that is really present here. It’s more about all the things, the themes, plotting, world building, details. Something had to give.
And at the end. There’s a cliffhanger.
I honestly didn’t care . But for those that have a issue with cliffhangers, be warned.
I’m trying to weigh if the great universe makes it worth proceeding for me. I don’t think so because for me it’s about the characters and relationships, as well as giving them a great foundation.
You need a heart to power the story, not just a reality fabulous structure.
And I think Hailey Turner has lost the heart here no matter what that opening sentence says.
THE WARDEN. Soren is a nameless, stateless man, tasked with keeping watch over Maricol’s borders. He isn’t meant for politics, only dealing with the dead. His past was buried in the poison fields, but after a fateful encounter with a prince, Soren comes to realize he can’t keep what magic burns inside him hidden forever.
THE PRINCE. Vanya Sa’Liandel was the spare who survived the Houses’ murderous games to become the Imperial crown prince of Solaria. He has a duty to his country, but he’ll owe his life to the wardens. Payment of any kind is costly, especially when he’s at risk of losing his heart to the man who saved his life.
THE COG. Caris Dhemlan hears the siren song of clarion crystals better than anyone in Ashion. That skill for inventing has enriched her bloodline, but it’s who she can become that will ultimately entangle her with the Clockwork Brigade.
THE PRINCESS. Eimarille Rourke should have been raised to be queen of one country; instead, she is prisoner of another. Guided by a star god, Eimarille bides her time in a gilded cage, spinning a political web to gain a throne and start a war the world isn’t ready for.
From the author who brought you the Soulbound series comes a queer steampunk-inspired epic fantasy.
With any Kim Fielding tale there’s sure to be a hint at least of darkness, a layering of sadness or brokenness threading throughout the narrative.
But in Fire Stones it’s sheer horror, terrifying pain, and unescapable terror that lies waiting for the reader and main character.
Little match girl or fellow indeed.
In just 35 pages, in the typical Fielding way, the author brings us believably, heartbreakingly, into Brand’s cold, barely surviving life as an indentured servant to an mediocre magician.
In one terrifying night everything changes for him. In the worst possible way.
If you’re not a fan of horror fiction, this isn’t the story for you. It gets ever more quietly frightening for Brand, gut wrenchingly terror-stricken by the circumstances of his situation.
It’s definitely not for the faint-hearted. The ending, is at best, happily bittersweet . Completely Fielding.
There’s a slender romance, that we don’t have much of a framework for. Had that been a little more firmly established, this would have been a 5 star story.
As it is, Fielding’s given us pure chill-worthy Fielding. And that’s plenty great.
Born with a deformed foot and abandoned as a young child, Brand spent his youth in indentured servitude to a mediocre wizard. Now Brand is grown, but with no other prospects to support himself, he remains in his master’s employ, doing small chores and selling firestones on the bleak streets of Greynox. Until one bitterly cold day.
In this dark take on a classic fairy tale, Brand encounters the most sinister of magics. With his firestones gone, can he find his way to the light?
What a amazing story. Set in the western Australian outback mining town , Pannalego, Davo by N.R. Walker delivers a romance to delight the heart as well as a story that embraces the harsh environment to show the reader why the people who live there come to love it so.
Through the arrival of red-haired, Fergus Galloway, there to for a 4-week stay to conduct research for his company, we experience the extreme body shocking heat, the red dust that immediately covers every surface, and the living conditions that will make Sydney so very far away as to be on another planet.
Fergus is such a lovely open character. Through his eyes we meet an incredible assortment of individuals who make Pannalego their home and a working community of 20 year-around citizens in one of the world’s harshest territories. All employees of the mine.
We come to cherish each one, feathered Hooker included. But none as much as we love Davo, the skirt wearing, charming manager and mining engineer who immediately captures both Fergus’ and the readers hearts.
It’s Davo who shows Fergus just how welcoming that small community is and how quickly is can feel like home.
You’re a companion as they walk to see the remarkable landscapes, the sunsets, and more that makes that country so unimaginably gorgeous.
Before long it’s magic and Davo have won Fergus over, in a short amount of time. And that feels absolutely perfect and believable.
I love Davo. Even the drama was a realistic slice of life that communities like these live with and under. It’s part of the lifestyle.
I have to admit as I was reading it , the environmental damage of such a constant extraction, of such a enormous cavity being dug over and over, then discarded, left me a little ill. Surely the cost of this , like all the rest is coming.
But this is a romance. Not one about climate change. So I’m going to leave it at that. NR Walker’s descriptions were very real and thought provoking.
I’m highly recommending Davo for any number of reasons. The excellent characters, the beauty of the landscape of the outback, the heartwarming charm of this small community, and the outstanding ending. Plus that romance.
When Fergus Galloway takes on a research trip to a tiny mining town in the far Western Australian outback, he’s as far from Sydney as he can get.
Which is entirely the point.
He arrives in Pannalego totally unprepared for the baking heat, unprepared for the people who call it home, unprepared for the craziness and the laughs. And absolutely unprepared for the man he meets there who steals his heart.
Davo is a mining man, as rugged as he is gorgeous. Loves his found family, loves where he lives, and loves his life. He also loves the feel of soft fabric on his skin.
What was supposed to be a short field trip changes Fergus’s life. Going to a place many call uninhabitable might turn out to be the only place he wants to live.
Cowboy Haven by B. A. Tortuga is another one of this author’s kids n’ cowboys stories that she has been writing lately, some with author Jodi Payne. And Cowboy Haven is one of my favorites of the trope she’s calling cozy cowboys.
It’s located in New Mexico, on a ranch. One of the main characters is a former rodeo champion, with an enormous family of mixed heritage. All of whom live in and around him. So we gets lots of local foods, easy family interactions that feel free and believable, and ranch life, up early, coffee on… ranch hands in for food between duties. Tortuga has this down perfectly.
The other? A Texan, damaged past history, painful divorce, and now single father with 2 month old triplets.
How he got to his present situation is also made to feel extremely realistic and desperate. Heath Barron has our attention and empathy from the get go, as they say. Plus the babies, each as individual as Tortuga could make 2 month olds, are adorable.
Kolt Cordova, former rodeo champ and rancher, with his extended family, is believable as both rancher and rodeo cowboy who, with all the wear and tear , knew when it was time to quit. He was ready for something steady and a home. He’s a very well defined person and when he’s rescued Heath and the babies, the fall into a relationship and love actually feels like the next step.
Ever know someone who decides they are ready to settle down? Then next thing you know you hear their engaged , then married? Happily so?
It happens that way sometimes.
Here Tortuga makes that into a excellent romance. With a drama inserted for that extra oomph.
Heath is a terrific character that you just enjoy reading about as is his love for his children. They, all three, are an absolute delight. The romance, including all the Cordova family and one terrifying mule, make this story.
I would love for a sequel sometime down the road!
If you love cowboys and children, absolutely lovely romances, then Cowboy Haven by B. A. Tortuga is one for you.
Note: There are some typos that should have been caught by the editor. But not as many as I’m seeing in lots of books these days.
Synopsis:
When Heath Barron leaves Texas for Northern New Mexico, he thinks he’s getting a luxury house rental for a steal, getting away from his ex, and finding a home for his newborn triplets. What he finds is a broken down trailer, a freezing winter, and the feeling that he’s at rock bottom in his life. Again.
Former rodeo champ Kolt Cordova has a good life. He has a ton of family, good land for cattle, and if his joints hurt when it’s cold, then so be it. But when he finds Heath living in an abandoned place on the place next to his, he knows his life is about to change. He just has no idea how much.
Heath feels like Kolt is offering him everything he’s ever wanted when he invites Kolt to come and stay, and Heath gives Kolt a sense of belonging, but as they get to know each, and maybe love, each other, danger from Heath’s past rears its head to try to harm them all. Can they find a way to face their fears, and this threat, together?
This book is a gay cowboy romance and has an ex-rodeo cowboy, baby triplets. a nosy family, and a loving freelance writer with a past.
I have loved this series to date. Ariana Nash has come up with some truly imaginative magical elements for her characters and aspects with which to frame out this series.
Some, especially in that last story have been breathtaking in the scope and manner in which the drama unfolded, with respect to Montgomery and the events within Wordsworth. Over to top outstanding.
But in and around the narrative pyrotechnics and Dom’s growing relationship with Alexander Kempthorne, there was a few things starting to pick at me.
Not quite in the TSTL (to stupid to live) or TSTC (to stupid to communicate) categories , but in the TSTSTBGIFOY grouping. That’s the To Stupid To See The Bad Guy In Front Of You category!
It makes a giant appearance here in Truth or Dare (Shadows of London #4) by Ariana Nash. That and other elements just make this book a narrative stumbling block in what was a nicely crafted series.
I honestly lose my patience here. Both with the author and characters over this. Especially when it’s a repeated offense. And not just with one character. It’s with one major character who , over and over, betrays EVERYONE! And then another person arrives. Does some very shady things. But let’s have our men trust them again. And again. And yea, again. You get my point. There’s no end to it. A toddler would say no to these people.
The author would have the reader and our beloved characters go with the flow , emotionally , with everything at stake ,with these iffy people.
Hmmm. It’s so counterintuitive. Alexander Kempthorne is a brilliant man, mistrustful of most. Where is that person here? Dom’s ex military and the son of the King of Thieves. Intuition alone would have had this playing out totally different except that , their actions seemed needed to fit in with a plot counter to the constructed personalities we come to know so far in the previous books.
Only at the very end did a semblance of the canny Alexander reappear.
This story had some nice elements but they were overshadowed by far too many exasperating or plain odd aspects to this story.
There’s one last story. I certainly need to know how it all ends. I mean, certainly no one will trust that character again. I mean really. That’s not even a possibility, right?
Guess we will find out later this year.
Shadows of London Series reading order:
🔹Twisted Pretty Things #1 🔹Tide of Tricks #2 🔹Trial by Fire #3 🔹Truth or Dare #4 🔹Without a Trace #5- finale/later 2022
America. The land of the free. Unless you’re a latent.
Kage is missing. Alexander Kempthorne would prefer he stay that way. Life at the new-look Kempthorne & Co agency is difficult enough without adding a missing American to the mix. But John “Dom” Domenici won’t abandon someone who was once their friend, even if Kage is “technically” an enemy.
But as the team investigate Kage’s disappearance, a traumatic, hidden past comes to light. And a missing person case soon turns into a fight for survival for Dom and Kempthorne, in a land not-so-free.
***
Breathless action, suspenseful mystery, and steamy romance combine in the fast-paced gay adventure series from the author acclaimed for their enemies-to-lovers, epic twists, and morally conflicted characters.
Please note the Shadows of London series is predominantly set in London with British characters. Although the series has been edited in US English for the US market, to include US spelling and grammar, many English slang words and spelling remain as part of the character of the work.
Once again S.E. Harmon’s spectacular series has managed to ride that edge of horror, scaring the ever loving crap out of me, while providing me (and her magnificent characters) with so many witty, hilarious conversations and sayings that sellers out there in Etsy should be pounding at the author’s proverbial door asking for the right to put them up on crafting projects.
Rain Christiansen and fellow detective, Daniel McKenna, are finally getting married. They’ve set the date. Now if they can wade through all the wedding planning mountains of decisions people made for them, and wedding agenda items that have gotten so out of their control. Then they just might make it to wedded bliss.
I love this series and the characters. The author gives us an established couple that’s recovering from the traumatic events of Spooky Business, rebuilding their house, and trying to move forward with their future, in all its quirky, exasperating, and often murderous aspects.
Even in the most mundane periods of Rain’s and Danny’s life, ghosts are bound to make an appearance. As they do when Rain and his future MIL are touring a possible wedding venue.
This ghost and her request will lend The Spooky Life a fascinating, multilayered paranormal investigation that will eventually have major horror overtones. Just a fantastic element. Gives me the chills still thinking about it.
As to the rest? It’s witty, sarcastic, full of the found family that has been gathered through the paranormal crime unit , Rain’s hippie parents, his sister, Danny’s family, their aging GSD, and all the rest. Each adding memorable scenes, warmth, and often gentle hilarity to the mixture.
I would love to see another story, with their kids they are planning for. But if this is the last one, I’m content.
The author is leaving them at a wonderful place .
The Spooky Life (The Spectral Files #4) by S.E. Harmon is a outstanding story in a great series. It’s got fabulous characters and complicated plots. Read them in the order they are written for character and relationship development.
Rain Christiansen isn’t sure he’ll ever fully understand the supernatural. But he’s finally finding his groove as a reluctant medium and cold-case detective. That’s not to say everything is going smoothly—there’s a wedding in the works, after all. He’s finally taking that enormous step with fellow detective, Daniel McKenna, and he couldn’t be happier…about the marriage. Not so much the wedding. The hoopla is enough to make him wish for a quick flight to Vegas and an Elvis officiant.
At least work is keeping Rain and the PTU plenty busy. Their latest case involves Hannah Caldwell, a silent ghost who can’t—or won’t—speak. She still manages to request that they find her dear friend, Cherry Parker, so that she can say goodbye. Piece of cake. Finding people is pretty high on the list of things that Rain does best.
But when it comes to ghosts, nothing is ever quite what it seems. Before long, his simple missing person’s case takes a dark and twisted turn. And Rain realizes he’s been so busy trying to protect Danny that he forgot to protect himself.
If he doesn’t turn things around—and quickly—his spooky life might be cut short for good.
It’s that halfway time , Sawyer and Royce have committed to each other through proposals, but they haven’t set a date, or done much else to further getting married.
First up is Jayce (Royce’s brother) and Hols, Royce’s close friend and police coworker. Sawyer’s too. They are getting married soon if they can manage to keep a wedding planner.
In the meantime, there’s a masked armed robbery team that’s giving the SPD trouble, a murder victim with a arrow through the heart, and old troubles for Sawyer.
Good times.
The twisty turns of the murder case is marvelous. It may have given Royce and company headaches, but I enjoyed that aspect of this story completely! There’s so many unexpected elements and new twists in the investigation that do get neatly resolved that you’re positively gleeful along with the detectives when they solve it.
Past history continues to cause issues for Royce and Sawyer just as both men work together to make their own way to a marriage and future family . It’s Royce’s stress over his troubled family members and their effects upon those he loves. With Sawyer, it’s the Sheriff who’s homophobic actions and outright hatred caused him to leave his old job for his mental health.
This aspect of their relationship that works with both of these storylines is one I thoroughly believe in and applaud. They work through what they see as potential problem areas, in their relationship/or job or both, by thoughtful communication, picking apart arguments calmly, and respectfully. It’s a joy to read about adults having a working, loving, relationship that grows deeper with each story. With great sex too.
There are threads of heartbreak and ones of realistic “it is what it is “ endings, especially when working on cold cases. Not everyone gets a happy ending.
But we get enough glimpses of past people , getting along, doing ok, that it’s believable, and satisfying. It feels real.
I love all the characters within this universe. Savannah is the perfect place for all these perfectly imperfect people. I can’t wait for the next installment.
This was so incredible. How horrifyingly wonderful can their wedding be?
I’m highly recommending this and all the connecting series. What a gift.
Spring is in full bloom, love is in the air, and Cupid has taken deadly aim in Savannah.
Newly engaged, Royce Locke and Sawyer Key are ready to set the date and charge full-steam ahead into their happily ever after, but homicides and unresolved conflicts keep getting in their way. Neither detective has met a case they couldn’t solve, but their latest investigations will push their limits and challenge their faith when the line between friend and foe becomes blurred. And if that weren’t enough, a random encounter with a stranger will trigger a series of events that could either make or break the couple.
Love—often a thriller, sometimes a killer, but always worth the battle.
Marriage is Murder is book two in the Matrimony and Mayhem trilogy, the second story arc for Royce Locke and Sawyer Key. ** New readers should start with the Zero Hour trilogy before reading Matrimony and Mayhem. ** Marriage is Murder is a continuation of Royce and Sawyer’s happily ever after as they move into the next phase of their lives—professionally and personally. Though some storylines span the trilogy, this book does not end in a cliffhanger. Heat, humor, heart, and homicide abound. You have been warned.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 