Review:  Moonbright by Leah Ryan

Rating: 3.75⭐️

Moonbright by Leah Ryan is a paranormal werewolf romance, the first book that I’ve read by this author. And there’s so much that I absolutely love about it. And a couple I don’t. 

The main character is one, a small woman, a healer of mysterious origin who has been alone in the dark woods since childhood. She’s hand built herself a small homestead over the years, chickens and herbs, carefully tended. And she’s mended the wolves that have come needing medical care, and her specially crafted medicines that she’s  created over her years tending them. 

Ryan hints at a dark history behind a child , 12 years old that had to live alone in the woods, learning to build herself a makeshift home, forging for herself and learning enough to survive to craft and maintain her livelihood. 

But we never find out what happened to Mel the Healer , now 22, in her past life to bring her to the existence she living now.

The book is full of these unexplained mysteries, around characters and the world history. It’s just there, part of the story. If this sort of thing is something that you as a reader find irritating, then really this book, and probably the writer, are not for you. 

What I love about this book? That it honestly made me laugh out loud in many instances. The dialogue is dry, sarcastic, and funny. Guffaw funny at times. Scenes too, including ones with Mel’s pet chicken Nugget. And the relationship between Mel and her best friend, a rough woman hunter, Kestria, who stops by with venison and other items to help Mel keep going. Their friendship feels real and established, believable in their past history and conversations. 

Events shake up Mel’s current situation as the local healer, and care givers to the wolves in the woods. Who aren’t exactly wolves but werewolves.

Ryan brings in a long ongoing war between humans and werewolves, with the humans being unaware that the wolves are actually supernatural beings with families.

And a romantic relationship between a young Mel and the older Alpha Keer, which I don’t feel is as strong an element here or as believable in a romantic sense.  The role that Mel eventually transitions into for the pack works at the beginning and then seems to be lost towards the end. 

That’s much of what I have issues with the story here. It starts off extremely strong, terrific characters and interesting plot choices, albeit with missing parts to major characters back history that’s never filled in. 

But towards the ending, the narrative speeds up, crashing towards a dramatic buildup that’s never quite right. There’s one scene where, a climactic moment occurs. There’s talking, and the villain gets driven (stalks) off. 

Oddly unsatisfying because nothing is really settled for good. It’s a temporary fix. 

And that real ending? Think the end of The Sopranos. That sort of mid-sentence abruptness. Because this literally ends mid-sentence. 

Yes. It absolutely feels incomplete.  And I didn’t like the way that show ended either. 

Moonbright by Leah Ryan starts off strong, has some great characters, especially in Mel the healer and her best friend, Kestria. Even Nugget the chicken. 

But the romance didn’t exactly work and that the story felt rushed, while an unfinished ending will never be ok with me. Finish the sentence! And the ending is.

Interesting.

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.comMoonbright: A Standalone Werewolf Romance eBook : Ryan, Leah: Kindle Store

Blurb 

I have a cottage, a garden, a pink chicken named Nugget, and a strict personal

policy against asking questions.

That last one is why it took me years to notice that the wolves I’ve been

stitching back together are not, technically, wolves.

In my defense, nobody told me.

In their defense, they were trying very hard not to.

Now my cottage is rubble, my best friend has a tail, and thirty werewolves are

standing in my herb beds having a collective crisis about how much I know.

Their Alpha is taking it worst. One eye. All scars. No interest whatsoever in

humans, in healers, or in a woman who talks this much.

He also won’t stop watching my hands while I work.

Neither of us plans to mention it.

Then someone starts turning moonbright into poison. The flower I grow. The one

I’ve been using to keep every single one of them alive.

And it turns out there’s exactly one person left who knows how to turn it back.

It’s me. It’s the one with the chicken.

🌙 Standalone fantasy werewolf romance with a full HEA

🌙 Laugh-out-loud funny — banter-heavy, dual POV

🌙 Grumpy/sunshine · touch-starved alpha · forced proximity

🌙 Found family · fated mates · healer heroine

🌙 Slow burn, explicit, takes its time getting there

🌙 One (1) pink chicken. One (1) homicidal rooster named Keer Jr.

May 9, 2026

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Review: Philippa Flynn’s Year of Panic and Piracy by Jacqueline Firkins

  

Rating : 4.75⭐️

I’ve had a great run of recommendations lately that have resulted in not only some fantastic stories but also discovering writers I’ve never read before. 

   

Philippa Flynn’s Year of Panic and Piracy by Jacqueline Firkins is one of these, a beautifully written, heartfelt contemporary story about a woman’s journey to reconfigure her life after a typical bike ride into work nearly turns tragic. It shocks her into rethinking her current career and life. 

And she makes a sea change. One that comes with disapproving parents, realistic struggles, and emotional difficulties. Financial issues too. 

Philippa Flynn is so relatable. Intelligent, the one sibling who is the outlier in her uber successful family in her career choices as a history professor and her single life. And an unexpected event is about to happen to shake her life up in ways no one would have imagined.

Except perhaps for her grandmother, who left her a storied house, its contents, and a pirate ship by the sea. 

As well as a surprise inside the house in the form of a tenant. 

Firkins’ characters are so realistic and richly emotional. Their histories and their struggles with their families and their current situation. Just their initial impressions, and awkward conversations, funny and so beautifully crafted in its raw language and realness. 

And as Philippa and Dylan navigate through their slow journey to a romantic relationship and partnership, fighting family and fears, the reader has become entrenched in their lives, rooted into their journey and emotionally invested in the outcome.

I loved the story. And could have stayed with them for longer. 

And I’ll definitely be seeking out more of this author’s work. 

Highly recommended.

Cover design and illustration by Philip Pascuzzo 

Cover image: MarinaDreams / Getty

Other Books by this author:

Hearts, Strings, and Other Breakable Things 

How Not to Fall in Love 

Marlowe Banks, Redesigned 

The Predictable Heartbreaks of Imogen Finch 

The Goode Girls of Maple Lane

Buy link:

https://www.amazon.com/Jacqueline-Firkins/e/B07SSJGYWW/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

Blurb 

An introverted history professor and a former romance cover model collaborate on a life-changing endeavor in a witty and swoonworthy novel about new beginnings in unexpected waters.

When a sinkhole nearly swallows her whole, burned-out history professor Philippa Flynn takes it as a wake-up call. Leaving her carefully planned but unfulfilling life behind, she moves into an old seaside house she inherited from her grandmother, a bestselling author of swashbuckling romances. 

Philippa expects the clutter, disrepair, proximity to the family she deliberately moved away from, and reclusive writer she’ll be sharing the house with. She doesn’t expect that writer to also be the cover model who personified Iris Flynn’s bare-chested, cavalier-booted pirate king.

While navigating their awkward cohabitation and searching for creative inspiration, the pair discovers the outlines for six more novels they could work on together. But Philippa’s used to facts, Dylan has writer’s block, and neither can craft a love scene while real sparks are flying.

To write the story on the page, Philippa will have to embrace the one she’s living, even if it means swapping tenure for treasure maps and plans for pirate kings.

Review:  Wolf Blood (At First Bite #2) by Lola Glass 

Rating: 4⭐️

Wolf Blood, the second book in this series, is one I feel is the better story here. 

It’s still an interesting take on the vampire species although I’m not entirely sold on the idea that vampires are a weaker species than werewolves which they are here. 

Walk about in daylight? Check. Drink blood from bags, but not often? Check. Move swiftly and gracefully? Check. But strength? That’s not really certain what it is. So they’re very pretty, model like species who drink blood and are reviled by everyone else for their actions in the previous war. 

Here it’s Harper, Bloom’s best friend, who’s bitten and turned against her will (from the first book). She also in her violent feeding frenzy, attacks a coworker that launched a main plot of that story. 

Wolf Blood deals with the ramifications of her becoming a made vampire, and her new quasi relationship with Rhône, the beta of the wolf pack that Bloom is now a member of. 

The issues raised of her even wanting to be a vampire, if she can remain stable, and the struggle for herself to separate herself from Bloom’s future and find a new life for herself.  All good elements. 

And the relationship dynamics that she has with Rhône are far stronger and more complex than the one that Bloom had with the Alpha. 

That said, this is another tiny woman/ huge man storyline that I could have done without. I do like that she created a new persona for her new role and lifestyle. 

The issues she had with her mother and vampire Council were resolved with a sentence. After a lifetime of abuse, that was not enough explanation for this situation. 

I liked the couple and characters much better than the first two. But I really never bought into the species interpretation of the author’s here. It just didn’t work for me and that maybe because it needed more explanation.

It was an entertaining read and I recommend it if you’re looking for something different. 

Cover by Francesca Michelon

At First Bite (2 book series):

Sweet Blood #1

Wolf Blood #2

Same universe:

Wildwood (3 book series)

Buy link

        Wolf Blood (At First Bite Book 2)

    

Blurb 

The werewolf who’s been keeping me alive with his blood for the last few months just declared me his. 

He also says he isn’t mine, so that’s fantastic.

At least we’re not soulmates. Yet.

Being a turned vampire has been rough for me, but I’m determined to survive long enough to make sure that my best friend has a support system of some kind when I’m gone.

It doesn’t help that my mother is somehow behind the murders that nearly took her out, though.

Or that the wolf who’s claimed me isn’t willing to let me go.

Somehow, I have to keep myself sane just long enough for everything to fall into place… and I have to do it without falling for a werewolf.

*This is a spicy enemies to lovers romance with a happily ever after

August 5, 2026

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Book 2 of 2

At First Bite

Review:  Dreams and Reptiles (Foggy Basin Season 3) by R L Merrill

Rating: 3.75🌈

Dreams and Reptiles (Foggy Basin Season 3) by R L Merrill is a sweet contemporary small town romance. It’s one of a multi-author series now in its third called Foggy Basin, set in a California small town.

Dreams and Reptiles is an age gap, hurt/comfort, multicultural romance that includes characters who have been through many traumatizing experiences, including work place assault. 

There’s a lot to like about this story. The characters are engaging. Francis, who has been through a traumatic experience with his work and his father, has bought a new home that will allow him to live his dream of a having artists retreat. 

Next door is an older firefighter, Kendall, who runs a reptile sanctuary. Kendall’s a divorced father, who is trying to deal with his own family issues of a daughter in college, a demanding job and a sanctuary full of animals needing him.

I really enjoyed the secondary characters of Francis’s mother and aunt, and his cousin, Derek, the real estate agent who is soon to be involved in a throuple storyline in the next book. 

Things that I would have liked to have seen more exploration here was the traumatic event that sent Francis to Foggy Basin and the aftermath with  his father. That resolution was over in a couple of sentences. Plus the fact that the father continued to call Francis’ mother “his wife “ despite being divorced, that was a big flag here.  Nothing about that aspect of the story felt particularly satisfying. 

And to be honest, the entire relationship felt rushed between Francis, who was trying to set boundaries because of his trauma, and Kendall, who didn’t really deal well with his daughter’s return from college. 

So, while the animals were adorable. The relationship between them sweet, I was left with a HFN and a timeline that sped forward without answering questions. 

It’s was good reading. But not anything I’d revisit. 

Foggy Basin Season Three (11 book series)

Keystrokes and Kittens by Gabbi Grey

Boss and Brat by Brina Brady

Silk and Honey by Kota Quinn

Fruit and Flash by R.A Frick

Dreams and Reptiles by R L Merrill

Flights and Sights by Riley Long 

Bales and Brawn by Jem Wendal

Fibre and Ink by Jamie Sands

Herds and Hooves by B L Maxwell 

Hammer and Hops by Lynn Michaels

Nicks and Cuts by TJ Nichols 

Buy link

 Part of: Foggy Basin Season Three (11 books) 

        Dreams and Reptiles: A Small Town MM Romance

    

Blurb 

From the award-winning author of Under His Sheets and Once Upon a Goth Dog Solstice comes an age-gap, hurt/comfort romance between two men with bruised and battered hearts ready for a second chance at happiness in small-town California.

Francis

I refer to the events of the past year as My Demise, and now that I’ve received a significant settlement, I’m ready to move on with my life. While visiting the town of Foggy Basin for their Pride Festival, I fell in love with the vibe. Lots of folks move there to start over, so why shouldn’t I? My cousin Derek shows me a quirky property for sale just outside of town, and once I see it, inspiration hits. Why not create a retreat where folks can make their dreams a reality? I ignored mine for way too long, but not anymore, and if I happen to run into the hot firefighter I shared a kiss with at Pride, well, I’ll take it as a sign.

Kendall

My entire adult life, I’ve taken care of others, and now I’m ready to start the next phase of my journey in California. I’ve spent years learning about various species of reptiles, and it just so happens that Grandma left me the perfect place to build a sanctuary. Only, I soon discover that my passion project is a bit trickier than I thought it would be. My spirits lift, however, when the saucy young guy I met at Pride moves in next door to me. At first, I worry perhaps he’s one of those wealthy people who come to town and throw their money around, but when I learn the truth about his past, I’m determined to make him see just how deserving of love he is.

For Mature Readers due to sexual content, frisky aunties, reptilian escape artists, and meddling polyamorous firefighters.

Welcome to Foggy Basin. Nestled at the base of the foothills in Northern California, this small town is full of characters just waiting to tell you their story. Whether you’re just passing through or you decide to stay a while longer, you’ll always find a warm welcome from the townsfolk. From farmers and animal rescues to artists and small business owners. Foggy Basin has it all.

Celie Bay Publications LLC

Publication date

August 13, 2026

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Review: Twice Bitten (Fangs and Fur Book 1) by S.E. Babin

Rating : 4⭐️

I’m a fan of this author so I immediately picked up Twice Bitten, the beginning of S.E. Babin’s Fangs and Fur series. A paranormal tale about a hedge witch who gets mixed up with the politics of the vampire/werewolf conference by way of a traumatic encounter is off to a good start here. 

Babin is excellent at establishing a complex plot that will keep expanding into ever greater detail and often wilder realms and storylines. I can definitely see this happening with Fangs and Fur and the main group of characters Babin is starting out with.

Hint. Thankfully, this author can take the main female character on quite the twisted path with regard to her final romantic partner, so just know it might not be one of the top two atm.

First there’s Alex, a hedge witch working as a barista with a black market apothecary business on the side. She’s an orphan with a “missing” mother and a father of unknown origin. 

Alex becomes the object of an obsessive vampire, Beckett, and ends up in the middle of a mysterious species turf battle between vampire and wolf shifter. That brings in the next major characters and conflicts.

Alric, the Vampire Prime and Silas is the Wolf King, both working on an inter species conference. Until a traumatic event with Alex upsets everything.

I’m not a fan of Alric. He’s got major non consent issues, and frankly red flags plastered around him everywhere. And smacks heavily of another MMC in another series I despised. 

Silas is running a close second. 

Like Leo the chauffeur/bodyguard for Alric. He’s got great potential going forward. 

And Babin, if she’s going to be as consistent as she has in her previous series, will make this an elaborate and exciting journey for Alex, magically and romantically. 

So I’m not going to assume who it might be from the characters at the first story. 

 Very entertaining and a great start to this series. 

Fangs and Fur:

Twice Bitten #1

Bite Club #2 – Jan 11,2027

Buy link 

 Book 1 of 2: Fangs and Fur 

Blurb 

I was bitten by a vampire AND a werewolf. Now everyone wants a piece of me.

I never wanted to be a powerful witch. I’m happiest pulling espresso shots at the Three Beans café and keeping my magic secret.

But trouble is brewing…

When a turf war between vampires and shifters erupts outside the café, I get caught between the irresistibly charming Vampire Prime and the ruggedly handsome Shifter King. As these two apex predators blindly tear into each other, I am bitten, clawed, and left for dead.

My magic flares just in time to save my life, but there are… side effects. Suddenly, I find myself staring at customers’ necks. And feeling suspiciously twitchy before the full moon.

It’s impossible but… am I transforming into a vampire and a werewolf?

The Vampire Prime finds me immediately. Captivated by my scent, he tempts me with danger and luxury. The Shifter King is equally obsessed, and determined to claim me for his pack.

I am caught between them once more—but this time it’s me that they’re fighting over. And since my new blood brings strange new powers, it won’t be long before I’m the most wanted prey in town…

Second Sky

Publication date

August 10, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

326 pages

Book 1 of 2

Fangs and Fur

Review: Nemesis, Inc: Alpha Team  Collection 2: by Bella Stone 

Rating: 4 ⭐️

This is Arabella Stone writing as Bella Stone, who is so prolific in military and action romances. I honestly don’t have the space to list all her many series and related excellent books here. 

But collections like these are wonderful ways to get acquainted with her work and characters if you’re unfamiliar with them or to get caught up on her series that you are reading. 

I enjoyed this three books collection and read right through them easily. There was an author’s note about the Christmas story being a present and sort of final kiss to the end of that couple’s story. And that perhaps you should read their journey first. 

I hadn’t and I still loved it. I’ll read about them eventually. And then hit it again. 

Stone can write battles, and weapons and action filled scenarios. Along with terrific characters. 

Read and enjoy. 

 Just some of her related series:

Stronghold (3 book series)

The Four X’s Group: La Spezia (6 book series)

The Four X’s Group: Morocco (1 book series)

Nemesis Inc. Alpha Team (6 book series)

Nemesis Inc. Bravo Team (4 book series)

Buy link

 Collects books from: Nemesis Inc. Alpha Team 

Blurb 

Rory: Taking his mandated leave was supposed to be a fun trip for Nemesis Inc.’s Alpha Team, recon expert Rory *Mokaccino* Costa. Leave which lasts all of five minutes when a phone call from a teammate sends him to Paris to rescue Adalyn Cassidy and her son, Sam. Changing things up on the fly and living life at a hundred miles an hour is typically his jam. He’ll rescue the divorced author and her kid, send them home, and get back to his vacation. A couple of days in the French capital could be fun… right?

Stay Frosty: Dalton and Lina Knight have fought terrorists, governments, the Organization, and themselves for the chance to have a happy ever after with the family they both crave. With the birth of their first child just days away and Christmas on the horizon, fate throws them a curveball, and one of their people goes missing in Syria.

Aria: Aria doesn’t do attachments, and Jasper’s not the kind of man who believes in hopes and dreams. When the final pieces of the Organization surface and King makes his last move, all bets are off—because Aria survived hell once, and she refuses to lose the man who snuck in under her defenses, got on her last nerve, and claimed her heart… Jasper.

Embers Romance LLC

Publication date

April 24, 2026

Language

‎English

Review: The Alpha and The Baker by Roxie Ray

Rating:4

Roxie Ray is a relatively new group of writers for me but I’m really enjoying the books that they write.  The Alpha and The Baker by Roxie Ray is an excellent example.  It’s a paranormal romance about a small town that has two very different pack of shifters with an interesting deep entwined heritage. 

Who will be caught up between them, in a gentle and entertaining manner is a human Asian American baker, Felicia, who is struggling to keep her bakery going after the loss of her mother. 

The authors give us the big exuberant Irish pack of Castiel who runs to Felicia’s bakery in need of cakes for a pack get together. And then an equally lovely and tradition based Mexican pack that lives adjacent to them in town. 

So it’s meet cute, a growing relationship with Castiel and his pack, all of the recipes, Felicia’s culture and background of loss and love, and a divide between the packs that needs to be resolved. 

It’s well written, full of terrific food, great characters, multiculturalism, spicy sex scenes and body positivity. 

Highly enjoyable and recommended. 

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.comThe Alpha And The Baker eBook : Ray, Roxie

Blurb 

A grumpy-sweet alpha. A broke but brilliant baker. One emergency cake order that might just be fate.

When Castiel’s pack reunion turns into a frosting-fueled disaster, the last thing he expects is to find salvation in the form of a tiny bakery—and the fiery, flour-dusted woman who runs it.

Felicia’s barely keeping her business alive, her heart is still healing, and she has zero time for distractions—especially not the ridiculously hot country guy begging for last-minute cakes. But with a hundred people waiting for dessert and a cash offer she can’t refuse, she says yes.

One rushed bake. Three ruined ovens. A van full of dreams.

And a connection that neither of them saw coming.

She’s a human with a whisk.

He’s an Alpha with responsibilities.

But when their worlds collide, it’s anything but half-baked.

Fans of small-town shifter romance, soft alpha energy, and banter that melts frosting will devour this slow-burn standalone with found family, first shifts, and the sweetest damn love story this side of the forest.

Special Fiction Books

Publication date

July 25, 2025

Edition

1st

Language

‎English

Print length

466 pages

Review:  Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea (Tomes and Tea Book 1) by Rebecca Thorne 

Rating: 4.5🌈

Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea, the first book in the cozy LGBT romance fantasy Tomes and Tea series by Rebecca Thorne, has an totally different feel than the excellent Moss’d N Space novel I just finished by this writer. 

Slower paced, more to the journey of the couple and the establishment of their new shop than the other space adventure. But the relationship between the two characters, the dynamics and the way Thorne builds her community is just as excellent and thorough. 

The women, each with their fears and strengths about their decision to leave and have a future together in Tawny, despite the ramifications, have relatable moments and credibility here. From talks about power imbalance to money, it’s a relationship between adults who want to make sure their relationship works. 

Even with magic, dragons, bandits, and a psychopath of a queen behind them. 

Reyna, the Queen’s Guard and Kianthe, the Mage of the Ages, fleeing to set up a tea and book shop in the cold hinterlands was a dream, until it became clear that Reyna needed to leave before she became a casualty of the Queen’s cruelty. 

The town of Tawney, its citizens are beautifully drawn. They are soon become part of this couple’s found family and new life. 

And there’s a mystery a foot that needs to be solved, and that’s will take investigating as well as a journey. 

And dragons. 

A slower delight and cozy fantasy mystery that I absolutely enjoyed. 

Another wonderful tale to share. 

Cover art by Irene Huang 

Cover typography by Amphi 

Map by Rebecca Thorne 

Chapter ornaments by Amphi 

Tip-in illustration by Eilene Cherie

Includes the short story:

“Meet and Greet” by Rebecca Thorne

Tomes & Tea (4 book series):

Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea #1

A Pirate’s Life for Tea #2

Tea You at the Altar #3

Alchemy and a Cup of Tea #4

Buy link

 Book 1 of 4: Tomes & Tea 

Blurb 

In the tradition of Legends & Lattes, comes a cozy fantasy steeped in sapphic romance about one of the Queen’s private guards and a powerful mage who want to open a bookshop and live happily ever after…if only the world would let them.

All Reyna and Kianthe want is to open a bookshop that serves tea. Worn wooden floors, plants on every table, firelight drifting between the rafters… all complemented by love and good company. Thing is, Reyna works as one of the Queen’s private guards, and Kianthe is the most powerful mage in existence. Leaving their lives isn’t so easy.

But after an assassin takes Reyna hostage, she decides she’s thoroughly done risking her life for a self-centered queen. Meanwhile, Kianthe has been waiting for a chance to flee responsibility–all the better that her girlfriend is on board. Together, they settle in Tawney, a town nestled in the icy tundra near dragon country, and open the shop of their dreams.

What follows is a cozy tale of mishaps, mysteries, and a murderous queen throwing the realm’s biggest temper tantrum. In a story brimming with hurt/comfort and quiet fireside conversations, these two women will discover just what they mean to each other… and the world.

Bramble

Publication date

July 10, 2023

Language

‎English

Print length

345 pages

Book 1 of 4

Tomes & Tea

Review: My Emergency Contact Is A Wolf Shifter by Roxie Ray

Rating: 4.5 ⭐️

The authors writing under the name Roxie Ray have another really well crafted, emotional and surprisingly layered paranormal tale about two people, a potty-mouthed parrot, who find themselves in a relationship, and moving forward with their lives and fixing their issues along the way. 

That one is a wolf shifter who’s been estranged from his shifter community is an even better element. 

Therapy and therapists play a key role here for three characters, the first being a young girl who is a new neighbor of Zoey Yates. 

Zoey, who just moved to the new apartment and town in the Adirondacks for boundaries with her mother and their toxic relationship, is immediately “adopted” by Bobbi, her young neurodivergent neighbor. Bobbi appears often unannounced , backpack in hand, to interact with Zoey and Markie, Zoey, rescue African Grey parrot. Love that parrot btw. Hilarious. 

The characters and their dynamics are incredibly well executed and beautifully written. It’s a layered and believable relationship that develops as they, especially Zoey who wants to remain emotionally independent, starts to accept Bobbi and others as part of her circle. 

That includes Liam, the wolf shifter who ends up as her emergency contact. How that happens is hilarious and honestly, something that you can see happening. 

Liam too is someone who is in need of help, which he acknowledges. The need for protection stemming from his background. 

This is a thoughtfully written, well plotted book, funny, yes,I was absolutely laughing at parts, as well as having small moments of poignant realism, as with  Mr. Hardan.   

It was over far too soon. I found such joy in the company of these characters, the journey that Zoey had to take felt almost familiar in places, and so many truths were uttered here. 

Again, it’s that cover. Threw me totally. What’s that saying? Can’t trust a book by its cover? This book is so much better than the cute cover. 

Pick it up and read it for yourself. 

Highly recommended. 

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.comMy Emergency Contact is a Wolf Shifter – Ray, Roxie

Blurb 

Zoey Yates doesn’t ask for help. She fixes things, handles things, and keeps a carefully maintained emotional perimeter around everything that matters. She has a plan, a parrot with a helpdesk vocabulary, and absolutely zero feelings about the wolf shifter she listed as her emergency contact after knowing him for approximately six hours.

Zero feelings. Completely fine.

The hospital called him anyway. He drove forty minutes in thirty-two. Now he’s in her apartment, cooking eggs she didn’t ask for, and her parrot—who has never liked anyone—has accepted a head scratch. Liam sits across the room, not beside her, because she hasn’t invited anything closer. He waits. He doesn’t push.

Zoey has spent her whole life being the person who shows up. She doesn’t have a protocol for someone who shows up for her.

She’s building one. Against her will. Slightly faster than planned.

My Emergency Contact is a Wolf Shifter is a steamy standalone paranormal romance about a woman who guards everything and the wolf who waited at the door

Special Fiction Books

Publication date

June 16, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

355 pages

Review: Our Nanny is a Vampire by Lindsey Devin and Roxie Ray

Rating:5⭐️

Well, I’m absolutely flabbergasted by this book.  It’s starts with the cover. I mean, it’s cute, colorful, showing an adorable woman holding a teddy bear in a style that suggests this  story is going to be sweet, entertaining and honestly, lighthearted. 

What the reader falls into is a beautifully written exploration of a family deeply bound up in their grief and loss of their mother and their father’s love for his wife. Their center is gone and they’ve been shattered. After three years they haven’t started reconnecting with their father or outside of the home.  

There’s an equally strong emotional aspect here. A 200 year old vampire who is carrying her own trauma and deep emotional baggage that has never been fully recovered from.

The Lawrence household, overwhelmed, overworked father Conrad Lawrence, youngest girl Billie, middle child C.J, and oldest daughter Bianca, all of whom are brilliant, talented and perceptive in their own right, and hurting for their father, themselves and their loss.  

Immediately, after the children dispatched yet another nanny from the house with an amazing display of engineering enthusiasm, the family heads to the cemetery. And I’m both lost for words for this grieving family and lost in this world and story. 

The authors have me in tears and their grip. The dialogue are beautiful, apt to the characters and ages, clever but also poignant. Powerful and funny and emotional.  We know what they are thinking and how they feel about each moment.

“The cemetery sat behind a small white church twenty minutes from the house, tucked between old trees and a low, iron fence. Jade hadn’t been especially religious, but she’d liked the cemetery. She’d told me that if people had to be buried anywhere, they might as well be somewhere with decent shade and no highway noise.”

The children are so remarkable, real and connectable. I love them deeply. 

“Billie stared out the window with her brows pinched together. “Is Mommy cold?” she asked.”

Oh my heart.

Then , courtesy of the fabulous Lady Ferdinand,  Conrad is given a card and number to call:

Miss Winifred Carrington 

Private Childcare and Household Instruction Discretion Assured

I won’t spoil her entrance or what happened next. I will say it’s scene after scene of things I could picture in my head. The artfully executed conversations, the relatable relationships forming between Winnie and each child, the healing as the family starts to recover and move forward. 

There’s also an important side plot about Winnie’s past that comes with trigger warnings. But everything here is thoughtfully written and woven together with the dynamics of the family and slow burn romance that it’s extremely important for Winnie’s character to grow as well for this element to occur. 

I kept wondering if something would pop up to keep me from loving this. But even that ending was just right. She’s a vampire with eternal life, they are humans. That’s recognized by both Conrad and herself as a reality of their situation. She’s never going to get old. But the way love is treated and discussed here is impressive. 

And it makes sense and so the ending feels satisfying. 

I wondered how I would feel about this given how many writers are involved (each author is actually two writers or more) but it’s an absolute joy to read and a 5 star story. 

Really, that cover is such a mismatch between it and the complexity of the content inside. Love surprises like this.

Highly recommended!

Read the trigger warnings. 

Buy link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.comOur Nanny is a Vampire eBook : Devin, Lindsey, Ray, Roxie

Blurb 

Conrad Lawrence has lost nine nannies in three years.

There was Nanny Franny McFine (four days). Marie Von Fire, who claimed she’d once worked for a duke. Mrs. Corrinna Rainer, who lasted until Billie released crickets into her suitcase. 

Mademoiselle Joella Frosty, who called his kids “creatively hostile” and blocked his number before she reached the end of the driveway.

So when nanny #10 walked through the door, Conrad wasn’t expecting much. Then Winnie shows up.

She’s calm where his house is chaos. Patient where his kids are relentless. And she sees the grief he’s been quietly carrying for three years without flinching from it — because she’s been carrying centuries of her own.

Winnie has survived two hundred years by never staying long enough to be found. But this house, this impossible family, and this exhausted, good-hearted father are the first things she’s wanted to keep in longer than she can remember.

She should have known better. Because the past doesn’t let go that easily — and hers is coming to collect.

✨ Perfect for readers who love: grumpy widower x unbothered 200-year-old nanny energy, slow-burn nanny romance, found family with a coffin parked under the trees, and exes who show up mid-domesticity like they weren’t already asked to leave

Special Fiction Books

Publication date

July 23, 2026

Language

‎English

Print length

‘O567 pages