Tag: Scattered Thoughts Highly Recommended

Review:  The Vampire and the Case of the Secretive Siren: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Portlock Paranormal Detective Series Book 2) by Heather G. Harris and Jilleen Dolbeare

Rating: 4.75⭐️

Another great story, investigative case and overall excellent work that explores the town’s citizens, the issues that have become a major factor and the deepening role that Bunny’s playing in the Sheriff’s Department and in her private life in town. 

Authors Harris and Dolbeare take a real issue from our society, that of the influx of drugs into the streets and high schools and uses it expertly for their story. A known horrifying element becomes even more terrifying and the suspense is heightened by the fact that it’s teenagers who are involved in the case.

It’s hard to call any character here a supporting personality as they become so important to the reader, to Bunny in a variety of ways, and in their variety of roles in the Portlock town. The more we learn about them, as the authors explore their own lives and species here the better we invest in them too. 

As with the first book, it’s written using British English,  with that spelling and phrases, which here makes sense for a Londoner who has moved to Alaska. 

With each story, Bunny is more a part of Portlock, and less a transplant. I’m here for every step of her journey.

What a fabulous book and series. Read them all in the order written. A must read!

Cover design by Christian Bentulan. Published by Hellhound Press Limited.

The Portlock Paranormal Detective series:

The Vampire and the Case of her Dastardly Death, a prequel.

The Vampire and the Case of the Wayward Werewolf, Book 1.

The Vampire and the Case of the Secretive Siren, Book 2.

The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee, Book 3.

The Vampire and the Case of the Cursed Canine, Book 4.

The Vampire and the Case of the Perilous Poltergiest, Book 5.

The Vampire and the Case of the Cozy Christmas, Book 5.5.

The Vampire and the Case of the Hellacious Hag #6

The Vampire and the Case of the Malevolent Mermaid #7 – July 3,2025

Buy link 

        The Vampire and the Case of the Secretive Siren: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Portlock Paranormal Detective Series Book 2)

    

Blurb 

Sex, drugs and siren songs.

Ok, so not much sex is going on. The closest I’ve gotten to some action is a date with Stan which ended in disaster. But with all the eye-candy walking around this small town, including the sexy vampire leader, Connor, I’m definitely re-thinking my ‘no dating’ rule. I don’t get the chance to do much about it though because some ruffians think it’s funny to break into the Grimes’ moonshine shop.

It doesn’t take too long to identify the shifters responsible, but it opens up a whole can of worms. Inebriated worms, like the ones you find in tequila. The kids weren’t just drunk, they were high. High on a new kind of drug that’s washing into Portlock. Literally. We found bags of the stuff floating in the harbour and it quickly becomes clear that this drug is anything but recreational. It can make you high, or it can shut down your organs quicker than you can say ‘shotgun funeral’.

We need to find the dealers and shut them down, before any more of our town gets hoodwinked by this powerful stuff.

Oh, and there’s a small problem with the barrier. The barrier that keeps us all safe from the cryptid monster that lurks beyond its confines. That barrier. Rips have been appearing in it, and if it falls, we’re all doomed.

An average day in Portlock then. 

Dive into this fast-paced urban fantasy series if you love mystery, humour, found family and a slow-burn romance.

Review:  The Vampire and the Case of the Wayward Werewolf by Heather G. Harris, Jilleen Dolbeare

Rating: 4.75⭐️

I just love this series and group of characters. Everything about this is just amazing. New to me authors, Heather G. Harris and Jilleen Dolbeare have created a wonderful character in transplanted Londoner and newly created (not by consent) vampire, Elizabeth Octavia ‘But everyone calls me Bunny.’ Barrington. 

She’s escaped to the paranormal town of Portlock, Alaska as the assistant to the Sheriff there, to start a new life and, well, hide from her old one. And she’s brought along her rescue German Shepherd, Fluffy, whose outsize character is immediately endearing.

We’re introduced to a multitude of different personalities and paranormal types of beings as Bunny , Gunnar Johansen, the supernatural chief of police, the Nomo Sheriff’s Department, and Sidnee Gunnar’s mermaid daytime assistant.  

The story has great cases, investigative storylines, which gives us further insight into the town’s people, its history and the beginning of Bunny’s real commitment to Portlock and her new home.

I’ll admit I love this series and universe so much I read through books 1 through three in one day. Was getting ready to read The Vampire and the Case of the Cursed Canine, which is book 4 when I realized it was almost 3am. And my dog was saying enough, turn the lights off.

The character and relationship development is outstanding. The dynamic between the characters is so good and real that it’s hard to remember that these are paranormal people.

Seven books! Be still my heart! Way to make this reader incredibly happy. 

This is an absolute winner of a book and series. If you’re a lover of the paranormal world, mystery novels, and even a bit of a fated mates slow burn romance, here’s just the series for you. 

Highly recommended. 

Love the cover. I mean they had me at Fluffy. 

Cover design by Christian Bentulan. Published by Hellhound Press Limited.”

The Portlock Paranormal Detective series:

The Vampire and the Case of her Dastardly Death, a prequel.

The Vampire and the Case of the Wayward Werewolf, Book 1.

The Vampire and the Case of the Secretive Siren, Book 2.

The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee, Book 3.

The Vampire and the Case of the Cursed Canine, Book 4.

The Vampire and the Case of the Perilous Poltergiest, Book 5.

The Vampire and the Case of the Cozy Christmas, Book 5.5.

The Vampire and the Case of the Hellacious Hag #6

The Vampire and the Case of the Malevolent Mermaid #7 – July 3,2025

Buy link 

        The Vampire and the Case of the Wayward Werewolf (The Portlock Paranormal Detective Series Book 1)

    

Blurb 

Someone paid the vampire king’s creepy son to turn me into one of the bitey undead. I’m not hanging about to find out who or why. The vampires want me to stay with them for one hundred years of indentured servitude but I have this thing about following orders so I ran from the streets of London to the wilds of Alaska.

I have an eidetic memory and a can-do attitude. I can-do anything to get away from the vampire king. So when the Sheriff of Portlock, a hidden paranormal town, invites me to be his assistant, I say sure thing. It beats servitude hands down.

At first things seem ideal in Portlock, I make a new friend and even get asked out on a date. But the truth is, there are secrets aplenty. The paranormal council are at each other’s throats, figuratively of course. But then someone rips out a werewolf’s throat, literally this time.

I need to work with the Sheriff to find the killer, before he strikes again. We just need to winnow through werewolf pack issues, council politics, and more suspects than you can shake a stake at. Simple.

Portlock is a melting pot of witches, necromancers, vampires and shifters, but things are starting to boil over. I hope I don’t get burnt.

Dive into this fast-paced urban fantasy series if you love mystery, humour, found family and a slow-burn romance.

Don’t miss the other Portlock Paranormal adventures!

The Vampire and the Case of her Dastardly Death – Prequel

The Vampire and the Case of the Wayward Werewolf – Book 1

The Vampire and the Case of the Secretive Siren – Book 2

The Vampire and the Case of the Baleful Banshee – Book 3

The Vampire and the Case of the Cursed Canine – Book 4

  • Publisher: Hellhound Press Limited (March 1, 2024)
  • Publication date: March 1, 2024
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 529 pages

Review:  Stay in Your Lane! By Cari Z and L.A. Witt

Rating: 4.25🌈

Stay in Your Lane! By Cari Z and L.A. Witt is a terrific suspense action packed thrill ride of a contemporary romance.  Full of incredible characters, great animals sidekicks like Steve the Piranha, and hilariously crafted but vividly executed locations like the Waffles, this is a highly entertaining novel.

The characters are just amazing. Each with their own issue-based families and unique personalities. Everett Mulligan works with his family in the Mulligan Funeral Home. They are a troubled family and Everett, the youngest bears the brunt of the worst of the family’s dysfunctional relationship. 

Kyle’s comes from a law enforcement family, a tradition he veered away from into a company and job as a crime scene cleaner.  It’s not just the fact he’s stepping away from the family career but them as well. 

They are so well defined and beautifully crafted as characters, each with distinctive qualities that endear to us and each other. 

The case that brings them together is one that looks simple but becomes realistically complicated and horrifying in the implications for a larger scenario as they investigate.

It’s a very complex and well plotted case. Both emotionally and psychologically.

The families are drawn into the process too. And here is where it’s both well written and then, at the end, dropped. 

While one family is brought together, the other side, the one with the most family members in upheaval, is left without resolution. Especially Everett’s dysfunctional relationship with his father.  

With such a strong narrative in every other aspect of the story, I’m surprised that this element was left unexplored. 

A terrific story and a definite recommendation. 

Buy link 

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.comStay in Your Lane! – Kindle edition by Z, Cari, Witt, L.A.. Romance …

Blurb 

The tasks are simple. Everett Mulligan is there to collect the body. Kyle Bowman is there to clean up the scene. Easy peasy. Get in, get out, get gone.

But Everett, for all he can be on another planet with fourteen tabs open in his brain, isn’t stupid like the cops think he is. Something about this death scene isn’t sitting right, and he’s going to figure it out. Bonus? He gets to team up with the adorkable crime-scene cleanup guy to solve the mystery.

Kyle, ever the thorough and detail-oriented cleaner, can’t ignore the scene’s irregularities either. He also can’t ignore the seriously attractive himbo from the mortuary who insists they should work together to solve what the cops insist isn’t a crime. Especially when that himbo is also enamored with Kyle’s cats and fiercely determined to make friends with his cranky piranha, Steve.

There’s a reason this death isn’t being treated as a homicide, though, and there are people who are very motivated to keep it that way.

And they’ll do whatever it takes to keep the pair of amateur sleuths from uncovering the truth.

  • Publisher: GallagherWitt Publishing LLC (March 26, 2025)
  • Publication date: March 26, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 290 pages

Review: Fake It Til You Break It (+One Book 5) by Arden Steele

Rating: 4🌈

I picked up Fake It Til You Break It (+One Book 5) by Arden Steele because I enjoy this author’s work and I was intrigued by the description of the story. 

I haven’t read any of the books in the series but it wasn’t necessary to read and enjoy this contemporary romance. 

The characters are well written, the story is engaging and the romance develops beautifully, with the background factoring in so it reads less like a instant love but more like a real life affection that is growing stronger between two men. 

The ending did feel a bit rushed which was a shame because the rest of the story is so good with the storyline about Jasper Ryan’s charity, his intimate connection and interactions with the kids that come through his programs, and Beckett Shaw’s relationship to him and his passion for these kids as well. 

That’s well written and they really could have done with a longer story.

Fake It Til You Break It (+One Book 5) by Arden Steele is a terrific read and the couple is one who will make your day as they discover their own HEA. 

A definite winner. 

“Cover Design by Black Butterfly Design”

+One Series:

One Good Thing #1

Ex-Boyfriend Material #2

Mr. Big Shot #3

Bad Habits #4

Fake It Til You Break It #5

Buy link 

        Fake It Til You Break It (+One Book 5)

    

Blurb 

Jasper Ryan has spent his entire life faking it. He smiles on cue, nods when expected, and endures all the banal small talk. It’s exhausting, and without his favorite plus-one, he’s flailing. Worse, since Project SafeHouse depends on donations from the city’s elite, if he doesn’t get it together soon, his social standing won’t be the only thing on shaky ground.

Reluctantly, he turns to +One. All he needed was a buffer. What he gets is Beckett Shaw.

Adept at navigating the nuances of social etiquette, Beckett knows when to blend in and when to stand out. But none of the usual rules apply when it comes to Jasper. Shy, anxious, too polite for his own good—the guy is a walking disaster wrapped in cashmere. And while he’s comfortable being a hired shield, the more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to remember that’s all he is.

It was supposed to be simple. It wasn’t supposed to feel like this. But every touch lingers, every glance sparks, and now, pretending is no longer an option.

Because if Beckett has his way? 

Jasper won’t have to fake a damn thing.

  • Publisher: Peccavi Press (April 24, 2025)
  • Publication date: April 24, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 146 pages

Review:  Star Power: Ellis McFadden Mysteries #2 by Kristen Painter

Rating:  4.5⭐️

Ellis McFadden and her mech boyfriend Frank Kitson are back, along with their android companion animals Gracie the parrot and Henry the cat, trying to investigate both a theft and murders on The Athos. 

Painter’s world, The Athos, gets further exploration as each investigation takes the couple to different parts of the space liner, new restaurants, food, technology, and parts of space that the cruiser is passing through. 

That its mission includes political ones as well as scientific discoveries makes the storylines exciting and more intriguing, especially when it’s a librarian and mechanic genius doing their research and interviews.

I’m invested in this space-bound small world and all the fascinating aspects of life aboard as well as this amazing couple who are finally finding affection and companionship together in this new adventure together. 

Highly recommended for the imaginative world building, layered characters, and great storylines.

And extra kudos for having main characters in their sixties, on new adventures, new relationships, and in such inspiring roles.

I’d really love to know how many books the author has planned for the series. According to the characters, people now live comfortably past 120 years old. 

Cover design: Cover design and composite cover art by Janet Holmes

Ellis McFadden Mysteries :

  • Breathing Space #1
  • Star Power #2
  • Future Tense #3 – May 31,2025

Buy link

        Star Power: Ellis McFadden Mysteries

    

Blurb 

Step into the enigmatic world of the Athos—a vessel that blends the luxury of a cruise ship, the intrigue of a scientific research station, and the might of a military starship. Here, amidst the stars, you’ll find Ellis McFadden, the ship’s head librarian, embarking on adventures she never anticipated this late in her career.

The latest adventure sees the ship approaching a mesmerizing nebula, the centerpiece of a grand gala. It’ll be an evening filled with the galaxy’s elite, all gathered to marvel at this cosmic wonder and the legendary gem rumored to be born from its very core.

But when this priceless jewel vanishes, Ellis, along with her dashing new boyfriend, Frank, and her charming android cat, has no choice but to find the gem. Failure could mean an interstellar incident, resulting in Ellis, and her daughter, the Vice Admiral, being ousted from their celestial home. Can they solve the mystery in time to save their place among the stars?

  • Publication date: March 31, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 288 pages

Review:  Any Witch Wolf: The Smokethorn Paranormals Series Book 2 by C.P. Rider

Rating: 4.5⭐️

Any Witch Wolf was a terrific story in a number of ways. The first is that Rider did the unexpected in terms of moving the character’s development and the apparent storyline in new directions than I’d anticipated.

Instead of moving comfortably with Betty’s magic and her settled in the trailer park, Rider’s story has Betty’s painful struggles with her magic, her memories of her mother’s love and legacy, as well as the trailer park’s own story still vividly in place. 

Betty’s grief is being dealt with and shared with her friend, Ada, a retired necromancer living in the same trailer park, along with her familiar, a magical cat named Fennel and Cecil, a homicidal garden gnome.  

Rider’s dusty small town citizens, human and paranormal, are beautifully crafted. Each feels genuine and natural to their age and living circumstances, doesn’t matter if they’re elderly werewolves who like to garden or frisky otherworldly beings who end up in a black book of a missing Lothario werewolf, they are realistic and characters who we connect with. 

And when Betty is asked to find that missing werewolf, it becomes a funny, poignant journey we take with her. One of discovery through an older community very reflective of those around us. 

Of course this investigation is not the only storyline that’s being played out here. Sexton’s involved. As is Betty’s past. 

Any Witch Wolf: The Smokethorn Paranormals Series Book 2 by C.P. Rider is another compelling read, setting up multiple dramatic plots for the next story to come. 

I can’t wait as I’m completely invested in this desert paranormal trailer community and Betty!

Highly recommended.

Great cover.

Cover design by The Book Brander

The Smokethorn Paranormals Series :

Strike It Witch #1

Any Which Wolf #2

Wicked Witch of the Wolf #3 – May 31,2025

Buy link

        Any Witch Wolf: The Smokethorn Paranormals Series Book 2

    

Blurb 

“Promise you won’t do anything to put yourself in danger.”

“That’s not a promise I’m comfortable making. My partners are a delinquent gnome and a willing-accomplice magical cat. Plus, my best friend just bought a case of spelled wine from the witches in Sundance.”

Betty Lennox is an elemental witch in a desert town that gives Hades a run for its money in summer. Her magic is tied to the land under a paranormal seniors’ trailer park she inherited from her mother, land that hasn’t fully accepted her. Because of this, her power has become unpredictable, unreliable, and unbelievably inconvenient.

Small-town trailer parks don’t pay much, so when a job pops up to find a missing beta wolf—an octogenarian lothario with a shoebox of questionable toys and a little black book filled with juicy tidbits about the town’s senior ladies— she takes it. As Betty delves deeper into the investigation, she attracts the attention of a dangerous stalker and a deadly alpha wolf.

To track down the missing Casanova and avoid her enemies, she’ll need to rely on her partners—a magical cat named Fennel and Cecil, a homicidal garden gnome with a penchant for explosives—her retired necromancer best friend, a graveyard demon she doesn’t trust, and the sexy-as-sin son of her worst enemy.

For fans of urban fantasy with a side of slow-burn romance.

  • Publisher: VC Group, LLC (January 31, 2025)
  • Publication date: January 31, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 307 pages

Review:  Breathing Space: Ellis McFadden Mysteries by Kristen Painter

Rating:  4.5⭐️

Outer space is the last thing I think of when the words cozy murder mystery appear, but they absolutely work in the marvelous new discovery of mine, Breathing Space: Ellis McFadden Mysteries by Kristen Painter. 

I’ve run across quite a few writers who are confused about what this term , cozy mystery, actually means and what elements a terrific novel that is termed a cozy should contain.

Breathing Space has all that! A small town community where everyone knows what’s happening, people are nosy if not downright gossipy. A community hall space where information is readily shared, in this case both a lunch hall and chat room. And a murder where the police don’t seem interested in solving the crime. 

Except instead of a tiny New England village or English town, the location is the Athos, the premiere vessel in the Federation of Allied Nations fleet. Part cruiser, part research, part military vessel and the current home to Ellis Scheherazade McFadden, Els, head librarian of the Athos. 

Think of every fabulous older crime solving woman you love and know that Ellis is someone who is going to be the next woman added to the list. 

She’s widowed, in her 60’s, fit, and followed her daughter, the Vice Admiral of the Fleet into space, wanting a new adventure after retirement. 

Here’s a character, community, and book that had me immediately when mentioning hot flashes and cryostasis in the same sentence. Usually not two associated things I’ve come across when reading or watching science fiction.

The Athos is very much a small town, in her friends, the cliques, the quick pace of information traveling around the ship. Cozy murder works well with the concept.

There’s even adorable animals, especially the cat named Henry, even if they are androids. 

The murder is a great one, the investigation by Ellis and  friends fascinating. And the foods, and explanations are perfect. 

I can’t wait for more of this imaginative series and great new character. 

Series and characters like Ellis get me excited and hooked on further exploring more new to me authors just like Kristen Painter!

Highly recommended! More of this age group please in the main characters. 

Cover design: Cover design and composite cover art by Janet Holmes

Ellis McFadden Mysteries :

Breathing Space #1

Star Power #2

Future Tense #3

Buy link

        Breathing Space: Ellis McFadden Mysteries

    

Blurb 

Step into the enigmatic world of the Athos—a vessel that blends the luxury of a cruise ship, the intrigue of a scientific research station, and the might of a military starship. Here, amidst the stars, you’ll find Ellis McFadden, the ship’s head librarian, embarking on adventures she never anticipated this late in her career.

Even better that she gets to experience it all while in proximity to her daughter, who just happens to be the vice admiral. But life aboard the ship takes a darker turn when a library patron is found dead, and Ellis falls under suspicion.

With her reputation on the line, Ellis must navigate a labyrinth of secrets and lies. Armed with her wits, the loyalty of her eclectic friends, and her trusty android cat, she dives into a mystery that’s as thrilling as the unexplored galaxies around her. Can she find the critical evidence to clear her name before the next jump into the unknown?

  • Publication date: January 31, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 274 pages

Review:  False Morality (The Unwilling Adventures of Harlow & Foxx Book 5) by Shelby Rhodes

Rating: 5🌈

A cliffhanger ending from the last book delivers , via Shelby Rhodes incredible story, several heartbreaking moments, a great comeuppance for a villain, and , wait, another heart stopping cliffhanger. 

What a hair raising, pulse pumping, white knuckle ride this book is.  It’s everything we’ve come to expect from this series and author and then piled on with a mountain of narrative cherries.  Fabulous!

Rhodes’ has the story five further into the dynamic between Harlow and Foxx, what the ongoing trauma of events is doing to them each and separately. It’s a needed exploration, with these characters, and their dark histories and damaging stories. 

The other characters, the ones we’ve come to love too are focused on here, in ways that will have lasting impact on everyone. And Gavin? Love Gavin. I really needed him here. IYKYK. 

And as if there aren’t already enough words of caution, I’ll add mine. This is probably the most bloody, violent and potentially disturbing book of the bunch. Just Fyi.  Read the warning but these novels have to be read in the order they are written. And honestly, it’s Shelby Rhodes. 

Highly recommended for sheer excitement, sheer excellence, and utter mayhem and madness.  I’m a fan. 

Cover Artist: Beefbeff Art Editor: Emma Luna

The Unwilling Adventures of Harlow & Foxx:

  • At First Irritation #1
  • Taste of Fear #2
  • Unusual Emotions #3 
  • Thirst Quenched #4 
  • False Morality #5

Buy link

        False Morality (The Unwilling Adventures of Harlow & Foxx Book 5)

    

Blurb 

Foxx Honeywell here and holding on. You all know where we left off. I suppose I always knew that life often has moments—painful moments—that have you questioning every choice you’ve made that led up to it. Questioning if you had done something a little different, moved just a bit faster, delayed a little less, would the outcome have changed. I’m here to tell you, those questions are bloody pointless! The only question that matters is: how are you going to make it right?!

Well, you know me, I’m sure as hell not going to forget or forgive, and Harlow would laugh at even the suggestion. So, with every fiber of my being, I say, bring on the bloodshed!

Author Note: False Morality is the fifth book in the MM paranormal romance series, The Unwilling Adventures of Harlow & Foxx, a series that is meant to be read in order. Please see inside or my website for content warnings.

  • Publisher: (April 19, 2025)
  • Publication date: April 19, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 432 pages

Review:  Hell’s Most Incompetent Demon (Supernatural Suckers Book 1) by Silvana Falcon

Rating: 4.5 🌈

What totally wonderful and sweet romantic paranormal fluff. 

Silvana Falcon has written a delightful novel about a demon who is absolutely not demonic at all, whose deeds end up being good, very good indeed instead of evil. 

Mal has one more chance to redeem himself in Hell when the shy Ethan mistakenly summons Mal instead of Cupid, wanting to get help winning over his office crush. 

I adore every element in this book. From the well written characters, the dialogue, and funny to sweet scenarios, and the way that Mal helps Ethan realize what a wonderful treasure he really is. 

The drama, low angst, contains a very nice twist that carries over to the next story and odd character, a “wimpy” vampire and the vampire hunter who finds him too cute to resist. 

Honestly, I don’t think I can resist this story either because I’m on my way to read it as soon as it’s released. 

Love quirky characters, sweet adorable romances? 

Delightfully cute artwork and perfect for the story. 

Cover Design by Ana J. Phoenix

Supernatural Suckers :

  • Hell’s Most Incompetent Demon #1
  • The World’s Wimpiest Vampire #2 -Dec 31,2025

Buy link

        Hell’s Most Incompetent Demon (Supernatural Suckers Book 1)

    

Blurb 

Hell’s most incompetent demon meets Earth’s most hopeless romantic. 

All Ethan wanted was someone who could help him find love—or at least someone to pop his cherry. A spell from an odd book he found at the library promised him a wish from Cupid. Sure, some of the ingredients weren’t easy to get, but he could improvise. Was there really that much difference between dried laurel leaves and coriander?

He never meant to summon a demon.

Malphas hasn’t been to Earth in a hundred years, not since he accidentally created a massively successful support group for gamblers and saved hundreds of souls from damnation. As punishment, he’s stuck in Hell’s archives filing dusty prophecies because his boss is convinced he’s incapable of being properly evil.

When Ethan’s summoning yanks him topside, he sees his chance to prove himself. He’ll make a deal with the human—and collect that blindingly bright soul.

All he has to do is to help Ethan get together with his crush.

What could possibly go wrong?

Low angst, high comedy m/m romance. HEA guaranteed, no break-ups, no cheating.

Review: Short Stack #3 by Lily Morton 

Rating: 5🌈

A delightful collection of short stories that pick up the lives of various characters from the books and series of Lily Morton.  I quickly finished this, looking for my favorite couple’s stories first, then going back through the others. 

A absolutely joy to revisit each one of these characters and see them once again, in various places in their relationships. Moving, funny and always beautifully written. 

A must read for lovers of the books and author. 

“These short stories catch up with the men in my books after their stories have ended. Therefore, there are a lot of spoilers. Please don’t read the shorts until you’ve read the original books.”-Lily Morton 

Short Story Contents :

Gabe and Dylan 

Skating 

The School Trip 

Tricky 

Jude and Asa 

Old Acquaintance 

Henry and Ivo 

Gone Camping 

Oz and Silas 

Three Dozen Red Roses and a Werewolf 

Freddie and Darcy 

The Prize 

Barnaby and Cosmo 

A Honeysuckle Interlude 

The Wishing Tree 

Joe and Lachlan 

Hobbies 

Rafferty and Stan 

A Mystery Tour 

Jed and Artie 

Afternoon Delight 

Bee and Tom 

Sunday Football 

Bee’s Amsterdam 

Mags and Laurie 

It’s a Family Affair 

Short Stacks: 1,2, and 3

Buy link 

 Book 3 of 3: Short Stack 

Blurb 

What happens after the happy ending?

Drawn together for the first time, this is a collection of Lily’s short stories about some of the much-loved men from her books. Follow them through meeting the parents, a disastrous camping weekend, and a rather eventful school trip.

It includes stories previously written for her website, newsletter, and readers’ group, along with five brand new and exclusive short stories—The School Trip, A Honeysuckle Interlude, A Family Affair, Bee’s Amsterdam, and Gone Camping.

  • Publication date: April 20, 2025
  • Language: English
  • Print length: 298 pages