Review: Isaac: MM Mafia Romance (Light & Shadow Book 1) by N. N. Britt

Rating: 3.75🌈

Im a fan of the dark mafia romance trope, including a sub group where one of the main characters is an undercover agent and the other is the mafia boss or something similar. So when I ran across an author I hadn’t read before and this series with a great cover, I had to check it out.

I normally have an issue with stories where the law enforcement officers or their agencies don’t come across as being particularly realistic. Especially when the agent is undercover and there’s intelligence and support staff involved. Having a writer take this element and treat it carelessly usually takes me out of the narrative.

But N. N. Britt chooses to go a different route from the beginning and state upfront that her goal isn’t a “gritty authenticity” but instead a love story about “passion, betrayal, and redemption.” She’s not incorporating real basic law enforcement protocols here, let that be understood. The author is letting the reader know that upfront. So don’t go looking for any. She also places her trigger warnings in the description, which I like.

So a reader is well informed before they read the book. No looking for something that the author never said you should expect to find. And don’t.

What I did find was a good story. Dramatic, half a tale actually, about a two men starting towards a relationship in a highly dangerous situation and unstable world.

Britt sets it up as the undercover agent gets his assignment with a minimum of intelligence and time frame to get in and get the job done.

Special Agent Dallas Bradley has his doubts but accepts the job and his target. And becomes Hawk.

His target is the recently released from prison, Isaac Thoreau, the son of a notorious crime boss. His crime? That involves the fact his father is no longer the crime boss but he is.

Isaac had a brutal, abusive relationship with his father that’s revealed in past memories throughout the story. A new mafia boss in an unsettled state, Isaac is someone whose layers are constantly being peeled off. The two person perspective narrative helps create the complex connection/relationship that’s building between them.

The hellhounds, the bodyguards surrounding Isaac, are memorable in their own right, especially Jeremy. He helps cut into some of the more overly descriptive passages and wordy thought processes of Hawk/Dallas with his concise statements and ill-concealed dislike for the agent in disguise.

To read the book you have to “go with the flow “ narratively speaking and not look at the mafia, law enforcement, or legal systems for any realistic scenarios. Like Britt said, it’s not there. There’s plenty of emotional moments, action sequences, and doubts of self awareness to make the storylines work.

Britt does get overly descriptive and sometimes makes the passages a bit repetitive in the wordings chosen but she’s telling a passionate love story, one that will have its end in the second book, Dallas.

I enjoyed this, it’s entertaining but not so dark that it feels realistic or that dramatic as much happens “off the page “. I’m definitely heading to the next book to see how the characters and plot plays out.

Great cover.

Cover Design by Sarah Kil

Light & Shadow series:

Isaac #1

Dallas #2

Forbidden #3 – different set of characters

Buy link

Isaac: MM Mafia Romance (Light & Shadow Book 1)

Blurb

In the heart of Sin City, two men on opposite sides of the law collide in a dangerous game of power, passion, and betrayal.

Isaac Thoreau, the son of a notorious crime boss, has spent nine years behind bars for his father’s murder. Driven, cunning, and unfeeling, he’s now back to claim what’s rightfully his. But when an enigmatic security guard named Hawk is hired to work at his nightclub, Isaac finds himself distracted… and inexplicably drawn to Hawk, despite his best efforts to resist.

Special Agent Dallas Bradley’s mission is clear: infiltrate the Hellhounds and bring their leader, Isaac Thoreau, to justice. Posing as Hawk, Dallas is determined to uncover the secrets of the Thoreau criminal empire. But as he delves deeper into Isaac’s world, the lines between right and wrong blur, and soon an undeniable attraction grows between the two men, forcing Dallas to question everything.

Walking away before he’s compromised would be the smart choice, but Dallas can’t resist Isaac’s magnetic pull, even if it means risking his life.

As love and duty clash, only one question remains: will Isaac and Dallas survive the fallout?

***

Isaac is the first installment of the Light & Shadow Duet. It can not be read as standalone. This is a dark MM mafia romance that explores various sensitive subjects like violence, abuse, PTSD, etc.

Review: Dewitched (Blackhaven Manor Book 12) by Arden Steele

Rating: 3.5🌈

The fated mates romance of Owen Zhas, an Accipere (an out of control syphon witch) and Felix Hohlt, Guardian, begun in the previous book What the Hex? There Owen ends up being at the center of all the magical issues and leads to the fated mate relationship of the main couple.

Owen’s a sympathetic character with a real problem that potentially makes him a danger to other magical beings around him.

It’s one of my issues with the storyline actually. Steele’s Blackhaven Manor series foundation element is that dragon magic is drawing the fated mates there at the right time to get the HEA under the right circumstances. But in this case that meant sending Owen off for a year by himself , after the dramatic events that could have seen him jailed, with his magic still out of his control. And his mindset in a worsening situation.

Yes he’s back at Halloween because of an invitation. But now he’s fearful and subdued. Steele’s written a character that realistic in his depression and isolation. But Dewitched isn’t got the length of a storyline to make that transition and fated mates work in relation to the character presented.

It’s good, got terrific elements and the potential for more is there. So it’s close. I loved the couple and the Princess. But for all his pain, we needed more.

The series continues to intrigue with people/couples like this and that’s why I read it.

Check out the full list below.

Blackhaven Manor:

Purrfect Harmony #1
Night and Fae #2
Dragon It Out #3
Grin and Bear It #4
Pixie Little Liar #5
Dead Over Heals #6
Silent Knight #7
Pain in the Ice #8
Walking a Tight Rope #9
Royally Flocked #10
What The Hex? #11
Dewitched #12

Sequel/adjacent series:

Hunter’s Hollow:

Angels and Anarchy #1
Beauty and Bad Blood #2

Buy link

Dewitched (Blackhaven Manor Book 12)

Blurb

Ever since an unfortunate incident at Blackhaven Manor, Owen Zhas has closed himself off from the rest of the world. It’s not that he has anything against Otherlings, but he never asked to be one, and honestly, he’s barely even a witch. With no magic of his own, he’s stuck stealing it from others, whether he wants to or not. Unable to control it, he finds it easier to just avoid people altogether.

But when a certain female dragon shifter invites him to one of the hotel’s famous festivals, he can’t exactly say no.

As a Guardian, Fenix Hohlt has spent more than two decades watching over the youngest Nightstar, and when the precocious princess wants something, she usually gets it. Which is how he ends up in Colorado for the spookiest event of the year. He just never expected the journey to change the course of his future. One look at Owen, however, and he knows there is no going back.

While their first meeting went about as smooth as sandpaper, he’s determined to do whatever it takes to help Owen fight his demons. Even if that means banishing them to the deepest corners of the Underworld. He does have connections, after all.

With a hotel full of unsuspecting Otherlings, time is running out to find a solution, and he has a bad feeling things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better.

Publisher: PECCAVI PRESS (October 20, 2024)
Publication date: October 20, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 119 pages

Review: Kestrel & Kee (Paranormal Investigators) The Siren of Lake Killikee by V.L. Locey

Rating: 4🌈

Author V.L. Locey is off to a terrific start on her new paranormal romance series with Kestrel & Kee (Paranormal Investigators) The Siren of Lake Killikee.

It begins with Archimedes Kee ‘Archie’ Kee , Asian American, who helps run his grandfather’s failing family business, Kee’s Book Store in Liverswell, MA. Archie can interact with ghosts, a family gift passes down through generations that’s now especially relevant as Archie’s current location has several resident ghosts to converse with.

There’s Reggie, who died in 1778, he haunts the bookstore, reads the latest books, and considers himself part of the establishment and family. Also the ghosts in the streets,along with a spectral cat that comes and goes, as cats do.

But it’s the living that have issues to contend with, bills to pay, and Archie’s fluency in Mandarin brings him a handsome college football player, Phil Kestrel ,seeking help and a tutor for his Asian studies class.

Archie and Phil’s developing relationship is wonderful, especially when Phil is let in on the truth about Archie’s gift and the bookstore’s resident ghosts. As the plot switches over into a investigation into the mysterious presence in the lake, and what it means for the town’s inhabitants (living and non-corporeal), it picks up speed but starts to lose some depth in the background and plot.

I liked how Locey created and then wove in the various ethnic languages and historical references from the town to make the paranormal stories and investigations the deepest, and saddest part of the story. It could have been even more detailed, but perhaps that is going to be part of the next book. It’s certainly got my attention. And it introduces certain families of the town who might have a part to play in future stories as well.

Most of my quibbles have to do with the relationship between Archie and Phil, and Archie’s gift. Archie and Phil are just getting to know each other, they admit that they really like each other, which seems reasonable and , actually quite adorable.

But, as in too many stories I’ve read, they jump immediately into the “I love you “ conversation and confessions stage which hadn’t, imo, had a the same amount of narrative time or believable aspect to their relationship that other elements had. Really like on the way to something else? Yes, absolutely. Instant love? No. That case wasn’t made. Especially when there’s so much else going on around them.

And we really know very little about Phil here. What’s the background on him?

So in Kestrel & Kee (Paranormal Investigators) The Siren of Lake Killikee I feel that V.L. Locey is setting up a terrific location, characters and themes for a new adventure and series. There’s so much she wants to lay down that not all got fully developed or explained, just put in place for future adventures and books to make use of. I absolutely adore Archie , his grandfather, Reggie, and look forward to learning more about Phil and the rest of the town.

This is a definite recommend for lovers of paranormal romance.

Cover by Meredith Russell. Love the cover.

Buy Link

Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com › Kestrel…Kestrel & Kee (Paranormal Investigators) The Siren of Lake Killikee

Blurb:

Kestrel & Kee (Paranormal Investigators) :

One speaks to the dead, the other talks to everyone else. Both have hearts that are whispering to each other’s.

Archimedes Kee has always had the gift. From his youngest days, he has been able to communicate with the dearly departed. Most of the time, they seek him as a way to correct wrongs or for help moving over to the next plane. Some just want to complain about badly written books. Generally, he does his best to aid the stranded spirits as he juggles working part-time at his grandfather’s bookstore, a job he adores, with attending a local college. Stuck in the grind of the day-to-day, he is totally unprepared for the arrival of Phil Kestrel, who blows into the shop like a hurricane with his blond hair, blue eyes, and unparalleled exuberance.

For the first time in forever, Archie can’t pull back into the protective shell he has learned to keep up. Phil is not only a charmingly sweet and sexy man, but he’s also slowly winning Archie’s heart one 80’s song at a time. After witnessing an unearthly book club meeting late one night the football star slash film major discovers Archie’s secret and proposes a plan. They make a ghost hunter show for extra credit and to bring much-needed foot traffic to the old bookstore. The plan has merit, so they seek out a local legend and face off against an anguished soul who puts their new bond to the test.

Kestrel and Kee – The Siren of Lake Killikee is an opposites attract queer paranormal romance starring a shy medium, a gregarious footballer, a resident bookstore specter with a decidedly wicked mind, one otherworldly feline, a small town filled with ghostly goings on, an elderly family member eager to play matchmaker, a haunted lake, and a spirited happy ending.

Publication date: October 17, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 211 pages

Review: Burned (Drake Security Book 5) by Mika Nix

Rating: 4.25🌈

Burned is a fitting way to end the Drake Security series, with Lord’s story and his tortured enemies to lovers, fated mates romance.

Lord’s been that character with the older brother syndrome. Stolid, serious, constantly in control and ever watchful over the family business as well as all over the family, including his brothers, their mates, and younger clutchings.

So it makes sense that his story is the very antithesis of his life and nature. It’s dramatic, compulsive, and absolutely terrifying, the opposite of how he’s been living and taught.

Mika Nix , aka authors K.M. Neuhold and Mia Monroe, mirrored his impulsive acts toward a specific target, his fated mate who happens to be his worst enemy, a dragon hunter. That’s a fatally wounded Alrick Havaror, a young Viking from a notorious dragon hunter family.

Lord and Alrick have matching angst filled emotions towards each other as they fight their own battles with the bond and their backgrounds. I really enjoyed this element of the story. They were well suited and their journey was full of chemistry and communication.

While we are very familiar with the Drake family and their mates, Alrick’s history and family background could have used more development, especially given that ending. Considering the foul deeds his father, older brother, grandfather etc have committed, that end wasn’t exactly satisfying, even with the overlaying factor of kinship.

New wonderful characters included Viggo (middle brother of Alrick’s), and Xanthis, a powerful Scottish dragon mage who promptly flirts with Dahlia. And while the authors let us know what happened with the two women, Viggo, who had an important role and his own journey here, oddly vanished from the story. After being told he was from now on a permanent member of the Drake family. SMH

If they say he went home with good old dad and brother. No. That doesn’t track as both authors had him say he wanted to remember the events and what they had done and everything that had occurred. So no.

Big narrative hole here and missing character.

So Burned ends up a good story but not a great one. I enjoyed the couple but there’s quite a few stumbles narratively speaking that keeps this shy of 5 stars. Still a lovely series and one I’m recommending.

Drake Security series:

Hot Head #1
Smoulder #2
Wild Fire #3
Inferno #4
Burned #5 – series finale

Buy link

Burned (Drake Security Book 5)

Blurb

Of all the creatures I could have accidentally mate bonded with, did it have to be a dragon slayer?

I never let my dragon take control. Never. Distraught after the death of a friend, I made a mistake…

Finding a beautiful, broken viking on the verge of death in the middle of a forest, all of my instincts screamed at me to save him. My dragon wouldn’t have it any other way. For two-thousand years I’ve saved my mating fire, waiting for fate to bring me true, binding love. But with this stranger only a breath away from the afterlife, I didn’t have a choice.

I can’t really be mated to a dragon slayer, can I? There has to be a way to break this bond before his brothers come looking for him or mine realize what I’ve done.

The only problem is, the more time I spend with the captivating, big hearted man, the more I think that fate might have had a hand in things after all…

Is he feeling it too, or am I about to get burned?

Publication date: October 16, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 254 pages

Review: Bold As Brass (Elementally Yours Book 3) by FN Manning

Review: 4🌈

Bold As Brass (Elementally Yours Book 3) by FN Manning is a well written, well executed paranormal romance. I thought Manning did a good job of explaining why Oliver Brass, brother and son to the Brasses held responsible for the crimes in book 1, makes the decisions he does here with regard to his magic and the use of a D/s relationship with respect to his control.

There’s a very good author’s note about this element. Read it carefully. This story incorporates a realistic D/s relationship between two people, one of which is older than the other. If this isn’t an element that you enjoy reading about, you might want to skip the book.

For me, I found I didn’t connect with these characters as I had with the other couples in the preceding novels. I’m not sure why, because a D/s relationship isn’t an issue for me. Nor the difference in ages. Although the fact that (but not truly ) they almost rode the line between student and professional life is slightly troubling. It was addressed by the author.

I think that I felt that there wasn’t enough of a real connection between them to account for the sudden admission of deep love that happens.

That could be a difference of perspective. Another reader might think it’s fine.

I do wish there was more information about what exactly went on towards the end. A resolution about what happened to fix everything . Instead we get a dinner and a HFN. It didn’t feel entirely satisfactory.

All in all, Bold As Brass (Elementally Yours Book 3) by FN Manning was well written but needed a better wrap up.

Elementally Yours:

Frost or The Bite #1

Strikes Twice #2

Bold As Brass #3

Buy link

Bold As Brass: M/M Paranormal Romance (Elementally Yours Book 3)

Blurb

Control is everything… until you find someone worth surrendering to.

Oliver Brass is beyond prim and proper. He’s practically English after spending years studying metal magic in posh British schools. But when a family scandal turns his world upside down and his powers stop obeying, a stiff upper lip isn’t helping him regain control. Instead, an alluring professor shows the metal mage how to surrender.

A charming educator by day and a dirty dom by night, Liam Monroe has the unique ability to control a person’s body and magic. Liam demands obedience, and even though Oliver may never stop blushing, he and his magic are eager to comply.

Everything is going well until dragons drop in with a score to settle, determined to make the wizard pay for the sins of his family. Oliver will need to rely on his powers if he has any hope of stopping the vengeful dragons… or keeping Liam. Can Oliver be bold enough to fight for the man he loves, or will it all go up in flames?

Bold as Brass features an innocent wizard being ‘corrupted’ and an intelligent literature professor who also happens to be a wicked dominant. There’s also shamelessly perverted moon rituals, literal and magical power exchange, BDSM, finding strength in unexpected places, dangerous dragons, and romantic moonlit confessions. This is the third book in the Elementally Yours series of magical gay romances. Each book features different characters and can be read alone

Review: Demon-In-Law (Gods of Chaos, #2) by Aja Foxx

Rating: 3.25🌈

It seems that every time Foxx writes a short story for an anthology, this series gets another book. The first one, How To Summon A Boyfriend, was written for the Fate’s Call Anthology – Manlove Edition. Now it’s Demon-In-Law, originally part of the Uncontrolled Chaos Anthology. It should be noted that both were revised, extended, and then relaunched for publication in their current forms.

I just hope that it doesn’t take another anthology to get a third story because there’s characters and plot lines a plenty that need additional exploration here. The mystery behind the overall arc themes is still left hanging pretty much at the end of the story.

These are short demon/human almost instantaneous mate connections that occur during a dramatic storyline that will have an ongoing arc thread and ties to a main character.

And while there’s serious topics involved, there’s no on page subject scene or raw material that would be considered extremely triggering.

It’s sweet, sexy stuff and happy endings that just so happen to be in the underworld.

The main character here, Abigor, was a gatekeeper to the underworld of the first book. Now promoted by Hades to bodyguard to Herby, Abigor’s story revolves around Jamie and his sister.

It’s a rescue, with a serious topic but while sweet, a lot of the story has dropped plot lines and issues that remain unresolved at the end of the book.

A reader is left wondering if there was a second half or more chapters that were left unfinished. Or if it’s all coming in another book.

Demon-In-Law (Gods of Chaos, #2) by Aja Foxx was a cute, quick read but wasn’t as well developed as the first.

Still entertaining and I hope Foxx returns to the series with a more balanced story soon.

Gods of Chaos:

How To Summon A Boyfriend #1

Demon-In-Law #2

Buy link

Demon-In-Law (Gods of Chaos Book 2)

Blurb

As the personal bodyguard to the consort of Hades, god of the dead and king of the underworld, I very rarely got any time off. When Hades himself gives me the day off, I had some great ideas of how to spend my free time. Only, they didn’t go according to plan. Instead, I was summoned by a human wanting to make a deal for his soul. I had a better idea.

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

Note: This story was originally part of the Uncontrolled Chaos Anthology. It has been revised and extended by 12,000 words.

Publisher: (October 27, 2023)
Publication date: October 27, 2023
Language: English
Print length: 152 pages

Review: How To Summon A Boyfriend (Gods of Chaos Book 1) by Aja Foxx

Rating: 4.25 🌈

A combination of adorable cover, terrific author, and fun title lead me to How To Summon a Boyfriend by Aja Foxx . It was everything I had hoped for.

Foxx actually had me at the idea of someone summoning a potential fake boyfriend but throw in the moniker Herby for the cute guy in need ? I’m all in.

A two person POV, we get a wide-eyed Herby who definitely sees things through a uniquely wonderful “Herby” perspective as well as a bored Hades, who’s role as the Ruler of the Underworld had gotten a tad tedious. It’s Herby who’s arrival shakes things up fundamentally.

The characters are well done, the dialogue snappy and the plot extremely well paced.

There’s so many terrific secondary characters from Lionid, to Abigor, Cerberus, and other figures of mythology.

I wish there was a bit more about Herby’s family, and those books. But it’s shorter length works against that.

I’m still so happy to have read this book. It was entertaining, a fun romance, with an exciting storyline.

I look forward to reading more from this author.

I’m recommending How To Summon a Boyfriend by Aja Foxx !

Gods of Chaos:

How To Summon A Boyfriend #1

Demon-In-Law #2

Buy link

How To Summon A Boyfriend (Gods of Chaos Book 1)

Blurb

Herby

I needed a boyfriend to keep my father from marrying me off to a man handpicked by him. What better way to get one than to summon a demon? When I found a book of shadows in my grandfather’s attic, I knew I’d found the answer, but something went wrong. Instead of summoning a demon, I ended up in hell. What was I supposed to do now?

Hades

Judging souls was boring. Ruling the underworld was boring. Everything was boring. I needed something to happen to keep me from going insane. I never imagined the fates would answer my unspoken prayer by dropping a human into the underworld, and I’d certainly never met a human quite like Herby. He confused me, amused me, and drove me crazy. Why else would I agree to be his boyfriend?

Note: This story was originally part of the Fate’s Call Anthology – Manlove Edition. It has been revised and extended by 21,000 words.

Publication date: May 6, 2022
Language: English
Print length: 23

Review: Across Space and Time (Tales from the Tarot novel) by Kit Barrie

Rating: 4🌈

Across Space and Time is Kit Barrie’s historical horror romance thriller. It’s a part of the fabulous multi-author Tales from the Tarot series which includes such elements as a mystical place called The Magic Shop with its eerie ever present, The Owner, covers which have a particular tarot card on them that relates to the story, and definitely forwards and warnings that should be read before diving into each book.

Across Time and Space does a good job in capturing the essence of the times, the disparity of the classes in terms of poverty and the inequality of how people are treated in terms of their racial background. This also applies to the illegality of those who are attracted by the same sex.

Barrie’s villains are especially heinous, their crimes are on page and disturbing. Please read the warnings.

Constable Hugh Danbury feels an emotional connection to the young victims he’s found on the backstreets of London. The “Molly boys”, young male prostitutes, are victims the London’s police aren’t seriously investigating. So he makes it his duty to seek justice and find the truth.

The story involves not only Hugh, a wonderfully layered character, but a different being, Spring-Heeled Jack. Where Hugh is well defined, Jack’s character needs more explanation or depth to really make it feel credible here. Especially with the addition of a “soulmate “ aspect to this relationship.

While the investigation, the setting, the victims, violence, and the secondary characters are all thoughtfully portrayed and vivid, Jack, Jack’s relationship with Hugh, the “insta-love” soulmate element is lacking. I just didn’t feel the chemistry that I have with other couples. A sense of growing friendship, yes, but a commitment to love. That didn’t come across.

While the horrors and grotesque events were depicted as horrifyingly raw and shocking, the aspects of the story, such as The Magic Shop and The Owner, or the Tarot, could have been woven into the narrative in a more effective manner. At least in my opinion.

There are some terrific action sequences and suspense filled scenarios to keep you turning the pages.

I’ll recommend but only for those who have read the warnings and author’s notes to begin with. Take those trigger warnings seriously.

Cover art: Fae Quin

Cover design: Amanda Meuwissen

Tales from the Tarot is a massive multi-author paranormal & fantasy MM romance collaboration. These 22 books, each by a different author, highlight the Major Arcana cards in a traditional Tarot deck – with some liberties taken, such as The Empress card being The Consort, for an all MM or gay romance focus.

Tales from the Tarot- 22 books

🔷 Where Fools Have Tread by Jennifer Cody

🔷The Magician’s Heart by J.P. Jackson

🔷Cleric of Desire by Amanda Meuwissen

🔷The Nephilim’s Touch by Morgan Lysand

🔷King of Hollywood by Fae Quin

🔷My Minotaur Daddy: An MM Romantasy by Laura Lascarso

🔷Across Space and Time by Kit Barrie

🔷Chariot of Souls by Morgan Mason

🔷By Rude Strength by K.L. Hiers

🔷Found in Obscurity by A. M. Rose

🔷Twisted Fates by Adam J. Ridley

🔷No Justice for the Damned by Hellie Heat

🔷The Angel’s Kiss by Nicholas Bella

🔷Death Song by B. Ripley

🔷Arcanum by Ashlyn Drewek

🔷The Devil’s Dilemma by Alex J. Adams

🔷Camelot’s Tower by Brooke Matthews

🔷A Highland Gargoyle’s Lucky Star

by Chloe Archer

🔷Trust in the Moon by Delaney Rain

🔷Raising the Sun by Eryn Hawk

🔷Zero Judgment by Kota Quinn

🔷The End of the World by Drake LaMarque

Buy link

Across Space and Time

Blurb:

A monster stalks London’s streets, but is he friend or foe?

Hugh Danbury knows there are monsters in the world; being a constable with London’s police has shown him that. When young homosexual men are found murdered, no one cares enough to investigate except Hugh, who has had to hide his own proclivities toward men in conservative Victorian society. In addition, there are sightings of an ephemeral creature people are calling Spring-Heeled Jack. Is this who has been committing these atrocities?

Upon confronting the mysterious Jack, Hugh learns that sometimes love can be found across space and time and that fate can bring two people together for a reason. But he also learns that there is one thing that can tear love apart: death. And it’s coming for him.

Across Space and Time is a standalone MM gaslamp-mystery romance novel as part of the multi-author collaboration Tales from the Tarot. This book is based on the major arcana card The Lovers.

Publication date: September 9, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 260 pages

Review: The Blame Game (Relationship Goals Book 5) by Brigham Vaughn

Rating: 4🌈

The Blame Game is the finale story in

Brigham Vaughn’s wonderful Relationship Goals series.

Vaughn ends the series with line center Dominic Olson, who came out to two of his teammates in the last story. The Blame Game picks up with those events, giving the reader insight into exactly how secretive Dom is about his private life, his sexuality and how shut off he’s become from his those around him.

Determined to keep his interactions with others at a superficial level, dramatic moments at the beginning of The Blame Game start to implode this mentality of his. It begins with his relationship with Sawyer Barnett aka Shea, the man he’s been paying to be his stylist as well as his escort.

Only Shea has his own secrets, plus a new sports physiotherapist day job. He’s got his own decisions to make.

I admit I found this relationship and story a bit frustrating and long. As a finale book I’m sure the author wanted to bring in all the other couples (and did), tie up loose arc plot threads, and give this team a rousing send off. Yes to that ending, absolutely. That takes a certain amount of length to execute the plot and characters.

But that long slog to an acknowledged relationship, outside of the fake boyfriend scenario, just wasn’t as satisfying as the other couples that came before. It’s a 2 person POV so we get that it’s a lopsided affair from the start. Shea has always loved him, even when it’s been a transactional relationship.

Maybe it’s that Dom is just written as spectacularly closed off and damaged but the reasons behind it are so to be revealed and his own actions in the narrative make it hard to connect with him.

Bright spots will always be Dustin and Charlie from The Husband Game, my favorite of the series. I love seeing them together and the important roles they play here. Actually it fantastic seeing all of the couples come together to share their experiences to support Dom and Shea through this process of finding a HEA.

For me, all of them were the best and that last game was everything!

This maybe leaving this team but another is set to arrive! I’m definitely looking forward for this series and that relationship which is set up here. Should be drama on the ice!

Great series, good story. A definite winner.

Buy link

The Blame Game: An M/M Hockey Romance (Relationship Goals Book 5)

Blurb

Fiery Rescue: Fisher Cats Player Heating Up the Sheets with Handsome Stranger?

Fourth line center, Dominic Olson, was spotted with an unidentified man following a fire at the High Park Towers building in Liberty Village late last night.

The fire was contained to the fifth floor where—according to firefighters from Toronto Fire Station 346—it began in one of the condo’s kitchens. Thankfully, only minor injuries were reported.

After being treated by paramedics, Olson escorted the mystery man to a black SUV and helped him inside. Although they left together, their destination is also unknown.

Traded to Toronto from the Los Angeles Suns, Olson was a major player in the team’s 2013 Stanley Cup win.

However, it’s become obvious in recent years that the aging forward is no longer the superstar he once was.

But what exactly was Olson doing at High Park Towers in the wee hours of the morning with a strange man? “Just friends,” or something more?

Though Olson has been notoriously tight-lipped about his personal life, rarely choosing to attend events with a plus one, we all know the old adage: where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS:

The Blame Game contains scenes with an apartment fire, parental neglect/estrangement, mild internalized homophobia, accidental mixing of medication leading to a health scare, and two short scenes with sexual harassment from a side character.

This romance also includes found family, fake relationship, out for you, and he falls first/he falls harder tropes, along with a positive attitude toward escort work as a career (MCs are only with each other in the book).

Publisher: Two Peninsulas Press (August 30, 2024)
Publication date: August 30, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 649 pages

Review: Covington Acres (Briar County Book 5) by Riley Hart

Rating: 4🌈

Covington Acre is another low-angst, sweet contemporary romance in Riley Hart’s Briar County series. Located in Hart’s beautifully realized town of Harmony in Briar County , North Carolina. In this series, the author has written about the Covington family, their children and partners, their own children, as well as the extended family and towns members of Harmony to the point everyone within these stories had become familiar and real.

Covington Acres charts the romantic journey of two different men, each of whom the readers have met through previous books.

One is Vincent O’Brien, mid 40’s, former boyfriend of Holden, now best friend, who has moved to Harmony. Vince works on the Covington farms and lives with Colby Covington, a man who secretly believes himself broken.

Colby thinks that because all his romantic relationships have been unsuccessful he’s unable to find and fall in love. He’s frustrated with his life and can’t figure out why.

For both men, it’s their deep friendship and feelings about each other that’s one of the most powerful and satisfying things about their lives.

Covington Acres is a warm-hearted, sweet, friends to lovers romance. These two make perfect sense, have great chemistry, and it’s a slow realization that brings together past histories, a new awareness of demisexuality, and acceptance that allows them to grow together.

It culminates in the wedding of the original couple, Monroe “Roe” Covington and Holden Barnett. We see all the other couples, the teenagers, and family members who have been part of this series and multiple stories. This has all the feel of a series finale. If so, it’s a genuinely terrific one. In the same lovely, gentle tone as the town and its people .

If you love contemporary romance, check out this series and book. It’s a sweet, satisfying read.

Briar County :

Firefly Lane #1

Sundae’s Best #2

The Creek #3

Covington Acres #4

Buy link

Covington Acres (Briar County Book 4)

Blurb:

Colby Covington has no clue if there’s anything in the world for him beyond Briar County. His family assumes he’ll do as they do: work Covington Acres, get married, have kids. Colby doesn’t want children, and seeing as he’s never felt even an inkling of romantic love for another person, he sure as hell isn’t interested in marriage.

In his mid-forties, Vincent O’Brien is starting over in the small town of Harmony. After being cheated on, again, he’s sworn off ever falling in love. As fate would have it, Vince needs a place to stay, and Colby has a spare room.

With an immediate connection that shakes up Colby’s sheltered world, neither man expects their friendship to blossom so fast…or for a semi-public hookup to make Colby realize he’s bi. Friends with benefits is perfect. It’s easy, it’s fun, they trust each other, and neither Vince nor Colby wants anything serious.

But the more their lives intertwine, the more Colby starts to feel something he’d thought himself incapable of. Something like love, with Vince…the man who will never feel—or want—the same.

Covington Acres is a small-town, bisexual/demiromantic awakening, friends-with-benefits romance with mature characters, home-brewed beer, and secret kisses.

Publisher: Riley Hart (August 1, 2024)
Publication date: August 1, 2024
Language: English
Print length: 238 pages

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