Lessons in Power (2009) Charlie Cochrane (Cambridge Fellows) Set in England in 1907 Orlando is not best pleased when Matthew Ainslie visits–he and Jonty are settling into their new home–but is willing to listen to what the man wants. What he wants is for Orlando and Jonty to look into the murder of which his […]

Lessons in Discovery (2009) Charlie Cochrane (Cambridge Fellows) Set in England in 1906 Amnesia! An historical murder! Letters hidden for centuries! It’s been a year since Jonty and Orlando met, but they didn’t expect to spend their first anniversary in the infirmary, with Orlando suffering from a concussion and a complete loss of memory of […]

Lessons in Desire (2009) Charlie Cochrane (Cambridge Fellows) Set in England in 1906 Jonty and Orlando take a vacation! Murder ensues! That’s the summation, but it isn’t at all the feel of the story, just so you know. Unsurprisingly, Orlando has never taken a vacation. “It sounds delightful, Jonty,” Orlando said, with liar written plain […]

Life’s Too Short (2021) Abby Jimenez (The Friend Zone) After her sister’s death and the realization she had no idea how long she herself had to live, Vanessa Price quit her job and decided to follow her dream of traveling the world. “I never save anything,” I said, grabbing the bottle opener on the counter. […]

Lessons in Love (2008) Charlie Cochrane (Cambridge Fellows) Set in England in 1905. Jonty has returned to St Bride’s College as a fellow in English. He is immediately drawn to dark, silent, and grumpy mathematics fellow Orlando Coppersmith. The words aren’t used (because of the setting) but Orlando is very clearly demi. Orlando thought it […]

Jericho Candelario’s Gay Debut (2018) R. Cooper I needed the softest and fluffiest of escapes, so I turned to this, even though it hadn’t been that long since my last reread. Because Jerry is sweet and adorable. They always asked for him. Probably because a slender, average-sized man with a low voice was a lot […]

Conventional Shadows (2022) Lissa Kasey (A Simply Crafty Paranormal Mystery) Alex and Micah are taking a trip to an anime convention–one that will hopefully go better than the previous convention they went to, which ended up with Alex bringing home a ghost cat. Alex is still learning about crafting, but is more than happy to […]

The Missing Page (2022) Cat Sebastian (Page & Sommers) Set in England in 1948. It has only been a few months since James and Leo met during a murder case, but Leo is now claiming James “spare room” as his landing place when he is home from whatever missions he is sent out on. But […]

Reflection of a Curse (2022) Lissa Kasey (Romancing a Curse) After getting the second story in this series for free last winter, I’ve been getting Lissa Kasey’s newsletter, and in the fall she started sharing chapters of this story in the news letter, and to her Patreon followers. About six chapters in I finally started […]

The Mystery of the Spirits (2021) C.S. Poe (Snow & Winter) This is the fifth Snow & Winter mystery. Sebastian and Calvin are happily married, and Sebastian has managed to avoid getting involved in murders–until now. “We should get one of those OSHA scoreboards for the shop. You know, for recording accidents? Except we record […]

Nearly a Lady (2016) Alissa Johnson (Haverston Family) Set in Scotland and England during the Regency. Lord Gideon Haverston and his brother are discovering the full duplicity of their step-mother, as his brother–the new Marquess–tries to straighten out the family finances. Their most disturbing discovery is a young woman who was supposed to be the […]

Check, Please! Book 2: Sticks & Scones (2020) Ngozi Ukazu Jack has graduated and gone to the NHL. Bitty remains at Samwell, still playing hockey, and unable to talk about his relationship–both for fear or jeopardizing Jack’s career and because he still hasn’t come out to his own family. OMG IT IS SO SWEET! This […]

Check, Please! Book 1: # Hockey (2018) Ngozi Ukazu Eric Bittle may be a former junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and very talented amateur pâtissier, but being a freshman on the Samwell University hockey team is a whole new challenge. It is nothing like co-ed club hockey back in Georgia! I love this comic […]

Possessed by Shadows (2021) Lissa Kasey (Simply Crafty) Alex may be content trying to let his past go, but his brother isn’t. He’d decided to go from police homicide detective, to paranormal detective. I was not a fan. But he didn’t see the same sort of stuff I did, and it seemed to be a […]

Marked by Shadows (2020) Lissa Kasey (Simply Crafty) Micah has a complicated past. But he’s happy where he is now: running a craft shop and spending time with Alexis. Even if the ghost tours can be a little stressful. I watched other ghost hunters, or paranormal enthusiasts as they called themselves, do something called ‘provoking […]

Stalked by Shadows (2019) Lissa Kasey (Simply Crafty) Alexis Caine received a medical discharge from the army after witnessing an attack that the government insisted could not have happened the way he stated. After a stint in a mental hospital, he goes home with his twin, to try and restart his life. My social services […]

The Nobleman’s Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks (2021) Mackenzi Lee (Montague Siblings) Nearly 20 years have passed since Monty (and then Felicity) fled England and their father. In the mean time, their younger brother has grown into an adult–but one with his own problems. Adrian has struggled with his mind his entire life, but after […]

Who Killed Sherlock Holmes? (2016) Paul Cornell (Shadow Police) The third–and seemingly final–book of the Shadow Police series. The story opens with a bank robbery. ‘I won’t tell you!’ she shouted. ‘I can!’ Kevin insisted, pointing at himself. The stormtrooper paused awkwardly again. He obviously had as little idea as she did what Kevin’s weird […]

The Severed Streets (2014) Paul Cornell (Shadow Police) When the Secretary of the Treasury is killed violently and inexplicably, Quill’s group is certain the case falls to their remit–even if they are the only ones who know it. ‘We’ve been given access to … advanced sensor … techniques, the details of which we can’t go […]

Sweetest in the Gale (2020) Olivia Dade (There’s Something About Marysburg) This is actually three novellas, all set in the town of Marysburg: “Sweetest in the Gale”, “Unraveled”, “Cover Me” “Sweetest in the Gale” Griff Conover has worked with Candy Albright since moving to Marysville, and he’s always had his eye on her. But his […]

Galaxies and Oceans (2018) N.R. Walker Apparently my brain things I need to be having feelings. Grief was like the great Southern Ocean; it moved in ebbs and flows, often turbulent and rough, or peaceful and settled, and even over time when I could navigate the waters, the tide never stopped. “(S)ometimes you have to […]

Rend (2018) Roan Parrish (Riven) Matt Argento was abandoned as a child, and from that moment on has never felt himself to be enough. To be deserving. He has a job he loves, but in the back of his mind he still expects everything to be taken away. “You were so used to things being […]

London Falling (2012) Paul Cornell (Shadow Police) Me, to myself. “I haven’t read the Shadow Police series in awhile”. Also me, “It’s really dark.” “I know it’s dark! I read it and listened to it!” “Are you sure you’re up for that right now?” (stomps off in a huff to read London Falling.) Oh. Yeah. […]

Riven (2018) Roan Parrish (Riven) This book is full of so many strong feelings and so much angst, yet bits and pieces of it kept tugging on my mind, so I decided to reread. “Don’t ever apologize for doing what you need to be okay,” he said. But still the shame trickled through me like […]

The Love Study (2020) Kris Ripper To say that Declan has commitment issues is an understatement. He left his boyfriend (and best friend) at the altar, and refuses every offer of permanent employment he receives, preferring to remain with the temp agency. What I especially like about temping at offices: never feeling like I’m trapped […]

The Charm Offensive (2021) Alison Cochrun I am having a really hard time writing this review. Because I keep diving back into the book and reading passages an getting sucked back in. Charlie Winshaw was forced out of the company he helped found, and now he’s hoping to rehabilitate his image by appearing on a […]

The Lion Tamer (2018) Dahlia Donovan (The Sin Bin) As noted throughout the series, Scottie us a wreck, who is incapable of being a functioning adult. Scottie sat up slowly and glanced around to find the scenery had changed quite significantly. “Why the fuck am I in a hospital bed?” Taine placed a hand on […]

The Unexpected Santa (2017) Dahlia Donovan (Sin Bin) This story is is a glimpse of the start of the relationship between Scottie and Gray. Scottie is a mess. He’d never possessed the tools to deal with the chaos of emotions in his life. It always funnelled into anger. The rage burned in him. Seriously, he […]

The Botanist (2017) Dahlia Donovan (The Sin Bin) This story takes place over the course of about two years, and opens with Aled being rescued by Wyatt. (The damage to Aded all occurs off the page, by Wyatt is there for the immediate aftermath.) Although it is a romance, most of the story is about […]

After the Scrum (2016) Dahlia Donovan Francis Keen is perfectly happy living in Looe with his grandmother. He doesn’t want to leave her alone, and if it helps his anxiety, that’s not a bad thing either. And since he is a somewhat successful interior designer, it’s pretty good. He hated leaving his small workspace in […]

The Lights on Knockbridge Lane (2021) Roan Parrish (Garnet Run) Adam had always wanted to be a father. What he didn’t expect was to end up a single parent, back in the hometown he ran away from as soon as he graduated, relying on his sibling to help him with child care. And Adam is […]

Team Phison Forever (2019) Chace Verity (Team Phison) Tyson Falls loves Phil and wants to propose. But the discovery that he has a half-sister–and a sister who is apparently loved by the father who disowned Tyson–makes him doubt the concept of family and his own suitability for having one. “Things are good the way they […]

Hither, Page (2019) Cat Sebastian (Page & Sommers) Set in England in 1946. Leo Page works for a government agency that kept him going all over the continent–first to try and keep England from war, and then trying to help get them out of it faster. He has no illusions about what he does, and […]

Best Laid Plans (2021) Roan Parrish (Garnet Run) This is another story where both characters have dealt with a lot, but we see they learned healthy ways to deal with their shit. He looked at the situation and chose to acknowledge all the dimensions of it. Dimensions (as he thought of them) weren’t positive or […]

Better Than People (2020) Roan Parrish (Garnet Run) One of the things that resonated so strongly with me was the misery of being laid up after a bad break that requires you to stay off your feet. Every day had dilated to a month, every night to a year, and Jack found himself wishing for […]

The Ruin of a Rake (2017) Cat Sebastian (The Turner Series) Set in London in 1817 All Courtenay really wants is to see his nephew. But his past (and other circumstances) have made it so Radnor is refusing to allow him any contact. Courtenay was effectively stranded in London, a city populated by people who […]

The Lawrence Browne Affair (2017) Cat Sebastian (The Turner Series) Set in England in 1816 Lawrence Browne is waiting to go mad. In the meantime, he’s trying to be useful, putting his efforts into various inventions, but refusing to let anyone get close to him, for fear of taking them down with him. Penkellis was […]

Model Exposure (2017) Lissa Kasey (Haven Investigations) This picks up immediately after the end of the previous book. Ollie is healing, but so is Kade. But Kade doesn’t like having to admit that he needs help, and fears that if he needs help, he’ll lose Ollie. “Ollie needs me.” He was healing from a (thing). […]

Model Investigator (2017) Lissa Kasey (Haven Investigations) Back to Ollie, this book takes off after the events of the previous book–which ended on a cliffhanger. First and foremost, this is one of the few mysteries I’ve ever read that actually has characters deal with some of the real-life consequences of repeated concussion. The sparkles around […]

Model Bodyguard (2016) Lissa Kasey (Haven Investigations) The second book in the Haven Investigations series switches from Oliver’s POV to Kade’s POV. Which is fantastic, because Oliver sees Kade as strong and almost perfect, whereas Kade actually? A huge mess. This was the stuff of nightmares— a mental hospital. It wasn’t my first trip. No, […]

Model Citizen (2015) Lissa Kasey (Haven Investigations) Oliver Petroskovic hoped that once he bought the house his life would start to be more settled. Sure, he’d do more modeling gigs, but with the house he was finally able to repay his brother for the years spent raising him. He’d paid for private school and attended […]

The Hanged Man (2019) K. D. Edwards (The Tarot Sequence) Occasionally, it takes time for me to realize how good a book is. Other times, I know it’s good, but don’t realize just how much the story is going to stick with me. The Atlantean World War was brief. The cost was high. Magically radioactive […]

The Last Sun (2018) K.D. Edwards (The Tarot Sequence) My name is Rune Saint John. I am, before anything else, a survivor: of a fallen House, of a brutal assault, of violent allies and complacent enemies, of life among a people who turned their back on me decades ago. KD Edwards recently published several short […]

Poisoned Primrose Dahlia Donovan (2020) Poisoned Primrose (Motts Cold Case Mystery) Motts is a 39 year-old asexual, biromantic autistic who is living on her own for the first time in a house left to her by her aunt. Unfortunately, when digging up the untended garden, remains are discovered, which causes no end of problems for […]

Play It Again (2019) Aidan Wayne Dovid had been a pretty typical child. Just that, thanks to medulloepithelioma— a type of incredibly invasive cancer— he grew up missing two parts a typical child possessed, after they were removed in order to get rid of the cancer entirely. But he kept bumping into chairs. The tables […]

Arctic Sun (2019) Annabeth Albert (Frozen Hearts) “Food sounds good,” River lied. The alarm on his phone earlier had said it was time to eat, so he would. It’s partly control— I don’t like not having charge of what happens— but it’s also wrapped up in my body image stuff and the eating disorder. I […]

That Kind of Guy (2019) Talia Hibbert (Ravenswood) (N)ecessity was the mother of every skill Zach had. Growing up poor with a busy single parent and a missing older brother had led him to learn a lot of practical shit at a very young age. The hard way. And those skills had never been allowed […]

Untouchable (2018) Talia Hibbert (Ravenswood) “So, just to be clear,” she said slowly, “you are not concerned by my numerous criminal convictions.” “Nah. I’m used to having a convicted criminal in the house.” “You… are?” “Yeah.” He leaned in close, his expression conspiratorial, and she couldn’t help it— she leaned in too. Then he whispered, […]

Damaged Goods (2018) Talia Hibbert (Ravenswood) The worst thing about Samir’s parents— worse than the cruelty, the manipulation, the toxicity— was the fact that Samir had loved them. She was pregnant, and pregnant people were like the Pope, right? You had to treat them with total respect, even in your own head, just in case […]

Shores of Desire (1997) Tracy Grant (Lescaut Quartet) Set in Scotland, Belgium, and France in 1815 “I’m sorry.” Melton’s eyes warmed with sympathy. “I wish there was more I could say. But if there are words that ease such a grief, I have yet to discover them.” “Don’t worry, Em. Leave it to the men.” […]