The Mystery of Nevermore (2016) C.S. Poe (Snow & Winter) Sebastian Snow’s relationship with his boyfriend has been circling the drain for years. But things come to a head and Sebastian is involved in a crime, and Neil’s only concern is to keep from being outed to his co-workers. “Where were you Sunday night?” Lancaster […]
The Hanged Man (2019) K. D. Edwards (The Tarot Sequence) The world changed decades ago. The Atlantean World War was brief. The cost was high. Magically radioactive wastes in the Pacific Northwest and half of Poland; the near-extinction of dragonkind; a viral plague that decimated the Atlantean homeland. A hundred thousand headstones, trillions in damage. […]
The Gentle Art of Fortune Hunting (2021) K.J. Charles Set in Historical London Robin Loxleigh and his sister Marianne have come to London to seek their fortunes, each seeking a wealthy spouse. Unfortunately for Robin, the young lady he has set his sights for, has a very protective uncle who is determined to prove that […]
Best Laid Plans (2021) Roan Parrish (Garnet Run) Charlie Matheson cares for people. It’s what he’s done since his parents died and he became guardian for his brother and took over the family business. Rye Janssen has spent his time bouncing from place to place, never finding a home. So when he learns that his […]
Just a Little Wickedness (2020) Merry Farmer (The Brotherhood) Set in London in 1890 Joe Logan came to London to search for his sister, who went missing while working as a maid at Eccles family, so he’s become a valet to the son. Lord Alistair Bevan is his father’s heir, and is feeling pressured to […]
Heir to a Curse (2020) Lissa Kasey (Romancing a Curse) This story is set during the pandemic. Zach Frank is struggling with inheriting a cursed house. Not just–or even mostly–because of the curse, but because of the loss of the woman who left the house to him. The woman who was to all intents and […]
Mystery at the Masquerade (2021) Josh Lanyon (Secrets and Scrabble) The third book in the Secrets and Scrabble series finds Ellery back to “just friends” with Jack Carter, the sheriff. Luckily he has plenty to keep him busy. Like his book store. Ellery set about opening the shop for the day. Or, in other words, […]
Dine with Me (2019) Layla Reyne DINE WITH ME— THE CULINARY EXPERIENCE OF A LIFETIME Tour the country and experience the best meals in America with a Michelin-starred chef as your guide. Two weeks, eight incredible meals, coast-to-coast destinations. A once in a lifetime opportunity for food and travel enthusiasts. Singles or couples welcome. Please […]
Marine Biology (2010) G. L. Carriger (San Andreas Shifters) This is a short story featuring werewolves and merpeople and selkies. Alec is a marine biologist and hides as much of himself as he can from his pack. Because they definitely won’t appreciate that he’s gay. But when a crush from high school shows up, needing […]
The Weddings (2019) Alexander Chee (Inheritance collection) Let me be clear: this is not a romance. Jack Cho never quite expected gay marriage to become legal, so he’s not quite sure how to navigate them–especially with a relatively new boyfriend. Now that he was going to weddings, he had become aware there was an etiquette […]
Bound by Memories (2020) Kaje Harper (Necromancer) This is a holiday short story. Silas and Darien are sent to deal with a ghost at a Christmas tree farm. And Ferngold (head of the local guild) is not pleased about Pip and is blaming both Darien and Silas for Pip’s existence. I quite liked the story […]
Powered by Ghosts (2020) Kaje Harper (Necromancer) Set in alternate 1963 Darien is free of his ghosts (literally) and has become Silas’ apprentice. However, he still has work to do, being a necromancer, and so the two end up dealing with a ghost problem, in a town where the local necromancer is too busy caring […]
It Takes Two to Tumble (2017) Cat Sebastian (Seducing the Sedgwicks) Set in England in 1817. Comfort reread. I felt so aggravated by the time I finished the 4th book of the Parasol Protectorate I needed something I knew I was going to love. Since I had just recommended this to someone, I decided it […]
Grilled Cheese and Goblins: Adventures of a Supernatural Food Inspector (2018) Nicole Kimberling “Cherries Worth Getting” from Irregulars (2012) “Cookie Jamboree” “The Little Golden Book of Goblin Stories” “Magically Delicious” from Charmed and Dangerous (2015) “The Most Important Meal of The Day” “Bring Out Your Best” Keith Curry is a supernatural food inspector. He works […]
Grumpy Bear (2021) Slade James (Bear Camp) Coleman Sawyer runs a gay clothing optional camp. Luke Cody is headed back to the south after yet another bad relationship, and another failure to launch his career as a singer-songwriter. When he’s told there’s temporary work at Bear Mountain Lodge that might help him land on his […]
The Hockey Player’s Snow Day (2021) Jeff Adams (Hockey Hearts) Nick is heading to his friends’ place for a short vacation during the All-Star Weekend. But failing to pay attention to the weather leaves his stranded alongside the road, trudging to the nearest sign of humanity. Shawn loves his home in the woods, and the […]
Fake Date Flip-Flop (2021) Hank Edwards Nash is looking forward to his niece’s wedding. He isn’t looking forward to all the questions and comments about his ex. Tobias is back in town for his 30th high school reunion, but isn’t looking forward to it, since he’s only there to support one of his friends who […]
Wonderstruck (2021) Allie Therin (Magic in Manhattan) Set in New York and other locales in 1925 Arthur and Rory are searching for a way to destroy the magical artifact that could be used to enslave non-magical minds, not just because it is evil, but because an evil man is searching to control it himself. But […]
Open for Business (2016) Angel Martinez (Brandywine Investigations) Gods are real. They’ve always been around. You just never guessed that mogul was actually the god of thieves or that an agent of chaos now runs the local funeral parlor. Hades has been sued for divorce. Persephone wants to be her own woman, live her own […]
Candy Hearts (2000) Erin McLellan (So Over the Holidays) If you’re read this blog for more than a handful of months, you know that casual sex doesn’t work for my in stories. It’s a me thing, and I’m ok with that. But I’ve been struggling, and needed something that was over-the-top sweet, and remembered this […]
The Last Sun (2018) K. D. Edwards (The Tarot Sequence) Rune is the last member of his house, excluding his Companion, Brand, the man who has been his bodyguard and confidant and friend since he was a child. He is also a mercenary, using as much power and technology as they can afford, to do […]
Jericho Candelario’s Gay Debut (2018) R. Cooper I am struggling pretty hard right now, so I needed a story that was going to let me feel things, but in a soft way, and that would be a hug. This is a love story in two parts. First, of Jericho’s love for his family and their […]
The Hideaway Inn (2020) Philip William Stover (Seasons of New Hope) Vince Amato heading to New Hope for an investment. To make money after everything in New York went down in flames. He may be built and fit and wear bespoke suits, but inside he seems to still be Skinny Vinny, the bullied boy who […]
A Gentleman Never Keeps Score (2018) Cat Sebastian (Seducing the Sedgwicks) Set in London in 1817 This is a reread, but one of a different type. I did a group read with several people on the the reddit r/romancebooks, where we read five chapters then chatted about all our thoughts. As may be blindingly obvious […]
Marked by Death (2020) Kaje Harper (Necromancer) Set in an alternate 1963. Darien is out of alternatives. Demons or ghosts, whatever keeps invading his mind and body is quickly driving him crazy. So he seeks out the town’s necromancer, in the hope he’ll be able to help. Silas has power, but he doesn’t have any […]
The Husband Gambit (2018) L.A. Witt Marry me for 1 year. Payment: $ 1.2 million. I’m a man looking for a temporary husband. $ 100K per month. Cohabitation, legal marriage, and NDA are required. Sex is not. Contact for more info. The ad seems like either a joke, or something posted by a serial killer, […]
Making Love (2017) Aidan Wayne Carla wants to be cupid that finds and brings about True Love. But although her aim is perfect, her ability to figure out who to aim at… is much less so. “Oh,” Carla said, abashed. She’d seen the travel match in both of their profiles and hadn’t dug deeper to […]
White Trash Warlock (2020) David R. Slayton (Adam Binder) This… did not end as cleanly as I was hoping it would. Adam Binder has the sight. It hasn’t done him much good in his life, what with his brother helping to put him in an institution when he was a teen, and it not being […]
Changing Colors (2018) Elyse Springer (Seasons of Love Book) I got 43% done and decided I just couldn’t finish it. 43% and then I just read the final two chapters. Which was just a little further than I got on the previous book in this series, Heat Wave, that I also DNFed. Which is bizarre, […]
The Tea Dragon Society (2020) K. O’Neill This is an odd little story. It’s about a girl, who is learning how to be a blacksmith. She finds a lost dragon and returns it to its owner, and slowly learns about tea dragons. And also slowly becomes friends not just with the dragons owner, but with […]
Come Unto These Yellow Sands (2017) Josh Lanyon Professor Sebastian Swift was raised to be a poet–and it almost destroyed him. Now he is content teaching. But when a students shows up at his office, beaten and desperate, Swift makes a choice that may well cause him his job–and his lover, the chief of police. […]
Right after New Year I stumbled across Prolific Works Winter Giveaway and picked up a bunch of free ebooks. Since many were short stories, I decided to only do individual reviews if the ebook was a novel or novella and if I really liked it. I haven’t read all the stories yet, but I have […]
Cry Wolf (2021) Charlie Adhara (Big Bad Wolf) Cooper Dayton is under significant pressure: His family wants all the details about his upcoming wedding to Oliver Park and Cooper has none to give them. Cooper groaned. “Who’s coming is the hardest part.” “Well, there’s us, of course. What about Oliver’s family? You’re going to invite […]
The Gangster (2021) C.S. Poe (Magic & Steam) Set in Steampunk New York in 1882. Special Agent Gillian Hamilton of the Federal Bureau of Magic and Steam is back in New York, and hoping to spend New Years Eve with Gunnar the Deadly–who he met in the first book, when he was out west. A […]
Mr. Right Now (2019) Annabeth Albert When Russ offered to make Thanksgiving dinner for his sister’s family (including her mother-in-law who is also Russ’ boss) his new boyfriend was going to help him. But when Soren dumps him the day before Thanksgiving, he decides to try it on his own, to show that he is […]
Let Your Heart Be Light (2019) J.R. Lawrie This is a collection of three short stories, two of which are about the same couple. Kind Of A Big Deal For Services Rendered The Farringdon Club This first story is “Kind Of A Big Deal” features Zack, who is a stand-up comedian, and Richard, who is […]
A Midnight Clear (2020) Kaje Harper This was another pleasant surprise. This was another book from the Winter Wonderland giveaway of holiday stories, and after the first story I read, I didn’t have the highest expectations for the rest of the books. But this one was also quite good. Adric and Royce are roommates studying […]
Recipe for a Curse (2021) Lissa Kasey (Romancing a Curse) I downloaded this novella as part of a Winter Wonderland giveaway of holiday short stories and novellas. As the first story I read wasn’t good, I haven’t expected too much from the other stories I’ve read. Montana works as a chef for a retreat in […]
Getting It Right (2015) A.M. Arthur (Restoration) Nathan Wolf and James Taggart have been best friends for half their lives. “Thank God for Gina, or you’d never eat.” “Fuck you, Wolf. I can cook just fine.” “Only you don’t, because you’re lazy.” “True.” And James has been in love with Nate for most of that. […]
So We Meet-Cute Again (2019) Geneva Vand Aiden and Jason keep seeing each other everywhere–at the coffee shop, and the local market, at the grocery store, on the street–so much that each feels like he’s stalking the other. There was nothing at all wrong with this story. My problem is that once the two had […]
Little Wolf (2015) R. Cooper (Beings in Love) Tim Littlewolf ran to Wolf’s Paw to try and (at least briefly) find sanctuary on his run from his uncle and his uncle’s henchman. “Who meant well, Tim?” Nathaniel was right in front of him, larger than before, as if he’d straightened in response to a threat. […]
A Beginner’s Guide to Wooing Your Mate (2015) R. Cooper (Beings in Love) Zeki Janowitz has returned to Wolf’s Paw while trying to figure out what to do with himself now he’s finally graduated college. If attending high school in one of the longest surviving werewolf refuges in the country had taught him anything, it […]
Not So Cookie Cutter (2019) Aidan Wayne Jerrell is content being second baker, but he doesn’t mind taking over the kitchen when his co-worker is out sick. What he doesn’t expect is to be called out front so a customer can talk to him. He clasped his hands behind his back, at-ease stance so he […]
Loud and Clear (2016) Aidan Wayne Let me state first that the cover may be innocuous, but it also gives you completely the wrong idea about the book. There are no car chases are action scenes, it’s just that one character is a cab driver in the city. Jaxon may be a high school drop […]
Gay All Year (2020) Richard May These are twelve short stories–one for each month of the year–with a variety of men in a variety of situations, including age differences, second chances, friends to lovers, some supernatural elements and a BDSM story. Which is a lot. As with most anthologies, I didn’t love all the stories, […]
There Galapagos My Heart (2020) Philip William Stover (Love Beyond Boundaries) Mike Davis is perfectly content being an account manager. Of course he’d rather be an artist, but after his mother got sick he needed a job and it’s not a bad thing to be comfortable. I can never go back to not knowing where […]
Sergeant Delicious (2020) Annabeth Albert I shouldn’t have started off today with a Josh Lanyon short story. No other short story was going to measure up (unless it was another Josh Lanyon short story, which I don’t seem to have on my TBR pile.) Xavier is going to be discharged in just a few weeks. […]
New Game, Start (2017) C.S. Poe This is a perfectly fine story. I just feel like it needed to be a lot longer for what happened, because what did occur happened so fast it was almost out of left field. I mean, it took place over the course of a week–and during that week they […]
Requiem for Mr. Busybody (2020) Josh Lanyon Michael misses his days as a crime reporter. His life now consists mostly of his apartment building and his research. But when his elderly neighbor disappears, Michael reaches out to his ex, Detective Leonard Drake with his concerns. Here’s the thing about Josh Lanyon: She’s really good at […]
Angels Sing (2019) Eli Easton (Daddy Dearest) Jamie Bailey has been a single dad since he was eighteen. He still managed to go to college, but stayed in his small town to help his uncle run his bookstore (after all, his uncle gave him a job when he was an eighteen-year-old single father trying to […]