Glass Tidings (2016) Amy Jo Cousins Eddie Rodrigues is back on the road, heading to Texas–like he should have in the first place. But a breakdown and then witnessing a hit and run leaves him stuck in the small town of Clear Lake, an unwelcome guest of a man who owns a Christmas shop. Grayson […]
Conventionally Yours (2020) Annabeth Albert (True Colors) I tend to really like Annabeth Albert’s writing, but I generally dislike enemies to lovers tropes, so I wasn’t sure this was for me. until someone mentioned that not only was there no hate-boinking in this story, there was no explicit on-the-page sex. Conrad Stewart and Alden Roth […]
Boyfriend Material (2020) Alexis Hall I don’t care that I just read this. I managed to hold off before re-reading, and then tore through it, no better able to put it down in a second read than it was on the first read. In fact, I’m lucky I didn’t just go back to the beginning […]
His Mossy Boy (2017) R. Cooper (Beings in Love) This story has problems, most of which are editing related. But I was also unable to put it down. Martin Dyer is a mess. He drinks too much and smokes too much weed in an attempt to escape from his brain and the pressure his mother […]
A Boy and His Dragon (2013) R. Cooper I was perusing ebooks on sale and came across an R Cooper fantasy romance. Then I saw that it was available from the library. So I checked it out. And then realized they didn’t have the kindle edition so I had to read it on my phone. […]
Gifts for the Season: Winter & Christmas MM Charity Anthology (2020) This is an anthology of short stories, which are always to have some stories that don’t work for me. The issue with this anthology is that there were short stories–most of which were quite good–and there were tales that could not stand alone outside […]
Tales from the Folly: A Rivers of London Short Story Collection (2020) Ben Aaronovitch This is a collection of Rivers of London short stories. About half the stories are are Peter stories, the others features other characters from the world, including Abigail and Dominic Croft (from Foxglove Summer). PART ONE: THE PETER GRANT STORIES The […]
And Everything Nice (2016) Ada Maria Soto This in adorable romance about baking as a way of saying I love you. Or at least, I’m interested in you. He held out the plate. He’d gone for his chocolate-chip cookies, always a good icebreaker. They weren’t too large, making them harder to justify refusing. He used […]
Kneading You (2016) C.S. Poe (A Lancaster Story) Christopher Hughes desperately needs a job, and when the position of small town librarian opens up, he leaps at the opportunity. But the library is under threat, since a developer wants the land for a cell tower and shopping mall. “This library is not cost-effective. It’s really […]
Joy (2017) C.S. Poe (A Lancaster Story) The pandemic is about to get worse. The election is Tuesday. We hit a deer on the interstate and our car is now in the shop. Nothing by comfort reading for me right now. This story is just so adorable, it’s precisely what I needed. I noticed over […]
Three Stupid Weddings (2018) Ann Gallagher The world is terrible. I wanted something cute to re-read, without any boinking. This fit the bill. Please note that one character is trying to deal with an eating disorder that developed from emotional abuse from his ex-boyfriend, but it’s not heavy. the “you need to gain weight” crowd […]
Ben’s Bakery and the Hanukkah Miracle (2018) Penelope Peters Adam Bernard has spent the last ten years caring for his father and coaching his pee-wee hockey team. He could have made the NHL draft, but caring for his father was more important than hockey. But now his team has been invited to a tournament in […]
Elements of Retrofit (2017) N.R. Walker (Thomas Elkin) Thomas Elkin is 44, divorced, and a senior partner in a prestigious architecture firm. What he doesn’t expect is to fall for one of the summer interns–a man who is also a friend of his son. So. Yeah. Not my thing. I don’t love the age difference […]
Blind Faith (2013) N.R. Walker (Blind Faith) Carter Reece has moved to Boston to take a position a veterinary clinic. One of the unexpected things is that the clinic still does house calls for a few people–one of whom is Isaac Brannigan–a man who uses brashness and arrogance to hide his fear of losing those […]
For Real (2018) Alexis Hall (Spires) This was really really not my thing. Yet I couldn’t stop reading. Laurence Dalziel has grown weary of the local BDSM scene. It gives him some of what he needs–but so much else of what he wants is nowhere to be found. So it is as much a shock […]
Glitterland (2018) Alexis Hall (Spires) I kept reading the synopsis of this story and thinking, “I don’t know if this is my kind of story.” But I utterly adored Boyfriend Material as well as Waiting for the Flood, so I decided to try it. It opens with a the aftermath of a one-night-stand and the […]
A Study in Honor (2018) Claire O’Dell (The Janet Watson Chronicles) Here’s the deal. I don’t like SF. I don’t like dystopias. But I love mysteries, and I’m a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, although I really dislike Sherlock Holmes stories that were NOT written by ACD. So this was not going to be an easy […]
Passing Strange (2017) Ellen Klages Set in San Francisco in 1940. Haskel is an artist who makes her living doing pulp covers. She and her friends live on the edge of polite society, either because they aren’t white or because of their sexuality, but they are found family. “Ah, Jack. You failed the three-garment test […]
Galaxies and Oceans (2018) N.R. Walker I know it’s only been a month since I read this the first time, but it came to mind for a recommendation request, and I went to look for a specific quote, and, well. I re-read the entire thing. Grief was like the great Southern Ocean; it moved in […]
Two Rogues Make a Right (2020) Cat Sebastian (Seducing the Sedgwicks) Set in London ~1817-1818 Will Sedgwick’s best friend, Martin Easterbrook, had been found fevered and somewhat delusional in the attic of Hartley Sedgwick’s home (a home that by rights should have belonged to Martin). So Will stole him away to the country in the […]
A Delicate Deception (2019) Cat Sebastian (Regency Imposters) Set in England in 1824 Amelia Allenby fled London to escape what she felt was an impending madness. She’s now comfortable in Derbyshire, but still tries to avoid everyone. But a hulking man interrupts her daily walk, and eventually her annoyance changes to something else. Sydney may […]
Something to Talk About (2020) Meryl Wilsner Jo Jones is a Big Deal in Hollywood. She started out as a child star, then went on to script-writing and producing, and although she’s currently working on an award-winning show, she wants to do something else–a super hero movie. He didn’t come out and say it was […]
Finders Keepers (2018) N.R. Walker After reading two Roan Parrish books–which are very angsty–I needed something super fluffy and happy. This is it. Griffin Burke has moved from Brisbane to Coolum Beach to take a new job–a promotion and a new place to explore. But when he finds a lost dog, he may be starting […]
Invitation to the Blues (2018) Roan Parrish (Small Change) This story is not for everyone. So there I was, working in my younger brother’s sandwich shop to make rent after moving out of my parents’ house, where I’d gone to temporarily lie low when I was released from the hospital I ended up in after […]
Raze (2019) Roan Parrish (Riven) Huey has spent a decade focusing on being sober, and helping others by being a sponsor. But in building his life, he hasn’t allowed anything unplanned or unexpected. I liked the dishes to be done in a particular way, and the routine was important to me. For as long as […]
Hottie Scotty and Mr. Porter (2017) R. Cooper I’m still struggling, and remembered this is a cute story, so I borrowed it again from the library. Scotty left the city and moved to a small down to help his sister care for her kids. And he likes working for the fire department. But it’s hard […]
The Pursuit Of… (2018) Courtney Milan Set in the United States in 1781 – 1784 At Yorktown John Hunter almost kills a British soldier–but instead ends up giving him his coat so he can escape. When told he’d repay the kindness, John things nothing of it. People say lots of things, and they almost never […]
Spooky Business (2020) S.E. Harmon (The Spectral Files) Rain Christiansen is settling into life with Danny. They both work for the cold case unit, which uses Rain’s (non-publicized) talent as a Medium to help solve cold cases. The fact that Rain worked as a profiler for the FBI doesn’t hurt. But the FBI wants him […]
Love, Marriage, and a Baby Carriage (2016) C.S. Poe It’s been a rough couple days. I desperately needed something light and funny so I decided a reread of Love, Marriage, and a Baby Carriage was necessary. This is a short story, and currently you can’t find it anywhere, but OMG it is one of the […]
How to Be a Normal Person (2014) TJ Klune Gustavo Tiberius lives in Abby, Oregon and is not a a little odd. He doesn’t really mind that much, because he is mostly content with his life. IT WAS seven in the morning when the alarm clock belonging to Gustavo Tiberius rang and he opened his […]
The Enforcer Enigma (2020) G. L. Carriger (San Andreas Shifters) When Colin’s brother returned from college, to find him completely withdrawn, Kevin decided they would both join the new pack moving out to San Francisco where Colin could be himself without fear of retribution. Judd has been a werewolf since before the Saturation. He may […]
The Omega Objection (2018) G. L. Carriger (San Andreas Shifters) Tank came east with the rest of what eventually eventually came to be the San Andreas Pack. Although he’s big enough to be an enforcer, he’s truly submissive and doesn’t like to fight, even if he does a lot of work as security. Isaac has […]
The Sumage Solution (2017) G. L. Carriger (San Andreas Shifters) Max is a sumage and, as far as his father was concerned, a complete failure. Instead of being a Surge, he’s a Placer, and instead of continuing the family line, he’s gay. So now he works for DURPS and lives in a small cottage. Biff […]
Waiting for the Flood (2018) Alexis Hall (Spires) The last book I finished wasn’t at all for me. This book was perfect for me. The waters are rising, and Edwin Tully worries more about his elderly neighbor than his own home–the home he bought with his ex. The home he thought was going to be […]
Ice Cream Lover (2019) Jackie Lau (Baldwin Village) Drew Lum has sworn off dating. His fiancee left him standing at the alter, and then wrote a book about “your inner ice cream sandwich” that accuses Drew (under a pseudonym) of stifling her, being a terrible boyfriend, and someone who would make a terrible father. Chloe […]
Galaxies and Oceans (2018) N.R. Walker TW: This story opens with one of the main characters recovering from having been beaten by his boyfriend–for not the first time. Ethan Hosking walks out of his boyfriend’s second home and into the a chaos of a wildfire and comes out of the forest as Aubrey Hobbs, a […]
Best of Both Worlds (2017) N.R. Walker I had no idea what I was in he mood to read, so I thought I’d go with a novella. I read a few pages and thought this wasn’t the book I was in the mood for (it opened with trigger warnings for homophobia and violence) but I […]
The Best Corpse for the Job (2014) Charlie Cochrane (Lindenshaw Mysteries) Adam Matthews is on the committee to help select the new headteacher for the school, and nothing is as easy as it should be. First one of the candidates called in sick, and then another candidate is found dead in the children’s kitchen. (Luckily […]
Better Than People (2020) Roan Parrish (Garnet Run) I’ll be honest–I’ve been wanting nothing but comfort and fluffy reading right now, and Roan Parrish is generally the last author I’d turn to for that. Her other books–while excellent–have been extremely angsty. But reviews said this was NOT full of angst, and one of the characters […]
Boyfriend Material (2020) Alexis Hall This story was an utter delight. I started it mid afternoon, and pretty much didn’t set it down until I’d finished it–past my bedtime. Luc O’Donnell is a mess. Because both of his parents were semi-famous musicians, he’s always been in the eye of the press, and when his relationship […]
The Sugared Game (2020) K.J. Charles (The Will Darling Adventures) Set in London in 1924. Will Darling has settled in as proprietor of the bookstore he inherited from his uncle. He’s cleaned out the upstairs so he has room to sleep, and is slowly organizing the books. Unfortunately, all that is not keeping his mind […]
A Murderous Relation (2020) Deanna Raybourn (Veronica Speedwell) Set in London in 1888. Victoria and Stoker are not to get much time to recover from their last adventures, as they are almost immediately asked to call upon Lady Wellie who has some important visitors she wants Victoria and Stoker to help. But Victoria doesn’t have […]
Think of England (2015) KJ Charles Set in England in 1904. Comfort read. Which for me generally means murder. This story doesn’t start with murder, but there is death, and blackmail, and treason. Archie Curtis lost friends, his career, and several of his fingers when a shipment of guns exploded upon use. When Archie learns […]
Vincent’s Thanksgiving Date (2014) R. Cooper Vincent has issues with anxiety, and it makes him avoid talking to people–even his super cute neighbor who works at the florist. There was no easy way to explain being a grown man who was terrified of meaningless conversations and meeting new people. Saying small social embarrassments haunted him […]
A Gentleman’s Position (2016) K.J. Charles (Society of Gentlemen) Set in London in 1820 It’s not that this is a bad story, it’s just that I really don’t care that much for Richard, so it’s difficult for me to care about him having a HEA. David Cyprian I do like, but I really don’t understand […]
Starstruck (2014) L.A. Witt (Bluewater Bay) Levi Pritchard retired from Hollywood, tired of being typecast. (H)e was pretty sure some of them were still furious about the piece of Eastwick fanfic he’d anonymously penned a while back. It was still floating around out there somewhere, along with all the angry— and some alarmingly supportive— comments […]
Taxes and TARDIS (2012) N.R. Walker Brent Kelly and his shoe-box of receipts are about to meet his new accountant. But Logan Willis isn’t old, but is instead Brent’s age, and wearing a startlingly blue shirt. Logan is nothing like the kind of guy Brent usually likes, but then Brent generally doesn’t see the same […]
The Engineer (2020) C.S. Poe (Magic & Steam) Set in the American West in 1881. Gillian Hamilton is a Special Agent for the Federal Bureau of Magic and Steam–and a powerful magic user. He is sent out west to catch a renegade magic user, but runs into a completely different wanted man while on the […]
Jericho Candelario’s Gay Debut (2018) R. Cooper Jericho Candelario has spent his adult life helping to raise his siblings and his niece. His father is now sober, but between his past alcoholism, his PTSD, and his health, he wasn’t much help to the family after their mother left them. For five years, Jerry has enjoyed […]
A Very Henry Christmas (2017) N.R. Walker (The Weight of It All) This is a novella / short story set a year or so after the end of The Weight of It All. It’s just a cute story of Henry throwing an elaborate Christmas Eve party for their friends. Unlike the original story, we do […]