He’s Come Undone: A Romance Anthology (2020) Emma Barry, Olivia Dade, Adriana Herrera, Ruby Lang, and Cat Sebastian Appassionata by Emma Barry Unraveled by Olivia Dade Caught Looking by Adriana Herrera Yes, And… by Ruby Lang Tommy Cabot Was Here by Cat Sebastian This is five romance novellas by five authors, three M/F and two […]
His Grandfather’s Watch (2015) N.R. Walker This is a very sweet story, told in two parts. The first part is Alex–a young man who works in his family’s antique store working with clocks and watches, falling for Callum Winters, who comes into the shop to try and learn more about a watch he inherited. The […]
Heathen: Volume 2 (2019) Natasha Alterici, Rachel Deering The second volume picks up where the first volume left off. Brynhild and her lover have separated from Aydis who has been sent on a quest by Freyja. Aydis needs to reach Heimdall, but the sea is cursed, and filled with mermaids who see humans as delicious. […]
Principles of Spookology (2020) S.E. Harmon (The Spectral Files) Rain Christiansen is back home, working with his partner Daniel McKenna in the newly created PTU, an offshoot of the cold crimes unit, except that they get their leads through the cold cases through Rain’s talking with ghosts. Unfortunately, the ghosts won’t leave Rain alone, and […]
Secret at Skull House (2020) Josh Lanyon (Secrets and Scrabble) This second mystery finds Ellery still working to keep his inherited book store open, but at least the local theater group is putting on a production of one of his screen plays. Then the news breaks: someone has purchased Skull House! That someone is moving […]
P.S. I Spook You (2019) S.E. Harmon (The Spectral Files) Couple of things to note, start with the fact this is self published, so parts of it are a little rough. Not typos or anything, but there story could have been tightened up in a few places where I got confused or felt like I […]
Family Matters (2018) Angel Martinez (Brandywine Investigations) This is two books and a short story. The first story is about Dionysus and Leander (the Minotaur of the cover. (with a KILT. Which is PERFECT.)) The second story is a short story about a young woman stumbling upon Artemis and the muses in the forest. “That’s […]
Open for Business (2016) Angel Martinez (Brandywine Investigations) This is three interrelated stories, of gods and men and angels and monsters. The first book is about Hades, who has been surprised by divorce papers from Persephone. He comes to the world (things aren’t that busy for him after all) and opens a private investigation business. […]
Gumption & Gumshoes (2013) Alex Kidwell August Mendez moved to the city in the hopes of following his dreams, and when he gets the opportunity he decides to try. A sense of freedom surged through me, that euphoric realization that I was staring at a whole weekend of nothing but cheese curls and old movies, […]
Check, Please! Book 2: Sticks & Scones (2020) Ngozi Ukazu Y’all. I love this comic SO. MUCH. No, you just don’t even understand how much I love this comic. You need to read this RIGHT NOW. Publisher: First Second Rating: 9.5/10
Heathen Volume 1 (2017) Natasha Alterici Aydis was sentenced to death or marriage for kissing another girl, but her father secretly saved her life and sent her into exile. Aldis has decided to that as a warrior she will go on a quest, and free the Valkyrie Brynhild. But the goddess Freyja has other ideas, […]
Dead in the Shop (2018) Dahlia Donovan (Grasmere Cottage Mystery) Valor and Bishan are struggling after the events of the last book. Someone is trying to kill them–has killed people around them–and they don’t understand why. And that’s one of the interesting things about this story–that there isn’t really a good why. Don’t get me […]
Dead in the Pond (2018) Dahlia Donovan (Grasmere Cottage Mystery) The first book ended with Valor and Bishan learning their beloved housemaster from Harrow–and a note that book two was going to end on a cliffhanger. So I bought book two AND book three, because I wasn’t going to be messing around when cliff hangers […]
Dead in the Garden (2018) Dahlia Donovan (Grasmere Cottage Mystery) This is a cozy mystery, set in England, and is both adorable and has an amazingly diverse cast of characters. Valor and Bishan are shocked and distressed to discover a dead body in their yard. But it becomes even more distressing when Bishan is arrested […]
Connection Error (2016) Annabeth Albert (#gaymers) Despite his best planning, Josiah Simmons almost misses his plane and is the last passenger on board. But when he sees his seat mate, he thinks maybe everything things are looking up. Ryan Orson is focused on one thing–get past his injuries and back onto the duty rooster. He […]
Goalie Interference (2019) Avon Gale & Piper Vaughn (Hat Trick) This book kept coming up on review sites and podcasts as one that people loved. Ryu Mori is ready to be the starting goalie for the Atlanta Venom, but the team has traded someone and now Ryu is supposed to play in tandem with Emmitt […]
Bookmarked (2015) Piper Vaughn (Heartsville) Mark Werner’s dream was to run a book store, and he’ll do anything to keep it open–including reaching out to the man who writes his favorite series, but was incredibly rude to him a year earlier. After all, what’s the worst that can happen? This story tried really hard. I […]
Checking Out Love (2015) R. Cooper Jeremy Song is a graduate student who is not always good at focusing but very good about being exciting. The problem with being one of those people fascinated by everything was that he annoyed those humans around him who didn’t think it was fun to learn and question and […]
Hottie Scotty and Mr. Porter (2016) R. Cooper Scott Yun moved to Montgomery to help his sister take care of her kids, but it’s an extremely small town, and one of the few single gay guys is extremely cute, but also a widower. So Scott goes to work at the firehouse, helps to care for […]
For Better or Worse (2017) R. Cooper Everyone in town things Javier has a secret lover–because a guy that handsome and fit couldn’t possibly be single. His mother and his aunts called him “choosy.” His sister and cousins thought he was full of himself for not wanting to go out with their friends. The people […]
Band Sinister (2018) KJ Charles Set in England in the early 1800s A lot of us are struggling right now, so this is a good time for comfort reads. If you’ve read Georgette Heyer’s Venetia, you’ll be familiar with this story: younger sibling is hurt and has to stay at manor of notorious (and wealthy) […]
Color of You (2017) C.S. Poe Bowen Merlin has moved to Lancaster NH to take a job for the county, as the music teacher and director for the high and middle schools. It’s a big change, to have moved from NYC, but he is excited about the change. And then he dumps hot apple cider […]
Small Change (2017) Roan Parrish (Small Change) Ginger Holtzman may or may not have a crush on the guy who runs the bakery down the street from her tattoo studio. But his store does have coffee. And excellent bagels. Christopher Lucen definitely has a crush on Ginger, but isn’t at all sure how the prickly […]
Finders Keepers (2018) N.R. Walker Griffin Burke has moved to Coolum Beach for a new job–and a promotion. He’s good at being a hotel manager, even even better, he enjoys it. “Do people really expect room service to be included?” I scoffed. “You work in customer service, right?” “Point taken.” When he finds a lost […]
Play It Again (2019) Aidan Wayne Dovid and his sister Rachel are YouTube stars. They actually make their living from it, first becoming famous after Rachel recorded Dovid ranting about how he hated it when people didn’t pronounce his name correctly. But he also spends time going to schools and talking abut bullying because that’s […]
Work for It (2019) Talia Hibbert (Just for Him) The world is making me feel out-of-sorts, so I decided to re-read a book I very much enjoyed. The first time around I read this book before the rest of the series (this is essentially the last book) so re-reading it after having read about the […]
Rend (2018) Roan Parrish (Riven) Oh. My. God. So much crying. I hate crying. Yet, I kept stifling tears as I read this story. Kids in the system slipped through the cracks in school because they didn’t have a support system. They didn’t have people helping them with their homework, or telling them they could […]
Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing (2020) Charlie Adhara (Big Bad Wolf) Cooper Dayton and Oliver Park are trying to buy a house. Well, Oliver is looking at houses and Cooper is horrified at how much money Oliver wants to spend. So what do you think of this place?” Park asked. Cooper bit his lip. “What do […]
And Everything Nice (2016) Ada Maria Soto The only way Angelo knows to tell a guy he’s interested is through food. Specifically, baked goods. 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 the vanilla paste instead […]
Merlin in the Library (2018) Ada Maria Soto This is a short story that is a follow-up to His Quiet Agent. It’s a glimpse into Martin’s head, and kind of a reassurance that he is getting help for his trauma and issues. It won’t make much sense if you haven’t read the novella, but if […]
His Quiet Agent (2017) Ada Maria Soto (The Agency) It hasn’t been that long since I read this, but I really wanted to revisit it, and it was actually better than I had remembered, since I picked up more details the second time through. Arthur Drams is an analyst for The Agency. He may have […]
Murder at Pirate’s Cove (2020) Josh Lanyon (Secrets and Scrabble) HOORAY! A cozy mystery! Ellery Page was surprised to inherit a bookstore and home from a great-aunt he didn’t even know he had, but he wanted to make a new start for himself, so he’s trying to make it work. Unfortunately, work is what it’s […]
Dads with Benefits (2019) Jason Collins (Fairview Single Dads) Ellis is pleased to meet the newest member of the single dad’s group. He’s hot, he owns his own business, and he’s a great guy. What Ellis doesn’t expect is that when he needs a fake boyfriend to get his boss off his back, that straight […]
False Value (2020) Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London) The 8th Rivers of London book. It’s been two years since the last book about Peter (although there have been comics) and although I was impatient, I didn’t mind, because my assumption was it was taking a long time so he could get it right (rather than […]
Save the Date (2017) Annabeth Albert & Wendy Qualls Randall Young is his sister’s Man of Honor, and although he’s sober for her bachelorette party, that doesn’t mean he isn’t looking. Hunter Mitchell is looking to relax while in town for his best friend’s wedding. What he doesn’t plan on is hooking up with Beau’s […]
Upside Down (2019) N.R. Walker This was precisely the story I needed to read. I have a ton of books on my TBR, but none of them were pulling me in. Jordan O’Neil is a librarian who is tired of his love life never ever working out. When his co-worker (and best friend) Merry encourages […]
Mooncakes (2019) Suzanne Walker, Wendy Xu Nova Huang lives with her grandmothers and helps out at their store. She’s also an apprentice witch who hasn’t yet left home for an apprenticeship. Tam Lang was Nova’s childhood friend whose family never stayed in once place for long, but she’s back now because there’s something unpleasant in […]
All the Wrong Places (2016) Ann Gallagher (Bluewater Bay) Brennan Cross doesn’t know what’s wrong with him, only that there must be something, since all his girlfriends cheat on him and then dump him. Once was chance. Twice was coincidence. Three times was a goddamn pattern. Zafir Hamady works at a sex shop for the […]
Blank Spaces (2016) Cass Lennox (Toronto Connections) Vaughn Hargrave has friends, a place to live, and a job in an art gallery that allows him to paint. He’s perfectly fine without dating or casual sex–even if everyone around him thinks he requires it. “Mom. I’m fine. Singledom is great. Work is great. I’ll see you […]
Check, Please!: # Hockey (2018) Ngozi Ukazu Eric Bittle was a junior figure skating champion, but now he’s a Freshman in college and on the Samwell University hockey team–but not quite sure he’s ready for checking. Also, he has a crush on one of his teammates–the star and captain, Jack Zimmerman. It’s a cute story, […]
Dine with Me (2019) Layla Reyne Miller Sykes rose in the food world until he had his own restaurant. But now the restaurant is closing, his best friend is getting married, and according to the doctor he has 6 months to live if he doesn’t get his cancer treated. But the treatment (if it works) […]
Three Stupid Weddings (2018) Ann Gallagher Victor Nelson is still struggling with his breakup–even if everyone (including Vic) knows he is so much better off without Max. So when he find out he has to attend three family weddings over the summer, he’s miserable at the thought of all of his relatives introducing him to […]
The Monuments Men Murders (2019) Josh Lanyon (The Art of Murder) Jason West is supposed to be in the same state as his lover (and BSU agent) Sam Kennedy. Jason is working on a case of art looted by American soldiers during WWII. “The van Eyck was originally stolen from a cathedral in Belgium. Most […]
Thrown to the Wolves (2019) Charlie Adhara (Big Bad Wolf) Cooper has spent the past several months recuperating, and being taken care of by Oliver, who has been on suspension (both the result of Cooper’s visit home to see his father and brother). Every official communication was carefully uninterested about the private lives of their […]
The Wolf at Bay (2018) Charlie Adhara (Big Bad Wolf) Cooper Dayton and Oliver Park and working things out as partners for the BSI, but Cooper isn’t quite sure how things are working out on the personal front. Neither seems capable of talking about how the feel, and both have a lot they need to […]
The Wolf at the Door (2018) Charlie Adhara (Big Bad Wolf) Agent Cooper Dayton discovered the existence of the supernatural in the worst possible way–by almost being killed by it. Werewolves were not just in books and movies, cartoons and games. They were real and they had “come out” five years ago to governments around […]
Candy Hearts (2020) Erin McLellan (So Over the Holidays) Benji Holiday is over Valentine’s day, and so has accepted his sister’s invitation to join her friends for a Valentine’s weekend, but when he shows up, he discovers that the party was delayed due to a power outage. William O’Dare is hosting the annual Valentine’s day […]
The Alpha and His Ace (2015) Ana J. Phoenix This is a cute little potato chip of a story. What it does a very good job of is explaining Ace and that different Aces have different wants and needs, and a general “don’t assume”. There was also some general silliness. ”What are the ups?” ”I […]
The Magician Murders (2019) Josh Lanyon Jason West is in DC for a training session (and to spend time with his boyfriend Sam Kenendy) when a hit and run puts him in the hospital. Sam takes Jason out to Wyoming where his mother lives so Jason can recuperate and they two can have some time […]
Uncommonly Tidy Poltergeists (2017) Angel Martinez Between writing up posts on some of my favorite books and just needing something light and happy to read, I decided I needed to re-read Uncommonly Tidy Poltergeists. This is such an adorable story AND it’s an Ace romance, which is even more lovely. Taro has something to tell […]