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 […]
Blameless (2010) Gail Carriger (Parasol Protectorate) Set in England in the alternate 1873 As the end of the previous book still made me angry, even knowing what was coming, I immediately started reading this book, to see how I felt about the resolution of the issues from the second book. It was… okay. First problem, […]
Changeless (2010) Gail Carriger (Parasol Protectorate) Set in alternate England and Scotland in the 1873 I read this when it was published, and the only thing I remembered was the ending, and how extraordinarily angry it made me. So angry, I didn’t read another book by Gail Carriger for years. Alexia is now married to […]
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 […]
How to Marry a Werewolf (2018) Gail Carriger (Claw & Courtship) Set in alternate London in 1896 Faith Wigglesworth is being sent to England to marry a werewolf. They must be desperate to be rid of me, she thought, to be considering werewolves. Or Mother hates werewolves so much, she would use me to punish […]
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, […]
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, […]
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. […]
Grumpy Jake (2019) Melissa Blue Bailey Thorne doesn’t have time for Jake the Rake. He may be a great dad, but she doesn’t need to be involved with a parent–and she needs to make sure all the kindergartners in her class are looked after. So, despite being a serial monogamist, Jake isn’t a bad guy. […]
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. […]
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 […]
A Christmas Dance (2014) Alissa Johnson Set in London in an indeterminate time. William Renwick, Earl of Casslebury needs a wife. He knows his is disciplined, so he hopes to find a woman who smile and laugh. But he wasn’t in need of additional efficiency in his house. He was drowning in efficiency. He was […]
The Deserted Heart (2018) Mary Lancaster (Unmarriageable) Bringing her brothers home from school, a thick fog forces them to stop at an inn. But they enter to discover not a soul around, even though the doors were unlocked and everything inside looked normal. Since it is too dangerous to continue, they settled in, and are […]
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 […]
Everything I Ever Wanted (2003/2015) Jo Goodman (The Compass Club Series) Set in England in 1818 Matthew Forrester, Viscount Southerton and his four friends created the Compass Club when they were in school together, based upon the titles it was possible they could (but were unlikely to) inherit. India Parr is a stage actress of […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Remaking of Corbin Wale (2017) Roan Parrish Alex Barrow broke up with his boyfriend and lost his job so he has headed back to Ann Arbor and taken over his parent’s coffee shop–turning it into his dream bakery. The best bakeries had a cohesive vision. You didn’t want a counter selling bran muffins next […]
Team Phison (2017) Chace Verity Phil Hutton is 55 struggling with the dating scene. Luckily, he he has his favorite game to keep him sane. When he goes on a mission with a newbie, he thinks there’s not going to be anything more, but the more they interact, the more Phil likes him. Except that […]
Iron & Velvet (2013/2019) Alexis Hall (Kate Kane, Paranormal Investigator) Kate Kane is a paranormal private investigator, called when something goes wrong i the supernatural world. She’s called out to Velvet–an expensive nightclub–to investigate the exsanguiation of a werewolf in the back alley. It doesn’t look like he had been killed by a vampire, but […]
The Duke Who Didn’t (2020) Courtney Milan (Wedgeford Trials) Set in England in 1891. Chloe Fong may have spent time pining, but she is certainly not doing so any longer. She is going to help her father sell his sauce and get back at the men who stole his formula and left him with nothing. […]
Tic-Tac-Mistletoe (2020) N.R. Walker Hamish Kenneally is moving to the US. His sister has been there for four years, and there is nothing for him in Australia, so he has a two year visa, is going to remote work, and see if a change will do him good. But he arrives in the US just […]
Best Laid Plaids (2020) Ella Stainton (Kilty Pleasures) Set in Scotland in 1928. Well, I’ve now completely ruined my search history, trying to find when top and bottom were first used as gay slang. And the worst part is, I didn’t find the answer. Joachim Cockburn fought in WWI. He’s now trying to finish his […]
Eight Tiny Flames (2018) Crista McHugh Set in Belgium in 1944. Lt. Ruth Mencher is a nurse in the 64th Evacuation unit. Like many of the other nurses in the unit, she’s had a bit of a crush on Capt. Joseph Klein. Unlike the other nurses, she has a plan to see if she can […]
Love All Year: A Holidays Anthology (2020) Stacey Agdern, Hallie Alexander, Savannah J. Frierson, Felicia Grossman, Farah Heron, Celestine Martin, Ekaterine Xia This is an anthology of romances set around holidays that are NOT Christmas, Thanksgiving, or Valentines Day. Three Stars in The Sky by Stacey Agdern It Happened One Yule by Celestine Martin Queen […]
Real Men Knit (2020) Kwana Jackson I absolutely love the idea of this story. Four young men take over their mother’s knitting store after she dies unexpectedly. That is a fantastic premise and I adore it to death. Sadly, I didn’t love it’s execution. First thing I didn’t enjoy was on me: Jesse is a […]
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 […]
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. […]