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 Royal Marine (2017) Dahlia Donovan (The Sin Bin) Akash Robinson moved to Cardiff to open his own bakery after working at his parents for years. Unfortunately, running his own bakery means he has no time for the social life he had hoped to develop with the move. (H)e’d never brought a date home once. […]
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 […]
The Caretaker (2017) Dahlia Donovan (The Sin Bin) Freddie Whittle is a cancer nurse. It’s an incredibly hard job, and he puts too much of himself into it, but he doesn’t want to do anything else. Taine stood silent while the nurse gathered himself. He squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly […]
The Wanderer (2017) Dahlia Donovan (The Sin Bin) This is a romance. With cancer. Graham languished in his bungalow on the water for two days. He never got sick, which made him the worst patient in the world. One of the things that makes this story so good is that it is unflinching in looking […]
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 […]
Not Even a Mouse (2015) Dahlia Donovan Kat is a shifter. (T)he feathertail glider shifter— not a mouse, thank you very much. She has also been in love with her older brother’s best friend for years. Not that she’d ever tell him. Declan has spent his adult life studying genetics, trying to determine the genetics […]
Ghost Light Killer (2021) Dahlia Donovan (London Podcast Mystery) I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Dahlia Donovan, but especially her mysteries. Unfortunately, the mystery was off in this book for me. The characters and their interactions I still enjoyed very much. Dannel had a habit of never leaving or having Osian go without saying “I […]
Pierced Peony (2021) Dahlia Donovan (Motts Cold Case Mystery Series) When an inspector from London comes to visit Motts about a cold case from her childhood, the two unexpectedly discover another body–opening another cold case. “You’ll never guess what I’ve learned.” “Marnie.” Motts was amused at how everyone around her, aside from the policemen in […]
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 […]
After the Scrum (2014) Dahlia Donovan (Sin Bin) Caddock Stanford lost his brother, lost his place on the national rugby team, and became the parent to his young nephew. So he wants a place to start over, to make a new life for himself and Devlin. “Looe’s a brilliant place for starting fresh. Oh, and […]
Sin Bin Series: Box Set (2020) Dahlia Donovan This is seven stories (and three short stories) around a group of former rugby players and friends and the men they fall in love with. The Wanderer (2017) The Caretaker (2017) The Botanist (2017) The Royal Marine (2017) The Unexpected Santa (2017) The Lion Tamer (2018) Haka […]
Cosplay Killer (2020) Dahlia Donovan (London Podcast Mystery) Osian Garey used to be a paramedic but now has a podcast. His partner and best friend from childhood, Dannel Ortea, is a fireman. Unfortunately, Dannel is being forced to accept that he probably cannot go on being a firefighter. It wasn’t the work itself. Or not […]
Grasmere Cottage Mystery (2018) Dahlia Donovan This is actually three novellas, but since I read it as one book, I’m going to review it as such also. Dead in the Garden Dead in the Pond Dead in the Shop Valor Scott and Bishan Tamboli have been best friends since their days at Harrow, and have […]
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 […]