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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]