Runaway Home by Camille Anthony

July 10, 2024 By 1 Comment


Runaway Home by Camille Anthony
Publisher: Changeling Press
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Paranormal
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Fleeing the shame of being rejected in favor of an Omega, Jackson Southerly, alpha wolf, has run away to one of his family’s ski resorts.

Fleeing the shame of being left at the altar, Sioux Brown has traded in her tickets to the Bahamas and run away to the snowy slopes of Colorado, where she plans to lick her wounds in solitude.

The snow in their hearts melts as they share the deserted lobby in the dark of night, but will their growing attraction survive the light of day?

After being rejected for an Omega, Jackson Southerly decides to run away to his family’s ski resort. Sioux Brown has also fled after being literally left at the alter. Going to polar opposite of her longed for honeymoon in the Bahamas, Sioux finds herself knee deep in the snow alongside Jackson. Even though their attraction is instant, they are both at rock bottom. Will their tenuous attraction survive the long haul?

While I do admit the general concept of this story is not very unique – I did enjoy how the author managed to squeeze in quite a few twists within the first chapter to have this very short story feeling fresh and different to me. I thoroughly enjoyed the fast pace and feel readers who are wanting just a quick and tasty spicy read should find this highly enjoyable.

Disconnect your brain, sit back with a delectable drink and just enjoy the ride. I laughed in quite a few places – so don’t expect to find a complicated plot or anything too deeply serious in this lovely short story. Just enjoy the steamy shenanigans and relatable characters.

A fun and super quick read – this was a good story I enjoyed.

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Sex On The Beach? by Willa Okati

July 2, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Sex On The Beach? by Willa Okati
Publisher: Changeling Press
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Paranormal, LGBTQ
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Warren might be a vampire, sure, but he’s getting the knack of it. He’s cool — he can handle the wicked urge for hot blood right from a vein and has these bitchin’ fangs. He does miss the sunlight, though. No problem — he also has a lover, Dusty, the biggest-hearted, goofiest but also kinkiest vampire you’ll ever meet. When Warren gets the urge to get away, Dusty comes up with the perfect way to make unlife a beach.

Sort of.

Warren loved Dusty and since they were both Vampires they were guaranteed an eternity together to share their adventures. But when Dusty’s latest idea involves their spare room, a bunch of floodlights and an enormous amount of brown sugar even Warren isn’t sure there’s a way to come back from this.

I found this to be a highly amusing and rather sweet (sugary!) tale. While it’s clear Dusty’s heart is in the right place the more practical side to my brain was flummoxed at how virtually impossible it was going to prove to be for the two men to return their guest bedroom into any semblance of order. That said, it was a really sweet and highly fun idea that Dusty had and once the sex began I doubt Warren cared how impossible it would be to clean everything up.

Disconnect your brain, make yourself a frothy, beachy drink, and relax back to enjoy this short and funny ride. I found the two characters well matched and there were quite a few laugh aloud lines exchanged between them and their attraction burned off the pages.

Short and steamy – I found this to be a fun and enjoyable quick read.

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The Cadaver Game by Kate Ellis

July 1, 2024 By Leave a Comment


The Cadaver Game by Kate Ellis
Publisher: Piatkus Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

The decaying body of a woman is discovered in a suburban house in South Devon, following an anonymous tip off to the police. DI Wesley Peterson has problems establishing the woman’s identity and, as he begins to investigate her death, another disturbing case arises. Two teenagers are found shot dead at the foot of a cliff.

The teenage victims had taken part in an online game called Blood Hunt and it seems they may have been persuaded to play a sinister real-life game, which ended in their murder.

When a skeleton is found near the place where the teenagers were last seen alive, Wesley must face a terrible truth . . . and a hunt to the death.

A woman suspected of lying undiscovered for a week in her house is found and the level of decomposition has DI Wesley Peterson and his team struggling to positively identify the lady. Before they can make much progress with this case two teenagers, naked and both shot at close range with a shotgun, are found at the foot of a cliff. If this wasn’t unusual enough one of the teens has a close link to a member of the police team and when a skeleton is uncovered making it four bodies and no real connection between them Wesley really has his hands full.

I was pleased that this was another really strong addition to this series. While I do feel readers can pick this book up as a stand alone some of the secondary characters in the police team have quite a stronger than usual part to play in this book and so some prior knowledge of who is who and how everyone is linked together would be helpful I think. That said the plot itself stood very well by itself and I thought the author did a good job of knitting everything together and keeping the various plots and subplots ticking along well.

I enjoyed the fact that Welsey’s wife, Pam, didn’t factor as much as usual into this story. I’m still not a big fan of her and to be honest I felt the story moved much more smoothly and enjoyably without her impatience with Wesley and his job. After all these years of marriage I still struggle that she can be annoyed by Wesley needing to devote time – especially when there are four murder investigations all underway. I felt the book was far better for there not being a lot of Pam’s presence.

While there wasn’t a lot of Wesley’s friend, Dr Neil Watson he was integral to one of the sub plots and the skeleton and I did enjoy how he was doing something very unusual and strictly speaking not really archaeology (in a traditional sense) at all. I felt that was quite fresh and well handled.

An interesting albeit slow moving but thoroughly enjoyable British police procedural style of story with a healthy dose of history and archaeology. This was a good book and is a series I’m really growing fond of.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Night Fire by Michael Connelly

June 27, 2024 By Leave a Comment


The Night Fire by Michael Connelly
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Back when Harry Bosch was just a rookie homicide detective, he had an inspiring mentor who taught him to take the work personally and light the fire of relentlessness for every case. Now that mentor, John Jack Thompson, is dead, and his widow gives Bosch a murder book, one that Thompson took with him when he left the LAPD twenty years before — the unsolved killing of a troubled young man.

Bosch takes the murder book to Detective Renée Ballard and asks her to help him discover what about this crime lit Thompson’s fire all those years ago. As she begins her inqueries — while still working her own cases on the midnight shift — Ballad finds aspects of the initial investigation that just don’t add up.

The bond between Bosch and Ballard tightens as they become a formidable investigation team. And they soon arrive at a disturbing question: Did Thompson steal the murder book to work the case in retirement, or to make sure it never got solved?

Harry Bosch might be recovering from knee surgery, but his life is as busy as ever. After attending the memorial service for his mentor as a Detective in the LAPD, his mentor’s widow gave Harry a murder book she found while cleaning up. Harry brings it to Detective Renee Ballard and together they agree to look into the cold case. With far more questions than answers Ballard and Bosch keep at it, determined to find the truth.

I have really enjoyed watching Harry evolve over the last decade or so. Even though the character has aged – Harry is now retired (again) from the police force – much of his fire, insight and dedication is as strong as ever. I also enjoy watching Harry and Ballard work together. They are each quite independent characters, so there is a little conflict occasionally between them, but it doesn’t feel forced or like it’s used as a plot device, it feels like two headstrong people who respect each other trying to work together comfortably.

I also really enjoyed how in this book it wasn’t simply about the one case, Renee picked up a few other cases as she continued her night shift work and her regular police roster, and Harry also kept busy and decided to solve a case when his actions caused the police to stop investigating. There is plenty going on in this book to keep the reader strongly invested and I feel Connelly has absolutely grown over the years and is a masterful storyteller.

Readers should absolutely feel able to pick this book up. While there are plenty of Harry Bosch novels out there, I strongly feel this can be read by itself. Even the still developing working partnership between Bosch and Ballard can easily be understood without having read any of the previous books. This is a gripping and layered murder mystery and an interesting cross between a police procedural and a PI style of detective novel. I have really loved this series for ages now and feel this is an excellent addition and great book.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Sweets by Sean Michael

June 26, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Sweets by Sean Michael
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, LGBTQ
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

Jake Dubois, a divorced dad, runs the I Eat Cake blog. Every week he tastes a bakery-made cake, reviews it and attempts to recreate it. He loves the work almost as much as he loves his six-year-old daughter.

Widower Ben Rummel’s twin girls are still toddlers and he’s grateful to his mother for helping out while he runs his business, the Banana Bear Bakery. He asks the I Eat Cake blog guy to review one of his creations, hoping to increase the visibility of his newly opened bakery.

Jake loves Ben’s cake, but he’s also quite taken with the man himself and the feeling is mutual. They arrange a playdate for their girls, which lets the two men spend more time with each other, too. One get-together leads to another and soon they’re hanging out on a regular basis.

If they’re going to take their relationship deeper, they’ll have to navigate a few bumps in the road, not least of which is Jake’s ex. But if they can, they just might be able to make a life for themselves as sweet as any of Ben’s creations.

Jake, a divorced dad of a six-year-old girl, runs a video blog called I Eat Cake. When he gets a cold-call email from a local bakery requesting he sample some of their wares and potentially feature them in his blog his curiosity is aroused. Ben, a widower of three-year-old twin girls, is making his business work but knows he could do with a small boost to his PR and increase the visibility of his bakery. The two men are both taken with each other at their first meeting – professionally and personally – can they find some common ground and make something meaningful together?

I’ve been quite a fan of Sean Michael’s for quite some time and found this to be an enjoyable and emotional read from him. While it’s the second book in a series there isn’t any cross over from the first book so readers should absolutely feel comfortable picking this up as a standalone novel. I thoroughly enjoyed the slightly slower pace to the romance – the two men connected well as friends to begin with, then supported each other with the hard work of being a single parent, then slowly as their relationship bloomed it became more sensual and intimate. Readers who prefer the faster pace of insta-love might find this story a little slow but personally I really enjoyed the deeper emotional connection between the two men, particularly considering they had three young children to consider between them.

I also liked how while there was some conflict in the book it didn’t appear over the top to my mind. I sometimes find with slower paced M/M erotic romance stories like this having a crazy ex or a bigoted family member or something along those lines can be overblown and feel almost a caricature simply to add conflict. I was really impressed how the author added tension and conflict in the book with Jake’s ex but it was realistic, not overblown and – more importantly to my mind – maturely and calmly handled to a satisfying conclusion. I found this deeply refreshing and I found it equally satisfying that some legitimate concerns and questions could be handled without drama or creating conflict merely for the sake of having it. I loved this so much.

I also really enjoyed the characters themselves – while there wasn’t a huge supportive cast of secondary characters, I didn’t feel the book lacked anything for them not being present. Ben and Jake were solidly in the center stage as was their three daughters. There was plenty of variety there and I thought they kept the pace and plot of the story moving along at a good clip. I found their characters realistic, enjoyable and I found myself quite invested in Jake and Ben’s new relationship and their happiness as they blended their two families and sorted out a new life together.

Readers looking for an interesting, refreshingly different take on the M/M family romance story should find this a lovely read. With a slower romantic plot but still plenty of sizzle in the bedroom I feel this should appeal to many readers. Recommended.

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Suffer The Dead by Rhys Dylan

June 24, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Suffer The Dead by Rhys Dylan
Publisher: Wyrmwood Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Nothing bad ever happens in the countryside… right?

When a farmer and his son go missing whilst chasing rustlers, DCI Evan Warlow and his team are called in to investigate. Everything points to a botched raid by heartless thieves, but with no bodies, and little or no clues, the team quickly start chasing their tails.

The close-knit community reels from the shock, but not everyone the team comes across is being entirely honest, and it quickly transpires that, under their prim and proper facades, some have secrets they are desperate to keep.

But even Warlow isn’t prepared for the monstrous truth when, like a rabid sheepdog, it finally sits up and bites him on the leg.

He’s too busy trying not to get killed himself.

DCI Evan Warlow and his team had been sent far north to help a rural team investigate a father and son who have gone missing. Sheep rustling is a major problem in the quiet area and when blood and splatter is discovered on a barn next to the men’s abandoned car everyone fears for the worst. But as the team investigate, they uncover more problems hidden in the small community and soon no one is safe.

I’ve been really enjoying this Welsh based police procedural series. Written in a slightly gritter noir type of style this book hooked me from the beginning. While there is a fair bit of history between Warlow and his team members, I don’t feel readers should shy away from this book if it’s the first one they’ve come across. All the connections are quite well explained, and really the plot and setting is all easily encapsulated within this book so it stands quite well alone.

There was a bit of progress as well with the DCI and some of his personal/family story arcs which I really enjoyed. A part of me hopes we get a bit more history and background to some of the other team members in forthcoming books but there is enough of a feel of the slow-burn here that I am happy to come along for the ride, especially when the mystery and police plotlines are so well written and realistic.

I found this police procedural style of story a good read and particularly enjoyed the Welsh feel and setting.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Obedience by Isabella Jordan

June 13, 2024 By 1 Comment


Obedience by Isabella Jordan
Publisher: Changeling Press
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

A princess with a problem… Meela must marry a prince from another planet in order to ensure the security of her people. Trouble is Meela’s known to be a bit feisty, and sometimes that gets her into trouble. It’s bad enough she has no say in who she’ll marry. Worse still, the queen places an obedience curse on Meela to thwart her errant ways. As a result of the curse, Meela finds herself in plenty of predicaments not exactly fit for a princess. But what’s a princess to do when two gorgeous hunks come along and place sensual demands on her Meela’s not sure she can — or even wants to — deny?

Meela might be a feisty princess, but she knows she has to marry a prince for the good of her people. But when the Queen puts an obedience curse on her to curb her feisty ways the magic has some unexpected consequences.

I found this to be a fun and rather sassy short story. I thought the twist in the tale about the Obedience curse was a stroke of genius and I really enjoyed the slant to the story as a whole. The first chapter really setup the situation Meela had found herself in – and both the good and bad aspects to the queen’s curse – and all the sexy shenanigans rolling in from those consequences was a fun delight to read.

I thought the author showed a good balance between Meela being unable to refuse a command and having the curse force her to obey, but equally not pushing past the ilne of non-consent. I do admit that while the ending felt just a little cliched to me, it was very satisfying, and I feel most readers should be very happy with the twist.

Sexy and fun, this is a quick read I feel many readers will enjoy.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Fated Love by Sean Michael

June 11, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Fated Love by Sean Michael
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, LGBTQ
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

Love doesn’t always get a second chance.

Ten years ago, Sunny Morgen waved goodbye to his boyfriend Jack at the airport, never expecting to see him again. Since then, he’s focused on learning a trade and raising his daughter as best he can. He never would have guessed that fate would bring Jack back into his life.

Jack Johnston hated leaving Sunny for a job on the west coast, but he couldn’t afford to turn it down. Ten years later finds him back in Ottawa, retired, with a three-year-old daughter in tow, and a new lease on life. The last thing he expects when he opens the door to meet his potential new baby-sitter and her father is Sunny.

Now that fate has brought them back together again, will Jack and Sunny reclaim the love they gave up?

Ten years ago, Sunny said farewell to his boyfriend Jack at the airport. While sad, neither man ever expected to see the other again and they’ve both focused on their lives, careers, and later each raising their own daughter. Only now Jack finds himself back in Ottawa and utterly shocked when he opens the door expecting to find a potential babysitter only to find himself once again in Sunny’s orbit. Now that fate has brought the two men back together can they make it work?

This is a fun and short story that would be great as a quick and sexy read. With the two characters knowing each other well – albeit from a decade ago – there wasn’t the usual feel of insta-love that can sometimes ring untrue. Jack and Sunny had left each other on good terms, their lives just moving in different directions, and so the fact they reconnected so quickly and became intimate almost immediately didn’t strike me as unrealistic.

I must admit I would have preferred a little more length to this story – seeing how Jack and Sunny managed to work together and build their relationship, but this is still a lovely snippet showing the two men getting back together and it leaves off on a very positive and hopeful note with the two men clearly interested in rebuilding the relationship they had each let go of.

For a quick, sexy and enjoyable read this is a good story and one I will likely reread.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Price Of Lemon Cake by Jennifer Ashley

June 7, 2024 By Leave a Comment


The Price of Lemon Cake by Jennifer Ashley
Publisher: JA/AG Publishing
Genre: Historical, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

When Kat Holloway approaches Lady Bobby Perry and Judith Townsend to help her discover what a young aristo is getting up to in a gentleman’s club, Bobby quickly accepts, coaxing a promise of Mrs. Holloway’s stupendous lemon cake in return.

But the investigation quickly turns into more than a simple spy mission, forcing Judith to confront a painful part her past. Both Judith and Bobby must bring their own unique skills to help Kat solve the tricky and dangerous problem.

Kat Holloway turns to her two friends Lady Bobby Perry and Judith Townsend to help her. Bobby goes into a club incognito to discover if one young man is being led astray by his brother, but instead Bobby and Judith discover a few painful secrets Judith had thought was locked in her past. Will the price of Kay Holloway’s lemon cake be enough to cover this cost?

This is the second short story in this Upstairs/Downstairs series that I have read, and I must admit I enjoyed it. Set in the late 1880s I found the historical setting to be slightly romanticized but still quite believable. I also found the plot to be a lot of fun – but a small amount of disbelief really did need to be suspended. Just sit back, relax, and enjoy the story.

Despite this story being billed as part of the Kat Holloway series I was surprised but pleased this really had a lot more to do with Kat’s two friends, Bobby and Judith. Obviously, the plot couldn’t be too convoluted due to the short nature of the story, but I was very pleased with the two interweaving storylines and the way they were neatly tied up at the end. I was also glad that readers didn’t need to be familiar with the main book series – I, personally, have not read any of the full-length novels in this series – to enjoy and fully comprehend what’s happening.

For a quick introduction to the world and some of the characters this is an excellent short story. I enjoyed it and am intrigued enough to give one of the main novels a try.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Hero In Waiting by Andrew Grey

June 6, 2024 By Leave a Comment


Hero In Waiting by Andrew Grey
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, LGBTQ
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Fern

Wells Barnaby is in danger and he doesn’t even know it. After leaving the Marines, he came to live with his sister and is helping to care for his niece. When a threat from his past rears up, it puts them all in danger… and brings the one who got away back into his life.

Miller Washington served with Wells, and the two men shared an attraction that neither of them acknowledged. When Miller learns that an old enemy is on the loose and that he may come after Wells, he makes a beeline to help. But he doesn’t expect repressed desire to blaze back to life.

Between renewed attraction and an enemy who will stop at nothing to get even, Wells and Miller must navigate the heat of passion too strong for either of them to contain while not letting their guard down, in order to protect Wells’s family and their second chance.

Wells and Miller served together for many years together in the Marines. Now they’re both out and have gone their separate ways – Wells eventually back to his sister to help take care of his five-year-old niece, Giselle, and after travelling around aimlessly Miller ended up working in security. When an old enemy negotiates for his release, Miller tracks Wells down to warn him – they’re both on the same hit list now and Wells family in particular are in great danger. Can these two men finally find their way to acting on their mutual attraction?

I’m always a sucker for the returned veteran style of story and this book ticked every box for me. The chemistry between Wells and Miller sizzles right from the first page and I was really pleased that they didn’t just fall into insta-lust or jump right into bed there and then. There was plenty of friendship and trust between them from their years serving together and Miller in particular didn’t want to change that. I could also appreciate that while Wells clearly was attracted to and wanted more with Miller, with a killer lunatic hunting them down Wells’ focus was very much on his sister and niece’s protection.

I thought the author did a really good job to balance the steamy romance between the men and the main plotline. Both had a strong focus in the book, but I was pleased in particular the the plot didn’t feel shoved in there or just tacked on to make the book appear more rounded. A good amount of time and effort had gone into writing these sections of the book and that showed. This helped me really feel invested in the story as a whole and not just the sexy scenes between the two men. I cared about their relationship as a whole and the mini-family they were growing and building between them. The action and conflict with their mutual enemy added a good amount of tension and helped the story not feel too soppy or rose-tinted.

With interesting and realistic characters that I felt quite invested in and a solid plot that I felt was very well handled this was a good book. I am eagerly waiting for the next to come along.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,
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