Book Review

Sleuth Week Review: Deadly Descendant by Jenna Black

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Deadly Descendant
Author: Jenna Black
Series: Nikki Glass #2
Heroine: Nikki & Jamaal
Genre: M/F Urban Fantasy
Length: 368 pages
Publisher: Pocket Books
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Available at: Pocket, Amazon & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: An ancient evil is unleashed in the modern world— unless one fearless P.I. can hunt it down. . . . Nikki Glass, Immortal Huntress, returns in this new novel in the acclaimed series by Jenna Black.

As a living descendant of Artemis the Huntress, private investigator Nikki Glass knows how to track someone down. But when an Oracle shows up, warning the Descendants about wild dog attacks in Washington, D.C., Nikki is afraid it might be a trap. The Olympians believe the “dogs” are really jackals, controlled by a blood-crazed descendant of the Egyptian death-god Anubis. Whatever. . . . If Nikki hopes to muzzle Dogboy, she’s got to catch him in the act. But when she stakes out a local cemetery, she ends up face-to-snout with a snarling pack of shadow-jackals whose bite is worse than their bark. These hellhounds are deadly—even for an immortal like Nikki. “Dog” spelled backward may be “god,” but that won’t stop Nikki from teaching these old gods some new tricks. Like playing dead. Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, M/F, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2012, Theme Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sleuth Week Review: Eidolon by Jordan L. Hawk

Reviewed by Heather C

20559250Title: Eidolon
Author: Jordan L. Hawk
Series: Whyborne & Griffin #1.5
The Heroes: Whyborne & Griffin
Genre: M/M Historical Romance, Paranormal
Length: 29 pages
Release Date: February 12, 2014
Available at: AmazonAll Romance eBooks, Smashwords & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf at: Goodreads

Blurb:  A Whyborne & Griffin short story.

Griffin Flaherty wants nothing more than to create a perfect Valentine’s Day for his lover, Dr. Percival Endicott Whyborne. Dinner at a fancy restaurant, an evening at the theater, and a romantic interlude at home should do the trick.

But a new client with an urgent case puts Griffin’s plans in jeopardy. A magic talisman has been stolen, and if it isn’t returned by sundown, it may unleash disaster not only on the thief but the innocents around him.

Can Whyborne and Griffin track down the thief and return the amulet by nightfall, or will dinner reservations become the least of their worries? Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014, Theme Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: Last First Kiss by Diane Adams

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Last First Kiss
Author: Diane Adams
Series: Southern Comfort #1
Heroes: Trent Foster and Gage Harris
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 275 Pages
Publisher: Love Lane Books
Release Date: January 18, 2014
Available at: Love Lane Books, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Eighteen-year-old Gage Harris is not a part of twenty-five year old Trent Foster’s plans. He likes Gage but the intense attraction between them makes remaining just friends unlikely, and the young farmer with two small children is a complication Trent doesn’t need.

Despite all the reasons to stay away, Trent is pulled into the small family. Gage’s boys are delightful and the young man’s honesty and genuine affection impossible to resist. Trent is intrigued by a life so different from everything he’s known. As he struggles to reconcile his plans with his feelings Trent begins to suspect that his random offer of a ride in the rain might lead straight to his last first kiss. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2014, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sleuth Week Review: Threshold by Jordan L. Hawk

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Threshold
Author: Jordan L. Hawk
Series: Whyborne & Griffin #2
Heroes: Percival Endicott Whyborne & Griffin Flaherty
Genre: M/M Paranormal Historical
Length: 67,510 words
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: June 3, 2013
Available at: Smashwords, Amazon, All Romance eBooks & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Introverted scholar Percival Endicott Whyborne wants nothing more than to live quietly with his lover, ex-Pinkerton detective Griffin Flaherty. Unfortunately, Whyborne’s railroad tycoon father has other ideas, namely hiring Griffin to investigate mysterious events at a coal mine.

Whyborne, Griffin, and their friend Christine travel to Threshold Mountain, a place of dark legend even before the mine burrowed into its heart. A contingent of Pinkertons—including Griffin’s ex-lover Elliot—already guard the mine. But Griffin knows better than anyone just how unprepared the detectives are to face the otherworldly forces threatening them.

Soon, Whyborne and Griffin are on the trail of mysterious disappearances, deadly accidents, and whispered secrets. Is Elliot an ally, or does he only want to rekindle his relationship with Griffin? And if so, how can Whyborne possibly hope to compete with the stunningly handsome Pinkerton—especially when Griffin is hiding secrets about his past?

For in a town where friends become enemies and horror lurks behind a human mask, Whyborne can’t afford to trust anything—including his own heart. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2013, Theme Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sleuth Week Review: Dark Descendant by Jenna Black

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Dark Descendant
Author: Jenna Black
Series: Nikki Glass #1
Heroine: Nikki Glass & a Secret Love Interest
Genre: M/F Urban Fantasy
Length: 336 pages
Publisher: Pocket Books
Release Date: April 26, 2011
Available at: Pocket, Amazon & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Nikki Glass can track down any man. But when her latest client turns out to be a true descendant of Hades, Nikki now discovers she can’t die. . . .

Crazy as it sounds, Nikki’s manhunting skills are literally god-given. She’s a living, breathing descendant of Artemis who has stepped right into a trap set by the children of the gods. Nikki’s new “friends” include a descendant of Eros, who uses sex as a weapon; a descendant of Loki, whose tricks are no laughing matter; and a half-mad descendant of Kali who thinks she’s a spy.

But most powerful of all are the Olympians, a rival clan of immortals seeking to destroy all Descendants who refuse to bow down to them. In the eternal battle of good god/bad god, Nikki would make a divine weapon. But if they think she’ll surrender without a fight, the gods must be crazy. . . . Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, M/F, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2011, Theme Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sleuth Week Review: The Psychic and the Sleuth by Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon

Reviewed by Heather C

13594541Title: The Psychic and the Sleuth
Author: Bonnie Dee & Summer Devon
The Heroes: Robert Court & Oliver Marsh
Genre: M/M Historical Romance, Mystery
Length: Novel
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Release Date: January 17, 2012
Available at: Samhain PublishingAmazonAll Romance eBooks & Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf at: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: Trusting a psychic flash might solve a mystery…and lead to love.

Inspector Robert Court should have felt a sense of justice when a rag-and-bones man went to the gallows for murdering his cousin. Yet something has never felt right about the investigation. Robert’s relentless quest for the truth has annoyed his superintendent, landing him lowly assignments such as foiling a false medium who’s fleecing the wives of the elite.

Oliver Marsh plays the confidence game of spiritualism, though his flashes of insight often offer his clients some comfort. Despite the presence of an attractive, if sneering, non-believer at a séance, he carries on—and experiences a horrifying psychic episode in which he experiences a murder as the victim.

There’s only one way for Court to learn if the young, dangerously attractive Marsh is his cousin’s killer or a real psychic: spend as much time with him as possible. Despite his resolve to focus on his job, Marsh somehow manages to weave a seductive spell around the inspector’s straight-laced heart.

Gradually, undeniable attraction overcomes caution. The two men are on the case, and on each other, as they race to stop a murderer before he kills again.

Product Warnings:

Graphic language and hot male/male sex with light BDSM themes. Despite “Descriptions of Murderous Acts” perpetrated by an unhinged killer, resist the temptation to cover your eyes—you’ll miss the good parts! Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2012, Theme Week | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Aunt Adeline’s Bequest by Amy Rae Durreson

Reviewed by Heather C

20696625Title: Aunt Adeline’s Bequest
Author: Amy Rae Durreson
The Heroes: Valentine Nugent & Jasper Pritchard
Genre: M/M Historical Romance
Length: 51 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: February 11, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner PressAmazonAll Romance eBooksBarnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf at: Goodreads

Blurb: One snowy evening, wounded WWI veteran Jasper Pritchard arrives at Valentine Nugent’s sweet shop with an unusual request. Jasper’s deceased great-aunt has left him a fortune, along with a box of indiscreet letters she wants returned to the writer, and the only clue is a tin sold in Valentine’s shop over twenty years ago. As they search the shop’s records and uncover a love story from long ago, they find far more than the answer to the mystery. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Early Review: One Good Deed by Andrew Grey

Reviewed by JustJen

One Good Deed by Andrew Grey eBookTitle: One Good Deed
Author: Andrew Grey
Heroes: Luka/Peter
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 200 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: February 10, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Luka Krachec immigrates to the United States to find his cousin dead and his cousin’s wife hospitalized after a terrible accident. He meets Peter Montgomery at the funeral. The American seems nice and captures Luka’s attention when he offers to help him with his English.

Peter has spent most of his life believing he shot his father at age six, and his family uses his regret and overwhelming guilt to keep him under their proverbial thumbs. Peter does his best to make up for what he did by helping others, and agreeing to help Luka with his English yields something amazing when they hit it off.

When Peter opens up to Luka about what happened when he was a child, Luka senses some holes in the story and suspects Peter needs some help, so he approaches the head of the psychology department at the college where he works. Neither expects to open a long-barricaded door to secrets, denial, and family manipulation. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, JustJen's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Clean Sweep
Author: Ilona Andrews
Series: Innkeeper Chronicles #1
Heroes/Heroine: Dina, Sean & Arland
Genre: M/F Urban Fantasy
Length: 60,000 words
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: December 2, 2013
Available at: Amazon & Barnes and Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads & Booklikes

Blurb: On the outside, Dina Demille is the epitome of normal. She runs a quaint Victorian Bed and Breakfast in a small Texas town, owns a Shih Tzu named Beast, and is a perfect neighbor, whose biggest problem should be what to serve her guests for breakfast. But Dina is…different: Her broom is a deadly weapon; her Inn is magic and thinks for itself. Meant to be a lodging for otherworldly visitors, the only permanent guest is a retired Galactic aristocrat who can’t leave the grounds because she’s responsible for the deaths of millions and someone might shoot her on sight. Under the circumstances, “normal” is a bit of a stretch for Dina.

And now, something with wicked claws and deepwater teeth has begun to hunt at night….Feeling responsible for her neighbors, Dina decides to get involved. Before long, she has to juggle dealing with the annoyingly attractive, ex-military, new neighbor, Sean Evans—an alpha-strain werewolf—and the equally arresting cosmic vampire soldier, Arland, while trying to keep her inn and its guests safe. But the enemy she’s facing is unlike anything she’s ever encountered before. It’s smart, vicious, and lethal, and putting herself between this creature and her neighbors might just cost her everything.  Continue reading

Categories: 4.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, M/F, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2013 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Early Review: It’s All Geek to Me by JL Merrow

Reviewed by Heather C

20418325Title: It’s All Geek to Me
Author: JL Merrow
Heroes: Jez and Rhys
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance, Comedy
Length: 13,600 words
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: February 10, 2014
Available at: Riptide Publishing
Add it to your shelf at: Goodreads

Blurb: Jez is on a mission of mercy: to replace a tragically deceased comic book for his injured best mate, Tel. Venturing into the Hidden Asteroid bookstore in London—the temple of geekdom itself—Jez is bowled over by the guy behind the counter.

Rhys is the poster boy for hot geeks: tall, gorgeous, and totally cool. Jez is desperate to impress him, so he bluffs his way through comic book jargon . . . and then dashes back to the hospital to beg Tel to teach him how to speak Geek.

Tel’s happy to oblige, and Jez is over the moon when Rhys asks him out. He’s even more thrilled when they discover a shared love of rugby, something he won’t have to fake for Rhys. The question is, how long can Jez keep up the deception, and what will happen when Rhys realizes he’s going out with a Fake Geek Guy? Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, Book Review, Heather C's Reviews, LGBT, Published in 2014 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment