4 Star Ratings

Book Review: Fatal Frost by Shea Balik

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Fatal Frost
Author: Shea Balik
Series: Druid’s Curse #4
Heroes: Arne & Dermot
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 189 pages
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 23, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: No way was Arne going to allow fate to chain him to a guy who thought all creatures, even those determined to kill you, were worthy of saving. Arne was a Viking warrior, death was his thing and he was damned good at it.

Dermot Kincaid believed all of God’s creations deserved respect. He was a pacifist at heart, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t stand up for himself. Even when that meant getting retribution against the asshole who thought he was better than anyone else.

When Arne and Dermot are attacked, they must find common ground so they can work together to defeat the enemy. If they can’t, they may not just risk losing, but they also risk their hearts developing a Fatal Frost.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Escape by Annabelle Jacobs

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Escape
Author: Annabelle Jacobs
Series: Rebellion #1
Heroes: Cole & Logan
Genre: M/M Paranormal
Length: 319 pages
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 20, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: This isn’t the life Cole dreamt of, but what choice does he have?

With his twenty-third birthday behind him, Cole Moreton now faces the shifter compatibility test which will decide his future. Testing positive means joining a pack and eventually taking the bite. Unfortunately, with enviable skills in self-defence and hand-to-hand combat, the kind of packs interested in him aren’t any he’d want to join.

Logan has been a member of the McKillan pack for most of his life. Pack is family and loyalty is everything, but when the shifter government turns out to be no better than the oppressive humans before them, he questions everything.

Right from their first meeting, Logan knows that a life with the McKillan pack isn’t right for Cole, but with his alpha taking a keen interest in Cole’s skills, Logan’s hands are tied. Mutual attraction builds between them, but acting on it is futile—helping Cole will put their lives at risk and an end to any future they could’ve had.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: Sapphire Flames by Ilona Andrews

Reviewed by Ami

Title: Sapphire Flames
Author: Ilona Andrews
Series: Hidden Legacy #4
Hero/Heroine: Catalina & Alessandro
Genre: M/F Urban Fantasy
Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Avon Books
Release Date: August 27, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrew comes an enthralling new trilogy set in the Hidden Legacy world, where magic means power, and family bloodlines are the new currency of society…

In a world where magic is the key to power and wealth, Catalina Baylor is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, and the Head of her House. Catalina has always been afraid to use her unique powers, but when her friend’s mother and sister are murdered, Catalina risks her reputation and safety to unravel the mystery.

But behind the scenes powerful forces are at work, and one of them is Alessandro Sagredo, the Italian Prime who was once Catalina’s teenage crush. Dangerous and unpredictable, Alessandro’s true motives are unclear, but he’s drawn to Catalina like a moth to a flame.

To help her friend, Catalina must test the limits of her extraordinary powers, but doing so may cost her both her House–and her heart. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, M/F, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Witchstone Amulet by Mason Thomas

Reviewed by Ami & Nikyta

Title: The Witchstone Amulet
Author: Mason Thomas
Heroes: Hunter & Dax
Genre: M/M Fantasy
Length: 293 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: August 27, 2019
Available at: Dreamspinner PressAmazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Protect it at all costs. 

That’s what rugby player Hunter Best’s mother told him before she died. But when Hunter surprises an intruder in his Chicago apartment, he discovers her amulet stolen. Hunter pursues the thief—all the way through a strange vortex. He wakes in a bizarre and violent world, a benighted realm on the threshold of civil war.

The queen has become a ruthless tyrant, punishing any who oppose her, weakening the kingdom’s defenses against the brutal Henerans. To survive, Hunter must depend on the man who robbed him, a handsome former spy named Dax, now a leader of the resistance that believes the queen is an imposter—a Heneran disguised by magic… who also looks identical to Hunter’s mother.

There’s no love lost between Hunter and Dax, and even if Hunter grudgingly agrees with the resistance, he just wants to reclaim his property and go home. But he might be the only one who can oppose the queen and end her reign of terror. Continue reading

Categories: 3.5 Star Ratings, 4 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: World Turned Upside Down by Elyse Springer

Reviewed by Ami

Title: World Turned Upside Down
Author: Elyse Springer
Series: World of Love
Heroes: Simon Bancroft/Asher Delaney
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 105 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: August 9, 2019
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: After three winters in Antarctica, Simon Bancroft is an old hand on the ice. The harsh weather and extreme isolation aren’t for everyone, but he enjoys the tight-knit community at McMurdo Station… and lately he’s enjoyed watching the hot new researcher, Asher Delaney, who’s recently arrived to study the aurora. But Simon’s just a janitor. Asher doesn’t even know he exists.

When Simon’s friends propose a wager, he gets a chance to introduce himself to Asher at last. But Asher defies all of Simon’s assumptions, and suddenly he finds himself reevaluating everything he thought he knew about Asher, himself, and falling in love at the bottom of the world.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: A Beautiful Disaster by Marguerite Labbe

Reviewed by Ami

Title: A Beautiful Disaster
Author: Marguerite Labbe
Series: Geek Life #3
Heroes: Brenden Wade/Dakota Nye
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 296 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: July 30, 2019
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: When best friends Brenden and Dakota launch the biggest comics and pop-culture convention of their careers, they finally realize what everyone around them already knows: they’ve been in love for years.

Now what are they going to do about it?

Meticulously organized Brenden Wade and easygoing Dakota Nye turned their love of geek culture into a business, running conventions all over the Chesapeake Bay area. Now the weight of their pasts is threatening not only their friendship but their dream. Brenden fears losing his foster family when his secrets come out, and though the last thing Dakota wants is to hurt his plus one, he doesn’t know if he’s capable of settling down.

One night of passion challenges both men’s preconceptions and forces them to evaluate what they want from the future. They’re both scared, and though they’ve always been able to figure out anything together, hearts are on the line. Will taking a chance on romance lead to a beautiful disaster, or just a disaster?
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Kneading You by C.S. Poe

Reviewed by Ami

Title: Kneading You
Author: C.S. Poe
Series: N/A
Heroes: Christopher Hughes/Miles Sakasai
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 40 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: July 19, 2019
Available at:  Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Christopher Hughes is new to the small New England town of Lancaster, New Hampshire. He’s been hired to save an old library from closing, but his obstacles include not only fighting for state funding, but a Selectman who wants to tear the building down in favor of a shopping center.

Christopher meets Miles Sakasai, a charming tattooed repairman hired to help restore the historical interior. Working in close proximity has both men falling hard for each other, and also provides Christopher an opportunity to learn about Miles’s passion for baking. As it turns out, Miles’s skills in the kitchen may end up being the key to saving the library—but only if his bread can rise to the occasion.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Keeping Cade by S.E. Jakes

Reviewed by Susan65

Title:Keeping Cade
Author: Stephanie Tyler writing as S.E. Jakes
Series: Crave Club #1
Heroes: Cade/Tegan/Vic
Genre: MMM Contemporary
Length: 321 Pages
Publisher: Stephanie Tyler, LLC
Release Date: May 24, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Protection has its price, but so do fantasies…

Fantasy Week happens twice a year at Crave, and it’s always a big hit—a way to live out your wildest fantasy in a safe, sane, and consensual manner.

But when Cade comes in with his Fantasy Week invitation, he’s not happy about it. He’s stoic as hell and his preferences don’t seem to match his fantasy at all…and yet, despite that, he enjoys himself with Tegan and Vic. At least at first.

When it becomes glaringly apparent that the fantasy isn’t something Cade’s comfortable with, it’s confusing for the men he’s been paired with, and Tegan and Vic put a stop to the scene immediately.

What Cade doesn’t know is that Tegan and Vic are not only co-owners of Crave, but they’re also owners of a mercenary group, Gray Ops, that’s run out of Crave. They’ve also been circling each other for years… but nothing sparks until their session with Cade.

What happened in Room 4 is something none of the men can forget…but it’s got nothing to do with a fantasy and everything to do with blackmail. Can Tegan and Vic help Cade keep his secrets, while keeping all of them safe at the same time? Because the threatening to spill out aren’t only Cade’s…

*This series is set in the MEN OF HONOR world, in the bar called Crave from Bound By Honor
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Published in 2019, Susan65's Reviews | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Surviving the Shadows by Miranda Turner

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: Surviving the Shadows
Author: Miranda Turner
Series: The Bearer of Truth #2
Heroes: Gabriel & Evander
Genre: M/M Urban Fantasy
Length: 293 pages
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: June 14, 2019
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Gabriel has been gone longer than predicted, and Evander is growing increasingly worried each day that passes without his return. Confounded by their leaders’ lack of answers, Evander and the team begin to fear the worst.

In the midst of fruitlessly searching Miami for clues to the Daemon Abaddon’s whereabouts, Evander begins to have disturbingly vivid dreams. With a little help from a newly returned and empty-handed Michael and Barabbas, Evander discovers Gabriel has been calling out for help across their nascent bond, and they set off to rescue Gabriel from the depths of the Underworld.

Gabriel is old friends with torture, and his captors haven’t been gentle. Despite growing weaker every day, Gabriel resolves to survive long enough for rescue, or to die fighting, until a Dark Seer begins to dredge up the terror of Gabriel’s horrific childhood, threatening to destroy his mind and soul. Nearing the end, Gabriel manages a last-ditch effort to contact help, reaching out to Evander in his dreams.

Against all odds, Evander and the team fight through the Underworld to reach Gabriel and come face to face with mortality. Sacrifices made for the bonds of brotherhood nearly break them, and Gabriel learns the hard way that embracing the darkness while fighting for the light may be the only way to survive.

From the underbelly of Reno to the glitz and glam of Vegas, Gabriel, Evander, and the men they call family will be tested, and the final confrontation with Gabriel’s maker may be the end of everything they hold dear.

Surviving the Shadows is an approximately 100,000-word LGBTQ urban fantasy with a romantic subplot. It is a direct sequel to Shadowing the Light and reading the first book in the series is essential to enjoying this one. Please see the disclaimer on the Copyright Page for content advisories.
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Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Book Review, LGBT, Nikyta's Reviews, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Fake Dating the Prince by Ashlyn Kane

Reviewed by Ami

Title: Fake Dating the Prince
Author: Ashlyn Kane
Series: Dreamspun Desires #84
Heroes: Brayden & Flip
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 210 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: June 18, 2019
Available at: Dreamspinner PressAmazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: A royal deception. An accidental romance.

When fast-living flight attendant Brayden Wood agrees to accompany a first-class passenger to a swanky charity ball, he discovers his date—“Call me Flip”—is actually His Royal Highness Prince Antoine-Philipe. And he wants Brayden to pretend to be his boyfriend.

Being Europe’s only prince of Indian descent—and its only openly gay one—has led Flip to select “appropriate” men first and worry about attraction later. Still, flirty, irreverent Brayden captivates him right away, and Flip needs a date to survive the ball without being match-made.

Before Flip can pursue Brayden in earnest, the paparazzi forces his hand, and the charade is extended for the remainder of Brayden’s vacation.

Posh, gorgeous, thoughtful Prince Flip is way out of Brayden’s league. If Brayden survives three weeks of platonically sharing a bed with him during the romantic holiday season, going home afterward might break his heart…. Continue reading

Categories: 4 Star Ratings, Ami's Reviews, Book Review, Guest Reviewer, LGBT, Published in 2019 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment