Book of the Week Poll
Welcome to the Love Bytes Book of the Week Poll!
Here are the books which achieved a 4.5 or 5.0 review last week from our reviewers.
As a reminder, the top two books from each week’s poll will roll into our Book of the Month poll at month’s end. Happy Voting!
Please scroll to the very bottom for the voting section.
POLL SCHEDULE:
This poll will remain open until at least 6PM, Amsterdam time next Friday. The actual closing time will vary depending on blog staff schedules…
My Dark Knight (Kings of Hell MC #2) by K.A. Merikan
Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: My Dark Knight
SERIES: Kings of Hell MC Book 2
AUTHOR: K.A. Merikan
PUBLISHER: Acerbi & Villani
LENGTH: 438 Pages
RELEASE DATE: August 10, 2017
BLURB:
Love or hate. Life or death. No in-between. No compromise. No rules in love and war.
Knight. Party monster. Handsome Savage. Doesn’t do monogamy.
Elliot. Obsessive. Intense. Uncompromising.
Newly single, Knight is done with relationships. All he’s interested in is bringing down The Count, an Internet personality who is tarnishing his family name. An opportunity to crush him comes when the audacious clown shows up at the Kings of Hell MC clubhouse to film for his YouTube channel. But when Knight meets Elliot, the man behind The Count, he no longer knows what to do with him.
Knight has never seen a more pathetic creature than Elliot. He’s also never met anyone who needed him more. Skinny, messed up, and a bucket of trouble as thick as tar, everything Elliot does seems to be a wordless death wish. No matter how much Knight hates Elliot’s alter ego, under the makeup and theatrics hides a fragile young guy with a passion for history, and Knight can’t help but catch Elliot every time he falls.
Elliot has bad taste in men. Always hopelessly attracted to violent brutes, his favorite is a long dead serial killer. But he gets more than he’s bargained for when he seizes an opportunity to meet the man of his dreams. The ghost is manipulative and dangerous, offering Elliot all he’s always wanted, for a price he can’t possibly pay.
Elliot is faced with an impossible choice between two men.
One alive, one dead.
One carnal and honest, one drizzling sweet, poisoned promises into his ear.
One unwilling to commit, the other promising an eternity together.
And Elliot doesn’t settle for half-measures. He craves a love that is all or nothing, passion that will consume him, and desire to burn him alive.
Elliot is ready to either get that, or die trying. Read More »
Facing West (Forever Wilde #1) by Lucy Lennox
![Facing West: A Forever Wilde Novel by [Lennox, Lucy]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51p3ki83kGL._SY346_.jpg)
REVIEWED by Christie
TITLE: Facing West
SERIES: Forever Wilde, Book 1
AUTHOR: Lucy Lennox
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 312 Pages
RELEASE DATE: August 22, 2017
BLURB:
Nico:
I left my family and tiny Texas hometown fifteen years ago to escape small-town gossips and to give my mom and sister the chance at a better life. But when a phone call from an attorney back home informs me that my sister passed away, leaving me custody of her newborn baby, I’m shocked out of the steady life I’ve built for myself running a tattoo shop in San Francisco.
The thing is: I don’t do babies. And I don’t do small towns. Or commitment. And I especially don’t do family. My plan is to go back to Hobie just long enough to sign adoption papers, giving my niece the kind of stable, loving family I could never provide.
But the moment I meet my niece in the arms of Weston Wilde, my sister’s best friend and the town’s handsome doctor, my plans begin to change. Because suddenly, I see a different future. One with the very thing I thought I never deserved: a family. If only I can convince West that I’m not the same good-for-nothing kid ready to bolt when things get tough.
Weston:
There’s one thing I know for sure about Nico Salerno: he was a good-for-nothing as a kid and judging by the purple-haired, tattoo’d punk who shows up at his sister’s funeral, he hasn’t changed. There’s no way I’m letting him take custody of my best friend’s baby.
But the more time I spend around him, the more I realize that his rough exterior is just a shell and that beneath all the tattoos is a scared, insecure man searching for a place to belong. And pretty soon I know exactly where he belongs: in my bed and by my side.
The problem is, he abandoned his family once before, how do I know that if we become a family he won’t do it again? Read More »
Fool of Main Beach (Love in Laguna #5) by Tara Lain
![Fool of Main Beach (Love in Laguna Book 5) by [Lain, Tara]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51lUD248vfL.jpg)
REVIEWED by Christie
TITLE: Fool of Main Beach
SERIES: Love in Laguna, book 5
AUTHOR: Tara Lain
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 294 Pages
RELEASE DATE: August 21, 2017
BLURB:
Merle Justice wants to reach for the stars, but it’s tough to get respect when playing a teenybopper vampire on TV. Then he meets a famous director anxious to give him all he thinks he wants—and maybe a bit more. Everything’s looking up until a life-threatening encounter with some homophobes on Main Beach puts Merle face-to-face with a Sasquatch-sized hero in a pink puffer coat. Tom Henry defies description. As unsophisticated and simple as an angel, he walks through life content with who he is and asking for very little except to care for his sister, Lily, and the dogs he loves. Then he meets Merle, the embodiment of dreams he barely knows he has. Merle knows the people who hold his future in their hands might love Tom—but they’ll never understand Merle and Tom together. Tom knows it too. With lives this far apart, who’s really the fool of Main Beach? Read More »
My Omega’s Baby (Bodyguards and Babies #1) by S.C. Wynne
Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: My Omega’s Baby
SERIES: Bodyguards and Babies (mpreg romance)
AUTHOR: S.C. Wynne
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 203 Pages
RELEASE DATE: June 26, 2017
BLURB:
Enemies to Lovers.
Blade Carr and Wyatt Smith are bodyguards from rival agencies who can’t stand each other.
Blade is a younger omega who thinks, Wyatt, a slightly older alpha, is arrogant and disrespectful. Wyatt believes Blade is nothing but a cocky punk. But when Wyatt receives a death threat, his boss decides the last place anyone will look for him is at Blade’s house.
Both men dread spending time together and are shocked when, despite their dislike of one another, they are suddenly physically attracted to each other. When they give into their lust one night, Blade just wants to pretend the perplexing night of passion never happened, but when the younger omega discovers he’s pregnant, the two men are forced to form a closer bond as they try to find a way to come together for the child. Read More »
The Dick Defender (Sons Of Outlaws Book 4) by James Cox
Reviewed by Roberta
TITLE: Dick Defender
SERIES: Sons of Outlaws Book 4
AUTHOR: James Cox
PUBLISHER: Evernight Publishing
LENGTH: 76 Pages
RELEASE DATE: March 28, 2017
BLURB:
Sons of Outlaws, 4
Helrick doesn’t use bodyguards for protection, he uses them in his bed. Spoiled, foolish, and horny describe the president’s son. Hel isn’t interested in anything but his next lay. When a new guard, Sin, arrives intent on keeping Hel at a distance, he finds it a worthy challenge. It’s only a matter of time before Hel gets what he wants, but when the threat he’s been warned about his whole life comes true, only Sin can save him. Add that to the biggest storm of the century hitting their little city on Mars and Hel might finally need a real bodyguard.
As assassins focus on Hel and the storm inches ever closer, Sin must use all his skills to protect the president’s son and the foolish flirt he’s falling for. Even if it’s with his own life. Read More »
Reviewed by Chris
TITLE: Having Her Back
AUTHOR: Ann Gallagher
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 250 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 19, 2017
BLURB:
Trevor Larson is a Navy brat. He’s used to moving every few years, and thanks to social media, he can stay in touch with the friends he leaves behind. But shortly after he leaves Okinawa, his best friend, Brad Gray, cuts off contact and disappears.
Four years and two bases later, Brad resurfaces—and announces his family is coming to Trevor’s base in Spain. But a lot’s changed in four years, and Trevor is stunned to find out Brad is now Shannon. Their reunion isn’t quite what either of them had hoped for, but they quickly find their footing, both relieved to have each other back.
Except nothing is ever all sunshine and roses. The military is a small world, and there’s no keeping Shannon’s transition a secret. Parents warn their kids away from her. She can’t attend school on-base for fear of harassment or worse. And although her parents try to hide it, being ostracized by their only social circle while they’re thousands of miles from home is taking a toll on them too.
More and more, Shannon leans on Trevor. But she’s also drawn to him, and he’s drawn right back to her, feeling things he’s never felt for anyone before.
Trevor’s scared, though. Not of dating a trans girl. Not of damaging his chaplain father’s career or reputation. After finally getting his friend back, does he dare take things further and risk losing Shannon a second time? Read More »
REVIEWED by Jen B.
TITLE: Suspicious Behavior
SERIES: Bad Behavior #2
AUTHORS: L.A. Witt and Cari Z
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 283 Pages
RELEASE DATE: August 21, 2017
BLURB:
Detective Darren Corliss is hanging by a thread. In between recovering from a near-fatal wound and returning to work at a hostile precinct, he’s struggling to help care for his ailing brother. His partner and boyfriend, Detective Andreas Ruffner, wants to help, but doesn’t know how. And with his own family crises brewing, Andreas is spread almost as thin as Darren.
For cops, though, life takes a backseat to the job. When a stack of unsolved homicides drops into their laps, Andreas and Darren think they’re unrelated cold cases. But when a connection surfaces, they find themselves on the tail of a prolific serial killer who’s about to strike again.
Except they’ve got nothing. No leads. No suspects. Just a pile of circumstantial evidence and a whole lot of hunches. Time is running out to stop the next murder—and to pull themselves back from their breaking points. Read More »
Suck the Savage Beast (Sons of Outlaws Book 3) By James Cox
Reviewed by Roberta
TITLE: Suck the Savage Beasts
SERIES: Sons of Outlaws Book 3
AUTHOR: James Cox
PUBLISHER: Evernight Publishing
LENGTH: 95 Pages
Release Date: January 16, 2017
BLURB:
Sons of Outlaws, 3
Earth beasts are sexier than he expected…
Welliver is a scientist first and an Outlaw MC member second. He’s the smartest man in the crew that’s exploring Earth to create a new home. But when a monster attacks them and he’s separated from the crew, he is saved by a savage and sexy beast.
The beast doesn’t remember his name. He was sent to the Earth prison when he was a boy and left behind when the prison was evacuated. Beast has spent nearly twenty years alone on Earth, trying to survive this dangerous world. He’s the best hope humans have for staying alive with these new threats.
Beast doesn’t understand it’s not okay to lick strangers, or the whole wearing clothes thing, but neither man is prepared for the attraction between them. Welliver will have to pull on his Outlaw MC heritage to endure the wilds of Earth but how will survive the savage beast? Read More »
Unbreakable Stories: Ian (Unbreakable Bonds 4.5) by Jocelynn Drake and Rinda Elliott
REVIEWED by Jen B.
TITLE: Unbreakable Stories: Ian
SERIES: Unbreakable Bonds #4.5
AUTHORS: Jocelynn Drake and Rinda Elliott
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 121 Pages
RELEASE DATE: August 2, 2017
BLURB:
Unbreakable Stories: Ian is a collection of short stories following the ups and downs of Ian Pierce and Hollis Banner has they navigate their new relationship and the unique complications of dating with a brunch of overprotective “brothers” determined to guard Ian’s heart. Read More »
So honored to be included! Thank you. : )