IT IS THAT TIME AGAIN!
Welcome to our Book of the Month Poll for August 2017!
Here are your voter chosen top two from each week in no particular order. Please vote for your favorites and you can vote for as many as you want, but as with our Book of the Week Poll you only get one visit, so make it count!
Remember, the top two go through to the Book of the Year Poll!
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…
Spectred Isle (Green Men #1) by K.J. Charles
Reviewed by Chris
TITLE: Spectred Isle
SERIES: Green Men #1
AUTHOR: K.J. Charles
PUBLISHER: KJC Books
LENGTH: 243 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 3, 2017
BLURB:
Archaeologist Saul Lazenby has been all but unemployable since his disgrace during the War. Now he scrapes a living working for a rich eccentric who believes in magic. Saul knows it’s a lot of nonsense…except that he begins to find himself in increasingly strange and frightening situations. And at every turn he runs into the sardonic, mysterious Randolph Glyde.
Randolph is the last of an ancient line of arcanists, commanding deep secrets and extraordinary powers as he struggles to fulfil his family duties in a war-torn world. He knows there’s something odd going on with the haunted-looking man who keeps turning up in all the wrong places. The only question for Randolph is whether Saul is victim or villain.
Saul hasn’t trusted anyone in a long time. But as the supernatural threat grows, along with the desire between them, he’ll need to believe in evasive, enraging, devastatingly attractive Randolph. Because he may be the only man who can save Saul’s life—or his soul….Read More »
Get A Grip (Bluewater Bay) by L.A Witt
Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: Get A Grip
SERIES: Bluewater Bay (book #19)
AUTHOR: L. A. Witt
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 300 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 24, 2017
BLURB:
If a tree falls in Bluewater Bay . . . could it be fate? A year after his divorce, Shane Andrews isn’t interested in dating—not that he has time, between three kids and a demanding job as a grip. When a windstorm knocks a tree onto one of the Wolf’s Landing soundstages, Shane’s there to help with the mess . . . and so is firefighter Aaron Tucker. A former smoke jumper, Aaron’s an adrenaline junkie and way too restless and reckless to be relationship material. As far as he’s concerned, monogamy is for penguins, and he’d rather be alone than tied down. Signing up to be a stepparent? No, thank you. But after a scorching-hot night together, they’re hooked. Aaron is a taste of the excitement Shane’s been lacking, and Shane’s pushing buttons Aaron didn’t know he had. The more they’re together, the less Aaron craves wild nights with other men . . . but the more Shane wants to play the field like he never got to in his twenties. This could be the love neither man knew he needed, but only if Shane gets his feet back on the ground before Aaron walks away….Read More »
The Long and Winding Road (Bear, Otter, and the Kid #4) by T.J. Klune
Reviewed by Chris
TITLE: The Long and Winding Road
SERIES: Bear, Otter, and the Kid #4
AUTHOR: T.J. Klune
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 346 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 11, 2017
BLURB:
Family is not always defined by blood. It’s defined by those who make us whole—those who make us who we are.
And here, at the end, Bear and Otter will be tested like they’ve never been before.
There’s a knock at the door from a little girl who has nowhere else to go.
There’s a phone ringing, bringing news they do not expect.
There’s a brother returning home after learning how to stand on his own.
As these moments converge, all of their lives will change forever.
Beginning in Bear, Otter, and the Kid, and continuing in Who We Are and The Art of Breathing, TJ Klune has told a saga of family and brotherhood, of love and sacrifice. In this final chapter, the events of the past pave the long and winding road toward a future no one could have imagined.…Read More »
The Garden (Lavender Shores #2) by Rosalind Abel
Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: The Garden
SERIES: Lavender Shores (book #2)
AUTHOR: Rosalind Abel
PUBLISHER: Wings of Ink Publications, LLC
LENGTH: 254 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 25, 2017
BLURB:
Beautiful Gilbert Bryant designs jewelry for the rich and famous, and he made his escape from his gossipy little hometown of Lavender Shores. However, with so many friends and family, he keeps getting pulled back. When he attends his best friend’s engagement party, Gilbert can’t help but sample one of the new men in town. It’s just some innocent—or not so innocent—fun. Nothing that will even cross his mind once he gets back to his everyday life.
Walden Thompson dreamed about living in Lavender Shores since he visited as a child. He finally gets his chance, and he embraces the opportunity to start over, to become someone new. He leaves both hurts and dangerous habits in the past, where they belong. When Gilbert crosses his path, Walden gives in to his baser instincts. He can indulge in the carnal pleasures this once and still be okay.
Their few hours together haunt Gilbert, the two-hundred-mile buffer from home no longer shutting out the past or the sexy man he left behind. Walden is just beginning to recover from the smoldering encounter with Gilbert when they are thrust together once more. This time, neither of them can walk away, no matter how hard they try. But when their pasts crash into each other as surely as the magnetism that pulls them together, walking away may be the only option…Read More »
Still Your Guy by Devon McCormack
REVIEWED by Cinnamon
TITLE: Still Your Guy
AUTHOR: Devon McCormack
PUBLISHER: self published
LENGTH: 341 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 12, 2017
BLURB:
Chase Rogan and Mason Finley fell in love as kids and had their happily-ever-after at eighteen…or so they thought. CHASE Over a decade after his estrangement from his ex, Chase returns to Finley Dairy to celebrate Mason’s sister’s engagement. But being back at the place where his fondest memories are—the place where he and Mason laughed, played, and loved—quickly ropes Chase back into those feelings all over again, reminding him of the flame he could never extinguish. MASON Despite his attempts at getting over Chase, Mason still can’t move on—not from the greatest love he’s ever known. When Chase comes back to the dairy, all those old feelings return, as powerful as ever. A wavering hope strengthens, making him believe that maybe…just maybe…they can find a way to put the past behind them and create a future together. But it isn’t easy, and every time he pushes, Chase pulls away. As much as Mason wants it to work, if it doesn’t, what’s he supposed to do? How can you move on when—even after all the years—you know in your heart, he’s still your guy?…Read More »
When Heaven Strikes by F.E. Feeley Jr.
Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: When Heaven Strikes
AUTHOR: F.E. Feeley, Jr.
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 300 Pages
RELEASE DATE: July 20, 2017
BLURB:
Can love survive heaven’s wrath?
Artist Ted Armstrong lives a solitary and eccentric life. The survivor of child abuse disguised as religion, Ted has cut himself off from the world.
Then Ted meets Anderson Taylor, and it’s like being struck by lightning.
Anderson is a cardiac surgeon whose passion for his work has consumed him. He fears he’ll never find a partner—until he sets eyes on Ted. It’s happening fast, but both men know what they feel is right.
Confronted with an angry preacher, a scandal, and an act of God that threatens to destroy everything, their relationship will face its first true test.,…Read More »
Facing West (Forever Wilde #1) by Lucy Lennox
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
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 »
How To Save A Life by Eli Easton
Reviewed by Caroline
TITLE: How To Save A Life
SERIES: Howl At The Moon Book 4
AUTHOR: Eli Easton
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 415 Pages
RELEASE DATE: August 28, 2017
BLURB:
Rav Miller looked into the terrified, intelligent eyes of the chocolate Labrador on death row, and knew he’d do anything to save him. When the dog, Sammy, escapes and heads to Mad Creek, Rav follows. Mad Creek. The town had become legendary in Rav’s mind after he’d met that bizarre group last year. Rav dismissed his crazy suspicions back then, but when he arrives in Mad Creek, he knows it’s true. Dog shifters exist, and apparently they all live in the California mountains. It’s enough to blow a bad boy’s mind.
Sammy has something in common with Rav—neither one of them trusts people. After Sammy’s abuse as a dog, he particularly dislikes tough-looking men like Rav. But when Sammy gets a chance to work with rescued dogs at the new Mad Creek shelter, his deep compulsion to help others overcomes his fear. Rav and Sammy bond over saving strays. If they can each find the courage to let someone else in, they might find their way to love.
Sheriff Lance Beaufort doesn’t like humans moving into Mad Creek, especially not the tattooed and defiant Rav. When Rav starts a rescue shelter, the town thinks he’s wonderful! But Lance isn’t fooled. He doesn’t buy Rav’s innocent act for one second. How much does Rav know about the quickened? What is his game? And why did he have to show up now, when Lance and the other town leaders are overwhelmed by all the new quickened pouring in?
Rav knows how to save a life. But can he save an entire town? Can he rescue Mad Creek? Read More »
Finding His Place (Memories with the Breakfast Club) by Nic Starr
Reviewed by Tammy
TITLE: Finding His Place
SERIES: Memories with The Breakfast Club
AUTHOR: Nic Starr
PUBLISHER: Kindle Worlds
LENGTH: 100 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 20, 2017
BLURB:
Sometimes finding your place in the world can lead to love.
Kieran Walters is the illegitimate son of a successful businessman. Despite striving to win his father’s affection, a confrontation that has been years in the making leaves Kieran devastated to realize he will never be good enough. Jealous of the half-brother he’s never met, and who most likely doesn’t know of his existence, Kieran vows to find out what makes his brother so special in their father’s eyes.
Darius Jensen manages a nightclub. He loves his job, but is reluctant to commit when given the opportunity to become a partner. His previous foray into business ownership with a boyfriend had disastrous results, and Darius is still paying the price, both financially and emotionally.
When Kieran starts working with Darius at Sparks, Darius shows him it’s not too late for Kieran to realize his dreams, the fulfilling career, a loving family, and someone who loves him for who he is. If only Kieran can convince Darius of the same thing. But before Kieran’s and Darius’s dreams can come true, Kieran needs to come clean with his brother and deal with the resulting fallout… which threatens his relationship with Darius. Read More »