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…
The Billionaire’s Boyfriend by Geoffrey Knight
Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: The Billionaire’s Boyfriend
AUTHOR: Geoffrey Knight
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 109 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 5, 2017
BLURB:
Matthew Darcy is a romance writer in a rut. He’s been stuck on Chapter One of his new book for as long as he can remember, and so has his love life. But when his on-the-side job as a flower delivery guy puts him in the right place at the right time to save the life of billionaire banker Calvin Croft, Matt’s life takes an unexpected detour toward romance. With billions to his name, Cal Croft has everything… except someone to love. But is Cal’s paparazzi-pursued life something that Matt is willing to take a chance on? Can a struggling romance writer who delivers flowers have anything in common with a handsome billionaire with his own Lear jet? And could the secret that Cal’s keeping tear these two lovers apart—just when their romance begins to blossom? …Read More »
Cutie and the Beast (Fae out of Water #1) by E.J. Russell
Reviewed by PizzyGirl
TITLE: Cutie and the Beast
SERIES: Fae out of Water #1
AUTHOR: E.J. Russell
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 303 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 24, 2017
BLURB:
Temp worker David Evans has been dreaming of Dr. Alun Kendrick ever since that one transcription job for him, because holy cats, that voice. Swoon. So when his agency offers him a position as Dr. Kendrick’s temporary office manager, David neglects to mention that he’s been permanently banished from offices. Because, forgiveness? Way easier than permission.
Alun Kendrick, former Queen’s Champion of Faerie’s Seelie Court, takes his job as a psychologist for Portland’s supernatural population extremely seriously. Secrecy is paramount: no non-supe can know of their existence. So when a gods-bedamned human shows up to replace his office manager, he intends to send the man packing. It shouldn’t be difficult—in the two hundred years since he was cursed, no human has ever failed to run screaming from his hideous face.
But cheeky David isn’t intimidated, and despite himself, Alun is drawn to David in a way that can only spell disaster: when fae consort with humans, it never ends well. And if the human has secrets of his own? The disaster might be greater than either of them could ever imagine….Read More »
Stuff (The Bristol Collection #2) by Josephine Myles
Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Stuff
SERIES: The Bristol Collection #2
AUTHOR: Josephine Myles
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 374 Pages
RELEASE DATE: June 8, 2017
BLURB:
Tobias “Mas” Maslin doesn’t need much. A place of his own, weekends of clubbing, a rich boyfriend for love and support. Too bad his latest sugar daddy candidate turns out to be married with kids. Mas wants to be special, not someone’s dirty little secret.
When he loses his job and his flat on the same day, his worlds starts unraveling…until he stumbles across a vintage clothing shop. Now to convince the reclusive, eccentric owner he’s in dire need of a salesman.
Perry Cavendish-Fiennes set up Cabbages and Kinks solely to annoy his controlling father. Truth be told, he’d rather spend every spare moment on his true passion, art. When Mas comes flaming into his life talking nineteen to the dozen, he finds himself offering him a job and a place to live.
He should have listened to his instincts. The shop is already financially on the brink, and Mas’s flirting makes him feel things he’s never felt for a man. Yet Mas seems convinced they can make a go of it—in the shop, and together….Read More »
Junk (The Bristol Collection #1) by Josephine Myles
Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Junk
SERIES: The Bristol Collection #1
AUTHOR: Josephine Myles
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 351 Pages
RELEASE DATE: May 25, 2017
BLURB:
Letting go is the first step to healing…or bringing it all crashing down.
When an avalanche of books cuts off access to his living room, university librarian Jasper Richardson can no longer ignore the truth. His ever-growing piles of books, magazines and newspapers can no longer be classified as a “collection”. It’s a hoard, and he needs professional help.
Professional clutter clearer and counselor Lewis Miller thinks he’s seen it all, but even he has to admit he’s shocked. Not so much by the state of Jasper’s house, but by the level of attraction he still feels for the sexy bookworm he remembers from school.
What a shame that Lewis’s ethical code forbids relationships with clients. As Jasper makes slow but steady progress, though, the magnetic pull between them is so strong even Lewis is having trouble convincing himself it’s a temporary emotional attachment arising from the therapeutic process.
Jasper longs to prove to Lewis that this is the real deal. But first he’ll have to lay bare the root of his hoarding problem…and reveal the dark secret hidden behind his walls of books….Read More »
Patron by C.B. Lewis
Reviewed by Chris
TITLE: Patron
AUTHOR: C.B. Lewis
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 78 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2017
BLURB:
Theodore Wentworth, who possesses little more than a sharp and well-educated mind, is trying to solicit a sponsor for his studies of Greek antiquity by performing recitations at gatherings of collectors. Desperate for luck and better skills in oratory, in jest, he places a coin at the feet of a statue of Hermes. It seems like coincidence when his fortune turns and a gentleman calling himself Alexander becomes his benefactor. Despite his friend John teasing him about it, Theodore continues to offer tokens to Hermes and sinks himself into his study of the classics.
Alexander encourages Theodore’s interest, prompting Theodore to face desires he tried to put aside years before. As Theodore embraces the knowledge, he must also resist his attraction to Alexander—knowing his feelings are a serious crime in Victorian England.
But the secret Alexander keeps will change everything in a love story for the ages, steeped in taboo, temptation, history, and myth….Read More »
Scrap (The Bristol Collection #3) by Josephine Myles
Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Scrap
SERIES: The Bristol Collection #3
AUTHOR: Josephine Myles
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 258 Pages
RELEASE DATE: June 22, 2017
BLURB:
On the surface, Derek “Call Me Dare” Nelson’s life is simple, doing up custom campervans while living in a slightly illegal caravan in his riverfront yard. When a handsome, smooth-talking developer offers to buy the land out from under his feet, Dare realizes it’s the same man he had to escort home from a party months ago for causing a drunken scene.
Grant Matravers lives a double life, attempting to adjust to weekends as a single, divorced gay man while staying closeted at work. The strain of keeping up the part-time pretense, missing his kids, and now a problematic attraction to the shave-headed, tattooed Dare, has worn his emotional barriers dangerously thin.
Dare blasts through those barriers in a way Grant isn’t prepared for, challenging everything he thought he knew about himself as a gay man. But as their chemistry heats up and the intimacy between them grows, Grant edges toward a decision that could blow up in his face. Exposing a hornet’s nest of complications that could destroy any chance for happily ever after….Read More »
House of Cards (Porthkennack #4) by Garrett Leigh
Reviewed by Chris
TITLE: House of Cards
SERIES: Porthkennack #4
AUTHOR: Garrett Leigh
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 249 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 17, 2017
BLURB:
Calum Hardy’s life has unravelled. Reeling from the betrayal of a man he once loved, he boards a train heading south, with no real idea where he’s going except a world away from London.
Brix Lusmoore can hardly believe his eyes when he spots one of his oldest friends outside Truro station. He hasn’t seen Calum since he fled the capital himself four years ago, harbouring a life-changing secret. But despite the years of silence, their old bond remains, warm and true—and layered with simmering heat they’ve never forgotten.
Calum takes refuge with Brix and a job at his Porthkennack tattoo shop. Bit by bit, he rebuilds his life, but both men carry the ghosts of the past, and it will take more than a rekindled friendship and the magic of the Cornish coast to chase them away...Read More »
Lords of Kellesborne (The Draegan Lords #2) by M.L. Rhodes
Reviewed by Tori (Vicki)
TITLE: Lords of Kellesborne
SERIES: The Draegan Lords #2
AUTHOR: M.L. Rhodes
PUBLISHER: Kellesborne Press
LENGTH: 295 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 3rd, 2017
BLURB:
Book 2 in The Draegan Lords series
A hundred years ago, the high sorcerer of Velensperia launched a swift and deadly attack against the draegans—a race of dragon shapeshifters who’d always lived in harmony with the humans. The draegans were all but destroyed, with the few who remained, scattered and in hiding. But after a century of cruel repression, a group of them have united and begun to fight back. Their leader, Keiran Hareldson, is determined to free his people from the high sorcerer’s tyranny.
Gaige Rizik used to be the captain of the sorcerer’s High Guard, and known for his lethal ability to hunt down his prey with no remorse. His last assignment was to infiltrate the draegan rebel’s camp, identify the leader, and eliminate him. But the more deeply Gaige became entrenched with the draegans and their passionate, compelling leader, the more torn he became over his mission. Keiran sparked powerful emotions in Gaige and stirred a longing in him he couldn’t deny. No one, least of all him, expected him to fall in love with the very man he’d sworn to kill. When he chose to defect to the draegans’ side, his betrayal to the sorcerer came at a high personal cost. Left for dead in the sorcerer’s dungeon, Keiran barely found him in time.
Now, the hunter has become the hunted. With the high sorcerer bent on annihilating every last draegan and all those who support them, a secret revealed from Keiran’s past becomes their best hope for survival. From the deep forests of Velensperia to the ancient draegan stronghold of Kellesborne, only the strength of two determined men and their fierce love for one another stand between the people they protect and an evil conjured from the bowels of hel itself….Read More »
The Rhubarb Patch(Men of Gilead) by Deanna Wadsworth
Reviewed by Louisa
TITLE: The Rhubarb Patch
SERIES: Men of Gilead
AUTHOR: Deanna Wadsworth
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 284 Pages
RELEASE DATE: July 24 2017
BLURB:
City boy, sci-fi novelist, and recovering pushover Scott Howe doesn’t know what to expect when he inherits his grandmother’s house outside the quaint village of Gilead, Ohio—but it isn’t an enormous bald man in nothing but tighty-whities and orange rubber boots shouting at him to keep his weed whacker away from the rhubarb patch.
Scott has never met anyone like Phineas Robertson: homesteader, recluse… Republican. A tender—if unlikely—friendship grows over the summer while Phin and his schnauzer, Sister Mary Katherine, teach Scott about life in the country and the grandmother he never knew. Opposites attract, but widower Phin worries his secret will send Scott running faster than his politics, and Phin isn’t convinced he deserves a second chance at romance.
Scott is convinced—rural life, and his one-of-a-kind, older neighbor is the future he wants. Before he can settle in, his mother drops a bombshell that strains their already tenuous relationship, and a cousin who believes he is the rightful heir to the property puts Scott in danger. It’ll take a lot of compromises, and even dodging a few bullets before they’re out of the weeds, but nurturing something as special as true love always takes hard work….Read More »
Barging In by Josephine Myles
Reviewed by Louisa
TITLE: Barging In
AUTHOR: Josephine Myles
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 287 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 20,2017
BLURB:
When the boat’s a rockin’, don’t come knockin’!
Out-and-proud travel writer Dan Taylor is a city boy who can’t steer a boat to save his life, but that doesn’t stop him from heading into the English countryside to write up a narrowboat holiday. Compared to London, the canal seems dull as ditchwater. Until he crashes into the boat of a half-naked, tattooed man whose bad-boy, penniless appearance doesn’t fit with his posh accent. Dan is intrigued, and he always gets his man.
Still smarting from a past betrayal, Robin Hamilton is firmly closeted in his narrowboat—his refuge from outrageous, provocative men like Dan. But as circumstances keep throwing them together, he can’t help himself from coming to the hopelessly out-of-place city boy’s rescue. Exposure to Dan’s sunny charm starts to melt Robin’s resolve and he’s tempted by the idea of a brief, harmless fling.
After all, in less than a week, Dan will have left the canal and be back to his diet of casual hook-ups and friends with benefits.
Determined not to fall in love, both men dive into one week of indulgence…only to find themselves swept away by a current of escalating intimacy and emotional intensity. Troubled waters they didn’t anticipate… and haven’t a clue how to navigate.
Product Warnings:
Contains one lovable tart, one posh boy gone feral, rough sex, alfresco sex, vile strawberry flavoured condoms, intimate body piercings, red thermal long-johns, erotic woodchopping, an errant cat, a few colourful characters you wouldn’t touch with a bargepole, and plenty of messing about on the river….Read More »
This list has given me more books to read.