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 Boy Who Fell to Earth by A. Zukowski
Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: The Boy Who Fell to Earth
AUTHOR: A. Zukowski
PUBLISHER: Smashwords
LENGTH: 276 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 29, 2017
BLURB:
Jay Palmer is two months away from his sixteenth birthday. He doesn’t realise how his life will be changed forever when a gang of thugs leaves a badly injured boy on his doorstep. The biracial boy and his white single mum Maggie nurse the stranger, sixteen-year-old Aleksander Zukowski, also known as Sasha. Sasha ran away from care two and half years ago. He sleeps rough, is addicted to drugs and sells himself on the streets of London to fund his habit. For the first time in his life, he has a reason to change.
Sasha confirms what Jay already knows about himself but it doesn’t make it easy for him to come out to his macho mates in a largely black neighbourhood. Sasha has an uphill struggle to stay clean when his past threatens to throw him back into the abyss. Are the two boys strong enough to stay together against all odds? Read More »
The Veranda (Lavender Shores #3) by Rosalind Abel
Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: The Veranda
SERIES: Lavender Shores #3
AUTHOR: Rosalind Abel
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 235 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 25, 2017
BLURB:
Donovan Carlisle helps countless people in Lavender Shores with his skills as a therapist. It seems, however, that his ability to enable others to live their happiest life only works outside of himself. Donovan truly loves his life, but isn’t able to find a relationship that satisfies his heart’s craving. Maybe the problem is that the only man he wants is off-limits.
Spencer Epstein came to Lavender Shores to find himself. Instead, he married one of the local town beauties. He’d thought his prayers had finally been answered. Then, he met his pregnant fiancée’s brother. It turned out those answered prayers were just cruel twists of fate.
A decade later, after a divorce and crumbling of all Spencer thought was set in stone, he sees his brother-in-law at a masquerade sex party. He takes full advantage of the anonymity and acts on the desires he’s held at bay all those years. The problem is, those silent and frenzied moments didn’t satiate anything. The fire and heat between the two men only grows as secrets are uncovered and they must determine if the cost of their passion is too high. Read More »
WILD by Adrienne Wilder
Reviewed by Amber
TITLE: WILD
AUTHOR: Adrienne Wilder
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 326 Pages
RELEASE DATE: September 1st, 2017
BLURB:
August Vallory had it all. A modeling career, a man he loved, and the extended family he’d acquired in the business. Then the world he knew was torn away when the plane he was on crashed en route to a photo shoot.
Lost in the Alaskan wilderness, August doesn’t stand a chance.
No sane man would choose to live in the Alaskan bush unless he had something to hide. And Keegan Brooks has secrets darker than night, more dangerous than wolves, more brutal than an Alaskan winter.
Every day was a fight for his life until he stumbled upon a downed plane with a lone survivor. Now it’s no longer just Keegan’s life teetering on the edge of survival.
It’s his heart. Read more
Green’s Hill Werewolves, Vol. 2 (Little Goddess) by Amy Lane
Reviewed by Tori (Vicki)
TITLE: Green’s Hill Werewolves Vol. 2 
SERIES: Little Goddess
AUTHOR: Amy Lane
PUBLISHER: DSP Publications
LENGTH: 236 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 19th, 2017
BLURB:
In the world of the Little Goddess
After a rocky start and some unexpected battles, Teague Sullivan may have found a home at Green’s Hill. With Jack and Katy by his side, he has the chance to achieve a happiness he only dreamed of during his impoverished childhood.
But much of Teague’s happiness depends upon being worthy of serving Green and Lady Cory, two leaders he’d die for, and two people who gave him a chance to be a good man. Teague needs to serve them to be feel worthy of love, but Jack resents anything that takes Teague away from his lovers, even his duty.
The three of them, Jack, Teague, and Katy, perform a delicate dance with an uncertain crescendo. What’s more likely to destroy them? Jack’s jealousy, Cory’s wrath, or the true enemy, the rival wolf pack with the insane leaders who are trying to take over Green’s turf? Teague Sullivan, who never thought much of himself, is suddenly the crux of everything he’s ever loved. Can he become the man and alpha wolf his people need? Read More »
Sunder (Darksoul Book 1) By Lexi Ander
Reviewed by Roberta
TITLE: Sunder (Darksoul Book 1)
SERIES: DarkSoul
AUTHOR: Lexi Ander
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 120,000 words
Release Date: September 4, 2017
BLURB:
If Sūnder Alārd had been born female he would have been cherished for being faeborn—born with magick—and his birth celebrated. Instead, his L’fÿn mother insisted on his death. Only his Panthrÿn father’s desperate escape through the forest saved him. With most Chándariāns uneasy in his presence due to rumors he is doomed to become a darksoul, and unlikely to find a mate because of it, Sunder has nevertheless carved out an honorable existence as a warrior and commander. Serving as bodyguard and chaperone for the Chándariān prince, Sūnder accompanies his charge to the annual mating festival on Earth, and when the prince is injured, he can’t help but be fascinated by the tongue-tied nurse who attends them at the hospital.
At sixteen years of age, Gabriel St. Baptista came home to discover his parents had taken off into space, leaving him behind to look after himself. Gabe never recovered from the unexpected desertion, and keeps everyone at arm’s length to avoid being abandoned again. However, after meeting Sūnder, Gabe finds himself unable to resist the bond between them and breaks all of his carefully crafted rules to spend time with the Chándariān, regardless of the fact that Sūnder will soon leave. Scared by what he feels for Sūnder, Gabe can only hope his heart won’t be too broken when Sūnder returns to Chándaria.
But deceit and treachery is all around them, and when Gabe saves Sūnder’s life, it sets off a chain of events that could either tear Gabe and Sūnder apart or give them both exactly what they want. Read More »
Bad Boy’s Bard (Fae out of Water #3) by E.J. Russel
Reviewed by PizzyGirl
TITLE: Bad Boy’s Bard
SERIES: Fae out of Water #3
AUTHOR: E.J. Russel
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 301 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 18, 2017
BLURB:
As far as rock star Gareth Kendrick, the last true bard in Faerie, is concerned, the only good Unseelie is . . . well . . . there’s no such thing. Two centuries ago, an Unseelie lord abducted Gareth’s human lover, Niall, and Gareth has neither forgotten nor forgiven.
Niall O’Tierney, half-human son of the Unseelie King, had never lost a wager until the day he swore to rid the Seelie court of its bard. That bet cost him everything: his freedom, his family—and his heart. When he’s suddenly face-to-face with Gareth at the ceremony to join the Seelie and Unseelie realms, Niall does the only thing inhumanly possible: he fakes amnesia. Not his finest hour, perhaps, but he never revealed his Unseelie heritage, and to tell the truth now would be to risk Gareth’s revulsion—far harder to bear than two hundred years of imprisonment.
Then a new threat to Gareth’s life arises, and he and Niall stage a mad escape into the Outer World, only to discover the fate of all fae resting on their shoulders. But before they can save the realm, they have to tackle something really tough: mending their own broken relationship. Read More »
Locked in Silence by Sloane Kennedy
Reviewed by Caroline and Jen
TITLE: Locked In Silence
SERIES: Pelican Bay Book 1
AUTHOR: Sloane Kennedy
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 284 Pages
RELEASE DATE: September 13, 2017
BLURB:
I’ve spent years hoping someone would finally hear me. It’s easier not to try anymore…
Ten years after leaving his small Minnesota hometown in his rearview mirror for what Nolan Grainger was sure would be the last time, life has decided to throw the talented musician a curveball and send him back to the town he lived in but was never really home.
At twenty-eight, Nolan has traveled the world as a successful concert violinist with some of the best symphonies in the country. But success breeds envy, and when Nolan’s benefactor and lover decides Nolan has flown high enough, he cruelly clips Nolan’s wings. The betrayal and ensuing scandal leaves the violinist’s career in shambles and with barely enough money to start fresh somewhere beyond his vindictive ex’s powerful reach. But just as he’s ready to get his life back on track, Nolan gets the call he’s been dreading.
After a stroke leaves his father a partial invalid, duty-bound Nolan returns to Pelican Bay and a life he’s spent years trying to forget. When he’s forced to use the last of his own money to keep from losing the family home, desperation has him turning to the one man he’d hoped never to see again…
Even if I could speak, there wouldn’t be anyone there to listen…
Pelican Bay’s golden boy, Dallas Kent, had the quintessential perfect life. Smart, gorgeous, and popular, the baseball phenom was well on his way to a life filled with fame and fortune. But more importantly, he had a one-way ticket out of Pelican Bay and far away from the family who used love as currency and whose high expectations were the law of the land. But a stormy night, sharp highway curve and one bad decision changed everything, leaving Dallas with nothing.
Because the accident that took his parents, his future and his crown as the boy who could do no wrong, also stole his voice.
Despised for the horrific wreck that ended the lives of two of Pelican Bay’s most respected residents, Dallas has retreated to a secluded stretch of land where he’s found refuge in a menagerie of unwanted animals that don’t care that he once had the world at his feet or that he’ll never speak again.
But when the quiet, bookish boy he wasn’t allowed to notice in school suddenly reappears ten years later at Dallas’s wildlife rehab center in desperate need of a job, Dallas is thrust back into a world he’s worked hard to escape.
Dallas’s silence was supposed to send Nolan scurrying, but what if Nolan ends up being the one person who finally hears him?
Will two men who’ve been fleeing from the past finally come home to Pelican Bay for good or will the silence drive them apart forever? Read More »
Tramps and Thieves (Murder and Mayhem #2) by Rhys Ford
Reviewed by Tori (Vicki)
TITLE: Tramps and Thieves
SERIES: Murder and Mayhem #2
AUTHOR: Rhys Ford
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 220 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 18th, 2017
BLURB:
Whoever said blood was thicker than water never stood in a pool of it.
Retiring from stealing priceless treasures seemed like a surefire way for Rook Stevens to stay on the right side of the law. The only cop in his life should have been his probably-boyfriend, Los Angeles Detective Dante Montoya, but that’s not how life—his life—is turning out. Instead, Rook ends up not only standing in a puddle of his cousin Harold’s blood but also being accused of Harold’s murder…and sleeping with Harold’s wife.
For Dante, loving the former thief means his once-normal life is now a sea of chaos, especially since Rook seems incapable of staying out of trouble—or keeping trouble from following him home. When Rook is tagged as a murder suspect by a narrow-focused West L.A. detective, Dante steps in to pull his lover out of the quagmire Rook’s landed in.
When the complicated investigation twists around on them, the dead begin to stack up, forcing the lovers to work together. Time isn’t on their side, and if they don’t find the killer before another murder, Dante will be visiting Rook in his prison cell—or at his grave. Read More »
Hybrid (Darker Hollow #1) by Shannon West and T.S. McKinney
Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Hybrid
SERIES: Darker Hollow #1
AUTHOR: Shannon West and T.S. McKinney
PUBLISHER: Painted Hearts Publishing
LENGTH: 202 Pages
RELEASE DATE: March 29, 2017
BLURB:
Jax’s little brother Mason is all grown up and finds himself longing for a life of adventure. He finds it in a way he never planned late one night while walking home to the lodge beneath a full moon, when he is attacked, bitten, and left for dead by a huge black werewolf. As he’s dying and all hope is fading, he is discovered on the trail and believes he’s being saved. Instead, he’s bitten a second time, and this time by a vampire, who first drains him of the remainder of his blood and then feeds him his own. It restores Mason’s life, but the vampires take him to their mountain stronghold in Virginia, where he’s confronted again by Valerian, the leader of the vampire coven and the one who saved him. The vampire is both seductive and beautiful, and convinces a confused and traumatized Mason that they’re lovers. Mason finds himself in the middle of an ancient war between the vampires and the Dire werewolves, and during a raid, he’s captured by the wolf who first bit him, a strong alpha named Finn. Finn is powerfully attracted to him too, but Mason is changing, becoming something not quite wolf and not quite vampire—a new creature with powers of his own. In order to find himself, he has to learn the truth of what’s happening to him, and discover who his enemies and his allies really are. He has to learn to fight for his happiness even if it means making an unholy alliance to find true love. Read More »
Finder’s Keeper (Heart’s Gate #1) by Shira Anthony
![Finder's Keeper (Dreamspun Beyond Book 4) by [Anthony, Shira]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51WSuLLesZL._SY346_.jpg)
Reviewed by PizzyGirl
TITLE: Finder’s Keeper
SERIES: Heart’s Gate #1, Dreamspun Desires #4
AUTHOR: Shira Anthony
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 236 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 15, 2017
BLURB:
A Heart’s Gate Story
The truth might ruin his dreams—or make them come true.
When Zane moves into an old gothic brownstone, he discovers the house comes equipped with a caretaker—Kit, who lives in the basement. Zane is immediately drawn to the charming and attractive Kit. But Kit is much more than he seems. He is a two-hundred-year-old half-human, half–red-fox spirit who guards a Gate between the mortal and spirit worlds—a fact Zane should recognize, but doesn’t.
Orphaned at a young age, Zane never learned he comes from a long line of mystical Keepers. Kit needs Zane’s help to protect the Gate, but how can he tell Zane of his legacy when that will crush Zane’s dreams of traveling the world? If he takes up the mantle, Zane will be bound to the Gate, unable to leave it. But when Zane realizes Kit’s true nature, and his own, he’ll have to make a choice—fight to protect Kit and the Gate, or deny his destiny and any chance of a future with Kit. Read More »
His Dark Reflection (Heart and Haven Book 3) by Heloise West
Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: His Dark Reflection
SERIES: Heart and Haven Book 3
AUTHOR: Heloise West
PUBLISHER: Loose Id LLC
LENGTH: 253 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 11, 2017
BLURB:
Disgraced FBI agent Nick Truman has failed to save his sister, held hostage by a drug cartel until he could give them Alex Crow, who eluded him. His epic downfall lands him in witness protection, where he plays by the rules and keeps to himself. But the murder of his neighbor brings danger to his door. He unexpectedly finds himself the champion of innocents and helplessly attracted to the homicide detective in charge of the case.
This can’t end well.
Homicide Detective Hank Axelrod is good at digging out secrets, maybe because he hides a big one of his own. He also suspects his husband has one foot out of the door of their marriage and the specter of single life looms unpleasantly on the horizon.
A murder with similarities to another brings Nick into his world, a man who claims to be a mystery writer looking for a real life resource. Hank’s instincts say he’s more than that, and he’s rarely wrong.
Torn between the errant soon-to-be-ex husband and the distracting, sexy stranger, Hank needs to focus all his attention on his murder case before he becomes the next victim. Read More »