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…
Rebel by Rhys Ford
REVIEWED BY CINDY
TITLE: Rebel
SERIES: 415 Ink: Book 1
AUTHOR: Rhys Ford
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 220 Pages
RELEASE DATE: December 29th, 2017
BLURB:
The hardest thing a rebel can do isn’t standing up for something—it’s standing up for himself.
Life takes delight in stabbing Gus Scott in the back when he least expects it. After Gus spends years running from his past, present, and the dismal future every social worker predicted for him, karma delivers the one thing Gus could never—would never—turn his back on: a son from a one-night stand he’d had after a devastating breakup a few years ago.
Returning to San Francisco and to 415 Ink, his family’s tattoo shop, gave him the perfect shelter to battle his personal demons and get himself together… until the firefighter who’d broken him walked back into Gus’s life.
For Rey Montenegro, tattoo artist Gus Scott was an elusive brass ring, a glittering prize he hadn’t the strength or flexibility to hold on to. Severing his relationship with the mercurial tattoo artist hurt, but Gus hadn’t wanted the kind of domestic life Rey craved, leaving Rey with an aching chasm in his soul.
When Gus’s life and world starts to unravel, Rey helps him pick up the pieces, and Gus wonders if that forever Rey wants is more than just a dream. Read More »
How to Domesticate a Russian Bear by CB Conwy
Reviewed by Cinnamon
TITLE: How to Domesticate a Russian Bear
SERIES: A Russian Bear Book #3
AUTHOR: CB Conwy
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 244 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 26, 2017
BLURB:
So, all Mischa really wanted was sex. Hot, kinky sex, and preferably lots of it. But then he got a sub, and then the sub turned into a fiancé, and now apparently Mischa is supposed to settle down and be all domesticated. However, Mischa does not do tame.
Well, at least he didn’t use to. Now he’s beginning to think that yes, he does indeed do tame. Unfortunately, his sub doesn’t seem to get that.
Tom knew that Mischa was a handful. Hell, that’s basically what made Tom fall head over heels for him. But figuring out how to handle his postgraduate studies combined with a long-distance relationship is driving him nuts. And not in the great, Mischa-is-torturing-me-with-kinky-sex-toys way (even though that happens, too. A lot). More like in the this-is-killing-me-slowly-and-I-don’t-know-what-to-do-about-it way. Unfortunately, Mischa finds out and puts his foot down, and then suddenly Tom has some very hard choices to make.
Then there’s Mischa’s busybody bridezilla friend, karate practice with people who actually hit back, and the arrival of the inlaws. That’s when Tom realizes that domesticating a Russian bear may take more work than even he realized. Read More »
Someone to Kiss by Scotty Cade
Reviewed by Kimberley
TITLE: Someone to Kiss
AUTHOR: Scotty Cade
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 69 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 27, 2017
BLURB:
Dane McCormick’s job negotiating leases and building out furnished office suites takes him all over the country. He stays until the job is done—and then he moves on. As satisfying as the job is, it leaves him no place to call home and no chance to build a personal life. After arriving in Greenville, South Carolina for a job, a severe stomach virus knocks Dane for a loop. He finds a local urgent care clinic… and a tall, dark, and handsome doctor who goes well above and beyond his duties to treat Dane. The doctor’s bedside manner makes Dane forget all about his stomach flu.
Carter Baldridge has dedicated his life to caring for others. Since graduating from medical school, he has spent all his time and energy building his urgent care business, But the morning he steps into his examining room and sees Dane McCormick on the table, he realizes it might be time to devote some attention to a part of life he has neglected. The spark is there, but so is a major obstacle in the form of Dane’s peripatetic lifestyle and a bad experience in Carter’s past. Both have to decide if the risk is worth the reward. Read More »
Mistletoe Omega by S.C. Wynne
Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Mistletoe Omega
AUTHOR: S.C. Wynne
PUBLISHER: Wynne Wynne Publishing
LENGTH: 106 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 12, 2017
BLURB:
LENGTH: 106 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 12, 2017
BLURB:
Sam Styles is having a horrible holiday season. He’s just found out he’s pregnant, and his alpha has bolted, leaving him stranded. Sam hides his pregnancy because a pregnant omega without an alpha isn’t popular in his omega/alpha society.
Graham Peters is an alpha who is fifteen years older than Sam. While Graham doesn’t realize Sam is pregnant, something about the younger omega tugs at his heart. He wants to help the down on his luck omega.
The two men grow close when Graham opens his home to Sam. But Sam is guarded and afraid of what might happen if Graham discovers he’s is pregnant with another alpha’s baby. Read More »
Stephen’s Monster (Vampires of Vadin #2) by Shelby Rhodes
Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Stephan’s Monster
SERIES: Vampires of Vadin #2
AUTHOR: Shelby Rhodes
PUBLISHER: Siren Publishing
LENGTH: 175 pages
RELEASE DATE: December 13, 2017
BLURB:
Jayden knows he’s a monster. The people he killed were horrible, but it didn’t change what he was. And being taken in by Stephan Everwood at fifteen hadn’t changed his homicidal tendencies. Yet ten years later he finds himself struggling to be someone he’s not. Then, despite thinking he lost most of his emotions years ago, Jayden discovers that not only is he not as empty inside as he thought, but that his monster is more present than ever before.
Stephan freely admits he has some issues. His self-doubts could be unrelenting and Stephan’s need to fix things tended to go too far. It blinded him to Jayden’s struggles. In the end his refusal to listen to what Jayden was trying to tell him has unfortunate results. When Stephan finally accepts who Jayden is, he must also face all that he had locked away inside.
Their difficulties brought them together. Their love healed them. And when the past tries to tear them apart, their darkness saved them. Read More »
Santori (Santori Trilogy #1) by Maris Black
REVIEWED by Jen B.
TITLE: Santori
SERIES: Santori Trilogy #1
AUTHOR: Maris Black
PUBLISHER: Maris Black
LENGTH: 230 Pages
RELEASE DATE: December 15, 2017
BLURB:
THE KAGE SAGA CONTINUES…
Michael Kage Santori has just inherited a thriving hotel and millions of dollars. He’s poised to become an MMA champion. Things couldn’t be better between him and his college boy lover, Jamie Atwood— especially in the bedroom, where Jamie is more than eager to let Kage take out his aggressions on him.
Kage seems to have it all, but success and happiness have come at a steep price. After all of the childhood trauma he endured at the hands of his controlling uncle, Peter Santori, it’s a miracle Kage has any shred of sanity left. And now, because of him, Jamie is a murderer.
More than anything, Kage wants to be good. He wants the be the kind of man who is worthy of Jamie’s love, but fate has other ideas. His uncle’s legacy has a stranglehold on him, and it keeps dragging him further and further down a rabbit hole from which there seems no escape. Worst of all… Kage knows he’s going to pull Jamie down right along with him, and he would rather die than let that happen. Read More »
Deal Maker by Lily Morton
Reviewed by Amber
TITLE: Deal Maker
AUTHOR: Lily Morton
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 335 Pages
RELEASE DATE: December 22nd, 2017
BLURB:
Sometimes your mouth makes deals that your heart can’t honour.
Jude is a highly successful model, but a very reluctant one. His life is full of casual hook-ups with pretty men in glamorous locations, but it’s still empty. However, circumstances decreed a long time ago that this was his path, so he’s resolutely stayed on it and accepted his fate with good grace. He made a deal with himself and his hook-ups. Get in, get out and no ties with anyone.
However, an accident at home one night leads to him making a new deal and accepting the offer of help from an unlikely source. It leads to an unexpected summer of falling in love with a larger than life man and his child.
But by the end of the summer his reasons for not staying are still valid. Will he turn away? Can he?
Asa is a talented actor who has spent time away from the scene to look after his son. But now he’s back, and the last thing he needs are complications from the gorgeous man who is staying with him. Scarred from too many betrayals, he has no intention of forming a lasting tie with anyone. However, he can’t resist the beautiful man with secrets, and to his horror he develops feelings.
But a deal’s a deal and they said it was just for the summer. What can Asa do with a man who has forever in his eyes and goodbye on his lips? Read More »