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…
Bitten By the Alpha (Regent’s Park Pack Book 4) by: Annabelle Jacobs
Reviewed by Roberta
TITLE: Bitten By the Alpha
SERIES: Regent’s Park Pack Book 4
AUTHOR: Annabelle Jacobs
PUBLISHER: Self-Publish
LENGTH: 314 Pages
RELEASE DATE: February 27, 2018
BLURB:
Gareth’s heart is set on Cam, but Cam’s heart broke a long time ago.
As alpha of the Regent’s Park Pack, Cam’s focus is always centred on its members—his personal life pushed aside after the death of his wife. Now that his pack has merged with the Primrose Hill shifters, he can’t afford any distractions.
Gareth’s been in love with his alpha for years, but his position as beta complicates matters. Added to the fact Cam still mourns his late wife, Gareth knows his feelings will never be reciprocated, so he buries them deep.
With the two packs already struggling to unite under one alpha, they get a surprise addition—one who causes more tension within the ranks. Under such strain, long-kept secrets are forced into the open. Gareth and Cam must deal with the aftermath, while also keeping the pack’s best interests at heart.
Surfacing Secrets (Elemental Evidence #3) by Bellora Quinn and Sadie Rose Bermingham
Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Surfacing Secrets
SERIES: Elemental Evidence #3
AUTHOR: Bellora Quinn and Sadie Rose Bermingham
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 286 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 13, 2018
BLURB:
When ex-cop Jake Chivis is woken by the police and questioned about the mysterious death of his neighbor, he thinks his day can only get better. Things go from bad to worse when his lover, Mari Gale, brings him a horrific sex tape which appears to show a man being murdered. As they begin to investigate the origin of the video, nothing is as it seems. Will they find the killers before they strike again? Or will dark secrets rising to the surface in their own lives erupt and tear them apart?
Reader Advisory: This book contains mentions of past rape and sexual assault. There are scenes involving strangulation, violence and murder, and references to suicide and suicidal thoughts.
Running to You by Andrew Grey
Reviewed by Tammy
TITLE: Running to You
AUTHOR: Andrew Grey
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 200 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 13, 2018
BLURB:
Home, love, and possibilities he never imagined are waiting for Billy Joe to claim them. But first he needs to escape the horrors of his past.
A twisted act of cruelty and prejudice drives Billy Joe from his Mississippi home, and he makes it as far as Pennsylvania where his car breaks down just as the year’s first snowstorm blows in. Fortunately, Carlos is there to lend a hand.
Carlos is no stranger to hardship. His family rejected him for being gay, but with determination, he put himself through school and became a librarian. Carlos sees the same willpower in Billy, and he wants to help Billy and his son succeed in a new life that is very different from the one they left behind. With his support, they start to adjust, and before long, both men want more than encouragement from each other. They want the chance for a future together, but their families have other ideas and Billy’s will stop at nothing to get what they want.
New Heights by Quinn Anderson
Reviewed by Amber
TITLE: New Heights
AUTHOR: Quinn Anderson
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 140 Pages
RELEASE DATE: March 12th, 2018
BLURB:
After attending a friend’s wedding in New York, James Thompson is eager to go home, even though no one will be waiting for him at the gate. He has no expectations for his trip back to Charleston other than long lines, security, and bad airplane food. But when an annoying—albeit hot—stranger cuts him in line, James is determined not to be a pushover for once.
For Mika “It’s Mee-kuh, not Micah” Bailey, today’s just another day of boring work travel. That is, until his flight gets delayed, and some irritating (but handsome) guy keeps hogging all the good power outlets. Which means war. In the middle of an airport. In New York. What could go wrong?
Eventually, they declare a truce, and as they get to know each other, their attraction overwhelms them both. Terrified of what he’s feeling, Mika suggests a no-strings hookup, but serial-monogamist James wants more. If they don’t fight for what’s right in front of them, their romance might be canceled before it ever takes off.
Twisted and Tied (Marshals #4) by Mary Calmes
Reviewed by Louisa
TITLE: Twisted and Tied 
SERRIES: Marshals #4
AUTHOR: Mary Calmes
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 266 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 13th 2018
BLURB:
Deputy US Marshal Miro Jones finally has everything he ever wanted. He’s head-over-heels in love and married to the man of his dreams, his partner Ian Doyle, he’s doing well at work, and all his friends are in good places as well. Things are all tied up nicely… until they’re not.
Change has never been easy for Miro, and when situations at work force the team he’s come to depend on to break apart, and worst of all, his and Ian’s individual strengths put them on two separate paths, he’s pretty certain everything just went up in smoke. But before he can even worry about the future, his past comes for a visit, shaking his world up even more. It’s hard to tell what road he should truly be on, but as he learns some paths are forged and others are discovered, it might be that where he’s going is the right course after all. If he can navigate all the twists and turns, he and Ian might just get their happily ever after.
Seen: An Omegaverse Story (Breaking Free #2) by A.M. Arthur
Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Seen: An Omegaverse Story
SERIES: Breaking Free #2
AUTHOR: A.M. Arthur
PUBLISHER: Briggs-King Books
LENGTH: 308 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 26, 2017
BLURB:
Hell is a six-by-six jail cell and no hope for the future.
Kell Iverson has never raised his hand against another person in his entire life—and yet somehow he’s been arrested and charged with the murder of his alpha mate Krause. Sure, Krause brutalized him on a daily basis, and Kell hated his mate, but he never wanted the man dead. Not fighting the charge and accepting his fate is the easiest path—except Kell doesn’t think he’ll survive a week in prison, and he doesn’t want to disappoint his younger brother Braun by giving up. He also doesn’t expect to recognize the lawyer who shows up to defend him.
Ronin Cross was barely eighteen when he felt the mating bond with then-fourteen-year-old Kell, but his family moved away before Ronin could decide what to do. For the last ten years, he hasn’t forgotten teenage Kell, hasn’t mated, and now he’s in Sansbury Province to defend adult Kell from a capital murder charge. The mating bond is still there, but now isn’t the time to pursue anything with his fragile, battered, emotionally-damaged client.
For Kell, the term “kind alpha” is a contradiction, because he’s never known one. He went from abusive father to abusive mate, and for twenty-four years, he’s simply done what he’s told. But Ronin asks Kell what he wants. What he likes. Ronin sees him, and it’s both confusing and delightful. But Kell is facing prison time at best, execution at worst, and as his trial date looms, he can’t indulge in a fantasy that will never come true…or can he?
NOTE: This is a non-shifter Omegaverse story with alpha/omega/beta dynamics, heats, knotting, and mpreg. In this world, omegas are second-class citizens with few civil rights and almost no protections under the law. Trigger warnings for physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.
More Than Anything (books 1-3) by Nick Kove
Reviewed by Annika
This is a Series Review of More Than Anything (Books 1 – 3)
AUTHOR: Nick Kove
PUBLISHER: Arctic Circle Press
SERIES REVIEW:
I loved this series! So much so that I gobbled up all three books in one afternoon, no breaks in permitted. I have so many emotions after reading these books that I don’t even know where to begin. I loved Jørgen and Geir. Both flawed and yet so endearingly perfect. And there is no doubt in my mind that the two were absolutely perfect for each other and belong together. When reading their story the one thing you never doubted was their connection, like gravity they were drawn to each other and you just kept on hoping that they would find their happily ever after through all the struggles and pain. That it was all worth it in the end.
Geir and Jørgen’s story is one of friendship slowly growing into a deep love. But also one of coming of age, share that first kiss and falling in love for the first time. About finding that one person who will change your life, make you truly live. A love that will conquer everything life might throw in their ways.
A fair warning, these books do not stand on their own, each picks up where the last left off, and the two first ones ends with cliffhangers – so be warned and have all three books ready to go when you start out, I guarantee you won’t be regret picking them up.
SERIES RATING: 
Promises Part 4 (Bounty Hunters #4) by A.E. Via
REVIEWED by Jen B.
TITLE: Promises Part 4
SERIES: The Bounty Hunters #4
AUTHOR: A.E. Via
PUBLISHER: Via Star Wings
LENGTH: 313 Pages
RELEASE DATE: March 9, 2018
BLURB:
Men found him attractive, interesting even. He was like a fascinating experiment gone wrong that men liked to investigate. He’d get a date – or two, if he was lucky – but it wasn’t long before Brian’s darkness showed, and the men were running from him.
Brian King was honorably discharged from the United States Navy five years ago. He’d left with the highest honors a man can receive in his country, but he’d paid the ultimate price to earn them. He was considered one of the best; an Intelligence Officer in a Joint Special Operations Delta team that’d been a twelve-man wrecking crew. They’d thought they were invincible… until they weren’t. Brian was the only member that survived the ambush. He survived ten months of pain, of torture, only to emerge on the other side a warrior. A POW survivor. He’d returned home with all his limbs, his right mind, and with his only brother Ford, at his side. But, one thing had been lost, maybe for good… his voice.
Now, being a bounty hunter is Brian’s only means to satisfy his need to calculate, track, and capture. His only outlet to the stress caused by his silence. He was good at what he did. But, all work and no play for a forty-four year old man was taking its toll. Brian wasn’t a faulty experiment. He missed companionship, he missed communicating. So, when he met Sway Hamilton – in the most unconventional means – he’d been surprised at his special way of understanding Brian’s every look… and touch.
Sway grew up in the rough part of ATL, trailing behind his twin brother Stanton and his best friend, Dana. He and his brother had a bond only twins could understand. So when Stanton’s life was taken during their sophomore year in college, Sway didn’t think he’d ever recover. He finally finished school, got his masters in nursing, worked hard, and focused on taking care of his mother. However, Sway knew there was more to life than heartache, and caring for others. There had to be. But he didn’t know what any of those things were until he met a dark hunter that blew his mind… and the intense man had never uttered a single word.
Brian and Sway can feel the powerful connection between them. It was there from the start—but both of them have battled with loss and anguish for so long, neither understand that love can ease all of it. Do they have the courage to battle through it together? Sway has to learn to trust in love, and Brian has to believe that Sway will always understand him even if he never speaks again.
Sway held him tight around his neck, “I don’t need you to talk, Brian. I can hear you just fine,” Sway whispered softly, kissing his throat.
Leather Head by Matt Converse
Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Leather Head
AUTHOR: Matt Converse
PUBLISHER: Encompass Ink
LENGTH: 47 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 4, 2017
BLURB:
Gable is just playing dress up for San Francisco’s leather S&M fair, but Leather Head isn’t playing. His friend Shawn warns him to be careful what he’s advertising for since the community has been rocked by four brutal murders. Gable still thinks it’s all in fun, but it isn’t. Desire can be deadly.
Breaker of Chains (SPECTR 2 #4) by Jordan L. Hawk
Reviewed by Chris
TITLE: Breaker of Chains
SERIES: SPECTR 2 #4
AUTHOR: Jordan L. Hawk
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 163 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2018
BLURB:
Caught between the worlds of human and drakul, Caleb and Gray must make a fateful choice.
Big changes are afoot at SPECTR. John Starkweather, once a hotshot field agent, is now benched. Instead of chasing down demons during Charleston’s biggest outbreak, he’s stuck interviewing exorcists about a previous case. But what at first seems like a busywork assignment takes a darker turn, as John begins to suspect the increase in possessions might not be coincidence, but part of an unseen conspiracy.
The vampire spirit Gray was made to hunt demons and drink their blood. He and his human host, Caleb Jansen, ought to be at the forefront of SPECTR’s field team. But their new partners refuse to let Gray use any of his abilities, let alone actually hunt and fight.
Fortunately, Caleb and Gray have allies outside of SPECTR: the only other living drakul, Drugoy and his host Yuri Azarov. Yuri and Dru live by no mortal’s rules, and they can show Caleb and Gray how to do the same…depending on how far they’re willing to go.
Because breaking the rules comes with a cost, and the price of Caleb and Gray’s freedom may be the life of the man they love.
