Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: 45 and Holding

AUTHOR: Jacki James & Jill Wexler

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 199 pages

RELEASE DATE: September 26, 2018

BLURB:

Empty Nest meets Mid-life Crisis

When widower Scott Anderson’s daughter goes off to college, he finds himself alone for the first time in as long as he can remember. With his primary role no longer being “Claire’s dad,” he realizes he isn’t sure who he is or what he wants out of life.
For Craig Baker, a mid-life crisis crept up on him in the form of restlessness that a new Jeep didn’t solve. Just as he’s contemplating getting a tattoo to try and shake himself out of this funk, he meets an old classmate who is in the same boat.
They’re both trying to figure out who they are at the age of forty-five. For one man, there’s a slow realization that maybe he doesn’t need something to cure the restlessness, but someone.
For the other man, it’s the discovery of a new side to himself and the willingness to embrace it.
And for both of them, it’s realizing that mid-life means you still have half your life left so you might as well live it.

Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Feeding the Soul

SERIES: Souls of Chicago #1

AUTHOR: Annabella Michaels

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 246 pages

RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2016

BLURB:

Giovanni Romero had been dealt his fair share of heartbreak throughout his thirty years, including losing his beloved parents in a horrible car accident. After suffering yet another devastating loss, he decided to chase his dream of opening his own restaurant and was soon the proud owner of Romero’s, a hugely successful and critically acclaimed Italian restaurant, nestled in the heart of Chicago.

Knowing that one more blow to his heart could destroy him, Giovanni had built walls up around his heart to protect himself. He has created strict rules for himself about the men he sleeps with, which include never exchanging names and absolutely no repeat performances. That is until he meets a young man who he finds impossible to forget.

After spending the last few years travelling throughout Europe and The Mediterranean, working as an apprentice to some of the world’s top chefs, 23-year-old Caleb Greene was finally moving back home. While he had enjoyed his studies, he couldn’t wait to reunite with his big, crazy, loving family; especially his twin brother, Carter. Most importantly, he hoped to finally begin his career working as the head chef for Chicago’s most prestigious Italian restaurant, Romero’s.

After a night of celebration with Carter, Caleb finds himself in a rare position, going home with a tall, dark and sexy stranger. Caleb had never had a one night stand before, but there was something about the man that drew him in. Unfortunately, the man insisted they could only be together for one night.

Unable to get the intriguing young man off his mind, but resolved to let him go, Giovanni is shocked to find that Caleb has been hired as his new head chef. Working in such close proximity to each other, could he keep his carefully erect walls in place and protect his heart or would Caleb have the strength to tear those walls down, setting Giovanni free?

Reviewed by Taylin

TITLE: Nova Praetorian

AUTHOR: N.R. Walker

PUBLISHER: Blue Heart Press

LENGTH: 394 pages

RELEASE DATE:   October 24, 2018

BLURB:

Quintus Furius Varus is one of the best lanistas in Rome. Tall and strong in build, fearsome in manner, and sharp of wit, he trains the best gladiators bound for the arenas of Rome. When Senator Servius Augendus seeks personal guards, he attends the Ludus Varus for purchase of the very best. He puts to Quintus an offer he cannot refuse, and Quintus finds himself in Neapolis, contracted as a trainer of guards instead of gladiators.
Kaeso Agorix was taken from his homelands of Iberia and delivered to Rome as a slave. Bought by a senator to be trained as a guard, his fate is handed to the man who would train him. Absent free will, Kaeso knows his life is no longer his own, though he soon realises the gods have favoured him when he learns his new master has a kind heart.

Quintus and Kaeso forge a bond that far exceeds the collar at Kaeso’s neck, and together they discover the senator’s move for promotion has an ulterior motive. Thrown into a world of politics and conspiracy, of keeping enemies close, they move against time to save Rome before traitors and the gods themselves see to their end.
And in doing so, see the dawn of the nova praetorian–the new guard–rise.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Better Not Pout

AUTHOR: Annabeth Albert

PUBLISHER: Carina Press

LENGTH: 288 pages

RELEASE DATE: November 11, 2018

BLURB:

One hard-nosed military police officer.
One overly enthusiastic elf.
One poorly timed snowstorm.
Is it a recipe for disaster? Or a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for holiday romance?
Teddy MacNally loves Christmas and everything that goes along with it. When he plays an elf for his charity’s events, he never expects to be paired with a Scrooge masquerading as Santa Claus. His new mission: make the holiday-hating soldier believe he was born to say ho-ho-ho.
Sergeant Major Nicholas Nowicki doesn’t do Santa, but he’s army to his blood. When his CO asks an unusual favor, Nick of course obliges. The elf to his Kris Kringle? Tempting. Too tempting—Nick’s only in town for another month, and Teddy’s too young, too cheerful and too nice for a one-night stand.
The slow, sexy make-out sessions while Teddy and Nick are alone and snowbound, though, feel like anything but a quick hookup. As a stress-free holiday fling turns into Christmas all year round, Teddy can’t imagine his life without Nick. And Nick’s days on the base may be coming to a close, but he doesn’t plan on leaving anything, or anyone, behind.

Reviewed by Kimberley

TITLE: Teddy and His Bear

SERIES: Oh My # 1

AUTHOR: Andi James, Lila Wilde

PUBLISHER: Self Publishing

LENGTH: 315 pages

RELEASE DATE: October 22, 2018

BLURB:

At twenty-four, Teddy should be used to feeling abandoned and unwanted. After all, he’s been dealing with it most of his life. But a recent breakup takes him completely by surprise and now he’s on his own again. Nursing new and old hurts, he leans on his makeshift family and finds solace in a growing and unexpected friendship with an older man.

Forty-two-year-old Barrett has successfully ignored his biggest need for years. His last boy left him questioning everything he knew, and he is determined to lead a vanilla life, no matter how much his friends try to convince him to be true to himself. When he learns his favorite barista needs a new place to stay, he offers a solution that leads to spending more time with the younger man.

A change in circumstances brings both men together and their buried feelings to light. Teddy knows he’s attracted to Barrett but isn’t sure if he’s ready to risk his heart again, and Barrett is losing the struggle against his dominant nature. Will learning Barrett’s sexy secret be too much for Teddy, or is it just the thing he never knew he needed?

Reviewed by Taylin

TITLE: Oz

SERIES: Finding Home #1

AUTHOR: Lily Morton

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 287 Pages

RELEASE DATE: November 20, 2018

BLURB:

What happens when temporary becomes forever?

Oz Gallagher does not do relationships well. Bored and jobless after another disastrous hook up, he decides to leave London for a temporary job in the wilds of Cornwall. Surely managing a stately home on a country estate will be easier than navigating the detritus of his relationships at home. Six months there will alleviate a bit of his wanderlust and then he can come back to London as footloose and fancy free as the day he left it.

However, when he gets there he finds a house in danger of crumbling to the ground and a man who is completely unlike anyone he’s ever met. An earl belonging to a family whose roots go back hundreds of years, Silas is the living embodiment of duty and sacrifice. Two things that Oz has never wanted. He’s also warm and funny and he draws Oz to him like a magnet.

Oz banks on the fact that they’re from two very different worlds to stop himself falling for Silas. But what will he do when he realises that these differences are actually part of the pull to one another? Will falling in love be enough to make him stop moving at last and realise that he’s finally home?

will he realize that in his search for Zane, he’s found so much more than he bargained for?

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Drawn to You

SERIES: Beyond the Cove #1

AUTHOR: Jaclyn Quinn

PUBLISHER: self-published

RELEASE DATE: November 18, 2018

BLURB:

Leaving his enormous family behind, native New Yorker, Elijah, decides to move to Brighton Pier for a fresh start. Being part of a large LGBTQ community and landing his dream job at Inkubus, a local tattoo shop, is too big of a draw for him to turn down. But just when he thinks his new life is going perfectly, he finds out his burgeoning relationship is nothing more than a friends-with-benefits arrangement to the man he was swiftly falling for. Suddenly, everything that felt so right to him feels all wrong, and he wonders if New York, with his family, is where he is meant to be after all.
Jake has worked hard for the life he’s made for himself in Brighton Pier. His life as a bachelor is pretty set in stone. Running his own business and spending time with his family and friends is enough for him, or so he’s convinced himself. Though he’s met a man he cares for, he’s adamant about keeping his single life as is. He has his reasons for not wanting to commit to the beautiful man he’s irrevocably drawn to. He just hopes their friends-with-benefits arrangement will be enough to keep Eli in his life.
When tragedy strikes, and Jake’s world is turned upside down, his instincts lead him to lean on the one person who’s become someone special, despite his best efforts to try and push him away. Eli—unable to turn Jake away when a loss so great takes the strong man to his knees—steps selflessly into the void in Jake’s life, regardless of the toll it takes on him. As both men struggle to deal with their own emotional turmoil, their lives veering off course, they grow inevitably closer as the days pass. But even so, they are still left wondering—can two people, drawn together by tragedy, turn a devastating situation into a fresh start? Or is it too late for a new beginning?