Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Promise to Shield

SERIES: Personal Protectors #2

AUTHOR: Brittany Cournoyer

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 215 pages

RELEASE DATE: November 25, 2018

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Brice ~
Life hasn’t always been easy for Brice. With his own mother abandoning him when he was a teenager, and his father having a dangerous job, life has been lonely. That is, until his father decides he needs a bodyguard he doesn’t want. So why does he find himself noticing how attractive the broody bodyguard is? And why does he want him to stay, after all?
Carter ~
Staying out of sight is Carter’s specialty. It’s something he learned while in the military and something he put into play while being on the run. Staying in one spot for too long isn’t something that sets well with the surly man. Initially, keeping an eye on the young man isn’t exactly what Carter wants to do, but now something isn’t letting him leave.
Personalities clash and tempers rise with these two men, making every day they’re together more challenging than the last. As the days pass, more secrets are revealed as their feelings for each other grow stronger. But when one man’s past comes back to haunt him, each man will stop at nothing to protect the other.

*Promise to Shield is Book 2 of the Personal Protectors series. It is intended for a mature audience with adult situations and language. Promise to Shield also mentions cutting and past abuse.*

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Cowboy Rules

SERIES: Breaking the Rules #4

AUTHOR: Jacki James

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 190 pages

RELEASE DATE: December 11, 2018

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You’re right until now I haven’t dated. Ever. But for you, Lincoln Reynolds, I will. So what do you say? Will you go on a date with me?”

Lincoln Reynolds grew up cowboy. And that meant when you got thrown off a horse, you cowboy up and shake it off. You don’t show fear, you don’t let it shake you, and you never let them see you cry.
Matt has stood by and watched as each of his friends has found love, and he’s truly happy for them. It isn’t that he doesn’t believe in love, he just knows it isn’t for him. And he had been fine with that until the night that strong cowboy fell apart in his arms. Now he wants nothing more than to be the one person Lincoln can lean on.
But for these two men to be together, Lincoln will have to realize it takes a strong man to admit when he is weak, and Matt will have to realize that everyone deserves a happy ever after.

Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: A Soldier’s Wish

SERIES: The Christmas Angel #5

AUTHOR: N.R. Walker

PUBLISHER: BlueHeart Press

LENGTH: 224 pages

RELEASE DATE: December 2, 2018

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The year is 1969…

Gary Fairchild is proud to be a hippie college student, and he protests the Vietnam War because he believes in love and peace. To him, it isn’t just a counterculture movement—it’s a way of life. When tickets to the Aquarium Exposition—3 Days of Peace & Music, or Woodstock, as it was better known, go on sale, there’s no way he isn’t going.

Richard Ronsman is a sheltered farm boy who lives in the shadow of his overbearing father. He’s hidden his darkest secret to earn his father’s love, but nothing is ever good enough—not even volunteering for the Vietnam War. And with just a few days left before he’s deployed, a striking hippie invites him to join them at a music festival.

Three days of music, drugs, rain, mud, and love forged a bond between these two very different men that would shape the rest of their lives. They share dreams and fears, and when Richard is shipped off to war, they share letters and love. For Richard’s first Christmas home, he is gifted a special angel ornament that just might make a soldier’s wish come true.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Stronger: An Omegaverse Story

SERIES: Breaking Free #3.5

AUTHOR: A.M. Arthur

PUBLISHER: Briggs-King Publishing

LENGTH: 156 pages

RELEASE DATE: January 20, 2018

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Learning to trust can bring a lifetime of joy.

As happily-married beta couple Serge and Dex Freel await the birth of their first child, Serge can’t help but think back to the rocky start of his and Dex’s relationship. After a party introduction from a mutual friend, a tentative friendship blooms into something much stronger. Marred by misunderstandings, personal prejudices, and Serge’s own inability to trust, they nearly go their separate ways more than once—and almost lose their chance at the beautiful life they’ll build together.
But Dex’s alpha-like stubbornness and Serge’s desperate need to care for others brings them back together over and over, until both men realize they’re truly stronger together than apart. But their happily-ever-after is hard-won and other friendships are tested, before Serge finally takes a chance on giving his heart to Dex and trusting the other man not to break it into unfixable pieces—and trust is not something Serge gives easily.

See how two fan-favorite characters from the Breaking Free Omegaverse series meet in this 42k word novella. The story is best enjoyed after reading Heard (BF #3), because the current timeline events occur during Heard’s epilogue, but it can also be easily read after Found (BF #4). Content warnings for previous books in the series apply.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Under the Felt Mistletoe

AUTHOR: Nell Iris

PUBLISHER: JMS Books LLC

LENGTH: 4067kb

RELEASE DATE: December 8, 2018

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The most wonderful time of the year is about to get even better.
On a cold, rainy December morning, Finn’s beloved Grampa, his best friend and rock, makes a friend outside their home who he invites in for coffee. The last thing Finn expects is Nelson, a man with a painful past, who is beautiful and generous and turns Finn’s knees into jelly.
What starts out as a chance to get out of the rain, soon becomes more as Nelson helps Finn get ready for the Christmas market. They bond over coffee and fabric and Mariah Carey. Can handmade Christmas ornaments and an understanding heart give Nelson the love he’s been denied?

Reviewed by Dan

TITLE: Hell on Earth

SERIES: Hellhound Omegas – Book One

AUTHOR: Macy Blake

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

LENGTH: 219 Pages

RELEASE DATE:  October 23, 2018

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Protector. Boogeyman. Hellhound. Meshaq has been called it all. As alpha of the hellhounds, his goddess has tasked him with protecting the secrets of the supernatural world. He’s the police of other creatures and the enforcer of the goddess’s rules. If his duty leaves him lonely and longing for a mate and a larger pack, well, the goddess knows the secrets of his heart and she will grant them if it is her will.

Drew Metcalf is a man on the run. When he finds himself in a biker bar surrounded by leather wearing giants, he thinks he’s a goner. But there’s something different about the man slinging drinks. He makes Drew feel safe, something he hasn’t felt in a long time.

When Drew and Shaq’s worlds collide, a different kind of magic happens. Shaq doesn’t understand why he’s so drawn to the human whose life is shrouded in mystery and danger. What Shaq does know is that Drew needs his protection. Magical forces are at work, beginning a battle that will require all of Shaq’s skill as the goddess’s champion. With a terrifying threat looming, Shaq and Drew are in danger of losing more than their hearts

REVIEWED by Jay V.

TITLE: Summerfield’s Angel

SERIES: The Christmas Angel #2

AUTHOR: Kim Fielding

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 113 pages

RELEASE DATE: December 2, 2018

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After the hard winter of 1888 ended Alby Boyle’s work as a Nebraska ranch hand, he returned to New York City in search of his long-lost family. His mother and brothers are nowhere to be found, however, and after Alby’s years of absence, Five Corners no longer feels like home. His prospects seem as dim as the nighttime alleys.

When Alby pauses to admire an angel ornament in a department store window’s Christmas display, he meets Xeno Varnham-Summerfield. Wealthy, handsome, and enthusiastic, Xeno brings Alby some temporary cheer. But for Alby to achieve his dreams of love and a real home, well, that may take a bit of holiday magic.

The Christmas Angel series books are standalones and can be read in any order.

Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Deck the Halls

SERIES: Stonewall Investigations (A Stonewall Investigations’ Holiday Story)

AUTHOR: Max Walker

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 266 pages

RELEASE DATE: November 26, 2018

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Andrew Barker is ready for the holidays. His perpetually bright and cheery personality feel right at home for Christmas. He has time off from work and a husband who’s waiting for him at home, what else would he need?

Well, he had no idea he would be needing to sign divorce papers – let’s start there.

Declan Rose-Covington, part of a luxury hotel dynasty, is coming into Stonewall Investigations because he needs help with a family issue. With his mom’s huge holiday retreat around the corner, he’s hoping to solve it before Santa comes to town. The last thing he’s expecting is to enter the detective agency and fall for the strikingly handsome man sitting behind the front desk.

Of course, life has ways of delivering well-wrapped surprises.

When Declan and Andrew meet they both feel an instant connection. Soon, the connection grows powerful enough to push Declan toward a crazy proposition: invite Andrew to the family retreat as a fake boyfriend. Andrew would get a nice week-long vacation out of it and Declan would avoid the judgemental jabs from all the spoused-up family members.

The potential for disaster was there, but there was also a chance to truly make this the most wonderful time of the year. And that was something neither of them wanted to miss out on.

_______

Deck The Halls is a full-length and standalone Stonewall Investigations story.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Shrewd Angel

SERIES: Christmas Angel #6

AUTHOR: Anyta Sunday

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 297 pages

RELEASE DATE: December 2, 2018

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Pax Polo is the swashbuckling guitarist for Serenity Free.
Correction: Was the swashbuckling guitarist for Serenity Free.
Now he sports a black eye and his bros have kicked him out of their band—three weeks before Christmas. It’s an unfamiliar kick to his over-inflated ego, but . . . whatever.
No problem.
Thanks to some stellar eavesdropping, an unexpected angel ornament, and a bribe to open for his favorite band ever, Pax will weasel his way back into his mates’ good graces.
All he has to do is friend Clifford, the neighborhood man-shrew, for the summer. Distract him a bit so Clifford’s younger sister can sneak around.
It sounds like a piece of beginners Beethoven. Jolly good fun.
Easy.
Because, Pax totally knows how to friend people. He has heaps of friends. This shrew’s no match for his shrewd ways. Or is he?

Reviewed by Jess

TITLE: Santa Daddy

AUTHOR: Keira Andrews

PUBLISHER: Self-published

LENGTH: 130 pages

RELEASE DATE:  November 29, 2018

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Mall Santas aren’t supposed to be hot

Hunter Adams is hopelessly adrift after college. He’s still a virgin, can’t find a real job, and has no clue what to do with his life. In desperation, he returns to his humiliating old job as an elf at the Santa’s Village in his hometown’s dying mall. The Santa on the job is an unexpectedly sexy lumberjack, twice Hunter’s size and age. He makes Hunter feel very naughty—too bad he’s grumpy and intimidating.

Years after the tragic death of his partner, Nick Spini has his beagle and long, hard days on his Christmas tree farm. That’s plenty. But he can’t refuse a loyal friend’s plea for help and finds himself filling in as Santa at the local mall. Despite Nick’s attempt to stay aloof, the beautiful, anxious young man playing elf brings out his long-dormant daddy instincts.

When a surprise blizzard traps them alone in Nick’s isolated forest home, their attraction burns even brighter. Will they surrender to the sizzling connection between them and find the release and comfort they crave?

Santa Daddy is a holiday gay romance from Keira Andrews featuring an age gap, steamy m/m first times, daddy role-playing and light spanking, Christmas romance feels, and of course a happy ending.

Reviewed by Tammy

TITLE: New Tricks

AUTHOR: Andrew Grey

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 200 pages

RELEASE DATE: Dec 11, 2018

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In matters of the heart, there’s no such thing as business as usual.

Thomas Stepford spent years building a very successful business and now at thirty-nine, he wants a quieter life. With his parents needing help, he decides to return home. He can’t get away from business completely and needs an assistant—but the man who is hired isn’t quite what he had in mind.

Brandon Wilson, the ink on his degree barely dry, needs a job, and his mother helps him get one as Mr. Stepford’s assistant. Thomas doesn’t seem to remember, but Brandon worked mowing the stunningly attractive older man’s lawn years ago. Thomas was Brandon’s teenage fantasy, and now he’s Brandon’s boss.

Thomas and Brandon are both determined to keep their relationship strictly business, but the old attraction is still there. They learn to work together even as the tension between them reaches the boiling point. But just as they start to surrender, Thomas’s old life in New York calls him. Even if he resists that pull, can their newfound relationship survive when Brandon receives the call of his dreams… from Hollywood?

Reviewed by Chris

TITLE:  Bump  

AUTHOR:  Matthew J. Metzger

PUBLISHER:  NineStar Press

LENGTH:  255 pages

RELEASE DATE:  November 5, 2018

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David’s pregnant.

He’s always wanted to have children, and being a stepfather for the past two years has been a great adventure. There’d even been a plan to start looking into adoption and turn their family of three into four.

But now there’s a bump, and David doesn’t know what to do. He’s spent years escaping the grip of his own body and burying the past—but there’s no way he can hide from his history if he lets the bump get any bigger. It’s not just his baby; it’s also his breakdown.

He doesn’t know if he can do this.

TITLE: The Last Birthday Party

SERIES: 2018 Advent Calendar – Warmest Wishes

AUTHOR: Mere Rain

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 30 pages

RELEASE DATE: December 1, 2018

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Their favorite holiday is going away. Will it take their friendship with it?

Since 1989, the birthday of the Emperor of Japan has been celebrated on December 23rd. But this is the last year; the Emperor is abdicating, and next year there will be no holiday.
For twenty-year-old Akihito, the holiday has always been special. It’s his birthday, too, and a perfect excuse for spending the entire day celebrating across Tokyo with his life-long best friend, Kenji. But now that they will no longer get the day off and will soon face adult responsibilities, will they drift apart? Or if Akihito confesses the secret love he’s held in his heart for years, will their closeness be ruined? One thing is certain: nothing will be same by the end of the day.