Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Last Loose End

AUTHOR: K.R. Allen

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 308 pages

RELEASE DATE: May 6, 2018

BLURB:

Australian secret agent Cole Pearson never could stay out of it.

Now he is AWOL and on the run with Sean Trammel, analyst for mining giant ARBUS dodging killers and cut off from help as he never is overseas. As they try to uncover the reasons behind the attack on Sean, Cole unexpectedly realises that he has reasons purely personal and increasingly physical for wanting to keep this man safe. And as they discover the stakes for their hunters they know that it is going to take more than Cole’s charm, guns and wits to keep Sean alive and out of their clutches.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Promises (with prequel Meant to Be)

SERIES: Coda #1

AUTHOR: Marie Sexton

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 224 pages

RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2019

BLURB:

Can a man who loves his small hometown trust it to love him back?

Jared Thomas has lived in the mountain town of Coda, Colorado his whole life. He can’t imagine living anywhere else. But Jared’s opportunities are limited—the only other gay man in town is twice his age, and although Jared originally planned to be a teacher, the backlash that might accompany the gig keeps him working at his family’s store instead.

Then Matt Richards moves to town.

Matt may not be into guys, but he doesn’t care that Jared is. A summer camping and mountain biking together cements their friendship, but when Matt realizes he’s attracted to Jared, he panics and withdraws, leaving Jared all too aware of what he’s missing.

Facing Matt’s affair with a local woman, his disapproving family, and harassment from Matt’s coworkers, Jared fears they’ll never find a way to be together. But for the first time, he has the courage to try… if he can only convince Matt.

**Meant to Be**

Jared has simple goals for his freshman year of college: make friends, lose his virginity, come out, and maybe fall in love. He doesn’t anticipate getting caught between his friend Bryan and Bryan’s flamboyant ex. Through the awkwardness, Jared learns love doesn’t always mean sex and the most meaningful connections might have nothing to do with romance.

Reviewed by Donna

TITLE: The Things That Come

AUTHOR: Dan Ackerman

PUBLISHER: Supposed Crimes

LENGTH: 324 Pages

RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2019

BLURB:

David never wanted to hurt anyone, but he didn’t ever think he’d ever be made to choose between his own mutilation or someone else’s life. With a threat like that hanging over his head, he returns to his hometown and reconnects with the one person who might believe that the things that come to visit him some nights aren’t just another hallucination.
Between his current predicament, an active serial killer, the still-unsolved murders of his classmates in high school, and trying to make his life livable again, David isn’t headed down an easy path. He’ll need all the help he can get and with a past like his, it isn’t easy to ask.
Lucky for him, an old friend and a new one join together to help David keep himself, and others, out of danger. Or, they do the best they can while trying to stay off the radar of the police, FBI, and whatever it is that’s been making David’s life a living hell.

Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: A Heart Divided

SERIES: Social Sinners (book #3)

AUTHOR: T. L. Travis

PUBLISHER: Encompass Ink

LENGTH: 231 pages

RELEASE DATE: March 19, 2019

BLURB:

How can one’s heart be divided without someone feeling left out, even if it’s yourself?

That was the challenge Mickey Payne, bass player for the band Social Sinners, was tasked with when he fell in love with two men. “The heart wants what the heart wants, and you’d be a fool to deny it,” his mother told him when he brought his concerns to her over the unconventional relationship he was in.

Entering into the triad, he of course had his reservations, but all doubt gets cast aside when they need his help.

Will his heart be able to survive?

Book 1 – Behind the lights (MM) Joey’s POV

Book 2 – In the shadows (MM) Stoli’s POV

Book 3 – A heart divided (MMM) Mickey’s POV

Book 4 – Beyond the curtain (MM) Diamond’s POV

Book 5 – After the final curtain (MM/MMM) All

Reviewed by Jess

TITLE: Midnight Flit

SERIES: The Carstairs Affairs #2

AUTHOR: Elin Gregory

PUBLISHER: Manifold Press

LENGTH: 210 pages

RELEASE DATE:  March 14, 2019

BLURB:

Miles Siward and Briers Allerdale return for another thrilling Jazz Age adventure.

“Silk stockings on expenses.”

Miles’s aristocratic mother has information of importance to the British Government and he must escort her home from Bucharest immediately, but their plans go violently awry and Miles and Lady Siward find themselves on a train to Belgrade – where Miles’s lover is posted. Since their pursuers are looking for a man and a woman, might two women slip past them unnoticed?

“Is anyone on this train who they say they are?”

Briers doesn’t know whether to kiss Miles or punch him but is delighted to accompany him and his mother on their journey. All he has to do is keep an eye open for their enemies – but who exactly are they; the enormous Russian, the sinister priest, the handsome jazz pianist, or maybe the winsome young movie star? And his mother-in-law might just be the most terrifying of all!

All aboard for the ride of a lifetime, with a cast of characters you’ll never forget!

Reviewed by Taylin

TITLE: Healing Glass

SERIES: Gifted Guilds #1

AUTHOR: Jackie Keswick

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

RELEASE DATE: May 13, 2019

LENGTH: 282 pages

BLURB:

Despite belonging to different guilds, glass master Minel and warrior captain Falcon are friends. Their duties keep them apart, but when Minel falls ill and chooses death rather than the only known cure, nothing can keep Falcon from his side.

As their friendship grows into more, old wrongs and one man’s machinations threaten the floating city and leave both Minel and Falcon fighting for their lives. Can they learn to combine their gifts to save the city and its magic, or will everything they know and love perish before their eyes?

Healing Glass is an LGBT fantasy adventure with its head in the clouds. If you like medieval backdrops, impressive world-building, three-dimensional characters and a touch of magic, then you’ll love Jackie Keswick’s socially-conscious adventure.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Time Taken

SERIES: Out of Time #3

AUTHOR: C.B. Lewis

PUBLISHER: Ninestar Press

LENGTH: 456 pages

RELEASE DATE: March 18, 2019

BLURB:

Time travel is a precarious business at the best of times, but when Qasim El-Fahkri’s mission to the past ends in violence, it has a ripple effect through every level of the Temporal Research Institute.

Rhys Griffiths finds himself caught in the wake of the disastrous jump, his own career uncertain. With the Supervisory Board breathing down his neck, operatives demanding answers to baffling questions, and life outside of work bearing down on him, his only respite comes from Qasim’s company. As the professional slowly becomes the personal, they must confront the echoes of their own pasts to try and move forward in the future.

But another past is waiting for Qasim, and there may be no coming back from this one…

For full enjoyment, it is recommended to first read books 1, Time Waits, and 2, Time Lost.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: A Cordial Agreement

AUTHOR: Ryan Loveless

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 118 pages

RELEASE DATE: May 17, 2019

BLURB:

Can a wealthy but frustrated CEO and a guilt-ridden stripper find what they need in a consensual, nonsexual whipping boy arrangement?

Billionaire mogul Grant Jessup, fifty-three, buries his sexual tastes and the reasons behind them—the stresses of his business empire and family. In contrast, Jim Sieber understands the regret that makes him seek pain and penance. As an asexual averse to erotic touch, Jim sets strict boundaries. But as the relationship evolves, Grant struggles to respect them, and both men realize for their association to continue and perhaps grow into real feelings, they’ll have to explore new ways to satisfy each other.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Match Grade: Assassins

SERIES: Criminal Delights #6

AUTHOR: G.B. Gordon

PUBLISHER: Viridian Press

LENGTH: 144 pages

RELEASE DATE: May 3, 2019

BLURB:

Eirik Haldurson is a hitman. Kidnapped at age five and cruelly trained by his captor, he is today one of the most sought-after contract killers alive. Emotional distance from his targets, brutally beaten into him until it became second nature, is now the only way he can function. Lately though, that distance has started to elude him. And when a Colombian drug cartel contracts Eirik to take out ex-soldier-turned-vigilante, Matt Moreno, distance is suddenly as close as heat to fire. And all hell breaks loose.

This book is part of CRIMINAL DELIGHTS. Each novel can be read as a standalone and contains a dark M/M romance.

Warning: These books are for adult readers who enjoy stories where lines between right and wrong get blurry. High heat, twisted and tantalizing, these are not for the

Reviewed by Chris

TITLE: Prisoner of Shadows

SERIES:  Lords of the Underworld #2

AUTHOR:  Sam Burns & W.M. Fawkes

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

LENGTH: 273 pages

RELEASE DATE: May 9, 2019

BLURB:  

For more than five thousand years, Prometheus has been chained in the underworld. Every day, an eagle tears out his liver. Every night, he heals. When Hermes releases him in a gambit to save himself from his father’s wrath, Prometheus must adjust to a world that’s forgotten him. Hunted by the twins, Artemis and Apollo, he finds help in an unexpected place.

Julian Bell is a vampire lost. He left his Louisiana home in 1936 and hasn’t settled since. Ten years ago he followed his best friend to New York, but the country they came to wasn’t the America he left. After losing his friend, he found himself unmoored in a strange land. As he nears his hundredth birthday, he’s realizing how truly alone he is.

When Prometheus and Julian’s paths cross one fateful night, they find in each other a safe path through the shadows.

Reviewed by Marieke

TITLE: Why We Fight

SERIES: At First Sight #4

AUTHOR: TJ Klune

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2019

LENGTH: 341 pages

BLURB:
Do you believe in love at first sight?

Corey Ellis sure doesn’t. Oh, everyone around him seems to have found their happy ending, but he’s far too busy to worry about such things. He’ll have plenty of time for romance after he survives his last summer before graduation. So what if he can’t get his former professor, Jeremy Olsen, out of his head? It’s nothing more than hero worship. And that’s the way it should stay.

Except bigender Corey—aka Kori—is interning at Phoenix House for the summer, a LGBTQI youth center. A center that recently hired an interim director until someone can be found to fill the position permanently.

Because life is extraordinarily unfair, the director just so happens to be a certain former professor, now turned current boss.

Desperate to keep things professional as he and Jeremy grow closer, Corey makes a major mistake: he turns to his friends, Paul Auster and Sanford Stewart for help.

But Paul and Sandy have some ideas of their own….

Set in the summer of 2016, Why We Fight is a celebration of queer life and being true to oneself… no matter the cost.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: The Love Left Behind

AUTHOR: Daniel de Lorne

PUBLISHER: Escape Publishing

LENGTH: 173 pages

RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2019

BLURB:

What happens when a man with his heart in the clouds falls for one whose feet are firmly stuck to the ground?

Pilot Nick Galanos is on a mission to visit the fifty countries his mother couldn’t before she died. But the closer he gets to his goal, the more he worries that he won’t have anything to show for it but stamps in a crowded passport. On a rare visit back home, he meets a hot electrician with a killer set of dimples. Suddenly a future of shared adventures seems possible.
Except for one thing…
Lyall Turner’s big brother died in a plane crash. He’s been afraid of flying most of his life, but there’s no shortage of destinations in Australia that don’t require a boarding pass. But then he meets Nick and suddenly his ‘no biggie’ phobia stands squarely in the way of a beautiful future together. Now he has to decide whether he’s going to let his fear or his heart take the lead.
And will Nick stay grounded while he decides?

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Love Kills – Serial Killers

SERIES: Criminal Delights #8

AUTHOR: Michael Mandrake

PUBLISHER: Triad Literary

LENGTH: 219 pages

RELEASE DATE: May 10, 2019

BLURB:

Deranged birds of a feather flock together… leaving trails of blood in their wake.
Holland has fantasies most can’t accept. When potential mates discover Holland’s bloodlust, it’s too late for them to refuse. Determined to get what he wants, Holland continues to seek a man to fulfill his deepest desire and he won’t stop at anything.
Archer is inspired and aroused by the tales he’s heard from his boyfriend. Still, he’s greedy for something that pushes him over the edge. Although this might drive him and his partner apart, Archer’s dark want won’t disappear.
Clint’s love for his job has slipped for years, and he’s pondered change. These days he’s cared more about how to please his man, than the rigorous position of solving murder cases. Clint thinks his attitude will eventually get better, thus prompting him to stay aboard. Still, the constant worry of Archer finding someone new niggles at him.
Putting sketchy characters behind bars had always been Clint’s forte, but when new feelings arise, Clint’s conscience is tested. Furthermore, what will happen if Clint is forced to choose between the love of his life, his career, and his morality?

Warning: This dark romance contains themes some readers might find objectionable. 

Possible Triggers: Murder, death, edgeplay, angst, gore, blood

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Broken Bones

SERIES: Broken prequel

AUTHOR: Deja Black

PUBLISHER: eXtasy Books

LENGTH: 206 pages

RELEASE DATE: February 8, 2019

BLURB:

Dan Tolliver, the adopted son of Alpha pack leader Jeremiah Tolliver, has suffered his last moment of abuse by his lover Keith Mulligan and finds himself in the hospital. There he meets dark and sharp-tongued Dr. Aiden Kavanaugh, who believes Dan needs some of his straightforward kind of medicine. Still, there is something different about the doctor.
Aiden is a sandman, a weaver of dreams, and has been on Earth far longer than even he knows. He’s at the end of his time, ready to transition, and needs a human mate to keep him connected to the world he’s grown to love. Only he hasn’t found a special person who makes him want to stay. He doesn’t despair, because not every Sandman has the chance to choose, but he knows if he doesn’t find a partner, he will soon lose his physical form and exist only in dreams.
When Aiden realizes Keith is a far greater monster than Dan has any idea, they grow and work together using the support of the pack―and Dan’s inner strength―to overcome impossible odds.