Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: On Shaky Ground

AUTHOR: Andrew Grey

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 83 pages

RELEASE DATE: June 14, 2019

BLURB:

Martin Graham built his business from the ground up with hard work and intuition. Due to a degenerative eye disease, he’s learned to rely on his other senses to feel out the competition. To realize his dream, he just needs to broker one last deal… and finally secure an assistant.

Brock Littleton is desperate for money—desperate enough to take the job no one else wants: assistant to demanding, fussy, intensely private Mr. Graham.

Everything about Brock gets under Martin’s skin in ways he never expected, making him realize a successful business isn’t the only component to a happy future. But as Martin’s deal comes together, one of the prices could be the relationship with Brock that Martin is just starting to believe could be real.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Deadly Skies

SERIES: Kings of Eternity #2

AUTHOR: Savannah Hartley

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 278 pages

RELEASE DATE: August 26, 2018

BLURB:

Kidnapped and mated to a dragon, Jamie is having more than just a ‘bad day’. However, as Jamie explores this strange new world, he’s faced with new concerns and new dangers. Soon, the startling facts of what Jamie is, and his growing affection and hunger toward Aidan, puts his new mate in peril. Hidden on earth, Jamie had been safe from an ancient enemy. But, now there is nothing to protect him from being hunted by the evil stalking him from the shadows.

Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Picking Up the Pieces

AUTHOR: Annabella Michaels

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 169 pages

RELEASE DATE: May 30, 2019

BLURB:

Two Shattered Hearts

Brody Murphy feels as if he’s lost everything when his best friend and partner, Paul, dies in the line of duty. Partners on the force for years, Paul Donovan was all Brody had. Paul accepted Brody as he was—standoffish from a childhood in the foster system, bisexual in a police force that wasn’t entirely welcoming, Brody is now adrift. Wracked by survivor’s guilt and grief, Brody devotes what’s left of his heart to help Paul’s widow and her children. And when his partner’s oldest child returns home a grown man, Brody is torn between what he thinks he should do and what his heart wants.

Grief Binds Them

Cooper Donovan is in his senior year of college when the unthinkable happens. His father dies, and Cooper returns home to be with his family, and help his mother with his little sisters. So many things were left unsaid between Cooper and his father, a fact that weighs heavily on his heart. College helped Cooper learn more about who he was and what he wanted from life, and with Brody Murphy comes unexpected feelings and complications.

Hope Leads Them Home

Brody and Cooper forge a connection that leaves Brody conflicted, Cooper determined, and both men wounded by their shared grief. While Brody struggles with why he lived, and Paul died—he had no one and nothing, and Paul had everything to live for, Cooper sees a man who deserves love and happiness under the grief. Tension rises when Brody and Cooper can’t deny what’s happening between them. Both men are picking up the pieces of their previous lives and putting together a new future, one where hope and love heals, and home is in each other’s arms.

Reviewed by Cindy

TITLE: Ammo and Enchiladas

SERIES: Border Crossing #2

AUTHOR: BA Tortuga

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH:  235 Pages

RELEASE DATE: June 11, 2019

BLURB:

A Border Crossing Novel

After a night at the movies in Albuquerque, NM, Brantley’s best friend, Matt, is shot right in front him during a robbery. Stunned and devastated, Brant tries to help Matt’s husband, Travis, deal with the funeral details even as he struggles with his own grief and Travis’s blame. When Travis’s best friend arrives, Brant is both annoyed and grateful, because he is so darn tired and can use the help.

Lex Espana is ashamed to admit he hasn’t seen his childhood best friend since Travis’s wedding. He’s even more amazed that he barely remembers Brant from that wedding, because he’s sure interested now. While it’s weird to fall for someone at a funeral, his feelings for Brant are real and make him long for a life he didn’t realize he was missing.

Neither Lex nor Brant knows how to be part of an us, though, and they both have a lot to work through before they can settle in. To become a real couple, Brant and Lex will have to dig deep to get past the roadblocks in their relationship.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: An Erie Collection

SERIES: Lake Erie Shifters

AUTHOR: V.L. Locey

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 408 pages

RELEASE DATE: October 22, 2018

BLURB:

You can now have all four of the Lake Erie pack novellas in this one reasonably priced collection! Included in the set are the previously released novellas: An Erie Halloween, An Erie Operetta, and An Erie Garden Party. To round off this whimsical and romantic shifter set is a brand-new novella, An Erie Uprising!

It’s been one wonderfully romantic year since skunk shifter Templeton Reed met Mikel Lupei, the alpha wolf of the Lake Erie pack. During that year, the two men fell in love and worked side-by-side to solve some tricky murder mysteries. They also opened up Lupei Manor, Mikel’s familial home, to other LGBTQ mystical beings in the Erie area. Sadly, being gay in the supernatural world Templeton and Mikel live in can be a death sentence.

During the past year, the magical world has slowly been coming unraveled. Civil unrest now runs rampant through the community as the lesser breeds revolt against the hateful dictates of the Elder Council. The uprising will surely touch every person residing in the magical world near Lake Erie. Will the flames of unrest and war consume everything and everyone Templeton and Mikel hold dear as well?

Reviewed by Kimberley

TITLE: Love on the Rocks

AUTHOR: J.P. Bowie

PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing

LENGTH: 154 pages

RELEASE DATE: April 2, 2019

BLURB:

Waking up on a pile of rocks with a bullet in his shoulder isn’t something Joe Brady saw coming, but perhaps the cute paramedic who finds him can do more than just help heal his wound.

Detective Joe Brady wakes up lying at the bottom of a cliff on a pile of rocks with a blond-haired angel hovering over him. No, he’s not in heaven. The blond is Riley Peterson, and his dog Champ is the one responsible for finding Joe. Fortunately for Joe, Riley is a paramedic and quickly gets him the emergency attention he sorely needs.

Shot by his rogue partner Bob Murdoch when Joe discovered Murdoch was running a protection racket for drug pushers, Joe wants to find Murdoch and bring him to justice, but he’s got a long road to recovery in front of him. While Joe is recuperating, Murdoch is arrested, giving Joe time to get to know Riley, the handsome paramedic. The two quickly bond, but Riley has an ex-boyfriend who wants back in Riley’s life and certainly has no qualms about playing dirty to get what he wants.

Slashed tires, an assault in a parking lot, and a prison break all seem set to doom Joe and Riley’s budding relationship. And when the deranged Murdoch determines to make them pay for his fall from grace—at gunpoint—it seems their relationship isn’t the only thing in danger…

Reader advisory: This book contains themes of stalking and harassment. There are references to abusive parenting and an abusive relationship, attempted murder and murder and on-page violence.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: A Menacing Tempest

SERIES: Druid’s Curse #3

AUTHOR: Shea Balik

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 183 page

RELEASE DATE: June 14, 2019

BLURB:

When it came to defense, or offense when needed, Cullen McIntyre thought he was prepared. It wasn’t until he watched as monsters he’d never knew existed walked out of thin air to kill members of his family, twice, that Cullen realized how wrong he’d been. By the third time he’d come face to face with those determined to kill him and the rest of his family for doing their duty, Cullen knew he needed help, and lots of it.

The moment Ulf laid eyes on Cullen, he’d been enthralled by the man’s resolve to protect what was left of his family. Being shot and left for dead by Cullen should have cooled his desire for the fiery man, but it only made him want him more. By the time he caught up to Cullen, Ulf knew, without a doubt, the druid was destined to be his. Now he just needed to convince Cullen of that.

As Cullen and Ulf join their friends to fight the monsters from the realm of the Fae, they find there is a new threat waiting to get through the Veil. A threat they might not be able to defeat. Will Ulf & Cullen get their chance at happily ever after, or will the Fae finally succeed in their quest to destroy the veil?

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Melting For You

SERIES: Neighborhood Shindig #1

AUTHOR: A.M. Arthur

PUBLISHER: Briggs-Kings Books

LENGTH: 137 pages

RELEASE DATE: June 13, 2019

BLURB:

After his father’s heart attack, Isaiah Morrell gave up cooking in his own high-end Atlanta restaurant to return home to Reynolds, North Carolina, in order to help his father Thomas heal and to keep an eye on his business Neighborhood Shindig. A collection of food trucks and other small businesses, Shindig is a popular destination in this college town, but Isaiah longs for the fast pace of a big-city kitchen. Until he meets Joel…

Joel Fisher has been out of commission from a serious illness for the better part of a year, but now he’s ready to reclaim his life—except his apartment has been sublet, his partner is missing, and their shared food truck is stripped of everything not attached. In short, Joel has nothing. After an uncomfortable night sleeping on the food truck floor, Isaiah and Thomas Morrell give Joel an offer he can’t refuse: a rented room in their house, as well as their help creating a new food truck concept. Joel hates accepting charity, but he’s hit rock bottom and has nowhere to go but up.

Working with seemingly uptight Isaiah is actually pretty fun, and the pair bonds over a challenge to create a unique grilled cheese sandwich. Light flirting melts into a deeper connection neither man expects, but Isaiah isn’t in Reynolds for much longer, and Joel can’t get attached to the gorgeous professional chef. As Isaiah’s feelings for Joel strengthen and grow, he entertains the idea of staying in Neighborhood Shindig for good—but Joel hasn’t asked him to…

Welcome to Neighborhood Shindig, a friendly place where you can snack on a lamb kebab while getting your hair done, pick up your favorite herbal tea blend, and then go listen to live music under the pavilion. We’re happy to have you.

Reviewed by Cindy

TITLE: NOX

AUTHOR: Adrienne Wilder

PUBLISHER: Self-published

LENGTH: 463 Pages

RELEASE DATE: April 2, 2019

BLURB:

A nude man invades Luca Suarez’s home and protects him from creatures who cannot exist.
Creatures hunting him.
The stranger can’t tell Luca why. He can’t even tell Luca his name.
He remembers nothing until the moment he sees Luca.
The only hint Luca has to the stranger’s identity is a tattoo on his wrist: N o X

Nox doesn’t know who he is, but he’s sure of three things, his memory loss is temporary, the monsters chasing Luca are called Anubis, and his Alpha, Koda, sent Nox to protect him.
There’s just one problem… Koda is Luca’s brother who was murdered five years ago.

With each passing hour, Nox fills in the pieces painting an impossible truth. And with each passing hour, both men find themselves unexplainably attracted to each other.
Something Luca is willing to embrace because he has nothing left to lose.
And one Nox can’t let happen because it could get Luca killed.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Tying the Knot

SERIES: Cedar Falls #11

AUTHOR: Shea Balik

PUBLISHER: Siren-Bookstrand Inc

LENGTH: 116 pages

RELEASE DATE: April 6, 2016

BLURB:

Love is in the air for this special Cedar Falls edition. Take the journey with the first nine couples as they get engaged in their own special way. As with all the Cedar Falls characters, they each have their own unique story that will pull at your heartstrings.

Having decided to all get married at the same time, the couples must find a way to compromise on everything from decorations, to the cake, to the reception. And since no wedding would be complete without a bachelor party, Jesse Stone takes over the planning and leads his friends into a night of strippers, alcohol and a few other surprises that had Jesse on stage taking his clothes off.

Have a tissue handy for there won’t be a dry eye in the church as the couples recite their vows.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Don’t Bring a Cannibal to Dinner

SERIES: A Cox Fairytale #3

AUTHOR: James Cox

PUBLISHER: Evernight Publishing

LENGTH: 77 pages

RELEASE DATE: May 7, 2019

BLURB:

What are you willing to sacrifice for true love?

Harris and Grant were both raised in an orphanage. They’ve known beatings, starvation—and falling in love. When the dangers become too great, they run away into the dark woods, and they come across a cottage made completely of sweet treats. What could one taste hurt? Well, it stirs the handsome witch that lives inside. Fearing his wrath, they run straight into the brutal orphanage owner they were fleeing from before. Their unlikely hero is none other than the witch, but does the handsome magician want to save them or devour them? As it turns out, a bit of both.

But when the cottage the witch is bound to is set on fire, Harris and Grant face a terrible decision. For the only way the witch can be free is by eating one of their hearts…