Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Beyond the Curtain

SERIES: Social Sinners #4

AUTHOR: T. L. Travis

PUBLISHER: Encompass Ink

LENGTH: 142 pages

RELEASE DATE: June 18, 2019

BLURB:

For Social Sinners’ drummer, Ethan “Diamond” Taylor, everything that went wrong seemed to roll off him and life was about having fun and getting off. What others never saw was what simmered beneath the surface.

Holding on by a string, things have reached their breaking point, taking a turn for the worse, and he’s forced to make some tough decisions. Is living in the limelight all that it’s cracked up to be? Or is it time to cut the cord and move on?

Is it in the cards for him to have the whole marriage, white picket fence, a desk job and…kids?

Diamond’s story is one of strength, love, loss and hope.

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 Becca

TITLE: To Have and To Hold: Taken

SERIES: Criminal Delights #15

AUTHOR: Abigail Kade

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 172 pages

RELEASE DATE: June 7, 2019

BLURB:

My name is Worthington Winters, and I have a confession before I die. I know he’s a killer. I know one day he’ll even kill me, but I don’t care. Because I feel more free with my captor than I ever did with my husband.

My husband courted me, seduced me, ensnared me, then subjugated me in my own home. He pushed and I would bend. Until, one day he pushed too far, and I pushed back. I escaped and thought I was free, but I was so wrong.

Now, my Captor has me in his grasp. He’s supposed to squeeze me until I give him the information I took from my husband. I’ll never do it, so I know I’m destined to die. But, he’s beginning to see beyond my scars, my shriveled heart, and he’s forcing me to look, too.

As he makes me look into the darkest depths of my soul, I finally find my truth, who I truly am and want to be. As strange as it may be, through the sweetest pain and most exquisite torture he inflicts, I’ll finally feel free.

The truth may give me a new life I never existed. If I can survive.

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 fainthearted

Reviewed by Jess and Becca

TITLE: The Doctor’s Date

SERIES: Copper Point Medical #2

AUTHOR: Heidi Cullinan

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 448 pages

RELEASE DATE: June 18, 2019

BLURB:

The hospital’s least eligible bachelor and its aloof administrator hate each other… so why are they pretending to date?

Dr. Owen Gagnon and HR director Erin Andreas are infamous for their hospital hallway shouting matches. So imagine the town’s surprise when Erin bids an obscene amount of money to win Owen in the hospital bachelor auction—and Owen ups the ante by insisting Erin move in with him.

Copper Point may not know what’s going on, but neither do Erin and Owen. Erin intends his gesture to let Owen know he’s interested. Owen, on the other hand, suspects ulterior motives—that Erin wants a fake relationship as a refuge from his overbearing father.

With Erin suddenly heading a messy internal investigation, Owen wants to step up and be the hero Erin’s never had. Too bad Erin would rather spend his energy trying to rescue Owen from the shadows of a past he doesn’t talk about.

This relationship may be fake, but the feelings aren’t. Still, what Erin and Owen have won’t last unless they put their respective demons to rest. To do that, they’ll have to do more than work together—they’ll have to trust they can heal each other’s hearts.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Promises

AUTHOR: Ruby Moone

PUBLISHER: JMS Books LLC

LENGTH: 113 pages

RELEASE DATE: August 25, 2018

BLURB:

Captain Charles Hawkins has returned from the Napoleonic wars desperate for solitude. When the man who saved his life asks a favour, he feels honour bound to agree, but the request fills him with horror.

Sebastian Farrah knows the only useful thing he can do with his life is join Wellington’s army. He has tried everything else and failed. He agrees to his brother’s ridiculous request to spend a month in the country because it is the only way his brother will agree to purchase him a commission.

Charles and Sebastian clash but quickly form a bond that deepens into much more. However, they are running out of time. Charles begs Sebastian to stay, but Sebastian knows to do so he will be forced to reveal what it is that stopped him from succeeding in everything. The shameful secret he carries from the schoolroom.

Reviewed by Jess

TITLE: Wrong Way Home

SERIES: Criminal Delights: Taken

AUTHOR: K.A. Merikan

PUBLISHER: Self-published

LENGTH: 264 pages

RELEASE DATE:  April 15, 2019

BLURB:

— One wrong turn. One right man. —

Colin. Rule-follower. Future doctor. Witness to murder. Captive.

Taron. Survivalist. Mute. Murderer. Captor.

Like every other weekend, Colin is on his way home from university, but he’s taunted by the notion that he never takes risks in life and always follows the beaten path. On impulse, he decides to take a different route. Just this one time. What he doesn’t realize is that it’s the last time he has a choice.

He ends up taking a detour into the darkest pit of horror, abducted by a silent, imposing man with a blood-stained axe. But what seems like his worst nightmare might just prove to be a path to the kind of freedom Colin never knew existed.

Taron has lived alone for years. His land, his rules. He’d given up on company long ago. After all, attachment is a liability. He deals with his problems on his own, but the night he needs to dispose of an enemy, he ends up with a witness to his crime.

The last thing Taron needs is a nuisance of a captive. Colin doesn’t deserve death for setting foot on Taron’s land, but keeping him isn’t optimal either. It’s only when he finds out the city boy is gay that an altogether different option arises. One that isn’t right, yet tempts him every time Colin’s pretty eyes glare at him from the cage.

Reviewed by Chris

TITLE: The 5th Gender

SERIES:  Tinkered Stars Mystery

AUTHOR:  G.L. Carriger

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  346 pages

RELEASE DATE:  May 18, 2019

BLURB:  

A species that has no word for murder, has a murderer aboard their spaceship.

ALIEN

Tristol lives in exile. But he’s built a life for himself aboard a human space station. He’s even begun to understand the complex nuances of human courting rituals.

Detective Hastion is finally flirting back!

MURDER

Except that Tristol’s beloved space station is unexpectedly contacted by the galoi – a xenophobic species with five genders, purple skin, and serious attitude. They need the help of a human detective because there’s a murderer aboard their spaceship. Murder is so rare, the galoi don’t even have a word for it.

Tristol knows this because he is galoi.

ROMANCE

Which means that he and Detective Hastion are on the case… together.

Delicate Sensibilities?

Contains men who love other men in graphic detail, regardless of gender, biology, or skin color… and lots of emotively sexy tentacle hair.

Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE: Family Camp

SERIES: Daddy Dearest

AUTHOR: Eli Easton

PUBLISHER: Self-published

LENGTH: 217 pages

RELEASE DATE:  March 28, 2019

BLURB: 

When Geo signs up for Family Camp, he envisions nature hikes, s’mores, and a chance to win over his recalcitrant new foster kids, Jayden and Lucy. He’s tried to become a dad for so long, and he hopes the three of them can be the family he’s always wanted. What he doesn’t anticipate is the prickly and gorgeous camp counselor who constantly comes to his rescue.

Travis spends a week every year at Camp Evermore, the camp his adoptive parents own. As a pro baseball player, his presence guarantees a full campground and excited campers. He has one rule: never, ever mess around with anyone at camp. His profession demands he stay in the closet. But one sweet and funny new dad is about to test all his resolve.

Sparks fly for Geo and Travis, and not because of the nightly campfire. Having been a foster kid himself, Travis is drawn to Geo’s sincerity and big heart and to his kids. The four of them just fit. But will this be a summer romance? Or can they find a way to be a family long after Family Camp is over?

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: The Dirty Hoe

SERIES: Cedar Falls #12

AUTHOR: Shea Balik

PUBLISHER: Siren-Bookstrand Inc

LENGTH: 108 pages

RELEASE DATE: May 4, 2016

BLURB:

When Vail Sommerlin inherited a house from an estranged uncle in Cedar Falls, he jumped at the chance to move away from his nosy mother, who he loved too much to tell her to butt out of his life. He just never dreamed that new life would include finding the man of his dreams.

When Lakota White first laid eyes on Vail Sommerlin, he knew he’d found his soulmate. He was pretty sure his grandmother was laughing her ass off if she was looking down at him right then. Probably even shouting, “I told you so,” over and over again.

Warning: an attempted suicide and a corrupt mayor who is bent on destroying the town once more instigates the zany characters of Cedar Falls to band around the two and help in their own unique way.

Reviewed by Jess

TITLE: New Ink on Life

SERIES: Thorn & Thistle #1

AUTHOR: Jennie Davids

PUBLISHER: Carina Press

LENGTH: 315 pages

RELEASE DATE:  May 27, 2019

BLURB:

Quiet does not equal weak…

Leaving a dependable job to apprentice as a tattoo artist was a drastic step after surviving breast cancer, but Cassie Whiteaker is nearly five years cancer-free. Nearly. She’s not ready to go out on her own until she clears that all-important hurdle. Also off-limits are relationships and sex—something Cassie is sure she’ll never want again.

Struggling tattoo shop owner MJ Flores doesn’t give a damn what people think, but losing Thorn & Thistle would mean losing everything. When her former mentor’s protégé arrives at her door, MJ hires her out of obligation…at first. Cross-stitching goody-goodies are not her type, but Cassie’s business background might just get the shop back on solid footing. They strike a bargain: Cassie will enact new marketing plans and MJ will teach her to find her inner bitch.

Only when clients request to see Cassie—having learned of the beautiful, compassionate tattoos she creates for survivors and their families—does MJ realize all Cassie has endured. And as Cassie’s fears fade, she finds it harder to keep her admiration for her bad-girl boss from reawakening all she’d feared was lost.

TITLE: Prince of Killers

SERIES: Fog City

AUTHOR: Layla Reyne

PUBLISHER: Layla Reyne

LENGTH: 200 Pages

RELEASE DATE: June 10, 2019

BLURB: No indiscriminate killing. No collateral damage. No unvetted targets.

These are the rules Hawes Madigan lives by. Rules that make being Fog City’s Prince of Killers bearable. Soon, he’ll be king—of an organization of assassins—and the crown has never felt heavier. Until the mysterious Dante Perry swaggers into his life.

Dante looks like a rock god and carries himself like one too, all loose-limbed and casually confident. He also carries a concealed weapon, a private investigator’s license, and a message for the prince. Someone inside Hawes’s organization is out to kill the future king.

In the chaos that follows the timely warning, Hawes comes to depend on Dante. On his skills as an investigator, on the steadiness he offers, and on their moments alone when Hawes lets Dante take control. As alliances are tested and traitors exposed, Hawes needs Dante at his back and in his bed. But if the PI ever learns Hawes’s darkest secret, Hawes is sure to get a knife to the heart—and a bullet to the brain—instead.

There’s no shortage of twists and turns in this new romantic suspense trilogy from Layla Reyne. Prince of Killers is book one of three. Fair warning: buckle up, cliffhangers ahead!

Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Change of Heart

AUTHOR: K. M. Neuhold

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 276 pages

RELEASE DATE: June 17, 2019

BLURB:

Does my husband’s heart still miss me now that it beats in the chest of another man?

Lub-dub

A heartbeat more familiar than Easton’s own

Lub-dub

He vowed to love his husband until death do they part. And then the worst happened.

Lub-dub

His heart kept another man alive. River. A stranger in the world with Easton’s husband’s heart pumping the blood that warms his skin. Does his heart ever miss Easton without knowing why?

Lub-dub

Sweet, kind, beautiful, River. Easton never meant to meet him…never meant to know him…never meant to fall for him.

Lub-dub

Easton loved River’s heart long before he ever met him, but is it possible he’s falling in love with his mind and soul too?

***Change of Heart is a stand alone story with strong hurt/comfort themes, mild bi-sexual awakening themes, and a HEA