Reviewed by Anna Lynn

TITLE: Hardwood

SERIES:  Four Bears Construction #3

AUTHOR:  K.M. Neuhold

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

RELEASE DATE:  July 1, 2020

LENGTH:  206 pages

BLURB:

I’ve spent forty-four years of my life telling the world I’m a carpet man. Is it too late to admit to myself and everyone else that deep down I’m really all about the Hardwood?

It took me over thirty-five years to admit to myself that I’m gay, another seven to find the courage to say it out loud to anyone else, and exactly thirty seconds to develop a massive crush on my daughter’s music teacher. It’s really not my fault, have you even seen those cute bowties he wears?

After everything it’s taken to get here, am I going to work up the nerve to come out to my ex-wife and my best friends? Am I ready to shake up my comfortable, simple life and take a chance on Watson? Or am I going to throw a wrench in my own chance for happily ever after?

Reviewed by Cheryl K

TITLE: Ride the Lightning

SERIES: Sinister in Savannah #1

AUTHOR: Aimee Nicole Walker

PUBLISHER: Chasing Rainbows Press

LENGTH: 274 Pages

RELEASE DATE: June 23, 2020

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Truth seeker. Promise keeper. Guarded heart.

By day, Jonah St. John is a criminal analyst for the Georgia Bureau of Investigations. By night, he produces Sinister in Savannah, an investigative podcast, with his two best friends. Jonah’s life revolves around three principles: a man’s word is his oath, friendships are priceless gifts, and love is for other people.

When the Sinister in Savannah team delves into the thirty-eight-year-old murder of a drag queen, they quickly discover that the story doesn’t end with the alleged killer’s confession in 1995. Continuing the investigation could have fatal consequences for Jonah and everyone he holds dear, including his irresistible intern.

To love is to lose: a lesson Jonah has learned the hard way. For a decade, he has embraced solitude as his penance for a past mistake. Then came Avery Bradford, a man whose warmth and sunshine infuses Jonah’s battered soul and challenges his resistance. Over the past eight months, Jonah has soared closer and closer to Avery’s flame until the thing he’s feared the most becomes the one he can’t live without.

The chill of danger merges with the heat of desire, forming a deadly superstorm. Will Jonah seek shelter or ride the lightning?

Sinister in Savannah series is a fictional podcast exploring the city’s most nefarious crimes with Southern-fried snark. The books explore friendship, love, loss, and the irrepressible human spirit. Ride the Lightning is book one of three. While each book is written about a different couple, the series should be read in order. Sinister in Savannah is an LGBT romantic suspense series with mature language and sexual content intended for adults eighteen and older.

REVIEWED by Jay V.

TITLE: The Extraordinaries

AUTHOR: TJ Klune

SERIES: The Extraordinaries #1

PUBLISHER: Tor Teen

LENGTH: 400 pages

RELEASE DATE: July 14, 2020

BLURB:

Some people are extraordinary. Some are just extra.

Nick Bell? Not extraordinary. But being the most popular fanfiction writer in the Extraordinaries fandom is a superpower, right?

After a chance encounter with Shadow Star, Nova City’s mightiest hero (and Nick’s biggest crush), Nick sets out to make himself extraordinary. And he’ll do it with or without the reluctant help of Seth Gray, Nick’s best friend (and maybe the love of his life).

Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE: Hard Knox

AUTHOR: Riley Hart

SERIES: Havenwood #3

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 224 pages

RELEASE DATE: July 9, 2020

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Callum

A gay guy walks into a straight bar and notices the hottest man he’s ever seen…

Why am I not surprised my life sounds like the beginning of a bad joke? First, my ex cheated on me, and I went running to Havenwood and the mom I have a complicated relationship with. Then, there’s Knox, the gorgeous lumberjack I don’t stand a chance with. To top it off, he’s more than just a pretty face, and I start to fall for him. Knox is kind, funny, honorable, quickly becoming my best friend, and unfortunately, straight with a capital S.

Knox

My life has taken a few unexpected turns lately. First, the new guy in town, Callum, has me strangely confused. Then my son, Logan, comes to live with me. He connects with Callum instantly, and I do too. Before we know it, he’s become a daily fixture in our lives, making us laugh, calling me his lumberjack and making this foreign warmth spread inside me.

It doesn’t matter that I’ve never been with a guy before–one kiss from Cal, and it’s clear I’m bi. He turns me upside down. With every laugh, every conversation, every touch and exploration, I fall harder. Sneaking around isn’t ideal, but there’s a lot for us to consider. All I know is I need him. Life has a funny way of throwing a wrench into your plans, though, and things become a mess. But then I’m reminded that while nothing in life is guaranteed, not even love, what Callum and I have built is worth fighting for.

Reviewed by Anna Lynn

TITLE:  Want Me

AUTHOR:  Neve Wilder

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

RELEASE DATE:  May 8, 2019

LENGTH:   304 pages

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Two roommates. One calculus exam. A whole lot of extracurricular activity.

Nate:

Living with four other guys, it’s bound to happen.

Every guy’s been caught taking care of business at least once, right?

It shouldn’t be a big deal.

But I don’t know Eric as well as my other roommates, and things are a little awkward now.

He’s a loner. A mystery. Quietly confident. Smart.

Sexy as hell.

I’ve been happily subsisting on the typical frat guy diet of booze and sorority girls.

But the way Eric looked at me that night?

There was something there.

Something that’s got me curious.

Something that’s stirring up feelings I thought I’d left behind for good.

Something that’s making me think I’m not as straight as I thought I was.

I can’t get him off of my mind.

I don’t think I want to.

So when he offers to help me study for a midterm, I take him up on it.

It’s innocent.

Probably. Maybe.

There’s no way I could’ve known what it’d start…

Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE: Pieces of Us

AUTHOR: N.R. Walker

SERIES: Missing Pieces #3

PUBLISHER: Self Published

RELEASE DATE: July 24, 2020

BLURB:

As Justin’s recovery moves forward, Dallas dares to hope their lives are settling into their new normal. His money worries have eased, business is picking up, and best of all, Justin now laughs more than he frowns.

Justin’s memory still eludes him, but with each snippet or flashback, small pieces of his old life start to slot into place. He remembers more of Dallas and how perfectly happy their lives used to be, and with each passing day, Justin realises he can have that again.

But when someone from Justin’s past turns up, he discovers that not all the missing pieces are good, and sadly, he and Dallas also learn just what it means to live with a traumatic brain injury. If Dallas and Justin have to fight for their Happily Ever After, then Dallas will stop at nothing–nothing–to give Justin the life he always wanted.

“. . . as I tried to put the puzzle of myself back together, it was the pieces of us that made me whole.”

Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE: How to Lure a Hunter

AUTHOR: Alice Winters

SERIES: VRC: Vampire Related Crimes #3

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 377 pages

RELEASE DATE: July 24, 2020

BLURB:

Alexei –

When Marcus Church brings his brother Claude in to help solve an unusual murder, I’m positive he did it just to disrupt my monotonous life. None of my coworkers in the Vampire Related Crimes unit seem to understand that I want to keep a wall between me and everyone else—especially Claude, who does everything he can to break through it with an annoying smile. After more vampires begin to die, Claude pinpoints the actions of the killers to a group of vampire hunters, leaving us in a race to stop them. When I discover that I have a target on my back, I’m surprised that Claude insists on staying by my side, even when things go from bad to worse. I’m determined to keep him out—I’ve lost enough people in my life—but I can’t stop feeling something every time he breaks through.

Claude –

When I reunited with my brother, I never imagined it’d throw me right into Alexei Karsynov’s path. He’s short-tempered, stubborn, and dangerously adorable whenever he smiles—he just doesn’t realize it yet. When Marcus asks me to help with a case, it gives me the excuse I need to get closer to Alexei, but what I discover threatens to change everything. Suddenly, I find myself wanting to do anything to protect Alexei and to see him smile, despite his efforts to keep his distance from others. I’m determined to show him that he can’t live in the past when his future is so much brighter.

Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  How to Hack a Hacker

AUTHOR:  AJ Sherwood

SERIES:  Unholy Trifecta #3

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  193 pages

RELEASE DATE:  July 25, 2020

BLURB:

Staying away is Kyou’s number one rule when it comes to protecting the sexy real-estate developer.

Kyou has a routine. A system. He guards Brannigan Genovese, hacks for his family of choice, and drinks far too much caffeine for any living being. Only a few things can completely disrupt his routine to cause him trouble:

•Brannigan buying up real estate from the Irish Mob
•Kyou’s band of brothers figuring out who Brannigan actually is
•Ivan
•Feelings for one Brannigan Genovese

Oddly enough, it’s the feelings that get Kyou in the most trouble. Because when Brannigan is in danger, Kyou ignores all his brain’s protestations and breaks every rule he has to save the man, including his number one.

And damn the consequences.

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