Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Forever

SERIES:  Hunt&Cam4Ever #8

AUTHOR:  Adira August

PUBLISHER:  Red Deer

LENGTH: 397 pages

RELEASE DATE:  February 26, 2021

BLURB:

….turn around…

“Lieutenant?” Woodward was there as if he’d materialized out of the lush greenery beyond the strip of grass. “Did you injure your left arm?”

Hunter looked down at his hand on his arm.

“Have you been feeling light-headed at all?” Wood asked.

“Yes,” Cam answered for him.

“Oh, God.” Avia started to rise.

“Please stay where you are,” Wood said, pulling his open collar aside, revealing a mic he spoke into. “I have a code xray ten at bungalow seventeen. Direct evac to Oceanside, cardiac teams in place asap.”

Cam was on his feet looking to Woodward for instructions.

“Get his I.D. and any medications he’s on.”

Cam shoved the chair back and ran for the door.

“I’m sorry. Don’t leave me,” Hunter’s voice was thick. A tear slid down from the outside corner of one eye.

Sirens sounded in the near distance.

Avia was next to his chair with her arms around his shoulders. “He’ll never leave you, Hunter, he just went to get something.”

Panicked, Hunt tried to rise. “No! I don’t need it. Don’t let him go to the store!” He knocked the table over trying to get up, to follow Cam.

Woodward caught him as he slumped to the floor.

……………..from Shadow Men, Hunt&Cam4Ever Book 7

This is what happened next.

“…forever’s gonna start tonight…”

Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE: Dirty Forty

AUTHOR: Mia Monroe

PUBLISHER: self-published

RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2021

LENGTH: 250 pages

BLURB:

If I’m as straight as I always thought, why does kissing my best friend feel so right?

Zach has been my ride or die since we were nine. Business partners, roommates, best friends…we do everything together. But the last thing either of us expected was to be staring forty in the face just as single as we both were when we made a silly, drunken marriage pact twenty years ago. The problem? Zach is gay…and, well, I’m not.

Under pressure from family, that pact comes rushing back, and I lock us into a fake engagement. But is it possible some part of me wants it to be real?

Convincing Zach I’m legit is another story. With each passing day, I wonder if my feelings of affection for my best friend can morph into the love I desperately want in my life. Something in Zach’s eyes tells me we can have it all if we just try.

It may have taken me a lifetime to see Zach with new eyes, but with every touch and discovery, it’s been worth the wait. On the edge of Dirty Forty, it’s time to go for it.

All I have to do is convince Zach it’s real.

Dirty Forty is a best friends to lovers, marriage pact, demi/bisexual awakening featuring thirty years of pining, a fake engagement, curious kisses, and two guys finally embracing what’s always been in front of them.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Elven Duty

SERIES: Magic Emporium #7

AUTHOR: Rhys Lawless

PUBLISHER: Rhys Writes Romance

LENGTH: 318 pages

RELEASE DATE: March 4, 2021

BLURB:

My legacy is to hate him, but I can’t.

This woman appears and tells me I’m an elf and she’s my grandmother. Not quite what I expected on a Thursday evening after another day at the office.

Soon, I’m thrown in a world of duty, magic, and monsters.

And a family feud as old as time itself.

I would have run. I would have gone back to my old life. Or started a new one.

But when the man I’m supposed to hate turns out to be my elven soulmate the only thing I can do is fight for my right to love him.

No matter what kind of monster gets in the way.

Elven Duty is part of the multi-author Magic Emporium Series. Each book stands alone, but each one features an appearance by Marden’s Magic Emporium, a shop that can appear anywhere, but only once and only when someone’s in dire need. This book contains a forbidden love, a ton of creatures, a secret “baby”, and a guaranteed HEA.

Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  Bossy

AUTHOR:  N.R. Walker

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  220 pages

RELEASE DATE:  March 4, 2021

BLURB:

Michael Pietersen isn’t up for complications. He’s one of Sydney’s fastest-moving career-focused corporate realtors, and the only thing he has time for is one-night stands with zero fuss.

Bryson Schroeder’s back home from two years overseas with plans to leave his family’s hotel empire and begin his own business ventures. Out with friends to celebrate his return, he sees a gorgeous blond man across the bar, and with merely a smile and a raised eyebrow, they leave together for a night of incredible chemistry.

The rules are clear: no names, no details, no complications. But one night becomes one more night, and eventually the arrangement suits them both for weeks . . . until their professional and personal worlds collide. With their hearts already on the line, Michael and Bry need to decide just how complicated they want to get.

Reviewed by Anna Lynn

TITLE:  By the Numbers

SERIES:  Love Logic #3

AUTHOR:  K.M. Neuhold

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  174 pages

RELEASE DATE:  January 22, 2021

BLURB:

Two hot roommates, minus clothes, plus a drawer full of debauchery, and a WHOLE lot of tension. You don’t have to be a math genius to figure out the sum of that equation.

They say I’m a super genius, but would a super genius make the outrageously stupid mistake of falling for his roommate?

Out of all the men in the world, I had to go and develop a crush on the one who’s already in love with his best friend.

But when Theo tells me he found my drawer of toys, the only logical thing to do is to offer some no-strings fun.

I’ve read enough romance novels to know this can’t possibly end well, but I can’t seem to stop myself from falling for Theo.

The only question is…

Will he be there to catch me?

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Serve

SERIES: White House Men #4

AUTHOR: Nora Phoenix

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 368 pages

RELEASE DATE: February 28, 2021

BLURB:

Two stubborn alpha men meet the one boy who wants them both…

Denali knows what he wants. He loves his job in the Residence of the White House, but what he craves is serving. A Dom. Or in his case: two.

When tragedy strikes once again, Denali offers himself to Milan, the president’s brother in law. Milan accepts, but he insists Secret Service agent Asher joins them as well. Denali is more than fine with that. Two hot, dominant men is even better than one, right?

One encounter leads to more. Asher warns Denali that he can’t fall for Milan, that the tough, closed off Dom will break his heart. He’s learned that the hard way himself. But Denali knows no other way than to give himself completely, and he’s willing to deal with the consequences.

When Milan and Asher prove to be too stubborn to see the truth, it’s Denali who shows them that love is worth taking a risk for. But will it be enough to bring them together? And how will everyone heal and move on after the most devastating blow yet?

Serve is an MMM gay romance with an age gap, featuring a Dom, a switch, and a super sweet boy. It’s the fourth book in the White House Men series, a continuing MM romantic suspense series set in the White House that needs to be read in order. Serve ends with a happily ever after, but the suspense plot ends on a cliffhanger and will be continued in the rest of the series.

Reviewed by Anna Lynn

TITLE:  Four Letter Word

SERIES:  Love Logic #2

AUTHOR:  K.M. Neuhold

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

RELEASE DATE:  March 20, 2020

LENGTH:  454 pages

BLURB:

Relationships are hard enough between two people…can the four of us make it work? Or is love nothing more than a four letter word?

Polyamory…the first time Riot says the word, it feels like everything slots into place. Maybe I’m not greedy for loving both of my best friends at once…

For most of my life I didn’t think I could ever have the kind of love I’ve been dreaming of, but somehow a sexy bartender with a major sweet tooth is making it all seem possible.

Maybe Riot is right, our capacity for love is bigger than most people let themselves see. But will Leo and Hudson feel the same? Will they be willing to try to build this beautiful, complicated life with me?

If I can keep them from ripping each other’s heads off that is…

Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  Let’s Go Out

SERIES:  Let’s Connect #2

AUTHOR:  Kelly Jensen

PUBLISHER:  Shaggy Dog Productions

LENGTH:  132 pages

RELEASE DATE:  March 1, 2021

BLURB:

Being dumped is oddly freeing.

It wasn’t as though Robin could have met Dan in the real world, anyway. To do that, Robin would have to leave his house. But uploading his picture to the dating app Let’s Connect, only to have Dan let him down, is still disappointing. Now Robin has run out of excuses not to look outward, and for the first time in three years, he’s seeing many of the things he’s been hiding from—including his next-door neighbor, Sean.

The very same obstacle remains, however. Sean lives in the real world too. And if Robin wants to get to know him better, to move beyond friendship to something more, he’s going to have to step outside his front door.

Robin will have to go *out*.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: An Echo in the Sorrow

SERIES: Soulbound #6

AUTHOR: Hailey Turner

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 417 pages

RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2021

BLURB:

Forgiveness is a hollow prayer you only hear in your dreams.

Patrick Collins has spent years handling cases as a special agent for the Supernatural Operations Agency, even as his secret standing in the preternatural community has changed. He should have confessed to his role as co-leader of the New York City god pack when he and Jonothon de Vere took up the mantle months ago, but he didn’t. Now that split loyalty will cost him at a time when he can least afford it.

Outmaneuvered, framed for murder, and targeted by the Dominion Sect, Patrick has to face a past full of lies to regain his freedom. Revealing the truth means he’ll need to give up the life that has defined him. Everything he’s fought to build with his pack is at stake, and losing them isn’t a price Patrick is willing to pay, but some choices aren’t his to make.

Jono knows they can’t cede any more territory if they want to win the god pack civil war spilling into the streets of New York City. But the souls of werecreatures are free for the taking when demons come to town and angels sing a warning no one can ignore. When Jono’s worst fear comes to life, and he loses the one person he can’t live without, the only option left is to fight.

Facing down the demons of their past and the ones in their present, Patrick and Jono will learn the hard way that some sins never wash away clean.

Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  Fools

SERIES:  Licking Thicket #3

AUTHORS:  Lucy Lennox and May Archer

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  276 pages

RELEASE DATE:  February 28, 2021

BLURB:

Tucker Wright’s Clues for Life:

What’s a 4-letter word for an utterly oblivious, totally commitment-phobic, heartbreakingly gorgeous man with a pet pig named Bernadette?

That’d be D-U-N-N, as in Dunn Johnson, my very best pal and fishing buddy since I moved to Licking Thicket.

What’s a 6-letter word for a nerdy, crossword-loving town doctor who’s doomed to be hopelessly, thoroughly, irrevocably, in love with that straight best friend for the rest of his born days?

That’s T-U-C-K-E-R, as in me.

But when I agree to let Dunn be my 24/7 dating coach, and he decides to get our whole nosy town in on the act, there’s only one 5-letter word to describe the pair of us.

F-O-O-L-S.

REVIEWED by Jay V.

TITLE: Starting From The Top

AUTHOR: Lane Hayes

SERIES: Starting From #5

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH:  310 pages

RELEASE DATE: March 5, 2021

BLURB:

The guitarist, the dad, and a band on the rise…

Johnny

A quiet place to live and some time to recharge before my band heads out on the road again sounds amazing. I wouldn’t mind a distraction too, but my new neighbor is off-limits. There are rules about not getting involved with your bandmate’s ex, right? And Sean isn’t my type anyway. He’s too bossy, too commanding, and he has way too much baggage. I’ve learned that it’s best to let go of the heavy stuff. So why am I so drawn to him?

Sean

Coming out later in life has taught me to protect my privacy at all costs. And while juggling a handful of businesses and two kids isn’t easy, I excel at the art of multitasking and keeping everything separate. But Johnny blurs those lines. He’s easy-going, sweet-natured, and cool. In short, he’s everything I’m not. I want to know all about him…starting from the top.

Reviewed by Jen B.

TITLE: Play Dirty

SERIES: Wages of Sin #2

AUTHOR: Onley James & Neve Wilder

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 247 Pages

RELEASE DATE: December 15, 2020

BLURB:

“When you talk, chaos follows and I forget who I am.”

Madigan has spent his life indulging in the world’s most hedonistic pursuits, his skills as a sharpshooting killer-for-hire paying his way.

Azrael, an assassin referred to as the angel of death, is a chemist and a loner, his poisons as lethal as they are undetectable.

A chance encounter leads to a passionate night and a heated rivalry that spans years, but after they’re both offered a chance at big money by taking out elite targets on a mysterious hitlist, they find themselves once again in each other’s way. And then in each other’s arms.

Trust doesn’t come easily for either of them, but no matter how far they stray, fate always seems to pull them back together. In a profession where your partner is just as likely to kill you as kiss you, maybe trust is as close to love as they get?

Play Dirty is a steamy, action-packed thrill ride of a romance with a HEA and no cliffhangers. It features two stubborn rival assassins who can’t seem to stop tempting each other, a bit of knife play, a Die Hard-style Christmas, plenty of dark humor, and true love. Because even assassins deserve their soulmates. This is book 2 in the Wages of Sin series. Each book will follow a new couple.

Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Schooling the Jock

SERIES: Nerds vs Jocks #1

AUTHOR: Eli Easton & Tara Lain

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 278 pages

RELEASE DATE:  February 16, 2021

BLURB:

Only an unfair universe makes a guy who’s that gorgeous so damned obnoxious.

A-hoe!
Poindexter!
Snarky, superbrain Dobbs and snooty football star Jesse stare at each other from their rival frat houses on opposites sides of the street — and opposite sides of everything else.

Alpha Lambda Alpha and Sigma Mu Tau have been sworn enemies for decades. Then one disastrous prank proves to be the final straw, and the college dean blows his cork!

Work together or lose both your houses.

Question – -How can Dobbs win his coveted Quiz Bowl championship when he’s forced to put a dumb jock on his team?
Answer — Lots of personal schooling.

But when personal becomes very personal, Jesse risks causing his overtaxed family one more huge worry and the running back starts running.

Will Dobbs give up on the shocked jock, or show him that the answer to the big question is, Yes?

SCHOOLING THE JOCK is an enemies-to-lovers, opposites attract, campus romance – with one hell of a lightning round.

Reviewed by True

TITLE: Openly Yours

SERIES: Offbeat Shifters #2

AUTHOR: Colette Davison

PUBLISHER: Self-Publishing

LENGTH: 253 pages

RELEASE DATE: March 2, 2021

BLURB:

Falling in love was the easy part. When we have to face more tragedy, will it bring us closer or drive us apart?

Now the tour is over, Isaac has to adapt to depending financially on someone else for the first time.

When my world gets thrown into turmoil again, I need to learn that relying emotionally on others isn’t a bad thing.

We have to face our biggest challenge together—creating a different dream from the one we had envisioned.

Openly Yours is the second book in Offbeat Shifters, an m/m paranormal romance series with a continuing storyline. This book includes a loving tiger shifter, a sweet monkey shifter, enthusiastic family members, lots of cuddles, and a HEA ending for the main characters. Whilst it is set in an alternate universe where omegas give birth, there are no pregnancy or birth scenes in this book.

Trigger warning for scenes revolving around infertility.

Guestreview by Susan 

TITLE: Shadows of the Past I

SERIES: Temporary Bliss #2

AUTHOR: Alexander Ward

LENGTH: 424 Pages

RELEASE DATE: January 10, 2021

BLURB:

The second book in the Temporary Bliss series continues the story of Raymond Ward and Aleksandr Petrov.

After life-changing events, Aleksandr Petrov struggles to come to terms with his new reality. Irreparable mistakes have been made, blood has been spilled and there is no taking it back. Now his only way out is to dive deeper into the lies and schemes of the people around him.

The secrets bother him. The uncertainty disturbs him. There is nothing more he wants than unravelling Raymond’s mystery, but the lies run deeper than he could possibly understand.

With Temnota advancing boldly into new territory, they both find themselves on the brink of an unstoppable gang war. As if that wasn’t enough, misunderstandings between Raymond and the leader of Roza aggravate a decade old conflict which shakes the organization to the core.

Aleksandr and Raymond must find their balance and reach an understanding before the shadows of the past can bury them both.