Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Haven

SERIES: Magic Emporium #12

AUTHOR: Morgan Brice

PUBLISHER: Darkwind Press

RELEASE DATE: April 8, 2021

BLURB:

(Set in the world of Fox Hollow, but can stand alone).

Old secrets, hidden psychics, secret shifters, ghosts, scandals—and true love.

A series of long-ago disappearances leads cold case private detective Austin Williams to investigate a troubled sanitarium.

Jamie Miller is new in town, temporarily running the local historical association, and he willingly signs on to help solve Austin’s mystery.

Sparks fly between them as they dig into the hospital’s troubled past. But someone wants the past to stay buried—and is willing to bury Austin and Jamie to keep it that way.

Haven 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 explicit scenes and a guaranteed HEA.

Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE: The Heart Heist

SERIES: Crimes of the Heart #2

AUTHOR: Elle Keaton

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 221 pages

RELEASE DATE: March 18, 2021

BLURB:

When a gorgeous stranger wanders into his life one summer night he knows he’s in trouble; he’s going to break all his rules and probably his heart.

Duff Cleveland knows better than to open himself to love, that’s how you get hurt.

Jacob De Rossi is a family guy; he’s got the house and the picket fence he’s just missing the man.

Something about Jacob has Duff wanting more, but how many just one more time’s can a dedicated hookup artist justify? He can hardly handle the life he’s living, having an actual boyfriend is impossible.

Jacob’s not letting Duff go easily. It’s obvious, to him at least, that Duff needs someone in his corner, and he is the man for the job.

Will Duff admit his heart is safe in Jacob’s hands, or turn his back on the one thing in his life that makes sense?

Reviewed by Stephen K.

TITLE: Finding His Boy

SERIES: Safe Harbor

AUTHOR: K. D. Ryan

LENGTH: 351 pages

RELEASE DATE:  March 25^th 2021

BLURB:

Finding his way in life all on his own hadn’t been easy for eighteen-year-old Elliot Hedrick, but he’d managed to hold it all together so far.
Even though it was just by the skin of his teeth.
Between his warehouse job and pursuing a career as a professional ballet dancer, he’d been working sixteen-hour days and was still barely making ends meet.
He was fraying at the seams. And he was so damn lonely.
There was nobody for him to lean on, nobody to come to his rescue when things fell apart—it was all up to him to achieve his dreams.

Then suddenly Grant Weston charged into Elliot’s life, his knight in shining armor—literally and figuratively—and despite their twenty-year age gap, Grant couldn’t seem to leave the boy alone. Even though Grant knew he should.
There were too many obstacles between them—and not just their ages. Grant had secrets of his own, ghosts from his past that made him hold back from taking what he really wanted from Elliot.
And what Grant wanted was to make Elliot his boy.
To have a true partner.
But Grant was afraid to trust himself–afraid that history would repeat itself and leave him with a broken heart yet again.

Is age really just a number, or will the years between them end their relationship before it can even start?

Finding His Boy is the first book in a duet taking place in the Safe Harbor universe but can be read as a stand-alone and has an HFN ending. This book is a 90+K word slow burn, steamy romance that features a Daddy/boy relationship between two consenting men. No age play. Dual POV. There are explicit descriptions of sexual acts, so this book is intended for a mature audience (18+).

Trigger Warning: on-page physical assault (not between MCs), mention of sexual assault.

Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE: Sweet as Honey

SERIES: Aster Valley #2

AUTHOR: Lucy Lennox

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 319 pages

RELEASE DATE: April 6, 2021

BLURB:

When I rode my bike into Aster Valley, it was supposed to be temporary. A quick, relaxing visit with friends. No entanglements. Zero drama.

But then I saw the bumblebee being harassed on the side of the highway.

More specifically, I saw Truman Sweet, Aster Valley’s resident botanist, spice merchant, and bee-costume enthusiast, being harassed. And the second I got involved, all my plans for a quick departure scattered like pollen on the breeze.

It turns out that Truman—adorkably shy, relentlessly sunshiny, hot as all heck, reluctantly-still-a-virgin Truman—has secrets. Secrets someone in this charming small town doesn’t want brought to light. Secrets that rouse every one of my protective instincts just as surely as his kisses rouse… other parts of me.

And before I know it, I’m thinking being entangled might not be so bad… if it’s Truman I’m tangled up with.

I’ll do whatever it takes to protect Truman from the dangers in his past, but after a lifetime of loneliness and disappointment, how can I possibly convince him to trust me with his future?

Reviewed by Cheryl K

TITLE: Saxon’s Savior

SERIES: Protect and Serve #3

AUTHOR: Pandora Pine

PUBLISHER: Pandora Pine

LENGTH: 258 pages

RELEASE DATE: October 28, 2020

BLURB:

Paramedic Dallas Haynes is between a rock and a hard place. Needing to replace a fallen paramedic, but not wanting anyone else to fill his shoes, he procrastinates until the decision is taken out of his hands. Dallas is less than thrilled when the new medic turns up for his first shift.

Saxon James hopes his first day at Gloucester’s Firehouse Three will be a turning point in his life. Sent packing from his previous job, and branded a troublemaker, this new position is his last chance to get it right. When he receives a frosty reception from his new boss, Dallas, he’s even more upset to find himself attracted to the taciturn man.

The new coworkers are like oil and water from the moment they meet. But the burning desire between them inevitably begins to draw them closer and soften the animosity between the two men.

Finally surrendering to the fiery passion between them, Saxon and Dallas are doused by approaching Hurricane Tess, who has her sights set on Gloucester. Can they band together to save lives in the height of the storm, or will their budding relationship sink in the rising tide?

Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Interlude 

SERIES:  Snow & Winter Collection

AUTHOR:  C.S. Poe

PUBLISHER:  Emporium Press

LENGTH:  149 pages

RELEASE DATE:  April 8, 2021

BLURB:

Interlude is a collection of short stories spanning the complete timeline of the Snow & Winter series, beginning with The Mystery of Nevermore, to after the conclusion of The Mystery of the Bones. They feature the point of view of Sebastian Snow and Calvin Winter and consist of mini mysteries, as well as scenes from daily life.

Please note: While many of these titles were previously made available for free to readers, they have all since been rewritten, expanded, and edited for this collection. Several shorts are brand-new and exclusive, including Someone’s in the Wall, St. Louis What Now?, and Trope: Only One Bed.

Reviewed by True

TITLE: Unapologetically Me

SERIES: Offbeat Shifters Book 3

AUTHOR: Colette Davison

PUBLISHER: Self-Publishing

LENGTH: 293 pages

RELEASE DATE: March 23, 2021

BLURB:

Austin Steele is my idol. He’s also the guy I can’t get enough of.

Everyone thinks they know who I am—one of pop’s biggest divos. They don’t know me at all. Austin Steele makes me want to me the real me, only there’s some problems:

We’re both omegas, he’s nineteen years my senior, he’s nursing old wounds, and he wants to keep what’s happening between us a secret.

I thought a one night stand was all I wanted. Now it’s becoming so much more. But how can we look to the future when we can’t let go of our pasts?

Unapologetically Me is the third book in Offbeat Shifters, an m/m paranormal romance series with a continuing storyline. This book includes a misunderstood and unapologetic Arctic fox shifter, a caring capuchin monkey shifter, and a HFN ending. While it’s set in an alternate universe where omegas give birth, there are no pregnancy or birth scenes in this book.

Reviewed by Cheryl

TITLE: Charisma Check

SERIES: Roll for Love

AUTHOR: Charlie Novak

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 274 Pages

RELEASE DATE:  January 19, 2021

BLURB:

Hatred is complicated, clothing is simple—Edward doesn’t need a man, and he certainly doesn’t need cosplayer and tattoo artist, Izzy Montes, AKA The Masked Gentleman, Edward’s ultimate nemesis.

Edward and Izzy have been antagonising each other for over three years. Their rivalry is fierce, and Edward is determined to keep Izzy at arm’s length. Which would be all well and good… if they weren’t engaging in a secret, heated hook-ups.

Forced to appear together at a film premier in LA, Edward is determined to get in and out with minimal damage to his reputation… and his heart. But Izzy Montes proves to be a complication Edward couldn’t have predicted. Biting, funny, and charming in equal measure, he’s the one man Edward needs to loathe.

He’s also the one man Edward can’t get out of his mind.

Not that Izzy plans on letting him.

Charisma Check is a 80,000-word contemporary MM romance featuring comic conventions, snark, many costume changes, and only one bed. It is book two in the Roll for Love series and is best enjoyed as part of the series.

Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Stop Dragon My Heart Around

SERIES: Magic Emporium #11

AUTHOR: Rachel Langella

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 181 pages

RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2021

BLURB:

(You may know them better as Ari McKay).

Sometimes Fate has a bizarre sense of humor.

Or at least it seems that way to Gus, owner of the Rainbow Room, Asheville’s main hangout for gay paranormals. He’s seen Fate catch up with the patrons of his bar while he served drinks and listened to their stories for three hundred years. He found all of it amusing, until his fated mate walks in and suddenly the twists aren’t so funny any longer!

Bear Hickes is a mage who specializes in fire, but life has lost its spark since his twin brother got married and left him alone. His older brother, Whimsy, is determined to help Bear find happiness no matter how much Bear objects, but meeting Gus gives Bear a wonderful idea: if Gus will pretend to be his boyfriend, Whimsy will get off his case. And somewhere along the line, Bear finds he wants it to be for real.

But there are secrets Gus is keeping from not just Bear, but the whole world. And when those secrets catch up with him at last, the danger won’t be just for Gus alone.

This story is set in the Asheville Arcana universe, but can be read as a standalone.

Stop Dragon My Heart Around 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 explicit scenes and a guaranteed HEA.