Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE: Mixed Messages: The Complete Series

SERIES: Mixed Messages #1-3

AUTHOR: Lily Morton

PUBLISHER: Self-published

LENGTH: 921 pages

RELEASE DATE: October 17, 2021

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The bestselling Mixed Messages series is now available in one collection. Set in London, it follows a group of friends as they each find love with a lot of heat and humour along the way.

Rule Breaker

Dylan has worked for Gabe for two years. Two long years of sarcastic comments. Two long years of insults and having to redo the coffee pot four times in the mornings to meet his exacting standards. Not surprisingly, he has devoted a lot of time to thinking of inventive ways to murder him. Dylan has thought of everything from stabbing him with a cake fork to garrotting him with his expensive tie.

But then a chance encounter opens his eyes to the attraction that has always lain between them, concealed by the layers of antipathy. There are only two problems – Gabe is still a bastard, and he makes wedding planners look like hardened pessimists.

Deal Maker

Jude is a highly successful model but a very reluctant one. His life is full of casual hook-ups with pretty men in glamorous locations, but it’s still empty. Nevertheless, circumstances decreed a long time ago that this was his path, so he’s resolutely stayed on it and accepted his fate with good grace.

However, an accident at home has him making a new deal and accepting the offer of help from an unlikely source. It leads to an unexpected summer of falling in love with a larger than life man and his child.

Risk Taker

Henry is the odd man out. All of his friends are settling down, and his reputation as the Hook-Up King of London seems more like a curse than a blessing these days. Especially when it keeps photojournalist Ivo, his best friend and the brilliant man he’s loved since they were fifteen, at arm’s length.

But Henry knows that’s where Ivo wants him. So putting aside his feelings, he decides to give up casual sex and look for the real deal. After all, he has no chance with Ivo – or does he?

Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  Winter Oranges

AUTHOR:  Marie Sexton

PUBLISHER:  Riptide Publishing

LENGTH:  282 pages

RELEASE DATE:  November 28, 2015

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Jason Walker is a child star turned teen heartthrob turned reluctant B-movie regular who’s sick of his failing career. So he gives up Hollywood for northern Idaho, far away from the press, the drama of LA, and the best friend he’s secretly been in love with for years.

There’s only one problem with his new life: a strange young man only he can see is haunting his guesthouse. Except Benjamin Ward isn’t a ghost. He’s a man caught out of time, trapped since the Civil War in a magical prison where he can only watch the lives of those around him. He’s also sweet, funny, and cute as hell, with an affinity for cheesy ’80s TV shows. And he’s thrilled to finally have someone to talk to.

But Jason quickly discovers that spending all his time with a man nobody else can see or hear isn’t without its problems—especially when the tabloids find him again and make him front-page news. The local sheriff thinks he’s on drugs, and his best friend thinks he’s crazy. But Jason knows he hasn’t lost his mind. Too bad he can’t say the same thing about his heart.

Reviewed by True

TITLE: The Christmas Tenor

SERIES: Laurel Holidays #3

AUTHOR: V.L. Locey

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

LENGTH: 171 pages

RELEASE DATE: November 17, 2021

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A trip that he thought would bring him only pain is about to present him with the greatest gift of all.

For three years now, Cabriolet Vermat has put off, wiggled out of, and outright lied to get out of making this dreaded trip east. The owner of Cabriolet Chauffeur Services in Los Angeles has avoided the yearly invitation to the small town of White Bridge, New York, to speak at their alumni winter gathering but this year they’ve outfoxed him. They’re throwing a dinner to honor his late partner’s dedication to his alma mater and have asked Cab to speak. This time he has to go no matter how much pain it will stir up. Arriving in the picturesque small town beside one of the Finger Lakes, Cab is treated to a special performance of holiday songs and there he sees Julian Gabriel Baez for the first time.
The young singer captivates him immediately, and he finds himself seeking out the much younger man after the performance. The pull he feels toward Jules is unlike anything he’s felt since he met his partner years ago. Confusion and desire war within him, but the outgoing young tenor wins him over with his engaging smile and kind heart. A two-day trip soon turns into an extended holiday vacation. Cab worries that the magic of Christmas will quickly fizzle out and he’ll be alone once more. Or will this festive season bestow a blessing of the heart upon a man who thought he would never love again?

The Christmas Tenor is a standalone small-town gay Christmas romance with a beautiful May-December relationship, a lonely widower, a rising opera star, loving families, and plenty of holiday joy.

Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  The Thomas Elkin Series Collection

AUTHOR:  N.R. Walker

PUBLISHER:  Blue Heart Press

LENGTH:  406 pages

RELEASE DATE:  October 11, 2021

BLURB:

Thomas Elkin Series Collection

Book One

Generation versus generation, traditional versus contemporary, these men are about to learn a lesson in architecture and love. Can they prove that the old and new can be the perfect design?

A successful New York architect, Thomas Elkin almost has it all. Coming out as gay and ending his marriage before his fortieth birthday, he needed to start living his life. Now, four years later, with his relationship with his son back on track, and after a few short-lived romances, this esteemed traditional draftsman thinks he knows everything about architecture, about life.

Cooper Jones, twenty-two years old, is about to take the architect world by storm. Talented, professional, driven and completely infuriating, Cooper is the definition of Generation Y. Starting an internship working with Thomas, Cooper is about to knock Tom’s world off its axis.

Tom can teach Cooper about the architecture industry, but Cooper is about to teach Tom what it means to live.

Book Two

When some lines blur, others become crystal clear. Absolutely smitten, Thomas Elkin and Cooper Jones have decided they’re prepared to give a relationship a try. What they’re not prepared for is the reaction from their families, who try to force them apart. Both men are about to learn that there are lines that define us.

Sometimes the lines blur, sometimes the lines become crystal clear.

Book Three

Designing homes is easy. Finding home is something else entirely.

Thomas Elkin and Cooper Jones finally have the support of their families, and their love grows stronger every day. Now living together, they think nothing can stand in their way. But there are outside influences trying to pull them apart. Cooper encounters a man, closer to his age and with connections high up the property development chain, who wants Cooper as his own. Tom encounters discrimination and a hidden agenda from a fellow senior partner who’s trying to take him down. No matter what the world throws at them, Tom and Cooper are the real deal.

Age differences aside, Tom has finally found his sense of place. His one true center, his home.

Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  Red Dirt Heart Series Collection

AUTHOR:  N.R. Walker

PUBLISHER:  Blue Heart Press

LENGTH: 1120 pages

RELEASE DATE:  October 11, 2021

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The Red Dirt Heart Series Collection

Welcome to Sutton Station: One of the world’s largest working farms in the middle of Australia – where if the animals and heat don’t kill you first, your heart just might.

Book One

Charlie Sutton runs Sutton Station the only way he knows how; the way his father did before him. Determined to keep his head down and his heart in check, Charlie swears the red dirt that surrounds him – isolates him – runs through his veins.

American agronomy student Travis Craig arrives at Sutton Station to see how farmers make a living from one of the harshest environments on earth. But it’s not the barren, brutal and totally beautiful landscapes that capture him so completely.

It’s the man with the red dirt heart.

Book Two
Up until Travis arrived on his doorstep, Charlie had lived a very solitary life. He had surrounded himself with isolation; a couple million acres of red dirt, scorching sun and loneliness. Six months on, winter has settled over the desert, and Charlie has the life he never dreamed possible. But living and working together, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, for six months straight starts to take its toll.

Charlie is a stubborn, stubborn man, who tends to have more conversations in his head than what comes out his mouth, whereas Travis has no problem saying what’s on his mind. And even as they both struggle to communicate, struggle to make sense of need versus want, Charlie can see that he’s pushing Travis away – yet seems helpless to stop it.

When it all boils down to whether Travis should stay or go, maybe the decision won’t be theirs to make.

Book Three
Life for Charlie Sutton has never been better, or busier.

With Travis now a permanent fixture of Sutton Station, a permanent fixture at Charlie’s side, Charlie’s convinced he couldn’t do anything on his ever-growing to-do list without him. He can run a multimillion-dollar cattle business, finish his degree, try and further the local beef industry, deal with staff issues, Ma’s failing health, and an attention-demanding wombat. He can even deal with an unexpected visitor and some shattering news. He can deal with it all, as long as he has Travis.

But what happens when he doesn’t? Red Dirt Heart 3 is the story of Charlie Sutton finally realising he can be the man Travis Craig deserves, even if he doesn’t have Travis. It’s a story of love, family, holding on, letting go and coming home.

Book Four
Moving from a Texas ranch to an Australian Outback station was a life changing decision for Travis Craig. Though it wasn’t really a decision at all. Something in his bones told him to go, though he had no clue as to why. Until he met Sutton Station’s owner, Charlie.

Loving Charlie shouldn’t have been easy. The man was stubborn, and riddled with crippling self-doubt. No, it shouldn’t have been easy at all. Yet somehow, falling in love with Charlie was the easiest thing in the world. Loving him was easy. Living with him, teaching him how to love in return and, more importantly, how to love himself, was not.

But Travis knew all along it’d be worth it. He knew the man with the red dirt heart was destined to be his. Just like he knew the red dirt that surrounded him was where he was supposed to be. In the final installment of the Red Dirt Series, we see Charlie through Travis’ eyes. We see how much he’s grown and how much he loves. We go back to Texas with them, and we see Charlie get everything he truly thought he never deserved.

Red Dirt Heart 4 is Travis’ story. And this is the story of not just one red dirt heart, but two.

Also included:
Red Dirt Heart Christmas short story
Red Dirt Heart Imago crossover

Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  The Cuckoo’s Call

AUTHOR:  Lily Morton

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  331 pages

RELEASE DATE:  November 20, 2021

BLURB:

Can a summer romance last forever?

Wren Roberts thought he’d found his fairy tale when he met Mateo Rossi on holiday in Majorca. The wealthy and successful older man swept him off his feet, and before he knew it, he’d thrown caution to the wind and was living in Mateo’s waterside apartment in Venice. It’s a far cry from his harsh upbringing and crummy flat in London.

But as the summer turns to autumn, cracks begin to show. Mateo’s family aren’t welcoming, and there doesn’t seem to be a place for Wren in Mateo’s world. He could have coped with all of that, but Mateo himself seems like a different person away from the sunshine island.

Should Wren have been more cautious in riding off into the sunset when he wasn’t sure what lay over the horizon?

Reviewed by Cindy

TITLE: Mongrel

AUTHOR: Lee Colgin

PUBLISHER: Colgin Enterprise

LENGTH: 284 Pages

RELEASE DATE: November 18, 2021

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Mongrel, a creature more wolf than man, leads a lonely life on the fringes of pack society—until the night a handsome vampire shows up with a mysterious request.

Bowie, a vampire cursed to a life of endless nights, maintains close ties with his human family. When young girls in their village go missing, he must act quickly. But to find them, he’ll need to convince the local werewolf pack to loan him their best tracker—a wolf known as the Mongrel.

Though he hates the slur, Andras is used to being called Mongrel. When Bowie refuses to refer to him by anything but his given name, Andras can’t help a flicker of unexpected trust toward the stranger. He volunteers to help Bowie, risking banishment.

Can two tenderhearted men overcome their traumatic pasts and work together to rescue the girls before it’s too late? Or will the world’s most prolific killer snuff the flames of their passion along with the lives of the captives?

***

This steamy love story spans the country of Hungary as Andras and Bowie journey through cities and wilderness on their quest to right a villain’s wicked wrongs. Mongrel features a sweetly possessive werewolf, a cinnamon roll of a vampire, and the worst killer in history. A surprisingly fluffy MM Paranormal/Historical Romance considering the subject matter.

HEA guaranteed with loads of laughs along the way and no cliffhanger ending!

Reviewed by True

TITLE: The One Decent Thing

SERIES: Santa Rafaela #1

AUTHOR: Eliot Grayson

PUBLISHER: Smoking Teacup Books

LENGTH: 300 pages

RELEASE DATE: January 22, 2020

BLURB:

Everyone says kindness costs nothing. It’s a lie. Kindness can cost you everything.

Sebastian
The only decent thing my high school bully ever did for me got him sent to prison. Aidan was a jerk, but he saved me from making the worst mistake of my life, and in return, my parents ruined him. Now that he’s out, I’m determined to make amends. No matter what he needs, no matter how long it takes, I will make it all up to him. But first I’ll have to figure out how to hide my attraction to my sexy, confusing new roommate.

Aidan
Saving him cost me everything. I have nothing and no one—except Sebastian. He’s determined to make good on a debt I never asked him to repay. He’s offering me money, a place to stay, and help adjusting to life on the outside. But all I’m really wondering is…who can save Sebastian from me—the desperate, bisexual ex-con who probably wants more from him than he’s willing to give?

The One Decent Thing is an M/M new adult bisexual romance with lots of heat, angst, and physics jokes.

Reviewed by Stephen K.

TITLE: Down and Out

SERIES: (Down Home #3)

AUTHOR: Parker St. John

PUBLISHER: Self published

LENGTH: 302 pages

RELEASE DATE: November 18^th 2021

BLURB:

His dark secret drove away the only boy he ever loved.

Nate:

Healer. Savior. Cynic.

The one person Nate could never ignore was Tucker Grace. He’s as cruel as he is gorgeous, with a devastating loneliness in his cold blue eyes.

Nate ditched his hell-raising childhood for the big city and a string of disastrous relationships. He’s a man people rely on, but he’s tired of fixing other people’s problems. So when a family crisis brings him home for the first time in years, the last thing Nate wants is to be drawn to the cruel cowboy he left in the dust.

Tucker is smoke and shadows, fury and calm, and as wild as the horses he tames. He looks at Nate like he craves him.

But Nate knows better than anyone that Tucker isn’t capable of love.

And even if he was…he’s straight.

Tucker:

Villain. Survivor. Cowboy.

The only thing Tucker ever wanted was Nate Silva, so he drove him away. Hard.

He never expected he’d come back.

Tucker has spent years clawing his way up from nothing. Ranch life taught him to control his savage temper, and his talent for breaking untamable horses earned him respect. He’s found peace.

Nate’s return threatens all that.

When a traumatized stallion forces them together, Tucker’s tightly reined control starts to fray. Nate’s soft eyes and softer mouth stir a lust that threatens everything Tucker has built.

Everything in him wants to claim Nate as his own…but dark secrets lurk in Tucker’s past.

He can’t trust himself with something as fragile as another man’s heart.

Even if it breaks his own.

Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Yours To Be Forgiven

SERIES: The Long Way Home (Book 1)

AUTHOR: Hayden Hall

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 246 pages

RELEASE DATE: November 18, 2021

BLURB:

Cold-hearted Max Cullen is incapable of loving anyone but himself.

Ruthless, arrogant, and, unfortunately, hot as hell, Max has a way of bringing out my worst self. He also happens to be the branch executive of the financial firm I work for, as well as the last man I would ever want to be snowed in with. Oddly specific? Yeah, about that last part…

Max’s petty vengeance makes me break a Christmas promise to my children and gets us both stranded in his remote cabin. To make matters worse, the jerk has the nerve to look even hotter when he takes his suit off.

As if being stuck with him isn’t bad enough, it turns out we’ll have to share the bed.

Is it the crackling fire or the burning taste of whiskey or something else altogether that’s heating up the space between us?
His annoying bickering and his rotten heart make me want to punch him, if only he would quit looking at me like that.

We’re hurling toward the breaking point. If the storm doesn’t kill us, we might just kill each other. Or do something else, equally disturbing.

I swore I would never swoon again, but I’m starting to think I’m on a promise-breaking streak.

Yours To Be Forgiven is the first in my new trilogy. Though the romance between Max and Ethan reaches a happy ending here, there is a subplot that continues in book 2, Yours To Be Forgotten (available for pre-order). This book was written for the fans of enemies to lovers, damaged millionaires reformed, broken hearts healed, and snowstorms trapping two opposing men in one cozy cabin. Give yourself an early Christmas gift with Yours To Be Forgiven and get immersed in the age-old tale of unexpected love.

Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE: Christmas Wish List

SERIES: Hartbridge Christmas #2

AUTHOR: N.R. Walker

PUBLISHER: BlueHeart Press

LENGTH: 254 pages

RELEASE DATE: November 25, 2021

BLURB:

In need of work and a change of scenery, Aussie ex-pat Jayden Turner agrees to a short-term chef position at a Bed and Breakfast over the Christmas holidays. After all, how hard could it be in a small town in the mountains of Montana? What he finds is a grand old house in a beautiful town, and his new boss is gorgeous, gay, and single.

After his divorce, Carter “Cass” Campion bought his great-aunt’s rundown country manor in his home town, and he’s determined to get it ready for the busy holiday period. Recently out as gay, he’s been focused solely on his business and hasn’t had time for a man. Not that many gay men come through Hartbridge . . .

As his new clients arrive, and being away from his two kids, celebrating Christmas is the last thing on Cass’s mind. But his new chef has other ideas. And if there’s one thing on his Christmas Wish List this year, Jayden can make it come true.

Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Who We Were

SERIES: Love Starts Here (Book 3)

AUTHOR: E. M. Lindsey

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 290 pages

RELEASE DATE: November 22, 2021

BLURB:

“Don’t leave the house, don’t talk to the paparazzi, don’t answer your phone unless it’s me, and do not- whatever you do- attempt to post about this on social media.”

Life isn’t supposed to be this complicated when you’re an Oscar winner…right? So what if he has two names, and straddles the line between two worlds. Adan Balil—also known as Bowen Phillips—has made his comeback, and he’s not ready to let go.

If only those strangers hadn’t stolen his room key.
If only their recording hadn’t been live.
If only he hadn’t been wearing panties.

Running away isn’t the smartest thing he’s ever done, but then again, neither is pretending to be someone he isn’t for the ridiculously good looking man next door. And it wouldn’t be so bad, pretending to be the former professor’s professional cuddler, if he wasn’t starting to dream about a future with him.

Noah Jordan is nothing short of perfect in Adan’s eyes, and he’s starting to wonder if maybe giving up his celebrity life might just be the solution to all of his problems.

He just has to convince Noah that in spite of all the mess that comes with his past, Adan’s love is worth it.

Who We Were is the third book in the light-angst, humorous, steamy series, Love Starts Here. It features an asexual awakening, a celebrity running from a scandal, a professional cuddler who isn’t much of a professional at all, an actor trying to figure out who he is and what he wants, and an ex-professor who is trying to figure out where he fits in the world. This book has no cheating, and a happily ever after.

Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE: Forever Wilde in Aster Valley

SERIES: Forever Wilde #9

AUTHOR: Lucy Lennox

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 189 pages

RELEASE DATE: November 16, 2021

BLURB:

When Miller Hobbs finds himself on a winter vacation in Colorado with the giant, exceedingly loud, Marian and Wilde families, he doesn’t quite know what to do with himself. He’s not really a Marian or a Wilde despite having DNA ties to both.

So every morning before the rest of the family wakes up and fills Rockley Lodge with holiday merriment (and noise), he escapes to the quaint downtown of Aster Valley where he spies a man through the bakery window kneading dough and dancing to music only he can hear. Miller is entranced by the dancing baker, and when Darius looks up and catches Miller staring, the interest suddenly goes both ways.

Can two strangers find love among the quaint chaos of an Aster Valley Christmas? Even if it includes the two most overwhelming and meddling families vying for the title of greatest matchmakers of all time?

Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Hands-On Hanukkah

AUTHOR: Penelope Peters

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 86 pages

RELEASE DATE: November 23, 2021

BLURB:

David Nachem doesn’t actually hate Hanukkah.

David Nachem is living his best life. He loves his work, he loves his cat, he loves his family. Who cares if he doesn’t put up holiday decorations? He’s not actually a Grinch – it just feels that way, especially when his boyfriend up and dumped him four months ago with no explanation.

But when Tim reappears in David’s life asking for David’s help as a massage therapist, David can’t say no. Not when David still misses Tim – and Tim’s joyful exuberance about everything holiday-related.

Not when David still wants to know why Tim dumped him in the first place.

Tim Mason doesn’t actually hate his ex.

Tim Mason is living his dream. He’s dancing for a national company in the big city, on the brink of ballet stardom. So what if his ex-boyfriend lied to him? Tim dropped that funsponge like a bad pair of pointe shoes and he’s dancing into the sunset.

But when Tim’s ballet career is almost side-lined right before the biggest performance of his life, David’s therapeutic know-how might be the only way Tim can get to center stage. Tim knows David isn’t as much of a Grinch as everyone says – but even he’s surprised at the turn David’s taken since their breakup.

Can he save David – and save his heart from breaking a second time?

This Hanukkah, all it takes to heal a heart is a pair of willing hands…

Hands-On Hanukkah is a m/m romance. It features sweaty dancers, dubious Hanukkah decorations, and lots of super *ahem* sensuous massages.