Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Seasons

SERIES:  PsyCop Briefs Vol 2

AUTHOR:  Jordan Castillo Price

PUBLISHER:  JCP Books LLC

LENGTH:  309 pages

RELEASE DATE:  December 21, 2021

BLURB:

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night…will keep a PsyCop from his duty. Because ghosts don’t take snow days.

Seasons: PsyCop Briefs, Volume 2 contains four novelettes and fourteen short stories. This all-new, novel length collection begins right where PsyCop 12, Other Half, left off, with Vic and Jacob’s honeymoon. It then cycles through each season, highlighting various moments in the series with laughs, scares, tender domestic scenes, and of course, ghosts—then circles around to Other Half again.

Stories include:
Summer – Last Resort, Potato Potahto, To the Letter, The Perfect Storm, The Grass is Always Greener
Fall – On the Ball, Treat Me Right, Sticker Shock, One Bad Apple
Winter – Roadside Resistance, Don’t Sweat It, Cold Case, Can’t Take It With You, Holiday Cheer
Spring – Dead Zone, Honey Do, Impostor Syndrome, Tie the Knot

Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  Out: The Complete Collection

AUTHOR:  Cara Dee

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  533 pages

RELEASE DATE:  December 8, 2021

BLURB:

In this 150,000-word complete collection, Zach and Henry bare it all. You’ll get wild Los Angeles nights, the overwhelming emotional roller coaster of discovering yourself, plans gone awry, adventures, laugh-out-loud moments, and sizzling romance.

I had two things on my list when I arrived in Los Angeles. One, track down Henry Bennington, the uncle and guardian of my little brother’s best friend Tyler, and tell him to get his ass back to Washington—because his nephew was getting out of control. And two, figure out just how non-straight I was.

Nowhere on this list did it say, “Get Tyler’s uncle into bed and fall for him.”

Nowhere.

This is the complete collection of every story revolving around Zach and Henry. All 150,000 words of them, starting with the first novel, Out, continuing with the holiday sequel, Out for the Holidays, and followed by a novella previously only available to Cara’s newsletter subscribers, Out Cruising, as well as brand new content titled Out and About.

Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Bachelor Hero – A Lonely Heroes Holiday Story

SERIES: Lonely Heroes – Book 7

AUTHOR: Sam E. Kraemer

PUBLISHER: Kaye Klub Publishing

LENGTH: 71,000 words

RELEASE DATE: December 26, 2021

BLURB:

A Lonely Heroes Holiday Story 

The heroes from Golden Elite Associates—America have put their plans and lives on hold for a year as they try to cope with the aftermath of Lawry “Casper” Schatz and Maxim Partee’s engagement party—the night Blue was bombed by an unknown assailant. The explosion impacted everyone’s lives, and recovery has been slow for the group.
In the spirit of turning the page on the incident, Shepard “Smokey” Colson and Parker Howzer decide to host a bachelor party at their lake house. They invite all of their friends to join them for a celebratory weekend, and what better time to have a big party than New Years!

Each couple is ready to move forward with their plans in one way or another—someone wants a baby; someone wants to live part of the year in another country; two have job opportunities that will be life changing; someone wants to make future plans that include starting a family; the desire for a forever home is important to another hero. How will they achieve their goals? That’s what they’re all hoping to figure out. Add in a few surprise guests with unclear agendas, and let the chaos begin!

One thing is certain—someone’s going to tie the knot!

This book is approximately 70,000 words in length and ends happily. It is the seventh book in the series entitled, “The Lonely Heroes.” 

Reviewed by True

TITLE: Pretty for Master

SERIES: Made for Master #1

AUTHOR: Skylar Sweeney

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

LENGTH: 62.000 words

RELEASE DATE: December 31, 2021

BLURB:

Can a sociopath learn to love? Master plans to find out, and his captive agrees to lend a hand. But will Pretty lend his heart, too?

PRETTY

They call him the Mad Master. A giant in fancy clothes with a flower on his lapel, he rules his world like a king. He’s as terrifying as he is enthralling and as cruel as he is kind.

All I’ve ever known is pain, so the way he loves to hurt me is nothing new. It’s how he holds me that makes me wonder if I could be more than a redneck biker working the street corner. Like his pretty boy?

I won’t get the chance to find out if the man trying to kill me catches up first. Or worse, Master might realize what an unlovable loser I am and not want me at all. Can a man that no one wants to love really win the heart of someone like him?

MASTER

I’m obsessed with a love I can’t feel. I’m not sure what romance is, but it’s all I think about—when I’m not thinking of pain. Because pain and torture are kind of this sociopath’s thing.

Everything changes when I kidnap the most beautiful boy in the world to save him from a killer. I’m determined to give him the love he deserves, with lace and glitter and maybe a little pain on top, but how will that happen when I can’t love?

Can a madman with no heart win the heart of another?

Reviewed by Anabela.m

TITLE: Seducing the Sorcerer

AUTHOR: Lee Welch

PUBLISHER: Self-published

LENGTH: 261 pages

RELEASE DATE: September 23, 2021

BLURB:

Homeless and jobless, Fenn Todd has nearly run out of hope. All he has left is his longing for horses and the strength of his own two hands. But when he’s cheated into accepting a very ugly sackcloth horse, he’s catapulted into a world of magic, politics and desire.

Fenn’s invited to stay at the black tower, home of the most terrifying man in the realm: Morgrim, the court sorcerer. Morgrim has a reputation as a scheming villain, but he seems surprisingly charming—and sexy—and Fenn falls hard for him.

However, nothing is as it seems and everyone at the tower is lying about something. Beset by evil hexes, violent political intrigue and a horse that eats eiderdowns, Fenn must make the hardest choices of his life.

Can a plain man like Fenn ever find true love with a scheming sorcerer?

Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  A Gift for Merisi

SERIES:  Mike & Cal’s Story

AUTHOR:  Adira August

PUBLISHER:  Red Deer

LENGTH: 226 pages

RELEASE DATE:  December 24, 2021

BLURB:

YOU KNOW HOW A ROMANCE STARTS WITH TWO GUYS MEETING AND BEING REALLY ATTRACTED TO EACH OTHER BUT THEY CAN’T BE TOGETHER FOR XYZ REASON AND THEN THERE ARE PAGES OF PINING IN PRIVATE AND LONGING LOOKS BY TURNS THEY KEEP MISSING AND WONDERING IF THE OTHER GUY MIGHT POSSIBLY MAYBE LIKE THEM, TOO?

Let’s skip all that.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Mike Merisi had a helluva crush on his company’s most important accounting client. Work ethics had required Mike to maintain his professionalism around the high rise construction manager who’d haunted his fantasies for many weeks. But Mike had a feeling Cal had been dreaming of him, too.

Today was the last day of the contract and Mike was determined to ask Cal Derricksen to dinner at the end of their final meeting. They didn’t get to the meeting. Mutual repressed desires and unacknowledged natures refused to be ignored one minute longer, rendering construction cost accounting irrelevant.

They did make imaginative use of Cal’s office furniture, however, to the immense satisfaction of them both.

But in the aftermath, the inexperience of the nascent Dom and virgin sub brought confusion and doubt and distrust between two men who refused to let go of one another.

So Mike sought advice from a Master. That Master told him that no one became a great Dom unless they knew what it was to submit. Completely. The Master could teach him.

When you discover you’re the Dom of another man’s dreams, you have to grow up.

Cal was too important to Mike for him to refuse. He paid the hefty fee and made the contract. The Master was now his Master.

After all, there must be millions of submissives. How hard could it be?

♥♥♥!!!♥♥♥!!!♥♥♥

MM ROMANCE FOR ADULTS WHO LIKE A DARK EDGE CONTRASTING THE SENTIMENT. MIKE AND CAL ARE CHARACTERS FROM THE HUNT&CAM4EVER SERIES. THIS IS THEIR ORIGIN STORY—A WINTER’S TALE OF DESIRE AND DISCOVERY, FLOWERS AND FLOGGERS, DETERMINATION AND DISCIPLINE. A LOVE STORY THAT STANDS ALONE, HFN, TO BE JOINED BY BOOK TWO IN THE SPRING.

Reviewed by Taylin

TITLE: Out Of The Shadows

SERIES: Silver Fox Novel #3

AUTHOR: Ali Ryecart

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 338 Pages

RELEASE DATE: December 29, 2021

BLURB:

Two men. One explosive attraction. And the doubts and fears that could rip them apart forever.

Daniel

Firing Cosmo Stern was the best business decision I ever made. Cocky and over-confident, he was a walking disaster. Five years on, he’s the last man I want on my team when I’m hired to save a failing investment firm from collapse. Brash, infuriating and cocksure, he’s also the most captivating man I’ve ever met. But that means nothing. I have no interest in men. And none, absolutely none, in Cosmo Stern.

Cosmo

I’ve never forgiven Daniel Russo for almost wrecking my career, so when the man I loathe more than anybody walks into the office as my new boss, we both know there’s a storm coming. He’s still uptight, still so poker straight he’ll snap if he bends an inch, and still the hot and sexy silver fox I remember. When a blazing row leads to a burning kiss I’m left stunned, confused and wanting a whole lot more. But I’ve been a straight guy’s walk on the wild side before. It’s a road I’ve vowed never to walk again — for anybody.

Out of The Shadows is a steamy age gap workplace romance. Expect enemies to lovers, two men who can’t admit who or what they want, along with a pinch of angst and friends who love and despair of them in equal measure. 

Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Proper Scoundrels

AUTHOR:  Allie Therin

PUBLISHER:  Carina Press

LENGTH:  309 pages

RELEASE DATE:  December 28, 2021

BLURB:

Don’t miss this spin-off from Allie Therin’s acclaimed Magic in Manhattan universe!

Their scandalous pasts have left them wounded and unworthy—and hopelessly perfect together.

London, 1925

Sebastian de Leon is adjusting to life after three years spent enthralled by blood magic. The atrocities he committed under its control still weigh heavily on his conscience, but when he’s asked to investigate a series of mysterious murders, it feels like an opportunity to make amends. Until he realizes the killer’s next likely target is a man who witnessed Sebastian at his worst—the Viscount Fine.

Lord Fine—known as Wesley to his friends, if he had any—is haunted by ghosts of his own after serving as a British army captain during the Great War. Jaded and untrusting, he’s tempted to turn Sebastian in, but there’s something undeniably captivating about the reformed paranormal, and after Sebastian risks his own life to save Wesley’s, they find common ground.

Seeking sanctuary together at Wesley’s country estate in Yorkshire, the unlikely pair begins to unravel a mystery steeped in legend and folklore, the close quarters emboldening them to see past the other’s trauma to the person worth loving beneath. But with growing targets on their backs, they’ll have to move quickly if they want to catch a killer—and discover whether two wounded souls can help each other heal.

Reviewed by True

TITLE: His Boy to Cherish

SERIES: Naughty or Nice Season Two

AUTHOR: Colette Davison

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

LENGTH: 346 pages

RELEASE DATE: December 28, 2021

BLURB:

Dear Santa,

I’m going to be upfront and tell you that I feel silly doing this, but here goes nothing!

I’ve realised that I lean more towards being a Daddy, than a strict Dom. I’m kind and caring, and I want someone to spoil. I’ll always put my boy’s needs before my own. I’ll take care of him in every way he needs me to. I’ll discover what he wants, how to make him smile, laugh, and moan

As for what I’m looking for in a boy… I’d like someone who wants to feel special, and who enjoys being held by his Daddy. If I had to choose between a naughty or nice boy, I think I’d choose nice. I can put a naughty boy through boot camp, but I’d much rather praise a good boy.

What I really want, Santa, is someone to cherish this Christmas. I hope that’s not too much to ask for.

Sincerely,

ExCombatDaddy

His Boy to Cherish is an M/M winter romance with a disabled first-time Daddy, a little who loves stuffies, a twelve-year age-gap, nappies, a loud-mouth best friend, some familiar faces, hurt/comfort, and a lot of feels. Trigger warning for characters with PTSD.

Reviewed by Cheryl K

TITLE: Bound: A Paranormal Shifter Romance

SERIES: Blood Moon, Texas Shifters Book 3

AUTHOR: Kat Kinney

PUBLISHER: Self published

LENGTH: 283 pages

RELEASE DATE: October 7, 2021

BLURB:

Teacher by day, fantasy writer by night, West Caldwell was forced to live in secret long before werewolves and vampires accidentally outed themselves on social media, causing a worldwide freak out. One slip of his rare Omega magic bound Topher Greer to him against his will. Now that magic threatens to fracture even further—just as shapeshifters are being abducted off the streets of Austin, Texas.

Topher Greer, EMT and former prisoner of the most dangerous vampire coven in Texas, is one of the few who can sense the presence of undead blood. He’s been marked for death by the Vampire Nation—who hold his brother hostage. Things with West Caldwell are… complicated. Pack law doesn’t forbid relationships between newly changed werewolves and their sires. But West has more walls around his heart than a high-security vampire prison.

To avoid the coming war and save his brother, Topher will have to turn to the most unlikely of allies—and untangle the feelings between him and West Caldwell for once and for all.

BOUND is part of the Blood Moon, Texas Shifters series. Sizzling hot romance. Guaranteed HEA.

Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Saving The Omega’s Christmas

AUTHOR: GS Holmes

PUBLISHER: Coco Nutz Publishing

LENGTH: 156 pages

RELEASE DATE: December 21, 2021

BLURB:

Their partners ran off together.
Now it’s their turn to fall in love again.
Little did they know it would be with each other. 

There’s no rational explanation for my dislike of Sheriff Levi Barnes.
Deep down I know he’s not responsible for his omega running off with my alpha, but he pops up in the most unexpected places, always giving a helping hand I don’t ask for.
I have too much on my plate, running a Christmas tree farm all by myself and working on the one thing I want more than anything in this world. I don’t have time to fall in love. And definitely not with the man who reminds me of my shortcomings.

But Levi Barnes is persistent, and when circumstances bring both of us together, I’m forced to admit to myself that I like him…no, I want him. It’s a secret I plan to keep to myself, though. There can’t be anything more awkward than falling for the man whose spouse ran off with mine.

Saving the Omega’s Christmas is a short mpreg novel with a very awkward love that feels so right. Please see trigger warnings in the front matter.

Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Down My Chimney 

SERIES:  California Christmas #2

AUTHOR:  Spencer Spears

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  263 pages

RELEASE DATE:  December 12, 2021

BLURB:

Santa, I’ve been naughty…

Henry: I never expected to fall for my best friend. Scratch that—I never expected my best friend to fall for me. Blake’s everything I’m not: popular, athletic, gorgeous…and closeted.

And I’m fine with that. Really. Sure, it means we have to keep what we have a secret. But there is something kind of hot about all this sneaking around…

Until a mix-up with me, Blake’s roommates, and a ten-inch rainbow d…evice—yeah, let’s go with device—turns everything upside down.

I’ve fallen in love with my best friend. But how do I make Blake see that he doesn’t have to hide who he is from the world?

Last Christmas he gave me his heart. Will this be the Christmas I can tell everyone he’s mine? My chimney’s ready and waiting, and a special delivery from Blake is all the gift I need…

Down My Chimney is Book 2 in the California Christmas series and the sequel to last year’s smash hit, XOXO, Santa. Down My Chimney does not stand alone. You’ll enjoy it much more if you read XOXO, Santa first!

Down My Chimney is a 60,000-word new adult gay romance novel about growing up, falling in love, and owning your truth with a little Christmas magic. It features friends-to-lovers and out-for-you themes, along with a dash of jock/nerd sweetness and some crimes against gummy bears.