Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  Secrets on a Train

AUTHOR:  Nell Iris

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  38 pages

RELEASE DATE:  February 25, 2022

BLURB:

It’s the fountain pens that capture Valentin’s attention on the morning commute, not the perfectly imperfect man who spends his train rides using them. Not his pinstriped suits, his chin-length hair, or his perpetually raised eyebrow. But one morning when the man strikes up a written conversation, Valentin gives up all pretense. It’s not just the pens. It’s the man. Runar.

The conversations continue, and the men get to know each other better, sharing secrets they’ve never told another soul. The connection is powerful, growing stronger with every encounter, every scribbled conversation, every scorching look. But can secrets shared on a train be enough to build a forever?

Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  In Step

SERIES:  Painted Bay #3

AUTHOR:  Jay Hogan

PUBLISHER:  Southern Lights Publishing

LENGTH:  373 pages

RELEASE DATE:  February 10, 2022

BLURB:

Karma. You reap what you sow, and KANE MARTIN isn’t looking for forgiveness. But the arrival of ABE TYLER in Painted Bay has Kane dreaming of the impossible. The sexy, silver fox choreographer is determined to pull Kane out from the shadows, but Abe’s career isn’t about to shift to Painted Bay, and Kane’s life is in neat little boxes for a reason.

A past he isn’t proud of.
A family he’s walked away from.
A job he doesn’t deserve.
A secret he’s ashamed of.

But life’s dance can make for unexpected partners, and learning to trust and keep up with the footwork is the name of the game.

Two steps forward, one step back.
It takes two to tango.

Trigger Warning: Contains references to past abuse and bullying.

Reviewed by Sadonna and True

TITLE: Suspiciously Sweet

AUTHOR: Samantha SoRelle

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

LENGTH: 137 pages

RELEASE DATE: February 8, 2022

BLURB:

Trevor Hill has a secret.

By day he’s a mild-mannered journalist, but by night he’s the hottest—and most hated—food critic in town. When he walks into Nana O’Neill’s Bakery looking for his next scathing review, the last thing he expects is someone like Owen behind the counter. The scowling man looks more like a bouncer than a baker, but after one bite, Trevor is in love—with Owen’s baking at least.

Owen O’Neill has secrets of his own.

Scarred, tattooed Owen would rather be in the kitchen whipping up pastries than dealing with actual people. But with the business failing, he can’t bring himself to kick out any repeat customers, even ones as annoying, dismissive, sarcastic, funny, and gorgeous as Trevor.

All Owen wants is to be left to run his little bakery in peace—a task made more difficult not only by Trevor’s distracting presence, but also by the legions of fans that show up following a review by a famous yet secretive critic…

A 35,000 word novella, Suspiciously Sweet is as light and fluffy as a genoise sponge, but served hot and filled with plenty of spice!

Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: His Sassy Omega

AUTHOR: Raiven Matthews

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 388 pages

RELEASE DATE: January 21, 2022

BLURB:

Quinn

I didn’t believe in fated mates, or any of that insta-love nonsense. Truthfully, I barely believed in love. It wasn’t something I’d ever needed, and I didn’t have time for it. Besides, love just led to being hurt, and I could do without that.

When a huge alpha barged his way to the front of the line in my bakery, it was anything but a meet cute. My sassy mouth promptly told him exactly where he could take his perfectly formed behind. Right back out the door he’d just come in, and don’t come back, thank you very much.

Then our hands touched, and sparks of electricity shot between us, and my soul screamed Mate.

I wasn’t looking for love, or a mate, but he was looking at me and I couldn’t look anywhere else. He was big and sexy and growly, and smelled like every wishful dream I’d ever had, and forgotten. Making me want things I’d never wanted before. Making me want to run from him as fast as my legs could carry me. Secretly, hoping he would chase me.

Lachlan

I was having a bad morning. Clashing with a smart mouthed, sarcastic omega was the cherry on top of my already bad day. Getting tossed out of my favorite place for sweet treats was not how I’d planned to start my day.

I’d always played by the rules, and done what was expected of me. My whole life, I’d known what I’d wanted in my mate. Until he was standing in front of me, nothing like I’d expected him to be, sassing me and ordering me about.

Now he was all I wanted. I just had to convince him of that.

We were opposites in every way. Fate must have gotten Her wires crossed, and messed up big time. Or did She?

His Sassy Omega is the first in a series, but can be read as a standalone, with no cliff hangers and a HEA. It contains opposites attract, age gap, shifters, knotting, and mpreg.

**Trigger warning: There is a situation where terminating a pregnancy is discussed between the MC’s, but it is only a discussion. If this could trigger you in any way, please skip that chapter. This does contain a HEA.

REVIEWED by Jay V.

TITLE: A Gilded Iron Blade

AUTHOR: Kai Butler

SERIES: San Amaro Investigations #3

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 465 pages

RELEASE DATE: February 7, 2022

BLURB:

Saving the city was supposed to be the hard part…

Parker Ferro can’t catch a break. After saving San Amaro from destruction for the second time and reconciling with his boyfriend, his current plans are to relax on his couch until his ears stop ringing.

Unfortunately, the thousand realms he just saved have a way of yanking him back into service and the dead have come back to haunt him. When he’s called in by the SAPD to consult on the murder of an anti-paranormals protestor killed with fae magic, Parker is caught up in an intricate political web that was spun long before he was ever born.

Now Parker has to unravel the mystery behind the murder and untangle old family secrets before irreversible damage is done to his new friends and alliances. At least this time, he’ll hopefully have some help…

Reviewed by True

TITLE: The Devil’s Boyfriend

SERIES: Hellbound #2

AUTHOR: Alexa Piper

PUBLISHER: Changeling Press

LENGTH: 171 pages

RELEASE DATE: February 11, 2022

BLURB:

Lionel, necromancer and police consultant, finds himself closer to the Devil than he ever wanted to be. But even for a necromancer, life goes on, and murder happens. The next crime scene is just around the corner, and Lionel will do his job… ideally without Lucifer looking over his shoulder.

After a traumatic experience, Lucifer knows he has to protect his necromancer, mostly from the other man’s own stubbornness and ignorance. Lionel is not quite as human as he likes to think, and to Lucifer’s great annoyance, Lionel hasn’t given up on his bad habit of running into situations without thinking.

Lionel doesn’t know how he feels about the Devil, and he doesn’t know what he wants in his life. Lucifer knows what Lionel needs, but getting the necromancer to accept that is the difficult part. And of course, there is murder happening in town, and it is not the boring human-on-human kind of violence. This time around, it looks like immortals are involved. Solving the case will require Lionel to accept who he really is while Lucifer wants his boyfriend to embrace who he truly can be. Lives may depend on it.

Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Jasper’s Sunshine

SERIES: The Belle Fort Wolves (Book 3)

AUTHOR: C. K. Noel

PUBLISHER: Siren Publishing

LENGTH: 119 pages

RELEASE DATE: November 16, 2021

BLURB:

[Siren Classic ManLove: Erotic Romance, Alternative, Shape-shifter, Paranormal, Romantic Suspense, MM, HEA]

A playboy alpha wolf—A man struggling to survive. Fate pairs them together, but even a destined relationship takes work. 

Wolf shifter Jasper Ellis isn’t looking for love. He’s happy slaking his lust with various lovers and wild flings until a routine traffic stop brings him face to face with his fated mate, Eric McCall.

Eric is struggling to stay afloat. He’s sacrificed everything for his family. He doesn’t have time for the sexy stubborn cop that pulled him over. He has more important things to worry about. Only one problem, he can’t get Jasper out of his head. Deciding a walk will help clear his mind, Eric ventures out into the state forest—a decision that changes his life.

Jasper wants to woo his fated mate, but the universe keeps throwing everything at him, past lovers, human hunters, and even a stalker. He’s got his work cut out for him, but he’ll stop at nothing to claim his mate.

Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Saving Crofton Hall

SERIES:  Modern Crofton #1

AUTHOR:  Rebecca Cohen

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  296 pages

RELEASE DATE:  April 21, 2021

BLURB:

How he’d kept his cool, Ben will never know, but learning he owes the bank £5million thanks to his mother’s gambling debts means he must act fast if he doesn’t want to lose his beloved family home.

To save Crofton Hall, Ben Redbourn, the 16th Earl of Crofton, is going to need all his charm, lots of hard work, and not a small amount of luck. But he can’t do it alone, Ben needs help—and he needs it now. Enter Ashley Niven, events manager extraordinaire, and best friend of Ben’s little sister. Ashley might once have been a dweeby teenager, but he’s grown up nicely and Ben needs to remember he’s the boss, and that means keeping his hands to himself.

But Crofton Hall has many untold stories, and she’s hiding a secret dating back four hundred years to the 1st Earl of Crofton, Anthony Redbourn, which might just change all their lives.

Benjamin Redbourn is the modern-day descendant of Anthony Redbourn, the 1st Earl of Crofton from the mm historical romance series The Crofton Chronicles.

Previously published, this second edition has been re-edited for release.

Reviewed by True

TITLE: Abundantly Attractive

AUTHOR: Tonwand North

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

LENGTH: 346 pages

RELEASE DATE: December 21, 2021

BLURB:

How much is love truly worth?

With an empty fridge, and rent to pay, Liam Perry dreams of finding a rich wife so he can lounge at the poolside, sipping cocktails and doing what he’s good at—looking seductive.

But sometimes the most unexpected encounters can change your life forever.

After a chance collision with a handsome vet leaves Liam not totally against the idea of the future Mrs Perry being a rich Mr Perry a complication arises when his seductive charms hook the eye of the vet’s boyfriend—bigger fish and wealthy businessman, Lawrence Paul. A dark-haired Casanova who’s keen to woo his pants off with champagne and sweet flattery.

As all of Liam’s dreams seem to be coming true, how can he say no?

♥ ♥ ♥

A rags-to-riches, rescued by a handsome stranger, romantic comedy full of mishaps with dogs, cats, rats and reindeer.

Reviewed by Kat

TITLE: Robert’s Alpha

SERIES: The Belle Fort Wolves (Book 2)

AUTHOR: C. K. Noel

PUBLISHER: Siren Publishing

LENGTH: 114 pages

RELEASE DATE: October 19, 2021

BLURB:

[Siren Classic ManLove: Erotic Romance, Alternative, Shape-shifter, Paranormal, Romantic Suspense, MM, HEA]

A tragic car accident stole Blake Caldwell’s beloved wife from him and his son. Six years pass. Blake, appointed alpha of a small pack, moves to Montana. He isn’t looking for love, and he certainly doesn’t expect his wolf to go berserk when he comes face to face with Robert. He’s found his true fated mate… what now?

Robert Sanna has made mistake after mistake, like sleeping with the wife of the man he’s been in love with since he was ten. Robert has learned his lesson messing with fated mates. He’s also learned he’ll never carry on the family name like his parents expect.

They might be fated mates, but Blake’s close-minded pack council resists the mated male pair. Complications arise from a she-wolf who’s set her sights on being the Alpha mate—and on Blake. And Robert’s fears might ruin everything. Can love win? Or will life tear them apart?