Book Review

On The Edge (Mount Hope Book 3) by Annabeth Albert: Release Day Review

October 21, 2024 by Denise

DANGER! RIDING TOO CLOSE TO THE EDGE!

My life is one big caution sign. Ever since my best friend’s all-grown-up son joined our shared home, I’ve been navigating a growing attraction to the injured motocross rider. Declan unleashes every protective and caretaking impulse I have, and I genuinely love spending time with the guy.

But Declan’s too young, too straight, and too temporary to risk a twenty-year friendship over. At least until he kisses me, and I tumble past forbidden attraction into a doomed secret fling.

What starts as exploration for Declan quickly transforms into an undeniable bond. He’s exactly what I’ve been searching for: a ride-or-die partner in crime who is happy making blanket forts, talking late into the night, and shares my love of cozy books and movies. What could be more perfect?

When Declan faces a crucial choice, both our hearts are on the line. Can we avoid falling over the edge into heartbreak?

ON THE EDGE is book three of the Mount Hope first responder series and features an emergency room nurse practitioner who is hopelessly soft for his best friend’s son. This dad’s best friend, hurt/comfort (heavy on the comfort), age gap romance contains small town feels, big emotional growth, and sizzling romance. While certain subplot threads continue throughout the series, each guaranteed happily ever after stands alone!

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Book 3 in the series, can definitely be a stand alone. But why? I love this group of close knit friends who are in their 40’s, supporting each other and finding love (not with each other, teehee).

I really wondered who this one would play out. Because it’s one of the 40 something guys and the son of one of his friends. So we’re talking a 20 year age difference and these guys are all in each other’s pockets living on the same property. But it was so smooth.

That was my thought through the book. It was smooth. Declan and Jonas didn’t jump into anything. Well, after fighting it for a bit. Declan because he is a motocross rider and in the closet and Jonas because Declan is the son of one of his best friends.

An accident and then proximity bring them together. But really, Jonas reading to a first unconscious Declan had me swooning. And they continued it throughout the book. Even when things started heating up between them, they still had nights where they would cuddle and read. I mean, come on. How can you not love that?

Hearing about Jonas’ upbringing was an interesting part of the story. I love that it was PART of his story, but he didn’t make it his whole story. And although their situations were completely different, that shared lack of parenting brought them together more.

If you’ve read the other books, we get a lot of Eric’s kids. Wren and Rowan the most (fingers crossed for a Rowan story down the line!). They are entertaining without drawing all of the attention. Surprisingly, Declan’s father, Sean, wasn’t as big a part of the story as I was expecting. But I liked it because there was less tip toeing around.

The age difference also isn’t a big factor. It’s brought up, but not frequently. Some stories it’s all they talk about and it gets boring. Not so here. Oh. And Jonas being all hairy and NOT buff, perhaps even a big squishy. Loved it!

I’ve already thought about how book 4 will go as there were big changes happening with the friend group and their partners. And with Eric’s kids. **here’s my eyes popping out of my head at the epilogue**

4 pieces of eye candy

Black and Brown: Raven Assassins (Ravens Series Book 1) by AE Via: Release Day Review

October 21, 2024 by Denise

Grace’s composed, yet lethal disposition balances his partner Mirage’s impulsive nature, creating a duo—the second-generation Brown Ravens—with the potential for greatness.

Grace was one of the most decorated sharpshooters in the Marines. He’s fiercely committed to righting the wrongs that plague the world and protecting the innocent.
But there are too many rules and strict orders in the armed forces the Ravens don’t have.

Mirage left his world without a trace.

He has a brilliant mind and more degrees in science and medicine than one person could ever hope to obtain.
Now that the Ravens are done administering their treatments, Mirage can throw knives so fast they turn into phantom blades before he disappears in a way that leaves his enemies in chaos and confusion. And Grace can hit a target from three miles away.

When together, their form of silent communication in the field is astonishing. Grace’s subtle body movements speak their own language and his long, intense stares into Mirage’s grey eyes have created a special bond neither of them saw coming. A forbidden romance that won’t stop them from being the second-best assassins in the world.

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Man, AE Via can write some morally gray characters like nobody’s business. And make us LIKE them.

I think her darkest were Ex and Meridian from, you guessed it, Ex Meridian in the Nothing Special series. Fans wanted more of these guys. And they wanted them now. We got a Valentine’s Day short. Too short. Enough to whet our appetites.

And now, finally, Black and Brown. A spin off of Ex Meridian. They are the first generation, the Blacks, part of a program that the government would deny knowledge of that shaped these two into perfect assassins through training and medicine.

And the Browns. Second generation. We get to see these guys through the whole process. Well, we see Mirage from before he joined and Grace after he caught Mirage sneaking around. This agency exploited Mirage by offering vengeance for the deaths of his parents and also a way to take out the worst evil the world has. With Grace as his partner.

I loved these two as partners. Grace who says almost nothing with words and everything with his mind. But only Mirage understands. They way they work together, with Mirage a shadow behind Grace. It’s a carefully choreographed dance between them, until someone or someones, cut in.

The Blacks are deployed to the situation and the two teams are face to face.

It’s very James Bond, but way more lethal. Who to trust, who not to trust. Who to take out, who to keep alive. And in between all of that, Mirage and Grace develop a relationship they aren’t supposed to have. Because it was trained out of them, by drugs or conditioning. And yet, they are feeling it.

So we do get sweet scenes of going out to dinner, cooking together, and of course sexy times. Which are sometimes tender. Sigh

I would have liked to hear Grace’s back story like we got with Mirage. And maybe we will. Because one thing is for sure, well adjusted men aren’t recruited to be black ops assassins.

There’s a lot of unanswered questions at the end of the book. I wouldn’t call it a cliffhanger, but definitely unfinished. OF COURSE! Because the author likes to torture us! I kid, I kid. Sort of.

So yes, I definitely can’t wait for the next book.

4 pieces of eye candy

R for Rough (Camassia Cove Universe #17) by Cara Dee: Release Day Review

September 27, 2024 by Denise

Standalone • MM • Primal Play • DD/lb • Age gap • Interrogation Play • Coworkers • Camassia Cove Universe
Apply the right amount of war paint and rehearse your safewords for Griffin and Tracy’s romance. They may start out as two chefs working awkwardly together, but they share a desire that soon brings them together, forcing them to address the tension between them.

I didn’t know why Griffin hated me so much, but it was wearing me down. I walked on eggshells around him at work, and I hated that I still wanted him. I saw him in my dreams, my fantasies, and…frankly, in some nightmares too. And then I freaking saw him at a munch, and I almost lost it. Just how much did we have in common?! Was there no way for us to coexist? My friend Abel firmly believed Griffin and I belonged together, but I didn’t know what that guy was smoking.

Something had to give, though—and that made me think of what my grandpa used to tell me as a kid. I’d been too young to wield an axe, so he’d chopped wood while I had walked along the tree line to collect kindling. Then when I came across a branch I couldn’t break, he’d say, “It’s just a matter of finding the right pressure point. You can do it, Tracy.”

Maybe that could be applied to Griffin too.

It was just a matter of finding the right pressure point.

This story takes place in Cara Dee’s Camassia Cove Universe, a fictional town where all books stand on their own, unless otherwise stated, and the reader can jump in wherever they want.

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I’ve read A LOT of Cara Dee books. Probably 90%. A lot of them have kink. But what really drew me in were the relationships. The connections, the falling in love, getting to know you stories. And lately, that is really missing from the kink books.

This can be read as a stand alone, even though it’s in the Cammisa Cove world and we even get a few guest stars from McLean House. And being that it was kind of a stand alone, I was really expecting and hoping for a relationship that beings, grows, flourishes…. but instead we got some cursory back story, very little one on one time and then another kinky game.

And I am not going to yuck someone’s yum, but this kinky game was 100% not for me. Rough play? sure. Primal play? ok. But basically beating the crap out of each other and calling it kink? Not my jam. I was actually a bit disturbed at points.

I really wanted to get to KNOW Tracey and Griffin. But I didn’t.

3 pieces of eye candy

I’m often awkwardly silent or, if the topic interests me, a chronic rambler. In other words, I can discuss writing forever and ever. Fiction, in particular. The love story—while a huge draw and constantly present—is secondary for me, because there’s so much more to writing romance fiction than just making two (or more) people fall in love and have hot sex.

There’s a world to build, characters to develop, interests to create, and a topic or two to research thoroughly.

Every book is a challenge for me, an opportunity to learn something new, and a puzzle to piece together. I want my characters to come to life, and the only way I know to do that is to give them substance—passions, history, goals, quirks, and strong opinions—and to let them evolve.

I want my men and women to be relatable. That means allowing room for everyday problems and, for lack of a better word, flaws. My characters will never be perfect.

Wait…this was supposed to be about me, not my writing.

I’m a writey person who loves to write. Always wanderlusting, twitterpating, kinking, cooking, baking, and geeking. There’s time for hockey and family, too. But mostly, I just love to write.

Find Cara on social media here: https://www.caradeewrites.com/cdwlandingpage

Love and Loathing in El Olvido by Sylvia San Sebastian: RB, Exclusive Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

September 18, 2024 by Denise

. .
Harvey and his mother have spent the past twelve years fleeing from the Lucchesi crime family that massacred their clan. But the same day his mother dies of a heart attack, he receives an anonymous letter. Someone knows who killed his family, and they want him to take revenge. They list three killers, plus Nicolas Lung Lucchesi, the heir to the Lucchesi family. He’s young and short on allies, and he’s Harvey’s ticket in.

With nothing left to lose, Harvey returns to his hometown under a fake identity. When Harvey del Rosario meets Nico Lucchesi, it seems like fate—two lonely men attracted to each other’s orbit. Harvey, the sweet and charming outsider; Nico, cool and mysterious. When Nico offers Harvey a job, Harvey digs his claws in deep. He’ll do anything to remain by Nico’s side. He’ll become his friend, his confidante, his lover—all to destroy the Lucchesi family from the inside.

KinnPorsche meets 91 Days in Love and Loathing in El Olvido, a 73k word adult contemporary mafia romance inspired by the tradition of erotic thrillers. This is the first book in the El Olvido trilogy. Harvey and Nico’s story will be continued in the sequel.

Title: Love and Loathing in El Olvido
Authors: Sylvia San Sebastian
Length: 73k
Series: El Olvido, Book 1 (There is a cliffhanger for the main characters)
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense, Mafia Romance.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

Goodreads

All I know is that his fingers are soothing in my hair. He scratches my scalp and I

melt into his touch, into his mouth, into his eager lips on my jaw, my throat, my

collarbone. I shudder as I think about how close his teeth are to my neck. I bare my

throat to him. I let him mark me as he likes—as his tool, as his toy, as his possession.

All the blood rushes to my dick.

I can’t even muster up any disgust at myself. Nicolas Lucchesi’s hands roam my

body and I welcome it. I need his skin on my skin. I need more than a good fuck. I need

to be inside him so completely that I’ll be living inside his ribs.

New to me author, although they only have 2 books out right now. And the sequel to this book will be 3 *taps foot impatiently*. The blurb sounded good, so why not?

This book is gritty, dark, violent, very morally gray, sexy and at times you totally forget that Harvey is playing Nico to get what he wants.

Where does this book even take place? I have no idea. Could be Mexico? Texas? Central America somewhere? The only clue is that Spanish is spoken, but a lot of the players are Italian. It’s like a dusty old Western with a modern backdrop.

There are a lot of politics at play within “The Family”. Power struggles, allegiances, even a silent power struggle with the families of Nico’s parents. That marriage was a business deal and still is. But that business deal created Nico who is half Italian and half Asian and all gay. Big strikes against him in The Family.

Harvey infiltrates The Family through Nico. He is out for vengeance now that his mother has passed. He wants to kill those responsible for killing his entire family when he was a child. He got a mysterious letter with some big hints, but one of the men hasn’t been unmasked yet.

I really loved how Harvey was portrayed. He played his role so well as Nico’s lover, but with the dichotomy of wanting to exact revenge and falling in love with Nico- even if he wouldn’t admit it.

I “GRRRRRRRR’ED!” out loud at the end of the book because I wanted the story to continue. Book 2 is too far away. It was so different than any mafia book I’ve read. I definitely enjoyed it.

4 piece of eye candy

Sylvia San Sebastian writes queer romance novels with bite. She lives on a tropical island in Southeast Asia. If you buy her books, you help feed her two cats.

Connect with Sylvia:
https://sylviasansebastian.substack.com/
https://instagram.com/sssylviawrites
https://twitter.com/sssylviawrites
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Something Borrowed (Confetti Hitched Book 2) by Lily Morton: Blog Tour, Excerpt, New Release Review and Giveaway

August 8, 2024 by Denise

Stan has never let his blindness hold him back, but he’s beginning to realise his love life is keeping him from moving forward.

He can’t remember a time when he wasn’t in love with his best friend. Rafferty is everything to him—his partner in crime, his confidante, and the person who understands him best. But Rafferty is incapable of reciprocating Stan’s feelings.

As a successful wedding planner, Rafferty is passionately committed to helping newlyweds begin their happily-ever-afters, but after a rootless childhood he’s equally determined not to seek his own. How can he trust in love and marriage when so many of his brides and grooms are repeat customers?

Stan is the glue that keeps the pieces of Rafferty’s life together, and as such Rafferty has always kept Stan safely in the friend box where he can’t lose him. However, lately that conviction has wavered and now Rafferty is bursting with complicated feelings for his best friend. The timing couldn’t be worse because Rafferty has realised he’s in love with Stan just as Stan is moving on.

From bestselling author Lily Morton comes a friends-to-lovers story about realising you have the perfect man when you’re on the brink of losing him.

This is the second book in the bestselling Confetti Hitched series, but it can be read as a standalone.

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

I moan despairingly when I see the time. “It’s ten o’clock. Oh god.”

“Is there a problem?”

Instead of answering, I tap a familiar number on my phone’s screen. “Come on, come on,” I mutter, pacing as I listen to it ring. “Climb off Lachlan’s dick and answer the phone.”

“Who are you talking to, sweetheart?”

The call connects. “What?” Joe says cautiously into my ear. I can’t begrudge him his air of worry.

“I need a favour.”

He groans. “Last time you said that we got fined for causing a public disturbance.”

“No, this time it’s really bad,” I whisper. “I need you, Joe.”

“Joe?” the man asks from behind me. “Who the fuck is Joe?”

“Who’s that?” Joe asks.

“No one,” I say over the insistent voice of the man who is now frowning at me—the man who appears to think we’re married.

“It doesn’t sound like no one,” Joe says, his voice rich with amusement as my bedmate paces the room and shouts about people who cheat.

“Well, it is,” I say in a quelling voice. “Joe, I’ve got the Hollis wedding today.”

“Yeah, I know. You’ll be fine.”

“That might be true if I’d gone to bed at an early hour in my own bed. Sober,” I add with emphasis.

“Oh god,” Joe says.

I walk back into the bedroom. “I know,” I whisper. “I woke up naked, and apparently, I’m now in some sort of a relationship I have no memory of agreeing to. I leave that sort of behaviour to you, mate.” Joe laughs. “This is serious,” I hiss. I look at my watch and groan. “The bride will arrive at the church in an hour.”

I look over at my bedmate, who’s joined me in the bedroom and is still frowning. I ask him, “I don’t suppose you have a spare morning suit hanging around?”

“I don’t know any dead people,” he snaps.

I just love a Lily Morton. The characters are fun and quirky, there is little to no angst (although there is pining…oh the pining…) and we get a happily ever after.

Right off the bat I loved Stan. His snark and wit, his fierce loyalty to his friends and his family, carrying on the record store for his hippie uncle and functionally blind. Maybe we missed his pity party when he learned he was blind as a teen, but by now he is accepting and moving on with life. Which is why his relationship with Bennett didn’t make a lot of sense because he was so controlling and condescending.

The opposite of controlling and condescending is Stan’s best friend Rafferty. And even though he is a wedding planner, he doesn’t believe in love and commitment. You can thank his selfish parents for that. Stan and Raff can be inseparable if you let them, which Bennett hates.

EVERYONE sees what these 2 numbskulls don’t. That they are obviously in love with each other and belong together and Raff needs to get over himself and his anti romance no commitment self. Especially since they have experience being friends with benefits.

I mentioned the pining right?

I loved these two together. I also loved the representation of a character that has gone blind and is still waiting for the last of their sight to go. So many people think blind only means zero sight. It also showed how they are treated by others. As incompetent or needy or like children. Stan got his barbs in where needed and it made me laugh.

The plot kept moving and I hated putting the book down each night. Great story that was fun, sweet and hot.

4 pieces of eye candy

Lily is a bestselling gay romance author. She writes love stories filled with heat and humour.

She lives in sunny England with her husband and two children, all of whom claim that they haven’t had a proper conversation with her since she got her Kindle.

Lily has spent her life with her head full of daydreams, and decided one day to just sit down and start writing about them. In the process she discovered that she actually loved writing, because how else would she get to spend her time with hot and funny men?

She loves chocolate and Baileys and the best of all creations – Chocolate Baileys.

Off the Clock (Mount Hope Book 2) by Annabeth Albert: New Release Review

August 5, 2024 by Denise

Starting over after retiring as an Army Ranger shouldn’t be this hard…

For twenty years, I traveled the world as a special operations warrior. Newly retired at forty-two, I’m back in my hometown of Mount Hope, pursuing a second career as a small-town firefighter. My meddling sisters and best friends all have opinions about my life, but the only person who seems to truly understand me is Caleb, the younger firefighter tasked with my training.

After a lifetime of denying my attraction to other men, Caleb reminds me of everything I’ve missed out on. I’ve never even kissed a guy.

Until now.
Until Caleb.
Until I push our growing friendship to the next level. While sneaking around like a pair of teens, trying not to get caught by our coworkers, friends, and family, our sexy connection leads us to some…interesting places.

And it turns out that I like taking risks. I’ve never wanted a relationship, and neither of us should be fooling around with a coworker, but we keep courting danger.

The more time I spend with Caleb off and on the clock, the more I like him and the less certain I am about everything else in my life. The one thing I know for sure is that I can’t afford to lose this intense bond we share. Can we find our way from super secret to super real before the clock runs down on this fling?

OFF THE CLOCK features two coworkers with an age gap finding out that opposites really do attract and that first impressions aren’t always accurate. All the big emotions, small-town feels, and hot romance readers expect from this acclaimed author. While certain subplot threads continue throughout the series, each guaranteed happily ever after stands alone!

Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions

Annabeth Albert writes small towns so well. The history, the residents, the quirkiness, the feel. It makes a difference and it makes it feel like a character itself. This same story set in a large town or city just wouldn’t work the same way.

She also brings friends back together. Those friends create a found family that supports each other through everything.

This time Tony, one of a group of high school friends, moves back to Mount Hope after putting in his 20 years in the military. After a few stumbles that led him to the military, Tony wants to fulfill his previous dream- work as a fire fighter. Sean, the acting chief and one of Tony’s good friends, pairs him with Caleb. The young guy who knows his stuff but often isn’t taken seriously. Oh, and Caleb has guardianship of his 17 year old brother for a year.

Sparks fly, teenagers are moody, bi sides are discovered, fundraisers happen, sneaking around isn’t as sneaky as they thought and new dreams are forged. Caleb is much more mature than people give him credit for. Tony sees him though. And Caleb sees how Tony is struggling a bit.

I really loved how the whole town came together to raise money for the football team so that they could actually play that year. All of the moms (and Caleb!) working their butts off.

Great second book in the series. Can’t wait for book 3. Wondering if Eric remains alone or not…

4 pieces of eye candy