Reviews

Books I’ve read and reviewed

GHOST WOLF To the Rescue–A Review & Giveaway!

Hi there! Today I’m back, and sharing a review for a new paranormal M/M romance from Hurri Cosmo. GHOST WOLF features a lone wolf finding more than a pack when he seeks his future. Scroll down for my review and to enter the $25 Amazon GC giveaway!

About the book:
Hi, my name is Trevor. I’m a wolf shifter.

I say that like I know what I’m talking about. I don’t. I was simply running off a ton of steam one day when I was around eleven and bam! Okay, not quite that easy or fast but it happened when I was young and stupid. I’m also gay. I say that like I know what I’m talking about with that too. I simply don’t.

I’m grown up now and living in the big city which has me too busy to much care about either one of those things. I get out and run my wolf when I can, trying like hell to stay out of the local pack’s territories. Belonging to a “family” just sounds like too much work, and honestly I don’t have time for such things. Besides, I was told when I was young the color of my wolf was all wrong. Too silver…or something. Metallic. I kinda thought it looked cool in the full moon. “Pack Alpha would kill ya soon as look at ya.” My grandpa used to say. Course he wasn’t my real grandpa. Just an old man who lived down the street, but he was a shifter too and I thought he knew it all. He probably knew diddly either, but a guy can’t be too careful. And romance? Way off the radar.

Only now someone has started killing wolves. Started leaving broken bodies lined up in a nice little row next to the high school in my home town and it’s got me to thinking. If a shifter is killed in his or her wolf state, do they stay that way? Were these dead wolves like me? The hell of it all is this: being a shifter isn’t common knowledge. It bothers me enough that now I want to find out more. See if there’s anything I can do. Kind of like a super hero.

Oh yeah. Probably forgot to tell you this too. I can turn invisible.

Yep, Ghost Wolf to the rescue

My Review:
Trevor is a young wolf shifter who learned on his powers on his own–with the help of a neighbor he called Grandpa. Grandpa was a shifter too, and held some knowledge and more secrets that he shared with Trevor through his will.

We start with him as a youngish boy–and follow him up to a new town as he works on his college plan. When there, he meets more shifters; some of whom find him very much attractive. One of these is Ryan Jarfang and another is Keith Karlack–both alphas of neighboring shifter clans. Ryan had been betrothed to a female shifter, but breaks that off when he senses Trevor is his Fated Mate. Trevor hasn’t owned up to Ryan about his special power, being able to disappear, that he’s able to use in moments of danger.

This is an interesting read, but I definitely struggled with it. Trevor had troubles assimilating in his new world, but he just keeps running from them. Ryan has to track him down again and again, as he rebels. Their rapid courtship sparks conflict between the packs. Trevor did get on my nerves, and I really felt like the book started too soon. We could have picked up with him being in college, not in middle school, and I probably would have liked the story more. It otherwise seemed to drag, and then jumped forward with coincidences that felt a bit disingenuous.

For the shifter story, there was some interesting pack dynamics, and the fated-ness of Trevor and Ryan coming together wasn’t the interesting part. The way they were able to call on higher powers–connecting the real with the super-paranormal in ways that I hadn’t read before. I liked that part. Unfortunately, it felt too long to get there. Expect some different dynamics and a side of mpreg, too.

Interested? You can find GHOST WOLF on Goodreads and Amazon.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click on this Rafflecopter giveaway link to enter and win a $25 Amazon GC.
Good luck and keep reading my friends!

About the Author:
Hurri Cosmo lives in Minnesota where she holds tight to the idea that there, where it’s cold a good part of the year, she won’t age as fast. Yep, she avoids the truth as much as she avoids mirrors. But one of the reasons she loves writing is reality doesn’t always offer up a “happily ever after” and being able to take control of that is a powerful lure. Being a happy ending junkie, writing just makes them easier to find. Oh, she doesn’t mind “real life” and she does try to at least keep it in mind when she writes her stories, but she truly loves creating a wonderful couple, knowing they will fall in love and have their HEA. Every – single – time. And, of course, that is exactly the reason she loves reading this genre, too. Give her a glass of red wine, some dark chocolate, and her computer, whether she is reading or writing, and she will entertain herself for hours. The fact she actually gets paid to do it is Snickers bars on the frosting on the cake.

Catch up to Hurri online on her website, blog, Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.

Best of 2017! All M/M Edition

I love doing “Best of” recaps, and going back through all the fab books I’ve enjoyed in the past year. This year I completed a really awesome fantasy-romance series by EJ Russell which started off with CUTIE AND THE BEAST, followed by THE DRUID NEXT DOOR and BAD BOY’S BARD. This was a rather low-steam set, but it was high on imagination, with all sorts of fantasy persons intermingling with three Fae brothers who made up the Guard for the Seelie Queen. Each of them was cursed, to some degree, and had to find love to undo that curse. I think I liked DRUID best of the series, but the whole trilogy worked together well to create a world I wanted to dance in.

Starting with Fantasy, I loved the THE RULES AND REGULATING TO MEDIATING MYTHS AND MAGIC by F.T. Lukens. It’s a sweet and funny YA romance with just the right amount of conflict, and age-appropriate steam. The whole story, with all the zany myths, the angst, and the sweet coming-out, sealed the deal for me.

I adored TRUST WITH A CHASER by Annabeth Albert, because it was a hard-won love. The local sheriff is hiding behind his badge, and a closet, and that makes it hard for him to love the out-and-proud new restauranteur in town. Add to that, this shiny younger man’s family is a complete mess, and often in trouble with the law. It’s a sweet victory when the sheriff makes it possible for his down-low beau to do right by his family, and love out loud.

And, speaking of yummy lawmen, I can’t finish off the year without mention Kate Sherwood’s four-part Common Law series including LONG SHADOWS, EMBERS, DARKNESS and HOME FIRES. This law man loves the criminal saga hit all the right notes of believability, small-town drama, and finding the right path even if it’s not the straight and narrow. There’s a bit of steam here and there between the new under-sheriff and his childhood love, the local criminal mastermind. One never knows if the con will win, or the cop will triumph. Super happy ending for these guys and I’m anxious for a new series with them.

Be Careful What You Wish For: SURPRISE ME! A Review

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review for a new contemporary romance from best selling author Sophie Kinsella. I’ve always enjoyed her contemporary romances, including MY NOT SO PERFECT LIFE, but SURPRISE ME is a little different. The characters are…married. Yep! They are married, together ten years, and facing, clearly, 68 more years together. And, that’s a daunting rut to fall into isn’t it…

About the book:
After being together for ten years, Sylvie and Dan have all the trimmings of a happy life and marriage; they have a comfortable home, fulfilling jobs, beautiful twin girls, and communicate so seamlessly, they finish each other’s sentences. However, a trip to the doctor projects they will live another 68 years together and panic sets in. They never expected “until death do us part” to mean seven decades.

In the name of marriage survival, they quickly concoct a plan to keep their relationship fresh and exciting: they will create little surprises for each other so that their (extended) years together will never become boring. But in their pursuit to execute Project Surprise Me, mishaps arise and secrets are uncovered that start to threaten the very foundation of their unshakable bond. When a scandal from the past is revealed that question some important untold truths, they begin to wonder if they ever really knew each other after all.

My Review:
This book opens with a jolt: a wife finding something hidden by her husband. Something shocking, and guaranteed to set her idyllic marriage off-kilter. We don’t get to see what she found, only that it was a game-changer. And then, we pan out. Go back a bit. Gain context, but long do we wonder: what did she find!

Sylvie and Dan have been together ten years, married seven, and have twin daughters aged four. They are in sync in many ways, filling in sentences and gaps in conversations with little trouble. Sylvie thinks Dan is predictable, and perhaps the side he shows her is…but when they hit the doctor for a couples life insurance exam they are both struck by the doctor’s decree that they, being active healthy adults, will likely live to be 100, maybe 102, and that means 68 more years of wedded bliss. To each other.

It’s a jarring moment, and provokes some deep thinking, at least on Sylvie’s part, of how they can transform their comfortable/cozy marriage into one that can stand the test of so many years. Should they spice it up in the bedroom, or out of it? Should they take up common interests–or not? Why is Dan so frustrated with discussions of money, and why does it seem he’s hiding some rather important issues from her. In the midst of this Sylvie’s job is under intense scrutiny. She works for a historical society that is squarely lumped in the Victorian age, and is in dire straits financially. Is she about to lose her job, and her husband?

I really dug this one. It’s more mature story about the hard parts of marriage, the daily trench work of loving one person day-in and day-out without focusing on the petty issues all the time. It’s building a love that lasts, no matter the difficulties. That said, there are some funny bits, including a boudoir photo shoot that might scar a young neighbor to his bones. Turns out Dan had some pretty dark secrets that were kept out of love and esteem for Sylvie’s family, and which were eroding their core of trust. I liked how all that turned out, in truth. The twist of those secrets opened Sylvie’s eyes to the cost of love, and the blind faith we often place in the people close to us. It gave her a new appreciation for Dan, and how much he’s struggled to be the husband he, and her parents, expected she would want.

There are fun revelations, too, which include building relationships with new friends, and following old passions–like Dan reclaiming his love of gardening, even if it means reconnecting with his first love–in responsible ways. Sylvie’s a fun and suspicious character to follow, sure she’s got wool pulled over her eyes, but unable to see what’s made her blind is not what she expects to find. In the end, she and Dan are sure that they’d spent another 68 years together if given the chance. Because, longevity expectation aside, we really have no idea how many days we will walk this earth. Best to love hard and fierce while you can.

Interested? You can find SURPRISE ME on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Kobo. It’s surely on sale at local bookstores, big-box retailers and likely already on the shelf at your library. I received a review copy via NetGalley.

About the Author:
Madeleine Wickham (born 12 December 1969) is a bestselling British author under her pseudonym, Sophie Kinsella. Educated at New College, Oxford, she worked as a financial journalist before turning to fiction. She is best known for writing a popular series of chick-lit novels. The Shopaholic novels series focuses on the misadventures of Becky Bloomwood, a financial journalist who cannot manage her own finances. The books follows her life from when her credit card debt first become overwhelming (“The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic”) to the latest book on being married and having a child (“Shopaholic & Baby”). Throughout the entire series, her obsession with shopping and the complications that imparts on her life are central themes.

Find out more on her website, Facebook and twitter.

Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!

True Love for BENTLEY–A Review

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review for BENTLEY, a new contemporary romance from Melanie Moreland. BENTLEY is the first book in the Vested Interest series and features an odd-couple romance between a wealthy real estate mogul and the orphaned art student who turns his head.

About the book:
Bentley.
The leader of the group. He is uptight, formal, and cold. Rigid and set in his ways, always following the same path. Until the day, he stumbles upon her.

Emmy.
She brings with her spontaneity and light. The world she lives in is so different from his, yet he cannot control the draw to her. Nor can he explain the way she makes him feel.
Happy.
Protective.
Loved.

My Review:
Bentley is a wealthy man in his early thirties. He owns his own real estate development company and is planning his next big endeavor, but someone keeps buying the properties he wants right out from under him. He’s frustrated, and wary due to threatening messages he’s begun receiving. His two best friends, Maddox and Aiden, have joined him in the business, but none of them have found lifelong partners. They make a great team, but each man is missing love.

Bentley meets Emmy when he trips over her knapsack in a crowded cafe. She’s irreverent and uncowed by his surliness. That intrigues him, and he’s interested enough to seek out further meetings, and a date. Emmy is an orphan and is struggling her way through art school; something to which Bentley can relate. He’s charmed by Emmy from the start, and their romance blossoms quickly, with Aiden and Maddox making fast “friends” with Emmy’s close pals. But, the threats soon extend to Emmy, and Bentley’s unwilling to let her fall into danger on his account.

There’s a bit of suspense here, and the sexytimes are rather mellow. Not a lot of extended sweaty business. I liked the connection, and how sweet it was from the start. While there’s an attraction, it’s not overwhelming the focus. They enjoy their building camaraderie and it grows into the physical. I had the mystery solved before the first chapter ended, I think, but that was okay, too. I still liked how it unfolded, and I’m looking forward to reading the next books in this series.

Interested? You can find BENTLEY on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble, iBooks, and Kobo.

About the Author:
New York Times/USA Today bestselling author Melanie Moreland, lives a happy and content life in a quiet area of Ontario with her beloved husband of twenty-seven-plus years and their rescue cat Amber. Nothing means more to her than her friends and family, and she cherishes every moment spent with them.

While seriously addicted to coffee, and highly challenged with all things computer-related and technical, she relishes baking, cooking, and trying new recipes for people to sample. She loves to throw dinner parties, and also enjoys travelling, here and abroad, but finds coming home is always the best part of any trip.

Melanie loves stories, especially paired with a good wine, and enjoys skydiving (free falling over a fleck of dust) extreme snowboarding (falling down stairs) and piloting her own helicopter (tripping over her own feet.) She’s learned happily ever afters, even bumpy ones, are all in how you tell the story.

You can catch up with Melanie on her Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, or sign up for her Newsletter.

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Rebuilding in THE OFF SEASON–Review and Giveaway!

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review and giveaway for a new contemporary sports romance from Megan Green. THE OFF SEASON is a sweet romance between a wrongly-accused baseball star and his neighbor-in-need. It’s an unexpected romance for two people who’d closed themselves off to the idea of love. I liked it!

Scroll down to enter the $25 GC giveaway!
About the book:
He had it all…

The day Ian “Tag” Taggart’s world comes crashing down around him, he’s sitting in a fast food drive-thru, waiting for an order of fries. Golden boy of the MLB and shortstop for the Washington Rampage, Tag quickly finds himself losing grip on his superstar life with the use of two awful words: sexual assault.

The only problem? He’s innocent.

Tag’s willing to do anything to prove to the world he’d never commit the crime he’s been accused of. So when his agent suggests taking a break from the spotlight, he listens. The quiet town on Maple Lake is everything Seattle isn’t. And Lexi Barnes is everything he wasn’t expecting to find.

Running from a past she can never escape, Lexi wants nothing to do with her new neighbor. But fixing up an old house takes more work than anticipated, and the new guy in town happens to have quite the set of carpentry skills. She won’t let herself fall for him though. She has no room in her life for love.

If only someone would tell her heart that.

He’s funny and charming. She’s closed off and rude.

Together, they’re like fire and ice.

Prepare to get burned this Off-Season.

My Review:
Ian “Tag” Taggart is a shortstop for the Washington Rampage, a pro baseball team, who’s well-known as a ladies man, and all-around good guy. Until a one-night stand accuses him of rape. Six months later, his accuser drops her charges in exchange for a big payday. It’s the off season, and the Rampage had a rather poor season; some folks believe it was the spotlight of Ian’s accuser casting pall over the team. With months of downtime before spring training, Ian ships off to Maple Lake, to lay low in his best friend’s lake house.

Lexi Barnes hasn’t had a drink in 18 months. Not since that fateful night , anyway. She doens’t want to think about the damage she caused, or her old life in Chicago, but it’s still a noose around her neck. Rehabbing a rundown lake house is meant to fill her days and night, but soon, her athletic and sweet neighbor Ian is helping to hang the shutters and sharing meals. The more time they spend together, the more they connect, and though Ian comes clean about who is–and what he’d been accused of–Lexi’s still afraid to open up.

Thing about being in the spotlight, like Ian, is that reporters are always looking for the fresh dirt to write about. Just as Ian and Lexi are solidifying their love, a curveball comes along to disrupt the scene. I liked how they dealt with their issues, and how trusting Ian is, where Lexi is concerned. While there are some sexytimes here, it’s not the main thrust of the book. They connect emotionally first, and their physical moments are brief in terms of page time. I liked both Ian and Lexi as characters. Each had some tough stuff to get over, and they needed to find a reason to start caring for another person again. It’s sweet and a little sexy, with some nice romantic elements.

Interested? You can find THE OFF SEASON on Goodreads, and Amazon (US, UK, CA and AU).

****GIVEAWAY****

Click on this Rafflecopter giveaway link for your chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card.
Good luck and keep reading my friends!

About the Author:
Megan lives in Northern Utah with her handsome hubby, Adam. When not writing, chances are you’ll find her curled up with her Kindle. Besides reading and writing, she loves movies, animals, chocolate, and coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. She loves hearing from readers, so drop her a line!

You can find Megan on her Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Email, or check out her Reader Group.

She Didn’t Want to be FOUND–A Review

Hi there! I’m sharing a review for a new contemporary romance out today from Claudia Burgoa. FOUND sounds like a second (or third) chance for a down-on-her-love gal starting over in Frisco. I liked this one.

About the book:
All I’ve ever wanted was for someone to choose me. My mother didn’t. My father didn’t. The beautiful boy next door, who grew up to marry me, didn’t. Neither did the next man with whom I thought my heart was safe.

Back in the Bay area, three thousand miles from New York City, I can start fresh. Become one with the sea again, rise or fall on the tide of my own choices. But on the first day of my bright new life, the darkest shadows of my past follow me through my office door. The two men whose names are definitely not on my five-year plan.

If I let it consume me—my need for one man, my love for the other—the darkness will swallow me whole. I can’t let that happen. Not again. This time, the waves of emotion crashing against my heart won’t drown me. This time, I get to choose my happy ending.

My Review:
Hazel Beesley is making a fresh start, back in San Francisco where all ehr grilhood dreams began. She’d dreamed of marrying her high school sweetheart, Elliot McFee, and while that dream was realized, Elliot withdrew and left Hazel on her own several years ago. Their love in ruins, she went to New York to work with her grandfather, a business magnate. Tsere she became very tightly acquainted with the Everhart brothers, mostly Scott, though, the second eldest and glue-of-the-family one. Recognizing that Scott is really more of a friend with benefits than a true partner, however, spurs Hazel to take up hands on management of a company back in San Fran. Where she runs into a very apologetic Elliot.

Scott wants Hazel back, though, and he’s not afraid to drop everything and try to convince her that he was totally mistaken in his no-strings sort of sexual camaraderie. Learning that Elliot is back give Scott, pause. How can he compete with the lost-love of Hazel’s life, even though he’s a big rich dude and his brothers are quite seriously BFFs with Hazel. Scott’s willing to let Hazel go, if she chooses to be with Elliot; he knows how to bow out gracefully. But, Hazel isn’t sure that turnig back to her first love is the best plan for the rest of her life.

This one is kinda sweet. I liked the dichotomy of finding love from one’s past, and within one’s present, with two different men. That said, I sometimes felt like the book took fifteen words to say what four might do. And, Scott was more self-sacrificing than I was comfortable with, for a hero. He was all swoony hearts-and-flowers and felt more perfect than real. Hazel has to get over her feelings of abandonment–by her parents, and by Elliot–before she can accept the love Scott freely offers, but she manages to make the right choice in the end. An extended epilogue leaves the reader in no doubt of the HEA.

Interested? You can find FOUND on Goodreads, and it’s only $.99 on Amazon, iBooks and Kobo through release week!

About the Author:
Claudia is an award-winning, international bestselling author. She lives in Colorado working for a small IT company, managing her household filled with three confused dogs, two daughters wrought with fandoms and a son who thinks he’s the boss of the house. And a wonderful husband who shares her love for all things geek. To survive she works continually to find purpose for the voices flitting through her head, plus she consumes high quantities of chocolate to keep the last threads of sanity intact.

Catch up with Claudia on Facebook, twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, or sign up for her newsletter for updates!

Thanks for popping in, and keep reading my friends!

Tough Road to FINDING HOME–A Review

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review for a recently released YA story with a touch of M/M romance from Garrett Leigh. FINDING HOME is a touching tale of a troubled teen boy trying to protect himself and his younger, deaf, sister once they fall into the foster care system. I’ve really liked MISFITS, WHAT REMAINS, HOUSE OF CARDS, and JUNKYARD HEART, so I was eager to read this one.

<a href="https://vsreads.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/finding-home.jpg”>About the book:
How do you find a home when your heart is in ashes?
With their mum dead and their father on remand for her murder, Leo Hendry and his little sister, Lila, have nothing in the world but each other. Broken and burned, they’re thrust into the foster care system. Leo shields Lila from the fake families and forced affection, until the Poulton household is the only place left to go.

Charlie de Sousa is used to other kids passing through the Poulton home, but there’s never been anyone like his new foster brother. Leo’s physical injuries are plain to see, but it’s the pain in his eyes that draws Charlie in the most.

Day by day, they grow closer, but the darkness inside Leo consumes him. He rejects his foster parents, and when Charlie gets into trouble, Leo’s attempt to protect him turns violent. When Leo loses control, no one can reach him—except Charlie. He desperately needs a family—a home—and only Charlie can show him the way.

My Review:
This is a contemporary YA story with a hint of M/M romance set in England.

Leo and Lila Hendry were unwilling witnesses to their mother’s murder, and barely survived the fire their abusive father set to their home. At fifteen, Leo’s had a rough life, and his outbursts of temper are causing problems with their foster placements. Getting sent to the Poulton’s home is a last-ditch effort to re-home them together.

Charlie de Sousa has lived with the Poulton’s since he was a toddler. He’s fifteen and out-gay, always struggling to fit in in school. Though the youngest kid in this foster home, Charlie was formally adopted years ago. Still, his parents know how soothing a personality Charlie has, and they hope he can help Leo mellow out. Lila is shy and skittish, but Leo is openly hostile to Charlie’s dad. Something Charlie can’t understand. Both his parents are the most generous and loving people he’s ever known. His mom suffers some hearing loss and all the kids can sign, which helps Lila fit right in–and unsettles Leo.

The more time Charlie spends around Leo, the more he recognizes the signs of PTSD–night terrors and irrational hatred of certain men. He does become a buffer, of sorts, sometimes coming into Leo’s room to lay a comforting hand on him when the nightmares are too fierce. Also, there’s an attraction. Charlie definitely thinks Leo is cute, but he’d never force himself on another boy–he has no idea that Leo feels the same. An unplanned moment of intimacy leads Charlie to make a terrible decision that nearly gets Leo arrested. Just when it looked like Leo had gotten the better of his temper issues, too.

There’s a whole lot to this story that I haven’t mentioned. It’s dark and troubled; the kids all have tough backstories and we get a front-row seat to Leo’s tragic family. The love he feels in the Poulton’s home is enough to draw Leo into therapy for his anger issues, and seems to be the home he’d always dreamed of. I loved the ending of this story, and how fantastically this foster family operates. Charlie and Leo do have a wee bit of passion for Charlie and Leo, but it’s age appropriate and a small part of the narrative. The bigger part is coping with one’s self, and finding a way past tragedy. Charlie’s such a giving kid, and his eagerness to make Leo and Lila welcomed shined through. Expect some pretty graphic scenes–including drinking, fighting and some drug use. It all felt very realistic, and bittersweet. I loved it, honestly.

Interested? You can find FINDING HOME on Goodreads, Riptide Publishing, Amazon Barnes & Noble, iTunes and Kobo. I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley.

About the Author:
Garrett Leigh is an award-winning British writer and book designer, currently working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id, Riptide Publishing, and Fox Love Press.

Garrett’s debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards, and her polyamorous novel, Misfits was a finalist in the 2016 LAMBDA awards.

When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible, all the while shouting at her menagerie of children and animals and attempting to tame her unruly and wonderful FOX.

Garrett is also an award winning cover artist, taking the silver medal at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com, and co-owns the specialist stock site moonstockphotography.com with renowned LGBTQA+ photographer Dan Burgess.

Otherwise you can find her on her website, twitter or Facebook.

Bad Juju in WICKED CHARM–Review and Giveaway

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a release day review and giveaway for a contemporary YA mystery/romance from Amber Hart. WICKED CHARM is an interesting read about two kids finding a connection, and the killer who might be trying to cut them loose.

Catch my review and enter the gift-blast giveaway down below.
About the book:
Nothing good comes from living in the Devil’s swamp.
Willow Bell thinks moving to the Okefenokee area isn’t half bad, but nothing prepares her for what awaits in the shadows of the bog.
Girls are showing up dead in the swamp. And she could be next.
Everyone warns Willow to stay away from Beau Cadwell―the bad boy at the top of their suspect list as the serial killer tormenting the small town.
But beneath his wicked, depthless eyes, there’s something else that draws Willow to him.
When yet another girl he knew dies, though, Willow questions whether she can trust her instincts…or if they’re leading to her own death.

How about a little taste?

Though Gran’s land is mostly wet, there’s solidness, too. My eyes trace the long path that cuts the property between Gran and Mr. Cadwell in half. I’m expecting to see nature—the kinds of birds Dad and Mom study, snakes, grass, and forever sky—the same things I’ve seen every morning since moving here with Dad and Mom to help Gran, who’s ailing but doesn’t like to admit it.

I get halfway down the path with my stare before my eyes snag on something. A serving spoon falls from my hand with a clatter into the sink.

“Who,” I whisper, “is that?”

Across the way stands a boy. He’s staring at me, wearing a twisted grin like he knows me. The wind ruffles his depths-of-the-ocean black hair. He’s wearing a dark shirt and dark jeans, and I cannot tear my eyes from his.

Gran hobbles over and looks out the window. “What is he doing so close to our side?”

“You know him?” I ask.

I can’t stop staring out the old weathered screen.

“Hell right, I do. Grandson of the evil next door. Trouble in living form. Someone oughta hand that boy a Bible. Change his life forever and ever, amen.”

Gran curses a lot. “Hell” is her favorite word.

“Hell, you’d better look away first,” Gran says. “B’fore he snares you for good.”

I wonder if she’s right. I want to look away first. Okay, that’s a lie. I don’t want to look away at all.

“Mother!” Dad’s voice enters the room a moment before he does. “Did I just hear you cursing around Willow again?”

I rip my eyes away—though it’s hard—to see Dad clad in shorts and a T-shirt, ready for another day of observation. He and Mom are ornithologists, scientists who study birds. Mom follows Dad into the kitchen and takes a seat at the table; her strawberry-blond hair is braided and slipped through the adjustable hole in her hat. Dad’s hair is like Gran’s and mine, his eyes, too. Mom’s eyes are blue, and I’m secretly glad mine are not. I enjoy being like Gran.

“It’s not good to curse around her; she’s only seventeen,” Dad continues.

In Florida, Dad and Mom studied birds so much that I hardly ever saw them. Here’s no different, but at least now I have Gran to keep me company.

“Doesn’t matter, and you know it,” Gran says. “A heart is a heart is a heart. A few words here and there won’t change that.”

My stare goes to the window again. The boy is gone.

“Quit looking for that boy, you hear?” Gran says, knowing.

“I’m not looking for him,” I reply. But I’m a lying liar.

“What boy?” Dad asks.

I join him and Mom at the table.

“No one,” my lying self answers.

“Stop thinking about him,” Gran says.

“I’m not!” I say, frustrated. But only because she knows me so well that I can’t hide myself from her.

Clearly Gran isn’t a fan. We drop it and eat our breakfast, Dad and Mom jabbering about some new species of bird they think they’ve discovered. Gran watching me like a hawk. And me wondering about the gorgeous black-souled, trouble-in-living-form grandson of the evil next door.

My Review:
Willow Bell has just come to like in the Okefenokee swamp with her aging grandmother and her parents–who are ornithologists and often gone on bird-watching excursions. Her grandma’s property has one close neighbor, Mr. Cadwell, who her Gran states is the Devil. He shares his home with his twin grandkids, Beau and Charlotte. Willow, Beau and Charlotte are all seniors in high school, and Willow notices Beau rather soon after her arrival. His fierce stare and attractiveness pull her in, though she gives good weight to her Gran’s warnings about Cadwells and how they will break a woman’s heart.

Beau has a big reputation as a heartbreaker, and it’s well-earned. Still, Willow isn’t too starry eyed. She may find Beau attractive, but she’s also a girl with a mission on her mind. She wants to explore her new surroundings and make new friends. Any interaction with Beau is long on exploring–outside of one’s own mind–and short on the physical. Beau is deeply private, and the rumors swill regarding his parents and their long absence–though that didn’t make much sense to me; its a small community. Nosy parkers abound. Still, he likes that Willow gives him the space to be real, and he confides in her some of his deepest secrets. Their bond is tested once the bodies of two girls turn up in the swamp. Two girls that Beau briefly dated. Is Beau involved? What about his friends, who seem a mite too jealous of Beau getting all the girls to swoon for him?

Willow is quick to defend Beau, but evidence points to someone close to him, and she’s not sure how to take it. Naturally, Beau defends his own, but the answer only comes to light when his family is threatened. It’s an interesting mystery/romance as Beau and Willow fight for their love against both Willow’s disapproving Gran, and the killer. I liked the action bits, and the context. The swamp is so well-described it’s almost another character in the book. These kids truly love their world, and are highly protective of the land and people who live there. That was interesting to experience, as a reader.

The end is a nice twist, with a killer that wasn’t the first suspect to mind. While Beau and Charlotte deal with their own personal tragedies, Willow’s there as a buffer, a friend, and more for Beau, just like she started.

Interested? You can find WICKED CHARM on Goodreads, Amazon (US, UK, CA, and AU) Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo and GooglePlay. I read a review copy provided by NetGalley.

Click on this Rafflecopter giveaway link for your chance to win a gift bundle including a $10 Starbucks card, a signed copy of WICKED CHARM, and two ebooks.
Good luck and keep reading my friends!

About the Author:
Amber Hart resides on the Florida coastline with family and a plethora of animals she affectionately refers to as her urban farm. When unable to find a book, she can be found writing, daydreaming, or with her toes in the sand. She’s the author of Wicked Charm and the Before & After series for teen readers, and the Untamed series for adult readers. Visit her online at http://www.amberhartbooks.com

Catch up with Amber on her website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Teen Angst GO YOUR OWN WAY–A Review

Hi there! Today I”m starting a week of teen stories and kicking it off with a book that’s been on my TBR for a long time. GO YOUR OWN WAY by Zane Riley is an odd-couple romance between an angry, abandoned black musical virtuoso, and an out-but-choosy white small-town boy. I read the sequel, WITH OR WITHOUT YOU more than a year ago, and I surely wanted to find out how Will and Lennox got together.

About the book:
Will Osborne couldn’t wait to put the roller coaster ride of his public education behind him. Having suffered bullying and harassment since grade school, he planned a senior year that would be simple and quiet before going away to college and starting fresh. But when a reform school transfer student struts into his first class, Will realizes that the thrill ride has only just begun.

Lennox McAvoy is an avalanche. He’s crude, flirtatious, and the most insufferable, beautiful person Will’s ever met. From his ankle monitor to his dull smile, Lennox appears irredeemable. But when Will’s father falls seriously ill, Will discovers that there is more to Lennox than meets the eye.

My Review:
Lennox McAvoy is nearly 18, and he’s already survived the loss of both parents, 18 months of juvie, and being exiled by his homophobic grandparents. All he needs to do is graduate high school–and then what remains of his family can wash their hands of him. He hasn’t seen his beloved younger sister Lucy in nearly two years–and it kills Lennox that his “guardian” grandfather just dumped him in rural Virginia, in a small town run-down hotel with barely enough allowance to keep the bills paid and some food in his belly. Isolated, Lennox wants to lash out, as he’d done many times before. But, if he doesn’t graduate, he’ll never see Lucy again.

Will isn’t sure what to make of Lennox. There aren’t any out kids at his school, but Lennox is all swagger and dirty mouth. Lennox learns that Will’s out, and takes no time tossing out some crude and poorly-received come-ons. While Lennox’s shell is a tough one to crack, Will does his own investigating, and learns about Lennox’s squalid living arrangements. I comes around the time that Will’s father has a big health setback, and Will needs a distraction from his worries. Lennox is down for that, but their connection grows as they confide more and more in one another.

I need to mention that there’s lots of graphic language, and sex on the page. Both Will and Lennox have troubles they aren’t comfortable confiding. I liked how they do connect, and how Will–who is a genuinely decent kid–sees beyond Lennox’s prickly facade. Lennox is used to losing all his loved ones, and he’s sure that Will will leave him broken-hearted. They are both risking pain, but they find so much more, instead. Will’s encouragement helps Lennox to make new friends, and find allies in their school–including the music teacher who becomes very important in the next books. There’s a lot of healing happening here, and Will and Lennox find more than just comfort with one another.

Interested? You can find GO YOUR OWN WAY on Goodreads, on sale on Interlude Press, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Kobo.

Meet the author:
Zane Riley is a transgender writer who wrote his first work of fan fiction in the fourth grade. He is a recent transplant to Vancouver, Washington where he spends his time watching long distance baseball games, hiking, and exploring the musical depths of the internet. His first novel, Go Your Own Way came out in 2015 from Interlude Press.

Catch up with Zane on Goodreads, Facebook, and twitter.

pride

Cephalopod Coffeehouse January 2018: Coming to a PRESSURE HEAD

0ed81-coffeehouseHi there! Welcome one and all to the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, a cozy gathering of book lovers, meeting to discuss their thoughts regarding the tomes they enjoyed most over the previous month. Pull up a chair, order your cappuccino and join in the fun.

Today I’m continuing my Enemies-to-Lovers theme with a contemporary M/M mystery romance from JL Merrow. PRESSURE HEAD is the first in the Plumber’s Mate series of truly fun mysteries that add a little romance. The main character is a plumber with a knack for finding water and lost/hidden items–including dead or missing people. It’s set in England, and has the absolute vernacular. The book came out several years back, but is being re-released by a new publisher.

About the book:
Some things are better left hidden.
Tom Paretski’s not just a plumber with a dodgy hip courtesy of a schoolboy accident. He also has a sixth sense for finding hidden things. Called in by the police to help locate a body near Brock’s Hollow, he’s staggered to encounter Phil Morrison, his old school crush—and the closeted bully whose actions contributed to Tom’s accident.

Phil’s all grown up now, and Tom’s unwilling attraction to him is back with a vengeance. Phil’s now openly gay—and what’s more, he’s interested in Tom’s personal charms as well as his psychic talents. As a private investigator called in by the dead woman’s parents, Phil is sceptical about Tom’s unusual gift, but nevertheless quick to spot its potential to aid him in his work.

The further they go with the investigation, the less they can ignore their shared past, and the more the pressure and the heat build between them. But Tom isn’t certain he wants to know the secrets he’s helping to uncover, while there’s a murderer on the loose who won’t hesitate to kill again—and this uneasy couple is moving right into his sights.

My Review:
Tom Paretski is a plumber with an unfortunate name–his step-granddad was Polish, and customers continually marvel at Tom’s fluent English–and a family that’s still rather posh. Tom might have gone to uni if his schoolmate bullies hadn’t terrorized him into running into the street and getting hit by a lorry–resulting in eight months of surgeries and therapy and no time to study for his A-level exams. A decade later Tom’s philosophical about it; he’s had an inexplicable gift for finding water, which helps him on the leak trail. It’s also good for lost or hidden things. The more guilt associated with the secret hiding place, the stronger Tom can sense it, like a beacon of shame. And, his pal on the detective unit sometimes calls Tom in, on the down-low, if there’s a big search on.

It’s how he reunites with his chief childhood bully, Phil Morrison. Phil was a London cop, but now he’s returned to their hometown to set up a business in personal investigations. Phil doesn’t believe that Tom just stumbled across the body of the woman he’d been hired to find; he assumes Tom must have had inside information, info that could help his clients–the parents of the deceased girl and her devastated boyfriend–find peace and justice.

Tom isn’t best pleased to find Phil on his tail, or that he still, unwillingly, find Phil to be handsome. He wants to hate Phil for the part he played in Tom’s nightmarish bullying, and eventual injury. Phil though it was just boys-being-boys, but he’s sensitive enough to recognize that Tom’s understanding of the situation back then was very different from his own. And Phil admits a very serious level of respect for Tom, who was out and not-so-proud back at school. Phil suffered a lot of insecurity in those days, having been closeted himself, and a welfare family. Tom seemed smug, and posh, then, Phil thought, but only because Tom was afraid to get close to anyone and be pounded. Interesting that both men had a secret hankering back in school.

Now, however, Tom’s proved his valuable skill to Phil, and Phil’s taken to bringing him along in his investigations of the murder. It gets really dicey when they learn the victim had some issue within the church–where she volunteered in the budgets office. Lots of suspicions are being made about her boyfriend, a recovering addict, too. And it seems the only person with sufficient motive may have been the vicar, who’s hiding with his rather sordid past of wild sex parties.

The combinations of characters really bring this story to life. Tom’s casual English and affable nature win over some of the most recalcitrant of witnesses. I loved the banter, and Tom’s sharp wit. The enemies-to-comrades-to-lovers angle worked out well, with appropriate delay and catch-up. And outrage, on the part of Tom’s pals and family; they all have a poor opinion of Phil from that school days. It’s interesting how fastidious Phil is about his clothing, car and flat–that he makes a great effort to look the part of the successful man, to distance himself from his impoverished childhood. Meanwhile, Tom, who was raised in a middle class family, has a workingman’s profession. So there’s some interesting class themes explored, as well as redemption for both Tom and Phil, for their bad childhood behavior. Their romance is sweet and catches Tom by surprise, in a good way. Expect a little bit of sexytimes, when they finally get on the same page, I’ve read two other books in this series and highly recommend them all.

Interested? You can find PRESSURE HEAD on Goodreads, Riptide Publishing, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and Kobo. I received a review copy via NetGalley.

About the Author:
JL Merrow is that rare beast, an English person who refuses to drink tea. She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again. Her one regret is that she never mastered the ability of punting one-handed whilst holding a glass of champagne.

She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporary gay romance and and mysteries, and is frequently accused of humour. Her novel Slam! won the 2013 Rainbow Award for Best LGBT Romantic Comedy and her novella Muscling Through and novel Relief Valve were both EPIC Awards Finalists.

JL Merrow is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, International Thriller Writers, Verulam Writers’ Circle and the UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet organising team.

Find JL Merrow online on her website, twitter and Facebook.

Thanks for popping in and be sure to check out the reviews for my fellow Coffeehouse presenters this month: