Review: Develop (Project Adapt Series Book 3) by Jade Waltz

Develop by Jade Waltz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ruling A Moon

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

This third book in the series sees Selena trying to adjust to her new life on the moon, gifted to her by Zirene. She has created so many plans to ensure her people of many races are safe, happy and fulfilled. She’s trying to make sure there will be income for her moon to sustain it’s people by developing tourism. At the same time she is coming to terms with trying to be a leader, a position she has no training for or experience of. Her nestmates, the two princes, are helping guide her in the ways in which she must act in order to ensure her people’s confidence in her.

At the same time she is adjusting to motherhood, with three cubs of a different species, due to her unique DNA. She’s having to accept the help of others because she’s can’t fulfil all their needs.

She’s also trying to ensure all her nestmates are happy and getting equal attention because she doesn’t want to act like other nestqueens, and take her nestmates for granted. She wants everyone to be happy. However, it seems that the outside universe doesn’t seem to agree with her philosophy and the outside tries to keep pushing it’s way in.

I really enjoyed this book. This series is great fun, and I love how the different species and cultures interact. The world building is superb in this series. The first half of the book was mainly focused on the relationships within the clan and it was a more gentle pace, but as things moved into the latter stages of the book, everything shifted up a gear, and ended in a HUGE cliffhanger. Jade Waltz, you are mean! It would appear that in the next book there are going to be even more changes for Selena to face!

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Review: Wolf Child (The Year of The Wolf Series Book 1) by Serena Akeroyd

Wolf Child by Serena Akeroyd
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Fantastic New World To Dive Into

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

I haven’t read all of Serena Akeroyd’s book, but most of them have rated pretty high on my list of books I’d like to read again. I particularly enjoyed TriAlpha Chronicles and this book takes us into another wolf shifter based world.

The world building is complex and interesting and I really enjoyed getting the outline of the way the shifter culture was structured, especially learning about the role the Mother plays in their society.

Ethan and Austin are twin wolf shifters, a rarity in their world. They are joint enforcers for their pack and are having a rare time off wandering round a carnival when they find a woman who has been nearly killed by an alpha wolf shifter. As it is a full moon she is likely to survive and transition, even though her attack is forbidden and her attacker will be punished. The twins take her back to pack land and watch her transformation before taking her to Eli the pack alpha. All three are drawn to her.

Sabina has had a very hard life and has spent the last 12 years hiding in carnivals to avoid being killed by her father or brother. When she is transformed she has no life to walk away from and reaches for her new life with open hands, not realising the full depth of the changes about to happen in her life.

As always with this author’s work the character development is excellent. They are all distinctive in a believable way that avoids the caricatures that are easy to use when writing about multiple characters. The plot construction is clever and engaging, as the author pulls you through the twists and turns of their relationships with each other, the Mother and the pack. There were a few slower moments in the middle of the book, but I still quite enjoyed them because they were essential to the growth of the characters.

This world is so enticing I can’t wait to read the next book in the series, which seems to involve Sabina’s sister from the tantalising snippet at the end of the last book. This is the only problem with reading a book as soon as it comes out, you have to wait ages for the next one. At least there was no cliffhanger, just a well written book that encourages the reader to get their hands on the next book as soon as possible to carry out learning about the author’s world.

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Review: A Broken Jewel (Jade Series Book 1) by Lucy Rains

A Broken Jewel by Lucy Rains
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Genetic Experiments and Evil Mothers

I’d not come across this author before this week when someone recommended this series on a group I belong to. After reading the blurb I was happy to download the book. It more than met my expectations.

It’s Jade’s birthday and her mother hasn’t come home again. She’s a respected scientist who travels the world and leaves her daughter at home with only the supervision of a house manager. Her mother is undemonstrative, unkind, absent even when physically present, strict and incredibly demanding. Jade constantly strives for her approval and yet she never gets it.

Jade’s mother keeps her isolated so she lives an incredibly lonely life with only two real friends and even they are not aware of Jade’s life outside of school. Jade has plans to escape her mother’s control but it’s going to take some time. Then she meets two young men who try to convince her to leave with them before she’s ready. She doesn’t trust them or understand their need to get her away from her mother so urgently, until things come to a head and she has no more room to put off making decisions.

For an 18 year old, Jade was pretty mature. She was intelligent, patient and determined. Then when she met the guys she became a bit hormonal teenager with rage issues. Normally I’d be put off by that, but it was obvious from the direction of the plot that were reasons for her behaviour, it just wasn’t obvious when it occurred.

This story really draws you in. It starts off quite ordinary and slowly drop by drop the intrigue builds and you become more and more captivated by the secrets that start to be revealed. It’s a fascinating book and I can’t wait to read the next in the series because the ending raised a whole lot of new questions just as a few are answered.

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Review: Legacy (Shifters of Consequence Series Book 2) by Mazzy J March

Legacy by Mazzy J. March
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Meeting the Neighbours

This is the second book in the series and carries straight on from the first book. Wendi is getting much stronger and doesn’t need her wheelchair often. She’s still not completely secure about the use of her body, but she’s getting there, the longer she is without the pills.

Another local pack has heard about Wendi and invokes an old treaty that allows them to ‘court’ her whether she likes it or not. She is forced to visit their pack in order to avert a war. She goes with Escher, because it used to be his pack. It’s during this visit she is first introduced to the idea of harems. It’s not the best introduction.

I enjoy these books, but part of me is a little sad that the main character gets better and no longer has a disability. I don’t mean it’s sad that someone gets better, but that it’s so rare to find books about characters with disability that I kind of hate it was a plot device rather than a difficulty the character had to live with. It plays into the idea that if you try hard enough you can find the reason for disability and get better. This isn’t the case in real life very often and I don’t like the attitude to bleed into fiction when I deal with it in real life. Apart from this I still enjoy the books for the character development.

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Review: Angus (Conner Brothers Constructions Series Book 2) by Cee Bowerman

Angus by Cee Bowerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When Two Families Meet

The second book in the series about the Conner Brothers is about Angus, ‘the grumpy one’.

Violet Merida is the daughter of a country music legend, who sadly died in a plane crash with her father. She lives with her two sisters in a big old house that her parents had built for their entire family to live in long term. One of Violet’s sisters followed in her mother’s footsteps and the other is a famous video game designer. Violet writes books under a pen name.

Violet and Angus meet in awful circumstances when she is a on date that she needs rescuing from. Angus is attracted to Violet but they don’t get a chance to exchange information before a family emergency occurs. When they meet a few months later everything changes and the families are pulled together.

I like Violet. She’s insecure about herself and the way she looks, but loves her work and her family and is secure with those aspects of her life, just not the romance side of things. She loving and supportive of her siblings.

Though Angus is a grump, he also is very loving and loyal to his family. It’s sweet to see how he responds to Violet and to her sisters too. I love how the families embrace each other’s traditions and help each other.

Once again this is a sweet insta-lust/love romance and things move quickly. There is drama but the story is more about the romance and the family side of things. It’s an enjoyable, warm and fuzzy read.

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Review: Shadows and Shade (Shadows and Shade Series Book 1 ) by Amanda Cashure

Shadows and Shade by Amanda Cashure
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting ideas

I’d probably give this 3.5 ⭐️ if I could.

There was an awful lot packed into this book. This is quite common with the first novel in a series, particularly fantasy novels because of the amount of world building required. I felt initially like a lot of information was thrown at me, but then it slowed down a bit.

Shade is a servant (read: slave) and is 18 years old. She works for a very cruel master who is overly interested in Shade as she spends a great deal of time trying to avoid him. She also does a lot to protect her fellow servants, especially the children, even if it means putting him her master’s eye-line.

One day, she is chained up waiting to be whipped, when four strange men arrive at the manor. They see her chained up and decide to take her away from the manor, for inexplicable reasons. The everything starts to get strange because they head into the enchanted forest, from which no one returns and only bad things come out of it. What she actually finds is that inside the enchanted forest is another realm, one which is full of power and magic. It’s a land filled with immortals and Shade is a very vulnerable and inexperienced mortal.

The plot of this book seems highly inconsistent. In a world where Elites rule and servants are lucky to get paid at the end of their 50 years of service, it seems unlikely that it would be ok for a servant to wander about as she likes and not get into too much trouble, or that she would be allowed to attend classes without a great deal of discussion and negotiation. I also felt that Shade was annoyingly flippant about getting into trouble in a brand new world to her.

I find myself having more and more trouble empathising with very young women as the lead in a novel. I find myself asking “was I this stupid at 18?” And not knowing the answer because it was too long ago to recall perfectly. This lack of empathy on my part makes it harder for me to connect with a story, and this book is no exception. However, it was an interesting idea and things about the world building are intriguing. The plot is a little fuzzy, to be honest, as I think it got lost in the world building. Part of me wants to read the next book to see what it’s all about and the other part of me things I have a huge TBR list that isn’t getting any shorter. Who knows whether I’ll read the next book or not!

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Review: Finn (The Conner Brother Construction Series Book 1) by Cee Bowerman

Finn by Cee Bowerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Insta-Family Time

This is a different series in the same town as Texas Knights MC and Texas Kings MC. There is some crossover of characters too, which I like because it means I get to read about some of my favourites from the other books, even if they are only on the periphery.

The Conner family have a construction business, built by their mother and father. There are 7 surviving children in the family after a car accident killed the parents and two sisters and the husband of one of the sisters. Finn is trying manage the business, which is very short handed and things are getting overlooked.

Lena found out her father had terminal cancer and moved home to look after him. Her stepmother didn’t lift a finger to nurse him. After her father’s death she carried on living with her stepmother until one day she threw her out of her own home. Desperate to use her office management degree she applies for the job at Connor Construction. She and Finn click immediately and they both gratefully decide on her starting work straight away. This is the start of Finn being absorbed into the family and rescuing them from their grief, especially Finn.

I really enjoyed this book. It had lots of emotion, drama and humour. I thought the Conner family was hilarious and want to be adopted the way Lena was. The characters are all fantastic and I can’t wait to read about all the other brothers.

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Review: The Thrice Marked (Rozalyn Hunt Series Book 2) by Liddie Cain

The Thrice Marked by Liddie Cain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fun Journey Into Fairy

I’d probably give this a 3.75 ⭐️ if I could.

This is a fun book that continues a couple of month after the first book in the series ended. Felix has gone missing and has been gone for three months. No one has heard from him and no one knows where he went or what he’s been doing. Mac and Roz can’t sense him but they know he’s not dead.

Then a new demon comes to take over for Felix and starts throwing her weight around wreaking havoc on their nice town. Conall the Unseelie King hears word of Felix and offers his help, but vampires can’t go to Fairy and Roz and Darby have to go without Mac or Jason.

There was a lot packed into this novel and I felt that it needed a little bit more room to breathe. There was a lot of plot and Roz finding new men interested in her, but there wasn’t much time for emotional development. I hope that the next book in the series slows down the plot punches and looks at the characters more and finds that lovely balance where everything comes into alignment, because I feel like the series has that potential.

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Review: Fly Boy (Tobin Tribe Series Book 2) by Caitlyn Coakley)

Fly Boy by Caitlyn Coakley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Playboy Redeemed

This is the second book in the Tobin Tribe series and it follows Megan Smith and BJ Tobin from the first book. Both are wounded individuals and seem to have absolutely nothing in common.

Megan is a widowed single mother who grew up in foster care with only her brother for support and who got them out of poverty. She suffered post-partum depression and was hospitalised for it, losing her son in the process. She fought through it all and is now living in nice safe home, on the insurance and inheritance that her husband left behind. She works for charity and goes to church every week.

BJ is the eldest of the Tobin brothers. He good looking, charming, witty and has his own helicopter business. On top of that he is rich and very popular with women and he has no problem with them throwing themselves at him. He only goes to church when his parents force him to.

The two of them meet when they become godparents together for Ethan and Stephanie’s daughter. There are fireworks! Slowly over time they see each other around family events, especially as BJ’s mother has become Megan’s son’s honorary grandmother. BJ’s eyes are opened by Megan and he begins to look at life a little more differently.

It’s a nice story with some pain and sadness showing that suffering is not the sole prerogative of the poor, though there are many more causes for it. There is some discussion of privilege and class which is interesting as it is something they argue about, something rarely discussed in such broad terms in a romance novel.

The journey Megan, BJ and Pete take together is a lovely one and is supported by their families, without being intrusive. It’s a good story and I’m looking forward to future books about the Tobin Tribe.

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Review: Bear (Texas Kings MC Series Book 9) by Cee Bowerman

Bear by Cee Bowerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rich Girl in Rojo

This book runs parallel to the John and Mattie book, number 8 in the series. Autumn is Marie’s friend from New Orleans who also happens to be incredibly rich and owns her own plane. She was looking for a change, as she’d been unhappy for a while, so took Marie up on her offer to leave New Orleans, head to Rojo and then continue on if they didn’t find what they were looking for.

Bear became friends with all the Texas Kings MC men when he was at school. He moved to town when he was 14 after his Dad died. Before that he lived in a cabin they built together on a mountain. He went into the Marines after high school and came back even more quiet and unwilling to open up to anyone. He has a cabin he built in a canyon outside town with not a lot of electricity in it. He loves the quiet solitude where he can sit in silence and not worry about anyone else.

When Autumn and Bear meet they are immediately drawn together and after Bear is shot protecting Autumn she swoops in to look after him.

Autumn is a really interesting character. She starts off as a poor little rich girl and is slowly unveiled into someone completely different. She actually fits in incredibly well with the Texas Kings and in particular Bear. This book is much less about the plot and more about the slow revelations about the characters and their evolving relationship. There is some excitement but it was much less important than how Bear feels about Autumn and why.

I really enjoyed this book and I think it’s one of my favourites of the series.

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Review: Black Dog Rising by Kat Caulberg

Black Dog Rising by Kat Caulberg
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Surprisingly Subtle and Complex

This book is slow and subtle crawls underneath your skin. It lures you onwards just as you think you might give up because the whispers of what goes on underneath the surface start to drive you mad with frustration. I needed to know what was going on and it made me continue to turn pages even when I felt like nothing was happening. Only it was happening, it was simply too subtle to see it moving until you looked away and then back again.

Emma is an American who has lived in the UK with her boyfriend Shane for 6 months. It was a rocky relationship but it got worse when they moved to the UK. We first encounter her in Ninestone Downs after running away from a dangerous encounter with Shane’s deceased wife (yes I did say deceased).

Toby the local landlord takes pity on the American woman and lets her stay in a tiny room because the village is packed with tourists, there for the Midsummer Festival. Toby is more than he seems, a protector who is tied to the landscape of the village. Toby and Emma are drawn together despite themselves. At the same time Emma has captured the attention of dangerous forces.

I have to be honest here, I read this book because I was approached by the author. I probably wouldn’t have seen it otherwise. If I hadn’t said I would review it I probably would have given up at around 20% because it felt like nothing was happening, but I’m glad I stuck it out because it got increasingly enthralling as it progressed.

I don’t want to give too much away because it’s the way things are revealed that make it a good book. Stick with it, because it’s well worth your time.

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Review: John & Mattie (Texas Kings MC Series Book 8) by Cee Bowerman

John & Mattie by Cee Bowerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Lawyer and Two Bikers

Maria is friends with Willow. They grew up together but grew more and more distant as the years passed because the man she married wasn’t someone Willow got on with. Maria also moved away and lived a horrendously busy life. So horrendously busy she collapsed at work with a stomach ulcer. It was a wake up call and she decided to listen when her body spoke.

When she got a phone call from Willow’s mother inviting her to Willow’s last minute wedding she talked her friend Autumn into leaving New Orleans and heading to Texas to try and find a new way of life, away from the ones they were currently in and not enjoying.

Maria was met at the airport by John and Mattie, two friends who do EVERYTHING together. Mattie wants to settle down but John doesn’t think anyone would want both of them, other than for a fling. This book starts with the usual insta-lust that this series always has but this relationship is much more bumpy than the others. There was definitely a shortage of communication between the parties. However, as usual there is a HEA so the sadness didn’t go on for too long.

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Review: For Pete's Sake (Tobin Tribe Series Book 1) by Caitlyn Coakley

For Pete's Sake by Caitlyn Coakley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Captivating Marriage Of Convenience Story

I’d probably give this 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

I always enjoy a good marriage of convenience book, they are usually entertaining and a good distraction from every day living, but this one was better than most I’ve read. What it had was plot, in spades.

Stephanie is a CEO of her grandfather’s financial company. Her parents died a few months ago and now she’s burying her husband of a year, who she just found out was married to someone else and had a baby with. Her board are determined to drive her out of her own company and are driving her crazy and her life just feels like it’s been ripped apart again.

Ethan is a personal injury attorney. One of the best in the city. He serves Stephanie with law suit papers at her husband’s funeral and for once he does not relish the start of the fight, because he knows that Stephanie isn’t to blame for his sister’s loss and for his nephew being without a father.

This first meeting leads to them getting married a few days later to save Stephanie’s company from the law suit and Ethan from losing his nephew into the foster care system.

I loved both of these characters so much. They were big and bold and strong. They also had vulnerabilities that were slowly revealed during the course of the book that stopped them from being the caricatures they could have been.

There was gentle humour in the book as well as the carefully crafted plot and the conversations between the characters were entertaining and heart warming. There was some predictability in the plot but I didn’t care because it was well written and enjoyed the journey, as much as I would have done the surprise.

I’m pleased to see that there is another book in the series already out as I really enjoyed meeting the whole Tobin clan and look forward to reading about the ‘boys’.

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Review: Tucker (Texas Kings MC Series Book 7) by Cee Bowerman

Tucker by Cee Bowerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finding A Family

Tucker has had a pretty awful life. He was in prison with Sonny and got the same amnesty after they saved the nephew of a powerful man. Sonny offered Tucker a place to start over and he went and became a prospect.

Drea has been around since the very beginning, and was in elementary school with most of the Texas Kings MC and the Texas Knights MC. She is intertwined with the group as though she was born into it. Drea’s life hasn’t been great either but she does have the MCs and her adorable Granny, which is a lot more than Tucker ever had.

Drea has been working like crazy and hasn’t been around much so Tucker and Drea had never met, despite him being around for a few months. When they meet they instantly click (of course they do, that’s what happens with this series!).

There are quite a few emotional and circumstantial hurdles Tucker and Drea have to get over in order to get their HEA, but they are up for the task.

This is another sweet insta-love book that has plenty of the warm and fuzzies, and I can’t seem to stop reading them!

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Review: Desolation Road (Torpedo Ink Series Book 4) by Christine Feehan

Desolation Road by Christine Feehan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dark Paranormal MC Romance

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

I’ve been reading Christine Feehan books for years, starting out in my library days. Some of the series are better than other and I think this one is one of my favourites. The books are kind of standalone, but you will be confused at times if you haven’t read the other books in the series.

Absinthe is a member of Torpedo Ink, an MC that started with a core of 18 members. Those members escaped from Russia where they had been tortured and trained as children to be assassins. In order to survive they developed their physical, mental and psychic skills, working together to gain their freedom.

Absinthe’s skills often leave him overwhelmed by images of not only his past but the horrors of his brothers’ past too. In order to get away and find peace he finds libraries and one day he walked into one where Scarlet, the librarian, works. Immediately drawn to one another, Absinthe takes his time to make his first approach, never dreaming that her need for him is as great as his for her.

One of the things about these books is that they good long books. They don’t try and cram everything in at under 250 pages. You get slow build up of tension and the characters are given time to breathe. The characters within Torpedo Ink are all incredibly close to each other because of what they have endured, and the way they relate to each other is fascinating. Their interactions form the backbone of the series and time is spent on their relationships with each other, as well as focusing on the romance.

As I said in the header, this is a dark book. There are explicit depictions of torture, rape, murder and child abuse. If these subjects make make you uncomfortable you have been warned. However, the author does not revel in the darkness, in fact these images and facts are used to show how far the characters have come. Nonetheless I feel it necessary to make a point of warning people about those images.

I really enjoyed this book and was drawn into the story very quickly, as the plot was interesting. There are lots of hot scenes, including bdsm, which were fun to read. I have pre-ordered the next book because I don’t want to miss what happens next with this unusual MC.

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Review: Smokey (Texas Kings MC Series Book 6) by Cee Bowerman

Smokey by Cee Bowerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Flashbacks

I don’t normally like it when a series jumps back in time because it interrupts the flow of the story, but this was handled extremely well.

The books covers the meeting of Smokey and Martha and their four boys, a story that had been told from the point of view of the boys, but never from that of the adults. The story starts in 1973 in diner and works forward to the current timeline, where Smokey and Martha are celebrating their 25th anniversary.

The story isn’t completely mired in 1973, as it works it’s way forward with stories from important times in the family’s history. I always liked Smokey and Martha and this book made me like them even more. They were kind and loving parents who would protect their children at all costs. The stories also revealed important facts about their children as most of the key events in their lives also included their kids. Those stories were revealing about the current generation of Texas Kings and I really enjoyed that aspect. It explains why the four boys were so incredibly close despite starting as two families.

So despite not being a fan of interrupting the flow of a story, in this case I’ll compliment the author and enjoy the next book knowing more about the history of the Texan Kings MC.

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Review: Chaotic (Arcane Mage Series Book 1) by T S Snow

Chaotic by T.S. Snow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Slow Start, But Well Worth Sticking With

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and only read it because the blurb sounded really good and it was in KU, which means if I didn’t like it I wouldn’t have spent money on it. I’m glad I took the gamble because this was a really interesting book.

The book starts slowly, but gradually increases in tempo as more and more layers are added to the world in which Charisma inhabits. Charisma is a Magical Engineer. We meet her on her graduation day from the academy which gives her the right to legally sell her work.

Charisma is 25 and was cast out from her house, where she should have been the heir, when she was 18 for being too weak in magic. In order to make ends meet she’s been selling her magical engineering skills illegally ever since.

Now it seems she has suddenly become incredibly popular with the houses, in particular the male heirs of the houses. In most cases it’s not just for her technical skills.

One of the things that nearly made me stop reading the book was the “cute, powerful girl who didn’t know her won worth and was incredibly clumsy but oh so adorable whilst she did it” main character. I am really tired of this caricature of a main character as it feels lazy when so many other people use it. However, the longer I read, the more I realised that there was a lot more to Charisma.

I liked that we didn’t have to go through the whole Academy thing. She was skilled, experienced and knew her own abilities, which is something I liked. I also liked the way the tension very slowly ramped up. This is something I like in my Reverse Harem stories. It means you get to know the characters before they start having to interact. There was still time for some heat though.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I’m glad I stuck with it, because when I did the slow start made sense and the pace felt right. The world building was interesting and the characters were intriguing. I will warn you though, that there was a heck of a cliffhanger. I have no idea when the next book will be out, but I will be downloading it when it does because I *really* want to know what happens next.

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Review: The Lure of the Devil (Demon's Muse Series Book 4) by Auryn Hadley

The Lure of the Devil by Auryn Hadley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Devil Strikes Back

This series just gets more and more enthralling. It’s so hard to put this book down and actually do stuff like eat and sleep, but it’s a good sized book, so you kind of have to.

There is so much content in this book it’s hard to describe what kind of book it is. However, as this is book 4 of a series it’s a safe bet that if you are reading this review you know what kind of book this is. As always, this author has an amazingly well constructed plot that dances along, luring us away from the real world. It’s impossible not to dive into the worlds that Auryn Hadley constructs for her readers because they are so beautifully thought out and described. The characters leap off the page and into the world already constructed in your mind and you can’t help but believe in them. These characters are so well thought out with flaws and all that you can’t help but empathise with them.

In this book Lucifer has a bit more a starring role as he finally starts to get his head on straight after lots and lots of encouragement. We also find out exactly what Sia is and what her role is within the Legion. It’s a bit mind blowing throughout the whole book to be honest! I love the way this series has developed and can’t wait to read the final book in the series.

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Review: Allegory (Champion Series Book 1) by L Ann Marie

Allegory : Bikers, Masons, Freaky Princes of Prophecy kids and Alpha-Bits have nothing on the Stooges and Cort. by L. Ann Marie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

East Meets West

This series has always been a bit strange for me because my great uncle was a Mason. He was not at all cool in the way these Masons are cool, though I do have my suspicions about his exploits in Chile in the 1920s!

Champion is the club that is mainly focused on the integrating Badass and the Masons, working towards equality and spreading the work of both organisations, far and wide.

In this book we also see how BSC from the East Coast has become intertwined with the Phoenix Rising clubs. Several of the youngest generation from BSC have moved to the PBSC and the first we spend any time with is Hannah, one of Brantley’s adopted daughters. She’s a reader but her main focus is IT. She’s an interesting character and her Pres Trask is a good man who wants more women in the both the PBSC and the Masons.

There are some very funny scenes with the Stooges, dogs and virtual creations. As always there are some spicy scenes and some violent ones. It’s always a good easy going read when one of these books come out. They are entertaining and fun. This book is no different and I really enjoyed the mashing up of the two parts of the Badass world. 

 

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Review: The Sins of Desire (The Demon's Muse Series Book 3) by Auryn Hadley

The Sins of Desire by Auryn Hadley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Title Says It All

This book continues Sia’s story. The book focuses mainly on her struggles with her feelings towards the members of her legion. There is a lot of discussion about it. Initially I felt that it was a bit overdone, but as time went on I realised that if someone had to completely upend their entire belief system in a matter of months, you would need a lot of thinking and talking about it. I loved one of the guys telling her;

"You come from a world where women are ruled by shame. Shame that you aren't pretty enough, smart enough, loyal enough, or anything else. You could sum all of that up as 'not good enough.' It colors every decision you make - for now."

It made it clear that they understood her doubts in the context of the society she’d been brought up in.

The continuing focus of the story was the war between the demons and angels and how that affects the middle realms. The First Legion doesn’t want the angels to continue causing war and pain in order to feed their desire for convenient technologies.

I really loved how the characters developed within this book, especially getting to see more of Bel and Ron. Both are wonderful characters; loyal, sweet and kind. There were quite a few POV throughout the book and I really enjoyed seeing those different ways of looking at the story.

This series continues to be engaging and captivating. The world building is complicated and compelling, the characters are unique and fascinating and the plot is a complex wonder that pulls you on, page after page, even when you should be asleep.

I can’t wait to read the next book!

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Review: Mistaken by Pixie R Unger

Mistaken by Pixie R Unger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Unusual Alien Invasion Book

I don’t know why this book so appealed to me from the description but it really did.

Kari has been living in a High School for the last couple of years. She lives with hundreds of other humans. They’ve been placed there by a race of aliens who took over. She has been raising Max since the day he was born, a little half alien child abandoned by his mother for being the product of rape.

Max wasn’t the only half alien baby born and one day an older male alien tells her he has to choose a father for Max, not realising that she is also choosing a mate. She is dragged away from the High School with her little boy to start a new life and is terrified. Ever since the aliens came life has been turned upside down and terrifying, it seems things haven’t changed with this new occurrence.

The book unfolded gradually over time and we learn more about Kari and her past. We also learn that maybe cultural differences and misunderstandings has made the whole process of aliens being on Earth even worse than it needs to be.

I love Bear so much. He is a wonderfully patient and gentle character. He cares so much for his little family and it’s beautiful seeing his pride when Kari gives him little gifts of trust.

It’s a really unusual story that I really enjoyed but it ended so abruptly with so many unanswered questions that I hope that there is a follow up. I’ve not read this author before but I’ll certainly be looking out for her again.

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Review: Seventh Seal (Lovin' The Coven Series Book 7) by Jacquelyn Faye

Seventh Seal by Jacquelyn Faye
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Funny and Hot

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

This final book in the series is both very funny and very hot, just like the rest of the books. Dot manages to acquire another man that she doesn’t know what to do with. She’s happy with the ones she’s got thank you very much. Her mother’s still in town, there’s an anti-witch movement in Cedar Falls and there’s issues with the vampires. On top of all that she wants to free her father from torment.

A lot happens in this book and it rounds out the series well. There were a few unanswered questions but they are more niggles than frustrations. They didn’t need answering for the plot to work, it just annoys me when everything isn’t answered for a sense of completeness.

There are some laugh out loud moments in the book. I love the way the author looks at things and she has a very clever turn of phrase that appeals to my sense humour. The sex scenes are incredibly hot too.

One of the things I really loved about this series is the way Dot wants all her people to be happy and safe and she does everything in her power to make that happen. Her polyamorous relationship works because she supports her lover’s happiness to the best of her ability, and they do the same for her. I like how this author has her characters talking out their problems before they get too huge because they are mature adults who care for each other and that’s something I like to see in poly books.

I shall miss this series, but I’ll probably re-read it when I’m in need of a few laughs and distraction from life.

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Review: Not Quite Hunter (Not Quite Series Book 3) by Kaye Draper

Not Quite Hunter by Kaye Draper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Out Into The Wastelands

Theo manages to convince Sam and his guild to venture across the Wastelands to the next city and back, in order to pick up his cousin. They reluctantly allow him to come with them and they also take the unsanctioned hunter, that helped them in the last book, as a kind of trial run for if they invite her to join the guild.

This book has a few changes in POV which I liked as it allowed us to see Sam from the outside. However, I wish the author would give a heads up at the start of the change in POV, as it always takes me almost a full paragraph to understand what’s going on.

Sam reveals more of themself during this book to his companions and this slow unveiling of their character is very enjoyable. As a reader it feels like I’ve earned their trust by sticking with the series.

As in the previous books this has a good balance of action and adventure, plot progression, world building and character exploration. It’s hard to work all that into a shorter book, but, because it’s a series, the author manages it well. I hope the next book comes out soon!

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Review: Lout (Texas Kings MC Series Book 5) by Cee Bowerman

Lout by Cee Bowerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lout is a Gentleman

Lout went to school with Forresters and had a really bad home life. Martha and Smokey of course took him under their wing and he rapidly became part of the family, especially when he moved out and took his younger siblings with him at age 18. He is a really interesting character who made something of himself through grit and determination and then helped his siblings do the same.

Willow is Summer’s sister and Shannon’s daughter. She is a cosmetologist and hairdresser and had her own business in a different city. When Summer got married she and her brother decided to move into her old house and she knew she wanted to open a new business after selling her old one for a fortune.

I love these two characters. They seem so different but actually have a lot in common. Both are as loving, determined and fierce as the other. Willow has no sense of embarrassment and Lout was taught how to be a gentleman by Martha. It makes for some interesting encounters.

Even though there was instant attraction between the two, because they lived in different cities they had to spend time getting to know each other over the phone and with short visits over a period of week, until Willow is able to move. We also learn a lot about Lout’s history and it is amazing he turned out as well as he did.

This was a really lovely story about family, both blood and found.

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Review: Not Quite Beast (Not Quite Series Book 2) by Kaye Draper

Not Quite Beast: Harem/Reverse Harem Urban Fantasy by Kaye Draper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Action, Adventure and Romance

This book follows on from the first in the series with only a short gap of time. Fin and Sam are dating and they are both enjoying taking it slowly. Emerson has a crush on Sam to which they are oblivious and it’s really sweet how a giant half-ogre can be so shy.

Things are ticking on along nicely when Sam gets a visit from Theo, the new head of the city and he requests that they track down the group of people that tried to kill him for a huge sum of money. Sam being skint decides that working for a human isn’t *that* bad. When Fin and Emerson find out, of course they demand to be allowed to help.

This book builds on the relationships between the guild members both emotionally and professionally. There is plenty of action as Sam and co take on the group that tried to kill Theo, but I enjoy the way we are shown more of each character just as much as the use of rocket launchers.

I’m so glad that Kaye Draper writes these books quickly, as it means you don’t have to wait long for the next in the series. I know the next one is on Amazon, so I’m going to see if I can download it now.

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Review: Grunt (Texas Kings MC Series Book ) by Cee Bowerman

Grunt by Cee Bowerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mature MC Romance

I’m so glad that this book was written. I loved Shannon, Summer’s Mum, from the last book in the series and thought she was intriguing. A woman who has 7 children, spanning in age from 29 to 5, and is raising the four youngest on her own, is a woman to be reckoned with.

From the last book we know that Grunt had been lent Shannon’s house to recover from being shot, whilst Shannon was away. We learn in this book what happened when she returns early to a strange man in her house, delirious on the bathroom floor. Her nurse comes to the fore and she spends several days getting him healthy again.

Grunt was one of the original Texas Kings, who lost his wife and kids in an accident 15 years earlier. He has resisted getting involved with anyone since then, especially women with kids. Being shot has made him re-evaluate where he’s going with the rest of this life and into this changing in mindset drops Shannon and her amazing children.

I love it when an ongoing series has a mature romance book. It reminds us that all the characters are important and that anyone can find love, no matter their age, not that 45 is over the hill, but some romance novelists seem to think it is. Personally I enjoy books that are filled with a rich complex backstory for the characters and if children are added it’s even more interesting, because extra personalities are added to the mix. In this case the kids are fascinating.

This was an enjoyable book that dealt with complex ideas and emotions and it kept me engaged until far too late. 

 

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Review: Not Quite Human (Not Quite Series Book 1) by Kaye Draper

Not Quite Human by Kaye Draper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fascinating Start to The Series

I really enjoyed Gesa’s Menagerie by this author and I think I’m going to enjoy this series as much. Sam lives in a world that has been altered by a rift between Earth and another dimension, which though closed now has left a great deal of ‘fiends’ on Earth. Those fiends have interbred with humans to produce curs or mongrels. Sam is one such being. Their mother was a shifter and their father was human. Sam was seen as damaged goods being unable to fully shift and was almost drowned as an infant.

Besides being a deficient shifter, Sam is also intersexed which makes it doubly difficult to have relationships. They spend most of their time with the woman who raised them or hunting down fiends for the Hunter’s Guild bounties.

In this book Sam meets a leprechaun cur and an ogre cur. The leprechaun wants Sam to join a group that works together to get harder bounties. Sam doesn’t want to join up, but is convinced to try one contract temporarily. Things don’t go according to plan.

Sam is a fascinating character. They are tough and strong, abrasive and stand-offish but inside they are a marshmallow. The outer shell is to hide the soft centre. Sam is so used to being alone and only caring about the woman that raised him they find it hard to function in a group.

The other characters, Finlay, the leprechaun and Emerson, the ogre, both seem to have great promise as characters as well, though we didn’t get to know quite as much about them.

As with Gesa’s Menagerie, the book isn’t long, but it is enjoyable. I’ll definitely be reading the next in the series. 

 

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Review: Bird (Teas Kings MC Series Book 3) by Cee Bowerman

Bird by Cee Bowerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sweet Chaos

This book was back to the usual sweet warm and fuzzy feelings. I really enjoyed how this one unfolded.

Bird is the president of the Texas Kings MC. He co-owns the family businesses and manages on the bars himself. He has watched his friends and family pair off and become happy and has found himself feeling that his huge house and his life are too empty.

Summer is a widowed mother of three boys under the age of 5. Her husband died on the day she found out she was pregnant with her third child. She words with Drea and as her kids away for the weekend with their grandmother she decides to finally take Drea up on her offer to hit the town after work.

As soon as Bird and Summer meet there are sparks and they have walked out the door together within minutes of meeting. It’s complete insta-lust, only the crazy lust filled weekend they intended to have, with no strings attached, starts to feel like it could be something more, especially when someone turns up with a baby saying she belongs to Bird.

I have always like Bird, but Summer is awesome. She’s pretty happy and laid back, until someone attacks her loved ones and then she’s a mama bear. She goes with the flow, especially with her kids, who are awesome. I love how open she is to everything and matter of fact with it, even if she has a few mental wobbles along the way, they don’t last very long.

It’s a really feel good book that I enjoyed a lot.

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Review: All In (Full Tilt Duet Book 2) by Emma Scott

All In by Emma Scott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Beautifully Poignant Romance

This is the second book in the Full Tilt Duet and is as good as the first. I took a break between the two books because it took me so long to recover from the first as it was so emotional. This book is slightly less traumatic but no less beautiful.

After Kacey disappears and the rest of the family falls apart, Theo finally receives word 6 months later from a worried colleague that Kacey is in New Orleans and needs help. He drops everything to get to her and reach out a hand. This meeting starts a very slow process of healing for them both and Jonah’s family.

I love how Kacey and Theo’s relationship develops slowly over thousands of hours on the phone. I also like how Kacey manages to pick herself up with support of her new friends in New Orleans and Theo over the phone and a few trips to visit.

The author manages to convey the beauty of both Las Vegas and New Orleans, both very different cities. I always enjoy it when an author helps me understand the environment the characters live in because your surroundings definitely help shape your state of mind and New Orleans is a place of healing for Kacey.

I would recommend you get your box of tissues ready whilst reading this book. It’s almost as much of a tear jerker as the first, but not quite. Only read this if you are in need of an emotional release. This is a not a cheerful easy read, but it is a very satisfying one that helps you feel lighter for having read it. I will definitely be looking out for this author again, but maybe after lockdown ends!

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Review: Sonny (Texas Kings MC Series Book 2) by Cee Bowerman

Sonny by Cee Bowerman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Reunited

I’d probably give this 3.5 ⭐️ if I could.

Sonny went to prison 6 years ago. He was supposed to serve 15 years, but he got out early. When he left he told Brenda not to wait for him, he wouldn’t let her visit she wouldn’t accept his letters or phone calls. He wanted her to have a life rather than wasting it waiting for him.

Brenda loved Sonny with all her heart and he broke it when he threw away their relationship. Despite clawing her way back out of heart break and going on a never ending carousel of first days, she still can’t stop thinking about him. When he gets out all she wants is to protect her heart.

For some reason I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as the others in the series. It was still good, but it didn’t give me the warm fuzzy feelings the others did. I think it was because Sonny was an idiot to get caught up in criminal activities in order to make money, without listening to Brenda tell him he needed to stop and she didn’t need money, she just needed him.

However, there was plenty of plot going on and all the usual characters were around causing mirth and merriment, and I’m still going to read the rest of the series, so it wasn’t like I didn’t like it, I just didn’t like it quite as much!

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