Review: Kari & Levi (Rojo, TX Series Book 4) by Cee Bowerman

Kari & Levi by Cee Bowerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Third Time’s A Charm

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

This book is this fourth in the Rojo, TX series. This series is connected to others written by this author set in the same place with lots of cross over characters. You don’t *technically* need to read the other books before this one, but you’ll find it a lot less confusing if you do.

TRIGGER WARNING: This book deals with people with mental health issues including OCD, panic attacks, PTSD, anxiety and depression. There is also the aftermath of surviving domestic abuse, though not the specific details of what occurred to create the problems. If these subject matters cause you to experience emotional difficulty, you may want to stay clear of this book.

Kari has been in Cee Bowerman’s books since the beginning. Before she was introduced she was in an abusive relationship and got out, but not before she was scarred both physically and mentally. After her escape, she decided to make a safe haven for other women like her, who needed a safe place to make a fresh start. She’s spent most of her life looking after other people at the expense of her own health.

Levi has also been around in a supporting role from quite early on in Cee Bowerman’s books. After college, he went into the army and broke Kari’s 18-year-old heart. They had been dating several months when he had to go away and though he asked her to go with him she felt she couldn’t leave her family, so he went alone and their relationship ended.

After being in the army Levi became a police officer in a different city until he was kidnapped and tortured. After that, he was unable to work in the force and left to set up a gym with his family. Since he’s been back in Rojo, he’s wanted to see Kari but felt his mental health wasn’t good enough to try starting up a relationship again, especially as he knew what she’d been through whilst he’d been gone. Then when Kari moved into her old family home they discovered they were neighbours.

The beginning of this book is quite muddled and a lot of information is thrown at the reader in order to help make the rest of the book comprehendible. There are a lot of scenes from past books and flashbacks in a short period of time which was quite overwhelming as I tried to place all the reminders in the right order. I didn’t particular enjoy wading through that initial section of the book, but once past it I found the book to be of the usual high standard of this author.

This story is a journey of two very damaged people who truly love each other but don’t know how to love themselves. They are both on the same road to happiness, but they are at different stages in the journey. At first glance, Kari seems to be happy and fulfilled and it’s only because Levi lives next door and sees her all the time does he come to suspect that she’s never really dealt with her problems. Levi has a support dog who helps him with his PTSD and he is on medication and seeks counselling because he knows he’s not healthy yet. Kari however denies there is a problem. It takes a lot of work for both of them to get healthy and a lot of heartache is exposed along the way.

It’s really nice to get a HEA for Kari who has been such an important character throughout all of the books set in Rojo. She does so much for others that it’s nice to see her rewarded for that work. It’s also good to read a book about how people can appear fine on the outside but inside are screaming in pain. If you’ve never suffered from mental health issues this is a good reminder that just because your friends and family look OK, they might not be. It’s a good reminder to people who do suffer from mental health issues that you need to do the work to get better, and you need to keep doing the work to stay that way. It’s a very good example of why you need help when you spiral out of control and that it doesn’t mean you are weak or ‘broken’ to ask for it.

There’s a lot love in this book and a lot of hard work. At times it was painful to read, but it was worth it to get to the HEA that these characters deserved.

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Review: Love in Due Time (Green Valley Library Series Book 1) by LB Dunbar

Love in Due Time by L.B. Dunbar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Second Time Around

This is the first standalone book in a spin-off series. The original series, Winston Brothers, was by Penny Reid and this series is set in the same location, Green Valley, with a lot of the same characters. This first book got my attention because I enjoy reading books by LB Dunbar. I’ve read the first couple of books in the Penny Reid series but got sidetracked. I will have to go back and finish my read!

This book is about one of the librarians at the Green Valley Library, Naomi, who has worked there her entire working life. At 39 she’s quite stuck in her ways, living a quiet and unassuming life. She’s a practicing Wiccan and lives in a little cottage in the woods. She is often accused of being a witch but she tries to ignore that and let go of the hurt that causes her.

Naomi has only ever been with one man, when she was 21, Nathan. They were together one time and then he disappeared from Green Valley. Now he’s back and when they run into each other sparks of attraction light between them.

Nathan left Green Valley after an incident involving the Iron Wraiths MC, for who he was a prospect at the time. He ran and didn't come back until now because his family is here and he needs help raising his two daughters, Dahlia and Clementine. When he bumps into Naomi again he’s delighted to find the woman who he has thought about over the years and asks her for a series of dates to convince her that he’s not going to run away again.

This book has a lot of different threads running through it. The romance part is complicated by those threads, the history of the couple, the MC’s involvement, issues with bullying and problems with the library. The plot is tightly constructed and kept me reading as I wondered what was going to happen next.

Naomi is a wonderful character. She’s complicated and filled with regret and guilt, but is determined to try and connect with the world around her. She loves her job dearly and inspiring people, especially children, gives her life meaning. She has a highly evolved philosophy on life and tries to live according to her beliefs. I loved watching her evolve and change through the course of the book, whilst still holding true to herself.

Nathan is another character filled with guilt and regret. He loves his daughters, his mother and his brother and tries to do what is right. He has morals and tries to live life accordingly. He didn’t strike lucky with the mothers of his children and has been the main carer for both girls for some time, with the help of his mother. He’s more sad for his daughters’ sakes about the failure of his relationships. This journey is less of an evolution of character for him than it is for Naomi. His story is more about seeking happiness and being determined to hang on to it no matter what. He has to fight for his relationship to succeed and he has to let go of his guilt and regrets for his happiness to stick around.

I really like how the passion and emotion slowly grew between the two main characters. They didn’t just hop into bed with each other again, despite their history. They spent time together getting to know each other and the passion built gradually between them. It felt very real.

This is a wonderful story of two people with a complicated history taking hold of their second chance and being determined not to waste their opportunity. Even if you haven’t read Penny Reid’s original Winston Brothers series, you can still enjoy this book.

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Review: The Best Thing by Mariana Zapata

The Best Thing by Mariana Zapata
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This standalone book has ties to other books by Mariana Zapata, but you’ll only notice if you’ve read them. Perfect all by itself, it has no cliffhanger.

I listened to this book on Audible and this colours my experience of the book and is included in this review. Sometimes the experience of listening to a book rather than reading it can affect how you engage with it, so bear that in mind whilst reading this review.

Lenny DeMaio is a world champion, a national champion and a pan-American champion Judoka. She never actually got as far as the opening ceremony for the Olympics because of injuries, but she’s beaten everyone that won that’s still fighting. But she gave it all up in a heartbeat for the love of her daughter, Mo. Now managing her family’s martial arts gym, whilst her grandfather, the man who raised her, looks after Mo, she’s finally on an even keel again after 8 months of being a single mother.

The last thing she expects is the father of her daughter to turn up after dropping all contact for 17 months. Jonah Collins is huge, not to mention gorgeous. He’s a world-famous rugby player from New Zealand, who turns heads wherever he goes. He and Lenny met in Paris where he was playing rugby and Lenny was teaching judo after an injury. They bonded over a museum tour and soon became inseparable. Then Jonah was injured and disappeared. Now he’s back and Lenny has no idea what he wants.

This, like all Marian Zapata books, is a wonderful romance story. The characters are rich, deep and complex. The plot is straightforward and compelling but above all, it’s the storytelling that wraps itself around you. Lenny is a great character. She’s blunt, forceful and determined. She’s honest and sarcastic and loyal above all else. She adores her grandfather with everything in her and they are partners in crime, along with Peter, the other man who helped raise her. She and her grandfather Gus are two peas in a pod and I love how she refers to him as a vampire. In some ways, this is a love letter to Gus. He’s almost as important as the two main characters. He’s funny, sarcastic, loyal and loving. He’s a world champion boxer who owns a martial arts gym, who raised a son and then a granddaughter on his own. He plays pick up games of basketball and poker with his friends. He makes puréed baby food for his great-granddaughter and reads romance novels. He’s a man’s man, with a soft buttery centre and I adored him. Without Grandpa Gus there would be so much less heart to this story, not to mention less wit.

Jonah is a really sweet and flawed hero. He made some massive mistakes but as we get to know him through the story we can begin to understand why he made the mistakes because of who is. He also owns up to those mistakes and vows never to repeat them. He’s shy and funny in an understated way and falls head over heels in love with his daughter. He’s calm and accepting, but he’s not a pushover when it comes to the people he cares about.

This author is fantastic at creating backstories for her characters. They have complex histories that are mentioned in passing that have an impact on who they are today. They don’t necessarily dwell on the past but they are fully developed and I think this is one of the reasons why this author’s characters are so complex and feel so real. There are so many layers to who they are before we reach the end of the first chapter.

The two narrators do a wonderful job of conveying the characters. I really like that Calum Gittins read all of Jonah’s speech. Actually from New Zealand, he was convincing in the role and his light and musical voice was perfect for the part of Jonah. All narration and other characters were read by Callie Dalton. Callie Dalton’s effort at the New Zealand accent wasn’t great when she read the parts of Jonah’s mother and sister and I’m really glad they decided that Jonah should be read by someone with the right accent. There is nothing more distracting than a narrator reading a main character’s speech poorly. Other than her New Zealand accents, Callie Dalton did a great job with the narration and was convincing as Lenny. Between them, these two narrators sucked me in and the book disappeared in no time at all.

This book made me laugh, smile with heart warming moments and sob out loud. It’s a fantastic book about a really difficult situation where two great people work their way through it with the help of good friends and wonderful family. I love this author and I’ve yet to be disappointed by her. I can’t wait to see what comes from her next.

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Review: Honey to Burn (Sweet and Dirty Series Book 10) by Cathryn Cade

Honey to Burn by Cathryn Cade
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Second Chance MC Romance

This is the 10th book of this series. You don’t have to have read the previous books to enjoy this book, but it will improve your understanding of the characters and situations. Also, they are all good books.

This book starts in 2002 and half of the book is set around that time. The second half of the book is set in 2019. At the start of the book, we meet RaeAnn, who is 22, shy and sweet. She lives in an apartment on her mother’s property and works in her mother’s business and she isn’t particularly happy with either choice. One night angry at her mother she goes out drinking with friends and meets the handsome and very charming Mac.

Mac is an EMT and hopes to be a paramedic someday. He’s a prospect with the Devil’s Flyers MC, where he feels like he has found the family of his heart. He loves to ride free and party.

When they start to casually see each other, despite a few misunderstandings they really like each other. However, when RaeAnn gets pregnant her priorities change and Mac’s don’t seem to match. They end up co-parenting their son but have little interaction until their son needs the help of his father.

This book wasn’t what I was expecting. It was much more set in the past than I thought, but that wasn’t a bad thing. It gave an insight into RaeAnn and Mac’s history and explained how they got to where they did. It was definitely an important part of their story.

When it got to 2019, when this book was written, things became a little more familiar. All the characters you get to meet in the earlier books are present and accounted for and help Mac, now known as Cooler, and RaeAnn with their son’s situation. The situation is handled with typical Flyers aplomb and of course, we get the usual HEA we expect from this sweet and hot series.

This book, like all of those in this series, is filled with sweetness, once we get past when these two good people hurting each other through misunderstandings and youth. It’s also pretty passionate in places too. The plot isn’t particularly complex, this isn’t heavy reading after all, but it’s interesting and provides a vehicle for the love story to be carried in. I still enjoyed it because it is perfect escapist romantic fiction.

I can’t believe I missed reading this book when it came out, because I used to read them on the day of release. I think I lost track of the series and forgot about them and the newsletter got buried by the spam filter for some reason. Never mind, I fixed the spam filter so it shouldn't happen again!

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Review: Double the D (Capricorn Cove Series Book 2) by Evie Mitchell

Double the D by Evie Mitchell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sweet and Sexy Poly Story

This is the second in this series but can be read as a standalone. This book is about Blue, Dane and Drake. Dane and Drake were fostered together by Blue’s parents when they were teenagers. They’ve been lovers ever since, but they always wanted Blue. They joined the Marines when they turned 18 and have only just come back 12 years later.

When Dane and Drake left it hurt Blue but she understood. When they didn’t come back, despite their promises, she was devastated. Now Dane and Drake are back and she wants to avoid them at all costs. Dane and Drake are not letting her run away because now they have made something of themselves they can all have a life together.

Though technically this isn’t an insta-love book because they all were sort of together as teenagers, it has a similar vibe to it. The men sweep Blue off her feet and she’s pretty happy about it. There doesn’t seem to be much working through their problems. They explain why they never came back and she accepts it. She’s a little too forgiving for my tastes.

Other than that the characters are 2 dimensional, which isn’t unexpected as it’s a novella and there isn’t a great deal of time for in-depth character building. They are still likeable though.

There’s plenty of steam in this polyamorous relationship, but there’s also plenty of love and affection too.

This is a short and sweet book that you can devour in one sitting.

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Review: Forty (Steel Bones Motorcycle Club Series Book 5) by Cate C Wells

Forty by Cate C. Wells
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Second Chances

This book is part of a continuing story arc and there is information in it that helps move that story on. However, it could probably be read as a standalone with only a little bit of confusion in a couple of places.

This book needs a caution warning, there are descriptions of sexual abuse of a teenager which may cause emotional disturbance. If this is the case, you might want to skip this book.

Neveah has only ever had one good thing in her life, Forty. She had him for three years when she was a teenager and then he left her to go into the army, not realising what he was leaving her to. She acted up and got cut out of the Steel Bones MC family and was forced to leave. It’s been 10 years and she’s had to come back to the only family she’s got that’s worth anything, her half brother Lou. She’s running from one of her many bad choices in men, only this one happens to work for a mob family.

Forty had a pretty rubbish upbringing. The club practically raised him. He went into the army so he could give Neveah everything. He wanted a home and a family and he didn’t think he could do it without some qualifications and the army would give him those. Only when it all fell apart with Neveah he had nothing so he became a ranger, until he was medically discharged. Now he’s looking to make that family he’s always longed for and he can’t find the right woman. Then Neveah comes back and the club hates her.

Neveah is a bundle of energy, bouncing and fizzing through life. Diagnosed ADHD, but unmedicated Neveah can’t focus properly and gets bored, all of which leads her into trouble. Once more this author gets inside the head of her characters, drawing them beautifully for us to be captivated by. She writes a neuroatypical person incredibly well, so you begin to understand a little of what their brains are like.

Forty is the loyal soldier, who always puts other’s first, especially the club. He’s stoic and pensive and always thinks before he speaks. Neveah is his opposite who draws out his smiles. It hurt when it imploded before but something still draws him to her smile.

This book tells the story of how painful subjects can twist you up and force you to keep secrets. Those secrets multiply until you can’t tell anyone what’s going on and things whirl out of control. It tells of being set against the people you love because you can’t bear that they might think less of you. Where you would rather be hated for a lie, than for the truth.

I am really enjoying this series and this author’s way of looking at the world.

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Review: Wall (Steel Bones Motorcycle Club Series Book 4.5) by Cate C Wells

Wall by Cate C. Wells
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Heartbreaking

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

I will start this review with a trigger warning. If the subject of miscarriage hurts you to hear/read about, you may want to give this book a miss.

Wall has been a member of Steel Bones MC for around 4 years. He joined when his marriage fell apart. His wife Mona still lives in the house they bought together. She is training to be a nurse whilst working in a nursing home. When she has an incident with a resident’s grandson, she finds herself driving to Wall to ask for help after not speaking to him since he left.

Wall never got over Mona, and takes this opportunity to try and win her back, knowing that this time he has to get it right. This time he has to be strong enough to face the hard stuff.

One of the things I love about this writer is her ability to give her characters a different voice from those that came before. So many writers find a formula and kind of stick to it. The lead characters tend to blur together and this author never does this. Each voice is different and the way they think about themselves and their lives is different and that’s what makes it real.

Mona and Wall became 3-dimensional people to me as I read this book, hearing all the little details about their experiences, and the thoughts that blow through their heads. Their story is heartbreakingly common and I have loved ones who went through similar experiences, though thankfully didn’t make a stupid mistake in the middle of it all. This book pretty much ripped my heart out for these characters. There was so much sadness and wasted time, along with hope and redemption.

I was so happy with Mona and Wall’s ending, which was so richly deserved because they worked hard to get it.

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Review: Erratic (Arcane Mage Series Book 3) by TS Snow

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

The Plot Thickens

This book is mainly about Char, her relationships, the men who surround her and their feelings towards her. We also get to learn a bit more about Bastille and the Necromancers, though there is still tonnes of information about them and their abilities still to be uncovered. Whilst finding out about the necromancers Char finds out there is an awful lot about her world that she didn’t really understand because of the stranglehold the houses have over information.

Whilst Char’s magic has gone on the fritz, she has to remain in hiding. She’s also trying to keep her head down at work because she broke protocol to rescue one of the house heirs, without backup, from a murderous relative whilst having erratic magic.

I really enjoyed the way that this book contributed to the layers of information and character building that has gone on in the series so far. The plot, world-building and character development are woven together cleverly. Whilst I’m enjoying the slow build, the plot was a little slow in this book, which often happens even in the best series because other stuff needs to be focused on, in this case, the relationships and world-building.

I have to say that I really like Bastille. I think he’s a fantastic character and a great bedrock for Char, who to be honest needs someone to bring her down to earth. Bastille seems to be the mage for the job as he’s endlessly patient with her. To be honest, as much as I love Char as a character I think I’d want to bash my head against a brick wall if I spent too much time with her in real life because focusing seems to be a skill she is lacking unless she’s sat in front of a computer.

I’m looking forward to the next book because we still have much to learn about the problems in the Arcane world. We don’t know who is running the Rebellion, who has been targeting Char and who killed Annie. So much information, so little time!

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Review: Boys and Burlesque by Ripley Proserpina

Boys and Burlesque by Ripley Proserpina
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What Happens After Small Town High School Reverse Harems Form

I'd probably give this book 3.5⭐ if I could.

One of the most interesting things about this book is that it is set mainly 8 years after high school graduation. It’s the story of what happens to high school loves when they are a reverse harem in a small town. It’s about what happens when small-minded town folk get involved in shutting down something that could be rather beautiful.

Betsy was raised by her grandmother and had four best friends from kindergarten who all happened to be boys. They grew up together and all fell in love. In a small-minded town they tried to hide their love for each other but they loved each other too much to hide it properly and when two of the boys' fathers got involved the relationship crumbled under the pressure. Sadly it left Betsy alone and with nothing. She had no family who cared for her and no financial support, so instead of getting to go to Juilliard and learning to be a ballet dancer, she ended up a stripper.

Betsy didn’t stay just a stripper though, she used her dancing skills and transformed into Betty Belle a renowned burlesque dancer. 8 years after losing her loves and her future, they choose to come back into her life.

This is a well-constructed book, written from multiple POV. Though it is well structured I believe that if a few honest conversations were had during the course of this book then there would have been a lot less heartache and a lot fewer chapters. I know it makes for drama and intrigue, but sometimes I just want to smack these characters around for being so self-important they can’t see any view, other than their own, as being valid. At least one of the characters acknowledges this in the later stages of the book.

The book is entertaining, and as well as the romantic aspects of the book there is a certain amount of peril that the guys must protect Betsy from, just to add to the intrigue. There are also several sex scenes, however, they were a little bit pedestrian and didn’t exactly have me fanning my face with the heat they generated.

More than anything this is a romantic second chance book, where the male main characters have a shot at redemption and the female main character gives in far too easily, which is par for the course with this type of book. However, much kudos to the author for taking a different approach to the NA RH genre.

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Review: Returning to Everton (Everton Ever After Series Book 1) by Scarlett Philips

Returning to Everton by Scarlett Philips
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sweet Second Chance Reverse Harem

First off, beware the cliffhanger, it’s a doozy. I knew there was one coming when we got to around 90% and were nowhere near done with the story. It seems the author agreed with me and decided the story needed another book.

This book is about Rowen. She’s a 30-year-old widowed mother who also happens to be a magic-user, who lives amongst ‘norms’. Her husband was not a magic user and didn’t like that Rowen and her daughter were, and demanded that they didn’t practice magic. Rowen’s husband has been dead for 6 months and she has decided it’s time to return to her home town where she and her daughter can practice magic openly. In a town of magic users, her family and best friend will be around and her best male friends might let her apologise for dropping off the face of the Earth when she met her husband.

Rowen always loved her male friends, Kayden and Auden, the twins, Hudson, the leader, and Nate, the bad boy. Magic users sometimes have multiple partner relationships so it’s not that out there that she could be with all four guys, but she didn’t think they felt that way for her. She met her husband when she went away to college and she never really went back, especially as her husband disapproved of her guys.

When Rowen comes back home, she meets up with her guys again, and their friend Declan and Declan’s young son, who the guys helped raise alongside Declan when his wife died in childbirth. None of the guys had it easy when Rowen left, because they loved her and couldn’t understand how she could walk away and not look back.

This is actually a pretty sweet book. I love all the little magic touches, such as making a dream playhouse for Rowen’s daughter that magically alters depending on what the child wants to play with, and telekinesis being used for baking. Rowen’s daughter, Violet, is really sweet and the character interacts as a unique personality, which sometimes doesn’t happen in books, where young children are part of the plot.

The plot is interesting, and in some places quite disturbing. There was also some heat in the bedroom, though I felt the BDSM scene was a little shaky. Mainly the romance part of this book is sweet, and that is sometimes exactly what you want in a romance.

Like I said the cliffhanger is a bit of a doozy, so be prepared to be annoyed if the next book isn’t out (I’m not sure when it comes out, or if it’s out already) because it is a bit emotional. I really hope the book comes out soon!

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Review: Veiled (Concealed in Myths Series Book 1) by Ruby Smoke

Veiled by Ruby Smoke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Filthy Fae Fun

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

I’m pretty sure this is the first book I’ve read by this author, and I chose it because a couple of people recommended the book in my Facebook groups. I’m so glad I decided to follow up the recommendations because this was a great book. I’d also like to say, what an amazing cover, because that thing is creepy and beautiful all at the same time, a little like the book.

Hudson is a magic user, whose father is a member of the council that rules over magic users. She has been schooled in the proprieties of her father’s position and forced into a neat little box all her life. But she doesn’t really fit into that box very well. She’s a little too loud, a little too brash and strong and she really hates her father’s choices on what she has to wear. She is now 20 and set to go off to university where she can finally make her own choices on what to wear and who to be. She gets sent to a magical college rather than the mortal one she wants to go to, but at least she is free of her father’s influence.

When Hudson arrives she finds her the man her father adopted when he was 15 years old and she was 10. He and his three best friends are now instructors at the college and she has to live in a house with them, and the sexual tension is supercharged, a bit like her powers seem to be. She doesn’t seem to be a usual magic-user and maybe her white hair isn’t just a sign of stress, but of something else, that SHE is something else.

This is a complex book with many moving parts. There are plots and conspiracies, with many people not being who you think they are.

There is lots of violence, snark and pop culture references, with many nods to the RH writing community. There is also a LOT of sex. The scenes are hot and spicy, with enough filth to make anyone blush, whilst turning the pages faster to keep up with the imagery. I will say that in case you really don’t enjoy it, there are some FF, MFM and MFMM scenes but no MM ones. All are equally hot.

Apart from snappy retorts and too cool for school MFC, there is actually a lot of substance to the book. The characters are all clearly delineated and distinct from one another, with enough to differentiate them in your head as you read (something that some RH authors seem to struggle with). However, you are aware that there is plenty of room for growth of each character and to expand on their histories, as they are clouded apart from in relation to Hudson’s shared past.

The world-building was interesting but a little fuzzy in places. There was plenty of mythology chucked at us, but in some places it didn’t make a great deal of sense. I feel that there will be a lot more world-building in the rest of the series. There was a lot crammed into this first book, and as is often the case with a first book, some things by necessity got left out. I’ll be interesting in reading the bits that fill in those gaps.

I really enjoyed this book. It kept me entertained on a day where I just couldn’t find ANYTHING that I wanted to read. It was a minor miracle I found this book in my saved samples on my Kindle and it jumped out of me because of that wonderful cover. As soon as I read the sample I was hooked, though the prologue was a bit wordy and ‘mysterious prophecy-tastic’. Once the book proper got started I was hooked.

I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next.

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Review: Hitting the Wall (Stonecut County Series Book 1) by Cate C Wells

Hitting the Wall by Cate C. Wells
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Even Better Than The Blurb

I decided to try this book, based purely on the blurb because I’d never read anything by this author before. I thought it would be your standard small-town romance but it was so much more than I thought it would be. If you read a lot (and I do) you read the signals given in the blurb in a certain way. Your brain takes shortcuts and decides what a book is going to be like and if it fits your criteria you download it. This book ticked boxes for the mood I was in and when I read it got something a lot more than I was expecting.

This is a small town second chance romance, but it’s also about Shay, a mother who has been forced to step up to the plate at a really young age to fight for everything her daughter needs. She was run out of town, aged 17 and pregnant, and forced to go back to her neglectful mother. 7 years later circumstances are such that she feels forced to return to her deceased grandfather’s trailer to live for a few months whilst she saves up enough money to start again somewhere fresh.

A few weeks into her return the father of her daughter, deputy sheriff and town golden boy, Kellum, sees them and recognises his daughter. A daughter he didn’t know existed. Kellum is divorced from his high school sweetheart and his boss and godfather is under investigation by the FBI. The shine is starting to tarnish on his golden life and when he finds his daughter and Shay he grabs onto his chance of real happiness with both hands.

See it all sounds good doesn’t it. Except it isn’t, because the men who ran Shay out of town are still there, still doing the same sorts of things and these men are Kellum’s beloved family. Shay doesn’t trust the situation and even though all she wants is her daughter’s happiness, she can’t help but want a little happiness too, but she doesn’t trust she’ll be allowed to have and keep it.

I love how nuanced this book is. There are so many layers peeled back on small-town living and how different the experience is for those who have money and power and those who do not. It explores how hard things are when good people in power do nothing and let the bad people rule the roost. It explores how different the experience is of having a child with special needs when you have money and power and when you do not, even in a small town where resources are not as stretched as in a big city.

I think this book especially resonated with me because my family has experience with facing the educational establishment with special needs children. I recognised some of the battles Shay fought, even though I’m in a different country. I’ve also been the poor person surrounded by people with money and power and it’s an uncomfortable place to be, even when those people are good.

This book isn’t just a small-town romance it’s much more layered and challenging. I couldn’t stop reading it, it sucked me it and my brain won’t stop whirring with it. I’m so glad this is the start of a series, I’m definitely reading the rest of it because this book starts a chain of events I can’t wait to see resolved. The characters are amazingly complex and layered and the supporting characters are still convincing and obviously will come into their own in future books.

Now I have to go back and read all about Kellum’s older brother who’s a member of an MC (another of my favourite genres) as I’m intrigued to know how the author has made that genre much more than usual.

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Review: Betrayal (Grimm Brother's Tattoo Series Book 1) by November Sweets

Betrayal by November Sweets
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Intriguing Paranormal RH

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and for the most part, I enjoyed it. I will say first off that it could do with a good proofread because there were some truly awful errors, eg, ‘reigns down’ instead of ‘rains down’. However that aside it was an interesting start to a new series.

Delphina (Dell) is a hybrid chameleon shifter/intention witch which means she is powerful and deadly. She has a 5-year-old son, Max who is her reason for living and he is a hybrid wolf shifter/witch so is a little bundle of mischief. One of the things I liked most about this story was the relationship between Dell and Max, it’s natural, funny, loving and infuriating.

Dell has raised Max on her own because the day she was going to tell her five mates about her pregnancy is the day they disappeared from her life with a note that read a couple of sentences that made no sense to her. Her mates have been based for the last 3 years in Colorado working as tattoo artists, drowning their loss in women and each other.

Dell shows up with Max, supposedly to take a holiday, but really to tell her ex-mates she wants to either break their mating bond or alternatively she can just kill them.

The story unfolds as we see her mates try to win Dell back and we find out more about all their lives over the last 5 years and why they left, though Dell doesn’t find that out. I must say that when I found out why they left I wanted to tear my hair out. It was a ridiculous reason for 5 grown men to leave and they needed a slap to wake them up. I had to put a pin in that reason and kind of ignore why it happened because otherwise, I would have stopped reading in annoyance.

I really liked Dell. I thought she was a fantastic complex character who used to be all sunshine and rainbows until her mates left and then she became dark and despairing, but there is still that person underneath who is kind, loving and protective. I love that her relationship with Max has helped keep her warm, but she still has become lethal, turning that protective instinct to number 11 on the dial.

We don’t have a lot of time to spend on each of Dell’s mates, but what I see is enough to like their diversity in both species and characters. They also have strong ties both physical and emotional with each other as well as Dell. There is plenty of steamy scenes both with MMM and MM action as well as MF.

Like I said at the start, this book has lots of things I like. The plot is interesting and kept me reading to find out what was going to happen next, the characters are strong and complex, with plenty left to discover in future books and the world-building has promise. What I felt was lacking was the slight predictability of some of the plot constructs, but there were sufficient twists to keep me guessing sometimes, but also the world building wasn’t as strong as it could have been. There were hints about the greater supernatural world in which the book was set but it didn’t feel fully formed. I’m sure that as the series progresses, we’ll get to know more about the community in which they live because it’s only by understanding the society in which they live can I begin to comprehend some of their actions.

I’ll definitely read the next in the series because I want to know what happens next.

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Review: First Flyght (The Flyght Series Book 1) by SJ Pajonas

First Flyght by S.J. Pajonas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Becoming an Ex-Doormat.

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

I’m not quite sure whether I like the people in this book, or not. The MFC starts out as a complete doormat and only very slowly starts to get out from underneath everyone else’s boot.

Vivian has just handed in the last paper of her graduate degree in business and high tech agriculture. When she goes to treat herself to something in celebration she finds her accounts have been emptied by her resentful brother.

In a culture where only women are allowed to own land on the colony worlds, Vivian was groomed to inherit the family farm. She worked round the clock for years, barely allowing herself anything, including the man she loved, all for her family. Then her mother allows her brother access to the family accounts. This is the same brother that has crazy business plans and gambling debts and resents that his sister will inherit everything. Then after that same brother mortgages the family land and absconds with the proceeds it’s up to Vivian to earn enough to buy back the land at the end of 12 months, by flying an old cargo ship with her cousin and finding a few consorts to help with business connections and funds towards buying the farm.

No one questions whether Vivian will do what everyone tells her to. No one asks if she minds selling herself for the family that made such bad decisions. No asks how she’s doing, and she expects it. Personally, I wanted Vivian to put her foot down and tell everyone to get lost. I want her to shout at people and demand things for herself, and towards the end of the book she starts to do that. I’m hoping that Vivian is headed in the right direction but there are few things that don’t point towards her making good choices.

I’m not overly keen on her cousin who seems to be pretty self-centred and dictatorial until it comes time to actually put the plans into practice and then she runs off to play. The youngsters she hires seem pretty sweet and smart and the relationship broker also seems like a pretty nice guy.

I’m not sure where this series is going, but I have my fingers crossed that Vivian gets a little more feisty, because when she showed that part of her character I liked her a lot.

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Review: Hoax Husband by Candice Wright

Hoax Husband by Candice Wright
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well Worn Trope Done Well

The get drunk in vegas and wake up married to a stranger is a pretty common theme in modern romance literature. It’s been done many different ways but this novel was done well. It’s not surprising to me because Candice Wright is a really good writer and I’ve enjoyed all the rest of her books. This is not her strongest book, but it’s no means weak.

This book is part of the Cocky Hero Club world. I was wracking my brain for the first few chapters knowing that the characters rung a bell. It wasn’t until I did a search for the MFC’s boss that I worked out that the MMC was the boss’s best friend from Stuck-Up Suit. Once I got that settled I could relax enough to enjoy the rest of the book.

The MMC, Asher Sloan, is pretty unlikeable. In fact he’s down right skeezy and it took him longer to win me over than it did the MFC, Linda. His attitude towards women was less than pleasant and his treatment of Linda after their night together in Vegas is pretty horrible.

Linda, on the other hand, is sweet, kind, friendly and warm. She’s strong willed and creative. At the start of the book she is forcing herself into a straight laced role that ill fits her personality and when that role breaks is when she meets Asher.

When they meet again Asher’s motives are not great and I really dislike that Linda falls for his manipulations, even if the lines he uses are sort of true. Linda’s sweet naïveté is kind of endearing, kind of ‘you need a good shake girlfriend’ and it’s a very fine line to walk for the author, who just about pulls it off. The only reason it works is that Linda kind of knows she’s being naïve and Asher knows he is being an ass.

It also veers off in the last 20% in an unexpected direction, which makes up for the predictable nature of the initial plot line, though I would have appreciated that section took up a little bit more of the storyline.

All that being said, I enjoyed the book as it was well written and I know that I will automatically pick up this author’s next book, as I did this one.

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Review: Demons, Danger, and Demigods (Gods and Demons Series Book 4) by Kaye Draper

Demons, Danger, and Demigods by Kaye Draper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It All Comes Down To Belief

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

This is the final book in this series and it has a lot of ground to cover. We start with Troya being trapped in the god realm by her father. She’s separated from the people she loves and she’s scared and alone, unable to trust in her ability to control her power, that she’s only just remembered that she has. She never truly understood her own power and now the gods are all demanding she use it, for their benefit.

In order to escape back to Earth she needs a lot of help and she also needs to understand and believe in her own power in order to keep humanity and the supernaturals free of the influence of the gods.

This book is as much a book about self belief and self acceptance as it is about romance and defeating the enemy. It is only through the power of belief in one's own abilities can we trust that others accept us and can believe in us too. It’s not done in an overblown way, but the messages are still really clear. The book is also about the romance, and the really, really hot sex!

I’m sad to see the end of this series, which started so long ago with Gesa and her menagerie (Gesa's Menagerie: Volume 1). I will miss them all, but can at least finish the series with a smile on my face for their future happiness.

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Review: The Devil's Advocate (The Devil's Advocate Series Book 1) by Michaela Haze

The Devil's Advocate by Michaela Haze
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Being Queen of Hell Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be

I decided to read this book after reading Red City, a more recently written book, as I wanted to know more about the world in which it was set.

This author has a great imagination, with some decidedly dark turns to it. This book is probably not for people of slightly nervous constitutions, or probably around meal times. We are talking about demons here and they author doesn’t shy away from the basic evil of them as a species, though she does imbue them with more human emotions too, that are quite a lot less evil, such as love and loyalty.

Two hundred years ago Lucifer banished his consort, Dahlia, to the human realm. He gave no explanation why, after more than a millennia together, he cast her out. She has been working as his broker with humans ever since because he can only come to the human realm for 66 minutes and 6 seconds each day. Though Dahlia is banished from hell she is still fed by it and is infinitely more strong than many other demons and than all daemons (humans changed by demon blood and sin into immortals that need to feed on sins directly created by humans). Dahlia is still devastated at the loss of Lucifer and hates him for casting her out at the same time as longing for him.

This author conveys loss and longing so brilliantly you can understand how someone who has been betrayed can still want the person who betrayed them. Lucifer’s motives are unclear almost until the end of the book and following Dahlia’s confusion and reactions to his actions leaves you at as much of a loss as she is.

For a demon queen, Dahlia is a very sympathetic character. This is probably because she doesn’t come across as outright evil. She appears to have a little empathy, which is surprising.

The plot is complex and compelling and draws you in. I devoured the book as the story was excellent. I will say though that there are lot of typos and grammatical problems in the book. I don’t think I noticed this problem in Red City, so it may be that because this was an early book there wasn’t enough money for an editor. It’s only a little distracting, but I know someone people hate books like that so I wanted to give the information in case it’s important. I think it would be a shame if this put you off, because it’s an imaginative and interesting novel.

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Review: Watch Me Unravel (Blue Is The Colour Series Book 2) by Julia Wolf

Watch Me Unravel by Julia Wolf
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Having a Grown Up Relationship

Julia Wolf writes fantastic romance novels that happen to be about rock stars. The fame and fortune part of the stories seem to be incidental the relationships and I quite like that. This book is actually about what happens away from the touring, interviews etc whilst the band is on hiatus for a while.

David is a bit of a ass. He likes to wind people up, he’s pretty selfish and a bit lazy. However, he’s a talented musician, really cares about the people he loves, even if he’s rubbish at doing the hard work usually, and he loves deeply.

David has a 15 year old daughter. She was the product of a one night stand. Though he adores his daughter he has never done the hard work of being a parent until he got a phone call telling him his daughter had been in accident.

The accident forces Sylvia, his daughter's mother, to take up David’s offer of staying with him because he doesn’t have stairs and they can care for their daughter together at his house. Forcing the family together for the very first time is eye opening for all concerned.

It felt like the main theme of this book was parental redemption. It was about people who had been rubbish parents but were trying to get their act together, or had already done so. It talks about the sacrifices parents make for their children and how good people can be poor parents if circumstances make them that way. This is not purely about David, but also about how Sylvia, David and his band mates were raised.

This is a complex story of parenting, love and making of families. It’s about making decisions to work hard at relationships to make them succeed and make your loved ones happy. Once again Julia Wolf writes multi-faceted characters who are believable and engaging and then sets them up in unusual situations for us to be captivated. She does write very good romantic fiction .

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Review: Horns, Hugs, and Hunger (Gods and Demons Series Book 3) by Kaye Draper

Horns, Hugs, and Hunger by Kaye Draper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Plot Thickens

This book is definitely the best so far of this series. It’s when all the plot construction, world building and emotional bonding with characters pays off. We finally get to find out more about Orion and Derek and about their bond. We also find out a little more about Troya’s first life.

Troya is working hard at building up her healing skills. The godspark is growing as she works with it more and more and the patients at the clinic are benefitting from her increased skill. When Derek plans to go and rescue a shifter from his town from a different city, where he is trapped, Troya insists on coming along as they will probably need her skills to help the shifter and all the other supernaturals they are hoping to rescue. This mission throws her together more with Derek and Orion and their interactions are very interesting.

The plot moves quickly in this book and a lot of action is crammed into a few pages. It’s exciting, informative and hot as hades. There is also an overwhelming hideous cliffhanger AGAIN!!! I really hope the next book is out or out very soon or I will be cursing the author with very complex and interesting swear words.

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Review: Skeletons of Us (Unquiet Mind Series Book 2) by Anne Malcolm

Skeletons of Us by Anne Malcom
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Stalker Craziness

I was a little disappointed in this book after loving the first book so much. I think it’s because I felt the characters had a a bit of radical personality change, in particular Lexie.

After Killian dumped Lexie, she signed a record contract and went off to LA to become wildly successful, leaving a shattered Killian behind. Killian’s personality changes seem logical because he was always dark and brooding, him becoming an underground fighter seems to suit him as he punishes himself and rages at being away from the one bright spot in his life.

Lexie goes from being quite a wise and level headed young woman to an angry and betrayed woman who won’t give her heart to anyone else. She channels all her pain into her work and has only very casual relationships with people she doesn’t really like that much. She’s still very close to her band, but she never goes back to Amber and that seems to be something that Lexie wouldn’t do. She wouldn’t stay away from her family just to avoid the possibility of bumping into Killian. I understand that a lot of bad things happened in a very short space of time at a key age, but it did seem to make her very vulnerable whereas previously she was level headed and thought things through before over-reacting.

Killian is brought back into Lexie’s life when her life is threatened and her bodyguard seriously wounded by a stalker. Killian drops everything and heads out to her and won’t leave her side until she’s safe.

We see the bond the band all shares and the support they give each other, is like a family and it appears that fame hasn’t changed them except to have more money than they used to. In that respect Lexie hasn’t changed, but she does seem to act rashly a few times when a stalker is chasing her because she’s overwhelmed by her emotions. Everyone keeps talking about how she feels things so deeply when in the previous book it was how clearly she saw things and I think those are two very different personality traits.

I think if I hadn’t re-read the first book I wouldn’t be so hyper aware of the personality shift in Lexie and it really wouldn’t bother me that much and I would think the things she did was consistent with her personality and back story, however as I read about her experiences I know how she reacted to the things that happened to her, with the exception of how she reacted to Killian leaving her.

I wish I hadn’t re-read the first book in a way because then I could really enjoy the story and Lexie and Killian meeting up again and the plot with the stalker. As with all this author’s books the plot was tightly constructed and the writing pulls you in so you are wrapped up in the characters and can think of nothing else. There is a HEA which is satisfying and all well that ends well but that personality shift, just detracted from everything else for me. I will continue with the series because I still really like the characters and this author’s writing.

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