Quick Time Travel Erotica

This quick time travel erotica is dirty and hot. And sometimes, that’s just what is called for. It’s a time travel erotica, light on plot and heavy on the smut. The cast of characters is It’s MMMM+ short story, too; there’s nothing at all. It’s billed as a straight to gay, first-time story, and it moves very, very fast for being a first-time thing. But it’s all good. It’s erotica, folks, suspend your disbelief.  

Blurb

Twelve knights. One vessel. All of them aching to fill him.

Gareth didn’t expect much from a budget Holy Grail tour—especially not to fall into a crypt, awaken a group of ridiculously hot knights, and be named their sacred vessel. Now, faced with the choice to leave or be worshipped, Gareth finds himself aching to stay… and to be filled.

44 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 11, 2025
Genres: erotica, mmmm+, time travel

Everything You Want It to Be

This sort of story isn’t deep. And does everything need to be? No, friends. An MMMM+ time travel erotica short story is supposed to be hot, dirty, and explicit. And this delivers. In copious amounts of.. Everything you want it to have. There’s cocks in every oriface, there’s so many orgasms you’ll lose track of how many. 

Soft Tender Feelings

And what I liked the most? Even with the extraordinary amount of smut, this story evokes a hint of romance, of tenderness, between the main character, Gareth, and Gideon, one of the many Knights Templar (yes, those knights), who are there to worship and revere him, their vessel. 

Plot 

The first chapter exists to set up the sex fest that ensues in the rest of the chapters. 

Gareth is our main character, our vessel. He’s on a tourist excursion for the Quest for the Holy Grail, a Monty Python-inspired romp through the British countryside. He twists his ankle and gets separated from the rest of his tour group, all septuagenarians. He falls into a crypt, gets swept back in time, and apparently, he’s the Holy Grail. And he needs to be, erm… filled. Repeatedly. 

Glows: Romance in an Erotica!

I was so happy to feel some tendrils of romance in an erotica. Sometimes erotica is just sex. And that’s fine. But I read MM Romance primarily because I like those happy, tender feelings. So I was pleased that there are facets of this story that are sweet and soft. It’s mostly just sex, yes. But the romance is there. And I commend the author for it. 

No Grows

This story is solid. I didn’t find anything to nitpick. And if you’re a regular reader, you know that’s pretty rare. I think that speaks for itself. 

Concise and Perfect

It’s always impressive to me how concisely erotica authors write. I am, to put it mildly, not a concise writer. This story isn’t lacking a single sentence; it’s a complete, and nearly perfect package of sexual gratuity. But while it’s not missing anything, there’s nothing there that doesn’t need to be. I respect the author who can write just what needs to be written and not have anything extra. 

Recommend This Time Travel Erotica?

Looking for a quick read that will satisfy your need to read about lots and lots of sex? Time travel romance your thing? Time travel erotica sounds like tonight’s read? This is your book, you’ll enjoy it as much as I did!

Reviews

I received a free copy of this book via BookSirens and am voluntarily leaving a review. I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post Time Travel Erotica Review: Shared with the Knights appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Introduction 

Shadow & Ash is a well-researched historical mm romance by author Timoteu Montroig, with supernatural elements that fit right in with the time period. Well-paced and original, I flew through the story. It’s an enjoyable romp. However, it has several struggles. Telling instead of showing, history dumping, unrealistic dialogue, and uncomfortable intimate descriptions weigh the narrative down. All the same, I am giving this book a 3.5 out of 5 stars. If you are a fan of vampire stories, you’ll like the unique world-building found here. If you’re a fan of history, especially Greek history, you’ll definitely enjoy the context in which this story takes place. I recommend this one, give it a try, and support an indie author trying to get his book out there. 

I was pleased to get an email from the author to review his first novel, and I am always happy to give indie authors a read. Being an independent author is difficult, and I offer support when I can. 

Blurb

In the shadowed world where myth and reality collide, love knows no boundaries. “Shadow & Ash: Bloodbound” transports readers to ancient Greece, where Aristion—a century-old vrykolakas—and Kallian, a fearless young Spartan soldier, are bound by a forbidden, unbreakable connection. As their worlds clash, their love defies death itself, igniting a daring quest to transform Kallian into a vrykolakas. But few humans survive the perilous path to immortality.

Set against the backdrop of Sparta’s brutal conflicts with the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, Aristion and Kallian must navigate a world filled with treacherous allies, vengeful enemies, and ancient powers beyond comprehension. With each step, the lovers risk not only their lives but their very souls. Can love transcend the boundaries of mortality? Or will the shadows of fate tear them apart?

241 pages, Paperback

Published November 13, 2024

Plot

Set in the Classical Period of ancient Greece, around 482 BCE, Shadow & Ash follows the adventures of Aristion and Kallian as they infiltrate the Persian-controlled city of Sardis to gather intelligence on the military machinations of the enemy #1 of the Greek state. 

Love Blooms

As the year passes and they settle into their subterfuge, the feelings that bloom between the two become undeniable. Aristion tries to resist. They finally face their feelings when the danger comes from all sides. Despite the barriers that Aristion believes they face to being together, their shared experience pushes them to realize the lengths they’ll go to in order to be together. 

Hidden Vampire

One barrier Aristion struggles with in this historical mm romance is that he is a vrykolakas and by necessity his true identity is hidden from everyone, including Kallian. A vrykolakas is a vampire from Greek folklore, also known as a “walking dead” or “undead” creature. (Wikipedia). Aristion was changed some 70 years ago and carefully hides his immortality while he becomes a trusted advisor to Greek rulers. However invested he is in ensuring Greek victory, he knows his time with the current rulers is short. It’s only a matter of time before he will be forced to leave his current station because his lack of aging will become more obvious. 

Bad Guys

It’s worth noting that, like many historical mm romances that feature vampires, Montroig’s vrykolakas are misunderstood and only drink what they need to survive. They kill only when threatened. Aristion isn’t a bad guy, but there are definitely people who believe it’s their mission to wipe vrykolakas off the face of the Earth. 

Zoroastrian Warriors

It’s these, guys, they’re the ones. Aristion has placed his bets with the Greeks because he’s constantly aware of the lurking danger of Zoroastrian warrior priests who, in this alternate history, exist not only to keep the peace and social order, but to defeat vrykolakas. Replete with clerics who have harnessed magic to overcome vampires’ superhuman strength, these warriors ‘magos’ are the only threat these apex predators have. 

Important Themes

At its core, Shadow & Ash is about immortality and the morals surrounding it. Aristion perceives that a potential relationship with Kallian crosses lines, as his eternal existence means he is on a separate path in life from Kallian. He feels conflicted from this existentialism: what good is a vrykolakas’s eternal life if he’s lonely and still yearns for companionship?

Contextual Placement in History

Another important aspect of Shadow & Ash is its contextual setting. It is a fantasy set in a real historical period, the lead-up to the Spartan war with the Achaemenid Empire of Persia. After the Greeks defeated the Persian army at Marathon in 490 BC, tensions were still high between the rival empires. Aristion and Killian infiltrate the Persian city of Sardis in 482 BC, and leads up to the subsequent invasion led by Xerxes I, which culminated in the famous Battle of Thermopylae, which you might know about from that minor indie Zack Snyder flick 300 (being facetious of course this movie grossed $667 million globally).

The narrative of Shadow & Ash situates the fantasy elements of Montroig’s take on the vrykolakas mythology within these historical events and cultural contexts, making a rich MM historical romance. Exploring these intersections, where mortal humans and immortal vrykolakas collide within the wider historical context of ancient Greece and Persia, is where the story really shines. You can see the intensive research that was done and Montroig’s deep understanding of the history in every description of clothing, and each historical mention.

Characters 

Aristion is a warrior, someone who has worked his way into an important advisory role with the Greek military. He’s a vrykolakas, so he has to carefully hide the fact that he doesn’t age. He also needs to drink blood to stay strong, and must be vigilant to hide. This makes him guarded and closed off. But he’s drawn to Kallian in ways he can’t resist. 

Kallian is a young Spartan warrior newly graduated from the agoge, the military schooling Spartan boys undergo to make them fierce warriors, strong and fully laconic characters. He’s a fierce warrior, but still naive and fresh to the world. Kallian takes joy from simple things: hunting and sparring are the highlights of his days. Though he also appreciates his leisure time in the baths with Artisian very much, if ya pick up on what I’m putting down. 

Glows

Written by a Lover of History 

With every description in this historical mm romance, you can tell that Montroig loves history. The fascination with details is written lovingly into paragraphs. Great care was taken to ensure this story fits within its historical context. As another lover of history, I appreciated this as I read. Everything fit well into the time period, even people’s prejudices against vrykolakas. 

Well Situated Enemies

The Zoroastrian Warrior Priests of the time hunting the vrykolakas fits so well within the historical narrative that it seems authentic. The best alternative history takes are those that seem plausible within the actual historical context. While the vrykolakas come from Greek myth, the fact that these societies lived so close together makes it an easy jump to them being present in Persia at the time too, and the Zoroastrians’ connection with the supernatural makes them the obvious vampire-hunters of the day. 

Grows

Shadow & Ash does, unfortunately, struggle with a few elements that weigh the narrative down. 

Telling, Not Showing

 This is such a pitfall that a historically based novel can fall into. Someone with great historical knowledge is used to telling stories, and historians are natural storytellers. However, where a history book is expected to summarize information or state straight facts, it can lead to a flat and less engaging read in a romance story. Using rich descriptions and actions enriches the reader’s experience in a romance to something they can closely relate to. Despite the thousands of years that separate modern times from ancient Greece, the reader wants to feel like they’re there.  

History Dumping

Much like the previous pitfall, stories set in actual historical settings also run the risk of trying to put too much history into the story. When someone knows a lot, they want to share it. While I deeply respect that Montroig knows the history very well, it sometimes felt like too much time was spent telling the reader the actual history before we could get back to the story. More editing to blend the history with the story would help the narrative shine while informing the reader of the interesting history.

Dialogue Inconsistencies

While the author deeply understands the history of the ancient Greek world, what this book misses the mark on is the dialogue. Much of the dialogue reads as too modern. While I don’t want them to be speaking in their native ancient Greek, the tone was off for much of the dialogue. There are also far too many exclamation points. I believe I read once that a sharp editor will allow for exactly one exclamation point per novel. 

Laconic: Linguistic Sidebar 

Kallian using so many exclamation points just dumped me out of the immersive atmosphere. Given the deep understanding of Spartan history, Kallian’s character was so far from how I would expect a laconic Spartan warrior would act or speak. He should be, well, more laconic. 

la·con·ic
/ləˈkänik/ “lah-con-ic”
adjective: laconic: (of a person, speech, or style of writing) using very few words.
Example: “his laconic reply suggested a lack of interest in the topic.”
Synonyms: brief, concise, terse, succinct, short, economical

Etymology: mid 16th century (in the sense ‘Laconian’): via Latin from Greek Lakōnikos, from Lakōn ‘Laconia, Sparta’, the Spartans being known for their terse speech.

Definitions from Oxford Languages

Linguistically, the word laconic comes from the Spartan word for their country, Laconia. And it is used to describe how the people from this area would speak and act. Terse, people of few words, they got straight to the point. Their way of speaking said much about Laconian culture: they were a proud, war-loving, strict, and structured society. The Spartan people were not a very exuberant people.

Uncomfortable Intimate Descriptions 

Some words are just an ick for me. And this novel, unfortunately, uses them almost every time. I didn’t enjoy the spicy parts of this story because of the consistent use of words to describe the male anatomy that I don’t like. Muscle between his legs, manhood, and shaft are words that make me cringe. Just say cock. It’s okay to say cock. Cock. See?

Recommend or Naw? 

I recommend Shadow & Ash to readers who enjoy mm historical romance and vampire romance. If you know your ancient history passably well, you will be interested in this book for the detailed research that enriches the pages of this story. MM vampire romance aficionados will appreciate the unique mythology referenced here. The vrykolakas mythology is not your average vampire myth, and I appreciate something that’s unique much more than a vampire story that’s leaned into the tropes so hard it’s indistinguishable from any other vampire story. 

Reviews

I received a free copy of this MM historical romance from the author. Thank you very much for asking me to read your story! Let’s hope it’s the start of a series. I am voluntarily leaving a review. I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel, read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post MM Historical Romance: Greek Vampires Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Leta Blake and Indra Vaugn have teamed up several times and wrote one of my personal favorites, Vespertine. My review is probably a bit gushy because I was very impressed with this and it left me emotionally drained! Well worth looking their stuff up.

If there’s demand, I’ll post more MM romance book deals as I get them. I know I like to know when things are on sale! I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post MM Romance Book Deals: Cowboy Seeks Husband for $0.99 appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Reckless Hearts: A Best Friend’s Brother, Hurt Comfort MM Romance by Jax Calder | Goodreads | Bookbub | My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5/5 Loved This Book

Okay, wow. Let me be honest. I started out struggling with this book. I was trying but found myself unable to relate to the characters. They seemed like upper-middle-class, privileged kids. They live an idyllic life of rented-out castles for birthdays (wtf) and expensive weekend getaways. Rich kid things, but the rich kids don’t recognize they’re super privileged. Can’t relate.

The Struggle is WORTH IT

So I was struggling. Big time. But by the end of the book, I was crying happy tears and cheering for everyone—fully invested. So, if this book starts out slowly for you and you want to put it down, I beg you: Please, please don’t! Give it a chance and keep reading. Eventually, this book will deliver a full return on your investment.

Seb and Marcus

Seb and Marcus are magnetic, they’re drawn to one another. They can’t help but get caught in each other’s orbit.

Seb

Seb is shy and awkward. He’s in his first few years of college studying science. Lucky for him he’s in New Zealand, an ecological wonder with lots of science stuff to study. He’s been the kid fascinated by science to the detriment of his social skills, the stereotypical nerd. But there’s usually a lot more going on beneath the surface of a nerdy exterior. Seb is fascinated by his older sister’s best friend, Marcus. Fascinated as in he’s got a huge crush on him. A huge, longstanding crush to the point that he can hardly get a sentence out when Marcus is around.

Marcus

Marcus is a few years older, way cooler, and totally cocky. He’s got all the swagger that Seb doesn’t. Marcus is hot. He’s popular. Most of all, Marcus is terribly charming. He’s so carefree and blasé about things, it almost seems like a façade (small spoiler alert: it is). And while at first Marcus seems to be toying with Seb when he gets flirty with him, it’s quickly clear that the two have explosive chemistry. But here’s where the first bit of angst in this hurt comfort mm romance enters stage left. They fall into a relationship that has been on the down low since its inception. Why? Because of the sister.

Saskia

Seb’s sister is the clear favorite in the family, something that sort of broke my heart multiple times as I read. Their parents dismiss Seb without seeing how awesome he is in favor of fawning over his older sister, Saskia. Saskia is pre-law and very very self-centered. She’s truly not a likable character for the majority of her page time. She does, finally, come around, but dang it’s a long haul.

Picture Perfect

She’s a picture-perfect daughter. Smart, popular, and pretty, her perfect future is all mapped out for her and it wouldn’t dare deviate from that picture-perfect plan. But the way her family pushes Seb’s interests into the “you’re a nerd we’re disappointed” pile to further build up Saskia’s already massive ego is really devastating. Seeing this happening develops the angst. It’s part of the world-builidng. I understand that. Boy, do I. And I really empathized with Seb, how he always feels overshadowed. Belittled. It is as if what he’s interested in, what he’s really good at, is somehow not enough. It just hit close, I guess. Great character development though, Saskia’s character arc really impressed me.

Hush-Hush

The hush-hush nature of Seb and Marcus’s fling speaks to how fearful they both are of rocking the S.S. Saskia. They don’t want her to know so they hook up in private. That might make things hotter but it also perpetuates Seb’s feelings of inadequacy. And their fling has a terminus date: Saskia and Marcus are going off on an American road trip to celebrate their last year of college. Seb knows it’s futile to maintain any sort of long-distance thing. They’re not even together together, they have a situationship. Getting attached is a mistake he tries to avoid. He thinks that his inevitable heartbreak is one-sided because his self-esteem lies to him and tells him that Marcus couldn’t possibly be as into him. Lies, big lies.

Marcus is HOT

Did I mention that Marcus is like, model-hot? Well he is. And not just to Seb with the heart eyes and the hormones. Marcus gets discovered while on his road trip and never returns to New Zealand. He becomes a model and then later an actor and hits it big. Like blockbuster big. Good for him.

No-Contact

Good for him but what a massive douche move to NEVER CONTACT SEB again. Ugh I wanted to throat-kick him for just dropping. I was feeling all the hurt and none of the comfort here. Readers will understand a lot more about Marcus’s motivations and perspective as they delve into the meat of this story but just prepare for feeling some sort of way about Marcus’s actions for a while.

The Wedding

They see each other after a long, long seven years at Saskia’s wedding. Bridezilla brings everyone to a tropical island destination wedding and the two find that they are in each other’s orbit again and can’t resist each other. They rekindle their relationship and it’s off to the races after that.

The Payout

I don’t want to write much about the inevitable angst and the majority of the hurt comfort elements in this mm romance because the plot is really something that should be read and discovered on your own. But let me tell you. This book is so good. So, so good. I loved it. Seb and Marcus are love. I rooted for them. I would be best friends with them. They’re so, so perfect for each other. This one should be at the top of your to-read list, full stop.

Great read, loved this book so much!

Reviews

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post Hurt Comfort MM Romance – Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Reluctantly Bonded/Slow Burn Romance

MM Shifter Romance is a guilty pleasure of mine. It’s not everyone’s thing, and that’s totally fine, but I can devour a good shifter romance in a few days. And that’s just what I did with Accidental Bonds, the first book in the Elemental Bonds series by Marie Reynard.

This is a fantastic story. I love Reynard’s writing and can’t wait for more of this series. This is not a new release but I loved it so much I have to post this review so I can sing its praises. You should read this book if you are into shifter romance, slow-burn romance, and aren’t shy about erm.. knotting. Like I said, not for everyone. But it’s for me, okay?

Mage Elijah

Elijah Lauring is a mage in a complicated world where mage councils determine the business decisions mages make and likely have their fingers in lots of mage-related areas. I love the shared universe Reynard continues to paint, full of shifters, supernatural lives living parallel to the mundane world. Complete with ahem, adult entertainment.

Shifter Victor

Victor Mills is the alpha of the Mills pack, in a small town in the northest of the US. Towns with shifter packs in the vicinity have mage shops for their magical needs. Packs need magical wards to protect the boundaries of their territory, among other things, so they employ the services of mages from time to time. Mages and shifters have a complicated and tension-filled relationship though, because of a history of manipulation and entrapment.

Rotten

Victor hires Elijah because something is rotten in the state of Denmark. Or rather, the wards that surround his pack’s territory are sick, and only a mage can help. Victor does not trust mages. He dislikes magic. The reader finds out why later, but at the story’s start Victor doesn’t trust Elijah at all, and their relationship is rocky from the moment he steps foot in Elijah’s store.

An Accidental Tether

Elijah is an incredibly talented mage but everyone can make mistakes. He does. He and Victor forge a bond that neither want, or meant to have happen. Suddenly, Elijah has more power than he knows what to do with, he can’t control his magic, and he can’t make sense of what is happening. Victor and he grow closer as they try to work out what’s plaguing Victor’s territory, and the sexual tension mounts.

Delicious

Their slow-burn is really delicious. I loved their relationship and how it finally came together. While they both start out distrusting of the other, by the midpoint of the novel the reader is rooting for them. The reader can see that they are clearly meant to be. They, however, are a bit obtuse to what’s obvious to everyone else. They’re hot together. Even their subconsious knows!

Lucid Dreaming And Sex Rituals

So much so that Elijah has some incrediibly realistic lucid dreams involving sex rituals, being chased on the full moon, and lots of outdoor sex, so much so he ends up actually bruised the next day. I want that, please! I am flat out INTRIGUED. It’s so hot!

The Pack and the Group-Chat

I adore the dynamics of Victor’s pack betas and especially Kade. He’s a hoot. They obviously respect their alpha but they also give him so much shit. Almost as much as Elijah’s mage friend-group. I really, really wonder who Aran will get with, because has anyone checked to see if he’s not actual sex demon?

Great World-Building

Really good world-building makes everything so plausible and believable, the world Reynard crafts in her books seems so natural it’s almost believable that there is a whole parallel world full of supernaturals just exisiting right under the mundane world’s nose.

MateHub is Referenced!

I loved the nod to Reynard’s MateHub book, which I thoroughly enjoyed and was my introduction to the author. MateHub was such a beautiful surprise! Honestly I was not expecting such a phenomanal story from such a premise. But I was recommended it and flat out loved it.

Sat in the Kindle for a Bit

I downloaded Accidental Bonds as soon as I finished that one a few months ago. I checked, I downloaded it October 19th! I didn’t get around to reading it until now. Kicking myself that I waited. Indeed, I read it voraciously, barely put it down! The second book released the 14th of December. And it’s Kade’s story. Double win. Kade, Victor’s cousin and second in command, is a huge amount of fun in the Accidental Bonds. His story promises to be an incredible read.

Reynard Means Fox, Get It?

I love that the author’s name is fox in French, because it’s a perfect MM Shifter Romance novelist’s name. Well played Reynard, well played.

Reviews

I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post Mm Shifter Romance: Accidental Bonds Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Urban Fantasy Romance

In this Christmas short story, Alessandra Hazard paints the backdrop of a fascinating world of juxtapositions: a magical urban fantasy complete with witch covens casting spells that go awry, affecting Europe and the Eastern seaboard of the US. Add to that a modern urban center, and a cutthroat law firm eager to provide legal counsel to these covens.

The love interests in this boss employee mm romance short story are lawyers, a junior associate at the mercy of his boss, and the managing partner of the law firm, someone who is just as arrogant and uptight as any managing partner is in our mundane, non-magical reality.

Blurb

Peter Hayes has everything a man can wish for: a successful career as a lawyer, wealth, good looks, people falling at his feet—and Justin, to do all the grunt work for him. Justin is (“Not your slave!”) his personal associate. Until the day he suddenly isn’t, and Peter’s perfect life stops making sense. His associate wants a personal life? He wants to find his soulmate? Unacceptable. Peter can’t believe Justin believes in that nonsense. Soulmates don’t exist.

Or do they?

A short MM romance novella. ~13,500 words.

Boss Employee MM Romance

Follow Peter and Justin as they traverse the fallout from a magical soulmate spell affecting everyone in their office and a Christmas schedule that, as per usual and much to Peter’s displeasure, involves time away from the office. Cheer them on as they realize they love each other along the way.

The Premise

Peter and Justin are lawyers in the country’s most prestigious law firm. Justin, a junior associate and assistant to managing partner Peter, is an overworked underling. He’s overextended at work mostly because of Peter, who is every inch the demanding boss. Peter doesn’t realize, possibly because he’s got his head up his own ass, that his incessant need to keep Justin around him at every moment is probably because he’s freaking obsessed with Justin.

The Magic

A coven of witches casts a soulmate spell and inadvertently makes the spell cast a much wider net than planned. Instead of being localized, the spell affects huge regions of the world and sends everyone into a frenzy. They feel antsy—like they have to move—like they need to find their soulmate. Everyone starts fucking off to seek them out, wherever they might be. Everyone requests time off, much to Peter’s dismay. He has no time for this sort of bullshit. But it’s not just low-level employees. Senior-level partners ask for time off left and right to find their soulmate. The two people unaffected by this strange turn of events? Peter and Justin.

Until the Weekend

That is, though, until Justin begs for a day off so he can pick his brother up from the airport. Sundays are usually days off anyway, Justin argues. Peter disagrees but Justin sasses back and gives Peter attitude until Peter agrees to let him have a day off.

But then Peter starts to feel off. He’s still in denial, but it’s pretty clear that the way he’s feeling is pretty similar to the effects of the spell. He’s antsy, he’s not interested in random hookups, and he’s driven to call Justin and wake him up just to hear his voice. He’s oblivious and convinced he’s somehow immune to the soulmate spell. But, he only starts feeling better when Justin returns to the office. Hmm, strange that.

They Hook Up

It’s not advisable to fuck your boss, Justin knows this. Peter knows this. Everyone knows this. But the draw is undeniable and they give into temptation and have sex. Subtle soulmate magic, or just something they’ve both repressed since forever? We don’t get Justin’s POV and Peter is determined to disavow belief in soulmate magic, so we’re left to decide.

The Sex

It’s way, way better than they expect it to be. Peter thinks he’s going to get over his feelings after they are together one time. He’s wrong. Twice, then. Wrong again. So they hook up a lot. It only makes things worse.

They know they have a problem. If people find out, they’ll think Justin’s position wasn’t given to him based on merit. It would be ruinous. They know they need to stop hooking up to save Justin’s career. But, they’re two crafty lawyers. Surely they can do better. Peter has the offhand thought to say that they’re soulmates. Justin leads him into the understanding that, perhaps, what if they actually are soulmates?

As an aside, they are soulmates, of course. I don’t consider that to be a huge spoiler either because the whole premise of the story points to them being soulmates.

Overall

I enjoyed this quick read from Alessandra Hazard. I’ll be honest when I say it’s not her best, and I rate it only 3 out of 5. I am a fan of her other work, especially the Wrong Alpha and the Calluvia Royalty series. This one needs some more something.

One of the drawbacks is that this story is super short. Because of its brevity, world-building is limited, making the whole thing feel sparser. I’d be very interested in a full series set in this world. It has potential.

But at times it seems like the concept is still two disparate tropes sort of stuck together. Boss Employee MM Romance is a good trope. Urban fantasy lawyers who represent magical folks is a fun trope too. Together? I think it works. But just barely. More development would make it work better. It’s full of covens and legal counsel representing them and that’s an intriguing mix of ideas.

I still recommend reading this one. I like Hazard’s style a lot and want to support authors I enjoy.

MM Romance Reviews

I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post Boss Employee MM Romance: His Boss for Christmas Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Decorated: The Art of Love Review

Decorated by Merry Farmer | Amazon | Goodreads | Bookbub | My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Happy Holidays in a Book!

It’s the perfect time to read Decorated: The Art of Love by Merry Farmer. This Christmas-time story is the ideal book to cuddle up next to your Christmas tree with a cup of tea and read this time of year. Set in England with a main character who is in the RAF, or Royal Air Force, for those of us not super up to date with all things British, and another who is a flamboyant interior designer, this opposites attract Christmas story is a super quick, super sweet read perfect for the holiday enjoyment your heart needs this time of year. MM Christmas romance books really hit right in December, so I encourage you to read one today!

Blaine & Alfie

Blaine is a creative, eccentric, and very down on himself interior designer, who runs, er, ran, a successful business with business partner Dave until recently it all came crashing down. Burning down might be a better way to put it. After Blaine leaves a client’s house, a circuit shorts and the whole house burns down, leaving him and his business up in the air.

He’s convinced he’ll be sued into tomorrow, and at the beginning of the story, he’s hiding out from Dave at his familial house, the Hawthorne House. This Yank pictures this place as right out of Downton Abbey with its country charm and old-money polish.

Alife is a soon-to-be-retired cargo plane/logistics expert who flew cargo planes in Afghanistan and carries some emotional trauma back home with him. He’s looking forward to civilian life and has been making sure everything is ready for his retirement. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have solid plans for post-military life. He is, however, looking forward to being out and able to mingle, date, and hook up. Because apparently even in modern times it can be iffy to be out and proud in the military in England. As one of his last acts as a military man, he’s helping to coordinate a toy drive for local children’s houses and partnering with Hawthorne House.

Hawthorne House

Hawthorne House is a community arts center now, but it was once a school, and before that, it was the ancestral home of the old-money Hawthornes, Earls of Felcort (I have no idea what that means). The house is old old. The original building was built pre-1700 in the middle of a British civil war that I also know next to nothing about.

Gaps

There are some definite gaps in my understanding of British history and it’s not the goal of this story to educate. It’s a lighthearted holiday romp at its core, it does that very well. But the Hawthornes’ back story is interesting and, to me, realistic in a contemporary setting. I am sure there are a bunch of houses just like the Hawthorne house in real life peppering the English countryside and a bunch of families who have been prominent in British nobility for centuries who are still around and live modern lives. I trust that it’s solidly in the realm of plausibility. And for a story like this, I didn’t need to look into it too deeply anyway.

Artsy Family

The Hawthornes are all artists these days, except for Blaine’s twin brother who is /gasp/ an accountant. This bit cracked me up and I cannot wait to read about him in his story if he gets one. A lot of them are queer too so I wonder if Farmer has a whole series about the Hawthornes and I’m jumping in mid-series. Just speculation here.

Blaine has Low Self-Esteem

For someone from old money, poor Blaine has a very low regard for himself, and that has shown itself in his choice of lovers, from what he tells Alfie. He’s used to being thoroughly disposed of once a date is done with him, and it’s so sweet when he realizes that Alfie is not like the other men who have used him and spit him out.

Alfie is a GOOD GUY

Ok, y’all I really like how good Alfie is with both Blaine and the kids. It almost seems too good to be true but I do really hope there are men out there like Alfie who are good at managing and boosting the confidence and self-esteem of good guys like Blaine.

Read this MM Christmas Romance Book today!

This story is low angst and totally sweet and I really think it’s perfect for the holiday season. Read it now and you’ll feel the same! Or read another of your favorite MM Christmas romance books, it’s a hard time of year and you deserve it!

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post MM Christmas Romance Books: Decorated appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Unspoken: Forbidden MM Mafia Bodyguard Romance | Review

Unspoken by N.N. Britt | Amazon | Goodreads | Bookbub | My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Blurb

Loyalties and rules are put to the ultimate test when a disgraced ex-cop and a younger sibling of a ruthless crime leader cross the line a bodyguard and his protectee aren’t allowed to cross.

A disgraced ex-cop, Logan McKenna, finds himself reluctantly taking a job as a bodyguard for Alexander “Sasha” Solovey, the spoiled younger brother of the feared Las Vegas crime boss Vlad Solovey. But as Logan fights to keep Sasha safe from escalating threats, he’s drawn into a forbidden romance that could be the much-needed spark in his life…or his last mistake in a city where betrayal means death.

Set after the events of Isaac and Dallas. Can be read as standalone. First person, alternating POV.

Unspoken: Mafia MM romance

This forbidden romance mafia story will sweep you into Sasha Solovey’s dark world. The younger brother of crime boss Vlad Solovey, and born into the Solovey crime family, Sasha seems to have grown up in London boarding schools and largely shielded from the realities of what it means to be born mafia royalty. When he’s transplanted to Las Vegas after a close call, he’s traumatized and petulant in equal measures. He needs a bodyguard, in the form of Logan McKenna, a former cop who reluctantly takes the job because he needs money.

Overall Opinion

If you are a fan of Mafia MM romance, forbidden romances, mafia typical violence, virgin MC with experienced MC, age differences, and danger/suspense, you will like this book. The plot compelled me to keep turning the page, the spice level was hot, and the characterizations of the main love interests are good, with morally gray areas that are always compelling. I wish the world and character motivations made a bit more sense, but it’s a solid story. I give it a 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure: Third Book in a Series

I haven’t read the first two Mafia MM romance books of the Light & Shadow series. I borrowed Issac from Kindle Unlimited a while ago but haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. While the blurb indicates this novel can be read as a standalone, I think the world would be more fleshed out if one reads the series in order, as more world-building would clarify parts of the story I had questions about. It is highly likely those details were established and explained in previous installments of the series.

Assassination Attempt

Haunted by the explosive assassination attempt that took the life of his best friend instead of him, Sasha is adrift. He had been months away from finishing university but now those plans are on hold as he’s confined to the family compound for safety reasons. He doesn’t want to be in Nevada. Sasha doesn’t want a bodyguard. He resents that he needs a bodyguard. Much like the Banks children running off nanny after nanny until Mary Poppins comes to help, Sasha has driven away numerous bodyguards due to his behavior. Sasha lashes out at them childishly and remains unmanageable until Logan steps into the position. Logan sticks. He’s not going anywhere.

Brotherly Love? Never Met Him

Sasha and his brother Vlad have a very distant relationship. As for Vlad, well, he’s hard to get to know in this book. And it often reads like Sasha hardly knows Vlad. There’s no brotherly camaraderie. Do they have any shared history at all? There’s no warmth or even familiarity in their interactions. Sasha acts like a brat, Vlad scowls and orders him around. It makes me wonder… Did Sasha just never see his family, like ever, since he was sent to England for school? I would question the likelihood of that. Surely even kids at expensive boarding schools are required to come home for the summers, holidays, etc?

RIP to Sasha and Vlad’s Dad

Recently, Vlad and Sasha’s father met an untimely demise under mysterious circumstances, so Vlad just came into power and now leads their family crime syndicate. Because of that, he’s too busy to get to know Sasha better.

However, even with Vlad’s hands full as he takes the wheel of the family business, it reads as if he’s mostly uninterested in getting to know Sasha.

Vlad’s personality is stark. He only shows warmer facets of his personality later in the book. Finally, the reader begins to understand that there really is a real person behind the authoritarian dictator Vlad comes across as.

For most of the book, Vlad lords over Sasha with harsh commands and directives, giving him no say over his own life. Vlad tells Sasha how things will be and what he will do. One would guess that a softer approach would work out better in the long run if he wants to have a relationship with his remaining family. Because of this, it’s almost logical that Sasha would turn toward Logan, desperate for some sort of connection, something to ground him in his new reality.

Logan

Logan’s character is stubborn, stoic, a real strong-but silent type. Logan is the disgraced cop turned bodyguard archetype to a T.

Logan’s Backstory is Wack

Logan takes the fall for a partner, getting him kicked off the force. This completely doesn’t make sense to me because his partner is a dick to him in this book.

So like, why? Why would he want to ruin his career for this person? MAYBE stuff that happens in previous books will make this make more sense but it does NOT make sense to me from just reading this book. No way would someone do that just because their partner has a new baby and is friends with the partner’s wife.

Nah fam, that’s not it. As previously mentioned, I have not read the first two books in this series so that might be why I am not understanding this part.

Major Plot HOLE Leaves Logan’s Motivation on Shaky Ground

Lending his character more depth, the reader learns that Logan’s mother is sick and dying. So, it’s explained that Logan needs the money for her care, especially as he has no insurance. *record scratch* Wait . . . most states give monthly benefits to surviving spouses until they die or remarry when their spouse dies in the line of duty. That’s like.. a legit thing. Logan’s father was shot by someone in the line of duty. Nevada law has this benefit, I looked it up. So his mother would still qualify for INSURANCE through her dead spouse.

In summary, Logan losing his insurance when he was fired from the force would NOT mean that his mother doesn’t have insurance. That doesn’t make sense because that’s not how it works. And at any rate, Logan would have to have, at the very minimum, insurance through the Marketplace, right? Ok ok, let the music continue… I’M IGNORING THE GIANT PLOT HOLE.

Honestly, I hope that these unclear details are explained as part of the plot in another installment of the Light & Shadow series and when I go back and read them it will fill in the gaps in understanding I have. Because this character’s motivation doesn’t fully make sense.

Mafia MM Romance = Forbidden Romance

This book is not a case of insta-love. I hate insta-love, so I relished the amount of antagonism between the two love interests. In the beginning, Sasha acts like a child more than a grown man. His characterization is purposely immature and bratty. And he genuinely doesn’t like Logan at first, nor does Logan see Sasha as anything more than a bratty client.

There is no chemistry between the characters when they meet. They clash. It takes a few weeks if not more of book time until they are civil toward one another. In the end it’s pure adrenaline that pushes them together the first time. But after that, hormones take over and the two fall into a relationship that they both agree needs to stay secret.

Why Secret?

Sasha’s father abused him when he found him with another boy. Sasha believes he will be disowned or worse if he comes out to Vlad. And with things being so dicey with Vlad, Sasha he hasn’t seen anything to make him believe Vlad is any different than his father.

Logan similarly doesn’t believe he’ll survive Vlad finding out either, as it would seem like he is taking advantage of a younger, vulnerable person. So they sneak around for a while.

Sasha is Innocent Innocent

After Sasha and Logan kiss for the first time, the reader learns that Sasha has no sexual experience, he’s completely innocent before getting involved with Logan. He’s never even kissed another man since he was found by his father and shipped off to London. I found that element of the story in Unspoken somewhat hard to believe. From the start, the author seems to describe Sasha’s life as unhindered by the burden and danger of the mafia lifestyle while in London. It doesn’t seem like he was stopped from living as he wants. So, why wouldn’t he have done normal teenage things while at boarding school and university?

Of all things, this plot element sticks out as the most unrealistic. And yes, I stand by this that even in a book filled with mafia-typical violence and behaviors, it really doesn’t track that Sasha would have had no partners while in school. With as attractive as he’s described, with as rebellious as he is once he’s transported to Nevada, I think he’d have lived it up as a teenager just to get back at his father. Especially as the opening scene has Sasha’s friend group mentioning parties and nights out that would lend themselves to these sorts of normal, adolescent things that teenagers get up to while away from their parents, especially young and wild university students .

Of Course, Vlad Finds Out

Vlad finds out what the love interests are up to before either of them can come clean about it. That definitely makes it worse. But soon after Vlad finds out what’s going on, we are hurtled into the major climactic events of the novel. Sasha gets abducted by Vlad’s enemies, so his anger toward Logan and Sasha has to wait until things are resolved.

Logan and Vlad Work Together

To save Sasha, Logan and Vlad work together and this is the first time in the whole book the reader sees beyond Vlad’s cold façade to the real person below the surface. I wish we’d seen that side of him from the start. Before, it seemed like he was controlling Sasha to be controlling, but when Sasha is taken he seems to come unraveled a bit and we see the genuine concern and emotion that motivates him. I like that Vlad much more. He lets Logan stick around without too many threats to his life, so Vlad must see that Logan is earnest in his intentions toward Sasha.

Alls Well

After Sasha’s rescue and recovery, the book ends with a happily ever after. The ending ties up Logan and Sasha’s story well, and it left me feeling satisfied that their story had played out the way it does.

MM Romance Reviews

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post Mafia MM Romance Review: Unspoken appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Feuds and Interludes is a rock and roll MM Romance about two rockers who have been each other’s nemesis in the press for years. A Happy ending is guaranteed, but it does take some time to get there. Buckle up, rock star, we’re going on a ride.

Blurb

Boone Collins and Shane Butler are two of rock music’s brightest stars today. Their grandfathers founded a powerhouse rock supergroup that ruled the airwaves in the late 1970s, and the grandsons grew up in their shadows to become frontmen of their own successful bands. The epic rivalry between Boone and Shane is notorious, and it’s about to blow up.

When Shane’s grandfather Bruce inducts his deceased bandmate into the Rock Music Hall of Fame, he admits to the world that he wrote the band’s biggest hit about his best friend’s widow—Boone’s grandmother Vera Jean. The two want to rekindle their relationship, and their grandsons are determined to keep them apart. Only, working together for a common goal reveals surprising similarities between the rock stars as well as a chemistry they cannot ignore. Shane sees behind Boone’s glittery facade to the secrets he hides from his bandmates, and Boone is there to pick up the pieces when Shane’s professional world implodes. Together, they plot a musical collaboration to celebrate their grandfathers’ accomplishments instead of fighting—a star-studded tribute at the storied Rocktoberfest event in the Nevada desert—but will being in the spotlight prove to be too much for their fledgling romance to handle?

Feuds and Interludes is part of the multi-author Road to Rocktoberfest 2024 series. Each book can be read as a standalone, but why not read them all and see what antics our bands get into next? Hot rockstars and the men who love them, what more could you ask for. Kick back, load up your Kindle, and enjoy the men of Rocktoberfest!

Feuds from the Start: Backstory

Boone Collins and Shane Butler’s lives are inexorably linked because of their legacy: Their grandfathers were in a legendary music group together in the 1970s. That musical partnership brought all the drama and ups and downs that can accompany emotional, passionate, and talented musicians. Their fictional band, California, coined hit songs that are still renowned in the rock world.

The book opens by detailing the years-long Boone and Shane are stuck in. They trade petty disputes in the press, and before a tribute performance at Boone’s deceased grandfather’s induction ceremony to a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (type thing, not the real Rock Hall of Fame), they actually square up and nearly come to blows, pushing and trading barbs. It impeccably sets up the antagonism between the two MCs, showing not only their entwined history but also that as things are, they are oil and water. Nothing, it seems, will bring them together.

Feuds and Interludes seamlessly weaves a fictional world filled with bands and music together with real-world music groups. And it does it well, so much so that I had to google a few names of bands to see if they were a real group I just hadn’t heard of. I especially enjoyed it when the book cuts to a magazine article about someone, the tone matches real entertainment copy so well.

Nepobabies

Both the MCs are deeply motivated to distance themselves from their nepobaby label. They work hard to become successful on their own, despite their famous grandparents. They are each famous in their own right. And despite their intertwined history, they bristle when asked about the other. It’s cataloged in the press from both angles, how much they hate each other, even though with words they try to downplay the antagonism. But fans can just tell they can’t stand the sight of each other.

Boone

Boone was raised by his grandparents, John Boone and Vera Jean Collins. John Boone is a musical legend, a true rock star and guitarist in the group California. California ruled the airwaves in the 70s. Vera Jean is a film star. John and Vera Jean raise Boone after tragedy strikes. They raise him right, and despite his early trauma, he becomes a rock star too, following in his grandfather’s footsteps to be a top-selling artist. When the book starts, it’s about a year after John passes away. Boone lives with Vera Jean in their beautiful Hollywood mansion as Boone’s group “Stellar” enjoys success.

Boone also has some health issues. He’s newly diagnosed with type II diabetes and it’s proving difficult to keep his condition stable. It leads to several misunderstandings and some surprising hurt/comfort when the MCs are still technically enemies.

Growing up, Boone was always around when the band rehearsed or at parties. The other star of California, Bruce Duncan, often brought his grandson Shane to these get-togethers. So Boone and Shane have known one another since forever. To kids, a few years difference in age seems like a whole lot more than it does when older. So, when Boone would follow Shane around at parties Shane didn’t like that at all. That’s when their antagonism started, it seems.

Shane

Shane is a metal musician who has a serious temper. He is notorious in the musical world for being firey and volatile. Also, Shane is a control freak. Shane writes all his band’s songs and doesn’t let his fellow bandmates do much, so it’s unsurprising when they break up with him. It sets him up for some downtime and he and Boone finally getting together inspires him with the creative drive to pursue something new with Boone, musically as well as romantically.

Legends of Their Time

Shane and Boone’s grandfathers are rock and roll legends. Shane’s grandfather, the surviving member of California, is a whole character. Boone’s grandfather John is deceased before the start of the book. I liked learning about him and it was sad that he died. But his death moved the story along.

Love Can Bring Us Together

Boone and Shane seem stuck in a never-ending cycle of back and forth. They can’t get the right footing around one another, and always end up pissing the other off. What finally changes? Their grandparents, mostly. When Bruce reveals, in dramatic fashion, that he wrote California’s most famous song Paisley pining for Vera Jean who went on to marry John, it sets the gears in motion for the ground under Boone’s feet to start shaking.

Vera Jean and Bruce

They decide that they’ve dilly-dallied for too long. They are going to be together for the years they have left. Love birds, teenage-style. Except they are in their 70s. Septeenagers, or something along those lines. Well, Boone and Shane, neither of them likes that idea at all. And for once, they agree on something and they have an actual conversation. It doesn’t take much for both of them to realize that they don’t really hate each other, they actually maybe like each other. After all, it’s a thin line between love and hate.

There Was Only One Bed Recording Studio

What finally tips the scale into sexy-time land? The musicians end up double booked at a recording studio/retreat. When they spend time in close proximity for a few weeks, they suddenly can’t keep their hands off each other. Recording studio hijinks ensue, hickeys galore. I am sure the producers wouldn’t want any bodily fluids on that expensive equipment, but that’s what happens.

Rock Stars

Rock Stars are, by nature, immature and emotional. This rings true in Feuds and Interludes. The way the MCs act is immature, from time to time. And they definitely let their emotions rule their reaction to things. The main conflict, in fact, shows that they have the emotional maturity of teenagers in grown men’s bodies.

Conflict Resolution and Emotional Maturity

It happens late in the story. Things are good, no, great. The two love interests are in love, and their troubles seem to be behind them, even with some ups and downs with band breakups along the way. They play an amazing show at Rocktoberfest. And then? Well, I guess the author felt like the story needed some conflict so the immature rock stars push each other away one more time.

I didn’t care for this, because it seemed petulant on Shane’s part to push Boone away when Boone really could have used the support of his boyfriend on his long overseas tour. Shane stomped away and pouted for a few months instead of being there for him. It all works out in the end but I wish the character had shown some growth and maturity and instead of making a grand gesture had just been there emotionally to support Boone on his tour. Maybe that’s just me, I don’t know. I didn’t think the story needed that whole part. I did enjoy the ending, it was gratifying to see them finally come together for keepsies at the end.

Feuds and Interludes: Overall Reccomend

Feuds and Interludes keeps you entertained. Spice level is piquant. I liked the book overall.

MM Romance Book Reviews

I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post Feuds and Interludes: Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Blurb

Inherited magic.

A secret neighborhood.

And… a formidable Homeowner’s Association?

When Mathias Mandrake becomes the unexpected heir of Mandrake Manor, he and his friends are thrust into a world of witchery and mystery. Juggling romance, nosy neighbors, and looming fines, they must decide: is the magic worth the mayhem?

Mandrake Manor Plot Details

Mandrake Manor is a 2023 novel about three recent college graduates: Mat, August, and Frankie. Mat inherits an old family manor. Unsure of their post-college plans, Mat convinces August and Frankie to move with him to this mysterious manor with him. They know nothing of the estate, Mat didn’t even know about this aunt who willed her entire estate to him upon her death.

Is Mandrake Manor is ALIVE

The estate, it turns out, is magic, the neighborhood is a shelter for magical beings, and everything is not as it seems. The trio quickly discover this as they acclimate to the neighborhood. Frankie works at a veterinary office run by a werewolf, Mat is a dentist who has clients who freeze time to reveal their magical side so he can deal with their magical toothaches, and August is a novelist who finds a quiet but magical café where they can settle in and write their book.

Henbane Hollow

The Henbane Hollow neighborhood seems to be an entity itself. The trio of friends can’t even find the neighborhood at first, which is hilarious. But, the neighborhood is being taken over by a overzealous HOA suburbanization project that sounds awful with how dull it will make everything. Who in their right mind would take historic Victorian mansions and make them McMansions straight out of the 90s? This plot is so sinister in its drive to take all the character out of a perfectly paranormal neighborhood that it is outwardly the big bad in the novel from the start. The HOA president takes being the nefarious neighborhood Karen to the magical next level.

World-Building

The audiobook narration is spot on for building the mystery and sense that there’s something not quite right with the neighborhood. The character POVs are interwoven well and the narrator’s voices for the various characters are entertaining. I loved how Graves narrates Frankie most of all, the character with the most sass.

Characters

I enjoyed the main characters and their POVs were clearly written as different, such a hard thing to do when writing from so many POVs. Narration also differentiated between the characters well so it was easy to tell whose chapter it was from the narration style.

Mat

Despite being the main character I felt like his characterization is the weakest and could use some bolstering. He just seems anxious and awkward but we never get beyond that. I mean, he saves his budding love interest from freaking hell! He should show some character growth.

August

August is my favorite character and not just because it makes me think of my boy Augst D. They are nonbinary and I loved the seamless narration and writing of a nonbinary character who uses they/them pronouns. I was reading a review and someone was saying there were grammar errors because of the use of they/them pronouns and I couldn’t tell if the reviewer was being willfully obtuse or if they thought the author really didn’t catch all those “mistakes” but anyone who knows anything queer will love the way August is described. I loved his quiet, lucid-dreaming self so much. Readers get to know him the most.

Frankie

Frankie is all sass and I love him, but he is another character I wish we got more insight into his inner workings, so to say. He’s bright, altruistic, and funny. He’s not just the one who brings the sassy takes on things. So we need more of him being authentically himself to see that.

Love Interests

I liked the love interests and how they were integral to the overall story. I wish we had more actual romance building instead of the SLOW burn we’re setting out on if this series continues.

Audiobook Gripes

Ok pronunciation gripe. The narrator said the word “vague” as “vahg”. It’s pronounced “vayg”. That rubbed me wrong. And then let’s talk about the French. Oh the French. I KNOW I can be super picky about French dialogue. Full disclosure, I am a French teacher IRL. But Oh My God y’all. If you know there is French dialogue, make sure you have the phonetic pronunciation to guide you.

French is hard, y’all

I don’t want to be mean. I can tell the narrator tried and they probably took French at one point in their life because it wasn’t all wrong. But there were times when he was reading spells that I couldn’t even tell what he was saying. And I am well versed in understanding butchered French pronunciation. I hear all sorts of wildly mispronounced French on the daily, as a MIDDLE SCHOOL teacher of French. Middle schoolers were not taught to read with phonics, they used sight words. Most of my students cannot look at words and understand how to break the word apart and predict pronunciation at all. I would be so happy to help with pronunciation. Or there are so many websites where you can ask native speakers how to pronounce things.

Narrator Did a Great Job

Overall I enjoyed the narration, the narrator did a good job of building the tension, speaking clearly, acting out characters differently, and keeping the pace steady. I also enjoyed the narrator’s reading of the poems at the start of each chapter. On the flip side, the narrator’s voice lulled me into not paying as close enough attention as I could have been, at times. This is likely a user error, as I don’t often listen to audiobooks and find my adhd self’s attention wandering quite easily.

Overall

Overall, I enjoyed this book and want more from the series. I hope we continue to see character growth and development as they continue their adventures as the Mandrake coven.

MM Romance Book Reviews

I received a free copy of this book from Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post Mandrake Manor Audiobook Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Blurb

After testing as mundane, David just wanted to earn his botany degree and enjoy his ordinary life. He didn’t count on a First Blood demon portaling into his part-time job to bind with anyone near that dormant nexus, though. Bad luck for David—demons only bind with magicals.

The jig is up.

Now outed as a druid, David navigates the Cumberland metro’s perilous magical community while exploring his link to that demon, Jae. David’s father, Teddy Mace, had closely guarded secrets, including how strong David’s powers were as a child, but what else had Teddy hidden? What got him killed? And once Jae helps David decipher his dad’s lost grimoire, will the murderers target them next?

Add in David’s godfather and Towpath Guild Boss John Griffith, an edible-loving imp sent to be David’s familiar, and frenemy roommate Finnegan who is inarguably the worst fire mage ever, and David’s dream of a normal life spectacularly implodes.

Whoever dismembered Teddy Mace will have to stand in line if they want to eliminate David to keep that cold case arctic. He and Jae are hard to catch. Fully bound? Killing this new demon/magical team may be impossible…if they can stop pissing each other off first.

Content violence, blood magic, explicit male/male sex, generational trauma, parental estrangement, alcoholism recovery…All these people are super fucked-up. But you don’t want to miss necromancy, the dragon of Pittsburgh, and a twelve-year-old oracle who can be bought with video games and chalupas.

No part of this work was created with generative AI.
131,160 Digital Words

Imaginative Urban Fantasy

The Accidental Druid’s Guide to Binding Demons, a thrilling roller-coaster ride of urban fantasy, will take you to rural Maryland and into a world of magical and mundane alike embroiled in an adventure with high stakes for all.

David

The book opens as a normal-seeming David, a young college student focusing on environmental science, heads to work. His job keeps him active at the local botanical garden. He thinks he’ll have a regular day at work, but his boss sends him out to investigate a grove of oaks. Everything seems mundane in that moment. However, it’s not long until the reader learns his secret: David has hidden his magical identity for more than a decade. Why? Someone killed his father and David, who has magic as strong and powerful as that of his father, is not safe if everyone knows he’s following in his father’s footsteps.

David is a complicated character. He doesn’t trust the magic community, for good reason. Someone killed his father because of his powers and whatever it was he was up to, secrets well hidden in his last grimoire. David also distrusts his mother, someone he’s cut out of his life for years due to childhood trauma. She reappears though and seems to be trying to make amends.

David is a lot of things. But he’s never not been a druid. So I don’t know how accidental he is, to be frank. His power has been there, latent, this whole time, and he always knew it. Hiding it did him a disservice. Because when he is in danger, he doesn’t have the practiced skill of a trained druid. He only has the semi-controlled, half-developed skill of someone with a lot of power but not a lot of know-how to do much with it. I wish he’d been able to practice and hone his skill in secret so he isn’t caught quite so unaware when Jae drops into his life and screws all his hard-earned peace to hell.

Jae

Jae is a First Blood demon who plops through a nexus gravely injured and into David’s life. Does David know what he’s doing when he promises he’ll get Jae to safety? Did Jae set him up so he’d make a promise and set the binding in motion? The author does not answer these questions in the story. I definitely wondered how it was that Jae appeared just where David would be so he could bind with him.

Demons are different from humans, with different cultures, norms, and powers. Jae is something of an enigma, prickly and glowering but with a hidden underbelly of softness. He’s nice to children and animals. Jay is definitely not like the other demons who have come into the human realm from other portals and brought utter destruction upon all who witnessed it.

Jae tends to call humans stupid, and I guess to him they are, but I liked it a lot when he got reamed out by the young oracle to stop being such a douchecanoe. Someone had to say it, I wish it didn’t happen so far into the novel. I didn’t like him calling David stupid so much.

Magical World Overlaid

Urban fantasy combines fantasy plot devices and magical characters and places them in a familiar world. It combines the out-of-the-ordinary with the familiar. With a backdrop of Cumberland, Maryland, The Accidental Druid’s Guide strikes that balance well. Descriptions pepper chapters of actual landmarks and details that transport the reader with their realism, all while an exciting adventure plays out with witches, sorcerers, mages sharing the city with fae, nymphs, imps, and demons. But maybe the demons are less welcome.

Cumberland, Maryland

The author’s love of the setting elevates the city of Cumberland and the countryside that surrounds it from just a backdrop to something important. The setting almost seems like a character in the story. I loved this. I had never heard of this place before I started this book and now I want to vacation there. It’s gorgeous, I looked it up.

At one point, David sneaks into town so his magical abilities can be properly tested and registered. Danger everywhere, demons and witches alike actively hunt him. David can’t escape their sights because they are unhappy that a newly bound human and demon encroach on territory that has been uncontested for some time. And they will go to lengths to get them out of the way before the binding can be cemented before David’s powers can be tested.

Reading the descriptions made the location seem so realistic, so I got curious and looked up the downtown area. I could track David’s perilous journey to the guild headquarters on Google Maps. Like I said, the love the author has for this area shines out so brilliantly in the story, that it sometimes reads as a love letter to this part of Maryland. I loved this. I loved that the setting came to life so vividly I wanted to track David’s journey up the Great Allegany Passage to meet the dragon.

Details, details, details

Worldbuilding is sparse in The Accidental Druid’s Guide. Urban fantasy tends to just roll with it, and not stop and say, hey reader, this is how it is. Supernatural elements plop down into the familiar world sans page-long prose to explain why, most of the time. It can be confusing. There’s a whole magical world to overlay over our familiar world. Whole cultures and societies subtly shift to make room for magic. But often that comes without much explanation. Without knowing that this is how urban fantasy tends to be, the reader could be left scratching their head. Sometimes details are just thrown into the mix. My advice is to just keep reading. Don’t think of the hows or what-ifs. Take it at face value.

Overall Impression

I loved this adventure. Loved. It. But I want more. I want to read about Skip and Andrew, for example, to follow John Griffith and his reconciliation with his son. Henry, I want to watch Henry grow up and come into his powers. I don’t know if this author normally writes series, or if Accidental Druid will be a one-off story. I enjoyed the setting so much that I’d love to read more about Cumberland, Maryland, and its colorful community of magical and mundane citizens. So I’m hoping for more!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

MM Romance Reviews

I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post The Accidental Druid’s Guide to Binding Demons Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Summers Power by BL Jones is a dark mafia romance set in Danger City, somewhere in the UK. Attempting to combine many tropes: mafia family, enemies to lovers, oblivious but obsessed main characters, single (widowed) dads, bi-awakening, and maybe a bit of superhero action as the cherry on top (but superheroes were only mentioned in the first book, they were never seen on page), seems a lofty feat.

But BL Jones does a good job of weaving together the increasingly complex plots into a cohesive, exciting, and endearing story. Summers Power is the first book in the Danger City series, with the next installment, Winters Reign, coming out sometime in the future. Another note: Summers Power takes place within the same universe as another series by BL Jones, one in which superheroes and villains are also present. Knowing that now I understand more why superheroes are casually mixed in with a mafia story.

Blurb

The daylight between us, and the darkness we share.

Danger City has been ruled by the bloody iron fists of the Winters crime family for decades.

When the Summers family waged war on the Winters in an attempt to take their power, violence reigned, taking no mercy on both sides of the conflict. The Summers were eventually defeated and as a result Max Summers lost everything.

Flash forward sixteen years, Max is a new man, no longer a gangster, but a simple primary school teacher still grieving the loss of his first love and trying his best to raise his children as a single father.

Cue his old rival Sam Winters re-entering his life when their oldest sons meet at school and become best friends.

During their time apart, Sam continued on the path laid out for him, climbing the organisation’s ranks right to the top. He has become every inch the mighty and lethal crime boss he was born to be.

After their unplanned reunification, both men are forced to confront the nightmares of their joint past and the burgeoning desire which seems to be developing between them.

Can Max allow himself to fall in love with anyone again, let alone the man who was once his greatest enemy?

Tags: Romance, enemies to lovers, mm romance, gangster romance, mafia romance, demisexual, bisexual, dark romance, slow burn romance, rivals to lovers, single dads (throw in some superheroes too)

Expected publication November 5, 2024

Max Summers

Max grows up being groomed to be the second to the ruling mafia’s family ruler. He has a horrible childhood devoid of love. It’s stark. His father works for the crime boss, and his mom wants Max to emulate everything possible to be a little child crime boss. No shielding her child from the horrors of criminal Mafioso dealings. Still, quiet, seen and not heard to the greatest degree possible. How he grows up and is somehow okay without massive amounts of therapy is anyone’s guess. His rival growing up is Sam Winters, the heir apparent for the Winter legacy, ie the criminal organization their family is the head of.

Max Loses Everything

Max loses everything when his family tries to usurp the ruling mafia family, the Winters. Yes, the summer/winter metaphor is played pretty bluntly here. Max’s family is totally destroyed. His father, in prison. His mother, dead, violently killed by someone in the Winter’s clan. Max is stripped of his money, his home, and cast out, shunned from the network he was raised in and expected to live his whole life in.

Taken In

Somehow, a homeless Max is taken in by good people. Nathalie and Penny, the owners of the family-run Starr Café, rescue Max from the streets. They give him a stable home and job. While I love Penny and Nathalie’s characters, this plot element is one of the most improbable parts of the whole story. Only in a fantasy world would a single mother insist that the homeless teen they just accidentally hit with their car should come live with them permanently. And work in their café.

Mainstream Max

But that’s what Max does. He goes mainstream, marries Nathalie, has children, forgets his mafia upbringing, and becomes a 1st grade teacher of all things. Most importantly, his childhood rival Sam Winters no longer plays any part in his life.

Nathalie

Eventually, Max and Nathalie get married and have children, living an idyllic life together. Their life together is a perfection that Max thinks will never be replicated once Nathalie tragically dies. Nathalie, even though she is already dead when the story starts and whose entire page-time consists of flashbacks, still feels like a main character in this story. In part because Max thinks nothing good will ever happen to him again once Nathalie is gone. She is, admittedly, a wonderful mother and wife, written in a way that’s nearly perfect in every way. Almost Mary Sue-like, dare I say, her characterization is almost too good. No one is that good. That sounds pessimistic, sorry.

Sam Winters

Sam Winters is, by comparison, a nightmare of a person, a description that is used more than once. It fits Sam’s personalization perfectly. He has anger issues, can be a massive prat, and is strangely intense. He’s been raised from childhood with the understanding he’d take over the family once his grandfather retires.

But adulthood mellowed Sam too. He got married, had children, and started more upstanding businesses that aren’t money-laundering fronts. And he’s chafing at the impending promotion to leader of the family. He feels as if he will never be free if he takes over the family, he’ll be forced to fit the mold of an unfeeling, murdering villain if he steps into power.

His children are cute. What’s more, in a completely different manner they seem to be shielded from the reality of their family’s criminality. That speaks to me. Did Sam see how he and Max were completely fucked by their upbringing and vow to break the cycle, to be better? Did that foreshadow his desire to break free from the expectations he’s burdened with and step away from the family business?

Strengths

Overall Summers Power is a strong introduction to this dark romance series. I enjoyed it, looked forward to reading it, kept picking it up to read a few pages here and there even when I should have been doing other things. This marks an interesting read, in my book. There are plenty of good things to remark upon about Summers Power, but I’ll choose just a few.

Main Character Chemistry

The childhood rivals, enemies to lovers progression is hot, and one of my favorite things to read. It’s done well in Summers Power. Max seems swept along by the tide of their wildfire chemistry, and it’s hot. I enjoyed the way they tiptoe around one another until they inevitably bring up things that would better be left in the past, but they can’t help but share with each other. Their conversations are tense, and I just wanted to yell at them to kiss already! It also seems like several of their friends had been wanting to do that for years, as well. When they finally get together, the wildfire combusts in a very satisfying manner.

Sets Up Book Two Well

A LOT needs to happen, so I am looking forward to book two a lot, and wonder if it will be a trilogy? It seems like a lot of plot developments need to play out so maybe it will be a three-book series. There’s a lot going on, by the end of book one.

Weaknesses

As strong as the writing is in Summers Power, there are some weaknesses that I’d like to touch on now. Note this doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the book, it was a fun read, but improvements could make the story flow better and hammer down the central focus of the series.

Maybe Too Much?

A LOT is going on, trope-wise in Summers Power. Let’s see if I can summarize it. Deep breath. Single widowed dads with kids who are school friends but who were also once violent childhood rivals in their Mafia family, one shunned and the other groomed for succession. When they reconnect they experience their bisexual awakening for one another.

The Superheroes

There are also superheroes in this universe but we never see them, only hear about them. Because I didn’t know that Danger City exists within the same universe as another series by BL Jones that has superheroes, I kept wondering about how superheroes would play into the story. For part of Summers Power I half expected a big twist like maybe Max would be the superhero or something since they kept being mentioned, or Sam as some sort of defiant FU to the family business, but I don’t think that will be what happens.

Off Page Action

A lot, if not most, of the action in Summers Power takes place off-page, and mostly in flashback. We learn about the violent childhoods Max and Sam live through through flashbacks and snippets of memories, a lot of times when Max is lost in his thoughts. Side note: Seriously, Max needs to work through his trauma in therapy. That or he’s super neurodivergent and has never been diagnosed. I wish more things happened in the now, in Summers Power.

Especially the Mafia Related Stuff

None of the mafia stuff happens present day, except for a meeting. The reader only distantly hears about the family business. This being told in flashback makes it seem like things happened a while ago, but in theory, the family business is still going strong, better than ever. In my mind, an heir apparent would be heavily involved in current family criminality, and more mafia-related things should be moved to present-day action and minimize the flashbacks related to the Winters family organization. This would make the impending retirement of Grandpapa and the promotion of Sam to Kingpin more urgent and present.

Who Was Ashley, Sam’s Wife?

Readers get to know Nathalie and Max’s whole relationship through flashbacks and memories. It makes Nathalie a strong character in Summers Power. But the other widowed partner, Sam, we don’t know much about Ashley at all. There are no flashbacks from Sam’s POV about his courtship or memories with Ashley when his kids were young. We know that Ashley was Will’s sister (another side character). We know she’s not alive anymore. I wanted a bit of balance there.

Lots of Side Characters

There are a lot of side characters to wrangle and keep straight. I liked all of them, especially Vic, Penny’s beau. They get a lot of page time, along with the kids. The side characters are on-page more than the mafia stuff, which this story is marketed as. In my opinion, balancing the mafia/enemies-to-lovers dark romance side of the story and the cute single-dad romance would be better achieved with more on-page mafia shit. I like the page time for side characters and playdates with the kids, but it takes away from what the story is supposed to be, at least from the description. Choose who you want to be, and be that story. But trying to do it all spread things a bit thin, I’m afraid.

Ends Very Abruptly

The story ends like RIGHT after a scene that I expected to be just the first of many relationship-developing scenes. It was a good scene, I liked it a lot, and I checked the progress on my Kindle and legit did a doubletake when I saw I was at 97%. Wait, what? I just expected the story to keep going, and it seemed like an abrupt place to draw the line for the first book.

Overall

Summers Power was a compelling read. I picked it up with a smile each time I had a few minutes to read and read it quickly even with a busier than normal week. I wait for the next book impatiently. Despite the inconsistencies I already touched on, this story is exciting and the characters are interesting. I recommend this book to anyone who likes any of the tropes this book ticks off. Because even though there are a lot of tropes, Summers Power manages to cram them all in pretty well!

ARC Review

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

MM Romance Reviews

I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post Summers Power by BL Jones Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Blurb

FALL IN LOVE WITH HISTORY.
A PLOT-DRIVEN M/M ROMANCE ADVENTURE FROM A TIME BEFORE…

Entin has never belonged. His tribe had never accepted him. And so, when the raid began and his village erupted in flames, he froze. Now, abducted and far from home, he must confront his past to survive the future. He’s never known war, yet now the threat of combat is the only thing that might ensure his freedom and survival. Flung into a culture foreign to him and forced to rely on a young man near his age for survival, he’s destined to make choices he never dreamed of to reclaim his freedom…

Cascade knew duty. It compelled him. And so it had been his designs that allowed the raids to be possible. But he also knew honor. And a part of him had always resisted the path his tribe traveled. As he dragged his captive toward Mountainhome, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread about what awaited them. The Wolves were coming. And he feared none of them were ready for the terror the ancient legends warned of…

Fall in Love with History as you confront the terrors of our past. Fight for love as two unlikely heroes come into their own. Adventure abounds around every corner, from the Mastodon-filled plains of the seacoast to treacherous predators and sacred mountaintops. Be forced to compromise to survive and ultimately discover that sometimes the strongest bonds are those forged in fire …

Run.
You’re being hunted.

236 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 1, 2024

Premise of Paleolithica

Paleolithica by Nando Gray is one of the most unique MM romances I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. Set in a Paleolithic society in what we later learn is the Pacific Northwest, Paleolithica follows the life of Entin and Cascade (foreshadowing with his name) as their tribes clash. Entin, along with other tribe members, become captives. Their captors conscript them into combat against an almost mythical enemy known as the Wolves.

Entin

Entin is different. Somehow his tribe picks up on his differences from childhood. Unlike other boys, he does not learn to hunt, to use weapons, or to fight. Instead, he is begrudgingly taught tasks women usually perform, like identifying helpful plants and fungus for foraging, weaving, etc. His tribe shuns him, and Entin grows up without love, comfort, or a sense of belonging. It’s never explained exactly how his tribe knows Entin is different, but his early life, as hard as it is for him, prepares him for his adventures in a way that turns out to be good.

Cascade’s Tribe

Cascade’s tribe uses bolas and other tactics Entin’s tribe is unprepared for so they are easily defeated. Cascade is said to have created many of the weapons and strategies that his tribe uses, and he is the beloved son of the tribe leader. So his life has been different than Entin’s, he is a well-loved member of his tribe, his tribe leader is respected as a great leader, and Cascade’s wisdom is listened to and valued.

Captor/Captive in the Paleolithic Era

When Entin’s tribe is attacked by this different tribe, Entin along with others like his friend Aeil are taken captive. Entin is guarded by Cascade. His face is masked and his arms and legs bound. Then Cascade drags Entin along behind him on a sled, likely a travois of some kind, back to their tribal lands in the mountains. It’s slow going. Cascade speaks to Entin and they discover their languages are mutually intelligible so they can communicate. Cascade tells Entin he will not be harmed if he goes along with them. A moment passes between the two men, and Entin feels like he can trust Cascade. Cascade feeds Entin by hand, something the tribe does to increase trust between captives.

Paleolithic Subterfuge and Disaster

A real bond forms between them when disaster strikes, both natural and not. The two men are separated from the tribe. They fend for themselves. Their survival depends on it. Feelings start to develop quickly after that. Cascade’s tribe does not see Entin’s differences as bad, and Cascade shows him how it could be if the way he is naturally isn’t seen as something to be shameful about. They are intimate, something Entin has never experienced before. His feelings overwhelm him. They bond quickly, over trauma and the need for survival, and by the time they make it back to Cascade’s tribal lands, they are no longer, at least to themselves, captive and captor, but lovers.

Paleolithica: Strengths

This book instantly transports the reader to the Paleolithic period. I was afraid it would be difficult to imagine an MM romance in such ancient times. It wasn’t. At all. Everything is so natural and frankly lovely. Entin and Cascade fall in love. Love is eternal and forever, those emotions were the same then as they are now. It made me feel connected to ancient people to know that. In short, the setting and the premise work so well in Paleolithica, it blew me away.

Strong writing sets up the tribal system and belief system so there are minimal info dumps. I never felt pulled out of the immersion to think, now would a caveman really think like that? No, I believed it all, fully immersed and believing everything.

Their explanations for everything happening around them were believable, their belief system had supernatural and organic vibes that seemed totally legit. I could 100% believe people living in that time would see the world the way Entin and Cascade’s people do. I don’t have any idea how much anthropologists actually know about the belief system of paleolithic societies, so I might be wrong, but it seems like the author did their homework and really jumped into the minds of the people of this time.

As I write this, I feel even more strongly that this book is one of the most unique mm romances I’ve ever read. Nando Gray did a really great job.

Weaknesses in Paleolithica

Please note there aren’t many weaknesses in this story. These are mostly personal gripes. I disliked that Entin’s twin, someone thought long dead, came back into his life but in the worst way. That was sad to me because Entin never got any love as a kind and then his sister turns out to be bad. I also didn’t like the MF sex scenes because in general, I don’t like reading MF sex scenes. But these gripes are not anything wrong with the story, they just didn’t hit the notes I like books to hit.

Overall Takeaway

Read Paleolithica by Nando Gray! It’s so cool! I cannot recommend it highly enough!

MM Book Reviews

I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post Paleolithica by Nando Gray Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Blurb

What mysterious organ hides within a witch’s chest?

For fans of A Marvellous Light and The Magpie Lord …

London, December 1886. A woman is gruesomely murdered, a mysterious organ missing from her cracked-open chest. Investigating the case, Kensington’s top inspector, Hal Hawthorne, quickly discovers that the victim wasn’t human—and neither is her killer. When he saves the captivating wizard November from becoming the next target, Hal is thrust into a world of nightmarish creatures and dark magic. But the deeper Hal becomes entangled in the case, the more he comes to believe that November isn’t just a wizard with mind-bending powers, but also holds the key to unraveling the web of dark magic and murder.

Can Hal solve the case and protect November, or will the murderer claim him and destroy Hal’s life forever? And what will Hal have to sacrifice to stop the killings and save the man he’s come to love?

This book is the first part of a trilogy.

The print version of this book includes a spicy bonus chapter.

376 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication October 31, 2024

The Wizard & The Welshman’s Premise

The Wizard & The Welshman tell the story of police inspector Hal Hawthorne and Wizard November as their worlds collide and they work together to track down a murder. In the process, they uncover a criminal conspiracy to murder people, both magical and ordinary, and harvest their organs on the magical black market.

On the way, they fall in love.

Victorian Laws

Hal grapples with being gay because in Victorian London that was a criminal offense. And Hal, being a police officer has a lot of trouble not following the rules. He’s been beating himself up his whole life for what he sees as a bad thing, like who he is attracted to is something that he could choose. His family moved him from Cardiff in Wales after a scandal and he’s lived with that specter over him his whole adult life, mostly due to his family perpetuating his shame. That’s the true shame, his mother is an abhorrent character.

Anyway, Hal knows he likes men but he denies himself because he’s an upstanding British man who has a lot of neurodivergent traits if we are looking at him from a modern lens, but who wants to live his life working hard as an Inspector and avoiding getting married and settling down. But being with men isn’t on his radar.

But he cannot deny his feelings for November. And November is someone to behold, indeed.

November

November is a sex worker and a wizard. He works in a brothel along with lots of other sex workers but they are all special. They are all witches and wizards. November is younger than Hal but has seen a lot in his life, after his parents abandoned him and he worked in a workhouse for most of his childhood. The Madame of the brothel took him in and is on the surface providing a good home for him.

London

Honestly, London seems like the most unforgiving place imaginable. It’s dreadful, with starving people on every corner and no escape from the cold. The author does an excellent job making the reader feel the icy cold air, the wet snow as it melts into pants legs and chills the skin, and most importantly the hopelessness hovering around everyone not well off.

The Murder

The murder in The Wizard & the Welshman that brings November and Hal together is gruesome and vicious. Helena Dunham is hacked open and her heart removed. From the start, Hal knows there’s something different about this case, and his one-track mind won’t rest until he finds the murderer and solves the case.

However, once he scratches the surface he quickly realizes that there’s much more going on than a run-of-the-mill murder. He finds November after his name pops up on a note the victim clutched in her dying hand. Hawthorne knows November is a key to the case, and seeks him out. Who he finds turns out to be an enchanting man who Hal is instantly drawn to.

The Wizard & The Welshman’s Strengths

Magical Realism

The Wizard and the Welshman is a great example of magical realism. The author does a spectacular job of interweaving a magical society into the fabric of historical-feeling Victorian London. The magic system is unique too, with only a few things that are derivative of other more well-known magical OPs.

Action

The action in The Wizard & the Welshman is written beautifully, I loved the action scenes so much. The author is masterful at writing tense, tight chase scenes. Their romp through Cairo held perfect tension throughout, it’s perfection. The séance too, such great writing. I loved these parts the most.

Weaknesses

Magic System Confusion

The magical system could have been more fleshed out, sometimes it was a bit like the author needed a plot device to happen and so it became part of the magical system. For example, out of the blue, Wizards can’t lie or their lie becomes reality? I feel like that could have been foreshadowed better so it wasn’t such an out-of-left-field thing to learn late in the novel.

Spicy Scene

One of the most cruel things the author has done is to only include a spicy scene in the print edition. I get why, physical book sales are good for business. But I wanted to read the spicy scene and as an arc reader, I didn’t get to. Sad. Update: The author sent me the spicy scene via Booksprout message so they are lovely and wonderful in every way! And so is the scene! *fans self* it was worth the whining about, I loved it!

Overall Take

I loved this book and can’t wait for more. I liked the side characters, the building feelings between Hal and November, and the action was masterful writing. The second book can’t come soon enough!.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post The Wizard & the Welshman Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

The Good Neighbour (British Spelling Purposeful)

The Good Neighbor by Kristian Parker is a British MM Romance set in a rich neighborhood in London called Queens Crescent. It is book EIGHT of a series and I haven’t read any of the other books. The main characters and love interests are Josh, a fashion designer in the throes of a divorce, and Hugh, a drag queen who is house-sitting for one of Josh’s neighbors. Hugh is down on his luck after an embarrassing national TV appearance and Josh is coming out of a fog that he’s been in for years dealing with a narcissistic partner.

The Good Neighbour features an entertaining batch of background characters, adding a charming and homey feeling to the story when they are on the page.

The Good Neighbour of Queens Crescent

The neighborhood they live in, called Queens Crescent, is upper class. Lifestyles of the rich and famous, indeed. The people who live there include movie stars, models, fashion designers, racecar drivers, and more. Movie star Madeline flounces through scenes with all the dramatism one might expect in a starlet. Josh is a fashion designer and his soon-to-be ex is a filmmaker.

Ms. Wimpole and the Professor

Ms. Wimpole and the Professor are the highlights of the neighborhood. The Professor is a Dicken’s expert and a professor, obviously. Ms. Wimpole’s profession isn’t ever discussed, as I suppose she is just a rich person who comes from money and lives in the neighborhood. Ms. Wimpole could be described as the neighborhood busybody if the way she’s in everyone’s business was mean-spirited. But luckily it’s not. She cares, and that’s why she’s in people’s business.

The Fashion Designer and the Drag Queen

At the start of The Good Neighbor, Josh has been off work for more than a year so he could take care of his douche of a husband who has been sick. Josh dropped everything to help take care of Winston. Josh’s character seems adrift away from work, but he has found himself fully involved with taking care of the cancer-ridden husband. But Winston flips the script and does some narcissistic magic to make Josh feel guilty about… well everything I guess.

The Ex: Winston

Winston is not a nuanced character to put it very, very lightly. He’s the villain and has no redeeming qualities that play out on the page. He’s just an ass. His one-note characterization detracts from the overall story in The Good Neighbour. I wish the author had developed his character more, in a different way, to make it so the later drama that plays out would be at all reasonable.

As it reads, there would be no reason to believe that Josh would get back with Winston. He’s just an asshole. A more developed backstory here would have added to the drama. A husband who, newly cancer-free and with a new lease on life, decides to explore who he is on his own, a journey of self-discovery that leaves Josh bereft. Then, when he comes back into the picture, there might be some smidgen of doubt in Josh. Has he fully moved on, or not? As it plays out though, Hugh’s reaction to this issue seems juvenile because there’s no reason to suspect Josh would even think about going back to his ex. Winston is just a heel character, one who is written to be over-the-top, mean, and evil.

Josh

Josh barely has time to process his singleness before he meets Hugh and there isn’t a huge swath of time between meeting and they are in bed together. While Josh makes some motions to ‘resist the temptation’, he clearly wants Hugh from the start. They’re hot together, I’ll give you that.

Hugh

I liked Hugh from the start, and wished for his success as he develops his new act, figures stuff out with his family, and of course, ending with a HEA. His character is more likable than Josh, who seems like a doormat sometimes. It’s almost like Josh doesn’t quite know who he is beyond having a lot of money and a nice house.

Hugh, though, we do know. I wish there were more descriptions of his drag looks in The Good Neighbour. It seems like a missed opportunity. The dress described after making the new character sounds nice, if not a bit matronly but that’s fine considering the character he is playing. I just want more emphasis on the look, I guess. Like what does his hair look like, what color? Heels, boots, little kitten pumps, what is on his feet? What is the makeup style, etc. As a longtime fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race I just want to be able to envision the fits!

Maturity Levels

I did have an issue with some of the maturity levels that some characters display. They are suspect. Like they act like teenagers sometimes, with reactions to things completely over the top and dramatic, which is funny since this is a very British novel, and aren’t they usually stiff upper lip types?

Speaking of… Britishisms

This is such a British novel and that’s not a bad thing in general. However, I felt like it was written for other British people, if that makes sense. For example, I didn’t understand that the show Hugh was on was a variety show because it wasn’t explained at all. What’s more, some of the turns of phrase are so posh I can’t help but read them with the most put-on British accent. And why is everything a “little” something? Your little movie, your little street, your little act, etc. It was a lot of little.

Overall Take for The Good Neighbour

I enjoyed The Good Neighbour. It’s part of a series, but I haven’t read any of the other books. Thus, I would like to go back and read more. Overall I recommend this book. It’s easy to read, and a story that has ups, downs, twists, and turns. It’s not terribly deep, but it has a heart of gold.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

MM Book Reviews

I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post The Good Neighbour Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Blurb

Miles Curtis, a painter, owes his success to the popular band Cloverlily. Their music helped him get out of a slump many years ago, and he’s been a huge fan ever since. When he temporarily moves back home to help his family’s inn, he finds out that their guitarist, Calvin Lowe, is staying in one of their rooms.

Calvin, who turns out to be very quiet and withdrawn, is currently dealing with his band’s break-up. He makes it clear from the onset that he’s here to keep to himself. When he finds out that Miles is the painter he’s been wanting to meet, he seems more annoyed than anything else.
The two of them clash from the onset, but it doesn’t take that long for both of them to figure out that they have more in common than they initially thought–including being fans of each other’s work for years.

Paint Our Song is an m/m romance for those who love slow burns, opposites attract, strangers-to-lovers, and small-town novels.

Kindle Edition
Expected publication October 22, 2024

Premise and Overall Takeaways from Paint Our Song

The premise of this slice-of-life, chill-vibe love story in Paint Our Song is cute and low-angst, even with one character still grieving the loss of a parent. The setup is cute, Miles has loved the band Cloverlily forever and follows their career as a huge fan. Calvin, the other love interest, is the band’s guitarist, who also seemingly has followed Miles’ career for years. Miles’s paintings have even inspired songs that he’s listened to. What an interesting cycle, right? Songs that helped Miles get through tough times were actually inspired by a painting the songwriter had seen and admired. It is a nice touch to the story that makes their eventual pairing seem cosmic in a way, fated.

The setup of Paint Our Song is fairly straightforward. Miles moves back from “the City” (more on that later) so he can save the family inn. He arrives to help his mother and the hotel which is in dire straights. But he knows next to nothing about business, something that might have helped. His father wanted Miles to be happy and pursue his dreams as an artist, so he went to art school. But maybe a business course would have helped, even if he’d taken it as an elective. Because it’s a lot to jump into! Especially because he and his pal Gabby seem to be the only ones who want to save it.

The Hotel

His mother is clearly not all in on running the family’s hotel. I questioned how the inn hadn’t already closed. It’s been five years since Mile’s father passed. The mother doesn’t seem fully invested in the inn’s survival. She wants to travel, to garden, and to live her life. I don’t blame her, she has been grieving too.

However, one would think that avoiding going further into debt would be required if she wants to do the things that will make her happy. Keeping the hotel afloat should be more of a priority for her. But she lets the management of the inn fall by the wayside and hires part-timers. She relies much too heavily on Gabby, an employee who deserves the manager title, but doesn’t get it until she makes motions to leave for greener pastures.

Part-Time Problem

Hiring part-time workers, by the way, is an expensive stop-gap to a failing business. My parents ran a family business while I was growing up, so I have some personal experience with how things usually work. Most importantly, I know that when finances are tight family businesses generally don’t hire help from outside the family. Instead, they take on more work themselves.

If the mounting debt and pending closure of her hotel, which is her family’s legacy, were more of a priority, the mother character would be doing most of the work herself. But she’s not. She focuses instead on puttering around in her garden. She’s truly not invested in the hotel’s survival. It seems like she is almost waiting for the hotel to completely flounder so she can have a clear out.

I found this element of the mother’s characterization disappointing. It might be due to her overall character being underdeveloped. In fact, as I write this review I can’t recall the mother’s name. All I know is that the hotel is called Hannah’s Inn and that’s NOT the mother’s name.

Saving the Hotel

I realize I’ve deviated from the original intent of my review because I honed in on the business stuff. But that’s okay, I liked the parts of Paint Our Song surrounding Miles, Gabby, and their newly hired digital marketing manager’s efforts to save the hotel. I do have a BBA (that I don’t use in my real-life job) so I like stories that delve into this area and do it well. The author did a great job here of making the business plans exciting. She avoids getting too bogged down by details. And the social media marketing plan is a good call. I liked that they didn’t let a near-disastrous event harm their reputation. Instead, they flipped the script and seized their viral moment. Way to go!

Chill and Peaceful Vibe / Sweet Characters

The plot of Paint Our Song is mostly chill and peaceful. It is a quick read. I like the vibe of the city the hotel is in, and none of the characters are black-and-white evil. I hate when stories feature characters who are one-sided, shallow villains. And the villain, if this story has one, was a character I still want the best for, even if they were annoying at times and came in between Calvin and Miles smoothly getting together. The story was light. I enjoyed that nothing huge happens, even when things are stressful for the characters, the drama wasn’t life-altering.

Miles and Calvin

Miles is an enthusiastic labrador of a person and Calvin is a prickly grump. Sunshine/Grump is one of my favorite tropes and I enjoyed Miles and Calvin as characters in Paint Our Song. Miles is earnest, sweet, and awkward. I immediately wanted him to succeed in all his endeavors, first page, first paragraph. I love him. Especially, I like the progression his character takes.

Calvin is harder to get a read on, but I found his prickliness is more due to him being shy than actually grumpy or mean-spirited. I ended up loving Calvin a lot and wished that we got some paragraphs from his POV too so we could know what was going on beneath the surface. There are times in the story when Calvin frowns or makes a face but his emotions aren’t ever explained. I wanted more insight into what he was thinking. I also got the idea that he crushed on Miles even before he met him. But unfortunately, that was never completely confirmed in the story. I feel like Calvin has a lot of depth that isn’t able to be explored in a single POV story.

Nitpicks

This story only has minimal issues. It’s an adorable story and I’ve already discussed my major sticking points I encountered while reading, namely the mother’s motivation or lack there of. But no review I post would be complete without the parts my immersion got snagged on and drew me out of the story.

The City? Setting Questions

The setting in this story was vague enough to make me question if Miles lived in New York City or another city. I think it would be helpful to name a bigger city even if it’s a fictional place. I dislike vagueness in a story. Miles lived in “the City” which to me means New York City. My assumptions were furthered because the descriptions of his hometown seemed vaguely upstate New York or Massachusetts-like. But then Miles talks about driving in the city just a few blocks to find parking and if one has to walk only a few blocks in Manhattan they definitely don’t take the time to get in their car, lose their current parking space only to drive a few blocks to find more, expensive parking.

None of the descriptions of the bigger city make it seem big enough to be Manhattan. Maybe Boston? But Boston is big too and driving there is even more of a headache.

In short, I think it’s fine to have a story take place in a real setting just as much as it’s okay to take place in a fictional setting. But it takes away from the story when something isn’t specifically named so I have to put together a picture of the background myself.

Pacing and Editing

The pacing of the story is slow at times, maybe it needs a deep edit to eliminate some unneeded scenes. It just seemed to plod along in the middle and I wanted the story to climax and have a happy ending. At 34 chapters, and in my Kindle 5000+ locations, it’s a lengthy novel. I can’t say for certain how many pages it would be in a print edition because the location in an ebook refers to a stable location for text that is the same for various screens and monitor sizes, so there’s no good way to correlate locations to page numbers. But I can estimate that it’s a long book.

Odd Apostrophes and Turns of Phrase

There were a few odd phrases in Paint Our Song that made me pause so I could parse what the author was trying to convey. I got really snagged up on the adverb ‘frustratingly’ being used in one part in particular.

In the scene, Miles is drawing and the paragraph reads,

“This time, the papers aren’t crumpled and he hasn’t frustratingly run harsh pencil marks over his drafts”.

Adverb Placement

It took a few re-reads of this sentence before I understood that the author is not saying that it was frustrating that Miles had marked up his paper. Instead, they mean that Miles had, in the past, scratched out his drafts in frustration.

Those are two different things, and I think my confusion came down to adverb placement. This is NOT me being a prescriptive grammarist because I am not, but in English adverb placement can shift meanings in a subtle way that I feel made this part confusing. Let me put on a language teacher hat for a minute.

In English, adverbs can go pretty much anywhere in a sentence and the sentence works. However, the nuance in a sentence can change with various placements. In the example above, the adverb is placed right after the auxiliary verb ‘hasn’t’ and before the past participle ‘run’, conveying the idea that it was a generally frustrating thing that Miles had done when he scratched up his paper.

Suggestion

Maybe, instead of frustrating being used in an adverbial tense ‘frustratingly’, the author might instead use the term ‘frustration’. I think this would eliminate the confusion and it would be clearer. For example, they might say “he hasn’t run harsh pencil marks over his drafts in frustration”. That is clearer. IS THIS JUST ME? This is the teacher in me coming out to play and it might be overstepping boundaries but I did get snagged on this and it pulled me out of the story to mull over what I would do to enhance clarity.

Confusing Contractions

There are also a few places where a contraction is used instead of writing out the full phrase. It seems like a small nitpick but it messed with the flow and made me pause, as a reader. Like,

“He’d much [rather] retreat to his house…”

He’d could be either He would or he had in this example, and the missing word made it more confusing. The ‘rather’ does need to be edited in, but there will still be two possible meanings for he’d there. I think because there’s these two possibilities it sounds weird as “he’d” and would flow better to read “he would much rather go back to his house”.

Another example:

“Megan’s a force to be reckoned with.”

I think it would read better to say Megan is a force…” I had to read this sentence twice since ‘Megan’s’ could mean two things. It could either show ownership, which would not be correct here, or it could mean ‘Megan is’, I had to pause and make sure I was reading it correctly.

There are a few other places but I forgot to highlight them so I can’t remember specifics.

This is the nitpick section so these gripes might seem like an overstep or me looking too deeply into things, but to me, if something I read makes me stop reading, take the time to highlight it, and think about possible edits, I feel it’s worth mentioning.

Fanfic Vibes? (Not That There’s Anything Wrong With That)

The pacing and odd phrase here and there, along with one of the main characters being in the music industry, gave Paint Our Song a bit of a fanfic vibe from time to time. Not that there’s anything wrong with that!! Seriously. I write (or have written, it’s been a long time) fanfic, you can find the links in the top menu! There is absolutely nothing wrong with a good fanfic and I am not the one to cast shade on authors wanting to cross over because it’s my dream to do the same thing. So this is 100% not a knock.

But parts of Paint Our Song did seem, at times, like maybe it was first imagined as a fanfiction. What it became is so much more, and a really good story, so I’m wondering if I should even mention this, but this is my personal blog review and I did leave this part off of the Amazon, Goodreads, and Bookbub reviews so I will go ahead and post it.

Recommend or Not? Recommend!

Highly recommend this beautiful story about a grumpy musician and a cheerful artist finding each other after rotating around one another’s spheres for some time. It’s fate, and it’s cute. And I really liked Paint Our Song.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Reviews

I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post MM Slice of Life Romance – Paint Our Song by Maia Kinley Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Blurb:

A Lightborn manifests once a century. Oren’s light magic is powerful enough to wipe out the court and devastate vampire society, but money and connections can thwart any threat. Killed before they even know they have been betrayed, the Lightborn has become little more than a monster from Julian’s bedtime stories.

The surprise attack by the vampire’s feral army should have killed Oren. Instead, he wakes up, bloodied and weak in the lair of his enemy.

It is surely no act of benevolence. Julian is the son of the Master of the Court. A night creature, whose sharp teeth at Oren’s throat leave him changed – transformed into the very monster he was born to destroy.

They are bound together, but Oren’s magic is only growing stronger. He resists control, even as he slips further into hunger, and Julian’s father is close to figuring out the truth. Time is running out, and Oren’s existence threatens to tip the delicate balance of power at court into a battle that will devour them both.

Burning the Darkness is a gay, vampire romance with spice, that explores themes of discovering you’re queer, and what it means to be a monster.
193 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication October 1, 2024

Unique Vampire Political Intrigue

Burning the Darkness by Wren Martin is a vampire tale that’s both vaguely familiar and refreshingly unique. The vampire trope of an unwillingly turned character bonded with their sire, who wants them from the start, is common enough in a vampire tale. But this story feels unique and fresh because of the lore surrounding the Lightborn and how they can be a lone weapon to combat the vampire menace that plagues the world.

Worldbuilding

There’s a lot of world-building in this story that, at times, felt rushed. The political intrigue is told through expository paragraphs instead of slowly revealing itself. Some people prefer this sort of world-building, but to me, it feels more inorganic. The world’s political landscape is complex, though, so while some of it felt like info dumping, I think it needs a bit more so the nuances are clear. This could be done with more detail and content that explains it through actions.

Lightborn: Literally Burning the Darkness

The Lightborn is a human born once per generation who possesses light magic and can turn vampires into ash. It turns out that the humans who are supposed to be protecting the Lightborn instead sell them out and Oren, this generation’s Lightborn and one of the MCs, is ambushed and would be killed if not for Julian. Julien is a vampire, the son of the vampire leader, who meets Oren before the night of the ambush. He turns Oren into a vampire in a bit of an experiment. The hypothesis: Will a Lightborn, turned into a vampire, the very being he is supposed to fight, retain his powers? And if he does keep his light magic, can the vampire(s) in power use this newly turned Lightborn Vampire hybrid as a weapon to retain and grapple for more power?

Intrigue in Burning the Darkness

Enter the political intrigue, indeed, because the leader of the Vamps gives secretive permission to do conduct this experiment, intending to control his fellow vamps even further. His plan might or might not backfire spectacularly. I don’t want to spoil the whole thing.

Volunteer Network

There is a volunteer network of humans who will willingly give up their blood for hungry vamps, and I think it is an interesting choice by the author to write this group as ostracized from high vampire society because mainstream vamps want to hunt. I like this choice, to be honest. So many times when vampires reveal themselves to the world and become mainstreamed into society, what that means for the vampires is that they have to give up their very nature, their vampire-ness, to fit in. I think it’s very likely that elder vampires would strongly resist that. Therefore, I like this element of the story.

Contemporary? Surpise!

Many vampire stories are set in Victorian (or Victorian-like) times. I assumed Burn the Darkness was also set in a historical world. The way clothing is described, some of their dialogue, the formality of the world led me to this assumption.

Cue my surprise when cell phones and cars come up in the story. Contemporary surprise! Once I knew that Burn the Darkness is set in a contemporary vampire world, reworking the background to a more contemporary world in my imagination settled things in place. I think that this is giving… a lack of details about the time frame the story is set in. These can be small details, but they should be be sprinkled throughout the story to let the reader naturally make that assumption. Other parts of the story had plenty of very thorough world-building but I think more details about modern elements like phones, clothing styles, music playing etc. would have made this detail less ambiguous.

Action

I enjoy the way the author writes action. With clear, gripping descriptions, the actors’ movements are evocative and engaging. The fight scenes and action sections of the story are highlights of this story. A+ writing there!

From Enemies to Lovers

Throughout Burning the Darkness, Oren strongly resists the bond he and Julian share. Oren doesn’t want to feed from humans. He resents being turned into a vampire. In fact, Oren thinks being a vampire is pretty trash. These beliefs are deep. Part of me questions how quickly Oren comes around. There is one line, something like, so what if it’s fake it feels real. This brings the question of whether their feelings are real or fake. Are these burgeoning feelings simply part of the bond? Do they both resign themselves to this fate and just run with it? A bit more passion would have made their progression to lovers a bit more realistic.

Overall Rating

I give this book a 4/5. I enjoyed Burning with Darkness and will continue the series if it becomes one.\

MM Romance Book Reviews

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post Burning the Darkness: MM Romance Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Sports? No. MM Sports Romance? Yes.

For a person who has very little interest in sports in real life, I absolutely love the sports romance genre. Football romances are my second favorite sports romance, next to hockey romances. There’s just something about guys sweating it out on the field, usually bashing into each other and pumping out the testosterone, and then hooking up in the locker room that really quite does it for me. Is it hot in here? Whew…

Lucas and Cooper

Lucas is a cheerleader for a professional team who has his eyes set on bigger and better things within the charity and non-profit worlds. It reads like he’s already got one foot out the door, and if it weren’t for the people he works with he’d already be in grad school. But nevertheless, he’s still a cheerleader but doesn’t really care to know any of the players after getting burned. But being part of a charity event with sports players means interacting with them.

Enter Cooper, a player for the football team Lucas cheers for. While Lucas has sworn off all players and has no interest in them, Cooper has actually crushed on Lucas for a while. I find that funny to think about: a professional sports player running down the field when out of the corner of his eye he spots the cheerleader he’s pining over, cheering his name as he gets tackled. One would think a professional sports guy would have his head in the game. But not this guy, heart on his sleeve, he has eyes only for the cheerleader.

That’s not what happens in this book, but my imagination runs away with me. Maybe I should write a mm sports romance.

Back to this sports romance, yes? Cooper likes Lucas, and while Lucas doesn’t “like” sports guys, he cannot deny that his heart goes pitter-patter when he sees Cooper from the start.

Enemies to Lovers? Not really…

The Enemy to Lovers element in this mm sports romance was a bit of a letdown. Lucas and Cooper don’t really have a strong enemy arc. Which is fine. This is a chill, minimal-angst story. But if you want Captive Prince-level enemies to lovers look elsewhere.

Lucas just has no interest in getting his heart broken by a sports guy who will keep him hidden away, and it stipulates in his contract he’s not supposed to date players anyway. And he’s stressed, his family doesn’t approve of his career choice and wishes he’d become a professional ballet dancer. He also has a philanthropical heart and is thinking about his future prospects and going into non-profit work. He’s smart to think about what he’ll do after his days as a professional cheerleader are over. Because that career is a flash in the pan, here today gone tomorrow type of thing.

So being off sports players, I don’t think Lucas even knows who Cooper is before the charity event, not on any real level. But he sure is attracted to him right away, no doubt about that. The only thing he is fighting with is the personal and professional rules against having a relationship with a player. Personal because he’s been burned before and professional meaning it’s in the cheerleader’s contracts that they cannot have a relationship with players.

Sports Lite

I don’t know a lot about football and I’m glad that this book was light on the actual sports elements because I’d quickly get lost in the details if it had a lot of football games detailed at length. As it was, it was a spicy, quick read for people instantly attracted to one another with hot chemistry. I’d read more of this series before I read this, because I see that it’s book #8, and I haven’t read any of the other ones.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post MM Sports Romance: Tumbling the Cornerback Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

The Little Things in Love by M.C. Roth

This was the first book I’ve read from this author, and I’m glad I read it. I enjoyed the book. The characters feel real, and I felt connected to them, even with the book being written primarily in 3rd person, which is harder to achieve.

Finding Love

This book is ultimately about finding out that one can love two people simultaneously and that one love does not diminish the importance of the other. Annan comes into Wallace and Elgin’s life at a low point, even if one of them doesn’t fully see the reality until it smacks them on the head. Together the three men create something beautiful, which provides Wallace with solace as he looks to a future he didn’t foresee, one where he ultimately leaves Elgin alone.

MCD is a Major No for Some

And there’s the snag, where some readers will come to a full stop, and it will be a tough call to decide to read The Little Things in Love. Why? Because it involves the death of a major character. There’s no way to review this book without making that very clear, because this is a trigger warning worth knowing from the start.

Poly Triad

The main characters start as a poly triad. One of them is sick and he dies. Many people can read MCD but I find any death in a book difficult, especially Main Character Death. So while I enjoyed the book, I am glad I was aware of this trigger and made the decision to continue on.

We Don’t Know Wallace

The author does a good job of keeping the reader from getting to know Wallace too much, I think for that reason, so we are not as attached to him as we are Elgin and Annan. But it is still a difficult thing, to read things from the pov of a character who you know is going to not make it to the end of the book.

So Wallace’s death isn’t super surprising, but the story revolves around the eventuality of his death. From a reader’s perspective, it is not hard to see that Wallace is sick. That doesn’t make it easier to deal with as he gets sicker and sicker, and the two men in his life do everything they can to make him comfortable and experience things he’s always wanted to experience. It’s bittersweet and sad.

Bucket List Trip

I think the highlight of the whole story for me was the sweet bucket list trip they all take in an RV and let Wallace see some of the things he always wanted to see. That was when the emotional element of his impending demise really got to me.

Annan, Elgin, and Wallace

I like the main characters a lot, even though I feel like parts of their characterization could have been better developed.

Annan

I have questions about why Annan would hide such a core part of his identity, setting himself up for failure with partners over and over again. Hiding something like what profession he works in, one he’s very passionate about, hiding it so completely that he perpetually makes bad matches with partners, doesn’t make sense. He would want partners who have similar interests. Right? That’s a normal way humans approach relationships, right?

And then, what’s more, why would Annan propose to a partner, multiple partners, out of the blue? This recurring joke was so confusing, I really did not understand why he would do that with partners who aren’t at the same level as him, or who don’t even know how passionate he is about his job. No one proposes just bam! Out of the blue, right? It’s not something people do. It doesn’t make sense to me why Annan would approach his relationships like this. One explanation could be if he maybe has autism. It isn’t explained that way though, nor does he have many other neurodivergent tendencies, so I had so many questions about why his character would be so bumbling about social cues, partner selection and love in general.

Elgin

Elgin is also a bit of a mystery. He and Wallace are rich, have a big old house and expensive cars. But is Elgin a businessman? An actor? When the main characters meet for the first time at a restaurant after Annan has a disasterous proposal rejection, it’s alluded to that Annan’s ex recognizes Elgin. But then that detail isn’t elaborated on, so I never came to to understand why the dude knew who he was. Then what Elgin actually does for a career is never explained.

Little Thing I DIDN’t Love: Vague Details

In fact that leads to my main complaint about this book, and it’s something that made reading it super frustrating. Everything, and I mean everything, about the background of this story is vague as hell.

What industry do the main characters work in? Except for Annan, who for whatever reason wants to hide that he is passionate about horses and works on a horse farm, what the other two characters do to make all the money they hvae is a mystery.

Yes, they work in business of some sort, but that is about as clear as mud. Is it investment, finance, tech, a factory, what? It’s never explained.

What’s more, I think it was a choice the author made to purposefully make all the background details extremely ambiguous. It’s like the story was written to be as vague as possible so readers could fill in the details they want. To me though, this was an extremely frustrating choice, if it really was a purposeful decision. Why do this? It made the story so much less solid and so much more confusing.

Wait, We’re in Canada?

I didn’t even understand that this story is set in Canada until late in the story when they travel and mention being in a province. Are they in Vancouver? Ontario? Quebec? Nova Scotia? Who knows. Nothing specific is ever locked down about the geographical setting, their jobs, their family background, nothing. And these are important details. Without them, the characters seem ephemeral, people without any backstory. And it made the setting too ambiguous to be enjoyable. “There was traffic in the city” is just too vague. All cities have traffic. Were there mountains in the distance? Are they on a tropical island? In Australia? Canada? Senegal? Lebanon? I just wish there were some details. Even if it was a made-up city, in a made-up place, that would better than being purposely ambiguous.

Enjoyable, with Nitpicks

Overall, I ended up enjoying The Little Things In Love, and thought it was well-written. But watch the triggers and be ready to fill in the gaps with whatever backstory you want, because the story doesn’t provide that at all.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

MM Romance Reviews

I write reviews on my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, Amazon, and more. If you want me to read and review your upcoming novel read my review policy and submit a contact form.

The post The Little Things in Love Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Hired by the Enemy is all the best things of the enemies to lovers trope wrapped up in a novella-length story with a picture-perfect setting. Tie a bow on this one, it’s the perfect gift for fans of this genre.

I love Enemies to Lovers

I personally am a huge sucker for enemies to lovers, it’s my favorite. As one of the MCs says, the thin line between hate and lust is fiery and passionate. I am ALL FOR IT.

Liam

Liam is a hot gym rat. He dreams of opening his own therapeutic/physical therapy gym. Liam makes extra money by being a hired date on the side. He’s always up for some extra money. So when a potential job involves a week in Hawaii with a rich millionaire? Of course, Liam says hell yes. But when he arrives, he locks eyes with none other than Matthew, his childhood nemesis.

Matthew

Matthew is a tech genius who made his millions with an app that helps people looking for parking in a big city find empty spaces to rent. (Actually, this is such a good idea! I hope some real tech genius has made their millions off this idea already!) When Matthew’s parking app hit big ,his company grew fast. Now he’s the very young head of a multimillion dollar tech company. Matthew is having some issues with older employees belittling him for his age and his lack of experience.

Childhood Rivals

Matthew and Liam grew up next to each other. The antagonism between them started almost as soon as Liam arrived in town. Liam perceived Matthew’s life as nearly perfect. His parents cared, he could play with his dog, and most of all? School came easy to Matthew. Liam’s jealousy caused him to lash-out and mock Matthew. Matthew, a clever boy who knew who he was and was no meek little guy, attacked back.

From that point on, Matthew saw Liam as a thorn in his side. He did a perfect job of NOT welcoming Liam to the neighborhood by initiating a prank war that lasted from early childhood until they went their separate ways after high school. I’d pay to have been a fly on the wall of Ms. Beauton’s 6th-grade class. Because Liam and Matthew were most certainly the comic relief. Because that’s when their rivalry came to the most blows. I got a kick out of the anecdotes about Ms. Beauton’s class. Also, she makes a funny cameo at the end of the book that had me cackling.

More Spice?

The ONLY thing that would have made Hired by the Enemy all the more spicy is if one or both of them had crushed on them before their prank war. But, the way this story is set up works so perfectly that I’ll forgive Calder for that little bit of missed angst that would have spiced things up.

Not that it needs it because these two have passion through the roof and the smut scenes are a chef’s kiss, a Masterclass in smut writing. A+ would read again.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

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The post Hired by the Enemy by Jax Calder: Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.