As someone who has been perhaps a little over-invested in a boy band or two, I have maybe–in the privacy of my own heart–shipped a few of those men. So I was really interested to see where Zarah Detand was going to take us with her most recent release. Would it be all glamour and spotlights or would it be set more intimately? I trusted Zarah to not overdo the Rich Guy vs Regular Guy trope as many MM Romances do, so I was really looking forward reading this. I was lucky enough to get an ARC for it and I’ve had time to read and then re-read it to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I promise you it wasn’t a hardship!

First off, let’s talk about the cast, starting with the supporting characters. One thing that stood out to me is the fact that the seven-year-old niece of one of the MCs is written like an actual child. She’s not too mature nor too babyish. She’s a seven-year-old who acts and speaks like a seven-year-old. Kudos to Zarah for this because so many writers don’t hit the mark here, and she just nails it. In fact, most of the dialogue is vary natural, especially between the (former) band members. There really aren’t many caricatures in this book, either. It makes for some really amusing conversations sprinkled throughout the story.

On to our MCs: Cassian and Levi fell in love as very young men when they were part of a stratospherically successful boy band, but split up due to the pressures of fame and industry-standard homophobia. But that was years ago. Cass is enjoying a brilliant (closeted) solo career while Levi spends his time mentoring young artists and raising his niece, having quietly come out some time ago and mostly content to have put the life of a star behind him. They both seem to have moved on, but no matter how much time has passed or how their lives have changed, Cass and Levi can’t stop thinking—ok let’s be honest, pining—for each other.

Enter Cass with a fake-dating scheme that just might be worlds away from fake, if they could stop mis-communicating long enough for Levi to trust Cass again and give their romance a second chance. 

You can expect some light angst alongside some really likeable characters, a few “not meddling and even if we did, they deserved it” friends, and enough sweet out-of-the spotlight romance to make your heart hurt in a good way. It’s not all sweetness, though–Cass and Levi have serious chemistry that makes even the tamest of love scenes a little heated, and they’re really uninterested in keeping things tame.

I’d love to hear what you think.

The post Guest MM Romance Review – Second to None: It’s not a break-up, it’s a hiatus! appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

LOVE THIS BOOK

What a captivating book! This story drew me in from the start with its twists and turns. I love how the reader is thrown into the unknown, asked to figure out what’s happening. It’s a journey that parallels Vindt’s, the main character and the character from whose point of view we see the world. This tactic is a brilliant, and I think purposeful, way to cast the reader straight into the fire and helps us start to understand both Vindt and the way he sees the world and situation he finds himself in.

World-Building

The world this story takes place in is vaguely familiar at times but different from most others. The lack of information at the start is, in my opinion, an asset. There isn’t page upon page of world-dumping. The world is built little detail by little detail as you read, rearranging itself to make sense of the new piece of information just learned. I like this style of world-building, it feels authentic and real. If you however like a more information-dump style of expository writing, this might be a frustrating read for you.

Magic and Blood-Drinking

The magic system is exquisitely unique, and the completely different take on vampiresque creatures was compelling and fresh. Singers are humanoid creatures with the magic to do terrible and wonderful things through their songs. With their otherworldly melodies they take down armies and mend ailments, depending on who they want to harm and who they want to heal. The drawback to their power is that they are unable to defend themselves against Verdurs with only their magic. Verdurs are shape-shifting otherworldly demon-types who want nothing but to take Singers down. Enter the Thyds: humans born with the ability to merge themselves with a Singer’s power and defend the Singers against the Verdur attacks. Demons are also present in this world. Demons can, with a touch, turn birds into rock, forests into ponds, and limbs into tree branches.

Thyds

Thyds are a special class of human in this world, bound to their Singers under duress. They are slaves. They become dependent on the Singer through their blood. One imagines that this bond likely becomes mutual at some point. Doesn’t the Singer depend on the Thyd just as much as the Thyd desires the Singer’s blood? Asche brings that captor/slave relationship into question with the brilliant line, “So golden-boy, next time you think you are the dependent one in our relationship, the slave–think again.”

And speaking of Asche and Vindt

Asche is the mystery, the wall, the cold unfathomable depths. And Vindt can’t help but wonder what’s under the still waters of his psyche. Indeed, even with as much as he despises Singers and wants to be free, he’s pulled in by the bond. The reader learns about Vindt’s past much like we do the world; in bits and pieces that make us reevaluate what we thought we understood about him.

Vindt is trying to figure out the pieces of the puzzle before him. However, that’s made more difficult as he’s a part of the puzzle that he can’t figure out. Events near the end of the book start to make things fall into place. But without too many spoilers, I can’t divulge too much.

Dub-Con?

Asche is on the receiving end of Vindt’s desire and wrath. More to the point, while many have commented on the dub-con element of what happens, I don’t necessarily feel that’s on the mark. Asche could have overpowered Vindt at any point. As for why he didn’t, well the reader doesn’t understand any better than Vindt himself. We’ll have to wait for the next book and see how their relationship develops to find out what’s fully going on.

Ocean’s Blood (The Drowning Book #1)

Overall I enjoyed this book so much more than I anticipated I was going to. I downloaded it from a Facebook ad, so the amount of enjoyment I got from it was surprising. Ads from Facebook are hit or miss for me. This one is a hit in my book. Enthusiastically, I am waiting for the next book and hope that there are plenty more in the world the authors created. It’s such a creative and unique world, not cookie-cutter fantasy by any means.



Read more of my MM Romance Reviews here on my blog, or on Goodreads

The post Ocean’s Blood by Thelma Mantey: Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Over 400 books that all feature LGBTQ+ characters are on sale today, discounted to either $1.99 or $0.99 on various digital storefronts! There are so many to choose from, deciding where to start is almost overwhelming.

Genres? We Got ‘Em

There are sales in queer fiction in almost every genre. All types of books are available for that special discounted price. Most are romances of some variety, but there are sales in almost every category. MM Romance is my favorite genre to read, and there are sales galore there. The selection in the Science Fiction & Fantasy category is robust, and I am picking up a few for sure.

Many Storefronts

Most books are available on Amazon; many are also on Google Play, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, and in the respective authors’ stores.

Personal Picks

I have to keep looking later, I have to go to work, no fair!

The post Queer Your Bookshelf Day! appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Beneath the Indigo Sky by Rayne Hawthorne | My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Oh. Beneath the Indigo Sky is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. I wish I could read it again for the first time. It’s beautiful, wonderful. Every word able to pull out emotions and make my heart break and put itself back together in ways I rarely feel when reading these days.

Beneath the Indigo Sky is the sort of book you read until it makes you tear up and you have to put it down so you can savor the feeling. It hurts so perfectly. So pure. That sounds wild, I know, but it’s true. I was brought to tears several times, more than several times if I’m being honest, and had to stop reading to allow myself time to process the emotions it brought out in me. But it wasn’t a bad thing, the complete opposite in fact.

Despite a large part of the book being about grief and the process of grieving, the overall message was so bright, so optimistic, that it was like the book made it okay to feel all the things. The process was safe. And all those dark feelings, those feelings you feel in the moment that make it seem that you’re never going to come out the other side of whatever you’re going through, whatever it is that has you down in a hole, it gave those emotions a safe place to live because there was no doubt that regardless of how you feel, you were in fact going to be okay.

“Future’s Gonna Be Okay” Agust D in D-Day

The book was one huge message of “Future’s gonna be okay.”

Agust-D Feels

In fact, there’s another Agust D song that really, really embodies the way this book made me feel at times, and that’s Snooze. So let’s take a moment and listen to that song. I’ll post the video below.

Jayce

It might have been hard for Jayce to believe that, at times. That he was going to be okay. That he was going to come through his hardship and end up in a better place. Jayce is broken, in such a dark place, and Namid can be there for him in just the way he needs, a presence that is unimposing, not pitying, just there for him. Maybe he really was sent just for him.

I felt Jayce’s grief, as I read the beginning of the book. I felt his darkness, the hole he was trapped in, the bleakness. It was there inside me just like it was in him.

I felt like Namid.

Namid

What a beautiful, mystical person, Namid. Namid is mystery and grace. He’s an empath who feels everything, legit everything that people around him feel, but he has never felt love of his own. I ached for him, as he fell for Jayce. I pined, longed and dreamed alongside him for them to realize their feelings. It was clear that Jayce was too bogged down in his grief to realize what was happening, but it was evident to the reader that the only thing that could bring him through that dark tunnel of grief was such an all-encompassing love.

Lucky

I’m so incredibly thankful I got the chance to read this book. I can’t say it strongly enough, read this one as soon as you can get your hands on it. It’s truly spectacular.

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

View all my reviews on Goodreads. Read more MM Romance Book Reviews here on my blog.

The post Review of Beneath the Indigo Sky appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Fae Romance

The Art of Professing Love is cute and a quick fae romance. Not a lot of deep emotions here, it’s fairly surface level. And that has a charm, there’s not any real conflict beyond some light enemies to lovers plot with a bit of a few more tropes thrown in for good measure. Overall I recommend this book especially if you have read the other two in the series. I enjoyed Irving and Sylvan together, and wanted to know more of their inner thoughts to provide some insight into their feelings and motivations.

Character Motivations

One aspect of the story I struggled with was understanding character motivations and getting a sense of how they felt about the other. They would say things like ‘never contact me again’ and then admit to loving the other without much inner dialogue to help the reader along with understanding where the character was in terms of feelings.

I didn’t understand why Irving would feel so vehemently about Sylvan that he would never want to see him again in the first place, because nothing ever had happened to make him hate him. That I feel could have been clearer by delving into the minds of the characters more to examine their feelings and reactions to the other. Maybe in a longer novel this would have been considered.

World Building?

This is the third book in a series and I haven’t read the others, so maybe the world was built in previous installments and I am missing out but the world itself was a bit confusing. Humans exist with mythical creatures like fae and seem to have modern lives with cars and phones and such. But Sylvan seems to live in a woodland cottage out of a fantasy novel. I think some more world building could have helped the reader to understand the larger setting.

Are Faes Monsters?

Irving even says it, once a blast from the past comes to question him on his relationship choices. Are fae monsters? In some folklore for sure, but the definition of what makes a monster seemed murky. In the construct of the series are all paranormal beings monsters? If this is just about monster fucking okay, but I felt that a fae romance should not call them monsters. Maybe that’s just me and I have a negative perception of the word monster.

The Return

As an aside, the part of the ex coming back to town was the part of the plot I was least fond of. I didn’t feel it was necessary. It just injected a bit of drama into the nearly bow-tie ending, maybe as a way to prolong the story a bit? I digress, it wasn’t needed.

Spicy Fae and Human

The spice was decent, the best part of the story by far. The author had a good way with words during the sex scenes. We got more insight into the character’s thoughts during the intimate scenes. I felt like the characters were on the same page when they were horizontal. There was some noticeable lack of prep at times, which was concerning. I also found some scenes a bit unrealistic, like when they fully disrobed for a quickie in the woods.

Overall Enjoyable Story

Overall this is a cute, quick read that doesn’t take much thought and is easy to enjoy. Is it the most compelling novel I’ve read this year? No, but it is a sweet story of people who are the definition of opposites attract and I was rooting for Sylvan and Irving to get themselves together and live happily ever after!.

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



View all my reviews on Goodreads. Read more of the MM Romance Book Reviews.

The post Review of The Art of Professing: MM Fae Romance Love by Olivia Day appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

I just saw that the first book in the Shadows of London series by Ariana Nash is free today on Kindle! Get it here on Amazon.

While I have not read this series by Ariana Nash, I have read several other of her series and find her writing to be complex, dark, gritty, deeply sensual and sometimes hard to get through.

So I am excited to get into this series by her, the Shadows of London. From the Amazon blurb:

Twisted Pretty Things is the first book in the all-new Shadows of London MM urban fantasy series. Action, mystery, and gay romance combine in this fast-paced adventure from the author who brought you the award-winning Silk & Steel series and the best-selling Prince’s Assassin series.

Nash’s Silk and Steel series and the Prince’s Assassin series are on my favorites shelves on Goodreads and are up there in my personal ranking. While they are both disturbing at times and DARK DARK, they were compelling reads that I could not put down even when the material was difficult to get through.

The Prince’s Assassin’s books rival Captive Prince for themes and I feel they go beyond the darkness in CaPri. I LOVED THOSE BOOKS. The Captive Prince series is probably my favorite book series in a decade so that is saying a lot that I love the Prince’s Assassin almost as much.

I am imagining that this series is more contemporary but will feature themes that seem prevalent in Nash’s books and I cannot wait to read them. The series has been on my to-read list for a while but it’s so hard to get through everything sometimes that I forget to go back and read the backlog.

Once I finish reading it, I will make sure to review the book on my mm romance book reviews page, and perhaps I’ll go back and reread some of her books that I have loved and review them properly. They are among my favorites.

The post Free Book Alert! appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Highly Recommend the Whole Series

First off let me just say I love the Interspecies Alliances series in which this book is an installment. Every story is heartfelt and sweet and spicy. This installment, The Alien Scientist, is no exception to this overall trend. I loved this story so much. If you’ve been reading the Interspecies Alliances series this installment will not disappoint. It might be my favorite of the series.

I should not have to warn that this review will be rife with spoilers but here is my blanket warning. Don’t read more if you haven’t read the book yet or do not want major spoilers. You can stop here by reading once more that I highly recommend this story because it’s very good and critical to the series as we get more into the overarching plot of the series. Go read it as soon as it’s out!

Spoilers Below!

You have been sufficiently warned.

The STORY

I enjoyed the continuing development of the overarching story: The known sectors of space have been infiltrated by a mysterious race of aliens that resemble Insects and the three main dominant species are trying to deal with their encroachment. The first few books saw these Insects and full-on villains but it came out in (maybe, my memory is bad) the last story that they are just looking for a home of their own. And in this story, we have our MC, THE alien scientist Sazahk, who is completely driven by his curiosity and scientific zeal to both understand this race of intelligent aliens better and determine if there is a way for them to inhabit an area on a planet that had previously been decimated by a biological weapon of mass destruction that killed everything in the area.

The Qesh

I have long been intrigued by Sazahk’s race, the Qesh. Their ability to intimately sync with computers through their neural implants, and the fascinating way that they display emotions through various colors displayed on their face and body, they are just fascinating to me. They are an advanced race and extremely scientific and rational. Being tall and slender with long hair, coupled with their mental acuity, they remind me a bit like a cross between elves of fantasy lore and Vulcans. This may just be my own personal imagining of what the Qesh are like as a race. I have enjoyed the Qesh characters in each book so much.

The Alien Scientist: Sazahk

Sazahk, our alien scientist, is no exception, we met him in previous books and his character is even more rational, science science-driven than most Qesh. He’s quick, completely straightforward and rational, and science is his primary drive and interest, sometimes to the detriment of his own health and safety. He’s also the brother of the prominent emissary who has been a recurring character throughout the series, and if you’ve read his story, a sort of prequel to the entire series, you know that he can do special things with his neural implant and his ship that has foreshadowed events that happen in this book.

Sometimes Sazahk reminds me of Bones from the TV show in his completely blunt, no emotions just statement-of-fact way of speaking. As a neurodivergent person, his perspective and personality really appealed to me.

Sazahk is what we might call demisexual on Earth. I enjoyed that aspect of his character so much. While it does make sense that the specific term demisexual wasn’t used since this is a futuristic sci-fi story, I feel like there could have been a bit more about Sazahk coming to realize what his sexual identity means.

His not wanting all that before was perfectly normal. But his wanting that with Garin when he never has before makes it that much more special. Garin is special because he broke through all the barriers to be the one for Sazahk. I feel like Sazahk realizing his sexual and romantic attraction to Garin could have been explored more.

Sazahk states several times that he has no emotional attachment to sex, and hasn’t ever wanted a romantic relationship. Exploring his feelings and experiencing him coming to the realization that he in fact does want that with Garin could have been examined in a bit more depth to really flesh out his thoughts.

The Alien Scientist’s Bodyguard: Garin

I loved Garin’s character a lot. He was the most gentle bodyguard ever, and loyal loyal loyal. I really loved him. Right away he is struck by how pretty Sazahk is but he’s often driven to annoyance by his frequent dashes off into danger to find a sample. He is tasked with keeping the alien scientist safe, and that proves to be quite the challenge.

We’ve seen Garin several times through the series, he’s the one who drops off Oliver Turner in the first book setting the whole series in motion. But in this book, we finally get to know him as a character and discover his motivations. While on the surface he is a soldier, a good one at that, we learn that there’s a squishy center that motivates him and to me, makes him immediately a green flag.

The SPICE

The spice in this book really hit for me for several reasons. Partly because the ramp-up to feelings was perfect and the feelings of the main characters moved well from annoyance to ‘oh but he’s so pretty and maybe I like that’ to full-on woah momma smut. And then secondly, the author seemed to have direct access to the part of my brain that houses the master list of all things that really freaking take me there and was busy checking things off that list in glorious fashion.

Things I loved very much in the Alien Scientist:

• Enemies to lovers is my favorite thing ever. In this case, they were definitely not super enemies at first, but the trope works well all the same. Mostly Garin didn’t want to be diverted from his duties guarding Dominic Turner to galavant off into the Dead Zone with Sazahk but oh no look at him he’s so pretty and fascinating maybe this isn’t so bad after all.
• Peril leads to physical closeness. Look this just really does it for me when one character sees the other in danger and it triggers something protective and emotional in them and causes them to examine the surprising desire they have for the other character. It. Just. Works.
• Also, there was only one bed sleeping bag. This trope also works so freaking well I don’t care if you think it’s overplayed. Awkward morning experiences, waking up tangled together because their sleeping bodies are drawn to one another. Just.. chef’s kiss.
• Two words: SEX. POLLEN. (In this case sex mycelium?). I don’t need to say anything more.
• Clinical ‘experiment’ sexual encounters with one person acting as the (not really) impassive facilitator while the other writhes in uncontrolled desire? Um, that’s high on that list of mine.
  Mysterious character motivations come into clarity. We’ve wondered about what’s driving Sazakh in previous stories and now we get to find out.
  More of Squad M because I love them.
• The return of the fleximetal tentacles thank you very much!
  

View all my reviews on Goodreads. Read more of my MM Romance Book Reviews! Get The Alien Scientist on Amazon (Free with Kindle Unlimited) on August 14, 2024!

The post Review of The Alien Scientist by Eryn Ivers appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

For the Fans

Woo okay. This book surprised the crap out of me, because it was much deeper than I expected. I tried to get into it several times before I finally did. Boy am I glad I pushed through. The characterizations were incredible and nuanced.

The Odds Were Stacked

First off, the tropes in this book are not my main go-to when it comes to mm romance reading. In general, I avoid reading about younger people, because I’m older myself. The believability of a plot diminishes when 19-20 year old main characters are falling in life-long love at that age. Remembering how I was, and I was not making decisions that were conducive to life-long stability to say the least!

I don’t read a lot of college romances because of that. I like older characters in general who have had more experiences in life, come with more baggage because of that, and have to work through old trauma to get to a place where they can be with their love interests.

Surprisingly, this book has all that even with younger characters! While my heart squeezed with empathy over the lives the young MCs has lived, I enjoyed that these guys had a lot of depth, weren’t shallow caricatures of young people, and had believable reactions to events that transpired.

Dirty Talk

I did find some of the dirty talk going on during the spice to be a bit over the top. That’s fine, it’s a mm romance book. But it didn’t seem totally believable that the uptight in denial MC would be suddenly so free with their language during the smut. In fact, that seemed like a missed opportunity, like the author could have had him work through some of his barriers by becoming more open with the dirty talk. Just me? That’s okay, it just seemed like it could have been a thing.

Length

I did find For the Fans by Nyla K. to be a really long read, like things were drawn out that could have been edited down a bit. It was a bit like oh my god what else can happen here why am I only 75% of the way through? I did power through it but there was a LOT going on that made it seem like a bit of a slog.

View all my reviews on Goodreads. Read more of my MM Romance Reviews here!

The post Review of For the Fans – Nyla K. appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

One of the main reasons I enjoy MM romance more is the way I identify. I am asexual leaning towards majorly demisexual so if I don’t have to picture myself involved in the steamier side of a relationship I really quite like that more. So once I shifted to MM romance the amount of books I read ramped up enormously.

2019 Romance Reading

In 2019 I only read 27 books, but it did mark the first time I subscribed to Kindle Unlimited, a service I have grown to love since so many thousands of books are available on KU and I can read them as I want. Before that I was still buying some books in old school ways but years ago I realized I enjoyed reading books on my phone more than actually holding a physical book so a Kindle Unlimited subscription is really such a good value for me.

In 2019 I read through the Ice Planet Barbarian series that had been published to date, though I bet there are lot more now that I have missed out on. But they are straight and since I shifted to MM Romance it’s very, very hard for me to read straight romance. I have read a few successfully but it’s not easy for me.

2020 and 2021 Are Lies

The graphs on Goodreads would have you believe that from 2020-2021 I didn’t read anything at all. Shock, gasp, what happened, right? Well, that’s not true at all. I wish there was a quantifying tool for ArchiveofOurOwn because I read a ton in 2020, but I didn’t read published books. I read fanfiction voraciously. That’s when I also started writing my own fanfiction under then name faeriebell! I have written over 30 stories within the BTS fandom to varying success. Sope forever! But that’s why my 2020 and my 2021 are pretty empty.

2022 Marked a Shift Toward MM Romance Books

In 2022 I began the shift over from fanfiction. I love fanfiction, really, and my fandom of choice has an almost unending supply of stories. But with all the members going into their compulsory military service I started to distance myself. I did this for emotional reasons. I miss them incredibly much and want to shelter myself from the hurt of reading stories with them doing fun things when I know that they’re possibly doing unpleasant things.

Thus, I started late in the year but I read the whole Captive Prince series including all the short novels by CS Pacat which I love dearly and have reread several times since.

2023 Opened the Floodgates on MM Romance

I read 228 book in 2023, a huge number for me.

Jumping into the MM Romance genre turned out to be great for me. I enjoy romance books, in fact have read them since I was quite young. I was unaware that there was such a prolific world of MM Romance out there for me to enjoy though. After a recommendation to read a few books by Alessandra Hazzard, that’s all it took.

Those books were my true gateway into the mm romance genre. I’d read Captive Prince and a few books by Cat Sebastian but I actually devoured all of the Wrong Alpha series that had been published at the time and then drove straight through the Calluvia’s Royalty series and finally the Straight Guys series.

Then it the floodgates were truly open and I was out of control reading as many mm romance books as I could. I got Covid in early 2023 and during the week or so I was in bed I read nearly 20 MM Romance books. I didn’t really slow down after that.

My friends must have wondered where I went, I stopped writing, disappeared from online places I used to frequent, and sort of went low-contact with a lot of people. But I was just so involved with reading as much mm romance as I could. I also started review MM Romance books on Goodreads and here so I could point out the good and the bad.

How Much MM Romance Am I Reading in 2024?

I’ve posted already that I’m already finished with 120 MM Romance books in 2024. On Goodreads my goal is fairly low goal at 150 books. I already know I’ll surpass that. I’m hoping for something more like 250 but I am a perfectionist and hate to not achieve goals I set for myself so I set my goal pretty low so I would be sure to achieve it.

The post MM Romance Reading Rundown 2019 – 2023 appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Savage Grace by Spencer Spears My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Entire Series

Savage Grace is the third and last installment of the Murphy Brothers series by Spencer Spears,. This mm romance series is set on a fictional island off the coast of Georgia and has followed three brothers (I mean, obviously) as they navigate their lives and find love.

Spoilers Lie Below

I have loved the whole Murphy Brothers series but Savage Grace did its best to kill it for me. The thing is, I’m a teacher. In the state of Georgia where this book is set. Part of the plot involves the homophobic principal, out to get Julian, giving Julian a bad evaluation. So bad in fact, that he’s going to be what.. fired? Well this becoming such a critical part of the plot has killed immersion for me.

Research Helps

The way the TKES system works and how all educators in public schools in Georgia are evaluated does not work at all how the author portrays it. It’s actually so not how it works!!!!

Savage Grace the book is fiction sure but the fact that this is such a big part of the plot and it’s just so not reality of teaching in a Georgia public school is just driving my neurodivergent mind to madness.

If you’re not going to research how public school in an actual state works and the way that evaluations are state wide the same system and cannot be skewed this way please set your novel in a fictional place. This is killing all immersion for me and I’m scared that I’m not going to finish now.

A few other nitpicks

School in Georgia starts August 1 and goes until right before Memorial Day. State testing is in April and fifth grade is a huge year for Milestones. Please. Research.

I’m going to TRY to skim over the school parts of the plot so I can get the resolution of the rest of the story from the other novels but this has really destroyed how I feel about this series.



View all my reviews on Goodreads. Read more of my MM Romance Reviews.

The post Review of Savage Grace by Spencer Spears appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

How Do People Talk About Living in Atlanta?

People who live in Atlanta would never say “Atlanta” is where they live. Atlanta is an enormous city plagued by urban sprawl, so it now encompasses an area that was once hundreds if not thousands of disparate communities.

People within the broader city of Atlanta will be more likely to say the county they live in, like Cobb or Gwinnett. They might also give the smaller municipality where they actually live, like Chamblee or Decatur.

ITP/OTP

Another big distinction is ITP or OTP, Inside / Outside the Perimeter (I-285). Those who live ITP view going OTP as going into the vast wilderness. While people OTP see going ITP as going into the City like one would travel from Hoboken to Manhattan and say that they are going “to the City.”

The author at one point states something like ‘Dane lives in Atlanta just east of I-85’. Do they have any conception of just how broad a statement that is? The area that vague description encompasses that could still be said to be “in Atlanta” is very large.

Atlanta is Large

From a brief estimate, traveling from Suwannee to Fairburn is around 55 miles and would take over an hour with minimal traffic. Below is a quick Google Map screenshot.

So a statement like “just off 85 in Atlanta” could be talking about 85 South of Atlanta, like Riverdale, or College Park, or it could be within Atlanta, like Decatur, or it could be north of Atlanta, like in Lilburn or Buford. The huge disparity in those neighborhoods, and that’s just a few examples, cannot be overlooked.

In summary, Atlanta is HUGE. And I think that if choosing to write about an actual place, one should talk about that place in a realistic way and the way that people who live in that area actually talk. Maybe that’s being nitpicky. But it sort of broke the spell for me.

Beyond the Nitpicking

Beyond that, I didn’t find the characters themselves to be realistic, mature, or very likeable. I feel like that sort of breakup would be final, too, in the real world. I don’t see any coming back together. And maybe Dane felt that way too, because he all of a sudden couldn’t control his boners and thought about doing it with everyone. But hey, I don’t know… with the way he talked about his appendage in the 3rd person…

Gag.

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The post Review of Fighting the Flames Within by Casey Morales appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

I’ve struggled through several duds and reviews are linked below. I plan to write more here on Fae’s Journal because, full transparency: I am broke and have had a summer of massive expenses, most of them unexpected.

Summer MM Romance Reviews

Book ReviewsReading

Review of Rest Ashored by BJ Irons & Will Freshwater

July 10, 2024 / faebell

Book ReviewsReadingWriting

Review of Fighting the Flames Within by Casey Morales

July 10, 2024 / faebell

Book ReviewsReading

Review of Savage Grace by Spencer Spears

July 11, 2024 / faebell

Affiliate Links

So with that, I plan to blog and shamelessly put affiliate links in the posts when applicable. I don’t know if it will help or if anything at all will come from it but it’s worth a shot, and what’s the worst that could happen?

The links won’t be obtrusive and it’ll always be about something I’m actually interested in. I have enough varied interests that I can link a lot of different types of things and potentially get some clicks.

I’m also designing a blank journal or two to Amazon to try and sell. Things are just hella expensive these days and I need to try and side hustle a bit.

MM Romance Reading

So first things first. I’ve been reading so much and I read exclusively on the Kindle app on my phone, it’s just so much easier for me. I subscribe to Kindle Unlimited. It’s one of the best investments a heavy reader such as myself could make. There are so many books to choose from, especially within the genre I read, MM Romance.

Reading Nicknacks

With Kindle Unlimited, I have nearly unlimited access to reading material. I have been in the market to buy a remote scroller for my phone (and there is the link I talked about before)! It’s annoying when when I think I click to the next page and my phone doesn’t turn the page.

A remote scroller could be the answer to this, and using it might make for a more fluid reading experience. I use one of these neck pillows (don’t judge, it’s awesome) to hold the phone in front of my face while I am lying down to read. The only drawback is constantly having to turn the page. Finding a remote scroller that worked would be a game-changer.

Dud from Target

I say that because I bought one last week at Target from the dollar spot and it didn’t work to scroll in the Kindle App, it took pictures remotely just fine which resulted in some funny candid pictures being taken while I was trying to turn the page on my book. I am not sharing those, lol.

Anyway, I have a few books to review in the coming days: the Murphy Brothers series by Spencer Spears, and an ARC I am reading of Fighting the Flames Within by Casey Morales. I have read so many more I’ll have to go back and post some reviews for.

Happy Reading, friends! I write book reviews!

The post MM Romance Reading Progress appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Vespertine by Leta Blake My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Not My Usual

I usually stay far away from the second chance romance trope because I don’t care for it, and I distance myself even further from books that have anything to do with religion, so it was surprising that I decided to give this one a go, but the reviews were promising and when I read that a few other reviewers said that they were hesitant for similar reasons but liked this book, I gave it a try.

Worth it!

I am glad I decided to stick with Vespertine, because I ended up loving it. The story was a compelling, second chance romance with characters who were flawed and believable. I really felt the drama. Nicky and Jasper were a perfect pair, they just had to get through some things first to arrive at the place where they could both be the partner they needed to be.

Nicky

The pain I felt for Nicky as he struggled through the addiction that had him in its deadly grip was real, gut wrenching and visceral. I was terribly nervous for him at several moments through the book and was really rooting for him to stay strong and keep himself from relapsing.

Jasper

Jasper’s characterization was so fulfilling, to feel the struggle he was experiencing and the pull from so many different sides. I really felt bad for him because while I wanted him to do what he needed to do to be with Nicky, I got a good idea of how difficult that would be from the writing and the examination of his feelings. While I am not religious at all so for me to be able to empathize was remarkable, but I really did feel for him as he struggled to make difficult decisions.

This book is really worth the read, and I really loved this book.

View all my reviews on Goodreads. I read and review MM Romance books!

Note: Post backdated to when I finished the book.

The post Review of Vespertine by Leta Blake appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Did not finish at 63%. I tried.

The writing style is fine. The characterizations are.. not it for me.

Mathew is so conflicted about his desires and what it takes to be a real man. Rief is closeted and troubled by his visions and what they mean for him, and his acceptance into his society etc. They should come together to make a fine story.

Hand-Wrenching and Bosom Clutching

But the way it was handled is just too hand-wrenching and bosom clutching that it reads like an old-school romance novel I read in the 90s, to be honest.

I get that it’s historical. But I’ve read historicals written in current times that are much more compelling reads and aren’t hard to get through. I really did try with this one and maaaybe I’ll come back to it and finish it. If I do I’ll update my review and maybe give it another star if the last 37% get better than what I’ve already read.

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