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.

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.

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:

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.

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

Future Friction: Chemistry

Chemistry ignites between the two love interests in this urban fantasy superhero love story. Future Friction by Ken Sanchez is a superhero magic urban fantasy that brings comic book action and banter to the MM romance genre. The main love interests, Marcus and Julien see each other and feel an immediate pull, but that doesn’t mean things are smooth sailing for the superhero couple. A lot has to happen for them to agree to even work together, let alone be together.

Part of a Series: Shadowguards

Future Friction is the second and a half book in the Shadowguards series. I didn’t know it was part of a series when I downloaded the arc. Consequently, I felt like I was playing catch-up as I worked through this story. Like most series, previously established characters were popping back up, who potentially have stories of their own. But I was learning who they were for the first time, and sometimes there was no ‘recap’ so the story would mention someone’s name without much introduction, so I was figuring out who the established characters were in the world, while at the same time absorbing the building story of this installment.

Superhero Meets Magic

The urban fantasy world of Future Friction juxtaposes a modern New York City with a world of superheroes, magic, the Greek pantheon, and a bit of the fated-mates trope from alpha/omega stories thrown in there for good measure.

A lot was going on, because of this confluence of many tropes and genres, and sometimes the plot got a bit muddy because of it.

Overused Descriptions

The same descriptions and phrases appear just a few times too many. For example, “this was… not how this was supposed to happen” is used several times. The lines appear close enough together that it was noticeable.

Another thing that pops up more than once is someone looking at another person “with an expression that was both exasperated and fond.” Repeat phrases extremely selectively in a novel, because readers will notice things like that. I do.

Similes Galore

Woah Nelly lots of similes. I could have done without so many. They have their place in a superhero story, I feel. But fewer of them would have made the story flow more. I found myself stuck on the descriptions. Some similes appear more than once. There just gets to be a point where you gloss over similes as you read, or you’ll get stuck on so many of them.

Beyond similies the descriptions and the dialogue in Future Friction are very, I don’t know how to put it exactly, comic boo. I mean, it is a superhero sort of book. But the author tends to lean into the cheesy, snappy ‘clever’ humor pretty heavily. That might not be everyone’s jam. I liked it for the most part but I felt my eyes rolling a few times.

Passage of Time

Sometimes the passage of time seemed off, where I thought it was the next day. For example, after the first time Marcus sees Julien he goes to Julien’s business to sus him out. They are antagonistic towards one another, but it’s fairly mild. I didn’t see them as being enemies, like ever.

Antagonism

But then their antagonism is the starting point of their relationship and I guess I just didn’t see it that way. It was the opposite, in fact. I saw their relationship as edging on the sort of the insta-love that I don’t get on board with in romance books. Probably because I am more demi or asexual I can’t see insta-love being plausible. But they are also “fated-mates” so that insta-love is explained that way.

Back to Passage of Time

So anyway, the passage of time. Parts of the story referenced more time passing than I thought had done. Scenes were missing, maybe that had been edited away. Because of this, the passage of time was unclear.

After the initial club scene, Marcus goes to find out about Julien. I thought it was the immediate next day, right after the incident in the club. But while they talk Marcus mentions something about “that night” in the club. Wait, pause. I’m confused. Wouldn’t someone say “last night” instead of “that night” if it was just the previous evening? Or maybe time had passed but it wasn’t clear how much. I took Alex’s imperative to mean that Marcus needed to look into what Julien was up to with some urgency, not wait for a while before meandering over to Julien’s place of business to chat. Maybe I just misunderstood that part.

Other times it seemed like characters referenced interactions that I didn’t remember happening. At one point Julien comments that just a few weeks ago he would have never seen himself working with the Shadowguards but look at him now. But at that point in the story, I didn’t recall him actually working with the Shadowguards. Things like this made it seem like I’d missed a time-jump or whole scenes. But I did not skim this book, I read it pretty carefully, even going back and re-reading when something confused me.

Continuity in Future Friction

An editor could look over Future Friction, specifically looking at continuity, to improve and ensure time passes logically. A different set of eyes could pick out potentially confusing time jumps and suggest ways to deal with them by more specifically referencing the passage of time. Sometimes it’s harder for an author to do this to their own story. Because they have a good idea of the story in their head, they need a different set of eyes to see where the story requires fleshing out. Sometimes the story in the author’s head isn’t quite on the page but because the author knows their story, they think it is. I’ve done this myself, so even in the fanfiction world this is why beta readers are the best. And in the publishing world, editors exist for this purpose.

Marcus and Julien

Full disclosure: I am not a huge fan of the fated-mates trope. I feel like it allows writers to omit entire relationship development and conveniently be like ‘oh look they’re fated mates they are in love now’.

Because I am not a huge fan, I enjoyed how the fated-mates trope is handled in Future Friction. That’s not what happened in this book. Julien and Marcus, even when they know they are fated mates, aren’t fully on board with everything that entails. Not right away. So the characters feel that pull, that insta-love, but they still have the wherewithal to question whether their feelings are because of the fated-mates thing intertwining their destiny or actual emotions that develop naturally.

This book was a fun read, and I plan to read the rest of the series now.

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 Future Friction Review appeared first on Fae’s Journal.

Dance with the Dragon is a romantic romp through the rich and famous lives of Thailand’s elite: Sai and Tan are the upper echelon of Thai society that one might see in a Thai BL. Indeed, this book could be fabulously adapted to the screen as a Thai BL series. The adventures of Sai and Tan as they navigate their way to true love wind themselves from first meet-cutes in bathrooms, to exotic locales in Egypt and Laos, to traumatic pasts that come back to haunt them later in life. Dance with the Dragon really has a lot going on in it.

I liked this story. Parts of it got muddied in detail but it offers readers something unique in the romance genre.

Importantly Not GoT

One should note that this book is not to be confused with the book of a similar sounding title by the acclaimed GRRM A Dance with Dragons…

A Major Issue

Before I get any further into my review I have to mention the one major problem I had with this novel: The over (over) use of epithets. This gives the story SUCH a fanfiction vibe that should have been caught by the editor. I despise the use of things like “the older” or “the younger”. Like actively, with hate, despise. Maybe as characters are getting to know one another, but not as a way to differentiate between characters who are in a relationship. Please, please don’t. It gives the story a a sophomoric and amateur feel that I am sure the author is not going for. I mean, even in Fanfiction this is something to avoid.

Dance with the Dragon is Unique

Dance with the Dragon is unique in its setting in Thailand. I will say that if readers are unfamiliar with Thai, the main characters’ proper names might trip them up. Thai names are long, many syllables. But using a second name is also a part of Thai culture, so you can just think of the characters as Sai and Tan for the most part. If readers have ever watched Thai BLs or Thai dramas they will have a better understanding of their names. Other plot aspects of the story are also reminiscent of BL dramas. Because they’re less common in western LGBTQ+ romance genres readers will find this story different. A good different, for the most part. While there are elements that don’t work as well, I still recommend this story because it’s a different take on the genre.

Length

Dance with the Dragon is super long for a romance novel. I struggled with the length of the novel and think it should have either been firmly edited to not be as long or broken up into multiple novels.

It’s so long that it’s almost as if it was written as an episodic serial and then compiled together into a novel. If that’s the case, it would make more sense to read a chapter at a time and wait a week or so until the next chapter.

However, trying to read it as a cohesive novel made the length daunting, and further it made the level of detail unnecessary. A thorough, strict editing could help to make the central story stand out and not leave readers lost in the weeds trying to sort through details that could have been omitted from the story.

Storytelling “Rules”

I tend to want a book to approach details according to the “rules” of modern, western storytelling. Every single thing that the reader or viewer sees should play a part into the overall story. If a character notices something on the tv, a snip of dialogue, that bit of dialogue should come back to be important later in the story.

However, my desire for a story to exclude things that aren’t central to the story speaks to a cultural difference between story-telling devices that I find easiest to identify when watching a tv series from a country that has a markedly different culture from my own.

What’s Common Here is Not Common Everywhere

In tv series, especially Asian dramas, it’s very common to for lots of additional things to happen aside from the main plotline. Side stories, plots that spend time twisting and turning before the reader/viewer makes sense of anything, stories that feature secondary locations and extra characters are all common aspects of Asian dramas. I say Asian because the most familiarity I personally have with Asian dramas are with K-dramas. I’ve only watched one Thai drama (Kinn-Porche), but I noticed similarities between the story-telling elements present in that shows and K-Dramas that I am more familiar with. I like watching K-dramas and I’m sure I would enjoy more Thai dramas. And funny enough, I’ve found that sometimes the additional characters and plots are better than the main plot. (I’m thinking of What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim, for sure)

However, in a novel, one that’s been presented as a MM Romance, it might stray too far from expected norms. Readers might download the book from Kindle Unlimited expecting the regular format and find the format and density of additional information difficult to get on board with. I hope that’s not the case for everyone because I do think this novel is worth reading. It’s got so many elements that I enjoyed that unfortunately got a bit weighed down by secondary things that felt unneeded.

If it were a typical MM romance, that is. As it is, I think Dance with the Dragon is best described as a hybrid between a BL Serial and a MM Romance. And that might be an important thing for readers to know before they make the decision to read it.

Secondary Character POV in Dance with the Dragon

As a romance novel, Dance with the Dragon needs to be paired down to be centered around the main love interests. One way to do that would be to have the Point of View be narrated from just the two main love interests. Force the story to be told through only their eyes. Everyone else in the story is then perceived from their POV.

I found the move from being in close 3rd with Sai or Tan to close 3rd of a secondary character quite surprising and ultimately jarring. Within the romance genre this is not a common literary device use at all. And maybe it’s unique and fresh, but I found it added to the overall muddiness of the plot.

For example, I found it jarring to jump into the minds of the secretary, the bodyguards, and other secondary characters. I like Preethi. And honestly I’d read a story from her POV, if she gets her own love interest. But in the MM genre I think the author should leave Preethi’s feelings and thoughts to herself and focus on the main characters for POV. As a reader of Dance with the Dragon, about Sai and Tan, I didn’t need to know about how the secretary felt about Sai. I wanted to stay in Sai’s close 3rd POV to learn what made him who he is.

Sai

I had trouble understanding who Sai was at the beginning of the novel. The first chapter from Tan’s perspective shows Sai to be a suave and collected professional. So, that was the archetype I assigned to him. But then we jump into his head and woah. Sai’s first chapter reveals him to be much more chaotic and uncertain in character. His personality jumps around in business and personal dealings. I thought he’d be completely confident but chapters from his point of view reveal a different sort of character. I actually liked this, but found one aspect of Sai and the way the author handles his presentation to the reader somewhat problematic.

Sai is a clearly neurodivergent character who I suspect has autism. Those terms are never mentioned, however nearly everything about him is written as neurodivergent. It’s never explored as the reason he’s so idiosyncratic about literally everything in his life. But I wish it had been. He’s a confident businessman but he’s insecure in personal dealings, something that is very true in neurodivergent people in real life.

Tan

I feel like Tan could have been more developed, which surprises me to say considering the length of this novel. But he remained underdeveloped. I wanted to understand him more beyond his life as an actor. He’s more than someone who’s being swept away by the glamorous life that Sai lays out for him.

Love and Spice

The spice was good. I didn’t like how after their first sexual encounter Sai was hung up on the idea that they didn’t finish having sex.. The perspective that penetrative sex is the only real sex surprised me. That’s not generally the way people in the LGBTQ+ community think about sex. Sai spends half a chapter worried they “didn’t finish” when they clearly both did. I was so confused about whether I had read the scenes correctly that I went back to reread. It turns out I had read it correctly. To me, that plot point doesn’t make sense with gay characters. Some gay people never have penetrative sex. It’s okay. Getting each other off is sex, nothing more is needed to make it “real”.

After I got through that difficulty, I liked the way their relationship progressed. The spice level was good throughout the novel. I enjoyed their intimate scenes and how they were free to be playful and free with one another from the start. They enjoyed variety in their sex life, from toys to handcuffs. And I liked that a lot. They were playful and sweet with one another from the start. Most importantly, what stands out to me the most is how Tan was able to understand Sai’s unique (neurodivergent) perspectives and make them work for him. Tan could tell Sai when he was being too business-like and rigid in his expectations for a relationship. He was quick to tell Sai that he needed to modify his expectations and behavior. Tan helps Sai into a relationship that was mutually beneficial not juts physically but emotionally.

I love Sai and Tan together. As it should be, their story was the best part, the sweetest part, the part of the story I wanted to stay in. However…

SO Much Going On!

In true Thai Drama fashion, there is so much that happens over the course of the book that I struggled to get through it all. As one novel, it became a case of ‘good lord what’s happening now‘. Not the reaction to a new plot angle an author wants to elicit in a reader.

What Could Possibly Happen Next?

There’s family being backstabbing and generally horrible, common in Asian dramas. Kidnapping. Characters coming back from childhood who have held a grudge for so long and are finally enacting their revenge. There is a lot of slides into secondary character POV to add side thoughts and information.

For me, it just got to be too much after a while. It once again reminds me how K-dramas and the Thai dramas I have watched play out. So much happening works better episodically but as one novel, it’s overload.

It makes me think again that perhaps Dance with the Dragon started out as a serial that was published chapter by chapter. The flow of the novel would read differently reading it like that. Sometimes the shift in medium from web serial to novel requires pairing down and eliminating plot points. Or, it might call for dividing the serial into multiple books to avoid the overload of action. Unfortunately, I feel that forcing it all into one novel could all lead to reader burnout.

Speaking more on that, the -TBC- at the end of every chapter furthers my suspicions that this was a serial publication prior to being a novel. In my opinion those -TBC-‘s at the end of each chapter should be removed. Those make sense at the end of every chapter in a serial publication but not in a novel.

If I Ruled the World…

If I were editing Dance with the Dragon I would divide it into maybe three books. I would pace it so there is a clear story arc, eliminate the extra side-stories. I’d focus on what the culminating drama and villain arc is early in the story. This would start foreshadowing Sai’s past. And importantly, how it will come back to haunt him with the big bad villain of the story. The trauma someone would endure from a childhood kidnapping would mark them as a person. It would have made more sense to introduce Sai’s past earlier in the story. By introducing that as central to Sai’s character would help the reader understand him quicker. Most importantly it wouldn’t detract from the budding relationship between Sai and Tan.

Not that how I would do things is at all important. I am neither the editor nor the author of this story. That being said, I liked the story. Everything happening in one novel dilutes the effect of all that happened. After I finished reading, my mind went to town thinking of ways it could work better.

So my grand plan for a three book story arc:

Book 1

The first book would reflect the beginning and the introduction of the storylines. Introduce Sai’s traumatic past and the main villain character so the foreshadowing starts from the very beginning. That was, as readers are are introduced to Tan the idea that all the characters might all be connected could be subtly planted in the reader’s brain.

Book 2

The main villain and drama would be expanded in this book. That developing drama would lead to a strengthening of Sai and Tan’s growing feelings for one another by them going through some struggles together.

Book 3

The third and final book in the arc would be the culmination of the drama. And end with Sai and Tan living happily every after.

Too Picky?

Obviously, that’s just me rambling and nitpicking at this point. I liked the novel. I want other people to like this novel, because there is a lot about it that is different. Sometimes the romance genre in general can be extremely formulaic. Dance with the Dragon diverges from those expected formulas in a unique way that I liked. But I still think that a general MM romance reader might get lost in the grass because of some of that uniqueness. And I have to wonder if there might be a middle ground where the book could be edited to be a bit closer to standard to be more accessible to the general mm romance reading population.

MAYBE I’m talking out my ass. I’m not trying to be pedantic. I promise. This comes from a place of wanting this novel to be read. So I hope that my review is not received negatively.

Go read Dance with the Dragon. Give this book a chance. It’s a diamond in the rough, and as a debut novel, something I want to support.

The post MM Romance Review – Dance With the Dragon 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.

Nothing good? More like Everything’s Good.

Nothing Good is a fast-paced crime-family romance where two crime-family henchmen reluctantly fall in love all while trying to kill one another. Miami is seedy and real, dangerous and sweltering. You’ll be transported to a world where all the action is dangerously real, and the two main characters stay so busy trying to kill one another that they completely avoid their developing feelings until they sneak up on them and cannot be ignored any longer.

This review will be sprinkled with minor spoilers, but I don’t think anything major is revealed. Overall I strongly recommend this book, and I cannot wait for the continuation of the Gratuitous Violets series by Piper.

Adler and Rainy

In this debut novel from R.J. Piper, Adler and Rainy have super explosive chemistry from their very first encounter. It’s hard to believe that this is Piper’s first novel. Nothing Good (Amazon) is a tight novel, written well and full of nuanced characterizations that ring true to life. The action is fast-paced, thrilling, and seedy enough to keep you on your toes. What will happen next? The main characters are compelling, their motivations are human and real and make you root for them and want to smoosh them together so they can realize they’re both doofuses who are avoiding their developing feelings as if their lives depended on it.

Action Packed

The action is intense in this story and at times is quite violent. I do think it’s important to note that the characters do hurt one another at times. There is actual blood drawn, which is appropriate for a Mafia-type story, but it’s not all daisies and roses down in Miami. There is blood drawn, ribs broken, with both of them in mortal peril.

Even though they do hurt one another, which is appropriate and not gratuitous for the story as it’s a mob story, and one should know what they are likely to encounter when they start a story like this, Adler and Rainy are still drawn to one another in a way that they can’t make heads or tails of.

And it’s that attraction that ends up masking the feelings that sneak up on them. It’s not until the end when Rainy cannot fulfill the orders given to him by his boss (but not entirely his boss, it’s complicated) that he realizes it might go deeper. However, that late realization is likely a substantial amount of denial on Rainy’s part. Everyone around them can tell they are really into each other, like really into each other.

3rd Person POV

3rd person pov is a controversial choice in the romance genre, with the majority of books being written in 1st POV. However, the 3rd POV is done well here, so I still felt connected to the thoughts and feelings inside Rainy’s head, but not necessarily Adler’s. I believe this was a stylistic choice.

The author chooses to write in the close 3rd person with Rainy but not Adler so we are left guessing. We are left feeling that small glimmer of hope that Rainy feels but is so, so unsure of. The reader feels that uncertainty at times, but Adler is a consummate professional tasked with the same task as Rainy. But will he have the same difficulty fulfilling his orders? We have to hope so, but ultimately we don’t know for certain. The reader is left to imagine that Adler is in much the same position as Rainy emotionally, with his feelings burgeoning, unwelcome, and being actively pushed down and ignored. This is why I think there was a purposeful choice made to use 3rd POV.

What Comes Next?

I do wonder if the next book in the series will be from Adler’s point of view, because I want to have some time to get to know his inner workings beyond what we learned about in this first installment. It’s evident by the end that Adler is feeling the same sort of way as Rainy but I want to go deeper and know him more.

I also worry about how the series will end. We all know one can’t easily extricate themselves from a mafia-type job situation. Even Rainy’s mentor mentioned how the only way out of their sort of life is through the grave. So I worry how Rainy and Adler will ultimately get free from the confines of the situation they have found themselves in. I do hope there is a happily ever after waiting for them at the end of this riveting new series. I can’t wait to read and see.

ARC Review of Nothing Good

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review. I read ARCs and would love to read yours. Read my Review Policy and Contact Me if you have an upcoming novel you’d like me to read and review.

View all my reviews on Goodreads. Read more of my book reviews on my MM Book Reviews page.

The post Review of Nothing Good by R.J. Piper 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.

No Place like Home by Chassidy Ann | My rating: 3 of 5 stars. Review on Goodreads

No Place Like Home is the second book in the Men of Steel series by Chassidy Ann. It is about two men whose pasts are entwined and who come back together later in life to finally hash out their differences. It’s a childhood-friends to enemies, then enemies-to-lovers romance set in the construction industry.

Overall, I struggled with this book because of the characterizations being too stark, the way women are portrayed in the story and the superfluous amount of detail the author goes into about secondary aspects of the story.

I liked the way the main love interests made one another stronger and helped each other to overcome their struggles, and thought they were sweet once they worked out their differences.

No Place Like Home could use some firm editing to take out details that aren’t important to the story. It would ultimately help the reader to be able to focus on the main story.

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

Characterizations

The characters in the book are very black and white. Villains? You know they’re bad because they really never let up from being bad. One example is the teacher that Justin tries to talk to.

Full Facts: The School Teacher Villain Would Just Never Happen

As an aside, I really dislike when authors get things wrong about the education system. Because it’s pretty easy to research and see how things really are. Just a quick poll of teacher friends would give an author a font of knowledge about how teachers are taught to speak to their students’ stakeholders.

There are actual problems with education but the way the teacher spoke to Justin and his mother would literally never happen. If the teacher did act that way I can almost guarantee that the parents or guardians would go straight to the principal or the school board. And then that teacher would risk losing their certification for lack of professionalism. Which, why did Justin and his mother not know what to do in this situation? Justin’s sister is in high school. It’s not like they were unaware of how schools work. They’ve been through preschool all the way to this point in the education system.

Eventually, they do go to the principal but it’s still done in a way that is unrealistic. If you’ve read my other reviews you’ll know I have a hard time getting past inaccuracies authors make about the educational system.

Parents have the power in today’s school ecosystem, and no teacher would get away with the way that the teacher was so negative from the start.

Black and White Character Actions

It happens in a lot of other places in No Place Like Home too, where characters are so unfaceted their personality is almost a caricature of an actual personality. One example is when someone at another table comes on to one of the main characters at dinner. The situation in and of itself is unrealistic, in my opinion. One, the man was taking care of his parents at dinner so he was being presented as a full-ass adult. Secondly, the MCs were by all evidence on a date themselves.

So why would a random person come over and proposition one of the MCs at all? It goes against all social norms that this would even happen which makes the resulting actions even more over-dramatic and unrealistic.

Then the other guy is full force trying to get into William’s pants with little finesse. Then, when William turns him down he has a full tantrum. It was just hard to believe something like that would ever happen.

Justin’s Mother?

I had a big problem with Justin’s mother and thus the whole setup for the story in No Place Like Home. Ultimately it strikes me as sexist and this was hard for me to get past.

The setup is that Justin’s mother had to rely on Justin to help her parent her children, and the only explanation was that she was ‘never one to do things on her own’.

Why did she have to have the only male in the family left to step up and come home to help? She couldn’t have held it together so Justin could have finished school? Why not? With no explanation, it implies that she just (faints) couldn’t because she’s a (faints again) weak female. I could not get past this major plot issue because it says much about what the author thinks about women.

Okay. But when someone is unexpectedly widowed, that doesn’t work… You have to suck it up and take care of your kids, full stop. The author makes a specific choice to characterize the mother as so weak that she just can’t function.

Before Justin’s father died he was a construction worker. Which would have meant he was out of the house a great deal so Justin’s mother would have had to take care of the kids then, right?

Her complete inability to parent her children was a mystery to me. Explaining it would make it better, I think and it never was. And it made me feel like the author just really doesn’t like women very much. Why is the mother characterized as so weak? Like what happened to her? Was it mental illness or just a lack of ability to be a full person? Maybe it’s that her character wasn’t developed enough.

Too Much Detail

The author gets bogged down in mundane details, sometimes narrating actions in a way that is more like a screenplay instead of a novel. This made it difficult to see the important parts of the story, instead learning about a lot of secondary things that were ultimately unnecessary to the story.

It’s important to remember that the reader doesn’t need to be told every little thing that happens, things can be glossed over because it’s implied that it happens.

Like, readers know how to unlock a door. We don’t need to read a paragraph describing how the MC puts the key in and then turns the lock. The reader will understand what happens if the author just says that he unlocks the door. Or if someone is paying a cashier. We don’t need to know the cashier’s name or the exact total of the things they are paying for.

Specifically describing actions works in movie screenplays because the author is trying to convey everything a person watching a movie would see. But when reading a novel, we can leave it to the imagination how much two sodas and a pack of gum cost.

Enemies to Lovers

Because the characters in No Place Like Home were often very black/white when it comes to emotions, motivations, and actions, the shift from enemies to lovers was very abrupt. The build-up to feelings and attraction was exceedingly quick and not at all subtle. They went from complete enemies who couldn’t stand the sight of each other, to bam! They were in bed.

Spice

Once they got together, the spice was pretty good, better than the rest of the book. The author has a good way of writing intimate scenes. I just wish the book wasn’t bogged down with so much other stuff so we could read where the author is more comfortable. Also, a personal ick is when someone uses the word ‘member’ for dick. I hate that term. Anything else, please.

In Summary

This book was not very good.

Want More?

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

The post Review of No Place Like Home by Chassidy Ann 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.

The Unlikely Pair by Jax Calder. View Book on Goodreads | My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved The Unlikely Pair. So I am starting this review with a resounding recommendation to read this book as soon as you can. It swept me along and I found myself surprised at how much I had invested in the characters, who at first were difficult for me to understand.

In the end, I shed tears and rooted for the MCs to get together and loved this book so much, it was such a great read. I now have to go back and read book one of this series, and wait impatiently for book three, which won’t come out until 2025! That seems like forever away!

Potential Spoilers, you are warned!

This review may contain some spoilers because there are things I want to talk about! You can read the Unlikely Pair soon, it releases on August 7, so not much longer to wait! However, if you don’t want to be spoiled you might just want to take my strong recommendation to read it and revisit this review once you’ve read it for yourself!

British Politics

Upon starting this book I was worried that it was going to be heavy handed on the explanations of British politics in it, which I know next to nothing about. I didn’t want to be bludgeoned with information dumps to get us ignorant Yanks up to speed. Thankfully, that’s not how Calder approached the necessary explanations into British Political arena. I learned so much about how things work without feeling drowned by all the the details.

In the end, I came out of this albeit fictional book with a much clearer understanding of how the British House of Commons operates. I found that the way Calder approached this in the book highlights how the she can lead the reader along the way to a destination they weren’t quite sure of at the onset without it being super obvious they’re being led.

Toby and Harry: The Unlikely Pair

I was afraid I wasn’t going to believe in Toby and Harry’s romance because the title of the book is spot on. They are the definition of an unlikely pair. Would people that different politically be able to even be friends, let alone romantically involved? The only clue that their chemistry was off the charts is that maybe they enjoy their bantering across the room in the House of Commons a little too much.

However unlikely, their development from political adversaries starkly opposed to one another, to begrudging acceptance that they are in this situation together, to literally helping one another survive to heated lovers was realistic. I believed in their journey. They maintained their political bantering the whole novel through which I definitely think would persist in a relationship where vastly differing political views are at play. They might have started as The Unlikely Pair, but by the end I was wanting to yell at them that they simply cannot be without one another!

British Politics Seem Tamer

I appreciated the insight into how British politics don’t seem quite as vitriolic as American politics so that Harry and Toby’s sort of union could actually be realistic. By contrast, in America if someone were anywhere right on the spectrum, especially as right wing as it’s gotten here, there’s no way someone liberal could palate having a relationship with them.

Being insulted and called names and accused of being too woke and ruining the fabric of a nation does not inspire romance. The fact that they could maintain decorum and have a debate without devolving into screaming at one another was refreshing. This might be more a commentary about how bleak the political arena is in the US though. Even though I keep circling back to politics, this book maintains a nice balance throughout that doesn’t make it fall too heavily on the politics side. It’s a romance, through and through.

The Romance

And speaking of the romance, the romance is sweet, innocent in many ways. Harry, having seemingly denied himself the freedom to explore this side of himself for so long, seems ardent and shy and in awe of the feelings he’s experiencing. And Toby is there for it! The way they work together and struggle to stay safe in the wilds with unknown assailants hunting them really makes the reader invested in both their survival and their budding romance.

Toby and Harry remark at one point that out in the wilderness all the façades of life are stripped away. Life becomes much simpler than the complexities of politics when things get down to the brass tacks of survival. They have to work together. And if they don’t, one or both of them might not survive. It makes it that much easier to fall into deep emotions with one another. It’s not about Harry, conservative leader and Toby, liberal MP. It’s about them as people getting each other through their ordeal alive and in tact.

Once the feelings are there, the spice is hot. It’s all encompassing love even if the couple themselves want to deny what it is for a long while.

The spicier side of me wishes there were more intimate scenes where it didn’t fade to black as it were. Because as Harry and Toby often said, they seemed to communicate best while having sex so I wanted to see more of that.

The Mystery

The great mystery of what is going on with the scary black helicoptered, machine gun toting bad guys is not solved in The Unlikely Pair. A large part of me wishes the reader got more insight into what was happening, if I’m being honest. I imagine the mystery will be resolved in the next book. It will be gratifying to finally see how the mystery will eventually resolve and to know what is happening in the larger picture. A multi-book story arc appeals to me, but part of me really wanted to get more of an idea about who dun it in this book.

The threat was so menacing when Harry and Toby were out in the wilderness. Evil seemed to always be right out of sight, and I feared for their lives a few times. Harry and Toby were incredibly vulnerable out there, the men hunting them so inhumane, so callous. The momentum building was great and then it seemed to just disappear from the plot of the story.

The mystery reappeared briefly once they were rescued. There was a bit more development into the masterminds behind the plot going on then. But the overall mystery was not focused on in the back end of the novel, in which political jockeying and pining romance took a front seat.

Length

At the beginning I was afraid that The Unlikely Pair was going to drag and be really long to read because it has quite a number of chapters. But I read it quickly because I got invested in the characters and sped through the bulk of the novel without realizing it.

Series is worth a read

I haven’t read the previous book in the series The Unlikely Heir, but I do know that those characters show up in this installment a lot, Oliver former Prime Minister and Prince Callum. I will definitely be reading that book as well. The next book will not come out until next year 2025 so please be patient (I am mostly talking to myself here) because it will be worth the wait!

Overall The Unlikely Pair is a great read, and I highly recommend it!

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 my MM Romance Book Reviews here on my blog.

The post Review of The Unlikely Pair by Jax Calder 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.