Book Review Alert: The Watchmaker’s Daughter by C.J Archer

Reviewed: May 20th, 2023
Released: June 28th, 2018
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Audiobook Narrated by Emma Powell

India Steele is desperate. Her father is dead, her fiancé took her inheritance, and no one will employ her, despite years working for her watchmaker father. Indeed, the other London watchmakers seem frightened of her. Alone, poor, and at the end of her tether, India takes employment with the only person who’ll accept her – an enigmatic and mysterious man from America. A man who possesses a strange watch that rejuvenates him when he’s ill.

Matthew Glass must find a particular watchmaker, but he won’t tell India why any old one won’t do. Nor will he tell her what he does back home, and how he can afford to stay in a house in one of London’s best streets. So when she reads about an American outlaw known as the Dark Rider arriving in England, she suspects Mr. Glass is the fugitive. When danger comes to their door, she’s certain of it. But if she notifies the authorities, she’ll find herself unemployed and homeless again – and she will have betrayed the man who saved her life.

Read My Thoughts…

Book Review Alert: Spells and Sensibility by K.L Noone and K.S Murphy

Reviewed: May 16th, 2023
Released: January 29th, 2022
Genre: MM Historical Fantasy

Theodore Burnett has never been a hero. He prefers comfort to combat-spells, and jam-slathered scones to muddy boots. Fortunately, as the youngest-ever head librarian at the Royal College of Wizardry, Theo can spend his days with books and bibliomancy in place of battle-magic or politics — and in any case Napoleon’s been defeated and the war’s been won.

But now there’s a wounded captain of the Magicians’ Corps in Theo’s library. And he needs Theo’s help. And Theo can never resist a mystery, especially when that mystery’s tall and tempting and handsome.

Captain Henry Tourmaline, formerly of His Majesty’s Army and the Magicians’ Corps, requires assistance. He’s returned to London with scars on his body, soul, and heart — war, after all, will do that to anyone. But one of those scars refuses to heal, a curse that’s slowly draining Henry’s magic and eventually his life. The physicians have no answers, so Henry turns to the College’s books … and the College’s attractive head librarian. But the curse is unpredictable, and the last thing Henry wants is to drag someone else into the line of fire, particularly someone as kind and innocent and brilliant as Theo.

Theo wants to save Henry. Henry wants to keep Theo safe. Together, perhaps they can do both … while uncovering a perilous secret behind a spell, a deadly puzzle in the archives, and their own heart’s desires.

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Book Review Alert: The Bandalore by DK Girl

Reviewed: April 21st 2023
Released: February 26th, 2021
Genre: Gaslamp MM Fantasy

His second chance at life will be the bloody death of him.

Silas Mercer is a dead man. Or at least…he was.

Upon waking in his grave, he finds himself without a single memory of the life he once lived. Silas is bewildered and lost, and apparently, now in the employ of the mysterious Order of the Golden Dawn. A secretive organisation who specialise in all things supernatural.

To begin with, their plans for him seem to involve nothing more than making a spectacle of himself in front of London society, with his terrible dancing skills and inept attempts to host the occasional séance.

But Silas’s odd new life takes a startling turn when the Order partners him with the scandalous rake, Tobias Astaroth. A quick-tempered, dangerously beautiful man who harbours some hellish secrets.

Their unlikely, and infuriating, partnership soon faces its first terrifying challenge.

A monster straight out of a nightmare is haunting the woods of Leicester, and the Order want Silas and Tobias to end its rampage.

But nothing in this world is as it seems. Not the Order. Not Silas himself, and certainly not the incorrigible and utterly beguiling Mr Astaroth.

For Silas, the perils that lie ahead are many. But few are as dangerous as the bewitching man at his side.

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Book Review Alert: Messenger by A.L Morrow

Reviewed: March 19th, 2023
Released: August 1st, 2022
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Hell on Earth? Not if these angels can help it.

Nothing has been the same for Messenger angel Cyrus since Jace was exiled from the celestial community. Night after night, he searches Sin City for the demon who might have the answers he needs to find his lost love. But his quest hasn’t gone unnoticed. Dark forces reach Cyrus first, and a brutal encounter with his enemy leaves him at the mercy of the ruthless warrior who once broke his heart.

Believing Cyrus has been killed, Jace returns to Sin City with a death wish and one thought in mind: vengeance. Instead, he finds Cyrus alive and the unsuspecting center of a plot that will change Sin City—for the worse—forever.

Time has never been a friend to Jace and Cyrus, but now the clock is ticking faster than ever. With the fate of the city on the line, they’ll need to choose between saving each other or saving their souls. Read My Thoughts…

Book Review Alert: Gemini Queen by Laura Navarre

Reviewed: March 7th, 2023
Released: July 26th, 2022
Genre: RH Paranormal Fantasy

I summon the lightning.
I claim my power.
The warlocks of Icarus Academy claim me.

I start my night as a cat burglar in Singapore and I end up queen of the witching world. Too bad this rags-to-riches fairytale’s a gig I never applied for and won’t accept. My witchcraft is wild and lethal, so I’ve renounced my power. I’m a fish out of water at Icarus Academy.

But these four sexy warlocks who rule the school just won’t take no for an answer.

They want me to claim my power. They want me to summon the lightning. And they want to claim me as their consort.

Because the witching world is dying, and I’m their last chance. But there’s a queen killer on the hunt. Unless I figure out how to claim my power before the killer claims my head, there’s a global extinction event looming.

With my name written all over it.

An intense dark witch academy why choose paranormal romance that delivers teacher-student forbidden love, steamy group interactions, possessive males, sexy shifters, first-time M/M, bi awakening, a lightning witch heroine who doesn’t have to choose, and enough heat to set your Academy uniform on fire. Read my thoughts…

Book Review Alert: Beyond the Sea by Keira Andrews

Reviewed: January 30th, 2023
Released: March 9th, 2016
Genre: Contemporary MM Romance

Two hot guys. One desert island.

Troy Tanner walks out on his boy band’s world tour rather than watching his little brother snort his life away. Screw it. He’ll take a private jet home and figure out his life away from the spotlight.

But Troy doesn’t make it home.

The plane crashes on a jungle island in the South Pacific. Forget dodging the paparazzi—now Troy’s desperate for food and water. The turquoise ocean and white sand beach looks like paradise, but danger lurks everywhere. Thank God the pilot survived too. At least Troy’s not alone. He has Brian.

Brian’s smart and brave and strong. He doesn’t care that Troy’s famous. Brian’s real. As days turn into weeks with no sign of rescue, Troy and Brian rely on each other. They make each other laugh despite being stranded. They go from strangers to friends.

What happens when they want more?

Although he and Brian both identify as straight, their growing desire burns hotter than the tropical sun. If they explore their sexuality a thousand miles from anything or anyone, can their newfound love survive in the real world when they’re finally rescued?

Read my thoughts…

Book Review Alert: Kidnapped by the Pirate by Keira Andrews

Reviewed: January 21st 2023
Released: October 26th, 2017
Genre: MM Fantasy

Will an innocent captive surrender to this pirate’s sinful touch?

Nathaniel Bainbridge is used to hiding, whether it’s concealing his struggles with reading or his forbidden desire for men. Under the thumb of his controlling father, he’s sailing to the fledgling colony of Primrose Isle, where he’ll surrender to a respectable marriage for his family’s financial gain.

Until pirates strike and he’s kidnapped for ransom by the Sea Hawk, a legendary villain of the New World.

Bitter and jaded, Hawk harbors futile dreams of leaving the sea for a quiet life. But men like him don’t deserve peace. He has a score to settle with his captive’s father—the very man whose treachery forced him into piracy—and he’s sure Nathaniel is just as contemptible.

Yet as days pass in close quarters, Nathaniel’s feisty spirit and alluring innocence beguile and bewitch. The desire to teach Nathaniel the pleasure men can share grows uncontrollable. What’s the harm in satisfaction?

Hawk would never feel anything for him…

Nathaniel realizes the fearsome Sea Hawk’s reputation is largely invented. He sees the lonely man beneath the myth, willingly surrendering to his captor body and soul. As a pirate’s prisoner, he is finally free to be his true self. With danger mounting, the time for Hawk to relinquish his prize looms. Will his greatest battle be with his own heart?

Read my thoughts…

Book Review Alert: The Winter Spirit by Indra Vaughn

Reviewed: December 19th, 2022
Released: November 16th, 2015
Genre: MM Romance

Nathaniel O’Donnelly likes his life quiet, his guests happy, and his ghosts well-behaved.

Although a boyfriend wouldn’t go amiss. Someone to share his beautiful B&B with, even if it is in the middle of nowhere and he’s long past the wrong side of thirty. Problem is, Nathaniel’s living with a ghost who thinks he’s cupid, and whose arrows fly a little too straight.

Gabriel Wickfield had the unfortunate luck of dying before his time, and now he’s stuck trying to make romance happen to earn his right to move along. Not that he’s bored in the meantime—Nathaniel is just too easy to tease. And also a little bit scrumptious… 

With the curse reaching its expiration date, Gabriel needs to make a final match this Christmas. Without it, nothing but darkness awaits. 

Love can conquer all, but can it beat death?

Read my thoughts….

Book Review Alert: Dead Serious Case #2 by Vawn Cassidy

Reviewed: November 29th, 2022
Released: October 31st, 2022
Genre: MM Magical Realism

In the business of unfinished business…

It’s been over six months since a freak accident left pathologist Tristan Everett able to see ghosts, something he has yet to confess to his boyfriend. Instead, he now has a new calling, one he’s not entirely happy about… help the dead resolve their unfinished business so they can pass into the light, sounds simple right?

Wrong…

When the spirit of a sweet old lady suffering from Alzheimers follows him home he has no idea how to help her. When he finds out she’s been murdered by arsenic poisoning, a curiously outdated murder weapon, he once again finds himself tangled up in a murder investigation.

For Inspector Danny Hayes of New Scotland Yard, life couldn’t be better. After moving to London and meeting Tristan he’s ready to move their relationship to the next level, but something weird is going on with Tristan, he’s acting very strangely and with a killer on the loose he’s not taking any chances. He’s determined to discover whatever it is Tristan’s hiding from him.

Surrounded by a bunch of potentially murderous old ladies and aided by his sidekick, deceased drag queen and spirit guide in training, Dusty, Tristan must unravel the mystery of Mrs Delores Abernathy’s unfinished business and find the courage to share his deepest secret with the man he loves. Read My Thoughts…

Book Review Alert: Emissary by A.L. Morrow

Reviewed: October11th, 2022
Releases: October 4th, 2022 (Part of the Realm of Darkness anthology)
Genre: MM Romantic Fantasy

Death comes for us all, even those we love.
The line between angel and demon is razor thin. Kai knows this firsthand. As an Emissary of death, darkness follows him like a shadow, leaving him touch-starved and lonely.

Tormented by the error in judgment that killed his only love, he accepts an assignment to redeem himself: hunting down the demons destroying the mortal realm. But fate takes a turn, and Kai finds himself drawn to one of his targets instead.

Demonic martial arts expert Byron Black has struggled to survive his entire life. He has fought for every breath he’s taken and each bite
he’s eaten, yet in the instant when his demise finally seems inevitable, death incarnate steps forward and spares him. Kai is as beautiful as he is terrifying, and although Byron suspects the angel’s interest in him is more than it appears, he can’t stay away.

Together, the pair search for answers regarding who wants Byron dead—and why—but uncovering the truth might destroy them both in the process. Can Kai defeat his inner demons to save the one that has crawled into his bed? Read my thoughts...