Book Review Alert: Door to Door by T.L. Brown

Reviewed: September 8th, 2021
Released: October 31st, 2020
Genre: Paranormal Mystery

Two worlds collide when Emily Swift turns thirty and her late father’s journal lands on her doorstep… Seventeen years after Emily Swift’s father died, a door is opened to a new world, an Empire led by peculiar men and women called Salesmen – transporters of magical items. These Salesmen have the unique ability to travel from place-to-place, and even world-to-world, simply by stepping throug

Now that Emily is thirty, it turns out that she can “door travel” too, stumbling unplanned into kitchens, bathrooms, and alleyways as her connection to the Salesman Empire is revealed. Fueled by the cryptic notes and sketches in her father’s journal, Emily discovers the real reason behind his death: he was targeted and assassinated by the Fringe, a terrorist group of rogue Salesmen. Read More…

Book Review Alert: Oil and Dust by Jami Fairleigh

Reviewed: September 5th, 2021
Released: September 1st, 2020
Genre: Fantasy

Artist Matthew Sugiyama can alter the physical world with his art. As the top student graduating from the prestigious Popham Abbey, Matthew Sugiyama’s future is secure… until he bucks convention and begins a journey to find answers about his birth family. The trouble is, he doesn’t know who or where they are.

Determined to find answers, but without a clear destination, Matthew sets out on horseback across a post-technology world, guided only by random flashes of a vision or long-buried memory. Using his skills as an artist to barter for hospitality and supplies, Matthew soon learns his sheltered upbringing has left him wholly unprepared to face the obstacles on the road or his unexpected yearning to join the communities he encounters. When he uncovers a mysterious adversary’s plan to harm the people he’s come to care for, Matthew must decide what’s more important; the adopted family he has created, or his need for answers about his past.

And once it’s revealed, it could tear this world apart…Read More…

Book Review Alert: Dragon’s Heir by Molly Webb

Reviewed: August 31st, 2021
Released: August 11th, 2021
Genre: Urban Fantasy

My name is Thea, and I’m a monster hunter. Or a monster, depending on who you ask…

My dad trained me to be tough and ruthless, so I could replace him someday as head of our shifter clan. Then I discovered my father wasn’t the man I thought he was. So I went freelance instead. Now, I fight for the underdogs my dad used to exploit. Sure, I get paid. But I don’t do it for the money…

So when a rogue werewolf I’m hunting turns out to be innocent, I want to know who framed him, and why. His name is Marcus, and with his broad shoulders and piercing eyes, he can certainly take care of himself. But someone wants him dead. And I want to keep him alive… At least long enough for me to figure out what he’s hiding.

Because Marcus is more than just your average shifter. He’s something much stranger, and much more dangerous. An ancient secret lurks behind his fierce, smoldering gaze.

And once it’s revealed, it could tear this world apart… Read More…

Book Review Alert: Dragon’s Hoard by M.A. Church

Reviewed: August 22nd, 2021
Released: February 1st, 2020
Genre: Paranormal Gay Fantasy

To be loved by a dragon is to be treasured.

A hundred years ago, werewolf Alpha Montgomery took a risk driven by desperation—he borrowed money from the ancient dragon Warwick Ehecatl, putting up the pack lands as collateral. Now the debt is due, and dragons don’t forget—or forgive. Warwick demands Montgomery’s son, Avery, and three businesses as compensation. As an Omega, Avery knows he is basically useless to his pack, so he might as well agree. He soon has second thoughts, though. Warwick is fearsome, and he’s free to do as he likes with Avery.

Warwick knows his race’s reputation, and he even admits some of it is deserved. But he’d rather cut off his tail than let his innocent mate’s light go out. It won’t be easy, but buried deep, there’s something between them worth safeguarding. Read More…

Book Review Alert: On the Edge by M.J. Glenn

Reviewed: August 21st, 2021
Released: December 1st, 2020
Genre: YA Fantasy

For two years, Ebony Wick has survived alone as an outlaw and highwaywoman in Rundlewood Forest. She doesn’t need people. She only needs to survive. But when Hunter Sparrow breaks into her camp and invites her to join his gang, the Bounty Hunters, she finds herself facing a difficult choice.

With a burning desire for revenge against a powerful enemy, Ebony must choose between reason and instinct. But in doing so, she discovers a long-hidden secret that will change her world forever. Read More…

Book Review Alert: Mad Magic by Nicole Conway

Reviewed: August 19th, 2021
Released: March 23rd, 2020
Genre: YA Fantasy

Josie Barton is a high school student living in terror. Invisible creatures torment her everywhere she goes, constantly getting her into trouble at school, and even haunting her apartment. But just when Josie thinks things couldn’t get any worse . . . she meets the guy from across the hall.

Zeph Clemmont is a changeling with enemies in all the worst places, fighting to undo a curse that threatens to end his life. Survival means he will have to swallow his pride and trust Josie with all his darkest secrets.

With the help of a gun-slinging shaman and the enigmatic Prince of Nightmares, Zeph and Josie are only a heartbeat away from defeating one of the most diabolical faerie villains their world has ever known. Read More…

Book Review Alert: Boxset one: The Lucas Rathbnone Mysteries 1-5 by Saffron Amatti

Reviewed: August 14th, 2021
Released: January 31st, 2020
Genre: Cozy Mystery

Lucas Rathbone talks to ghosts.

Well, ghosts talk to Lucas. He’d rather they didn’t.

But it’s solve murders or be haunted forever, and he has enough of that as it is.

In the first five Lucas Rathbone Mysteries, Lucas must solve crime to rid himself of ghosts, avoid a ruthless gang he accidentally crossed, and stop people meeting a untimely death, all while battling for a love with the odds stacked against it.

What could go wrong?

I love cozy mysteries and this boxset of Lucas Rathbone mysteries set in the 1920’s is perfect for a nice evening of gentle reading. Read More…

Book Review Alert: The Companion’s Tale by Astrid VJ

Reviewed: August 12th, 2021
Released: July 9th, 2021
Genre: Fantasy

The Companion’s Tale is one of The Wordmage’s Tales, accompanying The Apprentice Storyteller. The apprentice has learned from master storyteller, Viola Alerion, and now he performs these classic tales from the Haldrian Empire in his own right.

Elaine is thrown in the deep end and her life unravels before her eyes when the princess she serves dies in a tragic accident. All of a sudden, Elaine doesn’t have a purpose. Alone and drifting, she realises the princess’ death may not have been an accident at all, and things spiral even further into chaos.

Can Elaine find herself in the midst of it all, or will she let the stream tug her into yet another life not of her choosing? And what of Raymond Dart, the king’s chief investigator with a reputation for being the hardest, most intimidating man in the kingdom? Is the kindness he shows Elaine real or is he acting to get her to confess to a crime she did not commit? Elaine doesn’t know what to believe and her life could be on the line if she misses a step. Read More…

Book Review Alert: Needlework by Bekah Berge

Reviewed: August 11th, 2021
Released: June 20th, 2021
Genre: YA Fantasy

Four musicians vie for a coveted spot on the main stage at the prestigious Olive Branch Music and Arts Festival.

For as long as she can remember, Melly has only been good at one thing: making music. From the instant she got her fingers on a flute and tambourine, music had transformed her life and become a way for her to express the hidden desires of her heart. And like every artist in the realm, joining the illustrious Olive Branch Music and Arts Festival was her ultimate dream.

When Hakim encounters Melly singing in a grubby tavern, his world stops for the briefest of moments. For Hakim, it was as clear as the sky on a sunny day—her voice was what his band, Needlework, had been missing. On a whim, a deal is struck. Soon Melly finds herself whisked away with the band as they join the Olive Branch Festival for what promises to be one wild ride. Read More…

Book Review Alert: The Lightning-Struck Heart by TJ Klune

Reviewed: August 8th, 2021
Released: November 12th, 2019
Genre: Gay Fantasy Romance

Once upon a time, in an alleyway in the slums of the City of Lockes, a young and somewhat lonely boy named Sam Haversford turns a group of teenage douchebags into stone completely by accident.

Of course, this catches the attention of a higher power, and Sam’s pulled from the only world he knows to become an apprentice to the king’s wizard, Morgan of Shadows.

When Sam’s 14, he enters the Dark Woods and returns with Gary, the hornless gay unicorn, and a half-giant named Tiggy, earning the moniker Sam of Wilds.

At 15, Sam learns what love truly is when a new knight arrives at the castle – Knight Ryan Foxheart, the dreamiest dream to have ever been dreamed.

Naturally, it all goes to hell when Ryan dates the reprehensible Prince Justin, Sam can’t control his magic, a sexually aggressive dragon kidnaps the prince, and the king sends them on an epic quest to save Ryan’s boyfriend, all while Sam falls more in love with someone he can never have. Read More…