Necessity's Door by Fiona Glass

3 STARS

An enjoyable story about a gay undercover cop and the pickle he manages to get himself into with his on the job partner, their quarry and the innocent fellow that stumbles into the picture. 

A bit of romantic fairytale type fluff, but you know what? Sometimes that kind of story is exactly what one's soul needs after a few dark reads in a row. 

I'd read work by Fiona Glass again. :)

All My Crimes by Tal Valante

4.5 STARS

Why is this only 30+ pages long???? I loved it and wanted more, more and more! Where's my damned .5 star because I want to give this 4.5 stars. :) 

I had picked this up as a part of a bundle sale from Riptide Publishing in my quest to broaden my author base and really had no idea what it was about. What a terrific surprise! 

So much crammed into a short story - I was certain that it was a prequel story or a .5 story for some established universe and as soon as I was finished, went on the hunt to acquire more. Imagine my shock to find that this is the author's first work! 

There's been a war. There have been wild elves and a menaced kingdom. There has been sacrifice and love and hotness and magic and power. The characters are fascinating from the get-go. And the writing itself? Magical. Tal Valante, you MUST WRITE MORE!!!!

Crux by Moira Rogers

4 STARS

Southern Arcana - Book 1

I am very much not a paranormal/shifter romance fan, but I am a fan of Kit Rocha (another authorial alter-ego of Bree and Donna), so I was willing to give this a try. 

OH MY, I did enjoy it! :) 

It's the characters - I love the cast of characters that have been created for this 'universe'. Even Mackenzie, who had the very real possibility of becoming the tearful, scared, oh my God I need a big strong man, heroine that we see so often in so many 'suspenseful' romances - came off as likable. Her banter in the sex scenes with Jackson made me chuckle quite a bit. (And yes, the sex scenes are very, very steamy and hot.) And the kissing - oh, these girls write kissing like no one else! :)

I did think that the resolution with the bad guy seemed too easy, but the ramping up to it was a lot of fun. I must say that for a first book in a romance series, it certainly did its job by drawing me in, making me care a lot for the characters, and definitely piqued my interest for the rest of the series. 

And yes, I'm in love with Alec and am petrified that something terrible is going to happen to him. *LOL*

The Flesh Cartel - Trials and Errors by Rachel Haimowitz and Heidi Belleau

5 STARS

The Flesh Cartel - Book 9

Intense, intense, intense! I LOVED this look inside the minds of Dougie and Mat, seeing how they've changed and how they've not changed. 

I'm not certain what to think of Nikolai in all this, what his total plan is. All things point to the final episode in this season as being one helluva doozy. And is it so wrong of me to want Dougie to go back to Nikolai if indeed he's even left? Maybe the man's mind games have worked their magic on me! 

Exceptional writing in this episode, intriguing insight and I can't wait for the next one!

Hammer and Air by Amy Lane

4.5 STARS

I was not expecting to read the story I read. :) That Amy Lane, she's a wily one! This was a lovely read! I really, really want that half star because it's a 4.5 Star book for me, almost perfect. 

It would have been 5, but there was one little thing that bugged me... Hammer & Air is written in the first person and that doesn't usually bother me, but Amy chose to have him write narrative in the vernacular. Now, when this is done sparingly, I love it, but this was a case of "It were morning." instead of "It was morning.", for example. All through the book. And in any book, there are a lot of was and weres!

But that being said, the story was absolutely charming and heartwarming and heart-twisty in places. There was a sense of danger through most of it - due to the bear - and I thought Amy did a SUPERB job of maintaining that 'when's he gonna snap?' feeling from the time he appeared until the very end. 

The love story between Hammer and Eirn was so heart-achey in all the best ways. Amy at her finest, I must say. I loved them both. :)The magic in Hammer & Air is handled with a deft touch, the perfect seasoning for this tale. In the end, I loved the book, loved the characters and I adore Amy Lane for writing these gorgeous stories for us. :)

If It Fornicates by L.A. Witt and Aleksandr Voinov

4 STARS

Market Garden - Book 4

More adventures with Nick and Spencer! I love these two. To me they're like the odd couple but perfectly matched. *LOL* I know, makes no sense, but they are. 

Honestly? The only problem I had with this volume of Market Garden is the ultimate conclusion. It satisfied the romantic side of me completely, but the intrigued side of me wanted to see how Nick and Spencer could make things work without Nick having to give up his Market Garden career. The solution to the couple's problems left me thinking it was a bit of a cop-out. Is it really impossible for a sex worker to find emotional happiness, get their HEA, while keeping their 'day' job? 

That disappointed me. But the writing was stellar! Magic happens when L.A. and Aleksandr write together. It's like watching a great dancing couple, to read one of their books. This is the reason why, instead of giving If It Fornicates 3 stars because of the resolution, I gave it 4 stars

The Flesh Cartel - Loyalities by Rachel Haimowitz and Heidi Belleau

4 STARS

The Flesh Cartel - Book 8

Well first off, I think readers might be losing sight of what this series is. It's NOT romance, it's NOT erotica, it's a mind-fucking psycho-sexual story. For either - never mind both - Mat and Dougie to emerge from this as anything approaching who they were at the beginning would be a fairy tale of the most huge proportions. 

That being said, the most interesting thing about this installment was the step into the starring limelight that our quiet right-hand man, Roger, takes. VERY intersting. Jeremy the cook, as well, had some interesting tidbits to add to the picture. Nikolai... what will he do next. Mat... Dougie... what will their next decisions be and will THEY be making them or having them made for them. 

Fascinating... utterly fascinating.

Forever Promised by Amy Lane

5 STARS

Promises - Book 4

Five minutes ago, I finished Forever Promised and I am still weeping. :) First thing I did was tweet wonderful Amy to thank her for such simple beauty, then I blew my nose again. I LOVED this book and I LOVE this series and while I am so very sad that the series is over, it's one of those happy-sad things because the series came to such a perfect circle with Promise Rock right in the center of it.

(And I read so slowly, savoring every paragraph, wanting it to last forever.) 

All of our favourites are here, every last one of them takes the stage and has their time in the sun, so to speak. My favourite of all my favourites has always been and always will be that little diva Mikhail. I love him and I love how he loves his cop and everyone else. 

Tears, Lord, I shed a lot of them reading this book - sad ones AND happy ones. And tears shed just because the telling of the tale was so beautiful. :) The last quarter of the book was read through misty eyes.

And the last line... THE LAST LINE! The ultimate perfect way to close the curtain on our beloved people. (And now I'm reaching for another kleenex.) So, thank you again, Amy, for writing the stories of these most awesome characters and sharing them with us. You did them proud. :)

Covet Thy Neighbor by L.A. Witt

4 STARS

Tucker Springs - Book 4

What a fun, heartfelt read! 

Let me start by saying that I'm in love with Seth the tattoo artist. And quite honestly, I expected him to be the 'aggressor' in this story of two men falling in love. But you know what? He wasn't! It was the minister, Darren who was really pursuing Seth. And I really liked him too! We need more men of God like him. Seriously. 

The story is told in the first person, and told well. Some writers don't handle first person POV very well, but L.A. certainly does. I didn't feel that I was missing out on anything only seeing the story through Seth's eyes (which isn't always the case.) There was also, given the Main Characters, a good deal of talk about religion and beliefs, the difference between the two, the place that gay holds especially in Big C Christianity. I was worried that it would feel like preaching to me, or even scolding, but it all flowed quite naturally. 

The only agenda that was being served was the love story between the minister and the atheist.So, yes, this 4th volume in the Tucker Springs universe is great! Read it! :)

Finding Master Right by L.A. Witt

4 STARS

This was a hugely fun read, even though I wanted to smack both Chase and Derek upside their clued-out heads through most of it. *LOL* Talk about being at cross-purposes! Boys, all this angst and heartache could have been avoided if only you'd have TALKED ABOUT THINGS! And talked honestly! But then we wouldn't have had a story. 

I think what makes this book work is the two main characters and the colourful secondary group. They're just fun guys. We don't get to know much about them beyond their love lifes... love lives... whatever. :) But I don't feel short-changed over that, it really wasn't important to the tale. 

I really enjoyed the look into a kinky, leather convention, but I was left with one question, and that being, were there really that few female attendees? It seemed like a glaring absence to me, but I guess I'm being unfairly picky because it doesn't really matter to Chase and Derek's story. 

Lastly, I find myself thinking that since the author has indicated that maybe Master Raul might be getting his own story (of course) it wouldn't surprise me if he gets hooked up with Ian. *sigh* I hope not. Too predictable for my blood. So, in the end, a great, fun, kinky read! Highly recommended! :)