Top Ten Tuesday: Authors in my state

I saw this post on Portobello Book Blog and thought I might join in too, when I can anyway so maybe not every week but we will see.

Each Tuesday, Jana assigns a new topic. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post. Add your name to the Linky widget on that day’s post so that everyone can check out other bloggers’ lists. Or if you don’t have a blog, just post your answers as a comment.

This week’s topics is authors from your country/state. I’m choosing to go with my state which is Western Australia. Even cutting it down to my state it was still ridiculously hard to pick 10. I ended up just going with the first ones that popped into my head.

So Ten authors from Western Australia that I have read and enjoyed.

This is by no means an extensive list because in WA alone we have so many fabulous authors, I could have easily made this 20 or 30 without even thinking too much.

In writing this list it did make me realise how few male authors I read and I’d like to change that this year. I am endeavouring to write a list of male authors from WA but so far including the three on here I’m only up to 8. If you know of any let me know in the comments.

Have you read any books by these authors? I think between them they cover just about every genre except maybe nonfiction.

Until next time, happy reading.

Spell the Month in Books – May – Freebie

Seen on The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog, Spell the Month in Books is a pretty straightforward monthly linkup run by Jana at Reviews From the Stacks. Find a book title that starts with each letter in the month’s name, make a list, and share your link. That’s it! The linkup opens on the first Saturday of the month and remains open through the end of the month so that you can participate whenever is convenient.

I’ve missed a few of these, but I’m getting back into them. This month is super easy, seeing May only has 3 letters, and the theme is a freebie.

I’m going with an ARC I’ll be reading soon: Magic and Other Mishaps (Mythos Collapse #2) by TJ Nichols.

Pan and Noah’s story. Go back to the night the Mythological world collapsed into ours, stranding vampires, dragons, satyrs, gods and more… An MM urban fantasy romance between an ancient god who has lost his magic and a human who discovers his own.

A book I’m just about finished: All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson.

In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys. Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren’t Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson’s emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults.

A very overdue ARC I plan on getting to in the next couple of months: Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart.

Growing up in a housing estate in Glasgow, Mungo and James are born under different stars–Mungo a Protestant and James a Catholic–and they should be sworn enemies if they’re to be seen as men at all. Yet against all odds, they become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the pigeon dovecote that James has built for his prize racing birds. As they fall in love, they dream of finding somewhere they belong, while Mungo works hard to hide his true self from all those around him, especially from his big brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold. And when several months later Mungo’s mother sends him on a fishing trip to a loch in Western Scotland with two strange men whose drunken banter belies murky pasts, he will need to summon all his inner strength and courage to try to get back to a place of safety, a place where he and James might still have a future. Imbuing the everyday world of its characters with rich lyricism and giving full voice to people rarely acknowledged in the literary world, Young Mungo is a gripping and revealing story about the bounds of masculinity, the divisions of sectarianism, the violence faced by many queer people, and the dangers of loving someone too much.

The next themes are

June 7: Summer Reading Begins; use books you found at the library or see there

July 5: Set in a fantasy world or a fictional place

I hope you have a great May, happy reading.

#6Degrees of Separation #12 – May 2025

This is a monthly link-up hosted by KateW at Books Are My Favourite and Best. Each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. A book doesn’t need to be connected to all the other books on the list, only to the one next to it in the chain. The rules are:

Link the books together in any way you like.
Provide a link in your post to the meme at Books Are My Favourite and Best.
Share these rules in your post.
Paste the link to your post in the comments on Kate’s post and/or the Linky Tool on that post.
Invite your blog readers to join in and paste their links in the comments and/or the Linky Tool.
Share your post on Twitter using the #6Degrees hashtag.
Be nice! Visit and comment on other posts and/or retweet other #6Degrees posts

I’ve missed a few of these this year, but I really want to get back to them. This month’s book is Rapture by Emily McGuire. I have no intention of reading it, so I’m linking it to an Emily McGuire novel I have read.

Love Objects. I didn’t review it, but I gave it 4 stars, though I do remember it being a book I enjoyed but didn’t love.

My next book is by another Emily, The Lost Pearl by Emily Madden, was a fabulous historical dual timeline novel (My review) which starts in 1941, just before the Pearl Harbour bombing.

My next book is P is for Pearl by Eliza Henry-Jones, I loved this YA novel (my review). A beautifully written story of loss and secrets and coming to terms with the truth of what life is.

Another Eliza Henry-Jones novel I loved was In the Quiet, a moving, sweet and uplifting novel of love, grief and the heartache of letting go.

The next book I haven’t read, but it is next to my bed, waiting patiently with all the other books. The Quiet and the Loud by Helena Fox, a heartbreaking, hopeful, and timely novel about holding too tight to family secrets, healing from trauma, and falling in love. I really do want to get to this soon.

I was going to pick another Helena Fox book as my final link, I wanted to stay with Australian authors, so I have gone with a book I just read, this time instead of quiet, we have unquiet. The Unquiet Grave by Dervla McTiernan (my review) this is a crime novel, book #4 in the Cormac Reilly series, though you could read it as a standalone.

Well, that gave my brain a workout. Have you read any of these? I look forward to checking out your chain if you participate in this link-up.

Until next time, happy reading.

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

First seen over on Book’d Out, I’m going to try to do this post regularly, linking to It’s Monday! What are you reading? at BookDate.

I know it’s now Tuesday, but that can’t be helped, I’m just glad to be posting this fortnight. I will get back to weekly soon, I hope.

I treated myself to this gorgeous copy of my favourite novel Jane Eyre to add to my Jane Eyre collection. It’s now the prettiest one I own.

I had a pretty good fortnight of reading

I finally finished my 39-hour audiobook, Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon, and I’m now onto Voyager, which is even longer at 43 hours. Historical Fiction

I also listened to two books by K.C. Carmine: The Flower Arrangement and Tentacles Rock (ARC). I have previously read both of them and wanted to hear the audio versions. MM Romance

I read

A Knife and a Blade (Riehse Eshan #1) and A Whisper and a Breath (Riehse Eshan #2) by Adelaide Blaike, both of which I absolutely loved and have borrowed book 3 from Kindle Unlimited. MM Romance, Fantasy

Juno: Portal Matchmaking by Regitse Liljadorff (ARC), book #1 in a new series. MM Romance, Fantasy

Goldnight of Starfall by Beau Van Dalen MM Trans Romance, Fantasy

Phantom Bond by Ryder Tombs MM Romance

Lampwick and the No Strings Friend by CD Rachels (ARC), an MM retelling/continuation of Pinocchio

The Unquiet Grave by Dervla McTiernan (Cormac Reilly #4) (ARC) Crime Fiction My review

A Pika’s Safe Haven by Odessa Hywell MM Romance

This week I am listening/reading

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon (Outlander #3). I won’t finish this anytime soon – Historical Fiction

I already finished Cost of Redemption by Hayden Hall (The Saints of Westmont U #2) (ARC) MM Romance

Love Is for All of Us: Poems of Tenderness and Belonging from the LGBTQ+ Community and Friends by James Crews (Editor), Brad Peacock (editor), Lisa Congdon (illustrator) (ARC) Poetry

The Legend Next Door by Jesse H Reign (Totally Pucked #2) (ARC) MM Romance

I’m hoping to pick back up Where the Birds Call Her Name by Claire Van Ryn (ARC), Dual timeline Historical Fiction

I will never run out of books to read or audiobooks to listen to, that’s for sure.

What have you read this week/fortnight that you think I might enjoy?

Until next time, happy reading.

New Release Book Review: The Unquiet Grave by Dervla McTiernan

4.5⭐⭐⭐⭐⚡

The Cormac Reilly series is one of my favourite crime fiction series. I am so glad Dervla McTiernan has given us a fourth book to add to this series.

As well as the investigation, Cormac and his work partner Peter are both thinking of changing directions with their careers, which leads to some distractions and one very bad decision. Emma, Cormac’s ex, comes to him for help, pulling him away from the case as well as making him revisit the decisions he made that ended their relationship. It also makes him take a look at where he is in his life and where he wants to go.

There are a lot of threads in this novel and a lot of characters to keep track of. I did find this difficult a few times to remember who was who and which thread they were attached to, but ultimately they all came together in a very satisfactory way.

I wonder if Cormac’s new job will bring us more books or if this is the end for Cormac Reilly. I’d also love to see Peter in his new position in Australia. I think that would make a great spin-off.

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Release date 30th April 2025

About the book

Every grave has a story … The much-anticipated new novel in the Cormac Reilly series, from the no.1 bestselling author of The Ruin and What Happened to Nina.

For years the boglands of Northern Europe have given up bodies of the long-deceased. Bodies that are thousands of years old, uncannily preserved. Bodies with strange injuries that suggest ritual torture and human sacrifice.

When a corpse is found in a bog in Galway, Cormac Reilly assumes the find is historical. But closer examination reveals a more recent story. The dead man is Thaddeus Grey, a local secondary school principal who disappeared two years prior.

There’s nothing in Grey’s past that would explain why he was murdered, or why his body was mutilated in a ritual manner. At first, progress on the case is frustratingly slow and Cormac struggles to keep his mind on the job. His ex-girlfriend, Emma Sweeney, is in trouble, and she’s reached out to him for help – Emma’s new husband has gone missing in Paris, and the French police are refusing to open an investigation into his disappearance.

Cormac is sure that he has found Grey’s killer, and is within hours of an arrest, when another mutilated body is discovered on the other side of the country. Two days later, a third body is found. Press attention is intense. Is there a serial killer at work in Ireland? Has Cormac been on the wrong trail? And if so, can he find the murderer before they strike again?

About the Author

Number one internationally bestselling author Dervla McTiernan is the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of six novels, including the much-loved Cormac Reilly series and two number 1 bestselling standalone thrillers, The Murder Rule and What Happened to Nina?, both New York Times Best Thrillers of the Year and both currently in development for screen adaptation. Dervla is also the author of four novellas, and her audio novella, The Sisters, was a four-week number one bestseller in the United States. Before turning her hand to writing, Dervla spent twelve years working as a lawyer in her home country of Ireland. Following the global financial crisis, she relocated to Western Australia where she now lives with her husband, two children and too many pets.

Release Tour: Lampwick and the No Strings Friend by CD Rachels

What if Pinocchio saved Lampwick from his dark fate? What if, years later, the two reunited and became more than best friends?

That puppet boy saved me from a life as an ass—literally.

And I swore I’d do anything to repay him, his Papa, and all the people I wronged. So now here I am, a decade later, back to work for Geppetto. I need to make up for the sins of my childhood. I’m not that obnoxious kid anymore, roaming the streets for fun.

But Pinocchio has grown up, too. He’s all man, no strings, no wood, and he’s welcomed me back into his life with open arms. Growing close to him is scary and thrilling, but could someone so loyal, brave, and true want to pursue a future with the likes of me?

My conscience is telling me the former puppet could do a lot better than a fool like me. But years ago, I got a second chance at a real life, and now, as a man, I know what my heart is wishing for. I’m falling for my childhood best friend, with all the strings attached, and I need to do what it takes to convince him I’m the real deal.

“Lampwick and the No Strings Friend” is a spicy-sweet reinterpretation of a future where Lampwick and Pinocchio find each other again. It involves carpentry, sassy pet cats, first times, bathing in rivers, and hopefully not too many wood puns. In this adult M/M romance retelling of the classic fairytale, when you wish for a HEA, it’s guaranteed to come true.

Available Now

Add to Goodreads

Length: 240 pages
Series: standalone
Prior Reading: n/a
Genre: fantasy
Tropes: fairy tale retelling; childhood best friends to lovers; mild magical elements
Trigger/Content Warnings: n/a
Publisher: Chill Discourse Books LLC

Lampwick and the No Strings Friend Q & A

Interviewer: Welcome, introduce yourselves, please.

CD: I’m CD, I’m the author of the M/M romance “Lampwick and the No Strings Friend”

P: I’m Pinocchio. I’m the main character of the book and I’m in my twenties now.

LW: I actually think I’m the main character. I’m Lampwick after all. *LW and P giggle and jostle each other*

Interviewer: Okay. So tell us quickly what your book is about.

CD: Well, it’s a male-male light fantasy. I believed that Pinocchio’s best friend had a story to tell. And I wanted to give them their happily ever after.

LW: And I’m glad you did.

P: Super glad.

Interviewer: Well what do readers need to know about the fairy tale to get started in this book?

L: Well it starts with me when I was transformed as a donkey, but I fortunately don’t stay that way thanks to this guy. *LW and P giggle and jostle each other*

CD: Yes, it takes place right after the story of Pinocchio.

L: And I’m saved thanks to him.

P: Naturally.

Interviewer: What vibes does your book bring?

P: Che cosa significa “vibes”?

CD: It’s like…the feelings it evokes.

P: Ah.

L: It’s a happily ever after. It should make you warm and content. It should fill your heart with happiness. With plenty of sexy scenes too.

P: Oh plenty of that. *LW and P giggle and jostle each other for the third time*

Interviewer: Well clearly you two are comfortable with each other.

P: You could say that. *winks at the camera*

LW: *stares at P like he personally raises the sun every day*

Interviewer: Last but not least: Tell us why we should pick up your book.

CD: If you like fairy tales and childhood best friends to lovers books, this one will make you smile, guaranteed.

LW: It made us smile a lot! All the lovey-dovey scenes…

P: *laughs* Yeah, our story is a great one. We didn’t get enough rapport in the original fairy tale.

LW: And now I get to shine like a star!

CD: And he gets his redemption, too. So you’ll all fall in love with adult Lampo and Pinocchio, I have no doubt.

Interview: Well thanks for talking with us!

CD: Thank you for having us.

P: Go read our book!LW: It’s sexy and fun! *LW and P laugh and act like no one else exists*

About the Author

CD Rachels has been coming up with stories since he was little. First it was superheroes and pocket monsters, and now it’s romance.
He believes there aren’t enough BIPOC MC’s in MM romance, and he’s on a mission to change that.
He lives in New York City with the love of his life and is a nurse by trade.

Be the first to hear about all his updates and new releases! Sign up for his newsletter “The Chill Discourse Report” by visiting his website
Get all the graphic teasers and wacky reels on Instagram
Feel free to DM him on his Facebook group where he hosts polls where YOU can affect the story: “CD Rachels’ Chill Discourse Room”.
And he’d love a friendly email: cdrachelsauthor@gmail.com .

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

First seen over on Book’d Out, I’m going to try to do this post regularly, linking to It’s Monday! What are you reading? at BookDate.

It has been 2 months since I posted. I have been so tired lately that I’ve barely turned my computer on in all that time. I’m behind in reviewing and blogging and have fallen off track. So it’s time to get back on, starting with #IMWAYR.

I’m not going to link all the books I’ve read this past 2 months because I have read a lot, even if I’m too tired to do much else, but I’ll put a link to my Goodreads stats so you can check out the books if you want to.

What I read in February and March

Check out my Goodreads if you’re interested

What I’ve been reading in April

What I’m reading now

A knife and a Blade by Adelaide Blaike (Fantasy, MM)

The Unquiet Grave by Dervla McTiernan (Crime) ARC

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon (Historical Fiction) Audiobook

We Do Not Part by Han Kang (Historical Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Magical Realism)

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M Johnson (Memoir, LGBTQIA+)

Goldnight of Starfall by Beau Van Dalen (Fantasy, LGBTQIA+) ARC

I am enjoying all the books I’m reading and I enjoyed all of those I have already finished. The audiobook for Dragonfly in Amber is 39 hours long and I had to return it before I’d finished it, it’s back on my app and I’ve only 11 hours to go so will get it finished before the due date this time.

I hope you’ve all been reading some good books, I’d love to hear what you’d recommend.

Until next time, happy reading.

New Release Book Review: Unhinged Little Angel by K.M Neuhold

4.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

I loved Salvatore and Dante, the fake relationship trope is one of my favourites, and this one had a different spin on it that I enjoyed.

Dante is quite the character, and I enjoyed the way he and Salvatore played off against each other even before this pretend marriage happened. It takes most of the book to find out exactly what Dante did that has him watching his back and needing protection, but Salvatore is more than happy to be in this forced pretend marriage. I loved watching Dante realise that Salvatore actually liked him, and watching Dante’s walls fall despite his best efforts to keep apart from Salvatore. These two were perfect for each other.

Plenty was happening to keep me reading and wanting to know what was going to happen next, to the detriment of my sleep.

This group of mafioso might be bad guys, but deep down they are all softies for the men they fall for, and they will stand by the members of their big found family no matter what.

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About the book

Forcing Salvatore Moretti to marry me at gunpoint isn’t the craziest thing I’ve ever done…
I hate being desperate, being scared. It’s a filthy, helpless feeling. I’d much rather be enraged, violent… unhinged.

Salvatore watches me dance and calls me Angioletto, his little angel. He doesn’t know the demons that haunt me. He’s too blinded by my beauty to see the blood on my hands. Then again, he’s a mafia capo, so maybe the blood wouldn’t bother him anyway.

My past is like fire licking at my heels, ready to consume me. But Sal won’t let that happen, he’ll protect me. He has to.

I learned a long time ago not to trust anyone but myself. It’s dangerous the way he manages to unravel all of my defenses and turn me from a guarded Dom into the submissive brat I’ve never felt safe enough to be. It’s terrifying the way I’m starting to crave him.

I wasn’t sure I would live long enough to worry about this marriage starting to feel real, but this well-dressed mafioso might just manage to save my life after all. We can argue about divorce once the threat is neutralized I suppose. And in the meantime, he is my husband, I might as well enjoy the perks…

Audiobook Review: The Geography of Happiness by Jay Hogan

When I pick up a Jay Hogan novel to read or listen to, I always know I’m going to enjoy it. With two lovely MCs, Spencer and Terry, along with Terry’s daughter, Hannah, who played a big part in this story, it was easy to hope that they would find their HEA.

The cast of side characters was also a great addition, and many come from previous books in this and other series.

Hannah has a little-known illness which goes with a lifelong disability that Terry has been dealing with as a single parent. Terry’s inability to ‘let go’ of his teenage daughter and let her follow her dream of going to a school of arts is a big part of the storyline and affects the potential relationship between him and Spencer.

Spencer has always been a bit of a player, never wanting more than a one-night stand, until he meets Terry. Terry has never felt much sexual attraction until Spencer, which has him evaluating his thoughts on his sexuality. I enjoyed the connection between these two and liked how they opened up to each other, admitting things they’d never admitted to anyone else, getting to know each other, on a very fast timeline.

I wasn’t sure how they were going to make a relationship work past the week they spent together, but where there’s a will, there’s a way, as they say, and they get their HEA in the end.

Gary Furlong once again does a great job narrating the story and bringing the characters to life.

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Purchase Directly From Author

About the book

One thing I know about Terry O’Connor—the man has complicated relationship written all over him, something I’ve avoided for pretty much forever. One thing I know about Terry’s hometown, Painted Bay—it’s a long, long way from my life as a Mackenzie Country veterinarian, and dedicated, carefree bachelor. All of which should be good news.

No reason to look twice at the gorgeous man currently staying at Miller Station with his daughter.

No reason to daydream about his soft lips, quirky sense of humour, sexy smile, or the way he blushes whenever he catches me staring which is far too often.

No reason to second guess my future plans or reconsider the no-strings lifestyle I’ve worked hard to perfect.

And absolutely no reason to feel disappointed that Terry is even less interested in a relationship than I am. I should be relieved.

Then why can’t I stop thinking about him and how right it feels when we’re together? Why does my heart spin at the very mention of his name? And why does the thought of moving on without Terry and his daughter in my life feel like the loneliest decision in the world

Audiobook Review: Promised Vow by Rye Cox

This was a lovely, sweet no-angst story that I really enjoyed listening to. The narrator did a good job of bringing the characters to life.

Fake relationships are one of my favourite tropes as I enjoy seeing them fall in love for real. I liked that both men took everything in their stride and that Sam wasn’t phased by his attraction to Ryker and went with his feelings. These two made such a cute couple.

I enjoyed Sam’s family; his grandpa, sister, and baby nephew, who, along with Ryker’s cat, all added to my enjoyment of the story.

I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

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About the book

Our impending vows were supposed to be fake…

Moving home to Kither Springs to help my sister with her baby wasn’t a hardship. I love being with my family, but a few months of sleeping on the couch really takes a toll on you. I desperately needed to move out, but while I was away, my hometown became ‘viral famous.’

A rush of people had clamored to our town, looking for a taste of small-town life, which means less housing. When an apartment finally becomes available, I’m not the only one interested in it, but maybe that’s not such a bad thing…

Ryker is all muscles, adorable frowns, and gooey brown eyes I want to melt into. I know better than to hit on a straight guy, so I offer to be roommates instead. It’ll be just like college.

But then the old landlady insists she only rents to couples, which leads me to blurting out that Ryker and I are engaged… future husbands-to-be. To my utter surprise, my former classmate goes along with the not-so-little white lie.

Now we’re pretending to be in love while I try not to fall in love for real.

Promised Vow is book 1 of the Promises, Promises series set in a small town with meddling neighbors and a tight community of friends and family. This book has size difference, bisexual awakening, opposites attract, and a very clingy cat.