Tag: books

New Release Book Review: Brighter Than Fear by Becca Seymour

4.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

Fangs and Felons is one of my favourite Urban Fantasy series, I love the world Becca Seymour has created and I’m thrilled she is writing more in the series. You don’t have to have read the previous two books, but you are missing out on a fabulous read and the back story behind what is happening now.

I did not want to put this book down, I loved diving back into this world and the found family the members of the SICB have become. I loved Rowan and Flynn’s connection from where Rowan stalks Flynn from afar to where they meet and already have a connection between them. I really enjoyed the connection between Flynn and Rowan and loved seeing it expand albeit quite fast, it was clear there was something special between them.

The hunt to bring down Hornell, the tech used to bring back Prince which causes some tense times for Flynn and his coworkers and loved ones, the corruption they uncover and the danger and intrigue that is always close had me well and truly caught up in the story.

I can’t wait for book 4 Stronger Than Fate to continue the intrigue and learn Lucus’ story.

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Purchase Link → Amazon

About the book

In the world of covert operations, trust is paramount, yet I’ve been straying, fostering secret ties with the elusive “unicorn hacker,” challenging my loyalty to the ITU, my SICB family.

No doubt about it, I’m going to be in deep shit when they find out—it’s only a matter of time.

But when an investigation explodes, so does my world—and for the first time, I hear the hacker’s voice, magnetic and captivating, pulling me in deeper.

I also finally get his name.

Rowan Hart, a former agent and a tiger shifter with haunting scars. He becomes an unexpected hero, thrusting us into an alliance against Hornell, SICB’s prime target. Despite clashes with my team, we form an unstoppable duo, until a sudden attack fractures our team, leaving me changed in ways beyond imagination.

As I fight for survival, it takes both my unit and Rowan’s unwavering resolve to keep me alive. Amidst chaos, Rowan’s commitment becomes clear—he’ll move heaven and earth to grant me a second chance at life and, perhaps, with him.

New release Book Review: Stepbrother Mine by Felicity Snow

High heat and minimal plot was the description and Stepbrother Mine was both of these, it was also sweet and low angst and an easy read. I’ve never really thought of stepbrothers as being taboo, they aren’t actually related but some people do, so each to their own.

I thought that Rome and Sebastian were very sweet and very hot together and I really enjoyed the flashbacks of them getting to know each other when their parents married and how much they cared about each other. Sebastian has had a thing for Rome since they met, and now they are both away at college and hanging out together all the time, the lines they had drawn around their relationship as stepbrothers are about to blur all thanks to a party game that dares one to kiss the other.

Their relationship very quickly changes and becomes sexual and very spicy, each more than willing to try whatever new kink or idea the other comes up with. I liked that they were both discovering new things about themselves as they discovered more about the other. There are plenty of hot spicy scenes and I mean plenty, I’m not a fan of degradation and calling the other names, but whatever floats a person’s boat, this was my least favourite part of their sexy times.

Some reviews have said they didn’t like the repeated ‘little brother’ and ‘big brother’ way of speaking that Rome and Sebastian use a lot, but for me, it was just a substitute for Daddy/boy in many other books, so it didn’t bother me. sure they could have used each other’s names more, but it suited them to use brother as part of their relationship.

While not my favourite Felicity Snow read it was still an enjoyable read that allowed me to tune out of the real world and enjoy some spicy times for a couple of hours.

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About the book

I’ve always loved my stepbrother, but it took a party game for me to realize how much I wanted him.

Rome

Sebastian and I have always been close. From the minute he waltzed into my life he won me over with his pep, snark, and give no shits attitude, and I couldn’t help but feel protective over him. He’s my best friend. When I’m dared to kiss him at a party I don’t think anything of it. Until his lips are on mine and days later I can’t stop thinking about it, questioning everything I thought I knew about myself. But how can I tell him that I’m suddenly seeing him in a whole different light?

Sebastian

I’ve been attracted to Rome since the moment I met him. How could I not be? He’s gorgeous with his dark hair, soulful eyes, and sinful smile. And his broody personality just does it for me. Not to mention how protective he is of me. But he’s straight, and we’re stepbrothers. I know nothing can ever come of my attraction. Right?

Stepbrother Mine is a 48k word opposites attract stepbrother romance with low angst, high steam, a grumpy possessive top and a sunshine femboy bottom who loves his bunny slippers. It features bi-awakening, kink, a virgin mc, size difference, MINIMAL PLOT, MCs in college, and D/s dynamic. This book has explicit content and is not intended for anyone under the age of 18

*Please mind the content notes in the front matter

Cover Reveal: Limitless Love : A Polyamorous Charity Anthology

Limitless Love : A polyamorous Charity Anthology


Cover by Coffin Print Designs


Graphic by River Designs


Blog Tour by Love Matters Promotions

Special Pre-Order Price of $4.99 http://books2read.com/LimitlessLove


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💞Blurb💞


Love can be defined as “a quality or feeling of strong or constant affection for and dedication to another.”


They say “love wins,” for that to be true, we must embrace all types, especially those that have been otherwise underrepresented.


Thirteen authors have come together to make a difference by showcasing that love in all its forms is limitless.


Limitless Love is an anthology full of different polyamorous stories with proceeds going to charity in order to showcase that if you fight for the life and relationships you believe in, then love truly does win.


Featuring stories from:
Aurora Crane
Colette Davison
Abrianna Denae
E.M. Denning
Elouise East
L Eveland
MJ Green
J.L. Gribble
Gianni Holmes
Leigh Kenzie
Duckie Mack
Michele Notaro
A.N. Waugh

Release Date- June 11, 2024


#anthology #MMromance #Polyamorousromance #NewRelease #bloggerswanted #coverreveal

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’m slowly catching up with my ARCs which is good, a couple more reviews to catch up on in the next couple of days, so keep your eyes open for those, I updated last week’s post with review links for the books I’d finished.

This week I finished listening to

Growing Up Queer in Australia

I started reading this but had to take it back to the library so I borrowed the audiobook on BorrowBox instead. This is my first book for the Nonfiction Readers Challenge and I will do up a post for that this week.

I finished reading

Stepbrother Mine by Felicity Snow (ARC) Read my Review

Oblivious by Ashlynn Mills (ARC) Read my Review

Thorn Evermore by Mia Monroe – Read my Review

Not as much reading as I’d hoped but happy to have these ones finished, they were all very good reads. I’m continuing on with Cry of the Firebird by TM Clark, I’m at 89% and no matter what, I will finish it this week.

I’m also continuing with

Snowy Mountains Dawn (Bundilla Novels #4) by Alissa Callen (ARC) I’m at 62% so this should also be finished this week.

Candy Hearts Vol 1 – LGBTQIA2S+ Charity Anthology (ARC)

I’m also going to be reading

Easy Does It by K.M Neuhold (ARC)

Icebound Rivals by Hayden Hall (ARC)

I’m listening to

To the Moon and Back by NR Walker

I only have 2 hours left of this one, it’s only a short book but I haven’t decided what I am listening to next. The book I was going to listen to for my book club had triggers in for me and I couldn’t get past the first chapter, so it will be a surprise for all of us what I choose next.

I am excited and a bit overwhelmed as I got into the course I’d applied for, I’ll be doing my Cert 4 in Mental Health which starts in 2 weeks, On top of that I’m doing rehearsals for the City of Joondalup Community Festival Choir, I’ve never sung in my life so it’s an interesting learning curve. I’ve done two rehearsals with 5 more to go before the performance on the 17th March.

I had my art lesson on Friday as I usually do and really liked how my painting turned out so put it in a frame and hung it on the wall. I also did some painting over the weekend doing several small watercolours and my last painting for my Progressive art group something I’ve loved being a part of for the past 3 months.

Fridays Painting
Small Watercolours
Final Progressive Art Group Painting

So a pretty busy week really. I’d love to hear what you’ve been reading and what you hope to read this week. Until next week, happy reading.

Spell the Month in Books #1 – February – Comfort Reads


Seen on The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog, Spell the Month in Books is run by Jana at Reviews From the Stacks a pretty straightforward monthly linkup. Find a book title that starts with each letter in the month’s name, make a list, share your link, and 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.

This month’s theme is Comfort Reads I’ve picked books I’ve loved and that I’ve either read more than once or would if I had the time to do so.

F

Facing the Flame by Jackie French

E

Embrace Me by Beck Grey

B

Black Diamonds by Kim Kelly

R

The Railway Children by E. Nesbit

U

Up on Horseshoe Hill by Penelope Janu

A

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

R

The Road to Gundagai by Jackie French

Y

Yellow Light by Theresa Smith

Have you read or enjoyed any of these books? What would your comfort reads be for FEBRUARY?

I have to say, this was a harder challenge than I first thought, but it was good to revisit some favourites.

New Release Book Review: B-Mine by Ava Olsen

4.5 Stars

I didn’t overly enjoy the last bodyguard romance I read, so I went into this a little unsure but once again Ava Olsen has written a romance I can completely believe in and get behind.

Iain Holloway may have been a trouble maker Rockstar but he had a big heart hiding underneath his playboy persona and when he finds he has a stalker and his already overprotective bodyguard Dawson becomes even more protective, he finds that underneath their bickering is an explosive chemistry they can’t ignore.

I enjoyed getting to know Iain and Dawson better and enjoyed them getting to know each other. The storyline with the stalker was done well and I didn’t guess who it was until it was revealed which is always a nice change. There’s plenty going on and the pages turned themselves as I wanted to know what was going to happen next.

Catching up with the guys from Wayward Lane was good and I can’t wait for Faise and Ronin’s story next, it should be fun when they realise they are in love with each other, well, I hope that’s the case.

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About the book

Holloway: I’m the lead guitarist for Wayward Lane and I love everything about my rockstar life. Everything except my security detail. And the more popular our band becomes, the less freedom we have. All it takes is one overzealous fan and I find myself constantly shadowed by the one bodyguard I love to tease and evade: Dawson Everly. Mr. Tall, Dark, & Uptight lives by strict rules, and I’m a free spirit, so naturally, we argue at every turn. But my flirtation and his aggravation is a combustible mix and suddenly I discover there are some orders I don’t mind taking. And those strings I usually avoid? They start looking pretty good. Thing is, Dawson has a son and I never imagined I’d fall, let alone for a family man.
But every rockstar has their day – is it crazy that I want Dawson to be mine?

Dawson: As a bodyguard for Wayward Lane, I’ve seen all the rockstar shenanigans. The biggest troublemaker? The guy who loves to escape his detail: guitarist, Iain Holloway. He’s stunning, spontaneous, and a gigantic pain in my… you get the picture. I’ve tried to keep my professional distance but it’s getting impossible to ignore the attraction between us. But falling for a rockstar is a risk I’m not prepared for. I have an eight-year-old son, Jaxon, who means everything to me. The single dad guilt is hitting hard when I’m on the road and the time has come to make a choice.
Only, my heart doesn’t belong solely to my son anymore. It turns out, Iain has managed to find a way in there too.

B-Mine is a slow burn, single dad, opposites attract, MM rockstar romance filled with fiery chemistry, unexpected love, and a heartfelt, hard-fought HEA.

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 seem to be getting slightly behind with my ARCs but I’m doing my best to catch up, this week I managed to finish

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth (Bookclub pick) Review to come this week

The Invention of Wings by Robin Knight (ARC) My Review

Love and Redemption by Kelsey Hodge (ARC) My Review

B-Mine by Ava Olsen (ARC) My Review

Crack Fantasy Adventure #5 : I Went on an Adventure and All I Got Was This Barbarian Orc by Jennifer Cody (ARC) Review to come this week

Conflicted by Ashlynn Mills

I finished listening to

Salt River Road by Molly Schmidt Review to come this week

This week I’m listening to

Growing Up Queer in Australia

I started reading this but had to take it back to the library so borrowed the audiobook on BorrowBox instead. This will be my first book for the Nonfiction Readers Challenge

This week I’m still trying to finish Cry of the Firebird by T.M Clark depending how I go with my ARCs.

Snowy Mountains Dawn (Bundilla Novels #4) by Alissa Callen (ARC)

Stepbrother Mine by Felicity Snow (ARC)

Easy Does It by K.M Neuhold (ARC)

Oblivious by Ashlynn Mills (ARC)

Candy Hearts Vol 1 – LGBTQIA2S+ Charity Anthology (ARC)

So a lot of reviews to catch up on and plenty of reading to do.

I didn’t do much art this week but I did start on a watercolour during my art class which is coming along ok

I’d love to hear what you read last week and what you are hoping to read this week.

Until next week, happy reading.

#6Degrees of Separation #1 – February 2024

I’ve seen this meme on several book blogs I follow, so to keep up my blogging this year, I thought I would join in.

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.

This month’s task was to start with the book you finished in January (or the last book you read) I’m starting on a book I’m currently reading. This is my first go at this and I found it a bit of a challenge, I probably could have come up with much easier ways of linking them, but why do it easy lol, hopefully, I got it right.

My first book and the book I’m currently reading is Snowy Mountains Dawn by Alissa Callen 

I linked it to The Bookstore at Rivers End by Phillipa Nefri Clark which I have on KU because they both have a place name in the title. This book features a found diary and the uncovering of a mystery.

Now, I know I have read many books which use the finding of an old diary as part of the plot, but do you think I could think of any offhand, letters yes, but diaries no. I was lucky my mum had just finished reading a Nora Roberts series which involves ghosts and the hunt for a diary, phew, so I’m linking this to Blue Dahlia by Nora Roberts.

This leads nicely to a book I just finished Dead Serious Case 4 Professor Prometheus Plume by Vawn Cassidy. This involved many ghosts in an old hotel the couple went to spend a romantic long weekend away.

I’m linking this to a book I bought last week, The Anywhere Hotel by Gisele Stein about a mysterious hotel where there is a portal that allows you to travel anywhere in the world, for a price.

This book had a few themes I thought of using but ultimately chose to link it via Travelling the World to The Utterly Sublime Adventures of Ava Roberts by Lisa Frederickson which I have on KU also. In this book, Ava is running away from a cheating fiance and decides to go on a life-changing 80-day odyssey around the world.

I’m linking this to Around the World in 80 Days by Michael Palin, a real-life adventure in which he decides to follow in the footsteps of Jules Verne’s character Phileas Fogg using only the forms of transport which would have been available to him 115 years earlier, I’ve reserved this from Borrowbox.

And that is my first #6Degrees challenge how did I go? Have you read any of these books?

#ThrowbackThursday #1 February 2024

I was asking Davida from The Chocolate Lady’s Book Review Blog for some ideas of memes I could join in with and she suggested I could join her twist on #ThrowbackThursday.

The gist of her Throwback Thursday is to highlight one of your previously published book reviews. I love this idea as it brings to people’s minds wonderful books they might have forgotten or not even heard of.

For the Twists/Instructions for Throwback Thursday visit her here. I’m going to try and keep the same schedule she does, the Thursday before the first Saturday of every month, but you can link to her blog all month.

I’d love to know if you join in.

For my first #ThrowbackThursday post I have gone with a review I originally published on 1st February 2021. I can’t believe it was three years ago I read this fabulous novel, it might be time for a reread.

The Truth & Addy Loest by Kim Kelly

This was a story I didn’t want to end.

As I got pulled deeper and deeper into Addy’s story, drawing several parallels to some of my own struggles, I wanted to stay there with her as she dealt with those struggles, the stories her brain told her, the encounter with the woman who owned the curiosity shop, beautiful and tender-hearted Dan, her brother Nick and her ever grieving father.

Addy is so like many broken parts of me, so many broken parts of many others, but she shines brightly even as she doesn’t see it, even as she doubts everything about herself and thinks she is dying.

As always Kim Kelly brings to the fore important issues, not just of then, but of now. The fight for women to be treated with respect and not as an object for a man to drool over or take advantage of, the fight to not be afraid. She deals with past injustices of the war, both WWI and WWII, and the effects felt generations on by those who come after and carry those memories in their cells. She touches on the need to hide who we are from those we love, to protect ourselves and them. How hard it was to be gay in the 80s, not that it is easier now for many, but as a society, it is much more accepted.

Click here to read the rest of this review and find out more about the book

New Release Book Review: Dead Serious Case #4 Professor Prometheus Plume By Vawn Cassidy

Crawshanks Guide to the Recently Departed, Book 4

Review

4.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

I am enjoying this series so much, I love the whole cast of regular characters and enjoy getting to know them all better in each book. Tristan and Danny are such a cute couple and I love how supportive and loving they are with each other.

This was a much more lighthearted read, except for the failing health of Tristan’s dad and the meeting with Danny’s family.

Tris and Danny decide to go away for a few days during the Christmas holidays as they don’t get much downtime together due to everything that has been going on for the past year, the whole saving the world thing does start to its toll. Danny books a hotel in the Yorkshire Moors but it isn’t the nice peaceful romantic getaway they were hoping for.

There are ghosts aplenty in the hotel and they inadvertently book in when they are running a murder mystery night. Dusty makes some ridiculous and fun appearances throughout and they all get caught up in areal crime.

A fun read with an ending that lets you know in the next book they will have some serious issues to deal with once again. Evil is still lurking and their reprieve is over. I can’t wait for the next book in the Dead Serious series.

About the book

Inspector Danny Hayes has something very important to ask his boyfriend Tristan Everett. Over the past six months they’ve survived reapers, chaos monsters, and biblical storms, not to mention averting an apocalypse. So, what’s left to do but pop the big question?

Tristan is ready for a break from world-saving, spectral crises, and most definitely from ghosts. He wants some one-on-one time with his boyfriend, preferably horizontally. So when the incredibly thoughtful aforementioned boyfriend books a romantic New Year’s getaway at a quiet little hotel in the wilds of the North Yorkshire moors and away from London, Tristan can’t wait.

But as usual nothing ever goes according to plan. Snowed in during an unexpected murder mystery weekend at what turns out to be one of the most haunted hotels in Northern England is not what they had in mind, and when one of the actors turns up really dead not just fake dead, they once again find themselves caught up in another investigation.

With only one night to figure out who the killer is while wrangling a multitude of overly helpful ghosts, Tristan begins to wonder if romance really is dead…

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