Best Belly Buddies by Ki Brightly & M.D. Gregory

Title: ⟫ Best Belly Buddies

Author: ⟫ Ki Brightly & M.D. Gregory

Blurb: ⟫ In Need of TLC

Zayden “Z” Shoemaker has secrets. He’s been in love with Dare, his straight best friend, for longer than he can remember, and on top of that tragedy in progress, he has an odd quirk none of his ex-boyfriends could handle. After every nasty breakup, Dare is there to help him through the heartache—and wipe away tears.

The Port in Every Storm

Fern “Dare” Darrow is tired of seeing men break Zayden’s heart. As far as he’s concerned, no one is good enough for his Z. When Zayden’s current man cheats and sends him into a cocoon of blankets and despair, Dare steps up in his role of best friend. Dare doesn’t expect to walk in on Zayden in a vulnerable position, which causes Dare to seriously question his sexuality for the first time. Dare is shocked into examining his true feelings for his best friend.

Scared But Determined

After confessions from both men, Dare and Zayden must make a decision that could transform every piece of their relationship and life, especially since they already live together. They’ll either grow with the change or destroy the one friendship that has kept them sane. Dare isn’t a coward, and Z is stronger than he thinks, but they will need each other more than ever if they want to overcome a lifetime of expectations.

Review: ⟫ I’ve never heard of this kink outside of perhaps werewolf romance, so that was a new one on me. I was very interested in how it worked and how the writers were going to incorporate it without too much feminisation and I do think they did that very well.

The story was very sweet – friends who to the outside look like they’ve been dating for years, with one pining after the other – sounded right up my street. But this didn’t gel for me – at all. There seemed to be a lot of extraneous characters – some, I believe, who have books of their own – that got too much attention. Their work life also seemed to play a huge role in the story but didn’t actually add anything to it.

I liked how Dare didn’t just dive straight into things as soon as he admitted his feelings – his concerns about what Zayden was looking for based on the porn he had watched seemed valid and I liked the fact that they communicated. I liked Zayden’s character development in as much as he learned to stand up for himself more and accept that what he was looking for from a relationship wasn’t as out there as he might have initially believed.

But it just felt too long – very drawn out and almost laborious. I loved the idea of the Boudoir shoot, but I was completely thrown out of the story by what happened there. It just seemed completely out of character considering how concerned/hesitant Dare had been up until that point. It felt wrong and it bugged me.

Perhaps I just wasn’t in the right mood for this? I think it was overall very well written and it passed the time, but I can’t see me looking into the various other stories written in the verse.

3.5/5 from me.

No Peeking by Ki Brightly

Title: ⟫ No Peeking
Author: ⟫ Ki Brightly
Blurb: ⟫ The Do-Gooder

Noble Warwick owed Detective Walker everything after he saved him from a man trying to murder him. Noble would have happily done anything as a thank-you, so he agrees almost immediately when the rugged detective asks to take him out on a date. Noble is excited about his good luck, especially after surviving something so terrible. The relationship grows in a fast and obsessive way.

The Demon Detective

But Detective Abraham Walker, who goes by Tyler, isn’t exactly what he seems. Noble gradually discovers Tyler might be more dangerous than the man who tried to kill him. The problem? Noble insists on seeing the best in people, and it might be too late before he is ready to admit Tyler is a demon in disguise.

No Peeking is a spooky paranormal romance with one grumpy detective; one sweet sunshine man, who has a wide-open heart; and a happy ending—despite all the danger.

Review: ⟫ First of all, that cover is FIRE!!! Like, seriously, I should have heeded the warning the cover gives because this book was wrong in so many ways!

To be fair, I didn’t connect with Noble at all – my entire focus was pretty much on Tyler and Abraham because that was an effed up mess that appealed to me. This book did not go where I expected it to at all, and I absolutely loved the twists and turns. The feelings of the man versus the demon, and how that affected the relationship with Noble was fascinating. I could read the inner battles of Tyler for a few more chapters.

The sex was almost secondary – and kinda perfunctory if I’m going to be honest – but the story gripped me enough so that was just a niggle. If you like to read a little bit of dark, some gory violence, and an effed up main character, I would recommend giving this a read. To say any more would be a spoiler and I think one of the great things about this book was that I went into it with next to no information apart from vague trigger warnings I’d picked up from Reddit.

Gutsy by Ki Brightly

Title: ⟫ Gutsy 

Author: ⟫ Ki Brightly 

Rating: ⟫ 3.5/5 

Blurb: ⟫ A Tale of Horror and Romance. . . . 

The Rich City Slicker 

Journey Baral met Pious on a night out and was immediately interested in him, but after only one dance they had a fight that sent Pious stomping off into a snow-filled night. 

Journey found the whole encounter humorous, though he did feel a little bad for causing issues, but he brushed off the incident. Days later, a peculiar hunger strikes Journey, and his life quickly runs off the rails. 

The Farmer – And Hex Meister 

Pious Sturms hexed himself. 

He didn’t mean to stir up trouble, but a hex is the only explanation for the barrage of bad luck that has been following him around. Everything in Pious’s life has been going downhill since he got home from a visit to the city. 

One dark night, Journey, the man Pious has been thinking about non-stop since he met him, turns up on his doorstep, and Pious is horrified to realize he didn’t only hex himself, he hurt Journey, too. 

Will Pious be able to fix this magical problem before it is too late, or will Pious and Journey both be consumed by the hex in the end? 

Gutsy is a spooky horror romance, so be prepared for your heart to race with fear as Journey and Pious fight for their happily ever after! 

Review: ⟫ Firstly, I don’t know if reading the first book set in this verse will help or hinder your understanding – it will help you figure out the one-eyed guy dating a possessed person, so there is that. 

This book was – different. There was a bit of insta-love, although probably to describe it as inst-attraction, and then our two MCs separate and some really weird stuff happens whilst they’re apart. 

I still can’t figure out if I even liked this book, and I’m sat here several hours after reading it trying to figure that out. 

This book’s subject matter is dark and I would definitely advise heeding the warnings, but my heart didn’t race with fear and I was very much left wanting something more. 

The characters were interesting, if only from the perspective of their very different backgrounds. I struggled with Pious’s brother and his attitude throughout the book, and I couldn’t quite get a grasp on the community in which he lived but that might be lack of experience on my behalf more than anything else. 

I would have liked to spend more time with their Oma as she was introduced as someone who might be able to help, but that seemed to go to a dead-end. I don’t know how to express my feelings about the medical staff and law enforcement in this book – in what universe would someone slowly going green NOT be something that caused alarm? 

The sex was good – not overly hot, but caring more than anything? Which fit with Pious’s wishes so that worked quite well. 

As you can see from my review, I am just not sure how I feel about this book. I finished it because I really wanted to know how they made their way to a HEA, but even after putting it down, I’m still not sure if I can say I actively enjoyed it. 

Some of it was a tad gruesome, and it really did go a long way to making the thought of finding the way someone smelled ‘delicious’ take on a whole new meaning. 

Ultimately, I’ve gone with 3.5 rounded down and will approach any other books in this series with less expectations. I received an ARC from GRR.