Lights, Camera, Passion by Isabel Lucero

TITLE: ⟫ Lights, Camera, Passion

AUTHOR: ⟫ Isabel Lucero

RATING: ⟫ 2.5/5

BLURB: ⟫ Playing a lead role in a book-to-movie adaptation with a wild fan base? Sign me up! The only downside is that I’m cast alongside Jacoby “Heartthrob” Hart—Hollywood’s golden boy. If only they knew he was an uppity, pompous snob.

We don’t get along, and if you’re reading the tabloids, you’d assume it was because I “stole” his girlfriend, but they have it all wrong. Jacoby and his cold shoulder started this, and now we’re set to play lovers. The only thing I’d love to do is strangle him, but I’m a professional.

Behind the scenes, we’re either bickering or avoiding each other, but when the cameras start rolling, I can’t believe how much chemistry we have.

One night, during a passionate argument, something happens that I never anticipated. The chemistry that started out as an act turns into much more behind closed doors, but we both have secrets, and Hollywood is a hard place to keep those.

Lights, Camera, Passion is an enemies-to-lovers story between two supposedly straight actors who don't get along but are cast to play lovers in a book-to-movie adaptation. Expect bickering, banter, tension, chemistry, and a couple of revelations straining to burst free from the closet.

REVIEW: ⟫ I wanted to like this so very, very much. The idea of a closeted gay actor and a bisexual actor acting together in a book adaptation and falling in love – just the idea made me squeal with delight. Unfortunately for me, this just didn’t do it.

The actual filming was over so quickly and barely covered – for some reason, I expected there for be more of the actual ‘film’ involved in the story. The relationship that built between Roman and Jacoby also felt really perfunctory. Yes, they were both attracted to the other before they met to film. And I could see how the tabloids would have played up the whole ‘romantic rivals’ thing from them both dating the same actress. But there were far too many misunderstandings that felt contrived and unnecessary.

I felt like we spent a lot of time with Jacoby going back and forth about his desire to hide his sexuality, whereas Roman’s feelings about his parents were handled in less than one chapter – I was disappointed because the point was made that his feelings about his parents played a huge role in his public persona. I wanted that to be explored more and definitely felt a little less time on Jacoby and more on what made Roman tick would have helped the story.

Their relationship was portrayed as very steamy and passionate, but I didn’t feel it. Reading their love-making scenes I felt quite removed – I guess the best description would be it felt very much like telling me what they were feeling rather than making me feel it with them. I just found myself very removed from the whole thing and that was disappointing.

It’s a shame because I think the story idea was brilliant and I would have loved to have felt more immersed in the whole thing. Obviously, YMMV, but for me this wasn’t a success.

Brodie Winters The Chosen One Chronicles Volume 1 by Dion Marc

TITLE: ⟫ Brodie Winters The Chosen One Chronicles

AUTHOR: ⟫ Dion Marc

SERIES: ⟫ The Chosen One Chronicles Volume #1

RATING: ⟫ 2.5/5

BLURB: ⟫ Brodie Winters is the Chosen One, but he doesn't want to be…

Brodie Winters wants nothing more than to retire and have a little fun for once. Unfortunately for him, demon-slaying is more just than a career.

Moonhaven was supposed to be the safest city in America, the perfect choice for an Elemental Channeller seeking a sense of normalcy away from demonic forces. But Brodie was never destined for the for the Chosen One, danger lurks in every shadow.

So much for settling down.

As Brodie tries to focus on starting college and exploring the queer scene, a series of disappearances drags him back to battling powerful supernatural forces. As it turns out, Moonhaven is rife with evil.

A natural-born protector, Brodie can't help but get involved, threatening his dreams of living a normal life. Worse yet, his new friends may not be able to escape the paranormal either, and it's not going to be pretty.

'The Chosen Brodie Winters' is a serialised novella series containing three episodes in each volume. The story contains action, humour, gory horror and high heat. Written by bestselling Author Dion Marc, this story promises to be everything a kinky 90s fanboy of the supernatural could ask for.

REVIEW: ⟫ I struggled with how to rate this story. It was very similar to watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer inasmuch as that’s pretty much what Brodie is, although he actually uses magic and as far as I can recall, there weren’t any stakes involved. It was full of interesting creatures of the night, new friends that tried to help Brodie in his mission, and the vampire who became interested in Brodie definitely gave off ‘Angel’ vibes. As a dedicated Buffy fan, I was most definitely here for that side of things and enjoyed the different take on the supernatural aspect of things with the vampires.

However, there were aspects of the story that I really struggled with.

* As an experienced demon-slayer, I found myself extremely sceptical about the night out that Brodie went on with his friend – I am referring to the Wolves and Lambs evening. I couldn’t believe that Brodie would be that irresponsible and cavalier with his and his friend’s safety, especially when it came to offering himself up on a silver platter. He would be more than aware of the dangers that such an offer represented and even sex-addled, it seemed out of character;

* There were more than hints of non-con in his dealings with Adam and I basically got the extreme ‘ick’ with what happened with Adam and his friends. I truly don’t believe that Brodie was in any position to give informed consent and the whole thing didn’t sit well with me at all. Adam took away Brodie’s ability to say yes or no, and the rest of the jocks were obviously perfectly happy with that. I didn’t have an issue with the numerous partners aspects of things – I just felt that it more than skirted the line into assault.

* The lack of discussion regarding certain aspects of the play that Brodie and Adam engaged in together was also disturbing. Kinks should be discussed beforehand and the fact that Brodie wasn’t experienced/aware of his interest in such activities made me feel that, again, it erred too far over into non-con. No kink shaming, but the synopsis I have seen on Amazon and Goodreads does not give warning for some of the activities engaged in and I think that that is a mistake.

All that being said, most of the writing was solid, the storyline was engaging and as a serialised novella, it was an entertaining read. There was a little frustration with where things ended but then I would imagine the point was to grab the reader and keep them coming back for more. The Order sound like they could be intriguing and Brodie’s vampire admirer will no doubt be back and getting closer to our male lead.

I’m still not sure if I’m going to try to read more of this. My concerns above are still quite fresh in my mind and I would want far more trigger warnings before I went into the next volume. I love the premise, I’m just not sure if I want to wander further down this road, especially with so little warning. I haven’t seen any other reviews that have the same concerns so it might well be that I am being over-sensitive, but I do think that some warnings should be given so that people going into the story can prepare themselves.

Honey Bee Murder by Dahlia Donovan

TITLE: ⟫ Honey Bee Murder

AUTHOR: ⟫ Dahlia Donovan

RATING: ⟫ 2.5/5

SERIES: ⟫ Honey Bee Cosy Mysteries

BLURB: ⟫ George Bernard Sheth plans to spend July in the garden with his beloved pug, Bumble. He’s tending to his bees when a neighbour harasses him quite vocally. When the man winds up dead, all eyes are immediately on George and the many hives in his garden.

Murphy Baird knows without a doubt George wouldn’t harm a fly or a bee or an obnoxious rich businessman. He balances keeping his brewery going with trying to help solve the murder and preparing for the upcoming Highland Games. It’s not made any easier by the impending visit from his father.

As the mystery deepens, they find themselves not knowing quite who to trust. Can they find the killer before George winds up arrested for murder?

REVIEW: ⟫ I should preface this by saying that I didn’t realise that there was a book one. Once I realised that, I had to accept that I might be a little on the back foot with regards to the characters and dived in.

Not having read the first book was not much of a hindrance with regard to the characters – it’s made very clear who everyone is, how they’re related to everyone. The main character of George is neurodivergent, and this plays quite the role in his interactions with other people. It was quite heartening the way that the people around George understood the limitations he was under, supporting him in whatever way was necessary – there was quite the vein of love and affection that played out throughout the story.

The murder mystery was a little weak – simply the fact that George has bees should not really have made him a suspect. As George opines slightly dramatically, how is he meant to ‘control his bees’? I understood that the police had to investigate all claims but it just seemed a bit too exaggerated – at least in my opinion. Also, it wasn’t so much that I couldn’t tell who had committed the murder in that I didn’t care, which isn’t a great sign in a murder mystery romance.

I also felt that there was very little romance in the story. George and Murphy are a newly established couple and I expected more demonstrations of affection. I didn’t feel very much chemistry between the two male leads and there was no sex scenes to speak of. Murphy made little to no impression at all – he was the vague representation of a big, solid, protective male who was very involved in his brewery and loved his parents/family and George. Apart from that, I feel like I learned more about the pug, Bumble, than I did Murphy. It made his character more than a little one-dimensional and that was a shame.

My overall impression of this book is that it reminded me very much of an episode of a slow, easy, country life-style mystery along the lines of Murder She Wrote – easy viewing for everyone but nothing about it was particularly memorable. The writing itself was stilted and didn’t flow as easily as it might but I’m not sure if that was meant to be a representation of George or was simply the writer’s style.

If you’re looking for an easy, comfort read without little to no spice and a side-plot murder mystery, I can see people enjoying this book. I received an ARC from GRR.

Romance Language by A.J. Truman

Title: ⟫ Romance Languages

Author: ⟫ A.J. Truman

Rating: ⟫ 2.5/5

Blurb: ⟫ Can my straight friend help me cash in my v-card by my birthday?

In one month, I turn thirty-five with my virginity still intact. Is there anything more embarrassing than knowing most of my French students have gotten more action than me? Je suis triste

When I accidentally reveal this secret to my close friend and co-worker Seamus, South Rock’s baseball coach, he offers to help me round the bases.

It has to be a joke, because Seamus is one million percent straight.

There’s no way he’d want to fool around with a chubby language nerd like me, even though I’ve harbored a secret crush on him since the day he first walked into the teachers' lounge.

But then I realize he’s not joking.

I’m either entering thirty-five with a bang…or a friendship going up in flames.

Romance Languages is a virgin, nerd/jock, friends-to-lovers romance filled with humor and heart. It's the third book in the South Rock High but can be read as a standalone.

Review: ⟫ Based on the other reviews I’ve seen for this book, I have to assume that this is most definitely a case of it just not being the right book at the right time.

I applaud how the idea of being plus-size in a judgemental world was handled – realistic yet sensitive, and not going for the ‘easy’ answer of having the protagonist lose weight. So where did this book lose me?

Seamus. This completely and utterly straight man not only volunteers to ‘help’ his gay best friend work his way around the bases but leads the way and knows pretty much exactly what he’s doing with nary a qualm about where he sits on the Kinsey scale.

Add to that the surface level Seamus’s addiction was handled (we never saw him attend a single meeting despite this being one of the main facets of his character and who he is) and the fact that, despite his lack of funds, there was only one occasion where money was an issue for him – for example, he buys a new suit for a wedding when only recently he’s been unable to buy a bottle of wine. It sometimes felt like an almost incestuous set of friendships and ‘couples’ from previous stories which were a little offputting, especially as the book states that it can be read as a standalone (which it can if you don’t mind feeling like you’re missing out on a lot of in-jokes) and this book simply didn’t work for me.

However, I would very much say YMMV – the writing style is engaging, the dialogue witty and fun, and the storyline good. As I said, just not the right book for me.

Asking for a Friend by JJ Harper

Title: ⟫ Asking for a Friend

Author: ⟫ JJ Harper

Rating: ⟫ 2.5/5

Blurb: ⟫ Lando writes about romance for a living yet shuns it in his life.

After too many failed relationships, Lando Hardwick has enough. No more dates for him. His taste in men is abysmal. He always falls for the ones who are only looking for fun.

Hesketh Trent has stopped searching for a boyfriend. They only see him as a walking cash machine, only care what he can buy them. What has happened to romance, love?

Getting soaked by scolding coffee is the worst way to start the day, but hell’s bells, the man is divine. Even though the man ticks all his boxes, no way is Lando giving him his phone number. He’ll be like all the rest: one hot night and he kicks him out the door.

But Hesketh doesn’t give up so easily. The cute redhead with no brain-to-mouth filter intrigues him as no man has ever done.

A cat and mouse chase is on, with Lando as the mouse. Once Lando is caught, they can’t stay away from one another.

Until Hesketh makes a mistake.

Thank god for mutual friends who won’t give up on them and push them together when they’re both too stubborn to take the next step.

Asking For a Friend is a stand-alone MM novel with a group of sassy men, a larger-than-life ginger cat called Flanaghan, a stubborn writer, and a man who can plan events but not his own life.

Review: ⟫ You know a book hasn’t worked for you when you find yourself wishing that there had been more written about the cat.

Hesketh and Lando had pretty much zero chemistry as far as I was concerned and even when they got together, I couldn’t figure out what they saw in each other. Then came the ‘big misunderstanding/mistake’ and I rolled my eyes so hard it hurt.

Hesketh made a big mistake – huge – and to be completely honest, I didn’t understand how he did it. Like, I get being distracted but what Hesketh did was so downright disrespectful and pretty much unbelievable that I found myself hoping that Lando would end up with someone else – like someone who would remember his existence maybe?

This book was an easy but not memorable read and I simply didn’t enjoy it and didn’t care about the HEA.

I definitely would have liked to see/hear more about the cat though.

These Deviant Ties (Dark Romance Anthology) by Various Authors

Title: ⟫ These Deviant Ties (Dark MM Romance Anthology) 

Author: ⟫ Various 

Blurb: ⟫ Deviants and delinquents... 

These men exist outside the law. They walk in the shadows and thrive in the dark. Bad to the bone, they take what they want. What happens when what they want is you? What happens when the anger that burns through their veins is now directed at you? Can enemies really become lovers or is it just a losing game? These Deviant Ties follows eleven authors who bring you steamy, dark MM stories that will make your toes curl and your heart pound. 

 Review: ⟫ My general review would be that the stories I have read so far were nowhere near as dark as I was expecting. I don’t know if that means I’ve got a really dark/dirty mind or that my expectations were too high, but none of them struck as me as particularly out there when it came to the relationships. That isn’t to say that the anthology doesn’t contain anything good – some were really well interesting and I will definitely be looking for other stories from some of the authors. Individual reviews are below. 

Below the Belt by Andi Rhodes 

The first rule of fight club is – well, this isn’t that kind of fight club for a start. And the fighters aren’t all there voluntarily. This was fast, brutal and sexy in a very dark way. The relationship between Grizzly and Phantom was also fast, brutal and sexy but it made sense in the world in which they lived – they could hardly go out for tea and cupcakes! Not a lot of romance, but a LOT of chemistry! 4/5  

Diavolo by Andrea Joy 

This one felt a little misleading for a dark read. It started with torture and then took a turn that I didn’t expect. The writing was good – some of the descriptions of what Skyler and Ashton got up to were pleasantly toe-curling, but I’m not sure it fully belonged in this anthology. 3.5/5 

In the Eyes of my Enemy by C P Harris 

This went somewhere I wasn’t expecting with the reason behind the relationship not working out, so that was a good surprise. I liked it but this actual story didn’t stick with me particularly which is a shame because it was well written. 3.5/5 

Caged in Shadows by Amy Thorn 

I could imagine this on the small screen very much like Sons of Anarchy. Really well written, my heart went out to Shakespeare and you could definitely understand his motivations. I wish there had been more time spent with Liam – Shakespeare’s backstory was important but in a novella of this size, I felt too much time was spent on what had happened in the past rather than on his relationship with Liam. 3.75/5 

Evil Beautiful by Rene Van Dalen 

This story wasn’t my definition of dark but I did really enjoy it. Kellen sounded delicious and I loved that he wasn’t a walk-over, and I was intrigued by what I read of Gideon. I would definitely be interested in more mm romance by Rene Van Dalen, but this wasn’t anywhere near as dark as I was expecting/hoping. 4/5 

Loan Shark by Nero Seal 

This is a hard one to review because what happened between the two of them was straight up non-con, with nothing that I would call romance. I think as part of a bigger, longer story, things could have got much more interesting but as it stands, I can’t say I liked it. 2.5/5