Rex by Willow Thomas (Fallen Gargoyles MC #3)

TITLE: ⟫ Rex

AUTHOR: ⟫ Willow Thomas

SERIES: ⟫ Fallen Gargoyle’s MC #3

RATING: ⟫ 3.75/5

BLURB: ⟫ Falling in love was not something I had planned

Rex

Watching my club brothers find their forever men has got me wanting something more than the odd hook up.

Love isn’t on the cards for me though. How could it be when the example I had growing up was an abusive asshole.

I’ve always thought that I could never love someone the way that they deserve.

But then I meet him.

Sweet, funny, lonely Ian.

I don’t care if I can’t love, I’ll learn.

Because he deserves the world.

And I am going to be the only one who gives it to him.

Ian is mine.

Ian

I am so freaking lonely.

All my family are gone, I don’t have any friends, and working from home means I don’t even have work colleagues.

Being painfully shy does not invite friendships easily.

I miss hugs.

Having not been touched by another human being in so long I do something a little bit impulsive.

Getting a tattoo just so someone will touch me isn’t the smartest thing I’ve ever done, but it quickly proves to be the best thing when I meet Rex.

Rex gives me more than just a tattoo. Pretty soon I am drawn into his world of bikers, parties, and a family I would give anything to be a part of.

I want to stay here. With Rex.

Now I just need to hope the beautiful man might see me as something other than a friend.

REVIEW: ⟫ This was a very sweet, sexy, quick read. Ian has been alone for what feels like forever and longs for touch. Rex is surrounded by his friends finding love and feeling like it’s not on the cards for him. When they meet, it’s instant fireworks, with Ian choosing a tattoo with very special meaning to Rex.

The two of them were very sweet (even when their thoughts were decidedly adult) and I loved how quickly Rex’s found family accepted Ian and made sure he felt wanted for himself. The two of them together were a match made in heaven, especially with how much Ian enjoys being tattooed – I can only imagine how much fun they will have covering him in Rex’s work!

I received an ARC from the Author.

Tough Cute Omega by Eva Lyra (Howl Academy Babies Book #1)

TITLE: ⟫ Tough Cute Omega

AUTHOR: ⟫ Eva Lyra

SERIES: ⟫ Howl Academy Babies Book #1

RATING: ⟫ 2/5

BLURB: ⟫ Reese is tough, however, and can handle anything this academy full of arrogant alphas can throw at him. Or at least he hopes so. He has a scholarship and all his ducks in a row… until Tiberius, alpha son of a powerful werewolf clan, hires him as help and keeps shooting him those hot looks… Everything in Reese wants to submit to the powerful alpha, but is that a good idea?

Being an alpha from a powerful clan comes with responsibilities…

Tiberius is supposed to marry into a good family, claim a rich omega and have plenty of babies to continue his line—but the only omega he wants is Reese. When one day Reese takes off without a word, Tiberius realizes just how much the pretty omega means to him.

What he doesn't imagine is that Reese has some important news for him, news that will change both their lives…

* This is a 55,000-word mpreg shifter novel with humor and angst and misunderstandings that lead nevertheless to love and cute babies! Intended for adult readers.*

REVIEW: ⟫ I was looking for something light and fluffy and thought that this would fit the bill. Although things moved quickly, there felt like there was so little substance to this that I was constantly rolling my eyes. A vague attempt at a political plot was inserted badly with no resolution and I found the characters pretty much impossible to like – they seemed to be caricatures more than anything. I don’t know if I was expecting too much but I can’t see me reading any more of the series. Obviously YMMV.

From Coast to Coast by J.J. Mulder (Offsides Book #4)

TITLE: ⟫ From Coast to Coast

AUTHOR: ⟫ J.J. Mulder

SERIES: ⟫ Offsides Book #4

RATING: ⟫ 4.5/5

BLURB: ⟫ NHL forward Remy Stone steps off the plane in Calgary a newly divorced man. While he doesn’t necessarily want to live in Canada, the trade offered a good excuse for a fresh start and he means to capitalize on it.

Defenseman Grayson Brody has played most of his career with Calgary, but has long fallen out of love with his team. After coming out, he has struggled with his teammates and management, and wishes he’d never done it at all.

With the addition of Remy Stone shaking everything up—both on the ice and off—things start looking up for the first time in years. What starts as a friendship between them, turns into a casual, friends-with-benefits relationship.

Except a casual relationship with a teammate is fraught with complications; particularly when it starts to feel less casual to Grayson, and neither of them are sure what the future looks like for them.

REVIEW: ⟫ This book was absolutely delightful! Remy made me laugh, mainly because he was just so open and honest about everything – if he had a thought, he shared it! And Grayson – I would absolutely LOVE to see this made into a film just so that we could have a physical representation of him because he sounded absolutely lush!

We all need a friend like Alex – blunt, honest, caring and thoughtful, as well as being in a very helpful profession – and I loved catching up with the characters from the previous books. The relationship between Grayson and Remy was really lovely, with both of them doing their best to be honest about where they were and how they felt. I was rooting from them from the very beginning and really appreciated how genuine they were with each other. Even when Remy was trying to figure out what he wanted from the future – with Alex providing the necessary nudge to face some realities – he realised quickly how he had been messing up and addressed it.

I have really enjoyed all of the books in this series but in terms of the romance, this might be my favourite. Well – apart from Carter but that’s a different series by the same author so that doesn’t count! I received an ARC from GRR.

Ex Match by MM Farmer (Perfect Match Agency: Springtime Book #1)

TITLE: ⟫ Ex Match

AUTHOR: ⟫ MM Farmer

SERIES: ⟫ Perfect Match Agency: Springtime Book #1

RATING: ⟫ 3.75/5

BLURB: ⟫ Sparks fly when the Perfect Match Agency matches two exes who had a bad, bad break-up. But the real fire starts after an emergency heat leads to a surprise pregnancy…

John

It’s been a year since my relationship with Michael imploded and my life fell apart, and I’m finally ready to date again. Especially with my heat about to come at any moment. I never thought I would resort to a matchmaking agency to help me find an alpha…and I never expected that alpha to be my ex.

Michael

My heart was in shreds after John kicked me out of the life we’d lived together for five years. So I when my therapist suggested I sign up with the Perfect Match Agency, I was skeptical. And then they went and matched me with John. My John! On top of that, what does he do on our “first date” but go into heat!

Now we have a far bigger problem than suddenly seeing each other after a year. We have a baby on the way and a mountain of baggage to sort through if we’re going to build a life for him. Can we take this second chance we’ve been given and do better the second time around, or will my family get in the way and ruin the best thing that’s ever happened to me?

Perfect Match Agency: Springtime is a multi-author gay romance series. The stories are non-shifter omegaverse, with high heat and low angst. Male pregnancy is possible in the world. Each individual book can be read as a standalone, features a new couple, and a satisfying happily ever after. Ex Match is the first book in the new series and features a second chance, emergency heat, surprise pregnancy, learning to love again, working it out, horrible parents, and a happily ever after.

Be sure to check out the first Perfect Match Agency series as well!

REVIEW: ⟫ This was a sweet, fun read with very likeable main characters. I liked how neither of them were bad guys – they just hadn’t figured out how to communicate with each other. Once they were back together, I also really liked how they had to keep working on things, how it wasn’t just a one conversation and done. I will definitely look out for more of this series.

End Scene by A.V.Shener

TITLE: ⟫ End Scene

AUTHOR: ⟫ A.V. Shener

RATING: ⟫ 3.75/5

BLURB: ⟫ A Hollywood dream turns into a nightmare.

***

In the early 1990s, Jonah Carter almost made it big. With a breakout role in a well-regarded film, he had never been closer to achieving his dreams. But behind the scenes, dark forces devised a plan of their own, costing the briefly shining star both his dreams and freedom.

Years later, Jonah is still bound to the City of Angels, living in solitude with the echoes of a long-forgotten dream. His peaceful life comes crashing down with the reappearance of his detective ex-boyfriend. Hayden is investigating the disappearance of a young actor, and the bloody signs all lead back to Jonah’s mysterious past.

As his buried secrets come roaring back, Jonah must join forces with the man he thought he’d lost forever. But how can they defeat the ones who live in the shadows?

***

End Scene is an intense read and meant for a mature audience. Please read the Author's Note for more information.

REVIEW: ⟫ This was very much a dark read – I went into it with very little in the way of prior knowledge, so just how dark it was took me by surprise. The story itself was fascinating, as was the way it was told in two different times – flashbacks and the present time. It constantly surprised me with where it took things – sometimes for good, sometimes not so good. So why the rating? I think because I couldn’t find it in myself to like or care about the main character.

I definitely sympathised with what he went through because it was horrific, but there was something that kept me detached from the story – I wanted to know what was going to happen but I couldn’t actually say that I cared overly much. It was well written – the characters were nicely defined and I could sort of understand some of the decisions that were made. But like I said, I found it difficult to care. This didn’t rip my heart to shreds or make me want to weep. It was interesting but I just felt so distanced from it all.

This is the first book by the author that I have read and I think I might look into some of their other works. I would say if you like the idea of a dark thriller with some seriously morally ambiguous characters and some dark deeds, you may well find this an interesting read.

Monstrous Travels as Wicked as Sin by W.H.Lockwood (The Sinful Crimes Duology Book #2)

TITLE: ⟫ Monstrous Tales as Wicked as Sin

AUTHOR: ⟫ W.H. Lockwood

SERIES: ⟫ The Sinful Crimes Duology Book #2

RATING: ⟫ 4/5

BLURB: ⟫ “If it hasn’t been too awful, I’d really like it if you’d keep doing crimes with me.”

Deeply in love, traversing the world on the holiday of a lifetime, that hard-earned happy ending is almost in sight for Percy Ashdown and Joe Bruno.

There’s just the small matter of Percy’s ex princess-with-benefits, who seems determined to get her hands on his magical sheath. And apparently she’s recently developed the ability to raise the dead.

Never fear. As always, Percy has a plan. A dangerous plan. And with hot priest Joe Bruno as his new partner in crime, Percy’s never felt more confident. For the first time, the two will work together, secret-free, to face ghosts, sequined hot shorts, and a villain far more powerful and malignant than anything they’ve met before.

But as Percy’s innate darkness clashes time and again with Joe’s unrelenting light, plans go spectacularly awry in a series of ridiculous, hilarious, and horrifying misadventures, leading them to wonder, are they really a match made in heaven? Or are they just too different to ever make things work?

Monstrous Travels as Wicked as Sin is the romantic, heart-stopping, adrenaline-fuelled orgy of steamy, bloody, outrageous excess that will leave you gasping for air, renewing that Valium prescription, and wondering how you’ll ever return to normal life again.

REVIEW: ⟫ I’ll admit, I struggled to read this one. The writing was so evocative that I found myself having nightmares with some of the things the author described and I wasn’t sure if I could carry on reading it.

However, I really wanted to know how Joe and Percy were going to get out of the absolutely horrific situation that they found themselves in, so I persevered. I did have to take several breaks – my goodness, some of the things in this book were far too terrifying – but I am glad that I pushed through and finished it.

The love between Joe and Percy is a one-of-a-kind and that was the ultimate message that came through. The way they feel about each other is the closest thing to real soul-mates that I have read, so if you can handle the horror, the gore and the scary stuff, you will love this book more than the first one.

I’m going to read something light and fluffy and hope that I can get to sleep without the lights on! I received an ARC from the author.

His Prince by Cora Rose (Unexpectedly Twisted Book #2)

TITLE: ⟫ His Prince

AUTHOR: ⟫ Cora Rose

SERIES: ⟫ Unexpectedly Twisted Book #2

RATING: ⟫ 4/5

BLURB: ⟫ All my life I’ve waited for my fairytale romance. Sheltered by my protective father and confined by the dangers of his mafia legacy, I’ve saved myself—my heart and body—all these years for this very moment…

Deadly handsome and charming, Mikhail Ivanov, strikes a deal with my father for my hand in marriage, ensuring my safety and building an alliance. And I thank my lucky stars Mikhail is everything I’ve ever dreamed of, his sweet mouth whispering sins and promises—that I’m his little prince, his angel.

But when the wedding ends and I’m left with a barren wasteland of secrets, lies, and broken promises from the man I trusted, my dreams suddenly become a living nightmare I can’t escape.

I should have known all along that fairy tales aren’t real, just as my dear husband should have known that even angels will get their revenge.

REVIEW: ⟫ I was fascinated by the idea of Angel and Mikhail even after I didn’t enjoy the first story in this series, so I was pleased that I had the time to read it as soon as it came out. Despite Angel always being described as the ‘weaker’ member of the family, reading this made me feel that he was definitely one of the strongest. Diablo and Anthony both used violence to deal with things – Angel’s methods of torture were far more entertaining and dare I say it, effective.

I was prepared to dislike Mikhail but as I read the story, I understood why he acted the way that he did. It was an interesting read, with an interesting subplot that allowed Angel’s darker side to come to the fore, and I enjoyed all of the background characters, including Bane (of course). As I’ve said before, when I like Cora Rose, I like her a lot and this was one of the good ones for me!