The Bedroom Coach Agreement by Hayden Hall

Posted on December 6, 2022 by Book_Endz

Title: ⟫ The Bedroom Coach Agreement

Authors: ⟫ Hayden Hall

Rating: ⟫ 3.5/5

Blurb: ⟫ We’re the least likely couple you’ll ever see. Until the lights go out.

Parker

My brother’s best friend has a secret. And I just happen to know what he does in a hidden down-town apartment at night. In front of a camera. Sculpted like a Greek god, Dayton soon becomes all I want.

But a guy like me could never hope to catch his attention. I’ve never been with anyone. I’ve never even kissed a guy. Hell, not even the strangers on dating apps want to take me out. And my brother’s growing worry that I’ll get my heart broken – or worse – is only making things more complicated.

There’s no pity in Dayton’s eyes when he decides to be my only ally. And there’s no prank behind the spectacular first date I ask him to take me to. Before I know it, I’m doing the very thing my big brother wants to prevent.

I’m falling in love with a guy who claims to be incapable of loving anyone back.

Dayton

My best friend has a younger brother. And he just happens to be a curious and inexperienced freshman. Ginger, sexy, and determined to have the time of his life this semester, Parker quickly becomes my newest obsession.

He wants his first date to be something special. And grand gestures are my speciality. I know all the pitfalls of giving away your V-card. Nobody’s first time should be as cold and careless as mine. A toss of a coin decides it: I am his dating coach. And more.

There’s only one little hiccough in our plan. His big brother must never find out.

Except, when Parker’s soul collides with mine in a night of exploration and delights, I risk more than losing my certified player status. I risk losing the only friendship I preserved through my entire life.

I’m not sure if that’s a risk I’m willing to take.

The Bedroom Coach Agreement is the sixth novel in the Frat Brats of Santa Barbara series. It features an unlikely pairing, big brother’s best friend, and first-time storyline. While this book can be read as a stand-alone, it’s just more fun to read all the books in order, starting with The Fake Boyfriends Debacle.

Review: ⟫ The blurb promised one thing but the story gave me something different but I’m not mad at it. This was jock falls in love with nerd but with some major feelings and I enjoyed it. I found their moments together in the courtyard to be sweet, especially when they just sat in silence and looked at the stars. And when Dayton pulled out all the stops for that first date – yeah, I would have had stars in my eyes.

I loved the camboy moments, especially after Dayton found out that Parker was watching and was ‘acting’ towards him. They were very sexy – very sexy!

I had some minor gripes – the main one being the behaviour of the brother. Perhaps something happened in the previous books in the series that explains his behaviour but it just seemed really over the top and more than a little bizarre to me. I also wasn’t too sure about all of the cameos of characters from previous books – I haven’t read the rest of the series and that might be why they didn’t gel with me, which is a bit of a shame.

All in all, an enjoyable read.

Chrismyths by Amy Lane

Posted on December 6, 2022 by Book_Endz

Title: ⟫ ChrisMyths

Authors: ⟫ Amy Lane

Rating: ⟫ 5/5

Blurb: ⟫ After courtship, cohabitation, and learning about love and each other, Andy and Eli face the ultimate test: being separated at Christmas.

Eli’s seen the propaganda—the country boy goes home from the city and realizes his heart is back among the snow, trees, and chickens. A big happy family is something Eli, with his demanding job running a shelter for LGBTQ youth, can’t provide. He’s been readying himself for the other shoe to drop anyway—Andy’s mother is a force of nature, and she wants her little boy home.

Andy may be in Vermont, but his heart is back in Brooklyn with the man who’s battling basement floods and crumbling buildings to bring Christmas to sixty kids who’ve had their hearts broken too many times already. Holiday myths may say that Christmas means going back home to a happy family, but Andy knows happy endings don’t come without a little faith and a lot of hard work. He’s got an army ready to put in the elbow grease. If he can get Eli to believe in him, they might just save Christmas after all.

Review: ⟫ Well this one hit me right in the Christmas feels – especially as we’re in the process of packing up my youngest kid’s stuff for the move into halls of residence in the new year. Who knew apron strings were really this tough to cut!

This was a beautiful story about what Christmas should mean – and it’s not about pageants, Christmas carols, presents or any of the extra stuff. It’s about love, caring, family and just being a good, genuine person. And yes, it made me sniffly more than once – not just at the tales of the kids who live at the shelter, but at how people can pull together and show you their hearts in the best possible way.

If you are looking to get into the Christmas mood, I highly recommend this story. It was sexy, sweet, touching and loving and – even in the tough moments of which there were more than a few – I never once doubted that Amy Lane would make it all okay in the end because she always does!

I received an ARC from the author.

Malum Discordiae by Ashlyn Drewek

Posted on December 6, 2022 by Book_Endz

Title: ⟫ Malum Discordiae (Tennebrose #1)

Authors: ⟫ Ashlyn Drewek

Rating: ⟫ 4.5/5

Blurb: ⟫ Like all Necromancers, Cassius Corbin grew up knowing one irrevocable truth: death comes for us all. It was a lesson he learned well when his mother was murdered by fellow witches. Six years later, he is back in the town of Winslow, Massachusetts to attend Tennebrose University. But that’s not the only reason. While he’s home, he intends to track down a magical folio stolen from his family centuries ago. Once he finds it, he’ll finally be everything the witches in Winslow fear and the Corbin name will be respected once again — as long as Graeme Hewitt, the son of his family’s arch-enemy, stays out of his way.

As the first weather witch born in a century, the witches in Winslow demand great things from Graeme Hewitt, despite his thoughts on the matter. He’s supposed to be their future, but all Graeme can think about is the past — until the infuriating Cassius Corbin returns. In spite of the blood feud that has raged for centuries between their families, Graeme finds himself in the unfortunate situation of needing Cassius’s help. Six years ago, Graeme’s little brother also died and Graeme wants the truth about what happened that day. So who better to answer his questions than the son of the woman who murdered him?

MALUM DISCORDIAE is a dark academia, paranormal MM romance about witches, Necromancers, and a blood feud that has lasted centuries. It is a stand-alone book of 117K words.

Content Warning: This book contains references to animal cruelty, alcohol/drug use, death of children, murder, suicide, and dubious consent. Reader discretion is advised.

Review: ⟫ This book was pretty darn good! The world building for the witches and necromancers and their history was very well done, as was the whole feud thing, and the sharp u-turn that things took so early in the book was an attention grabber. The intricacies of the different types of magic were really well handled, as was slotting the story into ‘history’ which really helped ground it in reality.

Surprising myself, I actually really liked the fact that Graeme kept going back and forth – he had spent his entire life being told one thing and it would have been unrealistic for him to suddenly believe the complete opposite just because Cassius told him so. I enjoyed the background cast of characters, and the overall feeling that no one was safe – it was a bit like watching a movie with an all unknown cast and realising that no one was too big a star to die!

I found the mystery of who the killer was intriguing, and the red herrings were really good! I did guess who was behind it all, but I actually didn’t mind that because the way the story ebbed and flowed really worked for me.

I found Cassius and Graeme both sweet, believable and incredibly snarky – like real, live teenagers which was refreshing. That, and the fact that sex was on their minds A LOT was very realistic.

I was so pleased to see that despite currently being a stand-alone novel, this was labelled as Tennebrose #1 because that hopefully means that there will be more set in this verse – I will be keeping my eyes open if that’s the case. I have found that I either love this author’s work or hate it, so I am extremely pleased to say this is definitely the same calibre as the Kidnapping of Roan Sinclair.