Tag Archives: review

Late Bloomer by Morgan Hawes

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TITLE: ⟫ Late Bloomer
AUTHOR: ⟫ Morgan Hawes
RATING: ⟫ 4.5/5

BLURB: ⟫ After a rough start, Malcolm Roy III has cleaned up his act, gotten (mostly) sober, and now stands to inherit his family’s wealth and his father’s business. But Malcolm has a secret: he’s spent the last ten years on dangerous suppressants. After collapsing at work, and on his doctor’s orders, Malcolm has cut them out completely. Now he has to return to the office, presenting as himself for the first time ever.

As an omega.

Vincent Hoffman has a good life. He’s got a home, he’s got his cats. He likes his job, even though his boss is the annoying, smarmy son of the CEO. Vincent couldn’t ask for anything more. He might’ve done, once upon a time (or eighteen months ago–but who’s counting?), but his ex-fiancee put an end to those dreams when she walked out of his life. For now, Vincent is content.

But after a disaster at the office, his comfortable life is threatened when Malcolm discovers his secret. Despite how he’s presented himself all these years, Vincent isn’t a harmless beta.

He’s an alpha.

Now Malcolm’s biological clock is ticking down towards his first heat. He’s rich, he’s connected, and he’s gorgeous – an ambitious alpha could take a lot from man like Malcolm and there’d be nothing he could do about it. He needs to make a choice, and fast: he needs to find an alpha he can trust.

Someone like…

Late Bloomeris a non-shifter, extremely slow burn m/m a/b/o standalone romance novel that features explicit consent in every sex scene, lots of chemistry, mild BDSM themes, no mpreg, and a HEA.

REVIEW: ⟫
This was such a fascinating read – it felt like something unusual in the area of omega/alpha dynamics. I struggled with both leads – I liked them on occasion but also found them frustrating because they were both so horrendous at communicating. However, as a story about how sometimes you need to just trust your inner thoughts, this was great. Both Malcolm and Vincent worked so hard to do the best that they could by each other and the ‘big gesture’ towards the end was so romantic. I really enjoyed reading this – it was just so different to what I’m used to – I looked for more by the author but couldn’t find anything. I would say to definitely give this a try, even if on occasion you want to slap both MCs over the back of the head!

Red On His Lips by J. Tomala (Blood on His Lips Book #1)

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TITLE: ⟫ Red On His Lips
AUTHOR: ⟫ J. Tomala

SERIES: ⟫ Blood on his Lips #1
RATING: ⟫ 3/5

BLURB: ⟫ “So, are you a witch?”

“It depends,” Lars said, leaning just that little bit closer.

Valerian had thought the boy was timid, afraid even, but that wasn’t the case at all. Or maybe Valerian had lost his edge over the last fifty years and didn’t look scary anymore.

“On what?”

“Do you need a witch?” Lars asked pointedly, stressing the you.


The last things Valerian expected to see on the random inspection of his brothel was a wild, pretty thing with blood on his lips. And for some reason, he can’t look away from the boy or leave him there.

The solution to this is to take him home, give him a job, and call him into his parlor every night, pretending he’s only there to elevate Valerian’s boredom. They say the boy is a witch, and when Valerian looks at him in the candlelight, he believes it. How else could he explain his impulsive behavior? His growing attachment to Lars, the feelings blooming in his chest?

Lars should hate Valerian Wilk, after all he’s ended up in the vampire’s brothel, because his stepfather owed him money. But as soon as Valerian Wilk walks into the room, something inside him awakes, tells him to get closer to the man. Mouthing off to the owner of the brothel pays off for him. He’s bundled up and taken to Wilk’s townhouse to be his gardener, but that’s not all he does. Every evening, he sits with Lord Wilk in the parlor and talks to him. Soon he starts looking forward to these hours when they can be alone, and his feelings for the handsome vampire grow and deepen.

But Lars is a mortal witch and Lord Wilk a powerful immortal vampire. Would he even want someone like Lars at his side and in his bed?

This is the first book in the ‘Blood on his lips’ series, but can be read as a standalone title.

REVIEW: ⟫ There was a lot to enjoy about this book – the vampire lore was very interesting and well done. However, as my first read from this author, it just didn’t grab me. There were time jumps – to allow for one of the male reads to age up appropriately – but apart from maybe a character making mention of months or years passing, there was little indication that any time had passed. The relationship between Valerian and Lars was very insta-love but not in a passionate way. It’s difficult to describe and maybe that’s my problem – there seemed to be no reason why they fell for each other. We never find out if part of Valerian’s attraction to Lars is because of his witch blood; the fight against bad vampires was short, didn’t feel particularly clear and was anticlimatic. I wanted to enjoy this more than I did which is a shame because I can’t see myself reaching for book two. Obviously YMMV but this one didn’t work for me at all.

#NotJason by Jennifer Cody (Banshee House #1)

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TITLE: ⟫ #NotJason
AUTHOR: ⟫ Jennifer Cody

SERIES: ⟫The Banshee House #1
RATING: ⟫ 4/5

BLURB: ⟫ Sean:

When I meet Luke at an Ultimate Frisbee tournament, he’s instantly just the kind of guy I want to get to know better. That he’s the one who asks me out? Well, I’m not going to say no. Our first date goes off without a hitch. He is literally everything I could ever want in a man. Nerd and jock, shy and excitable, competitive in the bedroom yet submissive just the way I like it. It’s not until our second date that I realize why.

I don’t know why these twins are trying to play me, but I’ve got a competitive streak a mile wide, and I will win this game, no matter who started it.

#NotJason is a 35k MMM paranormal romance with twins vying for the love of a single man, a flirty, naked landlord, and freckles in dark places. The Banshee House boys all have interesting kinks, and Sean’s includes the fantasy of millions of men worldwide come true: a twin BJ. There is a Daddy/boy (not age play) relationship in this book, along with consensual and light humiliation kink, and a non-traditional fated mate trope filtered through the skepticism of a take-charge boyfriend.

REVIEW: ⟫ I picked this up to read because of the #NotJason story that I vaguely remembered. As long as you don’t take this too seriously, it’s actually quite entertaining. Obviously the idea that twins are dating one man without telling him could be very problematic, hence needing to suspend a little bit of believe.

I absolutely adored just how Sean was able to tell the difference between Liam and Luke – that was not something the twins could have planned for and made me giggle for quite some time. The members of the Banshee House were entertaining and the story galloped along at an enjoyable pace.

I enjoyed reading this and have move on to the author’s Diviner series based on how much I enjoyed reading this.

George’s Big Day by Mary Calmes (With George #3)

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TITLE: ⟫ George’s Big Day
AUTHOR: ⟫ Mary Calmes

SERIES: ⟫ With George #3
RATING: ⟫ 4.5/5

BLURB: ⟫ George Hunt wants to get married. The fact that he does is utterly amazing and a huge leap of faith for a man who’s always been certain that happily ever afters only happen in fairy tales. The thing is, though, ever since Christmas, when Dr. Kurt Butler, the man he loves, gave him a ring, he’s changed his mind about what’s possible. But between deployments and venues that have to be booked years in advance, matrimonial bliss seems persistently out of reach. Fortunately, George’s friends come through, offering the perfect setting.

Of course, when your life is full of heroes, there are always villains looking to even the score. When the day of the nuptials conflicts with murderous agendas, the only thing that really matters is being married at the end of the day. If George can keep his eye on the prize and everyone does what they do best, it might just all work out.

REVIEW: ⟫ If you are part of Mary Calmes’ monthly newsletter, then George will be very familiar to you – he’s Hannah Kage’s bodyguard and an important part of Jory and Sam Kage’s network from the Matter of Time series. That being said, George is a fabulous man in his own right – he’s a natural born protector who has somehow found his other half in Kurt.

This third novella is George finally getting married, despite what life is determined to throw at him in terms of cartel assassins, his friends bringing trouble down on his head, and the normal shenanigans that Hannah always gets herself involved in.

I love reading these stories by Mary Calmes because they are familiar, favourite characters by now and it allows me to see how some of my old favourites are doing whilst building on the entire universe that these characters inhabit. George is such a lovely man, so sexy, so caring and just utterly right for Kurt – it was a delight to attend their wedding, even if it brought with it the Vault, various assassins and the Marshals service along with it!

A typical Mary Calmes book, it leaves you with a warm, happy feeling when you’ve finished reading it and wishing for so much more in terms of words – this is a world I could happily inhabit forever!