Chopped by Peri Elizabeth Scott

May 5, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Chopped by Peri Elizabeth Scott
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Regan Braxton is a prep cook at The Salt Cellar, an up-and-coming restaurant in Las Vegas. She has aspirations to make line cook and actually thought it was a done deal—before Chef Malachi Abrams took over the kitchen.

He’s gorgeous, arrogant, and infuriating and seems to take a singular interest in criticizing her—with scant approval and encouragement. Regan has a second job that she loves equally, working as a flash dancer in a nearby club, but she needs both incomes. So she won’t let him chop her.

Chef Malachi is determined to make The Salt Cellar Vegas’s best restaurant. All is going according to plan despite the attitude of his feisty prep cook. He might be inexplicitly drawn to her, but that won’t get in the way of his work ethic. They have chemistry, but is it palatable, or, like revenge, a dish better served cold?

Malachi and Regan had butted heads ever since Malachi had very suddenly taken over as Chef. While they each maintained a purely professional persona, the conflict was nevertheless heated and ran deeply on both sides. When Regan discovers someone has been hired to fill the role she had hoped to be promoted to, she gives her two week resignation notice. Will Malachi and Regan be able to find common ground in the short time they have left working together?

I found this to be a conflict heavy short story. Readers who like a bunch of tension and head-butting between the two main characters should enjoy this story. Personally I found much of the logic and sense in Regan’s problems with Malachi were lacking, and I didn’t enjoy the jealous assumptions she made about some of Malachi’s professional decisions. Regan admitted she didn’t react well to authority – and this was given as being the root of some of her issues with Malachi as Chef and her boss. I didn’t find that very solid as a reason, especially when Regan tended to convince herself he was being arrogant or purposefully rude when I just personally didn’t see it from their interactions.

I absolutely found Malachi and some of his comments blunt – but not once did I see his actions or words as being purposely needling or meant to give offense. This made it pretty hard for me to empathize with Regan in the beginning, particularly when I felt she over-reacted (like when she gave her verbal notice) to mostly justified comments and constructive criticism made by Malachi when he was honest in his opinions. I enjoy conflict and tension in a story – but I strongly feel there needs to be not enough clashing to make me question whether the pairing is possible at all. I felt this story walked a fine line between these two positions.

In the second half of the story much of the conflict eases and this led the way quite smoothly for the sexual chemistry between Regan and Malachi to bubble over. Readers who enjoy a lot of steamy sexiness to their stories should find this really satisfies. With modern and strong willed characters along with a bunch of chemistry and tons of conflict and tension between the hero and heroine, this short story is a decent, quick read.

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Knock Her Up by Sam Crescent

May 3, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Knock Her Up by Sam Crescent
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Finding out that Noah wants her is a dream come true. At thirty years old, Sage is ready to take that next step.

Noah wants Sage, and he intends to have it all with her. The only way to get her is to knock her up. That’s his plan. Sage is fire and passion—everything Noah loves and craves in his woman. He wants to share the rest of his life with her, but when Sage tells him she loves him, he freezes. Even though Sage is the only woman he wants, he cannot bring himself to say the words.

When one of his old clients threatens to take Sage away from him forever, will he have the strength to finally tell Sage how he feels, or will his fear of losing everything hold him back?

Noah had known even before Sage began to work for him that she was his in every way. He’d struggled to give the beautiful, curvy, innocent woman time to get to know him and grow used to his ways, but now Noah was finished with waiting. He was going to make Sage his and he knew the quickest and easiest way to do that was to get her pregnant. Can Noah and Sage find their happiness together?

This short and sexy “boss/secretary” style story was an enjoyable and quick read. I liked how Noah’s character was pretty clear from the first page about his intentions to Sage. While he’d given Sage about a year to get comfortable with him and his style, he was done being patient. This helped make the quickness with which Noah and Sage became intimate make a lot of sense to me and so this spicy story moved to the bedroom very early on, which I feel will please fans of this author and also readers who want an explicit, faster paced style of story.

I was also delighted with the small twist and how Sage was a strong, modern and competent woman. Noah had a strong personality and while it might have been easy for Sage to just go along with everything I enjoyed how in her own way she did her bit and had an equal part to play in their blossoming relationship. It helped me feel she was more involved and a stronger character than I often find in these sorts of stories.

With interesting and modern characters, a spicy, explicit storyline and plenty of fun I found this to be a great, quick read.

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The Promise Of Annie by T. Lee Garland

April 28, 2022 By Leave a Comment


The Promise Of Annie by T. Lee Garland
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Annie is a nurse who promised a dying patient that she would deliver an envelope to the woman’s estranged nephew after her death. Annie intends to keep that promise, even if the nephew is a sexy bar owner who makes it clear that he wants nothing to do with the envelope or her.

Van hasn’t seen his aunt in years. Now that she’s gone, he doesn’t care about her or her damn envelope. Except he does care about the curvy nurse in the cotton-candy pink scrubs that barges into his busy bar on a cold Friday night in Tennessee, and insists that he open the envelope.

A freak ice storm leaves them unexpectedly stranded together. Annie has a secret that she hopes will change Van’s mind and heart about his aunt. Van just knows he wants Annie and the promise of her in his life forever.

Annie had no idea when she promised to fulfil the dying wishes of a patient that it would lead her to a seedy bar and a dangerously good looking man. Van wants nothing to do with his aunt – dead or not – nor is he thrilled with the sexy nurse she sent to deliver a message. Annie, however, is determined to complete her friends dying wish and isn’t willing to take no for an answer.

I found this a refreshing and different style of short story. While the dark, brooding and sexy bar owner meeting the sexy do-good girl is a well loved trope for a reason, I found the tension and small twists to the plotline really intriguing and well handled. This gave the whole story – short as it was – a slightly different outlook and while it still had many of the features of a tried-and-true comfort read, it was new and different enough that I found it really interesting.

Van and Annie’s characters were realistic and fun, but I have to admit there was nothing too unique about them. Readers looking for a comforting kind of read with well-established parameters should find this a lovely and easy sort of read. I was really pleased the chemistry between Van and Annie was a slower sort of burn – not just because that helped them take a bit of time to get to know each other and merge from strangers into sexual partners, but also because Annie was clearly grieving the loss of her friend a few hours ago and it would have felt very odd to me had she jumped right into bed with a complete stranger. That said, the sex was spicy and explicit so readers looking for a steamy read should find this aspect to the story satisfies them.

Fun and a slightly different style of story I really enjoyed this quick read and will happily try more titles by this author.

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Beautiful Sight by Cooper McKenzie

April 27, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Beautiful Sight by Cooper McKenzie
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Paranormal
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Mystic’s All Night Café—where the city’s supernatural world meet for the best coffee, tea, and pastries.

Blind for the past five years, Tessa Dubois has become a recluse, comfortable only in the home she shares with her son. When he gives her to a slave trader to pay a debt she had no idea about, she finds herself in a dark, menacing world with no one to ground her.

Jefferson Carstairs had just about given up finding his destined mate. Then he joins the council in raiding an abandoned airport warehouse where a solitary figure on the makeshift stage calls to both his man and wolf.

Will Tessa be able to survive outside the comfortable environment of her own home? Will Jefferson and his army of shifters be able to find Sonny and the rest of the traffickers? Can Tessa allow herself to love after so many years alone?

Tessa had been shocked when she accidently overheard her son, Theo, selling her to a stranger to help cover the debt he owed. Tessa was blind, but determined to not let her new situation break her down. When the auction of kidnapped women had ended in bloodshed, Tessa is surprised when she meets Jefferson. There is an instant calm and sexual chemistry between them. Will they each be able to fit comfortably into the new life they’ve discovered?

Grab a lovely large drink, settle down somewhere comfortable and disconnect your brain. I found this to be a deliciously sexy paranormal story with a very fast-moving pace and a fairly light hand to the story telling. Readers looking for a convoluted plot or a whole bunch of realism probably won’t find this fun story quite to their tastes, but rather this is a steamy “insta-lust” sort of quick read that is an enjoyable way to pass a lazy weekend.

While this is the third book in the “Mystic’s All Night Café” series it can absolutely be read as a stand alone. Tessa’s character and situation is explained right off at the start, and after the trafficking auction goes pear shaped Jefferson’s character is also introduced. Indeed the Café itself doesn’t appear until properly within the story – so readers who haven’t read the previous two installments don’t have to worry at all. I really feel they’ll be able to grasp the story from the first page.

There were a number of sub-plots swirling around this short story and I enjoyed some of the interesting developments shown about how the supernatural world works. There was also some fairly standard conflict between Tessa and another shifter who felt she was better suited to Jackson, as well as the original plotline about Tessa and her son – so I felt there was plenty going on in the story, especially when you added all the chemistry and sexy shenanigans between Tessa and Jefferson.

Fun, sexy and quick paced, this was a lovely short story and I found it an enjoyable read.

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Turning On The Light by Chelle De Notte

April 22, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Turning On The Light by Chelle De Notte
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, LGBTQ
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

When he’s not putting out fires with New York’s bravest, Jake Cross performs as Bree Encroute, a drag queen in a Hell’s Kitchen revue. He keeps his two worlds separate by design, yet is having a hard time separating himself from Brad.

After walking away from the homophobia at his old firehouse, Brad Talbott is finally free to be himself … and in search of a house where he’ll fit in. But no matter how many floater shifts he works, he keeps coming back to Jake.

For months, Jake and Brad’s arrangement has been purely physical. But as spring gives way to summer, the two men start to bare themselves to each other in new ways.

Jake and Brad hit it off almost instantly but as fire fighters they each have very busy professional lives and at first neither are keen to give up much of their busy private time either. But as their hook ups become more meaningful and they each start to share more of more of their private selves things begin to get more complicated. Can they help each other create something amazing together?

I found this to be a really interesting and emotional read. I was a little surprised that the storyline jumped around a bit – particularly at the start. More than a few times I had to stop, go back and reread a few pages because I hadn’t understood something properly. This somewhat choppy style of writing made it hard to be to follow the story in a few places, but I really felt this evened out toward the middle and end of the story so I was quite glad to have grasped it all.

I adored both Jake and Brad’s characters though and really felt their connection and the romance blossoming between them. I empathized strongly with Jake – and recovering from his world turning upside down after having people he loved and trusted turn their backs when he came out. I also greatly enjoyed the patience and love Brad showed Jake as they each tried to build something together. This was a really emotional and strongly written story I liked and feel it would be a lovely, quick and satisfying read for many who enjoy a realistic sort of story.

With two interesting, vibrant and realistic characters really shining through the story Jake and Brad made this a lovely and enjoyable read. There was a dash of colour and fun with Jake’s side hustle as a drag queen and enough tender emotions as the two men grew closer and learned to trust themselves and each other to really make this a delightful story. I’d definitely be willing to try more by this author.

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Daddy, Daddy, And Me by Sean Michael

April 20, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Daddy, Daddy, And Me by Sean Michael
Publisher: Self Published
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, LGBTQ
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

When Jeff agreed to be the sperm donor to his best friend Beth, he never expected a tragedy to leave his newborn and three-year-old motherless. Beth’s loss has totally thrown his life into chaos: his lover has left him, his house isn’t anywhere near childproof, and his boss feels the restaurant has been patient enough with Jeff’s time off.

Donny has always known he wanted to work with kids, and he just finished his degree in early childhood education. He didn’t count on the prejudice he’d face as not only a male nanny, but a gay one at that. Job-hunting has been frustrating to say the least, so when he knocks on Jeff’s door and is greeted by the sounds of things breaking and a pair of screaming children, he thinks maybe he can begin this particular interview with a trial by fire.

Becoming the nanny to Jeff’s children might be a dream come true for Danny and exactly what Jeff needs, but are either of them ready to really be a family?

Jeff agreed to be the sperm donor to his best friend, but never expected for tragedy to strike and for him to be left with full time custody of a newborn and his three year old. Jeff’s lover has left and his boss has had enough of being patient with the time off Jeff frequently needs. When Donny knocks on Jeff’s front door he decides to throw himself into the interview process by simply showing exactly how much he can help Jeff. Can these two men find a balance to family life that works for all four of them?

I really enjoyed this full length story. In many ways I found it a lovely comfort read with all the usual tropes – a very sudden full time dad, two adorable but rambunctious children, the newbie nanny/manny who hadn’t been given a fair shot but fell right in easily with the newly formed family. Readers looking for a story that is really envelope pushing, different or edgy probably won’t find this suits their tastes. Instead I really loved this comforting, easy to read and enjoy story. I found both Jeff and Donny’s characters realistic and gentle, and the two children were adorable. Just a gentle, almost sweet pace to the story really allowed Jeff and Donny’s characters to shine through and for them to build a solid foundation of friendship, trust and family before they explored a more intimate relationship together.

The slow pace to the romance was lovely and I felt it well handled. While there is plenty of steam and sizzle in the bedroom when the men make it there I was pleased they didn’t jump immediately into bed. Much of the plot was easy to guess and see coming from a mile away – but with the strong characters and all the emotions and new family situation needing to be grown into and sorted out I feel there really didn’t need to be complicated plot twists or convoluted story building. The real shine and hero of this story was Jeff and Donny’s characters, and the life and family they were meshing together and growing.

Readers looking for a delightfully written, character centric and gently woven story should find this an exceptional read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will certainly be reading it again in the future.

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Skin Game by Stuart Woods

April 13, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Skin Game by Stuart Woods
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

When Teddy Fay receives a freelance assignment from a gentleman he can’t refuse, he jets off to Paris on the hunt for a treasonous criminal. But as Teddy unearths more information that just doesn’t seem to connect, his straightforward mission becomes far bigger–and stranger–than he could imagine. The trail of bread crumbs leads to secrets hidden within secrets, evildoers trading in money and power, and a global threat on an unprecedented scale. Under the beautiful veneer of the City of Lights, true villainy lurks in the shadows…and Teddy Fay alone can prevent the impending disaster.

Teddy Fay is given a freelance assignment from a powerful man he never thought would need his kind of help. Sent to Paris undercover to unearth a mole, Teddy figured it’ll be a quick and easy break – easily handled and shortly over. When one thing leads to another Teddy soon realizes there’s far more at play than any of them originally realized.

I’ve read plenty of books by this author and while I always enjoy them greatly, I strongly feel readers need to know this author always falls solidly into the “disengage your brain” style of story. Forget logic. Ignore reality. Just have a lovely large drink, sit back and follow along for the ride. There are a good cast of interesting characters who all know each other well and work together delightfully. There is an outlandish, but fast moving and interesting, plot that hooked my attention within the first few pages.

Readers looking for an action packed, light espionage style of story should feel this really fits the bill for them. There is a very light hand with the plot that I feel this author always does amazingly well. With enough plot and subterfuge to keep my interest, there nevertheless is no doubt this is not an intricate or complicated style of story. Readers looking for a fun summer read, or a quick and enjoyable escape from reality should find this mystery/espionage style of story is a delightful way to spend an easy and relaxing weekend.

I thoroughly enjoyed this full length novel and am looking forward to reading more by this author.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Daddy Needs A Date by Sean Michael

April 5, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Daddy Needs A Date by Sean Michael
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, LGBTQ
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

With four girls, single dad Ryan Withers has his hands too full to look for romance. He’s not complaining—he loves his daughter and the three nieces he adopted when their parents died, and he would do anything for them. He’s caught off guard when his mother and daughter decide to play matchmaker.

Alex Bernot works in disaster relief, his job taking him all over the world helping others. He’s staying with his aunt while he’s home, and she sets him up on a blind date. Finding a special someone isn’t really on his mind, but he goes to make his aunt happy.

Ryan and Alex enjoy each other’s company more than either of them expected, and they soon make a second date. Their lives are complicated, though, in very different ways, and soon family needs and their jobs conspire to pull them apart. They’ll need to figure out how to work through the things keeping them apart, but first they’ll have to decide if they even want to….

Ryan had never expected to be daddy for four young girls – but he hadn’t hesitated to adopt his three nieces when their parents died and the girls got along so well with his own young daughter he couldn’t imagine not being able to find a way to make this work. When Ryan and Alex are set up on a blind date neither of them expect to enjoy each other’s company as much as they do. But their lives are so very different and everything gets complicated so quickly – can they manage to make this work?

I really enjoyed this full length story. While Ryan and Alex are both interesting characters, I was mostly pleased that this story seems to keep away from many of the tropes so common in the “single dad to young kids finding love” type of stories that are out there. Both Ryan and Alex are up front from their first meeting that their lives are in very different places and they each are open to beginning a relationship but they also have quite different priorities. I found this made for some very interesting – and very honest – types of conflict where the two men needed to decide what they really wanted from their respective lives and relationships.

The author did an excellent job in my opinion in keeping the four girls different enough that the reader wouldn’t get too muddled by them, but equally not letting the kids’ characters take over the entire storyline either. I really feel this story has a plot and set-up different enough it should feel fresh and interesting to many readers. I greatly enjoyed that this doesn’t fall into any of the well-used cliches that make me struggle with so many other “men with an instant family of kids” type of stories.

With interesting characters and a different enough plot I was hooked all the way through the book, this is a great and steamy read.

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Devil To Pay by John Carson

March 31, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Devil To Pay by John Carson
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Deadly loose ends. Homicidal obsession. A mind-boggling crime locked behind lost memories.
Scotland. DCI Harry McNeil feels uneasy about visiting his late father’s dementia-afflicted former colleague. But he’s stunned when the retired policeman’s daughter pulls him aside in the nursing home to offer nervous accusations and shocking photographs. And with the images displaying a murder victim from twenty years ago, McNeil fears the senile detective might be the real serial killer long thought dead and buried.

Unable to pry answers out of the confused senior, McNeil is alarmed to discover fresh bodies in both Glasgow and Edinburgh linked to the decades-old case. And with the slayings so intimately connected to him personally, McNeil believes it’s only a matter of time before he’s caught in the crosshairs… and he doesn’t know why.

Will McNeil expose a murderous hidden agenda before it costs him his life?

DCI Harry McNeil is back again when two fresh bodies – one in Glasgow and one in Edinburgh – are clearly linked and have strong ties back to two closed cases from twenty years ago. With his colleagues and Harry’s father’s retired old friend all helping can Harry and Alex discover what’s really going on and how it links to so far back in the past?

I really feel like John Carson is beginning to hit his stride with this series. I felt that the plot was multi-faceted and really well woven together – complicated enough I could get a good sense of what was happening without actually being able to untangle it all too quickly. I also was ecstatic Robbie and Jimmy were back yet again – they’re seriously becoming two of my other favourite characters outside of Harry and Alex. They add a good counterpart to Harry’s more serious outlook and it’s always a hoot when the four of them get together to solve a crime.

In many ways this book was a solid, very well written police procedural style of Scottish mystery, but that would ignore the fact a really strong world has been created in the last six books in this series. Alex and Harry’s relationship has progressed at a solid but steady pace and really laid some strong foundations. Harry in particular has grown as a character and I’m eager to see more of his deepening relationship with the young man his son, Chance, is becoming. And added into all this other solid writing was a complicated and engrossing set of two murders running concurrently yet clearly still tied together. Some of the “whodunit” aspect was shown right up front but the author did an excellent job in my opinion keeping enough of the how and why under wraps to keep me thinking and guessing and eager to turn the pages.

While this book is clearly in the middle of a series, I feel for the murder mystery readers can certainly pick this up as a stand alone. I do feel that all the intertwining character relationships and friendships would be better served with some of the previous stories having been read to give a bit more depth, but this shouldn’t have readers shy away from cracking this book open by itself and giving it a go. I found it well written, well paced and with an excellent mystery and well worth the time and energy in reading it cover to cover. Recommended.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Gifted by Sean Michael

March 24, 2022 By Leave a Comment


Gifted by Sean Michael
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance, Holiday, LGBTQ
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Brett Travers is one of the weekend bartenders at the Hammer Club. It’s one of two jobs that he works as he puts himself through College. On a whim, he enters the auction at the Hammer’s annual charity Christmas auction. After all, he’s interested in the lifestyle, even if he has absolutely no experience in it yet.

Tucker Sanders is one of the Hammer Club’s chefs. Working mostly evenings and weekends, he loves feeding people, in fact caring for others is one of the reasons why he’s a Top. He’s never found his very own boy, but the tall, willowy Brett has definitely caught his eye.

When Tucker ducks out of the kitchen on Christmas Auction night and discovers that Brett is the next lot, he can’t help but start the bidding. There’s no way he can compete with most of the club’s members, though, and is soon outbid. Will the magic of Christmas bring these two men together despite that?

Brett is interested in the BDSM lifestyle but hasn’t had any experience with it as yet. He’s been working on the weekends as a bartender at the Hammer club for a while now and – keen to dip a toe into experiencing the lifestyle – he enters himself into the annual Christmas auction to test the waters and see if it’s really for him. Tucker is one of the chef’s at the Hammer club and he’s been interested in Brett, and seeing the willowy young man on the stage he makes a few bids, even knowing his budget won’t stretch as far as most of the other bidders. Can the two men find some Christmas joy together this season?

I found this to be a fun and sensual quick short story. While the setting is definitely Christmas time I was pleased that the story isn’t overwhelmed by this timing, the focus remains solidly on Brett and Tucker and the two men exploring their attraction and beginning a strong foundation for their relationship. I also really enjoyed that while there are quite strong elements of BDSM and the lifestyle in this story again it was very well balanced with the two men also getting to know each other outside the bedroom and showing us other facets of themselves. It helped me as a reader not only connect and become invested in them both, but also showed me how well suited and realistic their relationship as a while was – not just their compatibility in the bedroom.

I feel it’s important to note that Brett is quite new to the lifestyle, so readers wanting some very deep or envelope-pushing BDSM story on the cutting edge might not find this quick read really suits what they’re after. Personally, I enjoyed the slightly lighter hand the author gave here, as well as the happy Christmas feel to the story as a whole. While I enjoyed harder edged BDSM stories it’s so lovely to also balance that with seeing two men dip their toe in and start a new relationship together, exploring their boundaries and learning about each other. In no way did this detract from the BDSM elements and I found this refreshing and really enjoyable to read. I also feel this is a good, quick read that would be suitable to recommend to readers interested in trying something a little more intense in their reading material but not wanting to drop into the deep end with something overwhelming or too far over the edge.

A fun, happy and really enjoyable sizzling read, this was a great short story.

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