New York is my favorite city in the world, so of course I had to read this collection of short stories taking place one summer night when a heatwave makes the city go dark. And I’m happy to say that I got all the New York vibes I was hoping for!

In essence, Blackout is a collection of six short stories (even though they are divided into more chapters to connect the different stories and characters along the way) that are all featuring Black teens dealing with relationship issues that are put to the test during a blackout in New York. Each of the story focuses on a specific relationship issue and with different characters, but along the way the six stories eventually connect and add different view points from other characters. I really loved the way the stories were interconnected, which made it closer to a novel than an anthology, and the amazing queer representation.

My two favorite stories were All the Great Love Stories... and Dust by Dhonielle Clayton and Seymour and Grace by Nicola Yoon. The first one was about two childhood friends who secretly felt more than friendship for each other. It was such a sweet story and I loved the scrap book and literature references. The second one was about two strangers meeting on an Uber ride, who end up discussing philosophy, the meaning of life, their family history, friendship and relationship in such a fun and romantic way that really warmed my heart.

The Long Walk by Tiffany D. Jackson was a story divided into several chapters that followed the two exes Tammi and Kareem as they competed for the same internship and ended up having to walk all the way to Brooklyn together. And having to talk about why their relationship really ended in the first place… Kareem was such a sweetheart, but I never really warmed to Tammi, who in my opinion didn’t take responsibility for her actions and tried to blame the failed relationship solely on Kareem, when she had just as much, or even more, to do with their breakup. But it was entertaining to follow their walk through the city while dealing with their issues!

Made to Fit by Ashley Woodfolk was a really sweet story about two girls falling in love when visiting a senior living facility, just like the residents/relatives had predicted, but with a little bit too much of instalove.

Mask Off by Nic Stone was also a story divided into several chapters about a closeted basketball player and his secret crush, who get stuck on a train during the blackout. I really liked the glimpses we got to see of their past and their history together and Tremaine was such a brave and wonderful character. The basketball player JJ on the other hand was not a favorite, in the way he didn’t stand up for himself or his beliefs.

No Sleep ‘til Brooklyn by Angie Thomas was my least favorite of the stories. It was full of cliches and I the emerging love triangle and the characters didn’t engage me enough. It all felt quite artificial and bland, sadly. Except for the bus driver, who was such a gem!

Overall, this was a sweet, hopeful, light and easy read with amazing representation and perfect New York vibes! I really enjoyed the stories and the characters, even though none of them stole my heart, and the whole concept of this anthology.

Rating:
4 stars

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​Author info:
Dhonielle Clayton

This is my new favorite book in the sweet and heartwarming m/m romance series Winsford Green! This series is set in the Regency time and follows different characters in each book and can well be read as standalones. But they all have a connection to the small village Winsford Green and characters from the previous books make appearances as well in such a lovely way.

This time we got to follow Captain Mark Dexter, who is a bold and brave spy for the king, with severe trust issues, and the quiet schoolmaster Felix Brook. When Dexter is sent to investigate misconduct at his old school, he’s furious for the boring mission. Until he realizes that his old headmaster, the one he adored and the only person he’s ever really let himself get close to, is still working there. For Felix, the appearance of the devastatingly handsome man that the wild, unpredictable schoolboy ha turned into, stirs new feelings and lights a fire within him he never thought he had. But when the mission Dexter is sent on goes catastrophically wrong, Felix is left to bear the brunt of the repercussions of their attraction.

I really enjoyed this story, and both main characters. I also really loved the appearances made by my favorite characters from the previous books in this series, especially Lyndon Cross and Joe, the blacksmith. I love when an author creates her own universe by weaving stories together this way. The setting in this time period worked surprisingly well. Compared to the previous books, this was a bit darker and felt more realistic with the way just the suspicion of someone being homosexual made the person a persona non grata.

All in all, it was a wonderful, sweet and highly entertaining read! I read it all in one sitting, that’s how addictive it was!

Thank you Gay Book Promotions for the ARC and book tour invitation! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
4 stars

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​Author info:
Ruby Moone

This is the second book in the Winsford Green series, which is such a sweet and heartwarming m/m romance series set in the Regency time. I really enjoyed the first book in the series and was so happy to get back into this world, even though this book wasn’t a new favorite.

The books in the series can be read as standalones, since they all focus on different characters. But I really enjoyed getting glimpses from the lives of the characters we met in the first book, and how the stories were interwoven in some parts.

This time, the main characters were Arthur Fitch, the valet of a cruel aristocrat, and Joseph (Joe) Wilkinson, the young blacksmith in Windsford Green. When Arthur is forced to flee into a snowstorm to find safety, their paths crosses and soon Joe finds himself trying to convince Arthur to stay with him forever…

Joe really stole my heart from the very first page, but Arthur took longer to warm up to. He came across as quite pompous, stubborn and full of himself at first. I also wasn’t really a fan of his tastes in the bedchamber or their age gap.

But all in all, it was another sweet and enjoyable read, and I will definitely continue this series to spend more time in the wonderful Windsford Green world, even though this story wasn’t exactly my cup of tea.

Thank you Gay Book Promotions for the free review copy! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
3 stars

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​Author info:
Ruby Moone

This was such a sweet and heartwarming m/m romances set in the Regency time. Or to be honest, there were actually two love stories intricately interwoven; the main one was between Hugo and Lyndon in the 1840s, whose story would come to play a vital part for the happiness of Hugo’s decedent James in 2014 as well.

I really enjoyed both stories, but the main focus was definitely on the one between Lord Hugo Pell-Charnley, the youngest son of the late Marquis, and his former boarding school friend and deepest secret, Lyndon Cross, in the 1840s. This was my first gay romance in this kind of setting, but it worked surprisingly well. It wasn’t as much angst and fear for discovery and damnation as perhaps could have been expected due to the times, so maybe not the most realistic story. But sometimes all you need is a swooning romance to warm your heart, and this book certainly provided all of that! Plus a connection to a decedent through history and wonderful secondary characters in Hugo’s brother and sister. All in all, it was a wonderful, sweet and highly entertaining read, and I can’t wait to continue the series!

Thank you Gay Book Promotions for the free review copy! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
4 stars

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​Author info:
Ruby Moone

This is a really magical and intriguing queer YA fantasy full of old Celtic mythology, witches, vampires and deathwalkers! There’s also a murder mystery plot, abusive and toxic family relations and first love.

The story takes place on the island of Inisliath, where four founding families have a long history of ancient magic specific for each family - as witches, faes, vampires and shapeshifters - and of old family feuds. The Sheehy witches are the most feared and detested family on the island of Inisliath, and none more so than Rowan, the teenage deathwalker.

At the same time as the magic on the island starts to seep away from the other founding families, Ash and their family arrive on the island to escape their abusive father. Life on Inisliath might be the fresh start Ash needs, and meeting the soft-spoken, curly-haired Rowan feels like the ray of sunshine Ash has desperately needed. But everything goes sideways when Ash’s mum becomes lead detective on a series of ritualistic murders allegedly tied to island magic and Ash’s family history.

I really enjoyed the mythology parts and it was such an interesting notion how the ancestors’ fate was connected to the new generations forcing them to remain at the island, but the mix with a modern day murder investigation made the story lose some of its magic. But it’s a really intriguing, well-developed and rich fantasy world that Xan van Rooyen has created!

I also really appreciated that the two main characters were non-binary respectively demi or ace (possibly) and the thorough discussion about labels. Some of the other characters were a bit bland though.

Minor spoiler alert:
And the way Ash’s mother suddenly realized the situation she’d put herself and Ash in and suddenly had the strength to do something about it didn’t seem realistic sadly, but just a way to try and get a happier ending.
End of spoiler.

But all in all, it was an addictive, fast-paced and rich YA fantasy with a queer twist on Celtic mythology.

Thank you to the author, Xan van Rooyen, and MTMC Tours for the free review copy and blog tour invitation! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
3.5 stars rounding up to 4

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Author info:
Xan van Rooyen

Little Book of Tiny Tales is a wonderful collection of micro stories all amazingly written. All stories were only a page long, so they felt almost like poems, so vivid and complex. It was just unbelievable how Jeremy Ray managed to tell such intricate stories with so few words!

Jeremy Ray describes his book as “a flash fiction anthology that is like a box of assorted chocolates with story pieces meant for those ready to experience their stories in bite-size pleasures” and it’s such a spot on description! On just one page for each of the 56 stories, Jeremy Ray provided complex and intriguing stories with unbelievable depth. He also presented each story with a foreword/comment explaining how the story came to be and what he aimed to tell with each story.

It was a true pleasure reading these 56 stories that varied in genres and style, from comedy and drama to sci-fi and horror, but were still very distinctly a work of Jeremy Ray. I first discovered this author via the wonderful short story The Houseplant, which was such a wonderful surprise. The stories in this collection were mostly as good as The Houseplant and I really enjoyed this collection!

I have some mixed feelings about the comments/foreword before each story though. For some of the stories it really added some necessary information and increased the reading experience, but in some cases they almost revealed the twist on beforehand and in some other cases I felt that they took away some of my own imagination of the story, almost like watching a movie before reading the book. I enjoyed the comments very much though and wouldn’t want to be without them, but perhaps it would be better with these comments after the story?

That, and the fact that I personally do not enjoy the horror genre that much, are my only minor objections though, and all in all this was such an entertaining, easy and fast-paced read that managed to surprise you with each story! And I can’t help wishing that Jeremy Ray would some time turn the stories that were extra intriguing into full-length novels, since they definitely had such wonderful and exciting plots that could be further explored!

A highly recommended anthology!

Thank you to the author Jeremy Ray for the gifted eARC! All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Rating:
​5 stars

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Little Book of Tiny Tales is available on Amazon via the author, please go to Jeremy Ray Stories for the link!

Author info:
Jeremy Ray

I really don’t like to write bad reviews, but this book was just not my cup of tea at all. The story sounded like something I’d love; a second-chance m/m sports romance. But unfortunately the extremely unlikable main character and his toxic masculinity bordering to abuse made it impossible for me to enjoy this book.

To be fair, the author has included this warning at the beginning:

“Interracial M/M Sports novel with explicit sex scenes between two males and intended for adults only. Please note that underage sexual acts, as well as mention of gang activities, violence and murder will be depicted in this book.”

So I probably shouldn’t have started reading the book after that. I didn’t understand from this warning though that there would be a toxic relationship and events bordering to abuse, so maybe that should be added to the warning.

But anyhow, the book is about Ace and Pat who met and became friends when they were teenagers. Ace was the billionaire son in the house where Pat’s mother worked and they were immediately drawn to each other. Their childhood friendship soon turned into something more, but after a specific event in combination with miscommunication, they went their separate ways hurt and heartbroken. Years later, when Pat has become a star football player, they met again and this time Ace didn’t let anything stop him from getting the love of his life back.

I really did like Pat, who was such a lovely and sweet character. Ace on the other hand was selfish, bratty and unemphatic. I could never understand why Pat would even want to be with Ace, not when they were teenagers, nor later on, so the romance between them didn’t work for me at all. Ace was extremely jealous and possessive (bordering to stalking). And even though he was supposed to be in love with a guy, he came across as quite homophobic. It was so much focus on all the girls he’d banged and how he’d never been into men before, and how he always had to be the dominating one (just the idea of bottoming totally freaked him out). There was one important scene where his actions were so toxic it was bordering to abuse and made me feel utterly uncomfortable. And on top of that, the book ended on a very strange cliffhanger, which felt completely abrupt and out of the blue.

The writing itself wasn’t bad though and had a nice flow, and the story as such had great potential. So I can definitely see Lola Noire writing books that I’d enjoy in the future, even though this book wasn’t for me.

Rating:
2 stars

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Lola Noire

I really don’t like to write bad reviews, but this book was just not my cup of tea at all. The plot sounded interesting and I usually love coming-of-age novels. Especially when there’s a lot going on below the surface, but here I just couldn’t connect with any of the characters.

The story takes place the summer after the end of high school and is about the two best friends Dean and Curt and how their already complicated friendship is set to test when Dean develops feelings for Curt’s girlfriend Isabelle Smiley. There was enough tension, desire and conflict boiling below the surface to keep you at suspense and just waiting for everything to erupt into disaster, but still I never cared enough for what would happen to the characters to be truly engaged by the story.

None of the characters were particularly likable or made me root for them for other reasons. The relationship between Curt and Smiley was quite toxic, and Smiley seemed very insecure, always looking for attention. When Curt didn’t give her what she wanted, she didn’t shy away from flirting with his best friend. The way she was portrayed felt very much through male eyes, which almost felt a bit creepy at times. It was so much focus on how beautiful and seductive she was, but we never got to know her as a person on her own.

The writing style was very special. I think it’s something you either love or hate, and I unfortunately didn’t love it. It was way too much staccato for me to get any flow with all the short sentences and shallow dialogues. It was also too much telling rather than showing all through the book.
​
All in all, it was a fast-paced and suspenseful story, but unfortunately it didn’t meet my expectations. But please don’t let this discourage you from giving it a try, we all appreciate different things and writing styles!

Rating:
3 stars

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Author info:
Al Riske

This fifth book in Beth Bolden’s adorable, sweet and heartwarming Food Truck Warriors series was yet another adorable m/m foodie romance. Just like the previous books in this series, Wheels Down can be read as a standalone. Even though the characters from the other books make their appearances, this book focus on food truck owner Ross, who is trying to pick up the pieces after having been betrayed by his former partner, and Shaw, who is the bartender at the nearby bar the food truck warriors hang out at.

Both Ross and Shaw have been side characters for the whole series, so it was wonderful to finally get to know them both some more as main characters. I’ve always had a sweet spot for the grumpy, introverted, Ross. He’s always had trust issues, and being betrayed by his only friend and partner, Aaron, don’t really make these issues any easier… He’s also having problem with social interactions and figuring people out. The only person he seems to be able to talk to is Shaw, and that is not without work from and a lot of patience by Shaw.

I really loved their slow burn friends-to-lovers romance and how Ross slowly began to trust Shaw and dared to open up about his problems and feelings. And Shaw was such a sweetheart, both as a friend and boyfriend, he was just perfect for Ross. I also really loved to see how the rest of the food truck warriors warmed up to Ross and buried old hatchets from the previous books. I did miss my favorite couple from the series, Tate and Chase, who had almost no part in this story at all. And I would have love to get to know more about Harmony. She seems to have and untold and very interesting story, that hopefully will be revealed more in the next book. Or in a spin-off series, maybe?

Sadly, Beth Bolden has announced that the next book will be the last of the fabulous Food Truck Warriors series, but I’m nevertheless eagerly awaiting it to finally get Ren’s story.

All in all, this was a swooning, sweet and addictive friends-to-lovers story (so addictive that I read it in one sitting) that warmed my heart.

Thank you to Gay Book Promotions for the ARC and blog tour invitation! All opinions are my own and I am leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
4 stars

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