I adore D.N. Bryn’s unique, queer and hilarious vampire romances and was so happy to get an ARC of this new sub/dom second chance novella set in Los Angeles in the 90s! It’s a bit different than the other books in the Guides for Dating Vampires series as the characters are not the cinnamon roll precious disasters I’ve come to love in the series, nor did it have the cozy feels. But it was nevertheless an intriguing and highly entertaining read!

This novella is something of a prequel to the Guides for Dating Vampires series, but can be read as a standalone. It takes place at a role play club that creates fantasies for vampire-human couples, where the transmasc/non-binary vampire Diego is working. Diego has finally found a new home and family and has regained their confidence, after having fled their hometown and the high school sweetheart who spurned their fangs a decade ago. Until said high school sweetheart, Maddox, turns up at the club to bid forgiveness and Diego decides to engage in a kink role play to find out Maddox’s true intentions.

I really enjoyed this story, even though it wasn’t as cozy and sweet as D.N. Bryn’s other books. I’m also not usually into kink or too much spice, but here it worked really well. (Just be sure to check the trigger warnings before reading this novella though, as some of the scenes are quite intense.) I rooted for all the characters, even though they were not the shy, awkward, gentle ones that I’ve come to expect in D.N. Bryn’s vampire universe. Diego was a completely other kind of character, with their confidence, self-worth and determination never to be betrayed or shunned ever again. I did miss the slow burn from the other books though, but that is probably mostly due to the short format that doesn’t allow for much time to explore the characters and their feelings for each other fully. But the switch from Diego pushing Maddox away to completely giving into the relationship felt a bit too quick and easy.

But all in all, this was another highly entertaining story by D.N. Bryn full of unique characters and amazing representation, and an interesting premise with the role play club!

Disclaimer: I received an eARC for free, but I am leaving my honest review. Many thanks to the author D.N. Bryn for the opportunity!

Rating:
4 stars

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D.N. Bryn

Red, White & Royal Blue meets Boyfriend Material in this fluffy, sweet slow-burn MM romance between Britain’s first openly gay Prime Minister and the klutzy, adorkable and clueless American who unexpectedly becomes heir to the British throne.

Callum is a sweet, but rather clumsy and clueless, supposedly straight guy who’s trying to figure his life out after having dropped out of university to work for an insurance call center. His dating life is a bit of a disaster as well, and he’s still mourning his mom. Said mom, who had a brief marriage with the fourth British prince, but who left Britain after the divorce with her son to do everything in her power to keep Callum away from the watchful eye of the British press. Being the eleventh in the succession order, it’s not like he’ll ever play any big role in the British monarchy anyway. Not until his misbehaving relatives are charged with a criminal offense and Callum suddenly leaps from obscurity to the new Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne.
 
Oliver Hartwell is the divorced Prime Minister who takes pity on the clumsy and awkward prince who is so clearly out of his element. But soon the innocent support messages evolve into so much more and become the highlight of Oliver’s day, together with feelings for the prince that may no longer be of the purely platonic kind…
 
Soon they both realize that they might have something more than friendship going on, and Callum that he’s not as straight as he thought he was… which might explain his previous unsuccessful dating life.
 
Jax Calder is one of my favorite authors (I absolutely love her books The Other Brother and Attractive Forces) a lot because of her relatable, lovable and wonderful characters who always are as far away from stereotype cliches as you can come. And just like in her other books, I immediately rooted for Oliver, who had so much depth and raw emotions. I could truly feel his pain after having being betrayed by his ex-husband, his loneliness, his childhood trauma and feeling of being rejected by his addicted mother. I loved the parts of the story that were told from his POV and how they let us see how his feelings for Callum develop. It was so wholesome.
 
But, surprisingly for a Jax Calder book, the other characters fell a bit flat for me. The Queen felt very vague and more of a projection than a character that added to the story, and I never fully rooted for Callum. I can’t really explain why, but there was something about his clumsiness yet smartness and knowledge of everything that made him feel artificial and more of a construct than a real person. I also would have liked to have more focus on his bisexual awakening, which is usually one of my favorite tropes. But here it felt rushed and sadly not explored to its full potential. It was like Callum just accepted it without even mulling it over. I would have loved to see him dissect it all more and at least be a bit nervous about being with a man for the first time.
 
So even though I truly wished for Oliver to be happy and get to be with his love, I found it a bit hard to be fully invested in his Callum’s romance.
 
There were also some parts of the story that were just too unbelievable or silly. I won’t go into details, but there was a murder plot that just felt off and the whole part of Callum not being recognized as part of the royal family by anyone before he moved up the succession order felt a bit too far-fetched.
 
But all in all, a sweet, cute and fluffy romcom, with a lot of hilarious moments, fun facts and an amazing gay Prime Minister to root for.

Thank you to BookSirens for the free ARC of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.

Rating:
3.5 stars rounding up to 4

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Jax Calder

What a beautiful, heartbreaking, and important story! I loved the supportive family and friends, the art and culture, the character growth and how the main character Ander found their path in life and what really matters. Also, such a great non-binary representation!

The story follows the Mexican-American nineteen year old Ander, who is about to start a new journey as an artist and leave his beloved San Antonio in Texas to attend a prestigious art school in Chigaco. But even though it’s clearly an opportunity of a lifetime and the ‘right’ thing to do, Ander has doubts and keeps stalling the move by taking on local projects and working at his family’s taqueria. There they meet the undocumented Mexican boy Santi, and things starts to fall into place. Like who they are, what matters in life, and the power of love.

“I’m with you. Through happiness and destruction.”

It was light and fun with a super sweet love story, at the same time as it was heartbreaking and dealing with serious topics such as the constant fear of being found and detained by the ICE, the feeling of being put into a box as a ‘Mexican’ artist and only being seen as ‘authentic’ when limiting yourself to others expectations.
 
It was a little slow in the beginning though. It took me a while to root for Ander, who felt a bit too naive and ignorant at first. And their instant interest in Santi was bordering to insta love. But then this marvelous story and all amazing, fleshed out, real characters just stole my heart. And broke it to pieces…

All in all, this was a tender and emotional, sweet and adorable, empowering and heartbreaking story about love and finding a home.

Rating:
4 stars

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Jonny Garza Villa

Found family is one of my favorite tropes, and this book has such a wonderful one with the Princess of England Gwen who is reluctantly betrothed to the King Arthur descendant Arthur, her bookworm brother Gabriel and maid Agnes, and Arthur’s servant and shenanigans partner Sidney and Gwen’s love interest the lady knight Bridget.

I loved the funny banter, the slow burn romances (yes, there’s both an f/f and a m/m romance!) and the sweet way this poked fun of the traditional heroic Arthurian legends. And Arthur’s and Sidney’s friendship was gold, I think I loved it the most, even more than the romantic relationships.

The middle part was perhaps a bit slow, but the action-filled ending certainly made up for that!

All in all, a very cute, fun and comforting read with fake dating, enemies to friends, self discovery and rewriting history.

Rating:
4 stars

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Lex Croucher

This was such a wonderful and emotional friends-to-lovers mm hockey romance with two amazing main characters to root for. I loved how this book had a different vibe than many other hockey romances, with an MC who suffered from anxiety and panic attacks that added extra layers to the forbidden love trope.

Season’s Change follows the struggling and angst-ridden hockey player Olly Järvinen, who is trying to get his career back on track after a traumatic previous season and change of team, and the happy go lucky new rookie Benji Bryzinski, who wants to leave his trailer park upbringing and anger management issues behind and earn his place in the big leagues. Being roommates shouldn’t be a problem, but there is something about the other that keeps knocking them both off track.
 
I read this book in one sitting, it was so addictive and I rooted so much for all characters that I just couldn’t bear to put it down until the very end! It was such a perfect slow burn, forbidden romance, story with lots of depths and emotions. There was so much angst and fear of messing up, the struggle for Olly to hide his true self and not give into his feelings for Benji, and for Benji to not let his anger or feeling of always being the odd one out get the better of him. And on top of that, a bi awakening for Benji with all the new feelings for Olly he can’t even put a name to. There were also so many other amazing side characters, and wonderful friends and family relationships, but also toxic ones, like the relationship between Olly and his dad, and between Benji and his sister, and Olly’s homophobic and mean former teammates. So definitely a lot of emotions going on, and a very intense read!
 
This is Cait Nary’s debut book, but there is no way you could have ever guessed that. The writing was beautiful and Cait did such a great job describing Olly’s loneliness and anxiety, and his longing for being able to show his true self. I loved how Olly and Benji had this instant connection, that slowly was allowed to blossom into something more as their relationship developed. I also loved the other teammates, especially Poiro, and hope that Cait Nary will continue the Trade Season series with a book in his POV.
 
I had some issues with one of the scenes (not going into details in order to spoil anything, but if you read the book you’ll easily know which on I’m referring to) and it was perhaps a bit unbelievable how Benji was so not worried about what others might think, and how super anxious Olle could just go with the flow when he and Benji started fooling around. But those are my only minor complaints.
 
All in all, this was a both heartwarming and heartbreaking story with a perfect balance of hockey and romance, fun banter, vulnerability, steam and sweetness. Highly recommended!

Rating:
4.5 stars rounding up to 5

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Cait Nary

Amy Aislin has done it again! Game Changer is another cute and heartwarming MM romance in the Vancouver Orcas series!

The books in this series can be read as standalones, as each book focuses on one of the Shore cousins at a time, but I enjoy seeing the characters from the previous book as an extra bonus. This time, the main character is hockey player Blair Brawsiski, who has a scheduling problem with all his extra duties helping his various family members out. To facilitate his life, his coach, Matt Shore (from the first book in the series), arranges for his cousin Charlie Shore to help Blair as a PA. But the immediate attraction takes them both by surprise. Especially since Charlie has trust issues and dating his boss is a big no no…
 
This was such a sweet story! Blair and Charlie were both such wonderful, kind and adorable characters and they were the absolute perfect match for each other. I also loved all the lovely side characters with the family members and the teammates in the Orcas.
 
There could perhaps have been a little more drama or suspense to make the story a bit more intense, but sometimes it’s alright with a book just being sweet and heartwarming!
 
All in all, this was a great second book set in the intriguing Orcas universe, and I can’t wait to continue the series with Dorian’s story next!
 
Thank you to Gay Book Promotions for the free review copy and blog tour invitation! All opinions are my own and I’m leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
4 stars

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Amy Aislin

This was such an adorable and cute gay romance story about startups, friendship and love! And pranks! It was a fast-paced, fun and sweet feelgood story that’s a perfect vacation read or cure to get you out of a reading slump.

This story follows Ivy League college students Max and Aaron who cross path when Max gets hired to prank basketball star Aaron, but also ends up kind of destroying Aaron’s future career… Max is a hacker trying to launch a startup together with two of his best friends. To finance it he takes on prankster assignments. Aaron is an openly gay basketball star with a big heart who should hate the person who got him into the big mess but can’t help being intrigued by the ‘Underwear Thief’.

I really enjoyed this book and all its wonderful characters! I loved the startup squad with the mix of computer nerds, an environmental law student, and a badass female telling the obvious truths. I also loved cinnamon roll Aaron. I loved how sweet he was and how smart, yet clueless.

I didn’t particularly like the way Max felt spoilt and selfish at times. It was like he became another person when he was with Aaron, so I loved their interaction, but not Max on his own as much. There were also some parts that were perhaps a bit too unrealistic, and quite a lot of plot holes. But these are just minor complaints.

Overall, this was such an adorable and sweet romcom that made me smile and warmed my heart. Highly recommended if you’re looking for a light, easy and fun read with adorkable characters to root for!

Thank you to Pride Book Tours for the ARC of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.

Rating:
4 stars

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Abby Kaitz

This was a cute friends-to-lovers gay romance with wonderful characters to root for. I really loved to learn more of the life as a teacher, and the part about overcoming trauma and dealing with anxiety, but the romance part didn’t fully meet my expectations.

The story follows kindergarten teacher Marvin, who is single, trying to overcome a childhood trauma and struggling with anxiety. When he gets nominated for the Teacher of the Year Award, he has more than enough stress and more on his plate than he has time for. But when new student Illona walks in with her cute-as-hell single dad beside her, Marvin’s focus starts to slide. Olan is a newly divorced dad who has moved across the country for a fresh start with his daughter. Being a recovering alcoholic, he’s not in any position to start a new relationship. Not to mention the fact that he’s straight, so Marvin shouldn’t even give him butterflies in the first place. Right?

Teacher of the Year was such a cute romance story, which also dealt with heavier topics such as alcoholism, childhood trauma and anxiety. I really adored the way both characters bonded and interacted with Olan’s daughter, and I truly enjoyed all representation with Marvin being Jewish, queer and struggling with an anxiety disorder, as well as Olan’s bisexual awakening. There were also a lot of funny banter and moments that almost made me laugh out loud.

I also adored the side characters with Marvin’s best friend Jill. Jill and her husband were such a delight and their support for Marvin was heartwarming.

I didn’t fully root for the romance though. Since the story was told solely from Marvin’s POV, it was difficult to get a sense for Olan’s feelings. It would have been wonderful to hear his voice about the conflicting feelings he must have felt, falling for a man for the first time. Now Olan’s romantic feelings for Marvin almost came out of the blue and the romance felt somewhat rushed, even though it was a slow burn one.

I also never understood the rationale behind the decision for Ilona to be uprooted and move with her dad who’s struggling with alcoholism instead of staying with her mother. I expected some explanation to that, like her mother had issues or other reasons, but she turned out to be a great person. So I feel that there was a part of the story missing there.

But all in all, this was a funny, cute, fast-paced and heartwarming story with great representation which I highly enjoyed, even though the romance wasn’t a perfect match for me.

Thank you to Pride Book Tours for the ARC of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.

Rating:
3.5 stars rounding up to 4

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M.A. Wardell

I’m a huge fan of Jay Hogan’s character driven mm romances set in New Zealand, and The Art of Husbandry certainly didn’t’ disappoint. It was such a wonderful and swoon worthy gay romance with two amazing main characters to root for, and some added layers of grief and PTDS after the loss of a child.

This is the first book in Jay Hogan’s new Mackenzie country series, and follows two main characters, in alternating POVs; the sheep farm boss Holden with commitment issues and the grieving Gil who lost is daughter in a car accident one and a half year ago, and his marriage soon thereafter.

In an attempt to get a new start and find a way forward from the anger, the grief, the nightmares and the sheer hopelessness of it all that has been his life for the past eighteen months, Gil accepts a temporary offer to be a chef for three months at a high country sheep station in the middle of nowhere. Leaving his psychologist practice and his old life behind, he hoped for a way to move forward. But he got so much more when he unexpectedly connected with the young station boss and suddenly started to feel again…

I truly rooted for both Holden and Gil, and I really appreciated the way in which they slowly began to open up to each other, and for Gil to possibly see a new beginning and hope for happiness and love again, and for Holden to deal with his relationship and commitment problems.

Jay Hogan did a wonderful job with Gil, truly making us see and feel his loss and grief and his inner turmoil, his vulnerability and fear for opening up again and risking more pain. And Hogan was such a cocky and sexy, fun guy with a heart of gold and his own battles. The way the two of them lifted each other was so amazing!

There were also some great side characters and some interesting insights to the hard sheep farming life in southern New Zeeland that I truly appreciated. Sometimes there were perhaps a bit too many details about the farm and its surroundings and the description of the muster and all other farm work that slowed the story down. I also wasn’t a big fan of the way the characters not only told us about their feelings, but also analyzed them for us readers. Especially Gil, which of course in a way makes perfect sense with him being a psychologist, but I still think the story could have benefited from leaving a little more up to the readers. But those minor complaints set aside, this was a beautiful and wholesome story. I especially appreciated that there weren’t any truly bad guys. (Apart from Zach’s homophobic dad.) Gil’s ex Luke was also grieving and just dealt with his grief in another way than Gil, and Zach was jealous at first of course when founding out this best friend/long time crush had moved on, but quickly became supportive.

All in all, this was a heartwarming, poignant and addictive reading experience and a great way to start a new series! I can’t wait to read Zach and Luke’s story in the next installment!

I received a free ARC of this book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.​

Rating:
4 stars

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Jay Hogan

This was such a cute and heart-warming second-chance MM romance with adorable characters that immediately stole my heart! I also really appreciated the added depth with a main character suffering from depression.

Game Plan is the first book in the new Vancouver Orcas hockey series, which is a spin-off of Amy Aislin’s Stick Side series (but with new characters so there is now need to have read the Stick Side books to understand the characters and plots in this new series).

The story follows Matt Shore, the new head coach of the Vancouver Orcas, who is openly gay but struggling with his dating life. Somehow, he ends up only dating guys who are not relationship material, probably because he’s still too heartbroken from being left by the love of his life two years ago, Pierce Langley-Brown.

Pierce on his hand, still regrets leaving Matt, when his increasing depression and his son’s car accident made it impossible to focus on anything but being there for his son. But when his son joins Matt’s hockey team, there’s no avoiding the man who once owned his heart…

I truly rooted for both Matt and Pierce, and I really appreciated the way in which they slowly began to open up to each other, and for Matt to possibly forgive Pierce, and for Pierce to deal with his runaway problems. There was also some great representation with binary, bisexual and gay characters.

I would have appreciated some more background to the characters though. I’d loved to know more about things like when Pierce realized he was bisexual and if he’d ever been with a man before Matt, or when Matt decided not to stay in the closet anymore and be an openly gay hockey player and the reactions he’d received after that. Without this, the story felt a bit thin at times.

But all in all, this was a heartwarming, sweet and addictive reading experience and a great way to start a new series! I can’t wait to read Charlie’s story in the next installment!

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

Rating:
4 stars

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Amy Aislin