Cutie and the Beast (Fae-Out-of-Water 1) by E.J. Russell

Temp worker David Evans has been dreaming of Dr. Alun Kendrick ever since that one transcription job for him, because holy cats, that voice. Swoon. So when his agency offers him a position as Dr. Kendrick’s temporary office manager, David neglects to mention that he’s been permanently banished from offices. Because, forgiveness? Way easier than permission.

Alun Kendrick, former Queen’s Champion of Faerie’s Seelie Court, takes his job as a psychologist for Portland’s supernatural population extremely seriously. Secrecy is paramount: no non-supe can know of their existence. So when a gods-bedamned human shows up to replace his office manager, he intends to send the man packing. It shouldn’t be difficult—in the two hundred years since he was cursed, no human has ever failed to run screaming from his hideous face.

But cheeky David isn’t intimidated, and despite himself, Alun is drawn to David in a way that can only spell disaster: when fae consort with humans, it never ends well. And if the human has secrets of his own? The disaster might be greater than either of them could ever imagine.

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

I've read a couple of other books from E.J. Russell which I didn't really enjoy, but when I started this book I didn't make the connection because the subject matter was so different. In the end I'm glad I didn't make the connection and get turned off because this book was a lot better than the others I had read. The pacing was a lot better, the characters were more interesting and there was a good level of romance. 

You could tell what was going to happen in a general sense, all these books follow the same pattern, where the 'human' half of the couple discovers that they aren't as human as they thought they were, but in this case I enjoyed how the author did it.

I liked the roster of supernatural characters, but honestly I would have enjoyed it more if they were featured more. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for the other two books in this series. 

Strays (Urban Soul 2) by Garrett Leigh

Work, sleep, work, repeat. Nero’s lonely life suits him just fine until his best friend, Cass, asks him to take on a new apprentice—a beautiful young man who’s never set foot in a professional kitchen. Despite his irritation and his lifelong ability to shut the world out, Nero is mesmerised by the vibrant stray, especially when he learns what drove him to seek sanctuary on Nero’s battered old couch.

Lenny Mitchell is living under a cloud of fear. Pursued by a stalker, he has nowhere left to run until Nero offers him a port in a storm—a job at the hottest restaurant in Shepherd's Bush. Kitchen life proves heady and addictive, and it’s not long before he finds himself falling hard and fast for the man who has taken him in.

Fast-forward a month and a neither man can imagine life without the other, but one thing stands in their way: a lifetime of horrors Nero can’t bring himself to share with Lenny. Or can he? For the first time ever, happiness is there for the taking, and Nero must learn to embrace it before fate steps in and rips it away.

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

This was an example of size without substance. Lots of words, not much actual story/content and what there was, wasn't very interesting. It featured more information about setting up/running a restaurant then the relationship between the MC's. 

There was a lot of mentions of the three guys from the first book in the Urban Soul series, but honestly by the end of the book, I didn't like them enough to want to read it, even if I got it for free.

I hated the name Lenny, something about it just makes me think of a scummy pervert. His story itself was very anti-climatic. The bad guy seemed like he was created just to give the MC's a reason to become attached at the hip, and once that was done he was forgotten about until the end. We never even meet him on screen, and apart from giving Lenny *shudder* a beating, we don't know what he did to his 'other' victims (or how serious the damage was) and we don't get any information on what happened to him. 

Nero on the other had alluded all the way through the book that he had a big bad secret, which in the end wasn't that bad at all. He did something he shouldn't, but for a understandable reason, that lead to a tragic result, and by tragic I mean he went to jail for something the reader wouldn't hate him for.

So to wrap up, lots of words, not much plot, one dimensional characters and hardly any romance. I'm so glad I didn't pay for this.

Black Magic (Black Records 1) by Alexis Blakely

Using her magic to help others is the only way Alex Black knows how to stay out of trouble herself. After years of living on the street and trying to come to terms with the growing ability she had to teach herself to control, she’s happy to have settled into the relatively quiet life of finding lost pets, crafting the odd charm, and helping people deal with annoying fae creatures and spirits.

But when Alex is asked to investigate the gruesome murder of an artifact dealer who’d lost his life trying to protect his latest acquisition, she’s thrown headlong into a world of danger that threatens to cut her career short at every turn. The closer she gets to tracking down the killer, the more dangerous the trail becomes, and the more Alex realizes that terrible things will happen if the true potential of the artifact is ever unleashed.

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

First off, the book cover says author is Mark Feenstra, but if you go to Goodreads only the first book is attributed to him, all three currently released are otherwise attributed to Alexis Blakely. I'm going to assume that after book one he decided to go with a nom de plume, but that doesn't explain the name on the covers. 

As for the book itself, I felt like the pacing was off. From the start to the end, it was go, go, go without giving us (the reader) or Alex a chance to catch our/her breath and that is a pet peeve of mine. I feel like its a bit of a cheap-out, as if the author can't write the downtime part of a story so they simply fill it with action.

While the identity of the killer did surprise me, I think that was more attributed to the lack of information all around. Sooo many ideas and plot points were introduced and nearly none of them were followed through. I would explain but I don't want to give spoilers and honestly I haven't got the time to write them all out, lol. 

I think better pacing was needed and some of the ideas could have been left out to give other more relevant ones a chance to be expanded on and draw the reader in more. 

Dating Ryan Alback by J.E. Birk

Ryan Alback has almost everything he’s ever wanted: a successful acting career, a dog who adores him, great family and friends, and a life outside the closet. The only thing missing is a boyfriend — but Ryan’s been burned by Hollywood relationships before, and he’s not eager to try one again. 

Jason Santos has almost everything he's ever wanted: a fulfilling career teaching middle school, a house in a city he loves, and parents who support him in every way. Too bad he can't seem to forget the ex-boyfriend who rejected his marriage proposal.

When a talk show host launches a dating contest to find Ryan a boyfriend and Jason accidentally wins, neither of them expect anything to come from it. Yet somewhere between a disastrous massage and a mud sinkhole, they both start to wonder if this date could be more than just a public relations stunt. But before they can move into the future, they'll both have to learn to let go of the past.

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

I think i'm stuck in a rut, all the m/m books I've read lately have been meh and this one wasn't any better. Neither the characters or story were engaging. It was your typical guy/guy fall in love / miscommunication leads to break up / they get back together/ happily ever after. 

Lets put it this way, I just finished the book and I can't remember the characters name's nor what they looked like. I don't remember because it was boring.

Agent of Enchantment (Dark Fae FBI 1) by C.N. Crawford

The fae live among us. And one of them is a serial killer.

I thought this would be a simple profiling case. Just another Jack-the-Ripper wannabe, prowling London’s streets, searching for easy kills. I was wrong. This killer is fae, and he’s as elusive as smoke on the wind. But I’m an FBI profiler, and it’s my job to track him down.

It doesn’t matter that one of the main suspects--a lethally alluring fae--is trying to seduce me… or kill me, I’m not sure which. I won’t be stopped, not even when panic roils through the streets of London, or when the police start to suspect me.

As I close in on the killer, I follow him to a magical shadow realm that’s like nothing I ever expected, where I’m hunted like prey. Fine. Bring it on. I’m an FBI Agent. And it turns out I have magical powers of my own. 

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

I can't really point to what was wrong with this book, but it didn't make me go wow that was amazing! when I finished. 

I liked the references to the horrors in London's history, but I felt like there was not enough information to inform/entertain, but too much that it was a distraction from the plot. The writing of the killer annoyed me. If serial killers have patterns, then the killer in this book didn't get the memo, he was all over the place and it made for a bit of a disjointed read. 

In the end, I guess I just didn't really feel a connection with anything. All the references to the streets, landmarks, etc without a map made me confused and annoyed. The characters weren't really likable (a guy sets you up to make you a wanted fugitive, yet you never bring it up when he wants help?!) I did like the introduction to magic, but apart from some small explanations on what the MC could do, we were pretty much left in the dark on what else was out there and what they could do.