Fallen Flame (Fallen Flame 1) by J.M. Miller

Nineteen years ago, on the island kingdom of Garlin, a girl was born. With charred skin as rough as rock, Vala was instantly feared. For how could one be scorched by magic when it had perished ages before?
Recognizing an asset, the royal family welcomed her on their Guard. Her detail: the prince.
To watch. To protect. She has grown with him, lives her life for him. 
When the high kingdom’s princess comes to assess the prince, assassins of rival courtiers come to claim his life. One nearly succeeds in his mission. But with shadowy movements and charred skin like her own, Vala knows he is not like the rest.
As threats to the prince continue and questions about Vala’s life begin to rise, she faces a fear worse than fire or water, worse even than losing him. 

She fears finding out who she truly is.

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

A very slow, very basic story, almost came across as childish. The first half of the book was a constant repeat of the same things and the same details without actually telling us anything. I didn't really know anything about the world, it's rules, etc even by the end. I'm really surprised this didn't end up on the DNF pile, it was so boring and repetitive I found myself constantly losing interest. In hindsight I wish I had of quit. 

The characters were not fleshed out, the Prince was a prick, and the rest of the characters weren't much better. The end was rushed, and even though Vala's true nature was revealed, because we had no in-depth background info on the world or it's magic, it was meaningless. I hate authors who create worlds that are that 2-dimensional.

Probably my biggest gripe was personal. I'm a big fan of mythology so to have this book present a 3 goddess rule made up of two different cultures drive me nuts! Herja the guardian of the fae, is a Valkyrie from Norse mythology, Verdandi the guardian of witches, is the Norn of present, one of the fates who guards the world tree, also from Norse mythology; however Alesrah, the guardian of humans is a phoenix?! Why couldn't the author find another Norse inspiration? Also I think they are majorly stretching themselves going for a fae/witch/human balance. I just feel like they haven't got the skill to incorporate that many elements successfully.

Bring the Heat (Dragon Kin 9) by G.A. Aiken

HE SAYS . . .
I, Aidan the Divine, am . . . well, divine. My name was given to me by the Dragon Queen herself! I’m a delight! Cheerful. Charming. And a mighty warrior who is extremely handsome, with a very large and well-hidden hoard of gold. I am also royal-born, despite the fact that most in my family are horrendous beings who don’t deserve to live. And yet, Branwen the Awful—a low-born, no less—either tells me to shut up or, worse, ignores me completely.

SHE SAYS . . .

I’ll admit, I ignore Aidan the Divine because it annoys him. A lot. But we have so much to do right now, I can’t worry about why he keeps staring at me, or why he always sits so close, or why he keeps looking at me like he’s thinking about kissing me. We have our nations to save and no time for such bloody foolishness . . . no matter how good Aidan looks or how long his spiked tail is. Because if we’re going to win this war before it destroys everything we love, we’ll have to face our enemies together, side by side and without distractions. But if we make it out alive, who knows what the future will hold . . .

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

I started this book wondering how I could read this without remembering all the other relationships, but found that this wasn't a problem because relevant relationships were reminded/explained and the rest weren't relevant to the story (only wanted to know thanks to my nitpicking). 

This was a great book, one that finished up the arc of the Zealots and their eyeless god Chramnesind. While on one hand this was good (and welcome), it meant that the main characters Aidan and Branwen quite often took a backseat to the action happening with previous main characters. As such the romance element was really lacking, smothered by cameo's and a side event featuring Annwyl (who BTW I LOVE).

We end the book with an introduction to the new 'bad guy' which really didn't impress me. Why? Because it was so damn obvious! They've been a background threat for books now and I can't believe no one has killed them when they had the chance. 

So while I can't say I'm looking forward to the new villain, I would love the chance for another book or two featuring the old characters such as Annwyl and Dagmar. These guys don't deserve to fade away as secondary characters to minor primary characters, i.e the queen's, daughter's, sister's, brother-in-law's, dog (you know what I mean, lol, stop stretching!). 

The Druid Next Door (Fae out of Water 2) by E.J. Russell

Professor Bryce MacLeod has devoted his entire life to environmentalism. But how effective can he be in saving the planet when he can’t even get his surly neighbor to separate his recycling?

Former Queen’s Enforcer Mal Kendrick doesn’t think his life could get any worse: he’s been exiled from Faerie with a cursed and useless right hand. When he’s not dodging random fae assassins in the Outer World, he’s going toe-to-toe with his tree-hugging neighbor. And when he discovers that the tree-hugger is really a druid, he’s certain the gods have it in for him—after all, there’s always a catch with druids. Then he’s magically shackled to the man and expected to instruct him in Supernatural 101.

All right, now things couldn’t possibly get worse.

Until a mysterious stranger offers a drunken Mal the chance to gain back all he’s lost—for a price. After Mal accepts, he discovers the real catch: an ancient secret that will change his and Bryce’s life forever.

Ah, what the hells. Odds are they won’t survive the week anyway.

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, however I felt like this one was a bit of a miss in the romance department. Not much trust between MC's and if there was better communication, i.e. if Mal had of told Bryce the wording of the curse, then he may have done what I did, and figured it out almost straight away. 

As for the general plot, it was so obvious it was cringe-worthy. None of the secondary characters were likable and I felt like they should just be left to suffer due to their stupidity, I'm looking at you Fae Queen. >_<

I haven't really like any of E.J. Russell's other books except for book one (Cutie and The Beast) and I'm afraid that the next book in the series, Bad Boy's Bard will go further downhill to the point where I don't even bother requesting her books anymore. Fingers crossed.

Brave & Beautiful (Sassy Boyz 3) by Elizabeth Varlet

There’s only one relationship that matters to Tameron "Tam" Kis—his love affair with dance. Life’s been pretty shitty, but dance got him through it and now he’s ready to focus on what he loves. He doesn’t have the bandwidth for any distractions—especially not his sexy, not-quite-straight new neighbor.

Driver Ellis doesn’t need anything but his bike and the open road. He wouldn’t trade his drifter lifestyle for anything…until his friend calls in a favor and Driver suddenly finds himself pet-sitting. Driver isn’t thrilled being stuck in one place, though things start to look up when he sets eyes on the gorgeous girl next door. 

There’s just one problem… She isn’t a girl at all.

All it takes is one spontaneous dance to turn both Driver's and Tam’s worlds upside down. They might not have been looking for love, but as things heat up between them, it’s clear life has very different plans.

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

Lots of self-hating in this book. Probably too much. Yes the relationship between Tam and Driver was sweet, but it took way too long for the story to reach that point. I don't want a book where 99% of it is miscommunication and self-loathing and then 1% of it demonstrates a solid relationship.

As to the overall story line, the Sassy Boyz, this book didn't really add much. All-in-all I felt like this was really a miss with both the personal plot line and the overall series plot. I didn't find myself emotional attached to either main character, in fact as the book went on I found myself becoming frustrated with them.

I'll continue to read the series if I can get future books from netgalley but I can't say I'm invested enough to purchase them. 

The Lonely Merman (Landlocked Heart 1) by Kay Berrisford

It's Friday afternoon, and the last thing Ben wants to be doing is trudging through a wet forest in search of a public hazard. But duty calls, and turns out more exciting than Ben imagined when he encounters a magical ruin, an enchanted pool, and Lyle—a merman who's cursed to be landlocked many miles from the sea.

Lyle is flamboyant and exciting—he's got tentacles, for goodness sake!—and Ben falls hard. But Lyle's been hurt before and finds trust difficult, refusing even to reveal how to break the curse that imprisons him. Ben's just an ordinary guy, and can't help wondering if he can ever be the hero Lyle needs.

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

Story was very thin and non-eventful, however the biggest problem was the characters. They just weren't likable, Lyle especially was whiny, arrogant and irritating. I probably would have just left him there to die, lol. 

This would have been a DNF except it was so short, I ended up just skimming it to read the ending.

Death's Queen by Janeal Falor

Nameless. Unknown. Alone.

An assassin without a name, born to kill. Owned by a vicious man who refuses to call her anything but girl, she is forced to commit atrocious acts of violence. Vowing to take her future into her own hands, the seventeen-year-old decides to risk everything on one act of defiance—drinking from The Death Drink. The beverage kills most whose lips touch it—only allowing those who are destined to be royalty survive the first sip. 

Powerful. Revered. Hunted. 

To the astonishment of the nation of Valcora, she imbibes it and lives, which crowns her queen. Thrown into a life of royal intrigue, she now has a purpose—to rule with the fairness she was never shown. Despite her altruistic plans, it becomes apparent that someone wants her dead. The new queen must use her training from the former life she only wants to forget in order to stay alive long enough to turn her kingdom into something she can be proud of. She’ll hold onto the crown… or die trying.

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My Review:     (Thanks to NetGalley) 

This was a book full of unlikable characters. 

You have a main character who was an assassin who wanted to change her life and those of her class yet she was queen for a couple of weeks and did nothing but change the furniture. She acted like a brat when it came to taking advice, changing things and practicing her supposedly essential magic. She claimed to have impeccable instincts which is the only thing she trusts, yet it was wrong in a major way.

The ending came very much out of left field, made a huge impact, and them wham, the book ended. I would have classified it as a cliffhanger, but you have to have a story to start with to have an ending. This book was a bunch of mysterious innuendo and no plot. There is currently no indication on whether or not this is the first in a series, but if it is, I won't be wasting my time.

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.