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PROMO BLITZ: Cloudy With A Chance Of Bad Decision by Fae Quin
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REVIEW: Covenant by Cora Rose & Lark Taylor
The Firm: Covenant – Cora Rose & Lark Taylor
The Firm can make any wish come true.
Money. A job promotion. Murder.
Whatever you desire can be yours—for a price.The Firm has ruled St. Dismas for generations. To most, they’re just a myth.
But in truth, they are the last resort of the desperate.I never understood why anyone would go to The Firm. There’s always a price to pay—a price you won’t discover until your request has been granted.
It was a path I swore I’d never walk.
Or so I thought.When my brother is gravely injured, everything changes.
I have no choice but to go to The Firm.
I don’t know what they’ll ask of me, but I’ll give anything to save Jackson.
He has his whole life ahead of him, and I’ll make sure he gets to live it.But when my price comes due, it’s nothing like I expected.
Not drug smuggling or murder. Not the darkness I braced myself for.
No, this is worse.My price is to fulfill someone else’s request.
To give them what they asked for.A marriage.
For anyone else, it may seem simple. But not for me.
Because the man I must marry is my worst enemy.
My rival.
The man I once trusted above all others—until he shattered that trust and threw it back in my face.The idea of pretending to be Matthias’s doting husband for a year is my worst nightmare.
But I won’t do it for me.
I’ll do it for Jackson.
For my brother, I’ll pay the price.Even if it means condemning myself.
The Firm is a very, very promising new series by authors Cora Rose and Lark Taylor, giving us another lovable band of brothers. The Buckingham brothers are billionaires, gorgeous, memorable, and neck-deep in secrets and danger. Insta-faves!
Covenant opens the series with a second chance, arranged marriage romance between childhood friends-turned-enemies-to-lovers.
Wyatt Malone came from the trailer park and managed to build himself up as a top lawyer at a prestigious firm, only for everything to come crashing down when his brother, Jackson, was in a near-fatal accident. Barely affording food, much less physical therapy for Jackson, who lost a leg, he was forced to go to The Firm in a desperate bid to provide for his brother.
The Firm, the secret society ruling St. Dismas, grants requests for a price. They are more urban legend than reality for Wyatt, until that fateful day he made a request and they accepted it in exchange for marrying Matthias Buckingham who needs a husband to claim his inheritance.
Wyatt and Matthias were childhood friends looking forward to spending college together when a betrayal almost cost Wyatt his dream of becoming a lawyer. He never forgave Matt and never saw him again until 10 years later, when Matthias brought the firm Wyatt was working for.
The story is in Wyatt’s POV, with a few chapters in Matthias’s. I don’t encounter many stories where the POV is from the person experiencing bisexual awakening and is the top, so it’s a treat to read Wyatt’s thoughts. His internal dialogues were repetitive at some points, but the writing kept me hooked from start to finish.
As much as I enjoyed the story, I have to admit but as it progressed, we see Wyatt being spectacularly naive and whiney and Matthias’s remarkable selflessness. I low-key thought Wyatt doesn’t deserve Matthias.
The miscommunication trope was somewhat annoying as Matthias clearly wanted to explain his side of the story several times but Wyatt wasn’t ready to listen. I get he hates Matthias for what he thought his childhood friend had done, and being forced to be his husband is a punishment. But is it really?
Meanwhile, our boy Matthias is feeding the underfed Wyatt the most delicious food his chef concocts, housing him in the most sumptuous room, whisking him to a tropical island paradise, a.k.a. spoiling the heck out of the bratty Wyatt, and didn’t even require him to consummate the marriage. Just pretend to be a doting husband for a year.
My low-key thoughts became high-key annoyance at Wyatt when I learned that’s not all Matt was doing for him. Since the beginning, Matt was deeply in love with the oblivious Wyatt and had quietly taken care of him, even sacrificing his soul to the devil, a.k.a. his evil dad, to save his friend, who again had no clue. So I was incredibly pissed at the third arc break-up scene where Wyatt demanded Matt fight harder for them.
The way Matthias’s POV comes in flashbacks makes his connection to Wyatt even more compelling and heightens the mysterious way they fell apart and Matt’s return to Wyatt’s life. Matt’s perspective is angsty and heartbreaking, his loyalty to Wyatt unbreakable, and it made me root so hard for him!
Matt gave Wyatt everything he could, but I think it’s Matt who deserved the world.
Meh at Wyatt aside, his chemistry with Matt is undeniable. From the beginning, their interactions were positively electric, and watching them fall in love was a joy. It even made me forget there was a shoe waiting to drop. When it did, it exploded like a bomb!
The last chapters whiplashed from one shocking reveal after another. Keeping details to a minimum because finding out is the most fun part. That and the tear-jerking groveling from Wyatt tied everything into one hell of an emotional rollercoaster conclusion and the hard-earned happy ending the boys deserve.
Overall, Covenant is a poignant story of friendship, sacrifice, second chances, and awakening, beautifully weaving beloved tropes into a moving narrative, that even with a flawed MC, it’s worth the price!
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Dare
Artist: The Mary Onettes
Album: IslandsP.S.
Oooh, the Buckinghams! These boys made my day!
Wylder – the eldest and so very serious. He talked the least and intrigued me the most
Cade – the psychopath. His book is next and the epilogue in Covenant teases us with his pretty twink love interest.
Samson -the grump so I’d love to see him get soft for a sunshiney love interest
Matthias – arrogant, also serious, but really a self-sacrificing cinnamon roll
Dalton – klepto and pervy. He’s a fun character who loves pushing Matty’s buttons
Harley – the spoiled and coddled youngest who’s thirsting after Matty’s chef
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If you like my content, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi or PayPal. Your donations will help keep this website going. Thank you so much!
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NEW RELEASE: The Way Alex Sees Me by Dann Hazel (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Zeno by Gene Gant (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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REVIEW: A Sea of Endless Light by Chani Lynn Feener
A Sea of Endless Light – Chani Lynn Feener
Fox Axford has been tasked with capturing a feared thief who has been terrorizing the Hild Empire, not flirt with the impassive captain he’s been unlikely paired with.
When Fox is assigned to the Hild case by the Intergalactic Police Force, he doesn’t anticipate it taking very long. He’s known for his wits and charm and is confident enough in his abilities to have this thing solved and closed before the week is through. Except, he didn’t account for how distracting working with Captain Jiro Arc was going to be.
Jiro Arc has a secret he’s been keeping all his life, one that he’s never wanted to share with anyone. Until the day Detective Fox appears.
Having lived quietly climbing the ranks of the Hild Comets, Captain Jiro is used to rebuffing attention with his steely disposition. All of his efforts seem to have the opposite effect on the detective, however, who only seems more and more interested in Jiro and his personal life as time goes on. Their main task is to find the mysterious thief Shilling and bring him to justice, but Jiro has an agenda of his own, one that might ultimately lead to him betraying Fox, whether he likes it or not.
Fox grows even more conflicted after meeting the thief they’re after. Shilling isn’t at all what he expected, and when he finds himself sympathizing with the enemy, Fox is forced to acknowledge that there may be things he doesn’t yet know or understand about the vast universe, and the people living in it.
This book is a standalone featuring one charming detective and the captain he’s set his sights on. It is a slow-burn, forbidden romance with depictions of violence (though mild) and explicit sexual scenes not suitable for all readers. While this book is set in the same universe as A Bright Celestial Sea, it is a complete standalone with an all new cast of characters. You do not have to read both books, but if you choose to they do not have to be read in any particular order since there are no connections between the two.
I’m slowly but surely sinking into the rabbit hole of Chani Lynn Feener‘s immersive universe of Intergalactic Police detectives finding adventure and romance while solving cases and catching criminals.
From last week’s dark offering, Between the Devil and the Sea, this week’s tale features more derring-do, secret identities, and beachside confessions. It also has more sci-fi elements and beautiful aliens. One in particular has fabulous purple hair and unique abilities!
A Sea of Endless Light stars Fox Axford, the top detective of the IPF. He’s the detective who helped Shade and Apollo.
He, his partner, Inspector Nova, and his cousin, Jr Detective Dawon, were tasked to solve a series of thefts in the Hild Empire. Upon landing, he met his liaison officer, the taciturn Captain Jiro Arc, with whom Fox had an instantaneous strong attraction. He was rebuffed, but it didn’t stop Fox from shamelessly flirting any chance he got.
Fox is charming as heck, and as most of the chapters are from his third-person perspective, it’s a fun and wily POV. Cavalier and Han Solo cocky, he’s also very good at his job, having a perfect record. He easily puts people at ease with his mask of nonchalance and has the uncanny ability to read people and predict their next three moves. Of course, he immediately tried to read the enigmatic captain in an effort to win him over.
Jiro’s POV is rarely shown, so he’s mostly a mystery. His attitude was off-putting at first, but he slowly loosened up, and when he started bantering with Fox, we see him shine. He’s the type of guy worth taking time to know and it’s very rewarding to discover the nuances of his personality. He’s gorgeous, especially in uniform, formal, reserved, and also unexpectedly needy. I loved the dynamics of his and Fox’s opposite personalities. The chemistry is a total chef’s kiss!
The Captain is a closed book most of the story, but clues are scattered here and there. The author did her magic spectacularly because even though I figured out Jiro’s secret early on, it was still thrilling to watch Fox piece everything together for the big reveal.
There is a love geometry present. I normally loathe this type of conflict, but the author gave us another fascinating character in Schilling the Thief. The man is beguiling and as shameless a flirt as Fox, if not more. I didn’t expect him and Fox to have such fantastic chemistry!
The romantic development between the three characters was beautifully crafted. I seriously can’t choose between Jiro and Schilling, and to be honest, I don’t want to. I loved them both! So, when the pieces started to click, I was ecstatic with the resolution!
A part of the geometry is Prince Obsidian, who claimed Jiro whether the captain wanted him or not. He’s the possessive type who would cut anyone who’d so much as looks at Jiro, so Fox had to tread carefully. This guy was tagged as bad news early on and he stayed that way till the end. We don’t want him anywhere near our boys.
Nova and Dawon stood out as secondary characters. Nova was the voice of reason when Fox got wilder ideas, and Dawon made me laugh with his tactless comments. Their team had an engaging found family dynamics, and them living in their ship Lagoon with Fox as pilot, reminded me of Han Solo and Chewy in their Millennium Falcon.
Slow burn is the way of things, so it took a few chapters for the story to hit its stride. Things got into high gear when Schilling appeared, and Jiro started warming up to Fox. From that point, I was completely hooked!
The plot seemed like a straightforward case of theft. Then it threw me for a loop when it turned out to be something more insidious. And even with the predictable part I mentioned above, it’s still a very entertaining story. It made me want to hop aboard the Lagoon and tag along with the team!
A Sea of Endless Light is a story of public masks, secret identities, and needful lies. It is a novel take on the Gemini star sign that was executed cleverly and will always be memorable. Overall, it’s a space adventure that captivated me to no end!
Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Endless Light
Artist: O’Brother
Album: Endless Light
If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of A Sea of Endless Light. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.
A SEA OF ENDLESS LIGHT: Kindle | Audiobook
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RELEASE BLITZ: Imry, Avory and Ellory by Crea Reitan
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COVER REVEAL: Finance Bros by August Jones
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RELEASE BLITZ: Mischief Vibes by Ash Marah
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REVIEW: The Gentleman and His Vowsmith by Rebecca Ide
The Gentleman and His Vowsmith by Rebecca Ide
Set in Regency England, The Gentleman and His Vowsmith by Rebecca Ide is a queer historical fantasy of magic, murder, high heat and humour.
Lord Nicholas Monterris, the last remaining heir of a crumbling ducal house, must marry to save his family from complete decline. His father chooses Lady Leaf Serral, eldest daughter of his greatest rival, at which point Nic is sure it can’t get any worse. Until he learns the head negotiator is to be Dashiell sa Vare, an old flame he has neither forgiven nor forgotten, a man their rigid class structure forbids him to love.
Locked in the mouldering grandeur of Monterris Court (a house more haunting manifestation of dynastic ambition and ancestral guilt than home), the first dead body is troubling. The second, a warning that someone doesn’t want the contract to go ahead. But while Nic and his wife-to-be team up to banter their way through a secret murder investigation, it’s Dashiell he can’t stop thinking about. What would be worse? To love and have to let go, or to wholly deny the yearning of one’s heart forever?
Perfect for fans of Freya Marske and Alexis Hall, The Gentleman and His Vowsmith by Rebecca Ide is the perfect blend of gothic and romantic – including a locked room murder mystery, forbidden love and otherworldly automatons.
The Gentleman and His Vowsmith by Rebecca Ide is a blind read that hooked me from the opening chapter till the end. Half of it is due to new-to-me narrator James Langton, whose storyteller voice immediately drew me in, and the author’s engaging writing style that kept me riveted.
The plot is part romance, part fantasy, and mostly murder mystery, weaving together family drama, bad blood, dark secrets, and vengeful ghosts.
The story is in Lord Nicholas Monterris’s third-person POV. Nic, being the sole heir of a dukedom on the brink of bankruptcy, is about to be contracted to marry Lady Leaf Serral of the wealthy House Serral.
The two families were bitter rivals, so it was a surprise to Nic his father, the duke, is hell-bent on completing the contract despite the numerous tragedies happening during the negotiations.
My favorite aspect is the world-building. This is set in an alt-Regency world where LGBTQ+ is accepted and people with magic abilities are called Brilliants. They are generally the aristocracy. Everything is governed by contracts and contracts are made by vowsmiths.
Vowsmiths are glorified lawyers with magical abilities. They write the contracts and make them binding by smithing, which is the process of inscribing magical runes. It’s actually as tedious as real-world contracts, but I think this paper-based magic is pretty fabulous!
As much as I liked the world, there are also some low-key steampunk elements that I wished were utilized more. The Regency part was also so subtle, I initially didn’t realize this was set in England.
Brilliance, vowsmithing, and other concepts mentioned, like the Care Clause, could have been expanded more. The Care Clause was invoked but what happened after that was not shown.
The vowsmith hired by the Serral to negotiate on their behalf is none other than Nic’s childhood friend a.k.a. long-time crush, Dashiell sa Vare. Dash was the duke’s former apprentice, the duke being a vowsmith before he inherited the title.
Dash and Nic’s interactions weren’t as frequent as I preferred but I lived for those moments they were together. The chemistry is chef’s kiss! Dash is polite and professional but when he makes passionate declarations, it’s swoony as hell!! And those long looks across the table! Also, buying a whole new wardrobe just to impress Nic.
Meanwhile, Nic has perma heart eyes from the moment Dashiell steps into his house. Dash was the one who got away, so him walking back into Nic’s life…our boy isn’t letting him go again!
While the negotiations are underway, the brilliants are magically obligated to stay within the duke’s residence. And this is where the fun starts, because they cannot leave even with ghosts and dead bodies in their midst.
Rather than Nic, our amateur sleuth turned out to be Leaf. She was the best character, smart, determined, and ambitious, even if her sleuthing skills were just based on detective novels. She quickly became Nic’s best friend, their playful natures and mutual understanding of their predicament bringing them together. She’s also a fantastic aro/ace character.
The murder mystery was very intriguing. It built up my expectations and I was looking forward to being shocked. The big reveal was a bit anti-climatic but Nic’s resolution was clever. The epilogue was the cherry on top!
I love standalones but I hope the author would write another book in this setting, possibly another couple with lots of Dash and Nic cameos. I want more of the vowsmith world!
The Gentleman and His Vowsmith is far from perfect but I had a great time nonetheless. It’s a fun, cozy-ish, hella charming tale with a chockful of dark and drama. Overall, as gothic and romantic as promised!
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Promised You A Miracle
Artist: Simple Minds
Album: New Gold Dream (81,82,83,84)
If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of The Gentleman and His Vowsmith. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.
THE GENTLEMAN AND HIS VOWSMITH: Kindle | Audiobook
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AUDIOBOOK TOUR: The Coven Series by Drako (Excerpt & Giveaway + Guest Post)
