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PROMO BLITZ: Mountain Man by Lane Hayes
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NEW RELEASE: Closely Guarded by Jamie Deacon (Excerpt)
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REVIEW: Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs To Die by Greer Stothers
Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs To Die – Greer Stothers
All his life, Sir Cameron has stayed as far away from danger as possible. He is, quite frankly, too handsome to die a violent and pointless death in battle. But when the Church hands down a prophecy to his fellow knights predicting that the only way to defeat their nemesis, the mad sorcerer Merulo, is to kill Cameron, he finds himself in a situation too sticky for even his considerable wiles. Short of ideas, Cameron throws himself on the mercy of the one person who now actually wants him to survive: the mad sorcerer.
Merulo isn’t thrilled to be babysitting a spoilt, attention-seeking knight, but fate has tied them together. And transmogrifying Cameron into a vulture is at least a great source of entertainment. Cameron, meanwhile, is on a voyage of self-discovery. It turns out he’s really, really into surly sorcerers who lock him up and tell him what to do. Who knew?
As a legion of knights surround their stronghold, the sorcerer’s poisonous ambitions draw ever closer to fruition. Cameron is quite invested in not dying, but he finds he’s also invested in Merulo. And sometimes, supporting the sorcerer you care about means taking an interest in their hobbies. Even if that hobby is trying to kill God.
Even if it might get you killed, too.
Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs To Die by Greer Stothers is a post-apocalyptic fantasy about a himbo knight and a villainous sorcerer. The story is told in Sir Cameron’s 1st-person POV with occasional shifts to his former friend, Glenda’s 3rd-person perspective.
According to prophecy, Sir Cameron’s death will bring down Merulo, a notorious sorcerer hell-bent on killing God so the world can revert back to science. Hoping to escape his hunters, Cameron seeks sanctuary with Merulo himself, figuring the sorcerer would protect him. Instead, Merulo turns him into a vulture out of sheer annoyance because Cameron tends to put his foot in his mouth.
However, the more time Cameron spends with the dastardly sorcerer, the more he glimpses unexpected kindness beneath Merulo’s grumpy exterior and he finds himself falling. Bargaining his survival through household chores, Cameron is transformed into a woman and proceeds to seduce the sorcerer, who begrudgingly yields despite his protests. Later, Cameron is reverted back to himself still cheerfully adoring Merulo.
I want to like this more. The writing has that droll Terry Prachett vibe but doesn’t really say anything funny. The opening drags as well and it takes time before the story hits its stride.
The world building isn’t too clear either. It is only later that Merulo explains the lay of the land that I understand this is a medieval dystopian world where religion rules, magic is forbidden, and homophobia is present. The funniest parts are the chapter headings, long, rambling sentences reflecting Cameron’s convoluted thoughts.
Merulo is a very cantakerous skinny old man, highly intelligent, and powerful while Cameron, blond and muscular, is clueless. occasionally perceptive, and decidedly optimistic.The plot is mostly Cameron breaking down Merulo’s walls while Merulo, too aware of the seduction, allows him to do so. There is a fade-to-black BDSM element to their dynamic, where the shamelessly masochistic Cameron is always too eager for his punishments.
The romance shines with a super intense grumpy/sunshine dynamic that’s deceptively tender, highly kinky, and oddly sweet where Merulo calls Cameron a “fucking imbecile” for being too clueless while draining all his magic to save the knight’s life. The old man also shed tears of joy when Cameron confesses the L-word while denying he’s not in love with the knight at the picnic date he arranged for the two of them before he sacrifices his own arm and leg for his nefarious goals.
Later in the story, Merulo reunites with his estranged sister, a robust woman, equally powerful and highly adept at electronics, who roots hard for Merulo’s relationship with Cameron. The rest of the plot follows Cameron’s fellow knights and his former friends hunting him down to fullfill the prophecy.
Merulo’s other long-lost sister enters the fray, determine to stop her brother while also supportive of the sorcerer and the knight’s kinky pursuits. Glenda is attracted to her but nothing comes of it. The climax gives us a rather half-baked sci fi twist, still trying to be Terry Prachett, succeeding okay but I’m still not laughing.
Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs To Die is story of needful deaths, blasphemous dreams, and welcome punishments.While the humor doesn’t hit the spot, the romance is an arrow straight to the kokoro. Overall, an apparently sinful tale of simping for the villain.
Rating:
3 Stars – not exactly setting my world on fire but I liked itSoundtrack: I Need To Die With You
Artist: Creepybrook feat. Home Made Humans
Album:
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APPARENTLY, SIR CAMERON NEEDS TO DIE: Amazon UK | Audiobook
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REVIEW: Always The Villain by Brea Alepou & Skyler Snow
Vitale Brothers: Always The Villain – Brea Alepou & Skyler Snow
Cesare Vitale
Man. Myth. Legend.
Or at least that’s how the world views me.
They’re not wrong; I would give anything to take back my throne. To have power again. Even if it means breaking all of my already weak familial ties.
Until I meet the one man that makes me pause.
Raphael is everything I have never wanted to admit I crave. Someone who sees the monster and still wants me just the same. But there’s more to Raphael than meets the eye. Can he be trusted?
In the midst of Vitale chaos I’m forced to ask myself something I’ve never doubted before. What’s more important?
Power? Or love?
Book 6 in the Vitale Brothers series. This will be the final book.
Does Daddy Vitale really need a redemption story?
Vitale Brothers is a dark mafia romance series by writer duo Brea Alepou and Skylar Snow. The series follows the brothers as they navigate love and crime. The family is led by the eldest Benito (Say I Do) who has the unenviable job keeping his chaotic half-brothers, Gin (Paid In Full) and his twin Paolo (Never Say Never), Enzo (Take Me Apart), and Blake (End It All) in line.
Always The Villain is the final book starring the infamous Cesare Vitale, whom we all know is a deadbeat bastard out to oust Benito from power. All the brothers except Blake hate the old man, the youngest Vitale having fonder childhood memories of his father and so still wants a reconciliation.
Much younger at 26 to Cesare’s 54, Raphael is so dangerously obsessed with Cesare, he became a sex worker just to ensnare the man. When he has him in his clutches, he sinks his claws deep and doesn’t let go, the goal being to make Cesare dependent on him. As the story progresses, we learn why.
Apart from his obsession, there’s not much to Raphael. It is shown he likes revealing clothes and dresses similarly to Harlow. But where Harlow is fiery and feral, Raphael is hollow, his threats no bite at all. It’s not lost that father and son have similar love interests, a nod to apples not falling far from trees but if Benito and Harlow had nuclear-level heat, Cesare and Raphael are a wet rag.
Sure, the plot is mostly rough sex, humiliation kink, and dirty talk, but that’s all there is. I don’t feel a genuine spark. Their connection reads more like Raphael servicing a client, especially with Cesare calling him “whore” all the time.
Cesare has no appeal either. I’m not expecting him to suddenly turn into a new leaf just because he caught feels. Heck, his sons didn’t miraculously turn into saints either. It’s just that I don’t feel his feels. I’m not remotely convince he’s going monogamous just because he likes dick now. He is also given a sob story and a kitten but no, those are not enough to redeem the old man.
So this is a totally unecessary book. That Cesare’s sins are handwaved that easily is anti-climactic and lazy. However, him returning to the bossom of the family leads to full-on Vitale mayhem which I enjoy. The best parts of the book are the brothers and it’s worth the slog just to read their scenes.
Always The Villain is a story of power, lust, and obsession. A futile attempt to redeem a bastard and a meh romance that fails to ignite, overall, never mind this Vitale.
Rating:
2.5 Stars – far from hate but not quite a likeSoundtrack: Always The Villain
Album: Michael Grant & The Assassins
Artist: Always The VillainVitale Brothers is an all-time favorite series and I agree with some readers that it should have ended with the glorious Paolo reveal in Never Say Never. It’s best to read the books in order, starting with the intense Enzo possessiveness in Take Me Apart, the hilarious Gin shenanigans in Paid In Full, the fiery Benito bloodlust in Say I Do and the take-it-or-leave-it Blake brattiness in End It All.
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ALWAYS THE VILLAIN: Amazon UK | Audiobook
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RELEASE BLITZ: Vile Acts by Crea Reitan
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SERIES REVIEW: The Last Grift, Bait and Switch, & Skin Game (Subtle Deceptions Books 1-3) by Elle Keaton
Subtle Deceptions: The Last Grift by Elle Keaton
It’s road trip time. Semi-retired grifter Gabriel Karne is in deadly trouble. If he gets out of this ‘situation’, he’s leaving everything behind and heading someplace where no one knows his name, or his face. Heartstone Island or bust.
The plan is to collect his inheritance and move right along. No one will need to know his past.
It will be fine. Everything will be fine.Less than 24 hours on the island and Gabe’s made an impression on the locals–possibly not the best. A trespassing citation from an infuriating but compelling forest ranger, and he’s interfered with two local good ol’ boys plans. Not a great way to stay off the radar.
Then, when a local goes missing, Gabe offers to help find him.
Being off his grift is the only explanation as to why Gabe would rather focus on a stranger’s bad luck than his own. But the fact is, he’s always had a soft spot for losers.Jim Rockford’s got nothing on Gabriel Karne.
The Last Grift is the first installment in the Subtle Deceptions series, a small town mystery with romantic elements. The series, part of the Piedras Island and Veiled Intentions universe, is written in the third person and follows the unplanned adventures in the life and love of the disreputable Gabriel Karne.
Rating:
3.5 Stars – that place between like and loveSoundtrack: Grifter’s Grief
Artist: Yard Act
Album: Where’s My Utopia?
Subtle Deceptions: Bait and Switch by Elle Keaton
Gabriel Karne is back
The plan?
Lie low on Heartstone Island and wait for the dumpster fire that is his past life to burn itself out. So far, so good. Until it isn’t.
Gabriel has avoided Ranger Man for days, made a few important repairs to his sailboat, and put a dent in the stack of dime-store mysteries Elton loaned him. Life is at least okay.
Eight days in and his strategy crumbles like a wet cookie.
His ex-partner-in-crime returns, but this time he is very dead. And wearing a baby blue tracksuit, which somehow makes his murder even worse.
Is his body a message from the crime family they mutually pissed off? Did Peter have connections to Heartstone? And if he didn’t, how the hell did he know he’d find Gabe there?
With yet another exceedingly ill-timed murder, Gabe’s luck is once again not the Good Kind. Then there’s his simmering attraction to Casey, which he’s actively sweeping underneath his mental throw rug. Lundin is definitely not Gabe’s type. He’s a walking-talking moral compass that never seems to cease pointing out everything he’s sure is wrong about Gabe. But damn, that man’s uniform fits him like a custom glove.
Adding to it all, snow is in the forecast, there’s a missing brush worker up the valley, and Calvin Perkins is still on the loose. Gabe’s not even going to think about the spiders.
Everything will be fine. FINE.
Bait and Switch is book two in the Subtle Deception series.
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Make The Weather
Artist: The Waitresses
Album: Bruiseology
Subtle Deceptions: Skin Game by Elle Keaton
Gabriel Karne is cautiously optimistic. Life seems to be settling down into a nice even keel.
It’s a new year and the former con artist has a permanent-for-now address. Even Keith-the-cat seems to like it there. No more rickety sailboats and living out of go-bags for Gabriel Karne. No surprises. No dead bodies.
Romance-wise, he and Ranger Man are easing into being a couple. A lifetime of habits is hard to break for both of them but they’re getting there.
Gabe even has a job. Will he regret agreeing to it? Probably but it’s almost legal, so baby steps.
Then a strange young woman claiming to be his long-lost daughter appears on his new doorstep, and she has some sketchy documentation to prove it. It’s not impossible, but Gabe wasn’t born yesterday, and Heidi Karne was his mother, after all.
And another damn letter—this one from a stranger—shows up. The author claims to be a friend of Heidi’s and to have some of his late mother’s belongings. Just great.It’s pretty clear that the past isn’t done with him yet.
It will be fine. Everything will be fine.
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Skin In The Game
Artist: Backroad Raised
Album: Skin In The Game
Subtle Deceptions is another series in Elle Keaton‘s interconnected world set in the US Pacific Northwest archipelago. It follows semi-retired con man Gabriel Karne as he leaves his past behind and starts over at Heartstone Island.
The Last Grift is Gabe newly arrived at Heartstone Island to claim his inheritance, a rusty, barely livable boat called Golden Ticket. He immediately clashes with grumpy forest ranger Casey Lundin who turns out to be his pier neighbor. He also meets his late mother’s old friend, the spritely octogenarian Elton, who becomes a father figure to him and Casey.
Gabe’s sordid past seems to catch up to him when a dead body is discovered and he is the top suspect. It didn’t help that he has strained ties with the deputy and his reluctant favorite Ranger Man.
Bait and Switch has Gabe’s ex and fellow con man showing up on his doorstep only to end up dead. Gabe is afraid that the crime family he’s hiding from finally finds him. Also, more missing people that Gabe can’t help but insert himself in the investigation because of his do-gooding tendencies. Meanwhile, Casey is slowly falling under the spell of Charming Fucker who is wooing him with ice cream and persistence.
Skin Game has a young woman claiming to be Gabe’s daughter. But you cannot con a con man and so he rejects her only for the girl to turn up dead. Gabe also recieves a letter asking him to claim his mother’s things and Heidi Karne’s cryptic diaries gives him more questions than answers.
The books should be read in order, each ending in cliffhangers and HFNs. While we also get Casey’s POV, this is firmly a Gabe-driven series. The first book was too slow, with only hints of attraction and mainly antagonistic interactions. The first half is spent setting things up with the second finally getting the plot moving.
But just like Casey, Gabe slowly but surely worms his way to everyone’s hearts and before I know it, this has become a comfort series for me. I loved the idea of a semi-reformed con-man using his grifting powers for good and of course he just has to fall for an LEO.
Gabe was trained in the game by his enigmatic mother. Her presence is so strong that even after death, Gabe hears her in his head reacting to different situations he’s in. Heidi has a way of succintly putting things in persective that punctuates a scene. She is one of the major mysteries in the series, Gabe hardly knowing anything about her that’s not part of a con.
At 44, Gabe might be a seasoned grifter but at heart, he’s a serial do-gooder who operates in grey areas. He has an easy-going, naturally chatty personality that makes people warm up to him. The 30-something Casey, prepared to hate his guts, ends up begrudgingly charmed dubbing him “Charming Fucker”. Tickles me pink everytime he calls Gabe “Charming” and Gabe calls him “Ranger Man”
The succeeding books hit their stride, the romance sparks, Gabe integrates into in town life, and Casey’s brother returns. Elton quickly becomes my favorite character, the formidable old man is protective and sharp, his found family dynamic with Casey and Gabe the beating heart of the series.
The writing is immersive and atmospheric. The plot is slice-of-life mystery, light on the action with mostly Casey and Gabe going about their days. There might be dead bodies, missing people, corrupt cops, petty criminals, and an oft-mention crime family haunting Gabe’s conscience yet the vibe feels cozy to me.
The Delacombes make their appearance when it was revealed Gabe is half brother to Shay (West Coast Forensics) and Niall Hamarsson (Veiled Intentions). WCF is also involved in the investigation of one case. It’s not necessary to read the other series but they’re worth a try. I always enjoy how the author makes the world of Piedras Island come alive.
Subtle Deceptions is an ongoing saga of fresh starts, irresistable charms and inescapable legacies. Slow-paced, and slow-burn, overall, deceptively cozy, subtly compelling, and ultimately comforting.
If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of The Last Grift, Bait and Switch, and Skin Game. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.
THE LAST GRIFT: Amazon UK | Audiobook
BAIT AND SWITCH: Amazon UK | Audiobook
SKIN GAME: Amazon UK | AudiobookIf 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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REVIEW: Godless by L. Eveland
The Ferrymen: Godless – L. Eveland
His bite marked me. His kiss ruined me. His return damned me.
LORENZO
I was built to kill—flawless, heartless, and loyal only to the man who made me. Now he’s my next target.
When a rare Judas Coin forces me to hunt Dionysus, I need his son: Rafael. A fallen priest I marked with my teeth years ago.
I don’t need a partner. I don’t need a conscience. But I’m stuck with both. And every moment we spend together reminds me what it feels like to want something I was never meant to have.
RAFAEL
I was damned the moment he touched me.
Now he’s back with blood on his hands and a contract on my father’s head.
I should run. Pray. Turn him in.
Instead, I’m hiding him in church basements, watching him bleed for me. Kill for me.
Lorenzo is temptation wrapped in violence, a sinner sculpted in scars.
And the more I fall, the further I drift from the God I once served.
If redemption is still possible, I’ll find it in him—or burn beside him trying.
GODLESS is a dark, high-heat MM romance about assassins, fallen priests, and what happens when the devil you fear becomes the only one who makes you feel alive.
Godless by L. Eveland, the second book in The Ferrymen series, expands its John Wick–style world of assassins steeped in Greek mythology. This time, the story follows Lorenzo, Luca’s best friend from Ruthless.
Once a feral child muzzled like an animal, Lorenzo was bought and trained by the South American Director Dionysus. His rather memorable childhood encounter with Rafael, Dionysus’s son, resurfaces twenty years later when Lorenzo is ordered to kill a cardinal. Rafael, now a priest, is sent to hunt the assassin, only to discover it’s Lorenzo.
The dying cardinal hands Lorenzo a Judas Coin, binding him to kill whoever ordered the hit, which turned out to be Dionysus himself, the man who raised him. Failure means death, but killing a regional director is equally fatal. Caught between Scylla and Charybdis, Lorenzo must also convince Rafael that the cardinal is tied to child trafficking. Reluctantly, the two join forces, pursued by Pantheon and Vatican agents, as they uncover a high ranking traitor.
When Lorenzo was introduced in Book 1, he was a drag race watching diva with fabulous hair. Here, he barely had time for a beauty regiment while fleeing from safehouse to safehouse with Rafael, Diego, and Jasper. We get glimpses of his playful side, had no qualms seducing a priest, but he’s mostly serious. He seems like a different person, understandable given their dire situation.
Rafael, ooh the good father brought all the angst and the pining, devastating and deliciously heart-melting. Not much Catholic guilt, he quickly abandoned his faith when he felt betrayed, a.k.a his mother’s and brother’s untimely deaths, things he was taught were lies and that he was sentenced to death for questioning orders.
He then turned all that intensity into a ferocious obsesession of Lorenzo, the only true thing in his life, discovering a biting kink he’s eager to explore. They were primal and savage that even right out in the middle of a storm they were a nuclear explosion. They didn’t even catch pneumonia. Their transition from enemies to lovers, building the trust, the teamwork and passion was fast but done convincingly,
The villain is as hateful and manipulative as in the first book. I hated that he used eagles for his evil machinations. It might be triggering for some but just know these magnificent birds did not have a happy ending.
The most thrilling part was Rafael and Lorenzo having to survive a labyrinth and defeat the bad guy for Lorenzo’s sentence to be reversed. It was a claustrophic and deadly experience, they were in pitch dark, lost their map and chained together at the ankles. However, it was never explained why the bad guy could somehow see in the dark.
The plot barely lets Rafael, Lorenzo, and their friends rest, moving fast, throwing curveballs, and keeping me intrigued with Pantheon politics. The mysterious head of the Pantheon, Zeus, has yet to make his appearance but his schemes have far-reaching consequences. We might finally see him in the third book.
Godless is a story of betrayal from the highest places and choices between lesser evils. Overall, it delivers an eye-opening mission, an all-consuming truth, and earth-shattering decisions.
Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Godless Soul
Artist: Sad Lovers & Giants
Album: HeadlandP.S.
The Ferrymen books is best read in order.
Witness the Pantheon’s top assassin burn the world for a plant-daddy therapist in Ruthless,
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GODLESS: Amazon UK | Audiobook
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SERIES REVIEW: The Beast Who Bought Me & The Beast Who Broke Me (Clemenza Family Books 1&2) by Leighton Greene
Clemenza Family: The Beast Who Bought Me – Leighton Greene
I used to be a mafia prince. Now I’m marked as prey.
Someone is systematically eliminating my Family bloodline, and I’m the last heir standing.
No money.
No allies.
No way out…except one.An underground auction where the wealthy and the wicked bid on desperate, untouched men like me.
I expect to be sold to a stranger. Used and discarded.
Instead, I’m bought by a man with a two-decades-long vendetta against my dead father. A beast who drops ten million dollars to own me, then drags me home to a prison he built just for me.
He wants vengeance. He wants to break me. But I’m not as easy to break as he expects.
And when danger follows me into his territory, he becomes something I never expected.A protector.
A possessor.
He keeps me safe, even while he keeps me caged.I’m starting to think the most dangerous thing isn’t being owned by him.
It’s wanting him to keep me…
The Beast Who Bought Me is book 1 of an ongoing-couple trilogy and ends on a cliffhanger. Expect dark dealings, obsession, possessiveness, toxic dynamics, and all the red flags. These antiheroes will earn their happily ever after, but they’ll fight hard to get there.
Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Unleash The Rage
Artist: Tash Sultana
Album: Return To Roots
Clemenza Family: The Beast Who Broke Me – Leighton Greene
I escaped the beast who bought me at auction. I thought I could take my throne back alone. I was wrong.
I only have one option left.
Go back to the beast.But this time, I have a muzzle for the monster.
A choke-chain to bring him to heel.
I’ll use him. Control him. Pray that he’ll keep me alive long enough to take what’s mine.But every night I’m under his roof, the line between strategy and surrender gets thinner. And every fight ends the same way: with his hand at my throat and me begging him not to stop.
He bought me.
He chained me.
He’s still the only thing standing between me and whoever wants me dead.Losing him would end me.
But letting him break me might be worse.The Beast Who Broke Me is book 2 of a dark MM romance trilogy following the same couple and ends on a cliffhanger. Expect captivity, obsession, possessiveness, toxic dynamics, and all the red flags. These antiheroes will earn their happily ever after, but they’ll have to fight hard to get there.
Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Unbreakable
Artist: MIYAVI
Album: WHAT’S MY NAME?
Clemenza Family by Leighton Greene is a mafia romance trilogy set in the interconnected NYC organized crime world. Born from the fallout of the Morelli Family series, where Luca Di Amato killed the Clemenza Don and rose to lead the Commission, this follows the last surviving heir, Caligula Clemenza (love the name).
The Beast Who Bought Me opens with Caligula, on the run with killers hot on his heels after the rest of his family was killed. Penniless and desperate, he offers himself up at auction for protection and to everyone’s shock, Damiano Orsino, the Giuliano enforcer outbid everyone with a staggering $10 million.
Unknown to Cal, Damiano has been bidding his time to get his hands on the son of the man who killed his father. Expecting the worst, Cal’s Clemenza pride made him defiant, determined to get the upper hand on his owner, until his one-year contract is up.
The Beast Who Broke Me picks up after Cal escaped and ran into unlikely allies and the remaining Clemenza loyalists who crown him the new Don. His relationship with Damiano grows dangerously complicated, the Giuliano is the only one who can protect him, yet the irresistable pull toward each other blurs the line between hate and desire.
I loved that we get the perspective of one of the Families affected by the upheavals in the NYC Commission. Cal, grandson of the feared Don Louis, is haunted by the spectre of the old man. He’s a 21-year old virgin born with a silver spoon whose sexuality the old don scorned. Canny and manipulative, he discovers he shares more with his infamous grandfather, wielding seduction and steel alike.
Damiano is massive, tattooed, and hella determined to exact his revenge. Like a serial killer collecting trophies, he obssessively gathered pieces of the Clemenzas, with Caligula Clemenza the piece de resistance of that collection.
He will risk everything to protect that precious piece even as the aristocratic Cal pushes all his buttons. Dami who came from humbler origins and had built himself up still felt inadequate in the face of Cal’s innate hauteur that spoke of old money and privilege even in collar and leash.
Damiano is more bark than bite. There’s the build up of omininous pronouncements, promises of unspeakable tortures, and a contract whose implications made me sick to my stomach, but when it’s time for fangs to come out, Damiano holds himself back.
Dami and Cal’s connection is built upon a twisted blend of obsession, possession and revenge. A riff on the Beauty and the Beast trope, if Beauty is a viper and the Beast is a grizzly, it is a game of who breaks who. While the hatefucks are not exactly nuclear, the lust is explosive, the feels a slow-burning simmer spreading across two installments. They’re still not officially a couple at the end of the second book but by this time, the bond is unbreakable.
Dami’s found family of Rosa, Sammy, and Vito shows a softer side to the hard man and Cal uses that to his advantage, although he is also protective of them, especially Sammy, a victim of Clemenza hate crime. The ending of Book 2 had me worried about their fates.
The plot blends mafia politics with captive romance, excelling at both. The pacing is deliberate but the prose is compelling, capturing the delicious swirl of antagonism, danger and want with twists that kept me hooked.
I did not expect the books to end in cliffhangers so best to wait for the series to be completed if cliffhangers are not your thing. I also recommend audiobooking this, Michael Ferraiuolo knocked it out of the park as usual. It’s also best to read Morelli Family first, the events there resulted in Cal’s predicament here.
Clemenza Family is the ongoing saga of the fate of the last Clemenza. Shamelessly devious, ruthlessly single-minded, overall, a captivating tale of survival and obsession.
P.S.
Clemenza Family must be read in order. Also, I recommend picking up the Morelli Family first because who doesn’t melt a little everytime Luca calls Finch baby bird. Michael Ferraiuolo is narrating this too so best consumed as audiobook.
If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of The Beast Who Bought Me & The Beast Who Broke Me. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.
THE BEAST WHO BOUGHT ME: Amazon UK | Audiobook
THE BEAST WHO BROKE ME: Amazon UK | AudiobookIf 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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RELEASE BLITZ: Be My Ruin by Davidson King
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REVIEW: Bright Dead Things by Hailey Turner
Bitter Legacies: Bright Dead Things – Hailey Turner
If the forest stares back at you, you’re already prey.
Bran Gallagher grew up with three rules passed down through his coven: beware forest paths that lead to dangerous mounds, always keep iron close, and never speak of magic.
Cillian Dunne grew up with his mother’s love, his father’s absence, and secret warnings to never trust a witch.
In Pelham’s forest, where bright lights haunt the trees and hunt the lost, there are traditions kept for survival and others out of habit, none of which should be broken.
Bran and Cillian unknowingly broke tradition and ruined each other in the aftermath of a kiss years ago. Reunited in the wake of a family tragedy, they cross paths with something old, something terrifying—something that wants them dead. When Bran’s younger sister is stolen away by a nightmare into the Otherworld, they can only follow and try to keep each other alive in a strange and haunting land.
Trapped in a dangerous Fae Court, Bran learns being a witch comes with a death sentence. To save him, Cillian must fight against those who seek power from a past he has no memory of, and the only person he can trust is the witch who broke his heart.
But it might be too late.
For the Fae have never been kind, and they have always hungered, and this time, what they hunger for is revenge.
Bright Dead Things is the first book of Bitter Legacies, a fantasy series by Hailey Turner, bringing us into the chilling world of witches and fae.
The story begins with two deaths and a missing girl, Aisling Gallagher, sister to Bran, a Pelham witch now living in Boston and childhood friend of forest ranger Cillian Dunne. Estranged since Cillian rejected Bran’s kiss as a teen, the two are reluctantly reunited when Aisling disappears.
Forced to work together, they uncover dark truths in the Otherworld, where fae seek to destroy witches. Bran sacrifices himself to protect Cillian, who in turn discovers a secret that could destroy them both. And they have yet to find Aisling.
Bran, inheriting his mother’s mantle after her murder, is the last witch of his coven. He must guard the forest against grotesque fae-born monsters that lure mortals with lights. The warning often repeated in Pelham is stay away from the lights. These creatures haunt the Weirding, the shifting boundary between human lands and the Otherworld.
I loved the concept of these monsters. They are insidious creations of the fae, heartless predators feeding on mortals. The fae themselves are divided into four seasonal courts, with Summer and Winter at odds with each other. Their elemental magic contrasts with witches’ sigils and witchmarks. The witches are overseen by the Council.
The feud between witches and fae goes back centuries with the fae claiming Pelham forest as their former homeland and the witches keeping them at bay. In the Otherworld, Cillian and Bran experiences the atrocities of the fae. I think in the second book, we’ll see how cold witches can be when the Council makes their demands of Bran.
Trust is a major theme here, Bran was taught never to trust fae, while Cillian was warned against witches. He repeatedly distrusts his supposed allies, thinking only of protecting Bran and Aisling. As things became more dangerous, they learn to rely on each other again.
Their bond is tender and I loved how they became each other’s rock. Bran nearly sacrifices his identity to keep Cillian alive, while Cillian didn’t even think twice to abandon his legacy to remain with Bran and Aisling. They have the makings of a cozy boyfriends dynamic if their world weren’t so perilous.
The part where they were held prisoner by a fae lord gave me mixed feelings. While it’s admirable Bran would do anything to protect Cillian, I felt he capitulated too quickly to the fae lord’s demands. I didn’t feel the threat the fae posed, he just repeated the same one again and again and I thought Bran could have stood his ground more firmly.
Compared to the author’s other books, this is not as action-packed as I would have liked. The action scenes are far in between but they were still fantastic displays of magic. I thought the witchmarks were cool and Aisling’s big reveal was spectacular!
The vibe is wonderfully eerie evoking the desperation of being lost in endless woods. However, the sluggish pacing made the writing feel heavy. I suggest audiobooking this because Gary Furlong’s compelling narration saved this book for me. TBH, I’m not looking forward to experiencing this slowness again in the sequel.
Bright Dead Things is a story of family secrets, ancient feuds, and unlikely alliances. Atmospheric, twisty if slow-paced, overall it’s a dark and deadly unraveling of eldritich lights, secret identities, and the elusive hold of trust.
Rating:
3.5 Stars – that place between like and loveSoundtrack: Trick Of The Light
Artist: Charming Disaster
Album: The Double
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