Iron & Velvet

      

Title: Iron & Velvet

Series: Kate Kane, Paranormal Investigator #1

Author: Alexis Hall

Publisher: Carina Press, October 7, 2019

Pages: 258

Genre: LGBT Romantasy

I like my women like I like my whiskey: more than is good for me.

Name’s Kane, Kate Kane. I’m a paranormal private investigator, which is like a normal private investigator except—and stop me if you’re having trouble following this—more paranormal. This business comes with a few basic rules: don’t start drinking before noon, don’t get your partner killed, don’t sleep with the woman who killed him.

Last year I broke all of them.

The only rule I didn’t break was the one that said don’t work for vampires. But then a dead werewolf showed up outside the Soho shag palace of Julian Saint-Germain—a bloodsucking flibbertigibbet who’s spent the last eight centuries presiding over an ever-growing empire of booze, sex and hemoglobin. 

I shouldn’t have taken the job. The last thing I needed was to get caught in a supernatural smackdown between a werewolf pack and a vampire prince. Even if the vampire prince was dangerously my type. But what can I say? I was broke, I’m a sucker for a pretty face and I gave up on making good decisions a long time ago.

What a delightful start to a series. Well, maybe not delightful. Quite a lot of fighting really. But very fun all the same.

Kate Kane is a wreck. But like a hot wreck. A powerful, hot queer wreck of a paranormal investigator. She's funny and massively flawed and I am very looking forward to seeing how things go for her. 

This book did a great job of being really interesting on its own, and making me want to know what's going to happen next. The world building was doled out in a bit of exposition, but because she's an investigator it was acceptable and made sense. There was also a good bit of information about things that happened before, almost enough that I could do with a prequel, and it kind of makes me wonder if this is maybe a spin off series and I haven't realized it yet. If so, I'd read those too. 

Ratings

Stars: 4/5

Spice: 2/5

Guava Flavored Lies

             

Title: Guava Flavored Lies

Author: J.J. Arias

Publisher: June 17, 2022

Pages: 304

Genre: LGBT Contemporary Romance

Sylvie Campos and Lauren Machado have hated each other since before they were born. For generations, the Campos and Machado families have blamed each other for stealing pastry recipes they claim their great-grandfathers originated before fleeing Castro’s Cuba.

Having spent their lives as rivals, Lauren and Sylvie are now in their early thirties and primed to take over their respective family bakeries. That means working long, hot, seasons of outdoor food festivals where they are forced to endure each other - albeit with a lot of bantering and barb-trading. After all, no one knows how to get under Sylvie’s skin like Lauren.

Sick of dealing with Lauren and her thieving family, Sylvie sets out to unmask the Machados for the traitors they are.

But when the truth is not what Sylvie expects, will the fiery exchanges between her and Lauren turn into something hot enough to melt away generational baggage? Could they get the chance to rekindle what they almost had in high school?

Sapphic Romeo and Juliet with Cuban flare set in Miami?! If that's what you're looking for, this is definitely it. If you really like baked goods, count this as your trigger warning. I wanted every single bit of food discussed in this dang book. And considering both of these women are inheriting Cuban bakeries, there is a LOT of food discussed. 

Ratings

Stars: 3/5

Spice: 2/5

King of Flames

            

Title: King of Flames

Series: The Masks of Under #1

Author: Kathryn Ann Kingsley

Publisher: Tantor Audio, December 31, 2019

Pages: 256

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Everything about my life has been pretty normal working as a forensic autopsy technician. Until the day I woke up with a mysterious symbol tattooed on my arm. 

Suddenly normal no longer existed. The barrier between Earth and a world called Under, dissolved.... 

Now I'm trapped with dozens of other people. Held prisoner by the creators of myths and legends, where the realm is ruled by two masked kings who want to turn us into creatures like them. 

But even though I didn't choose to be here, this new world manages to pull me deeper, affecting me differently than other humans. Unfortunately, King Edu, also known as the King of Flames, notices this and I'm now considered a threat. 

If I want to survive King Edu and the dangers of Under, I need to escape. The only problem is, there's another masked king who seems to have an interest in me. Aon, the King of Shadows, wants me here in this world, and he wants me alive. 

I just need to figure out why.

Sometimes just because something is free doesn't mean you should read it. Even if it sounds like nostalgic catnip. Which this did. And it was fine, but not perfect. I don't think I'll read book 2 though.

Ratings

Stars: 2/5

The Night & its Moon

           

Title: The Night and Its Moon

Series: The Night and Its Moon #1

Author: Piper CJ

Publisher: Bloom Books, September 20, 2022

Pages: 451

Genre: LGBT Romantasy

Two orphans grow into powerful young women as they face countless threats to find their way back to each other...

Farleigh is just an orphanage–at least, that's what the church would have the people believe. But beautiful orphans Nox and fae-touched Amaris know better. They are commodities for sale, available for purchase by the highest bidder. So when the madame of a notorious brothel in a far-off city offers a king's ransom to purchase Amaris, Nox ends up taking her place—while Amaris is drawn away to the mountains, home of mysterious assassins.

Even as they take up new lives and identities, Nox and Amaris never forget one thing: they will stop at nothing to reunite. But the threat of war looms overhead, and the two are inevitably swept into a conflict between human and fae, magic and mundane. With strange new alliances, untested powers, and a bond that neither time nor distance could possibly break, the fate of the realms lies in the hands of two orphans and the love they hold for each other.

What a beautiful world. A terrible world, but wow is it beautiful. 

The terrible bits are bad. This definitely takes you into the medieval type of fantasy. Which isn't my favorite. Ultimately this book feels like quite a lot of set up for an interesting series. As a standalone, it was good. But ultimately, I'm just really curious what's going to happen in the next book. how will being separated for year sad then reunited under duress impact Nox and Amaris in the longer term? 

But also, Amaris is a badass. Nox is a badass in different ways. And I'm really looking forward to see how they both compliment one another, and I'm really looking forward to a fight. I think they deserve to have a good fight and make up.

Ratings

Stars: 4/5

Spice: 1/5

Get it Right

          

Title: Get it Right

Series: Love at Knockdown #1

Author: Skye Kilaen

Publisher: December 1, 2020

Pages: 126

Genre: Lesbian Romance

A butch lesbian parolee. The pretty pansexual nurse who got away. Is this their second chance at a happily ever after?

Finn is finally out of prison, which is great. Having no job, no car, and no place to sleep except her cousin’s couch? Not so great.

Plus, her felony theft conviction isn’t doing wonders for her employment prospects, so she can’t afford her migraine meds without the public clinic. The last thing she ever expected was for the gal who stole her heart to come walking down that clinic’s hallway: Vivi, the manicure-loving nurse who spent two years fighting the prison system to get proper medical care for her patients, including Finn.

Finn could never believe she imagined the attraction and affection between them. But acting on that in prison, especially as nurse and patient, had been a serious No Way. She’s had eight months to get over Vivi, who abruptly left her job without saying goodbye. Finn is over it. Honest! It’s totally and completely fine.

Except Vivi, here and now, doesn’t seem fine. And Finn couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t try to help.

Is fate offering Finn a second chance? Or is finding love as likely as finding a job with health insurance?

This was pretty cute. I love a message about how people still deserve a chance after jail. It is a novella, so I understand that things need to move quickly. I also get that these two worked together and developed feelings off-page, before this part of their story began. But it was a little too fast for me. They had a lot of miscommunication to work through, but I didn't feel like we got those conversations. But pretty good, all the same!

Ratings

Stars: 3/5

Spice: 1/5

The Assassin's Blade

         

Title: The Assassin's Blade

Series: The Throne of Glass #0.5

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing, March 4, 2014

Pages: 451

Genre: YA Romantasy

Celaena Sardothien is her kingdom's most feared assassin. Though she works for the powerful Assassin's Guild and its scheming master, Arobynn Hamel, she yields to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. But when Arobynn dispatches her on missions that take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, Celaena finds herself acting independently of his wishes and questioning her own allegiance.

If she hopes to escape Arobynn's clutches, Celaena will have to put her faith in her wits and her blade . . . knowing that if she fails, she'll lose not just a chance at freedom but her life.

This took me three tries to get through the whole thing. It's good, but I think I would have been move invested if I had read more of the main series first. 

Celaena is great, I really like her voice. Kind of a shocking amount really for a female main character. All of these glimpses into her life made her even more likable. Don't get me wrong. She's far from perfect. But she is very likable. 

And what this has done has made me really excited to reread Throne of Glass and to finally get into the rest of the series.

Ratings

Stars: 3/5

Bromantic Puckboy

                                             

Title: Bromantic Puckboy

Series: Puckboys #6

Author: Eden Finley & Saxon James

Published: April 18, 2024

Pages: 274

Genre: LGBTQ Hockey Romance

Bilson 

The idea of moving away from Seattle was a joke at first. 

I have too many failed relationships here. Too much baggage. 

So when I find myself signing with Nashville and leaving everything behind, I’m hopeful a new start will cure me of my attachment problems. 

I fall fast and hard, and I’m quickly realizing it’s not so easy to escape my emotional damage. That follows no matter where I go. 

When my new teammate, rookie goalie Miles Olsen, attaches himself to my side, the media are excited to exploit our bromance. Little do they know, he’s doing me a favor by keeping me away from making mistakes with women.

That’s the deal we made at the beginning of the season, but as time goes on, and we’re both going through a dry spell, Miles suggests a different arrangement. One I’ve never contemplated. One I shouldn’t consider.

One I can’t stop thinking about.

Miles

My first day as starting goalie for Tennessee is made mildly more terrifying by coming face to face with NHL veteran Cody Bilson. Hero worship? Me? Never!

He reminds me of my old frat buddies; loyal, kind, easy to trade banter with. But my dude is lost and trying to find himself again--without getting married this time. 

I want to help him, and while my suggestion might not be conventional, it sure as hell is effective. The only way to make sure he doesn't marry a woman again? Blow off steam with a man instead. 

We're both straight, we're both single, and we're both down for a good time. 

After all, what are teammates for?

Most of the puck boys are gym bros. I mean, they're professional athletes right? But these two take the gym bro cake. Which is probably gross but absolutely JAM PACKED with protein. 

Cody Bilson is quick to fall in love. He knows that getting physical is the first step on the path to a quick marriage and then another divorce. So clearly he's not going to be getting physical with any women anytime soon. And Miles is the rookie goalie on Bilson's new team. Bilson needed to get away from those many exes that he has in Seattle. 

So what do you do when you know that you can't hook up with a new woman or you'll propose marriage, and you're so sick of your hand you might not even get off next time you try. You start a bromance with the rookie goalie, and you both agree to some mutually beneficial satisfaction. You couldn't possibly be tempted to propose to the goalie of your brand new team. Right? Right?!

I loved it! Obviously. And I'm only grateful for every bit of fiction these ladies wish to write for us about these lads!

Ratings

Stars: 4/5

Spice: 3/5