#LGBTGIA contemporary romance

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Review:  The Pairing by Casey McQuiston

Rating: 5🌈 The Pairing is one of my top two books of the year.  A absolute masterpiece of a book, a gastronomical tale and a oenophile’s dream journey that’s a bisexual and nonbinary romance of rediscovery and enduring love set upon the landscape of some of Europe’s most beautiful and ancient cultural heritage sites and tiny restaurants.  There really aren’t enough pages or words to describe…

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Review: Jonathon, After All: Princes Take New York Book 1 by K. Sterling

Rating:  4.25🌈 From K Sterling’s forward: “All the books in this series are meant to be modern adaptations of classic fairy tales with the primary focus on the king of all tropes: Prince Charming. He’s the king for me, at least. And if there is one thing that is consistent with Charming, it’s insta love. He believes in love at first sight and he is often blindly noble. Occasionally, to his and…

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Review:  Hot Shot (The Elmwood Stories Book 5) by Lane Hayes

Rating: 4.5🌈 Hot Shot is the penultimate book in a series I’m extremely fond of. In The Elmwood Stories, Hayes has let her readers enjoy watching a group of men connected by hockey and friendship find their HEA in a town that feels so remarkably real and vibrant that’s is as much a draw as the storylines.  Hot Shot is Denny Mellon, a man we met as a troubled teenager under his Gran’s care in…

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Review:  Playing the Man (Watkins Glen Gladiators Book 6) by V. L. Locey

Rating: 4.5🌈 V. L. Locey’s Watkins Glen Gladiators series is such a special warmhearted group of stories and characters.  Locey’s gift of being able to bring a fully immersive universe such as the Watkins Glen Gladiators AHL team to life, then fill it up with characters that a reader will find endlessly fascinating, entertaining (looking at you,Greck),amazingly diverse, and always…

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Review: Be My Endgame by Zarah Detand

Rating: 4.25🌈 “It was on. Number one against number three, battling it out in a tight race for the top spot in the Premier League.” — Be My Endgame: An MM Rivals-to-Lovers Sports Romance by Zarah Detand It thanks almost totally to Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ series about buying Wrexham, a Welsh football (soccer to us in the US) team, I do know a bit about the…

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Review: The Play (Charleston Condors Book 4) by Beth Bolden

Rating: 5🌈 What a wonderful story and fantastic way to send off the series and this team. The interactions between holdover player, defensive end Deacon Harris and the new owner of the Charleston Condors, security industry billionaire Grant Green, has been a subtle but significant part of the series and team’s dynamic. It was always clear that the two men had a strong connection and attraction…

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Review: The Waiting Game: An M/M Hockey Romance (Relationship Goals Book 3) by Brigham Vaughn

Rating: 4🌈 “Fisher Cats’ Hale and Brewer Engaged: College Sweethearts or Fake Relationship?” Faked engagement, best friends to lovers , bi-sexual awakening, hurt/comfort m/m hockey contemporary romance time! That’s a lot of tropes for a novel, and it’s not even close to covering the best elements that Vaughn includes in The Waiting Game. This is the third in Brigham Vaughn’s Relationship Goals…

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Review: Clueless Puckboy (Puckboys, #5) by Eden Finley and Saxon James

Rating: 5🌈 When I’m not even at 15% and all I’ve done is laugh so hard I’m crying and my sides are in stitches, you bet I’m giving the book a 5 star rating. Clueless Puckboy is right. And probably my favorite novel to date out of a bunch of crazy hockey stories from this pair of authors. Ayri Quinn is fighting an adductor injury and doesn’t want his team trainers to know he’s not as recovered…

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Review: Team Orders (Lights Out, #1) by R. J. Scott

Rating: 4.75 🌈 “If you no longer go for a gap that exists, then you’re no longer a racing driver. -Ayrton Senna” I’m so used to R. J. Scott’s outstanding hockey romances, that I was surprised to see her jump into the world of Formula 1 racing and do it so immaculately. Lights Out is a multi author series that focuses on one racing season. Each author takes one racing team, a driver or two on…

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Review:  Christmas Beau (Christmas Falls: Season 2 #6) by Amy Aislin 

Rating: 4.5🌈 Amy Aislin is another terrific author whose ability to write people in thoughtful adult relationships has been a huge factor in why I love her stories so.  Christmas Beau features many of the wonderful Amy Aislin elements of look for in her books and make them a must read. The characters are multifaceted, facing realistic challenges, dealing with them by communicating to each…

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Review: Under the Mistle-tome (a Christmas Falls story) by Sammi Cee

Rating: 4.5🌈 Under the Mistle-tome by Sammi Cee is the third book I’ve read in the multi-author Christmas Falls series and it’s my favorite one so far. A best friends to lovers story, here the best friend from childhood is returning to Christmas Falls after a long separation and with an adorable daughter in tow. Trevor’s cold family life that he and his young daughter, Holly, are leaving…

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Review:  12 Dates of Christmas (Christmas Falls: Season 2 #3) by Brigham Vaughn 

Rating: 4.5🌈 Brigham Vaughn brings us another terrific heartwarming holiday romance with 12 Dates of Christmas, a novel in the multi-author series, Christmas Falls: Season 2. One of the best holiday series, now in its second season, the setting is a town dedicated exclusively to Christmas, 12 months of the year, Christmas Falls.  Complete with a charming map of the town, outlying areas (few as…

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Review:  Once Upon A Goth Dog Solstice (Once Upon a Holiday story) by R L Merrill 

Rating: 4.75🌈 Immediately upon opening the book, I love this format, the story is divided into the four equinoxes of the year, starting with Spring.  It’s a wonderful method of showing progression of the characters’ relationships and developments in their lives while folding in meaningful celebrations of the year. I also had to go for tissues more often than expected, not knowing fully about…

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Review:  No Business Like Snow Business (Christmas Falls, Season 2) by J.A. Rock & Lisa Henry

Rating:  5🌈 There are some authors and stories I just savor.  I read them slowly, joyfully anticipating the next chapters and narrative twists that the writers have planned for the characters and storylines. I’m so engaged in this world and the lives unfolding here that I’m often lost , scene by scene, moment by moment. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a heartrending scene or as in the fabulous…

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Review:  The Christmas Keeper (Laurel Holidays Book 6) by V.L. Locey

Rating:  5🌈 V. L. Locey’s Laurel Holidays novels are a must read for me , and this season’s release has to be my absolute favorite of all.  The Christmas Keeper, Laurel Holidays Book 6, just resonates with me on multiple levels.   All the heartwarming Locey elements are here and elevated. From the realistic, beautifully crafted small Pennsylvania town and community, as well as the wonderfully…

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Review:  Once Upon A Mistletoe Kiss (Once Upon a Holiday story) by Sammi Cee

Rating: 4🌈 Once Upon A Mistletoe Kiss by Sammi Cee is another story in the Christmas series, Once Upon a Holiday, a 8-novel multi author holiday offering. Cee’s story is low angst, sweet, full of found family and holiday romance, wrapped up in about 95 pages. Grumpy work from home IT guy gets new neighbors, divorced dad with adorable kids, great ex wife, and cute dog. A reluctant relationship…